Chapter 18
The Calm Before the Storm
Sonic stood on the glass platform in the large, spherical throne room. A small wooden bridge provided the only entrance and exit over the watery moat. Razor fumed, pacing back and forth in front of his lapis throne.
After the incident with Amy, Razor had insisted all Vaposians to return to their homes despite their fuming bloodlust being unsatiated. Razor wanted to leave Wave's body, but Sonic had insisted they bury her and honour her memory.
"Avians don't believe in burial, much like Vaposians don't," Razor had explained as two of his guards helped carry Wave into the boiler room of his domed castle. "Mobians believe in burial, and so do Zuncons so that the body can become one with the earth. Macton's recycle the parts of dead bodies to build more machines-"
"That's horrible," Sonic had interrupted.
"It is just there way. Just like how the people of Aves believe burial is horrible. They like to be cremated, and their ashes spread into the wind so they can be one with the air even after death."
"What about your people?"
"We like to encase the feet of our dead in cement, travel out into the middle of the ocean and drop our bodies into the watery depths so that we can return to the sea from whence we came," Razor had detailed. He retreated to his throne room while Sonic waited for Wave's body to be cremated. He thought her people would have wanted it that way, along with Jet and Storm who probably didn't get the same treatment. Once they were ready, Sonic had climbed to the top of a tall building and tosses her ashes into the prevailing winds.
"Are ya finished with the trivial burial?" Razor grumbled when he noticed Sonic's appearance.
"It's not trivial," Sonic disputed almost stubbornly. "She mightn't have been a friend, but she wasn't an enemy. She deserves respect in death."
"Ya always find new ways to impress me, boy," Razor let a small smile break through his tough exterior before collapsing back onto his zaffre throne. "But enough formalities, we need to plan an attack. Vector has blatantly shown he want's war with not only Aves, but the rest of us and Vapos won't stand by and be defeated.
"What do you suggest?" Sonic asked.
"Do ya still wish to get yer vengeance against yer dad?" Sonic nodded. "And ya won't stay behind here no matter what I say?" He shook his head. "I like yer volition. In that case, ya shall accompany me into enemy territory. Ya might prove a great help since you know the terrain."
"Is it a stealth mission, then?"
"No, it will be a full-frontal assault. I'll prepare all my troops to move immediately. We'll take Vector by surprise and we will achieve a swift victory while all his troops are busy dealing with the anarchy and chaos in Aves' capital," Razor grinned victoriously.
"Um… there's one little problem with that plan," Sonic croaked.
"What?" Razor raised an eyebrow.
"You remember the drone?"
"The one that ya let that pink hedgehog escape in," Razor added with judgement.
"I left it on autopilot, I'm sorry," Sonic huffed like a spoilt brat. "But, yes, that one. You know it was Shard's drone, right?"
"I remember ya story, yes."
"Well, that was one of hundreds that I stole from his warehouse. He's building an army, Razor, and his bomb wiped out most of yours, and Earthia's, finest warriors so you can't spare more. If you attack from the south, Vector will inform Shard and he'll take you from the north."
"So what ya saying is… I'm basically trapped?"
"Well… not exactly," Abyss the squid finally piped up. She had been standing guard at the door, but had heard the entire conversation.
"You have a plan, Abyss? Then speak!" Razor bellowed.
"Keep all your troops here. Get them in defensive formation split between the possible threat from a northern Macton attack, and the eventual attempt from the Mobian troops in Aves from the east."
"So, yer saying just wait and defend? That isn't good enough, Abyss. Vector is a dictator, and he will continue to infest this land unless we finish him off once and for good," Razor growled.
"I'm not saying don't attack him. Just don't use a hoard of ground troops."
"I think I understand," Sonic smirked.
"I'm sick of all these secrets, out with it!"
"What I'm saying, sir, is that you and Sonic sneak into enemy forces. Because there is just two of you, you won't be detected and thanks to Sonic's knowledge of Mobius he can sneak you to Vector. Once you're up close and personal, shhkk," Abyss sliced her finger across her neck.
"Without Vector's maniacal leadership, perhaps we can quell Mobius once he's dead and make peace between the five nations after all this time," Sonic added.
"That might be a bit too optimistic, kid," Razor thought, scratching his chin. "But, it's as good a plan as we have. Alright, come nightfall Sonic and I shall sneak out. Keep the armies busy and loud, Abyss, so the enemy think's I'm still in Vapos. All we have is the element of surprise. If we lose that, the battle and quite possibly the war is certainly lost," Razor finished gravely.
"Understood," Abyss saluted as she turned and marched out of the throne room.
"Are ya sure about this, Sonic? Yer still young and you've got yer whole life ahead of ya to live," Razor asked sympathetically.
"Big and Vector took my life from me," Sonic scowled. "Besides, if we can't defeat Mobius, there isn't going to be a world for me to live in."
"Then it's settled. I'll gather some supplies. Meet back here at sundown and we'll set out into Mobius!"
…
The walk had been long but uneventful. After bidding farewell to Cosmo and learning the truth about Cream, Tails, Blaze, Knuckles and Tikal hiked silently down the winding path. The luscious mosaic of verdant canopy above them slowly thinned more and more until they were walking through open fields of green grass and low shrubbery. The open horizon was blocked out by the large, rocky mountains that loomed like a behemoth in the distance casting shadow's over the earth as they walked.
Finally, as the sun began to set, they arrived at the invisible boarder between the two communities, outline b the space where the rock meets the grass in a chaotic mash-up.
"The Avian boarder," Tails whispered to himself. He looked ahead, a small trail carved between the two sheer curtains of rock the snaked into the mountains. "Once we cross into here, it's a short walk around this mountain face until we arrive beside the main valley and the forests of Mobius."
"Well, what are we waiting for," Knuckles surged ahead. "We're burning valuable daylight. I'd say we have thirty minutes, maximum, before the sun's fully gone and I don't really want to be scaling the sides of cliffs in the darkness."
"Are you sure we shouldn't just camp here for the night?" Tikal asked worriedly.
"We need to get to Mobius as fast as possible," Blaze responded bitterly with a huff.
"And we need to be quick," Knuckles called back as he began to climb up the steps jutting out of the side of the mountain carved in stone. "We haven't got long to traverse this trail and I don't want to have to give our position away by lighting a torch."
"But won't Avian sentries spot us and kill us?" Tikal asked as Tails hurried behind Knuckles.
"Trust me, Avians are the least of our troubles right now," Blaze pushed past Tikal, her shoulder bumping Tikal's as Blaze began to climb the steps. Tikal grumbled something under her breath before begrudgingly following her companions along the path.
They walked silently in single file along the path. It wound around the side of the tall, sheer mountains. The small, chaotic mess of cracked rock that stuck out from the carved rock was barely big enough for one person to walk comfortably. The path jut out over a long drop to the valley floor below. A small, dried up creek bed ran through the center with hard stone blanketing the rest of the ground. A fall from this height would be fatal.
"Be careful," Knuckles called from ahead as he reached the crest of the snaking parabolic path. "It's all downhill from here." Tails followed resolutely, his foot crunching on the loose stone. A small crack edged through the rock but it managed to hold Tails' weight as he continued along the downward path. However, Blaze was not as lucky.
As she placed her weight on her outside foot the brittle slate stone gave way and crumbled under her weight, careening down into the valley below. Blaze let out a shocked shriek as she felt the unwavering pull of gravity tug her downwards off the side of the cliff.
"Blaze!" Knuckles and Tails screamed in panic, too far away to be able to do anything except watch in horror as she fell off the path. Luckily, at the last possible moment a hand was thrust outwards and gripped her wrist. Tikal let out a pained grunt as Blaze's weight jerked her to her knees and Blaze swung into the rough wall of the mountain.
"T-Tikal?" Blaze stammered as she looked up. Tikal grunted, sweat coating her face as she struggled to pull Blaze back up onto the narrow path.
"Just hold on," Tikal panted. Knuckles dodged past Tails and fell onto his stomach, reaching out to grab the fingers on Blaze's other hand and, together, the two echidnas wrenched Blaze back up onto the path. They all leant against the rocky wall wheezing feverishly.
"Are you alright, Blaze?" Tails asked as he inspected the rock beneath them to make sure they were safe.
"I'll live," Blaze exhaled slowly. "Thanks to you," she turned to Tikal. "But… why did you save me? I thought you hated me."
"Despite how we feel about each other, or our rivalry for Knuckles affections, we are still allies. Until this war is over, I'm going to look out for you. Afterwards we can settle this dispute."
"Th-Thanks, Tikal. I guess I was wrong about you. I'm sorry."
"As touching as this is," Tails piped up. "The sun's almost completely gone. If we don't want to hike down this trail in the pitch black, we should go now." Tikal and Blaze exchanged a stare, nodded and rose to their feet.
Tails took the lead at an excruciatingly slow pace, double testing each step to make sure the rock wouldn't break apart as before as the sun completely sank below the horizon. As darkness enveloped them, their pace slowed to a crawl as they cautiously descended the path. It took them almost an hour longer than they would have liked, lighting a torch was out of the question, before Tails felt solid ground beneath his feet.
"Where are we?" Tikal asked in a hushed whisper as she hopped down the final step of the cliffside path that the Avians had carved.
"This is the valley path that I was chased out of town through," Tails explained as he looked around. "It eventually leads to a forest, and the boarder between Aves and Mobius and-"
"Tails, stop," Blaze cupped a hand over his mouth. He tried to mumble resistance, but she shot him a look that made him shut his mouth. "Do you hear that?"
"This way!" Knuckles urged softly, waving them over with his arm as he dove behind a large rock. Tails, Blaze and Tikal hurriedly followed as they were concealed from view. A few moments later a red glow illuminated the valley and loud voices boomed through the silence.
"I can't believe he's making us go back to Aves," they heard a voice grumble.
"Don't complain, unless you wish for Vector to make an example out of you," another, equally familiar wise voice responded. Tails squinted through the darkness as two shadows danced like giants on the rock wall, transformed by the flickering fires of the torches as two males came into view.
"Might-mph," Tails gasped before Knuckles and Blaze both pounced on him, silencing his surprised outburst.
"Did you hear something?" Espio paused, training his sensitive ears.
"It was probably just an animal. Hurry up, we should have been at the capital before sundown," Mighty argued.
"So now you want to go there?"
"I want to stay in Mobius, but like you said, what Vector says, goes."
"It's those that walk behind others' orders that end up moving nowhere," Espio lectured.
"I don't need any of your philosophical crap right now," Mighty fumed like a spoilt child. "And in case you didn't notice, I was made general and as such I'm your commanding officer."
"For now," Espio nodded. "But once this war is over and things return to normal I will be your philosophy teacher again and the balance to order will be restored and I will be in charge."
"Unlikely," Mighty snorted. "When we win, Vector will become king and he'll need somebody to lead help keep up his defenses and army."
"And you think that person will be you?" Espio smirked. "You're just a child. Desperate times called for desperate measures but once we win, all the children will return to being just that. Children. You may take over one day, but for now you still need to finish school." Their voices slowly petered out as they continued to argue until only silence remained, and darkness enveloped them all again.
"That was close," Blaze sighed.
"Sorry about that," Tails apologized, grinning with relief.
"I think travelling at night is dangerous," Knuckles decided. "Besides, we need out rest."
"But we can't camp here. This trail is too busy. We'll be seen for sure," Tikal urged.
"I say we head into the forest. We can retrace our steps and follow the path tomorrow," Tails decided.
"That's as good a plan as any. Besides, I'm about to drop, especially after that mountain path," Blaze agreed with sagged shoulders. The small group bashed through the shrubbery, making small marks on the trunks of the trees so they could find their way back to the path before they found a small area between three trees.
They decided to set up camp there, taking out the two tarps that they had stuffed into their pack and their rope. They placed one along the ground and then tied the rope between two trees and threw the second tarp over the top of the tort wire to create a roof.
"Do we have any blankets?" Tails asked as Knuckles dug around in the pack and took out a small packet of biscuits and some bread. He shook his head sadly as Tails began to break up their supplies into quarters.
"We really should have planned this better," Tikal sighed as she eagerly devoured her portion of food.
"We were being attacked. It's not like packing was on our minds when we were running for our lives."
"We'll just huddle for warmth. It'll be fine," Knuckles decided as he finished off the last of his food. With rumbling stomachs and shivering frames from the cold night air, Blaze, Knuckles, Tails and Tikal lowered the rope and tarp above them to keep some heat in and huddled together, trying to drift off to sleep knowing that they need to prepare for the worst in the upcoming days.
…
The crumbling remains of the old medieval castle that Vector had repurposed into his base of operations stood high in the twilight air overlooking the cliffside in southern Mobius. The waves crashed against the base below breaking off chunks of rock. The prevailing salty winds whipped Shadows' face as he stared out on the horizon.
He used to stand in this very spot often in the three months when Sonic and Tails were alone on the island, hoping for a glimpse of them. Some would say it drove him insane, but Shadow knew it kept him determined and opened up his mind to clarity he had never experienced before. He finally had a purpose in life. To free his old friends from Iblis' strangle hold and show them Chaos' light. It was his way into heaven. He couldn't care about Vector, his position in Vector's army or the outcome of the war. No, he cared about one thing. Sonic.
Suddenly a low buzzing noise filled the silence and the air tore up around him like a small tornado. Shadow looked up as a silver flying machine zoomed over the town behind him, its course set for the open grass on the clifftop. As the drone landed, its hatch flew open and Amy hoped out, stumbling from dizziness of the trip. It was the first time she had ever traveled by air and her stomach wasn't agreeing with her.
"Amy?" Shadow asked, watching as the contents of her lunch spewed out of her mouth staining the blades of grass.
"H-Hey," Amy wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, standing back up and steadying herself.
"What are you doing here? And what is that?" Shadow asked.
"It's one of Shard's ships," Amy answered distantly. "And it would be nice if you asked me how I was feeling."
"Would if I cared."
"You're impossible," Amy huffed angrily. "Where's Vector. I have news."
"Right behind you," A gruff voice boomed. Both hedgehogs turned around, their eyes training through the dark as the crocodile stepped out of the front door of the half-ruined castle and slid over to them.
"Sir," Amy saluted. Shadow rolled his eyes with a sarcastic sigh.
"Miss Rose, why are you back. Was your mission a success?"
"Yes sir," Amy nodded. "But I have news. I ended up in the Vaposian capital where I ran into Sonic and-"
"You saw Sonic," Shadow interrupted, a glint in his eye. "What was he doing in Vapos? Was Tails with him? Did he look miserable? Is he dead?"
"Calm down Shadow. Some might interpret that as you liking him. Do we have to cleanse your soul too?" Amy sneered.
"Enough, both of you," Vector snapped. "Chaos, it's like I'm working with children."
"Teenagers," they both replied under their breaths.
"Amy, report. What did you need so see me for so urgently?"
"It's about Razor… and your son," Amy replied quickly. "They are going to come attack Mobius with their forces. We need to defend Mobius."
"Amy, relax, they won't get far," Vector smirked. "I've sent Mighty back to Aves with instructions to march on Vapos. If all their troops are marching here, it will make his job that much easier."
"But, sir, if I may," Shadow piped up. "If all our troops take Vapos, Razor will have no troubles taking Mobius. We might win the battle, but it will lead to our loss in the war." Vector simply smiled, turning to walk away.
"Follow me," he beckoned them. They followed obediently. "I think it's time I finally showed you something." He lead them through the interior of the castle, past the large circular room which acted as the foyer connecting the large, front gate with the rest of the castle. They followed close behind him as they descended the cobblestone steps and walked through into the modernized marble laboratory.
"Sir, you've already shown us this before."
"Yes, Shadow, but not this," Vector smiled as he opened a small door in the back of the laboratory. The luminous lights flickered to life as Shadow and Amy's eyes widened at the sight.
"Is this…" Vector nodded.
"The one-hundred-year war, we call it," Vector began. "Not because it lasted one hundred years, but because it occurred one hundred years ago. In two days time, it will be exactly one century to the date since Large signed the peace treaty and split the land in five. That will be the same time I end this war. It will also be exactly one hundred days since Wave marched across the boarder and declared war on us all. As a century comes to a close, so will this war and I, and all of Mobius, will go down in the history books as the winners of the hundred-day war!" Vector bellowed victoriously.
There, in the room, piled to the roof were hundreds of metal canisters with air pressure locks. Green gas was filled inside, waiting to be sprayed into the air. Big's serum. Serum that will cause all those who breathe it in to go insane and perish within minutes as their organs fail, a nasty side effect Shard, Vector and their scientists infused with Big's original plans.
"Once Shard arrives with his drones, we'll plunge the other communities into a blanket of this gas and kill them all, splitting the land fifty-fifty," Vector grinned maliciously, his eyes scanning the hundreds upon hundreds of canisters.
A/N: Sonic and Razor are entering alone into Mobius. Tails, Knuckles, Blaze and Tikal are already in Mobius, setting up camp after a few close calls, leaving Cosmo alone to fend for herself. Vector has finally weaponized Big's gas and is ready to kill all Avians, Vaposians and Zuncons once Shard arrives with all the drones that Sonic discovered in his bunker. Can Sonic, Tails and the others make it to his castle to stop him before it's too late? Well, that comes later because for now...
2 years! It's been 2 years since I first created an account and published the first chapter of Sontails: Dreams Come True. I can't believe it's been so long. Almost five stories later. As a celebration, I said I'd answer any questions you guys had for me about the story or myself submitted by review or a PM and I plan to deliver on that promise so here we go...
How long does it take me to write each chapter?
Well, it depends, really. A chapter of this story takes a lot less time than, say, an Emerald Lake chapter because it's like 6000 words less, but it also just depends how much fun I'm having writing, if I'm motivated etc. Also since I plan out my entire stories well before I start writing (although they do change a lot since I add little things in here and there) so when it comes time to write a chapter I just start writing because I already know what needs to happen, where characters need to be by the end and what development needs to happen. On average, for this story, I'd say it takes about 3-5 hours of writing. Also yes I try to edit but I really just skim so i do miss little things. I publish pretty much straight after I'm finished, after writing the A/N.
What inspired you to write the first Sontails story?
This is a tough question because nothing really 'inspired' me, so to say. I always loved writing and creating stories and for school and in spare time I had written a bunch of genres but I had never written a romance. Then I stumbled upon this sight in late 2015, I can't remember what story it was but it was a South Park fanfic and I remember it being really well written. I always thought that fanfics had to be smutty and badly written because that's the general consensus for those who don't know about what fanfiction really is and when I was shown what it could really be I instantly began planing my first story.
Why Sontails?
I wanted to write about characters I liked, and I always loved playing Sonic as a kid, mainly for the characters rather than the actual games. There is such a rich treasure trove of characters to pull from Sonic I knew that there would be somebody that fit any character I wanted to write. As a kid, I woke up every morning early before school and ate cereal in front of new episodes of Sonic X as a kid and I always loved the dynamic of Sonic and Tails. Even though I didn't know much about love at the time, I always asumed that they must be in love and were more than just best friends. Even as a kid the way Sonic and Tails acted in shows and games it always just seemed to me that they were gay lovers, like Bert and Ernie were. So I thought, hey, lots of characters, I like the world and lots of people read Sonic so it would be a perfect starting point. And here I am two years later...
Have I always been a Sontails supporter or just go with cannon relationships?
Well, read above about why I chose Sontails. For other cannon relationships, some I enjoy like Blaze and Silver or Spike and Sonar, Knuckles and Rouge, but others I think only seem to be paired because it's convinient. Tails and Cream for example. I hate that ship because it's so forced. Just because they are both young and innocent. They have no chemistry. I much prefer Tailsmo.
Do I own any videogames/systems?
Right now, no, I mainly play games on PC, and not that often. I don't really play many video games anymore, I did a lot more when i was a kid. Currently I'm playing AFL evolution, Yooka-Laylee (Since Banjo-Kazooie was my favourite game as a kid) and me and some mates ocasionally play a game of Civilisation V, but we are all very competitive when it comes to Civ since we've all been playing it for years. Seriously, if you haven't played it, buy it since it's amazing. I do have a 3DS and used to play it all the time but the only times I really bring it out to play is when there is a new fire emblem game or a pokemon game (Haven't played the ultra games yet) but I adored Shadows of Valentia. As a kid my first system was Nintendo 64, and I played hours of banjo kazooie, and from there I had a gamecube, PS2, PSP, Wii and every nintendo hand held system from the gameboy colour do the current new 3ds.
How do I make art/thumbnails/edit?
I'm shit at art. I'll say that straight up. Always was and always will be. When I make thumbnails I just use powerpoint and scour the internet for sprites or pictures and trace around them to cut out the backgrounds for use in powerpoint to make my thumbnails. As for video editing, I used to do it a lot as a kid but now I mainly just do it for school. I use audacity and just a mic for audio, OBS studio for screen capture and VSDC for actual video editing (They are all free which is basically why I use them).
What's my favourite book/Author?
That's a tough question, since I don't read a lot anymore since I'm using my free time writing. As a kid, though, that question is easy. Emily Rodda was my favourite author and her Deltora Quest series was easily my favourite book series of all time. The original 8 books were great, the three in the second series were stellar and the final four books in the third and final DQ series still managed to retain the same charm but made them a little more mature. Also, since I'm a fan of more scary and horror things too, I loved reading the 12 book saga of darren shan series. It was amazing, except the end when he really dropped the ball. Just read the first 11 books and skip the last one. Whatever you imagine, I bet it would be better than his shitty ending. I also obviously read the classics like Harry Potter and Hunger Games (I read hunger games before it was popular #Hipster) Most recently I discovered Phillip Reeve and his Mortal Engine series of books and I really enjoyed them too.
Favourite T.V show or Movie?
Another hard question because I don't really just have one. For movie, I loved Zoolander as a kid just for a fun comedy, but if I had to pick a favourite film it would have to be the Lion King. I've seen that at least a hundred times. Phenominal film, and I can even appreciate it as an adult. Also the new blade runner film was outstanding. As for T.V show, Avatar the last airbender will always hold a place in my heart, but I think South Park might be my favourite. Stranger Things is one of my favourites, and I grew up with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Doctor who and I'll always adore those shows. Currently I'm watching Riverdale, Brooklyn 99 and American Horror Story.
What is my sexual orientation?
I've answered this before but I'll just say what I am. Male, 20, straight and currently single but not looking for a girlfriend currently. I went through most of highschool always having a girlfriend, when I broke up with one it wasn't long before I had another, and so right now I want to just enjoy being single. Also my last relationship ended really ugly and kinda changed the way I perceive relationships for the time being (If you want to know about that debacle you'll just have to read Emerald Lake :P)
And finally... What type of music do I like?
I love music. Can't play it, although I did play the saxophone from grade 3-7, but I love music. I'm always listening to music, exploring spotify or singing. I sing a lot, actually. If only I was any good. People at work enjoy it, though. Country is really the only genre of music I'd say I don't like, but Carrie Underwood is alright. As for my favourite genre, either rock or punk. Favourite singer would have to be p!nk because she is just amazing and Panic at the Disco is my favourite band, but I also love Queen, Green Day, the Killers, Snow Patrol, Yellowcard, Set it Off and some of the pop princesses like Taylor or Ariana, as you do.
Thanks for all the questions and I hope you guys enjoyed and get ready for the final quarter (Last 6 chapters) of this story!
Next time on Sontails: War of Faith - Chapter 19: Memories