A/N: What? Twotail actually wrote a new chapter without a two week break this time? Yes, yes I did :) I told you I'd be quicker now that Sonic High has come to a close. Well, it's that time again. Time for another chapter of DCT! The third final chapter! We're almost over, yet there is still so much to happen. The fluff is definitely long and gone now. This is serious business. How will Tails and Sonic fare on their own now that they have been separated? Please read on and enjoy chapter 22 :)

Chapter 22:

Conditions of Escape

Tails wiped the tears from his eyes, trying to dry his soaked fur as he slipped out the back door. The furious winds of the frosty night whipped his fur, tossing the individual fibres every which way, cause the wetness to soak down to his bone. Tails was immediately wracked with incurable shivers as he hugged his body, setting off into the night. He wished now than ever that he had Sonic by his side, but he knew he had to keep going and stay determined, if not for his own sake then for the sake of Sonic.

As the winds began to pick up, slowly forming into a what felt like a mild cyclone to Tails, he brought his goggles down onto his face to protect his fragile eyes from the dust billowing around on the flurries as he continued. He clutched the straps of his backpack as he focused on putting one foot in front of the other to stop his thoughts from running back to Sonic. He had to keep going, he just had to.

About 5 minutes passed and Tails had cleared out of the suburban area of the Mobian community and had entered the dense, lush forest that wound its way around the northern belt of the state, separating the town from the harsh, rocky mountain belts that served as the border between Mobius and Aves.

He walked with his head hung low, his spirits completely crushed. He thought back to the look of absolute defeat that was plastered on Sonic's face when he pulled away from their final hug. Tails' heart cried out in agony, begging his body to run back to help Sonic out but his legs refused to obey.

Suddenly, Tails ears perked up, straining to hear the faint sound of yelling voices steadily growing louder and louder. Tails quickly darted into a nearby bush, bringing his knees up to his chest to avoid his feet from being detected by the crowd. From the crouching position that he found himself in, he could just peer through the vacant leaves to see a group of people following his trail, obviously sent by Big to try to catch him.

"Did anybody see where he went?" Tails heard the dull set tones of Espio the Chameleon, a previous teacher of his lead the way.

"I could have sworn I saw that Chaos-ugly bright golden fur of his up ahead," Tails winced as he heard the high pitched voice of Amy pierce through.

'Of course she is leading the pack to look for me. She always hated me that… that bitch!' Tails hissed silently, cursing profanities at the pink hedgehog under his breath.

"Let's hurry up and find him already, I'm bloody freezing," Tikal quipped. Tails narrowed his eyes and bit his lip in anger as he saw the echidna emerge from between a couple trees. It was all her fault! If she didn't have to ruin everything then none of this would have ever happened. Tails had never felt pure such disdain before. Pure, unadulterated hate. He despised her. He didn't even hate Amy, he didn't think he had the animosity to feel such a horrid emotion, but he couldn't help himself. His hands even subconsciously balled into fists at just the sight of her. If she wasn't surrounded by a bunch of other people, his former friends and teachers, then he would have jumped her.

That's when he saw her. Bringing up the rear, constantly looking from side to side, the little rabbit. Cream. Tails heart simply broke at the sight of her. She seemed like she didn't want to be following the others. It was like she was only looking for Tails to…

Tails shot up when he realized why Cream had come all the way out here with the others. She wanted to help him escape from the others. He just knew it, deep down.

Tails sat, crouched in his little bush until the small group of his pursuers had passed him when he took his chance.

"psssst," he whispered from the bush. He waited a few moments but it seemed that the rabbit had simply walked passed without hearing anything.

"psssst," Tails repeated, slightly louder this time. Slowly, the rabbit slowed her march and tilted her head to the side, glancing around the shrubbery next to her. After a moment of not noticing anything, Cream shrugged her shoulders and began to start walking when she felt a hand wrap around her wrist.

Before Cream could let out a scream, Tails placed his gloved hand over her mouth, pressing his other finger to his lips to signal for her to be quiet. When her eyes adjusted to the darkness in the undergrowth, her eyes widened in surprise as she saw Tails. Slowly, Tails began to lower his hand to allow Cream to speak.

"T-Tails, what are you doing here?" Cream asked, flabbergasted but slightly relieved.

"Cream, you have got to help me. I need you to divert the group away so I can get to the mountains. Please, Cream, I need your help," he begged, placing the palms of his hands together.

"Why should I help you," she turned her head in an unusually spiteful manner.

"What-" Tails began but was cut off for Cream.

"I loved you for ages and you knew that! I know that you knew so don't even try to deny it. You even kissed me at Sonic's party. Why would you toy with my emotions that way if you were just sneaking around with Sonic behind my back?" Cream hissed, her eyes red and puffy, indicating that she had previously been crying. She had to bite back tears as she began to attack him with her words.

"Cream, I'm so sorry. I would have told you but, you know I couldn't have. But please, you're the only one I can turn to right now. Sonic got taken and I need somebody to save me," he pleaded again, trying to stop himself from falling back into the inescapable torrents of tears and sobs.

"Yeah I know; I was in the crowd when Sonic stepped out. I volunteered to go look for you," she replied, her tone falling distant. Tails eyes lit up when he heard this.

"I knew it," he cheered silently. "You came to help me. Thanks so much Cream, how can I repay you?"

"With a kiss," she stated plainly. Tails' eyes widened slightly but without a moment's thought, he nodded and began to lean in. He knew that a kiss from Cream was a small price to pay for being able to flee this wretched place with the love of his life.

"Are you serious?" she scolded him as he began to lean in. "You think I really want a kiss from you? You're a disgusting faggot. I don't want to catch your blasphemous ways. I used to love you, but you used me and abused my emotions. I didn't come here to help you, no matter how I used to feel. How naïve can you be, Tails? I know you're desperate but come on!"

Tails slowly began to crawl away, keeping his gaze directed at the girl as she started to laugh at him. Tails thought the rabbit was going crazy. She had finally snapped. Tails mentally kicked himself, thinking that he could trust anybody. He was just so desperate… so fragile… so… alone.

Cream, on the other hand, had begun to lose it. All of the pent up rejection and pain that Tails had unintentionally caused her was all erupting from where she had kept it pent up inside of her. She had finally lost control and was scaring Tails. That's when it happened, when she finally snapped.

Cream stood up and yelled as loud as she could, gaining the attention of the others that had continued to walk in front of them.

"I found Tails! He is in this bush! Let's get him!" she narrowed her eyes, an evil grin crossing her face as she looked down at him.

"H-How could you… Cream," Tails' mouth fell agape. His mind and heart beat began to race at a million miles an hour as his escape routes began to fade. The longer he waited, the quicker his pursuers closed in around him.

…

"…Farewell, Tails," Sonic cried as he opened the door to the awaiting mob. Instantly, as soon as the door opened, Sonic felt the large hands of the fat, purple cat wrap around his middle and pull him fully out of the doorway. In a few short moments, Shadow had whipped out a piece of rope and tied a tight knot around his arms, keeping Sonic completely immobile from the waist up.

"Well, well, well, the faker finally reveals himself," Shadow taunted, still holding the ropes that bound his hands together. Sonic snarled in reply, sick of Shadow's stupid games. "How are your hands feeling?"

"Better than your leg does," Sonic retorted. Shadow growled in anger and sent a swift uppercut to Sonic's face, striking the bottom of his chin.

"Shadow! Enough of that," Big commanded, calling of Shadow's physical onslaught. Shadow eyed Sonic angrily before stepping back. Sonic just spat a drop of blood from his mouth at Shadow, watching in satisfaction as it landed on his cheek. Shadow brought his hand up to the spot and wiped away the blood, clenching his fist. He tried to go for another punch to wipe that stupid smirk off Sonic's face but Big placed a hand in front of the ebony hedgehog, stopping him.

"Sonic, tell us, where is Tails?" Big asked, staring deep into Sonic's emerald eyes, searching his soul for any kind of answer. Sonic refused to speak, matching his gaze daringly.

"I'll check inside," Amy yelled, rushing through the open door to search the golden fox's house.

"Don't try to act brave, son. Just tell me where he is and I'll make your death swift and merciful," Big spoke. When Sonic refused to answer, Big just let out a hearty chuckle. "Your idiotic behaviour is commendable, knowing how far you would go to protect your little friend. Too bad we will find him eventually," Big smirked.

"Big, Shadow!" Amy called from inside the house as she rushed to the door. "I searched the whole house and couldn't find him anywhere. He and Sonic must have split up earlier."

Sonic let a satisfying smile cross his face. He let out a sigh of relief. The thought of knowing that Tails had escaped undetected let his nerves fall to ease. As long as Tails got away safely, he would die happily in that knowledge. However, what Amy added next made his blood curdle.

"But the back door was left wide open. That means that Tails must have only just left. We can still catch him," she smiled. Shadow laughed as he saw the cocky smile completely evaporate from Sonic's face, replaced by a look of complete horror.

"We've got him now," Big hissed at the hedgehog as he turned to the crowd of onlookers. "Quick, some of you go follow Amy and seize Tails before he can get away!" he commanded as a few of the mob members ran up to the door and followed Amy give chase. Cream looked between Sonic and the open doorway. She pondered her decision slightly before nodding her head and chasing after the group, intent on catching the fox.

"As for you," Big turned his attention back to the hedgehog. He scratched his head with his fat fingers, trying to think up an agonizing punishment for the blasphemous hedgehog.

"Mr. Big. I think I have an idea," Shadow rubbed his hands together, revelling in the revenge. "Sonic and Tails had this very special place that they loved to hang out. I wonder if destroying it in front of him would suffice," Shadow looked up as a menacing grin crossed Big's face.

…

"Faster!" Blaze commanded as Knuckles pressed his foot harder down on the accelerator. The old, banged up four-wheel drive roared onwards, bumping up and down as it chugged along the dirt road that winded through the forest. The tired car sputtered out carbon dioxide from its exhaust as it chugged along much faster than it was capable of. The rubber on the tires burned and the wheels turned with such ferocity that they threatened to spin right off of the car. Eventually the campsite came into sight and Knuckles slowly applied pressure to the brake pedal, giving the car a much needed rest.

As the loud car sputtered to a halt, the two teenagers saw a female fox poke her head out of the small, lavender tent that had been neatly pegged into the ground. Her eyes widened as she watched the familiar cat and echidna hop out of the car and sprint over to her.

"Blaze, Knuckles, it's nice to see you," Rosemary, Tails' mother, greeted them politely, offering out her hand.

"You too Mrs. Prower, it's been a while," Knuckles took her hand and shook it. Blaze stared daggers at him, slapping him on the shoulder in anger at his stupidity.

"Remember why we are here," she scolded him.

"Right, sorry," he apologised, his tone changing from cheery to dire in less than a split second.

"Oh dear, what's wrong. Shouldn't you be at Tails' part…" Rosemary felt her heart skip a beat as her motherly mind instantly jumped to the worst possible conclusion. However, no matter what she immediately thought happened to her boy, all her guesses in the world wouldn't even come close to the severity of his actual predicament. "What happened to my baby?"

"There is no time, quick! Get in the car. We need to get back to the town, now!" Blaze commanded. Without a second of hesitation, Rosemary rushed over to the car and dived into the driver's seat, completely ignoring her tent and belongings as her instincts took over. She waited until Blaze and Knuckles had shut the door before she wrenched down the handbrake into its off position and slammed her foot down on the accelerator.

The car shot off at lightening speeds, causing Blaze to grip the overhead handle to steady herself. After a few moments of concentration, Rosemary had passed through the narrow stretch of path that connected the campsite to the main road and her crazed driving settled slightly.

"Now, tell me what happened to Tails," she said, steeling her nerves for the worst.

"Well, you see…" Blaze began. Rosemary couldn't have even guess what she heard next and as Blaze recounted the events, her foot met the floor as she willed the car to go faster than it was capable to.

…

"Cream! How could you?!" Tails screamed in response as he rose from his bush, grabbing his backpack and jumping out of Cream's way as she shot out her hand in an attempt to catch him.

"How could I? How could you?!" Cream responded with angry tears. Tails saw the rest of his pursuers closing in on him. He quickly took a moment to study his surroundings, getting a lay of the land when he noticed a tiny pathway that snaked its way between two bushes. Without another word to Cream, Tails darted left and rushed through the path.

"After him!" he could hear Amy command as the rest of the group bushed past the low bushes, trampling the flowers and shrubbery in their chaotic attempt to catch up to the fleeing fox. Tails broke through gaps between skinny trees, pushed past branches that stung his face with their sharp twigs and stomped over the leaf layer that littered the ground.

He could feel his chest getting heavy and the pain in his side grow larger as his breath grew short. He knew he couldn't stop but he didn't know how much longer he could keep running.

'I just need to get to the mountains,' Tails thought as he continued to run. Suddenly, he felt the straps of his backpack get caught on something. He cursed his luck, assuming it was caught on a low hanging branch but when he turned his head to see how to dislodge himself, he found himself face to face with Amy who had a hold of one of the straps.

"Gotcha!" she yelled triumphantly. Tails immediately set off running, pulling Amy along with her. She tried to dig in his heels but his overwhelming sudden speed from the adrenaline kick he just received was enough to take Amy off balance. However, the persistent hedgehog refused to give up in her pursuit. She once again seized hold of the kit's backpack and pulled with all her might, trying to stop the escaping fox.

In an instant, Tails knew what he had to do. He quickly pressed his thumbs into the small plastic devices which controlled the length of the strap and pushed them skywards. The straps loosened and, with another tug from Amy, came out of the binding and flew backwards, falling off of Tails back. Tails refused to look behind him. Feeling the lack of weight on his back, he instantly gained speed and hasted off further into the forest, leaving a squealing, angry Amy on her back, sprawled out on the ground.

The minutes grew long as the dense canopy of foliage above his head began to thin out and the trees began to disperse, giving way to two tall, rocky walls on either side of him. Tails smiled as he realized that the forest was slowly ending, giving way to the mighty mountain belt that circled the northern end of the Mobian community.

Slowly, the forest ended and Tails ran into a gigantic valley. Giant, rocky mountains loomed overhead on either side and the soil below his feet became scarce, replaced by a rocky surface with small amounts of sand and pebbles. Tails refused to stop for a moment, hearing the faint sounds of yelling continuing from behind him.

However, Tails slowed to a stop when he saw what was ahead of him. His heart fell in his stomach as he noticed the white line that had been etched into the rock in front of him. This indicated the border between nations. Tails remembered looking at this on a fieldtrip. He was warned back then that anybody who crossed it was no longer safe from their own laws and would probably get killed on the spot if seen by one of the Avians.

After the great war back hundreds of years ago, turmoil between the states had been at an all-time high. After the failed peacemaking meeting, the 5 states that incorporated the continent decided that they would remain distant. If anybody stupid enough ever crossed the border, it would be a sign of disrespect and the other community could kill the trespasser instantly.

"There is no-where to run, Tails!" Amy bellowed, her shrill voice snapping him out of his memories. He looked left and right, noticing that he was surrounded on either side by tall, steep cliffs made out of solid rock. As his pursuers closed the gap between him and the border, he realized there was only one course of action.

Tails gulped, swallowing the saliva that coated his water deprived mouth. He could climb the mountains and he couldn't try pushing through the group of pursuers. There was only one thing Tails knew he could do, and although every part of his body resisted the decision, Tails still committed to it.

Tails turned and crossed the border.

…

Big stood in front of the small, secluded little park gesturing to a crowd of onlookers who all held flaming torches to illuminate the dark night sky. Shadow stood next to him, a triumphant grin plastered across his face as he held onto Sonic's shoulder, who stood next to him. Sonic's gaze was cast to the ground as an aura of defeat loomed over the sorrowful hedgehog.

'I just hope Tails is alright,' he thought, utterly defeated.

"So this is where it all began? This was where you let the devil into our community and your souls?" Big asked, searching Sonic's facial features for any sign. Sonic refused to say a word, but couldn't help his eyes trail over to the small blueberry bush that lay at the back corner of the park.

"That bush?" Big muttered. Shadow felt Sonic tense up as he mentally scolded himself for being such an idiot.

"That's the bush that I saw them often emerge from together," Shadow mentioned. Big turned around to face the crowd, clearing his throat as he addressed them all.

"Thank you all for coming," he began, slowly walking down the path into the small park. He passed by the wooden playground, swerved past the little contraptions that were stuck into the tanbark and strode through the swing set until he stopped next to the blueberry bush.

"This is where, we believe, the first move was made. The first confession spoken. The first kiss shared," Big gaged as he uttered the words. "This was the spot that they opened the portal to hell. This was where the two boys let demonic forces consume their soul, creating vessels for their un-chaosly agendas. We can't just burn the boys alive after they have been spreading their filth throughout community. They have already infected Blaze the Cat and Knuckles the Echidna, two of our own who have been harbouring these fugitives. To stop this contagion, we must destroy the source once and for all!"

As Big finished his lecture, he raised his torch skyward, gesturing to the crowd to do the same. They all obliged, cheering wildly. In one fell swoop, Big brought his arm down onto the bush. Sonic watched in horror as his little place of sanctuary burst into flames. The small, budding blueberries cooked under the immense heat and exploded in geysers of juice.

"Throw them now!" Big bellowed as he scurried out of the park to join the rest of the crowd on the street. They all began to hurl their torches over the small fence. They landed in the bushes, allowing the green foliage that surrounded the park to catch fire. The flames roared as they danced on the howling winds. Embers were picked up and carried by gusts, colliding with the wooden structure. Within minutes, the entire park was dowsed in flames which stretched skywards.

The dark, toxic smoke clouds billowed upwards, covering the twinkling stars above the heavens in its poisonous blanket. The blackness combined with the low lying clouds, mixing with them and acting as the catalyst to the mighty torrential rains that began to poor. A loud clash of thunder rang out, as if Chaos himself roared with pleasure as the rain began to poor. The engulfed park fought back, the wooden structures adding heat to the raging flames. The rains weren't strong enough to sedate the fire and Sonic just watched, screaming in sadness as he watched his one safe place disintegrate in front of him.

…

"Tails, what are you doing?" Cream called, gasping as he crossed the border. She knew as well as he did that this was good enough to ignite a war. Tails didn't care, he had already given up hope. He knew he was going to die either way. He had already decided that he would rather let complete strangers kill him for breaking an un-written law than his family and friends.

"Don't let him get away!" Amy cursed. She threw caution to the wind as she crossed the border, chasing after him.

"Amy, just leave me alone!" Tails yelled angrily.

"Never! You stole him from me! Now I'm gonna steal something from you. Your life!" she retorted, rage completely controlling her actions. She marched forward, closing the gap between her and the fox. A fire that would parallel that which was currently occurring back in town was alight in her eyes.

Suddenly, just as she closed the distance, a shot rang out through the horizon, striking Tails in the shoulder. The kit howled in pain as he fell to the floor, clutching his shoulder wound. Amy's head darting around, looking for where the bullet came from when her ears were alerted to another gun fire. She jumped with a start when a bullet collided with the wall next to her, causing a few chunks of rock to break off.

"Get out of here!" a deep voice screamed in anger. "You're not supposed to cross this border… ever!"

Amy squealed in fear as she turned tail and sprinted as fast as she could back across the border, joining her friends on the other side. They all watched as three cloaked figures jumped from the above ledges of the surrounding mountains and slid down their steep slopes. They each held a rifle, aiming at the group of trespassers. Amy, Cream and the others immediately turned around and ran back into the forest, completely forgetting about the injured fox that was sprawled out on the ground, writhing in agony. The three figures continued to bombard them with rounds of gunfire until they had all dispersed back into the forest. Finally, when they could no longer see the others, they turned their attention on their catch.

"Well, well, well. Lookie what we got here," One of them said.

"Looks like we got a little kid who wandered too far from home boss," a larger one chuckled.

"Hey kid, what you doing all the way out here?" the third one chimed in, her voice more feminine than the other two. Tails groaned in pain, applying pressure to his bullet hole in his left shoulder. His red blood stained his golden fur as he rolled over onto his back. The clouds began to rumble as the torrential rain began to poor down from the heavens, soaking the four from above.

"Looks like he can't defend himself," the larger one scoffed. "Well, he knows the rules. If you cross the border, you die!" Tails looked up, his vision hazy from the immense pain that he felt. All he could make out were the blurry figures of three individuals and a swirl of green, pink and grey before he passed out from a mixture of exhaustion and pain.

…

Sonic allowed the tears to flow freely from his eyes. The sight of his only place of solace being burned in front of him was enough to completely destroy his remaining spirits.

"Should we throw him into the fire now?" Shadow asked, turning his attention from the flames back to the big cat.

"No, I have a better way to finish this," Big smiled, a toothy crazed grin applied to his facial features. "Chaos came to me in a vision and helped me concoct this!" he beamed proudly as he pulled out a syringe. Glowing green liquid lapped around inside of the glass cylinder. Big bent over and pressed the end of the sharp needle into Sonic's neck.

Sonic pleaded in defence but Big shrugged off his pleas as he pressed his thumb down on the end and watched as the liquid was pushed out of the syringe and into Sonic's bloodstream.

Sonic fell to the floor, his muscles twitching uncontrollably as the liquid flowed through his veins, spreading around his body and contaminating his nerves. Sonic screamed in agony as he spasmed around on the floor as the deadly liquid made its way through his veins and arteries and finally made its way into his brain, corrupting it from the inside.

Big watched, his eyes filled with a crazed glint that belonged to a power mad, crazed lunatic as Sonic began frothing at the mouth. His emerald eyes rolled back in his head, showing his whites as he eventually stopped moving, permanently.

A/N: Well... that just happened. Thank you so much for reading and please, don't forget to leave a review to let me know what you thought about the chapter and what you think will happen. Are our heroes both dead? Can they really be when we still have the penultimate and final chapters to go? Only time will tell.

Has Big gone completely insane? Will Shadow, Amy or Cream find it in their hearts to stop this madness before it is too late, if it isn't too late already? Who are those three cloaked beings that attacked Tails once he crossed the border? Did Tails accidentally start a war? What will Blaze, Knuckles and Rosemary do when they get to Mobius? What of our other side characters Silver and Tikal? (They haven't finished yet!) And finally, is Tails really dead and is Sonic really dead after that strange stuff Big gave him? All these questions and more will be answered, next time on Sontails: Dreams Come True!