A/N: Here it is. The penultimate chapter. 22 down, only 1 more to go after this. This has been the longest chapter apart from the musical and a lot of things happen so I hope you all enjoy it. Well I don't want to keep you waiting any longer (even if you read these or not!) So, without further ado... chapter 23!
Chapter 23:
On the Other Side
Tails strained to open his eyes. The pounding of his head caused him to wince in pain. His drowsiness and confusion caused the room to spin around him, blurring any images to make it impossible for the uncertain fox to make out where he was or what was around him. All he could tell was that he was shrouded in an eerie darkness. He tried to move his arms but instantly a sharp pain stabbed into his shoulder, traveling down the veins and nerves in his arm as it triggered the receptors in his brain. Tails cursed, sending his other arm to apply pressure to his wound out of instinct.
Slowly, Tails' memory began to return to him as he remembered running away from his friends. He remembered Cream giving him up and the animosity to which Amy showed him in her relentless pursuit of his destruction and death. That's when the memory struck him, much like the bullet itself had hit him. Tails brought his hand up to his eyes, squinting through the darkness and subsiding dizziness to see if there was any crimson liquid staining his golden fur. He saw none.
Before Tails could investigate further, a door in the room flew open and three cloaked figures strode into the room. The larger of the three slammed the door close behind him and flicked on the blaring, luminescent lights.
The instantaneous change in light levels attacked Tails' retina's and the initial onslaught was almost too much for the poor fox to bear. He brought his arm up to shield his eyes from the light that was penetrating through his scrunched up eyelids and slowly, they begun to adjust the to the new levels.
After Tails had time to gather his bearings, he noted the room he was in. It was a small, windowless, cemented room with three chairs, two opposite him and the one he was sitting in, and a stainless steel table that formed the barrier between them. A single light bulb hung low from a thin string that was attached in a nut to a loop that protruded from the ceiling. The only way in or out of the room was the loan door that the figures had entered through. As Tails turned his head, he noticed that his bullet wound had been bandaged up in pristine white bandages that were wrapped around his shoulder and arm. Before Tails could compute what this all meant, one of the three figures, whom Tail's assumed to be the leader, began to speak.
"Why'd you cross the border, runt?" the cloaked figure asked maliciously.
"I-I-I," Tails mumbled, fear seizing his voice to the point where he couldn't speak.
"What's wrong pipsqueak? Cat got your tongue?" the one situated next to the leader chimed in, her voice much more feminine than it had been out in the valley.
"W-Where am I?" Tails asked, the pounding in his head slowly picking up again.
"We're asking the questions here!" The big one piped up, slamming the palm of his hands down on the steel desk in front of him, causing Tails to jump slightly from surprise. "We could kill you right now if we wanted to!"
"Why didn't you?" Tails sighed in defeat.
"We tried to initially," the middle figure spoke plainly, his non-flinching azure eyes stared into the identical coloured pools of the scared fox. "But I'm not as good a shot as I used to be," he let out a low chuckle.
"But why did you bring me back here? And do… this to me?" he motioned towards the bandages around his would.
"You interest us kid," the woman interrupted. "We planned to kill you and use the border crossing as an excuse to invade that wretched Chaos loving community but when we saw how they were trying to capture you and you decided that crossing the border to certain death was a better compromise…" she trailed off, tilting her head to gaze at the strange animal inquisitively.
"Yeah if they got me they would kill me and the one I love… but he's already… already…" Tails couldn't bring himself to finish the thought, opting to just cloud his mind of the obvious truth.
"Dead?" the big one insensitively asked. Tails simply nodded in response. Suddenly, his head shot up as he stared into the eyes of the girl.
"Why did you say Chaos loving as a bad thing?"
"Why would we not? Belief is what tore this once great nation apart into its many communities of different deity worshipers. That's why we are atheists here in the Aves district," the leader beamed proudly.
"So if I told you the person that I loved happens to be a guy…?"
"Why would we care? Love is love. We only care that you're part of the Mobius community and should be dead!" The big one once again slammed his feathered hand onto the desk.
"I wish I wasn't. Big and his Chaos damned laws ruined my life! I wish I was never born in that place," Tails balled his hand into a fist and punch the wall next to him, allowing the welcoming pain to flow through him, helping him feel anything other than his heart break. The three individuals removed their cloaks, revealing three birds of varying colours.
"In that case, welcome to Aves. This is Storm, Wave and my name is Jet. We are the heads of the Babylon Rouge's and we are the ones who are going to help you get back the love of your life."
"Wait… what are you saying?" Tails asked in excitement.
"It's time to go to war!"
…
As the car roared down the road, travelling faster than any car should physically be able to as if Rosemary's motherly wishes granted extra horse power to the struggling engine. While they drove on through the night, steadily growing nearer to the town, Blaze and Knuckles filled Tails' mother in on all the events that had happened up until they had witnessed the two secret lovers flee the house.
"How did you kids know to find me? Why didn't you assume that I wouldn't be like Sonic's parents and want them dead too?" Rosemary asked as the gravelly road slowly transitioned to a paved, cemented one in which the wheels had an easier time driving on.
"We were at his funeral miss Prower," Blaze mentioned with sadness evident in her voice.
"We know what happened and how you denounced your faith. We assumed that since you didn't believe in Chaos, that would mean you didn't believe that love could only be between a man and a woman," Knuckles finished their joint explanation. Rosemary allowed a brief smile cross her face.
"I'm glad that my Tails has made such nice, smart and caring friends," she looked at Blaze in the rear-view mirror. Blaze returned the smile before casting her gaze back down at her shoes. "I just wish I could have been a better mother," Rosemary sniffed, tightening her grip on the steering wheel.
"Don't say that Miss P," Knuckles placed a hand on her arm to console her. "You were a great mother that any boy would be lucky to have."
"No I wasn't!" she reacted in an outburst. "He was in love with Sonic, doing things with his best friend under my nose and I didn't even notice… I should have been there for him. I could have helped him through this difficult time," she began to sob, straining to see clearly through her tears yet refusing to slow the car down.
Blaze and Knuckles shared an awkward glance, searching each other's eyes for a solution to help cheer Rosemary up when Blaze jumped with a start. The vibration of Blaze's phone startled her a lot more than it should have and she quickly wrenched it out of her pocket to see who in the world was texting her with all the stuff that had been going on. Her eyes widened when she read the message.
"Sonic just texted me!" she screamed, causing Rosemary to slam her foot down on the break as fast as she could. The car wheels screeched, the rubbery wheels burning off in ash and fire as they skidded against the road until the car slowed to a stop. Rosemary wiped away the tears from her face, revealing a determined face and turn around to look at the cat.
"What does it say?" she asked immediately.
Sonic: Blaze, quick, help. Tails and I escaped but they were chasing us and we need help.
Blaze: Where are you? Is Tails with you?
Sonic: Yes. We are hiding out at his house but we need help!
Blaze: I'm on my way with Rosemary. Stay put, we will be there soon!
Sonic: Thanks
Blaze put the phone back in her pocket after reading Sonic's last response to them. Rosemary instantly pulled off the hand break and stomped down on the accelerator, sending the car storming back onto its unstoppable path. However, Knuckles seemed rather apprehensive.
"Wait, don't you think this seems a little fishy?" Knuckles thought, rubbing his chin in thought. "What if they got caught and this is Shadow or Amy using Sonic's phone to get us too?"
"For somebody who is supposed to be dumb, you sure do think a lot," Blaze motioned to him before glancing at Rosemary for guidance. She seemed intent on driving to her house.
"It might, but this is the one chance we have to find them. If there is even a 1% chance of getting my baby back, I'm going to take it." With that, the conversation ended and the three sat in silence until the car rolled up next to Tails' house and they ran inside to see Sonic, standing in the living room.
…
Tails recounted his entire story to the Babylon Rouges, starting from when he first confessed his love up until when Sonic said his goodbyes and the he had to escape his friends. Jet, Wave and Storm gathered weapons and supplies from their storage area in what Tails could only assume to be a small military base of some sought as he talked. The three of them seemed sympathetic towards the kit's plight and Tails couldn't help but wonder why he had been taught that these people were barbaric animals.
"Hey, can I ask you guys a question?" Tails asked as he was handed a small pistol by the grey albatross.
"Sure, go ahead kid," the green hawk responded, exchanging his stainless steel sword with the machete that the pink swallow had been holding.
"Back all those years ago, when my grandparents were children, what happened to Mobius? How did it become this fragmented?"
"Didn't your teachers teach you anything?" Wave responded as she continued to rummage through the rows of swords, maces, lances, pistols, rifles and protective gear.
"Not really. They taught us how Mobius had been formed and that there was a great war that fractured the land but we were never told what happened. We were only told that we won the battle," Tails admitted as he was offered a Kevlar shirt to wear to protect him from stab wounds.
"Huh, well that's a load of crap," Storm scoffed as he grabbed some ammunition and reloaded his trusty pistol. The four of them finished gathering their supplied and exited the building. Tails gasped as he noticed his surroundings. The small little shelter that he had been kept in was situated deep in a rocky cave. Small bats flew around in the air above him and the flickering light of many torches stuck on wooden posts provided the only light.
Tails watched in awe as Jet walked over to the wall and pulled a small wooden lever that sat next to the rocky wall. A few moments passed before Tails heard a faint rumbling. The sound steadily grew louder and louder until the rocks began to vibrate and rumble.
"Cave in!" Tails screamed in fear as he shielded his head with his arms and scrunched up his face, waiting for the pain of large boulders collapsing in on him. He waited for his impending doom but it never came. Instead, all he was greeted to was a chorus of hearty laughs by the Babylons. Tails opened one eye to see the three of them smirking at him, their arms crossed.
"Come on you little baby," Storm chuckled. Tails looked upwards to see that an opening was now where the rock once stood. The illumination of the moon crept inside the cave, expelling the shadows further into the cave.
"The switch was to move the fake rock wall. We wouldn't go to all this trouble and fake out to just kill you now," Wave laughed as she strode over to the fox and patted him on the back, encouraging him to walk forward.
Tails stepped out of the cave and noticed that he was back in the valley where he was once shot, right next to the border between Aves and Mobius. He scratched his head in confusion but without having to ask, Wave answered his question.
"We set up this little place to make sure that no unwanted Mobians get passed the border without getting a little taste of our lead. How do you think we saw you guys coming?" Wave laughed again as Tails gulped.
"Come on, let's get going. We have a long walk ahead of us and I don't want to spend more time than I have to in this rain. I'll give you a little history lesson as we walk," Jet decided as he slung his rifle over his back and set off. There was a slight moment of pause when they got to the white line as the three thought about what crossing the border really meant. However, when Tails crossed it with no hesitation, Storm stepped across, not wanting to be outdone by the little wimp. Jet and Wave slowly followed suit and the four of them traversed that path that Tails had ran through not hours earlier.
…
For as long as Mobians could remember, they had all lived in peace and harmony. All different beliefs were welcomed and accepted by all the inhabitants of the once great continent. We learnt together. We ate together and we fought the invading nations from across the great seas together. We were united as one people! Then one day, 100 years ago, two of the most influential people in all of Mobius came out publicly. It turns out that the two famous singers Nicole and Mina where romantically involved.
There was an instantaneous out lash and riots throughout the streets. Two people of the same gender in a relationship was unheard of at that time. The sacred bonds of love varied quite differently between the different religions and beliefs of the people and the notion that two of our most famous celebrities being gay shocked the nation. Fights broke out between people and it slowly spiraled out of control. Influential leaders in the different religious communities rose above the ashes and began to create armies of their own. This lasted for almost ten years and over half the population of Mobius were killed with thousands more seriously injured. People were afraid to leave their homes, fear controlling their lives.
Then one day, 90 years ago, one brutal individual made his presence known. Large the Cat, the grandfather of that cat who is the priest of your town gained control of the army of Chaos, killing their previous leader. He used their belief and fear of Chaos to control their emotions and gather up more supporters than any other army. Slowly, he began to force back those who opposed him, my grandparents included, into small sections of Mobius. We needed to make a difference. Our relatives couldn't sit back and watch this one man take over the entire world by taking advantage of a fractured period of history.
Together, all of the other small armies colluded together and formed an alliance to take back the land on the promise that peace would soon return to the land after Large had been defeated. They slowly gained back some land, but it wasn't enough. Although outnumbered, Large still managed to fight off the impending rebellion and keep control of a large portion of the land. The four smaller armies that had combined together knew that there was only one course of action. They needed to make peace with this demon.
The great counsel of Mobius was called and in the end, the different communities managed to find peace. However, like all good things, there was a price to pay. Large divided up the land into thirds, and then cut two of the thirds in half again and gave the four other nations one part of their land. Although Large had twice as much land under his control, no-one was willing to argue in case the fighting continued. It was decreed that anybody who crossed the sacred boarders could be killed on sight and intrusion would allow the community to declare war on the other. Large kept the name Mobius for his community and we were forced to created out own nations. That's how our once great continent was split into 5 and how Aves, Mobius, Vapos, Macton and the Zuncons were created.
Tails hung on every word as Jet recounted the history, not being able to believe what he was hearing. His whole life he was taught that the other beliefs tried to kill his people and we acted in self-defense. He was taught that the border was a measure of protection against evil. He was half right, but it wasn't to protect him from the outsiders, but the outsiders from his community. However, Tails wasn't able to think about this for long as the sight of billowing smoke steadily rising into the atmosphere alerted him to the presence of a seemingly large fire.
"Oh, no!" Tails' mind immediately jumped to the worst case scenario. "Sonic! They must be burning him," he screamed and set off into a run, disregarding the concerned calls from his new companions as he ran off ahead of them, leaving them behind.
…
Blaze was the one who rushed through the door first and was the first one to have her eyes lay upon the sapphire figure of the familiar hedgehog, standing in the middle of the room. Although his fur was slightly mattered and his quills visibly messy, he seemed unharmed. Blaze sprinted up to him and bowled him over, careening him into a bone shattering hug.
She expected happiness, joy or at least a hug in return. What she didn't expect was exactly what Sonic gave her. Nothing. He didn't speak or even move in the slightest. He just seemed to stand still, looking over her shoulder at the open doorway where Knuckles and Rosemary eventually walked through.
"S-Sonic?" Blaze asked, taking a step back and looking into his face. She gasped when she saw the state of his eyes close up. The white parts of them were bloodshot with the veins visibly moving through them. There were dark sags underneath him and when he finally spoke, it sent shivers down her spine.
"Were is Tails?" he asked methodically, much like an animatronic would say.
"You said he was with you," Rosemary replied, panic rising in her voice.
"I need to see Tails, now!" he snapped, his robotic, emotionless voice altering to that of a rage filled maniac.
"Sonic, calm down," Blaze tried to calm him, placing a hand on his shoulder but he gripped her wrist in reaction and threw her across the room with astonishing strength. Knuckles rushed over to the crumpled body of Blaze, skidding across the carpet on his knees as he picked up her head. He sighed in relief as he heard Blaze mumble softly and flutter her eyelids. The three of them just stared, startled at his sudden reaction.
"Where is Tails?!" He shouted again, taking a step forward angrily as if he were possessed by another worldly being.
"Quick, let's get out of here," Rosemary whispered as Knuckles helped Blaze up and they hobbled towards the door. However, before they were able to exit the house, a large figure emerged from behind it and slammed it closed, trapping the trio inside.
"Leaving so soon?" Big the cat asked, a wicked smirk plastered over his facial features.
"What did you do to him?" Blaze asked, a hint of fear mixed with hostility and malice in her voice.
"Me? How could you accuse me of doing anything? I only did what Chaos intended," he corrected himself, standing proudly before the three of them, blocking their only escape.
"Don't make me repeat her question," Knuckles hissed, cracking his name-sake. Big just tutted, clicking his tongue to the top of his mouth rhythmically.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, such animosity Knuckles. You were always such a stand up young man at church. What happened to you?"
"Big, answer the question!" Rosemary warned.
"And Rosemary… it's been over two years since I have last seen you. I guess the death must have wounded you more than it did your husband," he spat. Knuckles and Blaze gasped in unison, glancing at Rosemary to see how she would react. She just narrowed her eyes, making fists with her hands. She was simply unable to respond to the horrid comment.
"What, Cat got your tongue?" Big chuckled to himself.
"What did you do to Sonic?" Rosemary asked through clenched teeth. Big just smiled in reply before finally giving in to their demands.
"Like I said, I was just doing what Chaos intended. Sonic was gay. That meant he let the devil, he let Iblis into his heart. Iblis has been harboring inside of those boys for as long as they have given into their hideous desires and now he has possessed Sonic. I'm just trying to help the poor lad exorcise the demons out of him," Big concluded.
"How did you 'help' him?" Blaze asked, inflecting her voice on the word help.
"By the will of Chaos, I concocted some special serum that helps remove Iblis, and the gay out of a person's system. It might have a few… side effects," Big admitted. "But they will all subside as soon as Sonic does what he has now been programed to do. He will go back to normal as soon as…" Big trailed off, reveling in his brilliance.
"As soon as what?" Knuckles asked.
"As soon as he kills the one that Iblis forced him to love. Once he takes the life force of Tails, he will return to a healthy, normal boy again."
"You've gone mad with power!" Rosemary bellowed, taking this opportunity to run up to him and jab him in the stomach with her fist. Big stumbled backwards but before he could react she sent another upper-cut to his chin. Big rose his head to stare at her, wiping the trickling stream of blood from his lip.
"You just don't understand because you gave up your faith. You let Iblis control you just like the others!" he hissed angrily. "Oh Sonic! This lady right here, can't you sense it? She shares the same blood as Tails," he gestured to her, standing back slightly.
"Tails?" Sonic tilted his head slightly, narrowing his eyes as he looked at her. She swallowed deeply. It was as if she were staring into the eyes of Iblis himself. His once vibrant shade of emerald was as black as the night sky, surrounded by a crimson red. Without warning, Sonic lunged at Rosemary, knocking her to the ground and pulling out a concealed dagger.
"Sonic, no!" Knuckles and Blaze screamed as they watched him pounce on the unsuspecting Rosemary.
"Sonic, it's me!" Rosemary begged, throwing out her arms in defense, blocking the dagger. She pushed back against Sonic with all her might but the dagger slowly fell closer and closer to her neck. "It's Rosemary, Tails' mother. Don't you remember me?"
Sonic seemed to pause for a split second, like something in his brain had connected, but it didn't last very long. He shook his head and bared his teeth.
"You're not Tails!" he mouthed angrily before dropping the knife and standing up. "I need Tails!"
"She shares the same DNA, surely she is good enough. Finish her!" Big commanded, pointing to Rosemary who was still lying on the floor, in too much shock to move. Blaze and Knuckles stepped between Sonic and Rosemary, blocking his access to her in case he tried to assault her again.
"She isn't Tails. Where is Tails," Sonic eyed Blaze angrily, foam emerging from the sides of his mouth as he began to rage.
"Ahhh!" Rosemary screamed. Blaze and Knuckles quickly spun around to see a knife protruding out of Rosemary's heart.
Unfortunately, while Blaze and Knuckles were focused on protecting Tails' mother from the bloodthirsty, serum-crazed hedgehog, they had completely forgotten about the psychotic cat behind them. Big, infuriated by the way Sonic refused to kill Rosemary, bent down and retrieved the knife that Sonic had dropped and plunged it deep into the fox's stomach. It pierced her heart and she let out a pained scream.
Blaze dived to the floor, not realizing her mobile phone fly out of her pocket and skid across the carpet to the corner of the room. She scoped up Rosemary's head in her hands while Knuckles ran into Big, knocking him clean off his feet as he collided into the wall and slumped over.
"Rosemary… Rosemary, stay with me. Don't die. We can get help for you," Blaze spoke frantically, trying to conceal the tears that began falling down her face.
"Blaze… please… find Tails. Protect him," she coughed up blood as the life began to drain from her face. "You are a wonderful woman, Blaze. You have been a perfect influence on my son's life. Thank you. Please… promise me… help him… save him… help Sonic," she coughed again as he eyelids fell shut and her muscles grew limp and her body grew cold.
"I promise Rosemary. I promise," Blaze repeated as she laid the elder fox's head down gently on the ground and turned to Sonic who had just been watching everything unfold. Blaze prepared her words, ready to berate Sonic with every hurtful, spiteful profanity she could muster but the sudden ringing of her phone snapped her out of her short lived rage. Both Sonic and Blaze whipped their heads to the phone but try as she might, Blaze wasn't fast enough.
Sonic quickly dived across the room and picked up the phone, swiping the phone open and listening as the voice on the other line spoke.
"Blaze, quick, I need your help." It was Tails.
"Tails, where are you?" Sonic replied.
"Sonic, is that you?" the voice replied.
"Yeah, it's me. Tails, I've missed you so much. I love you buddy. I gave the others a slip but I don't know for how much longer. Quick, tell me where you are," he said into the mic. All the emotionless language was drained from his voice and the old, concerned and love filled voice of the old Sonic was back. However, his face showed that of an evil menace who smiled wickedly at Blaze who was too disgusted to respond. She couldn't believe how genuine he could sound, knowing that he only planned to kill the fox.
"I'm at the remains of the park, I-" he spoke but Sonic quickly hung up the phone and broke it under his foot.
"Sonic, don't!" Blaze warned but Sonic sprinted past her and opened the door.
"You're just too slow," he said before closing the door behind him and sprinting off into the night, blood-lust controlling his thoughts and boosting his energy as he sped to his destination.
"Knuckles, c'mon, we need to save Tails before it's too late!" Blaze warned, wrenching open the door and running out into the night, trying desperately to catch up to the speeding hedgehog, but to no avail.
"Ha, ha, ha, they will die before the night is over," Big scoffed, laughing like a mad man.
"Not if I can help it," Knuckles replied, punching Big in the face as hard as he could. Big fell to the floor, unconscious as Knuckles rose to his feet and followed in step behind Blaze as they ran through the stormy night.
…
Tails' eyes misted over from sadness as he cast his gaze upon the source of the billowing smoke that he had seen from afar. Jet, Storm and Wave had lost him through the winding streets and he stood alone, glancing around at the ash filled barren land where his park once stood. The one place of solace. Tails' home away from home. The place where it had all happened. It was nothing but ash.
Tails glanced up, letting the heavy rain soak through his fur as he discovered a new found determination that he didn't know existed within him since the musical fiasco back many months ago. He fiddled around in his pocket and pulled out his phone, dialing the only number that he could think of. Blaze
After a brief conversation, Tails was asked where he was.
"I'm at the remains of the park, I-" he tried to finish his sentence before he heard a loud, deafening crack as the phone line went dead. "Sonic, Sonic are you there?" he began to yell frantically into the microphone, his mind automatically thinking the worst again. He was just about to turn around and sprint out of the park when he saw the blurry outline of a blue streak grow steadily bigger on the horizon until suddenly, Sonic ran into the park, vaulting over the fence.
Tails stood amongst the ashes, looking at the hedgehog. The love of his life. The one he hadn't seen since their teary goodbye. He was standing not ten meters away from him. Tails felt like he could reach out and touch him. If he could just hug him again, he knew Sonic would be able to chase away all his fears and anxieties.
"Soni-" Tails began to say in relief before the hedgehog suddenly let out a blood curdling scream and attacked him.
A/N: Yes, that's right. Both Sonic and Tails survived that last chapter, but it looks like Sonic's mind didn't quite make the journey between chapters and is forever lost. With Rosemary dead and Big's true plans shown, can Blaze and Knuckles save Tails in time, or are they already too late. Can they save Sonic's mind from the encroaching serum? Has Big really gone over the deep end, like his grandfather before him? And what of Shadow, Amy, Silver, Tikal and the Aves Trio? All of these answers and more will be revealed in the final chapter of Sontails: Dreams Come True, Chapter 24: The Final Confrontation.
Did any of you guess that's what the serum was going to do? Did any of you think that, back when you were reading all the early fluff filled chapters that I had this horrific conclusion planned for our heroes the whole time? Please, leave a review to let me know what you thought of this chapter. I really want to hear from all of you who have been reading since this is a major difference between 90% of the story before it for the big conclusion so I want to know if you are all still enjoying it just as much, or even more! It would mean a lot to me. And I'd love to hear how all of you think it is going to end. Happy ending? Sad ending? Who else will die next chapter (hint, more than one person will die in the finale!) and how do you think it will end. I'd love to hear what you have to say.
I also hope you liked the little bit of world building I put in. Since I planned out this alternate universe where our characters lived, I wanted to at least share the history that I planned. Can you figure out what all the community names mean? I'll reveal more about the history when I do my Authors Notes at the end of the wrap-up like I do with my other stories. And finally, thank you for reading and until next time, goodbye!