((Hello, everyone! I'm just in such a writing mood, I figured, hey, why not a bonus chapter? Please leave suggestions as to what other bonush schepters (whet. I can't type.) *ahem* bonus chapters you want me to add. I've said this multiple times, but this can include an event in the story written in another character's point of view to get further details on the event and that character's thoughts, or an epilogue or prequel.
In response to guest reviewer werewolf99, as I've said before, I do not include other people's original characters in my stories, only my own. But rereading your recent review gave me inspiration to use Tails for this bonus chapter, so hey, we get to see Tails again! WHOOP!
Anywhoozles, let's get to the story. BYE!))
This chapter will be written in Tails's point of view and takes place just hours before and into Chapter 1 of this story.
The skies were perfect. Blue, the sun low in the afternoon sky, only slightly cloudy, and with wind speeds of five to ten miles per hour. Perfect for flying. I glanced down at the graphic map on my X-Tornado's display.
"Are we there yet?" a very impatient pink hedgehog, my good friend Amy, complained in the back seat.
"Almost," I replied. "I told you, I wanted to do a quick fly-over of the place to be sure that nothing's changed."
"And has it?"
"No robot gone from its post, no camera out of position," I said, glancing back at her. "He doesn't even know we're coming." My modified plane soared over a stretch of woods away from the base. I brought it down to land in a small clearing, concealed by the trees. I pressed a button to open the cockpit, and the protective glass dome lifted on its metal hinges, letting us out. I jumped down, a bag of equipment slung over my shoulder. I used a special set of binoculars I had created to judge the distance we would have to walk to get to the base.
"Thanks for offering the lady a hand down, Tails," Amy said sarcastically, jumping down from the wing and landing neatly on her feet, brushing off her red dress haughtily. "I really appreciate it."
I laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of my neck. "Sorry," I said.
"So where are we supposed to go?" Amy asked.
"We have to place cameras in Eggman's headquarters and head back to our own HQ to set up the computers," I replied. "If we run into trouble, we're supposed to head to one of the small spy shacks and call for backup."
"Hopefully, we won't need to do that last part," she said. "What are we waiting for? Let's go!" She ran off ahead of me. I laughed and used my twin tails to follow her.
As we reemerged from the forest, Eggman's fortress came into view. I tightened my grip on the strap of my bag, as faded and dull as it was, it carried precious cargo; it held about a dozen miniscule cameras that would be used to spy on Eggman. I was rather uneasy about the whole endeavor. I had a horrible feeling that something was bound to go horribly wrong. I shook the feeling aside, deciding it must be nerves. Amy must have noticed my concern, and she spoke up.
"Are you alright?" she asked me, running beside me.
"Yeah," I said. "It's just been a while since we've done something of this magnitude."
"Oh, you worry too much," Amy laughed. "We'll be just fine!"
"You're the one who always worries!" I protested, trying to get my mind off the uneasy feeling. "About Sonic, that is."
"And you don't?" she raised an eyebrow.
"I have confidence in him," I replied indignantly. "He knows what he's doing better than any of us."
"Yes, but he's also reckless and stubborn and doesn't think before he acts," Amy argued. "One of these days, it's gonna get him killed."
I set my mouth into a straight line and looked ahead. It was true, and I did worry about him because of his ego and his urge to rush headlong into battle, but I also knew that his strong sense of justice would win over his impetuous behavior any day. He would die before he saw one of us dying.
"We're here," I said, stopping and landing on the inside of the barbed and electrified fences, setting Amy down, having carried her over. "We have to remain vigilant and stealthy."
Amy nodded. "Follow me, I know a way to get in." She headed off in the opposite direction of where we were supposed to go.
"Wait, that's not the plan—!" I called, but she was already gone. I had no choice but to follow her.
She lead me to the back of the base, near the loading docks. There were garages on each of the 3 stories of the building for Eggman's flying ships. This wing was used as an aerial craft hangar. I was about to round the corner when Amy pulled me back and subtly pointed toward the sky. One of the airships was landing, about to go in the first floor garage. The door slid open and the craft rolled inside. I figured out what Amy was thinking and followed her through the open door just before it closed. We didn't notice the cameras that watched the entrances to the hangar.
Amy lead me behind some giant fuel tanks. From here we could see the entire room. It took up the entire wing of the building and all three floors were one, so the ships could land on different pads throughout the station, the ceiling as high as the roof. Maintenance robots hovered around, fixing up and refueling the hovercrafts. We had to duck behind the fuel tank to avoid them.
"What now?" I hissed.
Amy hushed me and peeked above the tank. Then she ducked back down and discretely moved a cart in front of us.
"There are some maintenance bots taking these carts out to other wings of the base to get supplies and parts," she explained in a whisper. "We can crawl in the carts and get a ride closer to the main part of the building."
"Why couldn't we just use the air vents like we were supposed to?" I asked.
"I heard a rumor that they were compromised," Amy said.
"How do you know all this?" I asked.
"One of the other teams of Freedom Fighters scouted out the base, remember?" she said. "Sally gave us access to the files."
"Oh," I said. I hadn't taken the time to look through the files, I had focused on the plan given to us and worked on my X-Tornado in my free time, which had been damaged in the last battle we were in.
Amy looked up again. "Oh shoot, one's coming!" she hissed. We both crawled into the storage cupboard in the cart, a tarp and cabinet door covering us. We left the door slightly open so we could see where we were going and could make a quick escape if need be. I could hear the sound of the robot's joints and its processing unit as it walked up to us. Then the cart began to move. The robot took us to the exit of the wing, where it had to stop.
"State location," a robot guard at the door said. Its voice was different from the standard maintenance and defense bots, so curiosity lead me to peek out. I covered my mouth to keep my gasp from being heard. A roboticized fox stood at the door. I couldn't tell if it was anyone I knew, which was even more jarring. Amy pulled me back into the cart to keep from being seen.
"Supply Room A," the maintenance bot replied.
"Proceed," the roboticized fox gestured us along. The cart began to move again.
I was still shaken from what I had seen. Amy placed her hand on my knee reassuringly, giving me a sympathetic half smile, even though she hadn't been able to see what I saw.
"You okay?" she mouthed to me.
I swallowed hard and nodded. I couldn't let it get to my head. We had a job to do. I'd have to tell Sonic about it later. He'd care. He and I would come up with a plan to locate and rescue all of the roboticized Mobians. We'd find our parents. We'd be happy. I leaned against the back of the cupboard we sat in, letting the thought relax me.
After a few minutes, the cart unexpectedly came to a stop. I was nearly thrown on top of Amy, but caught myself before I did.
"Dr. Eggman!" the robot who had been pushing the cart exclaimed.
"E-15269," an all-too-familiar voice said. "Where are you taking this cart?"
"Supply Room A," the robot said, just as he had told the roboticized guard.
"I see," Eggman said. I felt him place a hand on the cart and could tell he was leaning on it due to the creaking of the wheels. "Redirect this cart to my control room. It carries some cargo that I'm...rather interested in."
Amy and I exchanged panicked looks. He knew we were here.
"How?" I mouthed. My heart was pounding so loud I was terrified Eggman would be able to hear it.
Amy just put a finger to her lips. She looked like she was trying hard to remain composed, but her eyes were anxious.
"Affirmative," the robot said, and the cart began to move again.
"We have to get out of here," Amy whispered in the quietest tone she could manage.
I nodded, but in truth I had no idea how we would get out without being seen. I could hear Eggman's heavy gait on the left side of the cart, where the doors were. Suddenly, I got an idea. I took the bag off my shoulder and shuffled around in it, searching for something. Amy gave me a bewildered and scared look, as if I were an idiot for making even the smallest noise. I took out a tiny, silver ball, no bigger than a marble, and set it by the right wall of the cupboard. After pressing a small button on its back, a miniature spider robot came to life. Its spindly legs unfolded from its body, and I couldn't help but admire my own intricate craftsmanship. Spinning blades were revealed on its underside, and it started crawling vertically on the surface of the cupboard. The razor-sharp and paper-thin blades made clean cuts in the metal, and while tiny sparks flew from it every once in a while, it was very quiet work besides a small whirring sound.
"Here we are," Eggman said from outside the cart, which came to a stop. I bit my lip, hearing little beeps where he pressed in the code to unlock the door to his control room. The spider bot finished its work and it curled back up into its little ball. I smiled and placed it back in the bag. Amy quickly and quietly removed the rectangular, cut panel the spider had made and pulled it inside the cart. I let her go first so she could fight if we were spotted. She carefully moved the tarp covering us and crawled out, crouching beside the cart. She gestured for me to follow, and I did so, crouching beside her. We glanced at Eggman, who was standing before the door to his control room, which slid open. Then, we ran.
We ran down the hall, taking the first turn we found. We didn't hear any shouting, signifying we got away. Amy and I looked at each other and laughed as we ran. We darted down various hallways, navigating according to maps we had memorized long before coming. We found a window and I took out a screwdriver I always kept with me, then used it to carefully unscrew the metal frame to remove the glass. We placed the pane of glass on the ground outside the square opening. Then, I gave Amy a boost by hooking my fingers together, creating a foothold. She stepped up and climbed through the window. She gave me a hand up and I followed her, dropping onto the pavement. Without hesitating, I picked her up and flew off over the electric fence and to the shack where we were supposed to regroup.
"We better call HQ and tell them we failed," Amy sighed regretfully when I landed by the small wooden hideout. "Do you have our comlinks?"
I nodded. "Hang on, I left them in my bag—" I froze, cutting myself off..
"What?" Amy asked.
"The bag is gone!" I felt my chest ferverishly, as if that would make it reappear.
"What?!" she cried.
"I must've left it in the cart...in the rush to get out..." I said, breathless.
"We can't go back for them," Amy said. "Eggman already knew we were there, we'd be walking into a death trap. We'll go back to HQ and plan what to do next."
I swallowed and nodded, a hard knot in my chest. I had jeopardized the mission after trying so hard to stick with the plan. Amy smiled at me reassuringly and put a hand on my shoulder.
"It's alright, we all make mistakes," she said, trying to cheer me up. "When we get home, I'll tell you about all the times I messed up on a mission!"
"Thanks, but that doesn't make me feel any better," I said, but smiled all the same.
Amy just shrugged. "Worth a shot," she said, and started to lead me back toward the plane. We hadn't gone ten feet when a shot was fired directly in front of us and several robots appeared, barricading the way, having descended from a large airship above us that had reflective panels to camouflage it. We gasped and stumbled back, then took off at a sprint the other way, but another group of robots blocked us off at the last second. We were surrounded.
"Well, wasn't that touching," a voice said, and Eggman came forward in his Egg Mobile. He grinned behind his bushy mustache, and his glasses shined. "You did quite a good job, Tails, leaving this for me to find." He held up a faded, brown shoulder bag.
"Ah!" I cried out in shock.
"This only confirmed my suspicions that you two were here, and now you're within my grasp," Eggman said triumphantly. "I can use you to my advantage!"
Suddenly, everything exploded into action. Robots began firing blasts set to stun, and Amy took our her giant mallet and began pounding on the robots, hindering their fire. I took out my own ray gun that I had luckily kept with me and began firing at the mechs, aiming for critical components.
"Struggle is futile. Your Freedom Fighter friends will discover you're missing, and I'll bet my mustache that Sonic will be the one to come find you," Eggman spoke while we fought. "And when he does, I'll be sure it'll be the last time he sees either of you."
"No!" I cried. Shocked and distracted, I looked at him, only to get shot in the back by a sleep-inducing bullet. Eggman started laughing as it took effect, causing me to collapse.
"Tails!" Amy cried, only to be shot down beside me. I saw her hammer fall out of her hands just as my eyes shut.
I was walking. The forest was thick around me like a blanket, but I was still cold. It was dark, after twilight, and the forest was disturbingly quiet. No animals made a sound, no birds chirping in the trees. All I could hear was the whistling wind, which unexplainably didn't move the leaves.
I followed a worn trail through the forest, unsure where I was going. I counted on this trail, worn and narrow, to lead me. I stumbled every so often on a fallen branch or a tree root, only focusing on the road ahead. Then, as I rounded a bend, I saw something. A faint blue shape, partially hidden by the trees, stood out from the green and brown. I recognized the color, the fur, as that of my brother and friend.
"Sonic!" I shouted, and began to ran off the path to reach him. Sticks and twigs whipped my face, tangling my fur, catching on my tails, but I didn't stop. As I got closer, I finally noticed the sounds, like a faraway nightingale or a distant owl, and the faint gurgling of water. But the leaves were still unmoved, though the wind blew. I didn't stop running until I broke out of the trees and brambles to reach a stream. Kneeling down, with his back to me, was my friend. He had his head down, as if he were praying, mourning. If he heard me, he didn't show it. Not even a twitch of his ear gave him away.
"Sonic…?" I asked tentatively, approaching him slowly. My feet crunched the fallen leaves on the ground. I looked up. In this area, all the trees were bare, having shed their leaves, but through the spindly branches I could see that trees beyond them were the green of summer against the night sky. Sonic still didn't move. "Hey, can you hear me? It's me, Tails...your friend?"
All sounds of the forest, even the constant wind, silenced.
"Tails is dead," Sonic spoke, but it didn't sound like him, a voice too deep, yet it still sounded familiar. Sonic slowly rose, and I could now see that he had been kneeling beside a non-Mobian, non-anthropomorphic fox, which lay dead by the stream, its front soaked with blood as if it had been shot. It had two tails.
"What do you...mean?" I asked, taking a cautious step back. "I'm right here…"
"Tails is DEAD!" Sonic shouted, and his fur turned black. His quills were raised, as only they were when he held extreme power. His eyes glowed white against the darkness, his irises gone in his rage. I had only seen this form once before, when he had given up all rationality to protect me in a vicious fight against Eggman. The dark aura, the harshness of his whole demeanor unnerved me.
"Sonic, calm down!" I shouted, backing away. "It's me, I'm right here! I'm not dead, I'm your friend!"
Sonic slowly turned his head and looked at me, a sinister look in his empty white eyes. Then he disappeared, and before I could even blink, he was directly in front of me, staring me down. I recoiled as he seemed to tower over me.
"You are not my friend," he said in a low, shaking voice, almost directly in my ear, and the words chilled me to the bone. Then he raised his hand, and brought it down on my head.
I woke with a start, my head throbbing. I had a fierce headache, probably from hitting my head when I fell or the blast I had been knocked out with. My cheeks felt wet, and I realized I had been crying. I tried reaching up to wipe my tears away, only to find that my hands were tied fast to my sides. I bent my head to wipe my face on my shoulders. "Amy…?" I asked quietly.
"I'm here, are you alright?" Amy asked from behind me. We were tied back to back with a thick cable that neither of us could break. The cable would hold even Knuckles down.
I sighed with relief at hearing her voice. "Yeah, I'm fine," I said. I looked around. It was almost completely dark in the room we were in besides strips of moonlight from high, barred was a rectangle of fluorescent light that illuminated the floor; a doorway. The light provided only reached far enough to give me the faint glint of metal armor, the gleam of a gun, and several standing robots. They stood still, like poised dolls on a collector's shelf. Fear built up in me as I got an overwhelming sense of danger, as if I could've been staring down the barrel of a blaster at that moment. I also had the creeping feeling that we were being watched.
"Were you crying?" Amy asked. She didn't sound disgusted or weirded out, only curious. But I still denied it.
"N-no!" I said. "I just...had a bad dream."
"Me too," Amy sighed.
My ears perked. "Did it involve Sonic…?"
She hesitated. "Yeah, but he wasn't...himself. He was—"
"Sshh, I hear something," I whispered, cutting her off. I strained my ears to listen. Faintly, and gradually getting louder, I could hear footsteps. Fast footsteps.
"Sonic," I whispered. I took a breath to shout, but I stopped when I saw a blue blur rush past the door. I heard skidding, and slower footsteps as Sonic, my friend Sonic, a normal Sonic, moonwalked back to the entrance of the room. The light behind him made him a silhouette, but I would recognize him anywhere.
"Hel-looo?" Sonic's all-too-welcome voice said, echoing off the large room.
Simultaneously, Amy and I let out a breath we didn't know we held in the most desperate, yet most relieved shout we could make. "SONIC!"
The sound of our scream was much more than we expected. We sounded like tortured animals, screaming with the last ounce of our will for help. All that built up terror, all that grief, had creeped into our voices and sounded like an alarm. Sonic noticed it too. I could tell from the way he stood rigidly, as if paralyzed by our screams. Maniacal, triumphant laughter followed our plea, echoing throughout the chamber. Light flooded the room, and I saw that I really was staring down the barrel of a robot's blaster, and my heart tightened in my chest.
Sonic's eyes widened at seeing us in danger, and he began to run forward, and when he reached a certain spot, he activated a pressure plate that shot up a half-cylinder of glass from the floor around him. He nearly ran into the glass and stumbled back, practically falling against the metal backing to the half-tube. The top had sealed itself off with another metal casing, completely enclosing him. I could see the frustration in his face as we became unreachable.
"Let them go, Eggman," Sonic said tersely, his fists clenched. I looked at Sonic, scared for his—and our own—safety.
"Not just yet," Eggman said. I turned my head to see him standing behind a wall of glass, grinning eagerly. He had control panels and machines that lined the wall behind him, meant to command our execution. "I'm conducting a little experiment." He strode over to the closest machine, and it dawned on all of us what he was going to do. I looked at Sonic, terrified, pleading with my eyes for him to somehow help us.
"No!" Sonic shouted, backing up against the wall of the containment unit. Before he could lunge for the glass, metal shackles slid out of the back wall and fastened his wrists and ankles, preventing him from moving. He began to thrash and struggle, trying to desperately reach us, and the anguish, the anxiety on my brother's face, who was braver than any of the people in the room put together, was jarring. "Don't you dare!"
I heard the click of a button being pushed.
The robots came to life. They began firing rounds at us, and Amy and I screamed, cringing away from the shots that would surely hit us.
"NO!" I heard Sonic shout. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him snap the metal bands and stumble, but he spin-dashed and shattered the glass at the last second. Then, my head snapped upwards. A piercing pain lit my insides like fire. Shot. I slumped forward, and I saw red. My blood, staining my fur and covering me in a crimson blanket. I tried to say Sonic's name, to say something to him, but my mouth filled with the blood. My vision began to go white, and I knew there was nothing to bring me back, nothing to heal me. Faintly, as if through a tunnel, I heard Sonic scream my name, a grievous, impassioned scream, and then everything went white.
If only I realized the pain and chaos my death would cause.
((Daaaaaang. Tails is dead again. *deep breath* After watching the first episode of Sonic Boom the cartoon (Sonic Toon for you Japanese folk) where Tails got hurt and Sonic got sentimental and stuff, I feel like I could've made Sonic's reaction to his death a lot more...well, intense. I wish I could go back and rewrite the first few chapters of this story, because I don't like how Sonic is written with all his weird mood swings from cocky to determined to whiny to angry to sad to cocky AND angry and UGH.
Speaking of Sonic Boom, I feel bad for all you people who have to wait another year to see it. Let me tell you that the first two episodes at least are AWESOME, in my opinion.
Anyway, PLEASE review! I'm so close to 100 reviews, and I will be so happy when I reach that! Thank you all for supporting me, I love you all. :) Holy crap, 4.3k words. LONGEST CHAPTER EVER. Anyway, stay tuned to my other stories and I'll see you guys in the next chapter!))
~SonicTheHedgehog-Nerd