Chapter 7: Behind Enemy Lines
It had been a week.
One week, exactly, since Tails disappeared without a trace. There was no sign of forced entry to his home, and all of his belongings were exactly as they were before hand. It was if he had simply got up and left.
A whole week he had been missing, and Sonic was at his wits end. He was worried out of his mind for the fox, though he knew that Tails could handle himself quite well. He was worried because he had left no note, had given no notice that he would be gone.
Tails was like a brother to him, and it worried him that he didn't know where he was.
"C'mon, little buddy… Where are you?"
He was staring at the monitors in front of him, worriedly gnawing on the tip of his index finger. He was seated in front of one of Eggman's large computer systems. Even the evil genius himself was worried about the young fox, mostly because he presented an intellectual rival that he'd never had before. As such, he and Sonic had formed an uneasy alliance to search for him.
"Seriously…." Sonic murmured, "Where are you little guy?"
"His absence is quite disturbing, is it not?"
Sonic jumped, "Shadow?!"
The dark hedgehog nodded.
Sonic took a deep breath, "How did you find out he was gone?"
"Rogue is worried - she wants me to help you find him."
Sonic gave him a long look, then slowly nodded, "And do you intend to help?"
"Yes. I understand he probably means a lot to you."
Sonic nodded again, "Believe me, he does."
Shadow nodded as well. "I understand, then. I understand better than you might think."
The two of them sat down together and Sonic went back to studying the screens. This was going to take some time, he knew, and despite what others might've thought… he was a very patient hedgehog.
Shadow was, as well, but of course… everybody knew that about Shadow. He patiently stared at the screens and thought carefully. There wasn't a signal for Tails anywhere, yet….
A week.
Tails had been living with Mrothtar and training his abilities with the Master Jet for a week. Mrothtar already knew he had it, and seemed only too happy to let him train… And also give him two of the other Jets - he had given them to him as a gesture of peace and trust.
Tails had also met some of Mrothtar's other operatives - Melda, Jinji, Kiku, and Fang. Melda had power over all of them, including Tails, much to his displeasure.
Jinji, Kiku, and Fang all shared his distaste for Melda's higher position of power.
There was only one operative he hadn't met yet. Mrothtar's current Lieutenant, Ramku. Ramku was said to be the second most powerful hedgehog in the universe. As such, Tails thought it safe to assume that Sonic, Scourge, and Shadow (as they were a perfect match in strength as far as he was concerned) could easily take him out. Especially since, even though Sonic had never met Ramku or fought him, Tails knew for a fact that Sonic could take out armies of eggbots in moments without breaking a sweat. There was no way Ramku was more powerful than Sonic.
Sorry to tell ya, Ramku, but Sonic is much more powerful than you'll ever be.
Tails sent out a wave of Entropy energy at a practice dummy as he thought, watching as the energy sliced it cleanly in half. He didn't hear Mrothtar enter the room, but he heard him clap as the top of the dummy fell onto the floor.
"Very good, Tails. You are progressing very quickly. Most Guardians of the Entropy Jets can only levitate by this point in time…. And here you are, already using the power for combat. I am impressed."
It wasn't Mrothtar who had spoken. Tails turned to look, curious as to who the other person was.
A tall hedgehog stood at Mrothtar's side. He was a dark brown color, with the odd streak of bright green here and there… And his eyes were crimson. Not like Shadow's crimson, however, but a deep, burning crimson with lighter patches, like a fire reflected in a pool of blood. He had to be Ramku.
Out of courtesy, Tails nodded to him. "I aim to please."
"And please us thou dost, Tails." Mrothtar said. "Yonder hay and brown sack practicing body stood no chance against thee… And there is little doubt within me that any foe would fare no better."
Tails was still learning how to speak Old English, but it was getting easier, and that bit hadn't been too difficult. It was just… Frustrating that Mrothtar insisted upon using such outdated speech when everyone else spoke so plainly, although with varying accents and the occasional figure of speech from an earlier century.
"You flatter me, " Tails said, making sure he did, indeed, look flattered. "I've only been doing as you instructed me, sir."
"Thou hast a true sense of loyalty, fox. Tis a pity and a shame that your friends will eventually have to die by the hands of such a strong Guardian."
Before Tails could even start to look shocked, Mrothtar left. Ramku stood still and watched his commander leave before turning to Tails.
"You seem surprised, Tails. Could it be that Mrothtar forgot to inform you of his plans for you?" Ramku raised an eye ridge and slowly paced in a circle around Tails, "That's unfortunate. It would have been better had he told you right off the bat… Surely now you're quite hesitant to continue your training?"
Ramku's calm, calculated words seemed to encircle Tails like a tight bubble, the lilting English accent lulling his mind into something of a trance.
Tails shook his head to clear it. "No, I'm not." He said, though he had to admit, he really was, "If that's what it takes to embrace my true destiny, I'll send them all to their graves… Except, of course, for Knuckles. I'm sure there's no reason for me to kill another Guardian."
Ramku seemed impressed, and it was clear Tails had fooled him with his unshaking voice.
"So willing… Pity for your 'friends', I suppose. When Mrothtar and I get done with you, Tails… You'll be able to wipe your friends right off the face of the planet. It isn't necessary for you to kill them, of course… But cutting ties with your life is how he tests loyalty. I killed my brother to prove I was loyal…" Ramku trailed for a moment, "Melda, her boyfriend… Jinji, his grandfather… Kiku, his best friend and his aunt… And Fang…. His entire family. And if Mrothtar gave ranks for how close to them the person they killed had been, Fang would be in my position of power. And you, after you kill your friends…. Would outstrip even him. You'd be Mrothtar's right hand man. But it all depends on how you kill them. If you were to brutally torture and kill them, you would get a lower rank. He's all about secrecy. But if you suddenly wiped them off the face of the planet? You might still have a chance at being his right hand man."
The way Ramku's voice never raised in volume, never became any less cool and collected, unnerved Tails. This hedgehog couldn't possibly be normal… There had to be something wrong with him for him to never truly change the tone of his voice.
"Well, I'm not entirely sure I want to be his right hand man. As things are, once I've wiped out my friends, I could raise my Island back into the skies to float alongside Angel Island… I could truly become a Guardian." Tails said, truly meaning every word.
Ramku chuckled, cold and humorless. "You are not a warrior, that much is obvious. But it may serve you well to be a pacifist…"
"I'm not a pacifist." Tails said flatly as he turned back toward the training dummies, "I just want to do what I was born to do."
And it was true. That was really all he wanted. Power would only help him to protect the Jets. He didn't care about Mrothtar, or what the man might be doing with the other Jets. He'd get them all from Mrothtar eventually, one way or another, but for now he had to be patient. He was good at that.
"Be that as it may, fox…" Ramku said, his voice finally losing it's flat, cold tone and turning dark and dangerous, "Do not think of betraying us… Or you shall face me, and you will not live to tell about it."
"I came here to train my abilities so I can protect my Jets." Tails flatly replied, "And, dammit, I mean to do it." A blast of Entropy Energy punctuated his sentence and sent Ramku flying from the room, burn marks immediately forming.
With a flick of his wrist, Tails slammed the door shut without touching it.
He felt Ramku's enraged yelling more than heard it. It didn't surprise him, and he honestly didn't care. He felt his jets pulse.
Obviously they were pleased with the action.
He returned to his training.
Snow sighed, watching him through a small mirror she owned. It was, of course, enchanted, as all of her belongings were. She waved her hand over the glass and the scene changed to Sonic and Shadow again. They were still hard at work.
She didn't have the heart to tell them she knew where Tails was and what he was doing. She'd known from the moment he patched her up on Angel Island. She had felt the power of the Master Jet and had known what he had begun to do. He was achieving his destiny, whether he realized that or not. She only wished Sonic had not seen his reflection in the pool. It would have made this much easier to explain. But with the vision he had seen…
Deep down, Sonic already knew where Tails was. Snow could feel that he did, but he refused to accept that it could be true.
These poor children.
A/N: Please, review. It would make both me and Allie (Nerd of Camelot) very happy.