Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognized characters or gameplay patterns within this fanfiction. Sonic the Hedgehog, Tails, Eggman, Blaze, and all related characters of such are owned by SEGA. All original character's are owned by me, unfortunately.

Exalt 12.2

Blaze hadn't realized that the ring that Spark had picked up wouldn't protect against mental attacks. Then again, had she ever really had to defend against them in the past? Not as much, as far as she remembered. Oh, she had to defend against physical attacks without a problem, but mental ones?

The only thing she could recall is her own attacks on herself when she realized she was either the primordial spirit of fire, Solaris, reborn or as the jailer of.

"Now, of course, I do desire a bit of entertainment before the main show. I think in this case, a bit of a...how shall we say, a tournament. Winner gets to go free...or a wish of their design," Lightning commented, one hand making small circles in the air as if he hadn't planned all of this.

"A...tournament?" Blaze asked, her eyebrow raising high. "And why would we agree to that?" she finished, knowing that they had a poor hand this time around. They were already surrounded, and it was...she needed to run.

"It's quite simple. There's ten of them, two of you. And one of me, I suppose. First the caller fights, then the channeler. Then back to the caller. Call it...for my amusement, if you need to," Lightning said, his eyes lighting up silver. The Tides wanted this? Or whomever was controlling Lightning, at least, wanted it. Or maybe it was him, and he was just making his eyes flash because he wanted to. Knowing Lightning, it could very well be both.

"Yes, that sounds good to me. Obsidian, you're up first. Against the caller. Give me a good show, yes?" Lightning said, his hands slowly stroking on the idol. It flashed a dull silver, and Blaze had another idea. Was he being controlled by this world's versions of the Chaos Emeralds? Actually, could they do that? She knew the Sol Emeralds couldn't. The Chaos Emeralds might be able to, though. She really would have to talk with Knuckles about the difference of their gems, see if they couldn't come up with some kind of theory about all of it.

A sapient black bear with a large black shirt came out into the middle of the circle. He had green eyes, and a large scar that went down his neck where fur no longer grew. He was growling low, and in an instant the sand was transformed to level area. "Spark, get back, then. I guess we're doing this. I don't see any other way out," Blaze said. The vixen nodded, small sparks shooting down into the new earth underneath them.

"Ha ha, yes, give me a show. Thank you, Granite, for the field," Lightning said, staring at a nearby cougar. She nodded, taking a step back.

Obsidian hunched his back, pulling out small stones and coagulating them around his fists. Blaze stared; he was a terrakinetic, but he seemingly forgot that she was, first and foremost, fast. He smashed his rock-covered fists into the new stone underneath them as he landed, jumping towards her. She ducked to the left, flashing out with a spear of fire.

The fire didn't seem to burn his fur any, but it did seem to get him riled up. His strikes were slow, but thick and heavy with force. If even one hit, she was going to be in trouble. But she didn't particularly want to fight, and saw no need to not stretch out the fight as much as she could. After all, either the Tides would end them sooner, or Tails would be able to take care of it. After that, it would become more of a game to try and get home. Maybe she'd be able to reach the Sol Emeralds, force open a transdimensional portal.

Or maybe taking a Special Zone teleportal ring would end up taking them back to their respective worlds. At which point, she'd have to take one of those Terra Stones away from Lightning...and figure out how to open a Special Zone portal...and direct it...in the time that it took him to realize she stole it...

Alright, she hadn't had time to plan. She ducked another strike, spinning around quickly as the bear tried to hug again. She let out a small kick, not surprised as it hit his fur and did...nothing. "Are you scared yet, caller? Obsidian is one of my Hunters for a reason. He will never bow down to anyone except me!" Lightning taunted.

"Do you ever shut up?" Blaze asked, glaring at him. He seemed taken aback by that, but smirked as the bear let out a loud roar, calling upon spires of pointed rock, pointing straight at her heart.

Blaze ran forward, straight through the maze of rock. She jumped onto his back, sliding down the rest of his neck before she jumped off again, pushing him down onto the spires. They were pointed away from him, so there was no danger of him accidentally impaling himself. She had yet to make any effort to actually finish the fight. Her hope laid in Tails' hands. All she could do is stall for time they didn't have.

Lightning raised an eyebrow. "Hm...a thought. This is taking longer than anticipated. Caller, if you don't either die or finish the fight soon, the vixen will soon lose her mind. You have three minutes before I start," the panther said quietly.

Obsidian let out an obnoxious roar again. Spark yelled out, "Don't worry about me, Blaze. Just take him out and take your time!"

Lightning's eyes focused on her, but he had to duck as Blaze threw another spear of flame at his head. "I'm not part of this fight!" he called out. "Do that again and I'll make it a minute!"

"Or I'll just keep attacking the both of you and claim it's an accident," Blaze retorted in common. She had to end this quick then, but the bear was mostly muscle. He didn't seem to react to any of her attacks. There went her plan of stalling.

So she had to be a bit more...brutal, than normal. Ugh...she wasn't looking forward to that. Obsidian charged at her again, this time coating his feet with rock and using them to essentially glide on the surface. She pulled out a rapier out of fire, hoping that they wouldn't notice the one at her belt, and quickly ducked, swiping at the back of his legs. She got his ankle, and the air smelled of blood instantly. Her other strike got the back of his knee, and he fell to the ground in pain.

He may have been able to ignore the fire, but he wasn't able to ignore the fact that his ankle and knee had just been slashed with a seemingly physical weapon.

She spun around as he reflexively tried to hit her with one of the rock covered hands, getting another strike with her flame rapier against his elbow. He glanced at his other hand before slamming his palm into the ground, hundreds of stone spikes emanating from the floor. Blaze was already in the air, jumping onto his back, forcing him downwards again.

"Give. You're dead now, or if you will be if you keep continuing to fight," Blaze said, less than thirty seconds after Lightning had given her the ultimatum. As powerful as the bear was, and he was a pretty strong terrakinetic, make no mistake, she was simply...better.

The worst part was she knew it. And Obsidian knew she knew it. The bear let out a low growl. "Fine. I give," he said, his voice deep and menacing.

Blaze jumped off of him, letting him start to stand up before a bolt of lightning suddenly hit his chest. He collapsed instantly, his once lit eyes slowly going out. "Why!?" Blaze shouted, turning to Lightning.

His silver eyes stood out. "Because a weapon that refused to listen to its owner is a worthless one. And no one of Ikan'Thoa is worthless. No one alive, that is. No more of this 'giving in' nonsense. All fights are to the death," Lightning pronounced.

The remaining nine soldiers didn't seem to be too worried, as if they were already aware of what failing was going to do. Blaze didn't understand it; together they could easily overpower Lightning, so why would they follow him!? Especially when he treated them like trash? Admittedly, some were being controlled. Like Fern, the coyote next to the panther. How many of the others were also being controlled in a similar way?

"And now for the vixen. Hmm...Aqua, you," Lightning said. Another of the soldiers, a small female lizard with a blue sash nodded slowly, and walked into the center of the ring. "Now I hope we get a good example. Out of either of you."

Spark nodded, and drew the longsword as she passed by Blaze. "Be safe, don't drop the ring," Blaze muttered quietly in common under her breath as she passed. Spark's ears twitched, but no one else seemed to notice her statement.

The battle started instantly, as if there was invisible timer that Blaze didn't know about. The lizard brought out a small metal staff, about her own size in height, and started to parry all of Spark's strikes with ease. The vixen was moving like a soul possessed. Each strike with the sword was aimed for a vital area. How she knew to do that already, Blaze wasn't sure. It wasn't as if they had done any actual training with the sword. And as much as Blaze knew, she was no competent teacher. She preferred to do, not to teach.

The sounds and strikes of their parries carried throughout the platform. Whenever one would give up the offensive, the other would take it without a word, without any screeching or growling. The entire battle was almost silent, except for the clanging of the two metal weapons.

"You've improved, channeler," Lightning commented idly. "Especially as last time Strike told me you tried to hit him, you...what was the term? Ended up on the floor mewling in pity?"

The soldiers around the two battlers laughed, but neither of the two inside the ring seemed to break out a smile. Blaze's eyes narrowed as she noticed something off about Aqua's staff; it wasn't balanced like a normal staff. It was as if it was filled-

"Spark, the staff! It's-"

"I know, Blaze!" Spark yelled out, parrying another strike. She was moving as fast as she could, Blaze was thinking. Maybe that was the difference between a warrior of Ikan'Thoa and one of these 'Hunters'. Spark already knew there was something off, and was already taking into account. Based on the name, and the weapon, it was likely filled with water that the Hunter was manipulating on the inside, making her strikes quicker and harder to hit. Spark was doing a remarkable job not doing any channeling at all though, based on the amount of sparks emanating from her body.

"As entertaining as this is, I may have to call it soon. I'm expecting a report from the other two. They should be back with the fox's body by now. Or if not, at least an update on how badly broken he is," Lightning stated simply, as if it was merely common sense that Tails would die to them.

Sparks' strikes immediately got rougher, and Blaze realized just how badly it rattled her. Blaze knew that Spark carried a torch for him, had for a long time, but was trying to undo the damage to her own head, to her own soul, before trying anything. It was remarkably mature, considering Spark's age. But comments like that? They'd probably set off Blaze, let alone Spark.

The spark's in her arms disappeared, and the blade turned yellow.

Aqua immediately stopped trying to parry, trying to dodge now. But it seemed that all Spark had to do was hit with the sword, it didn't matter if it was blocked or not, before she'd be able to do something.

The lizard was pushed to the very edge of the platform, desperately trying to parry one last block as Spark shot forward with the sword, knocking her weapon aside. In the same movement, she used her claws to tear down the lizard's face and sash, leaving a bloody scar on her torso.

One last swing of the electrified blade, and the lizard's body was pierced all the way through. Spark stood there, holding the sword through her, as she panted heavily. She looked towards Lightning. "To the death, you wanted," Spark said, surprisingly calmly. "I hope this one leads to yours."

Lightning seemed nonchalant about being threatened by her, even with the brutal method of her opponents death. "Hmm. You've picked up new tricks. Oh well. There's always more," Lightning shrugged.

-Side T-

Tails stood at the wall of the lonely mountain, staring at the pillar of warm air that sat at the bottom. "Alright, this is looking more and more like a desperate attempt to keep me from doing what I need to do," Tails said aloud. He steeled his heart as the lightning went off again.

He charged forwards, spinning his tails at the same time as he jumped into the pillar of warm air. He wasn't surprised at all when it pushed him upwards, accelerating quicker and quicker the farther he went. It didn't have a lot of pressure, and within half a minute was swiftly slowing him down. He still had enough height to clear the first hurdle, the giant wall. Dozens of canyons and ravines burst into his view, with the lonely mountain directly above him. Small raindrops dipped onto his nose, and the entire place smelled of ash, dust, and death.

For once, the colors seemed fairly normal though. The sky was grey, the sun was a brilliant white, for all that he could see it through the massive storm overhead. The rocks were a dull brown and grey, a mix of iron and granite, and dozens of other stone types that he wished he knew off the top of his head.

He glanced down at his Charger, pulling it out of his pocket. He had exactly one charge left. He'd have to save it for the Tides themselves. He put it away, pulling out the Miles Electric from his bail-bag.

Less than five percent battery left. It hadn't been able to charge for a while. "I wonder if Spark would have been able to charge it? Her electricity is a bit more random than the DC power I'm used to using for this, or the type that comes from the solar generator...a question to ask later. Or never, if I fail," Tails asked aloud. He wasn't expecting anyone to answer him, and the reigning silence proved him right.

He rolled his shoulders, putting the Miles Electric back as soon as he put it back onto power saving mode. He zipped up the bail-bag, ensuring that it would remain watertight, or close to it.

His goal was above him, far above him. He waited for only a moment, taking care to try to path a solid way to get to the top without hurting himself.

He surged forward, his feet not touching the solid rock underneath him as he jumped into another wind tunnel. This one pushed him sideways, and he grabbed onto the sides of the canyon easily, slowly climbing over to the next one, just below where he landed. That one sent him downwards, but towards a path that he could barely see from his original position. He ducked underneath a rock that was jutting out, eager to smack him in the head, as he tried to keep the speed.

He jumped into another one, sending him flying up. It wouldn't bring him too high, but it brought him into the path of a second, this one angled into the walls. He spun his tails, using the speed to maneuver his flight. He soared against the wall of the canyon, only occasionally using the walls themselves to push himself up faster.

The rocks ahead of him let out a small groan, and his eyes widened as he saw a good dozen of his size fall towards him. He flew to the side immediately, grabbing onto the side of the canyon as he waited for the last ones to pass him by.

Another wind tunnel had opened up, and Tails dove into it with a solid jump. This one pushed him straight across the ravine, into the path of another angled tunnel. This one shot him straight into the path of a rock bridge, almost too quick for him to take into account. He slammed into the rocks, and let out a muffled "Ow." He was still feeling the wind push at his fur and tails, and he pushed himself away from the rock.

He spun his tails, gently lifting himself from the rock face. The wind was strong enough to keep him pushed against it, but it wasn't strong enough to keep him there, and he slowly climbed out of the wind tunnel.

He could tell the instant he got out of it, as he shot upwards far too quickly, almost losing control of where he was...and smacking his head into the rock bridge right above him. "Alright, so I get this place has it out for me. But can it at least make it its fault instead of mine?" he complained as he flew out of the rock bridge's shadow, landing on top of quietly.

Despite the amount of flying he'd already done, it was as if he hadn't gone far at all. Far underneath and below him, he could see the ground, and where he'd started. And far above him, he could see w hat he hoped was his end goal. He gave off a quiet sigh before he steeled himself again, spinning his namesakes as he flew into another wind tunnel. This one sent him towards the canyon's edge, and he attempted his best to emulate Sonic and Blaze by using its speed to run alongside the rock's face.

More rocks started to fall from above him, and he jumped off to the side, using his tails to catch himself. The other side of the ravine also started to grumble, and Tails braced himself as another wind tunnel showed up out of there.

Rocks pelted into his fur, and it pushed him all the way to the way to the other one, the one he'd jumped to avoid. Rocks got blown into his back as the tunnels coalesced into a single tunnel, each one pushing against each other.

Tails was pushed straight to the center, and he flew a bit harder, hoping to use the mixed currents to create a miniature tornado. The wind currents mixed exactly as he hoped, but rather than create a tornado, or even a miniature version thereof, they swirled and mixed, creating an area of air pressure far higher than the air above him.

He realized his mistake a moment later as he shot upwards far faster than he'd anticipated. "Oh dear gods...!" he yelled as he stopped his tails spinning, keeping up his upwards velocity. It took a few moments, almost half a minute, before he started to feel himself fall, and he caught himself, moving over to the top of the ravine. There were dozens of other canyons and rock bridges, but he'd come at least halfway up the mountain by now.

"Death to the betrayer!" a voice yelled out from behind him in Ikan'Thoan. Tails blinked, turning around as a wolf with blazing red fur charged at him, his hand covered in fire. He was wearing a baggy shirt, something closer to a tunic than anything, and he had a lot of scars on his hands and arms.

Tails jumped backwards, making sure that the fire-infused fist didn't get anywhere near his chest or head. "Um...do I know you?" he asked, tails spinning as he took to the air.

The wolf looked up at him, his eyes narrowing. "Probably not, fake channeler, but Lightning himself has chosen you for death," he announced.

Tails' blinked. "Lightning? He's here? How!? Last I saw of him he was running from Blaze! Because, you know, we burned everything down...in hindsight, not the best idea."

"I'm glad that your 'hindsight' is clear. It was not an idea at all. You may have sparked the revolution, but it's leaders are still fully under Lightning's wrathful watch! And now you, too, shall end under mine!"

"You uh...you got a name?" Tails asked, landing quietly. "And I'm currently in the process of doing something that would help everyone out, so if you can just...not? That'd be...nice."

"My name is Loca! And I care not to know yours, Exception!" the wolf, newly named Loca, said as he charged, covering his hands with fire.

"That's nice. I'm Miles, but you can call me Tails. By the way, this is really bad place to fight," Tails said as ducked under one strike, spindashing to avoid the inevitable downward strike. He thought about turning and spinning to attack, but decided against it. He didn't want to accidentally knock Loca down the cliffs. Tails would survive, thanks to that ability to fly, but the wolf would not.

"Are you scared of a little fall, Exception!?" Loca said, putting both fists together and creating a small whip of fire. It was a small stream, as if it was a flamethrower.

Tails jumped backwards just as the ground he was at was scorched black. "You can't fight me, Exception. It was always the other that fought. You though...you never did. You don't fight. You can't. You're too weak!" Loca taunted.

"Right...look, I'm just trying to go home. Can you uh...just let me pass?"

"Lightning forbids it!"

"Lightning forbids a lot of things he shouldn't," Tails commented as he put his back to the ravine's wall. He had no way of going around Loca, which meant his only way was go through...or go up.

Lightning struck again at the top of the mountain, freezing him in place. "The Exception is afraid of his own element? How delightfully pathetic!" Loca said, coming in for another charge.

He...he wasn't pathetic. It was natural, to be afraid of lightning. To be afraid of thunder, especially with hearing as sensitive as his. But he knew he was no good in an actual fight. He was, as Shadow had put it the one time the black hedgehog had watched him fight, an opportunistic fighter. He pried open weaknesses and made them glaring for others to capitulate on.

Tails turned and climbed up the wall, shimmying up it as if it was an actual wall designed for climbing. His hands and feet found the cracks easy, expanding them just slightly as he used them as leverage. It was good that he was as quick as he was, especially as Loca made another of that flamethrower type attack, burning and singing the wall in his attempts to kill the two tailed fox.

Tails got up reasonably high, nearly twenty or thirty feet up, before he felt safe. He turned so his back was against the wall, and he gave a smirking salute as he jumped off of it, flying well over the wolf's head, even as the wolf tried to snipe him with fireballs.

But Tails was an expert flyer, and that was without needing an airplane. "Alright, that was fun, but now if you'll excuse me, I have to go!" Tails shouted, giving a small bow after he landed. Loca was obviously infuriated, but Tails didn't care. He spun up his tails, letting them carry him towards another of the wind tunnels. He ducked to the left and right as more of the fireballs came after him, some of them almost homing in their ability.

He looked behind him, seeing the red-furred wolf was hot on his heels, running with all fours for greater speed. Tails rolled his eyes. He may not be Blaze, who was capable of mach one on a whim, but he was the sidekick to the fastest thing alive. One could only live while learning only so little for so long.

He jumped off the cliff, into the tunnels of the wind on the side, heading for the nearest rock bridge. He had to time this right; if he was an instant late the ruse would be done. He threw himself underneath the rock bridge, going as far as he could away from the wolf. He also stopped his signature flight, grabbing onto the rocks to be silent.

"And now the Exception is suicidal! Easiest target of my life!" Loca cheered as he looked over the cliff's edge. Tails watched from under the rock bridge, his eyes glued to the red furred form as Loca's mouth turned into a frown. "No body. I'll have to check the bottom to make sure," Loca muttered, Tails using his own exceptional hearing.

Tails was still, at his heart, afraid to hurt someone. And he knew he could, he'd done it before, but right now, his goal was to get to the Blooming Tides. He waited only a few seconds after hearing the wolf turn around and start to find a way to climb down. Tails flew back up the rock bridge after another moment, ensuring that Loca wouldn't be able to see him even if he did turn around. The wolf was gone, and Tails snuck into another wind tunnel, letting this one carry up farther up the cliff's edge.

...I may have been watching a Zelda Wink Waker speedrun when writing Tails' section. Maybe.

Until Next Time!