Sally Acorn and Sonic the Hedgehog slowly walked through the thin wooden door to Tails's bedroom…Rather glum expressions on both of their faces…The room had pretty much been stripped bare of the furniture to stop the fox's newfound…Problem from throwing them about…Only the bed was present and in that bed lay the fox himself…Sleeping like a log.
Bunnie was quietly standing over the fox's bed like a guardian angel or body guard…Affectionately running her organic hand through the sleeping fox's hair to make sure he remained calm and In the land of nod. Antoine himself watched from the corner of the room…One hand resting on the handle of his rapier in case anyone attempted to harm his wife or the fox.
"How is he?" Sally asked, concern lacing the tone of her voice…Her heart beating with sympathy for the poor fox she saw as a son.
"He's no longer throwing stuff around or tossing and turning in his sleep…Which is good…Thankfully he's quite the heavy sleeper, what with being able to rest through the furniture moving…" Bunnie said, her eyes darting from her friend and then back to the sleeping fox.
"I know, the little guy can sleep through almost anything…Honestly he's more like a cat than a fox at times…Either way though…These new…Problems of his are certainly very unique…His powers aren't too different than Chaos manipulation…However…I don't feel any chaos energy emanating from him…Whatever is causing the supernatural malarkey is coming from Tails and Tails alone." Sonic said, his hand gently stroking his chin as he looked down at the sleeping fox lost in thought.
"Well…That's not any good at all! That means that we can't just get rid of whatever it is with a few hours basking next to the Master Emerald…Whatever is wrong with Tails could be due to anything…We'll have to keep him here, it'll be too risky to take him out to battle Eggman…The poor little fuzzball could be a danger to himself…I don't want G.U.N to whisk him away and turn him into some science experiment!" Sally responded, growing visibly upset at the news.
Sonic however placed a hand on his visibly distressed girlfriends shoulder and said in a reassuring manner,
"Easy Sal…Nobody's gonna touch him. I'll make sure he stays here where he'll be safe and looked after, I swear this to ya…If anyone tries to hurt him when he's like this…They better hope they're faster than me." The hedgehog's voice growing darker and more ominous in the final sentence.
But despite the rather out of character moment for the blue speedster of Mobius, they all nodded in agreement at the proposition of taking care of the youngest member of the Freedom Fighters…And…It was a good time for an agreement too as from outside…A loudspeaker sounded out, a very familiar voice speaking from it.
The voice was loud…Pompous, boastful and held a very strong twinge of maniacal genius behind it…And it bellowed out through the loudspeaker,
"OHOHOHOHO! Greetings and salutations to you all Kingdom of Acorn! It is i! The great, wise and infinitely benevolent Dr Eggman! I shall make my demands very clear to all of you for we are swiftly losing the daylight!
I demand for the dissolution of the Monarchy of Acorn and for my wonderful self to be placed as head of state! If my demands are not met however, then I shall will great annoyance be forced to convert your weak and feeble Mobian bodies into more Robian slaves…That is of course…If the Freedom Fighters want to come out of hiding! AHAHAHAH!"
Sonic and Sally's face twisted with rage as they heard that…that…stupid, inconsiderate, monstrous, ham-fisted oaf come barging in at the worst possible moment like always…
"Oh for Chaos sake! Will he ever just quit it?! Especially now of all times?! Urghhhh…Right, Bunnie, Antoine, you two stay here and look after Tails alright? Me and Sonic will go out and deal with Eggman, that is an order okay?" Sally said, her voice loud and with the air of someone who was getting ready to brutalise another…
Both Bunnie and Antoine nodded, not letting their eyes off of Tails as he soundly slept away…Or…did he?
As Sonic and Sally both turned around to walk out of the bedroom and go and save Mobotropolis and the Kingdom…again…A very sleepy, fatigued and confused voice spoke…coming from the bed.
"Urrrggghhhh…Sally? Sonic?...Wha…What's happenin…Why does my room have no furniture anymore?...And why Is Eggman attacking again?..."
Both Freedom Fighters turned…Seeing their youngest member slowly begin to shift in his bed and sit up…His eyes half opened, displaying the young fox's fatigue…
Immediately they both rushed over to the fox's side and gently lay him down again on the bed, pulling the duvet up to the little fox's chest…Something that greatly confused the 9 year old,
"Huh? What are you guys doing I'm fine, I ca-"
"Nope, sorry little buddy…But you're gonna have to sit this one out until we can find out what's going on with you." Sonic said, his tone like that of an older brother informing their sibling on some important life lesson.
"What?! Why? I can help! It was just one accident…Please Sonic…I really wanna help!" Tails whined in response, his ears flattening against his head while making his baby blue eyes bulge, using his 'puppy eyes' to try and convince the two leaders of the Freedom Fighters to let him battle against their hated adversary…No matter what had happened earlier.
However Sally merely gave the fox a warm hug and gently cupped the fox's fuzzy cheek, gently grazing it with her thumb as she said in a more motherly tone,
"I know you want to Tails…But, at the moment, we're worried that if you go out there…You could end up hurting yourself…Or drawing Eggman's attention, none of us want that to happen…So it's best that you stay here okay sweetie?"
The little fox looked down…Sadness radiating from his small and skinny frame, he wanted to go out and fight Eggman…He wanted to do it oh so badly and show that he could play his part…He was usually allowed to do it nowadays…And now here he was, being barred from helping people because of that stupid incident that had happened earlier that afternoon…
"But Saaaally…"
"No buts this time Tails…Listen…This is just until we figure out what's going on with you…I promise we'll be right back…Aunt Bunnie and Uncle Antoine will be right here for you, I promise." The royal responding, placing a small kiss on the fox's forehead before turning her tail and moving to leave the room, giving one last affectionate look to the fox before exiting with her speedy partner in crime…
Tails gave a glum look as his bedroom door closed, feeling left out and lonely, despite the fox's family still being present in the room with him, Bunnie being the first to speak as she gently ruffled the fox's bangs,
"Hey, it's alright suga' fox. They'll be back in a couple of hours tops! Besides, it's only Egg-face…They'll have no trouble at all! I know it sucks that you're not allowed to get involved like you usually are…But this is for your own good…Now, how would you like to get those spirits up and have a hot chocolate?"
Immediately, any twinge of sadness in the boy's face vaporised as the prospect of Bunnie D'Coolette's hot chocolate came into question, a small smile spread across the face of the fox…His mood beginning to slightly improve at the news…
The cyborg rabbit giggled slightly, seeing the boy's bright eyes light up immediately, Antoine doing the same as well…They both knew damn well that Tails adored their hot chocolate…There was just…something about it that made it just perfect…And so, it was generally considered to be a nigh top tier comfort drink to any low feeling Freedom Fighter.
"I had a feelin' that'd cheer you up fluffers. 'Twan? Why don't you head downstairs, put that kettle on and get out some mugs…Also make sure to bring up the kid's laptop or somethin'? I have a feeling some science documentary will make him nice and chill."
"At once ma cherie! Our little friend will have the best hot chocolate ever!" Antoine responded, his tone merry and filled with relish at the opportunity at making the kid happy.
"Ooooh…Can I watch something about Dinosaurs Aunt Bunnie?" Tails exclaimed, growing more excited and happy with the predicament he found himself in.
"Of course you can sweetie, just so long as it makes you relaxed, then I don't mind what scientific jargon you watch, I'll be right here with ya! In fact, how about some cuddles while we're at it eh? Just to make sure you feel extra cosy?"
The fox's eyes brightened even more and he nodded his head in response…Excited to not only catch up on some science facts, but also to get some affection from his adoptive family…Maybe today wouldn't be so bad after all?
…
Meanwhile outside…The great speeding hero of Mobius darted through the streets of Mobotropolis …The sun was slowly beginning to set below the horizon, turning the skies a tangerine orange, creating a rather moody atmosphere as the sheen of dusk met the dark grey clouds that hung in the sky.
Sonic was a bright blue streak, a providing momentary light for anything he ran past for a fraction of a second…And his path was heading to the Castle Acorn itself…Most likely being the place where his hated arch-rival Dr Ivo Robotnik was headed…
He was a predictable old goon at this point…Always trying to blitz the castle and take the heart of the city as quickly as possible…Being repelled every time because he hadn't accounted for the fact that people didn't like having their benevolent government replaced by a fascistic dictatorship ran by a megalomaniac…And this time would be no different…
Sonic rushed up the large hill to the Castle Acorn…A gargantuan fortress that was constructed out of good stone, brought in from the nearby mountains…In terms of form it was a Concentric castle, being remade during the reign of one Lysander Acorn 700 years ago...The hill that the castle was built upon being surrounded by a rather deep moat connected to a canal network.
But, the moat…While being enough to deter a slower moving army…It did little to stop the fastest thing alive…And so he leapt over it with vigour before racing over the walls as well…And then into the courtyard of the castle where…The 'good' Doctor was busy at work.
Dr Ivo Robotnik was grinning with maniacal ego as he slowly hovered towards the castle doors in his Egg Mobile, flanked by a small horde of badniks behind him…They were boxy robots, seven feet in height and like their master were rather pudgy in form, resembling their master in form…
On one arm a typical badnik had an inbuilt ranged weapon, usually either a high powered machine gun or laser beam. However there were other variants that would carry alternate ranged weapons…Sometimes they would be equipped with missile racks, shotguns, flamethrowers, grenade launchers, gauss weaponry and rail guns…Each one would be tailored to a different environment and combat scenario…
However, the most dreaded of all of these malevolent machines were the Eradicator Pattern Badniks…They were different than the rest of their mechanical kind, often employing more malevolent weaponry such as chemical weaponry, radiation and poison to deal with their targets…As of such they were more or less walking war crimes and it was the job of any great Freedom Fighter to take them out as quickly as possible before they could start shooting…
But thankfully for Sonic, from what he could see…It just appeared to be the simple type…Nothing too threatening then…Well…at least it meant he could get back to Tails quickly with Sally…
With an effortless burst of speed unlike anything any other Mobian bar one could produce…Sonic rushed into the castle courtyard…Sending metallic bodies crashing into each other before exploding violently…Sending oil splattering all over everything in the vicinity...
Dr Ivo Robotnik heard the commotion and his chubby face went almost purple with fury as he gazed upon his most hated adversary trashing his plans once again…Despite only seeing a blur of movement before the destruction of his forces spread like a plague…he knew damn well who it was disrupting him…
"Sonic?! Oh for Chaos sake! DESTROY HIM YOU STUPID DROIDS!" Eggman bellowed, his face now so purple it resembled a ginormous beetroot with a moustache…
But alas, all his angry frothing and shouting did was make Sonic enjoy the action of cracking open the tin cans more…
"You know Eggman, for a supposed super genius…You REALLY are dumb to try and take the Castle with these simple scrap heaps!" Sonic taunted between destroying the hapless badniks.
"SILENCE YOU BLUE RODENT! STAND STILL AND DIE!"
"Yeeesh! Someone's clearly been boiled a little too long!"
"OH WILL YOU SHUT UP!"
Sonic merely laughed in response, not ceasing in his efforts to destroy every last one of the badniks in his presence…Each one providing little to no challenge for the hedgehog as he blitzed through all of them until every last one of them was little more than a smoking heap of burnt metal resting on the floor…
Sonic came to a sudden stop, finally allowing Eggman to see him clearly and out in the open…He walked over to one of the battered shells of what was once a badnik and leaned back against it…Making a yawning gesture with one gloved hand.
"Honestly Eggman…This is just getting embarrassing at this point, why don't you ever try doing anything useful with your inventions eh? Maybe that'd get you further than constantly trying to kill all of us every few weeks!" he called in a mocking tone.
"SILENCE HEDGEHOG! I've had quite enough of your stupid jokes…I've knocked you down before and I swear to you this time it'll be for good!"
"Oh I'd like to see you try that Doctor…But you're not just facing one opponent!" another voice called.
The two mortal enemies turned…And saw the rather irritated looking form of Sally Acorn marching towards them…Her sword and shield gleaming…However her look turned from irritation to disappointment, seeing all of the scrapped badniks that were laying around on the ground.
"Urrrggghhh…Missed the action again did I? Why can't you ever just save some Badniks for me Sonic?" She asked, lowering her sword and shield momentarily with annoyance lacing her tone.
"Shoulda gotten here first Sal."
"Oh like that's ever gonna happen with your speed prickles!"
"Did you seriously just call me prickles?"
"Silence the pair of you! You two can stop bickering like an old married couple in the afterlife! BECAUSE THAT'S WHERE YOUR GOING RIGHT NOW!"
Both Mobians turned to the Doctor…Then to each other…
"And how on Mobius are you gonna do that Egghead? Bore us to death? Because that's what you're doing no-"
Sonic's insult was interrupted as a blue, silver and red blur slammed into him at high speed…The impact caused the hero of Mobius to go flying, slamming violently against the stone walls of the castle…Then, the blur looped around and crashed into Sally like a small meteorite…Sending her skidding across the ground and slamming into a busted badnik…
Both of the heroes groaned in pain, but watched intently as the coloured blur slowly came to a stop…Revealing one particular badnik…The meanest of all of them…
It stood a couple of inches taller than Sonic did and mimicked his form…With a cobalt blue metal torso, head and legs with a steel grey muzzle, joints and long sharp fingers that resembled talons more than they did fingers…Then there were the badnik's eyes…While Sonic's were a bright emerald green…The robot's were blood red and glowed like caged stars…Sonic's face then twisted into a malevolent scowl as he realised who he was facing…
"Metal…So, finally bringing the big guns out now Eggman? Honestly I'm still a little disappointed!|"
"Silence Hedgehog! I think you'll find that Metal Sonic isn't the only opponent you have to face today!"
The two Freedom Fighters then watched in silent dread as two more badniks appeared…These one's mimicking Tails and Knuckles in form…Both of them standing beside Metal Sonic…
Sonic took a deep sigh and rose to his feet…eyeing up all three of his opponents while Sally rushed over to him and stood by him…Blade in hand…
"Heh heh heh…Now, finally I'll be rid of you meddling so called 'heroes'…ATTACK!" Eggman bellowed, slamming one ham sized fist down against the hull of the Egg-Mobile.
Quills clashed against cold steel as Sonic and his metallic doppelganger clashed against each other…Sending sparks flying across the battlefield while Sally and the metal copies of Tails and Knuckles engaged in combat…
Sally parried the first monstrous fist of metal Knuckles, turning it aside with her shield hand before slashing at the robot with her sword…However the robot was a lot quicker than she had initially suspected and was able to dodge backwards, escaping with only a scratched paintjob…
However the princess was swiftly forced back on the defence when she saw Metal Tails dart at her and slash at her with his sharp, barbed tails…And while Sally was able to block the brunt of the attack…She let out a sharp yelp as she felt the blades on the robot's tails slash against her arm…Blood beginning to seep from the injury and stain the fur around it…
Sally wasn't even quick enough to block the second attack from Metal Knuckles…Crying out with pain as she felt the fist of the Echidna Warrior's metallic double collide with her square in the chest…the sheer impact sending her flying back and crashing against the same wall Sonic had been sent into…
"SALLY!" The hero cried…Watching in horror as his partner was taken out of action…But that would prove to be a very severe mistake…One that Metal Sonic would capitalize on as it would rake it's razor sharp talons down Sonic's back, making him roar in agonising pain before grabbing him by the ankle and violently throwing him against the ground, sending up earth from the impact before watching him skid along the ground right next to his lover…
Eggman could only bellow out with laughter as he watched his two most hated adversaries be taken down so easily…He had finally done it…he had finally bested Sonic the Hedgehog…The one stupid rodent that had caused him more pain and misery than anything in the world! The feeling was stupendous! Magnificent! He felt on top of the world! All that was left to do was one thing…Destroy them both…
"AHAHAHAH! Not so fast now eh? Well…don't worry dear Sonic…I'll make sure that your death will be nice and quick…Just the way you like it!" he cackled, watching intently as the metallic trio slowly approached the incapacitated heroes…
Sonic tried to rise to his feet, but was set toppling to the floor once again as he felt Metal Sonic's boot collide with his stomach, making him groan out in pain…The heroes looked up at the deliverers of their fate…Staring into their glowing red, blue and yellow eyes…and reached over for each other…If they were going to die…it would at least be together…
"3…2…1…FINISH THEM!"
Sonic shut his eyes…The last thing he saw being Metal Sonic raising his hand, flexing his talons…Awaiting the agonising pain before the white light that would shortly follow…However…It didn't come…Instead…he heard…Footsteps coming into the courtyard…
Both Sally and Sonic opened their eyes…Wanting to see the source of the footsteps…Even their metal adversaries and Eggman turning to do the same…Their eyes falling upon a rather peculiar figure indeed…
It was…A fox, tall in height with dark brown fur, a lighter coloured muzzle where the fur was longer and more ragged…Making it seem more akin to a beard then anything else, the fox's eyes were not unlike Tails's but were a slightly darker blue in complexion and the fox's general appearance appeared weather beaten and unkempt…Very much an outdoors type of person from their appearance…
As for the clothes and equipment of the mysterious fox…he was very…unusual for he wore a set of…robes? They were robes, a deep blue in colour and trimmed with the fur of some sort of animal…maybe a bear or wolf or something like that…on the fox's feet he wore heavy duty walking boots, his hands were bare and were rather bony and small…
There were numerous pouches and satchels that were attached to the fox's robes too, as well as a few books and scrolls that were fastened to the fox's robes as well along with the numerous pouches…And in the fox's hand he carried…A staff? The fox was carrying a staff? It was a rather long staff too…being a full head taller than the fox was, having a rather knobbly head that looked like it contained some kind of strange crystal…
"What is the meaning of this?! Who are you?" Eggman bellowed angrily, enraged that his moment was being ruined by some damned interloper…
The fox looked towards the two wounded heroes of Mobius, then back to the Doctor and spoke in a rather stern and cold tone, the tone of a person inches away from unleashing hell,
"Let them go Doctor Robotnik, you have no place in the Kingdom of Acorn."
Eggman's face twisted with fury…Who in Chaos was this fox to tell him there was no place for him? He had won! He had beaten Sonic the Hedgehog! And there was this…this stupid fox who was telling him no?!
"You don't get to tell me anything! Metal Sonic? Destroy this worm!"
The fox's eyes turned to the robot, an unimpressed look on his face…The badnik however turned away from Sonic and started to fly towards the fox, his claws outstretched in hope of gutting the fox where he stood…
The fox however merely scoffed and snapped his fingers…What happened next? Was rather disturbing…The robot came to a dead stop midair…Almost as if he was being held in place by some invisible force…
The fox lifted his hand and in turn Metal Sonic rose…However…then the fox made a crushing motion with his outstretched hand…And with a horrible screech of metal scraping against itself…The form of Metal Sonic crumpled up like a used soft drink can and fell back down to the ground…the crumpled heap of what used to be the mightiest badnik of all creating a small puddle of oil that leaked from it's crushed remains…
The fox merely scoffed at the action before turning to the other two Metal doppelgangers, he then pointed one finger at the Metal Tails…A brilliant bolt of purple lightning shooting out of it that enveloped the robot…Making it melt into a simmering pile of slag with unprecedented speed…
Then came the Metal Knuckles who tried to charge the strange fox….However he was stopped dead in his tracks when a white streak of energy came hurtling towards him…Phasing through the robot…However…it then stopped dead in it's tracks, it's yellow eyes bright and staring with…what looked like fear at the fox as he drew closer…
The fox tilted his head at the robot, looking at it curiously before tapping it on the side of it's head with his staff…The head of the robot tilted to the side…further and further…before sliding off of it's body and falling to the floor…The rest of the robot's body following suite like a puppet with cut strings…
Eggman looked on at this in horror…What the hell had just happened? How had three of his best robots been bested so easily with such…Unnatural power? He grit his teeth and seethed in rage as he looked upon the fox who stared back with unimpressed eyes…
"HOW DARE YOU?! YOU…YOU…YOU UNNATURAL FREAK!"
"Oooooh. Freak? How insulting…Now go on and get out of here before I turn you into an inanimate object? Or perhaps a worm? Which would you prefer?"
Eggman's face went bright red with rage once again, slamming his hand down against the Egg Mobile and bellowing out angrily,
"THIS ISN'T OVER FOX!"
And thus…The Doctor turned his tail and flew off into the sunset upon the Egg-Mobile, his rage clear from his body language…But that wasn't what the fox was concerned with as he slowly approached the two injured heroes who were slowly getting to their feet…Looking at the fox with a mix of awe and slight fear…
The fox however smiled at them as he drew closer…Not wanting to appear threatening in the slightest…Sonic seeing this display of good will, merely smiled back and said happily,
"Thanks for the save man…That's quite some power you've got there heh heh."
"Thank you Sonic, it was my pleasure to end that buffoons attempt to take over the kingdom…Especially when I'm here on family business."
Sally this time spoke, friendliness and warmth In her voice,
" Ah, visiting family eh? Well I'm sure that we can help you with that, what's your name sir? I'm sure we'll find someone with your surname."
However…The answer that the fox would give…would drain the colour from the faces of the two heroes…And make them feel shock unlike anything they had ever felt in their entire lives…
"Oh you already know who I'm here to visit Ms Acorn…My name is Merlin Prower, I'm here to see Miles…my nephew…"