Ah the wonders of magic…The mystical, fantasy power that defies the laws of science…taking a new and unique form in thousands of different ways…Across thousands of worlds and universes…Bringing both utter wonder and awe…But also utter darkness and despair if in the wrong hands…
But…Magic is not real…it is merely a construct to explain mystic or supernatural events that different civilisations couldn't understand with their limited knowledge of the world works and other affairs such as that…
Nowadays we know that things previously thought to be supernatural in nature can now be explained by a basic understanding of physics, chemistry, biology, astrology and other sciences such as those…But…My dear friend…On one world…This was not the case at all…This world was unique, brilliant and powerful…
So settle down my dear reader, grab a nice hot drink…A snack for the road and a nice warm place to settle down…Because it is on this world, where this tale takes place…
…
Our story begins…On the planet of Mobius, a long, long time ago…Three thousand years to be exact…Before Sonic the Hedgehog, before the execution of Project Shadow, before G.U.N, before Knothole, before even the Kingdom of Acorn itself had been founded to be exact…
In this ancient and forgotten world…Civilisations had began to spring up across the land…From the vast savannahs of Mazuri, to the beautiful coasts and islands of Apotos, to the deep jungles of Angel Island…Each of them was unique and magnificent in their own way…Their cultures, architecture, style of warfare and what they left behind…All of them were brilliant…But there was one other…One that stood above the rest in power…
This almost otherworldly civilisation was nothing akin to the other more…Basic civilisations of Mobius…And if the legends were to be believed…It was this aforementioned kingdom that allowed the founding of the Kingdom of Acorn in the first place…This civilisation…was the ancient kingdom of Darian…
Darian…Was a wondrous place at it's peak, a borderline utopia by the standards of other nations...Standing atop a large emerald green hill by a large river and surrounded by lush deciduous forests…it had the ideal geography to thrive…
It's people were known as great artisans and thinkers compared to the more warrior like cultures that were sprinkled across Westside island, but that did not mean they were helpless…Oh no…they were far from it…And this was thanks to the sole ruling family of Darian…The Willowhearts.
The Willowhearts were a family of foxes that ruled over Darian throughout the entirety of it's history, every. Single. Second of it. And this was for very good reason, for the Willowhearts had a unique trait that was unlike anything else on Mobius…They…were sorcerers…
Yes, sorcerers…But not in the stereotypical "Oooh pull a rabbit from a hat and maybe throw a fireball." Type of way…No…They were extremely powerful and nigh unlimited in their arcane might! With mere thoughts they could part storm clouds, clear areas of land for their people to live…And even…Put a stopper to death.
Nobody knows why they had received these gifts…Some speculated that it was the old gods of Mobius that had blessed them with these unique powers, others say that they utilised powerful and ancient alien technology…the theories and myths surrounding them numbered in the dozens, even hundreds…But that does not matter, for it isn't the story of where the magic came from that matters…But more so where it went…
Three thousand years ago, there was one king of Darian…far mightier and grandiose than those that came before him, his powers going beyond any Sorcerer king then…And ever since…This great king…was called Eliphas…Eliphas the Undying, he was a remarkable king…Being a master diplomat, a peerless statesman, a courageous warrior and a sorcerer so…powerful and wise that it was said only the gods themselves could strike him down…
However…Despite all of these noble qualities and skills that Eliphas held…There was a darkness in the king…One that would only grow larger…And larger…He grew arrogant…And cold, ceasing to care for the very subjects he was meant to protect…More focused on attaining more magical power…And that is when he began to experiment…
With nobody powerful enough to stop him, and lacking the morals to think whether or not he should…He formulated a plan…One so horrific and cruel…That an atrocity of it's like hasn't been seen on Mobius since…
He held a great banquet, and invited kings, queens, nobles and their families to his great hall…However once his unfortunate victims had taken their seats…he bound them with arcane ropes, forged from baleful green flames…Trapped and helpless they screamed, cried and begged Eliphas to be spared…But he merely cackled like a madman at their pleas…And with the horrific powers of dark magic…They became his playthings…Each meeting an agonising death in the dining hall…Nay, even death was no end for their torment, for he would merely resurrect them and begin the torture anew…
However…There was one thing he had never accounted for…For one young Chipmunk Prince was able to escape late one night while everyone else in the castle slept…He stole one of the king's prized chariots and rode away like a madman, desperate to escape the evils of the Darian palace…
When he returned home…He massed a giant army and with great haste, rushed to destroy the kingdom…Burning every single village they believed to be tainted by the evils of Eliphas until just one place remained…The palace of Eliphas himself…
The sorcerer king was taken entirely by surprise…too busy experimenting upon the quivering piles of flesh that were once his esteemed guests to notice his kingdom burning down around him…He took to the fight but…By some miracle, fate was not on his side…
He strode out to meet the young prince…And taunted him over the violations dealt to his father, mother and brother…Seeking to break the prince with the horrifying knowledge…But it didn't work…It only strengthened the resolve of the prince to put down Eliphas like the monster he was…
The two clashed and battled, neither of them gaining the advantage over the other…But the stakes swiftly turned when Eliphas attempted to swiftly end the fight with a powerful blast of energy…It only gave the prince the ability to sink his sword deep into Eliphas's gut…
He lay there…Dying and in a pool of his own blood…But despite the evils he had committed, the Prince said he would be allowed a king's burial…This disgusted Eliphas, his ego so large he didn't even know when he had been defeated…So before he took his last breath…he cursed the prince…Swearing he would return one day through the flesh of his descendants and bring the destruction of his kingdom down upon the future generations…And then with one last act of defiance before laying down dead…Sealed his essence away…Into what, It is still unknown…But it doesn't matter as with that last act…Eliphas died…
The Prince kept his promise, burying the king In a mausoleum under the great hill where the palace stood…And the prince, realising the strategic positioning of the city made it his new capital…Renaming it Mobotropolis…And renaming the new land…The Kingdom of Acorn…The Willowhearts supposedly dying with Eliphas…
But…Legends say…That on the eve of that fateful battle, Penelope Willowheart…The wife of Eliphas fled with their infant son…But no records exist of what happened to them after…Some say they were cut down as they tried to flee from the city…Others believe they survived, being able to carve out a life for themselves in the hostile new world they lived in…
But despite the story passing into legend there are whispers however…Of sightings of magic wielding foxes throughout the ages…that the bloodline of Eliphas still lives…But despite those rumours…The story slowly faded away…Becoming yet another myth for the Archaeologists to debate on millennia later…
And so…3000 years after, in a very different and much changed world…do we begin our story...
…
It was a cold and dreary afternoon in February…There was little birdsong to be heard within the city of Mobotropolis too…Only the banshee like howl of the wind as it rushed through the city mixing with the suburban hustle and bustle of cars and other automatic vehicles…
However, despite the iron grey skies above, the bleak and depressing atmosphere and the bitter cold…It was not all too bad…For within one particular house…There was quite the celebration occurring…
…
Miles 'Tails' Prower felt tears of joy well up in his eyes as he saw the sight before him…All of his friends were here on his special day…The two tailed fox with golden yellow and snow white fur, sky blue eyes and two great bushy tails could feel himself shaking from the pure emotion that bubbled within him…
Having spent the first four years of his life on the street, he had never really been able to celebrate much with anyone…Usually holidays were only an excuse used by his long gone bullies to torment him even more…Teasing him about having no family or friends to celebrate it with…
But…When he had been taken in by THE Sonic the Hedgehog, the greatest hero that Mobius had ever known…His life had been completely flipped…He finally had a friend…A brother even…Someone who he could celebrate things with, someone who did make him feel special…Someone who truly cared about him and loved him…
As for the Freedom Fighters? They became his family…If there was any semblance of familial structure…Then he would undoubtedly be the youngest child in the great big family of the Freedom Fighters. And now…Here they all were…Sonic, Knuckles, Amy, Antoine, Bunnie, Rotor, Sally…All of them…
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAILS!" The Freedom Fighters happily called, each of them sitting either on the two large leather sofas that were present in the living room or standing around…Arms crossed and with smiles on their faces.
The living room in and of itself was colourfully decorated with yellow and white decorations, matching the colours of the boy's fur while balloons in the shape of the number 9 were floating in the corners of the room…All of the fox's mechanics and science based presents he had received earlier in the day neatly placed on the small coffee table in the middle of the room alongside a small platter holding mugs of tea.
"Awwww…You guys…You didn't have to!" Tails exclaimed, his tails wagging and his eyes red and puffy with tears of joy.
Sonic and Sally Acorn both approached the fox who was practically bursting with happiness and got down to his eye level, warm and loving smiles spread across their faces,
"Oh we know…but we wanted to kid…You're not nine years old every day am I right?" Sonic asked, a wide smirk on his face…
The fox merely buried his face into the hedgehog's shoulder and sobbed with happiness in response…Things like these always causing the young kit to get emotional and start crying…
A series of 'Awwwwws' sounded out at the sight, and Sally pulled the fox into her own warm motherly embrace and kissed the top of his head saying,
"Hey, it's alright fluffers…We all just wanted to be here for your special day."
Tails didn't even respond, only sinking further into the hug and meekly wrapping his own arms around the princess…Sally's heart quietly melting at the action as it took place.
The little emotional moment didn't last long…Only around a minute or so before the fox pulled away from the hug, drying his eyes slightly before turning to the rest of the Freedom Fighters and approaching them…
Each of them was happy to give the overly emotional fox a hug, even Knuckles…The poor little thing always ended up like this during holidays, due to the fact he was an orphan who had spent the first years of his life homeless and tormented by bullies…Overly generous celebrations such as these would make the fox feel the love he had needed oh so badly…But it would overwhelm the fox emotionally.
"Thank you so much…All of you…" He whispered, finally pulling away from a warm hug he had been locked in with Bunnie,
"It is nothing to worry about mon petite ami. We just wanted to make sure zat you had ze best birthday ever!" Antoine said in response, the older canine ruffling the boy's bangs affectionately with one hand while the other rested on the hilt of his rapier.
"Damn right Sugar-twan, it's important that adorable fluffy mcguvins like yourself get the love they deserve!" Bunnie added with warmth and affection in her voice, placing her mechanical left hand on the fox's shoulder.
The fox meekly giggled in response, his tails wagging madly with glee…Hugging his surrogate aunt once more, before pulling away and giving a slight yawn, signalling that the fox was beginning to tire…And…it would be fair to say that assessment was correct, his explosion of emotion earlier had taken a lot of the energy out of him…Mixing with the excitement of the day so far? It made him knackered.
"Awwwh…Looks like the birthday fox needs a nap...Run along upstairs Tails and get some rest…You can come down later once you have a bit more energy." Sally said sweetly, coming over and getting on a knee so she was at eye level with the fox, looking at his rather tired features.
"Awwww…But Aunt Saaaally…" The fox whined, flattening his ears against his head and making his eyes bulge outwards in a 'puppy eyes' look.
"No buts sweetheart. You need that sleep, so get your butt upstairs and have a nap…We'll still be here when you wake up okay?"
Tails merely dropped his attempt to appear adorable and gave a sulky sounding "Okay…" before scurrying off upstairs and into his bedroom…
…
Tails shut the door behind him as he walked into his bedroom…A sad sigh emanating from him at the news of having to take an afternoon nap…
His bedroom itself was unlike that of any other nine year old on Mobius…bar perhaps his friend Cream the Rabbit…And that was because it was tidy…
There was a small wooden desk and chair where there lay a couple of notebooks and pots of pencils for him to sketch up blueprints on, on the other side of the room was a large bookcase chocked full of encyclopaedias on all forms of sciences, be it mechanics, physics, chemistry, astrology, biology, palaeontology…All of them…
Then at the far end of the room was the fox's bed along with a small bedside table with a nightlight and glass of water…
Tails approached his bed and kicked off his white pointed crimson shoes, revealing the fluffy white socks he wore underneath before slowly climbing onto the bed…Slightly sinking into the warmth of the mattress below him…But…the fox's mouth felt dry as a bone…
And so…after a minute of vague discomfort, he sat up slightly on his bed and turned to his bedside table…Eying up the glass of water…It was still half full and had only been there since the morning…So it was still more or less safe to drink and so…with one hand he reached for it…But what happened next…shocked the fox…
Before the fox's hand could grasp around the glass…It practically catapulted itself at the fox like a small piece of iron to a gigantic and powerful magnet…
Tails yelped as he found his face suddenly being drenched by the contents of his drink before grunting in pain as the glass collided with his chest before collapsing with a thud to the floor…Thankfully remaining intact as it did so, but unfortunately leaving a wet patch on the floor…
"What in the Chaos was that?!" the fox exclaimed, absolutely baffled by the event that had quickly occurred…He hadn't even touched the glass…Let alone allowed it to slip from his grip…
However…that questioning side of his brain died down as he felt the dryness of his mouth flair up once again…So, shaking his head, dismissing the phenomena that had just occurred and instead picking up the glass on the floor and walking out of his bedroom and into the bathroom next door.
The fox moved over to the small sink and placed his glass under the tap and turned the small spigot, expecting the water to come gushing out and fill the glass…But…To Tails's irritation, no such thing happened…All that happened in fact was a low creaking sound that started to come from the plumbing…
Miles bit his lip in annoyance…There was nothing wrong with the plumbing in his house! He had quite literally tailored every pipe to make sure blockages were borderline impossible! What the hell could be causing problems like this!
"Oh come on!"
Tails…Then screeched in shock as the glass in his hand exploded! Sending small shards of glass flying outwards, some of them cutting into the fox's exposed flesh and face…
He fell backwards, a series of small cuts around his face beginning to slowly trickle blood…But, that wasn't the thing that was bothering Tails, in fact he barely even acknowledged the blood pouring down his face…What scared him was the glass exploding to begin with…What the hell was happening?!
He rose to his feet, spinning his Tails a little bit to rid them of any glass shards caught In his fluffy namesakes, all before walking over to where the glass had exploded…Wanting to see whether or not there was something that had caused the glass to explode into shards like it just had…Nothing…
Miles's heart began to beat furiously in his chest…Something was wrong…Something was seriously wrong…he had no idea what was happening and it was scaring him…He was not meant to be subject to things like this…especially on his birthday of all days…
The went to the tap again and outstretched his hand, wanting to turn the spigot and splash his face with cold water to drink or cool off or…or something! However…the fox's face grew pale with shock and horror as he saw a tongue of ebony black flame gush forth from his fingertips and envelop the sink…reducing it to a smouldering pile of molten porcelain, with only the charred ends of pipes sticking out…
Tails clasped his hands to his mouth in horror…What had he just done?!
…
Meanwhile, down in the living room the rest of the Freedom Fighters were chatting, laughing and joking amongst themselves as they sipped at their mugs of tea and coffee, one of them occasionally picking a couple of crisps from a bowl of the confectionary that rested on the table…
"It was so adorable! He's so precious…Just a big ol' fuzzball that's practically demanding to be cuddled, especially with those eyes Sal I'm tellin' ya!" Bunnie exclaimed, the fox's pseudo-aunt figure clasping her hands together.
"I know…God, I still remember meeting him when he was REALLY tiny…God he was like a cotton ball with arms and legs…Like a walking teddy bear…God he was so adorable." Sally replied, a twinge of sadness in her voice at the knowledge that the aforementioned cotton ball was now 9 years old.
"Mmmhmm…I really don't know why anyone would abandon him on the street like that…I guarantee that if It was me looking after him, I wouldn't have let him outta my sight for a split second…" Bunnie said, a twinge of anger in her voice…Anger that was very much justified at the way the fox's parents had seemingly abandoned him in a back alley of a town where he was treated as sub-Mobian.
Sally could feel that resentment and anger over the fox's origin begin to bite at her as well as she began to think of just how badly the fox looked when he had first been introduced to the freedom fighters…Happening practically as soon as Sonic had brought him to a warm and loving home in Knothole, they had all been called over to meet the little kid…And it was a heart-breaking sight…
The little guy was covered in plasters and more than a few bandages, lying under a blanket and cuddling with a stuffed toy…Poor kid looked extremely anaemic, sick and knackered was more than a little scared when Sally, Bunnie and Antoine had been brought in to meet him…Never had they become so quickly attached to anything in their entire lives…They became his family, Sonic becoming his older brother/father, Bunnie and Antoine becoming affectionate uncle and aunt to the boy and Sally being the fox's overly-protective foster mother.
They had given Tails the family and love he had needed oh so much, they had filled the void in the fox's heart…THEY were his family, not by blood…But by being the people who were truly there for him…And so if anyone claiming to be the fox' s real family turned up…They'd better have a damn good reason to be there…
However…Their little conversation was interrupted when they heard…Screaming from upstairs?! Each of the Freedom Fighter's ears pricked as they listened out for it…It…It was Tails screaming…
No words were exchanged and with a speed that would make Sonic impressed, all of them raced upstairs with haste to find the source of the screaming and what they saw…Shocked them to their core…
Tails was on his knees, tears streaming from his face and surrounding him was a swirling vortex of floor tiles, shower railing, loose taps, bottles of shampoo and other bathroom objects, the fox's eyes and hands were glowing with incandescent energy that changed it's sheen thousands of times every second…What was happening was clearly terrifying the poor fox as he was crying with fear, his head frantically looking around at the madness unfolding around him…
"Tails?!"
The fox whipped his head around…Seeing all of his friends in the doorway looking at him with scared and sympathetic eyes,
"No! Wait, don't come any close-"
The fox threw up his hands at them to try and show them that they shouldn't draw near but as soon as his hands made the motion a streaking bolt of green lightning burst from his hand and hit the door…Burning a hole clean through it.
"Ahhhh! Sorry!"
Sally drew closer, covering her head slightly with her hands as she said,
"It's alright Tails! What the hell's happening?"
"I have no idea! I-I-I can't control it!"
"Shhhh, try and breathe okay? I'm sure whatever it is we can figure out okay?"
"I CAN'T BREATHE! This is horrible! Absolutely horrible! I always knew I was a fr-"
WHAM!
The fox was cut off when a large piece of metal pipe swirled around the fox and collided with the side of his head…The impact coming with a loud clang that sent the fox clattering to the floor…Out cold…Thankfully the rest of the strange supernatural events stopping as soon as it happened…the debris falling to the ground with a series of clatters…None of them hitting the fox thankfully.
Sally and Sonic rushed over to their unconscious friend…Feeling his head for any severe injuries…Thankfully the search proving that the fox was unharmed other than suffering a mild concussion at worst…
"Okay…I say we take him to his room and try and get him to be as relaxed as possible when he wakes up okay?"
"You don't have to tell me twice Sal…"
The two gently picked up the fox and slung him over Sonic's shoulder before exiting the ruins of the bathroom alongside the rest of the Freedom Fighters who watched on with curious and worried faces…One thought prevalent in all of their minds…What the hell had just happened?!
And…far away…Another fox…Opened his own sky blue eyes…A small smile stretching across his old, weather beaten face…
"Ahhhhhh…I see he has the gift after all…"