Forces: Chasing Memories is the 2nd set of chapters. After the dust has settled after the battle with Infinite, everything should've went back to normal, but unfortunately it didn't. Not for a two tailed fox. Unable to come to terms for what Chris has done for his sacrifice, but what if there was a way to bring him back? Luckily for there is, but at what cost?
A MAJOR thanks to the Beta-Reader here on that helped me put this into words and to fix it as much as possible till I felt confident with it. Thanks to...
Cyberpolaris
Ivyshade24
Omesta
RevenantTP
Thank you so much.
WARNING/DISCLAIMER! This is written with TEENS to ADULTS IN MIND. Bad Language is UNCENSORED.
In Context: Tails in this story is 16 yrs old. With that in mind. Sonic and everyone else are in their mid-twenties close to thirties. Reason for that is due to the tone of the story is Suspenseful Drama, Violence and Language. But don't worry they don't swear. Worst thing to come out of them is Damn. But... the OC's? Get ready to see that F-word quite a bit.
The Story is Drama first, Suspense and Action. In that order.
Another thing is that there aren't any Wisps elemental weapons of power. The weaponry is typical weapons used in military. Knives, Pistols, Assault Rifles, Sniper Rifles, and Shotguns.
Same goes for Super Powers. Sonic and Friends are still intact. Sonic super-fast, Tails can fly... etc, etc, but the OC's don't. They are just average nobodies trying to make a difference.
Chapter 8 part 2 word count contains: 9,783 Total of chapter 8 is: 17,269 This is why I had to split it into 2 parts.
The Sonic Cast is: Main: Tails and Sonic.
Side Characters are: Knuckles.
The OC Cast is: Main: Wally(Green Hedgehog) and Peanut(Pomeranian) Zeke(DarkGrey Wolf)
Side Characters: Trish(Dalmatian), Molly(SkyBlue Hedgehog), Randy(Brown Rabbit)
New Chapter will be submitted EVERY FRIDAY.
Forces: Chasing Memories
Chapter 8, Final Chapter: A Tango With Bullets. Part 2
8-6: You Are A Hero
Craig exits out of the main building carrying Peanut. Thinking of the next plan to follow through, he begins to think about Leader instead, wondering what he's up to and where he is. He slowly feels himself getting worried and anxious. It causes him to stop and he begins to look around. "Okay… I'm going to have to report back before he figures out something's wrong."
Peanut looks at him in surprise. "What? You're going to go back to him, after what he's done?"
"Look…-" He sighs. "It- it's complicated… alright? It's just… I'm trying to figure out… what I'm supposed to do."
Peanut squirms out of his hands upset. "What do you mean complicated and what to do?"
"LOOK…-" He snaps at Peanut. He takes a deep breath trying to calm down. "It's just… I've been around these guys for a long ass time. It's… just… it's just… it… it-" He stops talking and begins to rub his hands together as he looks everywhere, barely trying to think or form any sensible idea because of how worried he was getting.
Peanut looks up at Craig seeing how he's reacting… he then looks at his hands shaking. He looks back up at Craig and asks, "Are you afraid of him?"
Hearing what Peanut just said made him freeze and look down at his hands shaking. Staring at his hands, he trembles and thinks to himself, 'Am I? …I am. Why am I? The thought of refusing… disobeying… him. Can't let the fear get to me.' He looks back down to Peanut and as he stares at him, he begins to calm down again, with his fear dissipating, snapping him out of it. He glances up. "Oh shit." He quickly grabs Peanut and drops him behind metal crates.
Peanut lands on his side. He complains as he rubs his side. "Geez…"
"Shhh, quiet," he says, also hiding behind the crates, peering over them.
Peanut looks up to Craig in worry and checks around the crates. Seconds later, Leader, the mean Hyena soldier and a couple of soldiers with them walk into view. After a couple of steps, they come to a stop. Leader then paces around as if he's waiting for something.
Craig shakes his head and slowly gets up. He whispers, "I can't hear them from here. I have to get closer."
Peanut grabs ahold of him. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"
"Just stay here and don't move. I just need to know what he's up to," he says. He gets up and walks towards them.
Leader paces back and forth, waiting for Miller to announce where Sonic's friends are located. After a while he gets impatient and points to the soldiers. "All of you, go…-" He sees Craig walking to them. He looks to the direction he came from and then looks in the opposite direction. He snarls and clenches his fist tight. He walks up to one of the soldiers and whispers something into his ear.
"Yes Sir," he answers with a salute, and walks away.
Upon reaching them, Craig stands next to a couple of soldiers trying to blend in with them. After a while, Leader paces around for a couple of minutes, he comes to a stop and points. "Craig."
Catching him off guard, he answers back, "Yes sir?"
"Did you lock away the kid?"
"Yes sir," he answers again.
Leader then grabs his radio and asks, "Are you there?"
"Yes sir, I am," the soldier responds.
Leader stares at Craig, "Is he there?"
"No… The kid is not in any of the cells," the soldier answers.
Leader narrows his eye at Craig and approaches him. The soldiers around him step away from him as he orders, "Explain."
"I locked him up. He… might've escaped," Craig answers, remaining calm.
Leader looks at him, judging how he's reacting to him. "Really? …Alright. New orders." He gets closer to Craig and then looks to all of the soldiers standing around. "If anyone sees the kid…-" He goes back to looking at Craig. "-shoot him on sight. No hesitation. Shoot… him… down."
Craig, shocked by the order, grabs Leader's arm.
Leader looks at his arm being grabbed by Craig, not surprised by it.
Craig tries to reason with him, "Are you serious? He's just a kid… He's no threat. So why kill him?"
Leader looks at his arm being grabbed. "I'll tell you three reasons." He un-holsters his gun and points it to Craig's chest and pulls the trigger. "One: It's because he made you fail to restrain him when you brought him here." He pulls the trigger again.
Craig grabs Leader's vest.
"Two: You never really locked him up." He pulls the trigger again.
Craig releases and falls to his knees.
"And as for three-" He kneels down remaining close. "-he took your fear away, making you unreliable." He gets closer to his ear and whispers, "Just… like… Chris."
Craig holds onto his chest and slightly looks up seeing Peanut behind the crates still. He then falls onto his side on the ground.
Leader stands right back up after what he's done to Craig, he points at Curtis. "Curtis."
"Yes Sir?" Curtis responds.
He removes his clip from his gun and counts the bullets in it. He then orders, "Since Miller isn't here, I want you to go to his testing facility and grab the rest of the particle bullets."
"Yes Sir," he says again.
Leader looks at the rest of the soldiers standing around. "As for the rest of you, head to where Sonic is and keep an eye on him. If he tries to run...-" He laughs. "If he even can, shoot him but only at his legs."
"YES SIR!" the soldiers respond.
"I'll be at the main courtyard waiting for Miller to let me know where his friends are. When I'm done with them, that's when you drag Sonic to me and I'll kill him myself. NOW MOVE OUT!"
"YES SIR!" everyone answers again.
Leader walks one way, Curtis walks another way, and all the soldiers head back to where Sonic is.
As the sun slowly sets and when everything is silent, Peanut approaches Craig. He touches Craig's shoulder and rolls him onto his back.
"Gaahahh! Dammit kid… you… shouldn't be… seeing this," he wheezes his words.
Peanut cries trying to say something.
"You... should've left… when I told you to."
"No-n-n-no, I-I- don't wanna," Peanut stuttered his words.
Craig holds his chest. "Dammit… I… only had… two more… days 'til retirement."
"Wha… really?"
"No… It's just something stupid I always wanted to say." He rises up to sit. He unzips his jacket revealing protective padding underneath, "Damn that hurts like a bitch." He puts his fingers through the holes of his jacket being upset, "Damn… I really liked this jacket."
Peanut, overcome with emotion and anger, "You-y-yo-y-yo-you-you-"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm evil. I know." He points at Peanut as he grins. "But you should have seen your face. All puffy and shit. Hilarious."
"You are evil," Peanut finally says.
"I also have the advantage too."
"The advantage?" he asks, wiping his nose.
"Yeah," Craig stands up holding onto his chest and walks in the direction where Curtis went. "They're not going to expect a dead man to ruin their fucking plans."
Reaching Miller's testing facility, Craig quietly approaches the front door.
Peanut follows him from behind; he comes to a stop when he sees Craig stopping at the entrance. Craig simply stands there looking into the building. "What's wrong?"
Craig whispers cautiously, explaining, "I've… never set foot in this building." He looks past the doors. "I don't know anything past this door. Miller and Curtis are the only two that enter this building so just stay close to me." He holds out his hand to Peanut, still looking into the building.
Peanut looks at his hand and then up to Craig. He then reaches out and grabs his hand.
Feeling his hand being grabbed, Craig looks at his hand confused and then to Peanut. "No… not that. My gun, hand it over."
"Oh." Peanut says embarrassed and let's go. He pats his pockets and says shamefully, "I uhh… I lost it."
Craig's eyes widened, "You lost… You lost my favorite…" He glares at him. "Alright, alright… It's my fault." He sighs. "It's just a gun. I still got the magnum." Entering the building, they make their way down a hallway to the firing range, huge room where testing is conducted for explosives and firearms. Canisters, metal crates and barrels are scattered everywhere.
Craig looks into the room from the entrance, not stepping into it. "Back up. I have a bad feeling about this," he warns, backing up into the hallway again.
In the hallway he feels his side being tapped on. "What?" He looks at Peanut with a worried expression on his face as he points. He looks and sees Curtis standing in the hallway looking right at him, surprised to see him alive.
Peanut stands there terrified looking at the mean Hyena soldier again, remembering what he did to him at Nue Heaven and what he did to Zeke. He couldn't move or run. All he did was point.
Curtis was still standing there and wasn't saying anything back yet. In one hand, he has a bag of bullets. On the other hand, he holds his double barreled shotgun. Curtis' eyes go from Craig and goes down to Peanut.
Craig also looks down to Peanut and looks right back… but Curtis' eyes were still locked onto Peanut. An intense sense of dread fills inside of him, remembering Leader's order. He quickly shouts desperately, "Look at ME…! CURTIS…! FUCKING LOOK AT ME!"
Curtis… doesn't.
Craig pleads, "Curtis… CURTIS! You don't have to do this. LOOK INTO HIS EYES! The corruption… you got to snap out of it!"
Curtis slightly tilts his head to Craig. "What makes you think… that I'm even corrupted?" He opens his hand, releasing the bag of bullets as it lands on the floor.
In a panic, Craig quickly goes for Peanut, grabbing him and runs towards the testing room.
Curtis grabs the shotgun with both hands and fires.
Half the blast of the shotgun goes into Craig's back. Almost stumbling onto the floor, he runs to hide behind anything in the testing room.
In the hallway Curtis shouts excited while ejecting the shells. "OOOoooo, YEAH! THIS IS GOING TO BE FUN!" He enters the testing room kicking the bag of bullets while loading his shotgun. "LET'S PLAY A GAME OF 'HOW LONG CAN YOU KEEP THAT KID ALIVE'?!"
Curtis goes from cover to cover, looking over them whilst aiming, as Craig stays one step ahead of him with Peanut.
"He got you?" Peanut whispers worried.
"YOU SHOULD'VE STAYED FUCKING DEAD!" Curtis can be heard shouting.
"Just keep going," Craig whispers back, shoving Peanut to keep moving. He rubs his back, looking at his hand with blood on it. "Shit." He un-holsters the magnum.
"Why try to fucking hide, when you're leaving a trail?" Curtis informs, following blood drops. He sees a part of Craig's boot and aims in that direction.
Craig comes out of hiding to aim only to have Curtis fire back, losing the magnum in the process as it flies out of his hand.
"Gah! Fuck." He holds his hand in pain, seeing a lead pellet embedded into it.
Peanut stares back worried seeing Craig hurt.
While Craig looks at the wound on his hand, he then realizes, 'He needs to reload.' He orders, "Head to the exit," and quickly gets out of hiding, climbing onto the crate and jumps towards Curtis.
Curtis, trying to put shells into the shotgun, looks up and sees Craig jumping to tackle him, but he raises the shotgun with both hands on it to defend himself.
Craig grabs onto it making them both struggle for the gun.
While both of them have their hands on it, Curtis tilts the struggle to the side and then raises it up high over their heads to headbutt Craig in the face.
Wincing from the hit, Craig then knees him back in the gut.
Infuriated, Curtis pushes him back, hitting the wall. Up against the wall, Curtis manages to get the shotgun against Craig's neck and pushes against it, then drags him upward pushing his back against the wall smearing his blood against it.
Unable to breathe and with his back in pain, he looks over to the exit, seeing Peanut heading to it. Eyes back onto Curtis, he tries with all his might trying to push or kick… but consciousness was already creeping inn… his arms go limp to his sides.
Curtis backs off then smacks him with the back end of the shotgun.
Craig collapses to the floor gasping for air.
Curtis checks the shotgun, seeing one shell in it. He closes it, then points it down to Craig's face… then goes down even further, firing the shell into his knee.
Craig shouts in pain, grabbing his knee.
"If I'm going to shoot you in the head, I'd better have two fucking shells loaded for that special occasion. But don't worry when I find that kid, I promise to make his suffering as painful as possible." He loads the shotgun. "Now stay dead this time." Curtis raises to aim, and in an instant… the back of Curtis' head explodes. The force was devastating enough to tear half the side of his skull, clean off.
Something metal hits the floor as someone says in pain, "Ow…"
Curtis still stands with his eyes wide open in shock, trying to process what just happened to him. He looks down to Craig with hatred. As he tries to raise his shotgun one last time… he instead collapses forward, landing on the floor with the shotgun, causing it to fire off.
Craig puts his arms up as the shotgun blast connects to the wall inches away from him. He looks at the damage on the wall; he turns back to check on Curtis but winds up seeing Peanut holding onto his wrist in pain. On the floor was the magnum.
Peanut looks at the magnum and kicks it away. He walks up to him holding onto his wrist, "Are… you okay?"
Trying to answer positively without making him worry, he responds, "I got shot in the back, my hand is fucked up and my knee isn't up to par. So am doing fine-ish."
Peanut walks up to him getting ready to help him up. "We have to get you-"
"NO you don't." Craig pushes him away. "What YOU have to do, is grab that fucking bag over there and take it to Chris. It has bullets in it."
Peanut simply stands there, unsure who he's referring to.
Knowing why he was just standing there, Craig sighs in acceptance, slumping his shoulders. He corrects himself, "You know who I'm talking about. Wally… take it to him."
Peanut looks at it. "But…-"
Craig demands sternly, "BUT NOTHING - Take it to him. After that, you tell him to go to the courtyard and put every single fucking bullet into that asshole. Got it?"
Peanut nods. He proceeds to walk up to the bag and picks it up. He looks back to Craig, worried.
"Don't worry about me. I'll be right here when you get back."
Peanut walks towards the exit not looking back.
With the sun setting and almost dark, it was easy for him to get around not being seen. All of the soldiers were with Sonic keeping an eye on him. Peanut manages to find Wally with Tails and sees both of them are crying. It made him sad also. With everything he's seen and been through… he couldn't handle it anymore and started to cry as well.
Wally turns around to see him, concerned and relieved he asks, "Peanut? Are you okay? What… what's wrong Shawn? Are you hurt? …Why are you crying?"
Peanut gets close to him with the bag of bullets. "Here… take it." He hands him the bag of bullets. "Take it… so we can go back home… I want to go home."
He looks at the bag and hugs Peanut. "Don't worry. We are… Just stay here with Tails. I'll go deal with him. Okay?"
Peanut shakes his head in worry. "You don't have to."
"I do have to. If I don't… he's not going to stop coming after me. As long as he's alive, everyone around me will never be safe. I need to do this."
Peanut nods and steps away from him.
Wally picks up a handgun and examines it. He then looks to the right and down the road.
Peanut asks, "Do you know where he-"
"He's at the courtyard," Wally answers.
Peanut wasn't even surprised that he knew. Standing there looking up at Wally, he instead finds himself looking at someone completely different. He smiles, knowing that Wally found himself.
Wally shakes the bag of bullets, then looks at Tails as he asks, "Can you watch over him?"
Tails nods, looking at Peanut. "Sure."
"And not only that..." Wally points to the side of the building. "…At the exit you'll find someone else. He needs help also."
Tails turns to the direction. "Someone else?" he asks, wondering who it might be. "Umm, alright."
"I'll be right back." Wally walks off to confront Leader.
"Wal- Wally?" Peanut stutters, calling out to him.
Wally answers by just turning around to face him.
"Does it hurt?" Peanut asks worriedly.
Confused about the question, he asks, "What do you mean?"
Peanut points to his own arm. "This."
Wally looks to his own arm seeing his whole right arm drenched in his own blood. Looking up along it he sees a bullet wound on his arm. Surprised by it and confused, he asks, "What the fuck? I got shot?" He turns to Tails. "When did that happen?"
Tails tries to not laugh. "Blame Chris."
He scoffs at his answer and shakes his head. He then turns walking away while muttering, "That's just great."
They both see him walk off then Tails looks towards where Wally pointed at. "Let's go see who he was talking about."
As Tails was limping, heading to where Wally pointed to, he went right by where he was hiding from the snipers. He bends down, picking up his tracker. Holding it in his hands, electrical sparks come out of it. He sighs, seeing the bullet holes in it; he tosses it to the side and continues limping while saying, "Getting in touch with anyone is going to be difficult."
Upon reaching the side exit, they don't see anyone. Tails approaches the entrance and puts his hand out to Peanut. "Stay here. I'll go check."
Peanut nods and stays where he is.
Tails approaches the entrance and looks around in the dark hallway. Seeing no one, he hears a moan coming from the floor. He looks down to his right, and his heart sinks in fear and his eyes widen. He stares for a few seconds, trying not to make any sound. He then backs away towards the entrance and heads back outside, trying not to panic. He begins to fly and goes by Peanut, not saying anything, getting away from the building.
Peanut, watching Tails fly by, looks back to the building and slowly approaches the entrance. He looks down at the person lying there and then back to Tails, seeing him pace around. He slowly backs away also and heads back to Tails and asks, "Are you okay?"
Tails stops pacing around and takes a deep breath while rubbing the back of his head, "Yeah. I'm… I'm alright." He takes a couple of steps back to Peanut. "It's just… I had to get over something." He calms down and goes back through the entrance and checks on Infinite. "Are you okay? Wally sent me."
Infinite opens his eyes. "He did?" He rises up. "He did keep his promise." He puts his arm around Tails to stand up.
"Yeah, he did." Tails said.
Watching them step out, Peanut worriedly informs, "There's someone else."
Tails stops and looks at him. "Really?"
"Yeah, he was helping me and keeping me safe here," he answers, pointing in the direction.
Tails nods. "Let's go get him too."
8-7: Reclaiming One's Courage
Wally walks to the courtyard to confront Leader while loading the handgun with the particle bullets. "Maybe walking away looking all badass, like I know what I'm going to do… wasn't a very good idea." He reaches the main courtyard and sees Leader sitting there on the announcement stage. He holds onto his shoulder, walking to the announcement stage. "Geez… Why did you have to get shot, Chris? Some hero you are."
Leader simply stares at Wally as he gets closer. "Look who's come crawling back. Came back to say sorry?"
Wally shakes his head. "I'm not who you think I am."
"Then it's still you. Did Miller have a hard time finding you?"
"Miller's not going to find anyone anymore."
He stands up. "Was it you that killed him or was it… him that did it?"
"It was him… not me."
Leader laughs. "Knowing that, now I know that you don't have the guts-"
Wally raises the gun. "Are you sure about that?" He takes a step closer to him. "Because of you… you came after my friends." He takes another step closer. "You killed someone that I respected." And with another step, he stops asking, "What makes you think I don't have the guts to do it?"
"'Cause you're not a killer like he is. You might think you know him but you don't."
Wally thinks about it, lowering the gun and then raises it right back. "You're wrong. I know everything now. …Everything about him, what he's done and all the sacrifices he's made." He closes his eyes, grips the gun and pulls the trigger. Opening his eyes… Wally stands there surprised. He looks at him with his hand up, catching the bullet between his fingers. Even with how fast the bullet traveled, he was able to stop it.
Leader looks at the bullet, seeing what kind it is. He scoffs at it. "So he's dead too." He tosses the bullet away and walks towards him. Un-holstering his gun, he twirls it around while he threatens, "I'm going to make you suffer for a very… long…-" Leader stops and notices someone appears on stage. He gets a better look. "You look… different."
The figure says, "Try and shoot me now."
Rewind…
Sonic remained on the ground shaking uncontrollably looking up to the sky towards nothing. 'I… I can't get… ahold of myself. Wh- why am I… why am I so afraid? I-I can't… I c-can't think… I can't…-' He then remembers what Knuckles said about striking fear into his target. 'No… that's what he meant.'
While Sonic lies on the ground, Zeke looks down at his wound and checks on it. Checking the back of his thigh, seeing no exit wound. Relaying the bad news, "It's still in there… and I see it too." He sighs and looks at Sonic. "What I am about to do, is going to hurt… a lot."
Sonic gives a worried stare at Zeke, but knows it has to be done. He nods, letting him go through with it.
Zeke puts one hand behind his hip and the other hand across the wound. He takes a deep breath and applies pressure, plunging his two claws into the wound.
Sonic shouts out in pain pounding the ground.
With his claws he pulls out the bullet. "Shit..." With a sigh of relief he looks at the bullet and tosses it to the side. "Guess we're even." He starts cleaning, wrapping and taking care of his wound.
Sonic remained on the ground, wheezing in pain, and shaking his head. "No… we- we're not even. I-I never had a chance… to say thank you fuh-for saving me that day. If it wasn't… for you, I would've still been locked… in that dark prison for who knows how long. I owe you a lot. We're never going to be even."
Zeke laughs and shakes his head. "During that moment… I was in a bad place and I was really angry with myself… It just felt like everything I ever did just didn't even matter. It's why I did what I did. Someone tells me to go left… well… I went right instead and said fuck it just to see what would happen. I didn't expect to bump into you then get left behind, and then have to fight for my life to escape." He stops for a brief second and tilts his head down and smiles remembering what someone said. "Trish was right all along. You really do bring the light of hope out of people."
Hearing Zeke's comforting words caused Sonic to smile as his fear was extinguished.
Zeke tightens the bandage. "Bleeding's stopped, but-"
"But nothing," Sonic interrupts. "Can't let this scare me or slow me down." Sonic gets up to his feet. "I've got to stop him. He's going after the others too." He stretches his leg. "He's going down one way or another." He does a couple of quick steps. "Thanks Zeke." He puts out his fist.
Zeke connects with it with a smile. "Go kick his ass."
Before Sonic was about to run off, he says, "You said 'but' - What were you going to say?"
"I was going to say not to count on me to give you a piggyback ride." He looks at his busted foot then back to Sonic. "That shit ain't happening."
They both laugh.
Zeke points with his thumb to the soldiers. "Get going. Go save the day already."
He steps out of cover and as he walks to all the soldiers, he begins to pulsate yellow. With each step he takes he can still feel the pain of his gunshot wound on his thigh fueling his anger. Closer and closer his quills begin to stand up and his eyes turn yellow, he lets out a yell turning into Super Sonic. He looks at the soldiers and starts hovering towards them with his fist clenched.
One of the soldiers shouts, "FIRE!"
A barrage of bullets head straight towards Sonic and disappear, not even making contact with him. Hovering still, he comes closer to all of them and they all stop firing. Sonic just stays there hovering. He then smirks and opens his fists, releasing all the bullets that were in his fist.
All that could be heard in that moment were the metal bullets hitting the floor, and the shocked voices of all the soldiers, who looked at each other not knowing what to do. …Then, a rifle was thrown onto the ground in front of Sonic… then another… and another, until everyone did it.
Sonic loses his smirk. "I'm only going to say this once. WHERE IS HE?"
Every soldier points the same way.
Sonic then points at a nearby wall. "Now line up against that wall and wait for the Resistance to show up… RIGHT NOW!"
All the soldiers march towards the wall and line up against it.
Sonic then vanishes.
Heading in the direction where all the BOA soldiers pointed at, Sonic sees the courtyard. "Is this where they were pointing to? …Is that…? ...Wally is here and…" He clenches his fist. "There he is. Payback time." He lands on the announcement stage.
Leader stops approaching Wally and looks at Sonic. "You look… different."
Sonic glares at him. "Try and shoot me now."
"You bet your ass I will. What makes you think I'm going to be afraid just because you're yellow now? I shot you once before and I'll do it again."
"Trust me, that's never going to happen again."
"If I won't be able to, then I'll have to beat the yellow right out of you and turn you back to blue."
Sonic chuckles. "You won't be able to lay a single hand on me."
"Really?" He unzips his vest and removes it, revealing something glowing. "You remember what this is?"
Sonic's confidence wavers as his eyes widen in concern seeing what's on his chest.
Rewind…
Tails and Peanut reach Miller's Testing Facility and enter it. "Where is he?" Tails asks, helping Infinite to stand.
"Umm… Over here? Yeah, in this room." Peanut enters the testing room while saying, "Craig… I'm back."
In shock, Tails comes to a stop after hearing the name. "What… Craig?"
"I'm back," Peanut says approaching Craig.
Craig smirks. "Am I happy to see you."
Peanut smiles back. "I also brought Tails with me."
Craig loses his smile, getting worried. "What… you what?" He looks up and over Peanut. "Oh… kid… I fucking hate you now."
Tails stands there holding Infinite, glaring right at Craig.
Infinite, noticing how angry Tails seems to be towards Craig, keeps looking between them again and again. "Why do I have a feeling that a murder is about to happen?"
Peanut, also sensing the same tension, he looks between the two of them as well, "Oh…" He points to Tails while still looking at Craig. "That's right. You shot him."
Craig face palms himself. "Record timing kid."
Tails releases Infinite and sits him down on a seat. He looks back to Craig and notices the dead body… He then looks back to Craig and sees him pointing at Peanut, blaming him. "He did it."
Infinite looks at everyone in the room and realizes something. "Wait… where is… uhh, where's Wallace?"
Tails looks back confused, as Craig corrects him, "You mean Wally."
"Yes, him… where is he?" he asks again in concern.
"He went to face the leader of the BOA," Tails answers.
"NO… He's in danger!" Infinite informs, struggling to get to his feet.
"What do you mean?" Peanut asks.
Infinite removes his hand from over his chest, revealing a scar on it. "My ruby embedded onto my chest. It's the main source of my power. He has it. He's in possession of it. Your friend…" He shakes his head. "He stands no chance against him."
Fast Forward…
Sonic's confidence wavers as his eyes widen in concern seeing what's on his chest. "That's… It's from Infinite."
Leader grins. "That's right." He gets into a fighting stance and gets ready. "Goodbye Sonic."
Sonic prepares himself, knowing he means serious business.
As Wally stands next to them, he can feel the power emanating right off of both of them. He feels like the slightest movement that they do will blow him away. It was not only intense, but also very frightening.
8-8: It Takes a Team to Tango
Wally takes a step back, knowing that he's way over his head.
Leader points at Wally while still glaring at Sonic. "You fucking run and I'll tear your head right off. I'm not done with you yet Chris."
Sonic/Wally answer, "His/My name is-"
"I DON'T CARE!" Leader shouts then quickly aims his gun at Sonic and fires.
Sonic ducks under the bullet and lunges right back, delivering a punch at high speed.
Leader blocks the punch.
Wally staggers back trying to keep his balance from the force of the punch. "Oh shit…" He closes his eyes but when he opens them again, he can barely see them move. All he sees is them going at it for split seconds at a time before they blur out again. He tries aiming down the sight of the gun while also trying to stand up, but every time he gets his bearings, he gets knocked off balance from a shockwave and goes down onto one knee. As he's on one knee, he sees his moment to shoot.
Rewind a couple of seconds…
Sonic ducks under the bullet and lunges right back, delivering a punch at high speed.
Leader then, in one quick motion, raises his arm upward blocking the punch and proceeds to grab Sonic's wrist and flips him onto the stage, slamming him into it.
'Whoa.' Sonic was in shock and disbelief from that. His eyes closed from the impact, and as he opens them, he sees a fist heading right at him. He rolls out of the way hearing Leader's fist slam into the stage. As he quickly gets back up, he then gets kicked in the chest, and is pushed further away. "GAHH!" Starting to get angry, Sonic speed boosts, doing a quick right hook, but Leader dodges it and strikes him right back in the gut followed by his own right hook to Sonic's face.
Sonic staggers back and throws another punch, but again he ducks it and punches him in the gut… and another punch to the face. And with each new attempt, Sonic gets greeted to a punch to the face. "Gah…" Sonic backs off rubbing his face. 'Every time I do something he counters and…' He stands there and realizes something about Leader's fighting style. 'He's doing what Chris does… but even worse. It's going to be hard to hit him.'
He looks to his side and sees Wally on one knee, aiming while being stuck in time, not able to do anything. 'We're moving too fast for him to see us.' He looks at Leader and smirks. 'I have to slow him down. Get him to be still for a while for Wally.' Sonic backs off and prepares himself. 'You come to me now.'
Leader runs towards Sonic tackling him with his shoulder, picking him up and then slamming him on the floor.
Wally, on one knee, sees Leader on top of Sonic on the floor. While Leader is on top of Sonic, he begins to punch him over and over. Sonic puts his arms up over his face to protect himself. Wally aims and fires. Leader raises his arm to punch Sonic only to have a bullet go into it.
"GAAAHH!" Leader yells out and grabs his arm. Infuriated, he then turns his attention to Wally. Un-holstering his gun, he aims at Wally but Sonic punches him in the face before pulling the trigger.
Wally braces himself as the bullet whizzes right by him, almost hitting him. Once he lowered his arms to see, they were back to fighting.
Zeke arrives looking at the fight taking place. He holds himself up against the wall getting closer and closer. Feeling a sudden shockwave, he stops and just stays there observing. "C'mon Sonic… c'mon." From the corner of his eye… he notices someone walk forward observing the fight as well. He gets a better look, seeing that it's the overgrown, musclebound Rottweiler. "Shhhhhhit… I really don't want to deal with this… not him again."
Levi looks back at him and begins to growl. He staggers towards him, stopping at arm's reach and just stares at him.
Zeke pushes off the wall and just looks right back balancing on one foot. He then puts out his hand asking, "Fucking truce."
Levi doesn't even look at it and just keeps looking at Zeke. He then slaps Zeke's hand away and walks to a bench to sit down.
Zeke takes a deep breath in relief and limps to where Levi sat. He stands right in front of him sitting directly in the middle and says, "You're not that damn big."
Levi scoots to the side making room for him.
Zeke sits down and while looking at the fight, he chuckles. "Not used to being thrown around, huh?"
Levi does a couple of signs. ("You bit me.")
"That's because you stepped on my foot. So sorry… but you asked for it."
Levi does a different set of signs again, even angrier. ("You threw me out of a window.")
"Well you threw me twice. All it took from 'me' is doing it once." He takes out his pills… and hands it to him. "Want some candy while we enjoy the show?"
Levi takes the pills and gives him a thumbs up.
Zeke points at the fight. "Ten bucks that Sonic wins?"
Levi flips him off and does a couple of signs and then points at himself.
Zeke laughs. "Nice… sticking it to the boss."
Wally, completely surrounded by chaos, tries to stay calm. He was hoping to be able to see them. 'I can't… I can't see them. They're too fast to see. Every time I have a chance to help, it gets taken away. Just hold him still.'
"How does it feel to get shot by your own bullet? Doesn't feel good, huh?" Sonic quips.
"Laugh it off. I've run this whole group with fear, discipline and complete loyalty TO ME!" He points at him. "You already felt firsthand the kind of fear that I am capable of imparting. Who snapped you out of it?"
"A friend, something you'll never know and will never have."
"In that case then I'll have no problem recreating it again and I'LL MAKE SURE THAT YOU STAY AFRAID OF ME THIS TIME! Once I break every bone in your legs I'll be the one ready to send this whole world into fear, disciplined and under my rule of-"
Sonic interrupts him, yawning, "Oh please spare me the monologue. I've heard this over and over so do me a favor and shut up before you bore me to death with it."
He snarls at Sonic and lunges at him.
Sonic sways backwards from the punch and looks at where Wally is standing. After avoiding the hit, he then punches back, only for Leader to grab his fist and elbow him back in the face.
Sonic blinks to blue then back to yellow from the hit, and then gets slammed to the floor with his arm behind his back. "GAHHAH!" Sonic struggles in pain from the hit.
"How does it feel to be the second fastest thing in the world now?" he laughs, mocking Sonic as he shoves his face to the floor.
Struggling to get up, he stops and grins. "Umm… let me think about it…-"
"GRAAHHHH!" Leader shouts in pain as he gets shot in the back. He releases Sonic's arm and rolls away glaring at Wally.
"Don't stop moving," Sonic says, slowly getting back up.
Leader growls and rushes towards Wally.
"Don't even think about it." Sonic speed boosts and leaps into the air performing a quick homing attack, slamming into him, and sending him off of his feet.
Wally also gets knocked off his feet from the force of the hit, sending him back a couple of feet and landing on his back. "Gah, damn! That was right in front of me." He looks up at the sky, seeing Sonic in the air. Sonic then looks downward, vanishing from sight. A split second later, an impact crater is formed on the stage floor as debris flies everywhere. He covers his head from it feeling the thunderous impacts on the stage floor and once that's over, he gets back onto one knee and takes aim again.
Rewind…
Sonic collides into Leader, launching himself high into the air from the force of the hit. Getting out of his ball form in mid-air, he stays hovering for a couple of seconds while looking down, seeing Leader staggering to get up to his feet.
"Time to end this." Narrowing his eyes, he homes in on Leader, locking onto him not once, not twice, but ten consecutive times. And in light speed, he shoots straight down colliding into Leader plowing him into the stage creating a crater. With every devastating homing attack drives him deeper and deeper into the crater ending with a devastating tackle.
Sonic pins him to the floor with his elbow to his neck. "He mocks, "Is that fast enough for you? How did tha-GAK!"
Leader grabs him by the throat, pulling him closer snarling back as he mocks back, "How did that felt?" every word then follows with a deep growl, "I didn't feel a fucking thing!"
Sonic looks back with his jaw trembling as the sense of fear creeps into him. "No…" He grabs ahold of the ruby demanding, "Give up!"
"NO, NEVER!" he shouts back in refusal.
"Last time-" He pulls on the Ruby. "Give…-"
Leader quickly grabs Sonic's bandages on his thigh and pulls it down. Once his bullet wound is shown… he sticks his thumb into it.
Sonic releases the Ruby and shouts in pain but then his shout gets cut off as he is grabbed by the throat and pulled forwards to get headbutted. Sonic blinks to blue again and back to yellow.
Leader then moves his foot into position and kicks him off.
"Oof!" Sonic staggers back, grabbing his head, unable to see clearly. He shakes his head to focus. Once getting to his senses he runs right back at him with a punch.
Leader gets up, seeing Sonic running at him and stands still for a moment to block the punch and proceeds to grab his wrist.
With his writs grabbed, Leader twists it causing him perform a front flip landing low to the floor. Sonic follows up with a low sweep but…
Leader raises his foot up to avoid it, but then violently brings it back down onto his ankle.
"GAHHhh!" Sonic shouts in pain trying to pull away, but Leader applies pressure onto it.
"Time to break your fu-"
Wally, being able to see him again, takes aim and fires.
Leader ducks the shot and grabs Sonic's leg and thrown towards Wally, colliding into him.
"Hurry… MOVE!" Sonic warns quickly getting off and away from Wally.
Eyes on Leader, Wally gets up and as soon as he turns to run, Leader appears right in front of him only to get kicked, grabbed and slammed onto the floor. "STAY RIGHT THERE!" Leader demands.
"No!" Sonic shouts after seeing what he just did. He speed boosts right at him with a homing attack only for Leader to grab ahold of his ball form. He holds Sonic in the air and then slams him to the floor. He proceeds to pick him up and punt him clear across the area.
Sonic slams right into a wall as the rubble falls on top of him right next to Zeke and Levi. "Oh shit." Zeke gets up to go check. Stumbling and trying to get to Sonic to check on him, but Levi helps Zeke to get to him faster. They reach Sonic to see him slowly rising up not being Super Sonic anymore.
"This is the complete opposite of kicking his ass," Zeke quips.
"Ow… He really knows how to fight," he says rubbing his side.
Levi does a couple of signs and gestures.
Sonic looks at him awkwardly. "Wha...?"
Zeke answers, "He says no shit. He's the leader of a well-organized military group of killers. So of course he's going to know how to fight."
Sonic stumbles to his feet. "Ugh… gotta go help Wally." He collapses to one knee holding his side. "Ow!"
Zeke looks at the announcement stage and then sees a hand in front of him holding a gun. He looks up and sees that it's Levi holding it. Levi does a couple of more signs and points. "At that?" Zeke asks as he points also. "Shoot at that? …Alright, but you're going to have to help me get closer."
Wally staggers up to his feet holding his gun out. But, he couldn't see him. In an instant, Leader appears a couple of feet in front of him with a smirk.
Wally quickly takes aim and fires… The bullets phase right through him. Wally tries to remain calm from the sight of it happening.
Leader begins to laugh as he mocks, "You can't see me move."
Wally tries to fire again only to get his wrist grabbed and twisted, almost breaking. He drops the gun, instead holding his wrist. "GAHHAHH!"
"Whoops. See what happens when you leave. You should never have left." He approaches Wally and in two quick motions as if he never even moved, he punches him in the gut then to the face knocking him down. He looks at his hands and laughs, "This is too much. With Miller's research on the particle bullets and the Phantom Ruby I can be my own personal army." He kneels down grabbing him by the throat, lifting Wally back up to his feet.
Leader looks at Wally's brown shirt seeing the diamond logo with RHD on it. He scoffs, "You should've seen the fear in his pathetic eyes when I shot-" Leader gets punched in the face cutting him off. He looks at Wally whose eyes glare right back.
Leader snarls and delivers punch after punch right back into Wally's mid-section and face, then proceeds to slam him onto the stage floor.
Still clasping around Wally's neck, he mutters in disappointment, "I always wanted my own personal dominating army, a force to be reckoned with." He stands back up, picking up Wally along the way. "Things could've turned out… differently for you Chris. I taught Craig how to shoot, and I taught you how to fight." He un-holsters his gun and holds it to the center of Wally's forehead. "And now both of you will die by my hand. Say hi to everyone that you kil-"
Leader senses a jolt of pain in his chest. "Wha?" He feels the gun phase through his hand and watches as it hits the floor. "What?" He puts his hand on his chest and feels the Ruby broken. Confused as to why, he looks around and sees Levi. With one arm he's holding up Sonic… With the other arm, he helps Zeke stand aiming with his gun.
"That's for parking on my fucking foot," Zeke says angry.
Leader looks back at Wally, and in a rage, he grabs onto his neck with both hands to…
Another shot sounds off. Pain, once again in his chest as the Ruby shatters even more.
Leader's hands phase completely through Wally's neck, grasping onto nothing.
Wally collapses onto the floor in pain.
"NO!" Leader shouts looking at his hands. He looks at where the shot came from and in shock, he sees Infinite out of the vault supported by Tails. Next to Tails is Peanut who is helping… "No… can't be…" Leader mutters, seeing Craig also aiming a gun at him.
Craig asks with vengeance, "What is it that I don't do?"
Peanut answers without remorse, "You don't miss."
Leader then hears a click and looks down, seeing Wally aiming a gun at the Ruby. As he phases in and out of existence, he struggles to plea, "No… please… Chris."
Wally shakes his head. "You're asking the wrong person for forgiveness," he says, as he pulls the trigger, putting another bullet into the Ruby.
Leader's chest caves in from the impact, as the ruby shatters into pieces. The bullet exits out from his back as his entire body bursts into particles and fades away, letting out a final yell in pain.
Wally drops the gun and simply lies there, holding his arm.
Everyone approaches the announcement stage from different sides and sits around looking at each other, hurt and battered.
Levi sets both Sonic and Zeke down, then takes his seat right between both of them.
Sonic looks up at Levi and then over to the other side and sees Tails helping Infinite to sit alongside next to him. Tails looks right back to him and then to Infinite. With a smile, he looks back at Sonic giving him a thumbs up.
Tails' attention then goes from Sonic and sees Levi staring right back at him, recognizing him.
Levi does a couple of signs apologizing for what he did to him at Nue Heaven.
Tails smiles and accepts.
Wally, never getting up; he stays there sitting down holding onto his arm. He looks at Peanut, putting Craig down. Peanut then turns and heads to Wally. Once reaching him, he hugs him. Wally hugs back and looks over to Craig smiling right back at him.
Sonic looks around to everyone, and raises his hand as he asks, "Sssso… um… Who here's sick and tired of the forest?"
Everyone laughs.
Hours pass by as Tails sits around tinkering and messing around with any radio or communicator he could get his hands on, trying to get in contact with the Resistance. After each failed attempt… an hover aircraft arrives and remains hovering just above all of them.
Sonic looks up at it asking, "You got in touch with someone?"
"No… it wasn't me," Tails answers, looking at the aircraft. "That's not from the Resistance. That's someone-"
The searchlights activate and begin searching around. From person after person… it stops on Zeke and just holds it on him.
Zeke quickly sits straight up coming to a horrifying realization. "No… Oh shit," Zeke panics trying to get up to his feet. He looks back at the aircraft again staggering to get away to hide. "Oh shit… oh shit…"
The aircraft lands and the bay door opens. Out comes Zander as he demands, "Where is he? Where's Zeke?"
Everyone points to where he's hiding.
"Oh, you guys fucking suck," Zeke says coming out of hiding.
Zander clenches his fists and storms right to Zeke. "What did I SAY?!"
Everyone answers, "Not to fly over the forest."
"And what did you do?"
Everyone answers, "He flew over the forest."
"AND WHAT HAPPENED?!" He stops in front of Zeke, glaring directly up to him.
Everyone answers again, "He got shot down."
Zeke stares at all of them annoyed. He looks at Zander with a concerned smile. "I'm… sorry?"
Zander looks at his arm then his shoulder… then goes down to his foot. He then furiously looks right back up to him.
Zeke quickly staggers back keeping his distance away pleading, "DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE! …I'M SORRY!"
"Geez." Sonic felt concerned to even get close to Zander, after seeing Zeke limp away afraid. "He was right. Zander is scary."
"C'mon… he can't be that bad," Tails says pulling Sonic along the way.
Everyone approaches the aircraft as Tails asks to Zander, "You know how to fly too?"
"No, I had it going on auto-pilot to find Zeke." Zander answers, glaring at Zeke. "You're not the only person that puts trackers on people."
Zeke cautiously circles around, and quickly limps into the aircraft.
Watching and glaring at Zeke enter the aircraft, Zander then turns his attention to all of them informing, "The Resistance is already on their way over here. I warned Commander Knuckles that it was Zeke who was shot down. He then let out a massive red alert to search every inch of the forest to find him. They should be here soon. So… in the meantime, want a lift back?"
"Heck yeah," Wally answers, patting Peanut on the shoulder. "Let's go home."
They all look at the aircraft, relieved that everything is finally over.
Wally then asks, wondering aloud to Zander, "Umm… you don't happen to have room for a… possessed truck… right?"
Arriving back to Nue Heaven, Zander drops Wally off at his home. Sonic, Tails and Craig in a wheelchair follow him out. Some Resistance guards were still around, keeping Molly safe.
"Well, that was one crazy adventure. It's something I'm never going to forget," Wally says.
"Really?" Tails asks.
"Yeah. A near death experience is something you can never forget."
They all laugh as the door to Molly's house opens. She exits, glad to see him back.
Wally looks at her and then back to Sonic and Tails. "I'm sorry about Chris. Going through all of this and-"
"It's okay," Tails interrupts. "He wanted it like this," he then says, not to let him feel guilty.
Wally nods. "Yeah… He did. Thanks for everything." He raises his fist up to them. Sonic and Tails connect with it. "Goodbye Sonic. Goodbye Miles. Stay safe out there." He turns around and walks to Molly.
Sonic, realizing what he just heard, looks at Tails. "He called you by your name."
Tails stands there with a smile. "He sure did."
Wally reaches her and he says with a broad smile, "I'm back… I kept my promise." She quickly hugs him, applying pressure to his arm. "Gah? Ow-ow!" he winces in pain.
She quickly releases him upon hearing him in pain. She then notices his bandaged arm. "You… you got shot?"
He looks at his arm. "Umm… yeah… and no."
"What do you mean yeah and no?"
He sighs. "Yeah, I got shot… no, it wasn't me."
She looks at him confused.
"It's complicated." He hugs her again. "Want to hear a story about someone who saved the world?"
Tails, Sonic and Craig watch as they see them hug.
As Craig sits in a wheelchair, he mentions, "He's finally really free."
Tails looks at Craig. "What do you mean? Why was the BOA really chasing him?"
Craig sighs. "If I told you, then you might see him in a different light."
"Tell me," Tails insists.
"Chris was part of the BOA. He was a cold hearted killer just like everyone else 'til one mission… something changed. His heart thawed." He looks at Peanut hugging his parents, making him smile. "I can guess how that happened. Then one night, he just vanished. Leader was fucking pissed about it. He made sure to find him and to make an example out of him that no one ever leaves. Chris also knew where the BOA was located and that he needed to be taken out."
Tails adds, "To create fear. To make sure that everyone remained disciplined and loyal."
Sonic just stood there, knowing exactly how it felt.
Craig wearily nods. "Yeah… asshole was capable of doing that. Even I was afraid of him to the point that it makes you not think straight. It puts you on edge and it brings the worst out of you."
Craig looks at Peanut again as he's showing his parents his broken wrist while he hears him brag about surviving a plane crash. He smiles, making him realize how his fear was broken, and then loses his smile upon noticing the Resistance Guard with handcuffs waiting for him.
Looking at his hands, Craig chuckles. "Chris had a lot of dead bodies under his belt. It's going to take a long ass time to wash the blood off of my hands. Chris? …He managed to do it by saving the world, making great friends and giving himself up for someone to live their own life just to wash his own hands."
All three of them look at Wally.
"What a fucking show off," Craig says laughing. He turns to the Resistance Guard and whistles. "Yo? I'm good to go." The guard walks to him showing the handcuffs. Craig shakes his hand at him as a warning, "Don't even bother. I'm just going to get out of 'em." He points to Tails. "You can even ask him."
Tails glares back at him for bringing it up.
Craig gets very cautious when he sees his reaction. "Oh c'mon? I'm fucking sorry… geez," he says as an apology before being rolled away on the wheelchair.
As Craig gets taken away, he almost reaches the Resistance aircraft when… "CRAIG!" A high pitch voice is heard.
The Resistance Guard stops as Craig turns to check. It was Peanut running towards him. As he is about to reach him, the guard puts his hand up to stop him from approaching Craig. "Stay back kid. He's-"
"Fuck off," Craig quickly protests, giving the guard a mean look. He then turns to look at Peanut. "What is it kid?"
"Thanks… for keeping me safe… and… well… treating me different."
"Different?" Craig asks.
"Yeah, people always look at me like I need to be protected and be nice to. You? You weren't like that. You were mean to me. Called me names… but you were always strict and honest with me." His eyes begin to tear up. "And in the end you protected me from harm letting yourself get hurt."
Craig smiles. "You're not going to cry again… are you?"
Peanut rubs his eyes. "No. I'm done crying." He smiles at him. "Am I going to see you again?"
Craig sits up straight, making sure to tell him the truth. "I am not going to lie to you or make a promise. I'm going to be locked up for a very long time."
Peanut loses his smile and nods.
"Don't worry. That doesn't mean that we can't be Pen Pals." Craig gives him a thumbs up.
Peanut smiles back. "Right."
The Resistance Guard pats him on the back letting him know, "Time to go."
"Right. See you around Peanut," he says as he gets taken away.
Peanut just stands there watching as he gets closer to the aircraft. He then quickly shouts, "BYE CRAIG… THANKS FOR EVERYTHING!"
Craig throws up a fist, letting him know that he heard him as he enters the aircraft to be seen one last time.
Sonic and Tails stand there looking at Wally walk towards the house. He turns to them and gives one last goodbye.
They wave back. "He really does look happy," Sonic said.
Tails shakes his head. "No… they both are."
Sonic, seeing them together, sighs and says, "I'm… going to uh… I'm going to pay Amy a visit. What about you, what are you going to do?"
"I'm going back to my shop, so I'll see you around?"
"You bet little buddy." He holds up his fist.
Tails connects with it and Sonic goes running off. Tails stands looking at Wally one last time and smiles. "Goodbye Chris and Wally," he whispers, walking away, feeling a sense of closure, and also a feeling of being at peace with himself.
As Tails reaches his home, he takes his clothes off and ponders, "Should I take a bath or eat first?" He walks into his room as a bucket of water spills on him. He sighs, "Leave it up to Sonic to make the decision." He takes a bath and when he exits, he sees his desk with nothing on it. He looks to the bookshelf and pulls out the diary and goes to the desk to sit. Opening the diary, he turns to the second page and begins to write in it.
Dear Diary, Last Entry.
Hi, this is Tails.
Today has been one crazy adventure. I've met a friend that I missed a lot and I thought that I was never going to see again and together we went on a journey. A journey… of… well you can call it…
Chasing Memories.
THE END? …Nope. Not Yet.
Next Series of Chapters: Forces: Deadly Reasonable Reasons
Chapter One: Dealing With What You Once Were