Chapter 56

Extraction

Tails watched as the coffee dripped into the slowly filling beaker. His expression was absent and unfocused. His workshop was in a rare state of complete disarray. Half completed schematics lay in crumples all over the floor splashed with the oil from gears and other contraptions. Tools were left out in the open, their meticulously ordered i.d badges hanging limply beside them.

A clock operated with old fashioned gears chimed causing Tails to look up. The blue hedgehog shaped hour hand was set at three while the yellow foxed shaped hand had just reached twelve. Tails yawned and turned to the window. A blanket of darkness hung over the outside world essentially locking Tails and his workshop in another dimension. Three a.m already?

Tails took the beaker and filled up his mug with the steaming coffee. He had promised himself that he would turn in early that night, setting midnight as the hard cap. Another broken promise. Tails thought dryly as he took a sip. The brew was bitter and tasteless but it sent a small jolt through his fatigue laden body. His brain fog lightened and Tails clapped his hands together. Right then, back to work.

It had only taken Tails a week to reverse engineer Dr. Eggman's transporter while adjusting its power supply to utilize the Master Emerald. Innovating his own method of universal traversal was proving exponentially more difficult. Eggman's design had been intended solely for one way trips, whereas the crux of Tail's design was to create a two way portal. That was the only way he could bring Sonic back.

At first, Tails didn't think he would have such difficulty. If I make two transporters I can simply bring the other with me. The trouble was, he could not bring a power supply with him as the Master Emerald would be powering the first transporter. Without the Master Emerald, Tails was left with precious few options. The seven combined Chaos Emeralds could do the trick but Tails did not even have one and securing all seven was bound to cause conflict. The only conventional means of powering his transporter would be creating an Ion Battery, something that would ensure Tails ended up in the targets of G.U.N who might think he was building a nuclear bomb.

Tails had hardly slept since the night Sonic had left. He had spent nearly every minute of every day working on a way of getting Sonic back. During those long, grueling days, Tails oscillated from burning with frustration for Sonic's flippancy to swelling with admiration for his friend's easy courage. The more Tails anguished over Sonic's rash decision to go into the portal alone, the more he missed his friend.

"Computer, prepare to run a simulation." Tails approached his monitor and keyed in a few adjustments to his formula. He had bypassed his midnight quota because a spark of inspiration had taken hold of him like a fever. Time passed in a blur as Tails made all the necessary adjustments and calculations to run a simulation.

With his last minute tweaks made, Tails prepared to run the test. His hand lingered over the button, his caffeinated heart racing madly in his chest. Tails closed his eyes and whispered a vulnerable petition. Please work. Tails did not know who he was asking or even why he asked, either his science was correct or it wasn't. Still, Tails could not deny that part of him yearned for his sheer desire to see his friend again to make some tangible difference.

Tails exhaled and let his finger fall. He closed his eyes as the monitor in front of him started to compute the simulation. It will work. It will work. Doubt started to creep in from the corners of his subconscious. He wrestled with himself, somehow convinced that it was his own doubt that could prevent his success. Ding. The chime meant that the simulation was over. Tails inhaled slowly and opened his eyes. Red letters spelled Failure across the empty screen.

The energy brought on by the coffee faded in an instant. Exhaustion stored over several weeks descended on Tails all at once. He collapsed into his chair. The combined forces of his fatigue and disappointment were too much for the young fox. Tears bubbled at the corners of his eyes and he wiped them away vengefully. He had felt this kind of inadequacy too many times before. Only this time, Sonic was not there to rescue him.

BANG! BANG! Tails jolted to his feet. The door to his workbench shook on its hinges. BANG! Tails leapt backward as the door came crashing inward. The silhouette of five massive figures loomed out of the doorway. Tails crept backward until he was trapped beside his computer monitor.

The largest of the figures strode forward into the light of the workshop. It was a great, red metal machine wearing a red cape and carrying a gold scepter. The machine's red, orb shaped eyes immediately reminded Tails of Dr. Eggman. "Sorry to intrude," The robot said casually. He waved his scepter and the figures behind him stepped into the light. They were also badniks, built in a similar fashion to the leader only in different colors. Tails noticed the signature Eggman flair in all of them. A sixth stepped in silently behind all the rest. This one was golden and had a completely unique design. Tails barely had a look at it before it was hidden behind its fellow badniks.

"I am the Heavy King," The leader continued with an exaggerated bow. "My compatriots and I are on the hunt for the Chaos Emeralds and we have been led to believe that you may have some, or at least know where they are."

Tails pushed himself away from the monitor. He was outnumbered badly, but he knew he could not afford to appear intimidated. "I gave away the only emerald I have, I don't know about any others."

The Heavy King spun his scepter before stabbing it threateningly into the floor. "We believe you do, and we have means of extracting that information out of you. But why make us go through all of that? Why not just tell us?"

Tails surveyed the rest of the heavies. Despite their leader's claims, they looked eager for a fight. "Because I don't trust you. Did Dr. Eggman, send you here?"

"The doctor is gone. I think you already know that." Heavy King's voice changed. It dropped its polite tone. "Now we can do this the easy way or the easier way fox, you choose."

Tails kept his eyes forward while searching around the workshop for a means of escape. If I tear up some of the pipes maybe I can lose them in the smoke? The heavies were all rather large, Tails doubted any of them could match him in terms of speed. "I choose the easy way!" Tails seized his chair and threw it at the pistons near the far wall. They exploded in a cloud of white smoke. Tails leapt for the window just as the green heavy advanced. His hand just missed snatching one of Tail's tails, allowing Tails to slip out of the window and take flight.

"AFTER HIM!" Bellowed the Heavy King.

Tails didn't look back as he flew higher into the air. I'll lose them in the Mystic Ruins. He stared in that direction when he heard a Whoosh from behind him. Tails spun around and saw the small golden badnik rocketing towards him. It was moving too fast for Tails to dodge so he settled for protecting his face with his arms. The mech air tackled Tails and drove him towards the earth. They cratered into the ground driving all the air out of Tails.

"Don't resist." The machine was already on its feet, looking down at Tails. Its voice was gentle and lacked aggression. "My name is Emerl. I have a connection to the emeralds. Let me just touch your arm for a moment and I can find out the information we need."

Tails rolled up onto his feet. He held up his fists in the fighting stance Knuckles had taught him while simultaneously staying on the balls of his feet so he could spring forward or backward quickly. "I don't care who you are. The emeralds are not to be misused. I won't let you get them."

"EMERL!" Heavy King came rushing out of the workshop with the rest of his heavies behind him. He raised his scepter forward like he was sending an army out into the battlefield. "Hold that fox down!" The green and blue heavy rushed forward to obey.

Tails revved up into a spin dash and met their charge head on. The green heavy drew a serrated katana and attempted to gorge Tails through the stomach. Tails managed to slip the blow and countered with a vicious tail swipe. All the while, Tails never lost track of the blue heavy who was attempting to circle around Tails and seize him from behind. Its arms caught air as Tails leapt over him and kicked it in the head.

For a split second, Tails smiled and even considered employing one of Sonic's signature quips when there was a flash of golden movement. The air was driven out of him a second time as Emerl tackled him. This time, Emerl stayed on top and pinned Tails to the ground. Despite his size, Emerl's strength was overwhelming. "This won't hurt." Emerl placed the tips of his fingers on Tail's forehead. The fox tried to resist but suddenly he felt himself fall away from his body.

He landed in Cream's village, but the world around him was unfocused like the blurry edges of a dream. Tails watched himself give Cream a Chaos Emerald. A second later and the vision burst before reforming. Tails saw himself watching Shadow use a Chaos Emerald to teleport around the battlefield. The scene eroded again and then reformed into his own workshop. Tails saw himself standing beside a machine that held two seemingly identical Chaos Emeralds. No….no!

At once Tails was brought back to himself. He rolled up to see that Emerl had already taken a few steps away from him. The machine was staring down at him, his strangely alive eyes shimmering like pearls.

"Well?" Demanded Heavy King as he came striding over to them. "What did you see?"

Emerl hesitated. It looked at Tails as if trying to understand what he had seen. For his part, Tails had no idea what had just transpired. However, he had the unnerving feeling that the badnik had also seen that final vision. "Emerl!" The Heavy King raised his scepter. It glowed with a sudden burst of light. A similar light shone from the center of Emerl's forehead. The badnik dropped to one knee as if being constrained by something.

"He doesn't have any emeralds," Emerl managed.

"But he knows where some are?"

"Shadow the Hedgehog has one."

The name caused a collective shudder among the heavies. "Shadow?" The Heavy King snarled. "He's dead."

"Alive. He fought with Metal Sonic in the battle against Aurora, he was using a Chaos Emerald."

The green heavy sheathed his blade and came over to his master. "Taking an emerald from Shadow won't be easy. Even if we could corner him, he can teleport away."

The Heavy King stamped his scepter in frustration. "If we can get Emerl up to full power he can dispose of the hedgehog." The Heavy King did not sound confident however. "What else?" He spat at Emerl. "There has to be more."

When Emerl hesitated, the Heavy King again raised his scepter and it flashed with golden light. "He can create copies," Emerl said with obvious reluctance. "The fox can make clones of the emeralds that are similar in power. One clone was powerful enough for Sonic to utilize Chaos Control."

The Heavy King's eyes shone with greedy menace. "Can he now?" He strode over to Tails and glowered over him. "We have a few emeralds already. If he can just make us a few more then we won't need to take one from Shadow."

"Never!" Tails protested. "You're wasting your time. I'll never work for the likes of you."

The Heavy King turned to Emerl. "Teach our guest some manners, but keep him alive."

Emerl didn't move. The light in his eyes seemed to fade slightly. "Why do you bother?" For the third time, the Heavy King raised his scepter. The twin lights flashed from the scepter to the crown of Emerl's forehead. Emerl turned to Tails. His body shook as if he was resisting some impulse.

"I'm not afraid of-" The words died in Tail's throat. Emerl charged forward at lighting speed and pressed him into the ground. Tails was dimly aware of a fist being raised before his entire head shook like a struck bell. The hit was so hard, Tails bit the inside of his mouth. He tasted blood as his vision went blurry. The gold frame of Emerl towered over him, but everything else was too fuzzy for Tails to make out.

"What about now fox?" The Heavy King shouted. "Will you comply?"

"Never…" Tails mumbled. There was another flash of gold. The second hit nearly knocked Tails out. His vision went black before slowly refocusing as if he were emerging from a long tunnel. Tails's mouth was full of blood and he teetered on the edge of consciousness. "Never…" He groaned. Tails couldn't see Emerl anymore. He was running down a long grassy plain. Sonic was running just beyond his reach. Tails was lagging further and further behind. "Never…" He wouldn't catch him, he couldn't.

"Emerl, extract the information from him." The Heavy King's voice drifted out of a faraway place.

"That would mean holding the connection for too long. The damage to his mind would be too severe. He'll die," Emerl whispered back in vain.

"That's the point. We only need the information, he is of no more use to us. Now do it."

With a stupendous effort of will, Tails brought himself back to the present. His head was throbbing horribly and Emerl had his hand hovering over his face. Tails tried to move but his body was frozen stiff. I'm sorry Sonic. He wasn't as brave as his hero was. Tails was still just a kid after all. He closed his eyes and retreated into the safety of his mind. It will be over soon. It will be-"

"ENOUGH!" Tails opened his eyes to see something small and blue crash into Emerl. This allowed Tails to roll to his side to see the strangest sight of the entire night. Cream the Rabbit was pulling the golden scepter out of the Heavy King's hand. She raised it over her head, let out a cry and smashed it on the ground. The golden head broke into a dozen pieces.