Enticed Darkness

[Tech Rathgen]

Hi, I'm the one that's trying to become "Tails" in the profile thing and to show you how well I know Tails, I'm giving you this fanfiction that deals with an apocalyptic universe. Enjoy.

***

There was a day when sunlight left us under clouds of smoke and debris that choked us whenever we breathed. A day when all machines complex enough joined Robotnik and created slaves of the people and animals left, except two hundred of each, but it didn't take long to roboticize 100 of each. It left 15 to 25 children to play a role for the next generation, while 75 to 85 adults fought with incredible odds against them.

There was a day when a nuclear haulocaust nearly wiped out all life and left a trail of scorched food. It made the food scarce beyond compare, but they say there's an area left untouched that Robotnik hogged for himself. And now, the two kids that were denied in the war of incredible odds, suddenly were there only hope to survive.

But Robotnik concocted two experiments for robotic machines - an ultimate fighting machine.

Whenever I'm alone with you, you make me feel like I am whole again.

Whenever I'm alone with you, you make me feel like I am young again.

Whenever I'm alone with you, you make me feel like I am strong again…

Prologue: No kids allowed!
Part 1 - War Peak

A red wolf paced across the complex of a large square building and grew impatient. His eyes showed the passion he had for his fellow mercenaries in the war and his leg movement showed his spirit to shoot his enemies sky high.

He grew extremely impatient and looked out the window. The glass was bulletproof and he watched the slaughter. Blood spurted on the glass and slowly descended out of sight.

The wolf leaped back from fear and his heart pounded in his throat. He clenched his fists and tensed his muscles, using his fear to drive his tenacious spirit. He paced across the room, kept a careful eye on his wristwatch and felt the barrel of his rifle securely strapped to his holster.

Damn it, why won’t they call in for reinforcements? I wanna piece of the action!

Suddenly, like a prayer was answered, the side of the watch blinked red off and on and the small television screen showed incoming transmission…

The wolf clicked the red blinking button with joy, “Finally! Woo!” He switched the wristwatch to television mode by so and a raccoon desperately inquired the situation with blood on his uniform and wounded face.

The raccoon screamed over the gunfire, the ear-splitting cannon shots and lasers that flew by from his flank. He ducked down low, a few stray bullets sliced through his ears, leaving very distinctive holes in his wake and he screamed in pain.

The raccoon dropped to the grass in the ceaseless dark sky and returned fire, “You metal bastards, how does that feel?” He turned his attention to the wristwatch as he fired and his body shook. He saw the excited wolf at the other end, “Jesse, send those damn reinforcements, on the double!”

Jesse saluted with his free hand, “Sir, yes sir!”

A couple soldiers raced into the room, followed by seventy-two other eager soldiers is Jesse’s flank.

A jaguar asked with a smile and curiosity, “Jesse, is it time?”

Jesse grinned wit high spirits, upholstered his rifle and cocked it, “Yes, it’s time!”

The jaguar cheered, “I’ve been waiting for this moment,” and his leaping pumped him up.

A girl rabbit cheered, “Woo! Let’s get ’em.”

They all scream in unison, “We’ve gotta fight, for our right, to parrrrrty!”

Jesse waited for all of his flank to exit and counted them in the process, but their speed and anxiousness made it tough to accomplish.

"Jesse...Tiger, is it?" a voice asked from behind.

Jesse didn't look at first and answered the voice, "Yeah, it's Jesse, but it's pronounced Jezzie. No, it's Wolf, Jesse Wolf."

Jesse turned and stared at the two with shock, then his yellow wolf eyes gleemed eerily, which took the two aback with a start. "Sonic and Tails, you've gotta stop doing this, you're just kids for crying out loud. Everytime 'reinforcements' is said, maybe even whispered, you two pop up like weeds. I love the eagerness you two show, but we can't risk losing the next generation."

Tails stepped up to the plate, cupped his hands together and shook his arms, "Please, we wanna help, can we, can we?"

Sonic laid his hand on Tails' chest and lightly tapped him back, "Tails, let me handle this."

Tails nodded with a smile, "Okay, big brother."

Sonic smiled at Tails warmly and returned his attention to Jesse, "We wanna help the war effort and we'll both be a large help."

Jesse tilted his head and pointed at the hallway away from the building exit, "No, not another word. You two and the other kids that belong in Freedom Daycare are our only hope to keep the last of our species alive. We take great measure to keep any of you from escaping, but, somehow, you always manage to escape. If we're lucky, we'll figure out how you two escape and attack the core problem."

Sonic cringed just thinking about the daycare that kept them alone without adult contact as if they were slaves in a dungeon. Tails felt uncomfortable going back into the place with the 'normal' kids and can't bear being trapped in that daycare like a caged animal. They both had that look in their eyes - eager to be useful and fight in the war, instead of being useless and looked down upon as kids.

Sonic countered Jesse's argument, "The core problem isn't how we escape, the core problem is the daycare itself. Tails and I don't like it in there--"

Jesse crossed his arms and scowled, "You don't gotta like it. You don't have a choice."

"-- because I hate how the kids mistreat my little brother. If they keep treating Tails horribly, I'm gonna put a stop to it, I'll just talk it out."

Tails added with a sense of lowliness and shyness, "They... blow spitwads at... me... and they... harass me without end."

Jesse upholstered his rifle and cocked it, "Not another word, I really don't care how they mistreat any of you, so deal with it. Return to the daycare, that' an order soldiers." He rushed to the door, "It's time for the Breakaway," and joined his flank in war.

Sonic took Tails' hand and they obediently returned to Freedom Daycare. As they walked, heavy, electronic doors descended into the ground behind them and rose up, until they can't ascend anymore and locked in place. The electronic doors were a large half-circle with a computer controlled locking mechanism and they were near perfect.

As they walked to the freedom daycare, Tails asked with a sigh, "Why do we gotta go back here? I hate this place and the 'normal' kids are just gonna pick on me again."

Sonic agreed and never left Tails' side, "I feel for you bro', I don't like the daycare either. I don't want the kids to pick on you either, but, like Jesse said, we don't have a choice. I'll do what I can to comfort you, Tails, you have my promise."

Tails held out his pinky and asked, "Pinky swear?"

Sonic grinned at Tails and shook his head, "Who taught you that anyway?"

Tails returned his grin and laughed a little, "You did."

Sonic chuckled and rose an eyebrow, "You're gonna have to fill me in on this discovery. Just convince me."

Tails thought it over for a little bit and explained, "When I was five and you were eleven, you taught me how to fly using my two tails like a helicopter rutter and you taught me the pinky swear - the mother of all promise keepers."

Sonic sighed, "Tails, that's all in the past now. I know you're only ten years old, but you'll have to grow into an adult fast!"

Tails lowered his hand and sighed, "I guess you're right."

Sonic felt he shouldn't lie to Tails with the whole chin up routine. It's one thing to give a brother happiness, but another thing to lie so he's made happy. He'd rather not force Tails into anything.

We were forced into this war and Tails knows it just as well as I do.

Sonic, instead, complained, "I'm sick of all this walking. I wanna run!"

Tails grinned, "It's obvious you haven't changed. Too bad we're one step from entering the daycare."

Sonic chuckled, "I can't believe I didn't notice."

Tails shifted from a grin of Sonic being the same to a feeling of shyness and insecurity as the glass ascended open. He felt unsafe just thinking about reuniting with the kits and kids that saw him as different. Tails knew they'd make fun of him for being different - for having two tails instead of one. It struck hard in his heart and he stopped like someone glued his shoes to the lypthegin - a powerful, thin metal.

Tails backed against the gray, milky wall and slid to the ground. The white of his bushy tails laid nearby his face and slightly below his shoulders. He looked at the floor and sighed miserably.

Sonic sat next to Tails and lightly patted his head, “What’s wrong Tails?”

Tails sighed and explained, “I’m…afraid to go inside and see the ‘normal’ kids.”

Sonic encouraged him to follow him inside Freedom Daycare, “Don’t sweat it bro’, I’m sure they’ll be glad to see ya.”

Tails shook his head, “Easy for you to say.”

Sonic took Tails’ hand and stood him up, “Trust me. If it doesn’t work, you can always count on me.”

Tails smiled, “Thanks big brother.”

Sonic smiled back, “Anytime.”

As soon as Tails walked in, a girl hugged him, “Good to have you back.”

Then all the kids joined in to hug him and they walked off with quiet laughter. Sonic looked behind Tails’ back and saw a unwelcome sign.

Hug me cuz I’m a freak of nature.

Sonic removed the sheet of paper from Tails’ back and handed it to Tails, “Sorry bro, I misjudged ‘em.”

Tails stared at the sheet of paper and read the reason why they hugged him. He rested the paper to his side, stared down on the floor and sighed. He looked for an isolated spot to sit and stared at the wall, but even the lypthegin couldn’t muffle out the war outside.

Sonic sat and laid his head against the bulletproof glass. The building lightly shuddered as the noise outside gave him the constant reminder that they weren’t alone, but would be soon enough. He stayed perched in safety, but all the action and all the firepower and all the rage were outside. A desperate place he wanted to be, a desperate need to run and be useful was all beckoning him to go outside.

However, Sonic refused the temptation just as easily as it had came. He won’t just leave Tails behind, not his little brother. The war carried on and, within an hour or so, the cannon fire ceased and the lonely feeling crept up on Sonic without warning. Still, he resisted, waiting for Tails.

Tails cried as he stared at the wall and didn’t really know, much less care, that the ‘normal’ kids told him to shut up constantly. He wanted to be alone, in a different world, where all are treated respectfully, but he also knew that’s like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Tails wiped away his tears, but didn’t stand or anything else - shying away into his dreamland. The dreamland of how earth used to look like before all this. Before the turmoil, before machines became our enemy, and before the nuclear holocaust that nearly wiped out every specie of animalia.

A kid flicked Tails’ ear and he was sent back to the horrors of his new reality. The kid flicked both his ears.

Tails stared at his shoes, arching his head down in defeat, “Stop it.”

The kid pranced around, “Who’s a freak? You’re a freak.”

Sonic had had enough of this. As he approached, the kid backed away.

Sonic took Tails’ hand, “Come with me little bro.”

Tails went with Sonic and they stared out the window. As Tails walked over there, however, the same kid made the same sad face that Tails had and laughed. The others joined in the laughter, except Sonic.

Sonic suggested, “Tails, you’ve gotta quit letting them do this to you, it’ll only get worse.”

The kids laughed, “Yeah, Tails, listen to mommy.”

Sonic explained, “See, if you’d quit listening to them, they’ll stop making fun of you.”

Tails sighed and nearly burst into tears, “I know, it’s just--”

“Let’s watch the war and ignore the kids. They’ll leave us alone, you’ll see.”

Lasers and bullets flew across the air down below. The human and animal soldiers were dropping like flies. Blood could be faintly seen from above.

The children gathered around and pushed Tails back away from Sonic, so they could see what the two saw. Sonic pushed his way through the crowd and to Tails’ side.

Sonic and Tails looked through a window close by, but, as they watched, they confirmed that the Freedom unit was losing against Robotnik’s robot soldiers.

Sonic raced to the entrance/exit of Freedom daycare and looked back at Tails, “So, little bro, you up for some disobedience?”

Tails turned his way and smiled, “I thought you’d never ask! Yes, I’ll go.”

Sonic smiled, “That’s my little bro I know and love.” As soon as he finished, he stretched and went into a running stance, “Then what’re we waiting for? Let’s go!”

Enticed Darkness
By Ben Stallion

[Tech Rathgen]

Chapter 1: Breakaway
Part 1 - War Peak

Jesse rushed outside in search of Jake Striped. He covered his ears as the cannon shots ricocheted through the air. He saw Jake commandeering the cannons and firing his automatic rifle at the robots.

The robots looked like animals and humans wrapped in metal.

Jesse crawled across the grass covered in blood and made his way to the raccoon controlling the opposite flank. Even when the bodies fell or blood spilled on him, he trudged along through this valley of death.

Robots were crushed, maybe mangled, in the sheer power and weight of a cannonball. Some of their bodies lie in ruins, while others continuously step forward as they shoot the puny, fleshy Freedom Unit.

Jesse tugged on the raccoon’s boot, “Psst, Jake, can I talk to you for a minute?”

Jake shook his head and stood Jesse up, “You know crawling, even for a high spirited wolf like yourself, could get you killed, so refrain from it.”

Jake cocked his rifle and gave Jesse nuggies, “You know I’m kidding, right?”

Jesse chuckled a little, “Still haven’t lost your touch, have you. Even for as old and banged up as you look, you’re still acting like a child. A child that won’t give up for nothing.”

Jake added on for the hell of it and pointed at the holes in his ears, “A child with bullet holes in his ears and who has . . .heh, heh, yeah. . .forgot what I was gonna say.”

A laser shot hit Jake’s back leg and he collapsed from the pain and shock. As Jake turned around and grabbed his assault rifle, the Freedom Unit fired at will. Bullets filled the air and some just bounced off the robots, while a few others crashed from immense damage.

Each downed robot would be replaced by a hundred more robots under Robotnik’s control and it’s continuously got harder on the Freedom Unit. Some could even say it was Freedom Unit versus Freedom Unit. All the robots - animal and human - looked fairly familiar.

Jake breathed heavily and tried lifting his rifle for a better aim, but his body shook under the weight. Soon, he lost his mobility and laid there without any chance of contributing to the Freedom Unit.

As much as Jesse wanted to help out Jake to snap him outta it, he knew he’d be at risk. He also knew, however, that a war gave no room for emotional sadness. That is if he wanted to die as life taken, instead of life spent. A small decision can affect a ball game, even the outcome of a war.

The Freedom Unit and robots fired in short bursts. The large, immense armor piercing rounds slashed through a couple robot’s throats, but more took it’s place. The lasers sliced into a couple masses of the Freedom Unit and plenty of soldiers fell to the asphalt - either unconscious and motionless or their bodies shaking, shuddering with blood seeping through their mouth.

Jesse rushed forward, maneuvering all or any bullets, and opened fire with a loud battle cry. “I’ve had it! We might lose, but we aren’t goin’ without a fight.”

Lasers ricocheted into Jesse’s arms and stomach, the impact jerked him back. Jesse wouldn’t stop, couldn’t stop, he refused to stop. This wasn’t like boot camp, this wasn’t practice, it was the real thing staring them in the face.

Jesse took pain as he dished it out. Even his slow blood loss didn’t stop him from being a contribution to the Freedom Unit’s future. He knew he wasn’t any good to them dead, but he didn’t care. This was the only way, he once confirmed, to motivate soldiers. Or to tell them that odds, even if stacked against you, doesn’t mean a thing. All you’ve gotta have was the pride and confidence that you’d win and it’d happen.

Robots crashed to the ground simultaneously as bullets shredded into their metal and gears.

Maybe that motivated the soldiers to join in, maybe that’s why a particular jaguar pumped them up and made sure Jesse got credited for his decision.

The jaguar pointed it out, “Why aren’t we doing what Jesse’s doing? Do we really wanna lose that bad?!”

The others kept firing, but didn’t have a clue. They shrugged their shoulders, unmotivated, “Uh, no, I guess. It’s not like we’re gonna win, so why bother?”

Cody - the jaguar - couldn’t, wouldn’t believe in this poor excuse for soldiers - wastes of fur and flesh. Cody asked with high spirits, “What’s our slogan? Do we really wanna lose that bad?!”

The others prepared to run, except the ones responsible for the cannons, “No sir, failure isn’t an option.”

Cody grinned with enthusiasm, “What’s our slogan?”

They rose their fists with enthusiasm, “We’ve gotta fight, for our right, to parrrrrty!”

Cody cocked his assault rifle, “That’s what I’m talkin about! What are we?”

“Freedom Unit,” They screamed and cocked their weapons.

“I can’t hear you! Louder!”

“Freedom Unit!”

Cody led them into a war of ages, the war determining their future.

On their way, the robots nearly finished off Jesse and the robots didn’t take this wolf on for this long for nothing. Maybe they’re killing him off slowly or Robotnik had other plans for the unlucky injured. Who knew what he planned for the Freedom Unit once they died or suffered.

Only Robotnik knew it to be so.

Jesse couldn’t take it anymore and fell, while the Freedom Unit ran over him like he was ground. Despite all the pain, Jesse stayed conscious and motionless, much like Jake and any other downed soldier. Jake, much like the other downed soldiers, tried to move, to stand, to contribute in this high stake war, but their bodies wouldn’t respond.

The Freedom Unit clashed against the robots and the robots focused elsewhere without their enemies’ notice. The robots shot down a couple soldiers manning the cannons.

The robots tried to charge, but the Freedom Unit knocked down half an entire row with the slam of the butt of their guns. The Freedom Unit stepped back and took on a different approach against these incredible odds. The robots knocked down stood back up like virtually nothing happened.

The Freedom Unit were stunned to see it, but it didn’t stop their tenacious spirits. All were hungry for it and they hoped to be unstoppable - it won’t happen, couldn’t happen. The robots deserved what was comin’ to ‘em.

A storm formed in the dark sky - rain poured, thunder rolled and lightning clashed the ground. None of it looked like it was supposed to and didn’t do well to penetrate robotic metal.

The storm looked dark, the lightning and thunder didn’t light the sky up, did the opposite. So did the rain that looked like oil waste from a car.

A storm of bullets met the robots and a hail of lypthegin enriched stones. Oil sprayed from the robots in the war path. They cramped, stiffened and fell to the asphalt, but were replaced by thousands more.

Cody refused to back down and surrender to Robotnik. If he died, he wouldn’t care, as long as some died with him. There was nothing that stood in his way, except his spent cartridges.

Cody looked around and asked urgently, “Got any spare cartridges? I’m out!”

The others nearby in hearing distance replied and kept firing bullets, “No, sorry Cody, we’re about out. There’s too many to spare cartridges. We all had six cartridges and we’re at the last one.”

Cody threw down his rifle and equipped the LDS (Lypthegin Dynamic Swift.) LDS held LSR (Lypthegin Swift Rounds) and the LDS looked like a miniature rocket launcher, with a red scope and a really small barrel.

Cody cringed and grinned about this strange, yet advanced, gun that shot some very small, powerful lypthegin bullets.

Cody raised his hand high and commanded loudly with a sudden enthusiasm, “Equip your LDS, now!”

A cute, purple girl rabbit asked loudly over the rifle fire, “Why? They haven’t been tested yet!”

Cody’s tenacious spirit showed in his eyes as he slammed an LSR cartridge home inside the LDS. “Delielah, we don’t have time to wait. There won’t be a later a for us! Let’s test it now, on these robots.”

Delielah saluted and equipped the LDS. She and Cody commanded and encouraged the others to use their LDS. They obeyed and passed the orders along to each adjacent soldier. They hoisted the LDS over their shoulders, slammed in an LSR cartridge and looked through the laser scope.

The LSR easily ripped through the robots’ armor and exploded into little pieces. The only problem was the LDS had to charge after one shot of these monstrous LSR bullets.

Ten seconds to charge.

The robots seized the advantage and slowly drove the Freedom Unit back to the cannons. Cody wasn’t having it, not here, not anywhere. Robots won’t dominate that damn easily, even if their victory was inevitable.

Cody slammed his body against a robot across from him, popped the robot backwards and pushed. He commanded loudly, so all the Freedom Unit heard him, “Push!”

The Freedom Unit pushed with full strength and growled loudly with gritted teeth. The robots behind slammed in robots ahead of them and pushed. The robots dragged the Freedom Unit’s feet across the dead, scorched ground.

Three drop ships watched from above with anticipation for the Freedom Unit to be dragged to the cannons. They hoped to release the Elite robotic soldiers and surround and execute the Freedom Unit. After that, they’d search for the kids and kits and roboticize them if they breached that strong complex. Then nothing could stand in Robotnik’s way to make Robotnik Empire reality.

Some would say he already accomplished it. Robotnik didn’t think so. Until all fleshlings was outta his hair, he wouldn’t succeed to create Robotnik Empire. Sure, he wanted a wife, but maybe he wanted more than that.

The robots pushed the Freedom Unit further toward the cannons. The Freedom Unit wasn’t havin’ it, not now, not ever!

Cody checked his LDS and advised others to do the same. When he saw the weapon charged, he grinned darkly, “Fire!”

They fired the LSR and Cody screamed enthusiastically as an entire row of robots exploded under the powerful lypthegin bullets, “Get back you scrap metal! How do you like that!? Huh?”

Annette, a rather dashing coyote, used her strong gripped hands to play the always fun game of snapping robots’ necks. “I love this, don’t you?” Oil sometimes squirted in her face, but she’d still be the cream of the crop if it wasn’t for this war.

Before this war, everyone looked at her in, she’d say, a funny way. Maybe it was just she didn’t know the dynamics of male and female. Maybe she didn’t realize the male animals secretly, or in front of her, checked her out.

Hope, she’d say, was the thing with feathers - that perched in the soul. Perhaps she influenced the soldiers - both animal and human - in someway. And hope sung the tunes without the words - and never stopped - at all…

If all the women in this war, especially Delielah and Annette, stayed out the war and was partially safe inside, the troop number would’ve decreased dramatically. If that was the case, this war with an inevitable loss would’ve happened by now. Thank goodness for women who loved to serve the Freedom Unit.

To top it all off, Annette even looked lovely in a soldier uniform, but she wasn’t the center of attention this dark afternoon. She used to be the queen of rock ‘n roll as a joke. It was her famous sexual position - it was real weird.

The robots pounded down a couple humans to the asphalt and almost shot ‘em dry if it wasn’t for the animals’ rage. There was no way the animals’ wanted to lose, but you never knew about those humans. It felt like they fell to the ground purposefully to get shot in every which way. Oh well, there was only six to eight humans anyway. Maybe it was intimidation, none could say for sure, but they’re already on the ground with the other downed soldiers.

Damn humans, they always were frail, furless and damned weak. They could’ve lost ‘em the war and not really had gave a hoot. The animals might’ve laughed at the motionless human bodies, but their concentration was on the war. They heard about loved ones damning the other even in the grave - they found it to be both funny and ridiculous. Maybe that was why their creations slowly ended in their extinction.

Only a few humans stood, dizzy, from the bare dirt. They dizzily fell to their knees and slowly tried to regain composure. Some of the Freedom Unit that saw it couldn’t believe their eyes. The humans really wanted to win this war too.

The Freedom Unit guarded the humans with another round of LSR and another row of robots exploded into little pieces.

The humans - only two of the six to eight - stood up and joined in the war. They charged the robots with their swords made of platonium alloy - 3rd powerful metal, far away from lypthegin. The Freedom Unit let them in and the humans pounded their swords against the robots' metal with little effect.

Cody screamed the command, "The platonium alloy won't do any good here, switch to the LDS. It fires a punch of LSRs, use that kind of weapon. Don't argue my authority."

The two humans looked and paid attention to Cody's instructions. That cost them. The robots shot the humans, they crashed to the ground and lost their ability to think and move.

The robots pushed the Freedom Unit in another attempt to bring them close to the cannons. The Freedom Unit was drove a couple feet back and put up a large fight. The Freedom Unit tried to slam the butt of their LDS against the robots, but failed miserably.

The robots grabbed the barrel of the LDS and slammed their own guns in their face. Some of the Freedom Unit nearly lost their balance and regained it, while others fell to the asphalt. Instead of firing and killing off the Freedom Unit like they expected, the robots tossed the LDS weapons elsewhere.

Something was up and the Freedom Unit knew it, but they couldn't grasp it. Maybe it was something Robotnik cooked up or something more on a strange way. It never crossed their minds that they were soon to be headed toward the - a first class, one way ticket - roboticizer.

The fallen members of the Freedom Unit rush to their scattered LDS weapons and rushed back, but the robots already managed to drag them six feet toward the cannons. The ones manning the cannons wondered why they wouldn't get outta the way for their moment. They didn't know what it'd cost them.

Only five more feet before they reached the cannons. The robots were determined to win and knew their win was inevitable. Even if the Freedom Unit was courageous and determined to win, they were outnumbered and their loss was inevitable. The inevitable can be postponed, but can't be stopped.

The three drop ships were tired of waiting for the Freedom Unit to reach the cannons and shot, nonstop, blue laser rays with evil intent. Even with this new obstacle, the Freedom Unit refused to fall, to fail, to give up everything they held most dear. Their freedom was valuable, so was this lop-sided win they thought they'd accomplish.

Cody and a few others felt the most pain from the blue laser rays, but refused to back down. The Freedom Unit fired their LSRs and ducked in an instant. The robots in the front row exploded into little pieces, while the next front row wondered in confusion as to what Freedom Unit was doing.

The robots lowered their heads and aimed their lasers at all the kneeled down members of Freedom Unit. The robots may have looked emotionless to this, but they knew victory was theirs no matter what the Freedom Unit dished out.

Cody commanded loudly with more enthusiasm that anyone could shake a leg at. "Do it now!"

Cannonballs rushed from the cannon at break neck speed and was aimed at all the robots. The cannonballs beheaded five to six robots in the front row, but some of the cannonballs didn't stop after one head. A select few cannonballs slammed into the chests of the unsuspecting robots. The cannonballs either ricocheted right through the robot's chest cavity or slam dunked a robot to the asphalt and dismantled it on contact.

The robots had had enough of this game of cat and mouse or tug of war for insurance. They plain out picked up the Freedom Unit in a pulverizing grip and tossed them ferociously. The Freedom Unit slammed against the cannons and fell, hurt moderately or badly, or others landed nearby the cannons.

If the robots had emotions, they'd be proud of themselves right now, but this wasn't the case. The case was how efficient and slowly they planned to injure the fleshlings. The fleshlings were weak, but, if brought together, they proved to accomplish things together and proved worthy to last this long in high stack against odds.

The three drop ships maneuvered through the air, fired blue laser rays at the ones manning the cannons, and landed behind the cannons. The Elite robots rushed from the three drop ships and surrounded the Freedom Unit. The drop ships charged for a few minutes and hovered above, unafraid of the weather.

The Freedom Unit was soaked in the fur with the oil waste rain and they smelled horrid. They didn't care, they had a war to win, but it finally crossed their minds that they might lose this war. It was only a matter of time before a loss was final and carved in stone.

The Elite robots wasted the ones manning the cannons, but purposefully didn't kill them. They destroyed the cannons and silenced the crowd.

The only thing that stood in the way of the inevitable loss for the Freedom Unit was the select few that gave them hope, but that hope died in a flash.

The robots and the Elites shot the ones in Freedom Unit that were weak and still fought for the freedom of a nearly destroyed earth. None of the Freedom Unit soldiers were dead, but the injured couldn't move. The Freedom Unit thought they were dead, this was a discouragement.

It was even worse when one of the slain was Cody, the only one left that gave them hope and enthusiasm. The Freedom Unit couldn't believe their eyes and most of 'em lost their ability to continue.

The robots slowly shot down Freedom Unit like flies, one by one. There was only time before the Freedom Unit was roboticized or someone took over as the hope giver. Only time, short time, would tell.

[Tails]

Chapter 2: Disobedience
Part 1 - War Peak

The glass door ascended open as Sonic took Tails’ hand, “Hang on tight! We’re gonna go at Sonic speed and it’s a good thing I’m used to it.”

Sonic sped so fast through the hallways with the heavy, electronic doors that Tails was lifted off his feet. Sonic carried Tails through them as sirens descended from the wall and the sound blared through out the room. The doors descended as the sirens blared.

Sonic felt like covering his ears and dropping Tails, but he refused to harm his little brother. Tails was too excited to worry about the sirens and had a wondrous blast as his fur blew in the wind.

Tails cheered with a bright smile, “Woohoo!”

Sonic smiled as he listened to Tails having fun. “You having a blast little bro?”

Faster, must go faster!

Tails couldn’t hear Sonic’s question , but the adrenaline rush was still apparent in his eyes. He wanted and craved it all for the thrills of Sonic speed.

Sonic increased his speed and fire flowed beneath his shoes and made a fiery path. Tails’ adrenaline rush increased dramatically and he cheered Sonic on, until he noticed their dilemma. The exits were, suddenly, deadly close to their heads.

Tails lost his adrenaline rush and screamed, “Stop!”

Sonic didn’t need to be told twice, “Right behind you little bro.”

Sonic screeched to a halt and was ¾ quarters of an inch away from the doors. Tails landed on his feet like he didn’t move anywhere. He loved it, his heart pounded for more and his heart rate slowly decreased to normal.

Sonic’s nose was too close to the doors for comfort. He backed away with his hands extended backwards, so he could tell if Tails was back there. Plus Sonic didn’t want his little brother to be hurt, much less have his foot stepped on for no reason either.

Tails scooted outta the way as Sonic made his way backwards and stopped when he saw a bulletproof window in the middle of the locked down hallway. Sonic shrugged this obstacle off like it meant nothing and stared out the window for a few minutes. He watched the war from this obscured view.

Oil and blood lied mixed on the window in random places and the Freedom Unit looked blurry from it. It made Sonic a little queasy and dizzy, so he looked away from the window. He lied on the floor and watched his little brother perform his magic. His little brother’s intelligence on technology far outweighed his, however, Sonic was just the opposite. He’d rather trash Robotnik’s technology than wonder how he does it so well, yet fails anyway.

Tails, on the other hand, was the same way as Sonic, except he rivaled Robotnik’s machines as well. He always managed to out fox Robotnik with machinery - it was his natural gift to fix things up. And by golly, were they pretty advanced.

Tails observed the numerical key lock on the door and looked for a control switch that allowed a similar plug that resembled the headphone plug in. He looked at the watch on his hand and received a genius plan that even outclassed Robotnik.

Tails smiled brightly, “Hey, I’ve got it!”

Sonic stood up and asked with curiosity, “What is it Tails? You figure a way out of here?”

Tails nodded, “You bet I did big brother,” and sighed, “but it’s gonna take awhile. You’ll be able to wait, right?”

Sonic shrugged his shoulders, “It all depends. What are we dealing with?”

Tails explained calmly, “I’ll just have to rewire the watch I have and hack into the numerical lock. Then we’ll escape to the Tornado.”

Sonic asked with his arms crossed and smiled, “Then what?”

Tails shrugged his shoulders, “Then, I guess, we’ll just play it by ear.”

Sonic patted Tails’ shoulder, “Good luck little brother. I’m counting on you.”

Tails nodded and smiled, “Thanks big brother.”

“No prob.”

Tails opened his watch, pulled out a head phone cord plug in and stretched it out. It took him about an hour or so to rewire the watch, so it’d allow him access to hack into the numerical code.

During that time, Sonic either watched a little Tails’ progress here and there, stretched, stared at or out the window, and ran around the room a little. Sonic ran minimally, so Tails could easily concentrate in this cramped up space that allowed little running room.

Tails plugged the head phone cord into the numerical key lock and he managed to hack into the lock within five minutes or less. The hacker code Tails entered opened every door from there to the exit only a little ways down the hall.

Tails cheered, “Sonic, I did it without any help!”

Sonic gave Tails the thumbs up, “Way to go Tails.”

Sonic and Tails ran down the rest of the hallway and walked the last mile. Sonic and Tails walked hand in hand just to show off their friendship and companionship to no one. It was a great sign for true blue friends.

Sonic let go of Tails’ hand and his concentration was all on the exit to help in the war effort.

At last, now I can show ‘em! Don’t underestimate Sonic the Hedgehog!

Tails paid attention to the lobby in the next room that contained armor suits, empty gun racks and just down the hallway there was a flight of stairs. Tails smiled at the harder, safer way to reach the Tornado on the roof. He frowned when he considered that there wasn’t an opening onto the roof, there was only a window capable of opening on the second floor - just above the Freedom Daycare.

Well, looks like we’ll need to climb up.

Tails finally noticed Sonic wasn’t right behind him and looked around. He found Sonic at the exit with his hand on the doorknob and he waved Tails over.

Tails persuaded Sonic with all his effort, “Don’t go that way big brother, I know a safer route just down the hall.”

Sonic turned around and held onto the door, “Tails, this is the faster way into the war. This is our big chance to prove Freedom Unit wrong and destroy the robots single-handedly. We have the edge over the Freedom Unit, can’t you see that? So what if we’re outnumbered, we’ll still win! Please, little brother, do what I say.”

Tails shook his head and crossed his arms, “No! There’s a safer way to reach the Tornado and live to fight another day. It’s just above Freedom Daycare.”

Sonic gained more enthusiasm to counter Tails’ suggestion. He wanted to listen to his little brother and take the safer route, but he didn’t want to leave the Freedom Unit to die. “This is our chance to. . .”

Tails interrupted with a flare of emotion, “To what? To die at the hands of Robotnik or be roboticized and serve him forever without having any free will? Is that worth throwing yourself into a war?

“No! If we make it to the roof using my safe route now, we might be able to save the Freedom Unit before it’s too late.”

Sonic released the doorknob and asked with curiosity and interest, “Like a diversion or something?”

Tails saluted with a smile, “Precisely. We just gotta reach the Tornado, divert any firepower and air units. If we go now, we should make it.”

Sonic walked to Tails and patted his shoulder, “Little brother…lead the way and I’ll follow.”

Tails led Sonic across the hallway of empty equipment racks without looking back. They didn’t observe anything enroute to the stairs, because they lacked the luxury of time and the situation was dire.

Just as Tails was about to climb the stairs, Sonic grabbed Tails’ shoulder and stopped him. “Little brother, we might wanna bring along some food on the journey. You happen to know where they keep the food?”

Tails turned around and explained with a small sigh, “The food is just up these steps, but is on the other end from where we’re going unfortunately. We’ll risk further life, unless we hurry and gather any food we can carry in one bag. We’ll share and ration for the journey and walk home.

“So, big brother, you wanna go for it?”

Sonic grinned and released Tails’ shoulder, “Sure, it’s better to be prepared than die.”

Tails shrugged his shoulders and his smile brightened, “You wanna race?”

Sonic cheered and threw his arm up, “Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about, let’s go!”

Tails and Sonic raced and had immense fun all the way to the fridge. Tails flew and laughed the whole way, while Sonic ran and laughed with him. They stayed at a steady, quick pace and the fox had trouble keeping up.

Tails descended to the ground, his two tails slowly moved in unison and sweat poured down his body. He landed on his hands and knees and caught his breath slowly. He laid on his butt, stared at the lypthegin ceiling and breathed at a steady pace.

Sonic walked to Tails, reached out his hand and Tails took it. Sonic lifted Tails up, “I need your help to choose food for the road ahead. Just don’t stock up on that cereal you love so much.”

Tails nodded, smiled, and rose his eyebrow, “Likewise for your chilidogs.” He explained, “We need to carry fruit, vegetables, cold meat, yogurt and bread; otherwise the food will spoil and have to bring pots and pans. We don’t have large enough bags to carry pots and pans. We also need to save food for the kids and kits that’ll be stranded in here; regardless of how much I dislike them.”

Sonic patted Tails’ head and stroked his ears. He looked Tails in the eyes, “I admire your compassion for the kids and kits. You’re one of the few who’d actually do that for others who make fun of them. In fact, I’m proud of you!”

Tails blushed and, after awhile, responded, “Thanks Sonic.”

Sonic hugged Tails and released, “No prob. Let’s pack some food and be on our way. We gotta save Freedom Unit really soon. Little bro, you ready?”

Tails nodded and saluted, “Let’s do it!”

Sonic grabbed a light weight book bag with two compartments.

Sonic and Tails grabbed any necessary food; such as fruit, vegetables, cold meat, yogurt with spoons to go with it, and bread. They ignored their favorite foods, since they knew they’d need all their health on full healthy to prevail. They moved onto the water bottles and grabbed six to share.

Sonic and Tails observed the fridge and the food storage and were ecstatic. With what little they had, the fridge and the food storage was already, nearly bare.

Sonic wanted to keep the food for them both to share, but there was too little in the fridge and storage as it was. He was ready to deny himself food to help those kids and kits, but he was also ready to deny them to nourish himself. Sonic decided to go with Tails’ decision.

Tails, on the other hand, was ready to know what his big brother thought. Although his thoughts took a different approach from Sonic’s decisions.

Sonic asked Tails and looked in the book bag, “Little bro, what’s your decision? Anything you choose, I’m with you one hundred percent.”

Tails lifted his index finger up, “Hold on a sec. I need to count their food supply.”

After a few minutes of counting and recounting the food, Tails came to a decision. “There’s really nothing we can do, but let’s give up two waters, half the cold meat and half the yogurts. The yogurts will go bad first, so we might not eat what little we have.”

After Sonic cooperated with Tails to help the kids and kits whom he disliked, they only had half a book bag full and it was pushing it immensely.

Tails could see the pain in Sonic’s eyes. Tails didn’t blame him for it, they had too little food as it was. Barely enough to last a few days, unless it was rationed among the two of them. That alone was going to be difficult for them both; regardless of their quick metabolisms.

They departed with the book bag strapped around Sonic’s shoulders.

Sonic considered the lack of food and sighed, “Tails, I hope you made the right decision.”

Tails sighed and nodded a little, slowly. “So do I.”

They raced all the way to the other end of the hallway and stopped at the hallway’s end. This time, however, Tails didn’t fly and managed to stay a couple feet behind Sonic. It wasn’t long before they found the only window capable of opening.

Sonic asked with curiosity, “So, you gonna fly us up there?”

Tails shook his head, “No, it’s too risky. We’re gonna have to climb up instead.”

Sonic shrugged his shoulders, “That’s fine by me.”

Tails smiled enthusiastically, “Great.”

Sonic opened the window and, unfortunately, the latches snapped. The window crashed to the ground and shattered into glass shards. Not only did it break and create a loud crash, it attracted unwanted attention.

Sonic didn’t bother looking out the window any further. He ran and took Tails down with him, “Duck!”

Lasers flew inside the open compartment, while Sonic and Tails cried out in fear. Some of the lasers almost managed to shoot right through the lypthegin - those lasers alone could’ve killed Sonic and Tails already. Then, next stop, the roboticizer.

The lasers stopped and concentrated it’s firepower elsewhere. Sonic and Tails didn’t care where it fired, as long as they weren’t the targets. Then it dawned on them that the other targets were the Freedom Unit and so they booked to reach the window.

Sonic climbed out, followed by Tails, on the lypthegin. They had very little resources for climbing up to the roof, all they had was some bumps and cracks they could barely grip firmly.

Sonic asked when they were about halfway up, “Little bro, why can’t you fly us up there?”

Tails explained and checked up on the Freedom Unit, “It’s too risky doing this alone, but to fly up is just as risky and dangerous. Not to mention if I’m shot, we’ll both die from flying. At least here, I won’t have to worry.”

A laser flew up to them and nearly cut right into Tails’ hand. Tails lost his grip on his right hand and nearly lost his whole grip from fright. He managed to regain his grip and started up his climb to the roof.

Sonic nodded and restarted his climb, “I see what you mean. I won’t ask anymore.”

They managed to reach the rooftop after a couple close calls. They looked at the war from down below and didn’t like what they saw.

Sonic turned away and asked, “How bad is it?”

Tails’ jaw dropped, he couldn’t believe his eyes. More robots continuously replaced the fallen ones, this time in greater numbers than before.

Tails regained his composure and shook his head, “It’s really bad big brother. The Freedom Unit is cut in half. They won’t last much longer.”

Sonic leaped onto the Tornado and stood on it, ready for action. “Then what are we waiting for? Pilot the plan Tails! We might just be able to save what’s left of Freedom Unit.”

Tails saluted with a smile and an eagerness to help Freedom Unit before it’s too late, “Roger.”

Tails started the Tornado up and jumped in. He maneuvered around the roof a little but and prepared to lift off for the sake of helping the Freedom Unit as a diversion.

[Tails]

There was a day when sunlight left us under clouds of smoke and debris that choked us whenever we breathed. A day when all machines complex enough joined Robotnik and created slaves of the people and animals left, except two hundred of each, but it didn't take long to roboticize 100 of each. It left 15 to 25 children to play a role for the next generation, while 75 to 85 adults fought with incredible odds against them.

There was a day when a nuclear holocaust nearly wiped out all life and left a trail of scorched food. It made the food scarce beyond compare, but they say there's an area left untouched that Robotnik hogged for himself. And now, the two kids that were denied in the war of incredible odds, suddenly were there only hope to survive.

But Robotnik concocted two experiments for robotic machines - an ultimate fighting machine.

Whenever I'm alone with you, you make me feel like I am whole again.
Whenever I'm alone with you, you make me feel like I am young again.
Whenever I'm alone with you, you make me feel like I am strong again…

Prologue: No kids allowed!
Part 1 - War Peak

A red wolf paced across the complex of a large square building and grew impatient. His eyes showed the passion he had for his fellow mercenaries in the war and his leg movement showed his spirit to shoot his enemies sky high.

He grew extremely impatient and looked out the window. The glass was bulletproof and he watched the slaughter. Blood spurted on the glass and slowly descended out of sight.

The wolf leaped back from fear and his heart pounded in his throat. He clenched his fists and tensed his muscles, using his fear to drive his tenacious spirit. He paced across the room, kept a careful eye on his wristwatch and felt the barrel of his rifle securely strapped to his holster.

damn it, why won’t they call in for reinforcements? I wanna piece of the action!

Suddenly, like a prayer was answered, the side of the watch blinked red off and on and the small television screen showed incoming transmission…

The wolf clicked the red blinking button with joy, “Finally! Woo!” He switched the wristwatch to television mode by doing so and a raccoon desperately inquired the situation with blood on his uniform and wounded face.

The raccoon screamed over the gunfire, the ear-splitting cannon shots and lasers that flew by from his flank. He ducked down low, a few stray bullets sliced through his ears, leaving very distinctive holes in his wake and he screamed in pain.

The raccoon dropped to the grass in the ceaseless dark sky and returned fire, “You metal bastards, how does that feel?” He turned his attention to the wristwatch as he fired and his body shook. He saw the excited wolf at the other end, “Jesse, send those god damn reinforcements, on the double!”

Jesse saluted with his free hand, “Sir, yes sir!”

A couple soldiers raced into the room, followed by seventy-two other eager soldiers is Jesse’s flank.

A jaguar asked with a smile and curiosity, “Jesse, is it time?”

Jesse grinned with high spirits, upholstered his rifle and cocked it, “Yes, it’s time!”

The jaguar cheered, “I’ve been waiting for this moment,” and his leaping pumped him up.

A girl rabbit cheered, “Woo! Let’s get ’em.”

They all scream in unison, “We’ve gotta fight, for our right, to parrrrrty!”

Jesse waited for all of his flank to exit and counted them in the process, but their speed and anxiousness made it tough to accomplish.

"Jesse...Tiger, is it?" a voice asked from behind.

Jesse didn't look at first and answered the voice, "Yeah, it's Jesse, but it's pronounced Jezzie. No, it's Wolf, Jesse Wolf."

Jesse turned and stared at the two with shock, then his yellow wolf eyes gleamed eerily, which took the two aback with a start. "Sonic and Tails, you've gotta stop doing
this, you're just kids for crying out loud. Every time 'reinforcements' is said, maybe even whispered, you two pop up like weeds. I love the eagerness you two show, but we can't risk losing the next generation."

Tails stepped up to the plate, cupped his hands together and shook his arms, "Please, we wanna help, can we, can we?"

Sonic laid his hand on Tails' chest and lightly tapped him back, "Tails, let me handle this."

Tails nodded with a smile, "Okay, big brother."

Sonic smiled at Tails warmly and returned his attention to Jesse, "We wanna help the war effort and we'll both be a large help."

Jesse tilted his head and pointed at the hallway away from the building exit, "No, not another word. You two and the other kids that belong in Freedom Daycare are our only hope to keep the last of our species alive. We take great measure to keep any of you from escaping, but, somehow, you always manage to escape. If we're lucky, we'll figure out how you two escape and attack the core problem."

Sonic cringed just thinking about the daycare that kept them alone without adult contact as if they were slaves in a dungeon. Tails felt uncomfortable going back into the place with the 'normal' kids and can't bear being trapped in that daycare like a caged animal. They both had that look in their eyes - eager to be useful and fight in the war, instead of being useless and looked down upon as kids.

Sonic countered Jesse's argument, "The core problem isn't how we escape, the core problem is the daycare itself. Tails and I don't like it in there--"

Jesse crossed his arms and scowled, "You don't gotta like it. You don't have a choice."

"-- because I hate how the kids mistreat my little brother. If they keep treating Tails horribly, I'm gonna put a stop to it, I'll just talk it out."

Tails added with a sense of lowliness and shyness, "They... blow spit wads at... me... and they... harass me without end."

Jesse upholstered his rifle and cocked it, "Not another word, I really don't care how they mistreat any of you, so deal with it. Return to the daycare, that's an order soldiers." He rushed to the door, "It's time for the Breakaway," and joined his flank in war.

Sonic took Tails' hand and they obediently returned to Freedom Daycare. As they walked, heavy, electronic doors descended into the ground behind them and rose up, until they can't ascend anymore and locked in place. The electronic doors were a large half-circle with a computer controlled locking mechanism and they were near perfect.

As they walked to the freedom daycare, Tails asked with a sigh, "Why do we gotta go back here? I hate this place and the 'normal' kids are just gonna pick on me again."

Sonic agreed and never left Tails' side, "I feel for you bro', I don't like the daycare either. I don't want the kids to pick on you either, but, like Jesse said, we don't have a choice. I'll do what I can to comfort you, Tails, you have my promise."

Tails held out his pinky and asked, "Pinky swear?"

Sonic grinned at Tails and shook his head, "Who taught you that anyway?"

Tails returned his grin and laughed a little, "You did."

Sonic chuckled and cocked an eyebrow, "You're gonna have to fill me in on this discovery. Just convince me."

Tails thought it over for a little bit and explained, "When I was five and you were eleven, you taught me how to fly using my two tails like a helicopter blades and you taught me the pinky swear - the mother of all promise keepers."

Sonic sighed, "Tails, that's all in the past now. I know you're only ten years old, but you'll have to grow into an adult fast!"

Tails lowered his hand and sighed, "I guess you're right."

Sonic felt he shouldn't lie to Tails with the whole chin up routine. It's one thing to give a brother happiness, but another thing to lie so he's made happy. He'd rather not force Tails into anything.

We were forced into this war and Tails knows it just as well as I do.

Sonic, instead, complained, "I'm sick of all this walking. I wanna run!"

Tails grinned, "It's obvious you haven't changed. Too bad we're one step from entering the daycare."

Sonic chuckled, "I can't believe I didn't notice."

Tails shifted from a grin of Sonic being the same to a feeling of shyness and insecurity as the glass ascended open. He felt unsafe just thinking about reuniting with the kits and kids that saw him as different. Tails knew they'd make fun of him for being different - for having two tails instead of one. It struck hard in his heart and he stopped like someone glued his shoes to the lypthegin - a powerful, thin metal.

Tails backed against the gray, milky wall and slid to the ground. The white of his bushy tails laid nearby his face and slightly below his shoulders. He looked at the floor and sighed miserably.

Sonic sat next to Tails and lightly patted his head, “What’s wrong Tails?”

Tails sighed and explained, “I’m…afraid to go inside and see the ‘normal’ kids.”

Sonic encouraged him to follow him inside Freedom Daycare, “Don’t sweat it bro’, I’m sure they’ll be glad to see ya.”

Tails shook his head, “Easy for you to say.”

Sonic took Tails’ hand and stood him up, “Trust me. If it doesn’t work, you can always count on me.”

Tails smiled, “Thanks big brother.”

Sonic smiled back, “Anytime.”

As soon as Tails walked in, a girl hugged him, “Good to have you back.”

Then all the kids joined in to hug him and they walked off with quiet laughter. Sonic looked behind Tails’ back and saw a unwelcome sign.

Hug me cuz I’m a freak of nature.

Sonic removed the sheet of paper from Tails’ back and handed it to Tails, “Sorry bro, I misjudged ‘em.”

Tails stared at the sheet of paper and read the reason why they hugged him. He rested the paper to his side, stared down on the floor and sighed. He looked for an
isolated spot to sit and stared at the wall, but even the lypthegin couldn’t muffle out the war outside.

Sonic sat and laid his head against the bulletproof glass. The building lightly shuddered as the noise outside gave him the constant reminder that they weren’t alone, but would be soon enough. He stayed perched in safety, but action and all the firepower and all the rage were outside. A desperate place he wanted to be, a desperate need to run and be useful was all beckoning him to go outside.

However, Sonic refused the temptation just as easily as it had came. He won’t just leave Tails behind, not his little brother. The war carried on and, within an hour or so, the cannon fire ceased and the lonely feeling crept up on Sonic without warning. Still, he resisted, waiting for Tails.

Tails cried as he stared at the wall and didn’t really know, much less care, that the ‘normal’ kids told him to shut up constantly. He wanted to be alone, in a different world, where all are treated respectfully, but he also knew that’s like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Tails wiped away his tears, but didn’t stand or anything else - shying away into his dreamland. The dreamland of how earth used to look like before all this. Before the turmoil, before machines became our enemy, and before the nuclear holocaust that nearly wiped out every specie of animalia.

A kid flicked Tails’ ear and he was sent back to the horrors of his new reality. The kid flicked both his ears.

Tails stared at his shoes, arching his head down in defeat, “Stop it.”

The kid pranced around, “Who’s a freak? You’re a freak.”

Sonic had had enough of this. As he approached, the kid backed away.

Sonic took Tails’ hand, “Come with me little bro.”

Tails went with Sonic and they stared out the window. As Tails walked over there, however, the same kid made the same sad face that Tails had and laughed. The others joined in the laughter, except Sonic.

Sonic suggested, “Tails, you’ve gotta quit letting them do this to you, it’ll only get worse.”

The kids laughed, “Yeah, Tails, listen to mommy.”

Sonic explained, “See, if you’d quit listening to them, they’ll stop making fun of you.”

Tails sighed and nearly burst into tears, “I know, it’s just--”

“Let’s watch the war and ignore the kids. They’ll leave us alone, you’ll see.”

Lasers and bullets flew across the air down below. The human and animal soldiers were dropping like flies. Blood could be faintly seen from above.

The children gathered around and pushed Tails back away from Sonic, so they could see what the two saw. Sonic pushed his way through the crowd and to Tails’ side.

Sonic and Tails looked through a window close by, but, as they watched, they confirmed that the Freedom unit was losing against Robotnik’s robot soldiers.

Sonic raced to the entrance/exit of Freedom daycare and looked back at Tails, “So, little bro, you up for some disobedience?”

Tails turned his way and smiled, “I thought you’d never ask! Yes, I’ll go.”

Sonic smiled, “That’s my little bro I know and love.” As soon as he finished, he stretched and went into a running stance, “Then what’re we waiting for? Let’s go!”

Enticed Darkness
By Ben Stallion

---

Chapter 1: Breakaway
Part 1 - War Peak


Jesse rushed outside in search of Jake Striped. He covered his ears as the cannon shots ricocheted through the air. He saw Jake commandeering the cannons and firing his automatic rifle at the robots.

The robots looked like animals and humans wrapped in metal.

Jesse crawled across the grass covered in blood and made his way to the raccoon controlling the opposite flank. Even when the bodies fell or blood spilled on him, he
trudged along through this valley of death.

Robots were crushed, maybe mangled, in the sheer power and weight of a cannonball. Some of their bodies lie in ruins, while others continuously step forward as they shoot the puny, fleshy Freedom Unit.

Jesse tugged on the raccoon’s boot, “Psst, Jake, can I talk to you for a minute?”

Jake shook his head and stood Jesse up, “You know crawling, even for a high spirited wolf like yourself, could get you killed, so refrain from it.”

Jake cocked his rifle and gave Jesse nuggies, “You know I’m kidding, right?”

Jesse chuckled a little, “Still haven’t lost your touch, have you? Even for as old and banged up as you look, you’re still acting like a child. A child that won’t give up for nothing.”

Jake added on for the hell of it and pointed at the holes in his ears, “A child with bullet holes in his ears and who has . . .heh, heh, yeah. . .forgot what I was gonna say.”

A laser shot hit Jake’s back leg and he collapsed from the pain and shock. As Jake turned around and grabbed his assault rifle, the Freedom Unit fired at will. Bullets filled the air and some just bounced off the robots, while a few others crashed from immense damage.

Each downed robot would be replaced by a hundred more robots under Robotnik’s control and it continuously got harder on the Freedom Unit. Some could even say it was Freedom Unit versus Freedom Unit. All the robots - animal and human - looked fairly familiar.

Jake breathed heavily and tried lifting his rifle for a better aim, but his body shook under the weight. Soon, he lost his mobility and laid there without any chance of contributing to the Freedom Unit.

As much as Jesse wanted to help out Jake to snap him outta it, he knew he’d be at risk. He also knew, however, that a war gave no room for emotional sadness. That is if he wanted to die as life taken, instead of life spent. A small decision can affect a ball game, even the outcome of a war.

The Freedom Unit and robots fired in short bursts. The large, immense armor piercing rounds slashed through a couple robot’s throats, but more took it’s place. The lasers sliced into a couple masses of the Freedom Unit and plenty of soldiers fell to the asphalt - either unconscious and motionless or their bodies shaking, shuddering with blood seeping through their mouth.

Jesse rushed forward, maneuvering all or any bullets, and opened fire with a loud battle cry. “I’ve had it! We might lose, but we aren’t goin’ without a fight.”

Lasers ricocheted into Jesse’s arms and stomach, the impact jerked him back. Jesse wouldn’t stop, couldn’t stop, he refused to stop. This wasn’t like boot camp, this wasn’t practice, it was the real thing staring them in the face.

Jesse took pain as he dished it out. Even his slow blood loss didn’t stop him from being a contribution to the Freedom Unit’s future. He knew he wasn’t any good to them dead, but he didn’t care. This was the only way, he once confirmed, to motivate soldiers. Or to tell them that odds, even if stacked against you, doesn’t mean a thing. All you’ve gotta have was the pride and confidence that you’d win and it’d happen.

Robots crashed to the ground simultaneously as bullets shredded into their metal and gears.

Maybe that motivated the soldiers to join in, maybe that’s why a particular jaguar pumped them up and made sure Jesse got credited for his decision.

The jaguar pointed it out, “Why aren’t we doing what Jesse’s doing? Do we really wanna lose that bad?!”

The others kept firing, but didn’t have a clue. They shrugged their shoulders, unmotivated, “Uh, no, I guess. It’s not like we’re gonna win, so why bother?”

Cody - the jaguar - couldn’t, wouldn’t believe in this poor excuse for soldiers - wastes of fur and flesh. Cody asked with high spirits, “What’s our slogan? Do we really wanna lose that bad?!”

The others prepared to run, except the ones responsible for the cannons, “No sir, failure isn’t an option.”

Cody grins with enthusiasm, “What’s our slogan?”

They rose their fists with enthusiasm, “We’ve gotta fight, for our right, to parrrrrty!”

Cody cocked his assault rifle, “That’s what I’m talkin about! What are we?”

“Freedom Unit,” They screamed and cocked their weapons.

“I can’t hear you! Louder!”

“Freedom Unit!”

Cody led them into a war of ages, the war determining their future.

On their way, the robots nearly finished off Jesse and the robots didn’t take this wolf on for this long for nothing. Maybe they’re killing him off slowly or Robotnik had other plans for the unlucky injured. Who knew what he planned for the Freedom Unit once they died or suffered.

Only Robotnik knew it to be so.

Jesse couldn’t take it anymore and fell, while the Freedom Unit ran over him like he was ground. Despite all the pain, Jesse stayed conscious and motionless, much like Jake and any other downed soldier. Jake, much like the other downed soldiers, tried to move, to stand, to contribute in this high stake war, but their bodies wouldn’t respond.

The Freedom Unit clashed against the robots and the robots focused elsewhere without their enemies’ notice. The robots shot down a couple soldiers manning the cannons.

The robots tried to charge, but the Freedom Unit knocked down half an entire row with the slam of the butt of their guns. The Freedom Unit stepped back and took on a different approach against these incredible odds. The robots knocked down stood back up like virtually nothing happened.

The Freedom Unit were stunned to see it, but it didn’t stop their tenacious spirits. All were hungry for it and they hoped to be unstoppable - it won’t happen, couldn’t happen. The robots deserved what was comin’ to ‘em.

A storm formed in the dark sky - rain poured, thunder rolled and lightning clashed the ground. None of it looked like it was supposed to and didn’t do well to penetrate robotic metal.

The storm looked dark, the lightning and thunder didn’t light the sky up, did the opposite. So did the rain that looked like oil waste from a car.

A storm of bullets met the robots and a hail of lypthegin enriched stones. Oil sprayed from the robots in the war path. They cramped, stiffened and fell to the asphalt, but were replaced by thousands more.

Cody refused to back down and surrender to Robotnik. If he died, he wouldn’t care, as long as some died with him. There was nothing that stood in his way, except his spent cartridges.

Cody looked around and asked urgently, “Got any spare cartridges? I’m out!”

The others nearby in hearing distance replied and kept firing bullets, “No, sorry Cody, we’re about out. There’s too many to spare cartridges. We all had six cartridges and we’re at the last one.”

Cody threw down his rifle and equipped the LDS (Lypthegin Dynamic Swift.) LDS held LSR (Lypthegin Swift Rounds) and the LDS looked like a miniature rocket launcher, with a red scope and a really small barrel.

Cody cringed and grinned about this strange, yet advanced, gun that shot some very small, powerful lypthegin bullets.

Cody raised his hand high and commanded loudly with a sudden enthusiasm, “Equip your LDS, now!”

A cute, purple girl rabbit asked loudly over the rifle fire, “Why? They haven’t been tested yet!”

Cody’s tenacious spirit showed in his eyes as he slammed as LSR cartridge home inside the LDS. “Delielah, we don’t have time to wait. There won’t be a later a for us! Let’s test it now, on these robots.”

Delielah saluted and equipped the LDS. She and Cody commanded and encouraged the others to use their LDS. They obeyed and passed the orders along to each adjacent soldier. They hoisted the LDS over their shoulders, slammed in an LSR cartridge and looked through the laser scope.

The LSR easily ripped through the robots’ armor and exploded into little pieces. The only problem was the LDS had to charge after one shot of these monstrous LSR bullets.

Ten seconds to charge.

The robots seized the advantage and slowly drove the Freedom Unit back to the cannons. Cody wasn’t having it, not here, not anywhere. Robots won’t dominate that damn easily, even if their victory was inevitable.

Cody slammed his body against a robot across from him, popped the robot backwards and pushed. He commanded loudly, so all the Freedom Unit heard him, “Push!”

The Freedom Unit pushed with full strength and growled loudly with gritted teeth. The robots behind slammed in robots ahead of them and pushed. The robots dragged the Freedom Unit’s feet across the dead, scorched ground.

Three drop ships watched from above with anticipation for the Freedom Unit to be dragged to the cannons. They hoped to release the Elite robotic soldiers and surround and execute the Freedom Unit. After that, they’d search for the kids and kits and roboticize them if they breached that strong complex. Then nothing could stand in Robotnik’s way to make Robotnik Empire reality.

Some would say he already accomplished it. Robotnik didn’t think so. Until all fleshlings was outta his hair, he wouldn’t succeed to create Robotnik Empire. Sure, he wanted a wife, but maybe he wanted more than that.

The robots pushed the Freedom Unit further toward the cannons. The Freedom Unit wasn’t havin’ it, not now, not ever!

Cody checked his LDS and advised others to do the same. When he saw the weapon charged, he grinned darkly, “Fire!”

They fired the LSR and Cody screamed enthusiastically as an entire row of robots exploded under the powerful lypthegin bullets, “Get back you scrap metal! How do you like that!? Huh?”

Annette, a rather dashing coyote, used her strong gripped hands to play the always fun game of snapping robots’ necks. “I love this, don’t you?” Oil sometimes squirted in her face, but she’d still be the cream of the crop if it wasn’t for this war.

Before this war, everyone looked at her in, she’d say, a funny way. Maybe it was just she didn’t know the dynamics of male and female. Maybe she didn’t realize the male animals secretly, or in front of her, checked her out.

Hope, she’d say, was the thing with feathers - that perched in the soul. Perhaps she influenced the soldiers - both animal and human - in someway. And hope sung the tunes without the words - and never stopped - at all…

If all the women in this war, especially Delielah and Annette, stayed out the war and was partially safe inside, the troop number would’ve decreased dramatically. If that was the case, this war with an inevitable loss would’ve happened by now. Thank goodness for women who loved to serve the Freedom Unit.

To top it all off, Annette even looked lovely in a soldier uniform, but she wasn’t the center of attention this dark afternoon. She used to be the queen of rock ‘n roll as a joke. It was her famous sexual position - it was real weird.

The robots pounded down a couple humans to the asphalt and almost shot ‘em dry if it wasn’t for the animals’ rage. There was no way the animals’ wanted to lose, but you never knew about those humans. It felt like they fell to the ground purposefully to get shot in every which way. Oh well, there was only six to eight humans anyway. Maybe it was intimidation, none could say for sure, but they’re already on the ground with the other downed soldiers.

Damn humans, they always were frail, furless and damned weak. They could’ve lost ‘em the war and not really had gave a care in the world. The animals might’ve laughed at the motionless human bodies, but their concentration was on the war. They heard about loved ones damning the other even in the grave - they found it to be both funny and ridiculous. Maybe that was why their creations slowly ended in their extinction.

Only a few humans stood, dizzy, from the bare dirt. They dizzily fell to their knees and slowly tried to regain composure. Some of the Freedom Unit that saw it couldn’t believe their eyes. The humans really wanted to win this war too.

The Freedom Unit guarded the humans with another round of LSR and another row of robots exploded into little pieces.

The humans - only two of the six to eight - stood up and joined in the war. They charged the robots with their swords made of platonium alloy - 3rd powerful metal, far away from lypthegin. The Freedom Unit let them in and the humans pounded their swords against the robots' metal with little effect.

Cody screamed the command, "The platonium alloy won't do any good here, switch to the LDS. It fires a punch of LSRs, use that kind of weapon. Don't argue my authority."

The two humans looked and paid attention to Cody's instructions. That cost them. The robots shot the humans, they crashed to the ground and lost their ability to think and move.

The robots pushed the Freedom Unit in another attempt to bring them close to the cannons. The Freedom Unit was drove a couple feet back and put up a large fight. The Freedom Unit tried to slam the butt of their LDS against the robots, but failed miserably.

The robots grabbed the barrel of the LDS and slammed their own guns in their face. Some of the Freedom Unit nearly lost their balance and regained it, while others fell to the asphalt. Instead of firing and killing off the Freedom Unit like they expected, the robots tossed the LDS weapons elsewhere.

Something was up and the Freedom Unit knew it, but they couldn't grasp it. Maybe it was something Robotnik cooked up or something more on a strange way. It never crossed their minds that they were soon to be headed toward the - a first class, one way ticket - roboticizer.

The fallen members of the Freedom Unit rush to their scattered LDS weapons and rushed back, but the robots already managed to drag them six feet toward the cannons. The ones manning the cannons wondered why they wouldn't get outta the way for their moment. They didn't know what it'd cost them.

Only five more feet before they reached the cannons. The robots were determined to win and knew their win was inevitable. Even if the Freedom Unit was courageous and determined to win, they were outnumbered and their loss was inevitable. The inevitable can be postponed, but can't be stopped.

The three drop ships were tired of waiting for the Freedom Unit to reach the cannons and shot, nonstop, blue laser rays with evil intent. Even with this new obstacle, the Freedom Unit refused to fall, to fail, to give up everything they held most dear. Their freedom was valuable, so was this lop-sided win they thought they'd accomplish.

Cody and a few others felt the most pain from the blue laser rays, but refused to back down. The Freedom Unit fired their LSRs and ducked in an instant. The robots in the front row exploded into little pieces, while the next front row wondered in confusion as to what Freedom Unit was doing.

The robots lowered their heads and aimed their lasers at all the kneeled down members of Freedom Unit. The robots may have looked emotionless to this, but they knew victory was theirs no matter what the Freedom Unit dished out.

Cody commanded loudly with more enthusiasm that anyone could shake a leg at. "Do it now!"

Cannonballs rushed from the cannon at break neck speed and was aimed at all the robots. The cannon balls beheaded five to six robots in the front row, but some of the cannon balls didn't stop after one head. A select few cannonballs slammed into the chests of the unsuspecting robots. The cannonballs either ricocheted right through the robot's chest cavity or slam dunked a robot to the asphalt and dismantled it on contact.

The robots had had enough of this game of cat and mouse or tug of war for insurance. They plain out picked up the Freedom Unit in a pulverizing grip and tossed them ferociously. The Freedom Unit slammed against the cannons and fell, hurt moderately or badly, or others landed nearby the cannons.

If the robots had emotions, they'd be proud of themselves right now, but this wasn't the case. The case was how efficient and slowly they planned to injure the fleshlings. The fleshlings were weak, but, if brough together, they proved to accomplish things together and proved worthy to last this long in high stack against odds.

The three the drop ships maneuvered through the air, fired blue laser rays at the ones manning the cannons, and landed behind the cannons. The Elite robots rushed from the three drop ships and surrounded the Freedom Unit. The drop ships charged for a few minutes and hovered above, unafraid of the weather.

The Freedom Unit was soaked in the fur with the oil waste rain and they smelled horrid. They didn't care, they had a war to win, but it finally crossed their minds that they might lose this war. It was only a matter of time before a loss was final and carved in stone.

The Elite robots wasted the ones manning the cannons, but purposefully didn't kill them. They destroyed the cannons and silenced the crowd.

The only thing that stood in the way of the inevitable loss for the Freedom Unit was the select few that gave them hope, but that hope died in a flash.

The robots and the Elites shot the ones in Freedom Unit that were weak and still fought for the freedom of a nearly destroyed earth. None of the Freedom Unit soldiers were dead, but the injured couldn't move. The Freedom Unit thought they were dead, this was a discouragement.

It was even worse when one of the slain was Cody, the only one left that gave them hope and enthusiasm. The Freedom Unit couldn't believe their eyes and most of 'em lost their ability to continue.

The robots slowly shot down Freedom Unit like flies, one by one. There was only time before the Freedom Unit was roboticized or someone took over as the hope giver. Only time, short time, would tell.



***

In case, Tech's posts disappear, I'm doing it now.

[Tails]

Chapter 2: Disobedience
Part 1 - War Peak

The glass door ascended open as Sonic took Tails’ hand, “Hang on tight! We’re gonna go at Sonic speed and it’s a good thing I’m used to it.”

Sonic sped so fast through the hallways with the heavy, electronic doors that Tails was lifted off his feet. Sonic carried Tails through the heavy, electronic doors as sirens descended from the wall and the sound blared through out the room. The electronic doors descended as the sirens blared.

Sonic felt like covering his ears and dropping Tails, but he refused to harm his little brother. Tails was too excited to worry about the sirens and had a wondrous blast as his fur blew in the wind.

Tails cheered with a bright smile, “Woohoo!”

Sonic smiled as he listened to Tails having fun. “You having a blast little bro?”

Faster, must go faster!

Tails couldn’t hear Sonic’s question , but the adrenaline rush was still apparent in his eyes. He wanted and craved it all for the thrills of Sonic speed.

Sonic increased his speed and fire flowed beneath his shoes and made a fiery path. Tails’ adrenaline rush increased dramatically and he cheered Sonic on, until he noticed their dilemma. The exits were, suddenly, deadly close to their heads.

Tails lost his adrenaline rush and screamed, “Stop!”

Sonic didn’t need to be told twice, “Right behind you little bro.”

Sonic screeched to a halt and was ¾ quarters of an inch away from the heavy, electronic doors. Tails landed on his feet like he didn’t move anywhere. He loved it, his heart pounded for more and his heart rate slowly decreased to normal.

Sonic’s nose was too close to the doors for comfort. He backed away with his hands extended backwards, so he could tell if Tails was back there. Plus Sonic didn’t want his little brother to be hurt, much less have his foot stepped on for no reason either.

Tails scooted outta the way as Sonic made his way backwards and stopped when he saw a bulletproof window in the middle of the locked down hallway. Sonic shrugged this obstacle off like it meant nothing and stared out the window for a few minutes. He watched the war from this obscured view.

Oil and blood lied mixed on the window in random places and the Freedom Unit looked blurry from it. It made Sonic a little queasy and dizzy, so he looked away from the window. He lied on the floor and watched his little brother perform his magic. His little brother’s intelligence on technology far outweighed his, however, Sonic was just the opposite. He’d rather trash Robotnik’s technology than wonder how he does it so well, yet fails anyway.

Tails, on the other hand, was the same way as Sonic, except he rivaled Robotnik’s machines as well. He always managed to out fox Robotnik with machinery - it was his natural gift to fix things up. And by golly, were they pretty advanced.

Tails observed the numerical key lock on the door and looked for a control switch that allowed a similar plug that resembled the headphone plug in. He looked at the watch on his hand and received a genius plan that even outclassed Robotnik.

Tails smiled brightly, “Hey, I’ve got it!”

Sonic stood up and asked with curiosity, “What is it Tails? You figure a way out of here?”

Tails nodded, “You bet I did big brother,” and sighed, “but it’s gonna take awhile. You’ll be able to wait, right?”

Sonic shrugged his shoulders, “It all depends. What are we dealing with?”

Tails explained calmly, “I’ll just have to rewire the watch I have and hack into the numerical lock. Then we’ll escape to the Tornado.”

Sonic asked with his arms crossed and smiled, “Then what?”

Tails shrugged his shoulders, “Then, I guess, we’ll just play it by ear.”

Sonic patted Tails’ shoulder, “Good luck little brother. I’m counting on you.”

Tails nodded and smiled, “Thanks big brother.”

“No prob.”

Tails opened his watch, pulled out a head phone cord plug in and stretched it out. It took him about an hour or so to rewire the watch, so it’d allow him access to hack into the numerical code.

During that time, Sonic either watched a little Tails’ progress here and there, stretched, stared at or out the window, and ran around the room a little. Sonic ran minimally, so Tails could easily concentrate in this cramped up space that allowed little running room.

Tails plugged the head phone cord into the numerical key lock and he managed to hack into the lock within five minutes or less. The hacker code Tails entered opened every heavy, electronic doors from there to the exit only a little ways down the hall.

Tails cheered, “Sonic, I did it without any help!”

Sonic gave Tails the thumbs up, “Way to go Tails.”

Sonic and Tails ran down the rest of the hallway and walked the last mile. Sonic and Tails walked hand in hand just to show off their friendship and companionship to no one. It was a great sign for true blue friends.

Sonic let go of Tails’ hand and his concentration was all on the exit to help in the war effort.

At last, now I can show ‘em! Don’t underestimate Sonic the Hedgehog!

Tails paid attention to the lobby in the next room that contained armor suits, empty gun racks and just down the hallway there was a flight of stairs. Tails smiled at the harder, safer way to reach the Tornado on the roof. He frowned when he considered that there wasn’t an opening onto the roof, there was only a window capable of opening on the second floor - just above the Freedom Daycare.

Well, looks like we’ll need to climb up.

Tails finally noticed Sonic wasn’t right behind him and looked around. He found Sonic at the exit with his hand on the doorknob and he waved Tails over.

Tails persuaded Sonic with all his effort, “Don’t go that way big brother, I know a safer route just down the hall.”

Sonic turned around and held onto the door, “Tails, this is the faster way into the war. This is our big chance to prove Freedom Unit wrong and destroy the robots single-handedly. We have the edge over the Freedom Unit, can’t you see that? So what if we’re outnumbered, we’ll still win! Please, little brother, do what I say.”

Tails shook his head and crossed his arms, “No! There’s a safer way to reach the Tornado and live to fight another day. It’s just above Freedom Daycare.”

Sonic gained more enthusiasm to counter Tails’ suggestion. He wanted to listen to his little brother and take the safer route, but he didn’t want to leave the Freedom Unit to die. “This is our chance to. . .”

Tails interrupted with a flare of emotion, “To what? To die at the hands of Robotnik or be roboticized and serve him forever without having any free will? Is that worth throwing yourself into a war?

“No! If we make it to the roof using my safe route now, we might be able to save the Freedom Unit before it’s too late.”

Sonic released the doorknob and asked with curiosity and interest, “Like a diversion or something?”

Tails saluted with a smile, “Precisely. We just gotta reach the Tornado, divert any firepower and air units. If we go now, we should make it.”

Sonic walked to Tails and patted his shoulder, “Little brother…lead the way and I’ll follow.”

Tails led Sonic across the hallway of empty equipment racks without looking back. They didn’t observe anything enroute to the stairs, because they lacked the luxury of time and the situation was dire.

Just as Tails was about to climb the stairs, Sonic grabbed Tails’ shoulder and stopped him. “Little brother, we might wanna bring along some food on the journey. You happen to know where they keep the food?”

Tails turned around and explained with a small sigh, “The food is just up these steps, but is on the other end from where we’re going unfortunately. We’ll risk further life, unless we hurry and gather any food we can carry in one bag. We’ll share and ration for the journey and walk home.

“So, big brother, you wanna go for it?”

Sonic grinned and released Tails’ shoulder, “Sure, it’s better to be prepared than die.”

Tails shrugged his shoulders and his smile brightened, “You wanna race?”

Sonic cheered and threw his arm up, “Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about, let’s go!”

Tails and Sonic raced and had immense fun all the way to the fridge. Tails flew and laughed the whole way, while Sonic ran and laughed with him. They stayed at a
steady, quick pace and the fox had trouble keeping up.

Tails descended to the ground, his two tails slowly moved in unison and sweat poured down his body. He landed on his hands and knees and caught his breath slowly. He laid on his butt, stared at the lypthegin ceiling and breathed at a steady pace.

Sonic walked to Tails, reached out his hand and Tails took it. Sonic lifted Tails up, “I need your help to choose food for the road ahead. Just don’t stock up on that cereal you love so much.”

Tails nodded, smiled, and rose his eyebrow, “Likewise for your chilidogs.” He explained, “We need to carry fruit, vegetables, cold meat, yogurt and bread; otherwise the food will spoil and have to bring pots and pans. We don’t have large enough bags to carry pots and pans. We also need to save food for the kids and kits that’ll be stranded in here; regardless of how much I dislike them.”

Sonic patted Tails’ head and stroked his ears. He looked Tails in the eyes, “I admire your compassion for the kids and kits. You’re one of the few who’d actually do that for others who make fun of them. In fact, I’m proud of you!”

Tails blushed and, after awhile, responded, “Thanks Sonic.”

Sonic hugged Tails and released, “No prob. Let’s pack some food and be on our way. We gotta save Freedom Unit really soon. Little bro, you ready?”

Tails nodded and saluted, “Let’s do it!”

Sonic grabbed a light weight book bag with two compartments.

Sonic and Tails grabbed any necessary food; such as fruit, vegetables, cold meat, yogurt with spoons to go with it, and bread. They ignored their favorite foods, since they knew they’d need all their health on full healthy to prevail. They moved onto the water bottles and grabbed six to share.

Sonic and Tails observed the fridge and the food storage and were ecstatic. With what little they had, the fridge and the food storage was already, nearly bare.

Sonic wanted to keep the food for them both to share, but there was too little in the fridge and storage as it was. He was ready to deny himself food to help those kids and kits, but he was also ready to deny them to nourish himself. Sonic decided to go with Tails’ decision.

Tails, on the other hand, was ready to know what his big brother thought. Although his thoughts took a different approach from Sonic’s decisions.

Sonic asked Tails and looked in the book bag, “Little bro, what’s your decision? Anything you choose, I’m with you one hundred percent.”

Tails lifted his index finger up, “Hold on a sec. I need to count their food supply.”

After a few minutes of counting and recounting the food, Tails came to a decision. “There’s really nothing we can do, but let’s give up two waters, half the cold meat and half the yogurts. The yogurts will go bad first, so we might not eat what little we have.”

After Sonic cooperated with Tails to help the kids and kits whom he disliked, they only had half a book bag full and it was pushing it immensely.

Tails could see the pain in Sonic’s eyes. Tails didn’t blame him for it, they had too little food as it was. Barely enough to last a few days, unless it was rationed among the two of them. That alone was going to be hard on them both; regardless of their quick metabolisms.

They departed with the book bag strapped around Sonic’s shoulders.

Sonic considered the lack of food and sighed, “Tails, I hope you made the right decision.”

Tails sighed and nodded a little, slowly. “So do I.”

They raced all the way to the other end of the hallway and stopped at the hallway’s end. This time, however, Tails didn’t fly and managed to stay a couple feet behind Sonic. It wasn’t long before they found the only window capable of opening.

Sonic asked with curiosity, “So, you gonna fly us up there?”

Tails shook his head, “No, it’s too risky. We’re gonna have to climb up instead.”

Sonic shrugged his shoulders, “That’s fine by me.”

Tails smiled enthusiastically, “Great.”

Sonic opened the window and, unfortunately, the latches snapped. The window crashed to the ground and shattered into glass shards. Not only did it break and create a loud crash, it attracted unwanted attention.

Sonic didn’t bother looking out the window any further. He ran and took Tails down with him, “Duck!”

Lasers flew inside the open compartment, while Sonic and Tails cried out in fear. Some of the lasers almost managed to shoot right through the lypthegin - those lasers alone could’ve killed Sonic and Tails already. Then, next stop, the roboticizer.

The lasers stopped and concentrated it’s firepower elsewhere. Sonic and Tails didn’t care where it fired, as long as they weren’t the targets. Then it dawned on them that the other targets were the Freedom Unit and so they booked to reach the window.

Sonic climbed out, followed by Tails, on the lypthegin. They had very little resources for climbing up to the roof, all they had was some bumps and cracks they could barely grip firmly.

Sonic asked when they were about halfway up, “Little bro, why can’t you fly us up there?”

Tails explained and checked up on the Freedom Unit, “It’s too risky doing this alone, but to fly up is just as risky and dangerous. Not to mention if I’m shot, we’ll both die from flying. At least here, I won’t have to worry.”

A laser flew up to them and nearly cut right into Tails’ hand. Tails lost his grip on his right hand and nearly lost his whole grip from fright. He managed to regain his grip and started up his climb to the roof.

Sonic nodded and restarted his climb, “I see what you mean. I won’t ask anymore.”

They managed to reach the rooftop after a couple close calls. They looked at the war from down below and didn’t like what they saw.

Sonic turned away and asked, “How bad is it?”

Tails’ jaw dropped, he couldn’t believe his eyes. More robots continuously replaced the fallen ones, this time in greater numbers than before.

Tails regained his composure and shook his head, “It’s really bad big brother. The Freedom Unit is cut in half. They won’t last much longer.”

Sonic leaped onto the Tornado and stood on it, ready for action. “Then what are we waiting for? Pilot the plan Tails! We might just be able to save what’s left of Freedom Unit.”

Tails saluted with a smile and an eagerness to help Freedom Unit before it’s too late, “Roger.”

Tails started the Tornado up and jumped in. He maneuvered around the roof a little but and prepared to lift off for the sake of helping the Freedom Unit as a diversion.

***

Next chapter I post up will be new.

[Tails]

Chapter 3: No rest for the weary

Part 1 - War Peak

　

Annette watched with fear and anguish as the robots and Elites shot the Freedom Unit, one by one, in the head. She couldn’t bear to stand and do nothing in this state, but she wasn’t ready to die so soon.

Each Freedom Unit soldier fell to the ground in stretching positions that can only be performed by flexible bodies, limp ones and dead ones. The strange thing was how none of them were dead, just paralyzed in every muscle - hence limp ones.

Everything was looking bleak. Nothing was hopeful in the Freedom Unit’s eyes - nothing gave them the will to carry on, to fight. A loss got so close to coming to reality that nothing, not even to preserve the last of their species, would help in this dire hour.

Blood shot from their chests, bones cracked and flesh burned in front of Annette’s eyes. It was way too much to sink in, to bear, to accept. But she knew, if she didn’t act soon - if one of the Freedom Unit soldiers didn’t act soon, they’d all be dead. Then Robotnik would be able to do anything he wanted to them; even eat them and fulfill his darkest, sadistic pleasures.

Robotnik Empire is so deadly close now, right on their doorstep, banging against the door with pitchforks, sledgehammers and torches. The end draws close, so deadly close, and hope dwindles quickly. The thread help held upon has nearly broken - cut by scissors.

Annette thought:

So, this is it. This is where our tale comes to an end. A sad ending quickly approaching us and waiting, hoping to send us into an abyss filled with lava, ice, sharp crystals and torture beyond compare. Torture so wicked that no one could ever imagine where it’s lead.

Thunder and lightning would creep upon the cities of ruin and thwart every last being that isn’t bent on destruction and domination. Everyone would be sent to a dark abyss somewhere way beneath the ground - except the evil - where a large pool of fire waits down below.

Some called it Hell; maybe Hades, but did it really exist now after all of this? After all of the turmoil and strife? After the nuclear holocaust that could’ve very well destroyed us all in a blink of the eye?

It’s very doubtful now, very doubtful. Everything’s lost. Our only hope now are the kids and kits eventually giving birth to other creatures of the days to come on this nearly dead earth. But even that future is nearly gone - It’s only a matter of time now.

Only a matter of time before we’re all dead!

I wonder if the Freedom Unit will ever be put into songs or stories? Not just into words from the mouth that can be passed on and eventually forgotten, but into words on paper. Into these long books where they had a chance to give up and were about to die, only they didn’t give up easily.

The real dark tales - the ones that really mattered. Where they had plenty of chances to turn back and take their story off the charts, but they didn’t. They kept going, even when it seemed hope was lost.

Those were the ones that went on and stayed in their hearts.

The ones that were enjoyed by millions and many generations.

This is one of those tales.

When it was Annette’s turn to die, there’s only twenty four other survivors left, and the robot stared down at her head coldly.

The robot explained his intentions and what Robotnik would do to a female coyote like her in an emotionless, monotone voice.

As Annette looked up into the robot’s red eyes, she breathed heavily and lifted her lips. Breath flowed from her like a steam engine and her eyes were filled with ferocity and vengeance.

Annette snatched the laser right from the robot’s metallic fingers and pointed the weapon right at it.

Annette growled menacingly, “I’m through being polite,” and shot the robot’s head off.

Twenty four other robots swarmed to the twenty four other soldiers of Freedom Unit and quickly prepared to fire at every enemy sitting on the ground.

Annette screamed with ferocity, “No!”

Annette fired the laser beams at the robots with intense malice. Some of the weapons dropped from the robot’s hands and some of their metallic parts sizzled from under the powerful light.

The robots backed off as the last of the Freedom Unit soldiers stood and rushed for their LDS.

The robots explained in monotone, “Resistance is futile. You’ll all lose - it is inevitable. Stop trying to postpone it.”

Annette looked down at the robots with increasing ferocity, “Screw you! Freedom Unit may lose, but we won’t rest until all of you scrap metals destroy us first!” She equipped a nearby LDS and slammed a cartridge home, “Fire at will! Use their lasers if you have to. I don’t care how you kill them, just do it!”

The Freedom Unit fired their LSRs without mercy and with that dreaded ten second wait. They resorted to lasers whenever necessary and switched back to the LDS when it finished charging.

The robots were being eliminated left and right by the large LSR explosions and slice through anything lasers.

The robots shot down a couple more of the Freedom Unit soldiers - leaving them down to fifteen soldiers capable of contributing in this war.

A glass window, suddenly, crashed and shattered on the bare dirt down below. It was a long way down and the Freedom Unit could only imagine what it’d feel like if one of them felt the velocity of the glass fell on them and lived. Blood and broken bone would be cascaded among the ground and the fallen creature would cry in agony.

The robots turned their laser fire to the opening to where the window had been and they managed to get a glimpse of someone or something who jumped to the floor.

The Freedom Unit fired at will and the robots that were shot exploded into tiny pieces of nothing more than scrap metal on fire.

The robots immediately turned their attention back to the Freedom Unit and others tried two things at once, but had to keep their eyes mostly focused on the Freedom Unit.

As the blazing fire of both groups collide, Jesse Wolf can only move his eyes now. He watched as Sonic and Tails climbed out of the window and made their way to the top.

Jesse watched in fear and worry for the two lives up above the battlefield, climbing to the roof; but Jesse couldn’t do anything to help distract the robots from them. It infuriated him and in a matter of a few seconds he stopped, since he realized it was pointless to do it.

Jesse kept his eyes tuned on them both; his only restriction was how far his eyes could ascend.

Sonic…Tails, it’s too dangerous to be out here alone. There’s no telling what danger might lurk out here. You’ll both be alone soon and I hate thinking about it.

Now, I realize it is as clear as the morning sun when it existed, the kids are our only hope now to continue on. If they fail, all hope is lost.

Then Robotnik would be triumphant and he’d be able to setup his empire after all. But looking at it now, would it even be much of an empire?

Like c’mon now, seriously, it’s a little pointless now for an empire, but ya never know with that egg-shaped tub of egg yolk.

Maybe that’s how it’s going to be…when all of this is over.

C’mon Sonic and Tails, you can…that’s not good.

A laser nearly shot right through Tails hand and, while evading it, he lost his grip on one hand and nearly fell to his doom. He could’ve flew to keep from crashing to the ground, but he’d still be at risk from being shot down. Then one of our only hopes would be dead.

They managed to reach the roof and the Freedom Unit was able to manage keeping the robots occupied. The Freedom Unit was far too busy to acknowledge Sonic and Tails’ presence, but they knew they were there.

The Tornado took off and flew and diverted fire power on the ground for a few minutes. The Freedom Unit destroyed another group of robots with the LDS. The group of robots exploded.

The Tornado managed to divert the three drop ships’ attention and fire power away from the Freedom Unit. Then the Tornado, along with the three drop ships, departed from the dark and became nothing more than specs; until they disappeared.

The Freedom Unit fired their LDS at the robots and more exploded, but this time the robots easily surrounded them all.

The Freedom Unit was slaughtered like dogs with the stun lasers and they were barely able to put up a fight. The robots and Elites dragged the carcasses of the Freedom Unit across the asphalt.

Other robots without a fallen soldier in hand broke into the building with the kids and kits inside. They raided the food storage on the second floor for Robotnik. He needed all the food he could get.

Next on the list was the kids and kits. The robots and Elites followed the sound of laughter, screaming and playing roughly. They burst through the glass of Freedom Daycare and slaughtered the kids and kits with their powerful stun lasers.

They dragged them all to Robotnik’s fortress and now their victory was set.

The Tornado returned when the last of the Freedom Unit were drug across the asphalt. They had to do a few things before they departed again, but they didn’t realize they were all alone until it was too late.

[Tails]

Chapter 4: Reinforcements
Part 1 - War Peak

Tails took off and the plane’s engines shut down. The Tornado descended to the scorched earth at extreme velocity and Tails knew it was too dangerous to climb out of the cockpit to start it from the propellers.

Tails constantly pressed the choke button and pedal simultaneously, “C’mon. C’mon. C’mon!”

Sonic asked in desperation and fear, “What happened?”

Tails continued the procedure to start the plane and his frustration was clear. “I don’t know. It just stopped!”

Sonic forced a grin to encourage Tails as the tornado descended closer and closer to the ground. “I have faith.”

Tails heard him, but he doesn’t reply; he’s far too frustrated to say anything. So far all the attempts were futile and his heart raced faster than it ever did before. Sonic’s heart raced just as fast and both their fears were reaching a peak.

Tails thought:
C’mon. C’mon. C’mon!

The engine popped, black smoke flowed from it for a short period of time as the propellers slowly move to full speed. Sonic can’t believe his eyes. Tails was still too occupied to celebrate.

The tornado was still on a crash course and it was getting far too close for comfort.

Tails struggled to pull the throttle back and barely managed it before the plane could crash.

Tails maneuvered into the air and managed to dodge lasers coming their way. The lasers nearly clipped the wings, but the firepower turned elsewhere.

Sonic cheered and smiled knowing he was alive, “Way to go Tails.”

Tails smiled, “Thanks,” and paid attention to his task at hand. He flew toward the drop ships, “We aren’t out of the hole yet. Get ready.”

Tails swerved right and the wings pointed at the drop ships. Since they don’t have any weapons they want to fire just yet, they tried other methods to grab the drop ships’ attention. Tails slowed the speed down and prepared for the worst - for either the plane losing air or the drop ships banking at speeds quicker than the tornado.

Sonic turned his back to the drop ships and bent down. He knew sixteen might be a bad age to act this way; but he didn’t care - he didn’t have any other choice to grab their attention.

Sonic turned his head to the drop ships and slapped his butt, “Hey, drop ships’ got a big butt . . .drop ships’ got a big butt. . .”

The drop ships turned their attention toward him and powered up their engines. The robotnik logo shined darkly in the sky with blue hues.

Tails looked over and grabbed a lever labeled hi and lo, “I think you got their attention.”

Sonic replied and saw blue flames come from the exhaust pipes, “So do I.”

Tails lifted the lever up to hi and the slower, hover movement ceased. “Get ready.”

Sonic braced himself for the worst as the plane’s speed picked up.

Tails made sure the Freedom Unit wasn’t under them and there was only a few. “Sonic, tell me when we’re…”

Sonic was already on it and confirmed, “We’re clear.”

Tails nose dived to the ground and became upright when he neared it. Sonic braced himself tightly on the way down as the drop ships gave chase.

Tails flew toward the Freedom Unit HQ and got as close to it as possible. “Hang on!”

The drop ships chased the tornado around the lypthegin made HQ in circles - all the way to the top and a little above it.

Tails flew away from the HQ and got far away. So far away, in fact, that they became specs to the Freedom Unit. He dodged blue laser fire on the way and he encountered close calls as the drop ships stayed close behind.

Tails; just at the right moment, nose dived to the asphalt and pulled up right at the last possible second. One of the three drop ships that attempted it crashed and blew up in smoke. The other drop ships flew right through the smoke and continued chase.

Tails looked around for any possible escape route, but he doesn’t ever get enough time without needing to dodge the lasers. “Sonic, find something quick!”

Sonic looked around and saw a scorched forest that might work to their advantage, “There’s a forest down below on your right side. Move in carefully.”

Tails descended carefully, quickly and efficiently into the black; lifeless trees. “We’re in for a bumpy ride.”

Sonic nodded, “Copy that.”

Tails maneuvered through the trees with precision and accuracy. The drop ships lowered into the trees and easily destroyed each one in their path. Blue lasers aimed at the tornado, some nearly clipped the wings and tail, and the trees were sliced in ruin.

Tails side winded through trees close together and Sonic managed to stay on with some difficulty.

Sonic looked back and saw the drop ships close together - almost practically connected - and they were closing in quickly. Sonic turned to Tails and commanded with desperation, “Pull up!”

Tails saluted quickly, “Roger.”

Tails pulled up quickly to avoid the trees and searched for something else to use to his advantage. At first he found absolutely nothing, then something caught his eyes. A bridge surrounded by crumbled cement on the ground looked like it was ready to fall apart.

Tails flew toward it and dodged lasers on the way with the possible thought of victory. He got the top of the plane’s wings right up against the bottom of the road. The wings scraped against it and sparks flew on the way out.

A drop ship attempted it as well and lifted up a little early as the final section of the bridge went with it. Eventually the bridge took a toll on the drop ship’s engines and weight limit. The robots in the ships were heavy enough as it was.

The drop ship’s engines shut down and electricity surged from the interior and came to the exterior. The Elites were electrocuted to the point of explosions and they dismantled the interior.

The drop ship exploded and was nearly crushed on contact by the ground. Large chunks of the bridge flew into the air and landed in random directions. Nothing inside the drop ship survived.

As that occurred, Tails and the last drop ship left run amuck in a game of cat and mouse. The game was afoot and it was getting tougher and tougher to trick the drop ship.

Tails dodged the laser fire with ease and commanded, “Find something fast. Anything the drop ship hasn’t thought of yet.”

Sonic nodded, “Got it.” He searched left and right and studied the ground quickly, “Found something down below. There’s a tunnel underground just ahead and be careful maneuvering through it.”

Tails smiled, “Don’t worry Sonic, I’ll be just fine.”

Tails turned on the landing gear and descended to the scorched ground without slowing down. He flew into the pipe shaped tunnel and the drop ship flew inside.

The tornado managed to fit inside the tunnel, but the drop ship barely managed it. Its wings scraped against the sides and it was very difficult to conquer obstacles.

As they flew through the pipe, the drop ship fired lasers at the tornado without any doubt that they would miss.

Tails quickly slammed the landing gear against the pipes and went around it in one quick circle; Sonic managed to stay on. He immediately slammed the landing gear against the left side of the pipes and managed to turn into a very sharp right turn; a ninety degree angle.

The drop ship attempted it as well, but it slammed against the pipes. The shields might’ve been damaged, but it kept the drop ship from going up in smoke. It, despite the flames, managed to fit into the sharp turn without any other troublesome delays.

As Tails flew through the pipes, he found a junction coming his way. One that was going straight; another that turned left and was pointing to the upper ground. He turned left and flew into the air.

The drop ship slowed down and turned left. It followed the tornado into the air. It stopped somewhere nearby the clouds and waited to attack the plane when it returned.

Tails flew toward the clouds in the dark sky and kept going. “Here we go Sonic!”

Sonic asked with a grin, “Goin’ to the moon are we?”

Tails chuckled a little, “You better believe it pal. Its one of the few things we can see in this place.”

Sonic agreed and prepared for the worst. He also wanted to teach him valuable lessons while there was still time.

Tails flew to the moon and turned in circles on the way up. A black shadow reflected onto the moon and it looked like a form of demon.

Tails descended rapidly and the tornado screamed on the way down. He navigated the plane and he slowed down nearby the drop ship; behind and a little above it.

Tails clicked four buttons on the control panel; missiles and rockets descended from the wings and a gatalin appeared in the cockpit.

The Elites taunted Tails with arms pleading him to come closer, “C’mon, you gruesome son of a bitch. Come to us.” They laugh mechanically, “C’mon.”

Tails clicked a button surrounded by black and yellow stripes and a targeting device with the same stripe format appeared into the cockpit. It approached his face at a reasonable speed.

Tails activated the targeting device quickly and brought it to his face. He clicked the trigger twice and two missiles hit the drop ship’s shields. The Elites inside were jerked violently to the floor and knocked their shields off line.

Tails approached closer as red circles quickly appeared on the targeting device and aimed straight at the drop ship’s engines.

Tails held down a trigger on the throttle and a swarm of rockets nuked the drop ship until it exploded. He flew right through the smoke and changed his course back to Freedom Unit HQ.

Sonic grinned at his thought, “Tails, I won’t need any candy for awhile.”

Tails smiled and laughed a little, “How’s that?”

Sonic shook his head a little and chuckled, “Thanks to you and your flying techniques, I’ve got one helluva sugar rush.”

Tails laughed with Sonic for a little bit. He explained, “We’re going back to HQ to refuel and we’ll check up on their progress. We’ll do fine.”

Sonic nodded, “Alright pal. Get there ASAP.”

Tails saluted, “Roger. Over and out.”

Sonic asked with curiosity, “You think the Freedom Unit lived?”

Tails shrugged his shoulders, “Well, there’s only way to find out.”

[Tails]

Chapter 5: All alone
Part 1 - War Peak

When Sonic and Tails returned to Freedom HQ, they looked down and saw the last of the soldiers being dragged away. It was unpleasant and wrong to watch the display; it isn’t something anyone would ignore though. They weren’t noticed by the robots luckily; or they were just too into mission accomplished to bother with anything else around.

Tails couldn’t believe his eyes. It’s too much to handle in one night. First, a war started with a loss very much in the bag. Next thing you know the loss was inevitable from the start and all that’s left was a two kid army. This was only the beginning to the torment, journey, torture ahead.

Tails’ eyes welled up and he lost control of his emotions. He cried in defeat and set the Tornado to lo. “Sonic. I can’t believe they lost and I don’t know if I can go on anymore. It’s too much to bear. If the Freedom Unit couldn’t beat them, how can we?”

It’s too much to sink in!

Sonic lied his hand on Tails’ shoulder, “Don’t worry pal; we have something the Freedom Unit doesn’t and won’t ever have.”

Tails leaned his arm back and took his hand in his, “We’re only kids. What can we do?”

Sonic thought it over and made sure he sounded confident, “Speed for one thing. A fast airplane for a second thought. And one more thing that won’t ever change and is our ultimate weapon; our true blue friendship. No one can ever take that away.”

Sonic added something on to raise Tails’ spirit, “Remember when I took you with me as a friend and no one else didn’t want anything to do with you?”

Tails nodded and waited to listen some more.

Sonic continued when he knew Tails was making an effort to listen, “You had to endure the teasing and the defiling just as you did in Freedom Daycare…”

Tails shook his head and sobs entered the equation, “Don’t remind me.”

Sonic lifted his head in the air and managed to keep from growling, “I’m telling a story here. Try to listen.”

Tails lowered his head a bit and sighed, “I’m sorry.”

Sonic looked down on Tails and smiled proudly just thinking about that part in his childhood. “It’s okay. I’m here for you.”

Sonic tuned into the story moments later and made sure it would liven Tails’ spirit, “It was a slight…No. It was something grand when I saw you; I just couldn’t help not wanting to be your friend. There you were, coming out of class and being made fun of just before you stayed far from them.

Sonic smiled, “I was walking down the sidewalk of the school and I saw you. You looked at me and looked away a moment later with your head down; thinking I’d be the same. I proved you wrong though.

Sonic made sure he wasn’t going off topic and kept his focus on the story. “As I approached, you perched under a tree and cried with your eyes covered. I knew your crying wasn’t faked; no one could live through such torment without feeling hurt inside. I asked what was wrong and you responded…” He stopped as if on cue for Tails.

Tails twirled his thumbs and it helped him to think it over, “I didn’t say anything the first time.”

Sonic nodded in realization and lifted his index up, “That’s right. You didn’t; not the first time, I had a little more opening up to do. I sat down next to you this time and wrapped my arm around your shoulders. I asked what was wrong a second time and you explained…”

Tails wiped a tear from his eye and immediately returned to twirling his thumbs. “I don’t know how to make them understand that this difference - I pointed at my tails - doesn’t take away my value as a person. I just wish they would stop making fun of me and get to know me. They won’t stop, won’t ever stop; I feel so alone. And you reply…”

Sonic smiled, “I turned your way and smiled. I just knew you were in need of a friend. I replied I’m here for you and we’re gonna work this out, um? Then you introduced yourself. It was very wonderful moment to hear your name and see you smile.”

Tails smiled a little bit and concluded , “After a few weeks of walking beside you, I opened up to you fully and didn’t hold anything back. For that I’m proud of. You convinced me that I was a hero and I’ve proved it to you and me many times. Okay, I’m sorry; I’m getting ahead of myself. It happened four years ago, a week or so before my birthday. Hopefully I can try again.”

Sonic smiled brightly and lightly pat Tails’ head. “I knew this’d help and I know you’ll do well. In fact, I’m proud to be your friend and brother. And I have faith in our friendship and I know we can help free the Freedom Unit and anyone else if we stick together. Our friendship is a powerful thing and I’ll be yours forever. I’m proud of you Tails. Don’t forget that.”

Tails smiled brightly and cried tears of joy. “Thank you. Thank you for everything.”

Sonic lifted his fist to his face and focused on Tails and the journey ahead. “You’re welcome pal. Now, just land the Tornado and we’ll go from there.”

Tails nodded. He set the lever to hi, circled around the runway; which was nothing but bare ground, and turned on the landing gear. He descended to the ground and lightly tapped the brakes to slow the plane down. He landed safely, slammed on the brakes and set it to lo to complete the stop. Sonic jumped out and Tails killed the engine.

Sonic asked and kept his eyes on Tails, “You ready?”

Tails didn’t reply. It was like he was in deep thought, but he wasn’t. He leaped off the plane shortly afterwards and ran toward Sonic.

Tails smiled brightly and spread his arms out, “Sonic!”

Tails leaped into Sonic’s arms and embraced in a hug. A smile curled on Tails’ face and he sighed joyfully. “You’re the best brother ever.”

Sonic kissed Tails’ cheek, “So are you.”

The moment was wonderful and it brought new light into their never ending friendship. If there was an audience watching this moment, they would say it was a sign of a true friendship. Sonic and Tails loved every moment of this embrace and this made up rule of determining if they were gay never crossed their minds. Just some made up rule that some guy made.

They released.

Tails looked into Sonic’s eyes and smiled, “Thanks. I needed that.”

Sonic curiously asked, “So, now what?”

Tails explained and turned around, “As I take care of the fuel, we’ll go restock our food supply; we’ll also check up on the kids and kits in Freedom Daycare. Just to see if they’re safe, it won’t take long.”

Sonic nodded and stretched his legs out, “I’m with you all the way.”

Tails took care of starting the refuel process and walked inside Freedom HQ. He waved Sonic over, “Let’s go. Hopefully we won’t run into anymore trouble.”

Sonic rushed over and stepped inside, “Hopefully.”

They returned to the fridge; side by side, and searched through the food storage. Empty. Bare. The time had changed into a black hole and everything to held dear vanished into dust. Now, the truth destroyed all possibilities of hope to survive beyond a few days.

It was too much to sink in and; although they refused to believe the sight in front of them, there was nothing they could do to change it. They could only stare on in disappointment and accept it.

Tails couldn’t believe his eyes, “I…I don’t believe this. Those…those pigs ate all the food supply while we were gone. Now, what’re we gonna do?”

Sonic shook his head and sighed, “Maybe we should give ‘em a piece of our mind and leave ‘em behind as a punishment. I’d hate to leave ‘em behind actually, but we don’t have enough food. We barely have enough food to last a few days with just us!”

Tails looked Sonic in the eyes and pointed at him with disgust, “I don’t believe you! Yes, I agree about not having enough food to go around and being forced to leave them behind, but not as a punishment. I don’t agree with giving them a piece of our mind. What’re we gonna say? Will it be something rude before we leave them behind?

Tails growled and kept his eyes glued on Sonic, “We’re gonna see if they’re safe instead!”

Sonic wouldn’t respond at first to the reasonable and sudden outburst, taken aback. He listened to what Tails said in his head; emotion and all, over and over like a broken record. And the more he heard it playback, the more he realized Tails was right to act that way. The more he realized Tails had just taught him a lesson of compassion; the one thing that most impatient people couldn’t ever grasp without help.

He couldn’t comprehend what to say or think of all this, even as Tails leaned against a wall and waited for a response. Sonic was clueless about this and just could not rev his brain past gear shift one. Moments later; without a response, Tails started walking down the steps. Sonic’s brain suddenly shifted to high gear; knowing his time was growing slim.

Sonic stepped forward and thrust his arm out, “Wait!”

Tails stopped in mid step and turned around. He made himself visible and asked formidably, “What is it?”

Sonic nodded a little bit and apologized, “You were right Tails. I was wrong…to say that and I’m sorry. I realized you taught me lesson of compassion. And for that, I’m grateful. You really are blooming into a natural hero.”

There’s still lessons I wanna teach you.

Tails smiled a little bit, “Apology accepted. I’m glad you’re learning. I appreciate it. Oh, you taught me a lesson too and I’m blessed by it.

Tails brought a fist to his chest, “Now, let’s see if they’re safe and sound. I hope they’re okay.”

Sonic grinned and looked Tails straight in the eyes, “Me too. There are plenty of lessons to be learned.”

Tails agreed and motioned Sonic to follow. Moments later, the main source of power shutdown and darkness reared in its ugly head and laughed. Not literally.

Their eyes adjusted to the darkness and a densely dark view of steps came into focus. Tails knew just what to do to get out of this situation and also knew it would not be easy. He would have to descend into the basement with the murky water down below and find the generator. There were other things down there to be dread.

Tails offered his hand, “We’re gonna have to hold hands; so we won’t lose each other. However; when we get down there, I’m gonna find the power generator in the basement.”

Sonic took Tails’ hand, “Alright. Lead the way.”

Tails grabbed hold of the railing and carefully descended down the steps with Sonic close by . He had to rely on Tails to guide them down the steps and to the entrance of Freedom HQ. In the darkness, it was not an easy task. Tails had to keep a firm grip on the railing and he had to search the surroundings with touch alone. Occasionally, he had to rely on his eyes to find the next wall and use his ears to remember where he stepped before. It was not an easy task at all.

Tails released the hand hold and turned around, “I’ll take care of finding the power generator. You just stay put.”

Tails walked through the darkness and immediately regretted his decision to go alone, but didn’t dare turn around. He searched for some steps leading downstairs and knew; if he stayed on this course, he would be able to find it. The only thing really left now was to rely on his senses of touch and hearing to guide him to the deep. He stopped for a minute, arched his downward and thought through in his mind.

Sonic. I need you more than ever right now. I don’t know if I can go on much longer without you.

Tails lifted his head up and bared his fist. He opened his hand and stared at his palm that he could faintly see. He just saw what he needed to see: his destiny.

What am I thinking? Of course I can do this without Sonic. I’ve done it many times before without him and I came out the hero. Besides, I can’t rely on Sonic forever.

Tails closed his eyes for a second.

I can do this. I can do this!

As Tails was on his way on his way to the basement, he finally remembered something he had in tow: the wrist watch.

Maybe this could help me. It’s worth a try.

Tails turned on the wrist watch and clicked a series of buttons and codes until a detailed map of Freedom HQ appeared. The red dot was Tails’ current position and he was surprised just how advanced his own technology was; also how the watch battery would recharge shortly after use. Among the blinking red dot were a series of lines and curves laying out the vicinity.

Tails pressed a microphone button on the left side and commanded in desperation, “Show the power generator. Now!”

The watch switched to a different mode and it told him where to go with constant flashing. Straight. Tails didn’t care about the darkness anymore, he just walked like no other and made it across the hallway without any sign of searching for nearby walls. He made sure he was on course by looking at the watch. Left.

Tails turned left at the end of the hallway and looked at the watch on his way. Watch your step. Tails carefully walked downstairs and grabbed hold of the railing. He had to grip the railing several times from near falls from missteps.

Tails clicked the microphone button, “Map mode and lights, please.”

Remember, I’m a hero. Yep, I’m proving myself again; in front of no one.

The watch switched back to map mode and turned on a small pigment of light. For as small as the bulb was, it actually lit up four times its own size.; but the light only managed to reach a slightly, lighter gray. Like a black light.

Tails descended into the basement and a small splash only made his ankles wet; but it was enough to disgust him. Now, he wondered why they bothered to purify this water. A rat infested hellhole deep under water where you’d drown instead of burn to a crisp. The rats chanted like they were apart of a Friday the thirteenth movie as Tails searched through the basement.

“If you have it, they will come. Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ee-ee-ee-eese. Cheese.”

Tails spotted the power generator and smiled brightly. He walked toward it and; when he reached it, he looked disappointed to see the old device with the start-up string that was normally seen on push lawn mowers.

“Ch-ch-ch-ch-ee-ee-ee-eese. Cheese. If you have it, they will come.”

Tails found the exact location of the string and grip and grabbed hold. “Lights off.” The watch complied, it just reminded that next time it wouldn’t without clicking the microphone.

Tails understood and reminded himself once to remember such a minor detail. It’s important, regardless of just how minor it was. He pulled the string a couple times and he finally realized his arm didn’t reach out far enough; but that didn’t stop him from working something out. It was only a matter of time before this brilliant fox came up with a solution.

“So Brain, what should we do tonight?”

“The same thing we do every night Pinky. Try to take over the world.”

“One is a genius. The other’s insane.”

“The pinky…the pinky and the brain, brain, brain, brain, brain, brain.”

“Narf.”

Tails continued to ignore this strange thing the rats were doing. First it was Friday the thirteenth and now they’re acting like two members of the Animaniacs: Pinky and the Brain. He hadn’t seen that one movie with Jason in it, not even the first one with the mother in it; but that won’t rule out that it was freaking him out. He grew up with those mice though, it was always funny to watch and see their weird ideas.

“The facts of life. The facts of life. The facts of life. The facts of life.”

Suddenly; Tails came up with an idea, “I’ve got it!”

Tails flew into the air and pulled back the motor start at full propel. The power generator revved up and it only took a couple seconds to turn everything on. However; because of equipment issues, the dim lights seemed like black lights. Tails could only wonder what was responsible for the poor lighting.

“Tails, mother is talking to you. Tails, Mother is talking to you!”

Tails shook his head and returned to Sonic. He looked into Sonic’s eyes and smiled, “You ready?”

Sonic patted Tails’ head, “You’re growing up so fast and I’m so proud of you. You make my day.” He smiled back, “I’m ready.”

Tails pulled the headphone cord from the watch and connected it to the Freedom Daycare security system. “There’s only one more thing to do.”

Sonic stretched out and patiently observed Tails’ work with immense interest. “I have faith in your abilities. I know you can do it.”

Tails typed in a couple codes to hack into the security system and managed to get in. He smiled, “Thanks Sonic.” He typed in some other codes and successfully did what he planned on such short notice. “Got it.”

Security system shutdown in thirty seconds.

Sonic was surprised to hear such a thing in so little time. “Wow, you’re fast at these kinda things. You’re so amazing!”

Tails turned Sonic’s way and nodded, “Thanks.”

Sonic couldn’t believe Tails’ response. It sounded like Tails just said what Sonic wanted to know, not what Tails felt about any of it. “Hey, I’m being serious. Without you, I don’t know what I’d do.”

Tails pat Sonic’s back and smiled, “So was I.”

Security system shutdown.

The power left the electronic doors completely and lights increased in power throughout Freedom HQ. Sonic and Tails made their way through the hallway and to Freedom Daycare. They both looked through the glass and not another soul was in sight.

Tails couldn’t believe his eyes. Not at a time like this. “I don’t believe this. It’s…it’s…,” He leaned against the wall and descended to a sitting position. He cried and covered his eyes, “We’re…we’re too late. If only we would’ve came here sooner; or maybe we shouldn’t have left at all.”

Sonic leaned down next to him and explained. He tried to keep his tears in, but he barely managed as a single tear descended. “There’s nothing we could’ve done to prevent this from happening. If we would’ve stayed, we’d be in the same situation everyone else is right now. We did the right thing by helping out Freedom Unit to the best of our ability.

“Uncover your eyes and cry on me. Let it all out.”

Tails uncovered his eyes slowly and turned to look into Sonic’s eyes. He waited for a sign. Maybe even an invitation to leap into his brother’s arms; to be comforted, to be loved and to be hugged just to escape the harsh realities of this nearly dead ground of earth.

Sonic opened his arms and Tails immediately leaped into the hug without any hesitation. Tails needed this embrace and felt like he was in a different world. He smiled without any regrets, even through the tears that soon became tears of joy. He cuddled against Sonic’s chest with his eyes closed and his smile brightened.

Sonic patted Tails’ head and smiled. He felt all warm and fuzzy inside and accepted it without any regret. He drew Tails close and his smile brightened. “I’m here, you’re safe with me.”

Tails’ joyful tears soaked into Sonic’s fur and the tranquility and prosperity of it all lasted several minutes.

They released and departed Freedom HQ with the tear shed that was very evident in Tails’ eyes. Sonic kept a close eye on Tails, while Tails checked the fuel gage. Tails pumped the gas pedal specifically made to check the amount of gas inside the airplane.

Half-full.

Tails checked the gas pump and it was still going. “Sonic, is it alright if we sleep here tonight?”

Sonic asked with concern, “What seems to be the problem?”

Tails sighed a little bit, “The tornado isn’t completely fueled. So we’re stranded for tonight.” He looked at his watch, “It’s two in the morning.”

Sonic asked, “You wanna blow off the last of your energy playing tag or hide & seek? Then we’ll rest inside Freedom HQ. You wanna do it?”

Tails shook his head, “You go ahead; I’m gonna sleep out here. We're gonna have to sleep like this later on."

Sonic made his decision, "I'm gonna sleep inside," and walked inside from there. "Goodnight pal."

Tails waved, "Goodnight."

Tails lied on the scorched dirt and prepared himself for anything by choosing to sleep out here. He used one tail as a pillow and another as a blanket. He looked at the sky and wished to see the stars again, but there isn't a way to change this in under a day.

A moment later, Tails fell asleep and dreamed nightmares that were either true or over exaggerated.

[Tails]

Chapter 6: Tails' life before Sonic.
Part 2 - Before the holocaust.

Tails lied rampant in the ceaseless darkness and dreamed happy thoughts and terror beyond compare. He shook terrifyingly, tossed and turned on every tendon. He dirtied his fur during the plight and his fur transformed into an eerie, sooty red.

A couple mosquitoes and spiders took advantage of the tempting flesh. So rich and delicious; so pure to their lips, but their prey wasn’t sleeping in place. They departed with malnutrition and left the fox alone.

Tails was too afraid to awaken from the darkness; even as the darkness enveloped, engulfed him. Into the fearful depths of his nightmares and attacking any happy thought he may have.

- Tails’ key moments

A year after birth, Tails learned to run and ran beside his dad if they held hands. He had problems keeping his feet on the ground whenever he held hands with his dad. Otherwise Tails would be left in the dust and usually reached the fourth of the distance in a sweat pour.

In a few days, Tails saw the reason why he couldn’t surpass his dad even if he tried. He hovered with his tails and Tails grew fascinated by it. Every morning he tried to twirl his tails like his father. Somehow, for some reason, Tails just couldn’t propel himself forward like his father.

Eventually, Tails showed signs of giving up and his father continued to support him through encouragement and life-long facts. He sought to educate his young sonny boy by telling him one of the major facts of life.

“Miles, quitters always fail. When the going gets tough, they give up on anything and everything and choose not to learn from their mistakes. I’d hate to see you fail.

“Are you a quitter?”

Tails closed his eyes as a single tear descended down his cheek and had absolutely no idea how to say his feelings out loud. He arched his head downward and shook his head slightly.

“That doesn’t say you’re willing to give it your all. Miles, look at me.”

Tails dropped to his knees and looked into his father’s eyes. Father leaned down and held his shoulders. “Look Miles, you have great potential and you need to realize that. You’ll learn the hover I can do, but only I can teach you.

“I won’t accept a quitter in my house. You either shape up or you’re outta here. Sound fair Miles?”

Tails cried about all this and let every word sink in. However, like most kids in the world today; he made excuses instead of accepting it. “But Lou…”

Lou nearly growled ferociously and managed to keep himself in check. He shook his head instead and gave his son a few choices. “But nothing. You either start packin’ or keep practicing. Which will it be?”

Tails held his head high, even through the immense tear shed. He was bright for a two year old, but his vocabulary just wasn’t up to par. “I’ll try practeece.”

Lou corrected Tails, “That’d be practice, not practeece. Don’t worry though, we all make mistakes. Say it with me. Prac-tice.”

Tails pronounced with him, “Prac-teese.”

“Prac-tice.”

“Prac-tice.”

Lou smiled, “Very good! You wanna keep practicing?”

Tails smiled back, “Yes.”

Lou opened his arms, “Come here Miles.”

The two hugged lovingly and enjoyed the moment. Tails cried tears of joy.

Lou whispered, “I love you.”

Tails whispered back, “I love you, too.”

“Ahem.”

Father and son released. Tails smiled at the sight of his mother and was glad to see that their relationship was still strong. Although he was a little grossed out by the kiss, regardless of how short and simple it was. No tongue eroticy, just quick kisses on the lips.

Lou asked shortly after, “Mary, what is it?”

Mary lied her hand on his shoulder. “I need you to fix dinner, while Tails and I’ll play a little bit outside, in his room or wherever he wants.”

Lou lifted his index, “Hold on a minute. I believe Miles is old enough to decide what he wants to be called.”

Mary smiled, “I agree.”

Lou turned to Tails and asked, “Miles, what would you rather be called; Miles or Tails?”

Tails gulped about making this decision. He knew he didn’t want to leave his idol disappointed, the idol being his dad; but he liked being called Tails better than Miles. So he was at a major conflict and his parents weren’t helping any with their encouragements tossing his thoughts around. He just wanted his parents to be quiet, so he could think it through.

Tails was lost in thought and his parents’ voices became nothing more than whispers. He realized his experiences and happy thoughts would remain the same even though his name would be different. He would love his parents all the same and it was wonderful just to think about it. Also to think about al the wonderful times they shared together, even though they only shared two years worth of love and games.

That young fox still remembered the time the Prower family gathered at his birth to share the thanksgiving of a new member in the family. He received regular visits from all the members of the family, they cuddled and had a great time spending together. They’d lightly tap his nose just to see that beautiful, oh so cute smile. They enjoyed every second of it and they talked about the smile like it was a very important deal. Tails loved the attention and his smile kept the encouragement to love him growing rapidly. No one got tired of the infant fox and his joyful behavior.

The hospital walls the infant fox was surrounded by was cascaded with white, polyester and tweed. The room was made for this particular occasion and it wasn’t short of bliss and harmony. It was one of those rooms that’d sink any family in for hours on end.

Tails slowly, but surely; snapped back into reality after noting one final thing. The vixens of the family called him Tails, while a select few foxes were comfortable with Miles. They still loved that cute bundle of fur all the same. It was from this memory that helped him with his full, ultimate decision.

The toddler fox made his decision and ran for it with the utmost confidence. He knew there’d be some sort of consequence to either decision, although his mother might not abandon the name Tails. He breathed deeply and allowed his small thought to sink in deeply. His parents grew silent.

Tails closed his eyes and arched his head upwards, “Tails.”

Tails knew the moment he said that, Lou could blow a fuse any second. That was how the toddler fox came to know dad after a year in a half after birth. His dad was tender and sweet throughout those days and months, but now he expected many things from this toddler fox; he pushed him and never gave up hope that he’d excel. He waited for his parents’ responses to his first full fledged decision.

Lou and Mary left to talk it over and let Tails know beforehand.

Tails waited and wasn’t distressed to see his parents had left him for a small discussion over the issue. In fact, there were times he looked forward to it. He felt independent compared to other kids and kits at that age. The kids and kits he crossed never gave him a second glance or decided to be friendly to him. It wasn’t because Tails was independent and didn’t cry when his parents’ said they’d be right back. It was because the fox had two tails, instead of one. Sadly, this brilliant fox never caught onto it; he felt this difference was what made him unique and special in every regard and aspect.

The little fox stared out of the crystal clear window and watched something glorious within the cool patio. He leaned on the glass and stared at the colors outdoors. “Wow!”

The fox marveled over the sky. It had walls of red, purple, green and blue that aren’t suspended in the air by anything. And yet it never fell as it swayed slowly, like a flag. He could faintly see the sun behind the clouds. That day was only a night away. However, it wasn’t just the paint of colors in the sky that he marveled over.

Blankets of snow covered the world in white artwork and more continued to fall from the sky. Tails’ play place, his favorite hill and where father and son typically raced was covered as well. It was glorious to see snow for the very first time and it was magnificent to the eyesight. He just wondered if the snow would let him play rambunctiously through it. It was a new world of discovery and he craved to explore every inch. He also wasn’t sure if it was a good idea.

Tails listened to the discussion, screaming more like it. The first voice he heard was Lou’s and then Mary’s.

“Miles has to earn his right to be called Tails.”

“Have a heart Lou. Tomorrow’s Christmas. You act like he’s an adult already; he’s still a kit for crying out loud, let him live it. Childhood is too short to take for granted.”

“Alright, we’ll call him by his middle name from now on. Miles Tails Prower. So, what should we get him for Christmas? You know, pull a little load off of Santa’s back; one less thing on his sleigh.”

“I was looking through commercials this November and December. Two movies caught my eyes: The Fox and the Hound & The Fox and the Hound 2. I’m sure it’ll teach him things I can’t. The value of friendship.”

“Alright, we’ll do it today and count on a DVD player or recorder tomorrow. We’ll see just how crafty that Santa Clause is.”

“Alright Lou. Should we tell him our decision?”

“Yeah. We’ll let him know right away.”

After telling Tails the information, he smiled brightly. They shopped for the particular movies in mind and returned with Santa Clause delivering the DVD player very much in mind.

As Lou fixed dinner, Mary guided Tails through the snow and showed him there was nothing to fear. They played for hours on end, but it was Mary who suggested going inside before she froze to death. Tails followed her command and knew the snow would be there tomorrow.

Lou handed them some hot cocoa and asked, “So, Tails; how was your first time in the snow?”

Tails smiled and cheered, “It was awesome! The best fun ever.”

Lou and Mary group hugged with Tails warmly. “We’re glad you enjoy it. It warms our hearts.”

Tails released and sighed even after a tender moment such as this. “I just wish no one was affended by the word Christmas.”

Mary stopped Lou from saying anything that could give Tails the wrong idea. She leaned down to Tails’ level and explained. “The true reason Christmas exists is dying.”

Tails wasn’t pleased to hear that at all. He crumbled about the fact of the true meaning dying little by little and he felt like he’d never see the true light again. It was too much to bear and he felt like crying. “That’s so sad.”

Mary confirmed, “Yes, it is. I’m sure Santa wouldn’t mind crying over something like this. Just remember Tails, we’ll love you no matter what.”

Mary and Tails hugged and shared in the grief about Christmas. It lasted for as long as Tails felt he needed it. It was beautiful and a sad sight at the same time. This moment was hard to put into words, hard to describe without getting a small piece of detail wrong. After dinner and fun and games, it was time for Tails’ bed time. He always looked forward to it on Christmas Eve, because of two reasons. It wasn’t only the night before Christmas and the whole family gathering around the tree; it was also the night Lou and Mary sang a song that’d always leave him tired with that smile his parents loved to see.

Tails was tucked in and asked, “Since it’s Christmas Eve, could you sing the song you sang when I was a baby in your arms?”

Mary and Lou smiled, “Why not?” They began.

“Silent Night, Holy Night
“All is calm, all is bright
“Round your virgin, mother and child
“Holy infant so tender and mild
“Sleep in heavenly peace
“Sleep in heavenly peace

“Tails, when we held you in our arms
“We knew you were ours to love
“As the family came around, they were pleased to see you.
“We loved that moment we shared together where you’d smile when every family member touched your nose and we loved it.
“On the night of your birth; although it was nowhere near Christmas, we sang…

“Silent Night, Holy Night
“All is calm, all is bright
“Round your virgin, mother and child
“Holy infant so tender and mild
“Sleep in heavenly peace
“Sleep in heavenly peace

“And you dozed off with that smile we love to see.”

Tails dozed off during the song and smiled warmly. The same smile they saw when he was an infant.

The next morning, Tails leaped from bed with excitement and woke up his parents gleefully. Mary opened her eyes and smiled; while Lou yawned, stretched and climbed out of bed with Mary.

Lou and Mary descended to Tails’ height and smiled warmly, “Merry Christmas Tails. Now let’s see what Santa got you.”

Tails cheered, took their hands in his and ran toward the Christmas tree. The little fox was excited to know Santa had came. He rushed for the two gifts that were his. A make-it-yourself DVD player/recorder kit and his very own box set of tools.

Lou laughed and shook his head a little, “I always knew that Santa Clause was a tricky one. He must have a lot of faith in Tails if he wants him to do it himself. How’d he know Tails loves to build stuff?”

Mary imagined herself as Santa and went with it. “If I were Santa, I’d watch each kid for a few hours a week and take note of small details. In this case, I’d note Tails playing with his infant tool set far longer than any other child.

“So, from my observations; I’d say he likes to build things and this DVD kit is no exception.”

Lou laughed, “That Santa is always using spies to do his good works. I wonder what those spies are?”

Mary offered her suggestions as Santa, “Why Lou, my spies are elves. They do everything for me. Sometimes I feel like they’re a little too good for their own good and they’re not that expensive. I pay ’em in candy canes.”

Lou tried to keep a straight face for as long as he could; but try as he might, he couldn’t conceal his laughter. Mary joined in the laughter and the very thought of paying elves in candy canes only made it stronger.

Tails felt left out from what his parents were laughing about and set aside his tools and kit. Soon enough, the little fox pulled on his mother’s skirt and looked at her with those puppy eyes. Virtually no one can resist those eyes.

Mary leaned down to Tails’ height and lied her hand on his shoulder. Tails looked at her hand on his shoulder, returned his attention to her eyes and smiled brightly. She smiled back just as brightly and found herself nearly laughing just to explain it. “Okay Tails, look. Santa uses elves to spy on us in his good ways and is paying their wages in candy canes.”

Tails laughed with them and enjoyed the moment with his family. The three laughed for many minutes and this particular moment brought them closer together. Mary and Lou watched Tails fix up the DVD Recorder made by Tailso. They even watched the movies together and had a fun time learning the value of friendship.

After a few years of practice with Lou, Tails finally surpassed him with ease. It was the greatest thing ever and each time he increased his speed, until he could only reach sixty five. It was enough to leave Lou in the dust. Very soon, he even perfected the tails spin - the hover technique - and added an extra twenty miles per hour onto the sixty five. If he tried to get his speed any higher, he’d be lucky to reach eighty six without loosing his footing, his body just not being able to take the strain and he’d collapse for a short while.

- Next Gift

On Tails’ birthday, the Prower family gathered around to share in the moment of thanksgiving of an infant birth. They watched him open his presents and it was an intriguing moment for them all when he thanked with hugs and smiles.

The notable gift; however, was a radio controlled helicopter. Tails asked for everyone’s opinion and insight about the device. He received loads of information and stayed inside with it after thanking them for the insight.

Tails turned on the helicopter and observed the remote control. It had a yellow button (ascend) and a black button (descend) along with left-right/up-down controls. He pushed the yellow button and the helicopter ascended to Tails’ height like it knew how high it was.

Tails opened his mouth widely and his eyes looked on in amazement. “Wow!”

The little fox flew the helicopter around the room with fun galore and had some really close calls. Luckily, no one was hurt. Shortly after he clicked descend and watched as the blades spun in circles.

Tails turned off the helicopter and smiled.

If this can do it, I can do it, too!

Tails raced outside and tried to mimic the helicopter. Of course, the little fox had to take an extra step to be remotely carried in the air at all. Regardless of that extra jump for him, he managed to twirl his tails like a helicopter and he ascended into the air with little trouble. The only difference was that he was a living organism and the helicopter wasn’t, so he had a major disadvantage. The effort it took to get anywhere in the air was a hassle for him since he’d run out of breath and energy for a short period, but the fact he could land on platforms a few stories up made it worthwhile.

So; even though it was a hassle at times, he was able to get through most tight spots.

- Unbreakable bond formed

At age five, Tails had an IQ of a ten year old; it really adds up. Although this was the case, that bright little fox saw no need in depriving himself in a little fun. It was all apart of his uniqueness. He walked into each class; each and everyday, with a confident smile and the teachers loved it.

No, would’ve loved it if it wasn’t for his two tails. The teachers enjoyed watching as Tails always looked prepared for class and always seemed on top of things. The teachers noticed a huge difference between Tails and the other kids other than having two tails instead of one.

Tails would normally sit by himself and draw out blueprints for his next; or possible, project. The teachers saw it as a way to stimulate a mind that should be in the fourth or fifth grade by now. The bright little fox drew airplanes, aero planes, programs and even made all of this with immense detail. It looked very close to perfect; from the body cavity all the way to the engine parts.

The teachers always displayed Tails’ artwork for that day and gave it back later on. This was one of the reasons why the other kids and kits couldn’t stand him, much less bear to be around him. They were amazed and envious; both of which can be a harmful combination.

Some kits and kids had absolutely no idea why that fox could just walk right in with a smile even though he was completely different from everyone else. The others saw him as a freak; a complete waste of life, fur and flesh. Some girls actually admired the bright fox’s confidence and wanted to be his girlfriend. The only reason they hadn’t done it yet was because the admiration for Tails was clouded over by the dreaded fear of cooties.

All the kids and kits decided to devise a plan that would rip that smile clean off of his face. They loathed him for smiling like that and they felt it was time to put Tails in his place. He was different in their eyes and it was their motivation to attack. They believed he was a nobody, a freak of nature and they virtually wanted that deformed fox to know it.

From there the kids and kits made fun of Tails in every way, shape, and form they thought was necessary. They ripped the display of the day off of the wall and crumbled it just before tearing it to shreds. It was mental and physical abuse. The teachers never did anything about it, not even once.

The kids and kits flicked the two tailed fox’s ears, slapped him solidly across his face, and many other things that served their purpose. To defile him. To destroy him mentally. To make him feel like he doesn’t belong anywhere.

By the second month, Tails went further into solitude and it took much longer to even remotely get a line on the paper. That fox lost all sense of security and confidence. A frown replaced that once beautiful smile and all seemed dreadfully lost.

It got to the point where Tails even shied away from his parents, leaving them in the coldness of space. Lou and Mary continuously brought it up and wanted to know why his loved ones became nothing but shadows. At one point, Tails confessed the problem and was completely sure the parental advice to ignore the kids wouldn’t do any good.

By the third month of school, Tails completely shut down. He wasn’t doing anything productive whatsoever, he just sat in a corner while the kids and kits man handled him. The kids and kits made an endless line of torment and committed all sorts of things that had the soul purpose of defiling this once confident, good-natured fox.

Tails cried and raced from the classroom. The kids and kits weren’t that far behind. They ridiculed that two tailed fox and made him look even more like a dumb arse, a retard. All of the things that fox knew he wasn’t. He wanted to belong somewhere and it was pure heartache.

It virtually seemed like all was lost and the major lack of confidence wasn’t making anything better. The brilliant fox felt like an idiot, a worthless piece of cow dun that doesn’t deserve respect. A piece of cow dun that is scooped into a trashcan and left there to rot. Also, he felt like a retard. On top of all that, he felt like he didn’t deserve to live. If he had a knife, he would’ve stabbed himself right then and there. And it wouldn’t be an in and out to chest, his depression was much deeper than that.

He had to escape somehow, someway and just gather his thoughts. As the kids and kits raced to their parents’ car, Tails saw a blue hedgehog walking across the sidewalk. Apparently the hedgehog saw the scene, since he was looking Tails’ way.

Tails’ head was descended as he curved his eyes in the hedgehog’s direction and looked the other way.

He’ll probably be the same as the others over here.

Tails perched under a tree, but something totally unexpected happened. The blue hedgehog sat down next to him, while the fox was crying and covered his eyes. The fox had no idea that the hedgehog was even there, much less wondering if anyone even cared.

A voice asked from out of the blue. “What’s wrong?”

Tails either didn’t hear him or refused to answer. The second choice was the most likely; so, whoever it was, they’d have to actually care to try again. Those who didn’t might not help or would leave after getting silence in return. It was the code these days: I don’t care about anyone, except numeral uno.

The hedgehog wrapped a hand around the fox’s shoulder and asked. “What’s wrong? Please tell me, I care about what’s troubling you.”

Tails uncovered his eyes and the tears kept going. The white of his eyes looked red from the tear shed and it wasn’t a picnic at all. It was one of the hardest things to face, to endure, and to go through. The fox eventually took a glance at the blue hedgehog to acknowledge he heard him and looked down.

Tails twirled his thumbs and explained slowly. He sniffed and wiped a few tears from his eyes during the explanation. “I…don’t know how…to make them…understand that this difference --” The fox pointed at his two tails, “-- doesn’t take away my value…as a person. I…just wish they’d…stop making…fun of me and get to know me. They won’t stop, won’t ever stop; I feel…so alone.”

The blue hedgehog turned the fox’s way and smiled. “I’m here for you and we’re gonna work this out, um? What’s your name?”

Tails slowly turned the hedgehog’s way and looked into his eyes. He saw what he never thought he’d see again, a friendly smile. It was too good to be true and it was real. Although it was three months worth of torment, and even though it took awhile to come out; he managed something he thought was totally lost.

The fox managed to smile through the tears. “My name is Miles Tails Prower, but I prefer Tails.”

The hedgehog returned the introduction with an even brighter smile. “I’m Sonic the hedgehog!”

Tails asked with hopefulness. “Do you wanna meet my parents? I’ll really appreciate it if you came.”

Sonic pat the fox boy’s head. “If you’re willing to help me take out something evil and if you’re willing to move out of your parents’ house. You might not know for sure, but I have a feeling that I might need your help. Will you do it?”

Without thinking at all, Tails blurted out. “Yes, of course I’ll move out to help you. I’m sure my parents will approve.”

Sonic grabbed Tails’ hand and lifted the fox boy up. “Just one more thing, you have to catch up with me. So far, not a soul has succeeded in keeping up with me. Do you wanna see my red bi-plane, the tornado?”

Tails was excited to see an airplane. “Yeah, I’ll come with you.”

Sonic started running at extreme speeds and Tails was in utter amazement.

Tails ran with his twin tails spinning behind him. “Here I come Sonic.”

The fox boy was only a mere ten feet away from the blue hedgehog. The two stopped at the airplane. Sonic screeched to a halt mere inches from the plane.

Tails hadn’t learned to stop yet and as he tried to stop he tumbled through the street. He hit the bi-plane and was almost knocked unconscious from the impact.

Sonic opened the compartment of his tornado and got out a first aid kit. He bandaged the fox’s bruises and kisses them with love and care.

He smiled and lifted Tails up. “Are you feeling better?” Tails nodded and Sonic continued. “You should learn how to brake a little better. Otherwise you stayed close just fine.”

Tails asked eagerly. “Can I fly the tornado? Please, can I, can I?”

Sonic nodded and hopped onto the tail of the bi-plane. “Sure, let’s see what you can do.”

Tails flew into the airplane and sat comfortable into the tornado. “Hold on, let me read the guide. It’s my standard procedure.”

Sonic was a little worried. “Can you read?”

Tails said in a matter of fact manner. “I read all the time. I have the reading level of someone in high school.”

Even Sonic was surprised by that. “It’s in the glove box.”

Tails reached for it and, as he read the directions, he would look at certain things on the plane. He would get a feel for the controls. It only took him about twenty five minutes to figure out how to use the phone in the airplane.

He called his parents, while the hedgehog tapped his foot impatiently. “Mom. Dad. I just wanted you to know that I’m walking home. I’ll be there in about an hour.”

Mary and Lou approved. “Just have someone you trust walk with you, okay? We don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Okay. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. You can count on me getting there in one piece.” Tails hung up the phone and started the plane.

Sonic threw his hands up in the air. “Finally!”

Tails felt a little taken aback. “What’s wrong? What did I do?”

Sonic explained. “I just get impatient some times. I’m always into the next fashion trend.”

Tails turned around to face Sonic. “Patience is a virtue.”

The fox boy flew the airplane with just a couple slight problems, but was able to make it to his parents’ house without too much problem.

Just wait until my parents’ look at the airplane. It’ll be so funny. It might even be so awesome. I can’t wait to show them.

When Mary and Lou walked outside, they were overblown by all the things they saw. They knew Tails was a genius, but this was ridiculous.

Tails got out of the airplane and hugged his parents with love everlasting. “I made my first friend! Isn’t that exciting?”

Mary and Lou watched as Sonic walked up to the two parents. “Hi there, first friend.”

Sonic waved and zoomed inside like a blue blur, as if he wasn’t even there. He laid down on the couch in the living room. “Nice place you got here. Tails, you got any good movies?”

Tails walked inside, hand in hand with his parents, and explained. “I’ve got ‘Wallace and Gromit’. Those movies are very interesting and it really keeps my attention.”

Sonic shrugged his shoulders. “Sure. Let’s see the movie.”

Tails went inside his room and brought out one of his favorite short films of Wallace and Gromit. “Sonic, how does the Wrong Trousers sound?”

Sonic smiled at Tails’ parents and replied. “Sure buddy, that sounds good.”

The two watched the movie with the parents laughing along with them.


Three days later, Tails’ grandparents came over to see the new friend that their grandson received and the bi-plane he flew in on. It reminded the grandpa of his glory days in the air force.

Burt was his name and aviation was game. His wife, Lita, was a retired writer who used to send books she wrote to her husband during the war.

Burt sat down on the couch and Lita sat with him.

Burt called Tails over. “Come here grandson. I have a story I’d like to share with you. Your grandma will help tell it.”

Tails eagerly sat down on his Papa’s lap and laid down like a baby fox being sung to sleep with an enchanting lullaby. “I love your stories Papa. Your stories are so awesome. I would love to hear one of your adventures.”

Burt smiled and was eager to tell it. “One faithful day, I flew an airplane a long time ago and I had to save one of my brethren from getting shot down. I had to navigate my way through sleet and snow, desert and seas to save him and myself from mortal danger. Just when the enemy plane thought he had me, I did a half loop de loop to get behind him and shot him sky high.

“I went to help my friend from certain danger and shot down the enemy aircraft with a missile. I flew back to the base, excited that your father had turned old enough to understand what I did to protect the innocent people from harm. I was excited, because it was the first time my son was proud of me. I was proud of him to.

“There were no computers back then, but I made do with being sent some pictures of our little champion as he was growing up. My god, he looked cute - like a pure bred ladies man.”

Lou was embarrassed

Burt continued. “When I returned to base, I opened my mail box and saw another one of Lita’s published novels. I believe the book was called Neon Blues. Honey, can you explain the book?”

As Tails moved his eyes toward his grandma, Lita explained. “It was a book about a couple lost all their money in a casino and the two of them were forced out of their house. The two learned to pay more attention to one another and stop thinking about money.

“The family couldn’t bail them out, because they were poor as well. So they offered the two to live in their world for the time being. The couple moved in and were told that they could live there if they were willing to pay a small rent fee.

“The couple had enough to sustain the rent fees, while the two searched for high paying jobs. However, all of those jobs were filled. So, they were forced to downsize to minimum wage. They were furious.

“As money slowly lost their grip on them, they saw the Neon Blues and learned to appreciate each other and their family.

“Fin.”

Burt kissed Lita. “That was my favorite book of yours honey. Anyway, back to the story.

“As I fought in the war, your grandma would keep giving me those books to read. When I retired, I went to her and we’re still in love.

“End.”

Tails flew off his grandpa’s lap and blurted out. “Thinking of that, I’d like to move out and move into my own home with Sonic.”

The parents and grandparents were taken aback, but they knew that if Tails could fly an airplane then he could live somewhere on his own.

For awhile, as Sonic came to visit to keep Tails’ ever increasing bond intact, the parents refused to let him go. However, as a week progressed, Tails felt hurt and unloved. The parents gave in and allowed Tails to move in with Sonic.

Sonic helped Tails build his workshop, build the very awesome runway and fix up the tornado. It was a blast.

With Tails’ know how and their speed combined; they managed to build it in a month. Tails built the necessary necessities and created a very powerful computer capable of creating complex programs and giving step by step instructions on creating external devices.

All that was left for Sonic now was to tell him about Robotnik and see if he was willing enough to take on that challenge. Tails said yes and thus created their…unbreakable bond.

[Tails]

Chapter 7: Sonic freeing Tails
Part 2 - Before the holocaust.

As Tails read the book on a bench, his eyes and ears were in a different universe. The chance to live in a different adventure far outside the vastness of his own world beckoned him to enter a world unknown. A world that may have been a reality many years or centuries ago.

A tale of mystical dragons and knights who went to destroy them for the sake of leaving their mark in history. A history made in the years when technology wasn't even born yet.

The only thing that he truly thought was so nasty was the part in those tales that made the knight have a true love's first kiss with a princess. He almost always skipped over that part. The thing Tails hated worse than those tales where the knight kissed the princess were girls in general. He didn't want to get cooties or whatever the disease was that the girls were carrying.

While Tails was reading, he noticed a shadow over his book that wasn't there before. He leaped out of the way just as a table crashed down on the chair he was on moment's earlier.

Tails turned around and saw three robots preparing to surround him.

“Surrender!” Tails heard a robot command.

Tails merely grinned. “You'll have to do better than that to catch me.”

Tails had a plan.

The robots rushes the fox boy when the three robots realized Tails wasn't moving anywhere to escape.

Tails thought as he waited for the right moment.

Wait for it. Wait for it. Now!

Tails jumped at the last possible second and three robots crashed into each other. One robot was severely damaged and couldn't move anymore. The other two robots essentially lost their arms on one side.

The robots raced after Tails as he rushed into an alley.

Darn it. Thought Tails. A dead end.

The robots approached Tails and nets formed in their one sided arms.

The robots sped up and lifted the nets up. “No escape!”

Tails grinned and got into a running stance. “You robots just never learn..”

Tails raced toward the robots with the greatest of ease and grace. He leaped over the robots and engaged his two tails to fly a little ways. The fox boy disappeared from the alley.

Tails turned around and laughed in arrogance. He made faces at the robots. “You can't catch me.” He laughed. “I bet you robots couldn't even catch a cold.”

As Tails was occupying himself with making fun of them, the robots took this as an opportunity to capture Tails. The fox boy was making fun of the robots so much that he didn't even realize that the robots had captured him. That was until he felt himself be lifted up in the net.

Tails was shocked.

I don't believe this, they captured me. Tails thought. I should be more careful. I shouldn't let my ego get the best of me. What would Sonic do? Because he has spikes, he could cut through these nets. However, I have strong teeth. I can chew my way through!

Tails gnawed on the net and knew he'd chew his way through the net with little trouble.

The robot ordered. “Stop that!”

The net shocked Tails' tongue and his teeth felt immense pain as well. The shocking made Tails unconscious.

The robot carried Tails to Robotnik's base.

The other robot kept an eye on the fox boy as he slept peacefully. It was quiet the rest of the way.

* * *

Sonic knocked on Tails’ door to see if he would answer it before he planned on using his keys. “Tails, are you in there?”

No answer.

The remembered knew exactly how to wake up the fox boy if he were busy or asleep. The hedgehog shook a large bag of his and the fox boy’s favorite past time, a sure fire success with the caretaker’s little brother and others alike. A mint candy fit for a king.

“Tails, I’ve got after dinner mints.”

Still no answer.

Sonic opened the door with his keys and checked on his little brother. The worried one looked in his bedroom and saw nothing.

After awhile, the hedgehog came across a letter on the fox boy’s computer where he works on his latest projects and/or inventions. He used his blue prints on his computer and saved them on a very secure area in the computer. Then he used another computer to help him with creating his inventions and he won’t share his brilliance with the public. It helped him make it with immense accuracy.

The letter read:

Dear Sonic,

I have Tails on the highest place in my fortress and you’ll have to come quickly and cautiously in your hunt to find Tails. Only bring yourself and no funny tricks or he’ll get what I think he deserves.

Your Adversary,
Dr. Eggman

As Sonic reads the letter about the capture of Tails, he thinks with a sigh.

Tails can't do anything without needing my help. I know he's my little brother. However, it makes me wonder with the fact that he always gets captured. Its getting a little annoying. This kind of reminds of the knight in shining armor in preparation to kiss his princess locked away in a tower by a dragon.

Not that I would kiss Tails, that would be sick. However, I would consider the dragon to be Robotnik and Tails to be the damsel in distress. Don't do any funny tricks, eh? What will he deserve if I don't comply to the rules? I don't know, nor do I care. I need to save the damsel in distress and slay the dragon. Here we go.

* * *

Sonic at Robotnik’s fortress…


Sonic looked at a window where he could see Tails and rushed into a building next to the main entrance and was able to get to it without the robots knowing he was there.

This is all too easy.

No, it isn’t easy you dolt. Tails is in danger. Who knows what Robotnik has up his sleeve? Probably a bunch of uneaten eggs.

No time to joke now, I have to save Tails.

Sonic rushed up the steps with fire pulsating from his shoes.

Don’t worry Tails, I’m almost there.

He knows I’m here, doesn’t he? Hopefully Tails isn’t hurt. If he is though, Robuttnik is going to be in for one helluva rude awakening.

Tails was crying and Sonic could hear him.

Robotnik must be doing something awfully intense that's making him cry.

Sonic ran up the steps and listened to Tails. It was like Robotnik had a very dark scheme in mind.

Sonic reached the top floor and listened to see if Tails would give him a pinpoint to his location.

Tails' tears drenched his fur in fright. “Please Eggman, stop pointing the gun at me. Whatever I did, I’m sorry. Oh, and stop pointing all these lasers at me. I beg of you, please stop!

Tails had gained a little courage. “Once Sonic gets here you large tub of egg yolk, you’ll be sorry!”

Robotnik laughed insanely and cocked the gun. “That’s exactly what I’m counting on.”

Sonic thought with anger and clenched his fist.

I’m going to get Robotnik for this.

Tails' frightened words lead a determined hedgehog to a heavily armored door.

Sonic whispered. “Little brother, don't worry. I'm coming.”

The blue hedgehog ripped through the room like a saw blade and saw that Tails was there.

Tails desperately wanted to look Sonic's way and smile and maybe hug him too. However, the consequences flowing throughout his mind if he did it convinced him otherwise.

Hooray, Sonic's here to save me.

Robotnik laughed insanely. “Grand of you to join us Sonic. Tails and I were about to play a game.”

Tails thought as the tears made him very cold and the water coming from his eyes also start to sink into the carpet. He looked at Sonic in agony as the hedgehog valiantly rushed toward the frightened fox boy and protected him.

Don’t say anything you’ll regret.

Sonic asked arrogantly. “What game would that be?”

Tails cringed in fear. He knew Sonic would say something reckless.

Sonic, whatever you do, don’t get us killed.

Sonic grinned. “Oh, I know. The game was let’s see how long it takes Tails to gag from one of Eggman’s ghastly egg farts. Am I in the ballpark?”

Tails gasped in fright and covered his mouth in case something horrible would happen.

He just had to say that. We’re really dead now. If we die, it’ll be all your fault.

Robotnik was in his egg pod. He traveled toward the window and destroyed it with pure malice. “See you next time hedgehog. You can take your little child coward with you.” He laughed evilly and disappeared, abandoning his base for now.

Tails flew his tails like propellers and picked up Sonic. He descended with Sonic onto the grass and escaped from the base.
Tails asked in sadness. “Was Robotnik right? Am I really a child coward?”

Sonic explained and pat Tails' shoulder. “You're not a coward little brother. You just need to learn from your mistakes, that's all. You're gonna be a man soon and I won't always be there for you. In the future, you'll be a great hero and I know that's true. You have to learn to believe in yourself and you'll excel once you realize you're worth something. Are you worth something?”

Tails smiles in happiness. “Yes, I'm worth something. Thanks big brother, all I needed was to know I could be a natural born hero one of these days. I love you big brother. I'll be the greatest hero in the world.”

Sonic rubs Tails' ears with encouragements. “That's the spirit Tails!”

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