"Fox Was Not Meant to Fly"

A work of Sonic the Hedgehog "Fan-faction" by Glazius Falconar

Say it with me now:

This story and all new situations and characters portrayed therein are copyright 1998 by the author, Glazius Falconar (aka Paul Arezina). Of course, Sonic the Hedgehog and everything having to do with that Saturday morning cartoon and US-type comic book of his are copyright Sega, Archie, and/or DiC, and are as always used without permission. So, unless you enjoy being stripped of your material wealth by the American justice system, don’t alter the text of this story in any way or charge other people money for the sole purpose of reading it. Unless, of course, you get my permission (which might happen) or Sega’s permission (which probably won’t) respectively. Despite what other people may say, the concept of the Internet is actually copyright H. G. Wells, in a story he wrote entitled "Men Like Gods". I advise that you read it sometime, because it’s a fairly decent story. And if you feel the need to change this story, post it on your website, flame me heartily (for which I will respond a thousand-fold), or just commit random acts of senseless e-mail, my address is at the end.

Another morning away from the homeworld. As much as I hate to admit it, I was actually beginning to miss the day-to-day classwork at the Academy. At least there, I could talk to the sapients I saw. On Mobius Prime, however, I was forbidden from making contact with the local populace, simply because such contact could greatly affect the outcome of the war which was currently being fought. Not that I wouldn’t like to affect the outcome, because one side in the war was currently engaged in making the planet uninhabitable for the other side… and for most other organic life forms as well. And here I was, with an ever-logical computer as my only company, sitting and watching a world slowly being choked by pollution. Days like this…

I needed someone to talk to. Fortunately, the lines of communication between Mobian and Avian worlds were open. I entered Professor Raptarius’s code into the vid-link terminal and waited as the connection was established. The vid-link blinked on, to reveal the Professor reading some paper or other. He quickly shoved the paper aside and turned to address me.

"Oh, it’s you, Glazius. Quite a coincidence, really…"

"A coincidence, Professor?"

"Well, yes. Here I am reading your paper and you decide to call me. Which reminds me…"

"Yes, Professor?"

"It’s about these papers of yours, Glazius. The style is a bit… unorthodox… to say the least."

Well, these weren’t exactly orthodox conditions. "How do you mean, Professor?"

"Well, I can understand you giving an account of the events that lead up to these marvelous discoveries that you seem to be making. But honestly, sometimes it seems as though you’re writing a story and not a scientific paper."

Oh. Which would mean I’d have to go back and rewrite everything…

"Not that that’s a bad thing, mind you."

"What? Why would you say that, Professor?"

"Oh, that’s simple enough, Glazius. You’ve read the latest journals, I assume."

I nodded. I always like to try and keep up on current scientific events.

"Well then, you know what they’re starting to sound like. Most of those papers are a maze of technical jargon which would take an expert in the field to understand. And none of us are expert at everything, Glazius. Now, papers like this - " and he waved my report in a wingtip - "can at least be understood in large part. Oh, the science in them is sound enough and probably not simple enough to be understood by a non-scientist… but it isn’t camouflaged under layers of jargon. It’s an honest style you have, Glazius. Keep up the good work."

"But…"

"Oh, the Academy’s graders? Hmmm… we’ll have to work something out." Some sort of alarm sounded on the Professor’s desk. "Wouldn’t you know it? Sorry, Glazius, but I’m needed in the east lecture hall. Safe journeys."

"Safe journeys, Professor." The connection blinked off.

It was good to know I had someone like the Professor on my side… even though I never got a chance to tell him about the problems I was having, it was good to know that what I was doing here was being noticed. Speaking of which… I’d spent the last few days working over that paper on Mobian dragons. Time for a breath of fresh air… metaphorically speaking, since the air around my base was usually contaminated with Robotnik’s pollution. I flew outside and… what in?…

Well, I was thankful that Mark had the forethought to put up a force shield. It had snowed. No, that wasn’t the word for it. The forest looked like it had been hit by a strong blizzard. I’d noticed that the air had gotten a little colder before my brief sabbatical, but nothing to indicate something like this was going to happen. Or… I could claw myself. "Mark, when are we?"

"Please rephrase query, Glazius."

"Given Avian astronomical logs, at what point in the cycle of day and night is this hemisphere of the planet?"

"Processing… it appears that this hemisphere of the planet is approaching its winter solstice."

So that would explain the snow. And analyzing even the rudimentary weather data which Mark constantly compiled should have led me to expect it. You’re getting soft, Glazius…

Rather than dwell on my own shortcomings the entire day, (trust me, it’s not a pleasant way to spend an afternoon) I decided to… well… do something, but what to do? Perhaps a visit to Knothole would spark my imagination. "Mark, teleport me to a wingspan below the apex of the tree limbs covering Knothole." I didn’t worry about asking Mark to activate my psychic cloak; after a near miss one morning, I worked out a way for it to automatically activate.

"Teleporting, Glazius…"

Knothole was covered in snow as well, although a few paths had been cleared to enable something resembling normal movement. I heard a faint buzzing behind me and turned to see the messenger beast, slowly making its way toward one of the huts. Well, the snow would be no impediment to it, but the cold certainly would, with the insectoid characteristics it exhibited.

A spray of snow informed me that the hedgehog had also seen the messenger beast, and was headed to the hut. He skidded to a halt in front of the door, knocked, and entered. I was right behind him, micro-fluttering near the ceiling, and thankful I didn’t have any snow to drip onto the floor.

The Princess sighed. "I thought as much."

"What’s the word from Uncle Chuck, Sal?"

Right… they wanted to find out if that factory they blew up had any roboticized Mobians working in it. I knew it didn’t, but I couldn’t very well tell them that.

"No word, Sonic." She waved a small scrap of paper at the hedgehog. "‘Too cold. Send someone.’ That’s all Uncle Chuck had to say. And no wonder." She gestured to the messenger beast, which was trying to warm itself at a fire, burning in the middle of the hut. "The poor thing almost froze solid delivering this. Anything heavier…"

And the beast would likely have gone torpid on the way. Not a pleasant fate.

Sonic shook his head. "Yeah. Poor little guy. When did Uncle Chuck say he was gonna have the robot version ready?"

Sally shrugged. "That might be one of the things he wants to talk about. You’ve been a little too bored lately, Sonic Hedgehog. I think it’s time you got back to work."

Sonic laughed. "Work? Whaddaya call plowing Knothole out from under three feet of snow?"

"And just happening to dump half of it on Antoine’s doorstep?"

"Okay, so I got carried away. But it ain’t easy juicing through neck-high snow."

True. Even though that warp bubble he formed shoved most of the snow aside, he’d still build up a cushion of ice crystals in front of himself. Snow is infamous for its almost granular behavior; it’s very hard to shift a column of snow without breaking the column… even if it’s a spacetime distortion that’s doing the shifting. After going about a hundred wingspans, he’d be blocked by a near-solid wall of snow. But Sally didn’t seem to buy his explanation.

"You were racing around the streets easily enough."

"Get your coat on, Sal. I have to show you something."

The Princess sighed, and put on an insulating wraparound. She followed the hedgehog outside, as did I, and he led her to one of the tunnels he’d plowed through the snow. He tapped on the end.

"Rock solid. If you don’t believe me, feel it for yourself."

The Princess gently touched the end of the tunnel, expecting to see it collapse. She pushed a bit harder when it didn’t, eventually leaning her whole body weight against what amounted to a wall of ice. "So maybe you weren’t just trying to get out of a trip in the cold."

"Maybe? Sal, I go for maybe 50 feet and I start slowin’ down. I go a few hundred more and I make one of these. Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m not about to a) run zigzags through the Great Forest all the way to Robo-town and b) leave Buttnik a clear path back to Knothole!" He gestured to the tunnel of snow. "And if this isn’t a clear path, I don’t know what is."

The Princess sighed. "And of course you wouldn’t think of making it collapse behind you. I guess we’ll have to wait until it melts, or at least until the weather gets warmer."

"Not really, Aunt Sally."

She had a nephew? I turned to the source of the voice… and found myself inches away from the two-tailed fox, hovering placidly above a pile of snow. Why hadn’t Mark… oh, it had. I was too wrapped up in the conversation to hear Mark’s warning. I quickly put another wingspan between myself and the ground as the Princess glanced up at the strange fox.

"Tails, what have I told you about eavesdropping?"

"Sorry, Aunt Sally. But Sonic was banging on the snow and I wanted to know why."

At this, the hedgehog laughed. "He’s got you there, Sal."

The Princess smiled. "I guess he has. But why do you think we wouldn’t have to wait, Tails?"

"I can go."

Sally shook her head. "No you can’t. You’re too…"

"Yeah, I’m too young. I’m always too young!" The fox turned to leave, but the hedgehog grabbed his arm as he flew past.

"Hang on, little bro." He turned to Sally. "Sal, what’s the worst that could happen? Buttnik’s probably as snowed in as we are."

The Princess nodded. "True. But there’s still the risk… and while you might be able to work your way out of a SWATbot ambush, Sonic Hedgehog…"

"C’mon, Sal. If we can’t put some faith in the big guy, he might as well not be here at all."

"Yeah. Can’t I at least try, Aunt Sally?"

"Oh, very well." She grabbed the fox by the shoulders and stared into his eyes. "But Tails, if you see a SWATbot patrol, don’t try anything heroic. Just come back home."

The fox nodded, and his eyes slowly brightened. "Does that mean I can go?"

The Princess released her young charge. "Yes. Just be care-"

"Yahoo!" Tails took off, spinning his namesakes through a backward somersault and taking off for Robotropolis.

"-ful." The Princess laughed half-heartedly. "Sometimes he’s almost as bad as a certain hedgehog I know." She turned and headed back to her hut.

"Now who could that be?" asked Sonic in mock bewilderment as he followed her home.

For my part… "Mark, track the two-tailed fox."

"Initiating tracking subroutines…"

As I slowly but surely gained on one of Mobius Prime’s few flying sapients, I couldn’t help but ponder what I’d seen back at Knothole. These Freedom Fighters were definitely not like any group of guerillas I’ve ever read about. If anything, they reminded me of the Archer and his band of brigands, a fictional group of heroes fairly similar to that in the Terran stories of Robin Hood.

I caught up with the fox in fairly short order and realized what I could do today. "Mark, scan the fox at 75 percent of maximum resolution."

"Scanning, Glazius…"

Mark’s beam swept over Tails as the both of us flew effortlessly through the Great Forest, ducking under or flying around the occasional low-hanging limb or high-reaching bush. One thing was for sure; the young fox had excellent control of his somewhat unusual flying abilities. But I kept asking myself how such a thing was possible. As we flew through the forest, I pondered the impossibilities inherent in what he was doing.

First, there was the purely topological constraint on what he was doing. Those tails of his could make three, perhaps four full revolutions before becoming fully entwined. And, even assuming that he could somehow perfectly compensate by twining his tails in the opposite direction, that still gave him a lift-to-time relationship which was far from static. But, even if he somehow corrected for that, there would still be the matter of a muscular system which could power such a thing. And, if that existed, there was the problem of gyroscopic precession. An object rotating around a center of rotation which is not its center of mass causes a vector torque around the center of mass. And, unless the little fox had lead in his shoes, the point his tails were rotating around was definitely not his center of mass. Meaning he should go spinning out of control, especially if those tails had to be rotating rapidly enough to provide a pressure differential to lift a body as heavy as he was. Well then, I asked myself, why wasn’t he? Perhaps the scan would provide some information… and it was almost…

"Scan completed, Glazius."

Not pausing in my pursuit for a moment, I dictated into the computer. "Excellent, Mark. Stop time, and display a holographic diagram of the fox."

"Processing…"

And time froze as I examined Mark’s hologram. Hmm… this was certainly… oh Almighty… I almost had to laugh as I looked up at the young fox, his tails a near-solid disk. And since time was frozen… "Mark, either the TST has gone haywire or that scan picked up Emerald dust in the fox’s tails."

"Second theory is correct, Glazius. The tails have become integrated with Emerald dust much as the hedgehog’s quills have."

"It’s in the tail hairs, Mark?"

"Analyzing scan… affirmative, Glazius. However, the Emerald dust appears to be held in place by various external skin proteins, in addition to being bound in small amounts by the tail hairs."

So he could probably maintain a fair amount of Emerald dust when the time came to shed his fur. I laughed again; Emerald dust was this world’s answer to just about every physical impossibility. The fox didn’t need to swipe his tails through the air; the air would come to him. And… "Mark, display areas of spacetime distortion around the fox."

"Overlaying readings, Glazius…"

As I thought. The precession was non-existent; a slight alteration in the distortion field provided enough apparent thrust to negate it entirely. The only problem was that the fox’s tails needed to be in a very specific orientation to deliver this precession-negating distortion. How did he get them there… of course! Now that strange motion became clear. When the fox took off, he had twined his tails around each other and then unwound them. That seemingly trivial gesture had virtually ensured that his tails would end up in the parallel orientation that I observed them in.

Well, now I knew how a fox could fly. But I didn’t know how he came to obtain those physiological marvels which enabled him to fly. Perhaps an analysis of the scan… but I was also more than a bit curious about what Sir Charles Hedgehog had to say to the Freedom Fighters. I could do both at once… I hoped. "Mark, restart time and keep tracking the fox."

"Affirmative, Glazius."

The flight to Robotropolis didn’t take very long. I managed to keep both eyes on the forest, letting my peripheral vision examine the fox and Mark’s hologram of him. The fox came to a sudden halt in a pile of snow in one of Robotropolis’s alleys, walked over to a strangely familiar pipe, and knocked on it. An equally familiar snow-covered pile of garbage opened up, and I followed Tails into the robotic hedgehog’s Robotropolis base.

Uncle Chuck (as the Freedom Fighters called him) was busy making a few adjustments to what looked to be a robotic carrier pigeon. He turned to face the new arrival. "Oh, hello Son…" He paused for a moment at the sight of Tails. "You’re not Sonic."

Tails smiled. "Tell me about it."

The robotic hedgehog laughed. "So, I guess my nephew couldn’t pick a path through the snow."

"How’d you know that?"

"Simple. First, you look exhausted, as if you’ve traveled a very long distance. Second, there’s no snow on your shoes, even though there’s plenty of it outside. Third…" and that strange metallic laughter echoed through the room again… "there was a snowstorm just as bad as this when we were living in Mobotropolis, and Sonic tried to speed through the snow. He got maybe two hundred feet and wham! He didn’t like the snow much after that."

The young fox laughed. "No way!"

Sir Charles smiled. "Way. And there are a few more stories where that one came from. Have a seat; we’ve got some time yet."

While the two chatted about Sonic as a younger hedgehog, I spent my time postulating how Tails came to be able to fly. The unconscious mechanism I couldn’t even begin to speculate the origin of. The Emerald dust in the tails was also of indeterminable beginnings. But the two tails… that, at least, I could make an educated guess at.

I knew very well how the phalanges of the body separated themselves from each other during development. The skin between fingers or toes, in mammals at least, underwent a process of programmed cell death, to produce distinct parts of the body, as opposed to a fusion of skin like we Avians have in our wings. Somehow, through a recessive gene, a mutated genome, or possibly the right teratogen in the bloodstream, the embryo that would become Tails had undergone programmed cell death at his tail bud. The recessive gene would definitely account for the strange amino acid structure which permitted the uptake of Emerald dust… but so could the proper teratogen. Perhaps if a bit of Emerald dust had somehow found its way into the womb… perhaps…

"Well, that’s all we have time for, Tails. Stop by again when you’re in the neighborhood."

Tails laughed. "Sure thing, Uncle Chuck. Oh… wait a minute. Your note said there was something you wanted to tell me… umm, us… about. What was it?"

Uncle Chuck looked a bit flustered. "What was… oh, of course. Well, first, that bomb of yours… tell Sonic his arm’s improving, by the way… blew up a completely automated factory. Nobody in there but SWATbots and machines. So, no loss of life. I know that’s important to Sally. And what’s more - " he lifted the robotic pigeon from the table - "I think my new messenger is ready to go. Take it back to Knothole, and see if it can make its way back here on its own."

Tails gave an impromptu salute. "Yes, sir."

At this, both dissolved into laughter. Suddenly, a shrill beep sounded from one of the consoles, and Sir Charles managed to compose himself enough to check its source… and stopped laughing almost immediately.

"Tails, you’d better get going quickly. Robotnik is getting ready to start StealthBot sweeps again… and I’m needed to work the controls."

Tails picked himself up off the floor and flew out the door which Uncle Chuck had opened. I followed him, and the robotic hedgehog turned to enter his ductwork transit system as the door swung closed.

I followed him as he flew through the streets of Robotropolis and toward the Great Forest… but almost directly away from Knothole. The little fox was pushing himself so hard that he didn’t know where he was headed…

"Halt, aerial intruder!"

Apparently, the StealthBots were out on the prowl. Tails screamed and took off as fast as he could, hampered somewhat by the robotic pigeon. Two StealthBots shrieked after him, gaining slowly and firing lasers which the little fox was fortunate enough to dodge. He had reached the Great Forest, but was flying above the trees, and there were no breaks in the canopy of leaves to let him down where he could maneuver. He was going all-out, but getting tired as the Stealth-Bots gained on him… and I was watching all this. Why couldn’t I do something, even extend my psychic cloak a wingspan out? That wouldn’t be interfering… he certainly wouldn’t know I’d done anything… huh?

The little fox had disappeared. Vanished, without a trace. But I hadn’t done any… hey, what the… the Cathedral! The large white building suddenly loomed into view, and I quickly braked. But Tails couldn’t react as quickly. I saw him trying to slow himself, but he collided with one of the building’s marble pillars and plummeted unconscious to the ground below. That had to hurt… and the StealthBots who just came through the Cathedral’s natural psychic cloak were about to make it hurt even more. The poor little fox…

Suddenly, the StealthBots plummeted downward… as if their engines had suddenly been cut. And my feathers felt a bit lighter than usual… just like they did when I accidentally bumped a static generator in the physics lab. "Mark, what just happened?"

"The natural static dipoles which all objects have abruptly intensified. Your body grounded most of the electronics on it, Glazius, but the robotic planes had no such defense."

Now where had that come from? Oh… I saw a robed figure down below, bending over Tails. Father Lucifer, no doubt, working a little more of his "magic". But he couldn’t take sides in a conflict… though I imagine he was quite free to act in defense of himself and of the Cathedral. The robed figure picked up the young fox and carried him inside, and I followed close behind.

The robed figure removed its hood, and I could see that it was Father Lucifer, albeit a bit older that last time I’d seen him, when he gave a child Sonic a dose of speed. He laid Tails on the same altar which had supported Sonic years ago. He held his arms over the battered fox and began to pray.

"Almighty One, it appears that we have been found, after the long years in isolation. Would that it could have been under better circumstances. And it appears that the one who has sacrificed himself also bears Your mark…"

Emerald dust was the mark of their Almighty? Well, it certainly made a case for the planet being created rather than formed…

"So, I beseech you, Almighty One… help me heal this young one’s battered body so that he may spread the good news to whoever he holds dear. Amen."

And the mouse passed his hands slowly over Tails’s immobile form. At first, nothing happened. "Mark, what’s going on?"

"Scanning fox, Glazius… error in scan… attempting to correct…"

"What did you pick up, Mark?"

"It appears that something is being done to regress the injured fox fourth-dimensionally while maintaining him three-dimensionally stable."

And I could see it happening, almost hear his ribs knitting back together and watch the swelling on his head gradually fade to nothingness. Amazing… but since the Emeralds could move seventh-dimensionally, I imagined that a little fourth-dimensional motion wouldn’t be outside the bounds of their reality. And somehow, the mouse could focus the Emerald energy to do what he wanted… was it magic? Or applied science at its very best?

"Much thanks be to you, Almighty. You have saved this child’s life." The mouse bowed his head, and I heard him mumbling a prayer of what I assumed was gratitude, punctuated with a silent "Amen". Then he turned to Tails’s unconscious form. "Wake up, child. You’re alright."

Tails sat up, rubbing his head. "Ohh… what happened… what is this place…" His eyes opened, and he got a good look at the stained (and occasionally Emerald-augmented) glass. "Wow…"

I had to agree with him. The Cathedral was truly a place of great beauty, unlike the simple functionality of Knothole or the harsh coldness of Robotropolis. And, at this time of day, with the sunlight filtering through the stained glass and reflecting from the marble floor…

"Do you like it, small one?"

Tails was a bit startled at the voice. He backed away… and bumped right into Father Lucifer. He screamed and began bolting for the door… to find himself spun around by an expertly manipulated air current and deposited at the mouse’s feet.

"Calm down, young fox. There is no need to be afraid."

Tails took one look at the creature he thought was a menace… and slowly calmed down. After all, Father Lucifer certainly didn’t look very threatening. "O…okay…"

"Now, as for your questions… this place is the Cathedral, the first of seven built on the surface of Mobius. As for what happened to you…."

The fox scratched his head. "I remember… this big white building came out of nowhere…"

"That was the Cathedral. And you had quite a nasty collision and fall. And, if I hadn’t chased off those robot airplanes, you would have been in very bad shape indeed."

Tails laughed at this. "You? You don’t look like you could chase away StealthBots."

For answer, the mouse simply smiled. "Appearances can be very deceiving." He then extended his left hand to a metal spike in the ceiling, and a bolt of lightning passed between the two.

"Mark, another intensified static dipole at work?"

"Scanning… affirmative, Glazius."

But Tails seemed a little more caught up in the mystical aspects of the sudden burst of lightning. "Wow… you can do that?"

The mouse nodded. "The Almighty has given me power to harm… but also power to heal. You have me to thank for your life, young fox."

Tails seemed a bit bewildered. "Well… thank you for tending to me… how long was I out, anyway? And who’s this Almighty person?"

Father Lucifer smiled. "I should say no more than fifteen minutes." Tails silently mouthed those last two words. "As for the Almighty… well… return here on the winter Solstice. Tell everyone that Father Lucifer - that’s me - wishes to hold a service. They should understand."

"But… everyone I know is at Knothole. Robotnik’s got most of the people…"

"Roboticized? Yes, I am not without an understanding of the outside world. Don’t worry. He won’t be able to find us here, and if he does… well… I can drive him off, too."

Tails set his namesakes swishing. "Really? Could you…"

"No. I cannot take sides in a war, even when one is so clearly just and the other so clearly evil. It would violate my covenant with the Almighty."

There was the covenant again. I reminded myself to stop by on the winter Solstice… to see what this Mobian religion was all about.

Tails nodded. "Whoever this Almighty guy is, he must be important. Well… they’ll be waiting for me back at Knothole, so I’d really better be going. Umm… thanks for your help." He took off and flew out the door, heading back home. I followed him, and heard Father Lucifer laughing as I flew off.

"Important? More than you know, little one… more than you know."

And the oak doors of the Cathedral slammed shut… and I nearly bumped into the fox, who was making a quick notation on a rolled map of the area. No doubt he wanted to remember where the Cathedral was. He turned, and took off for Knothole, as did I. He made his way back to Knothole without incident and lowered himself to the square. I micro-fluttered above him as he walked through the path Sonic had plowed and knocked on Sally’s door.

"Aunt Sally? I’m back."

The door opened, and the little fox walked inside. I followed close behind him.

"Well, Sal, he’s in one piece."

The Princess just stared at Sonic. "Not funny, Sonic Hedgehog."

Sonic backed away a step. "Whoa, chill out, Sal." He caught a glimpse of the robotic pigeon. "What’s that in your hand, little bro?"

Tails held out the bird. "Uncle Chuck says it’s ready for a test flight."

Sally took the bird from Tails and examined it. "Hmm… it looks like another fine piece of work, but I’d like Rotor to check it out first."

Sonic turned to the Princess. "Sal, since when has Uncle Chuck ever let us down?"

She took one more look at the bird and twisted one of its wings slightly. A compartment in its back popped open. "True." She twisted the other wing and the compartment closed again. "Well, it certainly seems to be ready for a dry run. Nicole, send our new messenger on its way."

"Scanning robot, Sally… activating homing processes…"

The robotic pigeon flapped its wings a few times to get airborne and shot off for Robotropolis.

"Great job, little bro."

"Thanks, Sonic… but there’s something else I need to tell you."

Sally turned to Tails. "About the factory?"

Tails shook his head. "No… although there weren’t any WorkerBots in there. On the way out of Robotropolis, I kinda ran into a couple StealthBots…"

Sally gasped. "They didn’t follow you here, did they?"

Tails shook his head. "I don’t think so. Not if Father Lucifer was telling the truth."

Sally seemed a bit puzzled at the name. "I think I know that name… from somewhere… Nicole, who is Father Lucifer?"

"Searching database, Sally… one record qualifies. Displaying…"

And the figure of Father Lucifer appeared in mid-air, courtesy of Nicole’s outstanding (comparatively) holographic display technologies. Sally read the text that appeared on his dossier, and her eyebrows slowly lifted. "This is who you saw, Tails?"

The fox nodded. "Yeah. Only he looked a bit older than that."

Sonic seemed a bit confused. "Who’s this Father Lucifer guy?"

"A priest, Sonic. And no one’s found him or his Cathedral since Robotnik took over. You remember where he is, Tails?"

Tails nodded. "Better than that, Aunt Sally." So saying, he produced the map of the Great Forest, with the Cathedral’s location circled in red.

Sally hugged the young fox. "Wonderful! I’ve got to go tell everyone. Sonic, head out to the Great Unknown and let Lupé know what we’ve found. I’ll send Rotor under Robotropolis to talk with Griff."

I thought back to the probability calculations Mark had done a while back. There were settlements out in the Great Unknown and beneath Robotropolis. Nice to know that these weren’t the only Freedom Fighters.

Sonic held up a hand. "Hang on a minute, Sal. Exactly why is this so important?"

Sally launched into a discourse on the importance of religion, and I listened for a while… but quickly became a bit bored and took off, out the window. It appeared that I’d also get a chance to see the other Freedom Fighters when I paid a visit to the Cathedral, come the winter solstice. I turned and headed for home when a strange thought crept into my brain…

Exactly how had that little fox come to join the Freedom Fighters? He hadn’t been born yet when Robotropolis was being evacuated. Not until - I checked his dossier - at least a year afterward. An interesting question… "Mark, prepare a binary temporal search."

"Parameters, Glazius?"

Hmm… "The initial target date is the takeover of Mobotropolis, and the target event is Tails’s spending the night at Knothole. Take me to within a day."

"Processing… beginning binary temporal search…"

And Mark shifted me through the Mobian timestream, closing in on the day when Tails had come to Knothole. When the translations finally stopped, it was evening. "Mark, scan for Tails. Guide me to him once you’ve found him."

"Performing long-range scan…"

A green holographic arrow appeared in front of me, wobbling back and forth a few times before settling on… Robotropolis. Not exactly the most auspicious of beginnings… I pondered what predicament the young Tails would be extricated from as I took off for the smog-choked city.

Mark’s arrow guided me down the streets of Robotropolis to an alley… where a vixen was closing the lid on a dumpster of some kind. "Mark… Tails is in there, correct?"

"Scanning… Affirmative, Glazius."

Perhaps… "Does he have Emerald dust in his tails yet, Mark?"

"Affirmative, Glazius."

Well, if those tails had been that way from birth, of course he would… and I wasn’t really concerned over the exact source of the Emerald dust since it was all over Mobius. Now to see how he got himself to Knothole. "Mark, begin incremental translation, full aural buffering."

"Processing…"

The vixen put together a bundle of rags… about the same size as her child, so I imagined, and headed out of the alley, glancing left and right to make sure there were no SWATbots. She made her way carefully over to a destroyed building, and I followed her inside.

"Samantha! Thank the Almighty…"

I turned to have a look at the source of the voice, and saw… another two-tailed fox? Tails’s father, no doubt. I rather doubted that whatever was responsible for Tails’s extraordinary abilities could be that common.

"Dorian… there’s something I have to tell you."

"And something I have to tell you. I’ve been watching the patrols for the last week, and there’s a pattern to them. We can get out of this cursed city if we can move quickly enough!"

Samantha slowly shook her head. "I took a look out the window this morning. The patrols have doubled, easily, and there are robot planes in the sky. I’ve never seen those before."

So the initial dragnet had missed a few. I imagined that there were still a few sapients struggling to find some escape route from Robotropolis and living off of what had been left behind. Not a pleasant existence. And now that Robotnik had the resources to hunt them down… he probably would.

Dorian’s eyes widened. "Well then… I’ll just have to keep watching. Everything has to run on some route, and if I can find the gaps…"

"And what if you get caught one morning? What then? And what if our food runs out? And what if Robotnik just throws more of those SWATbots on the streets?" Samantha collapsed to the floor. "I’m tired of hiding. Whatever Robotnik is going to do to us can’t be worse than this." She gestured to… what had been the living room of a fine house, before Robotnik’s takeover.

So the behemoth’s strategy of polluting Mobians out of hiding was working… at least in this case.

Dorian went to his wife. "You can’t say that. Freedom… freedom is better than any… oh Almighty…" He had just glanced at the bundle of rags his wife was carrying. "What did you do with Miles?"

"Have you seen any child robots around? Any at all?"

Dorian thought for a minute, and shook his head slowly.

"What does Robotnik do with the children then? Kill them? Or maybe the Roboticizer is just too much for them…"

"Mark, stop time." This merited a little thought.

"Ceasing incremental translation…"

What did Robotnik do with roboticized children? Well… since a roboticized body was essentially the same as its organic counterpart… children wouldn’t be the right size to operate any machinery, or cooperate with anyone but other children. If their mind could even comprehend Robotnik’s commands… which I doubted it could. And, at this point in time, I rather doubted that Tails could. He was still a baby. So… if he were roboticized, he’d likely be tossed aside. Deactivated, essentially, since he couldn’t age. And without an active supply of nanites to repair the damage the environment wreaked on his body… death would not be out of the question.

So, Tails’s mother was probably making a wise choice by leaving her baby to die… if indeed that was the purpose for throwing him in a dumpster. But he had been rescued. How, though? "Mark, resume incremental translation."

"Resuming…"

Dorian shook his head. "We will get out of here. I promise you that. What did you do with Miles?"

"I slipped a little something into his milk this morning. He’ll sleep until someone finds him and gives him an antidote. Anything is better than this."

Dorian’s eyes grew wide. "You what?!"

"Unless someone takes him away from all this… he’ll die. As though this were any kind of life." Samantha sounded more or less resigned to being captured…

Dorian pulled his wife to her feet. "You have to show me where you put him! We are leaving this place, patrols or no patrols." He began dragging her out the door and into the street.

Samantha gasped as she caught sight of the alley she’d hidden her son in. "It’s open!" She sprinted over to the dumpster and began digging through it. "He’s not in here."

Dorian began searching the trash as well. "Did Robotnik…"

Samantha sniffed at the air. "No. I’d smell the oil if there were robots here. And I doubt Robotnik would come himself."

Dorian began thinking. "Perhaps whoever took him left a clear way out… but it’s probably closed by now." He turned to return to what passed for a home… and paled.

I turned to see a house surrounded by SWATbots. Dorian began stammering…

His wife also saw what had happened. "Well… at least we were here when it happened. Where to now?"

Dorian began thinking. "We have to make a break for it… with or without Tails."

Samantha nodded. "But we will find him again… won’t we?"

Dorian shrugged. "If we make it out alive… I have no doubt that we will. But as for now… we need to find the Wolf Pack. I rather doubt Robotnik has sent troops to the Great Unknown, and if he has… there are strongholds there. My father told me about them."

Dorian picked up his wife, and… began spinning his tails? Not spinning them, really, but it certainly looked it. Well, why shouldn’t he be able to fly? He took off and headed for the northern end of Mobotropolis. Somewhat fortunately for him, he didn’t run into any StealthBots on the way… and was able to miss most, if not all, of the SWATbot patrols. He touched down on the floor of the Great Forest, and collapsed to the ground, exhausted.

"You know… Samantha… I could have just… done this… so early…" And with that, Dorian lapsed into sleep. I imagined that carrying someone else would definitely tax his strength….

Samantha bent over her husband, trying to wake him up. When she couldn’t, she dragged him over to a patch of shrubs and secreted the both of them in the foliage. Soon, both foxes were asleep.

I hoped that they could remain hidden until the morning… but where was Tails in all of this? "Mark, stop time, and guide me to Tails."

"Ceasing incremental translation… locating sapient…"

Mark’s holographic arrow appeared and swiveled to point in the general direction of… Knothole! I took off, hoping to find a few answers…

Well, that was certainly… not unexpected, exactly, but the young Sonic was carrying a bundle as he made his way through the Great Forest. No doubt, Tails was inside. "Mark, resume incremental translation."

"Resuming…"

Sonic slowed to a halt and tapped on the side of a tree stump. The top flipped open and, cradling the bundle carefully, he jumped inside.

"Mark, stop time, and pass me through the tree limbs covering Knothole. Restart time once I’m a wingspan beyond them."

"Affirmative, Glazius…"

I felt an eerie tingle as Mark synced my wavefunction with that of the tree limbs. I glided through them, shutting my eyes even though I knew there wasn’t going to be an impact… and opening them again when I heard the sounds of Knothole… like a hedgehog impacting a pile of hay.

Sonic slowly crawled out of the pile, still holding the young Tails, and headed off to the center of town. As he reached the center, he called out, "Miss Julayla!"

Julayla… Sally’s teacher… so she’d managed to get free of the city. Well, someone had to keep up the young Princess’s interest in scholarship… I just wondered where she got the books from.

The lynx emerged from a hut near the center of town, shaking her head. "Sonic, how many times have I told you that there are other ways of getting my attention besides yelling from the entrance?"

"I’m sorry… but this is mondo important."

Julayla shook her head. "Whatever it is, it… can…" She took a close look at the bundle that Sonic was carrying, and her eyes widened in surprise. She grabbed it out of Sonic’s arms and began reading a note which was pinned to it. She looked up at Sonic, a mix of concern and bewilderment on her face. "Where did you get this?"

"I was making a few notes on one of the maps of Robotropolis… ‘course, that meant I had to be there… when some lady fox rushed out of a building and sort of set the little guy in a dumpster. Don’t know why, exactly… but I kinda thought I should bring him here."

Julayla looked up from the note and nodded slowly. "And it’s very fortunate for him that you did. I just hope you moved as fast bringing him here as you do getting out of your history lessons."

Sonic winced a bit at the observation. "Why? He’s gonna be okay… isn’t he?"

"Yes… in time. I have a bit of work to do, Sonic." And with that, the lynx turned and walked back into the hut, shutting the door behind her… but not before I was able to follow her inside. Sonic sped off into the forest not much later, and I shifted my attention to Julayla… who was rummaging around in what looked to be an oversized medicine cabinet.

"Antidotes… antidotes… well, at least she had the foresight to pick something common to knock him out with… I just hope we have… ah! Here it is." She lifted a small bottle, half-full of a milky liquid, out from a host of similar ones. She unscrewed the cap, which had an eyedropper built in to it, and placed a few drops of the liquid in a glass of water.

"I just hope he’s still conscious enough to swallow…" The lynx pinched Tails’s nose, forcing his mouth open, and poured the entire glass down his throat. He coughed and spluttered a few times, but managed to get most of the water down.

"There. That should do it." The lynx shook her head. "I had no idea there were still people alive in that horrible city." She picked up the still-sleeping Tails and carried him out the door and across the grassy center of Knothole to another hut. "Rosie?"

The door opened, and I saw that the Princess’s governess had also managed to escape.

I wonder how they got out, though. Well… there would likely be more than a few escape tunnels from a city the size of Mobotropolis… in case of air strikes and such. It was just a question of getting to them before Robotnik did.

"Julayla? What are you doing… oh my…" She took the bundle containing the young fox away from the lynx and began reading the note on it.

"Before you say anything, I’ve given him the antidote already. And there’s no reason to believe it won’t take effect."

Rosie kept scanning the note. "Samantha Prower… I know that name from somewhere…" She slowly unwrapped the bundle and gasped as the last layer of cloth came free. "A two-tailed fox! Dorian and Samantha must still be alive!"

Julayla looked a bit puzzled at the names. "Dorian… he was one of the King’s guardsmen, wasn’t he?"

Rosie nodded. "But those two tails… this has to be Dorian’s son. And his name is - what was Dorian thinking? - Miles." She smiled, obviously trying hard not to laugh.

Miles Prower… oh Almighty… a Terran unit of speed.

Julayla also smiled a bit at the name, and the obvious pun that went with it. "Dorian may have been an excellent guardsman - and a fairly apt scholar, if memory serves - but he had no concept of names."

Rosie nodded, the urge to laugh out loud faded from her face. "We’ll call him Tails, for now… until we can get him back to his parents."

Julayla began thinking out loud. "Yes, but how… perhaps… if we could… the Underground… a rescue mission…"

"Miss Julayla!" yelled a familiar voice from outside.

Julayla shook her head, and turned to see Sonic skid to a halt outside the hut she was in.

"I’m sorry for doing that again, but this is mondo, mondo important!"

Sonic sounded more than a little concerned… he’d probably discovered…

"What is it this time, Sonic?"

Sonic fought to catch his breath, and then said, "I went back to Robotropolis… to see if maybe I could help the little guy’s parents get out… and the house… the house was surrounded by SWATbots, and… and…"

Rosie slowly walked over to the door. "It looks like we’ve got an orphan, then. The poor dear, to have to grow up like this…"

Sonic got a good look at the child he’d saved from Robotropolis. "Whoa… what happened to him?" He reached out to feel the two tails which stuck out from under Rosie’s arm.

"Nothing happened to him, Sonic," Julayla explained. "His father was the same way."

"Tails and all?"

Rosie nodded. "Tails and all… and that’s the child’s name. Sonic, say hello to Tails."

The little fox was just waking up. He was a bit confused by the sudden change in surroundings, and reached up to tug at Rosie’s cloak… and the blue face that bent over him.

"Hey, big guy. Looks like you’re gonna be staying with us for a while."

"Mark, return me to my native timestream, and teleport me to my base."

"Affirmative, Glazius."

And I was back home in an instant. I told myself that I had left so abruptly because I had answered all the questions I’d thought of about Tails’s origin. But that wasn’t the real reason, and I knew it. I had left because… I was going to cry if I stayed any longer. Such an innocent young child, torn away from his family and what passed for a home by the side effects of a plan to conquer the world. And the look on Sonic’s face as he bent over the child… it was obvious that the young fox was one of the only chinks in that cool exterior he constantly projected. And when I cry… I rather doubt that even the screening of my psychic cloak could keep that noise from being heard.

And then my logical side stepped in. Tails had managed to survive and thrive, despite what he’d gone through as a young child. Chalk that up to Rosie… anyone who could act as a mother to a Princess could do the same to a young two-tailed fox. And Tails was getting a little revenge on Robotnik by being a part of the Freedom Fighters… and I imagined he’d get the chance to exact a little more when he got a bit older and was allowed to tag along on strike missions.

Another mystery put to rest… more or less. There was still the matter of what had happened to Tails’s parents… why wouldn’t they have headed for Knothole and sanctuary? Speaking of sanctuary… I had an appointment with a certain white marble building on the Winter Solstice. I called up the preliminary diagrams Mark had constructed from its constant scans and began planning flight paths and scan sweeps well into the night…

You know it’s not the end. I know it’s not the end. But I have to stop somewhere.

Questions? E-mail me at [email protected].