HELLBOUND {Sequel}

Thirty-one

__Tails kept his eyes glued to the sidewalk as he and his friends were walking all the way back to headquarters. He could hear a few normies making angry remarks. He purposely tuned them out and focused only to the sounds of their footsteps. Even if he was the one who started the movement, he really didn't want to deal with it. Part of him knew that the normies weren't going to change even if some of them were willing to. All of this now just felt like a minor inconvenience to him.
__"The people here still don't have much respect, do they?" Blaze had asked as she gazed around the town.
__"It's nothing out of the ordinary," Knuckles muttered. "We're the freaks after all."
__"None of you should be paying any mind to them anyhow," Shadow had remarked. "Ignorance can be blissful at times."
__"It's not that easy for us, Shadow," Cream responded lightly. "We have to make a point to engage with them. We can't block out their concerns and opinions like you do."
__"Ze foo-el works with G.U.N." Antoine added bitterly. "Zey do not engage with ze normeez in general. You cannot tell us zat we can just ignore zem."
__Shadow didn't bother saying anything.
__They all stopped when the alarms from their communicators started going off. Even T-Pup started growling and ran straight for the large dumpster. When the large white spider-bot appeared T-Pup started skidding to a halt before running away as the spider-bot started chasing it. This made Blaze throw a big fireball at the spider-bot as T-Pup ran over to Tails and jumped into his arms. The spider-bot went up in flames as it shrieked and started panicking. It continued on like this before it started to slow down and flip onto it's back as it curled its legs in as if it were a real spider.
__"Why does he even bother?" Bunnie asked bitterly. "He has to know by now there's no point."
__"He always has a point to something, no matter how stupid and ridiculous," Tails grumbled as he pet his robot dog. He then jumped when the distress signal sounded off from the communicators. He set T-Pup down and checked his communicator. "What now!?" He saw that all of the distress signals were coming from headquarters. "Aw fuck!"
__He started to run when Shadow pulled him back and teleported everyone back to headquarters. Tails saw that the building had a hole broken into it where the meeting room was. Several Freedom Fighters were either falling back or getting ready to engage. There was another Death Egg robot, but it wasn't the same one Doctor Eggman had fought them with. This one was the normal twenty foot tall robot and it was not painted. There didn't even seem to be anyone inside where the controls are.
__As more Freedom Fighters started coming in, Tails ran over to Jewel when she came out from the rubble. "Jewel! What's happening!?"
__"We did detect that robot, but we were too slow to make it before it blew the wall!" She shouted.
__"What about the Chaotix!?"
__"We haven't been able to get into contact with them since you left!"
__"Oh? Do you mean these three?" That was Sage's voice coming from the Death Egg robot. The robot's right hand had been clenched as it raised up and out in front of it. When it opened its hand the Chaotix fell and collapsed on to the ground. Tails was scared until he saw Vector trying desperately to get back up. Cream had shrieked, but Tails grabbed her arm and pulled her back as she ran. He didn't know what Sage was going to do.
__Knuckles knew not to move, but there was clear frustration on his face as he glared at the robot. "Damn you, rotten child!"
__Tails was trying to examine the giant robot as best he could. He could only assume it had the same weapons, minus the plasma cannon, and the only other thing he could see was that Sage had basically possessed the smaller Death Egg robot. Everything else he needed to figure out would have to wait until she was in action. But he didn't want to take any action yet. She was way too close to the Chaotix. One wrong move from them and she could crush them easily. He didn't like this disadvantage one bit.
__"Hey! Little shit!" The robot turned its head and looked down at Scourge, who was standing at the top of the trees. Of course he made it. He was glaring at the robot as he flipped her off with both hands. "Fuck you and your dad, bitch!"
__This made the Death Egg hold out it's right arm as it turned into a cannon, but Shadow took this chance to run. He threw a Chaos Spear at each knee, making it stumble before he spin dashed into it's back and knocking it on its stomach. This was their chance.
__"Go! Go! Go!" Tails started running with all the Freedom Fighters. He joined Cream and Antoine in carrying the Chaotix back to HQ where they should be safe. Once inside, more Freedom Fighters came in to take the Chaotix while the three of them ran back outside to fight. Scourge and Shadow appeared to be "teaming" as they kept attacking the Death Egg's legs while it tried to shoot at them with its arm cannons. Blaze was joining Bunnie while the two shot at it from behind. Antoine ran to join Rotor and Knuckles for a frontal assault as Tails and Cream flew up with T-Pup and Cheese overhead. The Death Egg looked up at them and shot its laser vision at them. While T-Pup and Cheese moved Cream out ot the way Tails dodged and spin dashed straight into the teeth-shaped windows. Obviously that hurt and he was definitely cut up a bit, but he got up anyway and looked around the controls. Since Sage had put herself in the robot, the controls were unoccupied. He tried to see what he could do to get Sage out of the robot when loud bright red alarms started sounding off. He covered his ears immediately as Sage started speaking.
__"You don't honestly think you are able to pull me out?" She asked sarcastically. As soon as she finished speaking a bunch of high tech guns sprouted from the walls and aimed at Tails, making the fox flatten his ears.
__"Shit!" Tails started flying as he barely missed being hit by all those bullets. He flew back out where he came, cutting himself up some more, only to get swatted at from the robot's left hand at the ready. He let out a cry as he fell straight down.
__Scourge had seen him falling and hopped up to catch him before they slammed on to the snow. He set the fox down gently and grabbed his shoulder, shaking him a bit. "You okay, man? You're bleeding all over."
__Tails groaned as he held out his hand and spat out a piece of glass. "Yeah, man. Just some glass." He then proceeded to cough. That same robot hand was going to attempt to hit the two where they were, but Shadow spin dashed and threw the hit back at it. "I'm more concerned about the large painful bruises I just got rather than the cuts."
__Scourge helped Tails stand and watched as the Death Egg was surrounded by angry Freedom Fighters. "So, whatcha got then?"
__Tails let out a hard grunt as he examined the Death Egg. Sage would fire her cannons at anyone who flew in too close while attempting to stomp on the others below. They could immobilize the robot with their wispons. He just needed to call them out. But before he could, Jewel came flying out in a panic.
__"Tails!" She landed beside the fox and started speaking frantically. "The wispons have been destroyed!"
__Tails then looked over at HQ and saw all the wisps flying around in confusion. "What happened!?"
__"We were so worried about this threat that we didn't realize there were more spider-bots!" Jewel shrieked. "We have been too focused on moving around and helping the Chaotix to check our communicators! I'm sorry!"
__"Fly!" Scourge shouted as he grabbed Jewel and ran.
__Tails didn't have to think and flew straight up. They were able to dodge Sage's laser vision in time. When Tails landed beside the two Jewel immediately pulled her hand away from Scourge and started backing away nervously. That definitely annoyed Scourge.
__"Oh, please. Save the uneasiness for when the fights over," he had tried not to growl.
__Sage had managed to knock down all of their fliers into the snow. Before she could make a move on the fallen, one of Shadow's Chaos Spears had blown up on the robot's right shoulder. Everyone could hear her growling in frustration as the robot turned to Shadow.
__"You coward!" Shadow shouted. "Come out and fight me yourself!" There was visible anger on Shadow's face. What happened in their last encounter definitely left an impression on him, and he was not happy.
__"Arrogant fool!" Sage shouted back. The robot started moving as Shadow charged toward it and started attacking each other.
__"Shit," Scourge muttered. "Does he have to be this angry that a little girl thinks of him as family?"
__"Not important!" Tails was looking around at some of the Freedom Fighters that were retreating back to base. "We need to fucking immobilize that robot so I can work on extracting Sage!"
__Just then Knuckles ran over to Tails and grabbed the fox's shoulders and pointed to the Death Egg. "I can bash its kneecaps or its cannons."
__"Cannons." Tails nodded. "Scourge and I can handle the kneecaps."
__"Cool then! Now fly me up!"
__Tails grabbed Knuckles' hands and flew him straight to the robot as Scourge ran on ahead. While Blaze and Shadow distracted the Death Egg, Tails spun around and threw Knuckles at the robot's right hand. Knuckles was able to hit the perfect spot to destroy that cannon before he grabbed on and started climbing to make his way to the other hand. That hand, however, was focused on Tails. It kept firing its cannon while Tails tried to evade it. He wanted to try and lure the blast to one of the kneecaps, but he knew Sage wouldn't fall for it and he didn't want to put the others close by at risk.
__"You foolish, fox!" Sage had called out. "How long do you think you can keep this up?"
__Tails knew what she was doing and was starting to feel disgusted as he kept flying around the robot in circles. "You can't manipulate me, Sage! I know Eggman's game all too well!"
__"If you know him so well, then why did you let your precious princess die by his hand?" Sage asked before she proceeded to start laughing, something he didn't think she could do. "Your emotions are too unstable for your own good!"
__Tails was caught off guard for a second before he dodged another cannon blast. "Tch! Little brat!" He curled up into a ball and got ready to spin dash into the left kneecap, but he heard T-Pup barking in a panic while his communicator went off. He unfolded and looked around only to get caught in an electrified net. This made him yelp as he fell back down to the ground. One of his tails was left out of the netting. Tails was trying to stay calm as he looked for the device so he could disable it before the net could tighten up on him. He found the device in an awkward place behind him, but as soon as he touched it it shocked him and the net started to tighten up. This started to make Tails scared as more Freedom Fighters came in to deal with the spider-bots that showed up from the trees.
__"Dammit, Tails!" Scourge had given up on what he was doing and ran straight for the fox. T-Pup had joined him to assist Tails. The Death Egg was walking closer, so that made the others try to push it back desperately. Scourge hadn't thought it through and tried pulling on the net only to get shocked and pull his hands away. "Fuck! Fuck!" T-Pup had to move behind Tails and shoot the device, destroying it while loosening up the net. It and Scourge proceeded to pull the net away from Tails, but the fox was now refusing to get back up.
__"What's the matter, Tails?" Sage asked slowly as she smacked Cream and Bunnie out of the air. "Do you have some deadweight holding you down? Father did say he'd be glad to tear it off for you." This only made Tails start shaking as he curled up and hid his face.
__Scourge then started shaking Tails as the Death Egg got closer. "Don't do this right now! Get up! Tails! Get the fuck up!"
__Tails just felt more stressed at the feeling of something shaking him and pulling on him to get up. He didn't even want to get up. He didn't want to have to see who was after him. He just ignored Scourge's scared pleas and T-Pup's loud whimpers.
__More Freedom Fighters were knocked away as the Death Egg walked over to the small group. Sage was giggling as she lifted the robot's foot. "Can't run?"
__Scourge was trying to pull Tails up, but the fox kept fighting back in order to keep himself lowered while T-Pup tried to pull on his arm. Scourge then looked up as the robot's foot loomed over them and immediately held his hands up as he bent his knees. He managed to catch the foot before it could crush them was trying desperately to push it away.
__Knuckles had still been making his way to the other arm. When he figured out what was happening he began trying to get off the robot. "No! No! No!" He jumped off and tried gliding down to the leg only to get shot at by the robot's laser vision. He was flung real far and was struggling to get back up.
__Shadow had stopped his pursuit in Sage and started running for Scourge and Tails. He had let his guard down, though. He was smacked away by the Death Egg's hand and crashed into the trees, knocking them down. He moved his arms to get up only to collapse back down where he sat and go limp.
__And of course, a portal opens near headquarters with Miles being the first one out while followed by Alicia, Boomer, Patch, Buns, Doctor Kintobor (who was holding the new dagger) and Bernadette. Miles looked straight ahead at the Death Egg and started shouting. "You need that dagger right about now?"
__Scourge started growling out of annoyance and desperation as he continued to push against the foot. "Fucking not now!" He then collapsed on one knee and shrieked as his arms started shaking. He began groaning as he stared down at Tails helplessly. "Tails, please! Just get up and run! Run, dammit!"
__Tails couldn't hear anything except his own insecurities. In the shadow, it felt like someone managed to grab a tight hold on him that prevented him from moving. T-Pup had given up on trying to get him to move. Instead, it decided to curl up against Tails and stay with him. Scourge had let out a soft sigh as he started to loosen his hold.
__Out of nowhere a large brown gorilla ran in and grabbed on to the robot's foot before it could crush them. He started growling as he helped Scourge push the foot back up. This made T-Pup leap up in surprise as the rest of the Destructix ran in. Predator went to help Simian while Lightning grabbed on to Scourge and pulled him back. Flying had to extend his tongue in order to grab Tails without him resisting and yanked him back to safety while T-Pup ran after him. Knuckles was now running over to them. He brought up his right fist and nailed that giant foot right into its soul, sending it straight up and making the Death Egg stumble backward until it fell on it's back.
__Flying was giggling hysterically as he laid Tails into the snow gently. "You're welcome, foxy-roxy!" Tails took this opportunity to get up and run. Now he was scared of his surroundings and had to get away. Flying had frowned and tilted his head as he watched the fox run. "Where's he going?"
__"Tails, no!" Scourge caught up to Tails and tackled the fox down. He kept him down as the fox tried to fight back. "You're safe now! Don't go running off! You'll hurt yourself!"
__"Let go of me! Let go! Let go!" Tails shrieked. He was pushing and kicking Scourge away, but the hedgehog would keep pinning Tails back down.
__Some people started yelling when the Death Egg robot stood back up. Sage was still laughing, but she sounded hurt. "Some leader you are, little fox. You're supposed to help your people, not be their burden."
__Scourge looked furious as he turned his head and glared at the robot. "The fuck did you just say!?" He then looked at the Destructix as they all turned to him eagerly. "Take that damn thing down!"
__His boys did not hesitate in running straight for the robot. Knuckles ran with them while being followed by Blaze and the other Freedom Fighters. Shadow was nowhere to be seen. They all attacked the Death Egg robot more fiercely this time, some more angry and desperate than others.
__Scourge was staring at the fight anxiously as he held Tails down. This made Cream fly over to Scourge as she held Tails. "Go! I got him!"
__Scourge smiled and nodded at her. "Thanks, Cream." He got up to run when Miles whistled at him.
__"Your dagger!" Miles shouted. He took the dagger from the skinny human and motioned the Suppression Squad to follow him, leaving Doctor Kintobor and Bernadette to stand and watch. He tossed the dagger over to Scourge and crossed his arms. "I kept my word. We will help your friends out. We do have more men back home, but this is it for now." Scourge didn't bother replying to the moebians. He just turned and started running, leaving the Suppression Squad confused as they ran in and joined the fight.
__Cheese and T-Pup joined Cream as she tried to hold Tails's back against her chest. She had a difficult time keeping him still. "Tails, please! You need to slow down your breathing!"
__For some reason Tails was able to see and hear Cream clearly. But that wasn't a good thing. That just made him more frightened. He tried to pull out of her grip while she attempted to soothe him and Cheese started humming, but that wasn't working this time. He pulled away and started running only for Cheese to fly in front of him and into his chest, sending him back into Cream's arms as she locked them around him.
__The Death Egg was still firing it's one able cannon at everyone. Everyone who could fly were trying to distract the robot while Knuckles made his way back to that cannon, but Sage knew what he was doing and would keep shaking him off. He had been knocked off the sixth time in the snow before he started growling and slammed his fist on the ground. "I need her to stop moving!"
__Scourge hopped off the robot and prepped himself. "Time to test this out then!" With his super-speed he started running around the Death Egg's left foot, leaving a line of green light behind him. As soon as he closed the line it flashed pink and sent that foot straight up. A perfect Cyloop. Sage was shrieking as the robot started falling back.
__Knuckles got up and started running when Simian suddenly grabbed him and threw him at the falling robot. Knuckles got his fist ready and destroyed the last cannon. The Death Egg had regained its balance and smacked Knuckles back once again. With both arm cannons out of commission it started shooting its laser vision at everyone.
__Scourge was standing at the side while examining his new dagger. Flying had landed on his back beside Scourge after being tossed away while giggling. He looked up at Scourge with interest. "Watcha plannin' there, bossy-mossy?"
__"Something risky," Scourge muttered. He clenched the handle tightly as he ran for the Death Egg robot and started climbing up it. The robot would try to swatt him away, but he was too quick. He kept running up until he made it to the face and got ready to stab.
__"Wait, what are you...!?"
__Scourge stabbed the dagger into the robot. The whole thing flashed brightly and something red had shot out from it and disappeared into the trees. Scourge had fallen with the robot as it slowly toppled to the ground. As the Destructix ran in to get Scourge, the others started murmuring.
__"Is that it?"
__"Did he do it?"
__"Please tell me we're safe now."
__"That was too close."
__When Cream had loosened her grip Tails took this opportunity to push her away and start running. A few of his friends started hollering at him to come back. A few would cut him off and try as calmly as they could to keep him from running ahead, but that only made Tails more anxious. He felt his fur standing up on end as he started hyperventilating. Every so often his vision would darken, but he was still persistent on running away from every threat that was blocking his path.
__Shadow was now slowly walking out from the trees. He examined the situation before he started shouting. "You all stop! You're not helping!" He waited for everyone to back away before he moved towards the running fox. He lifted up his right fist, which started emmiting Chaos Energy.
__Predator was helping Scourge walk back to join everyone. He looked extremely tired and was limping, not fully walking on his right foot. When he saw what Shadow was trying to do he pulled away and started running over to Shadow. "Hey! Hey! Don't do that!" He grabbed on to Shadow and tried to keep him away as Tails started running off.
__Shadow grunted as he started pushing Scourge away with his left hand. "Get off!"
__"You're not hitting him, Shadow!" Scourge retorted. "That'll hurt him worse than what he would do!"
__"Fuck off it!" Shadow teleported away from Scourge and appeared right in front of Tails. The yellow fox yelped and tried to turn around and run, but Shadow had immediately punched him in the stomach with all that Chaos Energy. While Tails felt all the stress fade away, he had lost his breath and fell forward. Instead of letting him fall like he did last year, Shadow caught Tails and held him gently. "Easy does it, fox. You can breathe now."
__Tails was calming down as he slowed down his breathing. He felt relaxed now, but confused. He didn't know what was happening right now. He saw that Shadow was holding him and felt even more confused. "What the fuck, dude?" He said weakly. "When did you start getting feely-feely?" He managed to titter. He didn't know why he said that. Now he felt like Sonic.
__It looked like Shadow sensed this as well when he narrowed his eyes and forced Tails to stand up straight. "See? Now stop touching me." He then walked away.
__This made Tails scoff. "You were the one holding me."
__He turned around to see what was happening around him when Scourge grabbed him and started checking him over. The green hedgehog had his ears flattened while his eyes shook. "You okay, man? That was all way too close!"
__Tails then remembered everything that happened during his panic attack. He let that memory sink in and create uneasiness before he let out a sigh and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine now. I mean... I'm still bleeding and sore, but I'll live.. I guess."
__"Good." Scourge took a second to breathe in and sigh before he shook Tails and started shouting. "You're fucking joking! You need to fucking do something about those panic attacks!"
__Tails got scared and smacked Scourge's hands away as he started backing up. "What the fuck, dude!? Calm down! And that's not how panic attacks work, stupid!" Everyone was started to crowd around and speak uneasily, but they did not intervene.
__"That panic attack nearly costed you your life!" Scourge retorted.
__How kind of you to leave yourself out, Tails wanted to say, but he dropped that. "It's not like I want them to happen! I'm sorry, all right? You don't have to keep worrying about me if it stresses you out that much."
__Scourge's ears perked up as he leaned back. Tails couldn't tell if Scourge looked offended or completely dumbfounded. "You're shitting me." He then pointed at Tails and started yelling. "I made you a part of my family, Tails! It's my job to worry about you now!"
__Funny. That was similar to what Sonic had told Tails last year. It still had the same overwhelming effect that made Tails feel small and helpless.
__Scourge walked over to Tails and grabbed his arms. "God damn, Tails. I don't want you to feel bad about this, but this is serious. As proven just now, I can't protect you all the time. That hurts me more than you know. How the hell am I supposed to be able to protect my own son if I can't even keep you safe? I just can't lose you again!"
__Tails didn't want to talk about this right now in front of everyone. He maneuvered his arms out of Scourge's hands and shook his head. "We'll talk about this later. Sorry." He looked around at everyone and started walking to them. "Is everyone okay? No casualties?" He felt relieved when they confirmed that everyone was all right.
__From beyond the trees came Sage. She was slowly walking over to the fallen Death Egg with her hand out. "I... have to bring it back..."
__Shadow then teleported to Sage and picked her up by her dress before teleporting back to the middle of the group. He then threw her into the snow while he held a Chaos Spear in his hand. "Start talking," he growled.
__Tails did not like where this was going. He was really hoping Shadow was just going to bluff as he interrogated her.
__Sage grunted as she sat up and stared at everyone gathering around her. She then huffed and looked away. "None of your methods can work in your favor. I'm programmed not to spread father's information when it's convenient." She then glared at Shadow. "Father was severely angered by that little stunt you pulled last we met up. I'd rethink threatening me."
__Shadow just snorted as the Chaos Spear grew bigger. "Do you actually believe I care about that? Tch. Why did you attack here? What could you possibly have gained by failing miserably in your attempt?"
__"Pitiful," Sage had spat. "You have the gull to ask me something so personal after denying being part of my family? The same family that gave you breath to live this life you cherish now?" Now Sage was shouting. "You and I are alike! We were created with the intent of being tools! But then we formed a close bond with our creators! How could you easily forget about those bonds and abandon your family!?"
__Shadow was shocked as he lowered his hand and the Chaos Spear grew smaller. He then visibly grew frustrated. He raised his hand back up as the Chaos Spear grew big again and got ready to strike. "Shut your damn mouth!"
__Tails immediately ran in between Shadow and Sage. He felt himself trembling when Shadow barely stopped himself from attacking him in time. The black hedgehog was glaring at Tails as the fox held out his hands. "What do you think you're doing!?"
__Shadow started growling at him. "Get. Out. Of. The way."
__Tails shook his head. "No way! You can't just attack a little girl!"
__"That thing is not a girl!" Shadow retorted. "It's...! Its just a computer!"
__"You and I both know she's way more than that!" Tails insisted. "Honestly, what would Sonic even think of you doing this? He knows her on a personal level. You can't just do that!"
__"She just tried to kill you!" Shadow snapped. "Have you forgotten what happened with The Devil? You spared its life and all it did to return the favor was take your life! Don't make the same mistake!"
__"This is different! She...!"
__Sage took this opportunity to release a shock wave that knocked everyone down before she flew away and retreated. She didn't even bother with the Death Egg robot that she apparently had to return to Doctor Eggman.
__Everyone was groaning as they got back up. Shadow had growled as he stood up and wiped the snow off his arms. "She got away, dammit!"
__Tails refused to stand up. He just flattened his ears as he glared up at the black hedgehog. "Good! How can you even think of killing her!?"
__Shadow glared back at Tails. "Eggman killed Sally! Do you believe it's right to let them go!?"
__"Don't bring yourself down to their level! She lost already! That's enough!"
__"You damn...!"
__Scourge limped over to Shadow and pulled him away. "Hey! What the hell, man!? Why are you letting that girl get into your head so badly!? You're just letting her manipulate you! What? Do you just not want to admit what she says is true?"
__Shadow's fist was shaking, but he was able to restrain himself from hitting the green hedgehog. He grabbed on to Scourge's hand and removed from his shoulder. "You have no idea what I've been through to get to where I am. I will not allow her to destroy the progress I made by bringing me back." He then backed away and started walking off.
__Tails now had a weird feeling. There was more to what Shadow was saying that he wasn't going tell them. As much as Tails wanted to know, the tension was already bad enough. They had other things to prioritize right now anyways. He felt someone wrap their arm around him and turned to look at Knuckles.
__"Eveything is fine, Tails," he reassured him. "We're still on edge with what happened to you, but now we can check in on the Chaotix. Don't you dare start blaming yourself now. We just care too much."
__Tails was almost offended that Knuckles assumed he was going to start feeling guilty, but he then started feeling guilty anyway. No matter how much he tried convincing himself otherwise, Sage's words were starting to plague his mind. He kept it inside, though. He didn't want to have to worry anyone right now. There were many things that needed fixing, yet it still felt like only more trouble would face them later as Tails felt everyone's eyes on him.