Sonic the Hedgehog: "Of Foxes and Sorcery - Part II" by Aaron Lye Letters, responses, notes and any form of e-mail can be sent to the following address: E-mail: vicl@pacific.net.sg Miles Tails Prower, Sonic the Hedgehog and other related characters are based on the characters created by SEGA, Archie Comic Publications, and the Sonic the Hedgehog Saturday morning series created by DIC and Sega of America. Other characters that appear or are mentioned in this story are original creations of their respective authors. "Cast" of characters used in this story (in random order) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Miles Tails Prower Sonic the Hedgehog Sally Acorn David Prower - courtesy of Shawn Wolski Snively Knuckles the Echinda Angela - Aaron Lye ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tails sat in a room with Angela, listening to her talk about the rules of conduct of a Guardian." Above all, the power of the Emerald must be used for the good of Mobius. Even in your case, you are still a Guardian. Although you do not guard an Emerald, you guard its power. Therefore, you are to guard that power as long as possible. The emerald has its limits, and cannot grant immortality. When the time comes, you must transfer the emerald's power to another, but that is a discussion for another time." The talk continued, covering the things he should and should not do. Angela continued to another topic. "It is widely believed that there are only seven emeralds, and that they are guarded by a vicious red creature. That, however, is not true. Knuckles is only one Guardian, although quite a unique one. He refuses to use the power of the Emeralds he guards to protect them, preferring to rely on his own abilities. We tolerate his actions because they have worked till now. Anyway, there are many Emeralds, all with different uses. All, except the ten Emeralds of Control, are spread out throughout Mobius, to prevent all Emeralds falling prey to the same force. Like the proverb says, we don't keep all our eggs in one basket. Your power is that of the emerald of sorcery. All emeralds have that power, to an extent, but yours is the focal point of that power. My Emerald is the Ninth Emerald of Control. Nine others, along with me, protect these ten emeralds, and we are the leaders of the Guardians. Like our emeralds signify, we control the Guardians." Angela paused for a moment to catch her breath. "Let's proceed, shall we? Before you go, I have to test the extent of your capabilities. See if you can project the same energy wave." Angela raised a paw, and a shimmering energy field appeared in front of Tails. "You can target that." Tails thought of the emerald, willed himself to summon it's magic. He targeted the field with his paw and the wave lashed forth. It impacted with the field... and nothing happened. Angela looked at the field. "Hmmm.... looks like you need practice. That shot wouldn't have taken out a hummingbird." Seeing the disheartened Tails, she continued," This is normal. You'll improve. Like I said, rage has a tendency to amplify the emerald's power. Let's try something different. Project a wall of fire." The tests continued, with various forms of magic being cast by the young fox, all of which did not meet his expectations. At the end of the session, Angela spoke up. "It appears that I was wrong. You still need training." Tails spoke up for the first time since Angela started talking. "But, I don't wanna stay here...." Angela looked at the orange-brown fox. "Give me a moment." She turned away, and seemed to be in telepathic communication with someone else. A few minutes later, conversation complete, Angela faced him. "The Council has granted me permission to follow you home to Knothole, to stay with you, as your trainer and mentor. I will teach you all you need to know about wizardry. Is this ok?" Miles Prower agreed willingly. ***** "How could Tails do that? It's not possible. He couldn't have perform such a feat!" Sonic was asking questions faster than any of them could answer. Sally interrupted the confused hedgehog. "The only person who can answer that is Tails. And as soon as he gets back, we will ask him." "So, why don't you ask him now?" A strange voice spoke from behind them. Sally, Sonic, Rotor and Bunnie turned to see Tails standing with an older squirrel by his side. Sonic spoke, "Who the heck are you?" The squirrel turned to face the hedgehog. The hedgehog seemed hypnotized by the effect of her staring directly at him. "My name is Angela. I am Keeper of the ninth Chaos Emerald of Control." The four Freedom Fighters gaped. "The NINTH?" "It is a long story, which I am sure Tails would be glad to fill you in on." And so he did, telling them all that Angela had relayed to him. For the most part of it, the four were awe-struck. But, it was enough for the moment for them to know one thing. Tails had found his place in life. He could now be a true Freedom Fighter. ***** EPILOGUE Snively watched the preparations getting underway. Soon, he would trace that fox, and wipe him out, him and all the rest of the Freedom Fighters. Preparations complete, Snively, heir to the legacy of Robotnik, gave the order that would result in the loss of hundreds of innocents..... "Commence search." TO BE CONTINUED PART TWO OF THREE