Present (3 Days to go)

In the early hours of the morning, as the fresh breeze and light filled the hut from the open window, Lupe's rest finally came to an end. As sleep left her and the vivid dreams she had just had started melting away from her memory, she felt...off.

As Lupe opened her eyes and prepared to stretch to remove any early morning grogginess, her eyes met with Tails. He was completely awake, staring directly at her, resting in her bed, under the covers.

The surprise of such an encounter would have justified a violent reaction from her, but Lupe was too shocked to even lash out for such an act of indecency. So, as the initial shock wore off, and from the strange irritated look from Tails, she knew it was up to her to ask the first question.

"What are you doing in my bed?" She ask, with a subtle hint that the wrong answer would easily bring on heavy violent actions, tournament be damned.

"Could you let go now?" Tails asked back.

As Lupe looked confused for a second, her eyes went down and her arms came up from below the sheets holding something. When the covers were gone, she could see she was holding tightly onto a large, fluffy white tipped, grey tail.

She looked questionable at Tails but just as she let go of Tails name sake, he jumped out the bed and delicately held his tail.

"Awww...awww" He silently whined, as blood flow, after an entire night of crushing, finally came to his tail.

"What my I ask were you doing in my bed?" Lupe asked again, holding he covers up, over her naked body as she sat up.

"Think I had a choice in the matter?" Tails asked, irritably. "I was at your bedside last night reading your book of wolf lore, then, for some reason, you grabbed my tail and made out like it was a stuffed teddybear. I tried for nearly an hour to pry it loose..."

Lupe looked suspicious at Tails, still not getting over the fact he had spent the night in her bed.

"You could have woken me" She replied

"Lupe... you are practically the definition of the term "hard sleeper". I tried everything except pouring water over you"

Lupe still didn't look totally convinced, until fresh memories of her dream last night came to surface. It was lucky Tails' back was turned, or he would have seen Lupe gone practically scarlet in the face.

Tails though, just focused on his tails, had a sad look on his face.

"God, I think it's bent" He said, as he rubbed it to try and get feeling back to it. Having the entire night with his tail giving him pins and needles constantly had gotten immensely irritating.

Lupe shook herself as she got out of bed and put on the spare clothes she had next to her dresser. "OK, if those were the conditions, I'm sorry."

Tails looked upon Lupe with shock. He'd be the first to admit he didn't know much about women, but even he knew that what he had done, even under the circumstances had been a major taboo. He'd been hoping throughout the night to end any arguments on a "both sides at wrong" and hope that they would both let it go.

"It's OK. I should have tried to sleep off the edge of the bed..." Tails muttered.

Lupe smiled as she finished strapping her boots on and walked over to Tails. "This is an important day for you. Having a good night sleep was important." She lifted Tails chin. "We won't say anymore about it" and with that, she leaned forward and lightly pecked him on the cheek. Just as quickly as Tails registered what she had done, she had already gotten up and walked out into the clearing.

His ears perked up and his cheeks bloomed red. That was... not what he had expected.

After Tails had gotten over the initial shock, and let his blush disappear, he prepared himself. The pack out there, now eating breakfast , was technically his to command. He had no idea how to handle this and he had a pretty good idea that they didn't either.

OK, should I make a plan, like Sally would do? Tails asked himself. Or wing it... like Sonic.

Since Tails wasn't really the plan ahead type of person anymore, he decided Sonic's approach would be far more suitable.

So, mind now prepared, Tails wondered out of the hut and was met with a beautiful bright sunny day, with the air fresh and slightly warm. Surprising considered the snow they had just encountered yesterday.

The clearing was full, with all the wolves devouring breakfast, though Tails noticed most had already finished and had stuck around... I wonder what for, Tails thought to himself sarcastically.

So, Tails walked forward, bringing all attention onto him as he stepped up to the wolf surviving breakfast and asked for a portion.

As he was handed a plate of eggs and toast, and sat down next to Lupe, a silence descended upon the clearing. No one ate, and all eyes were upon Tails. But he knew any attempt to start out, what would be a debate, would just seem like he had accepted being leader...which he hadn't. So, as all eyes burned into him, Tails simple scooped up one of his eggs, placed it onto his piece of toast and started to eat.

The situation would have been rather comical for anyone passing to see roughly 30+ wolves all staring at one, as he happily ate his meal without noticing. The uncomfortable atmosphere started to get more tense as the wolves, as a collective, didn't know what to do. None of them seemed to bring up the courage to confront "Cable".

It was only when Tails had finished his eggs, and was moving to put his plate down, did finally one of the wolves break and step forward and ask. "Would our leader want another portion?"

As Tails looked up into the wolf's burning eyes and turned around at his crowd, as if only just noticing, did he finally speak. "Leader?" He asked.

"I'm not about to waste time on such a pointless conversation" The wolf said, eyes narrowing. "We want to know what happened last night and why, of all people, were you chosen to be our leader"

As Lupe looked ready to speak, a quick look from Tails told her to hold back for the moment.

"OK, I'll put this straight and simple so we don't all get confused on this matter" Tails said, as he rose and met eye to eye with the wolf infront of him.

He turned to the rest of the crowd. "Who here thinks they can lead this pack? Hands up, anyone" he asked, looking around the pack.

After a few seconds silence with not a single wolf moving, Tails continued. "I thought not... And incase anyone didn't notice...my hand's not raised!"

The sudden raw, aimed at the wolf standing infront of him, caused the wolf to nearly trip over, as he sat down quickly. Something in the voice just stuck deep, sucking any bravado away in an instant.

Tails looked around at the pack, his friendly expression now gone, replaced with one of anger and inpatients. "Though she might not have either, Lupe is your leader. Not me. I don't care what the rules state, she is still your leader, you still follow her, and I'm still at the bottom of the pecking order. The fact Lupe is not in a condition to fight changes none of that. The only reason I was picked to take up her position, OFFICIALLY, was not because of my leadership skills or my winning personality. It's because I probably punch and kick harder and faster than most of you here, right now. That's it. Anyone wanting to challenge me in THAT area, are free to. Anything else, you'd be better off asking Rendall for guidance and strong leadership" The end of his speech did get some light chuckling.

"And as for you..." Tails said, turning upon the wolf who had originally questioned him. "Yeah, a couple more slices of toast would go down a treat" He added lightly, causing whatever tension the camp still had to disappear as most of the wolves lightly laughed at Tails, relatively poor but friendly joke.

As Tails sat down, as he was, surprisingly, given another portion, Lupe gently nudged Tails.

"You sell yourself short. You sounded like a leader then" Lupe commented.

"A quick speech, maybe I can do. Actually leading, I still think I'll leave to you" Tails playfully replied.

It was only when conversations started picking up again that Tails remembered the events of last night.

"I better go check on the baby soon" Tails muttered, mostly to himself. The problem was not only had Lupe just heard his comment, so did one of the nosier wolves sitting close to Tails.

"Ow, what's this. Our new champion already a farther? Who's the lucky girl?" he said, just loud enough for most of the wolves to hear.

As Tails looked awkwardly around, noticing, once again, he was in the spot light. Lupe's questioning eyes were on him aswell.

"I'm not a father. It's just a child I found last night that I gave to Rosie to look after" Tails said, hoping that would end any annoying questions he might have to face. No such luck.

"Found a child? What on Mobius are you talking about? This is Knothole. You don't just find children around who don't already have some place of residence" One of the wolves asked.

Tails sighed. Though he hated doing so, the story might distract any of the wolves who weren't so convinced by Tails speech just now.

"OK, last night, whilst running, after the meeting, I passed the Dark Eye clan..." and Tails gave a rundown on what happened last night. When he was finished, not face could be seen that didn't looked appalled.

"That... BASTARD!" One of the younger wolves shouted out, causing the wolves around to discuss their views on what happened. That left Tails with Lupe to deal with the incident privately.

"A Deathmatch? Tails... I know-" Lupe began.

"And what would you have done?" Tails snapped back.

"...Probably reacted a lot worse, under the situation" Lupe admitted, once again confusing Tails. It was only when Lupe's head was resting on Tails shoulder, did she continue. "That poor child"

Tails, though unused to such contact, kept his loose posture and replied. "The child should be fine. Rosie is probably the best career in Knothole. He'll be well careered for."

"Still... I wonder how the parents must feel..."

"I was wondering on that... If they want to, and I win... Is there any way in which we could take the parents and the child into the White Claws? I don't trust the child being left alone, even with his parents, inside the Dark Eyes"

Lupe nodded. "I don't see a problem with it... what time is it?" She asked suddenly.

Cilen, who had mostly remained silent till then replied. "9.30"

Tails shot up, startling Lupe who was supported on him. "Sally. I'm late for our sparing"

"Go on, Cable" Lupe said, as she to stood up. "You prepare yourself for the fight tonight. If you want, I can check on the child."

Tails grinned down at Lupe. "That would be great. Thanks Lupe" And with that, and a flick of his tails, he shot off, out of the clearing.

It took Tails 5 minutes to find Sally, standing in the clearing behind her hut. Tails smiled slightly as she stood, arms crossed with her foot tapping. He wondered it she knew she was standing in the exact same way Sonic did when he was impatient.

Sally looked up at him, her posture returning to normal as she saw Tails walk up to her.

"Sorry I'm late." Tails said.

"It's no problem. I only arrived here about 10 minutes ago myself. I thought I would check on the child." She said, taking off her vest.

Tails looked confused just as Sally, noting the look on his face said "I don't want Nichole, my PDA to get damaged. Or my clothes to get sweaty for that matter."

Tails nodded. "Fair enough. How would you like to start?"

"I was thinking of some simple sparing. No using your tails. I want you prepared for your fight with Rendall." Sally replied whilst doing a couple stretches.

"Alright" Tails answered, mimicking Sally's warm up before getting into the basic stance he knew.

The fight began with a series of kicks, punches and grapples, all using minimal force so not to cause any unnecessary injuries. Whilst Tails attacked, Sally would simply block or dodge each attack forcing Tails to keep his attack Pattern. He guessed he could simply over power her but he guessed she was a lot more nimble then she was letting on, so they both kept up roughly the same pace and force in their attacks. Occasionally Sally would go on the offensive though she asked that Tails block and dodge her attacks. After a few minutes of that, she asked that Tails try to counter attack her attacks. This did not last long as the first punch Sally made, he grabbed the underside of her upper arm, twisted himself and Sally before she was on the floor with her arm behind her back and Tails knees on her back to keep her from moving. His other hand had gone for her neck, not putting any force behind his grip but still held on a specific place so to knock out the victim if he decided to squeeze.

"Very good" Sally said, still on the ground.

Tails smiled. This had been fun. Simply mock fighting, with no intent to hurt. And now that he was fighting against someone, instead of a hologram, it was nice to actually apply the things that Nichole had taught him.

He stood up and helped Sally get to her feet. Just as he got back into stance to go again, he noted the serious look she had, as she backed up to her coat. She turned and in one brief motion, pulled from her coat a small laser gun and aimed it at Tails.

"What the?" Tails said, raising his arms automatically. "Sally, what's going on?"

"Sorry about the gun. I really do not like these things but I don't think I have a choice considering how fast you are... now tell me... where did you learn that martial art style?"

...Ahhhh damn Tails thought. He should have guessed that Sally would recognise her own royal martial art, only taught to members of her family.

"As far as I am aware, the only source of that style is in Nichole. She's the one who taught it to me" Sally said, holding up Nichole in her other hand, gun still trained on Tails.

"Isn't this a bit extreme?" Tails asked, hands still in the air.

"The last two people who entered knothole who drew as much attention as you either stole the energy source for our power rings and tried to get Sonic killed for Robotnick. You are too suspicious for me to just let wondering around with all that is at stake."

Tails sighed. His original plan was to draw as little attention as possible and for no one to find out who he was... guess I failed on both counts.

"Ok... I'll..." Tails took a deep breath. "I'll tell you where I learnt my style"

Tails dug into the small belt pouch he carried on him and withdraw what remained of Nichole. He slowly held the burnt PDA out for Sally to look at.

Sally's eyes widened but she kept her gun trained on Tails as she took the PDA and examined it, trying to keep the majority of her attention on Tails.

"What's this? Another Nichole? There should be only one" Sally said.

"No... it's not a duplicate...check the serial number" Tails said, hands now down and feeling depressed at what he was about to reveal.

Sally gave a quick glance at the base of Nichole, recognise the serial numbers. "I don't know what that proves. What happened to it?"

"Her" Tails corrected.

"Her... where did you get her and how did this happen?" Sally said again, indicating the burn marks.

Tails gave another tired sigh before going into his other pocket and grabbing the time stone. He carefully handed the half rock over to Sally and stepped back.

At this Sally did not remain silent, gasping at the sight of the object she herself held only half a year prior. "How did you get this?" She said examining the stone carefully.

"Same way you did" Tails said simply.

It was then that Sally looked up and as if Tails could hear the click in her head, lowered the gun, time stone and Nichole.

"...Tails?"

To Tails surprise, despite Sally's obvious surprise at the new sight of an older Tails in front of her, she had wasted no time after that in grabbing him and taking him to her hut. She closed the door and turned to Tails.

"Are you..."

"Yes" Tails said with a mock grin. "It's me"

"But..." Sally looked back down at the time stone. "How far"

"10 years" Tails replied. "I guess... I might aswell start at the beginning."

Tails didn't go into many details. Infact he barely went into any detail for his 10 year life experience. He mentioned the Super Napalm and the information he had learned on it, his meeting with Tempest and that was it.

When he finished with what happened last night, Sally slumped into her chair, breathing hard.

"It can't be... 3 days? 3 days until... the apocalypse?" Sally said, starting at the ceiling.

She then turned back to Tails. "And you. Oh Tails, I-"

"Whatever happened to me over the last 10 years... well, it wasn't pleasant" Tails said with a forced grin, hating to shirk off his nightmarish history as something unimportant. "But in the face of what happens to everyone else... you included, it's rather small in comparison."

Sally stared back at Tails, trying to probe for any more details. Tails had kept alot of the story back including the information from Tempest on the consequences on his mission. He had only gone over a basic summery. "There's more to this then what you've said. 10 years between the attack and getting the time stones. What happened?"

"... Alot happened" Tails said

"Well, wha-" Sally begin before Tails interjected. "And I'm not saying anything else"

Sally was taken aback. "Why not?"

Tails put up a hand. "Sally, I'm not going to be here long. I honestly think it would be better if you just consider me a stranger until all this is sorted out, which it will be" He said, trying to make his words sound confident and casual.

This time Sally really was taken back.

"Why won't you tell me more about what happened?" Sally asked. She had only asked out of curiosity and to complete the story Tails had set out. It wasn't that Sally wasn't that interested in what had happened to Tails but in the face of dying in 3 days time, along with almost everyone else in the village, it hadn't been a huge concern. But now, with Tails acting so distant so quickly on the subject, she couldn't help but think there was something wrong with it all.

"Did you tell your past self everything when you went back into the past?" Tails asked during Sally's musings. "Please Sally. I don't want to talk about it and I don't think you want to hear. Really."

"Ok" Sally said, not wanting to push too hard on the matter. "But... I would like to speak to Uncle Chuck. Your Uncle Chuck."

"He's with his past self. Why do you want to talk to him? To check his story?"

"I'm sorry Tails... but I need to be sure. I mean, I barely recognise you"

Sally had only meant it as a complement of sorts. A sort of My how you've grown sort comment. But from the sudden depression that flashed over Tails face, she knew she had said the wrong thing.

"Alright. I can understand that" Tails said, giving off another fixed grin. A sudden thought came to him. "Also, I have a favour. Don't go to the fight tonight"

Sally looked confused. It was only then that she remembered the new rules of the fight. "The deathmatch? Tails... you don't really aim to kill him do you?"

The look Tails gave to her did not give her the answer she wanted. She gave a small laugh. "Tails, I know you. You are not a killer"

"...I killed Robotnick" Tails said. And with that, he left the hut leaving Sally on her own, eyes wide and mouth open.

The afternoon was coming to a close as Lupe entered into her hut. She noticed Tails next to her bed reading the book of Wolf Lore.

"Glad to see you are doing some reading for your role. Considering the amount of attention you have on you, being more versed in our culture would be wise"

Tails just shook his head, still reading the book. "That's not what I'm reading"

Lupe paused and edged closer to see the page over Tails should. Just as she did, Tails carefully put the book down and turned to her.

"Do you know of the rite of mortal conquest?" Tails asked

Lupe shook her head.

"It's the rite only applicable in a deathmatch. The rite is used as an escape for either opponent killing each other."

"Really? How does it work?" Lupe asked.

"It's really very simple. Aslong as the deathmatch is being witnessed to, and both opponents call upon the rite, the match ends right there, on the spot."

"So it's used if both opponents get cold feet" Lupe guessed.

"More then that. The rite can only be called if both opponents are on agreement and for the agreement to happen, one may ask the other opponent for anything under their possession or something they are able to give. Effectively an agreement the loser can offer or the win can ask to settle the fight. It can't end in a draw. One person has to claim to lose and offer a penance."

Lupe nodded. "So you plan on using that on Rendall? I don't know. He may be... well an ass but he is proud. I mean if I have heard correctly he will go through with death to save face from the shame of such an agreement. I don't think only offering to spare him to admit defeat will work"

Tails gave a shrug. "I have my way... It's just not a very honourable way."

Sally waited in her hut, having spent most of the day trying to draw out and finish the current set of plans for Freedom Fighter strikes. But her mind kept going back to Tails. She still couldn't fully take it all in. That person who had stood in front of her no more than 5 hours ago, was Tails' future self... and a future version of him that scared her. He had said he had killed Robotnick. Was Tails really capable of that?

...maybe hers wasn't but whoever stood infront of her before defiantly could. Despite how much she hated such a treacherous thought to going through her head, she really couldn't see any of Tails in... well Tails. When she had seen her past self, along with Sonic's younger version, she could see herself and Sonic in those youths easily. They fit like gloves. But no matter how much she tried, she simply couldn't see it.

She had put forward a request to speak to Chuck earlier. It usually took time for Chuck to find the right moments to setup a live communication between the two of them.

It was as her thoughts were turning ever darker, Nichole rang, signalling that Chuck was able to speak. Moment of truth, Sally thought.

As she flipped open the screen, not one but two uncle Chucks appeared on the screen infront of her.

"Hey Uncle Chuck" Sally grinned. "And Uncle Chuck"

"I'm glad Tails was able to speak to you. Having more hands on this problem will be a definite help" Said one of the Chucks.

Sally tried to see if she could tell the two Chucks apart but was unable to. "Which one..."

One of the Chucks laughed. "If it makes it easier, call me Chuck 2.0."

Sally smiled. "Ok, that's makes things easier. Have you got any news?"

"Well" Chuck 1.0 said, "I've checked with the details my older self provided and I have to agree that there is a real danger of that Super Napalm being not only real, but in massive supply. And I don't see any way of stopping its production. From what I've been told, its mostly going to be decided where you are"

Sally sighed. "Well, I will be able to give you some news after tonight's fight. If Tails loses... well, we'll think of something"

"I wouldn't worry. Tails should be fine." Chuck 2.0 said reassuringly.

"Actually, on that subject... Chuck. Could you leave me and Chuck 2.0 to speak for a bit?" Sally asked.

"Sure. I need to do some more reconnaissance" And with that, Chuck left.

"Yes Sally, what is it?" Chuck 2.0 asked, though he could guess what it was.

"Chuck... what happened. To Tails I mean. I mean I know it must have been hard and..." Sally took a breath, trying to structure her thoughts better. "Chuck, I really do not recognise him. He scares me. I mean really scares me. Did he really kill Robotnick?"

"Yes. I didn't see it in person but I saw the footage." Chuck said sombrely.

"Chuck, I can't trust someone like that. I mean... oh god, I can't let my Tails speak with him. I don't want him ending up like-"

"Sally" Chuck cut in, voice no longer quite. "It was those words that scared Tails into coming to the past. Those words from your mouth. I told him you wouldn't judge him like that and to hear those words from your mouth..."

Sally eyes widened in shock at hearing Chuck so ashamed in her. "But... You barely seem different? How could Tails have changed so much?"

"Tails didn't tell you what he went through, did he?" Chuck said

Sally shook her head. "He didn't go into detail."

Chuck signed. "Sally... I don't know the full story. Not all of it. But I know enough that Tails only became who he was out of necessity. The word was not kind to him and the only person who kept him company for that decade died not too long ago. Trust me on this, you would be proud of him... should be proud of him. And the fact is Sally, he's the only one able to stop what happened in our time."

And with that, Chucks signal dissipated and Nichole went blank. Someone close to him dying? Who?

Sally looked at the time display on Nichole and realised that the fight would be starting soon. She had been asked to not go, along with Sonic. Sonic at this moment would be with Bunny, doing a simply smash and grab on some supplies Rotor needed.

"... I've never been a good listener" Sally said, as she stood to leave.

Tails was already setup, standing near the middle of the ring, with Rendall standing opposite him. Rendall had already shouted out the new conditions of the fight to many boos from the crowd as Tails confirmed them.

Rendall accepted the boos with that same cocky smile as before. "I expect to get what is mine back by tonight."

"And I expect to win." Tails replied, trying to stretch before the fight began.

Rendall just laughed as he turned to his second in command, the one Tails had beaten before to whisper something.

Tails looked back to Lupe, to try and reassure her, and maybe reassure himself as he saw Sally enter into the ring of wolves and stand beside her. Tails looked away, not wanting to meet eye contact.

I mean, I barely recognise you

"No" Tails murmured to himself" "After tonight you really won't"

"Are both contestants ready" Said Rendalls second in command, stepping into the ring to act as initiator.

"Yes" Both Replied at once.

"Then...fight!"

Sally stood there, wincing and flinching as she watched. It was just as Rendall had said, Tails was not to move for a full minute, and Rendall was taking no pity. He was punching and kicking every instant he had. When he knocked Tails down, he just shouted Tails to get up, insulting him as Tails steadily got to his feet.

Sally could see the blood and bruises easily. As she watched Tails getting beaten, she could hear Lupe count.

"20, 21, 22" she whispered.

And all the while, Tails was getting bloodied, over and over. Rendall seemed to be getting annoyed that Tails wasn't going down but he didn't let up on his attacks.

"Come on" Sally said, not able to look up anymore. "Please be over."

"45, 46, 47" Lupe still whispered.

Up in the fight, Rendall had settled on simply punching Tails, over and over again in the face, still taunting him, possibly hoping Tails would react so to end the fight right there. "You. Will. Give. Me. What's mine." Rendall said, punching on each word.

"58, 59, 60!" Lupe yelled. At the same time many other wolves, also counting, shouted out.

And as if nothing had happened over the last minute, Tails reached out, caught Rendall's arm, twisted it and using his leg, kicked up instantly at the joint. There was a noticeable snapping sound throughout the clearing as Rendall jumped back, cradling his broken arm in pain.

Tails didn't waste any time. He walked forward, paying no mind to Rendall's attempt to block him, only breaking the other arm, using both of his in our quick motion.

The crowd gasped at the sudden sickening sound as Rendall's increased screams.

"Right." Tails said, he voice shaky slightly from him minute long beating. "Here's how things will go. You will claim the right on Mortal Conquest. I will claim my price as my win, which is already mine, and the release of those two wolves from last night from your clan. They will be reunited with their child and you will never touch them or see them again"

Rendall stared back, trying vainly to seem like he wasn't in pain, with both his arms hanging loosely being his side "No. You will not break my spirit. They are the packs, whether I die or not. I will not let you-"

Before he could respond, Tails had stepped forward and punched him hard on the head. Unlike the punched from Rendall's, Tails' punch were noticeably more devastating. Rendall fell to the floor and visibly spat out two of his teeth.

"You have lost whatever honour you had just by taking this challenge and loosing. And I'm not holding your death on you. I don't care whether you are not scared of death. I want to know if you are more scared of pain. Real pain."

Rendall tried to back away, still on the floor with bloody dripping down his mouth. Tails turned to the crowd.

"This wolf attempted to kill a new born last night. Tried to kill it in the snow. If you think that sort of action is horrible but not cause enough for me to unleash the pain I'm about to lay on him then think what you will. But I will still do it. Even in a death match, an honourable fight to the death between to opponents I will still use this chance to cause great pain on him. Honestly, do any hold what I am doing against me?"

There was silence. Though Sally looked notably uncomfortable, she remained silent. The other wolves however only stared in disgust at Rendall, no pity in their eyes.

Tails turned back to Rendall. "Like me, I will give you a time limit. Every 30 seconds I will stop and give you a chance to settle the right I have laid down. This is your first chance"

Rendall only looked up in confusion, unable to believe how this fight had turned so much. And that pause had been taken for Tails to be his first chance.

The crowd watch, some turning away at times, some watching if only because they felt they needed to. Sally felt like she would throw up. Tails simply fought Rendall as he had done before. Only kicking and punching. But where as Rendall's punches caused bruises, Tails broke bones. It was 1 minute and 30 seconds later, 1 minute more than most people though Rendall could take for his credit that he screamed his acceptance of Tails terms.

And with that, Tails walked out from the arena as Rendall was carried. Tails was stopped as the leaders from the other tribes walked forward.

"You did well. You did what most if any could not be capable of." The head of the Blood Claw Clan said, turning to the crowd. "Whether horrible to behold and maybe cruel, there was a deathmatch today with no death. For that we should be happy."

And with that, the crowed as one cheered. It wasn't a bellowing cheer but it made its point clear. Tails had done right.

Tails only wished he could believe that.

It was only 10 minutes later that Tails was walking around in the forest. He had left the main path to try and get some air and space.

He had known what had had needed to do. He had guessed it would end like that, with his hands bloodied and knowing he had gone too far... but he had hoped he wouldn't enjoy it. He had tried to remain emotionless throughout the fight, focusing on getting that child united with his parents. But when Rendall had cried out his surrender, he had to force himself to stop. He had enjoyed it.

What was happening to him. The regression? Please no, not so soon, Tails thought.

As Tails tried to calm down, he heard rustling in the forest. He turned and saw Sally walking towards him.

"Tails" Sally said in greeting.

Tails shook his head. He didn't need this. He was already feeling the pain from the fight turn into anger ready to boil up at something. He needed to cap his emotions.

"Yes? A bit far out in the forest to be wondering." Tails said leaning against a tree.

"Why haven't you gone to see someone about those wounds?"

"I will. Just wanted to cool off first." Tails replied

Sally sighed. "What happened in there...?"

"Give me an alternative" Tails asked, already guessing the question. He could feel his rage raise for an instant before he quelled it.

"...I can't." Sally admitted. "Maybe try and work the issue politically but nothing comes to mind... but still."

Tails shook his head. "Just say what you want to say Sally" He said impatiently.

"Ok. Personally, I think you're out of control"

Tails turned, rage now boiling over, with no attempt to stop it.

"Really. It's actions like those that take us one step closer to people like Robotnick" Sally continued. She really didn't want to say any of this, but she thought it still needed to be said.

Tails took a few careful breaths before saying. "That's your comparison. My actions today, compared to one of the most famous mass murdering monsters in all Mobian history? Really? Ok"

"Tails that's not what-"

"No, No. You've had your say and I'm gonna have mine." Tails said, pointing at Sally, his voice rising. "You want to come here and tell me I did wrong today. That what I've done I should be ashamed of and regret. I'll tell you now, I take no pride in what I did but I would not take it back. I wasn't out there enjoying myself, unless you think that's how I get my kicks-"

"Tails please. I didn't mean it like tha-"

"No. Please, let me finish" Tails interrupted. Sally remained quite as Tails continued. "I hate it here"

Sally's eyes widened at that comment.

"Really. I hate being here, remained of what I've lost and could potentially lose again. And reminded of how things used to be. Simple... fun... innocent... I loved it here. And now, being back, knowing it can never be mine, even here when I'm right in it."

"But it can be Tails. You don't have to be a stranger." Sally said, moving forward to put her hand on Tails arm.

"No" Tails said. He had promised himself he wouldn't repeat what Tempest had said to him but... he was so mad. Here Sally was judging him with everything going on... He didn't... shouldn't have to be a knight in shining armour to get everything done.

"No, after this is all over, I go. I don't get a return ticket to my time like you did." Tails said, leaning against a tree.

"What?" Sally asked, not sure she had heard correctly. "What do you mean?"

Tails explained in more detail the conversation he had with Tempest, including the risk he took and the reason. "You see? When you came back, you were exactly the same person as your alternative self. Can you see me 10 years in the future? In yours Tails future? If time shifts, I won't fit so I'll be cast away... that's how it is"

"That's..." Sally said, sliding down a tree stump she was leaning against. "...That's not possible. Didn't you ask if there was any way out of it?"

"Nope. He offered me the chance to change everything. I didn't think I was in a position to haggle."

There was silence. Tails just sighing, annoyed that he had burdened Sally with something she didn't need to know. Something that would only bring pain. He had been stupid.

"Listen...I... I might have exaggerated. " He said, rather unconvincingly "Really, Tempest said I would become my alternative self. Just wake up one day, no memories but the ones that belong in this time. That wouldn't be too bad"

Tails hoped the lie had been convincing. "In any case, its later and I'm starting to hurt. I'll see Doctor Quake about my wounds and-" Tails stopped and looked back as he saw Sally, still sitting down holding his arm.

"Tell me what happened." Sally said simply.

"What? Sally. Really it's not important." Tails replied.

"Please Tails. I want to hear it. How did Nichole end up how she did? The burns were from the inside. Was it her who took care of you...? Really, I want hear everything that happened to you. I won't be able to fully understand you until you do... Please"

Tails looked down at Sally he eyes set but also gentle. Suddenly, he felt 10 again. He felt he could let his guard down. No... as if he suddenly didn't have a guard or wall he had to put up. And with that, it all started to come out.

Tails sat down and begin his story again. This time however, not in a simple cut down summary but everything. Every feeling he felt going through the village after the fire, his relationship with Nichole during those years of wondering. The full story on what happened to her, his meeting with Robotnick, even his fight with Uncle Chuck. It all just came out in one long breath. A breath he felt he had been holding some so long now.

All that time Sally just listened. She didn't gasp in surprise or stop him at any point. And he felt somewhat comforted with that.

He didn't know how long he had been there, or when he had taken Nichole out and started to gently rub his thumb over her ash covered screen. He just knew that when he finished, all the anger he had tried to hold down since the fight had just disappeared. He felt... relaxed. Even the pain he knew he was in couldn't seem to enter the calm place he had made.

Sally was still there, now leaning against Tails. She also had her Nichole out, surprised that her little PDA could grow into a segregate parent for Tails during that time.

Tails just sighed. "So... what now"

Sally mused for a second. "Well, it will take some time to convince Sonic but I think I can get your younger self into active Freedom Fighter activities."

Tails blinked. "...What?"

"Yes." Sally said, mostly to herself. "Even after this attack is over, there will still be missions. I doubt the war will be over in one night. Even if you manage to kill Robotnick again, most of his empire works on automatic so there will be plenty of missions that will be needed. That should be a good enough start for Tails"

Tails sat up, staring at Sally who was still looking forward, working out her plan. "I don't know about "Battle Hardened" but if he sees enough action and we stop his mechanical training for full time Freedom Fighter activities..."

"Sally" Tails cut in. "What are you going on about"

"You said that you would be left out of time when things shift. Because you wouldn't... fit. If that is the case, I can change that. I have 10 years to harden your younger self and with enough time I should be able to manage it."

Tails just looked at her. Trying to find any hint of a lie, cruel joke or even a look of madness. "Sally, you can't turn Tails into me. I'm not someone you want-"

Tails stopped as Sally carefully put her hands on his lips to silence him. "I acted like I did this morning out of ignorance. I didn't know the full story, only looking at the cover. Tails, you took on everything the world had to through at you. Everything you could lose you did and you still kept going. You are still here trying to save everyone. I won't lose you. Not after everything you've been through."

"But... my other self has a chance to be something-"

Sally once again silenced Tails. "I'm not doing this as some sort of reward for what you've done Tails. I really mean it. I can't see a better future for Tails then you."

Tails just stared. "You maybe a bit rough around the edges, but I do know you. You are a very good person Tails."

Sally stood up and made to leave.

"Sally" Tails simply said.

"Not a word Tails. As soon as this is all over and you are gone, I'll start Tails training. You can't stop me and my mind is set" And with that and a final smile, Sally walked off into the forest.

And I do mean it, Sally thought. I know I'm not wrong. You are worth saving. And you are not the only one able to make the tough decisions Tails.

Tails sat there, watching as Sally walked away. It wasn't a joke. Tails knew that, deep down. Sally was probably going back to Tails younger self's hut to read him a bedtime story and would probably do so over the next 2 days and when he was gone, would turn him into a soldier. She really would.

He should be appalled that Sally was willing to do that to a 10 year old. One who would not know why everything would suddenly turn upside down for him... but if that was the case... why was he so happy.

Tails touch at his cheek and felt wetness. He was crying. He couldn't feel the puffiness in his eyes but he could feel the tears run down his cheek. He felt so happy and sad at the same time that he just sat there, smiling with tears running down his face.

He wiped the tears away, shaking his head to clear his thoughts. He was in pain and needed his wounds looked after. He decided to focus on that for the moment. Something simple and easy to deal with.

As Tails got up to move, he turned and saw Lupe, not some distance away, near a tree stump.

"How long have you been here?" Tails asked.

"Since I followed you here after you fight, quite some time" Lupe said, no hint of shame for her listening in on him and Sally.

She looked at Tails bloodied coat. "I will tend to your wounds."

Tails nodded. "Thanks"

Tails got to his feet and started to head back to the camp with Lupe beside him. "Lupe..."

"Yes?" Lupe asked.

"What do you think of Sally's idea...? I... I don't know what to feel." Tails asked

"Honestly? I am glad." Lupe said, smiling. And she left it at that.

It was some time later that Tails was in Lupe's hut, everyone else in the camp asleep, allowing the both of them to enjoy the peace and quiet. Lupe was behind Tails, cleaning some of the few wounds he had gained during the fight.

"It is all rather superficial. You are lucky." Lupe said

She turned with wash some of the bloodied rags beside Tails.

Tails turned to Lupe. "Lupe... really. I want a full answer. Why do you think it is a good idea for the past version of myself become... well... me. I want a real answer."

Lupe sighed. "One thing you need to know Tails. I don't have as many miss giving's about fighters as you do. That is the reason the wolf pack exists. There will always be a need for people able to fight. We are living proof of that. One person willing and able to fight is one person who doesn't have to. And despite how low an opinion you seem to have for yourself, I can tell you truthfully. You are someone I am truly happy to know."

Tails just stared out of the window. For so long he had been pretending to be something he wasn't. His act as Cable, his constant lies to Nichole back in the wasteland. Even to himself, he kept holding things back. Was it because of his regression? Nichole had told him the symptoms and how to look out for them. Had he been using the regression as a wall he could use to hide behind. Something he could use on himself to restrain his thoughts?

He looked back at Lupe, who was still washing the bloodied bandages. He knew one thing that was bouncing around in his mind. Something he had been holding back for the same reasons as everything else. Ok. If she thought that this version of himself was worth saving, then he wasn't going to hold back. He was tired of it. He had gone through a rollercoaster of emotions this evening and now he was just going to simplify things

Tails grabbed Lupe's arm and pulled her onto his lap. Before she could shout out, he leaned forward and kissed her.

It was all so sudden that he guessed she had been too surprised to slap him. He broke off the kiss and looked up at her. "Fine then. You want Tails to turn into me, then you get me, the whole package. I've been wanting to do that since we met. It's something I still want to do and I don't really feel any shame in what I've just done."

Lupe just looked at Tails in shock. "And what if I had screamed or hit you. What if I don't want to see you again because you just tried to molest me?"

Tails looked Lupe in the eyes. "If you think I wouldn't be sorry that my impulsive actions might have cost me the friendship of someone I care about, then you'd be wrong. I would be. And if it has... I'll Le-"

Tails was about to go, when Lupe sighed and pushed Tails back down, easily done from her position on Tails lap.

"I was only saying that doing something THAT impulsive could have severely cost you. You're just lucky."

Tails quirked an eyebrow. "Lucky? Lucky ho-"

Before Tails could speak again, Lupe was already on him and returning the kiss.

Present (2 Days to go)

Tails woke to the feeling of sunlight over his white coat. He tried to keep his eyes shut, not wanting to move. Sleeping properly this time on a large mattress instead of hanging over the edge with his tail gripped in Lupe's vice like hands... wait.

Tails, still eyes closed suddenly realised something. He was in Lupe's bed. He also had his arms around someone, his arms crossed at the chest. He slowly opened his eyes to see Lupe sleeping next to him.

What happened last night...

...

... oh. Now I remember... bloody hell.

Memories of last night's kiss returned to him. He also remembered things... moving on from there. He actually remembered trying to put a stop to things.

"Lupe. We should stop" Tails said calmly, whilst he removed his shoes.

Lupe, who was removing the rings in her ponytail said in the same tone as Tails, "You really mean that?"

"No, not at all" and with that, Tails remember them both falling to the bed and...

Even now Tails couldn't help blushing. A sudden thought occurred. If last night was just a night of passion and Lupe woke up like he did, not quite so sure about the previous evening, but her with his arms around her. How would she react?

Tails decided he would play it safe. He didn't think he should leave the hut before Lupe woke up, but he could at least get out of bed and give her some space. He tried to carefully move his arm that was underneath Lupe without waking her. Since her back was to him, he couldn't see at the time her eyes open. As she felt Tails stir and try to move she rolled over, trapping Tails arm even further beneath hers as her face and his were close enough that their noses were touching.

"Where are you going? Your fight isn't until later on tonight and as far as I know, you have nothing else to do today. You need you rest."

Lupe said all this in that same matter a fact way she always did. Even when Tail's arms were around her and without any clothes on.

Tails smiled but suddenly noticed something that had been bothering him. Using his free hand he placed it on his neck and felt...

"Do I have bite marks on my neck?" Tails asked, feeling the spots with his fingers.

"Well yes. Things did get a little heated last night. But it's only fair. You bit me" Lupe said, smiling to herself as if she was remembering something.

What was she talking about-

-Oh yes I remember.

As Tails mused, Lupe just smiled and leaned forward to kiss Tails. Things had changed between them and Lupe seemed to be taking the lead with their new relationship.

It was only a few seconds later when both Tails and Lupe heard someone say

"Good Morning- Oh. I'm sorry if I'm disturbing the both of you".

It was one of the wolves from the pack. Tails turned to him, feeling more annoyed than anything else at the comment then the actual intrusion.

"Yes what is it?" Lupe asked, her annoyance as evident in her voice.

"We just got a message. It appears Fenris wants a meeting with Tails." The wolf replied, keeping a blank expression on his face.

"Did he give a time?" Tails asked.

"All he said was as long as it was before your fight" The wolf answered

"That will be all" Lupe said

The wolf left without saying a word.

Tails mused as Lupe settled back down. "Why would he want a meeting... is it safe?" He asked looking back to Lupe.

Lupe shook her head. "He's a Blood Claw and their leader to boot. He won't do anything they consider dishonourable. They follow their clans teachings to the letter."

Tails mused. "Do you know much about him personally?"

"No. No one does outside the clan. But judging from his actions 2 nights ago, I believe he is a good person"

Tails didn't feel convinced. "This entire problem starts because of him. I don't know how much I can trust in someone able to commit to such a stupid plan"

Lupe mused. "Honestly Tails. I don't know if he would even want to do such as action"

"But he does. Or did" Tails countered.

"I mean, he's their leader. And despite what you might think, in a joined pack like ours or the Blood Claws, the leader usually ends up being lead by its peoples wishes... or in this case, its teachings. Which I might add is much much harder to go against."

"You really think he can be trusted" Tails asked.

"All I know is that he would not have a choice on that charge you mentioned. If he became leader, the Blood Claws teachings on the Rites of War are set in stone. He would have to set the charge."

"You think he might try and throw the fight then, if that is how he feels?"

"I think he has tried to throw it in his own way. I think him trying to get you to take my place is as much as he can do in his current position"

"I think this is all far fetched." Tails answered

"I know. It may be taking things too far. I just want you to have an open mind when you meet him. You can gain nothing by talking to him with a mind that is already made."

Tails snorted. "That a nice way of saying don't be hard headed."

Lupe smiled and lightly took Tails chin in her hand. "At least I tried to be nice"

Tails laughed and got out of bed.

It was about 30 minutes later that Tails found himself outside of the Bloody Claw area of Knothole, waiting for news from Fenris.

A wolf shortly returned, asking "Cable" to follow him into the largest hut in the centre of the clearing.

As Tails entered, the wolf opting to stay outside, he noticed the hut was mostly empty. Just a blanket on the floor and some books next to it. There was also two cushions near the blanket, one taken up by Fenris, who was just putting down one of the books. Tails was just able to see the title on the spine. "General Tactics in Modern Warfare – By Robert Shermond".

Fenris' noticed Tails look and smiled. "It is a human book. Even though they were our greatest enemies, they have been fighting for far longer then we have, and on so many different battlefields"

"Interested in War?" tails asked, trying to seem polite on the subject Fenris had raised.

Fenris indicated his other books. "Gorilla Fighting, Fighting in open areas, suggestions on weapons (lethal and non lethal) based on the necessity, Fighting in enclosed populated areas" Fenris picked up one book in particular. "This" He said tapping the book with one of his claws "This is one of my favourites. It's called The Minimalist Fighter. It's not so much a book on tactics but on a hypothetical story of a man who starts a campaign to topple a government. He starts his adventure with quite literally nothing. Over the course of the book, he builds connections, gains finances, strikes at areas that seem foolish and random but later show themselves to be vital targets in his vital plan."

Tails tried to look interested but the only books he had ever read or been read to were children books when he was younger. "It's only a story though. It's easy to describe how the pieces fall and set it all up for your main character."

Fenris smiled. "That why I love this book. Originally it just seemed a silly little story. Quite clever but a bit presumptuous. Then I found out later that the writer of the book was human name Carter Wilson, a man who grew up in the slums and later..."

"...toppled the government in power." Tails finished, guessing where this was leading.

Fenris was beaming now. "Exactly. The government at the time was very corrupt, so the story did have a happy ending... of sorts"

Tails was now completely lost. Why was he here and how could this wolf infront of him, who seemed to have a fancy for military history cause of the great blunder the wiped out the freedom fighters. A blind assault on a city.

"So, may I ask why you have brought me here?" Tails asked.

"Cable, how much of Blood Claw history do you know?" Fenris asked, sitting down again and indication the cushion opposite.

"Well" Tails said, sitting down "Not too much. I came from one of the de-militarised packs so the history I learnt was from my parents and it was pretty simple."

Fenris nodded. "Far enough. If you don't mind, I'll give you a quick history lesson."

Tails nodded for Fenris to continue.

"There have been 5 instances of the Alpha challenge recorded in our history. 3 occasions was against the humans in 3 separate wars. 1 included us fighting in the same fashion as we are today: unified with other Mobian under the banner of the Acorns. In any case, in all 5 instances the Blood Claw clan were the ones who gained the title. In general, we train our warriors (our leaders in particular) much harsher than any other clan."

Tails nodded at this. He had already heard that the Blood Claws had gained the title in the past and the numbers didn't add much to it. He wondered what Fenris was getting at. He decided to pose a question to Fenris.

"Fair enough. I won't deny, when I heard that the Blood Claws had won every time this challenge occurred, I imaged you all being muscle headed meat machines. It looks like I heavily misjudged you"

Fenris laughed. "Yes we don't have many positive rumours about us and our own actions certainly don't help matters"

Tails smiled continuing "You seem at heart to be a strategist. At least that's what I can guess from your reading material. I am guessing you have made plans for if you become the Alpha and have full control of all the clans. I know she doesn't look it but Sally has been running gorilla ops since she was a child. Have you put forward your plan to her for a joint effort against Robotnick?"

That did seem to removing the smile from Fenris' face. He didn't seem angry, just depressed. "Yes... I was getting to that"

Tails looked unsure.

"You see, unlike the other clans, I am leader in title only. The Blood Claws always have two leaders. One is the external one: that's me. My job is to be strong and appear to the outside world as the clan's leader. That's it. I do have some power but only as a second in command to the main person in control. That would be our elder. And your description of... what was it... "Muscle Headed Meat Machines" would fit him completely."

Tails was uncomfortable. Where had this come from. "I was only joking with that. I didn't mean to cause any insult".

"It's not. He's an idiot" Fenris said casually. "But the fact is, even if I become head of the Clan, I still have to listen to my elder. It's our law. Whether I'm Alpha or not, that won't change. That's what I was going to say earlier. That's the way our clan has been governed in the past."

"But that's ridiculous" Tails replied. "How does that even work? Why put up the pretence of two leaders"

"Effectively, I'm a shield. Our clan has made many enemies in the past. So whilst the young and brash external leader is out there, spear in hand, the real leaders are still behind and keep the clan going. I'm a diversion. That's it." Fenris said, looking almost desperately at Tails.

Tails thought for a second. "Fenris. If you win this challenge... what are the chances of your elder asking you to call an all out raid on Robotropolis?"

Fenris looked surprised for a second before recovering. "There are no chances. I know that is what he will do."

At least this makes things clearer, Tails thought.

"That's why I'm here isn't it. That's why you changed Lupe for me." Tails said

Fenris nodded. "I'm not an idiot. I know what the chances are if the full clan follows this course of action. I can't throw the fight. If I go in there, I go in to win. I can't pretend to lose. The members of my clan will know if I do."

"Ok. How does this change things. I was still aiming to win anyway. All this means is I have more pressure on me to do so" Tails lied, already fighting to stop that decision from happening.

"I didn't call you here to increase your chances of winning. After tonight, everything will either go to the flames-"

Tails actually winced at the choice of words.

"- or you will be in a position to control all clans." Fenris turned around and fished a document from behind him.

"All the wolf clans have been fighting since this war began. Even us. But whilst we have been listening to our elder, pulling off basic hit and runs on Robotnick's bases, I've had a couple guys loyal to me to infiltrate and map out areas of Robotropolis."

Fenris pulled out a map from the folder and spread it out on the floor. Tails could see real enthusiasm on Fenris' face now.

The map showed a line based street map of all the streets in Robotropolis. It showed camera locations, dates on when last verified based on colours, underground roots...

"I've devised an air tight plan in order to reach the main building that Robotnick uses. This was the hard part" With that, Fenris pulled out another set of maps, these more specific to the main complex. One displayed the complex as a whole with floor plans. Other based on specific floors.

Tails looked over all of this, getting more and more impressed. Fenris, despite what Tails had originally thought, was defiantly a gifted strategist, if only in the amount of detail he went into. Everything was covered: roots, SWATbot patrols, likely locations of Robotnick based on times and dates.

Fenris looked up. "I have it all planned out. This has taken me 4 years to make but I am sure I have it. The details on the actual plan are here-"

"Don't tell me" Tails said, looking off into nowhere "A small strike force. No more then 5 men?"

Fenris' eyes widened. "Yes. How could you know?"

Tails smiled to himself. This had been the part that Tails had been trying not to think about. The attack after the fights. He was not good at planning but had assumed Sally would come up with something. But now, now he knew what was supposed to happen. Fenris. He was the key.

"Fenris. Go see Sally. Show her everything you have. Tell her I sent you" Tails said quickly.

"What?" Fenris said, not really expecting this. He had expected to argue his points to Tails, having to win him over and not seem like he was trying to plan out the attack anyway, whether he lost or not.

"Just trust me. Go to Sally and tell her... tell her this is related to the stones and that this is something that needs to be looked at. Just trust me on this" Tails said.

"Alright" Fenris said. "But as I said, I will still be fighting-"

"Yeah, I know that. Thank you Fenris. This really was enlightening." And with that Tails got up and made to leave.

Tails left the hut, leaving Fenris inside staring blankly at his plan.

Evening came finally as Tails made his way into the camp. He saw the final stage had been set in their campsite, all 4 clans here to watch the final proceedings. He stopped Lupe and Sally together, with Sonic as well.

"Hey guys." Tails greeted.

"Yo, all pumped up?" Sonic asked, his usual optimism still showing in full force.

"I feel ready. Sally did Fenris come to meet you?" Tails asked.

"Yes I should say so." Sally responded, still looking unsure. "Cable, you have got to win this."

"I know." Tails responded.

"And when you do win, you can order Fenris to leave his clan and become my assistant" Sally continued.

That caught all of them off guard. Especially Sonic. "What Sal?"

Sally looked back at Tails. "He's the best strategist I have ever met. He knows more about Robotropolis' layout then me or even Uncle Chuck. And that plan of his... god it's so annoying I didn't see most of the holes in Robotnick's defences."

"Sally. I didn't give his actual plan a very good look but what does it actually involve?"

"The capture of Robotnick" Sally said.

All looked at her. Tails had guessed it would be something along those lines but Lupe and especially Sonic had no idea about this.

"Sally. You've been trying to figure that out for... since we started" Sonic.

"And he figured it out. If his plans are right, then there is a very good chance that we can end this war. And most likely tomorrow." Sally said beaming.

Sonic looked like he was about to faint. "You serious Sal?"

"Never been more so. But this is all based on the fact that Cable wins this fight" Sally said, turning back to Tails.

"Wow. Seems this is all riding on you" Sonic said, slapping Tails shoulder.

Tell me something I haven't known from the start, Tails thought with a grin.

Tails turned to the ring as one of the Blood Claw wolves stepped out to speak.

"This is the final fight in the Alpha Challenge. The rules are as normal. Both competitors fight until one either surrenders, is knocked out of the ring or is deemed unable to fight." The wolf shouted out.

"Here goes nothing" Tails said as he walked into the ring.

He saw Fenris enter on the opposite side, looking determined and very ready to fight. Both fighters moved to the centre of the ring whilst the referee listed off more rules.

"So, how was you meeting with Sally?" Tails asked.

"She is... most impressive. She appears to be like me, self taught in the art of war but without even the aid I have in my books." Fenris replied, looking somewhat happy that their meeting.

"Well... no hard feelings" Tails said.

"We both know that is not true. Just remember, if I win, enact the plan anyway. All it would mean is the wolves would not be there to aid you" Fenris said, somewhat resigned.

"I don't know if that is an option... but thank you anyway." Tails said, nodding his head as they spread away from one another and moved to opposites sides of the ring.

"Are both fighters ready?" Asked the wolf.

"Yes" They both shouted back.

"Then... Begin!"

As soon as the fight started, Tails knew that this would not be as easy as he had it before. However much of a pushover Rendall had been, Fenris was in a different league. He wasted no time closing the distance and performing a clean leg sweep. Tails tried to fly away but Fenris shot up like a coiled spring and grabbed Tails leg. He then climbed up Tails and got him, mid air, in a choke hold.

Tails stopped spinning his tails and tried to land with Fenris on the bottom. As soon as Fenris saw he was to be the cushion in their landing, he broke off and shot back to his corner.

Tails was stunned. All his actions were quick and smooth. He wasted none of his effort. If Rendall had been a simply ok fighter, the Fenris was more in Sonics league in terms of combat. He was not going to be an easy opponent.

Tails knew that if he was going to have a chance at winning, he needed to take the fight to Fenris hard and fast. He couldn't stretch this out. Not with him in perfect physical condition and Tails still recovering from last night.

Tails shot forward, starting a close face to face punch up between himself and Fenris. Both threw punches and blocked as they exchanged blows, each trying to land a kicks whenever the others guard was too low.

This did not end well for either as Fenris made a painful punch to the side of Tails head whilst he was able to land a full kick to Fenris' ribs. He knew he could feel out broke as he struck.

Both separated, gasping. Fenris was hiding his pain well, overloading it with adrenaline and will power. Tails needed to end this fast.

Tails shot back as far as he could and put both hands and feet on the ground. Behind him his tails were spinning faster and faster until the sound turned from a low whirring noise to a high pitched screech. He used both his hands and feet to keep himself stationary until he could build up enough spin in his tails.

Fenris looked surprised but soon realised that he needed to stop what Tails was doing. Before he reached Tails however, Tails released the built up force and shot forward like a bullet. He either hit Fenris and would be able to knock him out of the ring, or he would miss and his momentum would send himself out instead. It was a gamble. But one that paid off as Fenris, too close to dodge the attack was struck by Tails full body, arms crossed over his chest to lessen the impact. Tails suddenly stopped moving and Fenris shout off his feet and out of the ring. He landed with a loud smack into a hoard of his fellow wolves, all breaking his impact with their bodies.

Silence ran throughout the grounds save for groans from the wolves who had been hit with Fenris' body. Fenris himself seemed to have been knocked unconscious.

Tails looked expectantly at the referee, just as he got the point and shouted out. "Cable is the new Alpha Leader"

The clearing exploded with cheers.

Present (1 Day to go)

It was 00:00 at night. Tails, Sonic, Sally, Fenris and Lupe sat together inside Sally's hut.

"Ok...We've gone over the plan. All that stands now is who is going?"

"Sal" Sonic said, sounding unsure. "Are you sure about this? I mean, it's a good plan...I think" Sonic said, having already gotten lost into the fine details that Fenris and Sally could handle. "But to suddenly go after Robotnick... HIMSELF, the same night as the fights..."

Sally sighed, looking at everyone in the room. "Ok. I didn't want to tell anyone about this to save off panic but Uncle Chuck sent me word last night of a new project Robotnick has been working on secretly. He calls it Super Napalm."

This grabbed everyone's attention. Everyone save Tails that is. "One rocket of the stuff could take out an entire 1/3 of the great forest. Charles' report says he has hundreds of them and is making more."

Sonic and Fenris looked like they were gonna be sick.

"I don't know whether Robotnick is actually planning on using these weapons" Sally gave a quick glance to Tails. "But I know I have a plan infront of me that could realistically take out the devil who has been terrorising us for nearly a decade. I'm sure. We need to move now"

News of the napalm seemed to remove any misgivings Sonic or Fenris seemed to have.

"Now, your plan calls for 5 people. No more... and I see 5 people infront of me" Sally said. She turned to Fenris. "Fenris. To pull off this plan without any hitches we need someone who knows it inside an out. You're in and in command"

That got everyone's attention this time. Including Tails and Fenris. "What? Are you sure?"

"You have experience being in command and it's your plan. Even with all your notes, you seem to be the one I can trust to improvise is things go south."

Fenris nodded, his usual stoic expression returning.

"Cable" Sally said, looking directly at Tails. "I don't think you need to prove yourself."

"My first freedom fighter mission being the one that captures Robotnick. Well, didn't see that coming" Tails said, smiling.

Sonic laughed at that

"And Lupe... do you think you are able to join us? I know I would feel better with you with us" Sally asked.

Lupe nodded. "My injures are not as severe as they were before. I feel confident I can perform my end."

Sally nodded. "Ok people. This is it. I know this is sudden but we have to make this work. We are putting all in and I want tomorrow to celebrate Tails birthday AND the end of the worst tyrant to ever face the Acorn Kingdom."

"Right!" The all shouted in agreement.

"Fenris. The table is yours"

Fenris nodded and stepped forward. "Ok. Each of you has a very specific task you all need to make. I cannot emphasise enough how crucial each stage is. Sonic."

Fenris turned to Sonic, moving one of the maps towards him. "You Sonic are going to need to perform the distraction. That will not only draw away attention but make sure of Robotnick's location, in the main control chamber"

"Sally, Robotnick knows Sonic is used as a distraction on all of you missions so you will be the icing on the cake. There is a SWAT Factory with minimal security in it at the moment. You and Lupe will go here" Fenris indicated on the map to a specific corner. "There is a camera there, hidden. Don't make eye contact with it if you spot it. We have to let Robotnick think you are the main objective."

"3 of use just for distraction?" Sonic asked.

"The point is only one person actually has to get into the main complex, with one other person disabling the security and acting as the main agents spotter. Everyone else is there to make absolutely sure that Robotnick is not paying attention to where is matters."

Fenris turned to Tails. "Out of the two of us, I'm more confident in you being able to make the actual run. I am the only one who can disable the necessary security systems and being able to judge how things are going for you. Have you memorised the maps?"

"Completely" Tails replied.

"Ok. Now my favourite part" Fenris said with a smile as he took a large binder filled with paper. "The fine details"

It was nearly an hour later that Tails found himself running quietly through the streets of Robotropolis. He was following Fenris' directions to the letter as he weaved between camera blind spots. He knew he didn't have to worry about any patrols on the route he was taking. All he had to be sure of was that he didn't enter into the view of any cameras.

As soon as he was beneath the shadow of the huge complex that Robotnick housed himself in, he waited at one of the service entrances for Fenris' signal.

As the minutes slowly ticked away, he heard in his ear piece "Ok, I've got a feed into Robotnick's system. There's nothing at the moment... wait. There it is, the alarm."

Tails tensed. He had been waiting nearly a decade for this. Now he was about to do it all over again. His fingers brushed the shell of Nichole, still hidden in his pocket. He would do this right.

"Ok. He's spotted Sonic. That was the easy part. Now to wait until Sally and Lupe are noticed..."

The radio went dead for a few minutes until "There. He's spotted them. Fantastic. He doesn't suspect a thing. Ok, I'm about to cut the alarms on that door. Your 10 minute windows starts... NOW!"

Tails didn't waste any time. He shot forward and took out one of the metal eating balloons he had been given earlier and threw it at the door. Save the hissing sound of it dissolving, the door fell apart with barley a whisper.

Tails shot forward. He couldn't move too fast unless he wanted to risk moving ahead of Fenris and his hacking.

It was earlier when going through the plan that Tails realised that it was in fact Fenris who seemed to have the most difficult job. Tails was only to move forward and get the job done. All the years of planning had apparent gone into what Fenris was dealing with, hacking one of Robotnick's terminals and controlling everything from there.

Tails moved as Fenris' voice popped into his hear every few seconds, telling him which halls were secure, when he needed to wait or backtrack. The complex was a maze and a well guarded maze at that. He just needed to be spotted by one guard and the plan was through. So he never rushed unless Fenris specifically told him to. This plan could be done by someone who could run at normal speeds so Tails could easily go too fast if he wasn't careful and upset Fenris' calculations.

"Ok Tails. You are nearly there. Do you have what you need?" Fenris asked.

"It's a pretty stupid time to be asking that now Fenris" Tails said sarcastically.

"Just making sure. Remember, Robotnick always has an escape shoot, one in his chair and one on the left side of the room. You will need to destroy his chair first, just to be sure."

"Yes, got it" Tails repeated, already aware of what Fenris had told him earlier.

"Right. Go when you see fit."

And with that the radio went dead. Ok. Now is really was all up to him. Tails reached into his pocket and pulled out a long silver rod with a trigger on one end. He took is carefully in his hand and took a breath.

This wasn't like before. Before he had already won. Already had Robotnick's empire to control and he had been drunk. He has guards and just has to push a button to leave. I can't make a mistake.

Tails focused on what he needed to do... and shot forward.

Robotnick sat in his throne, looking at the screens in irritation. He only gotten the alarm 10 minutes ago and had thought that the Freedom Fighters might be after the Super Napalm. He had been sleeping badly for days thinking that at any second he would hear that Sonic or one of those pesky furry freaks had found and destroyed his shipments. He was so close. So close to have an ace up his sleeve for whenever he wanted to end it all. He needed the Great Forest. This was his base of operations and the Great Forest was so close and rich with resources. But also rich with the pesky Freedom Fighters. And soon he would have an answer could use whenever he wanted.

But in the mean time he still had to deal with these stupid distractions. He didn't care if the factory was destroyed. If he could get Sally however and that annoying wolf, well that would be a plus for the day.

Just as Robotnick mused on how to use Sally and Lupe if they were captured, the door to his right melted.

"What?" Robotnick yelled in his hollowed metallic voice.

Tails wasted no time. He shot forward towards Robotnick who just got out the way as he slammed into his chair, dislodging it from its foundations and launching it across the room.

Robotnick tried to make his way to his secondary exit as he yelled for guards but the Mobian who had attacked him stood in his way.

Robotnick seethed. "I don't think I've met you before" He said pleasantly, waiting for his security to arrive.

"No I don't suppose you have." Tails said, taking aim with the silver rod and pulling the trigger. A small laser shot out of the device and struck Robotnick on his metal arm.

"What in blue blazes? What did you shoot me with? Guards?" Robotnick yelled.

Tails grinned. "Lights out"

Robotnick grinned. "Really. Am I about to go to sleep because if I am, I don't feel any fatigue. Was that your plan. To carry me out?"

"No. The first plan was to kill you" Tails said calmly, throwing away the device.

"Ha. Really" Robotnick said, now looking a little off.

"Yes... but I didn't think that would be necessary." Tails said still smiling. Tails smile however went as he saw the guards enter into the room.

Their bodies were huge and armed like tanks. But even with all that extra plating and weaponry, Tails could still recognise the enemies before him.

"HELLO AGAIN" Drago said.

Tails could only just recognise the three wolves he had killed when he had first arrived in the past. He could only just tell them apart by the unmodified robotic faces.

"IT'S BEEN A WHILE" Drago said again, stepping forward.

"Yes. I found them using their GPS chips. All Robians have them" Robotnick said, now laughing.

Tails backed away. He didn't know what these new versions of the traitor wolves were capable of but he knew he would need a weapon to deal with it. He had two balloons left. He would have to make them count.

"Well if you excuse me, I must be going" Robotnick said, turning to leave where Tails had entered.

Tails ran forward to stop him but one of the two other wolves stopped him with blaster fire. Tails had to turn mid sprint and take cover behind a console.

All 3 now were shredding the computers Tails was using for cover. It wouldn't hold out much longer, Tails guessed.

Tails took a risk and shot out of cover and made for Drago. Just as Drago took aim, he shot off again, this time aiming for the wolf on the right. Tails slammed into the giant left foot of the Mobian who lost his balance. As fast as he could, he change direction and slammed into the right foot of the other Robian who also tumbled over, colliding with his companion. Just before they hit each other however, Tails made a throw with one of his metal eating balloons to the spot right between the two of them.

Both collided, slamming into one another and the balloon sandwiched between them exploded in a shower of green corrosive liquid. The upper torsos of both Robians were gone in a flash.

That left only a fuming Drago. Unfortunately he seemed the smartest and most heavily armed. He wasted no time is firing ever shot he had at Tails, no longer caring for that got destroyed in its place.

Tails used the Mobian wolves as cover. He needed to stop Drago and catch up with Robotnick. In desperation, he waited until the shower of lasers subsided and threw his last balloon. Dragon reacted just in time to use his arm as a shield. It melted instantly but he remained upright, still with plenty of fire power to put an end to Tails.

"Damn" Tails muttered, looking around for something to use. He needed... wait.

Drago took aim once more but Tails was on the move again. He shot toward a corner of the room. On the floor was debris from Drago's constant firing. He knew he spotted something. YES!

Tails came up with a pipe. At one end a part of it had come loose from the wall leaving it with a needle like point to it.

"It'll have to do" Tails said.

He quickly side stepped as Drago's firing continued. Not for an instant did Tails stay in one spot, never letting Drago get lock on him. He had to keep moving.

As soon as Tails had enough room, he made his play. He shot towards one of the walls, with Drago's shots following right behind him. As soon as he reached the wall he jumped, turned and shot back, this time in the air with his tails spinning like crazy. He was aiming himself right at Drago. If he adjusted his aim quickly enough, he would be shredded. Thankfully, Drago had not expected Tails sudden change in direction. He also didn't see the pole going through his head... At least not until it was too late.

Robotnick ran as fast as his legs could carry him down the hall way. He knew the way to the hanger. He would just pop on a ship and have his SWATbots search this entire building. That was if there was anything left after his new guards took care of that wolf. He smiled to himself. They had pushed things too far. As soon as he left he would send out those rockets and burn every last inch of green in that blasted forest. They would...

Robotnick had started to find it harder to move. His legs weren't responding like they should. What was going on? It was like they were going numb.

As he made a turning he shouted and fell back as he saw the Robian from before.

"What? How did you get past those units!" Robotnick screamed.

"I'm very fast" Tails was happily.

Robotnick grimaced. "Not another one..."

"Finding it hard to move?" Tails asked.

"What? How did..." As Robotnick responded, he suddenly felt the blood drain from his face. He quickly went to his boot and removed it. And there was a perfectly formed robot foot.

"You see. The second idea was the actually carry you out but we found that would take too much time and effort. However, I have good information telling me that we will eventually be able to make a de- roboticizer. It's only a matter of time. So, a humane safe way to dispose of you until we can have a hearing for your crimes"

Robotnick started to sweat as he felt the slow effect of the roboticizer's effects spread through him.

"You apparently made a portable roboticizer some time ago that was capture by a Freedom Fighter group. Pretty slow but the effects are still the same" Tails said, staring as he saw parts of Robotnick's neck turn metal.

"You can't do this. YOU CAN'T" He yelled as the effects started to spread up his cheeks.

"I can and I did. You'll be back to normal soon. Probably in a few years" Tails said conversationally. "It's much better then you deserve."

And with one final scream of rage, Robotnick lay there, on the ground, now a mindless worker robot waiting for commands.

Tails guessed his only orders would be to sit in a corner somewhere for a good many years until they got round to fixing him.

Well, Tails thought. I guess this is it.

Tails clicked on the radio. "Fenris"

"You got the target?" He asked, not bothering to hide the tension in his voice.

"Mission Accomplished."

The events that followed for Tails seemed to happen on auto pilot. Since Robotnick's system was still active and all his SWATbots were still programmed to capture any Mobians they detected, Robotropolis was still a hot zone. Tails was able to dismantle Robotnick, an experience he still found oddly sickening, even if it was just metal parts now. He made his way out of the city, meeting Sally, Lupe, Fenris, Sonic and both Uncle Chucks on the edge of the city.

Sonic still looked confused at seeing two Uncles, wondering if Chuck had decided to make a duplicate. At a look from Sally, Tails handed the satchel holding Robotnick's body and took Sonic to one side. He had held off on telling his brother the truth for far too long.

"...and that's about it" Tails said, both he and Sonic walking together with the rest of the group so distance off. He guessed they were discussing what to do next.

"Wow. That's a lot to take in" Sonic said. To his credit, Sonic did seem to take the news of him being Tails and from the future quite easily. It had taken very little to convince him.

"Yep. This all did come pretty close to the wire" Tails replied

Sonic laughed. "I thought things seemed a little weird with you. When I met you I could... what's that word. The one when you felt you've seen or done something before."

"Déjà vu?" Tails answered.

"Yeah. It was the same feeling I had all those years ago when I met my future self." Sonic replied. He turned to Tails before shaking his head. "You're taller than me. That's not right"

Tails couldn't help but laugh. A big burst of raw laugher he hadn't felt he could manage anymore. "Of all the things to say, he complain about my height"

"Well it feels weird calling you my little bro when I'm looking up at you" Sonic said, laughing a little himself.

Tails shook his head, still smiling from Sonic's attitude. This was why people ended up liking Sonic. He did act a bit of an idiot most of the time. But he was usually upbeat and happy and people ended up feeling the same way when near him. It was contagious.

"Give it ten years and you will still be looking down me. I don't think that will change." Tails said, putting his hand on Sonic's shoulder.

"Well maybe. In any case, we get to go back to Knothole and tell everyone Robotnick is gone... the war, or the hard part anyway, is over. You did good kid." Sonic said, returning the gesture.

"Thanks... little bro" Tails replied.

"Wait? No, you do not get to say that-" Sonic began.

"What? Let me enjoy it for a short while. Little bro... or better yet, Big Guy. How does that sound."

Some distance behind Sonic and Tails, Sally and Lupe walked with the two Chucks talking to Fenris about the details on the operation.

Both could hear the laughter from where they walked. "They have been talking for no more than 10 minutes and they are already laughing like old friends."

Sally smiled. "Do you know, when we first used the time stones and went back into the past we met ourselves. After some complications we had to confide in them who we were. My younger self was spectacle, asking me some questions only I would know. Sonic's younger self only said 'Makes sense. The idea of someone faster and more stylists then me out there is just not possible'"

Lupe looked at Sally quizzically. Sally laughed and answered the unspoken question "Sonic is easy going. He can accept the idea of time travel with as much as a he accepts his speed. I.E, both impossible to explain or understand, so why bother."

Lupe laughed. "I see. Well... it is good to hear Tails laugh like that. It's refreshing"

Sally nodded and just realised. "I just remembered. With everything going on today... it's his birthday."

"Do you think there will be any time to celebrate it?" Lupe asked.

"No" Uncle Chuck said, stepping forward. "Sorry. Part of the condition of our agreement. We will have to unite the stones in under an hour."

"Or what?" Sally asked, wondering if they could just keep them separate.

"Or they will just unite by themselves. Tails knows this... I'm sorry." Chuck said sombrely as he slowed his pace and joined with his past self and Fenris who had gone quite.

What now, Sally wondered. She still planned to keep to her strategy with Tails. She just didn't know if it would work. Guess she would just have to wait 10 years... 10 years. That was a long time with such an important questions.

As Sally was wondering this, Lupe shot forward at a gentle run towards Tails and Sonic. Both turned to her wondering what she had to say.

"Apparently it is your birthday" Lupe said, standing to Tails other side, putting her arm around his.

Sonic noticed the movement and looked at Tails with surprise. "When did this happen. You left this out of your story"

Tails grinned as he crossed his arm as well. "I was getting to it... and thanks Lupe. I had nearly forgotten."

Lupe didn't want to ask about Tails time limit but Tails seemed to be able to puzzle the look she had and said, almost in answer "I don't have much time until I have to go" Tails said to Sonic.

Sonic looked up. "What? Really? We didn't have a time limit"

"Different rules. I don't make them. And I can't complain overall." Tails gave Lupe a look. She could only guess he didn't want her bringing up the final condition of his deal. He didn't want Sonic to know he would be going for good.

"Well. I have some time. There's one last person I wanted to speak to" Tails said, giving Sonic and Lupe a broad grin.

"You sure about this" Lupe asked as they watched a short distance away from young Tails birthday.

"Yeah... I don't know about Sally's plan and I really don't know if it will work but... I just want a quick word with him" Tails said. He had decided to wait for Sally to swear Tails in to the Freedom Fighters before he stepped forward.

"It's like looking at a memory from the outside" Tails said quietly.

Lupe gently took his hand and squeezed it. Tails grinned. "Ok, wish me the best"

Tails stepped forward just as Sally returned from her talk with Antoine. "You got a crossbow? For my tenth birthday I got a backpack."

The younger Tails laughed as he put the weapon back into its holder and put it away. He seemed determined to keep it out of sight so no one would pay any attention to it. He wasn't about to let something like that get confiscated.

Tails grinned. "Sorry bud. I didn't have time to get a present."

Younger Tails shook his head. "That's fine. Today's been a blast so far."

It'll get back once news of Robotnick is released.

"Tails. Do you mind if I talk to you for a second?" Tails asked. He gave a look to Sally who smiled and nodded.

"It's fine sweaty. We won't go anywhere" Sally said.

"Ok" Tails replied eagerly, following the taller wolf as they moved just to the right away from everyone.

"Ok Tails" Tails started. "This may seem weird, me being a stranger speaking to you like this but do you mind if I give you some advice?"

Younger Tails shook his head "Its fine. Sonic and Sally like you. That's enough for me"

"Great. Well for one thing" Tails said as he moved forward and carefully reached from Tails hand. He placed his fingers in Tails glove and fished out Sonic's ring. "I know about yours and Bunnies plan"

Tails eyed widened. Before he could reply, Older Tails said. "It's fine. I found out on my own, not from Sonic or Sally... trust me on this, your way of dealing with Sonic dragging his feet is a good way of handling him, but not the best"

Tails hung his head. "I didn't like the plan"

"It's tough love. I can understand that. Really. Just let me have a bash at Sonic first. I think I know what to say to get him to do it on his own." Tails said

Tails thought for a second before nodding his head. "Ok. Deal" He held out his hand.

Older Tails smiled and shook his younger self's hand. "Leave it to me... one last thing..."

Tails took a deep breath before continuing. "I know you feel you need to prove yourself. Always wanting to go on Freedom Fighter missions"

Tails suddenly looked uncomfortable. "I-"

"It's fine." Tails cut in. "I can understand it."

Tails sat down and indicated his younger self to do the same next to him. "You see everyone go off, on important missions and feel you need to do something yourself. Carry your own weight and try to make yourself useful, right?"

Tails younger self nodded. "Look, I'm gonna tell you something now and I don't want you saying anything about it. At this point in time it's pretty secret."

Tails younger self now looked interested.

"Robotnick was defeated. This morning". He could see his younger self move to speak but cut him off by saying. "Firstly, I'm not lying. I was on the mission, it happened at 1:35 this morning. Sonic and Sally where there."

Tails younger self suddenly looked depressed. "So it's all over then?"

"Annoyed that Robotnick was stopped?" Tails said grinning.

"NO!" Tails shouted but quickly lowered his voice. "No. It's not that"

Tails older self laughed. He ruffled his younger self's hair. "I know, I know. You think you were made into a Freedom Fighter now because it doesn't mean anything. I can tell you now I spoke to Sonic before this mission was even in Sally's hands. They did intend to make you a Freedom Fighter properly. Not because of this."

Tails seemed to cheer up. "So it's all over. The war is over"

Tails turned to his younger self, now looking serious. "No. That's what I wanted to talk to you about."

Tails looked up at the older wolf, realising he should listen carefully.

"There is still a lot to do. The SWATbots are still active. The world is a mess. Literally. Millions of Mobians are still roboticized... and now you're a Freedom Fighter." Tails reached out and took Tails badge.

"You're only 10 Tails. But with this, you are an adult, whether people treat you like one or not. You will be on missions. Real missions. Sally won't be your auntie. She will most likely be your commanding officer. Everything is going to change"

Even if Sally wasn't going to do what she had told him she would do to his younger self, Tails knew this was something he needed to hear. Something he knew he would have wanted to hear when he was younger.

"That oath you just took maybe something every member has to say when joining but on what it means is down to you. It's all going to be down to you when you are out there. Do you understand?"

His younger self didn't say anything. He just slowly nodded his head.

"Good. You know this isn't a game Tails. In taking these first steps, you need to have full perspective on what you are gonna face in the future. You might not be ready. You might face a situation you find so frightening you don't know how to deal with it."

Tails younger self looked worried. "What do I do then?"

"I'm not here to give you the answers Tails" Tails said laughing. "That really would be presumptuous of me. And I really am not here to scare you. I'm just here to make sure you are aware that everything can change in an instant. That's what a mission can be like. I just wanted you to be aware of that"

Tails nodded, again a slow action before he asked. "Does that help? Knowing that things could change for the worse in an instant."

Tails older self nodded. "I think it does... but then again, I'm weird so probably not the best person to ask on this"

That seemed to break the tension, causing Tails younger self to laugh as both of them got up. "Alright. I've wasted enough of your time. Enjoy yourself"

"Ok... and thanks. Thanks for the advice" Tails said as he ran back to the party.

Tails smiled as he saw himself run off. He checked the time and found he didn't have that much time left. Well just one thing left to do before he head off.

Tails walked back to the party as everyone was getting the fruit drinks out. He spotted Sonic and grabbed his attention. "Sonic. Mind if we talk for a second" He asked, winking to his younger self as he winked back.

Sonic noticed the exchange and followed. "What was that about?"

"Oh nothing. Anyway, you know I have to head off soon" Tails said as he went to the same area he and his younger self just spoke.

"Yeah I know. What did you want to talk to me about? Any goodbyes should be said to the group you know"

"This is effectively my goodbye Sonic. I don't want a large send off and just want everyone to enjoy... well my party" Tails said with a laugh.

Sonic didn't seem happy with this but didn't push it.

"Right" Tails said, taking out Sonic's ring, taking pleasure in the shocked expression on Sonic's face. "You know what this is and I know who it is for"

Sonic snatched the box back with Tails making no attempt to stop him. "What are you doing with this?"

Tails smiled. "I know my future things got mucked up, but I do happen to know that the ring in your hand does get used"

Sonic looked uncomfortable. "I'm looking for the right time"

Tails laughed, putting his arm around Sonic's shoulder. "Sonic. Today is the day Robotnick has been defeated. You are not going to find a better day to ask."

A thought popped into Sonic's head. "You know I asked today don't you"

Tails nodded.

"So... you know the answer" Sonic asked hopefully.

"God Sonic, man up. I know what the answer is even if I didn't hear you propose it. You know what the answer will be because you got the ring."

Sonic still seemed unsure. Tails decided to be kind to him. "Sonic. Ask her. Don't think. You're not good at that anyway" that got him an annoyed look from Sonic that only made him laugh. "Just ask...No cocky speeches or anything flamboyant. Just take her to one side, got down on your knee and ask her."

And with that Tails got up and started to walk away. Sonic got up and asked. "You're leaving now?"

"Yep. Times up..." Tails said simply, picking out one of the Knothole paths that lead up to the power ring pond.

"That's it?" Sonic asked. "No goodbyes?"

Tails stopped and turned back to Sonic. "Yes Sonic. No goodbyes. Just enjoy the party, marry Sally, celebrate Robotnick's defeat and go on from there" and with that rather poor departure, Tails turned and ran up the path.

Tails soon found himself at the top of the ridge and next to the ring pool.

"This is where it all began" Tails muttered. He slowly and carefully took out Nichole from his pocket and sat down on a stump, just looked down at the water.

"I got away from saying goodbye to everyone else. Rather cowardly of me but... I think you deserve a proper one Nichole" Tails said slowly.

"You... you got me through it all. I don't think I ever said that to you. Even when I figured it out I didn't think I needed to say it... You did so much for me and I never even gave you a single thank you. What does that say about me?" Tails gave a shallow laugh.

Tails took a deep breath. He tried to picture all the times he spent with Nichole. All the arguments they had, all the big moments in their lives... now that Tails thought about it, he had spent 10 years with Nichole and most of that had him simply listening to her. He never tried to converse with her as a person until the end...

Tails shook his head. If he was going to do this, he would try and do it with the right memory in mind. He remembered the last time they were together. The message she left for him. The image she made for herself. She had probably made a digital Mobian body to seem more alive. He tried to picture that face. Her last words.

"I love you too" Tails whispered, gently kissing Nichole and gently placed her in the water. He watched as she slowly sank into the water, bubbles releasing as she went deeper.

Tails watched as she fell but suddenly noticed something. Nichole had stopped sinking. She was floating up again.

"What?" Tails muttered

Nichole kept rising, even after she broke the surface of the water she still rose into the air until she was levitating right infront of Tails. Suddenly a large feathered hand appeared out of thin air, holding Nichole in place. Second over second more of the invisible form became clear until Tails was staring into the face of Tempest.

Tails stood up instantly. "What's going on? I haven't joined the stones yet. Uncle Chuck hasn't arrived"

"That won't be necessary. I have already sent Charles forward in time" Tempest said, unclenching his other hand revealing the other half of the time stone.

"Aw. I see" Tails said, sitting down again. "You here to... you know"

Tempest shook his head. "Not quite"

The giant owl sat next to Tails, letting the water drip from his hand. "I just wanted to talk first"

"Is this about Sally's plan? Will Tails end up like me in the future?"

"Do you want him to?" Tempest asked, looking down to Tails.

Tails had his mouth open ready to reply before he paused and just hung his head. Tempest just chuckled. "No. No I don't see a soldier in his future"

Tails smiled. Knowing it was out of his hands, he didn't feel quite so guilty. About changing his alternative self's future.

"So is this it? Am I about to... disappear?" Tails said, regret dripping thickly from his voice.

"No I don't think so", Tempest said with a grin.

Tails felt confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well there have been developments." Tempest replied shaking his big feathered head.

Tempest Sighed. "When I first said that to you... I may have been stretching the truth"

Tails blinked. Then, he got angry. "You lied to me? You made me think I would... cease to exist? Why!"

Tempest shrugged. "Tails I didn't lie. If it was possible to fix things on my side and tried to put you in the place of an alternative version of you it wouldn't have worked. But there was and still is an alternative option for you."

"So why did you lie to me" Tails asked, trying to force down his anger. He didn't like being played like this.

Tempest stared flatly to Tails. "You really want to know?"

Tails nodded.

"Well, I would like to put this forward, Robotnick's new weapon. Do you know there are two possible futures I see, much like the one you came from, in how they were launched?"

Tails shook his head.

"Well, one was based on the Wolf pack attack failing but pushing Robotnick to launching them. The other is the Wolf pack succeeding in getting to Robotnick and killing him"

Tails really was confused now. "What are you talking about"

"It was the safety measure he spoke about. His heart. He attached a remote switch for the rockets triggered by his heart stopping. If he died, the rockets would have been launched. All of them."

Tails felt stunned. "But... why tell me this now."

Tempest stood up and looked directly at Tails, staring down from his impressive height. "Tails, when I met you, you were suicidal. You were pent up with so much rage and angry I honestly did not think I could trust you as you were. In my position, I can't see all futures. Just a select few possible futures and even then I don't get shown everything. That timeline I told you about, that you needed to create: the wolf pack trials, the 5 man assault. That timeline I saw you either facing your emotional unbalance, engaging with the people you met and another where you kept to yourself. Your condition only worsened. By the end, you were a beast. You would end up killing Robotnick, whether I told you about the safety device or not"

Tails fell back, mouth open. "I would have... I was that bad I would have killed Robotnick... even if it meant killing everyone else..."

Tempest put a large but gentle hand on Tails shoulder. "You would not have even known what you were doing. But you didn't so it doesn't matter. You fixed everything. I also believe you should be completely over your condition within a few months after the physical side affects wear off... it's over.

Tails still kept his head down. "It came that close."

"Little things add up. Your encounter with Rendall. In that timeline you got too late and he had already killed the child. You end up killing him, then killing Fenris and then...well, you know the rest"

"It really was down to the wire" Tails said, chuckling lightly.

"Yes. As I said, a gamble" Tempest replied with a smile.

"So... Are you doing to answer my question then? What happens now" Tails asked, feeling fatigued.

"You get to go down and join in the celebrations. I can hear them from here. I'm guessing they just released the good news"

"What? I'm not going forward in time?" Tails asked.

Tempest laughed. "No. I told you. In the timeline I can see, Tails doesn't grow up into a soldier. He becomes a mechanic. A very good our. Infact he's the one who builds the deroboticizer. Sally doesn't turn him into a warrior because you stay and tell her it's not needed."

Tails felt light on his feet, even sitting down. "I get to stay?"

"Yes. You've made a good life here in such a short time. I had to send Charles back. Two perfect duplicates of himself are not really necessary. But I think I can make an exception for you"

Tails felt light headed. He could stay. With Sally... Sonic... Lupe... even Fenris, Tails joked. He could stay...

"Are you sure?" Tails asked, his voice desperate for conformation.

"Yes. You saved the world Tails. You get your happy ending" He said chuckling. Tempest then looked down at Nichole. "You all will"

And with that, in a puff of smoke that Tails guessed was just used to makes his disappearance a little more flashy, Tempest was gone. He was gone... and he was there. Still.

Epilogue: Present (1 year later)

Tails sat waiting in the hospital room, pacing like he had done so for the last 2 hours.

"Please stop that" Fenris asked, sitting in one of the hospital chairs. "You are starting to wear your shoes and the floor tiles."

"When you are here in my shoes, then you get to criticise" Tails said irritably.

Over the last year, alot had changed. After Tails had returned to the party, he had told Sally and Lupe about the news. Sally had slapped him hard enough to draw blood, crying at having him worry her. Lupe had gone the next step and flat punched him in the stomach. The people at the party were confused at such actions but Lupe had simply said "Even" without a look of worry or any negative expression to be seen. After that, the news of the mission had spread and Tails part in it. He had tried to place as much credit as he could on Fenris for planning and organising the whole thing but people didn't seem to listen and had just bought him drinks and shook his hand until he was sure he had felt a click of his joint dislocating.

Since then, he had removed the colour dye from his coat. With his fur returning to its original length, he knew he had to explain to everyone (Bunny, Antoine, Rotor, Dulcy and Tails) who he was. After some time telling each of them little things only he and themselves would know to convince them, he was finally accepted, even by himself surprisingly. All his younger self had said was "Wow, I'm so cool!"

It was there, with his friends that he said that he would need a new name and identity. He couldn't pretend to be a wolf anymore so he needed a new alias. Sally had suggested he stick with Cable but have his last name Prower. That way he could be Tails nephew.

"So that's it. We call you Cable from now on?" Sonic asked, not too happy with the name.

"Well I can't be Tails. Not with you guys. That would just get confusing." Tails said. He thought for a second. "I have it. Have my middle name as Miles. That can be what you guys call me. That is my actual name remember. I can live with that."

Tails younger self looked shocked. "But I... we hate that name".

Tails shrugged. "Well we have always had two names. I get my nick name to be my real name. And you get your real name to be your nick name. It makes sense... I think" Tails said, not too sure at the end after trying to explain it.

"In any case. It's not that bad a name. How does that sound people?"

And as if it had been that easy, Tails suddenly became Miles. Sally was able to invent a new identity for him. And he got to spend all the time he wanted with his friends, no secrets, no hidden past he kept having to tell. He was free.

And so after that and time moved on, things changed, as they do. The cleanup of Robotnick's empire had been fast going. After it had been revealed the Miles was a fox and not a wolf, the pack became agitated and unsure on what was to happen about the challenge, whether they had to do it all over again. Then the elders arrived and had made Miles an honorary Wolf. Miles still lead the pack for a short time until it was officially announced that the war was over. In that time, Miles had decreed Fenris his successor but had specifically announced that the obligations Fenris had to his clan elders was removed, making sure that Fenris only answered to himself.

It was only 30 minutes later that Fenris actually announced that all the clans were to become demilitarised, turning all the remaining battle ready packs into civilians. That was not met well with Rendall and a good deal of the Blood Claws but all the elders put their full weight behind it. Not only that but Fenris had effectively become the hero, next to Sonic, Miles and Sally who had been the main actor in ending the war.

And so, with nothing but cleanup duty for all Freedom Fighters, Miles had nothing to worry about... except Lupe's pregnancy.

And so Tails waited in the hospital waiting room, pacing back and forth with Sonic, Fenris, Rotor, Tails and Antoine. Sally and Bunny had been asked to help with Lupe. How none of the men knew or wished to know how.

"Miles, you're just working yourself up. Just sit down." Rotor asked, also getting tired of Miles pacing, which were getting faster and faster to the point of running.

"Look I-" Miles began before the double doors to the right of them all opened. A male nurse entered the room. "Cable Prower?"

"Yes" Miles answered. "Is there-"

"It's fine" The nurse cut in. "I just have some news. If you would follow."

"Alright" Miles said, visibly sweating now. Both he and the nurse went back through the double doors.

As Miles followed the nurse he tried to ask again for an update but the nurse already answered "Your wife's condition is fine. The child will not be with us just yet. First I wanted to pass on some news. One, we have just checked off the scans. I have good news. Your child is a hybrid."

Miles stopped mid pace and turned to the nurse. A broad grin spread across his face as he asked. "Really? What is she?"

"We don't know yet. We can only tell for certain that she is a feline. We cannot be any more specific but I thought you would like the news now."

"Thats... thats WONDERFUL news!" Miles shouted, actually grabbing the now struggling nurse in a hug.

"I am very happy for you Mister Prower" The nurse said, separating himself from the ecstatic Miles. Suddenly he went to his bussing pager. "Well, it's time"

Miles suddenly froze. "What, now?"

"Yes, now Mister Prower. Let's not keep them waiting" the nurse said, already walking ahead.

Miles almost shot past him in a cloud of smoke but kept himself under control. He needed to calm down. But ever step just made him more anxious. He was about to see his child. He was about to become a daddy. He still had no idea what that entailed, not having one himself for most of his life to draw inspiration from.

Miles calming walked with the nurse, inside a bubbling cauldron of anxiety. It was only when he was outside the operating theatre that he really felt like he would lose it. It was when he was about to enter when he noticed something blocking the door in the corner.

The nurse bent down. "Who left this here" He said irritably, picking up a blackened miniature computer. Its panels mostly burnt and its screen cracked. Miles took the device from the nurse's hands.

...It was Nichole. He would recognise her anywhere. Why on Mobius was she here. Tempest had taken her, he was sure.

Miles turned Nichole over and saw, written into the metal was a message on the panel.

Everyone gets a Happy Ending.

Miles wasn't sure what this meant. Did Tempest leave her here then? But why...? Then a thought hit Miles. His child was feline. Could it be?

Miles entered into the theatre along with the nurse, pocketing the PDA as he saw Sally, Bunny and Lupe hovering over the bundle in her arms.

Lupe smiled up at Miles, looking worn out. "It's a lynx".

Miles walked forward and with all the care he could manage, carefully took the little bundle in her arms and looked at her. Even so soon after birth he could see the faintest outline of her coat. A, brown coat with her legs, hands, ears and hair all black.

Miles remembered that imagine Nichole projected in that message she left for him. It was her. He didn't know how. He didn't know what Tempest had done but somehow he was sure that this innocent little baby in his arms was his Nichole. Somehow he was sure of that.

"She's beautiful isn't she" Lupe said as Miles sat next to her so they could both look down on her.

"She is..." Miles said, feeling tears run down his face.

Lupe looked up and smiled, resting her tired head on his shoulder. "The names we picked were for a wolf. They would fit a fox but I don't think our little cat would appreciate them" She said laughing.

"Nichole..." Miles said. "How does that sound?"

Lupe looked back at her husband and back to Sally and Bunny. "I think it's a wonderful name"

Sally nodded along with Bunny. "It suits her"

Miles smiled and looked down to his baby. This was her. His child. And he was going to make up for everything. He was going to pay Nichole back with interest. She deserved no less.

As the theatre filled with the guys, all hovering over Nichole and Miles, no one noticed the nurse leave the room. None of the hospital staff even mentioned to Miles or anyone else that no one had called him yet, not thinking it was important. So as they all smiled and laughed at their good fortune, the nurse walked down the hallway, not noticed by anyone passing by. The nurse turned a corner and opened what seemed to be a random supply cupboard, which opened up to the main chamber in the temple of the Floating Island. As the nurse entered, he transformed back into his usual form of the caretaker of the time stones.

"He didn't suspect anything?" Tempest asked from the centre of the room.

"I imagine he suspected quite alot, but he does not know the specifics Sir" The caretaker answered.

"Good. It's always better this way" Tempest replied, chuckling to himself.

"Sir. If I may, was that wise? I'm sure there will be repercussions with what you did to that computer."

"Yes I'm sure there will be" Tempest said but in a voice that said he really didn't care. "But what's life without a risk or two. I have a clear conscience." Tempest grinned. "After all, who says you can't write your own happy endings."

ANNNNNNNNNNNNNDDDDDDDD...Done!

Well for any of the old readers of this, just to explain. I found the half written chapter on my computer recently. I remembered this story, only partially written and decided in my spare time to finish it. Its not filled with every ting i wanted to write but that would take far too long and add very little I think. If people noticed the scenes seem a little rushed, sorry. I only wanted to get this out and finished. I'm not really into fanfics anymore and just didn't want this hanging over my head. It feels great to have this out the way. Sorry for any spelling mistakes and such, but as I said, I just wanted to finish this for the people who kindly commented my fic. I hope you all enjoy this and thanks for the support.