Chapter 6: Tails 102
Illusions or not, when the stone soldiers attacked, Marle could feel the temple shake as they hit the walls and the ground attempted to attack her. As one missed her and punched the ground, Marle leapt onto its arm and climbed on top of it and started leaping from one of them to another. As they attempted to pursue her, they collided with one another and fell to the ground. Moving quickly, Marle did her best to avoid getting crushed underneath them while avoiding the stone soldiers approaching from in front of her.
"There's no end to them," Verse informed her. "Run all you want, but there's no way out and no way for you to win. You might as well surrender now and save us all some time."
"I can't imagine controlling all this is very easy," retorted Marle. "Even if you are one of the guardians of the Tails, that doesn't mean you have unlimited TP. If you run out then all of this goes away and you'll be powerless. Meanwhile, I haven't had to use any yet."
"Then you want to turn this into a battle of attrition?" she scoffed. "Do you honestly believe you can win without fighting back? If you do, go right ahead. It'll make it all the easier to defeat you."
"We will certainly see then," countered Marle working her way deeper into the labyrinth that verse had created, the stone soldiers closing in on her the more she attempted to escape them.
"And that's all for class today," finished Mr. Lecture as he concluded his lecture while the bell sounded. "I hope you all remember that I can't stress enough proper tail grooming. Thirty seven strokes with a fine toothed comb every six hours and to shampoo and condition it at least twice a week for a sleeker shinier and softer fur."
"Wh-what happened?" yawned Tails in a daze. Lifting his head off the table he looked around and saw everyone else was just as out of it as he was.
"This happens every time Mr. Lecture lectures about proper tail maintenance," moaned Nova barely able to keep his eyes open. "He goes on and on with it for hours and puts the entire class to sleep. I don't even think he notices because he keeps talking and talking. I make it to summer shedding before I fall asleep."
"Better than me," replied Tails stretching. "The last thing I recall was something about tail curlers, but I don't remember what it was."
"I don't know and I don't care," stated Nova. "Let's just get out of here. I want to eat lunch and do some sparring afterwards."
"Sounds good to me," agreed Tails. "I want to get stronger."
"We've got the rest of the day to do that then," smiled Nova getting to his feet. "We'll find a good spot to eat and then give it our all. Heh, who knows. Maybe we'll finally gain our third tails."
"You never know," replied Tails walking up the stairs to leave with Nova following after him.
They hurried out the school and back to the park along with many of the other Kitsunes. They had the same idea, carrying their lunch and finding a nice shady spot to enjoy it. Some sat at picnic tables while others laid their food out on a blanket.
"Where should we go to eat?" asked Tails.
"I know just the spot," Nova replied gesturing Tails to follow him. "It's my favorite spot in the entire park."
"Then lead the way," stated Tails. "All this food is very heavy."
"I'm impressed you've lasted this long, but look at you," announced Verse. Marle breathed heavily as she kept her distance from the stone soldiers. While she managed to fight her way through them for so long it was clear that her stamina was running on low and though she managed to avoid a direct attack, Marle did obtain a multitude of scrapes and bruises in the fight. "The more you fight, the more you wear yourself out. It won't matter if you preserve your TP now or now. Such a waste, you tried to fight conservatively and only managed to do nothing more than run in circles. And here I thought you were going to be a challenge when in the end, you did nothing at all."
"Don't assume anything till the end," spoke Marle. "I know that plenty well. When you think that everything is going to be fine, that's the moment absolute disaster will creep up on you."
"Absolute disaster creeping up on me?" Verse mocked with a laugh. "The only one I see facing disaster right now is you. Even if you did try to fight back now it wouldn't do you any good. You don't know where I am so any efforts would just be wasted. And if you tried to use excessive force, you will only cause this temple to collapse and crush us and I highly doubt you would do something so reckless in the first place."
"Are you willing to stake your life on that?" she asked as her yellow tail started to glow. "Surrender now or I'll bring this place down on the both of us."
"You're bluffing!" cried Verse, some nervousness in her voice. "That's all this is!"
"Then why do you sound so frightened?" asked Marle. "Is it because you are too cowardly to actually face your opponent so you hide from sight and let illusions do all the work for you? From the very start you didn't let me see your real self. I would never lose to the likes of someone like you!" Without hesitating, Marle used the Tail Beam, blasting the stones soldiers to pieces in front of her. Still firing, she turned her body around and around spreading the damage throughout the temple making it crumble to pieces around her. If Verse was saying anything it was lost in the noise of destruction.
"Where'd they go?" asked one of the Kitsunes searching for Squall and Oak. "They must be around here somewhere."
"Verse didn't expect us to catch them so much as keep them as far away as possible," another replied. "So long as we keep them away from the temple, she can handle their friend."
The ground suddenly quaked violently and all the Kitsunes turned back towards where the temple were and saw smoke billowing from where they should have been able to see the top of the temple. Birds from around the area took flight and scattered away chirping and squawking before everything became silent.
"Th-the temple!" one cried. "It was annihilated! Verse! The Yellow Tail!"
"Forget trying to find those two," another ordered. "We have to get back there right away and provide backup!"
Quickly, they hurried back to the temple, but they didn't get very far before the ground beneath their feet crumbled and they dropped into a bunch of deep pits. The first to recover from the shock, attempted to climb back up, but found the task a lot harder than it was to fall in. The walls were too soft to get a proper grip on and there was not enough room for those that fell into the same hole to climb on top of one another to reach the top.
"Where did all these holes come from?" one of them groaned.
"Looks like the hunters have become the hunted," stated Oak as he looked down at the trapped kitsunes. "You probably thought you were outsmarting us outsmarting you, but in reality we were outsmarting you outsmarting us outsmarting you."
"Yeah," agreed Squall. "Uh, whatever it is you said."
"It just means we were one step ahead of them the entire time," explained Oak. "Marle's plan worked better than we could have hoped and if I'm not mistaken, that was the signal for us to head back to the temple to help her out, well at least what is probably left of it."
"You three are insane," groaned one of the Kitsunes desperately trying to get out of his hole. "Your friend just destroyed an irreplaceable treasure and killed herself and Verse! We won't let you get away with this!"
"First off," remarked Oak. "Marle won't let something like this kill her and second," Oak took off a leaf and pointed it at the Kitsune. It poofed into a long feather. "If you try to stop us, we won't just play around with you anymore." He used the feather on the Kitsune, tickling him till he lost his grip and fell back into the hole.
"This is my favorite spot," declared Nova pointing at a sizable rock that was flat at the top. "We'll eat up there. It soaks up the sunlight so it's nice and warm up there."
Nova began to climb up the side of the rock while Tails flew up there. Upon reaching the top, they found that they were not the first to arrive. Resting on the rock, eyes closed and yawning was Dyne.
"It's him again," thought Tails meekly.
"What are you doing here?!?" snapped Nova hurrying over to him. "This is where I eat my lunch."
"So what?" yawned Dyne. "I'm taking a nap."
"I don't care," argued Nova. "We are eating here so you have to leave."
"I got here first, so you should leave," he commented.
"I've been coming here forever so you leave," he retorted. Nova was getting angrier just for the fact that Dyne wasn't even budging despite how much he was yelling at him.
"Why don't we just share the rock?" suggested Tails. "There is more than enough space for all of us to share."
"Share the rock?" asked Nova skeptically like a child hesitant to share his toys. "I guess that would be fine."
"Whatever," said Dyne agreeing to it lazily.
"Then time to eat," cheered Nova unpacking all his food and Tails doing the same. "Let's fill our bellies and then we'll be ready for some sparring." Once he had all his food out in front of him, Nova began scarfing it all down with his usual haste. Tails ate at his own more sedate pace, but paused after a few bites and looked over at Dyne.
"Would you like something?" he asked holding a wrapped up sandwich for him.
"Hmm?" asked Dyne opening his eyes a crack. "Why?"
"Well, I thought you might be hungry and it doesn't look like you brought anything with you to eat." Tails waited for a response, but Dyne just turned his back to Tails and didn't say a word.
"Forget about him," said Nova. "He is too stubborn to accept a handout. I'm more surprised you'd want to do anything nice to him after what happened earlier."
"We've cut Eggman a lot of slack and with all the endless trouble he's caused," explained Tails.
"You have battles against a giant egg?" asked Nova surprised. "How big an egg? I bet I could make one monster omelet from that guy."
"No, his name is Eggman," Tails began to explain.
"It won't do you any good," commented Dyne. "He's already drooling at the thought of a giant omelet. Better just take the chance to eat before he recovers."
"Guess you have a point," admitted Tails noticing Dyne had already eaten the sandwich he had offered him. "That's advice you might want to take if you are still hungry."
"Still standing," panted Marle still managing to remain on her feet. "Better than I've done in practice." She looking around at the ruins of the temple all around her and the damage that spread out quite a ways into the forest too. "Still needs some work. It's so hard to hold it back."
"You," groaned Verse emerging from the rubble, this time it was truly her. "Look what you've done. This temple that stood here for centuries has been destroyed!"
"Such a loss, I know," admitted Marle. "It pains me that I had to do such a terrible thing to such a historical sight. The archeologist within me mourns, but it was all calculated to help me deal with you and your power."
"What do you mean?" she questioned. "Are you telling me you had this planned from the start?"
"Why else do you think I waited till I was standing in the center of the room to attack?" asked Marle. "It had a hole in the roof to allow light to flow inside, so it was the ideal spot be when I brought it all down."
"That's impossible," argued Verse. "There is no way you could have been able to know where to stand while you were in my illusion."
"I had a way," she explained. "Remember those rocks I threw at the start of our little fight?" Reaching down, she picked up a rock and showed an "X" that was scratched into it. "This was the rock I tossed into the center of the room. I used it as marker and just worked my way to it."
"And from there you attempted to defeat me with a single attack," finished Verse. "But look where we are now, both still standing and you without any power."
"Same as you," pointed out Marle. "I doubt you have the power to use any more of your arts either."
"That's fine with me," stated Verse. "I will just defeat you with force then."
"Then come and try," replied Marle cracking her knuckles and then holding them up ready to brawl. Growling, Verse came at Marle, fists swinging. They both swung a blow at one another, hitting one another in the face at the exact same time.
Tails ate as rapidly as he could, attempting to eat as much as he could, but he couldn't eat with nearly the same speed that Nova did. "You two certain have a, uh, hasty method of eating," commented Dyne eating his second sandwich.
"If I don't, Nova is going to eat everything," commented Tails. "I have to eat fast if I want to have my fill."
"That makes sense then," replied Dyne.
"Hey," stated Nova. "When did you suddenly get up from your sunbathing?" asked Nova pausing from eating.
"I was given an invitation to join you and I took it," he explained. "And I could use something in my stomach before I do some training too."
"Then you could train with us," suggested Tails.
"After earlier?" questioned Nova. "Do you really want to give him another chance to send you to the infirmary?"
"Ok," he replied. "I'll spar with you, but it'll probably be better if we do 2-on-1. This way, it'll be fair."
"And this isn't just an attempt to flex your ego by beating both of us at once?" argued Nova.
"Naturally, I'm not going to hold back, but if you are not confident in your own skills, I understand," retorted Dyne calmly.
"Challenge accepted!" exclaimed Nova stuffing his maw with any remaining food in reach and swallowing in one painful gulp. "Come on Tails! Let's get started!"
"You've sure gotten motivated," commented Tails as Nova took his arm and leapt off the top of the rock with Tails.
"This should prove entertaining," thought Dyne with a smile. He climbed down the rock after them and took his position a few yards away from them. "So, we all ready to start?"
"Yeah we are," answered Nova burning with enthusiasm. "You got too cocky thinking you could beat the two of us at once."
"We'll see," replied Dyne as one of his tails glowed and all over the area they were at, the air started to distort.
"Isn't this the thing you do to blow stuff up?" asked Tails hesitant to move. "Why are there so many this time?"
"I was feeling hungry earlier," Dyne admitted. "So, I had to fight with a bit of a handicap, but now that I've had a good lunch that won't be such a problem. Now that I've set up the battlefield would you like to make the next move?"
"How are we supposed to do that?" complained Nova.
"That's why we're sparring," explained Dyne. "If you don't want to do anything then I will." Another of this tails started to glow and he created a small cyclone beneath one of his bomb spots. The bomb got pulled into it then got launched at where Tails and Nova was.
"He can do something like that too?" cried Tails.
"Apparently," replied Nova as they fumbled to get away without setting off any of the other bombs and narrowly succeeded.
"Not bad," he complimented. "But I hope you aren't finished after just that." Dyne added emphasis by dispersing the first cyclone and creating three more with the same purpose as the first.
"If you can do that then maybe I can too," replied Tails. Whipping one of his tails, he sent a gush of wind at one of Dyne's bombs and sent it flying at him. It almost hit him, but it collided with another bomb first. "My aim was a little off."
"That's ok," stated Nova his tail glowing red as a pair of fireballs formed in his paws. "We're doing this to improve." Throwing the fireballs into the air and creating more right after, Nova rained down the flames all around Dyne, setting off some of his bombs in the process as well as igniting the grass on the ground."
"Better," smirked Dyne. "This is turning out to be really fun."
Back and forth over and over, Marle and Verse exchanged hits with one another. Their faces were bruised and swollen from the repeated attacks, but the more they continued to fight the weaker and sluggish their strikes became.
"Had enough yet?" panted Verse. "Ready to admit defeat?"
"Hardly," moaned Marle. "I didn't go through all this just to fail now."
"Same here," she replied. "But just look at yourself. You legs are so wobbly you can barely stand."
"Your legs look like limp noodles," Marle countered.
"They are not," stated Verse falling to her knees. "You've got the noodle legs."
"I do not," groaned Marle falling on her butt. "Not tired in the least."
"Me neither," Verse stated as she fell forward and Marle reclined on her back. "But if you need quick break, I wouldn't be opposed to it."
"No, I'm good, but if you need one, I would wait for you," replied Marle.
"Marle! Are you okay?" called Oak as he and Squall arrived.
"What took you guys so long?" she groaned.
"We hurried back as soon as you did your big attack," said Oak as he turned to Squall. "However..."
"I, uh, had to find somewhere to go," Squall admitted while averting his eyes. "Sorry."
"It's fine," she told them. "Just help me up and let's get the Purple Tail and get out of here."
"This can't be happening," groaned Verse. "Where are all the others? Don't tell me, you beat them all?"
"Of course we did," bragged Oak. "They were no match for us."
"Yeah," agreed Squall. "They fell into our pits so there's no way they'll make it out before we're long gone."
"Putting it that way makes us sound lame," argued Oak.
"All that doesn't matter," Marle stated. "Just help me up and let's get what we came here for."
"Right away, Marle," replied Oak as Squall picked her up and they walked to the remains of the chamber where it was held. Verse was unable to do anything but watch them walk away.
"No," she groaned trying her best to get up, but she lacked the strength to. "This can't be happening."
"Are you sure the Purple Tail didn't get obliterated with the rest of the temple?" asked Squall looking around.
"They were made by the Great Kitsune," explained Marle. "They wouldn't be made so fragile to break that easily. It's probably just buried under some rubble. We just need to look around till we find it."
"Then leave it to us," stated Oak as he began rummaging through the debris and Squall helped after he put Marle down. It took a bit of work, but after clearing the temple rubble away from the area they finally located it. "Marle! We've found it!"
"Great work!" she praised them. "Now let's leave so we can rest up and recover for the next Tail."
"And you can count on us to scout out the next one," stated Oak. "There's only four left, red, orange, indigo, and white."
"The Red Tail will have to wait for now," said Marle. "It's in the heart of the city and we're not exactly the most welcome there at the moment."
"Then how about the Orange one?" suggested Squall. "We've already found out where that one is located."
"The Orange Tail it is then," she agreed.
"Boy, you two were really out late," said Lilly as Tails and Nova hobbled their way to the house. The sky above was dark and filled with twinkling stars. "I kept your dinner warm."
"Good," groaned Nova weakly. "Just put it in my mouth. I think I can still manage to swallow."
"What in the world happened to you two to make you so tired?" asked Lilly as she helped them into the house and seated them at the table. They suddenly seemed to gain a burst of energy upon seeing the pork chops, mashed potatoes, and string bean casserole on the table, still piping hot like she had told them. Salivating at the sight, they tore into it all ravenously.
"We were doing some intense training," explained Nova between bites. "Dyne was sparring against both of us. He's a bit of a jerk, but he gave us a good workout. We blew up a lot, but a good workout nonetheless."
"I really wish you would find a way to train without having to fight," sighed Lilly. "You're always coming home with more and more bruises."
"But we really made a lot of progress today," replied Tails. "I think we got a lot strong."
"A ton stronger," stated Nova. "And I bet we'll be able to get him to spar with us more with some more food tomorrow."
"I must be dreaming," commented Lilly. "Is my son actually talking about giving food to someone else? I never thought I'd see the day."
"It's not that unbelievable, right Tails?" asked Nova to Tails.
"Uh, if you say so," answered Tails while piling food onto his plate with his mouth already stuffed with food. Lilly and Nova stared as he did this. "Is there something on my face?"
"I think Nova's appetite might be rubbing off on you," mentioned Lilly. "I might have to buy more food."
"Buy more food!" repeated Nova with far more enthusiasm in his voice. "Sounds good to me."
"I think your mom is right," groaned Tails flopping down on Nova's bed and rubbed his distended belly after finishing dinner and dessert after that. "I don't think I ever stuffed my face like that before."
"It's only natural when you train as hard as we do," replied Nova getting comfortable on the floor. His mother had managed to get him a mattress, blanket, and pillow to be more comfortable down there. "It's not that big of a deal since mom's such a great cook. The best on the entire island, I'd say."
"Are you trying to get a second dessert?" asked Lilly standing by the door.
"It didn't hurt to try," he chuckled as he got comfortable in bed.
"I'm afraid you'll have to settle for another story," she told him. "Now where did we leave off last time?"
"Just after more kitsunes started coming to the island," yawned Tails pulling the blanket over his paunch.
"Oh, that's right," she replied picking up the book and turning to the next entry.
Nine City, that's what I called the town that was formed once we had a big enough population to have a city on the island. Admittedly, I'm not the more creative when it comes to naming things, but everyone seems to like it and has been really enjoying life here. I had to make the island much larger to ensure that there is more than enough room, but that hasn't been a problem for me, but something more challenging I want to do is to build a school to help teach other Kitsunes how to use Kitsune Arts just as my master had taught me. This hadn't been something I even thought about doing until I found out Garnett is expecting. When I first found that out I practically jumped out of my fur.
Yes, everything is great, but as many of the Kitsunes have pointed out as our population reached the triple digits and continued to climb at a pace far faster than I ever imagined it would with not only foxes and Kitsunes, but all kinds of species, a more defined order is needed and a leader to help manage all that. Everyone seems to think that I am the first, best choice, but admittedly, I've never been particularly good at working with others and making big decisions. Despite my constant protests, I may have no choice, but it seems I will at least be able to have some advisors to help with making decisions and delegating responsibilities and territory too. Mostly, I hope they can do the work without me. I don't think a job like this will really suit me.
