At The End Of The Tunnel

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At The End Of The Tunnel

Co-Written By Harley Quinn hyenaholic and Froggy22651

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Harley: What is with you people? We’re going to turn this into a BOOK! Come on, review it!

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Chapter Twenty-Five: Pasts Entwined

Riding on the stolen hoverbike, heading into the frozen north, it was difficult to talk. Breech held onto James tightly, shivering and wishing that her fur was thicker and her clothes were warmer. She’d done the best she could with James’ wardrobe, but she was still cold.

The hoverbike cruised over the pine forest of Grenao, the temperature dropping fast, and thick, grey clouds gathering overhead. The ground was lightly dusted with snow, but James, who had grown up there, knew that it was yet to get a lot thicker. He wrapped his cloak tightly around himself and could feel Breech shivering behind him, "Don't worry!" he shouted over the engine noise, "We’re almost there!"

"Uh-huh?" Breech replied, her teeth chattering. She was a city girl, not used to these kinds of temperatures. She clutched James tighter.

James’ armour was insulated, so he was somewhat protected from the cold, but he too could feel the chill. His nose tingled as a single snowflake dropped on it. He looked up and noticed that it had begun to snow. Playfully, he stuck his tongue out and caught snowflakes on it.

"Are we there yet?" Breech shouted.

She didn't much like these speeds - she had this perpetual image of the transport slamming into something and themselves dying in an explosion.

"Soon!" he shouted back. The wind was picking up fast, and the snow was falling faster. The temperature was dropping, and so was the visibility. "Uh, looks like we are driving into a storm!"

Oh, shit, thought Breech, not speaking aloud. She didn't want James to think she was scared, but she was, a little.

James himself was getting a little nervous. The snowstorm was turning into a blizzard; he couldn't see ten feet in front of him. The fox slowed the bike down and decreased altitude, descending into the forest and taking his time. Shivering, James turned his head, "It might take longer than I thought!"

"James, look out!" Breech screamed, pointing at a tree they were heading straight for.

James swerved out of the way, just in time, "Damn! This could be a lot harder than I thought..." They couldn't go too fast for fear of crashing, but if they took too long, they would freeze to death!

"I HATE snow," Breech complained, "It's hard to believe one ever thought it fun."

James generally enjoyed the snow in small amounts, but this was ridiculous. The fox shivered as he navigated the bike through the snow, using its radar imaging system to help them by, "Just hang on; we'll be in the fortress soon enough warming up near a fire."

"Gods I hope so," Breech winced.

In her backpack she had guns, ammo and her supply of ROBO, along with clean needles and as much food as she could fit in at the same time. All the things a psycho needed when they were away from home.

After piloting the bike through the snow and numbing cold, James saw the familiar shape of the fortress coming into view. He transmitted the required signal to enter, deactivating the perimeter defences and opening the large steel doors. He cruised inside and immediately drove towards the fortress' docking bay.

Breech practically fell off the bike, rubbing her extremities to try to get some warmth into them.

Parking the bike, James hopped off and rubbed Breech's arms with his numb paws, "Come on, let's get inside," he led her towards the entrance to the fortress and stepped inside. The air conditioning had already begun warming the place up for them as they stepped inside. They walked through the ancient stone hallways as James led them towards the large chamber that acted as the public meeting place for the guard, essentially a huge living room with a large fireplace at one end and furniture for tired warriors to relax and talk. He lit the fireplace and sat down close to it, rubbing feeling back into his hands.

"Nice... place... for a carouse," Breech shivered, trying to get warm, "You could have a helluva bash in here."

James chuckled, "We have before." He looked around the familiar surroundings of his childhood home. That passage led to the great courtyard, that one to the library, that one to the training room, the dinning room, the armoury, the barracks, the throne room and Captain's quarters... He smiled slightly.

Breech sighed and leant back in a chair, "Well, I've never been here before... looks like a nice place for story-telling though," she said.

"That it is," he agreed, "This fortress has a long history behind it, as long as the kingdom itself. Many great men and women have walked through here."

Breech shrugged, "Why not tell me one of your stories?" she suggested, "I'm not up to treasure hunting right now.”

"Gosh... I don't know. I'm not a good storyteller. How about you tell me a story? Maybe... about some time you were happy."

Breech looked down, "I dunno... there weren't many times..."

He scooted closer and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, "There had to be some times that weren't so bad."

"Well... yeah... but it was kind of a long time ago," Breech sighed, “And screwy.”

“Aw... come on. Tell me about it," James prompted.

"Okay... I guess you should know...” Breech took a deep breath, remembering…

~~~

“If you work for me, I will give you the revenge you desire so greatly,” Robotnik chuckled.

“Okay, your highness,” she was almost naked, only wearing a white vest and headband. Robotnik handed her a sword nearly as tall as she was. She could never in a hundred years have handled it with any skill.

“Take this sword. Go to the cells and kill any you desire. They are useless to me, so they might as well be of use to you. The SWATbots have been commanded to let you past.”

She smiled sadistically, and went to the cells, opening the first door. Two SWATbots were beating up a young fox.

“Leave,” she ordered them. They did so without question.

The fox looked up at her, “Oh gods, thankyou-“ he stopped, realising that she was a stranger, “Who are you? Are you here to get us out?”

“You could say that,” she lifted the sword and brought it down across the chains roughly. They were severed easily, and he slumped forward. As he started to rise, she stepped forward and pinned him to the ground with the sword, forcing it through his back. He screamed and she bent down to raise his chin with her hand, “How does it feel, soldier? How does it feel to be completely helpless and in pain?”

The fox coughed up a spray of blood into her face, “Who are you?” he gasped.

She leant forward until he could see nothing but the emerald fire in her eyes, “I’m Breech Loader.”

The fox gurgled quietly and died. Breech dropped his face and kicked him into the corner. She was covered in blood, and he had died… but it was not satisfying enough. She trekked the blood to another cell. The door opened. There a wolf was being savagely beaten by the two SWATbots she had just ordered to leave.

“Get out, damn you!” she snarled at them, and turned to the wolf. He could see the blood all over her hands, feet and face, and the sword she carried.

“Lieutenant Cromley, 437-6570,” he gasped, regaining his breath.

“Be grateful that you’re dying by my paw, scum,” Breech hissed, trembling with excitement, “It will be quicker than what your kind dealt to me.”

The wolf just had the time to wonder what ‘your kind’ meant, before she slammed the blade across his chest, and blood gushed from him onto her. He screamed until she dealt him the mercy of the second blow, which entered his brain and killed him.

Not enough, not enough… what would be enough? She raced to the next cell, leaving blood behind her, and kicked open the door. The SWATbots were still there, whaling on a hedgehog. She screamed and cut them apart. The fell to the floor, and the panting hedgehog looked up.

“Oh gods…” he stopped as he saw the expression in her eyes, “Who-“

Breech didn’t want to hear his voice. She stepped forward and almost threw the sword at his body. He screamed, the blood gushing from his body, and she held his face, staring into his eyes until life left them.

She trekked from cell to cell, until the blood dripped down her body, onto the floor, until it was all she was. And when they were dead, she wiped her bloody face with her bloody paw and moved on. There were no more unlocked cells. So she smeared her way back to the throne room.

Robotnik laughed when he saw her, “Satisfied?” he asked her, taking the sword from her paws.

“No,” she replied.

“Good. Wait in those shadows. I’m bringing someone special in.”

Breech trekked more blood over to the corner and watched as a fox was dragged in, clearly in pain. Good. She wondered how he was going to die.

There was a brief conversation between him and Robotnik. Then doors opened just behind her, and three people were dragged in – a vixen and two cubs. The woman looked at her pleadingly as she was dragged by. Or maybe it was a gaze of pity.

They were dragged past, to the throne room. The fox was now trapped in a tube. Breech gasped as Robotnik used the sword to kill the younger child, covering her mouth to stifle the sound.

So she turned her attention to the fox, who was screaming and beating his paws against the tube until they bled. What a pathetic moron. He’d never break through. The look on his face was priceless though. There was another scream, which made her fur stand on end, and the Royal Guard’s expression changed, showing silenced shock. Finally, he slumped to the floor, curling up.

Then Robotnik laughed again, and the fox was roboticised. Breech hoped it was painful. It sure looked that way.

~~~

James twisted and shoved Breech away from him, getting to his feet, a look of horror on his face. He tried to speak, but nothing would come out.

"I'm sorry, James!" Breech pleaded.

"...Why did you just stand there, Breech? Why didn't you do something?!" James asked her, unable to look her in the face.

"I... I didn't want to," Breech replied, "I hated you then - you were just another Royal Guard!"

"But my family wasn't! They didn't deserve to die that way!"

Breech took a deep breath, "I know that! I knew that then! And I didn't think about them dying! I wouldn't let myself! I was only thinking about how much their death hurt you!”

James’ voice was breaking as he tried to hold back tears, "I saved you when I could have left you to die, Breech! I betrayed my friends to save you! And you just left my family to die to get at me?! I never did anything to hurt you!"

"And I'm grateful! Don't you know I'm grateful?!" Breech tried to take his paw.

James snatched his paw away and backed off, "Why did you even tell me this?!"

"Because it would be like lying not to," Breech bit her lip, "I couldn't... I couldn't have you... caring, if I was lying to you, it would be wrong! Please, please don't hate me!" she begged again.

James buried his face in his paws, "I don't hate you... I just don't know what to think anymore. About anything!"

"I told you I was a bad person," Breech wailed, "Oh, please, I never meant to hurt YOU, you're different now that I know you!"

"Oh gods!" James opened his eyes and looked into hers, a tear running down his cheek, "I... I need some time alone... to think..."

"PLEASE don't hate me!" Breech begged again, "I shouldn't have made you promise, but please don't!"

James turned and started walking away, "I don't hate you Breech. I'm just not sure how to handle this..."

Breech hung her head, "I understand..." she whispered, and curled up in front of the fire, "I'm sorry, James."

James turned back, his body trembling, "...You could have saved them! You could have ended it right there!"

Breech stared at her feet, "Yes, I know. I didn't want to then."

James turned to face her again, "And now, Breech? How do you feel now?"

Breech looked at him, her eyes wide open, "I don't hate you! I swear it!"

James didn't know how to respond to that. Part of him wanted to walk away right there, and never look back at her, leave her like Sally did to him, no forgiveness. The other part was confusion, a mess of emotional turmoil that he couldn't cut through, "I don't know what I feel anymore."

Breech watched him leave the room, then curled up again and hid her face under her tail, weeping silently. She’d never wanted to hurt James… not like this… she’d just wanted to be honest with him.

And now it turned out that she would have been better to keep lying… she didn’t know what to do anymore, just like him.

She reached inside the backpack and brought out the needle and plastic bag of R-15-2-15. Oh well, time for another dose of Robotnik’s slave drug. She felt like crying – the man was probably dead, and she was still his slave.

~~~

James walked quickly out of the main chamber, leaving Breech behind him. He needed to get away. He was overwhelmed by conflicting emotions, and he didn’t trust himself to make the right choice. He needed to go somewhere isolated and quiet, to quiet his mind, to think things through. Well, he couldn’t think of a more isolated place than the Grenao vault.

Buried deep under the fortress, secret, made of thick steel walls, and requiring multiple forms of identification to get in, it could probably survive a nuclear blast. If a bomb hit the palace and killed everyone in it, the treasure would still be there, waiting for some future treasure hunter to come and find it. It was a strange thought.

The Captain of the Guard made his way down the spiral staircase and keycard access elevator to the vault entrance. A fingerprint scan, retinal scan, and a ten-digit code later, James was walking through the vault, filled with stacks of gold and silver bars, all of it useless to the current kingdom. It had no great value, really. It was just metal. James had plenty of that inside him already. Riches couldn’t buy him happiness or satisfaction.

The fox searched the vault, looking for what he remembered finding before… and he saw it. Sitting atop a metal crate was a large gem, sky-blue in color, glowing very softly in the dim lighting of the vault. James approached the chaos emerald, picked it up, and took a seat on the crate, peering into the mystical gem. For a moment, he ignored his personal problems and just wondered how such an innocent-looking gemstone could cause such problems. It was large, and it glowed, but it didn’t look like the awesome source of power others claimed it to be.

James started talking to the emerald.

“I just don’t get it. What am I supposed to do? I mean… I want to kiss her and kill her at the same time. She killed my brothers, innocent and guilty alike. She just stood there, watched my family get murdered and me be tortured and enslaved, and she enjoyed it! But yet… I know why she did it. It never occurred to her that we could be anything other than animals. She knows now, she admitted to it, she wants to be honest with me. And I really think she’s afraid of losing me. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t care for her… but how can I forgive her for what she has done?”

He sighed. “Look at me… talking to a goddamn rock…”

Suddenly, the emerald’s glow intensified. James looked into the glow with widening eyes, mystified. He liked that colour. It was the colour of his wife’s and his son’s eyes. He found himself drawn to the light like a moth to the flame… and he could feel the emerald probing his mind.

The Dark Lord James Prower stood triumphantly at the top of the stairs to his grand citadel, overlooking his new empire that he had taken from Robotnik, shortly after he had arranged for the Overlander’s demise. Slaves, traitors to the old Acorn Kingdom and those who apposed the new order, worked beneath him, rebuilding the damage made from pointless wars and reshaping the world into one of his design. The might of the chaos emeralds had allowed for this. He had taken their power, used it to cleanse himself of weakness, and took back the world. He crushed his enemies beneath his armoured boot, making the world a safer place for all. And now HE was the master!

Clad in black armour, his eyes burning red coals, he looked down the stairs with raw hatred etched into his expression at the whore that had used him, that had murdered his brothers and stood by while he and his family had suffered. Breech looked up at him, her body bruised and battered. She begged for mercy, for forgiveness, crying about how sorry she was for her mistakes. James wasn’t interested in mercy. Mercy was a weakness. So was love and compassion. He had cast those weak illusions away, burned them out of him. In doing so, he was alone, but he no longer cared. He had the power to shape the world, and that was all that was important. He back-handed her across the face, smiling as she cried out in shock, then picked her up off the floor by her hair. With as much care as one squashing a bug, he lifted his hands and unleashed a barrage of chaos energy into the feline’s body. She screamed in agony, burst into flames, and blew away on the wind as ash…

James gasped and reeled in shock at the vision. He stared in wide-eyed fear of the gem in his hands. The vision had been unthinkable… but strangely compelling as well. He couldn’t deny his wish for greater power, power to defeat the evils that plagued the world. But what would be the cost of such power? Could he maintain his sense of right and wrong, of balance, or would his soul be corrupted by the power, as in the vision that the stone had given him?

James Prower stood on a balcony overlooking a restored Mobotropolis. The sky had finally been cleaned of Robotnik’s pollution, and workers below were doing their best to fix the remaining damage to their great city. The kingdom was restored, Robotnik was overthrown, and James had finally found some peace and quiet. No longer was he in the royal guard. His armour was boxed away in his collection of old mementos, and his sword had been placed in the Hall of the Captains in Grenao Fortress. He was done with that life; he couldn’t fight forever. Sure, there would always be evil in the world, but that was the way of things. It was time for the newer generation of guardsmen to handle it. He hoped that he trained them well enough, and they would keep his lessons close in their minds.

He looked down at his baby daughter in his arms. Feline for the most part, her fur was streaks of orange, black, and white, and she had her father’s eyes. Breech walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist, leaning against his side, a smile on her face. She was no longer haunted by her demons; together they had beaten them. Not with great magic power or weapons or training, but by believing in each other, forgiving each other for their faults, and following the will of their hearts. James’ life had by no means been a perfect one, but as he held his daughter in his arms and looked into his mate and lover’s eyes, he realized that it was close enough to heaven for him. Together, they looked out over the city as the sun rose once more…

James released the breath he had been holding and looked into the emerald, his mind stunned by the sights he had seen. What were they? Visions of possible futures? Images conjured up the emerald to test him? Or could they be hallucinations generated by a mind that had finally snapped?

Maybe it all boiled down to a choice. An important choice that James had to make that would determine the course of his life. Would he seek vengeance for his friends, wife and children? Or would he just forgive, let the past be past, and let Breech go free?

For a man like James Prower, it was an easy choice to make.

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End of Chapter Twenty-Five

Harley: For crying out loud, review, damn you all!