---

Author's Notes:

Tails of the Old Republic is a crossover between the Sonic the Hedgehog universe and the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic video game.

Sonic and all related IP belongs to SEGA/ Sonic Team
SW: KotOR and all related IP belongs to Disney/ Lucas Arts/ Bioware Corp
No copyright or trademark infringement intended.

Series rated "Web-14" for violence, mild language, and suggestive themes.

---

Meanwhile, in the cantina, Carth Onasi was busy having an aneurysm.


“I. Am going. To strangle that kid!” he said.


“Before, or after, this ‘Bendak Starkiller’ does it for you?” asked Bastila.


“And he wonders why I can’t trust him!”


“Do you think he’s really doing this for the credits?”


“No,” said Carth. “He’s probably doing this out of some misguided moral quest. I saw Starkiller’s bounty back at Zax’s office, but I had dismissed it at the time. He’s a mass-murdering scumbag and deserves to be put out of everyone’s misery, but this has to be the most asinine way of going about it!”


“Getting paid to murder others is hardly justifiable Carth Onasi,” said Bastila. “It is a path that could easily lead to the dark side!”


“Yeah, well, it’s been my experience that the targets of these kinds of bounties are hardened criminals themselves, so don’t get your robes all in a twist over it. No, my problem is how much extra attention a public death match is going to attract up here, and the fact that once again he did not tell me! This whole thing is just pointless and stupid and he’s going to get himself killed for nothing.”


“I’ll get my ‘robes in a twist’ over it if I feel it’s justified, Carth!”


“Hey, cut it out, you two!” said Mission. “I’m worried for him, too, and I don’t know why he would agree to this, but consider how much Tails has gone out of his way to help you guys! The thing at Zelka’s might have been a mistake, but I’ll at least trust him to know what he’s doing!”


Zaalbar didn’t say anything, but he at least rumbled in agreement.


Carth quit pacing, and after sighing, he sat back down at their dining table. “The Sith are going to be all over this,” he grumbled. He looked around the packed cantina. There were about twice as many patrons as normal, creating quite the ruckus, and the Republic officer saw many Sith soldiers inside, some in armor, some in service uniforms. For her part, Bastila had covered herself in the tunic of a Tarisian noble, concealing her Jedi robes and lightsaber. Carth hoped that, between the extra concealment and whatever mind-trick effect she might be radiating, their group would continue to be ignored by the patrols.


“Aaand he’s late, what a surprise,” Carth said after checking the time. Only an hour and a half remained until Tails’ scheduled duel with Bendak. After taking the last swig of his drink, he added, “We should get back to scoping out Davik’s agents, or whoever else might help us.”


The party dispersed again, though with Mission staying near Zaalbar, and Carth staying near Bastila. After some time, Mission found herself in the dueling area with Ajuur the Hutt in the back. The Twi’lek girl shook her head, not comprehending why Tails wanted to go through with this. There was a small commotion behind her, and upon turning around, she spotted a small armored figure strolling through the entrance. She blinked — she couldn’t see the figure’s face, but he was busy devouring a pair of chili dogs with one hand, and sipping a soft drink from the other. Then she looked behind him, and saw the enormous pair of fluffy orange-white tails trailing behind him.


“Tails!” she called out. The boy saw her, then waved awkwardly with his drink-hand. They closed the gap between them, and Mission tried to get a better look at him. “I hardly recognize you under all that — just where did you get that armor?” she asked.


The boy gulped down a chunk of chili dog. “At the Emporium. Where else?”


“Wow, that looks expensive. Just how much did that kit cost?”


“My dignity,” Tails grumbled. “Let’s just say I got a rent-to-own kind of deal.”


Mission frowned. She looked around the dueling area, then back at the armored Mobian. “Tails… I’m really worried about you. Maybe Bendak deserves to die for everything he’s done, maybe he doesn’t. But he is Taris’ dueling champion, and even after death matches became illegal up here, Bendak didn’t stop. He’s killed everyone who’s ever faced him, in the ring and out.”


“I know,” Tails said solemnly. “That’s why I need to do this. I’m the one who has to stop him.”


“But, why you?” she pleaded.


“Because I think I’m the only one who can,” the boy said.


Mission’s frown started to turn into a scowl. “Don’t you think that’s just a little arrogant of you? Even with all your powers and abilities, even after what you’ve said so far about your life’s history, do you really think beating him will be so easy? Are you really ready to kill him just to avenge his past victims? Or to satisfy some personal moral obligation?”


Tails looked away from Mission’s burning glare. “I wish I could fully explain myself, Mission. I really do. But I’m willing to do whatever it takes to stop Bendak Starkiller.”


The girl just shook her head, and marched around him towards the entrance. She stopped at the threshold and looked back.


“Please don’t die.”


Before Tails could say anything, Mission vanished into the crowds.


The boy sighed, and the sensation of dread settled into the pit of his gut. He finished the last few bites of his food, the last few gulps of his drink, then walked toward Ajuur. He was accosted by fans the entire way, but he ignored them. To his surprise, however, the five duelists he had defeated earlier were there. None of them seemed particularly happy to see him, though they seemed more sad than angry or spiteful.


‘Deadeye’ Duncan was the first in his way. “I heard you challenged Bendak Starkiller,” he said. “I’ll probably watch the fight, but forgive me if I don’t go to your funeral.”


Tails said nothing and brushed past him.


Gerlon ‘Two Fingers’ was next. “You’re good, Stranger, I’ll give you that. But, going up against Bendak is suicide! Even before I lost my fingers, I wouldn’t have risked a death match with Starkiller!”


“So you’re going to fight Bendak Starkiller, Stranger,” said the woman, Ice. “I’m not one to mince words, so I’ll just say it: you’re dead. He’ll kill you, end of story. You think I’m cold and hard, wait until you step into the ring with him. He’s a natural-born killer. You had great potential, Stranger. Too bad you’re going to throw it all away.”


The boy found himself increasingly rattled by their words. Sure, he had defeated all of them in their duels, but they all knew Bendak, by reputation only if nothing else. They knew how he fought and killed. Tails felt they weren’t passing judgment on him — but rather funeral rites.


The old man Marl now stood in this way. Tails stopped and looked for an easy path around him.


“You're good, Stranger… maybe even as good as Bendak in his prime,” said Marl. “There was no shame in losing to you. But, I feel like this is a terrible mistake you’re making, son. This game's been good to me, but I stayed out of death matches, and I can’t say the same for Starkiller. This is one fight you won’t be coming back from if you lose. I won’t be watching your duel if you choose to go through with this. Goodbye, Stranger — I wish you the best.”


Marl departed, and vanished into the crowds. Only Twitch remained, and he was standing off to the side.


“You beat Twitch, you very good!” the Rodian chirped. “But you no beat Bendak! He kill you!”


Tails just sighed and kept walking.


“The Mysterious Stranger returns!” the Hutt exclaimed. “And wearing shiny new duds, I see. People are betting a fortune on this night! Since you and Bendak are planning a death match, I’ve been having the best business in a decade, ha ha ha!”


“That’s… that’s nice, Ajuur,” said Tails.


“Not too many people want to fight in death matches anymore. Some are just scared of dying, others believe it’s wrong to kill another person for credits. I guess that’s why they’re illegal now.”


“I’m just here for Bendak’s bounty.”


“Of course, of course,” said Ajuur. “Bendak is an evil, evil man. Killing him would be a good thing! Ba ha ha ha. This fight will be different than the others, you understand. We’ll turn off the energy suppressors, so weapons won’t be limited anymore. They can kill, and anything goes. So, you ready to go downstairs, now? There’s still fifty minutes until the match begins.”


“I’m ready to go,” said the boy.


“Good, excellent,” the Hutt gurgled. “High wagering tonight means lots of credits for the winner of this match! Come back to see me after the fight to collect your credits — if you’re still alive! Ha ha ha ha!”


The orange Twi'lek attendant appeared, and the girl led him down the stairs into the designated waiting area. Tails began his stretching exercises, warming himself up and maximizing his flexibility. He performed some sit-ups, push-ups, and squats, then practiced defensive maneuvers with his tails. Channeling Chaos energy through his namesakes, he lifted himself up and balanced in the air on a single tail. He then coiled his tail like a spring, bounced back up, then jumped onto the other tail, this time suspended upside down.


He was really warming up to the new armor, and while nothing could be as light and maneuverable as being nude like he usually was, the armor kit wasn’t nearly as restrictive as he worried it might be. It helped that it wasn’t a full-body suit, apart from the under-layer. As a modular kit, it was just meant to protect his vitals and provide decent coverage for his extremities. About ten percent of his torso and limbs were still exposed and vulnerable to blaster fire, but he could guard those areas, and his tails of course had nothing.


The fox then adjusted the straps on his armor more to his liking and checked the rest of his equipment. His headset integrated seamlessly with the helmet, and the Heads-Up Display now projected on the inside of his visor instead of directly over his eye. He had a new blaster pistol and vibrosword picked up from the Undercity and the Black Vulkar base, as well as a dueling shield. Lastly, he had managed to wring a few extra grenades out of Kebla after she had violated him so spectacularly. Will all his money spent on his armor, that’s was really all he had right then.


The pistol was called an ‘Arkanian heavy blaster’, according to Carth, and it certainly lived up to its name: the thing nearly weighed two kilograms! It was essentially a cut-down blaster rifle, now in pistol form, with a forty-centimeter barrel, no shoulder stock, and balanced for single-handed use. This one had been modified to accept Republic-standard power cells and component upgrades, though the only ones Tails could see were a laser sight and an electronic targeting scope. He kept it clipped to his hip.

The sword was a two-handed weapon that, at one point three meters, was longer than he was. Despite its length, it was very light, weighing less than the blaster did, and when gripped at the crossguard, it felt practically weightless. Because it was so long, he kept it strapped to his back; the tip nearly scraped the floor, and the pommel extended up past the tips of his ears. Tails wasn’t quite sure what use a vibroblade might have against Bendak, though it might be effective for something.


The dueling shield was a Sith model, and had been stolen by the Black Vulkars before falling into the hands of his friends. It was an upgraded version, and could dissipate fifty percent more energy than a standard shield. It also lasted longer: a charge could last a maximum of three hundred seconds, as opposed to only two hundred seconds of the basic model. Unfortunately, one of its power cells had burnt out, leaving only four charges available for combat. Tails would have to fix that later — assuming he survived this night. The shield generator was strapped to his left forearm, underneath his armor; luckily the two didn’t interfere with each other.


Lastly, the boy had nine grenades, all safely tucked away inside his ‘tailspace’. He had four frag grenades, two ion grenades, two concussion, and one cryoban. Tails remembered how muffled grenade explosions had been in previous duels, what with the arena’s energy suppressors active. They were undoubtedly going to be much more powerful with the suppressors off, and in the enclosed space, his ears were bound to hurt like hell.


Tails sighed. ‘Sonic… why am I doing this, again?’ he thought to himself.


The fox tried to consider his best possible battle strategy against Bendak. Undoubtedly, the man had been studying the last five duels he had fought in this ring, as well as the news recordings from the swoop race. Bendak would know he could fly, and use his tails as both blades and barriers. Should he try to hang back, and chip away at Bendak’s defenses where he would have better chance of evading the man’s fire? Or, should he try to close the distance as quickly as possible, and deny the man the use of his blasters?


Kebla had told him a few details about Bendak’s equipment, most of it from the earlier Mandalorian War. He wore a full-body suit called Neo-Crusader Armor, made not of ceramic composites like Tails has originally thought, but a metallic substance called beskar or ‘Mandalorian iron’. The boy was just a bit incredulous that an alloy of iron or steel was capable of half the things Kebla claimed, but according to her, not only was Bendak’s armor resistant against blasters, but it could even deflect a lightsaber strike. It wasn’t totally impervious, of course, but it was still damn tough. In addition, beneath the plating was a strength and speed-enhancing body suit, designed to counteract the armor’s massive weight. So, not only would Bendak be tough as an Abrams, but nimble as an Apache as well!


If that wasn’t bad enough, the man had retrofitted his armor to integrate with the new energy shield tech, and had all sorts of hidden compartments to store extra weapons or gadgets. No wonder Bendak was thought to be unkillable. He tended to favor a pair of custom blaster pistols in close combat, but he also carried a heavy, two-handed blaster rifle on certain occasions. That, and a wide assortment of blades and grenades.


‘I’m dead. I’m so effing dead. Someone shoot me before I embarrass myself on planet-wide television!’


Tails was letting his apprehension get the better of him, so he called upon his cybernetics to lock down his wayward emotions. The minutes quickly ticked by, and the boy kept up his warmup routine, to keep himself focused if nothing else. Soon enough, it was nine PM, and the arena doors opened up with great fanfare. The visor on his helmet darkened against the eyeball-searing overhead lights. With one last sigh, Tails marched up the last few steps, and the doors shut behind him.


‘I’m doing this for justice. Nothing else,’ he told himself. He really hoped that was true.


“Laaaadies and gentlemen,” exclaimed the ever-enthusiastic announcer, “come with me now on a journey to the savage days of years gone by… a time when two combatants entered the arena, and only one came out alive!”


The stadium seats were absolutely packed. Even during his duels with Marl and Twitch, the spectator area above the ring was never more than half full. Now the area was overflowing, and behind the blinding lights, Tails estimated there were at least ten thousand people up there. The boy couldn’t make out any individual faces, but he saw several Sith troopers in armor.


‘Uh-oh.’


“They’re illegal, they’re banned, they’ve been outlawed for nearly ten years — but we’ve got one for you tonight! A good, old fashioned… DEATH MATCH!”


‘Focus, damn it.’


Tails focused on the man in front of him. Twenty meters away, standing in his own starting square, was Bendak. Clad in his gold and white Neo-Crusader Armor, the Mandalorian hefted his two-handed blaster rifle. Bendak was a huge man, well over seven feet tall, closer to seven and a half, in fact. The Mobian didn’t think the top of his cranium came up higher than Bendak’s navel.


He received a ping on his headset’s communicator, and to his surprise, it was coming from the figure in front of him. He briefly considered shutting off the wireless receiver, but decided to accept the call. A small square thumbnail of Bendak’s helmet appeared on his visor.


“Hello, mutant!”


Yep, that was him, all right.


“Hello, Bendak,” said Tails.


“In this corner, a living legend! A man whose very name would make his opponents SHAKE in their boots… if any of them were still alive! Ba hahaha hahahaha! Out of retirement for one last battle: Bendak… STARKILLER!”


“You wouldn’t believe how happy I was when Ajuur set this up,” said Bendak, cutting into the announcer’s spiel. “Finally, after all these years, fresh meat!”


“I hope you haven’t gotten rusty, Bendak.”


“And who would be crazy enough to step into the ring with such a lethal legend? Who would be MAD enough to face almost certain death, merely for your enjoyment?”


“Just try not to die in the first minute, kid!” Bendak laughed. “I want to savor this match!”


“You’re going to be savoring my boot up your rear, Mister,” said Tails.


“Laaaadies and gentlemen, feast your wondering eyes on… the Mysterious Stranger!”


“Good luck with that, kid! You’re going to need it!”


“Go to hell, Bendak.”


“And now, the moment we’ve aaall been waiting for — LET THE DEATH MATCH…”


“You first, mutant,” and the man readied himself for battle.


Tails did the same, and he hit the activation button on his shield generator.


“… BEGIN!!”

---

Boss Battle:
BENDAK STARKILLER

[ music ]

The moment the air horn sounded, Tails launched himself through the air forty-five degrees to his right, blaster pistol aimed at Bendak’s center of mass. A targeting reticle appeared on the inside of his visor. Two blaster bolts flashed through the airspace he had just been standing in; the fox responded in kind, and his shots did not miss. A bluish flash indicated where each shot hit Bendak’s shields.


Tails immediately began circle-strafing counter clockwise around Bendak’s position, crouching low and presenting the smallest target he possibly could, all the while pelting him with blaster shots. The boy relied on fancy footwork to trip up Bendak’s aim, taking three steps forward, two steps back, and ducking and weaving side to side.


Bendak was still a damn good shot, though, and in spite of Tails’ evasive efforts, two out of every three blaster bolts struck. Tails watched his shield gauge drop precipitously, and a warning chime soon sounded in his ears as his shield integrity became critically low. Bendak wasn’t standing still and making himself an easy target, either. The man also began circling, and Tails and Bendak were practically trying to orbit each other, and only half of the fox’s shots found their mark. Starkiller may not have been quite as agile as Tails, but inside that Neo-Crusader Armor of his, the man was a running and gunning tank!


Just as Tails’ first shield charge was about to fail, the boy pulled in one of his tails and reached inside his storage space, pulling out an ion grenade. He chucked it as hard as he could at Bendak just as his shield bubble collapsed. The man saw and tried to evade, but his armor was heavier than he was. Bendak put on a burst of speed, and the grenade exploded behind him. The blast jolted the man off balance, and the bright blue cloud of ionized gas and dust caused arcs of electricity to dance across his armor, stripping his already weakened shields.


“Aaaarg!”


Tails had already dropped to one knee and leveled his blaster at Bendak, steadying the weapon with both hands. The boy unleashed a rapid-fire barrage of tightly aimed shots, and a full twelve shots struck the Mandalorian as he stumbled. His armor plating glowed an incandescent yellow-orange where each blaster bolt hit, but not a single shot penetrated, and within seconds the glowing metal cooled to reddish-orange, then dull red, then to nothing at all but a scratch.


Bendak recovered quickly, and he reached into one of the many compartments in his armor. Tails yelped and activated the second charge on his dueling shield, and the boy poured all his might into his legs as he frantically jumped away from his kneeling position. He was already on his downward arc when the blast hit, the wave of superheated plasma instantly cutting his shield down by half.


The boy rolled into a ball as he landed and entered a Spin Dash, cutting a chaotic path along the edge of the ring as blaster bolts flew around him. He then jumped out of his spin, spun up his tails, and flew in a short burst along the outer wall. Bendak briefly lost track of Tails, and the boy used that opportunity to blast him some more. Utilizing his blaster’s scope and laser sight, he shot Bendak’s chest in a tight circle, landing eight hits in a four-centimeter radius. Unfortunately, the man’s shields stopped all but the last one.


Starkiller recovered his aim, and pelted Tails with blaster fire. The alarm chime screeched in the boy’s ears again, and his shields collapsed a second time just as he pitched a frag grenade at Bendak. Two shots struck Tails in the center of his vest, one on his left thigh, and a fourth cut across his left tail.


“AUUGH!”


The grenade exploded, driving Bendak to the floor, and Tails crash-landed five meters away. Bendak rolled and chucked a second plasma grenade, then sat up in a crouch to blast the fox with his rifle. Tails barely saw the incoming projectile; he had no time to evade! He lunged forward, and smacked the grenade aside with his tail!


Tails felt the breath practically sucked from his lungs as the grenade exploded, and he shrieked as the wave of heat washed over him. Bendak’s aim was thrown off by the wayward explosion, but only slightly, and the boy struggled to evade his shots. He jumped to his feet, skipped to one side, ducked, then drew his sword.


Ignoring its vibration feature, Tails gripped the sword by its crossguard with his left hand, hooked its hilt on the inside of his elbow, then mashed his shield generator’s activation button with his right hand. Now on his third shield charge, the boy hurled his second and last ion grenade at the kneeling Starkiller.


Bendak scrambled to evade, and while he avoided the main blast, the ionized gas and dust stripped his shields yet again. Tails showered him with blaster bolts, holding the hope that, either he could hit a weak point, or just melt through Bendak’s armor through tightly focused fire.


The Mandalorian fired back, but Tails kept his sword blade pointed toward Bendak. The boy kept his eyes on Bendak’s weapon, and on his visor he tracked both their lines of fire. Just as the man squeezed the trigger, Tails angled his blade into the LOF. The surface of the blade exploded into a shower of sparks and molten globs of metal, but neither his shields nor his armor received nary a scratch!


Tails poured his focus into his own defense, confident now that he could chip away at Bendak until he fell. The boy didn’t know how many hits his blade could take, but he was determined to block every shot he could. Tails called upon his implants to support his aim, and he pelted Bendak with blaster fire. The man’s unshielded armor glowed under each hit, and he adapted his footwork to confound Tails’ aim.


The fox spun up his tails and took to the air again. He blasted off in fits and starts, randomizing his flight path, and relying on his aerial acrobatics to keep Bendak guessing, even flying upside down. All the while he kept his blade pointed at Bendak’s weapon, intercepting three out every four incoming shots before they could strike his shields, and ignoring any shot that would have missed anyway. Tails had only a few more seconds before Bendak’s shields reset themselves, and he hammered away at the man’s armor.


“Get down here and fight like a man, flyboy!”


“Get up here and fight like a Mobian, twat!”


Bendak struggled to hit the aggravatingly erratic fox, but he prevented him from scoring too many overlapping strikes. His armor was glowing yellow-white in spots; if he let it overheat, it would ruin its temper! Finally, his shields returned, and he refocused on taking down this small, annoying creature! He fired away, putting the alien boy on the defensive, then chucked another grenade at him.


Tails cursed as the man’s defenses returned, dissipating his shots. Bendak hammered back in return, his rifle blasts slipping past Tails’ sword and chipping at his shields. The alarm chimed as his shield integrity dropped below forty percent. The boy yipped as he saw the grenade flying towards him, and he spun down to evade.


Bendak shot the grenade.


The superheated plasma blast washed over the boy, overwhelming his shields and searing his exposed skin. The force of the blast threw him to the floor, smacking his head against the concrete. His helmet had deflected most of the impact, but the boy’s brain still rattled around the inside of his skull.


His skin burned, his clothes and armor smoldered, his body ached, and his eyes spun in their sockets, but the boy struggled to get up. Even on his hands and knees, he wobbled badly, and he couldn’t find his balance. He noted his sword and blaster were missing, and a strike to his helmet made him realize he was still taking fire!


‘Get up, get up!’


He saw his weapons had bounced and slid a couple meters away, in opposite directions, and Tails staggered drunkenly to his feet. He intentionally exaggerated his wobbling, despite the risk of falling again, just to keep a few of Bendak’s shots off their mark. He took shots to his vest, his shoulder and arm guards, his thigh and shin guards, but he evaded further strikes to his head or his exposed tails. He dove towards his vibrosword, rolling over the floor, then crouched low with one hand under the crossguard and the other on the pommel.


Bendak was orbiting him now, and Tails strained to intercept his LOF with the blade. The arena was still spinning, but the boy held his blade steady in front of him, angling the weapon to deflect the spray of sparks and molten metal away from his body. Tails staggered back to his feet and maneuvered toward his fallen blaster. Just as he was over it, Bendak chucked yet another grenade.


‘I don’t think so!’


Tails spun on his heels and whipped out his namesakes, batting Bendak’s pitch back towards him. The man dove and the grenade sailed over his head, Tails scooped up his blaster, and the boy lobbed a grenade of his own as he scurried backwards, pelting Bendak with fire.


Both Bendak’s plasma grenade and Tails’ frag grenade exploded almost simultaneously, weakening the man’s shields and sending stumbling forward. The fox continued to blast him over and over, concentrating all his shots over Bendak’s heart. His shields popped again, and his chest plate lit up with incandescent light as it absorbed Tails’ shots. Molten metal started to spray off his chest.


“Raaaaaaauugh!”


The Mandalorian lost it, and he charged Tails with a mad sprint, intending to bash the boy’s brains out. Tails backflipped out of his path, just as Bendak’s rifle stock traveled through the space his head had just vacated, and the boy charged up his tail-blades. Now that there was a gap between them again, Bendak aimed to shoot him again, but Tails had other plans. The boy lunged forward, closed the distance in two hops, and twirled his tails at Bendak’s arms.


The man barely had time to guard, but it was no use. Tails’ tail-blades sliced right through Bendak’s rifle, and the weapon exploded in a shower of sparks and broken bits of metal and plastic. The blades scraped across the man’s arms, but failed to pierce his beskar plating.


“Shit!” yelled the Human.


The boy looped his tails around Bendak's right shoulder and clamped down hard. If he could just disable the man, Tails could end this fight right here and now! The boy channeled all his strength into his tails and wrenched!


POP!


Bendak howled, but his counterattack was blindingly fast: Bendak lunged forward, and with his left arm, he pounded Tails' kidney, shoulder joint, and lower jaw with three rapid strikes from his heavy armored fist!


Blood and spittle sprayed from Tails' mouth, and two of the boy's teeth broke free from his jaw. Strobe lights and thunderclaps crashed through the boy's head, and the whole arena spun in circles. Tails released Bendak as he staggered back, trying desperately not to collapse to the floor from the impact.


The man grabbed his right shoulder, twisted his body, and with a clunk, he re-inserted his arm back into its joint.


Starkiller immediately drew a pair of vibroblades out of his armor and thumbed their activation buttons, their high-pitched whines grating Tails’ already pained eardrums. He slashed at the boy, causing him to evade. Bendak gave chase, and Tails ran backward with his tails out in front of him. The man had a good idea how the boy would employ his tail-blades, and he used one of his vibroblades to ward off those deadly whips, and the other to attack him directly.


'What does it take to DROP this guy?!'


Bendak was too close for Tails to use his blaster, and his sword was too badly wrecked from blaster fire to be of any further use, so he sheathed and holstered both. Tails hopped from side to side and backwards, twisting his pelvis and whipping his tail-blades at the armored man, all the while keeping his feet under his center of gravity. Bendak deflected most of his slash attacks with his vibroblades, and when the boy let him in too close, he stabbed at the boy’s face and neck.


But, with over eight-feet-long tails, the Mobian had a major advantage in reach over the Human, and as Tails adapted, Bendak soon found this line of attack untenable. Tails pressed his advantage, whipping his namesakes around Bendak’s blades, slashing and stabbing wherever he could, and putting Bendak back on the defensive. The man’s armor sparked and flashed wherever Tails struck, but his beskar plating held. His shields flared with each strike, but the boy’s Chaos-powered tails cut through them like paper. The man focused on tangling up the boy’s tails however possible, looping his blades around those deadly whips and trying to pull the boy in for a killing blow.


Tails nearly fell for this twice, but he wised up in a hurry and backed off. He backflipped yet again, and when Bendak lunged to close the gap, Tails jumped over his head. Bendak tried to skewer the boy as he sailed overhead, but Tails anticipated this and twisted his body out of the way. The Mobian powered up his tails even further and slashed Bendak across his back, carving grooves into his armor and showering the floor with sparks. Bendak spun around, but Tails went on the attack, whipping and slashing and stabbing and hammering home, not letting up his assault.


Bendak struggled to keep up, his vibroblades taking deep nicks as they attempted to deflect Tails’ furious flurry. Those tails started gouging through the thinner and weaker areas of Bendak’s armor. The man lunged forward, scraping his blade against the boy’s right tail, looping his other blade around the left tail, and pulling the boy straight in to his sole!


Tails yelped as his jaw collided with Bendak’s boot, and his vision exploded into flashing stars. He felt another tooth loosen. Both his tails fluffed out, and no longer hard and sharp, Bendak grabbed them and stabbed at Tails’ throat. The boy clumsily deflected the strike with his arm guards, then threw himself to the floor in a twisting dive.


With his body badly off balance, and both the boy’s tails wrapped around his arms, Bendak collapsed on top of him. Before the man could crush him or skewer him, Tails rolled away, cleanly evading one desperate swing. The boy struggled to his feet and shook the blinking lights out of his head. Starkiller hopped back up to his feet, saw one of his blades had snapped in the fall, and tossed it away.


The Mobian jumped back into a battle-ready stance, and the Mandalorian did the same. For a moment, all they did was stare and pant at one another. Tails spat another glob of blood and saliva out of his mouth, and confirmed that not only were two of his teeth missing, three more were now loose and rattling around in their sockets.


“Impressive, mutant,” said Bendak, and Tails could hear him panting over the com-link. “Very impressive. I’ve a gift for you, from someone I killed before!”


The man reached for a compartment behind his leg, and Tails readied himself for another grenade toss. Bendak suddenly lunged forward, then swung his hand at him. Tails was confused at first, even as he jumped backward; the object in Bendak’s grip wasn’t a grenade or a vibroblade, but the cylindrical object in his hand was nonetheless familiar.


Mid-swing, the object ignited into a glowing green blade. Tails’ eyes nearly popped out of his head.


‘HOLYSHITALIGHTSABER!!’


The buzzing, bright emerald blade caught him at the top of his left shoulder and seared a path down his vest to the top of his right thigh. It burned through the outer shell of his armor and cut into the ablative ceramic tiles, heating their surfaces until they vaporized. But, the cloud of ionized dust that spewed off the tiles caused little sparks of electricity to dance across the blade, weakening the blade arc just enough that it failed to penetrate! Searing heat still leaked through, and the boy's shoulder, chest, stomach, and thigh felt like they had been caught in a blowtorch.


Tails scampered backward as Bendak delivered swing after swing, a burnt line of the boy’s armor glowing yellow, orange, and red. The boy drew his ruined sword to try to block Bendak’s assault, but the lightsaber cut through it in only two hits, showering Tails’ face with sparks. Half the blade clattered to the floor, and Tails tossed the other half away. The boy activated his final shield charge, and hoped to Light Gaia that it deflected a few strikes!


“Run, big boy!” Bendak cackled as Tails jumped into the air and flew away from him.


‘Shit, new plan!’


The Mandalorian didn’t give him much time to think — he immediately sheathed his vibroblade, drew one of his pistols, and started blasting the boy from afar. Tails took immediate evasive action, but for all his frantic flying, many of Bendak’s shots still hit home, wearing down his shields.


Tails raced along the edge of the ring, hoping his speed plus the lower accuracy of the pistol would save him a few hits while a though of a new strategy. It worked – for a few seconds, anyway, and Bendak’s shots went wild.


As he sped back towards Bendak, he already knew what to do. He drew his blaster and started orbiting around him, pelting the man with gunfire. Bendak’s shields dissipated the shots, and the man swung his stolen lightsaber around his head, trying to block a few shots that way. One of Tails’ shots hit the lightsaber and reflected back toward him, nearly taking his face off!


‘Protip – don’t shoot the lightsaber!’


Just as Bendak found his aim again, Tails ducked low, stopped spinning his tails, reached inside his storage space, pulled out a frag grenade, batted it towards Bendak like a baseball, and then spun up his tails again before he hit the floor. It exploded by the man’s feet, jolting him off balance and rocking his world. Tails orbited him at high speed, continuously pelting him with blaster fire, all the while chucking his last few grenades at him.


Starkiller roared as the flying fox proved impossible to hit, and the rapid explosions of frag grenades and concussion grenades rattled and disoriented him. His shields failed again, collapsing under the barrage of fire and explosions.


“RAAAAAGH!”


In a blind rage, Bendak threw a sonic grenade straight up into the air. Tails evaded and flew out of its path easily enough, but he was completely unprepared for what hit him. Upon exploding, the horrid screech of noise overwhelmed the boy’s eardrums. Tails screamed and clutched at his ears, completely forgetting to fly, and he crashed to the floor with a thud. He tumbled right into the wall.


Bendak charged. Still clutching his head, Tails struggled to get up, and he leaned his back against the wall. His eyes bugged out when he saw Starkiller rush up to him, blade drawn and ready. Tails ducked as the man swung at his head, the concrete wall exploding into dust and debris where the lightsaber dragged across its face. The fox twisted and contorted his body away from the man’s swings, frantic to get away before Bendak could cut him in half, shields or no. He found his opening — and dove right between Bendak’s open legs.


He curled into a Spin Dash and sped away, the Mandalorian man hurling curses at him. He fired at the boy, but Tails cut an erratic path, and only one shot hit. His shield alarm started chiming again, and he jumped out of his spin to shoot at Bendak – only to realize his blaster was missing.


Bendak hurled another grenade at him, and Tails flew away as fast as he could — but there was nowhere he could go. The sonic grenade detonated, and even jamming his fingers in his ears beforehand couldn’t save the boy’s hearing. The sonic waves pierced his ears like ten thousand knives, and Tails went down screaming.


“AAAAAAAAAUGH!”


Tails clutched his head against the phantom assault. Blaster fire rained around him. His shields were hit a half-dozen times before he could even begin to defend himself, and his tails were scored twice. He rolled quickly to one side, too disoriented to determine where the attack was even coming from.


“Awww, does the poor baby have tender ears?” Bendak cackled over the com-link.


The boy’s vision started to take on a reddish tint, and Tails snarled at Bendak’s taunt. He rolled and kicked the floor, practically launching himself back to his feet. His ears were bleeding, he was still disoriented and off balance, and he had no weapon, but Tails was determined to shove his boot up Bendak’s alimentary canal just for that comment!


He took two additional strikes before finding Bendak, and his shields collapsed for the final time. He wobbled and struggled to stand, but as soon as he spotted him, Tails dashed towards the man, tail-props spinning behinds him for an extra burst of speed. He took two more hits to his vest, and one to his helmet, but when Bendak saw him coming, the man hurled yet another sonic grenade.


Tails didn’t bother evading — it wouldn’t help. Instead, he surged toward the explosive device as fast as he could. The boy jumped and flipped through the air, halting the spin of his tails, and whipped them towards it. The grenade struck one of his tails — and vanished inside it. The boy spun through the air, charged up his tail-blades, and carved an extra pair of furrows down Bendak’s chest plating.


“Raaauugh!”


Bendak recovered and swung his lightsaber at the boy, but Tails skipped to the side and dodged. The Mobian fox charged up his tails to maximum power, knowing just how much those lightsaber blades hurt. Glowing with a fiery yellow aura, the boy’s tail-blades crackled and hummed with raw Chaos energy, and tiny arcs of electricity danced across them.


Tails lunged, hopping and twisting his body as he slashed and stabbed at Bendak Starkiller. He skipped and dashed forwards, backwards, and side to side, bending and contorting to evade the man’s swings and strikes. One of his tails struck the lightsaber blade, and his tail instantly frazzled and fluffed out, his Chaos control disrupted.


'OW! OW! OW! FUUUUU...'


But, the force of the strike batted the blade away, and the boy whipped his tail back before it could get dismembered. In half a second, it re-hardened and charged back up to full power. The smoke of seared fur billowed through the air.


The Human backpedaled, and he blasted the boy with his pistol whenever he got outside slashing range. He dodged about half his shots, and a few struck his armor, but the other half were blocked by the boy’s tails. Like the lightsaber, the blaster bolts frazzled his tails, but he re-hardened them and switched between them so fast that they formed an almost impenetrable barrier. Try as he might, the man couldn’t shoot or slash his tails fast enough to burn them off!


Even still, with each deflected strike, Tails' namesakes were getting positively mangled. Black scoring marked each hit, and the stench of cooked hair and barbecued flesh was becoming chokingly thick.


“Aaaargh; hold still, dammit!”


Suddenly Tails jumped over Bendak’s head again, and the man just missed cutting his legs off as he sailed overhead. The boy landed about two meters away. Bendak leveled his blaster at him, but Tails lunged forward — and sliced his blaster apart. The man yanked his hand away and flailed his arm in shock, then he gripped his lightsaber with both hands. The buzzing, glowing green blade twirled through the air where Tails had just been, but the boy wasn’t there.


‘He might have stolen himself a lightsaber…,’ Tails thought.


Bendak went all out, carving a path through the air as he tried to cut the boy into pieces. Tails hopped, skipped, sidestepped, twisted and contorted out of his enemy’s path, all the while hammering the man with his tail-blades. He struck the man’s chest, stomach, back, arms, legs, and head, gouging deep furrows into his beskar plating, showering the arena with sparks, and finally drawing little nicks of blood through the weaker areas of his armor.


‘…but, THIS MAN’S NO JEDI!’


Bendak lunged forward and stabbed in a fury, but he left himself overextended as the Mobian dodged. Tails spun on his heels, whipped one tail at Bendak’s hand—


—and destroyed the lightsaber hilt in an explosion of sparks and debris, cutting into (but not through) two of Bendak’s fingers in the process!


“Aaaauuugh!”


Tails jumped over Bendak, kicking him in the head, and battering him in the back of his legs as he landed. Bendak fell and rolled away from him, drew an object from an armor compartment, and chucked his last sonic grenade far behind him. Tails scrambled to catch it with his tail, but the grenade bounced far out of his reach.


‘No, no, no, NO!’


The fox curled into a ball and jammed his fingers into his ears, but the sonic blast tore through his skull just the same. His mouth opened and breath came out, but he couldn’t even hear himself scream! Tears of agony streamed down his face, and his hands came back sticky with blood. Even his tear ducts and nostrils were bleeding. He struggled to rise, knowing Bendak still had a pistol and a vibroblade on him, not to mention heavy, armored boots that could start kicking him into paste!


Tails staggered, his balance almost completely blown out along with his hearing. He stumbled and swayed, trying desperately not to fall on his face as he struggled to stand. He could barely think, and it was only through his cybernetics that he could focus at all.


A hail of blaster fire struck him in the back, but when Tails swiveled around, he saw no one there. In fact, when the boy scanned the arena, he couldn’t see Bendak at all.


‘The hell?! Where’d he go?’


Tails couldn’t see anything, hear anything, and his nostrils were so slicked with blood, he couldn’t smell anything even if he tried. The boy was nearly in the center of the arena, and he suddenly realized how exposed he was. Another hail of gunfire struck him from behind, and a shot to his leg drove him to the floor. Tails turned his head just in time to see Bendak’s outline waver and blend back into the background.


‘A cloaking device!’


Tails switched on the infrared scanners on his headset, the blinding overhead lights nearly drowning out any useful image. The boy swiveled his head around, trying to spot Bendak’s position — if that was even possible with IR sensors. He rushed to the arena wall to narrow Bendak’s possible angles of attack. Tails kept one eye on his IR camera, the other on the floor for any sight of his fallen blaster pistol. Tails slinked along the wall — if Bendak was moving around, then so would he.


Gunfire struck the wall around him, and once in his gut, but nothing on the IR camera caught any sight of Bendak. The sensor image only took up half his visor, though, and on the VL side, Tails caught the shimmering blue distortion where Bendak’s fire had disrupted his stealth field. Bendak was on the opposite side of the ring!


The boy rushed as fast as he could without falling along the edge of the ring. He had to find his weapon, preferably before Bendak did! The side of his calf burned where his leg was struck, and his armor didn’t fully block the shot. The wall exploded under a hail of blaster fire, but Bendak failed to hit him this time. Tails was knocked down by flying debris, though, and he collapsed to the floor.


There, by sheer dumb luck, Tails spotted his blaster. It was laying not ten paces from him, on a stripe of paint nearly the exact same color as itself! If not for that, Bendak probably would have scooped it up for himself, already! Tails scrambled for it, and just as it was in his hands, Bendak’s outline appeared on the fringes of his IR camera. Tails looked up just in time to see the man wind up a grenade pitch.


‘No!’


Tails surged upward and spun, tails flailing, and he batted that grenade right back at Bendak’s head. Even if it had been another sonic grenade, his ears were too far gone for it to matter. The explosion of superheated plasma blinded him and knocked out his IR camera, but the blast barely registered as a thump.


When his vision returned, he saw Bendak lying on his face, struggling to get up, and his stealth field generator was busy shorting out. Tails wasted no time pelting the man’s armor with blaster fire, already glowing and weakened by the plasma grenade. Bendak got to his feet, noticed his own blaster was missing — how sad — and he charged at Tails with his last weapon, his vibroblade.


At this point, Tails was just numb to everything. His cybernetics told him to charge up his tail-blades, and he did so – to twist and turn on his feet, and he complied. His neural implants told him where and how to aim his strikes, when to dodge or parry Bendak’s strikes, and his neural net jolted his muscles when they were sluggish to obey. Tails was running on empty, and only his augmentations were keeping him in one piece. The boy jumped and spun in circles, orbiting around Bendak and confounding his attacks and his defenses.


Finally, Tails got the opening he needed, and he landed a vicious kick on Bendak’s hand, and the man dropped his vibroblade. The boy pumped so much Chaos energy into his tails they glowed like golden lightsabers, and he speared Bendak in each side of his chest, just below his collarbones, puncturing out both sides of his armor. If Bendak screamed or made any noise at all, Tails didn’t hear it, and the boy forced the Mandalorian man to his knees. The fox wrapped one tail around Bendak’s torso, pinning the man’s arms to his sides, and with the other tail, he ripped off Bendak’s helmet and sent it clattering to the floor.


This battle was over.

---

For the first time, Tails saw Bendak’s face. The Human was deathly pale, like he never saw the sun. He had short, sandy-blonde hair, and hazel-green eyes looked down at him with both rage and astonishment. The boy had pierced both his lungs, and the man was struggling to draw breath. Rivulets of sweat tricked down his skin.


If the arena announcer was saying anything at all, Tails couldn’t hear.


“It’s over, Bendak,” said Tails, unsure how loudly he was speaking. “You’ve lost.”


The man’s lips moved, and Tails strained to read their movements. Fortunately, his cybernetics filled in the gaps.


“You haven’t… killed me yet, mutant,” Bendak had said.


Irritation flickered across Tails’ face, and he flung Bendak down to floor, slamming his back flat against the concrete. Tails was almost sad he couldn’t hear the man’s wails of pain. He pressed his boot against the side of Bendak’s chest.


“I’m not going to kill you, you sickening sack of slime,” said Tails. “Executions aren’t my style. I’m still going to collect that bounty on your head, though.”


Bendak coughed, and globs of blood trickled out the edges of his mouth. It looked like he actually managed to chuckle, even if painfully. “So,” he said, “you’re the one doing Zax’s dirty work. Sorry to disappoint you my little bounty hunter — but, how do you intend to cash that fat paycheck without murdering me yourself?”


He entered another coughing fit.


Tails smirked. “I set it all up with Zax. You’re going to jail, Bendak. Forever. I hope you like reflective orange jumpsuits, or whatever color prisoners wear on this planet, because you’re gonna be wearing one for the rest of your miserable life.”


The boy lifted one hand into the air, and with two fingers, he gave the “come here” signal.


Bendak’s eyes widened.


“Sorry, Bendak,” said Tails. “I’m not giving you the warrior’s death you undoubtedly crave. I’m not giving you the satisfaction.”


“Well, well,” coughed Bendak. “Aren’t you the self-righteous little shit?”


“Yep, that’s me — Miles ‘Self-Righteous’ Prower, at your service. Try harder, dickbrain.”


“So, then,” said Bendak. “Why? Why go through all this trouble? Why put me away, when you can just put me in the grave?”


Tails snarled. “Because monsters like you are an affront to everything I hold dear. Your very breath offends me. I’ve dedicated my entire life to protecting others from monsters like you. You’ve dedicated yours to murdering others for sport. Oh, yes, I’d love to end you, Bendak. End you forever. But I’m not you, and I’m not going to drop to your level. That’s why you’re going to rot in prison cell rather than a shallow hole.”


Against expectations, Bendak started laughing. It pained him to do so, and his laughter was intercut with coughing and hacking. “Oh yes, I like you,” the man said. “I can see the fire behind those eyes, boy. So sure of yourself, so confident in your own morality — that fire can justify anything, can’t it? Ha ha ha!”


Tails squeezed him just a little harder.


The man started hacking and wheezing badly, and if those medics didn’t show up soon, Bendak was going to bleed out on the floor. A few seconds later, the arena doors slid open, and a platoon of Tarisian police officers in lime-green uniforms poured into the room, as well as a few medical droids. Tails was relieved; he wasn’t sure if he was going to get swarmed by Sith soldiers, or if they were going to show up at all.


“Time’s up, Gorse Bendak, said Tails. “Yes, Zax told me your real name. Have a happy triple-life sentence.”


Bendak chuckled. He tried to sit up, but Tails slammed him back down. “Not on your life, mutant,” he said, coughing. He managed to wriggle one of his arms free, and he grabbed hold of the boy’s tail-blade. Tails squeezed him even harder, waiting for one of the officers to tell him to release him.


The man wheezed, then reached inside the neck of his armor. Tails couldn’t hear anything, but he could swear Bendak pushed a button of some kind. Tails leaned forward, and saw a faint blinking light.


“There’s no way you’re taking me in,” said Bendak.


Tails’ eyes bugged out as his intuition took over.


“He’s got a bomb — GET BACK!” Tails yelled.


The Tarisian officers looked confused, then scurried away from the Mobian and Mandalorian. Tails struggled to pull his namesakes out of Bendak’s body, and the man clutched Tails’ leg as he tried to scamper away.


“SEE YOU IN HELL, KID!”


With one last surge of power, Tails hacked the man’s arm off, releasing his grip, and the boy jumped as hard as he could. The explosion tore through the arena, and Tails had hardened his namesakes around him before the blast reduced him to giblets. Heat, flak, and pressure slammed into Tails’ body, sending the boy sailing to the other side of the ring. He crashed and tumbled across the floor, and the smoldering Mobian didn’t move for several moments. Only when one of the Tarisian officers shook him by the shoulder did he even respond to the world again.


Tails got up to his hands and knees, and he surveyed the carnage around him.


“No,” he moaned. “No, no, no!”


He staggered to his feet. All that remained of Bendak was a pair of legs, shattered bits of armor, and gore.


“Noooo!”


Tails stumbled backwards, unable to catch his breath. It wasn’t supposed to end like this — Bendak wasn’t supposed to die! He beat him, they arrested him — simple!


But, it didn’t happen that way.


Bendak wouldn’t let it happen that way!


Bendak blew himself up!


The murdering bastard killed himself!


Tails’ whole body trembled. His breath came in shallow gasps. Cold sweat seeped from every pore. His heart fell into his intestines, and his stomach rose into his throat. Tails threw up in his mouth.


“Not like this — not like this!”


For all his rage, for all his fury, for all his righteous indignation – Tails never intended to kill him!


Tails fell to his knees and screamed.


When an officer tried to ask him questions, Tails ran.


He ran out of the arena. He ran out of the cantina. He ran out across the moonlit streets. He ran until no one could chase him or find him.


He ran until he could curl up in the hideout and weep.