Tails sighed relaxingly and leaned back onto his beach chair. Finally, for the first time in a long time, the fox could relax. No Sonic to constantly bug him to improve his Extreme Gear or work on his running shoes. No constant lab deadlines and no more endless hours tinkering with junk. Finally, it was just quality Tails time.

And what better place to have it at? This beach was his little home away from home. He had been here a few times before, but Sonic or Amy had always been with him, constantly wanting to explore or seek out the nearest shopping mall. But now there was no one to bug him. No one to pester him. The fox felt a nap attack coming on. No one to….zzz…

Suddenly, a huge roaring noise woke Tails up from his slumber. He nearly had a heart attack as he came face-to-face with a huge wooden boat. More like a ship, actually. Wearily he nearly leapt backwards and frizzed out his tails to see that the ship was probably more than 3 times taller than him.

A voice finally appeared from the top of the ship. "Ahoy!" the voice called. Tails blinked as his mind went through a blur of thoughts. Who was it? Rouge? Wave?? No, it had to be…

Marine the Raccoon poked her head out of the huge ship. "Hiya!" she called. "That be Tails, right?"

Tails faced the raccoon with a bewildered expression. "Marine, how did you…? I mean, this ship is gigantic! How did you come across a ship this big?!"

Marine carefully slid down the wood and faced Tails with a bright, cheery face. "Well, I'm a pirate captain! All pirate captain's gotta have a ship. Not to mention a loyal crew!"

Tails rubbed his brow. "Please don't tell me that you have some nitwit blowhard who thinks that they're a pirate."

Marine seemed a bit taken aback by the comment. "Actually, m-mate…I was just recruitin'!" she said, regaining her composure at the end. "And I figured that you would be the perfect match."

Tails pointed unbelievably at himself. "You're kidding, right?! I mean, I-I can't be a pi-"

The raccoon grabbed the fox's arm before he could say anymore. "C'mon, mate! We're goin' on an adventure! Just like last time!!"

"M-Marine! I don't really think that…"

Tails was off on an adventure before he could even comprehend it.

"Hey, Amy, have you seen Tails lately?"

Sonic gave a puzzled expression as he glanced around the house where he and all his friends lived. Amy, who was lying on the couch watching TV, shrugged at him.

"Last I heard was that he was on a vacation."

Sonic nodded. "Yeah, that's what he told me, but he also said he'd be back by Friday. Today's Saturday." Amy flicked the TV off and hopped up out of her chair.

"Well, then, c'mon, we'd better go look for him."

As the two walked outside, though, a gigantic ship "sailed" down the street, leaving a gaping crevice in its path. Sonic and Amy looked bewildered. "What…is…that…" Sonic asked, half to himself and half to Amy. The pink hedgehog could only stare.

"Ahoy, mates!"

"Drop anchor here, Cap'n Marine! This looks to be the spot!"

A giant anchor shot out the side of the boat, leaving a huge dent in the road. Two figures slid down the side of the boat: Marine and Tails.

Tails, however, looked much different than before. He wore an eye patch, had a red polka dotted bandana on his head, and wore a cutlass at his belt. The only thing different with Marine was that she wore a pirate's hat that looked excessively like she made it herself.

Amy pointed weakly at the two. "Tails, is th-that you?? What happened to you?!"

Marine smiled at the hedgehog. "Actually, mate, you'd best address him as Second-in-Command Scurvy Tails. That'd be his proper name, y'know."

Sonic crossed his arms with a sly smile. "So, it's 'Scurvy' Tails now, right? Wow, you're gonna have to tell us ALL about what you did on your 'vacation', 'Scurvy'."

Tails blinked blankly. "I have no idea, what yer talkin' about, mate," he responded. "When I was away from th' neighborhood, I went on an adventure! Y'know, huntin' for treasure, diggin' up some loot…all the good pirate stuff."

"But you aren't a pirate," Amy pointed out.

"I am now!" Tails drew his cutlass and waved it around wildly. "Now I'm Second in Command Scurvy Tails, second only to me captain, of course."

"Who is…?"

"Me, of course!" Marine took off her hat and waved it in Sonic's face. "Haven't ya seen the hat I'm wearin' on me head?"

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Yeah, whatever…Tails, I guess now that your vacation's over, you can come back to the house, right?"

Tails pondered a moment. "Well, I do need some downtime from all my adventurin'…ye've got yerself a deal, Sonic!"

Amy pinched herself from smacking both of them for talking with a fake pirate accent.

"Boy, am I parched!" Tails grabbed a milk carton out of the fridge and began to chug it right out of the cardboard. Amy happened to walk into the kitchen and spot him.

"Tails!" she scolded. "Super gross! Why on earth didn't you get a cup?!" Tails smacked his lips and burped.

"'cuz us pirates don't need no yellow-bellied glasses, missy," he replied matter-of-factly. Amy gnashed her teeth.

"That's gonna get real old real fast," she warned, and left Tails to himself. The fox burped again and threw the carton on the floor. Later, Sonic tripped over it.

In the meantime, Sonic was dashing over the fields of Station Square. Actually, Station Square didn't have fields. But he was doing laps in his front yard, nonetheless. Suddenly, Marine appeared out of now where and lay a huge stick in his way. Not only did the hedgehog trip, but he ripped off his toenail in the process.

"What the heck?!" he screeched at the young raccoon. "What was that for, Marine?"

Marine shook her head. "Sorry, mate, but I'll only be address as Cap'n Marine!"

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Fine. CAPTAIN Marine…why the heck did you trip me?!"

Marine shrugged. "Well, don't blame me, mate. Pirates have it naturally in their blood to play pranks on yellow-bellied scallywags that don't believe in the pirate way." Sonic was furious.

"What's there to believe?!" he snapped.

"You have to believe in drinking milk straight from the carton."

If it weren't for Marine's natural camouflage, her head would've popped off that day.

It was only a matter of time before the two "pirates" crossed the line.

When Amy came home one night and found the living room trashed with Sonic tied up in the closet, it was time for a nice peaceful talk with Tails in Marine. However, in Amy's case, the talk wasn't too friendly.

"YOU GUYS ARE DRIVING US MAD!" Amy screamed. "LEAVE YOUR PIRATE WAY OR LEAVE THE HOUSE!!"

Tails sighed glumly as a door was shut in his face. Marine looked at him worriedly. "Aw, don't worry 'bout it, mate," she said. "I've been kicked outta many a house, and I know that-"

"Save it," Tails sighed. He pulled off the bandana and took off the eye patch. "Listen, Marine, I didn't really want to be a pirate forever. I mean, it's just not me. It was fun for a while, but when it started getting on Sonic and Amy's nerves…I wanted to stop."

Marine cocked her head. "So why didn't you?"

Tails smiled slightly. "Because I liked hanging around you."

The raccoon blushed. "Well, I'm…I'm glad to hear that someone doesn't think that I'm annoying…"

Tails put his arm around her shoulders. "No way, Marine! You're not annoying. You're unique. And some people are afraid to get to know people like you, so they call you things like 'annoying', or 'dork'. Trust me, I know."

Sonic and Amy looked at the two out of the window in the living room. They watched as Tails hugged Marine. Amy smiled. "Sweet enough to melt your heart, huh?" she asked. "Does it give you any…ideas?"

Sonic shuddered away as Amy grabbed his hand. "Uh, maybe a few ideas…maybe not the ones that you're thinking of…"

The End!