Chapter 2
Poor Little Miles Prower
A few minutes had passed and Sonic and Knuckles were now getting along a little better, that is, for people who had just tried to humiliate each other. And while Knuckles was talking with Sonic about who had really won the fight, something caught his keen violet eyes.
There was a young fox, maybe nine or ten years of age, sitting by himself on a bench, looking rather lonely. He had sky blue eyes, golden-yellow fur, three long bangs that came down over his face, and fuzzy cheeks and chest.
Knuckles, being the stand-up guy he was, didn't like to see people so lonely…looking so… left out. He walked over to the bench from the left side, not noticing Sonic playing his favorite game again. Once he reached it, he noticed that the young vulpine was holding a rather odd looking device in his hands, while Knuckles didn't really know what it was, it was clearly broken. The fox sighed sadly, and Knuckles saw it as a perfect opportunity to speak.
"Hi," said the red echidna in a friendly manner.
The fox jumped at Knuckles' voice and snapped his head in his direction; he studied Knuckles for a few seconds "Oh, I'll move."
Knuckles made an odd face "Uhhh, no that's alright"
"No, no, you can have the seat. I'll move."
"No, I'll stand…" with that Sonic curved around the other side of the bench.
"Heeeeeeeeeey." The hedgehog said in a Fonzy-like manner. The vulpine snapped his head in his direction, all his stuff was in his hands and ready to go.
He looked back and fourth from Sonic to Knuckles, with slight fear in his eyes. "You guys aren't…" he gulped loudly "Going to gang up on me, are you?"
Sonic cocked an eyebrow, and Knuckles looked evenly confused.
"Uhhh, no…we just want to talk." Knuckles said.
"Yeah," Sonic said "Tell us your name."
The foxes head drooped forward and to the right "I'd rather not."
Sonic was quick to answer this "Well, we could always gang up on you."
The fox gave a very shocked and terrified look, and Knuckles pounded Sonic in the arm.
"OW… I was just kidding." Sonic said, rubbing his arm
"I don't care," Knuckles said angrily. "Come on kid… just tell us your name."
The fox hesitated for a second, and then finally opened his mouth to speak "It's… Miles…Miles Prower."
"What?" Knuckles asked. Sonic burst into laughter at the name, rolling all over the ground, gripping his stomach. Miles however, was tearing up in the eyes.
"Oh, I knew it." He said, his voice shaking a bit.
Knuckles took his eyes off Sonic and snapped them in the kid's direction "Hey, what's wrong?" he asked
"Well, every time I say my name, people laugh at me for some reason, and make fun of me for it."
"Well than I guess that proves that some people," Knuckles pointed a thumb at Sonic "Are pretty stupid."
Sonic was too busy rolling and laughing his head off to notice "I GET IT," he screamed "MILES PROWER!"
Knuckles was getting annoyed with the hedgehog by now "WHAT exactly do you find so amusing about that name?"
Sonic finally stopped to talk to the irritated red one "You see, the kid must've seen me runnin' around a beetin' you down earlier, so he made up a fake name to compliment me. Miles Prower… Miles Per-Hour."
Miles looked up at Sonic, confused. He had never heard the comment before.
Knuckles was getting really annoyed now "That IS his real name, you idiot."
Sonic got a look of guilt and surprise on his face "Oh…well… I guess… I'll just stand over here then." And he moved himself behind the bench.
Knuckles sighed "Don't worry about him, he's just over egotistical." He said to the young fox.
Sonic turned around to look towards the back of the bench, then his face turned into one of shock "Knuckles… psst, come here."
Knuckles looked back at the hedgehog "Why?"
"Just do it." Sonic said, impatiently. Knuckles got up and walked over to where Sonic was standing, and followed Sonics finger as he pointed towards the lower part of the back of the bench.
Knuckles, being dense, wondered why he was curious about the back of the bench "What about it?"
"Dude, the kids got two tails."
Knuckles looked back, saw the tails, and a similar look crossed his face.
"I heard you," said the innocent voice of the fox, causing Sonic and Knuckles' heads to snap in his direction "It's ok though; no one just sees them like they're there like you guys are. People just call me a freak and make fun of me a lot for it."
Sonic looked back at Knuckles with guilt all over his face, and whispered directly into his ear "I feel sorry for the kid… why don't we hang out with him some? He doesn't really seem like a bad guy at all."
Knuckles looked back at Sonic with an impressed look on his face.
"What?" asked the hedgehog.