Chapter II

"Hey now, all you sinners
Put your lights on,
Put your lights on
Hey now, all you children
Leave your lights on,
You better leave your lights on"

-Everlast

Tails crossed his arms against the cold air as he walked with his head down in the shadows cast by the buildings around him in the last of the day's fading light. Around him were small apartment buildings, industrial lots, and small business that weren't quite of the 'mom & pop' variety, but nothing so popular that you'd see advertised on TV. The traffic on the roads had thinned since everyone was already home around the dinner table or still stuck at the office and as the last bit of light disappeared from their part of the world, Tails found that he had the night mostly to himself.

It was much colder now with the sun gone, but the crisp air didn't bother him too badly. If nothing else then the weather gave him something else to think about. Maybe it was the oncoming winter that was making him feel so moody. It's not that he liked feeling this way, but he was just unable to shake the blue funk that had come down over him.

After walking for twenty minutes or so Tails found himself walking past one of the few business still open at that hour: a bar. He looked over at the building with it's wooden walls and large neon sign reading Railway Bar in gold print. The front door was left open and from that opening came the sounds of country rock music mixed in with clinking glass and laughing voices of dozens of people. Inside those walls were men and women who had just gotten off from their jobs and slipped in for a few beers with friends. Tails had never had the stuff before, he had always been too young, but it wasn't the alcohol what caught his attention. Rather, it was the voices and laughter that he found himself pining for. He wanted the acceptance and love that those people were sharing with one another. Most of all he wanted to feel like he was normal again.

He learned soon after arriving in this new city how cruel people could be to the outsider. It was his second tail that everyone made fun of him for, or stared at, or tried not to stare at. For the first time in a very long time he felt embarrassed about it, so much so that he had changed he wardrobe to baggy pants so he could his second tail down one of the legs- like he was doing now.

Reaching into his back pocket, all the names he had been called over the past few months came flooding back to him: monster, freak, weirdo, all were insults thrown at him by people who hated him for reasons Tails just couldn't figure out.

If given any machine he would be able take it part, figure out it's function, and put back together in less time then maybe anyone else on the planet. Every part and piece were mysteries that his mind could solve in mere moments without fail.

I wish people were as easy to understand, he thought as he pulled out his wallet and opened it up.

The night had been filled with pictures that brought with them memories, so what was the harm of looking at one more. In the back of the wallet behind the ID's and bank cards was an old photograph with had been bent, torn, and weathered with age. In the picture was a very young Tails next to the first person who had ever made him feel like he wasn't some kind of freak: Sonic. He had been like a big brother to him. Before there had been Amy, Cream, Knuckles, or anyone else, there had been Sonic; and it was through him that Tails learned of his genius mind and bravery. Tails could not begin to imagine how he would have survived without Sonic there by his side, but perhaps he had come to rely on his friends too much over the years. What would any of them think if they saw him now? He hated feeling this weak and powerless, however he just couldn't think of a way to stop it. For better or worse this was who was.

Had he not been lost so deeply in thought and self pity as he stood there alone on the sidewalk, he might have seen the figure coming towards him, weaving in and out of the parked cars from the lot behind the fox. He was wearing a coat that was a little too heavy even for the cool weather with it's hood up and closed tight to hide his face. It wasn't until this figure was right on top of him did Tails finally realize he was no longer alone. As quick as lightning one of the person's hands snatched Tails' wallet out of his grip and with the other he shoved him- hard- to the ground. Tails managed to save himself from completely falling on his butt by grabbing hold of a street sign that read No Parking 11:00 PM - 6:00 AM, never the less by the time he got his balance back the coated figure was making a mad dash down the sidewalk.

At first he found himself dumb struck, unable to understand what just happened. As reality set in those emotions were replaced by an anger he had never known. He had put up with a lot ever since moving here and he had suffered through the stress, and insults, and living conditions with his head down and mouth shut, but now this: not being able to walk down the streets, this was too much. Tails had reached his limit and shattered through it. Hardly aware what he was doing, Tails broke out into as fast of a sprint as he could manage. The figure had an impressive lead, but when he saw the boy quickly closing the distance he took a hard left into an ally. He passed a group of trash cans, without breaking his stride he reached for the first one, but his finger only bounced off the top, however on is second try he managed to get enough traction on it to knock the waste bin on the ground behind him before making another hard turn down a back street.

Tails had closed the gap between them some, but was unable to fill it completely. Entering the ally he leaped over the fallen trashcan just in time to see the person in the coat turn the corner. He stayed hot in pursuit the whole time, occasionally tripping on the obstacles thrown in his way, but never falling. The figure rounded another corner and a few moments later Tails did the same, only as he did he discovered that he had reached a dead end and the figure he was chasing was gone. On the ground at the far end off the ally was the heavy coat left discarded in a puddle, but the person wearing it seemed to had vanished.

A feeling of defeat and hopelessness began to set in making him feel more pathetic then ever when suddenly there was movement coming from the top of the two story building before him. The sound was clear enough in the still air: boots running on loose gravel. Tails didn't know how this person managed to scale two stories in the short time it took him to turn the corner, but he didn't much care, either. He was still angry and hell-bent on getting his hands on this thief. In one smooth action, he pulled his second tail out from the back of his pants and spun them quickly. The helicopter like motion of his tails lifted him up off the ground to the top of the building where he let himself drop to it's gravel covered roof. It was here that he finally got his first good look at the thief and what he saw made him stop dead in his tracks.

White fur, large ears, small pointed tail, black wings. These were features that were very familiar to him, but there was no way it could really be-

"Rouge?" Tails' voice came out small and winded, but it must have been picked up by the person running from him because the figure he though was male beneath that heavy coat stopped so suddenly that her boots sprayed gravel around her feet like waves in the ocean. For a moment she only stood there in the dim light that was cast around them. After what felt like a lifetime, she turned around and Tails knew that he had guessed correctly. Here before him was someone he had known once upon a time, someone he called a friend, someone he never thought he'd see again, least of all like this.

For only a second there was a look of confusion and then shame printed on her face, but they were so quickly replaced by a sly smile that Tails could have only imagined them.

"Hey there," Rouge spoke in a voice that was a little out of breath, but otherwise as smooth and innocent as ever. She held his wallet up slightly in the air. "Drop this?"

TO BE CONTINUED