Note: A shout-out (again) to Zoggerific for their constructive feedback. Went through and cleaned up some areas!

Casino Night

Tails' eyes widened at the scene before him. They were in a city, someplace with lots of casinos according to Sonic. While Tails knew the concept of gambling thanks to some fantasy novels he had read, he had no idea what that entailed in the real world.

But if it had anything to do with the sheer number of fluorescent and neon decorations surrounding this place, then the fox would be happy to try his luck with it.

"So many lightbulbs…." he mumbled, following a walking Sonic along a relatively quiet street. They were parallel to the main drag that was littered with Mobians and humans alike, even though Tails was pretty sure humans were a rarity on West Side Island. These casinos had to be pretty new, though, since his lone geography book never talked about them, so maybe the new attractions had drew them in.

As they followed the path and Tails peeked through each alleyway or cross-section of street into the world next door, he couldn't even comprehend the amount of brightness he was seeing from neon signs, billboards, and building entranceways. It was like the street was fighting to keep daylight alive during the evening hours, in an uncharacteristic swirl of bright pink, blue, and lime green.

"Here we are," Sonic motioned with his head, turning down one of the many alleyways next to a very tall, glitzy building. Tails hesitated as he looked up, but fell in line next to Sonic with a couple running steps to catch up.

They were only on the main street for a few seconds, Sonic turning the corner and heading into the main lobby of the hotel determinedly. A few pedestrians glanced up at the famous blue hedgehog, whispering amongst themselves excitedly. When they met eye contact with Tails he quickly looked down, keeping as close to the blue hero as he could without gathering attention to himself.

The whispers became a lot more ominous to Tails as he kept Sonic's shoes in his line of sight, but he tried to remember what Sonic had told him: this wasn't Shoreside. Big cities were more accepting because there were more sapients, and being different was more the norm than being similar. His tails were unique, but they were not a curse.

This was not Shoreside.

The mantra continued in his head as they entered the building. A blast of cool air hit Tails and he breathed it in, finding himself looking back up at all the lights and sounds surrounding him. Fancy screens with colorful imagery, neon signs beckoning you every which way, and a ding or a melody or a pop in the far corner, where some weird computer-like machines sat, some occupied and some not.

This place was a wonderland of tech and pizazz. His focus had been on so much around him that he bumped into the back of Sonic when the hedgehog had stopped walking. He shot the hero an apologetic look before glancing back at the human that was currently staring at both of them with only a hint of incredulousness.

"Mr. Hedgehog, plus, uh, one?" he said, eyeing Tails warily.

"Yes, two beds," Sonic replied, pulling out a card from his sock. Tails watched the transaction with fascination, the human taking the card and swiping it against something before providing it back to Sonic. Tails' namesakes thrashed with excitement at the new technology, causing the human to do a doubletake at the double appendages.

He was already handing Sonic another card, however, and didn't have time to comment before the hedgehog pulled it out of his hands and led Tails away from the service desk.

More eyes kept finding their way to the two Mobians making a fast walk to the nearby elevators. Tails felt himself pull his tails together tightly, an act that he had to do consciously since his tails normally had minds of their own. Sonic glanced at him as he pressed a button along the wall of elevators, frowning at him when he noticed what the kit was doing.

"Stop doing that with your tails," he chided.

The fox was too busy finding all the eyes glancing in their direction. "They're staring," he argued softly.

Sonic snorted lightly when he followed the kit's gaze back at the Mobians and humans in the area. "That's because we're covered in muck."

The fox paused in his observations, returning his gaze to the hedgehog. It was only then that he realized the normally pristine blue of the hedgehog was more of a gray blue, his fur covered in bits of moss and dirt and dust. His white socks and red shoes were greener and browner, respectively, and his gloves were slightly better, but not by much: one had shredded along the cuff and the other along one of the fingertips, Sonic's blue fur sticking out from underneath.

Looking down at himself revealed a similar appearance: his golden brown fur was hazed over in gray with dust and grime, and his ratty gloves, socks, and shoes were stained green, both from the grass and the mossy water they had waded through.

"Oh," was all Tails could reply with. His tails slipped from their forced binding, happily whipping about separately.

The elevator dinged and Sonic ushered Tails into the open cabin, pressing a button as soon as they were inside to close the doors. Thankfully no one followed them in.

Sonic used the card he had been handed at the front desk to open one of the countless doors along the hallway they had entered on the 19th floor. Their hotel room was spacious, with two large beds, a bathroom with a tub and shower, a television attached to the far wall, and even a balcony to look out over the city. Tails bounded over to the sliding glass door, opening it and peering out over the wall, having to jump and hang onto the edge to see over it. They were facing the east side, the opposite direction of where they had come from. With the height of their room Tails could see the rest of the city, multiple buildings standing out and bright signs saying things like, "Win Big!" and "Rings Galore!"

Beyond that were dimmer lights, most likely homes instead of buildings, and beyond that a hilly landscape shadowed by the sun that had set on the other side of the horizon, leaving only a color scheme of purple and dark blue in its wake.

"All right, keed," Sonic declared, following him outside. "Let's clean up and get some food. Tomorrow we'll go shopping."

Tails, still admiring the scenery, lowered himself and turned to look at the blue hedgehog. "Shopping?" he asked warily.

"Well, yeah," Sonic simply stated. "We're both in need of gloves and shoes, not to mention socks." One of his feet lifted up as he inspected the item in question. "We didn't exactly pack spares."

The fox glanced at his own apparel, absently rubbing the thin material of his glove.

The hedgehog seemed to recognize the hesitancy this time, as he added, "Trust me, kiddo, take a good bath and no one is going to do more than bat an eye at your tails."

The fox stopped fidgeting and looked back up at the hedgehog. He had searched Sonic's face many times over the past few days, constantly confirming the sincerity that he wished was true, but was cautious to accept.

The hedgehog's resolve never changed.

The little fox finally nodded at him, a simple answer to what was dozens of uncertainties.

Two hours later found both the hedgehog and fox clean of swamp muck, but still with mucky gloves, socks, and shoes. Tails could not remember the last time he had taken a bath—a real bath with soap—and had actually enjoyed the soothing warm water.

Granted, he was not a fan of having to blow-dry his fur for nearly half an hour and would much rather air dry in the sun outside, but seeing as though it was well into the night he was limited in his options.

Since it was late and they had already had a rough day, Sonic opted to order food in. Tails had no idea what room service meant until a Mobian wolf knocked on their door and brought in two cartfuls of food.

Sonic signed something as the food was wheeled into the room and handed a coin to the wolf before he left, piquing Tails' curiosity even more.

With the wolf gone, Sonic motioned Tails over to the table, pulling one of the carts nearby. He took the covered plates of food and lined them up on the surface, pulling their lids off as he did so.

Fruit, meat, bread with an assortment of spreads, water, juice, and even some more chili dogs were only a fraction of the available treats to eat. Tails had never seen so much food in his life.

"Eat up keed, desserts are on the next cart," Sonic smiled, already reaching for a chili dog.

No further encouragement was needed. Both Mobians ate the majority of the food, refueling after a long twelve hours of grueling hiking through a trap-laden swamp. When most of the food on the table had been depleted, Sonic placed the empty plates and trays back onto the cart, wheeling it towards the door and pulling the second cart back over to their dining area. Tails assisted in placing the new covered plates on the table, eyes growing to saucers as the lids were removed and he was face-to-face with pies, cakes, and some chocolate candies.

"Wow," the little fox breathed.

The pies and cakes were already precut, so Sonic easily used a utensil to pick up a slice of each and placed them on a plate before handing it to Tails. The fox grabbed a nearby fork and took a bite, his face almost immediately grimacing.

"What's wrong?" Sonic asked, his mouth already full of the baked treats.

"It's so sweet," Tails said as he swallowed heavily. "I've never had anything that sweet before."

Sonic laughed. "It might be a taste you have to get used to," he admitted, taking another bite of his cake. "Try the dark chocolate, it's not supposed to be as sweet."

The hedgehog had motioned to the chocolate candies in a bowl, so Tails hesitantly picked one up and inspected it. After only a moment's pause he popped the candy into his mouth, this time smiling at the taste. "Wow, that's really good!"

As Tails reached for a handful more, Sonic opted to grab one and take a bite as well, his face scrunching up slightly. "Blegh, mint chocolate. You like that?"

Tails had stuffed about four in his mouth when Sonic asked the question, so he simply nodded enthusiastically, already grabbing for more.

The hedgehog shook his head but grinned. "To each their own."

After their filling meal Sonic wheeled both carts out into the hallway, assuring Tails that was what they were supposed to do. Each Mobian then settled on top of one of the two beds in the main area, respectively, Sonic holding the remote and channel surfing while Tails watched him and the television curiously.

"Sonic?"

"Yeah?"

"What was that card you used downstairs?"

Sonic paused in his channel cruising, glancing at Tails. "Card..? Oh, you mean the credits card?"

"Credits card?" Tails asked.

Sonic nodded. "Yeah, it's another way to pay for things. It's linked to your bank account."

"So it's like rings or coins?" the fox probed.

"Yeah, pretty much."

"So it networks to the bank, where your money is stored, and then when the serviceman swiped it he was able to access your account to pay for the hotel…" Tails had said aloud, though not directed at Sonic. "…you just signed for the food earlier, which also means that they keep the information while we're here. That's dangerous. What if someone got that information and used it to buy other things?"

Sonic had returned his interest to the television at Tails' digression, but looked back at the fox when he heard the lilt of the voice indicating a question. "Well, the bank monitors for that kind of stuff. They'll shut down the card if they think there's fraud."

"Oh," Tails breathed out, digesting that information. Another thought plagued his mind. "Is being a hero your job?"

"Ha! I wish. No one pays me to stop Robotnik."

"Don't you have to have a job to make money?"

"I do, sort of," Sonic offered hesitantly.

Tails' ears twitched with curiosity. "What's your job?"

Sonic smiled, though it was a smile filled with distaste. "Sponsorships, keed. The bane of my existence."

"Sponsorships?"

The hedgehog, realizing that Tails had move onto a whole other subject, turned off the television and sat up in his bed. "When people get to know you and you become, well, famous—which is what happened after I kicked 'buttnik to the curb on South Island—companies like to, uh, have you promote their products." He shrugged to himself and added, "I say I like Mobius Cola and the company pays me a pretty coin."

"Do you like Mobius Cola?"

Sonic stared at the fox. "Uh, maybe?"

"So you lie."

The hedgehog's quills bristled, making Tails regret those choice of words instantly. "I don't lie, I… embellish." Sonic waved the fox off, flopping back onto the bed with a resounding sigh. "I don't market anything I think would be detrimental to society. Cola, some food joints, my shoes—which, by the way, are the only ones that hold up the best against my speed—" Sonic glanced back over at Tails, realizing his diversion. "Fact is, kiddo, I can't be held down by some day job. I need my time to run and explore and be free—sponsorships give me that. I say a few words, smile for a few pictures, and I'm set for the next few months."

Tails had been listening with intent, cross-legged on the bed and tails whipping about behind him. "But you could," he finally said, yawning and stretching.

"Huh?"

"You could use that power to promote bad things," Tails added tiredly, settling himself under the covers. "But you don't."

There was a short, almost bitter laugh from the other side of the room as Sonic snapped the light off. Tails' eyes adjusted to the night quickly enough to see Sonic throw himself back onto the bed, above the covers. "I guess that makes me a hero, then?" he asked sarcastically.

"No, but it makes you a good person," Tails argued back faintly. He yawned again, sleepiness making his voice droopy. "Plus, I really like your shoes."

There was a long silence before Sonic simply said, "G'night, kiddo."

"Night, Sonic."

The next morning was more like the next early afternoon. Both Sonic and Tails slept heavily, recuperating from the past few days of nonstop running and battling. Tails was starting to understand why the hedgehog had always been passed out until late in the morning on the beach, before he had met him:

Adventuring was exhausting.

When Tails finally did wake up, Sonic had already awoken and was answering a knock on the door, signaling more food. Tails' ears perked up and he happily hopped out of bed to divulge in another large spread of breakfast items.

Having solid meals for the past few days had given Tails back a lot of his energy, which also made him much more forthcoming in conversation. In addition to his newfound love of mint candy, Tails had divulged his various inventions he had created over the past year, including his solar-powered lantern, an energy-operated communication device (which was able to access a multitude of channels before the bullies broke it), and his most prized possession, a small portable computer that he used for notetaking and calculations. His hope was to get it to scan eventually, and pull information based off the matter that it scanned. But that would take time, as well as some hefty input of the current world's knowledge, which he had only a small piece of access to.

Of course, all of that stuff had been left in the plane, which Sonic assured Tails they would return to soon. On land he was faster on foot, which Tails obviously agreed to, and West Side Island didn't offer a lot of places to land a plane besides the coast, which was never an easy feat to begin with.

Sonic had also provided some more information on his life, though he had kept purposely mum on family, Tails mentally noted. He delved into his first fight with Robotnik more, describing how the Chaos Emeralds had either hidden themselves in an alternate dimension that defied physics, or they had managed to warp his mind in his attempt to reach them, almost like a defense tactic.

Regardless, he had obtained them, each one becoming easier to find, as if they were drawn to each other. After the defeat of Robotnik and the jewels had scattered themselves, Sonic had followed the madman's trail—even coming to West Side Island briefly—but eventually eased up when the trail grew cold and altogether stopped a month or so after the destruction of his base.

He had realized then that he had become famous, which made commuter air flight less than ideal, so he opted to take flying lessons. In fact, the couple that owned the Tornado were his teachers and had already retired by the time Sonic had approached them. Thankfully, being famous did also have its upsides and they agreed to instruct him.

In return, he purchased their plane and training grounds—his home now in the Mystic Ruins—and they in turn retired in style.

Once breakfast (which was also lunch) and chitchat were over, both Mobians begrudgingly put back on their dirty socks, shoes, and gloves, which had up to this point remained barred to the corner of the room. Sonic had rinsed off the apparel as best he could the day before, but there wasn't much salvaging of the accessories to be had.

Tails looked forward to getting new gear, which he had never had, but he did not look forward to going out in public, both because Sonic would be ogled for his celebrity status and because, by proxy, they would take notice of the little fox with two tails.

Sonic had once again convinced him, however, with the promise of more mint candy afterwards, which was really bribery, but bribery that worked like a charm for a fox who had singlehandedly decided that mint candy was the next best thing to Sonic.

The trip down to the lobby was uneventful, though once on the main floor Tails noted more Mobians and humans mingling, the late afternoon life of the city a stark contrast to the villages he grew up in or near. With a more crowded lobby most people didn't see or have time to register the relatively smaller blue hedgehog navigating the duo through the crowd. Those that did definitely did a double take, but Sonic was already through the next group of pedestrians before they could react to his presence.

The blue hedgehog had led them to a rather fancy apparel establishment, geared towards Mobians and built within the hotel, along with a few other shops and restaurants. As the hero sauntered through one of the open double doors, his tagalong hesitated at the entrance. His eyes peeked inside and soaked up the bright white lights that glistened off reflective floors and made the rows of shoes, gloves, hats, and jackets stand out even more.

"Tails?"

The kit blinked back into reality and looked towards the source. Sonic had turned back around and stood in front of him. "You coming?" he asked simply, his eyes holding more of a frown than the small smile he had planted on his face.

A boisterous group walked behind Tails, outside of the shop, and caused the fox to jump in fright. He quickly crossed the threshold of the store and entered its much quieter atmosphere, Sonic stepping in line next to him.

"Can I help you—oh!" A female rabbit had appeared behind some taller racks, startling Tails but not Sonic. She had her ears tied together with a yellow bow, a bright yellow dress that contrasted sharply with the gray monochrome scheme of the store, and even yellow makeup on her eyes, giving Tails the impression of a living daffodil. The hedgehog smiled politely at the salesgirl who had froze up when seeing Sonic standing in front of her.

"Hi, we're looking for some gloves and shoes," he motioned to Tails, forcing the rabbit to notice the smaller Mobian next to the famous hedgehog. She smiled curtly at him, barely making eye contact before returning her gaze back to Sonic.

"Yes, of course, please come with me!" she replied almost too enthusiastically, turning back the way she came and motioning with her hands to follow. "We have a nice fitting room that you can use."

Tails wanted to ask why a Mobian shop specializing in only accessories had a fitting room, but realized upon entering that it wasn't so much a fitting room as a VIP room: it had a large mirror, a giant comfortable-looking ottoman, and a couple hangers along the walls to probably place items as they were tested for purchase. Tails had never been to a clothing store, since all of his gear had come from the orphanage or donations (that he had gotten his hands on before they were shipped out), but his fantasy books had told him enough about royalty treatment to know this was very much like it.

Sonic sat down on the ottoman, pulling off one of his abused shoes. In addition to the permanent green hue, multiple holes in the fabric of both it and his sock showed their imminent disintegration.

"You got this style?" Sonic asked, holding out the shoe.

The rabbit nodded and pulled the shoe from Sonic all too happily, peering at the inside tongue to check the size. "I'll be right back!" She was gone in a flash of yellow.

Sonic looked at Tails while he pulled his other shoe and both socks off. "How do those shoes fit?" he asked, motioning with his head to the fox's footwear, one of which was being held together by its shoelace.

The kit had honestly never thought about it. They weren't too tight, obviously, but his heels had been rubbed raw when he had first found the pair. To answer the hedgehog he shrugged, walking up to him and—after a moment's hesitation—sitting next to the hero on the soft, giant ottoman.

"Let's have her measure your feet, then," Sonic continued with Tails' reaction. "We wanna make sure they don't cause blisters."

The fox had taken interest in Sonic's other shoe, now sitting between them on the cushioned surface. He picked it up and inspected how the sole had been worn thin and, in some ways, almost melted. "Is this because of your speed?" he asked, eyes never leaving the shoe.

Sonic hummed in agreement. "Yeah, I go through them almost weekly, sometimes sooner if I run on concrete a lot."

"You need more heat resistant material," Tails commented, feeling the sole and bending a rather thin piece near the toe that had separated. "Something more durable, but still flexible enough to be, well, a shoe."

Sonic was watching him, perplexed, when Tails glanced back up at him. "Yeah, I guess that would be better than going through a pair of shoes twice a week," he finally lamented, turning his attention back to the bunny when she returned to the room.

As she handed Sonic a nearly identical pair of shoes to his own, albeit brand new and not falling apart, the hedgehog motioned to Tails. "He'll need his feet measured. Oh, and we'll need some new socks, too," he said to her as he began untying and loosening the laces of the new shoes.

The bunny, whose name was Valla if her nametag attached to her lapel was accurate, seemed to finally take notice of Tails or—more aptly—Tails' namesakes. Her eyes widened but she cleared her throat instead of commenting, opting to nod to the little fox before pulling out the measuring tape that was bundled up in her dress pocket.

Tails quickly removed his shoes and socks, only having a bit of trouble untying the knot in his shoelace that was holding the two halves of his right shoe together. The bunny kneeled next to him, holding the tape along the bottom of his foot to measure the length. As she did so she glanced again at his tails, making the fox nervously pull them together.

Valla seemed to recognize the reaction and blushed. "Sorry," she said. "They're, uh, they're just really cool looking."

The fox's eyes widened in surprise, and a quick glance at Sonic showed the hedgehog smiling warmly at him. Swallowing heavily and looking back at the attendant, Tails softly said, "Thank you."

The bunny grinned, looking relieved to have diffused the previous awkwardness. "So would you like the same shoes as Sonic's, or something different?"

Tails did not hesitate: "Like Sonic's!"

That made the girl laugh. "All right, let me see if we have your size," she said, standing up and walking away. "And I'll bring some socks!" she added before exiting the room.

Sonic playfully punched Tails' shoulder. "See, keed, what'd I tell ya."

The fox, still reeling from the compliment, continued to grin and did not respond.

Valla came back shortly afterwards with some socks and gloves to try on, then mentioned that she needed to check in the back for shoes in Tails' size. When she left the second time Sonic handed Tails a new pair of socks before grabbing his own pair and putting them on.

"So where's the next emerald?" Tails asked, filling in the comfortable silence as he too put on the white stretchy cloth.

Sonic paused as he grabbed one of his new shoes he had sat next to him, thinking. He glanced at the amplifier on his wrist. "Not close," he admitted. "It's definitely northeast, hard to say how far."

"Northeast is the Hill Top mountain region," Tails replied, his mind bringing up that lone geography book he had studied a few months ago. "It's got an active volcano and lots of earthquakes."

Sonic quirked an eye ridge at the fox. "Volcano?"

"Yeah, not many people live near the base, but it's never really had any big eruptions, just lots of small ones." Tails paused in his statement. "Sorry, I don't know much about volcanoes; the geography book was very vague about it."

Sonic shook his head exasperatedly. "Kiddo, you don't gotta know everything."

Both Mobians opted to try on the gloves Valla had brought out while they waited for her to return with shoes for Tails. Tails was amazed at how strong brand-new gloves felt, not to mention how white they were. He tested the smaller size and found them to be a perfect fit, admiring how snug they were compared to his previous pair that had been two sizes too large and full of worn holes.

Sonic had tried on a larger size and seemed content with his choice as well. With his new shoes, socks, and gloves—along with an earlier shower—the hedgehog looked like he was ready for a meet-and-greet with fans.

Tails found his legs absently kicking against the giant flat couch as they waited. He took a look back at one of his tails, checking out the burn he had received when they had infiltrated the chemical plant a couple days ago. A good bath with soap allowed the fur around it to fluff up and cover most of it, since the bandage he had been wearing on it was ruined from their trip through the Aquatic Ruins yesterday.

"Tails?"

The fox blinked at the name, turning back around. In front of him was Sonic and Valla, the latter holding shoes out to him.

Tails smiled. "Oh!" he took them from the bunny, admiring them. "Wow, these are great!"

Valla smiled. "Try them on! We didn't have any in your size that were exactly like Sonic's, but I figured with the red and white color scheme these might be a good choice."

The little fox pulled them on, tying the shoe laces and jumping off the ottoman to test them. While Sonic's shoes were mostly red with a white stripe down the center, these shoes were half and half, with the front white and the heels red.

He loved them.

He jumped in them to test their feel and gave an enthusiastic nod to the other two Mobians.

"Great! Will there be anything else today?" Valla asked, clapping her hands once and looking at Sonic.

"Nope, that'll be it. Thanks for the help," he added, handing her what Tails now understood to be a credits card.

She gladly took it and made her way back to the front of the store to perform the transaction. Sonic took the time to gather up their old shoes, socks, and gloves, walking over to a nearby trashcan to dispose of them.

Tails jumped some more, amazed at how much more comfortable the world was when you had well-fitted shoes on your feet. "Thank you Sonic!" he quipped happily, running and catching up to the hedgehog as he turned to head to the front of the store.

Sonic ruffled the top of his head. "Least I could do, Tails."

"So Hill Top next?"

Sonic shrugged a bit as he pulled back the curtain that separated the fitting room from the rest of the store. "We'll see. We slept in and took our time with food, so it's already getting pretty late."

As they rounded the corner Valla handed Sonic his card, which he gratefully took and placed back in his improvised sock pocket. They waved goodbye to her and made their way to the front of the store, opening one of the double doors…

…to be met with a dozen flashing lights from cameras.

"Sonic!"

"What brings you to Casino Night?"

"Are you a gambler?"

"Can I get your autograph?!"

"Who's your new friend?"

The two Mobians had essentially become trapped inside a mob of humans and Mobians alike, mostly swarming around Sonic to obtain answers, but an equal amount of cameras flashing and taking pictures of Tails.

Sonic seemed frozen, but not because of the crowd. He was looking at the amplifier and ignoring most of the people, aside from a few short answers here and there.

Tails, however, found himself pushed against the wall of the store they'd just exited, breathing erratically. Short and tall, big and little, fur and furless, it was a big crowd. How did they know they were here? They weren't in the store that long. It seemed like they didn't gather that much attention when walking, so how could they have known? Tails swallowed heavily. There were so many people everywhere, limbs in the way of all potential escape routes; they were getting too close—

"WOW, you have two tails!"

"How did that happen?"

"Were you born with it?"

The crowd closed in and Tails whimpered slightly. He lost sight of Sonic with all the hands, cameras, and faces just staring at him. He needed to find an out, anywhere, Sonic—where was he?—he couldn't think—

Their questions became garbled in his head but had not let up. He closed his eyes, clenched them hard, and kept his hands on either side of the glass wall he was pressed against. Maybe he could move along the wall, find the door and go back inside, maybe they wouldn't follow—?

"—up, over, and gone!"

A strong hand grasped Tails' wrist and he almost yelped before recognizing the instantaneous pull of speed. They only moved for a few seconds, but obviously headed outside because Tails felt the warmth of the sun hit him. When they stopped Tails dropped to the ground, cautiously opening his eyes to find Sonic staring concernedly at him.

"Big breaths, Tails," he soothed, and Tails didn't understand why until he realized he was hyperventilating. He consciously slowed his thoughts down, making his breathing slower and fuller. He shakily stood back up, Sonic assisting him.

"Sorry, kiddo," Sonic admonished guiltily. "Right when we stepped outside I felt the pull of an emerald and I, well…" he paused, scratching the side of his face nervously, "…I didn't think about the crowd being an issue."

Tails, still trying his best to breathe calmly, nodded his head in understanding but took a moment to lean against a nearby wall. A quick glance told him Sonic had brought them to an alleyway close by. As his head became less fuzzy with dread he unsteadily asked, "There's an emerald here?"

Sonic looked towards the main street, nodding. "Yeah, and there definitely was not one here earlier, so it just showed up."

"So someone found it?" Tails asked, finding the strength to stand on his own.

"Unfortunately," Sonic stated. "But it's close." He turned his attention back to the fox. "You sure you're okay, buddy? I'm really sorry about that."

Tails swallowed the last tinges of fear and nodded to the hedgehog. "I'm okay," he said with way more confidence than he felt.

Sonic smiled and motioned for the fox to follow. "Let's go see who has our emerald then, shall we?"

The duo re-entered the main drag, the lights on the buildings beginning to stand out as the setting sun began to disappear over the horizon. The sidewalks were still bustling but, similar to earlier, the pedestrians didn't have enough time to comprehend the celebrity who had just walked by before he and his friend were gone.

Sonic kept a brisk walking pace, enough so that Tails had to occasionally jog to keep up, but he wasn't about to complain. The sooner they got to where they were going the better.

When the two turned a street corner Sonic paused, glancing at the building to his right. It had lights and neon signs like all the other casinos, though not as flashy as some Tails had seen. But it was definitely open, Mobians and humans alike walking in and out of it.

The blue hedgehog hummed to himself, looking at his wrist and confirming Tails' assumption with, "It's in there."

The little fox followed the hedgehog into the casino, noting that its name was only "Casino Night." Inside were the usual machines Tails had seen earlier, along with some card tables that looked interesting, though how you gambled with card games was beyond him.

They quickly made their way to the back of the casino, where less people were gathered. A bright machine stood in the far back, catching Tails' eye.

It must've caught Sonic's too, since he walked them right up to it.

"Speed Test!" was the main display. A rough caricature of Sonic—wild quills, a goofy grin, and a super short torso—was emblazoned on the front, along with the statement, "See if you're faster than Sonic the Hedgehog and win BIG!"

Above that was a ramp to a small half-cage, almost like a treadmill with four walls to keep you contained. It looked like someone was supposed to run in place in that spot and, in turn, the machine would calculate your speed and compare it to Sonic's. Various numbers were on the backboard of the display, stating how many rings would be won if you could run at a certain velocity.

Neither hedgehog nor fox said anything as they stared rather stupefied at the hastily-designed contraption.

"I thought you didn't promote bad things?" Tails finally asked quietly.

Sonic laughed dryly. "No one paid me money for this, Tails." He shook his head at it and looked back at his amplifier. "Unfortunately, this is where the emerald is."

Tails looked at Sonic and then back at the machine. "Like, you gotta win it?" he asked incredulously.

The hedgehog took a moment to look around the machine, Tails following. It appeared to be bolted to the wall pretty well, which made sense if someone was going to test their speed on it. Aside from a few other, more usual machines nearby, this seemed to be the only game that stood out.

A couple of humans walked by laughing, startling both of the Mobians and reminding them that they were in the middle of a populated casino. Sonic sighed and shrugged to Tails, pulling a coin out of his spines.

"I guess there's only one way to find out," he finally answered the fox, popping the coin into the slot.

The machine hiccupped to life, a boorish melody playing and causing Tails to fold his ears downwards. Sonic groaned and slowly climbed onto the gated treadmill, closing the latch and looking at the controls in front of him. With one button press he started running.

"Oh, good try, but not fast enough!" a pre-recorded voice bellowed out.

Sonic frowned and increased his speed, watching the kilometers on the display board tick upwards.

"Sonic's still running circles around you!" the voice bellowed again.

"What the hell, I am—" Sonic outright growled, ramping up his speed tenfold.

The numbers increased dramatically. "Oh, so close and yet SO SLOW!"

"THAT does it!"

"Sonic—" Tails warned, a dread settling into his stomach. This was not an ordinary machine.

But the hedgehog was already hauling, sparks flying out from beneath the treadmill. There was a loud agitated sound, like a pop but guttural, and Sonic disappeared from sight with a yell.

"SONIC!" Tails scrambled up to the machine, trying to get over the gate, seeing below that a trap door had opened and it was pitch black below. He jumped over the gate, even as the whole machine started rotating, but found the trap door closed. He landed on the treadmill, which was back like nothing had ever happened, but looked up to see the whole machine turning into the wall, like it was attached to a hidden door.

On the other side was nothing but pitch black.