"Okay, Charles, shut up already!" Ava cried, waving her hands at the boy to silence him. "You're right, it's weird that they're not here, but complaining won't solve anything!"

She leaned back in her chair and huffed, glaring at the empty seats next to them. Where were they? Blaine and Tails missing at the same time… Ava had a bad feeling they were together, and that could never end well.

"I can't help it!" Charles whined. "Our project is due in two days and we haven't even started!" He dragged his fingers down his face. "If I fail because of you idiots, I'll… I'll…"

Ava's eyes jumped to him. "You'll what?" she challenged. What was his power, anyways? She never bothered asking, but now she was curious.

Charles growled. A flame sparked over his fingertips and fell over his hand, lighting his fur ablaze.

"Fire type," Ava said, nodding approvingly, "nice."

"That's what my girlfriend said when I accidentally turned her favorite book to ashes," Charles sighed. "It was more sarcastic than anything, though."

Ava blinked. "You have a girlfriend?"

"Yeah, she's a freshman."

"How did you manage to get a high school girlfriend?"

"I don't know," he grinned, "guess she thought I was hot stuff."

Ava couldn't fight back a smile. The joke was so lame, it was good.

"I'll go find them," she reassured, jumping to her feet.

"Wait! What am I supposed to do?"

Ava shrugged. "Get started on our project, I guess."

As Charles watched the girl slip out of the classroom, he crossed his arms and huffed. Typical group work behavior, he does all the work and the others do nothing. Well, we'll see about that.

He waved his hand through the air. "Mrs. Tracie!"

•••••

Downtown White Valley was bustling with foxes of different colors and number of tails. Shops lined the streets along with small diners and cafes spotted here and there. Tails glanced at Blaine, wondering what they were doing. Were they skipping school to go bowl? It was the only thing to do in town, after all.

"In here," Blaine said, pointing at a shoe store. There was a neon blue sign hanging in the window that said OPEN. The bully pushed through the door and headed straight for the far right shelf. Tails gazed down the isles as he went, looking over the long shelves full of footwear. One little red girl caught Tails' eye as he passed and waved. He smiled and returned the gesture.

"What're we doing?" Tails asked, rounding the corner and watching Blaine scan the shoes.

"I'm getting a new pair of shoes. You're going to stay there and keep quiet." The bully threw a glare at Tails.

"Then what's the point of me being here?" Tails cried.

"Shut it," Blaine snapped. He grabbed a box of black shoes and tucked it under his arm. "Let's go."

"Do you even have money for that?" Tails asked in disbelief.

"Nope."

"You-Wait, are you going to steal that?"

Blaine threw a look over his shoulder, smirking. "You're not as dumb as you look."

Tails frowned. I look dumb? For a moment, his mind was stuck on that statement and not on the fact that Blaine was about to steal a pair of shoes. When Tails realized what had happened, he huffed. Maybe Blaine was't as dumb as he looked.

The bully was nearly out the door when Tails had caught up to him, grabbing his arm to yank him back inside. He was about to confront him, but the cashier beat him to it.

"Um," the man said, pushing his black framed glasses up the bridge of his nose, "you have to pay for that."

Blaine rolled his eyes. He glared at Tails and shoved him away. I could've been out of here if it weren't for him, he thought, irritated.

"No, I don't. I'm going to walk right out that door, and I'm not gonna pay. Deal with it."

"Or, I could call the police and have them deal with you."

Blaine smirked. He dropped the box of shoes to the ground and stepped up to the counter. He glanced over his shoulder and met Tails' uneasy gaze.

"This is why I brought you here. If you want to be bad, you have to be bad."

Tails didn't like the sound of that. He cautiously stepped forward, trying to figure out how to stop whatever's about to happen.

The whites of Blaine's eyes suddenly flooded with a darkness as black as the void itself. His hands tightened into fists and his jaw clenched. The worker was paralyzed, eyes wide and mouth frozen in a silent scream. At one end of the counter was a cup filled with coupons. It began to hover off the wood and the pieces of paper levitated out of their places, separating and floating across the counter. Above, lights hummed and flickered.

Tails heard a little gasp from behind him. He spun around and stared at the girl from earlier, face twisted in fear as she held onto the hem of her mother's dress. Whatever was about to happen wasn't going to be good. Tails lifted into the air; he needed to get them outside and away from there. As soon as his feet left the ground though, his body was drawn to an unseen force in the other direction. Surprised, Tails looked for the source.

At first, it was easy to miss. The floating black speck behind the worker's head looked nothing more than a bug on the wall. But then that black speck tore a hole in that wall and continued to grow bigger and bigger until that bug was big enough to swallow a jukebox.

Tails crashed into the counter, the edge digging into his back. He groaned and dropped back to the ground. He couldn't get the girl and her mom out quick enough without flying. That worker was in even more danger now. Tails pulled himself to his feet.

The worker gripped his desk with both hands. His feet were slipping. Loose objects laying on the counter were being sucked into the black hole.

"Blaine!" Tails cried. "Stop! Enough already!"

He figured his words were useless. Why would Blaine stop on his behalf?

Surprisingly though, Blaine did just that. The black hole disappeared and everything was still except for whatever didn't get sucked into the void dropping to the floor.

The worker stared at the kids. For a moment, no one said anything. Blaine held the man's gaze, lips pressed into a thin line.

Then, the worker raised a trembling finger and pointed toward the door. "Have… Have a, a good day, kids."

Blaine smiled smugly. "Thank you. C'mon, newbie." He walked around the counter, grabbed his shoes, and strolled out the door.

Tails opened and closed his mouth, searching for something to say to this worker who Blaine just probably scarred for life. There were no words, though. His face fell and he rushed out, the guilt heavy in his stomach.

Blaine was waiting for him, surprisingly. If things were different and Tails hadn't just witnessed a literal black hole form in mid air, he would've dwelled on Blaine waiting patiently a bit more. Instead, he raced forward and shoved Blaine as hard as he could manage. The bully's shoulders swayed to the right, but the shove didn't have as much of an effect as Tails had been hoping.

"What was that?!" Tails yelled. "You could've hurt someone!"

"I wasn't gonna hurt anyone," Blaine scoffed.

"I have a hard time believing that considering hurting people is your favorite past time!"

Blaine pushed off the wall. He towered over the younger falls, dark eyes glaring into fierce blue ones. Tails clenched his fists and glared back, tilting his chin up as he refused to let this guy beat him.

"Maybe you need to be persuaded," Blaine said, cracking his knuckles.

"Nothing you do to me will convince me that what you did in there was right," Tails growled.

"I'm not gonna hurt you," Blaine reassured, but there was an edge in his voice. He was amused, and it made Tails' skin crawl. "I'm just going to share the fun. Is there anything you've been wanting to get your hands on? Maybe a post card so you can say hi to your mommy and daddy?" Blaine snickered. "Ah, never mind. Getting through to the outside world is a lost cause. Don't worry though, pretty soon you'll be as mindless as the rest of the outsiders."

Tails' shoulders faltered. He frowned, squinting at the bully. "What do you mean?"

Blaine shrugged. "I'm from here, so I never went through the adjustment process. All I know is that people come out with no memory of their lives before White Valley."

Tails' chest tightened. Did that mean he'll have to go through it eventually? Wait, Charles mentioned something about losing his memories yesterday. Was that why Ava gasped? Tails looked down. Does Ava know more than she's leading on?

"Hey!" Blaine said, shoving Tails' shoulder. "I asked you a question, idiot. Anything you want from a store?"

Tails blinked. Slowly, his eyes raised until he met Blaine's. "Maybe," he answered, looking around, "but I'm not going to steal something."

"How else are you going to get it?"

The younger huffed. Blaine was right, admittedly. Tails didn't have any money. He didn't even know what the currency was on this island. Well to be fair, he didn't know what the currency was on Bygone Island, either. Tails looked pointedly to the right.

"Who're you looking at?"

"Whoever's writing this thing."

"What?"

"Never mind." Tails sighed, meeting Blaine's gaze again. "I don't need the thing bad enough to steal and scare people."

Blaine rolled his eyes. "You're not going to get anywhere in life asking for it. What do you want?"

"Tools," Tails answered because he was beginning to think Blaine dropping the subject was a lost cause. "I haven't invented anything in weeks."

Blaine raised an eyebrow. "You invent stuff?"

"Can you save the teasing for later, please?"

The bully rolled his eyes. "Whatever. There's a hardware store down here." He shoved Tails forward and the pair began walking down the sidewalk.

Every adult they passed stared at the two. Blaine didn't seem to notice, but Tails was faltering under their watchful eye. Did they know the kids were up to no good? Were they going to call the police, get the boys arrested? Tails stared at the snowy path they were trudging through.

"Why's everybody watching us?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I've got a reputation," Blaine answered.

"Cause you're in a gang?"

"Mmhm." The way he agreed so casually chilled Tails. "Helps when you want something. Usually, no one asks questions. I don't know what that idiot shoe guy was doing." He threw a glare over his shoulder.

"Yeah, how dare he try to stop a teenager from stealing a pair of shoes from his store," Tails said, sarcasm heavy as he rolled his eyes.

Blaine reached for a glass door leading into the hardware shop. "Keep talking like that and we won't get these tools."

"I don't want them in the first place!" Tails cried.

"I'm trying to help," Blaine growled, eyes narrowing. He pulled open the door and strolled inside. Tails sighed deeply, trying to prepare himself for whatever was about to happen.

When he stepped into the store, he groaned. There were more people here than in the last shop. As he joined Blaine at the counter, his eyes swept over the isles, wondering how quickly he could get everybody out before Blaine's void attack swallowed the whole lot. What he wouldn't give for Sonic's speed right about now.

Blaine opened his mouth to speak, but the cashier beat him to it.

"Don't hurt me," the woman begged. "Please, take anything you want. I don't need the rest of the Indigo clan destroying my store."

Blaine smiled smugly. Tails wondered if the bully was capable of anything genuine. "Thank you, ma'am."

Tails walked down the first isle, furthest from the door. Nobody was there, thankfully. He couldn't handle being stared at like he was part of the gang himself. Tails scanned the shelves and grabbed basic tools. Tails wanted to grab as little as possible because the guilt was eating away at his insides.

Blaine stepped up beside Tails, looking over the tools as well. "I thought you'd want to go to the library or something, but this is less nerdier."

Tails didn't look at him. "People look at you like they're scared. Doesn't that bother you?"

"Nope; it's more power to me."

"That's a villainous statement if I've ever heard one." He grabbed a flathead screwdriver.

"Weren't you encouraging me yesterday to make fun of that loser Charles? Why are you suddenly against it now?"

Tails sighed. "I was trying to get on your good side so maybe you'd stop picking on me."

"You're just so fun to annoy, though."
The younger scoffed and rolled his eyes. He reached the end of the isle and paused. What was he trying to invent? As he rounded the corner, his wrist bounced against the corner of a shelf. He ran his fingers over the communicator, feeling for any cracks or scratches. Then, a lightbulb went off in his head.

Although he was still really against what Blaine had done, he may as well take advantage of it, right?

"I know what I want to do," he muttered, taking off to the other end of the store.

•••••

Ava turned her head and squinted as a cold breeze brushed past her. She couldn't find Tails anywhere around the school, so she had to sneak past the front gates and venture into town. It was easier than usual since most of the school was still testing for Lorelei's test. Ava was still annoyed that the woman hadn't let her in on the secret. Testing wasn't a normal thing at White Valley. Usually, there's an entry exam for access to the school, but nothing more. So what's so important that Lorelei has to test every single kid (except for the seventh grade, which also bugged Ava) in the school?

She turned a corner and stepped onto main street, and there he was. Tails walked on the side of the street, plastic black bag hanging from his wrist. Next to him was Blaine, who had an orange box tucked under his arm. They were talking. It was suspicious. Were they hanging out? Why would they be hanging out?

Ava ducked behind a dumpster when the pair crossed the street. She eyed them, hands clenched around the rusty metal. Tails was too good of a guy to be hanging out with Blaine. Maybe it was a hostage situation. She should confront them, but if it was a hostage situation, Ava and Tails wouldn't be strong enough to take Blaine on by themselves.

So, she lurked in the shadows. She watched and waited for a good time to leave and return to school. When she ran into Tails again, she would confront him. He had been acting weird the past few days, but surely, surely there was a logical explanation to this.

•••••

Tails Prower was really starting to get on Lorelei's nerves.

Skipping class? At her school? After he'd already been sneaking around, trying to poke his nose in business that doesn't involve him? The idea made her chuckle, but it was filled with cruelty and a sick sense of humor.

"I need to get rid of him," she muttered. In the beginning, she thought Tails would be a strong addition to her plans. Now, she was regretting her decision.

"Tomorrow," she decided. "I'm going to get rid of him tomorrow."

I apologize for how short this is. I had a deadline to meet (which is today) because I'm going out of town this weekend and won't be home until Monday, and I hated not updating. So now it's 10:30 and I've got a lot of things to do before I leave tomorrow. I guess this is just a bonding-ish chapter for Blaine and Tails? Landon was supposed to be here, but I think maybe giving him a whole chapter to himself would be best. Kid's got some issues to work out, you know.

So.. Enjoy this. I'll be back Monday to make a longer chapter because there's an event (Lorelei's plan to fix her Tails problem, to be exact) that I have been dying to write. Like, I'm really excited.

Leave a review and have an awesome day! :)