The boys are back in town, boys are back in tooooooown!
I'm back :D
Sorry my updates haven't been as frequent, sadly due to my ill health I had to give up my job. But no worries I found a new one, yaay, with less hours and more pay BOOYA!
But now I'm trying to manage new job with bad health and I'm getting tired all the time, so sadly I have had no energy when it comes to writing, which really sucks :(
But fear not, nothing will let make me give up on this story, I've put in too much time and dedication towards it. It just might take me a bit longer to write it ^_^'
Hope you all enjoy and thank you so much for the reviews.
P.S. I must say I did not expect the reaction I got about Cream, so the major question is will this story stay true to it's nature or will something good finally occure. Leave me a review and tell me what you'd like to see happen ;)
The spot was all too familiar where Tails sat alone. Up at the top of the bleachers watching down on the empty football pitch he slumped lowly with his chin rested upon his hands. He felt utterly miserable, and not just because of the lack of information on Sonic but because he realised he started to do badly in his classes.
He couldn't believe he failed that exam! And in literature? That was practically child play for him. He never failed an exam before, if anything he always aced his exams his teachers often allowed him to skip a few. The lowest score he had ever gotten was an A-, so why did he suddenly get an F?
It was pointless; he knew why he failed the test. It was because he had been so focused on finding Sonic that he forgot to study, and do homework, and forget he had a test to do until he got there.
Everything that was happening lately was messing with his head big time. The teachers were nice enough to put it down to the fact that he had just come out of hospital, and Tails didn't feel the need to correct them.
All he could do now was hope they'll find Sonic so he could apologise, then maybe the guilt of reviling those horrible secrets would stop eating him alive. He knew if he could fix Sonic's reputation then the hedgehog would hopefully forgive him, and then Tails could finally use his brain again.
Though he was in his own world it wasn't for long as the young fox heard the marching of footsteps heading towards him. Looking to the side he saw Knuckles groaning and narrowing his eyes.
"There you are! I've been looking all over for you dork, why didn't you tell me you were heading this way instead of storming off after class?" the older echidna snapped, standing only inches away and looking down critically.
Tails sighed, not feeling much of a mood, "I wanted to be alone for a bit."
Knuckles raised his brow, "Why because you failed the test? Big deal, it wasn't even important to begin with."
"It's not that! Ever since Sonic left I haven't been thinking straight. I'm struggling in my lessons now, I can't concentrate and I'm even losing my touch with my machines!" the child shook his head in his hands, feeling frustrated with himself.
Unfortunately Knuckles didn't have anything to make him feel better, "Well this part is totally gonna suck then. I ran into Amy this morning and she's bailed on us. Says she couldn't find Sonic and wasn't going to help us anymore. I think she's up to something" he spat while crossing his arms and looking away.
"It was your idea to ask her for help."
"Yeah and it backfired okay? Gimme a break mutant boy, at least I'm coming up with ideas!" Knuckles quickly grew short of patience as he huffed to himself, feeling like he was only tolerating everyone today.
He hadn't noticed however that Tails's feelings were very mutual. With a low growl of annoyance Tails stood up from the bleacher and balled up his fists tightly "You think you're the only one whose coming up with ideas? I spent all night trying to track Sonic on his phone only to find out his Uncle must have gotten to it first! It was impossible to get a signal from it!"
"Well yeah I could have told you that Tails, I already knew about the phone."
From the outburst Tails felt like he was momentarily stunned, "Huh… you did?"
"Yeah, Sonic told me about it. Whenever he gets a new phone the old man tinkers with it so no one can hack it, or use it to track him" he explained, as if it was obvious.
"Well why didn't you tell me?!"
"Because I didn't think you were creepy enough to stalk people like that!"
It ended with the both of them exasperating loudly with irritation and they turned away from each other, both angry and needed a moment.
Times like this Tails wondered how he and Knuckles ever came to a mutual agreement, but unfortunately they had. And as much as he hated to admit it he needed Knuckles help. He knew Sonic better then anyone. "Alright look, everything we've done so far has failed so can we just think of a new idea already?"
Knuckles groaned inwardly, still not to the point of forgetting why he was annoyed, but sadly the fox was right. "Fine, now's the time to add in your contribution, so what do you suggest?"
Choosing to ignore the comment, Tails thought for a moment, "Well… would Sonic's locker be emptied by now?"
"I don't think so. I think they normally wait till family comes to get the stuff."
"Then let's check it out."
With that said the two made their way down to the lockers. Unfortunately though it didn't seem like it was going to be unnoticed, as per usual the hallway was stacked with students standing around and hanging out while waiting for the school bell to ring.
It was bad enough that loads of students stared at the fact Knuckles was walking alongside the weird fox but when they hovered around the most unpopular and spoked about hedgehog's locker, they both felt the pressure of poisonous eyes drill into them.
"This is crazy, people are going to suspect something" Tails spoke quietly under his breath, almost dancing on the spot as he watched the looming eyes that locked onto him almost every time someone passed by.
"Shut up no they're not okay, just stop freaking out" Knuckles mumbled back, keeping his head down for a low profile. He waited a couple of moments until it seemed like no one was paying much attention anymore, and when the hallway was filled up to the top with noise that the echidna punched lightly at the locker, digging the spike on his knuckle into the opening of the frame and with one solid twist the door was forced opened.
"How did you do that?" Tails gasped in amazement. Knuckles couldn't help but let the grin take over, blowing on his fist as if to clean it, "Natural echidna ability my young friend, something they don't teach you in nerd school."
Then all the awe Tails felt was gone and instead he rolled his eyes. "Whatever, let's just look in the locker already."
They both simultaneously looked inside.
"Huh not really much in here, just books" Knuckles commented, gazing upon all the books that filled the locker that looked like they hadn't been used in a while. There was nothing really outstanding for them to look at either. Beside the books there was a packet of gum, a picture of Sally, a few bits of rubbish that really should have been thrown away and an envelope.
The latter is what struck the foxes interest. Curiously Tails picked it out and looked it over, "There's no name on it" he observed. The seal had already been broken, so he reached inside and pulled out the mystery papers.
The moment his eyes laid upon the small squares of glossy images, the eight year olds face and ears burnt with disgust as he unintentionally gagged, throwing the pictures down on the floor.
Startled Knuckles ignored the child's horror and instead picked up a few of the many photo's that had been scattered around. "Oh… hell no…"
In his hands he held the most disturbing nude photos of his former Science teacher, Mrs. Winters.
"What the… hell are these!" he cried out, almost dropping the photo to the ground as he wanted to wash his hands. On the floor there were more pictures, all in different poses and different (or lack of) clothing. He hadn't realise how many pictures there were, but it seemed like there were hundreds of them, how they all fitted in the envelope he didn't know, but they were spaced around, and in plain sight.
Quickly Knuckles darted down to try and pick them up before anyone saw, but of course nothing worked out that way.
"Hey Knuckles, what you doing hanging out with Tai…" the preppy voice that was easily recognised at Mina's as she strolled up from behind with Bunny by her side, who seemed less amused. Of course she stopped in mid-sentence when she saw Knuckles bent down and picking up some random photos. It wasn't until she got a good look at what they were that she gasped sharply and snatched a few of them up before Knuckles could stop her.
"Oh my gosh what are these? Is this Mrs. Winters?" she cried out loudly, unfortunately gathering unwanted attention. In a panic Knuckles tried to grab the picture back but she held it out the way.
"Seriously are we still talking about the whole thing with Sonic and Mrs. Winters again? It's so old…" Bunny had started, but the moment Mina forced one of the photos in her face she instantly got on board with the new interest. "What the… no way, is that who I think it is?" her excitement perked up at the thought of new gossip as she also snatched the picture away to get a better look.
Knuckles snarled at the uncaring girl and grabbed a hold of her wrist, "Give that back!" he shouted before swiping the photo away. It was useless however as Mina had gotten a hold of the others that fell to the floor. "Do you realise what this means? Sonic had been spying on her this whole time. She has no idea the camera is on her!"
"How did he take those photos?"
"I don't know!"
"They might not be real" Tails desperately pointed out, feeling nerves get the better of him as the two girls voices grew louder and louder, grabbing unwanted attention.
"Yeah whatever. Jet, Silver, come over here!"
That was the final blow. Knuckle's felt his fists shake with anger when the two named boys rushed over and the girls threw the photos at them.
Jet was the first to comment, "No way, these were in Sonic's locker? The guys a bigger pervert then I thought, I just didn't think he was into old lady nudes. Ha! I'm glad he didn't come with me when I went away with my grandparents, think he would have enjoyed himself too much" his grin became almost too wide as he laughed bitterly, enjoying every negative comment he heard.
Knuckles blew up. "You forget that Sonic was the one that hid those drugs from your parents, or do you have your beak so far up your butt that you don't care?"
Instantly Jet stopped laughing, his eyes resembled slits as he glared at the outraged echidna, "When are you gonna grow a pair Knuckles and stop being such a girl! It's not my fault the pervhog got it off with the teacher, or maybe you're a little jealous."
The small gathering around the two was quickly expanding as on lookers soon joined the group to see what was going on.
"Jealous!" he quickly snapped back, anger taking an ugly hold on him. Jet found it amusing, "Yeah, if you ask me you've been a little obsessed since blue boy left, what's wrong? You miss you're little boyfriend?"
"Forget it Jet! I'm not wasting my time on a druggy whose last girlfriend was his cousin!" Knuckles growled before violently pushing Jet backward until he fell into Silver's arms. The hawk was only stunned for a moment before he embarrassingly stumbled to his feet. His face was bright pink but not due to falling over, but due to the comment, "She was my second cousin! Second Cousin! It doesn't count! Besides at least I've had a girlfriend recently, when was your last date? Or have you been saving yourself for when Sonic got bored of Mrs. Slutface?" Jet retaliated and shoved the echidna back just as hard as he did to him.
Not stumbling as much as the hawk, Knuckles only lost balance for a few seconds before his anger got the better of him. With a sharp swing of his wrist he knocked Jet completely out after landing a punch to his jaw.
Nothing stopped the crowd from gathering around now as the hawk lay on the ground, quickly stirring and shaking his head to stop the world from swirling around him, but he had minimum time to react before Knuckles threw himself down and repeatedly punched him.
"You crazy git, get off me!" Jet kicked the echidna in the stomach, winding him before leaping up and throwing the teen down to the ground instead, kicking and punching where he could. Knuckles was stunned for a moment before he reached out and grabbed Jet's ankle, pulling him down before getting up and pinning him.
No one new how long the fight had lasted until security got involved.
Of course the peace could never have lasted long could it?
Robotnik sat in his office chair, his chin resting glumly on his palm while the fingers of his over hand ratted across his desk. As he inhaled, an obvious groan of irritation filled the room as he glared at the teenage boy in front of him.
The situation was very similar, only this time it was red and not blue.
"So you started a fight in my School and you expect me to let you off the hook right?" he said bluntly, not sparing much concern for the bruises that laced the echidna's face.
Knuckles sat awkwardly with his legs crossed and his hands folded in his lap. Truthfully he was in pain but he was too annoyed to make a deal out of it. He wanted to defend himself and he nearly did. He nearly shouted out that it was Jet who started it and by rights he should be in the office not him! But for once he decided not to. Knuckles decided he was going to use his brain for once.
"Actually no."
Robotnik raised his brow, "Oh really? So you realise there will be consequence's involved? This is a first."
Knuckles shook his head, "No there won't be, because I didn't do it."
"Say what?"
"I didn't get in a fight with anyone. Me and Jet were just talking and we got a little loud so security came over and reported us for fighting, it's ridiculous" he almost laughed, waving his hand as to brush the idea away.
The principal stared at him questionably, "So that's your story now? Then tell me, how did you get the bruises?"
Knuckles shrugged, "My mother. Didn't clean my room on time."
"You expect me to believe that!" Robotnik snapped, slamming his hand against the hard oak as his patience slowly grew thin.
A small glean nearly shimmered through Knuckle's smile as he closed his eyes smugly and relaxed in his chair, "Well of course I do Eggie, it's not like you can prove it" he said challengingly.
Finally it was Robotnik's turn to grin as he pulled out a remote from a draw in his desk and aimed it at his book shelve, "Wrong again echidna, guess you forgot the small thing called a surveillance camera."
The smile of victory was almost too wide, "Gee did I? I didn't know this is where you could access it…"
Tails paced along the emptied corridor outside of the principal's office. Truthfully he should have been back to his class by now but he wanted to wait for Knuckles, he needed to know if the echidna was still going to be allowed to come back to school or not.
His mind kept racing to the fight; it looked so brutal in his memory. Jet had ended up the worst, that was why he was sent straight to the nurses office and Knuckles was forced to go to Eggman.
But he kept thinking about what was said and why Knuckles got so angry over the way they talked about Sonic. Normally he was the first guy to lay an insult on anyone so why was he getting so personal with this? The only thing he actually told Tails was that he had his own reasons for wanting to help but what does that mean?
Had the fox been so blinded by his own guilt he overlooked something obvious? Knuckles wasn't normally a friendly sentimental guy so why was he as determined to find Sonic too?
Was he just a good friend? Or was there something more?
Tails almost jumped out of his fur when the office door slammed opened and Knuckles darted out. He had such a shock he almost missed the small dance of success the echidna started doing as he cheered quietly.
"And that my friend, is how it's done!" he laughed before holding up his hand for a high five.
Awkwardly and with a lot of confusion Tails slapped the five lightly before trying to get serious again, "What happened? Are you getting punished?"
"Oh yeah I'm in big trouble" Knuckles stated, but he spoke as if it was the best news of his life.
"I don't understand, why is that a good thing?"
As Knuckles turned his heels to walk back to class, Tails was soon following his trail until they were side by side. "Well it's not, I got a three day suspension starting tomorrow which throws a spanner in the works, but some good did come out of this. I found out where the security footage goes to."