For once I had a legit reason for posting so late! I fell at work and caught myself on the last three fingers on my left hand and badly sprained my ring finger. So I had my ring and middle fingers taped together for a week! X.X

It made counting change difficult and I couldn't lift anything heavy, but I managed.

All is well now, so well that I'm working on a side project. I have most of the outline done now. Heh, not gonna do to the new story what I did to this one and have it go on for a fucking eternity. ;P

It's about Hugh and what happened before he ended up in this story here. I'll post it in a month or so. I really want to finish this story and promptly rewrite the first dozen chapters and touch up a few other things.

Now that I know what's actually going on in my own universe, it'll be easier to frame things.

Anyhoo, enough babbling. On with the show.

-Chapter 95: Fall into Place-

Tails alarm went off and stirred he and Cream. "Shoot. I knew I'd fall asleep." Her heavy blankets and comfortable bed were too welcoming to leave.

"My window is on the dark side of the house. You should be able to leave unnoticed," Cream sleepily said. She smiled warmly as Tails gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"I got a lot to do today, want to meet up for supper?"

"Oki-doki," she said sleepily and dozed right back off.

Tails quietly opened the window and slipped outside. Along the way, he dropped his phone out of an open belt pocket. It clattered on the floor. "Oops," he said and leaned back in the window. No sooner had he picked the device up that Cream's father, Loki, entered her room after he heard a strange noise.

"Oy! What the hell do you think you're doing!" He had a thick English accent, "Get out of my daughter's room!" He quickly approached the window and gave chase. Tails bolted. Loki busted the frame of the window as he took after the supposed snoop.

Cream sat up briefly, didn't react to the hole in her windoww and then laid right back down, out cold.

Tails quickly took off and hid on the roof of a nearby building. Loki had lost him. "The cloak of night assists me well."

His ears perked up. "There you are!" Loki said as he leapt straight onto the roof next to him.

Tails scrambled away in time. "Right, rabbits are nocturnal and have really good hearing!" He quickly reached for his hover board, mounted it and hightailed it to his closest friend's house, Sonic and Amy's.

Loki gave chase. "You bloody little minge splinter! Get back here!"

With a spare key he kept on his person, he let himself in and locked the door behind him.

Seconds later, Loki pounded on the door. "Sonic! Haul your arse out of bed! You're harboring a little perv!"

Shadow sat up on the couch he and Rouge slept on. "One night of undisturbed sleep, is it so much to ask?" he groggily said and rubbed sleep from his eyes. Rouge rolled off of him as he sat up.

A werehogged Sonic came out of his bedroom, "What's going on?"

Loki spoke through the door, "I caught some mangy prick sneaking into my daughter's room! He's hold up in your house, as I speak!"

Tails spoke loudly, "I wasn't sneaking in! I was sneaking out!"

Sonic facepalmed. "Not the right thing to say, good buddy."

Shadow pinched the bridge of his nose, "I thought you were the smart one."

Rouge could only laugh.

"You open this door now or I'll bust it and you to a bloody pulp. And I mean that metaphorically and literally!" He laid a final fist on the door.

"Okay, chill, chill!" Sonic gave in and stretched an arm over the piles of files and opened his door. "I can't afford to replace the door. Sorry, buddy."

"It's alright. I'll face my fate." He met Loki face to chest.

Loki was a light blue and white, giant European lop rabbit. He towered above Tails and loudly cracked all his knuckles. With the higher angle, he noticed the dual tails the assailant had. "..." Loki froze in place. "You, uh, have two tails?"

Tails also froze in place, but for other reasons. "Yes."

Loki leaned down and sighed, "You're Tails? As in, Miles 'Tails' Prower."

"Yes." He felt impending doom slowly shift.

He blandly said, "Son of Commander Amadeus Prower and Rosemary Prower, current CEO of Prower industries? That Miles Prower?"

"That is me. Yes. I am him, Tails," he nervously said.

Loki's mood immediately shifted, "You know what? Let's forget all about this little incident. Shall we?"

"Um," Tails was stunned.

"Heh, sorry I didn't recognize you sooner, Mr. Prower. I really hope this doesn't affect the relationship our two families have. It's bad for business to have bad blood between us, you hear what I'm saying?" He nervously scratched the back of his head.

"That would be bad for business, yes," Tails was still in shock. "All is forgiven."

Loki clasped his hands together and nodded thankfully, "Thank you, sir. So we're clear, you're welcomed to spend the night whenever you want. Honestly, I didn't think my youngest had it in her. I'm glad she's not resigned to be a nun."

Tails furiously blushed, "N-nothing happened, honest."

Loki held up a hand, "Bup-bup, it's alright. Sorry to bother you all so early in the morning, folks. Cheers," he said and waved goodbye and let himself out.

Sonic had a wide smile. He pat his friend's shoulder, "You got Mister'ed and Sir'ed all at once. How's it feel to get older?"

"Stressful," he said and flopped on the couch. He rubbed his face with both hands.

Sonic sat across from his relieved friend. He still grinned widely.

Tails finally looked up, "What's so funny?"

"What were you doin' in Cream's room, Tails," he said slyly.

Tails blushed again, "Nothing happened."

"Not what I asked, bro." Sonic caught him in a slip of the mind.

Tails folded his arms. "We got caught in the storm last night and I waited it out at her place. I dozed off. That's all."

Sonic smirked and folded his arms. "Come on, you can tell Papa-Sonic the truth," he said in a consoling way.

He groaned. "Fine. We kissed, that's all."

"AH-HA! I knew it!" Sonic said with pride. "That's my boy! He's got brains, clout and the ladies."

"Anyway," Tails changed the subject. "While I'm here I should let you know: I got the TV up and running in my workshop. We can watch broadcasts from the mainland now."

"Awesome."

"Do you know what happens today?" Tails asked.

Nothing came to Sonic's mind. He shrugged.

"The debate between Jami and the state," Shadow said from the kitchen where he waited for coffee to finish brewing.

"How do you know that?" Sonic asked.

"It's called the radio. Keep up to date, would you?" Shadow retorted.

"Are you still going to talk to town hall today?" Rouge asked.

Sonic nodded. "I need to know about this whole 'sovereignty' thing. If they know about it, that'll explain a whole lot. Honestly, when Amy's up and running again, she'll probably help do the extra paperwork for them."

Shadow groaned as he poured himself a cup of black coffee.

"What's your damage? We can go back to sleep for another hour if you're tired," he said with a yawn.

Tails also yawned, "I can't argue with you there."

Shadow slapped a hand down on the counter. "This is insufferable." He went over and sat next to Tails, across from Sonic. "Have you met any of Amy's family?"

Sonic was caught off guard by the seemingly innocuous question. "Not really. She doesn't keep close contact with her folks. Oh right, I did meet her cousin Robert once. Nice guy. Talks kind of funny though. He's a skilled archer. Reeeeeally liked to put whiskey away. Don't remember much of the night."

"..."

"Why did you want to know that?"

Shadow sighed. "What does Robert do for a living?"

Sonic thought about it, "I think he said he owns land in the O'Hedge Kingdom."

Shadow sighed. "Think about it...Amy's cousin is a man named Robert who owns land in the Kingdom of O'Hedge, talks in regal tones and is a skilled archer. Tell me, did you catch his last name?"

Tails had caught on. "Is it...O'Hedge?"

"I knew you were the smart one." Shadow loudly sipped his coffee.

It all finally fell into place. Sonic went catatonic. With wide glaring eyes, he looked at his watch. "...they're two hours ahead of us. I think I can call. Yeah, I'll call."

"Calling the king on a personall line, first thing in the morning? Ballsy." Rouge said as she made her way to the source of the smell of coffee.

"I need to hear it from him." He let it ring.

A lively voice came on the line. "Maurice, my good man. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Sonic blurted out, "Robert, are you a king? If you're a king, you gotta tell me."

A warm chuckle came from the speaker. "Ha ha, that I am."

Sonice began to panic. His voice was stuck in his throat. He struggled to draw a breath.

Shadow spoke up. "Congratulations, whiskey sponge, you broke him."

"Have I been graced with the presence of Shadow the Hedgehog? Your personable demeanor adds yet another ray of sunshine to an otherwise dreary day." Rob said with a laugh.

"Fuck you. Don't make this asshole a king."

"You must have ears in my walls. I was saving that revelation for our visit. And what, may I ask, makes you so sure your able to speak to a king with such disregard?"

"You don't have your crown on. You always say 'no crown, no business'. Since you answered your phone, I know you aren't working."

"Astute as ever," he said and laughed. "Hold on a moment."

They heard shuffling.

"You aren't geting that crown, are you?!" Shadow snapped.

"Possibly."

Shadow let loose, "Your new main hall tapistry is god aweful and tacky. You laugh too loud when you drink. Your poker face sucks. You ramble when you tell stories! Get to the point already!"

"Shadow...the crown is on," he said solemnly.

"Your highness, with all due respect, I don't think any possible candidates you may have in mind for taking on the role of king, are ready for such a task," he spoke with upmost respect.

"That's more like it. What makes you say that? Amy and Maurice have been flexing their abilities with town hall for years. This is a bit of a larger bag, but its a bag with handles that Amy is skilled at carrying. I have faith in their teamwork skills."

"Admirable teamwork skills aside, they've been doing this before they became parents."

"What?!" Rob was shocked.

Sonic snapped to. "Woops, I was so caught up in this I forgot to mention that we werent telling Amy's family until they visited. Which, I guess would be next week, when the Kingdom of O'Hedge visits, which is you. The king. Amy's cousin, the king."

"That does change a few things. Not much. More or less the timing. Where is Amy? We should all speak on this matter."

Shadow briefly explained the situation.

"That is most troubling, indeed. I'm going to speak to my cabnit and see if they have recourse for us. I'll make contact as soon as I hear from them. If not by days end, I'll return with revisions on the morrow."

Shadow sighed in relief. "Thank you, sir."

"One final matter before I depart. Tell me what you think of my hall tapistry, Shadow."

Without hesitation he said, "Breathtaking. Your taste in decorum is unrivaled, sir."

Rob laughed. "Such kind and truer words remain unspoken. Good day everyone. And Maurice, relax. You're in skilled hands with my dear Rose at your side."

"Thank you, sir," he said nervously.

"No need for formalities. We're family, after all. Take care," he said and ended the call.

"...I don't want to be king." Sonic looked around the room to see faces that looked as discouraged as his own.

Shadow pointed to Amy still in the corner. "You need to take that up with the dutchess herself."

Sonic sighed.

Rouge noticed the sun was finally all the way up. "Shouldn't you have transformed back by now?"

Sonic shook his head. "Under this kind of stress? I'll be lucky if I ever revert back."

Shadow huffed. "Why don't we go to the coordinates Rolph gave us? Since you can't talk to town hall wile you look like that, we might as well get something done today."

"Sure. We'll do that." Sonic laid on his side on the couch and pulled his knees to his chest and held them in place.

Lulz, spooky king duties. XD