Chapter 7: Bullies

"Tangle's log,

After our whole underwater adventure, we went back home to plan out our next move in terms of our little vacation. Amy and Cream are still there actually.

As for the rest of us, we all went to investigate what looked to be Eggman up to no good again. Sonic was able to destroy his airship, but we ended up getting hit by some debris and crashed, so we're separated from him for now.

Right now, Tails is working on the repairs, while Chris and I just… rest I guess. Not much we can do to help the super genius of the group… Kinda wish I brought my bike to be honest, I could of rode around a bit and looked for Sonic that way. This place is really flat, so it would be great for building up some great speed… oh well."

Tangle put her notebook away just in time to catch the end of Tails and Chris' conversation.

"Lately, I've been thinking of becoming a Zoologist." Chris said.

"Wait, what are you two talking about?" Tangle asked.

"Oh, just our dreams for the future." Tails said. "I want to open up a workshop near Station Square, and Chris wants to be a Zoologist."

"Oh, that's nice!" Tangle said.

"What about you Tangle?" Tails asked.

"Me?… To be honest, I am already living my dream." Tangle said. "I've always wanted to live freely, to go around and help people in need, just like you and Sonic… Actually, me and Jewel had just left our hometown in order to chase our dreams."

"Oh? And what is Jewel's dream if you don't mind me asking?" Tails asked.

"She wants to open a museum." Tangle said. "'Show everyone just how beautiful our world could be' she always told me."

"That sounds like a great dream." Chris said.

"And I am happy that we can help you live yours Tangle." Tails said.

"Thanks a lot Tails…" Tangle said. "But… it kinda bums me out that I am here, living the dream, yet Jewel is back home on her own…"

"All the more reason to find the last of the Chaos Emeralds as soon as possible!" Tails said.

"Right!" Tangle said. "First thing's first though, we gotta find Sonic!"

"Well it's a good thing I finished repairs!" Tails said. "Let's get going!"

Later

After searching around for a while, the group stumbled upon a construction site. It didn't take long to figure out that what they were building would pretty much ruin the homes of all the animals that lived in the area. When they voiced their concerns however, it fell on deaf ears…

"I just… can't believe those guys!" Tangle growled out.

"Relax, charging in there and attacking them would only cause trouble!" Chris tried to reason.

"But did you hear what that guy said?! These are lives we are talking about here! And he just called it 'not his problem' like they don't matter to him!" Tangle said.

"Still, you can't just charge in there and start breaking things…" Tails said.

"I know… it's just… UGH!" Tangle said as she sat down on the ground.

Tails then took a look at the animals in the area.

"Are you just going to take this? Let these guys come here and ruin your home?!" Tails asked them.

"Tails…"

"They… they're being treated just like…" Tails said, starting to look really down.

"Tails?" Tangle asked.

Tails just sighed.

"Like I was before I met Sonic…" Tails said. "You see, before I met Sonic, I was being picked on a lot. The twin tails and being great with machines really brought a lot of… unwanted attention to me."

"Oh…" Chris said.

"It was really rough, but then I saw Sonic running around." Tails said. "I… thought he was so cool, and wanted to follow him, and see what he was doing. I found the Tornado on the nearby beach, and met Sonic shortly after. And my life pretty much changed for the better after that."

"… I… see…" Tangle said, starting to look down herself. "Alright! Now I am doubly motivated! We have to find some way to get these guys out of here!"

"Well, I have a plan!" Chris said as he began to walk away.

Later again

As it turns out, Chris' plan was to get the people in a nearby town to help protest the construction. Before long, a whole mob was surrounding the construction site, and the heads of the project were leaving.

"AND GOOD RIDDANCE!" Tangle shouted as the two guys in charge of the construction drove away.

"Now all that's left is for them to get rid of all this construction equipment, and things can go back to normal here!" Chris said.

"Right, but for now, we should probably get to work on finding out where Sonic went…" Tails said. "Why don't we stay with the animals until everyone leaves though? They still seem a bit on edge right now."

"Sounds like a good idea." Tangle said.

After a while, the crowd of people as well as the construction workers all left, and the animals began to calm down.

"Alright, I guess it's time to say goodbye." Tails said.

"Right, we gotta go find Sonic!" Tangle said.

"Speaking of! There he is right now!" Chris said as he pointed towards Sonic who was running towards them.

"Ok… that is way too convenient…" Tangle deadpanned.

"Hey guys!" Sonic said as he skid to a stop.

"GET BACK HERE!"

"Huh?"

The group then looked over to the source of the voice to see Eggman heading towards them with a large robot.

"Looks like we missed a bit…" Tangle said.

"Yeah, I'll be quick here." Sonic said as he ran off to take care of the robot.

And quick he was! Before long, the robot was completely destroyed, along with all of the construction equipment in the area.

"Grrr, curse you Sonic! Now you have to fight me!" Eggman said.

"Oh? Well then let's…"

"DIBS!" Tangle suddenly shouted as she got in front of Sonic.

"Huh?"

"Let me have this Sonic, I really need to blow off some steam after today." Tangle said.

"Oh, alright. Go nuts!" Sonic said. "I'll be right here if you need me."

"Right!" Tangle said as she began to stretch.

"Uh… ok? I guess I can play with the girl before I deal with Sonic." Eggman said. "PREPARE YOURSELF!"

And so, the two began to charge at each other…

and it was over within a matter of seconds.

Eggman fired a single laser at Tangle, who was able to dodge it effortlessly. The lemur then put all of her power into a single strike from her tail and punched a hole into the Doctor's Egg mobile.

"You'll pay for this!" Eggman shouted as he was carried away by Bocoe and Decoe.

Shortly after, Messenger Robot came back with a TV.

"Well little girl, I guess we can call this a draw, but I won't go easy on you next time!" Eggman said on the screen before the picture faded away and Messenger Robot flew away.

"That… felt great." Tangle said.

"Uh… yeah…" Sonic said. "Did I miss something?"

The group then explained to the hedgehog just what they've been up to.

"Ok, but I still have one question." Sonic said

"And that is?"

"I can get why Tails would be so upset about all that, but what about you Tangle?" Sonic asked. "You seemed a lot more upset by everything than Tails."

"Oh uh… yeah…" Tangle said. "It's just… those jerks really reminded me of the bullies that I used to deal with back home."

"Oh yeah, you did mention that you had to deal with bullies, didn't you?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah… but, the bullies never really bothered me." Tangle said. "I mean, being called a freak hurt, but I knew I could take any of them in a fight really easily… but then they got an idea."

"And that was?"

"They started targeting Jewel…" Tangle said. "Tried to get her to not want to be my friend any more. Eventually, I had enough of it, and I stopped using my tail to try and get them off our backs."

"Oh, so that's why you didn't have much practice with it."

"Yeah… it worked a bit, but they still had the memory of what my tail could do, so the bullying never really stopped." Tangle explained. "We had to deal with them for years… the constant insults, the pranks… everything."

"That sounds really rough." Chris said.

"It was… eventually though, the Mayor came up to us with an idea." Tangle said.

"The Mayor?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah, Jewel interned with him for a while. It's how she saved up for that bike, not to mention the fact that he's been the one to look after me for… well, as far back as I can remember." Tangle said. "Back to Jewel though, she mostly helped him grab papers and stuff, but she learned a lot about how to organize a town or a business from him."

"Ok, so what's this idea he gave you?" Tails asked.

"Well…"

"I am so sorry you two, I have tried so hard to talk to those bullies parents to get them to leave you alone, but they just don't seem to believe me." The mayor said.

"It's fine mayor… we can figure something out." Tangle said.

"Well, I actually had another idea." The Mayor said. "This… is entirely up to you two though."

"Ok, let's hear it." Jewel said.

"You two should move out."

…

...

…

"Huh?!" Tangle asked.

"If you leave town, the bullies can't follow you, and you will be free to live your lives without the constant harassment." The mayor said. "Tangle, you are one of the kindest, most selfless people I have ever met. You deciding to stop using your tail for Jewel's sake is proof of this, not to mention your dream of being a great hero like Sonic. I know that given time, and experience out in the world, that dream will be a reality.

As for you Jewel, your dream of opening a museum, you can't show others how beautiful the world is without seeing it for yourself... So, in the end, I think you two leaving would be very beneficial for the both of you."

"… What do you think Jewel?" Tangle asked.

"Why are you asking me?"

"Cause if we do this, I am doing it for you. So, I want to know what you want to do." Tangle said.

"Tangle… We're doing this for you too!" Jewel said.

"Alright, then I guess we should get packing." Tangle said before hugging the mayor. "Thank you for everything."

Jewel then joined in.

"And thank you two for being such wonderful members of our community." The mayor said. "We will miss you both, and good luck."

And with that, the two of them got to work packing their things.

"And that's what lead to us leaving our home." Tangle said. "So, now you know my full story."

"Wow… you were really willing to do all of that for your friend?" Tails asked.

"She's the closest thing to family that I have, so I would do anything if it meant helping her." Tangle explained.

"Yeah… I can get that." Tails mumbled to himself.

"What was that?" Sonic asked.

"Nothing important." Tails said with a slightly red face.

"Well, now that that's done, how's about we… wait a minute…" Tangle said. "Aren't those the creeps from before… and are they...?"

Tangle then got a giant grin on her face as she ran towards the two men… who were being arrested.

"You're under arrest for attempted arson." The officer said.

"HAHA! THAT'S WHAT YOU GET!" Tangle cheered.

"… I think she had a good day in the end!" Tails said.

"Yeah…" Sonic said, though there was one question left on his mind.

'If the mayor raised her… what happened to her folks?'

End of Chapter 7

Ah yes, a question that won't be answered for well, a while! This is gonna come into play WAAAAY later! You'll know when it happens.

A bit of a shorter one, there will be some chapters that are a lot shorter in others. This chapter was one that I wanted to write because it seemed like the perfect place to put Tangle and Jewel's full story on why they left Spiral Hill in the first place, cause it will be important for something in Season 2.

Also, a little bit of a tease about Tails thinking of Sonic like family. Just know, they don't actually consider each other brothers just yet, but they will at some point.

Next chapter will be about episode 23, but the log will have a lot of bits and pieces from episodes 19-22, so see you then!