Mystical Rose

Chapter 1

"Hmm…" Tails mused to himself as he positioned his spirit level over the wooden structure he had just spent the last ten minutes sawing down to size in his workshop, the bubble contained within the liquid-filled tube of the rectangular tool indicating that the surface of the structure was still a few degrees away from being at the ideal angle. The fox boy glanced up from his work, gazing around the workshop. "It's quiet. Too quiet."

"Hey, Tails!" Sonic greeted, the blue hedgehog suddenly appearing at Tails' side, the Blue Blur having zipped up to his best friend so fast that it was as though he had teleported in. Tails yelped in alarm and sent his spirit level flying, the tool clattering to the floor.

"Don't do that!" the two-tailed inventor exclaimed, every strand of fur on his body bristled in anxious unrest. "You're gonna give somebody a heart attack one of these days!"

"Heh. Sorry 'bout that, bud," Sonic replied somewhat sheepishly. "Here, let me come in again." In an instant, he was gone. A second later, Tails heard a knock at the workshop's front entrance. He rolled his eyes and shook his head in exasperation.

"Come in!" he called, barely managing to keep the irritation out of his voice. A second later, Sonic was back at Tails' side, the fox boy unfazed by his speedy comrade's sudden presence this time.

"Just a head's up, buddy: I'm not the only visitor you've got," Sonic commented as Tails bent down to pick up the spirit level. Another knock at the entrance caused the workshop's owner and manager to bump his head on the underside of the workbench.

"Ow! For crying out loud!" Tails exclaimed in frustration, rubbing the back of his head as he straightened up, spirit level in hand. "Sonic, tell whoever it is that I'll be there in a minute!" he snapped. "I need a little time to compose myself."

"Gotcha, buddy," Sonic assured him, the hedgehog giving his friend a thumbs up, a confident smirk on his visage. Once again, the Blue Blur seemingly vanished in a streak of primary colour, a few of Tails' blueprints being ruffled by the resulting breeze. Tails exhaled deeply once he was alone. He wasn't in the mood for this.

"Calm and reasonable," he murmured softly to himself as he stood there, facing the direction opposite of which Sonic had sped off in. "Level-headed and welcoming." He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly and thoroughly. "Just gotta keep it together and…"

The fox boy's words trailed off into nothingness as he felt a pair of hands gently take hold of his shoulders from behind. Before he even had a chance to react, a familiar voice spoke softly into his right ear. "…And chillax, my guy," the voice said, finishing the fox boy's sentence for him.

"Xalonis!" Tails said in surprise, recognising the voice of his quirky new friend whom he had met not too long ago. "Oh…" he then managed, his still moderately tense posture and mood starting to taper off as the kooky cat girl gently caressed his shoulders, easing him into a more relaxed state. After a few seconds, the fox boy closed his eyes and began to purr softly, prompting Xalonis to giggle.

"Well, well, well," the voice of Sonic then rang out slyly from somewhere nearby, prompting Tails' eyes to quickly snap open once more. "Looks like my little buddy has been doing some growing up since I last saw him," the hedgehog concluded teasingly.

"I-It's not like that!" Tails spluttered, his cheeks as red as roses underneath his fluffy, whisker-like facial fur. He reached up to gingerly brush Xalonis' hands away and she casually withdrew her arms without a word, though not without a knowing chuckle.

"Looks like my guy is all flustered," she teased, "And after I went out of my way to help him chillax," she said, putting an arm around the fox boy and pulling him close, giving his head fur a playful ruffling. "You need to pay another visit to my salon, Tails. A nice massage and a deluxe facial will set you right."

"M-M-Massage?!" Tails stammered, his entire face reddening at the very idea. Sonic, on his part, roared with laughter at his best friend's irrational embarrassment.

"Oh, man!" the Blue Blur exclaimed a moment later, still chortling. "You sure know how to pick 'em, Tails! And I thought Amy was a real wild card!" He stopped laughing abruptly as he spoke and his gaze became distant, a noticeably tense look on his face. "Hoo, boy, is Amy a wild card…"

"So, Tails, you gonna introduce me to your wingman?" Xalonis enquired, giving Tails a playful nudge in the side as she released her grip on him. "Or should I keep embarrassing you to get more laughs going?"

"H-Hardy har har," Tails managed somewhat awkwardly. He quietly muttered something in an uncharacteristically bitter tone - a sentence in which the word 'massage' could be heard, and then he cleared his throat. "Xalonis, this is my best friend, Sonic The Hedgehog."

"The Fastest Thing Alive, trademark," Sonic declared cockily, holding out his gloved hand to Xalonis, who took hold of it most enthusiastically, the handshake that followed being very energetic to the point where Sonic actually exclaimed in surprise.

"It's so cool to finally meet you!" Xalonis declared. "You and Tails are just…!" She let out a little squeal of childlike delight. "You're so awesome!" she declared, her eyes visibly star-struck - as in, she momentarily had literal gold stars where her pupils used to be.

"Sonic, this is Xalonis Peculiarus. She runs her own salon in Station Square." Tails continued.

"Salon and spa extraordinaire, thank you very much!" Xalonis corrected him. "I call it Pamperus Peculiarus, for fairly obvious reasons. As for me, just call me Xal. That goes for the both of you," she added, glancing back at Tails with a sly, playful wink.

"Okay, 'Shall', Sonic said cheekily. "I got a question for ya: Didja know that Tails likes it when a barber such as yourself puts aftershave in his beard?"

"I do not! And it's not a beard!" Tails insisted, just about fed up with Sonic's constant teasing. "They're whiskers," he went on, folding his arms and turning away, pouting childishly. "They make me look cool. A-And they keep my face warm in the winter," he concluded sulkily.

Sonic chuckled knowingly as he watched the pouting fox cub, the hedgehog's amused expression soon giving way to a more compassionate one. "Ah, we're only ribbing you, Tails. I know they're whiskers, and they're just one of the many things about you that make you awesome." On that note, he walked over and puled Tails into a playful headlock, giving the two-tailed inventor a light but vigorous noogie. For a moment, Tails continued to pout… and then he gave in and allowed the smile he was holding back to creep onto his face, a boyish chuckle soon escaping the fox's mouth.

"Awwww! You guys are so cute!" Xal exclaimed, beaming at them. She then threw her arms wide. "Group hug!" she cried brightly before racing forward and practically rugby tacking the boys in an embrace that was perhaps just a little bit too affectionate.

"Heh, heh… Okay," Sonic said somewhat awkwardly, not entirely sure what to make of Xalonis' very outgoing personality. "Tails, have you got five rings?" he then asked as Xal broke off the embrace a moment later. "I need them for—"

"A chilli dog?" Tails finished for him knowingly. "You know you need other foods in your diet to stay healthy, right? Running might burn off the calories, but exercise doesn't equal nutrition."

"Yeah, yeah," Sonic said dismissively. "Says the fox who keeps three jars of mint candy under his bed."

"That's…! That's not relevant!" Tails insisted, starting to grow flustered again. Xalonis laughed and put an arm around Tails once more.

"Okay, break it up, you two," she teased. "We've all got our guilty pleasures when it comes to in-between meal snacks. You should see me with a bowl of chocolate fondue… or twelve," she said before bursting out laughing. "I kid, I kid! But seriously, he'll be fine, Tails. Tell you what: Next time you're at the salon, I'll take five rings off the cost of your selected service to make up for what you lost from giving Sonic the loan."

"Nah, it's cool. I always pay him back the next week," Sonic assured her. "Being best buds is a two-way street - give 'n' take and all that. He loans me five rings for a chilli dog, I let him hide under my couch during thunderstorms."

"I don't hide under the couch during thunderstorms!" Tails insisted. A distant rumble of thunder then rang out and Tails' entire body tensed, his fur looking even more bristled than it had when Sonic had startled him earlier. He noticed that Sonic and Xal were eyeing him, the latter with concern and the former with knowing, and he blushed again. "Okay, maybe they freak me out a little… to the point where I sometimes hide in the closet," he admitted meekly. Xalonis pulled the fox boy closer and began to gingerly stroke the fur on the back of his head - an action that very nearly made him melt into her touch.

"Chillax, my guy," she assured him. "We'll ride out the storm with you."

"Man, I didn't even notice it was getting dark outside until that thunder made itself heard," Sonic admitted, glancing out the workshop's window to see the grey, cloudy sky. "What d'you say, Tails? Feel like having a couple of nuisances hang around to make sure you don't jump out the window in fright?"

"Ha, ha, very funny," Tails said, but he was less perturbed by his friends' teasing banter now; he didn't like to be alone during thunderstorms, and everyone present knew it. "I'll go top up the fuel in the backup generator in case the power goes out due to a… lightning strike," he finished, showing visible discomfort as he uttered those last two words.

"I'll give you a hand, buddy," Sonic told him, not wanting to leave the fox unattended in his anxious state. "Xal, there's a kitchen through there," he said, pointing towards a nearby open doorway. "Tails keeps the good snacks at the back behind the pickle jar. If you wanna sort that out while we…"

"Say no more. I'm on it!" Xal told him enthusiastically, the cyan-furred cat girl heading off towards the kitchen to prepare a spread of snacks for the group. Satisfied, Sonic followed Tails out through another doorway, soon reaching a dedicated storage area where Tails kept the majority of his inventions and gadgets when they weren't in use. Tails soon located the container of fuel and went about filling up the backup generator while Sonic supervised, the hedgehog showing silent attentiveness as he listened to the rhythmic glug, glug, glug of kerosene pouring into the bulky device on wheels, never taking his eyes off the fox boy's back, ever concerned about and compassionate towards his uneasy best friend who, much like Sonic himself, was trying to play it cool with limited…

Limited…

Limited… success.

Heh. Sorry. I just HAD to make a reference to the second Sonic movie at the end there.

Also, look who's back! I bet you thought Xalonis was a one-and-done OC of mine, but nope - she's here to stay!

Yeah, I know, you clicked on this expecting to read a story about Amy specifically, but you know me - I like my stories to have loooong build-ups to make the pay-off all the sweeter. (My ongoing Crash Bandicoot fanfic is a testament to that…)

In any case, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and that you'll stay tuned for the next one!