Author's Note: I had started writing this midway through the first year of
Sonic X and many of the events, places, and people may have been made up,
changed, or, in the case of characters, slightly out of character. Also
please note that //////Gear Shift is also part 2 in a trilogy of stories of
the Gear Shift Saga along with Heroes of the Last Stand being the first.
Update: Mostly fixed grammar and tweaked some sentences. There is really no change to this chapter otherwise.
Gear Shift Saga, Book 2
//////Gear Shift
Chapter Four, A Day in the Life
The sun cast its golden rays across the world and illuminated the serene music of rustling palm leaves dancing with the wind. The sun parted the thick clouds overhead like a court of courtiers and shone through the crystalline sapphire sky giving light and renewal to the land far below her majestic form.
However, like a conspiracy against the throne, thick, dark clouds gathered at the horizons, the fringes of the sun's domain, and, like every year since the beginning of time, plotted the demise of their celestial queen. The smell of rain, the tears of the sun, was already in the air. The dry summer season of the sun was quickly coming to an end, and, very soon, the torrential rainy season would once again begin.
The discussion at the Thorndike breakfast table brought Tails away from the celestial domain and back into his chair. The other Thorndikes were talking up a storm themselves about the energy rings that Tails and Amy created that were lying in the center of the rectangular table. The normal, yellow ring lay forgotten beside its unusual companion. The other ring, if it wasn't for an omnipresent light blue aura, could have easily been mistaken for an ordinary platinum band, but unlike platinum the ring could not be heated or warmed. Even immediately after being blowtorched, the band was still as cool as the aura that enveloped it.
Tails had explained the events of the night leaving out Amy's tantrum, but he left out the physiatrist role-playing by using a technique he had mastered long ago. Tails had woven a tale together explaining how Amy had came to investigate the strange light and discovered Tails was indeed fine and well and had also been very eager to help in his project. In Tails' recollection she was so eager that she had thought Tails was dialing in the combination for the Chaos Container a little too slow and had beaned the contraption with her mallet in her eagerness. When Amy was involved in the lab things like that were prone to happen sooner or later anyway.
Amy had been caught off guard against such a retelling of the events, yet she managed to keep face when everyone looked to her for confirmation. As Tails had told her before breakfast, she followed Tails lead, for any other way would have left questions leading to both of their secrets. Just as Tails had planned, all of them with the exception of the all seeing Tanaka had bought the story.
"Hey, Tails," Sonic asked him as they both watched Chuck examine the blue energy ring, "you have any idea what this thing does?"
Tails shook his head. The ring had him just as stumped as everyone else at the table.
Chuck put down the ring and sighed. He announced, "This difference in energy rings proves the theory that each emerald had a different personality to it like we hypothesized, but, until we can find out what it does, it tells us very little more."
Discussion about what the mysterious energy ring could do bounced around the table until Ella came through the door carrying a large tray loaded with hot, steamy food. When Ella placed his tray on the table, Tails eagerly picked up his knife and fork, ready to dig in.
Ella moved towards the kitchen, but before entered it she made a motion for Tails and Amy to follow her.
Chuck must have also had seen the motion, "Oh, for crying out loud, Ella, give it a rest!"
"Not until I hear it from the horses mouth, Mr. Charles!" she shot back. "You are not in charge of their welfare, I am!"
"Actually, my son and his wife—"
"Who cooks and takes care of them? Hmm? I don't see you doing any of it, Mr. Smarty-pants. Now, you two," she pointed to Amy and Tails as her voice lost some of its hardness, "follow me."
Tails sent a pleading look at Sonic, but it was apparent that yesterday's argument with Ella still haunted him. Tails' ears drooped as he took one last, longing glance at his breakfast. Oh, how he loved to eat hot food, especially when it was one of Ella's masterpieces.
Tails sighed and followed Amy into the kitchen and took a seat on one of the unoccupied stools near the one Ella was sitting on.
The three of them sat in an uneasy silence for a few minutes until Ella at last spoke, "Now I know you two are very trustworthy, you've proven that more times than I can think of, but I still worry about you two sometimes."
"What are you worried about, Ella?" Amy blurted out.
Ella smiled and patted Amy's head, "Motherly things, I s'pose. Chris and you all, even that stubborn Sonic, are my young'uns. I just worry about things that could happen, especially when a boy and a girl go missing one night.
Tails noticed that Amy's face was beginning to grow as pink as the quills that framed it.
"Oh! You don't really think that Tails and me would..." She turned and looked at Tails, "You've got to be kidding, that's disgusting!"
Tails felt like he had been left in the dust of the conversation while he choked on the cloud of confusion.
Ella, who had been staring intently at the confused fox, sighed and stated, "I didn't really think that happened, but I just couldn't stop myself from worrying about it." She turned to Amy and told her with a wink, "Amy, go ahead and go back to the table and eat, it looks like I need to fill Tails in."
Amy got up and, unable to control a fit of giggles, made her way to the door and left. The still confused kitsune looked at Ella hoping for an explanation to what was so funny.
"I keep on telling that Tanaka to tell you. I tell him it's easier for a boy to learn this from a man, but does he listen to me? Of course not!"
"Uh, Ella?" Tails prodded.
As if realizing the boy was still there, Ella stopped her ranting and raving and started her speech. "As was going to say, Tails, this is the first of day of school for you, heaven forbid, high school. You're going to need to know this just in case any of those delinquents get any ideas into their thick heads,"
What Tails had hoped the speech would be a few quick words of wisdom about the soon-to-be-seen trials of high school. Instead it was a half-hour long lecture on the birds and the bees from Ella. Ella was a very blunt and to the point person, she did not bother to sugar coat the topic at all. She told it the way it was, the full consequences at what could follow, and many possible scenarios she made Tails promise he would avoid.
After a half hour of traumatizing the little kit, Ella finally turned her attention to the clock and realized that the bus was going to arrive in a matter of minutes. Tails was more than happy to leave the kitchen and get away from Ella before she decided that there was another topic she had to inform Tails of before he left.
Tails glanced at his untouched food tranquilly sitting on the unoccupied table and had walked on. The discussion had killed his appetite. The food was also probably ice cold. The thought of eating cold food made him want to gag.
Chris called from the entrance hallway, "Hey, Tails! Hurry up, the bus is here!"
Chris broke Tail's trance and the fox grabbed his book bag from beneath his chair and dashed out of the mansion.
----------------------------------------------------- Tails had had a long bus ride to think about all Ella had told him while he had sat next to an oddly thoughtful Sonic. Sonic, Tails had noticed, had grown quieter and more contemplative every day since they had arrived on this world. He must still be thinking about her, Tails had finally concluded.
Back on knothole Sonic and Sally were always flirting with one another and playing hard to get. The two were nearly inseparable. Yet, as far as Tails could remember, they had never spoken of their obvious love for each other.
Then all out war between Sally and Robotnik had opened and, soon after, the Chaos Control incident had sent them to Earth. Tails had figured that Sonic had never had his chance to tell Sally of his feelings and that is why Sonic was so different from how he used to be. No one else had seemed to notice it, but, then again, they had never been as close to Sonic as Sally and Tails had been.
The bus rounded the last corner and Station Square High School loomed ahead. The sight of the large school, with its domed gymnasiums and glass roofed hallways that reflected the sunlight like a blue gem, would have been more impressive if it was not for the hungry horde of media vans and the vulture-like reporters waiting for the arrival of Sonic the Hedgehog.
"Man, this is just great..." Sonic had sighed to himself as the bus moved closer to the school and the crowd of reporters.
Tails and Sonic had both formulated a plan to escape the voracious reporters. As the bus came in and the reporters crowed close to the front doors, Tails and Sonic climbed out the back door.
The siren of the bus sounded and confused everyone, giving Tails and Sonic the cover they needed to dash into the school building and away from the loathsome media. It was only later, much to Tail's displeasure of being slammed across the head with a large mallet, that Tails had found out that, after Sonic and he had made their getaway, the media had turned their attention, filled with an insatiable hunger, upon one helpless she-hog.
The day had just kept on getting stranger from there. Tails had expected the usual blank, open-mouthed stares that they brought were ever they went, but they had never came. Many of the students there had welcomed their teenage hero and idol Sonic with open arms. To the teenagers, he was one of them.
Still, even without the feeling like they were on exhibit at some zoo, Tails had still felt uneasy around the teenagers. He couldn't quite place it, but he had felt like there was something very different with how they behaved that confused him. After constantly thinking about if for most of the day, Tails had finally chalked it up to the fact that they were so much older than he was. That had eased his mind, if only by a little.
Amy had immediately clicked with a bunch of girls that, if Tails had not known better, seemed to all be of one mind. They were always together as much as possible and turned the little things, like bathroom trips, into a group field trip. The girls were never by themselves; they always had at least one other by their side at all times like it was an unsaid law. And girls think we're strange, Tails joked to himself as he had watched them.
As for Tails, he had been Sonics shadow for most of the day during passing periods and at lunch. Tails, no matter how hard he looked, could not find anywhere he felt like he could belong besides at the side of Sonic. Sonic didn't mind though, so Tails had stayed with him.
Almost all of Tails' classes began the same way. Most of the teachers cast confusing glances at Tails, no doubt looking at the two tails behind him, when had he entered the classrooms. The teacher would then call out his formal name for roll, earning him a few snickers from the back of the class and causing him to sink into his seat from embarrassment.
Yet, it did not take long for the teachers to recognize Tails' genius. Before most of the class periods had finished, almost of the teachers had been impressed with kit's inborn talent with knowledge and took him aside at the end of class to talk with him about what he planned to do after school with such skill. The teachers had ended up talking so long that Tails had to run to make it to his next class.
Overall, Tails had enjoyed his classroom experiences, but for Sonic that had been another story. At lunch, when they had been seated with a bunch of other athletes, Sonic had told Tails how boring the entire day had been for him. He grumbled that if it weren't for what Ella had promised to do to him if he left school then he would have been gone a long time ago.
Sonic's tune changed as soon as he found out what was on the menu for the day; it was chilidogs. After hearing this, Sonic had immediately entered the line and remerged a matter of seconds later carrying a tray laden with chilidogs. Nearly everyone, in the wake of a wave of whispers, in the huge cafeteria turned and stared as the hedgehog sat down at the table and, to everyone's astonishment except Tails', devoured every last chilidog.
After that the idea of school agreed quite well with Sonic.
---------------------------------------------------------
Tails pushed his way through the crowded hallways on a mad dash towards his last class of his first day. The previous teacher had kept him almost the entire class period and, if he didn't hurry, there wasn't a chance he'd make it.
Tails wheeled through the doorway and into the classroom right as the bell rang. He broke into a nervous smile and headed for an unoccupied desk as he consciously readjusted his vest.
"You were almost late, Mr. Prowler," a distant voice spoke matter-of- factly.
He recognized that voice. Somewhere in the back of his mind a warning flag went up, but for the life of him he couldn't see why. He looked at the teacher's desk but the high chair had been turned against were his seat was and he couldn't see who sat in it.
"Now we cannot have any more of this unacceptable behavior." The chair swiveled around.
Tails nearly fell off his own chair in surprise. Sitting on the leather chair was no other than Rouge the Bat dressed in a very tight fitting low cut blouse that left little to the imagination. Most of the male students openly gaped at the young teacher's figure, all but Tails who still so shocked at the appearance of Rouge more than what she was wearing.
Her eyes bored into Tails' own, "I trust that this won't happen again."
She was clearly challenging Tails and every fiber in Tails' body wanted to jump up and fight back. It was like he was watching some other fox saying, "Yes, Miss Bat," and backing down without a fight.
Rouge frowned, clearly unhappy that Tails failed to fall into her ploy. Rouge stared at Tails a moment longer and then stood up and commenced the lesson. She had an air around her that made her seem much taller than she really was. In reality she was about as tall as Tails, who only came up to the chest of an average human, but she seemed taller than any present
"Now class, I know you all are wondering how Mrs. Marst is doing after the car crash last weekend. The doctors say she is coming along fine and should be back sometime before Christmas. Until then I will be teaching in her place. As you may have already guessed from Miles, my name is Miss Bat."
Go figure; is this my lucky day or what? I'm stuck with her all semester, Tails thought to himself as Rouge launched into her lengthy discussion about what they were to do all semester with her.
The male percentage of the class minus the crossed fox had no problem paying attention to the semester syllabus. Rouge had managed to turn stealing male attention into an art form that, while entrancing the men, wholly disgusted the female population.
The class was supposed to be an advanced placement chemistry class, but Rouge only talked nonstop about gemstones. Since she first started describing the course syllabus, and it sounded to Tails that it might as well had been a gemology course. All they would be studying until the end of the semester was gemstones. The only thing that had to do with chemistry in the entire syllabus was a small section based on the chemical makeup of the gems. From the expressions of the female class members, Tails could surmise that they were also thinking the same thing.
Tails sighed. For the first time that day, he could not wait for the bell to ring.
----------------------------------------------------
"...Class rings will be for sale starting September the eighth, and, Maurice Hedgehog Thorndike, please report to Coach Folio's office immediately. That is all and have a wonderful night."
The announcements ended and the bell rang and everyone rose up and all the students made a beeline for the door. Rouge, seeing her chance, called Tails over to her desk. The kitsune didn't look very thrilled, but he still came anyway.
That wasn't the impression of her she wanted from him. Now how was she going to do this? Rouge sighed inwardly and thought that maybe she had been a little too strict. Oh well, water under the bridge.
She let the classroom empty before she began talking. "I've heard a lot of good things about you, Miles, or do you prefer Tails?"
The fox boy just shrugged.
This clearly wasn't going the way she wanted it. Still, she kept her cool calm composure and sat back into her chair as if contemplating.
"You know, graduating high school at your age is quite a feat." She still did not get a response from the fox. "What are you planning on doing after high school?"
Tails looked up at her and she could see the wheels turning in his head. Step one was down, now all she had to do was to keep the fox talking until he felt comfortable. Then she would have him.
"Well, I was thinking about going to college for a degree in engineering," Tails said distantly.
"Where at?" Rouge prodded.
"Well I'm not sure, but I was thinking about Jasper University, but that's halfway across the world."
"Jasper University? You mean the one in Rutile City?" Tails nodded. "You know that it's very hard to be accepted into that college, but, then again, you made quite a name for yourself in the engineering field already with your inventions."
"I have?"
"You'd be quite surprised. That Tornado X is the most talked of thing since sliced bread."
Tails looked amazed, and Rouge stood up and walked up to Tails.
She smiled and said, "You know, Tails, that college is not the only option you have. You could always go immediately into the workforce as an inventor, or, better yet, you could design and build all sorts of things for the government."
At the mention of the government Rouge thought she saw something flicker in Tail's eyes, but, as soon as she noticed it, it was gone. She patted Tails on the shoulder of his vest and, without him being aware of it, placed a radio bug in one of the smaller side pockets on his vest.
"Remember, Tails, you have hundreds of options. Don't forget about all the other choices a brilliant mind like yourself has."
Rouge looked at the clock and gasped. "It looks like I held you over a bit too long. The buses have probably left by now. Hey," her face lit up like she was just struck with an idea, "how about if I give you a ride home?"
Tails shook his head and nervously laughed. Tails pointed to his two tails as he headed out the door and said, "Na, I have my own built-in transportation, but thanks anyway."
Rouge figured he would not have fallen for that last ploy, but it had been worth a shot. All in all it had gone almost exactly as HQ wanted it to go. Now all she had to do was call in and she would be done for the day. She waited more than long enough for Tails to leave the school building and get a good distance away when she pulled out a make-up kit from her purse and opened the lid.
"This is Fruit Bat calling HQ, bug has been successfully planted"
The static voice came out of the hidden speaker, "Roger, requesting to be patched in."
"Roger," She pressed the mirror.
"—Come on," a girl's voice that Rouge did not recognize pleaded. "Please you know how much it means to me."
"Oh, alright. We'll go to the mall as long as we stop to get something to eat first." A guy's voice that she knew was not Tails' had answered.
"Oh, Thank you!" Then came the unmistakable sound of two people kissing. Rouge silently prayed that Tails was there with these two.
"You know it's kinda romantic being here all alone. Are you sure that you want to go the mall or—" the transmission was cut from HQ.
The voice on the compact was not pleased, "Fruit Bat, intended target is a preteen, single, male fox, not an adolescent human with a date."
"HQ, I assure you that the bug had been placed on the intended target just as ordered."
"Fruit Bat, your record shows that you had recently returned from a draining mission. It appears that the mission has exacted an unexpected toll from you. We feel that you need to recover your strength, and thus you are hereby temporary relieved from all activities concerning HQ, excluding your current undercover mission, until further notice. You have also been scheduled for a mandatory CAT scan Tuesday at 17:00 hours at Station Square Hospital and are expected to rest during the weekend. Transmission ended."
HQ obviously wasn't pleased with the results and also apparently thought that Rouge was losing her grip. Enraged, Rouge found her handheld computer and tracked the location of the bug. The readout on the screen showed the bug was still located in the school building and in the area of one of the senior locker bays.
Rouge shut off the computer and trotted angrily towards the locker bay.
There, in plain sight on a bench was the small black clip she had placed inside the boy's vest. Somehow that blasted fox had figured out that she was indeed a spy. There was no way the little brat was going to fall for another underhanded ploy like that. As much as she hated to admit it, a child fox had out foxed the great Rouge the Bat.
--------------------------------------------
"...Class rings will be for sale starting September the eighth, and, Maurice Hedgehog Thorndike, please report to Coach Folio's office immediately. That is all and have a wonder night."
Amy perked up as soon as she heard Sonic's name and was the first one out the door of the classroom when the bell rang. Once she was in the hallway she pulled out a map she had found in the office and searched for Folio's office on it. It was located on the other side of the school, but that didn't bother Amy in the least.
She hurried as fast as she could without any of her speed showing, and made it to Coach Folio's office in a matter of minutes.
Amy heard muffled voices through the door of the relatively large office and she guessed that Sonic was already in there. The voices were muffled to such an extent that she couldn't understand anything they were saying inside. She stood around and waited until she heard movement on the other side of the door.
The door opened and Sonic as well as an older man, whom she supposed was the coach, stepped through the doorway.
Sonic looked surprised and practically shouted, "Amy! What are you doing here?"
Amy looked at Sonic and then the coach. She put on her best innocent act and asked, "I had heard that there was going to be a cross-country tryout tonight, but I didn't know where it was. I was wondering if you could tell me, Coach Folio."
"Well, what a coincidence," the old coach gruffed in his deep voice that belayed his small frame, "Sonic here and I were about to go out there. Why don't you join us?"
On the outside Amy smiled and agreed, but on the inside she was shouting for joy. Everything was going exactly as she planned it would.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Sorry for the late update, but the sheer size of the chapter surely made up for that. There is still a lot of room for improvement I know, but I hope my typing is getting better with each chapter. So, how is the story so far? I can't read minds so read and review!
Update: Mostly fixed grammar and tweaked some sentences. There is really no change to this chapter otherwise.
Gear Shift Saga, Book 2
//////Gear Shift
Chapter Four, A Day in the Life
The sun cast its golden rays across the world and illuminated the serene music of rustling palm leaves dancing with the wind. The sun parted the thick clouds overhead like a court of courtiers and shone through the crystalline sapphire sky giving light and renewal to the land far below her majestic form.
However, like a conspiracy against the throne, thick, dark clouds gathered at the horizons, the fringes of the sun's domain, and, like every year since the beginning of time, plotted the demise of their celestial queen. The smell of rain, the tears of the sun, was already in the air. The dry summer season of the sun was quickly coming to an end, and, very soon, the torrential rainy season would once again begin.
The discussion at the Thorndike breakfast table brought Tails away from the celestial domain and back into his chair. The other Thorndikes were talking up a storm themselves about the energy rings that Tails and Amy created that were lying in the center of the rectangular table. The normal, yellow ring lay forgotten beside its unusual companion. The other ring, if it wasn't for an omnipresent light blue aura, could have easily been mistaken for an ordinary platinum band, but unlike platinum the ring could not be heated or warmed. Even immediately after being blowtorched, the band was still as cool as the aura that enveloped it.
Tails had explained the events of the night leaving out Amy's tantrum, but he left out the physiatrist role-playing by using a technique he had mastered long ago. Tails had woven a tale together explaining how Amy had came to investigate the strange light and discovered Tails was indeed fine and well and had also been very eager to help in his project. In Tails' recollection she was so eager that she had thought Tails was dialing in the combination for the Chaos Container a little too slow and had beaned the contraption with her mallet in her eagerness. When Amy was involved in the lab things like that were prone to happen sooner or later anyway.
Amy had been caught off guard against such a retelling of the events, yet she managed to keep face when everyone looked to her for confirmation. As Tails had told her before breakfast, she followed Tails lead, for any other way would have left questions leading to both of their secrets. Just as Tails had planned, all of them with the exception of the all seeing Tanaka had bought the story.
"Hey, Tails," Sonic asked him as they both watched Chuck examine the blue energy ring, "you have any idea what this thing does?"
Tails shook his head. The ring had him just as stumped as everyone else at the table.
Chuck put down the ring and sighed. He announced, "This difference in energy rings proves the theory that each emerald had a different personality to it like we hypothesized, but, until we can find out what it does, it tells us very little more."
Discussion about what the mysterious energy ring could do bounced around the table until Ella came through the door carrying a large tray loaded with hot, steamy food. When Ella placed his tray on the table, Tails eagerly picked up his knife and fork, ready to dig in.
Ella moved towards the kitchen, but before entered it she made a motion for Tails and Amy to follow her.
Chuck must have also had seen the motion, "Oh, for crying out loud, Ella, give it a rest!"
"Not until I hear it from the horses mouth, Mr. Charles!" she shot back. "You are not in charge of their welfare, I am!"
"Actually, my son and his wife—"
"Who cooks and takes care of them? Hmm? I don't see you doing any of it, Mr. Smarty-pants. Now, you two," she pointed to Amy and Tails as her voice lost some of its hardness, "follow me."
Tails sent a pleading look at Sonic, but it was apparent that yesterday's argument with Ella still haunted him. Tails' ears drooped as he took one last, longing glance at his breakfast. Oh, how he loved to eat hot food, especially when it was one of Ella's masterpieces.
Tails sighed and followed Amy into the kitchen and took a seat on one of the unoccupied stools near the one Ella was sitting on.
The three of them sat in an uneasy silence for a few minutes until Ella at last spoke, "Now I know you two are very trustworthy, you've proven that more times than I can think of, but I still worry about you two sometimes."
"What are you worried about, Ella?" Amy blurted out.
Ella smiled and patted Amy's head, "Motherly things, I s'pose. Chris and you all, even that stubborn Sonic, are my young'uns. I just worry about things that could happen, especially when a boy and a girl go missing one night.
Tails noticed that Amy's face was beginning to grow as pink as the quills that framed it.
"Oh! You don't really think that Tails and me would..." She turned and looked at Tails, "You've got to be kidding, that's disgusting!"
Tails felt like he had been left in the dust of the conversation while he choked on the cloud of confusion.
Ella, who had been staring intently at the confused fox, sighed and stated, "I didn't really think that happened, but I just couldn't stop myself from worrying about it." She turned to Amy and told her with a wink, "Amy, go ahead and go back to the table and eat, it looks like I need to fill Tails in."
Amy got up and, unable to control a fit of giggles, made her way to the door and left. The still confused kitsune looked at Ella hoping for an explanation to what was so funny.
"I keep on telling that Tanaka to tell you. I tell him it's easier for a boy to learn this from a man, but does he listen to me? Of course not!"
"Uh, Ella?" Tails prodded.
As if realizing the boy was still there, Ella stopped her ranting and raving and started her speech. "As was going to say, Tails, this is the first of day of school for you, heaven forbid, high school. You're going to need to know this just in case any of those delinquents get any ideas into their thick heads,"
What Tails had hoped the speech would be a few quick words of wisdom about the soon-to-be-seen trials of high school. Instead it was a half-hour long lecture on the birds and the bees from Ella. Ella was a very blunt and to the point person, she did not bother to sugar coat the topic at all. She told it the way it was, the full consequences at what could follow, and many possible scenarios she made Tails promise he would avoid.
After a half hour of traumatizing the little kit, Ella finally turned her attention to the clock and realized that the bus was going to arrive in a matter of minutes. Tails was more than happy to leave the kitchen and get away from Ella before she decided that there was another topic she had to inform Tails of before he left.
Tails glanced at his untouched food tranquilly sitting on the unoccupied table and had walked on. The discussion had killed his appetite. The food was also probably ice cold. The thought of eating cold food made him want to gag.
Chris called from the entrance hallway, "Hey, Tails! Hurry up, the bus is here!"
Chris broke Tail's trance and the fox grabbed his book bag from beneath his chair and dashed out of the mansion.
----------------------------------------------------- Tails had had a long bus ride to think about all Ella had told him while he had sat next to an oddly thoughtful Sonic. Sonic, Tails had noticed, had grown quieter and more contemplative every day since they had arrived on this world. He must still be thinking about her, Tails had finally concluded.
Back on knothole Sonic and Sally were always flirting with one another and playing hard to get. The two were nearly inseparable. Yet, as far as Tails could remember, they had never spoken of their obvious love for each other.
Then all out war between Sally and Robotnik had opened and, soon after, the Chaos Control incident had sent them to Earth. Tails had figured that Sonic had never had his chance to tell Sally of his feelings and that is why Sonic was so different from how he used to be. No one else had seemed to notice it, but, then again, they had never been as close to Sonic as Sally and Tails had been.
The bus rounded the last corner and Station Square High School loomed ahead. The sight of the large school, with its domed gymnasiums and glass roofed hallways that reflected the sunlight like a blue gem, would have been more impressive if it was not for the hungry horde of media vans and the vulture-like reporters waiting for the arrival of Sonic the Hedgehog.
"Man, this is just great..." Sonic had sighed to himself as the bus moved closer to the school and the crowd of reporters.
Tails and Sonic had both formulated a plan to escape the voracious reporters. As the bus came in and the reporters crowed close to the front doors, Tails and Sonic climbed out the back door.
The siren of the bus sounded and confused everyone, giving Tails and Sonic the cover they needed to dash into the school building and away from the loathsome media. It was only later, much to Tail's displeasure of being slammed across the head with a large mallet, that Tails had found out that, after Sonic and he had made their getaway, the media had turned their attention, filled with an insatiable hunger, upon one helpless she-hog.
The day had just kept on getting stranger from there. Tails had expected the usual blank, open-mouthed stares that they brought were ever they went, but they had never came. Many of the students there had welcomed their teenage hero and idol Sonic with open arms. To the teenagers, he was one of them.
Still, even without the feeling like they were on exhibit at some zoo, Tails had still felt uneasy around the teenagers. He couldn't quite place it, but he had felt like there was something very different with how they behaved that confused him. After constantly thinking about if for most of the day, Tails had finally chalked it up to the fact that they were so much older than he was. That had eased his mind, if only by a little.
Amy had immediately clicked with a bunch of girls that, if Tails had not known better, seemed to all be of one mind. They were always together as much as possible and turned the little things, like bathroom trips, into a group field trip. The girls were never by themselves; they always had at least one other by their side at all times like it was an unsaid law. And girls think we're strange, Tails joked to himself as he had watched them.
As for Tails, he had been Sonics shadow for most of the day during passing periods and at lunch. Tails, no matter how hard he looked, could not find anywhere he felt like he could belong besides at the side of Sonic. Sonic didn't mind though, so Tails had stayed with him.
Almost all of Tails' classes began the same way. Most of the teachers cast confusing glances at Tails, no doubt looking at the two tails behind him, when had he entered the classrooms. The teacher would then call out his formal name for roll, earning him a few snickers from the back of the class and causing him to sink into his seat from embarrassment.
Yet, it did not take long for the teachers to recognize Tails' genius. Before most of the class periods had finished, almost of the teachers had been impressed with kit's inborn talent with knowledge and took him aside at the end of class to talk with him about what he planned to do after school with such skill. The teachers had ended up talking so long that Tails had to run to make it to his next class.
Overall, Tails had enjoyed his classroom experiences, but for Sonic that had been another story. At lunch, when they had been seated with a bunch of other athletes, Sonic had told Tails how boring the entire day had been for him. He grumbled that if it weren't for what Ella had promised to do to him if he left school then he would have been gone a long time ago.
Sonic's tune changed as soon as he found out what was on the menu for the day; it was chilidogs. After hearing this, Sonic had immediately entered the line and remerged a matter of seconds later carrying a tray laden with chilidogs. Nearly everyone, in the wake of a wave of whispers, in the huge cafeteria turned and stared as the hedgehog sat down at the table and, to everyone's astonishment except Tails', devoured every last chilidog.
After that the idea of school agreed quite well with Sonic.
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Tails pushed his way through the crowded hallways on a mad dash towards his last class of his first day. The previous teacher had kept him almost the entire class period and, if he didn't hurry, there wasn't a chance he'd make it.
Tails wheeled through the doorway and into the classroom right as the bell rang. He broke into a nervous smile and headed for an unoccupied desk as he consciously readjusted his vest.
"You were almost late, Mr. Prowler," a distant voice spoke matter-of- factly.
He recognized that voice. Somewhere in the back of his mind a warning flag went up, but for the life of him he couldn't see why. He looked at the teacher's desk but the high chair had been turned against were his seat was and he couldn't see who sat in it.
"Now we cannot have any more of this unacceptable behavior." The chair swiveled around.
Tails nearly fell off his own chair in surprise. Sitting on the leather chair was no other than Rouge the Bat dressed in a very tight fitting low cut blouse that left little to the imagination. Most of the male students openly gaped at the young teacher's figure, all but Tails who still so shocked at the appearance of Rouge more than what she was wearing.
Her eyes bored into Tails' own, "I trust that this won't happen again."
She was clearly challenging Tails and every fiber in Tails' body wanted to jump up and fight back. It was like he was watching some other fox saying, "Yes, Miss Bat," and backing down without a fight.
Rouge frowned, clearly unhappy that Tails failed to fall into her ploy. Rouge stared at Tails a moment longer and then stood up and commenced the lesson. She had an air around her that made her seem much taller than she really was. In reality she was about as tall as Tails, who only came up to the chest of an average human, but she seemed taller than any present
"Now class, I know you all are wondering how Mrs. Marst is doing after the car crash last weekend. The doctors say she is coming along fine and should be back sometime before Christmas. Until then I will be teaching in her place. As you may have already guessed from Miles, my name is Miss Bat."
Go figure; is this my lucky day or what? I'm stuck with her all semester, Tails thought to himself as Rouge launched into her lengthy discussion about what they were to do all semester with her.
The male percentage of the class minus the crossed fox had no problem paying attention to the semester syllabus. Rouge had managed to turn stealing male attention into an art form that, while entrancing the men, wholly disgusted the female population.
The class was supposed to be an advanced placement chemistry class, but Rouge only talked nonstop about gemstones. Since she first started describing the course syllabus, and it sounded to Tails that it might as well had been a gemology course. All they would be studying until the end of the semester was gemstones. The only thing that had to do with chemistry in the entire syllabus was a small section based on the chemical makeup of the gems. From the expressions of the female class members, Tails could surmise that they were also thinking the same thing.
Tails sighed. For the first time that day, he could not wait for the bell to ring.
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"...Class rings will be for sale starting September the eighth, and, Maurice Hedgehog Thorndike, please report to Coach Folio's office immediately. That is all and have a wonderful night."
The announcements ended and the bell rang and everyone rose up and all the students made a beeline for the door. Rouge, seeing her chance, called Tails over to her desk. The kitsune didn't look very thrilled, but he still came anyway.
That wasn't the impression of her she wanted from him. Now how was she going to do this? Rouge sighed inwardly and thought that maybe she had been a little too strict. Oh well, water under the bridge.
She let the classroom empty before she began talking. "I've heard a lot of good things about you, Miles, or do you prefer Tails?"
The fox boy just shrugged.
This clearly wasn't going the way she wanted it. Still, she kept her cool calm composure and sat back into her chair as if contemplating.
"You know, graduating high school at your age is quite a feat." She still did not get a response from the fox. "What are you planning on doing after high school?"
Tails looked up at her and she could see the wheels turning in his head. Step one was down, now all she had to do was to keep the fox talking until he felt comfortable. Then she would have him.
"Well, I was thinking about going to college for a degree in engineering," Tails said distantly.
"Where at?" Rouge prodded.
"Well I'm not sure, but I was thinking about Jasper University, but that's halfway across the world."
"Jasper University? You mean the one in Rutile City?" Tails nodded. "You know that it's very hard to be accepted into that college, but, then again, you made quite a name for yourself in the engineering field already with your inventions."
"I have?"
"You'd be quite surprised. That Tornado X is the most talked of thing since sliced bread."
Tails looked amazed, and Rouge stood up and walked up to Tails.
She smiled and said, "You know, Tails, that college is not the only option you have. You could always go immediately into the workforce as an inventor, or, better yet, you could design and build all sorts of things for the government."
At the mention of the government Rouge thought she saw something flicker in Tail's eyes, but, as soon as she noticed it, it was gone. She patted Tails on the shoulder of his vest and, without him being aware of it, placed a radio bug in one of the smaller side pockets on his vest.
"Remember, Tails, you have hundreds of options. Don't forget about all the other choices a brilliant mind like yourself has."
Rouge looked at the clock and gasped. "It looks like I held you over a bit too long. The buses have probably left by now. Hey," her face lit up like she was just struck with an idea, "how about if I give you a ride home?"
Tails shook his head and nervously laughed. Tails pointed to his two tails as he headed out the door and said, "Na, I have my own built-in transportation, but thanks anyway."
Rouge figured he would not have fallen for that last ploy, but it had been worth a shot. All in all it had gone almost exactly as HQ wanted it to go. Now all she had to do was call in and she would be done for the day. She waited more than long enough for Tails to leave the school building and get a good distance away when she pulled out a make-up kit from her purse and opened the lid.
"This is Fruit Bat calling HQ, bug has been successfully planted"
The static voice came out of the hidden speaker, "Roger, requesting to be patched in."
"Roger," She pressed the mirror.
"—Come on," a girl's voice that Rouge did not recognize pleaded. "Please you know how much it means to me."
"Oh, alright. We'll go to the mall as long as we stop to get something to eat first." A guy's voice that she knew was not Tails' had answered.
"Oh, Thank you!" Then came the unmistakable sound of two people kissing. Rouge silently prayed that Tails was there with these two.
"You know it's kinda romantic being here all alone. Are you sure that you want to go the mall or—" the transmission was cut from HQ.
The voice on the compact was not pleased, "Fruit Bat, intended target is a preteen, single, male fox, not an adolescent human with a date."
"HQ, I assure you that the bug had been placed on the intended target just as ordered."
"Fruit Bat, your record shows that you had recently returned from a draining mission. It appears that the mission has exacted an unexpected toll from you. We feel that you need to recover your strength, and thus you are hereby temporary relieved from all activities concerning HQ, excluding your current undercover mission, until further notice. You have also been scheduled for a mandatory CAT scan Tuesday at 17:00 hours at Station Square Hospital and are expected to rest during the weekend. Transmission ended."
HQ obviously wasn't pleased with the results and also apparently thought that Rouge was losing her grip. Enraged, Rouge found her handheld computer and tracked the location of the bug. The readout on the screen showed the bug was still located in the school building and in the area of one of the senior locker bays.
Rouge shut off the computer and trotted angrily towards the locker bay.
There, in plain sight on a bench was the small black clip she had placed inside the boy's vest. Somehow that blasted fox had figured out that she was indeed a spy. There was no way the little brat was going to fall for another underhanded ploy like that. As much as she hated to admit it, a child fox had out foxed the great Rouge the Bat.
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"...Class rings will be for sale starting September the eighth, and, Maurice Hedgehog Thorndike, please report to Coach Folio's office immediately. That is all and have a wonder night."
Amy perked up as soon as she heard Sonic's name and was the first one out the door of the classroom when the bell rang. Once she was in the hallway she pulled out a map she had found in the office and searched for Folio's office on it. It was located on the other side of the school, but that didn't bother Amy in the least.
She hurried as fast as she could without any of her speed showing, and made it to Coach Folio's office in a matter of minutes.
Amy heard muffled voices through the door of the relatively large office and she guessed that Sonic was already in there. The voices were muffled to such an extent that she couldn't understand anything they were saying inside. She stood around and waited until she heard movement on the other side of the door.
The door opened and Sonic as well as an older man, whom she supposed was the coach, stepped through the doorway.
Sonic looked surprised and practically shouted, "Amy! What are you doing here?"
Amy looked at Sonic and then the coach. She put on her best innocent act and asked, "I had heard that there was going to be a cross-country tryout tonight, but I didn't know where it was. I was wondering if you could tell me, Coach Folio."
"Well, what a coincidence," the old coach gruffed in his deep voice that belayed his small frame, "Sonic here and I were about to go out there. Why don't you join us?"
On the outside Amy smiled and agreed, but on the inside she was shouting for joy. Everything was going exactly as she planned it would.
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Sorry for the late update, but the sheer size of the chapter surely made up for that. There is still a lot of room for improvement I know, but I hope my typing is getting better with each chapter. So, how is the story so far? I can't read minds so read and review!