CHAPTER 46: A Day at the Beach

Saturday had arrived. The weather was very hot and sunny. The humidity was high. Despite all this plus poor air conditioning, Tails had managed to sleep until almost noon. When he finally woke up, the first thing he did was throw his blanket to the floor, get up, run to the window, and open it. He rested his head on the windowsill, panting. His bedroom was stiflingly hot. His fur was soaked with sweat, which he found to be highly uncomfortable. He hated to be wet unless he was swimming or in the shower.

"Swimming..." the sweaty fox mumbled. "Wasn't I supposed to go to the beach with Cream today?" Across the way, he saw Rouge open her front window. She looked out and saw Tails resting his head on the windowsill and waved. He raised one arm and waved back lazily. Rouge went back into her apartment, and Tails pulled his head inside. He turned and headed back to his bed to sit down. He rested his chin on his hands, too hot and tired to do much else.

Heat fatigue is the worst, he thought. Already being tired makes it even worse. And it smells like hell because I'm sweating. Guess I need to take a shower. Think I'll go do that now. I hate cold showers, but I hate baking even worse. He stood up and headed toward the bathroom to take a shower. On the way, he stopped and turned the thermostat as low as it would go. After a few seconds, he still didn't hear the sound of the air conditioning.

"Great," the fox said, agitated. "The freaking air isn't working again. Oh well..." He sighed and headed on to the bathroom. After closing the door, he turned and looked into the mirror. The fur all over his head was a mess, not to mention the rest of his body. He turned toward the toilet, saying to himself, "Happy Halloween." After taking a moment to relieve himself, he flushed the toilet and climbed into the shower, closing the curtain behind him. He waited a few moments to make sure the water didn't come out hot and burn him before turning on the shower, as he'd done this before just after flushing the toilet. The cold water rushed forth through the showerhead, further soaking Tails from head to toe. He shivered a little before giving in and turning on some hot water.

So much for a cold shower, he thought. Oh well, lukewarm isn't that bad. At the very least, now I'm not just wet from sweating. He reached for the shampoo and pointed the head of the bottle toward his hand, squeezing it. When no shampoo squirted into his hand, his face turned sour as he thought, Damn it! I'm out! I need to pay better attention to that. So, he simply did the only thing he COULD do to get somewhat clean: he turned the hot water up. Once it grew as hot as it was going to get, he turned down the cold water until he was being burned to the point where he could barely stand it. Burning the filth off wasn't his favorite method of doing it, nor was it the most effective, but he had to do something. He stood there and rubbed his body all over, letting the water soak completely into his fur and reach his skin. After nearly ten minutes, the water began to cool: the hot water was running out. Tails allowed the water to cool until the hot was completely gone, then he took a breath and began to rinse himself down with the cold water. He could feel goosebumps rising up on his skin, although the only way he could tell was by the chills he was getting all over. After he'd cooled himself down well enough, he turned off the water completely and leaned on the wall.

"If I ever have to do that again on a hot summer day," he said, shaking his head. "I hate doing that." He lifted up his tails, shaking them back and forth and hurling water against the other walls of the shower. He tilted his head to the left and right, popping his neck both times. Then he lifted his arms, bringing his hands together in front of him. He began to pop his knuckles with the heel of each hand. Then, he stretched, pushing his abdomen forward a little. When he stopped stretching, the small of his back popped loudly. After this, he stood back up straight and lifted his feet behind him one at a time. When he had one foot up as far as it would go, he reached behind him and grabbed that foot with the hand on that side. He lifted up on the front of his foot, causing his ankle to pop. Once he had popped all these joints, he opened the curtain and stepped up to the counter.

I need to stop popping all my joints like that, he thought. But it's a habit, and a hard one to break. He picked up his toothbrush and toothpaste, turning on the sink. He wet the brush, then squeezed toothpaste onto it. He wet this as well before putting it into his mouth and brushing his teeth. As he ran the brush over his tongue, he heard the phone ring.

"Crap," he said with the toothbrush still in his mouth. He removed the toothbrush and spat out all the toothpaste, rinsing the toothbrush under the faucet at the same time. Then he bent over and sucked in some water from the faucet, swishing it around in his mouth quickly. After roughly three seconds, he spat into the sink and ran to the living room, where the phone was still ringing. He picked it up and answered, "Hello?"

"Hi Tails," Cream said. "It's Cream. You weren't asleep, were you?"

"No," Tails said. "I was just getting out of the shower."

"Oh, okay," Cream said. "I wasn't sure when I should call, since I didn't know when you got up on Saturdays."

"I haven't been up very long," Tails said. "But anyway, we still on for the beach today?"

"I am if you are," Cream said. There was a loud bang on her end of the phone at this point, causing Tails to jump slightly.

"What was that?" he asked.

"Cheese was doing something with a bookshelf, and the shelf fell out of place," Cream replied. "So now I'm going to have a mess of books to clean up before I leave."

"Okay," Tails said. "How long are you going to be?"

"I would guess about forty minutes," Cream said. "Is that okay?"

"Yeah, take your time," Tails said. "Might want to dress lightly. It's burning up outside."

"I know," Cream said. "Our air conditioner broke down yesterday. We've been burning up ever since. My uncle Jack keeps saying that if this heat keeps up, he'll be sweating table salt before too much longer."

"I see," Tails said. "Well, my situation isn't much better. The A/C here sucks."

"Ours blows," Cream said jokingly.

"Nice one," Tails said, not having the strength to laugh due to his heat fatigue. "I'll be waiting for you. Just walk in when you get here."

"Alright," Cream said. "I'll see you then. Bye."

"Later," Tails said, hanging up. He sat down on the couch and reached for the TV remote, but suddenly his head began to ache as though someone had inflated a balloon inside his skull. The sudden pressure was immediately unbearable. He clutched his head with both hands, his eyes shut tight. He couldn't last long before he had to open his mouth and cry out. Another few seconds, and the pressure began to ease slowly. Roughly one full minute passed before the fox could open his eyes again and let go of his head. When he did, he was panting as though he'd just sprinted for a full mile.

What WAS that? he thought. I must still be sick. Good thing I decided to wait until Monday before I started school again. Gives me some extra time to get rested up and all that. But... I don't want to have to call Cream back and tell her I can't come because I just had a headache from hell. Besides, it's going away already. I think I'll be alright. But, DAMN, that HURT... I need a drink. Getting up, Tails walked out into the kitchen and opened his refrigerator. As the cool air blew out into his face, he felt two lines running down his face that were cooler than the rest. He wiped his face and realized his eyes had been watering.

"Wow," he breathed. "I didn't even notice those. That headache was THAT bad? That's unbelieveable. Well, this virus was a new one. There's bound to be unexpected flare-ups and things like that." Finally, now that he was rather cold, Tails reached down into the fridge and pulled out a Pepsi, then turned around and headed back to the couch. Upon sitting down, he opened the can and took a long drink. The cold liquid ran down his tongue, tickling it on its way toward his throat. As he swallowed it, the fox quickly began to feel cooler all over as well as refreshed. After drinking roughly half the beverage, he held the can up to his face and pressed it to his forehead, cooling his face even more than the air from the fridge had done. He let his head fall back slowly, resting it on the back of the couch and closing his eyes. After a few seconds, he shivered; he was having chills due to the nearly-freezing can pressed to his face. He lowered it to his side, resting his hand on the cushion beside him while holding the can upright. This moment of total relaxation was short-lived, however. A knock on the door dragged him back to the harsh world of heat, humidity, and headaches. He sighed and got up, dragging himself to the door as though his feet weighed 500 pounds. When he opened it, he found Sonic on the doorstep.

"Tails, are you alright?" Sonic asked before Tails could say anything.

"Kind of," Tails said halfheartedly. "Why?"

"I was upstairs and I heard you scream," Sonic said, concerned.

"It was just a really sudden, really bad headache," Tails said. "Might have something to do with that stupid virus I caught. But I'm okay now, really."

"You don't look like it," Sonic said. He reached one hand forward and ran an index finger down one side of Tails's face; specifically, the streak left by one of his tears. "Must've been a hell of an ache, unless you're suddenly into drama films."

"Hey, cut it out," Tails said, swatting Sonic's hand away. "I'm turning fifteen in a week. I'm not a baby."

"Chill bro, I'm just worried about you," Sonic said. "Seriously, no one has any clue what this virus does in the long run. I don't even think the guy that designed it knows. It could be one of those things that stays with you for life."

"Virus or no, I'm not going to just quit everything I have planned because I don't know when my head's going to ache!" Tails said fiercely. Sonic's eyes went slightly wider and he backed up a few steps.

"Easy, buddy," he said. "You're starting to look a little... agitated."

"I'm feeling it too," Tails said, his face not one of happiness. "Actually, I'm feeling more than a little."

"Alright, I get your drift," Sonic said. "Just keep in mind, I'll be home all day today in case you need something."

"Why are you not going for your usual run today?" Tails asked.

"Truth be told, I'm feeling a little green myself," Sonic said. "Think it might be one of those summer colds. That's what took me so long to get down here. I was in bed when I heard you yell, and I was a little wrapped up in what I was covered with."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Tails said. "Later." He closed the door without waiting for Sonic to say anything else. Taking another drink of the Pepsi he'd been holding the whole time, he turned and headed toward the kitchen.

"Butte!" Butthead was saying as a transparent road sign grew transparent over his face. He continued laughing like the moron he was as that sign disappeared and a new one appeared, this one saying Pecke. He kept laughing as this one disappeared and was replaced by a third. "Weippe!" he said, reading the third and final sign.

"What an idiot!" Tails exclaimed while laughing. He wasn't laughing idiotically, unlike Butthead. Rather, he was sitting on his couch watching one of his favorite animated movies, Beavis & Butthead Do America. As Beavis appeared cackling, there was a loud knock on the door. Tails turned down the volume with the remote and called out, "Come in!"

"I can't!" Cream called. "My hands are full!" Tails sighed, turned off the movie, got up, walked to the door, and opened it. Cream was standing there on her toes, her back to the door, one arm around Cheese, the other around Chocola. Both Chao were fighting for all they were worth to get to a boy a few doors down from Rouge's apartment. The object of their desire was the ice cream cone in the boy's hand. Their combined strength almost lifted Cream off the ground.

"I got one of them," Tails said casually. He reached up and grabbed Cheese, holding the Chao's wings in his hands. Cheese dropped like a rock to the ground and landed at Tails's feet. The fox reached down with both hands, lifted the Chao off the ground and took him inside while Cream wrestled Chocola inside the door. As she dragged him inside backward, Tails pushed the door shut with his free hand, the other still confining Cheese's wings.

"Thank you," Cream said, releasing Chocola. He flew up to the window and almost slammed into it, then he turned and stared enviously at the boy with the ice cream.

"Have you ever considered putting these two on a leash?" Tails asked, releasing Cheese. He flew up to join his brother at the window, and they both began trying to nudge each other aside for a better view.

"I have, but I didn't have the heart," Cream said.

"Might want to either get the heart, or forbid them to follow you anywhere," Tails said. "I heard on the news a couple weeks ago that the city's considering a law requiring leashes on all pets, including Chao."

"I know," Cream said, her ears flattening against her head in a sad way. "Uncle Jack told me when he found out. I still don't have the heart to do it, though."

"Well, the final vote is supposed to be soon," Tails said. "Might want to either get the heart, like I said, or keep them inside. I don't think the legislature is going to veto that one."

"I know," Cream said, sighing and looking at the floor.

"Anyway, you don't look too thrilled with this subject," Tails said. "Let's find a new one."

"How are we getting to the beach, anyway?" Cream asked, lifting her head back up.

"After you called and I nearly bit Sonic's head off, I called a cab," Tails said. "I told them I want it here at a quarter after one, since I wanted to be sure we still had time in case you got here late."

"Thanks for that," Cream said. "Nice shorts."

"Oh, thanks," Tails said. He was wearing dark blue shorts which were slightly loose on him, and above the waist, he was wearing a white T-shirt. As for his feet, he'd managed to find a pair of sandals at the store, and was wearing those instead of his shoes. He ignored Cheese and Chocola, who were now fighting over the window, and said, "Nice dress. You don't plan to swim in it, do you?"

"Of course not," Cream said, giggling. She was wearing one of the dresses that she had said her aunt had told her to stop wearing so often. The red color greatly contrasted the fuzz covering her body. "I may occasionally have a chill when I think about swimming, but that doesn't mean I don't have proper swimming attire. I'm wearing it under my dress."

"Okay," Tails said, not having anything better to say. He pointed at the Chao fight at the window and asked, "Are you just going to let them fight like that?"

"Why not?" Cream asked with a shrug. "They do it all the time. I've given up trying to stop them. I gave up a long time ago."

"Alright," Tails said, turning and heading back toward the couch. "You might want to get comfortable. It is..." He looked at his watch. "Nearly one. The cab's not going to be here for over fifteen minutes."

"Okay," Cream said. She walked over and sat down right beside Tails and looked at him. "What were you watching when I got here?"

"Something I'm not sure you would like very much," Tails said.

"What is it?" Cream asked.

"Beavis and Butthead Do America," Tails said.

"You were right," Cream said slightly disgusted. "I HATE those idiots. I walked in on my cousin twice while he was watching it one day. I saw two scenes of the whole thing. That guy in the blue shirt was on an airplane ranting about his-"

"I know," Tails said. "Saying he needed pikata for his bunghole."

"Yeah, that," Cream said, nodding. "The other part I saw was where that same idiot was surrounded by FBI agents with guns. His shorts were missing, and he was yelling about his..."

"Bunghole," Tails said, finishing her statement. "And they were ATF agents, just so you know."

"And you've watched that movie how many times?" Cream asked.

"More than I can count," Tails said. "That's not all I watch, though."

"Good," Cream said. "What else do you have?"

"There's this one Rouge loaned me called Hannibal," Tails said. "But that one was just..." His voice trailed off and he shuddered. "It's about an escaped convict named Hannibal Lecter, who was imprisoned in a mental institution because he was a cannibal. I had nightmares for three nights straight after I saw it. There's this one part where he takes the top of a guy's head off, then he cuts off a piece of his brain, fries it in a skillet, and feeds it to the guy he took it from."

"Please, stop!" Cream cried. "I don't want to hear about it!"

"Sorry," Tails said. "It's a bit disturbing, but I thought it was a good movie anyway."

"Do you have any other favorites that aren't as disturbing?" Cream asked, shuddering as she tried to keep mental images from forcing their way into her head.

"Major Payne," Tails said. "That one's funny. A military man who's into killing like nothing else is discharged from... I think the Marines. After that, he gets re-instated as a CO for a group of kids in an ROTC program at a school that had been placing last in the Virginia Military Games for eight years running. Their ages range from six to close to eighteen. At least, I THINK it's eighteen. I'm not sure because they never say how old the oldest one is."

"A six-year-old in an ROTC program?" Cream asked, tilting her head to one side. "Weird."

"I thought so too," Tails said. He leaned back and closed his eyes, relaxing. "His parents died in a car wreck and he was adopted by the school at which Major Payne was assigned."

"Still, an ROTC program is overdoing it," Cream said.

"Being a little kid didn't get him much special treatment," Tails said. "Only thing it netted him was a bedtime story and being allowed to sleep in more livable conditions." At this point, the two heard the sound of a car horn outside. Tails got up to go look, and when he looked outside, was surprised to see a cab waiting outside.

"It can't be the cab already," Cream said. "It's too early. It's not even five after one!"

"So they're early," Tails said casually. "Drivers probably can't understand English. I guess that means I can tell him 'no tip' and he'll just nod and agree when he can't understand me."

"Cheapskate," Cream said teasingly.

"So sue me," Tails said, grinning. He reached down beside the door and picked up a blue cooler with a white zipper near the top, holding it by the black strap attached to it. This he had filled with sodas and ice after he'd called the cab. (After he'd set that down and gone back to watching TV, it had taken him all his willpower not to open it and dump the ice out over his whole body.) In a side pocket in the cooler, he'd placed two plastic bags from the local grocery store, which he had saved from the last time he'd gone. Into one of these he planned to put his shirt, and the other he'd reserved for Cream, since he wasn't sure if she was the type of person who just wandered around town wearing nothing but a bathing suit. In another bag beside the cooler was a pair of towels. Tails grabbed this bag as well as the cooler.

"I hope the beach isn't too crowded today," Cream said.

"We'll find out," Tails said, opening the door using the hand holding the bag. Outside his door, roughly ten feet in front of his front step, was a pink bicycle with a white seat. This was chained and padlocked to the rail at the foot of the steps leading to the apartment above. Tails narrowed his eyes in response to the bright sunlight and said, "Rode your bike, I see."

"That's right," Cream said, stepping up behind him.

"I don't see any helmets anywhere," Tails said.

"I was brought up to be polite and courteous to everyone I meet," Cream said. "That is not the same as memorizing and then living by every single rule ever written and some that weren't."

"Amen to that," Tails said, walking outside. Cream followed him out, Cheese and Chocola flying out over her head. She closed the door as the two Chao wailed loudly: the little boy with the ice cream had finished his treat and was heading back toward the apartment in which he lived.

"You have a nice day," the cabbie said to Tails and Cream as Tails swiped his card through the slot on the meter. His tone was a dull one, slightly slurred and spending too much time on each word. He sounded half drunk, in short.

"Remember, need someone back here at 4:30," Tails said. "Radio it in, will you?"

"Certainly," the cabbie said, putting the car in gear. He faced forward and drove off, rolling up his window at the same time.

What an asshole, Tails thought, pushing his credit card back into his right pocket. What the hell did he mean he didn't take money from kids? This is a real freaking cred card!

Jerk-off! Cream thought at the same time. What did he mean when he said he didn't take money from kids? Did he think we were going to pay with play money? Well, at least that idiot recognizes a real money card when he sees one.

"Well, here we are," Tails said, turning around and looking out toward the water. "The bea... ch..."

"What?" Cream asked, turning to look as well. Her eyes went wide.

"What happened to the sand?" Tails exclaimed. Towels were spread everywhere, most of them occupied, very little sand showing between them. Near the water, children struggled to build sandcastles, all of them failing because of the waves. Out on the water, an unusual amount of people were out surfing.

"Well..." Cream began, trying to think of something positive to say. The only thing positive about the situation was this: she was positive it was going to be very difficult to find a place to put their belongings.

"Just bad timing, I guess," Tails said. He looked left and right, and didn't see any space. "Wow, are there really THAT many people in this city?"

"Have you noticed something these last few weeks?" Cream suddenly asked.

"Along the lines of what?" Tails asked, still looking for a place.

"Have you noticed how our luck has just kept declining?" Cream asked, looking at Tails. "Like some force beyond our control is at work, purposely making life hard for us for its own twisted means?"

"I've thought that for years," Tails said. "But yeah, I have noticed the extra helping of bad luck lately. Why are you asking this now, anyway?"

"I don't know," Cream said. "I was just rambling, I guess."

"Hey, there's a spot!" Tails said, pointing. About twenty feet in front of them, a woman was gathering up her belongings and calling to her children, who were down near the water. Tails and Cream started toward her, walking between three groups along the way. They stood for about a minute waiting before the woman got up and left, carrying her belongings. Her children had come by this point and left with her, carrying some of the load. Tails dropped the cooler to the side and spread a towel in the middle of the open space. Cream kicked off her flip-flops on the towel.

"Well, at least we didn't have to walk half a mile to find a place," Cream said.

"True," Tails said, removing his sandals. "If you hadn't mentioned that thing about our luck, we might have started walking and never seen this spot. Thanks for that."

"Just got lucky I guess," Cream said. She reached down and grabbed the hem of her dress, then she pulled it up over her head, revealing her bathing suit. It consisted of two pieces; they were both bright yellow. The bottom piece consisted of the bathing-suit equivalent of briefs, while the top extended from her chest to about an inch below her sternum (for the less anatomically knowledgable, this is the bottom of the robcage). The two straps over her shoulders were roughly one-half inch thick. She pulled the dress off and folded it where she was, then dropped it into a bag held by Tails, who had gotten the hint while Cream had been folding her dress and removed the aforementioned bag.

"You wear a lot of yellow and white, don't you?" Tails said, tying the bag closed.

"Just like Amy wears a lot of pink and red," Cream said.

"Good point," Tails said. He pulled the other bag out of its place and opened it, then he reached back with one hand and grabbed the back of his shirt collar. He pulled it over his head one-handed, shoving it into the bag once it was off. He also pulled off his gloves and watch and threw them inside, followed by his credit card, which he hid in the middle of the whole mess.

"I wonder why there are so many people," Cream said.

"I have no idea," Tails said. "What I'd really like to know is where your Chao went."

"They'll be here," Cream said. "They just don't like cars very much. But don't worry, they always know where I am."

"I guess so," Tails said. "Well, first order of business: get wet and inhale some water!"

"That getting wet part sounds more attractive," Cream said, stepping over the cooler and toward the water. Before she could keep going, though, the sounds of two overexcited Chao reached her ears. She turned toward the sound and said, "Wow, they were fast."

"I didn't hear anything," Tails said, turning to look also. Seconds later, the two Chao came flying over the sand toward them. Oddly, they came from across the road rather than down the road; this meant they must have taken a shortcut, or they had raided something. The fact that both of them were clean was a good sign, but there was still a possibility that somewhere they had left behind either a crying child, an angry ice cream vendor, or both. As the two Chao approached, they noticed the children at the waterline trying to build their sandcastles. Both Chao saw a prime opportunity to cause a little mischief. They flew past Cream and Tails and threw themselves on the first castles they reached.

"Well, that was unexpected," Cream said to herself.

"On the bright side, at least no one got ticked off," Tails said as the failed-architect children began laughing at the sand-covered Chao rolling in the ruins of their attempted creations.

"The water wiped out too many castles, so by this point, no one will care," Cream said. She started toward them as Tails headed for the water. As he passed, Chocola decided it might be fun to see how wet sand flew. He scooped up a big lump of sand and hurled it at Tails with his little arms. Tails got hit in the foot and ignored it. Cream began to giggle until Cheese started pelting her with sand; he'd liked Chocola's idea.

Those have got to be the most energetic and mischievous Chao I have ever seen, Tails thought as Cream began to reprimand them for throwing sand at people. At this point, the remains of a broken wave washed over his feet, cooling them immensely and washing away the sand. Enjoying that feeling, he waded out further, until the waves hit his waist. He turned around and looked, and saw Cream heading toward him.

"I think I took care of that!" she called.

"What did you have to do?" Tails called back.

"Threatened them with no dinner tonight," Cream said in a more normal voice, drawing almost even with Tails. "I don't mind them rolling in the sand, but I refuse to let them throw it."

"Well, it works," Tails said as a wave broke a few feet away. It washed over his waist and Cream's belly as it headed for land. "Even though I get this feeling that you just stopped them so they wouldn't throw it at you."

"Why would I ever do that?" Cream asked in such a manner that it was obvious that she was joking. Tails gave a little laugh, then turned and waded forward until the waves were almost strong enough to knock him over. Cream was still standing in the same spot watching.

"I love doing this!" Tails called back as a wave approached. "I just brace myself and see how many waves I can take before I go down! I can sometimes take five, but it's usually the first or second that get me!"

"Good luck!" Cream called. "That one looks like a mean one!"

"Nah, this is nothing!" Tails called back as the wave broke over him, drenching him up to his chest.

"I meant THAT ONE!" Cream cried as a monster of a wave rose up. Tails looked, and his ears flattened against his head. He was looking at a wave at least nine feet high. The last one had only been around four. Surfers out a little farther were pointing at the wave and yelling, and Tails only caught words like "DUDE!", "MOVE!", and "HE'S TOAST!" before the wave began to break. All he saw was the white of the water as it came barreling toward him.

"Holy-" was the last word to escape his lips. Suddenly, the water crashed into him, and he was gone. Cream gulped, took a deep breath, held it, held her nose, and closed her eyes. The wall of water slammed into her as well, and she was wiped from her place and dragged toward shore.

"Whoa!" shouted one surfer from the safety of his board. "They got annihilated!"

"Man, what a wave!" another one called, floating in the water, holding onto his board. "Those lucky little shits!" A moment later, Cream resurfaced near the beach as the wave grew too weak to hold her any longer. Tails took a little longer to come back up; he'd taken the brunt of the wave and was slightly dazed. Fortunately, when he'd been wiped out, he'd been thrown a little to the side and missed Cream, otherwise she would probably have been knocked senseless. Cream simply sat where she was in the water, rubbing the water off her eyelids before she opened her eyes. Tails also sat there with his eyes closed, but he was coughing and sputtering, since he hadn't held his nose and had inhaled water. He was all coughed out before either of them spoke again.

"Are you okay?" Cream asked.

"Yeah, great," Tails said slightly weakly. "THAT is why I love taking waves. The wipeouts."

"You're crazy," Cream said, using her left arm to slide her right shoulder strap back onto her shoulder.

"So what?" Tails said. "At least I have fun with it." He stood up and walked back toward where the last wave had almost erased him. He withstood two more waves on the way back, and when he got back to his place, another big one began to form. This one was only seven feet high, but it was still a significant threat in terms of power. But this time, Tails had an idea. He wasn't going to mess with it; rather, he took a deep breath, ducked below the surface, and waited for the wave to pass over. Bad luck struck at this point. Tails didn't realize it, but he was being pulled away from the beach by a riptide. He didn't realize it because his head began to pound as it had back at his apartment. He clutched his head under the water, trying not to scream and waste all of his air. He nearly succeeded, but too many air bubbles passed through his gritted teeth and out of his body. He had to swim upward before the ache subsided. Once he broke the surface, he breathed in deeply, still holding his head. (He had kicked to the surface.) Before he was up for a second and a half, another pain struck him, knocking him senseless. He was unaware of the surfer that had splashed down beside him, nor did he realize that he was sinking. There was no water, no surfer, no beach. But there was pain and a floating feeling. He was floating, but where was he? He slowlyloosened his eyelids as his chest began to ache once more. He was beginning to pull it all together. He couldn't breathe. There was no air. If there wasn't air, then what was there? He opened his eyes, but shut them as the water washed against his eyeballs. Water. He was floating in water, which was why there was no air. How could he get air if there was only water? Almost immediately, his answer came as he became aware of a tugging feeling. He was being pulled up. But what was up there? He couldn't think anymore; his mind was too clouded by the throbbing in his skull. His brain felt as though it had swelled to the size of a watermelon. As the next second passed, it felt like an hour to the dazed and confused fox. Once this second-hour had passed, he could feel cold all over his face and head. He realized this was air, and began to breathe.

"Kid, you alright?" a surfer was asking; it was the surfer who had run into him as he'd come up. Another one was swimming toward them, using his surfboard for a floatation device. Tails only moaned in reply.

"Damn, Scott, looks like you got him pretty bad," the other surfer said as he drew near. "How did you not see him?"

"He came up right in front of me," the first surfer said. "I didn't have time to react. I was in the air before I could do anything."

"What happen?" Tails groaned weakly. The two surfers each held the surfboard with one arm and Tails with the other. They had him slung over the floating board as well.

"Sorry kid," the first one said. "I didn't have time to react. You just came up out of nowhere and surprised the hell out of me."

"What're you talking about?" Tails groaned. "God damn, my head..."

"What were you doing all the way out here, though?" the second surfer asked. "Only surfers are supposed to be out this far."

"What?" Tails asked, regaining his mental faculties. "I could touch the bottom before. What happened? I just ducked under a wave, and..." He turned and looked back toward the beach, his eyes going wide. He was out at least three times as far as he had been before. Had he really been underwater with that sudden headache for that long?

"You must have stayed under a long time," the second surfer said. "You've got to be careful out here. The riptides and undertow are really bad around here."

"The waves, too," the other surfer said. "I saw you get hit by that nine-footer. Lucky little prick. I'd have given up an arm and a leg to ride one of those!"

"You can have them," Tails said. "Why are you out here if the big waves are more inward?"

"Beach rules," the surfers said at the same time.

"Can't come within a certain distance of the beach as long as you're surfing," the first surfer added. "The waves out here aren't too bad though. You can get moving pretty fast."

"I figured," Tails said, rubbing the back of his head. He brought his hand around to his face and looked at it to make sure he wasn't bleeding. He didn't seem to be, but he still felt like hell.

"You want one of us to take you back toward shore?" the frist surfer asked.

"If you wouldn't mind," Tails said.

"I'll take him," the second surfer said. He pointed out toward the open water and added, "Josh got your board, Scott."

"Cool," the first surfer said. "Well, sorry about hitting you kid. Hope there's no hard feelings."

"Aside from the feeling that you hit me really hard, no," Tails said with a weak chuckle. Neither surfer laughed, they just shook their heads grinning. Scott, the first surfer, swam off toward another of his buddies, who was holding onto both his own surfboard and Scott's. Meanwhile, the surfer still with Tails began to kick his feet, swimming toward the beach. Tails followed suit, one arm around the surfboard, the other out of the water, his hand on his head.

"So how DID you get all the way out here?" the surfer asked.

"I was about to get hit by another of those really big waves," Tails said. "I ducked under the water and stayed there until it passed over. I had this really sudden, really bad headache, and all I could recall was swimming to the surface, another sharp pain, and a feeling like I was floating."

"That must've been Scott hitting you," the surfer said.

"Probably," Tails said. His eyes scanned ahead and he saw Cream waiting anxiously for him. As he approached, she attempted to come to him, but was unable; there were too many waves, and some of them were rather large. Tails thought, That explains why she wasn't out here by now. Couldn't make it. I wonder why the waves are so big today, though. They've NEVER been like this. Something must be going on in the environment that the news hasn't mentioned. Maybe a hurricane's forming off the coast or something.

"Almost there," the surfer said. "Think you can make it on your own from here?"

"Yeah, I think so," Tails said, nodding. He let go of the surfboard and began to rotate his tails, pointing them downward, keeping himself afloat.

"You take it easy, alright?" the surfer said.

"Alright," Tails said. "Thanks for the help out there."

"Don't mention it," the surfer said. "Just be more careful. Remember what we said about those riptides and junk. Things are nasty around here."

"Alright, I will," Tails promised. The surfer turned in the water and swam off back toward his buddies, still holding on to his surfboard. Tails turned and started siwmming back toward Cream, his head still pounding. Less than a minute later, he swam up near Cream, who was still upset.

"Tails, are you alright?" she cried as he came near.

"Besides my head pounding, I'm fine," Tails said. "I think I'm going to lay off playing with the waves for the day, though. They're bigger than usual."

"I know," Cream said, her voice somewhat calmer. "It's crazy." Suddenly, a high-pitched noise pierced the air, drawing the attention of everyone within a large area. Several more of the same noise sounded all down the beach.

"Oh crap!" Tails exclaimed. "Out of the water!" He grabbed Cream's shoulders and turned her around, pushing her toward the beach. She started in that direction as fast as she could, followed by Tails. The noise had been whistle blasts from the lifeguards, who had spotted fins out in the water. Whether they were sharks or dolphins was not yet known, as they were too far out. The surfers, meanwhile, were using all their surfing skills to get back to the beach as fast as possible. One of them, the one who had hit Tails, shouted with excitement as he caught a large wave ("HELL YEAH!" he shouted.); one of the large ones that had knocked Tails for a loop.

"I don't believe this!" Cream cried. "They can see fins from a mile away but they couldn't see you get hit by that surfer!"

"I wasn't even up for a full second," Tails said. "They would have had to be looking right at me to see me."

"I guess so," Cream said slowly. The two of them were on the sand roughly ten seconds later, then they turned to look out on the water. Everyone on the beach was watchng as well. The surfers reached shallow water soon enough, then they jumped off their surfboards, picked them up, and ran for the beach.

"That was the biggest waste of time," Tails groaned, laying on his towel, his right arm covering his eyes. He'd been in this position for the last twenty minutes, and he was only complaining because he felt that he needed something to bitch about.

"Well, at least they were only dolphins," Cream said. "It was fun to watch them jump out of the water, too."

"Oh sure, it was fun," Tails said. "For anyone who didn't have such a bad headache that they were sensitive to the light."

"I'm sorry," Cream said, sitting down beside Tails. "I'm guessing you just want to lay here until your head stops hurting?"

"Yeah," Tails said. "Or until the cab gets here, whichever comes first."

"Okay," Cream said. "I think I'll work on my tan."

"Through all your fuzz?" Tails asked. "You don't even have any skin showing through all of it, except your ears and nose."

"So?" Cream said, stretching out beside Tails. The people to their right had left, and Cream had spread her towel out besides Tails's. "I'm sure I can still get a tan anyway."

"Well, whatever," Tails said. "Go ahead if you must." Cream lay back on her towel, closing her eyes, listening to the sounds of Cheese and Chocola raiding the cooler and taking sodas. As she lay there, she noticed the sound of snoring coming from her left. He turned her head and looked, and saw that Tails had fallen asleep.

"Well, so much for the day I had imagined," she said. "He gets beaten around and falls asleep, and no one wants to go back in the water after all those dolphins came. I don't care that they don't want to, but what right do they have to stop me from going?" She sighed and turned her head back toward the sky, closing her eyes again, remembering the abundance of soccer moms that would not allow her to set foot in the water when she had tried.

Okay, I got that one done. Thank God... Sorry about the wait. Big hefty chapter for you. Also, sorry for the abrupt end, but I was impatient to get the chapter up, aside from an inability to think of anything else that one might do on a crowded beach where there's no room to do much of anything.