CHT: What, the cliffhangers? (grins) Thanks ;)
Kj: Ah...what indeed? Truth to tell I've no real idea either; I'm kinda making this up as I go :P
Matri90: (smiles) Thanks; glad you liked it :)
Ri2: Heh...I did think about changing Bait's name but nothing right now seems to fit...I think he's stuck being Bait for the duration ;) As for how Tails and Bait will get along (weg) We'll see...
XTailsX: You want a sequel already? This story's not even over yet (about another third to go, I think ;)) But yes, I started the sequel to this one some weeks ago and it's pretty much how you described. With twists and turns 'cause I'm evil like that :P
FriedBrickWall: (blushes) Wow...thanks :D And your review made my day, so I guess we're even :P
Asher Tye: Thanks :) Heh...you may well be right about Raker, although possibly not in the way you think (weg)
SaffraEchidna: Heh, thanks ;) (shakes head) Jeez, why does everyone think the story ended with the last chapter? No, it didn't; believe me, I'll tell you when it's the final chapter 'cause I usually use that chapter to plug the sequel ;)
Guardian's Log no. 11481
Tails is back. He's alive, although he's been pretty badly beaten. Broken tail, broken wrist, probably a few broken ribs as well, to say nothing of the lacerations. There's barely an inch of healthy skin left on that kid's back. But he's alive. That's the good news.
The bad news is that a) he freaked out completely and tried to kill me in those tunnels but apparently has no recollection of this (and crazy as that sounds, I actually believe him) b) Raker's still down there and is probably going to cause no end of trouble, c) Tails woke me up last night doing what I refer to as the hug-and-snuggle routine. He might feel more comfortable like this, but he's the only one. And d) I can foresee problems with Sonic in the near future. He didn't say anything, but I know him well enough to know it must've hurt him when the kid rejected him so blatantly.
I've no idea what's going to happen next, but with the level of relief I'm feeling at getting Tails out of that place – and something says that I was only barely in time – I'm not that interested in forward planning either, at least not yet.
--Knuckles the Echidna
My Memoirs by Me
Oookay. So Tails made it damn clear which of us he prefers out of me or Knux. Well, fine. Kid's got a right to choose, same's the rest of us. I'm happy for him.
Oh, who am I kidding? I don't want Tails to stay with Knuckles and that's got nothing to do with the echidna; it's for my own selfish reasons. I know I was a jerk to him before, but jeez, don't I at least get a second chance?
That's not the real problem though. The real problem is the rest of those people down in the tunnels. Knuckles managed to free one iguana kid (and fair play to him, that's one more than I did) who is currently lying on his back on a mattress and staring at the ceiling since nobody's given him an order for the past fifteen minutes. Damn, I never thought of that aspect before but it's true; this kid has a lot of difficulty thinking for himself in case it lands him in trouble. Don't get me wrong; he's not the shy or shrinking type, but I guess after a lifetime of being whipped for breathing too loud he's not about to take chances.
And Bait. What happened down in the tunnels...I could have killed Raker. I know people say that kind of thing a lot, but this is the first time in my life that I've actually meant it. Good riddance to him. Maybe they'll make him a slave too. I hope so. Usually I despise slavery in any way, shape or form, but in Raker's case I'll happily make an exception.
--Sonic the Hedgehog
Bait's Jurnal
Maybe Raker was rite. After evrything thats happned, maybe I am a jinx. Still cant help wundring if Sonicll let me stay.
--Bait the Jakkel
Tails screamed.
It wasn't the sudden reflexive scream of someone awakening from a nightmare, or the shriek of an arachnophobe who's just discovered a tarantula in their bedroom...in fact, a listener would be hard pressed to come up with a good analogy; it was unlike most other screams.
It did have one thing in common with those others, however, in that it was very, very loud, loud enough to send Knuckles from a state of peaceful slumber to advanced pissed-offness in just under three seconds.
"What the hell—" he began, his anger more reflexive than genuine.
"No. No!" Tails started to get up, tripped and crashed down heavily onto his side before the echidna could catch him.
"Tails?" Concern replacing anger, Knuckles righted the fox, then caught hold of his arms and held on tightly. Tails didn't react – Knuckles doubted he even noticed – except to continue babbling loudly.
"Knuckles! Knuckles, no! Not...don't let him...no, not..."
"Tails!" Knuckles didn't exactly shout the word, but he spoke forcefully enough that he heard Sonic turn over in the next room. "Tails, stop this now! You'll wake up the whole damn Zone!"
Something in the echidna's tone got through; Tails stopped as though Knuckles really had slapped him and stared wide-eyed, then started forward.
"Oh no you don't." Knuckles held Tails off, not roughly but firmly. "I want some answers. First you scream at me, then you pummel me and now you try to hug me. Kid, just what the hell is going on in your mind?"
Tails tried to push forward into the shelter of Knuckles' arms again, but the echidna still held him off, although he didn't try to stop Tails when the fox seized his wrist instead.
"I..." Tails swallowed hard. "I thought you were dead."
"What?" Knuckles stared in disbelief. "What put that crazy idea into your head?"
Tails hunched over, shivering, still hanging onto the echidna's wrist as tightly as he could.
"I...Knux, I...I couldn't feel your pulse."
"My what?" Knuckles wondered if the kid was still half asleep.
"Here!" Tails fumbled around, feeling frantically until he located the steady beat of life. Once he had it, he slumped in pure relief. "I thought they'd feed you to them."
Knuckles stared, perplexed. "Tails...what the hell are you yammering on about?"
"I thought you were dead, Knux, like Max."
"What?" Knuckles said again, now wondering if he was the one asleep. "What are you talking about? Who's Max?"
Tails shifted his grip, pushing the heel of his palm into the echidna's wrist as if to convince himself that it was real, that Knuckles was still alive. This time when he tried to snuggle in next to Knuckles, the echidna let him.
"Max was...he was one of the other guys down in that place. He was nice to me, Knux. He used to let me sleep next to him so's I could keep warm. He'd been there his whole life. I used to use his arm as a blanket and I could feel his pulse and all the time I felt it I felt kinda safe, you know? Even though I wasn't, I felt it. Then...one morning I woke up and...and he was all stiff and cold and...and...Knux, they wouldn't even let me say goodbye. They had these animals and they just threw his body to them. I didn't have to watch but I couldn't help it." Tails hunched over, still clinging onto Knuckles' arm. "I'm sorry, Knux; I didn't mean to wake you. 'S just...you don't understand what it's like."
"To go to sleep next to someone who's warm and alive and wake up to find them cold and dead next to you?" Knuckles said very quietly. "Oh no, kid, that I do understand, maybe better than you know. Go on back to sleep. It was only a dream."
"C'n I sleep right here?" Tails twisted under Knuckles' arm until it was draped across his shoulders like a blanket.
"If that's what it takes to make you conk out, go ahead," the echidna told him bluntly.
Satisfied, Tails squirmed around until his face was stuffed firmly into Knuckles' armpit (and if that doesn't put him out for the count, nothing will, Knuckles thought wryly) and gradually fell asleep.
Knuckles sighed noiselessly. When he'd taken on the sacred duty of guarding the Master Emerald, there had been nothing in the job description about looking after traumatised foxes. Because if there had, chances were good he'd have told his mother to stick it where the sun never shone. He'd probably have been knocked into another pricklebush for the privilege – his mother's aim really had been uncanny, especially when dealing with a recalcitrant puggle – but it would almost have been worth it.
Sliding to his feet, he lifted Tails and carried him back over to the bed, placed him down and covered him over with all seven blankets before turning and walking silently from the room. Maybe he could crash on the couch or go in with Mighty.
A shuriken flashed past his skull and into the wall, and Knuckles froze.
"Espio, you wanna watch where you're throwing those things? I got a kid behind there!"
Espio shaded into view. Although his ninja training held firm, it was still obvious that the chameleon was angry as hell.
"You too? Funny, that," he said, voice low. "So do I, and apparently I have you to thank for it!"
"You're welcome." Knuckles started to push past but Espio gripped his arm tightly, immobilising him.
"You tell me one thing, echidna. You know all of us pretty well. You know Vector and Mighty are the soft touches here, just like you know that I don't care what happens so long as I get paid for it. So why the hell did you tell that kid to come here and ask for me?"
"You really want me to answer that question here?" Knuckles answered, lowering his voice to a bare whisper. "Now, when someone else might overhear? I don't know if Tails is fully asleep yet." He started to go past, but Espio tightened his hold.
"That's blackmail."
"I think you'll find it's called an observation."
Espio stared at him through slitted eyes. "You know nothing, echidna."
"Seems I know enough to shake your composure," Knuckles whispered back. "You want rid of that slave in there—" he noted Espio's slight wince with predatory interest— "you go tell him yourself. But hey, I doubt he's been any trouble to you."
There was a long, tense silence.
"Take your hand off my arm," Espio said finally. Knuckles, understanding this as being as close to surrender as the chameleon was likely to get, complied and headed for the TV room. There were giant beanbags aplenty in that room; one of those would do him nicely...
The sound of a door slamming caused Tails to wake up with a start,automatically reaching for a pickaxe that was no longer there, then memory surfaced and he sagged in relief. He was safe. There were no tunnels here, no overseers and – most importantly – no whips.
There was also no Knuckles, but that didn't freak the fox out. He knew the echidna, knew his moods. He also knew that Knuckles would have been extremely uncomfortable acting as Tails' comfort blanket/plush toy, but Tails had needed him, had needed to feel the echidna was there.
Getting stiffly to his feet, he limped over to the window and looked out at the Zone. What had Knuckles said it was called? Scrap Brain, that was it. Tails frowned. It didn't seem to tally with Sonic's stories about this place, stories centred around a dank, smog-filled city with half the electrics and gas jets going haywire.
The door opened and the fox turned to see Knuckles standing there.
"You're awake? Good. I want to work on some more of those injuries."
Tails yawned and stretched, wincing as the motion ripped at injured tendons. "Whass for breakfast?"
"Lunch, I think you mean, and whatever you fancy. You can eat while I'm sorting you out. C'mon."
Tails scrambled to his feet obediently, following the echidna out and into the kitchen. Part of him wanted to grab Knuckles' hand and never let go, but that part was quickly squashed by the rest of him; big kids didn't hold hands and besides, he wasn't about to push his luck with Knuckles. That was one thing he did miss about Sonic; the hedgehog was always ready with a hug or fur ruffle.
"Hey Knux!" Charmy zoomed overhead and dropped a yellow-leafed branch onto the echidna's head. "I got it! I got what you wanted!"
Knuckles examined the plant, then broke off several leaves and started chewing.
"Thanks," he said, somewhat indistinctly. Next to him, Tails grabbed a plate and started piling sausages, burgers, bread and mushrooms onto it.
"You can have more than one helping, kid," Knuckles informed him, half amused.
"An' I'm gonna," Tails answered around a mouthful of sausage. Swallowing, he snatched a piece of bread, scooped a burger, another sausage and a handful of mushrooms onto it, then folded it over and crammed it into his mouth. Knuckles rolled his eyes.
"It's not gonna run away from you. Slow down or you're just gonna bring it all back up again."
Tails attempted to swallow, failed, choked, coughed up, chewed and this time managed to swallow half his mouthful, freeing up his tongue enough to say, "Yeah, but I'm hungry, Knux!"
"You're always hungry. I said slow down. You're in no fit state to run for the bathroom if you do overload your stomach, and Charmy doesn't want to clean up your puke."
"Whaddaya mean, Charmy doesn't wanna clean up his puke?" Charmy demanded loudly. Knuckles glanced at him, then back at Tails.
"Okay, scratch that. Seems Charmy doesn't mind after all." Knuckles reached into his mouth and pulled out the soggy wad of leaves, then motioned to Tails. "C'mere."
Tails hesitated. "Why?"
"I wanted to clean up your ear but you were so exhausted yesterday that I didn't get the time. This'll help stop any infection."
Tails stared at the yellow mess, revolted. "You been chewing and slurping on that for the past ten minutes and now you wanna put it on my ear?"
"I put it on all my injuries."
"That's okay. You already have that gunk in your body."
Knuckles rolled his eyes. "I'm disease-free, if that's what's bothering you. C'mon, if I don't put it on soon it'll dry out and I'll have to chew it again to get it soft, and this stuff tastes vile."
Tails eyed the glop as though it was pure acid, edging away slightly.
"Knux...I think it's okay, it's not gonna get infected, honest, you don't have to—"
The echidna snorted. "Save your breath, kid; it's going on and that's final. It won't hurt like the other stuff I put on."
Tails' gaze became warier; like a lot of kids, he was more afraid of the cure than the disease. "You promise?"
"Yeah, I promise. C'mon."
Reluctantly, Tails offered up the injured ear for treatment, jerking slightly as the salve made contact.
"Oh, stop wincing," Knuckles said impatiently. "You're worse than Bait! Now hold still." He caught hold of the fox's jaw firmly and kept Tails' head motionless while he finished applying the dressing, a task made harder by the fact that Tails' ear tended to flick reflexively (and vigorously) whenever anything touched it.
"Are you done?" Tails demanded. Knuckles sat back, resigned.
"Yeah. Done enough. I don't think you'll lose the ear, though it might be a little ragged. And don't touch it!" Knuckles slapped Tails' curious hand. "If you knock it, I'll only have to reapply it, and you can chew the leaves for it."
The kitchen door slammed open and Sonic strode in, grabbed a burger from the plate and ate it in two bites, dumped the plate into the sink almost hard enough to shatter it and stalked out again.
"What...?" Tails began.
"I dunno," Knuckles admitted. Sonic had been in a foul mood all morning, which was unusual enough in itself. So far he'd snapped at Bait, thrown a cushion at him and smashed three of Vector's CDs. "You go and watch TV or something. I'll deal with Sonic."
Tails opened his mouth to protest, but somewhere along the line this turned into a yawn and he trudged off obediently. A little TV never hurt anyone and besides, those huge beanbags were calling to him. Scrambling up a little clumsily, Tails sank into one, lying on his stomach with a contented sigh and started flicking through the channels. He'd talk to Sonic, sure, but...when he was a little healthier.
"Is Sonic mad at me, mister?" Bait asked Knuckles once Sonic had raced back into the room, gulped down a glass of juice and raced out of the room again after threatening to spindash Charmy to within an inch of his life if the bee so much as dared sing one more note of that annoying song he'd been burbling ever since breakfast.
"Why don't you ask him yourself?" Knuckles said shortly. Sonic had cut him dead in the corridor early that morning, not even asking after Tails.
Bait dropped his gaze, toying with his tail. "I did, mister, at breakfast. He tole me to piss off an' go bother summun else."
"He told you what?" the echidna said incredulously, then shook his head. "This has gone far enough," Bait heard him mutter and caught hold of his arm.
"Nah, forget I mentioned it, it dunt matter! I kinda understand why he's doin' it. Please mister, don't make waves with him. He's mad enough already."
"I'll make waves with whoever I choose," Knuckles said coolly. "Get your hand off me and tell me where Sonic's going. Whatever's wrong with him, it's not like him to take it out on other people."
Bait snatched his hands away obligingly, but shook his head.
"Uh uh. He dunt wanna be disturbed."
"What he wants and what he's going to get are two separate things," Knuckles informed the jackal. "If you're afraid of him, I'll make sure I don't tell him you told me where he was."
Bait folded his arms. "Nuh uh. Sonic tole me if you come stickin' your nose into his business that I wunt to tell you he was goin' to the park where we was yesterday for some private time an'...oh crud."
Knuckles hesitated. 'Private time' was usually a euphemism for relieving oneself in a tree or bush, although somehow he didn't think that was what Sonic had meant in this case. For one thing, he'd never get away with it, not in a public place.
"Alright," he said aloud. "The park, huh?"
"Mister, forget it, I shunta tole you that."
"Told me what?" Knuckles said over his shoulder, then slammed the door shut behind him.
Clambering up the side of the tallest building, Knuckles looked down at the Scrap Brain Zone, scanning the area for the park.
There! That was it. And better yet, there was a familiar blue shape in it as well. Knuckles pushed off, glided down and dropped on top of Sonic far less gently than he had Tails back in the mines, knocking them both over in a tangle of arms and legs. Getting to his feet first, Knuckles caught hold of Sonic's arm tightly.
"I want to talk to you," he said curtly.
"Yeah?" Sonic tried unsuccessfully to wrest his arm free. "Well, I don't want to talk to you!"
"I didn't say you had to talk back. Right now all you have to do is listen."
"I don't think I particularly want to listen to you either, Knuckles, given what you've done."
"What I've done!" For a moment the echidna was speechless, then he shook himself and went on. "Sonic, even if I've done something to piss you off, that doesn't give you the right to take it out on everyone else. You got a problem with me, tell me, not the rest of the world. I got Charmy griping about you, Vector out for your blood and Bait on a guilt trip! At the very least you owe that kid an apology, Sonic; you treated him like...like Raker would."
"You after Bait as well?" Sonic said, voice strangely tight. Knuckles stared at him.
"Look, you've been acting like a spoilt kid throwing a temper tantrum all morning! What's your deal?"
"You know damn well what my deal is! Isn't Tails enough for you?"
The echidna's jaw dropped. "That's what this is about? You think I set out to...what? Tempt him away from you?"
"Didn't you?"
"No I damn well didn't, hedgehog! Tails wound up with me firstly because you fell off the rail that day and the kid needed someone to watch out for him, and I was the only one around! It's not my fault you were such a cocky show-off you had to do what you did, and it's not my fault you were such a jerk to that poor kid back in Robotnik's fortress either!"
There was a hot, angry silence.
"What's this really all about, Sonic?" Knuckles said shrewdly. "Who are you really angry at? Tails because he's now looking to me for comfort or me for allowing him to do it?" He paused and then went on very quietly, "Or are you just angry at yourself because you know it's your own damn fault that Tails doesn't want to hang out with you anymore?"
Sonic didn't answer that, but Knuckles knew from the sudden slackness of the hedgehog's muscles that his words had hit home.
"So it's my fault, is it?" Sonic said, but there was no defiance or venom in his words. "Tell me something; did you know this would happen?"
"I suspected, sure. But I also hoped that the kid would see you fully healed and back to your old self and that would put him on such a high he'd go along with you."
"Yeah? And when did you decide that you were gonna take him back to Angel Island like you said?"
Knuckles shrugged. "I dunno. When did you first decide to take Tails along?"
It was the right thing to say; a wry smile tugged at the corner of Sonic's mouth and he relaxed completely. "I guess that would be when he puked all over my sneakers."
The echidna blinked. "That's a pretty strange reaction to something like that. Kid pukes on you and you promptly adopt him."
"Yeah, I know. I'd only met him a couple times before, and both those times he was too shy to say much."
"Tails? Shy?"
"Oh yeah," Sonic assured him. "He was only about four at the time, all big eyes and boundless energy."
Knuckles was silent for a couple of minutes, just long enough (or so he judged) to conceal his interest, before saying, "So what happened?"
Sonic shrugged. "Poor kid got salmonella and picked me to help him." He frowned slightly. "I dunno...maybe it was just the whole concept that bugged me. You know; there are hundreds of people in the Emerald Hill Zone and Tails figured his best chance of help would be from a near complete stranger." He paused. "You know how we met?" he said suddenly.
"Me and you, or you and Tails?"
"Me and Tails, of course. Or to be more accurate, you know how Tails always used to think we met?"
"No."
"He thought a star sent me." Some of Knuckles' scepticism must have been obvious on his face, because Sonic added, "True. You know that old kids' rhyme; star light, star bright, first star I see tonight—"
"—I wish I may, I wish I might have the wish I wish tonight, yeah, I know," Knuckles interrupted. Sonic quirked an eye ridge at him.
"So echidnas have that little tradition as well. Glad to know you can wish on stars like the rest of us normal, rational folk. Anyway, yeah. That's what Tails wished for on the same star, every single night for two years. He used to get pretty worried if it was cloudy and he couldn't see his star; he'd worry that the star would think he'd forgotten it. Hey, like I said, he was four years old," Sonic added in response to the echidna's look.
"And he wished for a bright blue hedgehog?"
"Yeah, oddly enough, that's what I asked him. He said no, he just wished for someone to play with." Sonic snorted. "Took me over a week before he was all played out; he was exhausting to be around but by the time the Tornado was fixed, I took him with me."
"Why?"
Sonic shrugged. "He made me laugh, and in a good way. I needed that pretty bad."
Knuckles snorted. "You needed help laughing? Yeah, right, Sonic. Pull the other one."
"No, I did. I met him just after I'd beaten Robotnik for the first time. I beat him back, destroyed the Sky Base, drove him out of Green Island and then I sat down in the Green Hill Zone and cried my eyes out."
A raised eye ridge.
"How would you have liked it?" Sonic said defensively. "You're pretty close to Tails, right? How would you feel if he suddenly went bad and you had to fight your best friend, all the while knowing it was your fault it had turned out this way? Maybe that's why Robotnik and I have never killed each other; even now I can't bring myself to finish him off completely and—"
"—he thinks you're more fun alive," Knuckles interrupted. Sonic shook his head.
"No – well, that too, I guess – but I think there's something else to it. After that first fight against him, he could have killed me with the flick of a finger. I was too exhausted to stop him. All he did was fly away."
"You really think Robotnik's a good guy underneath all that?" Knuckles said derisively. "Get real."
Sonic shook his head. "No, I don't think he is anymore. But after Green Island, I really needed someone to help me relax again. Tails did that perfectly, although considering he only spoke to me for the first time after he'd almost headbutted me to death, I was kinda surprised it worked out like it did."
"Headbutted," Knuckles muttered, remembering the events of last night. "Yeah, he does seem to like that."
"You just be thankful he's outgrown the pouncing phase," Sonic informed him. "Man, that was rough. You couldn't even close your eyes or turn your back without a pounce attack, as he used to call them."
Knuckles considered. "These pounce attacks; did he ever try to rip out your throat with them?"
The hedgehog stared. "Hell no! Why?"
"You saw what Tails did to me back in the tunnels."
"Yeah. Trust me, that wasn't one of his pounces. The worst you'd get from them is pepperpot bruising."
"He doesn't remember it."
Sonic blinked. "What?"
"He doesn't remember doing it. His mind's a blank from the moment he rushed into the crowd to look for you to the moment he woke up with me in the park. The worst part is he knows what triggered it, I know he does, but he refuses to even think about it, much less tell me."
Sonic snorted. "And you're put out that he's not sharing his most intimate secrets with you?"
"No, I'm just worried I'm going to get attacked again and not get out the way in time!" Knuckles retorted. "I don't care if he doesn't want to talk to me about it – though he needs to talk to someone – but I'd like to avoid a repeat performance if it's all the same to you!"
There was a long silence.
"I love that kid, Knuckles," Sonic said abruptly. "Always have done. Always will. Seeing him...oh hell, I'm not mad at you." A slightly grim smile tugged at the corner of one mouth. "I know you well enough to know you'd never have encouraged such a thing, much less initiated it, Knucklehead. It just...nobody likes being reminded of their own stupidity and past failures and that's what I get every time I see him with you. When I saw the two of you asleep last night..." He shook his head.
"You what?"
"Saw you last night."
Knuckles stared at him. "What time was this?"
"Around midnight. I came into your room and the two of you were just lying there, both out for the count. What?" Sonic added, because the echidna's eyes had narrowed very slightly.
"I just wouldn't mind knowing what you wanted creeping into my room at gone midnight, Sonic!"
Sonic rolled his eyes and swatted Knuckles hard on the arm.
"Well, for one thing, not that! Wrong gender, Knux. Wrong damn species too, if it comes to that. No, I wanted to check on Tails." He paused. "You think me and him'll ever get back on our old footing?" he asked abruptly.
"You're welcome to try, Sonic, so long as you don't upset the kid. For the record, you're not the only one who—" Knuckles broke off abruptly and coughed. "Well, it's not just you who...looks out for him...who..."
Sonic was grinning now. "C'mon Knux, the L-word, you can say it."
"I don't know what you're talking about, Sonic, and if you even think of saying any of this to Tails—"
"Oh, don't worry, I won't make waves. Poor kid's got enough on his plate right now." Sonic's grin broadened. "Personally, I'd rather suffer than have you as a nurse, but that's just me."
"He's suffered enough already," Knuckles said shortly. The grin disappeared from Sonic's face.
"You're right." He shook his head. "Man, how the hell am I gonna make this one up to him, Knux? If we hadn't had that fight and he hadn't stormed off..."
"If your mother hadn't been female, she would have been your father," Knuckles retorted. It was a standard echidna response to what if questions. "As far as making things up with him goes...well, I dunno. He didn't object to you calling him lil bro, though, did he?"
Sonic stared at Knuckles, then brightened visibly. "You're right, Knux, he didn't." He sighed. "Oh man, I'm sorry I was such a jerk—"
"I'm not the one you should be apologising to, Sonic," Knuckles cut across coolly.
"Right. Yeah. Bait. Where is he?"
"Far as I know, back at the CDA. And just for the record, he didn't tell me that you were in the park for a little private time...and next time you leave a message like that, pick another expression, okay? I had this warped image in my mind of you fertilising every flower in the park from here to the entrance."
"You are warped, Knux, end of story," Sonic said lightly. "You heading back to the CDA?"
"Yeah, why?" Suddenly Knuckles realised. "Oh no you don't—!"
"Too late!" Sonic seized the echidna's wrist and sped off, dragging Knuckles behind him and skidding to a stop opposite the back entrance to the CDA headquarters; they'd knocked another door in the wall to allow members to slip in and out without going through the office part.
"There has got to be a more dignified way of doing that," Knuckles complained, glaring at Sonic.
"Probably, Knux, but where's the fun in that?" Sonic said innocently, then sped off in search of Bait. Knuckles rolled his eyes – Sonic's moods always seemed to change with the wind – and pushed open the door leading to the TV room where Tails was asleep in one of the four foot beanbags that were scattered around the room. The wall TV was showing footage of what remained of Oil Ocean Zone and Knuckles turned it off; the last thing he wanted was to be reminded of that.
Glancing at Tails, he was just wondering whether it would be more beneficial to wake the kid and finish cleaning him up or let him sleep on when Espio crashed open the door and stalked inside.
"You have five seconds to explain yourself!"
Knuckles got to his feet, automatically stepping between the fox and the chameleon.
"What now?" he said testily.
"Not you, Knuckles. Him!" Espio jabbed a finger in Tails' direction and the echidna stared.
"What? What's Tails done to get you this riled?"
The chameleon took a long, deep breath, still glowering at Tails, who had woken up at his somewhat violent entrance.
"You should have told me about the overseer who broke your wrist!"
Tails blinked owlishly, more asleep than awake. "Wha'? Why?" He yawned. "Whass it matter?"
"It matters because..." Espio shook his head. "Did you or did you not mention my name to him?"
Knuckles stared. For Espio to be this blunt and forthright...well, the phrase 'out of character' didn't begin to describe it. Usually if the chameleon wanted answers, he'd ease them out of someone so subtly that most didn't even realise what the question had been, or failing that he'd resort to trickery. For him to do something as crass as actually asking...Knuckles shook his head.
"What's your deal, Espio?"
"Shut up," Espio told him in an aside, then stared at Tails again. "Well? Did you?"
Tails yawned again. Despite Espio's alarming behaviour, he didn't feel threatened by the chameleon. In fact, if he hadn't known better, he'd have said it was almost like Espio was scared of something.
"Dunno. Can't 'member."
"Try, damn you!"
"That's enough!" Knuckles took a step forward. "The kid needs rest, Espio! Take a hike!"
"You stay out of this!" the chameleon ordered, not taking his eyes off Tails. "You should have told me he was a damn chameleon!"
"Scarface?" A third yawn and Tails closed his eyes. "Yeah, he's a chameleon. Whass it matter?" he mumbled again.
Espio strode forward, seized Tails by the uninjured wrist and hauled him upright. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Huh?" Bewildered, Tails could only stare. "You never asked, Espie."
"Are you making fun of me?"
"Espio, leave him!" Knuckles gripped the chameleon by the back of the neck and hauled him off Tails. "What the hell's gotten into you?"
Tails, whose mind wasn't nearly as battered as his body, stared at Espio, suddenly no longer sleepy.
"You know him, don't you?"
"No!" Espio snapped, then seemed to realise he'd spoken too quickly and too loudly. "I mean...no."
"Then how'd you know he was a chameleon?"
"Oh, that's easy." Espio smiled, but there was no real warmth or humour in it. "I know he's a chameleon because he arrived here half an hour ago and now happens to be sitting in the outer offices having a nice, cosy chat with the others."
Okay, another chapter done. And no, this one isn't the last one either ;) If you read, please review!