Well, this chapter was really tough to write. Getting Miles to act the way I want him is pretty difficult right now due to... Well, you'll see in chapter 7, but the point is that I spent a good few days thinking about it. Hopefully, it works for you guys. :-)

I'd like to say thanks for all the really nice reviews that you all have been giving me. It's a real boost, especially since this is my first Sonic fic. I got all of the ones that did not show on the review page too, so thanks for all of them- especially to those who reviewed numerous times to make sure I got them! :-D

Asher Tye: Don't worry, there is plenty more to come yet. ;-)

English bloke: The idea of the Cyborg is that it combines the wits of a living creature with the strength and speed of a machine. The result is a warrior with the best of both worlds, something which Robotnik doesn't seem able to live up to with his normal robots.

Classic Cowboy: I've not decided on a pairing for certain yet, but I am leaning towards making it Tails/Amy. It all depends on how the story develops...

Anyway, enjoy! Let me know what you think!

p.s. Chapter 7 may not come out for two or three weeks because I'm going on holiday soon, but rest assured that it is on it's way.

Chapter 6: Isn't this what you always wanted?

Confused, lost, scared.

Emotions seemed so powerful here. They had been that way ever since his first treatment, when he had been 'prepared', as the madman had called it. And the effects were already in motion, he knew. Not just on the emotional side, but the physical also- he could feel, could see, that he was taller than he had been yesterday.

The silence seemed so loud. It was unbearable, creating a strange buzzing in his ears. He could not stand it, so he broke it, glancing at his shadowy companion as he did so.

"...what do you think is gonna happen to us?"

A thick and heavy pause. The silence got louder, if such a thing was possible.

"...I don't know."

"Do you think... He'll robotisize us?"

"If he was, then he would have done it already."

Relief.

But... Then he must be doing something else. Something new.

Fear.

He did not want to drown in the feeling, so he spoke again.

"...yeah, I guess so. 'Buttnik always sets it up so that someone's gonna be robotisized, but Sonic always saves them..."

"Sonic's your friend?"

Pride, though short lived.

"Yeah! Yeah, he..."

Falling.

"He was, but I'm not so sure anymore. He would have saved us already if..."

Guilt.

For what? The murder? No, that was not his fault. That he had been captured? Sonic would not have been captured.

Failure.

"What's he doing to you?" came the voice of the other. They locked eyes.

"...I don't know."

"You look older than yesterday."

"I feel... older... I think."

"Why hasn't he done anything to me? Why just you?"

Silence.

Fear.

"Maybe he's testing something on me..."

Nothing.

"We'll never be free from him," says the other.

----------

Miles awoke slowly to the rather pleasant sensation of sunlight filtering through the window and filling his assigned room with warmth. It was nice, nicer than anything he had felt in a long while, and he was in no rush to spoil it by getting up- he deserved this lie in he thought, a reward for putting up with the Old Quarter in Chestnut for so long.

His mind was quite active however, trying to decide whether it was the sun what had woken him or the dream of his imprisonment with Shadow. Usually when he dreamt of those times it would be filled with pain and horror as the process of turning him into a Cyborg got fully underway, but this time it was just the preparation- when he had been forced to grow faster than he should, and when the hormonal restraint had just been implanted.

It occurred to him then that it hadn't really restrained a whole lot, even then. If anything, it had made him more emotional.

Still, it didn't matter anymore, he supposed. It was over, and there was no use worrying about it now. It wasn't like he could go back and change it or anything.

He sighed, pushing the thoughts from his mind. It was probably the sun that had awoken him anyway, because whilst it felt good it was pretty bright. No, he wouldn't be going back to sleep anytime soon because of it, so the best thing he could do was to prepare for the day ahead.

Abruptly, he became aware of a presence in the room with him. He looked to his side, still half-asleep, only to see a hooded figure watching from a short distance away. It was an orange-brown fox with bushy white eyebrows, wearing a long blue cloak that covered all but his aging face, upon which was a small, soft smile.

Miles blinked hard to align his hazy sight and was about to ask who the figure who he was and how he had got in here- but as he opened his eyes, the fox had gone as if he had never existed.

Somewhat disturbed by the strange figure, Miles rolled over with intent to get out of bed, but was left just a beat short of a heart attack when he found himself looking into a pair of large orange eyes. He yelped in surprise, natural instincts taking over in a flash- if one were to wake to someone in their room back in Chestnut then they were probably about to have a fight, after all. The fact that he was in Knothole was forgotten, as was that he was on a proper bed- thus his leap backwards, in expectance that he was on his old bed made of just a few blankets on the floor, did not take into account his elevated position. The result was that he was sent rather unceremoniously to the floor in a tangled heap with a loud thud.

"Cream, don't do that!" he snapped once the room had stopped spinning. He pushed himself up and made sure that his tails hadn't wound themselves into a knot.

The little rabbit giggled and bounced onto his bed, giving him a playful smile.

"'Mornin Miles!" she said. He sighed and rubbed his face as he did his best to fight of the waves of annoyance.

"Good morning, Cream," he said, looking up at her. "Why are you here?"

She beamed at him. "I wanted to say hello! I knew that you'd be okay, Miles, nothing stops you! You're my hero!"

Anyone else would be filed with pride at hearing such a thing, or at least surprise- Miles however ignored it, because he knew that it wasn't true.

"I ain't no hero, kid," the mercenary growled, getting unsteadily to his feet. She had annoyed him with this sudden wake-up call, and were it anyone else he'd probably be yelling blue murder right now- but to this child, he simply didn't have the heart. Just like how he didn't have it in him to turn down her request to help the Freedom Fighters in Chestnut.

Glancing over her he could see Amy in the open doorway to the apartment, dressed in casual clothing of a shirt, jacket and jeans. She was looking at him with amusement written all over her face. He glared at her.

"Good morning, Rose."

"Cream, what are you doing in here?" the pink hedgehog asked with faked surprise after a short grin. The girl bought it, apparently, as she spun to look at the woman who was her teacher and, for all intents and purposes Miles supposed, her mother.

"Oh, uh, I was just saying hello to Miles, Miss Rose!" she said quickly.

"Yes, well come on, breakfast is being served. The rest of the class is already down there."

"Okay! See you in a bit, Miles!"

The little rabbit ran out of the doorway and disappeared into the corridor, leaving just Miles and Amy.

"Would you like some breakfast?" Amy asked with a small smile. Miles was always suspicious of such offers, so cautiously he replied with a question of his own.

"Will I have to pay for it?"

"No, Sally has set things so that you get your food for free."

Ah. The princess. As much as he disliked the idea of being in any sort of debt to Knothole, he couldn't deny that he was hungry.

"...alright."

"Okay, are you ready now?"

He raked his hands briefly through his head fur and shrugged on his jacket so that he was at least presentable. That would be good enough.

"Yeah. Lead the way, Amy."

----------

"Nah Cream, It doesn't matter what you say. Tails ain't real! He's just some guy that Mr. Antoine made up."

Cream stared at Skip, completely at a loss of why he would not believe her. She had seen Miles Prower, talked to him, been saved by him too- she knew he was real! Plus she had seen him this morning, so he was definitely still here. Maybe he'd come into the cafeteria for breakfast, then she could prove it!

The second class of the Acorn School for Orphans were busy eating their breakfast together in the palace cafeteria as they did almost every day in their educational lives, the third class to one side of their long table and the first class to the other. As schools went, this one was tiny- only twenty-seven students in total, the youngest being eight years of age and the oldest being sixteen. They were split by their ages, those under eleven were in the first class and those above thirteen were in the third. Every three or so years the classes moved up a stage and their teacher went with them until they reached the fourth year of the third class, at which point they were given the option of what to do with their lives whilst a new first class was drafted in. The system was new and remained quite touch and go, but it worked and that was good enough for the royal family.

Cream was in the second class, because she was currently eleven years old. The other seven in her group were around the same age, and with her had become involved in the latest bit of gossip going around the school: Was Tails really here?

The young rabbit knew that he was. He'd saved her life twice after all, and had been real nice to her when the two Freedom Fighters weren't around. He was a fox, he had two tails, his name was Miles Prower- what more proof did anyone need?

Skip, a white young dog with brown patches of fur, was what could be considered her opposition in most situations. The two often argued over things like this with support on either side from their respective best friends- he and his comrade Jeremy (a white rabbit), and her with her ally Pepsi (a black and white dog). Pepsi fully believed Cream's story, whilst Jeremy was true to form with his scepticism.

"But he is real!" she said, almost whining in her tone. "And I'll prove it to you too! Just you wait- look!" she said abruptly, jumping up from her seat and pointing at a familiar mercenary who had just joined the dinner queue along with Amy. He was wearing his grey jacket as always, and despite having had a good nights sleep he looked rather moody as he gathered his breakfast.

She waved at him when he had what he wanted, catching his eye and gesturing for him to come and sit at the table. He paused for a moment, then made his way towards her after Amy said something quietly in his ear. The pink hedgehog followed.

Miles placed his breakfast tray on the table at the empty place beside Cream, containing some toast and a cup of tea, and took a casual glance around the room. Only once Amy had sat across from him did he appear comfortable enough to sit down himself.

There was silence at the table as the eight kids watched the mercenary expectantly. He was busying himself by preparing his tea, and took a sip; then he noticed that he had the attention of the whole table without having actually done anything.

The calm could not last.

"Tell them Miles! Tell them you're Tails!" she squeaked, earning herself a quick glare from the fox. She ignored it, and he turned his attention away.

"I'm not Tails," he growled, looking away.

"Ha! I knew it!" Skip burst out.

"But he is! His name's Miles Prower, right Miles?"

He didn't even bother looking at her this time, apparently focusing on some thought instead. But he answered distractedly nonetheless.

"Yes..."

"Ya see?!" Cream said, almost desperately. "Miles Prower is Tails, Mr. Antoine said so! And Miss Bunnie too, and I've heard Sonic and Princess Sally talk about him!"

"Cream!..." Amy interrupted, Gesturing towards the fox. She looked just in time to see him viciously take a bite from a slice of un-buttered toast, as is to take solace in its bland taste. His face had hardened, and in this state he appeared quite intimidating.

Uh oh, she'd hit a sensitive spot. Evidently he disliked having himself discussed around the table.

"He is, you'll see..." she muttered, grabbing her carton of milk. "Just wait 'till you see his claws!"

"Anyone could have two tails, but no one has blades in their hands Cream. You'd believe anything!"

He laughed at her, as did the rest of the boys at the table. She did her best to ignore them, pulling and twisting at her sealed milk container to take her mind away.

"Do you need some help with that?" Miles asked as she struggled with the tear-open carton. She blinked and looked at him. His expression as he looked back at her was that of indifference, just as it had been when he had sat down, but his eyes held a small speck of anger and protectiveness. He was planning something.

"Um, yes please," she said, and held out the white box to him. He took it after dropping his toast on his plate and cast a short glance at the boys, making sure he had their attention. Then, he focused on the carton.

Instead of tearing off the perforated corner, a single blade emerged from the centre slit in Miles' casually clenched right fist. With it he quickly sliced off the corner, then set it back down on the table in front of her as the blade snapped back into his arm.

She happily took the carton and poured some of the contents into her glass. Once done, her eyes rose to the boys down the table, only to see them looking past her in shock. A moment was all it took to realise that the entire table, except for herself and Miss Rose, was now watching Miles with fear.

"See? I told you he had claws!" she said with a smug smile in Skip's general direction.

Amy laughed.

----------

At the same time across the other side of the palace, another meeting was taking place- though contrary to the light-hearted state of the other, this one was quite serious.

"Okay, orders for the day..."Sally Acorn said in her 'commander' tone of voice- the one that demanded attention and usually got it from all but the one man she was engaged to, namely, Sonic Hedgehog. Today she was lucky in a way, as the unexpected appearance of one artificially enhanced Miles Prower, if anything, had brought a sobering effect upon the leaders of the Knothole Freedom Fighters as they sat in the Knothole war room. Even Sonic looked quite calm, which would make it easier for instructions to be given and understood.

"Leading on from last night, we need more information on the appearance of the machines before we can make any move, if necessary, against them.

"Antoine, I want you to take squad Page and squad Drazin south to where we came into contact with the swatbots, have Dulcy go with you as aerial support. Look for clues, traces, anything that could be useful. Rotor, you're with him- do a scan of the area for metal whilst you're there.

The coyote frowned slightly, and leant forward in his seat. The medals on his oddly formal casual wear jingled with the movement, only serving to enhance the quietness of the room.

"Oui, ma princess. Forgive ma asking zis, but two squads and a dragon? Is that not too much?"

"It could be, but I don't want to take any chances. Go in full uniform and be armed too- I don't want to lose anyone today."

He nodded, leant back into his chair with a sniff, and Sally found herself wondering if he really was to be the right man for the job. Despite how he had progressed in leaps and bounds form the quivering wreck he had once been, he could not match Sonic for leadership. Sending Sonic, however, was out of the question- he had made that quite clear in the meeting last night. The hedgehog would do as ordered, provided that it involved interaction with Miles Prower at some point.

And that was fair enough, she supposed. They were meant to be best friends after all, and she knew how much Tails had looked up to him in his younger days. According to Bunnie and Amy, Tails was extremely reluctant to become involved with Freedom Fighter activities and, with how he had acted yesterday, she could believe it. Getting him to change his attitude would be a tough challenge, but like everything else she intended to tackle it in the manner most likely to achieve victory. And to do that, they would need everyone who had once been close to Tails at hand... Therefore, Sonic would be a key player.

"The rest of us shall determine whether... whether Tails has anything to do with the machines." She swallowed. "Amy is observing him right now, and the rest of us shall go and talk to him soon."

"What ah we gonna do?" Bunnie asked.

"We'll show him around the base and monitor for outgoing signals. If there aren't any..."

"Then we get him to be ah Freedom Fighter?" the rabbit finished. "Easier said than done, Sally-girl."

"Don't worry, I'll be talkin' to him!" Sonic said. "He's my best bud, he'll listen to me!"

"Ya saw how he was yesterday, Sonic," Bunnie replied flatly. The use of the hedgehog's name, rather than 'Sugar-hog', showed just how serious she was. "He's been like that ever since we found him.  Ya gotta understand, he isn't like he was when ya last saw him, he's... He's been living in a filthy little room for ten years, he's had those metal bits stuck in 'im, and he seems so angry... Don't push 'im, else he'll turn on ya."

"Don't sweat it Bun. I know what I'm doing."

"Don't worry Bunnie," Sally added with false bravado, "If it helps, then we'll follow your lead. But, there is something else we need to discuss..."

On the desk to her side stood Nicole, and she took the small computer and flicked it open. From it came a holographic projection, displaying a three dimensional map of where the skirmish had taken place a few days earlier, numerous red and green dots picked out along its surface. As the common key went, green were friendly forces whilst red were the enemy.

"This is the set up as the fight started. As you can see, despite the swatbots' use of cover, something that they never used to do under Robotnik's control, they do make use of what appear to be old deployment trends and tactics. In other words, they charged, though this time systematically."

"Who would do something like that?" Rotor asked with a frown.

"What about 'ol Snivley?" Bunnie said. "We were neva sure that he was killed back when the war was goin' on."

"No way!" interrupted Sonic with a dismissive wave. "I saw the whole city go up after all the bombs were set, there's no way that Snivley would have survived."

"I agree with that, Sonic," Sally nodded to her fiancée. "But, this does put us at a slight advantage. We can use old records to formulate our own tactics to counter them, should they reappear."

The briefing continued, Antoine and Rotor leaving to get ready once they had covered the movements of the Swatbots. Once they had departed, they turned their attention to the black and red Cyborg and began to build upon the speculation from last night of any possible link between it and Tails. But, they had no real facts on it... So the only move open to the leaders of the Knothole was to ask Miles Prower about it face-to-face.

Sally could tell by the look on Bunnie's face that it would not be easy.

----------

"You sure know how to make an impression, Miles."

"Well it worked, didn't it?"

Amy smiled and nodded to him, preferring the movement to the whispering they had been communicating with until now. The eight children of the second class were at their desks in the classroom, quiet and as good as gold. Amy had invited him to stay through the lessons to help out, and not really having anything else to do he had accepted. She had given him a brief show of the top and bottom classes, and then brought him here- a nice, fancy room in the same style of his given bedroom.

The kids were watching him carefully, all except for Cream. Whilst she shared the perfectly straight posture of the others, her face held a wide, happy smile, quite a contrast to the sense of unease that filled the room.

There was a knock on the door, and after a moment it swung open to reveal Princess Sally and Sonic Hedgehog. Immediately as if one being, the entire class stood and bowed to the pair.

"Good morning your Royal Highnesses," they said in perfect synchronisation. Sally looked a little embarrassed, whilst Sonic revelled in the attention.

Amy then nodded to them in respect, along with a similar (though slightly more informal) greeting. Miles, having his thoughts on in-bred loyalty from the previous day confirmed, looked away from the two leaders of Knothole and fought down the rising feeling of anger.

"Good morning kids," Sally said happily before turning to Amy. "We, uh, need to speak with Tails."

"Miles," the fox in question said firmly, making it quite clear how he wished to be addressed. The kids appeared surprised at his lack of respect to the royals, but in all honesty he did not care in the slightest. Sally too looked a bit thrown, looking at him fro a moment.

"Uh, yes, we need to speak to Miles," she said a little harshly.

"Yes your highness," Amy said quickly, making use of proper protocol in referring to the princess in an attempt to show the kids that such a lack or respect was not appropriate for them. She couldn't help but find it difficult to ignore how Miles raised an eyebrow at her, as if to ask, 'what's the point?'.

"Miles, would you...?" the teacher asked, and he nodded.

"Of course," came the reply, and he walked towards the two parental figures of his youth standing in the doorway. "See ya, kids."

He did not look back as he followed the two into the corridor outside, and as such missed the look of worry on Amy's face.

----------

Miles had never felt so pressured.

Once in the corridor Bunnie had appeared and greeted him kindly, but not before Sonic had attempted to give him a high five. The mercenary, who had lost his taste for the 'cool' lingo that Sonic spoke with so faithfully, had ignored the raised hand in hopes that doing so would make a point that they were not exactly friends anymore. As it turned out the hopes were in vain, for the hedgehog then proceeded to give him a hug, slap him on the back, then ask how 'his best bud' was doing.

Miles' response was to simply look at his old role model, bow slightly, then greet him with the single word 'highness'. It wasn't much, but it was the best he could do at the time- his emotions were, as always with them in his mind, swinging from one extreme to the other. He didn't know whether to gut him or run away from him.

Sally had led the three through the corridors, Bunnie at her side with Sonic and Miles behind. It was because of this formation that the pressure was piling upon him, as the Freedom Fighters seemed to be surrounding the mercenary with both their forms and ideals. He felt like he was being forced to look upon what he had once wanted to be, what he now knew he could never be. His hands were too stained with blood to allow it.

The three elder members of the group had been exchanging polite conversation, in which he did not care to participate. Instead he watched the mahogany décor of the palace pass by, and began to wonder where they were taking him as it abruptly became more metallic, as though they had just entered a bunker.

Suddenly, Bunnie began talking directly to him and he realised, belatedly, that they had been discussing why he would want to stay in Knothole, as well as one or two secrets of the Freedom Fighters of the day. In the back of his mind he wished he had listened to some of it, as information – however obscure – was always good to have. You never knew when it might become useful. 

"Ya see? It's jus' like a was sayin' Miles," Bunnie said, turning her head to look back at him. Despite her confident tone of voice and movement as she walked, he could see doubt in her eyes as clear as day. "You don't need ta feel worried about what people think of ya mechanical bits in Knothole. You could join the mechanists, they'd help ya find a job-"

"Mechanists?" he interrupted, fixing the rabbit with a serious look. "There are Mechanists in Knothole?"

"Well o' course, sugar," she said with a warm smile, clearly misinterpreting his interest on the matter. "Ah do declare, they are wonderful people, providin' support for mechs an fighting prejudices against 'em.

Hmm. Bunnie had never joined them, obviously. Sure they looked like a nice organisation from the outside, but once you got involved there was quite a lot more to discover. He had joined a few years ago when he was desperate for food, only to find that the Mechanists were in fact an incredibly strange pseudo-religious cult, who believed in a 'Machine God' and that mechs alone should rule Mobius. The members acted in a trance all the time, as though they had been brainwashed shortly after signing up, and some often proclaimed that Robotnik was the greatest leader the world had seen.

Needless to say, he didn't stick around for very long. He understood and fully supported the mech battle against prejudice; after all, he was practically a mech himself, but he really did not like the idea of a full blown violent revolution against norms.

Knothole was not bad at all for anti-mech feelings, and that was why he was a little concerned that they had a presence here. In Chestnut it was understandable- but here, it was unnecessary. It was as if... As if it were an outpost. A base, if you will.

"Ya know about em?" Bunnie asked, glancing at him with that smile once more. He paused, lost between telling them what they were and... not telling them what they were. But in the end, defensive instinct took over and he found himself staring straight forward.

"No," he said flatly, putting an abrupt ending to his involvement in the conversation.

They soon came to a rectangular room, about the size of a normal classroom that had seven cylindrical recesses along the far wall and a bench along the centre, making it seem like a changing area. The seven grooves in the wall were containment areas, it appeared, for an all too familiar set of black and grey light armour.

Sally moved before him and pulled out Nicole from a pocket on the inside of her jacket. She flipped the small computer open, and it turned on with a beep.

"Nicole," she said, "were there any outgoing transmissions over the last ten minutes from anyone nearby?"

There was a pause, during which Miles narrowed his eyes at the princess.

"Negative, Sally," came Nicole's bland voice. Sally smiled and closed the computer, tucked it into her jacket once more, then stopped short at the threatening look upon Miles' face.

"You know," he growled, "If you wanted to know if I was working for the enemy, you could have just asked."

"Well I'm sorry Tails, but in situations like this we can't afford to take chances, because we don't even know who the enemy is," she said with an attempt to equal the steel in his voice.

She wasn't even close.

It was odd, because he knew that she was very much justified in her actions. He didn't trust her, but... That she did not trust him still hurt. And he didn't know why.

Just one more example of his screwed up feelings.

"You passed anyway, though," she said, voice growing lighter. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Sonic grinning like an idiot.

"Passed what, your highness?"

"As you can see," she said with pride, turning away from him and towards the armour, "Rotor has managed to put together seven combat suits for us, though two are out in use at the moment. Eventually we want every Freedom Fighter to have one, but so far this is all we can manage."

Miles stood back and watched her walk slowly before the uniforms, pointing out details of each of them as she went. He sighed, knowing full well where this was going.

"This is Sonic's... Mine... Rotor's goes here... Bunnie's... Antoine's is usually stored here... Amy's... And then..."

She stopped before the last one, and beckoned for him to come closer. Miles felt distinctly ill. Even if he had guessed already what she was about to show him, experiencing it still hurt.

"This one has never been worn," she said with a smile, though the gesture of support did not reach him. Rather, he found her sudden change of expression jarring. He watched her look back at Sonic and Bunnie, and noted that whilst Sonic wore a similar smile to the princess, Bunnie looked quite worried. "But we'd all like that to change."

He turned back to the suit and stepped up close to it. It was hung from a metal coat hanger and, in design, was just the same as the others. The only difference was the lack of customisation on it- it was just a plain black and grey uniform with all the same flak plates as were on Bunnie and Amy in Chestnut. The forearms arms had the gauntlet-like formation, and at the bottom of the recess in which it was hung were a pair of black combat boots.

His hand came up and he ran a finger gently across the collar. Embroidered there was his old nickname, Tails.

"We kept this one for you. We always knew that you'd come home one day, Tails."

His childhood had been spent doing everything he could to become a Freedom Fighter. It had been his one goal in life, his dream, and so he couldn't help but feel a little touched that Sally had kept this uniform aside solely for him so that he could be a Freedom Fighter, just like them. Somewhere, deep inside, he wanted nothing more than to be able to join them, to fulfil that one dream.

But he couldn't. He did not deserve such a thing, and besides, how was he to know that they wouldn't turn on him again? Especially when they clearly did not trust him?

"Well," he said eventually, stepping away from the uniform, "it's real nice of you to look after this all for Tails." He turned and glared at her. "But that's just it. This is for Tails, not for me. You keep calling me Tails, but for the love of the Walkers, I am not Tails! I'm not some whiny, idealistic fool of a child, I'm not your baby to do with whom as you please! I'm Miles, a mercenary from the Old Quarter in Chestnut, scum, filth, whatever it is you aristocratic types like to call we people stuck right at the bottom of society. I've lived the last ten years of my life in a dirty run-down flat, I'm used to eating stale bread, I barely wash, and I kill for a living! And here, you expect me to just settle down here and, and work for you as if I've always been one of you?

"Don't get me wrong, your highness, I appreciate everything you and Sonic and Bunnie and everyone did for me when I still lived here, but I don't belong here anymore, can't you understand that?"

He swallowed, trying to ignore the lump in his throat. He could tell that he had hurt Sally by the way that her shoulders ad slumped, and the tears forming in her eyes blocked out the anger of his soul in a moment, leaving just raw, painful guilt.

"I... I just don't deserve it," he muttered, then walked out of the room. He had no idea how to get out of the palace or how to get back to the school area, but he did not care, he'd probably find it eventually anyway. But he had to get away from the figures of his past as quickly as he could... Before he broke down himself.

----------

It was late evening, and at this time as it was every day of the week, the cafeteria was empty. Well, it would be empty were it not for the presence of two hormone-driven teenagers. A male wolf sat in lip-lock with a pretty female mouse at the end of a table towards the closed food serving counter, oblivious to everything but each other- and that included a certain two-tailed mercenary who, for all he could remember, had never sat in such a situation. He'd watched this sort of thing of course- gang leaders liked to make out with whores in front of prospective clients (namely, him) in meetings as a way of displaying power and how much 'better' they were than said client. He had cared very little to be honest, and did not care a great deal now either- but what did cause him to frown was that he knew these kids to both be around fourteen as he recognised them from the third orphan class.

Miles watched them for a few moments, idly wondering why he had never felt a desire to do such a thing. Love, passion, sex, and all they entailed had never featured prominently on his mind, which was odd he supposed- but he'd never lost sleep over it, either in his mind... or otherwise. No, he simply felt no need to go hunting for a mate. It wasn't like he could support a child anyway.

But the game of tonsil hockey was annoying him now, so he decided that it was a good time as any to step in and prevent the two from drowning on their own saliva.

Damn, that would be an embarrassing way to die.

"Aren't you a little... young for that?" he asked casually, leaning up against the serving counter. The two leapt away from each other like opposing magnets, span to look at him and then attempted to put together an excuse through their glowing red faces. Miles fought down the urge to laugh at their pathetic stammering.

"Uh, M-Mr. Prower!" the girl said whilst wiping her mouth quickly with the back of her hand. "We, um, didn't see you there... We were just, ah... Cleaning the table...?"

He gave a snort at the poor excuse and grinned.

"Is that the best you do? You could have at least said that you had something stuck between your teeth."

The wolf then spoke up with a wavering voice,

"...is it too late to say that?"

Miles found that he didn't need to bother answering as the mouse smacked her boyfriend over the back of the head. The girl then looked at him once more, blushing furiously.

"Um, goodnight Mr. Prower... You won't tell anyone, will you?"

"I dunno. What's it worth to you?"

The look of horror on her face was golden. 'Wish I had a camera,' he thought with a snicker.

"Don't worry kiddo, you secret's safe with me."

She thanked him quickly and quickly departed with a coy wink towards the wolf. Miles rubbed his muzzle, pretending not to have seen it. Once she had left the cafeteria, he looked at the wolf who was now seating himself back down at one of the tables and asked about what he had come down for.

"Don't you have any beer around here?"

The wolf looked like he had been thrown a little off guard by the simple question, but he quickly recovered.

"Yeah, there will probably be some in the fridge back there."

Miles walked through the doorway that the wolf had pointed at and found himself behind the counter. It only took a moment to find the fridge, inside which were a few cans of some brand that he did not care to think about. He then returned to the main room, and sat himself across form the wolf who was busying himself by drinking a can of soda.

"So. What are you doing down here at this time of night?" the mercenary asked.

The wolf just looked at him with a slight blush. Miles laughed.

"Okay, so that was a stupid question. Just down here because it's quiet, right?"

The question was answered with a boyish grin.

"Yeah, that and because we've been banned from each other's rooms..."

Miles raised an eyebrow and popped open his can. He took a gulp, then looked down his muzzle at the grey wolf. He could tell only by looking at him that the boy was just a little love-struck with the recently departed fox. Ah, puppy love- something which he had missed out on due to certain circumstances. It was a little saddening, but like with many things he knew that he'd never get it back. There was no point devoting a great deal of attention to it.

"What's your name?" he asked. The boy smiled.

"Thomas, but everyone calls me Tom."

"Well, hello Tom."

"Hi... Uh, I don't mean to sound rude Mr. Prower, but are you really the Miles 'Tails' Prower that Mr. Antoine tells us about?"

He snorted at the question. These kids thought that he was some kind of hero- he was nothing of the sort. All he wanted was to live to see tomorrow, not to achieve world peace or anything. If that were to happen, then he'd be out of a job anyway.

"No. He just took my name. I used to be called Tails, but not anymore. Oh, and call me Miles. I don't like all this 'Mr. Prower' stuff, makes me sound too damn respectable."

Miles watched the wolf laugh quietly with envy. He wished that they could change places, even if for only a day, but he would leap at any chance to make his life simple once more.


And it had been simple just a week ago. He had nothing to do with Freedom Fighters, and they had nothing to do with them. That relationship (or lack thereof) had suited the mercenary perfectly well, because he had no ties, nothing to hold him back and, most importantly, it made certain that he had no standards to live up to.

Sonic and Sally were still, to his mind, his parents. There was no getting around it. And, as he guessed he should, he felt a multitude of feelings revolving around guilt and shame. They had brought him up as best they could, teaching him what were the standards that they thought everyone should strive to live by. As soon as he had arrived in Chestnut, well, as soon as he had escaped from Robotnik, they had gone straight out of the window.

He had been the youngest inhabitant of Knothole before his exile and Sonic and Sally had attempted to make him into a smart and polite young man, one who knew the value of life, one who would stand against all the wrongs in the world, a man who would – one day – become the perfect commander of the Freedom Fighters.

He had become anything but. He was moody, violent, aggressive, foul-mouthed, and had a distinct lack of optimism. To survive he had lied, fought, killed, even assassinated for the right price on occasion. Because of it all, whenever he saw or even thought of Sonic or Sally he would be overwhelmed by the thought that he was a complete and utter failure, a waste of time and effort. And then the old anger, the hatred would wash over him, blinding him to what he felt prior to it.

Whenever his tangled emotions came to mind, Miles couldn't help but envision a knot.

"What did her Royal Highness want?"

The question threw him out of his thoughts abruptly, and he had to blink hard to get his eyes to focus on Tom.

"She wanted me to join the Freedom Fighters leadership. Showed me one of those fancy suits with my name on and everything."

"Woah," the boy replied, clearly awed. "Just like that? No test, no nothing?"

Miles gave a snort of indifference and took a gulp of beer.

"Nope. And if you're wondering, yes, this is favouritism in action."

Tom paused and his head tilted one side.

"Well, what did you say?" he asked.

"I pointed at the door and told them to choose someone who would live up to their fantastical ideas."

Miles looked away and listened to him whistle in admiration... or possibly pity. It could have been either.

"Jeez... Miles," he said, pausing at the mercenary's name as though it were uncomfortable to use. "Have you got a death wish? You can't just talk to Princess Acorn like that. She's... Well, she's pretty much in charge of everything around here, including whether you live or die-"

The fox rolled his eyes, and impatiently interrupted Tom's rant in mid flow.

"Kid, I've seen a lot of this world, and I've trodden on a lot of toes in my time, but I've yet to see any leader who has the will to follow through on killing me just because I pissed them off. They usually save the 'I'm going to kill you' stuff for after I've stolen whatever valuable I've been hired to find."

"Wait, steal?" Tom was visibly thrown. "Cream said you were just being nice when you helped her, Miss Rose and Miss Rabbot out."

"I'm a mercenary, treasure hunter, bodyguard, whatever, provided that the price is right. I wasn't interested in Cream and her guardians until it occurred to me that Freedom Fighters would pay well."

Tom appeared taken aback by Miles' words and it took the wolf a good minute to think of a response.

"Miles, you're a strange fox."

"Yeah, well..."

The elder of the two stood and began to make his way towards the exit of the cafeteria, his can of beer in hand. But before he left, he looked back at the wolf.

"I'm not the best guy to go around giving advice, but here me out here, Tom," he said. "I don't care what you do with your girlfriend, whether or not you become a Freedom Fighter yourself, or if you and your classmates continue to worship the authority around here in the way that you do for the rest of your life. But, whatever happens, don't end up like me."

Miles left without another word, leaving Tom alone in the large room. The wolf remained there for some time, trying to make up his mind on who and what Miles 'Tails' Prower really was.

----------

A white corridor, a pair of adult male foxes, and a feeling of happiness. That was all that he knew as he floated with them, watching them, hearing them. It was like a dream.

One, wearing a long blue cloak said,

"I came as soon as I heard, Amadeus. You must be feeling very proud."

There was laughter.

"You have no idea, Merlin!" the other, dressed in a long white laboratory coat, said. "When Rosemary told me that she was pregnant... I'm going to be a daddy! And you, you're going to be an uncle!"

A smile.

"I cannot deny, my brother, that this visit is with congratulatory intent alone. I had a dream last night, one that I believe is important. I am certain that it was a premonition."

"...so? You've had them before, what makes this so important? It isn't about my child, is it?"

"It is, I am afraid. Or, at least I think it is. You have already noticed a deformity, have you not?"

"...yes... But it is nothing serious, it might not be anything at all. It's hard to tell at this stage."

"Amadeus, my dream showed a boy, a fox with a mutation, and from what I have been told, it appears that it came on the night when your child was conceived. He was bathed in shadow, yet held light within... And he brought a change across all of Mobius."

"You mean like one of the Chosen Ones?"

"Yes. The one through which the Walkers fight the darkness."

"And... You think my child is this Chosen One?"

A slow nod.

"But... Why? There is no great evil in the world. What do the Walkers need a warrior for?"

"I do not know. Perhaps you should ask Julian about it, he has an interest in Mobian religious history of course. He would know a great deal about Chosen Ones of the past-"

Pain, fear, anger, cold metal and steel. Transformation, robotisization, and the theft of a child from a womb.

"Wake up, Miles," came a warm, old voice.

----------

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Miles' eyes opened suddenly, and quickly adjusted to the dark room. He had only been here a day, and as this short time paled in comparison to the years in Chestnut he felt quite confused for a moment- but only for a moment, which was good enough for him.

Yes, he was in Knothole, because the princess had not yet given him clearance to leave despite his outburst earlier. It was unlikely that she would anytime soon, so he had been thinking of other ways out before he fell asleep... But why had he woken up?

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

The strangely loud tap in the bathroom was dripping. Could that be it? Possibly. After all, he had had no nightmares tonight (or at least non that he could remember), so that couldn't be why he had awoken... Awoken suddenly, at that. By dripping water?

No. A leaking tap wouldn't bring him out of a deep sleep just like that. No...

The image of a hooded fox came to his mind, a younger version of the one he had seen in the room earlier. And with him came the rest of the odd scene, finally climaxing in fear, confusion, and the simple words- 'Wake up, Miles'.

So... he had woken up because some strange old fox in his mind had told him to?

Miles rose from his bed with a grunt, taking note of the sense of foreboding that was creeping over him, and pulled on his jacket and boots. A night stroll would do him good, he decided. And besides, it would help calm him down so that he could sleep again.

He made his way towards the bathroom, intending to stop the noisy tap. But when he got there, he realised that it wasn't the tap making the noise... there was no water coming out of it. The noise was still there though, and now that he was near the front door of the apartment room he could tell that it was coming from the wooden floor outside.

Slowly, he opened the front door and looked down the hallway. His eyes widened when he saw, approaching him on tiptoes, a female cat whose entire lower body was made of metal. The sound from her feet touching the floor ceased as she saw him, and Miles saw that she was registering him with a degree of emotion- she was not a Cyborg, thank the Walkers.

Still, the old and crude sub-machine gun that she was pointing at him didn't exactly fill him with a great deal of confidence.