Chapter 2: The Daily Grind

"Make sure you tell Sonic that I'm up for a rematch anytime, anywhere!" Sam shouted out the window of his racecar as Tails disembarked.

"Yeah, I'll be sure to tell him," Tails promised as he made sure to grab his groceries on the way out. He couldn't wait to get out of this speeding death trap and back on firm, stationary ground after the ride he'd just endured.

Sam Speed responded by flashing Tails a smile and a thumbs up, barely waiting for Tails to close the passenger door before slamming down the accelerator. In a squeal of tires and a cloud of white smoke, Sam raced off back down the long driveway to the Thorndike mansion's gate.

Tails coughed in the heavy cloud of smoke until it quickly dissipated. Once he could breathe again, Tails strolled on shaky legs to the mansion's front door. He was just starting to feel the adrenaline fade, along with his queasy stomach, by the time the fox rang the doorbell.

Punctual as always, Mr. Tanaka immediately greeted Tails at the door. "Ah, Master Tails. I see that you have returned from your errands. I must apologize again for making you perform such menial tasks in my stead," the butler spoke as he allowed Tails to step in.

"It's fine, Mr. Tanaka," Tails replied, "To be honest, I really enjoyed the exercise."

"Nevertheless, it is shameful that I was unable to perform my assigned duties without your aid," Mr. Tanaka refused to let go of the blame. As long as Tails had known him, Mr. Tanaka was just that way, the honorable, dependable servant. He was always eager and happy to serve, and never once had Tails seen him put his own desires above the needs of others. Not even the time when Tails needed to sneak out of the house during a siege of the press following Tails' big moment of saving downtown Station Square by quickly defusing one of Eggman's missiles. Tails would never forget how ridiculous Mr. Tanaka had looked in that oversized baby stroller, sucking on a pacifier and trying to imitate infant noises.

"Ah, there he is!" a female Latino voice exclaimed from the hallway. "I was beginning to get worried! Did you run into some kind of trouble?" Ella asked as she hurried over to accept the groceries from Tails.

"Well, not really," Tails answered with a nervous expression. He didn't see the point in recounting his near run-in with a speeding truck earlier. "I guess it just took longer than I expected. Luckily, Sam offered me a ride back."

"Oh dear! It would have been okay for supper to be just a little late, you know," Ella seemed a bit alarmed that Tails would take such a risk just to deliver her groceries on time.

"I'll remember that next time," Tails chuckled. "But, yeah... Sorry if the buns are a bit smooshed."

"It's okay, Tails. They will still taste the same," Ella smiled as she took the bags from him.

"Great! Oh, hey, Mr. Tanaka? Do you happen to know what Chuck is up to right now?" Tails asked now that his task was finally complete.

"Mr. Thorndike is working down in the lab, Master Tails. He expressed his desire for you to meet him there once you returned," Mr. Tanaka quickly replied.

"Thanks!" Tails waved at the two hired helpers as he hurried off towards the garage.

"...It's a good thing I was already planning on scrambling these eggs," Ella remarked as she examined the contents of the bags after Tails had left.


"Hey, Chuck!" Tails exclaimed as he stepped off the elevator to the underground lab beneath the Thorndike's mansion's garage.

"Tails!" the elderly man sitting at a workbench on his laptop turned to greet his friend. "Guess this means you're back from your trip into town, huh? Anything interesting happen?"

Tails hesitated for a moment before replying. "No, not really. I was just out enjoying the fresh air and reminiscing a little."

"Tails, you know you can't hide anything from me," Chuck gave the fox a critical look as he caught the slight moment of pause before his answer. "Besides, every time you try to lie, you twist your tails behind yourself in a knot."

"I-I do?" Tails looked shocked at Chuck's keen observation. He'd never noticed himself doing it before, but now that he came to think of it...

"Ha, relax, Tails! You don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to," Chuck quickly let the fox off the hook before he got too uncomfortable. "I was just going over our prototype's schematics again. I think that today we should be ready to test the new laser cannon we built that runs off of the Chaos Emeralds' energy."

"I've been thinking about that one too, Chuck. Remember how we've been worried that the laser cannon won't be able to hold up against that much energy in a single blast?" Tails mentioned.

"Yeah?" Chuck listened intently to his partner's new idea.

"Well, what if we dispersed the laser blast around the nose cone of the X-Tornado using several lasers all linked together?" Tails suggested.

"Hmm... More lasers being fired simultaneously would help offset the incredible energy produced by the Chaos Emeralds. Plus, with built-in refracting mirrors, we could choose to concentrate the individual beams into one larger blast, or set them to create a spread over an area possibly even larger than the X-Tornado itself," Chuck thought about the added benefits of Tails' new design.

"Exactly! Kind of like a laser shotgun, for times when we're faced with multiple smaller targets instead of one large one," Tails nodded in excitement that Chuck liked his idea so far.

"It's genius, Tails! Of course, we'll still need to test our current prototype before we try to make several of them. And then there will be the matter of figuring out how to mount them in the nose of the X-Tornado around all the existing equipment. Plus the tie in to the Chaos Emeralds' power hub and... Tails, are you paying attention?" Chuck suddenly paused in the middle of his planning to glance in concern at his coworker. Something about the fox didn't seem quite right all the sudden. Chuck couldn't point it out at first, but it looked like the fox that had just been eagerly inventing along with him was abruptly distant. His body seemed oddly heavy, like he was tired enough to collapse any second.

And just as Chuck got up to walk over and check on Tails, the fox suddenly did. The elderly man barely managed to catch Tails as he unexpectedly fainted. "Tails! Tails! Speak to me, Tails!" Chuck shouted as he gently laid the fox sprawled out on the floor and examined him with great concern. Chuck could still feel a strong pulse, and, although he was out cold, Tails was still breathing somewhat normally. Fearful of not knowing what was happening or if Tails would be okay, Chuck got up and was about to call for some help when he heard Tails stirring again and saw the fox open his bleary eyes.

"Tails! Oh, thank God you're okay!" Chuck immediately rushed back to his friend's side. "How are you feeling? Can you tell me what's wrong?"

Tails was slow to respond to Chuck's alarmed concern. He blinked his eyes a few times to get them to focus and clear his swimming vision. "Chuck?" Tails muttered as he fully came to once again, lifting his head only slightly to look at the worried man. "Uggh... Why am I on the floor? What just happened to me?" he asked, now also concerned at the very unusual circumstance.

"That's what I'd like to know," Chuck replied, his voice still very apprehensive. "I just happened to look up and saw you pass out, Tails, and I'm really worried. Has this ever happened to you before? Have you been feeling weird in any way today? Anything out of the ordinary at all?"

"No, not that I know of, Chuck," Tails answered truthfully as he took his friend's hand to help himself back to his feet. "Other than my trip into the city, I haven't done anything unusual, either. And it couldn't be anything to do with that because I've had much harder workouts before while fighting Eggman. I can't think of anything that might make me..." Tails was interrupted by an audible grumbling from his gut that caused him to place a hand over his white-furred belly in embarrassment.

"Hmm, it seems we might have discovered our culprit," Chuck scratched his chin as he continued to look Tails over carefully. "When was the last time you ate, Tails?"

"Well, now that you mention it..." Tails scratched his temple slowly as he tried to remember. "I guess I did skip lunch by accident. So that would mean, breakfast this morning?"

"Ah, and did you suddenly feel dizzy just before you collapsed?" Chuck followed up with his current line of questioning.

"Yeah, kinda," Tails answered with a shrug. "Do you think you're on to something, Chuck?"

"Yes, I believe so. It's possible that you've accidentally over-exerted yourself, Tails. Without enough food to keep you going, your blood sugar might have abruptly bottomed out for a moment. It's common enough in humans, at least," Chuck hypothesized.

Tails' eyes gazed down at the floor in shame as he had to agree with Chuck's guess. "Sorry, Chuck. I guess I should try to take better care of myself."

"Yes, you should," Chuck offered a stern glare that quickly melted into a caring grin. "I really care about you Tails. Ever since we've started working together, I've felt a deep friendship with you. So please try not to scare me like this again. I couldn't imagine losing you."

"Ah, c'mon, Chuck," Tails felt like blushing at the older man's heartfelt confession. "You know I'm not going to die anytime soon, at least not before you," the fox teased with a mischievous smirk.

Chuck pretended to be appalled at Tails' little joke, dropping his jaw in mock surprise. "Miles Prower! Was that an insult about my age?"

"Ha ha! Well, Chuck, you gotta admit..." Tails saw through the fake hurt act and laughed.

"Admit nothing! If I ever get old and senile, guess who I'm going to make sure always changes me and rubs cream on my bunions," Chuck threatened, finally joining in with some laughter himself. "Come on, Tails, let's save the experiments for later. It's nearly supper time, and I happen to know a foolish young kit that's nearly starving to death tonight."

"Heh, guilty as charged," Tails smiled widely as he wandered back to the elevator with Chuck.


"There you are, Sonic!" the pink hedgehog exclaimed as her self-proclaimed boyfriend zipped into the full dining room. "I've been looking all over for you! Where have you been all day?"

"Just chillin' with Chris," Sonic replied with a grin. "He said he wanted to learn how to snowboard, so we had a quick lesson up in the mountains. He's upstairs changing out of his wet coat."

Tails couldn't help but feel a bit jealous that Sonic had once again spent his time with Chris instead of with him. Ever since they came here, it was like Chris became Sonic's little brother and Tails got left out. Sure, Tails didn't mind quite as much since he spent a lot of his time with Chuck now, too, but still...

No, I can't let myself think of it that way, Tails berated himself. Chris was lonely and hurting just like I was before meeting Sonic. He's just being the same best friend to Chris as he's always been to me, and right now Chris needs him more than I do.

Another Mobian sitting at the table, however, was less introspective than Tails and quickly let her similar feelings show. "How come you never spend any time with me, Sonic? I am your girlfriend, after all!" Amy sounded hurt.

"Sorry, Amy. Guess I just didn't have the time to teach two lessons," Sonic tried to dodge the accusation.

"My mommy taught me that you make time for the things that are the most important to you, Mr. Sonic," Cream spoke up cheerfully, happy to share her mother's words of wisdom.

"Yes, Cream dear, but... Perhaps now isn't the time for that particular lesson?" Vanilla looked mortified at what her daughter had just said. Not necessarily because it wasn't true, but the timing left a lot to be desired.

"But wait, that would mean..." Amy stopped to think things over for a moment. "Ah! Sonic, you... you don't think I'm important to you?" the pink hedgehog's eyes started to tear up at the revelation.

"Whoa! Wait, Ames! I-I never said that!" Sonic backpedaled in shock.

"But I bet he's always wanted to," Chuck muttered under his breath to Tails next to him at the table. Maybe it was mean spirited, but the fox had to work really hard not to crack a smile in response. Amy did have a habit of single-mindedly pursuing her obsessive crush and ignoring any clues about Sonic's disinterest.

"Then prove it!" Amy quickly demanded to the blue hedgehog. "Take me right now to go learn snowboarding! Oh, or even better, figure skating!"

"B-But Amy! Can't we at least eat first? I mean, it does happen to be chili dog night..." Sonic tried to stall for time until he could figure out a way to escape this mess.

Judging by Amy's enraged reaction, though, Sonic had failed spectacularly. "Does that mean now you love chili dogs more than ME?!" Amy shouted as she suddenly brandished her giant Piko Piko Hammer.

All around the table heads ducked for cover, fearful of the impending rampage. That's when Christopher Thorndike, the last to arrive for dinner, stepped into the dining room. He looked around in astonishment at the war about to break out, having missed the instigating argument.

"Wh-what's going on here, guys?" Chris worried.

"There he is, you relationship stealer!" Amy growled at Chris now as she gripped her mallet tightly.

"Aah! What did I do?!" Chris waved his hands in front of himself defensively.

"Beats me, Chris! I've got no idea what's going on anymore!" Sonic likewise slowly backed away from the armed pink hedgehog.

Amy continued to advance on the two for a few steps, bringing her hammer above her head to prepare for a smashing blow. Sonic and Chris found themselves backed into a wall with no escape. But just when it looked like Amy was going to take a swing, she unexpectedly paused. To everyone's amazement, her eyes were closed as she fought back tears, and, finally, Amy allowed her mallet to fall harmlessly from her grip.

"Oh, what's the point?" Amy tried her best not sound like she was crying. "Fine, I guess now that I finally know just how important I really am to you, Sonic, I'm leaving!"

"Huh?! But, Amy, you can't just...!" Chris immediately objected, wondering what he had done that made Amy so upset.

"I still have an apartment in town, and I'm moving back there permanently!" Amy resolved as she started to stomp off, acting tough to try and hide her hurt.

"But, Amy...!" Cream called out in distress, accompanied by matching cries from Cheese, her companion Chao. Tense moments of silence passed as everyone watched Amy leaving in disbelief.

"Hey, Sonic?" Tails walked over to talk to his older brother quietly. "I know Amy is overreacting like usual, but I think this time her feelings are really hurt. Maybe you should do something?"

Sonic shrugged at first, wondering how all of this spiraled so out of control in the first place. All he'd done was show up for supper! Amy was the one that started all this drama. But as Amy kept walking to the door with her head hanging low, he felt like more and more people were glaring at him, expecting him to say something to make things right. As she was just about to make her exit, Sonic looked up at the ceiling in a brief moment of exasperation and sighed.

The next moment, a blue blur intercepted Amy at the dining room's door as Sonic instantly blocked her path. "Alright, look, Ames," Sonic used his pet nickname for the pink hedgehog. "I'm sorry if I said something that hurt you. Maybe I can make it up to you by doing something together sometime? Just you and me?"

"You... You mean, like a date?!" Amy suddenly froze in total disbelief as she looked into Sonic's deep emerald eyes for any sign of insincerity.

"A d-d-date?!" Sonic recoiled, wondering what he was getting himself into. "I-I was just meaning, you know, to hang out a bit..." the hedgehog stammered helplessly.

"I'll take it!" Amy burst in, quickly wrapping her arms around the other hedgehog's neck with a giddy smirk.

"You know, this might only encourage her to be even more assertive in the future," Chuck muttered to Tails as everyone watched the one-sided embrace and Sonic's panicked expression.

"Ha ha! Yeah, I'm sure it will," Tails agreed, giving Sonic a teasing grin.

"Dinner is ready!" Ella called out from the swinging doors that led into the kitchen. She then emerged holding large plates of chili dogs in each hand, placing one at either end of the table. In response, everyone quickly took their seats again for the meal.

Glad for the distraction, Sonic reached for the chili dog on the top of the stack nearest him, only for it to suddenly disappear in a yellow blur of motion. Stunned, he looked up to find Tails already munching down on the beefy treat with a ravenous appetite.

"Hey there buddy, gonna save some for the rest of us?" Sonic interjected as Tails polished off the first chili dog and reached for another. "And here I thought I was the fastest thing alive..."

"Oh! Sorry, Sonic!" Tails quickly responded after realizing his rude manners. "I was just so hungry that I couldn't wait!"

"It's OK, everybody," Ella's voice chanted from the kitchen doorway, "I made plenty for everyone!"

"Although Master Tails should still use proper manners for eating at a table with others," came Mr. Tanaka's critical remark.

"Oh, come on, Tanaka. It's just chili dogs. It's not like we're having dinner with the President or anything," retorted Chuck from the other end of the table. "Besides, Tails missed lunch today, so I think that excuses his behavior."

"Manners are important regardless of the formality of an event," Mr. Tanaka simply responded. "And forgetting a meal is not a valid excuse since it is one's own fault for doing so."

"So, is everyone ready for the big ski resort trip tomorrow?" asked Chris, hoping to interrupt another fight before it could start when Chuck seemed visibly upset with Mr. Tanaka's reply.. "My dad is letting us use his private lodge at the best ski resort north of Station Square for the whole weekend." Chris's dad was the head executive of a major corporation that had a hand in almost every kind of business imaginable, from common house appliances to the water supply system for Station Square. His mother, on the other hand, was a fabulous and talented movie star that traveled the world staring in lead roles for major productions. That made Chris financially able to do whatever he wanted to, except spend time with them more often.

"Oh, yes, Chris!" replied Cream from the seat next to her mother. "I can't wait! This trip is going to be so much fun!"

"Chao! Chao!" replied Cheese.

"Sounds like the perfect chance for a certain someone and I to take skating lessons together!" Amy gave Sonic the overt hint, but was aggravated when he didn't even look up from his meal to meet her gaze.

"Then I suggest that we all get to bed promptly tonight so that we can get an early start tomorrow morning," Mr. Tanaka intruded, mostly to prevent Amy from chasing Sonic around the dining room with her giant Piko Piko Hammer again.

"Right!" everyone responded at once and finished off their meals. Afterwards, everyone left the dining room to prepare for bed.

"You sure had some serious munchies tonight, little bro," Sonic teased Tails as they headed for their shared bedroom. "I haven't seen you eat so much food in a long time."

"Yeah, well, like Chuck said, I did forget to eat lunch before I went into town today. I'm kinda glad that I did, though, because I probably would have barfed it all up in Sam's car on the way home," replied the young fox as he climbed into his bed . He purposefully left out the incident in the lab today or his close call at that crosswalk because he felt they would only worry Sonic for no reason.

Sonic failed to notice that Tails was not telling him absolutely everything that happened today, but he did laugh at the look of disgust on his best bud's face. Sonic had raced Sam Speed enough times to know how the self-proclaimed Speed King liked to drive, very fast and very clean dangerous. "Let me guess, he wanted you to tell me he wants a rematch," Sonic smirked as he jumped into his own bed across the small room.

"Well, it doesn't take someone with my IQ to guess that," Tails chuckled.

"I'm not sure if that was an insult or not," Sonic gave Tails a playful grin. "Well, goodnight little bro!"

"'Night, Sonic," Tails replied with a yawn as he laid his head back on his pillow and closed his eyes.

Sonic laid back with his hands under his head and stared at the ceiling. This trip was going to be a great break for everyone. Eggman's schemes had been getting more and more dangerous lately, especially when Space Colony Ark nearly wiped out the planet. Well, okay, so maybe that one wasn't quite Eggman's plan entirely, but, still, a remote vacation would be just what the doctor ordered for the weary crew.

He heard movement from the other bed and turned his head to look. Sonic watched as the fox's twin tails unconsciously wrapped around himself like a blanket. It always made Sonic smirk to see his adoptive brother curl up like that. He wondered if Tails would ever know how often he watched the little fox in secret. All his cute little expressions... Sonic knew that Tails thought he didn't need him most of the time, but only the hedgehog knew how completely wrong that was.

"Sweet dreams, little bro," Sonic muttered with a smile that stayed on his face until Sonic too was asleep.