Starting this chap, I'm using music to enhance the mood. This will happen a LOT in later chapters. To listen to the songs I have mentioned, go to my Putfile, which I will post in my profile next week. Anyways, chap two.
ONCE INNOCENT
Chapter Theme: Fall From Grace by Magna-Fi
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QUE: Tongue Tied by Eve 6
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Tails, Kari, and Arieal walked through the front doors of the school, expecting a long day ahead of them. Tails sighed. "They all are so… plain. Organized. Boring… does anything change?" Kari laughed.
"That's because your mind is so advanced compared to theirs, it makes them look like infants."
It was true. Miles was an utter genius. Smarter than Sonic, Sally, and Kari put together. Or, almost. But, they alone could not be smarter by themselves. Tails was the only kid who sits and does calculus when he should be multiplying 6 times 7. He passed every science project, and made the other kids' projects look like shit. He rarely had any flaws in anything like that, and if he did, he found them pretty quick after making them. There wasn't much he did that wasn't perfect. Of course, he wasn't perfect, but that's what others viewed him as; they disliked it. That's the second reason he was target for their bullying.
The three separated and Tails headed towards his locker. He opened his locker and grabbed his books immediately. He then shut it and put the lock back on. After doing so, he headed towards his first class. He walked to the end of the hall, entered the classroom, and sat at his desk. The class is irrelevant because now we skip halfway into the day.
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Tails finished his essay in no time at all. Basically because it was easy. It was just a biography on some famous person. He chose Sonic, of course. A few other people finished theirs right after him, so nothing was really to be targeted. Except, the kids were bastards. With no apparent reason, the looks and names were called, quietly as they passed him.
"Freak."
He just shrugged and went back to his desk. He looked at all the other kids who were looking at him with angered faces. He looked towards Branson, and received the finger from the raccoon. Tails just glared at him. He then got a sheet of paper out and started to doodle. What did he doodle? The Acorn Palace. He had amazing drawing talent, also. He continued to draw, occasionally hearing words like 'fag' and 'freak', until he completed the outline. Just about then, the bell rang. The end of school bell. Tails put his things away, just like the other kids. He then picked up his books and proceeded to walk out of the classroom. On the way out, he was shoved by Branson, straight into the pencil sharpener. Tail winced in pain and looked down to see a cut that was bleeding a little. He just wiped the blood on a tissue and walked out.
Out in the hallway, after he reached his locker and opened his door, Branson and his friends, Jake, a raccoon; and Brent, a chipmunk; were waiting for him. He opened his locker real quick-like and threw his books in there. Branson stuck his hands out, waiting for a high five from Tails.
"Come on, Tails! Gimme five!"
Tails just looked at him and shook his head whilst shutting his locker. Branson looked at him funny. He then got angered. He grabbed Tails' right arm and bent it back. Tails let out a quiet cry of pain. Branson just held the arm back, smiling. Pretty soon he let go, and slammed Tails' head into the locker. The side of Tails' head hit the metal, causing him to stumble back a bit before the three charged at him. He jumped so that they went past him, and took off towards the exit. He landed and opened the door, whilst running down the stairs, searching for his friends. He soon found them, all three. He ran up to them and stopped, bent over and huffing. Kari shook her head.
"You just take that from them?" Tails looked up.
"I'm not gonna do anything about it. That'll just make it worse."
Amy looked at him, with a hint of anger. "They're just bastards… they'll get over it. They sure want the ability to fly, I bet." Everyone agreed with this, and they began to walk towards the palace. Sonic, though, was just running up to them. He stopped and waved.
"Hey, guys! Ready to go do something interesting?" The four kids nodded. "Alright then? What today?" Kari stepped up.
"Well… we could have a race!" Everyone laughed at this, and the five went on their way.
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An hour later, in the locker room, Branson was getting his gym clothes and football from his assigned athletics locker. He was just thinking of where his playbook was when the door opened. He looked, but nothing was there, so he just figured it was Leon or someone on his football team. 'Oh yeah, Cody's locker!' He went down to the end of the isle of lockers and turned the corner to Cody's locker. He opened it, grabbed his playbook, then turned back in the direction of his locker. He turned the corner to see Tails standing there.
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QUE: Ashamed by Orgy
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He had a creepy smile on his face. "What in the hell do you want, freak?" Branson just pushed him out of the way. But this time, he didn't stumble as far back as usual. The fox still had that smile, except it was bigger, but Branson didn't notice. The fox grabbed the raccoon by the collar with amazing force. He stared at Branson in the eye. From Branson's perspective, the eyes were terrifying. A look of doom. Tails then dragged the raccoon to the mirror. He held the raccoon's face up to the mirror.
"You see that?" Branson nodded his head.
"Yea. That's my face dumbass. Now LET ME DOWN!" He struggled to get free, but Miles kicked his tailbone.
"No…. it's the real freak. Hate to be the dick to let you know, but now it's time to say goodbye." The raccoon frowned.
"What?"
The kitsune just smiled even more now. "I said it. You had no right to pick on him. For that stupid shit. There has to be a better way to relay your harsh messages."
The raccoon squirmed. "He? You mean you? And a better way? Such as, 'You are a freak. No one likes you. Have a nice day, Tails!' and give him a candy bar?"
The fox slammed the hostage's face into the mirror. "NO! I mean you could shut up and keep it to yourself! No one needs this shit. This is how I let things go." The kitsune slammed the side of his head into the mirror, this time breaking it. He then turned the raccoon around. "You never should have stayed around this long."
The raccoon swung a punch that knocked the kitsune a few feet back. Branson smiled in triumph. Until the fox got up. Now, the expression on his face looked pure evil. It literally scared Branson into wanting to cry.
The kitsune laughed a little.
"Wrong move, bitch!"
He ripped the door off of a nearby open locker and held it in both hands. He cut his arm in the process. Branson looked terrified.
"I- I'm sorry Tails! I didn't mean it!" The kitsune still had the possessed look on his face. With seeing this, Branson ran around the corner and towards the door. As soon as he went to reach it, he was grabbed from the side. He looked in the direction of the grab to see Tails with a terribly evil look on his face, without the smile.
"Tails will love this." With that, he swung at Branson with his other hand, which contained the small metal locker door. It connected with the side of Branson's head, making him lose balance. Tails walked towards the now stumbling raccoon and smashed him over the head again, but this time in the face. Branson flew back onto his back, and looked up to see the enraged fox over him. He was bleeding from his forehead and nose, as well of his lip. He pleaded to the fox.
"Plea.. please Tails! I- I'm sorr-"
"TAILS will be proud that I did this for him. Just watch." Branson was confused.
"Tails? Wait, you are Tails! What are-"
And with that, the fox hit him in the face again, and again. And then he took the side of the door and hit the kid in the side of the head. From the sound it made, he could tell it cracked his skull. The fox smiled evilly again. "One of us needs to leave this place." He threw the locker door into the now dead raccoon's face and walked away, still showing that evil smile.
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Tails, Amy, Kari, Arieal, and Sonic were standing in line at the Ice Cream Plus, waiting to be served. Kari looked up to the sky, noticing the grey clouds slowly rolling in. "Looks like it's gonna rain. Maybe in a few hours."
Sonic cringed. "Rain? Ahh… blast. Well no matter how fast it comes, I want my chili dog. And my shake." Tails chuckled.
"You and your food."
This is where all five of them started arguing over how food is Sonic's top priority. Free food anything in return. Or, almost.
A few minutes passed in time until a few cops and Antoine and Sally walked up to them. Sally's eyes were filled with sorrow and pity. Antoine was pissed, but kept his posture. Sonic looked at them.
"What do you need?" Sally blinked, causing more sorrow to fill her eyes. This worried the five in line.
She gestured to Sonic. "I need to speak to you… in private." The five in line stared for a minute before Sonic walked over to the four officials, who led him away from publicity. Arieal looked towards Amy.
"I wonder what happened?" The four just stared at each other, a little worry in their expressions. "She looked upset. Really sad."
Tails grabbed his head with one hand. "Ahh… my head." The other three looked at him.
"What's wrong, Tails?"
Tails looked back up at Amy, who had just asked him a question. "Nothing… but something is wrong… I can feel it." The other three looked on, confused.
About three minutes later, the two officers and three Freedom Fighters came back, with Sonic now looking worried and depressed. "Tails…" Everyone looked at Sonic, scared to death. Sonic sighed. "… come with us. There's been… a problem."
Tails looked on, a little scared. He then walked over to Sonic, who started to walk him towards Acorn Palace. The three female teens tried to follow, but Sally shot them a look that was a mix of sorrow and 'don't follow'. So the three stayed behind, worried sick.
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Sally and Sonic seated themselves across from Tails. Sally was on the verge of crying, and this worried Tails. Something was really wrong. The rest of the Freedom Fighters sat around Sonic and Sally, all of them except Antoine looking worried. Tails was speechless. Bunnie looked at him. "Tails, honey, we called ya here cause we found…" everyone moved uneasily. "...we found a kid dead. In the locker room at your school."
Tails' heart jumped. "What… what? What does this have to do with me?" At that moment Sally started to cry.
Bunnie lowered her head. "The weapon used was a locker door. And the fingerprints on tha locker were…" she seemed to lose her words right there. Antoine stood up.
"The locker door had your fingerprints on it."
Tails' heart stopped. Not literally, but enough to say so. His head exploded with emotion.
"Wh… WHAT? ME?" Antoine nodded, as did Sonic, Rotor, and Reave. Antoine glared at him.
"Yez, yours. Zis kid turned out to be a," he cleared his throat "Branson Zeelinger." Tails' head was now spinning.
Bronson Theelinger? His worst enemy? Oh, hell no. This had to be a frame. Rotor now spoke.
"Apparently, he came in thirty minutes after school to pick up some materials from his locker in the locker room." Tails jerked forward a little.
"But I was with Sonic three minutes after the bell rang!" Sonic nodded, a look of pure sadness in his expression.
"Yes, Tails, but… the fingerprints were yours. And the blood from the locker door was your blood."
Tails was lost for words.
Bunnie now straightened her back. "Ahm sorry sugah, but I'm afraid…" there was silence for about five seconds. She sighed. "we're gonna have tah banish you from Knothole."
Tails stared, mouth agape. He started to sweat. Banished… from Knothole? By himself? This was absurd. There is no way he could have been the one. He was with Sonic and his friends ever since school! He was just hoping that someone would say, 'YOU'VE BEEN PUNK'D!' But it never came. He stood up.
"Sonic! I was with you all day! You can't just let me get kicked out of Knothole! I didn't do it and you know it!" Everyone moved around uncomfortably. Sonic nodded.
"I know Tails, but… there's no other person that matches you're DNA."
Tails started to cry.
"SO THAT'S IT? YOU'RE JUST GOING TO LET ME LEAVE?"
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QUE: Easier to Run by Linkin Park
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Sonic shook his head. "Tails, we are giving you food and supplies to last for a few weeks, because we know you didn't do it… but we can't help the fa-"
"JUST SHUT UP!" Everyone was taken back by Tails' sudden outburst of anger. "JUST SHUT THE HELL UP! YOU WON'T STICK UP FOR ME?" There was silence. Sonic opened his mouth to speak, but Tails beat him to it. "Fine. I'm gone. I don't know if I'll come back again." He turned around and ran out, with Sally and Sonic yelling for him to wait. But he ran. He ran down the stairs past a few people, all the way to the bottom. He ran out the door, into the streets where his friends were waiting for him, but he didn't see them and kept running, towards the nearest edge of the forest.
"Tails? Wait! Where are you going!" Kari's pleas didn't stop him. Soon enough, Sonic came running out of the building.
"Tails! Wait! I'm sorry!" he yelled after his orange furry friend. Or, used to be friend.
"NO! LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE!"
And with that, the fox ran. He ran out of the forest. No one tried to stop him. It was a lost cause.
And this is where the REAL story begins...
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OPENING THEME: Million Miles Away by The Offspring