Reversion

by Asher Tye

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Sonic, I own nothing of Tails, I own nothing typically recognized as belonging to Sega. I wish I did, but I don't… ::Sad Face::

Author's Note: Merlin's Disease is not a real disease, but I do feel I should give credit to my source anyway, Dan Simmons who wrote the Hyperion Cantos series. I've changed the characteristics of the sickness somewhat, but as Hyperion is where I first encountered it, I don't want to step on any toes. I should also point out that this story jumps back and forth between the past and the present. I'll provide break-ups for it, but I hope it isn't too confusing.

Well, if the number of hits for this story are any indication, it seems people are fairly interested in this twist on the standard Sonic meets Tails plot. I must admit I think it's fairly clever as well, though I guess I'd be considered biased wouldn't I? Hopefully I can keep the timeline from bunching too much together with regards to the games, but if not I hope you will afford me a bit of leeway if a few errors in continuity arise with the game series. I should also say that while I will try to answer questions asked in the reviews left here, I reserve the right to take the fifth as it will give away something important to my story's plot. That said I love hearing what people have to say about this, especially considering I think I'm on fairly uncharted territory where the Sonicverse is concerned (please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong). As they say, enjoy the new chapter.

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Present

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"But I don't wanna!" Tails complained as he tossed down the mush covered spoon in his hand.

"You can't always get what you want, kiddo," Sonic replied as he ate his own breakfast meal, piping hot oatmeal, same as his little ward. Immediately the fox huffed in childish anger, but still picked up his spoon and continued eating his breakfast. Not that he had much choice. It was cold outside, even for those with a natural coat of fur on their bodies, and the wind and snow were only making it more so. The blue hedgehog thanked his little friend for having the foresight to build his workshop/home close enough to the train to keep this from being a problem, even if the little kit wouldn't say the same in his current state. Suddenly there came a knock at the door, causing both mammals to look at the wooden barrier in curiosity. Outside it had stopped snowing, but as the sun had not come out from behind the clouds that did little to make the two feet of snow that had parked itself right outside any less of a deterrent for the casual visitor. "What nutcase would come visit us today?" At the opposite side of the table, Tails snickered mischievously, obviously ready to hope that this new intruder would distract Sonic long enough to forget about the appointment they had to go to.

Forgetting about his own breakfast for the moment, Sonic hopped up from his chair and walked over to the front door, bracing himself for the cold chill that was about to strike him.

"SONIC!" yelled Amy as she charged inward and grabbed her beloved hedgehog in a bone crushing embrace that made Sonic envision any one of Eggman's crushing robotic devices. The years had done little to curb the vivacious Ms. Rose's obsession with the former Hero of Earth, especially now that she knew he wasn't going to be running off into the wilderness for days on end.

"Amy, aren't you a little old for the whole screaming and tackling thing?" Sonic asked as he managed to draw in enough breath to speak.

"I can't help it Sonic, you're just so huggable it's impossible," Amy blissfully said as behind them Tails broke down into a fit of giggles as he watched the two adults.

"Yeah you keep laughing furball, you still need to get ready to go because we still have an appointment to keep," Sonic commanded, causing the fox's fit of giggles to abruptly end as he favored his guardian with a sour look.

"Another appointment? Didn't he have one…?" Amy asked, finally releasing her blue beau so he could freely answer her.

"Yes Amy, last year," Sonic replied, giving his would-be girlfriend a short stare that told her not to say too much. The last thing he needed was for Tails to accidentally overhear something he didn't need to. "Tails go get dressed; it's too cold outside for us to be running around naked."

"But I haven't finished my breakfast!" the cub whined. Sonic was not fooled, especially considering he'd been watching his surrogate son eat at a snail's pace for the past half hour.

"Well you probably shouldn't have tried to stall then lil' bro," the hedgehog replied, pointing a commanding finger up the stairs to the cub's room. "Go." Sullenly did Tails hop off his chair , casting a baleful but completely ineffective look at Sonic before noisily padding up the stairs to get ready. With the fox secured, Sonic turned back towards Amy. "Okay, I know you're new to this but try to be a bit more careful. I don't want Tails to know how much he goes to see the doctor."

"Is that wise?" the female hedgehog asked. "I mean, he's a smart kid, can you really keep that kind of information from him forever?"

"Not always," Sonic admitted. "But trust me, it's better to hide this particular bit of information from him then reveal it."

"You sure? I'm mean, Tails has always seemed like he could handle anything…"

"Miles could handle anything, that's why we're not dirt poor and living on the streets," Sonic corrected his friend. "Look Amy, just trust me, I know from personal experience how much the kid can take…"

"I'm ready!" Tails called as he came tromping down the stairs wearing his thick coat, a stocking cap, and a pair of snow boots. The kit was currently in the process of wrapping a very familiar scarf around his neck, a brown one that caused Sonic to stop for a few minutes. Upon seeing that his "big brother" was not also similarly attired, the kitsune let out an audible groan. "Sonic! Now I have to wait on you."

"So what's that, a second or so?" Sonic casually remarked as he went to collect his own winter gear.

"But this stuff is hot..." the fox complained, sounding for all the world like a boy being asked to endure the most horrible of conditions there could be.

"It won't kill you to be a little too warm for a few minutes."

"Bet you'd be surprised if it did," Tails muttered under his breath. Despite the fact that he was not meant to, Sonic heard every word and let out an exasperated sigh as he did so.

"Amy, do you think you can keep his mind off how 'terrible' his life is while I get dressed?"

"Sure Sonic," Amy called as the blue hedgehog left. Almost immediately she was confronted by a pair of cerulean eyes staring her right in the face, an impatience in them that also spoke of the impertinence of youth. "So, how've you been?"

"I woke up this morning with amnesia," Tails replied, causing the pink hedgehog to go rigid. Though she had learned about the kitsune's condition from Sonic, her initial discovery had been quite by accident, when he had one day professed ignorance as to her own identity. Thinking it to be a joke from the normally playful fox, Amy had proceeded to play along, unknowingly making the kit to begin to recoil from the inconsistencies between what she began to tell him and what Sonic had told him. To say the blue hedgehog had been furious with her was an understatement.

"So I take it no problems now, huh?"

"None that I know of," the fox replied, grabbing a ball from the floor and beginning to toss it into the air.

"Okay, I'm ready," Sonic called down the stairs.

"Hey Sonic, how about we take the Tornado?" Tails asked with a smile on his face. "I bet it'd be a lot quicker than the train."

"Not in this weather it won't," Sonic explained.

"Would… Would it be alright if I came too?" Amy asked, reminding the two males that she was present. She'd never actually been to one of Tails's appointments, and had no idea what they entailed, but she considered herself a friend, more so in Sonic's case, and it didn't sit right for the two of them to have to hold all this in all by themselves. As she waited for an answer, Tails turned his head towards Sonic. After a few minutes the blue hedgehog nodded his head.

"I suppose it wouldn't be a problem. We can all go have some hot chocolate afterwards…"

"Yes!" Tails cheered as the three exited the house, Sonic locking the door behind them as they left.

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Past: 14 years ago

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"AH!" screamed a blonde girl sporting pigtails as she fell face first into a puddle of mud, courtesy of the blue leg that had tripped her up and moved too fast for her to retaliate. As she rose from the wet dirt, her floral print dress ruined thanks to her unexpected fall, she cried her indignation at her humiliation as a few feet behind her her tormentor fell over in a fit of laughter at her discomfort. "You rotten blue freak!" she screamed angrily, tears falling down her cheeks as the two friends she'd previously been walking with gingerly helped her back up, scrupulously careful not to allow any of the dripping mud to come in contact with their own outfits.

Inside the Green Hill Orphanage's building, watching the children as they played outside from a big bay window, two adult figures stood, one a rather severe looking female monkey who watched the scene disapprovingly, the other a male fox of slight build sporting two tails and aviator's goggles. As he watched the scenario play out, the fox released a slight chuckle, as though approving of the hedgehog's actions.

"Mr. Prower," Ms. Price started, her own face pinched in disapproval, "I hardly think that is the sort of behavior that should be approved of. This is just one more example of Olgilvie's overall bad attitude and wanton disrespect for others."

"Oh I don't know," the fox responded, his voice friendly even in the face of someone he didn't like, "I think if I had to choose I'd pick his version of disrespect over that little girl's, at least he's more honest when he doesn't like you."

"Elizabeth is one of our kindest and best mannered children. I hardly think you can compare her to a little hellion like…"

"She was talking about him as she and her friends passed, making fun of him, most likely just loud enough for him to hear and get the point," Miles countered, an eyebrow raising as he seemed for all the world to be stating facts any dullard would know.

"If that is the case, how would you have known?" Ms. Price responded, her own lips curved in a semi-sneering smile as she believed she'd found the flaw in the young fox's logic.

"I can read lips." Once more Lillian looked aghast at this information as her guest returned his attention to the blue hedgehog that even now was busy stretching his legs in preparation for a run. The constraints of the area kept him from going as fast as he probably would have liked, but he managed to get up to a respectable speed, especially when he began to use the playground equipment and trees as viable running surfaces. "The kid's got spirit, a lot of it."

"He has too much," Lillian objected. "He's a wild child, completely convinced he can flout the rules and do as he pleases. See how he doesn't even consider the other children as he runs around wildly?" Indeed it did appear Olgilvie was running in an erratic pattern, and more so that he cared little for the other children who tended to freeze as they saw the blue blur approach and only unfreeze when he was safely passed, making for an interesting variant on the game of Red-Light-Green-Light. What Miles saw was a boy who was scrupulously avoiding hitting anyone as he moved at a speed that would have been difficult to control had he been a fully experienced adult, sacrificing his beloved high speed in favor of not bothering those wanting to use the monkey bars, the see-saws, or the slide.

&He takes into account all the variables that could get into his way as he runs, and he does it fast enough to keep up with his body… impressive.&

"I want him," the fox stated as calmly and smugly as one who has just stated one of the immutable laws of the universe itself. He had to admit he was surprised to have reached this conclusion himself, particularly given how their first meeting had gone, but it was quite obvious in the two months since he'd met the boy, Olgilvie had grown on the two tailed fox. Though he'd always intended to adopt a child of his own, he'd actually been planning on a baby, or maybe even a toddler. He'd only humored the monkey who ran this orphanage when she'd asked him to at least meet with the older children.

As she heard the words escape her guest's lips, Ms. Price's simian features widened, aghast as she turned her head to look at the orange Mobian as though he were quite insane.

"You… You can't be serious," she said. "Don't you see how much of a bad seed he is?"

"I see a boy with an impressive amount of talent and a very engaging personality," Miles replied. "And I want him."

"I understand you wish to adopt, but…"

"Ms. Price, I am given to understand that there is a massive amount of paperwork involved in adoption, as well as being a time consuming process. Since that is the case I would much appreciate not having to restate my intentions more times than absolutely necessary."

"I must warn you that you're making a mistake, one you won't be able to easily take back."

"Allow me to worry about that, Ms. Price, you may worry about expediting the process. Now if you will excuse me, I believe I will go outside to see my future son."

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As he exited the building into the communal play yard used by all the orphaned children living in Green Hill, Miles couldn't help but smile as he spotted his young blue friend leaning against a tree on the other side, somewhat tired after his previous exertions. Smiling the vulpine brought his hands up to his mouth, forming an organic megaphone as he prepared to call out.

"SONIC!!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. The effect was immediate as Olgilvie's body suddenly went rigid and he whirled around, already knowing who it was calling his nickname. Upon discovering the amazing velocities the young hedgehog was able to reach only a single visit after their first meeting, Miles had scrapped his earlier idea of referring to Olgilvie as "Olly." Such a name did not fit with so defining a talent as the hedgehog's speed, and thus had he begun to refer to the little orphan as "Sonic," much to the youngster's incredible delight. And, since no one else would call him that, whenever the name was sounded, Sonic immediately knew who had finally arrived.

"YEAH!" Sonic squealed as his feet revved up and he shot forward, once more utilizing his unbelievable speed to cut short the distance between himself and the fox he had come to adore, despite his original resistance. Unfortunately, while acceleration was a skill the hedgehog had long since mastered, deceleration, as well as completely stopping, was another matter entirely. Emerald eyes went wide as the young sprinter suddenly realized that his speed, combined with the slickness of the wet ground, was now severely hindering his efforts to stop right in front of the visiting fox. "LOOK OUT!!" he wailed as he realized the impending crash, closing his eyes in the hope that what he couldn't see wouldn't happen. It was the moment his eyes closed, the very second he could no longer see where his feet were being planted, that an errant stone decided to place itself right at the tip of his foot. Suddenly Sonic found himself tumbling head over heels forward and then sliding in a deep rut face first before coming to a painful stop. Though his body ached at the harsh treatment he had just received, the fact that he was not mixed up in a jumble of furry arms and legs immediately signaled to his young mind that something outside the realm of the expected had happened. Spitting out a mouthful of muddy dirt and grass, Sonic looked backwards to where Miles Prower had previously stood, seeing nothing but the beginnings of the rut he had unwittingly dug. "Jeeze I obliterated him," the hedgehog said in a distressed voice, already imagining what kind of punishment he'd get for accidentally reducing a visitor to thin air.

"I think you need to do something more than crash into someone at high speed to obliterate them kiddo," came a familiar voice, not from behind Sonic, but rather above him. Casting a confused glance skyward, Sonic's emerald eyes once again widened as his ears flattened against his head in shock. Above him, as natural as if he'd always been there, Miles hovered in mid air, his twin tails spinning behind him so fast as to seem like a solid orange disk that kept him aloft in clear defiance of gravity's will. "Are you all right?" he asked of the downed boy, concerned that Sonic had not gotten to his feet already.

"You're… You're flying?" Sonic asked in startled wonder. "You can fly!" This time it was Miles's turn to give a confused glance. Helicopter flight utilizing his tails had been a skill he'd acquired at an extremely young age, one that he had gotten so used to it was unnatural to him to even consider the idea that it was an abnormal feat for a fox to perform. Indeed even amongst his peers repeated observance of the fox's aerial talents had caused them to lose their novelty, becoming something of an accepted norm amongst those Miles regularly came into contact with. Thus it was, for Miles Prower at least, that the skill he now displayed had become something of a given, a thing others were to automatically assume to be a part of him. It honestly had never occurred to him to tell Sonic he was in a very literal sense a flying fox.

"Didn't I mention that?" Miles asked.

"You said you flew… I thought you meant… like a plane or something," Sonic explained as he jumped to his feet, all thoughts of skinned knees and muddy quills cast from his mind at the vulpine's sudden revelation.

"Oh yeah, those too, but I can also fly with my tails," the fox stated matter-of-factly.

"How… when… where…" the hedgehog's voice became increasingly excited as he grasped hold of this new revelation he'd never known in all the weeks the two had known each other. "YOU can FLY!!" he finally blurted again, amazement clear in his voice. Slowly the fox descended, his feet firmly planting themselves on the ground as his tails stopped spinning.

"Is it really so amazing?"

"YOU FLEW!" Sonic yelled, still unable to grasp this amazing feat. "If I'd have known that, I'd have called you Wings, or Sky, not Tails," Sonic semi-lied. Sonic had thought up that particular moniker as something of a rude comment on the fox's physical state during the second visit he'd made to the orphanage. It had been quite surprising that, rather than taking offense over the mean-spirited nickname, Miles Prower had instead taken a liking to it. Thus it was that the hedgehog had taken almost every opportunity to say it, hoping to annoy the adult into finally losing his temper, a ploy that, thankfully by the time Sonic had warmed up to Miles, had failed.

"Meh, I'll stick with Tails if it's all the same," the kitsune said. "So I take it the shoes are working well?"

"Shoes?" Sonic asked quizzically before looking down at the brand new looking red and white shoes on his feet. For as long as he could remember, Sonic had always had trouble with footwear. Given the speeds he could easily reach and the frequency at which he ran, it was not difficult to see how easily the young boy could wear out a pair of shoes, a fact that caused some friction between himself and those in charge of the orphanage's funds. It was such a problem, in fact, that those in charge had even considered allowing the hedgehog to go barefooted unless necessary; a plan that would have inevitably left Sonic unable to achieve the speeds he so adored.

Of course, the moment Miles had found out about this distasteful little idea; he'd brought a present, a pair of brand new shoes for each and every child in the orphanage, with a special pair given specifically to Sonic. Though the fox had explained to him how they worked, Sonic had found he was unable to keep up with the techno-babble his benefactor had used. Still he had gotten the gist of it; the shoes allowed him to run at his "normal" high speeds but wouldn't wear out under the stress.

"They're mondo cool," Sonic replied, kicking his feet up in the air as if to prove to the fox he was wearing them. "Best gift I ever got. Look at this…" So saying, hedgehog feet tore over the playground, effortlessly placing Sonic opposite an empty seesaw. Now a sufficient distance away, the hedgehog revved his feet once more and almost sailed over the grass and up the seesaw, leaping from its raised side before gravity could pull it, and him, down and doing a backflip in mid air before landing only a little roughly on the ground. His trick complete, he returned to the fox's side, positively glowing as Miles clapped for him.

"Most impressive, you caught some real air there," the fox commented.

"Maybe," Sonic confessed, "but I bet that's nothing like the air you can catch." Immediately Miles started at Sonic's assumption.

"Well, yes, but I have an unfair advantage," the fox began, not wanting to overshadow the spirited boy's accomplishment. If he was detrimentally jealous, though, Sonic showed it not, instead opting to begin asking all sorts of questions relating to the fox's newly revealed talent.

"When did you learn how to fly? How high can you go up? How long can you do it? How fast do you go? Can you do tricks?"

"Whoa, whoa, one question at a time kiddo," Miles requested, his hands held up in a sign of surrender. "I've been flying since I was little, maybe a little older than you are. It took me a long time to learn, and believe me I have the lumps on my head to prove it."

"And how high... how fast?"

"Pretty high, and with gravity accelerating me…"

"And tricks, you gotta be able to do some tricks…" At this point Miles Prower stopped talking and took a step back from the hyperactive blue mammal. Orange furred hands reached up to his head and carefully set the goggles that had previously rested there to his eyes.

"Sonic, keep your eye on the foxy," Miles said as he turned from Sonic, giving his signature appendages a hard swish before they began to rotate like helicopter blades. Quickly the hedgehog covered his eyes to block the wind generated by the swirling extra vertebrae, but he still managed to watch as Miles Prower once more broke the bonds of gravity and rose from the ground. Like a furry orange shot the kitsune was off, soaring up into the sky higher and higher until he seemed only a speck in the clouds to Sonic's young eyes. Of course the sudden departure did not escape the notice of the other children whose own features gazed in astonishment at the bizarre spectacle.

Just before Sonic was sure he'd lost sight of the upwardly mobile Miles, the fox performed a U-turn, pulling into a fairly steep dive. The hedgehog's eyes, used to keeping track of objects as he moved at high speed, had little trouble keeping up with the descending vulpine, even as he began to dread that his new friend might not be able to stop in time. Rather than stop, Miles simply altered his trajectory, pulling himself parallel to the ground at a fantastic speed. Wisely did the adult choose to do so while still a good distance up as the passing of his body through the air at such speeds generated a thunderous boom that might have shattered windows, were it close enough to do so. Extending his arms, the two-tailed fox slowed himself enough to re-enter the playground, though he was still traveling fast than the children had seen anyone save their blue housemate go. Thus began a series of tricks as the fox worked to entertain the crowd that had gathered to watch him, performing loop-de-loops and somersaults while in the open air and using the playground's equipment as something of an obstacle course. Finally, the fox stopped and lowered himself to the ground, his arms and legs extended around him to allow him to hover less than an inch above the ground as he smiled up at the assembled children.

"I'm particularly proud of this little maneuver, as it lets me skim the surface of any freshly mopped floor and used to drive my Aunt wild," he said smugly as he rose at a perfect ninety degree angle to be at his feet. With his feet only a few inches from the ground, the flying fox's tails stopped spinning and he landed briskly, bowing before the assembled. Immediately the children began clapping.

"That was… that was… that was so cool!" Sonic cried as he ran up to his foxy friend.

"I bet this is even cooler," Miles proclaimed as he grabbed Sonic under the arms and lifted him up, turning him to face his many roommates. Again the two tails swished together before they began spinning and once more the fox was airborne, this time with a blue passenger in tow. Though this time he didn't rise quite as high as the clouds, Miles and Sonic did get higher than the tallest of the three trees on the playground, much to the immense enjoyment of the blue hedgehog. His head excitedly swiveled from side to side as he tried to take in the entire playground, heedless of the way his carrier's face winced each time he was poked by his sharp quills. Thankfully hedgehog quills are not like those of a porcupine, they are not barbed and do not stay stuck into what ever surface they jab. Of course Miles Prower was not about to let his own discomfort put his passenger in jeopardy and so held on tightly to prevent the world's fastest boy hedgehog from becoming the world's flattest boy hedgehog.

"Tails this is SO GREAT!!" Sonic yelled back at flyer that loomed above him. Swiftly the fox began to move forward, Sonic moving with him as they flew through the sky. Not foolish enough to attempt any taxing tricks with the young orphan's added weight, Miles was still able to rise and fall randomly as he began to lap the playground, Sonic hooting and hollering as he did so.

"MR. PROWER!!" came a voice both recognized and sharp foxy eyes scanned the playground to find a very perturbed looking female monkey staring daggers at him from the ground below, a muddy girl with blonde hair standing by her side with a smug look on her face.

"Oh boy, I think we need to land, air traffic control just showed up," Miles said as he headed for the irate woman. If Lillian Price had been staring daggers at the fox, Sonic was staring swords at her for cutting his ride short. Finally, after what could be argued to be a prolonged descent, Miles Prower landed, placing Sonic on the ground as he did so.

"What in the name of all that is decent do you think you are doing?!" Ms. Price yelled as she jabbed a finger into Miles's furry chest. "Do you have any idea how flagrantly irresponsible that was? You could have dropped him, or crashed!"

"One; I am very well aware of what I am doing, I've been flying for the vast majority of my life," Miles began. "And two; I would not have dropped him, I was holding him too tight."

"You expect me to believe that he wasn't causing you any discomfort up there? I could see how you were wincing, don't tell me you could hold him tight enough with his quills digging into you."

"He's not the easiest person I've ever had to carry," Miles admitted looking back towards Sonic with a smile, "but he's hardly the first hedgehog with prickly spines I've had either. I did this more than enough times when I was a teenager."

"Oh that explains it. You did this as a teen and you haven't yet matured enough to know it is inappropriate behavior."

"Hey, he didn't do anything wrong, I asked if he could carry me," Sonic lied, disliking how Miles was being spoken to.

"I will deal with you later Olgilvie," Ms. Price barked.

"With what?" Sonic barked back, refusing to be so easily dismissed. "I'm here, I'm good."

"You shouldn't have been up there at all," Lillian retorted. "Mr. Prower, I can not say this will help your chances for adopting. It is the height of irresponsibility to place a child in such danger and if you're willing to do that to Olgilvie now, I can only imagine what kind of trouble he'd get into as your son."

"His what?" Sonic asked quietly, not sure he'd heard the monkey correctly.

"There was zero risk involved, MS. Price. I will have you know I am certified to carry a capacity of two hundred pounds, a weight restriction Sonic easily slips under. And long before my tails would have given out I would have felt the fatigue and come in for a landing easily, a perfect three-point landing too I assure you," Miles responded, his features going dark at his adversary's rather nasty threat. "And I would thank you not to make threats of me; unless you wish to find yourself out of a job for the shabby way you seem to be making things run around here." Lillian's eyes widened. "And for the record, Ms. Price, I am every bit responsible enough to adopt a child as any investigation of my background will prove, fair or whatever kangaroo version thereof that you are now planning to pursue. I'm also a very nasty person to make angry, as you will find out if you attempt to slander me in any way to prevent me from adopting this boy."

"Adopt… me?" Sonic once again spoke, looking disbelievingly at the two tailed fox. "You… you want to adopt… me?"

"Yes Sonic that was… that IS my intention. I made my decision to today, but I wanted to ask your opinion of it before I did anything about it."

"You will never see step one!" Price yelled. "I don't know how they do it in Station Square City, but here in Green Hill we are not in the habit of allowing immature men who have yet to let go of their boyhood delusions to adopt impressionable children. Olgilvie requires a guardian capable of keeping him on the straight and narrow and preventing his inevitable descent into delinquency to consume his life."

"Now you listen to me…" Tails said through gritted teeth. "You've already proven to me that you are incapable of getting past your own misconceptions about Sonic to give him a chance, let alone an even one. I can already imagine the type of people you'd try to place him with and the thought that you'd even allow such people to have A child in the first place leads me to question your qualifications to effectively run this place for ANY of these children. Perhaps while I am being researched for my fitness to be a parent, you should be INVESTIGATED as to how you treat those who do not fall into your definition of 'the straight and narrow.'"

"You filthy little mutant," Price demanded. "How dare you threaten me! I demand you leave at once or I will have you escorted from the property!" Sonic suddenly cringed, he did not like the way this was turning out, especially if Ms. Price really was able to prevent Miles from seeing him again on a permanent basis.

"Very well I am going," Miles relented, patting Sonic once on the head as he prepared to take his leave of the distasteful woman. "But, I will be back tomorrow, I promise, and I will have my lawyer in tow as well."

"I have done nothing illegal here…"

"It won't be about you," the fox intoned. "I told you before, I want to adopt Sonic here, and that has not changed. Mr. Martin will be insurance to make sure you do not attempt to discredit me as I do." The monkey's eyes widened.

"You honestly expect this to be resolved by tomorrow."

"In addition to being a flying fox I am also a very rich fox and while I am opposed to flaunting that fact I won't hesitate to do so to protect my interests, particularly from someone I don't trust not to try to shuffle a little kid through the cracks just to keep me from adopting him." An orange hand went to the pouch hanging at the fox's hip, and for the briefest moment Lillian Price feared he was about to draw some weapon from it to harm her. This fear was allayed as instead Miles drew forth a white business card, handing the small slip of paper, not to the monkey, but to Sonic. "This is my phone number. I want you to call me tonight before bed, okay?"

"Y… yes," Sonic said as he took the card, ignoring Price's angry face.

"What… what makes you think he can simply flout my authority and contact you?"

"Because if he doesn't I shall be forced to assume he has come to some misfortune at your hands, and the I shall be the one with the police in tow during our next encounter and I promise you they will be most eager to discuss your policies concerning 'mutants.'" Having said his piece, Miles Prower once more turned his back towards Ms. Price, his twin tails swishing insolently as he trod away from the woman whose face already seemed to be turning red.

To Be Continued…