Chapter 2: That's what friends are for, having fun
Kyle soon reached Ethan's house. He contemplated flying in through a window, but figured that they'd be closed to keep the air conditioning in. He landed on the house's front walk. Ethan had previously given him permission to enter without knocking first, so Kyle opened the door and walked in. He listened for any signs of movement. The only thing he heard was faint sounds and occasional speech coming from Ethan's workshop. Ethan spent a lot of time building and repairing computers so it was natural he'd be there. Ethan's parents' car hadn't been in the driveway so Kyle guessed they were out. Kyle approached the workshop and walked through the open door. Ethan was hard at work on what Kyle guessed, or did he somehow know, was a new computer and as usual he was talking himself through the steps aloud. "Now after I add this I just need a screwdriver" Ethan said. Kyle noticed one on a nearby chair. He quietly walked over and grabbed it. "Here" he said as he offered it to Ethan.
Ethan was deep in thought about the steps involved in making his new computer. He knew that it wouldn't be top notch since he didn't have the materials for that, but he liked the idea of making it anyway since it would be his. "Now after I add this I just need a screwdriver" he thought aloud. He just finished adding the new part and was about to turn around and grab the screwdriver when he heard a small voice."Here" it said. Ethan turned around and saw a two tailed fox standing on its hind legs and offering a screwdriver to him with one of its gloved hands. "Thank you" he said and took the screwdriver. Then he realized what he was looking at.
Kyle saw the look on Ethan's face change from pensive to surprised as he studied Kyle's new form. Kyle tried hard not to laugh at his friend's new expression. "Who..." Ethan started to say. "Isn't it obvious?" Kyle replied, "I'm Tails". Ethan looked like he was amused but not convinced. "No way." he replied. "Ok you caught me" Kyle said, "I'm really Kyle and I just look like Tails". Ethan looked like he didn't believe that either. "You can't be Kyle, he'd never fit into a costume that size. You must be his cousin who he asked to play a joke on me or something, though that costume is really good." Ethan responded, looking amused at the thought. Kyle decided to prove he was the real deal, he spun his tails and flew up to Ethan's eye level. Ethan's jaw dropped as Kyle spoke "If I wasn't the real Tails, then how could I do this?" Ethan was too surprised to answer so Kyle continued, "You texted me last night and asked me to come over this afternoon and look at the computer you were building, that proves that I used to be Kyle" Kyle finished as he landed. Ethan finally looked like he was accepting the situation. "How did you do that, I mean change into Tails?" Ethan asked. Kyle replied, "I'm not sure, it just happened". Kyle suddenly started laughing, and at Ethan's confused look explained: "The looks on your face when you saw me, and when I flew up to your eye level were PRICELESS!" Ethan could only imagine and smiled. After Kyle finished laughing, Ethan asked "Do your parents know?" Kyle replied "My Mom thought I was a wild fox and chased me out the window with a broom." Ethan laughed about as hard as Kyle had. Kyle looked at the partially assembled computer behind Ethan with an expression of understanding. "You know, you can do a better job than that with these parts." he said. Ethan looked unconvinced and said "Kyle, you don't know more about computers then I do and I know that." Kyle replied with an amused look "I don't, but Tails does. Let me fix that for you." Ethan looked hesitant so Kyle added, "My dad still owes me some birthday money so if I break it I'll buy you new parts." Ethan noted the serious expression Kyle had, like how he'd looked in the past when he was determined to meet a challenge. He replied, "Ok Kyle, let's see what you can do." Kyle smiled and then responded "You might want to go make some popcorn and watch a movie, this could take a bit."
Ethan returned to his workshop after watching his favorite Star Wars film to find Kyle painting the finishing touches of Tail's insignia (the same one that's on the Tornado) on a newly built computer. Kyle looked up and said "I call it the Tailsware. What do you think?" Ethan walked over to it and said, "Let's see how it runs". Kyle responded "Go ahead" and motioned to the power button. Ethan pressed the power button, and watched in awe as the computer booted up faster then he'd thought possible. Kyle saw Ethan's expression and held back a fit of giggles. Since the computer had a factory fresh install of Windows, Ethan had to set up his profile before he could install anything. After entering his name and password, he pulled a computer game case off of a nearby shelf. He explained: "On my old computer, this game took half an hour to install and if I joined games with more than 6 players, it would lag horribly. Let's see how the Tailsware handles it." Ethan's jaw dropped as the installation completed in about a minute. "How did you..." he started to say. Kyle started giggling and said "See, I told you I'm now the best mechanic in Mobius." Ethan laughed a bit too and responded, "You don't have to tell me how, I won't look a gift computer in the mother broad, but I can't wait to play games on this thing now." He took out his smart phone and said "I want to take a picture for my face book page of you next to the Tailsware, doing Sonic's pose." Kyle looked hesitant. Ethan guessed the subject of his worry and said "I'll say that the Tailsware was a gift from you and I edited Tails into the picture afterwards." Kyle posed and Ethan took the picture. Then Ethan walked over and showed him the preview. Kyle thought it looked good, and then his stomach rumbled. Kyle gave Ethan a sheepish look and said "My Mom chased me out before I could have breakfast". Ethan looked at Kyle and smiled in amusement. "What?" Kyle asked. Ethan replied "You looked so cute with that expression, Tails." he had accented the last word in a joking manner. He continued, "Now let's eat some lunch."
After Ethan and Kyle ate lunch together, they heard the front door open and shut. A male voice said "Ethan, I'm home early." Kyle and Ethan knew the voice was Ethan's Dad. The house was small but Ethan was a quick thinker. He walked over and whispered to Kyle, "Pretend you're a plushy". Kyle held back a laugh as he thought of early episodes of Sonic X. After Kyle purposefully went limp and assumed a blank expression, Ethan picked him up and walked over to where his dad was. "Hi Dad" he said, "Kyle sent me a new computer and this plushy of Tails. I just finished setting up the computer and its awsome." Ethan's dad studied what he believed to be a plushy and said "Wow that looks really high quality, almost like it's really Tails." Ethan had to fight the urge to laugh hysterically at the comment. He lifted Kyle's arm like it was waving and spoke in a mangled imitation of Tail's voice "Hi mister, I'm Tails." Ethan and his Dad both laughed at that. Ethan's Dad grabbed a grocery list from the kitchen and said "I'm off to the grocery, be sure to thank Kyle." After he'd left, Ethan put Kyle down and released his pent up laughter. Kyle looked annoyed and said "You didn't have to do all that". Ethan replied, "What? You had some fun at my expense so I was just paying you back." Kyle couldn't help but laugh with his friend after that. Then he felt strange, just like he had before. He noticed the world around him appearing to shrink but figured he was actually growing. Based on Ethan's expression he must be changing back into himself. "Your Kyle again" Ethan said in a surprised tone, "and I was just getting used to having a mobian for a best friend" he added with joking disappointment. Kyle quickly realized something and thought out loud: "I better get back before my Mom thinks I've been kidnapped or something". Ethan replied "Just tell her you went to my house early, I'll give you a ride back to your place."
Ten minutes later Kyle was back in his house, his Mom accepted his story and didn't mention the wild fox incident. The rest of the day seemed boring to Kyle compared to his time as Tails. Despite that, he felt satisfied as he got ready for bed, "This is a day I'll never forget." he thought as he drifted off to sleep. Little did he know that it would be the first of many.
Author's note: Some content in this chapter was inspired by The Origin of the Unbreakable Bond by sonicfan1990. His story not in the humor genre, but its really well written.