Chapter 3

Sonic's eyes crack their crusty surface ajar when he hears his bedroom door creak open. The door stopped on a pile of hot dog wrappers and empty cans of chili. "Huh?" Sonic groaned and pushed himself up on his bed. He struggled as his hand caved the mattress in on itself. "Who's there? Tails? What time is it now?"

Belle stepped into the dark room, her eyes like lighthouses in a deep midnight fog. "Gosh, it's even worse than last week." The puppet-like girl walked over to Sonic's desk where a still warm hot plate sat plugged in. "Oh my- Sonic! You're not leaving this thing on, are you? You're going to burn me and the house down!"

Sonic grumbled and swept the covers back over his bundled form, his bed whining in pain beneath him. "It was an accident…"

Belle's eyes showed her building fury through the dark. She stomped over to Sonic's bed, kicking shoes, and crushing trash in her path. "Get up right this instance, Sonic! You've got a serious problem going on here and I'm not going to let you burn down my home over it!"

Sonic sat back up and tossed his bedding to the ground. "It's not your house! It's Tails' cabin and when he's not around, I'm in charge! I don't have to let you stay here!"

Belle's fingers tensed and curled. Each digit twitched as the badnik held herself back. "You… You know Tails wouldn't like that. I know you have problems with how I was made but Tails sees me as a friend." Her voice was shuddering as she tried not to yell. "You're on a real thin ice here, Sonic. Tails wanted me to have this place so we could share our projects. He looks up to you a lot, but even I can see that loyalty is running out. Straighten up before he gets back. Start cleaning your garbage. I need to replace the floor you ruined." Belle turned herself around and started back to the door. Her glowing eyes silently left the room, leaving Sonic back in the dark again.

Sonic sat up and stared at the spot where those eyes disappeared back into the darkness. He clenched at the bed sheets and continued staring for a few minutes before tossing them aside and swinging his legs off the side of his bed. He continued staring, seeing only the faint outlines of the mess on the ground through the darkness. "Dumb robot…" Sonic turned to look at his computer. He saw the clock and realized it had been a few hours since Tails came in. He thought about how Tails could be home any moment and the first person he'd talk to would be Belle. Sonic got off his bed and started picking socks up off the floor.

Tails, Surge, and Kit were walking away from a freshly shop-lifted department store with their haul. Kit stepped behind Tails and pulled out a pair of clippers from his backpack and quickly snipped a tag of off Tails' dress. Tails yipped and pushed the dress down against his legs when he realized Kit was ducking behind him. "H-Hey! You better not be peeking!"

Kit snickered and placed the tag in Tails' hand. "Not my type. Besides, nothing under there wasn't on for show before today."

Tails felt warm in his cheeks as he considered that. "Oh… Haha. I guess you're right. Sorry."

Surge slugged Tails in the shoulder. "Don't worry about Kit here being a creep to ya. The only person he's got eyes for is me. He's obsessed."

Kit smiled and leaned towards his green partner. "Ya. I'd do anything for you, Surge."

Surge snickered and pushed Kit an arm's distance away by his forehead. "Wouldn't change ya for the world, pipsqueak."

Tails felt fuzzy in his chest seeing their comradery. That fuzziness quickly clumped and turned into a rock when it reminded him of the time he spent with Sonic. Tails leveled his hand at his chest and gently stroked at it through the dress. "You two are pretty close. Do you guys ever get into fights?"

Surge rubbed her chin and tilted her hand back and forth. "Eh… Sometimes, sorta, I guess? Nothin' we ever get too mad about. It's mostly Kit gettin' sad and me havin' to perk 'em up."

Tails looked down to Kit. "What do you get sad about? If you don't me asking, that is."

Kit turned his head and curled his tail to his chest. "Ah, like… Just not feelin' good enough sometimes. But havin' Surge around always makes me happy."

Tails couldn't help but feel sour hearing that. Kit needed Surge but Tails didn't need Sonic? Does he need somebody else, or does he not need anybody? That rock in his chest kept rolling around as he tumbled with confusion. "So, you're saying you might not be able to get along without her?"

Surge stepped in and stopped the both of them in their tracks. "Nah, he doesn't need me. He's smart. If he ever needed to go off on his own, he'd make it with no problem. He just don't wanna be by himself."

Kit nodded and gave himself a pat on the chest. "That's right. I lov- am great friends with Surge. I wouldn't want to be without her. But if Surge wasn't around… I'd make it. It'd just take getting used to."

Tails looked in on himself and watched as his feet shuffled over each other beneath the skirt of his dress. Kit only stuck around Surge because he likes her… Well, did Tails like Sonic all that much anymore? It's mostly memories they have together at this point. The last time they did something together that Tails really looked up to Sonic for was… He couldn't even remember. "Huh." Tails looked back up. The rock had disappeared from his chest. As he looked around it felt like the world around him had just opened up. The sky seemed expansive, and the road looked like it led everywhere, anywhere, but nowhere specific. That brought a smile to his face. "Yeah. I'm glad you have each other. Maybe I'll run into somebody like that one day."

They all continued walking as the sun began setting over the skyline. The smile on Tails face hadn't faded for the whole walk. They arrived at a noodle shop where they promptly sat down and ordered their meals. While they waited, Surge looked over to Tails and gestured at the dress. "Ya know, I didn't think you'd actually take it. But I guess you're a guy who likes wearing dresses 'er somethin'?"

Tails leaned on the table and rested his head on his arms. "I guess so. It's my first time wearing them, and nothing feels wrong about it."

Kit nudged at Tails' side. "Well, y'er a looker that's for sure. If I didn't know you were a dude, I wouldn't be able to tell with this thing on."

Tails' cheeks heated up and he wedged his face deeper into his arms. "Ah… That's kinda weird."

Surge perked up and leaned over to inspect Tails' face. "Bruh, your cheeks are makin' y'er fur pink. You gettin' off to bein' called a girl?"

Tails shot his head up, his whole face hot now and a shiver running up his spine. "Wh-what?! No! No, I am not! I wouldn't- I mean, I don't… I don't know but I'm not like that!"

Surge held her hands up and leaned back. "Hey, it's no big deal, guy- I mean girl. We get it. You're a pure little bean who's never even looked a porn mag. But if you wanna be called a chick, that's cool with us."

Tails looked confused. His heart was still racing from the exchange and his breaths felt shaky. "What do you mean? I'm a boy."

Kit shrugged. "Nothin' sayin' you gotta stay a boy if you don't wanna. Who's gonna stop you? The police? Sonic the Hedgehog? Those bozos got better things to do."

Tails scoffed and looked away before whispering, "I wouldn't count on it…" He let his eyes drift for a moment before turning back to the others. "I guess I just never considered being anything other than Miles Prower. Like… Who else would I be?"

Surge shrugged, "I dunno, Kid. You've told us you haven't considered quite a few things today. Sounds like you've just been whatever other people tell ya to be."

Tails looked down at his lap and felt all of that heat evaporate from his body and leave him in silent contemplation. "Huh…" The longer he thought about it, he really hadn't even questioned anything Sonic or any of his other friends told him very often. Sonic called him Tails and he accepted that. He took that as his new name that most people know him by now. What else had he just accepted without questioning? Was he really a boy? Did he feel that way? Tails was shocked away from his thoughts when a bowl of noodles was slid in front of him just after Surge and Kit's. He stared at the bowl for a moment. "I guess there's nothing wrong with being a girl. It wouldn't change anything about me, right?"

Surge turned to Tails with a curtain of noodles hanging from her mouth. "Huh? Oh, nah. Being a girl is whatever. I don't think about it much."

Kit, similarly decorating his chin with pasta, added on, "If you had told me you were a girl this mornin' then I wouldn't have said anythin'."

That didn't feel bad to hear. A small smile even found its way onto the yellow fox's face. Tails chuckled and slid the chopsticks around her bowl. "Heh… Alright then. I guess that works for me."

Sonic finished piling his socks into a hamper and had filled multiple trash bags with food trash and old shoes. The curtains in his room were open now, fresh sunlight baking into the dank room. Sonic had decided that it was time to take a break. He'd have to move the bed and desk out later for Belle's work and he wanted to be plenty prepared for that. He sat back down in his gamer chair and slowly turned to face his screen. That text document was still there, ready to be worked on. Sonic minimized the window, not feeling up to tackling that one just now. He sighed. "I wonder what Tails is up to. Heh… I wonder if he found a girl he likes again." Sonic smiled to himself, thinking about what his friend could possibly be doing out of his sight. But that smile faded the longer he thought about it.

Belle stepped into the room and gave a few light knocks on the door frame. "Hey there, chum. You doing okay?"

Sonic turned in his chair to face the marionette woman. "Oh. Hey." He turned back to face his screen, scrolling the page to pretend like he was looking at something.

Belle sighed as she watched the slow-moving hedgehog on his computer. "I see you cleaned up in here. I appreciate that. I'm sorry that I touched on… Some sensitive stuff back there. I got pretty upset."

Sonic sat there as if he was waiting for something. He turned his head only slightly to see Belle standing in the doorway. "Alright."

Belle winced at that dead reply. "Ah… Sonic. I'm probably the person you know the least about out of Tails' friends. I've heard some people find it easier to confide hard topics to people they don't know too personally."

Sonic stared down at his keyboard, a finger stroking against the bottom edge of it as he thought. "I don't think you could understand."

Belle dared to step forwards and closer to Sonic. "And why not? I walk, talk, and think just like you. I have emotions and feelings just like yours."

Sonic receded in his chair. "You've barely been alive for that long. You couldn't possibly know how it feels to watch everybody move on without you."

Belle looked pensive. "Of course I know how that feels. My father became a whole different person and I never even got to say goodbye. One day I feel his loving, calloused hands holding me up while he calls me the best thing he's ever made. The next thing I know, he's the bad guy you fight all the time." Belle walked closer to Sonic and stood behind him. "But here I am, Sonic. I have a new life with new friends and a whole new purpose. Chapters come and go but you'll always be able to find other people starting their next chapters too."

Sonic grunted and turned his head away. "Easy for everybody else it sounds like. Amy's out doing reforestation, knuckles is exploring the world, and even Shadow lives some weird nomad life. The only thing I have left is running fast, beating Eggman, and being with Tails. At least I can trust Tails to always be the same… We've never been apart for long. He's always right there, either by my side or in my ear. At least that doesn't change."

Belle scrunched her face a bit as Sonic went on, getting progressively more worried. "You can do those things too, Sonic. You don't need to hang on to Tails like that. You've got a lot going for you. You can choose anything you want to do or be. It's not like all those people wouldn't be happy to see you again one day either."

Sonic's hands were gripping tight to the edge of his desk. "But I don't want all of that to change. All these years together and I'm just supposed to let it all fall apart?" Sonic sat himself up from his worn seat and walked past Belle. "I'm gonna go find Tails. Writing stories about it will never be as good as living it. I… I need to make sure he knows."

Belle watched Sonic with worry as he walked out of the room and towards the stairs. "Tell him what?"

Sonic replied without looking back. "I need him. I need him and Knuckles and Amy and everybody else. We're going on an adventure again. The Chaos Emeralds might be in trouble. Or maybe we need to check on the Master Emerald since Knuckles isn't guarding it or… Or…" Sonic didn't know what he was talking about anymore, he just needed to move. He went through the workshop space and out the front door. Just as he's getting ready to sprint, he sees the wisping of a red skirt in his path. "Amy?" He asked, confused. But he looked up and saw a fox's face instead of the girl he was expecting.

Tails had just walked back into the cabin's clearing with her new friends. She was occupied with something Surge had said to her, making her laugh and hold her arm over her chest. Surge glanced up from the laughing fox and saw the blue blur himself standing before her. She huffed and let her smile drop. "Looks like somebody was waitin' for ya," said Surge.

Tails' heart dropped. For a moment she forgot this moment would come. She hadn't really planned ahead for it either. She built up as much of a smile as she could, but her nervousness was still showing through. "Oh. Hey, Sonic. Did you get some sleep?"

Sonic stared in a mix of disbelief and confusion. "Wh- Sleep? Tails, why are you wearing a dress? Who are these guys?" Sonic gestured at the display before him. The green Tenrec, a blue fox, and the yellow fox he knew wearing women's clothes was a little too much for him to take in all at once. It left his mouth agape.

Tails rubbed her arm and felt her voice caught on the tension in the air. "I… Ah… I ah… You see it's like… I was with my friends here and… Well, I guess I should tell you that…"

Surge interrupted the babbling fox. "The name's Surge. Little guy is Kit. You that Sonic the hero guy?"

Sonic kept staring in disbelief, only breaking the gape in his mouth to reply to this new person. "I'm… Sonic, yeah. Tails, where did you meet these guys? Did they put you in that thing?"

Tails bit at her lip and curled her toes in her shoes. "Ah… Well, sorta. But it's not like I don't like it. I think it looks good; don't you think?"

Sonic look horrified. "Good? But… But you're a boy, Tails. What if somebody gets the wrong idea?"

Shame tried to let itself into Tails' heart when she heard that. But some newfound courage inside of her let it slide right off. "I was hoping you would be more accepting of this. I want to keep being your friend, Sonic. But that requires accepting that maybe I need to figure out who I am."

Sonic's body shook as he took a trembling step forward. "Who you are? Tails, you're Tails! You're my buddy! W-We're a team! And… And you're… You're not this. D-Don't kid with me here. C'mon. This is a joke, right? You and your new friends are kidding, right?"

Tails clenched at the fur puffing from her chest and looked to Sonic with pain in her eyes. "This isn't a joke, Sonic. I haven't felt this good about myself in a long time. I think I'm finding out who I really am… And if that's something you want to hold me back from… Well, I guess we're just going to have to look separate ways."

A pang rang out in Sonic's chest like a metal bar snapping under the pressure of a falling boulder. One day. One day was all it took for the last remnant of Sonic's life to break away and create a whole new identity without him. Sonic stared with blank eyes and a slightly agape mouth. He stood silently.

Tails was washed with worry as she watched Sonic stand there. "Sonic? I-I'm sorry. I just… I just need this, okay?"

"Uh huh." Sonic said before turning left and walking slowly towards the edge of the clearing.

Tails stepped forward and reached out a hand to him, but Surge laid her hand over top and pushed it back to Tails' chest. "Nah," Surge began. "Let him go stew in it. You don't have to take his bull."

Tails stepped back and watched Sonic approach the tree line before becoming a streak of light disappearing into the brush. She sighed as a tension in her chest released itself. "I guess he needs to think things over." She glanced over and saw Belle standing in the entrance to the cabin. Tails waved shyly.

Belle stepped out, her eyes leaving the spot where Sonic disappeared and laying on Tails' new outfit. "Oh! Look at you! I suppose you went shopping for something else, huh?" Belle chuckled and pivoted forwards on her hip to inspect Tails up and down. "You look good, Tails. I'm sorry Sonic can't seem to see that."

Tails smiled and wiggled in place. "Thanks. Oh, I'd like you to meet my new friends." Tails gestured to the two mischievous companions he picked up in the city.

Belle smiled and waved to them both. "Hello! I am Belle. Let's get to know each other inside. I can probably find a radio in the reclaims pile if you like."

Kit stepped up and happily started towards the cabin. "Gladly. I'd love to see what kind of parts you've got laying around."

Surge followed behind. "Yah, why not? I've got nothin' better."

The group made their way into the cabin. Tails was the last inside and went to close the door, but not before gazing out into the woods that Sonic disappeared into. She let out a deep breath before closing the door and shutting out the outside world. And so, another step closer to getting that gun. I'm tellin' ya, the payoff will be great. Hopefully.