This chapter takes place about a week after the short "Drone Home." (P.S, This will probably also be the last chapter I post before going on my tour of Japan. Won't be back for two weeks but I'll try to write when I can.)

Chapter 8: Afternoon in the Library

"Can we go to the Library, Mom?" Tails asked, pulling on Maddie's sleeve as he, Sonic, and Knuckles stood before her.

"Of course, Sweetie, why?" Maddie smiled softly, kneeling down to meet her fox son at eye level.

"Well, we wanted to check in on Unit and see how he was doing." Sonic explained, rocking back and forth on his heels with his arms folded behind his back. "Also, I kinda wanted to see if they had some new comics there?"

"I also wish to continue my writing lessons with Unit." Knuckles added, raising his hand. While he was still somewhat hostile to the former Robotnik drone, ever since they started taking these writing lessons together, he had started to become more friendly around the drone.

"Well, let's load up the truck and go!" Maddie said, leading the three of them out the front door and towards the truck, all of them getting in before they drove across town to their destination.


Arriving at the Green Hills Public Library, a small but cozy building just off of Main Street, the four of them got out of the truck and entered the building through the front doors, breathing in that familiar scent of old wood over an underlying hint of vanilla.

From behind the desk, the librarian stationed there, an older woman with curly gray hair noticed them enter. "Hello, Maddie. Hello, boys." She greeted them kindly.

"Hi, Mrs. Woodrow." Sonic smiled as he, Tails, and Knuckles approached her. "We were just wondering if Unit was still here?"

"As a matter of fact, he's back in the poetry section." Mrs. Woodrow told him, pointing over to a section of the library.

Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles quickly thanked the old librarian before heading over to the section Mrs. Woodrow pointed out.

Stopping at the poetry section, the three of them spotted Unit in the middle of section, the former Robotnik drone reading through several books while now equipped with a new body Tails had created for him, including a pair of treads and a torso with movable arms, with Unit's drone body being attached to the top of the torso like a head.

"Hey, Unit!" Sonic waved as he, Tails, and Knuckles approached the former Robotnik drone.

"Sonic." Unit greeted the blue hedgehog, looking up from his book. "I see you and your brothers have come to visit me. An unexpected surprise, but a welcome one."

"You've been reading a lot of poems haven't you?" Tails said amusedly, noticing several books scattered across the ground.

"Indeed, Tails. I have actually taken a liking to many of the human poet, Edgar Allen Poe's, works." Unit stated, holding a copy of 'The Raven'.

"Oh… cool…" Sonic nodded unsurely as he and Tails subtly glanced at each other pensively, well aware of the type of works Edgar Allan Poe wrote.

"Yeah, good for you." Tails added with a nervous grin, even giving Unit an awkward thumbs up.

"I believe it is time for our writing lessons, Trash-Heap." Knuckles spoke up, using the insult he had given him at the junkyard as a more friendly nickname.

"Yes, indeed, Red-Meat-Thing. Let us begin." Unit replied, quickly putting all the books back before rolling over to the echidna as he and Knuckles headed out of the section to one of the tables, leaving Sonic and Tails alone in the aisle.

"Soooooo…" Sonic spoke after a long quiet pause between the two, getting Tails' attention. "Wanna see if they have some new comics?" He asked.

Tails smiled, nodding eagerly. "Sure!"

The two quietly rushed out of the poetry section and made their way over to the graphic novel section, both picking out a random comic from the shelf before sitting down and starting to read.

"Gotta say, Earth has some very… imaginative people." Tails remarked, reading through an issue of Fantastic Four.

"Well, that's Earth for ya." Sonic replied, looking up from his issue of Batman. "Humans can be a lot of things, but creative is definitely a good word to describe most of 'em. Like, how the heck can a guy afford to build a car shaped like a bat along with all these other gadgets?"

Tails laughed. "I'm more curious how radiation gives people superpowers in these books." He said, skimming through the previous pages of his book. "Some of this stuff is pretty unbelievable."

"Yeah, but that's what makes it so fun, right?" Sonic shrugged casually with a smile.

Tails slapped his hand over his mouth to muffle his giggles. "Didn't you try to be a superhero at one point?" He asked curiously.

Sonic perked up. "Oh, yeah, I did! It was actually not that long before I met you and Knuckles. I called myself 'Blue Justice'." He said proudly. "It's still a bit of a work in progress, but I'm open to feedback from my focus groups."

"Really?" Tails asked, looking excited.

Sonic smiled at his little brother. "Sure, bud! Got any ideas?"

"Oh! Um, uuummm…" Tails hummed, cupping his chin with his finger before he gasped, an idea popping up. "What aboooout… 'Terminal Velocity' or 'Mach Blue'?" He suggested dramatically.

Sonic gaped at the kit with an open mouth. "... Dude, are you kidding me right now?" He asked before his hands flew to his head, an excited grin spreading across his muzzle. "That's the coolest flippin' thing I've ever heard!"

"Really?!" Tails gasped, stars shining in his eyes and a wide adorable smile on his face at the prospect of his big brother liking his name suggestions.

"Yeah!" Sonic nodded. "Maybe we should come up with a superhero name for you too!"

"Ooh! Okay, how about this; 'Yellow Streak'!" Tails proposed eagerly.

"Hmm, not a bad start…" Sonic nodded, scratching his forehead in thought. "What abooout… 'Double Threat'?"

Tails blinked, raising a brow in confusion. "'Double Threat'? Why that name?" He asked.

Sonic smiled. "'Cause you are one, buddy!"

"Really? How?" Tails questioned.

"Easy! You're fluffy and adorable!" Sonic explained, wrapping his arm around Tails' shoulders and pulling into a noogie.

"Hey! Ha, ha! Stoooop! Sonic!" Tails laughed, his kicking as he tried to get out of his older brother's grip.

Sonic laughed as he released his brother, who was still giggling a bit from being noogied. "See, like I said; fluffy and adorable."

Tails pouted cutely, folding his arms over his chest as his cheeks flushed red. "I am not adorable!" He said, though he absolutely was. "I'm serious and formidable!"

"Awww!" Sonic cooed, completely gushing over his baby brother's cuteness. "So precious!"

Tails' face was practically on fire as he blushed bright red, hiding his face in his arms and wrapping his tails around his knees.

"C'mon, let me see that adorable face!" Sonic teased in a sing-song manner, gently cupping Tails' cheek and tipping the young kit's head up towards them.

The ends of Tails' lips tugged upwards as he was clearly trying to keep himself from smiling as his shoulders shook with restrained laughter.

"C'mooooon~! Show me that smile!" Sonic sang, feeling a laugh building up in his throat, booping Tails on his little black nose.

Tails couldn't keep the smile off his face as he looked up at his older brother, giggling uncontrollably. "I hate you so much." He said, rolling his eyes, though his bright smile said otherwise.

Sonic grinned, wrapping his arm around Tails' shoulder, pulling him into a half-hug. "I know you mean love!" He sang, to which Tails gave him a playful shove.

Reaching up to shelves above, Sonic pulled out a large collection of Spider-Man comics, opening it up and beginning to read it while Tails leaned against his shoulder to read as well.


The hours seemed to fly by in the library as Sonic and Tails continued reading their comics before they eventually decided to check in on Knuckles and Unit.

The echidna and the former Robotnik drone were sitting at one of the reading tables with Maddie and Mrs. Woodrow. Several large books were left open along with a few pieces of paper, some crumpled and some fresh.

"Hey, how's the poetry going?" Sonic asked as he and Tails sat down at the table.

Mrs. Woodrow and Maddie looked up at the young hedgehog and fox. "I'd say it's going quite well, boys." The librarian stated. "Knuckles is doing well on his spelling and Unit is improving in his grammar."

"Yes, in fact, may I read one of my poems aloud, please?" Unit spoke up, holding a piece of paper in his robotic hands.

"Of course, buddy, go ahead." Maddie smiled encouragingly.

Unit cleared his voice synthesizer before he began to read his poem. "'I was a bird on a wire, my situation was quite dire, but low and behold, my maker told that I would soar to great heights where no one could bite.'"

Sonic rubbed his chin in thought while Tails nodded slightly.

"It's… not bad…" Tails admitted.

"Buuut… it could use a bit of work." Sonic said as gently as he could.

Unit lowered his head. "I was afraid of such." He said with a hint of sadness. "I was programmed first and foremost to conquer the world. Fulfilling any other task is almost impossible for me, even if it is my passion."

Everyone in the room immediately felt sympathy for the robot. "Hey, it's not easy to break away from old habits." Maddie said kindly. "I'm sure you'll get it eventually."

"Aye, you should not give up so easily." Knuckles added, laying his gloved hand on Unit's metal shoulder. "We all must start somewhere. It took years of training for me to become the proud echidna warrior I am now."

"Yeah, I didn't start out as the fastest thing alive." Sonic told Unit. "When I was a tiny hedgehog, I had to learn how to crawl before I could learn how to run. These things take practice."

"Yeah, and I didn't become a genius overnight." Tails added. "That also took time for me."

"I had to learn a lot about animals before becoming a vet." Maddie also said. "I had to go to school to learn all this stuff."

"So you mean to tell me that I can learn to hone these skills over time?" Unit asked, now sounding more hopeful.

"Of course." Sonic smiled. "Practice makes perfect, after all."

Unit nodded, and though he had no mouth, one could actually see him smiling in the moment.

"Hey, do you wanna come to our house this evening?" Maddie asked.

"I would hate to intrude…" Unit looked like he was about to decline.

"Did I mention we've got enough oil cans for a bath?" Tails added with a sly grin, earning a laugh from Sonic.

Unit perked up at that. "I will gladly come over."

"Great! Well, let's just check out our books and then get home to party!" Sonic said, quickly zipping back to the graphic novels section and grabbing a few books.

Tails flew over to one section of the library, pulling out a large book labeled 'A Concrete Overview of Aviation'.

Knuckles and Unit of course took a few books of poetry they had read, eager to read more.

Once all the books had been checked out, the group headed out towards the truck and quickly drove home so that they could read their new books while having a little dinner party.