Chapter 17: One Rowdy Night

"Uh, Sonic? Are we even allowed here?"

Tails looked nervous as he tugged on the collar of his blue button down shirt while adjusting his brown leather cowboy hat. Knuckles, meanwhile, wore a plaid shirt along with a black bandanna and a large bowler hat.

Sonic, meanwhile, stood in front of the Piston Pit wearing the same red button down shirt and straw cowboy hat that he had worn the last time he was there.

"Hey, don't worry about it, guys. These guys may look rough, but they're all a bunch of softies deep down." Sonic said reassuringly.

Just then one of the people standing in the group outside got on his motorcycle and rode it alongside the crowd, the exhaust pipes spitting out a stream of flames while the crowd cheered wildly.

"See? Bunch of fun guys." Sonic stated.

"I will admit, I am curious to see this place that you and father visited, hedgehog." Knuckles said. "Still, I do not condone this type of behavior. We should be at home and in bed, just as Mother and Father told us."

Tails nodded. "Yeah, I agree. Besides, what if we get caught? What if they find what we really are? What if–" He asked more and more questions, beginning to hyperventilate a little.

"Hey, hey, breathe, bro." Sonic said soothingly, kneeling down and placing his hands on the young fox's shoulders. "This won't be like Siberia, okay? You don't have to worry about messing up a translation. And besides, me and Knuckles are gonna be with you the whole time so we'll make sure you're safe, okay?"

Tails, though still looking hesitant, nodded. "... Okay."

"It's only gonna be for an hour, okay?" Sonic said, gently resting his forehead against Tails'. "If you get uncomfortable, we can leave, okay?"

Tails once again nodded.

Sonic stood up, gently taking Tails' hand as the three headed towards the door to the Piston Pit.

"Still, we should be careful." Sonic said. "This place can be a little rough."

Despite his nervousness, Tails snickered at his older brother. "Really? You're quoting Star Wars?"

"What? It fits the context!" Sonic said defensively, earning a giggle from the fox cub.


Entering the Piston Pit, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles were immediately hit with the heavy scent of beer and other types of alcohol as western music played from the radio. The room itself was warmly lit with several people at the tables wearing cowboy getup and some even riding the rodeo simulator.

Yep, this place was just like how Sonic remembered it.

As they walked in, Tails immediately felt his nerves kick in as he clung to Sonic's arm, staying by his hedgehog brother's side while Knuckles tensed, keeping his eyes on all the patrons.

Eventually, the three of them found a table to sit at, settling down on three bar stools.

Soon enough, one of the waiters approached the table. "Excuse me what can I–" She was about to say when she noticed how small they were. "Oh, hey, no kids allowed here."

Tails flinched nervously while Knuckles clenched his fist in anticipation before Sonic quickly held out his hand to stop them. "Hey, don't worry, guys. Just let me do the talking."

"Oh, sorry. We're all actually thirty-five years old. Each of us have this rare birth disorder that stunts our growth and makes us look like… well, this." Sonic quickly said, using the same lie Tom and said the first time he came here.

Thankfully, the waiter seemed to buy it as she held up her notepad. "Okay… what can I get you?"

"Uh, right. We'll have three plates of three chili dogs, and a plate of nachos and buffalo wings, please!" Sonic requested.

The waitress quickly wrote down the order on her notepad. "And is there anything I can get you to drink?"

"Uh, just some water would be fine." Sonic said.

The waitress then walked away to fetch their order, leaving Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles alone at the table.

Noticing how tense his brothers were, Sonic looked around and noticed a lot of the games were still operating.

"Hey," Sonic spoke, getting their attention, "while we wait, why don't we play some games?"

Tails and Knuckles both looked surprised.

"Shouldn't we wait here until our food arrives?" Tails asked, confused.

"With the order we have, it's gonna be a while. Might as well kill some time." Sonic then smiled. "Besides, it'll be fun."


Sonic and Tails soon found themselves on the dance floor with several other people, bumping country music playing as everyone danced while Knuckles stood off to the side watching them.

"Yippee-ki-yay!" Sonic cheered as he and Tails held hands while they danced in a little circle.

"Yee-haw!" Tails laughed, smiling widely despite his earlier nervousness as he danced with his brother.

"Why don't you come join us, Knux?" Sonic yelled over at the echidna.

"Yeah! C'mon, Knuckles, it's fun!" Tails smiled as he continued to dance with Sonic.

"Dancing is for losers." Knuckles stated firmly. "But it is entertaining to watch."


"Alright, little bro, you got this." Sonic gently encouraged Tails as they now stood at the basketball hoops.

Tails took in a deep breath as he clutched the basketball in his hands before tossing it at the hoop.

The ball landed directly in the hoop, scoring a point.

"Yeah-ha-ha!" Tails cheered happily.

"Great job, buddy!" Sonic smiled proudly at his little brother. "Think you can do it again?" He handed Tails another basketball.

Feeling more confident in himself, Tails took the ball and threw it at the hoop, scoring again, much to his joy.

Without turning away, Tails grabbed where he thought the next ball was, noting that it was a bit heavier and pricklier than the previous ones.

Tails momentarily glanced at the ball, which was strangely blue instead of orange, before tossing it at the hoop. His eyes then widened as he realized that ball was actually his brother.

Just as he realized this, Sonic uncurled from his ball position as he sat on the hoop, rapidly jamming his legs into it and ranking up the score.

"Ha, ha! New high score!" Sonic remarked while Tails rolled his eyes with an amused smile at his older brother's antics.


"I am riding the bull, brothers!" Knuckles cheered as he rode on the rodeo simulator at a relatively low level.

"Hang on, does that cow have a head or does it have two butts?" Tails asked.

"Right?! That's what I said!" Sonic exclaimed.

"This is too easy!" Knuckles laughed. "You call this a challenge?"

Sonic let out a fake yawn as he eyed the controls. He then turned to Tails who was also eyeing it.

The two smirked and nodded, realizing they were both thinking the same thing.

"So you want a challenge, huh?" Sonic asked, holding up a silver coin.

"Well, try this on for size!" Tails finished as Sonic inserted the coin while he selected the highest level.

Instantly, the mechanical bull started jerking around faster and harder as Knuckles was now struggling to hold on, much to Sonic and Tails' amusement as they laughed their butts off.

However, their laughter quickly ceased when Knuckles was flung off the bull, crashing onto an empty table and shattering it to splinters.

Immediately, Sonic and Tails went to check on their eldest brother, who simply gave them a thumbs up indicating he was fine.


"You wanna go, bro? Let's go!" Sonic said challengingly as he and Tails stood in front of a dart board.

"You ain't got nothing on my dart skills, big bro!" Tails smirked as he went first, throwing his dart at the board and hitting one of the center circles.

Sonic then went next as he threw his dart, hitting the center of the board. "Aw yeah! Bullseye!"

Tails pouted cutely as he grabbed another dart, this time hitting the center of the board as well. "Ha! Take that, Sonic!"

Sonic frowned competitively as he grabbed another dart, throwing it at the board. However, his aim was off as he hit one of the outer circles of the board.

Tails smirked while Sonic scowled as the two of them each grabbed another dart to throw.

However, before they could throw their darts, a pool stick zoomed by their heads and impaled the center of the board.

Sonic and Tails stood there stunned as Knuckles walked up to them, wiping his gloves off with a broad smirk on his face.

"I win."


Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles got back to their table, finding their food and drinks waiting for them.

Sitting back down on their stools, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles eagerly ate their chili dogs, nachos, and buffalo wings while chattering and laughing joyfully.

"I gotta say, Sonic, this was really fun." Tails smiled at his older hedgehog brother after swallowing some nachos.

Sonic smiled back at his little brother. "I'm really glad you're having a good time, little bro." He replied before taking another bite out of his chili dog.

"Aye, this is truly a place to have 'the fun'!" Knuckles laughed, stuffing another buffalo wing into his mouth.

Sonic and Tails laughed at their eldest brother before Tails pulled out his miles electric and checked the time.

"Oh, crap." Tails said worriedly. "It's nearly midnight. We should get back home before Mom and Dad notice we're missing."

Sonic nodded in agreement. "Alright, let's finish up and go." He said, finishing his chili dog.

Tails and Knuckles finished up their bites before Sonic paid for their meal thanks to some money that he 'borrowed' from Tom and Maddie.

They were about to leave when three burly looking men suddenly approached them.

Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles all immediately tensed as the three men towered over them.

"Uh, hello." Sonic greeted awkwardly. "Can we help you?"

The large man with the bald head and scruffy beard scowled at him. "I told you we don't like your kind around here, hipster."

Sonic's eyes widened marginally. "Wait, you're those guys that picked a fight with me and my dad!" He realized.

Tails immediately hid behind Sonic while Knuckles raised his fists.

"Look, guys, we don't want any trouble. In fact, we were just leaving." Sonic said, about to walk Tails and Knuckles out only for the three men to block their way.

"Oh, it's gonna be like that, huh?" Sonic questioned, glaring up at the three men.

The large man reared his fist back as he got ready to punch, only for Sonic to use his speed and move out of the way, sticking his foot out and tripping the man, causing him to stumble into another patron and causing him to drop his glass on another patron.

Immediately, things escalated from there as the patron punched the other patron in the face, causing a large bar fight as everyone in the bar began fighting, with food and glasses being thrown around while people yelled angrily.

Amidst the chaos, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles rushed out the front door of the bar past the parking lot before taking off at top speed down the main road.

While they ran, Sonic, Tails, and even Knuckles all began to chuckle before they all burst out laughing.

"That. Was. AWESOME!" Sonic exclaimed as they continued to run while ditching their disguises.

"That was so much fun!" Tails smiled widely. "Way more fun than that dance fight in Siberia!"

"I admit, that place was indeed enjoyable." Knuckles nodded with a small grin. "However, it is time for us to return home, brothers."

It didn't take the brothers long to reach home thanks to their speed. Upon reaching the house, they entered through the skylight in the attic.

Entering the attic, Knuckles quietly went down the steps to the living room before heading to his room in the basement.

As he did this, Sonic and Tails got settled into their beds.

"Hey, Sonic?" Tails spoke up softly.

Sonic raised his head from the pillow of his race car bed. "Yeah, bud?"

"I really had a lot of fun tonight." Tails sat up on his airplane bed, smiling softly at his big brother.

Sonic smiled back at his baby brother. "Much better than that tavern in Siberia, huh?"

Tails giggled adorably. "Yeah, but even that was also kinda fun. Remember that epic dance battle?"

"Sure do." Sonic grinned, standing up from his bed and walking over to Tails'. "And I also remember how adorable you looked when you fell asleep."

Tails' white-furred cheeks blushed bright red before he hid his face in his hands in embarrassment, ironically making him look more cute than he already was.

Sonic laughed at his little brother's cuteness. "Aw, bud! It's nothing to be ashamed of! You're adorable!"

"I'm not adorable." Tails muttered meekly.

"Tails, you are literally the cutest kit I have ever met." Sonic smirked before reaching out and playfully squishing Tails' cheeks in his hands. "You're the biggest little cutie patootie! The sweetie pie to rule them all!"

"Stoooop! You're so annoying!" Tails laughed, playfully pushing Sonic's hands away.

Sonic laughed at his little brother's embarrassment before flopping onto the bed next to him.

Tails immediately took the opportunity to snuggle into his big brother's chest, wrapping his arm around his midsection and clutching him like a giant teddy bear.

Sonic smiled softly as he wrapped his arm around Tails and pulled him close. His mind going back to fond memories made months ago.

After their little heart-to-heart chat, Sonic and Tails jumped down from the table of the tavern as the blue hedgehog let out a tired yawn while Tails sluggishly walked over to the rug by the fire.

"Well, might as well get some sleep. This looks like a good place to spend the night." Sonic remarked, walking over and grabbing a small soft blanket before he turned to Tails. "You'll be able to pick some readings on your gizmo thing once this storm is over. So I–"

His words trailed off as he looked at Tails, finding the little kid fast asleep on the rug by the fire, letting out a cute little snore as he rested.

Sonic smiled softly, his heart blooming with a fondness for the kit he had just met as he walked over to him and knelt down, gently draping the blanket over the little fox cub in a similar manner to what Tom did when they slept at that hotel.

"Good night, Tails." Sonic whispered as he lay down next to the kit, rolling onto his side as he quickly fell asleep while Tails' namesakes sprung out from under the blanket, covering Sonic's body to keep him warm.

Snapping back to the present, Sonic noticed Tails had already fallen asleep, snoring softly as he nuzzled his big brother's chin.

Sonic smiled softly, giving his sweet baby brother a loving kiss on the forehead before he lay back on the pillow.

"Good night, Tails." Sonic whispered. "I love you, little bro."

"Love you too… big bro…" Tails murmured sleepily.