Chapter 2: Gifts

"Uh… you alright?" Tails asked.

"Oh, uh, yeah! Just a bit surprised is all!" Tangle said. "I didn't expect you to have two tails."

"Seriously? Why did you think I was called that anyways?" Tails asked.

"I dunno, I never really thought about it!" Tangle said. "But still… two tails huh? That's…"

'Oh boy, here it comes…' Tails thought.

"SO COOL!" Tangle said.

"Huh?" Tails said. "You think my tails are… cool?"

"Uh, yeah? Why wouldn't I?" Tangle asked.

"Oh uh… no reason." Tails said. "It's just, not many people think they are cool at first."

"Oh…" Tangle said. "Yeah, I guess some people wouldn't be too… open, to the idea."

"Yeah, Sonic here was the first, and really only person to call my tails cool right away." Tails said.

"Really? What about Amy or Cream?" Sonic asked.

"They never really commented on them, so I never really knew how they felt about the whole thing at first." Tails said.

"Yeah, the first impression would probably not be the best for most people…" Tangle said, though she seemed a little… down?

"Hey uh, you alright?" Tails asked, noticing Tangle's mood change.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just uh, thinking of someone I knew." Tangle said. "She had something similar, and well, she was bullied pretty bad for it."

"I see… when we get back, maybe I can talk to her, give her some courage, you know?" Tails said.

"Yeah… I think they would like that…" Tangle said.

Sonic though, was not convinced by her story.

'She's hiding something…' Sonic thought. 'Better not press for details though…'

And with that, they all hopped on the plane, with Tangle taking a seat behind Tails, and took off.

"So, where are we going anyways?" Tangle asked.

"To our friend Chris' place." Tails said. "He's been really nice to let us stay there until we find all the Chaos Emeralds, even though he really just met us last week."

"Yeah, we gotta be careful though. He doesn't quite want his maid and butler to know about us yet… don't really know why though." Sonic said.

"Maid? Butler? Is he rich or something?" Tangle asked.

"Pretty much, yeah." Sonic said. "That being said, they should be out shopping most of the day, so you should be able to freely walk around the house for a while."

"Speaking of the house, we're getting close, so I should check and see if we are clear for landing." Tails said before pushing a couple of buttons. "Hey Chuck, we found Tangle and are approaching the house now, are we clear for landing?"

"Chuck?" Tangle asked.

"Chris' grandpa, don't worry, he's cool." Sonic said.

"If you say so." Tangle said.

"Hey Tails, that's good to hear! Yeah, you are clear to land!" Chuck's voice came in through the radio.


"…Whoa…" Tangle said as they landed.

"Pretty impressive, right?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah, I'll say." Tangle said. "It's like a prince lives here!"

"I don't know how Chris would feel about being called a prince…" Tails said.

"I wouldn't mind, just don't do it too often." Chris said as he walked out of the garage.

"AH!" Tangle shouted as she leapt out and hid behind the Tornado.

"Uh… you good?"

"He's one of those creeps working with Eggman!" Tangle shouted.

"Uh… what?" Chris asked.

"Hold on, they're just the same species, they don't actually work together." Tails said.

"Then why did one of them shoot at me with their portable turret?!" Tangle asked.

"… I think there needs to be a lot of explaining here…" Sonic said.

Shortly after…

"Ok, so, Chris and Chuck are 'Humans' and that just happens to be the same species as Eggman." Tangle said.

"Yup."

"So, not every human is out to rule the world?" Tangle asked.

"Nope, most of them hate the doctor really." Sonic said.

"Ok, but that doesn't explain why that one guy shot me with his portable turret!" Tangle said.

"Well, he was a hunter… and they were kinda freaked out by what you looked like." Chuck said.

"Wow… rude." Tangle said, slightly annoyed at this.

"Mobians don't normally exist in this world…" Tails said. "If it was any of us they probably would of reacted the same way."

"Also, it was a hunter's rifle, not a portable turret." Chuck said.

"O…kay… a lot to take in here, but I think I got the gist of it." Tangle said.

"Right, so let's go show you around!" Sonic said as he went to exit the garage. "Oh geez, when did it start raining?"

"Probably just a moment ago." Chuck said. "Come on, I have an umbrella."


By the time they finished showing Tangle around and it became night, the rain finally let up, so now Tangle was relaxing on the roof of the garage.

"Gotta admit, Sonic was right. You really do get a good view of the stars from here." Tangle said.

"Yeah, he always seems to know the best spots for this kind of thing." Tails said.

"Yeah… wait…" Tangle said, realizing that Tails was in front of her… when she was on the edge of the roof.

Looking towards the fox, she was amazed at what she saw.

"YOU CAN FLY WITH THOSE?!" Tangle asked.

"Yeah, don't ask how it works though, it's complicated." Tails said.

"…Tails?"

"Yeah?"

"You are officially the coolest dude I have ever met!" Tangle said.

"Nah, you've met Sonic!" Tails said bashfully.

"Can Sonic fly with his two tails that he totally has?" Tangle asked.

"Uh… no?"

"Then you're cooler to me!" Tangle said.

"… Thanks Tangle…" Tails said.

This was the first time anyone thought he was cooler than Sonic.

"Anyways, we should probably get some sleep." Tails said.

"Right." Tangle said as she got up.

She didn't count on how slippery the roof was from the rain though.

"WHOA!"

"Ta-" Tails said before stopping himself.

Acting on instinct, Tangle used her tail to grab onto the ledge of the roof to try and stop her decent. Neither she, nor Tails expected what happened next.

THUD

"Ow…" Tangle said.

"Hey! You alright out he-" Sonic said as he ran outside, but he stopped himself when he got a good look at the scene before him.

Tangle's tail was still hanging onto the roof, but it had stretched out long enough for her to still land on the ground.

"… Tangle?" Sonic said.

"Y-yeah?"

"Why didn't you tell us that you had a super stretchy tail?" Sonic asked.

Tangle sighed at this.

"I was worried at how you guys would react." Tangle said as she curled up into a ball.

"Why in the world would you worry about that?" Tails asked.

"… Cause everyone always calls me a freak for it…"

"Oh… so that girl you mentioned earlier…" Sonic said.

"That was me… yeah." Tangle said.

"Well, they don't know what they're saying!" Tails said. "I think your tail is really cool Tangle!"

"R-really?" Tangle said.

"Of course!" Tails said.

"That thing could really come in handy too." Sonic said. "I think you will be able to do great things with it."

"Heh… you know, I always wanted to become a great hero like you some day…" Tangle said.

"And I think you will. You have the heart for it, I can tell!" Sonic said.

"Yeah but… I literally would have no idea what I am doing to be honest." Tangle said. "I haven't really used this thing for anything…"

"So you need practice?" Tails asked. "We can help you with that!"

"R-really?!" Tangle said.

"Of course!" Sonic said. "From this day forward, you are a hero-in-training, studying under the great Sonic and Tails! Glad to have ya Tangle!"

Tangle didn't respond verbally, but pulled the two of them into a hug.

"Thank you…"

"HEY! EASE UP ON THE HUGS!" Amy shouted from the window.

Tangle then leapt away.

Sonic and Tails just laughed at this, while Tangle was just wondering what just happened.

End of Chapter 2


So, I mentioned in the prologue that Tangle and Jewel were going to be a bit younger at the start of this. The reason I wanted to do that was because I wanted Tangle to have a bit of a student-teacher relationship with Sonic and Tails, and I thought it would make more sense if she was a bit younger than Sonic. As for Tails, well, that dude is smart enough to be considered an adult, so I'm letting that slide. As such, I decided to put Tangle's age at the same as Amy's, just so they are on equal footing. Honestly, I would of loved it if she was like this in IDW comics as well, but I still love what we got with her already. :)

I will reiterate this for you guys though, no, there won't be any ships in this story. It may look like I am setting up something with Tails and Tangle, but that is simply a friendship thing, nothing romantic. The Cosmo and Tails thing during the metarex saga would be reaaaal awkward if I made them a possible pairing lol.

Something I want to mention: always assume that Tangle ends a chapter by writing in her log, unless the next chapter is a direct continuation of what is happening. The reason that she keeps a log of everything will be explained, don't worry, but it would be better if you just assumed that.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed! The next chapter is going to take place during Episode 10 of the anime… yes, we are covering the baseball episode. It is a personal favorite of mine after all!

So, I will see you then!