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Hedgehog & Fox

--Act One--

The Friend Zone

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Written by Kay Cat

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All characters, items and locales from the Sonic the Hedgehog series are copyright © SEGA Games Co., Ltd.

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"Nowhere for you to run, freak."

Tails the fox was having a bad morning: he had been caught off guard in the forest by a gang of four or five boys all much bigger than him. They all looked to be teenage predators: a lion, wolf, and Tails was sure that he had seen a brown bear too--

"Gotcha!"

A pair of strong arms wrapped around Tail's waist.

"G-g-let me go!" Tails shouted as the bully held him from under his arms. He felt his toes lifting up off the ground as the boy lifted him up quickly.

"I've seen you around before, you're the fox with two tails," said the golden eyed lion boy with a malicious grin. "Looks like you got lost."

Tails grunted and growled as his captor held him still.

"So what do you want to do with him?" one of the boys--a jackal perhaps--asked the lion.

"How's about we beat him and drop him off a cliff," a wolf boy laughed.

"Better yet, we could cut off one of his tails."

"Shove it down his throat," The jackal sneered.

"Nah, I say we let him go, guys," The lion said, but Tails could see the lie in his eyes. "After we have some fun with him first."

The boys all murmured in agreement.

"Who wants to go first?" The lion asked.

"Why we gotta take turns?" The jackal asked. "He's got more than just one hole doesn't he?"

"This freak probably has an extra hole back there too."

The boys cackled, the sound sending terror through Tail's spine. He didn't know what they were talking about until suddenly he found himself flailing face-first on the ground, and then the heavy weight of the bear holding onto him. His snout hit the dirt and he spat out a small mouthful of soil.

"Aww, the wittle foxy got some dirt in his mouth?" The lion walked up to Tail's face until his bare toes were inches away from him. "Here, let me help get it out for you." The lion boy's thick toes pushed against Tail's white lips. The fox was shocked as he felt the boy's toes slip into his mouth. The tang of dirt and sweat was on his taste buds as the lion boy forced more of his stubby toes into Tails's mouth. He wrinkled his brow as the bully kept his mouth pried open with his strong toes.Tail's tongue lapped against the bottom of the boy's toes, licking over each digit. After a stretch of what felt like an eternity, the lion's toes pushed out of Tail's mouth.

Tails spat out the taste of the boy's feet that had tainted his mouth. The lion smirked. He rubbed his spit slicked toes onto Tails's face. The fox growled as the bully continued rubbing his foul toes against his eyelids, across his nose and over his three spiky, yellow bangs.

"Oh man, that's got me ready," The lion said. He rubbed the seat of his crotch as something pink began to poke out from under his legs. "I think I'm going to go with his mouth first, get him up on his knees."

Tails took an unwilling inhale as the bear lifted his weight off of him. He felt yanked up by the scruff of his neck and then forced down to his knees. The bear was quite the willing participant: he held Tails tightly by the back of his neck as the fox tried to force himself away. There was no give in the bear's grip. He kept Tails stuck in his kneeling position as the lion moved up closer to him. Tails tried to look away as the lion's crotch moved closer to his face; the pink tip twitching now as it began to push more out of its sheath.

"Ok, fox freak, it's time to get--"

An explosion of sound. The lion was cut off mid-speech as a blue blur of wind and light knocked him off his feet, and tumbling stomach first into the bear. They both were lying on top of each other in a heap of fur.

"What was that!?" The jackal shouted as he and the other two or three boys flopped over each other in a panicked frenzy. Tails managed to remain calm despite his confusion. He looked up at the sky ahead as large black shadows passed over the tops of the tropical trees.

Those look like ... giant wasps, giant ROBOT wasps!?

The angry mechanical insects didn't bother checking out any of the boys below them and were in a hot flight after whatever the blue flash had been. Tails looked back as the bullies screamed and ran over each other in a mad dash to escape. Tails noted that they were headed in the direction of the wasps, but he didn't wish to tell them that on account of their rudeness.

Tails stood up on his feet and brushed the dirt off of his white chest fur, he rubbed the taste of the lion's awful foot off of his lips with the back of his arm. The lion and the bear had gone unconscious, wrapped up together. Tails glared at the sight of them. He hoped that they wouldn't hurt any of the smaller children back at the orphan colony, but he wouldn't be there in the future to stop them.

Tails had a unique ability. He was derided and mocked for the extra tail that adorned his backside. The twin tails had been the cause of all the animosity he had endured over the years, but they benefited him in ways that were more useful than people ever seemed to realize. He spun the twin tails together like a propeller. His sports taped wrapped feet lifted off the ground. The bullies were coming to, but Tails was already hovering five feet over them and going further up into the sky. He headed in the opposite direction of the robot wasps and the blue blur. He was headed somewhere, but he didn't know where.

But really --There's nowhere for me to go.

_ _

-HxF-

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Tails felt lonely and unloved as he walked along the beach by himself. The bullies this morning had got to him: He was afraid of traveling alone. He had only gotten lucky that the blue flash had saved him when it blasted through. He didn't know if it had been friend or foe, but he felt that he had more than enough foes and didn't want to add more to the roster.

The warm sand shifted around his toes. The fine grains of sand had buried themselves under his wrappings, and he'd need to clean them up soon.

"Hey ... what's that?" Tails spotted something about half a kilometer away from him. He used his tails to propel himself toward the glistening object. Tails slowed down once he could see that it was a red, gray and white bi-plane.

"Woah, this is a vintage model," Tails breathed quietly. "It's in great shape." He rubbed a hand on the wing. He looked down and saw a black mat lined with tools on the bottom stacked wing. "I wonder who it belongs to ..." Tails looked over the plane some more, and his eyes stumbled upon a name in white letters: SONIC.

Tails gasped and pulled away from the plane like it was on fire.

"Sonic the Hedgehog!" Tails had heard all about Sonic last year. Everyone knew about Sonic: he was a hero who had single-handedly defeated an evil genius on West Side Island a year ago. Even the backward colony Tails lived in talked about Sonic since he was an orphan just like them. It was then that Tails realized the blue blur that had saved him must have been Sonic.

Tails shivered, he didn't want a hero like Sonic to see a loser like him. He turned around to fly off--a hand clutched his ankle.

"AH!" Tails yelled, he twirled his tails and then took off into the sky. He was a tree's height off the ground when he suddenly felt he had gained some extra weight.

"Oh wow! You can fly!? This is so cool," Tails realized that someone was still holding onto his ankle. "How high up can you go?" Even though Tails had never met the stranger holding his ankle, he knew exactly whom it was. He was a tall, lanky hedgehog with green eyes, red shoes, white gloves, and blue fur.

--SONIC THE HEDGEHOG!--

Tails looked down into the hedgehog's eyes and saw his beaming smile. Tails couldn't believe what was happening, and he didn't know what was going to happen next.

"You're Sonic the Hedgehog ..."

"Yup, sure am."

"And you're holding onto my foot ..."

"Yup."

"And we're flying together?"

"I can't believe it either."

"Is this going to last forever?"

"I don't know, is it?"

Tails's tails reached their limit and stopped spinning.

"I'm afraid NOT!" Tails hadn't realized until now just how far he had flown upwards as he turned around in the air plummeting back to the beach below. He shut his eyes as he came closer to the ground; the only thought flashing through his mind were pleas that he wouldn't land on his head.

But, he never touched the ground.

"Gotcha!" Tails opened his eyes, but instead of looking down at Sonic he was looking up at him.

"Sonic?" Tails whispered excitedly. "But-but how!?"

Sonic smirked. "It's not the first time I've had to make a surprise landing, kid. Supersonic hedgehogs always land on their feet."

Tails had landed in Sonic's arms. He felt his toes clench under his feet, a rush of blood warmed his cheeks.

"I-I'm sorry, Sonic, I didn't mean to drop you like that."

"S'ok, kiddo, I didn't mean to scare you like that."

"But I shouldn't have been near your plane to begin with."

"Are we trying to determine who's to blame here?"

"No, Sonic, because it's _clearly_my fault!"

Sonic started bellowing with laughter.

"Woah, calm down, kid, can we just say that we're both sorry and leave it at that?"

"Yeah I suppose that we technically could--hm, ok, I'm sorry, Sonic."

Sonic chuckled softly. "I'm sorry too ... What's your name?"

"Oh, it's--my name is Miles. Miles Prower."

"Miles Prower?" Sonic raised an eyebrow. "Your name is a pun?"

"Um yeah, I guess it is," Tails thought it over for the first time. "But we all use the metric system anyway."

"Good point, so should I call you Kel O' Meter instead?"

Tails giggled. "You can just call me ... um, Tails ..."

"Tails, huh," Sonic winked. "You ok to stand up, Tails?"

"Oh," Tails shuffled out of Sonic's arms. "Sorry, I'm ok now."

"So, Tails," Sonic smiled. "What were your plans for today?"

"My plans?"

"I was going to ask if you'd want to get lunch."

Tails's eyes widened--there was no way he was cool enough to hang out with Sonic the Hedgehog."Sorry Sonic but I-I have to see my--uh--aunt, Aunt Sally."

"You have an aunt, huh?" Sonic smirked. "Is she single?"

"Oh, you wouldn't want her, she's like a hundred and four."

"A silver-haired madam eh? Well, a little experience never hurt anyone."

"Oh um," Tails stalled for a rebuttal. "Well, the thing is, she-she's not a fan of hedgehogs. In fact, she hates them."

"Oh, she does?"

"Yeah, sorry, Sonic," Tails frowned. "So, it would be better if I went to see her alone." Tails looked away to the ground. He felt like he was flushing something great down the toilet. But it's better now to leave; he thought than to have Sonic turn on him eventually.

Sonic shrugged. "Oh well, I guess I should fix up my plane and get going."

Tails ears perked up. "Fix? What's wrong with it?"

"I put a new engine in it, and it's been making some weird noises. I think something must have come loose when I had to make a rough landing."

When it came to mechanical devices, Tails was a huge tinkerer. "Would you mind if I took a look?"

"You know how to fix planes?"

"Not just planes but all kinds of stuff too."

"Hm, ok not that you could make it worse, I imagine."

"Nah, I only know how to make stuff better."

"Oh, is that so?" Sonic gave a thumbs up. "In that case, go right ahead."

Tails told Sonic, step by step, about the work he had done in the engine chassis.

"You should give it a try, Sonic."

"You didn't put an ejector seat in did you?"

"Nah, of course not, I didn't have time to install one of those."

"So you would have if you had the time?"

"Well, yeah that sounds cool!"

"As long as it isn't remote-controlled."

"Wha?"

"Don't sweat it, buddy." Sonic hopped into the cockpit and started the plane up. The loud humming of the engine seemed to shock Sonic.

"Wow, it's purring like a kitten," Sonic smiled, looking at Tails. "I don't hear any rattling at all anymore. What'd you do to it?"

"Um, I think I mostly undid a lot of the stuff that you did."

"Oh, whoops," Sonic laughed. "Thanks for doing such an excellent job, how's about I buy you lunch?"

"Oh, you don't have to do that, Sonic."

"And you didn't have to fix my plane, so how's about lunch and we'll call it square? I'll drop you off at your aunt's place. Or at least, within 500 meters, so she doesn't have to see my horrible hedgehog self."

Sonic ruffled between Tails's ears. "Come on, let get going, I hope you don't mind sitting in my lap, there's only the one seat."

Tails contemplated just saying no again. His nose twitched as he thought, but Sonic was looking right at him.

Oh, what better way to make him believe that you're a loser!

"But I guess if you don't want to then ... I'll just head off."

Tails panicked. It was obvious that Sonic was sincere ... wasn't it?

"I want to go with you, Sonic!" Tails slapped his hands on his mouth. "Just for lunch." He mumbled through clenched fingers.

"Sweet," Sonic gave a thumbs up. " I know a great place not far from here. We'll have to take the Tornado to get there."

"I get to ride in your plane!?"

Sonic chuckled. "You're excited about flying in a plane?"

"Uh-huh," Tails nodded. "I can't stay in the air for too long, so I've never left the island."

"Oh sorry, little buddy, it's still here on Westside Island," Sonic said, "but if it makes you feel better it's on the other side of the place."

"I've never been that far either!"

"Alright then, let's get going." Sonic climbed into the cockpit and helped Tails up into his lap. "Sort of a tight fit, but still pretty comfortable ... At least, I hope you're comfortable."

Tails didn't find it too uncomfortable, because of his size he able to snuggle himself into the cockpit. Although, it felt strange with Sonic's warmth against his back. When Tails wiggled his bottom between Sonic's legs, he could feel something pressing against the base of his tails.

Tails had a feeling that he knew what it was, but he didn't complain or say a word. He and Sonic were high up above the sea at this point and all Tails could see was the bright blue horizon ahead of him. He was still cautious of where his relationship with Sonic would go but for the time being, he was happy enough snuggling warmly against the soft, peachy fuzz chest of the world's greatest hero.

-HxF-

"So you usually walk around in just foot wraps, little buddy?"

"Oh, well yeah ... I don't own any shoes." None of the older orphans had shoes, and they mostly walked around barefoot. Tails had a pair when he was four, but he grew out of them. Younger kids got new shoes when they were available, and older children often went a year or two between pairs until their feet stopped growing. The wearing cloth around his feet was Tails's idea. It certainly seemed to be better than nothing at all but it needed constant cleaning and replacement. He hadn't had the time to do either of those things since he had left the colony two days ago.

"Hm, gotcha, well don't worry we're not going to any place too fancy, so you're perfect dressed the way you are," Sonic rubbed Tails on the back.

"So where are we going then, Sonic?"

They arrived at a small diner on the beachside; the decor was white with electric red neon and signature round curves of a past era. It seemed like the type of place where Sonic would go for a quick and easy meal. They took an empty booth looking out over the blue ocean and white clouds; people swam, and boats heaved and swayed out in the sea.

The waitress, a young, pink seagull with long white hair greeted them and asked for their orders.

Tails stared down the menu: the selections were written in legible cursive with black and white illustrations beside some of the menu items.

"What do you recommend, Sonic?"

"Hm," Sonic put a hand under his chin. "Well, there's one thing this place makes that really good, but it's kinda spicy."

"Oh boy, I like spicy food, what is it?"

"The Seaside Diner's award winning chili cheese," Sonic pointed to something on the menu, "burgers."

"Wow, chili cheeseburgers! I've never had those before," Tails said.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, sir, but we're actually out of burger patties today," the pink seagull said. "We do have hot dogs, though."

"I'll take one," Tails said, he was thankful to get a free meal at all.

"Aw man, I'll pass," Sonic said. "I'm not a huge fan of hot dogs. I'll just take a steak sandwich and a side of fries."

The waitress took their orders and then left them the two alone. It wasn't quiet for long, as Sonic complained: How does a diner run out of burgers? He shook his head and then he started talking to Tails.

"So how did you get to be so good at working on mechanical stuff? Have you ever worked on a plane before?"

"No, not a plane but I've worked on other stuff like cars and motorbikes before," Tails said, twiddling his toes under the table. "It's not that hard when you just tinker with stuff and see what works ... but sometimes, it's not so easy actually ...."

"So you just tinkered with my plane and hoped that it wouldn't blow up?"

"Gee, when you put it that way ... Er, I'm sorry, Sonic. I shouldn't have done that."

"Oh hey, it's not a big deal, dude," Sonic winked. "You seem like you know your stuff, I'm glad you tinkered with it."

"It was mostly just maintenance on the engine; I didn't have a whole lot of time to check anything else out."

"It flew like a bird on the way over here didn't it?" Sonic said. "You did an excellent job; I may just hire you to be my mechanic."

"Hire me?" Tails shifted nervously in his seat. "There's no way I'm good enough for that, Sonic; you'd be better off hiring someone else."

"I don't think if I searched all of Earth that would I find a mechanic as cute as the one in front of me right now," Sonic grinned with a borderline seductive wink. Tails could feel his skin turning warm under his bright yellow fur as he lowered his head with a sheepish smile on his face. It wasn't possible for anyone to see him turn red but his face told all.

"Sonic ... I ... couldn't keep up with you there's no way," Tails said. "I have to go back to the ..." Tails stopped as he thought about it: He had run away hadn't he? Going back to the colony would likely mean having to face those bullies again eventually, and Sonic wouldn't be around to save him next time.

"Let's see, you don't have a pair of shoes, your fur needs a good wash, and you're skinnier than a fox kid your age ought to be," Sonic said slowly. "I guess you don't have an aunt--or any family at all to go back to."

"You're right, Sonic ... the truth is that I'm an orphan. I don't know what happened to my parents, and I've lived with twelve other kids in a small colony not far from here. We usually go to the small towns on the island and work for food and money."

"So what were you doing in the forest this morning?"

Tails's eyes widened in surprise. "You knew that was me?"

Sonic nodded. "I didn't manage to get a good look at your face, but when I saw you on the beach, I worked it out. There were some other people with you; they didn't get hurt did they?"

Tails's hands tightly clenched on the table, a rash of anger abruptly upon him. "No, they were fine ..." It wasn't in Tails's nature to hold grudges or hatred, but he didn't care about the bullies. In fact, he wished that they had gotten hurt. Tails remembered how they had threatened to throw him off a cliff and cut off his tail.

_ Oh man, I sound just as bad as those guys. Sonic's not going to like me if I think like this._

"I walked into those guys because I was running away ..."

"You were running away? Did something bad happen?"

"No, it's just ... I couldn't handle it anymore. Everyone makes fun of me. They call me a freak because of my tails and say that I'm a mutant. Other times, they call me a dweeb for spending so much time building. Nothing I ever do is good. It's just ... everyone hates me, and I never did anything to them. You're the only person who's ever be kind to me, Sonic." Tails's ears flattened on top of his head. He felt like he had just been opened like a safe and now his heart was showing. Although, there was some relief that he had finally told Sonic all the things he had wanted to say to him.

"Tails," Sonic's green eyes lost some of their glow. Tails could see a dull sparkle of sadness as the hedgehog frowned. That feeling of relief he had felt was now gone. "Nobody, especially not a kind and sweet kid like you, should ever have to go through what you've been through. I'm sorry I couldn't have been there for you."

"It's ok, Sonic," Tails forced a smile onto his face for Sonic's sake, hoping that he hadn't depressed the world's greatest hero. "If things hadn't been so bad, I wouldn't have left. Then we would never have met."

Sonic's expression didn't change, but he managed a chuckle. "That has got to be the grimmest use of optimism I've ever heard."

The two sat in silence for a moment with only the murmurs and noise of the busy diner washing over them. Tails was afraid to say anything out of fear he'd make Sonic sadder, but it was Sonic who broke the silence first.

"So, why don't you tag along with me?" Sonic asked. "We've been having a good time so far, and you wouldn't be alone."

"But ..." Tails sighed, "I would love to, Sonic, but going off with you just wouldn't be possible. I could never go as fast as you and I'd just slow you down.

"Oh it's possible, little buddy, in fact, I'm begging you to come along with me," Sonic smiled, it was a different smile than his usual playful tease of a grin there was a warmth that melted through Tails like fire to candle-wax. "We don't have to rush; I'll take things at your pace, 'k?"

Tails looked up at Sonic; his blue eyes were shining with something he hadn't felt in a long, long time.

"Ok, Sonic ... I'll come with you," Tails smiled as if he was using the muscles in his face for the first time in his life.

Sonic put his thin elbow on the table and held out his hand. Tails looked into his eyes, and he was hooked on whatever magic aura Sonic was giving off around him. He put his furry elbow on the table and held his hand up, and the two shook hands for the first time as their chili dog and fries arrived right on time.

-HxF-

After they had finished their meal, Sonic and Tails began the walk back from the diner. Sonic, true to his nature, would walk far faster than Tails could on a full stomach, but Sonic, true to his word, would stop and slow down for the fox to walk by his side. When they got back to the beachside where Sonic parked the Tornado, he got a rather sneaky looking smirk on his face.

"Hold it here for a second," Sonic said and before Tails could register what he had even said the hedgehog had taken off without him. Tails followed the blue blur with his eyes until he couldn't see him anymore as he went back to town. Tails sat on the wing of the Tornado and looked down at his wrapped feet. His white, fuzzy toes were sticking out: his dark gray toe claws needing a trim. He pondered quietly to himself about what on earth could he and Sonic possibly do together and most importantly how could he ever repay his kindness? It wasn't more than perhaps twenty or thirty minutes when Tails looked up and saw Sonic.

There he was holding a box with a pair of white gloves attached to it and a tool belt around his lean hips.

"I got you a few things," he said.

Inside the box were a pair of red and white shoes with a pair of clean, white socks carefully laid on top of them. It was the first gift that Tails had ever gotten from anyone. The fact that it was Sonic the Hedgehog made him feel all the more special.

Tails reacted without thinking, he ran up to Sonic and wrapped his furry arms around the hedgehog. Sonic's body ran naturally hot, and Tails could feel the warmth radiating off him as he shouted a series of "t_hankyouthankyouthankyou_!" Tails became self-aware of his sudden brashness and were about to pull away from Sonic until he felt Sonic's soft, skinny arms wrap around his back and--Sonic was on his knees hugging him even harder! Tails was in shock; he couldn't believe what he was experiencing. His blue eyes welled up with tears; his small body began shaking as he started sniffling.

"It's ok, it's ok, Tails, don't cry, it's going to be cool with just the two of us. I'll take care of you like a little brother, I promise."

Tails just let the moment wash over him. It was a feeling that tapped into a long ago memory locked in the back of his mind.

Was this what it felt like when I had a mom and dad?

At that moment, Tails became completely devoted to Sonic and wanted to do everything in his power to make sure that the two of them would be happy and together forever.

"Come on, little bro," Sonic put his hand on Tails' shoulder. "Let's find some place to get you cleaned up. There's this great hotel nearby; I'm sure that the world's fastest hedgehog can get us a good room."

Tails smiled brightly and nodded. "Sounds good ... big ... brother."

Sonic ruffled Tails's bangs, and the two got into the Tornado, ready to explore the world, side by side, as brother and brother at the start of a new chapter in both their lives.

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