- - - -
Chapter Seven
Purple
by John Wainscott and Felix Jinx
- - - -
     
     It was a hot afternoon late summer in Knothole and Tails and Sonic
decided to go swim by the ring pool to cool off. The water was warm and
unusually calm. After about an hour of swimming, Tails got bored and was about
to go home.
     "Hey, Tails. Wanna do something cool?" Tails' face lit up.
     "Sure, just swimming is gettin kinda boring."
     "Sail me up about a hundred yards... and drop me."
     "WHAT?"
     "Over the water!"
     "Oh, I thought you lost your mind! Sounds fun." Sonic and Tails swam for
shore and Tails grabbed Sonic's hands. Tails flew up about a hundred and fifty
yards. He let go of him and Sonic began his decent. Sonic held his breath and
then realized that the fall was taking forever. He ran out of air in the
middle of the fall and took another deep breath. Finally, with a gigantic
splash, Sonic plunged into the lake. Tails followed right after him with a
splash a little smaller than Sonic's.
     "YES! That was EXCELLENT!" Sonic screamed, but he was alone.
     "Tails?" Tails was still under the surface. Sonic looked under the water
to see Tails right under him about to hit him. Before Sonic could move out of
the way, Tails hit Sonic before he surfaced.
     "Oops, sorry Sonic. Hey, let's do that again! That was fun." Sonic and
Tails got out of the lake and Tails shook himself dry. Tails grabbed Sonic's
hands and his tails began to spin.
     "Here we go." Tails yelled as he lifted Sonic off of the ground. Tails
didn't go as high as he did last time, but it was still fairly high.
     "Ready?" Tails asked.
     "Ready as I'll ever beeeeeeeeeeee!" Tails let Sonic go before he could
finish what he was saying. Tails accelerated down to catch up to Sonic while
he fell upside down.
     "Hello." Tails calmly greeted.
     "Ha ha! Good one!" Sonic laughed as he turned himself upside down to
mimic Tails.
     "Um, Sonic," Tails pointed at the lake. "Look up." Sonic looked at the
water above him and hit, hard. Tails landed with a perfect dive along side of
him. Tails and Sonic surfaced and shook their heads dry.
     "I thought you said you were ready!" Laughed Tails.
     "Ow, that hurt. I think I'm done for now." Sonic rubbed his head and
swam for the shore.
     "You okay?"
     "Yeah, I'll be fine. Just gotta sit down for a while."
     "Okay, I wanna do that again!" Tails flew back up about two hundred
yards this time and accelerated down faster than he did before. Sonic looked
at Tails as he shot down from the sky like a bullet. With a perfect dive, his
splash was surprisingly small for his speed.
     "YEAHHHHH!" Sonic yelled as he raised his fist in the air. Tails
surfaced, but wasn't his normal color. He was purple!
     "Tails?!?" Sonic looked at Tails as he shook his head dry.
     "What?------- Do I got a booger?" Sonic dropped his mouth and pointed at
him. Tails looked behind himself and back at Sonic thinking that he was
pointing at something else.
     "What!"
     "Y- y- you're-- PURPLE!" Tails looked at himself and yipped.
     "Eew! Yuck! Get it off me! Eew! Eew!" Tails tried to wash himself off,
but he remained purple. Tails swam out and shook himself off. He was a perfect
shade of purple. Every inch of his body was covered in the natural-looking
color.
     "What is this!" Sonic couldn't say anything. Sonic and Tails ran back to
Knothole to get Sally.
     "AUNT SALLY!" Tails opened the door to her hut and Sally saw him
standing at the door.
     "Can I help you?" Sally politely asked as she lowered her book that she
was reading.
     "Aunt Sally, it's me, Tails." Sally dropped her book and stood up. Sally
walked to Tails and knelt in front of him.
     "Tails! What happened to you?" Laughed Sally as she spun Tails to get a
better look at him. Sonic walked in scratching his head.
     "I'm purple!" Exclaimed Tails as he tugged at his fur.
     "Well yes, I can see that. What did you do to yourself?"
     "Nothing, honest! I was swimming in the lake with Sonic when I turned
PURPLE!" Sonic walked into the bedroom to get a camera without Tails noticing. 
     "Tails." Sonic said as he raised the camera up to his eye. Tails looked
up.
     "Huh?" Before he noticed Sonic with the camera, the flash blinded him.
     "Sonic! Why did you do that!" Barked Tails. Sally and Sonic laughed as
he attempted to grab the camera from Sonic.
     "I'm sorry, bro. Hey, some day, you're gunna laugh at this picture."
     "Bull!" Tails rudely grunted he before swung fist and hit Sonic in the
arm.
     "Hey!" Yelled Sonic. Tails crossed his arms and jumped in a rocking
chair.
     "Sonic, apologize." Sally grabbed Sonic's shoulder.
     "I'm sorry, Tails." Sonic placed the camera on the table in front of the
couch.
     "Tails, go and jump in the shower." Sally politely said as she lifted
Tails from the chair. Outside, Bunnie was walking to Sally's hut to say hi to
Miles and Julayla when she saw the purple fox walk into the bathroom.
     "Knock, knock! Can Ah come in?" Asked Bunnie as she leaned through the
open window.
     "Sure, c'mon in." Sonic opened the door and Bunnie walked in.
     "Sally girl, who was that cute fox who just walked in the john a second
ago? Is he new around here?"
     "Um, Bunnie, that was Tails." Bunnie put her hands on her mouth and let
out a quick, sudden laugh.
     "Are you serious?"
     "Dead serious." Sonic said as he picked up the camera from the table. He
pulled out the developed picture and presented it to Bunnie.
     "Oh mah stars! I think he looks good in purple." Bunnie handed the
picture back to Sonic and Sonic handed it to Sally. She also looked at it and
smiled.
     "To bad you're not gunna see him like that in person, he just jumped in
the shower." After Sally placed the picture on the table, the shower turned on
and the sound of the shower curtain could be heard being pulled closed.
     "Aw, darn it. What happened to him anyway?"
     "I dunno. He was swimming with me in the lake a few minutes ago, then he
turned purple." Bunnie didn't believe Sonic. Neither did Sally.
     "Quit foolin around, what REALLY happened?" Bunnie asked as she crossed
her arms.
     "No, really. I was there. Even ask Tails." Bunnie and Sally looked at
each other and looked back at Sonic. Sally walked to the bathroom and cracked
open the door. She saw a purple shadow of Tails through the curtain.
     "Tails, we'll be right back." Tails' purple head sprung out of one side
of the curtain.
     "Okay okay, out!" Sally closed the door and pulled out a small white
cloth from her dresser drawer.
     "Okay, Sonic, were going to the ring pool." Sally noticed Felix walking
by with a chili dog in his mouth and his trumpet in his hand.
     "Felix!" Felix turned around and saw Sally walk towards him.
     "Heeoh Hahrre. Wahffa ewwen?" Mumbled Felix.
     "That's rude, swallow that." Felix chewed a few more times and swallowed
the chili dog.
     "I'm sorry, what's up?"
     "I need you to watch the twins for a minute, they're taking their nap
right now so it won't be much trouble, okay?"
     "Sure. Where are you going?" Felix asked as they walked back to the hut.
     "To the ring pool, were going to see why Tails is purple." Felix shook
his head.
     "What?"
     "Tails is purple."
     "What, your not going to tell me what your going to do, are you?"
     "No, Tails is purple, it happened when he and Sonic were at the ring
pool."
     "Killer. Where is he?" Sally opened the door to the hut and they walked
in.
     "In the shower."
     "Bummer. I wanted to see him."
     "That you can see, Sonic took a picture of him." Sally picked the
picture up off of the table and handed it to Felix.
     "Whoa, cool!"
     "Thanks for watching the kids, we'll be right back."
     "Okay, your welcome." Felix placed the picture back on the table and
walked into the bedroom to check on Miles and Julayla. Miles was sleeping
while grabbing both of his ears and Julayla's tail was almost completely
healed. Felix wanted to talk to Tails, but he couldn't yell or go in.
     "Oh well." Felix sighed.

- - - -

     "Right there, from about three hundred feet." Sonic pointed to the
landing point in the water.
     "From that high up? That's dangerous!"
     "That's fun!"
     "You shouldn't have put him at risk like that, Sonic. But that's not
important right now." Sally pulled the white cloth out of her vest pocket and
dipped it in the water. It remained white.
     "Well?" Sally asked as she squeezed the cloth dry.
     "I don't know!"
     "You're not lying, are you?" Bunnie asked in disbelief.
     "Yes, I am. Tails and I decided to dye his hair and blame it on the
lake, of course I'm not lying! Lets go."

- - - -

     Back in Sally's hut, Miles started to wake up and Felix noticed that he
needed a new diaper, quick. Tails was still in the shower making no progress
cleaning the purple color off of his fur. Felix pulled the diaper off of Miles
and threw his head back in an attempt to avoid the horrible smell. Miles
laughed and kicked the diaper making a complete mess.
     "NOOOOOO! TAILS HURRY UP!!!" Felix's yell woke up Julayla and she
started crying.
     "Not you too." Felix attempted to clean the you-know-what off of Miles,
but the mess was just too big. The smell filled the entire hut and Julayla
cried even louder. Bunnie, Sonic and Sally walked in and ran into the bedroom.
     "A couple of minutes, huh?" Felix yelled with two safety pins sticking
out of his mouth. Sally ran to the bathroom door and pounded on it.
     "Hurry up, Tails!"
     "It won't come out!" Tails yelled.
     "Same here, Sally!" Sonic exclaimed as he waved his hand in front of his
face. Bunnie picked up Julayla and she slowly stopped crying. Miles was having
a blast and apparently was not affected by the strong smell. He kept kicking
and laughing making an even bigger mess.
     "Sonic! Hold him down!" Felix yelled.
     "Sally! Hold him down!" Sonic yelled.
     "SOMEBODY!" Sonic pulled out two cloth diapers from the dresser and put
one in each hand. He held Miles' arms down and turned his head away. Sally
pounded on the bathroom door again and yelled for Tails to get out. The shower
finally shut off and Tails walked out with a towel around his waist and he was
still urple. Sally grabbed Tails and pulled him out of the way and Felix ran
Miles into the bathroom.
     "Eew! What happened!" Tails asked as he held his nose.
     "Miles exploded." Sonic said as he wrapped up the crib's dirty sheets.
     "Oh, my gosh! You're adorable!" Bunnie grabbed Tails and turned him
around to get a better look at him.
     "Stop it! I don't like being purple!"
     "Did you use shampoo?" Sally asked as she picked up the safety pins.
     "I used the entire bottle."
     "SALLY! There's NO SHAMPOO!" Felix yelled from the bathroom.
     "What?! That was a new bottle!"
     "You smell good." Bunnie laughed.
     "Well, sorry! What else could I do?" Tails was becoming a little
irritated. Felix walked in with the empty bottle in his hand.
     "Felix," Bunnie giggled. "are you tired?"
     "No. why?"
     "You look pooped."

- - - -

     (later that night)

     "Tails, let me get a sample of your fur." Sally pulled a pair of
scissors from the desk drawer and cut a small bundle of fur from Tails' arm.
Sally placed the sample into the slot on top of Nicole and a read out of
chemicals instantly appeared in front of her.
     "Hey, Felix." Sonic chuckled as Felix walked in combing himself. 
     "Hi guys, hi Tails. Whoa--"
     "Don't - say - a word!" Barked Tails. Felix sat down at the dining room
table and smiled.
     "What's that?" Asked Felix as he pointed at a specific number out of
hundreds on the hologram.
     "Nicole, identify foreign substance."
     "Shampoo." Felix and Sonic laughed while Sally and Tails looked at them.
     "Nicole, is there anything on this sample except shampoo and Tails'
DNA?"
     "Affirmative, microscopic organisms, not related to shampoo and Miles
Prower, is detected."
     "Identify them." Nicole beeped and buzzed and finally came up with a
result: "Unknown."
     "What?" Tails yelled.
     "Hold on, Tails, Bookshire has a bigger encyclopedia on his computer.
Let's go see if he has anything on this."
     "Okay." Sally and Tails left for Bookshire's hut and Felix stayed
behind. Sonic had to leave because he had to do some cleaning in the dining
hall.
     Sally knocked on Bookshire's hut and there was no answer. She waited and
knocked again yelling his name.
     "He's not home. Lets go." Sally and Tails turned around and started back
when Bookshire's door flew open.
     "Sorry, Sally. I was talking with someone on my computer."
     "Oh okay. I need you to do something for me."
     "Sure, and whose this?"
     "TAILS!" Tails yelled with clinched fists.
     "Oh my. What happened?"
     "We don't know, that's why we came to you."
     "Um, okay, come on in." Bookshire, Sally and Tails walked in and
Bookshire had a video link with a female raccoon on his computer.
     "That was quick, Bookshire." Said the raccoon on the screen.
     "Well, whose this?" Sally asked.
     "My name is Erin Draftwood. And you're Queen Sally, right?"
     "Yes. Um, are you two-- married or something?"
     "Oh, no. Erin and I just happen to have the same last names."
     "How interesting."
     "Excuse me! Can you do ANYTHING with this, Bookshire?" Tails asked as he
tugged at his fur.
     "And this is Tails. He's not normally-- uh, purple, he's supposed to
be-- normal-colored." Tails was starting to loose his temper.
     "I'm sorry, Erin, I have to go now. I'll call you tomorrow, okay?"
     "Okay, honey." Erin blew Bookshire a kiss and the screen went blank.
     "Bookshire." Sally smiled.
     "What?" Bookshire asked as if nothing happened.
     "How long have you two..."
     "A week."
     "BOOKSHIRE!" Tails angrily yelled.
     "Okay, okay. What do you need, Sally?"
     "You're computer has a larger encyclopedia in biology, right?"
     "Um, I think so. Why, does it have something to do with unidentified
microscopic organisms coloring Tails' fur?" Bookshire asked sarcastically.
     "Yes."
     "--Oh." Sally pulled Nicole out of her vest pocket and handed it to
Bookshire. He plugged it into his computer and brought up an electronic
encyclopedia.
     "Nicole, is she on?" Sally nodded her head.
     "Nicole, upload data from Tails' sample to my computer, COM2."
     "Sending data. --- Transfer complete." Bookshire detached the cable and
handed Nicole back to Sally. Bookshire sat down in front of his computer and
began typing. Within seconds, a picture of a strange looking bug appeared on
Bookshire's monitor.
     "Okay, it says that the microorganisms on Tails is called Crostanthantic
Dothentarinitive Sahrenites', long name, huh?"
     "Why are they red?" Asked Tails as he was calmed down.
     "I don't know. It also says that they live at high altitudes. Were you
flying anywhere real high today?"
     "Yeah, I was swimming with Sonic today. I flew up real high with him and
we both dove a few times. The last time, I was doing it alone, and when I came
out of the water, I was purple." Bookshire scratched his chin and looked back
at his computer. Suddenly, he started typing and the bug on the screen became
purple after a few seconds.
     "What did you do?" Sally asked.
     "Well, I figured that there must be some relation to moisture, so I did
a hypothetical question thing on it and it worked. That's what happened when
you got wet. So, can you shampoo it out?"
     "No." Tails and Sally said in unison then looked at each other.
     "Well, hold on a sec, I think I got something that might help."
Bookshire pulled out a flimsy cardboard box out of his closet and began
digging around in it. He pulled out a glass bottle of thick blue jell and
handed it to Sally.
     "Is this what I think it is?" Sally asked as she held the bottle up to
the desk lamp.
     "Drondathol."
     "That's illegal!"
     "I know, I know. I only keep it in case of an emergency."
     "Like what?"
     "Well, this. The extremely high content of alcohol makes it a great
disinfectant." Sally looked back at him. "Don't worry, it's not like I was
going to spike punch with it or anything."
     "I don't know wether to thank you or arrest you."
     "Good luck." Sally and Tails thanked Bookshire and went back to her hut.
While Sally and Tails were gone, Bunnie took over baby sitting for Felix so he
could finish some computer work. Bunnie saw Sally walk in with Tails holding
the bottle of drondathol and gasped.
     "Sally! Is that what I think it is?" Bunnie asked as they walked through
the door.
     "Yes, I know it's illegal, but it's for Tails." Bunnie jumped up and
snatched the bottle away from Tails.
     "Are you crazy! That stuff will kill him!"
     "Calm down, Bunnie. Bookshire gave it to him to use as a shampoo. He's
not going to drink it, that would be stupid."
     "Oh my gosh! I'm sorry Tails." Bunnie apologized and handed the bottle
back to him. Tails jumped back into the shower and opened the bottle. Tails
caught a smell of the contents of the bottle and almost vomited.
     "Eew!!! This stuff stinks!"
     "Just hurry up, Tails." Sally yelled over the noise of the shower.
     "Remind me to beat up Bookshire later!" Tails said. Sally and Bunnie
laughed.

- - - -

     After a half hour, Tails was still in the shower.
     "Tails! Hurry up, honey!" Bunnie yelled. The shower shut off and Tails
stumbled out of the bathroom soaking wet and completely drunk.
     "Ie ran ou- oudda hot water. Hey! Iem still, uh blue, I mean
pur(hic)ple!" Tails attempted to say as clearly as possible, but his voice was
slurred almost to the point of incomprehension.
     "Tails!" Bunnie screamed.
     "Hey, wherja go? OH HI! There youar." Tails said as he laughed and
smacked Sally on the rear.
     "You didn't drink that stuff, did you?" Sally asked as she grabbed
Tails' shoulders and knelt in front of him.
     "Pikc a card." Tails mumbled as he held both of his tails in front of
his face.
     "TAILS!" Sally yelled. Tails peeked through his tails with his
blood-shot eyes and laughed. "Let me smell your breath!" He lowered his tails
and rubbed his nose. He looked into Sally's eyes and let out a long,
satisfying burp. Sally jumped back and hit the table behind her. It was more
than good, it was done with perfection.
     "That's impossible! I don't smell anything."
     "What on Mobius happened to him?" Bunnie asked as Sally grabbed a towel
from the bathroom and began drying him off.
     "I don't know, but I'm going to rip Bookshire's head off!"
     "Yeah... bite hhhis headdoff." Tails mumbled.
     "What? He didn't do anything!"
     "He shouldn't have had that drondathol!"
     "You shouldn't have used it on Tails!"
     "He shouldn't have given it to me!"
     "Well YOU shouldn't have taken it from him!" Bunnie and Sally angrily
looked at each other for about three seconds and then calmed back down. "Ah'm
sorry, Sally girl."
     "No, Bunnie. You're right, I shouldn't have put Tails at risk like
this." Sally had Tails in her arms and she looked at him and noticed he was
out cold. He was giggling and slowly spinning his tails in his sleep. Sally
carried him to her bed and laid him down.
     "Whar you taking me for to, for?" And Tails fell back to sleep. She
covered him up and kissed him on the forehead.
     "Maybe I should go now?" Bunnie asked. Sally nodded her head and Bunnie
left. When she closed the door behind her, she saw Sonic walking from the
dining hall with Charles.
     "Hey, Bunnie! How's it hangin?"
     "Um, Sugar hog, I don't think you should go in there right now. Tails...
isn't feelin like himself right now."
     "Why, what's wrong?" Bunnie started to become a little nervous.
     "Well... Tails was in the shower, and, he used something, given to him
by Bookshire, to use as a shampoo..."
     "So? What's wrong with that?" Charles asked.
     "He used... drondathol-"
     "WHAT?!?" Sonic and Charles ran into the hut to see Sally sit next to
the sleeping fox in the bed.
     "Sal! What happened!" Sally tried to hush Sonic to prevent him from
waking up Tails, but she was too late.
     "HI Splo-- Sk-- Sobbn-- Speedy!" Tails yelled after Sonic woke him up.
     "Tails, what happened to you, man!" Sonic picked Tails up and his head
kept falling back. Sonic sat Tails back down on the bed and he began flying
around the room in circles.
     "What did you do to him?" Sonic yelled as he looked at Sally.
     "I went over to Bookshire's and he thought drondathol would work to wash
the purple out of his fur." Sonic became extremely angry and started for
Bookshire's hut. Before he could leave the room, Sally grabbed his arm and
stopped him. "No, Sonic! It was my fault! I shouldn't have given it to him.
Bookshire didn't do anything!" Sonic stopped, but he was still mad at
Bookshire.
     "Weeeeee!" Tails yelled at he rammed his head into the wall. He fell to
the bed and laughed followed by a short burp.
     "Why, Sal? Why did you do this to him? He's only twelve years old!"
     "I didn't mean for this to happen, I even told him not to drink it. I
didn't smell anything on his breath, so I think it went through his skin or
something."
     "Do you wihsh to meet the kheeper of the cheese?"
     "--I'm going for a walk!" Sonic said in a stern voice and slammed the
door on his way out. Sally looked out of the window and saw him walk towards
the garden; away from Bookshire's.
     "Oh, Chuck, I don't know what to do with him. He's... he's..."
     "Drunk." Charles commented.
     "Tails, you're going to stay here tonight, okay?" Tails stood up on the
bed and pointed his finger at Sally.
     "I don't wanna talk to you no more you-- empty-headed animal food trough
wiper! I fart in your general direction, your mother was a hamster, and your
father smelt of elderberries!" Sally immediately slapped Tails on the side of
his face making him fall back on the bed. "Hey!" And Tails fell back to sleep.
He was also snoring pretty loudly. Sally placed him back to bed and Charles
gave her a hug and left.
     "I'm sorry, Tails." Sally whispered as she dimmed the light. Tails
continued to sleep with Sally sitting by the bed next to him.

- - - -

     "No way! A drunk purple twelve-year old fox? Drondathol? Really?" Bunnie
nodded her head. "Oh, man, is he okay?"
     "No, he's drunker than anybody I've ever seen." Rotor fell into his desk
chair and scratched his head. Bunnie grabbed her mug of hot chocolate and her
shaking hand spilled some of it on her right leg. "Oh! Look at me! I'm a
nervous wreck! I need a towel, quick." Rotor jumped up out of his chair and
ran into the kitchen. He grabbed a dish towel off of the refrigerator and
wiped Bunnie's leg off with it.
     "There, no harm done." And just after he said that, her leg began to
smoke. Rotor and Bunnie only noticed it when they smelled it.
     "ROTOR!"
     "OH MAN!" Rotor grabbed a screw driver out of his tool box and pried off
a panel on the outside of her leg. He reached his finger in and flipped a
switch shutting it down.
     "Ow! My leg's burnin up! TAKE IT OFF!!!" With Rotor's help, Bunnie
quickly removed her leg. Rotor almost burned his hands just touching it. She
dropped the leg on the floor next to the chair and froze.
     "What just happened? It's not supposed to do that."
     "I have no idea."
     "What? Your supposed to know everything about those king of things!"
Rotor blushed and looked back at the smoking limb.
     "I do, it's just that... I, I don't know." The leg cooled back down
enough so Rotor put it on his work bench. Rotor helped Bunnie sit down next to
him to help him see what was wrong with her leg. "Are you okay?"
     "Yeah, I'll be fine."
     "Are you sure?"
     "Yes, I'm okay." Rotor pulled off a larger panel from the leg and some
hot chocolate dripped out.
     "It does smell good." Rotor remarked hoping it would help take her mind
off of what happened to Tails. Bunnie smiled, but was still nervous. "You
didn't put the cable cover back on, did you?" Rotor asked as he pulled out a
small plastic object and held it up to Bunnie.
     "Oh... I guess I forgot." Rotor took the dish towel and wiped off the
inside of the leg and replaced the cable cover. The larger panel was put back
on and secured. "I don't know what I'd ever do without you." Bunnie remarked
before she kissed Rotor on the cheek.
     "Here, I'll help you with you're leg."
     "No thanks, honey. I need to do it myself so I wouldn't need help if I
were alone." Bunnie grabbed her leg and slid it off of the bench.
     "Okay." Bunnie pulled her leg up to her thigh and twisted it on making a
loud click. She reached her finger inside the small opening on her leg and
flipped it on.
     "Give it time to warm up."
     "I know that, Rote. You tell me that every time."
     "I do?" Bunnie only gave him a half-smile. "Oh. Do you think the color
will ever come out?"
     "No, I think he has to wait until he sheds next summer."
     "He just stopped shedding, too. It's around the end of summer now."
     "He really hates it too. I just hope he doesn't do anything stupid, like
shave himself."
     "Eew. I don't think he'd look any better bald either. Do you know where
he can get some hair dye?"
     "Not around here, but I hope he's okay."

- - - -

     At the ring pool, Sonic is sitting at the end of the dock thinking about
what had just happened to Tails. It was about ten in the evening and it was a
warm night. Sonic had his bare feet soaking in the warm water.
     "Why wasn't I there? I would have never let him near that stuff." Sonic
thought to himself. "What was she thinking? What was Book thinking? I'll never
forgive him for this." Sonic was filled with anger towards Bookshire and fear
for Tails.
     "Sonic?" Sonic looked behind himself to see Felix walk out of the
darkness.
     "Hey, Felix."
     "I heard about Tails."
     "You did? From who?"
     "Bookshire. He feels pretty upset about what happened to him." Felix sat
down next to Sonic. "Besides, you've been ten times drunker that before."
     "When!"
     "At your bachelor party."
     "How did you know that?"
     "Your Uncle Chuck told me a long time ago. You even threw up in Sally's
flowers!"
     "What? I don't remember that!"
     "...Exactly."
     "Oh, man. I'd better go check up on the little guy."
     "See ya." Sonic grabbed his shoes and walked back to the village. He
arrived at his hut and walked inside. "Sal?" There was no answer. Sonic walked
into the bedroom and noticed Sally sitting next to Tails. He was snoring
quietly as he slept. "Sally?" Sally turned around and wiped her nose with a
tissue. "Is he okay?"
     "I hope so. I'm sorry, Sonic." Sally stood up and hugged him.
     "No, it's okay. It's not your fault."
     "You're not going to do anything to Bookshire, are you?" Sonic paused
and sat down on the bed next to Tails.
     "No. But I'll never forgive him for this. What was he doing with that
stuff in the first place? He knew it was illegal."
     "I don't know. It's getting late, lets get to bed." Sally stood up and
walked over to the closet. She grabbed her night gown and put it on. Sonic
went to the bathroom and threw cold water on his face. Sally and Sonic laid
down next to Tails and closed their eyes.
     Tails' snoring kept them awake for about an hour. Before Sally was going
to try to do something about it, the snoring slowly quieted down and stopped.
Sonic and Sally sat up and looked at Tails. Sally's eyes widened and fear
struck her like a speeding truck.
     "He's not breathing. Get Bookshire!" Sally screamed, but Sonic wasn't
there. He was already at Bookshire's hut waking him up.
     "Get outta bed!" Before Bookshire could see anything, he felt himself
being dragged across the village at a great speed. When he stopped, he tried
to stand, but he was shoved inside Sonic's hut.
     "What's going on!" Bookshire yelled as he brushed himself off. Sally had
Tails in her arms and she walked him over to the dusty raccoon.
     "He's not breathing!" Sally cried. Bookshire immediately woke up and
took Tails from her.
     "How long?" Bookshire asked as he held his ear to Tails' nose.
     "Just now." Bookshire placed Tails on the bed and began giving him
artificial respiration. This continued for about ten seconds and Tails was
still laying lifeless on the bed.
     "I need to bring him to my hut." Sonic picked up Tails and ran him over
there. Sally helped Bookshire walk to his hut because he didn't have his cane
at the time. Sonic suddenly came into view and grabbed Bookshire and dragged
him the entire distance back.
     "I'm really starting to get tired of that, Sonic!" Bookshire stood up
and adjusted Tails on his bed. Sonic shot back inside with Sally in his arms
and gently lowered her to the floor. Bookshire plugged Tails into various
computers and the distinct beep of the heart monitor came on.
     "Oh, thank you!" Sally whispered as she grabbed Sonic's trembling hand.
Bookshire opened Tails' mouth and looked for anything blocking his airway.
Tails suddenly jumped up and began coughing.
     "TAILS!" Sonic screamed. Tails held his head and began crying. Sonic
lifted Tails off of the bed and gave him a long hug. Sally walked up to Sonic
and Tails and gave them both a hug.
     "Tails, you scared me half to death." Sally cried. Tails was still
drunk, but he understood what was going on. By the end of the ordeal, Tails
was back to sleep in Bookshire's hut and Sally was sitting next to him, Sonic
was back in his hut thinking about Tails, and Bookshire began fixing his door.
Not too much damage was done to it, the door was kicked in by Sonic and the
door knob was just bent up really bad. It was easily replaced. Tails was
stable and was now getting a good-nights rest.

- - - -

     "Aunt Sally." Tails moaned as he awakened from a dreamless sleep.
     "Tails? How are you feeling? Are you okay? Bookshire!" Tails grabbed his
head and sat up.
     "My head!" Tails had a pounding headache; he was hung over, bad.
     "Sally?" Bookshire groaned as he crawled out of bed. "Is he awake?"
Sally smiled and nodded her head. "Great, I'll get Sonic." Sally grabbed his
arm stopping him before he reached the door.
     "I think I'd better. He's a little upset with you."
     "Oh, yeah. I've noticed." As Sally opened the door, the sun beamed in
striking Tails right on his face.
     "Aaargh! Close the door!!!" Tails was blinded by the morning sun, even
though it was almost noon. Sally jumped outside and quickly closed the door
behind her. She laughed to herself,
     "He's all grown up."

     Sally reached for the door to her hut and knocked as she slowly opened
it. Sonic was sitting at the kitchen table with his head in his arms
     "Sonic? Tails is up." When he heard Sally come in and tell him of Tails'
condition, his face lit up and he jumped to his feet.
     "Excellent!" Sonic yelled as he grabbed Sally's arm and ran back to
Bookshire's hut. Bookshire was giving Tails some aspirin when he saw Sonic
walk in with Sally.
     "Hello- Bookshire." Sonic grunted.
     "Um, hi, Sonic." Bookshire mumbled as he lowered his head and looked
back at Tails.
     "Sonic, my head hurts." Tails moaned. Sonic ran up to Tails and gave him
a hug. "What's that for?" Tails asked.
     "Your okay!"
     "No I'm not! My head hurts. What happened to me?"
     "Tails, do you remember what happened to you last night?" Sally asked.
     "No... the last thing I remember was when I was in the shower yesterday.
Did I fall, or something?"
     "Tails, there's something I have to ask you. Remember that stuff
Bookshire gave to you yesterday?"
     "Yeah, that shampoo?"
     "Yes, did you drink any of it?"
     "Heck no! Why would I want to drink that stuff for? It smelled bad."
     "I think it seeped through the pores in your skin." Bookshire said.
     "What do you mean?" Tails asked.
     "Do you know what drondathol is?"
     "No."
     "That was that stuff Bookshire gave to you. It's a real strong liquor
and somehow, it intoxicated you."
     "I was drunk?"
     "Yes, you were also very sick, and Bookshire saved your life."
     "He did? Whoa." Bookshire just looked up and smiled. "What happened?"
Sally walked up to Tails and sat down next to him.
     "You stopped breathing last night, that's when we brought you here."
Bookshire stood up and requested Sally and Sonic to leave so Tails could get
some rest.
     "Hey, Book, I wanna talk to you outside." Sonic said in an angry voice.
     "Try to get some rest, Tails." Bookshire said as the three of them
walked outside.
     "Hey, Sal. Book and I want to have a private little conversation. Can
you go on ahead?" Sonic asked in a low, but firm voice.
     "Sonic, please."
     "I just want to talk to him." Sally didn't believe him, but she walked
back home anyway.
     "So, Book," Sonic said angrily. "what made you think you can give
drondathol to a little kid anyway?"
     "Look, Sonic, I didn't know-"
     "You didn't know what? You didn't know you were giving a little twelve
year-old kid liquor?"
     "No! Sonic, listen!"
     "That stuff is illegal! I should arrest you right now!"
     "SONIC! I was only trying to help him!"
     "You should have came to me first!"
     "Then why the hell did I save his life then? If I didn't care about him,
I wouldn't have done a damn thing for him in the first place! I know I've made
a mistake, and I regret that! Tails is in therebecause of me, and if you think
that I don't care for him, you've made a bigger mistake than I!" Sonic was at
a loss of words and just stood there in front of Bookshire. "Are you
finished!" Bookshire yelled. Sonic said nothing so Bookshire turned around and
slammed the door on his way inside his hut.
     "AAAHHHH! BOOKSHIRE!!!" Tails yelled as he grabbed his head.
     "Tails! I'm sorry!"
     "MY HEAD!" Bookshire ran into the kitchen and prepared an ice bag for
Tails.
     "Hold on!" As Bookshire screwed the cap on, he ran back to Tails. Tails
had his head buried face-down in the pillow and he was grabbing the back of
his head. "Take this." Tails turned around and took the ice bag from him and
placed it on his forehead and eyes. He enjoyed the cold bag on his face. It
made the pain go down a little.
     "You really saved my life?" Tails asked.
     "Yeah, Sonic and Sally were really worried about you."
     "I owe you one."
     "That's okay. Everybody ends up saving someone else's life somehow
anyway." Tails lifted the ice bag from his eyes and looked at Bookshire. "Get
some rest."

     Sonic slowly walked back to his hut thinking about what Bookshire said.
He kicked rocks on his way home and thought about Miles and Julayla. He
thought about what would happen to him if anything happened to his only
children. A feeling of deprivation consumed him at the thought.
     "What did you do?" Sally frantically asked as she saw Sonic walk through
the door.
     "Nothin. You were right."
     "What?"
     "It wasn't anyone's fault. It was just an unavoidable situation."
     "Sonic, I'm surprised. You finally believed Bookshire." Sally gave Sonic
a kiss on the cheek and walked into the bedroom to check on the twins.
     "I love you, Sally."
     "I love you too, Sonic."

     Back at Bookshire's hut, Tails had fallen back to sleep, and Bookshire
setup his computer for a link to Erin Draftwood. Bookshire put headphones on
so he wouldn't disturb Tails. The screen went blank, and Erin's face appeared
a second later.
     "Well, hello there, Book! How are you doing?" Erin asked as she smiled
at Bookshire.
     "Hi, Erin." Bookshire said as he smiled back.
     "Is there something wrong?"
     "How did you know?"
     "I could see it in your smile. It looked like you were hiding
something."
     "I would never hide anything from you, you know that."
     "Then what's wrong?"
     "...You remember Tails, right?"
     "Yes, did anything happen to him?"
     "Yeah, but he's okay now. Last night, when Sally and Tails came in, she
asked me if I could find a way to get the purple color out."
     "What did you do for him?"
     "Are you familiar with drondathol?"
     "Oh, no. Is there any reason why I should be worried?"
     "He... used it as a shampoo because of it's cleaning ability and it must
have gone through his skin and intoxicated him."
     "You gave it to him?"
     "Yes, but I didn't know that this would happen. He was also sick, and...
he almost... almost died because of me." Bookshire's vision began to blur from
the tears filling his eyes.
     "Oh, Bookshire. How could you do such a thing?"
     "I never knew this would happen to him. If I did, I would never have
even considered it. Please don't hate me for this."
     "I don't know what to think."
     "I would never do anything to hurt him! Don't you believe me?"
     "I'll talk to you tomorrow. Goodbye." Erin pressed a key on her computer
and Bookshire's monitor went blank. He yanked off the headphones and threw
them on his keyboard. Tails looked up and noticed Bookshire wiping his eyes.
     "I'm sorry, Tails. Did I wake you up?"
     "No, I heard what you were saying." Bookshire only looked back at his
computer.
     "Tails, do you blame me?"
     "No."
     "But I almost killed you." Bookshire said as he looked back up at Tails.
     "I know... but you did save my life, and that's what counts."
     "...Thank you, Tails." Tails turned his head and laid back down. Within
a few seconds, he was back to sleep. Bookshire stood up and walked to the
door. "No matter what anybody thinks, I will always care for you." Bookshire
opened the door and walked out. He went for a walk and didn't plan on how long
he was going to be out. He strolled through the Great Forest and passed by the
Ring Pool.
     After about an hour, he realized that he should get back to tend to
Tails. He headed back to his hut and walked inside. Tails was still asleep and
was getting better as the time went by.
     "I wonder what Sonic's doing. I'd better not bother him." Bookshire
commented to himself. There was nothing else to do around the hut, the place
was clean, no work to do, and all he was waiting on was Tails to recover. With
all of the free time he had, he decided to write Erin a letter.

Dear Erin,
     I'm not a horrible person who enjoys killing children. Just to let you
know that I make good judgements, not saying that my recent mistake was, I
feel that I should tell you what happened and then let you decide about me.
     Yesterday afternoon, Sonic and Tails went swimming by the Ring Pool.
Tails became infested with a harmless microorganism called Crostanthantic
Dothentarinitive Sahrenites and wasn't able to shampoo it out. Sally and Tails
came to me to see if I could help, so I gave them drondathol to use as a
shampoo. I only did this because it was an excellent disinfectant and there
was nothing else to try. I knew that it contained highly concentrated alcohol
and didn't know that it would affect him in any way.

     I've never seen a case where anybody became intoxicated through the skin
and I believe that this is the first case in history.
     Tails did become sick as a result, and I'm in deep regret because of
this. If I knew that this would happen to him, I wouldn't have even brought it
up.
     You know I love you and I wouldn't hurt anyone. I practice medicine
because I care for other people. I wanted to help Tails and I wish that none
of this had never happened. Please call me after you read this.

     Love,
     Bookshire Draftwood.

     Bookshire sent the letter to Erin's computer and shut the monitor off.
Ten minutes later, his computer beeped. Bookshire looked up at it. It beeped
again. Bookshire turned on the monitor. After a few seconds, the message
<incoming transmission> slowly faded on. Bookshire took a deep breath and hit
a key making Erin Draftwood appear before him. Erin looked up and smiled.
     "I got your letter."
     "Do you believe me now?" Bookshire asked.
     "Yes. You were trying to help and you've created medical history in the
process." Bookshire only looked down and smiled.
     "Can I ask you something, Erin?"
     "Of course you can."
     "Will you go out to dinner with me?" Erin was shocked at hear him ask
such a question.
     "What!? I live seven hundred miles from Knothole!"
     "I'll find a way. I would do anything to meet you in person."
     "Are you serious? You would do that for me?"
     "I would do anything for you."
     "What a surprise!"
     "How's the night after tomorrow sound?"
     "Sounds perfect."
     "Great, I'll leave as soon as Tails recovers. He has a hangover."
     "Oh, great, a kid with a hangover."
     "I'll see you then. Goodbye."
     "Goodbye, Bookshire. I love you."
     "I love you too." Bookshire pressed a key and the transmission ended.
"Yes!" Bookshire whispered to himself.

- - - -

     That evening, Sonic and Tails were eating in Sonic's living room. "Chili
dog, extra chili?" Sonic asked as he held one up in front of Tails.
     "Breakfast of Champions!" Tails happily barked.
     "Breakfast? More like dinner."
     "Dinner for you, breakfast for me. I haven't eaten all day, I'm
starved!" Tails ate one chili dog after another. Within five minutes, he had
eaten eight of them. Tails let out a loud burp and wiped his mouth. "Thanks,
Sonic. That was great." Sonic was surprised at the amount of chili dogs he had
eaten. He declared it to be a new record. "I'll be right back, I gotta go."
     "Where?" Tails walked into the bathroom and closed the door. "Oh." Sonic
quietly said to himself.

- - - -

     "I've figured that if I leave at nine and drive at seventy miles an
hour, I'll be in Namrock Village at about eight o'clock. Does that sound okay,
ole buddy, ole pall?" Rotor thought and scratched his head thinking wether to
let Bookshire borrow his hover craft or not.
     "What about Packbell?"
     "No problem, I've got a long-range radar link. I'd be able to pinpoint
him coming from fifty miles away."
     "Well..."
     "Oh please please please please!" Bookshire begged as he knelt in front
of Rotor (which wasn't easy to do).
     "Okay, but make sure you bring it back with a full tank, okay?"
     "Oh thank you, Rotor! You don't know how much this means to me."
Bookshire graciously thanked Rotor and went back to his hut to prepare for the
long trip ahead of him.

     "I leave in two days." He walked inside and placed his cane by the door.
Bookshire packed food rations and Black Mobian Wine for Erin. He had found a
rose bush on his walk that afternoon and planned to pick some when he leaves.

     "Okay, water, food, music for Erin, radar receiver... and that should be
it. That was simple." Before too long, he had all of his supplies neatly
stacked in the corner waiting to be taken for the long trip across the Great
Desert. There was now nothing to do. The supplies were ready, Tails was okay,
the hover craft was ready... he had to wait as the hours were about to slowly
creep by.

- - - -

     Boredom. Absolute boredom. The waiting was torture. He tried to keep
himself occupied by sorting all 271 of his blank disks by density and color.
After that, he manually defragmented his hard drive. He did it this way only
because it took a lot of time to do. That took about three hours, making the
time about eight o'clock in the evening when he finished.
     "I guess I can take a shower. I'm still dusty." Bookshire laughed to
himself. He got walked into the bathroom and turned the shower on. He got
undressed and jumped in. "Ah, man! That feels great." It was a hot summer
evening, but he liked hot showers no matter the temperature. He spent about
half an hour soaking in the shower before the hot water ran out, so he turned
it off and went to bed.

- - - -

     6:58 AM. The morning sun, once again, harshly beamed down on Felix's
face.
     "I've GOTTA move this bed." He moaned to himself as he sat up and picked
the flaky eye boogers out of his eyes. "Tails, wake up." Tails only looked up
and replanted his head into his pillow.
     "Mmnph." Felix jumped down from the top bunk and grabbed his trumpet
from the table. He walked back to Tails and leaned over his head with the
trumpet pressed against his lips. With a slight hiss of air, a fart-like tone
crawled out of the bell and quickly caught Tails' attention. "That's gross!"
Tails whined as he blindly swung his hand in Felix's general direction. Tails
pulled the blanket over his head and tucked it under him.
     "Get up, crayon-boy!" Felix playfully yelled like a drill sergeant.
     "Go away!" Tails was being lazy and Felix knew it.
     "Ya know what? I've been meaning to do this for a long time..." Tails
considered uncovering his head to see what Felix was about to do. Felix walked
up to the end of the bed and grasped onto the sides of it. "Ready?" Felix
asked in anticipation.
     "Uh-" Before Tails could answer, Felix pulled the bunk bed across the
floor resulting in violent shaking.
     "I'M UP! I'M UP!" Tails yelled as he jumped out of the moving bed. Felix
slid the bed in place against the wall next to the desk away from the beam of
sun.
     "There we go." Felix happily said as he crossed his arms and admired his
work.
     "What are you doing?" Tails asked angrily. It's not every day your
roommate comes and rearranges your furniture without your permission.
     "I've wanted to do that ever since the first time the sun woke me up
like that. Alarm clocks don't bother me that much, so we'll use one of those
instead." Tails was about to continue the argument when Felix noticed
something different with Tails' mouth. "Tails, come here." Tails didn't say
anything and walked up to Felix.
     "What?"
     "Your mouth..." Tails wiped his mouth and didn't feel anything on it. He
opened the bathroom door and looked in the mirror.
     "What- the-" Tails' mouth was not purple anymore. His original fur color
bordered his lips. Tails climbed onto the sink and leaned closer to the
mirror. He ran his fingers through the thin fur around his mouth and examined
it thoroughly. Why his lips and only his lips? All he could do is run outside
and get Sally.

     "Aunt Sally! Aunt Sally!" Tails yelled as he pounded on the front door
of the queen's hut. Within a short few seconds, the door opened with a slight
creak.
     "What is it, Tails?" Sally tiredly asked with her eyes barely open. She
was still asleep at the time.
     "Look what happened to my mouth!" Sally leaned down to look at Tails'
lips and at the sight of the purple's absence, Sally became completely awake
and gasped at the sight of it.
     "Tails! How did you get it out?!"
     "I don't know, Felix first noticed it."
     "When?"
     "Just now, when he woke me up."
     "That's great, now all we have to do is find out how you did it."
     "Cool!" Tails ran back to his hut and Sally informed Sonic of Tails'
color situation. Sonic was surprised and wanted to see him.
     "He just went back to his hut."

     "Do you drool in your sleep? Maybe your spit cleaned it off." Felix
commented.
     "No, I don't think so, then I'd have a streak going down the side of my
face."
     "Oh. How about toothpaste?"
     "Good idea!" Tails ran back into his bathroom and grabbed the tube of
toothpaste. He unscrewed the lid and squeezed it in his hair. The toothpaste
was spread on his entire head and then was rinsed off. Nothing.
     "...Maybe it has to sit a while." Tails spread more toothpaste in his
hair and let it sit.
     "So... how long?" Tails asked.
     "Ida know. Same amount of time it takes you to brush your teeth?"
     "Okay." Tails waited about two minutes rubbing the toothpaste deeper
into his fur on his head. Sonic and Sally walked in and noticed Tails with a
headful of toothpaste and Felix standing next to him watching.
     "So you think that's what did it?" Sally asked in a confused tone.
     "I think it was toothpaste that cleaned this stuff off." Tails said as
if he was high on caffeine. He rinsed it off and his head remained purple.
Tails became disappointed and dried off. "Aw man. What else could it have
been?" Tails asked.

- - - -

     That afternoon, Tails walked out of his hut wearing a large, floppy hat,
a red shirt, long, green pants and sun glasses. He was almost completely
covered in clothing. He walked into the dining hall for lunch with a crowd of
Freedom Fighters. Everybody was looking at him and wondered why he was acting
so strange. Tails just walked by normally like he always had before the purple
accident and arrived at the table where Sonic and Rotor were sitting and sat
next to them.
     "Hi, guys." Sonic and Rotor looked at each other and back at Tails.
     "Anything wrong?" Sonic asked.
     "No, why?" Tails looked very silly with those clothes on like that.
     "It's ninety-eight degrees outside! Why on Mobius are you dressed like
that?" Sonic asked in a surprised voice. Tails finally showed that he was not,
at all, comfortable with what he was wearing.
     "Okay, it was a dumb idea anyway." Tails said as he pulled off his hat,
shirt, and sun glasses.
     "I bet all of Knothole knows about this so it's no use then, huh?"
     "Hia, cutey." Bunnie giggled as she walked by. Tails threw his head on
the table in embarrassment.
     "Aw, c'mon. You look good in purple." Bunnie complimented.
     "No I don't!" Tails barked. "I HATE it!"
     "Well get used to it, Tails. Until next summer, it looks like you're
stayin like this unless you find a way to get that stuff off." Rotor said.
     "Yeah, it's late summer now, and I think you just got done shedding."
Tails picked up a chili dog and took a bite. It was spicy, but not too spicy.
Tails' nose started to run so he grabbed a napkin and wiped it.
     "A little spicy for ya?" Tails only shook his head and kept chewing. He
thought to himself that maybe he shouldn't have taken such a big bite. A bean
fell out of his mouth because the lack of room and landed on his chest. Tails
wiped it up with the napkin and put it back on the table. But at least it
tasted good when he swallowed.
     "I wish everyone would stop bugging me about this." Just after Tails
said that, Nina walked up holding a plate of chili dogs and sat down next to
him.
     "Hi, Tails." Nina politely greeted him.
     "Well at least not everybody makes fun of me." Nina was just about to
make a comment about his color, but decided that it wasn't a good time.
     "Want to play capture the flag today? Sally's teaching everyone in about
an later."
     "Wow, really? Cool!" Sonic smiled at the thought of that game. It
brought back many wonderful memories. The day he discovered the Power Ring,
when he met Robotnick, when he returned to his favorite playground, even when
it was destroyed, and the first time he kissed Sally. 
     Sonic finally realized that he was spacing out when Rotor began waving
his hand in front of his eyes. Nina and Tails giggled and Sonic tried to look
cool about it.
     "You okay?" Rotor asked.
     "Yeah, I gotta go. See ya later, guys."
     "Where are you going?"
     "Going to talk to Sal."
     "Bye." Tails mumbled with another bite of a chili dog in his mouth.

- - - -

     "Sal? You in here?"
     "Yes, Sonic. Come here, I want to show you something." Sonic walked into
the bedroom and saw Sally sitting inside the closet.
     "What's up?"
     "Come here." Sally patted the floor next to her and Sonic sat down.
"Remember this?" Sally asked as she presented him with a small note. Sonic
opened it and read it. Within a second, Sonic smiled and let out a small
laugh.
     "I gave this to you when I was ten years old."
     "Nina asked about capture the flag earlier today and it brought back
some old memories."
     "Same here. That's where we first kissed." Sonic and Sally smiled and
looked into each other's eyes. Sonic leaned over to Sally and kissed her on
the cheek. As a result, they both fell back into the closet and laughed.
     "I love you, Queen Sally."
     "Well I love you too, King Sonic." Sonic and Sally kissed once again and
smiled.
     "I thought I told you not to call me king." Sonic said and smiled.
     "Live with it, king." Sally replied and began looking around in the box
of pictures again.

     "These are some things from my childhood I've saved over the years, and
I've brought them out when Bunnie brought up Capture the Flag." Sally picked
up the box and walked over to the bed with Sonic following. Sally and Sonic
sat down and fingered through the box. Sally pulled out a picture and all
happy emotions were drained from her body as she looked at it.
     "What is it?" Sally's eyes began to fill with tears.
     "It's me and Daddy. Julayla took this picture of us when I was three."
Sally handed the picture to Sonic and he looked at it. The same emotions began
to run through his body as well. Nothing was said for about five minutes
during the viewing of many other pictures of her father, Julayla, and Rosie
until the sound of someone knocking at the door broke the silence.
     "Yes? Who is it?" Sally asked as she wiped her nose with a tissue.
     "It's me, Bookshire. Am I intruding?"
     "No, come in." Sally hidden all of her emotions from him with a broad
smile.
     "I just wanted to apologize... for what happened to Tails yesterday."
Sonic stood up, smiled and walked to him.
     "Look, Book, I think I'm the one who should apologize." Sally was
somewhat surprised at what Sonic just said.
     "Sonic? You? Apologize!?"
     "No, Sonic. I shouldn't have even had that drondathol."
     "That's okay, Book. I overreacted. I care for Tails as much as I care
for Sally and my kids." Sally was even more surprised. Last night, Sonic said
he was going to rip his head off. Now he's apologizing!
     "Sonic, are you feeling okay?" Sally asked.
     "I'm glad you understand. I never wanted to hurt him, you know that."
Bookshire and Sonic shook hands and Bookshire left relived knowing that Sonic
had forgiven him for his actions.
     "That was nice of you to do that for him. That meant a lot to me. Thank
you." Sonic only smiled.
     "Aunt Sally!" Tails yelled as he ran inside the hut with Nina.
     "Hey, Tails. What's up?"
     "Can you teach us how to play Capture the Flag now?"
     "Sure, let's go." Sally, Sonic, Nina, and Tails left the hut and arrived
at the field and was surprised to see all of the ten, eleven, and twelve-year
old children of Knothole quietly lined up waiting for the queen's
instructions.
     "Oh, my gosh! This is amazing." At that point, Sally realized what
Julayla felt when she taught all of the Freedom Fighters this game. It was
like she was looking at all of her friends eight years ago through Julayla's
eyes. She just stood looking at them and they wondered what she was doing.
     "Aunt Sally? Something wrong?" Tails asked.
     "No."
     "Why are you crying?"
     "You'll understand when your older." Tails hated when anybody older than
him said that. He thought it was just a way for them to back out of an answer.
     Within about ten minutes of lessons, and suggestions for strategy, the
game began. Tails, Nina, Jessica, Mindy, Ziggy, and Sonic were on one team,
and Abby, Sarah, Kamie, Kelly, Erica, and Sally were on the other.
     "Let the game begin!" Sally yelled and the two teams ran to opposite
sides of the field. Everybody was scattered through the bushes and trees,
except Sonic. Nothing could be heard except for the calm wind blow through the
leaves above. The red cloth was held under a small stone to prevent it from
blowing away.
     "I've got a plan." Sally whispered. "This is what I call The Willow Tree
Diversion: first, Kelly, you run over to that willow tree by the Southern
Meadow distracting them..." Before Sally said anything else, Kelly ran over to
the tree as fast as she could.
     "Kelly! No!" Erica yelled. Sonic walked up to the group with everybody
behind him.
     "Um, Sal? We win." Sonic politely remarked holding the flag in his hand.
     "No fair! We weren't ready!"
     "You said let the game begin!" Tails barked.
     "That doesn't matter!" Sarah yelled. And within seconds, all of the
children were arguing while Sonic and Sally walked off into Knothole holding
hands.

- - - -

     "There ya go, sugar." Bunnie said as she placed the last pin in
Bookshire's tuxedo.
     "Slip it off and be careful!"
     "Thank you very much for this, Bunnie." Bookshire pulled off the tux and
handed it to her.
     "I didn't know I've gained this much weight since the wedding. It's only
been a few months."
     "Oh, hush. You haven't gained weight, you just grew a little bit. It's
only three inches." Bookshire smiled and sat down.
     "I've never been this nervous in my life! This is my first date, and I
really don't know what to do. Got any advice for me?" Bunnie sat back and
began stitching.
     "Well, is she pretty?"
     "Beautiful!"
     "Then when she opens the door, give her a compliment on her hair, or
eyes, or even her smile."
     "Great, then what?"
     "Oh, do you have a gift? That always gets them."
     "Uh, no. What should I get her?"
     "Ah don't know. What does she like?"
     "She loves to play the piano."
     "Well, then sing her a song."
     "What? I can't sing! I've got a horrible singing voice!"
     "Ah'm sure you've got a great singin voice."
     "Trust me."
     "Okay, um, do you know how to write music?"
     "No."
     "Do you have music on your computer?"
     "No, but I can download some."
     "Great! That's a good start. Print her up some. Now all you need is some
wine."
     "Got it."
     "Ooh, what kind ya git her?"
     "Black Mobian Wine. Vintage 3128."
     "Oh my gosh! Where did you get that?"
     "I don't remember."
     "No way."
     "Really."
     "That stuffs worth a fortune! And you can't even remember where you got
it?"
     "Nope."
     "Amazin'." Bunnie looked at her stitch work and then looked at the
clock. It was almost four thirty.
     "Dinner time! You want to eat here tonight? Rotor's busy foolin with the
power ring generator and said he'd be late."
     "Sure he won't mind?"
     "Of course Ah'm sure, besides, I'll be all alone." Bunnie said while
looking at him with puppy-dog eyes.
     "Okay." Bookshire said with a smile. That evening, Bunnie served fried
chicken with a side of mashed potatoes and vegetables. A half hour later when
dinner was finished, Bookshire helped do dishes and talked more about his date
with Erin.

     "Thanks for dinner, Bunnie."
     "Your welcome, sugar. Good luck tomorrow."
     "Thank you."
     "I'll have you tux ready before you leave."
     "Oh, great. I almost forgot about that. Thanks." Bunnie kissed Bookshire
on the cheek and he hobbled back home confident about tomorrow night.

- - - -

     The morning sun shined through Tails' window striking the wall where the
bunk bed used to be. Felix woke up about two minutes before the alarm clock
because he was so used to being waken up at an exact time. He looked at the
sun shine on the wall and smiled. He jumped out of bed and landed without any
sound from his fall. It was only fitting because he was a cat and it was his
nature to land with perfection. He walked over to the desk and shut off the
alarm clock before it could go off. He attempted to wake Tails up, but with
him being twelve years old, it was far from easy.
     Like always, Felix walked outside and was about to play his trumpet when
he saw everybody already out of bed and making their way to the dining hall
for breakfast. Out of curiosity, he walked inside with the crowd of Freedom
Fighters and asked Sally why everybody was up before him.
     "We all got together and decided to wake up before you play your
trumpet. No offence, it's just that some people don't like it."
     "But... but..." Felix whined.
     "I'll make you a deal, if nobodies up before you, you can wake them if
you want. But if they are up, don't play, okay?"
     "All right." Felix moaned as he hunched over a little bit.

     "Bunnie! Got my tux?" Bookshire asked as he trotted over to her. He was
still anxious even though his trip wasn't for another two hours.
     "Right here." Bunnie held up the tuxedo and handed it to him.
     "Oh, great." Bookshire said as he examined the tuxedo while slowly
spinning it on it's hanger.
     "Try it on."
     "Here?"
     "Just the coat." Bookshire took the coat off of the hanger and handed
the it to Bunnie. He put it on and adjusted it as he buttoned the last button.
"Perfect!" Bunnie smiled and pulled at the cuffs a little bit.
     "Well, I don't want to ruin it before my date. I'd better take it off."
Bookshire took the coat off and placed it back on the hanger. "After I eat, I
have to take off." Bookshire, Bunnie and Rotor ate breakfast together. They
had conversations on what do when he met Erin, what to say and how to act.
They almost sounded like parents. Breakfast was finished and Bookshire packed
everything in the hover craft.
     "Thanks again, Rotor." Bookshire happily thanked him before he went on
his way east through the Great Desert. On his way out, he stopped to pick the
roses he found the other day and give them to her when he arrives.
     "SONIC!!!" Tails yelled as he noticed a patch of non-purple fur on his
chest.
     "Whoa! What's wrong?" Sonic asked as he ran up to him sitting at a
dining table.
     "I know how to get the purple out!" Sonic's eyes lit up and he became
excited.
     "How?"
     "Remember yesterday at lunch?"
     "What?"
     "When a chili bean dropped on me right here?" Tails asked pointing at
the dot on his fur.
     "It's the CHILI!" Sonic ran into the kitchen and grabbed a vat of chili
from the refrigerator. He ran to his hut with Tails and Sally following. Sally
had no idea what was going on. Sonic picked Tails up and placed him in the
bath tub.
     "Sonic?" Sally asked in confusion. He didn't answer, but he dumped the
refrigerated chili all over Tails' head.
     "AAAAHHH! THAT'S COLD!!!" Tails screamed.
     "SONIC!" Sally yelled.
     "It's the chili!" A smile of anticipation appeared on her face as she
watched the chili-soaked fox shiver in the tub. Tails rolled around in the
cold chili for a few seconds and then rinsed off. It worked. At long last, it
worked. Only traces of purple stayed waiting for a more thorough washing.
     "I'm not purple anymore!!!" Tails yelled. After a complete chili bath,
he was shampooed to get the smell out and dried off.
     "Amazing." Sally said to herself.
     "Uh oh." Tails whispered.
     "What?" Sonic asked.
     "Bookshire doesn't know about this yet." Everybody laughed and walked
back to the dining hall. On their entrance, there was an applause for Tails.
     "He's back!" Sonic yelled. Within a few seconds, everybody quieted back
down and continued eating like nothing happened.
     "Wanna go swimming?" Tails sarcastically asked Sonic. There was a short
laugh and they also sat back down and continued eating.

- - - -

     Bookshire was on his way through the Great Desert to Namrock Village and
was once again, bored. Bored stiff. The long drive ahead of him bugged the
hell out of him. It was hot and humid. At least he was under a dome and had
air conditioning and UVA/UVB protection. So the heat didn't bother him. All he
saw was sand dunes everywhere. The only thing guiding him was a computer he
brought with him. He thought maybe that it could somehow keep him company. He
put the navigation on automatic and turned around and minimized the window. A
few cables were strung out of the back going into a panel on the floor for
fuel management, navigation, and radar.
     With a few strokes of some keys, a turquoise screen with various icons
appeared before him.
     "Ah, multitasking!" He said with a proud voice. Apparently, Tails
somehow got to his computer to play the games one day. He immediately knew
this because he's known for placing all of the icons in a happy face.
Bookshire only smiled. He knew that there was no harm done, Tails wasn't a
computer hacker.
     He sat back in his chair looking at the icons thinking about Tails. What
would he have done if Tails died? What would have happened to him? No one
would trust him with medicine again, and his Freedom Fighter name would be put
to shame. He would possibly be hated by everyone and banned from Knothole and
anywhere near it.
     The screen saver came on and woke him up from his sleepless nightmare.
He lost interest in the computer and put it back down. He turned around in his
chair and looked at the horizon ahead of him. There was still nothing to do,
but he kept himself occupied by thinking of Tails. Even if he tried not to
think about it, it would plague his mind and force him to pay attention to it.
It was guilt and sadness that overwhelmed him then, and there was no way to
avoid it.
     Bookshire was sorry for what he did, but he kept blaming himself. That
is what was causing all of this guilt. If, somehow, he realized that it
wasn't, he would be cured.
     The constant humming of the engines was starting to become noiseless to
him because he had been listening to it for about two hours now. Almost the
same thing has been happening with his sight, the desert sand appeared to be
non-existent. His senses were now almost completely numb except for thought.
     With a sudden shock to his body, the ringing of someone pounding on the
back hatch caught him off guard and scared him half to death. He quickly
grabbed his hand gun he secretly took with him and walked to the back of the
cockpit.
     "Who is it?" Bookshire yelled over the hum of the engines.
     "Sonic! Open the door!" Bookshire quickly put down the gun and covered
it with the tuxedo.
     "Hold on!" He pulled on a latch to the door and opened it letting Sonic
in. Sand was thrown in while the door was open and that only urged Bookshire
to close the door even faster. Sonic looked even worse, he had sand in all of
his quills. "What brings you here?" Bookshire asked in curiosity.
     "Guess!" Sonic smiled.
     "Does it involve Tails?" Sonic nodded his head and Bookshire had a
bigger smile than Sonic.
     "He got it out!"
     "Bingo!" Bookshire cheered and jumped around in joy.
     "How?" Sonic began brushing his arms off.
     "You'll never guess this one."
     "You're right, I won't."
     "Chili."
     "Chili?"
     "Chili." Sonic repeated.
     "How did you find that out?"
     "You remember when Tails had that ring around his mouth, right?"
     "Uh huh."
     "It was from a chili dog."
     "Whoa."
     "Then, some fell on his chest and cleaned that off too! Before we knew
it, he was taking a bath in ice cold chili."
     "Sounds fun." Bookshire sarcastically remarked.
     "It all came out, and he's back to normal."
     "When was this?"
     "This morning, right after you left, too."
     "Really?"
     "Yeah. I wish I could stay and chat, but I promised Sal I'd be right
back."
     "Well, see you tomorrow then." Bookshire and Sonic gave their goodbyes
and Sonic headed back to Knothole. Sand was everywhere, at least he had
something to do: clean up.
     Nothing he had packed had any sand on it, it was covered up to keep the
sun off of it. The tuxedo was in a thin plastic cover preventing any sand
getting on that, so it was saved. It took him about fifteen minutes to get all
of the sand out and then he continued back on his way to Namrock.
     The gun he had with him was brought for protection. He didn't want
anybody to know he had it with him because he didn't want anyone to think he
might do something stupid from guilt of hurting Tails. He didn't think that
would happen, but it was best that they didn't know anyway.
     The rest period he took to clean out the sand made him set the speed a
little faster. He didn't really calculate anything, he just turned the speed
up a little.

     Back to boredom.

     The knowledge of Tails being back to his normal color again didn't
change anything in the past, but Bookshire was at least in a better mood about
the situation.
     He looked back down at the computer. He picked it up and opened the
screen. There was the happy face looking at him again. The games that were on
it didn't interest him, except for one: Doom II. Felix must have put it on.
Bookshire didn't know how to play, or even what it was about, but he overheard
him talking to some friends about it. He decided to give it a shot. The
opening screen caught his attention. He didn't like it at all. The demo
started to run and REALLY caught his attention.
     "Oh, my." He aborted the game and closed the games window. He looked at
the medical icon and opened that up. He's used it many times before, but he's
never really sat down and used it. He ran the program called "Medic Plus" and
played around with the controls. It was used for a portable heart monitor, and
other various medical uses. He found the "Change Colors" setting under
"Desktop" and found out that the lines that shows the heart beat patterns can
change colors.
     "Cool." He commented to himself. He liked the idea of configurable
colors, but he stuck with the standard monochrome green.
     After about ten minutes of playing around, boredom set in once again. He
turned around and faced the front and stared at the endless sand in front of
him. He wondered how many grains of sand covered the planet, but never really
gave it much thought. He also thought about Packbell. He never thought that
Erin would be in much danger of him because she lived so far away from him. It
would be too much trouble and it's out of his way. He would probably consider
it to be "inefficient" to come seven hundred miles just to create a whole new
group of robots.
     The same blindness and deafness set in again after about five minutes of
starring it the horizon. Bookshire wasn't tired, but he fell asleep from the
rocking of the hover craft. He had a dream and it was about Erin, she was with
him eating dinner together and having various conversations about themselves.
He told her about his life in Knothole and how he's tended to everybody's
medical needs. She told him about her life in Namrock and what she did there
too. Since it was a dream, he listened to what she said but wouldn't remember
what she said when he wakes up. Dreams are strange and very unusual, and if
something out of the ordinary happens in dreams, it's left unnoticed, same
thing that happened in Bookshire's dream.
     In the hover craft, Bookshire started lean over from the movements of
the hover craft. Back in his dream, he was just about to give Erin the first
kiss when he noticed that he hit his head on the control panel during his fall
out of his seat. He was awake and disappointed to be awakened before a good
part in a dream. He's always had those kind of dreams where he's left in the
climax of it and awakened before anything else happens. He's always hated that
and knew he couldn't do anything about it.
     He stood up and placed himself back in the chair. He disengaged the auto
pilot and resumed driving manually because there was nothing else productive
to do.

     After many hours of driving through the Great Desert, Bookshire finally
reached the western border of Namrock Village. He stopped the hover craft and
changed into his tuxedo. He noticed that he was a half hour early, and decided
to surprise her.
     With help with directions from some polite residence of Namrock,
Bookshire finally arrived at Erin Draftwood's home. It was a work of art and
he admired every square foot of it. It was a blue two story house with a
balcony and a chimney. With roses in hand, he knocked on the door six times.
He counted this in his head because he was nervous and didn't really know what
else to do.
     The door was opened by a male raccoon with Erin standing behind him.
     "Bookshire! You're early!" Erin nervously exclaimed.
     Erin? With another man? Bookshire's heart skipped a beat, but maintained
a straight face.
     "Who's..." Bookshire tried to ask, but still racked with nervousness.
     "Oh," Erin replied. "My brother, Jim." Bookshire breathed a short sigh
of relief. Erin stepped outside, while her brother shut the door behind her.
     "My god, you look beautiful." Bookshire sighed.
     "Well, thank you." Bookshire started to remember some advice Bunnie and
Rotor gave to him that morning before he left, but his mind went blank.
     "Your hair looks... clean." Bookshire realized that he had just broken
the number one rule in dating: Don't look or sound stupid.
     Erin forced out a semi-smile and looked at him strange.
     "Thank you."
     "I'm sorry. This is my first date I've been on in my life. I'm really
nervous." Erin understood and walked closer to him. The closer she got, the
more nervous he became.
     "Relax. You've known me for a while now, you shouldn't be nervous." Erin
looked at the flowers and Bookshire noticed her look at them.
     "These are for you." He held the flowers out to her and she took them
graciously. She smelled them and looked back at him.
     "Thank you, they're beautiful. Um, come in." Erin opened the door and
Bookshire saw Jim look at him in disgust and walked upstairs.
     "I don't think your brother likes me."
     "He heard about your... incident." She whispered.
     "Oh. Hey, he got the purple out this morning!"
     "Wow! That's great." Bookshire was still nervous and trying to keep any
conversation going.
     "Um want to go to dinner now?"
     "Love to, but I already made it." Bookshire smiled and caught the smell
of something in the kitchen.
     "Ooh, smells good. What is it?"
     "It's your favorite, sparunetti."
     "Never heard of it. And how do you know of it's my favorite?"
     "It will be." Erin cooed as she slowly walked through a door into the
kitchen, obviously trying to get more of his attention. Bookshire caught on
and followed her. It was a trap, the lights were dimmed, and she had soft
music playing out of a small boom box. Erin walked up to Bookshire and he was
more nervous than ever. He couldn't realize why he was so nervous, he'd known
her for a long enough time to get to know her, but that was just over the
computer... This is Erin in person.
     "I'm glad we could finally meet." Erin said in a quiet voice, but not
whispering.
     "Me too." Bookshire replied. They looked into each other's eyes and
there was a long pause. Erin wondered what he was thinking. She saw that he
was scared, but there was only one sure way of finding out if he really loved
her. With the soft music playing in the background, Erin lifted her arms and
placed them around his waist. Erin closed her eyes and moved her lips closer
to his. It was a shock to his body, he was kissing his true love. But the kiss
was never anything like he'd expect, he's been kissed on the cheek by Bunnie
once or twice after he's done something for her, or when she has ever tired to
comfort him, but never like this! It was the best thing that has ever happened
to him.
     Erin's test was done. She looked at Bookshire and waited for a response,
but all he could do was look back at her. He desperately tried to find
something to say, but his mind was blank.
     "Have you ever kissed a girl before?" Erin asked with a slight tilt to
her head.
     "N- n no."
     "That was pretty good for a beginner."
     "Um, thank you." Erin moved her body closer to his and began dancing to
the soft music. Bookshire stopped shaking and found himself to be very
relaxed. He enjoyed dancing, even if it was the first time in his life he had
danced like this. It was slow and graceful and he would do anything to do it
forever, but he knew that nothing lasted forever. Just then, the music came to
an end.
     "You're a good dancer."
     "You're a good teacher." Erin smiled and ran her fingers through his
hair.

     The obnoxious buzzer of the oven timer went off ending the moment. Erin
let go of him and tended to the fragrant dinner.
     "I've got a surprise for you." Bookshire said as Erin turned off the
oven and placed the pot of sparunetti on the counter.
     "Oh, I love surprises." Bookshire exited the kitchen and ran out the
front door. He jumped onto the hover craft and pulled the bottle of fine wine
out of the back. Carefully, he walked back inside and held it behind his back.
Erin saw him walk back in and was curious about what he was hiding. Bookshire
presented her with the wine and she squealed in delight.
     "Where did you get this?"
     "I don't remember."
     "What?!"
     "I've had it for such a long time, it's escaped my mind."
     "You're serious, aren't you." Bookshire nodded. This problem didn't
bother Erin too long. Actually, it really wasn't a problem. She went back into
the kitchen and fetched two glasses and a corkscrew. Bookshire removed the
cork and poured the wine.
     Black Mobian Wine is an unusual substance. It isn't really black. It
appears that way in the bottle. When exposed to air, however, it slowly turns
transparent. If a glass is left to sit, one can see a layer of transparent on
top of black wine. In order for the wine to do this however, the utmost skill
must be applied upon pouring. Erin poured two glasses, each black as pitch.
     "Impressive." Bookshire commented and took a sip. He coughed a little
bit; Black Mobian Wine is strong stuff. Erin did the same, and took
Bookshire's hand. It was trembling slightly.
     "Bookshire! What's wrong?" Erin asked.
     "It's just that, you know..." Bookshire blushed slightly. "This is the
first date, and..."
     "Shh. You're babbling." Erin said, and the two proceeded to dance.
     "The, uh, dinner will get cold." Bookshire said.
     "I have a microwave." Erin said softly, and laid her head upon
Bookshire's chest. His heart raced faster yet, but he enjoyed it. He ran his
hand through her hair, and danced a while longer.

- - - -

     "...And he was given a metal for bravery, and for saving Sally's life!"
Bookshire explained as they both finished dinner. He was having the most fun
he had ever had in his life talking with Erin about all of his adventures in
Knothole. She listened to every word he said and enjoyed it.
     "Well, enough about me, what's it like in Namrock."
     "It's nothing like Knothole. The village leader, Tim Evermore, is trying
to declare Namrock a city due to it's population."
     "Really?"
     "Turns out that the council of elders refuse to go through all of the
paper work and spend all of their time at those stupid casinos." Bookshire
almost coughed up is wine and dropped his glass.
     "Casinos?!"
     "I told you Namrock was big."
     "Yeah, but you didn't say you had casinos!"
     "Hey, I never knew what happened to Nina a few minutes ago until now."
     "We have a lot to talk about then." Bookshire and Erin just finish
dinner and noticed that the bottle was empty.
     "We're out." Bookshire commented as he looked down the neck of the
bottle. He was just below almost slightly drunk, but not quite.
     "This is the best night that I ever had." Erin said as she took
Bookshire's hand.
     "What? We've only started!" Bookshire proudly said as he stood up. Erin
stood up with him and embraced in a kiss.
     "Bookshire!" Erin was surprised to see him so sure of himself.
     "Hey, I've never heard you play your piano before." Erin turned around
and looked at her piano sitting in the dark.
     "Okay, I guess I could play something for you."
     "How about this?" Bookshire asked as he presented her with a folder of
sheet music.
     "You sure know how to impress a girl." Erin laughed. They both walked up
to the piano and Erin turned on a light. She sat down and opened the folder.
Piacer D'Amor was the name of the song. She placed the music in front of her
and began playing. It was the most beautiful thing they have ever heard. Erin
rocked back and forth ever so slightly to the rythmn of the music. After the
last bar, Erin stood up, and Bookshire applauded. Erin smiled and bowed.
     "Okay, now. How about we get more wine?" Erin asked.
     "Yes, okay." Bookshire replied. Erin retrieved a light jacket, and the
two stepped out into the night air of Namrock Village. The sun had set, and
the street lamps gave the town a look of perpetual twilight. Bookshire sighed.
This town had only been touched by stories of Packbell atrocities. Memories of
his home town when King Acorn was in power flashed by. Those were sweet
memories. They were interrupted by Erin's voice.
     "Any particular vintage in mind, Bookshire?" Erin asked.
     "Huh? Oh, uh, I thought you were going to get the wine?" Bookshire
asked.
     "Oh no!" Erin giggled. "I'm flat broke!"
     "I haven't seen currency for ten years! Literally!" Bookshire replied.
They passed a shop with three golden orbs attached to the wall, that hung over
Bookshire.
     "Wait a second." Bookshire said, and entered the pawn shop. Behind the
cashier's cage was a weasel, smoking a thin cigarette, and reading a gun
magazine.
     "Yeah?" the weasel asked. Bookshire pulled out from under his coat his
gun. The weasel's eyes widened only slightly. He tried to keep his eagerness
in check while he examined his gun.
     "Hmm." The weasel looked down the barrel. "I'll give ya three hundred
Mobium for it."
     "Fair enough." Bookshire replied. He collected three one hundred Mobium
notes and placed them in his pocket. When he left, the weasel smiled broadly.
It was obvious the gun was worth more than three hundred.
     "Okay, where is this wine merchant?" Bookshire asked. Erin pointed to
her left, and they crossed the street. They entered a little shop that was
composed of a counter in the rear, and wine shelves along the walls.
     "Hello, Erin." The merchant greeted. He was a old badger with glasses,
and a spare tire. His face was slightly wrinkled, but not unkind. "What can I
do ya for?"
     "Have any Black Mobian Wine, Jake?" Erin asked.
     "Aye, that I do." Jake replied, and looked under the counter. He
retrieved a bottle that had a blanket of dust on top. He handed it to
Bookshire. Bookshire blew the dust away, revealing the label. The year was
3218.
     "Wow. This is older than you, Jake!" Erin giggled.
     "Don't count on it." the badger replied back.
     "Okay, how much?" Bookshire asked.
     "Oh..." Jake said in deep thought. He kept most of his prices in his
head. "'Bout seventy five Mobium. No, I'm sorry, eighty."
     "Can you scare up another bottle?" Bookshire asked. Jake nodded his head
and looked under the counter. After a broken bottle and a few obscenities
muttered under the counter, Jake came back with another dusty bottle.
Bookshire produced two notes and handed them to Jake. Jake in turn handed him
two twenty Mobian notes. Bookshire looked at them. They had a picture of a
baby on the cover in a crown.
     "Why, that's Sally as a baby!" Bookshire said. "Thank you." The two
exited the merchants shop and headed for Erin's house again. Inside, a beep
went off.
     "What was that?" Bookshire asked. The beep sounded again.
     "Oh, my computer." Erin replied. "C'mon. I'll show you." The two entered
Erin's bedroom. In the corner was her computer. Erin sat down, and answered
the beep. A face of another raccoon appeared, one of Erin's friends.
Bookshire, while Erin was talking, poked around in her box of disks. He
removed one. Erin closed her conversation, and turned to Bookshire.
     "Do you know this game is at least one hundred years old?" Bookshire
asked.
     "What? Magic and Mystery? Yeah, it's one of my favorites."
     "Too bad. I'm the best at it." Bookshire replied.
     "Yeah right!" Erin exclaimed.
     "Care to prove it?" Bookshire asked smugly, with one eyebrow cocked.
     "You're on!" Erin replied. She inserted the disk, and the two began to
play.

- - - -

     "Ha, ha!" Bookshire exclaimed. "That's another hundred points!"
     "Oh, yeah?" Erin asked, and typed in her command. The entire screen
flashed. After the screen stopped pulsating, it showed a skull and crossbones
on top of Bookshire's castle.
     "You let your guard down to snag those points, my friend." Erin said.
"Final score, Twenty two hundred thousand four hundred five to twenty two
thousand one hundred fifteen." She took a sip of wine, which had done the half
and half' trick by now. Bookshire tried to stifle a yawn.
     "What time is it?" he asked. When, he did, the sunbeams hit the floor of
her bedroom.
     "Wow! Talk about addiction!" Erin said, and also yawned.
     "I'm afraid I have to go home now, Erin. It was very fun."
     "Same here, Bookshire. Goodbye." Erin replied, and kissed him one more
time.
     "I love you." Bookshire called, and walked to the hovercraft. He
entered, and heard the computer beeping. Yawning, he hit enter, and saw Rotor
as angry as he had ever seen him before.
     "Oh dear." Bookshire said, and put his face in his hands. "I'm sorry,
Rotor."
     "When do you plan on coming back?" Rotor angrily asked.
     "I'm coming back right now. I'm truly sorry about this. Is there any way
I can make this up to you?"
     "Oh, I've already got something in mind." Rotor said crossing his arms.
     "Thank you. I got caught up in a game with Erin, and I've had the most
fun I had in my life!"
     "Gee, great, get back." Rotor said and the screen went blank. Bookshire
was happy that Rotor wasn't too mad at him, at least that's what he thought.
But he didn't care, his time in Namrock with Erin was great, and would have
gone through a hundred scoldings from Rotor to come there again.
     As he slowly pulled out of the driveway, he saw Erin wave goodbye. He
waved back to her as he accelerated down the street. She was no longer in
sight and that was the end of the date.
     Back in the desert, Bookshire was exhausted. He set it to auto pilot,
set up an alarm for any near by vehicles, auto-diagnostic problems and the
arrival of Knothole.
     In the glass dome of the hover craft, it was filled with liquid crystal.
Very convenient for a curtain, and was used for privacy or a sun shade, or
anything that would require it's cover. Bookshire flipped a switch and the
dome became a solid black. The inside was completely dark except for an
assortment of tiny lights from the control panel. He laid down and fell
asleep.

- - - -

     Back in Knothole, Rotor was calmed back down a little because no real
harm was done to anything. Bookshire was just late, and Rotor didn't need the
hover craft for anything anyway. Bunnie was the one who convinced Rotor to
ease up on him, and Bookshire would probably thank her for calming him down.
     Sonic knocked on Rotor's door and Rotor answered it.
     "Hey, man. Isn't Book supposed to be back by now?" Sonic asked.
     "Yeah, only if he left when he was supposed to."
     "What? Where is he now?"
     "He just now left Namrock and will be back sometime tonight."
     "Bummer, I was hoping he'd get to see Tails before he goes to bed
tonight."
     "Well, he'd better be back real soon." Sonic, Rotor, and Bunnie went to
breakfast and met up with Sally, Tails, and Felix at the dining hall.
     "Hey, guys." Felix greeted the small group. "Bookshire back yet?" Felix
asked.
     "No, he just now left." Sonic commented.
     "Oh, I just wanted to see how his date went."
     "Ah'm sure he had a blast!" Bunnie said.
     "How's that?" Felix asked.
     "He spent the entire night with her. He's shoulda had fun." Bunnie
giggled.
     The rest of the day went by without incident. The only thing going on
was Tails brushing out any purple left behind by the chili. By that evening,
all the stray purple was out, and the normal red-brown color was back. At
about twenty one hundred hours, Bookshire coasted back into Knothole. As he
climbed out of the hovercraft, he found Sonic, Sally, Felix, Rotor, and Bunnie
waiting for him.
     "Good evening." He greeted happily.
     "So how was your date?" Sonic asked.
     "The best, Sonic. It was the best." Bookshire replied. He walked over to
his hut to change out of the tuxedo he had been in for thirty six hours. Felix
followed him.
     "You dog! All night with her, eh?" Felix said before Bookshire closed
the door.
     "Oh, Felix. All we did was play games all night. Nothing happened."
     "Right." Felix said, and walked back to Tails' hut. Bookshire mumbled
something to himself, and went inside. After he changed, he walked over to the
dining hall to talk to Sally. Inside, she sat, reading a book.
     "Oh, hello, Bookshire." She greeted.
     "I have something to show you, Sally." Bookshire said, and pulled out a
twenty Mobium note out of his pocket. He handed it to her.
     "This is the new series of the twenty Mobium notes. Look who they got to
pose for it." Sally unfolded it and saw her baby picture.
     "Oh my!" Sally exclaimed. "I have this picture!" She trotted over to her
hut, and looked through the closet. After two minutes, she produced a picture
about fifteen years old.
     "I'm honored." Sally said, and compared the two pictures. She smiled,
and put the note and the picture on the dresser.
     "Can I keep this?" Sally asked.
     "Sure, I have no use for it."
     "Thank you." Bookshire left and Sally climbed into bed next to Sonic.
Outside Tails' hut, Bookshire peered in at Tails sleeping. He breathed a
slight sigh of relief when he saw that Tails was Tails-colored again. Felix
saw Bookshire outside by the window and walked up to him.
     "Hey, Book. This the first time you've seen him today?" Bookshire nodded
his head.
     "Oh, Felix. About this 'Doom II' game..." Felix was suddenly nervous.

     The next day, Rotor forgave Bookshire for being so late and let him out
of debt to him. He never told him what his punishment was going to be, but he
didn't care. Everything was back to normal in Knothole Village.