/peeks into here...

[twotailedgenius]

[The place really hadn't changed in four years, had it? Tails walked along the halls of the school, passing by multiple unfamiliar faces. He was taking his time in re-visiting the school, inside and out.

He made it a point to try and look for some of his old friends, though in four years, things would likely have changed a lot, right? They may not even be here anymore... or they may be different, parallel universe selves or something. Though he greeted any that talked to him first, explaining he was just looking around for now.

There were few places he didn't look (namely, where he wouldn't be allowed), but he went around most of it seeing if he could find any familiar faces or, likewise, if any familiar faces could find him.

The only way they'd probably be able to tell it was him... was the red scarf he wore around his humanizing necklace.]

[OOC: This is the same Tails from back in '09/'10, coming back after leaving the Academy for 4-5 years. Due to all canon updates and likely wandering around, he has just recently turned 16.

Also I know there's probably only... 1 or 2 characters here that would remember him from back then. XD But everyone can reply!]

Comments

[iamtheeggman]

[Instead of friends, Tails would have to settle for a big fat evil dickbag, who rounded the corner and ran right into him.]

WATCH WHERE YOU'RE--

[His scowl became a MEGA SCOWL.]

GET OUT OF HERE!! I'VE GOT ENOUGH FURBALLS RUNNING AROUND UNDERFOOT HERE WITHOUT ANOTHER OF THE HEDGEHOG'S CHEER SQUAD!

[twotailedgenius]

Oops, sor--

[Annnd he sees who it is. And is momentarily shocked]

--Eggman? You're still here?

[They haven't fired him yet!?]

[iamtheeggman]

[Smash has very lax hiring policies.]

OF COURSE I'm still here! WHY ARE YOU HERE?! I bet the blue rat put you up to this, didn't he?!

[twotailedgenius]

[Clearly.]

Well, I've been around for a few months, decided to drop by... haven't seen Sonic yet though. [Odd, he usually would by now.] So I guess that means he's still here too.

[It's almost like he isn't even really talking to Eggman.]

... So wait, you've been still teaching here the last four years? [Four or five, it's hard to keep track, really.]

[iamtheeggman]

[He leaned down close. He had well rendered sandwiches on his breath.]

And WHAT IF I HAVE?

[twotailedgenius]

[Sheesh, Eggy, ever thought of using breath mints?

Tails, meanwhile, didn't budge, and simply grinned.]

It really doesn't matter either way. I was just curious.

[Because no matter what, he's keeping an eye on you. Again.]

[iamtheeggman]

[YOU LITTLE SHIT]

Well, let me tell YOU something, you little fox BRAT. I don't care HOW long you've been away, or whatever you've been up to. If you get in my way, you WON'T live to regret it.

[He pokes Tails' forehead.]

Do we have an understanding?

[twotailedgenius]

[Hey, hands off the fur. His expression returns to a neutral one, though.]

As long as you don't try any more world domination stunts or try to hurt people? I won't.

But if you do, you know what'll happen. [And it always does. But hey Eggy? Tails is a little different now. He ain't putting up with that crap anymore.

Call it still getting over the Lost Hex incident, maybe. But he was just tired of Eggman at this point.]

[vela_nova]

[She was definitely not the Blaze you knew before, but she did still recognize you. At least another version of you.]

Tails...? When did you get here?

[twotailedgenius]

[Oh hey, it's Blaze! He waves to her.]

Not too long ago. How've you been, Blaze? It's been a few years. [Well, aside from that meeting when time and space was getting ripped apart, anyway.]

[vela_nova]

It has. Though I don't know long it's been for either of us, to be honest... This place works in strange ways.

[twotailedgenius]

Definitely agreeing with you on that one. [So maybe she didn't remember. It was best to assume she didn't, just to avoid confusion.]

[vela_nova]

That being said...

...You look taller than I remember you.

[twotailedgenius]

I was here before, a couple of years ago. Because of that, I'm probably older than you remember me. [He rubs the back of his neck nervously.] I'm 16 now.

[monotreme_101]

[Huh. Look at that! The kid showed up.

....was it just Knuckles, or did Tails look a little taller?]

Hey, bud. How you doin'? When did you arrive?

[twotailedgenius]

[Was it just Tails, or did Knuckles seem younger? He really should start just assuming anyone he meets that he knew may not remember his time here at the Academy.]

Hey, Knuckles! Not too long ago, actually. Decided I'd drop by and see how the school's doing.

[monotreme_101]

How it's doin'? How'd you even know...

[Oh. Oh wait - he'd been told that Tails had been here before. And this Tails definitely seemed a little older than the one he'd last spoken to back in their world.]

You've been here before, huh?

[twotailedgenius]

[Yeah, definitely not the same Knuckles. But hey, that's alright. He'd apparently been gone a long time, and he'd just seen Knuckles not too long ago after the Lost Hex incident.]

Yup! A few years ago. I was here for... over a year. Can't remember exactly how long.

[monotreme_101]

Huh...

[Well, that was kind of weird. This Tails probably knew the Other Knuckles.]

Well, you'll probably like it here. It's full of a lot of real smart people. Got a whole big science wing and all. Never... uh. Never been IN there. But I know there IS one.

[Wait, why is he even trying to sell the place? Tails has already BEEN here.]

But you already know that, I guess!

[twotailedgenius]

[Same old same old, from the sounds of it.]

At least the science wing's still being used!

And yup, I knew that. But I know it can kinda be confusing when stuff like this happens. [When they can all seemingly come back with different memories. Or none at all of any previous enrollment at the school.] So don't worry about whether I know stuff or not. Things could've changed in the time I've been gone, after all!

[monotreme_101]

I've only been here a little while. A few months. Sonic and Blaze are here too. Eggman's been here for years - he's probably the same one that was here when you were around for the first time.

[At least that much hasn't changed on you, Tails! ...oh wait that's terrible.]

So, you stickin' around?

[twotailedgenius]

Yeah, I already saw Eggman. I'm surprised he's still here. [Seriously, does he have to actually approach the Hands himself about that?]

On my way to submit my enrollment, actually! So I'm definitely sticking around. [Besides, he can still keep an eye on Eggman while he's here.]

[monotreme_101]

Cool. I'll walk with you.

So, what was the last thing you remember happening in our normal world before you decided to come here? You, uh... you get sent here without meanin' to or did you come on your own?

[twotailedgenius]

The last thing I remember is Sonic battling Eggman after he betrayed us. The Lost Hex incident. I reprogrammed his machine to return the energy it stole back to our world. A couple of weeks later, I ended up back in Final Destination City.

I've been wandering around a bit, but I haven't been back for very long.

[monotreme_101]

....uh. Come again?

[Nope. Sorry. You have dialed the wrong number. Please try again.]

So, wait, Time Eater? You remember that thing?

[twotailedgenius]

[What? Oh. Ohhhh.]

Yeah. The Time Eater was before the Lost Hex... incident... so I guess you haven't experienced that yet.

[monotreme_101]

Lost Hex? Huh...

[He'd only ever heard rumors about it in treasure hunting circles. Not enough to even say if it really existed.]

I guess you're swimming further down the time stream than me. Last thing I remember was that whole Time Eater mess, goin' back to my Island, then BOOM, got sent here by the Master Emerald. Can't even use the Portals to go back. For some reason, they don't work for me.

[He'd tried.]

[twotailedgenius]

The Master Emerald sent you here? Huh... weird.

[Wasn't the Master Emerald here at one point? Hmm...]

Yeah, it's a few months after the Time Eater thing happened. It's a long story. Basically Eggman's still a jerk and has decided to double-cross us after he needed our help.

[Or rather, Sonic needed Eggman's help rather than Tails'. Yeah. That was a thing, but Tails had forgiven Sonic for it. After all, he was kind of acting like a child about it, and realized it after the fact.]

[monotreme_101]

Huh, really? You guys got double crossed by Eggman?

[He couldn't help smirking.]

Yeah, welcome to MY world, little buddy.

[Come on. Sonic was always teasing him about getting taken in by Eggman's lies. Nice to see that shoe on another foot for once!]

[twotailedgenius]

More like Sonic did. He decided he needed Eggman's help to disable a machine when I could've done it just fine. Funny enough, I was the one who ended up disabling it anyway, since Eggman was planning on double-crossing us from the beginning.

[monotreme_101]

Really? Big Blue doubted your ability to disable a machine?

[Knuckles was a master at disabling machines - he just punched them to smithereens! However, for a more technical approach, Knuckles would never have doubted Tails for a second.]

[twotailedgenius]

I guess by some weird logic if it's Eggman's machine and the help he needed was something that was his fault to begin with... maybe he deserved it and maybe we would've needed his help. But he originally stole energy from our planet and the machine held it and could return it.

[It seemed.... strangely out-of-character for Sonic, given even he knows Tails is smart enough to push a few buttons and pull a lever. He kind of thinks the whole thing was just silly nowadays.]

[monotreme_101]

....riiiight.

[Nope. Knuckles didn't get that At All. It really DID seem a little out of place for Sonic to trust Eggman over Tails no matter the circumstances.]

I coulda just smashed the machine open and gotten the energy back that way. Woulda been way easier and way quicker.

[twotailedgenius]

I'm not sure doing that would've been the best course of action... it could've made the energy disperse instead and never actually return to the planet.

[He understands, really, Knuckles... but punching doesn't solve everything.]

[monotreme_101]

[You shut your damn mouth punching fixes everything!]

Yeah, but if the energy dispersed, it's gotta go someplace, right? It can't disappear. Itt'd just find its way home. Like a lost puppy or something.

[punch_in_pink]

[Jogging took Mac many places, and he saw familiar people. Most of the time, he would throw a friendly grin and a wave. Occasionally, have a chat, if the other person wasn't in a rush and didn't mind.

He saw a face though this time that made him stop. Why, hello there, bro. He remembered.]

T-Tails??

[twotailedgenius]

[Hey, someone else he remembered! And from the way Tails' name was mentioned, it was very likely Mac remembered too.]

Hey, Mac! [Big grin.] Glad to see you're still here!

[star_punched]

[It really was him, right? The Tails he knew when he first came here? Well then, Mac's just going to bring you into a big and muscular squeeze.]

Good gravy, man! It's been years! How are ya?

[twotailedgenius]

[You remember the scarf, right Mac? And you might catch a quick glimpse of that humanization necklace he wore, too. And good grief you have to remember he's still kinda small so that.. kinda... hurts... but he's happy to see him regardless.]

About four, yeah, I heard. I've been great! What about you? Have you really been here the whole time I've been gone?

[mach_n_roll]

[Yeah, so about those parallel-universe friends you were talking about, that would know him but not really share his experiences...?]

Tails? [Sonic cocks his head from a few yards away, unsure if that's the same little buddy he'd spend so much time with back home.]

[And oh dear god, Sonic's carrying books.]

...Tails! Ahah, oh wow, that really IS you, huh? Man, you look different!

[twotailedgenius]

[He'd heard Sonic was around, but seeing him still made Tails grin.

... Of course, the last thing he said made one thing plainly obvious: this wasn't the same Sonic he knew before.]

Yup, it's me! Do I really look that different? {Well, red scarf, being taller... kinda?]

[mach_n_roll]

Yeah! You're taller, for one.

[Spot-on, Tails. He shifts his weight thoughtfully, the stack of books he was holding resting on his hip.]

Hold up, how old are you now? You look older too, now that I notice.

[twotailedgenius]

[He never really noticed how tall he was. ... Mostly because nobody mentioned it until now.]

Sixteen. I attended the school a few years ago and wound up back home sometime after I left to explore another world.

[mach_n_roll]

You went here? Huh, wonder how I never noticed...

[Alternate timelines are hard to grasp sometimes, even for a guy who lives them on a semi-regular basis.]