Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Mania

Mania appeared patient as she watched her mother prepare to leave for town. The 10-year-old hedgehog sat at the kitchen table for two as her mother gathered up her keys and bag. Mania appeared the epitome of a well-behaved child.

And she was…mostly.

Little…glitches in Mania’s demeanor could give away her perfect child appearance. The fast tapping of her dark green shoes, or the constant adjusting of the red headband that could never settle in her deep purple quills. The fast breaths were also a concern, but Mania was most scared of her heart.

It thundered.

Mania heard it at all hours of the day, like the roar of the train that blew through town, her heart beat at a million miles per minute, or at least that’s what it felt like to Mania, she tried counting it once, but was quickly distracted by something.

And speaking of distraction, Mania’s mother had just said something and Mania missed it.

Mania chose to smile and nod. That seemed to work as Mania’s mother smiled back and left the cabin. Finally. Mania let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding and took a look down at the loud offender that was her heart.

Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom. It called out.

Mania had no idea how her mother never heard the thing, it was a constant percussive force that beat at the inside of Mania’s head. Luckily, she had figured out a solution.

Getting up from the kitchen table, Mania took a moment to go to the window by the front door, her green eyes scanning the path to town, and watching her mother leave.

Mania’s mother was taking her sweet time. Much to Mania’s dismay, she ground her teeth and narrowed her eyes, wishing that she could make her mother go faster.

Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom.

Mania’s mother was approaching the curve in the path where the trees blocked Mania’s view, until her Mother was behind there, Mania had to be ready to put back on her perfect daughter façade.

Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom.

Mania was going to beat her head against the window if her mother didn’t move faster.

Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom.

Just a few more steps and then Mania would be home free to drown out the pounding of her heart, she screwed her eyes shut trying to block out the beating.

Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom.

Mania’s eyes shot open and her mother was gone, off to town and invisible to Mania’s outlet. She didn’t waste another second. Putting her feet on the window sill, Mania bounced away propelled by her legs to the window opposite it, a quick tuck and roll later she was there. Putting both skinny arms under the window, Mania threw it open, allowing a second to breathe in the fresh morning air.

Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom.

The source of Mania’s frustration made itself known again. But this time she smiled, knowing it’d soon be gone. Mania hopped out the window and rolled onto her feet.

And then she ran.

Faster than one might expect from a small young hedgehog, but here she was, moving fast; faster than cars, faster than a train, faster than just about anything else. Mania watched flickies fall behind her and trees start to blur as she moved through the forests behind her cabin home. Hills in the distance began to rise up and disappear behind her. Soon everything was behind her, trees, hills, animals, her home, her mother.

Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom Chka-BOOOOOM.

The final beat of her heart echoed alongside the sonic boom that signaled the break of the sound barrier, and finally the noise of her thunderous heart was behind her. And all was quiet as the world was moved under Mania’s feet, and she was finally free to hear her own thoughts.

“WOOOOOOOOOoooooo HOOOOOOOO!” Mania Rose yelled out silently as the sound of her excitement was already miles behind her.

Amy

Amy Rose smiled at her daughter as she closed the cabin door, the last sight of her sitting calmly at the kitchen table. Amy walked calmly down the path into town, checking through her bag for the items that she’d need for the day.

Keys, wallet, extra bags. And of course her sketches. A set of a dozen different pieces of paper filled up the hedgehog’s satchel bag, each sporting a dress design.

Following a bend in the pathway, Amy grinned at the drawings, some of her best work yet, if she did say so herself. Amy closed back up the bag carefully, making sure that none of the artwork would get crumpled or bent. Amy wondered if Mania would be doing any drawing today, following in her mother’s footsteps of fashion design. The thought only widened the grin on Amy’s face.

Well, I hope she doesn’t exactly follow in my footsteps. The thought made Amy’s smile drop and she reconsidered opening her bag and stopping in the middle of the path to put a few more adjustments to her designs.

She shook the thought away and snapped back to her perfect little girl. Mania is what Amy lived for. The royal purple of her quills, the shine of her eyes, the way she’d dance and sashay with any movement that she made, or the snort that her nose would make if she laughed too hard.

Amy let out a chuckle, her spirits quickly returning as the path opened from the tree line to look out over the top of a hill, and below sat the sleepy seaside town of Port Shell.

A quiet little village, it sat on the far side of the island nation of Tropiana, which sat on the far side of the ocean, on the far side of the world, far from just about everything, and everyone.

Amy sauntered down the path, humming a quick tune as she approached the village. A perfect little place for Mania to grow up. It had a general store and a small array of shops, a one room schoolhouse, a local eatery, and friendly neighbors. Mania would live a peaceful life here. Of that Amy was sure.

Breathing deeply, the fresh salty sea air, Amy crossed onto the main road behind a passing car, a rare commodity in the humble town. She strolled down the sidewalk for a half mile or so, waving and greeting the inhabitants of Port Shell. Amy took a pause at the coffee shop, Lean Bean, to grab a quick coffee and greet the owner and note the dirty dishes sitting out on one of the tables.

“Y’know Benny, if you wanna keep customers coming in, you oughta keep this place spic and span,” Amy joked.

Benny, a young chipmunk on the shorter side, whose brown and tan fur was broken up by shocks of black and the main employee of the Lean Bean simply rolled his eyes at her,

“My apologies Ms. Rose, we’ve had a group of tourists the past few days and I have been busy.”

Amy paused to look up from the sarcastic chipmunk to look at the currently empty shop,

“Yeah it’s real bustling in here Benny.”

“We just haven’t hit the morning rush yet!”

“It’s 7:30 in the morning Benny, everyone in this town is out and about by 6:30.” Amy said flatly as she started for the door.

“Well what about you Ms. Rose?” Benny started to sputter, the conversation getting away from him.

“I’m-,” Amy paused opening the door, “-a rebel.”

“Ha! Sure, and Mania just happens to be so well-behaved just cause!” Benny called as Amy stepped out.

“She’s just that awesome Benny my friend.” Amy took a bow as the coffee shop door closed and Amy continued towards her destination. She chuckled to herself, if Benny doesn’t get those dishes cleaned up soon, Erica was gonna give him hell.

Tourists in Port Shell, the thought made Amy pause. While not entirely baffling, it was a little odd. The island of Tropiana was a fairly popular tourist destination, but not many made the journey all the way to Port Shell. Other than a quick ferry stop for photos and bathroom on an island tour, few actually stayed in the town to get a better look at it.

Amy didn’t have time to properly mull over the thought as she arrived at her destination, Honey’s Fabric Co.

Vector

Vector the Crocodile decided that he hated cinnamon buns. A sticky swirly mess of a dessert that, in his honest opinion, ultimately wasn’t worth the calories. Seriously, who had thought that a circular dessert filled with cinnamon, and a mediocre icing was actually that good of a treat? All this recent dislike for the spicy circle had nothing of course to do with the fact that it had recently almost blown his cover.

Charmy the Bee, the youngest member of the Chaotix Detective Agency, had thought that it would be a good idea to start the day with one of those confounded concoctions. A pick-me-up of sorts for their investigations. It was an idea that, at the time, Vector had sympathized with. He had hoped that Charmy would wait until after their target of investigation completed her morning routine before going to get the cinnamon rolls. But no luck there. Vector was deep in examining evidence photos when he finally noticed Charmy was missing. He’d had to rush to the Lean Bean coffee shop, pull Charmy out of the shop and into their rental car, just as Amy Rose walked by.

Amy Rose. It had been a struggling 6 months in seeking out the hedgehog that had been missing for close to 11 years at this point. Vector’s longest investigation in the history of his career, and the most challenging one. He, Charmy, and Espio the Chameleon had followed a hair’s nest of leads and strings in order to find the girl, or at this point woman. He had to hand it to her, when she didn’t want to be found, she gave it her all, and now here she was, at the end of the world, matured and changed.

In the brief glimpses that Vector had gotten of Amy during the last few weeks of investigating her, he’d seen a nigh completely different person from the one that had disappeared a decade of so ago. She stood taller and more confident, but calmer in her demeanor and talked softly with conviction that still reminded Vector of the young girl she once was. It brought a smile to his lips.

Dropping the light grin, Vector turned down the road to their hotel, the base of operations here at Port Shell, and pulled out his communicator.

“Yeah, it’s me.” He said into the device. “She’s currently just running through the day, livin’ it like the rest of us.”

“Nothing suspicious still?” The deep voice on the other end of the line asked impatiently.

“Nothing dangerous,” Vector corrected, “As for suspicious…well not that either, but there is a bit of a complication.”

The voice on the other end was silent, and Vector realized it was looking for more information.

“A-as I said, it’s complicated and worth discussing in person.” Hearing a sigh of affirmation Vector completed the call.

“So…he’s coming in later today huh?” Charmy asked from the passenger seat between bites of sticky cinnamon bun.

“Him and the others, when the daily ferry arrives.” Vector responded with a sigh, watching the sticky sweet ooze and crumbs of the confection dribble from the remainder that stuck to Charmy’s mouth on to the clean seats of the car.

Oh yeah, Vector hated cinnamon buns.

Miles

Miles ‘Tails’ Prower put away his communicator seeing that Vector had hung up on him to take a look at his best friend in the whole world, Sonic the Hedgehog. The world’s greatest hero, the Blue Blur, the fastest thing alive, was currently taking fast shallow breaths into a paper bag.

Miles couldn’t blame him either, the ferry ride was the icing on the cake of the worst things in the world for Sonic. The trip to Port Shell was a series of claustrophobic and hydrophobic exercises executed to drive the hedgehog mad. First a 12 hour plane flight followed by a 3 hr car ride to the harbor that Sonic only agreed to because he didn’t know the area, and finally a 4 hour ferry ride that was, quote, ‘scenic.’ Miles had no such phobias and even he had to admit that he was fairly high-strung. In reality, the party could’ve taken the Tornado, but they flew economy all to keep up the illusion of a vacation.

After all, a giant flying jet right over the town would’ve attracted some unwanted attention, peppy pink hedgehog attention.

The mysterious disappearance of Amy Rose was what brought Miles to Port Shell, here at the end of the world. It had been stuck in his brain a lot recently, an itchy that had been plaguing him for closing in on a year now.

Miles recalled Sonic’s thirtieth birthday party 10 months ago where, after blowing out his candles Sonic proclaimed to all his friends,

“Welp, now that I’m thirty, time to start acting more mature!” He had said with a laugh while everyone, Miles, Knuckles, Rouge, Shadow, Cream, Vanilla, Vector, Charmy, Espio, the list went on and on and all had grumbled and muttered their disbelief. But the curious thing was that it was what Sonic had said a decade prior, the only difference being he had said twenty. And that Amy had been there. The experience had been like a spot the different picture, a slightly smeared wave of déjà vu.

And it had bugged the fuck out of Miles. Had they forgotten, had they all forgotten about Amy? After a decade had nothing changed for the group besides one less person in the photograph? Especially for Sonic, he had been finally starting to get close with Amy, and then she just -poof- disappeared a few weeks after the party. After she just disappeared there was, of course, a search for her, checking homes and places of frequent visit and search parties, and even a break-in of Eggman’s lair and it all came up as nothing. Things kept going for a while, but Sonic himself had stopped looking, and, well, soon others followed suit. At the time Miles had asked Sonic why he had stopped,

“Hey, it’s no biggie bro, if she doesn’t want to be found, that’s her buiz. I’m sure she’ll come around again, and start chasing me again!”

Miles had chuckled along with Sonic then, but Amy never did show again, and then, after Sonic’s party Miles couldn’t sleep. Was Amy dead? Did Eggman abduct her more secretly? Was she no longer interested in Sonic or being friends with everyone else? And why did no one care? They had all been friends for years and now- now what? Did everyone all forget?

It had dug Miles into a hole of investigation. Searching up old missing persons reports and diving into evidence and what Amy did the last day she was seen, and while Miles was able to get an in-depth report of when she disappeared and that she had gone of her own accord, he still had no idea where to and why. That had been when Team Chaotix had entered. Miles had asked for their help and offered a decent paycheck(being an inventor had perks) if they could track her down.

And then they did.

To this little seaside town apart from everything else. In hindsight Miles probably should’ve checked here first. Now knowing that Amy was alive and well, Miles had been excited, she was safe and happy. But questions still lingered, why’d she leave? And why without contacting any of them? Did she not like them anymore? He didn’t know why.

Miles didn’t like not knowing things.

He thought about bringing it up to Sonic, but Sonic had been happy or at least indifferent to Amy’s disappearance. And even during the searches, Sonic had been…lethargic. Not to mention the fact that Amy disappeared rather soon after Sonic’s twentieth birthday party stank of a possible connection. So Miles had elected to talk to the happy couple currently standing next to him leaning on the railing.

“I’ll bet you one Chaos emerald that he throws up in that bag.” The sultry voice of the bat spy Rouge offered Knuckles.

“I wouldn’t dare bet something as valuable and irreplaceable as the Chaos emeralds on something as trivial as vomit… Although I would still say that I doubt Sonic would throw up, he’s got a strong stomach, how do you think he keeps all those chili dogs down?” Knuckles the Echidna and protector of the Master Emerald said to his wife with a light smirk.

Just then, Sonic took his face out of the bag and the three of them watched his eyes shrink to specks before he rushed over to the side of the boat and empty his stomach contents into the river. A crappy inflight meal was violently hurled into the crystal blue waters below. Sonic groaned painfully.

“HA!” Rouge exclaimed perking up from the boat railing and whipped her head towards Knuckles, “you owe me a Chaos emerald!”

“I will do no such thing. Firstly I never agreed to giving you one woman and two, you said you bet he’d throw up in the bag.” Knuckles retorted with a finger. Rouge sputtered,

“Well, I- uh-,” the bat sighed humorously, before putting her hand on her husband's face, “when did you get so careful?” Knuckles chuckled back,

“Some time in between the 30th and 31st time you tried to steal the Master Emerald.”

“Hey the 31st time was purely out of love.” Rouge patted Knuckles’ cheek.

Miles had elected to bring in the ‘happy’ couple into the Amy investigation because besides Miles himself, Knuckles knew Sonic best and might have an idea of why Amy left and the two of them also had experience in tracking down missing things, namely the same Chaos emeralds they were currently arguing over.

While Miles had at first been nervous about talking to them, the two had been excited to hear that Miles was looking into Amy’s disappearance again. Rouge herself had noticed that odd feeling of déjà vu at the party as well, Knuckles hadn’t.

So when Vector contacted them after 6 months of his own investigating, the three knew they had to make a plan to come see Amy and encourage her to come back home with them or at least understand why she had vanished on all of them. And so Operation Honeymoon was a go.

The plan was that Knuckles and Rouge were going on their honeymoon because they had never gotten one as Eggman had crashed the wedding right in the middle of the reception which lead to a battle and so on and so forth. So Knuckles and Rouge were going on it 7 years later…and inviting their closest friends. So the plan had holes, and most people would agree that going on a honeymoon trip pregnant also wasn’t a great idea.

Rouge gasped, “I think I felt him kick!” The bat spy places her hand on her severely distended middle feeling around for a baby 8 months in the making.

“You mean her kick.” Knuckles said gruffly, placing his own hand on Rouge’s stomach, the two fighting for space to feel the baby.

“I know what I said Knuckles.” Rouge removed her hand from her stomach to glare at the Echidna. It was then Knuckles’ turn to gasp,

“There it is! I felt it!” The normally low-voiced warrior took on a higher, happier tone of voice.

“What?! I didn’t feel anything, and I’m the one carrying this sack of jewels!”

Miles let out a wry chuckle at the two’s bickering, so maybe the fact that after a decade nothing had changed had some silver linings. Operation Honeymoon had holes but it had gotten Sonic to agree to a 19-hour travel time so that he could reconnect with Amy because if anything would get Amy to come back, it would be Sonic the Hedgehog.

“Mr. Sonic are you feeling alright?” The final member of their party offered the now clearly queasy Hedgehog a napkin.

Cream the Rabbit had grown into a strong fine young woman from the scared little girl that hugged her pet Chao, Cheese tight whenever she got scared. Now she was an adult that hugged her pet Chao, Cheese tight whenever she got scared, but that was seldom these days. She had become fearless, engaging in protests for protecting wildlife and getting involved in community support programs. She was working on becoming a doctor and spending her time as a pediatrician caring for kids. It was a fact that Miles respected a great deal.

When Operation Honeymoon was still in its planning stages the three had thought bringing another person with them might help it look like this was actually a honeymoon with friends rather than what was essentially an intervention. And Miles had said Cream’s name a little too quickly for his liking and gotten knowing stares from Knuckles and Rouge.

It was no secret that Miles had a crush on the rabbit and in turn Cream too had a crush on the fox, and after seeing how happy Knuckles was at his wedding, Miles finally worked up the courage to ask Cream out. And it worked!

For a while.

The two had dated for a couple of months but soon discovered that they both tended to be workaholics. Miles was always building and inventing, and Cream worked long hours studying, so the two often had little time for each other. Eventually, as they drifted apart, they simply decided it was over and that was that. But Miles still held feelings for Cream and he hoped she still cared about him. So when Knuckles and Rouge brought up the idea of another person, Cream had entered his thoughts and exited his mouth before he could give it a second thought.

Cream had been happy to come too, she was excited to get away from work for a bit, and other than her concern for Rouge’s baby on a flight(who had simply responded that her kid was going to be a bat and that he better learn to like flying), Cream was eager for some R and R.

As Miles watched Cream comfort Sonic as more remnants of his latest meal found itself in the river, Miles’ smile dropped, Cream was somewhat of a bystander in this, she had no knowledge of Amy’s residence on the island and Miles felt bad about keeping her in the dark, as she too might have some insight into Amy’s disappearance, but Cream didn’t keep secrets too well and the Miles, Knuckles, and Rouge figured she was more on a need to know basis anyway.

“Alllllllll right folks, we’ve now arrived at Port Shell, we hope y-” the captain of the ferry started.

“FINALLY!” Sonic raised his hands in thanks to the heavens and then Miles blinked and he was gone, a rush of winded ruffled Miles’ fur as the Blue Blur leapt from the boat onto the dock through the center of town and up a hill into the forests beyond.

A beat of silence.

“Well he seems calm.” Rouge put a sarcastic hand on her hip, but her suave wavered as she did, the weight of her stomach almost causing her to fall over. With a sigh, Miles turned towards the forest as Knuckles went to stabilize his wife,

“Do you guys think you could unload my bag while I try to get Sonic back here?” Miles asked. Looking back to see Knuckles’ quick head nod, Miles jumped from the boat and onto the dock. He weaved his way through the town, being careful to see if Amy was nearby, but she shouldn’t as she should be at work, per Vector’s messages on her comings and goings. Miles left the town and climbed the hill to the forest before pulling out his Miles Electric and put it to the Speed Seeker Setting.

After being left behind a few two many times, Miles had developed a way to track high speed targets at far distances in order to not be left behind by Sonic anymore. The devices pinged on Sonic’s position for a moment, before the screen glitched and the dot that represented Sonic’s position snapped to somewhere else.

Strange.

Miles shook his head thinking he’d have to fix that later. Miles leaned forward, his two twin tails that gave him the famous nickname, began to spin faster and faster before carrying him into the sky. Then Miles pitched forward and shot into the forest following the dot.

Amy

Amy opened the boutique door with a grin,

“Hey Honey! How was your evening?”

A bright yellow cat appeared from under a sewing desk, a pin tucked between her lips. She muttered something unintelligible before removing the pin from her mouth,

“Oh you know, another date another wasted $60.”

“Well that’s what you get for going out with someone from the dock yard.” Amy responded as she put her bag down and picked up her apron, a tan mess of pins and fabric strings, the words ‘Honey’s Sweet Boutique,’ stitched on the front in big gold letters, as pink and blue flowers bloomed around it.

“Yeah, but they’re so hunky! I just want to eat them up.” Honey responded, gripping the blouse she was making tightly.

“Trust me Honey, all brawn down there,” Amy pointed to her body, “leaves no brains up here.” Amy pointed to her head. Honey moved from the sewing desk to retrieve something from one of the fabric drawers, moving her hand in a mouth shape, while mumbling what Amy had just said. The cat had just reached the fabric drawer when she whipped around to face Amy, a mischievous grin in her eye.

“Wait! Is that where Mania comes from?!”

Honey the Cat had become Amy’s best friend here at Port Shell, which was a bit of an odd relationship considering Honey was also her boss. Amy had come to Port Shell when she was still pregnant with Mania and while she at the time had some funds to buy her cabin and feed herself, after Mania was born, money became tight quickly. Caring for an infant, on one’s own, was a strain on Amy’s savings and while she was making a quick buck with odd jobs or running errands for the town's elderly, ends weren’t meeting, until she met Honey.

Port Shell lies in the tropical region of the world, so it’s always warm there, but during the summer it got blazing hot, and Amy had decided to take Mania to the park. Amy had been sitting on a bench in the shade, one hand drawing in a sketchbook, while the other fanned baby Mania in a stroller while she sweated. The sketch had been nothing to sneeze at, just a quick drawing to pass the time. It featured Amy in a kind of sundress, the long skirt flowing out around her ankles and the tight straps holding the dress up high, while flowers bloomed along its middle and leaves floated towards the bottom. And a chili dog appeared emblazoned where her collarbone would sit. Drawing Amy was smiling, real Amy was not. The dress was the kind of thing Amy might wear on a date with, well, him. But now Amy was sitting, boiling alive while wearing sweatpants and a shirt that she was mostly sure didn’t have baby barf on it.

“The chili dog is a bold touch, might I say.” A voice had said from behind her. Amy had whipped around to see confidence standing in a bright red dress, the hoop stretched out straight as an arrow, big black hair contained in huge pigtails shining the sun's rays right back into Amy’s eyeballs and golden fur combed to the individual hair while standing in 4 inch heels like a champion. Amy had been staring at this powerhouse of a cat, but Honey had simply been focused on the drawing.

“Uh yeah, it’s something my daughter's dad loved to eat.” Amy had let slip, her focus still on the woman critiquing her drawing.

“Your daughter?” Honey looked up from the drawing for the first time in the conversation to look at Amy intently. Amy had snapped out of her stupor to put down her sketch and pick up Mania from the stroller. The baby gurgled and grumbled, not super eager to leave the comfort of the stroller. Honey had taken one look at the baby hedgehog and gasped in surprise, reeling back from the infant.

“Wh-what?” Amy had said nervously, was this cat not a fan of Mania? She was the cutest thing.

“Oh no no no no.” The cat had tutted at Amy, “You can’t take her out looking like that!” Honey had pointed to the simple white onesie that Mania had been wearing. “What if people see her looking like that?”

There was no one else at the park. Clearly everyone but Amy and Honey had had more common sense than to come out in this heat.

“Wh-what?” Amy repeated, this time a chuckle building in her voice.

“Come on babe, let me take you to my shop and we can get that little angel in something more presentable.” Then Amy had been taken by the hand, swiftly out of the park, stroller left behind and into Honey’s Sweet Boutique.

After that, Honey had commented on how she liked Amy’s sketch, and how she needed someone to help run the shop as it had just opened. And that had been that.

The two became friends over time and slowly Amy became more confident around the cat showing her more wild willful side and Honey had opened up beyond her aura of power woman. Amy learned that Honey, in addition to being a fashionista, that she too liked to spend Sundays wearing sweatpants and eating so much ice cream the only thing to do was moan painfully and that Honey had being designing clothes since she was 7 and that she liked to play Tetris till her fingers bled worse that stabs from a sewing needle. Honey had even been babysitter for Mania more times than Amy could count whenever Amy had to leave Mania alone. Honey was Amy’s most trusted confidant.

But she had never told Honey, Mania’s father’s identity.

A fact that drove Honey nuts as she now looked into Amy’s eyes essentially asking if Mania’s dad was a ‘hunky deckhand.’ Amy chose to look at Honey with disdain.

“Come on babe! All you’ve ever told me is that he likes chili dogs and that he has, quote, ‘the deepest green eyes you’ve ever seen! It’s like looking into pools of liquid emerald.’” Amy had been walking over to hang some clothes when she whipped her head to look at the desperate cat,

“Hey! I told you that in confidence!” Amy exclaimed. Honey then tilted her head jauntily,

“Noooo, you told me that while you were wasted. There’s a difference.” Amy simply grumbled and began to hang up some blouses that Honey had just finished.

In return for the lack of secrets divulged about Mania’s father, Honey had made Amy’s life a living hell. After agreeing to hire Amy at the Boutique, Honey had requested that Amy keep designing clothes for the store. Amy agreed and came up with a few drawings that were examined and then rejected. So Amy did it again, and again, and again. Each time there was a new, fresher and more interesting design, and each time Honey would look at it, frown and then give feedback and reject the design. And each time Amy would get frustrated, curse out Honey’s standards and then go right back into redesign.

It was a vicious cycle. But one that had remained consistent over the past decade. Only twice had one of Amy’s designs been approved to sell in the boutique. The first was the aforementioned Chili dog dress, and the second was a piece of kids clothing that Amy had designed for Mania’s 7th birthday. But that had been a sizing down of one of Honey’s designs so Amy hardly felt she could take credit for it.

“Okay fine, I’ll drop it.” Honey conceited, throwing her hands up in surrender. She then brought them back together throwing a mischievous grin as she slid her hands back and forth. “So…let’s see ‘em.”

With a sigh Amy reached into her bag and pulled out the designs, handing them over to the evil cat in front of the fabric drawers. Amy watched as the sinister grin turned into a frown of boredom. “Too big, too flashy.” Honey handed the papers back to Amy.

“What?!” Amy guffawed, “You love big and flashy!”

“Yeeeees I do, but you don’t. And I need you to provide ideas for the sensible woman.” Honey gestured to Amy’s humble tan pants and simple light pink blouse.

“Are you suggesting that I’m basic?” Amy blinked.

“Oh I’m not suggesting.” Honey turned back to the fabric drawers. Amy rolled her eyes and stuffed the papers back in her bag. Honey opened the drawer and swore.

“What is it?” Amy asked, a little bit of joy creeping into her voice at her friend's apparent unhappiness.

“I just forgot to pick up the new set of fabrics I ordered at the post office this morning. You think you could run over and grab ‘em?”

“Yeah alright, I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Amy set her bag down, and made movements to the door, “hey how about you reconsider my designs while I do this task for you?”

“Yeah how ‘bout you reconsider them while you do your job.” Honey retorted. The door closed behind Amy as she chuckled.

Honey

Honey the Cat shook her head as she watched her best friend leave to get the fabrics. Stupid. How could Honey forget them? The store needed those new materials.

Honey loved her store, but she had to admit, it wasn’t doing the fantastic job she’d wanted it to. That was the issue with starting a new business where there was no one new. After over a decade of running the store, there still had been practically no growth. The store was barely making enough to keep up with upkeep, rent, and paying for Amy’s salary. Honey was making enough to keep things going, barely. But she was starting to feel trapped here, what with the money issues and Amy.

Honey also loved Amy, but the girl had no ambition. She never wanted to stretch out or move, she never wanted things to change. And Honey couldn’t blame her, the girl had been a bit of a mess when Honey found her, but now she had a job and a stable(ish) income and her girl was doing well in school and Amy had strong roots in the town. That was why Honey always felt so bad about turning Amy’s designs, they seemed to be her only ambition. And while they were never bad designs, what with the store not doing fantastically, Honey knew she’d need real winners to keep the lights on.

It was like nothing made Amy get nervous or excited or angry. She just was too cool-headed of a person. The only time Honey saw her with any passion was when she was grumbling over Honey’s notes or when she talked about Mania.

Ah Mania. Honey loved that girl, and it drove her bonkers that nothing would get Amy to talk about Mania’s d-.

The bell of the front door rang and Honey looked up from her sewing desk to see a blue male hedgehog walk in the front door, a gust of wind blowing fiercely behind him. Honey squinted at him, as he seemed familiar, but Honey couldn't place him.

The hedgehog did a quick sweep of the store with his eyes, before they settled on Honey at the sewing desk. He raised a quick hand in greeting, and then Honey blinked and suddenly he was right in front of her.

“Woah.” She said softly, leaning back a little.

“Hey.” He said, flashing a 100 kilowatt smile.

“Hiiiii.” Honey said slowly scanning the Hedgehog up and down. “What can I do for you?”

“Oh of course!” The hedgehog took off his left glove, placing it on the sewing desk. “I was just running through the forest earlier and I got my glove snagged on a thorn or vine.” Honey picked up the glove and examined it, noticing a quick clean slash through the top of the glove.

“Oh easy peasy, this’ll just be a minute.” Honey flicked her hand, then reached under the sewing desk for some string and started to repair the glove.

As she did, she noticed the blue hedgehog’s impatience as he tapped his foot and a nervous smile built on his face. Honey decided to work quicker.

Finishing up the work she brought the glove over to the counter and started to ring him up, and she realized who he was,

“Hey! You’re Sonic the Hedgehog right?!” Pointing to the famous hero. He spread his hands in submission,

“The one and only!” He said gleefully.

“Okay, that’ll be $30.” Honey said flatly, beginning to hand over the glove.

“WHAT?! That’s highway robbery! What about a hero’s discount?” The hero exclaimed, taking the glove back from the cat and fishing for his wallet.

“Yeah well, this string is highway robbery, and I’m trying to run a boutique here.” Honey said with a smirk. Sonic handed over a wad of crumpled bills, and then quietly burped into his hand sheepishly,

“Hey, do you know where a guy could get a meal around here?” He said as a somewhat acrid smell wafted over Honey. “I uh…skipped breakfast.”

“Yeah, there’s a place on main-” Honey stopped as she finally looked into Sonic’s eyes and saw the greenest eyes she had ever seen, it was like looking into pools of liquid emeral-.”

Then Honey’s brain all together stopped working.

After a moment, every gear clicked into place and she asked Sonic a question,

“Actually, hey do you like chili dogs?”

“Uh yeah! They’re my favorite thing to eat in the world, how’d you know?” Sonic said with a smile, that soon dissipated as he watch the grin that slowly, creepily bloomed on Honey’s face.

“Oh no reason, lucky guess.” The grin on Honey’s face had not lessened in the slightest. “Why don’t you try Sunrise Harvest two blocks to the right.” Honey pointed down the street without breaking eye contact with Sonic.

“Okay, thanks.” Sonic nodded and raised the repaired glove in thanks before rushing to the door and out it.

“Yeah no problem.” Honey called after him. Honey then waited exactly three seconds before jumping over the sewing desk, throwing open the front door, having enough sense to change the store’s sign to ‘back in 10 minutes’ and running down the road to the post office to tell her best friend her baby daddy was in town.

Miles

Miles was no stranger to Sonic’s chaotic movements. One was bound to have entropy when they moved at the speed of sound, but Miles was starting to get tired of chasing after the dot on his Speed Seeker, only for it to go in a completely different direction all of a sudden. It was like Sonic had no direction in mind at all, bouncing between different places without any care at all. But after an hour of chasing the dot had settled down and seemed to stay in one place.

As far as Miles was aware, Sonic didn’t giggle like a little girl. And yet as Miles neared the dot, there it was, the unmistakable giggle of a child having a great time. It made him pause and double check his Speed Seeker a couple of times. But soon the jungle forest opened up to a clearing of sorts and that’s when Miles first saw her.

True to the sound, she was laughing, her whole body moving up and down as little flickies and rickies jumped and leaped around her. The girl’s purple quills bounced up and down, tightly held to her head with a headband and the bright red dress flopped about, it was familiar to Miles. Dark green shoes moved quickly up and down as she did a sort of dance around the animals.

Miles tripped and a rustle of leaves alerted the girl, Miles dived behind a fallen log and curled up tight, his hand over his mouth. What was he doing? A 23 year old man stalking a little girl through the forest was not a good look for him.

“Hello?” The voice said softly, nervously. Miles did nothing, he didn’t know what to do, most young girls didn’t wander dense jungles alone.

Most. Wheels began to turn in Miles’ head as puzzle pieces began to click together. There was a rustling coming from the clearing,

“I’ve got a stick!” The voice said more confidently. Miles then took a deep breath and summoned the will of Sonic, before popping up from the log,

“Hello! No need to be afraid!” Miles said a little too eagerly for a calming tone, “My name is Miles, but most people call me…” The words dropped off as Miles finally got a good look at the girl’s face.

She was the spitting image of Amy. Except for the eyes, they were his eyes. Oh no. Ohhhh nooooo. Is this why she disappeared? But why would she leave? Did he know? The puzzle pieces, while similar, still didn’t fit together in Miles’ brain.

But Miles didn’t have time to finish putting it together in his brain, as Sonic’s eyes stared back at Miles with fear and worry. Then his suspicions were confirmed as Sonic and Amy’s daughter dropped the stick and ran off from clearing at supersonic speeds, leaving Miles alone with his thoughts.

Chapter Text

Mania

Mania was starting to get sick of this guy chasing her. I mean she’d done literal laps around this guy, and he still was able to follow her. She had to give him credit, it was pretty impressive that he was able to track down a supersonic hedgehog, but it was getting annoying, and a little creepy.

After the 50th loop, Mania finally decided to run up a tree and wait for the fox guy to catch up to her, maybe she could convince him to stop. So she sat on the branch of a high tree and waited, and sure enough after a few minutes, the yellow fox ran into the clearing looking down at something in his hand. But he was starting to act odd, even for this weirdo, he was just looking at the thing in his hand and walking in circles. Mania decided to give him a hint,

“Hey fox guy! Up here you weirdo!” The fox’s head snapped up and he searched around for a moment before he looked up, the recognition in his face as he spotted Mania. He hunched over to make himself smaller and tried to speak in a high pitched voice like talking to an infant,

“Oh hey little girl, it’s all good, I’m not gonna hurt-”

“Yeah great,” Mania interrupted, “why are you following me?” The fox snapped up straight and talked normally, seemingly embarrassed that he had made a baby voice,

“Oh uh, I just wanted to talk to you.”

“Okay, well we can do that while you’re down there and while I’m up here where you can’t go.” Mania said confidently. The fox seemed to take this as a challenge and pitched his body forward and from his behind, Mania spotted not one, but two tails that quickly began to spin, raising the fox up into the air where he landed beside Mania, a smirk on his face.

“Is that so?” The fox leaned back against the trunk of the tree, blocking her escape down the trunk. Mania’s heart began to beat fast for a different reason as she looked at this fox man nervously. But the fox seemed to realize this and began to try to back away from her. “Aaand now I’ve taken away a 10 year old girl’s sense of safety. I-I’m sorry, I need to g-go.”

“How’d you know I’m 10?” Mania felt fear began to build. The fox man banged his head in a sense of frustration, as he curled in on himself, in an apparent need to make Mania more comfortable.

“I-uh, I think I know your mom.” He said softly. And to the fox’s surprise, he saw Mania’s fear dissipate.

“You do? I’ve never seen you in town before.” Mania began to sit more comfortably on the tree branch leaning towards the fox. The fox in turn stopped shrinking in on himself and sat up straight.

“Yeah, you uh wouldn’t I guess. I knew her from before she moved here. Amy Rose right? She’s never mentioned me before?”

“I’m pretty sure my mom would’ve mentioned a two tailed flying fox dude.” The fox let out a quick laugh. “Mom doesn’t talk much about from before she moved here, whenever I ask about it, she just says it’s not important and that she’s happy here with me. Do you think you could tell me about it?” Mania put on a big grin, and the fox noticed she was missing teeth that hadn’t grown in yet.

“I think I’ve exceeded the amount of time a 23 year old stranger should spend with a 10 year old girl, so maybe another time.”

“Wow you are super old.” Mania said matter of factly. The fox’s head snapped up,

“23 is not old!”

“Uh yeah dude, it's like, super old.”

“Your mom’s 27! Do you call her old?!”

“My mom’s crazy old, but I’d never tell her that!” The fox paused at this and got quiet,

“Then I’m guessing you’ve never told her about your super speed?”

“How’d you know that?” Mania’s smile dropped. Her eyes, Sonic’s eyes, were on him. And they were scared. It’s not a look the fox associated with those eyes. It seemed wrong to him, those eyes were always associated with strength and support and trust. And now they were looking to him with the same feelings. They were looking at the fox the same way as how the fox used to look at her father. This girl was a bit of an enigma to the fox, a blending of two very different people, and yet he could tell. She was the best parts of them.

“You were scared of me when you first saw me, but earlier you weren’t afraid of talking to me. It’s not me you’re afraid of, it’s what I’ll tell your mom that you’re afraid of. I’m some kind of smart guy, how do you think I kept finding you?” The fox held up the item in his hand, and Mania saw that it was some kind of electronic with a dot beeping in the middle of a screen.

“Were you tracking me this whole time?!” Mania exclaimed. “That’s sooo cheating!” The fox took on a look of mock affection.

“What?! You’ve got super speed, so naturally I had to use my intelligence to outsmart you!”

“Are you calling me stupid?” Mania pouted half-heartedly.

“Apparently! After all, you decided to have a conversation with an old stranger!” The fox got in her face a bit. The two stared each other down.

After a beat, they both broke into laughs. Chuckling at the odd situation they both found each other in.

Then they got quiet.

“Hey are you gonna tell my mom about my super speed?” Mania asked softly.

“Nah,” the fox waved the question off, “it’s not my secret to tell, and besides she doesn’t even know I’m at Port Shell. I haven’t talked to her since she moved here. At this point, I basically am a stranger.”

The fox and hedgehog got quiet again.

“Hey can you carry me?” Mania asked the fox.

“Pfff, what?” Total confusion bloomed on the fox’s face.

“Like as you fly? Can you carry me down from the tree while flying?” The fox blinked. Mania watched as clarity crossed the fox’s face. Then so did a smile.

“Heh, yeah sure, um, just hold your hands straight above your head, as high as you can.” Mania did as instructed and the fox moved away from the trunk of the tree as his twin tails started to spin, lifting himself above and away from the tree. He hovered over Mania, and took each of her hands in his, her hands were so much smaller. Then slowly Mania felt her butt rise from the tree branch as the fox lifted her and she was carried away, slowly approaching the ground. As her feet softly touched the ground the fox let go and landed.

“Wow! That was super cool. I need to go at this point but can we meet at that clearing tomorrow and you can tell me more about my mom?” Mania said while hopping backwards making direction towards home.

“S-sure if you want.” The fox said unconvinced.

“9:00 AM, same clearing. You’re Miles right?”

“Okay sure and yeah, but most people call me-”

“Cool! See you tomorrow Miles, I’m Mania by the way. Bye!”

Miles watched as Mania Rose sped off from the tree leaving him, for the second time in his life, completely star-struck by a supersonic hedgehog.

Knuckles and Rouge

“I don’t think it was fair of you to leave Cream with all the bags Knuckles.” Rouge chastised her husband.

“Well I wasn’t going to leave you all alone!” The red echidna defended himself.

“Love, I’m just going to get something to eat, I’ll be fine on my own.”

“No chance. I’m not leaving you and the baby alone in an unknown city.” Rouge gave up the argument, she knew she’d have a better chance stealing the Master Emerald than winning this conversation.

After the pair had watched Tails zoom away in search of Sonic, Rouge had proclaimed that she was hungry and set off to find something to eat in the town. And Knuckles had decided to follow.

“So you really think that pink chatterbox is here?” Rouge shot at Knuckles. He shrugged,

“Tails said Vector confirmed it, she works, eats and sleeps here. And she has been for the last few weeks that he and the rest of Chaotix have been watching her.”

“Kind of a dingy town wouldn’t you say?” Rouge leaned away from a run-down boarded-up building that looked one strong wind away from falling down.

“I’m unsure. The town used to be a popular fishing town until the fish all left, so it’s somewhat rundown now, but it has some charm. I could see myself living in a place like this…with you…and our daughter.” A shy knowing smile crossed Rouge’s face.

“You’d really wanna move to a place like this after our son is born?” Rouge pitched.

“Probably not this particular town, as you said it’s ‘dingy’ but it might be nice to leave the city, find a good school system and close neighbors you can barbecue with and- Hey! What’s with all the questions?” Knuckles snarled. Rouge let out a quick laugh,

“Oh I don’t know, I just figure that something really, well, bad had to have happened to force Amy to move here and give up the proximity to Sonic.” Rouge’s face darkened.

“I get what you mean,” not wanting to put too much stress on his wife, and in turn the baby, Knuckles returned the subject to the town, “so what are your thoughts?”

“Huh?” Rouge snapped out of her thoughts.

“On moving to a town similar to this one?”

“Oh! I don’t really know, I’ve always lived in cities. Besides I never found the weekend-barbecue/make brownies-for-the-bake-sale life to really be for me.”

“Would you want it to?”

Rouge paused.

“I-” Rouge was cut off as a cat ran past her and Knuckles, shoving them apart from their in-step walk.

“HEY!” Knuckles shouted, as he went to right Rouge, who once again found herself off balance. The cat spun around. She was bright yellow and an apron around her middle spelled some shop.

“Ohmygod, so sorry!” The cat blurted out, still now half running backwards, half talking.

“Yeah, well watch where you’re going!” Rouge yelled. “And maybe think about dying your fur, you’re going to blind someone with that fluff.” The cat winced slightly, but perked up quick,

“Sorry again, but I just learned my best friend’s love of her life, just got back in town and now I’ve gotta go tell her.” The cat turned again and began running.

Knuckles and Rouge shared a knowing glance.

. . .

They had pinned the cat up against a wall in an alleyway and Knuckles had his mitted hand clamped tightly around her mouth. The cat was thoroughly scared, her eyes darting back and forth between the bat and echidna, not sure which was scarier, the size of the hands on the echidna or the death glare the bat was giving her.

“I’m going to remove my hand from your mouth now, now we just want to talk.” Knuckles said slowly, like talking to a misbehaving child. “Nod if you understand.”

The cat nodded so fast and vigorously, Knuckles began to lose purchase on her mouth anyway.

“Look I’m sorry I bumped into you, but I don’t have much money anyway!” Knuckles barely removed his hand before the cat ran her apparent motor mouth.

“Lucky for you, we’re not interested in your life savings Sunshine, we just want to know what you were doing.” Rouge went to put a sassy hand on her hip, but feared losing her balance again and in turn losing her cool, instead opting for pointing a finger at the cat’s nose.

“As I said- I was just going to go see my best friend, I had something I had to tell her really badly so I ran. Can you let go of me now?”

“No.” Rouge and Knuckles said in sync.

“This friend of yours, wouldn’t happen to be Amy Rose would it?” Rouge asked.

“Uh yeah, how’d you know that?” Confusion appeared on the cat’s face.

“Now clearly you’ve met Sonic, now has Amy seen him yet?”

“W-well no, and how did you know that?!” Frustration was building alongside the confusion in the cat.

“Then we’ve still got some time before pinky sees him, we’ve got to get this meeting right.” Rouge turned to Knuckles.

“Well what do you suggest, we attempt to control when and where Sonic goes at all times?” Knuckles retorted.

“I’m not suggesting anything,” Rouge shook her head, “but we have to at least find him and play distraction to keep the two separate for now.”

“I thought Tails was tracking the Hedgehog.” Knuckles grumbled.

“Well clearly not, besides you know his gadgets are often spotty at best.” Rouge pointed out.

“Umm I know where he is.” The yellow cat, all but forgotten, raised a hand, attempting to enter the conversation. “But first you gotta fill me in a little here, who are all of you, how do you know Amy, and what’s Sonic the Hedgehog’s connection to her?”

Rouge and Knuckles shared a second knowing look.

. . .

“C’mon guys, you’ve got to give me something!” The cat whined as it followed Rouge and Knuckles as they made their way to Sunrise Harvest. Rouge and Knuckles chose to ignore her as they entered the restaurant to find a homely sandwich shop. At a few tables sat patrons that ate delicious smelling items slotted in between two slices of bread. At the wooden counter a young mouse woman wore a visor with the shop's logo emblazoned on it. She perked up at the party’s arrival.

But there was no Sonic here. Knuckles spun on the cat,

“You lied to us.” He said flatly, approaching her menacingly.

“I-I didn’t!” The cat raised her arms in a passive gesture, “He said he was hungry so I gave him directions here.” Knuckles growled, but turned back around and approached the counter.

“Hi, welcome to Sunrise Harvest, what-” The woman at the counter started.

“You! Mouse!” Knuckles said sharply, “Was there an annoying looking blue quilled hedgehog here recently?”

“Uh you mean Sonic? Yeah it’s crazy to see such a big celebrity here. He just left, you know he’s a lot cuter in person-” Knuckles turned back to the cat,

“My apologies for accusing you of lying, come Rouge we must go, we’re already chasing his dust.”

“Woah woah! Please give me some answers here! Besides, you don’t even know where he’s going. And also your wife looks kinda hungry.” The cat pointed out. Knuckles did a double take and noticed the eager looks Rouge was giving the patron’s food. He sighed, his momentum gone.

“Here is my deal, you buy my wife a sandwich, and we will talk until she has finished, deal?” Knuckles crossed his arms.

“Deal.”

Honey

After watching someone scarf down an extra large barbecue chicken sandwich with pickles and onions, Honey had to admit the bat was a lot less scary. But Knuckles the Echidna was still quite terrifying to behold, his arms crossed as he stared directly into Honey’s eyes.

“So let me get this straight. You’re both friends with both Sonic and Amy, and that you all hung out together a while ago. But then she disappeared and after a while you all stopped looking but now you’ve located her here, but Sonic doesn’t know she’s here and Amy doesn't know Sonic or you guys are here, and she may not even want to see you guys?” Honey asked, confusion still visible on her face.

“Correct Sunshine.” Rouge swallowed noisily. Knuckles doted on her, attempting to wipe leftover barbecue sauce from the bat’s cheek. Okay, so maybe Knuckles wasn’t so scary either. Rouge attempted to wave him off.

“But why’d you guys all stop looking for her in the first place, you don’t just stop looking for a missing person.” Honey spread her hands in disbelief and agitation.

“Well the person we thought would be the most interested in finding her wasn’t so most people just figured it wasn’t important.” Rouge said slowly, her face somewhat unreadable.

But Honey saw it, on both their faces. Shame.

“Sonic didn’t care,” Honey pieced it together, “so neither did any of you.” The couple nodded slowly, not meeting Honey’s gaze. “Kinda really shitty, but whatever, you followed the leader, makes a kind of twisted sort of sense.” Honey took a little bit of satisfaction from the continuously intensifying shame on their faces. “But why did Amy leave, didn’t you say she had a huge crush on Sonic?”

“Undying loving devotion is more accurate.” Knuckles said as he finally succeeded in getting the barbecue sauce from Rouge’s cheek with a napkin. “Do you have any idea why she would move here? To us it appeared as though she wanted some distance, but we don’t know why.”

“She’s only ever told me she wanted a new place for her and Mania.” Honey shook her head.

“Mania?” Bewilderment took over Rouge and Knuckles' faces.

“Mania, y’know Amy’s little girl.” Honey spoke plainly, but as Honey saw their widening eyes, the lack of understanding clear, something clicked in her brain. Honey slapped her hands over her mouth. She watched as the gears turned in Knuckles and Rouge’s brains. Honey moved her hands slightly, “Mania just turned 10 about a month ago, didn’t you say Amy’s been missing for almost-”

“-11 years.” Rouge continued.

“9 month gestation time.” Knuckles finished.

“Okay so Amy gets pregnant, gets scared or concerned and moves here to have the kid. Why leave?” Rouge still questioned.

“It may have something to do with the father, possibly.” Honey spoke softly. She found Knuckles’ and Rouge’s intense stares upon her. “I only really noticed it when I met Sonic, and now that I’m thinking about it…” Honey gulped noisily. “Mania’s got Sonic’s emerald green eyes.”

Honey watched Knuckles and Rouge share a third glance, but this time neither seemed to know what to do.

. . .

Honey agreed to keep Amy at the boutique for the rest of the day to minimize possible contact with Sonic while Knuckles and Rouge kept searching for him. But she wasn’t feeling super comfortable about it. Honey wasn’t used to keeping secrets, and if she had to admit it, a bit of a gossip. But she owed it to these people to try and reconnect with Amy, and maybe it was owed to Amy as well. Honey still remembered that young woman all alone with a baby sitting in that park. Had Honey pitied Amy then? Did she pity Amy now?

Honey wasn’t sure.

Not to mention this whole thing with the world renowned hero Sonic the Hedgehog being Mania’s dad. It was all kinds of crazy. And the circumstances were sketchy. Amy was in love with Sonic, but left him as soon as there was a baby involved, but chose to keep the baby? Things weren’t stacking up right, it stunk of something…unsavory to Honey. Which brought Honey’s line of thinking to tell Amy that her old flame was back in town.

If Amy was happy to see him, then maybe she should keep it a surprise, that way Amy could get excited. But if she wasn’t, then maybe it was in Amy’s best interest to be informed that way she can prepare herself. However Amy would do that.

Honey had hardly ever seen Amy get actually upset. Sure Honey’d seen Amy get a little steamed over Honey’s dress critiques or when Mania accidentally broke something when she was younger. But thinking back, Honey had never seen Amy actually get mad. She was just too cool-headed for that kind of thing.

And yet the stories Rouge and Knuckles had told Honey had been of a strongly feeling Amy. One that turned into a rage monster when someone ticked her off, one that cried deeply when Sonic would run from her or when she was captured by Metal Sonic(Honey had a hard time believing that one), an Amy that loved Sonic with everything she had. Her heart had bled for him. For Amy a day without Sonic had been like a lifetime without knowing what a rainbow was, and whenever she saw him, it was like experiencing one for the first time ever.

So maybe Honey could believe it a little bit.

After all, that’s how Amy acted often around Mania.

If this was the kind of Amy that existed around Sonic, then Honey was sure that she’d either run towards him, lips first-

-Or try to kill him.

Honey couldn’t be sure.

These thoughts rampaged around Honey’s head as she entered her shop, her day job practically forgotten. Honey moved over to the clothes that she had left unhung when she first ran out, her perception of her best friend now irrevocably changed. The clothes seemed unimportant now.

D-did Honey even know her best friend anymore? People could certainly change in 10 years, but Amy hadn’t, she’d always been calm and cool-headed. So she went from hot head to cool as a cucumber as soon as she had a baby? Honey had heard of people making huge changes when massive events happen in their lives. Honey assumed having a baby could count. Honey closed her eyes as dark thoughts of what Amy might have gone through passed through her mind.

Massive trauma probably also counted.

“Uh Honey hey! Earth to boss, you in there?” Honey snapped out of her thoughts as she noticed Amy standing there, a smile on her face, to her nothing was wrong, no earth shattering news might bring her sky high, or send her into a pit. “I picked up the fabrics from the post office. You know Jeremiah gave me grief over my picking it up instead of you, but I got them, where do you want them?” Amy’s joyful tone was like a slap in the face to Amy.

“Oh uh, rainbow, red to violet. You know the drill.” Honey responded on autopilot, unsure if the words coming out of her mouth originated in her brain.

“Hey Honey you okay, you look a little shook? Everything go okay while you stepped out? What was that for by the way?”

“Huh? Oh nothing.” Honey shook the nervousness from her voice. “Just wanted to see how you'd do in the crisis of me not being here to boss you around.” Amy laughed at this. “Now get back to work, we’ve got a nice normal day of work ahead of us.”

Cream

Cream the Rabbit had been on Port Shell for barely 12 hours and she already wanted to leave. It had nothing to do with the ungodly hour she had to get up for the boat ride. It had nothing to do with the town, which seemed to be mostly dead, except for she would admit nice people. It even had nothing to do with the cockroach she swore she saw creeping around the boat. It had to do with her friends, or apparently, her lack of friends.

As soon as they had landed on Port Shell, Sonic in his Sonic-y way- immediately had to go running off, and of course, Miles had to follow him. And then Rouge was hungry so she left to get food, and Knuckles feeling overprotective had to follow her. Which left Cream standing alone on a pier having to hold 5 luggage bags, and whatever everyone else besides Rouge brought. And while Captain Rotor seemed nice enough, he had been saying far too many risqué things for her liking.

Nevertheless, Cream had pushed on, she was not unused to a challenge. She had, along with some aid from the captain after a rather large tip, had carried the luggage to the hotel.

The Seaside Hotel was not on the sea and could barely be called a hotel. The thing reminded her of an old west saloon with modern adjustments every time something would break. Old wooden support beams had concrete bases and were encircled in steel wire. The upper floor’s balcony was, one, off limits due to weak floorboards and, two, partially replaced with metal slats and plastic covers. An old sign that bore the hotel’s name had been repainted more than thrice and it hung from a metal chain on one end, and a bar on the other. The outside had a rustic feel, but it also reminded her of a cyborg, made by someone that didn’t have a great understanding of biology or robotics.

Inside, however, she could ogle for hours. Beautifully finished hardwood floors, wonderful paintings of the ocean, and the town in its heyday hung from every surface. A beautiful chandelier hung over the entryway that had at least a dozen lights, all guarded by an intricate ceramic lampshade.

To the left a sort of living space opened up to a sort of patio, fancy leather-covered chairs and tables gave way to simple but pleasant patio furniture, reclining chairs that Cream knew she’d be tanning in later. And a pool, a beautiful pool, shaped like a bean that reflected the sun's rays in a kaleidoscope of bright tones.

To the right was the dining room, a fishbowl that held a series of windows to let the light in and let patrons see out. Each table was neatly arranged with diagonal or straight on creating a pattern of fours in the center, and couples tables along the outside. White table cloths with frills decorated each one and a surplus of silverware topped each table like whipped cream on hot cocoa, a perfect finish.

And it was all beaten by some of the nicest staff Cream had ever encountered. She’d made an instant connection with the hostess, a lovely mongoose with dreams of singing and she’d then shown Cream up to her room. It didn’t beat the staff or the lobby, but it was a clean room with nice beds, a TV, and a view of downtown.

When she was younger Cream had never been one for the fancy things in life. But college had affected that. Pre-med at Mobotropolis University was a rough major and in it, she’d faced a lot of snooty rich kids. People with parents that had money to send their kids there without a multitude of scholarships and a part-time job slinging chilidogs. But Cream had worked her tail off to do the best she could, and found that it had paid off. Soon she had a way in with these kids. They were asking for study help or even about why she wanted to be a doctor. Cream had actually found them, under the surface to just be people. People that had been bent by money or expectations or status, but people that she could be friends with.

There were awkward moments for sure. They’d want to go out, and Cream would have to hang back for her job. Or they’d want to eat somewhere fancy and Cream would have to settle for microwaved ramen…for the third night in a row. But the ones that actually cared for her and understood that they were different and made efforts, she cared for back and in return, they’d shown her the world of the fancy.

Extra forks and spoons, food from around the globe, horseback riding-er equestrian, political intrigue, and wine, oh god how she loved wine. Even a helicopter ride one time. Cream had been shown something she’d only dreamed of…and she couldn’t lie, it’d made her a bit of a snob. But all her new fancy training and this fancy hotel still couldn’t make up for the fact that her friends had ditched her.

Cream’s friend Sally, who was a literal princess by the way and had dropped out of the Pre-Med program two weeks in and rocked it like a champion, had said to her the day she’d left the program to try another major,

“All the stuff’s fun, for about two seconds, and then you realize you’re all alone in a big house full of junk and no one to share it with. Stuff’s just the catalyst, you’ll never be happy without people, they’re the fuel that power our lives.”

They’d been powerful words, especially coming from someone with a burrito in her mouth, but they’d stuck with Cream, and she felt them, sitting alone in a fancy hotel room full of stuff and a lonely rabbit.

. . .

While Cream had decided to take a nap, failing to fight the jet lag, her ‘friends’ had slowly trickled back in throughout the day. Although Cream herself didn’t wake up till the evening, Knuckles and Rouge mentioned that they got back around noon and had taken to relaxing by the pool. Well, Rouge relaxed, and Knuckles napped. Rouge would later divulge to Cream that she had taken the opportunity to get some breathing space from Knuckles and even got to order some food without his oversight(yay). Rouge loved the echidna, but the longer she was through her pregnancy, the less space she found.

Sonic got back around 3 or 4 o’clock, he wasn’t sure and didn’t tend to pay attention to that sort of thing. But he did recall the details of the town and its surroundings, saying that he explored the whole place, without them, in one day. It felt obvious for Cream to say at this point, that he was not a patient man. When Cream finally woke up, he was trying to balance a tower of complimentary mints from the front desk on top of Knuckles’ sleeping form while Rouge tried not to laugh and wake him up.

Most curious of all was Miles. Back on the boat they had planned for dinner at the hotel for 6:30 and Cream watched him stumble in at 6:20. Not at all late by most standards, and sure as hell, early for Sonic, but curiously late for Miles.

As Cream watched, bored, as Sonic stacked the 9th mint on Knuckles’ nose(a new record) Miles literally stumbled into the pool area.

“He-hey guys, how’s everyone been, had a good day? Great great.” The orangey-yellow fox’s fur was messy and stuck out sticks and leaves in it, his bangs drooped over his forehead with sweat, and he was breathing heavily, his bright blue eyes wildly glancing between each party member. They finally settled on the tower of mints, and Miles gasped, and snagged a few, causing the tower to tumble.

“Heeeey!” Sonic complained loudly like a six-year-old, which ended up waking Knuckles. The drowsy echidna snapped to his feet and his fists were raised for battle but his pose was unsteady and he was standing dangerously close to the edge of the pool. Rouge took this opportunity to mess with her husband, and with a strong flap of her wings, the punching powerhouse tumbled into the pool. With a resounding splash, water sprayed from the pool catching Cream and Miles, Sonic had simply dodged and Rouge, lifted a beach towel to protect herself.

“Ughhh, I needed a shower anyway.” Miles chuckled to himself. Cream shot him a glare that she hoped translated to, ‘you’re hiding something, we’ll talk later.’ The fox gulped noisily and shot her an uneasy smile.

Miles ‘Tails’ Prower was probably one of the world’s worst secret keepers. It stemmed from his inability to lie. He had little to no social interaction as a young child which stunted his social skill training that built that voice in one’s head that said, I probably shouldn’t tell my girlfriend that eating too much ice cream could make her fat. And thus on one night in, he had. That coupled with his first friend being a wise-cracking, cool dude that didn’t really keep secrets and thus you got one of the worst secret keepers was born.

“I think you’ll need an actual shower kiddo, you stink.” Rouge covered her nose. Rouge had that voice in her head, she just didn’t give a shit.

“Ohhh nooo, I believe that will do fine my love.” Knuckles emerged from the pool soaking wet, a murderous glare directed at his wife, his voice awkwardly sing-songy with sarcasm that he learned only from the person about to be wet.

“Look Knuckie, it was just a joke, really…” a nervous smile plastered itself on Rouge’s face as Cream could see gears turn in her head as she tried to concoct a way out of this. It didn’t appear to be coming to her.

“In fact I think we all could use a shower, it’s been a long day for all of us. Knuckles approached his wife, a sinister grin stretched across his face as he neared his wife, wet arms outstretched.

“Knuckles, please, NO! My makeup-”

“MMmmMMMmmm! That is a hug of quality for my beautiful bat.” Knuckles released the now-soaked Rouge, his evil grin replaced with one of humor, laughter visible right behind his eyes.

Rouge was less pleased, disgust commanding her face. Cream was worried she was stuck like that but then she snapped out of it and took a deep breath,

“Well! I’m going to dry off and change, does anyone care to follow?”

“I believe I will, considering my shoes, socks, and gloves are all completely drenched with water.” Knuckles said flatly.

“Oh nooo. Not my three clothing items, it’s nothing like having an entire outfit, leggings, and an hour’s worth of makeup, whatever will you do?” Rouge was walking off now, so Knuckles, Cream, and Miles decided to follow, leaving Sonic with nothing to stack his mints on.

Cream was pretty sure Rouge had booked the rooms just to mess with her. She hadn’t realized it when she first went up but she now learned that only two rooms were purchased, one for three people with two twins in one room and a pullout in the other, and a second with a king for Rouge and Knuckles.

Cream was supposed to sleep with the boys?!

“So what? I’m just on the pullout then?!” Cream had demanded from Rouge, who had only done Cream the favor of cracking open her room’s door and popped her head out.

“Nooooo. Sonic’s on the pullout and you and Tails are in the beds.” Rouge smiled at her as Cream stared confusedly. “You’re welcome.” Cream’s eyes flicked back and forth trying to read Rouge's face for any kind of malintent.

“You know we’re not dating anymore right?’’

“Who said anything about dating?” Rouge shot Cream a shit-eating grin and then disappeared into her room. Cream threw up her hands and stomped back into her, and Miles’ and Sonic’s room.

Cream entered the bedroom to see Miles step out of the bathroom, a towel tied around his middle and his fur still glistening wet as he ran a hand through his hair, the bangs in front popping up slightly.

Fuck you Rouge.

“Oh, uhh shower’s free by the way if you want it.” Miles said nervously as if him and his golden fur wasn’t in command of this whole interaction.

“Uhhmm no, I uh, I think I’m just gonna change, I clearly haven’t been running around in a jungle all day.” Cream managed to get out, her eyes locked on Miles’ pectoral muscles visible through his wetted down fur.

Double fuck you Rouge.

“Oh ok, then uhh bathroom’s free, or I can just leave the bedroom if you want it.” Cream watched his ears as he talked, cutely subconsciously flicking water out of them,

“No no that’s fine, I’ll just use the bathroom.” Cream said hurriedly as she gathered a bundle of clean clothes from her suitcase and made for the bathroom.

“Cool I’m just gonna shake out here.” Miles said somewhat off handily.

“Shake?” Cream turned momentarily to see Miles wriggle his whole body up and down, drops of water flying from his form. The fur now dry, puffed up with static, turning the fox into a golden cloud. The fox flashed her a shy smile before saying,

“Sorry, did I get you wet?” Cream pressed her lips together and shook her head before disappearing into the bathroom. The rabbit looked into the mirror to see that to her horror a light blush had rosied her cheeks.

Cream was gonna kill that bat.

…

Suffice it to say, the party was late for dinner.

“Sorry, sorry. I wouldn’t have needed to redo my makeup if I hadn’t been enveloped by a literal red wet blanket.” Rouge said as she sat down for dinner.

The group had been waiting for a while and ultimately decided to order for her. As she sat down, Cream took the opportunity to shoot her a death glare. Rouge had the audacity of winking back at her.

“So how was everyone’s day?” Cream put on a happy face channeling her six year old self, waiting for them to explain how great their days were so she could bring down the hammer of shame.

Instead a chorus of mumbles greeted her. Cream frowned. One too cool dude, and three others that were clearly keeping some kind of secret made for very quiet dinner conversation. But fine, if she couldn’t bring them to the shame, she’d bring the shame to them. “Mine was fine, I just took a quick nap after I carried the bags up.”

This got the group’s attention, as the three boys’ heads snapped up and spouted apologies and ways of making it up to her. Cream did her best not to let the satisfaction show on her face, but the humility shined through as Cream caught Rouge’s expression. The bat’s eyes rolled and she let out a half laugh.

What, like never guilted Knuckles into anything?

But nevertheless, Cream dropped the guilt tripping, feeling that she had gotten even with her friends and instead chose to actually try and pull facts and events about the day out of their mouths.

Shockingly, Sonic was the first to crack, telling her about his quest over the island and the shopkeeper he met today. Cream was not oblivious to the quick glance Rouge and Knuckles shared at that. From there Knuckles and Rouge mentioned the lunch spot they had found, Sonic spouted his praises too, as they had apparently discovered the same spot.

What a coincidence.

As for Miles, well Cream couldn’t crack him. While he was not the most talkative boy, Cream had a way of enjoying his company and taking an interest that was able to bring out his inner excitement that often locked itself away behind a wall of introversion and nervousness. But today he was a steel box she couldn't hack. He had just mumbled about looking for Sonic and that was it.

They were all keeping secrets.

Knuckles and Rouge were the biggest give away, their lovey-dovey arguments gone from the table, and the way they deflected every question to Sonic, using him as a way to absorb her questions.

“How was the restaurant?” She’d ask.

“It was acceptable, you should be curious as to Sonic’s take.” Knuckles would respond.

“Did you guys enjoy the town?” Cream would try.

“Yeah, Sweetie it was fine from what I saw, but big blue over there saw the whole thing.” Rouge would counter.

Sonic seemed oblivious or just didn’t care, demolishing a plate of shrimp. He’d just nod along or make a quick comment and then go back to exterminating shellfish.

But Miles is what got her. His tails are what got her.

They were such an indicator of his emotion, up and flowing when happy, straight out when mad, low and swishing when upset or sad. But right now they were dead. Completely lifeless, hanging from his rear like a man on a noose. Every move Miles made at dinner was slow and methodical, robotic. Every motion was to attract as little attention as possible. Miles knew he was bad at keeping secrets. Perhaps he figured if he talked at all he might spill forth and lay whatever was hidden bare. So instead he’d rather be absent from the conversation.

Invisible and intangible. A ghost with unfinished business.

Cream saw this, the tails, the empty gaze, the slouched posture and light back of the ears, the aimless way he put limp forkful after limp forkful of penne into his mouth. Miles wasn’t just keeping a secret, he was holding onto a revelation. Something that scared and worried and excited him. That was focusing so much of his attention that he had to shut everything down, lest it break free and devastate his pasta.

Cream had to pry it from him.

. . .

“You gonna tell me what you were holding onto at dinner?” Cream asked from her bed.

The group had settled in for the night, Knuckles and Rouge in their room and Sonic on the couch outside of the bedroom that Cream and Miles were currently in. Cream looked expectantly at the fox lump that was currently turned away from her in the opposite bed. “No? That’s fine. Maybe I can guess!”

There was no motion from the lump.

“Is it about me?” No motion. “You? Knuckles and Rouge? Sonic?” There was the lightest twitch of a tail from under his covers.

Jackpot.

“So you’re keeping secrets from Sonic huh?” She said playfully.

“‘m not keepn’ secrets from Somic.” The lump muttered.

Liar.

“You know he can’t hear you while he’s asleep right?” No response. “I mean the dude snores like a spin dash got caught in a pair of clock gears.” A stunted snort comes from the bed.

Cream smiles.

“You know I know when you’re keeping secrets right?” The opposite bed had gone quiet. “I think it was, two years ago, freshman year. I was having a tough time fitting in, and what’s worse it was a little after the holiday break and I was missing you and Mom and Cheese and everyone. So you had decided to surprise me by making a trip to see me at school for Valentine’s Day. You planned this wonderful surprise and this dinner and movie, and even created a little fireworks demonstration for me.” Cream let out a chuckle. “What was on the streamer on your plane when you arrived?”

“If I tried to say I didn’t miss you, I’d always Tails.” Came a voice came from the other bed.

“I’d always Tails.” Cream said slowly, savoring the cringe, “not only is that a bad pun, it doesn’t make sense, I was the one missing you.” Miles had gone silent again. “Not to mention I knew it was coming for months.” At this Miles finally turned over to face Cream, an expression of disbelief just visible in the room’s dark light. “Every time we were on a phone call and I asked you what you were up to, you would say working. Or hanging with Sonic. Not working on the tornado to supersize it’s output or creating a new way to transmit signals long distance to communicate with aliens. Or playing Jump Carpenter four and how you guys were sooo close to beating it.”

“Jump Plumber four.” Miles corrected, a ghost of a smile dancing on his lips.

“Oh excuse me, sorry, Jump Plumber four.” Cream shot the smile back at him. “But when you started planning that surprise visit, when you called-”

When you called. The concept left a sour taste in Cream’s mouth. A beginning of an end. But she couldn’t focus on that right now, secrets first, unfinished relationship later.

“I-I could always tell you were hiding something cause you totally shut down on me dude. Your ears would go back and you wouldn’t look at me over the video chat, and your fluffy tails would flumph.”

“Flumph?” Miles’ right eyebrow raised.

“Yeah go flat, dead, flumph. I thought you were cheating on me for a while. But you were so interested in me, it wasn’t just mindless shifting of the conversation, you wanted to know how I was because in that moment to you, I was what was important and what you would acknowledge. That’s how I know you’re keeping secrets about Sonic. Your tails have flumphed and you only responded to me when I mentioned him, so spill your guts Prower.” Cream pointed a finger at his cute nose.

“How’d you know it was a romantic visit to cheer you up?” Miles asked, not necessarily to deflect but to get an answer his curious brain would be satisfied with.

“For a guy so involved with technology, you’re not very good at hitting the mute button.”

“Ohoho, noooo.” Miles groaned, raising his hands over his face.

“I was dreaming of that buttercream frosting covered cake for a month, and I’m kinda disappointed that the song you wrote for me eventually got scrapped, I would’ve liked to hear it.”

“Please just stop talking.” Miles’ head was in his hands.

“No really, I think it would’ve been great, you’ve got the vocal cords for it so it just would’ve been a matter of-”

“Amy’s here.”

That shut Cream up. A shock through her heart went straight to her brain as Cream recalled her best friend. Suddenly she was 6 years old again, sleepovers, and nail painting, trips to the mall for close and talks of proper Chao care. Of how boys were stupid and intriguing at the same time. Trying to figure out Eggman’s exact rotten smell, and taking bets on how quickly Sonic would thrash him next time.

Amy always won.

“Don’t.” Cream shot quick and hard, fear and worry and anger and sadness all creeping into her voice. “Don’t fucking mess with me Miles, It’s been a long fucking day.”

“I’m not.” Miles’ tone was firm and steady and clear.

Not lying.

“You- I- How do you- How do you know?” Cream was able to say, her throat tight and her breathing fast and shallow. Cream felt hot pin pricks in the corner of her eyes.

“I-We, me, Knuckles, and Rouge have been looking into her disappearance for a while now. We checked reports and followed up with people that last saw her, and retraced her steps, the last day she was seen.”

“Knuckles and Rouge know?” Cream felt her face heat up as betrayal wormed its way into her heart. “How-how long have you been looking into this?” Cream felt the pin pricks turn into tears and her vision began to blur.

Miles swallowed.

“It’ll be a year in a few months, Vector found her just a couple of weeks ago, and that’s why we made this trip here.” Miles’ voice was low and slow, shame starting to build in it.

Cream made a choking sound as a sob was caught in her throat and the tears began to flow freely.

“You were looking to find my best friend, and-and you didn’t think to tell me? To include me? I-I-I could’ve helped.” Cream felt her voice crack. She wanted to kick the sheets off her bed, they were too hot, but the cold shiver down her spine held them down.

“You-” Miles took a pause, reaching for the reason he hadn’t told Cream, “you were busy with school, and beyond that…I didn’t want to get your hopes up in case- In case-”

“-In case she was dead?” Cream finished, her tears mixing with the angry spittle from her mouth. “Then why didn’t you tell me once you knew where she was, why keep it to yourself Miles?!” Cream paused for a moment. Her eyes looking away from the fox and took a deep breath, found it didn’t help, and took another one. She brought her gaze back to Miles, “Why didn’t you talk to me?”

Miles looked back at her, his eyes wide and afraid of what he might say. He opened his mouth to speak and a small noise came out as words died in his throat. Cream let out one more choking sob and then turned in bed away from him.

And then she cried herself to sleep.

Sonic

Sonic the Hedgehog laid on the couch outstretched, his legs hanging on the far armrest, while his arms rested behind his head in a makeshift pillow. The couch could turn into a bed but he felt no need to make it into one, he was perfectly fine laying on it like this. He certainly didn’t feel like working up the energy now.

Not after hearing Tails spill his dirty secrets to Cream.

Sonic had always figured them as a cute couple, both adorable people with a strong desire to help others in not robot smashing ways. But the two hadn’t lasted. Sonic guessed not even destined loves stuck together against the forces of time and space.

The world changed too fast, even for Sonic the Hedgehog. How was he supposed to experience everything if by the time he got there it was gone? How could he see it all? It was especially difficult with people. It felt like yesterday that Tails was a short high-pitched voiced kit that followed Sonic wherever he went. Now he was a deep-voiced adult making huge bank with his inventions and changing the world.

And he was taller than him. How was Tails taller than him?

Cream was in college, Knuckles and Rouge were married with a kid on the way, Charmy was growing up. Even Shadow had decided to calm down and soften his edges, having recently bought a house and meeting neighbors.

Seriously, Shadow the Hedgehog putting down roots in a cul-de-sac and attending neighborhood meetings. Sonic couldn’t envision it.

The only person Sonic could really count on to stay the same was Eggman, still attacking and attempting to take over the world. Sonic was starting to really look forward to whenever he’d attack again, because then he and all his friends would join up again to take him down.

Sonic hardly got to see all of them anymore.

But even Eggman’s attacks had gotten less frequent.

Whether he admitted it or not, Sonic needed this vacation, not to relax, but to see those he cared about more.

Things were changing too much too fast for the Blue Blur.

All this crossed Sonic‘s mind as he lay there on that uncomfortable couch, which would be much more comfortable if he just turned it into his bed. Sleeping like this was going to hurt his back. But he was far too stubborn to change it.

So he laid there, uncomfortable and unhappy and spying on his best friend, and he could only think one thing.

So they know she’s here too.

Chapter Text

Amy

Amy Rose once again greeted the day with a smile. It was nothing special, but the fact that a smile in the morning was not an exception was in itself a reason to smile, she figured.

Amy threw the covers off of her and reached skyward with a stretch before moving onto a quick morning workout.

Amy had always been one to keep herself in shape, it made her look good and beyond that, made her feel good. But she had a little trouble getting around to it when Mania was born, being a full-time Mom required Amy to take time away from her health to make sure the love of her life was. But now Mania was older, more matured, and the sweetest thing in Amy’s life.

Mania was what got Amy out of bed in the morning and making sure she was taking care of herself so she could take care of her little girl. Amy felt it was her sole-purpose to know everything about Mania and to give her everything she would need to know in life.

Mania’s favorite color: Blue

Check.

Mania’s favorite food: Burritos

Check.

What to do if you encounter a stranger: Run and call for help

Check.

Mania’s favorite TV show: Master Mobian Bake Off

Check.

Mania was so lucky to have a mom like Amy.

Finishing her workout, Amy moved over to her closet.

She paused.

Amy’s smile finally dropped, it always did when she went to get her clothes for the day. Because she’d have to look at it. Amy’s breath quickened and she swallowed a few times before wrenching open the closet doors. She shot her left hand out, got her underwear.

Right hand, snagged her bra.

Left hand again, got a light blue short sleeve top with hearts around the neck and sleeves.

Right hand again, her hand grasped a pair or tan pants. She tugged on them, but they were stuck. Another tug, they still weren’t free. Amy grumbled. She tugged harder, and then they were free. She held them in front of her in victory, but as she lowered them…it came into view.

A foot locker.

It was big enough to hold a body, and if she considered it, it essentially did. It was all black leave for some silvery metal on the edges. Picked that way to blend into the dark of her closet, away and forgotten. Or at least that’s the way it should’ve been. And yet every time she went to get ready for the day, there it was. An echo of another person.

An urn to a girl gone.

Seeing it every morning was practically part of her morning routine. Get up, exercise, stare down your past, and then take a shower. Typical morning stuff. It was torturous having to look at it every morning but she had never found the strength to get rid of it.

Amy would always tell herself that she’d get rid of it tomorrow. She’d get up, get Mania ready for the day or school, go to work, and then come home and destroy her previous life. Easy peasy. And yet the box remained. For the most part she just attributed its continued existence to forgetfulness. Life with Mania, while wonderful, was all-consuming and left her the little free time she’d need to exterminate the footlocker of forgotten dreams. But another part of her feared, deep down, that she didn’t want it gone. That if she opened the box that girl would come back and she’d be her old happy-go-lucky self, forever excited and ambitious.

But then she remembered. She remembered that same girl standing alone. Standing alone in the same room where she’d been the happiest than ever before mere weeks earlier. Standing alone and crying, screaming for someone to help her, to save her.

And that no one was coming.

That she was alone, now and what had seemed like forever.

That she couldn’t count on anyone to help her.

…

…

…

Leave for herself.

She had let herself finish crying. Had let an ocean fall from her eyes. And when she was done, wiped down her cheeks, picked herself up and walked out of that room of joy and sorrow. And then never returned.

Now Amy looked at the footlocker staring back at her, a wave of fear and sadness building behind her eyes. But instead she breathed, letting the wave wash past her. And felt it pass, the heated pinpricks in the corner diminish and she breathed again.

Her smile returned to her face, the façade back. A symbol of joy covering the real Amy Rose. Cool as a cucumber. Rock solid bitch. Champion single mother. Designer of dresses that Honey will approve of. And most importantly of all, the only thing that remained from that girl in the box. That she’d had with her since she was a toddler. That kept her going when she didn’t get what she wanted. That kept her sane when she was captured by Metal him. That made her chase after that same him time and time again.

Amy Rose: Iron willed.

And right now that iron will had to go make her daughter breakfast.

…

Amy came out of the shower and got dressed, her pants and blouse clean and pressed. She knew she looked crisp and powerful. But the outfit helped.

Amy’s smile widened as she came out of her room to see her daughter finishing off the rest of her fruit. Mania grinned as her mother entered, popping a piece of cantaloupe into her mouth and chewing and swallowing, eyes never leaving her mom.

“Good job baby. I know cantaloupe is not your favorite, but I’m glad you ate it.” Amy ruffled her daughter’s quills.

“Well you said it’s good for me, and I wanna grow up big and strong like you mom!” Her daughter replied, a grin with teeth missing beaming at her. Mania ran a few hands through her quills adjusting them and resetting the placement of her headband. Amy’s own smile widened, the grin becoming real for a moment.

“Of course you will. And do you wanna know why?” Amy crouched down by the kitchen table, her eye-line level with Mania’s. Mania’s eyes traveled up for a moment as she tapped her chin with a finger, thinking.

“Is it because you’re the perfect mom?” Mania looked back to her mother eagerly, bouncing a little in her chair.

“Noooo, it’s because you’re the perfect daughter!” Amy booped her daughter's nose and then lifted her out of the chair and into a big hug. Spinning her around a bit as Mania laughter. The sound of joy bouncing off the walls of the cabin and into Amy’s ears, reminding her of who she was and what she did and what she had.

A good job, a great daughter, a perfect life.

Yes, more often than not, Amy’s smile was fake, but beneath it all, there was joy powering her heart. Amy set her daughter back down in her chair, the young girl still giggling and Amy put her hands on her small knees.

“Okay, I’ll be back at 5:30, you be a good girl and stay at home, or just in the backyard. Remember to do some cleaning and some homework, gotta keep your skills up.” Amy had put her serious-but-loving calm voice on, that she had been using for years. She swore it should be used for audio books for babies. Mania nodded eagerly, excited to get the day's requirements done so she could play. Amy moved to the door and opened it looking back at her home and daughter with pride.

“And how ‘bout another drawing for the fridge, I missed having one to put up yesterday.” Amy saw another nod from her daughter and then closed the door.

As Amy walked the path to town, she noticed her blouse was somewhat wrinkled, probably from picking up and spinning Mania. Amy used a hand to try and straighten it out a little. It wouldn’t be perfect, but she’d make do. The slightest of cracks in her frame of steely perfection showing that she was still a person under there. Amy let the real smile return for a moment, knowing she’d trade perfect outfits for more time to play with her daughter. But alas bills had to be paid, food put on the table, and work to do.

And in the space in between, she’d be with her perfect daughter, in her perfect life.

“Oh hey Amy, long time no see, huh?” Sonic the Hedgehog said to Amy as he stood in the middle of Main Street. “Anyway, catch you later.” And then he sped away.

Miles

Miles had been curious if being late, despite being the fastest thing alive, was genetic. Because of Mania’s father, she too would be late to meet with him.

He sincerely hoped so, because he was for certain late.

It had been a rough night for the fox. He’d had to romp back through a jungle he didn’t know, sit through a tense dinner, and of course worst of all, tell Cream about Operation Honeymoon.

About Amy.

It had not been a good night as he had had to lay there silently as Cream, unwilling to listen to him further, continued to cry. The crying had turned into mild whimpers, and then mercifully quiet breaths as she had finally fallen asleep. Miles figured that was probably the more optimal strategy as he had found himself awake late into the night. His thoughts trapping his consciousness.

Miles still wasn’t sure why he just hadn’t told Cream about the plan. She probably would’ve had some ideas about how to find Amy or how to talk to her once they did.

But he hadn’t, and then he had invited her on this trip, a surprise party for a host that might not even want them, and with guests that weren’t sure they even knew the host anymore. Having one of the guests not know about the party surely didn’t help.

So Miles had left Cream uninformed and unprepared. He still couldn’t place whether he did it cause he wanted to keep it under wraps, or because he didn’t want to talk to Cream.

Or because he was too scared to.

But either way he had gotten up late in the morning, having fallen asleep at 5:30 in the morning and overslept. He had found the bed adjacent to his empty and the couch outside of the bedroom hedgehogless, so he had run downstairs with his bag, grabbed a slice of toast from the continental breakfast the hotel served and sped out the door. His twin tails sluggishly propelling him into the woods.

Long story short, he felt like shit.

Miles arrived at the clearing at 9:30, a half an hour past his predetermined arrival time, that no, lateness was not genetic as he found a very peeved Mania Rose glaring at him.

It was worse than he ever imagined. Sonic’s agitated tapping foot, Amy’s frustrated hands on hip pose, Sonic’s disappointed frown, Amy’s rage filled eyes. It was a swirling nightmare of what kept him up at night when he was young.

He was suddenly 8 again, looking at two of the people he trusted more than anything, both of them thoroughly upset at him. Miles felt the urge to get on his knees and beg for forgiveness. But all of that had been when he was 8, he was an adult now, and wouldn’t be bullied by a 10 year old.

Mania let out a low grumble.

Maybe if he apologized enough, she’d let him live.

“You’re late.” The girl spat, standing there in her red dress, Miles completely at her mercy. He would live or die by her hand. And with her being supersonic, that was fairly plausible. Miles didn’t know enough about the girl. With Sonic’s speed and Amy’s temper, she could be a ticking timebomb that could level a city.

“I brought treats.” Miles said sheepishly.

And then she was 10 years old again. The anger and agitation and disappointment melting into eagerness and joy and curiosity.

Miles “Tails” Prower was no fool. As he watched the young hedgehog girl chomp down on a donut happily he brought her, he smiled. Yes it was true that he was looking at an extremely power being, that might border on Demi-god. But she was just a kid, one that was excited to learn about the world and her heritage, not bent on revenge. And she was also the product of the people he had trusted the most in the whole world. From what Miles knew of Amy and what he had gleaned so far from Mania, is that she had been raised very well.

Now if only Miles could figure out why she was raised alone.

The twin tailed fox removed a chili dog from his bag, something else he had picked up before coming here and racked his brain for questions to ask this girl. And maybe he could get a base idea of why Amy left before confronting her mother.

“Hey whatchu got there Miles?”

“Oh uh, issa thili dohg.” Miles responded, mouthful, as he was knocked out of his thinking stupor. He swallowed what remained in his mouth, “You never had one before? They serve them at Sunrise Harvest in town.”

Mania shook her head, “I’ve seen it on the menu, but Mom never lets me get one. Says they’re bad for me.”

Well that’s a little suspicious, Miles figured. And then an idea formed.

“Here you wanna try it?” Miles took out a second chili dog and let its scent waft over the small hedgehog as it approached her. She nodded vigorously, her hands outstretched to receive it. Then, at the last moment he pulled back. “Aaactually, I don’t know if I should go specifically against your mom’s wishes if I want to get in her good graces when I meet her again.”

“D-don’t worry I won’t tell her.” Mania wasn’t looking at him as she reached for the dog, leaning forward. Miles pulled the meat mess further from her,

“I’m not sure, I mean I trust you, I just don’t think I should give this to you in good conscience.” Miles saw her eyes widen, consumed with the savory confection.

“Pleaaaase Miles, I’ll do anything!” Jackpot. Miles let a grin slide onto his face, and Mania finally took her eyes off the chili dog to notice it. “Ohh that’s so not fair!”

“Anything?” Miles let a twang of mischievousness sneak into his voice.

“Bribing a little girl isn’t cool!” Mania said, as she turned away, her arms folded.

“C’mon I just want to know some stuff about you and Amy.”

“I thought you were supposed to tell me about my mom.”

“And we will, but first I wanna ask a few questions.” Mania turned her head back to him slightly glancing between him and the chili dog.

“And then I get to eat the chili dog?”

“And then you get to eat the chili dog.” Miles watched as she gave a quick nod. “So,” he began, waving the chili dog in a hypnotic circle, “has it only been you and your mom?”

“For the most part. She’s always been there to take care of me. Sometimes I go to school and occasionally my Aunt Honey will be there to watch me when Mom’s got stuff to do.”

“Who’s Aunt Honey?” Miles waited, but found Mania’s eyes had rested solidly on the treat in his hand once more. He gave a quick sigh, and tore off a piece of the dog, handing it over to Mania, who devoured it like she hadn’t seen food in a week. “Now who’s Aunt Ho-”

“Meh.” Mania said and turned away to look at some of the jungle life.

Miles sputtered. He did a double take. Then another one.

“MEH?!”

“Yeah, ‘meh.’ It’s okay I guess, kinda felt like I expected it to be waaay better than it actually was. Lotta meat, not enough bread, no cheese.”

“Well you can get them with cheese…” Miles said to no one in particular. He let the supposed golden food go limp in his hand as he stared off into space, wondering if perhaps there were any other supersonic hedgehogs that could be this girl’s father. And then he blinked.

And the chili dog was gone.

Miles stood, mouth agape as Mania sat in front of him, where she was just a moment before, now with a chili dog in her mouth that she munched noisily on.

Tricked by a 10 year old. And Miles called himself the brains of the Team Sonic.

“Oh my WOW! That was amazing! It was sooo good, like a dance party in my mouth! Way better than burritos, it was hands down, the best thing I’ve ever tasted. Can I have another?”

“You tricked me!” He huffed. More upset at himself than Mania.

“Well you tried to trick me first!” Mania smiled devilishly at him.

“Am I gonna have to tell your mother?!” He spat back.

“Tattletale!”

“Snot-nosed brat!”

“Old man!”

“Whiney spikey beach ball!”

Mania let out a loud burp right in Miles’ face, the sting of the spices from the left over remains of the chili dog in her mouth burning his nose. He leaned back from her and covered his nose waving at the air.

“Yeah that’s right! That’s what you get for trying to mess with me!” Mania turned away from him again, but her pose was slumped and he thought he caught a light sniffle.

He had hurt her, now he had actually messed up. Miles breathed out, and looked at her carefully, corners of shame building in his eyes.

“Okay I’m sorry for tricking you, and threatening to rat you out, when I know this whole speed…adventuring thing is still a secret to her. That was wrong of me.”

Mania still didn’t look at him.

“How about this? We’ll trade questions, you ask one, then I ask one. We’ll trade off, so we can both learn about each other. How does that sound?” There was a beat of silence.

“And then we’ll go get more chili dogs?” Mania finally turned back to him and wiped her nose on the back of her gloved hand.

“And then I’ll consider going for more chili dogs.” Miles rolled his eyes.

“Okay fox nerd guy.”

“Okay tricky roly-poly.”

The two paused again.

“Was my mom like me a lot when she was my age?” Miles breathed out and sat down beside Mania, looking towards the sky not saying anything. “I thought you were gonna start answering my questions?”

“No no, I am. Just thinking.”

“Oh.”

The two sat in silence for a moment.

“I think so, it has been a while I guess. But you look a lot like she did, and you have her same…passion for life I guess?” Miles rubbed the back of his head.

“Passion for life?” Miles watch as confusion built on Mania’s face

“Yeah…just like you, the world excited her. Everything was interesting, everything was worth exploring and caring about. She wanted to see the world because there was nothing in it not worth her time.”

“Oh.” There was another pause. “Well that’s stupid.”

“Hey I’m just telling you what I remember.”

“No I’m just telling you you’re memory is wrong.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, mom doesn’t…she isn’t…Mom doesn’t like doing that. She never seems to want to do anything that she wants to do. One time I overheard Aunt Honey talking about her birthday and mom mentioned that hers was coming up. So I asked her for some money and then went to the general store. I found this huge birthday card it was flashy and fun and said 'happy birthday' in huge letters. I was so excited to give it to her, I thought she was gonna love it.” Miles watched as the enjoyment of the conversation began to drain from Mania’s voice. “But she didn’t, she just said thank you, but that she would’ve preferred to get something for me with the money instead. It just sometimes feels like mom doesn’t care about anything.” Mania was looking at her shoes now.

“It just sometimes feels like mom doesn’t care about mom.”

Miles opened his mouth but was having trouble making words come out. This was not the Amy he remembered, and frankly, he would’ve preferred to hear about the angry hammer-swinging Amy than someone that didn’t seem to feel much of anything anymore.

“Well it sounds like she cares a lot about you.” Miles finally choked out. Mania scoffed.

“Yeah, but I’m like the only thing she cares about. It’s a lot to be the sole focus of someone’s attention, I mean like it feels like she’s completely obsessed with me, can you imagine that? Someone being so completely obsessed with just one person?”

Miles resisted the urge to grin. Mania continued,

“And she always wants to help me, with homework and cooking and what I wear, and what I do, she wants it to be the best it can be. And I want it to be the best I can be.

Cause she’s my mom.

And I want…I want her-”

“To be proud of you?” Miles finished. Mania nodded slowly, wiping back some tears that had started to form in the corners of her eyes. “Trust me, I know all about getting someone you look up to to be proud of you.” Miles let out a breath, laying back on the grass staring up at the sunny sky. Mania leaned back and looked at the sky too.

Miles thought back to all of his adventures with Sonic. The two of them joined at the hip, working together to stop Eggman, or whatever villain of the week came to challenge them. Every time Miles had been wowed by Sonic’s skill or confidence or charisma, wanting to be like him, wanting to make Sonic see he could do those things too. Seeing finally as the years past that even if Miles couldn’t, the joy and pride that was in his brother’s eyes.

“Word to the wise Mania. Knowing what I do know of your mom, and what little you’ve told me. There’s a really solid chance that she’s already too proud of you for words.”

The hedgehog and fox watched the clouds float by.

“Well that’s annoying. How am I supposed to make her proud if she already is?!”

Miles soon found he couldn’t breath, as his laughter wouldn’t subside.

Knuckles and Rouge

“NOOOOOO You can’t make me!” Rouge screamed at her husband.

“Surrender the boot woman!” Knuckles growled back, wrenching the high-heeled knee-high boot from his wife. “It is time, you can no longer continue to wear this monstrous piece of footware while you are with pregnant with our daughter.”

“Our son by the way, and I don’t you remember complaining about those boots a few nights ago.” Rouge noticed the embarrassed steam venting from Knuckles’ ears and smirked.

“I will hear no more of that, and as long as you are…top heavy…” Knuckles said briefly glancing at his wife’s middle. Rouge resisted the urge to take her boot back and use its pointy tip to ensure this would be their last child. “It is time to put on footware that is more practical.”

Rouge wanted to cry as Knuckles took from the bag the pair of nurses shoes. The most painfully plain piece of clothing that she had ever come across. It sported laces like it was a new fashion trend and something to be excited about. Knuckles placed the practical footwear on Rouge’s feet and stepped back. “Well, how do they feel?”

Rouge grumbled something.

“Please repeat that.”

“Amazing.” Rouge whimpered, her gaze anywhere but her feet or Knuckles’ face.

Knuckles, only by the immense strength of the guardian of the master emerald, resisted the urge to smile.

The two walked down to breakfast to find Cream and Sonic already mid-meal. Well Cream mid-meal and Sonic practically-done-just-wiping-up-the-last-of-the-maple-syrup-with-his-pancake mid-meal. Knuckles and Rouge watched as he stuffed an entire flapjack into his mouth and smiled at them.

“Is it any wonder the ladies fall all over you?” Rouge threw a hand on her hip and was pleased to find she was still upright.

“I’ma merfect male fefimen.” Pancake flew from Sonic’s mouth. Cream let out a note of disgust.

“Are we actually planning to do anything today?” Cream muttered at her fruit bowl. Sonic swallowed the pancake, which was much smaller in his mouth now that part of it had been forcibly ejected.

“Well I don’t know about you guys, but I’ve got more island to see, so I’ll catch all you guys later.” Sonic flicked them some finger guns and disappeared in a blue haze.

“So much for that.” Cream stared at her fruit bowl, seemingly blaming it.

“Oh we’re sorry we ditched you yesterday sweetie.” Rouge drawled.

“Geez no need to be snarky.” Cream muttered at a piece of cantaloupe as she popped it into her mouth.

“What?! I wasn’t being snarky I swear.” Rouge defended herself. “Knuckie was I being snarky?” Rouge turned to her husband, who now found the neighboring empty chair very interesting. Rouge turned back to Cream, “Cream, really I’m sorry, I’m still trying to learn to-” Rouge stopped as she noticed Cream attempting to hide a smile. Rouge faced her husband and noticed he was shaking slightly.

Holding in a laugh.

“You both are full of shit.” Rouge crossed her arms, and frowned slumping in her seat. Knuckles let loose his laugh, a big boisterous sound that resonated around the room. Despite her upsetness, forced Rouge to crack a smile.

“My apologies my love, but Cream needed a good laugh.” Knuckles attempted to reign himself in as he looked at Cream who was giggling slightly. “Again, it was rude of us to leave you yesterday, we hope to make it up to you.”

“That’s okay, you can tell me what you know about Amy being here.”

Knuckles stopped laughing.

“Found out about that did you?” Rouge responded as Knuckles took the opportunity to cough and look sheepish.

“Miles spilled after I pressured him.” It was Cream’s turn to cross her arms and look upset.

“That boy could use some spy training, learn how not to crack under pressure.” Rouge said. Cream grumbled unhappily.

Rouge and Knuckles had been through a lot. Warriors and demons and gods and more often than not each other. It had given them a lot of practice in dealing with tough situations and learning how not to give up information and what was and was not a threat.

The couple had never considered Cream to be one of those threats. A small bunny girl that was a decade younger than them was not high on their list of concerns. And yet the glare she gave them in that moment made them feel it would be better to challenge the biolizard one handed than try to lie to this 21 year old.

“What would you like to know?” Knuckles said lowly.

“Everything.” Cream snapped.

“That could take a while, baby.” Rouge noted.

“I‘ve got time, and you two don’t seem to be doing anything important.” Rouge and Knuckles looked at each other with the same expression.

Help.

Mania

Mania had never shared her secret spot with anyone before. The clearing in the middle of the forest had been her escape for a while now. A place that she felt was safe and secure from the outside world and the expectations of her mom. It wasn’t super large, but there was a log to sit on and a hole punched through the jungle canopy above, and soft moss and grass to lay on.

And now there was a fox in it.

Mania wasn’t sure what to think of Miles yet. He was a lot older than her for sure, but he seemed to have a good understanding of what her life was like, and he knew a lot about mom so that was good. The two had gone back and forth sharing information about each other for a while.

He learned Amy had raised Mania alone in a small cabin.

Mania learned that her Mom was part of a group that fought off the evils of the world like villains and monsters and men that attacked using egg-based weaponry.

He learned that Amy worked at a boutique.

Mania learned that her Mom was a vicious fighter that wielded a massive hammer and an even more massive temper.

Truly equally valuable things were learned. But now the two had paused. Miles had left to get Mania more chili dogs and now she was alone with her thoughts.

And her math sheets.

Mania wasn’t homeschooled per say, but she also didn’t attend school regularly either. Port Shell was a cute little town, but it had long since seen better days, its heyday far behind it. And as money dried up one of the first things to go was education. There was a one room schoolhouse, but its resources were more than lacking and since there were only a few people capable of teaching- it wasn’t always open. There was a private school in town, but Mania’s mom didn’t really have the funds to pay for it. So instead Mania got worksheets.

Printed at the local library on the cheap, Mania’s mom found homework assignments for math and history and science and language, anything really to keep Mania engaged and learning. Mania never really enjoyed doing the work, but it made her mom happy, so she did it without complaint.

Even if she sucked at multiplication.

12 x 4.

Crap.

Mania panicked. Well there’s 12 right? And then another 4? But that’s addition. Something about boxes and that’s how many there are? Feeling her mouth dry up, Mania scribbled in 16 and hoped her mom wouldn’t notice-

“Nope.” Miles said. Mania whipped around to notice the orange-yellow fox standing behind her, his head over her shoulder, eating a chili dog and shaming her math skills. Seeing he was also holding a large plate of chili dogs, she snatched one and popped it into her mouth, chewing loudly,

“Weh if youh so smaht, you oo ith.” Miles just shook his head.

“But if I do that you’ll never learn.” Mania just rolled her eyes and turned back to her sheet. Using her pencil’s eraser she erased the 16.

Okay so we’ve got 12 and we’ve got 4. Miles swallowed his chili dog. And the two numbers multiply together to get what? Miles sat down and watched her work on the problem. So they combine in some way? Miles reached for another chili dog, but missed, keeping his eyes on Mania, and instead knocked over some of the chili dogs. He muttered something and righted the savory treats. Mania wrote an 8.

“Nope.” Mania sucked in a deep breath.

“Are you just gonna sit there while I fail this?” She steamed.

“Would you like some help?” Miles responded, his tone infuriatingly calm.

“Yes I would like some help.” Mania said, but wished she could scream.

“So what’s the problem?” He asked.

“12 x 4.”

“No I mean what’s your issue?”

“I can’t math.” It was now Miles’ turn to get frustrated.

“No, I mean, what part of the problem is preventing you from understanding how to solve it.” Mania looked at the problem for a moment and then to Miles.

“I dunno…everything I guess. I just don’t understand how multiplication works. Isn’t it just 12 and then another 4?”

“Hey it’s no sweat, multiplication is hard.”

“Really?” Mania looked to Miles hopefully.

“No. I was multiplying quadruple digit numbers in my head by the time I was two.” Mania threw her hands up.

“I don’t even know what all the words you just said mean!”

“Hey, hey. Look it’s okay, if you don’t understand what’s happening then no one can blame you for getting it wrong.” Miles tried to calm her, and then he slowly picked up the plate of chili dogs. “Okay look. Take this plate of chili dogs for example. Let’s say there’s 12 chili dogs on this plate.”

“But you only bought 6 and we ate 2.” Miles shot her a look. “Sorry.”

“Let’s say there’s 12 chili dogs on this plate. And then I brought in another plate also with 12 chili dogs, and then another, and then another. How many plates would I have?” Mania thought for a moment,

“Uh 4 I guess.”

“And how many chili dogs are on each plate again?”

“12.” Miles watched as he slowly saw the gears turn in Mania’s head, making progress, but she needed another push.

“All multiplication is, is taking the amount of the first number and bringing in as many sets of that first number as are in the second number.”

“So 12 x 4 is just 12 + 12 + 12 + 12?” Mania asked, and Miles grinned as he saw a light glow in her eyes.

“That’s a long way of putting it, but essentially, yeah.” Mania turned back to her paper and started adding 4 sets of 12 together.

“Pfff, I can do addition easy-peasy.” She finished up the problem and turned to Miles, with a grin on her face. “So the answer’s 48?”

“Ding Ding Ding. And the smart girl gets a chili dog.” Miles tossed her one of the remaining sausages. She munched on it.

“48’s a lotta chili gogs.” She mumbled through food.

“Alright, finish that up, I wanna teach you how to actually do multiplication now that you’ve got a better understanding of the concept.” Mania nodded and began to wolf down the food. Mania watched as Miles got distracted and picked up one of her science worksheets. The fox let out a little ‘-eep.’ And grinned hugely, showing her the front of the worksheet, “YOU’RE LEARNING ABOUT AVIATION?!”

Mania could swear she was looking at an 8 year old.

. . .

By the time Mania had realized what time it was, her head was so crammed full of aeronautics facts, it felt like it was going to tip over. It was way beyond late in the day when Mania realized she had to go home. Her mom was going to be home soon and she did not need to know that Mania had spent the day with her aviation obsessed long lost friend.

What she didn’t understand is why he was still following her. Mania ducked underneath a raised root and jumped over a creek. She looked back.

And there he was, his tails spinning furiously, keeping pace with her. His movements followed hers, but he was taking the turns tighter, using the lift from his tails to skip ground movements she had to make. In other words:

He was gaining on her.

Okay. So it’s a race then, She thought.

Mania poured on the speed, weaving between trees, past bushes, over rocks. She was a bullet through the calm underbrush tearing up the calm nature into a whirlwind of exhilaration. Mania looked back again.

He’s still there.

Miles certainly had the stamina, Mania had to give him that. But nothing was faster than her. And more importantly, no one knew these woods like she did. He was more skilled, but she had the power and the terrain. Mania ducked into tight shortcuts, taking small burrows and large jumps. Using the surprise of the unknown geography to her advantage. Miles might still be able to track her, but he’d lose precious seconds and the race.

But now the house was close. The finish line was rapidly approaching and Miles still wasn’t far enough behind her for Mania’s liking. It was now or never.

Boom Boom Boom. She felt her chest beat.

Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom. Mania squinted and tears sprung to her eyes as wind whipped past them.

BoomBoomBoomBoomBoomBoomBoom. Mania’s legs were a blur, up, forward, down, back, and up again. A cycle that turned into a visual circle.

Chka-BOOOOM! And there went the sound barrier. Now nothing could catch her, no thing, no heartbeat, no sound. She was free and clear and victory was assured. The house came into view, and with it the finish line. No matter how fast Miles was, she was faster.

And then, inexplicably-she heard it.

Chka-BOOOOM!

A second sonic boom. The sound of another daredevil. Another being that challenged what could be done. Someone else that knew what it was like to break the rules of nature, to look at reality and deny it with their own will. Just-

Someone else.

Mania looked behind her to see Miles, so close, right near her. His arm was outstretched, trying to reach her. His mouth moved, but his words were behind him with his own sonic boom.

But it was too late, she had reached the end first.

And then she promptly slammed into the wall of the house.

. . .

Mania stood there dazed. She blinked a few times, trying to get her eyes back into focus. They blurred and shifted, but she eventually got them to sync up. Mania turned to the wall of the cabin.

It was fine. No planks out of place, no dented nails. No massive hole from a supersonic hedgehog slamming into it at top speed. If the wall wasn’t damaged, then…

Mania reached for her head. Found it was still attached, and not bleeding. She didn’t feel hurt, maybe a little dazed. Mania looked over the rest of her body, legs, arms, body, heck even her red dress was intact. Except wait, there was something on it.

Mania pulled a little tuft of orange-yellow fuzz from her dress. If the cabin was unhurt, and she was unhurt-

Miles!

Mania whipped her head around and found the fox on the ground, breathing heavily and clutching his two tails, a look of pain tightening his face.

“You- you beat me…” was all Mania could manage. Miles was able to smile but it was equally possible it was a grimace.

“No you beat up me.” Miles hefted his tails, which didn’t look super damaged but it wasn’t possible to tell under all the fur. Clearly there were some tufts missing now though and a few purplish quills were stuck in the fur. The fur looked mashed, as if a speedy hedgehog had slammed into them at full speed.

“You cushioned my impact…”

“Well yeah, I couldn’t let you hurt yourself. I want to be on your mom’s good side. And don’t you ever watch where you’re going?” Miles began to pick a few of Mania’s quills out of his tails’ fur. When he was satisfied, he let the clearly bruised appendages ease to the ground and fell backward laying down in Mania’s backyard. “Aghhh. I have also not moved that fast in a long time. Man, maybe I am old. I am going to feel that in the morning.”

“How?” Mania asked quietly. Miles picked his head up to look at Mania.

“What do you mean how? You said it yourself, I used my tails to cushion your impact.”

“No, how’d you go so fast? You’re not inherently speedy right? But you knew the techniques, even better than me…so good that you could outrun my raw speed. where’d you learn how to run like that?”

Mania watched as color drained from Miles’ face. He began to flap his mouth, but no words were coming out. Did he not want to talk about it? Why would someone not want to talk about how they were so fast?

“Oh you know, I’m an aeronautics nerd, some of the stuff translates over, helps me run.” Miles flashed her a cheesy grin.

He was lying. Or at least keeping a secret. Poorly.

“Anyway, sorry for chasing you home, but you forgot your worksheets.” Miles said as he pulled her homework out of his bag.

“Oh…Right.” Mania said blankly.

“Anyway I should be off now. See you tomorrow?” Miles began to take off flying, but quickly stopped, wincing in the air before falling back to the ground, gripping his tails. “Agh.” Mania’s face fell, guilt boiling up inside. She went to open up the back kitchen window and climbed in it, before turning around to face Miles.

“Come on in, rest for a moment.” Miles looked at her through his pain, but shook his head. “At least let me get you a Tylenol. I owe you for the homework and my face slamming into your tails.” Miles thought for a moment and bobbed his head around before approaching the window.

“Why do we have to enter through this window?” He asked as he began to crawl through it.

“I dunno, I just always do.” Mania responded, then watched as Miles rolled through and landed on his injured tails. He let out a yelp. Mania winced at the noise and went to the kitchen. “Let me grab you that pain reliever.” Miles just nodded lightly as a few tears formed in his eyes.

Mania watched as Miles popped a couple of pills in his mouth and chugged the glass of water she brought him.

“Thirsty huh?” Mania asked and Miles nodded as he drank. “You know, you should really practice more if you’re going to go up against me.” Miles just rolled his eyes.

And then the front door began to rattle. Mania’s eyes became like saucers.

“My mom’s home!” Mania yell whispered as Miles choked on the water. “Quick into my bedroom, first door on the left!” Mania shoved Miles and he dropped the water glass. The glass shattered and Miles whipped around to move towards it. “Forget it, I’ll take care of it.” Mania gestured for Miles to go and he snuck into Mania’s room as the front door opened.

“Mania sweetie? Are you okay? I heard a glass break.” The lovely Amy Rose asked as she entered her home.

Cream

It had been almost 3 minutes since Cream had asked Knuckles and Rouge to spill about Amy and neither of them had said a word. Cream wasn’t sure if it was out of fear or not knowing what to say, or just some kind of spy/treasure hunter steeliness. After another minute Cream went to open her mouth when Knuckles finally said something.

“We were alerted to Tails’ desire to locate Amy some months ago.” Knuckles spoke flatly, he was repeating facts, careful to not let information that wasn’t necessary to be said slip.

“And so what happened?” Cream rolled her hand, trying to get him to elaborate.

“Tails was unnerved by the lack of change in our lives post-Amy’s disappearance. He-He-” Knuckles paused, seemingly not nervous, but grasping for the right words.

“He was concerned that a major player in our lives had vanished and that we weren’t super affected by it.” Rouge finished.

“So he was worried that Amy had never really mattered to us.” Cream elaborated. Knuckles and Rouge nodded. “So what happened then?”

“We continued to investigate. Tails used his vast resources, Rouge and I reached out to contacts, both old and new, and the Chaotix did some deep investigation, checking old paths and creating new ones.” Knuckles explained. “Then, recently, the Chaotix discovered Amy’s residency here.”

“And then began Operation Honeymoon.” Rouge grinned.

“Operation what now?” Cream’s confusion was clear.

“We’re not really here for a honeymoon sweetie, it’s all a ruse to get Sonic and us here close to Amy. We wanna know what happened, and why she’s here.” Rouge brought her hands low to the table simulating flying under the radar.

“So let me get this straight. You go searching for Amy, find her, don’t tell me, and don’t do any research on her life here, then fly us all out.” Cream’s face had gone from confusion to disbelief.

“We never said it was a perfect plan, little bunny.” Rouge raised an eyebrow. Cream scoffed.

There was a beat of silence.

“I had come to trust in Amy. She was a valued friend and dedicated to what she believed in. It was hard when she vanished. I-we were zealous to see her again.” Knuckles mumbled downward. Cream looked at the shame on the echidna's face, then noticed a similar one on Rouge’s. They were Amy’s friends too, and they were excited to see her again.

“Okay, sorry for getting upset. And I didn’t mean to- I shouldn’t have guilt-tripped you guys. It just felt a little unfair to be the last to hear about this.” Cream said sheepishly.

Rouge reached her hand out to grasp Cream’s and Cream looked up to notice the soft looks of comfort in the couple’s eyes. The two had taken her verbal assault. Cream had asked them to include her, and then got mad when she did. They had remained calm when she was angry. It was with this realization that Cream could see the future and the wonderful child that these two would raise together despite their backgrounds and differences.

They would be wonderful parents.

Cream began to feel heat at the corners of her eyes and she was forced to blink back the tears.

“What’s wrong bunny?” Rouge turned her head in careful questioning and Cream blinked harder as she saw the bat’s motherly side begin to shine through.

So very reminiscent of her own mother.

“N-nothing.” Cream let out a half-laugh. “Just sad for you that you have to wear those nurse’s shoes.”

“Ugh I know right?” Rouge rolled her eyes. “I hardly feel like myself in these things! I need something comfortable and stylish.”

“I know of a great tailor in town that might be able to hook you up!” A breeze said as it whirled into the room in a flash of blue. The cobalt colored hedgehog stood there with a bright smile on his face, eyes at attention to the group.

“Sonic! What are you doing here again?” Knuckles demanded standing up from the table, and, much more quietly, “how much did you hear?”

“Sorry didn’t mean to intrude Knux, just wanted to grab some grub for the road, but I heard your need for footwear and considering my excellent taste in the field-,” Sonic pointed to his patented red and white shoes, “thought I might give you my take, now see if you can keep up!”

“Where does that spine-head think he is going?!” Knuckles spread his hands.

“Apparently to get me new shoes, as if I’d let him pick anything that I wear.” Rouge mumbled.

Despite the nonchalance of Knuckles and Rouge, Cream had a sinking feeling about what Sonic just said,

“Hey guys, should we be concerned about Sonic running freely, like possibly coming across people that know Amy?”

“I do not see why. The only soul that both Amy and Sonic know here is Honey and-” Knuckles paused halfway through his sentence as Cream watched gears click in his head as his pupils shrank in some form of realization. The echidna rocketed from his seat and shot out the door after Sonic.

“Shit.” Rouge swore and moved to get up from her seat. Much slower.

“Wait, who's Honey?!” Cream demanded. Rouge finally freed herself from her chair and moved to the door, Cream in her wake.

“Amy’s boss and who fixed Sonic’s glove after it got torn. Oh and she also owns the only boutique in town.”

“Well fuck!” Cream passed Rouge’s slow moving form and ran after Knuckles and the supersonic super intrusive hedgehog.

“You’re just going to leave a pregnant lady behind?!” Rouge yelled from behind Cream as she ran. Cream rounded a corner and yelled after Rouge,

“You can’t wish for independence and then play the pregnancy card!”

Cream ran for a block, Rouge’s curses following her before she turned onto Main Street and was roughly pulled into an alley. Cream struggled against her assaulter for a moment before realizing it was Knuckles, who put a gloved finger to his lips, and pointed out of the alley.

Cream followed the glove with her eyes and looked out of the alley and saw Sonic alone in the street leave for…

Amy.

Amy was closer to Cream than Sonic but she was facing him so all Cream saw was her back, but the bright pink quills and stance were the same. Her quills were longer now, reaching past her shoulders slightly and regained some of her younger days of bounciness, hovering over her back like Sonic’s or Shadow’s.

Sonic said something cocky. Cream had missed it, seeing her best friend again, it was a wild feeling and she couldn’t put a name to it. But she assumed if people ever learned how to regain limbs, it would be something like that.

Sonic suddenly sped off, leaving Amy alone in the street.

How could he? Was this why Amy had left? Cause she was sick of being left alone by Sonic. The first time he had seen her in a decade and he has a one sentence conversation and then runs away. Douche.

Amy was shaking now, and Cream was sure she was gonna cry or have an aneurysm and go ballistic. But instead Cream just saw her take a deep breath and let it out. Amy’s fist was clenching and unclenching, the rage palpable. But then she took another deep breath letting it in and out.

And then she was fine?

Amy shook out her shoulders and reshouldered her bag and then walked to work like the encounter had never happened.

Chapter Text

Miles

Miles felt bad about stealing from Mania, but she had indeed slammed her body into his tails at breakneck speeds and they were still really sore. And it was her fault for keeping her mint chocolates under her bed where foxes could come and steal it.

Miles had had enough time to run down the hall and into Mania’s bedroom and throw himself under her bed when Amy opened the front door.

“Mania sweetie? Are you okay? I heard a glass break.” Were the first words Miles had heard Amy say in over a decade. It was a blast from the past. Memories of chatting about Sonic or raving about Sonic, or complaining about Sonic. So the two had really only had one topic to discuss but they really milked it. And Miles truly thought of Amy as an older sister, someone to confide in and who went through similar experiences as him. Amy had been there to dust off his knees when something he built exploded for the 400th time and he had been there when she was left all alone for the 400th time.

Miles was beginning to guess there had been a monumental 401st time. And he had to wonder what would’ve happened if he’d been there. It was eating him up inside and he decided he would eat something and put it inside of him.

Namely a box of mint chocolates stashed under Mania’s bed, probably to keep secret from her, Miles guessed, well meaning, but helicopter mother. Miles said a silent apology to Mania and began to eat the contents of the box.

“Yeah mom, I’m okay, you just kind of surprised me. I dropped a water glass.” Miles heard Mania lie for him. More guilt for the fox, more chocolates down his gullet.

“Oh sorry sweetie, but I didn’t think I opened it too fast, getting a little jumpy huh?” Amy said sweetly and Mania gave a weak chuckle. “Well no worries, just stay back and I’ll get a broom and we’ll have this cleaned up quickly.”

Miles heard Amy shuffle around the kitchen, presumably to clean up his mess(more guilt), and that’s when his Miles Electric chose that moment to notify him of a text. The sharp beeps of the device broke the relative quiet of the house and Miles scrambled to snag it from his bag and turn it on silent.

“What was that noise? Like an annoying beeping?” Amy asked Mania. Miles curled up under the bed trying to appear as small as he felt in that moment. He was a house invader and had a child lie on his behalf.

“Uhm, I dunno, I think there are some weird flickies around here lately, making all kinds of odd noises.” Mania said confidently. Miles ate another chocolate. AND he was eating said child’s food. Well it’s kind of the mint chocolate’s fault for being so delicious.

As Amy and Mania cleaned the kitchen, Miles took the time to pull out the Electric again and see what it beeped about. It was a text from Knuckles. Miles of course had different DMs from everyone, but even if he didn’t he could tell this message was from Knuckles. Dude was all thumbs, literally.

NEd too0p meEEt Aaqmy. Do9 yOu kkno2w wh3ere sHE livvesd?

Miles blinked a few times as he translated the garble that was Knuckles’ message and then shot back a response.

Good idea. Yes I know where she lives, I’m in her house right now.

Knuckles quickly responded.

Uyoyu alREad7y mee3t heR?/

Not exactly, will send you coordinates, meet me here ASAP.

Miles ended the conversation with the fat-fingered echidna and put his Electric away, tuning back into the conversation between Mania, and the girl that was always left behind. Amy was talking,

“No I really don’t think it was a bird sweetie, it kind of sounded like it was coming from your room.”

Okay, it was time to go.

Miles snagged a couple more mint chocolates and rolled out from under the bed, popping up to his feet. He swiveled around a few times looking for escape or at least a better place to hide than a child’s bed.

“Mom I really don’t think it’s in my room, flickies are outside, duh.” Mania said, mock humor in her voice.

“Duh? You don’t sound like your usual self Mania, are you okay?” Amy was getting closer. Luckily, Miles had spotted Mania’s bedroom window.

Well, Miles came in through a window, so it was only right that he left through one. He threw open the window and scrambled through it, momentarily getting his bruised tails stuck in the sill. Miles let out a hiss of pain before tumbling out the window and landing on the grass outside.

“Well you did leave your window open, I suppose it could be a new kind of flickie.” Amy reasoned, and Miles heard her move towards the window. He looked up in time to see a pair of pink hands shut the window.

They were older than he remembered.

Miles began to stand up and started to move around the side of the house.

“Mania, is this a chocolate? Have you been hiding these?!” Miles pulled out one of his pilfered mint flavored delicacies and quite literally swallowed his guilt.

. . .

Knocking on the door of a house he just crawled out the window of was a particular kind of weird. It was a kind of downgrade. It was as if Miles had learned to fly first, and then had discovered walking.

Miles looked over his shoulder at the group behind him. Knuckles, Rouge, and Cream all stood behind him wearing various levels of worry, nervousness, and eagerness on their faces. Miles supposed he was wearing one too.

The group had met a little ways down the path, where it curved towards town. The others had simply walked there, Miles had elected to belly crawl from the side of the house. Miles had sent them the address and then waited for them there. It had been explained to him the situation with Sonic and that the group had decided it might be better to wait for the two to meet again. But, the rest of them couldn’t.

They were so close to seeing her again. Almost 11 months of work and a previous decade of separation made everyone antsy. Everyone just hoped Amy was as excited to see them as they were her.

Rouge had asked Miles what he had been doing all day, to which he had replied ‘locating the house’. Which wasn’t a lie per say, but it most certainly wasn’t the full story, he figured Mania’s existence should be a surprise to the others. Not to mention, something about his day with the kid had been enjoyable and rewarding. The experience had been a lot like working with Sonic, he got to be helpful and appreciated, it was his jam. And yet, there was a deeper level of it he hadn’t cracked yet.

But Miles didn’t have time to think about it because his closed fist had just left two quick raps on the door of his childhood friend and he wanted to see what opened it.

Shuffling was heard inside as the inhabitants moved about and talked. Rather loudly Miles realized. An argument perhaps over the chocolates? That was not good. That was very bad in fact. If Amy was in a bad mood it could negatively impact their reconnection.

And she might bring out her Piko Hammer.

“I just don’t know why you’d hide them from me.” An agitated voice inside asked.

They had to go. While Miles was scared of her oversized mallet, he was more scared of sending Amy into a depressive spiral if she wasn’t ready to see them yet. They’d try again soon-

And then the door opened.

And green eyes met blue for the first time in 10 years.

“H-hey Amy. S-sorry to drop-p in unannounced-d. I-is this a b-bad time?” Miles curled in on himself slightly, his tails winding around his legs defensively.

Amy just stared at him silently for a moment, and then she was breathing.

Slow at first, but then they picked up quickly, shallow fast gulps as she tried to breathe. The air getting trapped in her throat as her chest heaved.

And then she was crying, Miles watched as large tears pooled in the corners of her eyes before falling down the curves of her cheeks. The tears quickly turned into rivers as they fell in droves, falling from her chin to the ground below.

Then the tears and breaths mixed forming large choking sobs that racked her whole body, her eyes fixed on Miles as her shoulders fell up and down with each tear stained breath.

She was clearly having a tough time. Miles should’ve realized it would’ve been better to give her some more space after seeing Sonic after so long. It was completely fair of her to be upset upon seeing all of them, they had essentially trespassed on someone that was not ready to see them. And yet Miles didn’t feel he should leave just yet. He resisted the urge to turn around and leave the crying mother, not just because that would be a terrible thing to do, but because-

Amy was smiling.

Through the big wide eyes and fast strangled breaths, and the rivers of emotion leaking down her cheeks, she was smiling. It wasn’t a large smile exactly. But it was real. The smile of someone that was, if Miles had to guess, happy to see him.

Amy threw her arms wide and latched onto Miles, pulling him into a deep hug, her arms holding him tight and her tears wetting his fur.

“It’s so good to see you Miles.” Amy said.

Miles was still.

He hadn’t been expecting this version of Amy. But he had hoped for it.

The version of Amy that was supportive and there for him. It had been far too long and he had been afraid that this sisterly Amy had been lost to time somewhere along the lines. Drowned in a sea of cynical adulthood and isolation.

And yet here she was once again. Hugging him. While he stood there gaping at nothing like an idiot. Some subconscious part of him had placed his arms around her. It was a lifeless gesture, built from the muscle memory of hugs over the years.

Now Miles brought life to it. He held her tight, finding his arms together behind her and his face at her back. He was afraid to let go. Miles took a deep breath through his nose and found it rattly, tears and sobs threatening in his throat. Amy's smell was comforting and powerful, a heated blanket after a rough day. But it was now tinged with a tropical petal aroma from her time at Port Shell. And now there was something else, enveloping her. It was motherly in nature, but tuned to a specific frequency: burning ozone and wind. It was of Sonic, or more accurately, Sonic’s daughter.

Mania.

“I missed you too Amy.” Miles’ voice was tightened, but he said the words clearly. Amy began to pull away and held his shoulders in her hands. She looked up at him, staring at his eyes through her tears.

“You got so tall.” She said in a quiet voice. The two shared a light chuckle. “And your voice is so deep now. Where’s the kid whose voice had the resonance of a squeaky toy going through a meat grinder?” Miles found enough lucidity to roll his eyes.

“He still never gets to live it down apparently.” Miles gave another short laugh.

“It always reminded me of pickies walking over broken glass.” A slick voice said behind them.

“Rouge?” Amy asked, her tears which had begun to slow, renewed in full force.

“Yeah it’s me Pinky.” Rouge was smiling brightly, “Now come give me a hug.” Amy was laughing through her sobs.

“How am I supposed to do that?” Amy spread her hands, gesturing to Rouge’s distended middle. Rouge was beginning to cry as well, but kept a smile on her face,

“Oh this one couldn’t keep it in his pants.” Rouge gestured to Knuckles.

“I do not wear pants, woman. Also the decision to have a child was mutually agreed upon.” The echidna said flatly, but he too had a bright smile on his face. Amy simply beamed at the both of them. “It is good to see you again Amy, you are a ferocious battle partner.” Knuckles coughed into his fist and then quieter, “and a beloved friend.”

“Did you guys get married?” Amy asked softly, her hands going to her face as Miles saw the romantic in her surface.

“A few years back it just felt like the right time.” Rouge said simply, the statement the truth as she looked to her beloved with an honest appreciation that Miles didn’t always see. Knuckles returned the gaze by giving the bat’s hand a light squeeze. “And now we’ve got a little boy on the way.”

“Girl.” Knuckles interrupted.

“Boy.” Rouge gritted her teeth for a moment, then looked back to Amy, her titular suave back. “You would’ve loved the wedding, I wanted to have you as my Maid of Honor you know. But I had to settle for-”

“Me.”

Cream revealed herself from behind Knuckles’ large form and stared at Amy with huge wet eyes. Miles watched as the bunny hunched her shoulders and kept her ears low, trying to appear as small as possible. She had been closer to Amy than any of them and it was clearly hitting her hard. Miles moved to comfort her but Knuckles’ gloved hand rested on his shoulder, pulling him back. It was up to Amy and Cream on how to resolve their decade apart.

The two tried for a moment to reconcile. Mouths opening and closing. Arms raising and lowering. There was no clear protocol for talking to the person you were closest to after so much time apart. Finally Cream dropped the attempt and just stood there looking forlorn, appearing as if she was giving up.

“I love your dress.” Amy tried gesturing to the fancy sundress Cream had put on.

And that was the end of it.

A moment later Cream was cradled in Amy’s arms, wailing her head off.

“Why’d you leave?!” “Why did you not tell anyone?!” “I missed you-uu!” Cream shot out a dozen other questions between her loud cries and sobs. Tears flowed from her eyes in vast rivers and snot dripped from her nose onto her and Amy’s clothes.

But Amy just sat there quietly, she was now silent, but still crying. She stood there holding Cream, cradling her with one hand and petting her head and ears slowly. Amy let out soft cooing noises attempting to soothe the rabbit but only succeeded in intensifying her wails.

She needs this. Miles thought. He wondered if he should turn away, but couldn’t look away from the great emotional release he was now seeing. He was witnessing the return of a friendship that had been cut short. Stunted and halted before it had a chance to fully mature as its owners did. But the ties were still there and once the two Mobians reconnected: A lifetime of joy and sadness and embarrassment and pride and goofiness and experiences all flooded out in one moment of release. The other side of a tight bottleneck of friendship.

And then Miles heard a small, but recently familiar voice:

“Mom? What’s going on out here?” Mania Rose asked.

Mania

Mania thought she was off the hook for the chocolates after the door knocked. It would’ve been a good thing. Her mom didn’t need to know about Mania’s rebellious side, mom didn’t need that on her plate.

But after she heard the crying, Mania wished she was still in trouble. The sounds of her mother crying brought Mania back to a darker day, one that she tried to push to the back of her mind. Often with great success, but there were times where it slipped through and the young hedgehog girl was forced to remember why she was called Mania.

“Mom? What’s going on out here?” Mania called, creaking open the front door.

Before her stood the past, and the present. A rainbow of different colored mobians from across the world. They had started as young heroes defending the world and gone on to become legends, warriors, spies, inventors, parents. All bound before Mania by one.

Her mother, Amy Rose. Mania was star struck as she looked at the people that Miles had told her about just earlier today.

First was the titular twin-tailed fox. Miles was practically a jack of all trades when it came to his life. He had skills in all facets of his life he found important. Flying, building, running, flying with an airplane, the list went on. He was quick on his feet and an even quicker thinker. The brainiac of her mother’s former team.

Second was Knuckles. A massive Echidna warrior, and the supposed last of his kind. A true powerhouse with the ability to crush rocks and smash through any physical barrier. The owner and protector of Angel Island, he guarded it with his life. And the husband of Rouge the Bat. While he could be called stupid or naïve, it really comes from a place of trust. The bruiser of her mother’s former team.

Then there was Rouge. A sultry bat that while was known for her strong appearance and even stronger attitude. A former, or possibly not former jewel thief(no one was ever sure), she had started as an opponent who only followed her own desires. But as time went on, found that her desires lined up with Knuckles and his friends until a romance had formed. The spy of her mother’s former team.

Next was Cream. While the rabbit wasn’t known for fighting she often proved herself to be integral to the team. Her happy-go-lucky attitude and endless reserves of hope kept the team going in their darkest hours. Cream was a reminder of what each battle meant. That at the end of each bloodshed fight, there were people that could go home and hug their loved ones because of them. The heart of her mother’s former team.

Finally, there was Amy Rose. Mania’s mother. A woman always on a mission. She wielded(apparently) a massive hammer, and(apparently) an even more massive temper. To Mania some of her exploits were implausible, but the strong spoken and iron willed woman that Miles had told her about proved that he had been talking about Mania mom. Amy Rose: the leader.

All five heroes were crying. To Mania tears had been a symbol of sadness. The effect of skinning a knee or doing bad on school work. Not getting desert or getting in trouble. Doing bad things. And yet, while they were crying, they were also all smiling. To Mania they were paradoxical, two things that should never, could never mix. But somehow they looked perfect together.

“A-Amy? Whose this?” Cream asked. Mania turned specifically to the rabbit as her mother perked up and turned around before kneeling and looked at her daughter, big tears rolling down her cheeks. It was only the second time Mania had ever seen her mother cry.

“Oh-oh Mania sweetie, I want you to meet some friends-” Amy paused briefly, apparently tasting the word and finding it disagreeable. “-family of mine from a long time ago.” Amy stood up and looked back to the group and placed her hand on Mania’s back. Mania felt a little pressure as her mother tried to push her forward slightly. “Everyone, this is Mania…my daughter.”

Cream’s jaw dropped as her eyes flicked between mother and daughter and Mania saw the thoughts swimming in the rabbit’s head as she tried to make sense of what was happening in front of her.

Mania hoped it was enough to disguise Miles’ extremely bad surprise face as he attempted to show surprise at the knowledge of Mania’s existence.

“Ohhhhhh whoaaaa.” Miles exaggerated, his hands on the sides of his face as his jaw was so low Mania was sure it was going to scrape the ground.

Knuckles and Rouge just raised an eyebrow each, the effect looking like one person with a really long face. Their surprise wasn’t much, but Mania figured they were more collected than Cream, but it still was unnerving.

Mania stepped forward from her mother and cleared her throat, “Hello, I’m Mania Rose, it’s nice to meet you.” Mania hoped her nervousness hadn’t crept into her voice, but years of being careful with what she did around her mother paid off as the words were calm, crisp and perfectly annunciated.

Cream, Rouge and Knuckles all gave polite greetings back and looked eager to talk with her. But Miles didn’t. He managed a quiet nod but looked uncomfortable with what Mania had just said, it threw her off slightly as she let out a nervous laugh, breaking her persona of perfection. Cream stepped forward and got down to Mania’s level.

“It’s so nice to meet you, Mania.” Cream gave off a nervous chuckle of her own, and Mania couldn’t blame her. Meeting the unknown child of her long lost best friend had to be nerve wracking, but Cream seemed to be taking it in stride. “So what do you like to do?” Mania felt the nervousness setting back in as fiddled with her hands and heard the pounding of her heart beat in her head, blocking off her ability to think clearly.

“Umm, I-” Mania squeezed her eyes for a moment trying to put her head back together before she let out a slow breath. “I like to-to read and draw pictures for my mom.” Mania turned around again to see a smile on her mother’s face, and Mania knew she did good. But as she turned back to look at Cream she was Miles again, who was now actively frowning.

Cream turned her head slightly, taking in Mania’s purple quills and green eyes, her red dress and green shoes.

“Hey, you look an awful lot like-” Cream had started before Miles swooped down and slapped a hand across her mouth, pulling her into a standing position in one fell swoop. Mania reared back at this action, it seemed odd for the fox to do, Cream was probably just going to say that Mania looked like her mom.

Unless.

Mania looked to her mother again, and instead of seeing surprise at Miles’ reaction, she saw relief. Cream wore one of understanding rather than alarm at being grabbed. Knuckles didn’t show surprise and Rouge…

Rouge looked directly at Mania. Her sharp turquoise eyes burrowing holes into Mania’s façade and seeing right into the rebellious, energetic, high-speed heart that beat at Mania’s insides. The bat’s eyes flickered over to Miles and they narrowed turning that powerful gaze in an attempt to gather intel from the back of the fox’s head. Mania took a step back and bumped into her mother, who quickly grabbed Mania’s shoulders. Mania, startled, looked up at Amy who then looked down at her daughter, a nervous smile on her face.

Unless of course Cream had been referring to Mania’s father.

“Uhhh.” Miles’ eyes flicked between the other Mobians for a moment before resting on Amy. “Sorry to cut Cream off there, but I really have to use the restroom, do you think we could come in?” Amy snapped her head up and looked at Miles, still wearing that nervous smile.

“O-of course, come on in all of you, we were just about to start dinner.”

. . .

Mania glared at Miles as he helped her mother cut up vegetables from her spot at the kitchen table. What did he know of Mania’s father? It made perfect sense. The fox had intimate knowledge of Amy’s younger days, certainly he’d have an idea of who Amy was close with. In fact it stood to reason that they all did from their reactions.

Mania had asked Amy about her father exactly once when she was 7. It hadn’t been anything special, just that Mania had noticed a young father caring for their toddler daughter in the park earlier in the day and brought the question to Amy.

“Mommy, who’s my dad?” She had asked. Amy had stiffened slightly at the question but answer calmly, with a sweet tone,

“Oh he was a very kind man, but he just wasn’t ready to raise a child, so I agreed to raise you on my own.”

“But doesn’t that make him selfish?” Mania asked, her brow furrowing. Being selfish was not nice she had been taught.

“True.” Amy had replied honestly, then went to pick up her daughter and pulled her into a tight hug. “But I got to have you all to myself, so it’s his loss!” Amy had blown a raspberry into Mania’s tummy and that had been that.

But that had been years ago, before Mania learned that her mother had separated from her friends. And now possible info about Mania’s dad was being kept under wraps. It couldn’t be a coincidence. Did her mom leave because of her father?

Did she leave because of Mania?

“Are you just going to sit there glaring at Tails or are you going to help me finish this puzzle?” A gruff voice asked.

“Uh what? Sorry Uncle Knuckles, and I wasn’t glaring-I was-woah!” Mania turned to the kitchen table where a mostly completed puzzle of a Chao snoozing lay in front of her. It was peculiar only in the sense that the puzzle had barely begun when Mania had turned around.

The echidna across the table picked up a puzzle piece and placed it perfectly in a field of pure blue sky.

“H-how are you so good at this?” Mania sat bewildered at Knuckles' skill.

“I have extensive knowledge in putting broken things back together.” He replied without so much as looking up from the activity. Placing another piece in the puzzle. “You did not finish answering my question Mania.”

“What? Oh, I said I wasn’t glaring, I was just…trying to figure out what Miles is hiding.” Mania said softly, transfixed as Knuckles continued to speed run the puzzle.

“I believe that you are well aware of what Tails is hiding, it is up to you to ask him. And I asked if you were going to help me finish this puzzle.” Knuckles’ voice began to grow agitated, his big hands starting to push the puzzle roughly into the table.

“Well it certainly doesn’t look like you need me! And it looks like you’re hiding the same thing that Miles is!” At this Knuckles stopped, his eyes flicking up to Mania.

“Then ask the question you want to ask.” His voice was firm and cool, a boulder resting in a dark cave. Mania took a breath and couldn’t meet his eyes.

“Please tell me who my father is.” She whispered.

“No.” Knuckles went back to the puzzle.

“Wh-hy-hy? Why act like you’re going to tell me and then shut me down?” Mania exasperated.

“Because it is not my secret to tell.” He shrugged his shoulders. Then his eyes flicked briefly back to Mania, “and just so you are aware, it is not Tails’ secret to tell either.” Mania threw up her hands before crossing them and turning away from the infuriating echidna.

“How am I supposed to trust you guys if you all keep secrets?!”

“HA!” Knuckles burst out a laugh and continued to chuckle into his fist, leaning away from the table as he reclined in the chair. It was the least stoic Mania had seen of him yet. “Like a child like you could know anything of trust.”

“We’ve all got secrets puny purple.” Rouge finally chimed in. The bat had been sitting next to Knuckles throughout the conversation, but had spent it reclining in her chair, apparently sleeping, but it appeared not. And now the spy had cracked one gorgeously decorated eye open and skewered Mania with it. Mania felt her heart creep into her throat.

“Do you know why I am married to Rouge?” Knuckles smiled.

“Because she’s pretty and smart and you’re ugly and stupid?” Mania spat, trying to counter the calm adults with a tantrum.

Knuckles’ smile didn’t falter for a second.

“She’s got you there Knuckie.” It was Rouge’s turn to smile briefly. Knuckles smacked his lips once.

“We do tend to complement each other, I give you that child. But I married her because I trust her.”

“So what?”

“So, I trust her despite the fact that she has tricked me. I trust her despite the fact that she berates me on a regular basis. I trust her despite the fact that she continues to have a ridiculous notion that our child will be a boy. I trust her despite the fact that she has stolen the master emerald, the thing I swore to guard with my life, 31 times.”

“Those all seem like reasons not to trust her.” Mania uncoiled slightly and turned back to her uncle.

“I trust my wife because despite the fact that she lies and keeps secrets, I know she has my best interests at heart. I stay with her because I know that she wants the Master Emerald more than anything. And a person that would do anything to steal it, is the same person who would do anything to defend it. And that is the kind of person I want watching my back at night.” Knuckles had turned to glance at his wife and Mania noticed a blush and soft smile on the bat’s face. Knuckles opened his mouth again turning once more to Mania,

“Trust is not the result of an absence of secrets and lies. It is the belief in those you care about and care for you in the face of those secrets and lies.” The echidna finished. He sat back in his chair and waited for Mania to respond.

Mania sat still for a moment, her thoughts swimming as Knuckles’ words sank in. For once, something was louder than her heart beat.

The young hedgehog picked up a puzzle piece and placed it in the puzzle.

Amy

Amy had had enough for one day. This was too much even for her steely persona. First she had seen him again after a decade, then Honey had finally approved one of her new designs. And finally the past had caught up to her.

Tails, Knuckles, Rouge, and Cream. Her life before her life now. It had simply been too much for Amy and she had broken down crying. The emotional little girl locked away in that trunk in her room, finally set free again. And while it was somewhat freeing…

It was also very scary. Amy didn’t know how to be that person anymore, or even if she wanted to. After showing her calm appearance for so long, it had changed from a true façade to being part of who she was. Adults couldn’t break down and cry, they couldn’t reminisce about boys or whatever, and they certainly couldn’t have temper tantrums and smash everything in sight with a massive yellow and red reinforced custom-gripped hammer.

People change over time right? Was that Amy, even Amy?

Amy was busy working on dinner when she looked over at Cream. Sure she and everyone else had to have changed too. Did Amy really know what they were like now? Tails was taller than her, Knuckles and Rouge actually settled down and tied the knot, and Cream? Could Amy even call the rabbit her best friend anymore? Amy had been close with Honey her entire adult life. She didn’t even know what Cream was up to these days.

“Need a hand?” A fox asked. Amy exited her thoughts and turned to the lanky canid standing next to her.

“Oh sure Tails, uh here could you chop these onions while I go back to the sauce?” Amy handed him the chopping knife and moved over to the stove top, stirring a pot of tomato sauce. Tails picked up the knife and began to chop, the two working silently for a moment. Tails opened his mouth,

“Nice home you’ve got-”

“How do you know my daughter Miles?” The question was shot forth from Amy’s mouth before she could stop it. She hadn’t wanted to be this confrontational, but the general security of her daughter and home was of highest priority. Tails’ head had snapped up and he stopped cutting, his mouth flapping at the words before gaining some traction,

“I-I-I don’t know what you mean, I just m-met her earlier.” Amy held up a hand, before stirring with the other to make sure the sauce didn’t burn.

“Tails I love you, but you’re a horrible liar.”

“I met her…I came to this island to look for you, and, uh, happened to run into her. We talked about you…And me! And our friends.” Tails gestured to the people in the room. “And absolutely no one else.” Tails finished. He had chosen his words very carefully, obviously he was still hiding something but Amy wasn’t emotionally ready to pry that out of him yet. But if he was going to make her uncomfortable, she was going to make him uncomfortable.

“Alright fine…so are you and Cream a thing yet?” Tails went stiff at this and his namesakes poofed up to double their size. He took a very vested interest in his chopping, moving from onions to some eggplant Amy had on standby. She thought he wasn’t going to answer when he finally responded.

“No. Yes. It’s complicated. Or not. It’s just, a lot happened, and then nothing did.” He paused to let out a sigh, and Amy said nothing waiting for him to finish. “We were. Together I mean, for a while…three years, 7 months, and 8 days. It was good, it was fun. We were happy. I think.” Another pause. “But we started to drift. She had school, I had work, there just wasn’t enough time for us I guess. And then her mom got sick.” Amy felt a cold shiver down her spine as she remembered the lovely woman that Amy thought most of when caring for Mania as a young girl. She began to reach out to Tails, unsure of how to act, but Miles held his hand out. “She’s okay…she’s alive and well for the most part. But things changed. Things have changed. And she needed me there, and I just wasn’t. I worry that I should’ve been there for other people going through huge life changes.” Tails’ eyes flickered up to Amy and then to Mania who was working steadily with Knuckles on a puzzle.

“I should’ve been there for her.” Amy started but felt heat in her cheeks as her eyes began to well with tears again. “I wanted to be there for everything, but I couldn’t- I can’t- I-him-I-it’s too much-” Through blurry vision Amy looked to the onions for something to blame, but found Tails’ hand on her shoulder and looked to her younger brother.

“It’s okay Amy, I don’t need to know now.” Amy breathed a rattly sigh of relief. “But I do need to talk to you about it at some point- talk to all of us- please. Help us understand.” Amy felt her throat close up and fear tingled at her heart but she gave a tiny nod and went back to cooking, the sauce now burning.

. . .

Amy was tucking Mania in when she asked the question. The day had been long and after serving eggplant parmesan to three times the normal amount of people, Amy was emotionally and physically exhausted. But she had to tuck her little girl in. Her perfect girl that had been keeping secrets from Amy.

It was part of their nightly routine, Amy would wash the dishes then Mania would dry and put them away. Then they’d read a story on the couch or in Amy’s bed and afterwards Amy would corral Mania into the bathroom to brush her teeth and have a bath. Finally, Amy would tuck Mania in and kiss her good night and tell her that she was safe and that she was loved. And Amy would count the seconds till she would see her daughter again in the morning.

But tonight Cream had helped with the dishes, the two had talked while Mania did another puzzle with Knuckles. And then it had been too late for a bed time story, so everyone had left and promised to get meet again soon. So Amy looked forward to bathing Mania, but she had been saying she was getting older and that Amy didn’t need to bathe her and Amy had just stood outside the door waiting for her perfect, lying little girl to wash herself. So nothing was going to stop Amy from tucking her daughter in and telling her she was safe and loved. But then she had asked the question.

“Mom? Who’s my dad?” After meeting people from Amy’s past, she had to admit the question wasn’t really so far out of left field, but she still hadn’t expected it as Amy was mid-lips puckered to kiss Mania’s forehead. The question had of course sent Amy into a state of fight or flight, feeling hot and cold at the same time, the nature of Mania’s father being Amy’s least favorite topic. But Amy didn’t feel like lying to her daughter so she instead chose avoidance.

“He’s a hedgehog.” Amy finished the kiss and checked the sheets to make sure her daughter was tucked in nice and tight.

“But who is he? Did you know him very well?” Amy was already feeling frustrated, and today had already had enough tears shed from her.

“I told you he was a nice man and I did know him for a while.”

“But do you know him now? Do the others know him now?” Mania’s eyes were so innocent, big and green and deep, so much like his. It hadn’t always unnerved Amy but now she felt herself creeping away from her daughter.

“No I don’t, and yes I think so, can we talk about this another time swee-”

“Did you leave everyone because of him?…Because of me?” Mania was starting to sound smaller and smaller. She was scared and Amy was too her heart beating loud against her chest. Amy wanted nothing more than to say no, that to say she didn’t leave because of Mania, that it was her father, and only her father’s fault. Or even,

That it was kind of her fault too. But she couldn’t, her throat had closed up and Amy found herself at Mania’s door, as far away from the person she loved the most as the room would allow.

“Can I meet him mommy?”

“NO!” Amy snapped. Mania recoiled immediately, her ears back and her spikes tensed as she pulled the covers over her mouth. Amy had never seen Mania look scared before, she wanted to throw up. But instead she swallowed and opened the door, “We can talk about this another time Mania.” And then walked to her room.

It was only as Amy was finally drifting off to sleep that she remembered that she didn’t tell Mania she was safe and loved.

Cream

Cream found her way into her room, tired and drained emotionally from the day’s events. It was hard work putting friends back together after a decade apart, but now she needed a moment alone. Cream needed to collect her thoughts while the others were having a drink at the bar downstairs. She took a breath, then two, then three. Then she took out her phone.

And she made a call.

The line rang once. Twice. Then the click of someone picking up.

“Hello?” The peppy voice asked. It was too sweet, bordering on saccharin and it was grating on Cream’s already frayed nerves.

“Yes hello Dolores, could you put Mom on.” Cream told Dolores flatly, not sure if her agitation was audible.

“Oh, I don’t know if now’s a good time sweetie.” Of course Dolores would answer, why wouldn’t she? She did live with her mother, much to Cream’s annoyance. Cream blew out a sigh.

“Please Dolores, I-I just need to talk to her for a moment.” Cream’s agitation blew away into exhaustion, her voice slowly becoming a pleading whisper.

Cream heard a moment of breathing on the line.

“Ok sweetie, let me put her on.” Dolores relented. Cream mouthed silent thank yous to the woman as the phone was passed on.

There was some shuffling of hands and quietly Dolores telling Cream’s mother it was her, and then:

“Cream? Darling, how are you?” Vanilla the Rabbit said into the phone in her cool, calm voice, wrapping Cream in the warmest of hugs. She felt like she was 6 again, in the kitchen with her mom, making cookies for the next time Mr. Sonic or Miles or anyone showed up again, and they’d talk and then they’d leave. And then it would just be Vanilla and Cream again and Vanilla would tuck Cream in at night and read her a bedtime story. Vanilla would boop her nose, and then wish her goodnight by saying,

“Of all the joys in the world, you are by far, my favorite.” Then Vanilla would walk to the door and be gone till the morning.

“Creamy? Are you there?” Vanilla asked again and Cream was snapped out of her trance.

“Oh yeah mom, I’m all good, just a little stressed I guess.” Cream said sheepishly.

“School got you stressed hun? Excited for the new school year to start?” Vanilla asked eagerly. Cream let out a quick chuckle feeling heat in her cheeks.

“Yeah mom, just a little stressed, you know how it is-”

“I’m sure you’ll have a blast in first grade, and you’ll make all kinds of new friends.” Vanilla said with joy, but all Cream could feel was ice down her spine, she hoped this call would bring her into some kind of fantasy but she was back in a nightmare, one that was real.

“No mom, I-I’m in college now, going into my last year…” Cream said desperately

“Creamy, what are you talking about? I know you’re excited, but college is years away, no need to get so worked up about that yet.”

“Mom I, I need you to understand-” Cream swallowed her words as she remembered the doctor telling her that trying to make her mother understand would just frustrate her. “-I’m just trying to be prepared like you taught me.” Cream felt her mind leave her body as she lied to her mother.

“Well that’s not bad honey, but I wouldn’t worry too much. By the way, are you staying over at a friend's house tonight, it’s getting awfully late.” Cream had enough lucidity to make a note of affirmation as she felt the ice spread through her body. Except for in her cheeks where the heat had moved to her eyes and turned spikey. “Well then I’ll see you I’ll see you tomorrow my love. And remember of all the joys in the world, you are by far, my favorite.” The heat in Cream’s eyes boiled over as hot tears ran silently down her cheeks. “Hold on honey, I think there’s someone in the house! Hey you, ma’am what are you doing in my home?!” Cream heard her mother yell and the sounds of Dolores arguing with her mother. Cream brought the phone closer to her face,

“Mom, no that’s Dolores, she’s there to help you. Please mom! She’s just there to take care of yo-” Cream stopped as she heard the line go dead. Cream placed her phone back in her pocket and crawled over her bed and placed her face in the pillow, her tears staining it.

And then she screamed into it.

She screamed until her voice felt raw and beat it with her fists until she had no energy left to hit it with. Cream felt like a tantruming child.

A child that just wanted her mother back.

And it was with that, that Cream realized she’d be crying herself to sleep again.

Blaze

She watched from atop her personal turret her citizens and soldiers milling about the castle. They were out doing the deeds of the day be it guarding or working or playing, it was her job to watch and make sure they were safe to do those duties.

Blaze the Cat took her job as princess of the island of Tropiana very seriously. It was what awoke her in the morning and kept her awake at night. She had to be a fair ruler whose mind was always focused on keeping her citizens happy and healthy. Unsurprisingly, she didn’t get much sleep.

Blaze rubbed her eyes, trying to work some energy back into them. She walked away from the window, the height nerve racking, and approached her aid.

“Marine, what’s on today’s agenda?” Blaze winced at the weak words, her voice little more than a whisper. She needed to be stronger with her voice and make sure what she said was a command, not a question. Blaze didn’t have the time to have her strength as a leader questioned. The energetic raccoon stood just inside Blaze’s door at all times. Blaze had made sure to tell her on multiple occasions that this was unnecessary, but the Marine seemingly had an insight into Blaze’s nervousness and Blaze was convinced she did it just to mess with her.

While Blaze had on multiple occasions considered firing her aid, the raccoon’s track record of positivity, record keeping, command of other servants and overall likability kept Blaze from doing just that.

“Well boss you’ve got breakfast with the duke of Southern Shore at 7:00 and then meeting with the farmer’s guild at 9:00, then you’ve got a meet and greet with castle town citizens at 11:00-” Marine went on for another two minutes listing Blaze’s upcoming dread, and so the cat just began to tune her out.

All of the meetings sent a shiver down Blaze’s spine. Responsibility was hammered into Blaze since she was a kitten, finesse and the delicate arts of ruling part of her identity. But the idea of talking to people unnerved her. It hadn’t been a problem when she was younger, but as she began to take more duties and those duties involved talking to people, often vulgar and loud and angry people. It had started to wear on her resolve, that any word she might say, could be the wrong one and the whole encounter could be a disaster.

“And finally dinner with the duke of Southern Shore again when he finally decides that your proposal for a new water system is a good idea at 9:00 and then you’ve just got paperwork left.” Marine closed a folder she had been holding and stood happily, smiling at the princess.

Smug little…

“Thank you Marine.” Blaze sighed and ran a hand through her purple hair trying to work up the energy for the day.

“Oh right! And one more thing-” the raccoon started and Blaze resisted the urge to groan, “the captain of the guard is outside waiting for you, I believe it’s an important meeting so I’ll just wait outside for it to be over.”

Ah yes, the other reason Blaze kept Marine around.

“Very well, send him in.” The cat said calmly. Marine exited the room and the captain of Blaze’s royal guard entered. The captain closed the door behind him and removed his helmet. He set it down on a table and approached Blaze and the two stood there for a moment, listening for Marine’s fading footsteps.

“Princess, how are you this morning-” Blaze rushed forward and mashed her lips into the captain’s. It was a starved interaction, desperate for contact and the need for the person she cared the most. She tasted his lips, an oxymoronic scent of metal and grass, like a city overgrown by wonderous plant life. They held it for a moment before receding, both breathing heavily. “Well,” Silver the Hedgehog gasped, “I don’t know about you but my morning’s going great!”

Blaze gave a quick laugh, as saturated with humor as it was with agitation. “A little better now that you’re here.” Blaze placed her hand on Silver’s cheek, before finally realizing that she had essentially just ambushed him and recoiled back slightly. Silver stopped her hand and rested it back on his cheek, leaning into it slightly.

“Please don’t leave. It’s okay, I like it, I promise you.” Blaze relaxed, she and Silver had been dancing around each other for a while now, and were only beginning to understand how touch-starved and confidant dependent the other was. Blaze felt like she needed to walk around on eggshells in his presence, so worried that she might do the wrong thing like most of the encounters with her people. And yet, everyday she found that Silver worked to disprove that. She never loved being so wrong so much.

She fell forward into the hedgehog’s arms, and preceded to groan her discomfort of the day’s future events. He caught her, his strong arms from training her soldiers all day, carrying her with ease. Silver dragged the cat over to a luxurious couch fitted with the finest fabrics and supported with an ornately carved frame. He placed Blaze on the couch and began to doff his armor.

Blaze loved Silver’s respect for her things, as the couch was clean and he was wearing oiled and polished armor that could stain the couch, but she wished he’d stop so she could hug him some more. She raised her arms and grabbed at him in the air, a kitten wishing for its toy. Silver raised an eyebrow, but decided that his chest plate was good enough and slumped on the couch. Blaze felt herself get pulled over to him and she rested her head in his chest.

This was her safe space, the fluff of his chest was thick and soft, she felt herself bury into it slightly, away from the upcoming trials to come from being princess. She breathed deeply, inhaling that perfect, paradoxical scent and felt a smile bloom on her face.

The two lay there for a minute and Blaze felt him stroke her ears and hair, just being there. This was a fleeting moment and Blaze sure as hell wasn’t going to not remember every millisecond of it. Here, she didn’t have to be strong or in command or not worry about tripping over her words or angering a room of villagers. She was just Blaze, a girl hanging out with her boyfriend.

“How many meetings do you have to do?” Silver whispered into her ear, his voice calm, but a reminder of the outside world. Blaze simply sighed and turned over so that she was on her back, looking up at the hedgehog’s golden eyes.

“I’m not sure really, a day’s worth, I suppose.” She whispered back, worried that any loud disturbance would break this moment. He smiled slowly at her and she felt her heart smile back.

“So none then? Cause days don’t actually have meetings.” Silver now grinned at her and he pulled her up so they were even with each other. Blaze just rolled her eyes.

“Well mine do. We can’t all be galavanting knights like you!” She teased back, feeling a grin on her own face.

“Oh but why not? Galavanting is the best, you get to train all day in heavy, unbreathing armor and then wait around for stuff to happen.” Silver’s eyes were shining and Blaze began to feel herself go weightless. She began to float aloft, a teal glow surrounding herself and Silver. His psychokinesis, a powerful tool that helped him gain knighthood, and the reason Blaze had quickly wrapped her arms around him.

“Yeah well at least you’re not the cause of nothing happening. I’m trapped inside all day working on treaties and food delivery summaries.” Blaze pointed out, but began to notice that the two were gaining height in her room, the couch moving away from them.

“Hey food deliveries is how we get the good bread, and has our relationship already progressed to the point where we talk about who’s got it worse?” Silver joked, but Blaze began to feel nervous as the ground became smaller and the ceiling larger, the distance below them vast. “Cause honestly, that might be a good thing-”

“Silver…” Blaze tried to keep humor in her voice but began to feel a nervous heat well within her at the furthering ground.

“I mean it shows that we’ve moved onto a point beyond the honeymoon period-”

“Silver, please-” Blaze was beginning to hyper ventilate and room spun.

“It’ll be smooth sailing for-” Silver’s eyes which had been day dreaming snapped to hers and they widened suddenly.

And then they dropped. Ten feet in a matter of a second, Blaze wailed and gripped Silver tightly. And then they stopped, hovering a quarter of a foot above the couch. The teal glow disappaited and they dropped the remaining quarter. Blaze had her eyes shut, but she felt the comforting embrace leave her and take large steps away from her. She opened her eyes to see Silver standing away from her his arms outstretched in a calming pose as she sat paralyzed on the couch.

“Oh my god, Blaze I’m so-so sorry, I didn’t realize how high we were, I-I shouldn’t of d-done that, so stupid of me! I should go I-” Silver stopped and he stood transfixed at something.

On his left arm, just past the wrist, a little flame danced.

And then it spread, curling around his arm, beginning to blacken his fur as he now stood there frozen. His eyes glued to the flame as he watched it burn. Blaze saw him shaking and snapped out of her paralysis.

She crossed the room in two huge steps and slapped at Silver’s arms. Beating the flames away, not daring to meet his huge, terrified eyes. She couldn’t look at his face, the fear would be too much for her to bear. Because it would be fear of her.

The two were somewhat of a paradox on their own, princess and guard. It was a secret affair and as far (and as hopefully) as they knew, Marine was the only person that was aware of it. Other nobles wouldn’t permit the relationship, needing for Blaze to wed another noble to progress the lineage and promote economics of the kingdom, and it would create a possible conflict of interest for Silver.

But beyond that, the two represented each other’s fears. In one sense, they saw another self-conscious, socially nervous person, and looking at that everyday was like staring down a lifetime of lonelieness. But also each held the other’s more irrational fear. Blaze feared heights, and Silver’s ability to levitate and fly scared the crap out of her. And Silver was terrified of fire, and her ability of pyrokinesis left him imobile and if she was being honest, acting like the world was coming to an end.

It didn’t go great for their relationship.

Blaze patted out the rest of the flames and as the last of them died, Silver jumped to life and shot back, falling onto his back as he quickly crawled away from her.

Blaze felt knives crawl at her heart. She tried to move towards him, but he shot a hand out, gesturing for her to stay back. She felt the knives begin to dig in, puncturing her beating organ.

“I-I’m sorry, I really shouldn’t have taken you so high, it’s my fault, really.” Silver’s voice was shaky but sincere. He was trying to comfort her, when she had put him in the position of his nightmares. The knives now openly cut at her heart, shredding it. Blaze felt tears try to form at her eyes.

“No. No, I shouldn’t have done that! I need to get better control! Need to be better!” Blaze’s voice was beginning to ragged as she looked down, not able to meet his gaze, her tears teetering at the edges of her cheeks.

“Please Blaze, look at me.” Blaze wouldn’t, she couldn’t see his fear again. But then his hands came into view. They reached for hers, and after a motion to check that they weren’t hot that sent Blaze into another round of heart knives, took them. She finally looked into his eyes, the gold a comfort that eased her and she felt the tears recede. “It’s okay, really. It is okay.”

Blaze watched as a smile grew on his face, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes and Blaze knew that it wasn’t okay, not fully.

A triple knock sounded at the door. The two gave a jump and shot apart, the sudden fear of being discovered trumping all others. Silver moved to retrieve his chest plate and helmet as Blaze checked herself in the mirror to make sure she was presentable for who ever was at the door.

Blaze and Silver got in perfect position to act like they were talking about official business just as Marine opened the door. The two relaxed with a sighed and slumped.

“Geez guys, don’t act so surprised to see me.” Marine put a hand on her hip, the other occupied with a folder of documents. Blaze and Silver shared an agitated glance, before looking back to Marine.

“What is it you need Marine?” Blaze straightened and resumed her regal stance.

“Right sorry!” Marine jumped slightly and opened up the folder and began to flip through it. “I need to go over some stuff with the boss before she gets started on her daily circus. So sorry, you gotta go lover boy.” Marine snapped the folder shut and handed it to Blaze before gesturing for Silver to leave with a thumb. Silver gave a brief bow to Blaze before heading out, he stopped at the door.

“I’ll see you later?” His voice was quiet and hopeful, giving Blaze a little spark of life back in her heart. She nodded and watched as he left before beginning to flip through the documents.

“So what’s he like in the sack?” Marine asked shamelessly. Blaze was too distracted by the forms in front of her to be embarrassed by the question and ignored it.

“This is going to be a rough one, ugh. Any good news at all today?” Blaze asked flatly. She heard Marine flap her lips emptily for a moment.

“Mmm not really boss, you and your boy toy is gonna be the highlight of it.” Then Marine gave a quick note of surprise. “Actually, there is a bit of good omens, I hear Sonic the Hedgehog just arrived on the island, that’s good news!” Blaze snapped her folder shut and slowly looked up at Marine.

“What do you mean just?”

Chapter Text

Miles

“Hello?” Miles ‘Tails’ Prower asked at 6 in the morning. The question wasn’t to any person in particular. He assumed it was to the person on the other end of his phone line, but not much was understandable through the fog of sleep.

“WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?!” Vector the Crocodile yelled at the drowsy fox. Miles gave a quick yelp, shooting up in bed and slapped a hand over his mouth. He spun his head to face Cream, who was still asleep. Miles breathed a sigh of relief, the young bunny had seemed stressed coming home from the night at Amy’s and was fast asleep when Miles had entered the room later that evening. He wanted to look into that, but right now he had an angry crocodile on the phone. “You were supposed to check in two days ago!”

“Shhhh shhhhhh.” Miles whispered into the phone, his hand gesturing for Vector to lower his voice before he realized the detective couldn’t see him. Miles got up and left the room, walking into the main living space of the hotel room to see Sonic passed out on the sofa, his right arm and head dangling off the side of it. Miles rolled his eyes and entered the bathroom and closing the door.

“So you go radio silent for two days and now you want me to be quiet too, huh?!” The line complained.

“Look I’m sorry that I forgot to contact you but it’s been a very hectic couple of days for me.”

“Yeah well I’ve been sittin’ on some very personal information that I want to share with you, about you know who.”

“Who, Amy?” Miles was starting to be confused.

“Well yeahs. You know she’s doing some very special work here-”

“Yeah she works for Honey the Cat’s Boutique, Knuckles and Rouge told me.” There was some gasping and frustrated grumbles from the other end of the line.

“Yeah well did she know that she’s not living alone, she’s got-”

“A kid yeah, met her myself. Her name’s Mania.” Sputtering was added to the grumbling from the investigative reptile. “Do you have anymore information for me Vector. There was a pause.

“Well no. We figured you’d hadn’t heard ‘bout this yet.”

“Look Vector, I appreciate you helping us find Amy, I really do. But anymore information about her, I need to find out from her. Now it’s six in the morning and I’m very tired, I’ll make sure to send over the payment, but for now the job’s done. You guys did good, treat yourselves to a vacation on this tropical island.” There was another pause.

“Okay, stay outta trouble kid, and call Chaotix if you need anything. And remember: Chaotix, we’re the detectives you want on your-” Miles ended the call with a mumble and rubbed his eyes. It was still early, maybe he could get some sleep.

And then his Electric rang again.

“Oh for the love of-” Miles held up the phone again ready to tell Vector off when he noticed his phone didn’t recognize the number. This was more than odd.

Miles, for all of his nervousness, knew he was a genius. His inventions and knowledge were too much to ignore, so when he made his Miles Electric have a call function he’d program it with special features. Features like screening calls to make sure there were no scams or robo calls. It was handy and allowed him to trust the other end of the phone. It meant that anyone that called him was real and Miles himself had given his number out. So when he received a call from a number he didn’t recognize, it meant that someone he didn’t have on record knew his personal number.

He answered it. He paused and waited for the person on the other end to make first contact.

“Hello? Tails? Did I remember the number correctly?” It was Amy. Amy had had a phone, and when she first went missing, her number had been dialed a million times, but it had never been picked up. So it made sense that she’d gotten a new line.

“Oh! Amy hi! It’s me, Tails! Guess this is your new phone?” Miles already felt nervous, every word he might utter might send Amy into another flight across the planet.

“Yeah! I uh had to get a new one, after I, uh…left.” There was a pause. “Can’t believe I remembered your number after all these years.”

“It’s a special number that works to protect my privacy and, uh- sorry, so what’s up?” Something felt weird to Miles about talking to an old friend while hiding in a hotel bathroom, but these were weird times.

“Oh! Right! Sorry, heh.” Miles heard breathing coming from the line and then a steady flow of words emanated from the Electric’s speaker. “Mania has been secretive lately and I am nervous for her. I know that you have had contact with her and I was wondering-” the steely voice began to fade out, “-wondering if you’d be willing to babysit her for the day?” Miles blinked as his brain shorted out, the question unexpected. Amy had been so nervous and she’d disappeared for a decade, but she still trusted him to watch her daughter. Miles felt the begins of a smile creep onto his face. “Miles? Tails? You there? Sorry, uh, my apologies, this was too early to ask of you.”

“No no! It’s all good!” Miles snapped out his haze and answered the phone a little too eagerly for his liking. “I’d love to watch Mania, but um…” Miles creaked open the door of the bathroom to look at the sleeping rabbit in the bed next to his. “Could I bring a friend?”

. . .

Miles knocked on the front door and then turned and watched as Cream fidgeted with her outfit, clearly distressed.

“You okay? You seem, I dunno, nervous?” Miles teased. Cream whipped her head to look at him, rage glowing in her eyes.

“Oh really, am I nervous Miles? Could it maybe have to do with the fact that I’m apparently babysitting the kid of my best friend that I haven’t seen in a decade and I didn’t know what to wear, so I just threw on the closest thing and it’s this old red dress and it’s not at all the right thing to wear when watching a child and it’s totally going to get all dirty and I won’t be able to care for Mania and then she’ll hate me and tell Amy and then Amy will hate me and then I really won’t ever see her again and WHAT THE HECK AM I GONNA DO?!” Cream was huffing and red faced, her nose inches from Miles’ as she thoroughly panicked.

“Well I really don’t think what you wear is going to impact your impression on Mania, but if it does we can cross that bridge when it hates you for that dress.” Miles placed a finger on Cream’s nose and pushed it back, attempting to recreate some semblance of personal space.

“Ha ha.” Cream said without humor as she crossed her arms. “I just don’t really know how to- take care of kids I guess?”

“What?” Miles’ left eyebrow shot up. “You’re training to be a pediatrician, isn’t taking care of kids the whole point?”

“Okay for one, I’m still pre-med.” Cream’s eyes flicked to Miles’ a touch of a challenge in them, “and two, I learn how to fix their broken arms, what bugs they might pick up from being outside, even dealing with dangerous diseases that target adolescents even, but there’s not much about how to care for them outside of giving them a lollipop after they get a shot.” Miles pouted, deciding between letting Cream think and trying to figure out a way to help her. “I mean, how do you help children, when you-when you still are one?” Miles was about to open his mouth when the front door opened. Amy Rose stood there wearing a sharp blue skirt and matching sweater, a white shirt beneath it.

“Oh so good to see you guys again!” She exclaimed, her excitement rubbing off on Miles and Cream’s dour moods. Amy hugged both of them tightly.

“You know we just saw you last night right?” Miles gave a light jest, but he too was excited to see the brightly colored hedgehog again.

“True but I’ve got 10 years of hugs to give back to you guys. Oh! I’ve missed so many birthdays. I’ve got so many gifts to get, I’ll put it on the list.” Amy took out a notepad and began to scribble something in it.

Late last night Amy began to realize how much of everyone’s life she had missed and began putting together a list of things to do to help rectify that, despite everyone’s protests that she didn’t have to. It wasn’t that people didn’t want to see Amy, it was just that they all knew it was her way of delaying the inevitable decade disappearance discussion, or triple D-Day as Miles was calling it.

“Amy, really it’s not a big deal.” Miles gestured for her to put the notepad away, but the hedgehog just held a hand up.

“No, no, I’ve got to do this, I at least have to get you something for taking care of Mania all day.” Miles sighed and conceited, agreeing to accept something for his babysitting duties. Then a wail came from inside the house,

“Mooooom I don’t neeed a babysitter! I’m ten now!” Came the complaints of Mania Rose, a very mature ten year old.

“Right.” Amy said flatly, she turned around to face her daughter and cocked a hand on her hip, channeling her inner Rouge. “Well sweetie, I think you’ll like these babysitters.” Amy stepped aside and Miles and Cream were treated to a tired looking purple hedgehog, still in her pajamas, roses and tropical flowers dotted the sleepwear.

“Miles?! Aunt Cream!” Mania immediately perked up and Miles saw a small tail begin to wag vigorously behind her. “Aww yeah! This day is going to be great!” Mania did a little jump, and then seemed to catch herself. She settled down and placed her hands together in front of her. “Thank you mom, today will be pleasant and productive.” Miles did a double take at the personality shift, but Amy just hmm’ed happily.

“Okay you have my number, and the local doctor’s number is on the fridge. She’s had breakfast and there’s I think some leftovers in the fridge, she has some snacks that she can eat so if she asks, she’ll guide you to them or you can make some PB & Js. She’s also got plenty of worksheets and I’d love to see her draw something today, her work looks so beautiful on the fridge.” Amy gestured to a slew of simple drawings that completely encompassed what Miles was at least reasonably sure was the fridge. “Other than that, she should probably go outside, you can take her down to the park, and if you get bored we have some, well, heh, board games in the cabinet. Okay I do need to go for work now, but I’ll be back at 5:30. Love you guys!” Miles and Cream received another bone-crushing hug after Amy’s list of instructions finished going in one ear and out the other.

The busy mother made one step out the door, but stopped and turned around, and got down on one knee in front of her daughter. Amy then whispered something into Mania’s ear and the two hugged for a while. Miles stood patiently outside and Cream turned away slightly, the moment just for the hedgehogs.

Amy then got up, said one last goodbye and strolled out the door. The three stood around for a moment before Miles dug into his bag and pulled out a worksheet of his own.

“Hey Mania, you wanna learn how weight distribution affects aircraft?”

Sonic

Sonic the Hedgehog was starting to feel like a fifth wheel. Which didn’t make sense because the fifth wheel was a spare, and more often than not, unnecessary. Sonic the Hedgehog was anything but unnecessary, he was important and valued. He was a hero and adored, not playing mini golf with a pair of bumbling soon-to-be parents.

Sonic watched with glazed eyes as Rouge got in a position to make her first putt of the 5th hole. It was a little awkward for her with the added extra weight up front but she managed okay. That is until Knuckles decided to help her.

The large echidna approached from behind and wrapped his hands around her, placing them on top of Rouge’s on the club. Sonic, through sheer force of will only possessed by the hero of Mobius, managed to not roll his eyes. Knuckles then began to help Rouge with her swing, their faces agonizingly close to each other. He guided her putter slightly and together they swung. The head of the putter knocked into Rouge’s pink ball sending it plinking off one rock wall, against a fake flickie stand-up and right into the hole.

Sonic frowned as he watched the two celebrate as Rouge began to take credit for the hole-in-one. Knuckles persisted and Rouge pushed him away lightly, the two laughing to each other. Why was Rouge taking credit when clearly Knuckles did all the work? He should get the credit and glory. He considered voicing his opinion when he felt his phone ring.

Sonic took a look at the caller I.D. and scowled. Sonic stepped away from the couple, going behind a tree and answered, “What’d ya want?”

“And good morning to you too Sonic!” The deep, rich voice said cheerily. Sonic mumbled a good morning. “I’m just calling to check-in on how the trip is going.”

“You made me get on a boat.” Sonic said flatly.

“I know boats aren’t your favorite thing, but I’m sure you’re having a blast now that you’re there.” The voice responded, Sonic’s agitation apparently undetected.

“I’m playing mini-golf and I’ve already run around the island 3 times.”

“Do you not like mini-golf?” The voice asked calmly. Sonic began to feel rage well up inside. The question was designed to get a rise out of him, to make him think or something, when Sonic was a hedgehog of action, he didn’t chill and play mini-golf.

“No.”

“No you don’t like mini-golf or you do like mini-golf?” Sonic let out an agitated huff.

“Mini-golf’s fine! Why am I here?!” There was a pause on the other line.

“You tell me.” The was still calm and clear, but it had lost a little bit of the cheeriness it had a moment ago. It wasn’t a request, it was a threat.

“Because you told me too!” Sonic spat back, hoping that the voice on the other line would take up a similar tone, Sonic could use a good fight right now. It stayed infuriatingly calm.

“And why did I tell you too?” Sonic set his jaw, only half listening annoyed at the voice’s total lack of vigor. “Why did you come to me for help in the first place?” Sonic fumed at the word ‘help.’ He didn’t really need help, the thought of him and help in the same connotation was preposterous.

But he couldn’t deny that there had been troubles lately. It had started with the occasional tossing and turning in bed. Then it started to affect his appetite, his desire for chili dogs waning considerably. Then he became lethargic and sleep started to evade him altogether. Then there was the last straw, his speed.

It sputtered.

Just little flicks in and out. He’d be running at top speed, and then poof, Mach 10 to zero in a second. Flung forward and into the ground under his remaining momentum. It had hurt- a lot- more than once.

Sonic had talked to a few doctors, but all had reported back nothing was wrong, but he was Sonic, so what did they really know? Nevertheless, if Eggman showed up and Sonic wasn’t in top form, the mustachioed mad scientist might actually have a chance at besting him. A grim thought.

So he’s journeyed down the rabbit hole of psychology- and him.

“Because I can’t sleep.” Sonic said through gritted teeth. It wasn’t the main concern but Sonic couldn’t actually admit he might be slow. “And what? You think Amy is causing this?” The voice on the other end sighed, finally starting to break under Sonic’s taunts.

“I think that the decade anniversary of her disappearance might have had an impact on you.

I think that the fact that you knew where she was the last 10 years and didn’t tell your closest friends might have had an impact on you.

I think you blame yourself for her disappearance and that might have an impact on you.

But most of all I think you should go talk to her. It’s important to hear her side of the story. Or you can just run around the island for a fourth time, maybe that will help.”

“I did talk to her!” Sonic protested.

“And what did she say?” The voice quickly responded. Sonic didn’t respond, choosing instead to gulp noisily. Was he afraid of him? There’s no way Sonic could be, right? The voice stayed quiet and Sonic was forced to answer.

“I dunno, I ran before she could say anything.” At this the voice stayed quiet for so long, Sonic thought they hung up.

“Sonic, if you're not going to put in the work, nothing will change.” It was Sonic’s turn to be quiet.

“Fine.” He spat. And then took on a cheerier tone. “But if I do this-”

“Yes, yes. Then I will race you again Sonic,” Shadow the Hedgehog sighed, “but I’m not even sure where my rocket shoes are, or if they even fit me anymore.”

“Then I’ll just be able to stomp you even better!” Sonic laughed.

“If your speed doesn’t give out.” Shadow said, the tiniest bit of competition creeping into his voice.

“Reelax Shadow, I’ll talk to Amy, figure out what her deal is, get my speed back into top form, get off this island then blast you out of the water! But first I’ve got a couple to beat in mini-golf.” Sonic’s ego boasted.

“Oh yes! Give Rouge and Knuckles my regard-” Sonic hung up.

. . .

Sonic had of course dominated at mini-golf, but it was still surprisingly close for two people that were completely distracted by the other person. Sonic had to wonder what would’ve happened if Knuckles and Rouge had actually been paying any attention to the game.

Sonic would have to up his swing later, cause now he had an annoying romantic to find and his speed to fix.

He’d found Amy about a year after she’d disappeared. He was, admittedly, worried about her. Nothing could keep Amy off his back for very long, and believe him, he’d tried. So while at first Sonic had enjoyed the peace and quiet, after a month it was time to do some investigation. A run here, a raid on Eggman there, and ultimately nothing.

It had been starting to get considerably concerning, Sonic didn’t particularly like Amy, but she could swing a mean hammer and he didn’t want her, y’know, dead. There was the possibility she was avoiding him, but why would she want to do that? He didn’t appreciate her infatuation with him, but at least he could understand it. This disappearing act was pretty disturbing.

Maybe a monster more powerful than Eggman had taken her or perhaps it was some kind of plan she was making to make him love her, not that that would ever work. He was too cool for that.

So Sonic began to search out more…exotic locales. Various dimensions, worlds, planets all beyond his own, using his speed at maximum to reach them, defying physics and rational thought to find her.

To make sure she was okay of course.

And then he checked the ocean.

Sonic’s…dislike of water was pretty well documented so he hadn’t made a big effort to look at the tiny island nations that scattered the globe, but after checking the universe for Amy, it had been pretty much the only place left to go.

And then he found her.

On an island on the complete other side of the planet from home. It was a little slice of paradise, a tiny island ruled by a recently crowned benevolent princess, and Amy had chosen the dumpiest little town on the thing. He watched her from the boutique window as she sewed fabrics and talked animatedly with a bright yellow cat.

She seemed happy.

Without him.

It didn’t make a whole lot of sense, but hey, if she was happy and not bothering him, hey who was he to judge. Amy hadn’t noticed him so he had sped off. Amy got to be happy away from him and he got to be happy away from her, worked for him.

It was a little weird that she hadn’t told anyone she was moving here, but he figured that was her secret to keep, not his business, and he had told Tails as much. If she didn’t want to be found, then she wouldn’t. Not by him.

Until today.

Sonic stood outside Honey’s Sweet Boutique and waited for the desire to enter. He didn’t even know if Amy still worked here, but judging from what Tails said the other night and the fact that Sonic saw her yesterday, he figured that she was at least still in town and the owner might be able to guide him in the right direction. And she had great taste in lunch options, what could go wrong?

The bell over the door rang and Sonic stepped into the shop, noting the patterns and dresses that filled up its walls and show floor. Not really his thing, but he recognized style when he saw it. Plus there was a great selection of shoes, he’d look over them if he had the time, or money.

The cat at the front counter looked up and opened her mouth like she was going to say something, but then stopped. Was that fear in her eyes? He knew he was awesome, but there was no need to be intimidated. Sonic was about to say something but then the cat stopped him.

“Sonic you can’t be here right now. Or, like, ever!” She whispered to him, crossing the room quickly. She began to push him towards the door. This was a weird change of pace, she was so excited, if a little money hungry, to see him yesterday, why was she pushing him out?

“Woah hey- uh,” did Sonic ever catch her name?

“Honey.” She said with a mild glower, still trying to push Sonic out the front door. She wasn’t making much progress.

“Honey.” He said, sliding a little honey of his own into his tone. “Well I’m not sure what the rush is, but I’m just looking for Amy.”

“Amy who?” The cat said, not really paying attention to his words, now trying to use her whole body weight to shove Sonic. Sonic gave a tired sigh, he didn’t have time for this. There were so many cooler things he could be doing other than standing in a no nothing shop, trying to get his speed fixed, and getting shoved by a cat!

“You know, Amy Rose? Pink? Perky? Probably goes on and on and on about Sonic the Hedgehog, and how she loves him so much!” Sonic did his best impression of Amy at the end. It seemed to halt the boutique owner for a beat, but then she just continued in her game of shove the superhero.

“Never heard of her. And if I did, I don’t think she’d sound like that.” Sonic sighed again, more fed up and pushed the cat away from him, she stumbled slightly but regained her balance.

“Look, I just wanna know where she is. So just tell me and then I’ll leave, okay?” Sonic gestured to him walking out the door as if the cat was a child.

“Well I don’t know where she is so why don’t you-”

“Sonic?”

Honey

Honey was pretty sure she was in a worst-case scenario situation.

She’d had exactly one job. Keep Sonic and Amy from seeing each other until Knuckles and Rouge were certain the two could be in the same room. And here they were-

In the same room-

And while Honey feared what Amy was going through emotionally upon seeing her former baby daddy a decade after she left him. Honey was a little more scared of what she would be going through physically after failing Knuckles and Rouge. Honey loved the idea of the strong echidna’s arms going around her, she didn’t love the idea of them going around her neck. She’d had enough of that already.

Honey stood between the two hedgehogs and tried to read the situation.

Her first impression of Sonic had been for the most part, a good one. Confident and cocky, but a nice guy and he was pretty cute. Honey could see why Amy had become infatuated with him. He was a powerful hero and she’d wanted to be the princess that he rescued, and he did.

But time passed.

Amy had kept wanting to be rescued and be with him and he’d only gotten more popular and well loved. They became caricatures of themselves. She, a whiny damsel in distress, totally lovesick over Sonic, and he? A completely arrogant jerk who was just as obsessed with themselves as Amy had been.

And now here he was, a mere ten feet from the woman who’d tried so hard to forget and get away from him. It was a recipe for disaster. Sonic, in speedy fashion, moved first.

“Hey Ames! It’s great to see you again so soon.” The blue hedgehog made steps to move towards the counter where Amy now stood. Honey was so nervous she stood like a statue as he sauntered past her. “Look I was just wondering if we could talk? It’s kinda private so maybe we could move somewhere else.” Honey watched as the ‘hero’ clicked his tongue and winked at Amy.

Honey kept her eyes on Amy, she didn’t really know what would happen here. The Amy Honey knew was a soft spoken, and level-headed woman, but this was Sonic the Hedgehog. Who not only might leave most star-struck but for Amy had been the obsession for more than half her life. From the descriptions that Honey had gotten from Knuckles and Rouge, past Amy might give a little snark back or go into some kind of crazy feral rage. And those were just the best options, she might completely fawn over him and drop everything to do anything Sonic said if Amy thought she might be able to spend time with him.

Amy was gripping the edge of the counter tightly and Honey heard some kind of creaking noise, the wooden top threatening to break. There was a faraway unfocused look in the pink hedgehog’s eyes, daring to become unhinged.

And then it all stopped, Amy’s eyes snapped to Sonic’s and a small, rehearsed smile bloomed on her face.

“I’m sorry sir, but unfortunately I can’t leave my post while I’m working, perhaps another time?”

The façade all retail workers learn to build. A mask of contentment that disguised the agitation they were feeling to a customer. A tried and true method that many across the world used to simply get through their days. It tuned out the world to just let the noise of the commoner pass through one ear and out the other. It was a façade that told those it faced: I don’t care about you.

And it sent Sonic reeling.

What was once the most confident being on the face of the globe sputtered and took double-takes, trying to shake what he believed to be the most true things on the planet. That he was Sonic the Hedgehog, beloved and worshiped by all. And that she was Amy Rose, his shadow that would do anything to be with him. And she just proved him wrong. Amy Rose had built his overly cocky attitude over years of adoration, and now she sent it crumbling in one sentence.

“But- uh, Amy- I- well-” Sonic took a shallow breath. “C’mon Amy, it’s me Sonic, you know me!”

“Of course I remember you Sonic, it’s been a long time since we’ve really talked. But as I said, I’m working right now so I can’t leave right now.” Amy walked from behind the counter over to a small rack of clothes. “But perhaps you’d be interested in part of our summer collection? These new dresses are inspired by the tropical flora of the island!” Amy was hamming it up now, completely oblivious to Sonic’s now seething rage. His attitude once mock humor, replaced with a not so quiet anger.

“Alright Amy, I just need to talk for a second, let’s go and get this over with.” Sonic spat the words with contempt, each a pain as his true feelings revealed themselves.

Honey had a hard time believing these two might’ve ever been interested in each other. Amy just looked at him with apathy and tiredness and Sonic returned that gaze with rage and annoyance. This scenario, which might’ve been more flirt-based in Honey’s more romanticized imagination now just looked like a pair of bitter exes, forced to interact with one another by obligation. Each waiting for the other to be done with their business so that they could leave.

“I said not now Sonic.” And yet then there was a change in Amy’s voice, she too was annoyed, no scratch that, angry. Honey had known Amy for 10 years and the only time she had seen Amy get angry was in reference to Honey’s rejection of her clothing designs or Mania. Amy only got angry when she cared. “So if you’re not going to buy anything Sonic, I am going to have to ask you to leave!” Amy now stared down Sonic, the two locked in some kind of, if Honey had to admit it, staring contest.

Sonic blinked.

“Fine Ames, I’ll see you later I guess.” Sonic stomped towards the door of the shop, Honey stood slack jawed as he passed her and left her boutique.

“I wish you wouldn’t.” Honey heard Amy say under her breath. Honey turned to her to say something but Amy beat her to it. “I’m going to go on a quick break, I’ll be right back okay?” Honey gave a wordless nod and watched Amy spin around and walk into the back. It looked like the whole thing was over and-

“GYAAAAAH! I HATE HIM SO MUCH!” There was a smash sound coming from the back room. “HE THINKS HE HAS THE RIGHT TO TRAPSE IN HERE?!” A tearing sound. “SON OF BITCH CAN TAKE HIS STUPID SMIRK AND SHOVE IT-” Another crash censored Amy’s next swear. “I SWEAR TO CHAOS I’LL- I’LL- I’LL- AAAAAAAUGH!” Various other sounds of destruction echoed out from the back room.

Honey let a long time pass before doing anything, choosing simply to stand in the main show floor looking at the entryway to the back completely and totally bewildered by the monster that might walk out of that entry at any moment.

After the sounds of destruction ceased, Honey worked up the courage to walk into the back “Hey Amy? How are we doing in here?”

Honey looked at the storage area and found carnage. Fabrics torn, dresses mangled, jewelry was smashed. Various boxes and mannequins were knocked over. And Amy stood in the middle of it breathing heavily. Her apron was torn off and her outfit was rumpled and there was a tear in her shirt. Her quills were a mess and sweat matted them to her face. She stood there with her hands on her thighs, apparently unsure if she wanted to go into another fit of rage.

Honey had gotten the answer to her question. She went to move towards Amy when the mother broke into tears.

Amy slumped to the floor, like a puppet with its strings cut, loud racking sobs as her body laid pressed against the ground heaving violently up and down. Amy’s cries burst from her, a tidal wave of emotion as the sound echoed off the walls of the small room. Honey watched as an ocean of tears spilt from Amy’s eyes, the expression lifeless and hollow.

She was broken.

Honey had only seen this Amy once before, back when Mania was three. It was the truest form of Amy. The one who loved so deeply and purely that if that love were taken away, she would die of a broken heart.

But Honey had brought plenty of torn dresses and broken outfits back to life, she could do the same for her best friend.

Honey sat on the floor, dirtying her clean dress and pulled Amy up by her armpits and rested her against Honey’s shoulder. Honey rocked gently as Amy continued to spew sorrow for a while, each cry made Honey more and more scared. Who was Sonic the Hedgehog, and what did he do to Amy? What caused the strongest woman Honey knew to completely shut down?

It terrified her.

Mania

Mania liked Miles, but he was starting to annoy her. He seemed to be a fairly level headed guy, but his obsession with flight was overwhelming. She had gotten enough of it yesterday, round two of it would knock her out. So instead she tried Aunt Cream.

Mania didn’t know too much about Aunt Cream, other than she was bawling her eyes out yesterday night. It had been very surreal for Mania that there were other people just as connected to her mother as she was. As long as Mania had been alive it had just been her and Amy against the world with Honey showing up every now and then. And Miles was there now…

But he felt different, maybe it was just that he had met her before adult Amy. But it kind of felt like there was a stronger connection between Mania and Miles than Miles and Amy or between Mania and the others. Maybe Mania just trusted Miles more than the others, who knows?

But trust did not constitute hang out with while he discussed the intricacies of air travel and how propellers displaced air by putting it behind the plane and moved it forward.

Uh oh.

So Mania found herself in the kitchen as Aunt Cream made a PB & J. The rabbit pulled out two pieces of bread, slathered one with a a nutty spread and the other with a jam spread, sealed the two halves together and began to munch on it.

“You don’t cut the crusts off? Or slice it in half?” Mania looked up at Aunt Cream. The rabbit stopped mid-bite and glanced down at Mania, apparently not having noticed Mania at all.

“I-umg-” Aunt Cream took a beat to swallow and try to push down the peanut butter. “I, guess not really…I think I used to have them that way?” Aunt Cream stared at the sandwich thoughtfully, try to recall something beyond the veil of childhood. She blinked it away before turning back to Mania. “Sorry, do you want one?”

Mania nodded.

So Aunt Cream made Mania a sandwich. Bread, peanut butter, jelly, close the two faces together. Then the rabbit took the extra step of care, using the jelly knife to slice off all four faces of the PB & J while Mania watched and observed, approving of the execution. Aunt Cream raised the knife again, and then stopped, turning once more to Mania.

“Do you have them cut vertically or diagonally?” The question was quiet and Mania gave the quiet answer of diagonally. It was a simple exchange, letting the two know each other as people, the simple act of sandwich making proving to be as excellent of a bonder as peanut butter was.

“Who would get it cut vertically?” Mania asked, a little bit of disdain in her voice. Aunt Cream shrugged.

“Monsters I guess?” There was a light chuckle. “But it is a little easier, so maybe that’s why?”

“Why do people skimp on beauty for making things easy?” Mania shot to no one in particular.

“I know right?!” Aunt Cream became animated. “I was at the castle in the kingdom of Acorn once and they had the nicest sheets. 800 thread count, it was like being wrapped in baby’s bottom.”

“EWwheeheww!” Mania gave a light laugh.

“Each of those takes 4 people a month to make for one sheet, but it’s so worth it.” Aunt Cream smiled dreamily.

“So you’ve been in a castle?!” Mania stared up at the rabbit, stars in her eyes.

“Yup!” Aunt Cream finished slicing the sandwich and handed it over to Mania who began to chomp away at it. “Castles, manors, mansions, estates, palaces, heck I was even at a chateau once.”

“Sho you gushd dou tuh fnshee pls es?” Mania said through mouth of PB & J.

“Sorry, could you repeat that?” Aunt Cream held in a chuckle. Mania swallowed her bite.

“So you just go to fancy places? Like is that what you do for work?” Aunt Cream looked down.

“No, really I just go to them for fun, got a lot of connections to those kind of places. In fact I’m hoping to check out Castle Sol while I’m here. But no, I am training to be a pediatrician.”

“Ugh.” Mania scowled. “I hate the doctor, mom makes me go anytime I so much as scrape my knee.” Aunt Cream shrugged.

“People, and kids like you need doctors. What happens if you do more than scrape your knee?”

Mania gulped down another bite of a sandwich and thought back to a few of her runs. Just because she could move fast didn’t always mean she could react fast. There had been times where she’d taken a hard fall or gotten her foot twisted in something. She’d laid in the jungle, praying for the pain to go away. But sometimes she’d come home limping or sore, trying to hide it from her mother. Every movement pain, pain that she couldn’t show, lest her mother worry, or find out about her speed, she couldn’t do that. Never, ever, make her mom worry.

“So if I got hurt you could heal me?” Mania’s voice was small, each word quivering.

“Well it depends on how you got hurt, not to mention I’m not a doctor yet and-” Aunt Cream seemed to notice Mania sudden discomfort and got down to one knee, eye level with the young hedgehog. “Hey hey no, look you’re going to be okay. If you got hurt people can totally take care of you, and I promise I’ll be there too okay? You’re perfectly safe.”

Mania just stood there, realizing that Aunt Cream didn’t really understand, but that was okay. It always felt good to feel supported, but Mania definitely had to change the subject.

“So why did you want to be a doctor?” Mania asked, shoving another bite of sandwich into her mouth to stop any more words from coming out.

“Oh uh-” Aunt Cream looked a little taken about from the sudden change of conversation. “I-well-actually it’s because of my mom.”

“Your mom?” Mania tilted her head, the concept that adults had parents themselves was still a surprising topic to the 10-year-old girl.

“Yes, my mother. She’s one of the sweetest ladies you’d ever meet. It’s kind of like you and your mom actually, just me and her for the most part. But I often hung out with Amy and Tails and- uh Knuckles. But she bakes the best cookies, and always supports me and-and is always there for me.” Mania watched as tears began to coat the edges of Aunt Cream’s eyes. She didn’t really know what to do, so she just said what first came to mind.

“Yeah, moms are like that.” It was a stupid answer, but Aunt Cream smiled broadly, the tears now threatening to leak from her eyes.

“Yeah they are.” The words were strained as Aunt Cream wiped the tears from her eyes. “So be good to your mom, I’m sure she works hard for you.”

Mania smiled and nodded at this, but it was strained. She thought back to last night and the- argument the two of them had. They’d never really been like that before, but Mania hadn’t really ever pushed before. But she’d wanted to know about her dad, every one else seemed to know, so why couldn’t she?! But Mania had pushed, and she’d made her mother upset. She’d have to be extra good and make it up to her mother, show her that she was a perfect little daughter.

So Mania would stay here, calm and patient. She’d stay here and be good, making PB & Js with Aunt Cream, and talking about their moms.

She’d stay here and listen to Miles rant about jet engines.

She’d stay here and do all of her homework until there was none left in whole house.

She’d stay here and make a new drawing of her and her mom holding hands.

She’d stay here and ignore the pounding- hammering of her heart.

Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom.

She’d stay and not do anything manic at all.

She’d stay here and watch as Miles glared suspicion at her.

Silver

Silver the Hedgehog sat perfectly straight up in his chair as the Princess entered the room. He always did. She never expected it, especially with the room filled with layabouts that she entered in, but he always did. Silver liked going the extra mile for her, it’s how he showed he cared.

He couldn’t grasp the combined weight of everything that rested on her shoulders as ruler of Tropiana. But he had an idea.

As captain of the guard, it was his responsibility to train, and keep in line all of the guards and knights that protected Castle Sol as well as held positions throughout the island. But more importantly all of that training was to protect the powerhouse of a woman that just entered the room. So he understood the weight of responsibility. To him, protecting Princess Blaze was the most important thing in the world. Even if it was protecting her from headaches caused by the incompetence of others.

Silver scanned the room to see phones out, feet up, armor doffed, people asleep. Seriously? People asleep?! This was the Princess that just entered and the Royal Army Commander was having a snoze?
“Alright everyone, listen up” the Princess said softly. There was no response, but Silver made sure to focus his complete attention on her. “Um if I could have your attention?” This time her voice was even quieter.

It broke Silver’s heart to see her like this. The Princess was certainly not the most extroverted person, but when faced with a room full of people to impress, it was like her nervousness and quietness was ripped out and shoved forward. It was the only part of her that people got to see.

Not the warm hearted, caring, passionate and thoughtful woman she was to only a few. Silver knew he was the luckiest man alive to be able to see the person as often as he did. And now the Princess was here, in a room full of people that couldn’t seem to care less. Well Silver wouldn’t be one of him. And luckily at least one other person did as Silver’s eyes widened and he covered his ears.

“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!” Silver smiled as Marine the Raccoon removed her fingers from her mouth, having completed the ear splitting whistle. The Princess’ aid had followed in behind her and now jumped up on top of the conference table that Silver and the other royal officials sat at. “Alright listen up you dolts! The Princess is trying to tell you about the state of the kingdom, so put your shit away and pay attention, you might learn how not to be assholes!”

Marine jumped down from the table as Silver removed his hands from his ears. He scanned the room and smirked as people recovered from the violence that was Marine. The Royal Army Commander’s hands were shaking.

“Umm thank you Marine.” Blaze said, and Silver nodded slightly to himself, noting her voice was more confident. Blaze retrieved some files from Marine and pulled out a small remote. She pressed a button on it and a projector lit up at the back of the room and shined directly onto Blaze. The princess winced slightly and stepped back. But Blaze recovered. “Does anyone know who this is?”

The room looked up to see a picture of- Sonic the Hedgehog.

“Uh is it Sonic the Hedgehog?” the Intelligence Overseer asked. Intelligence- HA!. Blaze gave a pitying smile.

“Yes, it was mostly rhetorical but-” Silver gave a smirk as Blaze tried to push through her pleasant façade. “But can anyone tell me why it’s important that he’s in town?”

Silver shot his hand up.

“Yes, Silver.” Blaze called with a light smile.

“Is it because he’s a popular superhero who will bring tourists and income to the island bolstering our economy?” Silver smiled broadly.

“Teacher’s pet.” The Royal Army Commander muttered under his breath. Silver kicked him. The Commander was not wearing any protective shin gear, but Silver was wearing his steel plated leather boots. There was a sense of justice in the Commander’s high pitched squeak.

“While true, and a valid point-” Blaze began, the upcoming ‘but’ was worrying, “but-” Dang it! “-his sudden appearance is actually cause for concern.”

“Why is it a concern, we’ve been seeing Sonic all over the island for the last few years or so.” The Intelligence Overseer said, scrolling through his phone.

“That’s just it, we haven’t.” Blaze said, her voice going low. The Overseer looked like he wanted to protest but Blaze continued, “We’ve seen the effects of his speed, velocity and chaos ratings tracked for the last 7 years. However- he was reported by multiple sources to have just arrived on the island, and now we’re seeing new ratings. Sonic’s ratings.” Blaze clicked the remote and a new slide popped up, showing two sets of graphs comparing speed, directional change, area concentration, and Chaos energy. And they were distinctly different. “The one on the right was taken yesterday after the report of Sonic’s arrival. The one on the left was taken two weeks ago.”

The entire room, now leaned forward in their chairs, wide awake and phones put away. The magnitude of what this information foretold was paramount.

“Princess…” Silver stood as his eyes flicked between the two sets of data. “Are-are you saying there’s a second supersonic being on the island?”

“And there has been for the last 7 years.” Blaze gave a slow nod.

The room exploded into conversation, diplomats and officials and officers all yelling and arguing. This was monumental. The effect of a second supersonic being could turn the world on its head. Surprise raids, food carried across the globe in seconds, armies defeated like they were nothing, spy capabilities, executions, fires and disasters stopped suddenly. The possibilities were endless.

Sonic had long stanced his opinion as a free agent that only looked out for himself and the planet when it was in danger. But another speedster meant all applications were possible again, if they could be bent to another’s will.

The thought sickened Silver’s stomach. The idea of using someone like that, even if it was beneficial to Tropiana, was not a pleasant one. Silver wasn’t Sonic’s biggest fan, all that fame had to go to his head, but he respected the Blue Blur’s decision to stay out of world affairs for the most part, not allying himself with anyone. But if Blaze asked him to bring whoever this was in, Silver knew he’d do it.

“How do we know it’s not Shadow the Hedgehog?” One yelled.

“His speed’s reliant on rocket shoes, not Chaos energy!” Another went.

“What about Metal Sonic?” A third tried.

“He’s got a jet engine!” And on and on it went.

“EVERYONE STOP!” Silver whipped his head to the speaker and was delighted to find it was Blaze, a little disheveled and stressed, but strong voiced and confident. “I know this is surprising news and ultimately a little scary, but we have to address this calmly and rationally.” Blaze clicked the remote again and a slew of graphs projected, all more in line with the mystery speedster from the previous slide. “These are graphs taken recording the data of our now unknown speedster over the last 7 years when we first thought Sonic was visiting our island. As you can see, everything is going up, speed, change in direction, Chaos levels. Essentially, this whole time- they’ve been slowly getting faster.” The room broke out into panic again, but Blaze talked over it and the voices settled. “The change was incremental enough no one really took a close look at it, but now we have no choice but to look into this. Another speedster that is based here could spell good fortune-” Blaze chewed her lip. “-or disaster for us.”

“How do we know they’re based here?” Silver asked, his voice weak with concern for Blaze, for Tropiana, hell, even for whoever this speedster was.

“The readings are on a weekly basis and we’ve gotten them consistently for the last seven years, so they at minimum spend a huge amount of their time here. Not to mention there has not been global upheaval from the rest of the world about a second speedster.” Blaze didn’t even look at Silver.

“So what do you want us to do now?” Silver asked.

Blaze just stood there, the room watched as her eyes darted aimlessly trying to make the best call, the right call on how to handle this. And then she snapped up.

“Total media blackout on this-'' she pointed to the Media Liaison. “-no one is to know about this, we don’t need mass panic or anyone wandering around trying to find who this is.” The Liaison saluted and walked out of the room, talking into her phone. “Greg keep the data coming, I want hourly reports on the chaos and whatever else levels this speedster and Sonic’s and whoever else might be romping around my island has.” Blaze shot at the Intelligence Overseer, nodded and too left the room. “General Wilcox, I want you to begin sending teams to the most documented areas of this speedster and find out who they are. Nothing too serious, as I said we don’t need panic, but I want to know who they are. Everyone else out!”

Everyone got up to leave slowly exiting the room mumbling and whispering their concerns. Silver was just about to leave when Blaze grabbed his arm. This was a bit of a surprise because they weren’t supposed to make contact outside of their secret…meetings- in order to keep their relationship secret.

“Silver- wait!” She whispered. So Silver waited and everyone else left the room. He turned to the beautiful cat.

“W-what’s up Blaze?” He felt jumpy. Blaze couldn’t meet his eyes and she seemed uncomfortable which was weird, considering being with him was the only time she wasn’t uncomfortable. “Look if this is about this morning-”

“I’m concerned about General Wilcox.” She said quickly.

“Uhhh.” Silver said intelligently.

“Sorry did you want to talk about earlier?” Blaze winced.

“No no, please, another time, you’re concerned about…General Wilcox?” Silver attempted to understand. Blaze shook her head.

“I’m concerned about General Wilcox’s men. Most of those readings are from deep, deep in the jungle and I’m worried about them getting lost or hurt. I’d really rather have someone more versed in jungle navigation.” Blaze smiled shyly at Silver.

Silver blinked.

“Y’know someone who spent their whole lives in the jungle and knows it like the back of their hand? Two someones maybe?”

“No-” The gears clicked in Silver’s brain. “NO! Not them! C’mon Blaze, that’s a really bad idea.”

“Silver they know those jungles inside and out, if anyone can track whoever this down, it’s them. And I know if anyone can control them, it’s you.”

“I can’t Blaze, if we release them, this’ll get out of hand really quickly.”

“It’s already out of hand Silver, whoever this is could be really dangerous.” Blaze shot Silver the biggest kitty cat eyes and his resistance crumbled immediately. “Pleaaaase Silver?”

“Fine.” Silver relented. He turned around and started to leave.

“Oh Silver, one more thing.” Blaze said.

“Wha?” Blaze spun him around and gave him a quick but fiery kiss.

“Good luck.” Silver, now with a smile on his face, trapsed off towards the dungeon.

Amy

Amy should’ve figured he wouldn’t take the hint. But what was she to expect from Sonic the Hedgehog, salt of the earth? So instead she found him waiting for her outside the boutique as the shop closed up.

After Amy had her breakdown, a truly rough moment for her. She really couldn’t remember when that last happened. She’d wanted to explain to Honey, but Honey revealed that she knew of Sonic’s connection to her and that she had met Knuckles and Rouge the other day and that they had told Honey of Amy’s past.

It had been rough to hear of her exposure to her best friend, but it needed to happen. Amy trusted Honey, so there shouldn’t be secrets between them. But Amy couldn’t help it, the truth was too scary for her. A thought she kept so buried in her subconscious that its mere existence had kept her on edge as soon as she learned Sonic was around.

“Looks like you’re off your shift. That means we’ll talk right?” Sonic shot her a grin. Amy walked past him and continued towards her home, the promise of an evening with her daughter keeping her going. “Amy?” The blue nuisance persisted, now following her.

“I said we can talk, not that we will talk Sonic.” Amy didn’t even look at him.

“C’mon Ames, I’m dying over here, I just need to ask you a question.” Sonic now walked backwards in front of her, so she turned to look at the ocean and buildings to her right.

“Well what’s stopping you? You’re all about doing whatever you want to do, regardless of others.”

“Well that’s not really fair, I save the world constantly, I think of others. I saved you a whole bunch.” It was a cheap shot and Sonic for sure knew it, trying for a playful smile. Amy rolled her eyes, she knew he had a semi-decent point and she was starting to get tired of being bitchy.

“What do you want to know, oh benevolent one?” She said flatly.

“Well can we first stop walking backwards? I made for going forwards dontchaknow!”

“Nope! I’ve got a dinner to make, and I really don’t feel like seeing your face for too much longer.”

“Alright, Alright I get it.” Sonic dropped his smirk, now walking beside her. “I just want to know why you left.” Amy resisted a scowl.

“That seems to be everyone’s question these days, I wish people would realize that maybe I don’t want to share it.”

“Hey! If you tell me, I’ll go on a date with you…” Sonic sang-song the last word. Who the hell did he think Amy was, a love struck child?!

“HA! That’s a good joke.” Amy spat without humor.

“Oh, please. You’ve wanted to go on a date with me since you were 8!” Sonic gave a quick laugh, actually enjoying himself. “You wanted me to marry you and everything.” Amy felt the tiniest of blushes cross her cheeks in embarrassment.

“Sonic.” She warned.

“Didn’t you once cross a continent in order to see me? Or-or when you made me that humongous pile of chili dogs in order to try and win me over. There were so many even I couldn’t finish them all.”

“Sonic please stop.”

“Hell, you went to space for me. You’ve always been obsessed with me, trying woo me, be with me-”

“Sonic stop now!”

“-you’re in love with me!”

“SONIC SHUT UP!”

“C’MON AMY I NEED YOUR HELP!”

“AND I NEEDED YOURS!”

There was a pause. Amy let out an ‘eep’ and covered her mouth with her hands. Sonic glared at her.

“I’ve always been there to save you.” He said quietly.

“Help doesn’t always mean saving people from Eggman, Sonic.” She said it calmly. It wasn’t an insult, just stating what the hero of Mobius didn’t seem to understand. “Now please leave me alone Sonic the Hedgehog.”

There was another pause. Sonic set his jaw.

“Fine.” He spat. “10 years and you’re just as annoying, you haven’t changed at all.

And then he ran off. Leaving Amy all alone, again.

Amy stood there for a moment, holding in the tears.

. . .

Amy sped home and thanked Tails and Cream for watching Mania, they reported that she had been a perfect angel all day. It warmed Amy’s heart, and she was so much happier for it and would be sure to ask Mania all about her day later.

But first she had something to do.

The mother hedgehog walked into her room, cool with the emptiness of another person all day and moved to her closet. She opened the swinging doors of the closet and pushed her away from the hangers to reveal her shame.

The footlocker.

She bent down to get level with it. Its weight palpable and its impact on her psyche devastating. Amy took a deep breath and released it, then tugged on a handle to pull it from the dark confines of her closet and out into the light.

There was a heavy duty lock on its front, which sealed its confines from the outside world. Her fingers approached the tumblers and began to click through the numbers.

The first.

Then the second.

The third.

Finally the fourth.

Click.

The lock opened. Dang it. She kind of wished she had forgotten the password. Amy removed the lock and took two deep breaths before opening the footlocker.

Immediately she was assaulted by a mountain of nostalgia, all harrowing back to her past self. Photos of her and young Cream, Tails, Knuckles…Sonic. There was a pile of love letters to him in one corner, pictures she had drawn of him in another. Amy’s old dress was folded neatly next to them. Her headband lay on top of it. There was a folder with Amy’s acceptance letter to Central City School of Fashion that she had kept in another spot. Early designs for clothes laid crumpled up all over the floor of the box. One of Sonic’s quills was carefully wrapped up, it was slightly bent, showing how well loved it was. There was a hand-knitted plush of Sonic and of a Chao, both given to her by Vanilla. Amy’s old shoes were sideways towards the back, they were smaller than she remembered.

And on top of it all, there it was. Her Piko Hammer.

A four foot long weapon of mass destruction. Its double yellow ends spelled doom for anyone that found themselves on the end of Amy’s wrath. The head was bigger than she was and could crush steel. A long handle connected it to the grip. A section of purple rubber, long since melded to her hands and stuck with dried sweat. Amy didn’t even remember how she got it, it was just always with her.

She pushed it away and reached beyond it.

There it was. Hidden beyond everything, protected by the head of her hammer. She pulled the small ornate box out and examined it. It was only about as big as her fist and made of wood, carved symbols showed the Chaos Emeralds and the lid had the Master Emerald surrounded by Chao. On the bottom scrawled in a child’s handwriting wrote:

Property of Amelia Rose.

It was the very first thing Amy owned that was hers. She opened the small gold hinge and peered at its precious contents. 78 pieces of paper stared back at her.

Her tarot cards.

She didn’t know why she trusted them again, they had in fact led her to Sonic. But there had been many beautiful adventures because of that and now she had Mania, so she supposed they had never steered her wrong.

There was so much going on now, all of her friends were back, Mania was getting older and wanted to know her dad, Sonic was traipsing around and everyone wanted to know why she left. Amy just needed a little guidance on what to do. So she trusted in her cards again.

She hadn’t used them in almost 11 years. The last time, they had directed her to leave everyone, and now she was here again, letting a higher power make her decision. It was foolish of course, she was an adult, adults make rational, thoughtful choices. But Amy wasn’t feeling very rational, so she dealt out the cards.

One at a time she flipped them. And they told her what to do.

Amy didn’t like what they said.

So she did it again. Different cards, but if she was reading them right, and she always did, it was the same answer.

Again. And again the same answer. she growled. Was this deck rigged?!

One final time.

Amy sighed. Then she made a call.

“Hey Amy! What’s up?” Tails said over the phone.

“Hey! Umm. I-errrr- I-.” Amy paused. “Do you think I could have Sonic’s number?” As she said it Amy glared once more at the fate before her listed out in a set of three cards.

The Fool. The World. And the reversed Wheel of Fortune. 76 cards and Amy had pulled 3 major arcana of 22. The three cards could have had many meanings to many people, but to Amy there was only one.

Mania. Meeting. Sonic.

Chapter Text

Rouge

Rouge crept slowly out of the bed. Every movement she made was careful and precise, as quiet as possible. Her spy training was impeccable, but spy training didn’t account for a bowling ball in her womb. So she actually exited the bed with a lot of grunting and groaning.

After extracting herself from the bed, Rouge whipped around to check to see if Knuckles was still asleep or not.

There was a resounding snore from the large red lump beside her bed imprint. Rouge didn’t understand how a guardian, a protector of one of the most important relics on the planet, was as such of a deep sleeper as Knuckles was. It just seemed like bad foresight.

Although it also made her wonder how she hadn’t been able to snag the Master Emerald sooner. Oh well, now he got peace of mind from her thievery and she got a sweet sweet two hours every week with her true beloved.

And of course a loving husband and soon to be son.

Hey! A woman had to have her priorities in order.

And right now Rouge needed a little space from the “Guardian.” Rouge attempted a tiptoe from the room, but found that impossible, choosing to stumble out as quietly as possible. She had considered spending some time in the bathroom to put on her face, but decided that even the sleeper of the dead might wake up if she turned on her hair dryer. So she went make-up-less.

It said a lot that she was willing to forgo her signature look. But she really needed a break from Knuckles’ mother-henning. Look, she really did love him, and appreciated his constant devotion to her.

When a girl that looks like her attracts the attention of guys, there’s a good chance they’re not always the most faithful. But that’s all Knuckles was. What had started as outright enemies, had turned into cautious partnerships, had turned into friendship. The two had become treasure hunters together and sought out precious relics and old jewels from across the land. And then there was flirting, and then a lot of flirting. And then one night Rouge had been caught off guard. And Rouge was never caught off guard.

He had asked her out.

It wasn’t a crazy concept at the time, the two had gone for food or to a play for fun before, but Knuckles had made it clear his intentions.

“I would like to ask you out on a date.” He had said. Rouge’s mouth had hung open. “We have been spending a lot of time together recently and I find myself rather attracted to you.” Rouge had recovered quickly.

“Well you’re not the first big guy, and you certainly won’t be the last. I mean, what about this is not to love.” Rouge had struck a pose gesturing to her body, but she had felt her heart begin to race when Knuckles had taken her hands.

“You are an incredible woman, and even though you are completely crazy. I am more and more wowed by your bravery and skill every day. You have a wonderful sense of dry humor that while I may not always understand, I still love and you were gifted with resolve and heart so easily that I try to strive for at all times. Would you care to get dinner with me?”

She had barely had the know-how in that moment to nod.

The date had ended up being a disaster. The food was terrible and Knuckles had stained the tie he had worn and a guy hit on her on the street. But she had adored every minute of it. There were many dates to follow.

Rouge found herself constantly wanting to go back to Angel Island, which was nothing new. But instead of wanting to go for the island’s precious gem, she had wanted to go for that gem’s precious protector.

But for the last 8 months she couldn’t get away from the guy. It was like a back seat driver for life. He decided when she ate, when she slept, where she went, what she could do, what kind of TV she watched. Like seriously? What parenting book told the reader what the mother watched would affect the baby? Just going on this mission had been a struggle because of the air travel. She’d had to beg and plead with Knuckles to let her go. It was starting to become a seriously bad dynamic. Rouge had never been one to let a man decide what she could and couldn’t do.

But yesterday was the last straw. Knuckles had made her wear nurses shoes! It had been the first time in her entire life that someone else had chosen Rouge the Bat’s wardrobe and by Chaos it would be the last.

So she blew the sleeping echidna a kiss and exited the hotel room.

. . .

Rouge wandered the streets of the small town, the early sun warming her back rather than the baking heat of midday. It was nearly 8:00 so most things in town were already up and awake. Rouge watched a little cafe as a barista cleaned up dishes while the manager watched carefully. A mailman walked by, messenger bag at his hip. A few townsfolk wandered about going about their daily lives.

It was a little surreal for Rouge people going about their daily lives so calmly. They moved in tandem with one another, each doing their own thing at the same time as everyone else. Each completely separate and yet also together. Rouge had never really been a part of that. She always found herself to be an outside observer looking in, looking at what she never had.

As a spy she had been trained to blend in, be a part of and disappeared within crowds and society. Even how to talk with people and discover intentions, but now that was all over. She was still Rouge the Bat. But not so much Rouge the Bat: Super Spy. And it was a little scary.

It wasn’t that she didn’t not want to be part of a calm life, she for sure had gotten her fill of action, drama, and death defying terror. She just didn’t know how. There was no instructional book on how to ask a neighbor for a cup of sugar, or how to gather people for a book club. And after all of her spy days, she had to admit that kind of life sounded pretty good. And it was certainly the kind of life she wanted for her son.

Rouge placed a hand briefly over her stomach.

Knuckles had asked the other day if that life was interesting to her, and she had been stopped by Honey’s arrival. But really she’d wanted to say yes, wanted to bake cookies, wanted to sit on a porch reading a romance novel every evening, wanted to greet her son after he came home from school and pester him until he spilled everything about his day to her. After everything that she’d been, now Rouge just wanted to be a mom.

And she didn’t know if she’d be able to.

So she’d wait for inspiration to come. A feeling that told she was ready to be someone’s mother and she’d rock the hell out of it. But now she was wandering the streets, in an unfamiliar town feeling self-conscious. And despite wanting to get away from Knuckles, she once again didn’t want to be alone.

The bell of the boutique jangled cheerily as she walked in. Seemingly trying to comfort the pregnant bat. Rouge looked around and examined the contents of the shop. A lot of tropical floral print for the most part, a few pieces of formal wear here and there, and-oh-a nice selection of more stylish fabrics, dresses, skirts, shorts and tops off to the side. At least someone here had style.

Rouge approached the front counter and the mildly bored yellow cat reading a magazine behind it. “Hey Sunshine, you busy?” Not her best intro, but she wasn’t feeling top of her game right now. Honey looked up and upon seeing the bat looked a little surprised but quickly recovered.

“For a customer as lovely as you, I could never.” The cat responded, a little sweet sass poured into her words. Not a bad return for an island bum.

“Well if you’ve got the time, I’m looking for Amy, need to have a girl talk.” Rouge did a little dance with her fingers.

“Oh sorry, she’s out right now babe, could I- uhhh” it was practically a moan. “Take a message?” Honey shot her a look that Rouge saw reflected in every man’s eyes that she had ever conned. Rouge was being outplayed!

“Snrk!” Rouge gave a very unwomanly snort. “Hey you’re pretty good.” Rouge flashed Honey a smile.

“Please, that was nothing! You should see me at the local bar on Saturday nights, I’ve got every man there wrapped around my finger.” Honey returned the smile.

“I don’t doubt it. But you said Amy’s out right now?” Rouge returned the conversation.

“Yeah sorry, I’ve been keeping her busy running errands, she’s been super stressed with…everything, so she asked for a whole buncha work to keep her busy. I’ve got nothing to do! But you wanted to talk to her?”

“I’ve got a lot on my mind as well, probably unfair of me to dump on Pinky on top of what she’s going through. Maybe you can help me with something though.”

“What’s up, I’m suuuper bored.” Honey groaned. Rouge gave a brief smile.

“What do you got that’s comfortable that doesn’t come in yuck?” Rouge pointed downwards at her nurses shoes. Honey peered over the edge of the counter and cringed deeply upon seeing the bat’s footwear.

“Feet hurt?” Honey asked rhetorically.

“Constantly, but these make it a little better.”

“You ever wear platforms? Five minutes and I was ready to chop my feet off.” Honey shook her head as if trying to forget the memory.

“Well I made my style wearing high-heels at all times so I get your pain sister.” Rouge shot Honey a comforting glance.

“Yeoch!” Honey gave a nervous laugh. “Well I don’t know if I’ve got anything more comfortable than nurses shoes, but hand them over, let me see if I can make them a little less yuck.”

. . .

So Rouge sat in a chair as Honey worked on her shoes, pulling out fabric and a few patches. She watched the artisan work with the fabric, golden colored string weaving up and down as the cat focused her attention, a needle occasionally sticking out of her mouth.

“So where’s your man candy at?” The cat asked.

“Oh Knuckie? He’s at the hotel, I…uh let him sleep in.” Rouge said carefully.

“Yeah he definitely didn’t want you to go anywhere without his say-so at lunch the other day.” Rouge frowned as Honey saw through her thinly veiled desire to get some space from the echidna.

“He’s always been protective, but since I got pregnant, I can’t get a moment without the lovable lug.” Rouge put her hand on her chin.

“Smothering you?” Honey asked without looking up from her work.

“It’s just not what I expected from my pregnancy.”

“What did you expect?”

“Well my back hurts, my boobs hurt, my feet are swollen, I cried at the thought of swatting a fly the other night, and I certainly didn’t expect an obsessive echidna.” Rouge sighed.

“Yikes.” Honey said flatly.

“Sorry.” Rouge apologized. “This is why I wanted to talk to Amy considering she went through this before.” Honey looked up.

“Amy didn’t have someone else to look after her safety.” Honey said plainly. Rouge looked away, feeling shitty. “I’m sorry, that was low of me.”

“No it’s fine, I feel like I kind of deserve it, I should’ve looked harder for her, tried to help her.” Rouge looked up and saw the kindness in the yellow cat’s eyes.

“No it wasn’t fair of me, you didn’t know she was hurting or having trouble. Well what did your mom do when she was pregnant with you?” Honey changed the subject.

“I don’t really know. I never really asked, and she never really talked about it. She…was a police officer, never really approved of my…rebelliousness and the way I liked to dress.”

“You are awfully obsessed with how you look.” Honey raised the shoe she was working on.

“If that’s not the pot calling the kettle black.” Rouge slipped some sultry into her smirk. “And besides I don’t really see what’s wrong with dressing how I want to look.” Rouge paused. “Just gotta make sure how I look doesn’t become who I am.” Rouge paused as she considered all the people that had seen her as just how she dressed. “I guess that’s why I liked Knuckles, he likes how I dress, but it’s never the most important thing to him.” Rouge shook the echidna from her thoughts. “But stack how I dressed along with my early thievery and spy acts and well, my mother and I don’t talk anymore, at all.”

There was a pause of silence.

“What about your mom?” Rouge tried for a smile.

“She’s dead. Died right after I graduated High School.” Honey said without looking up. Rouge’s smile died on her lips.

“Oh. Sorry.”

“It is what it is and that’s all that it is.” Honey gave a brief shrug.

Honey worked in silence for a while.

Then she stopped and looked up at Rouge.

“Do you- d- do you ever…resent your mom?” Honey asked in a small, curious voice. Rouge was caught a little off guard.

“I don’t think so. In fact I think she’d rather resent me. She worked hard and did so much for me and then I just went and turned my back on her. I don’t even have her number to call. But why? Do you sweetie?” Rouge leaned forward towards the cat, who now gave a quick sniffle.

“I dunno, sometimes I think. It’s not fair of me I know but I was supposed to go study fashion abroad and meet people and get out of this town. I mean I love it here, but it’s only so big and don’t tell Amy but the shop’s not doing excellent. And when my mom died, I had to drop everything, help with her funeral and talk to people and help my dad, cause he was hurting. It was just so much.

He lives on the other side of the island now. He’s got a new wife, and a couple of kids now. I get a call from him on holidays and such.” Rouge watched as a couple of tears fell from Honey’s eyes and onto the countertop.

Rouge got up to comfort her.

Rouge just stood there, her feet burning with pain, rubbing Honey’s back.

They did that for a while.

Eventually Honey took a deep breath and with the back of her hand wiped away a few remaining tears. “Okay!” The cat tried for a smile. “Here you go, what do you think?”

Honey had taken the painfully plain shoes and stitched some thin black fabric over the white fabric of the shoes, held together with a golden thread. The soles and laces remained white, standing out sharply against the black. On the toes and tongue each was a pink heart patch, bordered in gold. Rouge loved them.

“Oh my Chaos! You’re a wizard, Sunshine!” Rouge exclaimed Honey gave a quick laugh. “How much do I owe you?”

“No no, I couldn’t, not for a close friend of Amy’s.” Honey waved her off.

“Oh please, this was a custom job, I of all people know how much this costs.”

“Really it’s fine, besides I waaay over charged Sonic when he first came in here.” The two laughed at that.

“Fine fine, but how about I buy some terrible tropical shirts for my husband and you charge me double.” Rouge put on her newly redesigned shoes and grinned at the stylish comfort.

“Hey! I designed those shirts!” Honey gave another laugh, the room beginning to fill with joy again. Rouge smiled as she walked over to the tropical floral print shirts, deciding between a few options. “But seriously though, you should talk to Amy, she’s a great mom, and I know she loves talking about Mania.” Rouge gave a brief nod and she picked out a few shirts. “But I wouldn’t worry too much. I think you’re going to be a great mom too.”

Rouge felt tears of her own form.

Silver

Silver watched as she bounced the ball off the floor to the wall to back to her on repeat.

Floor. Wall. Back to her.

She hadn’t been doing it when he first came down to the dungeon, but quickly started as soon as she saw him coming. She knew it irked him.

Floor. Wall. Back to her.

She was quiet, which was unlike her, but if Silver had to guess it was another tactic, she was waiting for him to make the first move so she could figure out best how to agitate him.

Floor. Wall. Back to her.

Silver took in her companion. She was in the adjacent cell, it was her wall that Annoyance was hitting with the ball.

Floor. Wall. Back to her.

The Companion was slightly more of the cooperative sort. Very soft spoken and was not a big talker anyway. Whenever the ball impacted with something she’d tap one of her fingers to the ground.

Floor. Wall. Back to her. Tap. Tap. Tap.

It wasn’t another way to annoy Silver, it was more of a coping mechanism. A way to count out the world, make sure it was still there. That Annoyance was still there.

Floor. Wall. Back to her. Tap. Tap. Tap.

Silver wasn’t really sure of the dynamic between the two, companions? Friends? Lovers? He couldn’t be sure, but whatever it was it was old, and very strong. The two would do anything for the other, Silver had to respect that. Deep down, it was the kind of relationship that he hoped he and Blaze would get one day.

Floor. Wall. Back to her. Tap. Tap. Tap.

Minus of course the attempted coup d'etat. In fact, he had to wonder if the ball bouncing and tapping was even for him or just a way for them to talk to each other. To say:

Hey. I’m here.

Silver watched as a small smirk grew on Annoyance's face.

Floor. Wall. Back to her. Tap. Tap. Tap.

Nah. It was just to tick him off.

Before attempting to make contact with Annoyance and her Companion, Silver took in the cells they were in, making sure they were still secured.

Tropiana was not a third-world country at all, and did quite well for itself in the tourist industry, what with its famous castle and old ruins and ancient history, its location being the supposed birthplace of the god Chaos.

But because of that old connection and the fact it was still ruled by a monarchy, it left old words and customs that were still used. Like the fact that Silver wore knight armor over his bulletproof Kevlar armor and was equipped with a sword, despite the fact that he trained the royal guard with firearms. Fancy water prayer statues were placed over farms right under complex irrigation systems. High-powered street lamps that were placed throughout the island in separate but interconnected grids were called ‘magic lanterns.’

And high-security padded magnetically sealed surveilled prison cells were called ‘dungeons.’ It was all smoke and mirrors, not to necessarily hide, but to keep up an entertaining illusion. The castle's stone brick walls had steel reinforcement and a fallout shelter, Blaze’s personal horse-drawn carriage had bulletproof windows, Annoyances were acting like they weren’t annoying.

Floor. Wall. Back to her. Tap. Tap. Tap.

Silver coughed to get their attention, finally giving in.

The annoyance immediately dropped the ball and shot to the window, her face pressed against it a wild, crazy look dancing in her eyes as she stared at Silver.

“Hey Silv, what’s up my man?!” She said loudly.

“I have need your aid.” He said formally.

“Ohhhh does pretty pretty Princess Blaze need our help?” She giggled.

“Just Princess will do.” Silver’s eyes narrowed.

“We’re not interested.” Came the quietest voice from Companion’s cell. She hadn’t even looked up to face Silver. The annoyance glanced to the adjoining wall, then back to Silver.

“Hey, what’d she say?!” It asked eagerly. The words were still excited and overly energetic, but there was a very real sense of longing, of desire. A need to know of the other person.

“Wha-? How? How do you know she said something?!” Silver baffled. Companion’s voice was very quiet and on top of that the cells were designed so that you couldn’t hear what anyone else in a nearby cell was saying. And yet Annoyance knew something had been said. Annoyance didn’t respond to his question, just bounced on the balls of her feet.

“She said you’re not interested.” Silver sighed.

“Aww c’mon! It’ll be fun! It’s our-” Annoyance counted on her fingers, “-12th chance! Maybe we won’t try to depose Blaze this time!”

“She said-” Silver started to restate the information for the Companion when she held up a hand. She- she knew what Annoyance said. Of course she did. Why did they even stem for sound proofing if it apparently did nothing? Companion just turned her head away from Silver, a dismissal.

“She doesn’t wanna do it huh?” Annoyance frowned, giving Silver a pair of overdone baby Chao eyes. Silver just gave a slow shake of the head, confirming Annoyance’s suspicions. It didn’t matter how many times Silver had seen it. Whatever this was was creepy, and he was loath to admit it, really cool.

“Puh-leeease?” Annoyance said. “I wanna get out of here! Stretch my legs and tail! See what’s new out there! Take another shot at Blaze!” Annoyance slapped her hands over her mouth. “Oops. Did that slip out?” She giggled to herself.

Companion stared at the far wall for a few moments, apparently deep in thought. Then she turned back to face Silver and gave the slightest of nods.

“Yaaaaas!” Annoyance raised her hands to the sky. “We’re in! So what do you need from us Captain-Boss-Guard Man?” Silver let out a breath that was somewhere between a laugh and a sigh.

“Princess Blaze needs you two to track down an individual with special abilities. We’ve detected them deep within the jungles on the farther side of the island. Since you both know this island better than anyone, you are to track, locate, and report their base of operations back. And I will be coming along to make sure you don’t do what you always do.”

“Do what?” Annoyance feigned innocence. Companion gave a light chuckle and Annoyance smiled. Silver growled.

“Try to collapse the government.” He spat. “Now let’s get this over with.” Silver pulled out a remote and unlocked Tangle and Whisper’s cells.

. . .

Silver looked in the rear view mirror of the vehicle at the two cuffed and shackled in the back. Tangle the “Annoyance” Lemur was sitting bolt upright with a massive grin on her face. Her hands locked together and her special stretching tail strapped in with her feet. She was staring out the window at the world going by. The midday sun bouncing off her wide eyes as she took in everything outside the car. He supposed it made sense, the two had been locked up for quite a while now, almost two years. A lot can happen in that time and Tangle had always been one to try and experience as much as she could.

Whisper the “Companion” Wolf was currently asleep, or at least Silver thought she was asleep, you could never know with. Far more of an enigma to pretty much everyone besides Tangle. The wolf didn’t posses an particularly special abilities, but she did posses a seriously powerful set of eyes. Eyes that she used to accurately target people with a high powered rifle that shot extremely powerful bolts of energy. The wolf’s eyes were closed, her head resting on Tangle’s shoulder as she slept, saving her energy.

Silver didn’t really know how to categorize the two. Would-be despots is an easy one, but that wasn’t the full story and honestly, not really fair to them. The two had grown up on the grounds of Castle Sol and trained from a young age to be vicious fighters. Like a fair amount of despots, they actually possessed a strong love for their country and all the people in it.

They just had an issue with its ruler.

When they weren’t training, they were absorbing all the information the could about the country, they knew of every nook and cranny to hide in it. It’s part of the reason why they were hired for their job before being arrested for the first time 12 years ago.

After all you had to know everything about your surroundings if you were going to be the king’s bodyguards.

There weren’t better bodyguards on the planet than Tangle and Whisper. They heard everything, had eyes everywhere, were more skilled in combat than most, no one could hurt the king when they were around. There was even a rumor that went around the country that Rouge the Bat had tried to steal the king’s crown at one point, and was immediately found and scattered by the two body guards.

And then the king died. It wasn’t Tangle and Whisper’s fault, it wasn’t an assasination attempt, he just suddenly died. Brain anyurism in his sleep.

Tangle and Whisper had been asleep in the barracks at the time and it had been reported to him that all of a sudden Whisper had shot awake. She’d flown from the room, Tangle in tow and rushed to the king’s side, only to find him dead.

Everyone had been cleared of suspicion and the death natural, but it had left a vicious scar on the kingdom and on Tangle and Whisper who had spent their lives trying to protect him. Silver supposed it might’ve messed them up a little bit. But it had also left a very young and very unprepared 17-year-old Blaze to run the kingdom. Tangle and Whisper hadn’t cared for that.

It was one of Silver’s most clear memories. He had moved to Tropiana a few years ago, escaping a different, burning country with its own vile problems to move where he felt needed. His innate sense of justice felt right at home in the castle where he had been hired as a young squire-see trainee-for the army. The move had actually been orchestrated by the king, he was a refuge and as part of an act of publicity(as well as kindness Silver liked to think), he had been hired.

He mostly at the time stood around and just carried other knight’s gear, polishing weapons and restoring empty water bottles. And then came the day he had first met Blaze. It was a celebration of her first year as ruler. There was a big festival in the castle courtyard and the surrounding town. Blaze had orchestrated it to try and win some favor with the people, she was young so she had to know how to party right?

Silver had never seen a more nervous person. She sat on a thrown far too big for her with a crown that didn’t sit right on her head. She was very clearly sweating, the heat of the island and the thick royal garb probably not helping. She wore a smile that was so tight Silver had been worried she’d snap her face. Various people had come up throughout the day to congratulate her and wish her many more years of servitude. Each handshake looked like agony, limp hand, stiff arm, words stuttered out of the royal cat’s mouth.

And yet she was beautiful. For Silver it was love at first sight. It was a cliche for sure, and it didn’t even have to do with her beauty. She was of the material kind of beauty, but her realness and dedication were palpable, they were everything. And Silver knew that needed to be nutured and protected. The fact that she cared, that’s why she was beautiful.

And then Blaze went to make a speech. She moved from the large chair and took a few paces forward. She stood from a balcony overlooking the festivities and her people. Silver stood off to the side and watched as she had wiped sweaty palms on the fanciest of robes. The speech spoke of honor and hope, dedication and loss. It was everything a politician’s speech was to be, but somehow Silver knew she meant every word.

And then at the apex of the speech they attacked. Tangle and Whisper were at her side the whole time and had walked her to the balcony. The two most trusted people in the kingdom had then reared up and tried to kill her. Tangle shot out her tail, Whisper pointed her rifle at Blaze’s head. The princess would be dead in seconds.

And then they stopped. Or rather found that they couldn’t move.

Panic ensued briefly but Blaze worked to regain order, and then their eyes met. Across a gap separated by an assasination, not the best meeting circumstances, but Silver couldn’t complain. After all she was the first to notice him.

He was sweating profusely under the strain of using his psychokenesis to restrain two stronger older warriors but he had had the courage to flash her a small smile, hoping it would comfort her.

“Hi.” He had said. She had blinked back.

And then the other guards had rushed in and arrested the would-be despots. They were brought to the ground and Silver released his hold on them. People rushed about. There was more panic over the balcony. Blaze had ordered Tangle and Whisper’s sentence. But Silver hadn’t been there for that. The sky had turned dark, his eyes had rolled up into his head and he’d promptly passed out, head smacking against the cobble brick below as he passed out from the strain.

When he’d awoken he was all alone. A nurse had come to attend, but he’d wanted to know if Blaze was safe. The nurse told him she was and that apparently he was being promoted. His heroics (and his special abilities) had earned him a spot getting more formal training. His service? Guard duty of course.

Soon after Silver found out that Tangle and Whisper had been pardoned and released from prison.

They made another attempt on Blaze’s life a few days later. And then they were back in prison. Silver continued to train- harder. A few months later Blaze tried again. And again there was another attempt on Blaze’s life. And back to prison they went.

This went on for a few years. Blaze kept trying to see the best in the former bodyguards and they in return would literally try to stab her in the back. Silver soon found himself a knight and a well respected member of the kingdom. People began to look to him for advice and what to do. It had been a little overwhelming, all he wanted to do was protect the person who protected everyone else.

And then one night he had been called up to Blaze’s tower. It had been late, very late. He should’ve been asleep, but he was too busy practicing mixing his hand-to-hand combat with his psychokinesis. He’d run up the steps deeply concerned. Nothing good was happening if it was this late. Silver had burst into the turret and thrown open the door.

“Princess, are you okay?!” He’d exclaimed, breathing heavily. Blaze had been sitting upright in bed. Thick purple sheets pulled up to her nose and she stared at him, amber eyes wide.

“I'm fine!” She’d squeaked. It was one of the few times Silver didn’t believe what she said. His guard training had kicked in, he’d scanned all corners of the room. Checked the closets, the ceiling, under the bed, did a sweep outside the room and took a look out of the windows. Nothing wrong. “Really, it was nothing knight. I promise.” She had waved him off.

Silver had given a brief nod and turned to leave when:

“I had a nightmare.” Her voice was small and nervous, it was scared and alone. She was a 19 year old girl tasked with the running of an entire nation. A nation that didn’t like her too much especially considering two of the most trusted people in the kingdom didn’t like her either. And now those people were four hundred feet below her. She had a right to be scared.

“Oh. Well I used to get those too I guess.” Silver had said back before realizing that she had not given permission for him to speak and covered his mouth. She hadn’t seemed to notice.

“How did you deal with them?” She’d asked, fear dissipating, curiosity growing.

“Well where I came from had a lot of fire and monsters and bad people it wasn’t very safe. Here’s just the opposite, so when I get a nightmare I just think of here.”

“Oh.” She’d said. “Thank you, uh-”

“Silver.” He’d said. She’d nodded back looking thoughtful. Something had clicked in Silver’s mind. “Are you planning to free them again?” He’d forgotten to wait for permission to speak again. Blaze’s eyes had shrank and again she’d nodded, looking a little sheepish. “Why would you do that Princess, you know they always try to- try to-” He couldn’t finish.

“I need the support of the kingdom for legitimacy so I can then help the people. People love Tangle and Whisper. If I freed them maybe they’d love me too…” Silver was pretty sure Blaze didn’t even believe what she’d just said. Silver didn’t know how to respond, how the heck was he supposed to help a young ruler who didn’t have the people on her side and the only way to get it was to free two people that would immediately try to kill her. Not a great situation.

“Well why do you need to just let them go?” He’d said. He didn’t really know where he had been going with this.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean they’re still strong agents, why not best utilize their skills, not for protection obviously but-”

“-But as spies or search and rescue or security experts.” Blaze began talking to herself. And then she kept talking to herself. Silver had quietly left the room.

Tangle and Whisper had been freed the next day, their task? Sewage clean up. So Blaze was a little petty, sue her. But then they helped excavate people from a landslide, worked to stop a forest fire, they gathered intel on a drug cartel and protected a diplomat.

Of course a few weeks later they tried to take Blaze’s life again, but they had been stopped once more. This time by Silver himself! Who had inexplicably been made captain of the guard recently. He soon found himself spending more time around Blaze as the captain had to sit in with meetings with her and personally check her room for safety reasons. Normally those check-ins weren’t supposed to have Blaze in them, but everytime Silver went she was there.

And they began to be more and more eager to see each other.

And now Silver had the long-time assassins sitting in his backseat. They’d try again to go after Blaze as soon as this mission was over.

They always did. And he’d stop them.

He always did.

Miles

A stomping echidna was not high on Miles’ list of favorite things. Especially when that echidna was Knuckles.

Miles had taken the morning off. He’d had several days in a row of chaos, meeting Mania, telling Cream about Amy, helping Mania with math, meeting Amy again, stopping Mania from slamming into a wall. It was a lot for one fox. So this morning he was kicking back.

He’d gotten up at 9. Laid in bed for 15 minutes, gotten up slowly, put on a comfy pair of socks. He’d walked downstairs and got a coffee and now was reading the news off his Miles Electric while calmly drinking an expertly prepared latte made with freshly ground coffee beans and a squirt of mint flavoring. It was heaven.

Of course until Knuckles came stomping downstairs. So Miles sighed and put his drink down, and stored his Electric where it couldn’t be smashed. Then turned to face the raging music.

“I worry I have been overwhelming Rouge.”

“Oh.” Miles said thoughtfully.

And then he walked off. Miles sat there stupidly before ejecting himself from the chair and stumbling after Knuckles. He followed the red echidna outside.

“Hey, you can’t just drop that realization on me and then walk off.”

“Why not?” It was a fair question.

“Because it-it-it- I dunno, because you can’t.” Miles stepped in front of him.

“That seems like poor reasoning to me, Tails.” Knuckles narrowed his eyes. “Now move aside, I must find Rouge.”

“Woah, Knuckles you can’t just say that you’re overwhelming her and then go and overwhelm her, that’s definitely wrong, or at least ironic.” Miles held his hands out.

“I do not have a choice, I must ensure her safety.” Knuckles shook his head slowly.

“Rouge can take care of herself, there’s no need to go after her Knuckles.” Miles tried again.

“Nevertheless I cannot fail to be at her side.” Knuckles began to move forward again, Miles moved aside so as not to be trampled by the warrior. There was no way he was going to out logic Knuckles here, he was too determined, so he had to try a different tactic. One with more self-preservation in mind.

“Okay go ahead, but I’m pretty sure Rouge will be mad.” Knuckles stopped. “And Rouge being mad always goes sooo well for you.”

Miles resisted the urge to smile as Knuckles turned around and started moving back towards the hotel.

“Perhaps I will reconsider my immediate decision to locate her.”

The two settled back down at the table Miles was sitting at and ordered Knuckles a coffee. Then they waited.

“So ummm, how’d you sleep?” Miles tried.

Knuckles was not Miles’ first choice of company. He didn’t dislike him at all but the two just didn’t have a lot in common, they were more friends of friends than anything else. Miles was brain, Knuckles brawn, they just didn’t mix super well. There had been many times where Miles had tried to explain his inventions or illustrate a plan and watched as the echidna’s eyes began to glaze over. And there had been times when Knuckles had invited Miles over to work out and Miles had just watched as Knuckles grunted and groaned under the weight of his exercises like an animal. Miles knew that Knuckles wasn’t stupid and when it came to the heat of battle, he’d often follow Knuckles’ lead trusting the echidna to know where to hit an enemy.

But they were just very different people.

“Fine.” The echidna responded.

“Cool. Cool.” Miles smacked his lips.

There was some more awkward silence.

“Okay man, you can’t realize your issue and then not want to talk about it.” Miles sat back in his chair.

“Why not?” Again the flawless logic completely confounded Miles.

“Because you mentioning it in the first place insinuates that it’s an issue and that you would feel better if you told someone.” Miles was starting to raise his voice.

“And why you?”

“Because you told me!-” Miles paused. “And you’re screwing with me aren’t you?”

“I was not at first, but I was aware of how fed up you would be and it is quite entertaining to see you so ruffled Tails.”

“Yeah, yeah let it all out. Elevate yourself above the brainiac and thereby prove you’re superior I get it- I get it.” Miles pulled his tails to his front and smoothed down the fur. Knuckles gave a low chuckle.

“But I suppose I do feel the need to discuss my possible issues with someone.”

“Well I’m starting to think you should pick someone else.” Miles frowned but sat forward opening his ears to the echidna’s sob-story, “Well let’s hear it big guy, why do you think you’re smothering her?”

“Well for one, she snuck out of bed this morning.”

“Getting away from you? Well that seems like a good idea.” Knuckles frowned.

“Tails, I apologize, but you wanted me to talk to you, now could you please listen?”

“Right, sorry sorry.” Miles smiled sheepishly.

“But it is not just that, I’ve been spending most of my time in her space and she does not vocally say that it is an issue for her, but I know something is wrong.”

“Well you are married, she did want to be with you for the rest of your life right? Maybe she doesn’t have an issue.” Miles tried.

“Marriage does not mean a lack of problems, Tails. It just means that you get through those problems as a team. Knuckles narrowed his eyes.

“Okay we’ll then why not just give her the space then?”

“I cannot do that either.” Knuckles looked away, was that-? Sheepishness?

“Why not?” Miles tried, taking a page out of the echidna’s book.

“…It is a complex issue.” Knuckles said after a while.

“Is it some kind of ancient echidna paternal rights?” Miles tried for a joke. Knuckles gave a short laugh.

“Ha! No, there was no such ritual. In fact echidna mothers were known for their ferocity. They became powerful protectors during their pregnancies, everyone knew to get out of their path. They had indomitable strength and short tempers. They were well respected. I like to think that Rouge would have been welcomed amongst other mothers.” Knuckles had a sad smile on his face. Things started to click for Miles.

“But there are no other echidna mothers.” He said.

“No there are not. I thought I was to be the last of my kind, I had made my peace with it. But then I began a relationship with Rouge, and now we are having a child.” Knuckles took a breath. “Now when I look at her, I am no longer seeing just my future, I see the future of my people, of my culture. And what? I shouldn’t do everything in my power to protect that?”

“Wow this is really eating you up inside, huh? You just used a contraction.” Knuckles’ eyebrows creased at this. “But I get your point, you suddenly have a spark of hope and now you’re worried it'll get squished.” Knuckles nodded. “My advice: don’t worry so much.”

“That is not very good advice, Tails.” Miles rolled his eyes.

“What I mean is: you’re Knuckles and Rouge, master protector and super spy! There is nothing that is ever going to happen to that kid that you two won’t be able to protect them from. Have some faith in yourself, and in Rouge.”

“I do trust myself and Rouge- but, what of the things that are out of our control? The things that we cannot punch and kick away?” Knuckles looked through Miles to a spot of his past that he didn’t want to think much of.

“Then you deal with it together, as a team.” Miles brushed his chest, as if trying to push away Knuckles’ stare.

“Perhaps you should have taken your own advice.”

“Hey, hindsight’s twenty-twenty right?” Miles gave a faux smile. “But hey this is about you, not me.”

“Rouge put you and Cream in the same bedroom.” It was a baited question, to draw something out of Miles.

“Look man, it’s a part of the past now, and that’s where it should stay.”

“I get to go to bed and wake up with the person I love and trust the most. Do you not want to dream and remember those times yourself? To always have someone watching your back so you do not have to look out for everything yourself?”

“Well I didn’t really have hers.”

There was a pause in the conversation.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Knuckles had the ghost of a smile on his face.

“Noooot really, but I don’t think I have a choice.” Miles took a deep breath.

“No you do not.” Knuckles shook his head.

“We were doing fine, fun dates, pleasant nights in, arguing about which Chao in Space movie is better-”

“The first, obviously.”

“OBVIOUSLY! I swear Cream sometimes doesn’t have her head on straight. But then she went to college.” Miles stared off into space for a moment. “I saw her less, admittedly, she was far away and had a lot of work so I didn’t want to bother her. And then her mom got sick. We didn’t really know it was happening at first, just thought she was forgetful. And then Vanilla fell and broke her arm.

I was with Cream when they diagnosed her.

I’d never seen her more broken.

The complete loss of a person in a second. I tried to bring her back, but she just wanted to be at her mom’s side. So I figured I’d give her the space, lots of space.

Too much space I guess.

And then there were rougher arguments. I stopped feeling like I shouldn’t be there and more like I wasn’t wanted there. But I guess she did want me there. To comfort her as she comforted her mother. I should’ve been there to be another hand to hold, to help. And I wasn’t.” Miles took a shuddering breath, not wanting to meet the echidna’s eyes. “So my advice? For real? Don’t just be there and don’t just give her space, because we’ve both tried those and it doesn’t seem to work too well. Just talk to her. Learn the boundaries, ask what she wants of you and be prepared to give, or hold back.”

“Now that is good advice.” Knuckles said, taking a chug from his drink. Miles gave a short laugh.

“Glad I could be of service.” Miles smiled sadly.

“Mmm! Oh this is good coffee.” The echidna smiled.

“Yeah not bad right?” Miles grinned back.

Maybe Miles had more in common with Knuckles than he realized.

Amy

Amy was a terrible mother. Most people would agree that throwing people into the deep end to sink or swim was the opposite of what mothers but here Amy was bringing together two very unprepared people for a meeting that neither was ready for. And yet here she was orchestrating the very first meeting of her daughter and her daughter’s father.

A father that did not know his daughter even existed.

Truly not her best move. But right now she was trusting in the cards to let everything go right. But what that meant Amy was not really sure. Mania had been told that she would be watched by another old ‘friend’ today while she was at work. Sonic had been told(after she listened to him banter on for a minute) that Amy would talk to him if he spent the day with…someone.

As she said, it wasn’t a very good idea. But Amy still felt this was right. After all, Sonic wouldn’t believe the kid was his and Mania had been acting strange. Amy worried that Mania was growing up too fast and asking questions that Amy was too overwhelmed to answer.

She knew deep down she probably shouldn’t have trusted a set of cards to this decision, but it was too late for it now. If anything, Amy just wanted this to be over. She wanted Sonic to go away. She’d spend more time with Mania, she only had so much less. She’d hang out with Honey. She’d make sure to call Tails and the others and not cut them out of her life again. Amy imagined herself and Mania working with Tails or being there to witness the birth of Knuckles and Rouge’s baby. Mania might get scared but Amy would be there to help her.

It would all be okay. All she had to do was get through this day. Sonic would get his answers on why she left and he’d leave, Mania would know her father and stop asking questions. All she’d have to do is let the person across the table realize they were related to each other of their own accord.

“Mania, this- is your dad.”

Oops. She fucked it up.

Eggman

Dr. Ivo Robotnik was a man of science. He possessed multiple PhDs and was the leading authority on robotics. He had created fantastical automatons and massive mechs, technology that far exceeded what everyone else was doing on the planet. And yet for all of his smarts and accomplishments, there was no scientific explanation to why he’d been defeated by a burrowing rodent for the last 30 years.

It simply didn’t make sense, he was an advanced being, beyond these furry little creatures that roamed beneath him. And yet time and again, his machines, his plans all foiled by that infernal blue hedgehog. But for all his defeats he never gave up, there was always another plan, another scheme that would help him take over the world and take down Sonic the Hedgehog.

Or at least there used to be.

Robotnik, or Dr. Eggman as he had come to be known was excited to learn that his nemesis was finally starting to slow down. It had been great news. The hedgehog’s speed was the only thing that let him win(by the narrowest of margins mind you). And now he was past his prime and his speed was slowly starting to lessen. He was becoming weak.

The only issue was that Eggman was weakening too.

It started with the misplacement of a tool. Then a part. He’d forget where he’d put a robot. Formulas that he’d written a million times over were slower to come to him. Turning screws hurt his hands. Getting up in the morning was full of creaks and cracks emanating from his body. His glasses were getting thicker. When Eggman had first fought the hedgehog he had already been past his own prime.

Now he was old.

Eggman had sworn he would never be fully vanquished by the dreaded daredevil delinquent. But he had made no promise against the march of time. And so he finally began to fear that there would be one more loss, one more defeat by the Blue Blur and he wouldn’t get up again.

So for weeks Eggman had poured over manuscripts and ancient texts. Seeking reports and myths trying to find an answer for his ailing body. Mobius was full of powerful relics. Ancient jewel and mystical artifacts, there had to be an answer.

And then he found it. Etched on a cup found in the grave of a dead swordsman. It had been held in the Central City Museum where Eggman had swiftly stolen it. It was an answer to his problems, a way to reverse the effects of time on his body. To stop, and revert change from happening.

Eggman was going to find the fountain of youth.

His journey would begin in a far-off land, a small island at the end of the world.

Chapter Text

Mania

“One moment please.” The blue hedgehog smacked his lips and stood up from the kitchen table away from Mania and turned to face Amy. He pulled her away from the table into a kind of huddle. Mania heard notes of: ‘you’re crazy.’ And ‘just watch her.’ And Mania had to agree with the first sentiment.

This most certainly was crazy.

This blue hedgehog was her dad?! It seemed a little too convenient for the young purple hedgehog. Mania had been begging to meet her dad just a few days ago and then her mom just granted it? Just like that? No way. It was too easy. Mania had to admit there were some similarities. The way the hedgehog stood and his green eyes were, at minimum, similar to hers. He even had the same mannerisms. Mania watched as he tapped his foot impatiently while talking to Mania’s mom.

But no. There’s no way, it was far too convenient. It was far more likely this was just a tourist that looked like they could be Mania’s dad. And that her mom had pulled him off the street and asked him to watch her in order for Mania to stop asking questions. But would her mom do that? That seemed just as crazy as this guy being her dad.

But why would her mom do this? Mania thought she’d made up for the questions by being perfectly calm and productive yesterday, she didn’t need to be watched. Why was she still being punished? She’d have to extra extra extra good today.

“You want answers? Just spend the day with her Sonic.” Mania was torn from her thoughts as she watched her mother go to work and leave her with a stranger. The hedgehog- Sonic, ran a hand through his quills and turned away from the closed door to face her, a grumpy expression on his face. Well, what the heck, Mania had had good luck with strangers recently.

“Hi.” She said.

“Heeeeey.” He said slowly, each word seemed painful.

Sonic chewed his lip.

“I’m sorry, who are you again?” He said, quickly whipping out the kitchen chair and sitting in it backwards.

“Umm I’m Mania.” Mania said.

“Right. And how exactly do you know Amy?” Sonic pointed at the door Amy just left through.

“She’s my mom…” Mania said, her eyes darting around, not knowing what to make of Sonic.

“Riiiight.” Sonic said slowly. “So how much is she paying you?” He said with all seriousness.

“Pfff- What? My mom’s not paying me.” Mania let out a half-laugh, should she be getting paid?

“Yeah right, there’s no way Amy had a kid as cute as you.” Sonic booped her nose and Mania couldn’t stop the chuckle that worked its way up her throat.

“Hey that’s mean.” She said with none of the venom.

“I just call it like I see ‘em kid.” Mania rolled her eyes. “Don’t give me an eye roll, you’re too young for an eye roll!”

“You have no idea how old I am, mister.”

“You’re young enough to use the word ‘mister.’”

“Right and how old are you? 50?” Mania crossed her arms and shot him a look.

“Are you kidding? I’m 30!” Sonic placed his hand over his chest in mock hurt.

“Oh my Chaos! I was kidding but you are old! Do you wanna borrow a walking stick, you can hobble around while I make you prune juice.” Mania cackled. Sonic did not.

“Okay okay, I get it, I get it. I’m an old man. And do you know what old men do?” Sonic then hunched over and placed a hand on his back. He spoke in an aged southern accent. “We tell long rambling boring stories for hours and hours and hours. Did you hear about the time I got an extra penny out of one of those new fancy phone booth thingies.”

“No-oo-ho-ho.” Mania was holding her stomach, her sides in stitches. “What even is a phone booth?”

“Oh god, maybe I am old.” Sonic dropped the act and Mania was set into another round of laughter.

“10 by the way.” Mania said after she calmed down.

“Hmm?”

“I’m 10.” Mania wiped a tear from his eye.

Sonic just nodded.

“Well what do you do for fun around her kiddo?” Sonic clapped his hands together.

“I like to draw. Read.” Mania shrugged her shoulders. “That kind of thing.”

“Alright then you do that, and I’ll-” Sonic looked around the room. “-watch TV?”

“Oh we don’t have a TV.” Mania shook her head. “Mom says it’ll rot my brain and I could learn bad stuff there.”

“Oh you poor-poor deprived child, you don’t know what wonders you’re missing.” Sonic put his hands on his face, apparently horrified at this revelation.

“I mean I’ve seen television before, my mom and I sometimes watch Master Mobian Bake-Off on her phone. She just doesn’t like me watching whatever I want.”

“How do you know what you like if you don’t watch whatever?” Sonic said in all seriousness. Mania didn’t really have an answer.

“I dunno, I just like whatever my mom likes.”

“Really?” Sonic raised an eyebrow.

Mania nodded her head. Weakly.

“Well alright then.” Sonic shrugged.” So what’d ya got around here for both of us to do?”

. . .

“Got any threes?” Mania asked Sonic, her cards clutched tight to her chest.

“You are by far, the most boring 10-year-old I have ever met.” Sonic sighed.

“Got any threes?” Mania repeated.

“Go fish.” Sonic droned.

Mania drew a card.

“So this is what you do all day?” Sonic placed his cards down. “Just sit in this room all day and do nothing?”

“I do what my mom asks me to do.” Mania said, trying to ignore her desire to get the heck out of the house. To run through the jungles and look at the beach and get ice cream and go to the library and pet Chao in the park. Or do literally anything but sit here and play cards with this equally impatient stranger.

“I guess I can believe Amy’s your mom now.” Sonic dragged a hand over his face. And then he perked up. “Wait…” a chilling smile crossed the blue hedgehog’s face. “You do whatever your mom tells you, and your mom told you that you need to be watched by me.” Sonic stood up and started backing away towards the door. “So what happens if I leave? You’ve got to follow me so that I can watch you, riiiiight?”

“Wh-what?” Mania dropped her cards. “N-no she said you’ve got to watch me, that’s not exactly the same thing!” Sonic threw open the front door.

“You suuure you want to test that? I’ll tell mommy you didn’t want to stay in my sight…” Mania knew Sonic was messing with her, I mean she could just tell her mom that Sonic had left her alone. But he was an adult, would her mom even believe her? No, she just had to play along. This was getting risky though, it might make her mom even more upset.

“F-fine.” Mania crossed her arms and followed Sonic outside. She whipped her head around checking everything. Each shadow could hold her mom, each a possibility to disappoint her.

“Geez kid, you’re really wound up. Afraid of making your mom mad, huh? With who your mom is, I’m not surprised!” Sonic gave a quick laugh and began to strut.

“Not mad…” Mania said softly. She then latched onto Sonic’s hand, needing comfort. This would all be over soon, then she could go back home and into her mother’s arms and be a good little girl.

“Woah, okay.” Sonic seemed surprised at the touch, but not unwelcomed by it. “Wow, you really need to unwind, kid. C’mon, I’ll take you to my favorite place in town, don’t worry, we’ll go slow, no need to watch for scary moms.”

. . .

“It’s all good Mania, no need to worry!” Sonic called from up the stairs.

“But we’re not supposed to go up there Sonic!” Mania called back.

The two were currently inside the lobby of the clock tower. After Mania had grabbed Sonic’s hand he’d led her through town. She knew it like the back of her hand, but Sonic had taken her down some weird routes. Off side streets, through alleys, across someone’s yard. Sonic said that he was just taking the scenic route, but Mania began to suspect that he was just lost.

Whoever this guy was, he certainly wasn’t a local. The fact that she’d never seen him before in this small town and that he didn’t know where he was going. Not to mention he just gave off that tourist aura of trying to consume everything in sight with his eyes that tourists had. She almost didn’t catch that aura, it was so natural on him. Like it’s how he approached life, nothing wasn’t worth seeing and exploring. Everything new was worth his time.

It was how Mania liked to look at things too. One of the reasons she ran through the jungle, besides the fact it was in the opposite direction of her mom, was that it was always changing. There was always a new plant, a new section of undergrowth, baby rickies running, and new flicky nests. There was always so much newness to see and explore.

But Mania had seen the town before, she didn’t need to go into the clock tower. It was an old structure connected to the community center. It received servicing once a year and otherwise ran automatically. Nothing particularly special. But she was humoring Sonic’s crazy tendencies and she didn’t want to risk making her mother upset so she’d followed him here.

“I’m going up higher, kid! Better follow me!” Sonic jumped up the steps towards the top. Mania bit her lip, took a look around, and followed him.

She found him at the clock entrance door. There was a sign that read:

Authorized Personnel Only

Sonic was currently throwing his shoulder against it.

“What are you doing?!” Mania hissed. Sonic threw his shoulder against it again. He turned back towards her briefly.

“Is that a trick question?” Mania had no response to that. Sonic shoved against the door one last time and it burst open, the taller hedgehog tumbling through it. He popped up, brushing himself off then gestured for Mania to follow him through. “Let’s go!”

“We’re not supposed to go in here.” Mania stood outside the door.

“Then clearly you’ve never seen it!” He was right, the places Mania hadn’t gone were the places she didn’t go. “It’s really cool.” Mania still didn’t move forward, but hopped between feet, fidgety. “No one’s going to come in here, I’ve already checked it out twice.”

So Mania followed him in and saw a world of metal. Inside large gears twisted and turned, axle rods and screws spun as the clock counted out the seconds of the day. Against each wall was a massive circular window, the backside of each of the clock faces. A loud ticking reverberated throughout the room. It was like walking into a different universe, one run by mechanics and engineering.

Mania briefly thought of Miles, he would’ve loved this. There were no people here and no expectations of society. In this room, everything had a completely different set of rules that were not necessarily simpler but less malleable and changing. In here everything was as it was. But Sonic wasn’t looking at the room, he was looking at her.

“Pretty cool right?” He had a grin on his face, he stood on another set of stairs that rose higher out of the clock. “Now c’mon, you’re going to love this.” And then he ran up the steps.

Mania rushed to follow him. The stairway opened up outside, the bright morning sun blinding her. She blinked a few times letting her eyes adjust. They were standing under the bell. A large dome of brass that loomed over their heads low enough that Sonic had to duck slightly. The two stood on a wooden platform with no barriers, the top of the tower creaked slightly under their weight.

“Woah.” Mania said quietly. Beyond the top of the clock tower was open air, fresh and bittered with the salt of the sea.

And beyond that was the town.

It extended before her vast and small at the same time. Her entire life, all she’d ever known only as big as her thumb. It was beautiful.

She saw the school and the library. The convenience store and the cafe. To the left was one of the local bars and a church, either ironically or not. On the right was the place where Miles had gotten the chili dogs and her mom’s work. She really hoped her mom didn’t come outside and look up. Behind her stood the sea and the dock a few boats rocked lightly in the waves and people milled about on the docks. And beyond all of that?

She didn’t know.

She wanted to know.

“Wait-wait-wait-wait- here’s the best part.” Sonic had crouched down and leaned into Mania, hovering over her. Mania was about to ask him what the best part was when she heard it. A creaking of ropes, and then-

BING BONG BING BONG. BING BONG BIIIING BOOONG.

The bell above them blasted out notes. It's daily task to note the hours of the day. It was incredibly loud and right above her head. She couldn’t hear herself think. In fact she couldn’t hear-

“It’s pretty loud right?!” Sonic shouted over the din of the bell. Mania laughed, the sound indistinguishable against the ringing of the chimes.

“Who the heck are you?” Mania managed.

“Pfff. I’m Sonic the Hedgehog! Don’t you know me? Everybody knows me!” Mania shook her head. Sonic frowned.

“But I’d like to! You’re fun!” Sonic smiled at that. They waited for the bell to stop before Sonic spoke again.

“Alright here’s the deal kiddo. We’re gonna have fun all day, cause I get the feeling you don’t do that enough. In exchange I won’t tell your mom that we had fun. Deal?” Mania nodded quickly. “Okay kid, so what do you like to do for fun?”

Mania put a hand to her chin thoughtfully.

Sonic

“This is not what I consider fun kid.” Sonic said, exiting the bathroom, covered in floaties. Sonic frowned as Mania burst into peals of laughter at his outfit. He was wearing an inner tube and had a couple of arm floaters covering his upper arms. Around his chest was a bulky life jacket that partially blocked his breathing.

Mania’s idea of fun was so far from Sonic’s he was certain that she wasn’t his kid as he looked out over the beach. Before him stood the endless abyss of the ocean. The barricade between him and the mainland where he could get away from Amy and this teeny-tiny island. And this little girl wanted to swim in it.

After asking her what she wanted to do, she had quickly ran back home to grab a bathing suit, then wordlessly dragged him from the clock tower, all the way through town and onto the public beach. Where he’d immediately noped out.

“C’mooon!” She’d pulled at his arm. “You asked me what I wanted to do and I want to go swimming!”

“Why would you want to go swimming?!” He’d protested.

“Because it’s fun! We’re only doing fun things today and I wanna swim!”

“How do you even know how to swim?” He’d asked.

“My mom taught me, duh. Why? Do you not know how to swim?” She’d cocked an eyebrow.

Uh oh.

“Oh my Chaos! You don’t!” She’d started to giggle.

“Hey I just don’t think swimming’s a very useful skill. We’re land creatures, why would we need to go back in the water?” Sonic had tried for a cocky smile.

“Cause it’s fun!” Mania continued to push her point.

“I have yet to ever encounter water in a scenario that I found fun.” Sonic said with all seriousness.

“Now let’s go see about some floaties.” Mania began to drag him towards a utilities booth on the beach.

“I’m sorry floaties?”

And now he was sitting in the sand as Mania kicked off her shoes and socks and began to wade into the water. She giggled lightly all the while. Sonic watched from the shore as she jumped and splashed around for a while.

He smiled. It was kind of nice to just chill for a while and watch this little girl hop around in the water having a good time. He wondered if this was why people had kids in the first place, the person themselves was something new. Sonic had always been of the mind that you had to go somewhere new to experience the freshness of life. But looking at Mania, she was young, she still had a lot to do before she grew up, a whole life ahead of her. And getting to watch that was Amy’s way of experiencing new things, through a living proxy. Didn’t sound too bad to him.

Mania eventually chilled down a little bit and fell backward into the water. She was eagle spread, the weight of the water buoying her as she laid in it. He watched as she stared up at the sky, breathing calmly and enjoying the sunshine. It looked nice, so he leaned back as best he could in the inner tube and life jacket, his back to the sand and sun in the sky. It was a nice day.

Sonic didn’t not like slowing down, after all of the running he did, it felt nice to chill out for a moment and let the world move around him rather than moving around the world. He could relax and recharge his batteries, and take a calm snooze. Unfortunately a little kid named Mania wasn’t going to let him have a nice snooze.

He’d just closed his eyes and calmed his breathing when he heard:

“Hey.” And then felt a bucket of water get dumped on his head.

Sonic sat up quickly sputtering and wiping at his eyes. As he pulled the water from them he heard a laughing sound and the splashing of a soon to be dunked on her head, Mania Rose.

“What was that for?!” He called out to her as she stood safely in the confines of the ocean waves.

“Come on out here! It’s fun!” Mania cupped her mouth with her hands.

“No way, I’m good out here kid!” Mania held a small plastic green bucket which she dunked into the ocean and watched as it filled. Sonic knew where this was going and rolled his eyes. She threw the bucket forward but held onto it and the water inside slung forward towards the slightly damp blue hedgehog.

Sonic sidestepped the flung water easily and shot a look at Mania. “Really?” But she wasn’t paying attention. She was too busy refilling her bucket o’ splashing. “I’m not coming out there kid!”

“Then you’ll lose!” Mania threw another bucket of water at him. He sidestepped again and frowned. Mania went back to filling the bucket. Lose? Lose?! It didn’t really matter of course. It was just a silly game run by a silly child, of course Sonic didn’t really care…

Sonic the Hedgehog didn’t lose! “Alright fine, I’ll come out there, but when I dunk you in the water so hard you get water in your brain don’t come crying to me.”

Sonic removed his shoes and socks placing the socks in each running shoe before stomping off to the water. The first few steps weren’t bad, they were just getting wet. Sonic definitely didn’t love getting wet, but at least he didn’t have to try to swim yet. Then you got to the ankle deep water, this is where he started to lose traction, each step sinking in deep as he ran, requiring double the effort to remove it and place the next foot in front of the other.

Then the shin deep water. Now he was committed. There would be no running now, he couldn’t get enough speed going in this deep of water. Then the knee deep water, this was where he began to get scared, he could feel the water pulling up at him, trying to remove him from the ocean floor, to wrest control from him. But he was close to Mania now, she was up to her chest and he only had a little further to go.

The thigh deep water. Walking became hard now, each step a fight for control against this accursed liquid. Sonic reached out for Mania now, he’d snag her, pull her further out of the water and then dunk her head in. Revenge would be his!

But then she saw him, there was first a look of excitement that she’d got him out of the water, then one of determination as he got close. Mania leaped backwards into the water away from him and began to swim away, the bucket forgotten.

“Come get me Sonic!” She teased. Sonic couldn’t be baited.

Splashing deeper into the water, Sonic was now under the mercy of his floaties, his feet barely touching the ground as the buoyancy of the life jacket and inner tube lifted him out of the water. He pushed forward, trying to use his arms in a swimming manner, propelling him towards the taunting child.

Mania meanwhile was swimming further away, putting distance between herself and Sonic. Sonic then felt a beat of concern. They weren’t not far out, what if she couldn’t swim any longer and started to drown? Was there a life-guard on duty? Would Sonic be able to save her?

The forethought was a little startling for Sonic, he didn’t usually plan ahead. Sure he’d save any little girl that was in trouble, but to see the possibilities, the potential dangers? That was all new to him, it was scary, but also intriguing. Sonic didn’t usually spend this much time around one person.

Eventually though Mania stopped and- stood up? She was now standing, rather than treading water. Was this girl a hydromancer? Sonic eventually paddle/flailed his way over to the girl and saw that she was standing on something beneath the water.

“Yeah there’s a big rock underneath the water here, it’s visible during low tide.” Mania said, answering his question. Sonic let out a note of acknowledgment. “Well? Now you’re out here, do you like it?”

Sonic took a moment to consider the question. He was currently in the ocean, completely surrounded by water, on an island far from home, wearing an embarrassing amount of water-wear. Next to his old stalker’s kid who was…wearing the biggest smile.

“Yeah, it’s not too bad.” Sonic felt a smile of his own cross his face.

Then he smirked.

“Graaah! It’s time for a splashing!” Sonic snagged the young girl by the waist before flipping her over and dunking her into the water head first, once, twice, three times. “Had enough?” He taunted. She came up laughing and sputtering.

“No! No!” She chuckled.

“Okay then.” Sonic shrugged and dunked the purple hedgehog a few more times. She floundered, arms flailing slightly so he set her back down on the rock. “Had enough?” Sonic smiled.

“I yield, I yield! You win!” Mania bowed slightly.

Underwater rocks are constantly battered with water and sun and wind, which makes it difficult for life to be sustained by them. Most forms of life would see that rock as a barren wasteland that was a death sentence.

Tropiana Java Moss is not one of those forms. It sees that barren rock as the perfect space to grow on. Bright tropical sun to heat and provide light for photosynthesis. A rock to use as a strong foundation to latch onto. Fresh winds and waters to soak up. It grows abundantly in those conditions.

It also happens to be very slippery.

Sonic watched as Mania went to shake off some of the excess water, she vibrated from top to bottom, her head, chest, arms, and then her legs and feet. And somewhere along the line she slipped. Her feet came out from under her and she pitched forward.

Right into Sonic’s arms.

He supported her from falling further and held her close, his arms wrapped around her tightly. Her face was in his chest and she held his waist. They stayed like that for a moment or two.

“Do you wanna go back on the rock?” Sonic asked quietly.

“N-no, I’m okay. Can I just stay here?” She whispered back.

“Yeah, that’s fine kid.” He said a little too quickly for his cool persona.

They floated there for a while, lightly pushed around by the waves. The tide was still coming in so they were slowly moving back towards shore. But they were still completely surrounded by water. They were all alone.

But alone together. A separate island from anyone else. Just the two of them. Sonic and this kid. His kid if Amy was to be believed.

“How come you can’t swim?” Came a voice buried in his chest. Sonic stared at the horizon and shrugged.

“Never learned.”

“Oh.” Sonic and Mania listened to the waves lapping on the shore, a call of a sea flicky. “How come you never learned?” Sonic shrugged again.

“Dunno, just never had the time, too busy running around doing other things I guess.”

“Like what?”

“Whatever. Helping people, seeing new things, fighting bad guys with Tails and Knuckles and Rouge and- and you mom.”

“Miles never mentioned you.” Mania looked up from his chest.

“What?” Sonic said in mock surprise. “How could he forget a face like this?” Mania gave a quick laugh and then settled back into his chest. He felt her rub into it, trying to be closer to him, to bridge a gap that might not have been physical.

“So you never dedicated yourself to anything?”

“What do you mean?” Sonic furrowed his brow, the waves cresting up and down bringing them closer to shore.

“I mean like you never put all of your time and effort into one thing until you reached a goal?” Sonic had reached plenty of goal lines in his life, but he got the feeling that’s not what she was talking about.

“I guess not. I don’t often stick around in one place. I like to go everywhere- see everything.”

“Sounds lonely.” Sonic shrugged.

“Sometimes, but I get to meet lots of new people. Leave my mark on them and let them leave my mark on me. Just never found something to make me dedicated enough to stay.”

“Does that mean you’re gonna leave me too?” Mania said so quietly, Sonic thought he was imagining it. He swallowed.

“Probably.” He respected this girl enough to not lie to her. “But don’t worry!” Sonic tried for a laugh. “I always come back to my friends!” Sonic lifted her out of the water to look her in the eyes. Mania cocked her head.

“Then how come I’ve never seen you before?”

“W-what?” Sonic stuttered, lowering Mania to his chest.

“If you always come back to your friends, how come you’ve never come back to see my mom?”

Sonic had no answer.

“Are you and my mom not friends?”

He didn’t know.

“Hey, your heart beats really fast.”

Then Sonic felt his feet touch the bottom of the sea floor as the tide pushed them in and he lifted Mania out of the water.

Mania

“How do you feel about chili dogs?” Sonic asked Mania after they had gotten out of the water and dried off.

“I-uh like them!” Mania said, her uncertainty over the blue hedgehog fading.

“Good, because I am starving and it is way past lunchtime.” Sonic patted his stomach and Mania heard an audible gurgle come from it.

“Okay but first I wanna change out of this bathing suit.” Mania looked down at the little pink one-piece she was wearing, it’s giving me a wedgie.” Sonic rolled his eyes.

“I don’t need to hear about your wedgie, let’s just head back to your home.” Mania once again decided to grab Sonic’s hand and drag him along. She was pretty fast paced, for obvious reasons, but he kept up pretty well.

Mania decided that she liked Sonic. He was a pretty fun dude and could keep up with her more hyperactive side even if he was a little egotistical. But she didn’t really understand what the dude was doing with his life.

Mania had her entire life planned out ahead of her. She knew all the steps that had to be taken. She’d keep learning everything she could, work at Honey’s boutique when she was older, get her high-school diploma, go to college in the next town over, and then become a doctor or scientist or astronaut. Whatever excited her mom the most. And try to have fun along the way.

Mania had to admit, none of those job prospects were super interesting to her though. She guessed astronaut was cool enough but the idea of being in confined spaces was not. But whatever, Mania was sure she’d come to love it in time.

So how did Sonic, an old man, still not know what he wanted to do? It didn’t make a lot of sense. Was it really okay to not have a good idea of what one wanted to do with their life? Mania’s mom had always seemed so dedicated to her job. Wake up, feed Mania, go to work, work all day, come back, feed Mania, and then go to sleep again. It was an easy and reliable schedule.

But it didn’t seem super fun. Mania liked fun. So that was cool. But there was also something about the way Sonic acted that still didn’t seem right to her. Like his fun was above everyone else. That his fun was more important than everyone else.

Before Mania and her mom watched a show late at night, she was always required to take out the trash if it was full. She definitely didn’t love doing it. Moving a sack of garbage from the kitchen outside and into a trash can? Gross. And yet the smile on her mom’s face when she did it without asking was so…satisfying. She didn’t get to see that smile on the nights the trash didn’t need to be taken out. It made watching the show with her mom so much more worth it.

The fact that work had to be done before the fun while agitating, made the fun feel so much better. And Mania got the feeling that Sonic never felt that.

Having gotten back home, Mania went to her room to change while Sonic stood in the kitchen. Closing the door Mania looked through her closet before pulling out her favorite red dress. Mania finished drying herself off and ran a brush through her quills a few times before putting the dress on and adding a quick headband as an accessory.

“Ta da!” Mania held out jazz hands as she exited her room.

Sonic was looking at photos and drawing that Mania’s mom had hung on the fridge, but stopped and looked up a little taken aback at her outfit.

“Wow, you look just like your mom!” He gave a quick laugh.

“Woah really?!” Mania smiled wide. That was the best compliment she’d ever gotten. Her mom was awesome.

“Yeah, she used to wear an outfit just like that one.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Mania thought about when she’d been gifted the outfit just a few months ago for her birthday. She’d held up the dress high and noted its flared skirt and soft fabric.

“This is super cool mom!” She’d said.

“Do you really like it?” Her mom had asked, eyes wide. Mania had nodded vigorously. She was used to lying to her mom at this point, it just helped to make her mom feel better. But this time Mania didn’t have to, she honestly loved the dress.

“It’s just one of the ones created from my design a while back. But I thought you might like it so I made this one personally.”

“You made this?!” Mania had exclaimed, stars in her eyes.

“I did yes, I’m so glad you like it.”

“I love it!” And then Mania had hugged her mom tight.

“She made it for me!” She told Sonic.

“I believe it. Amy’s always kinda been into fashion. Plus it kinda seems like she likes turning you into a little mini-me.”

“Mini-me?”

“Yeah mini-me-” Sonic put a hand to his chin. “Like a kid version of herself, same likes, same dislikes, same mannerisms, same everything really.”

“Oh.” That was cool Mania guessed, she liked her mom, why wouldn’t she want to be like her?

“Okay I’m starving now, are you ready to go?” Sonic put his hands on his hips.

Mania nodded.

Sonic then opened the front door and reached out his hand.

Mania took it.

. . .

Sonic and Mania walked down to Sunrise Harvest to get some chili dogs. It was past lunch time so the shop was mostly dead a few other late eaters milling about. Sonic walked up to the counter Mania following closely behind.

“Uhm could we do 4 chili dogs please?” Sonic asked the cashier. He then turned to Mania, “do you want anything?” Mania frowned and held up two fingers. “Make that six and a pair of chocolate milkshakes please.”

“That’ll be $23.50” the mouse said cheerily. “Hey you’re Sonic the Hedgehog right?”

“That’s my name, don’t wear it out!” Sonic said humorously as Mania watched him dig for his wallet.

“You get to hangout with a world-famous superhero!” The mouse turned to Mania. “I’m super jealous!”

As Sonic retrieved his wallet and started rifling through it, Mania was a little taken aback. Just how famous was this guy? Mania and her Mom had been here to order food before and no one had ever mentioned her mom as being a famous superhero. If she was a famous hero, then this guy must be some kind of god. He certainly acted like it from time to time. It made enough sense that her mom and Miles and everyone else might know Sonic if they saved the world a lot together, like some kind of team up. But then why was he babysitting Mania? As a favor to her mom, why would he owe Mania’s mom a favor? It didn’t fully fit. What? Mania was just supposed to believe this guy was actually her dad?

I mean, they liked the same food. And he did have a connection to Mania’s Mom. And he really did have the same eyes as Mania. Was it so strange?

If this guy was Mania’s dad. And that was a big if. Then why hide it? That’s what didn’t fit. Why did Amy not want Mania to meet her dad? Sure he was egotistical and a bit of a deadbeat. But were his thoughts on life so violently different from Mania’s mom that Amy had wanted to push this guy away from Mania?

Was this guy why Amy had moved away?

“19.50. 20.50. 21.50. 22.50. Uhhhh.” Sonic’s wallet was out on the counter and a scattering of money was spilled over it. He was currently digging through his sock apparently searching for money. “Hold on.” Sonic gave a nervous laugh to the cashier as he began to dig for the sock, coming up empty. Sonic popped his lips for a moment then took a breath, “Hey so I’m a little short-”

Mania took out a dollar and placed it on the counter. Sonic set his jaw and let out an agitated sigh. The mouse at the counter held in a laugh.

“Ahem. Uh here’s your order number, we’ll bring the food to you when it’s ready.” Mania picked up a #12 on a standee as the mouse turned around to laugh.

“What?” Mania asked. “I didn’t feel like watching you try to get out of that one.” Mania turned away and moved to walk out the door. Sonic sighed and followed her. It was a fairly hot afternoon so the inside of the restaurant was full. So the two of them moved into one of the tables covered by an umbrella outside. Mania pulled out a 10 and slid it over to Sonic.

“Here you go.” She said, fiddling with the standee.

“What is this?” Sonic shot her a look of disdain.

“It’s a 10 dollar bill.”

“Yes I know it’s a 10 dollar bill. Why are you giving it to me?”

“Because I don’t want you to not be able to pay for another 10-year-old’s lunch in the future.” Sonic grumbled at Mania. “Hey do you wanna push this, or do you want ten bucks?” Sonic rolled his eyes and took a second to groan before slipping the bill into his quills.

“Thanks.” He mumbled.

Mania fiddled with the standee some more. Sonic watched her.

“Hey so how do you know my mom?” Mania asked. Mania watched Sonic jerk back at this. But he recovered quickly.

“Well as Tails said, or I guess didn’t say, we…worked together, is the right way to put it?”

“Fighting that weird dude with the poultry weapons? Eggguy?”

“Eggman.” Sonic gave a half laugh. “And yeah, it’s pretty much how I met her.”

“Really?” Mania’s ear twitched as she looked up at Sonic.

“Yeah, he had captured this whole planet in fact and was chaining it to Mobius. I like stuff to be free-”

“Clearly.” Mania sent him a smirk and looked back at the restaurant where they were preparing their lunch.

“-and I didn’t like that he was locking up the planet so I went to stop him.” Sonic ignored Mania’s comment. “And then she was there, she was looking for me actually.”

“Why?”

“Dunno, she said something about being destined to meet.”
Sonic paused.

“And then she got captured.”

“By who? The Eggguy? There’s no way some weirdo could capture my mom. I wouldn’t believe it even before I learned she was a superhero!”

“Yeah…” Sonic’s eyebrows knitted. “I have a hard time believing it now myself.” Sonic took another pause. “But at the time she was…well she was younger than you actually. She was no fraidycat per say, but she didn’t- believe in herself I guess? She was too worried that she would fail and get hurt than actually try.”

“Well that sounds a little bit more like her.”

“What’dya mean?”

“I mean, my mom doesn’t really do too much new things. We have a routine and it’s fine and everything but it’s all the same.” Mania frowned.

The food came. Sonic began to devour his chili dogs, Mania bit at hers. She wasn’t really feeling too hungry all of a sudden.

“Well she didn’t stay that way.” Mania looked towards the blue hedgehog devouring chili dogs. “The more she hung around me, and the others I guess, the more she kinda came out of her shell a little. She starting doing more things that excited her. It’s actually one of the things I always liked about her.”

“You don’t like my mom?” Mania cocked an eyebrow.

“I’m not ready to talk about that. Your mom and I had a difference of opinion on how we acted around one another.”

Mania just rolled her eyes.

Sonic

At first Sonic just thought that Mania just actually didn’t like chili dogs. That she’d gone to the bathroom so that he would eat them and not her.

Because that’s what happened.

He ate them.

Hey maybe she was being nice and just letting him eat her chili dogs, he was a hungry dude.

But she was taking an awfully long time in the bathroom.

He started to think she just decided to ditch him at one point. That would be seriously bad. If Amy found out he’d lost her kid, she’d flip! Crazy would be too weak a word. Not to mention-it wouldn’t be cool.

Sonic was really starting to like Mania. She was funny, adorable, like doing cool stuff, and she floated him the dollar for their late lunch. If she ditched him, he’d actually feel pretty bad.

Unwanted.

Sonic wasn’t super used to that feeling. He didn’t like it.

Sonic took out his phone and noted the time. He’d have to take Mania back soon. Did she already go home? Without saying goodbye? That didn’t sound like her. On the other hand, if she was his kid, maybe it did.

At the twenty-minute mark, Sonic decided enough was enough. The bathroom was on the outside of the building against it’s side wall so Sonic stood up from the table and marched around the side of the building to the old door which held the bathroom. He knocked on it twice.

A nervous squeak came from inside. It had the note of Mania’s voice.

“Hey, you okay in there kid?” He called through the door.

Mania didn’t respond.

“You didn’t fall in didya?” Sonic gave a quick laugh.

Still nothing. Sonic felt that weird worrying feeling again.

“Mania! Are you okay in there?!” Sonic started to jiggle the handle.

“Don’t come in!” She yelled. Sonic leapt back from the door. It was silent again. Sonic approached it cautiously.

“Mania?” He asked again.

“I-I think I just got my period.” Came a small voice.

Oh.

Oh.

Oooooh nooooo.

“Are um-” Sonic’s voice gave out on him slightly. “Are you sure?”

“There’s some blood in my underwear and the toilet.” Mania sounded very scared.

“Well I- I’m um sure that’s very- natural?”

“Are you asking me or telling me?!”

“…yes?” Sonic felt the urge to run.

“…my stomach hurts.” Was that good? Bad? Did she need a doctor?!

“Are you going to be okay?”

“I-I’m not sure, I don’t had a-a pad or a tampon, and there’s none in this bathroom and mom never…elaborated on what to do.”

Right! Pads and tampons, that was a thing that girls needed during their…thing. Sonic knew what he had to do.

“Mania, I'm going to be right back.”

“N-no please don’t leave me!” Sonic felt something in his heart give, he needed to protect this girl.

“Mania I promise I’ll be right back. I’m going to get you…products.”

“You mean a pad or a tampon?”

“Uh yeah,” Sonic gave a nervous chuckle. “That.”

“O-okay, please be fast.” Sonic felt a little bit of his confidence return.

“You kidding? I’m always fast.”

And he sped off.

. . .

The convenience store had options.

A lot of options.

Too many options.

A swirl of pinks and purples and blues all advertising different options, just none of them for him. Vocabulary that he wasn’t used to, like ‘maxi’ and ‘wings’ and ‘absorbent.’ He felt frozen in place. Sonic had a mission and he wanted to get the best thing for Mania.

He just had no idea what that was. Hell, Mania had no idea what was. She was going through a serious point in her life and the only hand she had to hold was his. And his hands were very sweaty.

“Wife, girlfriend or daughter?” A voice asked. Sonic whipped around to find a middle aged chipmunk looking up at him. She had a kind smile, if a touch of curiosity in her eyes. She was holding a basket, a few fruits and foods mixed in with toothpaste and her own…feminine hygiene products.

“Uhh, I’m…babysitting.”

“Ahh, I see. Well, do you know what she likes? Maybe I can help you find it.”

“This is her first…” Sonic tried to put his usual flair on it but found his voice faltering, asking this lady for help being more difficult than he thought.

“Oh dear. That’s hard.”

“Yeah I’m having some trouble.”

“I meant for her sir.” She shot him a frown.

“R-right.”

The lady reached down to a lower shelf and pulled a box of pads out and handed it to Sonic. He looked at it carefully- he didn’t know if he’d be able to identify it again.

“Those might be a little better for her first time.”

“Thank you.” Sonic felt very small as he gripped the box tightly.

“She also might be having some cramps right now?” The woman tried for a friendly smile, Sonic must’ve looked very nervous.

“She said her stomach hurts?” Sonic rubbed the back of his head, eager to get back to Mania.

“Yes that will be them, some easy over-the-counter pain medication will help with that.”

Sonic just nodded.

“Well then best be off, she needs those.” And then the lady started to walk off.

“Wait!” Sonic reached for her arm. She turned around and raised an eyebrow. “How do I do this?”

“You want me to explain how…she applies the pads?” The woman leaned back a little from Sonic.

“N-no. I mean how do I help her through this?” Sonic’s feet were tapping and his fingers were denting the box.

“Oh I wouldn’t worry about that!” The woman waved him off. “Her mom and dad will help with that, you’re just the babysitter. They’ll help her.” The woman walked off.

“Right. I’m the babysitter.” Sonic told the empty aisle.

Sonic approached the front counter slowly. A punk teen stood there, bored expression on his face as he looked at his phone. Sonic narrowed his eyes at him trying to determine how weird the teen would think he was.

Sonic placed the box on the counter and stared directly ahead, not making eye contact with the punk. There was the double beep of the scanner and then:

“$7.45.”

Sonic began to dig through his sock.

No money.

He dug through his other sock.

Still no money.

He’d spent it all on his and Mania’s lunch.

Shit.

Sonic was trying to figure out how he could charm the teen or at this point make the teen pity him enough so that he could get these to Mania. And then he dug through his quills and pulled out a $10 dollar bill. Sonic stared at it for a moment.

Well, he wasn’t paying for lunch, but he was helping a 10-year-old.

“Would you like a bag?”

. . .

Sonic sped back to the bathroom and gave it a rapid knock.

“Mania, I'm back!” He called. There was some quiet sniffling coming from inside.

“What took you so long?!” A strangled voice came from the door.

“I’m sorry! There were…a lot of options. I brought some…pads for you.” Sonic said quietly. “Do you wanna open the door?” A note of confirmation came from the door and it creaked open a crack. Sonic passed the box through and he felt it get pulled away.

There was some shuffling inside and he heard the opening of the box.

Some more shuffling, and then noises of confusion.

“Are you okay in there?”

“I don’t really know what I’m doing here Sonic! I’ve never done this before, I don’t- I-” There was an audible sigh. Sonic banged his head against the door and realized what he had to do.

Sonic pulled out his phone and inputted a search.

“Mania, I- I uh found some instructions, would-would you like me to read them to you?”

“What?! No! I-I don’t even know you! I’ve barely met you for a few hours! And what? You’re supposed to be my dad?! I don’t want to do this with you! I don’t want to have to do this at all!” Sonic moved away from the door, shrinking slightly.

“So what would you like to do?” He asked.

“I don’t know.”

The two were silent.

“What if I just handed you the phone and you read it yourself?” Sonic tried again.

Mania was quiet for a while.

“Okay.”

The door opened again and Sonic slid his phone through. And then he waited. More sounds came through the door, Mania whispering to herself, a sound of something tearing, a quick expletive Sonic chose to ignore. Then there was a toilet flushing and the sink running and then the door opened.

Mania stood there, she looked okay. No visible apocalypse, but she wouldn’t meet his eyes and she wordlessly handed him back his phone. She then began walking back to the lunch, now dinner table. Sonic followed her.

They sat down and Sonic was surprised to find that their food, now cold and the milkshakes melted, was still there. Mania started drinking her now cold chocolate milk.

“The lady at the store said that you might have some cramps, and that you should just take some easy pain meds for that.”

“Okay.” Mania still wasn’t meeting Sonic’s eyes.

“Are you?”

“Huh?” Mania finally looked up at him, milkshake straw hanging from her mouth.

“Are you okay?” Sonic leaned to her a little.

“Yeah.” Mania shrugged. “The new can just be kinda scary.”

“It sure is.” Sonic gave a small smile. “But it’s also exciting and interesting.”

“Pfff. What are you talking about? I was just in a grody bathroom for an hour and a half!” Mania stared at him flabbergasted.

“And I’m sure that was interesting. I’ve never been in a bathroom for an hour and a half.” Mania just rolled her eyes. “Actually wait, I have. Never eat more than 10 chili dogs at a time.” Mania tried to hold in a laugh. “Oh shoot!” Sonic took a look at his watch. “It’s really late, I gotta get you back to your mom.” Mania let out an ‘eep’ as she too realized the time.

“Oh I gotta get back fast! Mom won’t like it that I’m late!” The young hedgehog looked concerned, her face strained with worry.

“Pfff that’s nothing. I can get you back fast!” Sonic reached out his hand for Mania to take. “Hey, do you trust me kiddo?” Mania set her milkshake down and looked up at him and gave a small nod taking his much larger hand. With a quick sweep, he picked Mania up and held the young girl in a bridal carry, just like he used to do with Amy years ago. “Hold on kid!”

And then he sped off. Moving at supersonic speeds, breaking through the sound barrier in a second, moving through town in no time at all. He gave a smile to Mania as he ran, but she tensed up a little bit. Most people did when he first ran with them, but there was something odd about her reaction that Sonic couldn’t quite place.

And then they were back at Amy’s. Sonic stood a few paces away from the front door and set Mania down, grinning. He always loved seeing people’s reactions to his speed.

“All good kid?” Sonic set his hands on his hips. The girl looked a little shaken as she stared up at him with big emerald eyes.

“Uh yeah dad, thanks.” Well, that was odd. The words were flat and stuttered as if she was confused. Not to mention she called him ‘dad’ which she hadn’t done all day.

Amy opened the front door and looked relieved to see her daughter. She called out to her.

“Mania come inside!” The young woman still looked confused and like she wanted to say something, but didn’t and ran back to her mother, hiding a little behind her legs. She continued to stare at him, eyes completely focused on him. “Did you have a good day sweetie?” Amy asked. Mania nodded but didn’t take her eyes off of Sonic. Sonic looked back, the gaze sucking him in, the look she gave when he set her down and how she’d acted when he ran so strange. “Well you spent the day with her Sonic, I hope you have a better understanding now.” Amy said hurriedly as she began to close the door, trying to get rid of him.

“Wait!” He called. He wasn’t sure why. Amy stopped looking worried, she stepped back inside the house from the doorframe a little bit. Mania’s eyes held Sonic in place. How she’d acted when he ran… It was weird. She’d been surprised and intrigued, those were all normal emotions when he ran with people for the first time.

But she hadn’t been scared.

Going supersonic speed with people tended to freak them out, the thought of a sudden stop hurting or killing them, but Mania hadn’t.

Almost like she’d experienced it before.

Like she’d experienced it personally.

Was she-? Did she-? Could-could she really be-

“Wait I want to hang out more. Do you want to hang out more Mania?” Sonic was reaching out now and smiled as Mania nodded.

“No no. She needs to have dinner and get ready for bed.” Amy said, her voice becoming more nervous, edged; volatile.

“Amy please-”

“NO! No Sonic.” Amy stopped herself.

“You can’t do this! You’re-you’re stifling her!”

“What are you talking about?!”

“You don't understand! You have to let her out! She-she needs- she needs-”

“Leave her alone Sonic!”

“But-” Sonic looked at Mania, and then softer: “You’re like me aren’t you?”

“She’s nothing like you!” Amy spat. Sonic raised his hand, standing a few feet back from the mother and daughter reaching for the girl’s hand. Mania reached back. Amy pushed her hand down.

Sonic had had enough. Amy had always been crazy, but this was too much. Sonic rushed forward, he liked Mania, she was fun, she was adorable, she was-”

PIKO!

Sonic suddenly tasted dirt, his face on the ground. His chin was on fire, and he had skinned his hands on the way down. He got up slowly onto his knees, his arms shaking. He was facing the path, whatever had hit him had completely spun him around. But he knew what had hit him. Sonic got to his feet and turned around.

Amy Rose stood before him, her massive hammer gripped tightly in her hands, a murderous expression on her face. She was breathing heavily, the hammer still in its follow-through position, but completely ready to come down on his head.

“You can’t keep me from my daughter Amy.” Sonic had meant for the words to be steely cold, laced with venom. But they had been broken, hurt, saturated in a feeling of sorrow and want that Sonic didn’t know he had.

“She’s not your daughter Sonic,” Amy shook her head slowly, her eyes burning and tracking his every movement. “I gave you that chance already. NOW GET OFF MY PROPERTY!”

Sonic swallowed.

“Mania-” he spoke to the now little girl who looked between the two of them with a fear that made Sonic’s mouth dry up and put ice in his veins. “-I’ll be back for you okay?”

“No, you won't! No, you won’t Sonic the Hedgehog.” Amy’s voice was as cold as the grave. Sonic looked to Mania.

She just gave a slow shake of her head. She was afraid, so very very afraid.

“Fine.” Sonic huffed. “See you never.”

And then he ran away.

. . .

Sonic was furious, he was angry, he was rage-filled! It was time to take it out on someone. He burst into the lobby of the hotel to see Tails and Rouge and Knuckles and Cream having a good time. All without him.

How dare they.

“Do you guys know what the fuck Amy’s doing?” He hissed.

“Amy?” Cream asked, feigning innocence. Knuckles and Rouge produced similar sentiments.

“Oh fuck you guys! I know you all know Amy’s here.”

“Hey, that’s not cool!” Tails tried.

“You do?” Cream said.

“Yeah I know, Tails can’t keep his mouth shut.”

“Mr. Sonic, that’s not very nice.” Cream said softly, Knuckles and Rouge's expressions were hard.

“Well I’m sorry if I’m not feeling like being courteous Cream, but Amy’s keeping my kid from me!” A lot of expressions softened looking surprised or hopeful.

“You know about Mania? And you- accept her?” Rouge asked, her eyes wide.

“That’s Amy’s choice.” Tails kept his hardened expression, voice still.

“Well, I don’t think it’s very fair that I don’t get to see my kid just because I thought Amy lied!” Sonic was yelling now.

“Lied…” Tails’ eyes were darting around, Sonic could see the thoughts swirling in his head. And then Sonic’s best friend looked at him with an expression that made Sonic want to do what he does best. “Are you telling me- Are you telling me you knew about Mania’s existence and let Amy leave because you thought she was LYING?! THAT WE DIDN’T SEE AMY FOR TEN YEARS BECAUSE OF YOU?!”

Sonic said nothing.

All eyes turned to him. Fury all consuming.

“C’mon guys you know she’s crazy! How was I supposed to know she was telling the truth?!” Sonic tried. Cream looked away from him. “She wanted to get in my pants! She-she was always so annoying!” Rouge now turned her back to him. “It was my birthday, I thought a quick fuck would make her go away!”

Tails approached him.

“I checked on her, she was fine!”

Tails stopped.

“Dude things were so much better without her. We didn’t need her. Nobody needed her!”

Knuckles now turned away and made slow rubs on Rouge’s back.

“Tails! You know Amy's an annoying-”

Tails was looking at the floor.

“-WHINY-”

Tails’ eyes moved up slowly to meet his.

“-LOVEY-DOVEY-”

Tails was shaking.

“-BITCH!”

And then Sonic was on the ground again. He huffed as he got to his knees. Drops of blood watered the fine stone tiles of the hotel. Sonic’s hand went to his nose, there was more blood on his glove.

Sonic went to stand when he was hauled up by his right arm and thrown back to the ground on his ass. Tails’ face was a foot from his seething and twisted as if he was looking at the wretched.

“Keep her name out of your fucking mouth.” Sonic’s best friend’s voice sent a shiver down his spine. “You knew about Mania, and you knew that Amy was here the whole time?!” Tails’ face eased for a second to look at Sonic with disbelief as if he had just found out his best friend was the worst person in the world. Sonic’s voice choked and gasped, scratching for words.

None came.

“Get the hell out Sonic the Hedgehog.” Tails turned away from him.

“Yeah well fuck all you guys! You’re all just as crazy as her!” Sonic found his voice scratchy and strained as he got to his feet. Tails walked over to Cream and pulled her into a hug.

She was crying.

“Don’t look away from me! I’m SONIC THE FUCKING HEDGEHOG! NO ONE TURNS THEIR BACK ON ME!” Sonic felt his fist tighten and he reared back before flinging his fist at his best friend.

Knuckles caught it. The echidna just glared at him, holding the weak punch.

Sonic struggled in his grip for a moment and went to make a fist with his other hand. But he saw Knuckles make a much larger fist and made let his other fist go slack. He then wrenched his hand from Knuckles’ grip and stumbled back.

Sonic had already been knocked down twice today, he didn’t need a third.

“Whatever. Screw you guys! Some friends you are.” Then Sonic turned away and began to run off, out of the hotel and into the street.

What the fuck had he done?! What had just happened? His most trusted people turned away from him, from him?! It was a lot.

He shouldn’t have said those things about Amy. He should’ve been better to her. Believed her! Then this would never have happened. He should’ve told people where she was! But she didn’t want people to know. It was too much.

But people should’ve known, they could’ve helped! They would’ve helped! He should have helped. Then maybe Amy wouldn’t be mad at him, maybe Tails and everyone else wouldn’t be mad at him. And maybe he would’ve seen Mania grow up. It was way too much.

For him.

For his heart.

Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom.

It was too loud, too strong. Pounding-blasting-thundering. It beat so hard in his head that he thought it would explode.

Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom.

A drummer beating on his skull till it broke. He started running, faster and faster.

BoomBoomBoomBoomBoomBoomBoom.

He saw it on Mania’s face, that she dealt with this too. His painful curse that he’d passed onto her. It must be torture.

BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM.

Sonic had made a lot of mistakes with Amy, he acknowledged that now. But Amy couldn’t keep Mania locked up in that house to be some kind of perfect- doll -for Amy to control. Sonic would come back, and he’d free his daughter.

CHKA-BOOOOOOOM!

And then Sonic broke the sound barrier. The beat of his heart was now far behind him. He ran and ran and ran.

And then his speed gave out.

He was thrown forward under his momentum, sailing through the air. A rag doll with cut strings. His body bounced on the ground. Once. Twice. Three times.

He rolled to a stop. Sonic groaned, he’d felt something pop that time. He laid there for a moment looking up at the darkening sky, just breathing. And then the beating came back.

Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom.

Sonic whimpered painfully, his insides and outsides aching. He managed to drag himself to his feet. He took a step forward, then two. Each step was agony, his body hurt and his head blasted with the beating sound.

Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom.

And then he started the long walk back to town.

Chapter Text

Amy

“Wait wait wait.” Amy shook her head and pushed Cream away. “So you’re telling me that Shadow the Edgehog is a therapist now?”

“No no no.” Cream held up a finger, her attempt at being prim and proper overshadowed by her inability to hold in a laugh. “He was a therapist but decided that he wasn’t helping enough people so he became a guidance counselor at a public middle school. He’s said quote: ‘Kids are at a really tough time in their lives and just need someone in their corner.’”

“Oh my CHAOS!” Amy squished her face with her hands. “That’s adorable!”

“Yeah, he’s a sweetheart now.” Cream gave a smile.

Amy had the day off so she decided to call everyone up for a lunch date. It was more of a welcoming event rather than a spur of the thing the other night had been. It was a bit of a fancy place, located on the water overlooking the sea. Amy had put on a nice pearl necklace and a new green dress to really up the class of the event.

After the…events of the previous night, Amy wanted to recalibrate a little and feel like a distinguished individual. Rather than a sweaty, dirty, panicked mess. She had also gotten Mania into something nice as well. She wore a scarf around her head, rather than a band to hold her quills in and Amy had found a simple top with a white collar to put on her. And lastly, a flowy orange skirt hung around her waist. Amy had wanted to put some nice shoes on her, but the girl had resisted, which was odd, she shouldn’t have let her hang around- well Amy let her keep her sneakers on.

Tails had a suit top to put on which he looked perfectly handsome in, but the goggles that he seemed to wear at all times were still positioned on his head. Rouge was dolled up of course, but her make-up was light and she looked a little unhappy about the maternity dress she had to wear. Even Knuckles had a tie on, but did it have a stain?

But shockingly the fanciest of dressers was Cream. She wore a beautiful full-length dress with small flowers decorating its reflective white landscape. It wasn’t backless but the front and back dipped. She wore a coating of makeup, her eyes popping and her face contoured perfectly, and dark red lipstick painted her lips. Amy caught multiple circumstances of Miles sneaking a peak at her.

They were so cute.

The group talked about hopes and dreams and what had gone on for the last decade, who did what when with who. It felt like Amy was just an adult having a calm outing with other adults. It was everything she wanted. Calm, peaceful, simple.

And yet something was missing.

Okay Amy had to admit she was surprised Sonic the Hedgehog was here. She was kind of looking forward to smothering him in her success. Fancy outing, good house, good job, good kid. Everything was finally coming up Amy. It was the most fun she’d had in a while.

Of course last night was a little weird. And Amy had gotten a little out of hand swinging her hammer for the first time in a decade. But it felt so good to smash his face with it. She was hoping to see his bruise. Amy had been worried about Mania of course, her daughter definitely didn’t need to see her mother smack Sonic around and Mania had been a little shaken up. But after a quick hug and a read before bed Mania seemed fine, Amy made sure to tell her she was safe and loved and then promptly went to bed.

Mania was being a perfect little girl right now in fact, she was sitting calmly in silence, although-

“Mania, eat your spaghetti.” Amy booped her nose.

“’m not really hungry.” She mumbled. Well that was a little odd. Amy knew Mania had a big appetite, but maybe she was feeling a little sick because of having to deal with Sonic yesterday.

“You sure? You need food for energy. You might feel better if you ate something.” Amy patted the back of Mania’s head.

“Mmhmm. Can I go home please mom?” Amy put the back of her wrist up to Mania’s forehead. She might’ve caught a cold. If so Amy would have to get her out of here. Shame about the lunch but she’d need to make sure Mania was okay.

“mm well you don’t have a cold, are you feeling okay sweetie?” Amy tried to look Mania in the eye but the girl just avoided her sight.

“Everything okay over there Pinky?” Rouge asked, taking a close look at Mania.

“She says she wants to go home, but she doesn’t feel sick.” Amy told the table. “It’s not polite to leave the lunch table Mania, do you think you could stick it out a little longer?”

“I could take her.” A voice piped up. Amy looked to see Tails had stood up from the table, looking a little awkward. He pulled at the collar of his suit top.

“Oh. Well if you’re sure. Mania do you want to follow-” Mania nodded vigorously. “Ok, well off you two go then! But be sure to come right back, Tails.” Tails gave a light nod and walked to the exit of the restaurant, Mania in tow. They walked close to each other, Mania trying to copy every step that Tails made.

“Wow, Mania really adores Miles.” Cream noted.

“Yes, if I had to guess he’s her favorite uncle!” Amy made a jabing motion at Knuckles who ignored her and continued to eat his flounder.

“Oh I don’t know about that Pinky.” Rouge cocked an eyebrow as she took a sip from her virgin Pina Colada.

“Well Knuckles is going to have to step it up if he wants top billing.” Amy gave a grin.

“That’s not exactly what I meant.”

“What’d you mean?” Rouge just stirred her drink with her straw for a moment.

“Growing up I had two brothers, one older than the other. The younger one always walked in the older’s footsteps just like that.” Rouge took another slow drink from the icy coconut flavored concoction.

“Yeah well what’s the difference between an older brother and an uncle anyway?” Amy questioned.

“Truth be told, not much. But Crimson respected the hell out of Obsidian way more than our cranky old uncle.” It was Rouge’s turn to jab at Knuckles, who this time responded with an agitated grumble.

. . .

Dessert menus were being passed around when Miles came back. Amy was just looking at getting a chocolate lava cake when he stepped back into the restaurant and shuffled behind Knuckles to take his seat.

He didn’t look great. His suit top was now slightly wrinkled and his fur was a little disheveled so it wasn’t too bad. But the way he was sweating and how his bangs matted to his forehead were concerning. And then there was the haunting look in his eyes, an emptiness that portrayed a sense of loss of identity. The world had flipped its head on him and he didn’t seem to know what was up and what was down.

“Miles are you okay?” Cream was the first to act. She reached out a hand and grabbed Tails’. He just looked onwards into the ocean, not noticing her touch.

“Tails, is everything fine?” Amy asked carefully. Tails’ head snapped around and he looked at Amy, through Amy.

“Why’d you leave?” He was breathing heavily. Everyone flinched back slightly, Amy most of all.

“What?” Amy tried.

“Why’d you leave?” Tails reiterated. “Ten years ago, why’d you leave?”

“Miles-” Amy lowered her voice. “I don’t know if this is the best time to talk about it.”

“Nooo…I think it’s time to talk about it Amy.” Rouge said out of the side of her mouth. She too was looking at Tails, but she seemed to be staring through him. Seeing whatever that he had seen to give that haunting look.

“We have to know Amy. Sonic came to us last night.” There was a falter in Tails’ voice, like saying the name hurt. “And he had some very choice words to say about you. And I-I just need to know if… if they’re true.”

Amy looked around at the table, all eyes were on Tails, but his bored through Amy, a touch of anger filling the edges. Amy cleared her throat.

“I’m still not super comfortable talking about it, but…okay.” Four pairs of eyes flicked to Amy. “Sonic had just turned twenty and we had that big birthday bash for him. It was fun, games chatting, running, chili dogs, all kinds of stuff he loved.

I wanted to be one of those things.” Amy paused, her brows knitting, the thought of being something Sonic loved, after all this time, was still…not repulsive. “So as the party began to wind down, I approached him. I chose to wear something..showy, I chose to act…interested, well extra interest in him. I thought he, being in a partying mode, might be…interested in me.

For once he was.

He followed me back to my place and…we did the deed.”

“So you two…it was…” Cream was holding her hand out, shaking it back and forth slightly, Amy caught her meaning.

“Oh it was completely consensual!” There was a collective sigh from the table, but Tails still glared at her. “Didn’t know that was a concern for you guys, but with Sonic I guess you never know!” Amy laughed, no one else did. “No, I wanted it. Needed it! I finally had him! He even stayed the night, I woke up next to him and everything.

And then I found out I was pregnant.

I called him up again and he came over, he seemed eager. I think he thought he was getting seconds.” Amy paused again thinking about how he had showed up at her door, a rose in his mouth and a sly grin on his face. A smile threatened her face. “And then I told him I was pregnant. He blew me off, didn’t even believe me. Don’t know why, I never lied to him. But I guess he thought I was pretty desperate for his attention.

I often was.

So I left. I packed my essentials into a huge trunk and then got on a plane to the farthest place I could find, and didn’t tell anyone. I’m sorry about that, really.” Amy didn’t look at them. She heard a few notes accepting her apology. And then she felt his presence closer again.

“But why?” Tails’ words hissed from his mouth, a snake coming for her throat. Tails had never scared Amy in her life, but now she feared him.

“Miles! That’s enough I think.” Cream came to her rescue. “Amy’s been through a lot, we know what happened now.”

“Amy…why?” Tails’ voice was scarily low, a rumble in the earth signifying an earthquake.

“Because I was afraid she’d be like me!” Amy spat. She looked Tails dead in the eye, her billowy rage vs his quiet anger. “I spent my whole life chasing after Sonic! I-I just didn’t want her to do the same. He always leaves, I didn’t want her to have to constantly be watching his back as he ran away.” Amy felt tears prick at her eyes again. “That if she never knew him, she wouldn’t have to constantly be disappointed by him.”

Amy felt an impact at her side.

Cream.

The bunny held her tight, and Amy heard her give quiet sobs. Knuckles and Rouge looked sympathetic, they looked like they wanted to give her a hug too. Even Tails backed off. He had the sympathy to look away from her, the haunted look in his eyes fading.

But not completely.

Miles

Miles stopped again and turned around to see Mania hoping into each of his footprints, the longer strides forcing her to jump.

“Y’know I used to do similar things with-” Miles stopped himself.

“With who?” Mania stopped hopping and looked up at him.

“Oh uh-” Miles tried to think up a lie, but he got the feeling Mania already knew him well enough to tell he was lying. “-Sonic.”

“Oh Cool.”

Miles kept walking, he heard Mania leaping into his footprints.

“Sorry you had to go through that by the way.” Miles sympathized.

“Sorry for what?” Mania sounded contented, did she really not know what he was talking about?

“That you had to deal with him all day.” Miles cringed slightly.

“Oh, I’m not, I had fun. And he-helped me out, plus it’s nice to know there’s someone else that can run like me.”

“Oh.”

I guess she had a good time with Sonic?

It made enough sense, Sonic could be fun. When he wasn’t being a grade A douche.

“Yeah, having fun…was fun! I guess I don’t always do that.” Mania’s voice started to turn darker.

“Yeah what’s up with that? You’re a totally different person around Amy.”

“I dunno, she’s my mom, I have to do what she says.”

“I mean, I guess so. But you act like…like Amy’s pet around her. I mean, wanting to leave was the most rebellious I’ve ever seen you around her. You know you don’t always what have to do what she-”

“Yes I do.” Miles stopped short, hearing the edge in Mania’s voice. It cut him off and he worried it could’ve cut his head off too. It wasn’t angry, just very firm. Like it was a rule, a fact. No it was a command, a law that if Mania ever broke, the world would come tumbling down around her.

“Are you-are you serious?” Miles turned around. He posed the question as just that, rather than putting the rhetorical spin on it.

Mania nodded, she wouldn’t meet his gaze, his footprints in the dirt holding her attention.

“Because I know what happens if I don’t.” Miles got down to one knee, placing his hand on Mania’s shoulder.

“Has Amy ever gotten angry with you, uh-” Miles couldn’t even believe he was thinking this. “-threatened you?”

“No.” Mania shook her head. “I think I would’ve liked that more.” Miles tried to look Mania in the eyes, he caught a glimpse of a far off stare. One filled with terror and fear.

“Tell me.” Miles held her hand.

Mania shook her head again. And again. And again.

And then she opened her mouth.

“I was three at the time. I was still really young and mom hadn’t even named me yet. Guess she was waiting for the right inspiration to come. I was super young, but looking back on it now, I was- I was a terror.

I-I tore up everything in sight. I rolled in mud, I broke things. I never sat still and never wanted to take a bath. I drew on the walls and splattered food everywhere. I-I-I made my mom’s life hell.

And then I broke her.” Mania took a second to breathe, her inhale shaking and rattling.

“I remember doing my thing and then I looked over at my mom and- and it just- wasn’t her. She was lying on the floor and crying, but-but there w-were no sobs, no loud cries, just tears. She was broken, her arms and legs limp and flat. And her eyes, were-were so dead. I thought-” Mania was crying now, large tears fell as she wept.

“I killed my mommy!”

Something twisted in Miles’ stomach. It wasn’t pain or sympathy or empathy. It wasn’t emotional at all. Miles couldn’t feel any emotion because he reacted to her statement the same way as her math problems. An assessment so powerful Miles couldn’t treat it with emotion or else he’d shut down. Because all it was, was incorrect. It was a disgusting, horrifying thought that couldn’t be reasoned with, simply because it was just wrong.

Miles held her as she cried. Her agony washed over him as he began to cry as well. Silent, but thankfully he knew he was still alive.

“Mania, it’s okay- you didn’t-”

“Somehow I was able to call Aunt Honey. I just cried and cried into the phone and she c-came and just held mom. And then she came back to life. She was okay. She acted like it didn’t even happen. She held me after it was over and called me a little maniac, it was playful, but I guess it stuck. I don’t think she really even remembers it.

But I do. I will never forget.

I have to be perfect, I have to be the best daughter in the world. Cause-cause if-if I don’t-”

Mania shook her head vigorously, Miles looked at her as she tried to shake the words that he knew she was thinking from her mind.

“M-Mania it’s not your fault! You were three, you had no idea what you were doing, it’s okay!”

“NO!” Mania pushed him away. “You’re right, I didn’t know what I was doing, but now I do. I will be the best little girl my mom could ask for! Cause if I do anything that she doesn’t like, she’ll-she’ll see that I’m-

-That I’m a monster!”

“Mania! Mania! No! No! You’re not a monster! Please! How- how-” Miles tried to hold her but she was shaking and sobbing. “Please Mania! How do I help you?! What do you want?!”

And for a second she stopped. The sobs halted and the shaking settled. She opened her eyes and looked at him. Through him as tears paved tracks through her cheeks. And then she bellowed out a wail, a cry of agony and want that Miles thought would destroy the world in a wave of sorrow.

“I WANT MY DADDY!”

And Miles watched as once again, he watched Amy’s and Sonic’s daughter run off.

. . .

Miles knew he should have gone after Mania, she was young and scared and thought that she was some terrible person when really she was just another in a line of those that came from broken childhoods that then broke their children. But he needed to talk to Amy. It wasn’t hard to see the chain of events.

Sonic growing up without anyone broke him down into an egotistical joy-rider with no sense of responsibility and Amy having an obsession with Sonic made her obsessed with her own child, not wanting Mania to have the same obsession with Sonic.

And now Mania was suffering and Miles had no idea how to help her. And she wasn’t suffering just now, she’d been suffering for seven years. Seven years trapped with a person that they loved but that crushed and beat down their spirit. It sent shivers down Miles’ spine.

Miles sat in silence as the lunch continued on, the conversation going back to the topic of the day. But Miles couldn’t listen; he was still far too trapped in his own head, not daring to meet Amy’s eyes. Miles could understand the mother’s desire to get her child away from a possibly unhappy situation, but in doing so had she not created an even worse one?

This was all so messed up. Miles had come here a week ago just as a friendly hello, try and reconnect, not fix generations of neglect and pain. But now Mania was counting on him. Screw Sonic. Screw Amy. Mania needed help-

-And her- he was gonna get it.

. . .

As the lunch ended and goodbyes were being said, Amy invited everyone over for tea back at her home. Miles wasn’t sure if that was a good idea considering he didn’t even know where Mania was at this point, not to mention being around Amy made him feel a little queasy.

Unfortunately for him, everyone else was more interested in going back to Amy’s than he was. Looks of concern for her still built on Knuckles and Rouge and Cream’s faces. Miles felt for her sure, he just- also blamed her.

It was confusing and made his head spin. Should he be blaming her? Was that fair? If not her, then who? Sonic? As much as Miles was pissed at Sonic, he couldn’t overlook the nearly two decades of friendship they had. But the guy had a long way to go.

Miles excused himself from the party temporarily, making an excuse about having to use the restaurant bathroom before dipping out back to the patio where they ate. And then he made a call.

“Hello?” Came the rich deep voice.

“Ah! Shadow, I need your help.”

“Why does no one say hello anymore? No ‘hi Shadow, how was your day? It was fine, how’s Tropiana?’”

“How was your day Shadow?” Miles growled.

“It was fine, thank you! It’s been very productive. I think I just saw one of the students for the last time, it’s so heartwarming.” The cheeriness of the black hedgehog was beginning to grate on Miles’ nerves.

“Look Amy’s here.” Miles said into the Miles Electric.

There was a pause.

“And how does that make you-”

“NO! Don’t therapist me! Just-just listen.” Miles sighed. And then he told Shadow everything. About Mania, her speed, that she spent the day with Sonic. How she acts, and how she acts around Amy. About Amy, her job, why she left, about Sonic’s outburst. And then he was quiet.

And so was Shadow.

“Well?” Miles said.

“Well what?”

“Well what am I supposed to do?” Miles felt his voice rise.

“You? Nothing. Just be there and be supportive.”

“I can’t just sit back and do nothing, Shadow! Mania doesn’t know who she is, Amy is struggling with some kind of PTSD and Sonic’s out there being an asshole!”

There was a sigh.

“Okay firstly I want to say that I am not you or anyone else’s therapist. Me being yours or any of our friends' therapists is a conflict of interest and would prohibit me from doing so. Secondly, I wouldn’t say Amy has PTSD, she’d have to be tested specifically for that, and right now you’ve described one specific isolated incident where she shut down as Mania described. And thirdly-”

There was another sigh.

“If you really want to help, besides encouraging them to seek out professional counseling, the best thing would be to get them together to carefully and calmly talk together. That way they can all tell each other what the issues are and move forward as a group.”

“So how do I go about that?” Miles leaned into his Electric further.

There were sounds of discomfort. A teetering of decisions.

“You have to start with them one at a time. Get one on board then the next and the next. And I can’t believe I’m saying this, but from what you’ve described-

-Sonic is actually the most emotionally mature out of the three of them.”

“What?! Sonic? Sonic the Hedgehog? Mature?”

“I tell you this, only because as I said, I am no one’s therapist, so I can say that Sonic has actually come to me for help before as he was having mental blocks. Not to mention, Mania said he helped her yesterday and that shows a taking of responsibilities in a way I’ve never seen out of Sonic before. And there’s Sonic's general desire to help. Look Sonic’s an asshole most of the time, but when you need a hero…”

“You call Sonic the Hedgehog.” Miles sighed. “Okay, thanks Shadow.”

“Now don’t hang up on me Tails I want to-” Miles ended the call. Time to find Sonic, but where the hell was he, he could be anywhere! He might’ve run off the island. His Speed Seeker wouldn’t work either as it could be attracted to Mania. He’d have to find a way to track down-

“Is that all true?”

Miles whipped around to see Cream standing behind him. Miles said nothing, his voice was gone.

“I-I forgot my purse, and then I overheard you. Is that true? About Amy, and-and poor poor Mania?”

Miles had just enough strength to nod.

“We’ve got to help Amy, Mania! We have to tell them!” Cream turned away to run, but Miles grabbed her arm.

“Cream we will! We will! But we have to be careful. If we just dive right in, we’ll only hurt them more.” Cream narrowed her eyes.

“Are you sure you just want to sit back and watch again, Miles?” Cream stared at him sadly, a touch of anger creeping at her eyes.

“I’m not sitting back Cream, not this time. But I’m also not going to do something that will make things worse.” Cream’s eyes softened slightly and she nodded.

“Okay, so what do you want to do?”

“We have to find Sonic, somehow he’s the most willing to change right now and we need his help.”

“Don’t we always?” Cream raised an eyebrow. “Even if he is a grade-A sleaze bucket?”

“Especially then.” Miles shot her a smile. Cream moved again to leave, but Miles grabbed her arm again. “And Cream- I’m sorry, for not- y’know being there for you. You were feeling alone and I left you. I thought you wanted more time with just your mom. That’s- no excuse…I just thought you should know.”

“Thank you Miles.” Cream smiled at him. “And I feel like I kind of pushed you away too, I didn’t think you wanted to deal with my mom’s-Alzheimer’s.” Miles took both of Cream’s hands in his.

“I always wanted-want to be there for you Cream- for everything- always.”

Miles’ heart was beating really fast and Cream looked gorgeous in her dress, her new fancy attire heating his cheeks.

“H-hey, when this is all over, do you maybe, possibly, hopefully, go out with me?”

“I’d love to Miles.”

And then they ran off to find Sonic.

Silver

Silver really needed to ditch his armor. It was bulky, heavy and did not breathe in the slightest. And currently he was flying through the woods after a crazy lemur and a silent wolf.

“C’mon slow poke!” Tangle called, swinging by her tail from a tree branch. “Hey! I should call you that more, Silver-slow poke, Silver-slow poke.” She tapped a finger to her chin, and then gasped. “Slover! Yeah that’s it! Let’s go Slover, we’re losing daylight!” Silver grumbled as he put more energy into chasing after Tangle.

Silver had driven the two despots towards the far end of the island through the night to where most of the high-chaos energy readings were coming from. It had been a long journey and despite the fact that the two of them didn’t seem to need to talk in order to communicate, as soon as Whisper woke up; Tangle had not shut up the whole time. Whisper on the other hand had been mercifully quiet. Right up until an hour and a half ago.

Silver had continued to drive, he wasn’t exactly sure where to go, but there was a campground that wove into the jungle. Silver figured it was a good enough place to start, but as he was beginning to make a turn in the direction of the campground, Whisper spoke.

“Stop.” The words were barely audible, but with her voice they echoed through the vehicle. Silver didn’t stop the car but he slowed slightly, waiting to hear more. But Whisper was silent again, just looking out in the direction of jungle. When there was nothing more, he continued to drive. If she needed to go to the bathroom, she could wait till they were at their destination. But as soon as Silver depressed the gas slightly,

“Hey! Didn’t you hear her?! She said STOP!” It was Tangle. She was yelling at him and shaking in her bonds. Gone was the excitable crazed loon, now there was an angry crazed loon. She hopped up and down in her seat jerking around, Silver was worried she was trying to break her bonds. “She said stop! Can’t you hear?! Stop! Stop!”

“Geez okay, relax, we’ll go back.” Silver put the car in reverse and backed up. In the rear view mirror he saw that Tangle was calming down, Whisper, nuzzling Tangle’s cheek with her head. Silver drove back to exactly where Whisper had said stop, worried that if he didn’t get the exact spot, Tangle would have another fit. Silver turned around in the driver’s seat.

“What’s up? Do you have an idea of where we could find the speedster?” Silver watched Whisper closely, more worried about her than her loud-mouthed friend. Whisper said nothing, but looked down at the door handle, then back to him. “You want me to open the door?”

“Obviously! Wow you’re thick! I wonder what Blaze sees in you?” A shiver went down Silver’s spine. How did she know that? How could she know that? There’s no way they could know that he and Blaze were dating. Had someone leaked it? But who? It had to be Marine… But Marine? She was just as loud-mouthed as Tangle, but she never seemed to be one to betray Blaze.

“Who told you?” Silver’s voice was ice cold and sharp as a knife. Blaze said she loved Silver, but she could get in trouble and he did not need to do that to her.

A wicked grin grew on Tangle’s face.

“You. Just now.”

“No.” Silver swallowed. He had been played in the most colossal way. His limbs went numb as he felt like he was floating out of his body, fear closing in.

“Well that combined with the fact that we’ve known you just as long as you’ve known Blaze and that you smell like soot and ash, but also paper and the freshness of silk, Blaze’s signature scent. Also there’s that burn in your fur on your arm, didn’t think we’d notice that didya? And Blaze only spews fire when she’s really afraid.

Like from heights.

Like from altitude smoochies?

Mr. Levitator?

Y’know we were going to throw Blaze out the window of her turret, but now I’m thinking we might just expose your relationship. She’d be dethroned within the day!”

“You have no evidence.” Silver was seething, his rage boiling up from beneath his armor. It felt red hot as blood rushed to his face and Silver’s knuckles turned white as he gripped the seat.

“Ah true, it’s a shame. Guess we’ll have to go back to throwing her off the roof.” Silver was ready to explode, smack the two around and throw them back in their cells. Then he’d throw the cells into the ocean, then he’d send a missile- “Oh right and Whisper does want you to open the door.”

Silver sighed. He didn’t like the idea of letting them go anywhere, but he needed to get out of the car himself. He couldn’t deal with them much longer. So Silver unlocked the car door.

And Whisper shot out. Her cuffs and shackles still in the back seat.

Silver blinked. He definitely did not do that.

Silver spun around in his seat and fumbled with the door handle for a second before throwing open the door and fumbling out. But by the time he had gotten out and was ready to chase after Whisper, she was calmly walking out of the woods back towards him and the car. Silver held her with his psychokinesis.

“Nice try Whisper, can’t escape that easy!” Silver huffed. Whisper rolled her eyes.

“I think you’re supposed to ask a lady before you do that Silv!” Tangle cheered as she tumbled out of the car, flipping over and falling on her butt. Silver narrowed his eyes at her. “Also she says she saw a slightly broken tree branch and there were some small light footprints that were spaced very far apart.”

“So we’re close to the speedster.” Silver felt a note of surprise on his face. It was very fast, but he shouldn’t have doubted that Blaze was right to call on these two for help.

“And they’re a child!”

“A kid…? It’s a kid?”

“Well either that or a little person. Yeaaah from the height Whisper found the broken branch and the fact that the prints are small and light suggests a kid.” Tangle grinned broadly, but Silver felt his heart sink. He already had reservations about hunting down this speedster, he had more when it involved Blaze’s number one enemies. But now? They were hunting an adolescent! “So how do you feel about your squish buddy now that she’s having us track down a little kid?” Tangle said, illustrating his fears.

And now Silver was following Tangle and Whisper through the woods, his armor heavy and they were far ahead. He’d freed Tangle and given Whisper her rifle(with only tranquilizer darts!), but the whole thing still reeked of a bad idea.

Silver had to calm down for now though. Right now all they were doing was locating someone. There wasn’t any capturing or trapping or arresting little kids…

All they were doing was looking for clues to find someone. They’d follow those clues. They’d find whoever this kid was. And then they’d tell Blaze who they were and that would be the end of it. Hey! It was perfectly likely it wasn’t even a kid and Tangle and Whisper were wrong.

The two most adept trackers in the kingdom were wrong. Crazier things had happened. After all an orphan kid from a third world nation was dating a princess, he oughta have a little hope.

Whisper and Tangle began to slow their whizzing through the trees and eventually settled on the ground, they each began to walk forward through the jungle floor taking odd, specific steps. Tiptoeing, sliding, jumping or sidestepping. Silver floated closely behind them, enjoying the hopefully not temporary slowing.

“Hey do you mind maybe telling me what you’re doing, just so I can make sure you’re just not leading me in a giant circle!” Silver joked. But Tangle took it seriously, her head turning momentarily away from her surveying the ground to look him in the eyes.

“Sure.” She gave a light shrug. The more time Silver spent with Tangle the more of an impression that he got was…well she was definitely still crazy. But there were certain things that kept her grounded, truly aware of her surroundings. Her job, the outside world, Whisper. The crazy was still there, it’s just that in order to hide more of her true self she amped it up, used it as a cloaking and dispersal device to push away people she didn’t like. Like him for instance.

“A lot of these tracks are going in a lot of different directions, which means there’s no rhyme or reason to this kid’s movement.” Silver still hated how she thought they were still tracking a kid. There’s no way it could be a kid. “That tells us that there’s no real intent here, just a lot of running around. Could be practicing in order to gain speed- or more likely the kid just having fun. But what we’re looking for is high concentrations of foot traffic, more footprints means the kid went that way more often, meaning-”

“-It’s likely that’s where the kid came from.” Silver finished. Dammit, now they had him saying it was a kid. Tangle bowed in acknowledgment of his correct assessment.

“And it looks like we’re getting close!” Tangle threw a little bit of her excitement into the words as she and Whisper pushed through the brush and into a small clearing. It was for the most part just a patch of grass with sunlight filtering through the canopy and a single downed log. Tangle threw up her hands in agitation.

“Is this it? Is this the kid’s…base?” Silver felt himself shrink down, his armor clinking together.

“It should be! But look at this place, there’s nothing here! No place to live, no food stores, no left over trash-” Tangle stopped mid-rant as he head whipped to Whisper who was crouched over the log. She stood up carefully letting some kind of dust slip between her fingers.

“Crumbs?” Tangle corrected Silver’s thoughts. Whisper dipped again, this time pulling some kind of reddish fluid from behind the log. Blood?! She stuck the finger in her mouth and did a double take.

“Chili?” She said nigh imperceptibly.

“So what? We've got some crumbs and a whole bunch of footprints, but as you said there’s no real sign that anyone lives here. What are we supposed to do now?”

Tangle gestured for Silver to calm down before moving around Whisper and putting an arm around her.

“Relax Slover! Relax! As the old saying goes…” Tangle reached down and let some of the breadcrumbs sand through her fingers. “All we gotta do is follow the breadcrumbs.”

. . .

There was a cabin. It was small and unassuming, but Silver had to admit, it would be a great place to hide. It had the space for a few rooms, but wasn’t some kind of major base, Silver might consider it a safe house of sorts for the speedster to hide in.

Taking the assumption that it might be a safe house, Silver sent Tangle and Whisper to scout around and try to find any escape routes that the speedster might take. Meanwhile Silver pulled out his phone to access the database of homes and who owned them. If it was a safe house, it more than likely wouldn’t be listed and they could go ahead with more covert ops. If it wasn’t- if it was just someone’s home…

Silver shook the thought away and started with searching the town of Port Shell’s database. It was awfully close so it might be a good jumping off point to search further for-

He found it. It was far too easy. It was a small cabin owned by an Amy Rose. Why did that name sound so familiar? He looked further into the inhabitants of the home- wait! There was a birth certificate and a file photo…

It was a little girl. She looked young, very young. Maybe 6 or 7. Baby fat on her cheeks, a giant smile on her face. She had small purple quills that were neatly arranged in a headband. Giant green eyes stared back at Silver with an innocence he had lost at an age younger than her.

“Awwww. She’s got her daddy’s eyes!” Silver whipped around to spot Tangle and Whisper hovering over his shoulder as he pulled up the documents. Silver made a note of confusion, and Tangle pointed to something on the screen. The birth certificate.

It listed her name: Mania Rose. Her birth weight and location of birth as well as a stamp showing that she was born in Tropiana and therefore a citizen of it. There was her birthdate, making her 10 now. And there were the listings of the parents, only one of them was signed.

Amy Rose. Who had scribbled under the printed name with a smooth and fine signature and-

Above a blank signature line, printed read: Sonic the Hedgehog.

Fuck.

“Welp! You did it Slover! You tracked down the speedster, I’m sure pretty pretty princess will be excited to arrest an innocent 10-year-old. Good work!” Tangle’s voice was drowned in sarcasm that worked to pull Silver under.

“N-no we can’t know it was her, there could be other explanations! Maybe- maybe-”

“Silver. It’s her. She’s the speedster.” Whisper spoke louder than Silver had ever heard. Even Tangle was taken aback. Her voice wasn’t loud per say, just even and audible. A scream of belief. Silver just nodded slowly. And then he made a call, it would be the only time he ever regretted having to talk to Blaze. The phone rang twice and then:

“Silver! Good to hear from you. How goes the search?”

“It’s good, it’s fine. We did some tracking and started with where the highest levels were-” Silver looked at Tangle and Whisper. Whisper wouldn’t look at him, her face a mask of shame and discontentment. But Tangle stared at him, a wild grin on her face. A challenge. Betting on whether he would rat out this child.

“We found her.” Silver wanted to throw up. His stomach boiled and his skin crawled, but he had a job to do. Had to do, for Blaze.

“Her?”

“Yeah Blaze, her. It’s a young little girl. She’s only 10 and a citizen of Tropiana, she was born here.”

“Hmmm. That's it?”

“Her- her dad’s Sonic the hedgehog, it says so in the girl’s- Mania’s birthday certificate. But I don’t think he’s around, it’s just her and her mom in a small cabin.”

Blaze said nothing.

“Blaze? Wh-what do you want us to do?”

“Bring her in.”

“What?!” Silver must have misheard. He must’ve!

“Silver, listen to me very carefully. I need you to bring me the girl-”

“Mania.” Silver stopped her.

“-Yes Mania. Bring her to me as fast as possible. Do you understand?”

“But Blaze, she’s got a home here, a mom! Should we be really doing this?”

“This is not a discussion Silver, bring me the kid now.”

“Blaze!”

“This conversation is over Silver. Goodbye.” The line went dead. Silver felt dead.

There was quiet for a while.

“You wanna go ahead and say I told you so?” Silver made his voice like Whisper’s.

“What? That we were right? That your girlfriend is just another power hungry royal? That she wants us to steal away a kid from her mother? That she’s been playing you this whooooole time because you’re in love with her and she sees that and is using you? Yeah you’re right! I do wanna say that! WE TOLD YOU SO!” Tangle stuck her tongue out at him, dancing around him. Whisper just shot him a glare laced with disgust.

“I still think you’re wrong!” Silver spat, trying to raise himself over the two.

“Hah! Wanna bet?!” Tangle had meant it as another taunt, just something to rile him up. And he knew he shouldn’t have said it, the rational part of his brain that Blaze had helped tend to told him not to say it. But it came out of his mouth before he could stop it.

“Yeah. I do.”

Tangle, who had been jumping in a circle, now faced him. The slow turn of a predator stalking a meal. Then a wicked grin split her face.

“Ok lover boy. Here’s the deal. If you’re right and pretty pretty princess is just as altruistic as you say she is, we’ll never go after her ever again. We’ll finish this mission then go back to our cells until we decay.” Tangle stepped towards him, her face in his. “But if we’re right and she’s just a royal bitch, then the next time we go after her, and we will go after her- you step aside.”

Tangle stuck her hand out and Whisper stood beside her.

He shouldn’t, he couldn’t. It was wrong and against his moral code. He loved Blaze, she was everything and he swore to protect her. And yet she wanted him to take this child. To hurt her by taking her from her mother. He needed to know she would be treated right, he had to prove that these two were wrong.

Silver took Tangle’s hand, gripping it tight till it hurt.

“Deal.”

Blaze

Well, that was a shit show. Blaze thought as she ended the call with Silver. Blaze had just about finished up for the day, going back to her turret early enough to be able to watch the sunset over the ocean.

She approached the turret window, looking out over the glowing waters as the setting sun reflected over it, breathing out a sigh. There was no relief here, just a sense of temporary tranquility. A calm before the storm as it were.

Blaze knew Silver would do what she asked, he always did, it was nice. But it wasn’t healthy, and she knew it. But she wasn’t sure what to do about it. She loved him, but he had no backbone and would often defer to Blaze on what to do. It was part of the contract of their society, that he as a guard is under her as the princess.

Even though when they were alone, she wished she was under him.

Blaze’s face reddened until it resembled the nearly set sun. She slapped at her cheeks trying to shake the thought away. Now was not the time to go there. But Blaze hadn’t seen him all day since she had sent him to find the speedster. And now she was having a little trouble getting through the day without him.

The speedster…

It was thoroughly troubling that the speedster was a young girl. But it couldn’t be helped. Now that Blaze knew she existed, she had to get to her. It was why she sent Silver and the two former bodyguards after her. Blaze had confidence that it would get done.

Not that it didn’t make her sad.

She’d have to do something in order to-

And then an alarm sounded.

It was far away, still within the confines of the castle, but further away.

Then it beeped louder, closer. More of the castle was being attacked, faster. Something was moving it’s way around raiding areas and taking down soldiers, workers, innocents. Blaze rushed to the phone by her bedside and picked it up.

There was nothing but static.

She tried calling the guards, military officials, hell she tried the kitchen staff.

Nothing. It was time to begin panicking. She felt her heart race and her throat close up. Blaze’s knees began to give out on her as she gasped for breath. The world began to spin as colors blurred together, the red from the sunset outside becoming redder.

Blaze reached for her personal phone and called Silver. All she got was the busy signal. Someone had disabled any and all outgoing or incoming calls from the castle. From her castle?! How?! Blaze’s grip on her phone slackened until it fell from her grasp. The red from outside got stronger and stronger, closer and closer.

And then it spoke.

“Now now Princess Blaze. Don’t have a panic attack yet, I haven’t even introduced myself.” The man in red floated towards her on a flying sphere, a technology of his own creation. “I am Dr. Ivo Robotnik. But you may have the displeasure of calling me Dr. Eggman.”

Blaze leaned away from the mad doctor’s. His sweaty face attached to a smooth round ball that was his head. A pair of flight goggles rested on top and a set of small blue glasses shielded his smaller eyes. A thick sour nose elongated out from his face like a carrot gone bad and his most discerning feature: a bushy elaborate mustache extended outward going past his head as if it was large enough to hide his ego behind it.

Blaze regained a breath and managed to stand, the panic from the mystery of the situation fading into angry determination. She ran from the doctor towards the exit of the room. She had to get away, get help! Get Silver!

The doors exploded in front of her.

And Sonic the Hedgehog walked through the rubble.

No. Not Sonic the Hedgehog.

Its body was of similar shape and color. A large blue head stuffed full of ego on a pair of thin spindly legs, but that’s where the similarities stopped. Its body was too sharp, too angular. Large clunky metal feet and a pair of red glowing eyes that stared at Blaze through a CRT screen. A hole in its chest whirred and spun, heat billowing out the back. And it’s hands, it’s terrible, terrifying hands. They were too long and thin, each finger sharp and pointed; ten horrific needles designed to rip and tear.

Metal Sonic.

“Ah yes. Do you like him? He’s an old favorite toy of mine that I like to bring out every now and then. Now princess…” the Eggman brought his flying sphere over from where she was now standing, terror and anger building. “I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind telling where the fountain of youth is?”

Chapter Text

Sonic

Sonic hadn’t slept well. There could’ve been a multitude of reasons for that of course. One possible option was his guilt over Amy, and of course now Mania. That was high up there. There was the possibility that he hadn’t slept well because he’d gone to a bar and gotten black out drunk last night after visiting an ATM. But if Sonic had to put his finger on it, he’d bet that the reason he slept so poorly probably had to do with the fact that he woke up in a gutter.

Most of his body lay in a heap on the pavement, crumpled alongside old thrown out soda cans and a rainbow of chewed gum. But his right arm was placed higher up on the curb of the road. He tried to move it and his shoulder screamed at him.

“Ow.” He said with great intelligence.

The sun beat down on Sonic and while he was covered in fur, his nose and the insides of his ears were not. A terrible sunburn complained as the heat floated over Sonic’s body. Using his other arm, Sonic shielded the sun from his eyes. Lights danced in his eyes as they tried to adjust.

Through his reddening nose Sonic smelled something terrible. He lifted his head with great difficulty, his neck and shoulders attempting to prohibit the movement. And Sonic saw that the smell was clearly coming from him. A wash of dried out vomit coating parts of his torso and sticking to his fur.

Gross.

“You’ve looked worse.” A familiar deep voice called. Sonic tried to turn his head to see who it was and immediately regretted it. A shot of fire raced up his neck and down his back, entering his brain and blinding Sonic. He didn’t move as he tried to recover from pinching the nerve.

“Heh, when?” Sonic tried for a smile, but settled for a grimace as he rested his head back on the pavement. Tails came into view, his body mercifully blocking the sunlight from Sonic’s pained eyes.

“I was thinking I could smack you around a little more.” Tails didn’t smile, but his gaze held a flicker of humor. Sonic’s smile relaxed, becoming more natural.

“Yay jokes.” Sonic said pitifully. “Does that mean you forgive me?” Sonic attempted to sit up, but this time his back muscles got in on the action, prohibiting his standing.

“Not even close, you’ve got a long way to go for that Sonic. But lucky for you, I’m such a good brother.” Tails extended his hand, reaching down for Sonic to take it. He did and Tails hoisted Sonic to his feet making a grunt of pain.

“It’s good to have you back bro.” Sonic gave a lopsided smile, but Tails just frowned.

“I wasn’t talking about you.” The fox muttered. A quiet anger fluttered in Tails’ eyes and Sonic felt the urge to step back from him.

“Mr. Sonic are you okay?” A soft voice asked. With great difficulty Sonic looked past Tails to see Cream standing behind him, having the, frankly, audacity to look concerned about him after how he acted last night.

“Yeah! Yeah Cream I’m okay. Just a little stiff. Didn’t sleep great!” Sonic gave another grin and tried to gesture with his right arm to the ditch, but gave a yelp as the arm sent out shockwaves of pain. Tails and Cream flinched.

“You okay buddy?” Tails’ eyes looked him up and down. Sonic wanted to cry at the spark of real worry that flashed in his little brother’s face. Sonic made attempts to stretch the arm, but it wasn’t having it.

“I’m good, I’m fine, now what’s up? What’s up with you guys?” Sonic put his non dead arm on his hip, trying to look casual. Cream rolled her eyes and moved around to Sonic’s right side where he considered just chopping off the arm. “Hey Cream, uhh what are you doing, wait hold on that arm hurts! Wait STOP! YEEEEOUCH!” There was a sickening crack as Cream yanked on the arm, her foot pressed against Sonic’s side. “Ouch! Fuck! What the fuck was that for Cream…?” The words died in Sonic’s mouth as he moved the now perfectly fine right arm rotated cleanly in its socket. Sonic gave it a few more tests with some rotations and shadow boxing.

“I got a 100 on my nerve centers and clusters test.” Cream shot them a sly grin that gave Sonic’s a run for its money.

“Yeah well uhh good work Cream, thanks.” Sonic said plainly, a little shocked at his now functional right arm and the skillful bunny that repaired it.

“Look Sonic, we need to talk about- well everything, but first let’s get you cleaned up, you frankly stink.” Tails gestured for them to head back to the hotel.

“And I need to change, I can’t be wearing this! It’s not made for running around in.” Cream gestured to a fancy get up she was wearing.

“Hey well when you’re with me-” Sonic started to feel some of his old swagger come back, “-everything’s made for running around in!”

. . .

Sonic was no fan of showers, but he had to admit after how his day started, the warm water felt good to wash off the grime and, he hoped, his own bile. The heated water cascaded down his back breaking up knots and smoothing his muscles. It also felt like he was washing away an identity. A part of him that was so very much ingrained in his being that as it left, he didn’t know what remained. But it had to go, even for as egotistical and narcissistic as he was, he knew last night was bad.

He had to figure out how to recover, and how to reconnect. How to get back to Mania. It was an odd feeling for him, feeling tethered to another person. Not something he’d ever done before. Sonic was always running places seeing the new in front and the old behind. But now he wanted to run towards someone. Wherever he was in the world, he wanted the finish line to be her cute purple face.

Sonic got out of the shower and approached Tails, Cream entering the bathroom behind him. He approached his best friend who now had his arms crossed with a stern expression decorating his face. Sonic opened his mouth in the hopes that words would come out. None did. He closed it and tried again.

“How- how do I go about starting this?” He gave a sheepish grin.

“Apologies are always a good opener.” Tails narrowed his eyes.

“Right! Right, Sorry.” Sonic apologized.

“Thanks I guess, but I was more so talking about Amy. Not telling us that you knew where she was? Hah! I should have expected that…but you thought she lied, and she was worried enough that she left everything behind! She left you, left us.”

“But why?” Sonic couldn't stop the outburst. “I would’ve helped taking care of Mania!”

“But would you?” Tails was asking him. “You were barely 20, she was 17. Are you telling me that you would be willing to be there for everything? For her sonograms, the morning sickness, the weird cravings, Mania’s birth, the late night cries for food, diapers, Mania’s first steps, her first day of school, birthdays, when she skins a knee, PTA meetings, holidays, to chase away the monster in her closet, can you honestly say that you would’ve been there for everything? Big and small?”

Sonic looked away from Tails, he couldn’t bear to face him, it was a lot. And if Sonic was being honest with himself, the disturbing, sickening answer was:

No. He probably wouldn’t’ve.

“But I’ve been there for some.” Sonic was surprised to hear the words. He hadn’t realized they’d even come out of his mouth. A defiant statement that threw itself in the face of everything Sonic had been. He’d spent one day with this girl and now he knew that he wanted to be at her side whenever she wanted him there. She’d call and he’d come running, at the speed of sound.

“I’m just saying that Amy had a reason for leaving, and it’s sad but it makes some sense.”

He’d be there for Mania's middle school graduation and when she got an A on a test, serve chili dogs at her sleepovers and to help her with a broken heart, although Sonic wasn’t sure why he’d have to do that, because there was NO WAY SHE WAS EVER GETTING A BOYFRIEND!

“Tails, do you remember what I said at my birthday party?”

“Watch me eat 10 chili dogs at once?”

“No- I said it was time to be more mature.” Sonic felt a wave of determination flow through his chest, confidence building. It wasn’t the confidence built by ego that was like a balloon filled with air, poppable and empty. It was strong and dense, built by a need and the knowledge that he couldn’t fail.

“But you said that 10 years ago too.” Tails pointed out.

“But this time I mean it!”

“Then prove it.” Tails said, a smile finally growing on his face.

. . .

Sonic was finally feeling excited. Things were looking up. His arm was feeling better, he’d made up with Tails, now all he had to do was make up with Amy and he’d get to see his kid again. Everything was hunky-dory.

So of course the world had to bring it all crashing down on him.

Sonic, Miles and Cream arrived at Amy’s home to find disaster. The cabin’s front was smashed open, the door and frame as well as parts of the house had splintered away. What had done this was apparently Knuckles, or at least Knuckles’ body, the red echidna now face down in the dirt, splinters decorating his form like he was trying to improve his spines. He was unconscious, but the rise and fall of his torso proved he was still alive.

Rouge was standing off to the side, she wore a grimace of worry or pain Sonic wasn’t sure, but she seemed fine. She was currently helping Amy to her feet. The pink hedgehog was slow to stand, her legs shaking and she was covered in cuts and bruises.

There was no Mania.

Amy’s eyes were wild and desperate. She flicked around as she stood looking around until her eyes settled on Sonic. She began to cry, big round tears flowed down her cheeks, but her face was saturated with rage, an anger that even Sonic had never seen come from Amy before.

“They took her! They took her Sonic! They took Mania!” Amy shouted.

Someone cut the thread on Sonic’s life, a crushing weight descended on him and the world pressed down into a speck. He’d finally found something to work for. Mania had asked him what he’d wanted to do with his life, what his purpose was. Well he had found it and no one was going to take it from him.

“Uhh guys, I know this is bad timing but…” Rouge began. “I thought I just peed a little cause they scared us, but I’m pretty sure my water just broke.”

Cream

Cream thought she had just regretted coming on this vacation, if that’s what it could be called. There’d been hearts ache and drama and secrets and now there was kidnapping and premature birth. Cream wanted Miles to invent a time machine and go back to last week so she could slap herself and tell her not to come.

Rouge was currently in the effort of Lamaze breathing, Amy was struggling to her feet, Knuckles was unconscious, Miles was looking to her, and Sonic? Sonic was frozen in place, a stone statue. She’d never seen Sonic completely still like that.

Okay, two people were hurt, and another two were showing signs of stress and medicine was not Miles’ field of expertise. She seemed to be the only one with any kind of know-how on how to help anybody. She had to help them one at a time.

Knuckles first. He was visibly unconscious and she needed to know if he was okay. Cream made the journey to the downed echidna in two large strides, settling her knee into the ground as she looked over his body. Miles followed her. Cream’s hands worked fast, looking over Knuckles to check for serious injury. There was a large contusion on the side of his head, a dense heavy instrument smacked into the skull. There was also a light reddening of the skin on his right wrist. Not to mention he was coated in cuts and splinters, probably from being thrown through the front of the house. The contusion concerned her, but Cream didn’t think even that could take Knuckles down.

And then on the back of his thigh, she noticed it. Something silvery glinted off the afternoon sun, shining against the guardian's red fur.

“C-Cream is there anything I can do?” Miles was beside her, his face washed with worry.

“Can you tell me what this is?” Cream removed the small dart from the back of Knuckles’ thigh and calmly handed it over to Miles as she did another once over of Knuckles.

“Oh well, yeah I know what this is.” Cream hid a small smile as Miles was moved away from what he didn’t know into what he excelled at. “This is a T-17 Tranquilizer dart round. It’s military grade and can take down- well take down something a lot bigger than Knuckles.” Cream had just started to move away from Knuckles when she stopped, narrowing her eyes at Miles.

“How much bigger?”

“Uhh, maybe twice his size?” Cream looked over at Knuckles again and did a quick calculation of his muscle and fat density, before deciding that he would probably be fine.

“Miles watch Sonic, he’s clearly in a fragile state and we can’t have him running off to god knows where in search of Mania. Tackle him if you have to.” Miles nodded and Cream turned away for a second before flipping back to face him. “And gimme your watch.”

Upon receiving Miles’ watch the fox sped back over to Sonic who now had his head in his hands and seemed to be talking to himself, an empty fury building within him.

Amy was next. She seemed to be in a similar state to Sonic, but she was covered in cuts and splinters, she needed help soon. Amy and Rouge currently had an arm supporting one another, neither in great shape. Rouge let out a grunt of pain.

“Amy! Amy! Are you okay?” Cream sped over as quickly as she could. Amy grasped Cream’s shoulders and let go of Rouge who stumbled back slightly.

“Cream they took her! They took my baby girl! We have to get her back!” Amy had to Sonic’s credit, a crazed look in her eye, but she most certainly deserved the look now. Hell hath no fury like a scorned mother.

“And we will Amy, we will. But I need you to focus now. Do you have a first aid kit?”

“What?” Amy just looked confused and agitated.

“You’re hurt, Knuckles is hurt, Rouge needs a hospital, do you have a first aid kit?”

“Y-yeah.” Amy grabbed at her head and Cream noticed that there was far more bruising than cuts, her skin starting to resemble her daughter’s quills. “Under the kitchen sink.”

“Are you okay to go and get it?” Amy gave a weak nod and ran off into the house, limping.

Shit. Cream should’ve gotten it. Amy was pushing herself in a way that could get herself more hurt. Cream turned to Rouge who was letting out very unladylike moans of pain as she clutched her stomach.

“Rouge!” Cream called out, but the bat’s eyes were closed and her face was tight. Cream clutched her by the armpits and helped lower her to the soft earth. She sat down leaning back slightly. “Rouge! Rouge I need you to look at me.” Cream tried again. This time the bat responded, her eyes opening, but they were hazy, unfocused. “I’m going to give you this watch, I need you to look at it and track the space between your contractions-

“Grrrraaaargh!”

“-yeah those. And how long each one lasts. Do you think you could do this for me?” Rouge breathed fast heavy breaths but gave a quick nod and Cream handed over the watch. Rouge scanned it carefully between deeper breaths going back to the Lamaze breathing.

This wasn’t good. The baby was too early. And it wasn’t just that she’d already had two contractions in a space of a minute or so. The baby wasn’t due for another month. If it wasn’t delivered in a safe sterile place with an incubator- Well Cream chose not to think about that.

Cream rushed back over to Knuckles who was still unconscious but breathing. His breaths were deep and clear which gave her hope. Unfortunately she couldn’t say as much about the splinters. They weren’t just splinters and cuts that Amy seemed to have. They were deeper and larger. Shafts of wood as big as her finger stuck out from all over Knuckles’ back and that was just what she could see, there was no telling how deeply they were embedded in the skin. They appeared to all be in his back, he must’ve flipped through the air to land on his stomach, it was lucky that he did, or this could’ve been a lot worse.

Cream grabbed the First Aid kit from Amy as she hobbled over and opened it, looking for gauze. A lot of gauze. Cream couldn’t risk removing the splinters or else she might cause more bleeding, or the rupturing of an organ for some of the ones in his back. She’d have to wrap Knuckles up as is, wrapping around the splinters so that they didn’t move.

“Amy.” Amy looked up at Cream, fear mounting, if Cream couldn’t focus her, she’d spiral again. “Knuckles and Rouge need to go to the hospital, where is the nearest?”

“It’s- it’s over in Concordia, a town over.”

“How far is that?”

“About 15 minutes, by car.”

Fuuuuuuuck.

“Do you have a car?” Cream wrapped carefully as talked.

“No, no sorry.” Amy was mumbling to herself. The word Mania was coming up a lot. “I need to go find her, save her.”

“Do you know anyone with a car, van, anything?”

“Honey!” Amy’s eyes snapped up, clear and focused on Cream. “Honey’s got a van that she uses for larger deliveries!”

It’ll have to do.

“Miles!” Miles’ head snapped up as he turned to Cream, Sonic a boneless slug in his arms, he was huffing and growling. “Miles I need you to run to Honey’s boutique and tell her to bring the van, tell her it’s an emergency!”

“But what about-”

“Sonic!” Cream called to the angered Hedgehog. His head snapped up, but he wasn’t focused on her; a look of vileness flashed around ready to attack anything and everything. It unnerved Cream, but she couldn’t lose focus now, people were depending on her. “Sonic, you’re a hero right?”

“Y-yeah I’m a hero.” Some swagger floated over the rage, working to bring Sonic back into a more lucid state. “I’m the hero of Mobius. I save people, I’ll save Mania!”

“Right now you’re going to save Amy.”

“I’m pretty good at that!”

“Yes you are.” Cream shot him a soft smile, pulling out more gauze to wrap up Knuckles. “Now I need you to go into Amy’s freezer and get me some ice packs, frozen peas, anything very cold. You’re a hero right?” Sonic nodded and ran into the ruins of the house.

“I’m a hero, I’m a hero, gonna save Amy, gonna save Mania.” He muttered. Tails watched him go and then shot Cream a look before taking to the skies in the direction of Honey’s Boutique.

“Amy, do you have your phone?” The hedgehog mother took it out and clutched it with two hands. “I need you to call emergency services for me and then put the phone up to my ear, you got it?” Amy nodded again and pushed at her phone.

Calling emergency services should’ve been done right after Cream assessed the scene.

Stupid.

They’d lost precious seconds while Cream tried to show off, and now- now someone might pay for it.

“This is Tropiana emergency services, what is your emergency?” Amy pressed the phone up to Cream’s ear as she finished taping down another wrap.

“Yes hello, I have a medical situation where there is an injured male. Weighing-” Cream took a guess, “-roughly 250 lbs and is 5’ 2.””

“Slow down ma’am, we use the metric system.”

Chaosdammit. This is what Cream got for learning medicine in a country with the imperial system.

“He’s been impaled with several shards of wood, I’m not sure how deep, but some are as large as my finger. I’ve been wrapping up with gauze and applying medical tape. We’ll be going to-” Cream gestured to Amy to tell her the name of the hospital.

“Concordia General Hospital.” Amy said quietly.

Shoulda guessed.

“Concordia General Hospital. We’ll be arriving in roughly 20 minutes.”

“Ma’am we urge you to sit tight, we will send an ambulance.”

“Can’t do, I also have a woman going into labor at the moment.”

“I’m sorry?”

“She’s eight months pregnant and the baby is being delivered prematurely. She has had 2 contraction already-”

“Rrrrrrgaaaaargh!”

“3 contractions already in a space of a few minutes, the baby is coming far sooner than expected. And-” Cream looked at Amy, her panic now filled with a calm worry, Sonic now came back a slew of ice packs and frozen vegetables filled his arms, a hard look of focus and determination filling his face. She looked the two over and made and briefly looked up to the sky, before making a call that would certainly get her kicked out of her medical program. “-And that’s it. If you could prepare rooms in the ICU and Maternity Wing that would be great.”

“Ma’am, please!”

“My name is Cream, we will be there soon.” Cream gestured to Amy to take the phone away. Amy removed the phone and hung up.

“Why’d you do that? Don’t I need to go to the hospital too?” Amy said softly.

“What you need is some ice packs to reduce the internal bleeding and swelling.” Cream took a second to throw Sonic a roll of medical tape and gestured for him to begin taping the frozen goods to Amy. Sonic’s hands were shaking a little, but he began to wrap Amy in peas and carrots. “You two also need to go after Mania. I don’t know what happened exactly, but I’m guessing that little girl is scared and she’s going to want both parents there. Do you think you’ll both be able to deal with each other long enough to save her?”

They nodded.

Cream heard a screeching sound and turned her head as a van drove up onto Amy’s front lawn. It read: Honey’s Sweet Boutique on the side and a number was listed below. A determined Honey drove and a panicked looking Miles gripped the dash beside her.

They both got out and charged over to Cream.

“The FUCK is going on here?!” Honey gestured to everything.

“Not now. You’re going to drive Knuckles and Rouge to Concordia General. Sonic, Miles pick up Knuckles carefully and place him into the back of the van, Honey get the door for them.” Sonic reached under Knuckles’ armpits and Miles picked up the legs and the two carted Knuckles around to the back of the van where Honey opened the rear doors. Cream darted over to Rouge and helped her to stand.

“How we doing on contractions?” Cream asked with a smile, Rouge was still focused on the watch as Cream guided her to the back of the van.

“Uhh it was 1 minute every 2 and now it’s 2 every 1 minute.” Rouge gave a grimace.

Fuuuuuuuuck. Fuck Fuck Fuckity fuck fuck fuck.

That was fast, this baby was wanting to be in the world. But it was too fast. This could be bad.

. . .

Honey drove like a woman possessed as she weaved through traffic.

“Keep it steady!” Cream called to the front while she sat in the back, her body situated between Rouge’s legs. It was a bit of a compromising position. And if Cream had to be honest…

She was freaking out a lot.

And it wasn’t just that she was delivering a baby before she finished pre-med. That was nerve-wracking enough on its own. The back of this van was not sterile, there were no stirrups to keep Rouge’s legs stable, and oh yeah, the woman delivering the baby had not finished pre-med! Nevertheless this was what she was doing now.

But if all went well, she’d have a hell of a point on the experience part of her résumé.

No, what freaked her out was her last interaction with Miles. They’d just loaded Rouge into the van and Honey had gotten into the driver’s seat. Cream had followed her in before turning around. Miles had gotten one foot into the van when Cream put a hand on his chest.

There was some muscle under there.

“Miles, no you-you have to stay with them.” Miles turned his head to see Sonic taping the last of the ice packs to Amy’s head. She was starting to look like the inside of a grocery cooler.

“But I want to go with you!” Miles had protested turning back to Cream.

“You can’t, I want you to come too, but- but they need you more.”

“Are- are you sure?” Miles’ expression brought the phrase kit-foxy eyes into existence.

“No, but you were the one to talk to Shadow, I think they’ll probably tear each other apart if you’re not there.”

“Fine, you’re right, you’re right.”

“I always am, you better get you to it.”

“I want to get used to it.” Cream felt a blush in her cheeks as a sly smile built on Miles’ face, his desire to be around her enough to know that she was right, sending blood to Cream’s cheeks. “But how ‘bout a kiss for the road.” A joke of course. But Cream wasn’t in much of a joking mood.

Her lips touched his for the briefest of moments, they were soft and warm and smelled faintly of metal. It was like coming home. The kiss itself was brief, not because Cream wasn’t feeling it, but because it was a tease, a promise that there would be more of that in the future.

“Hey are we going or not?!” Honey yelled from the front. Cream had shut the rear doors and watched as Miles got further away from her, a look of shock brought a smile to her face.

And now she was here, driving away from someone that she- fine she’d say it.

Loved.

It was troubling and she wanted to go back to him, but other people needed her help now, Rouge and her as of now unborn baby.

“No no! Not the silks!” Honey cried as Cream worked to place the fine fabrics under Rouge.

“Has to be done, making Rouge comfortable is the #1 priority right now.” Cream said flatly.

“I want it to be known that I am NOT COMFORTABLE!”

“Yes and I’m sorry about that, but we’ll be at the hospital soon.” Cream worked to move more fabrics into a pillow for Rouge to rest on.

“Yeah about that, are we gonna have enough time to get to the hospital?” Honey asked as the van swerved.

“Yes, she’ll be fine, labor takes hours. I just want her to remain healthy.”

“Hours?!” Rouge demanded.

“Yes, didn’t you read that parenting book I got you?”

“I skimmed it. But fuck that noise, this baby’s coming out now.”

“Rouge, don’t be ridiculous, you’re not nearly ready- oh never mind guess this is happening now.” Cream said after making a quick examination of her cervix.

“Wait, this is happening now?!” Honey demanded.

“Rouge has set the pace for us, we have to adjust. Ok Rouge, when I say so, I’m going to need you to push for me okay?” Rouge gave a weak nod.

“So how’s everything going with Amy and Mania?” Honey said quickly.

“Rouge push.”

“ARRRRGH!”

“Honey is now the best time? Rouge breath for a second.”

“Yeah yeah, no I get it, I’m just freaking out a bit, people I don’t know very well are having a baby in the back of my van!” Cream could hear the worry in Honey’s voice, and Cream didn’t have the ability to deal with another freaking out person right now.

“Mania was recently kidnapped, I’m not sure what happened and Amy and Sonic are freaking out. Rouge push.”

“EeeeeeeeeeyaaARRRRRG!”

“Kidnapped, what?! We’ve got to help her, call the police!”

“Sonic and Amy and Miles are taking care of it, no one’s going to keep Mania from them. Rouge push.”

Rouge let out a wail that made Cream flinch.

“But are you sure they’re okay, what if Amy can’t handle it?”

“Amy will handle it. I’m sorry to say, but you’re her best friend at this point, do you doubt she’s strong enough to get her daughter back? Rouge take a breather.”

“Oh course Amy’s strong! That’s one stone cold bitch, but I know she could freak out.”

“Yes Mania described that to Miles, but it was just once 7 years ago, Amy’s got a better hold on herself now. Nothing’s gonna stop her from saving Mania.” Cream could see the baby’s head now, this was happening very fast and the baby- the baby was very small.

Too small.

“Rouge I need you to push big for me now! Push big!”

“WHAT DO YOU THINK I’VE BEEN DOING?!”

“But it wasn’t just once, it happened just the other day when Sonic showed up at the store.”

“What?!” Cream turned for a split second before Rouge let out a scream that rattled the windows on the van. Rouge tore fabric, Honey swerved, Cream readied her hands-

And then a small baby echidna was born.

Cream wrapped the child up quickly in a layer of blankets, wiping up the afterbirth quickly, and swaddling the kid up.

But there was no wail. No cry of a newborn. No breath.

Not now, Cream wasn’t ready for one more thing to go sideways. Rouge and Knuckles had brought this life into the world and Cream was gonna damn well make sure it stuck.

“Everything okay?!” Honey yelled from the front.

Cream ignored her and tilted the baby’s head back and opened its mouth checking the airway for any blockages. There were none.

It was time to apply chest compressions.

Cream pressed carefully on the baby’s chest with one finger, two was what was needed for babies but this was a newborn and a premature one at that, this baby didn’t need its fragile ribs broken.

“My baby…C-Cream, can I have my baby?” Rouge said weakly.

Cream pressed a little more forcefully, trying to get breaths into the baby’s body, commanding it to start using its lungs.

“Cream? Please?” Rouge’s voice got softer.

The baby still wasn’t breathing, Cream considered breaths, but with the baby’s tiny lungs it could hurt more than help. She started to use two fingers.

The van pulled up to the hospital and Honey jumped out, running towards the entrance.

Rouge said nothing, just watched Cream, the once sultry bat who took shit from no one, wearing a face of sorrow that only mothers could.

Press. Press. Press.

The van was silent, leave for the tiny compressions on the baby’s chest.

And then Knuckles and Rouge’s daughter spoke. A tiny cry as the baby sucked oxygen and lived.

Rouge took the time to breath, letting out a gasp of relief as Cream handed over her baby, Rouge held her tight tears rolling down her face and messing her make-up. She didn’t seem to notice.

“Told you so.” Knuckles said coming to finally, he was dazed and woozy, but somehow managed a smirk. Rouge gave a sob-laugh as the doors of the back of the van exploded and a group of paramedics swooped in.

Cream was ushered in and Rouge was take in by wheelchair. A stretcher carted in Knuckles and Cream watched as the two were taken into separate wings, an outstretched hand reaching out to the other. The paramedics looked her over but she pushed them away and moved into the waiting area where Honey already sat, hands tapping her legs.

Cream moved sluggishly, her hands shaking and her eyelids drooping. This had been too much for her already. Too too much. But she’d helped. As Cream collapsed into a chair and let her eyelids fall, a wave of pride washed over her. Whatever happens now, she’d done everything she could.

It almost comforted her as she drifted off to sleep, forgetting to tell Miles that Amy had had two breakdowns.

Miles

Miles whirred through the jungle under the power of his tails, quickly ducking between tree branches, roots and hanging vines. In front of him ran Sonic, he took the turns and leaps quicker than Miles, and was slowly gaining distance. Between his arms Amy laid, the bridal carry the two’s go to method of transportation. But with recent events, it was a little different. Sonic glared at Amy and Amy held her hammer-right-over Sonic’s head, ready to drop it at the first sign of- well Miles didn’t really know.

Amy just seemed angry. And while she had every right to be angry at Sonic, he didn’t seem to be the source of her anger, he was just the nearest person within smashing distance. It was bizarre. The more time Amy spent with Sonic, the less angry she got at him, despite his general asshole-ness.

It didn’t track for Miles. Sonic uses her, calls her a liar, leaves her, has her raise a baby on her own, then waltzes back into her life, calls her- well Miles wasn’t even gonna think that word, and then demands he gives her Mania. And she was barely a little frustrated with him? Amy had been seething with rage at him for forgetting that it was the anniversary of him giving her a flower for the first time and now she couldn’t so much as conjure a scowl?

After Cream had driven off in the van, Miles had just stood there like an idiot, the taste of the bunny’s lips still lingering on his. It was nuts. He had thought his and Cream’s relationship was over, something to be buried and remembered, but now? It was more like it had been a big fight. An argument that was there and addressed and now was in the past. Had-had they ever been broken up anyway?

Miles certainly hadn’t dated anyone in the time they were broken up. Hell he’d barely looked at another woman in that time. Had Cream? It was okay if she had. He-he never owned her of course. The thought of Cream with another guy sent a note of jealousy through his stomach. Was it bad that he was jealous? There was no clear answer. Miles thought back to his conversation with Amy in her kitchen when they first showed up at her door.

He’d said they were something and then they weren’t. And that was true. But maybe now they were something again. And that’s all it was. It didn’t have to be super complicated, although for Miles relationships of any variety made his head spin. But they’d take it as it was. So far there had been a promise of a date and a light kiss. Miles would see where it went from there.

And if he thought his relationship was weird, he had nothing on Amy and Sonic. Right after Cream had left and Miles slowly pieced his brain back together after she’d kissed him, he’d turned back Amy and Sonic. Sonic had just finished taping ice to Amy and removing small splinters from her.

“Where’s Mania?” Sonic asked calmly.

“I don’t know. There were a few people in the house when we got home. They grabbed her and ran off into the jungle.” Amy responded, getting to her feet slowly.

“And you let them?!” It was the first time in the conversation Sonic showed any anger towards Amy.

“They overpowered me Sonic! I did my best, but their leader was very powerful. You have to trust me that I did everything in my power to stop them from taking my daughter.” Amy narrowed her eyes.

“Our daughter.” Sonic growled.

“Not by a long shot bucko!”

“You can’t keep me from seeing her Amy!”

“So help me Chaos Sonic, if you get anywhere near her, I’ll kill you!” The two were at each other’s throats, but there was something weird about the interaction that tweaked at Miles’ brain, telling him it was wrong.

The way Sonic had growled at her, the way he spoke it seemed as if he-he didn’t really want to do it. Sonic had loved messing with Amy when they were younger, always running away. And it appeared as if this was an extension of that. It was an act. He wasn’t so much upset at her as he was…enjoying it? Playing it out?

And Amy, her anger was very much real. And she seemed sincere with her word choice. But there was a deeper level to her words, less anger, more fear. She didn’t really want to say those things. She was more along the lines of asking- no begging him not too? Was it begging because she knew she couldn’t stop him from seeing Mania, or just a request from one rational adult to a slightly less rational adult.

Overall the two just seemed to be going through the motions. Acting out of anger and spite just because it was the supposedly rational or correct thing to do. If Miles had to guess it almost looked like-

No.

Were?

Were they flirting?

Their kid was missing, one of them was injured and there was a hole in a house, and they were just slinging insults at one another. Not because they were actually unhappy with the person, but because it was at this moment a socially acceptable way to talk to the other.

“I’m going after her!” Sonic announced.

“Not without me you’re not!”

“Well then you better keep up!”

“Are you crazy?!”

“No crazier than you!”

“Oooo Sonic! Don’t you dare leave me behind!”

“What do you want me to do? Carry you?!”

“As long as you don’t ditch me, your head stays attached!”

It was awkward and disjointed, rusted with age and maturity, but Miles started to have a feeling he was watching an obscure hedgehog mating ritual. When they were younger Sonic had just ran away while Amy chased him, announcing her love. It had been cute, but lacked heat. It was one sided and separated. But this, Miles was starting to get the feeling they’d just as soon tear the other’s clothes off as they were their heads.

And how had this changed? Just yesterday Sonic’s anger at Amy had been real and before then Amy had acted like Sonic didn’t matter at all. And now the person yelling at them was the second most important person to them after Mania. Was this the effect of Mania? Or had all this time…they actually cared about each other? They were just too arrogant and petty and self-centered and prideful and stubborn so- so stubborn to show it?

Miles hadn’t had time to decipher it as Sonic had picked Amy up in a bridal carry, neither looking at the other and sped off into the woods.

Completely forgetting that he was there. Miles was somehow third-wheeling a rescue operation. Miles had had to double-time it to even begin catching up to Sonic and Amy.

Now as he zoomed through the trees watching the unhappy couple get further and further away he began to wonder if maybe they’d finally get together. And as much as he was pissed at the both of them…Miles was rooting for them. Miles hadn’t really seen it as a kid. They had both been too young at the time and were looking for totally different things in life, but now? Now they both cared about Mania. Sonic was finally growing up a little, if his statement from earlier was to be believed and Amy was calming down a little, if having to deal with a few flashes of anxiety.

But there were still two huge roadblocks in the way.

1. Sonic was still a huge free spirit. He loved to run and go really far really fast. He wasn’t one to put down ties. And even if he wanted to be there for Mania, he might not be there for Amy, and after all she’d been through alone… Amy needed someone in her corner too.

2. Amy was massively protective of Mania. Especially against Sonic. After her declaration that it was because she was worried Mania would get too attached to someone(see roadblock #1), it appeared as if Amy didn’t trust Sonic to get Mania to not get too attached. Like there was another layer…

Miles had been chasing after the two for so long that he got stuck in his own head and didn’t notice that Sonic had stopped short. Digging his feet into the dirt, Miles used his tails to propel him in the other direction coming to a stop inches from Sonic.

The blue hedgehog didn’t seem to notice as he carefully set Amy down on the ground.

“You’re hurt.” He said plainly. Miles had barely noticed amongst the chaos of the last few hours but indeed Amy was. Blues and purples flowed through her skin beneath her bright quills. She looked like a rave party for pain, and not a very fun one at that. Amy winced as she was set on the ground.

“I-I’m fine! Pick me up, we need to chase those guys!”

“It would help if you’d give me some info on what they looked like Ames!” Sonic shot back.

Amy pursed her lips and just stared at Sonic.

“If you’re not gonna tell me, I’ll just go look for them myself! C’mon Tails.”

“NO!” Amy grabbed Sonic’s arm in a death grip. Pulling him down to the ground with her. “Do not ditch me Sonic the Hedgehog! You’ll need me anyway.”

“I’ve never needed you.” And there it was again. Right after Sonic said it, there was a flash of regret in his eyes, and Amy looked hurt for a second before her steely glare returned.

“You will for this, do you know who they were?”

“No of course not! Cause you won’t tell me!”

“Exactly, so you need my help.”

“Are you seriously saying that my inability to be near Mania is more important to you than saving her?!”

There was a pause. A deep scary one, sucking all three of them down into it as everyone held their breath.

“Yes.”

The air died around them.

“Fine.” Sonic now took the time to glare at her. Miles figured he actually was upset with her now. He really did care about Mania, Miles was happy to see it. But now Amy was being uncooperative, how badly did she fear Mania becoming like her? “You’re hurt anyway. And the day’s running out, I’ll see if I can find some food. Tails can you get a fire going?” Miles nodded and watched as Sonic sped off, Amy watching him go.

. . .

When Miles got back with the firewood, Amy was resting with her back against a tree, staring off into space. She continued to seem troubled by Sonic. To Miles, they had the most love/hate relationship he’d ever had the displeasure of wading through. But if they were going to sort through it, they’d need to back off the hate at least a little bit. Maybe Miles could grease the wheels.

“You seem deep in thought.” He said as he placed the firewood on the ground.

“I was just- uh.” Amy snapped out of it and turned her attention to Miles. “Yeah I-I guess so.”

“She’ll be fine, you know. You’re going to get her back.”

“I know, but thanks Miles.” Amy smiled at him. It was weak but pure.

“Sonic’s not going to let anything happen to her.” Amy stopped smiling. “He really cares about her, Amy.”

“I don’t really want to talk about him, Tails.”

“I-I figured, he did some mean things about you the other day.”

“Ehh, Sonic always says mean things about me, he never means them.”

“You’re not bothered by the insults?” Miles raised an eyebrow, clearing out a spot for the fire.

“They’re just words Tails, they only have the power I give them. Actions though…those can hurt more. And Sonic- he’s very much a hedgehog of action. He shows me how he feels with what he does.”

“So what does it say that he’s here to save Mania, to help you?” Miles tried for a smile. But Amy just narrowed her eyes.

“What does it say that he didn’t believe me about her, that he runs from me at each and every turn?” Miles was quiet for a moment, he could feel Amy’s eyes on him as he stacked up the firewood.

“I’d say that he’s scared, that he was too nervous to be there.” Miles admitted, pulling out some fire starter. Amy nodded slowly, challenging Miles, Sonic? “But then what does it say that he always comes back?” Amy’s eyes widened and she looked from Miles as he lit a match. “I’d say that he is scared, but he doesn’t let it stop him. He comes back because despite the fact that he’s the world’s biggest jerk, he also cares, he cares about Mania, he cares about me, he-he cares about you Amy Rose. It just takes him a second.”

Miles was silent as he tended to the fire. He watched it burn and crackle, the only noise in the jungle the pops of the burning wood. And then there were some light sobs. Miles snapped his head to Amy.

“Then why is he so bad at showing it?!” She cried loudly, her tears falling, painting the dirt. “A second? Try 15 years! I showed I cared! And- and nothing! You say he cares, then-then why doesn’t he say it?!” Miles looked away from Amy, shaking his head.

“I don’t know Amy, I don’t know.” Amy gave louder cries, gasping for breath between them.

. . .

Sonic returned later, his arms loaded with fresh jungle fruits. He passed them around and sat down on the grass between Miles and Amy staring into the fire. Amy had long since dried her tears, the red edges of her eyes hidden by the orange glow of the fire. The three sat like that for a while, not talking. Everyone was mad at everyone else for something. It wasn’t great dinner company.

“His name is Silver.” Amy said emptily.

No one reacted.

“Silver the Hedgehog. He is very powerful and extremely skilled.”

Miles looked to Amy, hoping for more information, but Sonic just continued to stare into the fire, the flames reflected in his eyes.

“I don’t know him personally, but he was on the news a while back. He’s the captain of the Royal Guard. They work to protect Princess Blaze who runs the country.”

“Why did he take my daughter?” Sonic didn’t look from the fire.

“I don’t know why he took my daughter,” Amy emphasized, “But he only reports to Princess Blaze and he has two companions with him. A lemur and a wolf. The lemur seems to be an expert at hand-to-hand fighting, and the wolf carried a large rifle.”

“Can we take them?” Miles asked Amy? She shook her head.

“I don’t know that either. The lemur and wolf maybe, but Silver has powers beyond training. He possesses the skill of psychokinesis.” Sonic finally looked at Amy, raising an eyebrow. “He can move shit with his mind. Or in your case, stop you in your tracks immediately.”

“So are we just screwed then?” A spark of fear built in Miles and he watched as something similar crossed Sonic’s face.

“Once more I don’t know. Silver can’t hold things indefinitely and the more he holds the less time it can be held for. It might be a waiting game. But there is the lemur and the wolf. The wolf could shoot you out of the sky and I don’t trust myself to take on the lemur. When I got home, Silver was holding Mania and I rushed forward but Silver grabbed me too, slamming me between the floor and the ceiling. At least he had the decency to turn Mania around for that.”

Miles watched as Sonic’s fists tightened and shook, the fire starting to look tame against his slowly raging anger.

“Knuckles then sped forward, but the lemur used her tail to grab his fist and punched his own face. When that didn’t stop him, Silver threw him through the front of the house. And when Knuckles still tried to get up, the wolf shot him with something. I guess it was a dart.”

There was nothing.

And then Sonic gave a quiet laugh.

“So what your saying is, if we had Knuckles here, they’d be fucked.” A ghost of a smile crossed his face.

Small laughs surrounded the campfire.

“Do you think Rouge had their baby yet?” Amy’s eyes were wide and open, the seriousness of the moment gone for a second.

“Dunno, but I know that kid’s gonna be great.” Miles smiled.

“You kidding?” Sonic chuckled. “They won’t know whether to steal the Master Emerald or protect it!”

The fire burned a little brighter as the laughter swelled a little.

And then it was quiet again.

“Even if we got past all of them, there’s still the rest of the guard, and Blaze herself. She’s also got powers. Pyrokinesis. We’re literally invading the capital.” Amy continued.

“So we can’t overpower them, how are we gonna get Mania back?” Sonic was still nervous, but less guarded, the topic of rescue now more open, free and team dependent.

“Well it’s still a government.” Miles offered. Amy and Sonic looked at him. “I’m not familiar with the laws of every country, but Tropiana has a lot of freedom protection. They can’t just kidnap a child without breaking a few or at least cause a major media snafu.”

“So what? We call the press on them, bleed our hearts out to them?” Sonic scoffed.

“You threaten to.” Miles pointed to Sonic. The parents looked at each other. “You go to the royal castle and threaten that this precious young parents,” Miles gestured to Sonic and Amy, “that are world famous heroes, will tell the press about this unless Blaze gives you your daughter back.”

“You want us to pretend to be together?” Sonic asked.

“In order to pressure them into giving us Mania?” Amy offered.

“Bingo.” Miles grinned. “You’ll make a lovely couple.”

Silver

Silver was feeling bad for Mania. After all he’d kidnapped her, beat up her mom and family friends and then threw her in a car to be carted off to prison. And she had every right to hate him. He’d clicked her into the passenger seat of the car and put on the child locks, where she’d gone on to kick, flail, and scream through the entire car ride, while two other prisoners sat in the back. So he was feeling pretty shitty about what he’d done to her.

That all changed when he woke up with a gun in his face. Silver had been more than exhausted, he hadn’t slept in a couple days, and as they were approaching Castle Sol, he’d had to pull over to sleep. It hadn’t been the smartest play, but all three criminals were locked up in shackles and besides, Silver hadn’t been awake enough to make quality life choices.

The morning sun had been shining through the vehicle’s windows but Silver had been too tired to let a rising ball of burning gas wake him. Unfortunately there was still the matter of the fly. Every so often it would land on his nose. Just the faintest of boops disturbing his much needed rest. With a hand he’d give a weak swat at the fly and it would make little whispering noises and retreat.

But then it would come back. A little tiny nuisance that landed right on his nose. He’d give a groan of protest, swat it, it would whisper and…giggle? And then it’d retreat away.

And then it bonked him in the nose. Hard.

Silver’s eyes snapped open and he found himself looking down the barrel of Whisper’s rifle. The muzzle was wide in his face as the tip pressed against his nose. Sitting on the dash of the car was Whisper the Wolf. Her right eye pressed into the scope of the weapon, and a ghost of a smile dancing on her lips.

Silver let out a scream.

He wasn’t proud of it, but luckily it avoided high pitched levels. Silver slammed into the back of his chair as he tried to build distance from the weapon and activated his powers. He shoved the weapon and Whisper up, the warrior and her rifle pressed against the back of the windshield. Tangle popped up from beneath the wheel well of Silver’s seat, her head resting on Silver’s right thigh.

The FUCK?!

“Nope, sorry Mania, he didn’t wet himself. You owe me $5.” The lemur grinned broadly. Silver scowled as the pieces clicked for him.

“This is seriously messed up!” He exclaimed, exiting the car. Using his powers he levitated Tangle and Whisper out of his seat and opened the rear door, sealing the two in their shackles…again.

“C’mon Slover! We were bored watching you snooze and Mania had a genius idea!” Tangle said as the cuffs snapped around her hands and legs and tail. She winced faintly.

“What to see if you could give me a heart attack?!” Silver demanded returning to his seat.

“That’s what I said! But Mania just thought you’d pee your metal stockings.” Tangle said the last words with an air of mockery. Well more mockery than most things she said. Silver rolled his eyes and looked at Mania in the seat beside him.

She was smiling too, but it was fragile and flawed. A mock diamond of a smile, it looked good, but it wasn’t real. Silver frowned at her as she continued to put up a ruse of joyful confidence, but he knew she was scared shitless. She was miles from home with no one she knew, and shackled together.

Silver had had to adjust the shackles because of how small she was. He’d wanted to throw up the entire time. This whole scenario reeked of a mistake, that this was some weird nightmare, something that just didn’t make sense. Silver would wake up in the barracks in a minute and he’ll never have freed Tangle and Whisper, never kidnapped a child, and never…never levitated Blaze.

All Silver had ever wanted to do was prove himself to Blaze. Prove that he was the protector and supporter she so richly deserved. And when they started seeing each other, he’d wanted to become the perfect boyfriend too. Being there for her, surprise meals, he’d even tried a serenade. That hadn’t gone well, but he didn’t give up.

But how was he supposed to help her if he was constantly terrified of her? Not her, but the fire, the flames. Closing in and choking the air. She was the most constructive person Silver had ever met, and yet she was cursed with the most destructive thing he’d ever known. And because of his mistake, she’d accidentally activated her curse. So he had to make it up to her.

But kidnapping a child still seemed like the wrong way to go about it.

“My mom and dad are going to sooo beat you up when they find us.” Mania egged Silver on.

“I highly doubt that. Myself and my men are extremely well trained and your parents would be attacking the most fortified citidel on the island.” Silver announced while starting the vehicle.

“Uh uh!” Mania protested.

“Yeah huh!” Silver mocked turning the car onto the main road.

“They probably are really angry at you for taking me! You’re gonna be sorry!” The girl whined.

“I already am.”

“Why?” Mania asked and it startled Silver. He had meant his previous comment as a joke, something on the offhand to try and continue this unwinable battle with a hyper-active 10-year-old. But the words had ended coming out sincere, his regret clearly visible.

“I-I don’t know, I mean I do know! I- Look I don’t want to kidnap kids, but it’s my job.”

“Kidnapping kids is your job?” Mania asked.

“What? No! Kidnapping you was my job. I have- a lot of jobs. I do whatever the princess asks me to do.”

“You work for the princess?!” And suddenly the angry pre-teen was replaced with an eager child.

“Yes I do! I’m in charge of her protection and anything else she might ask me to do, she trusts me.” Silver raised his head high at his words, reminding himself of why he was doing what he was doing.

“Princess Blaze is the coolest! She’s super awesome and really powerful and super smart. I learned all about her from my history classes. My mom’s a big fan of hers! She really respects her!” The excitement with which Mania spoke worked to raise Silver’s spirits and with each word Mania said Silver felt himself reflect on it more and agree with the young hedgehog’s sentiments. Which is why he felt so low with what she said next:

“But my mom probably doesn’t like her so much now…” the girl’s ears drooped and she slumped in her seat. “Why’d the princess want to take me anyway?” Silver opened his mouth, but as usual, Tangle’s mouth was quicker.

“Because she’s really power hungry and she already has all this power and doesn’t know what to do with it so she just tries to collect more, including you! So now you get to be her prisoner to be used to complete her sinister ends, just like us!” Tangle said it all matter-of-factly, a twisted smile lighting up her face. Whisper elbowed her, having the decency to not like the messing with a little girl’s head.

“If she’s so evil, why does she have all this power?” Mania turned in her seat.

“Eh, she was born into it. She’s had it her whole life!”

“Oh.” Tangle grinned broader, hoping to see the change in Mania’s expression, the shift to Tangle’s way of thinking. Unfortunately for her, Mania misinterpreted again, seeing a different side.

“That must be tough for her.” Tangle’s smile dropped and Silver raised an eyebrow. “I know what having powers is like, it’s probably not exactly the same, but it’s a lot of responsibility. I never know if what I do is gonna have an effect on the jungle or my mom. I guess it did have an effect.” Mania held her head in her hands. “She’s gonna be so upset that I got captured! I don’t want her to have to deal with this! I was the one who ran around all crazy like, and now she has to pay for it!”

Silver stared at the girl for a second and then saw Blaze, not Blaze of today, but Blaze when he first met her. The scared girl with too much power on her shoulders. She’d done it for years and now Blaze was being crushed under the weight, just like Mania was now. It was far too much for the lavender cat too take, and now it was having a dangerous effect. Could Silver still trust Blaze to make the right decisions if she was having him capture children?

“Power’s kinda fun though.” Silver snapped back to Mania again. “I know it’s not the coolest thing to say, and that I get the ability to do things others can’t, but shouldn’t I take that in stride? I’ve been learning about fun, and that’s cool, but I know I can’t always do that either. So shouldn’t it be my goal to do both? I wanna learn to like what I do while being responsible! Help people while having a good time!”

“You can do both right?” Mania asked.

No one answered, so Whisper did.

“Of course you can Mania.” Mania smiled wide.

And then the car was quiet. Tangle was for once mercifully quiet having put her foot in her mouth. But she looked confused, like she’d gotten the right answer for the test but used the wrong equation. Silver sat and stared out the window as he drove. If he had to guess he had a very similar face on. What Mania had said all made sense and not sense at the same time.

Blaze worked hard all the time, it stressed her out, made her coat look flat, she lost sleep. And yet she kept doing it. For as long as Silver had known her, she’d done everything in her power to help the people of her country, he’d just assumed that it was because she felt responsible for everyone. But was it possible she enjoyed it too? Sure she was stressed, but did that mean she wasn’t happy?

The emotions on a surface level seemed mutually exclusive. You couldn’t be happy and stressed at the same time, it didn’t make sense. But that wasn’t inherently true, they didn’t fit perfectly per say, but they didn’t not work either.

Like Silver and Blaze. A guard and a princess. It definitely didn’t work on paper, and the fact that there relationship was a secret had him pulling his quills out. But at the same time, he was happy with her. Sure he was scared of her fire powers and it sucked that she had them…

Did it though? Sure they terrified him, but was it possible it was just him? No. But she was terrified of his psychokinesis and his flight. But that was normal for him.

And her pyrokinesis was normal for her. It wasn’t possible it was just him. No. It was likely. After all, Blaze was scared of his flight, but there was no way she thought it was a curse, she admired him for it. Believed he could use it best to help people!

Silver’s head spun as he retraced his steps through his and Blaze’s relationship and past. All the times he’d sympathized with her powers were of the powers themselves, not her occasional troubles control them. He’d wanted them gone when he should’ve been helping her be her best self with them.

Silver was ready to pull the car over and heave his stomach contents into the dirt. He’d been seeing Blaze wrong his entire life. Silver had his own issues with fire his whole life. But they were his issues, he shouldn’t have forced them onto Blaze. He’d wanted to change a person that didn’t need change, not like that. He felt like he wanted to push her down a path towards something she wasn’t. It was wrong.

But so was kidnapping a child. Silver looked down at the little girl, eyes wide and innocence overflowing and felt his heart drop. Everything was too much. He respected Blaze more now, but he knew that kidnapping was bad, hell the kid knew it was bad. Tangle and Whisper knew it was bad.

Silver had to get answers. On who Blaze was, on who he was to her, on who Blaze wanted to be. And why she wanted him to capture a little girl. And he was going to get them soon, the car pulling up to Castle Sol.

Chapter Text

Blaze

Blaze was being guided through her own castle as a prisoner. Her face wore a frown of grand proportions as her arm was gripped tightly by the claw of Metal Sonic. They passed several staircases and chambers. as Blaze led the robot and its owner, the sinister Dr. Eggman traveled deeper into the bowels of the castle. Through its secret passages and safe rooms. Kitchens and sleeping quarters.

Blaze sneaked a glance back at the villain as he rode in his flying spheroid, the supposed Eggmobile. He was still behind her following closely, the same twisted smile breaking his old face in two. It seemed to be glued there, his expression not shifting for even a fraction of a second.

He did look like an egg, as was the namesake, but a soured one. An egg that had been sitting in the sun too long, the shell moistening in humid heat until it slumped and crumpled. He smelled like rot and mildew. The effect of decay and age. It was more likely that it came from their surroundings rather than the villain himself.

Blaze tripped forward as Metal Sonic yanked her. Stumbling back to her feet she shot the robot another glare before trying to hold her head high as they descended deeper and deeper into the castle. She didn’t want to lead them here, but she didn’t really have a choice.

Back in her room, she’d been concerned of course. These were two extremely dangerous individuals. One was a mad doctor who’d ordered unspeakable things to be done to the world. And the other, the robot that had carried them out. Blaze knew that she couldn’t let them have what they wanted. It would only bring ruin and pain to her country and her people. There was no way Blaze was just going to give them the fountain of youth.

Millions of years ago the water god Chaos was born. From there it walked the earth using its powers and the Chaos Emeralds to spread the seas and oceans. Upon the completion of its task it was the very first to scatter the Chaos Emeralds, sending them to different corners of Mobius. At which point it was tired and wanted a place to rest. It then spotted the inhabitants of Angel Island and the floating land where they lived upon.

The echidna of Angel Island saw Chaos and its power. They were wowed by his ability to create water and invited it to live with them on their land. They would protect and worship Chaos as they had been doing so with the Master Emerald. Chaos agreed and flew up to their island and blessed it with beautiful lakes and rivers, fresh water, and green plant life. The echidna rejoiced at Chaos’ decision and his gift. The god was happy and then slept. Until of course Eggman and Sonic came along.

Most people knew that part of the story, but not everyone knew its origin. Tropiana was where Chaos was born. It may live on Angel Island, but below the rock on which the country of Tropiana was run, millions of years ago the ground split, and magma boiled overflowing and melting rock around it. The first waves. From those fiery waves came water ones. They swirled and churned, faster and more powerful than the lava. And along came Chaos. It picked up its creation of water and then progressed across the world.

But it left something behind. A remnant of Chaos’ own powerful origin. Most of the first water had formed to be Chaos. But not all of it.

Blaze regrettably opened the door at the bottom of the castle. Sealed by the most high-tech of locks from TailsTechTM and inspected by two dozen contractors. The massive 2-meter thick steel reinforced door slid aside to reveal a massive chamber. It was as wide across as the castle was and thrice as deep. A giant set of stairs spiraled down at the edges of the chasm, shifting in and out unevenly with the odd shaping of the chamber’s walls. Rising up from the chamber floor was four enormous pillars, they rose from the bottom all the way to the top. Their twisting dark stone forms brought an eerie shiver to the already impressive space.

“What have we here?” The Eggman said, have the courteousness to be impressed.

“Behold.” Blaze said flatly, gesturing to the emptiness of the area. “The remains of the Tropiana volcano.”

“Your people built the castle on a volcano?” Blaze looked back to see a look of judgment on the man’s face. Like he had any right to judge her people’s plans, if that wasn’t the pot calling the kettle black, Blaze didn’t know what was.

“The volcano has long since been extinct, the last flames died long before my people got here and they wanted to have the most important protection upon their most important treasure. The very thing you seek.” Blaze hissed out the last words. Eggman looked like he was going to ask, but Blaze pointed down at the bottom of the chamber.

At the bottom of the volcano, the last of the steps ended on a craggy surface, bumpy and twisted as lava had hardened into stone. And between the four massive pillars of dark stone made from the same rock and reinforced with steel over time, there sat a dip. The lava had flowed up from the center and as it slowed it had left an indent, a divot no bigger than a kiddie pool. And inside of it: was water.

The water had sat there for centuries, marinating in the dust and dampness of the chamber. Little bits of stone and dust and old dust bunnies had floated down from the castle above into the pool. And yet after all this time, it was crystal clear. The magic of the pool was palpable, an energy that flowed through the air and warmed the skin as Blaze approached. It was like the smell of ozone before a storm, but warmer, less high-energy, the power of generations; of youth.

“Yes! Finally my prize!” The Eggman grinned approaching the pool. Despite the curative warmth of the pool Blaze felt sick. She hadn’t wanted to give Eggman access to the fountain, but she hadn’t really had a choice. Upon arriving in her room, Eggman had tried to force the information out of her all night about the location of the fountain, but she hadn’t given in. But this morning he’d had Metal Sonic parade her through the halls showing off that he had captured their leader, forcing them into submission. Eggman had made it very clear that should she not give up the fountain or try anything, it would be the people that suffered for it.

Blaze wasn’t gonna let that happen, this was her castle and she was gonna be the one in control. So if letting Eggman have his fountain of youth saved everybody else. He could have it. Especially since it was behind a 2-meter thick steel reinforced door.

That only opened from the outside.

Eggman stepped down from his flying contraption, his legs awkward and bowed. He stumbled a little getting out of the vehicle but managed on his own when Metal Sonic tried to move to help him.

A little giggle escaped the wretched man as he hobbled over to the fountain. With great pains he got down to his knees and hunched over the pool, looking more like an egg than ever. His large hands came forward and he dipped them into the pool, a small flow of water pouring into them. Then, he lifted them out of the pool and brought the precious waters to his chapped lips.

And then he drank.

And then he drank again.

He lowered his hands back down and took another sip. Blaze noticed a scowl on his face.

The Eggman pitched forward and fell into the waters, splashing around for a moment before re-emerging, anger creating varied pathways for the remaining water to flow down.

“Why isn’t it working?!” The still old man demanded.

“Because it needs an example.” Blaze shrugged her shoulders.

“What do you mean cat?!” He spat.

“I thought you researched thoroughly all the magical relics you use?” Blaze put a hand on her hip, the bare bones of a smile creasing her lips.

“I’m a very busy man! Now tell me how to work this thing or I’ll have Metal Sonic tear each of your subjects limb from limb.” Blaze was having a hard time taking a fully grown man seriously when he was sitting in a kiddie pool.

“It needs a general example of youth. The blood of the young must be dropped into its waters to tell it around how young the person going in should be.”

“Well luckily for me I have a young princess to harvest from.” The Eggman stood up in the pool. While the situation was ridiculous, he was still a human and therefore far taller than she was. He towered over her, his large form intimidating. To most.

“Fat chance. Even I’m too old. It’s not just about physical age, and even then I’m a little old for the pool, but mental age. In the ancient days, people just used-”

Uh oh.

“Children?” The Eggman finished, as he leaned forward a twisted grin of malice breaking his frown. Blaze didn’t say anything and tried her best poker face but unfortunately, Eggman saw through it. “Well luckily for me we’ve got a whole castle here. There must be some child willing to spare a drop of blood!”

There weren’t actually. However, Blaze had ordered Silver to bring her a child.

Not good.

No more screwing around.

Blaze pushed Eggman back into the pool, his top-heavy body falling backward in a big splash. Metal Sonic went to help him and Blaze took the opportunity to run. Well, not run.

Fly.

Using her pyrokinesis, Blaze was able to fly under the thrust created by surrounding herself in flames. It was very tiring and of course, scared herself to death, but now there was a child on the line. No fear was gonna stop her.

Blaze rocketed up towards the exit of the chamber, bypassing the stairs entirely, making good headway when she heard:

“Not me you mechanical moron! Get her! Now!”

Blaze looked back and immediately regretted it. Firstly she was already higher up than she’d ever been. A massive hunk of fear settled into her stomach and she felt her flames begin to die. She began to slow, and if this kept up- she’d drop. But the second thing that scared her, kept her going and reignited her flames.

Metal Sonic was extremely fast, it came with a rocket engine in its chest, and while it couldn’t fly per se, it could float. The robot shot up the stairs speedily making his way to the top, trying to close the distance to the exit by the rings of stairs rather than Blaze’s as the crow flies.

Blaze had never been in a race before, but this was one she couldn’t lose. Metal Sonic may have been a knock-off of the real thing, but it was an extremely deadly one. Blaze kicked it into high gear, double-timing it to the exit, and made an effort to not under any circumstances look down.

Blaze blasted through the exit, skidding on the marble tiles of the floor right outside the fountain door entrance. Slipping on the smooth tiles, she ran back to the door and saw Metal Sonic closing in fast. It couldn’t emote well, but Blaze could tell murder was on the forefront of its mind.

Blaze heaved the massive door closed, the latches and locks clicking automatically as it slammed shut just as Metal Sonic rammed into it at full speed.

WHAM!

Blaze breathed a sigh of relief and slumped to the floor, a slight grin blooming on her face. And why shouldn’t she? She’d just bested Metal Sonic and Dr. Robotnik. She had them trapped forever in-

WHAM!

Blaze froze.

WHAM!

No.

WHAM!

Blaze had to get out of here. Had to get everyone out of here and warn Silver!

WHAM! A dent appeared in the door as Metal Sonic slammed its body against the steel.

And Blaze had to do it now. Blaze ran.

Silver

As Silver led Mania inside of the castle, he immediately began to notice things were off. The clearest thing was the general lack of people. Its hallways and rooms both grand and small seemed to be devoid of people. That was the first clue.

The second clue was the scorch marks. The claws in the walls. The rubble clustered in small piles throughout the entryway.

“Tangle, Whisper…what’s your take on what happened here?” Silver said quietly, trying to ignore the child that couldn’t seem to decide if she wanted to get closer or further from him. Silver watched as, intrigued, Tangle approached one of the walls, putting her hand up to a large banner that dropped from the ceiling. She traced the path of a large claw mark in it, following the shape in a pointed oval.

“Not sure, whatever it was…it’s strong and fierce and attacked with little mercy.” Tangle had taken that serious tone again, the business one that dropped the crazed aesthetic. She was focused, curious, and determined. Whisper moved to one of the rubble piles, and reached a hand into it, rubbing something between her fingers.

“Explosives.” she said simply.

Silver’s panic was quickly at an all-time high. He’d been gone for not even 48 hours and there was an attack at the castle. His first thought was of course Blaze. He trusted her to stay safe, she was a ferocious warrior and anyone that had actually seen her in battle would not think she needed a royal guard. But Silver knew that she’d be worried about the castle inhabitants, the repair costs, the media firestorm that might come from an invasion such as this one.

Silver had to find her. But first, he had to do something about the kid holding onto his leg at arm's length. Silver looked down at Mania and noticed her fear. She might be able to run fast like her dad, but she’d never been in a battle before or faced anything worse than a skinned knee. Hell, Silver himself had shown her more conflict than she’d ever seen before just yesterday. She wasn’t ready for this.

Silver needed to get to Blaze, but he couldn’t very well bring her into what could be an active battle. Mania had gone through too much already, at his hands no less. She wouldn’t be forced to endure more, not-not like him.

Silver’s eyes widened as he realize that this kid was dealing with the same things he dealt with. War and strife and hurt. He was doing exactly to her what had been done to him. Silver knew about Amy and Sonic, they too had gone through pain like no other. And now it was happening to their daughter. It seemed to be a vicious cycle. The children are forced to deal with what their elders did before them.

“I’m sorry.” Silver got down on one knee, looking into the child’s huge emerald eyes. She blinked at him. “I did what I was told to do without asking questions, I didn’t push to do the right thing and now you’re having to deal with this because of it. That’s-that’s on me. I-I deserve a punishment fit for this-” Silver stopped and saw Tangle make a movement.

It wasn’t threatening and not very large either. She just- tilted her head down. A nod. Tangle nodded at him. A note of respect from someone that didn’t give them. That was- unexpected and once again gave Silver more to think about from the two bodyguards turned assassins.

“-and It’s my fault that you’re dealing with this. So- I’m sorry.” Silver finished.

“That’s okay.” The girl said.

“Huh?” Silver was confused, he had messed up and people were getting hurt because of it. If he had just stayed to protect Blaze then the castle wouldn’t be in disrepair and Mania wouldn’t have to be here now.

“You don’t need to punish yourself further.” Mania shrugged her shoulders. Silver leaned back a little bit shaking his head.

“I’m sorry I don’t understand…”

“It seems like you’ve already been punishing yourself for taking me. And I’m sure my mom and dad are gonna be really mad at you anyway. So it’s okay,-” Silver stuttered briefly, his mind trying to catch up to the girl’s words.

“-I forgive you.” And then she hugged him.

Silver’s arms stood stiff outward as Mania’s tiny arms reached around his middle, a sign of acceptance and acknowledgment of his mistake. And then further beyond it, a moving past of the act. Mania told him that he did screw up, but that was then, and this was now. It was what it was and now it wasn’t. He managed to give her a light hug back.

After a moment Mania pulled away and Silver released his arms, there being no need to restrain the girl anymore. Silver felt his movements be robotic, still trying to catch up and accept her forgiveness. That he had done what he’d done and now could move past it. Silver had treated Blaze similarly, trying to tie her down, and restrain her. Would she be as forgiving?

“Do you think you could undo these cuffs though?” Mania asked. Silver snapped back to attention, noticing that she was still trapped by the restraints, and nodded.

“Yes, of- of course, sorry, let’s get you out of-”

And then the wall exploded.

Silver was thrown backward under the explosion, his body ragdolling before collapsing in a heap by a pillar of the entryway. Lights danced in his eyes as he made a groan of pain. Placing his hands under him, Silver commanded his body to get up. Silver worked to focus his eyes, trying to get them back into enough alignment to see the danger. Where was the danger? Where was Mania? Tangle? Whisper?

And where was Blaze?

Silver coughed out a lungful of dust and looked forward, a humanoid shape coming into view. Was…Was that Sonic?

‘Sonic’ picked him up by the throat and shoved him against the wall, hands squeezing tightly.

“S-Sonic! I-I’m sorry for taking M-Mania, I want to make it up to you!” Silver choked out. But then two glowing red eyes and metallic skin came into view through the dust and smog.

Not Sonic.

“What have you found there Metal?” A raspy voice called. Twisted with a sense of nonchalance and malice.

Silver looked down at the face of Metal Sonic and growled. He made a move to try to use his powers on the robot, but it noticed, increasing the force on its hand gripping Silver’s throat. The world blurred as Silver struggled for oxygen. But Silver saw the threat clearly.

The Eggman floated through the dust on his Eggmobile, suspended 8 feet in the air by technologies beyond anyone. Silver’s skin crawled as he felt the doctor’s eyes sweep over him, through him. Learning everything and anything about the captain of the royal guard, assessing his threat to Eggman’s surely nefarious plot.

“Bah! Just another guardsman. I thought you’d taken care of them. You’re slipping Metal, perhaps you’re due for an examination. Either way, finish him off. Surely one won’t be missed.”

And then the force on Silver’s neck increased.

And increased.

And increased.

The world started to blur again as Silver struggled for air, but that was the least of his problems. His neck became painful and he felt something threaten to snap in his neck, it was the end of his life. Blackness began to consume the edges of Silver’s vision and wrench him from the world of the living.

And he’d never gotten the chance to apologize to Blaze.

And then a dent appeared in the side of Metal Sonic’s head.

The robot stumbled back letting go of Silver as it fell on its ass in a heap. Silver dropped to his knees and coughed as his lungs sucked air, the colors of the world returning to their natural state. Looking up, Silver must’ve been hallucinating from the lack of oxygen because it looked like Whisper had just saved him.

As Silver’s focus returned he found that Whisper had indeed saved him. She was positioned low, down on one knee. She used her left arm as a stand and held the trigger of the weapon in her right. The wolf narrowed her eyes as she cocked the weapon, aiming it once more at Metal Sonic, who had quickly gotten up.

Silver scrambled back quickly as the murder bot moved towards him again. It reached out to grab him and Silver heard the recoil of Whisper’s rifle again. It didn’t work the second time. A glowing deep blue shield floated around Metal Sonic deflecting the bullet off into the dust of the entryway. Metal Sonic paused looking from Silver and taking in Whisper. Silver watched its eyes tick and it shifted its focus, now moving towards the sniper. Silver moved to stand, but was still disoriented.

“Sorry! Can’t let you hurt my bae!” Tangle leapt from the shadows and coiled herself around Metal Sonic raining blows with her fists as she tied the robot with her tail. The robot struggled for a moment before wrenching the lemur off of itself, throwing her at Whisper, and bowling her over. The robot approached the two, claws raised.

“Metal Sonic! As much as I’d love to see their demise, we’ve got more pressing matters.”

The smoke cleared and Eggman was revealed. Silver’s heart dropped into his stomach as he felt his life drain from his body.

“And I have what I need!” The mad doctor held Mania in his outstretched hand. She was gripped by an arm, held like a puppet. The girl struggled, trying to get purchase on Eggman’s arm and getting very little. Her eyes connected with Silver and a few loose tears dripped from her eyes.

“Help me.” She squeaked.

And then she was gone, whisked away by the worst of the worst into the slowly fleeting dust, Metal Sonic following in tow. A cackle emanated from the dust, bouncing off the large entryway’s walls before slowly fading.

Energy surged through Silver’s veins and he hopped to his feet, an anger thundering through his system. He ran through the last of the dust calling out to her.

“Mania! Mania!”

“Silver!”

“Mania?!"

"Silver?!"

“Blaze!”

The gorgeous lavender cat emerged from the dying smog and threw her hands around Silver. He held her tight.

“Silver!” She leaned back a little. “The castle! It’s being attacked by-”

“-Eggman, I know. Blaze he’s got Mania, I messed up, I messed up so bad!” Silver watched as fear and worry flowed through Blaze and she moved to hold him tighter, warm tears damped his fur.

“It’s going to be okay Silver, we’ll get her back!” Silver must’ve had brain damage, because he knew she was right. But then again, Blaze was always right.

“Hey there princess.” Tangle muttered, getting to her feet and helping up Whisper, the two a little dazed from Metal Sonic’s attack. Blaze removed herself from Silver, their hands lingering, before facing her assassins with a smile.

“Ah! Tangle, Whisper! It’s good that you’re here, we need help to evacuate the castle, and then-”

“Sorry pretty pretty. But uh we accomplished our task, and now we collect our reward.” Tangle moved into a fighting stance and Whisper leveled her rifle at Blaze. Silver readied to intervene, but saw something in the corner of his eye. Blaze.

Fuming.

She was literally fuming.

And then she exploded.

“YOU’RE DOING THIS NOW?! MY CASTLE IS BEING ATTACKED, A CHILD IS MISSING AND YOU’RE ATTACKING ME NOW?!” Silver was blown aside as Blaze was wreathed in a ball of fire. Her eyes aglow and the carpet below her scorched until only burning red metal remained. She took steps towards the assassins who too had crumpled to their backs, quivering slightly and holding each other for safety from the inferno.

“Sorry Blaze.” Tangle gave the weakest smile, the last remnants of her confidence. “But we’re not big fans of the way you run this place.”

“I KNOW YOU’RE NOT! I’M NOT! YOU THINK I LIKE SITTING IN MEETINGS ALL DAY WHILE NOTHING GETS DONE?!” Blaze took a few deep breaths and the fires died-

Slightly.

“I have to sit and listen to various advisors make demands all day long about what they want, what the kingdom can do for them. When there are people out there suffering from poor access to food, power, and schooling. Towns on the edges rot and citizens make beds in the streets and I can’t do anything about it! I was a child when I took over from my father, no one took me seriously and opportunists took the time to install puppets in my cabinet! High-power businesses took control of supply and trade routes and a million other things that let me help my people. I can hardly do my job! I’m little more than a figurehead at this point! And when some people talk about highly sensitive information over possibly tapped phone lines-” Blaze turned briefly to Silver who felt himself shrink into a ball.

“About powerful and susceptible individuals, like perhaps a young superpowered child…I have to make demands to have you bring me that child because I can’t safely collect personal information about the child’s home life or relationships without risking that child’s safety! So I send the person I trust the most!” Blaze shot a hand out to Silver.

“Or two people who can’t be corrupt because they’ve been in prison so long!” Blaze now gestured to the two shaking messes on the floor. “So help evacuate the castle or GET OUT!” Blaze was huffing, her shoulders tense as she leaned over Tangle and Whisper. Blaze’s flames died slightly and Tangle turned to Whisper.

“Oh my Chaos that was so hot.”

“GRAAAAAARGH!”

“Okay okay! We’ll help! We’ll help!” The two no longer assassins scrambled to their feet and ran off, now seemingly willing to do anything Blaze asked. Silver sat on the slightly scorched floor of the entryway and watched slack-jawed as Blaze cooled down. She flipped around towards him, worry in her eyes. She got close but stopped, hands unsure.

“Silver! I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have flown off the handle like that, I just- needed to blow off some steam, I-”

“Blaze it’s okay!” Silver grabbed her hands, warm, but not hot. “And they're right, it was kinda hot.” Silver gave a light chuckle, “But really it’s okay.”

Blaze looked up at him as he stood, hands still held. Her gaze was filled with confusion and worry.

“I feel like I’ve kind of stifled you, tried to turn you into something you’re not. I-I love you and all the things you can do. I’m really sorry if my fear has made you feel pressured in any way.”

“No…” She said, her voice small.

“And I just feel now like I’m not sure if I know the real you enough, I didn’t know how to help you and I shouldn’t have talked about Mania over the phone. And then I wanted to disobey your orders which now looking back makes sense with what you said. I- I’ve let you down Blaze…I’m so- so sorry.”

“No…” She said again. “No!” Blaze pulled him into a tight hug again. “You could never let me down. I love you and know that you always do your best. I shouldn’t have told you to take her without giving you more information. You’re my safe thing, you help me sleep at night!”

Silver was suddenly brought back to years ago. A younger Blaze, a younger him. He’d been called to her room, nothing was wrong, and everything was wrong. She couldn’t sleep, she’d had a nightmare and he’d told her that what made him feel safe helped him sleep.

“But I don’t…I’m not-?” Silver sputtered.

“Silver you are literally my knight in shining armor, how could I not feel safe around you?”

A quiet laugh came from the knight and princess and it filled the huge chamber with a much-needed joy. And then Blaze cupped Silver’s face and the two shared a kiss.

It was tired and dusty, filled with the trials of the day. But it was hopeful and full of release, a relief of pent-up expectations and struggles. It was a promise that better days would come.

“Excuse me, Princess Blaze, we were hoping we could have our daughter back?” Said the actual Sonic the Hedgehog.

Amy

Amy had never been to Castle Sol. But from her understanding it was supposed to have guards outside, it was supposed to not be in a state of ruin. And it certainly wasn’t supposed to have a princess kissing Amy’s daughter’s kidnapper.

And yet as she entered the massive structure all of these things proved to be true. She and Sonic had walked into the building together, arm in arm to produce the ruse of their relationship with the princess. That way they could then blackmail her into giving back Mania.

Sonic and Amy were entering together. Meanwhile, Tails was waiting outside trying to access the castle’s security systems and provide intel and backup if things went south.

Amy looked at Sonic, his face; a mask. It was supposed to show happiness, a kind of general contentedness that came with marriage and parenthood. Amy was trying for something similar. But underneath Amy knew he was angry and determined. It was a more serious side of Sonic. Most that were close to him knew of this side of Sonic’s existence. It wasn’t a dark version of Sonic per se, just one that knew that the time to sit back and chill was over.

And if Amy had to be honest, probably her favorite side of Sonic. It was the one that fought for her and the citizens of the world. It was the one that had saved her from Eggman for the first time when she was 8. Amy was glad that this was the Sonic that was saving her daughter.

The fact that she was walking hand in hand with Sonic now, acting as if they were married was weird. The irony of the situation not lost on Amy. This is exactly what she’d always wanted when she was younger(not the kidnapping thing, but…), to be this close with Sonic and not have him run from her. It was…nice.

In her head, Young Amy had always seen this as the pinnacle of life. To be with the one she loved exploring the world together as a unit. But those were the dreams of a child, no one could be together with another person forever at all times. It wasn’t just impractical, it was boring. Amy figured that even Young Amy would’ve gotten sick of Sonic if she’d hung around him all the time.

Amy couldn’t forgive Sonic, she just couldn’t. After everything they’d been through together, all the adventures and battles and time spent both together and apart. The fact that he didn’t believe her was still, to her, unforgivable. But she could hope to understand him, and herself and the relationship, or lack thereof, that they had. Maybe they’d never be together, Amy didn’t know, but they could be there for each other. Sonic for sure needed someone to call him out on his bullshit, and if Tails wasn’t gonna do it, she sure would! And Amy…well it still felt safe and comforting to be in Sonic’s presence.

“Excuse me, Princess Blaze, we were hoping we could have our daughter back?” Sonic said as they approached the kidnapper and princess. The two, who had been deep in a kiss with their eyes closed, shot apart and took in Sonic and Amy. Blaze and Silver took glances at each other before the princess cleared her throat and smoothed down her outfit.

“Umm yes, hello there Sonic the Hedgehog. I would first like to apologize for that, it was an error on my part and I overstepped in trying to maintain Mania’s safety.” Blaze fumbled for control of the encounter.

“How is arresting her keeping her safe?” Sonic raised an eyebrow and Amy heard the strength of his kind resolve fading.

“Well-wait-” Blaze turned to Silver. “Arrest her? I said bring her in, not arrest her.”

“I-I’m sorry I mistook the situation and should’ve clarified, this is on me!” Silver cried out. It was almost a whine.

“Can I deck him now?” Amy asked perkily, pulling out her hammer. All eyes turned to her, ruse now seemingly forgotten. Blaze squinted at Silver for a moment before shaking her head.

“No, no. As princess I have to take full responsibility and-” Blaze turned back to Silver, “-wait did you shackle her?”

“Uhhh-”

“Okay, now you can deck him.” Blaze looked at Silver with frustration and the white hedgehog bowed his head. Amy moved forward, hammer held high, before Blaze stopped her again. “Actually no we don’t have time for this.” Blaze looked at Sonic and Amy. “Look I’m sorry about Mania, I wanted to make sure she was safe, honest! But now I’ve accidentally put her in more danger. Sonic-look- It’s Eggman, he’s here! And he’s using Mania for his ritual!”

The word ritual sent terror through the hearts of Amy and Sonic. Ritual meant there was a process, ritual had cult/religious intent. Ritual meant a sacrifice. And Eggman was certainly one to use a sacrifice.

“Eggman?! Here! No…No not with her! No! Wh-where is she? WHERE’S MY DAUGHTER?!” Sonic shot forward and wrenched the princess from her feet, lifting her by the edges of her coat. Murder drowned his emerald eyes. Silver made a step to move forward, but Blaze held out a hand to him to stop.

“Sonic-” Her voice was steely quiet. Amy was impressed, as far as she knew only Amy herself could talk to Sonic like that when he was this upset. “-I realize that you’re angry, and that’s perfectly valid. And I want to help you, but you need to put me down right now.” The last word had the slightest touch of a hiss. Sonic set the princess down with a huff before turning back to Amy as he paced slightly.

“We need to take Eggman down carefully, he has a hostage as well as Metal Sonic and his Eggmobile, loaded with enough weapons to do this to my castle.” Blaze gestured to the rubble around her. “I need to get access to my military but all calls going outside of the castle have been blocked.”

“Not all of them!” Sonic turned around a spark of hope in his eyes. “I’ll call Tails, he can get your army on the line!” Blaze nodded eagerly.

“Good! Tell him to tell my men the passphrase ‘Sun and Sea,’ they should understand and hopefully listen to him.” Sonic nodded and moved away talking into his communicator. Blaze then turned to Amy, “Eggman is in the lowest part of the castle, deep below it. There’s a chamber with what he wants, but it’s big and empty and supports the castle by four huge pillars. You and Sonic should distract Eggman and Metal and get Mania back, while Silver and I destroy the pillars.” Confusion crossed Silver’s face and he moved to touch Blaze’s arm.

“But, won’t that bring the whole of the castle down along with Eggman? You want to destroy this place?” Blaze just smiled at him.

“This is the place where my father died, where I was almost assassinated too many times. Where I’ve been taken advantage of. I haven’t ruled here in a long time. This castle is old, and the politics in it are just as old. I want a new start for my country, and this place can be the first part.” Silver nodded at her.

“Okay!” Sonic came running back, “I just notified Tails and he’s making calls now. So where’s the Egghead?”

. . .

Once more Amy was held in Sonic’s arms as he ran. The blue hedgehog took the stairs to the bottom of the colossal chamber two steps at a time. Far below they could see him, the villain Dr. Ivo “Eggman” Robotnik, and her. Amy’s daughter. Mania Rose. Alongside Eggman, there was Sonic’s murderous counterpart, Metal Sonic.

Who’s head turned and quickly noticed Sonic and Amy’s approach. The stairs followed the walls of the circular chamber, allowing the ‘couple’ to see their nightmare before them in full 360-degree terror-vision. Sonic skidded to a stop at the bottom of the stairs, his feet resting on the uneven ground of the chamber floor. He set Amy down and the two faced the battle ahead.

Eggman was for once in front of his robotic creation, the doctor’s typical mad grin stuck to his face, a permanent grimace that once again would grace Amy’s nightmares. He floated in his Eggmobile, his fingers hovering over its numerous keys and switches, all surely able to fire numerous weapons, leasers, and missiles. A hoard of destructive equipment designed to exterminate hedgehogs.

Behind him stood Metal Sonic. It was inherently rigid, as was the nature of the robot, but it had a current lean to it, its body positioned slightly over the pool of water. Amy and Sonic had gotten a brief briefing from Blaze about the fountain of youth, but it certainly wasn’t their priority. The priority was the little girl held in Metal Sonic’s hand. She was held limply, or as limply as Metal Sonic could manage, a slight bend at the elbow as Mania was gripped in Metal Sonic’s sharp talon hands. Metal Sonic was staring into Mania’s eyes, trying to recognize something, see a challenger, another competitor. It was looking for Sonic in Mania.

“Ah! If it isn’t the meddlesome mongrel and his girlfriend.” Eggman began. His fingers moved away from the keys to gesture broadly, his mustache bouncing on his lip.

“Give us back Mania Eggman.” Sonic growled.

“Not much in the mood for your usual witty banter Sonic? Well, neither am I at the moment. This is not some world-ending catastrophe for us to squabble over here. I am merely picking up…” Eggman brought a hand to his chin. “...groceries as it were. If you could be on your way, I’ll have a perfectly wonderful plan for you to fail to stop another time.”

“No.” Sonic’s eyes narrowed and he was now looking to Metal Sonic who returned the gaze. The heat of the battle was beginning to fill the room and Amy readied her hammer, combat imminent.

“I thought not. Surely Sonic the Hedgehog wouldn’t want me to pay for my groceries with his daughter’s blood.” Eggman spat and Sonic and Amy exchanged a quick confused glance. “Oh please, it’s not hard to figure out that this insufferable infant is the result of your inevitable conjugation. She’s purple and has green eyes! Anyone that did a punnet square in biology could figure out she’s your agitating daughter. She hasn’t shut up about how you’ll save her!” Eggman gestured with his hands bringing them up to his rough face and rubbing them up and down along his cheek.

“Although I must say I’m rather surprised you're so serious about saving her. I never figured you for the family-type Sonic! I always figured you’d run until you dropped! How much does she even know about you? About me? I’m a rather important figure in your life, she should know about me!” Eggman laughed as he put a hand to his chest and pouted in mock disappointment.

And then his face cracked in a grin of evil.

“Metal. Teacher her all about me.”

SLICE!

Metal Sonic’s open hand was brought down on Mania.

Her blood spilled into the fountain of youth.

Mania’s body was dropped like a sack of bricks onto the stone.

And she didn’t move.

Amy screamed.

Sonic roared.

And they launched themselves at killers.

. . .

Amy remembered very little from the battle. It was a blur and beyond that a memory, she’d rather forget. Mostly she saw red. And the occasional flash of yellow as her hammer swung and smashed. From the corner of her eyes, she’d seen Sonic duke it out with Metal. The two went toe to toe, but it was clear Metal was quickly losing ground, facing an opponent that wasn’t holding back.

As per the plan she’d seen flashes of Silver and Blaze working to destroy the pillars above, the whole chamber rumbling as parts began to crack and fall. And Amy? She’d had her hands full with a deadman.

Eggman had tried his best, but she was running on full strength, bolstered by a rage she’d never felt. She could feel its source in love, something similar to what she’d used to chase Sonic with. But there was another level to it, keeping the fires burning and large. Hatred. She hated Eggman. She hated feeling like she’d had to hide. She hated missing out on everyone's lives. She hated Silver and Blaze for taking her daughter in the first place. But more than that, she hated herself.

And Eggman was going to feel it.

He fired his missiles and guns and bombs. Their explosions lighting up the room in a glorious bloom of colors and gunpowder. The detonations rocked the chamber and worked to demolish the columns alongside whatever Blaze and Silver were doing. But Amy dodged and rolled and jumped and knocked back whatever Eggman threw at her with her hammer.

Amy was bouncing off the walls, springboarding with her hammer to take a shot at Eggman’s Eggmobile, wearing it away. The damage became more visible as the machine sparked and whirred, making unhappy clicking noises. Eggman said a few things during the fight, and they might’ve started along the lines of witty banter, but it’d quickly dissolved into ‘No!’ and ‘Wait!’ and ‘Please stop!’ There might’ve even been an ‘I’m sorry!’ in there, but Amy didn’t hear any of it. There was just the slice of Metal Sonic’s hand and the blood boiling in her ears.

Amy quickly gained ground on Eggman, getting closer to him and his hideous face. Dodging one more missile from his stupid flying contraption, Amy leapt aboard the Eggmobile.

“YOU CAN TAKE ME!” Amy roared and she brought down the hammer on the console of the Eggmobile.

PIKO! SMASH!

“YOU CAN TAKE MY FRIENDS!”

PIKO! SMASH!

“YOU CAN TAKE SONIC!”

PIKO! SMASH!

“But you take our daughter…” Amy’s voice was razor sharp, the same thing that equipped Metal Sonic’s hands. She brought the Piko Hammer high over her head, shifting her weight and angle to bring it down on Eggman’s head. The doctor’s face was filled with fear, he made no move to concoct an alternate plan, no attempt to appeal to Amy’s no longer present morals. He sat there and looked up at her, ready to accept his demise.

Amy gripped her hammer tighter, ready to swing. She did not smile, this act would bring her no joy. It would not relieve her heartache nor reverse time. But it had to be done. For Sonic, for Amy, and for-

“Mommy?” A very afraid voice asked.

As Amy’s head snapped around she saw Sonic, behind him sat the remains of Metal Sonic. At least that’s what Amy assumed it was. There was a pile of scrap metal and wires that had been completely decimated. Nothing remained of the robot that could be discernible as Metal Sonic.

In Sonic’s hands was Mania. She was shaking and quivering, her body small and her eyes wide. Her dress and shirt were ripped and dirtied in places. A massive cut reddened her face from her left temple down to her cheek.

But she was alive.

“Wh-what are you doing mom?” It wasn’t rhetorical. It was an actual question. Children did that. They didn’t know about pain and suffering like Amy and Sonic did. So they asked questions in order to learn and better understand the world around them. Mania was asking what Amy was doing. If killing was something that her parents did. Whether or not it was okay to kill.

The hammer shook in Amy’s hands and Eggman’s eyes flickered between Mania and Amy. Amy looked at Sonic. There was an understanding there. The rage was gone from his eyes. He had his daughter back, so to him, this was over. His and Eggman’s ledgers were even. But still, he understood her. Her rage and anger and desire to make Eggman suffer for hurting Mania. An understanding that if Amy wanted to, Sonic would carefully turn Mania around and cover her ears and eyes so she couldn’t watch.

And then Amy would swing the hammer.

Amy breathed heavily, the hammer feeling heavier and heavier in her hands. It wanted to swing, it had to swing. She wanted so badly to put it through Eggman’s skull. Repaint its yellow parts with his blood. But in front of Mania? Now? But would Amy get another chance? Eggman had to pay for his crimes. All of them. One swift movement and the world would be better off. Tears built in Amy’s eyes and she coughed through the foam building in her mouth.

Amy raised the hammer higher.

Eggman tried to cover his head.

Sonic turned Mania away. The look in her eyes as he did…

And then Amy swung the hammer.

…
…
…

It smashed into the side of the Eggmobile and steel crumpled as the whole contraption was sent sideways spinning down to the ground. The hammer went with it, but Amy did not, falling a few feet to the floor on all fours. She screamed and wailed, her voice beginning to be drowned out as rocks continued to fall and the last of the columns crumbled.

“Sonic, Amy! We have to go!” Blaze called from somewhere on high.

Amy felt herself get picked up by Sonic, she in one arm, Mania in the other. They were swept up the stairs at supersonic speeds and flown through the castle. It was crumbling all around them, Amy felt the whiplash as Sonic had to change directions at high speeds, but she couldn’t really pay attention. She was just trying to focus on avoiding Mania’s eyes.

And then a really big rock fell.

“Shit!” Sonic exclaimed. “I don’t-we can’t get out!” Amy and Mania were set down and Amy curled herself around Mania crying softly as she felt her daughter wrap her arms around Amy. Sonic sped around, looking for exits, but Amy just curled her daughter, rocking slightly.

And then another rock fell.

It was smaller, not much to be too concerned about. But it rammed against Mania’s head and she slumped forward. Amy let out a noise, but she was tired. So tired. She just clutched Mania tighter and tried to shield her.

She felt Mania’s heartbeat. It was loud and strong. Continuing to beat and resist the end that seemed to be coming from all around them. Amy felt her and Mania get picked up by Sonic once more and just closed her eyes.

Sonic

The engineers of Castle Sol were not foolish. They knew that their princess was a high-value target and that there would be attempts made on her life at any possible moment. As such the castle was outfitted with several safe rooms. They were equipped with air and food and water that made them livable for multiple days on end before a greater rescue could come.

They were also designed with castle collapse in mind.

While few knew about the once great treasure buried under the castle, some were aware that there was a large air pocket underneath the castle. Therefore possible sinkholes could be a problem so the safe rooms were upgraded with steel reinforcement and tumble stability. So even if the castle was completely destroyed and buried, it would stay completely intact.

One of these safe rooms was now where Sonic found himself alongside his ex-lover and his daughter. As the castle had collapsed around them, Sonic had rushed him, Amy, and Mania all inside and slammed its massive reinforced door shut. The structure had then rolled twice as the building fell into the chamber of the fountain of youth. It was now mostly upright, but something had fallen on its roof, denting it in.

Inside was a series of small cabinets that held food and the air supply as well as a couple of benches. Besides that, it was a small, empty enclosed space.

Not Sonic’s forte.

Sonic breathed heavily as the room settled to a stop. He sat awkwardly clutching one of the benches. Turning his head, he noticed Amy on the floor, cradling Mania to her chest. Both of their eyes were closed and a few tears leaked down Amy’s face.

“A-are you both okay?” Sonic whispered. He didn’t know why he whispered, it just felt like the thing to do. Amy didn’t respond, but she gave a brief nod, almost undetectable. Sonic gulped slightly, not sure what to do. He had to get out of here, he had to get them all out of here!

Getting up from clutching the bench, Sonic moved towards the door blocking them from the outside world. He reached for its handle gripping it tightly and then moved to open it.

It didn’t budge.

Sonic used a little more force, but it still didn’t budge.

Sonic shoved his shoulder against the door putting his whole weight behind it. It didn’t even give a millimeter.

Sonic backed up as much as he could, spindashed forward, and put his power into forcing open the door. He bent the handle.

They weren’t going anywhere.

Sonic sat down and put his head between his knees. They couldn’t be trapped, they just couldn’t! Sonic wasn’t going to be okay in here! He could already start to feel it pound in his ears. His heart.

Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom.

This couldn’t happen now, not when he couldn’t run. Forget water, this was Sonic’s worst fear. Being stuck, unable to run, to escape, to be free. But…wouldn’t Mania be feeling this too? Why was Sonic worried about himself?! Mania must also be suffering too, he had to check on her!

Sonic stood up quickly and faced Amy, moving over to her and their daughter. “Amy! Is Mania okay?”

Amy didn’t respond.

“I know you nodded, but she could be having problems in here, we gotta get her out!”

Amy just kept holding Mania.

“Amy?” Sonic moved forward to reach for Mania.

“DON’T YOU TOUCH HER!” Amy screamed. Mania didn’t react, seemingly asleep, but Sonic shot back, falling on his butt, scrambling away from the pink hedgehog. Her face was pained and angry, twisted into a form of suffering Sonic had never seen. As soon as Sonic moved back, Amy was quiet again, holding Mania tight. Sonic sat there on the floor for a moment, watching Amy go from 100 to 0 in no time flat.

“A-Amy I know you don’t like me but- but come on! I have to know she’s okay!” Sonic tried again, reaching slower this time for Mania.

“Don’t touch her. Don’t touch her.” Amy said softer, repeating it to herself, holding Mania tighter.

“Amy don’t worry, she’s not gonna end up like you, I’ll-I’ll keep my distance, I-” Sonic swallowed, realizing he was about to make a promise that would go against what he had just proclaimed earlier today. “-I’ll stay away from her-forever, just let me know she’s okay.” Something wet was on Sonic’s face. Tears. Wh-when was the last time he cried? Years? Decades? He didn’t want to leave Mania, he didn’t want to leave Amy. But if that was best-

He would.

“Not like me. Not like me.” Amy repeated.

“I know Ames, I-”

“Like you.”

Sonic froze. What?

“What?” He asked.

And then Amy looked up. She opened her eyes and finally took in Sonic. He was battered and bruised and she was still pretty beaten up from her fight with Silver. They were shaking and nervous and trapped. But they had each other. Sonic and it seemed Amy finally realized.

“Not like me. Like you.”

“I-what?” Sonic reiterated.

“I lied Sonic, I wasn’t afraid of her becoming like me, I was afraid of her becoming like you.” Amy said softly.

“Geez Ames, I know you don’t like me that much these days, but kinda harsh?” Sonic rubbed the back of his head and gave a half laugh. Amy smiled at him. A real smile. Through her tears which began to be more abundant and the pain and bruises, she smiled at him.

“Like you? Sonic I love you.”

Oh.

“But-But I-I-I-” Sonic’s brain had officially shut down.

“Sonic you are amazing and wonderful and fantastic and incredible and terrible and destructive and so many powerfully chaotic things!” Amy looked away for a moment and thought. “Y-You’re like a hurricane. Powerful and awesome and all-consuming. It’s impossible to get away from you. Everyone can’t help but get sucked towards you to see you in all your majesty. But when we get there you chew us up and spit us out behind you. You are always looking forward, and you never see the dust you leave behind.”

Sonic looked away from Amy, feeling the shame behind the truth. He loved moving forward, seeing the next big thing. But he had seldom looked back, be with the people he helped or became friends with. He left them behind to rebuild and to wonder where he’d gone. He’d return, but just to do it all again. Just when they got back to their everyday lives, he’d waltz back in and cause destruction all over again.

“Except for your friends.” Sonic looked back up at Amy. “Those of us that are able to get close enough to you, we get to be in the eye of your storm. It’s quieter there and the destruction is lesser, but it’s still there. We still have to pick up the pieces, and it’s not like we can stop, or else we get hit by the real storm. So Tails, Rouge, Knuckles, Cream, Shadow, Everyone. Me. We have to keep up with you or else you’ll destroy us.”

Amy took a breath to stop and watch Sonic’s face, he just stared back at her, wanting, needing to know more.

“But that chase Sonic…that chase to constantly try and get to you, be with you- it’s-it’s so so lonely. It’s just me constantly watching as the person I love gets farther and farther away. I couldn’t take it anymore, I didn’t want to take it anymore. That terrible limbo of being stuck from you and your greatness. Forever left behind.” Sonic nodded and scooched away from her.

“And then-,” Sonic looked at her, her eyes so wide, so afraid. “I thought, some terrible dark part of me. My-my worst instincts thought- I might not have to.”

“Amy-” Sonic tried, reaching towards her, beginning a journey of decades that was only a few inches.

“So I ran.”

“I went and had a baby.”

“I could’ve chosen not to, had an abortion, returned.”

“But, I figured- I figured-” Sonic was moving closer to Amy, her words not as clear, she was sobbing loudly and crying out.

“-I figured if I had a baby…That-that-”

And then she bellowed pain:

“-that there was someone that would have to love me! That would stay with me! And then-” Sonic held her now, Amy, and Mania. Tight. His tears flowed together with Amy’s.

“-I’D NEVER BE ALONE AGAIN!”

Amy cried loud racking sobs, she shuddered and sniffled and wailed the agony of a life aching- praying for love and loyalty. Sonic just held her close. He didn’t say anything, just cried alongside her, and let her truth come free. They cried for a while and just held each other.

They cried in the middle of the floor in a bunker beneath the ruins of a castle.

They cried because they needed to.

This was the effect of him, the cocky, self-obsessed popular jock.

This was the effect of her, the lovestruck angel that followed him everywhere.

This was the effect of never being there for each other then. So now would have to do.

“I-I was so so selfish Sonic. I love Mania, I do! But I never thought about what she wanted! I was so scared that if I let her be her, I’d lose her, and then I’d be alone again! So I kept her here, and tried to dissuade her from running.” Sonic leaned back from Amy a little bit.

“You knew she could run?” He asked, the tears salty in his mouth.

“I’m her mother Sonic.” She gave a choked laugh through her sobs. “I know everything about her!” Sonic returned the laugh.

“But you were right, I stifled her. And now she’s here, and she’s hurt and it’s all my fault!” Sonic brought Amy’s head to his chest and stroked her quills, hushing her quietly.

“No. No! I was a terrible friend, I should’ve talked to you more, believed you! I was so so awful to everyone, especially you! I’m so sorry Amy. I’m sorry.”

They sat quietly a little longer, propped up on each other. Just being.

“We’re pretty shitty parents aren’t we?” Amy laughed a little, the tears finally slowing.

“Bottom ten at least.” Sonic laughed alongside her. Staring at her.

She was bruised and beaten. Tears streaked her face and snot dripped from her nose. And she was beautiful. He looked into her eyes, a beautiful jade he had someone not truly appreciated in all the time he’d known her.

And then Sonic kissed her.

A quiet kiss. As their lips parted there was almost no sound. Her lips were chapped and dry, but it had still been powerful and fulfilling. Like he should’ve done it decades ago.

And then she slapped him.

“What are you doing?!” She demanded.

“I-I’m sorry-I thought-” Sonic stuttered doing a double take as he rubbed his face.

“We are in a bunker a hundred feet underground. It’s dreary in here. We’re so dirty, and I don’t have any makeup on and I’ve been crying all day. I’ve been crying all week. I’ve been doing so much crying, I’ve been asking myself, ‘hey! Who the hell cries that much? It feels like no rational person cries this much!’” Sonic started to laugh as Amy ranted, her face red and a spark of joy igniting in her eyes.

“When we get out of here, you’re going to take me to a fancy restaurant. Where we’ll order appetizers and have dessert and you’ll sit and be patient the whole time! And we’ll talk about the last 10 years, 'cause I have no idea what you’ve been doing and I have to know. And then I’ll pay, because I know for sure you’re broke. And then you’ll take me home and give me one beautiful kiss under the moonlight! Got it?!”

“Got it.” Sonic managed as he laughed. Tears returned once again to his eyes, as Amy’s joyous personality finally returned and lit up the room.

And then they kissed again. More properly. More intense. More them.

And then Mania woke up screaming.

Mania

It shouldn’t be this loud. It was never this loud.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM.

Mania’s heart blasted in her ears, the sound of bombs echoing through her brain. She couldn’t think, couldn’t see. The world was white and black, flashing between the two. The side of her face hurt and Mania was pretty sure she was screaming, from the pain in her throat, but she couldn’t hear it.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM.

She had to run, had to flee, had to make it stop! She charged forward and was rewarded with more pain. She’d slammed into something hard and unyielding. She flipped around and tried another direction, she still couldn’t see but that didn’t matter, only running mattered, only making the noise of her heart stop mattered.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM.

But there was another wall, another barricade. She couldn’t go anywhere. She tried every direction she could think of but there was no escape, no where to go to make the pain of the noise stop. Mania screamed and cried and wailed. She writhed on the floor, twisting and turning, pulling on her ears, trying to tear them off.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM.

This was the end, it had to be. Mania couldn’t deal with it anymore, she had to make it stop. She would make it stop. She slammed into the wall again. It hurt. But not as much as the sound. Maybe if she rammed the wall enough, the noise would stop. Her heart would stop.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM.

That sounded good. Make it stop, make it all stop. Mania readied to smash into the hard walls again, and get it over with…forever.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM.

And then something picked her up. Mania struggled against it. Tried to pull away, but she had to do this, she wouldn’t be in pain anymore, she wouldn’t be a bother anymore. But the hands-hands-they were hands, grabbed her tight, held her from running. She didn’t want to be held down, she wanted to be free!

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM.

She tried yelling at the hands to let her go, but they just reinforced. There was a second pair now, further stopping her from escaping. The hands were strong, but the grip soft, it-it was comforting. But it wouldn’t stop her, she’d run and be done.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM.

But the hands still didn’t let go. Mania couldn’t hear but she could still feel. There was something wet damping her head. It was small but consistent, it felt…wrong. Like she should address it, but not now, she had to run now.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM.

But if she didn’t address it now, she never would. That was the nature of dying. When you died, your time to do anything was over. So Mania looked up. Through the flashing colors spotting her eyes she spotted them.

Her parents.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM.

They were crying. Why were they crying? What had Mania done now that had made them cry? Oh, Chaos she had to stop everything, she couldn’t make them hurt more. She’d hurt her mother enough and now Sonic? Her dad too? Mania was terrible. So she had to run.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM.

But then why wouldn’t they let her go? She was the source of their pain. Just let Mania go and then they’d be happy. Everyone would be happy without her. Just let her go. Let Mania go!

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM.

They were saying something now, words lost behind the sound of Mania’s own heart. She couldn’t quite make it out, she strained her ears trying to hear her parent's words.

“Please…Mania…Stop…” Amy said.

“You’re…here!” Sonic told her.

Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom.

She was trying to stop, and she did need to leave, why wouldn't they let her leave? Let them be happier without her.

“Mania, just stay with us please!” Mania’s dad said.

“Mania we love you! Hear us!” Her mother called.

But…that didn’t make sense…

Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom.

“You’re going to be okay! You’ve got us, and we’re so sorry that we left you behind!” Her dad cried.

“We love you so much, my baby girl! You are safe and you are loved! So so much!” Her mother wailed.

“But I-I don’t understand why? I’m such a nuisance, I ruin everything and make your lives harder. I’m so sorry I couldn’t be perfect for you mom, I can’t be free like you dad!” Mania looked into her parent's eyes and saw fear and shame and love and horror. A mix that was Mania’s worst nightmare, that told her that she was the worst daughter ever.

Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom.

And then they hugged her tight. They held her so close, that she could actually hear their heartbeats alongside her own.

“I’m so sorry baby! I’m so so sorry for putting all of that pressure on you! You don’t have to try to be perfect and you don’t have to be free like your dad!” Mania’s mom said holding her daughter’s head to her chest.

“Sweetie, you shouldn’t have to feel like you have to live to our expectations, you are wonderful by being you! You don’t have to change yourself to try to be seen by those you love.” Mania’s dad rubbed her back.

“Mania my love, I tell you that you are perfect not because I think you’re going to become some quiet reserved daughter. I tell you that you are perfect because you are perfect just by being who you are. I love that you run and I love that you like my dresses, no part of yourself should have to be hidden for you to be happy. You show me how perfect you are every day of my life by living yours-your way! And we are extraordinarily lucky to have you as our daughter!”

Mania was crying loudly now, holding tight to her parents, feeling a weight she’d carried for years begin to finally lessen. It was still shouldered by her, but now she had help.

“So please Mania, please!” Her mother began to whisper into her ear. “For now- just for now. Stay.”

The family held each other tight. They were alone, but just enough together.

“Okay.” And Mania didn’t even notice she couldn’t hear the thundering of her heart.

Chapter Text

She cried and cried. She stood at the altar sobbing and weeping trying to get her vows out as the rest of the wedding party watched with small smiles and a touch of impatience. Her dress was starting to get ruined as the tears flowed and her makeup was beyond ruin. Snot was beginning to run from her nose and she was waving at her face to try to make the tears stop.

“Hey. How much longer do you think this is gonna be?” Sonic leaned over to Amy.

“Oh, hush you.” Amy batted at him from her seat as she tried to watch her daughter get married through her own tears.

“At this rate, we’ll get to the reception by nightfall.” Sonic whispered into Amy’s ear. Amy rolled her eyes.

After 2 days, the bunker had been pulled from the rubble, buried deep under the remains of the castle. Tails, Cream, Knuckles, Rouge, and Honey all had expected to find the hedgehog family at each other’s throats, but instead they’d been talking. Sonic and Amy had spent the time eating and sleeping, telling Mania all of their adventures in great detail. The ups and downs and in-betweens that had gotten them to this point. It had been a serious bonding moment for the family.

They’d all sought therapy immediately after.

At the behest of one Shadow the Hedgehog, the family had engaged in family therapy with a rather nice rat. Dr. Walters was a nice enough guy, but it probably was a bit much at first for him to try and dissect a decades+ worth of self-doubt, loneliness, expectations, ego, and various other personal issues.

But the hedgehog family was dedicated, they wanted to make it work and all be together. Not because they felt they had to, but because they had already been apart, and that had proven to be far worse. And so little by little they’d learned more about each other and how to be around each other.

It started with a move back to Amy’s old house near Spiral Village. Amy had been in Tropiana for a long time and Mania had been forced to live there stuck in that tiny town alongside her. Mania was eager to see the world beyond. It had been a major change for Mania, there were more people, more things to do, and different kinds of experiences.

School was especially tricky at first. Mania had irregularly attended school at Port Shell and now was going five days a week for seven hours with a more advanced curriculum and a lot more students. There were days when Amy would receive calls from the principal saying Mania ran away or was crying loudly in a corner. It was hard, and she just wanted to pull her little girl out sometimes, but she knew school would be good for her. Make friends, learn more about the world, and engage.

What’s worse though, was that she had to learn to be the one not to go. Amy would call up Sonic instead. She’d tell him the situation, and he’d rush to the school. Sonic would tell her to chip up, that things would be okay, and that it was okay that she was scared or nervous. And Amy would then just sit at home. Alone.

They were all learning to move out of their comfort zones. Mania was more assertive and tried things she liked. Amy heard about soccer practices and drama club and how Mania was starting to excel in history. But Amy couldn’t be there for that. Amy’s task was learning to let go. She had to sit on the sidelines now and watch as Mania continued to go on and live her life, her way.

It was really tough for her and often came up in the sessions with Dr.Walters. Amy would try to pass it off as not a big deal, that her needs weren’t as important as Mania’s or Sonic’s, and that she would be just fine. But something about the gaze of Dr. Walters or how Sonic and Mania held her hands, Amy would always break down about feeling alone.

Sonic and Mania would consult her and tell Amy that they’d be there for her, and she knew that they would. But. But Amy knew she had to work on being okay being alone. There were nights when Sonic was running around and Mania was at someone from school’s house for a sleepover and Amy would climb into bed. She’d shut off the light. And then she’d have to be able to go to sleep alone.

Sonic’s life as less of an asshole was also in progress. Mania had told Amy that she was nervous about complementing her dad because she didn’t know if it would make him feel like he was being a good dad, or just inflating his ego. Amy had laughed at that and told Mania that it’d probably do both and there wasn’t much that could be done about that.

Sonic was working more on looking back, trying to see what he was doing more and if he made a mistake, working to correct it. Trying to learn that he was not, in fact, the center of the universe.

“If everyone knows I’m the coolest…why not just let me win?!” He’d say to the therapist.

“Coolness is not a factor in chess Mr. Hedgehog. Being the coolest does not determine your victory in all aspects of your life. You cannot be the best chess player by it, and you cannot be the best father by it.” Dr. Walters would say.

It was a work in progress, but it was a welcome surprise when Sonic was there for Mania’s soccer games and her debate team victories, to hang up her report card, and hold her when Jeremy didn’t like her back. Amy had had to restrain him from strangling the young dog after that.
And then somehow, time ticked on.

Years began to slip past the hedgehog family one after another. Sonic and Amy watched as Mania grew and grew and grew into a beautiful and successful young woman. They watched as she crawled through school, then walked through the school, then ran through school. Sometimes literally, much to the chagrin of the principal. Before they knew it, Mania was graduating high school.

She had been very frustrated at the time, scared of losing her friends, Garth and Zack, and Typhoon, and Lena, and Marie, and a billion other names that had come through Amy’s house at a slow trickle as soon as She and Mania had moved to Spiral Village. But more than that Mania had been frustrated that she had lost valedictorian to Ally the Cat. Who Sonic and Amy vigorously nodded that did not deserve valedictorians, even though she played two sports, had straight A’s did weekly community service, participated in a handful of clubs, and received a job offer at TailsTech for her rocketry design. But Mania was captain of the debate team, so Sonic and Amy had decided not to argue with her.

And then Mania had gone off to college…

Without Amy.

That had been really tough. Watching her pack up her room that had been a home for another 8 years of the her girl’s life and going to Central City University to get a degree had been hard. Amy had started out by calling three times a day trying to get info on every single thing her daughter did. Then she weened down to two, then one, then calling every other day, then just once a week. It had been like torture. But there had been someone to help.

On the day Mania moved out, Amy had been crying into a wine glass when the door rang. She’d answered it to find Sonic the Hedgehog standing outside her door with a single box of junk.

“I hear you’ve got an open room.” He’d said.

Right after leaving Tropiana, Amy and Sonic had tried dating, but they still weren’t really in the same place and they both decided that working on raising Mania was more important than their relationship. But then Mania moved out, and Sonic moved in.

At first, Sonic had definitely just been a bit of a freeloader, eating Amy’s food, and sleeping in her house. Essentially taking up space. It had been frustrating, but then Amy had simply asked. And Sonic apologized. Just like that. And things, still slow, began to change. She’d cook and he’d clean. He’d take out the trash and she’d buy groceries. And then they began to cook and clean together, buy groceries together, go to the park together and this local cafe together.

They’d started to date, for real. It had been nice and sweet, and more real. Just talks about each other and Mania, the news and their interests. There was nothing incredibly romantic about it, but Amy hadn’t also felt alone, and Sonic hadn’t felt trapped.

They’d never ended up getting married. The lack of a ring on Amy’s finger as Mania still worked through her vows was proof of that. It just wasn’t in the cards, at least not yet. Sonic was still too much of a free spirit, and Amy still was a little nervous around the guy for leaving her. It may have been 15 years since they left Tropiana, but trust was slow, and for once, Amy and the fastest thing alive were okay with that.

But one night after dinner that Sonic had ended up cooking horrendously, Sonic had decided to leave his room and knocked on Amy’s. She’d let him in. And he’d never slept in Mania’s room again. There were still nights where Amy slept alone, Sonic out somewhere, running around, adventuring. Amy would have to climb into bed alone. But sometimes he’d surprise her and himself too.

Amy would climb into bed, and he’d already be there.

“Didn’t expect you here tonight, I thought there was a meteor shower over the southern hemisphere?” Amy had said, trying to cover herself with her bathrobe.

“Dunno, just wanted to be here instead.” He’d simply replied.

Or Amy would go to sleep alone and wake up with her favorite blue hedgehog’s arms around her. It would never be what Young Amy imagined her life with Sonic would be, but all things considered, it was pretty darn good.

And then Mania would come home for the holidays. And she’d bring…someone with her. It started with a friend, Mora or Wasp or Striker, but then they’d go up to Mania’s room after dinner and there was…giggling. Giggling that had Amy holding Sonic’s arm so he wouldn’t storm up there and toss whatever college student was in Mania’s room out the window.

The student or otherwise never made it to the end of the holiday, run out of Amy’s house by one over-protective blue hedgehog. There were arguments after that, the words ‘hate you’ and ‘live in our house’ thrown around a lot between father and daughter, but Amy was just happy to have them all together again. And by the time the evening rolled around, the group of three would find themselves on Amy’s couch, Mania nestled between her and Sonic. A movie would play and things would be forgiven.

Mania graduated from Central City University with a degree in Ecology. After waffling around a little bit trying to find what suited her, before calling back to her roots on Tropiana and the days running through the forests. She’d wanted to get back to that and learned to understand it more.

From there she wanted to go to grad school and get her doctorate in the subject but took a gap year to try and get some more personal experience in the subject. So she visited her birthplace with its verdant jungles and diverse wildlife. While in Tropiana Mania ended up spending a lot of time with her kidnappers, Tangle and Whisper. The couple had advanced knowledge of the jungle’s ecosystem and Mania learned a lot from them. She became their apprentice as the two had become wildlife protectors and took Mania under their wings.

Well, Mania and Natalie the Tenrec.

Natalie was a beautiful young Tenrec that was a year ahead of Mania and doing an internship with Tangle and Whisper for her doctorate in botany over at Tropiana Institute of Science. Natalie was a big outdoors woman and soft-spoken. She thrived in nature and struggled a little in social situations but understood them as a necessary evil. And she was a big fan of chili dogs.

On the first night Mania knew Natalie, Amy and Sonic received a call:

“Mom, Dad? I’m in love.” And then she’d hung up. Amy pulled Sonic from getting his water running shoes on.

It had been a bit of a shock to hear their daughter so adamant about liking someone, considering any previous encounters had been flings and by that, Sonic had flung them out the window. But Sonic had actually laughed at one point, calling Mania, ‘like mother, like daughter.’

Coincidentally, following Mania’s gap year, she ended up applying to T.I.S. and got in. Amy and Sonic offered to help pay for housing, but apparently, Mania had it all figured out already.

Imagine that.

Amy was of course, ecstatic for her daughter to be somewhere she loved, with someone she loved, doing what she loved. She just wished she was a little closer.

And that’s how Amy ended up moving back to the tiny island nation again. She of course notified everyone of the move this time around and a few people decided to follow her surprisingly enough. Sonic was right on her heels.

Not for any reason, in particular, he just felt like it.

Of course.

But a little bit more of a surprise had been Rouge and Knuckles. The two had decided to take them and their 4 kids, with a fifth now on the way as Amy turned in her seat to see the kids jumping about. They’d moved to Tropiana with Amy, deciding that the isolation of Angel Island was a bit much for three active echidnas and a bat. Amy smiled as Troy, their oldest tried to wrangle his siblings into their seats.

Troy had been born in Tropiana as Tatiana. But a couple of years ago, he knew that he was in fact a he and worked to make the transition. It had been very nerve-wracking for him to go in front of his steadily increasing family and tell them that he was Troy. But Rouge and Knuckles had been very supportive and held their son tight, telling him that he would always be their child to love.

Troy had walked away from that feeling lighter and more free to be himself. And then Knuckles and Rouge had quiet as a mouse, left the room, and went to their bedroom. And Rouge had danced around Knuckles chanting:

“I told you so! I told you so! Neener neener neeeeener!”

Mania had been a little peeved at her parent's decision to uproot their lives to helicopter over her life, but Natalie had thought it was sweet.

Amy liked Natalie.

As graduate school advanced for Mania and Natalie, Amy would invite the two over to her house to chat and talk and learn how things were going. Meanwhile Sonic would sit on the couch, hands crossed grumpily as Natalie made herself at home per Amy’s request.

And then Natalie talked about how she’d run track in high school, and Sonic uncrossed his arms a little bit.

It was a bit of a winding road from there, Amy and Sonic would receive loud late-night panicked phone calls as Mania and Natalie worked on their thesis together. Amy and Sonic met Natalie’s father Oliver, who was a lot louder than his quiet daughter, but had a big laugh and could bake a mean souffle. Mania and Natalie graduated again and tears of joy were shed throughout Amy and Sonic’s house.

Mania and Natalie then went on to take over Tangle and Whisper’s jobs and worked to create the Tropiana wildlife and nature preserve that spanned most of the jungle of the island, where together they ran it. In more ways than one.

Tangle and Whisper weren’t all that upset about their jobs being upended as they had been given their old jobs back as bodyguards, to the new prince Spark.

The young purple hedgehog bared a striking resemblance to his father Silver, just with Blaze’s fur coloration. But he had a bit of a pyromaniacal streak in him so the bodyguards were necessary for all parties. And besides Tangle and Whisper loved him. Silver and Blaze had had their child come in multiple times to their room proclaiming that he would overthrow the hierarchy and reclaim his rightful place.

Even though he was next in line for the throne.

Silver and Blaze went back and forth about keeping Tangle and Whisper on the payroll.

Queen Blaze now ruled Tropiana over its previous princess. She was fair and kind to all people and now mysteriously was able to do more acts to help her people. It probably had nothing to do with the long-tailed stranger and the rifle-toting accomplice that invaded the homes of various billionaires that were taking up Tropiana’s resources.

Queen Blaze and Silver worked together to rule the island, trying to divide up tasks between each other while also caring for each other. Tangle and Whisper were still not huge fans of Blaze and Sonic and Amy had a bit of an ax to grind with Silver, so the royal couple trusted in each other.

There were some issues with Silver marrying Blaze a decade back, some snooty royals taking offense at the idea of an immigrant marrying into royal blood. But the couple had the people’s support as there was massive support in fact for Silver that actually worked to bring legitimacy to Blaze. It helped her so much, they probably should’ve announced they were a couple sooner.

Blaze and Silver even had time to come to Mania’s and Natalie’s wedding. They brought a selection of massive wedding gifts, another in a long line of apologies for grand theft daughter. They looked over at Amy sheepishly from their seats as their five-year-old son was held down from starting fires by Tangle and Whisper.

To Amy’s right were Honey, Tails, Cream, Nix, and Junior. After the castle collapsed and Sonic, Amy, and Mania were found Tails and Cream jumped right back into their relationship. It was pretty sweet how it seemed like they never left.

The couple did mention how at first there was a lot of walking around eggshells around one another. A lot of:

“Is it okay if I go to the store for milk?” And-

“Would you like a hug after that scary movie?”

But the fox and rabbit quickly figured out their grove again, working diligently on their separate projects. But doing it-together. TailsTech was continuing to expand and grow larger, becoming a world-known tech company ranging from aeronautics(of course) to bioengineering. That last endeavor was a joint task with one Dr. Cream Prower. Cream was working on curing Alzheimer's as part of the Vanilla Foundation. A non-profit of Cream’s creation that was in the name of her mother, who died 11 years ago, right after Tails and Cream’s wedding.

It had been really tough on Cream having to bury her mother, and everyone took it hard trying to be there for her and do what they could. And while everyone had to go at some point to their own lives, Miles never did. He made Cream his life.

As TailsTech expanded they needed new logos and equipment and all kinds of special protective equipment and clothing.

Tails had designed the clothing.

But Honey designed how the clothing looked.

After innumerous phone calls and emails to the inventor, Tails had finally given in and Honey had finally had her shot making the look and feel of various kinds of gloves, suits and helmets for Tails’ employees to wear. And Tails had been surprised how much he liked the look of Honey’s designs.

From there the cat had branched out, starting her own clothing line and working to make a name for herself. There was always Honey’s boutique in Port Shell where Amy had moved back to and ran as its manager now. But Amy had been excited to find one of Honey’s designs at the local clothing store too.

Tails and Cream had tried for a while to have kids, but it had been for naught. A test determined that whatever gave Tails his extra tail also ended up making him sterile. That had been hard on the couple for a while, a lot of late nights alone in a big house that Tails and Cream had bought to fill with kids and memories.

And then they decided to consider adoption. That had caused even more late nights. But this time they were filled with phone calls and applications and proof of sustainability and ability to care for children.

And then finally four years ago they were given a shot at Danny Winchester Jr. The infant wolf was pure white furred and a very lively little baby. His mother was dead and his father had…issues. Tails and Cream were so excited to be able to have Danny but even though he was barely a few months old, he came with baggage. Namely his 4-year-old sister Nix. The black-furred little wolf girl had had to watch as her mother had died in childbirth with Danny and dealt with her father Daniel who drank and did…something…to Nix that Tails and Cream were trying to help her open up about and move past.

While they were given the option to just have Danny, after hearing her story, they more than wanted Nix too. After another year of social workers, paperwork and changing Danny’s name to just be Junior as Nix had said she liked that name, Tails, and Cream had a wonderful and more importantly healthy and happy daughter and son.

Amy smiled as she looked over at the 8-year-old wolf girl trying to keep her little brother off her as she tried to listen to Mania babble through her vows. Amy watched as the parents of the wolf siblings wrenched apart the two and had them sit quietly. Tails and Cream looked more tired than ever, still being rather new at the parenting thing, but they also looked the happiest Amy had seen them.

Mania finally got through her wedding vows a lot more dehydrated and the priest continued on, coughing a little bit in confusion at the now damp floor beneath him. The only other person that was crying as much as Mania was Shadow the Hedgehog.

He sat beside Sonic and the blue hedgehog comforted the black one as he spilled waterworks and cried loudly.

“It’s okay buddy, it’s fine.”

“I-It’s just such a beautiful momeeheehent!” Wailed Shadow. Sonic patted the ultimate lifeform on the back as he cried.

“Ugh, can’t you pull yourself together dad?” Said Ivo Robotnik.

When the remains of Castle Sol were excavated a human newborn was found at its lowest level. The only possibility being that it was a youthened Eggman left a lot of questions in the minds of the heroes on what to do with him.

While his crimes remained, the fact that he was now a child made it a struggle for Sonic and co to jail him. With no one seemingly knowing what to do, Shadow had stepped up. He’d taken in the human baby and raised him as his own.

While Sonic was still nervous around the now 15-year-old former mad genius, most had to agree that there was a change. Ivo apparently had no memory of his former life and that coupled with Shadow’s technique of raising him with love, support, patience, and tolerance allowed for a much different genius to grow.

There was still the occasional word about taking over the world that slipped from the teen’s mouth, but a swift talking to about people and being accepting of others made Ivo see the world in a more warm light.

And so that brought them all here, 15 years later to watch Mania get married.

“Do you Natalie the Tenrec take Mania Rose the Hedgehog to be your lawfully wedded wife for richer or poorer?”

“I do.”

“And do you Mania Rose the Hedgehog take Natalie the Tenrec to be your lawfully wedded wife through sickness and in health?”

There was some more crying. Shadow and Mania chorused for a moment.

“I-I d-d-dooo!”

“Then by the power vested in me by the island of Tropiana-” Blaze gave a light nod from her seat, “-I pronounce you wife and wife, you may kiss the bride.”

Every seat emptied as the whole wedding party got up and cheered for the happy couple as they kissed deeply for the first time as wife and wife. Amy felt more tears leak from her own eyes as Sonic leaned over to her.

“Do you wanna tell ‘em now or after the reception?” He asked. Amy elbowed him a little.

“Nooo we don’t want to rob them of their moment, and besides I’m already so old, they won't believe me.”

“Whaaat? You’re only 29, of course, they'll believe you.” Sonic gave her a smile as he clapped absentmindedly for his daughter.

“I’m 42 Sonic and you're 45, old man.” Sonic held a hand over his chest in mock hurt.

“Do you think they’ll be like me or you?” He leaned close to Amy’s face. She held her stomach.

“Well, you heard what the doctor said about their heart.” Amy smiled at Sonic, and he smiled back.

“Yeah, he said our baby’s heart thunders.”

THE END.