Chapter Text
Nicky just wanted to live. He wanted to just go to school, go home and take care of his younger siblings, and sleep. He just wanted a repetitive life, but no, he just HAD to go and be born with chaos energy. It made no sense! Why him? Why did he of all people have to be born with something that can take him away from the normal life he wanted to live? The young hedgehog signed as he buried his face deep in his pillow, the dim light from the lamp beside him casting long shadows across the cluttered bedroom.
“Y’know, if it didn’t awaken at that time, me and Tania would be dead, right?” Miles’ voice broke through the dense silence of the room. Nicky’s little brother lazily spun in a swivel seat at the small, worn desk across the bedroom. “I’d be pretty thankful!”
Nicky lifted his head enough to peer at his brother, his quills matted and messy. “I know…” he groaned, rubbing his hands over his face, “It's just– what do they even do to kids in those chaos programs? I’ll be taken away and they’ll do–” he shifted in his spot, sitting up and leaning on the wall, “Who knows what! Tests? Weird science-y type stuff? They’ll take me away from everything I know and hurt me, that’s what I bet!”
Miles hopped off of the chair, sighing as he sauntered over to the bed and sat down next to his brother, avoiding eye contact. “You’re overthinking it.” His voice was confident, unbothered, even. Yet, Nicky could still sense the small amounts of anxiety in his brother, or maybe that was just him projecting. “Besides, you could always just- I don’t know, keep it a secret?”
The hedgehog chuckled, patting the head of the kit as his eyes focused on the window, where the last bits of daylight bled out of the sky. He imagined the cliffs and forest he and his siblings hung around that day. He remembered walking over to a bushy area, picnic basket in hand as Tania and Miles ran up ahead. He remembered them running really far, barely able to catch up to them. He remembered Tania's giggles turning into screams, and Miles yelling not soon after.
“The wind felt nice.” He weakly said.
Miles nodded, adjusting his posture and moving his tails to be cushions against the wall. “I bet, Mr. Super-Sonic Racer.” He chuckled, “I think keeping it under wraps would be pretty easy. It’s not like anyone saw you zoom across multiple meters of land at record speeds.”
Nicky simply nodded, choosing to stay silent. Keeping it a secret, huh? The world tended to have a way of pulling secrets out at the most inconvenient times, but he guessed he could try his best for now. Come to think of it, it was almost like his superhero comics! A guy trying to live normally while holding immense amounts of power, at least Nicky could finally relate to something in those stories. Minus the whole hero thing. He did NOT want to make his life any more dangerous than it already had become that day.
Maybe Miles was right. He could just pretend.
The moment stretched on, no sounds but the breathing of the brothers and the clock ticking.
Suddenly, the silence is broken by footsteps in the hallway and the door creaking open. Slowly, the duo's mother, Brenda, peered into the room, “Miles, there you are!” She adjusted the curlers in her bangs, leaning into the bedroom.
The two looked at her before looking back at each other. They remained silent, the stress of today still lingering in the air.
Their mother sighed, “I know you boys had a busy day today, Tania told me it was very hectic, but wouldn’t tell me much else,” She opened the door wider, leaning against the frame, “So I’m assuming you kids got into a bit of trouble?”
Nicky quickly nodded his head, “No– uh, don’t worry about it! There were just a lot of animals in, ah, the forest– so… uhm… yeah…” He leaned further into his bed. Miles looked over at him, raising a brow.
“Oh, really now?” The mother chuckled, “Well, whatever you did, at least you aren’t hurt. Anyways, it’s bedtime, so Miles, go to your room.”
“Aw man… goodnight, Nicky…” The fox slowly got off of the bed, walked toward the door, and stopped next to his mother. She smiled at him before turning back to Nicky.
“And Nicky–” She walked over to the bed, leaning down to meet her son's eyes, “Remember, you have to take off your glasses before you pass out. I can’t have you going to school with broken frames again.” She reached for his glasses and placed them on the cluttered nightstand, dusting it off a bit.
“I know– I know… sorry..”
“Don’t apologize, it isn’t your fault,” She stood back up, patting his head. “You know– you get that forgetfulness from me.” She giggled a bit before smoothing out her robe and walking back to the door, where Miles still stood. “Now, c'mon– it’s bedtime. You both have school tomorrow” She said, ushering her younger son, “Goodnight, Nicky.”
“Night mom,” He jumped off of his bed and stretched, “Night little buddy, see ya’ tomorrow.” He waved at his brother, smiling as his mother closed the door.
And now he was alone with his thoughts. He looked around the room, looking to see if any of the clothes on the floor could be reused for the next day. He knew that was a bit unhealthy, but it’s not like he wanted to wear whatever summer clothes were in his closet. He already wore all the things he was comfortable in, and it was a bit too late to do laundry. He took his red sweater off and placed it over the back of a chair, settling to just wear it again.
He walked over to his bed, turning the bedside lamp off and jumped into his blankets. He turned over to stare at his ceiling, trying to clear his mind. Closing his eyes, he tried–tried- to imagine just how his life could continue like usual. He thought about his relationship with his friends. Amy, Knuckles… Just what would they think? Knuckles always had a sense for weird things, would he figure out as soon as Nicky entered the school? Would Amy think of him as a freak? The fact that the boy she knew for so long was full of something that was a danger to those around, all without her knowing. Would they tell on him? Report him to whatever organizations studied the energy? Give him up as a test subject? Oh, Nicky swore he could just hear the explosions of whatever facility he’d be trapped in. The loud crashing of glass and buildings, people screaming and running away from him as he slowly turned into a monster.
He wasn’t a normal boy anymore, and that was horrifying.
He couldn’t take the sounds anymore. He opened his eyes and jolted up, aggressively scratching his quills.
“ATTENTION ARICI TOWN!”
The screams didn’t stop.
“I, DR. ROBOTNIK, GIVE YOU ALL THE PLEASURE OF BEING THE FIRST STEP FOR MY UPBRINGING! I APOLOGIZE FOR WAKING YOU UP, AND I UNDERSTAND THIS IS ALL SUDDEN, BUT INSURE YOUR LIMBS ARE KEPT CLOSE TO YOUR BODY, AND BRACE FOR YOUR NEW BEGINNING! HAHAHAHA!”
A shrewd, booming voice followed by the screams of his neighbors echoed throughout Nicky’s shaking bedroom. The hedgehog attempted to get off his bed easily as he reached for his glasses, only to tumble straight off onto the ground. He slowly lifted his head from the ground as he stared out his window. Though blurry, he could see the once darkened sky light up.
He heard the voice of his family echo throughout the hallways. His sister’s voice, panicked and tired, asking his father something, and him reassuring her. Nicky slowly lifted his body off of the ground, his legs trembling as he stood up. Gaia, he jinxed this with his thinking, didn’t he? He almost fell over, catching himself on his bed frame. The whole world seemed to spin. He didn’t know what was happening– the entire house was shaking and creaking and he and his family were still inside. Not only was he and his family caught in the middle of this, but his neighbors too. Didn’t one of Amy’s friends live here too? Oh, poor Amy. She was going to go to school tomorrow with two of her friends gone, wasn’t she? Knuckles would walk into band class and sit somewhere, expecting his pal to sit right next to him right before the bell rang.
“Brenda!” The voice of his father cut through his thoughts, “Get the kids into the backyard, I’ll get Nicky!”
Nicky looked up at his door with hope as it opened, preparing to run straight into his dads arms, only for that hope to disappear as soon as it came. He looked into his dads eyes in fear as the roof began to come down, releasing his grip from the bedframe and reaching out toward his father as the floor and ceiling collapsed. He reached and reached out, trying to leap into his fathers extended arms–
“NICHOLAS!”
…
But he fell.
He curled into a ball, bracing himself for his inevitable doom.
This was it.
At Least Miles made it out. His little buddy,
At least Tania was ok. She was with mom, they were going to be safe.
He was good as gone– wait a second.
Nicky didn’t feel any pain.
Why didn’t he feel any pain?
He slowly uncurled himself, looking around.
He was in what seemed to be whatever was left of his bedroom, though encased in a wall of rubble and dust. A subtle, blue glow illuminated the area. Nicky could feel his heart rate pick up, but it wasn’t completely from the fear. He felt hope.
He felt confidence and hope.
The boy quickly assessed the situation. Rubble all over the ground, right. He could get hurt worse than he already probably is. He looked around the area once more, locating a pair of shoes in his reach. He quickly put them on– though damaged– he assumed they’d protect him from anything on the ground. He looked around to see if he could find one of his sweaters, but no luck. Oh well– it wasn’t like anyone was going to judge a teen trapped under rubble for not wearing anything but his scrunched up socks and shoes– especially in this town. Shame for his glasses, though. For some reason though, the world didn’t seem as blurry. Strange.
Ok, got the whole safety from cuts in check. Now, to figure out a way to get out of– wait.
Where did the blue glow come from…
He looked around, not seeing anything of interest, before looking down at himself.
His quills were glowing an electrical blue.
Was this…
He laughed. Despite being trapped and separated from his family– he laughed. His chaos energy, the very thing he had been fearing all day, had saved him. Wasn’t that just lovely.
Then he got thinking. The reason he could see clearly, the energy must’ve enhanced his vision. Same with his endurance– he wasn’t hurt from the collapse.
So if the chaos energy enhanced both his endurance and vision, then maybe…
He zoomed over to a piece of the collapsed home, pushing it away with all his might–
And it fell down. The space wasn’t that big, but it was big enough for him to crawl through. He’d be free– he could go back with his family, he’d be safe, and he could protect them–
Suddenly, a giant hand had grabbed the mass of rubble he had been within– and he was back in the dark for just a moment before being blinded by the bright gleam shining off of the giant mechanical beast in front of him. He was lying in the palm of it’s hand.
“Ah… my machines sensed a large spike of energy over here– and to think it was just some child! Haha!” A voice shrieked through the loudspeakers on the machines, causing Nicky to cover his ears. “Now, don’t get me wrong, little boy–” The hedgehog winced a tad as the speakers squeaked every time the man spoke, “You yourself show no use to me… but that energy that's flowing through you… why don’t you join the Eggman Empire.”
He trembled as he stood up in the palm of the robot, regaining his balance slowly and looking up at the visor. “Hah! As if, Egghead.”
Where did that come from?
“You think just because you destroyed an entire town I’m afraid of you?”
Yes. He was very much afraid. What is he saying?
“And what type of name is that? ‘Eggman Empire?’ Please–” He crossed his arms, leaning forward, “Didn’t you call yourself ‘Robotnik’ earlier? You trying to build a theme park, Eggy?”
He could hear the agitated grumbles of the man inside the robot. “Maybe you’ll change your mind after I DEMOLISH YOU!” A rocket suddenly came from one of the shoulder canons on the mech, heading towards the hand the hedgehog stood in.
Time seemed to slow down. Nicky looked up at the rocket, eyes widening before immediately closing tightly. But he never felt the impact. He just felt…
The wind.
The wind flowing through his now bright blue quills.
He opened his eyes to find himself at the launcher on the shoulder of the robot, looking down at the hand he once stood in. Somehow, he ran up the arms of the mech, as if it was instinct. He laughed again. He didn’t know if it was the adrenaline or if he was just crazy, but he laughed again. Again and again until time seemed to pick back up again, watching as the rocket crashed into the hand of the machine. He could hear the man inside yell some profanities, but he didn’t care. He wasn’t thinking at this point.
He wasn’t thinking as he curled up and spun into one of the launchers. He wasn’t thinking as he somehow dashed over the robot's circular head and kicked the other. And he definitely wasn’t thinking as he stood on top of the machine and crashed into the glass of the visor.
Inside of the machine stood a man at a panel, staring in shock as the boy ran toward him in a flash and destroyed everything in the room in a blue blur of a ball. He grinned as he went back to the glass and turned back toward the man, immobilized by shock.
“Have a nice fall!” He giggled before jumping out of the machine, somehow turning mid air and spinning into a ball once again, hitting the robot square in the center. He jumped on the ground as it fell, standing back up as everything crashed behind him.
The blue hedgehog turned around, smiling with his mouth agape as if he didn’t just endanger himself more than he ever thought possible. He punched the air as he giggled, ending it off with a cheer.
His mom always told him to never be afraid of something he hadn’t tried, and man! Was she right!
His–
His mom.
Nickys mom.
Oh shoot– He turned back around to face his home, only to be bombarded by cameras and microphones in his face.
“Excuse me– was it you who just brought down that mech–”
“Pardon, but did you just–”
“How did you pull off that move–”
“Everything around you is–”
He was overwhelmed with questions, looking all around him, seeing nothing but the cameras and a few ambulance lights. He could feel his composure beginning to break– yet for some reason, he remained still. Usually, he’d be shaking at this happening, but he kept remembering something in his experience.
The wind felt nice.
He had talked about that with Miles earlier today, oh, how he hoped he was ok.
What was it his little brother called him when he mentioned it?
“Just who are you?” Someone with a camera had asked. Jeez, how come these guys aren’t as scuffed up as everyone else here?
The young boy chuckled.
What was it Miles called him?
“Call me Sonic! Sonic the Hedgehog!” He exclaimed before running off– running away from all those people.
They called after him– for Sonic– but he didn’t listen, he just ran for a hill, ignoring all the calls of the people around.
He finally stopped, resting on the ground a bit before looking outward toward his destroyed town. It seemed like only the area around his home was destroyed– a few houses and bigger buildings, but other than that, the most damage seemed to be fire, and of course, there were people for that.
Now for the more important matter.
Sonic searched and searched– before he finally spotted it.
Two yellow tails, sitting in the back of a fire truck, wrapped around in a little blanket. Next to that, a tall figure with browner quills comforting him. His mother and brother. Next to them, his sister. And next to her– his father conversing with an officer.
His family was ok– and he would make sure they knew he was ok.
Sonic ran. He ran and ran– but was growing tired. Did he burn out his energy? He breathed heavily– stopping about a few 20 or 40 feet from where his family was, but hid between piles of steel and walls. He could feel his chaos energy slowly deteriorating– his bright blue slowly fading back into a navy. His quills were a mess– way worse then when he first began fighting. He probably looked nothing like the ‘Sonic’ that the cameras saw now.
And he was fine with that.
Nicky ran over to his family, at a normal speed.
He tripped over his legs a bit, but continued to run, calling out for his brother and reaching his hands out.
“Miles!”
The family turned around, his mother covering her mouth and his father’s eyes widening. Tania gasped– but called back out at her brother.
Miles simply sat in the truck for second, staring out at his brother before tears began to swell in his eyes and he threw the blanket behind him, jumping out of the truck, ignoring their mothers calls.
“Nicky!” The fox ran toward his brother, arms wide open.
And as soon as they reached each other, Nicky scooped up his younger brother and span him around as they embraced, laughing.
They laughed and cried.
Nicky sobbed as he held his brother “We’re ok. We’re ok.”
Miles grasped onto Nicky, giggling. “We are…” He pushed his brother back, “But– Nicky– That blue blur that attacked that–”
Nicky put his hand in front of his little brother, interrupting him, “You mean Mr. Super Sonic Racer up there?”
Both boys stayed silent for a second before bursting into laughter. Their father walked toward them slowly, smiling as the brothers had their moment. He called out for the boys, and they walked toward him, Miles holding onto his brother's arm.
He’d be ok.
Sonic would be ok.
Nicky would be ok.