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Sonic had a very important mission, one he could not mess up. One that could get him into a lot of trouble if he messed up.
What was this mission, you may ask?
Simple; he needed to keep Knuckles and Tails out of the house long enough to get the hole in the wall fixed.
While the Echidna warrior didn’t mean any harm, he kept scaring off the contractors before they could finish the job.
In his defense, Knuckles genuinely thought he was protecting the house from the workers’ “tools of destruction”, but Sonic had been able to tell Maddie’s patience was wearing thin, which wasn’t good for anybody.
So he heroically volunteered to take his new friends out to explore the town while the contractors hopefully fixed the side of their house.
Though it had been a month or so since Robotnik’s attack, the main road in town was still under construction, and Sonic noticed how guilty Knuckles looked every time they passed by the road.
He seemed to blame himself for the destruction caused, no matter how many times Sonic or Tails reassured Knuckles, so the blue hedgehog hoped that by avoiding the damaged road, he’d be able to avoid any potential pity parties.
He introduced them to the ice cream shop—his personal favorite—the donut place that Tom always stopped by, and the school he luckily didn’t have to go to (homeschool for the win!)
The park seemed to be a big hit, and Sonic grinned as Knuckles swung, lost balance, and face-planted in the sand while Tails zipped down the slides.
“What does this do?” Knuckles asked as he brushed the sand out of his fur, nodding towards the see-saw (also known as a teeter-totter).
“Here, sit on this side,” Sonic pointed at one seat, waiting until Knuckles had sat down before he walked to the other seat. “I’ve never actually had someone to do this with, but it always looks like fun!”
Sonic lifted himself up and jumped into the seat, trying to push it down. Except…it stayed completely still.
“Huh. Tails, come join me,” Sonic waved the fox over. Tails flew above the back of the seat before gently sitting down. They both tried to push down on their shared seat, but the seesaw refused to move. “That’s weird. Usually, this thing goes up and down.”
“It’s because I am one million percent pure muscle, and you are both too tiny,” Knuckles boasted with a grin, earning an eye roll from Sonic and a pout from Tails. “I have clearly won this game.”
“That’s not how it works,” Sonic grumbled as he hopped off, helping Tails get down as Knuckles stood up. “Anywhere else you guys wanna go?”
“Um, what about that place you get the comic books from? The library?” Tails asked quietly.
“Sounds great, buddy! You’re gonna love the library,” Sonic replied enthusiastically. Tails was still pretty shy when it came to expressing his own opinions or requests, so Sonic tried to sound as supportive as possible whenever Tails voiced an idea. “And I’ve got a few ideas on books that might interest you, too, Knux.”
“Very well, lead the way, hedgehog!” Knuckles exclaimed, adjusting the green messenger bag that Maddie had given him that morning. It fit the gem perfectly, and Knuckles had waved off Maddie’s offer to buy him a new one, as the color was perfect to camouflage the Master Emerald.
The trio walked to the library, passing by the librarian, Ms. Smith, who reminded the boys to keep quiet. Knuckles didn’t seem too thrilled about that rule, but reluctantly agreed when Sonic told him they could get kicked out.
Sonic made his way to the back of the library, looking for the non-fiction aisles. While he usually stuck to comic books or adventure stories, he had a feeling his friends would appreciate this part of the library more.
“You’ll probably enjoy this part of the library more than me,” Sonic said as he gently pushed Tails towards the books about engineering.
He had seen a few books about rockets and different vehicles, including airplanes, and judging by the way Tails’ eyes lit up, Sonic could tell he made the right choice.
“You can look and read to your heart’s content, just make sure to clean up after yourself. And you can only check out up to 5 books, but we can come back anytime.”
“This looks so cool, thank you, Sonic!” Tails whispered, gazing at the books reverently as he decided which ones he wanted to look at. Sonic chuckled before wrapping an arm around Knuckles’ shoulders.
“Alright, this section is probably more your speed, Knux,” Sonic stated as he and his red companion walked to the area with books about nature, mainly plants, with some animal books as well. “Thought you might like to read about plants and stuff.”
Sonic had noticed how at ease Knuckles seemed to be whenever he was in the woods behind their house, and the warrior always claimed that only the best warriors could get in tune with nature, or something along those lines.
“Hmm. Healer Maddie did suggest starting a garden similar to what we had in our village. Perhaps I can find plants similar to ones on my home planet,” Knuckles mused.
Sonic nodded his head in agreement, and after reminding the Echidna to be gentle with the books and to stay quiet, the hedgehog headed off to the comic book section.
Maybe leaving his new friends who weren’t quite familiar with Earth wasn’t Sonic’s best idea, but in his defense, he didn’t think anything bad would happen.
Yet as the hours passed by, and Sonic realized he hadn’t seen or heard from Knuckles or Tails, he went looking for them.
Sonic found them both looking at two different books…one about foxes, and one about echidnas. The Earth versions, at least.
Tails had tears in his eyes, and Knuckles had his arm wrapped around the kit tightly, wearing a grim frown on his face.
‘This is not good,’ Sonic thought to himself. ‘Not good at all.’
Maddie had been so excited to finally have the wall fixed. But when she and Tom went to see the finished results, there was once again a hole in the wall. This time, by the front door.
“So much for keeping them busy,” Tom sighed.
Maddie’s lecture vanished from her mind when they entered the living room to find an utterly adorable and yet completely heartbreaking.
Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles were all curled up together on the couch, clinging to one another.
Tails was squished between the two older boys, sniffling softly with dried tears in his eyes and his tails wrapped around himself while Knuckles leaned on Sonic, rubbing his face against blue, flattened quills with angry huffs. Sonic attempted to pat the backs of both his friends while also holding one of Tails’ hands.
The blue hedgehog sighed in relief when he spotted Tom and Maddie.
“Thank goodness you guys are here. Not to panic anyone, but I can’t breathe,” Sonic wheezed as Knuckles just held on tighter, and Tails squeezed his hand tighter.
Maddie swooped in to pick up Tails, him immediately clinging to her in a way that made her heart ache.
Knuckles wasn’t one for physical affection, so Tom offered a comforting pat on the back, slowly easing him up off of Sonic, who jumped off the couch and clutched his chest dramatically.
“Alright, I’m tag-teaming you guys in. Comfort is needed, pronto!” Sonic exclaimed, crossing his arms as he stared at the two adults expectantly. Maddie bit back a laugh as she kneeled down in front of Knuckles, noticing the tenseness in his shoulders.
“What happened, guys?” Maddie asked softly. Sonic’s eyes went wide, and he looked away, which told Maddie all that she needed to know about who had helped cause this emotional cuddle pile. “Sonic?”
“Well…we went to the library, and Tails,” Sonic paused to point at the kit, who whimpered, earning a frown from the blue blur. “Found a book about the foxes here on Earth…which only have one tail, like all the other foxes on his homeworld. And Knuckles-”
“I found a book talking about Echidnas,” Knuckles cut Sonic off, standing up on the couch. “I thought that the people here on Earth had discovered my brethren, but instead, I found out there are Earth versions of my kind. I do, however, apologize for causing a hole in the wall. Again.”
“He got pretty stressed out after we left the library,” Sonic whispered loudly, and Maddie stood up with a sigh and adjusted herself as Tails gripped her tightly, smoothing back the fur on his head. “Since you’re the animal expert, I thought you could help explain the differences and stuff.”
“Right. Well, they aren’t exactly my specialty, but I can tell you that echidnas here on Earth are very different from the echidnas you’re used to, Knuckles. I’m sure the book you found already told you, but they aren’t red like you. Can’t talk like you or the rest of us, and are definitely not warriors like you,” Maddie explained gently, violet eyes locked onto her as she spoke, though she noticed how his shoulders drooped dejectedly.
She couldn’t imagine how much it must have hurt to be given hope that there were others like him, only to have it snatched away.
“Yeah, they’re sorta like Ozzy, just with more quills and less wagging tails,” Tom chimed in, and Knuckles glanced at the family dog, who wagged his own tail as if to prove the sheriff’s point.
Maddie glanced down at red-rimmed blue eyes and carefully rubbed Tails back.
“As for foxes, they’re different from us, too. They aren’t as smart or as brave as you,” Maddie said, earning a small smile from the quiet kit before it faded.
“But they also don’t have an extra tail, like me.”
The hurt in his voice made her want to cry, but she knew there had been more than enough tears for today.
Sonic tried to stand up on his tiptoes, and Maddie leaned down so he could make eye contact with the youngest family member.
“That just means they aren’t as cool as you, buddy,” Sonic said with a smile, glancing at Maddie and Tom expectantly.
“That’s right. You guys are so special. There isn’t a fox on earth as smart as you, or an echidna as strong as Knuckles, or a hedgehog as fast as Sonic,” Tom said, and Knuckles perked up a bit, as did Tails. “Shoulda seen Sonic when we showed him Earth hedgehogs for the first time.”
He grabbed Sonic and ruffled the top of his head, the softest part of his quills, earning a laugh from the hedgehog. Maddie smiled as Knuckles laughed loudly and Tails giggled from her arms.
“Hey, cut it out!” Sonic yelled, though the smile on his face betrayed how he really felt about the affection. Then he glanced at Tails with a huff. “Can you believe Earth hedgehogs aren’t blue? Or eat chili dogs?! It’s an affront to nature.”
That gave Maddie an idea as she gently set Tails onto the ground, standing over the boys with a grin.
“You know, if you guys want, we could go see Earth’s versions of you guys,” Maddie suggested, knowing right away it was a good idea as she saw tentative curiosity in Knuckle’s eyes while Tails bounced on his feet excitedly. “I can’t exactly take you to my clinic, since echidnas aren’t exactly native to Greenhills, but we could go to the zoo.”
“That’s a great idea, babe,” Tom said as he stood up, Sonic jumping onto the couch beside Knuckles with a loud whoop . “Hey, that doesn’t mean you guys get to jump like monkeys on the couch.”
“I can’t help it, we’re going to the zoo!” Sonic shouted with a wide smile. “Ooh, maybe we’ll see monkeys when we go!”
“What is this zoo you speak of?” Knuckles asked curiously, and Tails whipped out his Miles Electric™ to look it up.
Maddie felt a brief flash of panic as Tails began to read the definition with growing horror.
“A zoo is an establishment that maintains a…collection of wild animals, typically in a park or gardens, for study, conservation, or display to the public. Typically in exhibits or cages…”
“A collection? For display? And cages! Are they being held against their will!? We must free our Earthen brethren!” Knuckles exclaimed, raising a fist to the air, causing Maddie to exchange worried looks with Tom.
Maybe this wasn’t such a great idea after all, Maddie thought anxiously before Sonic swooped in to save the day.
“Relax, guys. This zoo only has animals that need time to heal if they get hurt in the wild or live there if they can’t survive on their own,” Sonic stated confidently. “Or if they’re endangered.”
“Exactly. And I’m good friends with a couple of the zookeepers there,” Tom said, resting a hand on Knuckles’ shoulder while looking at Tails to make sure they understood. “They take really good care of them, I promise. No one there is being mistreated or hurt, okay?”
Maddie let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding as all the boys relaxed, silently praying that no one (read: Knuckles) would try to make any break-out attempts while they were at the zoo.
“Will they have foxes too?” Tails asked curiously, his tails swishing from side to side. A sure sign that he was excited but nervous to show it.
“Yes, though none of them will be as cute as you, fluff. You might even get to see an arctic fox,” Maddie replied.
“Yeah, it’ll be super fun! They have snacks, like cotton candy, ice cream, chili dogs- aw man, now I’m hungry,” Sonic whined, looking at Tom with pleading eyes.
“Alright, alright, munchkin, we can order some dinner,” Tom rolled his eyes as he began to walk towards the kitchen, and Maddie followed along, smiling as Sonic started to talk about what other animals there were.
They might still have a hole in the wall, but at least her boys were in a better mood than they had been earlier.
And call her cliché, but she was happy that they would be having a normal, non-life-threatening childhood experience here on Earth, like any other kid.
Tom and Maddie had spent the entire car ride going over the rules. No break-out attempts, no going into the exhibits themselves, no wandering off, and practice being polite.
And most importantly…
“Everyone needs to stick with their buddy, okay?” Maddie looked at the group with a stern eye. Tails’ little hand was clutched firmly in hers while Sonic grabbed hold of Knuckles’, wincing at the echidna’s tight grip.
Tom let out a sigh; his “buddy” was a backpack full of water bottles, a bag of cotton candy, and three balloons in the boys’ respective colors.
“I wanna trade buddies,” Tom muttered, and in response, his beloved wife just rolled her eyes. He huffed and got out the map he had printed at home with the specific exhibits marked. “Let’s head that way!”
Sonic dragged Knuckles along while Tails stuck closely by Maddie’s side. Luckily, most of the folks in Greenhills already knew about Tom and Maddie’s boys, so they weren’t too worried about any weird looks or complaints from the other zoo visitors.
And while Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails probably had no idea, it made Tom’s heart swell with pride whenever he heard someone refer to them as “Tom’s boys”.
(Though he knew the two newest additions weren’t quite ready to hear that just yet.)
“We found them!” Sonic called out excitedly, though this time Knuckles was the one dragging him once he spotted the echidna exhibit.
Tails leaned in to see the sign and read aloud from it.
“Says here that echidnas have spines similar to hedgehogs that they use for defense or to dig into the ground.”
“Hey, spine buddy,” Sonic waved, and Tom watched as Knuckles let go of the hedgehog’s hand as he walked slowly towards the glass window.
Inside was a couple of sleeping echidnas along with one wide-awake, staring right at Knuckles. Tom exchanged a nervous glance with Maddie, wondering how this was going to go.
Knuckles wasn’t exactly great with change. Or new things.
“Hello,” Knuckles said quietly. He made a couple of soft grunting noises, and for a moment, Tom wished he was the animal expert in the family so he could figure out what those noises meant.
Maddie seemed to know, if the soft smile on her face was any indication. At least Sonic and Tails seemed as oblivious as the sheriff, though they seemed supportive, smiling and standing quietly during the echidnas’ interaction.
The small creature stared at Knuckles and made similar grunting noises, and it was almost like they were taking turns, like they were having an actual conversation.
And for all Tom knew, they were.
Knuckles pressed a hand against the glass and the little echidna actually leaned against the glass in response, before they both slowly pulled away. The warrior had a faint grin on his face as he turned to face Tom and the others.
“She needs rest now. We may go,” Knuckles said quietly. Tom wasn’t quite sure how he knew it was a she, or that she needed to rest, but Knuckles was proven to be correct when the little echidna chose to roll up into a ball to go to sleep like the rest of her companions.
Sonic nudged him and held out his hand with a smile, for once not saying anything. Which was nothing short of a miracle.
Knuckles grabbed his hand, gentler this time.
“Make a new friend, big guy?” Tom asked, and Knuckles nodded eagerly.
“Yes. I do not know if she understood me, but it was pleasant,” Knuckles replied. Maddie rubbed his shoulder gently.
“I think she did.”
Sonic used his free hand to yank on Tom’s shirt, making grabby hands for the map. With a sigh, Tom handed the map over to the self-dubbed “blue blur,” who flipped it this way and back before turning to Tails confidently.
“Looks like the foxes are that way!” Sonic pointed in one direction. With a laugh, Tom pointed Sonic in the opposite direction. “Or that way works too, I guess.”
“I hope they like me,” Tails whispered, and Sonic glanced at Knuckles, and they both nodded before Sonic gave Tom back the map so he could use his other hand to grab Tails’.
“Of course they will!” Sonic exclaimed with a reassuring smile. Tom gave him a thumbs up, proud of the way that Sonic always seemed to step up and comfort the youngest whenever he was nervous or upset.
And not to be outdone, Knuckles, of course, had to join in.
“And if they do not, we will find foxes who will!” Knuckles chimed in. They smiled at one another, and Maddie cooed at the three of them, which meant it was the perfect moment for Tom to get his phone out as discreetly as he could and snap a photo or two.
Despite knowing each other for what seemed like such a short amount of time, the boys had undoubtedly bonded in a way that reminded Tom of his own brothers.
Minus all the life-threatening events.
When they finally found the fox exhibit, all of said foxes started to wag their tails, which Tom thought was a good sign.
Until they started making this laughing sound, which startled Tails, who then darted behind Maddie’s legs. Knuckles growled protectively.
“Don’t be rude!” Sonic yelled, and Tom anxiously looked around as a few people glanced over at them curiously.
“They aren’t, honey,” Maddie reassured him with a soft laugh, gently pulling Tails in front of her. “That’s their way of saying they’re happy or excited. They’re happy to meet you.”
Tails perked up a little bit, hesitantly stepping a little closer to the foxes, a fence separating them. They yipped, and if Tom didn’t know better, he’d think they were smiling.
Both of the young genius’ tails began to wag in response as well, and he seemed to listen intently as the foxes continued to make laughing noises and some sort of chattering.
Like with Knuckles, it seemed like there was some kind of connection, one that Tom couldn’t relate to.
But he was fine with that, so long as his youngest got to have that bright smile on his face. While he didn’t know a lot about Tails’ past, he did know that the foxes from his home planet weren’t exactly nice to him because of his second tail.
Which was ridiculous, in Tom’s opinion. Tails was the sweetest kid he’d ever met, if a little shy, had a crazy imagination, and was super smart on top of all that. Who could ever be cruel to a kid like that?
At least now, Tails was finally getting a good experience with other foxes.
“They seem to like you, kit,” Knuckles stated, and Tails beamed up at him.
“Yeah, they do! They like me!” Tails exclaimed excitedly, practically glowing.
“Of course they do, lil’ guy,” Tom chuckled, then glanced up at Maddie with a knowing grin. “I get the feeling we’re gonna need to get zoo memberships.”
When the day was done, Maddie had to carry a tuckered-out Tails when he began to wobble on his feet.
She couldn’t help but coo as he snuggled into her, yawning sleepily.
Sonic had opted to be carried as well, after some prodding from Tom, though Knuckles stubbornly insisted he was fine. The warrior even offered to carry the strange floating devices (balloons) and the backpack, much to Tom’s relief.
Once they had made it to the car, Maddie buckled Tails into his burnt orange car seat.
While Sonic and Knuckles were big enough to ride without one, Tails was smaller and lighter (too light, in her opinion) than the other two and needed one for car rides.
Maddie had worried he’d be against it, but it turned out to be the complete opposite.
He was excited to be able to see out the windows, being as tall as Sonic and Knuckles for once, and after reviewing car seat regulations, Maddie and Tom had figured out a way to install two little cushions for his tails to lie on.
And the headrest proved to come in handy when Tails fell asleep halfway through the car ride. Sonic dozed throughout the car ride too, leaning against the car seat, though he kept jolting himself awake every few minutes.
Knuckles simply stared out the window, a thoughtful expression on his face.
“Poor guys, all tuckered out,” Tom whispered, and Maddie nodded in response. Then, as if he could hear Tom, Sonic once again woke himself up, and Maddie turned in her seat to look at both him and Knuckles.
“Did you boys have fun?” Maddie asked. Sonic nodded his head sleepily while Knuckles turned to look at her with a small smile.
“It was quite enjoyable, Healer Maddie,” Knuckles said. Maddie sighed quietly. She was still trying to get him to call her something a little less formal, though she guessed it was better than Tails still calling her Mrs. Wachowski.
“Super fun, Mom. Thanks for taking us,” Sonic yawned sleepily.
“Glad to hear it, blue,” Maddie replied, biting her lip to contain her excitement as she looked at Tom, who placed his hand on her knee with a grin.
He’d called Tom ‘dad’ a couple of times, usually when they’re doing something that connected the two, like baseball or letting Sonic tag along in Tom’s sheriff car.
But this was the first time he’d called her his mom, and she was having a very hard time keeping her excitement contained.
Honestly, Maddie hadn’t been sure he ever would, given the stories she had heard about Longclaw, the loving mother figure who had given her life to save Sonic.
She would never want to try and replace that special owl, so it warmed her heart to know she meant so much to Sonic.
She hadn’t known what a joy it was to be a parent until Sonic had run into their lives, but she couldn’t imagine having it any other way.
He fell back asleep afterwards, and the rest of the ride was spent in silence.
When they finally made it home, Knuckles nudged Sonic, and they began their usual argument of who got to carry Tails out of the car. They stood on one side of the fox, loudly whispering to one another.
“I wanna carry him,” Sonic whined as Knuckles crossed his arms with a huff.
“But I am much stronger than you, hedgehog. You might drop him.”
“Nuh-uh.”
“Uh-huh.”
Maddie rolled her eyes as Tails began to shift, and she nudged Tom, who came in from the other side while the two boys were distracted as he began to unbuckle Tails.
“Uh, not to burst you guys’ bubble, but…” Maddie laughed as Tom quietly got Tails and started to head towards the house. “I think it’s Tom’s turn.”
“Aw man,” Sonic jumped out of the car and kicked the dirt with his shoe.
“That is not fair,” Knuckles agreed with a grumble.
“You snooze, you lose,” Tom called from the door, heading inside…right by the hole in the wall Maddie had almost managed to forget about. She had covered it with a tarp but it would take a while before she could get another crew to come patch it up.
But as she watched Knuckles and Sonic run inside, smiles on their faces, Maddie thought about how it was worth a little exterior damage.
Maddie followed Tom as he tucked Tails into bed while Sonic and Knuckles ran off to the living room and turned on the television.
“I can’t believe he called me mom. It took over half a year, but he did!” Maddie squealed quietly. Then she glanced at Tails one more time, kissing him on the forehead before they snuck out of the room. “Tails and Knuckles know I’m there for them too, right?”
“Of course they do, hun. You just gotta give it time,” Tom said, wrapping his arms around her waist as they headed to their bedroom for a few minutes of peace before dinner time. “You know, it was kinda odd, seeing the boys interact with their…Earth versions?”
“Yeah, it seemed like they made a real connection,” Maddie agreed, thinking of how well Tails and Knuckles seemed to communicate with them. How excited Tails had been, and the emotional look in Knuckles’ eyes. “It reminded me of when Sonic came to see the mama hedgehog at my clinic and her little hoglets. He was obsessed.”
“It took hours and multiple promises of chili dogs to pull him away,” Tom shook his head, chuckling. “I think it was kind of therapeutic for them both. Knuckles isn’t quite as alone as he thought and Tails made some friends who like him, extra tail and all. Zoo was a great idea, Maddie.”
“I think so too,” Maddie felt a wave of affection for her boys, glad that they were making new friends here.
Read: friends that weren’t evil scientists bent on destroying her boys.
Hours later, when Tails had woken up, he, Sonic, and Knuckles all gathered in their shared room to talk about their experiences at the zoo.
“It was kinda unnerving, seeing foxes that actually liked me,” Tails admitted quietly from his plane bed.
“I agree. It was strange, a being so similar yet so different from our own kind,” Knuckles said as he laid on his truck bed, staring at the ceiling. “And communicating in such a primal way. So different from my tribe.”
“I felt the same way when I first saw an Earth hedgehog,” Sonic admitted, sitting up and looking at his new friends.
Tails had seemed almost confident when he was chittering with the other foxes. And Knuckles had seemed so quiet, so serious.
Well, more serious than usual.
“When Mom brought me to her clinic, she showed me a mom with little hoglets,” Sonic continued, thinking about how weird-looking those babies were. “Seeing them interact was so weird, yet cool. Makes you feel less alone, if that makes sense.”
“I understand,” Knuckles stated, turning to look at Sonic. “I like knowing I am not the last of the Echidnas, even if they are not like the ones from my village.”
“I liked it too,” Tails smiled as he ran his fingers through the fur on his two tails. "Seeing the other foxes made me pretty happy. It made me feel…welcomed.”
“Indeed. It made me feel much more at ease on this strange planet,” Knuckles added with a determined grin.
“Glad to hear it. Because this planet is your home as much as it is theirs,” Sonic said, leaning on his bed with a grin. Even if the library trip hadn’t quite gone as he had planned, if the outcome was his friends becoming more comfortable on Earth, it was all worth it.
Now if only the hole in the wall could stay fixed for more than one day.