Chapter Text
Sonic was back at home with his family, trying to focus on the movie they were all watching in order to recover back to their normalcy, but for Sonic he just could not stop thinking about the damage that had occurred after the small town of Green Hills was in ruins from Robotnik’s giant robot, fueled by the power of the Master Emerald, had stomped through.
Seeing Tails and Knuckles hurt, not to mention Tom and Maddie.
Tom and Maddie; his parents that loved him so much they sacrificed themselves to protect him when he was at his weakest.
They were willing to die for him; with him.
Sonic had the emerald in his paws. Tom and Maddie holding him tightly.
“How does this work; come on; come on!”
The emerald crumbled in his paws and then it happened: his parents, Tails, and Knuckles, were stomped and shattered into pieces; crumbling exactly like the emerald had in his paws.
He couldn’t save them.
Maddie noticed Sonic gazing off into the distance as his eyes fixed on the TV.
Knuckles was lying on his back with his head rested against Maddie’s lap while Tails sat beside his oldest brother and his Dad, snuggled into Tom’s side while Sonic sat in the corner of the couch next to Tom’s other side.
“Blue, are you okay?” Maddie asked, using one of her pet names for her first adopted son.
Maddie’s question alerted Tom who also gazed down at Sonic.
“Uh…yeah…just tired I guess,” Sonic lied, causing Tom to furrow his brow.
“You sure buddy? You can tell us,” Tom said, in a gentle and concerning tone.
“You have battled a lot, Hedgehog, there is no shame in needing to refuel,” Knuckles added.
“Yeah Sonic, you saved us all from being trampled by Robotnik; you’re a hero,” Tails said as he shifted his tails a little, having always admired Sonic.
Sonic nervously chuckled, it didn’t seem like that, all he did was put his family in danger; he was no hero.
Sonic turned away to hide his tears that were threatening his eyes.
He had to protect them and the only way to do that was to leave.
He didn’t want to, but it was his only choice.
Yes, tonight I must go. Sonic mentally told himself.
Tom placed his hand on Sonic’s shoulder, causing Sonic to flinch slightly as it distracted him from his thoughts.
“Maybe you better get to bed, buddy. You can always finish this movie another time,” Tom suggested.
“Yeah…sure,” Sonic replied nervously, and as he hopped off the couch, he took a glance at his happy family on the couch.
They deserved to be happy and safe and every time they got hurt or put in danger it had been his fault, always his fault.
“Goodnight Blue,” Maddie called.
“Night Sonic. You get that speedy troublesome mind of yours to rest,” Tom added with a warm smile.
Troublesome. That was all Tom thought of him as.
Sonic zipped off to his room and decided to make a quick start on his packing.
“I shall not be too far from eye closure and dream world myself,” Knuckles commented, feeling his body relax.
“I think both of you won’t be far from joining Sonic because you both need a good sleep for your growing child bodies,” Maddie informed.
“I am no child. I am but a warrior!” Knuckles protested.
“We know you are a very fierce warrior Knuckles, but you are still a child,” Tom reminded with a slight chuckle.
“Being a child isn’t a bad thing, Knuckles,” Tails informed, now climbing onto Tom’s lap for a closer cuddle with his Dad.
“Fine, I will admit defeat on this child word,” Knuckles relented.
They finished watching their movie and Maddie and Tom followed Knuckles and Tails up to their room.
They noticed what looked like Sonic fast asleep in his race car bed, but what they didn’t know Sonic was well awake and only pretending; his bag containing his rings and a few mementos from his and Tom’s first road trip, stuffed under his bed.
Maddie tucked Tails in while Tom helped Knuckles with his blankets, each kissing them goodnight before Tom approached Sonic, where he gentled pulled the covers over his son and leaned down to kiss him on the cheek.
Sonic felt the gesture and it just made him want to cry, leap into his Dad’s arms, and feel warm and safe, but that would be wrong.
“No Sonic,” Sonic scolded himself mentally.
Tom and Maddie left the attic and after cleaning up downstairs they headed up to their own room, taking Ozzie up with them, where the dog had his own luxury bed to sleep for the night.
Once Sonic heard Knuckles’ loud snoring and the soft mutterings of Tails who often let out quiet yips and noises as he slept, Sonic quietly crept out of his bed and grabbed his bag from under his bed and being careful not to make any sudden sounds, took one last look at his brothers and zipped out of the skyline window.
Sonic stopped to gaze into the cracks of the blinds in Tom and Maddie’s room, just to see his parents one last time.
All he could see was darkness, but he knew his parents were there.
He was going to miss them terribly, especially his Donut Lord Dad; he had meant so much to him for so many years since he first came to Earth.
Sonic scrubbed away his tears falling down his face.
“I don’t want to go, but I can’t stay,” Sonic mumbled, sadly.
“No Sonic! You have to do this; it’s the right thing to do to protect your family,” Sonic told himself.
Sonic zipped away from the place he had since called home and looked around town one last time, visited his old cave and the special fishing spot that Tom had taken him to.
He walked sullenly back to the forest, away from the fishing spot lake and pulled out one of his rings.
Sonic imagined the place to go and threw his teleportation ring, opening up the portal to his new life.
“Goodbye everyone. Goodbye old life,” Sonic said with such sadness in his tone as he wiped his eyes again.
Sonic stepped into the portal and watched it close around his old hometown.
Sonic glanced around at the new universe filled with mushrooms, dying trees, and loud technological machines surrounding areas of the sky.
“What in the what?” Sonic exclaimed, unbelieving how the mushroom planet was filled with Robots when he’d known it only to have nothing besides breathable air.
Had Robotnik made all these when I’d sent him here after using my electric energy to fight him that night?
Sonic remembered back to his first time he had really interacted with his Dad and Robotnik.
He remembered how his Dad had stuck his neck out to help him stay alive and all the fun they had.
“No Sonic; you can not dwell on the past. You must focus on your new home now,” Sonic mumbled to himself.
He scrunched his nose at the horrible smell and shuffled his way through his drab new home, continuously looking around at the loud machines and feeling a little uneasy.
“First step: find somewhere to sleep,” Sonic mumbled.
Sonic found himself a smelly, squishy and moss-filled mushroom and dropped his bag beside him as he slumped his body down on the ground.
It was not like his safe cozy race car bed he’d had at home, with a warm blanket covering his quilled body.
“Stop it, Sonic. You lived alone in the forest for years; you can do this; it’s no different, just smells bad, has no chilli dogs, no TV, and no family.”
Sonic gazed up at the darkness in the sky.
This new world didn’t have the brightness of sunshine and happiness of the small community that Green Hills had.
Sonic was back to being alone.
“This is your home now Sonic,” Sonic told himself in the quietest whisper as if it would make him more convinced.