(Disclaimer: all characters belong to Sega)

It was Christmas Eve on Mobius. The cold night air blew throughout Metal City, the night sky was clear and had a thousand stars shining upon it. Snow covered sidewalks and rooftops of buildings and houses, along with some parked vehicles as well.

Sonic and the gang had gathered together in his home. Blaze and Silver were outside making snowmen (Blaze kept melting them for some reason), and Charmy and Cream were in front of the fire enjoying the warmth. Tails and Cosmo were sitting on the couch talking while Sonic, Amy, Shadow, Maria, Sonia, Mina, and Espio were in the kitchen chatting.

"Too bad Vector couldn't come" sighed Sonic. He was wearing a red pointy hat with a white fluffy ball at the end, along with a red sweater Amy had knitted him and a pair of jeans. Amy was wearing a blue pair of skinny Jeans and a blue sweatshirt. Espio was wearing a black jacket and a people scarf with a purple jacket. Sonia was wearinh the same thing as Amy but in violet. Mina was wearing avocado green pants, a green jacket and her usual combat boots. Everyone else rides their usual shoes and an ugly Christmas sweater.

"Why couldn't he come?" Asked Maria curiously. "He's Jewish" answered Espio. "Nein Nein Nein! Ich möchte eine kekse!" yelled Shadow loud enough for everyone in the house to hear, then he laughed. Everyone in the kitchen gave Shadow a look. He stopped laughing and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "To soon?"

"Um...yeeeeaaahh" said Mina while everyone else stayed silent. "So um so... I can't believe Manic's not gonna be able to make it" said Sonia trying to changing the subject. "Y-yeah its a shame" said Sonic sadly. "I miss him" murmured Shadow with his ears folded down. "What was that Shadow?" Asked Maria. "N-nothing" responded Shadow nervously. "C'mon, Shadow admit it you miss your best friend" said Sonic mockingly. "Shut your mouth"

Suddenly, about three handfuls of show came down the chimney extinguishing the fire. Charmy and Cream froze not knowing what to do. "Hohoho" called a voice from afar. "Do you hear that?" Asked Charmy. "Hear what?" Responded Cream innocently. Cosmo and Tails turned their attention to the chimney as the heard that call. "Hohoho!" Called ths voice again.

A hedgehog in a red, fluffy jacket and pants, black buckle belt, white gloves,a red Christmas hat and a sack came down the chimney with a loud thud. He had a white mustage and beard that cobreed must of his face. "Santa!" Cried Cream and Charmy in union excitedly. Cosmo's eyes widened and Tails' jaw dropped. "Santa Claus?" Asked Tails, finding hard to believe that Santa Claus was standing right in front of him. "But I thought you weren't-"

"Well you thought wrong, my boy" he responded. "What's with all the commotion?" question Espio as he and the rest of the gang walked back in the living room. "Santa!" Exclaimed Sonic excitedly wagging his trail. "Sonic you're too old to still believe in Santa" said Espio. "Am not!" argued Sonic. "You're 21!"

This is awfully suspicious' thought Mina. "This is obviously an impostor" said Shadow.

He took out his gun and pointed it at the so called 'impostor'. "You have til the count of three to either reveal your identity our leave. One..."

"But Shadow"

"TWO" Shadow said. Maria took the kids out if the room and stated with then in the kitchen. Blaze and Silver came in after hearing all the yells and screams. Blaze said "What's all the commotion about?"

"Shad-"

"THREE!" Yelled Shadow. He pointed to ever guy's knee and pulled the trigger. "AAAAAAHHHHHH!" screamed a young voice coming from Santa Claus. He ripped off his fake beard, mustage and hat, revealing a green hedgehog's face. Tears escaped his dark blue eyes as he but his lip trying not to cry.

"MANIC!" screamed the rest of the gang. "Good Chaos! I'm sorry Manic!" Said Shadow freaking out. " YOU SHOT ME IN THE KNEE CAP! HELP ME DAMN IT!" Screamed Manic in agony. "Someone bring me some clippers or something to take out the bullet!" ordered Shadow.

Sonia ran to the bathroom and ran back to the living room with an emergency kit.

Shadow took out the bullet, desinfected the wound, and sewed it up. While all that was happening, Manic held on to Shadow tightly and buried his face on his chest.

Shadow felt somewhat uncomfortable with this, but he shrugged it off and kept working.

Meanwhile, Maria had kept the kids busy in the kitchen. Propound them in a conversation for a while.

X later X

"Manic I'm really sorry about earlier" said Shadow. Manic laid on Sonic's bed with his one bandaged. Manic said that he had to have a word alone with Mina and Shadow. "If you want, I could heal it" suggested Shadow. "You have healing powers?" Asked Mina."Yeah" answered Shadow beginning to rub Manic's knee gently with his right hand.

This made Manic blush a little, which didn't go unnoticed by Mina. Shadow kept rubbing Manic's knee For about 5 minutes then he stopped. He removed Manic's bandages and saw that they were no longer visible. "They're gone" gasped Manic. "Just don't do any kicking or running for a whilr" added Shadow. Manic responded by nodding and giving him a tight hug.

Shadow hugged back embarrassed while Mina covered her mouth to keep herself from laughing.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Can I still hand out the presents?" Asked Manic. "Sure. You deserve it after what Shadow did to you. It should be him who should be giving you a present" said Espio.

Manic wagged his tail as he approached the sack of presents he had left. He opened it and dug inside. He took out three boxes wrapped in yellow paper. Manic walker over to Tails and handed then to him. "Merry Christmas little buddy" Manic said with a bright smile. Tails began began to rip of the paper, when Amy stopped him. "Maybe he should open them tomorrow" she said.

Tails grabbed his presents and put then under the tree. Manic just took the whole sack and out it next to the tree out of laziness.

Mina went next to him and whispered something in his ear. Sonic and Sonia noticed this, but remained silent knowing that out its bring whispered its obviously not meant to be heard by others.

"Guys..." Mina hesitated. "W-we have something to tell you all"

Cream, Charmy, Tails and Cosmo say on one couch while Sonic, Amy, Blaze, and Silver say on the other. Espio and Sonia just sat on the floor.

Mina and Manic stood in there nervously. Manic took a deep breath and Mina's hand tightly. Mina took a deep breath she said "Guys, I know this might be hard to understand, but..."

"But I hope you won't be mad at us, and we hope you can understand" added Manic. Mina looked at the ground, then at the ceiling, then at the Christmas tree nervously. "C'mon just say you guys are going out and kiss! That's obviously what you are gonna tell us" said Shadow.

Finally, Mina looked at Sonia. "That's not it, Shadow...I...I'm lesbian"

All the girls gasped, even some of the guys did a well. "What's a lesbian?" Asked Charmy. Maria figured that Charmy and Cream wouldn't understand the situation anyway, so she took them to the kitchen to get some hot chocolate.

"Manic now you" said Mina. When he hesitated, she let go of his hand and elbowed him. "Ow!" He grounded. Manic rubbed the back of his neck nervously and took a deep breath. "I'm gay"

Everyone stayed silent. Most if the guys had shocked expressions, except Shadow. He began to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Asked Manic beginning to feel angry and insulted. "You...THE Manic the hedgehog, gay? You're kidding! You're the straightest guy I know! You obviously like Mina but you're too shy, right?" Shadow said laughing. When Manic didn't laugh or respond, Shadow stopped laughing. "R-RIGHT?"

"I'm sorry, Shadow" said Manic. And with that, Shadow stood up, pushed his way through Mina and Manic and left the house.

Manic went after Shadow. "Dude please don't hate me" pleaded Manic. "I'm not upset about it" lied Shadow, gaining a look from Manic that read 'are you kidding me?'

"Okay so out does upset me a little, but that's not why I walked out" he explained. "Then why did you walk out?" I asked. He sighed and mass eye contact with me. "I'm you're best friend, aren't I? Why didn't you tell me?" He asked. I was relieved that he didn't hate me for being...well...a fag.

But I was still worried about him being upset at me for not telling him the truth. I didn't really lie to him though. He never really asked.

I took a deep breath and said "I didn't wanted to lose you as a friend.I thought you would hate me and I really didn't think it was such a big deal. I'm...sorry"

Shadow chuckled but then have me a completely serious look. "In Senior year, after the football games did you ever look at me in the locker r-"

"NO!"

He laughed "ok Manic! I forgive you for not telling me, but I thank you for not getting all Peeping Tom on me"

(XXXXXXXXXXXX)

We went back in and spend the night as if nothing had happened. Mina and I got asked some questions about our sexuality more and then. Questions like how did you know you were gay? Or have you ever slept with a guy/girl? And stuff like that.

But at least we weren't bring teased about it. The ones who asked the most questions were Blaze, Amy, and Sonic. But Sonic only wanted to tease us. In a friendly way.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

There were three loud knocks on the door. Sonic looked at the door puzzled. "That's weird, everybody's here already"

Sonic walked to the sure and opened it. Everyone gasped at the sight of another green hedgehog. He wore blue Jeans, green shoes, a black leather jacket and red shades (even though it was the middle of the night of a cloudy day).

He seemed very athletic, strong and cute. He didn't seen very happy, though he seemed kind sad. "Hey blue" he said in a low and slightly shaky voice. He himself was shaking as well. Leather doesn't really protect you from the cold.

"It's Christmas Eve and Fiona ditched me again and...I was wondering if-"

"No" said Sonic closing the sure on the hedgehog's face. I was shocked to see this behavior from my bro! He didn't let the guy finish!

"What the hell, bro? Why'd you close the door on that guy's face?" I questioned angrily. "He's our enemy, he's no good" Sonic answered simply, as if I had just asked him why we study history. "But it's still Christmas Eve! You can't just let I'm out alone I'm the cold. I know cause I've been there before" I said. Everyone in the room sat quietly until Sonic spoke up. He let out a defeated sigh and said "you're right bro. But don't tell me I didn't warn ya"

Sonic walked to the door, and we saw that the green hedgehog was sitting on the sidewalk. A car passed by and threw some snow on him. "I'll go get him" I said and walked out the door. It was colder than it was a couple of hours ago. I walked up to the hedgehog and poked him on the shoulder. He turned around and looked at me. He had an angry expression on his face but his eyes were watery. "Hey do you wanna come inside? It's really cold out here" I said. He didn't answer though, he just continued looking at me and nodded. "What's your name? The name's Manic" I asked politely. "I'm Scourge" he answered, stood up and walked with me to the door and we went inside.

"Hello everyone" he said shyly. Everyone greeted him at about the same time. I looked at Mina who was giggling. "What's so funny?" I asked. She pointed above my head, making some people in the room giggle or laugh as well. I didn't have to look to know what she meant. I looked at Scourge who was looking up at the mistletoe. He looked at me and smirked. "We don't have to if you don't want to" I said embarrassed of the situation. Scourge chuckled and licked his lips. "Why wouldn't-"

"C'mon guys there's kids here" said Maria.

(XXXXXXXXXXXX)

Scourge and I went to the guest room to talk privately. He had asked me if there was a place were we could task in private and that was the only place besides the bedrooms and the bathroom.

"You've been the only one who's been nice to me since I came" he said, "you obviously don't know what I have done"

"Well you don't know what I have done" I said. "Really? And what you done that's worth bragging about" he said. I tried not to state at him and looked at my feet as I spoke. "Well, I robbed a 7-Eleven when I was in the 7th grade" I said proudly. He looked interested and asked what I had stolen. I laughed and answered "A pack of gum, some Cheetos, and a pack of-"

"Condoms?"

How did he know? Did he really know or was he trying to be funny? "Did you go to Mobius Middle School?"

"Yes"

"Do you remember a kid named Scott?" he asked in a serous tone. "Yeah but why are ya sealing all these questions? How'd you know you know-"

"Max"

No one had called me that in years. I used to go by that before I moved in the beginning of 8th grade. No one in this city knew me by Max. How could he possibly know?! Could he be...? No that's impossible.

"S-Scott?" I asked Scourge. He answered by taking his jacket off along with his white shirt, revealing those three scars he had on his six pack. I looked up at him and he took off his sunglasses showing those light blue eyes of his. "Now for the best part" he chuckled reaching for his zipper.

I blushed and stopped him. "Okay okay! I believe you, it's obviously you Scott"

He came closer to me and hugged me tightly and whispered "I missed you, Maxi"

I hugged back, but I couldn't believe it was really him, but he obviously was Scott. "I missed you too" I whispered back. We parted from each other and I continued to look at him in disbelief. "I can't believe it it's really you" I said. "I can't believe...you left me just like that" he said sadly with his hears down"

I felt guilty and at the same time I didn't wasn't to talk about it, but I had to explain. "Look, my parents had to move and I had to move. I wanted to visit you and write to you but my mom wouldn't let me"

Scourge had tears in his eyes and asked "but, at least you won't leave me now, right?"

Fuck

"Right?"

"Scourge you gotta understand-"

"You should've just left me outside on the cold, you'll leave anyway" he said bitterly. "Scourge I don't live in this city, I gotta go because I gotta work tomorrow" I explained. He sniffed and wiped his tears with the back of his arm. I had never seem him this sad.

"But I could take you with me"

"R-r-really?"

"Yeah, really" I said with a smile. He threw himself at me and hugged me tightly. "I love you I love you I love you!" He said happily. "I love you too"

(XXXXXXXXXXXX)

"I wonder where Manic and Scourge are at" said Mina. "They're probably just somewhere talking" I said. I looked at Maria, who was drinking hot chocolate "Mmmhhm"

"I just don't understand why you don't trust him" said Espio to Sonic. "Well he hates me! He's my enemy and I just don't want him harming the ones I love" Sonic responded.

(XXXXXXXXXXXX)

Cosmo and I got bored so we decided to walk around the house. We were paying by the bedrooms when I heard weird noises coming from one of the rooms. "Did you hear that?" I asked her. She nodded and said "we should probably go back to the living room"

We went back, but where noticed right away. "Where were you two?" Asked Maria worriedly. Cosmo and I looked at each other and she answered "we were just waking around"

"Do you know where Manic and Scourge are at? Sonic won't stop bitching otherwise" Shadow said. "Shadow! Watch your language!" Warned Amy.

"We know what they're doing, we just don't know in which room" I responded and got elbowed by Cosmo afterwards. We all looked at Sonic, who simply said "I'm going to kill Scourge"

Manic and Scourge appeared again a couple of hours later. We were all in the living room so their arrival was pretty obvious.

"Manic, Scourge...may I have a word with you in the kitchen?" Asked Sonic. Then all three of them went into the kitchen.

(XXXXXXXXXXXX)

I was really nervous at this point. I knew my bro knew about us. It had to be that, I mean I just got there and I hadn't done anything. Plus I spent about two hours alone with Scourge in a bedroom.

"Scourge" he said with a sigh, "did you screw my brother?"

"SONIC!"

"well I did actually, whatcha gonna do about it?" Challenged Scourge. I elbowed Scourge hard on the stomach to avoid a fight or further argument.

"Look I guess I really don't have a saying in who Manic sleeps with or his sexual orientation" Sonic began. I crossed my arms and smirked, feeling victorious.

Sonic told Manic to go the living room while he had a word with Scourge. Manic did so and Scourge looked at Sonic. "What is it, blue?"

Sonic looked at Scourge and said "you're off the hook now, but don't hurt Manic in any way...physical or metal, or else"

Scourge chucked at the blue one's threat. "Don't worry I won't, now let's go in the living room and let out our Christmas spirit"