HEY EVERYONE, THIS FIC IS A SEQUEL TO MY PREVIOUS STORY "The Nobodies"
IT TAKES PLACE EXACTLY ONE YEAR AFTER THAT STORY CONCLUDES. I HOPE YOU ENJOY!
Chapter One:
"The Arrival"
One year ago today, Sonic the hedgehog confronted Dr. Eggman for the final time.
It's 11:30 on New Year's Eve. His friends, along with all of Station Square, sit in the comfort of their homes as they wait for the Ball to drop at Midnight.
No one has a clue The Blue Blur is fighting The Doctor at the city's power grid.
Sonic avoids gunfire from Eggman's gun turrets and destroys other deadly machines, while the doctor sits inside a tank and makes his way to an electrical field that controls the city's power source.
"Couldn't wait til AFTER New Year's to pull this stunt?" Sonic asks
"Your pointless holidays mean nothing to me, especially when I have the chance to eliminate you for good!" Eggman shouts
A Chrome Battle-Bot appears from the side of the tank and lunges at Sonic, so he jumps off the windshield to avoid it.
"I don't think I've met you, yet"
Two more Chrome Robots join the fight and they grab Sonic.
As they push him against a brick wall, Eggman presses a blue button and a massive Crane rises from the back of the tank.
A cannon laser aims directly for Sonic's chest
He looks up at the weapon "This doesn't look good"
The Doctor pulls the trigger and the Cannon fires. The explosion causes a massive recoil, knocking down the entire Power Grid. Even his Tank is flipped away from the blast zone. Instantly, the whole city's power goes down.
A few moments later, Eggman crawls around inside his nearly destroyed Tank. He uses the wall to stand up and he looks for Sonic.
He is nowhere to be found.
"I did it.." Eggman coughs "...well, it was fun while it lasted, Sonic..."
The Doctor climbs out of his Tank and walks in the snow. G.U.N officers surround him and order him to get down. He smirks as the officers put him in handcuffs and take him away.
But the doctor doesn't know he hadn't actually killed his nemesis that night.
Far away in a place unknown to anyone from Mobius, Sonic lies on his back and coughs as he wakes up
NEW YEAR'S EVE, PRESENT DAY
Amy Rose has invited all of her friends to a reunion party that commemorates her 'deceased' boyfriend, and to celebrate the New Year.
Tails, Knuckles, The Chaotix and Rouge all show up around 2 PM and greet the pink hedgehog with hugs and house warming gifts.
"Have you heard anything from Manic?" Amy asks
"He hasn't text back, but he said he might be late because of the traffic in Metropolis" Tails replies "What about Sonia? Did you get in contact with her?"
"Yeah, she seems really cool. I think she said she owns a company down in Silver Valley. I could tell she's like, really rich. But she doesn't come off as a snob or anything, she's really down to earth. It'll be great to finally meet her"
"Yeah, I bet. I'm gonna call Manic and see what's up. Let you know after I talk to him"
The Fox walks through the back door, dials Manic's number on his phone and waits on the porch as the line rings.
The Green Hedgehog packs a suit case full of clothes and rolls of cash, most likely pick-pocketed from unsuspecting victims on the street.
He puts his Jade Medallion necklace on and feels it's energy flow through his body as it enhances his senses.
His cellphone rings so he answers "You're on with Manic"
"Dude, where are you? The party started like 20 minutes ago!" Tails says
"I thought you said it wouldn't start until 11 tonight?"
"That's the New Year's party, right now is a reunion thing Amy is doing- wait, were you sleeping all day?"
"What? No! ...I may have had too much to drink last night so, I've actually been hung over all day. There's a difference"
Tails says nothing in response, leaving the line in an awkward silence
"Don't you judge me, Prower"
"You're getting no judgement on this end. Just- get down here, man! It's pretty awkward around here without you, y'know..."
Manic leaves his apartment and locks the door as he replies "..nah, I don't, fill me in"
"Okay well, Rouge is here being super slutty with me, Knuckles and Espio.. Charmy is still busting my chops about the SAGE program, and Cream is coming here soon. I need a Wingman! Charmy is doing his absolute best to screw this up for me. I need your help, Manic! Please, I'll owe you big time" Tails pleads
The Green Hedgehog leaves his apartment building "..alright, Prower. You can count on me. But in return, I want control of that SAGE program in the event that I need a favor. Cool?"
"That's morally conflicting, but sure. You got a deal"
"Great. I'll see you in an hour, maybe longer. Don't wait up!"
"Okay- wait a sec, why an hour? It only takes 20 minutes to get here-"
Manic hangs up before Tails can finish and puts his phone away.
Knowing Amy, there won't be any booze at this little party. I think I'll spice things up with some Jack Daniels and a round of The Captain.
Manic walks 6 blocks to the local Liquor store and reaches the sliding doors when suddenly, he loses feeling in his entire body.
He's temporarily paralyzed on the spot
What the hell is this?!
An Orchid purple energy keeps him in place, while his Jade Medallion tries to give him strength to overpower this energy
A tall and muscular Echidna walks up to Manic and takes the Medallion necklace off of him, leaving the green hedgehog completely defenceless as the purple energy now lifts him off the ground.
A 14 year old female hedgehog walks next to the giant Echidna and looks at Manic
"Did you miss me?" She smirks
Manic glares at her "Starr"
About 5 months ago, Starr came to Manic for help when she developed a telekinesis ability, allowing her to lift objects with her mind. Since Manic's Medallion gave him powers similar to Starr's, he helped her control this ability.
The government called them Elementals.
Then she obtained more lethal abilities: partial mind control over non-elementals and the power to kill them instantly.
The teenager killed many citizens as she took control of Metropolis. Her powers outmatched Manic's and she was unstoppable.
So Manic called his friend Cassia to help take Starr down. Once they beat her, they left the 14 year old for the authorities to deal with.
Starr was sentenced to a facility for troubled youth, but she never made it there once her powers returned.
Manic struggles to get free "How'd you get loose? And how'd you find me?"
"That antidote you gave me suppressed my powers for awhile, but they did come back to me over time" Starr says
She makes a crunching motion with her hand and the purple energy painfully squeezes Manic's entire body like an anaconda
"..I'm not as powerful as I used to be, but I think I still got some zing left, what do you think?"
Manic groans in pain while glaring at Starr's friend, the giant teenage Echidna
Starr smiles "This is my friend AJ. He's got a beef with your friend Knuckles. Some stuff about Angel Island and Enerjak, or something like that. He's like our Team Muscle"
Manic looks up "Our?"
A short, Red hedgehog in a sports jersey and black pants appears behind the Green hedgehog
"Sup, bro"
Manic looks at this kid, clearly much younger than himself
"This is our friend Duncan. He's realy good with computers and he actually found your apartment no problem" Starr says
"Yeah? They'll be finding my foot up your ass once I get loose, punk" Manic growls
Duncan laughs "I heard you had a big mouth. Where I come from, big mouthed douchebags get dropped, just ask your buddy Tails"
"Don't tell me you put your hands on my bro-"
"Dropped him with one punch. My bro Lynx was in on it, too. Heh, should'a heard Tails, cryin' for us to stop"
Manic clinches his fist and tries to attack the Red hedgehog but Starr's energy keeps him back
"Aw, you mad bro? Whatcha gonna do without this?"
Duncan holds Manic's Medallion necklace in his face, then he makes the mistake of touching the Gem
He is blasted backwards by the Gem's energy and a bright flash of Neon Green blinds everyone momentarily
Manic bursts out with laughter while Starr and AJ glare at the short Red hedgehog as he gets back to his feet
The blast is enough to get the attention of everyone around them, including a police officer guarding the Liquor store exit
"Maybe we should take this somewhere private" AJ suggests
Starr nods at him, then uses her energy to levitate above the street, and lift Manic up next to her. They fly out of the city while AJ and Duncan uses the backstreets to avoid police, and follow the purple hedgehog on the ground
They reach a forrest woodland near the highway and out of sight of passing drivers. Duncan and AJ block the escape routes and Manic is seated against a tree trunk
"You wanna tell me why you're going full psycho mode with Grimace and Hamburglar? And why'd you take me here? I'm getting sap and pine cones stuck to my pants, I just washed these" Manic complains
"After you and Cassia stuck me with an antidote, I swore I would pay you back for that" Starr says
"What? Holding me against a tree and boring me to death?"
AJ reaches over and punches Manic in the face 8 times, causing blood to flow from his nose
Manic coughs "...so we're playing this game, alright. I see. Hey, I think you missed a spot, bud"
The giant Echidna stands in front of Manic and boots him across the face. The force of the kick makes his head bounce off the tree he's resting against.
"...okay, I think I see your point"
Starr kneels down next to Manic "You and your friends are fake. You pretend to be heroes but you treat everyone else like garbage! I begged for your help, and you used my powers for yourself!"
"You make it sound as if I just forced you to do anything I wanted, but you CHOOSE to kill those people. Course I had to stop you"
"Manic, you don't realize how much power I have! You never did... but, I'm glad we picked you up first, there's something I wanna show you-"
That's good an' all, but none of this will matter once I kick all your asses-"
"Check this out: Duncan hacked into the global servers and erased all files on me, him and AJ. That's why no police came running to save you. We're ghosts to the rest of the world!"
"And that means exactly jack shit, at the end of the day. You're just three teenage dropouts who wanna be edgy and cool, but you won't ever be anything except losers"
Starr stands up, looks at Duncan and motions for him to attack.
The Red hedgehog pulls out a black steel Crowbar and walks towards Manic, while he takes deeps breaths and gets ready for the inevitable pain
Starr turns her back as Duncan tees off on Manic's head, loud CLANGS sound out with every strike. After the 10th hit he backs away from the Green hedgehog and waits on Starr
"...this perfectly illustrates my point - DIPSHITS.. if you had any balls, you'd do that in a fair fight. But you're the fuckin' - call of duty ghosts or whatever you wanna call yourselves. You punk kids aren't shit" Manic says
"We're younger than you and your friends, we're stronger and we're not fake! If we say we're gonna kill someone, we say it to their face, not behind their back" Starr responds
Manic spots out blood "..then do it, what are we waiting for?"
Starr stands up "..I've got a better idea. There's something I've been dying to try out for awhile-"
"What? A toothbrush?"
AJ punches Manic once more for that comment
"...you know how stong I am, Manic. These powers can reach some pretty far places-"
"You must be so proud"
"Oh, I will be if I'm able to pull off this next trick. Me and the boys were wondering what would happen if your friends forgot you. That you existed. Bet they wouldn't come help you because they wouldn't even know your name, anymore"
Manic sits up "What, just erase me? Ha! I doubt you could do that"
Duncan pulls out his phone "I already deleted every online file of your existence. Birth certificate, bank account, all those things - Gone!"
"Okay, that doesn't mean shit, though. Even if you somehow did erase all memories of me, someone would remember, you can't just forget a guy like me! I'm one of a kind" Manic smirks
The trio laugh amongst themselves at this
"You really are an egotistical bastard, Manic" Duncan says
"That's why everyone loves me, bro"
"Exactly. You need to be the center of attention at all times, so we're gonna see what happens when NO ONE gives a shit about you" AJ adds
"What're you talking about?"
Starr looks Manic in the eyes "Let's see how much they really care about you"
Her hand glows orchid purple and she quickly snaps her fingers.
The music quickly shuts off at Amy's house party and everyone suddenly stops talking. The party gets eerily silent for a few moments, while everyone looks at each other for validation
Tails looks at his phone, then turns to his friends
"Did anyone else feel that?"
"I'm not sure what that was"
"I think so"
"Earthquake or something?"
"You guys got ghosts!"
"Eh, what was that?"
Knuckles walks up to the stereo system
"I know what I'm not feeling - A beer in my hand!"
The crowd starts cheering as he passes bottles of ice cold beer around and turns the music back on. Tails puts his phone back on the counter and walks to the front door
Manic's name and number are automatically deleted from Tails' contact list.
Meanwhile, Manic reaches his hand out and his Jade Medallion flies back in his palm. He uses his energy to push Starr off of him and jump to his feet
"What the hell did you just do?!"
The 14 year old laughs hysterically while her friends grin eerily
"Go find out for yourself"
Manic growls angrily, then races down the highway as fast as he can. His Medallion gives him enhanced speed so he runs til his muscles burn.
Within 15 minutes he reaches Station Square and heads towards Amy's house. He stops at a water fountain to wash the blood off of his face, then heads out again.
Manic hears the loud Trap Music and walks on the front lawn
"AMY! TAILS! KNUCKLES!" He shouts "It's your boy Manic!"
The Fox notices him yelling on the front lawn, so he nudges Amy and Knuckles
"Did either one of you invite this guy?"
Amy puts her drink down and walks outside to speak with the green hedgehog
"Uh, Hi there. I don't mean to sound rude, but- did I invite you?" She asks
"Invite me? Amy, you called me this morning! Tails, back me up here" Manic says
"...Ha-have we met?" Tails asks
Manic raises his arms in confusion "Guys, it's me! Manic! come on, stop playing- don't you remember me?"
Knuckles walks up to him "Yeah, I remember you"
"Yes, I knew SOMEONE would!"
"You served me at the Mcdonald's drive thru last week, didn't you"
The Echidna laughs sarcastically while Amy and Tails laugh nervously, the situation is clearly awkward for them
"Amy - it's me. Manic, Sonic's brother? We met last summer? We saved Metropolis from HAZARD! Tails, we were just talking on the phone like half an hour ago!"
The Fox checks his phone quickly "...there's no record of any 'Manic' on here"
Manic's eyes widen "..Tails, come on, man-"
"Wait, what'd you say? You're Sonic's brother?" Amy asks
"Yes! I'm his brother that he conviently never mentioned-"
Amy pulls out her War Hammer "My boyfriend died one year ago, you jerk! If he had a brother, he would've told us about it! How dare you come here and mock him like that?!"
Manic backs up and raises his arms defensively "Whoa, chill, CHILL! Amy! I'm not lying! Please believe me!"
The pink hedgehog raises the hammer and is about to swing when a voice interrupts her
"I'm afraid he's right"
Amy, Tails, Knuckles and Manic look to the left and spot him.
"Sonic?!"
The blue blur smiles at his friends and Amy drops her hammer to run over to him. They embrace in the middle of the street and the rest of their friends gather around Sonic
All except Manic
"...What the hell is going on?"
Everyone inside the house all see Sonic so they rush outside to welcome their old friend home. Manic is completely ignored as everyone crowds around his brother.
"..but - I'm here, too. Don't you remember me?"
His friends pay no attention to him as he looks on from the side.