A/N: I can finally be happy with this! I like this one! Enjoy! *winks anime style, complete with blow kiss*
General Rules I hope you can pay attention to:
1. If you're gonna drop me a message or review, please do not use curse words or insult me. I understand if you're joking (or something). It's not that I've exactly got virgin ears (or eyes)- you saw my fandoms list. It's just that, cursing makes you sound poor. I honestly hate it because people can find other ways to express themselves besides cursing. I understand the occasional "Holy Crap!" It's a common exclamation of surprise. But please, don't degrade yourself by swearing. Find other ways to express your feelings.
2. If i use a curse word in my writing, it will almost always be "starred out", like so G*. I only do this because some characters commonly curse, and to make them not curse would be out of character. If a character that usually curses is not cursing, it is probably because they are around children or have deemed cursing inappropriate for the present situation. Please do not call me a hypocrite if I use a curse word in my story and call you out for cursing in a review.
3. I will try to respond to any reviews I do get, but I am a very busy person. Don't flip out if I miss your review and don't reply. I may only respond to a few reviews if I find them especially interesting or thoughtful *hinty hinty*
Out of the Frying Pan; Into the Water?
Sonic screamed and flailed his arms as he fell off the cliff towards the ocean.
"I'm sorry, but it had to be this way!" Manic screamed down to him.
"You traitor!" Sonic screeched at the top of his lungs. He managed to scream one more time before he plunged into the ocean and swallowed a mouth full of water.
"Excellent!" Robotnik laughed and put his hand on Manic's shoulder. Manic shrugged him off.
"I did what we agreed on. That's all," Manic said. He boarded Robotnik's ship and they flew away.
TWO DAYS EARLIER
"Sonic Hedgehog! You come in here this instant!" Sonia yelled. Sonic entered her room and tried to hold back laughs.
"What's the matter, sib?" he asked jokingly.
"You know! How dare you fill my shampoo bottle with chili dog sauce!" she lectured. She gestured to her now orange and red hair which was very chunky and messy.
"I had no where to keep it and I had to keep it somewhere!" he laughed. Sonia growled. Sonic chuckled nervously. He yelped as Sonia tried to attack him. He ran out of the room.
Manic typed on the computer. He was instant messaging Trevor about some new equipment shipments. Sonic zipped past him. Manic chuckled to himself and kept typing.
"When are they coming in?" he typed. The screen lit up with Trevor's response.
"Tomorrow. We need someone to check them in and test them out. Are you up for the job?" was the message.
"Well, I have nothing else going on. Sadly, Sonic might not survive to be there," Manic replied.
"Why not? Is everything ok?" Trevor asked nervously.
"Yeah. You'd just have to be here," Manic laughed as he typed. Trevor responded with a smiley face. Manic finished up with Trevor and went to check on Sonic and Sonia.
He laughed when he saw what was happening. Sonic was pressed up in a corner. Sonia had her hands raised like she was ready to strangle him and had an evil look on her face.
Manic managed to talk some sense into Sonia. Sonic tried to sneak away, but Sonia caught him and lectured him for two hours. This was all the normal business of the hedgehog household.
The next day, the triplets headed in their van over to the shipment docks. Trevor was waiting for them, but he was acting kind of strange. Sonic quickly signed the paperwork. Manic checked the equipment crates.
"Trevor?" he asked holding up a small electronic laser. Trevor looked over at him nervously. "These are a little light to be the full updates that we talked about."
Trevor took the laser from him. "Really? That's strange!" he stuttered. Manic looked at him suspiciously and shrugged. Sonia looked around. She noticed some rippling curtains.
"Hey Trevor, what's behind these curtains?" she asked.
He ran to cover them and almost shouted, "Oh nothing! Nothing! Pay no attention to these curtains!"
Sonic, Manic and Sonia looked at him very carefully. "Is everything alright, Trevor?" Sonic asked. Trevor smiled and nodded, but he continued to act strange.
"The rest of the shipments are in here. Help me get them so you can go," Trevor said. Sonic and Manic followed him into another room. Sonia walked over to the curtains.
"Okay curtains! What didn't Trevor want us to see?" she asked. She pulled the curtains aside revealing Sleet and Dingo. Sonia shrieked.
"What was that?" Sonic asked. He grabbed Manic's hand and pulled him into the other room.
"Sleet and Dingo! Trevor, get out of here!" Manic yelled. Trevor shook his head and sniffled.
"I can't," he said solemnly. He pulled one of his sleeves up to reveal a detainment bracelet.
"What happened, Trev?" Sonic asked horrifiedly. Trevor sighed.
"Yesterday they got me after I finished talking to Manic. They wanted to put tracking devices in the equipment instead of the upgrades. They also wanted to make sure that I didn't warn you about the devices, but I didn't want them to get you! Sonia, I told you not to notice the curtains!" Trevor explained.
"Well now that we have been discovered, we have to remove the traces of our presence. That's means the witnesses!" Sleet cried pulling out a small gun. Sonia panicked as Dingo grabbed her. Sonic was ready to attack when suddenly Manic felt faint.
"Oh no," he murmured. His mind went completely blank and he froze. His brain lost control of his functions and he fell over. All he could do was barely breath and manage to stay alive.
"Manic! What did you do to him?" Sonic wailed looking at Sleet, but Sleet was just as shocked as Sonic. Sonic knelt down next to Manic and checked for a pulse. Sleet was faster at recovering from strange occurrences.
"Surrender now and we will get your sewer rat there a real doctor," Sleet negotiated. Sonic rolled his eyes, but he realized that he didn't have a whole lot of options.
"His name is Manic," Sonic sighed. He looked at Sonia. Then he looked at Trevor. Trevor looked ashamed and couldn't meet Sonic's eyes. Then Sonic looked down at Manic.
"I surrender," Sonic declared. Sonia let out a huge puff of air. Sleet fired the gun at Sonic.
When Manic woke up, he was lying on the floor in a cold room. Sonic was sitting across from him. Sonia was sitting next to him. They all had cuffs linking their wrist together. Sonic had one ankle chained to the wall.
"Good! You're up!" Sonic said cheerfully. Sonia sat up a little straighter and smiled.
"Guess what we did for you?" she said enthusiastically. Manic gulped.
"We surrendered so you could get a doctor!" Sonic said with fake joy.
"Guess what else!" Sonia cried. Manic gulped again.
"The doctor said that it looked like this happened to you often! That you didn't need him and you would be fine!" Sonic cried with more fake enthusiasm. Sonia nodded.
"Now why would that be?" she asked still laying on the peppy.
Sonic tried his best to become serious. "What's going on, Manic?" he asked gently. Manic looked at Sonic and Sonia.
He eventually took a deep breath. He put his face in his hands and started to cry. Sonic was horrified.
"Is everything okay? Can we help you? You're not going to... you know... die or anything? Right?" Sonic asked. He got as close to Manic as he could, but his ankle chain held him back.
Manic wiped his eyes. "No, I'm not going to die," he laughed. "Ever since I was a little kid," he began to explain. "I got these weird periods of time where my brain would shut down. I call them Freezes because that's what I do. All of my systems shut down and it sometimes gets hard for me to breath. I really didn't want to tell you guys because I thought that you would think I was weak and helpless."
Sonia smiled and rubbed his shoulder. "We could never think that!" she cried.
Sonic nodded. "I wish you had told us though because then I wouldn't have surrendered!" he said. Manic sighed and nodded.
Suddenly, a SWAT Bot entered the room. He picked up Manic by the back of his vest and started to carry him away. Sonic tried to stop it; when he attacked his ankle chain pulled him back and he landed on his face.
Sonia began to cry. Sonic kept trying to attack the SWAT Bot and Manic kept trying to either wriggle free or punch the bot. He was able to do neither.
Manic was brought to Robotnik's lair. The SWAT Bot put him down, and Robotnik turned to look at him. He looked very serious and angry.
"I was almost forced to pay a lot of money for a false alarm in medical emergencies! I do not like giving up my money! After I convinced the doctor to reduce the bill, I paid the money and had an idea. I said to myself 'why don't I just get that sewer rat to pay off his debt!' So here we are and here we are going to stay until you can come up with a way to pay back the sum!" Robotnik bellowed.
Manic gulped. "May I ask what you're going to do with Sonic and Sonia?" he asked nervously.
Robotnik smiled wickedly and replied,"Oh yes, the matter of your siblings. Dingo asked if he could keep Sonia and I said sure. Sonic I was just going to robotisize and announce the great news on public television." Manic did not like how things were looking out, but he was formulating an idea in his own head.
He tried to smile as deviously as he possibly could. "What if I betrayed Sonic for you and killed him myself? Sonia too?" he suggested.
Robotnik's smile grew much wider. "Now tell me why and how would you do that?" he asked.
"Well, they always get all the attention and the glory! I just want to feel better than those insignificant lowlifes for once! Sonic can't swim and he's afraid of water. So the best death for him is to drown him! And Sonia can't stand getting dirty! So we should throw her in a deep mud pit!" Manic exclaimed.
"Perfect!" Robotnik cried happily. "And after you betray your brother and sister, I can robotisize you!"
Manic chuckled and said, "May only your great will be done your great Majesty!" He did not mean a word of it and instead of bowing, he curtsied. Another SWAT Bot was about to take him back to his cell, when he cried, "Wait oh great Robotnik! In case my plans do not work, I shall need two lasers to kill them with! Small ones which I can conceal in my clothing!"
Robotnik nodded and said,"Alright, Rat. I will give you lasers now. Just in case you want to kill them early." He turned and tossed Manic two small lasers.
"Thank you for your great understanding!" he cried as he was hauled away by the SWAT Bot.
Sonic and Sonia were getting worried about Manic.
"Do you think he froze again?" Sonia asked nervously.
"I don't know, but maybe Robotnik robotisized him!" he replied. Sonia gasped.
The SWAT Bot tossed Manic into the cell. "Whoa!" he yelped.
Sonic and Sonia gasped with relief. Sonia hugged him. Sonic stood up and smiled.
"Welcome back to the death zone!" he cried happily. Well, he was happy to see Manic.
"What happened? What did they want you for?" Sonia asked.
"I made a deal with Robotnik," Manic said plainly. He began to fiddle with the small lasers.
"A deal? With Robotnik!" Sonic shrieked. He shook his head and sighed. He sat down.
"Haven't you learned anything!" Sonia shrieked. Manic rolled his eyes.
"Never make a deal with Robotnik, Guy," Sonic said softly. Sonic noticed what Manic was doing with the lasers.
"What are you doing?" he asked slowly. Manic looked up at him. He rolled his eyes and went back to his work.
"Don't roll your eyes! You made a deal with Robotnik! You're in trouble! The least you can do..." Sonia started to lecture, but Manic interrupted.
"The least I can do is finish what I'm doing and save you all from dying!" he shouted. Sonia gulped. Manic looked up at her. His expression was completely stern and fierce. He went back to working with the lasers.
The triplets sat in silence for a long time. Someone occasionally grunted or moved in their area. No one said anything.
Sonic was getting very frustrated. It seemed like Manic had something that he just wasn't saying. And what did he mean by 'saving their lives'?
Sonia was very distressed. Not only was the cell dirty and grimy, Not only was she sitting next to two fowl smelling people, Manic had snapped at her! She was also thinking that Manic was holding back from them. That scared her.
Manic had almost finished working on the second laser when a SWAT Bot opened the cell door.
"Hedgehog, you are to proceed with Plan Number One," it commanded in its robotic voice.
Manic stood up. "Come on Sonic, that means you too," he said weakly. Sonic stood up. He glanced over at Sonia in confusion. She shrugged.
The SWAT Bot led the hedgehogs out onto a small ship. They flew over a small valley and a mountain. Manic leaned over to Sonic and gave him the first small laser that he had completed.
"You're going to need this," he explained.
"For what?" Sonic asked. Manic just sat up straight again and didn't respond. Sonic studied the little laser.
Then the small ship flew over the Mobian Sea. Sonic chuckled nervously and scooted as far away from the windows as he could possibly get. Manic took a deep breath. Soon the ship landed on a rugged cliff.
Robotnik was already there. He was talking to Sleet and Dingo about a big piece of paper that he was holding. Manic saw him give them the paper before they got on their own ship and flew away.
"Ah, Sonic! How nice of you and your little sewer rat of a brother to join us!" Robotnik cried joyfully. Sonic spit on Robotnik's shoes.
"Put him near the edge," Robotnik ordered. Sonic gulped. A SWAT Bot moved in and scooted Sonic to the edge of the cliff.
"Un-cuff him first atleast because he can't even swim!" Manic said.
"What do you mean swim!" Sonic gulped.
"Oh fine!" Robotnik cried. "Un-cuff the little brat. Sewer rat, do what we came here for!"
"Stop insulting Manic that way!" Sonic shouted defensively. Manic took another deep breath. He stepped over to Sonic.
He leaned in and hugged him. "I'm so sorry. Use the laser," Manic whispered in his ear. He stepped back and pushed.
Sonic screamed and flailed his arms as he fell off the cliff towards the ocean.
"I'm sorry, but it had to be this way!" Manic screamed down to him.
"You traitor!" Sonic screeched at the top of his lungs. He managed to scream one more time before he plunged into the ocean and swallowed a mouth full of water.
"Excellent!" Robotnik laughed and put his hand on Manic's shoulder. Manic shrugged him off.
"I did what we agreed on. That's all," Manic said. He boarded Robotnik's ship and they flew away.
Underwater, Sonic flailed around trying to swim. He remembered what Manic said and pulled out the laser. He turned it on and it changed shape.
Sonic put the laser in his mouth. He took deep breaths. The laser was a small oxygen tank that Manic had given him so he could breathe!
Sonic eventually made his way over to a small shore. He found a phone and called Cyrus to come and pick him up.
When Manic got back, Dingo was in their cell. He was flirting with Sonia and kept batting his eyelashes. It was all very weird.
Dingo left after Manic sat down. Sonia looked around waiting for Sonic to come in the cell at any moment.
"Where's Sonic?" she asked. Manic shook his head. He started working on the second laser again.
"What? You're just not going to tell me?" she asked irritably. Manic didn't look up. He just shook his head again.
Sonia gasped. "He didn't die did he?" she exclaimed. Manic looked up at her. He rolled his eyes and shook his head. He held a finger up to his lips and pointed at a microphone above his head.
She looked back and forth between him and the microphone. She nodded. "Okay, fine don't tell me," she said slowly. She stared at the microphone for a long time.
Manic closed up the laser and handed it to her. She gave him a puzzled look, but Manic shushed her again.
A short while later, a SWAT Bot came in. "Hedgehog, you are to proceed with Plan Number Two," it said.
"Come on, Sonia," Manic commanded. Sonia slowly followed him onto the small ship.
"Use the laser when you run out of air," Manic whispered to her after they sat down.
"Air? What happened to Sonic?" she whispered back.
"I'm not really sure, but I know he's alive," Manic whispered back honestly. Sonia nodded.
"Does it work like a regular laser?" she asked. Manic nodded.
"Again, air? What do you mean?" she asked quietly. Manic shook his head. Sonia huffed.
The ship flew away from the Mobian Sea and towards the southern forests. They landed in a small clearing. There was a large mud puddle near the clearing.
Robotnik was standing next to the large mud hole. He was laughing like he was some mad genius. A SWAT Bot pushed Sonia to the edge of the puddle.
"If you expect me to jump in there, you are crazy!" she declared.
"Oh I don't expect you to jump! I expect you to fall!" Robotnik laughed. Manic smiled gently.
He leaned in and hugged her. "I'm sorry. Don't forget the laser," he whispered. He stepped back and pushed. Sonia yelped and took a deep breath. Robotnik laughed.
"Let's go robotisize a hedgehog," Robotnik laughed. "Or should I say a sewer rat!" Manic looked over his shoulder at the mud puddle as some SWAT Bots pushed him onto the ship.
Sonia held her breath for as long as she could. She kept sinking lower and lower through the mud. She was angry that Manic had pushed her in.
Finally, she used the laser. It tasted kind of weird. Then her feet touched the bottom. She squatted down and pushed up as hard as she could. She had to swim slowly the rest of the way up.
The ship took off just as she reached the surface. She waited a couple of minutes. Then she pulled herself out of the icky gunk. She used some big leaves to wipe herself off.
Then she set off through the forest. She came to the ruins of and old burned house. Sonia almost started crying. She remembered the story that Sonic had told them of how he became part of the Resistance.
Then Sonia also remembered the hedgehog emergency plan. After the hedgehogs left each base location, the left a tiny communication device. Sonia entered the old house.
She checked every inch of the place until she found one. She turned it on and contacted Cyrus to come and get her.
Manic stepped off of the ship onto the landing platform. He let the SWAT Bots push him slowly into the main robotisizing chamber. He looked down at his feet. Sleet and Dingo stood by the control panels.
Manic sighed. He had betrayed his only brother and sister. He was about to be robotisized. He figured that he should be upset or concerned, but he was just calm.
He took a deep breath. Robotnik entered the room. He sat down in a lounge chair. He pulled out a small basket of popcorn and began to munch on it.
"Begin the process," he mumbled through his snack. He noticed how calm Manic was. "You worthless street rat! You brainless incompetent fool! You betrayed your own brother and sister, you killed them, and you didn't even manage to save yourself in the process! You are stupid, just like that silly Ferell of yours," Robotnik bellowed.
Manic remained completely calm while Robotnik insulted him, but the last comment, the one about Ferell, was the last straw. Ferell had been Manic's parent growing up and he had loved him. Then Robotnik had arrested him and robotisized him!
"What did you just say?" Manic asked letting his calmness escape him. Robotnik laughed as he had just found Manic's pressure point.
"I said that Ferell of yours was stupid! He was not only that, but also a pitied fool. You should have heard him before I robotisized him! 'Oh please sir! I'll do anything! I'll even tell you where my kid is! You can have him! Please just let me go!'" Robotnik mimicked.
"Ferell would never do something like that! Something so low like you!" Manic growled.
"Please! You can have all my money! I'll tell you where every criminal in the city lives! I swear! Please just don't turn me into a robot!" Robotnik squealed.
"No! Stop it!" Manic cried. Tears began to stream down his face. He covered his ears and fell to his knees.
"Please ol' , Sir! Let me just go get my son, Manic! Or one of my nieces! Maybe my nephew? Anything, Sir! Anything!" Robotnik wailed.
Manic began to shake with anger and horror. He fell over on to his side. He wept because he knew that it was the truth. He could no longer control his emotions.
"And you are just the same! You betrayed your only brother and sister! They are dead! I have won, sewer rat! I HAVE WON!" Robotnik hollered.
Manic stopped crying. He stood up. He wiped his eyes and grinned. Robotnik was very confused.
"No! You haven't! Because I have pulled my greatest con yet! You have lost! I have succeeded! Both me and the freedom fighters! And we will continue to succeed until your days of tyranny are over! Long live the Resistance! Long live the Resistance!" Manic yelled with all his might.
"No! NO! Start the process! Robotisize him! Robotisize him now!" Robotnik shrieked. Sleet typed away at the panel. Manic smiled and raised his hands.
"I'm always with you Ferell," he said softly. This touching yet seriously messed up moment was suddenly also very interrupted.
A small resistance fighter plane broke through the wall. Sonic and Sonia hopped out with guns in hand. They pointed their guns at Robotnik and Sleet first. Sleet backed away from the panel. Robotnik growled.
Cyrus and Trevor jumped out and hurried over to the panel. Cyrus reversed the process. Trevor then dismantled the panel.
"We're stealing our brother back," Sonic said finally. He shot the robotisizing chamber. It broke open and Manic climbed out.
"Very impressive!" he commented.
Sonic rolled his eyes and said, "Come on Mister Smarty Pants!" Manic chuckled and they climbed into the ship. Then Trevor flew the plane very far away to Sanctuary.
Manic explained everything except for the crying part of course. Then Sonic and Sonia explained how they survived. Next Cyrus told the hilarious story of how he got three calls in one day to come pick people up at three very different locations. Then Trevor explained how he had gotten out of his cell and contacted Cyrus.
It was long after the sun had set when everyone finished explaining. Everything had seemed to fit together like a puzzle that at first hadn't seemed that great, but when it was finished looked like a well constructed masterpiece.
And of course Manic was still in trouble for even making a deal with Robotnik in the first place. But also of course everyone forgave him because everything turned out alright.
What everyone failed to noticed, was that while they were explaining everything to each other and sharing stories, a mysterious, hooded figure lurked nearby listening to their every word. When everyone had nothing more to say, the figure ran to the Oracle's cave.
"Ah, Aleena! How nice of you to visit! Did everything go okay with the children?" the Oracle asked.
The hooded figured removed her hood and hung her cloak on a rack. "You know everything! So of course you already know that it did go well with them!" she exclaimed.
"I knew! But I just like it when you tell me their adventures yourself," the Oracle said happily.
"Well, in that case! Let me tell you all about it!" Queen Aleena laughed. The Oracle laughed and poured her a cup of tea.
The End
A/N: I feel I should make it clear that the Oracle and Aleena are not together. Not dating at least. They're more like old friends. Kinda... Especially since he probably feels like he has to make something up to her for making her get rid of her kids... Hahahahahahahahaha... *feels insane for no reason*