Hey everyone! I'd like to take a minute to introduce this fic, and why it has the same name as one written by ShidesuHejjihoggu.
STORYTIME.
I was browsing the interwebz looking at some Sonic fanfics(yes, im a sonic fan. shocker.) when I came across one entitled Family. The description was as follows:
'AU Sonic is a runaway orphan trying to find his purpose in life, when he meets a stranger who will change his life forever.'
To be honest, I passed it off at first, not giving it much thought and figuring it wasn't that good.
Later that day, I stumbled upon it again and figured, why not, let's have a read!
And boy, was I in for a treat…
What I found was the greatest, most well written, inspiring fanfic I have read in my life. And I lurk on this site ALOT, so that's saying something. :P
It took me a matter of a few days to read through all 12 chapters of it, fueled by curiosity and fascination. I would occasionally catch a glimpse of the last chapter being chapter 12, but tried to ignore it. Eventually, on June 18, I finished chapter 12. I found it odd that the author would end it at such a pivotal moment in the story. I thought hard about it throughout the day and eventually decided that I would take it upon myself to continue this beautiful story. I sent ShidesuHejjihoggu-san a PM, and she replied a few days later, giving me permission to continue the story.
"You can go ahead and publish it if you like. You have my full permission!" (yay!)
I hope this is worthy, Shidesu-San. :)
Enjoy! And review! Of course, you don't have to, but it would be appreciated! :D
DISCLAIMER:
SEGA owns the characters, Shidesu-San owns the original plot. I only own the plot of the continuation and any original characters that I add from here on out.
CHAPTER 13
Sonic ran faster than he ever thought possible, - even for him – fueled by fear. He couldn't bear to have Shadow hit him again. The ebony hedgehog was the only one who had cared for him, protected him from harm, and supported him all these months.
Tears rolled down Sonic's muzzle, blurring his vision. He wiped them away with a gloved hand, trying to make sense of the jumble of memories in his confused mind. He ran for some time, trying his hardest to get a hold of himself.
Meanwhile, Shadow had not moved from the front door where his son had burst out of the house in fear minutes ago. He closed his eyes and put his face in his hands, feeling totally helpless. He decided then that he couldn't bring himself to harm Sonic, no matter how much he may deserve it. The young blue hedgehog had been through too much.
Shadow began to wonder if Sonic would ever return. Surely he wouldn't go back to his hardened life of living on the streets..?
'Well, at least I can tempt him with chili dogs.' Shadow joked to himself, thinking of the blue hedgehogs favorite food.
Sonic had stopped to rest by the edge of the forest, realizing only too late that everyone could see his dual colored eyes. He ducked behind a tree, hoping nobody would see him, and remained silent for some time.
It occurred to him that the area was completely silent. Confused, the blue hedgehog peeked out from behind the tree. He could see no one, so he stepped out onto the sidewalk. Letting his eyes adjust to the bright light, he examined his surroundings, but stopped when he saw the ground. He stared in shock.
The ground was covered in blood, no more than a day old. Warily stepping off the curb, he found that the blood was everywhere, the result of some terrible massacre. Sonic suddenly felt very alone.
Nervous, he quietly walked into the town, but was met only with more silence and blood.
'What happened here..?' he thought to himself. Sonic shivered. He wandered throughout the city, hoping to find some signs of life.
The inhabitants of the city had been mean to him, but he never would have wanted this. The constant blood was almost too much to handle.
Eventually, his feet inadvertently led him to the orphanage where he had escaped from year ago. The young hedgehog, confused, stepped inside. As soon as he opened the door, he wished he hadn't.
Sonic ran from the scene as fast as he could, not wanting to have to see any more of the blood and gore. With the mess of memories in his head, he had forgotten about Chaos Control.
He ran through the day, not having a clue as to where he was going. He only wanted to run. Run as far as he could, as fast as he could. Every memory felt heavy enough to crush his heart.
As the sun began to set, his pace began to slow, and eventually the navy blue hedgehog was unconscious.
'Damn it, I don't care anymore… He's my son, and I have to find him.'
Shadow focused his Chaos energy and said the familiar words. "Chaos Control!"
The teleport had brought him near the edge of the forest, where he thought he might find Sonic, however the young hedgehog was nowhere to be seen.
Shadow Chaos Controlled once more, bringing him to the outskirts of the city, but still found nothing.
"SONIC!" he yelled after his only son, his voice full of sorrow.
Shadow looked for Sonic until the moon was high in the sky, but was unable to even catch a glimpse of him. Feeling utterly hopeless, he fell to his knees, his eyes full of unshed tears.
A few moments later, the ebony hedgehog felt Chaos energy nearby. At first he payed no attention to it, but soon it became stronger. Shadow stood, his hope renewed, and ran toward it.
Some time later, he found his son laying on the ground, unconscious. Shadow checked his pulse. Feeling that it was weak, he picked up his son and Chaos Controlled back to the house. They ended up in Sonic's room. Shadow set him down on the bed, subtly surprised that the younger hedgehog was not grabbing his arm. The ebony hedgehog noticed Speedy laying on the floor, and picked the Chao doll up, placing it within Sonic's reach. Sonic instinctively reached for Speedy, holding him close.
Shadow stepped out of the room, looking back at Sonic and feeling nothing but sympathy for his son. The ebony hedgehog forced himself to shut the door, knowing that his son needed to rest. Shadow then went to his own room to get some rest.
THE NEXT DAY
Sonic awoke late in the morning, momentarily forgetting about the previous day. As the memories came rushing back to him, he pressed his head harder against the pillow. It took him a moment to realize where he was, and snapped upright, opening his eyes fully. He was in his room again, holding Speedy in his right hand. He noticed he still had his shoes on. More started to come back to him, he remembered the empty town painted with blood. The blue hedgehog tried to focus on something else, in particular why he was in bed.
He got up, making sure to hide Speedy somewhere safe, and quietly opened the door. Glancing back and forth in the hallway, Sonic stepped into the hallway, half shutting the door behind him. Making sure to silence his footsteps, he made his way down the stairs. The blue hedgehog looked all around the first floor, but found no sign of Shadow. He stopped near the front door, confused. No sooner than he had stopped, however, the ebony hedgehog came through the door.
Sonic froze, his eyes wide with panic, fully expecting to be punished for running away.
Instead, his father spoke calmly. "So, you're up now."
Sonic was a bit taken aback by the lack of anger in Shadow's voice. He nodded timidly. "I'm sorry, Da-I mean Dad..."
Shadow couldn't help but let out a slight chuckle at his son's muddling of the two words. 'His memories must still be jumbled together.'
Noticing the fear in Sonic's expression, Shadow softened his own and moved a bit closer to him. Sonic instinctively shrank back in fear.
Shadow looked at Sonic, eyes full of worry. Sonic studied Shadow, trying to judge his intentions. Realizing his father was not going to harm him, the younger hedgehog looked back at Shadow, still nervous. Shadow pulled Sonic into a hug, a tear rolling down his tan muzzle. Sonic was taken a bit by surprise, but instantly felt safe and hugged Shadow back. "I'm sorry..." Sonic said, his voice cracking slightly.
"Don't be."
Sonic cried, burying his face in Shadow's chest fluff. Shadow held his son close for several minutes, until Sonic's stomach rumbled. Sonic realized he was incredibly hungry, and stopped crying.
Shadow heard, and said to his son, "I saved you some breakfast if you want it."
Sonic nodded enthusiastically, and Shadow went into the kitchen to get the blue hedgehog some food.
He hadn't thought about it until now, but the young hedgehog was starving. When Shadow set the plate down in front of him, he gulped it down hungrily.
Shadow, meanwhile, had gone into the storage room, hoping to find a few key items to jog his memory. He chose the picture of him, Sonic, and his mother, and, rather reluctantly, the Chaos Emerald.
The ebony hedgehog brought the items downstairs to where Sonic had just finished his meal and set them on the table. Sonic looked at the picture and the emerald curiously. Looking more closely at the picture, all the memories of the fire came rushing back to him all at once. His head began to hurt. Shadow quickly pulled the picture away. Sonic put a hand on his head, practically begging for the pain to go away. The pain only grew more intense, and he let out a yell of pain. Shadow saw Sonic's green eye begin to turn red and in reaction, pulled the emerald away as well.
"Sonic..?" Shadow warily tried to get his son's attention, but the blue hedgehog didn't hear him. He was still screaming.
Shadow tried everything he could think of to slow the rush of memories, but none worked. Eventually, he knew there was only one thing he could do. The ebony hedgehog gathered his Chaos energy, tears now streaming down his muzzle. He closed his eyes, and let out a burst of energy which was channeled directly into Sonic. It went straight to the artificial soul, mending and altering it. When it was through, Sonic was on the floor, trying to catch his breath.
He looked up at Shadow with wide eyes.
"I remember everything..."
Shadow's eyes widened as well at this. It had worked! Unbeknownst to them, the immense amount of Chaos energy had transformed the artificial soul into the one that was there originally, tearing it away from the now dead Tails Doll.
"It worked..." was all Shadow could say.
Sonic pulled himself into a standing position, still silent, but with a renewed sense of who he was.
This time, it was Sonic's turn to hug Shadow, the ebony hedgehog somewhat taken aback by the sudden act.
Tears once again came from Shadow's eyes, but this time they were tears of joy at the return of his son.
1 WEEK LATER
Sonic was on his way to school.
Having had plenty of time to recover after the incident with the Tails Doll, he felt rejuvenated and ready to take on the world.
Thankfully, the school was not in the city, therefore Sonic would not have to face the horror of the bloodied wasteland. He would, however, have to face Knuckles. The blue hedgehog wondered briefly how he would handle the situation.
20 minutes later, he arrived at the front doors, running a few minutes late. He ran up the steps and pushed the door open hard, causing the glass to shatter against the wall. Sonic winced, knowing he would end up having to pay for the damages. Right now, however, he needed to get to class.
It was lunchtime. Sonic was thankful to have a break from the endless facts and equations of the day. Sitting down at an empty table away from the others, he pulled out his lunch: three chili dogs. Biting into one, he was captivated by the flavor of the meat and chili.
The moment was short lived, however, as the all-too-familiar red echidna approached the table with a smirk on his face.
Sonic gulped, shrinking into his seat.
"Hey, it's the freak. How's it going, freak?"
Sonic glared at Knuckles, anger rising in him. Claws began to elongate from his hands, and his fur began to change. Knuckles stopped, his eyes wide.
"Alright, alright, chill the hell out..."
The echidna left in silence, glancing back at Sonic with a disgusted expression.
The blue hedgehog sighed, and went back to his lunch.
As he finished the first chili dog and was about to move onto the second, he noticed an orange fox on the other side of the cafeteria, also sitting alone. Curious, Sonic picked up his lunch and walked over to where the fox was.
When he arrived at the table, the fox gasped and shrank back, eyes closed and trembling. Sonic wondered why, but he remembered Knuckles and suddenly understood.
"W-what do you want?" the fox stuttered.
"I… I'm not gonna hurt you.." Sonic suddenly felt very sad for this fox. He also noticed the fox had two tails. Upon seeing where Sonic was looking, the fox yelped and tried to hide hide his tails.
Sonic averted his gaze from the fox's tails. "What's your name..?"
"M-miles.."
"I'm Sonic." Sonic smiled at Miles, who halfheartedly smiled back, now trembling less.
Sonic sat down next to Miles. "You mind if I join you?" The orange fox shook his head, surprised that anyone would want to sit with him. Sonic pulled out his second chili dog and bit into it. Miles stared at it with wide eyes. Sonic noticed, and glanced at Miles, who suddenly turned away, embarrassed.
"You want one?" Sonic said, offering Miles the last chili dog. Miles jaw dropped. Someone was offering him food?
Miles hesitantly accepted the chili dog.
"Enjoy."
"Th-thanks.." Miles took a bite of the chili dog, his face lighting up as the flavor filled his mouth.
Sonic smiled and ate his chili dog. Miles, meanwhile, was overjoyed that someone was being nice to him.
Sonic tried not to mention the fox's two tails, but eventually he couldn't help it. "Hey, miles.. Can I ask you something?"
"Uh, okay."
"Why do you have two tails?" The words came out rushed and a bit quiet.
Tears filled Miles' eyes as he jumped up and ran out of the cafeteria.
"Wait! Miles!"
T.B.C.
Hope everyone enjoyed! :) And yes, I left it at a cliffhanger. Maybe Shidesu-San and I have similar writing styles :P I did add Tails, but mostly because Sonic desperately needed another character to interface with.
Another tradition I'll be continuing is responding to EVERY SINGLE REVIEW! So be honest, tell me what you like and what can be improved on, and I'll respond to 'em all :)
Til next time!