A 14 year old Sonic the Hedgehog lay silently in the pitch blackness of the abandoned facility. He had been here for many weeks. He was trapped in a containment tank, and had been left behind when the facility had been abandoned. His claws gripped the cement floor as he crawled along the base of the tank, looking for a way out. He'd searched this tank from top to bottom many times already, but he still hadn't given up.

The blue hedgehog brushed his lips along the glass, seeking even the slightest of cracks, the tiniest of chips, the chink in its black armor.

After circling the tank at least five times, a sudden pain in his lower lip told him he'd finally found it. He licked off the blood and brushed his finger back through the area, finding an opening where something had fallen from the ceiling and cracked the glass. This facility had been falling apart when the blue speedster had been dragged here, and now it was collapsing on top of him.

The facility was called T.M.C.A.E.F., pronounced Timsafe, where many people like Sonic had been dragged when the disease became scary. The government didn't want a mutant to become infected and cause the disease to mutate within it's body and make it even more deadly, so the President decreed that any and all mutants be rounded up and brought to The Mutant Containment And Elimination Facility, where countless people were brought and executed or left to die. Tails wasn't brought here, thank the gods, since he wasn't a mutant, he actually fell under the category of "deformed" since he simply had an extra tail.

Sonic was here though, and he was dying of hunger. They had taken everything from him, even his gloves, socks, and shoes and replaced it with a hospital gown that was too tight around the neck area to take off. Most people in T.M.C.A.E.F. were either dead or close to it. The ceiling had completely given out in the B-Wing, where many people had still been alive. Those that weren't crushed or fatally wounded had escaped, but none of them had even tried to rescue anyone. No one had come to save them, no one.

Sometimes Sonic wondered if anyone still thought about him, or if anyone even cared that he was starving to death in an abandoned facility.

"Tails... Tails.. Help me.." he'd whimpered once in despair. He hadn't done anything like it since. He hadn't even let out a simple noise. He'd gone silent. The agony of being alone had muted him. The dusty blue hedgehog had stopped hoping his friends would come for him many weeks ago.

Sonic drew back, then lunged forward, slamming his body against the weaker part of the tank. He repeated this action over and over again, slowly widening the crack. He paused his actions, blood dripping down his forehead, to stick his fingers through the hole, pushing through until he couldn't anymore. He could push his whole hand out, the glass only denying movement about three or four inches past his wrist.

The glass is strong dammit. He mentally cursed. He drew himself back again and resumed attacking the glass with the weight of his body...

Half an hour had passed when the glass gave out completely, shattering as the blue hedgehog slammed into it once more. Sonic skid across the floor, riding out the remnants of his momentum with the glass shards, leaving him cut all to pieces. The shock of it all forced him into unconsciousness.

When he woke, he stumbled to his feet, leaning on the walls around him. The glass bit into his feet angrily, like it was angry that he'd escaped, and the air was so much more clean, it wasn't stuffy and warm, it was cool and refreshing. He limped out and blinked in the darkness, trying to see something.

Nothing. His eyes couldn't adjust to this kind of darkness. It was a thick, soupy blackness that wouldn't budge. The azure coughed slightly as the dust he'd stirred up dived down his throat, making his eyes water. Feeling along the walls, the hedgehog began to try to find a way out. He didn't find a door, but he did find a light switch.

He braced himself, and flipped it. The room lit up around him, revealing many other tanks, each filled with a dead and decaying body. He covered his mouth in shock, horrified that he'd been surrounded by the dead for weeks without knowing. Each corpse's face was twisted into an agonized expression, as though they were in terrible pain when they died. Many people had blood all over their faces, like they'd been bleeding from their eyes, ears, nose and mouth. Sonic's eyes were still adjusting as he stumbled through the room, realizing that his tank was in the back, and he had to go to the front to get out. He tried with all his strength to not look in the tanks as he tried in vain to run to the door. When he found the metal barricade, he pushed against it, but it didn't budge. He looked about for a reason why, and found that he needed a keycard to get out. The glass window in the door was partially blocked with what looked like a spray-painted X, he didn't understand, but tried to look past it anyway. Right outside, lying against the door, was another body, covered in blood from where his stomach had been torn into, guts out for the world to see. It was a guard of some type. In his hand he held an old red spray paint can. Sonic backed away from the door, stomach heaving. He had just seen his limit of gore and death. He doubled over and released a torrent of bile onto the white marble floor of the facility.

Sonic cried as he cowered against the bottom of another tank. He was scared, he didn't understand. He felt like a lost pup, didn't know what to do, where to go...

A sudden screech from the hall made him jump. He stumbled to his bloody feet and peered out the window in the door. At the end of the hall, in flickering light, was a Monster. That was all Sonic could think to call it. It resembled a mobian with no fur, and sickly grey, almost white skin. It was covered in blood, dirt, and various other things the frightened furry couldn't recognize. His green eyes widened as it sprinted oddly to the door. He ducked down, hiding from the creature. He heard a thump, then a series of smaller noises. He stood and hesitantly peered out again, only to sink back to the floor in a horrified shock.

The creature... was eating the corpse. Sonic was terrified. The thing outside the door screeched like a banshee, then continued gorging itself. More of the monsters came, and reduced the corpse to a bloody skeleton. After they finished, they seemed to linger, sniffing the air.

And the door that Sonic was hiding behind.

Sonic hugged his knees to his chest, shivering like a pup in the snow. His ears pinned back, and his tail tightly hugging his feet. The sound of one of the monsters sniffing the crack below the door made Sonic cover his mouth to hide his whimpers. Something wet brushed against his tail. He slowly turned his head to look down, and almost screamed at what he saw.

One of the beasts was trying to lick him from beneath the door, it's bloody tongue stretching out to leave a nasty wet patch on the dusty blue appendage. Sonic bit his own tongue trying to hide his whimpers. A thump above him caught his attention, and he looked up to it. Another couple of monsters were staring at him through the window. Their gorey mouths slightly ajar as they seemed to stroke the window, their claws leaving small scratches. Sonic let out a shaky breath and resumed his previous position, staring straight ahead in terror.

This seemed to excite the monsters, they slammed against the door, causing the terror-stricken hedgehog to release a terrified squeak. Before too much longer, they cracked the glass, and then broke it, their pale, furless arms reaching in to grab at his ears. He flinched lower and began to cry again. In the corner of the room, a computer lit up with a jingle. Sonic twitched his ears and studied it closely. One monster's pale, bloody hand clasped around his ear and pulled softly. Sonic leaned the other way, rescuing the velvety tip. The monsters were unable to open the door as of now, so Sonic crawled a few paces before standing and limping over to the computer.

It was a camera monitoring station, on the screen was an image of the auditorium that was empty. Then the screen changed to view a small hallway, a man was there, wearing a hazmat suit. Sonic typed feverishly, hacking into and gaining control of the camera's movements, which he had once had Tails teach him to do. He turned the camera to look at the man, who had by now paused and started to inspect a bit of debris that had fallen through a hole in the ceiling above. He picked things out and either tossed them aside or pocketed them. Another man was searching the rooms around his companion. Sonic turned the camera to get a better view of the man's face, when said man suddenly stopped and began watching the camera with interest. The man turned and made several signals to his companion outside the door and then pointed at the camera.

"Someone's alive in here!" he called softly. Another man walked through the door.

"How do you know?"

"The camera there. All the others sweep side to side, this one just stopped doing that and started watching me."

The second man approached the camera curiously. "If you're alive, sweep the camera up and down. Then look back at us."

Sonic did so. The men seemed startled. "Oh my gods... Oh my gods someone's alive in here!"

"We will be back soon. We're gonna go get help, we'll find you, just hold out until we get back." the first called to him. Sonic moved the camera to show he'd heard them. They turned and scurried out the door.

"Well, that was different." Sonic said softly, his voice raspy and painful. The monsters moaned softly, reaching for him through the window. Sonic ignored them and used the cameras to follow them men out, gasping softly a he saw the sizable group of around fifty people outside that they went to speak with. He strained his ears to listen to their conversation.

"Dude, someone's alive in there!"

"How do you know?"

"We made contact with the cameras! We noticed one camera acting differently than the others, so we told it to do something to show if it was alive or not, and it did! There's someone in there!"

"What's the chance it's a mutant?"

"There's no way it's not. That place is so full of Pales that any normal person'd be dead long ago."

"Manic, you know that going here is a risk anyway, it might not even be him."

"Dude, if there's any chance that that's my brother, I'm taking it. Whether or not you dudes come, I'm going in." The green hedgehog informed his companions, then turned back to the door and marching in. Three or so others hurried to follow.

Sonic gasped, tears beginning to well up in his eyes. Manic, his big brother(older than him by 2 years), was coming to get him. Sonic began to try to hack into the speaker systems, it took a few tries, but he got in. He used the speakers to lure the "Pales" away from his brother, and using the cameras to guide Manic to him. The Pales outside the door, only three of them, wouldn't leave. No need to worry though, since his brother was already in the hall with them, picking them off with a silenced pistol. Sonic rushed to the door and peered out.

"Manic!" he yelped out in a desperate whisper. His big brother sprinted to the door, still wearing the big bulky suit.

"Oh Gods... Sonic! I told them, I told them you were alive in here!"

"Manic! Get me out of here please!"

"You can't get out?" the green hedgehog gasped, horror in his eyes. He'd just found his brother, but couldn't get to him yet.

"The door needs some kind of keycard, I don't see any in here."

"Don't worry bro. We'll find one and get ya out... Oh gods... You're so, you're so thin!" the green hedgehog almost began crying at his baby brother's skeletal arms and legs, most of his body was hidden by the tight hospital gown.

The others that had accompanied Manic in seemed shocked to see Sonic.

"W-wow, someone really is alive."

"What are you dudes waiting for! Split up, find a keycard!" Manic barked at them, then scrambled to obey. "Sonic, bro. I'll be right back. I promise! Stay back away from the door until I get back, 'kay?"

"O-okay. Don't do anything stupid..."

"Don't count on it, but I will be back for you. I promise." and with that, the green teenager reached in and hugged his younger brother, being careful not to tear his suit on the glass.

Sonic waited anxiously for his brother to return, watching him nervously from the camera station.

"I will be back for you. I promise."

Sonic smiled as his brother searched his third office, knowing his brother always kept his promises. Sonic blinked as his brother lifted something small in his hands, inspecting it closely.

A keycard.

Manic jumped over the desk and hurried back, gathering his friends as he ran. Turns out they'd found multiple keycards, so if one didn't work they had another to try. Manic began trying each one. He swiped the first, and the light blinked for a minute, before shining red with a low beep.

That one didn't work.

Neither did the next, or the one after.

Before too long, Manic was getting frustrated and desperate.

The next was denied as well. Manic frowned upon the last one. "If you don't work, I'm gonna bust this damn door down by myself, alarms or no." he snarled at it, before swiping it.

The light shined green with a Be-beep! and the door popped open.

"The last damn card.. You're fucking kidding me, right?!" the others laughed softly, trying to not catch a Pale's attention. Manic shoved the door open and grabbed his little brother, pushing something against his neck.

"M-Manic.. What are you doing?"

"Just making sure you're not sick, but even if you are I ain't leaving you here."

The scanner buzzed softly and spoke in a feminine voice: "Subject is: Healthy".

"He's... healthy? How in the hell-" a woman fussed.

"Dude. Don't question it now. Question it later, when we aren't in Pale country." Manic scolded.

"Er... right. Sorry."

Manic nodded softly and pulled something out of his pocket. It was a Gas Mask.

"We've found that these actually filter out the virus as well as gas, so here, put it on."

Sonic nodded and obeyed his brother. Manic walked around his to tighten the strap, while a few of his companions walked over to the camera station, and the others stood guard.

"Ah, so you were the one luring the Pales away from us."

"Yup." Sonic said through the mask, his scratchy voice muffled.

"Can you even walk on those feet?" Manic asked, concern for his little brother making his voice soft. The blue hedgehog glanced down at his feet, they were scratched and bloody from limping across shattered glass and metal debris that had been scattered around the room.

"I think so."

"You're sure? 'Cause I'll totally carry you if I need to-"

"Just pick him up. We don't have time for this. If he starts bleeding heavily from walking on those feet, every Pale from here to what's left of Kingdom Acorn'll come running." Another hedgehog snapped. Manic sighed and lifted his brother in his arms like a toddler to rest on his hip, leaving said younger hedgehog blushing nervously.

Sonic clung to his brother as they fled the broken facility. A loud shriek startled them, and Manic turned to see a Pale at the end of the hall, sprinting towards them.

"RUN!" the woman screamed. Manic turned and charged for the door, carrying his brother through countless halls before they finally made it outside.

Thankfully, no one was lost. Manic laughed out loud in joy and swung his baby brother around in his arms. Sonic laughed as well, his voice muffled by the Gas Mask. After he finished, Manic smiled at his brother as he removed his suit and stuffed it into a bag.

"Manic, we can't stay here, get him in the truck and let's go!" a stiff looking dog snapped at him.

"Geez. Chill dude. If you hadn't seen your little bro in years you'd do the same thing." Manic chided, "And by the way, I'm still your prince, so if you talk to me that way again... I'll cut your legs up so bad you can't run and leave you in the town square at midnight. Got it?" he snarled, carrying Sonic over to said vehicle and placing him in the backseat.

"Y-yes Lord. I'm just a bit nervous that's all. Please forgive my rude outburst."

Manic scoffed before he turned back to his brother, "Get comfy bro, it's gonna be a long ride. I'll tend your wounds when we get there, too dangerous here. Blood attracts them, after all. Ma's gonna lose it when she sees you."

"W-why?"

"She thinks you're dead, bro." Manic informed him, climbing into the driver's seat and slamming the door shut, "She got all depressed when she found out that you'd been dragged here. She almost declared war when she found out they'd ditched the place." Manic chuckled, starting the truck. He waiting until he was sure all the others were either in the back or in another truck. No one wanted to be in a closed space with a possibly sick mobian. Even those who had seen the test show him to be healthy were reluctant to share personal space with him. Sonic yawned and asked, "Is it okay to take the mask off now?"

"Yeah bro, it's fine."

"Great, this thing is-" he cut off as he removed the item, "uncomfortable!"

Manic laughed, driving down the road after the others.

Sonic listened to the other's conversation through the walkie-talkie that sat on the dashboard.

"Mike, call back to base camp and tell 'em we're bringing back a live one."

"Yeah sure. What else should I tell them?"

"Uh... No casualties, no damages to equipment, and we're bringing back a mutant that is healthy."

"How do we know he's healthy?" another man said quickly.

"I was there when Manic tested him, he's healthy." the woman said.

"What if the scanners can't pick up the mutated strain?"

"You say it like you know he's sick."

"He was in a all red facility for weeks! How the hell is he not?"

"Mike, call it in. Mutant has been scanned clean."

"'Kay."

Sonic lowered his ears, feeling oddly hurt.

"Manic, you got anything to say on this topic?" The Nay-Sayer asked.

"Yes, I do." Manic said, lifting the item to his muzzle, "He's my brother. He's coming back with us sick or not."

"You're aware that your decision could kill everyone at base camp?"

"You're aware that you're paranoid, right bro? We're bringing him back, on my authority. Anyone else that say's otherwise I'll personally plant my foot up his midriff in front of his best buddies."

Sonic smiled slightly, unaware that Manic was watching his through the rear-view mirror. The man scoffed, making Manic chuckle.

"Is he always like that?" Sonic asked quietly.

"Yeah, more or less."

"Okay. How much longer 'till we get there?"

"A couple hours. Just take a nap or something, that's really the only time consuming thing you can do in this tin-can of a truck." Manic smiled, playfully smacking the wheel.

Sonic yawned and nodded, "I think I'll do that. Wake me when we get there..."

Manic smiled as his little brother sprawled out on the backseat.

Sonic woke to Manic opening the truck door. "Mornin' sunshine! We're home." the green hedgehog teased. Sonic rolled his eyes and stretched, feeling warmth fill his limbs, and wincing at the pain in his feet. A sudden commotion made him a bit nervous, a young orange monkey was sprinting towards him.

"OhmygoshManicisthishim?" She practically threw the words at him.

"Dude, slow down, speak like a normal Mobian."

"Is. This. Him?" she repeated, pointing to Sonic.

"What do you mean?"

"Is this the mutant that is immune to the virus?"

"Uh, I don't know if he's actually immune or not, but he is the one we saved. He's my brother."

Sonic blinked as the woman thrust her face into his, examining his eyes and mouth. She began mumbling, then grabbed his hand and tried to drag him off to somewhere when Manic yanked his little brother away from her.

"Dorothy, I know you want to make a vaccine, but please leave him be for a bit. He's only just got here, he needs to eat and his feet are cut to hell."

"But-"

"Dorothy. As the prince of this kingdom, I command you to leave my brother alone!"

"Oh fine!" Dorothy whined, before she stormed off.

"W-what was that about?" Sonic asked, his spines had raised to show his nervousness.

"That, my brother, was Dorothy. She's a scientist who's hell bent on making a vaccine for the virus. When she heard about you she almost lost her mind."

"Oh."

"C'mon, let's tend to your feet, and then let's go get you some food."

Sonic twitched as his brother cleaned the cuts, whimpering slightly as his hands gently removed any leftover debris ("Sonic, how the hell did you walk on these? Look, you've got a piece of glass the size of my claw still in your foot!" "I-I don't know... Adrenaline?") Once they were bandaged, Sonic managed to get a look around.

The building before them was obviously a hospital, although many windows were boarded up the trucks were hidden in a small forested spot a short ways away from the hospital. Sonic could see people watching him through the windows that weren't blocked.

Manic went to lift him when someone behind him cleared their throat. The green hedgehog turned to see a small, cream colored rabbit pushing a wheelchair towards them.

"Hello Mr. Sonic! Mother says to say hi!"

"C-Cream?" Sonic stuttered, overjoyed to see his little friend alive and well.

"Yes Mr. Sonic. It's me! Mother's on her way, but she'll be awhile, she's got a hurt foot. Mr. Mike said that you had boo-boos on your feet, so I brought you this Mr. Sonic."

"Thank you, Cream." Manic smiled at her, before picking up Sonic and placing him in the wheelchair.

"I could'a gotten down on my own..." Sonic fussed.

"Chill bro. Your feet look like they went through a blender, your not gonna walk for a long while if I have any say in it."

"But-"

"But nothing."

Sonic whined and gave his brother his best Bambi eyes. Manic made a mock-sour face and looked away. ("Don't look at me like that! You know I hate that look!" "But Manic...!")

Having had his Bambi Eyes fail him for the first time ever, Sonic pouted and sulked as his big brother wheeled him to the building...