The Queen of Soleanna stood before her large castle residing in her kingdom, giving a small sigh as she made an attempt to take her first step. The very second her foot touched the first step, one of her guards landed face first before her, battered and beaten, his armor burnt to cinders yet thankfully his physical body was somewhat unharmed, sided out the obvious pain he was feeling due to his deep groans. Blaze quickly knelled down and looked over the injured guard as a small medic team rushed down the steps of the palace and looked over the young man themselves. Blaze turned up to the medic team and gave a small sigh, "Is Flare training again?"

One of the doctors turned to the queen as the solder was placed onto a small gurney and gave her a nod. "That is correct your highness. This is count 523 so far that's she's defeated. She even elected to take on all 2000 at once. We are currently tending to the wounded with many others on stand-by although a few are in critical condition. Not sure if some will…"

"Where is she now?"

"She's… in your sacred training garden. The House of Fire Lilies."

Blaze closed her eyes, clenching her fist as she proceeded up the stairs to her home, slowly increasing in speed. "You 3, take care of that man and all others my daughter has defeated. When we next meet I want to hear every single one of them are perfectly stable and fit to fight again!" By the time she was finished with her words, Blaze was in a full out sprint, heading into her house, racing straight through the large palace.

Flare stood calmly, her clothes tattered and torn, breathing heavily with her fist clenched tightly, flames covering each ungloved hand as blood trickled from her mouth, surrounded by the many guards of her castle. These men, despite never speaking directly to the princess, they knew her well. Her intense breathing, giving off breaths of fire with each exhale, her fist balled so tightly that her own claws were cutting into the skin of her palms, the look in her eyes, the narrowing of her slits signifying that she was completely focused on her goal, ready to kill at a moment's notice. Armed to the teeth with the best weapons in the kingdom, the finest suits of armor ever made for combating those with supernatural powers and have been trained under the most grueling of circumstances, all this training and preparation couldn't prepare them for the wrath of the half breed princess of Solaria. They all knew even if they outnumbered her 1000 to 1, they wouldn't stand a chance against her anger and rage fit for the lowest of demons who could come close to rivaling the previous King himself. In a single moment of fear, one soldier stepped back and the ear of Flare's right side flicked slightly as she turned to him, her fire quickly turning to electricity as a wave of fire began to spill from her glowing eyes. "You coward! How dare you step away from your opponent! Your enemy! You are a soldier of Soleanna and yet you dare to show fear! How dare you dare disgrace my family's name with such a spineless act!" And in that moment, she waved her hand before him, causing a flood of lightning to travel towards the cat causing the soldier as well as the others to stumbled back, trying to remove themselves from the oncoming blast only for it to collide with a large wall of pure, absolute fire, overtaking the current of electricity and dissipating it in an instant. Flare's eyes grew wide before they narrowed again before she slowly turned her gaze around to her opposite side, only to come face to face with her mother who stood a few feet away, before the soldiers of her kingdom.

One of the soldiers quickly knelt down on a single knee, bowing to her with the many others following suit, dropping their weapons to the ground. "M-My Queen! Forgive us for showing you weakness and for participating in such an act with the Princess. We were under orders by her but we understand that there is no excuse for doing such-"

"Leave!" Blaze shouted causing the cats of her personal army to look up to her.

"P-pardon your highness?"

"I said leave. I have business with my daughter and unless you wish to forfeit your lives I suggest you return home while you can." And with that, the soldiers quickly grabbed their weapons and fellow men who were unable to move by themselves and vacated the area as quickly as possible, leaving the two females alone with both of them, staring the other down. For the longest time, Blaze thought she knew her daughter. Whenever she looked at her off-spring, all she could see was the bubbly, happy child who was always tailing her older brother where ever he went and was always giving a bright smile whenever in the company of friends and family. Looking at her now, she saw nothing but herself as a child. Cold, lonely, scared, and angry at everything the world had to offer, taking her anger out on every single last person she ever came in contact with. She knew simply one thing; she had to keep Flare from continuing this path of destruction. With a quick sigh, she placed her hand on her hip, staring down her child, trying to keep her own anger from controlling her actions. "So Flare, would you mind telling me what happened at school today?"

Flare let out a small breath, the fire and electricity generating from her body quickly dissipating without a warning, giving her mother an indifferent look. "I was under the impression you read the police report. It was simple, I found some guy who was preparing to rape a female and I punished him."

"So you broke 4 of his ribs and his left arm? You couldn't have just incapacitated him? Knocked him out cold? Worn him down? Something better than attempted murder? I know you're more than capable of doing that. The fight itself proved that."

"That would mean I was letting him off easy. A bastard such as him didn't deserve such mercy."

Hearing the words of her daughter, the venom that sprayed along with him, almost forced Blaze to take a deep breath as she bared her fangs, gritting her teeth before her anger once again took her over. She knew words like those. Flare wanted to kill the boy as she did the others she hospitalized and at the rate she was going…

"Fine… Fine… But then why did you come back home, without contacting me and then proceeded to use these men as… as… as target practice! You put so many of them in the hospital as well and unless my eyes were deceiving me a few moments ago, I believe you attempted to kill several of them at once! These are men that have vowed to give their lives to protect us and serve us whenever we need them and they wouldn't give a second thought about laying their lives down for the sake of ours and you treat them like they're test dummies for your techniques and a way to relieve stress! What in the hell has gotten into you! You're acting like some spoiled rotten, pompous, arrogant, self-righteous little brat!"

With that, Flare gritted her teeth, baring her fangs as she clenched her fists tightly. "A brat! Look at me! I'm one of the strongest beings in the country! Probably our world! What's the point of having these worthless bunch of kittens if I can defeat them without even nearing my limits! If I can defeat them single handedly, what makes you think that they could protect me from an impending threat to my life! They might as well go home and stay there! They can't even help me with training! They're worthless, pathetic, and useless!"

Blaze stared at her daughter quietly, she closed her eyes, removing her gloves and released her claws as she took off her dark purple and red cloak, letting it fall to the floor, showing a white tube top underneath as well as her lavender fur underneath, swaying back and forth like wildfire. "Very well… if you need a challenge then I will provide you with one." And with that, the Queen opened her eyes, a burst of flames surrounding her body, expanding outward like a storm with Flare raising her hands in front of her body to protect herself from the intensity of her mother's fire. Blaze knew… she knew she have never laid a single hand on either Flare nor Dash since Maurice left her family. Out of fear of pushing them away she thought by striking any of them, it would drive away her last two children as well and she knew her heart couldn't take it. But now, seeing what her daughter was turning into, if she, as Sonic says, didn't nip it in the bud now, this personality would grow into something far more violent and terrifying.

Flare knew her mother well. She studied the history of her family's lineage and knew that Blaze's cloaked acted as a suppressor, a power inhibitor. Never in her life has she seen her mother fight anyone without wearing that cloak and the level of skill her mother possessed was far greater than her own. Now with it taken off, her full power was being unleashed without a single ounce of it being filtered. She remembered how her father told her that simply standing next to her mother while her cloak was off was like standing next to the sun itself. And with that thought, Flare herself began to surge with energy and power, flames igniting around her body almost as large as her mother's as the two forces collided, trying to push the other back. Flare grunted, bared her fangs and gritted her teeth trying to hold her position, staring down her mother who wasn't showing any signs of even attempting to push her back while she herself was grinding along the ground, simply under the sheer weight and magnitude of her mother's power. And in almost an instant, Blaze let down her walls of fire with Flare suddenly stumbling forward, quick to catch herself as the flames dissipated before she ran straight for her mother. She wouldn't show any weakness, she wouldn't allow herself to be caught off guard, she refused to lose to anyone ever again and that vow included her very own mother as well. As Flare made a bee line straight for her mother, she pulled back her hand, charging it with fire with Blaze keeping her stance, not moving from the path of her daughter's attack with Flare striking Blaze, only for the queen to raise her hand, catching her daughter's into it, the collision giving off a large burst of energy, fire discharging in every direction. Flare glared up to her mother's emotionless, cold gaze before she found herself hunched over, coughing, seeing her mother's knee almost embedded straight into her stomach. Suddenly, Blaze leapt into the air, removing her knee and pulling it back, taking her left leg and kicking Flare square against the side of her face, causing the child to let out a loud scream as she flew face first into a large stone pillar, causing it to crumble and collapse around her.

As the queen landed gracefully on the ground, she turned to her daughter, feeling Flare's power begin to increase as the environment itself began to shake and rumble under her power. Suddenly a small explosion overtook the ruble with Flare shooting into the air, looking down towards her mother as she took aim with her hands, both igniting with fire. "I know you can do better than that mother!" Then with a loud roar, her hands let loose a burst of flames, firing towards her mother, watching her closely.

Blaze quickly slid her leg, spreading her stance as she suddenly began to slide her feet along the ground, spinning out of the way of the fireball as gracefully as a dancer in a ballet. Without warning, Blaze leapt quickly in the air, flipping elegantly, finding herself air born and face-to-face with her glaring daughter who was readying her fist with flames surrounding her hands. Suddenly Flare began attacking her mother relentlessly with Blaze gracefully dodging every single blow with each attack sent Blaze's way letting loose a flamethrower that exploded the very second it made contact with an object. Flare, slowly growing more frustrated began to attack much more ferociously the second the two landed on the ground, Flare swinging her fist, legs and claws while her mother dodged each and every attack, barely taking notice to such attempts of an assault. With this, Flare's anger became more apparent as she started increasing the size of her flames, firing at will towards her mother as the queen took a few steps back, dancing around each and every single attack, showing no signs of faltering as if she were a woodland sprite in the middle of a peaceful, beautiful garden. Her moves were so elegant and beautiful only matched by her focus and precision, each body moment serving a large purpose in her style no matter how small or insufficient it seemed, Blaze was dodging every single one of her daughter's flamethrowers with ease. Blaze herself was surprised by her daughter's power. The sheer volume of fire she was creating was on the level of that of her father. To expend so much energy in attacks that covered almost most of her garden would have taken every ounce of power Blaze had when she was her daughter's age. But Blaze knew Flare's power reserves were far greater than her own. Perhaps nearly twice the amount she possessed as a teenager and it was because of this that Flare was able to continuously and relentlessly attack her mother the way she was doing, not giving her the chance to move in close for a more frontal assault while her flames would only clash with the fire her daughter was producing to keep her mother at bay.

But in another moment, Blaze suddenly went on the offensive, suddenly swinging down her hand, slicing a fireball clean in half before it exploded before her causing her daughter to pause and stare at the woman before growling, sending larger fireballs towards her mother. Blaze then went on an assault, striking down each blast of fire sent her way, with each attack stepping closing and closer to her raging daughter. Once her mother was close enough, the princess then quickly rose her hands, slamming them into the ground causing searing flames to spread in every direction with Blaze being completely engulfed in her daughter's wave of fire. Flare slowly growled darkly as she looked up to her flame covered mother, knowing such an attack wouldn't cause her great damage and quickly turned to her side, placing her hand on the ground and spun her body to perform a roundhouse kick to her mother's skull only for her ankle to be caught in the hand of the queen herself who was glaring down at her offspring. Then in one quick motion Blaze pulled on her daughter's leg, pulling her from the ground itself before clenching her fist and slamming her elbow down on the side of Flare's knee causing the girl to let out a loud scream of pain before having her face and mouth covered by her mother's grip, silencing her as she pulled her arm back before tossing her daughter like a baseball against the walls of her castle. The second Flare made impact with the stone structure, Blaze quickly shot herself forward with her super speed, instantly ramming her knee into her daughter's ribs, causing the girl to cough up blood before she was given a spinning back kick to the side of her face by her mother causing the girl to spin off the wall before landing roughly against the ground, breathing heavily as her mother raised her fist towards her child, a dark, black flame slowly overtaking her usual bright red/orange ones.

Flare saw the look in her mother's eyes, emotionless. She knew them well. Flare didn't want to turn away. She knew she lost and she would accept her punishment with honor and dignity. As Blaze's flame grew larger, she suddenly fired a blast towards her daughter with Flare nearly going into shock before clenching her eyes shut and turning away quickly, only to hear the ball of fire collide with the ground beside her. As Flare opened her eyes, turning to the black smolder on the ground, she quickly turned back to her mother, Flare's face showing emotion for the first time in a long time, a look of shock and fear yet mixed with confusion and concern.

Seeing that she had Flare's complete attention, Blaze quietly lowered her hand and cracked her wrists. "Flare… you were right. I was holding back despite not using one of my my strength inhibitors and do you know why?" She gave a small pause, Flare continuing to watch her mother quietly. "It's because I was showing you what it means to restrain yourself. We all have great power, and you know our family's history well. You and I don't come from a noble or honorable bloodline. We are here today due to the recklessness and power hungry titans that forced themselves into power thousands of years ago simply for the sake of that, power. The world is mixed with 2 types of individuals; Those born with power and those work for power. These are the words of our very first ruler and ancestor and for the longest time I was taught… no… trained to believe those words. To believe that if you have power you use it to get what you want and if you do not then you don't deserve to exist." Blaze gave a small sigh, closing her eyes as her raging fur returned to normal tamed state, opening her eyes to stare at the ground. "Power can be born from anything. Rage, Hate, Jealousy, Loneliness, all these things can give birth to power and by utilizing these emotions to fuel your energy, you will receive a certain adrenaline from using such power." She then walked past her daughter, over to her cloak and wrapped it around her body, giving a small sigh." Do you remember what I told you back when you and your brother would train together?"

Flare's eyes slowly opened widely, remembering back on that day when she was only 6 years old and had completely mastered her firestarting basic training under the supervision of her mother. She could remember the bright smile on her parent's faces as Blaze placed her hands on her young daughter's shoulders, "Flare, you will one day rule this kingdom as Queen of a brand new world and you have been given a great power to help protect these people that look to you for help and support. Remember, always use your powers to help those who need them the most. That's why you were given this gift of fire. Fire is not, nor will it ever be destruction. Fire is light, warmth, life. It gives energy to everything around it and that's the power you have. To give life and to protect it. Always remember Flare and someday you'll make an excellent queen."

With that, Flare slowly dug her claws into the ground, clenching her hands into a tight fist as she turned away from her mother with Blaze walking past her. "Flare, never use negative emotions to empower your flames. Fire without control will cause it to lash out and burn everything around it, including itself until there is nothing left but ash and dirt." Blaze then stopped for a moment to look over her should back to her daughter who was clearly taking in her words. "Flare, your father taught me this lesson and now I shall teach you the same. You need to be true to yourself. You have the power, the power to control your fate and the power to do great things. Think of the things most important in your life that make you happy and focus on that then commit to it all the way." And with that, Blaze turned from her daughter and left her to be alone with her thoughts.

After taking such a beating from her mother, who didn't once even use her enhanced abilities to overtake her in their fight, even after being beaten to what felt like a pulp, no amount of physical pain could compare to the impact her pride she was forced to endure not only as a fighter, or as a princess, but also as a daughter and person. Flare idolized her mother and everything she stood for, wanting to be just like her in every way and even more so, wanted her respect. Her words, they hit harder than any punch, then any kick, any assault she had ever taken. She felt ashamed that her mother had to resort to such a degree in order to bring her back to reality.

"Think of the things most important in your life that make you happy and focus on that then comment to it all the way."

What did those words mean? The things… the people in her life she cares for. Her first thought were her friends, Ashley, Lance, and Roxy. But then more faces began to appear in her mind. The faces of her Uncle Tails and his family, her Uncle Knuckles with his own kin, and then the faces of her family appeared one after another. Uncle Silver, Aunt Marine, Uncle Frost, Her mother, her father, Dash and then…

Maurice

Within a moment Flare found herself looking into her own reflection through a mirror. She had no idea when or even how she made it up to her bedroom's bathroom without notice but she gave a sigh, looking into her own golden eyes. She hated her reflection, she hated who she had become, who she was. She wanted everything to go away. The word she hated, loneliness, it never came alone. It was always accompanied with fear, hate, anger, and pain. She wanted it all to stop, to end. She couldn't take looking at herself any longer, she had to destroy her image. She let out a small shout as she pulled back her fist, preparing to shatter the glass before her only to find her hand being held back by another. With her reflection stood an equally tall blue hedgehog, his ears flicking slightly as he rubbed his nose with his free hand, giving off a playful grin.

"Now come on Flare, don't do that. I wouldn't want my favorite little sister to hurt herself. Besides, I think you're beautiful and so does the rest of the world and you know this. Don't get discouraged just yet. You're so much stronger than you give yourself credit for."

She knew those words, that voice, those fangs and those silted, sincere golden eyes. Her brother was there, holding her back once again, keeping her from doing the unthinkable. Flare took a deep breath, closing her eyes before reopening them again, turning around finding the image gone without a trace. This wasn't the first time this has happened to her and she knew it would happen again. Hallucinations of her older brother. After realizing the image was finally gone, Flare slowly slid down against the marble cabinet of her sink, wrapping her arms tightly around her legs as she held her knees close to her chest, her long lavender tail wrapping itself around her right arm as tears trailed down her face silently in the darkness of her solitude.

Blaze gave a small groan, making her way towards her throne room. After a heated moment such as the one she was previously in, she didn't want to see or speak to a single other person. "WHERE IS SHE! WHERE IS OUR SO CALLED QUEEN! ALMIGHTY AND HONORABLE RULER MY BIG BROWN ASS!"

Blaze could hear such screams from down the hall given off by a woman and gave a small growl, clenching her fist tightly to keep from releasing her claws as one of her maids quickly rushed to her side, nearly jogging to keep pace with her queen. "You're highness, please forgive us. We didn't know how to stop her and we were told you sent all the guards home today while many others were incapacitated. If I may, is something going on your majesty?"

"Rose, its fine. Please return to your duties, it's obvious this person is looking for me." And with that the maid gave a quick bow before rushing away from her queen as Blaze pushed open her large doors and took notice of a large, brown, female grizzly bear almost more than twice her size standing before her throne sporting a red with white polka dotted dress with a large flowering hat that just so happened to have a beautiful sunflower stuck right into it. Blaze was no brilliant detective but common sense told her the female standing before her was the mother of the child her child hospitalized this morning. "Excuse me miss, no need so shout. Is there something I can help you with?"

The woman quickly set her sights onto the queen herself as she slowly made her way to the ruler of Solaria, proving Blaze's theory correct about the woman being over twice her size not only in height but in bulk as well. "You're excused your highness!" A simple child could detect the sarcasm in her voice but Blaze, continued to keep her cool as she looked up to the grown woman. "But as for my son however, do you have any idea what your brat did to my child? She put him into the hospital after harassing him, breaking his ribs, his arm and even puncturing a lung and severely damaging his spine as well! You have no idea what it's like to be normal. Having to fight the world every single day! My son was on his way to becoming a star! That football scholarship was all he had and your stupid kid took that away from him just like how the rest of your family stole anything they've ever had! That's right! I know your foul history and as I can see the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree! You think by marrying some hobo no one has ever even heard of and letting him try to create a peaceful rule gives you the excuse to raise your children to attack those they don't like and take whatever they want for themselves, not giving a good goddamn about anyone other than themselves? And don't think I don't know about your little brat of a child, Cash or Sprint or whatever his name is! He's nothing more than a delinquent too! I see him almost every other night on the news and even on the internet, running around and constantly acting up, clearly showing there's no such thing close to home training in this ridiculous over size place you call a home! But we all know it started when that first born of yours suddenly disappeared to go off to a private boarding school showing clear signs that you couldn't control him either! Not one of your rowdy, unruly, bastard children can even begin to show that they themselves have the slightest bit of self control! But you know what, I don't care about how you raise your half-breed children, the only thing I care about is the fact that your daughter ruined my son's LIFE! And I will not stand for this! You will not only pay for my son's hospital bills, you will pay for his physical therapy, you will pay for his surgery, you will pay for the school damages and you will pay for my son's college fees, every single last fucking penny do you understand me!" The large woman was huffing heavily, glaring angrily down to her queen with a deep scowl covering her face as Blaze continued to stare up to the woman, showing no sign of expressional change since the woman began speaking. "Well! Say something Damnit!"

"Are you finished yet? Because I will no longer sit by and listen to you speak of my children in such away you stupid hypocritical, patronizing, uppity BITCH!" With her words, the entire room was surround with flames as steam leaked from her lips when she spoke, slowly stepping closer to the frightened woman as bear took a step back with each step forward of the queen, each word suddenly increasing the size of her flames. "Don't you dare speak of your worthless child as if he's some sort of saint! No child who is willing to rape an innocent, defenseless and clearly powerless girl can ever be called noble or even show they themselves have the slightest shred of dignity, let alone self pity! My daughter may have actually saved the life of an innocent little girl from your monster of a son and you think you have the right to come into my home in my kingdom within the country I own and speak about MY CHILDREN IN SUCH A WAY!? HOW DARE YOU! A MOTHER LIKE YOU DOESN'T HAVE THE RIGHT TO TELL ME HOW TO RAISE MY CHILDREN WHEN YOU CAN'T EVEN RAISE ONE DECENT BOY! So how about this, if I ever see your face again, hear about you belittling my husband, or ever, EVER let a single shred of indecency about my children escape your lips again, I SWEAR on the life of my children to whatever god you pray to that I will personally give you a special cremation ceremony and then use your skull and an urn for your ashes! NOW GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY CASTLE BEFORE YOU PISS ME OFF!"

And with that the woman quickly backed away, trying to run towards the exit and down the hallway with Blaze letting down her flames so the woman could escape. As the female vanished from the room, the queen turned around and walked up to her throne, falling back into it and giving a small sigh, clenching her eyes shut and her fist tightly as she groaned to herself.

"What the hell do you mean, let them off the hook!" The grown two tailed fox shouted as he slammed his fist onto his kitchen table as Sonic stood leaning against the wall, his arms folded and giving off a small grin with Cream leaning against the kitchen sink, watching the two stare one another down.

"Exactly what I said bro, calm down and let it go. No reason to get all upset."

Tails eyes flung open as he glared at Sonic, gritting his teeth and clenching his fist even tighter. "Calm down… upset… MY CHILDREN COULD HAVE FUCKING DIED TODAY AND YOU'RE TELLING ME TO CALM DOWN! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!"

"Tails!" Cream began, trying to cut off her husband as the grown fox raised his hand before his wife, keeping his eyes on his brother.

"This isn't about you, nor is it about me! It's about our children and you're acting as if them fighting something that insane is the same as them crossing a street! These are kids Sonic! Not world class fighters! Not undercover agents for the government! KIDS! Even you, with all your thick headedness can understand the magnitude of something like this!"

Sonic closed his eyes quietly, shaking his head, "I remember back when I was a kid, there was a certain 6 year old, two-tailed fox who followed me around whenever I went, no matter what dangerous situation we leapt into or how life threatening a fight became and no matter how many times I warned him about the fact that he could die. I-"

"That was different Sonic! We lived in a world where some crazy dictator was trying to take over the world and our parents were missing and thought to be dead! We had no choice back then and you know it!"

"We always have a choice Tails. And so do our children. They're the ones who have to make these choices, not us."

"Listen to what you're saying THESE ARE KIDS NO OLDER THAN 10 FUCKING YEARS OLD AND YOU'RE SAYING THEY HAVE A CHOICE!? They don't even know what that means and you just hand them such a responsibly without even teaching them the value of such an idea! Are you fucking kidding me Sonic? Is that how you want to raise your kids! I see why it happened! I see why Maurice left, it's because you let him go! You never even-"

"TAILS!" Cream shouted as she ran to the side of Tails and slapped her husband across his face.

With that, Tails quickly looked around the room, seeing the frantic, ashamed and scared look that covered his wife's face before he turned to his brother, seeing somewhat of a shocked look covering his own. Tails slowly looked towards the table, shaking slightly, realizing what he had just said to the number one person in his life who has always been there for him for as long as he could remember. "Sonic… I'm… I didn't…"

"It's cool bro." Tails turned up to the hedgehog in shock, seeing a large grin on his face, "Trust me, it's perfectly fine. You're worried about your kids. What reason would you have to be ashamed of such a thing? I mean let's face it, you're a much better father than I ever could even hope to be and I'm seriously happy to say that. You're showing that you truly love your family and you would willingly die to protect them and keep them from harm's way."

"But why…" Tails asked as he cut off his brother. "Why… no… how… how can you stay so perfectly calm and confident? How can you still believe… believe that… Maurice… will ever come home?"

"Simple Tails, as parents, if we don't believe in our kids, then who else in the entire multiverse will?" Sonic's grin never faded with his words with Tails understanding why Sonic could remain so confident for their children even when faced down with unspeakable odds. "Look, my kids got my looks and Blaze's brains. And for yours kids, well its clear where the brains and looks come from but that's besides the point. I mean, come on Tails, we tell our past adventures to our kids as bedtime stories and we've been teaching and training them without even realizing it. You and me both, we created a rep that may attract some unwanted attention and may put our families at risk, believe me I know all too well what that's like. So now I want to train my kids to be able to protect themselves even when I'm not around. After all, we do have geniuses for kids, right bro?"

Sonic gave off a small chuckle with Tails slowly smiling as he turned away from his best friend. "Yeah we do."

Cream gave a soft smile and took a deep breath, holding her hands to her chest, "I'm glad you two are back to normal. You had me scared there for a second. But you two are owed an apology. Kids! You can come in now!"

"Ack! Dude! How does your mom always know?"

"She's got super hearing. She knows everything!"

Cream smirked at the comments their children were making as Sonic narrowed his eyes, shaking his head with a smile on his face. "Kids, I won't tell you again. Come in here now."

Hearing the tone of her voice, Dash, Terry, and Mocha stepped forward from behind the wall and walked into the kitchen, each sporting a sad face, avoiding eye contact with their parents. "S-sorry…" They all mumbled quietly with the 3 parents looking at each other before they turned back to their children.

"Umm I'm sorry, couldn't hear that. Care to pause and rewind that last part?" Sonic asked as he pushed himself from against the wall, placing his hands in his pockets, looking down to the children with Tails and Cream.

Terry quickly shuffled his feet, "Sorry for going out when we weren't supposed to and risking our lives for fun and excitement."

"And for battling a huge robot that had a 87.65 chance of killing us and for disobeying you and mommy and uncle Sonic and for not looking both ways before crossing the street." Mocha added as tears dripped down her cheeks.

The 3 parents quickly turned to Dash as his father cocked his eyebrow, taking a step forward. "Well? Dash don't you have something to say?"

Dash nodded as he too stepped forward, being the only to look at the faces of the adults with a look of sincerity on his face. "We're… I'm sorry for taking Terry and Mocha with me on my little adventure. I know it was stupid and crazy but it's just… daddy, you and Uncle Tails went on so many cool adventures when you were my age that… I just wanted to do it too is all…"

Sonic smiled as he turned to Tails, nodding his head with Tails returning the gesture before looking back to the kids. "Ok you're forgiven." Tails spoke softly as the kids all looked up to their parents with bright smiles spread across their faces, "But you're all grounded until I say so."

With that the kids all gave out a groan, their faces all covered with frowns as Dash waved his hands frantically, "Come on, really? I can't be grounded! Please daddy!"

Sonic smirked as he rolled his eyes and turned his back to Dash, folding his arms, "Hey I'm not your Uncle Tails. He said you're grounded until he said otherwise and I'm sticking with that, got me?" Dash's jaw instantly dropped to the floor with Sonic giving a small chuckle, taking his hand and placing it onto his son's head, turning to everyone. "Well sorry about this but if I don't get this little rascal home his mom is gonna have a fit and blame me. Later Terry, Mocha, Cream, Tails. We'll catch ya tomorrow. Come on Dash."

Dash gave a deep groan as Cream waved to them along with their children, "Alright. We'll see you two tomorrow."

"Bye Dash." Mocha called out softly.

"Catch ya later Dash." Terry said with a small smile as Dash just gave a simple wave.

"Yeah… yeah… cya and sorry guys."

Terry chuckled and shook his head, "Dude don't be sorry it was fun!"

Mocha smiled as she nodded, "Yes it was! You're the bravest Dash!"

Hearing their words, Dash turned back to his friends, a smile forming over his face as Sonic chuckled lightly, both walking into the lab of the Prower home with Tails following after the two.

As the portal powered up and reopened the gateway back to their home, Dash and Sonic both turned around to find Tails standing behind them, looking at the ground before turning up to Sonic, rubbing the back of his neck, "Sonic… Dash… look… seriously… I didn't mean what I said about Maurice… I…"

But before he could finish, he found Sonic's fist raised and aimed for Tails with a large grin plastered on his face. "Dude, bros for life."

A large smile grew along his face as Tails raised his fist, bumping it against Sonic's, "Bros for life." And with that, the two hedgehogs waved to the two tailed foxed, entering through the wormhole and back to their world.

The second the boys reentered their home world, Dash quickly rushed off from his father's side and to the kitchen, sitting down and waiting quietly with a large smile on his face as he picked up his knife and fork, waiting patiently for his dinner with Sonic slowly making his way down the hallway, sniffing the air, it smelling of smoke and ash. He quickly made his way to the origin of the smell to see Blaze sitting in her throne quietly, clenching the arms of her large chair as breaths of fire escaped her lips each time she exhaled. Sonic quickly tugged on his collar, waving his hands to blow cool air on his face as he began to sweat from the temperature generated by his beloved wife. "Yo Blaze… everything alright with you?"

Blaze let off a small growl, turning to her blue husband, "Either be quick with your words or leave me alone Sonic."

Sonic, hearing the tone of her voice stepped forward, "You know I can't do that Blaze. Tell me what's wrong."

With that, Blaze quickly stood up as she rose her hand towards Sonic, letting go of a large fireball, firing it towards her husband with him nearly disappearing out of its way before he stood directly before Blaze, holding her hands tightly as she growled and struggled to pull away from him. "Let me go! Let me go!"

"Blaze! Calm down! B-Blaze…" He paused seeing the tears in her eyes, releasing her before she turned away from him, clenching her fist tightly. "Blaze…"

The queen slowly turned back to the scared king, a heartbreaking expression overtaking her face. "Sonic…did we do the right thing? This life… our family… was…"

But before she could finish her words, Sonic raced forward and pressed his hand to her lips to keep her from speaking. "Don't you dare ever even think something like that. I can tell you're tired. Let's get you to bed. It's pretty late anyways and you need your rest."

"But Sonic…"

"No Buts!" Sonic told her as he quickly took his wife into his arms and walked over to the stairway leading up to their bedroom.

Blaze tried to fight the grip of her husband before she took hold of his shirt, digging her face against his neck as Sonic quietly opened the door to their bedroom. Without a word, Sonic quickly stepped over towards their bed and set his wife down gently, taking off her shoes and cloak before placing the covers over top of her. Blaze turned to Sonic, clutching her covers tightly before closing her eyes, "...Thank you... Sonic..."

Sonic smiled as he looked down to her, brushing the hair from her face, "Anytime honey. Anytime." Then Sonic slowly and quietly walked back towards his doorway, opening it and closing it quietly, sighing softly as he pressed his head against the closed door. The blue hedgehog then turned away from his bedroom and proceeded to walk down his hallway, slowly the sounds of crying could be heard with Sonic turning back to his bedroom before looking further down the hall, following the sounds to the bedroom of his missing son. He stared down at the doorknob for the longest time, his hand shaking before he took hold of it, turning it slowly and opened the door silently. It was here where he could hear the sounds of crying and although it was dark, he could make out a silhouette laying in the bed that belonged to his son. It was his daughter, tucked underneath his covers, tears pouring from her eyes as she laid in his bed, crying and mumbling to herself quietly, seemingly shaking slightly with Sonic slowly and quietly, shutting the door. He then took a few steps back, leaning on the banister before sliding down to the ground, setting his head in his hand, sighing softly. "Well… no one said keeping a family was easy… just never expected it to be this hard…"

The next morning, Sonic stood quietly in the doorway of their large backyard, memories of when his children were young passing before his eyes before he placed his hands in his pockets, looking at the ground. He slowly could hear the footsteps of someone closing in on him from behind. He knew them well and a smile crossed his face, "Sleep well last night?"

From the shadows of their home, Blaze stepped forward, nodding despite knowing that Sonic wasn't looking in her direction to see it, walking to his side. "Yes. I did. And thank you. Were you up all last night?"

Sonic chuckled lightly, closing his eyes to keep from looking at his wife, hoping to hide how he was feeling, "Yeah. I figured you needed some rest and I was a little too high strung to try and sleep. Let alone in the same bed as you."

Blaze stared at her husband, closing her eyes and giving a small sigh. She knew her husband was lying to him but she was hiding her true feelings as well and decided to leave such a situation alone for the time being. "I see. Thank you."

"Heh, don't mention it." Then suddenly, Sonic was tackled by a small purple fast ball, sending him and the object flying from the doorway and landing in the grass, sliding several feet. He quickly rubbed his head as he came face to face with his son's huge smiling face. "Dash… seriously dude it's like 6 am. What are you doing up so early?"

Dash smiled as he bounced on his father's stomach, "Come on! I don't want to be late to see Uncle Tails!"

Sonic stared at his son, narrowing his eyes with a large smirk, "Since when were you this excited to head off to school?"

Dash narrowed his eyes as well, his face much more serious than that of Sonic's as he pinched his father's cheek. "Uncle Tails' house is not "school". School is full of lame-os and idiot teachers. He's boss!"

"H-hey! Then what does that make me?"

"Heh, my rival."

Sonic smirked as he pulled his son into a headlock, digging his fist into his son's head as his child frantically squirmed around in the arms of his father. "Rival! Please kid you got decades before you can even hope to match me. You'd be better off with those videogames of yours you little squirt!"

Blaze smiled softly, giggling at the sight before her before turning around, coming face to face with her daughter who was staring down to the floor. But even from her current angle, Blaze could see the redness in her eyes, showing that she had spent the entire night in tears. "Flare…? Is there something you wish to say?"

Flare nodded as she continued facing the floor, "I… I'm sorry. I've elected to take my punishment of being suspended until the school is willing to let me return. And… you're right I've been using my anger to fuel my power. You told me that's not the correct way to fight… then… then teach me. Teach me the right way to use my powers. Please."

Blaze turned completely to her daughter, placing a hand on her shoulder, smiling down to her. "Of course. You may have mastered fire but we will start from the very beginning understand?" With that Flare nodded, sniffing slightly to herself.