.

The Genesis of a Generation

"Face it, you need me!"

Notes: I've had people ask me – mainly through PM – over and over again how I get the characterization of each character so pure. The answer: practice. I have small snippets of passages all over this computer that'll never be posted of me just practicing. There are multiple facial expression studies, emotional passages, and difference scenario ficlets hidden here. For example, Sonic… He's a hard character to write, because he's so freaking expressive, and snarky at the same time. He's tough, especially for a new writer. It's really easy to just butcher his personality by making him too laid back, or too serious. There's a balance that's hard to achieve, and I don't have it down yet. Probably never will.

And, lucky me, I get to juggle two of those balances…

Important: Because I over-thought the timeline placement of this game and the amount of time that passes during this fic, I seem to have screwed up Modern Tails' age. He is now twelve in all of the previous chapters. However, because of the fact that his birthday might pass (in November – last chapter took place in October, if that puts anything into perspective. What am I saying? None of these things are in any semblance of order.), he might be thirteen again in some of these. I apologize for the confusion. I'll make sure to tell you where each chapter takes place if it's important.

(Once again, please ignore any typos you may find. I'm in a hurry to post and I'm really tired. I'll edit it tomorrow, scout's honor.)

Halfway done! Huzzah!

Mini-Sonic had seen the signs.

Missing: Ray the Squirrel and Mighty the Armadillo. Have you seen us?

But, the little hedgehog had a hard time believing that his two best friends from Pre-Robotnik times could really be missing. They were self-sufficient, much like himself, and Mighty would never ever let anything happen to Ray. So, he couldn't consider the concept of them being missing for over four years. They were two of the strongest and smartest individuals he had ever met, and nothing could take them by surprise. They were probably on some remote desert island, hunting for treasure, or simply wandering, not staying in the same place for longer than a day, so no one could pin them down.

Still, he couldn't get the niggling, annoying voice out of his head that said they could possibly be in trouble. They weren't loners; they needed more companionship besides themselves every once in a while. They were both young, like himself, but a lot less well-known. Adults tended to see young children traveling by themselves as a problem, and if they had stumbled across the wrong adult, they probably would have been scooped up and placed in an orphanage.

In fact, they were probabl-

"Hey, Sonic." His thoughts were cut into as Tails – the elder – waved a hand in front of his face, trying to get his attention. "Were you even listening?"

"Huh?" The hedgehog asked, blinking. "Oh, no. I'm sorry Tails. Just thinking about something."

"Oh. Anything you want me to help with?"

Sonic sighed, rubbing his temples with his forefingers and grimacing. "I'm just worrying about Mighty and Ray."

Tails stared at him for a few seconds, his mind ticking through his mental list of names and coming up slightly blank. "Who?"

Sonic bit back a groan. He had forgotten; Tails didn't know his old best friends. He had met Sonic after that chapter of his life had passed, and the hedgehog was notoriously closed lip about his life before Robotnik, even with his little brother. "Mighty and Ray. They were my friends in Green Hill Zone before Robotnik rose to power."

Tails nodded, his eyes finally brightening. "Oh, I know them. You introduced them to me on my fifth birthday."

Sonic paused, shaking his head. It was almost surreal to hear things he was planning on doing – but hadn't acted on yet – come out of the twelve-year-old. "I haven't seen them since Green Hill, but all of these missing signs I keep seeing for them are freaking me out."

"What missing signs?" A new voiced entered the conversation before Tails could reply, and the person it belonged to followed it into the room, stretching his long, tan arms over the dark blue quills on his head. Older Sonic smirked toward his little brother and past self, lowering his arms and making his way toward the refrigerator. Opening it in a smooth move, he pulled a bottle of water out while his younger self answered his inquiry.

"Mighty and Ray's missing signs."

The elder hedgehog broke the seal on the bottle with a sharp crack, and he took a hearty swig before answering. "They're not missing."

Sonic blinked, sharing a look with Tails. "What?"

"They're not missing." The taller Mobian repeated, closing the bottle. "Never were."

"What." Mini-Sonic asked again, with a little more feeling. "They weren't missing? Then why were there signs posted all over Station Square?"

The twenty year old shrugged, placing the bottle on the counter. "Not exactly sure. They went to Earth a few years ago, something about being Mobian ambassadors…" He trailed off, seeing the blank look on his younger self's face. "You see, the humans are big on this 'Representation before taxation' thing and this applies to their Mobian territory. Since Mobians live all over the planet, they felt like they needed a Mobian perspective before they created their laws…" He broke off again, brow furrowing when the other's face didn't change. "What?" He floundered, trying to save the conversation.

"Aren't they a little young to be ambassadors?" It was the only question Little Sonic could get out, his mind awhirl with too many others.

Sonic snorted. "You forget, Little-Me. Mighty's twenty-one now; Ray's nineteen. They can do whatever they want."

The ten year old took a minute to soak that in. Twenty-one and nineteen; not the eleven and nine he was used to… He shook his head. "Then, what's with the signs? !" He demanded again, eye starting to twitch slightly.

Sonic shrugged again. "They didn't tell anyone besides me where they were going, so I guess someone started to miss them and reported them missing." He paused. "They're came back to Mobius last week actually. Called me the other day. They're coming over for dinner on Friday."

Tails sputtered, finally ejecting himself back into the conversation. "Friday? !" He demanded, eyes wide. "That's tomorrow! The house is a mess! Why didn't you tell me sooner? !" He rushed away from the kitchen, tails lashing angrily. "Now I've got to work overtime to get this place clean. Damnit Sonic!"

The older hedgehog rolled his eyes, calling after the fox. "Watch the language, Tails!" The command wasn't very heartfelt, but he was still fulfilling his big brother policing duty, so he shrugged, turning back to his younger self. "You okay there?" He asked, catching sight of the puckered face the other was exhibiting.

"I just spent about four months thinking my two best friends are gonna go missing, when they actually don't and then you tell me that they're gonna come here tomorrow for dinner… I haven't seen them in a long time. Don't you think you should have asked me about this?"

"Nah," the elder answered, grabbing his bottle of water and turning to leave the room. "Everyone's gotta face their ghosts every once in a while." It was a simple statement, and he didn't give the ten year old time to dwell on it before he swept out of the room.

o0o

The next day, the Workshop was spotless, Tails having launched an extreme cleaning campaign on the house. No one was safe from the fox's wrath, all three of the other occupants having been given a feather duster or bottle of window cleaning solution and put to work. Luckily, most of the fox's robots had done the brunt of the work, but the actual living beings had been pretty exhausted by the time everything was finished.

About an hour before dinner, the world found Macro-Sonic sitting at the table, blowing a breath out in a great huff, his lungs deflating. He tapped his fingers on the table, glaring toward the door and huffing every few seconds. Sonic didn't like waiting. For anything. He was a hedgehog of action, not of idle passiveness. He was tempted to get up and just leave, but he knew that his waiting would be over soon enough.

"Calm down, Older-Me," Mini-Sonic reprimanded, making his way toward the sink, "if you bounce your leg anymore, you'll fall out of the chair." His gaze was pointed at Sonic's left foot, and the hedgehog forced it to stop bounding up and down under the table. The hedgehog nodded, turning on the tap and running a small drinking glass under the warm water. He rubbed his ungloved fingers over the surface, enjoying the feeling of the smooth glass. "You're gonna want to clear out of here in about two minutes," the hedgehog added as he started to dry the glass. "The younger Tails is cooking dinner tonight, and you know how hegets about the kitchen."

Sonic groaned, resisting the urge to slam his head into the table. The only thing keeping him inside the house and waiting was the table. If he got up, he doubted he would have the will power to stay in Mystic Ruins let along the Workshop. But, if li'l Tails was claiming the kitchen, it would be for his betterment to get out of the way.

Back when Tails had been young – between the ages of four and seven – he had taken up cooking as a hobby. He claimed that the practice helped to develop a fundamental understanding of chemistry, but Sonic knew that the kit already knew almost everything there was to know about chemistry, so there was no way he was learning anything new. Yet, he never questioned the kid, letting him enjoy his free time. If it kept him from blowing something up or developing weapons, then it was fine with him.

Plus, Sonic was well fed during those years.

But, when the fox decided it was time to cook… It was time to cook. Full on, five dishes being made at once cooking. He was everywhere at once, and the kitchen was usually a mess of flour and kitchen appliances by the time he was done, so both Sonics usually stayed out of his way when he decided he needed to work off some steam and make some food. (The older Tails had been pulled into help his younger self, despite a lack of interest in his budding teenaged years.)

The hedgehog heaved another sigh, standing fully from the table and backing up out of the room, crossing paths with the cooking demon himself. He almost sent the small four year old tumbling to the ground, but caught him at the last second, sending the small fox teetering forward onto his toes.

"Hey Sonic!" The small child greeted once his balance was under control. "You excited for dinner?"

Sonic smiled, dropping down to one knee and tweaking the tiny fox on the nose. "Oh yeah." He answered, the grin splitting his face. "Especially since you're cooking. What'cha making tonight?"

"I'm not sure yet." Tails answered, his face twisting into a thoughtful expression. On the young face, the expression looked almost comical. "I was thinking lasagna." He looked to Sonic for approval and the hedgehog sent him a thumbs up.

"Sounds good to me. Make sure you make a lot though."

"Oh, I will!" The kit's enthusiasm was catching, and Sonic couldn't help but chuckle. "You wanna help?"

Sonic's smile dropped and he forced it back into place quickly. "Ya'know, kiddo, I think I'm gonna check on Mechanic," he used the nickname the small fox had taken to calling his older self, and the small two-tail smiled winningly at its mention, "he's been cooped up in the workshop all afternoon. 'Bout time I drag him out and make him get a bath. What'cha think?"

Dark, young eyes widened at the dreaded b word and he placed a hand over his mouth to hide the giggles bubbling to the surface. "I think you should make sure he uses a lot of bubbles. He loves the bubbles."

Sonic laughed outright then, reaching forward and ruffling the thin, springy bangs of the smaller fox. "Alright, lil'bro. I'll see what I can do."

Tails smiled at him once again before pivoting on his heel and marching into the room like a general going into battle. Seconds later, Mini-Sonic rushed out of the room, covering his head.

"He throw the spoon at you again?" The older hedgehog asked, smirking slightly.

"No." His younger counterpart answered. "The spatula."

o0o

The elder of the two hedgehogs was just making his way into the kitchen – Tails was in the shower, his younger self was in the living room playing a video game – to help the tiny fox set the table when the door slammed open and someone charged in, not bothering to knock.

The being was a red shelled armadillo. His body was mainly black, while his belly, arms, and muzzle were all tan, much like Sonic himself. His shoes were red and white, as was the general color scheme for most Mobians, and his gloves were white. His eyes had somehow outlasted the test of time and stayed their dark, almost-black pitch, unlike Sonic's and all of his friends'. He sauntered into the room, looking for all the world like the most cocky individual to walk the planet's surface.

"Face it," he said once he caught sight of Sonic gaping at him, "you need me." He dropped the dark blue Chaos Emerald on the table, smirking to himself. "Found that at the bottom of Never Lake. You'd have never found it, Mr. Aquaphobic."

Sonic didn't rise to the jab and he simply walked up to his friend, hitting him on the back in lieu of a greeting. "Nice to see you too, Might. How's Earth?"

The armadillo's face scrunched into an expression of distaste. "Boring, too different from home, too far away: the usual." He shrugged.

"And Ray?" Sonic tried to see over the armadillo's head, but he was a few inches taller than the blue one and he scowled.

"He was right behind me. Probably circled around to see what kinda plane Tails is working on." He paused. "Where is Tails anyway?"

Sonic whipped around, forgetting all about the younger fox who had been cooking. He was nowhere to be found, and the hedgehog breathed a sigh of relief. Better to drop the 'I-have-a-past-version-of-myself-living-in-the-house-with-me' bomb slowly. "He was in the workshop all day, so I made him take a shower." He shook his head.

Mighty raised an eyebrow, glancing around the room. "Then who cooked all of this? I remember that little fuzzball liked to cook, and if he was in the workshop all day…" He trailed off, and Sonic scrabbled for an excuse.

"Uh…"

"Wait," Mighty held up his hands, "don't tell me you made it! Chaos, I should leave now."

"Haha, you're hilarious." Sonic's tone was as dry as a desert and he glared at his friend. "Actuall-"

He was cut off as the door to the living room slid open and Sonic's younger self – in full light blue glory – walked into the room, staring down at the game manual in his hand. "Explain something to me," he demanded, not looking up, "the book says the Y button makes the character jump, but when I hit up on the control stick, he jumps too. Also, it says A is for close range attacks, but with most of the characters, I hit them from far away. I don't underst-" He cut himself off as he finally picked his head up and caught sight of his older self gaping at himself like a fish, and the shocked expression on Mighty's face.

The older hedgehog whipped around, trying to block the small hedgehog from the armadillo's line of vision. Mighty dropped his eyes from the light blue figure to rest on the darker Mobian in front of him and his expression dropped. "Okay," he began, face splitting into a smile, "who's the mom?"

The awkwardness in the room disintegrated as two hedgehog faces fell into flat, not amused expressions.

"You're not funny." Mini-Sonic mumbled as his older counterpart started to sputter denials and rebuttals. "You know what I look like when I'm ten."

"Nice to see you again, Sonic." Mighty answered, a huge grin on his face. "You're rounder than I remember."

"You're blunter than I remember." Mini-Sonic countered as the elder hedgehog in the room finally fell silent.

Mighty shrugged. "Earth," he offered as an explanation. "Being around humans all day changes a person."

Sonic nodded and opened his mouth to reply, but someone new stumbled into the room through the same door Mini-Sonic had just entered through.

It was a yellow flying squirrel, with a tan muzzle, ears, and belly. His eyes were the same color as Mighty's and his shoes looked similar to Sonic's sans buckle. He had a small golden form hanging on his back, the ungloved hands clasped around his shoulders covered in flour.

"I found Tails." The squirrel said shortly, faltering slightly as the four year old on his back shifted. "Or rather, he found me." He grinned, turning around so Sonic could extract the kit from his person. "He's smaller than I expected him to be."

"Hello Ray," the elder hedgehog greeted as he set the kit on the ground. Tiny Tails backed up so he was standing next to his big brother, worming his dirty hand into the ten year old hedgehog's clenched fist. "That's because," Sonic continued, watching as Ray struggled to keep his face straight, "that's not Tails; not exactly." Taking a deep breath, he swept his hand toward the two past incarnations. "I'd like you to meet myself and T2, the Sonic and Tails of ten years ago."

Luckily, at the end of that statement, a slightly moist twelve-year-old Tails decided to barge into the room, and he paused when he caught sight of the wide eyed stares everyone was giving each other. He sighed, rolling his eyes. "Hey Mighty, hey Ray." He greeted, catching their attention. "How about we start eating and we'll explain everything?" He ushered them to the table, taking charge of the situation. "Trust me, the story's long and you'll want to eat something."

The armadillo and squirrel shared a look and they nodded slowly before making their way to the – still not set – table.

"This had better be good." Mighty mumbled. "Because it has to beat the werewolf story you told us last time we were here."

"Werehog." Sonic corrected in an absentminded tone, grabbing plates out of the cupboard.

"Whatever."

"Well, you see," Tails began, grabbing the large pan of lasagna off the counter and placing it on the table, "it all started on Sonic's birthday…"

Story time! Story time!

Not much plot or point in this one. I just wanted to have some fun.

I love Knuckles' Chaotix and SegaSonic the Hedgehog. I love Mighty and Ray. Their characterization will be mainly from the games (what characterization?). I don't really like Archie, so we're not gonna go there. Capiche?

Random facts and notes: (1) Sonic's screw up of "No taxation without representation" was done purposely to show the lack of knowledge most Mobians have of Earth. They really don't care. (2) Classic Tails liking to cook was dragged from a previous – scrapped – draft of a different ficlet. I loved the idea so much that I couldn't let it go. (3) Tails' obsession with cleaning can also be seen in my oneshot 'Just Adjectives.' (4) Mighty's joke about Classic Sonic being Modern's kid is from another scrapped piece of this story. If you want to read it, here you go:

o0o

"You don't understand, miss." The older hedgehog forced the title through his teeth, his fists clenching at his sides. "He's really sick. He needs to see a doctor now."

"And you don't seem to understand, Mr. Hedgehog," the woman replied back with a more acidic tone, finally looking up from her paperwork. "I can't let anyone back there without the proper forms. Come back when you can produce a citizenship license."

Sonic bit back a few curse words, grabbing his quills in his hands. Turning sharply on his heel, he stalked back toward the children's section, grabbing the light blue arm of his younger self. The small hedgehog suddenly found himself yanked forward, and he was dragged all the way to the desk before he realized what was happening.

"Look, miss," the older grumbled, gesturing at the tiny speedster at his side. "What do you think of this?"

"I think that your son looks a lot like you," she muttered back, barely glancing at the small blue one before going back to her papers.

Both Sonics sputtered, sharp gasps escaping their throats. "What?" The older breathed, shoving his black eyed incarnation back towards the foxes. He glared at his older self before walking back and jumping back into his chair. "Look lady," all pretense of politeness was gone, "I'm twenty, and he," he hooked a thumb in the smaller hedgehog's direction, "is ten. Do the math."

The feline's ears flicked a little out of annoyance. "Mr. Hedgehog, we are very busy. Please go sit down and I'll see what I can do."

Casting a look around the nearly empty waiting room, Sonic grumbled and stalked back toward his friends. Without pausing, he grabbed the older fox and hauled him to his feet.

"C'mon kid, we're leaving."

o0o

There you go. I transpose a lot of ideas from dead ficlets into the alive ones. Not very interesting, but clever I think.

Seems Modern Sonic VS. Classic Knuckles is a hot commodity. I'll see what I can do. ;D

Reviews are cherished.