Disclaimer: All Sonic characters belong to Sega. All OCs belong to me.

Chapter 34: I'd Rather do the Dishes

Who knew someone could ever miss chores so much?

Sonic yawned as he sat against the cold metal walls of the place he liked to call hell. After battling countless monsters he could only describe as nightmares, he was thoroughly surprised, in the least, to find his body fully healed, and well-rested. He didn't know how he had gotten back here, but he had awoken unexpectedly, dim off-white lights casting its glow about the dome. Of course, he had a bit of a panic attack once he realized he was back inside the dome. His emerald eyes went wide with alarm, moving around, urgently scanning for any signs of danger. After ten full minutes of shaking, and hyperventilating, the azure hedgehog found that he was alone.

So here he was, alone, terribly bored, but thankful he was alive. Don't get him wrong, he would rather be deathly bored than running for his life. He'd rather spend his time counting the strands of fur on his arm than count the seconds till certain death any day. But anyone would get annoyed with their boredom if they were forced to comfort it for three hours straight. Or at least if felt like that.

The blue blur almost got up and wandered around the dome. He thought that would've been better than just sitting here with nothing to do. But painful images of his blood spilling down his temples and a giant claw ripping down his back made his butt stay glued to the ground. Feral roars bounced off his ear drums and Sonic decided it would be better for boredom to cause his death. The fear of finding something he'd rather have not discovered made him shut his mind's complaining.

As he thought back of that day, he had never cried so much in his entire life. Sonic wasn't one to really dwell upon past events that didn't have a good outcome. He couldn't remember if his fight for life was yesterday or last week, but he did remember all the fear that embedded itself so deep into his chest, he couldn't breathe. He remembered the constriction that his fright held upon his airways. Sonic was forever thankful his legs had more common sense than he did. Too many times, he'd stay frozen in time, anticipating for the next hit to deliver a face full of cold metal to him. Only when his body felt as if it'd drop dead was when his legs took the part of his consciousness and ran for dear life. The azure teen couldn't see anything but a whirlwind of blue as he sprinted away from whatever ferocious beast these crazy people placed with him.

"That thing obviously had a thing against hedgehogs," Sonic bitterly grunted, tracing unimportant patterns into the ground. His gloved hands smoothly ran over the sleek metal. His chin lied, glumly, in the palm of his other hand.

Sighing rather dramatically, he fell back, a grunt coming from his peach lips as his back hit a hard surface. His bent legs fell to the ground and Sonic wasn't surprised to find the hairs on them rise from the coldness of the metal. He looked around, eyes half-lidded with irritation. "Wouldn't it kill them to crank up the heat a bit? I'll be a hedgehog popsicle by the time they let me outta here," he muttered.

Boredom was already pushing his buttons.

Sonic didn't like feeling cranky and when he felt the itchy feeling crawl up his throat, it'd make him even crankier. The frown on his stony face deepened and the dead weight of nothing fell on his shoulders. He was just really irritable. His back hurt from sitting up so much, he was cold, he was hungry, he was starting to get sleepy, he was cold, his feet kept getting pins and needles, he was still hungry, he wouldn't feel his hands, he felt dirty, and he was still really cold. Honestly, if he didn't get out of here in a few days, he was bound to do something stupid. Sonic would never admit this out loud, especially if his brothers were around, but he wasn't really the smartest when it came to decision making.

It was do now, think about it later.

Yeah, it wasn't the smartest way of thinking but he's still alive…

Barely.

He'd rather do the dishes any day.

Leaning his head back, the second youngest of the trio looked up in thought. Sonic was surprised he wasn't freaking out about his family members. The last time he was awake, that was all he could think of. He didn't know if it was just because he was so bored that he couldn't even think, or he was just scared of what he might think pertaining to the subject. The great possibility of the other's deaths made itself prominent in the young teen's mind. If Sonic were to just let his mind wander off, he knew he'd scare himself into pathetic sobs and even with no one around, that would be embarrassing. His stubborn and idiotic sense of pride would be knocked down so low he wouldn't be able to see it anymore.

But what if they really were dead? The others. His family. Shadow, Silver, and his mom? How would these ruthless creatures deliver their deaths? Would they go fast and painless, or slow and agonizing? Would they use torturing techniques? Would it be like those movies where they would tie the victims up, blindfold them, torture information out of them, and then shoot them in cold blood? If they did that, would it be better than facing unearthly beasts? Would Sonic soon meet his end here? What would he do if he found they were all dead and he was the only one left? Would he stay strong and fight for their revenge or wither away in depression and lie there, waiting for the train to run over his body? He would go insane, that's for sure, but he didn't know what'd he do after he'd understand his insanity. Kill, run, or die? This was all so confusing and this was exactly why he didn't want to think of it. His mind was all twisted and it'd get even worse. Maybe he'd-

Two large thumps sounded off the sleek metal walls and ricocheted against each sound wave. Sonic's heart dropped right there and then and he literally jumped to his feet. His breathing quickened but instead of the burning sensation of tears in his eyes, his muscles tensed, ready for battle. Sonic clenched his fists and his legs were bent for stability and a quick getaway.

Off into the darkness, low grunts of clear anger cut through the air. Frustration was set clear and Sonic blinked as a curse word hit his ears. He sucked in a shaky breath and dared himself to speak because he was sure monsters didn't speak, let alone curse.

"W-Who's out th-there?" he said as bold as he could, making sure the fear in his hear couldn't be detected through his voice.

It was silent for a second before he heard a low voice that caused his ears to perk up in disbelief.

"Sonic?" a slightly high voice timidly asked wavering.

Instantly, without even thinking of how vulnerable he was letting himself be to something he could not see, the cerulean hedgehog ran at lightning quick speeds. He traced the sound and found himself standing before a white-furred hedgehog tied up and sitting on the floor. Frightened and painful golden eyes looked back up at emerald green and Sonic felt his mouth drop with each passing second.

"Y-You're" Sonic gasped, unable to decide if he believed what he saw.

"Sonic? Silver? Are you there?" a deeper, sterner voice, boomed through the air. The azure and white hedgehogs snapped their heads over to the side to see two blood red eyes peering at them. He was also restrained but he was up on his feet.

The three brothers took the time to soak in what they could see of the others in dim light. Their ribs were cracking from the beatings they took from their hearts. Angry hornets stung their stomachs. Each one of them was just waiting for their eyes to truly open and realize that they were hallucinating. After hoping so deeply to see anyone from their family, once it happened, it just seemed so surreal. It was almost as if they believed their family members had died that this seemed like an illusion.

Green eyes were starting to burn from the suspense of their covers. Sonic blinked repeatedly and immediately untied the other two hedgehogs. Once the ropes fell limply to the ground, the three stood in front of each other, gazing at one another as if they were ghosts.

How was one supposed to greet someone in situations like this? They needed answers. Like, now. It was starting to get a bit awkward.

The one with the golden stare broke the icy silence. And it was with the only thing that came to his mind.

"I-I thought you guys were dead."

Voicing the thoughts they were all thinking had finally made the weight of the words fall upon the three hedgehogs. Sonic and Shadow looked over to their younger sibling finding that if they really concentrated, they could see the faint trickles of glimmering tears staining the silver hedgehog's light peach muzzle. His golden irises were surrounded by crimson rings and it was obvious to anyone he had been crying.

Sonic let out a breathy chuckle, one that was laced with disbelief and relief. He found his own eyes burning with tears that were filled with something other than fear; the opposite actually. He scratched the back of his head as he peered joyfully and tearfully at his brothers, not one bit ashamed of the salty water strolling carelessly down his reddened cheeks.

"Surprise," he whispered, grinning brightly.

To everyone's disbelief, the ebony hedgehog that remained so silent was the very first one to capture the others in a tight alleviating embrace. The other two wasted no time in wrapping their arms around each other. In this special moment, no one really cared who cried the most or whose sobs sounded the loudest. Hearing the cries of their brothers was something they'd never take for granted again. Whether they were only separated for 24 hours or 24 days, it was just mind-boggling and downright frightening to be so far from each other. All the mindless torture they were suddenly dropped into, swallowing them like a blank canvas and releasing no escape, they could only presume the others were dead or experiencing their own form of torture.

One couldn't describe the heart-stopping, blood iced, twisted agony they felt knowing the ones they loved ones were somewhere, crying in pain much like their own or lying in a pool of death. It was like a snake was wrapping around your throat, laughing as it eased upon your airways only to tighten when hope broke through the tiniest of cracks. It was like death became more welcoming as the time passed but the sweet oxygen that graced your lungs for those few seconds was too good to lose. You hated that you knew you were trapped but you wanted so desperately to deny it.

Silver huddled inward, wanting to feel every strand of fur from his brothers. He clenched his jaw to conceal the relieved sobs from his throat. Shadow squeezed his burning eyes shut, holding the other two hedgehogs in his arms so tightly he thought he was preventing them from breathing. But then again, their shuffles closer together made him think otherwise.

For awhile, they just stood there, soaking up their embracing warmth. Time went on, and soon enough, their tears were starting to diminish and their heavy breaths leveled out. The ebony hedgehog was the first to lift his head and his crimson eyes pierced through the darkness of the dome. Rimmed with red, even then, his glowing irises did not give up impression. Shadow lied his watery gaze upon his youngest sibling and saw that his right brow was twitching. Feeling with his hand, he also found that the silver hedgehog's forearm kept tensing, seemingly, unconsciously. Immediate anger and resentment filled the dark brother's heart. It was elementary to figure out that the golden-eyed hedgehog had been exposed to his own form of torture or "studies" as those damn scientists like to call it.

"Silver, you're twitching," Shadow stated.

Separating from one another, the three hedgehogs looked at each other. both red and green gazes fell upon silver fur. Golden eyes were casted down their owner's hands that trembled within their own. Silver sighed quite heavily and took a long blink before speaking.

"Y-yeah. It's gotten a lot b-better," he stuttered.

As Shadow's stare sharpened considerably, Sonic's eyes widened with utter horror. It was blunt, but silver looked like a stuttering mess. His brow would twitch three times before stopping for a bit and then restarting. Random parts of his body would tense and jerk subtly and his fingers were shaking. Sometimes, his eye lid would even twitch and it was just horrific to see him smile even through this.

"What did they do to you?" the azure one gasped.

There was really no way of saying this without getting a really bad reaction so Silver knew he had no other choice then to spill out the contents of his time away from his family.

He scratched the back of his head, looking at them with a teary smile for which he knew not why. Maybe his mind thought if he were to grin, it'd lessen the blow. He didn't know. The electroshock sessions really messed him up. "Th-they electrocuted me."

Shadow's sharp expression turned into an ugly scowl and Sonic's turned into one with disbelief. Growls emitted from both of their throats as they shouted, "What!?"

He didn't know why, but Silver felt this rush in his chest and he felt like he needed to explain his situation better. "Not my entire body but they connected these suction cups to my head and shocked me." Silver wringed his fingered in nervousness. The glares from his brothers were making him nervous. "I-it was for d-data," he ended. As for why he added the last part, he'd never know himself. It just made him look like an elementary science project. He felt like a discarded object used to observe only when needed and that feeling of uselessness ebbed at his chest and constricted his throat.

"As soon as we find a way out of here I swear to God I will destroy each and every scientist and this damned facility," Shadow snarled loudly, his eyes beginning to glow from the obscurity of his raging thoughts.

Shadow could really care less about what they did to him. Generally, he didn't care about how many needles they would inject into him and the fiery solutions that'd burn his body to a crisp. Even with the unbearable pain, he'd take it if it any day if they would keep away from his family. But no. Telling him his mother was as good as dead wasn't enough. They just continued with the humiliation. His own brother, the youngest out of all of them, had been condensed to a walking, twitching, stuttering, form of a hedgehog. It was obvious that whatever they were putting Sonic through was affecting him to no end. The blue hedgehog's muscles were always tense and the slightest sound would make him jump. His eyes had lost their care-free, lazy, glow and had been replaced with paranoid relics. It stung Shadow to see such innocent souls shattered and glued together in such an un-orderly fashion.

Mark his words, he'd make sure this hell hole would rue the day they ever even thought of creating him. They could call him a project all they wanted, but Shadow the Hedgehog swore he'd be the volcano with too much baking soda. He'd explode and everything in his path would burn to soot.

Sonic and Silver jumped a bit from the sudden shout. They looked in astonishment to see a faint glow come from their older brother's already gleaming eyes. Their color turned to a poisonous light-crimson hue. A dapple of red started to buzz around his ebony fur, illuminating their surroundings. Shadow's fists were shaking as they tightly bounded into a ball. His sharp canines were showing in all their glory as his lips pulled back in a threatening snarl.

"They think they can get away with this and send someone to spy or us and just threaten to murder mother without any-"

"What?" Sonic whispered.

The ebony hedgehog's eyes widened at the sudden realization of his words and any light emitting from him dissipated. His angry scowl still stayed plastered upon his face but he looked away from the two blatant gazes on him. Shadow kept quiet.

Silver walked closer to him, a frown edging his worried features. "Shadow, what do you mean they're threatening to kill her?" he questioned firmly, "What is this place and why do they want to kill her!? Why are we even here!? Why the hell are they doing-"

"Silver, breathe," Sonic warned even though he was restraining himself from breaking down. "You're starting to glow and we don't want a replay of last time."

The placid hedgehog sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I-I'm sorry," he quietly apologized. "This is just a lot t-to handle."

"It's alright buddy," the azure one comforted, "we're all in the same boat." He patted his back and Silver gave him a small grateful grin. Sonic then turned to Shadow to see him still staring icily at his feet. "But Shadow, you seem to know more than us. Where are we and what does mom have to do with any of this? What are we doing here and why are they calling us…projects?"

Flinching at the last part, Shadow rubbed the back of his head and sighed. His tired eyes fell upon his brothers and for the first time in awhile, the other two could confidently say that their crimson-marked sibling was terrified.

"This is the Mobian Research Facility," he slowly started, "This…this is where we were…c-created. We were put in the care of mother. Why, I cannot answer." It was hard and so weird to physically say that they were created and technically not "born".

The shock on the others' faces was evidence enough that all three of them were on fragile ice when it came to their own feelings. After this, any emotion or thoughts they would have would prove to be broken and shattered. Comprehending this new knowledge was much easier said than done. Growing up and knowing your origins lessened the blow for one but the other two had been completely oblivious and Shadow was starting to regret laying the information on them so suddenly.

"C-created?" Silver stuttered.

"I thought both of you knew or at least figured it out before. That's why I didn't bring it up. Mother didn't want us to know so she never told us. I recently just found out what this place was called." Shadow had always known he didn't have biological parents because he never remembered them nor did ever think to have one. His first memories were covered with white walls and white lab coats. Growing up with this made things easier to come to terms with and he became completely indifferent with it. He assumed his brothers would turn out the same way, but obviously he was wrong. Had they always thought they had biological parents?

Sonic stumbled back before blinking twice. "I-I knew mom wasn't our actual mom, but I thought that maybe…" he blinked again, his mouth searching for words to say. "I always thought that we were just given up or from another world but-uh…but not…made." The cerulean-furred humanoid had to swallow the large lump in his dry throat.

As much as he didn't want to believe it, it would explain a lot.

Hedgehogs with unexplainable powers?

He should've seen it coming.

"We are from another world. Remember? Don't you recall those shows that have us in it and the fact that there are articles about us because we are supposedly imaginary characters?" Shadow reminded with minor disgust from the thought.

Sonic stuck out his hand before rubbing his temples. "Please don't remind me. This is already so much to processes. I'm surprised none of us are having a nervous breakdown." He humorlessly chuckled. "I wonder if mom is still around with those pills."

Shadow glared daggers at the azure hedgehog. He stepped towards him and growled threateningly. "Mother could be dead and you're making jokes about it? Do really think this is the appropriate time to be cracking jokes!?" he shouted.

"You know, I don't really appreciate you shouting in my face so why don't you get out of it before I make you!?" Sonic retorted with sudden venom and pushed the ebony furry back.

"You're really asking for an early death sentence, blue hedgehog!" Shadow shouted, pushing the other back with a little more force than necessary.

The two began to just push each other and when their anger began to rise, one of them held back a fist, while the other's fist glowed and just when they were about to strike, a light blue aura enclosed around them. Silver restricted their movements, pulling the two away from one another and then carelessly dropping them to the ground.

With his hands balled up at his sides, Silver's golden stare was firm and had no nonsense. They were rimmed with red and it was obvious he was trying his hardest to contain the burning tears in his eyes. "I don't know if you two realize this, but we are in some facility that may or may not have killed our mom and will probably try and make us into living weapons. So I suggest you two stop acting like big babies and grow the hell up. We are all trying to handle what's going on and fighting it out isn't going to help, you idiots."

Muttering incoherently to themselves, the older two got to their feet. They mumbled apologies to each other before setting their gazes to the floor in minor shame. Silver crossed his arms and sighed. The pounding in his head was not helping his tears from fading but at this point, he wasn't all that worried about crying necessarily. "We still don't know why they're after mom," he stated.

"Mom never wanted us to go outside because she didn't want anyone knowing about us. Maybe they're also afraid that she'll spread around that we and another world exists," Sonic suggested.

"That could be, but she was more worried about what would happen to us if other people found out we existed. She never talked about what would happen to her if they did," Shadow pointed out. "And even then, not many would believe her claim and it hardly seems like something to murder her over."

The white-furred hedgehog scratched his chin in thought. "What could she have done to anger them enough to want her dead? Did she keep us for too long or maybe refused to give us up?"

"I bet she bad-mouthed someone and pissed them off. She's one sassy woman," Sonic chuckled sadly and the other two smiled sorrowfully at one another. It got very quiet for a second and no one knew what to say the weight of yet another dilemma fell upon their shoulders and the remorse in the air was strong.

"I don't doubt it," Shadow smirked.

Silver sighed heavily. He's been sighing a lot lately. "I still can't believe all of this is happening. It's like just yesterday, we were fighting about who got to control the TV remote," he reminisced.

"I still can't believe Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome over here still thinks he got it first," the blue one chuckled.

Shadow gave his brother a playful punch. "It's because I did."

"Sure. Whatever you say your highness."

"I ended up picking the movie anyway so you guys can suck it," Silver smirked.

The other two rolled their eyes but chuckled. "Whatever," they groaned.

For a couple of minutes, they all just stood there, trying to soak in whatever was left of their happiness. The memories that resurfaced in their minds allowed them to bask in it and ignore their bleak and dark reality. Their past was a present they'd gladly receive.

"I wish mom were here. She'd know how to get us out of here, or at least make it seem like we will," Sonic muttered.

"Even if we never see her again, I just hope she's alright and alive. If I know her like I think I do, she's probably try to find us. And I know she's going to get herself in a mess-" Shadow started but was interrupted by Silver.

"And she'll get out alive. I believe she will," he claimed. "I know she will. A-and maybe we'll see her again." By the grace of God, if it were so, then they'd be having a family reunion soon.

Shadow hummed. "Maybe."

There was a quiet shutter that caught the attention of the blue hedgehog. Sonic's ears flinched and then stood straight as they scoped the area for more peculiar sounds. His hearing sense were heightened for survival purposes and when an all too familiar buzzing sound hit his eardrums, his head snapped up to his brothers. Shadow and Silver saw his green eyes widen dramatically and heard the azure hedgehog's breathing quicken.

"Sonic? What's wro-"

In a blink of an eye, the tall blue hedgehog had moved to the side just in time for a sharp needle to strike where he once stood. Shadow and Silver stared at the large maroon spine stand proudly from the ground in horror. They saw the fur on Sonic's back stand up as his eyes darkened challengingly. His legs were bent for stability as his fists were curled up, ready to attack. Strong snarls and growls came from him as his spines sharpened. Cautiously, their own eyes traveled to their right and they stumbled back in terror at the sight before them. A giant ugly beast without a face, covered in spines, huffed dangerously in their faces. Drool dripped down its large canines and the spider-like monster let out an enormous roar.

Sonic gasped as it raised a ferocious arm.

"RUN!"

A/N:Wow…uh…I haven't updated in months.

This is really embarrassing because I've created a new story so I can't say I was sick or anything. Truth is, I became obsessed with another show and my life is just one big joke lol!

Well, I'm thankfully back and I have not given up on this story for one second! Sonic will forever be my number one (that sounds weird XD). So enjoy this chapter guys and hopefully the next one will soon appear! I don't know why, but i feel like my old way of writing was really good and the way I write now sucks, but back then I truly thought I sucked at writing. Weird huh?

I love all of you and I'm very grateful that you're sticking through with this with me.

You rock!

Sylvia—Ann~