Unusual Encounters:
Chapter Eighteen: Manic and Tails
Suggested by SharpDragonKlaw
He had never had quite the speed or endurance of his brother; but if there was one thing he did have in common it was a stubborn will. His brother had long been out of his line of sight, but that never stopped Manic before.
Sometimes he was a bit envious of the fact that Sonic could travel so quickly, anywhere he wanted, apparently without having to tell anyone.
Even though he wasn't near as fast as his brother, the landscape around him still seemed to blur into one large undistinguishable color. At times like that, he was downright impressed with his speed. He smirked and looked upwards to the sky, hoping to be less light-headed that way. The evening was well on its way into night, and so the sun wasn't much of a hindrance to him. It almost seemed like he had been searching for far too long for a brother that didn't even have interest in contacting him much. He thought a few times about stopping and asking for some insight from someone else; like if he was still going the right way, which he could hardly tell. He thought, maybe once or twice, about going back and hanging with that princess he had happened to bump into during his journey across the acorn kingdom. She seemed like a cool person, if a bit busy and frustrated.
But that was when he bumped into someone else, quite literally.
With the distraction of his mind, it took him twice as long to figure out what had happened so suddenly. Because, out of nowhere, he was sprawled out onto the grass, with a pain aching in his head and abdomen. He lied there, hearing a small voice repeating something over and over again. For the life of him, he couldn't figure out what the words meant.
For a long disorienting moment, he believed he was back in his childhood home, passed out in bed. Sonia was standing in the doorway, telling him over and over again that he needed to wake up, it was twelve in the afternoon, he was such a lazy slouch, such a-
A yell.
He sat straight up, no longer in bed, no longer in any familiar place at all. He was outside of some sort of strange garage, and there was someone unfamiliar by his side, shaking him.
"Hey? Hey? Can you...can you hear me?" He seemed sort of confused himself.
"Yeah...yeah, I think so." It was then that Manic realized that he had been running moments prior, and that therefore he must have hit into whoever this yellow blur of a person was. And whatever memory he had just been inside of probably didn't exist. Since...he and his sister had been raised apart. Right?
"Are you alright? You look sorta...confused? I think? To be honest, I'm not sure myself. I've gotten a bit blurry-visioned, too." And then nervous laughter.
"Oh, I'm-I'm...ok." He steadied his head with his hand, and turned it to face the yellow blur.
And both of them, seemingly at the same time, saw each other fully without the fuzziness.
"Oh man. I'm- I'-m sorry about that. Man, I must have taken you by surprise…" Manic said. He hoped that his mind would start to operate normally, but it didn't seem to clear as quickly as his vision did.
"Oh, no, you're fine. I mean, you did take me by surprise, but I think I'll be okay. We both might bruise later, that's a high probability, but I should be fine otherwise," the fox replied. "Are you alright?"
"I-I think so." He took the fox's assistance and they both stood up.
The fox dusted himself off, obviously sore. "So...why were you running so fast? Is- is there an emergency?"
"Well, nah, I was just-just…" And what was he doing? His mind froze up for a moment, and he couldn't think of a single reason he'd gotten out of bed that morning. That bed that he was almost certain didn't really exist. I mean, he hadn't grown up with his sister around and the bed was probably just a false memory- just then it came to him. "I was looking for my brother."
"Oh? Is he alright? What- what was-" The fox groaned suddenly. "I'm sorry, I can't really think quite normally myself right now. What I mean is...is he alright? Is he lost?"
"Oh, no, not really. He's alright. I was just trying to catch up with him is all…"
"Well, gee, he must be pretty hard to spot. I was out here this whole time, and I never saw anyone." He sat down on the ground, taking a deep breath.
"He is really quick, you might not have been able to see him anyway," Manic replied. Apparently the hit hadn't quite taken him as hard as it had to the fox, because while the fox was still steadying himself, he felt almost back to usual. Or so he thought.
"Maybe I've seen him around here? What's his name?"
"Oh, it's-" He realized that perhaps he wasn't entirely normal. Because he was pretty sure it wasn't completely normal to totally forget your own brother's name.
The fox was patient, but he was also smart enough to realize when nothing productive was coming out of all of the stuttering and muttering that followed. "You...really don't know?"
"Nope. Not a clue, heh heh…" He awkwardly sat down beside the fox, brushing his own bangs back from his eyes nervously. "Yeah...you probably think I'm really dumb."
"No, but I am slightly concerned now." The fox laughed, out of nervous habit, and a bit because he wasn't sure how he was going to get back to his machines after this. "You must have been shaken up by that hit...It could be a bad sign if it persists for too much longer...but it could just be a short-term thing, too. Head injuries are really tricky…"
"You know a lot about them?"
"Well, let's just say I've seen my fair share, and I'm a pretty learned guy…"
They both shared a round of nervous laughter.
"You, um...remember your name?" The fox said, quietly.
"Manic. I-I remember that much."
"Huh. Well, that's good. I'm Miles, err, Tails, by the way." He twiddled his fingers as he tried to think of something productive to ask. "Did you, um, travel from far?...do you remember?"
"Well, sorta far, but my bro always hangs around here, so...um...whoever he is...I came to visit him."
"Oh…"
"I've got a sis too. She ain't here, though. I don't think…"
"And you don't remember either of their names?"
"Sonia. I remember Sonia...that's my sister, I mean. I just don't remember his name..."
"Oh...Well, hey, I think...I think I might have an idea!" Tails jumped up suddenly, forgetting about his dizziness altogether.
"What is it, dude?"
"Maybe I could help you remember! I just made this thing the other day, and it's not exactly made for memory loss, but it could help you to remember anyway and-"
"Whoa dude, you mean a 'thing' as in-"
"A machine, if you will. I was testing on it to be able to help locate Chaos Emeralds, if you know what those are, by being able to read into the minds of any of those who might be hiding it from us intentionally. I was hoping that maybe a side-effect of it would be that it would also be able to see the place the emeralds were last seen if they'd been seen, but forgotten by someone i-"
"And, ya mean, you've never actually tried it on anyone before?"
Tails tried not to look slightly taken aback, but he obviously had been hoping Manic wouldn't ask. "Well, I mean, I know it's safe enough right now. There's always got to be a first test and all, but I see no evidence that-"
"No way!"
"Well-"
"That's totally epic! I'll do it!"
Tails looked at him in surprise, wondering if he was joking or not. He'd never actually seen someone so eager to try out a machine for him.
Manic was already standing up and looking around for wherever this machine was. "C'mon, c'mon, I'm down to try it."
"Well...Ok…" Tails lead him back into the garage of his workshop.
The next thing he knew, he was nervously aligning the machine's visor with Manic's forehead. The machine itself was a very small but complex thing. It had a larger screen that was mounted to the cemented floor, with wires that lead out to the smaller visor- the part that actually functioned as a mind scanner, in a way.
Through all of Tails' experiences, he really wasn't nervous about testing out the machine for the first time.
Manic, however, was a different story. He found the idea of being the first to ever try something was an exciting opportunity...but the more he thought about that idea, the more he tried to hide his nervousness from the fox he'd just met. And he wondered if it was in his nature to trust strangers so easily. Of course, really, he knew he'd done more dangerous, risky things than that. But, if he remembered right...his sister had had to save him from a few bad ideas before.
"Hey, almost ready. Just aligning a few things up." Tails gave him a reassuring thumbs-up, and it gave Manic a few sudden memories.
A blue hedgehog, carelessly throwing him a thumbs-up as if that fixed everything that was going on. A blue hedgehog that was somehow too familiar to him.
"Take a seat, I think that will help get a more clear reading," the fox added, as he was still working on the main screen.
"Oh, alright…" He took a seat in the folding chair that was set up close to the machine, but his mind was still focusing on that one memory. Or what he assumed to be a real memory.
But, the blue hedgehog...reminded him of himself in a weird way. He seemed pretty chill, pretty bold, and maybe a tad reckless. Maybe just as reckless and daring as himself. Maybe more. But this blue hedgehog...had something to do with the hedgehog he remembered as his sister. They were Manic, Sonia, and…
"Sonic was supposed to be back by now...He probably would've been able to help me fix this thing up a little faster…" Tails muttered to himself. He was still fiddling with the dials on the screen, and evidently he had no idea that Manic would have heard him. Let alone that he would have had such a reaction to it. "Alright, all set. Are you ready to start th-"
"Sonic!" Manic, without really thinking about it, threw off the visor. "Manic, Sonia, and Sonic!"
"What do you me- Hey, wait a minute! You-" Tails wasn't entirely sure how to react to what had happened, but the first thing that came to his mind was how his machine's piece had been broken so suddenly. His machine he worked so hard on broken in one second. He took a breath and looked to Manic, who was still in some sort of excited uproar.
"I remember him! I remembered him, and I didn't even need this machine...oh. Sorry about your machine. But I remembered!" He was hopping over to the garage door already.
"But wait, where are you going? Who is it?" Tails made his way to block him, but Manic didn't even seem to see him anymore.
"I'm off to see him! He's probably half-gone by now!" He shoved Tails away from the door frame and made off outside like it wasn't anything.
Tails was speechless at his sudden rudeness, but followed him outside anyway.
"Hey now, remember me? I was trying to help you find out who your brother was?" He called after him.
Manic turned back to shout at him before running off, but he probably would have stayed to laugh had he seen Tails' reaction to it. "I remember now! His name is Sonic! Thanks for your help, but I gotta catch up!"
Tails stood there, flabbergasted, trying to figure out if Manic was even serious. But it didn't really make any sense for him to lie about it like that...for no apparent reason.
"Sonic...Sonic has a brother?" He whispered it to himself, but he desperately wished that Sonic was there to answer it. And he never even told me.
