They were kids, just kids trying to eke out a living on the street day to day. They stole what they needed to survive, even when it felt like bile in the pit of the blue one's stomach. He learned quickly to grow numb to it, and always made sure that the members of his little family had enough food to eat. It often left him with little, because what was a normal meal to his friends was barely a drop in the bucket for him. Like those of his mismatched family, he was born with a superpower. Metas were regarded as the lowest of the low after all, and his inborn power was the ability to run at breakneck speeds, so fast the eye could scarcely track it. An unfortunate side effect of that speed was an incredibly high metabolism. He was skinny for his age, almost enough to be considered malnourished even among those of the slums.

"Sonic, aren't you going to eat something?" the sweet and caring voice of the only female of their family asked him, "You know it'll hurt you badly later if you don't…"

Evergreen eyes turned upon the girl in question, a smile crossing his tanned cheeks. There wasn't much left in the basket, hardly a meal even for her let alone himself. They hadn't been very fortunate today in their scouting and raids. The upper districts just hadn't thrown anything worthwhile away, and anything that was had been picked clean.

"I know Rosie. I'm gonna. I just wanna make sure Tails gets something first. Knuckles needed extra today because it's been almost two days since he was able to eat last…" Sonic replied.

The girl Rosie flattened her ears. "I'll go see if I can find him, 'kay?" she resolved, hopping down from her perch in their little secret hideout, "I think he was testing something he made from junk earlier. Ooo, maybe he's got it working!"

She clapped excitedly before she ran out, nearly tripping over her own pigeon-toed feet while her messy pink quills bobbed about within the old ribbon she wore to hold them in place. He watched the hoglet go, smiling to himself at her excitement. He wished he still had that innocent wonder. At just eight years old he was already a cynic, his world view tainted by the cruelty of others at a young age. All for being a meta, for being born with something he had never asked for and having no parents to protect him from the worst the world had to offer.

But he had them, all misfits like him. Tails was the youngest at just four years old. He was a child prodigy, born with an extra tail and thrown away because of it. Sonic and Knuckles had found him alone in a freshly dumped garbage heap straight from the upper districts nearly four years prior. He had almost died after they brought him back, but by some miracle the two of them had nursed the fox back to health and he had stuck with them like glue ever since. Knuckles, an echidna the color of fire's red, was the oldest of their group at ten years old, and also by far the largest. He was their protector, and though not the sharpest tool in the box due to one too many unfortunate brawls and blows to the head, he was steadfastly loyal and didn't allow anyone to mess with his little family. His namesake came from the spiked protrusions that grew out of his well, knuckles - another unfortunate product of a genetic mutation.

Then there was Rosie, a hedgehog like Sonic but with pink quills instead of blue. She was their second youngest member at an astounding six years old. Her meta power had to do with manifestation of objects out of seemingly nowhere, but the only thing she could ever seem to summon was a little hammer. She was the light of their little group and Sonic didn't know what they would do without her.

"Found him!" her voice suddenly rang excitedly back in the room, "He was downstairs but I found him!"

In she pulled the tiny kit by the hand, and in his other was a device made of old parts. Sonic didn't know what this one would be for, but he was interested enough to find out.

"Whatcha got there, Tails?" he asked curiously.

"It's my repicador!" he exclaimed excitedly. Though a genius at such a young age, proper language still eluded him. "It can copy food and make mo' food!"

"Really?" Sonic asked, "Now that'd be something wouldn't it? Maybe then we'd have enough to feed my appetite."

The fox kit's ears fell. "I sowwy Sonic...I been twyin' ta make it go wha' I want, but I still can' ge' it to wo'k…"

Sonic's eyes widened when it looked like Tails was going to start crying. He flinched at the reproachful look Rosie gave him. Hastily, he dug out a morsel from what remained in the basket and knelt down in front of the little fox.

"Hey c'mon, I didn't mean it like that, honest. I'm sorry," he apologized, "Here, why don't you try it on this?"

The fox's mood instantly brightened. "O'tay!" he exclaimed excitedly.

Sonic and Rosie found some protection behind the old barrel that Rosie had been sitting on earlier. They had borne witness to far too many failed experiments that liked to spontaneously explode on the poor little inventor, but usually on one of them. That was how they'd lost their last hideout.

Tails pulled down a cracked pair of goggles that sat upon his brow and powered the device up. The antenna on its end lit up and sparked. Rosie and Sonic peeked around the barrel, waiting with bated breath. It looked like the invention would finally work this time, and it wasn't even threatening to implode. A beam of energy even fired at the morsel on the ground.

Unfortunately, all that was left was a burnt crisp. Tails' ears fell sadly as he lifted his goggles. "I t'ought it gonna wo'k dis time…" he said sadly.

The two hedgehogs came out of hiding with Rosie being the one to approach Tails and hug him since Sonic was more reluctant to dole out hugs. He was never a very touchy person and had a bit of an aversion to being touched himself.

"Aw, it's okay Tails," she soothed, "You're making progress at least! It didn't even blow up this time!"

"I guess…"

Sonic walked forward and picked the burned crisp off the ground, popping it in his mouth. It tasted vile, but he swallowed it all the same. Living in the slums, he couldn't afford to be picky after all.

"It's still good Tails," he lied, even knowing the kit would see right through it, "See? All gone. Now why don't you come and eat your food? We can go looking for some new parts later okay? How does that sound?"

His blue eyes lit right back up. "O'tay!" he agreed happily, bounding over to the basket and eagerly awaiting what Sonic had to give him.

Sonic chuckled at the childish enthusiasm before presenting the young boy with his dinner. It wasn't really much but Tails was small for his age - probably even born prematurely, Sonic didn't know - but for him it would be enough for now.

Tomorrow they would do better, he could feel it. Today was just an off day. Their luck would turn around eventually, someday, even just a little. As long as they stuck together, they would make it.

"What do you mean you're getting adopted?!" Sonic demanded.

"It's like I already told you!" Rosie yelled back, "These really kind people saw me and one thing led to another and we started talking and stuff… I didn't know they were gonna wanna adopt me!"

They never fought like this. Why were they fighting? They were supposed to be a family! They'd had little spats in the past but nothing like this!

"But you're a meta! No one wants people like us!"

"But mine isn't as noticeable as everyone else's! I can hide it easy no problem! All I have to do is not try to use my hammer and it's like I'm normal!"

"What are y'all fighting about?" Knuckles asked, rubbing his eyes, "I was having a nice nap. Why do you two have to be so loud?"

"Rosie's getting adopted, apparently…" Sonic grumbled.

"Really?" the echidna asked, cracking his back, "That's great news Rosie!"

Sonic shot him a dagger-like glare, causing the bruiser to actually flinch. Normally nothing scared him, not even when he might normally get looks like that, but something in Sonic's eyes made it feel like a monster was staring him down.

"W-What'd I say…?" he asked hesitantly, "I...I-I thought it was a good thing to get adopted…"

He began to wring his hands nervously and glance at his feet, a habit he'd picked up whenever he began to feel incredibly stupid. He disappeared through a curtain yelling for Tails. The two hedgehogs started arguing again.

"Why can't you be happy for me?!" Rosie demanded, tears beginning to bead in her eyes.

"What about us?! What about the family you already have?! Aren't we good enough?!"

"Of course you are! You're the best brothers ever! I just…"

"Just what?" he said, his tone cold as ice.

"I...I-I wanna have parents, Sonic! I wanna know what it's like to feel safe, to be tucked in at night, to have bedtime stories and hugs and kisses and my boo-boos band-aided and all those other things we're supposed to be able to have! I just wanna have a mommy and daddy! I swear I tried to convince them to take you guys too, but they said they couldn't afford to have more than one!"

She was full-on bawling now, waterfalls flowing down her reddening face. He might have felt bad and made an attempt to comfort her in his own way, were he not already pissed at what felt like abandonment and betrayal.

Before he could yell more, a distressed Knuckles returned with the fox kit in tow.

"Tell them Tails," the echidna insisted, "Tell them that it's okay to be adopted, right?!"

"Well, yeah?" the five-year old kit replied, "For any of us to get an offer like that is the chance of a lifetime. Why?"

"Because Rosie's found someone that wants to adopt her," Knuckles replied nervously, glancing at Sonic but overall averting his gaze.

"What's got you in such a twist?" he asked.

Tails finally took a good look at Sonic and he accidentally released a yip of fright. He'd never seen Sonic look so angry.

"S-Sonic…?" he started, trailing off briefly to try and think of the best thing to ask, "A-Are you...o-okay…?"

"What makes you think I'm not?" he asked between clenched teeth, "And who cares anyway?! It's not like any of us will ever get a chance, because we're all freaks! But oh nooooo, Rosie can hide her freakiness! Yay for her! Go on, get adopted! See if I care! Because I don't! Good riddance! We'll be better off without you!"

He kicked an old crate out of the way with surprising force. It flew across the small room and smashed against the wall, falling to pieces. Sonic growled, ripping the curtain that served as their door open and tearing the fabric in the process before he took off in a cloud of dust.

Those left behind were left speechless. They'd never seen Sonic react so...violently before. They stood stunned for several more seconds before Amy decided to break it.

"Shouldn't...shouldn't we go after him…?" she asked gingerly.

"I'll go," Tails insisted, "If anyone can talk some sense into him, I can."

"You sure Tails?" Rosie asked, "You're not exactly a fighter…"

"Neither are you… Besides, I'm a good hider. I always win at hide-and-seek, remember? No one's gonna find me. I'll find Sonic and talk to him. I promise we'll sort all of this out. Somehow..."