Chapter 47

Story 4; the new generation

Chapter 1; the broken bonds

Sonic was driving home on his duel runner looking at the horizon. He had just dueled and won the title match for this year. His duel king reign had already lasted for 28 years. He was now 46 years old. Time had gone by very fast. He remembered like yesterday when he and his friends met due to the lunar dragon's incident. But that was 28 years ago. As old as his title. His team also remained undefeated. All duelists worldwide considered them living legends. But no one even considered the possibility that Sonic himself was exhausted. He loved dueling but he had seriously considered once to retire for good and leave the future of the game to his children. And talk about the devil, he received a call at that moment by one of them. His daughter Evelyn.

"Daddy are you still a long time from home? We're hungry."

Sonic had stopped in a pizzeria and bought pizza for his family to celebrate his victory. They had accompanied him to the duel palace but after the end of the duel he told them to go and rent a movie so they could have a full family night while he brought the pizzas.

"Just wait 5 more minutes sweetie. I'm almost there."

"Ok daddy love you."

"Love you too." Sonic said while thinking of his family.

4 years after their last adventure Sonic and Amy have had their first child. It was their son Miles, whom Sonic named after the person who first changed his life. His eternal rival Tails. When he declared he was gonna name his son Miles, Tails literally cried of emotion. Miles was the older one and after him came his twin sisters, Aurora and Evelyn, 1 year after the birth of Miles. He remembered them crawling at his feet like it was just yesterday. And now Miles was 18 and the twins were 17 almost at the end of high school.

Of course Sonic and Amy were not the only ones from the singed ones who had children. All the couples that formed at their youth had remained together and had children of their own. Tails and Cosmo had a son at the age of Aurora and Evelyn. His name was Luke. Knuckles and Rouge also made up and married. They also had 2 kids Ruff and T-bone. The one was 17 years old and the other 15. Finally Jet and Wave had a daughter as well in Miles' age. They named her Marianna after the adventure the two of them had in the Marianna trench. They dived trying to get as deep as possible into the trench but were attacked by a shark. Jet managed to beat it by causing it to nail itself onto a sharp rock. When they surfaced again Wave revealed she was pregnant. As Jet always said it was the happiest day of his life despite reaching so close to death.

The singed ones had taught their children how to play duel monsters from a very young age. They all showed great talent to it and were the best of the best in the schools they were enrolled into. All but one.

Miles, unlike his friends, had potential but made mistakes that even a beginner would know how to avoid making. That drove him mad. That caused him to go fully disrespectful mode on anyone. Sometimes even against his teachers at school. He once admitted to his mother that he was jealous that his sisters were superstars due to their skills the moment he was considered both the clown of dueling and the odd ball in their family. Amy had told him that not everyone was born a great duelist, but rather he should try and learn from his failures and ignore those who doubted him. His sisters were also helping him develop his skill. But every time Sonic tried to advise him, he had an outburst of anger for no reason at all. He screamed things like 'you don't understand me' or 'I don't wanna be pitied'. Sonic had discussed this with his friends and Amy and had reached the conclusion that Miles thought that taking advice from his own father who was at the same time the world champion made him feel like he was being called weak. Which was unreasonable for everyone because Sonic himself had to learn from almost failures. Back to the present Sonic was thinking of all this stuff and suddenly realized, Miles' case was almost the same as Blaze's from back when he was searching for the Egyptian god cards. But in Blaze's case she simply missed confidence in herself. Miles refused to listen to anyone but himself and his coevals. He decided to have a talk with Miles one of these days to help him understand the error of his ways. He soon got home and parked the runner at the garage. Then he entered his apartment.

"Family! Food's on!"

They all came immediately. Amy shared one pizza with Sonic. Miles, Aurora and Evelyn had one pizza each. Then Sonic put the movie he chose -Zombie apocalypse 2; humanity strikes back- and they started eating the pizza. Halfway through the movie Miles asked Aurora about a card combo he wanted to experiment on and his parents brought the finger in front of the mouth in order for him to keep quiet until the end of the movie. Miles stormed out of the room angry while saying things like 'of course, why would they allow the failure to try and get better'. Sonic went after him. He knocked the door of Miles' room.

"Leave me alone!" he said angry.

Sonic ignored him and got in.

"Leave me alone dad."

"Miles come inside. Your mother is sad for your anger."

"Guilt tripping doesn't work on me! Leave me alone!"

"No!"

"Why do you even want your failure of a son with the superstars?"

"Miles I think we have to talk. This has gone too far. You call yourself a failure because you're not good in duel monsters the moment I never asked you to be and yet you refuse to let me teach you! This makes as much sense as putting a fusion monster in the main deck."

Miles turned immediately and literally put his face in front of his dad's.

"I WON'T ALLOW YOU TO CALL ME WEAK GET IT?! I'VE HEARD ABOUT THAT BLAZE THE CAT YOU AND UNCLE TAILS HELPED FROM MOM! WHY WOULD YOU HELP A FAILURE LIKE HER?! BEING UNABLE TO STAND ON YOUR OWN TO FEET IS FOR THE LOSERS! I WON'T ALLOW YOU TO HELP ME AND MAKE ME SEEM EVEN MORE PATHETIC!"

Sonic was shocked from all he just heard.

"Miles do you realize what you're saying? Trying to learn the game on your own is like trying to learn to dive underwater and explore the ocean without scuba diving equipment. You can't do it on your own. You need someone to teach you! Not only in games but in life too!"

"TEACHERS ARE FOR THE WEAK! LIKE THE ONES YOU AND THOSE CLOWNS WE HAVE AT SCHOOL TEACH!"

"Miles watch your words!"

"YOU'LL SEE DAD! ONE DAY I WILL COME BACK FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE WORLD! EVERYONE WILL SAY THAT THIS IS THE GREAT MILES THE HEDGEHOG WHO DEFEATED THE UNDEFEATED LEGEND NAMED SONIC WITHOUT ANY HELP FROM ANYONE! THAT IS THE TRUE MEANING OF REAL POWER."

"That's it young man! You're grounded!"

"WHAT FOR?!"

"For this unreasonable and stupid outburst of pride!" Sonic said and turned to leave. However he stopped at the door.

"You will learn one day Miles, that pride isn't everything. That it is not enough to win a fight!"

Miles then reached his limits and tried to punch his father while his back was turned against him. Sonic realized it and dodged while at the same time pushing Miles to the wall and immobilizing him. Father and son looked at each other in anger. At that moment Amy and the girls showed up.

"What is going on here?!"

"Ask your husband!" Miles said pushing Sonic out of the room and slamming the door. Sonic went to his and Amy's room while Aurora and Evelyn tried to get in Mile's room and comfort him to no avail. Several hours later Sonic was laying on his bed next to Amy looking at the ceiling.

"Can you please go to sleep?" Amy asked him with a sleepy voice "I can't sleep when I feel you don't."

"Amy I've been thinking."

"About what?"

"We have to take Miles to a psychologist."

"What? why?"

"He keeps too much anger inside of him. He needs a way to let it out in a calm way".

"He won't take it well. He'll flip"

"I know but we don't have any other choice. Look. Miles refuses to listen to any grown up. He tells everything to his friends but not to us. It's good that his has the children of our friends as friends but they can't help him. They have no experience. What he needs is someone to whom he can open himself just like he does with his friends but at the same time be of our age and have experience about life."

"Yeah I guess you're right. I'm going to tell him. Maybe he'll take it better if I tell him."

They were so busy discussing how Amy would inform Miles without provoking him, that they didn't notice he was listening to them.

The next day at school he whispered this to Marianna during physics class.

"Are you sure you didn't misunderstand them Miles?"

"Yes! My old men want to send to a psychologist like if I am a maniac who needs cure!"

"Miles look. It's no use being cranky about it now. Maybe you need to discuss this with them. Perhaps opening your soul to them would make things better."

"Like hell I'm going to cower before my father's feet like some weak animal!"

"You got to stop viewing him as your enemy just because he is the duel king. Miles he is your father he wants to help you."

"Like hell if I allow myself to get better by his teachings!"

Unfortunately for him he spoke those words too loudly.

"Talking in my class again, the hedgehog?!" he asked Miles angry.

"Yeah!"

"And you don't feel ashamed at all?!"

"No! I have nothing to be ashamed of!"

"Bad behavior is a good reason to be ashamed of!"

"Why don't you just let me be sir and continue the lesson?"

"Kind of hard to. The moment you buzzing with your friend annoys the entire class. At least respect them. They might wanna learn something here."

"Of course! All the weak won't to learn!"

The whole class let out a small cry of shock.

"And what exactly do you mean by weak?!"

"That teaching someone means that that someone is weak! Real power comes from being able to stand at your own two feet alone and beating everyone in your way alone! And you know what?! You wouldn't have to be here teaching all these weak if you were strong yourself! Strong people move through life alone! Weak once help other weak ones!"

"Miles you've gone too far now. Please stop." Marianna tried to calm him down. But now the damage was done.

"Miles the hedgehog, get out of my class right now! Go to the teacher's waiting room and wait there until the end of the day! Your parents will be informed of this disrespect!"

Miles got up took his staff and left the class looking at the teacher with a deadly look. He then headed for the waiting room. He spent 3 hours there waiting. At about 2PM when the school ended Sonic and Amy arrived at the school. They sat with the headmaster who informed them that Miles' behavior was growing more aggressive the last years. There was even an attack report that got covered because someone called him weak. Before they could go the headmaster also lectured Miles about this. Sonic and Amy were waiting for him to be let free to go.

"When did our son start being that aggressive to the people around him? I always thought that this behavior was only against you." She said sad.

"Well I do have a theory about this but we will have more after Miles' first visit to the psychologist."

"What theory?"

"I think that Miles believes that if I walked the path to the title undefeated he can do the same. He sees me not as his father but as a person he must defeat. That's also the reason he refuses to be taught. I wasn't taught by anyone. I learnt the game myself because I started playing it when it first came out. He doesn't see this difference though."

"I hope we find a way to open his soul to us or someone we can trust soon. My poor boy thinks he is invincible because you are undefeated."

Later on, on the way home Miles realized they weren't heading home.

"Mom? Where are we going?"

"You'll see soon enough."

"MOM!" He said with an imperative tone "WHERE ARE WE GOING?!"

"Miles don't talk to your mother like that!"

"TELL ME WHERE WE ARE GOING!"

"Miles relax we're almost there!" Amy tried to calm him.

"You're taking me to a psychologist, aren't you?!"

"If you know so much why ask us?" Sonic asked him while driving.

"I'm not going!"

At that moment they made it outside the psychologist's office. But Miles refused to get out of the car.

"Miles don't be ridiculous. Come out we're gonna be late!"

"I said no!"

"Miles don't make this any harder."

"Miles! Do as your father tells you!" Amy said.

But that was the cherry in the cake for Miles.

"FATHER?! HE IS NOT MY FATHER! HE IS DUEL KING SONIC! THE ONE PERSON I MUST BEAT! THE ONE PERSON I NEED TO BEAT, WHO HAS BEEN CALLING ME WEAK MY WHOLE LIFE WITHOUT ME UNDERSTANDING!"

"Miles calm down!" Sonic grabbed his shoulder. But Miles punched him in the face!

"DON'T TOUCH ME! I TOLD YOU! YOU ARE NOT MY FATHER! YOU ARE SONIC THE DUEL KING! AND I WIL BEAT YOU! I WILL BECOME STRONGER AND BETTER THAT YOU EVER WERE! AND I WILL DO IT THE SAME WAY YOU DID! ALONE!" Miles screamed running away.

"Miles come back!" Amy screamed trying to get him back. But he was long gone. Sonic embraced her and she started crying in his shoulder.

"Why did our son turn out like this? Are we failed parents?"

"No Ames. But it is not entirely his fault. We didn't teach him respect and humility. But it's never too late."

"Are you.. are you planning to..?"

"Yes."

Later that evening Miles returned home somewhat relaxed. He went to his mother's room to apologize for his behavior. But no one was in. usually Amy was reading a book at this time of hour. But then he noticed no one was home. He went to get a glass of water but saw a piece of paper on the fridge. It was an address. He followed the instructions and found a duel field. He entered and saw Amy and his sisters sitting at the seats around the field.

"Mom? Aurora? Evelyn? What are you doing here?" he asked them.

"You came here" Sonic's voice was heard "so you can learn to respect".

"Show yourself Sonic! I dare you!" Miles' anger got to him again.

Sonic walked out of the shadows in the other side of the field. The place was an open yard with several parts not being lighted by the gigantic lampposts. Sonic was dressed in his black duelist suit.

"Here I am son."

"Don't call me this! I'm not your son! A father would never call his son weak!"

"I never called you weak Miles. I only wanted to teach you the game since you wanted to be good at it."

"I will learn it alone! You were able to. So I am to."

"There is a major difference Miles. The game is over 40 years old. I've been dueling for 40 years, I had no choice but to learn it alone! You can never reach my level without guidance! And no! I'm not calling you weak! You are just too proud to admit it to yourself that you need help!"

Miles felt tears coming to his eyes because this was exactly how he felt. He felt he was a disappointment because he couldn't be like his father. But he wouldn't let Sonic see him cry.

"Ok then old man! Prove it!" Miles said activating his duel disc.

"Very well Miles."

"DUEL!"

"I'll start it! I summon blackwing shura the blue flame! Then I special summon forth 2 more blackwings because I already control a blackwing! Gale the whirlwind and Kris the crack of dawn! Then I activate blackwing feathers! I draw cards equal to the number of different named blackwings currently out! I draw 3 cards. Then I set the link arrows with gale and shura! Arrowheads confirmed! Link summon! Show yourself! Crystron needlefiber! Then I activate its effect! I special summon a tuner from my deck! Come forth blackwing steam the cloak! Next I activate graceful charity! I draw 3 cards and discard gale dogra and destrudo the lost dragon's frisson! Next I set once again the link arrows with steam the cloak and needlefiber! Arrowheads confirmed! Circuit combine! Link summon! Appear! Summon sorceress! Next steam the cloak activates its effect in the graveyard. I special summon a token next to summon sorceress' link. Next I tribute the token to revive steam from my graveyard. However I can only do this once per duel. Next I activate my sorceress' effect! Once per turn I can special summon a monster from my deck with the same type as a monster already out. I summon blackwing oroshi the squal. Now I tune together steam and Kris! Wet those pitch-black wings! And along with the drizzling rain bring forth a strike of lightning! Synchro summon! Fly high! Assault blackwing chidori the rain sprinkling! His effect gives it 300 attack for every blackwing in the graveyard and right now I have 4 so he has 3800! I then I activate synchro expedition by tributing oroshi the squal and chidori the rain sprinkling! Since the one is originally a tuner and the other a non tuner I can synchro summon 2 monsters with the same level from my extra deck as long as their level is equal to the summary of these 2 monsters' levels! I tune oroshi the squal with chidori the rain sprinkling! The first summon! Mighty dragon! Flash your sacred wings of light and strike down our enemies with your brilliance! Synchro summon! Come forth crystal wing synchro dragon! Now the second one! Darkened gales! Reveal hidden wishes on your wings and carry them with you towards our victory! Synchro summon! Soar! Black-winged dragon!"

"It's been so long since Sonic has summoned black-winged directily." Amy though "he wants to show Miles his roots."

"That won't affect me!" Miles said although not convincing anyone."

"I set 3 cards and end my turn."

"My turn then! I set a card at the same lane as you first set card! Then I special summon to that lane because there 2 cards on it mekk-knight indigo eclipse! I activate his effect so he can move to another lane!"

"Ok."

"Now in the same lane which is now empty I summon mekk knight blue sky and activate his effect to add one card to my hand for every card in his lane that you control".

"Forget it! Crystal wing! Destroy it and negate the effect!"

"Very well then. I summon mekk-knight purple nightfall in that lane! Next I normal summon aleister the invoker! His effect allows me to add invocation to my hand! Then I activate invocation! I fuse together mekk-knight blue sky in my graveyard and aleister on my field! The knight fighting with the power of the ethers and the magician who practices unification with the elements! Become one and reign over the world with your power of light! Fusion summon! Come forth! Invoked mehaba! Next I activate the effect of my aleister who has been banished so the fusion could take place. He returns to my hand and invocation returns to my deck!"

"So what Miles. You can't overcome crystal wing."

"Oh we'll see about that!"

"Indeed we will."

"I attack with mechaba to crystal wing!"

"I activate ring of destruction! Invoked mechaba is destroyed and we take damage equal to his attack points!"

"No we don't I discard a trap to negate it! But then the effect of my trap I discarded activates. Ambush attack! When it is sent to the graveyard without being activated on the field the attack of one of my monsters increases by one of yours. However I must attack it and the damage you would take is cut in half. Then I take half of that as damage and the other half powers up my monsters!"

"Did you forget Miles? Crystal wing gains the attack of the monster it battles if it is level 5 or more and mechaba is 8!"

"Indeed! But I have honest in my hand!"

"Oh no!"

"That's right! Your crystal is destroyed. Then I take 1250 damage." (Miles LP 6750) "And now purple nightfall and indigo eclipse gain 1250 attack! Purple nightfall! Eliminate summon sorceress!"

"AAAH!" (Sonic LP 6450)

"And now indigo eclipse! Eliminate Black-winged!"

"I activate defense draw! So I don't take any damage from your second attack and I draw a card from my deck!"

"Fine. I end my turn!"

"My turn Miles. I draw. I activate the spell raigeki!"

"I activate indigo eclipse effect! I move it to the lane your raigeki activates in! furthermore I chain with the trap world legacy's secret! If you were planning to activate a spell effect in the same lane as a mekk-knight forget it! It is negated and destroyed."

"Fine then I activate the spell soul charge!"

"Oh no you don't! I discard world legacy's key to negate and destroy with mechaba's effect you spell."

"See Miles. See why you should let me taught you to play the game? You have fallen right into my trap!"

"What trap you only have 2 cards in your hand! They can't help you!"

"You will see what I mean soon enough! I activate monster reborn!"

"Even if you revive your crystal wing I have plenty of ways to kill it."

"Who said anything about crystal wing?"

"Then what? chidori?"

"NO! I revive gale dogra!"

"Gale dogra?! How can this help you? It only works on ritual decks."

"You will see right now. I activate its effect twice! It takes twice 3000 of my life points and send for every 3000 one monster of my choice from my extra deck to my graveyard. I lose 6000 LP." (Sonic LP 450) "and send to the graveyard blackwing evolution booster and black feather sky ruler dragon!"

"So you dumped your best monster! What did you gain?"

"I gained this! I activate the spell stardust shimmer!"

"WHAT?!"

"I perform a synchro summon from my graveyard! I banish black winged dragon and blackwing evolution booster so I can tune them together! Royal jet-black wings soar to the birth of the ultimate king! Slice the winds with your almighty judgement! BLACK SYNCHRO! TAKE YOUR PLACE IN THE SKY! BLACK-FEATHER SKY RULER DRAGON!"

"No! How could I let you summon it!?"

"If you had let me taught you, you would have seen it coming!"

"So what? next turn I'll end you!"

"There won't be a next turn! I choose to give my dragon his effect to banish a blackwing from the graveyard to save it from destruction! Then I activate destrudo's effect in the graveyard! I pay half my LP and summon it back by reducing its level by the level of my gale dogra! Now I tune it with dogra! Chilling flames engulf the entire world! Pitch-dark flower set into bloom! Synchro summon! Appear! Black rose dragon!"

"Mom that's your old ace card isn't it?" Evelyn asked Amy.

"Yes dear. Back when I was your age." She said while looking at black rose and black feather sky ruler dragon standing next to each other with tears in her eyes."

"Black rose dragon, activate your effect! Destroy all other cards on the field! Dance of the rose!"

Black rose started a whirlwind with his wings of petals and destroyed all of Miles' cards. Sonic's dragon however stood strong by banishing steam the cloak from the graveyard.

"Now battle! Sky ruler dragon! attack Miles directily!"

"That is not enough to end me!"

"When he enters the damage step I activate the quick play spell pump up which doubles his attack to 7000!"

"WHAT?!"

"Take this Miles! JUDGEMENT OF THE SKY!"

"AAAAH!" (Miles LP 0) "NOO! WHY DID I LOSE! I HAD YOU!"

Sonic stood in front of Miles who had fallen on his knees looking down in shock and anger.

"See Miles? Real weakness comes from solitude. It doesn't matter even if you have the perfect deck if you don't learn from those who know better than you.

Miles didn't answer. Instead he ran away.

"Miles come back!" Sonic screamed when he realized what happened. Amy and the girls jumped from the seats and followed Sonic out of the dueling field. But Miles was nowhere to be found.

"We'll split up. Quickly it's dangerous at night." Sonic said "Amy take Aurora with you. Evelyn with me quickly we have to find Miles."

In the meantime Miles had reached 3 blocks away. He sat on the pavement and finally let the tears fall from his eyes. His father was right. He was too damn proud to admit he couldn't be like his father. He was about to toss his deck in the sewer when…

"Miles?"

Miles looked up and saw Marianna dressed for a night out.

"Hey."

"What are you doing here all alone?"

"Nothing" he said whipping his tears "just sitting."

"Come on Miles. You can't keep secrets from me. I know you better than anyone."

"Well I … I just lost to my father in the most disrespecting way. He gave it to me straight in the face. I was so wrong. I can never be like him. I can never learn the game alone and reach the level he is."

"Miles…. Don't you have any confidence? Or ambition?"

"They just got destroyed."

"But don't you see? You always spoke about reaching your father's level? Do you want to be just as good as your father? Or do you wanna be better than him?"

"But… if I allow him to teach me i…"

"Miles… teachers exist so students can grow beyond them. That is their job. Your dad never wanted you to stay under him. He wants you to surpass him. I heard that once our parents decided Sonic's thought to quit dueling and retire. And I'm sure that there couldn't be a better successor to the duel king title than the one you can be. If you just let go of your pride… you will beat him. I know it."

Miles was moved by Marianna's belief in his potential. He got up and hugged her.

"Let's go find your parents. So you can tell them this." Marianna said.

"Yeah. Thank you."

They started walking together. Suddenly they heard the footsteps of a team of at least 5 members behind them. They looked behind and saw a gang walking towards them.

"Well,well.. look what we have here. Miles the hedgehog. And the girlfriend."

"Wait a minute. Kristian?"

"That's right. It's me. See this black eye? The black eye you gave me?! Now you will pay for it. Give me all you have on you!"

"Go to hell Kristian I don't want any trouble."

"Boys bring him to me!" he ordered his henchmen "and make sure the girl doesn't escape!"

They caught Miles and Marianna before they could escape. He then proceeded to kick Miles to the ground. Then he kicked him in the face and started rubbing his shoe on Miles' nose. He heard the bone crack as Miles' scream was released frim his mouth.

"MILES NO!" Marianna screamed watching her friend in pain.

Sonic and Evelyn who happened to be 2 blocks away heard it and started running towards there.

Kristian kept kicking and punching Miles despite Marianna's pleas to stop. When he was done blood was coming out of his nose and mouth. Then he turned to his henchmen.

"Load them on the truck. He and his deck will make a fine price. If they don't want the girl… we'll play her at dice. Hehehe."

Marianna started screaming for help while she was loaded on the back of a small van. But while they were loading the near-death Miles on the van they saw Sonic and Evelyn running towards them.

"HEY YOU STOP!" Sonic said while running towards the van.

"Floor it!" Kristian screamed to the driver.

The van started accelerating. However Sonic was already next to it. He jumped on it and hanged from the side. He took out a knife and attempted to nail it on the tire so the van would have to stop. At that moment the side door opened and Kristian from the inside pointed a gun at Sonic. Sonic's eyes widened momentarily as the gun fired and the bullet landed on his left arm. He screamed in pain and let go of the van. He landed on the hard asphalt and rolled for several meters while watching the van driving away. But not before he was able to read and memorize its license plates with his subconscious. However all he thought at that moment was

"Miles.. no! come back!"

Amy and Aurora arrived with Evelyn who went to find them and were horrified in the sight of Sonic wounded.

"Sonic what happened?!" Amy asked him while the girls were dialing 911.

"Miles… he was…"

"He was what?!"

Sonic looked at her with his eyes full of tears.

"Abducted!"

Amy felt her heart stopping. Immediately she called the rest of the singed ones and told them to meet with her at the hospital. This one was gonna be their worst adventure yet.