01010011 01101111 01101110 01101001 01100011 00100000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01100001 00100000 01100100 01100101 01100001 01100100 00100000 01101101 01100001 01101110 00101110 00100000 01010111 01101000 01111001 00111111 00100000 01010111 01100101 01101100 01101100 00101100 00100000 01101100 01100101 01110100 00100111 01110011 00100000 01101010 01110101 01110011 01110100 00100000 01100110 01101001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01101111 01110101 01110100 00101100 00100000 01110011 01101000 01100001 01101100 01101100 00100000 01110111 01100101 00111111
Translation: 'Sonic is a dead man. Why? Well, let's just find out, shall we?'
Don't give me that look, I got really bored and wanted to add a twist. Binary code makes me laugh. Long story. Moving on… Comments!
ultimateCCC: RIGHT? Manic is a lucky ducky… or hedgehog. Whatever. [And it'll only get better. We have several plot-twisty events scheduled for their date (spoiler alert).]
StarlightSparks: I'm glad you enjoyed it, because we had a lot of fun typing it. Happy New Years!
Autumn: Thanks, we did. Hope you had a great Christmas as well and a Happy New Year!
KyubiMaster9: Well, let's see… We had a reference from Captain America: Winter Soldier, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and The Wizard of Oz. Everything else was Manic's past talking. [And just random bursts of weirdness here and there. That's Manic for ya.] Actually, it's a hallucinatory drug that makes you hallucinate. [Gee, thanks, Captain Obvious. Never would've figured that out on my own. But yeah, there was a lot of research put into the effects of LSD, so I'm pretty confident in saying that Manic's reaction was pretty accurate.]
So this chapter has major references to 'Miles from Home', just a heads up. [If you haven't read that already, you're missing out.] Hope y'all enjoy! Action!
Sonic's POV:
Why do I forget the happy dates but remember the painful ones? And when I say dates, I'm not talking about going out with your girl/boyfriend to the movies. I mean dates as in, the day of the month/year/life.
June 21st- My family was murdered.
June 23rd- My Birthday that is supposed to be shared with two others, who died two days earlier. Not much fun.
June 7th- I met Robotnik for the first time since killing my family.
August 26th- I made a very big mistake and decided to abandon Tails in a village after knowing him for about a month. Probably the worst decision I've ever made.
June 25th- The day Shadow 'died' saving the world from Space Colony Ark. Okay, so he's not actually dead, but still. Very sad day. On the bright side, I only had to celebrate that anniversary only once.
January 4th- Hank's Chili Dog closed. (What? That was a really sad day for me! They had the best dogs in town, but apparently no one else agreed with me.)
Looking at my schedule, you can probably guess how happy my summers are.
Not. Fun.
Now if you look at my happy dates you have… Um… Sometime in November, Tails and I officially became brothers… and I met Amy sometime before that in August, but we don't really celebrate that (Tails almost died. Long story). The second time we met was also the day Metal Sonic appeared for the first time and that is not a pleasant memory. I met Knuckles somewhere between August and October.
I joined GUN sometime in December, but is that really a happy memory? I personally would say 'no'. (What kind of Government organization watches a ten year old fight a madman for two years before saying, 'Maybe we should get involved…' Then after that they tell you, 'In order to keep your newly adopted brother from being taken away, you have to 'join' us.)
After all of that happy information, you're probably wondering what does this have to do with anything?
As mentioned previously, I can remember the bad dates but the good dates always seem to slip my mind. Case in point: When I adopted Tails.
It was November.
You can probably see where this is going…
On a Thursday morning, Tails came barging into my room at eight am with a plate of pancakes. I was unfortunately sleeping at the same time so when the door slammed open, my wonderful dream of chili dogs suddenly shattered and I found myself on the floor.
"Ow."
"Oops…" Tails smiled sheepishly, "Sorry. I forgot you were still asleep."
I rubbed my head and sat up on the floor, glaring up at the fox, "Well, you better have a good reason for waking me up. Is Robotnik attacking?"
"No."
"Is Knuckles coming over?"
"No."
"Are you bleeding?"
"Sonic, I think you can tell that yourself."
"Is the General on the phone?"
"No."
"Then what do you want?" I am generally not in a good mood when I'm rudely woken up during a good dream.
Tails plopped the plate of pancakes on my bedside table and smiled, "Ta-da!"
I stared at the breakfast for a moment. "Was it really necessary to wake me up to tell me you finally know how to cook bacon properly?" I stood up and stretched. Might as well get up now. I wasn't going back to sleep anytime soon.
Tails' face fell, "Sonic, did you forget again?"
"Forget what?" I reached down to touch my toes and yawned.
Tails looked down at his feet, "Never mind. It's nothing. Sorry to wake you." He walked out of the room without another word.
I know my brother. And when he looks down at his feet, he's upset or shy. Well, I could cross out the shy, so what did I forget? My mind started to go through a mental checklist.
I took out the trash.
I stayed out of the kitchen.
I delivered the mail to the post office (Tails still used paper catalogs. Don't ask why.)
I got the groceries.
Then what was I forgetting?
Eventually, I gave up the riddle and wandered down stairs. Tails must have been really upset with me because he was already in his workshop, pounding away with his tools even louder than usual. I had brought down the plate of pancakes and began to eat them at the table. My eyes wandered the room, a little bored. Usually, Tails and I ate together which made conversations. Eating alone is… well, lonely.
Without really thinking, my eyes fell on the wall calendar. The current day was circled with a big red marker. I squinted to read the words: Brother's Anniver- Chaos.
I banged my head on the table. I was an idiot. What kind of brother forgets their own anniversary? Apparently, this one. You might as well give me, 'Worst Brother of the Year Award' right now.
You'd think that I would actually remember one of these years, but NO. My brain will only hold to the horrible days of my life, none of the best days. UGH.
Okay, I had to make this up to Tails.
Of course, I had no ideas on how to do that. I was brother stew.
When in doubt, see Amy. I ran into the workshop and called to Tails, "Hey, I'm going out. Need anything?"
Tails gave me an 'are-you-serious' look and nodded in acknowledgement.
Yep. Brother stew.
I zipped over to Amy's and knocked on the door. Cream answered and smiled up at me, "Hello, Mr. Sonic. How has Tails and your anniversary been?"
Leave it to the rabbit to remember a date that I can't.
"Um… Well, that's why I'm here. Is Amy home?"
Cream nodded cheerfully and spoke to Cheese, "Cheese, would you please get Miss Amy?" She opened the door the rest of the way, "Why don't you come inside? I made muffins this morning with my Mother. Would you like to have one? They're blueberry."
This child makes the King of the Kingdom of Acorn look rude. Cream offered me a seat as she went to grab her plate of muffins. Vanilla must have been out on errands because she didn't appear during the visit.
After two muffins and a cup of orange juice, Amy finally joined us. "Sorry, I was cleaning." She plopped down next to me and smiled, "Sonic, I'm so happy you dropped by. Where were you yesterday?"
I shrugged, "Tails needed help in the workshop and wanted me to do some errands. Speaking of Tails… I need some advice."
"What kind of advice?"
"Um… Well, I may have sort of forgotten something very important today." I explained the situation then buried my face in my hands, embarrassed.
Amy reacted better than I thought she would. Instead of pulling out her hammer yelling at me, she only yelled at me, "SONIC HEDGEHOG, HOW DO YOU FORGET SOMETHING LIKE THAT?"
"I don't know! I'm an idiot, I know! Now how did I fix it?"
Cream looked a tad bit frightened by Amy's outburst and ducked into the kitchen for safety. Amy just stared at me before replying, "Sonic, you don't just FIX something like this. It's completely unforgivable."
"I forget every year, Amy."
"Then what's different about this year?"
"I usually figure it out before the kid wakes up and then I rush to prepare something. Don't think he noticed too much."
Amy didn't reply, but shook her head ashamed of me. I was a little ashamed of myself as well.
Fortunately for me, Amy helped come up with a way to try and make it up to Tails. It wasn't the best plan, but hey- it was a plan.
Three hours later, I zipped back into the workshop with a huge smile on my face. "Hey, bro. Wanna go on a run?"
Tails hammered a piece of metal especially hard, making a large ring. "I'm a little busy, Sonic." he said coldly, motioning to the chunk of steel on the table. "Frank asked me to fix this by Monday, and I completely forgot about it."
I looked at the shapeless object with a suspicious eyebrow, "What is it?"
"A car jack."
My mind looked at the twisted object and came up with a question mark. "How the heck did it get like that?"
"Long story short: he drove over it."
"With what? A tractor?" Then I shook my head and got back on track. Time for Plan B.
I waited until Tails had put down his tools and scooped him up in my arms, zipping out of the workshop and down the street at top speed.
"S-s-s-sonic!" shouted Tails, his cheeks flapping in the rushing wind. "P-p-pu-put m-m-me d-d-dow-down!"
"No can do, little bro! We've got places to be!" I replied cheerfully. I think Tails tried to say something else, but I was gaining speed too quickly for him to form anything I could understand.
I zoomed out of the suburbs, through the city streets of uptown Station Square, and out of town, the world a blur as I ran from one small town to the next. I briefly considered running through Tails' old town for the quickest route to our destination, but decided against it and went around. Finally, we made it to the forest, stopping at a very familiar rock formation that I still remembered after all these years.
I set Tails down; he took a minute to orient himself then stared up at me, frustrated.
"What… the heck… was that for?" he said angrily, brushing himself off and grimacing.
"Take a look around, bro," I said, grinning. "Look familiar?"
"All I see is a bunch of trees and rocks. What are we doing here?"
"Come on," I said, taking his hand and leading him over to the cave opening.
"Sonic, where-?" His question cut off suddenly and his eyes grew big.
On the ground was a simple blanket with a plate of chili dogs in the center. There was also a cake, and a basket of blueberries. To the side was a box wrapped in red wrapping paper.
I grinned sheepishly as Tails eyes flickered back and forth between the food and the gift. "Um… Surprise?"
My stomach was so knotted up that I was afraid it might explode. Tails didn't look happy or surprised. Oh Chaos, I messed up again. I am the worst brother alive. Time to get on my knees and beg for mercy.
Before I could, a sudden ball of yellow fur pounced on me and I almost fell over as Tails gave me one of the tightest hugs in history.
I grinned. Never mind. I'm good. But… "Tails-... I. Can't. Breath..."
Tails laughed. "Serves you right for forgetting."
"I- sorry- air… please!"
He released and gave a playful push. "Now about that cake."
I rolled my eyes and gasped in the much needed oxygen. "How about dinner first, then dessert?"
"You're no fun," Tails put on his pouty face, but couldn't help let a few giggles slip out.
"I still can't believe you forgot," Tails popped a blueberry in his mouth as he leaned back against the side of the cave.
I buried my face in my hands, "Again, I. Am. Sorry. How many times do I have to apologize?"
"Until you don't forget." He threw a blueberry at me and I rolled my eyes. "But still, good comeback. You even remembered the blueberries."
"Hey, I know my food."
"But you don't know your dates?"
"Sorry! Now knock it off!" I threw the blueberry back at him.
Tails swished his namesakes around and gave a smile, "Or what?"
"Or…" I patted the red box on my lap, "I won't give you your present."
"You wouldn't."
"Try me."
Tails held up his hands in surrender. "But only for the rest of the day."
"Fine."
I handed him the box and grinned, "Happy Brother's Anniversary, Miles."
He ripped the paper off the box and held up the model helicopter kit. Tails just stared at it for a moment before throwing his arms around me in another hug (this one didn't steal my oxygen away, thank Chaos).
"Glad you liked it. Thought it would be a good replacement to the one I sort of broke here." I gestured around at cave with a small chuckle.
Tails rested his chin on his knees, "Actually, I still have that model."
My eyebrows shot up in surprise. "You do? But-"
"It was one of the first things we did together. And even if it isn't perfect," He looked up at me and grinned, "It makes me think of you. My big brother." Tails hugged me again, and I gently put my arms around him, my emotions too heavy to speak.
Neither of us moved and my thoughts drifted off. Miles was probably the best/ worst decision of my life. He helped me find another reason to fight Robotnik, and it wasn't for revenge or justice or whatever I called it. He also provided a balance to my life- I wasn't fighting 24/7 like I had for the first two years in the 'war' against Robotnik. But he also provided an edge over me. If Robotnik nabbed him, not only was the mad man in trouble, but Tails was in danger. Like, life-threatening danger. Never a good idea to get your brother in life-threatening danger.
The soft sound of snoring snapped me to reality. Tails was asleep, cuddled against me. I couldn't help but smile. He looked like when I had found him; a little kid in need of a loving family.
Did I really give him that? I mean, I sure wasn't around all the time… and I was spending less and less time at home as I got older.
Tails mumbled something in his sleep and cuddled closer. I smiled and ruffled the top of his head. The sun had gone down and it was late. "Alright, bedtime for you." I scooped him up, tossed the present in his arms and sped towards home.
It was actually rather funny when Tails didn't wake up until I was tucking him into his bed. "Sonic? How did-?"
"You fell asleep. And you should go back to sleep." I ruffled his hair and grinned. "Good night."
"Wait!" Tails pushed the blankets off and reached under his bed. He pulled out a small box, wrapped in paper, and then handed it to me, "This is your gift."
I smiled and gently shook the box, "Wonder what it could be…" I pulled the paper away and opened the package to find my communicator (nice and shiny and new looking).
Tails stifled a yawn and fought his heavy eyelids. "I thought you could use an upgrade…"
I gently hugged him and ruffled his hair, "Thanks, bro."
"No-*yawn*-problem. ...Can we go to bed now?"
"Definitely," I tucked Tails in again and turned to the doors.
"Sonic?"
I paused, "Yeah?"
"Why did you drag us all the way out there? We could have just had the party here."
For a moment, I didn't speak. I walked over and sat down on the bedside and thought for a moment, "Well… right after we became brothers, I promised you something. Do you remember what it was?"
"Um…" he scrunched up his face in confusion, then cleared, "You promised you'd never hurt me."
"Yep," I nodded slowly, "And I'm not going to break that promise now, or ever."
Tails smiled and pulled the covers up. "You didn't need to do that. I get that you're busy."
"Never too busy for my little bro," I stood up and headed to the door, " 'Night, Miles."
"Goodnight… Maurice."
Despite myself, I winced slightly. I really hated when he called me that. Lucky for me, Tails was too busy snoring to notice.
"Love ya too, bro."
Awwwnn… I love brother fluff.
Thank you, for melting my heart. Transplants are expensive, you know.
As mentioned earlier, this chapter references 'Miles from Home' quite a bit. We have Frank mentioned, the cave, and a helicopter. Fun!
Next time… OH CHAOS I CAN'T WAIT.
Review please!