Um… I am just going to remind people that this is a story that does character development. So no character is perfect and sometimes they act like idiots. Have patience in those characters. They will get fixed… eventually. Sorry, random comment right there.

Reviews!

StarlightSparks: I do love watching the family and friend interactions. And writing them is fun too. Your hype levels should grow a little more with this chapter (let's just hope there is room for them to grow).

NeckBreak: Amy is one of my favorite characters… when SEGA does her right. Which is not often, unfortunately. Personally, I prefer her representation during the Flynn-era Archie comics.

Quantum27: *evil laughter from Era and Halo* The joys of being a writer. You get to torment people. And you don't even get arrested, mostly!

ultimateCCC: LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL. Don't throw the precious Chao. Cream will kill you.

SharpDragonKlaw: Hi! You will just have to wait and see (yeah, that is probably going to happen eventually).

Zosonils: I love your reviews. They make me happy and smile. And laugh. It is wonderful. I am so happy you love our story that much (although I have no idea what Headplate is… sorry). Halo! Our goal for the rest of the story: get Zosonils to cry! Either with joy or angst, I don't care which.

Megaman07: Yeah, that would be a good idea. TAILS! COME HERE!

Faso: I also love your reviews. Thanks! Rin is amazing in her own crazy way. Character inspirations come from everywhere. Books, tv shows, movies, comics, video games, whatever. For me, it is a combination of a lot of things (in fact, some of Sonia is based off of me and some of Manic is based off of Halo). I am not a huge audio person so I don't hear anyone talking. It is up to you. Who do you hear? We can do our best, but I can't promise anything. Thanks for the offer, but I'm good. Halo got excited though.

Autumn: Tails needs a hug.

MelGamingPlays: LOL. Halo! We need to update!

Hawkfeather: I don't think Shadow would hug Sonic… but Tails does need a hug. *tilts head* Um…

sonicforlife: Halo! Go get the riot shields! (just in case…)

XXX

Sonia's POV:

Everything about this search frustrated me. If I had known Sonic was Maurice sooner, than me and Manic wouldn't have had to bother with that stupid wild goose chase- not to mention I would have had a much larger search party much quicker; Knuckles, Tails, Amy, Rouge, Shadow, Manic, plus the entirety of GUN's resources and any number of criminals that owe Manic or Rouge a favor. If you want to add the media's rumors (which are usually wrong in the long run, but at least hold small gems of truth), that's at least a thousand people, plus the internet and a government database or two. All in all, an intricate system of information that would no doubt lead us to Maurice within a matter of weeks, at the most.

Of course the system had flaws. For example: this.

"So let me get this straight," I pinched my nose, "You check this specific chilidog stand, every day." Knuckles nodded slowly, his eyebrow raised in question.

"Just this stand." Another nod.

"Has it ever occurred to you," I began slowly, ignoring Manic's muffled laughter, "that just because this particular stand is Mauri- Sonic's favorite, that does not mean it is the only one in the city he'll visit?"

Behind Knuckles, Amy rolled her eyes to high heaven as Tails facepalmed. Knuckles didn't speak for a moment before giving a small, nervous chuckle, "I... suppose..."

I looked to my right, exasperated, "Can you believe them?"

Shadow shrugged in response. I suddenly understood why he had gone off on his own to search for Sonic- These people were idiots. Tails brought out his datapad and pulled up something. "According to the media, he hasn't been spotted in Station Square since he vanished."

"So…" I made a motion towards the border of the city, "Why don't we look out there?"

"I did. He isn't around." Tails voice was void of emotion, his eyes narrowed slightly at me. For a no apparent reason, I had the feeling that this kid really, really hated me. If he ever had to talk to me, it was in short and choppy sentences and with an irritated expression. ...Come to think of it, he seemed to act the same way towards Manic. And if he knew why Tails was acting this way, he didn't bother to tell me.

"Okay…" I said. "Have you looked in other cities? If he can really travel at the speed of sound, then what makes you think he would stick around Station Square?"

Amy shifted uncomfortably, "We have. He isn't in the Mystic Ruins, Westopolis, Soleana, Green Hill, and literally every other city we can think of."

Manic facepalmed and let out a loud groan, drawing everyone's attention.

"What?" Knuckles demanded, clearly annoyed

"Okay, so I ain't trying to be judgy or anything, but you all seem to be forgetting one very important thing," Manic rolled his eyes to heaven. "All yous are looking for Sonic when you oughta be looking for Maurice."

Amy frowned. "Um… last I checked, they're the same person."

"No they ain't," Manic shook his head slowly, crossing his arms. "Look, I've been around the block once or twice, an' I've got a pretty good idea of what's going through his head. I, uh… you all know that I ran away from home as a kid- Sonia, quit glaring at me- and yeah, I know Sonic didn't run away on purpose or anything, he was like, driven from home... but that ain't the point. I ran away from home and became someone different to survive. I think you know him as 'Matthews'," he held out one hand, palm up, "and then there's 'Manic'." He held up his other hand. "Yeah, they're pretty similar people, with similar personalities, but they are not the same." Manic shrugged, "Case in point, Matthews is a gangster and con artist who doesn't really care about anyone but himself. He's kind of a schmuck. On the other hand, Manic actually has a conscience. Like, he still steals, but only when he really needs it. And if someone tried to mess with my sister, I'd kill 'em with my bare hands."

He said it in such a normal way, he may as well have been talking about the weather.

"So… yeah," he said, leaning back. "I think that's how it's been going on with Sonic. He's still the same guy, there's just two different sides to him. Sonic and Maurice."

Amy scratched her head, "I don't think that is how this works-"

"Oh, please," Manic rolled his eyes again, "Haven't you ever had a moment in the day where something happens and for no apparent reason, Sonic's personality does a one-eighty? Especially if it has to do with that Robotnik idiot?"

No one moved for a moment before Knuckles raised a hand.

"Yes? You in the front? Do you have something to say to the class?" said Manic in a mock-friendly voice. Knuckles' nostrils flared and his fists tightened. Manic changed the subject very quickly, "Anyway, that's Maurice. The guy who looks like Sonic, but sure as heck doesn't act like him."

Amy still looked a little skeptical, "So you're telling me that Sonic has been pretending to be someone completely different for more than ten years? I… I'm sorry, but that is completely ridiculous! There is no way that he could've kept up that act for this lo-"

"Amy," interrupted someone; To my surprise, it was Tails who stepped forward, "They're… They're right. He wasn't pretending. I know- I knew him. You… you only see one part of him for most of the time." He turned back to Manic, his expression totally blank. "I checked everywhere I could think of, including places I know for a fact that he would never have wanted to go back to. Where we first met, where he first saved my life, the cave where we lived for about a month... He just… vanished." His expression became hard, "So, mister 'smarter than thou', if you think you know so much, then tell me: where is he?"

For once, Manic had nothing to say. He looked to me and gulped hard.

"Well…" he started slowly. "There's one place he might go."

XXX

Two days later, we were back in the Valley of Despair (aka, our old home). Apparently, the twelve year old can fly a biplane while everyone else balances on the wings and tail. Of course, there were far too many of us to all ride on it so we had to split up. Shadow and I rode our motorcycles (although why he needed one was beyond me), while Manic and Rouge took to the sky. Amy and Knuckles rode with Tails.

"You guys lived all the way out here?" Tails voice buzzed in my communicator, making me wince slightly. I wasn't used to these devices and they kinda bothered me, but no one seemed to notice or care.

Manic's voice came over a little choppy on the static, "Yeah, my family is mostly made of hermits."

"I think it's beautiful." Knuckles' voice made me perk up slightly.

"Guys, focus. We're here to look for Sonic, not at the scenery." Amy reminded everyone.

I pulled my bike to a stop at the peak of the valley, overlooking the trees and the lake. Hesitantly, I reached up and pressed the speaker, "Manic and I were here right before you say Sonic vanished."

Another bike braked beside me. I looked over at Shadow, who spoke next. I winced as his voice came from the com and beside me. My ears...

"I did not see him when I was investigating the area."

Tails groaned loudly, "Well then, I guess we'll need to split up."

"Miles, drop Amy and Knuckles off on the South side of the Valley." Again, I flinched at the sensation of the com buzzing in my ear and the same voice coming from my right. I reached up and yanked the unit out of my ear as Shadow continued. "Then head to the West side and begin your own search. Rouge and Manic, to the East. Sonia and I will take the North. Everyone head towards the lake. If you find Sonic, send coordinates immediately."

He paused, probably receiving confirmation, before speaking again, "Just do it, Rouge-You are a professional-No, you cannot switch partners with Amy-Rouge, quit complaining or I will be your partner." He signed off in a huff.

"The road splits in about a mile," I said, pointing to a long, winding trail. "One leads further south the other leads to the lake. Maurice never liked water, so I would assume-"

"He would head south." Shadow interrupted.

"So heading towards the lake is rather counterproductive."

"Perhaps, but I would prefer to scour the valley before heading further south. Sonic would have no reason to be there."

"Except that no one would notice or care about him there. If he really wanted to be left alone, that would've been his best option," I pointed out carefully.

Shadow nodded slowly, "That is also true, but," he frowned, "The Chaos energy is higher in this valley for a reason that I cannot identify."

"Really?" I tried to focus my mind, but felt nothing strange. Then again, I had never tried to do that before so maybe I was doing it incorrectly. Or I couldn't do it at all. "How can you tell?"

Shadow gave me a look that I decided was meant to be, 'Don't question me,' but I decided to clarify. "I mean, how does it feel? Can you like, see it or is it just a sixth sense?"

Shadow's glare softened… maybe. I really couldn't tell. "I am the Ultimate Lifeform. I know."

Okay, that did not clear up anything, but I suppose I would have to live with it. "So, the Valley it is?"

A nod was my only response before the hedgehog started up his bike again, speeding down the road. I rolled my eyes, mumbling under my breath, "Don't worry, I'll be right behind you," I gunned the engine and raced after him.

XXX

An hour later we dismounted at the lake. Neither of could find any sign of Sonic. Shadow was now trying to 'scan' the valley for any large concentrations of Chaos Energy. Apparently, my brother was full of it.

Of course, it did not help the situation that the biplane in the area actually ran on Chaos Energy, and that there was a cave nearby that had housed this energy, plus five people in our search party possessed some of this energy as well. So I remained quiet as Shadow stood, eyes closed, with a frown. I suspected almost 30 minutes passed before he opened his eyes again.

"Something is interfering."

I resisted the urge to glare at him. "You said that would happen."

"This is different."

I motioned for him to elaborate on what he meant, but he seemed as confused as I was.

"It is... difficult to describe. It is like a wall is blocking me from his location. However, I know he is close."

"Lovely..." I grumbled. "Why can't Chaos Energy work for us for once?"

Shadow didn't answer, instead turning towards the trees and calling for an update through the communications. I decided to keep my earpiece out and waited for Shadow himself to give me the news.

"Rouge and your brother are half done with their sweep. Amy and Knuckles are almost here. Miles is not responding."

I raised an eyebrow at the last one, "Um… Why not?"

"He may be busy. Or angry."

"Why would he be angry?"

Shadow looked at me. "Why would he not be?"

I had the feeling I was missing something. Something very big and something that was right in front of my face. But for the life of me, I couldn't figure it out. "You tell me."

He sighed. "How much do you know about Maurice's… other life?"

I shrugged, "He's apparently a hero to the world and a cocky, egotistical attention hog, according to the tabloids."

"I meant, about his relationships?" Shadow motioned towards the distant blobs in the sky that had to be Manic and Rouge.

"Um…" I frowned and thought for a moment, "I think Amy likes my brother, he and Knuckles seems to be on good terms… um… I really can't tell with you and Rouge... and Tails is his best friend?" I really had no idea.

Shadow nodded slowly, "That was mostly correct. Miles Prower is Sonic's best friend, but he is also his adopted brother."

I felt my blood freeze and my mouth dropped open. Sonic adopted a kid? But he wasn't any older than I was! Was that even legal? But as I thought more about it, the more sense it made. It would explain why Tails seemed to hate me and Manic for no apparent reason. Did he even know we existed before now? Based on his reaction to the news, it was probably safe to assume that he did not. Oh Chaos, this was…

Actually, what was it?

I frowned slightly trying to place my feelings. I was surprised and shocked. That was easy enough. But the rest of my emotions were in turmoil. I wasn't happy about the situation, but I wasn't angry about it either. It was somewhere in the middle of the two, if that was even possible. Of course, it wasn't like I could say no to something like Maurice adopting someone as a brother, as it already happened. But I didn't think I would want him to say no either. But at the same time, it was weird to think that Maurice had a whole other family that I didn't even know about. It almost felt like I had been… replaced.

Shadow turned back to his bike, pulling something out of the side bag. It was small and red and appeared to be glowing slightly. When he turned around, all thoughts of family drama were pushed out of the front of my mind.

"What is that?" I questioned quickly.

Shadow raised an eyebrow, "A Chaos emerald."

"Where did you get it?"

"Knuckles."

"Where did he get it?"

"Angel Island."

Okay, so I was officially confused. "I found one."

That seemed to catch Shadow's undivided attention. "Where?"

I pointed to the waterfall, "Over there. In the cave behind the waterfall."

Shadow turned to me, his voice hard and serious. "Where is this emerald now?"

I shrugged, "Beats me. Manic hid it somewhere because it was creeping him out or something." I had been unable to convince Manic to give be back the black emerald. Nothing would sway him, to my annoyance. I tilted my head slightly sideways, thinking about how it came into our possession, "It was black-"

"Come again?"

"It was black. The emerald was black." I repeated. Shadow stared at me, his expression unreadable. However, I thought his eyes looked surprised, if not slightly horrified. He cursed, activating his comlink.

"Manic, where is the emerald you found with your sister?" A beat. "Rouge, get the information out of him or I will." He signed off, spun around and began to walk towards the cave. I hesitated before running to catch up.

"What's so important about the emerald we found?" I asked, slightly out of breath. Shadow didn't answer.

"Oh, so you're just gonna ignore me now?" Still no answer.

I glared. "I saw you in a vision of mine. Twice."

At least he looked at me this time. I continued, "We were talking in one of them. The other one was you in a hospital bed."

"I have been to the hospital before." He continued walking.

"Okay, but have you ever been on life support before?"

Shadow stopped in his tracks. He turned around and stared at me again. Staring into people's souls must be his only way of showing emotion, because his eyes were filled with surprise. "...No."

I frowned, "So it wasn't in the past or present, which means-" I cut myself off.

He let out a soft sigh, "The future is moving constantly. Keep an open mind on the outcomes of your own actions."

"But my visions have never been wrong… so far."

"First time for everything."

Before I could respond, Shadow tensed up slightly. He held up a hand to stop me from speaking, his head slightly tilted; he was focusing on what was coming from his communicator, and whatever was being said was obviously important. He nodded slightly to himself, then pressed the button to speak. "Everyone converge on Miles's position, and be careful- We have no idea what kind of condition he is in."

XXX

Manic's POV:

Usually, I'd be pretty dang thrilled to be partnered up with Rouge for a thing like this. But let's just say that things have been a little awkward between us since I gave her the locket.

I knew she liked it. I caught her off guard that day, and for a short while, her normally indestructible mental walls had gone down. I knew for a fact now that I was off the hook for standing her up. On the downside, I also knew that she was definitely not in the mood for dating me anytime soon, and was getting pretty sick of me acting like a creep. So I decided to back off.

As much as I hated to admit it… Sonia was right. I'd been obsessed. No wonder she'd been avoiding me- I'd have avoided me. Anyone with an ounce of common sense would've done the same.

Okay, Matthews, enough with the self pity.

"As our hero, the world-renowned studmuffin Manic the Hedgehog soared through the air on his slightly malfunctioning Extreme Gear board, he expertly scanned over the landscape of his first home, searching in desperation for his long-lost brother. The months of frenzied exploration were at last coming to a close, and-"

"Who are you talking to?" said Rouge as she flew up next to me, interrupting my inner narration. I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks; I hadn't realized that I'd been monologuing out loud.

"Oh, um… That's, uh… that's just my narration," I rambled.

She looked confused. "Your what now?"

"Narration. Me telling the story of my life to myself. It's fun, you should try it sometime."

Rouge raised an eyebrow, looking skeptical. "I'll let you keep your weird habits to yourself, thanks." She smirked and flapped her wings, shooting ahead of me.

I frowned; that was mean. Usually when Rouge said stuff like that to me, it was because I started it. Gritting my teeth, I pushed forward on my board and caught up to her. She cast a cursory glance in my direction and rolled her eyes, but otherwise didn't react. Typical.

"Hey," I said firmly. "What's your problem?"

Rouge looked at me like I was something she had scraped off the bottom of her shoe. "Like you don't know."

"Enlighten me."

She rolled her eyes again. "You. You're my problem. It's like you can't even open your mouth without reminding me how annoying you are."

Okay, again with the unsolicited saltiness. This was getting old. "Look, I'm trying to be nice, but if you really can't handle being around me, feel free to go team up with Tails. Pretty sure that he's partnerless, and I'm positive that you'd watch your mouth around him, at least."

Rouge looked slightly taken aback by this, but quickly bounced back. "I would if I could, Matthews, but at the moment, he's kind of in a mood and I'd rather not get on his bad side."

"Oh, come on, Rouge, he's twelve. He's not even old enough for his voice to change yet. How bad could he be?"

"Are you kidding?" she asked incredulously. "The only reason that GUN hasn't recruited that kid as head of the engineering department is because he's underage. The stuff he invents can outmatch Robotnik's tech. I'm not stupid enough to take any chances with him, especially considering the state he's been in since his brother took off."

That part confused me. "What brother?"

Rouge facepalmed, groaning loudly. "Just how thick are you, Matthews?"

"Scuse me if I don't know everything about everyone, Princess Super Spy! Since when does Tails have a brother?"

"Who do you think we're looking for?"

"My brother!"

"Yes. Who also happens to be Tails's brother."

Wait, back up a second. "Rouge, no offense, but I think I'd know if I had a sibling who was an entirely different species. Besides, both of my parents were hedgehogs."

"Adopted! He's adopted, you idiot!" she burst out, clearly at her wits end.

"Oh," I said, feeling pretty stupid for a moment. Then it hit me. "Wait, what? Sonic ain't any older than I am! There's no way he could've adopted him, that's illegal! And how do you adopt someone as your brother anyway?"

"It's complicated. All I know is that GUN pulled some legal strings to keep those two on their side, and it worked."

Of course GUN has some twisted way to keep people working for them. Wouldn't expect anything less from the feds. "So, wait…" I started, still thinking hard on this. "If Tails is Sonic's brother, and Sonic is my brother… wouldn't that mean me and Tails are bros now?"

Rouge sighed. "Sure, Matthews. Whatever you say."

I grimaced; I hardly knew that kid, and it was pretty dang clear that he hated my guts. Dunno what his problem was. Whatever. Point was, he sure as heck wasn't my brother, no matter what the legal papers say about him and Maurice.

See, in my book, being family is something you gotta earn. Sonia practically moved mountains to find me, even after I ran away and left her alone for all those years. Even after she found out about all the seriously illegal stuff I'd been doing, she still forgave me. That was family.

And as far as I was concerned, Sonia was all the family I had left.

Uncle Chuck was nothing to me. I could care less that we were related, that geezer was nothing but a bitter old scumbucket who didn't care about me or Sonia, only if we were in a good hiding spot from that Robotnik guy. Dead to me, that's what he was. And Maurice? It had been more than eleven years since I last saw him. People change. I didn't know anything about him and I wasn't ready to commit to anything at the moment, and that included whether or not I considered him family yet. Tails was just a kid who my long-lost brother apparently got along with really well with Sonic. At this point, he meant pretty much nothing to me. Not hating- just stating.

Not to say that I didn't like him; if he didn't obviously hate me, I think we'd get along. Besides, I wanted to know how he coded some of those machines. And I think Sonia mentioned him being into Space Truck, so he's automatically cool. Plus, the kid can fly a biplane. That's just awesome.

"Well, I don't know about you" began Rouge, her tone cold. "But I feel like getting some actual progress done. I vote we split up to cover more ground."

"I can live with that," I said, trying to act as casual as possible.

"Good. You take the west and north, and I'll-" A beep from both mine and Rouge's communicator cut her off mid-sentence.

"Manic," said Shadow over the comlink. "Where is the emerald you found with your sister?"

Busted.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I said casually, deciding to play it cool for now.

"Rouge, get the information out of him or I will."

Crap.

"...Will do, Stripey," Rouge replied. She switched off her communicator and turned to me, a sly, greedy gleam in her eye.

"So," she hissed, sidling up closer to me. Okay, I was officially freaked.

"So… what?" I asked.

"When were you planning on telling me about the gem?"

"Eh… about six months from never."

"Well, you're gonna have to speed things up a bit, won't you, Maniac?" she whispered, barely audible and still creeping in closer. Oh geez. I was in trouble.

"I don't have it on me, Rouge." I said firmly, beginning to descend from the air. If she tried to push me off my Extreme Gear to get an answer out of me, I was pretty much dead. Heck, not even pretty much dead- I was all the way dead. We were like fifty feet off ground, and those trees didn't look like a very comfortable place to land.

"I'll buy that," she replied, that shrewd, devious tone never faltering. I declined my board down steadily faster, dodging trees left and right. Somewhere in there, my comlink fell out, but I was too terrified to care. "But you'll tell me where you're keeping it… won't you?"

I hit the ground with a thud and slipped off my board, landing on my back. I barely had time to get up before Rouge had swooped down next to me. I was seriously afraid now. I've seen my share of nature documentaries, and there was no mistaking the look in Rouge's eye; this was a predator going after her prey.

"The way I see it…" said Rouge slowly, obviously savoring every moment. "Is that you are trying to keep me away from something that would otherwise be mine for the keeping. And you know better than that, now, don't you?"

"It's dangerous," I argued back. "That thing's magic or something, it creeps me out."

"Magic, huh? So it's valuable," she said, her hungry grin creeping higher on her face.

"Rouge," I said, digging my nails into the tree trunk to keep myself from falling over; my injured hand stung painfully, but I ignored it. "You're seriously weirding me out right now."

"I'll stop if you tell me where the gem is."

"Fat chance."

"Have it your way, then," she said, cracking her knuckles. I readied myself to make a run for it when suddenly, Rouge's communicator beeped.

She groaned loudly, clearly annoyed, but still answered the message. "I'm kinda in the middle of something, Shado- you're serious? Where?... Right. We'll be there soon." As she signed off, I noticed how drastically the look on her face had changed.

"...What happened?" I asked tentatively. Rouge took a deep breath, and for the first time today, her expression was totally neutral. Serious, even.

"Tails found Sonic."

XXX

AND NOW… THE MOMENT YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR…

*fades to black* (Now I feel like the Star Wars Theme should start playing).