See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer
Chapter 11: Family and Friends Return (One Year Later)
Sonic and his friends were all gathered at the backyard of his and Amy's house for Speedy and Turbo's first birthday, the twins themselves were playing with Finn and Ruby-Emerald, who were also a year old now as well. As for Maria, she was three years old, but was having fun playing with the other little kids; though like the others, she was having trouble keeping up with the super fast twins while they played a game of Tag.
Sonic, who stood by Knuckles, laughed as he watched the children playing. "Well, the twins are a year old now and they're already giving everyone else a run for their money...no pun intended", he said. Knuckles let out a chuckle, "They sure take after you, Sonic. They've got your free spirit, how do you keep up?", he asked. "I'm the fastest thing alive, remember Knuckles? If I couldn't keep up with my own kids, then it'd put my rep to shame. Speaking of kids, how goes you and your daughter?", said Sonic.
Knuckles laughed nervously, "Well...Rouge and I had a bit of an incident a month ago involving Ruby and the Chaos Emeralds", he said. "What do you mean?", asked Sonic.
"Well..."
~Flashback: A month ago...~
It was a sunny morning on Angel Island, Rouge had the day off from work so she was able to be home with her husband and daughter, the latter of whom was playing in the grass. Just then, Ruby spotted a Flicky nest and watched as a mother Flicky carried a worm in her beak to her waiting hungry hatchlings.
This made Ruby curious, so she waddled-walked back to where her parents were sitting in front of the Master Emerald. "Mama, Papa. Can I ask question?", she said in her broken baby English. Knuckles smiled down at her, "Sure sweetie, you can ask Mommy and Daddy anything. What's up?", he said. Ruby twiddled her spiked-gloved hands, "Mama, Papa...where babies come from?", she asked.
Upon hearing her question, Knuckles and Rouge felt the blood drain from both their faces; Ruby was almost a year old, they didn't think she'd ask them this question now, they figured she'd ask them this when she was at least eight years old. Now they were both thinking of how they can explain the concept of reproduction to a one year old.
Knuckles was sweating nervously while Rouge was trying to find her words, "Um...well, sweetie, you see...babies come from...um...Chaos Emeralds! Yeah, when Mommy and Daddy met, we fell in love and wanted to be a family so we gathered the 7 Chaos Emeralds and made a wish, and that's where you came", she said. Ruby nodded before walking away, "Really Rouge? That's the best you could come up with?", asked Knuckles. "Well, Mr. Smartass, what would you have said?", asked Rouge.
"Well, I would've said that babies come from...eggs. I mean, I am an echidna and they reproduce by laying eggs so it's not too far fetched. It would've been better than telling her the Chaos Emeralds granted our wish for a baby, I mean seriously? Since when do they granted wishes?", said Knuckles.
Just then, the two of them heard loud frustrated grunts; they raced over to see that Ruby gathered the 7 Chaos Emeralds into a pile and was angrily hitting them with a stick. "I want bwother! Gimme bwother!", she shouted as her face turned red and she dropped to the ground crying. Rouge gently picked up and cradled her, "Ruby, baby, what are you doing?", she asked. Ruby looked up with tear filled eyes, "I want big bwother but emralds no grant wish!", she sobbed.
Before Knuckles could say anything, a bright light glowed behind the trio and they turned to see Chaos standing behind them with an annoyed expression on his watery face. "Oh crud, um...Chaos, I know you're probably a bit peeved that the Emeralds were being...beaten with a stick, but it's not what you think. You see, our daughter, she—"
"Big Bwother!", Ruby shouted excitedly as she waddled over and hugged the Watery God by the waist, surprising him. Chaos looked at Rouge and Knuckles in confusion as the tiny hybrid child nuzzled her face lovingly into the side of his cool gelatinous body. "Uh...we can explain...", said Rouge.
~End of Flashback~
"And then we ended having to explain to Chaos and Tikal, who appeared soon after, that we were trying to answer Ruby's question about where babies come from and Rouge gave her false information. Long story short, we told Ruby that it was a grown-up matter and that we'd tell her when she's older", said Knuckles. Sonic laughed after hearing his story, "Even I could've told you that you should've just told her she wasn't old enough to hear about it", he said.
Knuckles facepalmed as Sonic continued to laugh, that is until Tails walked over. "Hey Sonic, your family is finally here", he said. Sonic walked over to the door to let them in but was greeted by a pair of arms that pulled him face first into a pair of breasts. "My baby boy, it's so good to see you again! You have no idea how scared and worried I've been about you, oh my sweet baby I'm so happy you're alright!", shouted Bernadette the Hedgehog, Sonic's mother.
"I'm happy to see you too, Mom. But can you please let me go? You're suffocating me!", Sonic muttered as his face was smushed between his mother's bosoms. "Yes Bernie, let the poor boy go. He's running out of oxygen", said a robotic voice behind them. Bernadette finally released Sonic's head as he took in a big puff of air, and looked behind his mother to see his father, Jules the Hedgehog. "Hey there, Son. How have you been?", he asked. "Hey, Dad. I've been doing great, thanks for asking", said Sonic.
Suddenly Sonic was grabbed by two pairs of arms and pulled into a small group hug. "Bro! It's great to see you again, how ya been?!", shouted a pair of excited sounding voices. Despite his body feeling like it was being crushed, he was still happy to see his older sister Sonia and his younger brother Manic. "I'm alright guys, so can you let me go now?", said Sonic.
His siblings released him and apologized for smothering him as tightly as their mother had just did. "It's great to see you guys, but where's Uncle Chuck?", said Sonic. "Uncle Chuck was busy and couldn't make it, but he told us to tell you he wishes the twins a happy birthday. Speaking of which, where are the little tikes? I wanna meet 'em", said Sonia.
Sonic led his family into the backyard where his friends greeted them, "Hey kids, come over here. Daddy has a few people he wants you to meet", Sonic called out. Speedy and Turbo detangled themselves from the dog-pile they and the other kids were in before running over to their father. Sonic crouched down to their level, "Kids, I'd like you to meet your Uncle Manic, Aunt Sonia, Grandpa Jules and Grandma Bernadette", he said.
Sonia smiled as she reached down and picked up Speedy, "Look at you! You're such a cutie", she said making the little hedgehog girl giggle. Turbo walked over to Jules and pointed up at him, "Grandpa got armor! Is Grandpa a superhero?", said the little hedgehog boy. This saddened Jules because he knew the real reason for his metallic body was that he was robotized a long time ago, and he could never get his normal body back because his robotic form was the only thing keeping him alive.
So it pained him to hear his grandson innocently believe that he was just wearing a suit of robotic armor that he used to fight bad guys, but he also knew that the boy was too young to understand the truth, so instead he decided to indulge in his grandson and picked him up off the ground. "That's right, kiddo. Grandpa is a superhero, and this metal suit helps me fight the bad guys while protecting me from their attacks", said Jules.
Turbo laughed as his grandfather proceeded to give him a ride on his metallic shoulders while Speedy sat with her auntie and grandmother, letting both women brush her hair and quills. "By the way, little brother, I heard you were in a band. How's that working out for you?", Sonic asked Manic. It was true: about four months after the war ended, Manic started a band called "The Mischievous Six" which included him and five other hedgehogs.
"It's been going great! Our newest album just went platinum and, that's actually why I showed up. I wanted to meet the twins just before the band and I went on our new world tour, and...I was also hoping you, Sonia and I could play a song for the kids...you know, just like we used to when we were kids. I still have our old instruments from back then, and I been keeping as clean as new since then", said Manic. Sonic smiled as he threw his arm over his brother's shoulders, "Of course we play a song like old times, bro. I actually miss those days, things were a lot simpler back then", he said.
Manic smiled as he walked over to the snack table and helped himself to some cheese puffs. "Sonic! Can you come and help me with this?", Amy called out as she was trying to tie a chili dog shaped piñata to a branch of the tree in the yard. Sonic walked over and lifted his wife onto his shoulders, giving her a boost so she could reach the high branch.
Just then, they both heard the doorbell ring. "Hey Tails, can you get that for me? Kinda helping Ames put up a piñata here", Sonic called out. Tails walked back into the house to open the front door and when he did, he was greeted by someone who brought a wide smile to his face. Back outside, Sonic placed Amy down as they had finished hanging up the piñata; little Finn grabbed the twins' baseball bat and tried to hit the piñata but was quickly stopped by Infinite.
"Finn, no! That's not yours and it's not time for that yet, I'm sorry about that Sonic. He loves candy and after Nyx told him to stop making endless piles of candy with his powers so he doesn't get cavities, he's been itching for an excuse such as the twins' birthday party to have some candy", said Infinite. Sonic chuckled, "It's all good, Infinite. No harm done, but still, please make sure he doesn't open it before later. Ames and I wanna save that for towards the end of the party, that way the kids can tire themselves out after having some sugar", he said.
"Hey Sonic! Guess who's here to see you!", called out Tails. Sonic turned around to see a familiar light purple female cat standing on the patio deck. Both Sonic and Silver smiled as widely as their facial muscles would allow, "Blaze!", they both shouted happily as Silver raced over and gave his old friend a loving hug. Blaze giggled as she hugged him back, "I am happy to see you too, my oldest and dearest friend. I have to say you've grown much...taller since I last saw you and...is that a ring on your finger? Are you married? My, we really need to catch up", she said.
Sonic walked over and gave Blaze a quick hug, "It's great to see you again, Blaze. Where you been? How's life been treating ya? And what made you decide to come here?", asked Sonic. "Well to answer your questions in the order in which you asked: I've been back home in my kingdom in the Sol Dimension, I've been doing quite well and I haven't seen or heard from you in so long that I decided to come and visit, so I used the Sol Emeralds to teleport myself here", she said.
She then looked around and saw the twins playing, which took her by surprise. "Sonic, are those...", she trailed off. Sonic looked back and smiled, "Oh yeah, those are mine and Amy's kids: Speedy and Turbo", he said. Blaze watched as they played with the other children. My word I really need to catch up, she thought.
Later on, Blaze found herself sitting on the patio deck talking to Silver; he explained to her all that happened during the last three years. He told her about Infinite and the war against Eggman, Sonic being defeated and held captive for six months, the Resistance, Infinite's reformation and marriage to Nyx, him marrying Shadow and adopting Maria, and everyone else getting married and starting families of their own.
Upon hearing the part about the war and Sonic being tortured for six months, Blaze adopted a saddened expression. "Sonic was...tortured...and you all were struggling to fight back. I'm so sorry, Silver! If I had known what was happening, I would've led my royal army to this dimension to help even the odds. And Sonic...I can't believe he went through all that, I mean...he seems so happy but I know deep down he must be traumatized by it all. Again, I'm so sorry", said Blaze.
Silver placed his hand upon Blaze's shoulder in a comforting gesture, "Blaze, it's okay. You don't have to apologize, you didn't know what was going on and I'm sure you had important things to do back home. The war was rough and many lives were lost but we still pulled through, Eggman should've known better than to think we couldn't stand up to him. Speaking of which, what have you been doing all this time?", said Silver.
Blaze, rather than speak, reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper and gave it to Silver; he unfolded it to see that it's was a picture of Blaze wearing a dark purple dress and was standing next to a light green male cat with black spots wearing a blue suit and a golden crown on his head. "Who's this, Blaze?", asked Silver.
"That is Prince Cyrus of the Leopard Kingdom, which is south of my home kingdom. His kingdom was caught in the middle of a terrible famine and his people were starving. He reached out to me for help and I was willing to share my kingdom's resources to help save his people. After helping him, he and I became friends and as the years past...we grew closer and now...", Blaze trailed off as she showed Silver the golden ring on her left hand. Silver looked at it and smiled, "Blaze, I'm so happy for you. It's great to see you again, old friend, and again, you don't have to apologize to anyone. I know you would've helped us if you had the chance, but like you just said, you had important matters of your own", he said.
Blaze smiled as she hugged her best friend, "Hey you two, I hate to interrupt the reunion but we need the patio deck for our show for the kids", said Sonic as he, Sonia and Manic stood behind them holding their old instruments. Blaze and Silver stood and moved aside as the three hedgehog siblings proceeded to set up for their little show. As he lifted up his old guitar, Sonic spoke into the microphone, "Heys kids, gather around. We're gonna play a little tune for you", he said. As they kids gathered close to the patio deck, Sonic turned to Manic and Sonia. "So...are we gonna sing anyway?", he asked. "I was thinking of an oldie but a goodie, you guys know what I mean", said Manic.
Sonic smiled, he knew exactly what his brother meant.
Sonic: "There's something missing
Something's not quite right
And I can fell it calling
To me every night
A little voice inside
Tells me someone is out there
And I must never give up
Searching everywhere!
All: (Someday) We are gonna be together
(Someday) Life will be so much better
(Someday) We will build a bond no one can break
(Someday) No more dark clouds above
(Someday) United in the light of love
(Someday) The story can only end one way
We'll be together someday
(Someday) We are gonna be together
(Someday) Life will be so much better
(Someday) We will build a bond no one can break
(Someday) No more dark clouds above
(Someday) United in the light of love
(Someday) The story can only end one way
We'll be together someday
Someday!
We'll be together someday!"
The kids all clapped and cheered after their performance was over; then Amy came outside holding the twins' birthday cake, which was a strawberry shortcake with pink and blue frosting and two miniatures of Speedy and Turbo make out of white chocolate, and a single candle shaped like a number one. "Okay kids, time for the cake", she called out. The twins sat at the table as Amy set the cake down and everyone gathered together to sing the birthday song.
"Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday Speedy and Turbo,
Happy Birthday to you!"
The twins blew out the candle as everyone cheered, then everyone part took in a slice of the delicious cake; the kids even got to break open the piñata and gorge themselves on candy. Towards the end of the night, the kids had played so hard that they eventually crashed down from their sugar highs; Sonic's friends and family helped him and Amy clean up the back yard before they all went home, leaving their gifts for the twins in the living room, figuring the twins could open them in the morning.
Sonic and Amy said goodbye before they carried their sleeping children upstairs to their room, tucking them into each of their little race car beds. "The poor things are completely exhausted and out cold", Sonic said with a laugh. Amy gave him a sultry look as she quietly pulled him out of the twins' bedroom, "Yeah...which means they won't be able to hear what we do", she said as she gave Sonic a kiss on the lips and pulled him into their bedroom. Yup, today was a pretty good day. A pretty good day indeed.
Author's Note: That ends it for Chapter 11. I don't have much to say, so I'm just going to say tune in for Chapter 12 when another familiar face returns to greet our heroes, only this is one face that they won't be happy to see. Until then, this is SuperKirbyLand234 signing out!