YEAH. I KNOW. THREE MONTHS.

I'm just gonna answer the reviews and then let y'all get reading.

sonic vs evil: *deep breath* Okay… I don't really have anything to say. Well, I do. Listen up, buddy, Tails has done next to nothing to Sonic that warrants him apologizing. He and Sonic (not Dark) haven't even spoken for over a year. I have no frikkin clue what you're talking about, him being "not a good friend". Like...? What? Yeah, I'm a little confused about that. Please explain your reasoning, 'cause we don't understand.

Megaman07: Don't worry. You'll get one.

ShadAmy1Fan - Shylah McVey: You were not the only one. We had a lot of screaming responses.

Stripe the Hedgetiger: Yeah, while that would be a cool story, Halo and I are going to be retiring from Fanfic after this. So if you want to write such a tale, be my guest. My favorite POV to write is Shadow's, but I LOVED writing Cream's… the one time we did it. I personally prefer to write Manic's POV (he's a hoot) and Tails is always pretty interesting. I have a preference for goofy oddballs and sarcastic intellectuals.

Autumn: Yeah, lots of explaining is incoming.

NeckBreak: Thanks!

jam5022: Thanks! Here is another chapter!

KrazyCat6167: Yeah, we had a lot of that. Deep breaths, calm thyself. You're probably going to do some more of it this chapter. Good luck!

ShazPLUS: Good eye! Aurora IS from Archie comics... not in the same way we used her, but she's a deity all the same. Personally, I was never that into the Karl Bollers/Ken Penders era of comics, but I liked the concept of her, so I threw that in. Hooray! Long review! *reads it twice* Yes, we were just having fun. Making characters almost dead is more fun than it should be. Cream kicks butt. And totally rocks it. Is it bad that I picture her older self like the flippin' Black Widow? Minus the backstory, obviously, but just Cream jumping down from the rafters and flipping guys on their backs, doing distractions and silent takedowns, and guns blazing. Yet still her sweet self. Snow is the devil. It's cold, wet, and a pain in the butt. Literally. "Cymbals" not "symbols"... whoops. Stupid typos… Amy's restaurant scene was one of my favorite scenes to write. In this entire story. It was a lot of fun coming up with all the food ideas and what to call them. And now I want potato chips. Yeah, Sonic kind of snapped his brain on accident when he used the Dark Emerald… he broke the Dark Emerald which he had a connection to so he broke his mind. *blushes* Thanks. Halo and I have worked hard on making each character unique from another in their POV's and in their interactions. I'm glad you enjoy it. And yes! More feedback on MFH is always appreciated!

ultimateCCC: You said it.

StarlightSparks: Dang it, I love essays! Oh well, it's probably for the best because… well, buckle up.

Faso: RIP Bill. Probably for the best to wrap it up though since we have one chapter after this. On to the real review: Thank you so much for following for so long. Halo and I have enjoyed your feedback (even whatever the heck Bill is) and hope you enjoy the conclusion just as much. Enjoy!

tailsBOOM1997: You'll just have to see!

SuperSonamy337: Sorry about the wait. We've had a lot of stuff going on in our lives. Here is the update!

That Speedhunter: Those are all really good points. I personally think their powers are going to come back to a degree. They will never be as strong as they were, but they will have a few quirks that are left on them, kind of like a residue. Course, that's just my opinion. And sorry, no Need For Speed fans here. On a semi-related note, I was really looking forward to Star Wars: The Fallen Order video game that is getting released by, you guessed it, EA! Oh joy! But from everything I've seen, it's apparently pretty good. And my new favorite droid is from it so… Praises! Finally, UGH I WANT THIS TO BE A THING. Someone write a Sonic the Hedgehog crossover fanfic with Tom Clancy's: The Division. I didn't know I needed it until… THIS. But if this is all I get, then I'm okay with it. It's a two-shot. You honestly could just copy and paste it into a doc, maybe edit it a little and post it as a two-shot. Now excuse me while I resist the urge to jot down all these headcanons/sequel ideas that are now popping into my head.

And now… the moment we've all been waiting for!

*drumroll*

Sonic's POV:

"What's the matter with you guys?" I asked, getting to my feet (Chaos, when did everything get so sore?). "Look, I didn't mean to pass out after going super, y'know. How long have I been out, anyway? A week?"

No one seemed to have an answer for this; it was Amy who finally spoke, her voice gentle and soft. "Sonic…" she swallowed. "That was a year and a half ago."

I blinked, confused. "What was?"

"The Metal fight, when you… went super. It was a year and a half ago."

...what.

I shook my head. "No. No way, that… that can't be right. We were fighting Robotnik–"

"Robotnik's dead," Amy interjected, pursing her lips.

"What?" I jumped to my feet, my mind racing. "Where? When?... How?"

Shadow stepped forward, "Not another word from any of you." he snarled, shooting a glare at the green stranger in the back. Shadow's steady gaze fell on me, stone-faced as usual. "Where, when, and how the Doctor died are irrelevant. I will brief you on the full situation in a few days. For now, rest. Chaos knows you need it."

I frowned. "Oh, come on, Shads, don't gimme that. I want some answers. Starting with: how did I pass out for a year and a half?"

The other stranger, the pink hedgehog, spoke next, her voice prim and poised with the slightest hint of a southern drawl. "Everything will make sense in time."

And just when I thought my day couldn't get any worse, she spoke three words I wasn't expecting.

The first words were "Be patient,". Okay.

The last word was "Maurice."

I think it was safe to say that that was when my mind officially snapped.

I felt my jaw drop and quickly shut it; he didn't…

"TAILS…" I growled, slowly turning back around to face him.

"Yes..?" he asked, sounding confused.

I facepalmed; don't get mad, don't get mad, don't get mad… "What have I told you about secrets?"

"To... keep them?"

"Then why didn't you keep the one secret I asked you to keep?" I hissed, unable to keep the anger out of my voice.

Tails looked confused. "What do you…? Oh. Oh." He glanced over at Pink, glaring daggers. "I told you not to call him that. At least not now."

"Sorry…" she mumbled, chewing on her lower lip.

"Yeah, okay," I held up a time-out sign, "I need everyone to just stop what they're doing and rewind about a year and a half. Let's start with these people." I said, motioning at the strangers in the room. "More specifically, why in the name of Chaos would you ever call me… that."

Green looked over at Pink, a smirk tugging at his lips. "Either you tell him or I do."

"Shut up, Manic," Pink growled. "I'm trying to think."

"Whatever you say, Sonia."

The next thing I registered was Knuckles smacking me across the face.

"OW!" I shouted, rubbing my smarting cheek. "What was that for?"

Knuckles crossed his arms, looking concerned. "You weren't responding to anything anyone was saying and we really don't need you going comatose again. Tails wouldn't be able to handle it."

I stared at him in disbelief; how exactly was I supposed to respond to this? "I… I'm sorry, I just…" I shook my head, snapping my thoughts back into focus.

"Listen, I don't know who put you up to this, but it isn't funny." I spat, turning to the strangers who were not and could not possibly be the real… them. "So I'm going to ask you one more time: who are you?"

Pink and Green exchanged a look. Green smirked, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Hey, ladies first."

"Aren't you a gentleman," Pink muttered, rolling her eyes. She turned back to me and took a deep breath. "Okay… this is going to sound a little crazy, so I need you to hear me out, okay Maurice?"

I flinched, feeling a surge of anger well up inside me; I had this sudden urge to break something, anything. My body seemed to have a will of its own as I crossed the room, halting right in the girl's face, my eyes angry. I heard a low growl come out of my mouth, forming words that appeared out of nowhere. "You call me that again and I will hurt you."

Pink's eyes went wide, her hand resting on– was that a gun on her belt? Behind me, I heard some shuffling and green hedgehog already had a switchblade in his hand, although he hadn't flicked it open. Even the rest of the team looked spooked; Amy had taken a full step back, and Shadow and Rouge were on guard. Tails' voice came from behind me, sounding strained and clearly afraid. "Sonic?"

"O-kay!" Amy called, her voice at a much higher pitch than usual. "Hey, I, uh… I think I left something outside! Does, um… does anyone care to join me in finding it?" she said pointedly, elbowing Knuckles in the shoulder.

After a moment, realization seemed to dawn on him and he nodded, glancing over at Tails. "Oh, uh… yeah! Let's go outside! Great idea, Amy!"

Within a minute, everyone but me, Tails, and the people impersonating my dead siblings had cleared out of the hut, leaving us in awkward silence. Pink's eyes flicked over in my direction before quickly darting away. Her hand slid down and away from her gun, but Green clutched his knife tightly, narrowing his eyes in weary suspicion.

Okay… so maybe what I said was a little uncalled for.

I shook my head, shaking the anger away and feeling a wave of guilt immediately sweep over me. I took another step back, looking down. "I… I'm sorry, I… I don't know where that came from. Just…" I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "Please don't call me that name."

Pink took a deep breath before meeting my eye, holding her arms tightly at her sides. "O-okay. Sonic." she stammered, attempting a nervous smile. "Look, I'm… I'm really not sure where to even start. But based on your previous reaction… I'm guessing the direct approach isn't the best idea." She looked back at Green, who hadn't taken his eyes off me since my outburst. (what was his problem?)

I set my jaw; who did these guys think they were? "You can start with why you thought it was a good idea to impersonate people who you have no business pretending to be. I know what happened to them. GUN knows what happened to them." I snarled, jabbing my finger at Pink's chest. "So unless you two want to spend the rest of your lives rotting in a government prison, give it up now before you dig yourselves any deeper than you already are."

Green stepped between me and Pink, a lopsided grin stretched across his face. He had pocketed the knife, but the glimmer in his eyes still made me uneasy. "Dude, come on. We've been through a lot worse than just prison since we started looking for you. Besides, me and the General are tight."

"Oh?" asked Tails, raising an eyebrow. "Do tell."

"Well… 'tight' in the sense that he tolerates my presence, mostly," Green replied, rubbing the back of his head.

I grimaced. "Right. Okay. Enough with the jokes," I said, my fingers curling into fists. "Tails, what do you know about these fakers?"

Tails stood up, adjusting his glasses (which I still wasn't used to seeing on him, by the way). "Well, for one thing," he sighed, crossing his arms. "They're not 'fakers'."

"Yes, they are."

"No, they're not."

"Yes, they are."

"Sonic, believe me, they're for real." said Tails, exasperated. "We've checked."

"Tails, it's not possible!"

"It actually is…?" Green muttered, shuffling his feet.

"Zip it." I hissed. A small part of me wanted to tear the imposters' limb from limb for even thinking of pulling this kind of stunt, but I managed to suppress it somewhat. "If you won't admit it to me, then maybe some time behind bars will persuade you," I said, glaring fiercely. "I'm calling the General. Tails, let me use your communicator."

"No."

I blinked, feeling slightly thrown off. "Tails, I'm serious."

"Me too. No."

"How many times do I have to say it?" I groaned, clutching the bridge of my nose. "They are not who they say they are."

"Yes, we are!" Pink pleaded. "Sonic–"

"Prove it."

"...what?"

"You heard me," I spat, narrowing my eyes. "Prove it. Prove you're really Sonia and Manic Hedgehog. I would love to see you try–"

"Every night at bedtime," Green interjected, stepping forward, "Dad used to read us a story, no matter how late it was or how tired he was from work. My favorite stories always involved either cowboys or outer space, or sometimes just cowboys in outer space- which in hindsight doesn't make a lot of sense, but I thought it was the coolest idea ever." He motioned over to Pink, "She loved the stories with the knights. Sir Gawain was her favorite. You always asked Dad to talk about the awesome adventures he had being a mailman." He frowned slightly. "Actually, now that I think about it, he probably made up half the stuff he said he did. Pretty sure that slaying hordes of robotic monsters doesn't come up much in that career."

I couldn't seem to find my voice, so I just blinked at him with my mouth open, too stunned to speak; no way. No way.

Green kept talking, the hardness in his eyes seeming to melt with every word. "I used to have asthma, so I stayed inside a lot during the spring… I remember feeling so insanely jealous of you and Sonia when you got to go outside to play. There was this one time that you guys were making flower crowns and you made me one too, and I was so happy about it that I wore it all day, even though I was coughing the whole time."

Tails squinted his eyes at Green, tilting his head in confusion. "How is it," he began, staring at Green incredulously, "That you can remember all these things that happened over a decade ago, and yet you can't remember what you ate for breakfast this morning?"

He shrugged. "I dunno."

My head was spinning; how was any of this even possible? I never told the General or anyone at GUN these kinds of details- those memories died with the rest of my family. Even if these two had somehow hacked into GUN's database and bypassed the security in my file… there's no way they could've known any of this.

I collapsed back down on the cot, burying my face in my hands. Sonia and Manic died. They died. Even if these strangers were coming up with details that they shouldn't know about, there was no way my siblings could've survived that attack, I had accepted that a long time ago...

Pink suddenly piped up, her voice much quieter than before. "You always hated water," she said, playfully elbowing Green. "But I think you really started being afraid of it when we were about four or five. I accidentally threw our ball into the lake by our uncle's house. It was my favorite ball, and I started crying about it. You being… well, you decided to go in and get it. I don't think you really thought about the fact that you couldn't swim. So you jumped in and sank like a rock. Thankfully, Mom saw the whole thing and went in after you. It was a close call, and I don't remember you ever going swimming again after that."

"Oh yeah, I remember that. Mom was going into conniptions after she got him out of there."

Pink rolled her eyes, but her smile grew a little, "She used to make homemade bread every week. We'd help her in the kitchen… or at least me and Manic would. You choose not to help anymore after that one time you dumped the entire can of baking powder in the batter and we had the biggest loaf of bread ever. Tasted awful and we ended up throwing it in the lake for the fish."

"Yeah, you felt so bad about that you swore you'd never eat bread again." Green smirked, "That lasted, what, five minutes? But you never helped cook anything after that, which was probably a good choice… you kinda tended to set things on fire whenever you stepped foot in the kitchen–"

My voice finally returned, interrupting before Green could start another story. "How are you doing this?"

Both of them went silent, exchanging glances before turning back to me.

"As we said before," Pink smiled, "We're not faking anything."

I closed my eyes. This had to be a dream. There was no way this was real. I was in some kind of fantasy that my subconscious was wishing for. This couldn't be real, it just couldn't–

"How?" I asked, not daring to reopen my eyes. "How can you be here? I- I saw the house, it was on fire. I stayed there for two days and nobody came out, I thought your bodies had been buried in the rubble... how could you have–?"

"Uncle Chuck had a secret exit through the basement," Pink interjected. "He searched for you, but when he couldn't find you we thought you'd been killed by that bee-robot thing and your body was carried away by wild animals or something. We hid out for a few days in a nearby cave before heading south to hide."

I opened my eyes again and looked at her- really looked at her. Deep purple eyes framed by curly pink bangs and neatly combed quills. There was a warmth in her eyes, something… familiar. I looked over to Manic. His hair was a mess, blue eyes shining with mischief. His ears were studded with piercings and I'm pretty sure his vest had some kind of gang symbol on it, but he had that wild smile I'd never been able to forget; the one that had always told me we were about to do something crazy.

They looked so real.

Despite the shock, I found myself laughing, tears streaming freely down my cheeks. In a moment I was enveloped by two pairs of arms I pulled them in closer, my chest shaking from the flurry of emotions riling up inside me– they were alive. My family was alive and they were here and everything felt strange and wrong, but also so, so right.

I was a triplet again.

After a while (I had kinda lost track of time), Tails suggested we all move out of Knuckles' hut for some fresh air. I couldn't agree more; a good run around the island sounded awesome right about now.

So you can imagine my annoyance when I took off at Mach 1 and found myself face-first in the dirt.

Apparently, being comatose tends to make running way more difficult than it had any right to be. Not that I was getting any sympathy; Manic was laughing so hard he could barely move, but Sonia at least tried to help me up before breaking down into fits of laughter.

Well, at least they haven't changed much.

Once I had gotten back on my feet (and my siblings had gotten a hold of themselves), I noticed that Tails had started heading towards a small clearing just ahead of the hut. From a distance, I could see the rest of the team, passing around a basket full of what looked like… sandwiches?

"Sonic!" Amy called, brightening when she saw me. I felt myself crack a smile; it was... really good to see everyone again. Even if they didn't look quite how I remembered them.

Amy ran over, hooking my arm in her own and leading me to where everyone else had been seated around a picnic basket. I felt an inkling of dread begin to creep into my heart. This… this was not going to be easy.

"Look, guys…" I started, rubbing the back of my head. "I… I know I owe you an explanation–"

Shadow held up his hand, making me pause. "Your parents were murdered by Robotnik when you were six," he said flatly like he was giving a report to the General.

"And you thought your siblings had, eh… joined them in the great beyond, so to speak." Rouge added casually, examining her nails.

Amy squeezed my arm gently, meeting my eye with a knowing look. "So you ran off, later bumped into Robotnik, and basically wanted to make sure what happened to you didn't happen to anyone else."

"And now," Cream piped up, "They are alive so everything is okay now."

Uhh… that was a lot easier than I expected. "How long was I out again?"

"A year and a half." Shadow said the same time Amy said, "Six months."

Wait… what? I looked between the two, my mouth agape in confusion. "Well, which is it?"

"Uhh… that really depends on how you look at it," Amy confessed, her gaze darting away. "It's been six months since you… well, went comatose. But the last thing you seem to remember is from a year and a half ago."

And here I thought my day couldn't get any weirder. "So… I was in a coma for six months, but I'm missing a year of my memory. Is that what you're trying to tell me?"

"Technically…?" said Amy tentatively, biting down on her lower lip. "It's complicated."

"How is it complicated? It's a yes or no question–"

"So do you want a sandwich or a chili dog?"

"Don't change the subject!" I said, crossing my arms; I paused for a moment. "But yeah, a chili dog sounds great."

Cream hurriedly handed me a chili dog; I ate it in about two bites– for some reason, I was really hungry. Maybe it had something to do with that coma of unspecified length. "Okay, I want real answers now. First question: What in the name of Chaos happened?"

"Funny you should mention Him, actually…" Manic muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets. Sonia elbowed him in the ribs, hissing something about 'not mentioning that'. She turned back to me, forcing a smile. "How about we just relax for now? We'll explain everything later." she said cheerfully, sounding strained.

"No," I tapped my foot impatiently, "We can explain now."

Manic shrugged. "Hey, might as well– would you stop elbowing me?"

The team exchanged looks of uncertainty for a moment before Shadow stepped forward, taking a deep breath. "On June twenty-first of last year, Dr. Ivo Robotnik launched a devastating attack against Team Sonic involving several of his Metal series duplicate robots," he started, sounding like he was giving a mission report. "The resulting battle ended when Robotnik successfully kidnapped Sonic the Hedgehog. In the following months, we were unable to locate either Agent Sonic or Robotnik, despite our best efforts."

Well, that was… formal.

Shadow wasn't done. "During that time, Agent Sonic was detained and tortured by Robotnik, unable to escape despite his best efforts. In the following July, shortly after Robotnik's devastating attack on Station Square, we at GUN recruited two Mobian psychics to help locate either Robotnik's base or Agent Sonic. With their assistance, we were able to locate Agent Sonic roughly around last August."

"You know I'm right here, right?" I asked. "You don't have to refer to me like that."

Shadow ignored me. "We prepared to launch a rescue mission, but it became complicated when a new and improved Metal Sonic interfered. This Metal successfully incapacitated Agent Shadow, leaving him on the doors of death. Thanks to his efforts, our top men were able to escape with their lives, but we were unable to recover Agent Sonic."

I blinked, feeling stunned. "I'm sorry, but are you referring to yourself in the third person?"

"An attempt to capture Dr. Robotnik was made during the following October, which, as most of you know, went horribly wrong as his Metal Sonic went rogue, bringing down the entire building on our men and his creator. Robotnik's body was recovered from the wreckage only a few hours later. GUN lost twenty-two brave men and women that day.

"During the following weeks, GUN tracked Metal Sonic as he searched the globe for Chaos Emeralds. However, no official attempts were made to apprehend him by GUN. On October twenty-eighth, a full assault was made against Metal Sonic. The conflict resulted in Metal's defeat and the rescue of Agent Sonic. Unfortunately, during the time he was detained, Agent Sonic suffered several life-threatening injuries which has caused him to slip into a coma. He is currently in the GUN hospital's urgent care unit in a comatose state. We have had support sent from all over the globe to help with Sonic's condition, and we thank anyone who has contributed to his recovery."

With those final words, Shadow sat back down, his expression reverting to its usual glower.

Manic raised a hand, "Okay, hold up… did you seriously memorize that entire spiel Towers gave the press? How many times did you watch that thing?"

"I helped write it." Shadow retorted, raising an eyebrow.

"Plus there's that chaotically-enhanced memory of his," Rouge added. "This man couldn't forget something if he tried."

Okay… that actually explained a few things. "Could you repeat that one more time?" I asked. "I was too freaked out to pay attention."

Shadow rolled his eyes but repeated the speech one more time. It still took a minute for me to process everything.

"So… let me get this straight..." I started, rubbing my forehead. "Robotnik tortured me to the point that I forgot a year of my life? I mean, I wouldn't put it past the guy, but that seems a little hard to believe."

"Well, duh," Manic shrugged. "Cuz that's not what happ– OW! Stop hitting me!"

Sonia was glaring venomously at him, holding her purse like a weapon and not caring about the ribs she had probably bruised. Manic was glaring at her mutinously, rubbing his chest and muttering under his breath.

This was getting weird. "Wait, so if that's not what happened, then what did?"

No one responded; even Manic was keeping quiet.

I sighed; okay. Okay. "Is anybody gonna give me a straight answer?" I demanded. "Knuckles? Amy? Tails?"

Amy opened her mouth to speak, only for Knuckles to shake his head in disapproval, causing her to fall silent. He mumbled something about it 'being for the best'. It didn't change the fact that Knuckles wouldn't meet my eyes.

'For the best'... yeah, right. "Tails, bud, help me out here."

Tails hadn't spoken, let alone moved from his spot on the ground. His gloves were stained green from ripping up blades of grass and rolling it together. His eyes were downcast, just staring at his hands like they held the secrets of the universe or something. Apparently, no help was coming from him either.

Okay. Fine.

"I… I'm going for a walk," I said, turning towards the forest. "I'll be back soon. And, uh– don't follow me."

Tails' POV:

Okay, so when Sonic goes off on his own, it's like an unspoken rule that you don't follow him. Especially when he outright says 'don't follow me'. And I hadn't planned on following him the whole way… mostly.

Fine. I had planned to do that. But enlighten me– if your adopted brother had recently been possessed, comatose for half a year, and is now clearly not as strong as he used to be, then tell me, what would you do?

Yeah, that's what I thought. So please: excuse my actions.

Originally, I was only going to follow him. Besides, it wasn't like he could go very far… not using his muscles for six months had left him much weaker, and as I predicted, it was only a few minutes before he found somewhere to sit and rest. Sonic stared off into the distance for a moment before burying his face in his hands.

Was… was he crying?

Maybe I felt bad. Maybe I just hated the sound. Maybe I couldn't stand the sight of Sonic the flippin' Hedgehog shedding tears in a dark forest. Or maybe some part of me still felt that connection we had… or used to have, anyway. Whatever the reason, it was getting harder and harder to stop me from going to talk to him.

The logical part of my brain forced it down. This was already going to be painful. No need to make it worse. Just straight, simple, to the point.

I had already confronted Sonic once about his siblings, right before Dark took him away from me. That conversation had been full of hate. Anger. But Sonic hadn't exactly been in his right mind, and that yelling at him hadn't made anything better.

I didn't want a repeat of that. I was tired of yelling.

I swallowed down the lump that had formed in my throat. Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry–

I shut my eyes and took a deep breath, adjusting my glasses as I stepped out in the clearing. Sonic didn't notice me until I was right next to him.

He quickly wiped his tears away, looking away from me, "Hey buddy," he mumbled, sounding like he was trying to be cheerful. "No offense, but if you're here to tell me more fake explanations for what's been happening, I'm good."

I stepped back a few feet. My fists were plastered to my sides as my gaze darted downwards, focusing on a patch of grass. "I…" My jaw was clenched and the words came choppy at first. "I don't… I can't…"

Deep breath, Miles.

"Tails? What's wrong?" Heh… he sounded so convincing.

I steeled my jaw, looking Sonic dead in the eye. "I don't like being used."

Sonic blinked, bewildered. "W-what? What do you–?"

"I get it. Really, I do," I gritted out. "You lost everyone. Your parents, your siblings, your uncle. Your whole family was gone in a manner of minutes. You were alone. Skip ahead a couple of years and you find some poor kid on the streets who desperately needs someone to care about them. So why not?"

"Uh… why not what?" Sonic asked, getting to his feet.

I closed my eyes, knowing that I'd lose my nerve if I looked him in the eye. "As I said, I get why you did it. But that doesn't change the fact that I don't appreciate being a cheap replacement for people you thought were dead. I… I'm a person too, not just a stand-in."

I took the silence as acknowledgment.

"So here's the deal: I'm keeping the house and workshop. You don't really use them anyway. I don't care if you ever want to see me again, but you need to give me some space. A year, maybe. I can't promise I can forgive you, but I… I can promise to try. If you ever need me, you can call. But don't expect me to do the same. Got it?"

There was silence for what seemed like forever. A hand dropped on my shoulder, which I quickly pushed off. "Got it?" I repeated, a little more forcefully.

I heard a sharp inhale and a slow breath out. "Tails… not to sound like a total airhead, but… what in Chaos are you talking about?"

I cracked an eye open. Sonic was just standing there, arms at his sides. He must have noticed me looking because he reached a hand out again. I turned my back on him, squeezing my eyes shut. "Don't play dumb, Sonic. You know what I mean."

"Tails…" said Sonic slowly. "I promise, I'm not playing dumb. Who knows, maybe I'm just that stupid, but I honestly don't know what you're talking about."

Another attempt was made by him to put a hand on my shoulder. I shoved it off again. "Don't lie to me, Maurice."

"I'm not lying to you! You're just not making any sense!"

"Maurice, I can't… I can't do this anymore," I shook my head. "We were never brothers anyway. Just… fill-ins. And I see that now. So please, just… let it go."

The next thing I registered was Sonic pulling me into a hug (against my will, I might add). I struggled to get free, but his grip was too tight. The harder I fought to get free, the tighter it became. It felt like bones were being crushed and my air was getting cut off. I felt a spike of fear but before I could demand my release, he growled in my ear. "Tails, you listen to me. Whoever told you that you aren't my real brother is going to join Robotnik in the ground."

And for the second time today, I began to panic. I pushed against my prison, feeling a scream build up inside my throat. I couldn't scream, he liked that noise–

"Call your friends, little boy… call your big 'brother'..." My lungs burned with pain; can't breathe, can't breathe, help, help me–

"Come now, you can do better than that. Maybe you just don't care," he crooned, tightening his grip. "Maybe you figured out that nobodies like you don't have a reason to live."

Somehow I found the strength to cry out one more time before my breath had been spent. The pain had spread from my lungs into my heart, cutting into me like a knife... leave me alone, not again, please, please–

"Miles?" I heard from somewhere. I bit down on my tongue; I didn't want this, I didn't want this...

"Poor little Tails… ready for a family reunion?"

Sharp tears pricked at the corners of my eyes, fogging up my vision. My hands began to tremble. Not again. Not again…

"Not Dark, not him…" I gasped out, barely audible. "Stop, stop, please, let me go–"

The pressure suddenly released and I found myself on the ground, gasping for air. I clutched my throat, shaking violently.

"In… out… in… out… come on, buddy. I'm not gonna hurt you… shhh… I gotcha. You're safe."

That voice. The same one that growled and threatened me with my life, yet… it was different.

"That's it… calm down. I'm here, you're alright."

Sonic. Not Dark. I shuddered in relief. My face was wet from tears I hadn't realized I had been crying. I quickly wiped them away and sat up, ducking my head down so I wasn't looking at the hedgehog.

"Miles?"

I flinched, despite myself.

"...I'm going to put my hand on your shoulder. Okay?"

My chest seized up in panic as he reached out for me; I wanted to say no, I wanted to leave, to run, run away, get away– but something about his hand on my shoulder… stopped me. His touch felt distantly familiar, like a dream I'd had and then forgot. I still wanted to get away… but at the same time, I couldn't bring myself to shake him off.

Sonic gave me a gentle squeeze. "Miles, I… I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I was just so angry that you thought… that someone might've... I don't know what came over me."

I responded on instinct, not really thinking about it, "Dark."

The pressure on my shoulder suddenly increased to an uncomfortable level.

Sonic's voice was soft, full of fear and demanding, "What did you say?"

Whoops. "Nothing, I wasn't thinking, I–"

"You mentioned Dark in your… uh... freakout. Who is that?... They hurt you, didn't they?"

I shook my head quickly, "Sonic, now is really not a good time to talk about this–"

"Tails, what happened?" Sonic dropped his hand down into his lap. "I know it was bad– nobody wants to talk about it or give me any details, so it must have been really horrible. But I have to know. Because…" Sonic paused, placing a hand over his heart, "Something inside of me feels… different." His voice dropped in volume, a hint of fear coming out. "It's hard to describe but… it's like… like if someone took Knuckles' anger issues and Shadow's broodiness and stuffed it inside of me, and I hate it, but… it feels like it should be there."

I couldn't find my voice for a moment, a sinking feeling forming in the pit of my stomach.

Sonic pressed on. "Tails, I need to know what happened while I was out." He swallowed hard. "Please."

"Sonic, I'm serious, this is something you don't want to know about. Trust me."

"It has something to do with this... this Dark guy, right?"

"Sonic–"

A heavy sigh from Sonic made me pause.

"Please… Miles… I can't–" He paused, "I need to know what I did."

My eyes finally snapped over to him. He looked so… defeated. "What makes you think you did anything–?"

"You were begging." Sonic looked down at his hands, like they were poison, "You were begging me not to hurt you. 'Not again'."

Oh.

Scrap.

Sonic ran an anxious hand through his quills, staring at the ground. "What did I do?"

The question was broken. Defeated.

I took a deep breath, "Nothing."

"Tails–"

"You did nothing, I swear." I motioned at his hands, "You, Maurice, did nothing to hurt anyone. You, Sonic, did nothing to hurt me." I swallowed. Hard. "Dark on the other hand… well... he did a lot."

Sonic frowned. "Who's Dark?"

I hesitated.

"Tails."

I sent a silent apology to Shadow, letting out a sigh. "None of us are really sure about the specifics. All we know is that he was this freaky ex-Guardian from thousands of years ago that was corrupted by dark chaos energy. Apparently, your ancestors helped the Guardians of the time to lock him away in the emerald he corrupted where he stayed… until he was accidentally freed a year and a half ago. And when he was freed…" I hesitated. "He, uh… he kind of... possessed you."

Sonic's eyes widened as the color began to drain from his face. I bit my lip, "He tried to kill all of Team Sonic and Team Dark, including Manic and Sonia. He… he killed some GUN soldiers, a few civilians, and…"

"Robotnik." Sonic finished, his voice hollow. I nodded.

Sonic slumped backward, his shoulders sagging. After a moment, his hands started to tremble and his breathing became quick and shallow. "Oh Chaos…"

I reached out a comforting hand, but Sonic slapped it away. "Don't–" he gasped, eyes wide and filled with fear. "I hurt you. How can you even look at me?"

"You didn't hurt–" I started, but was quickly cut off by Sonic.

His words were frantic and filled with fear, "How do you know that? I can't… I can't remember what I did. What if I was in control? What if Dark just took my darkest thoughts and pushed me to do them? What if he's still here?"

I didn't answer at first. To be honest, similar thoughts had crossed my mind at points during and after Sonic's possession. The implications had been too terrifying to dive into, but such thoughts had remained a small worm in the back of my brain. No matter how hard I tried to repress it, the theory was continuing to press forward, sorting facts and opinions, analyzing situations, studying results and reactions…

And there was only one possible conclusion.

Sonic's breathing had steadied out a little, but his entire body was now trembling. His terrified gaze was fixed on his hands, which were wringing together as if wiping off invisible blood.

"You wouldn't," I finally found my voice. "You would never."

Sonic's head shook back and forth, furiously, "You don't know that."

"But I do, Sonic," I swallowed down the sudden lump that appeared in my throat. "And at this moment, I know you better than you think." My eyes squeezed shut and I took in a shuddering breath. "Dark… was a monster. He–" My voice caught in my throat and I had to take a deep breath. "What he did to everyone… to me… to you… I don't think anyone will ever forget that." I swallowed down the tears that were burning my throat. "But I– I know it was– wasn't you. You wou– would never hur– hurt me. E– even if I was– was just–" My will finally broke and I buried my face in my hands, the hiccups coming through as the river of tears began to fall. The weird part? I had no idea why.

I could hear Sonic shifting his position beside me, but couldn't find the strength to look. A few moments later, I felt an arm wrap around my back and pull me into a kind of side-hug. Sonic spoke softly, the tremble in his voice still present. "Miles, I… don't know what's going on. I don't know what I did and what I didn't do and I don't know if I ever will know but–" He took a deep breath, "I do know one thing. You are not a replacement."

I couldn't answer with words, only sobbing harder. I shook my head as best as I could. Don't lie, I know what I am.

"I'm serious, Miles." Sonic's grip tightened for a second. "I never saw you like that. I saw you as a gain. A gift. Another brother… and in some ways another shot at having a family again. But never as a replacement."

I shook my head even harder.

"Miles…" Sonic's hand pressed against my chin, lifting it up. "Open your eyes."

My eyelids squeezed even tighter. I couldn't take it anymore.

"Come on, buddy, trust me on this... please."

Very slowly, I pushed my eyes open. My glasses were fogged and blurry with tears, but Sonic's blue silhouette shone through clearly.

The familiarity of his expression shook me to my core; Sonic's jaw was clenched in a way that one might think he was angry, but his smile was genuine. His hands were trembling, whether it with either fear or excitement was anyone's guess. It was... random and disconnected to say the least, but somehow... it felt natural.

I had seen it before; once on Sonic's birthday, another time during a movie night, a few moments when we were fighting Robotnik, when Sonic was hauled off to jail that one time, and just a few random occurrences in the house over the last few years.

Realization washed over me– Every one of those looks were directed at me. That is, until about twenty minutes ago when Sonic realized that he had found his long-lost brother and sister.

The smile… the anger, fear, worry, sorrow, joy… it all added up to one thing for Sonic.

Love.

"You are my brother," Sonic said firmly. "And no matter what happens, that's never gonna change." He smiled, his eyes softening. "Got it?"

I felt tears well up inside my eyes. A small smile slowly crept up my face as I leaned against him, wrapping my arms around his middle. "Mm-hm."

"Good…" Sonic hugged me back, less tightly than last time but just as sincerely. "Because you're stuck with me whether you like it or not."

GUYS. GUYS. GUYS.

ONE MORE CHAPTER.

THE EPILOGUE IS UPON US.

HOLY CHAOS. WE ARE FINALLY HERE. PRAISES.

I have a few questions for y'all if you're willing to answer them in reviews. First of all, what was your favorite chapter, moment, or whatever you feel deserves a shout out? How about a favorite point of view? (I honestly think mine was Shadow's and Cream's, even though the latter's only happened once. MANIC'S POV FOR THE WIIIN) Least favorite thing? Something you wished was better or could have been improved on?

The next chapter is going to be the last time I can respond to everyone's reviews and I'd love to end off (at least all of the guest reviewers) with a lovely little note. So please, if you have anything you'd like to say (even if you have never reviewed this story before), Halo and I would love to read them.

A big shout out to a few people who have been following this story since basically the beginning and/or have gone above and beyond the call of feedback duty (y'all are amazing!)

Autumn

Quantum27

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and Stripe the Hedgetiger!

If I missed you, please don't be offended. The names started to blur together and I had to scroll through all the reviews to try and find all the names that repeated enough to get in my head so…. I may have missed a few. Seriously, thank you to everyone and anyone who reviewed it.

With the next chapter comes the final conclusion of this story, guys… thanks for sticking with us on this crazy ride!

(Also, to my fellow Americans, have a Happy Thanksgiving!)