The Long Road Home

by Oceanera12

No one ever said that families were easy. There are fights, sorrow, lies; don't forget the missing/dead siblings, adopted little brother, and the mad-man determined to kill you. But how far are you willing to fall for your family? That answer is something Sonic is about to find out. No matter how much he wishes he could run in the opposite direction (Rated T for action & intensity)

67. Coming Home

THIS IS THE END. (Or you could say, The Endgame? This kind of feels like the MCU at points, doesn't it?)

Oh Chaos, I can't believe we are here, after three and a half long years. Can you?

We're just going to do final review responses at the end, but I would like to say if you have any playlist that has all the songs relating to the word, "Home", I can almost guarantee that they would fit with this chapter. So feel free to pull up the said playlist and listen.

However, if you have no patience for that: "Home" - by Maccabeats is a giant medley of several songs that I listened to on a loop while typing this. I personally have associated this chapter (this whole story, really) with "Tragedy + Time" by Rise Against. Oh, if we are talking about the whole story then "Still I Fly" by Roadtrip Romance is my jam (it even has two guys and one girl singing!)

Enjoy!

---

Manic's POV:

'When we last left our hero, the Brave and Heroic Manic the Hedgehog-'

"You hear me? You are fired! And don't you even think about showing your face here again!"

"-he was narrowly avoiding getting beaned in the head with the crappy, overpriced merchandise from his (former) workplace. Bummer, right?"

I flinched as the door slammed behind me, the little bell in the corner giving an annoyingly cheerful ding. Man, that lady just couldn't take constructive criticism... maybe I dodged a bullet on this job.

Then again, my boss prior to this one wasn't exactly a winner. Or the one before that, come to think of it. But at least none of them smelled like a dead walrus rotting in the July sun. (I couldn't have been the first person to tell her that, right? Besides, it doesn't count as an insult if it's a stone-cold fact.)

Whatever. Getting fired was pretty much routine at this point– no sense in stressing over it.

I picked myself up from the sidewalk and dusted myself off, ignoring the inquisitive stares of passersby as I headed back down the street. The sun was hanging low in the sky, tinging the clouds pink and orange; I always loved the downtown sunsets.

Before I knew it, I had walked nearly five blocks in the wrong direction. Crud. Well, at least it wasn't too late to find a bus home.

I turned a corner, squeezing between two shabby-looking buildings as a shortcut to the other side of the street, where there was a bus stop. The schedule was printed on the side of the glass; the next bus to the neighborhoods outside the inner city was due… in an hour and a half.

Because there's nothing I love more than sitting around with nothing to do and no one to talk to. Yippee.

Looking around, not a lot managed to catch my eye; mostly just a lot of rundown buildings decorated with graffiti and various gang symbols. A few of them I recognized, others I didn't, but there was one that really stuck out to me– a crossed-out capital 'S' spray-painted on the side of a faded brick building… with a sign reading 'Lucky Strike Pawnshop'.

No way.

I jumped to my feet and bolted across the street to the shop, practically kicking down the door in my hurry. It was only after I had already gone in that I realized that this… might not be the best idea.

Ah, who cares.

"Yo!" I shouted, feeling a grin spread over my face. "Anybody here?"

Nothing. The shop was totally deserted. Not even a person at the cash register.

...that's really weird. The Ferrell I remember would keep the shop open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and he guarded that cash register with his life. Something was up.

I crept behind the counter, slowly opening the door to the backroom. The overhead light was dim and flickering, casting a gloomy light over the barren room (man, was the furniture always that ratty?). My ears perked up at a scuffling from over in the corner; a large, insect-like silhouette who appeared to be stuffing items into a duffel bag caught my attention. Something about him felt… familiar.

"...Ferrell?"

The silhouette whipped around in alarm, the dim light washing over his face. Sure enough, it was the same squashed-looking mug I had grown so attached to over the years, now sporting a handful of new scars I didn't remember from before.

Ferrell's eyes narrowed in suspicion, his lips curling into a snarl. "No customers allowed back here, sonny," he spat, straightening his back to his full height. "Or can't you read?"

I took a step back, holding up my hands in surrender. "Ferrell– dude, it's me, it's Maniac! Remember?...your best student?"

Ferrell paused, peering down at me for a moment before the realization kicked in; his face broke into a crooked smile as he picked me up and whirled me into a crushing bearhug.

"Ha ha!" he roared, his laughter sounding like a lion who had been smoking for the last forty years. "Maniac, m'boy, where have you been? It's been too long, far too long!"

"I know, right?" I laughed, grinning from ear to ear. "Man, how've you been? Where are the rest of the guys?"

Ferrell paused, stiffly releasing me from his grip after a minute. I frowned. "...what? What's the matter?"

The man didn't answer, instead returning to filling his duffel bag with what I now recognized to be get-away supplies– extra food, clothes, cash… the works. I think I even saw a fake ID in there.

I nudged Ferrell's arm. "Dude, what's going on?"

Ferrell ignored me for a moment, pursing his lips. "It's… it's nothing, Maniac. It don't matter."

I crossed my arms. "Ferrell."

"I said it don't matter."

"Clearly it does, or you wouldn't be skipping town," I said, jabbing a finger at his bag. "I know something happened, Ferrell. Don't lie to me."

He glanced over to me, and it was then I noticed the gleam in his eye had grown dim and the wrinkles on his face had become more pronounced. A deep scar ran over the bridge of his nose– fresh, by the looks of it.

Ferrell sighed. "Keen as ever, ain't you, kid? Never was able to keep anything from you," he said with a chuckle, setting down his getaway bag. He gestured over to the moth-eaten sofa with a nod, "You're gonna wanna sit down for this, boy... A lot's happened since you left."

---

I opened the door to Tails' workshop, shutting it quietly behind me; no one noticed at first.

Sonic was perched upon the wing of the plane, brush in hand. His fur was spattered with blue and yellow paint; Tails wasn't looking too different. Puddles of multicolored goo spotted the floor around the base of the plane, turning the workshop into a veritable minefield.

Tails glanced down at me, his face breaking into a grin. "Hey, Manic!" he called, waving his paintbrush and sending a spray of blue paint raining over my quills. "Oops– sorry!"

I shot him a lopsided smirk, brushing off a few of the sticky blue drops. "Don't sweat it, dude. I've been thinking of dying it, anyways. Whaddaya think, should I add some purple streaks or does the blue look alright?"

Sonic slid down the side of the plane, zipping over to me in a blue-and-yellow-tinted blur. He rubbed his chin, humming in a mock-thoughtful tone. "Hmm… you know, you seem more like a 'hot pink' kind of guy to me. Oooh, wait! ORANGE!"

I grinned, punching him lightly in the arm. "How 'bout this: you swear off chili dogs for life, and I'll dye my quills orange."

"Ha! No deal," he retorted, tossing his paintbrush in the air and catching it in one hand. "Wait, aren't you supposed to be at work?"

I cringed. "Yeah… about that…"

Tails raised an eyebrow. "Did you get fired again?"

"Fired is such an ugly word..."

Sonic and Tails exchanged exasperated looks. "It can't be that hard to keep a job, Manic," said Tails; his tone was firm, but I could see the glimmer in his eyes.

"Can't be too hard to name a plane either, yet here we are," I said, grinning. "Haven't you guys decided yet?"

"We're still bouncing between The Cyclone and The X Tornado," said Sonic, ruffling Tails' hair. "We figured we'd paint it first, then see what to name it."

"I can see it now... Tornado 2: Electric Boogaloo."

"We're not naming it that, Manic."

"Can't stop me from calling it that, though."

"...fair enough." Tails shrugged. "So what have you been up to? Besides getting fired, I mean."

I felt my smile falter; Sonic raised an eyebrow. "You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, it's just…" I trailed off, rubbing the back of my head. "I ran into someone I used to know. He, uh… he gave some bad news about some of my old friends."

Tails frowned. "You mean your gang?"

"Your... what?" said Sonic, looking surprised.

Tails gave me a look. "You didn't tell him that you were a Striker?"

"Wasn't a reason to," I replied with a shrug. "Relax, dude. I left the Strikers a long time ago. It just so happens that I bumped into my old boss, Ferrell, on the way home. He's good people."

"You're, uh… you're not thinking about joining back up again, are you?" Sonic asked, curious.

"What? No way!" I retorted. "I ditched that kind of life for a reason, bro. Besides, even if I wanted to, there's no gang left to join. Ferrell's catching the train to Westopolis tomorrow night, and he's pretty much the only Striker left." Everyone else either hightailed it out of this city or got shot trying. I wasn't surprised… but it still hurt to know.

Sonic nodded. "Makes sense."

I blinked. "...Wow, you're taking this way better than I expected."

"Taking what?" Sonic asked, tilting his head in confusion.

Hoo-boy, this was awkward. "Y'know… the gang thing. Criminal record and such."

"Well, you're not a criminal anymore, are you?" he said, the corners of his mouth smirking upwards.

I shrugged. "That's the plan."

"Then why would I be upset?"

"...'Cuz you work for the cops."

Sonic snorted. "Okay, first off, I work for GUN, not the cops."

"Same difference."

"And second, I know loads of people who turned their lives around. Look at Rouge– she used to be a wanted jewel thief, and now she's a–"

"Wanted jewel thief," said Tails. "With a day job."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Okay, bad example. The point is, if you say you're moving on from crime, I believe you."

"...And that's it?" I said, feeling a bit perplexed. "Man, Sonia just about had an aneurysm when she found out about my rap sheet."

Sonic sighed. "Alright, let's try this: why did you join a gang?"

"Uh… they gave me food. And money."

He nodded, leaning against a nearby worktable. "Mm-hm. So why do you think I joined GUN?"

"...Food and money?"

Sonic spread his arms out. "That's pretty much it."

Tails coughed from the corner. Sonic smirked. "That, and Tails would have ended up in child protective services if I didn't."

"Thank you." Tails said curtly, looking satisfied.

Sonic grinned. "Okay! Now that we got that out of the way, who wants chili dogs?"

"You, clearly," said Tails, cleaning off his paintbrush. "But yeah, I'd be down for that. Manic?"

I wanted to say yes, but… something held me back. "I think I'll pass this time. Thanks anyway."

Sonic and Tails shared a look of surprise but didn't question it. "Alright, suit yourself," Sonic shrugged. "Come on Tails, I'll race you!" Snatching up Tails by the scruff of his neck, Sonic zipped out of the workshop in a streak of blue, Tails's distant protests getting fainter and fainter.

My smile dropped; that hollow feeling in my chest had been slightly alleviated by the presence of Sonic and Tails, but something inside me still ached knowing what happened to all my old gang buddies.

I shouldn't be feeling like this. I left that life behind me years ago, and in retrospect, that was probably one of the best things that ever happened to me. Still… those guys were my best friends, the only people I could count on to have my back.

And now they're gone.

---

"Yeesh, that's rough," said Rouge, after I finished telling her what was bugging me. I'd found her pounding on a punching bag at the gym and decided to join her. Thankfully, she didn't mind the company.

"I mean, it's not like I'm surprised or anything," I said, aiming a hard right hook at the bag. "It's just… they meant a lot to me, y'know?"

"I get it," she replied with a nod. "If you don't mind me asking… didn't any of them get out of town?"

I paused. "One or two at the most. Ferrell said most of them were arrested, but my friend Curtis, he–" My voice caught in my throat. "He's dead."

Rouge's face softened somewhat and she lowered her fists, giving me a look I couldn't quite read. Slowly, she placed a hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry."

"I'm– it's fine," I said, a wavering grin itching up my face. "It's not the end of the world, right? At least I'm not dead."

"Manic."

"I mean, everybody kicks the bucket sooner or later, right? Besides, knowing those guys, they probably had it coming anyway."

"Manic."

"What?"

"You're kinda scaring me here."

The corners of my mouth fell slightly. "...sorry."

"No, don't be," she said reassuringly. "It's not weird to feel bummed out about something like this. I know you were really close to your old gang."

After a moment, I nodded, wanting to reply but not knowing what to say. I was just happy there was someone who understood the whole crime thing.

"But you know…" she said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "You've got something pretty good right here, too. Or haven't you noticed the crowd of family and friends you hang out with every day?"

Despite myself, I laughed; leave it to Rouge to zap me back to reality.

Rouge and I had talked about it a few weeks ago, and we both agreed that, what with everything that had been going on, we were gonna take things slow. Like, imagine a glacier. But y'know what? I'm actually pretty okay with that. We've got something good, and I don't wanna mess it up.

Right now, it was time to focus on the positive. Living in the past never did anyone much good. Besides… Rouge had a point. Being part of a gang was one thing, but being a part of this family? Ten million times better.

I shot her a grin– a real one this time. Rouge smiled back, aiming a roundhouse kick that sent the punching bag skidding across the floor.

Chaos, I love this woman.

---

"So... how are you holding up?"

Sonia had missed her bus after her night classes and had called me to ask for a ride. When I picked her up, she seemed a little more… disheveled than usual.

"Ugh…" she groaned, clutching the bridge of her nose. "Awful. I hate business."

I arched an eyebrow. "Then why in the world are you studying it?"

"I didn't think I would hate it so much when I signed up."

"Well," I said with a shrug. "You can always quit."

Sonia looked offended by such an idea. "I can't do that!"

"Why not? Quitting is awesome. I do it all the time."

"Manic, I've wanted to run my own store ever since I can remember."

"Exactly," I responded. "What did Little Kid Sonia know about being an adult? Nostalgia's not a very reliable thing to build your entire future on, sis."

"Manic–"

"Listen, if you're this miserable now, think about what it'll be like doing this every day. For the rest of your life.

Sonia looked like she wanted to argue the point, but she kept quiet; thank Chaos. I didn't feel like fighting with her tonight. It had been a long day…

Sonia tapped her fingers on her knee, sighing deeply. "So… how are you doing?"

Let's see: pretty much my entire group of friends from when I was a kid are either dead or behind bars, I got fired this afternoon, and I'm running out of money to buy gas and, y'know, food. "... m'okay"

"Are you sure?" Sonia cocked her head to the side, looking concerned. "I mean, I've been finding it weird not being able to predict oncoming traffic. Or being able to catch things before they hit the ground. So…" she trailed off. "What about you?"

Oh, great. Great. She just had to bring it up. Thanks a lot. "Pfft… are you kidding?" I said, forcing a smile. "It's awesome! I don't have to go another day listening to random strangers monologue their problems! Do you know how loud it was on the subway?" That wasn't entirely untrue – I'd had more than my share of anxiety attacks because I couldn't handle listening to other people's internal screaming on top of my own – but I'd kill to be able to read minds again.

Now, it was just me tripping over my own feet, relearning social cues and desperately trying to figure out what was going on in people's heads. I mean, yeah there's still physical tells, but… how did normal people even talk without knowing what they should and shouldn't say? All those taboo subjects you're supposed to avoid in a conversation had been easy for me to identify because I already knew their opinion. This lady is a left-wing liberal feminist? Cool, so am I. That guy carries a jar of tarantulas in his backpack? Okay, I'm definitely crossing the street to avoid them. That person was just diagnosed with terminal brain cancer and has three weeks to live? I'm getting them an ice cream cone just because.

Now all that knowledge was gone, and I'd gone blind.

Sonia didn't look convinced. "Are you sure? I mean, Knuckles has told me we may get something back with time and patience. It's just never going to be–"

"Sonia. I'm fine. Honest," I said, glancing away. "If I had to do it again, I would. Giving up our powers brought Sonic back, and now my head is clear of all those voices… it's a win-win situation in my book." Eh, that was true enough. Between Sonic and my powers, I'd pick Sonic in a heartbeat.

But that didn't mean life hadn't gotten a whole lot harder.

Sonia smiled, looking convinced. "I'm glad, Manic." She leaned back in the passenger seat. "Speaking of Maurice, we are so going to be late."

"You kidding?" I laughed, "We'll be late, but knowing Sonic, he's gonna be even later."

"He has super speed and yet is always the last one to arrive," Sonia shook her head, exasperated. "It'd be ironic if it weren't so exasperating."

I laughed, glad for something to take my mind off my powers. My family was together again, hopefully for good this time.

And that's all that matters anymore.

---

Sure enough, Sonic was nowhere to be seen as we pulled into the park's parking lot. "Told ya."

"Oh, hush. I agreed with you, didn't I?" Sonia climbed out of the van with me right behind her. We wandered in a way, found a dog stand and ordered some dinner. Sonia got a tofu dog (gag me) and I decided on the classic and unbeatable corn dog (yes Sonia, I am aware of how many calories this has).

Sonic showed up around the time we were paying, scaring the cart owner half to death as he screeched to halt only a foot away. "Sorry! Got held up!"

"Seriously?" Sonia raised an eyebrow. "You run at the speed of sound!"

"Yeah, but have you ever tried to not hit things at the speed of sound? Sonic booms are for emergencies only." Sonic flashed a smile at the vendor. "Two chili dogs, please."

The vendor scrambled to finish the order then tried to refuse payment because 'It wasn't every day a hero eats at his stand.' Sonic left the bill in the tip jar anyway– plus tip.

"Dude," I said as we walked away, "I'd totally accept free stuff from people who offer. Heck, I'd accept it from people who don't offer."

"Eh, it got old by the time I was like, twelve." Sonic shrugged. "I mean, sure, it helped when I had no other choice, but then I started to get paid by GUN, so… I dunno, it kinda felt like cheating."

Sonia finished her tofu dog, folding the wrapper in squares before throwing it away. "Sometimes, that's a person's way of expressing gratitude."

"Or," Sonic said, popping the rest of his dog in his mouth, "I's th'r w'y o' 'ero' 'or'sip."

Sonia glared at him. "You're as bad as Manic."

"Hey!" I protested.

Sonic swallowed before smiling sheepishly. "Sorry. Anyway, maybe that's what some people are like, but for everyone else, it's a form of hero-worship. They feel obligated to do something nice to me because I sometimes do cool stuff. That's not what I'm about. Why should I get special treatment just 'cuz I did my job?"

I shook my head. "You're thinking way too hard about this, bro," I said, slinging an arm around his shoulder. "Most people's jobs don't include fighting crazed wackadoos and their armies of giant robots."

"He's got a point there," said Sonia with a nod.

"Alright, alright, I get it," Sonic finally conceded. "Maybe I just don't love the spotlight. Sue me."

The image of Sonic standing in front of a lawyer popped in my head and I prevented the burst of giggles that tried to get out.

Sonia changed the subject. "So why did you want to bring us out here, Manic?"

Right. This had been my idea. "I dunno. Thought we could just... enjoy the sunset."

Sonic and Sonia shared a perplexed look, but I didn't bother to elaborate. It wasn't something I could really put into words. After a day like today, I just… I needed my siblings there. Beside me. To help remind me that I wasn't alone anymore. To make me feel like I actually mattered to someone, and not just because I could steal from the best of them.

But because I was me. Manic Hedgehog. Not 'Maniac' or 'Matthews' or any other bogus title I'd given myself over the years. Just Manic.

I slung my arms around the two of them and grinned. "Come on– I know a great view of the city from the top of this old office building. The place is abandoned and everything, it's perfect!"

Sonia arched an eyebrow. "Absolutely not. That's trespassing."

Sonic grinned, giving me a playful nudge. "I'm game."

"Sonic!"

"Whaaat?"

For the first time today, I felt a little lighter. Call me crazy, but I had a feeling that everything was going to be okay.

---

Sonia's POV:

BEEP–BEEP–BEEP–BEEP–BEEP–

"Oh, shut up."

I slammed my hand in the general direction of the incessant sound and narrowly missed the off switch, knocking my alarm clock to the ground.

Of course.

I moaned and smushed the pillow between my ears, hoping the sound would just leave me alone. It didn't. Eventually, I found myself getting out of bed and fumbling around on the floor in an attempt to find my clock and throw it out the nearest window.

Morning shifts were the worst. The saloon I used to work at didn't open till ten, so I had become accustomed to sleeping in a little later. But a minimum wage, part-time job can only get a girl so far. And that job had been getting me nowhere.

And so when Boutique de Topaze opened for job applications a few weeks after the new year, I jumped at the opportunity. The job had seemed like a fun change from checking in people for their appointments. Lucky for me, I aced the interview.

Topaz was a strict boss who took no nonsense from her employees, which I could appreciate. The morning shifts allowed me to finally start taking online college classes (majoring in fashion design with a minor in business), something I had been planning on after I found Manic. That had ended up happening almost two years later, but hey. No plan was perfect.

I had fallen into a routine of sorts; most of the time, I had the morning shift followed by an afternoon shift, with night classes three times a week. Sleep hit me around midnight, then I'd wake up at six to be to work by eight. Cycle, rinse, repeat six days a week. My one day off usually consisted of me catching up on homework. Hooray.

On this particular morning, I was finding it much more difficult to focus (it might have had something to do with that business report I stayed up finishing until two in the morning). I spilled the milk, accidentally smeared my eyeliner twice (had to start over completely), couldn't find my keys, then found them but forgot where I put my purse and ended up missing my bus. Which meant riding my motorcycle uptown and paying for nine hours of parking.

I resisted tearing my hair out, but only barely.

Only a minute after I made it out the door, my phone started buzzing. I flicked it open without looking to see who it was. "What." I asked flatly.

The line was silent for a second. "…are you mad at me or something?"

I felt like smacking myself; I recognized that voice. "Knuckles! No, I'm not mad at you… just the morning. Nothing is going right."

"I'm sorry."

"Not your fault. What's up?" I grabbed my purse and headed out the door. If I took the shortcut, I would make it to the parking garage in under three minutes.

"Well, we haven't done anything together for a little while."

Two weeks, five days.

"And was wondering, if you're not too busy…"

I had two papers and four design sketches due in two days.

"I have some new runes that GUN sent me that need translating. I can grab pizza and pick you up at the same time."

I chewed my lower lip. My mind raced for a second then I shoved down the rational voice in my head that was nagging at me to turn him down. "That sounds amazing," I said, breathing a sigh of relief. "I get off at four today. See you then?"

"Sounds like a plan. Hope your morning gets better."

"Thanks, Knuckles… I love you." I froze, hand on the door out of the apartment complex.

Oh Chaos, did I just say that?

Knuckles was quiet on the other end. My mind scrambled for a way to save this situation. Was it too soon? We'd been dating for over six months now, but maybe that was too fast. Was six months too soon? Too long? I don't know! I don't know anything! Why did I say that? What if he didn't say it back? Ugggh, stupid, stupid, stupid–

"I love you too… bye."

I blinked. "...bye."

I hung up. Then I immediately screamed into my hands.

I sprinted out to my bike, put my earpiece in and called Manic. He picked up on the second ring and before he could say anything I screamed again.

"Uh… judging from the pitch, I am guessing that is a happy scream?"

"Yes, sorry!" I started the engine and headed towards the freeway.

"Okay then," he said. "Spill. Whatever it is that made you that excited requires details."

Most girls had other girls to scream about their boyfriends with. I had Manic. Just as good, if not better.

"So I was talking to Knuckles–"

Manic gasped, cutting me off. "OH MY CHAOS– DID HE PROPOSE? Tell me he proposed!"

"What? No!"

"Oh… wait, did you and him–?"

"No."

"Yeah, didn't think so."

"Can I just tell you what happened?"

"Right, sorry. Please continue."

I weaved through traffic. Driving my bike without my abilities was a little harder than I was accustomed to. There was no nagging in the back of my head that some idiot was going to turn into oncoming traffic (aka, me). So now I had to do what everyone else did: use their eyes.

But back to more pressing matters. "So I was talking to Knuckles on the phone like two minutes ago, and we made plans for this afternoon. So we were wrapping up the conversation and–"

"Did he say the three magic words?"

"Manic, I called to tell you what happened. Not for you to guess it."

"He did! He totally did! That's adorable."

I couldn't help but smile. "Manic…"

"What? I'm excited! Aren't you excited?"

"Of course I am!" I replied, failing to repress my grin. "Why do you think I called?"

"Ugh, you two are so friggin' cute. Just give him a ring and make it official."

"I… we're not ready for that, Manic."

"Sonia, it has been six months. I've known people who got married after two weeks!"

"Mm-hm. And how many of those marriages lasted beyond a month?"

"...touche."

I turned a corner, noting the street name. Work was three minutes away if traffic was light. I doubted that was going to happen. "Besides, I think Maurice still needs some time to process… us."

"I dunno, I think he's pretty chill about the whole thing."

That was certainly true. Maurice had been pretty neutral on his thought-to-be-dead sister and "friendly rival" dating. Quote, "It's been over ten years! Why would I have a say on who she can or cannot date?"

Of course, it might have helped when we explained that I had been the famous 'Sofia'.

Speaking of Maurice…

"Did you talk to your boss about getting next week off?" I asked.

There was silence for a moment. "In a manner of speaking, yes."

I frowned. "...you got fired again, didn't you?"

"Maybe."

"Manic!"

"Flipping burgers drives me crazy! And I'm horrible at it! Honestly, it was only a matter of time before I got the boot."

I resisted the urge to lecture my brother. Again. Besides, my work was just around the corner so it would be best to let it drop for now– I was already late. "I've got to get to work. I'll talk to you later. Okay?"

"Yeah, alright."

"And remember; next week!"

Manic sighed heavily. "I still think this is a bad idea–"

I hung up before he could start the same rant he's been repeating since I told him my plan. I knew he would hate it, but this wasn't about him. It was about Maurice.

---

Work was slow. And boring. And full of stuffy trust fund kids who thought that since they had a wad of their parent's credit cards, they deserve to have the world handed to them. This doesn't fit with my brand, it's not my color, it's the wrong size, I only wear designer jeans, were just some of the many complaints I either received or overheard on this particular day. Sometimes I just wanted to climb up on the counter and scream. It was on those occasions I could understand why Manic had a hard time keeping a steady job.

The second the clock struck four, I was out the door and on the street. Knuckles was waiting outside, a pizza box in one hand and his Extreme Gear board in the other. I didn't wait for him to put either of them down, throwing my arms around him in a hug and burying my face in his shoulder.

He grunted from the impact. "That bad?"

"Mmh-hm," I tightened my grip for a second, then let go completely. "Let's go–"

"Excuse me!" said a light, unfamiliar voice from behind us. I let of Knuckles and turned around; a brown female cat had run up with a notebook in hand. "You're Knuckles the Echidna, right?"

Knuckles looked her up and down. "Who wants to know?"

"Katherine Scott of the Emerald Gazette," the cat replied, flashing him a smile. "Would you mind if I asked a few questions?" Her eyes flicked to me, "Starting with who this lovely lady is?"

I didn't have to look at my boyfriend to know he was not happy with the turn of these events. His voice dropped to a growl. "I don't see how that is any of your–"

"Sonia." I reached out and shook Katherine's hand. "Sonia… Dodge."

"Pleasure," Katherine smiled pleasantly enough. "May I ask you a few questions?"

"I suppose it depends on what they are," I reached over and took Knuckles' hand. I squeezed it gently.

Katherine noted the exchange, flipped to a clean page. "Of course. First off, how long have you been together?"

"Since January," I said, pulling Knuckles closer. "Right, sweetie?"

Knuckles looked at me, clearly shocked that I wasn't yelling at the reporter about minding her own business. He flicked his eyes to his extreme board with the clear, 'let's get out of here.' I smiled up at him, tightening my grip and gave the most minuscule shake of my head.

"Mind telling me how you met?" Katherine scribbled away on her pad, not noticing the silent conversation between Knuckles and me.

I gave her my best customer-service smile. "I was one of the psychics hired by GUN to help find their missing agent. During the incident, Knuckles and I had the opportunity to work together quite often, and we figured we made a good team. After Agent Sonic was recovered, we kept in touch." I flashed a smile at Katherine, "After a little while, we thought we'd give it a shot."

Katherine looked up and smiled again. "Any plans been made for the future?"

"Not really. Just going wherever the wind takes us," I felt my phone buzz in my pocket and made a show of pulling it out and quickly reading through it.

'Sunday. My place. Seven PM. Do not be late.'

I made a mental note to respond later, turning back to the reporter. "Oh, my... I'm so sorry, Miss Scott, but we're running late for a meeting. Would you mind if we put a pin in this conversation?" I reached over and snatched her notepad out of her hand before she could respond. A quick scan of the pad revealed only bullet points from the conversation and I made a decision. I scribbled down my phone number and handed the notepad back to her. "Call me and we can talk over lunch or something."

Katherine's eyes widened and she nodded quickly. "Of course, I completely understand. Thank you very much!" She dashed off, vanishing into the crowd.

Knuckles finally found his voice. "What the… why on Mobius did you do that? You know your number is gonna get leaked to thousands of people, and then–"

"Please," I waved it off. "That reporter just got the scoop of her career. Do you really think she's going to throw it away just like that?" I shrugged, "Besides, she seemed nice."

"She was a reporter. A reporter that knows your name."

"Knuckles," I rolled my eyes, "The longer you run from the press the more they'll hound you. Sometimes having a civil conversation with one is all you need to get some of them off your back. All of those crazy people who want to be the first to know who I am are going to have to move on to some other celebrities' new girlfriend or boyfriend." I folded my arms. "And I've found the more you positively meet with media and the more contact with people you have, you're more likely to be left alone because you're not playing hard to get. So yeah, it'll take a while but eventually, the press will get bored of us."

"Especially since we're not a mystery to be solved anymore," said Knuckles, a glimmer of lighting up in his eyes.

"Exactly," I motioned to the Extreme Gear board. "Speaking of mysteries, there are some runes that you promised a girl she could help translate."

Knuckles chuckled. "Right. Let's get out of here before the rest of the paparazzi hunts us down."

---

Three hours later, Knuckles and I finally took a break from the runes. The sun was starting to set and Knuckles knew the best spot to sit and watch as the sky tinged itself shades of pink and orange. We leaned against a tree and watched in silence as the light slowly faded into darkness and the stars came into view.

I huddled closer to Knuckles in an attempt to keep the night chill at bay. "It's beautiful, Knuckles."

"Yeah… I never get tired of this view."

I looked over and found Knuckles staring not at the sunset, but at me. I rolled my eyes, leaning forward to kiss his nose. "Never took you for the cliche type."

"What can I say? You've turned me into a hopeless romantic."

"And I'm not sorry." I turned back to look up at the sky, watching the full moon rise in the distance.

After a moment, I spoke. "Thank you," I murmured, nuzzling my head into his shoulder. "For doing this with me. I needed it."

Knuckles frowned. "That bad?"

"Well," I sighed heavily, "College isn't as amazing as I thought it would be. I mean, I love learning about clothes and fashion design, but… my business classes are just the worst."

"I'm sorry," Knuckles replied, running his hand through my quills. "Anything I can do to help?"

I smiled. "Just keep being you." I paused. "Also keep bringing me up here. I think I'm in love with this island."

"Should I be jealous?" Knuckles teased.

I pretended to think about it, tapping my chin in deep thought. "I guess that depends on if the island is able to kiss me."

Knuckles laughed. "It's not."

"Then I guess I'll have to settle for you." I cuddled closer. "Shame."

"Hey!"

I burst out in a fit of giggles, leaning on his shoulder for support. He glared at me for a moment before the stoic look on his face broke into a smile. "Alright, alright…. in all seriousness, though, are you doing okay?"

I paused. "...yeah, I'm fine."

"Really?" Knuckles pulled away so he could see me better. "You just seem really stressed out. I mean, you lost your powers and I know that can be hard–"

"I'm fine, really." I patted his arm in reassurance. "I was surprised myself, but… I really don't miss waking up in the middle of the night screaming from night terrors of the future… or past… or present." I pulled my knees into my chest and turned my gaze to the stars again. "I do miss being able to navigate traffic without worrying about getting in accidents, but I can manage just fine without that."

"You're sure?"

"I'm sure. If anything, it just feels strange."

Knuckles thought about that for a moment before slowly nodding. "That makes sense."

"Enough about me," I pointed to him, "How are you doing?"

"Tikal's still giving me the cold shoulder, but other than that, I'm good," Knuckles put his hands behind his head and leaned back. "Just grateful that life's finally going back to normal, more or less."

"You mean we don't have to worry about dark entities and possessed teammates?"

"Thank Chaos," Knuckles sighed, relieved.

"Do you think Tikal will ever get over this whole thing?"

Knuckles shrugged. "Hard to tell with her. But it'll probably be a while before she starts talking to me again. It makes my job harder, but not impossible." He smiled back at me. "I had a lot of fun. You're a fast learner when it comes to runes."

"It's like finding the answer to a mystery… even when said mystery is a farmer's inventory of his latest crop. And I do love a good mystery," I said. "It's better than the fashion industry, that's for sure."

"Find something else to do, then," Knuckles said.

I blinked, slowly turning my head to him. "You're kidding."

"If you don't like it, then don't do it. Simple as that," Knuckles shrugged. "Why would you want to do something you don't like for the rest of your life?"

"I… guess." I agreed half-heartedly, remembering Manic had told me almost the exact same thing. "But what else would I do?"

"I don't know. What do you like doing?"

I thought for a moment. "Well… I like art. And history. And... translating runes with you."

"Then start with those," Knuckles said. "Maybe you could be an archeologist. Or a writer."

I snorted. "Me? A writer?"

"You'd have a pretty interesting story if you ever got into the memoir business."

I shook my head, but the smile lingered. "I think my brothers would be more interesting, honestly."

"Which one?"

"Take your pick," I said off-handedly. "I mean, come on. Sonic is the 'hero of Mobius' and Manic is… Manic."

"Then write their stories. It definitely wouldn't be boring."

"Right…" I smiled. "Like there's someone who'd want to read all about how we nearly died because Maurice got possessed by some creepy fallen guardian."

"Sounds like a good book to me. I'd read it."

"Mmm… I'll think about it." I moved back to Knuckles' side and curled up against him. "Now how about we just enjoy the view and pretend that I don't have two papers due tomorrow."

"I've been enjoying the view."

I glanced over. He still wasn't looking at the sky. "...Oh, just shut up and kiss me."

"Yes, ma'am."

---

Maurice looked nervous. Manic looked furious. I just rolled my eyes at both of them.

Above us hung the same old sign with the same lights busted, reading 'Charlie's Junk 'n Scrap' in chipped, faded lettering. The yard looked the same as it always had, with busted cars strewn about, missing gears and springs scattered in the dirt, and pile upon pile of whatever rusted pieces of scrap people dropped off or sold to Uncle Chuck in every corner.

Maurice (I refused to call him Sonic today), rubbed the back of his head anxiously. "Maybe he isn't home."

"Oh, he's home," I pointed toward the house. "It's Tuesday."

"So?"

"It's the day he does his finances for the junkyard."

"How do you know he hasn't started doing that some other day?" At my expression, Maurice seemed to understand. "Ah. Alrighty, then."

Manic was glaring at everyone and everything, "Why'd I have to come again? I told you, I don't want anything to do with that miserable old geezer–"

"Manic, so help me, I will strangle you with my bare hands if you say another word." I hissed, shooting him my best death glare. It seemed to shut him up. For now.

I entered the property line, sparing a look at Maurice. "Come on, he won't bite."

Maurice didn't look too excited at that idea. "What if we come back tomorrow? Or next week? Or–"

"Never?" Manic chimed in.

The eye roll that followed didn't even begin to convey my annoyance with these two. "Come on."

And with that, I marched straight across the yard and up to the door. I knocked three times, stepped back, and waited.

I could hear Maurice dragging Manic (albeit half-heartedly) to the door, the later mumbling some very unflattering words under his breath. I chose to ignore them.

"If yer' sellin' somethin', I ain't interested!" called Uncle Chuck from inside the house.

"Well! We tried!" Manic said, starting to turn around. I stopped him with a stern look, then knocked again.

"I'm happy with my religion, thank you very much!"

I knocked again, this time a little harder.

"Alright, I'm comin, I'm comin!"

I checked to make sure neither Manic or Maurice had sprinted off. "Would both of you please just relax?"

"Right…" Manic grumbled.

Maurice just nodded, his jaw clenched and eyes looking anywhere but at the door.

The sound of a flurry of padlocks unclicking caught my attention. The creaky screen door swung open, Uncle Chuck's stepping out onto the porch with a scowl.

"Alright, what do ya–" his voice cut off at the sight of me. I took the moment to take a good look at him. His fur looked a little grayer since I had last seen him. His glasses were still the same, though, and he wore the same brown mechanic's apron, stained with splotches of machine grease. He looked shocked to see me on the doorstep and I doubt he had seen anyone else at the moment.

I gave a little wave. "Hey, Uncle Chuck."

He stared for a moment before his mustache twitched upwards into a grin; he scooped me up into a massive bear hug, chuckling to himself. "Sonia! Ah, sweetheart, long time no see! Glory, it's good to see ya."

I returned the hug, breathing in the familiar smell of diesel oil. "It's good to see you too."

"You don't know how much I've missed you, girlie," Uncle Chuck said into my fur. "Why, I–" Whatever he was going to say, he stopped. His arms around me stiffened and I slowly pulled away to see what the problem was.

Manic was standing by the edge of the porch, arms crossed and posture slouched. Uncle Chuck's gaze narrowed, his mustache drooping back down.

"So," he said rigidly, arching a brow. "You finally crawled back home."

Manic gritted his teeth, the tips of his ears going red. "Hardly."

Uncle Chuck didn't respond, glancing Manic over with a sneer. His eyes lingered on the handful of piercings in Manic's ears and the torn edges of Manic's vest; he grimaced. "So where've you been all these years? Prison?"

"Uncle Chuck!" I exclaimed.

Manic clenched his fists, eyes darkening. "You'd like that, wouldn't you? Well, at least I haven't been stuck in this dump, rotting in my own filth–"

"Manic…" I warned, squeezing his shoulder. Glad we're getting off on such a great start.

Chuck snarled. "You never knew how good you had it, ya' ungrateful punk. If you're coming back here for a handout, lemme tell you right now, you're not getting diddly-squat."

"Right, like I'd want anything your wrinkly, unwashed hands have touched."

"Don't you start with me, boy–"

"Or what, old man? Whatcha' gonna do?"

"I'm gon' get my rifle, that's what–"

"ENOUGH!" I shouted, making both of them freeze in place. "It hasn't been two minutes and you're already fighting! Can't you give it a rest?"

Uncle Chuck frowned, but didn't respond. Manic shoved his hands into his jean pockets, muttering under his breath.

"Sonia, you know I'm thrilled to see you again, but… what exactly is this all about?" Chuck asked, crossing his arms.

I sighed. "Well, I wanted to see if having a peaceful family reunion would work in our favor, but clearly that was a misguided idea."

"Clearly," Manic mumbled, rolling his eyes.

"And also…" I swallowed hard. Oh Chaos, how to put this... "Uncle Chuck, there's someone… someone I'd like you to meet." I turned around to face Maurice; he had backed off almost all the way off the porch, obviously uncomfortable with all the shouting. I motioned him forward, nodding encouragingly.

Uncle Chuck spared a glance towards Maurice and immediately did a double-take, his mouth dropping open in shock. He blinked, opening his mouth to speak but sputtering over his words.

"Jules… J-Julian?" he gasped, hands trembling.

Maurice peered down at the ground. He shook his head slowly, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment. "N-no, Uncle Chuck. I'm, uh… I'm not him. It's me. Mar… Maurice." He flinched at the name, but it wasn't as bad as it had been a few months ago.

"...Maurice?" Uncle Chuck blinked rapidly again. I saw tears begin to form in his eyes and his body began to shake. "How… how is this possible? You're–"

"Dead?" Maurice replied with a lopsided smile. "It's a… well, it's a long story. Can we come in?"

---

My bedroom was smaller than I remembered.

Surprisingly, everything was almost exactly the way I remembered leaving it, albeit slightly dustier than before. Even the pieces of crumpled-up notebook paper were still on the floor next to the wastebasket, right where I had left them.

Out in the hall, Maurice was on his wrist communicator, chatting with Tails. I caught a few sentences– mostly just small chatter about arriving safely and the reunion going relatively well (Manic and Uncle Chuck hadn't killed each other yet, so that was a win in my book). I felt a little bad that Tails wasn't able to come with us, but it was probably for the best.

"Man… it's like stepping back in time, isn't it?" Manic murmured, looking over the room in dazed wonder.

Manic sat down on his old bed, giving the mattress a bounce before laying back. "This thing's more comfortable than I remember."

I raised an eyebrow. "Is that a bad thing?"

"Not necessarily," Manic shrugged. "But I'd still rather sleep in a hotel."

"The closest hotel is like forty miles away."

"The van, then."

"Manic."

"What?" he demanded. "I just… I really don't want to be in the same building as… him."

"Noted," I sat down on my own bed. "Do you mind sharing with Maurice?"

"Yeah, that's fine," Manic shrugged. "At least then I'll know Chuck won't stab me in my sleep."

"Manic."

"Kidding, kidding…"

The door to the bedroom opened and Manic perked up, swinging a leg off the bed. "How's Tails?" he asked, glancing towards Maurice.

"Fine," Maurice smiled, shutting the door behind him. "I told him to get to bed at a decent time but…"

"Pfft– yeah, that ain't happening," Manic snorted.

Maurice nodded in agreement. "Exactly. I think he and Uncle Chuck would get along pretty well, though. I know Tails would be interested in some of Chuck's old inventions."

"Imagine the nerd talk," said Manic. "You'll have to introduce them."

Maurice shook his head in disbelief. "This is so surreal. I just talked to my uncle and now I'm planning to introduce him to my adopted brother." He paused. "If I'm dreaming, don't pinch me."

I smiled at that. "You're not dreaming. Trust me, I've pinched myself enough to know."

Maurice sank onto Manic's bed with a heavy sigh. "I just wish… I wish I had known sooner."

"We all do, bro," Manic playfully elbowed him. "Imagine what we could have done."

"That's all I can seem to do," Maurice frowned. "If any of us had done just a few things differently... we all could have grown up right here."

"Yeah," Manic shook his head, "I wouldn't take it that far. More like we could have kicked Robotnik in the face together."

I suddenly had this image of the three of us hanging onto Manic's extreme gear board and dropping on top of Robotnik. I couldn't help but snort at the idea. Maurice must have gotten a similar result because he laughed.

"It could've happened!" Manic grinned. "Imagine the havoc."

"Nope," I held up my hand to stop him from continuing. "Not going there. Let's focus on the positives."

"Like…?" Maurice asked, cocking his head to the side.

I thought for a moment before answering. "Two years ago, I sat in this very room and hoped that one day, Manic would be here with me." I smiled. "I got Manic… but I also got you. That seems like a positive to me."

Manic and Maurice shared a look. Manic rolled his eyes, "You spend too much time watching the Hallmark channel."

"Well, it's true!"

"You're giving me cavities, sis."

Maurice nodded in agreement, suppressing a laugh. "Look, we're not saying you're wrong, but that was just… super corny."

"What can I say? I'm a hopeless optimist." I laid down on the bed and closed my eyes. "Now let me go to bed knowing that my brothers are in the same bedroom for the first time in twelve years."

And likely, the last time; we were leaving first thing in the morning. Maurice had a mission to complete for GUN, and Manic refused to stay any longer than necessary. I was tempted to stay an extra day to bring Uncle Chuck up to speed, but decided against it. College didn't wait for anyone and my job's hours were competitive.

After some time of silence, I heard the steady breathing of both Manic and Maurice in deep sleep. It was then that I was able to relax and allow the darkness to claim me.

It wasn't perfect. But for now, it was home.

---

Sonic's POV:

The sun shone brightly through a clear blue sky, a warm June breeze blowing past me as I stood on the steps of The Red Mallet diner. It was a good day for a party.

Well, not exactly a party, but I'd count a restaurant's grand opening as a celebration, at least. Especially when said restaurant was owned by a certain pink hedgehog that I thought of as a very close… friend.

Amy stood beside me in a new red dress, a white apron tied around her waist. Her hair was styled up and out of her face, ready for the day of cooking and serving that was in front of her, but her eyes were shining with anticipation (had they always been that green…?). The rest of the team was here too; to my left, Tails was scribbling away on his E-pad, a habit I was used to from the many years of sudden ideas he would get. This particular idea had been going on for almost a week now, and it didn't look like he was going to run out of inspiration anytime soon.

To the left of him, Manic and Sonia were sitting in the grass, making small talk while Manic tapped his drumsticks on anything in reach. Knuckles was by Sonia's side, her hand clasped in his while he watched Cream string together a flower crown and listen to her chatter excitedly about her mother's new job; apparently, after Vanilla had turned in an application, Amy had skipped the interview process altogether and had appointed Vanilla as the floor manager without a second thought.

Cream had also wanted to work at the restaurant, but both Amy and Vanilla had decided to wait until she was older. She seemed fine with that; it meant that while Vanilla was at work, she'd get to spend the summer training with Shadow all day, every day. That seemed like a weird thing to get excited about, but hey, whatever made her happy.

Speaking of Shadow, I was surprised that he and Rouge had shown up at all, but sure enough, they'd made it. Come to think of it, they had been hanging out with Team Sonic a lot more than I remembered… I guess everyone got a little closer while I was out.

The Red Mallet was decent sized, big enough to hold thirty people– forty if you squeezed in the booths. Amy had gone full 'retro diner' in her decorating, with black-and-white checked flooring, red leather booths and red stool seats lined up in front of a sleek white bar counter. There was even a vintage jukebox tucked against the far wall.

Amy had been working around the clock to get everything the way she wanted for months, and it had definitely paid off; a crowd of customers had been gathering since around ten in the morning, and there were a few reporters (because the mere mention of Team Sonic and Team Dark tends to attract paparazzi), and even a person Shadow had pointed out to be a local food critic. At least twenty people had shown up, and it looked like they were only the tip of the iceberg.

The clock was ticking closer to eleven and Amy was starting to look nervous. I leaned over to her and squeezed her arm. "Hey... you got this."

Amy smiled at me. "I'm really glad you're here, Sonic."

"You kidding?" I smirked, "I wouldn't have missed this for the world."

"Well," Amy fidgeted with her apron, "Thanks. It's not every day a famous hero attends a little old restaurant opening," she teased.

I shrugged. "What can I say? I love the cook." It took a second to process what I had just said. "I mean, I love the cooking. I mean, the cook's cooking. Your cooking. I'm not–"

"Sonic," Amy laughed. "Relax." She spared a glance at her watch before stepping forward towards the crowd of hungry reporters and customers.

To my left, Tails looked up from his E-Pad. "Smooth, bro. Real smooth."

"Shut up."

Knuckles smirked. "Sonic, just ask her out already. We all know you like her."

Sonia hummed in agreement. "You two would make such a cute couple."

"I've asked her out!" I said hotly, feeling the tips of my ears go red.

"That was a year and a half ago," Knuckles said.

I gave him a look. "Well, I've been a little busy."

Everyone dropped the subject after that.

Amy waved at the crowd, smiling bright. "Good morning!" she called, clasping her hands in front of her. "I'm so happy that you all made it to the grand opening of The Red Mallet! I'm sure everybody's hungry, so I'll keep this short."

"Here, here!" Manic shouted with a grin. Knuckles elbowed him in the ribs.

Amy ignored them. "I'd like to thank a few people that, without them, I don't think I'd be here. Starting with Vanilla and Cream Rabbit." She glanced behind her at the two. "The times we spent in the kitchen baking and cooking made me realize how much I loved it. Thank you for letting me into your family."

Vanilla wiped away a tear, a broad smile stretching across her face. Cream grinned from ear to ear, and I could tell she was seconds away from running up to give Amy a hug. Amy looked back at the reporters, "I would also like to thank GUN who helped me get the building and loan to start this little business. And last but not least, I'd like to thank Sonic the Hedgehog."

What?

Amy turned back around to face me. "Without his horrible, horrible cooking skills, I don't think I would have known how much I loved to see the joy on someone's face when they taste my food."

The laughter started with Manic and spread to everyone else in seconds. I just stared at Amy, cracking a lopsided smile. She grinned and winked at me before turning back to the crowd. "With that, The Red Mallet is open for business! Come on in!"

---

"Chaos, look at this menu," I said, scanning the list of food. Tails had mentioned how much food Amy had made, but wow… this was at least four pages long.

The front page held the appetizers and salads, while the second and third pages listed the main courses and the last page held drinks and desserts. All of the names of the dishes made me smile with memories both happy (the Sonic Heroes burger looked pretty good) and sad (the Chip Sundae was a cherry ice cream sundae topped with chocolate chips and a slice of lime. Talk about missing an old friend).

Amy appeared at our booth, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Alright, what can I get you all to start? Drinks? Appetizers?"

Manic looked up from his menu, "Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'd like a tower of Onion Rin's."

Sonia glared at him. "You mean rings."

"Nope. Rin's."

Sonia kicked him under the table.

"What?" Manic hissed back. "That's what it says!"

"It does not!"

I flipped back to the front page; my eyes were drawn to the fancy box in the center. Mallet Speciality: Onion Rin's. Whoops. "I think you should call whoever printed your menus, Amy. Looks like there's a typo."

Amy shook her head. "No, Manic pronounced it correctly. It's Rin's."

I looked up, confused. "Um… okay, but why?"

"Trade secret," Amy tapped the side of her nose. "I'll get two towers of Onion Rin's for everyone. What would you like to drink?"

After she left with our order, I looked around the table. "Anyone want to explain Rin's?"

"Wish we could," Knuckles retorted. "Don't know what it is."

Sonia examined the menu. "Maybe she's just embracing the typo to save face or stand out."

"Uh… yeah. Sure," Manic said softly. His gaze turned to the window, "That's what she's doing."

I raised an eyebrow, but didn't question it. If Manic knew the story behind this and wasn't telling it to anyone who'd listen, then that meant Amy really didn't want anyone else to know. 'Trade secret' indeed.

"So, what's everyone getting as a main dish?" Sonia asked.

I smirked. "The chili dogs."

"You always get chili dogs. Get something else."

"Why?" I pointed at the menu. "It literally has my name on it."

"Sonic."

"Sonia."

"Sonic."

"Sonia."

"Manic!" said hedgehog grinned at his "genius".

Sonia flicked him in the arm.

"Ow!"

Tails rolled his eyes. "I think Sonic covers all three of you."

...what was that supposed to mean?

My siblings and I exchanged confused looks. "Tails, maybe it's time you put your E-pad away. I think it might be frying your brain or something." I reached over to turn off the screen only to have my hand slapped away.

"I'm fine, Sonic," he said. "I only meant your names are really similar. Like, if you take parts of Sonia and Manic away, it literally spells Sonic." Tails continued writing on his pad for a few seconds, oblivious to the silence that fell on our table. His words finally caught up with his thoughts. Tails froze, slowly raised his head, then turned to me. His mouth gaped and his eyes narrowed a little. "Wait."

… ladies and gentlemen, my little brother. Genius extraordinaire, and we have the papers to prove it.

I hit my hand on my forehead. "You have literally known them for almost a year and you just put that together?"

"Oh my Chaos, you actually did that?"

"And…?" I shifted, starting to feel a little uncomfortable, "I liked it."

Across from me, Knuckles, Sonia and Manic stared at me with their eyes wide. I had a feeling that Shadow and Rouge probably had a similar expression in the booth behind me.

Of course, that was Amy showed up with our Onion Rin's and drinks. "Alright, so I've got three Gold Ring Lemonades, one water with lemon and one root beer… " She paused, looking around the table. "Uh… is everything okay?"

I looked up at her with a smile, "Yeah, we're fine. I'll explain later."

"...alright..." Amy didn't look convinced but placed the appetizer on the table along with dipping sauce. "What can I get you for the main course?"

I didn't even look at my menu. "I'll have my favorite, Ames."

"Wouldn't expect anything less."

---

I got back from my morning run late on a Saturday. I was a little surprised to find Tails awake in his workshop.

Pretty sure he had stayed up past one last night… not that I was up at that time. I had just needed a drink of water. It had nothing to do with the creepy dreams about dark blue copies of me that wanted me to kill my friends.

…

Anyway, Tails was awake, still scribbling on his E-pad.

"Morning, buddy."

Tails grunted hello.

"Well, nice to see you too."

"Mmmh?" Tails finally looked up. "Oh, hey Sonic. How long have you been there?"

"Not long. How long have you been awake?"

"Not long."

I folded my arms and gave my best 'responsible brother slash legal guardian' face. "How long is that? Twelve hours?"

No response.

"Eighteen hours?"

Still no response.

"Please tell me it's not twenty-four."

"It's only been like twenty. I'm fine."

I shook my head, "Yeah, not happening. To bed with you."

"Sonic, I'm almost done. Just five more minutes."

"Whatever you have been working on for the past week and a half can wait. Now come on, I'll tuck you in."

"Sonic," Tails glared at me, "I'm not a child."

"You're twelve."

"Thirteen."

I know that I'm an idiot at points of the day. But I think an idiot would realize that, when you are 'gone' for over a year, you miss your little brother's birthday. Again. But apparently not this idiot.

I facepalmed. "Oh Chaos… I really am a jerk, aren't I?"

Tails raised an eyebrow, clearly confused. "Uh… it's fine Sonic. You always get my age wrong."

"Not that! I mean, yes, but not that, that! I mean– dude, I totally missed your birthday!"

"Oh," he looked back at this E-pad, "It's fine. We were kinda busy anyway. Dark and all."

"Nope, not an excuse!" I pulled Tails to his feet. "Now go to sleep and when you wake up we're gonna have a party."

"Sonic, it's fine. I'd rather not have people over here. I'm kinda busy."

"Relax, it can just be you and me." I pushed him towards the door. "We'll go out to the old cave and have a picnic. We can even test out the plane by flying it out there."

"You don't have to–"

"Miles, please?" I asked. "I missed your birthday once already."

Tails rolled his eyes, but he smiled anyway. "Alright. But only if Amy makes the food."

"Deal. Now go to bed, and if you wake up before tomorrow morning, I'm gonna lock you in your room."

---

The cave was a lot harder to find than the last time we came. Maybe it had something to do with the overgrown shrubs, roots, and foot-tall blades of grass that had built up over the past year. I never told Tails, but I found myself stopping at our old 'home' a few times on my longer runs. It was a good place to clear my head and I had made sure it remained in liveable-ish conditions.

The reminders of how long I had been gone felt like nature was giving me a slap in the face, and I didn't like it.

Tails ended up landing the new plane in a clearing a few miles off course and we walked on foot the rest of the way. It was quiet as we traveled, keeping our words short and sweet. Amy's lunch was packed in my backpack (along with a last-minute gift I had picked up during Tails' twenty-six-hour nap).

I had informed Manic and Sonia of my plans for the day. I had learned the hard way that if I didn't I would come back in the evening to a full-blown hedgehog hunt ("Pick up your phone!" "I don't have a phone, Sonia." "WHAT?" "It's called a wrist communicator. Next time ask Tails for my frequency!"). I was a little surprised when Manic had shown up on my doorstep, a wad of bills in his hands. "Don't worry, it ain't stolen," he had assured. "It's for the kid's gift. Get him something nice."

When we finally found the cave, it was past one in the afternoon and we were both too hungry to talk. I practically dumped the food on the ground (it was wrapped) and we dug into the chili and cheese dogs. Neither of us spoke until we were about half-way through the meal.

"So," I said after finishing my second chili dog. "Want to tell me what you've been working on?"

Tails chewed his lower lip for a moment. "It's… hard to explain."

I raised an eyebrow. "Since when have I understood everything you've ever made?"

He snorted. "Never."

"Exactly," I smirked. "Now spill."

"Well, it's kind of a long story," Tails put his food down. He took a moment to gather his thoughts before speaking again. "While you were... comatose, I was kind of lost. I knew I wanted to rebuild the plane and I knew that I wanted you to wake up but besides that… I had no idea. Everyone else found something, whether it was returning to their old job or finding a new one. And I… I had nothing. No Robotnik to fight, no machines to build, just… me."

I felt a stab of pain in my heart. Tails had gone through so much and I hadn't been there for any of it.

Tails continued, "At the time, I just wanted you to wake up, so I didn't really focus on any possibilities for my future. And then… well," he smiled at me.

I forced a small smile back. "I came to?"

He nodded. "Everything kinda clicked after that. It's gotten a lot easier to take risks in my experiments, and the ideas just keep coming." Tails reached into his backpack and pulled out his E-pad. He leaned closer to me to show me the screen. A digital blueprint with some kind of improved E-pad shone up at me. Tails swiped the screen and showed another blueprint, this one of several designs of Extreme Gear. The next one had a rough sketch of T-Pup, with various designs of the face and body to the side (a cat, fox, several dogs, etc). There were computers, phones, headphones, stereos, televisions, even a hovering car.

I let out a low whistle, "You're going to make all of that?"

"Kind of," Tails continued swiping through his blueprints and notes. "I… I've been thinking about starting a company that specializes in electronic devices."

My eyes widened. "Seriously?"

Tails expression fell. "You don't like it."

I quickly shook my head, "Are you kidding? That sounds awesome! Like, really awesome! It just…" I paused, trying to find the right words. "It sounds like a lot of work. Especially for a thirteen-year-old."

"At least you got my age right," Tails grinned. "And I know it's going to be a lot of work. It's not going to happen this year or the next. I'm hoping by the time I'm sixteen I'll have enough investors to start."

I watched the final blueprints flash by before Tails came to the end. He tucked his E-pad away out of sight. "I'm thinking of calling it Miles Electric."

"That… is amazing, Tails." I reached over and squeezed his shoulder. "You're really going places, you know that?"

My brother looked up, hope shining in his eyes, "You think so?"

" 'Course I think so!" I gave a thumbs up. "How many other kids can build a television set out of paper clips and lemons?"

Tails laughed and I joined him after a moment, the two of us caught up in old memories with Robotnik. Even though that man was a psychopathic murderer, there were moments where his stupidity made me smile. He was always eager for attention. It was what got him killed.

A sharp pain shot through the back of my brain. My hands flew up to my head and I groaned. Some part of my brain registered Tails voice talking but I didn't understand a single word. All I could hear was the sound of glass shattering into a thousand pieces followed by stone crushing stone and someone screaming in agony the sound of bones shattering–

"Sonic!"

I gasped, my eyes flying open to find Tails sitting in front of me, his eyes wide with fear. I jolted back a little just from the sheer shock of him, gasping for air.

Tails slowly reached out, putting a hand on my arm. His voice came, a nervous tone to it with his free hand twitching towards the emergency button on his communicator. The spoken question was only one word. "Maurice?" In reality, it was more than that.

Are you… you?

"Re… remember those blueberries we had here? I wonder if the bush is still around." My voice quivered and my hands shook, but Tails relaxed, the fear leaving his eyes. He leaned forward and pulled me into a hug, which I gladly returned.

Tails and I had decided to call them "flashes" and he was the only other person who knew about them. The way we understood it was my memories of… the bad times were still intact somewhere in my head. There was just some kind of wall blocking my access to them. But despite the wall, sometimes something would trigger a crack. It wasn't much: mostly noise or a feeling. But still, they messed me up.

It took several minutes for my heart rate to drop. When it finally did, I pulled away from Tails. "Thanks, buddy."

"Just… just tell me if it gets worse. I don't want anything to happen to you."

"It won't," I assured. "I'm fine."

"Maurice–"

"Miles," I sighed, pinching my nose, "It's not him."

"How do you know?" he shot back, almost demanding. "Sonic, if Dark isn't gone–!"

"He's gone," I growled, "Trust me on that."

"But how do you know?"

"Just… a feeling," I frowned slightly. The statement just felt right and Tikal had said that I needed to pay better attention to my emotions. "I'm okay."

Tails didn't look completely convinced but I chose to let it slide. I knew Dark was gone for good, and that was enough for me to sleep in the black of the night without being too scared to close my eyes. It was a weird feeling: knowing that you're afraid but not remembering exactly what you're afraid of.

"So… what are your plans for the future, Sonic?" Tails asked after several minutes of silence. "I mean, Team Sonic is basically disbanded, what with Amy and her restaurant, Knuckles and his island, plus my company."

I frowned. "To be honest, I haven't thought about it too much." I leaned back against a nearby rock, resting my hands behind my head. "My eighteenth birthday is in a few weeks, which means I can officially adopt you, so no more bowing down to GUN."

Tails blinked. "I guess I never thought about that."

"We can leave, Tails," I looked up at the sky, trying to find some kind of shapes in the clouds. "No more government agencies telling us what to do. No worrying about you being snatched out of my life by child services. No need to be the 'Hero of Mobius'." I closed my eyes, trying to picture such a life. "And I can't see it."

My little brother cocked his head to the side. "You… what?"

"Every time I try and imagine a life without… y'know... fighting the good fight, keeping people safe, running from the press, I… I can't. Maybe someday, but for now… I just can't."

"So…" Tails drawled out, "You're staying with GUN?"

"I guess." I shrugged. "I don't love it, but it's not like I have a lot of options right now. Besides, Shads isn't that bad to work under. And someone who isn't Shadow should be there for Cream. Make sure he's not working her too hard."

Cream was… to be frank, terrifying. And this was before Shadow pulled me aside to talk about her training progress. I had sparred with her twice, and I may not be as 'educated' in how the military actually works or whatever the heck GUN is, but… she was good. Really good. I hadn't told anyone else that just from the sheer terror of such an idea, but I could already tell Shadow had plans.

Plans that weren't necessarily bad, but something I definitely needed to keep an eye on.

Tails nodded slowly, "Well, it's not like the world is fixed because Robotnik's gone. I don't think the civil war in the Kingdom Acorn has stopped yet, and I've heard rumors about some Mobian trafficking across the seas. And of course, there's always just the average scam artists, terrorists, and mass murderers on the loose. You have plenty to do."

I nodded. "It'll be nice to fight someone who isn't Robotnik."

"Because you two had a history or because he kept coming back?"

"Uh… both?"

"Of course. Why did I even ask?" Tails rolled his eyes but couldn't stop the smile from spreading across his face. He laid back on the grass, looking up at the sky. "Thanks for taking me out here, Sonic. I've missed this."

"Me too, buddy," I reached over and squeezed his arm, sort of as a reassurance to myself that this wasn't a dream. "Me too."

---

"So…" Manic looked around the park, his confusion clearly showing on his face. "Why are we here again?"

I bit back a groan. "Bro, for the last time: we're waiting for Tails."

"Again: why?" Sonia asked from the other side.

The three of us were currently leaning back against a tree down in Station Square Park. The sky was blue without a cloud in the sky. I could hear the flicky's chirping in the distance and couldn't help but smile at the various Mobian's and Overlander's walking, running, and playing about. Every once in a while someone would recognize me under the red hoodie and snap a picture or ask for an autograph. Overall, a pretty average day.

Well, except for that one little fact that it was my… our birthday. And for once in my life, I had been on board with Tails' idea about a surprise party.

"I told you," I motioned towards the mostly-empty-open field, "I promised Tails we'd help him test out his latest update on T-Pup."

"Right," Sonia shot me an annoyed glare. "You promised your adopted brother-"

"Our adopted brother," Manic chimed in.

Sonia ignored him. "You promised Tails, on our first birthday together in thirteen years, that we'd help him test his robot dog."

I forced myself to stay loose, "I kinda forgot what today was."

"How."

"Seriously?" Manic raised an eyebrow, "You're asking him that?" He got to his feet and stretched his arms over his head, "Need I remind you of the circumstances of our separation? Where's the fun in celebrating that?"

Sonia looked at me and I shrugged. "He pretty much summed it up."

"Yes," Sonia spoke slowly, her voice lined with anger, "But that was in previous years. This is this year. I'd think you'd remember this year."

"Well, what exactly did you want to do?" I asked. "It's not like we can, I dunno, go hire a clown or something."

Manic frowned. "Clowns are evil and should be executed without trial."

Sonia rolled her eyes. "No, but I thought we could go to dinner or catch a movie or something."

"And risk the paparazzi seeing all of us together?" I shook my head, "No thanks. They're already on you about Knuckles. Imagine the stories if they thought we were dating."

Sonia cringed. "Eww…"

Manic smirked, "Remember when Knuckles thought we were dating?"

"Yeah, not his finest moment," Sonia conceded.

I couldn't help but snort at that image. "When did this happen? And a better question: what did he do?"

Sonia and Manic shared a look. It was the look I liked to call, 'How do we tell him he was possessed?' It was a look I had grown very accustomed to from everyone over the past several weeks.

And... that was my cue to change the subject. I looked down at my watch and frowned, "Where on Mobius is that kid? He's like fifteen minutes late." That was true enough. There must have been some trouble with the cake.

Sonia grabbed the new subject with a little too much gusto. "I vote that if he isn't here in another fifteen, we go grab lunch at the Mallet."

Manic and I both gave her a look. She had the decency to blush. "What? I'm sorry, but this is not how I was planning to spend my birthday."

"Well then," Manic motioned to the street, "If you're going to be all bitter about it, how about you go grab a taxi and me and Sonic can join you when we're done?"

Chaos, why does this kind of thing always happen to me? Okay, don't panic. Just find a way to get her to stay. Uh… "Come on, Sonia. It'll only take an hour or so. We can go do something afterward, 'kay?" I chewed my lower lip trying to think when inspiration struck. "Of course I won't be offended if you decide to ditch your fellow triplets on our first birthday together in thirteen years."

Playing the guilt card wasn't my usual route, but it seemed to do the trick with Sonia. She looked between the two of us for a few seconds, clearly conflicted. After a moment, she sighed in defeat. "Fine."

Crisis averted. I internally did a few breakdance moves in celebration.

"But he better be here soon. I'm not waiting for him forever." Sonia said bitterly. She folded her arms across her chest, her eyes scanning the crowd for Tails.

I don't know if it was just the way she said it, but something about that last comment made me see red.

I get it. Really, I do. I wasn't expecting Sonia or Manic to understand why Tails was in my life. Chaos, I was a little surprised at how well Manic and Tails got along (it probably had something to do with Manic's upbringing in a 'family' that consisted of new guys coming in and out all the time). And yeah, I'd noticed Sonia had been a little more distant than Manic, and I was totally okay with it. Adopting him was my choice, not hers.

But that didn't mean she got to hate him for being there.

I forced myself to close my eyes and take a deep breath. In the back of my mind, I registered Manic doing the same thing. I felt my anger begin to fizzle out, and I opened my eyes, pursing my lips. I kept my voice even, but firm. "Sonia."

She looked over, a question in her eye. I made sure we had eye contact before speaking. "I'm not asking you to be his sister. Chaos, I'm not even asking you to be his friend. But Tails is my brother." I paused for a second, letting that sink in. "And that means no one, not even you, get to talk about him like that." Another pause. "Got it?"

Sonia sucked in her breath and she shifted uncomfortably, her eyes darting to the grass. Manic dropped next to her, putting a hand on her shoulder and giving her that look that said they were having a serious conversation– without saying a word.

I couldn't help but feel a sting of jealousy. There had been a time, a long time ago, where all three of us could have done that. Practically reading each other's minds without doing anything was a trick our mom had found particularly annoying. But now… it was different. That level of understanding was something I was probably never going to get with them again. The fact was that they had spent more time together and had more shared experiences. There was a line in the sand, and while it was getting more blurred, it was never going to be completely gone.

Their conversation seemed to end and Sonia looked back at me. She straightened up and locked eyes with me. "I...I'm sorry," she apologized. It was sincere. "It's just–"

"I know," I smiled. "It's different for all of us."

I cast my eyes out to the park and finally saw the familiar yellow and white fur. "Speaking of which…" I got to my feet and waved. "Tails! Over here!"

My brother either saw or heard me because his eyes found us and he waved back, zipping his tails together to get to us in a matter of seconds. "Sonic, there you are!" He lightly punched my arm. "I've been looking for you for the last half an hour!"

I frowned. "You said under the oak tree on the east end of the park."

"No..." Tails drawled out, taking a moment to readjust his glasses. "I said under the oak tree in the south end of the park." He shook his head looking over at Manic and Sonia. "Knew I should have told one of you."

Manic snorted. "Okay, are you ever on time, bro?"

"Never. Not once ever." Tails answered before I could get a syllable out.

"Hey!" I cried in protest. "I'm on time… sometimes."

"Right…" Tails motioned for us to follow him. "Come on, I'm all set up in the southern part of the park."

Manic helped Sonia to her feet. He grinned, "Well, lead the way."

"Okay, but seriously, how long is this going to take?" Sonia asked. The bitter tone was still present, but it wasn't as strong as before. It was a start.

"Only like an hour," Tails smiled. "Thanks for helping me with this. I'm hoping to mass-produce T-Pup someday. Kind of like a comfort animal, but one that doesn't need food or water. Could help people who don't have money to care for an organic pet."

"That… is actually really cool, Tails," said Sonia.

"Lots of things he does are cool," I said, giving his hair a ruffle. "Hey, Tails– bet I can beat you there."

"Oh, you are so on!" Tails grinned.

Sonia started to protest, "Sonic, don't you dare–"

But we were gone before she finished. The good news: I beat Tails to the party grounds. The bad news: I was going to have a ticked off sister, but... eh. She'd get over it.

Tails had rented out a pavilion for our group and had made "special modifications" to keep unwanted guests away (you learn not to ask for details about this sort of thing). The decorations were simple with a 'Happy Birthday' banner along with a few streamers and matching tablecloths.

Nice and simple. Just the way I like it.

Everyone had shown up, even Shadow– saying that he wasn't a party person would be a massive understatement. I would have invited the Chaotix too, but Shadow had informed me the group had been MIA for about a year (some mission for GUN that he wasn't allowed to talk about). It was kind of a shame. I had really wanted to see Manic's reaction to 'real-life ninja' Espio. That, and watch their expressions as Charmy decimated the cake.

I gave Tails a quick side hug, "Thanks for setting this up, it means a lot."

"Thanks for being excited about it," Tails playfully shoved me away. "I think this is the first time I can remember you bringing up your birthday without someone getting in your face about it."

"Was it that obvious?"

"Not really," Tails smiled. "But no one 'forgets' their birthday year after year without fail. I had just assumed you were self-conscious about your age or something."

Cheese, who had been acting as a lookout, flew into the pavilion and chaoed a high-pitched warning. We all lined up behind the table (Knuckles: "Wait, so we aren't hiding?") and waited for Sonia and Manic to come up over the hill and into view.

"–gonna strangle him with my bare hands! Ditching people is just rude!"

"Relax, killjoy," Manic replied easily, "If they hadn't run ahead, we'd have to listen to Sonic's complaints about us being too slow. This is way preferable."

The two wandered into view, looking about for the supposed 'oak tree'. Manic saw us first, his eyes widening in surprise. "Hey, Sonia... you might wanna look down there."

"Manic, that's just a birthday party."

"Yeah. A birthday party that your boyfriend is attending. And also literally all of our friends."

The look of shock on Sonia's was one I wouldn't forget for years to come. Her mouth dropped open and she looked between everyone as if she couldn't believe we were there. Manic's eyes shone like stars as he nudged Sonia out of her stupor, grinning so widely he looked like he was going to burst.

"Is this... for us?" Sonia asked, a smile creeping up over her features.

I zipped over to the two and slung my arms around them, letting out a laugh. "Well, do you see any other hedgehogs turning eighteen around here?"

In a minute, we had made our way down to the pavilion, the others crowding around us and shouting out a flurry of congratulations. Sonia turned to Tails, quirking an eyebrow. "D-did you plan this? Was this your idea?"

Tails shrugged. "Kinda…? I do this for Sonic every year. It was his idea to do it for you, though."

She turned to me, bewildered. "Why?"

"Wanted this year to be one to remember." I grinned.

A smile slowly broke over her face. "Well then, mission accomplished."

Knuckles appeared with two cups of punch. "I'm glad," he handed one cup to Sonia. "Happy birthday, you two."

"What? No punch for me?" I teased.

Knuckles rolled his eyes at me. "I only have two hands."

I grinned. "How about this: that better not be her only present today."

"It's not."

"Then carry on," I steered Tails away from the lovebirds before we started gagging from the conversations sure to follow. Those two could be really sappy.

Manic had run off to see Rouge and Amy, who were standing over by the cake. Amy had really outdone herself; I told her not to, but she was nothing if not a perfectionist. She had frosted the three-layer masterpiece with blue, green, and pink, icing our names in curved, loopy lettering. Each layer held exactly six candles, surrounded by tiny chocolate molds shaped like emeralds.

"This looks incredible, Ames," I said, snatching the fork out of Manic's hand. "And seriously, bro. You're worse than Charmy."

"Who?"

Tails made a face. "Someone I don't think you should ever meet. You'd either get along really well or you'll want to kill him after five minutes. And honestly, I don't know which situation is worse."

Amy shuddered at the thought. She turned to me, "Thank you. For the compliment and taking that from your brother. I worked hard on this."

"No problem," I pointed out the pizza boxes on the other table to Manic. "Go raid those until dessert."

"Fine…" Manic grumbled, "But I call the first piece!" He hurried over and started to sort through the boxes trying to find the pepperoni.

Tails sighed. "I better go make sure he doesn't destroy the entire supply."

"Probably for the best," I agreed. Amy and I watched Tails move to intercept. He was awarded by catching a box that Manic had tossed haphazardly aside. Tails then opened the box, pulled out a piece of cheese pizza and proceeded to eat it without sitting down or bothering for a plate.

I shook my head slightly exasperated, "My brothers."

"At least they aren't boring," Amy giggled.

"True…" I turned back to the dessert table and admired the cake a little more closely. "So what's the plan for the party?"

"Well," Amy pointed back at my brothers, "Pizza. Then a few games followed by the desert. Then we can end with presents. Sound good?"

"Sounds awesome," I plucked one of the emerald-shaped pieces of chocolate off the cake and popped it in my mouth. Amy gave me a look of annoyance. I pressed my finger to my lips and mumbled, "Don't tell Manic. I just couldn't wait."

"Well then." Amy folded her arms across her chest, the corners of her mouth turning upwards. "How was it?"

"Perfect."

---

The games had been going well until Sonia teamed up with Manic on charades. Then I questioned why anyone was even trying. As I had previously noticed, they could basically read each other's minds; after the third round, the two had racked up thirty-seven points. Even Amy, the former charades queen, threw in the towel after that.

Presents were fun to open. Everyone kind of gathered around the one picnic table that had a good-sized pile of gifts on top. After a furious round of rock-paper-scissors, Manic was the first to choose a present and immediately grabbed the gift from Shadow. He looked around at the surprised expressions and shrugged. "What? I'm morbidly curious."

The box was small, and something told me Hope helped wrap it because the wrapping paper was a generic birthday print– and Shadow didn't wrap gifts. Ever. His idea of fancy is throwing the gift in a plastic sack and tying a knot at the top.

Manic tore off the paper and raised an eyebrow. "Uh… Shadow? Not to be weird, but what message are you trying to send with this?"

Shadow grunted. "It was in the men's clearance section. I am... not quite sure what it is."

"Yeah, that tracks." Manic held up a bottle of men's cologne. "Lucky for me, 'Dark Temptation' happens to be my favorite fragrance. Sonia! Your turn!"

Sonia examined all of her gifts carefully before deciding on the box from Cream. It was fun watching Sonia's expression as she unwrapped a flower crown woven from daisies and purple ribbons, placing the loop on her head with a smile. "How does it look?"

Cream replied, "I think it looks lovely on you, Miss Sonia." Cheese chaoed in agreement.

Funnily enough, both Manic and I also received flower crowns (albeit with different colored ribbons). Knuckles gave Manic a book on street magic and card tricks, and Sonia an amethyst necklace that somehow matched her eye color perfectly. Leave it to Knux to give amazing gifts.

As usual, he did not disappoint. The first thing was a CD case entitled Top 100 Hip Hop Songs. Also inside was a new pair of shoes. Knuckles smirked, "Since you have more time on your hands nowadays, I'd thought you'd be able to work on some of your other hobbies. The shoes are made specifically for breakdancing, though, so I wouldn't suggest running around in them."

"Sweet!" I said, "Thanks, Knuckles!"

"You're into breakdancing?" Sonia asked. "Neat!"

I shrugged, "It's not something I do a lot, but I enjoy it. And since I do have more time on my hands, maybe I'll get to do it more."

"Cool." Manic grinned. "Think you could teach me a few moves?"

"Maybe?" I shrugged, "I never took lessons or anything, I just kinda learned how to do it while busting up robots and stuff. Y'know, like as a fighting style."

Rouge's gift to Sonia was exactly what I expected: a gift card for something called a 'mani-pedi'. Sonia looked a little startled like she had been expecting something different. "Oh! Um, thanks, Rouge. I'll be sure to use this."

"Oh, I hope so," Rouge said, examining her own nails, "If my cuticles looked anything like yours, I'd be too embarrassed to leave the house."

The confusion cleared from Sonia's face. "There it is," she mumbled to herself.

I ripped open Shadow's gift next. This year, it was in a small envelope. I was a little surprised that it wasn't from a clearance bin or something Rouge had clearly picked out. No, this time, it was a gift card to a really fancy Italian restaurant downtown. I flipped open the plain white card and found only two words scribbled inside.

'Take Rose.'

I almost choked on my own spit, my eyes darting to Shadow in bewilderment. His face was impassive as ever with no hint of emotions. "Something wrong, hedgehog?"

"...No, not at all." I quickly slipped the card away. "Uh… thanks."

Shadow didn't really acknowledge my answer. He just flicked his eyes towards Amy, back to me, and gave a curt nod.

...What in the name of Chaos is happening right now?

While I was trying to get my thoughts back in order, Manic tore open Rouge's box. He was extremely confused by the diamond bracelet he found. "Uh… Thanks?"

"Oh, that's where that went!" Rouge exclaimed. She leaned over and plucked the bracelet out of his hands, sliding it on her own wrist. "Isn't it darling? I just adore the cut on these diamonds."

Manic side-eyed her, exasperated. "Seriously?"

"Oh, calm yourself, Maniac," Rouge held up an envelope. "This is your actual present."

Manic snatched it away from her and tore it open, an enormous grin splitting across his face. "Oh, sweet! These guys are the best!"

"The best at what?" Sonia leaned over to see the card. Her nose wrinkled in disgust as she read aloud, "Skincredible Tattoo Parlor." She narrowed her eyes. "Oh, heck no. You are not getting a tattoo."

"According to this one hundred and fifty dollar gift card, it looks like I am."

I shoved the next gift into Sonia's arms before the conflict could escalate any further. It was one of the bigger ones, about the size of a dictionary, but more square-ish. The tag on the front said that it was from... Shadow?

Sonia tore off the wrapping paper and stared down at the box. She blinked several times in clear shock, her gaze slowly returning to Shadow.

"Oh my Chaos…" she squeaked, eye shining. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" She tore off the remaining wrapping paper to reveal a really, really nice chess set. It looked like glass, but was tinted red and white with a few silver-colored highlights.

I swore Shadow smiled for just a second before returning to his usual stoic expression. "I thought it would be beneficial for you to own your own chess set. Perhaps it will help improve your play."

Manic leaned over for a better look, "Dude, is that crystal real? How much money do you make?"

Sonia ran her fingers over the top and looked up with a smile. "Thank you, Shadow. And I promise I'll practice for our game. We still on for Sunday?"

"Seven o'clock. Do not be late."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Sonia carefully rewrapped her gift and put it aside. "I believe it's your turn, Sonic."

From there, it was a whirl of opening gift after gift, thanking everybody for their generosity and trying not to get overwhelmed– it helped that I had two other people to share the spotlight with. Rouge had gotten me (surprise!) a gift card for the new athletic store that opened in the mall. Amy gave the three of us coupons for the diner, and Tails gave Sonia a Montana Badger poster (signed by the director, wow), and Manic the complete boxed set of Space Truck ("All twelve seasons! My life is complete!").

It was great seeing Sonia's excitement at the leather motorcycle jacket I had gotten her, and Manic just about lost his mind at the new Extreme Gear board I gave him (when you're one of GUN's top agents, it's actually super easy to get ahold of those! Troublingly easy. I should probably talk to the general about that).

There was one more package left on the table, addressed to me… from Sonia and Manic. Underneath the wrapping sat a dark red photo album, Opening it, I found a newspaper article staring up at me, the headline reading, 'Blue Blur Blasts Badniks'.

"We got some help from Tails and Amy," Manic explained. "And also this guy I know at a specialty comic shop who's like, totally obsessed with you. He was kind of a creep. Anyway, we tracked down a bunch of news articles about your adventures over the past years. I did my best gluing them in chronological order, but…" Manic shrugged, "Man, the tabloids really suck at getting their facts straight. Half the timeline is probably wrong, but I figure that since you were there, you'll have better luck figuring out what's going on."

I flipped through the book, smiling at some of the taglines. "Sonia, Manic… This is really cool. Thanks so much!"

"Well," Sonia beamed, "We thought you'd like to look back on the good times you had before we showed up. And maybe also tell us about them some time?"

"Count on it," I put the book aside. "Alright! Guys, this was so awesome. Everyone's gifts were amazing, thank you–"

"Uh, Sonic?" Tails interrupted, tapping my shoulder. "There's one more thing… I wanted to save this for last."

He handed me a manila folder that was so stuffed with papers it looked like it was going to explode. The first thing I emptied out was a photo of everyone crammed in front of the camera, smiling without a care in the world. A few days after I had woken up, Amy had the brilliant idea to take us all to an amusement park. I had to admit, it was really fun; the memory brought a smile to my face.

The rest of the papers looked like various legal forms that, upon closer inspection, had been mostly filled out. I didn't pay attention to most of the words but there was one line that stood out the most: 'Application for Adoption'.

Adoption.

Adoption.

"I've worked it out with the lawyers– at this point, all you have to do is sign," Tails piped up. "I did everything else. That's my gift to you."

I found myself grinning. "Anybody got a pen?"

---

Some days, my life feels like a dream.

"Hey, Shads!" I called from the sidewalk. "Don't forget about our race next week!"

"I... look forward to it." Shadow nodded politely before teleporting off to Chaos knows where. I could have sworn he smirked before he vanished, but it might have been a trick of the light.

And can you really blame me for thinking that? Most people won't experience a sliver of the trouble I've lived through.

Manic waved at Rouge, who actually waved back. "Catch you later, Angel."

"We'll see, Maniac… we'll see." Rouge winked at him before taking off into the sky, vanishing quickly in the darkness.

'Course, I'm not complaining. An ordinary life? Me? I'd quit eating chili dogs before that happens… probably.

Knuckles kissed Sonia goodbye, then waved at the rest of us. "Happy birthday, you three. Uh… may this year be better than the last."

"Amen to that," Sonia mumbled under her breath.

Knuckles chuckled before climbing onto his Extreme Gear board. "I'll call you tomorrow," he said to Sonia, giving her a soft smile.

Sonia returned it. "Till then, Knuxsy."

Manic groaned, "Oh my Chaos, just marry each other already!"

Still, it's pretty crazy to think about what I've been through. The end of the world has come more times than I care to count and I always seemed to find myself in it. Well, most of the time.

Vanilla wished us three happy birthday before heading up to her porch. Cream held back for a moment, her voice quiet, "Can we spar again soon, Mister Sonic?"

I glanced over at Vanilla, who luckily wasn't paying attention. "Soon, Cream. Promise."

She smiled and Cheese gave a little cheer. "When I'm older, I'm going to help people, just like you."

Something inside me melted; I knelt down to get on her eye level. "Something tells me you're gonna be even better than me."

Cream smiled, her eyes shining with hope, "Do you really think so?"

"I know so." I held out my fist for a fistbump. Cream quickly returned the gesture before running after her mother, beaming.

It started with just me. Me and Robotnik, face to face. Mano y hedgehog. The determination to stop him from hurting anyone else the way he hurt me was sometimes the only thing that got me out of bed in the mornings.

Amy smiled at me, her eyes shining. "Thanks, Sonic. For everything." She leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on my cheek. "Happy birthday."

It's safe to say I wasn't able to move for the next few moments, too stunned to do anything but watch her blush, turn away and head up the porch. Thankfully, I snapped out of it before she went inside and was able to zip up the sidewalk, skidding to a halt on the bottom step.

"Wait! Uh, hold up, I–" I took a deep breath. "Um...Amy? Would you, uh… do you wanna, like, go see a movie with me tomorrow night? If you're free?"

Her breath hitched and there was a twinkle in her eye that hadn't been there before. "I...I'd love to."

Then I began to find my family again. True, it's not what most people would picture as normal, but since when have I cared about that?

Manic ruffled Tails' hair and gave me a fist bump. "Best birthday ever, don't ya think?"

"One hundred percent," Sonia conceded. "Thank you, Sonic. And thank you too, Tails. The party was great."

Tails rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Just glad you liked it."

"Hey, Tails!" Manic hopped on his extreme gear board, "Space Truck marathon tomorrow, right?"

"Count on it," the fox nodded eagerly. "I'll even make popcorn."

That made Manic's grin grow even more. "Until tomorrow then." Then he flew off, singing happy birthday to himself as loudly and off-key as possible. Very Manic of him, if I do say so myself.

Now there are two new editions to the family … which, in reality, are more like two old editions I thought I'd lost. But by some miracle, here they are.

"Hey, Sonic?"

I turned to see Sonia pulling a leatherbound book out of her bag and handing it to me; it wasn't very big but was at least an inch thick. There was no writing on the front.

A swirl of emotions I couldn't identify welled up inside my chest and I forced myself to swallow them down. I carefully opened the front cover… and immediately found myself staring down at a photo of my parents.

They were standing in front of our old house with me, Sonia, and Manic in their arms, us looking maybe a few weeks old. The exhaustion in Mom and Dad's faces was obvious, but they were smiling nonetheless.

"I borrowed Uncle Chuck's photo album after our visit, then made copies," Sonia explained. "Manic and I were planning to give it to you later today, and I thought it would be better to wait till after the party. There are some photos of me and Manic after… that night. And Uncle Chuck. He took a lot of pictures from when we were growing up. It's not the same as being there, but… we thought you'd like them."

I traced Mom and Dad with my finger and smiled. "I love it." Pause. "Thank you, Sonia. Really, this means… it means a lot." I shut the scrapbook. "I'll look at it later."

Sonia climbed on her motorcycle and put her helmet on. "Guess I'm off, too. Got some papers I need to finish up."

"Lemme guess," I smirked, "Another business essay?"

To my surprise, Sonia actually smiled. "Not this time… or ever again, for that matter. I've decided I'm changing my major. And minor."

I raised an eyebrow, surprised. "To what?"

"Dunno yet," Sonia shrugged. "I thought I'd take some classes I like and decide from there. I think Archeology and Creative Writing might be fun. I… I've been thinking of writing a book."

Not sure who was more surprised by that; Tails or me. Tails spoke first, "What are you going to write?"

"Mmm…" Sonia thought for a moment, "I got an idea for something when helping Knuckles with some old runes. How does Lara-Su Loft: Temple Protector sound for a book series?"

I thought about it for a second. "Pretty good, actually."

Sonia smiled. "See you later… Maurice." She waved goodnight and rode off into the night. I waved back.

It's never going to be perfect. I know that. There's still going to be struggles, danger, surprises… but would I ever wish for anything else? Never.

Tails helped me take my gifts into the house and into my room. After dumping most of it on my bed, we spent the better part of an hour flipping through the newspaper album, laughing at old memories and making fun of everything the reporters got wrong. When Tails let out a large yawn instead of a laugh, I decided to call it a night.

I scooped Tails up in my arms (despite his tired protests) and carried him to his room. He was practically asleep by the time I plopped him on his bed and I barely heard the mumbled, "Happy birthday…"

Then it was just snoring; I chuckled, gently ruffling my little brother's hair before throwing a blanket over him.

Some days, my life seems like a dream. And maybe that's why I can hardly believe it's real.

Alone, I flipped open my old family album. Mom and Dad stared up at me; their smiles proud. I traced the photo, hands trembling.

"Hey…" I whispered. "Just thought I'd let you know… I'm okay now. You don't have to worry about me or Sonia or Manic," It felt a bit strange to be talking to a photograph, but I went on. "Robotnik's gone. He can't hurt anyone anymore."

It was never about the places I stood, or where I lived. It was about the people around me. It's always been about them.

"I love you both so much… I… I miss you." I tightened my grip on the album and squeezed my eyes shut. "I hope you know that. So… thank you. For everything."

I closed the album and placed it on the table beside my bed. Sleep came quickly, despite my racing thoughts from the day.

Sometimes it takes time to find your way home. The road seems to go on forever, and where it leads isn't always where you'd expect. But to me, it's always been worth traveling.

Home, sweet home.

---

All right, the following note is just a giant thing of thanks and nostalgia, but if you're not into that, please leave a review for the entire story then go on your merry way. Even if you haven't reviewed in the past, Halo and I would love to see what you thought of this giant mess of a story. Thanks!

With that out of the way, HOLY KRIFFING CHAOS. Guys… WE'RE DONE. This is the END. I can't believe we're here. First of all, I'd like to thank my wonderful co-author Halo for buckling down for this wild ride. She's a wonderful gal and I want you all to go check her out on Tumblr and wherever else she is (we'll list it at the end). Seriously, you won't regret it. My realm is chaotic and fabulous, and for that, I will not apologize.

Second of all, I want to thank all of y'all wonderful readers and reviewers who kept us motivated to finish this thing. I never thought we'd make it here. Seriously, this was only possible because of you. Thank you!

So I hope you all will understand when I say this: Halo and I are officially retiring from . So that sequel we talked about… sorry, it's not happening. To be honest, there wasn't much there plot-wise. A bunch of family fluff, some Rouge background, a Silver the Hedgehog side story, a little bit of 2nd Generation, a big-time jump with Shadow to the future, and a Silver origin story. Okay, when I type that all up I realize it was a lot. Which is why Halo and I are not doing it. YOU CAN'T MAKE ME. NO. NO.

Calm down, no one is going to make you… but at the same time, I'm with her. NO CAGE WILL HOLD ME.

You see, Halo is expanding her art career and I will be furthering my own career/life plan will little to no time for typing. Y'all have seen how slow updates have been the past several months. It's not that we don't want to do it, it's just that it isn't possible and both of us are ready to move on in life.

HOWEVER:

Guys, if you want to do some kind of spin-off, your own sequel, figure out a prequel or whatever the heck you want to do with these established stories and characters: BE MY GUEST. Seriously, we have had so many ideas for AU's, sequel's, prequel's, one-shot's, on and on that we don't know what to do with them. Go crazy.

One request: Keep it no higher than "T". It doesn't seem like a big thing to ask but hey, I want to read it and I don't read higher than "T". If you want Halo or me to read it, drop a review on a story or PM on my account. I'll still have it open, just won't be publishing anything.

WE ARE OUR OWN FANDOM.

Thank you for that, Halo.

I'll leave one idea for y'all to get some ideas flowing (that and I REALLY want to see this in one iteration or another. Seriously just: SONIC AS THE WINTER SOLDIER. Make it happen, then tell me. I will read it).

The Broken Home AU- (Robotnik kills parents, Uncle Chuck and takes Sonic. Manic and Sonia survive to fend for themselves)– similar to a Winter Soldier Arc with Maurice/Sonic. Maybe Manic and Sonia would somehow find themselves in Team Sonic with everyone (aka, they are taking the place of Sonic). Shadow could still is found, etc, etc, but Sonic is being trained/brainwashed by Robotnik. Got nothing else but feel free to add or cut away from such an idea.

---

FINAL REVIEW RESPONSES:

Megaman07: Honestly, I haven't read this whole thing in a long time either. Every time I start I go, "Woah, forgot about that plot point that was dropped." Also, it is really long. So if you never get around to rereading it all, then that's fine by me. The writing improves drastically over the course of the entire thing too. But I'm glad we are able to finish one of those stories on your follow list. I have a few of those myself (and some of them I am really ticked about…)

ShadAmy1Fan - Shaylah McVey: Aww… *hugs tightly and gives a plush of Baby Sonic* Thank you so much! I'm glad you loved this story so much and I hope you liked the ending just as much.

Stripe the Hedgetiger: *checks chapter 65* Makes sense. Halo and I also enjoyed Tails' POV. It was the one POV we could both write with degrees of success. As for Robotnik's death being better… yeah, we probably could have added in some build-up to it or maybe a bit more closure on it. As it was, we didn't want to go into much detail of the actual death since… ya know, he was crushed. Not a pretty sight. Thank you so much for your feedback and I hope you enjoyed the end.

AStoryTellerBook: I hope you had a good Thanksgiving as well and a Happy Holiday season! Thanks for sticking with us for this entire time.

NeckBreak: You know, I think I would have liked more SonAmy as well. I tried to get some more of it in this chapter so I hoped you liked that. But thanks for the feedback!

Mitha Sentro: Your English is quite good for not being your first language. A few grammar errors here and there but nothing I couldn't understand. Hat off to you. And I'm not a steady reviewer either. I think I leave comments on… like three stories? But thanks for leaving one on our "little" story. And this has been quite the "long road". Thanks for your feedback! I also love Sonic and Tails brother stories. No one can ever tear them apart! And I'm glad you enjoyed our renditions of Manic and Sonia. Another thank you for what you did not like. (And yeah, Tikal is a bit hard to like in this story). Halo and I like writing together and I hope we continue to do so (on something outside of fanfic). I suggest finding your own writing buddy or at least someone who will encourage you to continue. It's the only reason we have made it to this point. Thank you again and I hope you enjoyed the ending!

Hawkfeather/JoyoftheStorm/HawkStorm: First off, yes. Why FF? Why do you do this to us? *pulls up PM and review to read together* Okay, that makes way more sense. Second off, I am so sorry for that emotional rollercoaster you went on, whatever morning that was. Hope this chapter was a little better. On the other hand, if you liked that roller coaster then I hope you enjoyed the ride as much as we did. Ah, denial. My hated enemy, we meet again. Ah, denial- the state in which I most often reside. *blushes* Thank you so much for the compliments. Thank you for leaving us so much feedback and for giving your honest reactions to our story. It's really helped motivate us to do the best we can. *virtual hug sent* Best of luck to you and all you do!

ultimateCCC: Yeah, he will. Well, with Manic. Sonia is going to take some time.

Starlight Sparks: Yeah, looking back at chapter one… we cringed. All of your favorite parts were fun to read. And yeah, we are retiring from all fanfic after this story. Thank you for your reviews over this story. Halo and I have enjoyed your comments. Good luck in all you do.

MelGamingPlays: You're fine. I haven't reviewed a story in forever… I should probably change that because there are a few who deserve some. Anyway, thank you so much for your comments! Thanks for coming with us on this long road. Best of the future to you!

SharpDragonKlaw: We were glad to have you here on this insane story! Thanks for your reviews and responses. Manic's POV will always make me laugh. Halo has done a marvelous job on it. I'm glad you liked the last chapter. I hope you enjoyed the ending just as much. Wishing you the best!

KrazyCat6167: Thanks for the review! *dances in celebration* Hope you liked the end!

Cytisus: Thank you so much for your comments! I really liked reading what you liked about the story. And to be honest, I really liked the chapter where Dark destroys everyone as well. It was hard to write and I think I cried typing it.*blushes* Well, I'm glad you liked our versions of Sonia and Manic that much! Honestly, I'm afraid to go back and watch Underground because of how much time I've spent with these two. Unfortunately, Halo and I are retiring from fanfic but who knows? Maybe we'll get a tv show someday and you'll find it and love it (that is my wildest dreams but a girl has to start somewhere, right?).

HDDNeptuneFTW: Not sure if you meant to cut yourself off but I hope you enjoyed the ending as much as we loved typing it.

Guest #1: I may come back to fanfic every once in a while but don't hold your breath for another story like this. It would be more one-shot based and Halo wouldn't be involved in it. I want to try and work on more original works: things that will actually get me places. As for the kitchen scene… I think that chapter gets the most views and Halo and I didn't even write half of it! Havoc truly lived up to his name.

Autumn: I did enjoy my Thanksgiving, thank you! I hope you enjoyed yours and any other winter holidays you celebrated. I also hope you enjoyed the ending. Thanks for all of your reviews you've left on our story it really is appreciated.

Detta: Oh gosh, where to start? Thanks for the reviews over the course of this story. Halo and I are so happy you liked it! Second of all, Halo and I have talked time and time again about doing an animated tv show in the future so who knows? One day you may be watching a show by us (albeit you probably won't know it)! A girl can dream, right? I hope you liked the ending (and I know what you mean by the angst and deep fics on long hiatus/never updated. I have several I follow and basically have no hope for).

Somas35: Thank you for your honesty. I can see how the first half drags because it is mostly character chapters. Looking back I can see a few places we could have combined and shortened to make it go faster but good on you for sticking it out! I'm glad you (mostly) liked our story and hat off to you for speaking your honest opinion.

Faso: *reads giant story* Okay, I think I get what's going on. Not sure if I should laugh, cry, or scratch my head and go, "...the heck was that?" Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the end of our story and hope you enjoyed finishing your "review story" as I will call it. Keep on doing what you love (whether that be reviewing or writing or both or something else entirely!) *on to the other review* Woah, a legit Kindle? Wow… I mean, I read fanfic on my 3DS years and years ago so… But wow, just for a review? I feel really honored… is that weird? Yeah, it has been stressful. I'm feeling the weight as I type this out and cannot wait until it lifts. And if we ever do publish another project, I will be sure to leave some kind of message on fanfic (probably on my profile). Halo and I would love to see all of y'all there. Thank you for your continued support and trust me: I'm crossing my fingers for appearances in bookshops. But until that day, best of luck in all you do!

RareDomains: First off, hello! Thank you for leaving a review on our "little" story. Yes, it has been quite a long road. I also enjoyed the more lighthearted chapters and am glad we started with them. It was a good way for Halo and me to familiarize ourselves with the characters and how to write them. And yes, the shipping chapters made us squeal a few times because… we're girls. Dark was one of the most TERRIFYING concepts I have ever come up with. Halo added a bit more creepy factor, we threw in some major powers and the next thing I knew I was looking at my nightmare fuel. Hence, Dark showed up (at points) in the story in the form of nightmares. Halo did a wonderful job with Manic's POV and I'm so glad so many readers enjoyed it. Thank you, Miss Halo! Yes, Halo and I are retiring. It was something we thought long and hard about and both of us decided we would prefer to work on some original story ideas. It's hard to walk away because we both would love to keep writing these characters but it's time to move on. (Also I saw on your profile that you like Star Wars and I do have two Star Wars fics on my profile if you want to look into them). Hope to see you in the future!

duffus411: So…. I saw your review on "General Kanine" and went, "Oh… yeah, that seems fair." Sorry about the wait, Halo and I for some bizarre reason could not type this fast… We fail. Anyway, I hope you liked the ending and also enjoyed Commander Pillow and General Kanine. May the Force be With You!

Guest #2: I'm really sad there is no name because gosh, darn it! I want to look at your story about Amy (when it's posted)! I'm glad Rin was a character that was appreciated by quite a bit of people. I was worried people would hate her but was pleasantly surprised at how many actually enjoyed her (to an extent). Thanks for the luck, we will gladly take it! I'm going to miss the support from everyone here. You all make me smile and blush from the compliments! We did quite a bit of screaming ourselves while writing this (which usually means it is good) And please do me a favor; drop a review when you make your account because I want to see that Amy origin story!

That Speedhunter: *reads the first few lines of review. Immediately starts squealing like a fangirl* Oh Chaos, is there going to be a part three? AHHH! But before we get to that, everything else. Oh my GOSH, I totally get the whole "no good cosmetics" thing. Jedi: Fallen Order has the WORST ponchos. There's this neon pink one for killing this giant frog. NEON PINK in kriffing Star Wars. The heck, Respawn? There are some others that aren't as bad, but I still am not in love with any of them really. And it is the only outfits available, ugh! *clears throat* Sorry, off subject. Tails fixing streetcars… I could see that in his future. Maybe even designing cars for the speedway. "A thing isn't beautiful if it lasts." No Marvel quotes here but it really should have happened at some point because yeah, we had a lot of mirrors. Thankfully, these were coming out at the same time so no, we did not steal from Marvel. Originally, we were going to do a series of one-shots that continued this story. Nothing too drastic or big just character relations, probably a few weddings and some kiddos for 2nd Generation. The next "big story" was going to jump several hundred years in the future and be a Shadow oriented tale with Silver joining in half-way through. But… Well, everyone can see our updates are slower. No time plus the desire to move on equals "A thing isn't beautiful if it lasts". And kriff Order 66– however I will gladly talk about Battlefront II. *and this is where The Division fangirling starts: warning, it's LONG* OH MY CHAOS YOU ACTUALLY DID? I can't stop smiling and laughing and screaming into my hands because UGH I LOVE THIS MORE THAN I SHOULD. *deep breaths to calm down* Okay… I guess I'm leaving a review on a review. First off, I love how "Gadget" is here. I mean, it's perfect he's totally the playable character and seriously ISAC, you're as bad as Navi… just not quite as annoying. Second of all, I love Sonic's "activation". I'm just picturing the Division Agent Origin "movies" and can totally see Sonic being "Jake" with the wife and kid and Amy just freaking out because "Is that a gun? Why do YOU have a gun?" And I'm also picturing one of the kids Halo and I gave him in our head (or both of them) just wondering why Dad's leaving and –UGH THE FEELS. Also, love all the location names and yes, Commander Shadow is on-site! I love that way more than I should. And yes, he is definitely head of security. Tails fits with the tech lead (and would be a really cool character dynamic with Sonic). As for medical, I have a few ideas. One, Vanilla could work but I don't see her being able to make a cure for the Green Death. Not enough medical background. Two, Amy but that would only work with the lore in this story because her parents are professional doctors and she could use that knowledge to help. Three, Hope Kintobor because she helped with the Dark cure so she could make something for the Green Death. Also, Infinite/Leader of the Jackle squad as a THE rouge agent? Absolute win. I started to scream into my hands again because UGH I want this to be a thing (actually, now that I'm thinking about it, this could've been Shadow the Hedgehog… kind of). And not everyone has to be Mobian. You can keep some of the "Overlanders" (humans) to keep it simpler. My one complaint is kind of lame but I don't think everyone's chaotic abilities would stop working because Angel Island fell out of the sky, but that might just be me being picky. Maybe Sonic got sick and survived but it cost him most of his speed or something. I don't know, just throwing that out there. All I know is HOORAY, THREE SHOT! And seriously, post this story, I'm begging you (because I'm having difficulty keeping track of it in the other reviews). I would read it. Don't stress about update time because… we updated in November. It's February. No stress. And HOLY KRIFF that was a long response… Now excuse me while I go reread all of this wonderful crossover.

nobody: Yes. It was just slow. Sorry about that.

Saul'keth: First off, hello! Thanks for leaving some reviews despite being near the end of this giant thing. We really appreciate it! Thank you for not killing us permanently (trust me, we would never have been able to really kill Tails). If you like the AU of Cream, Hope and Omega then go ahead and write it! I'd love to see what you'd do with it [personally I see Hope as the tech gal, Omega as the heavy hitter, and Cream as the specialist (sniper rifle and everything). General Towers is the guy in charge of mission assignments. But hey, if you want to do something with it then you do you]. For some reason, I can't help but picture Cream as a more "innocent" version of the MCU Black Widow. She just kicks butt and would be an excellent spy. I've put a lot of thought about it and how Shadow would use her in that capacity and so many ideas but… as previously mentioned. Halo and I are retiring from fanfiction. That sequel announcement came almost two years ago and… well, you can see how long the updates have come. We are ready to move on in life. Sorry. But if you want to try and write a kick-butt Cream hero story, be my guest. As for Egghead, we were going to have him be some kind of nephew or child of Robotnik or something who is all about revenge on his relative's death. And we were going to have 2nd Generation fight him mainly sooo…. Yeah. Thanks again for the reviews and I hope you enjoy this story as much on rereads (and feel free to share it with whoever you think would like it).

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Also, while Era's not too active on social media (I'm working on it, dang it!), you can find me - Halo - over on Tumblr & Deviantart ( AJ-illustrated) and on Twitter and Instagram! ( AJ_illustrated). Come on over and say hi! (Also, go check out my webcomic, "Consequences", over on Webtoon!)

And with that all out of the way, this is Oceanera12 and HaloEssence111, signing off. Now excuse us while we go watch the Sonic the Hedgehog movie and pray that it is good. Come on, Halo! We're going to be late!

*computer screen blacks out*