Just how hurt is Manic? Is he faking recovery? Will Sonic conquer is Werehog side, or will it conquer him? And will he ever become a KeyBlade master? Okay, the last question probably won't be answered and doesn't relate to the story much, but you never know… Disclaimer: I own nothing but the story. R&R plz

Chapter 5

I Officially Become a Carnivore

Just a little note here; to this day I still don't know what the heck a KeyBlade Master is and I still suck at Manic's game, alright? Moving on.

Our lunch at the palace is like a restaurant. We're asked awhile before lunch what we want and the cooks prepare it in the kitchen so that when we go down to the dining hall the food is already hot and on the table. We're not given a choice for dinner, Mom chooses that meal for all of us, but we're free to choose our own lunch. When my personal butler came and asked me what I wanted for lunch, I didn't give it much thought. "Steak, please. A lot of steak." I answered. Usually I order chilidogs, and by usually I mean every day. You've got to appreciate my butler. I request the same thing for lunch every day yet he still takes the time to find me in the big palace and ask me what I want. So it's pretty obvious why he gave me a "are you serious?" look when I asked for steak. But he didn't object, just wrote down my request.

"And to drink?" he asked.

"Water." I replied. I wanted something natural. My butler nodded and walked down to the kitchen. After he was out of hearing range, I began slamming my head against the wall. What was happening to me? I was going wild animal! I don't eat steak, I eat chilidogs, and since when did I want water and not soda? I groaned, stopping after my head was good and sore and I was starting to see stars.

Down at lunch, my family was all assembled. "There you are, Sonic." Mom said from the head of the table. The dining hall is huge (as is the rest of the palace) and has a glass roof with a chandelier hanging from it. Behind the head of the ridiculously long table is a huge fireplace, with a portrait of Mom hanging on the chimney. Other portraits of other deceased rulers line the marble walls.

"Dude, you are seriously tardy. I'm almost done." Manic said, munching on his sandwich. I tried to avoid staring at the gash I had placed in his ear, but I found it hard to do.

Mom glanced over at my plate. "No chilidogs?" she asked.

"I felt like having steak today." I said, cutting off a piece.

"Well, Sonic…" Mom sighed. "The Oracle informed me that a likely side effect of this… night transformation would be a desire to eat carnivorously and an additional desire for only natural liquids." she said.

"Translate that into English." I muttered.

"You'll only want to eat meat and drink water." Sonia groaned.

"And why is that so bad?" I asked with food in my mouth.

"Don't talk with food in your mouth, Sonic. And it's bad because you're a hedgehog, not a wolf. You need a balance of foods to stay healthy." Mom informed me. "Maybe I should go get you some fruit and bread."

"I'm fine Mom." I muttered.

"Sonic, you need more than just steak…" Mom said, getting up.

"Seriously Mom, I'm FINE." I growled.

"Sonic, please…"

"DO YOUR HEAR ME? I'M FINE!" I yelled at her. Manic stopped in mid-bite. Sonia dropped her fork. Mom just stared at me, obviously shocked.

"Well… If you don't need me to get you anything… I'll just go." she whimpered, then ran back to her room, crying softly. After she was out of earshot, Sonia started screaming at me.

"You KNOW how fragile Mother is! Why'd you start YELLING at her? She's not used to that! She doesn't know what to expect from teenagers, we've tried to be mild around her and you decide to start SCREAMING!" she shouted. Manic just stared at me, wide-eyed. I'll admit that I didn't care what I'd done. At least, the Werehog didn't care. Suddenly my conscience seemed to kick back in, and the effect of what I'd done nearly knocked me over.

"Guys… I'm… I'm sorry…" I stuttered.

"You better be!" Sonia yelled at me. "Now apologize to Mother!"

"Look sis, you can't blame 'im. It's the Werehog that's bein' this snappy." Manic defended me.

"Oh, so now you're siding with him?" Sonia growled.

"I ain't sidin' with anybody!" Manic protested. While they were arguing, I slunk away. Sonia was right, I owed Mom an apology.

When I got to Mom's door, I hesitated. What if she was so heartbroken she didn't want to see my face? If she wanted too, she even had the power to deny me my future rights to the throne for losing my temper at her Highness. Or worse, I could be banished from the city. There was no greater shame. I sighed.

I did this. I've got to face the consequences. I thought, about to knock, but the door swung open, revealing Mom in a long winter coat, a travel pack flung over her shoulder. I could tell she was pretending she had forgotten what had happened not two minutes ago, but her eyes and nose were slightly red, like she had been crying.

"Mom?…" I stared.

"We're going to see the Oracle, Sonic. I'm putting Argus in charge." Mom said simply. Argus was her trusted advisor and head of the royal guard.

"Now?" I asked.

"Now, Sonic. You need help." she replied sympathetically. "Come on, let's get you ready."

After about ten minutes, I was totally packed and ready to go. Manic and Sonia had been informed we were leaving and saw us off. I hopped in the old camper van/tour bus/hovercraft, which was the fastest way there with all this luggage. At my speed, it would've taken about three hours, tops, but we had to take this thing. Though I'm sure we were all dreading the fact that we might not make it there by nightfall.