In the past 24 hours, "Scourge" had discovered he was somebody else entirely, gone home to a new family and a new life, forgot everything all over again, remembered it, confessed everything to his new family, and got through it all relatively unscathed. Even after leaving the hospital with the Hedgethorns and knowing full well he was one of them, he still felt like an outsider because of his original intent to deceive them. But now that they'd forgiven him, he struggled to feel something other than dread for once. He wasn't used to feeling carefree, so it would take some time to sink in, and time was something he had a lot of.
"What's so funny?" Jules asked him from across the table.
Manic tried to respond, but only collapsed into more giggles that were less stifled than before. Everyone waited for him to regain his composure before he finally told them, "Nothing's funny, it's just good to be back," which made everyone else giggle in agreement.
No one could fault him for his glee since they all shared it, though the timing of his reaction was a bit off, as they'd been sitting here sharing breakfast for the past 10 minutes. On the other hand, 10 minutes was substantially less than the year or two they were expecting for him to start laughing and smiling again, so he was ahead of schedule, rather than behind. At this point, who could say what the next year would bring, or even the next week?
As if to answer that question, Jules' phone chose that precise moment to break the peace. He placed it to his ear, gave the name of the residence the caller was speaking to, and waited for the reply.
"It's been a while..."
Jules was speechless, he thought he was ready for whatever happened throughout his prodigal son's return, but this was the last thing he'd expected. The voice was raspy and labored, but he recognized it all the same. Knowing this couldn't end in a way that didn't sour the happy mood in the house, he got up and exited through the nearby sliding glass door to the back patio, and after closing the door behind him, he asked, "Why are you calling us?"
On the other end of the line, Ashura struggled to remember his words.
"I heard Maurice was found."
"...how did you know?" Jules growled, "How could you possibly know?"
"If you must know, a phone we recovered got a text, not long ago, telling us that he'd been found. It's the same phone I'm talking to you with," Ash croaked.
"You mean to tell me that a phone you found somewhere told you all on its own that my son had been rescued?" Jules asked skeptically.
"I was in the infirmary when they found it. They brought it to me and told me that was what happened," Ashura mumbled back.
"You expect me to believe someone just texted it to you on someone else's phone?" Jules spat, sincerely hoping his estranged relative detected the venom with which he spoke.
"If I was making stuff up, I would have said something a bit more believable," sighed Ashura nonchalantly.
The laziness in his voice made Jules wonder if he was on some kind of drug.
"Well you sound like you're high on something. Might that have something to do with what you're shoveling my way?" he demanded.
"Just the painkillers. My jaw's still pretty torn up," Ashura replied.
Jules wasn't sure whether he should be irritated or disturbed by the casualness with which Ash spoke of the previous six weeks, given what had transpired within that time frame- the whole world was talking about it- but the bigger question on his mind was whether or not he should acquiesce his request?
"What exactly do you plan to say to Manic?" Jules asked in a more serious tone.
As if ready for the question, Ashura, in a more clear-headed voice, told him, "I just want to know that he's safe. I want to hear his voice one last time, to finally get closure."
Sighing, Jules remained silent as he pondered his options. Ash was family, but he'd caused more trouble for them than their exile from Mobius on Space Colony Ark ever did. Gracefully enduring separation from their homeworld and beginning anew on Earth after spending 50 years frozen on a space station was no easy task, but he and Aleena had pulled it off together as a team, like they had so many times before, and only in the last few years had Ashura's war crimes threatened to undo everything his family had worked hard to achieve. And after all that, with the government possibly listening in on whatever phone conversations anyone related to him was having, he decided now was a good time to chat with them?
"You're just calling to talk to Manic?" Jules asked in a very deflated voice. There was no doubt in his mind that that was all he wanted, but he still felt overwhelmed by everything that had transpired, on top of the fact that Ashura had chosen the worst possible time to ruin the happy moment he and his family had been enjoying.
"Do you want me to pinky swear?" grumbled the younger hedgehog on the other end.
Badgering him further was pointless, and to hang up on him now would only earn him another call, so it might be best to just get it over with. Deciding to accede, Jules warned him, "Because of what you've been up to, we've had a lot of people watching us. For all I know, this call might be monitored. Make sure to keep it brief."
"...thank you," Ashura sighed.
Rubbing the top of his long nose, the literal and figurative blue man turned to open the back door. As soon as he entered, everyone sensed something was amiss from the look on his face.
"...is something wrong?" Aleena asked him.
If all eyes weren't on him before, they were now. He motioned his wife toward him, then stepped back and waited till she'd closed the door behind her to inform her of the situation.
"Ash called. He wants to talk to Manic," he whispered to her.
"How would he have known about Manic? We kept that a secret!" his wife hissed, her defensive glare making him cringe inwardly.
"Apparently, someone texted him about it. He just wants to talk to Maurice. If we let him say hello, that might be the end of it. Otherwise, he'll just keep calling us."
That point gave her pause. She considered it for a moment, remembering the bond Ash had shared with Manic.
"...alright," Aleena relented, turning to open the glass door.
This unexpected development had soured her mood considerably and the confused looks her kids gave her weren't improving it.
"Maurice," she said in a voice barely above a mumble, "We need you outside."
The three siblings and their uncle had been watching the commotion with the cell phone and all had their own questions about who was on the other end.
"That's not Robotnik on the other end, is it?" Sonia asked.
Jules's reply was simply, "no."
"So who is it?" asked Sonic.
"We'll explain, afterward," Aleena promised, even going as far as doing the pinky swear gesture to emphasize her point.
Manic got up and exited through the glass door, wondering who could cause so much tension just by calling? His question was quickly answered when Jules handed him the phone.
"Hello?" he asked.
On the other side of the world, Ashura's heart skipped. He immediately recognized the voice even after all this time. He could hardly believe this was actually happening, almost like a dream, yet it felt too real.
"...Manic?" he whispered, barely audible from all the excitement.
"Who is this?" his long lost cousin asked cautiously, snapping him back to reality.
The voice recognition only went one way. He worried about how deeply Manic had been affected by his kidnapping, but it wasn't as if he'd forgotten everything...right?
"It's your brother Ashton," he replied as casually as he could manage in his condition.
Manic pondered the name; it sounded similar to Ashura, which he'd heard his brother and sister mention earlier, but he didn't remember hearing about Ashton, so he asked, "Are you Ashura?"
Not quite what the older hedgehog had been hoping to hear.
Manic could almost hear Ash sighing before he replied, "Some people call me that."
So this was the same Ashura his sibs and uncle didn't want to talk about- the same that his parents didn't want to talk to, evidently. There was something familiar about him, but as before, he couldn't put his finger on it. Maybe talking to him would clear things up?
"Sonic and Sonia mentioned you," he said, sheepishly, not really knowing how else to get the conversation rolling.
"I'm sure they did," Ashura replied unenthusiastically, "Are you alright?"
Obviously he wasn't perfect, with all that he'd been subjected to for the past 5 years, and the symptoms that were only now surfacing as a result, but he could safely say he was doing better than he was a week before, so...
"Yes, I'm doing better now," he replied, hoping that flat response was enough.
He heard what sounded like a long exhale on the other end before Ashura told him, "I've been waiting half a decade to hear you say that. It's so good to hear from you again."
"Yeah it's good to be back, too," Manic admitted, cracking a smile as he looked out at the lake sparkling under the sun, knowing all that was part of his home was a welcome change from the concrete prison he would rather forget.
Ashura added, "No matter what happened, know that you'll always have your family there to look out for you. They are there to help you through any problem you encounter, so always make sure to let them know when you're dealing with a problem, and to listen to their wisdom."
Manic smiled even wider, this time closing his eyes as he relived the tender moments he'd shared with all of them since waking up the previous morning.
"I already did," he chuckled as he opened his eyes again, "I told them about my weird memory problem this morning."
Aleena took the phone from Manic and asked, "Should he be telling Ashura about this?"
"It's alright, he's not sharing any big secrets, just let him finish the call and we can put this behind us," her husband assured her, his hand raised.
Reluctantly, she handed the phone back to Manic.
"You still there?" Ash asked, having heard the commotion. As much as he loved his aunt, her over-protectiveness was beginning to irritate him, partially because she was regarding him not just as an outsider, but a threat.
"Yeah I'm still here," replied Manic.
Ash then inquired,"You mentioned memory issues. What exactly did you forget?"
"Oh man, everything! It was crazy," Manic chuckled, remembering how relieved he'd felt that he really was home.
'Oh, he did forget everything!' Ash thought to himself, no longer relieved, but deeply saddened, "Your whole life...stolen from you."
Manic didn't know what to say to that, and deflected with, "Everyone's helping me remember, I'll get it back."
It did little to lessen the blow to Ashura's soul, knowing the magnitude of his little brother's suffering while he'd been unable to do anything about it. Far from the happy tale of healing he'd naively hoped for when he made the call. He tried not to sound choked up as he fought back tears, and asked, "You really forgot who you were?"
As much as Manic tried to keep a cheerful face on, behind the facade was a child as wounded, scared, and broken as the day he'd left Robotnik's house. Though the cuts on his body healed, they remained on his soul, tattered reminders of the harsh world every parent tries to shelter their young from. However, he was every bit as determined to overcome all that as he had been when he called the police and broke free for the first time, and he wasn't about to let bad memories pull him back down.
Sighing, he told Ash, "He broke me, took away my very identity, but something drove me to leave, and I was found and taken to a hospital where they discovered my real name in a DNA test and gave it back to me. That's one thing he couldn't keep from me, so he didn't break me completely, and I won't remain broken.
Both of his parents felt relieved at his determination, and a bit inspired.
Ashura didn't quite know how to feel; his little brother had been abused to the point that he completely forgot who he was, only stumbling back home by some miracle, but on the other hand he was proving resilient beyond all expectation, a marvel in itself, given what had happened to him. Tears came, though Ash knew not if it was grief or joy, and simply replied in a shaky voice, "You never deserved that. You were the best little brother anyone could hope for, and you were taken from the perfect family by a monster, and yet, you found your way back. You're stronger than you think."
It felt good to hear that because, despite what he'd been through, Manic knew he was right; he had indeed overcome more than could be reasonably expected of him.
"Thanks," he replied, "All I knew at the time was that I wasn't going to die in some old basement. You're not going to die over there, either. One day, we'll all be together again."
On the other end, the light inside Ashura dimmed. Visibly deflating, the bedridden hedgehog let his eyelids sink shut before telling his naive counterpart, "No...hearing your voice again and knowing you won't have to recover alone is enough for me. My time is over...yours is just beginning...so don't waste it."
'What's that supposed to mean?' Manic thought to himself, and asked, "Why can't you come back?" while praying Ash wasn't literally dying at the moment.
Ash told him, "I've done things...killed people...I'm a wanted man...it's better if you don't understand and try to remember the good times we shared."
Feeling himself growing weaker, Manic sputtered, "We can fix this! Nothing is impossible. I didn't let Robtonik kill me and I'm not going to lose you now!"
Pausing, Ashura asked him, "...who did you say?"
"Ro...botnik?" Manic told him, not quite sure what significance that name could hold for Ash.
"Robotnik?" Ashura prodded, making sure he heard right.
"Yes," Manic confirmed.
The older hedgehog felt his blood run cold. It all made sense now, what was going on- what had been going on this whole time!
"Let me ask him something," suggested Jules, reaching for the cell phone and bringing it to his own ear, "Ash, do you know anything about Robotnik?"
Ashura chose his words carefully and told his uncle, "I...can't explain," and hung up.
"What was that all about?" Aleena asked rhetorically.
Back in the infirmary, Ashura placed the cell phone onto the table next to his bed and looked up to see a very surprised expression still plastered onto Roxanne's face.
"Go get Elias, tell him we have a situation," he ordered.