... I don't know what to say except I apologize for pushing this story off for so long. I guess writer's block is a lot more difficult than I thought. But I heavily appreciate all of you silent readers for just reading this story, let alone those who have commented or reviewed it.

Thank you all.

With this, I'm gonna try to finish this story. But to save some time, I've decided to do something a little different.

I'm gonna finished this story, but I have a whole different plot aligned with this one which I'm gonna split into a second story of this saga. I hope you will all be there with me as I continue.

Again, Thank you all.

Enjoy!

(P.S. 50,000 WORD MILESTONE! WOOOO!)

Hours passed as the night continued on without a problem. Well, besides Manic's uncontrollable power, Aleena's roboticization, Sonic's guilt, his friend's despair- Nevermind, forget what was said. Vanilla and Cream were back home safe, Sonia was still in the hospital, Amy and the others were asleep in their homes, Sonic is… Missing, and finally, Tails was home with Manic and Aleena. He was in his room and was out like a light. Manic and Aleena however, were in the main room next to each other. Manic was holding onto his mother, scared and frightened. Aleena slowly caressed his head with her hand as she soothed him to sleep. Once he was asleep, Aleena stopped and looked around. She hasn't seen Sonic all night ever since Manic's incident and she was getting worried, but there is nothing she can do right now as she slowly went to sleep.

The night passed quickly and Aleena was the first to awaken. She looked around and saw the sun just above the horizon through a nearby window.

"Dawn… has the night passed that quickly?" She thought to herself.

She carefully moved Manic off her and got up from the couch to walk over to the window and saw the beautiful scenery in front of her. The grass still had its bright green color like it was untouched by that cruel dictator. Other Mobians were starting to leave their homes, either to start their jobs early or to get ahead on the day. Just a few minutes later, she saw children coming out to play. Seeing the joy on their faces brought a smile on her face, but it also reminded her of her past which made her lose that smile. She never got to experience her children having fun like how they were. If only the doctor hadn't attacked the kingdom all those years ago…

Manic still slept on the couch from all the exhaustion of the events that just transpired. Until a new vision invaded his mind…

At first, it was all dark. Nothing was visible in the void of his mind. Then, a new image faded in and it startled him.

A new environment surrounded him, completely unrecognizable. It looked like some kind of abandoned building, something foreign yet very familiar to him. He tried to move, but something held on his feet to stay in place, almost like they were glued to the floor. Just like…

As the realization kicked in, fear and dread were the only things he could feel.

"No… Not again!" Now he can speak unlike the previous one.

He tried to look around for anyone nearby, but no one was in sight. What was he doing here? What was this premonition trying to tell him?

Then, he spotted something else... Some kind of flag was stuck under the debris. His curiosity forced him to investigate. But was stopped again by the force keeping him still. He tried to move his feet as best he could to no avail. He struggled over and over, very determined to break free from his invisible chains. Rage started to build up after every failed attempt, his eyes starting to glow crystal white once more, his hands electrifying…

With one jolt, he stumbled forward. Now that he was free, he was able to get closer. He removed debris off of what looked to be a flag symbolizing his family. But something was off…

The original flag he always remembered was a plain light purple background with a gold ring in the middle. There were four gems sewed inside the ring. One big purple gem with a small crown and three different colored gems below it, one pink, one blue, and one green. The purple one obviously meant Queen Aleena, and the bottom three must mean the children. There were white long wings on each side of the ring, almost like holding everyone inside the ring with the hedgehog dynasty symbol below it all. All together, it's supposed to symbolize the current royal family along with respect for them.

But this… this was different…

Everything was the same, but the wings were different. Instead of the wings holding the ring, they were spread outward like it was flying in the sky. That was the only difference until he finally saw what he overlooked…

A second big gem was next to Aleena's… Another gem… with another crown…

Manic stumbled back. He dropped the flag and stared with wide eyes. What does this mean?! There was another royal with Aleena?! What is going on?!

*BAM*

The loud sound of a door slamming open made him nearly jump out of his skin. He spun around and saw an old open medieval door leading into darkness. He slowly approached the doorway and peaked inside. It was pitch black, nothing could be seen anywhere. The only light source was from the door he entered from. As he ventured in, he felt an aura of darkness surrounding him. It unsettled him so much, he turned around to head back. But as he turned, the door shut itself and disappeared in the darkness. Manic hesitated as he just saw his only way out disappear without a trace. He looked around and he started walking backwards towards nothingness. Then, he bumped into something. It felt cold and metallic… He froze in fear and didn't dare move the rest of his body and he recognized the feeling. The feeling he was too familiar with… He spun around to look back at the metallic figure. He couldn't see much, but he could definitely see some things such as hair, wires, and… bloodied fur…

"What… What is…"

Manic was at a loss for words. Why was this premonition showing him this? Who even is the man in front of him? He strangely looks similar to someone Manic knows but can't figure it out.

"Manic…"

"... H-How do you know my name?"

The only response he got was a dark red glow over the mobian as bright red glowing eyes appeared and stared down his soul.

"Help…"

A hand reached out to him but Manic was too scared. A bright red light blinded him and he felt the mobian's hand forcefully on his shoulder.

"GAH!"

Manic screamed as he sat up and looked around. He saw the familiar sightings of his older brother's living room and sighed. He was hyperventilating from the rush of adrenaline, never feeling anything like this before.

"Manic! Are you alright?"

It was Tails, Sonic's little buddy. He flew over the couch he was sitting on and landed next to him.

"What's wrong?"

"N-nothing. J-just a bad dream, little dude…"

He looked around and saw that no one else was around.

"Hey, Tails. Where's my mom?"

"She's in my workshop in the back. I asked her to be there so I could see if I could restore her."

Manic paused as he stared at the little fox. Amazed by his words…

"Restore her? Y-you mean…"

"If this was just a simple "place metal on top of skin" kind of procedure, I can try to undo most of the damage and bring her back. You can come and watch if you want, I don't want to keep her waiting."

Tails spun his two tails and flew past Manic back towards his workshop. Manic was hesitant at first, but it would be wrong to leave his mother at a time like this. He got up from the coach and walked towards the back of the house. He saw a reinforced metal door that was open and entered. What he saw inside amazed him.

There were all kinds of tools and machines for testing or creation. It almost looked like one of the old resistance bases back when Robotnik first took over. That resurfaced a few memories, good and bad. Many tools were spread out like a junkpile, looks like he never kept anything organized. After passing all of the tools, benches, and all kinds of experimental tech, he saw Aleena and Tails over by a table. Tails was writing something down on a clipboard before scanning Aleena a few more times. Aleena just sat on a stool, sitting very still. She looked over and saw her youngest son with a smile.

"Good morning, Manic. Are you alright? We heard you scream."

"I'm fine, mom. I just had a nightmare, that's all." Manic brushed off. He doesn't intend to tell her anything about what he saw in his premonition.

He pulled a nearby stool and sat near them while Tails continued to work. The awkward silence gave a very tense atmosphere. No one knew how to even say a word in this kind of situation.

Tails finished up taking preliminary scans and broke the silence.

"Alright. Judging from these scans, I think it might be possible to fully remove all your robotic parts!"

"Really?" Aleena beamed.

"You serious, dude?" Manic was ecstatic.

"Yeah! But here's the bad news…"

Both smiles drop into a frown. Bad news? What bad news?

"I'll be able to remove all of the robotic parts. But due to the damage done to your body, you might not be exactly the same. One big thing I'm worried about is your eye."

He moved closer and tapped a few times on Aleena's purple optical eye and continued.

"My scans can't really penetrate inside so… I might not be able to… save it…"

Awkward silence takes over once more. They couldn't believe it. Aleena can be helped, but she could end up without an eye. This was devastating to Manic, why was everything bad happening to everyone around him while he remained unscathed? First, he was separated since birth. Then, again but with Sonic. Then, attacked by the same enemy which he nearly lost Sonia. Then, Sonic loses his mind from his dark transformation. Then, Sonia gets shot. And now, his mother is going to be permanently scarred and disabled for the rest of her life! And what happened to him? Nothing! Why can't some of the pain just transfer to him instead…

So much emotion was overpowering him and Aleena could sense it almost immediately. When she looked over, Manic's pink eyes turned crystal white back and forth like he was fighting for control. She quickly moved her unroboticized hand and placed it on his shoulder.

"Manic?"

He looked over and saw her worried face and sighed, the crystal white iris fading away.

"Sorry…"

"Everything will be fine, Manic." Tails added.

Manic nodded and looked away for a minute, trying to think of something else.

"I could start the procedure now, but I'll need to call Amy. She has more experience in healing than me."

"Thank you… Um, I'm sorry, I can't recall your name."

Tails gives a smile and proudly announces his name.

"I'm Tails. Sonic's best friend."

"Tails, do you mind if I ask you a personal question?"

Tails' smile fell and his head tilted as he was a bit confused on why she would want to ask that.

"Sure?"

"Do you have a full name?"

Tails' ears slightly drop as the realization kicks in.

"Oh. Well, yeah. It's just that I get picked on for it."

"That's terrible! How could someone make fun of one's name?" Aleena was repulsed at something like that.

"They don't make fun of my full name, it's the last name they mock me with." Tails replied.

"How awful."

"Anyway, my name is Miles. Miles Prower."

Aleena's eyes went wide and her facial expressions showed immense surprise.

"M-Miles P-Prower?!" Aleena whispered.

"Yeah?" Tails was confused at her reaction.

"Impossible… The convoy was destroyed and everyone was killed…"

Manic and Tails looked at each other in confusion. What was she talking about?

"Umm… Miss Aleena? What are you talking about?"

Aleena stared at Tails and examined him. As she did, she recognized his features more and more. How could she have not seen it before?!

"You're their child! You're Rosemary and Amadeus' child!"

"WHAT?!" Tails yelled.

Aleena knows his parents?! Why didn't she say this before?

"You knew my parents?!"

"Of course I did, they were part of the highest ranks of my royal guard!"

"The royal guard!? I thought Argus was the only one high enough. How come you've never said anything before?" Manic questioned.

"Because…" Aleena hesitated, "Because they were killed…"

It all happened years ago…

Maybe a couple years before the council of four was formed…

I was trying to keep myself hidden from prying eyes, but also help the rest of my guard reach safety whenever I could…

Aleena ran through alleyways in her cloak and reached the forest behind all the buildings. She ran for a few minutes before a small run down shack came into view. She opened the door, closed it behind her, and sighed. The old run down shack had very little luxuries but she had to rough it until the time comes.

Inside, there was only a small, old, and rotten wood table and a rough makeshift bed. This was what life had to be until then.

A small creak of the wood could be heard out of nowhere and Aleena spun around with her scepter out and ready to fire. This reaction caused her intruder to stop with their hands in the air. Due to poor lighting, Aleena could only see a faint outline of the mobian that somehow found her.

"Show yourself! Slowly…"

"Relax, my queen."

The intruder moved into the light and much to Aleena's delight, a yellow dog mobian with orange hair and an eyepatch revealed himself.

"I think this whole separation plan is too much for you."

"Argus!"

She put away her scepter and walked closer to give a proper greeting as Argus held out his hand in a handshake.

"I didn't mean to sneak in and scare you but I have news you'll love to hear."

Aleena's curiosity peaked.

"Oh? What is it?"

"I was able to gather what's left of the royal guard and we're about to head out of the city. Then, we could make a small base and wait until the time is right. That way, we could join your children in the final fight in full force."

Aleena grew a smile at such wonderful news. She was beginning to worry about most of her peers as most of them could not contact her by any means.

"That's great, Argus! Have you seen the Prower family yet? The last I've heard, Rosemary was with child."

"Commander Amadeus and his wife are safe and sound, your majesty."

Aleena sighed in relief, they were safe but it was unfortunate that their child would have to be brought into this broken world.

"But it seems that you have been given outdated information, She's not with child anymore."

Her eyes went wide in suspense until he continued,

"It's a boy, a healthy baby boy. And his name is Miles."

"How wonderful!" Aleena cheered.

"Yes, it is. But now, I have to get going. We are leaving tonight."

Argus began to walk out the door to head to the others to lead the convoy.

"Tonight?!" Aleena gasped.

"Tonight, my queen. We've been seeing more and more activity from Robotnik with his swatbots. If we don't leave soon, we'll be found. You should be there to be the leader as well. Morale hasn't been the same without you…"

She sighed and looked away for a moment.

"I'll be there, but I want to see how my children are doing one more time. I doubt I will be able to check on them after we leave."

Argus nodded. He understands why she asks this, no one should be taken away from their children like this.

"Of course, your majesty. We will set out at sunset."

"Understood…" Aleena whispered.

Then, the captain walked past the door and closed it behind him. Aleena just stood in the same spot, thinking to herself…

When we move what remains of my guards to a safe location, I wouldn't be able to move freely as I was before to see you grow. So, I took one last trip to see all your progress before leaving the city entirely. But when I tried to reach the convoy, everything took a turn for the worst…

After seeing her children, Aleena snuck past the buildings and into the woods where the convoy was on a planned path to the out borders. She was getting close, but then the sounds of weapons fire invaded her ears. Screaming and explosions followed suit. Her fear grew exponentially as she ran with her scepter prepared and tried to enter the battle.

Unfortunately, before she could arrive, everything went silent…

She stopped and her heart dropped as everything stopped…

The screams had diminished…

And the sounds of a forest fire began to fill the silence…

"No… No!"

She ran even faster towards the field and arrived to see a horrifying scene.

Swatbots were everywhere, guns raised and were scanning everywhere. But that wasn't as bad as seeing all the destruction of the carriages carrying supplies and passengers… And the bodies laying on the ground… the dead, shot, bloody bodies. It took all of Aleena's strength to not get sick or attack in vengeance. Every member she could recognize was there, dead… even…

Even Commander Amadeus Prower…

She just stood there in sadness and didn't see the swatbot approaching her. Then, a hand reached from behind and grabbed Aleena's shoulder. She was shoved into a nearby bush and silenced as the bot passed by like it wasn't aware that she was there. She looked above and saw Argus with his blaster in hand, covered in blood and injuries.

"Stay quiet." He whispered.

Aleena complied, She stayed silent until all of the bots left the area. That was when Aleena broke her silence,

"Argus!? What happened?!" She screamed.

The captain sighed, "Swatbots ambushed us. We were just about to reach the boundary, but they caught us. We tried to fight them off. But as you can see, we were outnumbered…"

They both left their hiding spot and assessed the scene with Aleena falling on her knees next to Amadeus. Argus followed her and lowered his head in respect.

"He was a good one, your majesty. And I know he was one of your closest friends…"

Her eyes began to tear up as she closed the fox commander's eyes. Staying silent all the way.

"Wait…" Aleena mumbled. "Where's Rosemary?!"

"She was in the carriage with her son at the time…"

Her head snapped over to a smoking carriage, damaged beyond repair. Once the captain and queen moved to the opening and saw inside only horror could describe her feelings. To be brief, it was as different as on the field. And in the back, there laid Rosemary, barely gasping for breath.

"Rose! Rose, are you alright?" She jumped inside and huddled near her friend.

She didn't respond…

She checked for a pulse…

It was very faint, but she was still alive. Aleena sighed in relief, but her worries weren't over. Her injuries were very severe and life threatening. There were many burns and lacerations on her upper body. Including a small laser shot that left a hole dangerously close to her chest.

"Argus, we have to get her to a doctor now!"

"But your majesty, all of our supplies and personnel were just taken out. We don't have anyone left!"

"Then, we'll have to find another doctor! We can't just let her die!"

Aleena carefully picked her up, staining herself in her friend's own blood to try to find medical help. But then, something stopped her as she jumped off the carriage.

After moments of silence, she realized something was off. She saw Rosemary and a few other passengers, but something was missing… or someone…

"Argus… Didn't you say that Rosemary had her son?"

"Yes?" Argus was confused at such a question.

"Then… Where is he?"

The Captain looked back inside and saw that indeed Rosemary's son was nowhere near his mother. He slightly panicked, knowing he should've never left her side, especially in a situation like this. He quickly jumped back in and tried to find the young fox, but all there was were charred bodies or destroyed resources. None resembled a baby fox.

"He's not here!" He jumped out and ran outward and shouted into the distance, calling the boy's name.

"Miles! Miles, where are you!"

Aleena joined in and screamed out as well.

"Miles, please come back! Miles!"

In the midst of the screaming, the injured fox mother heard their cries and recognized the name.

"M-Miles…" her voice strained.

Aleena looked back down to her and realized that she needs help now or it will be too late.

"Argus, we don't have time. Let's get Rose some help, I'll find Miles later."

Argus nodded and with what little supplies they had left, they were able to makeshift some bandages for her wounds. Then, they carried her off back towards Robotropolis to find a resistance doctor to aid them.

Way after they left, something crept through the shadows of the forest. A very small and young mobian, lost in the dark and scary woods with nothing but a bloodied name tag and his two tails…

"After we found a doctor to help your mother, I tried to find you whenever I could. But you were nowhere to be found."

Tails was astonished. He didn't remember anything about his parents. After all this time, Aleena was the only one that knew anything about them and he could finally learn of his parents.

"I… I always thought that I wasn't wanted…"

"What?!" Manic gawked.

Aleena was disgusted at such a thought,

"Your parents loved you, Miles. What on Mobius made you think that?"

In response, He split both tails side to side and looked down in shame.

"Everyone always made fun of my name, my tails, and my smarts. They said that my parents would've been glad to get rid of a freak like me. Sometimes, I thought they were right…"

His face showed huge amounts of depression and sadness. Who can blame anyone feeling like this when the topic is as disheartening as his.

Silence ensues as Manic got up and gave Tails and side hug for comfort. He doesn't say anything in fear that it might be taken the wrong way as experience has taught him recently.

"Miles…" Aleena spoke, "All of that was not true. Your parents wanted nothing in the world but you. They don't care if you look different or have an extra limb or have supernatural intelligence. All they wanted was to have you and be with you for the rest of their lives to give you unconditional love. They had no intention to give you up."

He took some comfort in her words. But if it came from his actual mother, it would've impacted him a lot more. His mother… A light bulb went off in Tails' head and his face grew with more happiness.

"Wait, you said you took my mom to a doctor right? Is she…"

Aleena's face didn't change, giving him his answer and any spark of hope had died within him.

"I don't know…" Tails looked up back at her from that response, "At the time, there was very little that could be done. I almost thought I was going to lose her. But they told me of something they were experimenting with…"

Now Manic was curious. What is she talking about?

"They were experimenting with cryostasis. They suggested that we put her into a cryotube to be frozen until they can be healed in a more stable environment. Especially if there was a war going on. I didn't have any other choice…"

"What happened to her?" Manic asked this time.

"After we won the war, It still wasn't safe to bring her out yet, as we were rebuilding the capital. But when it was time, we still couldn't take her out. If we did, she would only have minutes before… before…"

Tails looked down, tears beginning to fall and Manic rubbed his back.

"All I know is that she is still in her cryotube back in Mobotropolis…"

"But… wasn't it destroyed…? Again?" Manic whispered.

"It's possible she's safe. The facility is underground with reinforced structures."

Once more, Silence filled the room. They all stayed that way as Tails stifled his cries with the green and purple hedgehog giving any comfort they could. After a few minutes, Tails calmed down and wiped away his tears. He placed his tools on the table and began to walk back into the house.

"I'm gonna call Amy. When she gets here we can start the procedure. Manic, you might want to go somewhere else before we start. It's not gonna be pretty…"

He walked past the door and left it open. Manic then excused himself to go see his sister once more at the hospital, like he promised…

Aleena nodded and waved goodbye as he left through the back door instead of the house.

As he walked through the streets, his mind was racing with every new revelation he came across. This is probably the worst year he has ever had in his life. But it's over, it's time to heal. Hopefully, so can his siblings…

Please leave a review if you can and I hope you have a nice day!