Chapter 13: Time Off
Station Square, Residential Area
"Here we are." Sonic told his siblings as they walked to the front door of their parent's house.
"I'm nervous." Sonia sighed.
"Me too, sis." Manic added.
"Hey, I'm here if you need me." Sonic smiled.
"Thanks, bro." They both said as Amy knocked on the door.
It didn't take long for Bernie to answer the door.
"Grandma!" Sarah exclaimed, clamping onto her grandmother's leg.
"Sarah, my dear!" Bernie cheered excitedly, picking up her granddaughter.
"Hello, Mom." Sonic waved. "I have a surprise for you and Dad. Well, two actually."
Bernie looked up and gasped.
"Sonia? Manic?"
"Yes, Mom, it's us." Sonia whispered.
"I never thought I would ever see either one of you again!" Bernie yelled, hugging her other two children, tears streaming from all three of their eyes.
Sonic and Amy smiled at each other.
Soon, Jules walked out.
"Bernie, what's going- wha, what's this?"
"Jules, it's them! Sonia and Manic!" Bernie cried.
"D-dad?" Manic sniffed.
"Y-yeah, son."
Jules began to tear up as he also ran to join the hug.
"I knew it was a good idea to bring them here." Sonic said.
"Good thing the Chaos Emerald was in town." Amy added.
"How did you get here?" Bernie asked, wiping her eyes.
"Sonic found us in the desert." Manic replied.
"Sonic fell from the sky, literally!" Sonia joked.
"What does that mean?" Jules gave a puzzled look.
"Let's go inside. We'll explain there." Sonic said as the family walked inside.
Inside, After explaining the situation to the elder hedgehogs
"So you're basically saying you're saving the world again, huh, son?" Jules smiled.
"That's right, Dad." Sonic answered.
"Could you spare some time and have a family dinner?" Bernie asked.
"I'm sure we have plenty of time. At least that's what Tails said, so, yes, we can." Amy said, smiling.
"We'd love to." Sonia put in.
"Great!" Bernie cheered.
"What are we having, Mom?" Sonic asked.
"You're in luck, Sonic! It's your favorite, chili dogs!" Jules said.
"Heck yeah! That's what I'm talking about!" The Blue Blur cheered as they walked into the kitchen.
"Daddy, what's a chili dog?" Sarah asked.
"Only the greatest meal in the world!" Sonic answered.
"Really?" The 3-year old's eyes twinkled with excitement.
Sonic could only smile.
Station Square Downtown
Knuckles, Rouge, and their kids were out exploring Station Square, even though the elder Echidna and bat knew the city pretty well. They were just having some family time, currently at the Burger Shop having dinner.
"So, Knuckie, want to hit up the Casino?" Rouge teased.
"I'd love to, Rouge, but who's going to watch the kids?" Knuckles asked.
"Damn, didn't think of that." Rouge frowned.
"All our friends are out, and I'm pretty sure they wouldn't want to babysit anyway." Knuckles put in.
"Mommy, Daddy, we can handle ourselves, or at least I can. I don't know about Precious." Karson boasted.
"Whatever." Precious rolled her eyes.
"Well, you staying by yourselves is not a no, but a hell no!" Rouge said, point blank.
"Aw, man." The two children pouted.
"When you're older, you can stay home alone." Knuckles told him.
"Wait, don't you still have your Warp Ring?" Rouge then asked.
"Always carry it with me."
"Let's drop the kids off with Mom. I'm sure she would love to see them."
"Yeah, why not? You kids wanna go visit Grandma?"
"Yes!" They both exclaimed, now excited.
"Great! Wait here, Rouge, while I take the kids to Mom's house." Knuckles said, pulling out his Warp Ring.
10 minutes later
"What took you so long?" Rouge complained.
"Sorry, I was talking to my Mom." Knuckles answered. "Let's go, babe."
The Echidna took his wife's hand in his, and the couple made their way to Casinopolis.
Casinopolis, 20 minutes later
Remember the diner from the 2nd and 3rd stories? (Violet Rose and Crimson Rose, respectively) Let's go down the street to Casinopolis.
It was yet another crowed night at Casinopolis. Money was being won and lost, majestic lights illuminated just about everywhere, prizes were being handed out, and so much more was going on.
"This place hasn't changed a bit." Rouge said.
"I never expected it to change." Knuckles said. "I almost chuckled again, but stopped myself." He boasted.
"Good job, hun." Rouge rolled her eyes.
The echidna and bat also took some time to get a little styled up.
Knuckles was wearing a brown jacket while Rouge was wearing a pink dress with a pearl necklace and black heels.
"Well, what do we do first? Go see a show or gamble?" Rouge asked.
"I'd say we watch the show first, then gamble. I heard the show is the Chao Dancers." Knuckles replied.
"Then what the hell are we standing around for? Let's go! I love the Chao Dancers!" Rouge exclaimed, grabbing her husband's arm and dragging him with her.
"Chill, Rouge, you're going to eventually pull my arm right out of my socket." Knuckles complained.
"Oh, hush."
"Wait, Rouge, look over there. Those two look just like you." Knuckles pointed to a bat couple.
"What?" Rouge looked around to see who Knuckles was talking about. She gasped, then began to run, still holding the echidna's arm.
"What's the deal?"
"I'll tell you when we go to bed. I'm not having a night with my husband ruined because of them." She answered.
"Who were they, babe?"
"My parents." Rouge growled.
"I thought you said you never really knew your parents."
"I didn't, but when I was younger I did. I hated them. They're terrible people. Like I said, I'll explain it later, but until then, can we please have a fun time, Knuckie?" Rouge stopped and pecked Knuckles' lips.
"Of course." Knuckles smiled.
Rouge smiled back as the two held hands and made their way to the show area of the casino.
Twinkle Park
Silver and Maria were having a fun time strolling through Twinkle Park, riding rides, playing booth games, and enjoying the food.
"I've had a blast, Silver. Thanks for bringing me here." Maria said, gleaming with positive vibes.
"Don't thank me yet because we haven't left." Silver replied with a smile.
Then, they passed a dunk the clown booth.
"Come on, try to knock me down if you can." The clown bragged.
"Silver, you should try." Maria said.
"I don't know." Silver smiled slyly.
"Please? If not, he's only going to tease you."
"It's true, I will." The clown added.
"Sure, why not?" Silver said, always looking for a way to prove himself. He payed the booth manager, who gave him a baseball.
"I bet your arm is as good as Helen Crocodile." The Clown joked.
Silver took the baseball and concentrated on the target. He locked onto it, winded up, and threw the baseball.
The baseball traveled, but just missed the target.
"My Grandmother can throw better than you, and she's dead." The Clown mocked.
"You get two more throws." The manager said.
"Come on, Silver. Tell you what, just to tease you, if you can knock the clown down in the next two throws, I'll kiss you." Maria stated.
Silver began to blush.
"Deal." He said.
He threw the second baseball, but missed horribly.
"Geez, you might as well play for the Dragons, because you'd be their ace pitcher, but still suck!"
"Last throw."
I got this." Silver said to himself as he prepared to throw the ball.
The ball traveled as it hit the target right on the bullseye, causing an alarm to sound, as well as the clown to fall into the pool.
"Dang, you got me. You've earned my respect." The Clown said.
"Good job, Silver!" Maria cheered.
"Thanks. You know you don't have to ki-"
Silver was interrupted by Maria pressing her lips against his. He was stunned throughout the kiss, despite it only lasting 10 seconds.
"Wow." Maria whispered. She pulled Silver into a corner.
"That was my first kiss." Maria told him.
"Mine, too." Silver replied.
"What? Oh my Chaos, Silver, I'm so sorry! I just basically stole your first kiss." Maria pinned her ears.
Silver lifter Maria's chin up with his hand.
"Don't be. I'm glad you were my first kiss." He said before he pecked her lips.
"So you feel this way, too?" Maria stated.
"Yes, and I'm willing to give this a shot if you are."
"Yeag. We can't tell Shadow, or really anyone. But mainly not Shadow." Maria said.
"But of course." Silver smiled as he brought Maria in for another kiss as she gladly returned it.
A new couple had been born.
Speed Highway, At Dawn Area
Shadow, Blaze, and Shadic were walking across town, with the ebony hedgehog having his son in a chest harness.
"I'm finally spending time with you and Shadic." Shadow said, taking Blaze's hand in his, in which she returned the gesture.
"Oh, Shadow, don't burden yourself with this. You support us from afar." Blaze smiled, leaning over and kissing Shadow's cheek, causing the ebony hedgehog to blush.
"I have some vacation time I can use. I was thinking we could go on a family vacation." Shadow suggested.
"That would be lovely. You know, Shadow, you've been somewhat nicer since your friend joined us."
"Well, I, uh..."
"You don't need to explain yourself." Blaze interrupted.
Shadow gave her a smile as the family continued their stroll.
Emerald Coast
Tails, Cream, and Cheese were walking the shoreline, the fox and rabbit hand in hand.
"This is nice, isn't it, Tails?" Cream asked.
"Yea, it is. It would be better if the Chaos Emeralds weren't scattered." Tails said.
"We'll get them."
"I know we will, Cream." Tails smiled at his girlfriend, in which she returned the gesture, then grimaced in pain.
"Ow!"
"What's wrong, Cream?" Tails asked, concerned.
"I stepped on something sharp." Cream replied.
"Chao." Cheese chirped as the Chao pulled the object out of the wet sand.
The trio gasped at what the object was.
"It's a Chaos Emerald!" Tails exclaimed, picking up the blue emerald.
"Wow, that was easy." Cream said.
"You can say that again. I'll just tuck this baby away, and we'll continue our walk."
Tails tucked the emerald into his tails and continued walking the shoreline with Cream and Cheese.
'It can't be that easy.' Tails thought to himself.