Morning arrived as the sun began to illuminate the room around a hedgehog in a medical bed.

Beep… Beep… Beep…

Medical machines were the only source of sound that could be heard. She slowly opened her heavy eyes. Her vision was blurry and nothing could be seen clearly. After a while, some senses started to return. The first sense was pain. Pain in the back of her neck. She tried to move her head but something was keeping her still. In fact, she couldn't move anything below her neck. She looked around and saw a plastic ventilator on her face. Along with that, she tried to see the room she was in. With her limited movement, she was able to get a few details.

All around her looked to be some kind of cylindrical room with blue detailed panels on the walls. In front, there was a wide and open doorway where she could see other beds next to each other with panels above them to her left. To her right she saw some kind of circle shaped office.

What is happening?

Then, the door beside her in the room opened. Someone entered and the door closed behind them. Her blurred vision made it difficult to see who exactly it was. Were they a doctor? A guard? A visitor? She could not tell but she still had her hearing.

"Princess? Princess Sonia, are you with me?"

The Mobian moved closer to her and she noticed dark clothing on him. Along with that, he has something in his hands. It was small and it looked like he was messing with it. As if he was writing down notes.

"Princess Sonia, if you can understand me, blink once."

With great difficulty, she did so. The doctor gave a sigh of relief from her response.

"Alright, from now on, one blink for yes and two blinks for no. Do you know who you are?"

She blinked once.

"Good, good… Do you know where you are?"

She blinked twice.

"You are in a secure medical facility at an undisclosed location. I'm- Well, I don't really have a name. You can just call me 'The Doctor.'"

Don't have a name? How could a doctor not have a name? She saw her vision slightly improved enough to notice the doctor in more detail. He was a light green hedgehog in some kind of uniform. It was mainly black and had a dark green top that covered both shoulders.

"Can you recall anything about the incident that sent you here?"

She blinked once and the doctor wrote more notes down before continuing his evaluation.

"Good news is that you show no sign of memory loss. It would seem the surgery was a complete success!"

He turned away towards a table and picked up 2 small devices. He turned back around and placed them on Sonia's head. Upon contact, the devices powered on and activated.

"Don't be alarmed, those devices will allow you to communicate to others while you heal. All you need to do is think of a word and this machine will speak it for you."

He gestured to a computer terminal with her vital signs displaying in real time. Sonia was confused and scared. She doesn't know what's going on. So many things were going through her head she couldn't think straight.

"What… Happening… Where… My… Who…"

The computer was actually translating her thoughts into speech and displaying it on the screen.

"Yes, yes! That's it!" He then quickly tapped a few buttons and faced toward her. "

Keep thinking of what you want to say."

Sonia took a deep breath and thought of a single sentence.

"What… Happened… Where is brother?"

This time, the computer spoke the words along with displaying them.

"Brother, you mean Prince Manic." The doctor concluded.

"Yes."

"We- don't know yet. He seemed to have escaped before security arrived in your last medical room."

Sonia closed her eyes with a weak attempt at a sigh. Then, she asked the question of the doctor.

"Who are you?"

"Like I have said, I don't have a name. I'm a hologram."

"Hologram?"

"Yes, I'm a hologram programmed with every source of medical knowledge on this planet. Ahem, enough about me, how do you feel?"

"I- can't move. Why can't I move?"

This time, the doctor took a moment to prepare the incoming reaction.

"The nanites in your system were reaching your brain stem too quickly. I had to act fast before it was too late."

Sonia froze. What was he talking about? Nanites? Brain stem? Before what was too late?

"Nanites? What are you talking about?"

The doctor pulled another device similar to the first one he had which contained his notes. A few sounds later, he began to recite the incident that started it all.

"During your encounter with Dr. Eggman, formerly Dr. Robotnik, You were hit with a plasma based weapon from behind. The plasma weapon also had a secondary effect. Nanites penetrated your skin and started attacking on a cellular level."

He placed the device down and turned away from her.

"I had to create a spinal shunt between your brain stem and your spinal cord before the damage was irreparable. There was no other choice…"

Now this was starting to scare her. What did he mean there was no other choice? Is she…

"I'm sorry, Princess Sonia. But until I can know more about your condition, you're paralyzed from the neck down."

No… It can't be true…

Fear and sadness sunk in, tears began to form on the edge of her eyes as she shut them tightly. The doctor noticed the emotions and tried to show her his sympathy.

"If there was anything I could do right now to help your condition, I would do it with no hesitation. I will make sure there is a way to help you but it will take time."

Sonia gave no response either physical movement or speech. The doctor sighed, concluding that nothing he'll say would affect her.

"As of now, your condition is stable. I will regularly check your vital signs and your mental health every hour. Again, I'm sorry."

He turned away and headed for the office to her right. Before he was out of sight, he paused, looked back and said,

"I will attempt to schedule a rendezvous with any family members or close friends to see you. Of course, the real location of this facility would be hidden until they meet with one of our representatives. You should expect them soon."

With nothing more to say and not knowing what to do to ease Sonia's feelings, the doctor slowly turned away and walked into his office to contact her relatives.

Sonia didn't move and her eyes still shut as tears fell down her face. She couldn't process anything in her mind but the information that haunts her. What else could possibly be worse than this?

All was quiet in Sickbay besides the medical devices and screens displaying information about a cellular analysis. The room looked to be mainly oval shaped with medical beds around one side and cabinets filled with supplies on the other.

Manic just sat on one of the beds waiting for something to happen. He's been waiting for at least an hour now. The doctor had to run some tests and was needed elsewhere. Before that, he was given a uniform similar to everyone on the ship. It doesn't have a rank but he wanted to help with Kirb's cause and it would finally solve his own. He was so bored, he wanted to leave and find his resistance buddy but if he left now it would make things worse for himself. On the other hand, it would be better than what he's doing right now.

With one push off the bed, he stood up, put on the uniform, and walked out through the doors as they opened. He had no clue where to go on this ship. Every corridor looked the same, the only difference was the other mobians passing by. Some even appeared from the rooms around him. The doors to them had writing them. They were names, names of other mobians assigned to this ship. This must be some kind of living deck where everyone goes to go back to their room. He's not gonna get anywhere from here, maybe he could find one of those "turbolifts" he and Kirb were in earlier. That way, he can get to him faster. But then, he saw some mean looking security personnel and hid between a small space in the corridor. He moved so fast on instinct that he didn't notice the crawl space behind him.

"Woah- Ouch!"

He fell in and bashed his head a bit on one of the steps going upward.

"Oh, great… Hey, wait a minute. Maybe I could use this to get by undetected. Just like in the old days."

He grabbed the ladder that was at a 45 degree angle and climbed upward between decks. The crawl space had all kinds of wiring and pipes up and down. It reminded him of how he used to sneak around other buildings or into Robotnik's fortress with his siblings. A memory he misses a lot. Being together was better than being without them anytime. Before he was too deep in thought, he reached the deck above and climbed out.

He reached a small compartment before becoming face first with a hatch. It looked to be a door at first but it wasn't connected to the ground. It was just a huge hatch in the shape of an octagon but stretched upwards like a rectangle. He saw a lever on the side attached to the locking mechanism and grabbed it. He pulled and with a loud hiss, it opened to the room in front of him.

It was huge! It almost looked to be the size of a small gym with a catwalk along the walls all around the room acting like a second floor. Tech and equipment was everywhere too! A huge structure was in the center of the room that caused most of the noise he was hearing. It looked to be some kind of generator but nothing like he had ever seen. Along with a team of mobians roaming around checking everything so fast before they start on a new task.

"Check on the intermix ratio, we need to be up and running in 30 minutes."

"Did anyone fix the coolant leak yet?"

"How's the power distribution of the warp coils?"

So many voices asking questions. How could they manage it all? He quietly snuck through the doorway and closed the hatch. The lock sealed itself with another hiss. He saw a regular sliding door open and another mobian entered. That door could lead to the rest of the ship. He certainly didn't want to stay in such a crowded area. When he was getting close, he accidentally pressed a button on a panel with his hand and a row of 5 strange cylinders in a casing rose into his view. He turned and slowly reached toward one of them.

"Hey! Be carfu' wi' that!"

The sudden yell made him spin around towards the voice. It had an accent that really took him off guard. A Scottish accent, maybe.

"That's the antimatter injectors! One wrong move an' ye'll ignite the antimatter, killin' us aw!"

The voice came from another green hedgehog similar to Manic but without the messy hair and he had a darker shade of green. The color resembled the leaves of trees in a forest.

"Yer not part of' ma crew. What are ye doin' here, crewman?"

He quickly pressed a button and the injectors descended back down. Manic just stood there like he was caught stealing a cookie.

"Uh- I- Um- I think I just took a wrong turn, dud- I mean, sir!"

The hedgehog squinted his eyes and gave Manic a long stare. If looks could kill, he would be back in Sickbay with multiple stab wounds. A few seconds later, the stare dropped and a sigh was released.

"Look, I'm no' gonna report ya. Ah know who ye are, Manic. Name's Scott, Chief Engineer. Ma pals ca' me Scotty." He reached out his hand in a kind gesture towards Manic.

With that introduction, the air around them was a lot less hostile. Manic relaxed, took his hand, and shook it.

"Just answer me this, what do ye think ye're doin' in ma engine room? I doubt the captain let ye down here."

Manic chuckled with a hint of anxiety.

"Well, I was supposed to be in Sickbay but I got bored and ran off." He scratched the back of his head.

"Aye, ha ha. Not very patient, huh?" Scott chuckled.

Then, the door beside them opened and a familiar cat mobian rushed in.

"Ah, there you are! What the hell are you doing in Engineering?" Tigre exclaimed with his southern accent of his own.

"Looks like yer caught red handed."

"Aw, man!" Manic complained.

He hated the sound of those words. Tigre just stood there until he was done.

"Manic, if you're done disobeying orders, the captain wants you in his ready room now. He said it's urgent."

Manic halted his voice and readied himself. Tigre led the way and he followed. Once the doors shut, Scott started mumbling to himself.

"What's he gone an' done this time?"

Kirb was sitting at his desk in his ready room staring at the same message on his screen for almost a half an hour. He decrypted the message so many times to see if it was a mistake but it wasn't. He just needs to wait for Manic to arrive. A door chime filled the silence and brought him back to reality. Speak of the devil…

"Come in."

The door opens and Manic steps in, almost hitting his head on a metal beam. Kirb gestures towards the small cushioned bench behind him and he sits down.

"So, I've heard you broke out of Sickbay?"

"Is that why you brought me here?" The royal hedgehog lowered his head in embarrassment, he didn't mean to fall back into his criminal ways.

"Look, don't worry about it. I can't stand to stay there for too long myself. But that isn't the reason I asked for you."

Manic raised his head slightly crooked in confusion. What else would he want him to be in his ready room? Were they about to launch soon? Before any more questions filled his head, the captain took a deep breath and sighed.

"Manic, one of my officers received a message on one of our most secure channels. When they brought it to me, I asked them to authenticate it at least 3 times before I called you up here."

Now, he was getting worried. A message on a secret channel that he needed him to be there to read it? Was it about him? His siblings? Or… his mother? Did something happen to her? Was she taken by Robotnik again? Or worse… dead? He almost didn't dare to speak but he had to ask.

"What is it?" He whispered.

Kirb pressed a few buttons on a PADD in front of him and spoke towards the monitor.

"Computer. Decrypt file and download it to this PADD. Authorization Echo-Sierra-9-8-4-Lyric-Chaos."

The computer beeped in response as it recognized the code. He then picked up the PADD with the message now downloaded onto it and handed it to him. He accepted it and began reading. His eyes were immediately glued to the screen as he read the file name. His heart plummeted before he had even read the actual message.

"Matters of Health: A Royal Update…" He didn't even realize he read the title out loud for Kirb to hear.

"It's a code name," Kirb interrupted as Manic looked back at him. "Our teams come up with irrelevant titles to fool anyone that would intercept it. The message originated from one of our medical bases just outside of Station Square."

He sat next to Manic and braced himself for what he was about to say next.

"It's Princess Sonia. It would seem she is having trouble with the treatment for her condition…"

The prince read deeper into the report. As he did, it only got worse from there.

"Trouble with treatment?" He gawked, "Dude! That's an understatement! From what I'm reading here, she hasn't made any recovery since the attack almost a week ago!"

He shot up, fueled by anxiety and rage as he threw the PADD across the room. It shattered with its components spilled out on the floor with a few sparks. Kirb knew he would be mad but this is way beyond what he expected. Before he could talk to Manic, he was already out the door to the bridge. He followed in pursuit and tried to reason with him.

"Manic!"

He didn't respond as he was reaching for the turbolift.

"Sir?" Tigre spoke, beginning to leave his station and apprehend him.

"Stay at your post."

He obeyed his captain as they both entered the turbolift.

Manic pressed a few buttons, trying to get it to move but the computer couldn't understand what he was trying to do. Every failed attempt responded with a buzzer

"Manic, just stop and breathe. I don't know what you're thinking right now or what you're trying to do, but-"

"CRUNCH" "CZZZZZT"

Smoke rose from Manic's hand as it rested on the now broken panel. He just broke the controls to the turbolift and now they're both stuck inside the turboshaft. Heavy silence filled the air as the panel sparked and flared. Kirb wanted to say something but his fear kept him quiet. Fortunately, he didn't need to speak first.

"I just want to be with my family… my entire family… They are all I have left now… I can't just sit around in a ship while they're hurt or possibly dying…"

"Manic, you need to calm down. Your anger is expected but with your Upliftance, it would cause chaos beyond anything this planet has ever seen!"

Manic paused. He never said anything about his power to him or the doctor when they checked him. How did he know about his power that only Aleena knew of at the time?

He stayed still as a statue but moved his head slightly towards him.

"How do you know about that? I never told anyone about my power…"

Kirb froze when his stone cold stare hit him in the face. He could feel the unstable power radiating from him. After a few moments, he gathered all the strength he had and gave Manic a stare of his own.

"Did you think that this "Upliftance" was only known to royals?"

Now Manic froze, he sounded more serious than his usual self whenever it came to a topic like this…

"Upliftance is the most dangerous power a royal could have in any scenario. I should know…"

The brief pause in silence almost scared Manic. He's never seen this side of him before.

"Were you ever told of The Uplifted Massacre? The devastating event that nearly killed the enemies of their time but also our own? One of the royals during that time had this power and was enraged with it. He started destroying the enemy camps and colonies. But he was so corrupted, he started destroying his own kingdom. First, it was the civilian homes. Then, he targeted the guards. It wasn't until most of the kingdom was in ruins did he realize what he's done."

"How come I never heard about this?"

"Maybe your mother never got the chance."

He popped off the panel and started crossing wires.

"Or maybe she wanted to shield you from the past. It was one of the worst eras of the kingdom's history."

Then, the turbo lift began to move on its own. Satisfied that they were moving, Kirb stood up and turned back to Manic.

"I don't know what's really going on but try not to take it out on my ship. It was my father's, you know."

"Your father's?"

For a moment, an image from his dream flashed in his mind.

"Yeah, he was the one who designed it."

The door slides open and they both exit the lift. It was the same area when he first got on board

"He was one of the lead engineers of the resistance back then. He wanted to make sure that after we won the war, peace would remain. So, he came up with this ship. It would protect the world from Robotnik and we could finally prosper."

Manic was impressed. He wasn't aware that his father had such a high position in the resistance.

"How come you never told me about him?"

"Uh, he wasn't always there during the war. Always caught up in meetings and deadlines. He still cared for me but the war was the top priority. He told me once that the reason he hasn't spent so much time with me, was that he wanted the world to be a better place for me after the war. Everything he did was so that I would enjoy it all. He still cared and I won't hold that against him."

Manic was floored. His father's task was no small one but he almost accomplished it. If only he could have the same for his father, if he even had one.

"So, where is he?" Manic asked.

"Huh? Oh… Um…" Kirb stuttered. "Well, you see-"

BOOM!

The loud bang reverberated all over the ship. The sudden shock caused everyone on board the ship to stumble and some have fallen including Manic. Kirb stood his ground and helped him up as alarms started blaring throughout the ship. Then, Tigre's voice echoed through the com system.

"Tactical Alert! Captain to the Bridge, Tactical Alert!"

Kirb rushed over to a nearby com panel and responded.

"Kirb to Bridge, What the hell is going on?!"

"We're under attack, sir! Sensors indicate some kind of ship just outside of the base trying to blow the launch doors open!"

"Raise shields! Fire the surface turrets! I'm on my way. We might have to launch now."

He quickly grabbed Manic's arm and started running while dragging him along.

"Come on!"

They reached the same transporter they arrived in only hours ago. He released Manic and started using the controls to prime the chamber up.

"What are you doing?" Manic asked.

"I'm sending you out of here. Meet up with your brother and his friends. We can hold on our own. Go!"

He pushed him into the chamber and raised the three throttles on the control panel which activated the transporter. His body crossfaded into pure white light as he faded away off the ship.

"Godspeed, Manic."