Chapter Seven – Camp Fire Gossip
The Olympic Games were coming to an end. It had been a hugely fun run, and Tokyo, Japan, on Earth, was going to be the final destination. Everyone was there, except Eggman and Bowser. Unusual, but not unheard of. However, Sonic and Mario were both incredibly keen to keep the friendship ongoing, and plans were being laid down all around, for Mario and company to come to Mobius, and vice-versa. For Sonic and his friends to visit the Mushroom Kingdom.
Soon, an agenda was arranged, and soon, everyone just enjoyed the games, some determined to get the most medals out of it. But with this last hurray, it got some people thinking. With Mario and Luigi being brothers, they were very curious about whether any of the Mobians had family. They asked Tails, but he scowled back, with a warning.
"Er, we don't really talk about family. Before Eggman, there was the Great War, against Julian, his father, and it was utterly brutal. Almost everyone of the previous generation, our parents, aunts and uncles have all been killed. Vanilla, Cream's mother, was one of the few survivors, as she was the one of youngest of that generation. Only their children made it, and for some Mobians, family is just too painful to talk about." He explained. Mario and Luigi looked disheartened, but Tails smiled. "Hey, look. You can ask about family, if you phased the question in a certain way." He added, but the brothers just frowned at him confused. But Tails nodded. "If you specifically ask about siblings or cousins, people of our own generation, rather then family in general, you might get people talking." He nodded.
Mario and Luigi nodded, now they understood, but were terrified as to what had happened to everyone. So after a long day of competing, as the sun went down, back at the Olympic village, everyone gathered around the camp fire, on the beautiful, warm night. Taking a deep breath, Mario asked Tails first, if he had brothers or sisters. He smiled.
"Er, no. I don't have any siblings but I have recently tracked down a distant cousin, a girl, called Coco." He bounced thrilled. "We're already done a video call and we are going to meet up soon." He grinned. Mario nodded, as he then looked at the Crocodile.
"What about you, Vector?" He wondered. The Detective gulped.
"Me?" He gasped, but then he smiled. Again, he had no siblings either, but he showed everyone photos of his cousin Viktor with his son Dexter. They all giggled, the names alone, clearly showed that. Rouge was next. She heaved and hard.
"I have a brother, Jean-Pierre, whose in prison for theft." She admitted. But Tails just giggled.
"Well, no surprise there." He jibbed, but Rouge just growled.
"Hey, he's only in there, because a big green, dreadlocked Hedgehog, put him there." She spat. Tails suddenly looked up.
"What? Uncle Manic?" Rouge stared, as she nodded.
"Manic? Er...yeah?" She frowned. But Tails heaved.
"Did your brother steal from Eggman, by any chance?" He wondered. Rouge again nodded.
"Yes. Hey, how do you know?" She gasped. But Tails just sighed.
"Trust me, Rouge, in prison is the safest place for your brother. Eggman's search and destroy robots were known killers, and they always chase down thieves. Jean-Pierre would have been on their hit list. So is Uncle Manic but he can take down those robots." He exclaimed. But Mario frowned.
"Uncle?" He wondered. But Tails just nodded.
"Er, yeah, he's Sonic's brother."
There was utter silence as no one knew this. Tails gulped, oh, he hadn't realised. With everyone looking at him, he'd forgotten that the Sorcerer constantly wiped their minds of theirs, the family's, existence. He heaved, growling. They weren't on Mobius, and maybe the stupid Sorcerer could do it again. At least the Mario and Luigi had a right to know. Finally, he nodded. "Actually, there's three of them." He grinned, to utter shock as he put up his fingers. But Mario just blinked.
"Three?" He repeated, gobsmacked but Tails nodded.
"Yeah. Sukko and Sonic, who are twins, and Manic, who is two years younger. I haven't seen Uncle Manic in years, but I hear about him regularly. He's a world class Master Thief, and Eggman complains about him, a lot, as he is forever raiding and stealing from the Human." He giggled. Mario and Luigi just looked at each other. Wow, he kept that quiet.
Suddenly, Sonic arrived, complaining. Shattered and exhausted, he jumped over a nearby rock, close to the fire, and slammed in bottom on the ground and rests his head against it. He looked tired but very annoyed. Tails frowned.
"Hi, are you alright?" He wondered. But Sonic just growled.
"No. As it turns out, Sukko's on planet, but he didn't come to support me at the competitions today. Apparently, shopping in Tokyo was more exciting then watching the Olympic games." He hissed, unimpressed. But Tails squealed in pure delight.
"What? Uncle Sukko is here?" He asked. Sonic nodded. The Sorcerer was on Earth for one singular thing. To get a new communications device, or what the Humans there called, a smartphone. Sonic had brought him one from Earth, years ago. But being at the heart of where they were designed and made, Tokyo, Sukko came himself in person, and had one custom made, thousands of dollars worth, as he permanently lived on his. He could hack anything with it, and regularly did.
Suddenly, Sukko shows up, silently wondering over, speaking fluent Japanese with a Human local before joining Sonic at the camp fire, his nose in his phone. Mario just stared, between the twins, then at Luigi and then back at Tails. He gulped.
"They're identical?" He stammered. Tails smiled and nodded, but indicated to the Plumber, to keep quiet and watch. Mario gulped in utter fascination, as he looked at Luigi, who just blinked back. In their version of Earth, identical twins existed, and relatively common, and were breathtaking when seen, though rather disconcerting. Two people looking exactly the same, always took everyone aback. Neither Mario, nor Luigi personally knew of a set, back on their native Earth, but they had heard stories. But to find that the Blue Blur himself was one of identical twins was astonishing, but not impossible, and it quickly became apparent, especially by how his brother dressed, that the twins were very different indeed, despite how they looked. Everyone watched on, as they were about to learn how much the twins could gossip, as Sonic just complained again, but Sukko just rounded on him.
"Sonikku, why do you need my support, when you won all your competitions today, anyway." He spat. Sonic went white. He gulped, rather embarrassed.
"Er, yeah, straight golds, across the board." He stammered. Sukko just nodded.
"Well, then, I'll support you the day, you compete in the diving pool." He hissed. Sonic gulped, as Sukko growled. "But until then, your was more then capable on your own." He hissed. But Sonic heaved.
"Well, that won't be happening. The Olympic Games, at least for us, are closing down. This is our last one." He stuttered, rather sorrowful. Sukko blinked.
"What?" He gasped. "Oh, that's a shame. You love these games. The tree full of your medals, back at my place, proves that." He heaved, but then he thought. "I take it that you guys are making arrangements to meet up in the future, regardless." He added, pointing between Tails and Mario. There was nodding all around, as Sukko approved, but suddenly, Sonic giggled, still extremely tired, as he rested his head on the rock.
"Hey, Sukko. Was the fact that Shadow was late to events, this morning, anything to do with you?" He smirked. But Sukko growled, getting rather defensive.
"No." He spat. But everyone just stared, as the Sorcerer just heaved. "Oh, alright, yes." He snapped, and then suddenly, he went rather red. "Er, we may have gotten a little carried away, last night." He admitted. But then he flapped. "But the Olympic officials let him complete anyway, so no problems. He wasn't 'that' late." He added. But Sonic just rolled his eyes.
"Oh Chaos. You and your boyfriend." He very sarcastically growled, but Sukko just inanely giggled.
"Excuse me, Sonikku." He smiled. "Boyfriend? Don't you mean Fiancé!" He grinned. Sonic immediately bolts upright and squealed at the top of his voice, swearing hard.
"Whoa! Chaos hell, Sukko. Shads? He proposed to you?" He gasped, now shortening Shadow's name, as he was now fully comfortable with him around his brother and their family. Sukko intensely nodded. He held up his hand, the brand new, shining silver and deep black ring, clear to see. Suddenly, the excitement got the better of him, as he just sat on thin air, and activating his Super-Flight, he just perfectly hovered, crossing his legs. He was flapping, and giggling like crazy, very girly. Everyone stared, but Sonic just completely ignored it. But Sukko grinned, eager to tell his brother all about it.
"Yeah. It came out of nowhere. It caught me completely off guard. Which for me, as a Telepath, is an achievement. But it was after work, and I was tired. He didn't do anything cliche, but still sweet all the same." He grinned, but got harshly stared down my his twin. "Well, ok, for Stripes, anyway." he added, showing off the ring. "Look, I've got solid platinum, with Winterburg Onyx Jet, for the black rectangular gemstone." He giggled. It was obvious that Shadow had given him the ring, while still on Mobius, just before the Olympic Games. It was very expensive. Sonic gasped, taking Sukko's hand.
"Whoa, that's like ten thousand Mobian dollars, worth of ring." He stammered, as several people gasped. But Sukko giggled.
"Actually, it's closer to twenty thousand, but come on, we both know how rich Stripes is. He owns a space colony, for chaos sake." He blasted, but Sonic huffed, sitting back down beside the rock, as his brother put his feet back down on the ground again and wondered away.
"Yeah, and the fact he kills people for a living." He spat. "The only reason why I'm not dead, is because I can dodge the damn bullets." He hissed. Mario and Luigi blinked. They had heard about Sonic's incredible speed, over the years, but they had never personally seen it, in it's full glory. The Blue Blur's amazing superpowers were always heavily dubbed down and blocked for the games, to create a level playing field. Hopefully, with the games ending, and plans to visit Mobius for himself, Mario will get to one day see those superpowers for himself. But Sukko, wow, but what was getting to him, and as he quickly saw, many others as well, was the Chaos Energy. The Sorcerer had such huge quantities of it, and with his superpowers not blocked, it could be easily physically felt. It was hefty, though him being engaged to Shadow was a surprise, but truthfully, neither Mario or Luigi were that bothered. But Sukko just heavily frowned at his twin.
"Is he still playing that game with you?" He wondered. Sonic growled and nodded.
"Oh, yeah, with live ammo, I might add, with the pair of revolvers, he permanently keeps in his quills." He hissed. "And now, we are going to be in-laws." He hissed. "Thanks, Sukko." He leered, sarcastically. But the Sorcerer giggled inanely.
"Your welcome, Sonikku." He grinned, but then he stopped. "Hey, speaking of shooting. You guys ending the Olympic Games, with this visit, does make sense. You really are going all out. Stripes is doing marksmanship today, and your not the only one getting golds, across the board." He heaved, getting out his phone and looking at it. "In rifle, pistol and shotgun." He read. "Across thirteen events, in total, Stripes getting top place in everything." He bounced. But Sonic, just rolled his eyes, groaning hard.
"Oh, that doesn't surprise me, but Shads does like his shotguns. I remember once, we were fighting Eggman on the battlefield, and his idea of dealing with Badniks, was to blast them to pieces with a shotgun. I think he might have been peeved at the Human." He giggled, very sarcastically. "But, regardless, it was very funny." He added.
Suddenly, there was deep, dark, somewhat growly voice, that came out of nowhere, as Shadow The Hedgehog himself, silently came into view, in the light of the camp fire. Around them, it was pitch darkness, on this beautiful summer's night, and therefore perfect, for a certain jet, black Hedgehog, to silently sneak up on them. Well, not on Sukko. His Telepathy had seen Shadow coming, but as usual, he didn't say anything. The Ultimate Lifeform had a pair of stunning, beautiful quality shotguns, over each shoulder, resting on his palms. He smirked hard, as he glanced from one Blue Hedgehog twin, to the other, now taking centre stage, around the camp fire.
"Were you two talking about me?" He hissed, rather coldly. Both Sonic and Sukko gulped, hard.
"No." They said together. However, Shadow's smirk just broadened.
"Liars." He leered, harshly. Sonic heaved.
"Oh, come on, Shads, we weren't being mean, alright." He stammered, eyeing up the shotguns, desperately hoping not to be the target, especially powerless, as he was at the moment. But Sukko just downright giggled.
"Hey, Stripes, what's with the lock, stock, and two smoking barrels?" He wondered. A comment that got stones immediately thrown at him, from his twin, which Sukko dodged. But Shadow just sniggered, eyeing up his pair of prize shotguns.
"Mementos of my winning streak today. As it is our last Olympic Games, and the officials have never had anyone as good as myself on the shooting range before, they said, I could keep these, as well as all the gold medals." He boasted. Sukko giggled, as he walked right up to the Ultimate Lifeform and kissed him on the cheeks. He grinned.
"Nicely done, Stripes." He praised, as he his face lit up, and his eyes glowed a deep, crimson red. His superpowers too had also been blocked, but his inner Chaos Darkness, not so much, and it was wanting the Sorcerer right now, and hard. But Sonic groaned and hard.
"Guys, get a room." He pleaded. But Shadow just smirked hard, in his direction, as he wrapped his arm around the Sorcerer, and shrugged.
"That's fair." He hissed, as he suddenly, indicated to the Sorcerer upwards, with his eyes. "Shall we?" He asked. Sukko whirled around, and waving hard, at his twin, the both of them disappeared in a cloud of bright white orbs, ascending upwards, teleporting away, and home. The Blue Blur heaved, but Tails smiled.
"Sonic, you know Uncle Sukko is right. You are more then capable on your own. For doing, just about anything." But Sonic sighed.
"Yes, but the reason why I never talk about my brothers, is because I never see them. Yes, they can easily stand on their own against Eggman, but with me constantly fighting the Human, on the front line and the both of them, holding the fort, back home. I just want more time together. It had been years and Sukko could have stayed a little longer." He cried. But Tails smiled.
"But Uncle Sukko is one, a Doctor and two, a real Hero. You don't win the Mobian Grand Prize in Medicine, for his cure for Mobian N.I.D.S., which was hugely successful, if your not." He added. Sonic nodded, and then looking at Mario and Luigi, he grilled and hard, rounding on them.
"Hey, are you two even real brothers?" He blasted, but Tails gasped in shock.
"Hey, Sonic, that's rude." He growled, but the Blue Blur just rounded on the Fox.
"Well, they never bicker, argue and even fight. I grew up with two brothers, I know that's physically not possible." He blasted, but Mario and Luigi just giggled. Mario smiled.
"Yes, we do. Just not in public." He replied, but then he stared at the Blue Blur. "Er, I'd like to see more of your family." He stammered, desperately hoping, but unfortunately, Sonic shook his head.
"That's not possible, I'm afraid. Yes, myself, Sukko and Manic can all stand up against Eggman, and you can certainly talk to us, if available, but that's it. My family does indeed go beyond that, but unfortunately, I can't say how. You see, because of the war, my family are in very, deep, hiding. As the King of Stealth, it's all Sukko's doing. Even I don't know where they are. It's utterly brutal, but necessary. You see, if the Human finds us, he'll kill us all, slaughtering everyone. We just can't afford it. When the war eventually ends, and we all survive, maybe we can arrange something." He nodded.
Everyone looked at each other, and gulped. That was harsh. They had all wanted to see more of Sonic's brothers, but with Eggman around, that wasn't happening. But Mario had gotten his answer. Even the Hero had family.