Sonic Series Fan Fiction ❯ Lost Memories, Reborn Evil ❯ If Only for a Chilidog ( Chapter 4 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Lost Memories, Reborn Evil

By Hyper Shadow

Hey Again, all those reading this fanfic, I know that it took a long time to get this chapter out, but here's my excuse:

I was writing my 5 midterms (pain…lots…of…pain) and then I had to write my speech, and I had to type up (and create) my 3 page essay thingy. Then, I had to do my Science project, Geography project, Math project, Language Project… goes on talking in the background

BUT... now I'm back, and doing what I like best… WRITING THIS FIC! (lucky for all you readers)

First things first:

Disclaimer:I don't own Sonic

Enjoy!

Chapter 4- "If only for a Chilidog"

"Sooooooo, you're telling us that Robotnik is planning some new device to take over the world, right?" Sonia asked slowly, all the while staring with disbelief at the cloaked figure that was Sonic.

"That's right." Sonic answered, getting increasingly annoyed. 'We've been over this 5 times! What is so strange about me telling Sonia and Manic that Eggman's gonna try and take over the world…again?'

"And you're telling us that you want all three of us to go and trash Buttnik's new plan, right?" Sonia continued, cutting Sonic's thoughts off.

"Yes." Sonic all but hissed.

"All before breakfast?" Asked Manic, who was sitting, turned around in his chair with his eyes wide with shock. He looked as though he was ready to call the hospital.

It was then that Sonic realized what his siblings had been hinting at. It hit him like one of Egg Golem's heavy stone hands. Behind the impenetrable darkness of his hood, and behind the goggles he wore, Sonic's green eyes dilated as he realized that his old attitude, as well as his old habits were all gone. There was no way that he would be able to pretend that he was the old: gimme-a-chilidog-and-I'll-be-friends-with-you, hedgehog that he used to be. He had seen, and done, too much.

he thought 'I might as well stop trying. I'll never be able to convince them that I am still the old Sonic that I used to be. But… I have to take them with me to find the emeralds. They might get into trouble if I leave them here. Uhhhh…what to do. What to do. I have to think of something, and fast… I'm loosing enough time as it is. If the note was correct, then the search party must be about hours ahead of me by now! I have to think of something…'

After a few seconds of hesitating, Sonic said the most reasonable thing he could think of, which, considering his situation, was probably the only thing that he could say that Manic and Sonia would believe.

"Uh, well, you see….heh heh." Sonic paused, he was nervous that his plan wouldn't work. Lucky for him however, this nervousness was misinterpreted for naughtiness by Sonia and Manic. "I actually, kinda, wanna check out this new chili dog stand right next to Robotnik's place." He paused then, and mentally smirked at Sonia and Manic's exasperated, yet somewhat relieved faces.

'So it wasn't the most ingenious plan in the world' he thought to himself, 'who cares? So sue me! At least it worked!'

Spurred by the satisfactory reaction he got from his siblings, Sonic continued on: "I noticed the stand a few days back, b'fore our vacation started. The sign said that the stand would open today, and that there would be free chilidogs!"

Sonia and Manic took the bait, hook line and sinker. All Sonic had to do now was reel them in:

"So, do you guys STILL think that I'm demented?" He asked.

"No more than usual, big bro." Manic answered with a smirk.

"And to think," Sonia added with a sigh. "I almost thought that my good manners and sensibility were rubbing off on you. I guess that you still have yet to earn the title: `Big Brother'."

"I'll take that as a compliment, and thank you." Sonic said, and he made an exaggerated, sweeping bow, being careful to keep his face and body covered.

Manic snorted, and chuckled while Sonia puffed out her cheeks in annoyance. "Only you would." She huffed, and with that, she picked up her plate, stood up, and spun around so that her back was facing Sonic. She then marched over to the sink, and dumped the plate rather noisily into the sink.

"Ohhh! You make big sis MAD! Heh heh. Poor big sis!" Manic crowed, rocking back and forth in his chair as he tried to contain his laughter.

Sonic watched the scene unfold in front of him, neither moving to intervene, or laughing at the mess they were making. Sonia, in an attempt at revenge, had thrown the soapy dishcloth at Manic, and by chance, it had hit him smack in the face.

Manic then tried to feign hurt, he even pouted a little "Awww, c'mon ssiiiss, you know I didn't mean it!"

"OH NO YOU DON'T YOU'RE NOT GETTING OUTTA THIS ONE LIKE LAST TIME!" Was her blunt reply

At this point, Sonic chose to say a few words:

"She's got a point there Manic,"

"HEY! You're s'pposed to be on my side!" Manic whined pitifully, or tried to.

Sonic shrugged and looked away, remembering the last time Sonia had forgiven him…she had woken up the next day to find a rubber spider `crawling' on her bed, only, she hadn't known that it was rubber.

If there was one thing that Sonic had learned after that experience, it was: Sonia + anything that crawls on 4 or more feet one hell of a headache. Honestly, Sonia had yelled for almost two hours after that incident.

Sonic turned his attention back to his brother and sister, and he wasn't surprised when he saw Sonia chasing Manic around the table brandishing a frying pan. He didn't know what Manic had said or done to make Sonia so angry, and in all honesty, he didn't want to know. All he was aware of was the minute hand on the clock on the wall.

4:15

It had been 2:00 when he "woke up".

He was loosing time, and he knew it. 'If Robotnik gets to those chaos emeralds before I do…' he shook his head. 'It's not right to think of such things.'

"Hey! Sonic! C'mon, join me! We can deal out twice the amount of punishment if we work together dude!" came the cheerful voice of Manic, while Sonia screamed something in the background.

Sonic again turned his attention back to the two, but this time, he was surprised at what he saw. No longer were they chasing each other around the table, but dueling in a battle royal, otherwise known as a water fight, near the sink. Apparently Sonia had screamed because Manic had gotten a little bit of water in her hair, she was now using her pan to scoop and throw water. Manic was prepared for this, and as he dodged the flying water, he tackled Sonia, causing them to both crash into the ground. Sonia spluttered and coughed, her good mood washing away as quickly as her soaked hairstyle.

"GET OFF ME RIGHT NOW!!" She screamed. For once however, Manic had her securely pinned down, and he was showing no signs of letting go.

"C'mon Sonic! Soak her with the water, quickly! C'mon, it'll be just like before!"

Sonic however, stayed rooted to the ground, staring in shock and disbelief.

'Good Gods! I was actually that immature?! It's a good thing Knuckles wasn't there to see me then!'

"Manic, I think you should let Sonia up now, we really do have to leave. Now."

"Aww, c'mon dude! You used to be much more fun than this, what's with you today? Didja wake up on the wrong side of the bed? Why don't you just throw some water on her?"'Hmph…`much more fun that this'. If only you knew.'

Sonic stood his ground, not moving to help Manic. After a few uncomfortable seconds, Manic shrugged, and proceeded to let Sonia go, helping her to her feet as he stood. "Whatever," he said.

Sonia, however was a bit more verbal, "Hmph! Look what you did Manic! My hair is all messed up, and my clothes are wet! Augh!"

She then turned to Sonic, "And I guess YOU will be wanting a `thank-you' hm?"

Sonic, turned to the side, and waved his hand absently, only revealing a fraction of his white glove, nothing to be worried about.

"No, not particularly," he said. Before Sonia could question his statement, he quickly added: "I would much rather that you both go tidy yourselves up a bit. Oh, and wear something warm, and waterproof. We'll be leaving as soon as you are both ready."

Sonia was shocked, to say the least, that Sonic didn't want an apology, but being the vain hedgehog she is, she was quick to turn her attention to her dripping hair. She muttered and cursed as she wrung out her hair, completely missing Sonic's last two statements, the only thing she heard was `tidy yourselves up a bit'.

Manic, not really caring what he looked like, had not paid as much attention to Sonic's first sentence as Sonia had. He did however, notice when Sonic told them to wear something `waterproof'. Manic's brow creased in confusion.

"Waddaya mean bro? Waterproof clothes? What are we gonna need those for?"

"Well, Manic…" Sonic stated calmly, his deeper voice, sounding somewhat smooth and silky, compared to Manic's rough, accented speech. "We will be leaving as soon as you two are ready, and I'm afraid that we won't be able to take the truck. So, since that is the case, it is most probable that we will be getting a little…wet." Manic's mouth hung open, and Sonia ceased her attempt at salvaging her hairstyle.

"WE'RE WHAT!?" Sonia screamed, causing Manic to jump a few feet in the air.

"WE ARE NOT! WE ARE NOT GOING OUTSIDE! DO YOU REALIZE, IN THAT TINY PEA-SIZED BRAIN OF YOURS, THAT IF WE GO OUTSIDE, NOT ONLY WILL WE GET SOAKED, BUT IT IS QUITE LIKELY THAT MY HAIR WITH NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN!"

"And that is precisely why you are going to wear waterproof clothes. So, that you don't get wet, besides, at the speed I'll be taking you, the rain will probably evaporate before it touches you." Sonic said, calmly, unfazed by Sonia's outburst. 'I've heard much worse things before' he thought, remembering the biolizard.

Sonia looked as though she had been told that her death was tomorrow, she muttered something under her breath, which sounded suspiciously like: `Since when did he learn words like `evaporate?' '

She then stormed out of the room, and a few seconds later, came the sound of running water. She wouldn't be back for a while.

Back in the sitting room, Manic was staring at Sonic. Even without any real schooling like Sonia, he was still able to pick up on little things that usually go unnoticed, little things like a slight difference in attitudes, or appearance. It was required when you were a thief, and right now, his sights were set on Sonic.

Sonic however, was in no mood to be scrutinized. He turned on his heel, and flopped lazily onto the couch, pulling his cloak around him so that it didn't billow out. "Go and get ready Manic," he said softly, turning his head away from the green hedgehog. "I want to leave as soon as possible."

From his peripheral vision, Sonic saw Manic looked at him strangely and tilted his head to the side slightly, Sonic smirked at him underneath his hood 'That look so doesn't fit him; he actually looks like a little brother.' As he finished his thought he turned and gave his full attention to the one in front of him. 'Hmm… it seems as though he has something to say.'

Manic surprised Sonic with his next comment, driving the `little brother' thought furthest from his mind: "Sonic, what is it with you today? First you act all strange, by coming down here in those clothes, then in a voice a whole octave lower then your normal one, you tell us that you want us to leave right now, before eating anything? The Sonic I know thinks of food before all else, and when faced with water, he is scared stiff. What ever possessed you to make you want to go out in this weather? Chilidog or no?"

Sonic couldn't answer, he knew that his cover would be blown sooner or later, but he wasn't ready to let go of it just yet. "Manic," he sighed. "Please, just… just go and get ready, I promise that all will become clear to you in due time. You need to be patient however, and before you say it, yes, I do know that patience is not one of my strong points, but believe me, the wait will be worth it." He said this quietly, but his tone was firm, Manic could not argue.

Manic looked confused again, he hesitated then slowly turned to leave. He had gotten two steps when he turned around eagerly. "Do you know where Mother is?" He asked, "Is that why your in such a rush? Because you got this message from Mother, telling us where she is, and where we can find her?" His eyes were pleading, begging Sonic not to refuse him an answer.

Sonic saw the look and melted. What could he say? He couldn't lie; doing that would crush Manic when he found out the truth. And his naïve belief that all the world would someday end of a happy place will be washed down to those sewers that he had spent so much of his life in. Sonic couldn't tell the truth either, for reasons that even he didn't understand, Sonic just somehow knew that the time for truth was not yet upon him.

Looking again into Manic's innocent brown eyes, Sonic said the only thing he could think of: "My reasons are mine alone, I will tell you however, that our destination may bring us a great step closer to finding Mother." Mother, even that simple word was strange on his tongue, he had had no Mother in the other world…

…No brother or sister either…

Looking back at Manic he noticed the disappointed look on his face, it almost shattered him, almost; the look of blissful happiness on Shadow's face as he fell to his doom in the atmosphere, had shattered him…

"I can't believe that I'm still blaming myself for his death," he murmured, luckily, Manic didn't hear him.

'Even though it was my fault,'

Sonic shook his head slightly; it would do no good to argue with himself, he had spent too much time doing it last time. 'And by the time I came out of it, it was too late to save the others from the time warp-'

This time it was Manic who interrupted his thoughts, it was a good thing too, for Sonic had been having a hard time doing it himself,

"I think that I'm going to go change now, `kay?"

Sonic looked at him sharply. Manic hadn't sounded upset at all, at the most, he sounded a little soft, which, being as strange as it was, had greatly surprised him.

As if reading Sonic's mind, Manic gave a small smile and a slight chuckle. "Sonic, I'm not upset in any way, so you don't have to seem so shocked. Yes, I actually CAN read you underneath that hood. I trust you, `kay, dude? I mean, it's not like you're leading us into a big trap or something, and I know that you probably have a good reason for not telling us anything. I'm satisfied with your answer anyway, as long as we get closer to finding Mother. So chill, okay? The whole `act all serious like,' thing really doesn't suit you. I mean, it's like you've been taken over by beings from another dimension."

It was Sonic's turn to chuckle, and under his breath he whispered, "you're not as far from the truth as you may think."

"Anyway… I'm really gonna go change now, and when I come back, I want you acting like your old self." Manic said half-joking, and with that, he departed.

Sonic sighed and slid further into the couch. His fleeting moments of laughter quickly fading. 'Sorry Manic, I don't know whether I'll ever be able to give you that again.'

Before he could slip any further into his depressing thoughts he heard a door open and close.

A few seconds later came a shrill scream and some laughing, followed shortly by the sound of a door slamming open and hitting the wall behind it.

Just then Sonic saw Manic dash by his sofa, laughing madly, and a split second later he saw Sonia, dripping wet and clothed only in a towel hot on his heels.

Sonic raised an eyebrow in bemusement as he watched Manic and Sonia running around the small coffee table in front of him. If he hadn't been pressed for time like he was, he would have laughed, but right now…

"It's going to be a long trip." He sighed.

One hour later

Sonic was standing at the mouth of the cave.

Sonia was on his right; she was wearing large pink and purple galoshes, with a matching pink and purple raincoat. The raincoat was overly large, coming right underneath her chin and reaching down to her ankles, she had it completely zipped up, so that the tight jacket showed off her perfect figure. The only part of her ensemble that was the slightest bit out of place was her hat. Sonic had almost snorted when he saw it. It was crazy.

Sonia hadn't been kidding when she said that she didn't want her hair getting wet, and this hat was proof of that. First, Manic had waited outside the bathroom door as she spent about 6 minutes stuffing all her 'perfectly made' hair into her skin-tight hat. Then, when she had finally had all her hair in the hat, she opened the door only to trip over a laughing Manic. The hat was tight on her head, keeping all her hair dry, the unbelievable part though, was that the hat had a brim that extended about 8 inches around her head in every direction. "It stops the rain from going near my neck," she had claimed. That remark didn't make a dent in Manic's laughter.

Sonic would have laughed along with Manic, but he had remembered that with the wind outside, it was likely that Sonia's hat would get blown off after awhile, especially with the speed they would be travelling. Sonia would no doubt want to have her hat at all times, they would have to double back every minute or so.

Alone, Sonic could travel at the speed of sound, maybe even a little faster, and not have any trouble breathing; this was, of course, without the chaos or super emeralds. When carrying someone, he could travel a little more than a quarter of that speed, so as to not trouble the rider's breathing. Now, with that hat, he would have to travel a little more than half of that speed. He would never get to the Chaos emeralds before the search party did.

'The rain will end at some point. Then I won't have to worry about the hat. Good. I'll just have to live with it until then.'

Manic was standing on Sonic's left; his outfit wasn't as outgoing as Sonia's, but he didn't quite blend into the shadows as well as Sonic either. He wore a large, heavy dark green raincoat, with sneakers showing underneath. He couldn't be bothered to cover his head however.

"If it's gonna rain, I might as well enjoy it fully." He had said, Sonia, amazingly enough hadn't commented on his remark. Sonic had found this quite intriguing, and when he questioned Sonia about it, she had said that she didn't want to hurt his feelings by making fun of his childhood. Obviously, she had been remembering the event with Toora.

Sonic smiled to himself, Sonia and Manic could really act childish sometimes, like when they had been chasing each other around the coffee table. (In the end, Sonic had to shout to get their attention, and when he told them that he was getting a headache, Sonia had stalked off to the bathroom, and Manic had strolled to his room. Sonic had taken a well-earned nap after that.)

However, more than once Sonia and Manic proved to be trustworthy and extremely dependable. Like right now, when Sonia gave up the chance for a perfect revenge by thinking of Manic's feelings before her pride. Sonic decided that no matter how late those two made him, he wouldn't leave them. He would find some other way to make up lost time.

'Great. Just great.'

'Sonia and Manic are as good allies as Tails and Knuckles were. It's strange, these four are so much different from each other, yet, they all seem exactly the same to me.' In his mind's eye, Sonic saw Knuckles and Tails in the places of Sonia and Manic. They would be standing on either side of him; the only difference was that Knuckles and Tails would never bicker… At least, they never seemed to…

'If I do get all the emeralds, what then? Is there a way to change the past? Or is there a way to stop Robotnik and his roboticizing for good? Can the chaos emerald do that?What if Robotnik gets them?'

'No. He can't He won't. I will not allow it.'

"HEY! HELLO IN THERE!"

Sonic started as he saw Manic's hand wave in front of his face.

"Are we going anytime soon? Or are you going to think of chilidogs for the rest of your life?" Came Sonia's question. Sonic could practically see the smirk on her face.

"Aww sis, you don't understand, he's just thinkin' `bout breakfast, nothing wrong about that." Manic said defending Sonic.

"You boys and your stomachs. I'll never understand you." She sighed, rolling her eyes, and crossing her arms.

"You girls are your hair. I'll never understand YOU." Manic countered, leaning around Sonic, and poking Sonia.

Sonic saw that the fight was about to get ugly, so he grabbed both their hands and pulled them forward.

"I think it's time that we left, don't you two?" He asked.

"It's `bout time." Manic grunted.

"I, for once, agree with him, it is about time." Sonia said with a nod.

"Very well then, say goodbye to the truck, this trip's gonna take a few days…alright. You two ready? Hear. We. GO!"

And with that, Sonic blasted out of the cave, holding Sonia's wrist in his right hand, and Manic's in his left.

The two riders practically flew behind Sonic as he ran. They could feel only a slight tug on their arms but they ignored it, only enjoying the feel of the air rushing past them. After a few hours they would get tired and their breathing would get ragged; at that point they would ask Sonic for a rest. Until then, Sonic would carry them as far as he could, for he did not tire easily.

As they past the last of the trees surrounding their hide-a-way, Sonic glanced backward at Sonia and Manic, to see how his two tow-a-longs were doing. Manic seemed to be enjoying himself fully, and Sonia was holding her hat in her left hand, it had come off long ago, and her hair was streaming behind her. She didn't seem to care though. She too seemed to be enjoying herself.

Sonic turned his attention back to his chosen road, smiled, and increased his speed, so that he was going at a half of his ability. Sonia and Manic could handle it.

His previous internal was conflict resolved.

'Robotnik, you are not getting those emeralds.

I am back, and I'm going to bring you down.

Knuckles… Tails… I'm coming.

I know you're out there. Somewhere.

I will find you.

Together, we will change this world into something we can all be proud of.'

!Author Alert!

Right now, my muse has gone on vacation,

due to overwork, and minimum wage sigh dratted rent-a-muse.

SO! This means that reviewer ideas ARE welcomed, so please,

go click on the little purple-blue button that says `GO' and submit a review.

It will be much appreciated.

Notes: Egg Golem comes from the Sonic GameCube game `Sonic Adventure 2 Battle'. This is the game that I described last in the Prologue. The one that had to do with the Black hole, and the `mysterious hedgehog'. Anyway, for those of you who are not familiar with the game, let's just say that Egg Golem is a large…. NO! NOT A LARGE EGG! He is a large, robotic giant, with a stone covering. Egg Golem's fist alone is about as high as 3 Sonics standing on tiptoe. Sooo…yeah, getting hit in the head with one of those would HURT!

Biolizard also comes from `Sonic Adventure 2 Battle' in it's original form, of an overly large lizard (standing about 10 times the height of Sonic) it was challenged, and defeated by the `Ultimate Lifeform' also known as the hedgehog, Shadow. After this battle, it came back `to life' and had to be defeated in space by Super Sonic and Super Shadow. After they defeated the monster, Shadow gave the last of his rings (which keep him and Sonic Super) to Sonic, who was running out. Sonic, unaware that the rings were Shadow's last, took them. And so, that is how Shadow `died'. He returned to his original state while they were still in space. Anyway, back to the Biolizard. The Biolizard's roar is about as loud as its height. So, imagine Sonia screaming, then multiply that by 10…. OUCH! Yeah, all those who've heard the brute of Sonia's yell can probably imagine this… do those who haven't, imagine any girl's high pitched scream, and multiply that by 10…Heh, yeah, I think you got my point. (by the way, no offence to any girls, after all… I AM a girl)

ALSO! BEFORE I FORGET!

Thanx to all those who reviewed, AND are still reading this fic (didn't dump it `cause I didn't update) hands them Sonic & Shadow plushies

AND! A special thanx to….. Tsunami Wave! YAY! - - you reviewed every chapter so far, and that, to me, is really motivating. THANK YOU! gives Tsunami Wave plushies of every Sonic character, and a life sized one of your favorite character You get squished by the enormous figure

I hope you're all still reading this fic! I didn't mean to leave you all hanging for soo long…

Heh heh….and to think, this is only the 4th chapter, imagine what I'll be doin' when the end of the fic comes around!

Lastly, to all those action lovers, there will be action in the next chapter, no more talking and waiting! Promise (and I don't mean `hitting people on the head with frying pans' action - )

TBC