Sonic Series Fan Fiction ❯ Sonic Underground Reloaded ❯ Fifteen years later ( Chapter 4 )

Shadow adjusted his gas mask. He hated wearing it, but this part of the city was heavily polluted and it did hide his face from spybots.

He made his way back to his home and saw three teenaged hedgehogs (a girl and two boys) surrounded by swatbots.

The blue hedgehog, who he assumed was the famous Blue Blur the resistance claimed as one of their heroes, curled into a ball and threw his whole body at the swatbots.

Shadow rushed over and helped the blue hedgehog by blasting a hole into the machines with a laser gun.

All three teens were stunned.

"Come with me." Shadow said.

The teens quickly followed Shadow into his nearby home.

Shadow closed the door behind him. He took off his gas mask and trench coat, revealing he had dyed his red streaks and white patch black.

The green hedgehog grinned. "Crashin'!" He exclaimed. "We just got rescued by the Wanderer!"

"Who?" the blue hedgehog asked.

"Fight the Fury's mascot." The green hedgehog replied. "You never heard of that band?"

The blue hedgehog rolled his eyes upward. "Okay, we finally found something we don't have in common."

"Who are you all?" Shadow asked. He motioned to Sonic. "I'm sure you're the Blue Blur."

The blue hedgehog grinned, puffing up his chest. "The one and only, but you can call me Sonic." He replied. He motioned to the other hedgehogs. "This is Sonia and Manic."

"Nice to meet you." Sonia and Manic said.

"And you are?" Sonic asked.

Shadow pulled a stack of blankets off of the couch. He debated on giving them his real name instead of his resistance name, but decided he couldn't let his guard down just yet. "Terios."

"So why'd you save us?" Manic asked.

"I couldn't let kids get killed." Shadow replied. "Why are you here?"

"Our home was raided." Sonic said, sitting on the couch. "Can we talk about it later? I'm beat."

"That's fine with me." Shadow replied. He made beds on the couch, loveseat, and floor for the three hedgehogs before going to bed himself.

The next day, Shadow got up and headed to the kitchen to make breakfast.

Manic was already up. He bobbed his head as he listened to music on his phone with old headphones while he made coffee and cereal.

"What're you listening to?" Shadow asked.

"Unpopular. Manic replied.

"Is that a band or a song?" Shadow asked.

"A song." Manic mumbled. He continued making coffee and bobbing his head to the music.

Shadow decided not to ask for details. Not that he really cared anyway, but it was too early in the morning to deal with it and he hadn't had his coffee yet.

Finally, Sonic and Sonia got up to help with breakfast.

They all gathered at the table to eat cereal and drink coffee.

Sonic looked from Manic to Shadow. "Neither of you put creamer in your coffee?"

"It ruins the flavor of the coffee." Manic said.

"I was gonna say the same thing." Shadow replied.

Sonic sighed and pushed his bowl of cereal away. "I'm sure they've roboticized Uncle Chuck by now."

"You know him?" Shadow asked.

"He raised me since I was a baby." Sonic replied.

"He's my uncle." Shadow said.

"Funny uncle Chuck never mentioned you before." Sonic replied.

"That was to keep him safe." Shadow said. "Classified resistance stuff."

"Oh, that explains it." Sonic replied. "Can you tell me why all info on the royal family was destroyed?"

"Robotnik doesn't want any shred of their legacy to exist." Shadow said. "If they were still alive and could rally the rest of Mobius, it would end his reign."

Sonic nodded.

"Why are you concerned about them?" Manic asked. "We didn't know them."

Sonic shrugged. "It's weird they just disappeared." He replied. "They're supposedly dead, but where's their bodies or graves? The royal triplets could've been born, then taken somewhere else."

Manic scoffed. "I doubt it. Someone probably turned the babies into Robotnik, who'd kill them and dispose of them if that was the case."

Sonic sighed. "Maybe, but this has kept me up at night for years and I never knew why."

"It is interesting, but I've accepted that I may never know the answers." Sonia replied.

"Anyway, you three can come along with me to get supplies if you want." Shadow said.

"Do you think it's safe to stop by my house to pick up the rest of my clothes?" Sonia asked.

Manic and Sonic rolled their eyes while Shadow shook his head.

"I'd tell you to stay here, but I don't trust anyone I don't know well enough to stay at my house alone." Shadow said.

Sonic looked at Manic. "Especially this one."

"Shut up, Sonic." Manic snapped.

"What are you talking about?" Shadow asked.

"Nothing." Sonic and Manic replied.

Sonia shrugged.

Shadow led the teens down an alley in Mobotropolis, looking for the new location of the resistance marketplace.

Sonia pulled her jacket's hood down more to hide her face and eased into the center of the group.

Shadow noticed a male mink headed their way and motioned to him. "Someone you know, Sonia?"

"That's my ex-fiancé, Bartleby." Sonia whispered.

As Bartleby passed them by,

Manic casually reached over and snatched Bartleby's wallet out of his coat pocket.

Sonia noticed and grabbed Manic's arm. "Give it back, Manic."

Shadow and Sonic stopped and turned to look at them.

Bartleby stopped and turned around. "Sonia? Why are you hanging around these scoundrels?"

Shadow noticed Manic holding a fancy wallet and snatched it out of his hand. "I'm sorry. It's his stupid idea of a joke." He said, handing the wallet back to Bartleby.

"It's a long story, Bartleby, sweetie." Sonia said. "I'll explain later."

Sonia hurried the group away.

"Ugh. What do you see in that guy, Sonia?" Manic asked.

Shadow turned Manic around to face him. "So you're a thief?" He asked. "One of Farrell's boys, aren't you?"

Manic nodded.

"Don't do that again." Shadow said. "I'm not getting sent to the roboticizer because of your ignorance."

Manic huffed. "Sorry, but that's how we survived." He set his hoverboard down.

Shadow sighed. "So you're gonna throw a tantrum and leave?"

Manic shook his head. "No, I'll be back." I just wanna go cruising." He replied. "I'll be fine."

"You can't go out alone." Sonic said. "We're wanted."

"I'll be fine." Manic said as he cruised off.

"Let him go." Shadow muttered. "He'll get us killed anyway."

Sonic and Sonia reluctantly agreed.

Manic flew around the town on his hoverboard. He would've listened to music, but he had accidentally left his phone at Shadow's house.

A small, rocket shaped robot (or at least Manic thought it was a robot), flew alongside Manic.

Manic scoffed. "They cheaped out with this flimsy camera." He thought, swatting away the machine.

The machine released a thick cloud of gas.

Manic passed out and fell off of his hoverboard.

Manic woke up to find that his wrists and ankles were put into electronic shackles and he was in a dark, windowless prison cell.

Manic trembled as his mind raced through several different scenarios of what could happen based on stories he had heard.

"I should've stayed with them." Manic thought.

A couple of Swatbots finally hauled Manic out of his cell and into an interrogation room. They shoved Manic down onto his knees.

Manic hissed in pain. "Watch it, the floor's metal."

Robotnik turned his motorized chair to face Manic. "So Manic… one of Farrell's brats."

Manic didn't answer.

"I've noticed that you've taken up with new friends." Robotnik continued. He played back surveillance footage of the four hedgehogs from earlier that day.

"You dragged me here to tell me that?" Manic asked.

"I dragged you here to give you a deal." Robotnik replied. "If you turn in Terios and the Blue Blur, I'll de-roboticize Farrell and give you both your freedom."

Manic gasped. "For real?"

Robotnik nodded. "The resistance is fighting a losing battle. Siding with them will get you nowhere in the long run."

"How do I even know Farrell's still alive?" Manic asked.

Robotnik pressed a button on his chair, turning on a holographic display of Farrell in a prison cell. "Now what is your decision, street rat?"

"I'll do it." Manic said.

Robotnik motioned for his second in command, Sleet, to step forward.

Sleet went over and jerked one of Manic's earrings out.

Manic yelped.

"The tracker will look just like your earrings." Robotnik said as Sleet put the tracker in Manic's ear.

Manic sighed. "It's not like they're my family anyway." He thought.

"Now go back to their hideout." Sleet said, handing Manic his hoverboard. "We'll give you enough time to settle back in before the raid."

"Yes, sir." Manic replied.

An hour later, the hedgehogs (except Manic) had arrived at the safe house.

"I guess he's never coming back." Sonia said sadly.

Sonic held up Manic's phone. "He left his phone. If he doesn't come back, it isn't because he didn't want to."

"Are you three siblings?" Shadow asked.

"We're not sure." Sonic said. "Sonia and Manic showed up at Uncle Chuck's a few days ago and said they were told to go to his place if anything happened to their families."

Manic, bruised and battered, came home.

"Where have you been?" Sonia asked.

"Cruising around." Manic said, rubbing his arm. "I crashed my board."

"You look awful." Shadow replied. "Clean up while we get dinner ready."

Manic leaned his board against the wall and headed to the bathroom.

Shadow leaned closer to Sonic. "What do you think of his story?"

"He's probably telling the truth." Sonic replied. "He wiped out yesterday and that's what drew the Swatbots to us."

Manic came back out of the bathroom before Shadow could ask more questions.

"If you're hungry, there's some teriyaki chicken in the fridge." Shadow said.

Manic headed over to the fridge and got the box of chicken out.

"I'm going to bed." Sonic said. "Oh, and Manic, keep your phone volume down. We can hear your videos over the headphones."

"I'm sorry about that." Manic replied.

Shadow handed Manic a plate. "I'm going to bed. Don't sneak out or go out alone."

Manic nodded. "Yes, sir."