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Sonic woke up to the door creaking open.



"Do you want to come down for breakfast?" Manic asked. "The new stair lift is set up."



"No." Sonic muttered. He pulled the blanket nearly over his head.



"That thing's pretty fun." Manic said. "I did the test ride since you were asleep."



Sonic pulled the blanket down and sat up. "You don't need to use it."



Manic slumped a bit. "I was trying to cheer you up."



Sonic picked up his new guitar with both hands and idly strummed it.



Manic sat down on the bed. "We can jam later. Try the stair lift at least once."



Sonic set his guitar down and slid his legs off the side of the bed. "Just help me walk-"



"The last time we tried that, we both fell." Manic replied. "Just use the chair. Sonia and I decorated it."



Manic got up and wheeled the chair around so Sonic could see the design on it.



Sonia and Manic stuck a decal of their band logo on the both sides of the backrest.



"The design is way past cool." Sonic said.



Manic helped Sonic into the chair and rolled him out of his room.



Sonic and Manic finally made it to the table. The only dishes were some fruits and some omelets.



"We're glad you could join us, bro." Sonia said.



Sonic half grinned. "I was hoping there would be chili dogs."



"You can have one for lunch." Sonia replied. She slid a cup of mangoes to Sonic. "These have a lot of vitamin E. That will help ease the symptoms of WHS."





Sonic picked at the fruit cup. "At least I like mango."
**
Sonic and Manic sat on the couch, watching Transporter 3.



Manic tilted his head to the side. "So… the Transporter's friend is the police inspector who was trying to arrest him in the first movie." He said. "How'd they get to be friends again? Wouldn't that cost the inspector his job?"



"I don't know." Sonic said. He felt strange, but wasn't sure how to describe it.



Suddenly, he realized he was now leaning against Manic. He looked around slowly, trying to figure out what just happened.



"Take it easy, Sonic." Manic said, helping him to sit beside him. "You just had a seizure."



Sonic slowly sat up. "I did?"



Manic nodded. "I can't remember the names, but it wasn't the big ones." He replied. "You kinda spaced out for less than a minute and slumped against me."



Sonic sighed. "Thanks for sitting with me."



"You'd do the same for me." Manic replied. He picked up the remote. "I'll back up the movie a bit."



"It's fine." Sonic said. "I don't feel like watching a movie anyway."



"Do you want to go back to your room?" Manic asked.



"No, I don't feel like it." Sonic said, easing to the other side of the couch. He laid down.



Manic pulled an old blanket over Sonic. "I'll get you a pillow." He said, pausing the movie.



"Thanks, bro." Sonic replied.



Manic got up and headed for Sonic's room.



Sonic sighed. "Great. Another round of medication."



Sonic was already taking vitamin E supplements along with some medication that was supposed to ease his nerve pain.





He didn't particularly like having to swallow pills that he was certain were for elephants instead of hedgehogs, but he hated to know how bad the symptoms could be without the medications.





He tried to get comfortable and fell off the couch as Knuckles and Manic walked in.



Knuckles knelt down beside Sonic. "Are you okay?"



"Yeah, the couch isn't all that comfortable to nap on." Sonic said, sitting up.



Knuckles got up and picked up Sonic. "Alright, I'll take you to your room."



Manic shut the TV off. "We'll have to watch it later." He said. "Ma said she needed to talk to Sonia and me about something."
**
Sonic woke up from his nap and sighed. He didn't feel like playing guitar, but wanted something to do.



"Maybe Mom's not busy now." Sonic said. He eased himself closer to the intercom system on the wall near his bed and pressed the button.



Loud static came over the speaker.



Sonic huffed. "I'll do it myself." He muttered. He tried to get out of bed and stand up.



He fell and laid there on the floor. "Ow." He muttered. He dragged himself to his wheelchair and climbed in.



Once he was seated comfortably, he rolled himself to the door and opened it.



He rolled himself down the hall and to their rec room since the door was open.



Manic was sitting on a beanbag chair while Sonia was at her easel. The two siblings looked at Sonic.



"What are you doing up?" Manic asked. "How'd you even get in your chair by yourself?"



"I was looking for Mom." Sonic replied. "Oh, and my intercom is messed up."



"I'll look at it." Manic said, getting up. He pushed Sonic out of the room. "So is that all you need or are you trying to show off?"



"Show off?" Sonic asked. "I can only go as fast as my old walking speed in this thing."



"You're still pretty fast." Manic said. He rolled Sonic back into his room. "So what do you need Ma for?"



"I was bored." Sonic replied. "I figured maybe she had some story about us that she hadn't told us yet."



"I think she had some kind of meeting or something." Manic said, taking the panel off of the intercom. "After I finish this up, do you want to hang out with us? Sonia would like someone to pose for a painting."



"Since when does she paint?" Sonic asked.



"She's trying out a bunch of different hobbies to relax with." Manic replied. "It's going better than the time she tried knitting. The sweater she made for me is big enough for both of us to wear at the same time."



Sonic laughed.



Manic finished fixing the intercom and put the panel back on. "Glad you're feeling a little better now." He said, sitting down.



"You look kinda down, bro." Sonic replied. "What's up?"



"Been discussing the royal succession with Ma and Sonia earlier." Manic said, resting his arms on his knees. "I'm next in line after you because of male-preference… something with a p, unless you have at least one son in the next two years. An adopted son won't count as an heir. The laws are so complicated, it'll make your head swim, bro."



Sonic grimaced. "I guess it's going to you."



"I was so hoping Sonia would be next in line." Manic said. "I'm not royalty material."



"Neither am I." Sonic replied. "Can't you change the laws so Sonia can have it?"





"We can, but it'll be a long process and my mind wandered while they talked about that." Manic said. "It won't allow Sonia to be queen, but if I have girls, it'll allow one of them to rule."



"I kinda figured Sonia would be next in line anyway after you got arrested." Sonic said. He tried to stand up.



Manic stopped him. "No, I'll push you." He said. He pushed Sonic's wheelchair out of the room. "So how's Sally and Tails taking this? I thought they'd visit as soon as you got home."



Sonic rubbed the back of his head. "Oh… Tails has been sick and Sally twisted her ankle."



"Ugh. Looks like no one can catch a break this month." Manic muttered.



"Anyway, if Sonia has a boy, couldn't you hand it over to him?" Sonic asked.



"If I never had kids and died, then yeah." Manic replied. "She'd have to adopt and there's a lot of confusing laws we're working on changing. Again, my mind wandered, so ask Ma or Sonia if you want the details."



"Why does she have to adopt?" Sonic asked.



Manic pushed Sonic into the rec room. "Did you know the Chaos Emeralds are irradiated?"



"It makes sense, I guess." Sonic said, shrugging. "It vaporized some Swatbots and mutated Dingo even more."



Manic sat in the beanbag chair. "Yeah, so Knuckles had twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week full exposure to that for about two decades, give or take." He replied. "You can guess the effects."



Sonic nodded. "Yeah, I can."



Sonia and Knuckles came in with another box of paints and some canvases.



Queen Aleena followed Sonia and Knuckles into the room.



"Oh, there you are, Sonic." Knuckles said. He motioned to the large, white sheet hanging on the wall. "Manic, could you wheel him over there? Sonia wants a family picture taken so she can use that as her model for her next painting."



Manic wheeled Sonic to the backdrop and stood next to him.



Uncle Chuck and a servant, who was a Mobian groundhog, walked in.



The family gathered around Sonic.



"Say, where's Sally?" Uncle Chuck asked. "I wouldn't think she'd abandon you, Sonny boy."



"Oh, no, she's been sick." Sonic said.



Manic gave Sonic a puzzled look.



Sonic realized he probably told Manic a different story. "Oh, I-"



"Is everyone ready?" The servant asked.



"Yes." Sonia replied.



"Alright, say cheese." The servant said.



"Cheese." The hedgehog family and Knuckles replied.



Once the picture was taken, Manic knelt down in front of Sonic.



"Don't lie to me." Manic said. "I-"



Manic's phone started ringing.



"Oh, that's Jade." Manic said, grinning. "We'll talk later."



Sonic breathed a sigh or relief as Manic, talking on his phone, walked away. He hoped Manic would forget since he really didn't want to explain his reasons for not telling Sally.



Knuckles looked at Sonic. "You look pretty tired." He said. "Do you want to head back to your room?"



Sonic shrugged. "Sure, why not?"