FicWad

Tails walked into the living room where the rest of team Sonic, Rouge, and Kit were hanging out. He looked around. “Where’s Manic and Surge?”

“Hospital.” Sonic said. “She went into labor about a couple of hours ago and poor Manic is already getting an earful.”

Tails sat down. “Okay, well, here’s where we’re at.” He replied. “Aleena agreed it would be easier to use the detector on Earth. My detector is done, so we will be heading out as soon as we get an arrest plan together and get the special inhibitor cuffs ready, the cuffs are gonna take another two or three weeks.”

“Alright.” Sonic said, putting his feet on the coffee table. “So why’s it gonna take so long?”

“Aleena wants to go over safety protocol in a meeting.” Tails replied. “We don’t know what they’ll do to us if they catch us. It may be the same deal as Robotnik.”

Sonia gasped. “What if Shadow was captured?”

“We’re going to find him.” Sonic replied. “He’s still going to jail, you know.”

“I’d rather him be in a Mobius prison than being killed in a lab.” Sonia said.

Sally checked Sonic’s phone since she was close to it. “Manic sent a picture.” She said, opening the message. “Wow, they had a twin boy and girl.”

Sonic looked at his phone. “Aww, they’re so tiny.” He said, holding his phone so Sonia could see it.

Sonia squealed. “They’re adorable!”

Kit grinned. “Aww!”

Sonic scrolled through his phone. “Manic just thanked me for the ride and asked me to see the babies.”

“He didn’t ask me?” Sonia asked.

Sonic sighed as he shrugged. “They’re exhausted.” He replied. “At least this is progress. Manic has been pretty hateful to both of us until recently.”

“I guess I’ll see them when they get home.” Sonia said.

“See you all later.” Sonic said. He raced out.

*

Sonic walked into a room at the Mobotropolis hospital.

Surge was fast asleep while Aleena and Manic took care of the babies.

Aleena looked up as Sonic stepped closer to her. She handed the baby boy to Sonic. “Here’s your nephew Glitch.” She said, smiling. “I’ll get us something to eat while you two catch up.”

Aleena left the room.

Sonic and Manic sat down.

Sonic looked at the babies.

The babies had light green fur. Their spines hadn’t grown in and their eyes hadn’t opened yet. They were wearing little diapers, socks, and mittens.

“They look a lot like you.” Sonic said.

Manic grinned. “Thanks.”

“So what did you name your girl?” Sonic asked.

“Cyber.” Manic replied. “She’s a total daddy’s girl already.”

“That’s great, bro.” Sonic said. “I hope you straighten yourself out, at least for them.”

Manic nodded.

Sonic let Glitch play with his fingers. “Now that you’re away from Shadow-"

Manic scoffed. “Yeah, blame it all on Shads.” He said. “We weren’t tortured to our breaking points at all.”

“I don’t think it’s fair of Mom to completely blame Shadow.” Sonic replied. “But you changed a lot after you left the palace. You were hurt, but still this easygoing… uh, what’s the word Sonia used…?”

Sonic snapped his fingers. “Empathetic.” He said. “Yeah, you were that until you left the palace. It feels like you let that part of you almost completely die. Well, it’s starting to come back now that you’re a dad.”

“Yeah… I wouldn’t say it was all Shadow.” Manic replied. “I had a lot of time to think about what happened.”

“You still have nightmares too?” Sonic asked.

“Of course.” Manic muttered. “How can you not be afraid he’ll get out and do it again?”

Sonic bit his lip.

Manic gently petted Cyber’s head with his finger. “It’s worse now that I’m a dad.” He said. “I have to worry about them getting hurt or worse. I don’t want them to go through what I went through. That’s why we wanted a harsher sentence; so we could sleep at night and not worry about things like that.”

“But there’s always someone else to worry about.” Sonic replied. “Like… you and Shadow. You may not be as evil as Robotnik or Starline, but you’ve caused some Mobians pain and heartache. They probably can’t sleep at night knowing what you’ve caused. Those guards in Anaise could’ve died.”

Manic dipped his chin to his chest. “I would’ve quit had I known about that before you busted Shadow.” He said. “It wasn’t supposed to be like that.”

“None of that was the answer, was it?” Sonic asked. “Do you feel better after all of that was said and done?”

“I still feel empty.” Manic replied. He looked at Cyber as she chirped and grabbed his hand. “I just want them to have a better life than we had and not to feel as dead inside as I do sometimes.”

Manic drew a shaky breath.

Sonic noticed tears in Manic’s eyes and slid closer to him. “It’s gonna be okay, bro.” He said softly. “We’ll get through this together.”

Manic nodded.

Sonic looked at Cyber. “I’d ask to hold her, but she probably will cry.”

Manic laughed. “She will.” He agreed. “She likes to be sung to. I would sing the song you’d play for me for her before she was born.”

Sonic smiled weakly. “Good times.”

“You want to do the honors?” Manic asked. “She hasn’t heard her unc sing.”

Sonic took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Okay….”