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Sonia sat at her vanity, waiting for Mindy to fix her hair for the funeral.

Her friend Bunnie had already brought the long black gown that Rouge’s mother had made and helped her close the buttons on the back of the collar.

Rouge burst into the room, wide eyed.

Sonia turned around. “What’s the matter with you?”

Rouge walked over. “We have a problem.”

Sonia furrowed her brow. “What is it?”

“Your brothers are here for the funeral.” Rouge said.

“What?” Sonia nearly shrieked. “Why… are you sure? How did they find out?”

“Of course I’m sure, your highness.” Rouge replied. “Your father was king of Mobotropolis; he couldn’t sneeze without the tabloids making a story about it. I’m surprised they didn’t find out he was ever sick. Just because they were in hiding, doesn’t mean they were ignorant to anything.”

Sonia hyperventilated. “I… I feel like I’m gonna faint.”

Rouge eased closer to Sonia in case she fainted.

“I can’t believe this.” Sonia said. “All that work… why would they come back?”

“They love your father too, Sonia.” Rouge replied. “They didn’t have any ill will towards their family, just the situation. I’m not surprised they’re here for his funeral. They probably would’ve come earlier had they known he was sick.”

Mindy and Bunnie walked in.

Mindy sighed. “So you’ve heard?”

Sonia nodded slowly.

“Maybe they’ll run away again.” Mindy said, brushing Sonia’s fur. “Or you’ll have to wait through the abdication process, which will be a while. Sonic has one little boy and Manic has two. It may go quicker with Manic, they already have a few issues with him.”

“And his wife.” Bunnie added. “Goodness gracious, that girl’s gotta mouth on her.”

Sonia nodded. “Or… if they’re indisposed in some way, then I can still be Queen.”

Mindy, Bunnie, and Rouge exchanged glances.

“We’re not helping you kill them.” Mindy said, shaking her head.

Bunnie and Rouge agreed.

“I don’t want to kill them.” Sonia said, giving them a disgusted look. “Are you crazy? All I’m saying is that no one goes into the royal catacombs, right?”

“Right.” Bunnie, Mindy, and Rouge said.

“Lock ‘em all down there where no one will find them.” Sonia replied. “We’ll feed them and give them water and assign Knuckles and Shadow to guard them. But do let them attend the funeral, I’m not heartless.”

“As you wish, your highness.” Rouge, Mindy, and Bunnie said.

“I’ll inform Shadow and Knuckles of the plan.” Rouge added.

*

Rouge found Shadow and Knuckles in the hallway, then walked them to Sonic’s old room.

“This is about Sonic and Manic, isn’t it?” Knuckles asked.

“Yes, Sonia wants them all locked up in the catacombs after the funeral.” Rouge replied.

“All of them?” Shadow asked. “The kids too?”

Rouge nodded. “I know, I don’t like this either, but we have orders.” She replied. “If she’s willing to lock up her own brothers and their families instead of patiently waiting through the abdication process or for them to run off again, she may be willing to lock us up or have us executed.”

“Okay, we’ll follow through with the plans.” Shadow said. “Then I’ll sneak them out and help them go back to wherever they came from as soon as the coast is clear.”

Rouge and Knuckles nodded in agreement.

*

Sonia internally groaned as she walked down the hallway leading to the living room. “I swear they only showed up to annoy me.” She muttered under her breath. “They could’ve either attended the funeral in disguise or had watched it online or tv like the rest of the commoners. No one would’ve worried about them being absent. They’re nearly a year away from being declared legally dead.”

Sonia finally made it to the living room where Sonic and Manic were with their families.

Sonic was the only one standing up. He was taller and leaner, probably the result of being able to run more than he ever had at the palace. He traded his royal medallion for a scarf and had sports tape covering most of his arms and legs. Other than that, he pretty much looked the same.

Manic, on the other hand, had changed the most. He had dyed the tips of his spines black and had several piercings that he hadn’t bothered to take out. He had let his muzzle and chest fur grow out a bit. He wore a long sleeve button down shirt, probably to cover his tattoos for the funeral leaving only the ones on his hands and fingers visible. He had ditched his royal medallion for a shark tooth necklace.

Sonic and Manic noticed Sonia, then got up and walked over to her. They hugged her.

Sonia weakly returned the hug.

“Hey, sis.” Sonic said. “Sorry we had to meet up like this.”

Sonia nodded. “I’m surprised you two showed up.”

“We didn’t want to come back here, but we hate not to pay our respects to Dad, y’know?” Manic asked. He sighed. “Wish we had known he was sick, I hate that he didn’t get to meet his grandkids or Surge.”

“You couldn’t exactly drag Nikòs out though.” Sonic said. “He was only cleared to go out in public a few days ago.”

“I know.” Manic muttered.

“Is he okay?” Sonia asked.

“Yeah, it’s the standard thing for newborns.” Manic replied.

Sonia looked at Manic’s twins. “That’s quite the age gap.”

Manic shrugged. “Eh, we weren’t planning on having more kids.”

Surge got up and looked Sonia over. “Eh, that’s your sis, Cute stuff?” She asked. “You weren’t kidding, she is better suited for this.”

Sonia laughed nervously. “Uh… thanks?”

“So this is Glitch, Cyber, and little Nikòs.” Manic said, introducing his kids. He nudged Surge forward. “My awesome wife Surge.”

“And these are my twins River and Lola.” Sonic said, motioning to his twins. “You remember Sal, don’t you?”

“Yes, it’s good to see you again and meet the rest of the family.” Sonia replied.

“Would say it’s good to be back, but they’re aggravating us about this royal stuff.” Manic said, rolling his eyes.

“They’re not exactly thrilled with Surge as their possible queen.” Sonic said, motioning to Surge.

“Hey, they didn’t like me either, bro.” Manic said. “I thought that one guy was gonna have a heart attack or drown us in holy water when he saw us.”

“Hey, I set him straight, didn’t I?” Surge asked. “The nerve of that guy. We don’t look like the Addams family and so what if we let the kids dye their spines or get their ears pierced? It’s not like their tattoos are real.”

“Easy, babe.” Manic said, rubbing Surge’s shoulders. “The kids learned enough new words today.”

“Ours too.” Sonic and Sally muttered.

Bunnie stepped into the room. “I hate to rush y’all, but the limos are here to take y’all to the funeral.”

“Limos?” Surge asked.

Everyone followed Bunnie out.

“Yeah, at least this makes sense.” Manic said. “We used to have to take limos if we wanted to go to the park when we were kids.”

“The tabloids even ran stories when we went through quilling.” Sonic added. “Couldn’t have one minute as a normal kid to save our lives.”

“I see why you two hated it.” Surge replied.

“That and they were gonna marry me off to Amy Rose.” Manic muttered.

Surge shook her head. “I hate this place so much.”

*

Sonia joined Sonic and his family, along with Manic’s twins, in their reserved seats at the funeral. “Where’s Manic?” She whispered to Sonic.

“Surge got into a fight with the paparazzi.” Sonic whispered back.

Sonia rolled her eyes.

“Makes you look way better than you already did.” Sonic whispered. “She’s not royalty material.”

Sonia nodded. “That’s comforting.”

Manic, carrying Nikòs, and Surge came in and took their seats.

Manic huffed. “I hate this place. I do.”

Sonia shushed Manic.

Sonic leaned across Sonia. “What now?”

“The elders aren’t treating Surge or my appearance as a disqualification for the throne.” Manic whispered. “They’re saying they’ll quietly force us to split up so I can marry Amy.”

“What?” Surge asked.

Manic sighed. “After the funeral, babe.” He replied. “I have to do this for my dad. You know I won’t leave you.”

Surge nodded tersely.

Manic rubbed Surge’s arm. “I’ll let you handle it.”

Surge smirked. “Thanks, Cute stuff.”

*

The triplets, along with Sonic and Manic’s family, made their way down the halls of the palace.

“Man, they’re serious about making us stay.” Sonic muttered. “I never saw so many guards outside before.”

“There’s more guards than before I ran off.” Manic said.

Sonia looked at Shadow.

“It’ll be fine.” Shadow mouthed to Sonia.

“I hope so.” Sonia said under her breath.

Shadow and Knuckles slid vials out of their pockets as the former started to lead Manic and his family into their room while the latter led Sonic and his family into their room.

Sonia stood in the hallway, silently calling her personal attendants (Rouge, Bunnie, and Mindy) into the hallway.

Shadow and Knuckles simultaneously threw the vials into the rooms and shut the doors.

“What was in the vials?” Sonia asked.

“Tranquilizing gas.” Shadow said. “Cyrus and his father made it. It’ll work quickly.”

“Will it hurt the baby?” Sonia asked.

“No, he’ll be fine.” Shadow replied.

Bunnie, Mindy, and Rouge arrived.

“They’re out, you all help with the kids.” Shadow said. He opened Manic’s door and stepped inside.

Knuckles opened Sonic’s door and stepped inside.

Shadow carried out Manic and Surge while Knuckles carried Sonic and Sally.

Rouge went into Manic’s room and carried out Glitch and Cyber as Bunnie followed her and carried out Nikòs.

Mindy and Sonia hurried into Sonic’s room and carried out River and Lola.

*

Shadow fastened Sonic’s and Manic’s wrists and ankles into shackles. He checked Manic for lock picking equipment. “He’s clean.” He said. He looked at Sonic’s watch. “Hmm….”

“That’s just an old watch.” Sonia said. “Leave it.”

Shadow walked out of the cell and locked the door behind him.

Knuckles led Rouge, Bunnie, and Mindy over to Sonia and Shadow.

“Where did you put the baby?” Sonia asked.

“With his mama, where else?” Bunnie asked. She glanced down the corridor. “What’re we doing with the young’ens?”

“I’ll figure it out.” Sonia replied. “Thanks, everyone.”

Sonia left the catacombs.

Shadow made sure Sonia was gone, then turned to face Bunnie and Mindy.

“Rouge told us.” Mindy said. “How long until they wake up?”

“It’ll be a few hours, maybe a little longer for the kids.” Shadow replied. “We’ll check back later.”

Shadow led everyone out of the catacombs.