manic meets maria

 11/22/22 manic meets maria

"Can you teach me?" The blue eyes sparkled in excitement.

Manic felt taken aback. Most people hated that Manic was a thief. He practically got booted out of Knothole for it. But here was a bubbly blond hedgehog asking to learn how to steal. Manic scrunched up his face to try to see a lie in her. "Why?"

The girl giggled as she took a step back. She did have a bad habit of coming on too strong. "Robuttnik is hoarding a lot of food, medical supplies, and materials. If I can learn how to do what you do, I can get stuff we need from him. Like pickpocketing from his lackies for keys and such."

Manic nodded. Robotnik sucked end and made most places suck. She seemed so very eager. "You know people… don't like thieves. Even if you bring them materials they need, they'll… be mean. " He tried to choose nice words. 

She deflated as her ears laid flat. She picked at her fingers, thinking it over. She clasped her hands together as she looked up at him with a determined look. "I can handle it. I want to learn!"

Manic couldn't help but laugh. "You're an odd one." She gave a big toothy grin that Manic wouldn't mind seeing again. "Okay, we'll start with the basics and work up to field runs."

She bounced with joy. Happy squeals. She moved forward to hug him before pulling herself back. "Sorry, I hug lots." The have a nervous chuckle. "Oh, I need to repay you. I can cook a bit. I'm very handy so I can fix some broken machines."

Manic held up his hand as he laughed, "I'm good. We'll need to find a safe place to practice though. Since I'm not from here, do you have any suggestions?"

She nodded. "My home is well hidden from Ivo. We can practice there if you don't mind."

Manic shifted on his heels. "Sounds nice but it's bad to be too trusting. People could take advantage of you." He slipped into a protective brother mode.

She tilted her head. "You don't seem like a bad dangerous person to me." She looked up into a nearby tree. "And Rosie would have voiced something if she thought so too "

"Rosie," Manic scanned the tree looking for another person but finding no one.

A giggle behind him made him jump, but turning and seeing no one. Soon a pink hedgehog appeared as she grabbed Manic to steady him. "Sorry," she giggled. Her emerald green eyes were glowing. "I only wanted to play."

"You can turn invisible?" Manic let out in awe. "How?"

The young girl giggled as she let go of his hand and ran to hold onto the blonde hedgehog. 

The blonde ruffled the pink one's quills. "Chaos energy. It's in all living things. Some people can access it in amazing ways. Rosie here is one of the natural talents. Turning invisible for small bursts is one of them."

Manic nodded. "What about you? Can you use chaos energy?"

She gave nervous laugh, "I can, but I need a lot more training. And mine is a lot different than Rosie."

"Different how?" Manic mused. 

"Well chaos energy is very unique for each person who can access it." Sure beamed, excited to share knowledge.

"Maria thinks Sonik-kun can run fast due to chaos energy." Rosie beamed.

"I don't think," Maria looked offended. "I know. Nothing other than a strong affinity to chaos energy explains it."

Manic bit his lip at hearing his brother's name. If he was able to run fast due to using chaos energy naturally. He pondered what else he could do? Would he be arrogant about it? Sonic already had a big ego. 

Manic drove how RV following Maria's direction. Maria held Rosie in her lap as she gave directions. Manic was impressed but the tech jammers she had around her home to keep robuttnik out of it. It was high tech but blended seamlessly into nature. 

"Where'd you get the tech?" Manic mused.

"I scavenged it and put it together." Maria smiled shyly. She opened the door and let Rosie jumped down. "Be careful," she softly scolded as she carefully climbed out of the RV. 

Manic chuckled. "You're an over protective sister."

Maria froze at that. She fiddled with her fingers. "Do I seem like a good sister?"

Manic felt bad at hiking about something she was insecure about. "You're a great big sister."

Manic waved his hand gesturing to the kid happily watering plants. "I mean look at how much your sister likes you."

Maria looked guilty. "Amelia isn't my sister. She's a family friend's kid." She continued to pick at her fingers.

Manic shifted on his feet. He didn't do awkward silence well. "Well, blood isn't the only way to be family." Manic assured her. 

Maria nodded as she yelled up at that. 

"Maria and I will be sisters!" Rosie boldly announced as she watered some lavender. 

“See?” Manic chuckled. “Though ‘will be’ is a weird wording.” Manic thought to himself. 

Maria chuckled at Amy’s outburst. “How does my Miss Amy Rose know this will be?”

“I saw it!” she beamed proudly. “My cards are 100% accurate!”

“Oh? Are you a fortune teller?” Manic mused.

“Yes! I can tell Manic’s future with my cards.” 

Manic smiled as he gave a bow. “I would be honored.”

catfish office work

 11/1/2022 catfish office work

Sephie tapped her foot as she sorted the many papers on the desk. She wondered when the last time any of these files had been sorted. It looked like they had just been tossing the random papers into the cabinets and hoping the files would magically sort themselves. Sephie bit back the harsh cackle in her throat. Her being a magical being organizing these files wasn't lost on her. 

At least she was being paid for it. Though she wondered if she should ask for a raise. After all, she was at risk of so many papercuts. It took several hours to sort the papers and neatly stack them. Sephie groaned as she got up from her desk. She needed a drink before going through the long process of typing up the papers into a digital format. 

The break room has a decent selection of coffee and tea. Sephie stretched her sore limbs as she scanned the selection. What flavor caffeine did she want today?

She continued doing stretches as she tried to make up her mind. Wrapping her hands above her head and leaning her upper body to the left and right. She eventually settled on green tea, taking a paper cup with a lid back to her desk. She hated at the clock. Why couldn't it be time to clock out yet? She blew into the lid opening before sitting the cup down. It would take several more hours to convert these files into digital format. 

Sephie grinned when her watched beeped. "Finally!" She silently cheered. It was time to go home. She had barely made a dent in the sorted paperwork. She would tackle it tomorrow. She checked her now empty cup before tossing it in the trash. She logged out of the computer before clocking out and leaving. 

Sephie stretched out her limbs as she left the building. The breeze felt invigorating as she walked down the street. She wondered if she should take her cat form and take the roof top route. Either route was about the same time. Though each had different short cuts that could be taken.

She decided to walk through the park area while she mused over it. Her eyes caught the glint if scales in the distance. The park had a decent size river with a chill current going through it. She recognized the glint if light as coming off of fish scales. She quickly walked over for a better look. 

Sephie chuckled as her keen eyes caught sight of Tallu's hiding form. She glanced around, there weren't too many people do creating an illusion barrier wouldn't be too much on her. Once her barrier was up, she called out to the mermaid. 

"You're feeling daring today, huh Tallu?" Sephie let the laughter roll into her words. 

10/25/2022 catfish nap

 10/25/2022 catfish nap

Sephie stretched out on the window nook. It was very soft and comfy. The plushies only added to her comfort. Her ears twitched as she heard the foot steps coming to the door. But the sun beam was soooo warm.

The door opened and Tallu kicked off her shoes. She carried a bag towards the kitchen. She stopped in her tracks as she spotted Sephie laid out in the window seat. 

"Sephie, I'm home." She chuckled softly. 

"Welcome back," Sephie mumbled as she drifted between the walking and the dream world. 

Tallu marveled at the odd twisting of Sephie's body as the cat girl softly napped. "Do you want to get up and eat with me?"

Sephie mumbled, "Nu-huh. Too comfy."

Tallu chuckled as she continued to the kitchen. "That's fair." She whispered.

tails recovers files

 10/24/2022 tails recovers files

He sat at his desk staring at the recovered fumes from the old hard drive. Tails normally didn't snoop in people's files unless they were associated with Eggman. But it was Sunday and he was bored. So with a shrug, he decided, why not?

There were tax and business docs. A folder full of games. Tails clicked on the reference folder, curious as to what a clothing designer used as reference. He found fabric and color swatches. Pics of popular trendy clothes labeled by year. It was slightly disorderly, but Tails was sure the feline knew how to find whatever she needed. 

He opened a document with random letters as the label. He skimmed through a few paragraphs before he realized what it was. He felt oddly too warm as he got up to get ice water. He was unaware that Honey the Cat was the type to write out her fantasies down. Much less on a computer. 

Tails chugged the water before filling the glass to the brim with ice and covering it with water. He stared at the reflection of his flush face as he repeated the actions. He glared at his blue eyes.

"What is she seeing?" He muttered. He squinted his eyes at the reflection in the fridge. He saw nothing worth being attracted to much less writing smut about. And yet, Honey had. Tails choked on an ice cube and decided to avoid the kitchen for now. He did not want to die from choking on water. And it would be worse if anyone found the smut fanfiction of himself open on his computer.

Tails glared at the screen as he sat down. He

She hummed as she opened the bento boxes.

 10/31/2022

She hummed as she opened the bento boxes. She loved going to these fan club meetings. One they were fun and two, Amy Rose was there. Amy was bubbly and precious. She felt a bit guilty about purposely sticking up conversations target info about her brother. 

She sighed as she locked her door. She wanted to hug her brother so bad. But just showing up, saying "hey! I'm an ultimate life form made by Professor Gerald Robotnik too! I see us as siblings. Let's get along." Would end horribly. Being hated by the brother she adored so much. Being attacked by him and his friends? And the worse possible out come, being imprisoned by gun. 

10/21/2022

Shadow sat on the old bed board. He didn't chaos control to the ark often. He has so many painful memories of this place. Good, bad, traumatizing. Shadow fell back on the bed. Maria's beef wasn't as soft as he remembered. It did bounce a bit from his body flopping over on to it. He often came to Maria's room when he missed her so much the greif felt paralyzing. 

He sat there staring at the ceiling. The glow in the dark animals. He still remembered most of their names he thought. He tapped his fingers in the bed as he attempted to name them all. 

Shadow jumped when a book fell off the head board. He glared at the thin green notebook. Maria kept a lot of books on the headboard. He frowned as the book wasn't labeled. 

"Odd," he muttered. "Maria labeled everything."

He flipped open the book. 

"I don't understand how I wound up in the room of my last life. But I did."

Shadow continued reading the diary. It didn't take long since reading quickly came easy to the ultimate life form. What soon became clear the was that Gerald had made another ultimate life form who was aging. And they had Maria's memories. They'd were at first very confused until they found proof amongst Gerald's belongings. They took it and hid it as they tried to figure out how to chaos control back to earth. Another fact was she had a child younger than her with her. Shadow couldn't gather much other than she chaos controlled to the ark by accident while running away. 

Shadow frowned as he read they wore his clothes. He hated it when anyone touched his stuff. He got up and walked to his old bedroom. It was right beside Maria's room. He hadn't been in the room since the day Maria passed away. 

He frowned as he turned on the light and saw the room messy with random papers on the floor. A fort of pillows and blankets was made in the corner. 

"They could have cleaned up." Shadow bent down to pick up the papers. There were scribbles he couldn't recognize. He saw a scary stick figure of Dr eggman and people scared and crying. He saw two families and then just two stick figures. He frowned. The kid with the Maria clone didn't understand everything but they knew enough. 

He placed the messy stack of parts on his desk. He moved to undo the fort. He frowned at the small polaroids attached to the blanket with tape.

"I see they found my camera." He plucked a few photos off the blanket. He froze as he recognized the face in the image. They were barely a toddler, but the smile was the same. He dropped the items in his hand before chaos controlling away. 

Amy was super happy. She made a lovely lunch and Sonic had agreed to have lunch with her. And he actually showed up.

Amy giggled as she took a sip of her lemonade.

"You're in a good mood," Sonic joked. Their relationship had been a lot easier since they had that awkward forced talk of him only seeing her as a sister. It did take Amy sometime to accept it, but now their relationship was better than ever. 

"Of course I am!" Amy beamed, "Nothing kept you from showing up for lunch!"

Sonic gave a nervous laugh. "I must be lucky."

A flash of green caught their attention. Shadow made a beeline for Amy as she greeted him with a bubbly smile. 

"Hey Shadow,"

Shadow felt awkward and he hated it.

 10/18/2022

Shadow felt awkward and he hated it. The feeling was foreign. And yet here he was. Wearing a suit he really wanted to chaos blast into ash. 

"You won't die from being social." Sonic teased. Shadow glared at him. Sonic, his hands to in defeat before going about his business.

Stupid formal setting. Why did he have to participate in some pompous night while government officials talked and mingled. He would much rather ditch this evening.

"Agent Shadow."

Shadow kept his poker face though the urge to groan was strong as he turned to face Commander Towers. "Commander," Shadow saluted. Inside he was muttering about how much he hated the stupid military suit. The princess Eloise was beside him. Shadow was pleased the Commander seemed to not be enjoying this event to.

"Agent Shadow, this is princess Eloise." The commander stiffly introduce him. 

"Greetings your majesty." Shadow bowed. 

Princess Eloise smiled. "It's nice to meet you." She gave a soft curtsy. She seemed uncomfortable as she looked around. Who was she looking for? Shadow had a sinking feeling he would be doing the finding. 

"Why isn't Miss Rose with you?" The commander demanded more than asked. 

Shadow arched a brow at the commander. "Rose is mingling with a friend. Do you need her for something?" Shadow straightened his posture. The commander has no reason to want to talk to her. 

The commander crossed his arms as he stared down at the 3 foot hedgehog. "Agent Shadow," he began in a warning tone. Shadow glared back. "We're going to find Miss Rose and you're going to stick next to her until the end of this event."

Shadow gave the commander a questioning look.

Kid at training

 10/14/2022 Kid at training

"You…" Sonic elongated every word as his eyes darted between Shadow and the toddler in his arms. "Brought a kid with you?"

Shadow nodded simply. 

"Shadow, we're sparring today," Sonic stated gently. "And toddlers don't exactly go well with sparring."

The toddler squirmed closer to Shadow.

"His care taker is sick and I am apparently the only one he likes." Shadow rubbed the child's back. 

Sonic scratched his neck as he watched the child. Babysitting was the last thing most people would expect Shadow to do. But Sonic knew better. He has heard Maria had a baby a while back. 

"Well, him only liking two people is a sign you two are related." Sonic laughed. He leaned in to look at the hiding toddler. "Hey buddy, I'm Sonic. Let's be friends, okay?"

The child glanced up at him. His eyes were a bright green. His black quills combed down. He tilted his head as he looked up at Shadow. He stretched up like a caterpillar up whisper in Shadow's ear. 

Shadow nodded. "You can greet him." 

The toddler nodded with a smile. "Hello Sonnikkun." He bowed his head before curling into Shadow's chest. 

Sonic smiled. "Has he met Amy?"

Shadow simply nodded. He sat the child down at the table. He placed a bag next to him. "Behave and we'll get Ice cream."

Tails moved to sit next to the kid. "Hi, I'm Tails." He smiled at the small child. "Do you want a snack?" He offered a small bag of chips. 

The child looked up at Tails before turning to Shadow. 

Shadow stared at the bag, scanning it with his eyes. "He's too small."

Tails gave a nervous laugh. "Gotcha." He turned to the kid. "Do you want to cheer for Shadow while he spars?"

"Yes!" He nodded as he patted the bag next to him. "I brought a pompom!"

"I'll beat Sonic and Knuckles in our usual sparring match and we'll leave." Shadow told the toddler.

"Okay!" The toddler beamed. 

Maria’s Crush

 10/11/2022 Maria’s Crush

Manic hummed as he cooked in the large kitchen. Today was a chill day. His friend, Maria, had called him over to cook for her. To Manic, this was the easiest job ever. A knock at the door made Manic paused. He pressed a button on the counter. “Maria door.” Manic sang into a speaker before going to answer the door.

“Sup?” he greeted the two at the door. 

Shadow stared straight ahead with a poker face as Amy smiled with that head title that Manic knew was questioning. 

“Maria is in her work room, but she should be up soon.” Manic stepped aside to let them in. “I’m almost done cooking lunch.”

Shadow nodded as he entered. He glanced around the place, taking note of the decor. 

“Will you be joining us for lunch?” Amy made light talk as they followed him to the kitchen. 

Manic shook his head. “Nah. Maria offered to pay me to cook.”

Shadow nodded as he pulled out a seat out for Amy. A rare show of his manners that Amy accepted. “I’ll go let Maria know we’re here.” Shadow stated before disappearing in a green cloud. 

Shadow appeared in Maria’s workroom. It looked like a tornado swept through with all the items every where. The blond hedgehog was fiddling with a headband on a mannequin. 

“Maria,” Shadow called out to her as she walked up to her. 

“I heard Manic call. I’ll be up in a sec. This needs one little tweak.” Maria carefully placed a gem on the head band. 

“Speaking of him.” Shadow gave a mischievous grin. “Why is the crush you have a lovey dovey shrine to in your kitchen?” Shadow leaned onto her work desk. “I”m amazed you’re not up there drooling over it.” 

Maria blushed as she glared at her brother. “I don’t drool in front of him!” Shadow arched a brow at her. “And 2nd, hiring him to do a random task is good. I get eye candy and he gets paid and is none the wiser about my crush on him.”

Shadow gave a simple nod. 

Maria gave him a light slap on the arm. “You better not drop any hints and many my relationship with him awkward or else.”

“Or else what?” Shadow smirked. 

“I might drop some not so subtle hints to Amy that you have a crush on her.” Maria warned.

“Why not so subtle?” Shadow glared.

“Amy is dense when it comes to realizing people are into her.” Maria put the last gem into the head piece and left it to dry. She poked Shadow in the cheek. “My poor little brother. Your love life is unrequited.” 

The captain and the oracle

 10/10/2022 The captain and the oracle

His frame was thin and not a natural thin Atlas had ever seen. It put a bad taste in her mouth as she watched him prance around the ship's kitchen in joy. She jumped up and firmly grabbed his wrist. His sleeve had slipped as he reached upwards for a random spice on the shelf. 

"Atlas?" His soft voice tremble at her sudden touch. 

She pulled the sleeve up to better see the wrist. It was bruised and swollen. A tight purple line from where restraints had been used. She turned to the sailor in the room. “Bring the doctor.” Her ordered short as she turned to the frail man.

His eyes like a starry night sky faced her. But she was unsure if he could actually see. She could find no pupil amongst the eyes. 

“Your wrist is badly injured. How?” She demanded. 

“Oh…” His shoulders deflated as he attempted to curl his limbs around his form. Atlas kept a firm gri on the hand. “My…” he began. He furrowed his brow as he thought of an answer that was truthful but wouldn’t anger her more than she seemed to be. He also didn’t want to be sent back. “My last owner didn’t like me wondering around their place. So they put some heavy… um… bracelets?” he searched for a word. “Yeah. Bracelets on my limbs to limit me. Each had a rattling link on them.” He licked his lips. “But It doesn’t hurt anymore.” He shuffled his feet normally. 

Atlas picked up the small man and placed him on the table. He stayed still like a doll as she moved the sleeves up to see more bruises and scars. “Answer honestly.”

“Yes captain.” He nodded as he trembled.

“Why are you trembling?”

“I’m afraid you will send me back to that owner.”

“You ran away?” 

“I didn’t run. But I did leave in secret.” 

“How did you do so?”

He bit his lower lip as he froze.

“I am the captain of this ship. I saved you from the ocean. So I expect answers. And truthful ones.”

“Yes Captain.” He shut his eyes tight as light formed on his finger tips. It slowly became a small ball in his palm. “I can use magic. I teleported into the sea. Where your ship fished me up.” He fiddled with the magic ball in his hand.

“Ah. Magic is a rare skill.” Atlas watched him as he avoided eye contact. “Lucky for you, I don’t own people forcefully. Everyone who follows me does so by choice.” 

He nodded. “Will you sell me?” His voice squeaked out after a long silence. 

Atlas laughed as she took in the sentence. “I may be a pirate, but I don’t sell people. Moral code and what not.”

He sighed in relief. 

Atlas grabbed an ointment from the doctor’s bag. She carefully rubbed it into his bruised wrists. “Since we’re still a few months from touching shore, why don’t you take this time to think about what it is you want to do. As your own person.”

Tears weld up as he pulled his face up. “I get to make my own choice?”

Atlas smiled at the frail being. Perhaps she was still too kind. “Yes. Within reason. For now, let the doctor give you a full physical and treat your wounds.”

“Yes captain. Thank you captain.” He nodded quickly. A huge grateful smile on his face. 

Atlas sat laid back in her desk looking over paperwork when a soft knocking occurred at the door. “Enter.” She ordered not looking up from the papers. 

“I have finished the examine of the young man.” the doctor stated.

“Give me the full report.” Atlas ordered.

“He’s older than he looks. Due to malnutrition, he didn’t grow properly. He says he’s in his twenties. But he doesn’t know his birthday or birth year.” Atlas nodded. “He was bruises from restraints. Based on the bruises, metal and rope were used. He was several physical and mental scars.” 

“Start with the physical ones.”

“He has several scratches from where he was cut with knives and other items all over his body. There are human bite marks on his body in several locations.”

“Human?” Atlas growled as she crumpled the papers in her hand. She knew people were depraved, but it still irked her.

“Yes captain,” The doctor nodded solemnly. “I believe the sexual abuse has been going on for several years.” 

Atlas nodded, “Did you make copies of the marks? If we find a match, I’ll make them pay for such a transgression.”

“Yes captain.” The doctor. “I added photo copies to his file.” 

Atlas nodded. “Any other injuries.” 

“His eyes do not react to light. But he is able to describe somethings. However, he was never educated properly so he struggles with words. He doesn’t know colors or how to read. He also appears to have limited feeling in his limbs. I believe he is using magic to move and possibly see.” 

Atlas nodded. “You mentioned mental scars too?”

The doctor nodded. “Yes. He freezes and goes limp with every touch. He seems to stare off and disassociate almost like a living doll. He did it during the examination. He apologized because his thing doesn’t work. I doubt he’s ever seen a doctor before.” 

“Thing?” Atlas arched a brow.

“From what I was able to get him to tell me. SEveral of his previous ‘owners’ were dissatisfied that his penis did not work properly.” The doctor explained. “They were displeased he couldn’t get erect or ejactulate.”

Atlas let out a laugh. “Forgive me. But if I were a man in his position, I wouldn’t either.”

The doctor nodded with a small number. “Though I do want him to receive a full education. He has none, so he doesn’t seem to understand many things.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” Atlas nodded. “Perhaps sending him to a refuge home in one of the cities we port at.”

“That would be wise Captain.”

Atlas found the thin man in the kitchen again. His voice held the excitement of a child on christmas. She peeked into the kitchen to see his pink hair bouncing with excitement as he moved. The kitchen staff grinning with amusement as they showed him many dishes. 

“Hello Captain,” one of the cooks greeted. “Is there anything we can get you?”

The young man became more quiet in her presence. Atlas frowned a bit. She knew she was intimidating. Being six foot six made that obvious. But she didn’t like being feared by innocent small people. 

“I see you have a guest,” Atlas stated as she took a seat. “How are you liking the kitchen?”

He took a moment to respond, but he smiled brightly. “It smells very nice in here. All the food has different textures and scents. It’s very interesting.” 

Atlas nodded as he rambled on. 

Amy on the dock

 10/10/2022 Amy on the dock

Shadow liked the cozy home. He was glad he decided to accept Amy's offer. It was quiet and calm here. No loud annoying city. It was nice to have time off from gun, but he also wasn't too used to having more than a month off. 

Shadow carefully got out of his bed so as not to wake his Chao. He looked outside and made note of the stars outside. A small flickering lantern caught his attention.

Chaos control was very convenient as Shadow appeared beside Amy on the dock. "Rose what are you doing?" He asked as she kept staring out the lake that led out into the ocean several miles out. 

"I couldn't sleep." Amy replied as she flickered the later in her lap. "Were you unable to sleep?"

"I wake up often." Shadow answered as he sat next to her on the dock. He sat closer than he normally would when he noticed her shivering. Rose hated the cold and yet here she was outside in a light nightgown and jacket on a winter night. "What's with the flickering later?"

Amy glanced at the later in her hands. She gulped as she tapped her fingers on the glass. "It's an odd habit." She finally confessed after a long pause. "If I tell you, can you not tell anyone?"

Shadow tilted his head. Rose rarely asked him to keep secrets. But she also worried about the silliest things. He found it amusing. "Of course Rose."

Amy stared at him to see him sincerity before turning back at the water. She swallowed the thick saliva that felt like it would choke her. "I'm hoping my parents will show up in their boat. I'm flickering the lantern in Morse code so they know I'm alright."

Shadow watched Amy's sad face as she avoided eye contact. Rose had rarely mentioned her parents. All he knew was they were sailors. Rose spoke about them in past tense, so he let it lie as to not being up painful memories for her. Shadow wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her into a warm hug. "I can take you to visit their graves…