Chapter 2 - Brotherly love

Brotherly love



Chapter 1: Confrontations

Sonic frowned out the window of the van, he hadn't slept the previous night and it was catching up with him. Sonia looked glanced at him "What's wrong with you?" she asked

"nothing" he grumbled in response. She raised an eyebrow but shrugged, if he was in a bad mood she wanted nothing to do with it. Manic ran over a pothole

"Ah! Manic! Watch it! The tires can't take much more!" she cried

"Sorry lil' sister. Road works along here. I'll try take it easy for you." he apologized in his normal calm attitude. He was definately the calmer of the bunch as well as being the oldest. Sonic didn't seem affected by the pothole, he was used to it, Manic always ran over them whenever he was driving, even if he didn't mean it he ran over them. Besides, he was too tired and stressed to think about that right now 'what am I gonna do?...' he thought calmly as he felt eyes involintarilly slide shut. Sonia looked at the skanner "Were clear to go. City shouldn't be far away, hey Sonic, maybe you could scout ahead?" she asked. When she got no response she whirled her head around to see him sleeping softer than usual "Sonic? Are you asleep?" she leaned over and started to shake him, only to have Manic pull her hand away while driving

"Leave him Sonia. I don't think he got much sleep last night"
"How do you know?" she asked

"I think I heard him pacing. Anyway if he's tired just let him sleep" he explained, running over another pothole

"whoa! If you keep this driving up he'll probably wake up on his own!" she gasped, sitting back down and trying to relax despite her brother's horrible driving "Mind slowing down a little?" she asked

"If I can, lets just say potholes are tricky..." the green hedgehog explained, struggling to regain control of the van and drive right off the cliff side. Sonia sighed and waited for them to reach their target destination.

A few hours later, Sonic felt himself being roughly shaken by his shoulders. He groaned and opened his eyes "huh?"

"Sonic, c'mon. You can sleep once we get to the hotel" Sonia's voice told him as he slowly looked up with a small frown

"leave me alone..." he groaned, weakly swatting her away. Sonia put her hands to her hips

"Come on! You've been asleep all day and now its time to Wake Up!" she started shaking him again. Sonic moaned, he still needed sleep, he was exhausted. Finally, his sister gave up with a heavy sigh "Fine! I'll let Manic wake you up in five minutes" she walked off to get some of her stuff from the boot (Or trunk if your American. I try to be fair. I love both countries!) Sonic got comfortable in the seat. Five minutes only seemed like five seconds. Before he knew it, he was being shook and poked "what?" he groaned again
"Are you getting up or do I have to keep doing this?" He heard Manic's voice ask. Sonic opened his eyes with a frown and snatched his arm back
"Fine!" he snapped. Manic frowned as he watched his brother leave the van but shook his temper away
'he's just tired. He'll be better after sleep' he told himself, trying to bring the temper down. He hated it when he lost control, it wasn't fun for him or people around him.
Once they'd grabbed their stuff, they went to the check-in "Hi. We dont' have reservations but we just need a room for the night" Sonia explained to the guy behind the desk. He nodded

"Ok. Just lemme see what we got here...three right?" Sonic groaned at his words

"No. There's twenty of us. Yes Three!" he snapped. Manic sent a glare his way, that was always a warning to anyone to shut up. Sonic groaned and made a gesture to show that he was going to shut up. Manic slightly nodded, that was better than nothing. Sonia took the key "thank you. Sorry for my little brother, he's tired...late nights" she explained to the clerk before pulling Sonic away by the arm "Hey!" he snapped. Manic followed

"Don't ask. I don't even understand 'em"

"That was really rude Sonic" Sonia scolded as they walked down the corridor to their room

"Ok! I said I was sorry! Can we get over it?" Sonic snapped
"When? When did you say sorry?" Sonia asked

"I was gonna!" Sonic defended

"Ok you two! Enough. People are trying to sleep! Now hush up!" Manic took control, grabbed the key and unlocked the door. The room was nice, three beds, one bathroom, a TV. Sonic threw his stuff by the nearest bed and flopped down on top of it, getting comfortable. Sonia rolled her eyes

"brat" she muttered

"bi-"
"Sonic!" Manic warned at him "Sonia" he warned at her. It was the only way to get a peaceful night right now. Sonic shrugged and relaxed, drifting back to sleep.

Sonia went to the bathroom in a huff. Manic sighed and followed her to the door "What's wrong?" he asked

"What makes you think something's wrong?" she asked

"Your a girl. Girls make it obvious for guys. Now what's up?"
"He's acting like a brat again!" she confessed, grabbing some face powder

"He's tired Sonia. Besides, he knows what'll happen if he lets his attitude get ahead of his brain" Manic leaned coolly against the wall

"No offence but that's not very helpful. Plus, why IS he tired anyway? He sleeps like a log usually!"

"Hmm...good question...anyway, he's got reasons. Listen, we're all tired. Why don't we just-"
"I know where your going and fine! I'll get some sleep. But I'm still not happy" she told him, brushing her hair/quills. Manic shrugged, she always said that 'nothing new, just princess behaviour. Another day goes by...' lets face it, he was flexible. Sonia sighed

"How are you always so flexible? I have a shorter fuse than a cannon!"
"I noticed" he chuckled with a shrug "'Sides. When ya live out on the streets, you gotta be cool. Unless you wanna get caught"

"Oh..." she nodded with slight understanding. That explained a lot as she thought it over and put on her night cream. Manic stretched, Sonic had the right idea about getting some sleep. He flopped down on the bed, laid on his back and put his arms behind his head in a normal position. Manic was a light sleeper unlike his siblings, a slight noise suddenly woke him up. He blinked and focused his eyes to see a familiar figure by the door "uh?...Sonic?" he yawned.
Sonic froze 'oh no...' his breath seemed to quicken

"What are you doin'?..." Manic asked, sitting up and running his hand through his naturally messy quills/hair

"Uh...just getting some ice..." he lied

"What for?" Manic asked suspiciously, throwing the covers off himself

"uh...I need a drink! And its kinda warm in the fridge so...I need ice" Sonic grinned nervously. Manic raised an eyebrow and advanced
"Its warm in the fridge and your thirsty? Well, we got a cooler in here ya know" he told him

"well...I...need some air!" Sonic shrugged

"Thought you said you were thirsty" Manic reminded

"I am...but I need a drink and air!" Sonic quickly covered up. Manic rolled his eyes

"A drink and air?"

"Yeah...Its good...exercise!" 'running out of ideas!' he thought to himself frantically

"An hour ago you were almost too tired to walk"
"I...woke up! And I can't get back to sleep. Ya know insomnia?"
"You mean insomnia. And you still look tired. Air conditionings on, you could always stick you head out the window if you need air ya know" Manic reasoned slyly. Sonic looked away

"I need ice remember?" he asked

"We have a cooler" Manic told him

"y-yeah...well...um..." Sonic started to sweat

"Your lying to me" Manic stated, folding his arms with a unnervingly stern yet calm look on his face

"No! I'm not! I...um..." he gulped. Manic kept looking at him in that way "Ok! Ok! What's with the third degree?" he cried out
"Shh! Keep your voice down! Sonia's still asleep ya know!" Manic shushed him in a hissful whisper as he looked over at her "Come on. To the van" he led him out. Sonic had a choice, run or follow. He knew he wouldn't be very welcome if he ran, so he might as well face the argument or lecture or whatever it was. They went inside the van, Manic let Sonic go in first, he followed and firmly shut the door behind him. Sonic sighed and sat down in one of the chairs facing his brother. Manic looked him over "You still look tired...what's wrong with you? Your normally hyper and never tired" he stated

"nothing's wrong!" Sonic groaned, stubbornly rubbing his eyes
"Yes there is. C'mon, fess up" Manic sat next to him. Sonic frowned

"Nothing's wrong! Look, mind leaving me alone?" he asked, attitude showing up. Manic sighed

"Sonic, your acting bratty again..." he warned in a sing-song voice. Sonic's frown depend

"No I'm Not!" he defended

"Maybe not so much, but it is getting there. Look, I'm your brother right? Can't you talk to me about your problems?" he asked worriedly, placing a hand on his shoulder

"Its not that I don't trust ya. I just...I'm busy, ok?" Sonic asked, calming down a little while gently shrugging the hand off of his shoulder.
"What with?" Manic asked
"just..stuff...is kinda personal" Sonic looked away

"What KIND of personal? Personal like...trouble or-"
"Manic! Please! Just let me go? I need some air. For real this time" he kind of begged. Manic nodded, he knew when he was defeated. Sonic stepped out of the van and started to run. Manic grabbed his hover board and followed after him 'he's gonna do something stupid. I can feel it' he thought to himself.

Chapter 2: I wouldn't do that if I were you...

Sonic ran through the streets. Manic discreetly followed behind him, glancing at his watch now and then, just to know when to get back if this took too long.

Sonic ran inside an alleyway. Manic followed but stopped a good distance before it so not to be found out, however, he did get close enough to see what was going on. Sonic was there and some taller, more built figures in front of him. They seemed to be intimidating him for some reason. Manic looked close, he'd never seen him with an expression like that before. He didn't hear a lot of it, only when they raised their voices
"We, are the Stignious! And what we say goes!"

'Stignious? What's he doin' with those!' he thought.

one of them pushed Sonic to the ground. Manic felt a twitch of anger. Nobody did that to one of his siblings! But he couldn't interfere...

one of the figures suddenly punched his jaw, shutting him up. Manic's temper snapped

"Hey!" he called. They looked at him "You wanna mess with the family!"
"Manic?" Sonic asked, trying to get up, only to be knocked right back down. Manic took out his drumsticks and aimed them at the gang. The leader knocked them away. Manic blinked "Hear us now. We are the most feared gang around here. We are the Stignious, and we don't like to be cheated." They spoke at once. A side lackey kicked Sonic hard "Watch ya back" and then they somehow disappeared just as it started to rain. Manic growled but noticed his brother, he ran over and forcefully took him by the shoulders "Sonic! Are you stupid! That's the most dangerous gang around! What the hell!" he cried

"Just lemme explain-"
"What's to explain! You go messin' with random gangs for kicks! Were you lookin' for a fight!"
"I wasn't looking for a fight! I was trying to get something to help us!" Sonic defended, standing up

"Well your going about it the wrong way! They cheat, steal, mug and kill! They'd cheat ya out of a deal, steal from ya, mug ya and kill ya!" Manic cried
"Your taking this WAY too far bro" Sonic rolled his eyes and tapped his foot

"There's that attitude again!" Manic cried

"What attitude!" Sonic shouted

"That Attitude! That bad attitude that's gonna get you in even more trouble than this time!" Manic shouted back, grabbing him by the wrist and dragging him away. Sonic struggled slightly, but when he found out a tight grip the other one had, he quickly stopped to prevent Chinese-burning his skin.

Chapter 3: Overdue punishment

Sonia meanwhile paced the inside of the room, she'd woke up and they weren't there, she'd checked in the van, nothing there either 'Where are they? Why did they just disappear?' she felt her stomach churn in worry for her siblings. Suddenly, she heard something outside, struggling and fighting. She looked outside the window, Manic was dragging Sonic inside the van and they were yelling at each other. She ran out of the room and down to the van to meet them.

Manic dragged Sonic into one of the rooms in the van and slammed the door behind him while still keeping hold of Sonic. Sonic started to struggle again, trying to shake him off "Manic! Get off!" he cried. Manic turned around and glared at him, squeezing his wrist tighter

"I warned you! I warned you about your attitude! I offered for there to be no secrets or lies between us! And what do you do? You go out to the street, your attitude gets you into trouble, you pick a fight with the toughest gang on Mobius! Should I go on?" he asked. Sonic glared back, but his seemed to crumble a little bit compared Manic's
"So what are you gonna do?" he spat anyway

"Easy" Manic spat back, dragging him over to a chair in the room and aggressively pulled him over his lap and pressed a hand on the small of his back. Sonic started to panic. He'd been in this position before and he hated it. He couldn't look up though, all he could do was struggle in vain. He looked as his brother's glove hit the floor. Sonic's heart seemed to hammer in his chest.
Manic raised his hand and brought it down extremely hard on Sonic's backside. Unlike last time, Sonic yelped right away instead of being stubborn and not making a sound. Manic brought his hand down in painful slaps again and again, harder than last time. Sonic started to kick, howling in pain. Tears were welling up in his eyes but he refused to let them fall, not so soon at least. Manic continued with this harsh treatment for about five minutes, turning his bottom red. During those five minutes, Sonic had let his emotional guard down and he'd started crying and squirming worse. Manic made him cry out in pain by taking him by surprise as he slapped his thighs and undercurve

"Not done yet!" Manic told him, reaching for one of his drumsticks

"Manic! P-please! I-It really, really hu-AAAH!" he screamed out as his bottom was immediately hit with a drumstick. Manic repeated this for at least ten more minutes until Sonic's butt turned from red to scarlet. Sonic screamed and sobbed in horrible pain. Manic eventually stopped and looked at his handywork. He'd stopped to catch his breath really, he grabbed the blue hedgehog by the shoulders and forcefully dragged him to the corner, standing him there with his nose pressed against the wall "You know the drill. Hands on head and only on your head" he told him sternly. Sonic shakily complied. Manic nodded, watched him cry for a second and stormed out of the room, to see Sonia standing there.

Chapter 4: Explanations

Sonia looked up at him as he leaned against the closed door. The only thing breaking the silence was Sonic's sobbing in the other room. Sonia had a worried expression on her face "I woke up, neither of you were there...I was so worried so I stayed up...then I saw you dragging Sonic in here, so I ran down...I heard him screaming...what did you do?" she asked quietly

"sit down sis. Its a long story..."
Manic explained everything to Sonia, from when he first did it to him, to right now. It was quite a shocker "So...that's why he's crying right now. He's standing in the corner, hands on head" he finished

"whoa...I didn't think you had it in you...no offence! I just, never pictured you to get really angry" she commented

"Yeah. I try to keep it under control when I can. Its hard sometimes though"

"What do you mean?" she asked
"Well...I have trouble keeping my temper under control sometimes. A lot of the time I just explode and take my own anger out on other people" he explained

"Like...tonight?" she asked

"No. Not really, tonight my emotions just ran wild. See, I was worried about him, I was angry when I saw those guys knock him down, I was scared when I saw him look so weak, and I was relieved but still angry when I saw he was ok" he told her. Sonia nodded with understanding and allowed a small smile to play on her lips

"Why, I didn't know you had that immense level of parental...sibling even...love" she chuckled
"Yeah. Me neither. I guess...I guess I just take care of what little I got" he shrugged

"little you got?" Sonia quoted suspiciously

"Well little I had when I was younger. Now I got you guys to take care of" he laughed slightly

"Take care of? We're the same age ya idiot" she chuckled. Manic rolled his eyes

"Yeah, Yeah. Look. All I know is I'm older by a couple of hours and I'll look out for ya even if you don't like it" he told her. Sonia shrugged
"Whatever...now back to Sonic. Don't you think he's been alone long enough?" she asked. Manic listened closely. Sonic's sobs were still pretty loud

"In a minute. Just wait till he's calm enough to speak, its better that way" he said, sitting down on one of the chairs and waiting patiently.

It took a little while, but eventually the sobs in the other room subsided. Manic sighed with slight relief and slight nervousness "Ok. Sonia, you might want to go back to the hotel room, their might be yelling. But you can stay if you want" he shrugged. Sonia nodded

"Ok" she turned to the door, hurrying slightly so she didn't have to hear the yelling. Manic opened the door. Sonic was right where he'd left him, in the exact same position and sniffling softly. Manic went over "Take your arms down now Sonic" Manic instructed in a much calmer tone than before. Sonic obeyed, but he wouldn't turn around to face Manic. He just stubbornly stayed faced toward the wall, chest heaving with tears. Manic touched his shoulder, only to have him roughly shake it off
"Come on. Turn around" Manic tried to coax. Sonic stayed silent "I know your mad and I know your probably embarrassed. But if you face me and kneel on that chair, I'll give ya some cold cream" he bargained. Sonic's breath hitched in thought, he turned around with a pathetic teary frown and headed over to the chair and kneeled down on it, extending his upper body across the windowsill to take as much pressure off his lower body as he possibly could with a whimper. Manic grabbed the cream, took some out and rubbed it in. Sonic hissed and moaned at the coolness of it "Since your not gonna talk, I may as well. Listen, if I overreacted, I'm sorry but I had to. You scared me! You worried me even more than I've ever been in my whole life when you just ran off. I thought you were just getting air!" he told him, putting a lid on the cream and putting his glove back on "You probably think I'm the biggest jerk in the world, but I respect that. And like it or not, I'm not gonna stop worrying and caring about ya. I didn't grow up with much, so when I found you and Sonia...I don't know what happened but..." he trailed off, not knowing how to continue. Instead, he just grabbed Sonic underneath his arms and hugged him. Sonic seemed to shift uncomfortably but he didn't fight back, he just touched Manic's wrists, sniffling, eventually the slightly younger hedgehog turned around and buried his face into Manic's shoulder, seeking comfort. Truth be told, he needed Manic, badly. Not because he was his brother, but because he was offering something that he hadn't et himself have for so long; comfort and security. He was always insecure inside himself, just like everyone else. Deep inside, he was just like everyone else in this stupid war, afraid and fragile. Manic held him, petting his quills/hair before speaking in a compassionate way “So...we ok?" Manic asked. Sonic nodded, taking his face out of Manic's shoulder and looking up with glistening eyes

"uh-huh" he whimpered, for lack of better words. Manic smiled at this sudden stage of infantile cuteness
"And. All's good?" he asked again, giving him a hug-squeeze and letting him go

"yeah"
"So...care to tell me what was going on?" he asked. Sonic looked down and reluctantly nodded

"Yeah. I was trying' to get something for the resistance. I'd ordered from some other people and they said it'd be delivered through that gang. But I knew you guys wouldn't go for it, I wasn't exactly crazy about myself, but I had to do it. So, I didn't tell you. And I had to find a different location every night. That's why I was so tired, running from one point to another in one night to go through business deals" he explained. Manic nodded
"oh...no wonder...I mean, I can't see myself not yelling at some point in that. Man, sorry I didn't let ya explain. But I was just so scared, ya know?" he asked. Sonic nodded
"I get you. Sorry I worried you, but how come ya got worried?" he asked, looking back at him

"I just did. I get that way sometimes. Long story" he told him, a smile coming on his lips, giving him a hug-squeeze and letting go "Ya gonna get up now?"

"y-yeah" he stepped off it and balanced himself. Manic helped him

"You know I only did what I did 'cos I love ya, right?" he asked. Sonic nodded, wiping his eyes on his glove "Good. C'mon. I'm tired, lets get back tot he hotel room. And this time, grab some ice incase anybody's thirsty for real this time"

Chapter 4: Lesson learnt?

They were ready to leave by the next morning, Sonic was still tired, but only because his burning bottom refused to let him sleep 'Man...there's a reason Manic's the drummer' he thought, even though he'd hated being in that position, he had to take note of his brother's form, and he also had to take note of the feeling of forgiveness and releif he'd felt afterwards. Manic finished loading Sonia's stuff in the van "I said 'Pack light' and what does she do? Pack heavirer than every other girl in the world" he rolled his eyes. Sonia shrugged

"Hey. I need my comforts"
"Comforts are one thing. But multiple hairdryers?" Manic asked "Whatever happened to taking what you need to survive?"
"I can't live without my hairdryer dear older brother" she told him. Manic rolled his eyes again

"Whatever...hey, where's Sonic?" he asked

"trying to sit down" Sonia laughed slightly, but immediately silenced herself, it wasn't that funny really, not for him anyway.

"Still? Wow...I am good!"
"Don't let it go to your head!" Sonia started the van up "I'm driving this time. The potholes are on our way back"

"Of course" He looked over to Sonic. He was quietly laying on his front on the couch and finally getting some sleep. Manic couldn't help but smile despite his discomfort 'ok. Its official, if he does anything wrong now, I'M gonna have to cry! He looks so damn young after every single one!' he thought, turning back around to face the window. He got carsick if he looked away for too long. Sonic suddenly started to murmur in his sleep. Manic's ears pricked up and he looked over "Manic...mmph...ow..." the blue one muttered sleepilly. Manic ginned 'oh yeah. I am SO good!'

The end

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