#I'll get to it once I'm better.

[diogxnxs]

Achoo!

I haven't been feeling well this past week. And I've already been prescribed medicine to fight it off. There's been great improvement but even then sitting up can be a chore. Yes, it was that bad. I didn't realize that something as simple as this can be something taxing until getting sick like this.

On a lighter note, as I was going through my duck works I once again saw my abandoned comic that involves Donald Duck as Anna. I didn't like the direction it was going but I still enjoy how this segment of panels here came out.

if for some reason I ever bother to revisit that comic, I'll probably keep this set of panels but redraw or correct a lot of the illustrations already here. Especially on Jose Carioca's part. I remember still struggling with when I drew this. I need to get better. I miss being able to draw this unlucky duck with no trouble.

[14dayswithyou]

💖 Day 3.5 is now available! 💖

For the last couple of months, only Server Boosters had access to the 3.5 update... Buuuuut now it's available for everyone to play in the 14DWY Discord — and soon itch.io once I'm happy with the QA and state of the game — so please don't feel pressured to join unless you want to!!

The full devlog + even more screenshots are under the cut ^^

What's been added to the 3.5 version?

📺 Streamer Mode!

I've been told that it's difficult to stream and monetise age-restricted videos on YouTube and Twitch, so I added an option to remove the sexual content and strong language used in the demo.

Now y'all can invite Ren into your bed for cuddles without putting your streamer career on the line /silly /lh

This won't affect the 18+ rating or dark themes/elements of the game, however! Although Streamer Mode will prevent you from seeing any "gruesome" CGs in the future, most of the core elements of the game will still be tied to the choices and decisions you make. So you won't miss out on the overall experience by using streamer mode!!

⚙️ Custom Pronouns!

It only took me one entire year to get around to it, but you can finally choose your own preferred pronouns (or use a set of pronouns instead)... At the cost of being able to change them mid-game ^^;

Since the original pronoun screen wouldn't update until a new scene was displayed, I temporarily disabled the feature. But once I find a workaround, I'll bring it back!

💗 Choose how others perceive you!

You can now choose how the cast and narration perceive you! Originally, the narration was kept strictly gender-neutral (outside of pronouns and genitalia picked by the player), but this will soon change in future updates.

For more clarity: you don't get to choose the words specifically, but you can choose between masculine, feminine, and androgynous terms!

📋 Separate top and bottom genitalia!

You can now choose your tatas and pps separately! >:3

Alongside that, you can also choose your preferred body type!

I removed the "both" genitalia option because a few players still assumed it was an obscure version of "intersex". That wasn't my intention and I don't want to mislead anyone, so I took it out for now ^^;

I also didn't want to include a screenshot of the new genitalia choices in action (because it's NSFW), so y'all get the same character menu screen for the nth time instead lmao

📱 Relationship Screen Overhaul!

You can now change your own status for more immersion, and long-term Server Boosters will eventually be able to submit and use their own icon within the game as well!

Stalking finding your friends has now become easier by using "Buddy Maps"; a new app that allows you to see the location of all the cast members!

I want to offer players more incentive to check the relationship screen since they tend to miss the status updates, so hopefully this might help ;v;

It also says it "updates every few hours" so folks don't go overboard and check every 5 seconds to see where Ren is gdsghf (also keep in mind that he's a hacker lol)

🖤 Additional Scenes Update!

Day 2 received a brand new CG!!!!! Originally, I planned on only adding a few CGs sporadically throughout the game, but it didn't feel right to leave Day 2 so... empty... so I added a brand new CG to (hopefully) make things feel more balanced and natural!

If you decline Teo's offer on Day 3, Leon will now call and try to convince you to reconsider. However, players are still allowed to decline, and if they do, they'll reach a dead end.

After listening to feedback on itch, I changed some of the dialogue during Days 1-3 to make it seem more consistent! They're only small changes though, so it's honestly not worth looking for sdgjssga

🎶 Updated BGM and SFX!

I wanted to try out a different style of music to see if it fits the vibe of 14DWY more! The BGM features more acoustics to suit the "beachy" theme of Corland Bay, though I made a conscious effort to include piano elements as well to stay true to the original!!

I figured it'd be better to give players a live example before I make a poll (to see if they prefer the change or not) and publish it to Itch.

Some new SFX have also been added, though it's very minimal and honestly not that noticeable.

How to download and play the update?

(warning: clicking on the following links will open Discord!!) To download the Day 3.5 update, simply join the 14DWY Discord server, verify your age, and visit the "14dwy-updates" channel!

Alternatively, you can also wait until the update is publicly released on Itch to play it as well!! (It normally gets released shortly after a round of QA testing/getting feedback from the server, though I may release it earlier if I feel like it hehe ^^)

Enjoy!!

[lucky-fy]

For the Laicion nation (aka, me and three other people)

I had this illustration commissioned (a big thank you to @lunehowls) for my werewolf AU Laicion fic (still a WIP).

The general pitch is as follows :

AU in which Laios never got to meet his sister again, putting his life on a whole other path, a more desperate one. A military deserter with barely a coin to his name, Laios hitches a ride on a boat to one of the elven continents, where he learns about magical tattoos that binds one’s soul to a wolf’s, effectively making them artificial werewolves. Illegal magic be damned, this feels like the answer to… everything.

In the process, he learns about the existence of an illegal fighting ring in one of the elven cities, where beastmen gladiators gather. Freshly tattooed and without anywhere else to go to, Laios decides to head there, where he meets Lycion, an elf and artificial werewolf gladiator. If they first bond over a simple shared meal, by spending time together (sharing the same room in the barracks, maybe the same bed? gasp) they find that they have a lot in common, notably a shared distaste for the body they were born in, a dysphoria partially remedied by becoming a werewolf.

They bond :)

NB: I commissioned another piece, go take a look :D

[tagarilaghost]

I SWEAR CELEBI'S THINGY IS COMING SOON BUT I REALLY WANTED TO POST THIS ALRIGHT

yeaah... future trio got me too...

and Darkrai is there too, because of course he is.

hey look i drew a cute Drifloon :D

...ignore the rest

whatever started at Darkrai doodles ended in brainrot of future trio + darkrai and I'm blaming @scribz-ag24 for this

[lesbianherald]

I’m going to phrase this delicately because I’m so deeply grateful and awed by the support I’ve received.

But I will say it is a little anxiety inducing how many people feel they can talk about coming home whatever way they want openly and publicly because it has “numbers” or whatever (referring to my own work like this makes me want to claw my eyes out because they baffle me and I don’t necessarily feel I deserve them but it’s important for context).

This is Especially true for the way people speak under things I very much see. Art of the fic. My Twitter mutuals posts. Things I will very obviously interact with. It feels like someone is walking into my back yard and talking shit as if I'm literally not standing in said yard like this 🧍

You make something for a community for free as an act of passion and then the community in turn becomes something that isn’t quite accessible to you anymore. I’ve seen this happen to a lot of fic writers in my previous fandoms and idk man it’s just kind of a bummer.

Like. Fanfic and fanart is made by people in the fandom for the fandom. It’s not work being produced by some distant people in Hollywood who shouldn’t be in the fandom space in the first place.

Idk, it’s actually pretty rare that this happens to me but I wanted to mention I am a human who can very much read the things you say guys 😭 like if you reblog art related to my work and call it a bunch of petty names and say you had to dnf I can see that. It’s totally ok to feel whatever way you want. But maybe don't feel that way in my back yard.

Again. I’m so grateful for everything I really am. You absolutely do not have to fuck with my work. Fuck I don't fuck with my work sometimes DKLFJSDHF. This is probably the last time I’ll talk about this because the last thing I want to do is come off like I can’t take criticism and I’m ungrateful. But sometimes I really am chewing at my enclosure like IM RIGHT HERE MAN IM LITERALLY BEHIND YOU HOW DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND THAT.

[kagooleo]

happy new years 2025! it's been nearly a whole year since I started posting about fluffyriceshipping here, and my art has changed a lot since then! what better way to start the new year than with some sweet potatoes with their partners 🍠🌅

[silusvesuius]

stuff heavily referenced from clive hicks-jenkins' art cus i've been rly into it lately 🥰

cute idea scribblings for the last drawing..lol

[iceclew]

Did I accidently write more than just a few lines of dialogue for this scene?... *shyly fumbling with fingers* 🥹👉👈 maybe...

Sorry, I suck at words and this isn't betaread nor properly proofread and I am not native english, I'm very sorry in advance...

full story down below

(Chappel Roan - Love me Anyway)

(Benson Boone - Slow it Down)

"VICE-CAPTAIN!!!!"

The tiny moving plush-like thing in his hand apparently started screaming as well now.

"WHY ALWAYS MEEE!?!?"

What looked like the chibi mini-version of the Defence Force's biggest trump card, struggled to hold on his thumb, kicking around those little feet of his.

"Well, now I'm quite curious abut THAT story..."

"I CAN'T TURN BACK AND I AM T I N Y !!! (˚ ˃̣̣̥⌓˂̣̣̥ )"

"I see that... How'd you even get in here?"

Tiny #8 stopped fidgeting a bit. Instead two unproportionally big round dark eyes goggled at him. It was undeniably adorable to look at. "Well after THIS happened, I couldn't grab my phone on the table anymore, so I ran around to find someone, but I figured Narumi and Kikoru would very likely take advantage of my situation and do something stupid with me."

"Oh yeah, they definitely would and I get why, honestly."

"So I ran around to find you, YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW BIG THE 1st DIVISION IS, WHEN YOU'RE LIKE THIS, OK?! And then I saw the slightly opened window and just crawled in... ༼☯﹏☯༽"

"Wait... you know where my temporary place in the 1st Division is located? Why?"

"....Coincidence? (*ﾟｰﾟ) "

He sighed. "Well just when you think you saw everything...Kafka Hibino enters the stage..."

"SIR, WHAT SHOULD I DO?? WHY ARE THESE THINGS ALWAYS HAPPENING TO ME??"

"you really want me to answer that, bud?", he barely tried to hide the undertone of his voice, which left the small creature on the palm of his hand baffled for a second.

"Wha-? HEY, MEAN!! What are you on about!?"（＞д＜）

"Yeah, maybe, I don't know STOP CHANGING in general, like I told you f.ex.. or maybe stick to your training routine without going OVERBOARD on a regular basis? How 'bout that?"

The big dark round eyes got even bigger with every word spoken.

"Yeah, don't look at me like that, I might coincidently got wind of stuff, you know?"

His unexpectedly open and emotional response threw Kafka off. For a second he forgot about his *tiny* main problem, his mind jumped between confused and worried and he couldn't comprehend with his reaction for now. After some awkward seconds in silence, Hoshina's tone grew significantly calmer, but still sort of off to his usual self-assured expression. "Well at least this time you're actually telling me about stuff that bothers you, huh?"

Silence again. While hanging from the palm of his Vice-Captain's hand Kafka realized something (besides his size) was different. His senses grew more aware of his surroundings to find answers.

"Are... are you drunk, sir?"

Besides the slight scent of alcohol in the air, and the - well quite obvious - bottle of sake on the table, the startled twitch on his face confirmed Kafka's guess was right. Other than the sake the only other thing on the table were some snacks. Another odd thing to Kafka, who was used to see Hoshina's surroundings stuffed with documents, loose papers, books and other work related things.

The silence lingered around them uncomfortably. To Kafka's suprise Hoshina was seemingly struggling with words. A look on his face Kafka couldn't remember seeing before. Now his mind definitely jumped to 'worried'.

Hoshina tried to mimic an insulted face and looked away. "A little tippsy at most... I'm off-duty for tonight.." Besides the slightly blushed nose and cheeks, Kafka now noticed some dark circles under red eyes. "..and despite my gut telling me better, I assumed I probably won't be needed anymore today, and that I could hang loose a little. It's not my Division after all, there's another Captain and Vice-Captain in charge here. So I might as well make use of that chance... Should have known, it would end up that way or another.. " He smiled a bit and Kafkas felt like his heart clenching from the sight. "Although I definitely should have placed my bet on YOU to be the reason for that." He chuckled lightly, while his expressions grew somewhat softer.

"I'm sorry, Sir."

"Nah, it's fine. As if I didn't get used to your-"

"I never put much thought to it, but ever since the Defence Force started preparing for the big counter attack on #9 your workload must've at least doubled in the 3rd and 1st Division.. and here I am still taking over the rest of your time as well..."

"Don't like where this is going, officer... You're not starting pitying me, are ya?"

"No I-...I just feel like.. I didn't realize, and there for not appreciated your work enough.." Silence. "And also.." The tiny kaiju had his look glued to the floor in front of him for a while now. "I know you told me to brush it off earlier but,... I truly regret ... not telling you about... #8 n'stuff.. I'm sorry... I'd change that if I could.."

A small plushy-sized Kaiju was gently put back on the ground again. Hoshina scratched his nose for a second, before bending far back to the other side of the room. He grabbed for his smartphone that was burried in piles of carelessly pushed aside documents.

"As I said. You're here now, aren't ya?" When he got his phone he chose to stay laid down on the floor and started typing something on the lightened screen.

A tiny transformed Kafka carefully made his way around and walked up on eye-level with Hoshina's face again. Once again overwhelmed by his current state of being, he let himself fall back on the floor and sat on the ground. "So... what should I do?"

"The first thing WE do is trying to make some calls. But since you seem to be in no life-threatening condition, we might have to wait 'till tomorrow for a first medical examination. If that's the case you'll stay, and I get you down to the lab first thing in the morning."

"Wait!" The tiny Kaiju made a suprisingly far jump right up to Hoshina's chest and pressed the (for him very big) red hang-up button on the screen with both paws. "You're right about that, I won't die this second from being tiny, so we might as well wait for tomorrow."

The questioning look on the opposite's face made a tiny Kafka look away and scratch his neck shyly. "Well, since you're ... I dunno,... I feel like, I can't have you be seen d-dru- .. like this by other officials of the 1st Division, b-because of me..."

A finger poked his forehead, which caused a tiny being like him to fall right back landing on warm soft fabric of Hoshina's shirt.

"Idiot. But you might be right about that."

[mintjeru]

happy lunar new year!! may all that you wish for come true 🐉

open for better quality | no reposts

[1singulargrape]

@luminescent-cow (frantic) I love the way you worded this because it reminds me of 2 of my favorite art pieces that I think fits sukuita in a way (it's probably the brainrot but wtv)

"The anatomy of a hug" by Luna Lu

"this is what love feels like I think" by sardineslayer_ on twt

sharing one heart and one mind in addition to one soul... it makes me a bit insane and I want to grab these two and smash them together until they're indistinguishable from one another <3

[transmechanicus]

Really fucked up that two ppl can care about each other and make their best efforts to communicate and still end up hurting each other so badly they cannot stand to be in the same room.

[camellcat]

I've woken up too early so I put on buffy cause sleep is not gonna happen, and oh my goddd. I'm just studying her facial expressions. she is so fun to watch this is insane. hello girl. she's so eyes

[lovelywingsart]

"It's still you, y'know,"

Because why would you ever want the world when you hold the whole universe in your hands?

-

Some sweet alien cuddles <3

//Played with Sarens prosthetic a bit (and more of his scarring from the ME1 shitfest) and figured out that I need to work with the design more since I looked at the game model and noticed the Reaper tech ACTUALLY goes along his side as well and not just his arm, and also small sketchy color to show the contrast because I wanted to (the thought of him having the black metal prosthetic while being the ghostly albino is very pleasing to me visually also for angst reasons shhhh)- also showing Cams etching on it because they got rid of the Cerberus logo and replaced it with N7 for him uwu

[junkboxcorner]

"Strawberry Guts: Reboot"

(based on the Halloween poster from @pendogpuppets)

[piko-rose]

"Heroes Don't Fail" - Sonic Movie 3 Angst Prediction Fanfic (OUTDATED PLEASE IGNORE LOL)

After Tom fell ill due to protecting him from a bullet, Sonic was left to wonder if his own friends had any faith in him to begin with during their most dangerous adventure yet. He was left to wonder if him and Shadow had more of a similarity than he thought.

Trigger Warnings: Usage of handheld weaponry, child endangerment, light blood, light swearing, implied PTSD

(THIS FIC CONTAINS POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOR SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 3 AND THE FINAL TRAILER. IT IS ONLY A FIC BASED ON MY PREDICTIONS OF A MOMENT IN THE TRAILERS WHERE THE WACHOWSKI BROS ARE OUTSIDE OF A HOSPITAL BUILDING. BUT JUST IN CASE, PROCEED WITH CAUTION. EVERYTHING IS UNDER THE CUT.)

(just a little something before I return to my break thingy lol be back soon <3)

"What the hell is wrong with you, you jerk?!"

What a terrible, terrible time to get caught by G.U.N. officials, and even Commander Walters out of all people. The man responsible for that little girl's death.

Sonic and his friends were SO close to breaking in, and shut down the Eclipse Canon before it accelerated back into space, with the Robotniks, and Shadow the Hedgehog, boarding it.

Controlling it.

And now, because of Walters and his men trapping him and his family in the Robotnik base, surrounding them with their weapons, the moon has a gaping hole for the whole planet to see.

The Eclipse Canon did that.

And G.U.N. just let it happen, all because they refuse to let him and his team get to the weapon of mass destruction in time. They didn't want some randos become the heroes.

Noooo, it had to be the "Guardian Unites of Nations," the big, strong, tough guys who don't give two craps about the people around them. Only their reputation.

Which will surely go down now that Sonic's angry tone finally shown it's furious face.

Sonic never meant to swear in front of the young fox, whose ears were covered by Knuckles' mittens, even though the question was already out by the time Knuckles realized what was spoken.

But just by seeing the commander, who demands answers to why they have random people they don't even remember recruiting, and in an empty base when they should be after that hedgehog and those crazed doctors, he was fueled with rage.

Just not too long ago, Sonic made a truce with Robotnik, big mistake, and along the way found a diary of sorts. A diary that contained everything he needed to know about this Project Shadow, and this Eclipse Canon...

Before he could explain to his brothers what's going on with Shadow, he took them out. ...Again. Definitely Sonic's strongest opponent yet.

With Doctor Robotnik betraying Sonic and his friends, with Shadow himself and Robotnik's grandfather joining him, apparently, they needed extra help from their parents, and even Rachel, whose husband was an agent himself.

They posed as agents, to try and gather all the information about the Eclipse Canon, and take it down, and hopefully find Shadow and the doctors.

But... Walters just had to evade their plans. He just had to ruin everything.

Like how he ruined Shadow's life.

"...Excuse me?" Walters muttered out, taken aback by Sonic's outburst.

"Don't pretend like I don't know! I know what you did all those years ago," Sonic barked, not afraid to step forward in front of armed troops, just to get up close and personal with the commander.

"I have no idea what you're blabbering on about, Sonic," Walters shook his head in disbelief, confused yet seemingly upset at the pissed off hedgehog.

"Forgotten about Maria already, huh?"

The mere mention of her name made the old man's eye brows rose lightly, but no body in the room could tell. But Sonic knew that he wasn't expecting the name to be mentioned again.

He demands an explanation. He demands answers.

"Wh- what about Maria?" Walters asked, nearly fumbling over his question.

"You ever wonder why Shadow turned out the way he is? Looks like you didn't tell us the full story!" Sonic says, his fists clenched into gloved balls, with fingernails nearly poking through the fabric, "You knew all along! You kept all of this from us!"

Tails and Knuckles looked at each other, then back at Sonic who was walking closer to Walters. They don't know who Maria is or why she's involved with Shadow, but it probably might have something to do with that diary Sonic tried to talk about earlier.

"What does any of this have to do with you being in Robotnik's base?"

"Why are YOU in his base? Trying to get rid of more Robotnik related evidences?"

"Sonic," Tom, seeing that Sonic is just a few more steps away from being up to his face, reached his hand out to try and get him away from the old commander, worry showing in his eyes, "step back. He probably has a weap-"

Tom's sentence was cut off when a armed man motioned him back where he was with his gun. The warning only earned the man a death glare from the Donut Lord.

No one tells the Donut Lord to back away from his kid.

"Sonic... I... believe I owe you an explanation." Walters sigh in defeat. His sentence made his nearby men turn to face him. Despite their faces masked, they all seemed perplexed as most of Sonic's friends and family.

"An overdue one," Sonic added in retort, his brow furrowing, appearing threatening to some of the soldiers.

"I was... involved, in the incident from 50 years ago," Walters began, "I never meant to injure Maria, but I never wanted anyone to know about it... I had to cover it up."

Sonic's top muzzle scrunched. Had to cover it up?

"So you just put the blame on an innocent hedgehog?" Sonic asked loud enough to accidentally scare more of the armed men around him.

"Who said he was innocent?" Walters asked, his tone sounding annoyed, "everyone knew that Shadow had incredible power strong enough to possibly wipe out a nation! Innocent or not, he was too dangerous to be around anyone!"

"He was only 'dangerous' because you took away his closest FRIEND!" Sonic's voice cracked on the last word as he screamed it at the commander, scaring him. "You seriously think covering it up is gonna make everyone feel better?!"

Tails and Knuckles grew concerned and thought about intervening, Tom, Maddie and Rachel all exchanged shocked looks at each other, and Randell closed his eyes and looked away, feeling hurt to know about this information his own ex-commander kept from him.

"So G.U.N. has always been a thing, huh?" Sonic asked, hands on his hips, "There's just not a lot of extra-terrestrials around here to keep an eye on, so you have to retire until I came in??"

"...Precisely." Walters, once more, sigh in defeat, facing away from the enraged hedgehog.

So from Sonic's understanding, G.U.N.'s job was to destroy all friendly, alien life who dares to step foot onto beautiful planet Earth? People of this world actually rely on these guys??

"Wow. Some heroes you all are."

"We didn't want Shadow to cause more havoc!"

"YOU caused havoc," Sonic stomps his foot, "YOU guys were responsible for making Shadow feel pain and loss!" He repeated the two words at him. The ones the commander gave to him back at the Chao Garden.

All this time he thought Walters barely had any info on Project Shadow, but he was wrong. Shadow was the victim all along.

"Who says you guys can be heroes after what you've done?! He's not the villain, YOU ARE!!" His eyes glow a sharp, angry blue as he points his finger, not realizing that his hand he used was spitting out electricity at the commander, making him back up.

Because of his powers being exposed, the soldiers threatened their weapons at the blue hedgehog, who was startled by them at first, but remained angry, who glued his focus on Commander Walters.

"Sonic!" Nearly everyone exclaimed, with Tom shouting his name louder than everyone else in the room. He threw his weapon and tried to run towards him, not wanting him to get shot, but one to two men stopped him by pushing him to the ground violently.

"Thomas!" Maddie cried. She would've been by his side by now if it weren't for more soldiers guarding Tom from both her and Rachel. Randell, Tails and Knuckles all saw this too and gasped.

"Tom?" The moment Tom was planted to the ground, he turned around to see his own father figure face down on the glowing red ground.

All of that anger immediately washed away when the possibility of Tom getting hurt entered his mind, and made him vulnerable long enough for Walters to snatch him by the wrist.

"You talk too much, hedgehog," Walters says calmly yet coldly, getting ready to grab his cuffs and take the hedgehog away, along with the others, already having the idea to give orders to his men.

"Sonic!!" Tom shouted, watching this old man putting his dirty hands on his son.

"Dad!!" Sonic cried out, reaching his free hand to his father, who couldn't get up as long as a weapon was aimed right to his head.

Suddenly, a loud BANG goes off, as a bullet nearly went flying to Walters' face, but hit against the wall to his right. He snapped his head to the dent in the wall, then back at the culprit who almost shot him.

Rachel. Eyes huge, out of breath and holding one of the men's guns in her hand.

Everyone's eyes grew huge and their mouths drop agape seeing this woman do something unbelievable, especially her sister Maddie, who is almost terrified of her, if not, proud of her.

"Holy crap," Knuckles unintentionally muttered out for everyone to hear, sounding rather impressed.

"Get. Your hands. Off my nephew!" She warned the commander. Her hands trembled intensely, not wanting to pull the trigger again, but will do whatever it takes to keep her family alive and safe.

There was no response for a couple of seconds, but Sonic, shaking off the speechlessness, turned his head back at the bewildered commander, who was having flashbacks of the last time this woman fought with him.

"You heard the lady," He says, his traditional smirk still having a hint of anger written on it.

He spun into a ball and lunged at him to the stomach, making him hit against the wall.

"RUN!" Sonic ordered his family as he ran off to the nearest exit, and so everyone, fighting off the soldiers, do just that. Maddie stayed behind for a minute to help Tom up, and hugged him, before Walters gets back up.

Sonic didn't really remember all the pathways to this stinky base well enough to know where the heck he was going, or even know where the way out was.

Some nerve that old man has, though. Trying to cover up an accident just to make himself look good? Sheesh.

As long as G.U.N. is out of his way, he can finally deal with the Robotniks and Shadow.

He came to a halt however when he noticed that no body was following him.

"Guys?" Sonic turned around to see no body behind him, and was growing worried.

He runs off to the opposite direction, risking to put himself in Walters' sight again just to rescue him. He just prays that Tom is okay.

But as he makes a quick left turn, Walters was in his sight. With a weapon in hand.

"Hoo boy," Sonic whimpered.

"Trust me. I don't want to do this," Walters says, despite the look of his eyes saying otherwise.

Sonic is the fastest creature in the universe, why does he feel nervous to be held at gunpoint? He should be able to outrun it. He never deemed Walters to be threatening, he's just a jerk.

That's all there is to him.

Why should he be scared? He's not scared. He's not scared of Walters.

He's not scared of his little toy.

"Out of my way, my family's in there!" Sonic barked, ready to put up another fight with this old bully.

"You've learn too much about G.U.N.'s history. No body should know about what happened on the ARK. You have no right to have this information with you." He says, still aiming at the hedgehog.

"I believe I do," Sonic protests, looking at the commander square in the eyes as if the gun was never there to begin with. "If you would've told me what had happened up there all those years ago, I wouldn't have NEVER join your little cult!"

"You didn't really have a choice."

"I feel like I did."

Loud thuds could be heard in the other room. Sonic suspects that his family is either kicking butt, in danger, or both. Probably both since Knuckles is going all out. He could hear his cries every couple of seconds.

They better be okay.

"You lied to me, Walters," Sonic says, his voice quiet yet threatening. "Do you have any idea what Shadow has been through because of your actions? You even made Gerald gone mad because of what you did to Maria!"

"You seriously shouldn't have never learned this information." Walters tries to dodge the question, but he knew it was fruitless.

"You refuse to listen, do you? You refuse to accept that you ain't no hero. Well... you're not." Sonic hissed. "You're a monster! A heartless jerk who only cared about his troops and no body else!"

"We are only doing what we think is right!"

"Nothing you ever did in your life was right."

"We are protectors who face anomalies such as you and Shadow! We don't know how strong your powers are and we worry it could affect the world in ways that damage it!" Walters continued, "I don't believe this world asked for heroes such as yourself."

"Damage it?!" Sonic shrieked with fury, "I saved this world a handful of times from that doctor, and you don't even care?! I saved the world! TWICE! Soon THRICE!"

"Didn't you see the state San Francisco was in?" Walters asked, growing more irritated with this creature. "We had no choice but to unite G.U.N. back because of your actions! And don't even get me started on Green Hills from last year."

"From MY actions-? Pfffft, okay, okay," Sonic "chuckled," "You seriously think that was my fault? Robotnik was the guy who endangered many lives out there, and, as usual, you put the blame on the alien hedgehog."

"Every other life endangering event occurred because of anomalies like you that kept running all around the planet instead of going back to the dirty caves where you belong!"

Dirty. Cave?

Oh, hell no, he did NOT just go there.

"Listen hear," Sonic began, gritting his teeth, "I lost my owl guardian when I was a child and had to live on Earth all by myself for ten years, seven in a cave. Throughout those years I was isolated! I had no body! Then, a twist of fate lead me to my father and mother, who took care of me for years, alongside my brothers, Tails and Knuckles, who went through a troubling childhood as much as I had!"

Sonic never noticed that he called Tails and Knuckles his own brothers, but he was too fumed at the commander to care.

"Even though I have people to care for me," he continued, "Robotnik has the guts to cause chaos in my life, and threatened the world at the same time, but I pulled together with my family and saved the world! More than once!"

Walters was listening, but never shown any signs that he cared. This only made Sonic more angry.

"Sure, there were some property damage, and some people were hurt, but sometimes even heroes make mistakes!" Sonic says, his fists clenched, "But I'm not gonna let that get to me!"

Walters' nose lets out an unimpressed exhale.

"I did my best to keep the world safe- my home safe, and all you do is treat me and my family like dirt!" Sonic raised his voice at him as he took another harsh step forward at him.

"I did more saving than you and your men ever will! You think you have the right to determine whose the hero and who isn't?! No!! You don't! You ruined Shadow's life, I won't let you ruin mine!"

Walters believes he sounded too brave.

"All I wanted to do is to live my life with my family, and I'm tired of people like you making a decision on rather people like me deserve it or not! I HAVE DONE NOTHING WRONG!!"

Sonic panted after finally letting his emotions out. His eyes were shut, he was no longer paying attention to the commander, only his breathing.

He never felt so glad to let it all out like that. But the relief didn't last too long...

"And it's going to stay that way."

Click...

The hedgehog snapped his emerald eyes open after hearing a small creaking sound, to see Walters aiming the gun directing to his face.

"No hero should ever make a single mistake," It was Walters' turn to speak, "after all, heroes don't destroy things. They don't endanger civilians. You're responsible for most of the destruction in San Francisco, and because of Robotnik's obsession with you, your own townspeople have gotten injured, despite the so-called victory."

Sonic backed up two steps.

"Are you certain heroes do these things? Most specifically, you?"

He backed up two more steps.

"Shut up," he muttered.

"I'm not letting a bunch of alien troublemakers take my place as protector. You didn't even have the courage to rescue your owl. With a reputation like that, why should you not let it get to you?"

He does have a point. He tried to go back to save her from the Echidna, but... he was too late.

"You're no hero. You're just some kid, a dangerous one. A hazard. A weapon!" Walters barked the word right at him, making him jump.

"You seriously believe the world is yours? Sorry, but after what happened on the ARK, I'm not taking any chances. This world doesn't need another disaster. It doesn't need another failure."

His finger prepared to pull.

His own words took over Sonic's brain.

How could he let them take over so easily?

Sonic isn't a failure! He's-

BANG!!

Sonic shuts his eyes tight, not fully prepared for the bullet, but nothing had happened. He opened his eyes again to see a person standing right in front of him, shielding him from Walters' gun.

As he got a good look at him, he gasped. His ears pinned to his head. His worst nightmare came true.

Tom Wachowski, groaning quietly as some blood leaked through his shirt, while he was still guarding him from the commander.

He took the bullet for Sonic.

Tom is hurt. And it was because Sonic didn't run away.

Despite the pain shocking his body, Tom weakly opened his right eye and barely smiled at his little Blue Devil. "Make me proud, son," he whispered before collapsing to the ground.

Everything around him went dead silent. All he could do was stare at the seemingly lifeless body of the person who saved his life.

How could he make him proud when he was one who killed him?

How could he make anyone proud now?

Maybe Walters was right.

With a loud cry, before Walters could react, Knuckles delivered his most brutal punch to the commander, slamming him to the wall, knocking him unconscious.

The sound of a harsh slam to the metal wall knocked Sonic back to his senses.

"Hedgehog! They took Maddie and Ra- ...Thomas?" Knuckles just now noticed the body of Tom laying in front of a panicked Sonic. The echidna's purple eyes rose with concern, praying that what he's looking at isn't what he's looking at right now.

Sonic's eyes began to swell with tears as he looked back at his brother. "Where's Mom...?"

His question broke his heart. Despite remaining quiet, Sonic knew the answer, and was more devastated.

"Is everything okay in here?" The young fox called out, slightly afraid to come around the corner.

"Everything's..." Knuckles stopped himself. No. Everything is not fine. G.U.N. captured Maddie, her sister, and Tom appeared to be severely injured.

Not to mention that the mad doctors and that monster are still on the loose.

Everything is not fine.

"We're getting out of here." Knuckles says, picking up Tom bridal style, and ran off in a rush.

Tails came in just to time for a hurt Donut Lord to not come into his view. A defeated, glossy eyed Sonic didn't make it any better though.

"Sonic? Where's Tom?"

All the hedgehog could do is blink.

It was enough to give Tails the upsetting conformation.

-

Gloomy, dark clouds loom over the city of London. Roads were beginning to form puddles from the light rains that have been pouring down for a good hour or so.

An hour seemed like a trillions years to find out if one person is gonna survive a bullet or not.

Sonic, Tails and Knuckles were outside, barely dried off from the rain speaking with one of the G.U.N. agents, that was informing them about their father's well being.

"The good news is, however," she was speaking with the boys for a good while now, each of them showing concern in their own ways. Knuckles tries not to show it, and was listening closely, Tails was holding one of his tails, and Sonic, still recovering from the earlier incident, twiddled his fingers, wanting to hear the good news already.

"he wasn't hit near the heart, but the bullet was pretty close to the lungs. He will need to undergo surgery, so he has to remain in the hospital until then. Other than that, no other injuries have occurred as far as I'm concerned."

The trio didn't say a word, but they understood. They're just glad, at least mentally, that Tom is gonna be okay, but it'll be a while until he's able to wake up.

"Thanks for telling us," Tails says quietly, not really looking at the agent in the eye.

"As for your mission, I... really wish I could help," she says. She was concerned for the boys' well being, and thought about helping them, but after hearing word about the commander getting injured, she needed to be in a hurry.

"No you don't," Sonic mumbled, doubting her sincerity.

She sighed through her nose. She should've expect the boys treating this way to her. But it's understandable why they're acting like this.

"Could you at least tell us if Maddie and Rachel are okay?" Tails looked up at her with hope in his eyes. He doesn't want anyone to get hurt like Tom.

"They are confined until further notice. There's nothing I can do."

Sonic refuses to look at her.

"I hope you boys make things right and take care of those freaks up there," she says, "because if you fail on your mission, no one will forget this. Keep that in mind."

It was the last thing she said before making her leave. The trio watched as she goes, as they were left with the sentence floating in their heads.

Knuckles seemed calm, he has certainly been through worse, but he hasn't gotten a look at Sonic or Tails yet. They both seem distraught. This is their biggest adventure yet, and possibly their deadliest.

She's right. They cannot fail. No matter what.

Sonic closes his eyes and turned away from his friends, thinking. Tails and Knuckles looked over with concern.

"Sonic, y-you're not thinking about giving up, are you?" Tails asked nervously. A lot has happened, but there still all the time in the world to turn everything back to normal. Hopefully.

"Never," Sonic responded. He turned back around to face them. He never looked so serious. "It's not over until I say it's over."

Hearing that definitely lift Tails' spirits. "Oh! That's great! I'm so relieved!"

"What about the Eclipse Canon? How do we stop it now?" Knuckles asks, turning to face Tails. "It's already activated with the use of the Emeralds, which we cannot reach to unless we're in the ARK."

"Aw, shoot, you're right," Tails' smile faded away in an instant after hearing the mention of the Chaos Emeralds. "Ugh, if only I knew G.U.N. were to show up then we would've-"

"Do not blame yourself, fox. You did all you could," Knuckles reassures.

"I guess you're right, but what about Shadow? We can't get to him here, he's probably up in space by now! Maybe if I can somehow find a way to steal a space shut-"

"'We?'"

Sonic's voice caught Tails and Knuckles' attention.

"Nah," he says, "I'M going after him."

"What??" They both cried in confusion.

...Is he serious? Why is Sonic thinking about facing that guy on his own? Why without their help?? There's no way he's serious. When was the last time he was ever serious?

"Sonic, are you- are you hearing yourself? That is suicide!" Knuckles cried, "You don't even know the full power he's capable of!"

"Hes right, Sonic," Tails added for Knuckles' sake. They got the taste of Shadow's power firsthand. He knew that fighting Shadow alone would be a nightmare. "This is a bad idea."

"When does that ever stop me?" Sonic says, furrowed brows and fists clenched again to show the dead seriousness in his face.

Oh, dear lord, he is serious.

"I faced Eggman twice," The blue hedgehog continued, "once in a flying pod, and in a giant death mech, with the Emeralds! I can take on a super hedgehog."

"He obliterated us!" Tails says, "He's way too powerful! What if he hurts you and we can't save you in time?"

"I'll be fine," Sonic answered, his eyes lowered and away from Tails, "besides, I don't want you guys to get hurt."

Walters' words were still fresh in his brain. He couldn't help but think that maybe he did cause some destruction while saving the world, but he won't let it happen again this time. He won't let his brothers- his friends, get hurt.

He didn't notice that Knuckles looked slightly offended from being pushed aside from a fight. "But Sonic," he says, "we are strong enough to protect ourselves and you."

"I know, but I especially don't want you, Knuckles, to go overboard on Shadow. I think he's been through enough."

Knuckles blinked. "What do you mean?"

"He lost a friend on the ARK, remember?" Sonic says. "He's probably mad at the world because of that..." His expression seemed hurt from the thought of losing someone that close. He's been there...

But after thinking for a moment, his eyes began to twinkle with hope, and a small smile rose on his muzzle. "...but maybe if I can try and reason with him and change his mind, then our problems will be solved!" He exclaimed, beaming at his friends.

Tails and Knuckles earned him very lost looks.

"'Reason' with him? Oh, sweet mother of Tikal..." Knuckles messaged the bridge of his muzzle, not believing what was spoken just now.

"Sonic, there is no point in trying such thing," he says, "He is blinded by rage. How could he listen to you?"

"There... there is a way. I know there is!" Sonic spoke, sounding unsure if he knows a way at all. He just hopes that Shadow would listen to him somehow...

"Sonic," his tone rose for a moment to get Sonic to listen, "he tried to destroy us, and now he's trying to destroy the planet! Do you honestly believe this monster will, just, stop from your useless plea?"

Sonic stared at him like he killed a man.

"He's not a monster," he says, "he was just blamed for something he didn't do."

"That was in the past," Knuckles argued, "this is the present! We are dealing with Shadow's action NOW! His actions now is what makes him a-"

"I'll find a way to stop him, Knuckles," Sonic explained, "Besides, he'll probably listen to me because of how similar we are! We both lost someone really important a long time ago... ...Wait, is Shadow, like, an old dude now or-?"

"He was frozen, Sonic." Tails corrected, his eyes stabbing him with disapproval.

"...So, does that make him, like, Captain America, or somethin- BUT ANYWAYS, anyways," Sonic stops himself from going off topic.

"H-he used to have a human friend and those G.U.N. jerks took her away, and I used to have Longclaw before I came to Earth..." He looked down at his shoes and scratched the back of his head, not wanting to bring himself back to a difficult time of his life, nor wanting to think about what he had read in that diary.

"But Shadow is nothing like you," Knuckles mentioned, "Just because you both have 'similar' pasts, that does not mean it will stop Shadow from being destructive."

Sonic couldn't help but feel scolded in some way. Maybe it was because he read the diary and never got the chance to show Tails and Knuckles before Shadow came in.

They never knew what Shadow been through. It's understandable that they were cautious over this plan, but... it seemed like Knuckles doesn't believe everything Sonic is saying.

...is he?

"Well, I mean... I guess me and Shadow do have a lot in common," Sonic says, "We're both hedgehogs. We both run pretty fast. We both have really cool kicks. And... we were doubted."

Tails blinked. "Wh-what? Sonic, we didn't doubt you."

"You guys don't even believe what I said, didn't you?" he stressed, "I read those diary pages. I know what happened! I'm not lying just to make friends with an emo hedgehog!"

"No, no! I believe you!" Tails cried, waving his hands at Sonic. He had no clue that Sonic was feeling this way the whole time.

"Yeah, right!" Sonic says, hand on hip. "You guys don't even believe that I can handle Shadow on my own! You guys... really don't think I can do this?" his ears flopped to his head, looking at his friends, begging them to be on his side.

"Not on your own." Knuckles stated.

"At least wish me luck or something! Gosh, why are you... why are you guys loosing faith in me?" Sonic asked, sounding defeated.

Tails' two tails dropped to the ground. He wasn't loosing faith in him! He was just worried for his well being. Tom is already in the hospital and Maddie and the rest of her family are being held somewhere. He doesn't want to loose anyone else.

He believed him, one hundred percent. He never meant to make Sonic believe otherwise. He felt awful making his own hero feel this way.

Knuckles, however, thought Sonic is just saying all this just to battle on his own. Does this hedgehog know that they are in a middle of a crisis?!

"We didn't say that we're loosing faith..." Tails spoke sadly.

"You didn't, but I know you are," Sonic looked away, his eyes set on the hospital building. The one Tom is staying at for God knows how long.

The one Sonic himself put him in.

It makes sense that his own friends think that he couldn't do this right, but it doesn't make it hurt any less. Aren't they suppose to support him?

Like a good team he thought they were?

"I'm not gonna lie," Sonic began, his voice breaking but barely hid it, "I'm kind of disappointed of you both."

Knuckles' face grew disgusted and Tails tugged at his own hand.

...disappointed?

"I am doing all I can to make everything go back to normal," he continued, "and nothing is working so far because stupid Ro-butt-nik ruined everything, and stupid G.U.N. caused more problems and...! Ugh, and you guys aren't making it any better!"

Knuckles scowled down at the blue hedgehog. He had no right to be disappointed at the Echidna Warrior.

"None of this wouldn't have happened if we didn't put our trust into that mustached mad man!" he roared at his face, "So, technically speaking, YOU ruined everything!"

Sonic froze.

He, ruined everything...?

They recruited Tom and Maddie and family to help them on their mission, went to London to find the ARK before the Robotniks do, G.U.N. stormed them first, and the Robotniks got away with not only the ARK, but the Chaos Emeralds included, which helped powering on the Eclipse Canon, which cut the moon in half just now...

...and it was all Sonic's fault?

"Didn't you see the state San Francisco was in? We had no choice but to unite G.U.N. back because of your actions!"

Sonic blinked twice. Walters' words haunted him once more.

"You know what Robotnik has done to us in the past, and you seriously think he was our last chance at victory?!" Knuckles cried.

"You didn't even have the courage to rescue your owl. With a reputation like that, why should you not let it get to you?"

The longer he stared at Knuckles, the more his emerald eyes loose their spark.

"You think it's so easy to have all of our sworn enemies magically become friends?! is that your plan? Because it sure is a ridiculously stupid one." Knuckles stated.

"Knuckles, quit it!" Tails protested.

"No hero should ever make a single mistake. After all, heroes don't destroy things. They don't endanger civilians."

He breathed heavily. Walters just won't shut up.

"No hero should ever make a single mistake."

He won't shut up!

"No hero should ever make a single mistake."

"No hero should ever make a single mistake."

"You think I'm stupid?!" Sonic yelled. The fox backed up, startled by Sonic's scream.

"You think I didn't see any of this coming, no matter how much I hoped it wouldn't happen?! You think I believed that Robotnik was our only hope?!"

"Yes." Knuckles answered with a straight face, unaffected by his anger.

Sonic's left eye twitched. This damn Echidna. He didn't believe him from the start. He didn't think this plan was the best he could come up with!

When they were chained up after getting knocked out it was punishment enough. He didn't need Knuckles the Echidna to remind him how much he failed.

He could've at least pretend to have faith in him instead of being brutally honest. Then again, Knuckles is a terrible liar.

Knuckles lying would be more worse than just being honest anyway. Who in the right mind would lie about how amazing and clever and heroic Sonic is?

Tails and Knuckles, apparently.

Sonic hated Walters' guts, but he hated how much he was right more. Out of all the mistakes he could ever make in his life, as a sorry excuse for a hero, is to put his faith on two "friends" who have never supported him from the beginning of the mission.

Or even the beginning of their adventures in general.

He tried, so hard, to make everything according to plan, but it all came crashing down, because he had to make a truce with Eggman. He even put Tom in the hospital because he didn't get the chance to run away from a stupid bullet.

And what did his friends do after all that? They criticize him.

He is fully aware of how imperfect he is, but Knuckles made him open his eyes. But especially Walters. No one had faith in him. He was never a hero, and he was too blind to realize that. Until now.

But he will fix everything. On his own. He will reclaim his title, without the help of his friends.

In a blink of a second, Sonic's eyes glow a sharp blue. If this is how his friends treat him after everything, then so be it.

Sonic scoffed a snarky chuckle.

"Well then," he says, raising his voice at first, "if we're playing the blame game, then THIS, is all Tails' fault!" He points at the young fox.

His ears folded downward. "What...?"

What did he do??

"That's right. Blame me for being a failure and see what happens!" Sonic barked him, stomping his foot.

Knuckles' violet eyes rose. Why the hell is he yelling at this poor child??

"Maybe YOU wouldn't have failed if you try to figure out what to do when G.U.N. showed up! I thought you were smarter than that, Miles!" he cursed his real name.

Tails gasped and back away, hugging on of his fluffy tails. His eyes fluttering as tears began to form.

Knuckles is having none of it.

"How dare you scold the young fox like that!" Knuckles walked up close and personal with Sonic, shielding Tails from him. He snarled at the hedgehog, but it didn't scare him off.

"Sonic, what is wrong with you," Tails croaked, his voice breaking. "I did my best!"

"I'm doing my best too, but no body seems to care!"

"ENOUGH!" Knuckles ordered Sonic loud enough for the whole area to hear. It was enough to make him back away a bit.

"We are supposed to be a team," he reminded calmly yet angrily, "why are you acting this way, hedgehog?"

"Because you don't think Shadow is capable of change." Sonic answered, forcing himself to not cry in front of Knuckles, "you don't believe in him. You don't believe in ME. And you know what? Even if I needed help, I wouldn't rely on people who don't believe in me!"

"I do believe in you!" Tails cried, a tear streaming down his muzzle. He never felt so heartbroken in his life. He did rely on Sonic. He looked out for him. He couldn't believe what was happening.

Why is his own hero acting so harsh to him? ...he probably deserved it.

Knuckles made sure Tails was still behind him in case the hedgehog does anything rash.

Sonic didn't hear a thing Tails said, and he refused to.

"I'm tired of losing other people," Sonic continued, now yelling, "I nearly lost Tom, I am NOT gonna lose the entire world, and I won't let you stop me!"

Tails held onto Knuckles' huge hand. The gesture only made Knuckles grow more angry. Sonic is scaring the small fox. He should not have done that.

"I am not gonna argue with you guys in a middle of a crisis that could only worsen if I'm not doing something about it!" He pointed at the duo. Then he walked up to Knuckles, his eyes glaring right at him like daggers.

"Besides, KNUCKLES, you are way too simpleminded to even listen to a word I say because all YOU care about is kicking someone's butt," Sonic hissed, not afraid of what the Echidna is about to do next.

"Simpleminded?"

He closed his eyes, and breathed through his nose.

He should be.

Knuckles carefully pushed Tails to his side, and then backed up a few steps. "Take it back," he ordered quietly, brow bridges furrowing as he glared back at the hedgehog.

"Make me," he opened up his arms. He could clearly see that this warrior is about to duke it out. If that's the case, he's ready to throw hands whenever.

Knuckles growled. Loudly.

"Take. It. BACK!" He roared as he smacked both of his own fists, causing fire to burst out ablaze out of his gloves, complete with his power surge spiraling all over his body.

Sonic formed his fists tight, his own power surge sparkling as well. His eyes zapped the same blue as before as his quills began to glow.

"Make me!"

It's go time.

Sonic and Knuckles charge at each other, delivering powerful punches to one another, some they dodged, most they certainly came in contact.

Knuckles tried to kick Sonic in the stomach, but as he tried to do so, Sonic zipped behind him and dragged him by his quills and threw him to the nearest police car.

The echidna made a dent on the door and the sirens began to blare off, but no body cared, except for Tails, who was stressed out enough already. He covered his ears, the sound of the police siren bothering his eardrums.

Sonic punched Knuckles in the face twice, but it had no effect. He's just too strong. Knuckles snorted, finding the attack rather unimpressive.

It was his turn to punch back.

POW!!

Sonic goes flying off a few feet away from Knuckles, as he stretches briefly before going back to his fighting stance.

The blue hedgehog gets up, rubs his bruised nose and growled at the Echidna Warrior.

"Stop fighting!" Tails plead.

As if this day couldn't get any worse, two of his favorite people in the galaxy are beating themselves up because of an unsuccessful mission that was probably his own fault.

His family is falling apart. He didn't ask for this.

"See? I told ya, didn't I?!" Sonic barked, his fist shaking, ready to punch that dumb red cherry straight to the concrete. "Fighting is all you focus on! You wanna remain victorious! Undefeatable!"

Sonic came running full speed and landed his fist straight to Knuckles' face. He tumbled on the ground before quickly getting back up, sprinting behind him.

"And all you care about is your reputation!" He spit back, before delivering back his own punch.

"Bull-crap!!"

"You are such a child!"

Sonic spun into a ball before lunging himself right into Knuckles' gut, barely weakening him. Still in his ball form, and rolled laps around him, trying to confuse him, before kicking him hard in the chin.

"I know what I'm doing! You both stay out of this! I don't need your help!" Sonic roared, his power surge growing stronger and unstable. He may be unable to keep his powers at bay, but he couldn't care less.

He just wants Knuckles to back off.

"You haven't a single clue what you are doing, you blue buffoon," The Echidna stated, raising his flaming fists of disaster, ready to set that hedgehog's pathetic face of fire.

"You call yourself a hero after the way you treat your teammates?! You are no such thing until you get your act together!"

"Shut up! Shut up!" A whirring sound grows louder and louder, unable to hold his power together anymore. He was too angry. He was too blinded by rage.

He is sick and tired of being criticized as an imperfect hero. He tried his best. He tried so hard. Why won't it be easy? Why can't everything just go his way?

Why does his family hate him so much?

"Just shut up, you Knucklehead!!!" Sonic screamed at the top of his lungs before shooting himself right into Knuckles at scary speed, preparing to pound the living daylights out of him.

"STOP!"

WHAM!!

Thud...

Sonic's heart nearly stopped.

The light in his once enraged emerald eyes faded away in a second the instant he's seen what he had done.

His powers died down. Now his fur is a dull blue.

It didn't stop his hands from trembling, however.

His ears bent back. He step back a few steps, not letting his eyes off the small, fox, that was once in his way, now many feet away from the duo, not moving a muscle.

His tails were limp for an uncomfortable amount of time. No sound was made from the fox. He remained still on the ground.

For seconds. Too many seconds.

Sonic's mouth quivered. He refuse to believe it.

He punched him. He punched his own little buddy. He hurt him.

"What have I done?"

"Tails!" Knuckles cried out his dear brother's name as he ran towards him, leaving a shocked Sonic by himself.

The Echidna rolled onto the ground as he grabbed Tails by his arms and cradled him close, checking for any injures, and making sure he's alive.

"Tails, are you alright? Speak to me!" He begged the young motionless fox, putting his hand up to his face, checking for blood and cuts.

Sonic watched from afar. The strongest fighter in the galaxy, holding onto a small child for dear life, begging for him to wake up. He caused this.

"Is he...?" he never finished his question. Somehow he knew the answer, but he just prayed it's not really true.

"He's... unconscious." Knuckles said to himself at loud.

Sonic placed both of his hands over his mouth slowly. He was in disbelief.

He knocked his little brother out.

Knuckles and Tails may be a few feet away from him, but to him it felt like millions and millions of miles away. He never felt so divided from his own friends.

How could he do this? To his own little brother?

...his little brother.

Dear God, he hurt his little brother.

How could he?

This small fox, who he bonded with for months, under the same roof, and spend good and bad times with alongside Knuckles, is knocked out because of him.

This tiny, precious baby, who admired him, protected him, fought by his side with, and even looked up to him, is not responding to anything Knuckles is doing.

He hurt him. He yelled at him.

What the hell was he thinking??

What kind of a hero is he hurting his own little brother like that?

His heart completely shattered into pieces the second Knuckles turned his head at him.

This strong Echidna, who has fought the toughest battles and the meanest bad guys before his arrival on Earth, has never looked so lost and distraught.

There were tears swelling in those violet eyes of his.

Knuckles just witnessed a small child got the soul knocked out of him by a speeding hedgehog, and didn't even save him in time.

It terrified him.

It made Knuckles cry. Knuckles never cries.

Sonic made Knuckles cry.

Throw anything at the Echidna, and he'll brush it off, but an injured fox would break him down in seconds.

Sonic may have hurt Knuckles physically, but he was destroyed on the inside just the sight of this small unconscious fox with a huge, purple bruise on his cheek.

Knuckles and Tails had such a bond so close, it would only make sense for Knuckles to break down like this.

The whole scene was just so horrifying for Sonic to watch.

He caused this scene. He hurt his own brothers.

His own brothers who he took in after they dealt with such a troubling childhood. Having either loosing a family, or never having one to begin with.

He gave them everything they ever truly wanted. He gave them a family. A happy life on Earth.

And now, he gave them something they'll both never, ever forget.

Betrayal.

"No hero should ever make a single mistake."

He let Walters' words get the better of him. His own words were his own weapons against his brothers.

Walters managed to break Sonic to the point where he endangered his own brothers.

Because of his fear of failure, it lead him to hurting his own brothers.

Whom he was supposed to protect.

His own fears took over him, making him appear as the bad guy to Knuckles. All over again.

Because of his failure as a hero, Knuckles may never look at Sonic the same way again...

Perhaps it could be true, as Knuckles shuts his eyes tight, and turned away from the speechless hedgehog, trying to calm himself down.

Him and Shadow really do have a lot in common after all.

Knuckles took a few deep breaths. "Keep calm... Don't let it out... Seal it in..."

Seal what in? What was he talking about?

Knuckles exhaled deeply, feeling more relaxed, but still in slight distraught when he opened his eyes back up, seeing the unconscious fox back in his view.

He couldn't bare to look at the poor thing any longer. he shuts his eyes tight again. He will find a way to nurse him back to health.

The hospital is right there. Hopefully the doctors know how to take care of an alien fox.

"Kn-Knuckles...?" Sonic mumbled his elder brother's name, reached his hand out slowly to him, praying he's not too mad at him now that he calmed himself down.

"Leave."

...Or maybe not.

Sonic pulled his hand back, stabbed in the heart by that one word. He doesn't really want to leave his friends behind. Not after what he had done.

He never meant for any of this to happen. He never meant to go so hard on them. He just doesn't want them to get hurt.

He just doesn't them to go too far on Shadow.

Another fight with Shadow is long overdue, but he knows what he has been through. He knew deep down he wouldn't listen, but talking things out won't work forever.

He just didn't want his brothers to make things harder for him than it already has, but he never meant to hurt them either.

Shadow is just a rival, but Tails and Knuckles are his brothers. Hurting them is a different story entirely.

They mean so much to him as much as Tom and Maddie. His parents.

He has injured his family. He had failed them.

...but hopefully not the world.

There is still time to stop the Eclipse Canon from powering up, and stop the Robotniks for good, and taking care of Shadow. It's just Sonic doing all the work now.

His family needed rest to heal anyways. He has put them through enough trouble. No more mistakes. No more hurting.

He's doing this alone. For them.

"I'll leave," Sonic croaked quietly, but loud enough for Knuckles to hear, "but I'll fix everything. I promise. Once I'm done with Shadow, I'll go and you won't need me anymore, and that's fine."

He sniffled, turning away from his brothers. He doesn't want to see them in that state anymore.

"I'll be okay on my own. I've done it before... I promise I won't bother you guys again..." Sonic says. Despite his small smile, he was screaming and sobbing on the inside.

"You have every right to be upset at me, but it won't change how I love you. And because I love you is why I'm going alone. I hope you understand. ...Goodbye, big bro."

With a burst of speed, Sonic ran off in seconds, leaving a blue blur behind him. Now it's just Knuckles, and a small motionless pup in his arms.

Deep down, Knuckles didn't want Sonic to leave, but he was just so angry at him...

He doesn't deserve to be alone. No body does.

Shadow doesn't deserve it either.

But he was still angry at him, especially. But he'll deal with him later. Sonic can't handle Shadow on his own, even though the blue hedgehog is full of surprises.

He'll deal with everything later. His baby brother's well being is his number one priority.

He pulled Tails in closer where his head meet his chest, and pressed his muzzle against his bangs, giving him the most comfortable hug he could ever receive.

"I won't leave you until you are all better, my dear brother," he whispered to him, still holding onto him as if he was just a small baby.

He sat there on the wet concrete, ignoring the cold shivers, and remained there until the fox is okay.

He is not loosing another member of his tribe. Not again.

-

Randell watched from afar. He wasn't there to witness everything, but he's gotten enough context to understand what had happened.

He stood there, his arms crossed, watching Knuckles holding onto Tails for dear life.

He still can't believe these are the dangerous aliens Walters was freaking out over for so long. They're just children. Children longing for a home.

And because of Walters' actions, these poor kids have been separated.

He turned away, crossed with his ex-commander. He could've just let them get to the ARK first. He could've just left them alone. But he didn't. He just had to be the villain.

"When I see him, he will not ignore me again," he said, before walking off.

He gave a promise to himself that if Walters won't leave this family alone, he's gonna have to take drastic measures.

He doesn't care about the consequences. The only thing he cares about is his family. And the planet they belong in.

-

[numberonetribble]

Stuck at my mom's house until the 27th, can't finish the comic I was working on until then :( here's a rough Cowboy!pinup sketch of Bumblebee and some Breakbee + Piston angst: