Lights, Camera, Action!

Chapter 39: Siblings

Sliver and Starlight clapped and cheered along with everyone else at the dinner party. They had really been looking forward to finishing Bloodshed and were glad that they had s chance to do so. Plus, the Twins were very glad that the studios would be up and running again very soon. They were probably among the top five of people who felt the most guilt over Honey and the massacre. Granted, really only Silver had cause to be guilty of the pair because his actions tipped Honey over the edge. However it had been done in Starlight's name and she'd experienced first hand how much that had tipped Honey. She had been unrecognisable, chaotic, grieving and mad. Starlight, in her head, had been the one to cause that. Once they'd made Honey see Silver was the one responsible, she'd wanted to hunt him down and eliminate him.

Starlight loved her brother however and knew he would hurt more by seeing how much suffering his actions caused other people. Yet it also hurt her because it reminded her that they were no more special than anyone else and there were now people in a similar situation to the orphans. Sliver and Starlight also had a nearly telepathic connection so they could sometimes get a weak sense if what the other one was feeling. As they often told people: It was a twin thing. The part they didn't say was about how it could both be a blessing or a curse depending on the situation.

That massacre had caused a divide, a rift, a chasm, between the pair that hadn't exited for twenty years. For twenty years they had also been each others best friend who rarely fought. If they got mad or hurt or sad or happy, they didn't have their parents to turn to, only each other. They had parental figures in their lives but at the end of the day, they were the only family that they had left. An emotional but true fact. Still, this distance between them was so new they didn't know what to do. Both Sliver a d Starlight were used to having all the answers that they rarely knew what to do when they didn't know something. Neither scientist knew how to start a conversation that would heal the wound torn by total dishonesty.

To the other people in their group who had siblings, it was actually quite funny. Sonic and Shadow had both quickly realised that the pair were just having a sibling fight. A field in which the two Booms were absolutely experts in on any degree of arguement. A missing toy, broken belonging, physical injury, betrayal. While they had never experienced betrayal from one another, Sonic and Shadow were sure they could help resolve it. As it turned out however, the Twins were surprisingly stubborn. A difficulty as it meanu neither were truly willing to swallow their pride and be the bigger person and the first to apologise. The boys were also like that but they had their parents to intervene. So, Shadow decided that they would have to act as their parents to the conversation would start for Sliver and Starlight to become friends again.

It turned out to be easier said than done however. While the pair had ample opportunity to talk to them, with the restarting of Bloodshed, everyone was suddenly very busy. Beauty was keeping her entire staff on a very tight schedule so that everything ran perfectly according to plan and nothing would prevent them from finishing this film. Shadow had a suspicion that she really wouldn't like it if her male lead, assistant part-time prop designer and technological geniuses left for a max an hour to have a quick heart-to-heart. So it was difficult to get the time and tgeb find a time that fitted into the four people's schedules. Each of them had different roles and tasks to make this work and their free time didn't overlap enough for a proper talk to occur.

Eventually, as they were looking over the schedules for at least the tenth time, Sonic groaned and threw his head against a pillow. "Okay, this is hopeless! I say we just wait until the pair both mature enough to reconcile on their own. Why do we have to help them? They got themselves into this mess, they can get themselves out." He folded his arms and stared at his shoes.

Shadow punched him lightly on the arm. "Come on, that's not the right attitude to have. We're helping them because they are our friends. They've helped us a lot over the years and now it is time to repay that favour. Besides, it will prove that we are like the master siblings who can solve any arguement." Sonic cheered up at the thought of being the master of something and looked at the schedules again.

Maybe an hour or two passed before an idea came to one of them. "When does the actual, official, working day end?" Sonic asked, looking at his brother who was flicking through an old photo album.

"Well for you, it starts at half three and ends at half five. Myself, I start at six and end at nine. Same goes for the Twins. We could never hold an intervention after work." Shadow dismissed the idea with a flick of his fingers that made Sonic huff.

"Well why not? I'm still awake at nine!" He was indignant at the thought of having such a tight curfew.

Although, he did still have a curfew. "Yes, but while you live under their roof as a minor, Mum and Dad won't let you go out after nine." Shadow ruffled his head. "You're curfew is half ten." He grinned as his younger brother scowled.

"I know. But there's a whole ninety minute difference!" In his mind, that was a lot of time.

To Shadow, not so much. "What do you do that makes ninety minutes all the difference?" As far as he knew, Sonic barely did anything once he got home.

Sonic didn't like this conversation in the slightest and was tempted to make a remark about his twenty-year-old brother still living at home. They needed to work together though and that would only hinder their efforts. "I could convince Mum and Dad that I've gone to bed. Then just sneak out at quarter to twelve when they go to bed. I'll meet you and the Twins at their house and we hold an intervention then!" He was very pleased with his idea and frowned when Shadow snorted in derision.

"So let me get this straight: You want to sneak out at quarter to twelve and get to the Twins house which will take a good ten, fifteen minutes and then hold a befriending session?" Sonic nodded. "That's ridiculous! Even I don't stay out that late and the Twins will probably go to bed way before then." Shadow knew Sonic was only trying to help but it would help more if the suggestions were realistic.

Sonic was out of ideas then. "Well then they better with it out themselves because we cannot help them. Sibling masters and all." He laid on his stomach and swiped the photo album from Shadow's lap. "Why are you looking at your pictures with Honey? You're dating Blaze now." Shadow sighed as he took it back.

"I'm well aware of my own relationship status, thank you very much. I'm trying to decide which ones I like to put in a box to go under my bed. Then I can use this one to fill it with my memories with Blaze." Shadow continued flicking through until he reached a page marked as 'Beginning of the Change' in black marker. Sure enough, Shadow could see his eyes getting murkier, his body getting taller and teeth getting sharper. This was one of the last photos of him smiling with his teeth visible.

Sonic looked over his shoulder to see the pictures. "I don't like these pictures. You look werid and I'm not in them." Sonic flicked back a few pages to one of the three of them. "What happens to the ones you don't like?" He asked, smiling at the image.

Shadow shrugged, the other photo on his mind. "I'll get rid of them." He rolled his eyes at the aghast expression he received. "Are you telling me you wouldn't pick and choose the memories you wanted with Amy if you broke up?" Sonic shook his head with so much force he feared his head would fall off.

"Amy and I will never break up. If one of us is without the other it means the other has sadly perished. In that regard, I would hope to treasure all reminders of our wonderful life together." He declared it with such sincerity Shadow couldn't bring himself to laugh.

Still, he wasn't in Sonic's relationship as he was so often reminded. "You and I are different people. We handle things in different ways." Sonic pounced on him in a hug.

"True, but the Twins are smart and similar. They'll be able to become friends again. Otherwise Beauty would not be happy and that's scary enough to make anyone do anything!" It was an exaggeration but the idea was about right: Beauty Rose was terrifying. And she'd had her fair share of sibling rivalries.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, apologises it is a day late. I've had a really nasty cough that just exhausted me yesterday. I thought the brotherhood between Sonic and Shadow was quite nice. I'll most likely update again tomorrow. Bye, bye.