Manic's Story

Chapter 3

    I traveled along with Silver by my side. Shadow was lagging behind, casting me suspicious looks, as if I were one of Dr. Robotnik's swat bots. "What?" I said, a little annoyed.

    "Uh........ N- nothing, Manic." He looked down at his gloves. I could see that he was blushing from me finding out he was staring at me. 

    "Its okay, Shadow. I won't bring out these bad boys, unless it's for fun." I said, pointing at my medallion.

    "Alright." he told me. He had a relieved expression on his face after I said that.

    I leaned over and whispered to Silver, " Or if he starts strangling you again."

    "Well, it's a good thing I met you, Manic." Silver whispered back. "He strangles me every night. Even in his sleep!"

    "Maybe it's a bad idea to share rooms with him." I murmured.

    "Well, I'm actually used to it. But it's still kind of scary to wake up with someone's hands clasped around your neck. When it comes to Shadow, you'll be lying there gasping for breath a week after he strangles you. He squeezes that hard!"

    I gasped. "Then how are you here today, since he strangles you so much?"

    "He knows that if he kills me, then the others will send him back to Eggman's base. He's not particularly fond of that place anymore." Silver replied.

    "Who's Eggman? I only know Dr. Robotnik." I asked.

    Silver stopped dead. I could feel Shadow behind me.

    "Dr. Robotnik is dead. He died yesterday evening." Shadow explained.

    "Yes, and his son, Dr. Eggman, took over. But he hasn't tried to take over anybody else's property." Silver added.

    "So, Robotnik died? From what?" I wanted to know.

    "Sickness. Grief that he lost Mobius. No one really knows." Shadow continued. "Eggman hasn't tried to take over anything. Yet."

    "Oh." I said.

    We continued on our way to the Thorndyke mansion. Unaware of anything. Until I felt something watching me. I looked around, but saw nothing. Until I looked to my left. I saw those big green glowing eyes, in a bush.

    "Oh, God." I whispered.

    "What? What is it, Manic?" Silver asked, concerned.

    "It's....... It's him......" I stammered. The green eyes stared steadily into mine.

    "Who?" Shadow asked.

    "The Werehog." I said in a small voice.

    Both Silver and Shadow followed my gaze into the bushes. I felt Silver stiffen beside me.

    "Shadow," Silver squeaked. "It's him."

    "Yes, I believe it is." Shadow replied.

    "Who? Who is he?" I murmured, terrified.

    "No time to explain." Shadow said. "We have to go. Now."

    And with that, he grabbed both mine and Silver's hands and took off. He went just about as fast as Sonic did. We raced through the forest at a surprising speed. Shadow avoided trees with just inches to spare.

    We finally stopped and what I saw was amazing. A huge mansion stood in front of us, taller than any tree I've seen so far.

    "Manic," Silver said.

    "Welcome to the Thorndyke mansion." Shadow finished.

    "Wow." I said in awe. "It's bigger than I imagined!"

    "Yep." Shadow replied.

    I looked over at him. He had his eyes closed.

    "Something wrong, Shadow?" I asked him.

    His ear flicked and he opened his eyes to look at me. "No. I'm just....... tired." he replied.

    We went into the mansion.

    As I entered the mansion, a cute orange fox bounded up to me.

    "Hi! I'm Tails! Who are you?" He said cheerfully.

    "I'm Manic. Manic the Hedgehog." I replied, suddenly shy. I looked down at my medallion and started piddling with it.

    "Nice necklace. Where'd you get it?" Tails asked me.

    "I don't know exactly. It's been on me ever since I can  remember." I explained. It was true. And I had refused to take it off even for a bath when I was little.

    "Wow! You've had it for a long time, then." He sounded amazed.

    "Well come on." Silver said. "We have people to introduce you to."

    We sat at the kitchen table, waiting for supper. So far, there was Knuckles the Ecidna, Rouge the Bat, Shadow the Hedgehog, Silver the Hedgehog, Tails the Fox, Cream the Rabbit, her mother, Vanilla the Rabbit, Cream's chao, Cheese, Christopher Thorndyke, and Chuck Thorndyke. We were all chatting contently, when I had a sudden vision of the Werehog. I jumped up out of out of my seat, stood up. My eyes were wide with a variety of, fear, shock, and amazement. Everyone suddenly stopped talking and stared at me. I started breathing hard, as the vision of the Werehog came closer to me.

    I ran out of the kitchen, trying to get away from it. I ran up to mine, Shadow's, and Silver's room. I shoved my face in a pillow, trying to get rid of the vision.

    "I'll go talk to him," I heard Silver's voice flow up the stairs and into the bedroom.

    I heard his footsteps on the stairs, into the hall and to our room.

    "Manic? Are you okay?" He asked. When I didn't answer, he cane and sat on my bed. He rested his hand on my shoulder and gently rocked me back and forth, trying to get my attention. "Manic, it's okay. You can tell me."

    I looked up at him with watery eyes. "The Werehog. He's coming, Silver. He's coming to get me."

    He looked at me, surprised. "He is?" He asked me.

    I nodded. "Do you know who he is, Silver?" I whimpered.

    "Yes. Indeed I do." he looked at me uncertainly, wondering if he should tell me something or not. "Manic, l........." he began. He was cut off by Shadow bursting into the room.

    "Don't you dare tell him! You told me to stop!" he reached for Silver. I blocked his path.

    "You don't want me to use these again, do you?" I snapped, pointing at my medallion.

    "Uh.... On second thought, Silver, you can go ahead and tell him." Shadow backed away with a nervous laugh.

    "Manic, that Werehog you saw wasn't any other Werehog." Silver continued.

    "Who is it, then?" I asked, even though I thought I already knew the answer.

    "Manic," Silver paused. "Your brother isn't dead."

    I stared at him in complete confusion.

    "That Werehog you saw, was Sonic."