"To Catch A Crook"

Written by: Toni the Mink

Commissioned by: RyanWolfSEAL

Sonic and related indica © SEGA (you know the drill…)

It was a beautiful day at Hedgehog Village, and what better way to spend it than being active at the rec center?

"You know, Sonic," said Tails, looking over to Sonic as he, Knuckles, Amy, and Sticks finished up a game of soccer, "Since it's a beautiful day to be active, you could try to, y'know… be active."

Sonic, lazing around in a nearby chair with his feet propped up on a rock, removed his sunglasses. "What? You mean napping doesn't count as an activity?"

"The purpose of going to a rec center is to active move about," Amy scolded.

Sonic placed the sunglasses back over his eyes. "If napping doesn't count, then the dictionary shouldn't have made it a verb."

Knuckles rubbed his chin. "Hm, that oddly makes sense…"

"Don't mind Sonic," a feminine, yet raspy voice rang out, causing Sonic to jump up from his "active nap" in a cringe. "Ever since we were kids, he did everything he could do get out of chores and his royal duties."

"Yeah man," a more surfer-accented voice joined in, "We got all kinda stories we could tell you."

Everyone looked over to see a magenta-colored female hedgehog and a green furred male hedgehog walk in.

"Heeey!" Knuckles pointed, "More hedgehogs! Who are you guys?"

Sonic groaned. "Knuckles, they're Manic and Sonia. My brother and sister. Remember?"

The echidna gasped. "You have a brother a sister? When did this happen?"

"They've been here for over a week now!" Sonic snapped.

"They have..?" Knuckles blinked, "How come I don't remember this..?"

"Well to be fair, that fanfic wasn't written yet."

Amy cleared her throat loudly, "Fourth wall alert…"

"Oh right," Sonic swung his legs up and leapt from the chair, "Well I'd love to stay and share embarrassing childhood stories, but it's a beautiful day to be active, so I'm gonna go for a run now…"

Just as he took off, he was suddenly clothes-lined by Sonia, who chuckled as her blue brother fell flat on his back. "All these years, and you still fall for that clothes line attack," she grinned.

Manic helped Sonic back to his feet, but not without providing a harsh noogie. "Some things never change," he grinned, "Still get flustered easily."

"Like the time Mother made him put on those ruffled robes and paraded him around all the other nobles. He manages to run away, but burned those buckled shoes badly, and his toes caught on fire!"

The two hedgehogs laughed as Sonic placed a hand over his face. "Come on, guys, like you haven't embarrassed yourselves at one point?"

"Not as badly as you!" Manic laughed.

Sonic rolled his eyes. "I recall the time you were caught with that Duchess' pearls. Her servicemen would've chopped your hands off if I hadn't told them you just wanted to try them on."

Sonia snickered, and Amy couldn't help but join in. At that, Manic knitted his eyebrows. "Hey, petty thieving, that's all in the past now. I moved on to real treasure hunting these days."

"Uh huh," Sonic mumbled, arms crossed, "By the way, give Tails his goggles back."

Tails felt the top of his head, surprised that nothing was there. "Huh? Hey, how'd you take them?"

Manic reached into his coat and handed Tails his aviator goggles back. "Sorry," he chuckled, "Some old habits die hard. Blame it on being a master finger smith."

"It may be immoral," said Amy, "But that finger smithing skill is still quite impressive."

Manic grinned at her, much to Sonic's chagrin. "Yeah, yeah," he grunted, "So long as you're hanging around here, keep that 'finger smithing' under check."

Amy nodded in agreement. "Yes. Please do."

Manic smirked. "For you, Ames, anything."

Amy smiled. Sonic sneered.

A tree with the face of a wolf snuck away from the background and quietly made his exit.

The next day was another beautiful day, so Tails and Amy drug Sonic out of bed and towards the rec center once more to make sure he didn't try wasting the day again.

Upon arriving, the three were met with many other villagers with confused and bewildered looks. "What's going on?" Sonic asked aloud.

A group of children raced over from the soccer field. "It's terrible!" Stratford cried, "All of the soccer balls are missing!"

Tails shrugged, "Can you substitute with a basketball?"

"No can do," a young teen wolf stepped by, "They're all gone too."

"AND the volley balls!" whined a rabbit girl.

"AND all the towels for the pool!" cried Beth the Shrew, running out in her bathing suit, but all dry.

"AND all the leg workout equipment!" shouted Knuckles, following Beth out.

Amy rolled her eyes. "Knuckles, that was your excuse last week."

"And the week before that," added Tails.

"Well I mean it this time!"

Sonic rubbed his chin. "Random stuff being stolen, huh?" he murmured, "Gee, that sounds familiar… Now where did my brother dearest go?"

"Oh Sonic," said Amy, "Don't be quick to judge Manic. He promised to keep this thieving habit in check."

"Wouldn't put it past him to slip up now and then though…"

The pink hedgehog shook her head. "As long as he doesn't hurt anybody," she said, "And restricting youth from an active lifestyle isn't his style. Something else must be up."

Sonic sighed. "Fine. Let's look around for the stuff."

Tails pumped his fist. "We can use my PD Advanced Locator!"

"I thought that was for looking for the Pandemonium Diamonds?"

The fox shrugged, "I can adjust it to look for other junk too."

"Where's my locator?" Tails cried as he frantically searched his workshop.

"Where'd you last leave it?" asked Amy.

"I could've sworn I left it right here on my shelf!" said Tails.

Sonic chuckled. "Maybe you need a locator for your locator."

"That's missing too!"

Sonic raised an eyebrow. "You actually made one..?"

Tails looked around some more. "Come to think of it, a lot of my tools are gone. My hammer, my toolbox, my All-Terrain Racing vehicle-"

"How do you not notice THAT was missing?" Sonic barked.

Sticks nervously wrung her hands. "It's starting to happen..!" she shuddered, "First everything mysteriously disappears, and then… PEOPLE start to disappear. We're looking at the end of the world here, guys!"

"Calm down, Sticks," Amy assured, "It's just a few missing items. Though we better make sure nothing else has been stolen either…"

Amy gave an ear-piercing shriek after she and her friends scouted her cottage. "My Martha Shreward better living books and Rachael StingRay cookware are gone!" Her face turned red with fury, "That does it! Whoever's behind this is going to pay dearly!"

"Hey Ames!"

Everyone turned to the door to see Manic rushing in, with Sonia not too far behind. "You okay?!" he cried, "Sonia and I heard you not too far off!"

Sonia scratched at her ear. "I think the whole island could hear you…"

Sonic crossed his arms. "Well, well, well…" he snided, "Look who's returning to the scene of the crime."

Manic raised an eyebrow. "What'chu talkin' 'bout Sonic?"

In a Sonic-second, the blue hedgehog rammed his brother against the wall. "First you're stealing my friends' things, now you're stealing other TV stars' catch phrases?"

"Sonic, put him down!" Sonia yelled.

Sonic let go and stepped back, but kept his judgmental face. "Well, bro?" he spat, "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"How about just that… What are you talkin' about?"

"There's a lot of things missing in the village," said Tails, "Given your history of kleptomania, it's only reasonable we question you…"

"I vote for just shaking him down," Sonic snarked.

Manic crossed his arms. "Oh I see," he grumbled, "A few things go missing so you automatically blame the thief."

"Manic, we don't want to blame you," said Amy, "But maybe you can help us out. Just show us what's on your person."

Manic grinned. "Whoa there, chickie," he said, "We haven't had our first date yet."

"Just open your darn coat!" Sonic snapped.

Twitching his nose, Manic opened his coat, and everyone gasped…

All he had was what looked like an oar.

"That's my paddle!" Sticks screamed, stepping over and snatching it back.

"Dare I ask why you have a paddle..?" said Knuckles.

"Duh!" said Sticks, "To beat away the ukes!"

"What's an uke?" Tails asked.

Amy rolled her eyes. "You don't wanna know…"

Sticks accusingly pointed the paddle at Manic, "How'd you get past my security traps anyway?"

Manic shrugged. "Finger smith. I'm just that good."

"What did I tell you all?" Sonic boasted, "Told you Manic was the culprit."

"Okay, okay," said Manic, "So maybe I took the weird chick's oar-"

"Paddle!" Sticks shouted.

"Whatever," he sighed, "I saw the challenge and took an opportunity. But that's all I did. I didn't take anything else."

"Sure, we'll just take your word for it," Sonic said coldly.

Manic smiled and nodded. "Thanks."

"That was sarcasm, dope. Knuckles, shake him down."

The bulky echidna suddenly grabbed Manic by the ankles, flipped him around, and shook him wildly. "Aaahhh! Heeey! Cut it out!" he whined. But nothing fell out.

"Looks like he's clean," said Knuckles, placing Manic back on the ground, "But he could stand to take a shower." Manic shot him a dirty look in response.

"So he doesn't have everything in his coat," said Sonic, "He probably stashed all somewhere else."

"Sonic, you are way too quick to accuse Manic of being the culprit!" said Amy, "You don't even have proof it was him."

"History of nicking random things doesn't count?" Sonic sneered.

"Amy's right," said Tails, "Manic promised he wouldn't steal anything that would hurt others, and what's been stolen were things that affect us all. Who do we know who would stoop that low? Perhaps a villain of some sorts?"

"Professor Moriarty!" Knuckles proudly chimed, only to be met with quizzical looks. Knuckles blinked. "Wrong series…?"

"Wrong series…" Sonic moaned.

"Dr. Eggman!" Sticks shouted.

Sonic begrudgingly nodded. "Okay, fine," he sighed, "We'll check out ol' Egghead, see if he's guilty."

"I'll come too!" Manic thrust his fist, "Gives me a chance to clear my name!"

"But Maaaniiic!" Sonia whined, "You said you'd escort me around the island! I wanna go sightseeing, but some of these places look too dangerous for a lady to explore herself!"

Amy rolled her eyes. "Remind me to teach you how to swing a hammer…"

"It's cool, Manic," said Sonic, "Sides, wouldn't want you nabbing any of Eggman's stuff." He paused for a moment, "Then again…." He then shook his head, "Nah, never mind."

At Eggman's headquarters, Eggman sat at his monitors, studying his security footage carefully. But just before anything could break… the videos were interrupted by some silly children's cartoon.

"Cubot!" Eggman roared, "You recorded over important security footage again!"

"But boss!" the yellow, cubed-shape robot protested, "My Special Princess Pony is the latest craze! Even the guys are into it!"

Eggman growled as he turned back to the cartoon… and then softened up a bit. "Well, it does look intellectual for a kid's cartoon."

"Or it could be a show that an older crowd finds more than is really there…" Orbot sighed.

*BAM!*

Everybody turned to the entrance to find the door had been busted down, courtesy of a combo Piko Hammer and Echidna Punch, and Team Sonic standing by the doorway. Eggman grit his teeth. "Why can't you just ring the DOOR BELL?!"

"You don't have one," Sonic replied, "You use security laser in place of them."

Eggman twitched his nose. "What do you want now?"

"There're things missing all over Hedgehog Village," Tails explained.

Sticks pointed her paddle towards Eggman, "So maybe YOU have an idea where they disappeared to! Assuming YOU'RE the one that stole them!"

Eggman narrowed his eyes. "First off, get that disgusting Uke Paddle away from me," he snarled, "Secondly… Why would I do such a stupid act?"

"Same reason you do all those other stupid, nonsensical acts," Sonic muttered.

"Hrm…" Eggman shrugged, "Good point. Still, I'm not responsible for any stolen items."

Amy tightened the grip on her hammer, "And we should believe you, why?"

"Because as much as I'd love to drop by your village and wreak havoc… I can't!" Eggman pressed a button on his control panel, and the security monitors switched to various other places in the lair. "As you can see, many of my most valuable machinery have also been stolen! I'm missing my Burnbot, my Crushbot, my Beatbot, my Massagebot-"

"Massagebot..?" Sonic raised an eyebrow.

"Er, that's for personal business," Eggman coughed, "But look, even my Egg-o-Matic craft is gone! How can I cause trouble if I was stolen from as well!"

"Us too!" cried Cubot, "I think I'm missing my brain!"

"You can't lose what you've never had," Orbot muttered.

Sonic crossed his arms. "Well, if Eggman's not the culprit, guess we're back to square one… Our first suspect."

"Sonic, be reasonable," said Amy, "How can Manic possibly fit a Massaginator in his coat?"

"Oh he has a way," Sonic grumbled, "Trust me. I know."

Knuckles scratched his head. "Dare I ask..?"

With Eggman cleared, Team Sonic left the lair and made their way back to Hedgehog Village. Upon their return, however, they were met with the sight of a group of angry villagers, with nearby cops standing by.

The team nudged their way through. "What's going on?" Sonic asked.

"They found the culprit who stole everything that was missing in town!" a nearby goat lady answered.

Sonic and his friends looked over, seeing that village police were surrounding Sonia and Manic's van, with two cops holding onto a rather freaked out Manic.

"Manic, what's happening?" Amy called out.

Manic glanced over at her, but was too frightened to respond.

"Isn't it obvious?" Sonic grunted, "He was caught red handed!"

"Stop it, Sonic!" Amy protested, "There isn't even any evidence!"

"Hey Chuck!" once of the officers called from the back of the van, "You may wanna see this…"

The woodchuck officer came over to where his partner was standing. The back door of the van was open, and was stock-filled with all sorts of items…

"The sports balls!" cried the teen wolf.

"The swim towels!" cried Beth.

"The leg workout equipment…" Knuckles muttered.

Amy peeked in and gasped. "All my Martha Shreward and Rachael StingRay merchandise!" She whipped her head to the green hedgehog, "Oh Manic, how could you?"

Manic just continued to stare, frightened, shaken.

Tails reached in. "Look, even Eggman's bots are in here!" He pulled out three small box-sized capsules, "Huh… How does he fit them in these things?" He pressed a small button on one, and-

*POOF*

The Massagebot appeared in front of everybody. Knuckles studied the bot and its design for comfort. "Hm…. Maybe I'll hang onto that for a bit."

"Manic," Amy pleaded, "Please tell me this isn't true!"

Manic still couldn't answer. The cops pushed him away towards the backseat of their vehicle. "You can answer for everything at the station," he grunted.

Once the cops pulled off and away, the crowd gathered their stolen items and dispersed, soon only leaving Sonic, Tails, Amy, Sticks, Knuckles, and Sonia (who was sporting a cute looking wide-brimmed hat).

"Well, Amy," said Sonic with a smug smile, "Hate to say I told you so, but I did tell you so…"

Amy lowered her head. "Manic just seemed like such a sweet and solid guy… How could he break his promise like that?"

"Simple," said Sonia, as she approached the group, "He didn't."

Sonic frowned. "Sonia, why are you taking Manic's side so quickly?"

"Why are you condemning him so quickly?!" Sonia snapped, "You may not be thrilled to have us here, but he is your own brother, Sonic!"

The hedgehog crossed his arms, "He's also an annoying, smug, friend-snatching, embarrassing low life. Oh, and he's a thief too."

Sonia narrowed her eyes. "While you're so quick to get your brother out of your hair, you can't seem to stop for a second to give him the benefit of the doubt!"

"And finding all the stolen items in his run-down van is benefiting him how?"

"Because Manic was with me the entire day!" said Sonia, "I've been bugging him all day to take me around the village and the island. It took me all morning to get ready, so we didn't even make it outside until later, when we heard Amy screaming in her cottage.

"Then after you lot went after Eggman, we started sightseeing around the village's shops where I bought this adorable little hat!" Sonia removed her wide-brimmed hat to show off, "It's this sweet shade of beige, and I just love the dark purple ribbon around the top. And this patchwork is so top notch, it's basically-"

"Continue please!" Sonic groaned.

Sonia replaced the hat. "Right…. So after we finished shopping, we trekked around the forest a bit…"

"Oh wow, Manic!" Sonia chimed as she and Manic stopped by a bridge that overlooked the forest with train tracks below them, and the edge of the island in the distance. "Look at that view! It's so beautiful." She pulled out her camera, "I've got to take this for the scrapbook."

Before she could take a shot, however, a sudden gust of wind blew by, blowing her new hat straight off her head. "Oh no!" she cried, "My hat!"

It floated down and landed softly on the tracks below. "There you go, sis," Manic pointed, "You can still grab it."

"And scuff my boots going down this old bridge?" Sonia scoffed, "No thanks!" She pouted, "But how am I going to get my hat back?"

She stared at Manic pitifully, until he finally sighed. "Okay, fine, I'll grab it for you," he said as he pulled out his grapple and rope, "I like a little challenge once in a while."

He rappelled down the bridge, landed onto the train tracks, and made his way towards the lone hat. Before he could grab it, however, another gust of wind blew by, carrying it away. "Oh no you don't!" he shouted, giving chase. Before it could be blown away any higher, Manic jumped up and snagged it from the air. "Two points!" he smiled, waving the hat to his sister.

"My hero!" Sonia called, "Now hurry back before the sun bleaches my hair!"

Manic started back to the bridge, but found he couldn't move anywhere… Looking down, he saw his foot had become wedged between the tracks. The hedgehog crossed his arms and sighed. "Well. This is troublesome…"

A sudden long whistle blew in the distance. Manic's eyes widened. "Now it's become MORE troublesome!"

"Manic!" Sonia screeched, "Get off the tracks! A train's coming!"

Manic pulled at his leg, but his boot was caught tightly. "I can't!"

"Hurrrryyyyy!" Sonia shrieked.

Manic pulled over and over as hard as he could, but his boot would not move an inch. He whipped his head up to see the train moving in closer and closer… This was it…!

"Manic!" Sonia cried, "Have you tried taking your boot off?"

"… Oh yeah!" Manic grabbed the cuff on his boots and slipped his foot out. Looking back up, he shrieked as the train just a few feet in front of him and instinctively leaped to the side as it rode past.

Sonia made her way off the bridge and down to the tracks, and ran to her brother's side. She knelt by him as he was on his knees, breathing heavily, his eyes wide with fear. "Are you okay?" she asked.

Manic glanced up at her, but couldn't answer.

"Come on," she said as she pulled him up to his feet, "Enough action for one day. Let's go back to the van so you can relax…"

"And THAT, Sonic, is why Manic had that expression."

Amy clasped her hands together. "Poor Manic… He had a brush with death! No wonder he looked like a deer caught in the headlights!"

Sonia nodded. "Yeah. But at least the important thing is he was able to save my hat."

Amy glared at her, "And himself…"

Sonia chuckled nervously, "Oh yeah, that too. Anyhoo, once I brought him back to the village, the police were all too quick to surround us. They said an anonymous source led them to Manic's van where all the stolen stuff was."

Sonic stared down at the ground. He was annoyed having his siblings here, and wanted nothing more than to see them gone… but under no circumstances did that mean he wanted either one of them dead. "Huh…" he murmured, "Maybe I really do need to cut the guy some slack. That story does sound plausible anyway."

"Not to mention oddly familiar…" Knuckled added, and bit into a fried green tomato.

Tails dug into what was left of the stolen items and pulled out his devices and toolbox, on top of which was a strange looking leaf. He picked it up and examined it closely. "Hm… Wonder what this is?"

"Don't tell me our little thief has a thing for gardening too," Sonic joked.

"It looks like a leaf…" Tails spoke, "But it's a strange sort of material. And it's only just this one. There's something odd about this… I better run some tests."

With his devices and tools back, Tails was easily able to run a diagnosis on the strange leaf he had found. The monitor came up with all sorts of readings. "A hah!" he cried.

"What is it?" asked Sonic as everyone crowded around him.

"Did you figure out what type of leaf it is?" asked Sticks.

"Sure did!" Tails announced proudly, "Turns out it's not a leaf!" He held it up, "It's completely fake, like from a disguise."

Sonic smirked. "A disguise, huh?" he mused, "And who do we know uses fake trees and leaves to disguise themselves?"

Knuckles gasped. "You, Sonic?!"

"What? No!" Sonic shouted, "What gave you that idea?"

"I seem to recall a time you disguised yourself as a sunflower, remember?"

"Only because Eggman made me!"

Knuckles' eyes widened. "Then it's Eggman who's the thief!"

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Almost there, Knuckles… One more guess."

"The Lightning Bolt Society!" Knuckles shouted as they approached their headquarters, "I knew it!"

"Only because we told you on the way," Amy groaned.

A group of weasels, wearing long purple robes and red fezzes on their heads, walked past and towards the entrance. "Hey you!" Sonic grabbed their attentions, "What can you tell us about a few stolen items?"

The weasels looked to each other, grinned sinisterly, and turned back. "We don't know anything."

"Then why look at each other sinisterly?"

"Because we're evil. Why else?"

Amy crossed her arms. "And how do we know you're not lying?"

"And how do you know we are?"

Knuckles narrowed his eyes. "And how do we know you know you are?"

One of the weasels was about to answer… but couldn't really figure out how to respond. Another weasel jumped in. "Anyway," he said, "Word on the street is the culprit was already arrested. To think, it was the brother of the village hero, Sonic the Hedgehog." He tsked, shaking his head, "I'd hate to be the village hero right about now. What would people think?"

Sonic tightened his fist. "Doesn't matter what they think. What matters is my brother and helping him."

"I'm sure the village will feel better knowing that," the weasels laughed as they entered their headquarters.

Sonia placed a hand on her brother's shoulder. "That's sweet, Sonic," she said, "But right now there's no way of proving they're responsible for anything."

Sonic looked over with a mischievous grin. "Oh I've got a way."

That grin was enough to send shivers down Sonia's spine. "Dare I ask..?"

Later into the evening, the Lightning Bolt Society's meeting was finished, and the members began piling out of the headquarters.

"Pssst," Sonia whispered to Sonic, all hiding behind various bushes and other buildings, "This is a gross misuse of my credit card…"

"So's your shopping habit," Sonic grunted, "Now you wanna help Manic or not?"

"Tell me again why we can't get Amy to do this?"

"Because she doesn't the same assets you have," Sonic replied, but quickly added, "But don't tell her I said that! Now hurry up before you miss your chance!"

As a pack of weasels began walking off, one of them turned to the sound of a low, enticing whistle. His tongue practically fell to the floor as he saw Sonia, wearing an extremely low cut dress that came only halfway down to her thighs. She gave him a seductive wink, "Hey there, handsome…"

"Hey there!" Knuckles nearly jumped out from behind a building, only to be yanked back by Sticks. The weasel was too entranced by Sonia's sexiness to notice, fortunately.

"I'm a little new to the area," Sonia swooned, swaying her hips as she stepped towards the weasel, "I can't find too many evil hang outs…"

"You… you like evil?" the weasel grinned.

Sonia smirked. "Sure do." She raised on of her shoulders, allowing a strap to fall down her arm halfway. "The only evil I know about is Eggman, but he's not really my type." She batted her eyelashes, "You on the other hand seem perfect. Tall, handsome, and all kinds of dark…"

"Don't you know it!" the weasel grinned.

Sonia gently cupped his cheeks, "So tell me, stud," she purred, "What sort of evil plans do you take part in?"

The weasel clenched his fists in excitement. "Well, our latest plan involves ruining the reputation of Sonic the Hedgehog, as well as his brother."

"Oh?" Sonia smiled, "Go on…"

"See, Sonic's brother Manic isn't just a treasure hunter, he's a well-known thief… 'Finger smithing' as he calls it. Well, when people find out he's been stealing all of everyone's belongings, it'll ruin him, AND Sonic's image, since he's his brother and all… Blood is thicker than water, y'know."

"And what does this have to do with you?"

"That's the beauty of it!" the weasel grinned, "WE'RE responsible for all the stolen items! And we broke into Manic's shabby van and store everything in there in order to frame him! Genius, isn't it?"

Sonia smirked. "I'll say!" She stepped back and turned her head to a nearby barrel. "Got all that?"

The top popped off, and Tails jumped up, holding a video camera. "Yup! Every word!"

The weasel jumped back, "Wait, what? What's this?"

"And here's MY evil plot," Sonia sassed, "You were just set up, buddy!"

The weasel looked pathetically at Sonia. "But you still find me attractive, right..?"

Sonia responded by smacking him into the wall by Tails. The weasel crumpled to the ground, seemingly out. But as Tails climbed out of the barrel, he was blind-sided by the weasel, who jumped back up suddenly and snatched the camera out of his hands.

"Hey!" Tails cried, trying to grab it back, but the weasel had already disappeared in the alley way. The team didn't give up, however, and gave chase, despite not knowing where they were. Knuckles slammed into a dumpster, while Amy tripped over something slippery. Sticks, however, managed to grab someone. "I got him!" she chimed as she put him in a choke hold.

"No, Sticks, that's ME!" Tails cried.

Sticks choked harder. "That's what he'd want me to think!"

Sonia stayed out, only listening to the commotion, unaware of the figure sneaking up to her, and was suddenly grabbed from behind and yanked off. "Heeeyyy!"

"Just for that, you owe me a date, toots!" the weasel snarled, and eyed her down, "And with that get up, a hot date!"

"Hey creep!"

The weasel looked up, and barely had the chance to react as a blue force came speeding at him and slammed his fist into his face, knocking him for a loop. "Keep your dirty paws off my sister!" Sonic shouted.

The camera had flown from the weasel's hand, and soared across the air… and landed into the hands of a police officer.

"Oh! Officer!" Sonic called, "Thank goodness you just happened to be strolling by."

"What's all the commotion here?" the cop grunted.

"See for yourself!" said Tails as everyone came out of the alley, "That's evidence of the REAL thief of Hedgehog Village!"

"That's the beauty of it!" the weasel grinned, "WE'RE responsible for all the stolen items! And we broke into Manic's shabby van and store everything in there in order to frame him! Genius, isn't it?"

Sonia smirked. "I'll say!"

The police officer stopped the tape there. "That's all the evidence we need," he spoke as he turned to Sonia, "Young lady, we do NOT condemn that sort of work around here! This is supposed to be a family friendly village…"

"No, no, dude!" Sonic cut in, "She only did it 'cause I asked her to. We were trying to record evidence on who the REAL thief was!"

"Meaning Manic is innocent!" Amy added, "So he should be free to go, right?"

The cop looked back over at the tape and rubbed his chin. "I suppose so…" He snapped his head back up at the magenta hedgehog, "But I'm watching you, missy!"

Sonia snarled. "You better not!"

Sonic, his friends, his sister, and his newly released brother exited the police station and headed off together. "Manic, I'm so sorry we doubted you," said Amy, "I should've known you wouldn't have broken your promise to me."

Sonic looked to the side and gave a small grunt. Amy glared over. "And you, Sonic?" she spoke, "Is there something you have to say as well?"

The blue hedgehog sighed. "Okay, I guess I was too quick to blame Manic. I mean, I like being out on my own, away from Mobodoon and all my royal responsibilities. And even though you guys being here threatens everything that I've been trying to hide… I guess I sound too much like I don't want you guys in my life, 'cause that's not true. I love you guys. Really."

He turned to Manic and Sonia. "After all, it's been years since I've seen you… It is kinda nice to catch up again. When it's time for you to leave…" He looked to the ground. "I am gonna miss you."

Knuckles wiped away a tear. "Aww, Sonic… that's so touching!"

Sonia nodded. "Yeah," she smiled, "It's nice to hear all that from you, bro…"

Sonic smiled back, and looked over to Manic… and raised an eyebrow when he noticed he still had the freaked out expression. "Uh… Manic? You okay in there?"

"As I was saying," Sonia smirked, "It's nice to hear you say that. Since Manic is still shaken up from his near death experience, he'll still need time to recuperate. So I was thinking maybe he and I could stay here a few more weeks, maybe more."

Sonic's eyes widened. "Wha..?"

"Also, Manic's van's so shoddy, it's easy to break into. How else could the Lightning Bolt society get all that stuff in it?" Sonia continued, "Maybe we should shelter at your shack, Sonic?"

Sonic's look didn't ease up. "Uhhh….."

"That's great!" Amy chimed, "I'd love to hear more about Sonic growing up!"

"And I'm so happy to have you here longer, Sonia!" Knuckles chimed.

Sonia smiled flirtatiously, then looked over to Sonic. "Well, Sonic? What do you say?"

"Wha…? Uhhh…." Sonic shook his head. "Um, yea, sure, great! Awesome…" He put on a smile… which behind it all was filled with pure horror.