Tails walks around the wooden platforms, a scanner in hand hoping to find any indication of where the ruby may be. It's the middle of the day at this point, Sonic stands there from a distance watching him while Nine and Mangey sit by the tree in the shade.

"Find anything yet?!" Sonic shouts.

"No!" Tails back.

Mangey, a complete curious creature starts sniffing Nine who flinches when Mangey gets close to him.

"What are you doing?!" Nine asks, slowly inching away from Mangey.

Mangey looks Nine in the face for a second with a blank stare and then goes right back to sniffing his shirt. Nine gently nudges him away a bit, Mangey jumps on top of Nine and starts licking his face. Nine struggles to get Mangey off him as he continues to hold onto him and lick him.

"Ahhh come on! Sonic!" Nine shouts.

Sonic turns around and bursts out into laughter when he sees Mangey licking Nine up, Nine snarls when he sees Sonic teetering around.

"Aw, he likes you" Sonic says.

"I don't want him on me! Tell him to get off!" Nine shouts, still trying to pry him off of his chest.

"Okay okay, Mangey... Come on, get off Nine" Sonic says, taking a moment to catch his breath.

Surprisingly, Mangey does indeed get off of Nine and runs over to Sonic, embracing him while laughing excitedly. Sonic hugs him back and looks over at the disgruntled Nine who furiously wipes the saliva off his face.

"Does he only listen to you?" Nine asks, as he brushes off his shirt.

"I think so. I think he had a romantic relationship with the Sonic he met previously, which is probably why he listens to me only right now. Maybe you can get him to listen to you one day too" Sonic says while Mangey gives him gives him kisses on the face.

"...That can't be a coincidence" Nine says.

"I'm thinking the same thing..." Sonic responds as he messages Mangey's chest, the fox purring and stamping his foot on the floor in satisfaction.

"Now I'm not Tails, but I feel like the gem has some sort of influence on us, or affecting our ability to travel where we want with Tails' device. Did you choose random numbers when you put in the coordinates for this place?"

"Y-Yea-... Wait... I'm not sure. You might be right actually" Nine responds, beginning to question if his actions were his own.

"Found something!" Tails shouts.

Nine and Sonic immediately look his way to see Tails running back towards them. When he comes to a stop, he show's the two the screen. The supposed location of the ruby was there, indicated by a red dot.

"Well then, what are we waiting for... Let's go!" Sonic says, excited for the journey that was to follow.

-

Tails tracks the source of the dot to a huge tree several kilometres away. It takes them three hours to get to the tree, three hours of sweat, exhaustion, water breaks and heat exhaustion. They finally come across a huge tree with, dim red light coming from a hole.

Mangey peek's in looking at it, staring in awe as Tails pulls something from out of his bag and turns it on, it's sort of like an axe but with a white handle and blue glowing blade. Tails swings right next to Mangey's face making him yelp and scurries over to Sonic squeezing him tightly, whimpering as Sonic

"Whoa! What was that for?!" Sonic shouts.

Tails looks over at Sonic, his eyes burning a hole in his soul, Sonic gulps, immediately figuring out why Tails nearly took poor Mangey's head off.

"Is it because he kissed me...?" Sonic says, messaging the shaking little Mangey's back to try and calm him down.

"Oh... So you do know why..." Tails says, devoid of any empathy.

"Okay, okay! Just don't hurt him, Sheesh" Sonic says shielding Mangey with his arm.

Nine gulps, remembering just how truly terrifying Tails can be, after all he almost met his end to Tails back in his universe, and the memories of his near death were likely never going to fade away.

"I'm watching you Sonic... And you too" Tails says as he turns around and starts swinging the VibroAxe into the wood.

Sonic clears his throat, and continues to message Mangey as Sonic watches Tails swing and swing, continuing to do so until the side of the tree has a sizeable hole in it. Tails looks in and sees the ruby glowing brightly, the light feels warm on his skin, he steps into the hollow tree a slowly approaches it.

Sonic, Nine and Mangey slowly coke in from behind him, Tails looks back at Sonic who nods. Tails takes a breath, readying himself for what was to follow and he puts his gloved hands on the gem... It starts to glow brighter and brighter, and eventually there's darkness, nothing but pitch black.

Tails opens his eyes slowly, the familiar sight of the crimson sky makes him sigh, he sits up from the shallow ocean of dark water, the other three doing the same. When Mangey sees the red sky he shouts and runs behind Sonic seeking his comfort.

"It's okay, you're okay... Don't worry" Sonic says, messaging his back.

Tails looks over and watches Sonic comfort the afraid little fox, he sighs and turns around. As if it was on queue, Lumios the eternal god of lust appears infront of them in a blinding flash of red light.

"You have returned" Lumios says, the tanuki lands in the shallow ocean the boys stand in.

"We seek answers... To his past" Nine says, looking over at the worried little Mangey.

"Straight to the point I see... Very well" Lumios goes as they walk up to Nine, looking him in the face before strolling over to Sonic and Mangey who's growing ever more rattily now that Lumios is getting close to them.

"If it is answers you want, it will be answers you get... But be warned, like his past-"

Lumios looks back at Nine and then back to Sonic and Mangey, Tails gulps nervously as Lumios eyes Sonic down.

"-It is rather... Tragic"

Lumios starts to levitate into the air and with a wave of magic and bright eye searing crimson coloured light. They are shown the very jungle where Mangey lived, the sun looks brighter, plants ever more lively, and the sounds of celebration fill the air.

"So this was four years ago-" Sonic says as he looks around at the trees.

"I have to say the forest looks healthier" Tails says as he looks around too.

"It's almost like-" Nine starts.

Before Nine can finish his thought, a dirty yet high spirited Sonic jumps out of a bush catching them all three off by surprise. It's easy to tell it's the one Mangey knew and loved by the camouflage patterns on his boots and gloves. When Mangey sees him he tries to run after him but Sonic stops him.

"He's not real... Lumios is just showing us your memories, we wanna get to know you better so we wanna see what happened to you" Sonic says, hands on Mangey's shoulders.

Mangey looks down at the ground solemnly and just stands next to Sonic and watches the memory as if it's a movie.

~

Sonic slams a basket of berries on a wood table, breathing heavily as he looks up infront of him. A hand reaches out and picks up a small green and yellow coloured one.

"There you go Prim... All the different types you asked for" Sonic says.

Standing opposite to Sonic is a familiar white bat dressed in jungle garb, Rouge but at the same time not Rouge.

"You're getting better at this" She says.

"Yeah well you drilled it into my head which ones are good and which ones make you croak" Sonic responds.

"I suppose I did" Prim responds, laughing to herself.

"How are the others?" Sonic asks.

"Eager" Prim responds, examining the berries Sonic bought back.

"Can't blame them, we did literally just defeat the Chaos Council a few days ago" Sonic responds, somewhat proud of what he had accomplished thanks to the help of the scavengers.

"...What about what happened back in that city world you were in? Weren't you gonna-"

"Me and Nine didn't really see eye to eye. Heh, dude hates my guts... And has the last shard I need to get home, guarded tight by his robot army too" Sonic responds, scratching the back of his head.

"This may not be your home, and we may not be the friends and family you originally had. But... I'm hoping we can change that" Prim responds, putting her hand on Sonic's shoulder.

Sonic manages a grin, "Thanks... I hope so too"

That night there was a celebration around a campfire, everyone is there, dancing, laughing, jumping around and eating. Sonic and Thorn Rose spin around dancing, while Hangry plays a little drum by the fire and Knarly dances around with Prim. Everyone's there... All except for Mangey who's sits by the lake looking at his reflection.

Sonic takes notice of Mangey and goes over to see if he's okay.

"Yo-"

Mangey flinches and spins around immediately when he sees Sonic, the hedgehog is taken by surprise when Mangey suddenly turns to him the way he did.

"Whoa... Okay. Um, I forgot you can't talk so this is a bit awkward" Sonic goes, Scratch the back of his head.

Sonic extends his hand out and shows Mangey a dark blue square shaped berry, Mangey's eyes immediately focus on it.

"It's a niyos berry! Prim told me you love these so... Here you go I guess" Sonic says, slowly inching closer so he can give the berry to Mangey.

The feral critter snatches it from Sonic's hand and eats it up as fast as Sonic could even blink, Sonic gasps and nods slightly.

"Huh... Okay. Well uh, I'm gonna go back and hang with the others, wanna come join us?" Sonic asks.

Mangey turns around and looks back at the water. Sonic sighs he knows trying to connect with Mangey probably isn't a good thing to try and do right now so he turns and starts walking back towards the fire, taking a second to look back at Mangey who still has his back turned, hunched over looking at his reflection in the water.

"So?" Thorn goes, putting her hand on her hip.

"Prim was right, he isn't much of a talker... Or he just can't say anything at all" Sonic says.

"I tried to tell ya" Thorn goes.

"Y-Yeah... I'm just gonna leave him alone for the night. He doesn't seem to be in much of a social mood anyway" Sonic responds.

"At least you tried" Thorn says.

"Yeah. At least I did... Come on, tell me that story one more time, I'm loving where you wer going with that" Sonic says, leaning on the side of one of the trees with a suave grin on his face.

Thorn smirks and looks him in the eyes, "Well if you're enjoying it that much-"

Mangey eventually gets tired of staring into the water and sighs, he looks around and notices the shadow of the berry Sonic presented to him. His eyes light up and he scurries over to pick it from the branch, without examining it at all he pops it in his mouth and chews it.

A minute goes by and Mangey feels fine, however soon he begins to feel his vision fade in and out, his head feels light as a piece of paper, his throat feels like its burning and he feels unsettlingly weak... He moans and starts breathing heavily as he looks up towards the camp fire which slowly begins to look like a wavy colourful mess.

Sonic and Rose are laughing themselves to death when Sonic hears Mangey moaning weakly, the smile on his face quickly washes away into a panicked frown and he dashes over to Mangey just as he finally loses his balance, and catches him in his arms.

"What's wrong?!" Prim shouts.

"I-I don't know" Sonic responds, putting his hand on his forehead, "But his forehead feels like it's on fire"

The others run over and surround Mangey. Thorn notices his neck is a dark shade of purple and gasps audibly, she knew now why he was having this reaction.

"He ate a psynos berry, they're poisonous!" Thorn says.

"Is there a cure?" Sonic says looking up at Prim.

"Smash a kelo berry and rub it on his neck" Prim responds.

"Great, what do they look like?" Sonic asks as Mangey groans and shakes in his hands.

"Green and blue... Um, diamond shaped" Knarly responds.

Sonic gets up and runs off to look for the kelo berries leaving the others to tend to the struggling Mangey. A few minutes pass by and he finally comes back with three berries in his hands.

"These?" Sonic asks.

"Yeah, those... Hurry, his breathing is getting worse" Prim urges.

Sonic takes off his gloves and lays them on the dirt, picking up one of the berries and crushing it in his hands, the smell is sweet and tangy on his nose. Sonic rubs his hands together and starts to rub the crushed berries on Mangey's neck. It takes some time but Mangey eventually finds it easier to breathe, the fog in his brain clearing up, the poison was slowly starting to subside, the berries did their job.

When Mangey's vision steadies out, the first thing he sees is Sonic's emerald green eyes looking into his. He doesn't know if the psynos berry was still in his system or not, but Sonic seemed more warm in his eyes, said warmth slowly easing its way into his heart, making it feel like it was a sauna.

Sonic notices Mangey's blushing face and waves his hand infront of his face, "Prim, are you sure this worked?"

"It should have..." Prim responds, somewhat concerned too.

Mangey suddenly grabs hold of Sonic and squeezes him tightly, Sonic shouts taken back by his sudden reaction. Everyone's worry dies down when they see Mangey sobbing, relieved to have survived such an experience. Sonic slowly embraces Mangey as he lays in his arms shaking and shuddering.

"You're okay... You ate a poisonous berry, but prim showed me how to cure you!" Sonic says.

Mangey groans and lays on Sonic's chest. Sonic looks up at Prim wondering if she knew how he was feeling right now.

"I think he just needs some rest" Prim says.

"Yeah... I guess he does. I'll take him back to the tree base" Sonic says, lifting him up in his arms.

Prim nods and they all step back so they can gives Sonic room to run off. Sonic dashes off kicking up a noticeable cloud of dust as he takes Mangey up a large tree peeking above the canopy. The entire time Sonic carries Mangey, the little fox is looking up at Sonic, his brain telling him to keep his eyes on Sonic's face the entire time.

Sonic finally arrives there, Mangey still gripping him tightly. Since the defeat of the Chaos Council and his isolation in the Boscage Maze, he helped create little tents for each of the scavengers to sleep in made if wood, some pelts, leaves and rope.

Sonic carries Mangey to his tent and gently lets him down on top of a pile of leaves which were essentially their beds. Sonic puts his hand on Mangey's forehead to see if he had a fever, he wasn't burning up but he was still feeling the effects of the psynos berry.

"You stay here and rest, okay?" Sonic says to him.

Sonic is just about to leave but Mangey grabs his arm and whimpers. Sonic turns and sees the worry in his eyes, as if he was begging Sonic to stay, the hedgehog understood though, after all he almost died... Comfort was the one thing he was desperate for.

"Okay... I'll stay" Sonic says, sitting down next to him.

Mangey manages a smile and takes Sonic's hand, now that Sonic's there to ease his conscience he can relax, he can calm down. Sonic watches him close his eyes and messages his hand and lays back with him, content with Mangey's condition, it doesn't take long before he starts snoring quietly next to him.

"Good night Mangey" Sonic says, looking over at him.

Sonic eventually falls asleep next to Mangey. When the others return from the celebration back in the woods. Prim peeks into Mangey's tent and sees Sonic and Mangey sleeping in there, it puts a smile on her face and she moves on so she too can sleep.

~

"Wow" Sonic goes, surprised at what he saw.

"Heh heh, it's a good thing I packed food" Tails says, sweating nervously.

"Y-Yeah" Nine goes, also relieved Tails packed food.

Mangey shifts visibly emotional by the memory, Sonic puts his hand on his shoulder, trying to soothe him as he sniffles.

"Does it hurt to watch?" Sonic asks.

Mangey shakes his head, not wanting Sonic to worry about him, shakes his head swiftly.

"It's fine, really. You look like you need support anyway" Sonic says, smiling at him reassuringly.

Sonic's kindness makes Mangey more emotional and he grabs onto him. Though it irked him, Tails could feel his heart melt when Sonic offered to comfort him, it put a smile on his face whenever he saw Sonic being kind to others, reminding him of just how selfless he truly was.

With a brief yet bright flash of red, they are shown a month after the incident where Mangey died, they see the blue hedgehog and scruffy little fox walking together in the woods.

~

"What a great day... I mean like, it's nicer than usual" Sonic says looking up at the sky.

Mangey looks Sonic's way, seeing if he'd say anything else, Sonic stretches his arms out as he continues to walk with the fox on the dirt path.

"You know Mangey, it's honestly pretty nice seeing you go out more rather then just lounge around and chase butterflies all day" Sonic says to him.

Mangey grumbles and looks down at the dirt, Sonic leans forward to try and see what kind of expression Mangey had on his face, when he notices Sonic looking over at him he yelps and jumps back a bit, Sonic chuckles a bit amused by his reaction.

"I never thought I'd see you so shy either" Sonic says, laughing some more.

Mangey's face reddens a bit, he wouldn't admit it but hearing Sonic laugh made him happy.

"Okay, I'll stop pushing you around. But really, thanks for coming out with me dude" Sonic says to him.

Mangey tries to say something back but all that comes out is a struggled breath. Sonic realises he tried to speak so he stops walking and stares at him for a second impressed that he even tried to at all.

"M-Mangey... Are you trying to speak?" Sonic asks, putting his hand on his shoulder.

He looks down at the ground in embarrassment, Sonic turns his head his direction and looks Mangey in the eyes.

"Mangey... That's awesome. Hey, I know! I can show you want I can show you how to read and write!" Sonic offers.

Mangey looks into Sonic's eyes, his caring, harmless eyes, it makes his chest swell and heat up. Sonic offering to help him out and teach him how to communicate made him excited, so much so it made him smile and whine, he nods which makes Sonic excited.

"Alright! Don't worry buddy, we'll get you speaking and writing and reading in no time" Sonic says.

Mangey hugs him tightly which takes Sonic back a bit, the hedgehog grins too and picks him up from off the ground spinning him around and laughing with Mangey.

Over the next few months, Sonic would slowly show Mangey how to communicate better, helping him practice speaking, explaining complicated words to him and showing him how to form sentences and write them down. As those months go by, Mangey finds it increasingly harder to resist the warmth in his chest when he's with Sonic, he starts to crave it, it becomes intoxicating almost.

There would be this spot in the rainforest where Mangey and Sonic would go so Sonic could teach Mangey with minimal distractions. A nice open area surrounded by trees that Thorn cut down so the jungle could get some sunlight, the two would spend hours sitting on a chopped log and Sonic would show him how to write and tell him stories, a great way to open up the fox's developing mind.

"Flower" Sonic says to him.

"Fower" Mangey goes in a raspyish voice.

"You forgot the L, try again"

"Ffffflower"

" A bit too long there but that was good, okay okay... Now try to say tree"

"Jee" Mangey says.

Sonic shakes his head, "Tr-ee, go on try it"

"Tree" Mangey says, looking into Sonic's eyes.

"Perfect!" Sonic goes, patting him on the head.

The gesture makes him excited and he purrs like a cat.

"Alright, now I want you to write those words down" Sonic says.

Mangey pouts, turns away and crosses his arms, obviously not looking forward to trying to write, Sonic sighs and puts his hand on his shoulder.

"I know you're not good at it now, but ya just gotta keep practicing, okay?"

Mangey turns back to Sonic and reluctantly nods, Sonic opens up a book with empty pages and gives Mangey a pencil.

Sonic watches as Mangey tries to write a few words on the paper, since Mangey had been doing this for a while his handwriting was somewhat readable but sloppy and hard to make out almost.

"That's a bit too big"

Mangey grumbles, visibily frustrated at his poor handwriting.

"That p is a bit too long there at the bottom"

Mangey sqeezes the book, Sonic puts his hand on his.

"Remember, you're learning, it's okay for it to look bad, it's gonna get better, just give it some time" Sonic says to him.

Mangey starts to calm down, Sonic's words were soothing anger in his chest and he sighs, the hedgehog takes the book and pats Mangey's back. Sonic stands up and stretches his arms and legs, Mangey gets up too and barks.

"I think we've done enough for today, why don't we go back-"

The starts whimpering which makes Sonic look his way, the hedgehog saw that he wanted something he just didn't know what he wanted.

"What's wrong"

Mangey puts his hand on Sonic's chest and then his neck, "Sing?"

Now that Sonic understood what he wanted he sighs and smiles at him, "Why do you like that song so much? Actually, better question, why do you like when I sing it?"

Mangey blushes and looks Sonic in the eyes, putting his hands on his own chest, smiling like a goofball.

"It makes you feel warm inside?"

He nods. Sonic puts his hand on his head and brings him close so he can rest his head on his chest, "Okay... Sure"

Mangey licks his face lovingly and presses his head gently back on his chest. Sonic delicately holds him as he begins to sing him a soothing toon.

"Little bird, Up In The Tree
Won't Come down and sing with me?
I know the sun is fading, but I'm the one waiting for you
To open my heart, throw me a dart
Show me what it means to love, I'll lift you up above
It's getting late, look at the state of you-"

At this point Mangey feels inclined to try and sing along with him as Sonic, so he does, and he actually sounds good doing it which surprises Sonic, but he welcomes it.

"Stars in the sky, the air feels so dry
But this evening couldn't get any better, why don't we just sit down and settle
Tonight, we we fly, take to he sky
Our hearts beating on the fly
There's no one else I would rather be with
Then you"

When they're done, Mangey licks Sonic's face and sighs, getting to do that with him made him feel good.

"I don't know why you like that song so much but if it makes you feel good then hey I'll keep singing it for you" Sonic says.

The fox jumps on Sonic and holds onto him tightly, purring lovingly. Sonic laughs a bit as he holds Mangey in his arms, carrying him back to the hideout.

When Sonic gets there Mangey is fast asleep in his arms, he gently sets him down in his tent and looks down at him for a sec.

"How's he doing?" Prim asks, carrying an empty basket.

"His reading comprehension is getting better, and I think that I discovered singing helps him learn" Sonic says.

"Singing?, that's unusual"

"Yeah, but it seems to be working out for him. How are others?"

"Dead asleep... So, are you excited for tomorrow?" Prim asks, grinning at Sonic.

Sonic turns and looks up at her, "You know I am"

"Great, trust me you're going to have so much fun" Prim says.

"Oh I know. I'm gonna hit the hay, g'night" Sonic responds.

The hedgehog goes off to his own little tent and closes it by pulling down the huge leaf used for privacy. Prim turns back around so she can carry the basket back to her tent but before she steps forward she hears Mangey groaning as he shuffles out of his tent and goes to Sonic's, out of curiosity she puts the basket down and peeks into Sonic's tent to see why Mangey went in there.

She finds the fox fast asleep on an already asleep Sonic and just stares blankly, but when she thinks about how much Mangey has improved since that night by the lake, she understands why Mangey always sought comfort in Sonic, why he's always eager to learn how to communicate from him. A grin appears on her face as she stares a bit more and then leaves the tent.

The following day would go by, relatively normally so to speak. Knarly and Hangry would bring back a ton of food, Sonic would gather sticks and branches from across the jungle and Prim would spend all night making smoothie-esque drinks, all in preparation for a welcoming ritual, to welcome Sonic into their group. Everyone was doing their part... All except for Mangey who had been missing since sunrise.

"Mangey!" Prim shouts from behind a tree.

"Hey little dude where are you?" Sonic shouts too.

"Where could he have gone?" Prim asks.

"I wish I knew" Sonic responds, "Has he done this before"

"Here and there, but not for this long, it's concerning" Prim responds, scratching her arm.

"Maybe he wants a break from all the writing lessons. Can't really blame him" Sonic goes with a shrug.

"Yeah, but he looked like he was having fun" Prim responds.

"He is, but he's been working hard so if you ask me, he deserves that break" Sonic says, looking over at Prim.

Prim looks up at the sky, it's orange, a few flickies fly overhead in a line as she narrows her eyes towards the sun.

"It's getting late" Prim responds.

Sonic puts his hand on her shoulder and she turns to face him, "I'm sure he'll turn up, he has to"

Prim looks down at the dirt and squeezes her fist, "I hope you're right"

After a another half hour of searching the two just decide to go back to the hideout and call it quits. The celebration goes off without a hitch and Sonic gets his face painted by Prim, one yellow streak of paint, another green one, and a blue one each on his cheeks, when Prim is done painting his face, everyone cheers and jumps around excitedly.

They all sit around the fire and listen to stories from Sonic about Mobius, he would tell them about his battles with Robotnik, his friends, and about the misadventures he would have with his friends.

"So then Knuckles climbs the rock, jumps off of it and body slams Starline, it was funny and satisfying at the same time"

"This Starline sounds like someone who should meet my fist" Knarly says, a smirk on his face.

Sonic stares blankly at him for a second and then resumes his tale, "So then he picks him up while he's screaming and hoists him up in the air and he shouts "Get your creepy butt off my island"!"

"This Knuckles sounds brave, it must have been an honour to fight along side him" Prim says, enjoying Sonic's story.

Sonic stares at her and then looks at Knarly who's picking the pieces of food out of his teeth, "I literally just just described to you what he looks like"

"What does he look like?" Thorn asks.

"Him" Sonic says, pointing at the clueless Knarly, "He literally looks like him but without all the face paint and the leaf hat"

"Huh? A clone of me?!" Knarly says, as if he had just discovered that information.

Sonic face palms, "I keep forgetting you guys aren't the brightest sometimes"

Something hits Sonic on the back of the head, making him flinch and turn around, a small pebble the size of a coin. To Sonic's surprise he sees Mangey waving at him and jumping up and down excitedly.

"Oh look who finally decided to show up" Sonic says, waving back at Mangey who runs over to Sonic and grabs hold of him while laughing excitedly.

"There you are! We were worried about you!" Prim shouts, aggravated with how late he came back.

"Shorry" Mangey goes, looking down at the ground, feeling bad for making her worry.

"Just don't do this again" Prim says, she rubs his head and steps back.

The fox cheers up again and looks up at Sonic who meets his gaze. The little fox starts tugging on Sonic's hand, taking him away from the others.

"W-Whoa, where are we going?" Sonic asks, stumbling a little.

Mangey just laughs excitedly and holds Sonic's hand and walks off with him along another wooden walkway across from where the others were, he turns to Prim who just shrugs.

"I'll be back!" He shouts.

"I know!" She says back.

The peppy little Mangey stops and embraces Sonic while purring. Sonic, not understanding what's going on hugs him back.

"Are you gonna explain to me why you've been gone the whole day?" Sonic says, letting go of him and crossing his arms.

Mangey sits down on the platform infront of Sonic and sighs, he reaches into one of his pockets and grabs hold of what he's looking for as Sonic sits down infront of him. He covers whatever he has in his hands and looks up into Sonic's eyes, smiling warmly at him.

"Is that a gift?" Sonic asks, wondering what he was gonna present him with.

Mangey reveals what it is, a pink berry in the shape of a perfect heart. Sonic stares at it for a second and remembers something Prim told him when she was telling him about the various berries in the Boscage Maze. When someone presents you a Leva Berry, it means they have undying love for you.

"Th-Thats for me?" Sonic says looking up at him.

Mangey nods subtly, his face as pink as the berry he hold, heart beating a million miles an hour, he opens his mouth and starts to speak.

"I... Ruv... You" He says, crying tears of happiness.

Sonic blushes and looks into Mangey's eyes, he never thought of Mangey would ever feel this way about him, his chest feels like its melting. He didn't know what about him was making him feel so tender inside, maybe it was his innocent eyes or the memories he made with him a kind, curious little soul... One who was now eager to love him.

"I-I uh, this is new for me... But you know what?"

Mangey's eyes widen as he waits for Sonic to finish what he was going to say. Anxiously awaiting his next few words.

"... I wanna see where it goes"

A bright, relieved grin appears on the crying fox's face as Sonic laughs at him and puts his hand on his shoulder.

"I never realised how cute you were until now"

The fox can't hold himself back anymore and he jumps on top of Sonic, licking his face excitedly and furiously and touches noses with a laughing Sonic. The hedgehog sits up, Mangey laying on top of him, head on his shoulder, Sonic gives him a squeeze and messages his back. Mangey gives him the fruit and motions for Sonic to eat it.

"Oh, okay... I'll try it" Sonic says, a hand on the blushing Mangey's face.

Sonic without a second thought pops it in his mouth.

"Mmm, that is very tart... It's like a candy explosion, wow"

Mangey laughs nervously and leans in to lick Sonic, still overjoyed that Sonic loved him too.

"Hey, stop it!" Sonic says through laughter.

Sonic stands up and picks him up, holding him in his arms, Mangey moans and rests his head on him again.

"You wanna tell the others?" Sonic asks.

Mangey nods, looking up at Sonic with lovesick littles eyes, "Heh, you're bold"

Sonic carries a smiling Mangey back to the fire like a bride, when he approaches the others they all turn to them, staring at the two wondering why their so mushy with each other.

"What are you two goofballs doing now?" Knarly asks, crossing his arms.

"Well, Mangey wanted to tell me something, which is why he threw the rock at me-"

"I Ruv Him!" Mangey shouts, full of excitement, squeezing Sonic tightly.

Sonic is caught off guard by Mangey suddenly grabbing hold of him the way he did. The others take a moment to process what Mangey revealed, their facial expressions blanker than a pice of paper.

"Tada!" Sonic goes nervously grinning.

"Wow... Well that's.... So cool!" Prim goes, genuinely happy for them.

"W-Wait, he's in love with him?" Knarly says, finally realising what was going on, "That's cool"

"Yeah... He is" Sonic says, still holding an overjoyed Mangey in his arms, "How could I say no?"

"You'll take good care of him, right?" Prim says.

"What kind of guy would I be if I didn't?" Sonic responds, letting Mangey nibble his face.

"Congratulations you guys!" Hangry shouts.

"You two better get married!" Thorn shouts.

"I hope we get to!" Sonic says.

Everyone cheers the two, celebrating their new relationship. Now, Sonic wasn't the only thing to celebrate, but him, Mangey and their newfound love for eachother, and as fast as they got together, they got closer even more so. After the celebration died down and everyone finally retired for the night, he fox that night decided to move into Sonic's tent, so Sonic spent all night helping him move the few things he had inside.

"And that should be the last of it" Sonic says putting down a toy Mangey admired.

The hedgehog sits down next to him on the leaf bed and immediately the eager fox perks up, his tails wagging excitedly.

"How does my face paint look?"

"Gud"

"Haha, I knew you'd like it"

Mangey stretches his arms out, waiting for Sonic to embrace him. Without hesitation, Sonic does indeed hug him, it puts a satisfied smile on Mangey's face when when his head comes in contact with Sonic's chest.

"I'm proud of you for being able to say you love me, I hope you know that"

Mangey laughs and punches him in the chest lightly.

"You ready to go to bed?" Sonic asks.

Mangey nods and licks Sonic's face, the hedgehog blows out the candle and lays back on the pile of leaves he made into his "pillow".

"Night Mangey" Sonic says stroking his face.

Mangey purrs and looks back into Sonic's eyes, the eyes of his hero, his teacher, his love.

~

"How sweet are those berries exactly?" Sonic says.

Mangey brings his hands together and spreads them out as far as he can.

"Oh... I wanted to try one but now I'm afraid I'll have a sugar crash" Sonic responds.

"This is a pretty sweet story, and it looks like everything was going right for him... What happened?" Tails asks, looking up at Lumios.

"We're just about at that part... But be be warned, what you see at first may be desirable, but what follows is a similar story" Lumios answers.

Nine has an idea of what Lumios is talking about but doesn't say anything. The boys look back forward, and with another bright red flash of light, there's a time skip, the rainforest looks healthier than usual, more lively since Mangey opened up to Sonic.

~

"Jree!"

"No, tree"

"T-Tree"

"Yes, good job!"

Though the two were now together, it didn't stop Sonic from trying to show Mangey how to read and write. The hedgehog holds a book in front of Mangey as the fox sits on a hollow log with words written in English, trying to get him to practice his vocal skills.

"Wush"

Sonic shakes his head, "Bush... Bush. You try it"

"B......Bush"

"See you're getting there! Okay try this one!"

"Water" Mangey goes.

"Perfect!" Sonic shouts, throwing his hands up in the air.

Mangey grins proud that he could pronounce water properly.

"Okay, let's take a break, you're on fire today!" Sonic says sitting next to him and closing the book.

Mangey grabs hold of Sonic and licks his face, the hedgehog laughs appreciating his affectionate gesture, Sonic puts his finger on his snout and smirks.

"You know there's a much more fun way to show affection, rather than licking my face all the time" Sonic says.

Mangey tilts his head to the side and looks at Sonic like a confused puppy, Sonic slowly and gently takes hold of his face. Mangey's nose feels warm, Sonic being this close to him made him squirm excitedly.

Then a surprise, one that makes fireworks go off inside of both of them, a well timed, tender kiss on the lips from Sonic, Mangey's chest feels like it's going to explode as Sonic moves his hands from his face to his waist while still tasting the little Mangey's lips. Soon, he can't take it anymore and he finds himself kissing Sonic back, he engaged in this new activity so much he pulls Sonic on top of him. The two pull away from each other, a string of saliva connecting their tongues.

"Sparks" Mangey says softly, looking into Sonic's eyes, blushing heavily.

Sonic shakes, looking into Mangey's eyes, "... Fireworks"

The two press back up on each others lips, from there it doesn't take long for things to get hot and heavy. Mangey yips suddenly as Sonic caresses him and kisses his neck, Sonic immediately sits up and raises his hands up in the air.

"Crap, you okay?"

Mangey nods swiftly, not wanting Sonic to worry about him.

"I thought I touched you somewhere sensitive... That's a relief"

The fox looks down in-between his legs, then back up at Sonic, blushing in embarrassment. When Sonic realises why he suddenly made that sound, his face turns full on tomato mode.

"Oh... Okay... Um... So that's why"

Mangey bites his lip and raises his hands, his black claws sticking out. He gestures to Sonic, showing him what he wants, one finger threw a hole creates by his thumb and pointer finger. Sonic doesn't even need a second to guess what Mangey is asking him to do, his face feels like it's boiling now as Mangey continues to look at him with loving eyes.

"Y-You really wanna do that?"

Mangey nods, without hesitation. Sonic gulps and breaks his gaze from the peaceful little Mangey, he takes a deep breath and looks back at him.

"Okay... This might tickle... Or hurt, I don't know how your body works"

Sonic decides to start off nice and slow, caressing his body, the feeling of Sonic's hands on his body makes Mangey moan. Gently, sliding himself in-between his legs as he kisses him up, the fox grabs hold of Sonic and squeezes him while he continued to excite him. Soon though, Sonic raises Mangey's legs up and wraps his arms around him, he doesn't waste anytime and goes in for it.

When Mangey feels Sonic breaking into him, he yelps and moans loudly, the feeling takes him by surprise and it doesn't take long for Sonic to go in and out of him. The burning sensation in Mangey's stomach hurts, but soon it turns from pain to pleasure, pleasure that makes him feel like his whole body is buzzing, Sonic bites down on Mangey's shoulder as he continues to push and pull out of him.

As the pleasure grows more and more overwhelming, Mangey starts to feel something building up in-between his legs, it feels like he's gonna explode, Sonic can feel himself reaching his limit to as he continues to pound on him, Mangey grabs hold of Sonic's face and kisses him aggressively while Sonic continues to go to town on him, both boy's hormones going wild, the moans and grunts they make echoing throughout the rainforest.

Finally, Sonic can't hold it in anymore and he just pushes himself deep into Mangey making him shout, Mangey squeezes Sonic as he takes him in, the feeling of slight little movements inside of him, the warmth, the sliminess, it make him grin and drool. All that pleasure inside him finally bursts out of him, all over his stomach and chest, Mangey breathes heavily as Sonic waits inside for it to stop. Sonic finally releases himself from Mangey and rolls off of him onto the dirt, on his back, panting heavily.

"Wow... Mmf, that got my heart going... How do you feel?"

Mangey blushes and grins at him, rolling off the log next to Sonic, pulling himself ontop of him and kissing his face - with his lips.

"Heh, I guess you liked that" Sonic says to Mangey while stroking his face.

"Sore" Mangey says through pained laughter.

"Oh, sorry... Want me to carry you?" Sonic asks, looking into his eyes.

Mangey nods and nuzzles Sonic's face affectionately. Sonic stands up and picks to panting fox up from off the ground, kissing him on the forehead as he carries him bridal style.

"I think we're gonna work out just fine you and I" Sonic says.

Mangey grins at him, still proud to be able to have shared a magical moment with him, with Sonic carries Mangey back to the hideout and sets him down on the bed, by the time they get back everyone's already asleep, he looks up at the stars in the sky, the ones that reminded him of his home, his true home. Mangey, having regained his strength grabs onto Sonic from behind moans loving while hugging him.

"I love you too" Sonic goes, putting his hand on his face.

The two kiss and touch noses with each other.

As time goes on, they become even more inseparable than they already are, flirtatious and promiscuous too. Mangey would find ways to get Sonic turned on just so he could get him on his back or on his stomach and Sonic would fall for it almost every time. Their love knew no limits, no obstacles. All was well, until one fateful day.

The sky is grey, clouds cover up the sky and the air is damp, chilly winds blow the leaves in the trees around and make noise as they do. That morning, everyone left to go gather food as their supply was running low, all except for Sonic and Mangey who had just finished having themselves some fun.

The two breathe heavily as they lay in a makeshift bed carved out part of the tree, the same room with all the polaroid pictures Sonic saw when Mangey first showed him the room. Mangey crawls on top of Sonic and kisses him aggressively and then licks his lips.

"Animal" Sonic says as he blushes heavily and looks into Mangey's flirty eyes.

Mangey uses his thumb to point to himself, then Sonic while grinning and giggling.

"Yeah... Okay, you're my animal" Sonic responds, scratching the back of his head.

He looks outside at the sky and sighs, Mangey licks his face and Sonic looks over at him, suddenly grabbing hold of him and kissing him briefly.

"Even though you're constantly horny, I still love you"

Mangey laughs and climbs on top of him, tails wagging excitedly as he lays on his chest looking at the green in Sonic's eyes.

"Walk" Mangey says.

"Sure, let me just wash up" Sonic responds, kissing his forehead.

Once Sonic and Mangey are all cleaned up the boys take a walk through the forest, holding hands, gives Sonic time to admire the trees and the greenery that surrounds them.

"What do you think the others will bring back?" Sonic says.

"Fish!" Mangey shouts, jumping up and down excitedly while still holding Sonic's hand.

"Why am I not surprised you're more excited for the meat" Sonic says, rolling his eyes.

"Gardivore!" Mangey goes.

"Carnivore... I hope you're not slacking off on your speaking lessons you goose" Sonic goes.

"Carnivore... Carnivore?" Mangey goes, not sure what a carnivore is.

"How do you not know what a-" Sonic takes a deep breath and relaxes himself before explaining to Mangey what a carnivore is, "A carnivore is someone like you, who likes eating meat... A lot. Come to think of it I'm a hedgehog and I used to eat a ton of meat back where I come from"

Sonic sees Mangey's eyes sparkling with curiosity as if he wanted Sonic to say more, when Sonic sees that look he sighs, not surprised that Mangey would want to know more. So he spends most of their walk explaining to him what carnivores, herbivores and omnivores are to him. Mangey hangs on to each word, learning things from Sonic made him feel great, like he was actually growing smarter, it also made him feel good when Sonic would talk to him, like his whole body was buzzing.

"And that's basically the gist of it..."

"Cool" Mangey says, hugging Sonic

Sonic embraces him back, his chest warming up as he wraps his arms around him, "Aw, you know how to melt my heart"

Then suddenly Mangey's ears perk up, he remembers something, something he's wanted to show Sonic for a long time. He jumps up in the air and spins his tails, Sonic is taken back by this but when Mangey extends his hands to him he knows what the fox wants.

"You wanna take me somewhere?" Sonic asks.

Mangey nods excitedly, Sonic grins and takes his hands. Mangey carries Sonic up above the trees a distance until they finally come across an opening, in it are these beautiful white flowers that look healthy and fresh, Mangey sets Sonic down in the field of flowers and drops by next to him.

"Wow, this is beautiful-"

Mangey bends down and picks one of the flowers while Sonic admires them. He taps Sonic on the shoulder and presents the flower to him while blushing heavily and beaming a warm smile his way.

"Oh for me?"

"M-Mar-"

Sonic's ears get warm when he hears Mangey try to say what he's about to say. But nonetheless he holds on, looking at him and only him.

"Marry me... Sonic" Mangey says, as he holds the flower out in front of him,

Sonic freezes for a moment, he then suddenly grabs hold of Mangey's face and kisses him passionately.

"Of course I'll marry you" Sonic says, pulling him close to his chest.

Mangey squeals excitedly and kisses Sonic again as the hedgehog wraps his arms around his waste and tastes the inside of his mouth, they separate momentarily so Sonic can put his hands on his face and message him.

"I love you, little mango"

Mangey eventually has Sonic sit down so he could make a little flower necklace, a symbol that the the two were engaged and due to marry any day, Sonic makes Mangey one too and when they're done Mangey knocks Sonic over onto his back and kisses him like theirs no tomorrow. Once the two are finally ready, they begin their way back to the hideout, arms intertwined with one another's.

"What do you want it to be like?" Sonic asks.

"Big" Mangey says, spreading his arms outwards.

"Same. Whatcha thinking? Tons of flowers?"

"Yez" Mangey says.

"Heh, I know you so well" Sonic responds.

"Life?" Mangey asks.

"Life?... I think it's gonna be great with you"

Mangey giggles and wraps his arms around Sonic's waist, Sonic rubs his head and chuckles.

"So do you just wanna spend the rest of the day by the fire?" Sonic asks.

"Warm?" Mangey goes.

"Yeah, that's why we're gonna be sitting by the fire" Sonic responds.

Mangey looks up at the sky, it's still cloudy and looks like it's going to rain any moment, Sonic looks up at the sky too, and grumbles frustratedly.

"Right, I just hope we don't get caught in the rain, I hate when my quills get wet" Sonic says.

A deafening boom suddenly rocks the jungle, shaking the ground and scaring off the flickies flying around the jungle. Sonic and Mangey's heads dart around as the search for the source of that sound.

"What the hell was that?! Do you guys get Earthquakes?"

Mangey shakes his head, then he notices the smoke cloud in the distance and points it out to Sonic.

"Wait isn't that where the hunting grounds are?" Sonic says, his chest tightening up nervously, "Prim!"

When the two realise what's going on, the run towards the smoke cloud, praying their friends weren't in danger, both their worried little hearts beating anxiously as they run together through the trees. As they get closer, they see a familiar face, Prim stumbling around, holding her stomach. Sonic runs over to her and catches her as she finally collapses to the ground.

"Prim!? What happened?" Sonic asks, applying pressure to her wound.

Mangey, worried about his friend, takes her hand and squeezes it tightly.

"We... Got attacked" She responds weakly.

"By who? By what?"

Prim looks up at Mangey and weakly raises her finger towards him, Mangey flinches when she does, "He looked like Mangey... But he wasn't Mangey"

"Wait... Does that mean-" Sonic goes, realising who it might be.

"You two are got engaged...?" She asks when she notices their white flower necklaces.

"Y-Yeah" Sonic responds, "Mangey wants to have a big wedding, heh heh"

"That's nice" She goes, slowly getting weaker.

When Sonic hears how weak she is, he tries desperately to find something anything that could save her, but she puts her blood covered hands on his and Mangey's faces, smiling at them with a weak grin.

"Congratulations, I hope your wedding goes the way you want"

"No no no, we want you to be there" Sonic says, tears flowing down his eyes.

"I'm not gonna make it Sonic, he fights like a lion. Just... Save the others... Please" She says.

Mangey squeezes harder, finding it difficult to come to terms with what's happening, after all she was his long time friend and watching Prim as she lay there dying was twisting his chest around.

"So much for roasted fish..." She wheezes.

With that, she's gone. Sonic pulls her close and squeezes her tightly, "No..."

Mangey shakes and sobs, Sonic gently sets her down and pulls Mangey close, trying to soothe him.

"We couldn't save her, but maybe we can save the others... Let's take him down, together-"

Mangey looks up at Sonic and gently punches his chest, his way of saying he'll protect him. Sonic does the same back to him and wipes the tears from his eyes.

"Come on, we'll bury her after this is over" Sonic says.

The two race back down closer to the sight of the explosion and what they find when they get there is nothing short of tragic... Also laying still on the ground was Hangry, who had been smashed into a tree, and Knarly who was laying on the ground lifeless in a pool of blood, with his right arm mangled and left one ripped off... The little leaf hat that once adorned his head, laying in the pool of blood.

Straight in front of them, Thorn was fighting a figure in a black, mud covered cloak with, two familiar looking tails sticking out from the back. She blocks an attack with her trusty hammer, and shoved her attacker backwards sending them sliding in the mud, Tails looks up at her, his glowing eyes as red as rubies, no emotion visible within whatsoever.

~

Nine squeezes his fist when he sees the reaper again. Sonic can hear him snarling as he looks forwards at him, wishing he could reach in and rip his throat out himself. Sonic looks at him and sees how aggravated he is.

"Nine-"

"I'm fine" Nine growls.

"You don't sound fine" Sonic says.

"Shut up" Nine sneers.

At that point, Sonic just decides to leave him alone, he looks down at Mangey who's visibly distressed, shaking and crying, having to see this painful day play out in front of him was making him unstable. To comfort him, Sonic embraces him and turns him away, having some sort of idea what was going to transpire next.

~

Without saying a word, the reaper jump up in the air, his black gloves and suit visible as he jumps towards Thorn who braces for impact. With a swipe of his hand, the handle of her hammer is cut up into several pieces. Her eyes go wide as she sees him then take another swing at her throat, slicing the pink hedgehog open, a stream of blood spilling out as she falls backwards onto the ground, covering her neck up desperately trying to save herself from bleeding out.

Tails grabs her by the throat, pulls her up, and raises his hand in the air, metal claws out and ready to slice. With a swift swing he plunges his claws into the bottom of her head, immediately she ceases movement and he drops her corpse in the mud.

"No!" Sonic screams.

That catches the reapers attention, and he slowly turns his head to Sonic and Mangey who are standing there. At this point, Sonic's gone from being emotional to infuriated and revenge driven.

"You know what-" Sonic points at the cloaked Tails standing there, "-You're going down"

Tails scrapes his claws against one another and prepares for Sonic's attack. Sonic opens up with a spin dash, it gets deflected Sonic slides in the mud, the red eyes of the cloaked Tails pierce Sonic's chest, the fear, the uneasiness, it's consuming him... But he refuses to waiver.

He dashes towards him, but to his surprise Tails dodges his attacks, slashing him in the side of his stomach, Sonic shouts and covered his wound, jumping away when he realises how fast his reaction time is. Mangey yelps and runs over to see if he's okay.

"I'm fine... Don't worry about me" Sonic says.

He gets in front of Mangey, shielding him. Tails presses a button on his metal claws and red glowing neon emerges from each finger, he jumps at Sonic and takes a swing which the hedgehog blocks with his arms, it stings and burns him but Sonic's not going to let him kill Mangey too, he's going to do anything he can to protect him.

Sonic spin dashes into Tails pushing him backwards, the fox responds in kind by taking several swings at Sonic, the hedgehog dodges them... However he's unable to avoid the sudden elbow strike to the face which gets his head spinning. At this point Mangey sees Sonic really does need help, so he jumps at Tails who grabs him by one of his tails spins him around and slams him into the dirt.

Sonic, having gathered back his stamina, strikes him from behind pushing him forwards a bit, he follows it up with a hook to the face, grabbing him by the cloak and swinging him into a tree. Tails looks up at him and spits the blood out of his mouth while Sonic helps Mangey from off the ground. Sonic turns back to Tails and charges straight towards him.

Sonic is able to strike him in the face again, but this time he eats the attack, as if did nothing to him. Sonic is suddenly slashed across his stomach, before he can jump back, Tails grabs his arm and what follows is deafening crunch sound.

"GAH!" Sonic screams.

He looks down at his arm, blood is leaking out and it's swelling up. Mangey tries yet again to take on their attacker, ramming into him and swinging rabbidly at Tails who responds to the furious attack by grabbing Mangey by the throat, kneeing him in the gut and tossing him towards a tree... Mangey hits his head on the tree, he's out, everything is black.

"Mangey!" Sonic shouts, worried about him.

Sonic's rage finally reaches its boiling point and he dashes at Tails with enough force to start pushing him backwards. The two are pushing against each other, blue and red lighting crackling around them. Sonic starts to notice Tails start to glow brighter and brighter... Until finally he unleashes a massive amount of energy which flings Sonic backwards, then as quick as Sonic could blink, he runs by him, slashing him in the legs.

The scream Sonic lets out a scream that echoes throughout the forest, it was as if a thousand tiny knives had slashed Sonic's legs, he collapses and continues to shout in agony. Tails slowly walks towards him and grabs him by the throat, lifting him up onto his damaged feet which Sonic can barely stand on. Sonic tries desperately to escape, punching and kicking desperately. All Tails does is just stare into his eyes, shades of red that would appear in your nightmares.

At this point Mangey's slowly starting to come around, groaning, ears ringing, vision wobbly. When he finally realises his situation, he looks around for Sonic. Just as his vision finally steadies out, what he sees horrifies him... Tails lifts his hand in the air winding it back, Mangey starts to run hoping his can stop the unwavering killer.

A blissful, firm swipe and the white flower necklace Sonic once wore is broken, flowers and pieces of flowers flowing through the air, his bandana also comes off, accompanied with a light shower of blood, it's so painful for Mangey to watch he freezes.

Tails grabs Sonic by the ear, yanks him forward and plunges his claws into Sonic's stomach, the hedgehog gasps and looks down at his stomach shuddering as Tails leans over his shoulder and kisses him lightly on the face, while pushing the glowing red claws deeper into his body. A swift kick and Sonic falls backwards into the mud, blood pouring from his stomach and oozing out his mouth.

Mangey shrieks loudly when Sonic hits the ground, he runs over to him, desperate to see if he's still salvageable, his chest feels like it's closing as he watches Sonic struggle to breathe. Tails swings his hand to get the blood off his claws and turns away, walking into a bush.

Mangey fumbles around desperately looking for something to stabilise Sonic, to try and save him, he's so mortified from watching Sonic get stabbed like that he's shaking and whimpering, tears of desperation flowing down his face. He's going go try and and stitch Sonic up, but something stops him, a blood covered hand on his chest... Mangey slowly looks up at Sonic's eyes.

"...It's okay"

"-D-Don't g-go"

"I won't be gone-"

Sonic pats his chest weakly.

"I'll be in there... Like I never...Left..."

Sonic's hand slides off Mangey's chest, his fingers wiping blood on him as they fall to the mud. Then there's nothing, no movement, just cold turkey... He's gone. It takes poor Mangey a moment to fully comprehend it, Sonic's dead. More tears flow from his face, he shakes Sonic hoping for some sort of response, he shakes him a bit more firmly again next time, he shouts loudly as he shakes Sonic as hard as he can hoping to see the life return to his eyes... Yet, there's nothing, not even a flicker.

A raindrops falls on Sonic forehead and soon it begins to rain, as if the sky was mourning him too. Mangey brings Sonic close to him and squeezes him as tight as he can, all he can feel in his chest is screws tightening. He closes Sonic's eyes and just holds him in his arms while crying loudly, while he cries the rain pelts him, Sonic... Knarly... Hangry... Thorn... Prim, who died back in the woods... Even Birdy wasn't spared from Tails' wrath, laying slumped over a bush.

All the loss, all the pain, all the grief... It was overwhelming, a heart shattered into a billion pieces.

The rage, the grief, the spitefulness, the emptiness in his chest, the extinguished flame of love, replaced with a raging forest fire of hate.

Mangey goes from sobbing and wailing to snarling and crazed in no time, when he raises his head to look for the one that took everything from him, there's nothing but animosity, and the unrestrainable urge to kill... He gently sets Sonic down and runs in the direction Tails went off to.

Tails stops by another clearing in the rainforest and takes the ruby from his pocket, using it to open a portal, it was time for him to move on to his next target, before he steps forth though he takes a moment to look up at the rain, let it hit his face. Pulling the hood from off his head, revealing his tired eyes, bags visible below them his glowing red eyes focusing on the clouds above...

Then he's suddenly shoved violently to the ground, his head inches from hitting the ground, he turns and sees Mangey there breathing heavily threw his teeth, tears flowing down his face, Sonic's blood still on his wet, soggy fur. Tails sighs and pulls his hood back over his head, drawing a knife from his belt, he charges Mangey...

But to his surprise Mangey dodges his swipes with relative ease, he catches a fist to the face and while he stumbles backwards the raging Mangey doesn't hold anything back, he punches him, kicks him, scratches him, bites him, all Tails can do is take the punishment Mangey keeps dishing out constantly. He can only take so many of these constant attacks, Mangey grabs him by one of his appendages, lifts him up and smashes him on the ground, Tails kicks him in the chin and Mangey stumbles backwards allowing enough time for Tails to get on his feet.

Mangey doesn't give him any time for him to try and attack though and launches his fist as hard as he can into his face, throwing Tails off balance and back onto the ground. Mangey grabs him by the hairs on his forehead and stares him in the eyes, Tails groans and opens an eye, his face bruised and scratched. Mangey is so focused on finally ending his life, he fails to realise Tails still has the knife in his hand which he swings cutting Mangey's flower necklace off... At that point Mangey was taken by surprise as Tails thrusts the knife at his shoulder, instead he slashes Mangey's arm making him shout in agony, and thus releasing Tails from his grip.

Tails throws one of his metal covered hands at Mangey's face, grabs him by the neck, knees him in the gut and swings him over his shoulder firmly on the ground. The beaten fox pins Mangey's injured arm to the ground and raises the knife high in the air, plunging it down towards Mangey's stomach... Mangey catches his hand though, just as the tip was about to pierce his flesh, it's a struggle now, a struggle to survive this encounter, grunts and cries of effort can be heard from the both of them as the struggle. Tails is physically strong, but Mangey is stronger and he overpowers Tails forcing the weapon away from his vitals, springing back to his feet so he can jump on top of Tails.

Once on top of him, all he does is punch him in the face repeatedly, Tails catches his hand and bites it as hard as he can, thrusting his knee into Mangey's gut and rolling him onto his back so he can punch him now, the metal claws he wears on his hands really do damage to Mangey who struggles to block to the attacks thrown his way.

A fist to the face and Tails is thrown off him, Mangey's erratic fighting eventually begins to exhaust him and the blows from Tails' metal covered fists were not helping either, but Tails having already taken Mangey's wrath wasn't fairing well either. Both foxes are tired, beaten, in pain and breathing heavily as the rain comes down on them... Their mud covered bodies struggling to stand.

Mangey runs at him, shouting an angry grief filled battle cry... Tails rushes towards him too, Mangey swipes first... But he misses, Tails grabs hold of his throat and delivering a crushing jab to the stomach, Mangey gasps and shakes when he feels the blow, Tails panting from exhaustion swings Mangey around violently throws him to the ground... That's it, all Mangey can do is twitch and shake as Tails stands over him triumphantly, breathing heavily, and wiping the blood from his mouth.

Tails stumbles to the portal and just before he walks through he looks back at Mangey one more time, the fox trying to get to his feet so he could continue to beat Tails down, so he could take the life of the one who took his everything. Tails sighs and turns walking into the portal while clutching his arm, once through the portal closes... Mangey lets himself fall back into the mud as the rain continues to come down, he curls up into a ball and sobs wildly... He failed, he lost his friends, the one he loved, his family. All the poor little fox could do now was mourn and try to move on... The sound of the rain drowning out his

---

The next morning comes along, it's still cloudy, a matching mood for this solemn moment. Mangey had just finished burying his friends and Sonic in a flower field not far from their hideout... He sits in front of Sonic's grave quietly and just sniffles, he wishes he was stronger, strong enough to protect Sonic, strong enough to fight alongside him... Maybe if he was stronger he'd still be there, he'd still be able to marry him, everything would have gone right.

Though he was thrown about, full of rage and spite, he was happy he could at least remember his time with Sonic, for the power of memories was there to comfort him, to make him smile, he stands up and puts a hand on Sonic's grave, he wipes his face and tries to smile, opening his mouth and...

"...I love you Sonic"

~

Sonic stares, tears flowing down his face. Nine squeezes his fist and looks Mangey's way, the gloomy Mangey looking down at the ground towards Sonic, his head on his chest. Nine grabs him, swings him around and squeezes him tightly. Mangey doesn't know what's going on until he hears Nine say...

"I lost my Sonic to him too..." Nine says, trying to keep himself from crying.

Mangey slowly hugs Nine back, it bought him some comfort knowing he wasn't going through all that pain alone. Tails takes Sonic's hand and he looks down at him.

"You okay?"

"Y-Yeah" Sonic wipes his face and shakes his head, but he's still concerned, "Wh-What if he comes for me?"

"Sonic, you saw what happened to him, he's not gonna come back" Tails responds.

The fox stands on his toes and kisses Sonic on the mouth gently, "But if he does, I'll protect you"

Tails takes his hands and holds them while smiling at Sonic reassuringly. Sonic responds with a dry chuckle, "Heh, you're right... I saw it myself"

Tails embraces Sonic while he sniffles, the fox can feel Sonic trembling slightly, when he notices this it slowly begins to become clearer and clearer how much damaged he's truly done.

A flash of bright red follows and the four of them are back standing the the infinite shallow ocean, the crimson sky and dark coloured water present yet again. Lumios stands in front of them looking towards them with a blank face, Nine and Mangey stand next to each other holding hands while Tails and Sonic stand by each other.

"Do you require anything else" Lumios asks.

"Nah, you can uh, send us back" Sonic answers, holding Tails close to him.

"Very well"

With a few brief flashes of red everyone, except for Tails disappears. Now it's only him and Lumios.

"You feel"

"...Like shit"

"Does it dawn on you? The toll of what you've done"

Tails' head drops low and he looks back up at Lumios, tears welling in his eyes, "Yes"

Lumios lifts off the ground and begins to circle around Tails, floating ever so gracefully.

"Is there a way I could maybe undo what I've done...?" Tails asks, desperately hoping to repent somehow for what he had done.

Lumios sighs and lands next to Tails, "There is not"

Tails' eyes go wide when he hears that, then he looks away at the shallow ocean at his feet, he covers his face and rubs it aggressively while shuddering. He feels even more guilty, but he can't let anyone find out about this... Otherwise everything he loves will turn against him, a difficult choice, but one he's forced to make.

"Do you require anything else?" Lumios asks.

Tails shakes his head, "No... Nothing else... You can send me back"

Lumios nods and with a brief flash of crimson he's back in the Boscage Maze with the others. Sonic grabs him and pulls him close, kissing his forehead repeatedly.

"Miss me?" Tails asks, smiling sheepishly.

Sonic kisses him aggressively, "You know it"

"Sonic?" Nine goes.

Sonic and Tails turn around to Nine who's standing beside Mangey, Sonic sees Mangey looking up at him, a tired look on his face. They couldn't just leave Mangey there, after all he had spent four years alone with no one to talk to, no one to support him, no one to be there for him. Besides, he wanted to know more about Mangey, maybe even be the family he needed right at that moment.

"Hey Mangey?"

Mangey's ears perk up when Sonic calls him.

"So uh, if I end up leaving you you're probably gonna be lonely again so uh... Do you wanna come with us?"

Mangey's eyes brighten up, it's as if the sun had decided finally come out, a new light to guide him. Excitedly and he runs at Sonic jumping into his arms, licking his face lovingly, "Yez!"

Sonic laughs and pats his head, "Welcome to the team buddy"

Mangey kisses giggles happily and rests on Sonic's chest while Sonic continues to pat him. Tails looks and Nine and shoots him a smug grin, which makes him flinch.

"What?"

"Little brother" Tails teases.

"F-Fuck off" Nine stutters.

"I saw you holding his hand" Tails says, nudging him, still smirking like a sly devil.

"Don't make me punch you" Nine goes.

"Aw he's threatening me again"

Nine's face goes red and he grumbles audibly while Tails laughs at him, leaning on his shoulder while dying from laughter, Nine continues to stew in embarrassment as Tails wheezes at his misfortune.

---

Tails and Nine spend a few hours fixing the dream jumper. When they're finally done, Tails opens a portal, this time to Earth, to their amazement it's stable. Nine waves his hand between the doorway to Earth in front of him and pulls his hand back across to the Boscage Maze.

"Well, I didn't lose my hand" Nine says.

"Okay, it's stable, good. Sonic! Where's Mangey?!" Tails shouts.

"Coming!" Sonic shouts.

Mangey and Sonic come forward, Sonic's carrying a bag with some stuff Mangey wanted to take with him.

"Is it stable?" Sonic asks.

"Yep" Tails responds.

"Great, NOW we can go to Tokyo and chill" Sonic says, somewhat excitedly.

"Tok-yo?" Mangey goes, not knowing what Sonic just said at all.

Sonic chuckles nervously, "Yeah, uh we have a lot to teach you"

"Come on, let's go! I'm dying to see what the food is like" Nine says.

"I wanna see all the species of plants they have!" Tails goes.

"Nerd" Nine says to him, crossing his arms.

"A nerd with a plan" Tails responds with a wink.

Nine rolls his eyes and reaches for his bag.

"Aw yeah! Earth here we come!" Sonic shouts excitedly.

Tails and Nine pick up their bags and step through the portal, into the light in front of them. Sonic follows them eventually shouting excitedly.

Mangey steps toward the portal but stops, turning to look back at his world. His home, the fox was going to miss it, all the memories he made here, the precious things that happened here. He smiles and opens his mouth.

"Goodbye... Home"

With that he turns around and walks into the light, a new life awaiting him, a new family, more love to be found.