My initial plan hadn't quite gone as I'd expected.

Screaming as loud and as hard as I could manage had worked for a time, but then I found that it hurt. It hurt my new lungs and throat with the constant gasps and volume, but by that time, I couldn't stop myself. I was genuinely in distress now, and that was when the tears had spilled.

The woman had walked back and forth with me, bouncing me, trying to get me to calm down, but what luck was she going to have when even I couldn't calm myself? She tried feeding me again, but I made it clear that it was not what I wanted. I didn't quite know what I wanted, but it wasn't for them to have a good night's sleep.

It went on for a while, and then Sonic was there. I presumed the sound had irritated him to the point of him coming to find out what was causing it, so my plan sort of worked in that regard; I kept him from sleeping.

He exchanged words with the woman and then she followed him into the living area. He sat down on the couch and then she handed me to him. I didn't want to be held, especially not by him! But then he pressed his fingers into my back, putting gentle pressure and rubbing them in circles. I didn't know what he was doing, but... It felt good.

I still fought to keep it up, but exhaustion won over in the end; this body got worn out too easily, and far too quickly. Every breath was still a cry or whine, at least until I slumped back into the darkness of sleep.

So far my quest for petty revenge was not going so well.

The following day was different. When I woke up, it was still early; the sun wasn't yet up, but the humans were both pulling back the blanket with irritated groans. If they didn't want to get up, why were they? It was still dark.

The man was the first to actually get out of the bed, yawning and then opening the door. The beast was lying right there by the door, awaiting their exit. Its tail wagged back and forth and then led the way away from the room.

A small light, probably a lamp, then lit up the room in a gentle glow. I thought about making a fuss again, but my throat hurt from the night before. Instead, I just sat quietly until the woman came around her side of the bed and leaned down over me. She cooed something to me and then picked me up, and that was when I suddenly felt cold.

She seemed to notice it too, looking down at the diaper. I hadn't really peed myself, had I?

The wet patch on the sheets where I'd just been confirmed it; brilliant.

She didn't look disappointed, just gave a half-smile and then went to her box of collected materials. It only took her a few seconds to swap out the soaked diaper for a dry, lighter one, and then she wiped me off completely to make sure there wasn't anything left on my fur and quills. She acted like she had done this a lot.

As we walked out and down the stairs, I found the house still quite quiet and peaceful; I'd be fixing that once my throat had recovered from the last run. I heard a soft humming coming through the ceiling, and then after a moment, there was a loud thump as something heavy hit the floor of the attic.

The man passed by and pulled on the rope hanging from the ceiling, opening a small hatch and then pulling down a folded ladder to the ground. He hollered something into the attic and I heard Sonic's voice groan something back.

He sounded like he didn't want to be awake. Aha! Perhaps my plan hadn't gone awry after all!
___________________________________________________

BZZZZZ...BZZZZZ...BZZZZZZ...BZZZZ-Thud!

Sonic pulled the covers further over his head, his phone still buzzing and bouncing about on the floor as his alarm went off. Ugh, he hated Monday Mornings.

He reached an arm out and felt along the floor for the phone, finally finding it and then running his finger over the edge over and over until the vibrating finally quieted. There, now he could go back to-

BRRRRRRIIIIIIIING!

Sonic groaned loudly as Tails' old-fashioned alarm clock now went off, a loud, annoying screech. The hedgehog grabbed his pillow and shoved it over his head, "Tails, shut it off!" His muffled voice hollered at the fox.
The ringing stopped after a few seconds, but then the blanket was ripped back and Sonic yelped as he was pulled out of the bed entirely and dropped to the floor. "Gyah!"

"Arise, Hedgehog." Knuckles announced, releasing Sonic's legs. "The sun will grace the horizon soon."

Sonic's ears folded back as his quills sparked with a charge, "I'll grace your butt with my-"

The attic door opened and Tom's voice hollered up to them, "Get up! You've got school!"

Sonic groaned loudly again, and then sat up and saw Tails already up and putting his shoes on. "Ugh... Morning people...!"

"It was your idea to get up from bed and investigate the infant's crisis." Knuckles set about carefully folding his blanket at the foot of his bed, tilting his head to dodge a dirty sock being thrown at him.

"He was screaming his head off, what else was I supposed to do?" He looked over to Tails, "And you! How're you able to sleep through that!?"

Tails looked up, and then Sonic's eyes widened as the fox reached into his ears and pulled out earplugs. "Huh? Were you talking to me, Sonic?"

"You... Unbelievable!"
Sonic got up and marched towards the stairs, "Ugh! I can't believe you, Tails!"

Tails looked at the echidna as the hedgehog left, "What'd I say?" He asked, and the echidna waved a hand in dismissal.

Sonic fumbled down the stairs and wandered into the living room, dropping back down on the couch with his face in the throw pillows.

"When I said to get up, that wasn't what I meant and you know it," Tom informed, patting the hedgehog on the back.

"Isn't there some sort of break a new older sibling can get with a new baby?" Sonic groaned, "Like how Mom got time off work when you guys adopted us to help us settle?"

"Sorry, Sonic." Maddie called from the kitchen, "No sibling leave."

"Ugh..."
He rolled off of the couch and pulled himself up onto his feet, trudging to the table and plopping down on a chair. He rested his head on the table, staring blankly forward until Knuckles came into his view.

His eyes then shifted over to Maddie, who was pulling a box of cheerios out of the pantry with one arm and holding the baby with the other. The baby was looking directly and didn't look guilty at all about what had happened the night before. Sonic had to wonder if babies at that age could feel guilt, though.

Maddie placed the cereal on the table, then took the milk from Tom and placed it down in front of Sonic. Tails came hovering back with three bowls and spoons, distributing them to each place at the table. "You'll get used to it," Maddie informed, "Eventually his cries will just be background noise for the most part."

"If we are honest, you have never been appreciative of Monday mornings, and would likely have been this grumpy even if the infant hadn't been in distress." Knuckles murmured, taking the first turn with the cereal box.

"Well, Tails is only Mr. Sunshine today because he put dang earplugs in to block the baby out...!"

Tails perked up, "I didn't put the earplugs in to block the baby out." He expressed, "I put them in to block out your snoring at 3 AM."

"What!? I don't snore!"

"Sonic, you're louder than Carl's chainsaw." Tom informed, "Take it from someone who had to listen to it all night in that hotel on our way to San Fran."

"Ouch, Donut Lord..."
Sonic finally picked his head up from the table, "So what are we gonna do about the baby then? Did either of you call in?"

"We're still discussing a plan." Tom borrowed the milk to pour a little into his coffee, "You and Tails have school, Maddie and I both have to go to work later. We're thinking since Knuckles will be staying home anyway-"

"What!? No fair!"

Knuckles nodded solemnly, "I will tend to the infant and the canine as adequately as I am capable. I am honored by your trust so quickly."

Maddie grinned, "Well, you impressed me with how you handled the 'Incident' yesterday. I'll leave the number for the clinic on the fridge just in case there's an emergency, and you know how to get a hold of Tom. I'm also gonna write down some basic information in case you have questions."

Sonic pouted, "How is Knuckles supposed to get his schoolwork done if he's watching the baby all day?"
He knew that Knuckles was homeschooling because the crowded school halls and classrooms stressed him out, but it hardly seemed fair.

"He will not be awake the entirety of the day," Knuckles answered, "I will be free to tend to my studies during his naps."

Tom looked back and forth between the fox and hedgehog at the table, "Now, you guys remember the plan?"

Tails nodded, "We go to our classes, and then I go and watch Sonic at baseball practice, and then we both walk home together."

"Right. Good job!"
Tom gave the fox a high-five and then looked back to Sonic. "And you'll make sure you both get home okay?"

Sonic's grouchy mood lifted as he nodded and gave his little brother a smile, "No worries, I'm not gonna let anything happen to you."

"Unbreakable promise!" Tails informed, giving Sonic a fist bump.
They both saw Knuckles look to the front door, humming softly. "What's wrong, Knuckles?"

The echidna was quiet for a moment, "...The infant's mother. We have not seen or heard from her yet... I would believe- or at least hope- that a mother would have noticed her child's absence and come looking for them by now."

Sonic's mind thought back to that first night on Earth. He'd sat amongst the trees and out of sight for hours, waiting- hoping- that another ring would appear and Longclaw would appear; that she'd won and was only delayed in joining him.
Days would pass, and that hope would linger just a little bit, but eventually... The spark went out, and he knew he was truly alone.

Knuckles had gone through the same thing; he sat in his hut, his spear in hand, waiting for his father and the rest of his tribe to return from battle... And not one of them did.

All of those echidna warriors advancing against Longclaw, that was Sonic's last memory of his guardian. She never came for him, and they never returned to Knuckles. Had she killed them all herself? The murals he and Tails had found on their quest to find the Master Emerald had revealed the Owls were a formidable group and Longclaw was one of them, but Sonic had to think that even Longclaw would've had trouble taking all of them out while being wounded and severely outnumbered.

Sonic had never talked about it with Knuckles; it was too painful a memory for both of them to really sit down and discuss it. But was it possible... Was it possible that something else had taken out the echidnas that survived? There were tales... Old stories of a creature lurking about the islands around the one Sonic lived on. Those stories were one of the reasons Sonic had come to dislike being near the water; stories of a fantastical emerald giving immense power, he could wave those off as made-up when he was a kid, but a sea monster that could grab him from the shore and drag him down to the bottom? He wasn't chancing that! Especially now that he knew the Master Emerald turned out to be real! Could this supposedly mythical, but now possibly real beast have been the cause of an entire tribe being wiped out in one moment?

"Sonic?"
The hedgehog shook out of his thoughts, finding Tails' hand on his arm. "You okay?"

Sonic blinked and then nodded. "...Mmmhmm." He assured.

Tom didn't seem too convinced, but he nodded. "Alright... Well, finish your cheerios before they get all soggy."

Sonic lifted his spoon out of his bowl, "Ugh...Too late."