TW/CW: Poor living situation, tyrannical government, exploitative jobs, arson, and Sonic has a weird-ass boss

⭐️

"So, you're a monocle?" Sonic asked, glancing over to the cloaked figure who entered his house in the middle of the night.

The reptilian blinked, staring at the hedgehog making an unplanned breakfast. "Oracle." He corrected.

"Yea, that stuff. And you give prophecies." Sonic responded. He speedily placed the pancakes on a plate before setting it on the table. "And apparently I'm part of one?"

"Correct. You are one of the three children of our lost Queen Aleena, destined to defeat our tyrant and rise to power!" The seer announced, a spiel most likely rehearsed. "Your destiny calls and-"

Sonic cut him off. "Destiny can call later."

Noting the Oracle's bewildered expression, he continued. "Listen, I don't mean to be rude or anything like that, but I'm being honest. I can't afford uprooting my life like this. I'm already taking care of my uncle and little brother. Grocery prices are skyrocketing, Ro-butt-nik is already snuffing out the Freedom Fighters, and I don't have time." As if emphasizing his point, his forcefully slammed closed a cupboard.

Silence consumed the room as Sonic sat down in the chair across from the Oracle. The quills nestled in his blue hair were bristled upwards, letting him pick them.

"Sorry, dude. Now just isn't the time." He mumbled, as much as this sounded like an adventure. Since Dr. Ivo Robotnik's takeover, and the subsequent suspension of the "girl scout group" (what Sonic affectionately called the Freedom Fighters, a group he made with his friends, Amy and Tangle), things weren't exactly great.

Still, the hedgehog managed to let himself think about adventure. But just think.

It was all too risky- and maybe he was a risk-taker, but putting his family in danger was not an option. It never was. And a prophecy about him and some surprise siblings initiating a war was the last thing he needed.

The Oracle nodded in understanding. "I know this is a stressful time, and I emphasize with your hesitation. But must I warn you of so many stories? Avoiding prophecy only delays the inevitable." He warned, knowing Sonic couldn't afford ignoring this forever.

Sonic didn't answer that, his eyes tired and almost disconnected from the world. "I-I need to lie down, dude. Sorry. See you..." He hoped never. "See you again."

When the Oracle left, Sonic tossed the dishes into the sink- deciding to do them later. The hedgehog zipped off to the next room, the bedroom he shared with his adoptive brother. A two-tailed, eight-year-old fox named Miles Prower. Who Sonic lovingly nicknamed Tails.

Tails was curled in on himself, blankets primarily wrapped around him after Sonic had woken up. He looked just like he did when Sonic left the room.

His frail body was twisted defensively, light brown skin dark against the sheets. His blue eyes were closed in what could be easily mistaken for peaceful sleep- if one did not notice the small twitches and unconscious flinches of nightmares. His golden blond hair was sprawled on his pillow, looking fluffy and wild, and his glasses were still crookedly placed on his face.

Sonic felt himself smile. He always did around his brother. Carefully, and with a mind to not wake him, he reached over and took Tails' glasses off. He placed them on the nightstand and sighed.

He sat back down on the bed, knowing he wouldn't be getting any sleep now. What was he even supposed to do now?

He was part of a prophecy, a prince, and had two siblings apparently. Did Uncle Chuck know about any of this? Why was he even separated from his apparent sibling?

Was anything in his life even real?

'Don't think like that.' He scolded himself, shutting his eyes tightly and reaching for Tails. He held his brother close. 'This will be fine. Prophecies may always happen, but this hedgehog is the best in the kingdom- I can handle it later. Just not now.'

Putting that in his head, he managed to doze off.

⭐️

"What's for breakfast?" Tails asked, climbing onto the chair- the spare metal and bolts clicking together in his various belt-bags.

Sonic slid a bowl of cornflakes to Tails with a tired expression. "We're out of pancake mix." He explained. Tail just shrugged and started eating.

"Uncle Chuck, are you don't have any breakfast?" Sonic asked, looking to the elder hedgehog.

Chuck shook his head, letting out a yawn as he poured a cup of coffee. Sonic sighed, making his own bowl of cereal. "I thought you said you were gonna stop drinking so much caffeine."

"Sorry," his uncle mumbled. "There's just a lot going on." Sonic understood that, but that didn't make him worry less.

With that, Chuck left the kitchen to the chili dog stand he ran out back- probably just to assess if he had enough ingredients.

Sonic sat down next to Tails, his quills bristling up out of his hair. A frustrated response, or one of anger, sadness, or fear. Tails carefully reached over and smoothed them down, letting the hedgehog calm down. Sonic sighed a little and looked over to his brother. "You alright?" He asked to fox.

Tails shrugged a little. "Things are tense. Really tense." He mumbled.

"Are you gonna raid the junkyard? I can join you." Sonic suggested, taking a spoonful of cereal.

The younger shook his head. "Not today, I went yesterday and tomorrow's trash day- higher reward then." Tails explained, already finishing his food. "I am going to disable the badniks in the West Corner. Cream told me that Robotnik forgot to end their 'quarantine' two days ago."

Sonic winced at that. "Gaia, that's..." Robotnik's little "quarantines' were just another awful way of controlling people.

If one of the Corners in Monotopolis (he refused to call it Robotropolis) acted up too much, their new tyrant would put them on "quarantine." No food deliveries, restriction on water access, and Badniks would patrol to make sure no one could go outside.

Oftentimes, it would run a week or two. Other times, Robotnik would just... forget  extending it and not bothering with the starving citizens.

Which was when Tails would step in, hacking the Badniks and sending them right back off to the Singularity, where the "good doctor" lived. Tails sighed. "Luckily, he sucks at security. Most of his passwords are literally just 'MeanBean3'." He laughed to himself, grabbing his tablet.

Sonic smiled at that. Oh, how he wished they could leak that and cause a bit of chaos. But he knew Robotnik would make an example of their Corner and execute them. Or at least, most of them.

The kingdom's territory spread in a large square shape. Robotnik had carved the land into quarters, though a large circle for the wealthier classes (also split into quarters) stayed in the center. Meanwhile, the Singularity was in the center of that.

He patted his brother's head, "well, just be careful. Alright, bud?" He reminded. Tails just smiled, hearing that warning a million times before. But he knew it was important. With that, the little fox went out the door.

After a couple minutes of silently sitting at the table, he stood up. "Welp. Back to the grind." He nodded.

⭐️

"And remember-"

Sonic sighed, grabbing the backpack from the barracuda in the alley. His "boss," Snag. "I know, I know. Don't open the bag, don't talk to anyone. And if anyone asks, I'm a 'delivery boy'." He sneered. He did this all the time.

Snag nodded faintly and placed his hand on Sonic's back. The barracuda gave his sharp-toothed smirk. "Well, you are the fastest worker in the Corner. So run along." Sonic rolled his eyes as Snag gave the small of his back a nudge, slowly removing his hand. The hedgehog rushed off.

'Congrats, Sonic. You're pushing twenty and pushing drugs! Who says I can multitask?' He scolded himself while running down the streets.

He felt guilt in the pits of his stomach and his head- like a blinding heat pulsing in his brain. His family had asked him again and again to stop with his little "jobs." But it was easy money, and it was very easy to get "hired" for these jobs from Snag. It wasn't exactly a desirable job, smuggling banned goods across the South Corner as fast as he could, and praying no Badniks asked what was in the backpack. It wasn't exactly desirable to get his hands dirty.

But it wasn't like any regular job would take him.

Sonic did what he did every day- run and avoid eye contact. And it felt awful. Because he wasn't supposed to be like this.

Only three or four years ago - before their new dictator - he was what people called a "joy" to be around. He was friendly and confident, and admittedly a bit of a cocky punk. He wasn't afraid to shout and protest what was wrong. Fight it even. That was why he, Amy, and Tangle formed the Freedom Fighters in the first place. To fight for good in their immature, chaotic, incredible way. And a way that caused them to disband when Robotnik cracked down on them.

And now this was his life. Awesome!

He was nothing like what he was supposed to be. And it sucked.

Wishing a minute, he was on the other side of the South Corner. And it wasn't too long before a hooded parrot approached him and and whispered, "From Snag?"

Sonic tossed the backpack to him. "With love." He snarked.

"Watch it." The parrot warned. He was another fuzzy face Sonic had a hard time distinguishing from another. But Sonic thought his name was Luc. Maybe. With that, Sonic went back to Snag and was sent off to his next "job."

Job after job, the day went on with a blue. Like most of them did anyway. He encountered faces he saw dozens of times and hadn't taken the time to remember, different eyes with the same guarded, watchful, cautious expression of dread. Sonic had to wonder if he had that same expression too.

And as much as he hated it, the Oracle's words came back to his mind. The whole night did. The knock on the door stirring him out of sleep, him shifting carefully as to not wake Tails. And the odd seer waiting for him at the door asking for a chat (and pancakes).

It seemed to strike him there. Most of his life, if the seer's words were true, was a lie. He wasn't the only child, whose parents had died in a boating accident. Whose poor, sweet uncle raised him, all alone and with little to his name.

According to the Oracle, he was a prince, a sibling of three, and something important in this whole mess. It felt so incredibly impossible- how in the world could he believe anything he was told by that stranger asking for breakfast?

But... impossibly, he had a feeling it was true.

That sense of realization gripped him and he stood silently in the roads.

And when badniks started flooding the streets, he had a horrific idea of where they were going.

So he ran. He avoided looking at the confused stares of citizens as he bolted back home. And it felt worse than it ever had before.

⭐️

Sonic didn't care that the house was burned to its foundations. Most of what they owned was either sold or stashed away in a place where Robotnik wouldn't find it.

What he cared about was getting to his family. To his uncle and little brother. He darted around the rubble, too fast for the badniks digging through to see him.

Panic started flooding his senses, his breathing quicker and his eyesight blurry. "Chuck... Tails..." He whispered, voice too choked to carry that far into the still air.

He stepped back into the streets before the charred remains of his childhood home. He braced for a badnik to seize him at any moment and drag him off.

But it wasn't a badnik that grabbed him. It was a hand of a nodded reptilian that pulled him into an alley and shushed him.

Sonic stubbornly pulled his arm from the Oracle. "Where's-" The Oracle pointed to the crate beside him, where Tails was sitting.

The fox's eyes were side and endless as he stared off. Sonic hasn't seen him that shaken since he first met him- curled up and terrified, refusing to let anyone near him until Sonic coaxed him closer with food.

Tails' right forearm was bandaged, the dressings fresh and messy. With his left hand, he clutched the Miles Electric, a tablet of endless programs and abilities that Tails used for almost everything. Slowly, Tails looked up at Sonic and mouthed one word.

'Chuck.'

"The badniks captured your uncle." The Oracle explained. "They've taken him to the Singularity." His tone was grim and rueful.

Sonic felt a crushing pain in his chest. Being dragged off to the Singularity by badniks meant two things. His uncle was either roboticized or dead. And considering they weren't afraid to burn the house to ashes, he wasn't confident in his uncle's survival.

In that moment, the hedgehog felt so many things. Dizziness, fear, grief, confusion.

And hatred brewing in the very depths of his soul.

His mind fogged any rational sense of preservation he had the night prior. Robotnik targeted his family. And for that, he would regret ever coming to the kingdom in the first place.

He forced himself to look at the Oracle.

"So... about this prophecy..."