Bad Kids

Chapter 26

Inside, Fade and Smoke looked at the huge robot placed in the middle of the room where Scrouge himself was sitting behind him with tools and oils. He was repairing Omega whose eyes were flickering. "Okay then, I think one more tweak and you should be good!" he said, fixing another piece inside of Omega and then closing his panel. "Alright, that should fix your glitch," he added and smiled to himself.

Omega beeped and turned around. "All Systems. Satisfied." he answered calmly. "Glad to hear it's all-" Scrouge began, but he froze, as he looked to the doorway. He dropped the wrench that he had in his hand and stood there. "H-Hey, dad! Um... I'm back! I... I doubt you knew but... yay!" Fade cheered awkwardly.

Carefully, Scrouge approached his daughter, taking in the hedgehog in front of him. "F-Fade?" he asked out loud. "Yeah. It's me!" she smiled. Smoke took a small step back to allow Scrouge to approach Fade. He pulled his daughter in gently for a hug and didn't let go. "I've missed you..." he sniffed, tears falling down his cheek. Fade smiled and hugged her dad back softly. "I missed you too dad." she sighed, coaxing her now sobbing father. "Don't you dare leave like that again! You scared the living shit out of me!" he snapped angrily. Fade wasn't fazed and rolled her eyes again.

"Now he misses me!" she teased. "Shut up." he chuckled, smirking as he let her go. "Good to have you back kiddo." he smiled patting her head. Fade hugged her father once more and was happy to be united with him once more. "Um... I don't mean to be pushy but... you wouldn't happen to know where my dad is would you?" Smoke asked. Scrouge was surprised to see his other acquaintance's son but approached him anyway.

"Well, he's been here for a while but... I'd still take it easy. He's... He's been in a mood lately... probably because you've been gone for so long." Scrouge explained to him. Then he pointed to a somewhat  "Well, he's my pops. It's not like I haven't dealt with him like this before..." Smoke reassured as he brushed past both his friend and her own dad as he walked farther into the room. But there, a large blackened orb sat there carefully.

Gently, Smoke gently tapped it. It barely glowed. Tired of his father's games, he pushed the orb hard. It resisted his push. But because he and Mephiles shared the same powers, it didn't take much for him to actually push inside the orb.

Turned out, Mephiles figured out how to create a protective shield around himself in order to forget about the rest of society. "Um..." Smoke said aloud. He wasn't sure what to do. He'd never been in something like this. Most of the tricks he saw his dad master, he was able to copy. On that note, he relaxed and opened his eyes, both of them turning white. "Dad... come out where I can see you!" Smoke demanded.

Waiting for a few more minutes, a fairly tall and broad figure rose in front of him. Mephiles took his shape and stood before his son. Smoke felt the entity in front of him and brought himself back to the view in front of them. "D-Dad!" he freaked, seeing his creator in front of him. "Hello, son. I see you have returned." he sighed. "Yes... we have! I... I wanted to come back sooner but... my friends needed me... I couldn't leave them to rot in Mobius!" he cried.

Mephiles approached his son without a second thought. "I'm so... so sorry." Mephiles whispered, hitting the ground on his knees. "I'm so so so sorry..." he sobbed, purple tears hitting the bottom of his protective orb. Smoke got down on his own knees and hugged his father. "Dad... please don't cry..." Smoke pleaded, his own voice cracking as he hugged his father. The two relaxed knowing their powers had consequences if their emotions ran too high. "I love you dad." he reassured.

The orb he had set up for himself fell down to release them both from that trance. Mephiles' once faded teal-colored quills now had a brighter color. Smoke smiled bigger than he ever has before and hugged him tightly, refusing to let go.

Nothing could ruin these two's bond. Fade stood there in front of them, her father smiling right beside her. Midnight, Diamond, and Mystic then entered the room where their other friends were reunited with their parents. "So, are we all good now?" Mystic asked, a faint smile on his face. "Yeah, I think so!" Smoke answered. Scrouge and Mephiles approached the rest of the group happy to see all of them in one place.

"You know, I think everything's gonna go up from here. What do you think Scrouge?" Mephiles questioned his friend. "Maybe, if we're lucky enough. Then again, we probably don't need luck!" he snickered. They all smiled briefly before the thought of Shadow snuck into Midnight's mind. "Oh my gosh! I almost forgot! Where's my dad? I need to see him!" Midnight cried. "Well... I remember him keeping himself cooped up in y'all's house." Scrouge replied.

Desperate to get to him to make sure he was still alive, Midnight looked to her friends. "I... I have to get to him! It's now or never!" she told them frantically. "Don't worry! We've got your back!" Diamond reassured. They looked to Scrouge and Mephiles for what they might say. "Go, we'll meet you guys near there!" Scrouge reassured. "I'll make sure we get Rouge and Infinite too."  Mephiles added.

"Go! He needs you more than ever!" Fiona chimed hearing them from where she was standing. Midnight and the others instantly hurried out the door quickly heading to Shadow's house where they knew he'd be staying.

"C'mon guys, Shadow needs to know Midnight's okay!" Diamond urged. "We're coming don't worry!" Mystic reassured. Just before they could really be free, someone cut them off. "Midnight!" Blizzard cried. They all looked behind them and saw the Mobian teens running up. "Ugh. What now?!" Midnight snapped as they ran up. Blizzard desperately walked up to them. "Please Midnight... if you won't come back, then at least let me come with you!" he pleaded.

She was almost surprised to hear this. The others eventually ran up to them. "B-Blizzard you can't be serious!" Midnight said defensively. "Well... we didn't want to be but... I'd rather live here forever than to go without you!" he cried.

Diamond approached her best friend and crossed her arms. "This isn't at all like Mobius. That old peaceful, lovey-dovey, unicorns and rainbows home- it's gone for good if you stay here." she said to them. "We understand that! But... didn't you enjoy anything back at home?" Catrina questioned angrily. "That place was never our home. Okay? This is where we belong! We had one mission and we've made it happen!" Mystic snapped.

But Blizzard refused to give up. "I love you Midnight. I love you with everything in my heart... I don't want to lose you because I can figure out how to socialize in this new town! I'm begging you! I'll literally do anything!" he pleaded. Midnight looked from her boyfriend who was now on his knees, to the others standing behind them.

What do I do?