Bad Kids

Chapter 29

The Mobian parents drove a long way to get to the edge of Dark Side. But just like their kids, their own cars started to break down. Not only that, but it began swerving in different directions. "Vector!" Espio cried out. "I can't control it! Dispatch! Is anyone else struggling!?" he asked over the radio. "Yes! This thing keeps losing control!" Sonic cried. "Ditto on the control thing!" Tails cried. Eventually, each one heard a loud pop. "Ah! Damn it! My tires flat!"

All of them had flat tires as they were heading out the door. Everyone pulled out weapons at the ready but thankfully there was no need. The tires had been popped by broken glass scattered by the border of the town. "Agh! They did this on purpose!" Gadget cried. "Ya think?" Sally retorted. Tails and Vector had a look at the tires and sighed. "No chance in fixing them on time. It'll take too long for each tire we have to replace." Tails replaced.

"Alright, then we go on foot!" Amy replied. Wave grabbed her shoulder. "Oh no. Not like this, we're not," Wave interfered. "One look at us and we're done for." Wave implied. "Okay... so what do we do?" Cream asked. Wave thought for a minute while looking in all the vehicles.

All they had were cloaks or really baggy sweatshirts that they used to walk around town. No one took any attention to it since it wasn't unusual. "Where else are we supposed to go?" Gadget wondered as they kept walking around endlessly. Wave kept hitting her phone repeatedly but none of her texts were going through to Jet. "Ugh! I forgot this place had McDonald's wifi." she huffed. "It'll be okay. I know someone else that can get us somewhere." Whisper reassured. Seeing most of the place being empty, they had no trouble moving faster.

Following her lead, Whisper managed to find her way throughout the town. "I can't believe we're even in Dark Side." Sally gasped. Looking around, Amy almost freaked at the sight of men who wanted to get too close for comfort. Blaze hissed at them and kept walking with Amy close to her side. Sonic and Knuckles noticed a building with graffiti on the wall. They noticed the figures that were painted. "Dude... I can't lie, this is cool. But who knows what they're doing with our kids!" Sonic pointed out. "That is if they have our kids. They could be anywhere if they aren't with them. And if they are... I don't wanna imagine what they're doing..." Knuckles told him as they observed the wall.

At last, they reached the location. Whisper hesitated to knock on the door. She was nervous but her friends couldn't understand why. "Well? What are you waiting for?!" Wave exclaimed. Still nothing. Blaze grew impatient and knocked for her.

A few seconds later the door cracked open. There was a little girl at the door who didn't open it all the way. Whisper pushed past her two friends and got down to her level. "Hey! Do... Do you remember me?" she asked. Ivy looked up at her better and shrugged. "Well, I'm your mother's friend! Is she here by chance?" Before Ivy answered the door opened up all the way. Lightning stood there. She didn't seem too pleased once she recognized everyone in front of her. "Didn't think you'd ever come back." she growled.

Whisper looked away ashamed but then looked back. "We need to talk." she said. Lightning rolled her eyes but let them inside her shop anyway. Everyone settled in, Ivy staying close to her mother's side, in fear of the strangers who came out of nowhere. Lightning sat down in her chair, letting Ivy hop into her lap. "What do you freaks want? You're scaring my kid." she growled. Whisper sighed sadly and approached her. "We need your help. They've lost their kids. And we know nothing about this place other than it is nothing but bad news! Do you have any idea where they could be?" Whisper asked her.

For a second, Lightning didn't believe her. But seeing the gang together, she put two and two together. "Ha! I don't know what's more pathetic! Mobians coming here thinking they can just find someone in Darkside without backup, or you coming here just to help them after you said you wanted nothing to do with us!" Stunned by her remark, everyone looked at Whisper confused. "You... You know I didn't mean it!" Whisper whimpered painfully.

"Just like you meant you didn't love me? Yeah like I'd ever believed you." Before anyone opened their mouth, Blaze spoke up. "Look, we don't know what your issue is, but we have a bigger problem on our hands!" Lightning laughed again in shock. "You're serious?" she said again. Angrily she stood up and faced Whisper. "After all these years! You come back and it's not even for your own flesh and blood! I've been here for so long, wondering if you ever cared about me. But I guess you don't since you're not even really here for me!" she snapped. Everyone in the room looked at Whisper. Ivy knew something was going down and raced upstairs to hide.

Tails spoke up; "I don't mean to pry but, can someone tell us what this is about?" Lightning scoffed and sat back down. She almost broke down in tears. "Y-You never told them about me?" she cried. Biting her lip, she looked at the crowd in her shop. "Do you wanna tell them, or should I?" Whisper sighed and looked over at her friends.

"Before Mobius was ready to be an official town... I found out I was pregnant... Back then the law stated one couldn't have a baby without a partner. And well... I was too scared to tell any of you back then. I did everything to keep it hidden. Which it worked... I ran away here and gave birth at a hospital. I knew having a baby would just bring up unwanted questions so... I made the painful choice to leave them here..." she explained sadly. "And that baby... was... her." 

Everyone was stunned. Gadget walked up to his best friend. He held her hand "Whisp... Why? You could've told me! I would've never... You know I wouldn't have done anything other than help!" he reassured her. "Gadget... no one could know. If someone found out you knew... you would've gotten in trouble too." she sighed. He nodded his head. "Wow. And every Mobian says we're the bad ones." Lightning said, rolling her eyes.

Knuckles shook his head confused. "But then, who's the father?" he asked. Whisper turned away so ashamed. Lightning snarled, her teeth gleaming. "Take a hard look at me Echidna. Who do you think my father is!?" she snapped, getting up in his face. Looking at her, everyone discovered her black and white fur with her multi-colored eyes. Sonic opened his fat mouth. "INFINITE!" he shouted, not meaning to. He covered his mouth as both Amy and Wave slapped him.

"Ow!" he whined. Lightning backed away, turning to Whisper. "Were you worried about me not being good enough? Or was it just because I looked like him?" she asked her. "Light this was never about him or you!"

"You're damn right it wasn't! This was all 'cause you couldn't bear the fact that you spent one night with someone you call a traitor! And for the record! My dad is anything but a traitor!" 

"That night wasn't supposed to happen! Mimic got me into a mess that I couldn't get out of! Infinite was my only ticket to freedom! I didn't know I'd have you out of it! I don't ever regret having you! But my hands were tied! I was young! Really young and still fighting for Mobius! You know you would've been better off with him!"

"Why? Because you knew I was a bad kid? Because he was? Tch. You never cared. Just like you don't now. So leave!" she snapped. "No! Lightning! I won't!" Whisper growled. The two finally got into it. Both began fighting like literal wolves. Pulling their fur and scratching and spitting. Knuckles and Vector tried to break it up but Espio stopped them. "Let them. They need to get it out of their system somehow."

They waited for a while as they finally came to a halt. Ivy thought it might've been safe so she shyly walked down. "Mommy?" she asked. Lightning looked behind her and walked towards her daughter. She picked her up and held her close. "Unlike you mom... I actually take care of my kid. Nothing will stand in the way of that." As she began to walk away. "Light... So many could be in danger. Not just their kids. I don't know what your dad and the others have planned. But all I know is that this is a place where their kids don't understand anything. Please... wouldn't you be looking for answers if it were Ivy?"

Lightning blinked and looked down at Ivy who clung to her. "All we want is someone to help us get around. If you help us, I promise I'll leave you alone! If you want... I'll even let you come to Mobius for some time." Whisper pleaded. Lightning sighed and turned to them. "Fine. I'll help you guys. Despite that, you can't go wearing this stuff. Sit down. I'll be back with some stuff." she growled.

Everyone listened and took a seat. As Lightning and Whisper crossed paths, she glared at her as Whisper's ears pinned against her skull. "Don't expect anything to change between you and me." she growled once more then walked away. Gadget walked over to his friend.

"You going to be okay?" he asked. "I don't know... I don't know..."