Bad Kids

Chapter 31

Getting through the town, Lightning guided the group to look for the place where she figured Jet might be at this time. Everyone was tired, hungry, cold, and worried. Ivy stayed very close to her mother, knowing that the town wasn't safe for her to be alone. As they walked, the group was weary about everything. "Just how big is this town?" Sally asked. "It's bigger than Mobius that's for sure." Lightning replied coldly. "How do you know?" Amy questioned. "Just because I wasn't raised in Mobius doesn't mean I've ever been, princess." Lightning snarked.

Finally, they arrived at Rouge's. "Alright, when we enter, don't act surprised by anything you see. You'll blow your own cover." Lightning warned, hiding Ivy under her cloak. With those final words, they entered the restaurant. "I had no idea Rouge owned a restaurant," Gadget replied. "There's a lot of things you don't know about." Wave replied briefly pushing past him.

As the group walked inside. They were faced with tons of customers. Some were drunk, others were polishing guns, and there were two couples making out in the back. Blaze rolled her eyes and hid her face. "Oh god..." Knuckles said, hiding his face his a hat. Lightning scoffed and rang the little bell on the counter in front of her. Immediately Envy walked out the door to attend. "Welcome to Rouge's. Can I help-" she began.

But she quickly shut her mouth and glared at Lightning. "Oh... You again. Sorry to tell you, but we don't allow dine-and-dashers seats here. I've clearly got other customers here so scram." she snapped. "Look I didn't want to leave like that, but I have a kid who needed food. If you were in my shoes, you'd do the same thing!" Lightning growled. "I have a deadbeat dad who's dying of lung cancer! But at least I'm not pitying myself! He might be a lost cause but I care. That doesn't mean I would steal from one of the top leaders of Dark Side." she declared. On that note, Lightning slammed her paws against the counter, startling everyone. "Listen here, missy. I'm not here for dinner, I'm not here to fight, and I'm definitely here to start anything to get my daughter into more danger than she is in this town! I'm here because we need to find your dad!"

Taken back Envy tapped a pen on the counter. "Why? You two have nothing to do with each other. In fact, my dad hates you ever since you betrayed the Hawk gang." Envy huffed. She waved her hand at them. Heading to the back, they watched her go up to another worker. "I have to take off. Make sure this joint stays in one piece. Or Rouge might have both our asses." she said to someone else. They understood and went on with their business.

"Follow me, our place isn't too far from here!" she responded. Wave walked ahead of the group. "Hey, I don't know if you remember me but... name's Wave." she greeted. Envy took a better look at her and wondered. "You're... You're my dad's sister?" she asked. Wave chuckled. "Not exactly. But it felt like it. I was a good friend of your dad's before all the towns split apart. But... I never got the chance to really meet you because you were just a baby," she explained to her. "But even so.  You were adorable when I did meet you that one single time. And I didn't know what to think! To be honest I was worried about you being a boy. I tease Jet but you know how he can be!" Envy giggled at Wave's remark.

"Anyways... I wish I could've come with y'all here... It's been lonely where I've been at. Especially at home when I'm the only one with problems..." she went on. "Are you a standout in Mobius?" Envy asked. "I guess you could say that. It's rough when your whole family is here and not back in a place that actually welcomed you." Wave replied. "Sounds like a struggle."

"It was, but here I am! Happy I could come and back first place. I'm nervous to see Jet but I bet he'll be even more surprised to see me." I replied. Envy smiled leading all of them to another home in a different building fairly close to Rouge's restaurant. Pulling the keys out of her pocket, she opened the front door, having to use her body to force it. When it did, she entered, wiping her feet on the rug. "DAD! I'M HOME!" she shouted, entering the house. The rest of the group entered the house, following her footsteps everyone else made their way inside.

To their shock and perhaps horror, they couldn't believe her living conditions. The paint was peeling away, there was mold on wooden furniture, pictures on the wall looked ruined by running water, there was a foul smell lingering throughout the house, a few insects scattered across the ground, and there was a leak in the ceiling. "Wow... is... is this really where she lives?" Sally gasped. "Duh, this is Dark Side. You guys sent us here with no resources. What else did you expect?" Lightning huffed, walking ahead of them. Cream couldn't believe it, her eyes filled with tears. "I... I can't believe it... No one deserves this!" she cried. Amy touched the wall, barely tapping it. A piece in the wall fell in and she backed away surprised.

Seeing the water leak, Tails noticed that it was beyond repairs. "If it was treated a few weeks ago... it would've prevented all the mold..." he realized. "Do you think they even had ways to treat it?" Vector asked. "With everything else, I'm seeing, probably not..." he sighed. That's when they all looked at each other. "Is... Is this our fault?" Espio asked. Sonic asked. "No, it's not! This is the life they chose!" he replied. "Sonic, how could you say that!? There were children born here without a choice!!" Blaze hissed. "Well, maybe if their parents made choices, they wouldn't be here!" he snapped back. "Oh c'mon! You saw Lightning! You saw Envy! You saw the others! This has been the only life they've known! That's because we've forced them out of town!" Silver cried.

Sonic took in a deep breath and sighed. "You're right... I'm sorry. We'll do something to fix this. I don't know what. Maybe Queen Elise will consider something for the children trapped here." he said. His friends agreed.

"DAD!"

The sudden yell scared all of them. Quickly they raced to the room they heard the yells coming from. Envy was on her knees, holding Jet in her lap. "Dad! DAD! DAD WAKE UP!" she pleaded, gently patting his face. "Dad!" she shouted once more. Lightning noticed this, running to Envy's aid. Jet was passed out, his pulse weakened, and his eyes had major bags under them. "What's wrong with him?!" Wave cried. "I don't know!! I found him like this! Oh! M-Maybe his cancer! No no no!" Envy cried. "Move, I've got this." Knuckles reassured her.

Lightning stepped aside letting Knuckles come closer. Knuckles took Jet from Envy and placed both his hands on Jet's head. He took a deep breath. "Master Emerald... Hear my pleas. Save this soul clinging on to life. We need your power. I need you to heal my friend's brother. Though he's done wrong he has a child that still needs him. I need you to grant me the power to save someone who still deserves a chance." he begged. Suddenly, Knuckles glowed lightly. His power glowed throughout him with his connection with the Master Emerald.

Its power transferred to Jet, his feathers barely glowing, all the power being admitted to him. His once darkened and wilted body soon began to be filled with life. Once all the power was moved, Knuckles stopped glowing, gently moving his hands away from Jet's head. They all waited, wondering what might happen now that he's healed. Nothing happened for a minute. A few more minutes went by.

Then for the moment, they were all waiting for. Jet's eyes snapped open and he began to gasp for air, coughing up a storm.

"DAD!" Envy went down and hugged her dad that sat up happily. "E-Envy! Woah! What happened?" Jet gasped. "Oh dad, I came home! You were on the floor!" Envy cried. "Well... funny enough I felt like I was dying a few minutes ago. But I couldn't do anything about it." he said sadly. That's when he saw everyone else inside his house. He also recognized a lot of the faces that were there. But the only one he was set on was his long-life friend.

"Wave..?"

"Hey Jet!"