Sonic Clash! High School Days

Chapter 15

The night of the party was an exciting one for all.

At Tails's house, Markus is fussing over the decorations and food that has been set out, and fiddling with the volume of the music, he wanted it to be perfect for his family. "Markus honey, you're going overboard!" Marina laughs as she emerges from the hallway and into the lounge, fixing her earrings. Markus stops rummaging amongst the food and goes to reply, but freezes, astounded by how beautiful his wife is as she stands in the middle of the lounge room.

"Are you okay sweetheart?" Marina asks, confused as to why her husband was standing there open-mouthed. "I-I'm fine, it's just that you look absolutely beautiful...exactly like the first time I met you." Markus stutters, and then grins dopily, Marina flushing red. "Thank you darling... I found all this in our room, I'm surprised you kept all of it, even my makeup is in good nick!" She giggles, and Markus dusts himself off. "Well of course, I had to prepare for the day you came back to me." He grins at his wife, so glad to have her in his life. "You never lost hope, did you?" Marina says, and Markus pulls her close to him. "How could I? I love you more than life itself Marina. I couldn't just let you go." The two then slow dance together, Marina close to tears after hearing his sweet words, she had longed for the day she could do this with her husband again. "I love you too, Markus Prower." She says, trying her hardest not to sniffle as they sway to the music, so ecstatic that they could hold each other again after so long.

"Dad! Mom!"

Midnight calls from the hallway, her and Tails rushing down it to meet them. Their parents break their embrace, and Midnight's eyes widen as she sees her mother. "Whoaaaahhhh! Pretty mom!" She exclaims, and circles her, touching the soft chiffon of the cream coloured casual dress her mother is wearing that nicely contrasts from her orange fur, and gasping at the shoes, jewellery and makeup that went with it. "Thank you sweetheart." Marina grins and kisses the top of her daughter's head, Midnight purring. "Me too?" Midnight asks, pointing to her own little baby pink dress, and Marina chuckles. "Of course darling, come with me." She smiles, and the two girls head down into the bedroom. Markus smiles at Tails, and it's the happiest Tails had ever seen his father for a rather long time. The feeling was mutual, and he feels a big grin coming on himself. "Miles, if you ever find someone that makes you as happy as your mother makes me, she's the one, I guarantee it." Markus sighs and swipes his hair out of his eyes. "I'll remember that Dad." He says, the two holding an understanding stare, just as the doorbell rings. "I go get it!" Midnight exclaims and then scrambles out of the bedroom, sliding on the rug before getting to the door, Marina's laughter mixing with Markus's and Tails's before he goes with her to greet the guests. Midnight scuffles to get the handle, and as they open the door, Rose and her parents smile a greeting. "Oh my gosh, Midnight is that REALLY you?!" Rose asks, almost dropping the cheesecake Macey had made. "My name is Midnight!" the little arctic fox exclaims excitedly, recognising her old playmate from a decade ago. "It's so good to see you!!!" Rose expertly slides the cheesecake onto the bench before enveloping her friend in a gargantuan hug, Midnight purring and wrapping her arms around her long lost friend. Rex and Macey close the door behind them as they enter, smiling as they see the two girls embrace, and Tails can't help but take a photo of this moment. He puts his camera away as Marina and Markus come to greet their guests, Midnight and Rose breaking their hug.

"Marina! Oh my god!" Macey exclaims and embraces her own friend, the two women tearing up as they are finally reunited with one another. "It's so amazing to finally see you after all these years!" A joyful tear streaks down Marina's face as she breaks the embrace, and Rex steps forward to hug his friend. Marina lights up again as she sees him, and pulls him into a hug. "Reggie!" She exclaims, and Rex seems to roll his eyes slightly, Markus and Macey laughing, remembering the days where Marina would call her comrade the short version of his old fashioned name, Reginald. "It's good to see you too, Mar." Rex replies, and they break their embrace, happy tears all around.

"Aunty Mar?"

Rose pipes up, and Marina looks in her direction, her face dropping in shock. "Rose?" She asks, and Rose nods excitedly. "M-My God! You're so grown up!" Marina stutters as she has a good look at her adopted niece, and then pulls her in for her third hug, Rose giggling. "Well of course, my programming kind of kicked in." She says, and Marina drops the hug unexpectedly, gasping. "She knows??" She asks Macey and Rex, and they both look sheepish. "Yeah, it's quite a recent thing though, we're still adjusting to it." Rex explains, and then Marina forgets that they're all standing in the doorway. "Oh my gosh! Come in everyone! Sit! Eat! Tell me everything I've missed!" She ushers them all into the lounge room, where they all converse for a while, eating and laughing whilst sharing memories with Marina and Midnight that they hadn't been there for, until the next guests arrive at the door, Midnight scampering to meet it. "I get a door!" She exclaims, and the others laugh at her adorable way of English, Tails helping her greet everyone. The next guests to arrive are Sonic and Knuckles, who are eager to meet Tails's little sister. "Hey Tails!" Sonic greets,  and Knuckles grunts a hello, Midnight's face dropping in shock, it's the voice from the doohickey! "Sonic?" She asks her big brother for confirmation, and Tails just chuckles back before giving her a nod. "Hey Midnight, it's nice to finally meet ya!" Sonic grins and holds out his hand, Midnight looking at it in a confused fashion. Sonic laughs, and then comes inside, Knuckles slumping in after him, not knowing what to do. "This is our friend Knuckles, he's a little shy." Sonic explains, and Knuckles shows his irritation with a grunt as Tails closes the door, but calms down as he realises that it's the truth. "Nice to meet you, too!" Midnight giggles back at the two, Knuckles flushing red.

"Hey guys, my Mom has been waiting to see you ever since she got back!" Tails states, and they all follow him into the lounge area, where everyone else is sitting. "Sonic and Knuckles? Wow you boys have grown up so much!" Marina smiles, and gets up off the couch to greet them both, Knuckles murmuring something along the lines of an 'It's nice to see you again Marina.' before being swamped in a hug. "I remember when you two were just starting grade school!" Marina chuckles, and Sonic does the same back. "Not much has changed I'm guessing?" He teases, and Marina laughs and gives them space. "Maybe just a few!"

The others greet Sonic and Knuckles, and pretty soon, everyone else arrives, reuniting themselves or acquainting with Marina and Midnight before they really kick into the night. Eating, laughing and making memories together, the adults and teenagers enjoy themselves, even Shadow seemed to be having fun, although he didn't show it much. Rose had to kick him into the festive spirit, and the others couldn't help but laugh a little, Shadow huffing in annoyance. Soon enough, the adults had had a few to drink, and the teenagers all gathered in Tails's room which was thankfully big enough to house all seven teens, Midnight, Rose and Amy all squish up onto the bed, while the boys all got comfy on the floor. "So Tails, how old is  Midnight?" Silver questions, and Midnight perks up at hearing her name. "Well I'm sixteen, and Midnight is about two and a half years younger, so she'll be around fourteen." Tails explains, doing the simple math. "I am fourteen old." Midnight tries to say her age, and Amy giggles. "No Midnight, you're fourteen years old!" She corrects her, and Midnight bites her lip and thinks. "I'm fourteen years old!" She blurts with a lot of emphasis on the word 'years' and the others can't help but chuckle. "Good job Midnight!" She then exclaims, and the group all laugh with her. "She's funny Tails, I like her!" Silver grins, and Tails beams, happy to know his new friend has accepted his sister. "Thanks Silver, I'm glad that you like her." He says, and the two boys smile at each other. "So who wants to play truth or dare?!" Amy shrieks, and the others all protest in groans. "Ames can we play a different game? Truth or Dare is so babyish!" Sonic complains, and Amy gives him a sinister glance. "I thought you guys might say that, so I came up with a NEW game!" She says, and Rose looks concerned, she may know where this is going, especially when Amy rummages around in the pocket of her white party dress. "Aha!" She finally exclaims, and then pulls two die out. "Anyone got a bottle?" She asks, and everyone looks at one another. "I'll go get one of the empty wine bottles." Shadow says, not really wanting to participate, then gets up and makes his way to the door. "Okay, the game is called Kiss or Dare!" Amy announces, Rose throwing her head into her hands, please don't let this be another attempt to kiss Sonic!