Sorry for the slightly delayed update. If you're wondering about the delay, just check my profile. I will admit I had most of this done over a week ago, but I wanted to take the time to edit it and check a few things.

Note About the Canon Being Used: I decided to follow the game canon instead of the Archie comics since I can't gain any access to them, and too many fansites are giving me some mixed information.

The dirt path became muddy as the rain fell down harder. His shoes made gross noises with each step. Mud stuck to the bottom of his shoe everytime it made contact with the ground. Even something as comfortable as walking in the rain had its consequences.

The trees around him didn't shield him from the rain for too long before it fell through the leaves. The familiar sound of rain beating on leafs was music to his ears. He gazed up to watch the rain fall from the sky and land in his line of vision until it landed on his face.

Halfway through the forest, Espio heard what sounded like creaky wheels. Gazing behind him, he could see a yellow female hedgehog probably in her late twenties driving a carriage. Two brown, strong looking horses pulled the carriage smoothly despite the nasty road condition. Espio walked further to the side to prevent getting in her way.

To his surprise, the woman pulled the carriage to a stop next to him. "Hey kid, need a ride? It's pretty bad out here."

Taking a few seconds to think of a tactful response, he replied, "No thank you. I'm simply taking a stroll to clear my mind. Besides, I could use the exercise."

She blew a brown bang out of her eyes. "Wow...that's a bit strange, no offense. Are you sure, though? The wind's 'bout to pick up and you can catch your death out here."

Espio shook his head. "I'm fine, really."

"Mom, what's going on," a young voice asked.

A yellow hedgehog wearing a bright red rain coat emerged out of the side of the carriage, squishing the mud with his rubber red boots. His fur and hair color matched his mother's, though he had brown eyes instead of green like hers.

"Go inside, Ian," his mother ordered, tightly gripping the reins. "The last thing I need is for you catch the flu or something."

The boy gave Espio a glance out of curiosity before obeying. She focused her gaze on him until he disappeared inside the carriage, making sure he actually did as she said.

Looking back at Espio, she lazily shrugged her shoulders, "He's the curious type. One of these days it's gonna get him in trouble."

Espio nodded like he agreed with her. "Yeah."

A question Espio wanted to ask asked pestered him. He nearly let her swing her reins, signaling the horses to move forward, before he decided to ask. "Wait, I gotta ask something."

The woman looked at him with a content expression. "Yes?"

"What...what's your occupation?"

She cocked her head to the side at him. "Why?"

"Well...just curious, not that you need to tell me. It's a personal question, after all. I'm simply curious."

"Uh, alright I guess. I own a farm with my husband around here. It's not too far from the city, so we make a decent living. Issue is that it's a lot of hard work. If you want, I can show you it sometime."

Strange relief Espio couldn't understand made him feel better. "Maybe, but not today. Thanks anyway."

"Well, I better be off before Mother Nature decides to raise hell. Nice meeting you."

"Yeah, nice meeting you too."

"Heeyah!" The woman gave the reins a swing and sent the carriage in motion.

Espio stood in his spot, watching the carriage turn smaller until it disappeared in the distance.

His chest hurt at being reminded of his mother again. He would never forget when she found out her...real occupation.

Espio sat in the corner of his tiny room drawing pictures. Not much paper was available, so he had to use it wisely. He wished he had crayons like some other kids at school to at least flesh out the picture and breath life into it, but the first important lesson of being poor was that you couldn't be too picky with the little you get.

Night already came outside, and there was only a dim candle on the small oak table to help Espio see what he was doing. He really wanted to go downstairs, but his mother told him to not leave his room under any circumstances until she came to get him.

Several minutes passed before Espio started to get anxious and curious. His room felt even smaller as he started to run out of things to do. He ran out of space on his paper, and his overlapping doodles were turning into unrecognizable messes.

His stomach grumbled from eating very little dinner; his mother had to shorten his ration to make the food last to her next pay. The thought of sneaking into the kitchen to scavenger for any crumb of food tempted him, but fear delayed him for a while.

After a lot of thought, he decided to go straight to the kitchen and avoid his mother. He figured if she didn't see him he wouldn't be ruining whatever she did on these nights. Espio had to sneak out of his window instead of his door because his mother usually locked it whenever she sent him up there.

Cringing at his creaking window, he opened it and stepped out. These were one of the few occasions he was thankful he was a reptile instead of a mammal because it was handy when it came to climbing down a fragile roof. He had to descend with caution to prevent breaking off pieces of the ancient roof and giving away his plan.

Espio had to stand in front of his front door for a few moments before he gained enough courage to open the loud, creaky door. At snail's pace, he went into the house, almost freaking out over the door creaking again.

Downstairs was completely dark except for the light slivering under his mother's bedroom door. He never understood why his mother preferred having a bedroom on this floor instead of the upper floor, especially since most of the rooms on this floor was a little worse than the upper ones.

Praying that his mother was asleep or very occupied, he headed to the kitchen across the living room. The floor boards moaned under his weight with each stop, making him almost angry at wood in general for trying to get him caught.

The only thing lighting the kitchen was the bright moonlight through the window above the sink. To prevent giving himself away, he avoided lighting some candles kept in case the electric company cut off their power for skipping on the bill.

With a lot of groping around, he managed to find the small ice box and propped it open. The only thing in there was a small container with some casserole. His stomach roared for him to sneak it up his room. He almost wanted to bawl as he realized that his mother would most likely notice it missing and probably shorten his next portion further.

Espio hoped that there was a berry bush somewhere in the backyard. A loud moan echoed off the silent house just as Espio was getting ready to go through the back door. A chilly feeling ran through his body while he slowly returned to the living room. Another moan followed, this time easily traced to his mother's room. Fear punched him in the gut when thoughts of his mother speeded past him.

"M-mommy?" Espio called out, making his way toward the door.

No answer followed except a faint hint of a masculine voice. He never knew his mother's male friends that well, but she usually brought them over for a visit on a nightly basis. The only time he had the chance to get much on them was a few very brief glimpses of them while his mother shuffled him up the stairs and hearing voices downstairs once in a while.

A knot formed while deep thoughts swirled in his mind.

Are one of male friend's hurting her? he wondered. Would they really do that?

A little shuffling inside followed, scaring Espio enough to fling the door open and rush inside.

"Mommy!"

If shock hadn't closed his throat, he would had shrieked. His mother lay on her bed with her dress unbuttoned, revealing her lacy bra. A orange chameleon probably twice her senior hovered over her with his face buried into her neck, wearing nothing but boxers.

His mother already noticed his intrusion, rewarding him with a look of wide eyed horror. The male, however, was too buried in her to pay attention to the world around him.

Anger burned his body at a ferocious degree, balling up his fists and making his eyes narrow until they couldn't go any further. Dark thoughts took control of his body enough to turn him into a charging, mindless animal.

Beating and kicking the man with all his strength, he screamed, "Get off of her! Let her go!"

Espio may not had been the strongest chameleon at his school, but he had enough rage and strength to harm him. Sliding off of her, the man landed on his feet and raised his fist to strike. Espio was about to charge at him again when his mother grabbed his arms, restraining him.

"Espio, stop," she commanded in a sharp tone.

Her tone startled him out of his firing state. He stood there in a daze, thinking about everything he saw. The man was already completely dressed by the time he finished his thoughts.

"Please..." His mother released Espio to go over to the man as he walked to the door. "Please, forgive us. He didn't mean-"

Now standing at the doorway, he narrowed his eyes at her as he looked over his shoulder. "I came here to get some, not get a beating from a little piece of shit. You can forget aboout getting payed for now on."

With her back facing Espio, his mother watched the man leave, possibly counting every step he took until she heard a door slam. Espio grew scared as he realized he probably scared away one of her friends for good.

"I-I'm sorry." He nervously approached her. "I thought he was hurting you and...and..."

A burning pain smacked him across the face, knocking him backward. The hard floor made his body ache and his cheek throbbed while he lied there in shock. Pressing his hand to his hurt cheek to help relieve it, he stared up at his mother. Tears built in her eyes, she lowered her hand after preparing to strike him again, her lips quivering.

"Don't you realize what you done!" she shouted. "He was a regular and you scared him off. Because of you, we're gonna be even poorer. We're gonna starve because of you."

His mother threw herself on her bed, sobbing into her pillow. Her shoulders moved up and down with each sob. Her dark blue dress' strap hung off her shoulder. Espio even noticed her make-up was smeared the one time she lifted her head enough to get a good glance.

Throbbing in his heart made him want to comfort her, but he didn't know what to do. He didn't even understand what happened. Tears formed in his own eyes when he watched her helplessly.

To prevent making things worse, he left her there and returned to his room. By the time he climbed in his bed, he realized he wasn't hungry anymore.

Disgust filled his stomach every time he remembered that night. He wished he found out without actually having to see it at a young age, especially eight. He would had found out either way because the kids at his school teased him about it a lot.

A month nearly passed since he saw his mother with that man. Time never seemed to pass quickly enough. He focused on drawing pictures at the picnic table in the playground's isolated corner. All he wanted was for that memory to fade like an old crayon drawing.

Ever since that night, his mother had been colder to him than ever. With gestures and the feeling he felt around her, he sensed her hard feelings toward him.

She was right about them being poorer. She even shortened his ration during dinner.

The recess teacher left the playground to get something, leaving his classmates alone. No one bothered him today, but felt people giving him weird looks. None of them really liked him that much, though he never knew why for sure. However, they had avoided him even further this past month. He lost count of how many times his peers, teachers, and other kids' parents abruptly stopped talking when he passed them or entered a room.

He was in the middle of coloring his sea with his blue-green crayon when shadows loomed over the drawing. Glancing up, he saw Nathan and a couple older students he never really knew too well staring down at him. Nathan and the kids were a couple grades ahead of him, making them nearly twice his size.

"What'cha working on?" Nathan asked with his usual jeering grin.

Deciding that talking to him would only encourage him, Espio returned to his drawing. It wasn't long before Nathan grabbed the paper and crumbled it up into a wad, tossing it in the nearest wastebasket. Frowning, Espio grabbed another piece of paper and started another drawing. None of this was really new to him.

Feeling the wooden bench shake a little, he knew the other kids took their seats around him. He focused his attention to the paper, praying that his teacher would return soon.

"So I hear ya mom's gotten into a bit of trouble with one of the men in Scarlet Garden," a green male chameleon, whose name Espio could never remember, said.

Scarlet Garden was an area outside his town covered with fancy houses and mansions the upper class lived in. He never knew how it received its name other than to sound fancy.

"Yeah, didn't she, like, try to sell herself to him or something?" the other chameleon, a female said.

Espio felt his grip tighten around his crayon, though he managed to keep it moving. He didn't know what she meant by having his mother sell herself, but all he needed know was that it was dirty by the tone the girl used.

"Oh, so it wasn't just a rumor Bro made up," the green chameleon commented.

"And I heard a certain little squirt tried to beat him up," Nathan said.

Espio's hand wrapped around the crayon tighter, nearly snapping it in two.

"So did you see anything?" Nathan asked, putting his face close to Espio's. "If so, that would be a shame for you to see your mom screwing-"

Espio stood up from his seat, ready to spout out the phrase he heard his mother say on the phone once. "You know what? Fu..."

Unfornuately for Espio, the recess teacher was passing him when he finished his curse.

A month of detention followed.

What he said made Nathan beat him up worse after school, but it felt good to finally tell him off.

"No, no, no!" Amy shouted, shaking her fists. "I wanted you to hang those above the snack table, not the the dinner table!"

Sonic, standing on a ladder, quietly sighed to himself.

Knuckles, on the other hand, wasn't so willing to take it lying down. "Well, next time be more specific. We're not blasted mind readers."

"I specifically said where to put it." Amy buried her face in her hands. "At this rate, we're never gonna get done in time."

Knuckles slid down from his own ladder. "Why don't you do it yourself if you can do so much better?"

"Why don't you take that ladder and shove it up your-"

"Guys!" Sonic exclaimed. "I know everyone's getting stressed with this work, but no need to toss around harsh words. What if a kid walks in?"

Amy and Knuckles glared at each other for a short while before they returned to decorating, mumbling what they wanted to say to each other. Sonic nearly wanted to put his super speed to good use and escape from this job. Problem was that he worried leaving Amy and Knuckles alone gave them permission to jump at each other's throats. Now he understood why Tails always hated to be their referee for all their arguments.

Not many things delayed preparations, though the time and effort it took was already affecting everyone's mood, even his own carefree self's. It was a miracle Knuckles hadn't shredded something, stomped out, and called it quits. Poor Tails had it worse than most of the others, being relied on for things involving higher places (Charmy helped a lot too, but Tails could carry a little more than him). Worst of all, decorating in general turned Amy into a loud, irritable, perfection obsessed dictator.

"Move over, Sonic," Amy commanded, standing in front of the ladder. "I'm not in the mood to move it where it should had been, so I'll just settle with its current location."

Sonic climbed down, thankful for finally getting a break. He watched Amy climb up, hang up her half of the sign, and check for any loose attachments. No matter how much he and Knuckles would hate to admit, she did what took them around fifteen minutes in less than three.

Charmy flew in from the living room, carrying a small box of other party supplies that still needed to be used. "Did you guys need my help with something?"

"Naw," Sonic replied. "We got it."

"I got it," Amy corrected, climbing down.

"That's good, I guess," said Charmy. "Thanks again for the help, guys. Espio can be a bit of a grouch about parties, but I'm sure he'll love all this."

"With us having to put up with her loud voice," Knuckles began, pointing at Amy, "he better."

Glaring, Amy retorted, "I'm this close--" Amy used her thumb and index finger to measure it. "--to putting my hammer to good use."

Luckily, Vector came in before Knuckles could comment. "You guys finished the kitchen?"

"Yep." Sonic went into the living room to take a short break.

"Speaking of Espio, have you tried to call him again?" Knuckles asked, leaping off the ladder and landing perfectly.

"Yeah, but still no answer. I even left him a message on his voicemail."

Amy narrowed her eyes at Vector. "Please tell me he at least said where he was on his voicemail."

"Let's just give him another half hour," said Knuckles. "In the meantime, he can take a break now that everything is nearly ready."

Vector nodded and exited the kitchen to sit on the comfy red armchair in the living room. Charmy followed quietly, what would had been considered a miracle by Vector's standards if he bothered to pay attention, and hovered around him anxiously.

"Vector, I'm worried," Charmy increased his pace as he flew circles around Vector. "You sure we shouldn't at least check on the house."

Rubbing his forehead in frustration, Vector replied, "Let's just wait a little while longer. We all could use a break right now."

"But what if he doesn't return the call?"

"Then we'll check on him ourselves after we wait. Now just relax. He's a big boy and can take care of himself. I doubt he'd want you to lose your cool over him."

"O-okay..." Charmy still paced around the living room despite Vector's assurance. If he had to wait, he could at least try to blow off some steam.

In spite of hating to admit it, Vector's stomach gained a big knot or two. Even sitting started to feel difficult for him. Grabbing his headphones off the tall table next to him, Vector tuned in with whatever music he had programmed into it. With every beat, his foot tapped against the carpet.

Leaning against his palms on a the armchair next to them, Sonic watched the two with only one eye cracked open. If they were trying to hide their anxiety, they were doing a terrible job of it.

If you spot any mistakes, especially grammar and spelling mistakes, please let me know. My mind has been off due to a lot of stress I'm having this week, so my writing might be a bit off. It doesn't help I haven't had as much time to develop this chapter as the previous one. Some of the future chapters should be better.

Feedback is appreciated.