Chapter 1: "Dream Catcher"

Author's Notes:

Flipside Element was a project I started in 2001, and let me tell you, it's been a long and crazy ride. I never expected a fanfiction to take this long to write. Before, I was reluctant to post it up anywhere but its main website, but due to changes in my life and in my time, I am now releasing it other places. It now has a few small revisions: paragraph breaks, a word here and there taken out, a typo here and there fixed.

If you're just joining us, thank you very much, buckle up, and please enjoy the ride, wherever it may go in the next few years to come. –GiNA--

Flipside Element

Chapter 1: "Dream Catcher"
by Gina Trujillo

Cold, green water. That was what he was seeing through. He was trapped in a tube of green, foul, water-like liquid. He lifted his hand, pressing his fingertips against the glass. Wires and tubes hung off of his arm. He felt along the smooth glass, his whole body weak and shaky.

He wanted out. Wherever the hell he was, he just wanted out. There was something out there, something he had to get to and stop. The frustration was over whelming. He tried to pound on the glass, but his hand only fell weakly against it. He felt as though he was spinning, a strange dizziness overcoming him. The world blurred and spun away.

Suddenly, there was a sharp pain in his gut. Sonic woke to the painful feeling of his little pet Chao, Tripster, deciding that his stomach looked like a trampoline. Tripster jumped up and down on the bed for a moment before Sonic grabbed him under the arms, holding him up in the air. The Chao grinned and waved sheepishly in response.

Sonic sighed and set the Chao down. Tripster quickly ran from the room, chattering in his Chao gibberish. Sonic stared at the ceiling. Just a dream, he told himself. A strange and painfully familiar dream. "What does it all mean?" he asked the ceiling. When no answer came, he got out of bed and started his day.

Sonic sat at the table in his kitchen, resting his head on his hand, thoughts fixed on the reoccurring dreams. He'd been having them for about a month now, and was wondering once more what it all meant. Tripster came bopping into the room and up to Sonic. He looked up, smiled and greeted the hedgehog with a loud, "Bah-ta-bah!"

Sonic smiled at the non-since and picked up the Chao. "Tripster! M'man! Sup?" Tripster continued to 'reply' in his gibberish speech, which cheered Sonic up quickly.

He then glanced up at the clock. It was 11:30. "I'm late!" he zoomed out the door, Tripster clinging to him in alarm.

Sonic speed through the forest, Tripster in tow, headed for a pre-appointed spot: a huge oak tree just outside of the village. His friends were already waiting there for him.

"Sorry I'm late," Sonic said, "I overslept..."

"We figured," Princess Sally said, hugging him, "Happy Birthday, anyway, lazy." She winked at him, then gave him a kiss on the cheek.

As most parties do, it didn't seem to last long enough. The day flew by. As the sun was getting low in the sky, there was a rustle in the trees overhead. All eyes turned upward. A tall, well-muscled man dropped down through the branches above. He landed in a crouch position, then stood, his red dread-locks falling about his shoulders. Unexpectedly, Knuckles had shown up.

Sonic walked over to shake his hand, "Hey, man! I can't believe you came."

Knuckles fixed him with a serious look, "No time for hello's, Sonic. There's some major trouble!"

"Trouble? What's up?" Tails asked, walking up.

Before anything else was said, Tripster came scrambling up behind Sonic. He took a flying leap up onto his back, screaming a Chao like battle cry. "Whhaaaaa! Ta-baaaaaa!" The Chao slammed his little hands against the back of Sonic's neck, right at the base of his head. The blow hit with a force unbelievable for such a tiny creature. Time seemed to freeze. The quiet, soft voice of a little boy whispered, "Come back to us, Sonic."

Time lurched back into motion. A sharp pain shot through Sonic's head. In an instant it had spread to the rest of his body. It felt like something was trying to rip him apart from inside. He didn't remember screaming, but he did, and loudly at that. He fell to his knees, gripping his sides.

"Sonic?" Tails knelt beside him, "What's wrong?" Sonic tried to answer, but no words would come to him.

Tripster clung to Sonic's back, his eyes shut tightly. Sally ran over and grabbed the Chao, trying to pull him off, but Tripster just clung on tighter.

A deep ringing sound spun about Sonic's mind. The world started to blur, he felt like he was spinning. When he tried to look up at his friends, everything was too hard to focus on. He closed his eyes tightly as the world continued to reel about.

The concerned voices of his friends reached his ears, becoming more and more distant. Then other voices joined in, ones he didn't recognize. Finally, his friend's voices were gone altogether, replaced with those of strangers.

"His pulse rate is off the scale."

"He's going into convulsions."

The spinning feeling subsided. Sonic could no longer feel Tripster on his back nor the ground under him. All he felt was the pain, though a bit duller now. That and he felt cold. No, it was more like cold water... Sonic's eyes snapped open and he found himself in a glass tube filled with murky, cold, green, water-like liquid. Sonic stared in disbelief at finding himself back in his dreams. He lifted a hand to the glass, wires and small tubes hanging off his arm. Thin trails of liquid trickled from cracks in some of them and a black substance was leaking out from one that was ripped right in half. Sonic moved his head to look around, forcing his eyes to stay open. He realized he had an oxygen mask covering his mouth.

Suddenly, a spasm shot through him, making him jerk violently to the side and then backward. He tried to stop it, but his body wouldn't obey. Some wires were yanked from his body.

"We're loosin' him!" a voice came from outside of the tube.

"Let's get this under control, people."

"We're trying, sir!"

"Every I.V. in him has popped. We can't get anything into him now."

Sonic's body calmed for a moment. He tried to see out of the tube, but all he could make out were sketchy shadows. His body jerked again, against his will, slamming him into the glass.

"How long since his last dose of Stabilizers?"
"A good 26 hours. The I.V. popped before it could give them to him, but the computers failed to alert us of the problem."

"Chaos levels are at 85 and climbing! He's out of control!"

"He's gonna break loose!"

"Calm down, you idiots! Get this matter under control, or Malajik will have our heads!"

Suddenly, a battle cry sounded and an explosion echoed through the unseen room beyond the tube. The sounds of a struggle followed. With great effort, Sonic lifted his head. He saw the silhouette of two baby-sized hands on the glass in front of his face. Sonic struggled to lift his hands, which did not want to follow the command. Slowly, painfully, he managed to get control over them, placing his palms on the shadowy hand-prints.

A feeling like electric shock shot through him. He tried to jerk his hands way, but couldn't. His body convulsed again, yet his hands stayed fixed in place on the glass. As he slammed into the glass tube, the oxygen mask fell from his face. He couldn't handle this any more. Water or not, he threw his head back and screamed at the top of his voice.

The scream sounded loud and clear. Sonic felt as though all the liquid was trying to push as far from him as it possibly could. He heard a loud cracking sound, felt the glass under his hands shatter. All the water fell away, replaced by icy air.

A pair of warm little hands pressed against his palms. He tried to open his eyes, but found he couldn't. He felt himself sink to a floor, which he wasn't even sure existed a moment before. There he lay, trying to catch his breath. Pain nagged at his whole body, slowly giving way. He could hear his pulse in his ears, racing faster than ever before.

The same two tiny hands carefully touched his. They were a small comfort at the moment, although he wasn't sure who or what they belonged to. Then there came the sound of soft footsteps. Someone was walking towards him. A strong hand fell on his shoulder.

"Resuki?" the concerned voice of a young man came, "Resuki, can you hear me?"

Sonic forced his eyes open. He looked up to see a red wolf kneeling beside him. Sonic blinked a few times, trying to focus more, as he thought he saw huge, fire colored wings coming out from the man's back. The only thing he could conclude on the matter was that he had died and this was an angel before him.

The wolf smiled slightly, "Rest easy, brother. We've got you." The world went black.