A/N: Well, here's the next the chapter. Link will be able to talk here! Yay! Also, I've finished another story called "What if: Another Duo" in the Ratchet and Clank section. Please, read and review both stories. Much obliged.
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Sonic led Link throughout the city, traversing through crowds and buildings. Link saw that the citizens stopped walking and stare at him, since he doesn't have the cloak. This made Link nervous. Sonic and Link traveled through the city until they reached a small restaurant called "Chuck's Chili Dogs". Sonic opened the door, causing a small bell inside to ring, and waved at Link to enter the building. Link heard people cheering inside the restaurant. He then checked his appearance, and honestly, he thinks that he's unappealing: his tunic is peppered with burns and cuts; there's a giant dried blood spot on his left arm; his bare hands are covered with dried mud and blood; his boots are covered in mud and scuffs; and his face is dirty. Taking a deep breath, he pushed through the door, into a room of patrons.
He saw everyone in the room, excluding Sonic, was staring at him. He saw Sonic sitting in booth with a table. As Link walked towards Sonic, he heard murmurs from the people. Link nervously sat down with Sonic.
"Well, the food is almost done, but in the meantime, warrior, would you mind to wash your hands and face?" Sonic ask. Link saw that chips of dried mud are on the table. Sonic pointed to a door that said "men". "The restroom has a sink, go ahead and wash your hands. The food should be done by then." Link nodded, got up, and entered the restroom.
The bathroom had a few stalls and urinals and sink with a mirror attached to the wall. When he turned the water on, he looked at the mirror attached on the wall and saw that people inside the room left immediately. It seems that they're afraid of him. Link doesn't blame them. He then turned the faucet on, pulled up his left sleeve, and washed the dried blood off. Once all the dirt was off, he looked at his face in the mirror. He saw a tired and weary face stuck on an alien world. Everyone on this strange world are aliens to him. No, Link realized they're not the aliens, but he is. They've been on this world for countless millennia; they're used to everyone else, but not to strangers. Link was worried that he won't fit in, but he has to.
He left the restroom and sat back with Sonic. There were plates of sausages on a white wheat bun and some sort of potatoes. The potatoes were shaped like sticks, the outer surface was hard, but the inside was soft, the "meat", so to speak, of the potato. It smelled of grease and salt. The sausages were covered with a meat sauce that has beans, chopped Chili Peppers, garlic, and onions. It smelled so delicious; it made Link's mouth watered. There were glasses filled a fizzy dark brown/black liquid. There was food for both of them.
"Go ahead, eat up," Sonic said. Sonic grabbed one of the bunned sausages and started to eat.
Link saw it was fingered food so he took one and took a bite. He tasted the sauce mixed with the sausage; it tasted so good, but Link wasn't prepared for the burning sensation inside his mouth. The chopped Chili Peppers caused the food to become spicy, something Link isn't accustomed to. He quickly grabbed his drink and drank it all in a few gulps. The drink had a mild taste, almost vanilla but it had a lot of sugar. Once the fizzing liquid went down his throat, Link can feel a slight but pleasant tickling sensation. Once the heat vanished from his mouth, he gave a small sigh of relief, but was surprised to see all of his drink gone. Link saw Sonic started to laugh. It took some time for Link to realize it, so when he did, he started to laugh with him.
Sonic gradually stopped laughing and said, "I've been thinking, since you got more of that blue stuff, we can use the device today! What do you think?" Link gave it a thought for a moment. He felt tired, but he was excited to be able to talk, he always wondered what he sounded like, so he nodded. "Great!" Sonic replied, "Be right back, I'm going to get more soda." Sonic got up, went to the counter, and pressed a small bell, the one you see at a hotel desk. "Hey dad, can you bring us some more soda?'' Then, a metallic blue hedgehog appeared, holding a pitcher of the soda. Link was shocked to see Sonic's father was like Pallas and Armblaster. He wondered why. Sonic grabbed the pitcher and went back to the table. "Now that I can see you're not accustomed to spicy food, you can have all the refills you want." After that Sonic laughed about it, and Link followed. Then they enjoyed the rest of the meal.
***
"Honestly, I think you got full because you drank all that soda!" Sonic joked.
Sonic and Link left the restaurant an hour later, bellies full. Sonic was kinda right though, Link drank a lot. As they walked throughout the city, people are still looking at Link, but he wasn't worried. Link hoped he can earn their trust after the experiment.
After a while they returned back to Sonic's house in the hill. They went through the same tree stump and entered the house. Once inside, Link saw Julie-Su sitting with Knuckles and resting her head on his shoulder. Both were taking a nap on the couch. Everybody else Link met was relaxing, either reading a book, taking naps, or talking to each other. Tails, on the other hand, wasn't there, but probably working on the machine. Everyone else in the room saw Link and smiled.
"You continue to surprise us, warrior," Amy said.
"Oui, she's right, warrior, we are in your debt again," Antoine added.
Knuckles woke up and said to Link, "yawwwnnn…Thank you warrior, I don't know what I'd do without Julie-Su, but I got a question: how did you heal Julie-Su and everyone else in the hospital?"
After he said that, Tails came out from the basement covered in crude oil. Since everyone was here, Link took out the rest of his Blue ChuChu vials and spread it on the table. Everyone, except Nicole and Sonic, grabbed a vial, but didn't know how to use it. Link grabbed the smallest vial, took off the cap and drank its contents. He then pulled up his left sleeve and showed that the wound was gone. Everybody got the meaning and drank the blue liquid. Minutes later, there were rags, casts, and wraps on the floor.
"Well, warrior, the machine is ready, and better than the last design," Tails said, "Sonic said that you want to use it now, so follow me."
When they went back to the basement, Link saw the machine was better than before. The rusted, non-useful pieces were removed. Instead of a simple head piece, it was a full helmet with a full face visor that encases the head inside it. Link realized that the helmet was the same one Beowulf had.
"I replaced the inferior parts with the salvage we got from the destroyed robots. At first, it was supposed to use a neural shock wave that instantly allows you to speak; however, it's extremely painful. With the helmet we got from the wreckage, it flash-teaches the wearer; however, it still uses a neural shock, but it's not as painful. You'll just have to stay up for a long time. Also, you can also learn other things, like twelve years of school, four years of college, and more in hours, but it's your decision. Do you want to do that?"
Link gave it a thought, and nodded to that idea. He didn't just want to be able to speak, but also wants to adapt in this world, like being able to do jobs in this planet. He nodded to Tails about the idea and sat in the chair while Tails placed the helmet. It was hot and musky inside the helmet.
"Ok, here goes!"
The visor turned on and appeared white. A second later, words, phrases, the punctuation of the phrases, math equations, military tactics, construction, demolition, history, and more flashed across the visor's screen. Link can feel a small pain in his head, but can feel his brain recording the information. Link started to feel tired after a few hours, but force himself to press on.
***
Hours later…the flash-lessons were complete. Tails removed the helmet and the locks. Link was extremely tired and his limbs were all numb. Once he got out of the chair, he nearly fell to the floor. Fortunately, Knuckles caught him.
"You must be extremely tired," Knuckles said. They helped Link onto the couch in the living room. Once Link sat down, Knuckles asked, "Did the machine work, and if it did, can you tell us your name warrior?"
When Link first tried to speak in Hyrule, he felt his throat constrict, but not anymore. Taking a breath, he let the words rolled out of his mouth. "My name…is…Link, the Hero of Hyrule."