Part 6: Future Acquaintances

Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog.

It was getting late, and Sonic decided to grab a bite to eat before searching for Tails' house. He glanced around the area, and spotted a lone chili dog stand. The hungry hedgehog jogged over to the stand. It wasn't anything TOO fancy. The stand consisted of a bar and three stools for the customers to sit on. Sonic guessed that the cooking utensils and supplies were in the back, obscured from view. A robot with a chef hat, similar to the ones he had just fought, sauntered out from behind the counter.

"Excuse me, sir. May I take your order?" inquired Chef Bot.

"Yep, two chilidogs with the works pal!" Sonic obviously declared, sticking out two fingers to confirm his order.

"I'll get right on it," assured Chef Bot. As promised, the robot imitation of a chef disappeared behind the counter. Sonic's sensitive ears perked up, as they detected the sizzling of the roasting dogs and his nose noticed the sweet mouthwatering aroma that accompanied them. "Here you go sir." announced Chef Bot, as he carried the steaming sausage delicacies smothered in chili over to where the hedgehog was sitting.

"Thank you, very much!" thanked Sonic, "what do I owe ya?"

"Your total comes out to… a mere two rings." Informed Chef Bot, as it held a flat, metal palm out for the currency. The robots palm was a dull grey color, with a small circle just large enough to fit a ring into.

Sonic ran his hand through his back quills, feeling for the leathery surface of his wallet. He soon found it, and searched through the compartments inside the wallet until he eventually pulled out two golden rings. The thankful hedgehog extended his arm out towards the robot, and placed the dual forms of currency neatly onto the palm of the chef. To Sonic's surprise' the small hole in the robot's palm opened up, revealing a gaping black hole. The rings slowly inched closer and closer to the hole, and in one swift motion were sucked into the hole as it closed. The robot then disappeared behind the counter, leaving the cobalt speedster to eat in peace.

"Alright, time to eat!" exclaimed Sonic, ready to eat his long awaited meal. He picked up the chili dog and nibbled at it slowly, savoring every bite. Before he knew it, he was already on his second chili dog. Sonic soon finished, and licked the chili off of the fingertips of his gloves. The now rejuvenated hedgehog jumped off the stool, and dashed off to search for the fox's house. After an hour of dashing through vacant streets, dark alleys, and running into dead ends, the confused traveler decided to walk slow and look for any locals. Sonic was walking down an open street, and he constantly kept seeing a black and white blur out of the corner of his eye. He got curious and headed over into a side alley where it was. The blur dashed around a bit more, and charged right at the hapless hedgehog. The blur stopped right in front of Sonic, and revealed itself to be a black and white hedgehog.

"Why are you zipping around all over the place?" wondered Sonic, "How are you that fast?"

"One: I was following you, trying to figure out what you were doing. Two: I am naturally able to run that fast." Explained the hedgehog.

"Why were you following me, and who are you?" demanded Sonic.

"I was following you because you looked familiar, and besides me there hasn't been anyone here for a long time. I was wondering where you came from. As for who I am, I'm Shock the hedgehog!" stated Shock.

"Nice to meet you, Shock." Said Sonic, extending his hand out towards Shock.

"Nice to meet you to Sonic," agreed Shock, accepting Sonic's handshake.

"Wait a minute. How do you know my name, I haven't told you yet!" Exclaimed Sonic, "Tell me who you are now! Are you a spy for Eggman?"

"All will be explained in good time," Shock stated, calmly.

"I'll get you, Shock! If that's even your real name!" yelled Sonic, as he charged at full speed towards Shock. When Sonic reached Shock, he stepped to the side, causing Sonic to crash into a brick wall, face first. The hedgehog hero climbed out of the wall, slightly bluer than usual from all the bruises. He dashed up to deliver a kick to Shock's thigh, but before he could Shock grabbed his foot, sending electricity coursing through Sonic's body. Sonic fell over, unable to move at all. "What did YOU do?" asked Sonic.

"Why do you think they call me Shock?" Shock rhetorically stated, "I harnessed the power of electricity and used it to paralyze you."

"Why did you do this?" asked Sonic.

"You better listen well, because I'm about to explain who I am. You might want to sit down for this, and that's why I have to keep you from moving. You are in another dimension. This is the same world you were in, except this is the future. Now don't get me wrong, this is only one of the possible futures you could have. I'm you from this dimension. When I was fighting Eggman, the fight was similar to your fight. The only difference was that I was in the electrical cage longer than you were. I had to absorb the electricity to escape, and my fur changed from cobalt blue to white and black. I renamed myself Shock, because of my newfound powers. This future will become reality if you don't find a way to travel back to your dimension in the past. I will help you out, and we need to gather the other uses from the other dimensions to help us. If we don't gather an army, all of the other dimensions' outcome will turn out like this one. Are you with me?" Explained Shock.

"Are you kidding? I wouldn't want to miss my biggest adventure yet!" agreed Sonic, "There's no way I'm letting every single dimension out there become slaves to Eggbutt! Let's go!"

"What were you doing before we met?" asked Shock, as he fixed it so Sonic could move again.

"I was searching for Tails' house; I thought he could help me." Replied Sonic.

"I know where it is, follow me!" said Shock, as he ran off with Sonic close behind.