He was cold and began to clasp his hands on his body in an attempt to stay warm. The pain stopped, but he could see he was somewhere else. Was he possibly in the Outer Realms now? It was snowing and his feet shook as it was buried in the freezing powder. He thought that he was in Ice Cap Zone, but he saw no large mountains. Only dusted trees and a frozen sea off in the distance. He shivered, then slowly walked. To where, he wasn't sure. Something just forced him to walk.

The Outer Realms...

Was it true? That her dear Sonic was now in a coma and near death? She dashed to the hospital, her heart beating rapidly as she entered the hospital doors.

She was nearly out of breath by the time she reached the reception desk. She couldn't remember the last time she ran this quickly for Sonic. "Uh...can I help you?" the secretary asked, concerned.

"Yes...you can..." she said between breaths. "Is Sonic...in here?"

The secretary frowned. "I'm afraid so. He's currently in the ICU, unconscious."

She was utterly devastated, gasping. The rumors were true. "Which room is he in?" she uttered nearly as fast as she ran.

"He's in the second room. Are you related to him?"

"No, I'm his girlfriend, and I have to see him!" She hastened to the room, nearly colliding with several people.

Straightaway when she arrived, she saw both Tails and Professor Pickle there, talking with the doctors.

"So you're saying he has dark Gaia in his system?"

"Yes. And there must be a way you can get it out. If we continue to let it run in him, he could become mentally impaired, or worse, dead."

"Dead!"

Tails looked behind him, seeing that it was Amy. He could only take a short glance at her, then continue to listen to the doctor as Professor Pickle spoke with him.

"We can perform a blood transfusion. But how is this 'dark Gaia'..."

"It can make people strange when it enters the body. In fact, it made Sonic turn into a monster earlier, but it's affecting him even more."

"Well professor, I believe your theory. We'll perform..."

Amy stopped listening to both of them, looking at Sonic's body. She thought that all the stress was getting in her head, because she could've sworn that he was seeing him sweat and twitch, as if he was having a bad dream. She also thought his lips began to move, saying, "mother".

Sonic's world...

The snow drifted to Sonic's body, making him nearly frozen in his tracks. He continued to trek onwards, but he knew dying from hypothermia was possible. He was close to fainting. He could see that he was waning in and out of the world. He crouched, the snow being stuck in his quills and icicles starting to form.

It was then that he thought he was beginning to hallucinate. He saw a sky blue female hedgehog, walking to a cave off in the distance.

He had to follow her. Maybe she could help him. Maybe she knew what was going on. He rose, trudging towards her.

He saw that she was talking to a group of animals, wearing black hoods over themselves. He couldn't discern much from them, except they had quills that drooped down to their heads. He determined that they were echidnas. He couldn't pick up as to what they were saying, even when he moved closer. They seemed to be speaking in whispers. They continued to talk to the female hedgehog until their eyes moved. They had spotted him.

"Now this is awfully peculiar. I believe that this is..." one of them spoke, until another one silenced him.

"Who are you? Why are you here?"

Sonic's eyes were dull as he looked at them. "Does it even matter right now? I'm about to freeze to death." Sonic would usually tell people who he was, but he felt strange revealing his name to these people. And he was close to death. He fell to his knees, head slumped.

The echidnas nodded. "If you have enough strength, follow us. Our cave is warm."

Sonic once again stood up and followed them at a slug's pace.

The cave really wasn't dark, as torches lined up the walls. His walking speed became a little quicker, as he immediately began to feel better as he was sheltered from the cold. The echidnas looked back at him, then the female hedgehog. Sonic could also tell that she was pregnant, as her stomach was abnormally large. She could only give him a quizzical look as Sonic gazed at her.

"You look...very familiar. You look almost like my husband," she replied.

Sonic didn't say anything. He didn't know who she was or what her husband looked like. He could only shudder. Abruptly, she began to gasp and stumble on the floor.

"Give her room. She's in labor," one of the echidnas stated to him in a very calm manner, as if she was fine.

She emitted a scream, echoing all over the cavern and in Sonic's mind. She was in intense pain, as if a knife was stabbing her every time she contracted, but yet the echidnas did not falter.

"Breathe. You'll be alright," one of them whispered, holding her hand. Her face continued to wince as she hollered once again, it being so loud that Sonic had to cover his ears.

As soon as he let go, he heard crying. It was coming from a hoglet.

He moved in closer. He could see that the mother had shut her eyes, no longer breathing. The hoglet was blue with bright green eyes, with jagged quills on its head. It continued to bawl, one of the echidnas holding it to calm it down.

Another one of them checked the mother's pulse. "Brothers...I am afraid that she is...dead," he sorrowfully said.

The hoglet looked exactly like him. As he took a closer look, a realization came to him.

That hedgehog...was his mother. That hoglet...was him. He was taken back to the past, where he was born. He wondered why he was even here in the first place until the echidna elder began to speak.

"I see great things in this child's future, and I sense a great power within him."

"A great power? Could he possibly be the chosen..."

"Why yes! He is the one! The one that will bring Dr. Robotnik's reign into an end! He will be the one who will bring humans and animal-kind together! I see a very positive future for this child! Brothers, we have found him!"

"What name shall we bestow upon this child?"

"Sonic," he proclaimed. "Sonic the hedgehog!"

"Mother..."

He no longer felt cold. His scenery was completely different. He was back on the hill, Jr. staring at him. "Dad?"

He stopped holding his head and he rose. "What happened, dad? You just yelled a lot and said 'mother'."

He didn't know what just happened. He was suddenly in a cold winter area, watching his mother giving birth and dying right in front of him, and now he was back to his world. He couldn't find the reasoning for it, but he knew it was all like a dream. Seeming to move so fast and even forgetting some of the details.

"Jr., I think I just had a vision," he muttered.