Heeey! Another update! Although not many changes, just spelling mistakes, etc. I combined the ending with the start of the next Chapter though. But... because I'm on a roll here, I decided to shove next chapter back one and bring in another Peek into the Past! This will be what happened during one of... Nah, I'm not gonna spoil it XD

I dont own Sonic!


Johnny just stood there. Back to them. All form of playfulness gone. Star, in a sense, ditched him here with the baby and the hedgehog trio. But he knew better. Behind him: Sonic, Scourge and Shadow guarded Chris and the baby with claws and fangs. Just one move and they'd pounce. The gang behind them -including Eggman's group- were starting to get scared of them.

The tension was high waiting for Johnny's next move, completely unaware by what's happening on the other end. Their fate -and the baby'- rests entirely in his hands. Idly, Johnny noticed the baby winding up in Chris' arms a minute ago. He didn't have to read minds to know that Chris was trying to wrap around the fact that this baby is another version of him.

Johnny wanted so badly to tell him the real truth. But… then again…

Briefly, he used his sight to see what exactly Star and the Boss Lady did to the -former- city of Robotropolis, and transformed it into Mobotropolis. And its former 'ruler.' Johnny tilted his head back and started laughing.

"Oh my god! The look on his face is priceless! I've never seen him so scared! Ha ha ha!" They stared at him in confusion. After a moment, he stopped laughing and looked at them while wiping away a tear from how hard he laughed.

"S-sorry about that. I used my sight *while pointing to his eyes* to see what Star and the Boss Lady were up to on your world. Aw, man! You should've seen their faces!" He trailed in awe.

"What'd they do?" XSonic asked. Johnny just smirked.

"Why don't I show you? That Scarlet Garcia lady recorded the whole thing world-wide!" Johnny jumped backwards in mid air, like what Star did, and also brought up several holographic screens (or holoscreens for short) that showed various camera angles of the city; showing the Boss Lady's handiwork. Then, a few minutes later, Star showed up with their friends on a floating platform. The duo then proceeded to dance, a dance that affected the whole world.

After, it played their speech. Johnny leaned to the side so he could look at their faces, and it was priceless…

"Mobotropolis?" XTails asked. Sonic turned and faced him with that playful smile he always uses with his lil' bro.

"On our world, Mobotropolis was the international royal capital concerning us Mobians. It was our Sanctuary. The last royal to live there was Queen Aleena. But it was destroyed by the humans a few centuries back and then 20 years ago; and Robotnik gave it a mondo 'makeover.' Queen Aleena was killed in the invasion back then. When she died it only ensured its destruction."

"So that means, they brought back the ancient city and…" XTails trailed. Sonic looked at Chris.

"They made Chris in charge." Said boy stared wide-eyed and stuttered.

"S-surely you don't mean your Chris? Right?" Scourge huffed.

"Yeah, a baby is gonna rule the kingdom." He added sarcastically. "Ha! I'd like to see that! *Then quieted a little* But I can see my Chris ruling. I wouldn't mind if it was her in charge." He trailed clearly love struck.

Chris was silent though; he noticed Scourge went from having that creepy smirk -that even creeped out Eggman- to looking like a love struck teenager. You could practically see the little hearts floating out of him! Then Chris looked at the baby. XSonic, meanwhile, was looking at Johnny to see if this was some kind of joke, but saw nothing but sincerity. The complete opposite of when Star was around.

"Can I ask a question?" Chris asked, not taking his eyes off the sleeping baby. Johnny stood back on the ground and made the screens disappear. Johnny turned and faced him, showing he was listening.

"You may."

"Why me? Why was my other self's' death so important… that it caused every single Mobian to be treated as a slave? Am I really the only human nice to them? And also… how is it that I lived so many lives back-to-back in separate bodies? How is that even possible anyways? Just what exactly is going on?" He said the last part while looking at Johnny with tears in his eyes. Everyone stared at him. He actually had a lot of good questions there.

Johnny just stared at him. After a moment, his face softened. He scratched his head deep in thought trying to see if he could get away with explaining it to them. Then he looked back at Chris, dropping his hand.

He sighed. "Do you really want to know that badly? Because as soon as I tell you, things will never be the same. So let me ask you this. Do you even WANT to know? And… would you believe me even if I told you?" Silence for a moment.

Eventually, Chris nodded.

"Okay then." Johnny said calmly. Then, he walked over to him, the hedgehog trio reluctantly letting him pass, but also not letting their guard drop either. Johnny sat cross-legged in front of Chris a foot away and faced him.

"For starters, this whole mess didn't start there. It started here, with you." While poking Chris in the chest to emphasized his point.

"?"

"You're not really 12, are you?" He asked smugly. Chris looked at him in shock.

"How did-?" Johnny just chuckled.

"I can travel through and manipulate time just as easily as Star and the Boss Lady. So, it goes without saying that I know your real age." He said with a smirk.

"So how old are you then?" Shadow asked while crossing his arms, looking at Chris curiously.

"Chris here is actually 18. The only reason he looks 12 is because of the time shift between his world Earth and this world Mobius. In this reality, Earth and Mobius existed side by side. Nether knew about the other, until recently when a form of Chaos control shot these guys to Earth where they first met Chris."

"Wait a minute!" Sonic started. "Chaos control doesn't do that! Yeah, they make miracles like reversing plagues and whatnot. But they don't teleport!"

"Ah, but that's just another difference between you guys. For them, Chaos control is beyond unpredictable. For you guys, it helps heal things and makes things better. But also comes with a major side effect."

"Like what?" XKnuckles asked, wanting to know as much as he can about the gems he guards. Johnny raised a finger in the air as he spoke the most well-known fact on his world.

"For Mobian use only: Just one Chaos Emerald amplifies whatever ability they have greatly. Equivalent to how you go Super Sonic." Pointing a thumb to XSonic. Johnny crossed his arms.

"Super Sonic?" His other asked. But Johnny continued.

"Yup, but also; the side effect with one emerald has many unpredictable side effects to the one who uses it. Then there's using all seven emeralds. When using all seven Chaos Emeralds, you go to a God-like level. And because every Mobian who used all seven Emeralds created nothing but miracles that only supposed gods and deities were capable of… they were well respected. But it comes at a massive price. Once done performing these miracles, their bodies become so unstable that they crystallize. They go into an eternal slumber, like being in stasis pods, where you never age. Sometimes they are asleep for centuries, even millennia. Because of this, they hold the same level of respect as angels, saviors; heroes." He trailed.

Everyone stared in awe. Then Sonic remembered the picture inside of Cheese. He had it folded up in his pocket since they first met Johnny. He slowly pulled it out and unfolded it. The picture was a very detailed drawing of a Mobian Chris being Crystallized. The word 'Angel' still at the top.

"What's that?" Chris asked, completely startling him. Sonic smiled and turned the paper showing them.

"This, Chris… is you." Said boy blinked. "I overheard you talking with Cream once. You had this little stuffed Chao doll named Cheese." This caught XCreams attention, as well as said Chao floating around her. "You said the doll was your most prized possession when you were little." Sonic chuckled lightly. "You told her that if you write down a wish and put inside the Chao then it would come true. Inside was this picture you drew." He said as he idly noticed the living version of the doll around XCream.

"I drew that!?"

"This and many others. Either way, this picture actually came true. Yesterday." He handed the picture to him. They all crowded around to look at it.

"So that's-?"

"You as a Mobian; and crystallizing." He added in a whisper. They looked at him incredulously. The drawing showed a Mobian girl version of Chris crystallizing from the feet up, surrounded by glowing ribbons. Even the clothes she's wearing is the same (girl version, anyway) of his clothes.

"You wanna know the weirdest thing?" Sonic started. "When this happened you were still human… but you still- After I said your name did those ribbon things completely cover you; and when they vanished, you turned into that." Then he added mostly to himself: "Whatever happened on that ship must be the cause behind her transformation. Robotnik did something to her I know it!"

"So; it's possible for me to change species during Chaos Control?" Chris asked dumbfounded. The others were equally lost. Then they noticed that Johnny was gone.

"Where's Johnny?" Tails asked.

"I'm over here, guys." Said man said from against the newly rebuilt working pod. He was standing up and leaning against the side while cradling the baby and making silly faces while trying to make it laugh. While they were focused on the drawing, Johnny had totally reversed the crashed site like it never happened! The pod standing upright like it was never destroyed!

"Wha-? HEY!" Shadow growled, angry that he let his guard down that easily. Johnny then stopped and just stared dazedly at the baby. He closed his eyes briefly and looked at Eggman.

"Yo, Eggman! This pod. Where do you think it was supposed to go?" Eggman straightened his posture.

"I programmed it to take him back to Earth, of course."

"So you think. For you see, the ticket back home for him expired several minutes prior before he even set foot inside."

"What! But my research-!"

"-Is weak at best. After all, you even admitted that space travel is a tricky thing, doc." Then Johnny looked at him in playful mockery. "You may excel in robotics and engineering, but you have poor knowledge of space travel at best. And by the way: Because the rift between worlds expired, he would've instead traveled to their reality several centuries prior; de-aged to the point of being a baby."

"Hold up!" Scourge interrupted. "Are you saying that the original Chris is really him!" While pointing to XChris. Johnny nodded. Glad that they're finally catching on.

"So…" XSonic started. "Chris never would've gone home, but instead winding up with you guys?" He asked his counter parts, who were just as shocked as he was.

"And you already have a general idea of what happened next." Johnny added while rocking the baby back to sleep. Then Chris remembered something.

"But… you still haven't answered my question on how I wound up in all those bodies, and why?"

Johnny just stood there. Then he slowly leaned his head back against the pod, looking at the sky. There were birds up above flying past. He closed his eyes with a smile when he felt the breeze. He sighed in a daze and slowly opened his eyes. And without looking away from the clouds and birds, he asked in a daze.

"Hey, Chris? Have you ever… have you ever played make believe? Pretending to be an explorer like in all those stories you hear? Have you ever pretended to be a super hero using a stick for a sword? Have you ever spun around so fast that you just fall on the ground laugh, no matter how dizzy or the growing urge to barf? Have you ever had that random urge to run as fast as you can? Have you ever built a tree house that was so lame everyone made fun of it? But to you it was the coolest fort ever! Have you… have you ever wanted to fly like a bird and soar through the clouds?" Johnny asked in a dreamy daze. He watched the birds fly around high up overhead.

"When you're a kid, the world is awesome. You wanna explore and be an adventurer. But when you get older, things change. You find that everything has consequences that you wouldn't even know about unless someone shouts it in your face. You learn the hard way that life sucks. But no matter how hard you try, no matter what you say or do, nothing changes. You; you're no different."

"?"

"You're alone for most of your life, and… it's only recently that that has changed. You can actually smile now and it isn't faked. Not many people these days can do that." He trailed. He sighed. "To answer your question…" He turned his head to look at them.

"The reason you have all those bodies and whatnot, is to keep the balance. Like I said earlier about you being the only human nice to them; If you didn't stay, there would be a lot of Mobians committing suicides, a lot trying to go into meaningless wars that they would surprisingly lose at. Their sanity and their will to fight back would have been shattered a long time ago. Those bodies are instantly made, each time you die. Each different than the last so there's less questions asked. We are the ones who make your bodies." He looked at the hedgehog trio. "Do you guys remember the place from earlier? The one with all the waterfalls?" And where I killed Chris. They numbly nodded. "That's where all the bodies are made.

He looked back at the baby so all of this would sink in. No one spoke and no one dared to. And everyone subtly looked at Chris who was beyond shocked.

"Now do you get it? You're the reason they haven't given up yet. You're the one who started the whole 'Mobian Angel' term. And dubbed that for a good reason. They looked up to you. You help them in ways that they didn't even know they needed help with. You give them a reason to live on. And you help them keep their sense of self instead of actually becoming mindless slaves like the humans wanted. You're all they have."

The only sounds heard were the beeps and hums from the pod and the chirping from the birds. Chris looked down, bangs covering his face so it was unreadable. Johnny sighed.

"Now… to find a home for this little lady." He said referring to the baby in his arms.

"Just leave her with us! We could watch-!" Sonic started hopefully. But Johnny interrupted by bursting out laughing.

"Ha! Good one! Leave Chris with you! Now I've heard everything!"

"What do you-!?"

Johnny sighed and turned serious again. "Look Sonic. I have nothing against you wanting to be with Chris again. Especially after all the crap you guys went through this past week. But look at yourself!"

"?" Johnny groaned and looked him in the eye.

"Sonic, Shadow and Scourge. You three have always been on the run. Scourge: You were in a gang that dealt with bikers, drugs, thugs and thieves. The only home you've EVER known was when Chris let you stay at her place for a few days before you ditched. Shadow: You are a fighter. You've gone from battle to battle and have very little social contact outside of this little group because you keep shutting everyone away. And then there's you Sonic. You are the leader of the Freedom Fighters. You've been fighting either Eggman or Robotnik for as long as anyone can remember. Yeah, you've helped care for Cream and Tails; but look at it this way. Tails and Cream are Mobians. A Mobians body no matter the age- can withstand a lot of abuse. You've dragged a four year old Tails wherever you went, and more often than not, included many battles with Robotnik. Can you do the same thing with a four year old human?"

Both Sonics were silent at that. Because it was true in both their cases (except the other Tails is 8, but still.) XSonic and XTails looked at each other. XTails can read him like the schematics to his XTornado. XSonic was overwhelmed with dawning realization and guilt. Johnny's explanation had hit home to both heroes.

"The only way that I would personally even consider you a caretaker of this baby… is if you give up being a Freedom Fighter and temporarily retire. That means, no going into combat, at all, and no running at your usual speeds. Also, you actually have to find a place where you'll actually stay and raise her properly." He stopped briefly so it would sink in. "Face it, Sonic. Unless you give up being a hero and leave the rebellion and stop running and fighting; neither me nor Star or even the Boss Lady would even consider letting you anywhere her until she's a grownup at best."

Both heroes were at a loss. Even Eggman felt sympathy for him. From all the years he's known that blasted hedgehog… he feels for him. Eggman knows that if you take away his speed and stop him from being a hero… then you've pretty much have taken away the things that define him. Sonic is a fighter, always looking out for others. Eggman will actually admit to himself that it isn't as much fun to take over the world in his image -if that blasted hedgehog wasn't there to foil it. In fact, Eggman wouldn't feel like he's truly won if he didn't defeat Sonic first.

Then Chris surprised everyone by standing up and defending the blue hero. "Wait a minute. I've been around these guys since I was 12 and-"

"And what?" Johnny retorted, "Not even a day of knowing him later, you went on a rescue mission to a military base! Then practically every day, Eggman over there was launching killer robots at you guys left and right!" Now, even Chris kept quiet.

"So… freakishly long story short: If you want to be anywhere near this baby, you have to give up being a Freedom Fighter, as well as your speed. And if trouble comes along, you have to let the local authorities or whoever else is nearby and let them handle it." He opened another portal in front of him on the ground and pushed himself off the pod. "This isn't permanent, by the way. It's only until her late teens or so, so your retirement and loss of speed is temporary." He started walking to the portal.

"Oh, and one more thing; Shadow and Scourge. You should come back with me because Sally has a favor she wants to ask you two." And with that he was gone, but the portal stayed open.

Shadow and Scourge stayed briefly and looked at the hero of Mobius. Said speedster was now slumped and looked lost and dejected. Never a good sign for the usually cheerful talkaholic. But then again, no one could blame him either. The duo looked at each other having a silent conversation, and nodded. They both went through the portal shooting him one last look; and the portal closed soon after.


Back with the two psycho witches on the newly rebuilt city of Mobotropolis

They were still on top of the buildings and Rouge, Knuckles, Amy, Tails and Cream were still on the floating platform. What it really was is a liquid crystal disc that could change into any shape and glowed, as it looked like it was made from water and someone stuck a giant flashlight from under it making the ripples glow.

Star and the Boss Lady were inwardly laughing at the looks on their faces from their little dance. After a few minutes, they looked at each other and nodded. Then the Boss Lady leaned to the side and waved good bye like a hyped up little kid and vanished. Then without even moving, Star moved them until they were on the balcony and made the 'platform' vanish as they touched down.

Just then, Johnny, Scourge and Shadow walked through a portal. Star noticed that he has the baby now. She rolled her eyes. Figures… She thought a little annoyed, but also predicting this in a way.

"Sup!" Johnny greeted, back to his usual playful self.

"I see Sonic is missing. Do I even want to know?" He shook his head 'nope!'

"I'll have these guys fill you in." While pointing his thumb to the duo he came with, while addressing their friends. Star looked at Johnny and, while using her sight, replayed what he experienced after she left. Her eyes widened a little after hearing his ultimatum.

"I wonder what he's gonna do?" She wondered aloud.

"It doesn't matter either way. It'll end up the same anyway." Johnny said softly and then vanished with the baby. Shadow and Scourge made their way over to the others and explained what happened.


Back on the other end

Since it was getting late, XAmy suggested that they'd head home to get some rest because it's been a long day for everyone. Even though the portal closed, Sonic knew Johnny would eventually come back for him; or maybe Star. One or the other.

So when everyone parted ways, this left Chris alone with the two heroes of Mobius. One of which was understandably depressed and silent being lost in thought. Chris also had a lot on his mind.

I guess finding out that you were never gonna head home in the first place, travel to a alternate reality, your murder starting the fall of Mobian kind by being turned into slaves, and having to live in many bodies like a twisted form of reincarnation…

So yeah, Chris had a lot on his mind.

Meanwhile, XSonic was at a loss of what to do. He looked at the both of them from time to time. And for the first time ever, XSonic was tongue tied, words vanishing before he could actually say them. Then he noticed Chris stop walking and turn around to face them. The hedgehog duo was confused a little. Chris awkwardly turned around and faced them.

"Hey, umm… Sonic?"

"Yeah?" They chorused. Chris sweat dropped. Sonic chuckled as he caught on.

"How 'bout this. For confusions sake, call me Swift."

"?"

"Swift?" Sonic asked. Swift smiled.

"Back on our world, we had to give out fake names so that the humans wouldn't connect us with who we really are. We even told our Chris those names when we first met. But she obviously caught on…" He trailed in reminiscence. Chris just smiled gently along with Sonic who crossed his arms, liking the name.

"Alright, Swift. Um… can I ask you something?" While fidgeting a little.

"Of course!"

"How- how did you and the other me first meet? What happened?" Swift blinked and looked away in shame.

"?"

"It's not something I'm proud of… but I'm glad I did." He trailed with a smile.

"What happened?" Chris asked gently. Sonic looked at him, he was curious too.

"It was almost a week ago. Cream was sick and none of us knew what to do." He started walking as he spoke. "We were desperate. Battle after battle with Robotnik for so many years- I'll even admit… we were losing. We lost so many friends and allies to his Robotisizer, while the rest gave up to save themselves and went to the system to be adopted. Soon our large group of Freedom Fighters dwindled until it was just us. Me, Rouge, Knuckles, Shadow, Tails, Amy and Cream are all that's left of the rebellion." He was met with silence, so he continued.

"Soon, we became desperate for food and water. No one helped us and even if they did, they were soon turned over. We were reduced to scavenging the alleyways like homeless people. Then, last week, Shadow managed to convince me to start mugging people if it meant we could live another day. He even handed me a gun." He clenched his hands, hating himself for being reduced to that. Then he looked up at the now, close to sunset. He smiled despite himself.

"Who would have thought you would be my first and only victim of that? It was late and from what she told us, she was heading home from a fundraiser concert. We were in an ally, hidden behind trash cans. When you walked past us, we jumped out and blocked your path. Shadow went behind you and I was in front with my gun to your face." He chuckled humorlessly. "When I pointed my gun at you, you weren't even scared; you were calm!" Chris and Sonic could see his hand shaking.

"And do you want to know what happened next?"

"What happened?" Sonic asked softly, really wanting to know what happened.

"Chris. She knelt on the ground and opened the bag she was carrying. She didn't pull out a wallet. Hell, she didn't even pull out something to defend herself with!" He closed his eyes. He remembers it so perfectly. He could see her face when she-

"What did she pull out?" Chris asked barely above a whisper. Swift turned around and looked at him in the eyes. Chris was surprised a little that Swift looked teary eyed and smiled with extreme gratitude. To Chris, Swift was holding back the very strong urge to bury himself in Chris' arms and never leave.

"You pulled out a sandwich and a water bottle. You then walked over to me and held it out to me with that same smile! That same friendly smile…" He closed his eyes briefly and really started crying. He opened his eyes again. He took a few steps forward and grabbed Chris' shirt and leaned his forehead on Chris' chest, still crying.

"When she held it out- she said… 'It's what you needed, right?" Swift held tighter and balled Chris' shirt up with both his hands near his shoulders. "How! How did you-? Were we that desperate!? Was it so bad that one of the humans felt bad for us!? They never once cared for us! Never looked twice when we truly needed help. But you -she actually cared." He whimpered in his chest.

He was so overwhelmed with too many things bottled up. Chris wrapped his arms around him and felt Swift nuzzle himself in Chris' arms. In the corner of his eye, Chris saw Sonic. His Sonic; a few feet away. Sonic looked mortified of Swift just said. And was it just him, or did he see a hint of jealousy in Sonics' eyes. Then they heard Swift start talking, even though it was muffled by him being buried in Chris' embrace.

"Not only did you give us food and water… but you asked if we had friends or family and offered to let us stay with you. I admit, I was little scared, unsure if it was some kind of trap or not. But then Shadow noticed she was actually serious in wanting to help us. So we left to get our friends on a fire escape a few alleys away. I was practically begging inside, preying it wasn't some kind of sick joke. And when we made it back, you were still there! She was humming that same song she always does. You have no idea how happy I was! And when she looked at us, she saw how Cream was sick. She surprised us again by actually being worried about her. And…all Cream had was a stupid cold! A COLD!" Swift started to lightly punch Chris chest at that (lightly because he didn't want to hurt the kid.)

Chris just held him and started rubbing his back in a soothing way. Meanwhile, Sonic was thinking back to how he and Chris first met: By falling into his freaking pool! Sonic mentally sighed. He felt bad for his counterpart. Compared to him, this reality is paradise! But also, the end result was the same. Chris giving them food and a place to stay. Chris always tried to help; he was always there for them. He looked at how the two were hugging. He couldn't help but feel jealous. Swift and the girl Christina were clearly closer than himself and the boy a few feet away. The proof in that is how Swift buried himself in Chris' arms, crying for all his worth. Sonic himself never cried, let alone in front of someone, especially Chris. The boy who looked up to him. But for Swift… it was the other way around. Chris was the strong one and he was the weak one. Soon Swift calmed down and settled for using finger to draw little doodles on Chris's chest. Swift chuckled as he thought of something funny.

"I remember how, when we got to her house, Chris offered us the guest bedrooms next to hers. But we had to clean them first 'cause they haven't been used in a while. Rouge and Amy were beyond happy because it meant sleeping on actual beds with blankets and pillows. When we went into Chris' room after, she said we could share her bed for the night. Then~!" While trying not to laugh, but failing epically. "When Chris offered to let us clean up in her bathroom while she made supper, Amy and Rouge actually fainted!" He snorted and burst out laughing. Chris and Sonic couldn't help it. They started laughing with him. They could actually see the girls doing that too!

Then, out of the blue: Swifts' stomach growled. Swift blushed embarrassed while Chris and Sonic chuckled.

"How about getting us something to eat?" Chris suggested with a smile. Sonic bounced happily and drooling.

"How does Chili Dogs sound?" Sonic offered licking his lips. Chris shook his head, but Swift looked confused.

"Um… what's a Chili Dog?" Sonic froze on the spot and looked at Swift like he's grown another head. Then, Sonic stalked over. Grabbed Swifts closest hand and all but dragged him to the nearest Chili Dog stand in town.

~/~

Soon, the trio made it to Sonics' personal heaven. His favorite Chili Dog stand that's actually close to his house too. Sonic leaned against the stand and asked: "Four Chili Dogs with the works pal. And two normal dogs with ketchup and onions." The latter was for Chris. There were a few picnic tables near it on the other side of the road and Chris walked over to one and sat down. Chris patted the spot next to him so Swift could sit down. Swift nodded in thanks and sat down awkwardly. Still embarrassed that he actually broke down like that! But he's also thankful that it was just the three of them. He did NOT want the others -especially Rouge- to see him like that. That would just give the thief blackmail that she would never let him live down!

Swift looked up at Sonic. Whatever this Chili Dog stuff was, his other self was literally drooling at the mere thought of having one of them. So he might as well try one, hopefully it's as good as his other self made it out to be.

Meanwhile, Sonic was thinking about what his other said earlier. He looked at Swift. He saw the pain in his eyes.It must be torture for him being around his Chris. Seems like Chris was the only thing keeping any of them sane. Especially Swift. And now, there's that temporary retirement to consider, too. Though at this rate, he wouldn't be surprised if his other actually went for it, especially if it meant being around Chris.

Retirement. A word that is completely foreign to him. And considering how Johnny described both their lifestyles, he didn't even think it was even possible anywhere in his future! One thing's for sure, Johnny had a point. Even though his Tails was 8, he still went with Sonic against Eggman. And Tails could easily handle his own too and rarely asks for help. But he's also seen human toddlers as well. If Chris was that age, he'd make sure Chris was far away from Eggman as possible. Which again brings up the whole retirement thing for his other.

Soon the cook gave him their food on a tray so he could carry it over to them. He set the tray down and sat down on the opposite side. Chris grabbed one of his hotdogs and started eating, Sonic followed suit. Swift, out of habit, just sat there. Sonic blinked.

"You can eat them you know." Sonic said in between bites. Swift blinked.

"Uh, right. Sorry, bad habit." Then he carefully picked one up like something or other might take it away. Chris and Sonic stared concerned. Swift then slowly brought it closer. He sniffed it (Again, out of habit. He was checking for poison.) But regretted it. He started drooling, licked his lips and took a large bite.

Sonic and Chris chuckled at his reaction. It was like Swift had died and gone to heaven! Swift started gobbling it down. The trio sat eating their supper with cheerful air around them.

~/~

After getting Sonic and Swift 6 rounds of Chili Dogs, Chris had to carry the Chili Dog-obsessed heroes in both arms, while Chris himself was laughing. Things have surprising taken a turn away from the gloom and doom. And all it took was a Chili Dog… Soon, they were back at Sonics' place.

Sonics' house is pretty much with Tails at his Lab. Since Sonic was on the run doing whatever adventure of the week god knows where; it was ridiculous to even consider it. So he pretty much shares Tails' place. Even though all it is is the large hanger like place; there was a small section near the control panel up on the second floor looking out over the rest of the lab via a large window, but thankfully sound proof. In that section was a small kitchen, a table, a radio and TV, bunk beds on one wall and the couch next to it on the opposite side.

When they got there, Chris set them down. And then Swift stared in awe. Tails' lab was built into a large hill and had various satellites on top. It was actually kinda cool looking. Sonic and Chris snickered at his reaction, and couldn't wait until they brought him inside. Chris shook his head with a smile and grabbed Swifts' hand and led him inside.

"Whoa!" Swift yelped as Chris startled him. Sonic punched in the pass code and the small normal sized door opened. Next to it on the far left was the opening for the XTornado and whatever other kinds of planes Tails had.

Inside, Swifts' jaw was on the floor; Swift was having a hard time believing his lil' bro's double actually built this place! Inside, they found Tails under the XTornado covered in grease Sonic chuckled.

"Need help?" He was rewarded with Tails banging his head in shock. Sonic winced. "Sorry."

Tails groaned and got out from under his plane. He waved at them. But he also noticed that Sonics' double looked considerably happier. So Tails thought it best to avoid talking about earlier. Tails stood up and grabbed a nearby towel and started cleaning himself.

"It's alright."

"Uh, real quick." Swift started. "For confusions sake, just call me Swift ok?" Tails blinked but otherwise nodded.

"Sure, nice name." Swift beamed.

"Good; because my Tails came up with it." He lied, but Tails believed him.

"Eh?" Swift just nodded, but then looked at the plane in awe. Tails followed his gaze and smiled. "You like it? I made it myself. It's called the XTornado." Swift whipped his head to him in shock and pointed at the plane.

"You made that!?" Tails smiled sheepishly and nodded. Swift looked back at the plane.

"I always knew you were smart, but I had no idea you could achieve this!" Swift said impressed. Tails was speechless at the compliment. "So… what were you working on when we walked in?"

"Oh! Uh, you wouldn't want to hear it…" Tails said knowing Sonic hates it when he goes all 'geeky.'

"It's ok. I don't mind. So, what were you doing?" Tails was shocked for a moment but then warily complied.

"Uh, well… See up there in the front? I put a Chaos Emerald up there to help power my plane. But I'm having trouble trying to find ways to improve the energy output and fine tune it and stuff." He trailed, expecting Swift to become bored, but instead, he looked deep in thought.

"Mind if I help?" That totally got Tails off guard.

"You want to… help?" Swift nodded.

"Uh… sure?" Swift smiled and walked over to the plane. Tails looked at Sonic and Chris for answers, but they were just as lost.

"I found the problem." They blinked and looked at the plane wide-eyed. They watched as Swift grabbed the tool box and went to work. The others stood there with their jaws on the floor.

"You actually know how to-?" Sonic started but Swift cut him off.

"I actually fought against many planes like this before. Each built by Robotnik in his early years." He then sealed a panel back up and went on top of the plane zipping back and forth from the wings, cockpit and the nose. "My Tails helped me out, so it goes without saying, I know these things inside and out. Now, if what you guys said is true about these things being a great power source; then you did a pretty good job rerouting it. But there are also many places for the excess energy to escape from." Then he started mumbling to himself as he rewired the plane with surprising expertise. It was almost comical if you saw the looks on the others' faces. It was priceless!

"Done!" Swift exclaimed and hopped out of the cockpit and onto the ground. He set the tool box down and wiped his fore head. He stopped when saw their faces and smirked cockily.

"What?"

"How did you? What did you-? Huh!" Tails was speechless, but then shook his head.

"Go test it out if you don't believe me." He said calmly, while still smirking. The speechless Tails then reluctantly grabbed his hand held yellow terminal and used his tails to fly up into the cockpit. He turned it on and checked his readings. Tails' jaw dropped in disbelief.

"No way! Impossible! Not only did you greatly improve the energy reading, but you also upgraded in places I didn't even think of! And, according to this, the mobility has also improved as well as its speed!"

They stared at him dumbstruck.

"What? It was actually kinda easy. My Tails taught me how. And also having a mad genius as an enemy has its advantages."

~/~

Later that evening, Tails finally calmed down from the fact that his technology-and-science-challenged big bro's counterpart out smarted him in that department. But he soon got over it, and proceed with the game 20 (thousand) Questions. But Swift didn't mind, he also asked Tails a bunch of questions about his lab to hopefully tell his Tails back home. Tails happily obliged.

Then it was getting late and they decided to go to bed. Tails claimed the top bunk while Sonic got the other. Chris ended up on the couch with a blanket deciding to just sleep in his boxers since they were all guys. When they got settled, they noticed Swift still standing trying to find a spot for him. Chris inwardly sighed.

"Swift." Chris said calmly getting his attention. Swift turned and faced him curiously as Chris held out his hand. Swift flinched from the eerie sense of Déjà vu. Briefly, he remembered that first night when they slept on the window and again with her in his arms for a change.

Sonic caught that small flinch. He knew Swift was remembering something. It was probably Chris unknowingly doing something the other Chris did. He watched subtly as Swift calmed down and hesitantly walked over to Chris. Chris rolled onto his side and lifted up the blanket. Swift took off his shoes and gloves and lay down in his lap. Déjà vu coming back full force. Chris wrapped the blanket around them and held Swift in a gentle embrace. The exhaustion from the past couple of days catching up with him as he almost fell asleep. He nuzzled into Chris' shoulder and whispered:

"Goodnight… Chris." Chris smiled.

"Goodnight… Swift" They soon fell asleep in each other's arms. Swift having the most relaxed and peaceful smile that not even Tails has seen on him.


Mobotropolis

It's been a few weeks since the destruction of Robotropolis and capture of Robotnik. As predicted, Mobians flooded the city. Sally -after having a little chit-chat with Star, Shadow and the others- Ended up taking charge and was doing a surprisingly good job at being a leader. She was fair in her judgment and handled the chaos fairly well. Tails and the others took up various jobs trying to get the ancient city up and running again. Star ended up making a power supply for the city (because they had to modernize the city and it needed electricity or power of some kind). It was in the form of a Master Emerald combined with the other seven Chaos Emeralds that Star actually made out of thin air -almost falling on the floor laughing at the looks on their faces in the process!

Robotnik and Snively were put in a very high security prison like place. Star asked the Boss Lady -who didn't even need to be asked and volunteered- to make a chamber of various force fields around those two. And as an added touch, because the Boss Lady could NOT resist; she cast an illusion spell that showed their worst nightmares constantly being shown. Sometimes they were just plain illusions, other times they were solid; so that Robotnik wouldn't get any bright ideas. And it completely freaked out the guards when Robotnik suddenly screamed and injuries suddenly randomly appeared like a wild animal was clawing him to death! The Boss Lady got a kick out of that. Those same injuries healed themselves after a few minutes, though, and the guards didn't even want to fetch a doctor for them anyway...

Elsewhere, everyone tried to get their minds off the fact that Chris wasn't around anymore. Well at least for a few years or so. So they tried to focus on helping Princess Sally. Tails and Rotor were the city's Chief mechanics and engineers, building new inventions to help modernize the city while keeping it as far away from being Robotropolis as possible. Shadow, Scourge and Rouge were the city's security. They helped the Mobians get into the city and pretty much beat up any humans still trying to boss them around. Knuckles made it his duty to guard the Master Emerald -shocker- and took his job seriously. Cream and Amy helped the women amongst Mobians and the now derobotisized 'Robians' (as they dubbed themselves) get their lives back on track.

All in all, things were looking up for the better. All that was missing was Sonic... and Chris. Everyone missed her. Sally made sure to have a picture of Chris put up in the throne room as a reminder that the REAL ruler of Mobotropolis was the Mobian Angel herself. Sally was only acting ruler in her stead. She didn't mind though. Even though Sally herself was royalty, she actually preferred Chris on the throne. Chris just knew them so well. Even those she just met, Chris knew how to cheer everyone up. Chris knew what the problem was and did everything she could to help. Chris defended them on so many levels... Chris was a true leader.

Johnny told everyone that he gave Chris to a woman several cities away and refused to say where. Star, Johnny and the Boss Lady put their foot down. They ordered everyone not to go anywhere near Chris until she got older. Why? No one asked, but did as requested. It soon became an unspoken rule to avoid Chris like the plague unless those three said otherwise.

What was made crystal clear though, was the fact that Chris will no longer be reborn into other bodies. This is the last life Chris will ever have. It would be a miracle if she was reincarnated the normal way. But scratched that as impossible. They didn't want false hope. So everyone agreed: When they get to see Chris again, they'll give her a life worth living. It's the least they could do for her after everything she's done for them.

~/~

A week later in the throne room, Tails, Amy, Shadow, Rouge, Cream and Scourge were reviewing their progress with the city to Sally. Tails, while it was Shadows' turn, took this time to look around the Throne Room. It glowed in the sunlight. There were open ceilings showing the skies. The ancient Mobians from before found a way to put up invisible barriers to keep out the rain and keep it warm in the winter and whatnot. Tails was impressed, to say the least. It was almost sunset and close to suppertime. The sunset and clouds making it the most beautiful place he's ever seen. There were pillars and paintings all over the walls. Which weirdly enough, a few were actually drawn by Chris herself! She drew the intricately detailed mural on the ceiling and pillars and was the one who repaired all the things that were falling apart and repainted chipped and old paintings.

Tails turned towards the throne itself. The Thrown has and always will, be used by a Queen. The Mobian Queens have a knack for getting things done in the most peaceful way. There has yet to be a Queen to lead them wrong. Tails sighed inwardly. But then looked up as a certain picture caught his eye. He, Amy, Rouge and Cream drew it showing Chris in that dress she wore when they first met. It's nowhere near as good as her drawings, but its ok. They actually managed to get it mostly right, too.

The sound of a portal opening behind him caught his attention. Everyone turned and saw the ribbon-like portal spiraling loosely in circles. Then the ribbons vaporized and out came Star and Sonic.

"You're back!" Tails yelled happily and hugged his big brother. Sonic hugged him back, but also had a lot of things on his mind. Sonic was in that other reality for the duration of the day after and Star picked him up that night. Star knew about Johnny's ultimatum.

Star stood off to the side with her arms crossed and a sad smile. "Have you decided? Are you going to stay as 'Sonic' the Freedom Fighter? Or leave as 'Swift' and care for Chris?"

Said hedgehog froze in a daze. Everyone was quiet waiting for his answer. Tails reluctantly let go and backed away. Sonic slowly dropped his hands to the side and looked to the ceiling with a dazed expression and slowly smiled. He took a deep breath and looked at Star.


Heey! I decided to combine this chapter with the first bit of the next chapter. After this will be a brand new Peek into the Past, kinda like an interlude before the next 'Chris' gets reintroduced.