The Genesis of a Generation

"The most beautiful things in the world are the most useless."

Notes: The beginning, exposition section of this chapter was written months ago when I randomly sat down with a blank screen and the intent to write something based off of Sonic 4 Episode 2, hence why it sorta reestablishes our cast a bit. However, I needed to seriously break the wall that was blocking me from writing this chapter, so I figured repurposing something dead and decaying would be good enough to kick start my brain.

Because of my timeline, which only makes sense in my head, S4E2 happens before Adventure, but after the events of Sonic CD, so the Classics have yet to trot through, while the Moderns haven't been in a while. (Has your brain imploded yet?) And, because Sonic's been to so many Zones and on so many adventures in the past few years, we're going to pretend that he's forgotten all about Sylvania Castle, okay? Okay. (I probably could have not mentioned any of this and all of you people would have just read it and been like "Oh, that was great. There was nothing wrong." and I would have just smiled and went on with my life. Woe is me.)

The air was crisp, with an insignificant chill hovering as a small reminder that winter was steadfast in its fight against spring. The sky was a clear blue during the day, untouched by pollution. Though, for now, it was a pitch black, small stars twinkling from between the lazily floating clouds.

The area was deserted by all but the feral animals. Toppled ruins spoke of a long-gone – though possibly powerful – civilization, the vegetation crawling far enough up the walls to hint that these blocks of stone had been sitting dormant for a great while. Rounded spires added a testament to the weathering that took place, while the silence of the whole Zone indicated a deep stillness, unlike anything any modern people had ever experienced.

The only sentient creatures in the whole of the Zone were two odd looking, bipedal Mobians. They were arranged around a small fire, the flames dim in the darkness, used more for light than warmth. One, a golden, doubly tailed fox kit – no more than four or five years old – was lying on his stomach, his white tipped tails arranged around his body to hold in his body heat. He slept soundly, breath deep and muscles relaxed. His arms pillowed his head, while his legs twitched barely as a result of his dreams.

The other was a cobalt blue hedgehog. His spikes swooped lazily from his head, half-drooped out of exhaustion, while his whole form practically radiated fatigue. He was seated a few feet from the flames, facing away from them with knees bent and tucked into his chest. His arms were draped over his strong, blue limbs, while his chin was resting on the peach fuzz covering his arms. His emerald green eyes were gazing out at the landscape, somehow alert despite the weariness hugging his frame like a blanket, and he blinked slowly, taking a huge deep breath in through his nose.

Sonic the Hedgehog, a name known to almost every living soul on the planet, was not known for a penchant of sitting still. Instead, he was famous for his habit to always be moving, whether at a run or a simple tap of the foot, so the fact that he was sitting so completely motionless would have caused a sense of alarm to crop up in the general public. However, what one could not see, was that his mind was not sitting still; it was moving at impossible speeds.

He and his friend were perched on a small platform of ruins, just feet away from the lapping edge of the water. The fox's fur was puffy, signaling that the two had recently been for a swim, though the wild way that Sonic's eyes were roving hinted that it had not been a pleasant dip. The hedgehog was completely dry, despite the still slightly moist appearance of the kit, but he glared at the water with a face of contempt and loathing. He stared at it hard, as if wishing it would disappear in a puff of mist, but, instead, a fish darted by, seemingly mocking the hedgehog's inability to survive in the hostile environment like it could.

Sylvania Castle Zone… He thought to himself, the scorn obvious even in his thoughts. He had heard very little of this Zone before his arrival, because it had dropped out of history after the fall of the ancient hedgehog dynasty. The irony wasn't lost on him either, and his thoughts turned even harsher. Figures it would be flooded…

The apparent requirement for ruins was that they needed to be flooded. Aquatic Ruin Zone still haunted Sonic's dreams, and he hadn't set foot in that place in almost four years. The fact that Sylvania was half-submerged was not a surprise, though it still provided a small shock when Sonic saw the water for the first time. However, his nerves had steeled themselves long ago to the concept of leaping into some kind of possibly hedgehog-drowning substance (Chemical Plant and Hydrocity two big contributing factors to the hardened nerves), but that didn't mean that he was fond of doing something that could probably kill him.

Add that to the fact that, when they had been trudging their way through the water, he and the child currently asleep had gotten separated from the other two people in their party – two beings almost identical to themselves. Some crazy current had gotten a hold of the younger version of the hedgehog, sweeping the rounder body away in the blink of an eye, and, without thinking, the elder fox had darted after him, allowing himself to be pulled along as well. When the other two – the elder Sonic and the younger Tails – had tried to follow, they realized, with a sinking feeling of dismay, that the path after the current ended branched in two different directions and they randomly chose one, as Sonic was getting low on air and needed to find a bubble in the next fifteen seconds or risk passing out. As it turned out, they had chosen incorrectly, and, when they tried to turn around, they realized that a wall had collapsed and there was no way for them to return.

So, they had continued forward with the feeble hope that the paths would converge somewhere up ahead and they could continue as a unit again. Eventually, when they made it up to land, Tails had practically collapsed out of exhaustion. The combined effort of swimming and pulling Sonic's heavy body through the water plus the stress of having watched his older brother get swept away had worn the kit out. One look at the sky had made the decision to camp for the night and Sonic had gotten to making a fire.

When he came back after finding some firewood, Tails was already snoozing. Sonic had sighed, stacked the logs, and rubbed two sticks together until they lit. By that time, it was nearly dark, so he decided to settle into the night, resulting in his current position.

He was ridged, leaning slightly away from the water like it would leap up and get him. His fear of water was deeply rooted in his psyche, something that prevented him from learning to swim and even taking long baths. So, he wasn't exactly ecstatic to be surrounded on all sides by the wet substance. His slightly twitching ear and glaring eyes were his only outward signs though, a result of long years of training on his part. A hero with a weakness was a serious problem, and, even though Eggman was quite in tune to Sonic's fear of water – as evidenced in his building of the Labyrinth Zone – Sonic wanted to keep it out of the public eye, if only to discourage a doubting community.

Across the fire, Tails twitched slightly in his sleep, mumbling something unintelligible under his breath. He turned onto his belly, consequently burying his face into the dirt and snorting when his nose clogged. Sonic chuckled and rose to his feet to turn the fox over, but when he touched his shoulder, Tails shuddered and Sonic sighed. He was cold. He set himself back down beside the fox and easily pulled the four year old into his lap, watching with a smile as he wrapped his tails around his body.

Sonic had no idea how long they sat like that before he eventually dozed off, letting his head fall to his chest and his ears droop. The combined effort of his fear and the sluggish trot through the water had done a number on his muscles and he could almost feel the fatigue in his bones, so he allowed his body to slum forward, around the sleeping fox kit. He convinced himself that he was adding protection to the child's prone form, but still took solace from the slow, deep breathing of his young charge, allowing himself to be lulled by it. Seconds later, he was gone into dreamland, his arms clutching instinctually around the small body resting peacefully in his lap.

Unbeknownst to either of them, they were being watched by a cloaked figure, high above them on an upper level. It grunted to itself as it watched them fall asleep before disappearing in a wash of blue.

o0o

Across the Zone and on a higher level, away from any type of water, two very similar beings sat across an identical fire. Neither was sleeping, however, and they both just stared into the flames, as if trying to divine the answer to all of life's questions from the blaze.

The ten year old hedgehog and thirteen year old fox had had a completely different journey than the two still on the lakefront. After eventually getting free of the stronger current, they had climbed their way up to a higher level, Tails actually grabbing and flying the hedgehog for the last leg of the journey. Once on the higher platform, they had sat in silence for a while, attempting to figure out what to do next and mulling over their clouded thoughts.

Sonic had been worried about Tails – his Tails. He hoped to Chaos above that he had stayed with the green-eyed hedgehog. He could protect the little guy until they found each other again, but, if they somehow got separated… He shook his head, taking solace from the fact that Tails' older self was with him, so he obviously survived his ordeal, though the thought wasn't as much comfort as he had hoped it would be.

The teenaged fox, for his part, had sat and fretted over his own brother. He knew that Sonic wasn't a swimmer, and he had a sinking feeling that the tinnier fox would be unable to tow the hedgehog through the water. Plus, he couldn't fly nearly as long then as he could now… He stopped those thoughts, instead deciding to turn to the hedgehog sitting near him.

"We should get going," he had mumbled, watching for the blue one's reaction. The speedster had simply nodded before jerking to his feet, like he was a robot. They easily traversed the upper area before they came upon another lake, this one much deeper than the previous one, and Sonic glared at it with a mixed expression of trepidation and frustration. It was too large for him to dart across, even if he had a decent run up, and Tails was too tired to fly him all the way across, so he was forced to swallow his fears and jump in. Tails would have been happy to go swimming, though he seemed a little apprehensive when he saw the look on Sonic's face. Sonic had been forced to grimace encouragingly at his friend and then consequently ignore the concerned look Tails sent him, instead choosing to plug his nose and jump into the water. Again.

The initial plunge had been like a sucker punch to the chest. The water seemingly yawned open in front of him, not hesitating to envelope him like a Venus Fly Trap welcoming its prey. He slammed into the water, all of the air in his lungs being driven out by the blast of cold that accompanied the dive. Then, in the stupidest move of the century, he had gasped, further expelling his supply of oxygen. After the few seconds, Sonic had expended all of his air, and could feel himself sinking.

Confusion and panic set in after that, resulting in an underwater dance of flailing arms and legs. Tails was forced to dodge around the flying appendages with smooth strokes of his limbs. His swimming ability was mainly derived from his feral ancestry, resulting in the best doggy paddle nature had to offer, and he hovered around the slowly sinking hedgehog, unable to get close without risking being hit in the head.

Soon enough, Sonic managed to limply drop to the bottom, where he rested on his side, barely being pushed sideways by a hidden current. His flailing had stopped and his vision was just starting to blacken around the edges.

However, before he could pass out completely, Tails grabbed his arm and towed him up to the top of a nearby platform, where a geyser of air was slowly bubbling. Sonic felt his eyes go wide at the sight of the godsend air and he somehow managed to get to his feet in the sluggish nonsolid surrounding him. He trudged his way to the air pocket with languid movements, wishing for the nth time that he knew how to swim. When he arrived at the bubbles, he waited impatiently for a big enough one to escape and, when it appeared, wasted no time shoving his head into it, wrapping his arms forward as if scooping it into his mouth. Immediate relief. His mind cleared and he was able to comprehend what exactly was going on around him. He even prided himself on the fact that he barely jumped when Tails gasped as he took in his own bubble.

Once they both had successfully filled their lungs, they set off again. Tails was forced to tow Sonic past multiple spike and arrow traps, most likely activated by the large amount of Chop-Chop badniks swimming around. Sonic destroyed every one they came across, but they both agreed later that they probably barely put a dent in the overall amount of robots in the water.

Eventually, through more luck and providence than design, Sonic managed to find a dash panel and it pushed him completely out of the water and onto the highest level of the Zone, away from all of the water. He landed on his feet and watched as Tails flew up to join him. Then, with a shared look of silent agreement, they both collapsed into the soft, green grass.

Ultimately, Tails left to find some wood, and Sonic didn't question where it came from when he got back, just simply went about the motions of coaxing a flame to life. His eventual success brought them to their current position. Conversation was nonexistent between the two – despite their closeness in age – and both just simply sat in stoic silence, waiting for the sun to break over the horizon so they could start again.

With the fire crackling between them, the air was temperate and calming. The stillness of the Zone was barely disturbed by the fireflies barely floating around, caught in a silent dance with the barest of winds. Tails noiselessly reached toward one and it bobbed around his fingers for a few seconds before darting away.

"It's really peaceful out here," the fox mumbled, breaking the silence in a voice that tried to be quiet but failed, simply because the hovering hush was almost ancient. "Untouched by everything."

"Hump," the blue hedgehog huffed, crossing his arms and squinting into the fire, "it feels like Mystic Ruins to me – deserted."

Tails looked at the hedgehog intently, trying to gauge his mood from his expression. His face was closed off, almost void of emotion as he gazed at the flames, yet the barest twitch of his ear coupled with the way the edges of his mouth were straining downward told Tails all he needed to know. Sonic was agitated, probably from a combination of stress, worry, and the water.

"The Mystic Ruins are more… spiritual, more steeped in mysticism and Chaos Energy," the fox replied, making sure to watch Sonic's expression. "The whole place practically vibrates when Knuckles lands Angel Island where it belongs, like it's welcoming the Master Emerald home or something, while this place is just… dead. There're plants and feral animals and stuff, but it seems like it's trapped in the past, unable to grow or change with the rest of the world…"

The hedgehog looked up and stared at the fox, trying to figure out exactly what he was getting at. "Yeah, well, there's a reason no one comes around here anymore," he practically spat, his face twisting into a small expression of disgust. "I can't believe we followed some wild goose chase and jumped at the first word that the last Emerald was here." He scowled. "This place may be peaceful and still and tranquil or whatever nice adjectives you want to give it, but it's still deserted, and for good reason from what I've seen. Sure, it's beautiful and relaxing, but so was Emerald Hill."

Tails flinched away from his friend like he had been slapped, though he managed to school his wounded expression into one of stoic vagueness. "Emerald Hill was different," he argued, unsure why he felt like he needed to defend Sylvania against his home Zone, "the people there made it miserable, not the Zone itself."

Sonic resisted the urge to roll his eyes and he just waved his hand flippantly. "Well, whatever the case, beauty doesn't automatically equal safety or kindness. I mean, look at this place. It's gorgeous, clean air and everything, but it's full of pitfalls, huge lakes, and crumbling ruins. One misstep and you could end up with a concussion or worse. Personally, I think all of this tranquility is deadly."

"The most beautiful things in the world are the most useless, would you say, Sonic?" A new voice cut in before Tails could reply, and both Mobians whipped toward the source, Sonic even going so far as to get to his feet.

A cloaked form was hovering behind them, nearly invisible in the darkness. It floated with its arms extended from its sides, palms cupped toward the sky. Barely, they could see a small glint of something under the long sleeves of the cloak and they shared a look. The figure quickly looked at the both of them before dropping into the grass in front of them, the fire immediately throwing strange shadows across his hooded face.

"However," the strange visitor continued when neither Tails nor Sonic offered a clever response to his question, "I'll have to disagree with you, Sonic." He – the voice was distinctly male – held out his right hand and the cloak fell away, revealing a pulsing spark of light resting in his palm.

"The last Chaos Emerald!" Despite himself, Tails couldn't help but gasp, reaching out as if to grab it. However, Sonic jumped in front of him, blocking his pass.

"Yes, a Chaos Emerald," the other replied, the barest hints of a smile flickering across the visible expanse of his face, "one of the most beautiful things in the universe, and yet, as Sonic knows, also one of the most useful. If there's one thing I've learned from my studies, it's that the Chaos Emeralds can control planets if they wanted to, yet they choose to bow to your whim…"

Sonic ignored him, instead glancing over his shoulder at the taller fox behind him. "We don't know who this guy is. Don't touch his Emerald."

"But, Soni-!"

"No Tails," the hedgehog cut in, waving his hand out in a smooth slice to emphasize his words. "It could be a fake. Who knows what'll happen if we bring a fake around the real ones?"

"But, Sonic," the fox pressed again, pushing past the hero, "I know these gloves; I know who this is." He leveled a gaze at the cloaked figure, but he didn't get a good look because the fire was almost completely dead. With the barest hint of a sigh, he trudged off toward the flames and tossed a log into it, watching as Sonic stalked up to the taller male, gazing up into the hooded face.

"What're you doing here?" the hedgehog demanded when he finally managed to get a good enough look to place the face. "And where did you get an Emerald?"

The other male sighed before reaching up and dragging the hood away from his head, his quills practically springing up once they were freed. His amber eyes were filled with amusement even though he was currently being glared into submission by the smaller blue form in front of him and his silver-white fur practically glowed in the combined light of the moon and fire. He grinned at the younger Mobian, his teeth glinting harshly.

"I found it, same as you always do."

Sonic's eyes narrowed suspiciously at that, but there was no other possible argument he could make, so he simply held his gloved hand out with a sigh, and, when the metallic colored hedgehog stared at him stupidly, curled his fingers in a helpful motion. The taller Mobian seemed to catch the drift and he easily dropped the gem into Sonic's hand.

The blue hedgehog's eyes flickered between a strange half-green-half-dark color for a few seconds before he nodded once, gazing into the depths of the gray Emerald. It was cloudy, almost stormy with power, but it still shone like it had a miniature star trapped in its depths. With a sigh, he tore his eyes away and spoke while he was securing the stone in his quills. "It's real," he let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding in. "We have all seven…"

"Of course it's real," Silver sniffed, his tenor somehow haughty and betrayed at the same time. "Why wouldn't it be?"

Sonic sent the other hedgehog the flattest look he could muster. "Excuse me for not trusting you, Future Boy," he huffed, crossing his arms. "The last time you talked to me, you were being all mysterious and mystic and telling me that I was destined to go dark because I was caught in the future."

Tails' head jerked up at that. "Silver told you what?" he demanded, climbing clumsily to his feet. Sonic stared at him stupidly, unable to formulate a response fast enough before Tails rounded on Silver. "You told him what?"

"I told him the truth, Tails," the metallic hedgehog answered, running a hand through his quills, "and it came to pass, didn't it?"

"You see, this is what I'm talking about," Sonic sighed, holding his hand toward Silver in indication, his face twisting into a small sneer.

However, Silver didn't hear him, as he was suddenly assaulted by twenty kilograms of fox kit. Tails stomped right up to him, reached up, and yanked the hood of his cloak down over his eyes before shoving him backwards, his strength shocking both himself and the time-traveler. The only thing that saved the hedgehog from taking a fall over the side of the ledge was his quick use of his telekinesis to hover instead of drop. "What the heck?!" both Sonic and Silver demanded at the same time, Sonic shocked that his future-little brother could act so harshly and Silver surprised at the sudden retaliation.

"You knew that Sonic would turn dark!" Tails yelled, his tone more accusing than questioning. "Do you have any idea what that meant?!"

"I've seen the pictures," Silver defended, throwing his hands up in what he hoped was a placating gesture as he allowed his feet to sink back into the soft grass. "That's why I warned Sonic!"

"You warned the wrong Sonic!" Tails replied harshly, his hands fisting at his sides. "This Sonic," he waved his hands toward the still-shocked face of the past incarnation of the hedgehog, "didn't even get close to going dark. My Sonic, however, went totally dark – so dark that I was sure we'd lost him!" Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes as memories of that horrible day in Eggman's base hit him at full blast.

"But…" Silver's eyes widened as the implications of what the fox had said dawned completely on him, "this Sonic was the one that was supposed to go dark, not the other one! What happened? The younger Tails was supposed to be knocked out and the anger should have grown inside of him. He has less control over his emotions than the older Sonic does…"

"I was knocked out, Silver," Tails barked, hands grabbing at his head, "not the younger me! I don't know what you think you're playing with, coming to the future to 'warn' us of things, but if you're gonna keep doing it, at least get your facts straight." Then, the fight seemed to seep out of the fox and he sunk to the ground, his namesakes going limp around his legs. "You could have saved us a lot of trouble…"

"But, don't you see," Silver questioned, his tone demanding that they listen to him. The only response he got was a twitch of the ears from the fox and a glare from the other hedgehog, "when I left my time, history said that the younger Sonic went dark, but now things are different! That means that you might not fail against Dr. Eggman after all!"

"What?" Sonic hissed, his dark eyes narrowing even further.

Suddenly, Silver's face puckered as he realized what he had said. "Uh, I mean…"

"You know what?" Sonic started, throwing his hands up, "I'm tired of hearing all of this 'future' crap. So far, I haven't needed to know what was coming for me to get the job done and stop Robotnik, and I don't need to start changing that now."

"Look, I'm sorry," Silver apologized, hands twitching like he was itching to reach out toward the smaller hedgehog. "I can't just sit on the sidelines when I know that I can change things for the better. You need to succeed for Mobius to survive."

"Don't you think I know that?" the ten-year-old demanded, his voice slightly distorted as he darted up to the other hedgehog in a flash of blue. "I know that the future of basically everything rests on my shoulders! I get it. I don't need you reminding me!" He gasped, as if his outburst had used up all of his energy and seemed to turn into himself. "Everyone's depending on me, and I'm not sure I can save them all. I'm only one person."

"But, Sonic…" Tails seemed to have come out of his self-imposed pity-party and had padded up to the small hedgehog. "You're not one person, not right now. There's two of you." He paused to send his friend a wink. "Besides, you've got me – both of me. You're not alone yet."

"I know Tails," the hero sighed, not feeling very brave despite the fox's still-apparent hero worship. That seemed all he could say on the matter however, because he turned to Silver, his expression restrained to a simple stare. "If you want to be a real help, you'd be able to tell us where the others are."

"I can do one better," the other hedgehog replied, raising his suddenly glowing hands. Without warning, a light blue aura surrounded the other two Mobians and they floated off of the ground, each giving a startled yelp. "I can take you to them."

Then, in a great wash of blue, the three figures disappeared, the fire distinguishing itself in a puff of azure as they vanished.

o0o

All was silent around the dark blue hedgehog and four year old fox. Both were still sleeping when their three friends flashed into existence, two of them dropping to the ground as soon as they were let loose of Silver's strange power – Tails even going so far as to faceplant into the grass.

"Don't ever do that again," Sonic ordered simply, pointing at Silver as he struggled to his feet. His knees were a little wobbly, but he managed to stumble over to the future version of himself and he shook the dark blue shoulder of the other hedgehog once before falling to sit in front of him. Bright green eyes flickered open and his arms tightened around the sleeping fox instinctually when his senses picked up the presence of others. However, once he caught sight of his younger self, he relaxed, a small smile worming its way across his face.

"Sup, Little Blue?" He yawned, shifting the small child in his lap a bit. "How'd you find us?"

The younger scowled. "We had some help from Silver."

"Silver's here?" A dark blue head moved as if to look, but the kit chose that moment to stir and look up.

"Sawnik?" he asked, his word disrupted slightly by a yawn.

"Yup, it's me little bro. Go back to sleep," the ten year old soothed, smiling a bit when Tails looked up at him with huge, shining eyes.

"Mkay," the tiny golden form hummed as he snuggled impossibly lower into the cocoon of the hedgehog's folded legs.

Once he was comfortably snoring again, the two hedgehogs shared a grin before the younger reached back into his quills and produced the gray Emerald for his older self's inspection. "Silver gave us the seventh Emerald; said he found it here."

Macro-Sonic stared at it for a few seconds before he heaved a deep sigh of relief. He turned his head toward the metallic time traveler, and he watched with mirth as he poked the elder fox in the side of the head and Tails' return retaliation of a swipe with his right hand, almost hitting the hedgehog. Silver stumbled backward a few steps before catching sight of Tails' smirk and chuckling a bit.

"Thanks Silver," the green-eyed hedgehog called, nodding toward him. He returned the nod and turned back to Tails, offering the fox a hand to help him up. "Now all we have to do," Sonic continued, looking back at his younger incarnation, "is find Shadow and get him to hand over his Emerald and then head up to Angel Island. Tikal told you the Master Emerald would tell us what to do next, right?"

The smaller nodded. "Yup," he answered, heaving a large sigh a few seconds later.

"What's up, little me?" Sonic asked of his younger self, reading his expression like a book.

"Nothing that can't wait until morning," came the reply with the wave of a gloved hand. "For now, let's all get some rest so we can get out of here."

The older looked at him for a few more seconds before he eventually nodded. "Alright," he conceded before shooting a look at his little brother. "C'mere kid," he called and the fox promptly padded over. "Good job earlier," he grinned at his best friend, sending him his patented thumbs up. When the thirteen year old sent him a confused look, he elaborated, "jumping and following Little Blue when he got in over his head. I'm proud of you."

A smile broke out across his face. "Thanks Sonic."

"I don't know about you guys," the twenty year old continued after nodding toward his kid brother, "but I'm beat. Let's get some sleep, okay?"

Three resounding affirmatives answered him and the camp was plunged into silence minutes later as all present got as comfortable as they could in the thick grass.

In the morning, Sylvania Castle Zone was allowed to return to its former stillness, as if the small group had never disturbed it in the first place.

Readers, meet Silver the Plot Device. Silver the Plot Device, meet the readers. Now, make nice, and no trying to kill someone because they're supposed to cause the destruction of the future. That's not kosher.

I see your Timeline Crumbling and raise it with one Silver the Hedgehog. Ha.

Ahem. As of Generations, Silver could teleport (and/or Chaos Control, depending on your preference), and I took that to mean that he could go back and forth between the past and the present (future). I mean, if Sonic can get better (fight Chaos without being Super Sonic and simply run up the side of the clock tower in Spagonia) then I assume that Silver can too. Everyone's gotta learn new tricks. (On a side note, I apologize if Silver was OOC. I haven't practiced nearly enough on him.) Also, a bunch of Silver's knowledge over Dark Sonic comes from his 'studies' (aka high school), and he knows more about Sonic than he lets on. I apologize if I didn't make that clear enough in the prose.

Also, Chip's at the Workshop, holding down the fort. I didn't forget about him… Not at all…

Seems I might have unintentionally referenced Rising Star… Just goes to show how ingrained that story is in my psyche. Credit for that little Easter egg goes to JudasFm.

Well, we've darted right past that 150 review mark! Many thanks to everyone who has taken the time to share their thoughts in a review!

Also, this story has some new fanart! What?! Links up on my profile.

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Reviews are cherished.