Chapter 38: Is this a Dream…?

Shadow looked around and notices that he wasn't in the Black Cloud anymore. Instead, he ended up at in a large bedroom that had one bed, a small desk, and a closet that was filled with clothes. On the bed was a young human girl with blonde hair that wore a long blue dress that matched her headband. For the moment, Shadow felt confused. Was he back on Space Colony ARK? How did he get there? Was this happening for real? Slowly, the human sat up and rubbed her blue eyes. She looked to her right and smiled at him.

"Hi", the blonde human waved.

"Maria…?" Shadow asked inquisitively and confusingly. "Is this really your bedroom?"

"Of course it is", Maria got out of bed and walked to him.

"Are you…real?" the black hedgehog asked. "I mean, you're actually alive?"

"Always have been, Shadow", Maria smiled at him again. "Who's that?" she pointed at the pink hedgehog that was held in his arms.

"Oh", Shadow looked at Amy. "Just a new friend. But I can't wake her up."

"Sit her on my bed", Maria looked back and pointed at her medium sized bed with white covers and pillows on it.

The black hedgehog nodded and walked to her bed. He sat Amy down carefully and stared at her quietly. Something weird was going on. How in the world did he end up back on ARK? Everything felt real to him, because nothing seemed odd and suspicious at some sort. And what was going on? Shadow hasn't been on ARK for as long as he can remember. So it was pretty good that he was back. Still, he couldn't get that odd feeling off of him. Suddenly, Maria came up from behind and placed a hand on his right shoulder. He turned to her and she was staring at the pink hedgehog.

"Maria..."

"Let her rest, Shadow", the 12 year old blonde said. "She'll wake up soon."

"Amy…" the black hedgehog looked at the dead pink hedgehog again with sadness.

"Is that her name?" Maria asked nicely. "That's a pretty name."

"…Um…Are we…near any planet at some sort?" Shadow asked nervously.

"Well, about that", Maria took a small step back.

"Eh?" Shadow looked back at her.

"We're in the middle of nowhere in the galaxy", the blonde answered. "All of the planets have been destroyed."

"What?" Shadow widened his eyes. "H-How can that be?"

"Um, Grandfather did it", Maria meddled with her fingers, acting all innocent. "He said that no planets would accept the power of science and that none of the planets looked interesting. So he blew them up with the Eclipse Cannon."

"But did you try to stop him?" Shadow shook his head.

"I didn't really care about it, Shadow", Maria looked away.

Her friend looked at her with shock and confusion. Maria not caring about others? That was strange, since she's a pacifist and she seeks peace and harmony. And how could be so heartless when she's so young? Shadow couldn't believe his eyes. And as for the professor, why and what made him became so cold hearted as well? Another odd feeling began to hit Shadow's mind. Nothing seemed right. He remembered that Maria and the professor were really nice and they wanted to help any world that they land upon. That's how he was able to get Maria's promise in the first place. She told him that he should give those that live on any planet to be happy, and to fight and protect any world that he stands on. Still…was Shadow hearing all of that for real?

Back with Super Silver and Sonic, they continued to look around just in case Sin might make an attack. Both of them looked at Super Shadow, who was suddenly unconscious. What happened to him? And how come they didn't see that coming? Now things were getting out of hand. First Amy wouldn't wake up, and now Super Shadow was either unconscious, dead, or asleep.

"Shadow, wake up", Super Sonic shook his comrade. "…No response…"

"Not good", Super Silver continued to look around.

Silence began to gather around the two conscious hedgehogs. Suddenly, Super Sonic heard his name and he turned around. Just then, he ended up at a different place as he was back to normal. He was in a small bedroom that had a king sized bed, two windows, a couple of closets, and some rock and roll posters on the walls. He clearly knew where he was at some sort. He was in his old room at his old home. Carelessly, he walked to the window and looked out. Widening his eyes in shock, he saw a few hedgehogs that were playing in the front yard. One of them was a purple hedgehog with long hair and she was seen in a long white dress and white slippers. The next one was a hot pink hedgehog that wore a violet red sleeveless shirt that was attached to her short violet purple skirt that matched her boots. And last, there was a green hedgehog that had on an orange vest that matched the lines of his orange and white shoes. All three of those hedgehogs were playing tag as they laughed together. Sonic was able to recognize them undoubtedly. The purple hedgehog was his mother, Queen Aleena, the hot pink hedgehog was his twin sister, Sonia, and the green hedgehog was his other twin, Manic. He hasn't seen them since last year, before they were killed by Dr. Eggman's fleet. However, Sonic felt happy again.

"I'm…home…"

"Yes, you are", a familiar voice said.

Sonic let out a small gasp as he turned around. Standing at the door was a white and gray hedgehog that had a long white mustache and had light blue eyes. He had his arms crossed and a smile on his face. Sonic knew who that was. It was his uncle, Chuck. He hasn't seen him in a year also, because Chuck was roboticized by Eggman, and he had no choice but to kill him. Thankfully, his uncle looked like a normal, middle aged hedgehog. At first, Sonic wanted to faint, but he didn't. He shook his head slowly in shock.

"Mama-mia…"

"Come here, kid", Uncle Chuck opened his arms for hug.

"Uncle Chuck!" Sonic ran to him and gave him a squeezed hug.

"Oof, watch the hip, watch the hip", Uncle Chuck said as he heard a few small crackles from his hips.

"My bad", Sonic released him. "Can't believe that it's been about a year."

"A year?" Chuck scratched his head. "What are you talking about? This year hasn't passed yet."

"Huh?" Sonic blinked twice.

"You don't look so good", Chuck placed a hand on Sonic's forehead. "Do you have a fever?"

"No", the blue hedgehog shook his head. "But…I thought…you, Mom, Sonia, and Manic were…dead…" he said shyly as he looked away a little.

"Dead?" Chuck laughed. "Nonsense. We've been alive since we all were born. So there's no way that we're dead. I mean, I'm standing and talking, right?"

"Yeah, but…" Sonic tried to speak, but he was too surprised. "Is this for real?"

Super Silver continued to look around as he kept his guard up. He looked back and noticed that Super Sonic had his eyes closed. Not him too! Now it was up to Super Silver. Still, what happened to his friends? He began to have a major bad feeling about everything. Where was Sin? Was he putting them to sleep just so he could attack them at an instant? Suddenly, he felt a wind tickling his back. He turned around, but gasped. All of the sudden, he ended up at a hilltop where he used to train his skills and he was back to his normal self. Ahead of him, he saw a clear and white colored hedgehog that looked about 15 years older than him and he was standing there with his arms crossed.

"Dad?" Silver called outloud.

"Hm?" the older hedgehog looked back at him. "Howdy, son."

"Dad…You're alive", Silver walked to him slowly.

"Of course I'm alive", his father shrugged his shoulders. "What makes you think that I'm not?"

"Um…Didn't you…die…in a war?" Silver asked uneasily.

"What war?" the father asked.

"You know", Silver looked around. "Against those terrifying creatures from Hell."

"…Maybe you eat too much ice cream before you got to sleep at night", his father rubbed his chin.

"Not a lot as I used to", Silver sweatdropped. "But…does that mean that Mom's alive too?"

"Of course she's alive", his father shrugged. "Now would you stop worrying and come on?" he began to walk down the hill.

"Hmm…I don't get it…" Silver pondered to himself. "I thought that he and Mom were dead…and…This is weird…"

Somewhere near the three sleeping hedgehogs, Devil Sin was moving his fingers around a huge dark crystal ball. He could see the three hedgehogs asleep as they floated in the air. Apparently, he put them to sleep just so he could kill them in their dreams. He thought of attacking Shadow first, but he had a better idea. If he killed Sonic and Silver in their dreams, then he can wake Shadow up, and face him alone. After that, he'll kill him, marry Midnight, and finally rule the world. So he began to rub the crystal ball again as it glowed crimson.
In Sonic's dream, Uncle Chuck narrowed his eyebrows madly and grabbed Sonic by the neck. His nephew coughed for some air as he struggled to get away. However, his uncle was suddenly too strong get away from. He looked at him with fear and confusion as his cheeks began to turn purple. What just happened? What was Uncle Chuck doing?!

"No! What are you doing?!" Sonic gasped for some air.

"Now, now, boy", Uncle Chuck's eyes suddenly turned red. "It'll be all over soon."

With no other choice, Sonic punched him in the stomach and watched him collapse on his knees weakly. Hurriedly, he ran out of his room and went downstairs. As he ran, the walls and some old family photos began to melt slowly like wax. He reached to the front door and opened it. His mother and siblings were standing in front of him with strange looks on their faces. Sonic panted hardly as he stared at them confusingly.

"Hello, son", Queen Aleena said with an evil smirk.

"Mom", Sonic spoke frightfully. "Uncle Chuck tried to kill me! You have to stop him!"

"Yeah, right", Aleena crossed her arms. She snapped her fingers. Powerfully, Manic and Sonia tackled Sonic down and held him on the wooden floor.

"What are you doing?!" Sonic growled as he struggled to get free from his strong siblings.

"Something that I should've done a long time ago", Aleena pulled out a pocket knife.

"No, Mom, don't!" Sonic gasped in fear.

Back with Silver, he stopped pondering to himself and followed his father. Suddenly, he stopped. His father turned to him with a fierce look on his face. That look didn't look too friendly. Silver backed up slowly, but his father charged at him. Before he ran away, his father grabbed him by the neck and slammed him on the ground. He struggled to get free, but he received a punch in the gut. He gasped as he coughed bits of blood. His father laughed evilly as he continues to watch his son wince and squirm.

"Dad!" Silver yelled innocently. "What are you doing?! It's me, your son!"

"Ha!" his father scoffed. "Thanks to you, your mother and I haven't had any quality time together. I regret for creating you. Now I shall kill you", he charged up his powers.

"No!!" Silver shook his head frightfully.

Meanwhile, Shadow looked away from Maria. He was still shocked that she said that she didn't care about the blameless planets. It wasn't her, was it? Right now he was really confused. He shook his head slowly with his eyes closed. Something definitely was not normal about everything. Could he be dreaming? Or was he just losing his mind? No. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he couldn't figure out what. As he stayed silent, Maria walked up to him. Once he noticed her, she pulled him in a tight friendly hug. He had small red blush on his cheeks. Maybe he was losing his mind. Or was he not? Confusion continued to circle in his mind as he and Maria released each other.

"Maria…" he said in awe.

"You don't have to worry, Shadow", Maria smiled. "There's no trouble here, so we can be in peace."

"But my friends", Shadow spoke. "I can't leave them behind. They're in danger."

"Shadow…I'm your only friend, and you know that", Maria placed her hands on her hips. "Always."

"Huh?" Shadow looked at her oddly. He released a small sigh and turned around. After he reached up to the bed and picked Amy up gently. Then he looked back at Maria with a warming smile. Maria glared at him curiously. "This isn't real", the hedgehog stated. "This is all a dream."

"Huh??" Maria widened her eyes in shock.

"CHAOS CONTROL!" Shadow shouted out. Then there was a flash.

Back with Sonic, he continued to struggle as his mother approached him with her knife. His uncle came down the stairs and watched him evilly. As his mother held the knife in the air, a sudden blue light appeared on his chest. Sonic gasped as he looked at the sudden glow. Then he vanished. As for Silver, he began to run out of breath. There was no way that he could defeat his father now, because he was too weak. But then, he became unconscious. His father giggled evilly as he held his fist in the air. Just then, a green flash appeared and his son vanished.
Back with the Supers, they were fast asleep as they were surrounded by ice crystals. But then, a bright light appeared in all three of them. Then the crystals shattered into pieces. At that moment, the trio opened their eyes. They looked at each other then forward ahead of them.

"What happened?" Super Silver asked.

"Sin must've put us to sleep", Super Shadow answered. "He placed us under a spell, just so he could kill us in our dreams."

"Correct, hedgehog", Sin's voice said.

"Where are you?!" Super Sonic yelled out angrily.

"Looking for me?" Devil Sin appeared a few yards in front of the heroes. "Come and get me!" he turned around and flew off cowardly.

"Get him!" Super Shadow ordered as he went after him. His comrades followed.

(BGM plays "Final Rush/Chase Boss Theme" from SA2B)

Devil Sin continued to fly forward as he smirked evilly. Unmistakably, he was leading his foes into a trap and they don't even know it! He looked back and saw that the three yellow/gold hedgehogs were following him. It was his perfect plan. He turned to them as he began to fly backwards. Next, he clenched his fists and created some fire balls. Madly, he threw them at the hedgehogs.

"SUPER SONIC WIND!" Super Sonic launched a huge blue tornado and it destroyed the fire balls.

"Well, get a load of this", Devil Sin charged up some more powers. "DARK CHAOS SPEAR!" he threw lost of black and yellow arrows at his opponents.

"SUPER CHAOS SPEAR!" Super Shadow launched his golden arrows. His and Sin's powers collided together and made and explosion. Thanks to Super Silver, he was able to form a powerful shield around him and the team just in case. After the smoke cleared, they saw Devil Sin escaping from them.

"He's getting away!" Super Sonic pointed.

"Let's get him", Super Shadow spoke.

"C'mon!" Super Silver began to speed up and his comrades followed.

They continued to follow Devil Sin from second by second, minute by minute. However, he somehow disappeared. Where did he go? Abruptly, a few more fire balls were thrown at the trio. Super Sonic used his attacks and got rid of them. As he and the others kept on going, lots of dark ghostly hands appeared and followed them from behind. The trio looked back and gasped.

"Keep going!" Super Sonic took off forward and the others followed.

Even though they went faster, so did the giant hands of darkness. One of them stretched out and began to reach to Super Shadow. Super Sonic gasped as he looked back.

"Move!" he pushed his rival out of the way. "AAHH!!!" he was then grabbed by the hand and pulled back.

"Sonic!" Super Shadow and Silver looked back worriedly as they flew backwards.

"Don't worry about me!!" Super Sonic hollered bravely as he was getting pulled back quickly. "I'll be with you soooooooooon….!!!"

With no other choice, Super Silver and Shadow turned around and kept going. Nevertheless, more dark hands began to form above them. They looked up and gasped. Then they started dodging and escaping from the hands as they tried to grab them. But then, lots more began to appear below the two remaining heroes! Both Super Shadow and Silver gasped and kept going faster. Still, the scary looking hands continued to follow them. All of the sudden, a couple of hands grabbed Super Silver by the feet. He was pulled back as he screamed in fear.

"Silver!" Super Shadow looked back.

"It's up to yoooouuuuuu….!!!" Super Silver shouted out as loud as he could while was getting pulled back to where Super Sonic was.

"I guess it's up to me now", Super Shadow said to himself. "Hang in there, Amy", he looked at the pink hedgehog, which was still in his arms. Before long, lots more hands began to appear around them. Super Shadow gasped and took off. Even though he was fast, so were the flying hands. "Dammit", he growled. "Wait…CHAOS CONTROL!" He began to go 100 times faster and he was able to get away from the evil hands. He looked back and his friends weren't in sight. "If only we thought of that before…" he shook his head. "It's all on me now…" He turned back around and continued searching for Sin. All around him and Amy was darkness and the small floating souls that gave him small bits of light. Now there was no turning back…

GO SUPER SHADOW!! You're our last hope!!! Can he find Sin and finally stop him? And what about Super Sonic and Super Silver? Are they gonna catch up with him before something bad happens. Is there still some time left to save the world?? We'll be right back after these messages! Now excuse me, I gotta go to the bathroom…