"So, how do you do that?"
"Huh?" Silver looked back at Blue, running just behind him.
"The whole…floating thing -- how do you do that?" Blue reiterated, looking up at the floating hedgehog
Silver blinked, "Well, uh, I'm telekinetic."
Blue frowned, brow raising, "Tele-kuh-what now?"
Silver sighed, scratching a finger through one of his front quills, "I can manipulate objects and make them float, or I can push and pull things without touching them?" The silver hedgehog wasn't sure how much the explanation would suffice, but he didn't know how else to explain it. The other Sonic had never bothered to ask, just taking his special abilities in stride.
The blue hedgehog snorted at that, "No way, really? So, what, you could lift me?"
"I could. It'd take a lot of energy though -- it's easier to lift myself because I've learned to relax my body and let my powers move me. If you were moving around or struggling, it'd take a lot to keep you stationary." Silver explained.
Thankfully, before Blue could ask any more questions, they arrived at the town. Quickly enough, a white fox came up to the gate, smiling as she saw Silver.
"Hey there, stranger! Thanks for showing up." The fox said, her eyes then travelling to the other hedgehog, "Whose your friend?"
Blue scoffed at that, moving his hand to jab at his chest with his thumb, "Me? Please, I'm obviously So--"
"Blue. His name is Blue, he's helping us with the cleanup efforts." Silver quickly said, cutting off the other and ignoring the glare he got in return.
The fox smiled at Blue and offered a hand, "Well, I'm Penny. I'm an engineer. I'm kind of in charge of the restoration of our town here. It's a pleasure!"
Blue just crossed his arms, tapping his foot impatiently.
Penny looked to Silver who could only shrug. "Well, anyway, let's go show you where we need the help." The fox said, leading the two into the town.
As they arrived in the centre of the town, Silver and Blue were met with a large, collapsed building, and a destroyed airship.
"When we took out one of Eggman's deployment ships, it crashed into town hall. Luckily, no one got hurt, but there's so much debris. It'll take weeks to clear it by hand." Penny explained, turning to Silver, "So we called for you. I know first-hand what your abilities are like from when you saved me from that Egg Hammer back in Metropolis."
Silver rubbed at the back of his head, "It was no big deal, really…"
"No big deal? Pretty sure I'd have been flattened if it weren't for you, Silver!" The fox insisted, causing the hedgehog's cheeks to go pink.
"Ugh, get a room, you two! Or maybe help out? We're clearing this junk, right?" Blue exclaimed, having already begun clearing some stones and wood from the pile, lining them up out of the way.
Penny cleared her throat, looking away from Silver, "Right. You guys start clearing, I'll get some people together to dump or salvage the materials." With that, the fox got out of their way.
As Blue worked on the smaller pieces, Silver busied himself with the larger chunks of debris.
"So, this fox girl…"
"Who, Penny?" Silver asked as he peeled away a chunk of the ship, breaking it into small pieces with his telekinesis.
"Sure, Penny, whatever. You seemed pretty cosy with her." Blue said, smirking at the other hedgehog.
Silver just smiled and shook his head, "Nah. I just helped her out. She's really nice, but she's just an ally. Would be cool to be friends though."
"Uh-huh. So, there's...nothing going on at all? Really?"
"Nope." Silver said simply, stopping for a moment to let his powers rest, the glow of blue on his gloves a little faded, "I mean, even if it was like that, it wouldn't work. I'm not from here."
Blue's eyelids lowered as he frowned, "You know, long-distance relationships are a thing? Especially with all this communication stuff the Resistance people have."
Silver shook his head again, "No, Blue, I mean I'm from the future." The other hedgehog stopped, and Silver could already see the quizzical look forming. "Yes, really."
"Huh." Blue said. He supposed it wasn't so far-fetched, considering all the things that he'd seen. "So why are you here, then?"
Silver shrugged, "Right now? I'm just…enjoying things. Getting to help people, getting to see how pretty this time is. My future is a little damaged, even after I helped fix things in this time. I guess I'm also still…making up for the first time I came here."
Blue frowned at that, "What happened the first time you got here then?" The hedgehogs resumed work as they spoke, continuing to make short work of the wreckage.
"I tried to kill this world's Sonic."
Blue paused again for a moment, "I'm guessing that wasn't something you wanted to do?" He said as he got back to work, feeling a bit more conscious of the telekinetic hedgehog's presence.
"To kill someone? No. But this…thing, Mephiles, he came to me in the guise of another hedgehog. Told me that the reason why my world was ruined was because of Sonic. He told me that Sonic was the Iblis Trigger, a person holding this great demon inside of them that ended up decimating the entire world."
There was a loud clatter as Blue dropped the things he was holding, going stiff.
Silver noticed, "You, uh…okay, Blue?"
The blue hedgehog stayed frozen for a few seconds before picking up the pieces he'd dropped, putting them in place for pick up. "Y-Yeah. So…was he? This Iblis Trigger or whatever?"
Silver shook his head, "No. It was this princess, Elise. The whole thing was a trick in order to make her set Iblis free. I got fooled, and I'm still trying to make good on all of that."
Blue nodded, "Right…" He wanted to feel relieved, but something felt off. The hedgehog felt some of his quills standing on end. He could sense a kind of presence as he continued pulling at the parts of the ship.
"You sure you're alright?" Silver asked, concerned as the blue hedgehog began to act a bit off -- even for him.
Blue rolled his eyes, "I'm fine, Floaty. Don't worry about it." The hedgehog dismissed.
"Floaty?" Silver repeated before chuckling, "Is that the best you--"
"Silver! Blue! We found it!" Penny's voice came from the distance.
"What'd you find?" Silver asked as the fox came over, then he saw it, "Woah, awesome!"
Penny ran up, stopping just at Silver. Blue began to feel his quills stick up more, a tension filling him.
"The Chaos Emerald! Tails was right about those readings. We thought the hole in our lookout was from the battle here, but when he looked inside, we just found the gem." Penny said, holding up the yellow Emerald.
"That's great. One of seven already! Hopefully we can find the rest before Eggman shows up again." Silver said, a grin on his face. He turned towards Blue, "Hey, come take a look at--"
But no one was there.
"Where did he go?" Silver uttered, looking to Penny with confusion.
Blue panted as he kneeled in the grass, pulling off his right glove, watching as the clawed hand began to retract, the faint golden hue to the quills there receding.
"Crap, crap, crap…" The blue hedgehog whimpered as he felt the thing inside of him begin to settle. Sweat beaded along his body, his breathing heavy and manic.
"I almost lost it…come on. Pull yourself together, Sonic." The blue hedgehog said to himself. He shook his head to try and clear it before standing up.
Blue knew he'd have to deal with the heat for it, but he needed to run. He needed to run until he couldn't anymore. Then he'd go back. These people were his only real chance at getting back home, after all -- back to his Mobius.
"Let me get this straight. You…thought you heard someone in trouble and went to help?"
Blue rolled his eyes as he sat in the chair, being questioned by Amy and Tails, the latter of which was rubbing at his temples.
"Yeah? I mean, that's kind of my thing, right? Saving people?"
Amy sighed, "The thing is, Sonic -- I mean, Blue -- we have a tight network with the different settlements across our world. No one called for assistance or reported any Badnik sightings."
"Well, duh, 'cause I got there before they needed to." Blue said before smirking, "No need to thank me or anything. Just all in a day's work…"
Tails' eyes narrowed, "Alright, so, if you really helped a settlement -- which one was it?"
Blue froze, he stammered before saying, "Well, it's not like I know the names of the places here, it's different from my world!"
Amy sighed, "That's not enough. We need to hold you accountable for ditching your assigned work. As much as I'd like to…there's no evidence to support your claim."
Tails nodded in agreement, "We can't just have you running about. What if you're needed, or something happens to you? So, we're grounding you." The kid's voice was surprisingly stern.
Blue scoffed, "What, seriously? Who's gonna catch me?"
Tails frowned, "No one. The doors are all secure, and the walls of our HQ are designed to take a lot of damage. You aren't going anywhere until you can actually follow orders."
The hedgehog grimaced at that, "Whatever." Then, with a burst of wind, he was gone.
Amy looked over at Tails, her expression gentle. "You sounded pretty commanding there. You're getting good at this. Don't you think you were a bit harsh at the end, though?"
Tails sighed, "I know, I just…I miss Sonic. And it gets harder to look at this…Blue every time I see him."
Amy walked over and placed a hand on the fox's shoulder. "I know. I miss him too. We'll figure this out, though, no matter how long it takes."
Tails smiled a little at that, taking some comfort -- and hope -- from Amy's words.
Deep in an underground base, a pod opened with a mechanical whirr. A voice came booming from a speaker system.
"It's time to wake up! As much as I'd like to be there in person, there's entirely too much planning left to do."
Red, metallic feet set themselves harshly onto the metal flooring, red vision scanning the environment.
"I do hope you won't take care of them completely before I'm done. I still want to properly settle the score with those pests."
The harsh, deep blue of the external shell of the bot was caught only slightly in the dim light of the room, up until the doors finally hissed open, giving the robot access to the elevator leading upwards.
"But do still have fun. I'd like to get a good test of your new body. Go show them what you're made of, Metal Sonic!"