"Are we sure about this?" Silver asks.
"We're not backing down now." Shadow glares at him. "If we don't do this, Mephiles will keep coming after Dani. She and her friends are safer on Earth than they are here."
Silver glances at his communicator where Knuckles is listening in, as if he's pleading for a second opinion. Back on his island, after a nice time with Rouge, Knuckles shrugs. "I'm just here to run the Master Emerald. It sounds like Shadow's got the right of it though."
Silver's shoulders slump and he nods. "You're right. We've got everything ready, stopping now would be pointless." Even so, as he looks down the valley and sees the three friends laughing, running together, he feels regret for what they're about to do. I hope she can forgive me. Something told him that might not happen anytime soon though...
Down in the valley, Sonic reaches the door first and taps it. "Oh yeah! Sonic for the win!" He laughs and runs inside. Athea, having the advantage of starting first, gets there second and stops outside the door to wait.
Seconds later, Dani and Dale arrive, tapping the door at the same time. "I won!" They say at the same time. The two look at each other.
"Fine, I'm the rotten egg. What's my prize?" Dani smiles.
Dale looks at her. Generous as always. Glad she's back to her usual cheery airheaded self. He thinks.
Sonic smiles as he reenters. "Your prize is for all three of you to go to bed."
"Awwwww, but that's SO boring man!" Dale complains.
Okay, I've had it with the complaining. "Dale didn't you and Athea fight Infinite to come to Null Space to find me? Aren't you a bit tired? Cause I know I had a long day and would like to sleep before we train tomorrow. I especially want Shadow to teach me how to improve my physical combat moves."
Dale scratches his head. "Huh. So you were watching us huh?"
Dani shakes her head and smiles. "No, but how else could you have gotten to Null Space? You guys were all roughed up when you found me too, I know it wasn't easy to fight him...We should take training seriously." Dani turns away from them, frowning, but keeping her voice in a cheerful tone. "That way we won't need saving, or have someone worry about one of us getting killed. Okay?"
Sonic steps up before anyone can say anything. "I won't let anyone kill you all. That's what this training is all about!" He smiles and gives them a thumbs up.
Dani turns towards them again. Athea notices Dani's eyes are ever so slightly tearing up. "Thank you Sonic. But I don't want you or your friends hurt either. So tomorrow, how about we all train together?" Dani smiles, wiping her eyes.
Before her friends can even react, Sonic is already hugging her. Dani stiffens in shock. "Sonic, why are you hugging me? We barely got to even see each other..." She smiles awkwardly, looking at her friends in concern. What happened while you battled Infinite Sonic? Why are you hugging me? Go hug Tails or Amy. I'm not that important. Dani thinks.
Sonic lets go and winks. "To make you smile. And look, it worked!" He gives her another thumbs up. "I'd hate to see a friend of mine not smile. So all of you cheer up and get some rest. I promise, we will all get extra training in."
Athea and Dale group hug Dani with Sonic.
"We won't let them hurt you again. And now that you've seen how bad your favorite villain is, you know what to do right?" Athea asks.
Dani nods mutely.
Dale cheers. "Yeah! I bet with your light abilities, my electricity, Athea's flames, and who knows who else, Mephiles will have no choice but to hide or die!"
Dani giggles softly. "Well, 'die' is one way to put it. But yeah."
Sonic is the first to let go. "Alright! Off to bed you three!"
The three head off to bed while Sonic takes a quick jog. Exhausted as they are, it's not long before even Dale is asleep.
The next morning, the three eat breakfast together before they head out, Athea and Dani lead Dale towards where they had trained before. With their speedy shoes, they get there in no time.
"Hey, Sonic! We're here!" Athea calls, looking around the clearing. "Strange. Did he oversleep or something? He should have been here first."
"Sonic's not the type to sleep in." Dani disagrees.
"You're right, he's not." Shadow steps out into the clearing, his face a blank slate. Behind him, Silver steps out as well, fidgeting with his arm. He avoids looking them in the eye.
Athea blinks. "Didn't expect to see you here after last time."
Dani's attention is on Silver as she wonders at his behavior. He looks guilty for some reason, but why?
"Alriiiight, we can start without Sonic since you two are here then." Dale says.
Shadow looks them up and down. Dani has healing abilities, but she seems to prefer using her light to fight with. Meanwhile, Athea's first instinct is to use her shield ability. Getting rid of her first will keep the battle from going on too long. He chaos controls behind her, grabs her arm, and, using a chaos emerald, chaos controls to Angel Island.
"What the-?!" Athea turns around, but he's already returned to the training clearing.
"Where did you take Athea?!" Dani's hands begin to light up.
Two against two now, that's one down. Shadow doesn't answer Dani. She raises a hand to blast him, but a blue light shines on her, forcing her hands down.
"I'm sorry." Silver says. "But this is the only way to keep everyone safe."
"Let go of Dani!" Dale sends a current of electricity through the air, striking the silver hedgehog, who grunts in pain as he lets go of her.
Dani winces. "So is no one gonna explain what's going on? This seems a bit excessive for training, even if it's Mephiles we are preparing to fight..." Dani says worriedly, keeping a closer eye on Shadow. Silver hesitates more than Shadow and I'd rather fight Shadow than Silver if I have to. She thinks, feeling bad for thinking this way.
"Look guys, we gotta take you home. It's the only way for you all to be safe, especially-" Silver is interrupted by Dani who is laughing in disbelief.
"You think I'm safer there? If I go back home with all of this-" She points her hands outward, gesturing at the world around them, "proving that you all aren't just in my head with all that's happened, I will look like a crazy person! I will end up murdered 'by accident' because of all the medicine they'll end up pumping into me because 'Mobius isn't real'!" Dani laughs bitterly. "And my family? I've kept a hold on the relationship by letting them think I don't believe in Mobius, they'll disown me thinking that this belief is 'unhealthy' or that I'm 'sick'. I AM NOT GOING BACK just to be locked in an isolation room for this belief AGAIN." Dani forms a light orb, the color changes from gold to white.
Dale gets his lightning ready for impact. "Yeah fuck that! Having memories of this while living in our world will be less safe than being here. And Dani said she is willing to fight now! You guys are being assholes!"
Shadow smirks, sending a bit of a chill down Dani's spine. Oh boy...when Shadow smirks, that means we're toast. Welp! Better to die here than on earth! I can't back down now!
"You have no idea who you're messing with, humans. This isn't a game. And this will not end kindly if you fight me." Shadow says in a much more irritated tone.
Dani shoots her light towards Shadow but Silver deflects it shielding him with his psychokinesis. "Dale, can you handle Silver? Don't kill him, we are just gonna knock them out and run and I don't have the heart to hurt Silver." Dani whispers to Dale.
Dale nods. "Eeehh can't make any promises." He jokes.
Dani frowns at the joke but turns towards Shadow, and Dale towards Silver.
"Unlike Athea, I took some martial arts back home. So I'm not as easy to take down as you may think." Dani scoffs.
"And yet, you couldn't even muster the barest of defenses against Mephiles." Shadow says.
Dani frowns at what Shadow says. Then forms another orb. "I thought that fighting him would end up getting someone killed. And I was gonna make a deal with him as a way to prolong his plans. Which is why I requested for him to not hurt Silver." She shoots the orb at Shadow, who quickly dodges. The orb hits a tree, searing a golden ring into it.
Shadow glances at the singe mark on the tree. He speeds towards her, planning to kick her from behind by teleporting above her. Predicting this, Dani shields her face. Unfazed, he kicks her stomach instead. Dani skids back, almost toppling. Shadow lands as Dani gets her bearings. Dani's cheeks redden as she huffs.
"If this was training, I'd be almost mildly impressed." Shadow compliments her.
Dani takes the bait. "Really?! Does that mean at least I get to stay?" Dani smiles, not paying attention.
Shadow teleports beside her. Dani turns pale. "No." He slides a kick below the knees as Dani again blocks her face thinking he's gonna aim there. Dani falls backwards but before she can hit her head on the ground she feels herself floating. Dani looks over to see Silver's hands are glowing.
"How many times do I gotta tell you to keep your hands off Dani!" Dale snaps, sending another arc of lightning through the air.
This time however, Silver intercepts it with a wave of psychic energy. With Dani incapacitated, Shadow teleports next to Dale and tries to punch him, but Dale wraps himself in lightning, shocking him.
"How do you like that, you arrogant ass-" The air rushes out of Dale as Silver knocks a tree branch right into his solar plexus. He falls to his knees, "Ow! HEy what The FucK? Woah, woah, woah, tiMeout, did you seriously just hit me with a tree? That's gotta be cheating or something right?"
"It's not cheating if it's an ability." Silver says as he drops the branch.
"Well isn't it a little ovErkill? Sheesh that's gonna leave a fuckin mark, gimMe a sec to recover ….hey do you guys got any ice or painkille-"
Shadow hits Dale's head and he collapses. "Huh...he's a weird one." Shadow says, slightly annoyed.
Dani looks at Silver. "Please-" Shadow knocks her out and Silver winces.
"Did we really have to use this much force? We could have at least tried to talk them into going!" Silver says as he gently sets Dani down.
"After that little speech she gave? There was nothing we could say to change her mind." Shadow says dismissively. He raises his chaos emerald. "Chaos-"
"WAIT!" Silver forces Shadow's hand down, causing the black hedgehog to glare at him. Silver raises his hands in surrender. "Before you do that, I need to borrow that emerald." He walks to him. "She was happy here Shadow, and we're about to send her back to a place that makes her sad. What we're about to do is just cruel."
"And your solution is…?" Shadow crosses his arms.
Silver hesitates. "If I use the chaos emerald to boost my power, I can probably put a block on their minds. They won't remember Mobius, what they went through here. If she doesn't remember we exist, that she met us, then maybe things could at least stay normal for her." Shadow says nothing, but he hands the emerald over. "Thank you."
Silver kneels by Dani and puts his hand on her head. "I'm so sorry for this...You have my word though, as soon as it's safe for you here, I'll return your memories to you and I'll come get you myself. I'll come back for you." Silver places the emerald on her head and closes his eyes. "Chaos control!" The emerald glows for half a minute before Silver stands up and walks over to Dale. He repeats the process before tossing the emerald back to Shadow. He picks up both of them.
"If we're done here...Chaos Control!" The four of them teleport to Angel Island.
"What took you guys so long?" Knuckles complains as he finishes stomping out a fire. "Just drop her off and expect me to knock her out…" He grumbles. Athea is behind him, unconscious already.
Shadow casually tosses the chaos emerald at Silver, who walks over to Athea and places the block on her mind. "Splitting them up was the right call. They've grown in skill since coming here, if the three of them had been allowed to fight together, we would likely still be fighting in that clearing, and Sonic would surely have arrived." Shadow says. "I don't see why you're complaining when I gave you the weakest one. She can't even use her full power without someone around to protect."
Knuckles keeps grumbling as he stomps over to the Master Emerald. "Let's just get these three out of here."
Silver brings the three of them up there and hesitates beside Dani. "I mean it. I'll come back." He tells her, leaving that one thought for her. Just the one thought.
Knuckles chants quietly to the Master Emerald, which starts to glow. It glows brighter and brighter and brighter, until it turns so bright not one of them can look at it directly. When the light fades, the three former humans are gone.
The door to Athea's room slams open, a not entirely unwelcome voice jerking Athea from her sleep. "Let's get moving, sun's been up for an hour! Let's go!" Ares, Athea's best friend since middle school, is standing in the doorway.
Athea groans and looks up, bleary-eyed at her friend. "Whaa?"
Ares rolls his eyes and rips the blanket off her. "Let's go for a run and then workout. Sun's been up for an hour!"
"Work...out?" Athea repeats. Her mind feels sluggish, incapable of keeping up. She glances down at herself and frowns. Why wasn't she in her pajamas? What happened last night? "Workout. Workout. Oh- right! We said we were gonna start doing that on the weekends, didn't we?" She shakes her head and sits up. "Feels like we said that weeks ago." She mutters.
"Yeah. Crack of dawn until noon time. Let's get going!" Ares jogs in place as he impatiently waits. "We are burning daylight!" He yells with a smile
Athea chuckles at her friend's enthusiasm. "Yeah, okay, okay. Sorry man, I don't know where my head is at this morning. I don't even remember getting dressed dude." She reaches over and starts pulling on her sneakers. "Must be the early morning."
"Maybe, how long you wanna run for today? 4 miles sound doable?" Ares asks with a mischievous look in his eyes and holds the door open for Athea.
"4 miles? You crazy? Wait, scratch that, I already KNOW you're crazy." Athea laughs and grabs her water bottle. "I'm running one and then I'm gonna walk behind you." She walks through the door.
"Try for 2 miles and then you can walk as I run circles around you until we find a clearing to do workouts in." Ares bounces on the balls of his feet.
"Dream on Ares!" Athea breaks into a run, stifling a fit of laughter.
"Oh yeah, I'm sure you won't be saying that as I run circles around you backwards." Ares smirks as he takes off after his best friend, easily catching up, his face lighting up as he runs.
There are questions about last night, a peculiar dream tugging at the back of her mind, but what does it matter? It's morning, and she is on a run with her best friend. Besides, if she'd forgotten it, then it probably wasn't all that important, right?
Dale wakes up, gasping for air. He can't remember the dream he had, but the emotions still linger. Frustration and sadness. He thinks his old friend Dani might have been in that dream, but he hasn't talked to her in months. Well, until last night when her foster mom talked with him about her staying. Man, last night feels like forEVER ago!
He goes to his kitchen sink and grabs a cup of water. He gulps it down. He looks at his brown hands. He feels like he hasn't seen his human hand in weeks. Turning away, he drinks the water. Leave it to Dani to give me an adventure of a lifetime. She's going to go to the stadium to sing on Americas Got Talent. That's cool. And we even got front row seats. VIP! that's gonna be so RaD DoG.
Excited to see Dani this summer, the feelings of that dream goes away. He makes a call to his girlfriend before he leaves on a morning jog.
Its a foggy morning in the city he lives in, but it's never quiet. He plays his music, feeling the adrenaline of his jogging kick in. In the zone, he enjoys his jog as he passes by cars. He reaches the library and sees his homies are waiting by the door and start cheering.
"Yo! Dale! Come here dawg! We haven't hanged out since you got that job!"
Dale laughs, and they head inside.
Dani wakes up. Her head pounds and her throat feels like cotton. She feels something knead her stomach. She looks down to see a grey cat butt in her face. "Silver..." Dani moans. The cat makes a scratchy chirrup sound and turns towards her. She gets up smiling to see the cat. On point she bumps her leg on a drawer and yelps. The cat licks his paws. Dani puts her arm out and the cat climbs, it riding on her shoulder with pride. She pets his chest fur and walks out of her bedroom.
She heads to the bathroom while the cat is still on her shoulder. She runs the water but unlike most cats, the cat on her shoulder is unfazed. I had a weird dream last night… She thinks more as she brushes her teeth until she is interrupted by her foster dad.
"Hey Dani. Is Silver down there with you? I went to feed him and he isn't on his heated bed we set in the garage. I won't tell Thorn you had him." Her foster dad says.
Dani goes pale as the cat on her shoulder looks at her. "Yes." Dani looks at the cat and without opening her mouth, she puts her arm out. The cat climbs her arm and plops on the floor, headed up the basement stairs to be fed.
She can hear her foster dad talk to the cat. "Smokey, time to feed you. I think we are gonna give you the chicken today." The cat meows a scratchy soft chirrup and the footsteps go quiet.
Dani sighs in relief as she doesn't get in trouble. She heads out and goes up the basement stairs. She grabs a bowl of cereal and eats as she looks out at the backyard. Her foster mom is in her boots and is feeding the goats. She watches with amusement as the goats follow her around with their little hooves and tails wagging. She can hear their high pitched "Meh!"s as her foster mom "Meh!"s back at them.
Thorne and her train of goats behind her always leads on a good note. They look so cute. Dani thinks.
Once all done, Thorne comes inside followed by her foster dad.
"You have a therapy appointment at 9 so once you're finished eating that cereal, meet me in the car." Thorne says kindly.
Dani nods, scooping some cereal. "Yes mom."
The older adults disperse. Dani puts her bowl in the sink, rinses it, and heads out. She goes to the car and sits in the front seat. She can see her cat on the cars window pawing. Her and Thorne giggle.
"Silver, get off moms car." Dani says. The cat scurries off headed for his own adventure.
"That cat really likes you Dani." Thorn says as they drive off.
A half hour passes and she is now in her session.
"So I had a weird lucid dream last night." Dani says to her therapist.
"What was the dream about?" Her therapist says while getting ready to write notes.
"I was a hedgehog. I was on Mobius. My friends were with me." She goes on about how she had powers, the food there, and about Mephiles and her dead friend being alive. "And then I was knocked out by Shadow and Silver, feeling bad said he would come back for me when they defeat Mephiles. But I didn't get to tell them what Mephiles said and did before Shadow knocked my ass out." Dani crosses her arms frustrated. "And then I woke up in this boring and terrible world again." Dani says even more frustratingly.
The therapist smiles uncomfortably. "But you know it's just a dream right? You didn't actually go to Mobius. You didn't actually have an adventure."
Dani sniffles. "I know, but I wanted it to be real."
Moments later she is back in the car with her foster mom. There's a long silence before Thorne speaks up. "I can't with you. Why are you so insistent that Mobius is real? We have been over this a billion times and so has everyone! It's time you grow up."
Dani tunes her out as Thorne nags on until she hears something she never thought would come out of her mouth. It was unlively sounding but Dani didn't notice
"I heard you singing last night to the cat. So I video taped it and sent it to America's got talent. Your friend Dale lives where they are doing it so we are moving you in with him until it starts this summer. Maybe that will get our minds off things." Thorn says.
Dani's suspicion is drowned out by her excitement. "Yes! I would love that! But weren't you just mad at me?"
"I am not mad. Why would I be mad?" Thorn says. Her voice is a bit off.
"Ok. That's good. Yep. I would like to go and see Dale and do this." Dani says not wanting to dive farther into her suspicion.
Thorne smiles.
As they drive, Dani thinks she sees something sparkle in the woods, but she ignores it.