Author's Note: Again, sorry that it's late. I've been stuck on this on how it should continue without causing too much tensions and such. None the less, I've finally posted a brand new chapter for this story and it's far from over.
So, happy reading!
I own no rights to Sonic the Hedgehog or any of the related media.
Chapter 5: Sonic's Determination.
It was all in a slight confusion panic as everyone in the world, the Mobians who grew up unaware of their world's past, and the humans who had lived underground for thousands of years, were still trying to figure out what was going on. As such, emergency meetings were being held as the Mayor of Sonic's village began making frantic phone calls to the other Mobian Governments across Mobius, while in the true Station Square at the White House, the President of the United Federation called up a meeting with his staff.
Due to seeing Station Square arise for the first time, Sonic quickly told Tails to head back to Angel Island before the humans would see them and get the wrong idea. After picking up Amy and Knuckles, who hesitantly agreed to join in as they knew that their world's governments would begin demanding for answers, hurried back to the village as they saw, to their prediction, everybody was at Central Meeting demanding for answers.
"I thought we were going to the human continent." Amy said worriedly.
"We are, but Tails made a point that we should talk to the Mayor and calm everybody down before they get the wrong idea. I should've thought of that in the first place." Sonic responded, mentally kicking himself for not thinking that through.
"You sure they're going to listen to you about this? They'll think you're crazy!" Knuckles pointed out, skeptically.
"We don't have much of a choice. It's better to calm everybody down here first before we try our luck with the humans." Tails stated. "Especially since Sonic's the only one who knows more about them than any of us due to the Dream-Link he and this Chris person had."
"He's right." The blue hedgehog agreed, narrowing his eyes in determination. "I'm not giving up, and there's no way I'm going to let both sides start a war just because of fear and misunderstanding! I'm not sure how I can do this, but it's our only shot we have!"
"Just hope you know what you're doing, Sonic." The red echidna grumbled, still on edge about the whole situation.
Sonic smiled reassuringly at his friend. "I got this. Just trust me."
At least he hoped he could do this.
"Please, everyone! Calm down!" The Mayor, who was a Hound in slightly expensive clothing, tried to reassure but was getting more and more nervous as people began to shout at him. "We will have the situation under control as soon as possible."
"Are you kidding!?" A Hawk demanded. "First there was this Earthquake, and then my sister just told me some huge continent rose up from the ocean!"
"My Nana said the same thing!" A Male Cat that wasn't Big the Cat added.
"What is going on here!?" A Horse with a deep voice shouted.
"L-look! We'll send in an investigation team to find out what is happening, who is inhabiting this continents and see if they are a threat or not." The Mayor assured.
"But what if they're like Dr. Eggman!?" A female Chicken exclaimed fearfully.
"Yeah, everybody knows he's the most unusual and dangerous, evil one and no one knows where he came from!" Another guy exclaimed. "For all we know, he's finally decided to go through something much worse!"
"What if there are more people like him attempting to cause an invasion!?"
"Then...Then we will have to fight them back-"
"NO! Wait!" Sonic's voice called from above. "That'll only make things worse!"
Hearing the voice of the familiar teenage blue hedgehog which surprisingly shut the crowd up, everyone including the Mayor looked up to see the young hero along with his friends fly in, and everyone mentioned his name in surprise while Sonic leaped from the X Tornado's wing and landed on the porch just next to the Mayor.
"Everybody, listen to me! Fighting against whoever's on those continents is only going to cause a great big war, and we can't effort that!" Sonic addressed firmly, clearly and loudly as possible. "I know this is going to sound crazy, but please, I beg you, hear me out!"
While not understanding what Sonic was talking about, the crowd did speak in murmurs but choose to heed their hero's words.
"Firstly, who has heard of the legend of what happened 10,000 years ago? Back when our people began to arise? Back before my friend Knuckles the Echidna became the last of his kind?" The blue hedgehog questioned, just as Tails landed the biplane and he, Amy and Knuckles hopped out, standing by nervously as their friend made his speech.
"What are you talking about, Sonic?" A female Stork asked, blinking in confusion. "What's that got to do anything?"
"Everything." Sonic responded, sighing. "I know you're probably going to hate me for this, and yes, we still have to make sure Dr. Eggman doesn't take over the world and he will always be a threat, but please, hear me out. Our world wasn't always like this. Our ancestors didn't always dominate the planet we call Mobius. Long ago, it had another name, one that another kind of species that were born here, and like us, evolved into the species that Eggman is alone, and yet he's evil, whereas most others are not; that species are the human race, who advanced technology before us and they called this world Earth, and like us, they were born here. No space travel or anything like that."
Silence as everyone was in a confused shock.
"Where did you get this information, Sonic?" An old Turtle asked.
"I don't know if you believe in ghosts, and a while ago, I didn't either, until a spirit that slept within the Master Emerald, and I'm pretty sure you all know what that is, came to me and explained everything. While my friends and I were rescuing Mrs. Vanilla's daughter Cream and her friend Cheese the Chao from Eggman's clutches as he also had the Chaos Emeralds, the machine that was using them malfunctioned and blew up, and I've been effected by it, having a Dream-link, an ancient link that humans and Mobians used to use back in the old times, and I thought the dream I experienced was real, until I work up hours ago." Sonic explained.
"A Dream-Link..." The Mayor whispered, seemingly knowing something, but allowed the teenage hero to continue.
"When I woke up, I was upset because a human friend I made, who saved my life in the dream world wasn't real, until that spirit told me and my friends what really happened and because of that, not only Eggman's machine accidentally caused me to Dream-Link, but it also caused the human continents, that were buried deep beneath the planet's surface to rise again after so many years. The reason they were forced underground because of evil aliens that invaded our world, and a Mobian had to sacrifice himself by becoming evil to defeat them before being destroyed himself, and for the safety of both kinds, humans had to be living there, all the advanced technology and memories lost until now." The blue hedgehog sighed.
He paused, before shrugging. "That's why I know that you all think I'm crazy, because back then leading up to today, no one even knew that humans even existed. 'Cept for Eggman, even though we all thought he was a naked monkey needing clothes with that ugly mustache of his. But he came here from wherever he came from since he wasn't even liked by his own people either, and I can't really blame them. Can you?"
"But what if he was sent by these 'humans'? Were they jealous? How would they know?" The Hawk demanded.
"It's hard to say, but what I do know is that most wouldn't even know, and unless we know for sure, that's why I'm going to the human continent and find out. I'm gonna speak to these humans and ask them to not get the wrong idea and prove that they're like us in spirit. Appearances shouldn't really matter!" Sonic quickly said, sighing. "C'mon, we're all different types of Mobians, right? Aside from what some of the Echidna did that lead them to a near extinction, have we really had a full-on war of the same species against another?"
A long moment of pause as everyone shared glances, realizing that he was right.
"And like I said, like humans since Eggman's the example, not all of us are good. We have jewel thieves, mad Peacock scientists, and stupid lizard guys who wanted revenge just because they weren't allowed in hotels. Yet we didn't go straight into war against their own kind, and unlike me and Amy, I'm sure there's one or two hedgehogs out there that's causing trouble. Probably not Eggman-like trouble, but not enough to be world threatening." He continued.
"Well..." The Hawk trailed off, realizing that he was right.
"Besides, if Eggman really wanted to cause an invasion, he would've called for back-up from the other humans and not use robots." Sonic added. "So far, he's the only human that's been a real threat, but the point is, we should give humanity a chance. Because back then, our ancestors of both kinds lived in peace and harmony, learning to live together. The only reason that changed was because of alien monsters that invaded our planet. No one knows who they were, but it was them that what caused both of our people to be split apart. I don't want both sides to fight each other because of a misunderstanding."
"He's right." The Mayor finally spoke up, causing Sonic and everybody else to glance at him in surprise as he admitted. "I was once told of everything Sonic has told you when I was a child, because my family were actually part of the ancestors who know of all of this, but we were forced to keep it a secret. I never thought humans would rise again, and after seeing Dr. Eggman, I feared to say anything, so I kept silent."
The villagers were all shocked to hear this. The Mayor...actually knew?
"I did not want to cause a great war either, so I remained to keep it a secret. It was my ancestor who was forced to use the Chaos Emeralds, yet the Echidna Clan that destroyed him before he could destroy humans had the Master Emerald and the Chaos Emeralds to ensure that my family and even myself did not have the power to use them again." The Hound explained, guilt-ridden.
"What!?" Sonic and everyone else exclaimed.
"Mayor, y-you knew all along!?" Tails spoke up from where he and the others were, beyond shocked.
The Mayor nodded sorrowfully, bowing his head in shame. "I am so ashamed. I thought I was doing the right thing, for the sake of peace. I am deeply sorry."
While Sonic and his friends, even Vanilla and Cream, who were shocked that everything Sonic saw in his dream were linked to this, came to realize why, everybody else began to demand for more answers and began yelling at the Mayor for being a poor leader and keeping this a secret until the blue hedgehog let out a loud, long whistle to silence them and get their attention again.
"Everybody, please, calm down!" Sonic shouted. "Sure I'm mad too for the Mayor keeping this a secret, but it's not his fault! No one knew anything about this! He didn't have a choice, and if he did, we'd all either think it's just some fairy tale and hocus pocus, or began to fear humanity, or even think of them as cowards, but it isn't their fault either since they can't do what some of our ancestors and what I can do. This isn't about the weak and the strong, it's about living and working together. If our ancestors on both sides could do it, so can we. That's why I'm volunteering to go and speak with them, because I believe in the right thing."
Met with silence, he continued, this time softly and more pleadingly. "So please, give me time and chance to do this. I won't let you down. I promise, and I never break my promises. Not even once."
Again met with silence, everyone shared hesitant glances but knew that Sonic and his friends have always did the impossible and defeated villains like Dr. Eggman and as he said, crazy Peacocks and trouble-making Guanas, and then realized that he was absolutely right. With that, they gazed at him and cheered him on, pleading him to be careful and wishing him luck and while a couple were still suspicious, they were willing to give him a chance.
"Sonic the Hedgehog..." The Mayor began, placing a hand onto the younger Mobian's shoulders, with a look of guilt and plead. "The rest is up to you now. Good luck."
"Thanks, Mayor." The blue hedgehog replied, before narrowing his eyes slightly. "Though I think you have a lot of explaining to do to the other Governments, and I may need your help for peace talks with the human Governments once I get back."
"Of course." The Hound nodded.
"Thank you." Sonic said, his expression softening.
Tails, Amy and Knuckles all sighed in relief, and while the younger two were pleased with how this turned out, the red echidna folded his arms as he admitted. "This went better than I thought. Never pegged Sonic to be the wise kind of guy."
"Sonic is just full of wonders and mysteries. That's what makes him so special." The pink hedgehog said, sighing lovingly. "My hero..."
'Just hope Eggman isn't getting the gist of this.' Tails thought to himself, and while he was putting his trust into his best friend's quest, he couldn't help but worry that the evil scientist would go to the human continent first and mess this up.
"Where did those continents come from?" Decoe asked after he, Bocoe, Bokkun and Eggman all recovered and stared at the monitor that caught on what was happening, the human scientist typing away like mad to figure out what has happened.
"Be quiet! I'm working through it right now!" The mad doctor grunted, going through the scanners to see what has happened.
When he finally got the cameras working, and even caught sight of...humans like him but not identical to him or looking like him in appearance, he gasped in shock as a realization formed in his mind and only one logical explanation came to mind.
"It can't be!" Eggman exclaimed, bewildered.
"Doctor Eggman?" Decoe asked, worriedly.
"Is something wrong?" Bocoe added.
"Unbelievable! This could only mean...the underground continents..." Eggman slowly turned around in horror as he gazed at his robots, continued. "The caverns that I was born in have risen up and reconnected themselves with all of the surface continents of this world...!"
"HUH!?" All three robots exclaimed in shock, recoiling.
"I have told you that I'm the only human on the surface, or at least I was until now. You see, my kind have been living underground for 10,000 years due to a catastrophe event no one knows the cause, except for aliens that could only be known as the Xenomorphs and according to research, they were defeated by a Mobian who had to be killed while the rest of humanity were forced to live beneath the surface for their safety." Eggman explained, more than a little uneasy.
"How can this be?" Bocoe asked in disbelief.
"Why hasn't anybody aside from you reach the surface?" Decoe asked, confused now.
"Yeah, and how come you never went back for a human army?" Bokkun asked, puzzled.
"For one thing, all this relates to the research of Professor Gerald Robotnik, the most brilliant scientist of mankind. He was my grandfather, and the one who inspired me to become a great scientist just like he was before he died. Of course, those insufferable underground government hated my inventions and desire to use my robots to make life easier, so I was banished to the surface and thought of a way to get my revenge and teach them a lesson. Yet when I first saw the sky for the first time, I decided to live my life to rule it instead and have both Sonic's people and eventually humans to bow before me." The evil doctor explained while monitoring the continents.
He paused before grumbling. "Of course, you know the rest of what happened; Sonic came and foiled every single evil plot I've come up with, that stubborn and irritating little hedgehog!"
"And it's already worse." The tall yellow robot quickly spoke up, pointing at the screen on one of the monitors. When Eggman and the other two robots turned to look, it viewed the familiar biplane with four young Mobians flying towards Station Square. "Sonic and his friends are on their way to the human continent!"
"Whaaaaaat!?" Eggman roared, roughly pushing aside Decoe who stumbled into Bocoe and Bokkun to the ground, before the mad scientist as he realized what this means. "If Sonic meets that continent's people, it will make things complicated!"
"Why not just convince the other humans that Mobians are a dangerous risk?" Bocoe suggested.
"No, they'll recognize me and most of them are not like Knuckles. They'll listen to Sonic more than anything else!" The evil man replied, before an idea formed in his mind and a wicked grin formed. "Unless I attack and kill Sonic while force the Government to obey me. Not even they can stop me...Yes, an excellent idea, and I can finally get my revenge on them..."
He then stood up and ordered his fallen robots. "Decoe, Bocoe! Get my cards and fix up the robot slot! We're going to attack by tonight!"
While his robotic minions, relieved that they weren't going to be scrapped due to what happened last night, quickly scrambled up to follow their creator's orders, Eggman turned back to the screen and muttered. "You won't be able to make any peace talks, Sonic. Because both your people and mine will all obey me, through fear and soon I'll be able to form the Eggman Empire! Oh ho ho ho ho ho ho ho!"
Yet what he didn't realize was that this plan was already about to go downhill.
Landing just outside of Station Square in the desert while attempting to avoid in being seen since they didn't want to cause panic since they knew that the people were already on edge, after the Mayor and the villagers agreed to remain where they were and the Mayor telling the other Government across the globe to hold off from doing anything reckless, Sonic, Tails, Amy and Knuckles stood before the huge city which was exactly what the blue hedgehog saw in the dream during the Dream-Link he and Chris shared.
"Whoa...! It's amazing!" Tails breathed in awe.
"It's so big!" Amy remarked, sweat dropping a little.
Knuckles, however, was unimpressed as this reminded him of the noisy cities like Casino City. "Figures that humans live in the same enviroment as like those in those loud stupid game towns."
"Come on, Knuckles. Aren't you at least a little impressed in seeing a human city up close?" Amy asked, annoyed.
"You've seen one city, you've seen them all." The red echidna said dismissively.
"Knuckles, you're such a party pooper. You're never one for adventure. You know that, right?" Sonic sighed, placing a finger on his forehead.
"In case you forgot your speech, smart aleck, we're not here playing tourists." Knuckles reminded sternly and impatiently. "You know this place more than any of us, so let's go meet with this 'President' already!"
The blue hedgehog shook his head, "I'll go while you guys wait here. But I can't go see the President just yet. I don't want to cause a huge security breach and the police will more than likely try and catch me and send me over to area 99 or 51."
"That's why you had us land here so that they won't see us." Tails realized.
"Exactly."
"Then, what are you going to do?" The pink hedgehog asked, worriedly.
Sonic paused, before admitting with a mixture of fear and hope. "I'm going to find Chris. If anything, I can't reassure the President that we're not enemies by myself, and as much as I don't want to get the kid involved, I'll need his help."
"But won't they think you brainwashed him?" The two-tailed fox pointed out.
"I know it's risky...but it's our only shot. Maybe I should talk to the President first..." The blue hedgehog admitted, realizing that more suspicions could take place. He ran his gloved hand through his quills and groaned uneasily. "It's easy to make our people realize that humans aren't all that bad, but to actually tell everybody here the same thing knowing I'm a hedgehog? That's gonna be tough. At least I won't have to sneak into the military stronghold to rescue Cream and Cheese."
Still, Tails was right. After thousands of years living underground with artificial skies pretending to be real, humanity could see Sonic as a threat and if he brought Chris with him to see the President, the government would think that Dream-Link is a brainwashing incident, and then send Sonic and all of Mobians into be experimented on or cause the war to happen. Unless he found a human guy who also secretly knew of the past but was forced to keep silent or was thought as crazy, the blue hedgehog was stuck. Realizing he had no real plan and people would take those sci-fi movies far too seriously like Tanaka did for watching too many Kung Fu movies, the teenager rubbed his arms as hopelessness began to once again form, but for a different reason.
'No! I have to at least try.' He thought, realizing he was beginning to doubt himself and while it was a huge risk, Sonic wasn't going to back down now, lowering his arms and clutching his fists, and gazed up at the city with determination.
"Well, only one way to find out." Sonic declared, taking a deep breath to steel himself. "I'll be back as soon as I can, and if anything goes wrong, head back home."
His friends were reluctant to allow their friend to go off alone, but knew that he was the only hope for peace between humans and Mobians. Amy approached Sonic who flinched, fearing that she would squash him, but to his surprise she hugged him gently.
"Please be careful..." His self-proclaimed girlfriend whispered, silent tears beginning to form.
The blue hedgehog was speechless, before remembering the times the pink hedgehog showed off her love for him, which was embarrassing at times, but seeing this affection, as much as he wasn't the romantic kind of guy, made him think that maybe she really did love him and this was like those times in his dreams. Despite feeling embarrassed with Tails and Knuckles watching, Sonic didn't care, and returned the hug, holding her close.
"I'll come back, I promise." Sonic whispered, biting his lip as he added. "Amy, I...I really care about you like nothing else."
This seemed to work as Amy glanced up at him tearfully, before giving him a loving kiss on the cheek, and he tried not to groan aloud and ignore the snickers from the others. As the two pulled away while the twelve year old turned around, Sonic quickly wiped the kiss mark without her seeing and with a confident smirk and salute to his friends despite feeling nervous but hidden it, the blue hedgehog dashed off towards the city to begin the next difficult phase of his task. Either speak to the President or find Chris.
It was slightly different to what he saw in his extended long dream, but there was no doubt in Sonic's mind that everything was exactly the same. Thus it was easy to navigate his way through here but attempted to avoid in being seen and mistaken for an alien or a monster. He remembered how the dream began, how scared he was when he was nearly run over by the cars, how lost he was and thought he was all alone.
Until he met Chris, who made him feel safe and with his and his grandfather, Chuck's help, Sonic found his friends and learned that humans were just like Mobians.
But now, he wasn't so sure. The blue hedgehog meant what he said earlier, but then he remembered how everybody demanded answers from the Mayor back in his village. As he ran while avoiding in being seen, he noticed that the usually busy streets of the city were unusually quiet despite a few actual humans, as he was shocked that they were indeed real, were hiding out in buildings or out on the streets demanding what was going on, looking quite as scared.
'Oh man. Most of them are probably already at the White House demanding answers from the President.' Sonic thought as he hid in the small alley between two buildings, certain that despite trying to be 'invisible', his blue blur was noticed and people were bewildered by his speed yet not actually seeing him yet.
He couldn't help but feel nervous, and wondered what he should do. If he waited, then the human Government would only see Mobians as a threat, but if he went now, then Sonic would only cause panic which he didn't want. But as Tails said, if he went to see Chris and brought him with to see the President, suspicions would rise. Then, realizing that if the Mobian can prove they would not attack the humans, maybe there was a chance if they agreed to give each other a chance.
'Guess there's no other way around it. Plus, I'm really worried about Chris.' Making up his mind, the blue hedgehog nodded and as swiftly as possible, he made his way through the city, only to hear a scream and looked to see, to his horror, a man and a woman shakily about to enter their car when the crane holding a heavy piece of metal near a construction site snapped and fell straight towards them.
Without second though despite knowing he was risking exposure, Sonic changed course and raced over quickly, screaming out. "LOOK OUT!"
The two people, hearing his voice and gasped when a blue blur picked them up and dashed away to avoid in getting crushed, screamed while the metal piece came crushing down and accidentally chopping the red station wagon in half. The teenage hero skid to a stop as he and the two humans he saved gazed back before he sighed in relief and gently set them down. He felt the crowd's eyes stare at him in shock, fear, and confusion as well as awe, but he ignored it.
"You two alright?" Sonic asked, carefully, taking a few steps back.
"Yes, we're...fine...?" The man trailed off as he and his wife got a good look at him and their eyes widened in shock that their savior wasn't even human and could speak. "Y-Yo-You're a...a talking hedgehog!?"
"Don't worry, I'm not here to cause trouble. I'll explain later, but I've gotta get going. Be more careful next time, okay?" The teenage Mobian replied, waving a goodbye. "Later."
He was about to run off when the woman, moments of passing out before she and her husband realized that the blue hedgehog saved their lives and meant no harm called out to him. "Wait!"
"Huh?" Sonic paused, looking back at the couple.
"Um...T-Thank you for saving us, Mr. Hedgehog. But, why did you do it?" The woman asked, hesitantly.
Smiling softly in reassurance and feeling that maybe it won't be so bad after all, he replied. "It's what I do. Saving folks and protect the world from bad guys."
With that, Sonic ran off to continue his task, leaving behind a bewildered crowd who began whispering among themselves about what has happened before his sudden appearance and that despite they at first thought he was an alien that was causing a rumble, began to have second thoughts, especially since he saved a couple's lives. Some even began to wonder if he was some kind of super hero, others were suspicious.
'Guess I left a better expression than in my dreams. Maybe it's because of what I can do is making things a little bit easier.' He thought to himself, but he still wanted to be careful.
Considering that careful was never his style, that's something something!
Sonic ran along the streets and made it onto the highway where he first met Sam Speed in the dream and kept going since he didn't want to waste anymore time, going for his sonic-boost to increase his speed before leaping off at the end of it once he saw that it was a dead end. He gazed at the city and saw the familiar sight that he never thought he'd see in reality since waking up this morning.
"I'm not sure if I missed this or just relieved that it's all real." Sonic muttered to himself, feeling his heart swell up with emotions, before quickly remembering where he was going and looked down and saw, to his horror as he gasped, he was nearing the familiar mansion and...
The swimming pool he almost drowned in within the dream. But as he panicked with a terrified scream, he saw a familiar, more real boy standing on the edge, looking quite shaken yet miserable and glum. His emerald eyes widened as he made out the young human's appearance; that ginger hair, that kind face, the same height and build...Could it really be?
"Chris...?" He whispered, unable to believe what he was seeing.
At the edge of the pool, unable to sleep and having half-hoped that his dream was real, Chris was left disappointed as, unaware that he Dream-linked with his 'dream' friend, he felt it was unfair that it never really happened. The adventures he shared with his talking animal friends, Tanaka, Ella, and his grandfather telling him that it was all just a dream, and how his friends Francies and Danny thought it was silly, the emotional goodbye and the guilt for forcing Sonic to stay before realizing it would wreck the world and had no choice but to let him go.
Then came the tragic part of the dream; Sonic revealing to Chris that it had been a dream and that he had to wake up. The twelve year old boy was heart-broken, and now with the mysterious shattering and earthquake and the adults discussing what had happened, he felt that it was making things worse.
'Sonic...I wish you were real.' Chris thought miserably.
It wasn't until he heard a scream that sounded familiar and, confused and alarmed, looked up and his eyes widened as he saw, a sense of a dream-deja vu happening, a familiar blue hedgehog that was falling towards his family's pool and from the brief look of shock and hope on the Mobian's face, then panicked again as he was nearing the water.
"Sonic!?" Chris exclaimed, unable to believe what he was seeing, before realizing that Sonic, the real Sonic, probably wouldn't know who he was, but at the same time, he knew that he had to save him since this part was in the dream as well.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Sonic screamed before landing into the water with a huge splash.
"No, Sonic!" The human boy screamed out, and without any second thoughts, jumped in, dressed in his pjs, to rescue him.
Deep underwater, Sonic panicked and tried to make for the surface while holding his breath, mentally pleading for help, his hydrophobia blocking his senses until he looked up and, half-wondering if he was dreaming again or hallucinating, saw Chris swimming towards him and grabbed his wrist, pulling him up to the surface.
The two emerged while gasping for air, before the human boy carried the shivering hedgehog to the edge and the two climbed out, with Sonic coughing and wheezing, panting as he was glad that he hadn't been under water that long, not like in the dream, while Chris gently rubbed his back as he knelt next to him.
"Ugh...Why me? Why did it have to be me that can't swim?" Sonic groaned.
"That was close. Are you okay, Sonic?" Chris asked, worriedly without thinking until he realized that the blue hedgehog didn't know what he was talking about...or so he thought.
Gasping softly as he heard his name come from his friend's lips, the real version of his friend, Sonic looked up hopefully in shock. "You know my name..."
"Uh...S-sorry. I have no idea how I knew it and it's gonna sound crazy, but...I had a dream about you. A crazy long one that felt really real. In fact, this is just how we first met in that dream." Chris apologetically replied, scratching the back of his head.
It was true. Tikal was right. It was the Dream-Link...because Chris had the exact same dream as Sonic himself did...and now because of what was happening at the moment, his friends, Tikal, the Dream-Link, the rise of the human Continents...it brought the blue hedgehog to the human boy.
"I had the same dream...Chris..." The blue hedgehog half-whispered, beginning to quiver with emotion, tears forming in his eyes once again. This was real. Chris was real. They both Dream-Linked together.
"Huh? So, wait...you know my name and you had the same dream? But how...?" Chris asked, trailing off as confusion and realization and, seeing that the real version of his friend was beginning to cry, at that moment didn't care. This was real and despite the confusion and thought he was dreaming again, began tearing up himself. "Sonic...!"
"Oh, Chris...!" Sonic trembled, and before he and Chris knew what they were doing, the two threw themselves into each other's arms in a much desperate real reunion and embrace, crying hard as both feared one another would vanish or wake up and be left heart-broken that it was another dream. "Oh, please, tell me this isn't another dream! I won't be able to handle it...!"
"...This is real...you're real...! I thought I was the one who was dreaming!" The preteen cried, hugging Sonic like he was a stuffed toy, while the hedgehog, flinching at the tightness, just cried on his friend's shoulder.
The two friends, reunited and meeting for real, continued to cry in happiness, relieved that this was real until they Sonic and Chris settled down and pulled away slightly with emotional smiles.
"Nice to meet you for real, Sonic." Chris said, his voice still full of tears.
"Glad to meet ya for real too, buddy." Sonic replied, wiping away his tears. "I thought I'd never see you again."
"But, how is this possible? It hasn't even been a full year and, why did we have the same dream?" The boy asked, now confused at the whole thing.
"It was the Dream-Link we both shared, inadvertently caused by Eggman and the Chaos Emeralds." The blue hedgehog explained.
That made Chris pause and flinch in fright. "S-So, Eggman's real too?" He then asked in hope returning. "What about Tails? Amy, Cream and-"
"Cheese, Knuckles, Mrs. Vanilla, Decoe, Bocoe and Bokkun? Yep, they're all real, too. In fact, The others and I saved Cream and Cheese and took her back home this morning after I woke up and boy was I in full of confusion. Last thing I remember in the dream after I said goodbye to you, I was in front of my house and...well, Amy being herself, had been scared and had been waiting for me." Sonic explained while kindly interrupting, knowing what his friend was about to say.
"I didn't see you with Amy after we said goodbye, and...I'm really sorry for not letting you enter the porthole. I just didn't want to be lonely anymore. Last thing I remember was Mom and Dad finding me after you left and, when I woke up this morning, I was upset that everything that happened wasn't real and that things were just like before you showed up. In the dream, I mean." Chris sighed, looking away in guilt, before Sonic gently made him look at him.
"It's okay, buddy. What's important is that this is real, and we've been both born in the same world all this time without realizing it." Sonic said reassuringly.
"But how?" Chris asked. "I don't understand."
Sonic shrugged sheepishly, "You felt that Earthquake, right? That's what caused your continent and the other human continents across the world to rise up to the surface again."
Before Sonic could continue, they heard Chuck calling out to Chris and the two friends looked up and saw the elderly Thorndyke race out in his night down and cap, along with Tanaka and Ella before all three adults skid to a stop and stared in shock and disbelief at the blue hedgehog's appearance.
"I-Is that...?" Chuck began, remembering what Chris said to him and how he described his grandson's 'alien' hedgehog friend from the dream which matched the teenager's description, unable to believe it.
"Yep. This is the Sonic the Hedgehog, and get this, he had the same dream as me!" Chris said happily, with Sonic, knowing that while he and Chris knew each other via the Dream-Link, the rest of the humans certainly didn't, like his friends.
"Hiya. Nice to meet you guys for real." Sonic greeted.
The adults stared in shock, before Tanaka, slightly awkward, bowed in greeting. "Greetings, Mr. Sonic."
"A real talking hedgehog? The real Sonic from Chris' dream? I must be dreaming..." Ella said, looking quite overwhelmed which concerned the others.
"Uh-oh..." Chris muttered, worriedly.
"Maybe we should talk about this inside the house, if that's okay with you guys." Sonic suggested, sheepishly.
Agreeing to this idea, Sonic and Chris followed the adults(including Ella who was carefully escorted back inside by Tanaka) into the house to dry off and for the latter to change into fresh pajamas before heading to the living room, the blue hedgehog explained to the humans how too was upset all day since reuniting Cream with her mother, how he had another dream with another dream Chris telling him the horrible news, how Sonic thought about the dream and couldn't seem to move on, to the scare of what Knuckles came up with, Tikal appearing and explaining everything to him, about the Dream-Link, the ancient past, the Earthquakes, Sonic himself already calming the other Mobians down and why he was here and that Tails, Amy and Knuckles were waiting in the desert.
"So this Dream-Link is caused by Dr. Eggman's attempts to use the Chaos Emeralds which are also real, and now because of that, our continents have reached the surface and connecting with the continents that are full of your people living the similar lifestyle as us humans. Is that right?" Chuck questioned, seated on the couch with his arms folded.
"Right on the doornail." Sonic confirmed, reclinging on a chair with a pillow, his hands behind his head and his feet on the table. "I actually came here to see if I can talk to the President without causing major problems, and, well, I was worried about all of you guys. Especially Chris. Already saved two people from a metal part that crashed onto their car."
"Then the legend is true. That is the true reason why we were living underground all along." The kind human scientist murmured, which surprised Chris, Sonic, and Ella who, once hearing the story and seeing how nice the blue hedgehog really was, relaxed and felt comfortable and even thought how her dream self grew fond of the dream version of Cream.
"Grandpa, you knew all along?" Chris asked, shocked.
"Well, I knew no one would believe me or even Mr. Tanaka when we both found the secret tunnels that were forbidden for anyone to enter when as children, in different perspectives." Chuck sheepishly admitted. "I was about your age, Chris, and when I saw how nice Sonic's people were, I decided to keep it a secret."
"As did I. I found a Chao Colony in my home country when I was a boy, which matches that of both your and Mr. Sonic's dreams, Master Chris." Tanaka added, which stunned the two younger ones in the room as they and Ella shared glances.
"So, what's your side of the legend?" Sonic asked, shrugging.
"Legend says that humans were forced to retreat underground after a catastrophic event that had humanoid animals, which we know now you and your people are called Mobians, Sonic, and that it was forbidden to enter the surface, especially since the barriers made everyone think they were seeing the sky. But scientists like myself were always skeptical and one day, someone by the name of Ivo Robotnik left because his inventions were a threat. At least that's what I heard." Chuck explained.
"Sounds like Eggman alright, since his real name is Ivo Robotnik, and since he showed up, he's been causing nothing but trouble. Now it's because of him that this has started. He turned evil because he was too different and decided to try and rule the planet." Sonic sighed, narrowing his eyes. "I bet it's to do with what else the dream showed me and Chris and I'm pretty certain nobody else is meant to know."
"The Space Colony ARK?" Chris asked, worriedly.
"And Shadow." The blue hedgehog confirmed. "This is bad. We've gotta make sure both sides don't get the wrong idea, and I know that it won't be easy with your Government as it surprisingly was back in my town, but we have to at least try."
"You said you saved two people in Station Square, right?" Chuck asked.
"Yeah." Sonic replied.
"Maybe if you reveal yourself with our help and with the help of your friends, with the help of the people who saw you, it might work." The elder human suggested, turning the TV on with a remote which viewed the late night news.
"In the midst of the unusual Earthquake and as a shocking revelation from the Government, every single continent has risen up revealing the real sky and, to add to the so called legend, it appears that it is true. Evidenced by sightings a blue Mobian hedgehog who came into the city early this evening and while authorities are concerned, many people believe he is not a threat." The news woman, Scarlet as Sonic recognized, reported which shocked the blue hedgehog and the humans in the room to hear this while recorded interviews from the people in the streets mentioning about the hero of Mobius.
"We were shocked that this blue hedgehog came to save us and talk, and wasn't threatening anybody." Said the man that was one of the two people Sonic saved earlier, along with his wife who looked less scared and more amazed.
"He talked to us like a normal person and didn't hurt anybody." Said the woman.
"I heard what happened and saw a blue blur, but he doesn't seem like a threat. It was the Earthquake that scared the heck outta me!" Another man said in another interview.
Then the image of the White House appeared and, true to Sonic's fear, a large crowd of people were demanding answers while the President and his aids were at the window, trying to calm the people down, ranting on how they were all lied through their entire lives and having lived underground.
"Looks like the secret's out and I only just found out today too." Sonic muttered uneasily.
"Sonic, do you think the Governments are gonna force every continents to stay away from each other?" Chris asked, uneasily as remembered how the government were uneasy due to the Chaos Control in the dream.
Sonic gazed at his friend and he shared the same worry, before answering. "I hope not. I mean, the Mayor and the other villagers did agree to give me a chance to set things right, and I don't want a war to break out. If our ancestors lived in peace and harmony before, and you and I are friends in the Dream-link and now reality, I'd like for us to live together and get along. I don't want to force anybody, just make them understand that Eggman's the real threat on both sides."
"Then a hero like yourself should go see the President and we'll go with you." Chuck suggested, surprising everybody again. "Since many want to know about the legend which is being revealed already all across the globe, it would make sense that you and Chris tell them the truth."
"And if people come up with the theory of brainwashing?" Sonic asked, nervously.
"We'll figure something out. Perhaps hold a meeting and for our President and your Mayor to get to know each other." The elder Thorndyke replied.
"Makes sense. I'd hate to drag you guys into what I'm trying to do." The blue hedgehog said.
"But we have to at least try." Chris said pleadingly. "I know now that you and everybody in your continents are just like us! I want to help too! I finally got the chance to meet the real you Sonic, I don't want to not see you again!
Seeing how desperate his friend was, how their friendship is real and their dreams brought them together, Sonic sighed as he didn't want to put his best human friend in danger, yet he knew that the world is to be shared and humans didn't deserve to remain underground. It wasn't fair and he blamed the aliens for ruining that peace 10,000 years ago.
"Alright." Sonic finally decided, smirking. "Let's do it!"
Chris smiled in relief, while Chuck, Tanaka, and Ella all smiled in relief, before the young boy and the teenage hedgehog stood up and shared a high-five.
"Let's go pay the President a visit." Sonic declared.
"Yeah!" Chris cheered.
Even though the meeting was going to be awkward, Sonic believed and felt that maybe there was a chance to prevent the war from happening.
He just hoped that everything will be alright besides that Eggman was still a major problem.
A/N: Looks like things are starting to look up and Sonic and Chris have met for real and reunited! Yay! Let's see how this will turn out in the next chapter.
See you later!