A/N This fic is a continuation of my other Sonic the Hedgehog story, Lost in the Waves. You might want to read that before reading this. The last fic was angsty and solemn, so I wanted to do something (hopefully) a little more lighthearted and some hurt/comfort, though there still are some angst parts. Enjoy :)
Clear as Mud
Or seven times Sonic and Silver left the Freedom Fighters confused, and one time they actually explained things.
1: Mega Confusion
The Freedom Fighters had to wonder when Sonic and Silver suddenly got so close.
Silver had shown up on Sky Patrol out of the blue one day, and ever since the telekinetic hedgehog also became a more frequent visitor with him and Sonic chatting a lot.
It was sudden and surprising, but it certainly wasn't a problem. It was nice to see more of the friendly time traveler, and his powers were certainly a big help when he tagged along on missions.
No, the problem was that he and Sonic kept having conversations that no one else could understand.
Strange. Though, given that Silver was a time traveler, it was entirely possible that the two had had an adventure together and came back before the others noticed. Especially since Silver said the Genesis Portals were opening in their time rather frequently.
It seemed like a good theory. However, when Tails asked just that, Sonic just looked confused by the question.
"Huh? No, you haven't missed any adventures lately," he replied.
"Not even a mini one you didn't mention? Maybe involving Silver?" Tails persisted.
Sonic frowned thoughtfully. "Well, there were those things with Ifrit and Metal, but you know about that. The only other thing recently was us smacking some evil Wisp-like things back into a portal, but we didn't even leave the roof of Sky Patrol to do that, so I wouldn't really call it an adventure."
"What about the Genesis Portals?" asked Tails. "Have you gone through any of those lately?"
"Just the times you know about," Sonic said. "They're pretty random, so I haven't seen them too often. Silver's the one who can track them. What's this about, bud?"
Before Tails could ask further, they were, of course, attacked by Eggman's forces, and the subject was moved to the back burner until they fought him off.
"You sure you haven't gone somewhere without us?" Tails asked when they next had a free moment.
"Positive," Sonic promised. "I would tell you if I had. Every adventure I've been on you know about or were with me. There haven't been any secret adventures or portal hopping."
Tails nodded, though still confused.
This was not helped when Silver suddenly came bursting in shouting, "I REMEMBERED MEGAMAN!" Someone Sonic seemed to know and left the fox to wonder what he'd missed.
But when Silver went on to talk about the other blue hero who fought robots sent by a mustachioed villain that he'd met in a recent trip through a Genesis Portal, Tails tried to put it out of his mind. Sonic said he hadn't gone through any portals, and he would tell him if he had.
Wouldn't he?
2: The Clothes Make the Hedgehog
Okay, so Sonic hadn't gone off on an adventure without them, but that still didn't explain Silver's increased presence and why he and Sonic suddenly had in-jokes.
Well, in truth, it was more Sonic teasing Silver, but he did so in ways none of the others understood, but Silver did and would roll his eyes in amusement or exasperation. Like how Sonic often poked fun at Silver about jumping to conclusions, or how the name Geoffrey became synonymous with treachery because he was a 'real traitor' (whatever that meant), or how Sonic would whistle music from secret agent films over their communicators whenever Silver tried to sneak around.
While all of those were odd to an outside viewer, Amy got a front-row seat to one of the few times Silver teased him back.
"Oh no, not that!" The telekinetic hedgehog exclaimed, sounding close to laughter one time when Honey the Cat had caught up with them to sponsor her fashion line.
Honey looked over at him in bewilderment from where she has been trying to convince Sonic to wear a black leather jacket with green accents and matching shades and boots.
"Why not?" she asked. "The jacket works with his too cool persona-"
"Hey! It's not a persona! I am too cool!" Sonic protested.
"-And the green will bring out his eyes," Honey continued, pretending she didn't hear him.
Amy already had hearts in her eyes imagining how Sonic would look in that outfit. "He'll look great," she agreed, turning to the blue hedgehog. "You should totally wear it."
Sonic looked at the clothes and considered it despite looking dubious. "I don't know. It's way too… something. What is it?"
But Silver just snickered in amusement. "It's way too Scourge," he said with a grin.
Amy and Honey looked lost, but Sonic burst out laughing. "That! That's it!" he said in agreement.
Honey looked at them like she was wondering if she should be offended, but before she could say a word, Sonic snatched the outfit, put it on, and then sent Amy and Silver a grin that was all teeth.
"Look at me," he said in an arrogant tough-guy tone as he peered at them over the sunglasses. "I think I'm so bad and tough even though I always get my butt whooped by literally everyone," he said, striking a series of poses. "Hail to the king, baby!"
Silver laughed at the sight, but Amy just looked confused. "Are you pretending to be someone specific or just the opposite of yourself?" she asked, not getting the joke.
Now it was the other hedgehogs' turn to look at her in confusion.
"Come on, Amy, you know, Scourge," said Sonic, flapping the sides of the leather jacket like it would remind her of something. "Looks like me but green. Bad attitude. Womanizer. My evil twin. You've seen him."
Amy made a face at that description, and then looked miffed. "I don't mistake every hedgehog I meet for you, Sonic, and I've never met anyone like that," she said, thinking he was referring to the times she had mistakenly thought Silver or Shadow had been him. It seems there was another lookalike rival to look out for, this time in green.
Sonic just shared a helpless look with Silver, who could only shrug back. "I guess they never met," the pale hedgehog said, even though he looked like he thought the opposite was true.
Sonic frowned as he pulled the sunglasses off and gazed at his reflection in them. "Is he even someone we need to still look out for?" he wondered aloud, but Amy could tell the question wasn't for her.
Silver shrugged again. "I guess it depends what Zone he was in when, well, you know…"
Sonic nodded like he did know. "Yeah," he agreed. "For his sake, hopefully, he made it. I wouldn't wish that on anyone. Not even him."
Silver went over to pat Sonic on the back, though he looked awkward doing it. "Well, if he does show up he'll have a harder time convincing everyone he's you this time," he offered to lighten the mood. "Heck, most people would laugh at him if he tried."
Sonic cracked a grin at that. "Oh yeah he will," he agreed. "He got what he wanted, no one will mistake us again."
Honey and Amy just exchanged a confused glance. "So that's a no to the leather, right?" Honey asked to get back on track.
Sonic nodded and slipped off the jacket. "Yeah," he said. "Thanks, but no thanks. Reminds me too much of a cheap knockoff."
Silver snorted at the description.
"Oh well, plenty of other things for you to try," said Honey, not too bothered.
But Amy contemplated that conversation and shared it with the rest of the Freedom Fighters the first chance she got.
3: Confessions of a Teenage Time Traveler
So Sonic hadn't gone on an adventure with Silver recently, but they had somehow both met someone unpleasant named Scourge who left enough of a bad impression that they could mock him every chance they got. And it had to have happened in the present time period because they thought Amy would know him too.
The more answers they got the more questions they had.
As such, when Antoine and Bunnie found themselves alone with Silver on a mission he'd tagged along for, they wondered how to broach the subject.
Though, oddly from the looks of things, Silver looked uncomfortable and like he was working up the nerve to say something to them too.
Finally, Bunnie turned to him and started to say, "Now, Silver, if you don' mind me askin'-"
"I'M SORRY!" Silver blurted out before she could say any more.
Bunnie blinked at the sudden interruption, and Antoine let out a startled, "Quoi?"
Silver scuffed his feet and looked ashamed. "I'm really sorry," he said again. "To both of you. I… I should have done more research and not accused you like I did… at the worst possible time too. I know you weren't aware of what I said, and Sonic already chewed me out for it, but I knew I still needed to apologize to you directly. I was wrong, so I'm sorry."
Antoine and Bunnie exchanged bewildered looks.
"Beg pardon?" said Bunnie.
"What exactly did you accuse us of?" asked Antoine. "And when was zis worst possible time?"
Silver looked too mortified to even answer, and the couple wouldn't get another word out of him for the rest of the mission.
Though when it ended, it seemed Silver wasn't finished with his apologies, as he went up to Rotor and said, "Sorry again for embarrassing you in front of your mom," and then flew off without explaining that either.
Rotor could only send Bunnie and Antoine an utterly flummoxed look. "When the heck did he ever meet my mom?" he asked.
The couple just shrugged in reply.
4: Of Mammoth Proportions
It was getting to the point Sally had to physically stop Tails and Rotor from pulling together a conspiracy board.
"Just ask them," she said one evening while playing keep-away with the corkboard and ball of red yarn they wanted to use. "It's not that hard."
"Actually, Sally-Girl, it is," said Bunnie, who wasn't totally willing to go full conspiracy, but not about to stop the boys from doing it either.
"Every time we try to ask, zere is some interruption or ze answer simply leaves us with more questions," Antoine agreed.
Sally rolled her eyes. "It can't be that bad."
"Silver implied I might be royalty the other day," said Amy, throwing up her hands in exasperation. "I need a straight answer here."
"Sonic implied the same thing about Charmy when we were talking about the Chaotix the other day," added Tails. "And he shut Silver up when he started to ask about someone named 'Fiona' with me around."
"For some reason, they think I should be afraid of orcas and thought there was a Freedom Fighter branch up north," said Rotor.
"I don't know who zis Geoffrey person is, but Sonic seems to dislike ze man with a great vehemence," said Antione.
"An' he had Silver help him use what Ah can only assume was a dummy o' him as target practice," added Bunnie.
Even Nichole piped in to say sheepishly, "I may have overheard a conversation that may have implied a debate on if a variation of Metal Sonic might have had a crush on me. I'd like to know a little more about why they would think that."
Sally stared at all of them and was also reminded of a strange moment where Silver had apparently mistaken her for someone named Elias, and then had gotten distraught when he realized she wasn't him. She'd done her best to console him, and would really like more of an explanation for it, but hadn't wanted to tread on what was clearly a sensitive subject. (Her current theory was that Elias was her future descendant, and she hoped Silver's reaction didn't mean something bad happened to him.)
"Regardless," Sally said, still holding the corkboard out of their reach. "I still think we have more important things to focus on than poking our noses in Sonic and Silver's weird friendship."
"But you do think it's weird," said Tails, knowingly.
"Of course it is!" said Sally, however she was sticking to her guns. "But that doesn't make it our business. Sonic's allowed to have friends outside of us. It's not that big a-"
"YOUR MASTER WAS WHO?!" came a sudden shout from the next room.
A moment later, Cream came running in with Cheese in her arms. "Ms. Sally? Mr. Sonic is angry," she said worriedly.
The Freedom Fighters exchanged a glance, before hurrying towards the source of the shout.
They came in to see Silver staring at Sonic with a startled deer-caught-in-the-headlights expression, while the blue hedgehog paced in front of him, looking like he'd just had an epiphany and wasn't happy about it. The fact the sun had gone down and he was in his werehog form made his irritation more pronounced.
"Mammoth Mogul!" Sonic said, sounding a strange mix of outraged and exasperated. "Of course your old master was Mammoth Mogul! No wonder your first attempt to change the future was to come after me! He probably put you up to it!"
Silver looked like he had no clue what was going on, and said weakly, "N-No, that was my idea based on my research at the time, but- uh, admittedly Master Mogul didn't exactly discourage it…" he then trailed off, and his expression made it clear the exact opposite was true.
Sonic picked up on that and didn't seem at all surprised. "Of course," he growled dryly, his ear twitching in irritation.
Rotor leaned over to whisper to Tails, "Who's Mammoth Mogul?" and the other Freedom Fighters glanced his way too. If anyone knew who had Sonic so worked up, it would be him.
But Tails could only give a helpless shrug. "I have no clue," he whispered back.
"I-I don't understand," said Silver, for once still looking as lost as the rest of them.
Sonic sighed and ran a hand through his shaggy quills. "Look, that old wooly jerk and I have history, okay. Bad history," he said tiredly
Silver winced at his tone. "How bad?"
"Bad enough that the immortal jerk promised to torment my bloodline for all eternity," Sonic said dryly.
Silver sucked a breath in through his teeth. "Yeah, that's pretty bad. Guess now I know why Edmund always called him a 'sad sack of lies' or something like that."
"You should listen to Edmund," said Sonic with a firm growl.
"Maybe," said Silver, but he seemed hesitant. "Still, I… don't think he was bad. Or really wanted me to hurt you unless it really did fix things. Two hundred years is a long time, especially if you spend it living in an apocalypse. People change. He was always kind to me and helped me so much. I really think he wanted to help me to save the future."
Sonic looked dubious at the thought, before letting out a long and tired sigh. "I guess without getting a chance to talk to that 'sad sack of lies' I'll never know. I guess it doesn't matter now." He then jabbed a finger in Silver's direction, and said sternly, "But if you ever meet him again, there's no way on Mobius you should trust him. The guy makes Breezie look like a philanthropist."
Silver nodded seriously, taking that advice to heart.
Unable to contain her curiosity, Cream spoke up. "Mr. Sonic, what's a Mobius?"
The other Freedom Fighters had been wondering that too, on top of several other questions.
Both hedgehogs were startled and seemed to finally realize the rest of them were there.
Then when they registered Cream's question, Sonic and Silver could only stare at them all for a full minute, before Sonic promptly turned on his heel and walked out the door without answering.
Silver opened and closed his mouth several times before giving up and using his telekinesis to fly out after the werehog.
Through a window, they could all see Sonic standing on the edge of the Sky Patrol. It seemed he just needed to go outside and scream into the void for a little bit. Silver appeared beside him not long after, patting him on the back awkwardly.
With that very confusing display over, everyone slowly turned to look at Sally.
Seeing everyone's eyes on her, Sally let out a defeated sigh and handed the corkboard and yarn back to Rotor and Tails. "Don't go too crazy," she said wryly.
"I'm not so sure we're the ones you should be concerned about," said Rotor as he and Tails hurried away to get started.
5: Culture Clash
If there was any hope Knuckles had any knowledge of what was up with Sonic and Silver, it died quickly once he was on the Sky Patrol and he very quickly became as confused as the rest of them.
Case and point-
"You went toe to toe with Enerjak?" came Sonic's surprised voice, making Knuckles look up from where he and Amy were trying to find Chaos Emeralds and Master Emerald shards.
"Yeah," said Silver as the two walked by. "It was in an alternate timeline where he'd destroyed, well, basically everything, and only a small group of Freedom Fighters were left to oppose him."
Sonic let out a whistle. "Ouch. Enerjak is no joke. I couldn't beat him even when I was Super Sonic without help."
"Yeah, he mentioned that," said Silver. He then grinned impishly. "As I was kicking his butt."
Knuckles leaned over to whisper to Amy. "What are they talking about?"
Amy let out an exasperated sigh, having grown used to the confusion by now. "Who even knows," she said.
Sonic raised a brow. "You kicked his butt? How? Did you go Super?" He then frowned. "Can you even go Super?" he wondered.
Silver shrugged. "I have a vague sense that I can, but no. It wasn't an option for me."
"Then how?" asked Sonic, looking curious.
Silver smiled proudly. "I used my powers to turn all his attacks back at him. Turns out he can dish it out, but he can't take it."
Sonic laughed. "Oh man. Having been on the receiving end of those attacks, that must have been brutal."
Silver shrugged. "The jerk hit me with an island. He deserved it. 'Course I hit him with the island right back."
Sonic just laughed harder.
Knuckles, however, only knew one island that could potentially be lifted up and thrown at someone. "Wait, you don't mean my island, do you?" he asked, storming over to interrupt the conversation. Getting up into Silver's face, he demanded, "Is anything of this 'Alternate Timeline' of yours going to happen here? Because I don't know who this Enerjak person is, but if they intend to mess with my island they have another thing coming."
Both Sonic and Silver looked very awkward at that question.
"Erm, no, Knux, it's not going to be a problem," said Sonic finally. "I already handled it. And from the sound of things, Silver just landed in a world where I lost, and he took care of it there too. Right, Silver?"
Silver nodded in agreement, his mouth clamped shut.
Knuckles gave them both very suspicious looks but backed off. "You better have," he said gruffly before going back to Amy grumbling, "What kind of name is Enerjak anyway?"
Something about that question made Sonic look horrified, and while Knuckles missed it, Amy could almost swear she heard the blue hedgehog say in a tiny voice, "Oh Chaos, I know more Echidna stuff than Knuckles." But that couldn't be right.
Either way, Silver was once again giving him awkward pats on the back.
Someone should probably tell him it wasn't actually all that comforting.
6: Egging It On
The Freedom Fighters didn't know if they should be insulted or not that Eggman of all people seemed to know what was up with Sonic and Silver but they didn't.
It started when during a fight with Metal Sonic, Silver had managed to catch the robot in his powers and asked, "So… Any chance you want to rebel and join us? Because I know it's possible."
Metal Sonic hadn't said anything, but the way he used his turbine to break free and swipe at Silver seemed to be answer enough.
Silver looked disappointed but not surprised by that action as he caught the metal hedgehog in his powers again and flung him towards Sonic.
"Yeah, sorry Silver, they can't all be Shards," said Sonic with an apologetic shrug as he spin-dashed Metal into the ground.
Eggman, who had been observing the fight in his Egg Mobile, scoffed. "You impudent hedgehogs! There is no Shard, and my programming skills have ensured there will never be another Shard again! My Metal Sonic is loyal to me, and only me!"
Silver looked sad to hear that.
The Freedom Fighters exchanged confused glances as they fought off the other Badniks Eggman had brought with him. What did they mean by Shards? Was that a person? And what did it have to do with Metal Sonic?
Sonic, meanwhile, just smirked, "Right, because Neo Metal Sonic totally didn't try to overthrow you and take the world for himself. He's the picture of loyalty," he called up to Eggman tauntingly.
Eggman looked outraged, "I fixed that! It won't happen again! Right, Metal?"
Metal, who had gotten up and was attempting a sneak attack on Sonic, was too busy getting smacked by Amy's hammer to respond.
"Right," said Eggman as if he'd gotten the answer he wanted. "Shard was a fluke. All of my machines are mine to command."
Sonic laughed as he dodged another attack by Metal. "Dare you to say that to Omega next time you see him!" he said.
Eggman paled at the thought. "Are you kidding? I don't have a death wish!"
"And what about that other one, the one you liked," Sonic said, glancing over at Amy while effortlessly dodging Metal again.
"E-102 Gamma?" said Amy, still lost about this conversation.
"Yeah, he was your friend and helped you against Eggman, didn't he?" said Sonic. "Not exactly loyal."
Eggman gnashed his teeth together furiously.
Sonic then turned to face Silver. "So you see, Silver. Every now and then Eggman's robots get this habit of rebelling and turning good… or at least not evil, so it's only a matter of time before another Shard comes around. Don't worry about it."
Silver's expression brightened hearing that, and he and the Freedom Fighter's finished off the rest of the robots aside from Metal, who was looking more than a little dented at this point.
Not about to let this fight end on a high note, Eggman scowled down at them, then grinned nastily.
"Oh, poor naive hedgehogs. Even should the impossible happen, and one of my Metal Sonics does rebel, it still wouldn't make them Shard. Shard is gone." His evil grin widened, "Just like so many others you failed to save."
Sonic tensed, and Silver's head whipped up to glower at him.
Seeing this, Eggman looked giddy. "Oh, struck a nerve, did I? I'm sure it must be tiring carrying the weight of such failure around."
"Failure?" Silver shouted, chucking a bolder at the Egg Mobile. "You're the one who caused it!"
Eggman didn't even flinch as Metal darted in front of him to deflect the stone. "And Sonic didn't stop me," said the doctor cruelly.
Sonic was looking livid at his words, and seeing that the Freedom Fighters decided it was past time to shut the villain up.
Facing off against all the Freedom Fighters at once with just a damaged Metal was not a fight Eggman could win, and he knew it, so the doctor quickly beat a hasty retreat.
Still, it seemed he couldn't resist one parting shot.
"I'd keep an eye on your little friends, Hedgehog!" Eggman shouted as he and Metal flew away. "Or they may end up like my dear friends Jules and Bernadette!"
Sonic looked furious enough to go Super without the emeralds and fly after him hearing that. "THEY AREN'T YOUR FRIENDS!" he roared.
"Low blow," Silver growled, looking angry on his behalf.
Despite the outrage coming off him in waves, Amy still couldn't contain her curiosity, "Who are Jules and Bernadette?" she asked, worried they might be the names of Sonic's old girlfriends.
Sonic ducked his head so they couldn't see the expression on his face. "My parents," he said, then clenched his fist and stormed away.
The others stared after him in shock.
"Sonic has parents?" asked Tails, despite knowing him longest and having no idea of their names.
"Sonic's parents are Eggman's friends?" asked Sally, looking shocked.
Silver looked uncomfortable. "Had and were," he said. "His dad saved Eggman's life once, and… they paid for it."
The others looked stricken at that knowledge.
Then something occurred to Tails, and he asked, "Wait, how do you know that?" he asked, feeling slightly jealous the pale hedgehog knew more about his best friend than he did.
"Uh… research?" said Silver, looking startled at the question. "I studied as much as I could about this time period and the important people in it before I came back here so I'd know what I'd need to fix. I mean, you guys are heroes, you're going to get lots of biographies written about you in the coming years. Of course, depending on the future, finding ones intact and/or unbiased is a hassle."
That mollified the others and might explain some of the things Silver seemed to inexplicably know about them.
"I suppose it is good to know we will not be forgotten," said Antoine thoughtfully.
"So you read it in a book?" asked Bunnie curiously. "Learn anythin' interestin', Sugah?"
Silver cracked a sheepish grin. "Yeah. Ask me sometime Sonic's in a better mood, and I'll tell you his middle name. It's a doozy."
That got a few chuckles, and Sally glanced in the direction Sonic had gone. "Speaking of, we should try to go after him and try to cheer him up."
The others nodded, and Amy turned to run to the Sky Patrol, "You guys go get him, I'll get working on some chili dogs."
"I'll come help you," said Silver, following after her.
The rest of the Freedom Fighters headed after Sonic, hoping he hadn't taken off on them.
As they did, something occurred to Rotor. "Wait… does this mean Eggman just made a 'your mama' crack at Sonic?"
The others paused as they absorbed that idea and grimaced.
"If so, that's bad even for him," said Tails.
The others voiced their agreement and continued on.
Hopefully, Eggman would think twice before saying something like that again.
7: Something to Look Forward to
Given how the Genesis Portals kept popping up in their time, it was really only a matter of time before a group of them (or at least someone other than Sonic) ended up going through one. Such was the situation Silver, Sonic, Tails, and Rotor now found themselves in.
Safe to say, Silver's time period did not exactly give them something to look forward to.
"It used to be worse," Silver told them as he led them down the steps to his friend's lab. The lab's owner apparently had all the equipment they'd need to find another Genesis Portal back to their own time.
"That's not exactly reassuring," Rotor told the psychic hedgehog.
"Well, good to know all that time travel wasn't good for something," said Sonic dryly.
Seeming to miss the sarcasm, Silver nodded and continued, "Yeah, I know that doesn't mean things here still can't be better, but I'm hoping we can change things here in the present instead of having to go back to fix it this time. Well, once the Genesis Portals are all taken care of, at least. But if I happen to make things better here while I'm in the past, I won't complain."
Before the Freedom Fighters could make a comment on that hopeful plan, Silver reached the door to the lab and opened it, ushering them inside.
Inside, a red-haired and teal-skinned human(?) and a golden tenrec with a circular mark on her forehead looked up at their arrival.
Immediately, Tails and Rotor's attention was stolen by the sight of the tech around them, and the two geniuses practically started drooling. "I've died and gone to technogeek heaven," Rotor said in awe, and Tails nodded in agreement as three tiny and cute robotic hedgehogs swarmed around them curiously.
"Vy zank you," said the green man, looking flattered.
The tenrec, however, looked at them nervously and the symbol on her head glowed slightly as she glanced over at Silver. "Silver? Who are they? Why did you bring them here?"
Everyone but Silver and the green man jumped as they heard that question ring out not from the tenrec's mouth but from inside their heads.
Apparently, the tenrec was telepathic.
"They're some of my friends from the past," Silver said to answer her question, apparently used to that way of speaking, and sweeping a hand to indicate them. "Meet Sonic, Tails, and Rotor." He then looked to the Freedom Fighters and said, "Guys, these are my friends in my time. Meet Professor Von Schlemmer and Gold the Tenrec. I wouldn't be able to handle the Genesis Portals without them."
Gold and the Professor's eyes both widened as they realized who they were meeting.
"Oh my," said Gold, this time out loud and clasping her hands together in excitement. "Silver has told us so much about you! It's wonderful to meet you at last."
"It is an honor to meet ze heroes of ze past," said Professor Von Schlemmer, looking especially eagerly at Tails and Rotor. "And to hear you in awe of my research. Oh danke schoen, it means so much. Especially since much of it is based on research of your own."
"Really?" asked Tails, exchanging an excited glance with Rotor. It was great to hear they would be famous not just for hero work, but for their smarts as well.
"Nice work, guys," said Sonic encouragingly, ruffling Tail's bangs fondly, and giving Rotor a friendly nudge.
"Oh ya, you-" the professor started to say, but then cut himself off. "Nein, I should not say. It is still in your future."
"Speaking of the future, why are they here, Silver? Isn't that dangerous?" asked Gold, turning her attention back to her friend.
Silver ran his hand through his quills sheepishly. "Yeah, didn't have much of a choice there. We got locked in an Eggman base that was exploding, and it was our only way out. I was hoping the professor could find another portal that could get them home, or maybe you could open one for them."
Sonic glanced at Gold. "You can open portals?" he asked in surprise.
Gold flinched at the question. "Yes, but… I don't like to. It's dangerous." She then fell silent and added telepathically, "There's no telling what could come out," dread seeping out from every word of that message and a brief image of a massive dark monster flashed through their minds.
"Fortunately, most Genesis Portals currently go to your time, give or take maybe a veek or two," said Professor Von Schlemmer, already tapping away at his computer to track down a portal. "It should not be much of un hassle to find one to suit your needs. Zen we simply bring you to it, and Silver vill close it behind you."
"We appreciate that," said Rotor.
"Though maybe not a two-week one. The others would be worried if we're away that long," said Tails.
"And who knows what Egghead would do while we're gone," added Sonic. He then sent a suspicious glance around the lab. "You didn't base any of this on his tech too, did you?"
"Only ze Bits," said the professor, seeming to miss Sonic's hostility, and pointing at the little robot hedgehogs that had greeted them.
Sonic blinked at that answer and glanced down at the small multi-colored hedgehogs, it was more than obvious they were based on Metal Sonic's design.
The Bits all looked back up at him with big innocent eyes and chirped cutely.
Sonic's expression melted. "Well, I guess they're alright," he conceded while patting one on the head. He then glanced at Silver and said, "Maybe you don't need Eggman to get Shard."
At that suggestion, Silver's eyes widened and he stared down at the Bits, making Gold giggle at whatever he was thinking. "That would be very cute," she said.
"Not with Shard's attitude," said Silver dryly.
Gold just giggled harder.
Having still never gotten a proper explanation as to who Shard was, Tails and Rotor found themselves wishing they had Gold's powers so as to finally get some answers.
Before they could ask, Professor Von Schlemmer suddenly sucked in a breath and hit a switch that killed all the power in the lab.
The three time-displaced Freedom Fighters let out noises of surprise at the sudden darkness.
"Shhhh, keep quiet!" Gold said sharply in their heads to keep from speaking aloud.
Recognizing the urgency in her voice, Sonic, Tails, and Rotor clammed up and waited.
After a long moment, the professor let out a sigh of relief and turned the power back on. "Sorry about zat, ya," he said as he resumed his work on the computer, though this time in a more subdued manner. "Un squad of the Civil Protection Robots vere a bit too close for comfort, and ve are only safe here so long as ze Council believes zis lab is abandoned. And electricity running zrough it is good indication it is not."
"The Council?" asked Rotor.
"They're the rulers of the city," explained Gold. "And they do so with an iron fist. Any who step out of line… well… nothing good happens to them."
"And we're not exactly on their good list after we kinda, uh, ruined an 'experiment' of theirs on the Genesis Portals," explained Silver.
The professor scoffed in disgust when Silver said the word, experiment.
Tails raised a brow. "You messed with their science? Why? Maybe it could have helped with the portals."
"Zat vas not science!" said Professor Von Schlemmer passionately, making Tails jump.
"And it wasn't going to help," said Gold quietly. "It would only make things worse."
"They were trying to force Gold to open bigger portals and have them appear more frequently," explained Silver. "And then they tried to throw me and the Professor down one with a monster inside it, so, yeah, no regrets there."
Sonic let out a whistle. "And this is supposed to be the good future," he said sardonically, with Tails and Rotor nodding in agreement.
"I said it was better, not good," replied Silver. "It's not a wasteland of destroyed buildings with barely anyone left alive, so I still consider it an improvement," he added with a shrug.
Tails and Rotor were surprised to see a brief but familiar look of confusion on the professor and the tenrec's faces before Gold seemed to see something in Silver's mind and projected it to the rest of them as an explanation.
The lab around them vanished, and in its place was a memory of Silver looking out at a desolated city, and the only other living inhabitants for miles around were a wizened old echidna with a walking stick and a tired but wise woolly mammoth in ragged clothing.
A moment later they were back in the lab, blinking the scene from their eyes.
"I stopped that future from happening," said Silver firmly. "I can make this one better too."
"And ve vill help," said Professor Von Schlemmer. He then shook his head. "Still, I alvays forget zis is not ze place you grew up, Silver. Zough, it explains how you vere able to avoid being assigned a vork group, and vere living homeless until I found you."
Rotor, Tails, and Sonic all looked at Silver hearing that.
Silver shrugged. "The future changed, and I was outside it when it happened. When I came back, the people I knew were gone and there was no place for me here."
"But he made one with us," said Gold firmly.
Sonic's face fell and he looked like he was about to apologize, but Silver held up a hand to stop him. "It's not your fault," he said. "I told you before, I always knew that might happen when it came to time traveling."
Tails and Rotor briefly wondered when they had talked about that, and it seemed Gold heard them. The tenrec glanced their way and seemed to read their underlying confusion about the two hedgehogs' relationship, and she gasped. "Oh, you mean they didn't tell you?" she asked.
The two geniuses glanced her way, but before Gold could say anything else, Professor Von Schlemmer let out a shout.
"I found one!" he said. "It vill get you boys home to roughly ze same time you left, but a few miles avay." He then frowned at the readings. "Oh, but ze portal vill only be temporary. If you do not reach it quickly it vill close."
"Speed is no issue," said Sonic with a confident smirk. "Where is it?"
Professor Von Schlemmer pulled up a map of the city and pointed at a location. "Zere. Zat is vere it will open. You must go now if you vant to make it."
Sonic and Tails looked ready to take off, but Rotor stopped them.
"Wait, guys, I can't go as fast as you, and I'm too big to carry," said the walrus.
That made the other two Freedom Fighters pause.
However, Professor Von Schlemmer grinned and Silver and Gold exchanged an amused glance. "Vell, if size is your issue, I have just ze invention." He then pulled out a machine that looked like a metal ball cut in half and held together by a long rod.
Before Rotor could protest, the professor used the invention on him, and suddenly the whole lab was a whole lot bigger.
"What?" said a now shrunk Rotor, his voice coming out in a squeak.
Silver crouched down to get a better look at the miniature walrus. "Wow, Professor. You added a shrink setting?" he asked like this was a new thing.
"Ya, Es ist wunderbar," said the professor. He then scooped tiny Rotor off the ground and placed him in a still shocked Sonic's hands. "Ze shrinking vill vear off once you are zrough ze portal, but you must go. Now!"
Sonic shook his head to snap out of it and cradled Rotor gently but firmly in his hands. "Got it. Thanks. See you later, Silver."
"See you-" Silver started to reply, but Sonic was already racing out of the lab before he could finish, Tails flying at his heels.
They managed to make it to the Genesis Portal with only a second to spare, and true to the professor's words, Rotor grew back to his usual size as soon as they were through it (and nearly crushed Sonic in the process).
Almost immediately they began receiving worried calls from the other Freedom Fighters who, as far as they knew, had last seen them inside an exploding Egg Base only seconds ago.
As the three quickly reassured their friends they were fine and out of danger, Tails and Rotor still couldn't help but be disappointed they once again missed out on an explanation.
Guess all they could hope for was to see Gold again.
Meanwhile in the future, Silver yelped in surprise when Gold suddenly swatted him.
"Hey! What was that for?" he asked.
"The professor and I are lucky I'm telepathic because clearly you and Sonic are terrible at explaining things," she replied.
Silver exchanged a clueless look at the professor, who shrugged in reply.
Gold didn't elaborate. It would do Silver some good to get a taste of the confusion he was putting his past friends through.
+1: Rejoining the Fight
Given how much Silver was hanging around, it was inevitable it would happen, but it still somehow managed to take the hedgehog by surprise.
"I- You want me to make me a what?" he exclaimed when Sally made her offer.
The princess smiled at his surprise, and the others around them snickered. "I want to ask you to be an honorary Freedom Fighter," she said.
Silver gaped at her, still uncomprehending.
"Ya pretty much already are one, given how much you hang around," said Bunnie with a smile.
The others who had all come to watch gave their own encouraging words, and Silver began to look overwhelmed.
Seeing that, Sonic grinned and zipped over to wrap an arm around Silver's shoulders. "So what'll it be, Silver?" he asked. "Ready to be a Freedom Fighter again?"
Silver looked ecstatic.
But once again, everyone else was confused.
"Wait? Again?" asked Sally, looking bewildered. "What do you mean again?" She had certainly never invited the psychic to join them before.
The two hedgehogs blinked and glanced at her at the question.
The collective Freedom Fighters all let out tired sighs at their cluelessness.
"Sonic," Tails said with a groan. "Please, I can't take it anymore. Could you please explain what you and Silver keep talking about? Like who is Shard?"
"And who is Scourge?" Amy piped in. "Or this Enerjak guy you both apparently beat?"
"What did you accuse us of?" asked Bunnie.
"And when was it you did so?" added Antoine.
"When did you meet my mom and who's Mammoth Mogul?" asked Rotor.
"What's a Mobius?" asked Cream.
"And how does Eggman know your parents, Sonic?" asked Nichole, having found no record of such (or any record of Sonic's parents whatsoever).
"And what do you mean by being Freedom Fighter again?" Sally finished, still looking bewildered at that newest tidbit.
The two hedgehogs stayed frozen wide-eyed in surprise as they were pelted with questions upon questions. When it finally died down Silver slowly turned to look at Sonic. "You didn't tell them?" he asked.
Sonic looked sheepish. "I forgot that they forgot, and you didn't tell them either," he said.
"Yeah, because at the start they were your friends. By the time I got to know them, I thought they already knew," protested Silver.
"Already knew what?!" everyone shouted in exasperation.
Sonic and Silver exchanged one last glance. "Silver remembers before the Genesis Wave like I do," Sonic said like that explained everything.
And honestly, it kinda did.
"So that's it!" said Tails, his eyes wide. "You were talking about the old world!"
"The old world was called Mobius," Sonic said with a nod towards Cream, who brightened to hear her question answered.
"Then the people you keep talking about-?" Amy started to ask.
"Are people who… didn't exist after the wave hit," Silver said sadly. "It's been nice to have someone else who remembers them."
"'Cept maybe Scourge," said Sonic. "He was an evil alternate version of me from another dimension. He might still be out there, but it seems no one remembers him coming here before."
Amy nodded thoughtfully. "That explains your description of him."
"And ze accusations?" asked Antoine curiously.
Silver shrugged. "The previous future I was from came about because one Freedom Fighter was supposed to be a traitor, and while trying to find out who it was and stop them, I, er, was wrong a lot."
"Yeah, he'd previously accused Rotor and me too," Sonic said, glancing at the walrus and looking amused. "Which is when he met your mom, Rotor."
"You accused me of treachery in front of my mom?" asked Rotor, stunned and trying not to laugh.
"NO! But after I did we needed to go save her from Eggman, and… yeah," Silver said looking embarrassed. "She and the Arctic Freedom Fighters weren't that impressed."
"There isn't an Arctic Freedom Fighter branch," said Sally with a frown.
"Not anymore," was Silver's reply, his face falling.
Nichole suddenly let out a sad gasp as something occurred to her, "Wait, if all those people don't exist anymore, then Sonic… your parents… I found no record of them."
Sonic just closed his eyes and looked away.
Everyone looked horrified at the thought of losing family like that, and Sonic and Silver shared a quick glance exchanging a silent vow not to bring up that Sonic wasn't the only one here who lost family. Everyone there had lost somebody and they didn't even know it.
Hoping to change the subject, Sally cleared her throat, and said, "Then you were a member of those Arctic Freedom Fighters you mentioned? Is that what you meant by 'again?'"
Silver smiled fondly, "No, I was a Secret Freedom Fighter. Part of the undercover spy branch. When Nagus took over your family's throne, I was recruited to help try and reinstate the king."
"You were a spy?" asked Tails. Silver wasn't the most subtle.
Silver coughed and admitted, "Yeah, uh, we admittedly weren't too great at that part. Good thing the others all wore masks and we had codenames."
Sally, meanwhile, looked delighted. "You were a Freedom Fighter to help my father?" she asked.
"Uh, yeah. We at least stopped one of Nagus's plans to mind control the Council of Acorn, and I'd like to think I was a help to King Acorn. He was a good leader." said Silver, careful not to mention which King Acorn he was talking about.
Sally beamed. "Then I guess I made the right call with my offer if you'd be willing to take up the Freedom Fighter role again. Carry on your team's legacy."
Silver smiled fondly, no doubt thinking about his friends, before reaching out to shake Sally's hand. "I accept," he said.
The others cheered and surrounded their new member to offer congratulations.
Sonic stood back and watched everything with a smile as Tails came over to him. "Sonic, you and Silver talked about so many people. You've really lost all of them?"
Sonic sighed. "Possibly. Who knows what the Genesis Wave did. Maybe they're gone, or maybe they've all been sent somewhere else, but wherever they are we can't reach them. Only remember them. Or at least me and Silver do."
Tails nodded. "You know you can talk to me about them," he said. "I may not remember anymore. But I can listen."
"We all can," said Amy, breaking away from the celebration to come over.
Sonic cracked a smile at them. "Maybe someday. But today's not about focusing on the past," he said and glanced over at Silver. "We're here to look towards the future."
"Literally," Tails said with a grin, and Amy giggled.
The future was already looking brighter.
A/N Thanks for reading this continuation of Lost in the Waves. I didn't intend to continue it, but then I got to thinking what the Freedom Fighter's reactions would be to Sonic and Silver talking about the Pre-Genesis wave timeline. Then I thought it might be funny if those two dorks did not explain anything, and they were just left in the dark. Hopefully, at least some parts came off as funny, though there is still some angst when talking about loss. The reason they mention Shard so much is that out of all the characters lost, they in-universe have the best chance of getting him back. He just needs to be built. I might do more in a series for this if I get more ideas. Let me know if you have any suggestions.
Thanks again for reading :D
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