Dreaming

Gleaming flashes of white tables, white coats, and white gloves blinded any soul whose mind was curious enough to look into this strange, bright, yet hidden laboratory. Dozens of white coated workers with goggles, gloves, and strange devices suffocated the room. Rotting brown walls hung like eyesores across the cramped quarters of the apartment building. A young dark haired woman sighed and cursed bitterly in a Japanese dialect.

This lab and its supplies as well as its workers all belonged to Professor Selene Rose, the female scientist who was out at the highway where Sonic and the others landed, gathering samples. The fur and hair samples Rose collected at the highway scene were being closely examined by her scientific assistants. Rose approached a lab table and angrily clenched her white gloved fingers across the table, her fierce brown eyes glared angrily.

Rose sighed "This is pathetic, how can they expect me to work in such primitive conditions? I barely have enough power running out of this flop house just to keep the TV going".

The professor took the orange fur samples from a nearby pair of tweezers and dropped them into a small dish. The dish was then placed under a microscope; Rose examined it carefully as she flexed the eye piece closer and closer onto the strange, orange fur samples. A short dark haired, black young man approached Rose; the woman rolled her eyes behind her goggles.

"What is it now Trevor?" Rose asked.

The young man frowned "Professor Rose I really don't think we should be doing this, I mean it just doesn't feel right".

Rose replied, still focusing on the furs "It's all for the research Trevor, you know that. Once we prove the importance of my work to those ignorant pigs at the university, they'll see my theories are not as ludicrous as they sound".

Trevor protested "Yes I know but this is illegal, were treading on very thin ice here professor".

Rose groaned "Some people just don't see Pulitzer prize material when they find it".

Trevor angrily argued "And some people can't see a crime when it's right in front of their FACE. Look professor, I agreed to help you with your research, that's all. I never agreed to steal anything, especially not from the university I am TRYING to get into".

Rose looked up from the scope and smirked "This is bigger then any one university, it's going to rewrite the pages of history. Science will be literally redefined right before our very eyes and you're worrying about a petty thing like some harmless burglary?".

Trevor snapped "That harmless burglary can put you away for a seriously long time. I'm sorry professor, but I can't risk my future over just a few phony freak fur samples, I'm calling the cops".

The black student reached for the dark green telephone and began to pick up the receiver, suddenly a female hand slammed it down and grabbed Trevor's hand. Trevor look up to the glaring, threatening chocolate brown eyes of his teacher, looking darker then even the blackest of nights.

Rose hissed "Listen closely cause this is the last time this conversation ever dribbles out of you're mouth, you're involved Trevor. I may have lied to you about where I got all the equipment, but I'm pretty sure the cops won't know the difference. A simple accomplice charge can destroy your career just as easily as a major crime. Face it, you're in this just as deeply as I am Trevor.

I'm on the verge of something monumental, I can taste it, but if you really want to drag me down into the pit and throw away everything we've worked together, then be my guest. I promise you I'll be more then happy to take you down with me. Now I suggest you shut up and get back to work, history isn't going to rewrite itself".

The dark man's eyes squinted a menacing glare to his once trusted professor, a look of bitter betrayal burned vibrantly in Trevor's gray eyes. Trevor knew that he was in too deep to blow the whistle on Rose……for now. The young woman bit her red lip tightly, Rose was running out of time and she needed results before it was too late. The professor leaned in close to the fur samples, almost as if she were talking to them.

Rose whispered "Show me; show me so that I can show the world".

Elsewhere……

Tails sighed "Nope, nothing here either you guys".

Matt, Sonic, Sally, and Bunnie sighed in a collective, depressing little whimper.

It's been at least 2 hours since Matt and the others arrived at the crash site at the highway, after the police had left of course. Sally was hoping that the 5 of them would be able to find some sort of trace of how they arrived in this reality and perhaps, find a way to get back home. But no matter how hard, no matter what they did, Matt and the others couldn't find a single trace. It was as if God opened up the sky and simply dumped them out like garbage.

Bunnie lightly patted Tails back as the young fox hanged his head with sorrow, a depressed look was on his furry face. Matt sighed and realized that the hard truth of reality was sinking in, something he knew all too well, all too well indeed. The human approached Tails and bent down as he looked into his young eyes with a kind, and gentle voice.

"Hey, would you like to see something cool?" Matt asked.

30 minutes later……

Tails griped a bit, rubbing his sore twin tails as they had been once again, forcefully stuffed into his kid sized coat. Sally grunted a bit as she tried to zip up her own blue green coat.

Sonic smiled "Here, let me help you with that Sal".

Sally smiled as Sonic grabbed her zipper and yanked up hard, zipping up her coat and keeping her nice and warm.

"Thanks Sonic, but don't worry I'll be fine. I just hope you don't mind Matt doing this for us, I mean after all, I know how you are with water" Sally said.

Sonic gulped a bit and laughed nervously.

Splashing drops of ice cold water bounced along the sides of the rocking boat, Sonic grappled the sides of the boat tightly with his white gloved hands. Matt had gotten Sonic and his friends tickets to a late night boat ride, something that a lot of people enjoyed in Chicago. The dark haired human smiled a bit as he watched Sonic and the others enjoy the sights of the city.

Matt smiled "Thanks for coming you guys, I'm sure you're gonna love this. A lot of people like these kind of things".

Tails blinked "Boat rides?".

Matt laughed "No, no, well yes there are some people who do, but that's not what I meant. On certain nights of every month when it gets to be night time, the city of Chicago has this special kind of……event that happens. Tonight is that night and well, I won't spoil it for you, it'll be here in about 10 minutes anyway".

Bunnie squeaked as she yanked her robotic arm away from the boat sides, the splashing cold water almost touched her steel digits.

Matt blinked "Uh Bunnie you all right?".

Bunnie giggled a bit "Oh sure sugar, just a bit sea sick is all".

The human raised a curious eyebrow "Funny because it looked like you were kind of scared of the water. I mean, all that high tech stuff on you're body is water proof right?".

The Southern rabbit laughed and waved her hand at Matt "Now don't be silly darling, of course it is. Ya'll don't think I'd let a little rain drop stop me now would you?".

Matt shook his head and smiled "No, guess I was just overreacting".

Bunnie half laughed and silently stared at the icy waters, the endless black abyss and flickering shadows of countless sea creatures squirming under the waters caused Bunnie to flinch. The cyborg girl looked at the railing and sheepishly pulled her robotic arm away from it.

Bunnie gulped "Yeah but even so……better safe then sorry".

The sky seemed to slowly melt into an endless ocean of darkness, the sun's glowing rays slowly faded away like a burning flame. Matt's gray eyes stared into the night sky without a care in the world it seemed. But that was only on the outside, on the inside, Matt was screaming and crying. Matt had never told anyone about what happened with his marriage, or his children. Even the slightest or tiniest of reminders would devastate Matt even further.

The sorrow soaked human drifted off into an abyss of misery and depression, his face losing color and growing tears, tears cold as ice and the color of pain. The innocent faces of Matt's children flashed vividly in Matt's mind, he blinked his eyes and stared at the water, contemplating whether or not he should join the fish and bathing himself in the water's darkness for all eternity. Sonic snapped his white gloved fingers in front of Matt's face.

"Yo Matt, you in there? Hey snap out of it buddy" Sonic said.

Matt shook his head and lightly laughed "Sorry about that, I was just doing a little……dreaming".

Sonic blinked "About your kids?".

Matt refused to answer; he turned his head away and bit his lip.

Sonic sighed "Look Matt, I'm not gonna say I know how you feel, I don't. I've never had kids before and I can't imagine how sucky it must feel to have them taken away. But that doesn't mean you got to shut me out".

Matt replied "It's nothing personal".

Sonic added "Maybe but it sure feels that way, I may be blue, spiky, and look like a walking pin cushion, but that doesn't mean I can't help".

"How?" Matt asked.

Sonic smiled "I'm super good at listening".

Matt returned that warm smile "Thanks".

BOOM!

The deafening crash of the sound of thunder echoed loudly through the towering skyscraper buildings of Chicago. Sonic and Sally's eyes widened with marvelous wonder, their eyes sparkled like luminous diamonds in the night. Breathtaking colors of the rainbow exploded in the form of fire, smoke, and lights. The fireworks display Matt had been waiting for had finally arrived. Tails stuck his head out from the boat and gasped out loud.

"WHOA, this is awesome" Tails exclaimed.

Bunnie smiled "Oh mah stars, I've never seen anything like that before".

Sally added "It's beautiful".

The flowers of fire stretched their sparkling, smoke trails across the night sky like spider webs. The breathtaking display of Chicago's nightly fireworks was wondrous and amazing to the 4, furry citizens of the planet Mobius. Bunnie and Tails eyes soaked up the bursts of light and beauty, enjoying every last drop of it as if absorbing it right into their very hearts.

Matt sighed "I wonder if they dream about me".

Sonic raised a blue eyebrow to that remark "Say what?".

Matt repeated "I wonder if they dream about me, my kids, I wonder".

Sonic blinked "Is that what's been bothering you?".

Matt half chuckled "There's a whole world of bother in my head Sonic, and I keep coming back to it day after day. But my kids……my kids are in a far, far better place. Far from my pain, my misery, my solitude, far away. I just wonder if I have such a place like that in my children's minds".

Sonic curiously asked "What do you mean?".

Matt continued "I wonder if they think about me, I wonder if they wish I was around more, if they miss me, if they miss the sound of my voice, or the smell of my hair. I also wonder if I'm ever going to see them again".

Sonic answered "Don't be silly Matt, of course you will. Your kids aren't in another dimension or off fighting some war, there right here in the city. You make it sound like there a million miles away".

Matt coldly asked "Then how come it feels like that way in my heart? How come no matter how many bottles of booze or pills I down, that feeling never goes away? And how come I feel something bad is going to happen soon, something that's going to take my kids away from me forever".

The blue hedgehog sighed and shook his spiny head, his hopeful heart sank faster then a rock in a pond. Nothing seemed to warm Matt's heart. Sonic walked over to the human and gently cradled his shoulder with his hand, he turned Matt's eyes towards Sonic's face. The hedgehog sighed softly.

Sonic said "Look Matt, I'm not fortune teller and I'd be lying if I said everything is gonna be all right. I don't know if it is. I don't know if were ever gonna make it back home, or if you'll ever see your kids again, or if my future is just going to be battle after battle after battle".

Matt looked to Sonic and begged "Then why? Why go on?".

Sonic smirked "Because it's life, that's what life is. Life is choices, some good, some bad, but we keep on making those choices because no matter what the circumstances, we know what lies beyond those choices. Our dreams, my home, you're kids, everything you've ever wanted or cared about. It's all waiting for you and it's always going to be there for you.

But if you give up now, if you give into the darkness and let it destroy all that is good about you inside, you've already lost. For your son, for your daughter, for yourself, have some hope, hope that your heart will guide you to the dreams you were meant to live".

Matt cried "Oh Sonic……(sob) thank you".

Sonic gasped as Matt suddenly burst into tears and hugged him tightly, the hedgehog gagged a bit as Matt's larger body was doing a number on his.

Sally smirked "Would you boys like a room or just a few minutes alone?".

Sonic and Matt turned to see Sally, Tails, and Bunnie roaring with laughter. Matt let go of Sonic and simply burst into tears of joy himself, laughing along with his friends……his real friends. And while none of these 5 creatures had any idea what the future may hold for them, they knew that whatever challenge, whatever danger they'd face, they'd face it together.

As a family……

To be continued……