Author's Note: I have some news-Apparently there's going to be information on upcoming Sonic projects tomorrow(Aka: the 27th of this month) on the Sonic Central and can be viewed on Youtube! While I'm not fully convinced it's for the new game(if it is, then maybe it'll be out by sometime next year most likely), and maybe it's the Sonic Colours Remaster, or more on the Sonic comics coming out next month, but hey, at least it's something to celebrate the 30th Anniversary, right?
As such, here's a new chapter!
I do not own any rights to Sonic the Hedgehog or any of the related media. All rights go to Sega.
Chapter 3: The New World.
Back in Chris's Dimension-A week later:
All attempts to locate Chris' whereabouts since the boy ran away from home were left questionable. No sooner had Chuck heard the news of his grandson's escape, he raced back to the Thorndyke Manor which seemed like any other expensive house in the world, the inside had much, much more. When Nelson angrily informed his father of the twelve year old's escapade, they and Lindsey, who had just returned home from finishing up the filming of her latest movie, had joined in the investigation but did not reveal to the police or authorities of the main reason why Chris ran away.
So far, witnesses couldn't get a glimpse of him since no one had seen Chris in the public except for the fancy openings he had been forced to attend since he learned how to walk and talk. The detectives tried to find footprints to find him, but since New York is huge, it was going to take ages and the family couldn't help but fear for the worst.
"I still can't believe our only hope for our family's survival has pulled a stunt like this...!" Nelson grunted as he, his wife and father were in the living room, still waiting for answers and didn't get enough sleep because of what was happening. "Of all of the disobedient things to do...!"
"He's too much like his grandmother." Chuck grunted in agreement, searching through any and every footage and security cameras through the city, secretly given access to do so in order to find the boy. "Never liked the way how our lives depend on obeying the strict rules, to avoid making public contact except for those who agree with how live really is in the world and everyone else are fools to believe they can continue to live with false reality."
"What will we do? If we can't find Christopher, our lives are ruined...and I can't have another baby, not after how I almost died when I was having him and on the day he was born..." Lindsey muttered tearfully, covering her face in her hands and sobbed. "This will be...the end of our entire family-line!"
"We'll find him, bring him home and teach him a lesson." Nelson reassured, pulling his wife into his arms to comfort her. "Christopher will know soon enough that the world will be against him soon enough. He must understand this; this is our only chance of survival, and he will know soon that no one but the girl we chose will be there to keep things going. I promise you that, no matter where he is, he will never have friends, because they will only cause him harm."
"You're right...I hope we do find him...!" The famous actress nodding, still crying in her husband's arms.
While the couple were talking and plotting was in getting their only son back, Chuck was still scanning through the city's security systems, and at the same time analyzing the mysterious light which, if his hunch was right, might have something to do with why the boy hasn't been found yet. He hoped that Pell's Warp Ray didn't cause Chris to be vaporized, but at the same time, he felt that perhaps, if theory was right, maybe it was Chris who had been sent to another dimension against his will and was now trapped somewhere out there...or perhaps free since the boy always wanted freedom.
'If my theory is correct, then Christopher could be in a parallel universe...without us. We must get him back, or else the truth will leak out.' Chuck thought to himself, narrowing his eyes.
For now, he had to focus on finding his rebelling grandson and bring him home once and for all.
Back in Sonic's Dimension-A day after Chris' arrival:
As Sonic and Chris were still sleeping early the next morning, with the doctors peeking through to see the two in somewhat peaceful slumber earlier, the twelve year old boy moaned in his sleep as the sunlight from the room's window shone onto his face, before he blinked his eyes open tiredly, rising from his slumber.
"Huh? Whoa!" Chris yelped as he jolted upright, his blue eyes all wide as he looked around and for a brief moment didn't know where he was, slightly disoriented.
Where was he again? It took a moment to remember as he realized he wasn't in his room, but in the recovery ward of...the hospital of not New York, but Station Square. Look around once more, he heard a soft noise next to his bed on his right, and looked down to see Sonic still sleeping, softly snoring.
At first Chris didn't recognize him and flinched slightly, but then he began to remember what happened to him last night; running away from home, the strange light, this hospital room...the blue hedgehog who saved him and took him for recovery, and everyhing he said to him last night.
"S-Sonic?" The boy asked almost silently and hesitantly, shivering as he began to punch himself on the back of his hand and winced in pain as he pulled the skin, softly yelping. "Ow!"
Once the pain dulled a few moments later, Chris blinked as realization dawned onto him. Everything he went through really did happen. He couldn't believe it at first, but then remembering how his first ever friend had no only saved him being unconscious at the time, but he'd gave him comfort and support in their short time of knowing each other. Making him feel safe and somewhat free despite being in a strange new world where humans and Mobians coexist and live together, and, as he realized, millions of light years away from his home. He was serious in never going back to his family, but...a realization soon dawned to him now that he thought more carefully.
He was all alone, lost in a-not-so-alien-planet, and even if he hadn't come here to Mobius, which was also called Earth, how would he get to Florida with little to no money, his ID left at home he remembered, the only things he did pack were his pajamas, some clothes that weren't too fancy, but no food or anything like that? Slumping in bed at this worthless idea, now the young Thorndyke was stuck, regret forming as he had left the only life he knew, as much as he hated it and wanted to change it, but instead ended up worse than on the streets.
'What was I thinking? I...I just wanted to be me, not somebody my family and that mean girl want me to become...I just want more freedom...' Chris thought to himself, tears forming in his eyes before sliding free. He struggled not to cry, but he couldn't help it.
Despite being to keep his crying as silent as possible, the twelve year old boy accidentally woke up Sonic who's ears twitched by the sniffling.
"Huh, what?" The blue hedgehog murmured tiredly, sitting up as the sound of crying continued. Wondering what was going on and it took about a few moments to get his half-asleep-brain to catch up to what happened last night. Looking to his left, his eyes widened when saw his new friend Chris crying.
Softly gasping in worry, memories of what happened last night came back instantly and worry was accelerating.
"Chris?" Sonic asked, shoving the burrowed blanket aside and standing up quickly, approached him and queried worriedly. "Hey, what's wrong? Did you have a bad nightmare or somethin'?"
"S-Sorry, Sonic. I didn't mean to wake you up." Chris sniffled, after seeing that his crying arose his first ever friend from slumber. "I-It's just...I just realized that my plan in running away w-was so stupid. I didn't even think about how I would get to F-Florida, without m-my ID, or money, or even food to take with me...I don't wanna go back to my family, but...where am I suppose to go? A-And now...I'm here...I'm here in...in your world, Sonic..."
Sonic felt even more guilty for not being able to be much of a help right now, but if there was one thing he didn't like so much, it was seeing people being so sad, and the fact that his new friend had ended up being away from the not-so-great life he only knew of growing up, and his escape plan wasn't well-coordinated. That only made his determination to make the human kid's life better, and one way or another, help him have a better life in Florida in the Parallel Earth where Chris has come from.
"Don't cry, Chris. It'll be okay." The teenage hedgehog soothed, gently placing a comforting hand on the preteen's shoulder. "You got me and the others to take care of ya."
"R-really? Y-you'll really help me?" Chris sniffled, tearfully looking at the hero of Mobius who nodded with a reassuring smile.
"I never leave my friends when they need me the most. That includes you now, pal. We'll figure something out, and until then, you won't be alone, and we'll do the best we can. I promise." Sonic replied with determination.
While it was so strange to be comforted by a hedgehog, so far the teenage Mobian already had shown him kindness and compassion, and made him feel so safe and secure. Beginning to feel better despite already being homesick, the human boy wiped away his tears and smiled gratefully.
"Thanks, Sonic. Nobody's ever cheered me up before." Chris replied.
"No problem." The blue hedgehog said, gently patting his friend on the back.
If there was one thing Sonic knew of, he was determined to help his new friend as much as he can, and with the help of his best friends, they'll figure something out and make Chris as comfortable as possible.
A couple hours later after Sonic informed the two doctors by saying that Chris had nowhere else to go, but didn't tell them about where the twelve year old boy really came from and even the young Thorndyke decided to play along and agreed that he did have a memory-lapse, he had a medical check-up before being cleared to finally leave the hospital. The two newly-bonded friends, after receiving the kid's back-pack with what little he had taken with him, then left and toured around Station Square where life went on as normal.
"Chris, welcome to Station Square. One of the most human populated cities on Mobius/Earth." Sonic announced the moment he and Chris exited the building.
"Wow!" Chris breathed in awe, seeing the city that was similar to New York, but somehow it was...better than the town he originally came from. "It looks much better than where I came from! Still kind of crowded, though, but all cities are like this."
The blue hedgehog laughed in agreement. "Yeah, but it's always full of some excitement. I love coming here. It's always full of action. But I guess the town you came from is kind of dull, right?"
"Well, it always has problems with traffic jams, that's the sure. The only thing that's interesting is the Statue of Liberty." The Earth-boy whispered the last part as he followed the teenage Mobian on the footpath.
"Huh? Statue of Liberty? What's that?" Sonic asked, confused and curious.
"Well, it's um...a giant green statue that rests on a small island just outside of New York, wearing a robe, holding a book as I remember, and holding up a touch that dedicates the Liberty of the world. It was given to the Americans from the people in France as a gift in the 1880's...or somewhere during that time. People can visit the statue and some can actually go inside it like a building, so it's pretty much a tourist attraction." The twelve year old explained in a whisper.
Sonic whistled. "That's pretty cool. The only place that Station Square has when it comes to tourists, other than the Emerald Coast for it's beaches, is the uncharted parts of the Mystic Ruins, and even parts of it is still unexplored, considering it's a forest, for the most part. Though there is an ancient temple I've heard about."
"You must really travel a lot, don't you, Sonic?"
"As I said, I'm an adventurer. I'm just a guy for the love of it and the need for speed." The blue hedgehog said proudly with his eyes closed.
"Huh? Speed? What do you mean?" Chris shrugged, confused.
"I'm the fastest thing alive. I can run faster than even the fastest race car!" Sonic said with a wink and a thumbs up. "I'd give you a demonstration, but it's not such a good idea in this town. Especially since you wouldn't wanna get lost your first time here. Plus we gotta get ya some new clothes first and I really wanna give you a tour so you can get the hang of it."
Chris could only stare at Sonic, bewildered for a long moment even as the human crowd walked by them, but before he could respond to the blue hedgehog's explanation, they heard a young boy's voice call out to the teenager who turned as he and the human boy looked up. Racing up towards them were Tails who had been the one calling, Amy who looked very relieved, and Cream and Cheese who, after having breakfast, decided to enter the city to meet up with Sonic with Cream's mother telling them to be careful and to have fun visiting the human place once more.
"Hey, Sonic! Hi!" Tails called out, waving with both hands.
"Hey, guys! It's great to see you're all okay!" Sonic waved back in greeting, while Chris was surprised to see three more Mobians; a girl hedgehog who was pink and wearing a red and white dress with matching boots, a cute little rabbit girl in an orange dress and a strange but cute looking blue Chao(which he didn't know of), and, shockingly, a two-tailed young fox cub.
Sonic then yelped in fright when Amy then over-excitedly hugged him tightly, and she snuggled her face into his face and chest.
"Oh, Sonic! I was so worried! I waited all night for you to come back after taking the boy to the hospital!" The twelve year old pink hedgehog exclaimed, with a bright, happy and dreamily smile, which as Chris noticed, the blue hedgehog looked very uncomfortable with.
"A-Amy! Please, let me go!" Sonic strained, struggling to get out of his self-proclaimed girlfriend's grip.
"Here we go again..." Tails whispered to himself with a slight embarrassed and exasperated smile, while Cream and Cheese giggled, and Chris blinked in confusion, before the eight year old kit looked up at the human boy since the four of them noticed him with his adoptive hedgehog brother, and greeted. "Hi there. Are you okay?"
"Huh? Oh, I-I'm okay, I guess." Chris shrugged, surprised by this sudden nice greeting, as realization kicked in. "You're all Sonic's best friends, right?"
"Yep! I guess he told you about us." The young fox cub replied, smiling.
"We're very glad that you're okay. We were worried about you after Sonic saved you from Dr. Eggman last night." Cream added happily.
"Chao, Chao!" Cheese chirped, which surprised Chris even further.
"Really? Thanks." The twelve year old boy replied, while Sonic finally managed to make Amy loosen her grip on him.
"Sonic, is this the boy that you saved last night?" Amy asked, surprised to see him again, having thought that her 'boyfriend' had taken the kid back to his parents by now, or perhaps he was in the process of doing so.
Sonic nodded, then introduced his friends to the young human and verse versa. "Yep. His name is Chris, and he's a really good kid. Kind of a long story, but I'm helping him get by while he's here. Chris, these are my friends I've told you about."
"It's really nice to meet you, Chris. My name's Miles Prower, but everybody calls me Tails." Tails greeted, shaking hands with the human boy who returned it, already liking the cute two-tailed fox.
"My name is Cream, and this is my Chao friend Cheese." Cream greeted sweetly, while Cheese waved friendily at the surprised boy who smiled back, finding them both very adorable despite that they were very young to be Sonic's friends, but decided to go along with it.
"And my name is Amy Rose, and I'm Sonic's girlfriend!" Amy added, which only prompted Sonic to look up skyward with a soft groan of dismay and a sweat drop.
"Uh...Hi there, Amy." Chris greeted, finding the pink hedgehog friendly, but was surprised that his first friend seemed to have a girlfriend, but when he noticed the blue hedgehog still looked uncomfortable, he was beginning to think that like him with the mean girl he was supposed to marry someday back on Earth, Sonic was in an awkward relationship.
"I'll explain later, and no, she's not my girlfriend. Amy's got a huge major crush on me ever since we first met a long time ago. She's a great friend, just...crazy when it comes to romance." Sonic whispered as softly as possible to avoid Amy in hearing him, but loud enough so that Chris could hear what he was saying.
"What was that?" Amy questioned with a glare, making Sonic flinch in fright.
"Uh, n-nothing! I was just telling Chris that you go crazy when it comes to s-shopping for clothes, is all!" Sonic lied shakily, holding his hands up in defense.
"Yeah, Sonic's offered to help me buy some new clothes, since I don't have much of anything else." Chris added, playing along which at the same time was part of the truth, rubbing the back of his head.
Sonic secretly sighed in relief, mouthing a 'thank you' to the human boy for not blowing his cover.
"Huh? Hey, I can't help it when it comes to clothes! A girl's gotta have lots, you know!" The pink hedgehog pouted, placing her hands on her hips.
"But why do you need some new clothes, Chris?" Tails asked, confused.
"Did something happen?" Cream asked innocently.
"Chao, Chao?" Cheese squeaked, curiously.
Sonic shrugged with a small sad smile. "Well, let's just say that Chris is kinda in a sticky situation, and I promised to help him out as much as possible. Actually, we were gonna stop by at your place, Tails, for some little bit of help. Short version, he wants to go as casual as possible."
"Casual?" Tails and Amy asked in surprise, before they and the little six year old rabbit girl noticed that Chris' current clothes weren't really casual, but not super fancy either, but still like he's from a rich family or sorts.
"I don't see anything wrong with it, except that it looks like you're more fit into going to a party." Amy commented.
"That's one of the problems. Another is that I don't have any money on me. Sorry." Chris shrugged awkwardly.
"We're gonna head over to the stores to buy some new duds for him." The fifteen year old added. "You guys wanna come? I was gonna introduce him to ya's anyway."
"Sure, that'd be great!" Tails agreed, liking the idea of hanging out with a new friend, and seeing if there was anything he can do to help.
"This sounds like fun!" Cream cheered, and Cheese chirped in agreement.
"Say no more!" Amy declared. "I know just the place that when it comes to clothing, it has everything! Besides, I was gonna go there myself today and I'm gonna shop 'til I drop!"
'I was afraid of that...' Sonic groaned, already regretting in asking Amy to come with, but he couldn't say no since they were all together anyway. Plus, it would make sense to keep her in the loop, or else he'd be facing the wrath of that hammer of hers.
Even if it meant, to his dismay, carrying tons of bags and boxes full of girls stuff for his self-proclaimed girlfriend.
Meanwhile, after Sonic and his friends' escape the previous night and the base now completely ruined, Dr. Eggman and his minions retreated to the Egg Fort he constructed months earlier which was now flying over the fields and oceans while attempting to come up with another evil scheme to get his revenge on the cobalt teenager and find the Chaos Emeralds once again, all the while cursing the blue hedgehog.
"That Sonic thinks he's so great...!" The evil scientist growled, far beyond irritated. "All of my plans have been ruined and instead of my energy amplifier becoming a weapon, it caused unusual Chaos Control and brought in some kid from who knows where!"
"It is very strange how Chaos Control has accidentally abducted a twelve year old boy rather than teleporting us to a different location. Normally Chaos Control only works around people, not from far away places." Decoe stated.
"And all of the seven Chaos Emeralds were present at the time. It is impossible for a human boy to be teleported to our location." Bocoe agreed, utterly confused.
Despite still fuming, Eggman was known to learn from his mistakes despite still wanting to gain world dominion, so he sighed to calm down and thought about the current situation which wasn't that bad, but it was very unusual.
"It certainly wasn't the Master Emerald, and Knuckles certainly wouldn't let anyone besides Sonic and their friends to be on Angel Island from time to time. Which means Chaos Control must have been triggered in reverse somehow. Meaning that light shot up into the sky randomly hit somewhere else and that boy was unfortunately caught up before being transported to my base." Eggman theorized, placing his hand under his chin and right cheek in deep thought.
"What could have caused the trigger, doctor?" The yellow robot asked.
"How should I know? I may be a scientist and the most brilliant genius on the planet, that doesn't mean even I know everything!" Eggman pointed out. "I didn't become one in a single day. The only way to figure this out is to get that kid and learn from where he came from, but that brat's a waste of time."
"And he was with Sonic who saved him last night. He could be back with his parents by now." The short grey robot agreed.
While Eggman was about to agree, an idea formed in his mind as, despite that Sonic is the fastest thing alive, he wouldn't know of where the boy came from and given how Chris was unconscious when he was brought to the base unintentionally, perhaps the boy was still out cold or may be in the process of waking up now, and could be hanging out with the blue hedgehog and his friends to find and locate the boy's home and parents. Maybe the boy won't be a waste of time after all.
"Not necessarily." The mad doctor said with an evil grin, making his two robots confused. "Regardless on the timing, that kid could still be with that blue pest for all we know, if he comes from far away, and not from Station Square."
Chuckling evilly at another brilliant idea, Eggman declared. "That kid could be very useful, and put Sonic out of commission indefinitely! Oh ho ho ho ho ho ho!"
With that thought in mind, he now had a fair idea on how to get his revenge on Sonic by using his new friend as a hostage while seeking out answers that could spell complete disaster, unknowingly putting both Mobius and Chris' world into future dangers.
Back in Station Square, Sonic, Chris, Tails, Amy, Cream and Cheese were in the Mall in the clothing store to help the human boy to pick out what kind of clothes he would like for casual. Sonic drew the line with Amy to help the twelve year old boy pick since she would go all crazy, especially since she was already picking out beautiful clothes for her to try on and being fashionable and Cream and Cheese were with her.
Luckily Chris wasn't all that fussy when it comes to wanting to be as casual as possible. The main problem is that there was so much to choose from he didn't know where to start.
"There's so many of these, I can't tell which I like the most, and normally it's girls that go all crazy about this sort of thing." The twelve year old boy complained, holding up a simple green jumper that looked too hot and he had to admit, green was not his colour.
"I'm not fashion expert, but maybe we should start with what you think is cool and casual." Sonic shrugged, holding a blue vest with white short sleeves and collar, a yellow line at the bottom and two pockets.
"Well, I did always like to wear shorts even though that's rare for me, considering how my mom always said that 'shorts is for beach-purposes only'." Chris said after thinking about it.
"That's too silly." The blue hedgehog sighed with a sweat drop, putting the vest back on the rack. "Sure most us Mobian guys don't wear anything other than our gloves and shoes, but even we know that shorts isn't just for beach wear."
"The shorts section is just right here and they come in all kinds of colour and simple style." Tails informed the older two boys who looked up and approached. "You should have better luck in choices here, Chris."
"Now this is more like it." The teenage hero praised, as he and Chris approached the selected. "Well, choose whatever you like, Chris."
"Thanks, you guys. I just still can't figure out what...I...want..." Chris trailed off as he noticed a row of simple blue shorts that looked more like knicker-bockers. It was plain, but it looked casual and just so...right some how. He even noticed the shirts hanging close by and saw another piece of clothing that caught his interest; a red t-shirt with yellow linings, short white sleeves with longer black sleeves and in the middle had a symbol that was based on the producers of the company that made this line of clothing, but looked cool and casual.
Curious as an idea formed, the young Thorndyke decided to pick the blue shorts and red shirt, before going to pick plain white socks and a pair of dark blue simple slip-on shoes while Sonic and Tails watched and curiously waited while their new human friend went to try on the clothing in the boys' dressing curtain room. Thankfully he didn't take as long as Amy would, and by the time he stepped out, needless to stay the two male Mobians were impressed.
In the place of the boring light-brown suit-like outfit that still looked to fancy, was the clothes that Chris picked for casual, and he looked much more comfortable and relaxed and in his own opinion, normal. Even the girls and Cheese who finally found them, all eyed the boy in surprise with smiles.
"Well, what do you think? Do I look casual?" Chris asked, a bit nervously.
"I think you look great, Chris." Cream stated happily.
"Chao-Chao!" Cheese squeaked in agreement.
"You totally fit into the casual description." Tails agreed.
"Lookin' pretty good, buddy." Sonic said, giving the human boy a thumbs up and a smirk.
"I like how you coordinated the colours of your new clothes." Amy stated, looking at the boy's outfit up and down. "Not fancy but not too simple either."
"Really? So, I look normal then?" The Earth-Boy replied, blushing a little as he rubbed the back of his head. As the four Mobians nodded, he felt even more relaxed and glad that he managed to pick out his first ever casual clothes that were perfect for him, casual and very comfortable. It felt more free than those boring casual and expensive suits he was always forced to wear almost 24/7.
"You bet!" Sonic said, glad that his new friend was happy with his choices. The kid sure had good taste despite having grown up with the fancy-schmancy outfits rich people wear.
Hearing this and seeing how his new friends were completely honest with his choices, Chris felt so happy. Not only that, they didn't force him to do what they wanted him to do. They allowed him to make his own choices and being careful at the same time. Maybe being in this new world won't be so bad after all.
After finding a few more casual clothes including new pajamas and paying for them with, what Chris learned as Mobidum as this world's use for money, he followed Sonic and the others to continue their tour even though Sonic and Tails were stuck in carrying the things that Amy bought for herself.
"So, where should we head to next?" Tails asked.
"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm pretty hungry. How about we make a stop for lunch?" Sonic replied as his stomach growled just seconds later.
This was then quickly followed by a louder growl which made the blue hedgehog and his best friends jump a little, before turning to Chris who, realizing it was his stomach, placed a hand onto it as he felt it grumble in demand for food as well. He blushed in embarrassment.
"I'll take that as a yes." Sonic chuckled, remembering that both he and the human boy didn't even have breakfast this morning.
"Me too." Amy agreed.
"I'm getting hungry too." Cream added, then asked her Chao. "Are you hungry too, Cheese?"
"Chao, Chao." Cheese nodded.
"That makes the six of us." The two-tailed fox finally responded.
"Well then, that's settled. Let's go get us something to eat." The fifteen year old declared. "I know just the spot where we can go!"
It wasn't long before Sonic lead his friends to the local dine-in all you can eat restaurant with every casual food anyone could ever want. Chris was surprised that, while it wasn't his housemaid's home-cooked meals that were also high-class, it was just like how everyone in his world had; burgers and pizza, fried chips, spagetti, even hotdogs and steak, and the desserts of ice cream and cakes too, the things that Chris had always wanted to try out, but like every other rule of the Thorndyke family, was never allowed to try.
What really surprised him was that the Mobians ate what the humans ate, but seeing how it wasn't much of a problem, the boy mentally shrugged and went along with it. Though out of fear and habit, he picked up a fork and a knife before going to decide what he wanted. Amy went for steak and mashed potatoes with salad on the side, Cream doing the same while Cheese picked out spaghetti, Tails went for a burger, and Sonic, being the hedgehog that he was, went for five Chili Dogs before the group of friends picked a table to have their lunch and hang out before they would head over to Tails' workshop.
As for Chris himself, he went for a Chili Dog despite that it looked a bit weird, never having tried one before, a burger like Tails and a chocolate shake. Though given how he was always taught to eat food and never touch them, it was a bit awkward while his friends ate normally. What really surprised him was that Sonic ate really fast. Not messy, just fast.
"Sonic, you really should slow down, or you'll choke yourself." Amy scolded her 'boyfriend' for his fast eating habits, a bit disgusted while the younger Mobians just laughed.
"I haven't choked myself yet. You know me when it comes to Chili Dogs. They're the past food sources in the world." Sonic calmly replied, before going for his third Chili Dog.
"Well, Amy is right." Cream said kindly. "Mama always said that if you eat too fast, you could get sick."
"Chao, Chao." Cheese chirped in agreement.
Blushing a little, the blue hedgehog shrugged sheepishly as he knew Vanilla's eating rules despite that his youngest friend's mother wasn't around, but since she was still the age where she would tell her only parent a lot of things, he didn't want to get into trouble, so he wisely slowed down for manners and to avoid in facing the usually kind mother's disappointing lecture.
"Sorry, Cream. I can't help it." Sonic apologized, and so he ate more slowly. The teenager was just relieved that this kind of food didn't require using a fork and a knife, and this wasn't a girls only kind of lunch.
"That's better." Amy said smirking, proud of her best friend's reminder.
The fifteen year old just rolled his eyes, and tried to ignore the muffled giggling from his little brother who tried to hide it by covering his mouth with his hand while Chris blinked a little, gazing at his food while trying to, very awkwardly, cut either his burger or his own Chili Dog, but it was harder than he thought. This didn't go unnoticed as the eight year old cub saw what was going on.
"Chris? Why are you using a fork and a knife for the burger and Chili Dog?" Tails asked, curiously.
"Huh? Oh, well..." Chris began, and when the others noticed this and all looked confused yet Amy and Cream were geniuelly surprised he was using manners for food that didn't require in using utensils. "It's just that I've always been eating food this way, even though it's always Miss Ella's homemade cooked meals and never allowed to use my fingers. It's one of the things of having etiquette lessons."
"I don't see why you should do that sort of etiquette baloney with food that you can't eat without using your hands." Sonic raised an eyebrow, skeptically.
"My parents always said that it's important to learn good manners so we can eat properly." The twelve year old boy explained.
"Well, I never learned that much about manners and I've been eating my whole life. Besides, everybody knows you can use your fingers and hands for certain types of food that's impossible to use a fork and a knife." The blue hedgehog shrugged.
"As much as Sonic does need a little bit of a reminder, he has a good point. Plus, you can always wash your hands with soap afterwards." Amy agreed.
"It's okay to not use utensils sometimes, Chris." Cream added.
"If you try to use a fork and a knife for this sort of stuff, it'll only make things more complicated." Tails agreed kindly.
"You sure it's okay do to that?" The human boy asked.
Sonic nodded. "Don't worry, Chris. We don't mind. Besides, you're with us now. Just don't do it too sloppy, okay?"
"Well...Okay." Chris finally nodded back, putting down the fork and knife, and, deciding to try out the Chili Dog first, he picked it up with both hands in case he dropped it with just one and while it looked weird and greasy, it smelled good. So he took a tiny bite of it and chewed experimently, before his eyes lit up as the deliciousness melted in his mouth. "Wow! This is really good!"
Forgetting manners, he took a bigger bite, but not a big one to keep up with his manners, but he saviored the taste none the less.
"See? Told ya Chili Dogs are the best." The hero of Mobius chuckled.
"I've never had even a normal hot dog before, and I now I know what everyone else's been talking about." His new friend replied, taking another bite until it was gone, and then repeated the process with the burger, which was also delicious in a different way.
"Really?" Sonic asked, as he and his closest friends were greatly surprised.
Pausing a bit to answer after swallowing part of the food, Chris sighed. "Yeah. Where I grew up, my meals were always like a banquet and sure they were always delicious, not once was I ever allowed to try out things like this, or even cakes and ice cream or potato chips."
"But why?" Cream asked, shocked as her mother always let her have sweets and candy if she was a good girl and didn't eat too much of it.
"That's just how my family worked, Cream. It's a very long story." The human boy shrugged.
'Boy, Chris' family was super strict. I bet he wasn't even allowed to even have fun either.' Sonic thought to himself, wondering what kind of life-style the entire Thorndyke family grew so strongly to.
Deciding to talk more about Chris' situation later, the group ate and enjoyed their lunch that even Chris fell in love with the shake and it's sweetness not once he even tried before either, and after that they paid for their meal and went off and left the mall and made their way to the train station, taking a break at the hill side in the park where it was much less crowded.
"So, Sonic. What's going on with Chris, anyway?" Tails asked as the five of them walked.
"It's a long story, and like I said, I'll explain when we get to your workshop. It's easier that way." Sonic answered.
While Chris had fun so far today given what was going on, he couldn't help but still feel homesick despite what he went through. Even so, he was already enjoying the company of his very first friends who helped him out so far, and he only wished he could repay them for being so kind to him. Helping him out pick out his clothes at his own pace, having had fun lunch and just talking. It was awkward at first, but he was beginning to feel comfortable in the new world.
Before the conversation could continue, there was the sound of evil laughter which got the group's attention as they looked up to see, to the Mobians' dismay and shock and Chris' surprise, the familiar evil scientist in his Egg Mobile with a wicked grin.
"Good afternoon, little kindergarten brats." Eggman greeted evilly. "Bet you didn't expect me immediately, did you, hedgehog?"
"Who is that?" Chris asked, shocked and confused.
"It's Eggman!" Amy exclaimed in shock, quickly having Cream and Cheese close to her while Sonic quickly stood protectively in front of all of his friends.
"That's Dr. Eggman!?" The twelve year old boy exclaimed, scared of how evil, terrifying and ugly the mad scientist is.
"Yeah, that's him, all right. Ugly, isn't he?" Sonic replied, on his guard. Deep down he was scared, not for himself, but for his new friend's safety as he had a bad feeling that it involved him.
The mad doctor grinned evilly while Chris, Cream and Cheese looked on in shock and fear, the human boy seeing the evil scientist in person just moment after the recorded message, Amy looked on in worry, and both Tails and Sonic glared up at their enemy.
What started out as a nice peaceful day while planning on helping out his Earth-Human friend, it quickly turned into yet another foiling whatever evil scheme Dr. Eggman has come up with this time.
A/N: Uh-oh! Looks like Eggman's after Chris, and now Sonic must protect him quickly! Can he do it, or will things get more difficult? We'll have to find out in the next chapter.
See you later!