Author's Note: It took a bit of a brain-storming on how this chapter would work out, but I've finally written it down and here it is! Happy reading! Fair warning, this chapter is a little quite dark.
I do not own any rights to Sonic the Hedgehog or any of the related media. All rights go to Sega.
Chapter 5: Nightmares and Memories.
Having decided have Chris move into Cream's house the next morning since it was already late, the group slept over in Tails' house with extra blankets and sleeping bags. Of course, the two-tailed fox offered his bed to Cream and Cheese and Amy, while the boys slept in the living room. It was a new exciting experience for the twelve year old human boy from Earth since he never experienced even indoor camping before, which again shocked the Mobians and wondered if his family even let him go to places like the Museum or something, and while it felt a little awkward sleeping in a sleeping back, it was actually rather comfy.
Yet while everyone slept, and Sonic was softly snoring, the young Thorndyke was anything but comfortable. He softly moaned and tossed and turned as a nightmare began to fill his mind.
Chris was shoved roughly into his overly suite bedroom and onto his bed, where his parents, grandfather and even the house servants were giving him such angry and disapproving glares. As the boy looked up, he then noticed, to his horror, the windows were sealed shut and shockingly with bars as though he was in prison, and even outside there was a massive projection shield or something surrounding the entire mansion.
"What!?" Chris asked, horrified before turning back to his family. "What are you guys doing!?"
"You are not to speak in casual words, young man!" Nelson grunted deeply to his son. "You are to say, 'Father, Mother, Grandfather, what is all of this?'. You must speak with manners like a Prince, and obey our orders even after we die one day."
"To survive in this world, this is your punishment. We have told you time and time again! Never make any contact with outsiders, except for those we choose that are worthy to be part of the family." Chuck added, his hands on his hips with a disappointed expression.
"You are to remain here until you learn your lesson, Christopher. No playing games, no sneaking out, no junk food, and absolutely, no, thinking, about, wanting, any, friends! There is no such thing as friends! It's a fantasy, a lie, a make-believe." Lindsey added.
"Your meals will be served with my finest recipes and no sugar what so ever." A house maid who was also the chef of the Manor added.
"You will be treated like a Prince that you are, Master Christopher. It's for your own good." The Butler nodded, bowing to the horrified Chris.
The twelve year old boy couldn't believe what he was hearing, and just as he was about to speak, his cruel family closed the door behind them and locked it up so hard that it cannot be opened without a special key. Fear and claustrophobia kicking in, Chris quickly got out of bed and banged on the door hard, pleading to be let out.
"You can't keep me like this! I'm a human being, not a robot or a pet! Let me out! Please, let me out!" Chris screamed, pounding on the door as he began to cry.
"SILENCE, CHRISTOPHER THORNDYKE! Or else we will remove your voice!" Nelson shouted from the other side. "Our lives is the true reality. Everyone else are criminals! There is no such thing as FREEDOM!"
It can't be true! It couldn't be true! Chris has seen other people go out with their lives and they seemed very happy, not like in the movies. He heard the stomping footsteps fade away, only prompting him to scream out for help, for someone, anyone, to help him get away from this horrible life of wealth and Prince-like duties.
Just then the TV turned on all by itself strangely, and while he still tried to push the door open with all of his strength, the distraught twelve year old turned to the screen and wondered what was going on as he heard strange reports of an alien being apprehended and taken into the most secure military facility in the world in the outskirts of America.
His eyes widened in horror when he saw a blue hedgehog being taken prisoner, one that looked strangely familiar and Chris's mind suddenly went into a wild spin.
"Hey! Let me go!" Screamed Sonic on the screen as he was then placed on the experimental table, and strapped there. The blue hedgehog struggled to break free.
"...Sonic? SONIC!" Chris screamed, racing over to the tv and placed his hands on the screen, only able to watch helplessly to see the teenage hero about to be experimented on. "Let him go! You can't experiment on him!"
Unfortunately he was trapped in his room, while the hero of Mobius was trapped and doomed to be killed and have his body used to check his DNA and whatnot like in the movies, only this was the real thing. As Sonic screamed for help, Chris pleaded to be let out so he could try and rescue him, tears running down his face as he began to sob...
Chris' moaning began to become louder and more frightened, to which the boy unknowingly arose Sonic from his own sleep as the blue hedgehog's ears twitched at the sound of distress.
"Help...! Somebody, help me...! L-leave...Leave Sonic...alone!" Chris pleaded in a sleeping whisper, which alarmed Sonic who woke up with a jolt.
"Huh, what!?" Sonic yelped, a bit awkwardly in his sleeping bag as he looked around, his brain still half-asleep as he was still feeling the effects of his own dream, which started off fine at first, but hearing the sound of someone crying out for help turned it into a short-lived nightmare of Eggman kidnapping someone...a young figure that looked like his new friend Chris.
When he saw the twelve year old boy struggling in his sleep, in mid-nightmare that looked to be very terrible and he was sweating due to this, the teenager's eyes widened as all traces of sleep abandoned him, memories of what happened last night came back instantly and worry was accerlating.
"Chris!? Chris!" Sonic cried out, standing up quickly and shook his new human friend by the shoulders to save him from whatever horrible dream the poor kid was having. "Hey, Chris! Wake up! You're having a nightmare!"
"AAHHH!" Chris screamed as he jolted upright, accidentally knocking the fifteen year old back a little while the blue hedgehog stumbled a bit. The Earth-Boy panted, his blue eyes all wide, still having the induced-fear of the nightmare filling his mind, as he looked around and for a brief moment didn't know where he was, slightly disoriented.
"WHA!?" Tails yelped in fright as he was also woken up, before looking around and then saw what just happened before stumbling off of his couch that Sonic and Chris insisted on him to sleep on and despite that he politely declined, he gave in in the end.
"Chris, are you alright?" Sonic asked, worriedly as he approached his frightened friend carefully once more.
Blinking as the disorientation of the nightmare began to fade, Chris looked around and found that he wasn't locked up in his room in his old home, and when his eyes locked onto the teenage Mobian, safe and sound and now standing beside him with a look of concern on his face instead of placed on the experiment table like in the movies due to him being, well, as far as everybody on Earth was concerned, an alien and thus considered a threat, not willing to give him a chance, the twelve year old boy panted.
"Sonic..." He whispered, his emotions beginning to become like a washing machine that leaked very badly.
"Take it easy, buddy." The blue hedgehog said, gently rubbing his friend's arm to give him comfort. "You were having a really bad nightmare. It's gonna be okay."
Once he slowly began to calm down even though tears began to leak, Chris couldn't help but sniffle, while Tails approached worriedly as the eight year old cub said reassuringly. "It's okay, Chris. We're here for ya'."
"He's right, pal. Calm down, it's alright." Sonic added soothingly, just as Amy, Cream and Cheese hurried down from Tails' room, looking alarmed and worried.
"What happened?" Amy asked worriedly.
"Is Chris okay?" Cream asked, looking a little scared and very worried for her new friend.
"Chao, Chao?" Cheese chirped.
"Chris just had a really bad dream. It really must've been scary." Tails explained as calmly as he could while Sonic continued to comfort the aforementioned human boy, making the girls and Chao even more concerned as they approached, wondering if there was anything they could do to help.
What shocked them even more was that the twelve year old boy could only gaze solely onto Sonic, before the latter yelped when his new human friend pulled him into a tightening and desperate embrace which worried the hedgehog and the others even more. Sensing that Chris was really scared right about now, while feeling a little embarrassed, the cobalt Mobian felt his heart break before he returned it to comfort him.
"Shhhh...Don't cry, Chris. It's alright. Nobody's gonna hurt ya, okay? Breathe in, breathe out." Sonic whispered, rubbing the boy's back the way he would with Tails whenever the young fox cub had nightmares, or even Cream whenever he was available to babysit her. He mentally sighed in relief as Tails and then Amy and Cream and Cheese joined in to try and cheer their new friend up.
"Aw, it's going to be okay." Cream said comfortingly as she felt tears leak in her eyes, feeling terrible for the boy.
"It's okay." Tails added.
"There, there, Chris." Amy whispered while feeling her heart break to see the lonely boy react like this.
"Chao Chao, Chao..." Cheese murmured, gently patting the human boy on the head while Chris, trying hard to stop crying, followed Sonic's advice and breathed in and out slowly.
"There ya' go...Nice, deep breaths." Sonic gently praised, and once the group's new friend managed to get a hold of himself, they all slowly moved back. "Feeling better?"
"Y-Yeah...a little. Sorry about that." Chris sniffled, feeling a tad bit better but still feeling terrified over the nightmare he had. It felt so real, that he thought it was actually happening, and with the blue hedgehog being added into the nightmare, being left helpless to be tortured, examined and experimented on for research on the teenager's origins, it made him worry about his safety despite that Sonic is the hero of Mobius.
The Mobias shook their heads with reassuring smiles, as Sonic said. "Don't worry about it. Nobody likes nightmares."
"Right..." The boy nodded in agreement, still feeling very shaken.
"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it. We don't mind." Amy said gently.
"No, I...I think you guys should hear it..." Chris muttered, and while he didn't want to talk about it, he felt that maybe it was best if they did know, especially when he now knew that if the teleporting thing had been in reverse, Sonic and his friends would be in much bigger trouble.
"Are you sure?" Tails asked, and when the boy nodded, he and the others shared worried glances before turning back to their friend and asked. "Well then...what happened?"
"I...I was trapped in my room. My family...they...they locked me up. They-they said I-I have to speak l-like a prince and not casually...that I wasn't allowed to make contact with outsiders...that I-I have to obey them and be l-like a prince even after they die...that there's-there's no such thing as freedom...and-and to make things worse..." Chris sniffled, trying hard not to cry before gazing at the very concerned blue hedgehog. "To make things worse...you were there, Sonic."
"Huh? Why was I there? I mean, you don't have to tell us if you don't want to." The blue hedgehog asked, his worry only increasing.
"I-I'm not sure...I somehow recognized you and-and...you were caught...by the authorities...to be...be experimented on and-and it was all live on TV. They thought you were an alien, and to be treated like a lab-rat and killed..." The boy struggled to stay.
"What!?" Sonic and Tails both exclaimed in shock, the former looking horrified while the latter looked like he was about to be sick. Amy covered her mouth with her hands to muffle her gasp, and Cream and Cheese looked very terrified.
Chris nodded sadly, "Back at home, in my world, there are only humans and animals that can't talk. Nobody's used to what everybody here is used to, and...there had been a lot of movies where aliens attack and invade Earth and people have taken them too seriously and some of them came up with theories that all aliens are bad, not even giving some movies with good aliens a chance to make them change their minds."
"We have movies like that too. But boy, I'm beginning to think that your world is a whole lot more basic. No offense." Sonic carefully remarked. If humans in the Human-Only-Earth took movies like that far too seriously, then to him and every other Mobians and especially the Chao, it was far too dangerous for them to venture there. For Chris, at least there are humans here where he can easily blend in and not have to worry about stuff like that...
Unless Eggman figures it out and that's the real big trouble, considering that guy's an evil scientist. The hero of Mobius had always been edgy with scientific stuff even though he trusted Tails with his life and there are good scientists in the world, but hearing what Chris said made him feel like he was about to have nightmares himself.
"None taken...It's a good thing that you guys didn't end up there, or else all of you would be in really big trouble." Chris shook his head, lowering his gaze. "I'd hate to think what would happen to all of you if you were caught and..."
"It's okay, Chris. I'm just sorry that you were dragged to our world, and yeah, you got a point. Sure I can easily outrun those guys considering I'm the fastest thing alive, but what could've happened didn't happen and I promise that we'll help you along the way. What you saw was just a nightmare that won't come true. You don't have to worry about your family locking you up anymore. You can be whatever you want to be." The cobalt speedster reassured, gently rubbing his human friend's head.
"Sonic's right, Chris. It was just a bad dream. Everybody gets them." Tails agreed.
"Everybody gets scared of bad dreams, but we can help to make you feel better." Cream added warmly.
"I wouldn't be surprised if even Eggman gets nightmares that he screams loudly in the middle of the night." Amy nodded in agreement.
Sonic chuckled at that thought, saying teasingly. "I'll bet most of his nightmares involve me considering how many times I kick his butt."
"Yeah, except his nightmares always end up coming true." Tails shrugged, making everyone, even Chris, laugh which began to make the human boy feel a whole lot better.
"Guess he's the only exception, huh?" The twelve year old stated.
"Yep, especially since he's a real sore loser." The hero of Mobius smirked smuggly, making everybody chuckle once more since it was true. He then softened his gaze again and continued. "Our point being Chris is that nightmares do scare everybody, but it's okay to be scared sometimes."
"Even you?" Chris asked, a little bit surprised.
Sonic blushed a little sheepishly, scratching the top of his head. "Yeah...pretty much. Even I'm not immune to nightmares, but hey, nobody's perfect. Especially not me. I may be a hero but I'm still the same as I've always been. You don't have to worry about being treated like a prince or that sort of stuff anymore."
As the others nodded in agreement with warm, comforting smiles even though Sonic's the only one who's the oldest of the group, even just by three years, Chris finally calmed down and smiled back, wiping away his tears as he felt his fears go away. They were right; it was just a nightmare, so he shouldn't have to worry about that.
"Thanks, guys. You're the best." The human boy replied. Sonic gave him a wink with a thumbs up.
"Hey, friends are there for each other, and having friends is more fun than being on your own." Sonic told him.
"Right."
Even though he has only been here for two days, Chris felt a lot more happier than he had ever been in his world. It would take some time in getting used to, and the constant worry with having to deal with Dr. Eggman, but the twelve year old Earth-Boy decided that he will get the hang of it. Though it left the question on whether he wanted to go back to his world or not.
Plus he never went to Florida before.
After having breakfast of Eggs and Bacon which were delicious since Chris didn't have that in his life before either, let alone ceral with milk, he and his Mobian friends packed up the boy's new essentials before Amy realized one small problem.
"Um, Tails? How can we bring all of this stuff to Cream's house if the Tornado only has two seats?" The twelve year old pink hedgehog asked.
"That's okay, I've come up with a new way of travel. It's similar to how we do it all the time, but after a couple of days ago, I'm glad I thought of it with Cream's help." The two-tailed fox reassured as he lead his friends to his second garage which was bigger than the one where he parked the Tornado.
"The Tornado?" Chris asked, blinking in confusion.
"It's Tails' airplane that I loan him since we first met. He's not only a great inventor, he's the world's best mechanic." Sonic explained.
"Uh...wait, inventor, mechanic...would that include being a pilot too?" The twelve year old boy asked, his eyes widening in disbelief. "Don't you have a license?"
"No need to. And yeah, I can fly an airplane with ease. Plus, I like to built and repair things. I even fixed up the Tornado, made it go faster and gave it a new paint job." Tails explained, blushing a little. "It's kinda how Sonic and I first met."
The aforementioned blue hedgehog smirked fondly over the memory. "Best day of our lives. I kinda had to make an emergency landing which busted the plane's engine and when I went out to find somebody to help me fix it, little did I know that I caught Tails' attention and the next thing I knew when I came back, there he was painting it from it's original red color to blue. It was cool. Couldn't believe how a little kid managed to do things that would put ten grown up mechanics out of their jobs out of pure generousity."
"Really? That's awesome!" Chris remarked.
"Yeah, and...well, when I first saw Sonic, he looked cool. So I followed him and thought that if I fixed up his plane, we could be friends." The two-tailed fox sheepishly admitted, looking away slightly.
Though while he happily loved recalling the memories of when he first met Sonic since it really was the best day of their lives, the young cub also ended up thinking back to the times of the hardships he faced before meeting the heroic hedgehog. The times when he was picked on and bullied by everyone where he was born and grew up in, the horrible things people in his birth home would do to him, judging him by his appearance and the paranoia rather than giving him a chance to actually show them who he really was on the inside. Then he saw Sonic for the first time.
Flash-Back: A long time ago...
"Get back here!" A Mobian Wolf shouted from the distance.
"Get him!" A really tall Mobian Bear roared, with an axe held up in the air.
"Kill that monster!" Another Mobian roared.
"Let's cut that freak's tails and hands off!" Another one added.
Run. Run was all a younger Tails could do. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him, panting as he raced into the jungle and woods, hoping to lose his pursuers. The two-tailed fox already had cuts and bruises on his arms, chest and back and even on his head but he ignored those injuries. He held a broken small invention he made, a simple little music box that lit up and played a beautiful melody that the young cub thought would impress people. It was small and simple, and completely harmless.
But instead, it only angered the citizens as a couple of bullies held him and smashed it before alerting the villagers of Westside Island who made up stories that it was a hypnotizing music box to force people to like him and felt that it was time to get rid of him. He ran and when he looked over his shoulder, Tails let out a frightened gasp before spinning his tails to go faster until finally the voices faded and he was in the more deserted part of the forest. But he kept running just in case until he was certain that nobody would find him here.
"Why does...everybody have to be...so mean to me?" The young kit panted, leaning against a tree with one hand. It was always the same; even just by walking into the village made everybody hate him, all because he was born with two tails instead of just one. He began to tear up and sniffled, gazing at his broken inventioned. "I just wanted to make friends and everybody to like me. It's not my fault I was born with two tails...why do they have to pick on me?"
Trying hard not to cry, Tails just walked away in absolute sadness with his heart even more broken than his destroyed music box. He loved making and repairing machines, and he loved to fly with his two-tails, but it was those skills that robbed him the one thing he longed for the most; friendship. He wanted a friend, a companion, someone who would hold him in their arms and give them comfort, support and love.
Just then he noticed something up ahead and heard an unusual whoosh.
"Huh?" Blinking in confusion and curiosity getting the better of him, the young fox approached the bushes and peered behind them to see a blue hedgehog on the path, seven years older than him. Sonic the Hedgehog, Tails was unaware of, was sniffing the air as the young hero glanced his surroundings before speeding off up the path.
The young cub's eyes widened in awe. He couldn't believe just how fast the unfamiliar hedgehog was, and not only that, he had a really awesome appearance like a hero.
"Whoa! That guy's cool! I wonder where he's going?" Tails softly exclaimed, and despite his injuries, he immediately raced to follow him.
Even though he winced as the cuts on his body began to bleed despite that he did his best to patch himself up, the two-tailed fox ignored them for the time being and focused on his sights on the hero of Mobius. Yet to his dismay he lost sight of him, but the path did lead him to the beach where there sat was one of the most beautiful creations he had ever seen; a red biplane that looked a little damaged as though it had to make an emergency landing, but otherwise in good condition, though it did look like it needed a paint job in the future.
"Wow! Is this that guy's plane?" Tails breathed in awe as he climbed up to the cockpit. "It must be really fast, but I'll bet I can make it faster."
After inspecting the plane and found that the engine was busted, the little kit immediately got to work in fixing it and like magic thanks to his incredible skills of machinery, it was done and unable to help himself due to his love for planes and such, and thought that maybe the blue hedgehog wouldn't mind giving it a new coat of paint, Tails decided to repaint the plane himself and chose blue to match the older Mobian's. So excitedly focused on it, he was unaware that somebody came up behind him.
"What do you think you're doing, little guy?" An amused voice questioned.
"Yah!" Tails yelped, startled as he almost dropped the paint brush and can before turning around and saw that it was the blue hedgehog from before, and he got a good look at him. The older Mobian had his arms crossed but he didn't seem to look angry.
But when Sonic saw that he accidentally startled him, he quickly said. "Sorry. Didn't mean to scare ya."
"Uh, no, that's okay. I'm the one who's sorry." The young fox replied sheepishly, jumping off the plane and rubbed the back of his head. "It's just when I see a machine, I can't help myself. I fixed the engine and made it go faster, if you don't mind."
Sonic inspected the kit's words even though he wasn't a full adult himself yet either, and saw truth in the younger Mobian's sapphire blue eyes before remarking. "I like what you did with the colour too."
Amazed and delighted that the blue hedgehog wasn't angry with him, and didn't seem to make any comments with the way he looked, Tails giggled and excitedly told him. "Come and see what else I did!"
"So, you've been following me all morning to check out my airplane?" Sonic asked as he approached, surprising the little fox while adding curiously. "Or was there something else you want?"
"Well, actually..." Tails began, a little awkwardly as he realized that he'd been seen earlier. But was gently cut-off when Sonic saw him up-close and his eyes widened in shock. When he saw the blue hedgehog's expression, the young fox flinched before attempting to hide his two-tails thinking that he was stunned and possibly horrified by the way he looked because of them. But what the older Mobian said caught him by surprise.
"Hey, you're hurt!" Sonic exclaimed, noticing the cuts and bruises and that immediately sent him into panic. "Oh man, kid! I'm sorry, I didn't even notice!"
"Huh? Oh, these? They're nothing, really. This...happens all the time." The young fox replied, a little sadly. "They're just scratches."
"They don't look like scratches to me." The blue hedgehog muttered worriedly, even though he tried to hide it. Without saying another word, he carefully climbed into the plane while mindful of the little boy's paint-job and opened up the back of the seat to reveal the first-aid kit he usually carried around with him, before jumping back down. "Here, let me see to this."
"Uh...R-really, you don't have to." Tails stuttered, but found himself frozen when Sonic quickly tended to his wounds, carefully taking off the bandages, carefully dabbing disinfectant on the cuts which made the cub wince in discomfort while the blue hedgehog muttered an apology and then put on fresh bandages on him.
"I'm really sorry, buddy. If I had known that you were injured, I woulda carried ya' here to my plane and patch you up a lot sooner." Sonic muttered, feeling guilty for ignoring a small child who not only had been attacked, but even went as far as being so generous for fixing up his plane and giving it a paint job. He then asked, "Did you follow me to ask me for help?"
"Not really. It's just, I like to build and repair stuff, and everybody here pick on me. That and...because I'm too different on the outside. They don't like my two tails and...well, they call me a freak." Tails explained in sadness, lowering his gaze. "And a monster."
The blue hedgehog, unbeknownst to the younger Mobian, felt his heart crack and break into pieces, not stopping with his work. His guilt only increased, but he dared not to show it.
"Well if you ask me, those people who hurt you and called you awful names are the real monsters, not you." Sonic pointed out, surprising the young fox and he gave him a warm smile. "I don't think you're a freak or a monster at all, little guy. I think it's really cool that you've got two tails and hey, you fixed up my plane. You're a really sweet kid."
"Really?" Tails asked, surprised, and when Sonic nodded, the young fox smiled back before saying. "W-wow. You're the first guy I've ever met that's been so nice to me. And, actually, you looked cool so I followed and when I found your plane, I figured that I'd fix it up and we could be friends, if you wanted to."
Sonic felt his heart melt at the warmth this kid was radianting, and gently ruffled him on the head, making the young fox giggle. "Well, what's your name, pal?"
"Miles Prower, but I like to be called Tails. It's kinda the nicest name everybody else's gave me, considering." Tails replied.
"My name's Sonic." The blue hedgehog introduced himself, before finishing up his work. "There you go, Tails. And great job. I could use a mechanic, and a friend."
"You mean that?" The young fox asked, stunned. 'He really...wants to be my friend?'
"You bet!" Sonic replied, giving him a grin and a thumbs up.
"Wow...! Thanks, Sonic. For being my friend and...fixing me up." Tails replied, feeling so happy.
"It's the least I could do. I like helping other people. And Tails, don't let those bullies and mean people call you those awful things. Let me tell you something. A monster is someone who doesn't care about anything but themselves, and like to hurt other people. There are tons of people in the world who are different. Your two tails and your skills make you special." The hero of Mobius explained.
'Special...He thinks I'm special...' The two-tailed fox thought in his mind, thoroughly amazed as no one has ever called him special before. And now that he thought about it, the blue hedgehog was right. Those people did hurt him, though he doubted it was because they cared about themselves, but mainly because they didn't like anything that was different.
But Sonic understood the meaning of difference in people. Possibly because he was different as well; being the fastest guy in the world, yet deep down he was cool, but at the same time he was kind and caring. They only just met, but Tails and even Sonic felt a deepening similarities and bond grow for each other already. The older Mobian stood up and held out a hand to him to which the younger Mobian smiled and the two shook hands which was the beginning of a strong and symbolized friendship.
Which soon developed into a deepening bond of very close brothers.
End of Flash-Back:
"Tails? Hey, Tails."
"Huh, what?" Tails blinked before realizing that he zoned out without realizing it and gazed at Sonic, who had spoken out to him, and the others gazing at him with confusion and slight concern on their faces.
"You okay, li'l bro?" The blue hedgehog asked, a little worried.
"Yeah, I'm okay. Sorry, I was just thinking about that day." The two-tailed fox replied sheepishly.
Sonic, knowing what this mean, smiled in sympathy, and ruffled his best friend on the head affectionately.
"Hey, it's okay, bud. There's nothing to worry about." Sonic whispered, making his little brother gaze at him gratefully. "You know that I love ya."
"Thanks, Sonic. I love you too." Tails whispered back.
As the two best friends smiled at each other with Amy, Cream and Cheese smiled happily and warmly over the two boy's unbreakable bond, Chris smiled softly as he could see just how close the blue hedgehog and the two-tailed fox were. At the same time though he felt his chest ache. While Sonic and Tails were not related by blood or species, it was clear that they loved each other as best friends and brothers. The twelve year old boy wished he had the same bond with his family, but in the Thorndyke family line words, another bad memory came into his mind.
Flash-Back: A year or two ago-On Earth...
A slightly younger Chris was reading a book in the library during a break from studying, under his father's orders. It was about a boy and a sea-monster who shared a deepening bond of friendship, going on amazing adventures together and he couldn't help but feel very amazed and inspired as he wondered if he could ever have that kind of friendship even with just another person.
"CHRISTOPHER THORNDYKE!" An angry and familiar voice shouted too loudly, startling the boy and other people around who looked up to see Nelson storm over, frightening the boy who yelped. "What do you think you are doing!?"
"I-I was taking a break from studying and decided to read a fiction book. The teacher said it's break time." Chris stuttered nervously, adding with a whisper. "And Dad, you...are not supposed to be loud in the library. It's a quiet place."
"The teacher meant it was break time for him, not for you or the other children." The older Thorndyke hissed, snatching the book furiously and scanned it before narrowing his eyes. "What...is...this?"
"It's a story about a kid who makes friends with a sea monster. A deep bond they share with their feelings and they go on many and exciting adventures and-"
"This is just a complete waste! These stories are not for children! It is to brain-wash you to become cruel and twisted! A bond is not for feelings and false word called friendship! A real bond is meeting your partner to have children of your own and forever to follow family rules! That is what a bond means, because we Thorndykes are the true people in this world!" Nelson growled furiously, tossing the book aside and all but shoved his son's school book and pencil before ordering him. "Now get back to work and no more of these breaks! They're for dinner, bath-time and bedtime ONLY!"
"Y-Yes, s-sir...!" Chris gulped, terrified of his father's words before he, in sadness, went back to his schoolwork with tears beginning to leak in his eyes.
"Sir." A librarian approached Nelson with a scowled look on his face. "Please be quiet, or I'm going to have to ask you to leave the library and not harrass these children or the teacher."
Nelson growled, before all but pulled his son by the expensive coat and informed the teacher nearby. "Tell your principle that there will be no more excersions for any of the children! Especially to libraries!"
Without another word, the older Thorndyke pulled Chris away while hissing to him furiously. "As for you, Christopher. You are grounded for five months. No more fiction books! From now on, you are to read facts and science!"
Chris only nodded, trying hard not to cry as he felt like a complete embarrassment in front of his class on the field trip and he could hear the haunting words of mocking from the other boys who said things like 'boy, that kid's dad is a monster', 'I don't think the Thorndykes are nice people' 'Chris just might end up growing up to be just like his old man.'
All Chris wanted was to have friends, but because of his family's harsh views on reality, he was only going to be a laughing stock and now because was innocently reading a fiction book, he was grounded in humiliation.
End of Flash-Back:
Now that he thought about it, Chris realized that his father was wrong. Most of the stories back on Earth did Mobius justice, because Sonic and his friends, while not human but lived in an environment where Mobians and humans co-existed, they shared a real deep bond with each other, having gone on many adventures, and even fought against evil villains like Dr. Eggman. And the twelve year old boy himself got to experience it as well.
He smiled at thought as he realized he finally got his chance.
'Looks like my wish finally came true.' The young Thorndyke thought to himself.
A few minutes later, Tails lead Sonic, Chris, Amy, Cream and Cheese into the second garage where the young fox turned the lights on and opened up the door to show them his latest creation. There they saw was a bigger plane, all white and gold with four expanded wings, looking like a rocket, with four seats and even large enough for the blue hedgehog to relax on the outside, and really fast too.
"Presenting the super fast plane; the X Tornado! It can fly even faster than the other planes, with a battle mode adjusted and two engines to run. It can even go faster by installing a Chaos Emerald too." Tails presented and his friends were all amazed by the sight of it.
Sonic whistled. "Pretty cool. You did an awesome job, Tails."
"It looks amazing!" Amy exclaimed in awe.
"It looks really fast!" Cream added, amazed.
"This is the most awesome plane I've ever seen! You've actually made this?" Chris commented, his eyes wide in awe.
"Yep. It took me about a week to finish it. I would've had it done a couple days ago, but, well...Eggman happened." The eight year old cub explained.
"A week!?" The twelve year old boy exclaimed in shock, dumbfounded. "Nobody's ever made things like that in a week! It usually takes months!"
"Not Tails. His brain's even faster than my feet." Sonic said, before shrugging. "Then again, Eggman could make like a few hundred robots during that time too or sometimes even a lot longer everytime he has a complete huge and embarrassing loss, not to mention his bases and flying fortress."
Chris sweat dropped at that statement. "Guess he really keeps you guys busy, huh?"
The blue hedgehog and the others nodded. "Yeah, pretty much. But hey, sometimes he takes months to come up with another evil scheme and it's a nice break from beating that Egghead."
"I don't even get breaks from school work, except for dinner, bathtime and bedtime." The human boy sighed, shaking his head, much to the Mobians' shock.
"What? You mean your family don't even let you even take a break even at school?" Amy asked, now even more angered at her new friends' parents and grandfather.
"Yeah...As Dad would say, breaks are meant for teachers only, not for kids." Chris admitted. "One time when I went on a field trip to the library, which was boring, Dad embarrassed me and everybody else, threw away a fiction book I was reading, told the teacher to tell the principle to ban field trips all together, and I got grounded for five months just for reading the book that I really liked."
"That's just too awful." Cream muttered, horrified to hear Chris' own father would do such a thing.
"He didn't even get a fine for being loud in the library either." The human boy admitted.
"That's seriously the most unfair thing I've ever heard of. Why should you get into trouble for your dad's rude behavior and get grounded just because you were reading a good book?" The fifteen year old hedgehog grumbled, finding himself more and more outraged by his new friend's father by the second, but forced himself to remain calm as possible, which wasn't easy.
"Well, even though he wasn't the Mayor or even the President, he was still rich, so he could get away with it sometimes." Chris shrugged sadly.
Amy hissed angrily, clutching her fist over the treatment. "I wish I could give your dad the biggest lecture of his life...! How dare he do such a thing to you?"
"Well, you don't have to worry about that sort of thing anymore, Chris. Besides, it's against the rules for tellings to do that and you can't get into trouble just for reading a book that you really like." Tails reassured the human Earth-boy.
"He's right, buddy." Sonic agreed. "The only time you'd really get in trouble with libraries is if you damage books, but you didn't do that, did ya'?"
"No. My dad just hates it that I'm not reading facts or science. But my family's over the top crazy." The twelve year old boy answered.
"In that case, then you've got nothing to worry about. Where's the fun in fiction if you're not allowed to enjoy them, whether they're in books, or on TV?" The cobalt speedster replied reassuringly.
It surprised Chris that everything his family dismissed for years were all true. Everything that Sonic and his friends said were all true because they were right. They knew from experiences and now they were helping him to finally experience all of the things he missed out.
"Yeah." He nodded smiling.
Ten minutes later, the group packed all of Chris' new things in the storage area of the X Tornado before four of them buckled up into the seats while Sonic stood on the wings as he held on as much as possible.
"You sure you gonna be okay up there? It's not safe, you know." Chris asked from the seat behind Tails, noticing the blue hedgehog's position.
"It's okay. I do this all the time." Sonic reassured with a thumbs up and a wink.
'He's really brave. And a bit of a daredevil. I wonder if he has great balance too.' The boy thought to himself, stunned by the teenage Mobian's recklessness but at the same time being a hero and fighting for other people's safeties.
"Everybody all buckled in?" Tails asked the three behind him, and the others nodded, he asked his older brother. "All set, Sonic?"
"Ready to go, bro!" The hero of Mobius saluted with a smirk.
"Okay!" The two-tailed fox nodded, before he powering on his plane as the engines turned on, the wings expanding which amazed all of his friends, the garage door opening and the runway expanding as well. He then pulled the levers of the controls which made the plane to speed off the road before lifting into the sky. "X Tornado, take off! Here we go!"
As the plane lifted off the air even though everyone, even Tails, felt the acceleration push them back which was a bit uncomfortable, but it settled down as they flew off into the sky with two more wings expanding and they flew high and fast, and before they knew it they were flying high above the Mystic Ruins and passing by Station Square. Needless to say all of them were amazed and very excited by the X Tornado's first successful flight.
"Wow! We're going really fast!" Cream exclaimed excitedly, gazing out of the window.
"Chao, chao, chao!" Cheese squealed.
"This is really fun!" Amy cried out happily.
"Wow! I've never been in a plane like this before! Look how high we are!" Chris exclaimed excitedly, also gazing out. This was a whole new level of experience for him, and he loved it! It was almost like he was on an adventure of his own and he could see the view of the new world below.
It was almost magical. The twelve year old boy never got the chance to see the views before even on plane trips with his family. First time he did, his mother instead shut the window and forced him to sit in the middle where he wouldn't be allowed to look out of the window and had to have an escort to do the little boy's room on the plane. Plus he had to have ear-phones on and a sleeping back, being forced to listen to old, boring music and not allowed to watch the plane's movies. While the X Tornado didn't have any of that, at least he had a clear view to watch the buildings and trees which was very exciting.
"Yeah!" Sonic cheered as he stood up, his arms spread out as he felt like he was really flying, careful not to fall off but maintained his balance like he normally did. He loved the breeze blowing against him. "This is the best plane ever, Tails! You should be proud of yourself!"
Sonic always loved the feeling of the wind blowing at him, the cool breeze onto his face and through his quills. Running had given him the freedom to do that, and while flying wasn't as fast as he was, he still enjoyed it and was never afraid of heights. He wasn't an experienced pilot as much even though he could do a good job at it, but it's been ages since he took the controls. For as long as he could remember, being fast let him always let him be free and the wind represented freedom. People say that he was just like the wind and he agreed to those claims. He embraced the winds, embraced his friends, and embraced his freedom. More than that, he wanted everyone to experience their own ways of live and their own freedoms.
Though he was against those who wanted things to be exactly the same and alike, ordering people to do things they don't want to, having them obey their words and illegal rules, especially those who have evil intentions like Eggman...
Or those like Chris' family now even though they were a whole dimension away. As the blue hedgehog gazed at his friends while Tails gave his thanks to the teenager, while the fifteen year old winked at his little brother, he gazed at the human boy who looked so amazed and so happy, almost like he was experiencing a fun time of his life. Sonic softly smiled, glad that Chris was having fun, having been given the chance to be a kid that he was, and most importantly, safe despite Eggman being around.
And free from his horrible family. Chris was finally free from that lifestyle, and Sonic was going to make sure the boy would have his own life to fufil, which then made him think of another situation since two days ago. He wanted to go to Florida back on Earth, and the blue hedgehog promised he would help out. Yet unlike Mobius/Earth where humans had no trouble with Mobians since they had peace and harmony for years, generations, and centuries, people in Chris' world were much more suspicious of life outside of their planet.
'If my friends and I ended up there instead of the other way around, could we really be used as horrible experiments?' Sonic thought to himself, thinking about what his new friend mentioned earlier.
That thought was enough to actually scare him.
Back in Chris's Dimension-Two weeks since Chris' disappearance:
It's been two weeks since Chris ran away from home, and yet his family and the police still couldn't locate him. While the Thorndykes took it upon themselves to call their agents and even the FBI to find any traces of the twelve year old, the police asked for any witnesses involving the boy's disappearance even though Nelson, Lindsey and Chuck and even their house servants refused to reveal the reasons why he ran off and cleaned out every evidence of their own that would make them criminals.
So far there was still no luck. Through out New York, there wasn't even a word on whether he was actually kidnapped or not.
"I can't believe this...I just. Can't. Believe. It!" Nelson hissed furiously, pacing back and forth in a burning rage manner. "The longer this goes on, the more the truth will be leaked out and we'll be finished! Brought into ruin!"
"Calm down, Nelson. We'll find a way to bring him back." Chuck attempted to reassure his son, who kept on storming behind him back and forth.
"Easy for you to say, Father! Christopher is still out there, or he could have been caught and the truth may be exposed for all we know! Or he's killed and taken somewhere where we can't find his body! It's because of that disobedient boy, we have less of a chance to survive in this world!" The younger man growled, punching the side table so hard that it cracked a little, and he winced in pain while shaking his fist while it ached.
"Or perhaps he was unknowingly right there during Professor Pell's experiment two weeks ago." The elder man confessed, still scanning through New York's security cameras across the city.
"What?" Nelson grunted, even though he was confused.
"I've been doing scans and research on the mysterious light caused by Pell's Warp Ray and his experiment was to, theoretically, send a rat into another dimension before sending any human beings there as well. The radiation from the Ray's beam caused, again in theory, a connection through another dimension outside of our own by an event that we don't know about and if I'm right, Christopher was accidentally caught within that light beam and sent away from our world to another." Chuck explained.
Nelson didn't like the sound of that, as he approached his father before hissing. "Are you saying that our family's only hope for survival was right next to the lab and was sent to another planet by this experiment instead of a filthy, disgusting, small and monstrous rodent?"
"Until we find the right camera to figure this out, it could be more than likely."
"And how do we know that this experiment of Pell's didn't vaporize him instead?" Nelson growled dangerously.
"His previous experiments were always harmless and failures. Each time he tried in the past, it always ended up not doing a single thing. Each time it always acted like a camera on flash-mode." Chuck answered. "When this unusual event happened, we thought it was another failure and the Warp Ray ended up broken, but now I'm thinking it may have been half a success..."
"Yet that success being my son...he could be with aliens by now, or on an empty world, lost and alone." The younger man growled.
"Or even in a world similar to our own. That's a possibility as well, and no, this is not based on fiction. It's based on fact." The older man pointed out.
That wasn't the response he wanted, as Nelson yelled out in pure rage before he stormed back a little and kicked at the couch. "That's means if he is in a world much like our own, then he's finally gotten what he wanted which is all nothing but lies! Our future line's somewhere out there not doing what he was always meant to do!"
Panting, he spun around and ordered. "If you are right about this, order that Pell to build a new Warp Ray, find that world and bring that boy back! And if we have to, we capture those he makes contact with and bring them here to send off to the authorities! I want them exposed and destroyed!"
"I'll get onto it." The elder Thorndyke promised, already resuming his work while his son roared in anger before storming off into his room, as Linsdey had to leave a few days ago to resume filming for another movie.
After the younger man left, Chuck continued to scan through the computer while thinking about where his grandson is. "If Christopher is in another world similar to ours, then perhaps we should bring someone from there to here and conduct some research."
That thought made him smirk and chuckle as he began to like that idea.
"Yes...bring a citizen and specimen from that world and learn of it's secrets. I would love to experiment on that life-form." The scientist grinned, looking forward in bringing home a creature from the other dimension that Chris was stuck in.
Yet there was just a few problems; how would they get there? Which dimension did the boy become trapped in? And...how would they get back to Earth?
This was going to take a long while before they could go anywhere.
A/N: While Chris is beginning to enjoy being in Mobius and Sonic and Tails share a brief of their bond to their new human friend, the Thorndykes back on Earth are more ruthless than we thought. Scary stuff! The next chapter will have Chris be introduced to Cream's mother and begin his new 'normal' life.
See you later!