Author's Note: I want to apologize for the way how the last chapter turned out, especially with the regards of dark theme. Hopefully this chapter will be brighter than the last one. Again, I am deeply sorry for that.
In the meantime, here's a new chapter to make it up for it.
I do not own any rights to Sonic the Hedgehog or any of the related media. All rights go to Sega.
Chapter 6: Settling in.
Back in Sonic's Dimension-Half an hour since leaving Tails' Workshop:
The flight to Cream's house certainly was a short one, and as the group flew over from Station Square to the Mobians' village, needless to say that Chris was amazed that it really wasn't that far at all. It was a quint little village that resembled to countryside towns on Earth that he read up about, like in England or historic villages that barely evolved. Even from the air, the twelve year old Earth-boy could see open areas close by large grassy fields, footpaths and trees that made the scene perfect, houses made out of wood with some of them having round windows, some a bit small and fit for Mobians that were Sonic's height.
"Wow! Is this where you guys live?" Chris breathed in awe while Tails was preparing to make landing.
"Uh-huh. This is our village. Do you like it?" Cream replied warmly.
"It looks great!" The human boy nodded.
"My house is about over there. A seven minute walk from Cream's house." Amy pointed to the right in the short distance.
"Mine is pretty much in between, but I spend more time in the Mystic Ruins since it has plently of space to build and repair things." Tails added.
"What about you, Sonic?" Chris asked, curiously.
"My place is about fifteen minutes away. It isn't much, and I spend more time traveling than being at home." The blue hedgehog pointed to the left up the path with small hills with his thumb. "But hey, I like having a roof over my head and a bed to sleep on."
"Even though you can sleep just about anywhere." The two-tailed fox tried not to laugh.
"True." Sonic chuckled, before shuddering a little. "Though I wouldn't recommend sleeping in hospitals unless you're a patient and you have no choice until you get better. It stinks."
"Hospitals aren't meant to be like a hotel or a field, Sonic." Amy pointed out, shaking her head in a scolding manner.
"I know, but aside the fact that they smell weird, it's nothing much to do and sitting still with nothing but reading dumb old magazines and watching TV gets really boring." The teenage hero shrugged.
"But hospitals are supposed to make you feel better, even though they are really scary." Cream reminded sweetly. "You took Chris there, remember?"
"Chao." Cheese chirped.
"That's because I was worried about him, but I knew he'd be in great care."
"I think any where's better than Dr. Eggman's base, even though I was unconscious when I first landed in there all of the sudden." Chris chuckled.
"Eggman's bases are usually even more boring to look at, and sometimes a little creepy too." Sonic told him. "I swear, that guy has really bad tastes in style and even fashion most of the time."
"You know, come to think of it, Eggman's outfit does look more like he's a ringmaster from a circus, only without hat." The twelve year old boy said thoughtfully, remembering the red and black clothes the evil doctor was wearing.
That made the Mobians burst out laughing, with Sonic saying in agreement. "Yeah, a really bad ringmaster who's more of a clown than anything else!"
"Does he usually mess up?" Chris asked, trying hard not to laugh himself.
"Yeah, a lot of times he ends up embarrassing himself." The blue hedgehog snickered.
"He's sometimes really scary and always evil, but a lot of times he's really annoying and embarrassing." Amy agreed.
"And a liar." Tails added with slight caution.
"Dr. Eggman always likes to cause trouble and Sonic always stops him." Cream said in agreement.
"Okay, kids. That's enough talking about that guy. Let's get Chris settled in since we're here." Sonic said half-teasingly as Tails gently landed the X Tornado onto the ground on the footpath of the small village, and it took Chris a few moments to realize that they were in front of a small two-story house with a round window on the floor, a cottage of sorts with it's own little path, almost like being the middle with grass fresh and green, flowers here and there and it was widely open.
And as the group carefully climbed out of the plane once the two-tailed fox shut off the engine, with Sonic helping the girls down, the front door opened to reveal an adult Mobian rabbit that was the near-splitting image of Cream, with a small tuff of hair on her head, wearing a long purple dress with puffed short sleeves, and as Chris got a good look at her, not only he was maybe an inch taller than her(which is a bit awkward considering he was going to be living here for a while) but she seemed to be nice.
"Mama, we're home." Cream greeted happily as she and Cheese approached her mother who hugged her upon her approach.
"Welcome back, Cream and Cheese. I hope there wasn't much trouble." Her mother, Vanilla, responded warmly, and when she got the response there wasn't, she gazed at the group, greeting. "Hello Amy and Tails, and it's so nice to see you again, safe and sound, Sonic."
"Morning, Mrs. Vanilla." Amy greeted back.
"Hi." Tails waved happily.
"Hiya, Mrs. V. Sorry that I wasn't able to visit since rescuing Cream and Cheese from Eggman." Sonic greeted back with a wave.
"It's perfectly alright, Sonic. I've heard you have been busy and I am so grateful to you and your friends for saving my little girl." The elder rabbit replied kindly.
"We went out exploring Station Square to help our new friend Chris." The six year old rabbit girl replied, gesturing at the aforementioned boy who rubbed the back of his head.
"So you're the young man I've been hearing about." Vanilla said to the twelve year old boy, nodding in warm greeting. "It's very nice to meet you."
"Hi, there. It's nice to meet you too, ma'am." Chris replied, a little awkwardly. He tried to be as polite as possible, and felt a little uncomfortable since this was the mother of one of his new friends who was six years younger than he was. This was harder than he thought.
"Please, why don't you all come in and we can get Chris settled into the guest room?" Vanilla kindly suggested. "I'm making spaghetti with my Pumpkin Pie with whipped cream and tea. Sonic, Tails, Amy, you and Chris are welcome to join us for afternoon tea."
"I love to." Amy replied happily.
"Yes, please." Tails added, feeling his mouth water a little.
"Cool. Thanks, Mrs. Vanilla!" Sonic added, excited to have Vanilla's delicious food. He always enjoyed the kind mother's cooking and oh, sweet chaos, were her Pumpkin Pies heavenly?
"Sure, that be great. Thank you." Chris added, though he never had pumpkin pie before and hoped that he would like it and if he didn't, he would hide it to avoid in getting into trouble.
Once they got all of Chris' new stuff, which wasn't much aside from the things that he needed, the preteen and the two Mobian boys headed upstairs following Vanilla and the girls into the guest room after the Earth-boy was given a tour around his new temporary home. For his height at the moment, it felt a bit like a really big club house that was modernized. The living room had white walls with comfortable looking furniture, not as big as the one in his old home, but still nice looking. It had two couches and a couple of arm chairs, curtains that looked to be hand-made, carpet floor, an old fashioned cabled phone and a fax-machine. The kitchen was also about the similar size to the one the housemaid would be in, but actually nicer as well, even though Chris was never allowed in there even for a soft drink. He would always end up having just expensive juice and grape drinks or even being forced to have coffee(which taste gross).
Upstairs had a bathroom that was white and clean, small but actually also comfortable looking with a bathtub, cute looking bath toys for Cream to play with, a sink with a couple of tooth brushes and tooth paste, and finally five bed rooms, three that were for guests, Vanilla's which was fairly large and simple but nice, Cream's which fitted her size and had plenty of toys and pictures she drew, something that Chris, again, was denied of in his childhood, and the guest which was the third room of the house in his tour.
"And this is the guest room, where you will be sleeping, Chris." Vanilla explained as she opened the door wide enough for everyone to enter.
Again it was simple, but really nice. The walls were a light yellow, a wardrobe large enough to fit his clothes(Sonic and Tails found time yesterday to buy one thanks to Vanilla and Amy's suggestion), with a drawer which was also a bedside table with a small night-light, a window that viewed the village(like the other rooms in the house), and a bed which was thankfully the same size as Vanilla's with nice looking quilts and pillow. It was about half the size of his old bedroom, but he didn't need much.
"Wow..." Chris whispered in awe, gazing around the room that was his for the time-being. "Is this really for me?"
"Of course. I usually have this room and the others to be as comfortable for guests as possible. We chose this one because it's the biggest." Vanilla kindly replied with a short nod.
"Wow, thank you, Mrs. Vanilla." The human boy said gratefully.
"So, you like your new room, buddy?" Sonic asked, smiling at his new friend's reaction.
"Like it? I love it. It's not as big as my old bedroom, but it's a lot nicer." Chris answered, before flinching as he realized what he said. "S-still, it was still a bedroom and I have to at least be grateful to have one, you know, before..."
He paused, feeling uncomfortable again as even Sonic and the others tried hard not to flinch before he, Amy and Tails shared uneasy glances over what Vanilla's reaction would be to learn that Chris had ran away from home, which was an expensive place full of rich people regardless to how cruel the boy's family was. Well, Amy did give out a few details during the phone-call, but still...
"Amy and Cream told me that you ran away from home. I'm afraid to ask if something happened between you and your family." Vanilla muttered with slight concern over the young human boy.
Chris fell silent, not sure who to say it. It seemed to be rather easy to confess to Sonic since the blue hedgehog was cool about it and traveled a lot, and Tails, Amy, Cream and Cheese had been shocked by the way how the older Thorndykes viewed life. But to Vanilla? She was a mother to a single child, and from the looks of it, a single mother since it became painfully clear to the twelve year old boy that Cream's father wasn't around, or that she didn't know him and would never get the chance. Then he realized something else; Tails is eight, Amy is twelve just like he was, and Sonic is fifteen. Yet...neither of them seem to have any parents around and the two-tailed fox was deemed as the blue hedgehog's younger brother.
Were the three of them orphans? If so, then how can they have their own houses instead of having a mother's care? Vanilla and Cream's home had three extra rooms, yet neither the trio actually stayed here or brought in though they did come over, Tails was obviously smart enough to not go to school, and Sonic traveled a lot. Amy on the other hand was a mystery.
"Well, y-you see...my family...how should I put this?" Chris began uncomfortably, and Sonic gently placed a hand onto his shoulder, which helped somewhat and it made him relax a little before the boy sighed. "They...had a really strange and terrible views of life and wouldn't let me have any friends or even be myself. They're always so forceful with me and I wasn't even allowed to read anything but things they want me to do and...they want me to get married to somebody who isn't really nice at all. Come to think of it, none of my family is. So I ran away and...I don't wanna go back to them. Ever. They never even gave me comfort or anything that families should do."
"Oh, you poor dear. That sounds like a very difficult life." Vanilla muttered with sympathy, feeling her heart ache as she approached the boy and gently rubbing him on the back. "How could your own family be so awful?"
"You haven't even heard half of it, Mrs. Vanilla. But I think we should leave it 'til Chris is comfortable enough to explain it. Heck, I'm still having trouble picturing his family in my head." Sonic softly said as he shook his head.
"I'm really sorry if I sound selfish, Mrs. Vanilla." The twelve year old boy muttered apologetically.
The kindly mother just smiled softly as she replied. "Don't be silly. It's obvious that you never had even a real mother's care, much like Sonic, Tails and Amy. I'm more than happy to help you. I could never turn down anybody in need."
While Chris was stunned to hear that Vanilla just confirmed his suspicions that Sonic, Tails and Amy don't have any parents, the aforementioned trio flinched before looking away awkwardly, with a few hints of sadness lingering in their eyes which they tried to hide. The two-tailed kit rubbed his left arm as he gazed to the floor, the pink hedgehog clasped her hands behind her back, and even the blue hedgehog gazed at the ceiling while scratching the top of his head. Which then explained to the Earth-boy what his new friends meant earlier yesterday.
"Don't worry, Chris. Vanilla's one of the best Mom's anybody could ask for and one of the nicest people in the world. Cream definitely takes after her when it kinds to kindness." Sonic reassured with a wink.
Cream nodded, adding. "My Mom will really like you. She treats everybody like family, and makes all of the yummy pies and cakes and loves to make pretty blankets and clothing."
"Ms. Vanilla is almost like a mother to all of us. You'll love her." Amy continued.
"If anybody can help look after you Chris, it's her." Tails added.
'Maybe the reason why they said that...is because she is really nice and I feel a little better already, and that they don't have any mothers either.' Chris thought to himself, realizing that Vanilla was like a surrogate mother to other three Mobians, while being a clearly loving parent to her own child who was also very close to the two hedgehogs and young fox who were like her older brothers and sister.
Even though he felt guilty for being a burden to her already busy life and Sonic, Tails and Amy having being able to take care of themselves, the kindly mother rabbit just smiled warmly and continued. "You're more than welcome to stay here as long as you like."
"R-really? You don't mind at all?" The young human boy asked, somewhat hesitant.
"I am a mother, and a mother should always care for their children and others who need comfort and support." Vanilla answered.
"Cheese and I will help you too, Chris." Cream softly added happily, standing beside her mother and gently held Chris' hand into both of her own.
"And you got us to help ya' out." Sonic concluded with Tails and Amy muttering their own agreements.
"...Thanks, you guys." Chris nodded with a warm smile, feeling even more support and even though he just met Vanilla, already he really liked her. She was so kind and gentle and...and very motherly.
Someone who his own mother never was.
Once the group sorted out Chris's stuff in a neat way, but not too neat like back at home on Earth, but still tidy enough, and that the rules were simple; clean up after himself, always mind his manners which weren't as strict as his parents' rules, his school books put away into his drawer, which only took about twenty minutes, everyone sat down for lunch which they all enjoyed. Cream was right; Vanilla was a great cook. The spaghetti was delicious and the Pumpkin Pie with whipped cream was absolutely amazing.
Even when Sonic first took a big bite of the pie with his hands before Amy scolded him which, realizing his mistake, ate more politely and slowly but Vanilla didn't seem to mind. She just looked a bit exasperated, but smiled as she knew that the blue hedgehog still had a bit to learn about his own manners, but he did try and always fixed up his own mistakes.
The group all said their thank yous to Vanilla who nodded in return. "I'm glad you all enjoyed it. Perhaps any of you three dears would be so kind to give your friend Knuckles some of the pie."
"I think Knuckles would really like it, Mama." Cream agreed to the idea.
"Who's Knuckles?" Chris asked, blinking in confusion. He heard a little bit about this Knuckles guy, but doesn't know who he is.
"Oh, right. I forgot to mention about him. He's a friend of ours, well, my friendly rival to put it, an echidna who's a year older than me, and is the total opposite when it comes to abilities. He's totally strong, he can even lift a boulder with no problem." Sonic explained.
"Whoa, really? Knuckles sounds really strong!" The human boy remarked in awe.
The blue hedgehog nodded. "Yeah, though no offense to anybody here-sorry Cream and Mrs. V-but he can be a real knucklehead. Pretty loyal on the other hand."
"Except he doesn't really socialize as much but he did help us more times than we can count." Amy added with a sigh. "Yet the poor guy's so gullible, he always ends up being tricked by all of Eggman's lies until the last minute."
"Yeah, just a heads up, Chris. If Eggman attacks and Knuckles attacks Sonic without really explaining or accusing him because of the doctor's lies, and Knuckles says something about the doctor saying about giving up in being evil but he really doesn't, that's why." Tails advised.
"Now, now, dears. I'm sure it isn't Knuckles' fault for having trouble with trusting others." Vanilla gently scolded the two hedgehogs and young fox. "You have to remember that he grew up on his own and you three along with Cream and Cheese are the closest people he has to call friends."
Sonic, Tails and Amy, realizing that they were unintentionally critizing the Master Emerald Guardian, lowered their heads in slight guilt in front of the kindly mother and the blue hedgehog muttered apologetically, scratching the top of his head. "Sorry, Mrs. Vanilla."
"Sorry." The two-tailed fox and pink hedgehog echoed, just as guilt-ridden.
"Wait, you mean...Knuckles doesn't have any family either?" Chris asked, shocked that there was another Mobian, who was a year older than Sonic, that was an orphan.
The hero of Mobius shrugged, sighing. "Worse. He's the last Mobian Echidna in the entire universe. But if you ever meet him, don't tell him I said that, 'kay? He has a temper worse than mine, but as I said, he's pretty loyal, he just likes to hide his own feelings." The hero of Mobius explained.
"He's the last of his kind!? No way!" Chris exclaimed, shocked. Tails, Amy, Cream and Cheese and Vanilla looked pretty sad as this was exactly their reaction when they first discovered that Knuckles was the last Mobian echidna.
Sonic nodded sadly. "Yeah. Sad, isn't it? Nobody's sure what happened to the rest his people, except that something awful happened around 4,000 years ago that caused a terrible disaster of sorts that slowly made all echidnas begin to disappear one by one, right up 'til Knuckles hatched. Tails and I only met him a long while back, when Eggman tricked him into thinking I was a bad guy so he could steal the Master Emerald, which controls the Chaos Emeralds. We fought and me and Tails tried to get it into his head that Eggman was the real villain and when he found out, boy was he angry? We teamed up and ever since, we kind of have a respect for each other. I would visit him if he would let me and he would help out whenever the Chaos Emeralds were involved or sometimes he would come and help out when he allows himself to do that."
"The way how you said it, even though I don't know what the Master Emerald is, Knuckles sounds like he guards it or something." The human boy remarked, feeling just as awful now. What he went through now sounded nothing compared to what Knuckles is going through, being the last of his kind. He couldn't imagine would it would be like to be so.
"He's the guardian of the Master Emerald and would stay by it's side almost 24/7. If it's stolen, he'd flip and the biggest thieves that are his biggest enemies are Eggman, and a bat girl named Rouge who loves jewelry, being a jewel thief and all." Sonic explained.
"So he lives all by himself and never leaves unless something happens?" Chris asked, feeling very sorry for the red echidna.
The blue hedgehog nodded. "Yeah, he can be a loner, but like I said, he's a cool guy. A party pooper, but I like how he wants to see the good in everybody. Last echidna or not, Knuckles is a great friend, even though he won't admit it."
"It's still so sad that poor Knuckles is all alone and he stays on Angel Island to guard the Master Emerald all by himself." Cream muttered.
"I feel very sorry for him. That's really awful." The twelve year old boy muttered, almost in a whisper.
"Yeah...it's not fair. I wouldn't want that on anybody." Sonic agreed, and the others shared that feeling. "He's like us and nobody should lose anything like that."
No one argued with him on that. For Chris, even though his family had always been so awful towards him and even to other people with a superstition that everybody on Earth were out to get them for some reason, it was terrible that Sonic, Tails, Amy and now Knuckles, he came to acknowledge, were all orphans. For the red echidna, he was the last one left on the planet. The last Mobian echidna in any sort of ways, because on Earth there were still plenty of non-Mobian echidnas.
The twelve year old boy then realized that they all had been pretty lonely, something which they had in common before each of them became close friends, including Cream who still has her mother, whom he was now going to live with as well. He couldn't tell which was worse, though; having a family who were cruel and only wanted you just for the family name survival, or not having any family at all and being all alone with only friends to keep you company.
"But in the end, we all get by okay. Knuckles is pretty serious and takes his job seriously, but he's cool." Sonic continued, and then said. "But I think we've had enough of all of the gloomy discussions and let's talk about fun, happy stuff."
"Sounds good to me." Tails agreed, as did the girls, Chao and even Chris who, despite still feeling guilty for what his new friends have gone through, attempted to remain positive.
Still, he felt sorry for his new friends who had gone through so much, most of them having no family, and having to protect Mobius from Dr. Eggman and other threats, yet Sonic and others still manage to optain optimistic and happy lives with each other and finding peace and excitement along the way.
'I wish I had their optimistic views.' The twelve year old boy thought to himself.
During and after lunch, the group was talking about tons of fun things, like Sonic and his friends telling Chris of most of their previous adventures, such as the times when their lives changed when they first met each other, all of the cool places across Mobius they've been to so far, including Angel Island which can float thanks to the Master Emerald, how they first met Cream and Cheese when the two tried to find the little girl's mother who had been kidnapped by Eggman until Sonic defeated him and saved Vanilla.
They even explained how Eggman found a black hedgehog named Shadow locked up in Prison Island for a little under fifty years by the former's grandfather to steal the Chaos Emeralds.
"A black hedgehog that looks like you?" Chris asked, stunned.
"Well, only in the face. Other than that, apart from being a hedgehog, he's totally different to me. Not to mention really fast, but still not as fast as me, but he's also powerful." Sonic confirmed as they were all in the living room chilling out. "Lucky for me that nobody mistook him for me. Well, they kinda did at first, but it's a good thing I was invited to meet with the President even though it was more of a getting to know each other sort of thing since he respects my style."
Flash-Back: A few months ago...
One night, Sonic got an invitation to speak with the President of the United Federation and of Station Square, and even though he wasn't really big on sighing autographs or attend boring meetings, the blue hedgehog obliged, under Tails and Amy's strict wordings, and was speaking with the human man in the latter's office.
"I deeply apologize for the lateness of the hour, Sonic. But I felt it was the best time that we speak, to avoid crowds and the press so to speak." The President, who was a middle-aged man in a stiff suit and short gray hair.
"With all due respect, Mr. President, I'm not even sure what to say to that. Is there any particular reason you wanted to see me for? Or am I in big trouble?" The blue hedgehog asked as politely as possible.
"No, Sonic. You're not in trouble. In fact, what you have done is the complete opposite. You have done this planet greatness and justice from the clutches of the evil Dr. Eggman." The human leader of the country responded.
"I had help from my friends. They deserve as much credit as I do." Sonic pointed out with a shrug. "Sure I can take on Eggman any day of the week, but even I have some limits."
The President smiled softly, acknowledging the teenager's words. "Even though you are quite young, you are a very brave hero and very caring. I would like to ask, though. Why did you choose to fight him all on your own and with the aid of your friends on occasions?"
"'Cause it's the right thing to do. Though I like to do it at my own pace, and helping out people is something I like to do. I mean, do I need a reason to help out?" The hero of Mobius explained.
"So you do this because you wish to be a hero?" The President asked.
"Um...Not exactly. To be honest, sir, I'm an adventurer and I like to do things my way. No offense. Not trying to steal anybody's reputation or anything and there are plenty of heroes out there in the world. Like there are really good people like you, and as far as I can tell, you've been going a really cool job in running the country." Sonic admitted carefully.
"Ah...I see. And, thank you." The President nodded. "In truth, the G.U.N have requested that you would sign up to join the organization, but I had a feeling you are more of a freelance hero. That decision is entirely up to you, though."
The fifteen year old shook his head. "No thanks. I'm happy being who I am, but I won't turn down on helping other people in case there's trouble."
Before the conversation could continue as this was starting to become an understanding meeting, the President's phone began to ring and after excusing himself, he answered. "This is the President."
As the man listened in on the caller, his eyes widened as he stood up in shock and confusion. "What!? The Chaos Emerald in the Museum has been stolen!?...By Sonic?"
"Huh?" Sonic blinked, confused and alarmed by this.
"That's impossible. Sonic is here with me...Yes, I'm certain..." The President continued to have the conversation over the new alarming situation. "Bring up the security cameras and see if you can find this imposter...What's that? Red streaks on his body?...that doesn't sound like him. Red eyes? Look more closely into it. Thank you. Goodbye." Once the call was over, he hung up.
"What's going on? What's this about the Chaos Emerald being stolen?" The blue hedgehog asked, warily.
"There was a break-in at the Museum within the city which held a Chaos Emerald, and the security guards think you stole it, and some of them are suggesting you have gained red marks on your body with red eyes." The President explained.
"That doesn't sound like me." Sonic grumbled, folding his arms as he was miffed for being accused and framed all of the sudden. "Whoever this guy is really has a nerve to try and look like me, and stealing a Chaos Emerald. I have a pretty good feeling this is another one of Eggman's rotten schemes. Maybe this fake hedgehog is a robot."
"I agree." The President nodded, before asking firmly. "Sonic, I would like you to remain here until we get the security feed and, if it's not too much trouble, we may need your help in tracking down this imposter and we will make sure that the population do not mistake you for having gone rogue."
"Like I'm gonna no? 'Course I'll help. I'll find this guy and teach him not to mess with me and if he's a robot, then Eggman has another thing coming for trying and make me look like a bad guy." The blue hedgehog promised with a smirk, giving the human leader a thumbs up and a wink.
"Thank you. I wouldn't have it any other way." The President nodded.
The two waited for half an hour until one of the aides arrived with the photo copies of the raid at the museum while Sonic had called Tails to inform him of the situation despite feeling guilty for the lateness of the hour and soon the three of them got a look at the scans from the security footage which was in colour, and the closest as they're going to get. There were several including one where the mysterious imposter went up close to the camera before he destroyed the feed. Even so, they managed to see that it was a hedgehog, but the only resemblance he shared with Sonic was the muzzle.
Everything else was different; the quills were sticking up, the hedgehog's fur was black with red streaks, including on the arms, legs and quills and even on the eye ridges, ruby red eyes, white fur fluffy chest, white gloves with gold wrist bands of sorts, and white hover-looking shoes with a bit of red on them, and he seemed to be blasting some kind of attacks from his hands, causing major damage to the inside of the building.
"Whoa, no way!" Sonic breathed in shock. He was more horrified by the damage and attacks his near-look-alike did than the fact that they held similar faces. "What is this guy?"
"This...is outrageous. How can a Mobian hedgehog that slightly resembles to Sonic do such a thing?" The President muttered, just as shocked as the young Mobian.
The male aide, who glanced back and forth between Sonic and the mysterious hedgehog in the photos before finally seeing the difference, muttered. "Well, at least we have evidence that Sonic is innocent and this black hedgehog is easy to spot. But he seems to be very dangerous."
"And he's after the Chaos Emeralds. I've got a bad feeling about this." The aforementioned blue hedgehog muttered, narrowing his emerald green eyes.
"Set out to find this black hedgehog and tell the authorities that Sonic the Hedgehog is innocent. Also look for any connections if Dr. Eggman is linked into this." The President ordered the aide who nodded to do as he is told, then the older man gazed at the cobalt speedster. "Sonic, please inform your friends of the danger of this black hedgehog. I will tell G.U.N not to hunt you down and calm the citizens that you are to help us find this rogue Mobian."
"Right." Sonic nodded firmly. "Don't worry, sir. I'll stop this fake hedgehog and if Eggman's involved, he's going down!"
"Be careful." The human man nodded, and the blue hedgehog promised that he will, before heading out to find the imposter as everyone quickly got to work to stop the black hedgehog.
End of Flash-Back:
"It didn't take me long to find Shadow, and we even went up in space to stop him and Eggman who almost used this cannon at the Space Colony ARK to blow half of the moon." Sonic continued.
"He nearly blew up the moon!?" Chris exclaimed in disbelief and horror.
"Yeah, but we made quick research and found the other Chaos Emeralds before going up in space to stop them. Shadow followed us and Eggman almost trapped Sonic in a capsule that would've sent him out to space and...and explode." Tails continued, shuddering over the memory of almost losing his older brother that day, and Sonic gave the young fox cub a comforting rub on the back. Even Amy, Cream and Cheese looked pretty scared over that memory.
"To make things more awkward, Rouge pretended to be on Eggman's side to steal the Master Emerald and had Knuckles follow, and had him help us out until we, well...let's just say, Eggman's grandfather was pretty nuts that he wanted to destroy the entire planet." The blue hedgehog continued, hesitantly.
"No way!" The boy felt like he was going to be sick. He then shuddered. "And I thought my family was bad."
"The reason Dr. Eggman's grandfather wanted to destroy the world because his cousin Maria, who was also the man's granddaughter and Shadow's only friend was very sick that she couldn't live on Mobius, and he was created to try and cure her, but, well...the government back then thought they were all a threat and it ended terribly. Maria died when she saved Shadow, and Professor Gerald Robotnik lost his mind in grief, changing Shadow's memories and vowed revenge on humanity before...well, he died too eventually." Tails explained.
"I fought Shadow before he stole the Chaos Emeralds from us and used them to make the ARK to collide and crash into the world, like an meteor. Likely Ames managed to talk him into helping us and he remembered his real promise to Maria, which was to help save the planet and we both did with the help of everybody here, and even Eggman." Sonic continued.
"Eggman helped too?" Chris blinked, confused.
"Yeah, but mainly because he only wants to rule the world, not destroy it." The cobalt teenager continued. "Me and Shadow managed to stop the ARK by both using the Chaos Emeralds. Except, well..."
All of the Mobians lowered their heads, memories of what happened after that filled their minds.
Flash-Back:
Sonic felt his breath shaken, his heart sinking as the weight of guilt and sorrow crushed on top of him. For all the things Shadow had done, he couldn't believe that in his newest enemy's atonement and redemption, the black hedgehog had sacrificed himself to help save the planet he was originally meant to destroy by Eggman's crazy grandfather. As he made it back into the ARK while turning back to normal, walking through the corridors of the station, he paused as he remembered fighting the imposter.
Even though Mobius was once again saved, this time it came with a cost. Despite that the black hedgehog gave him heaps of trouble, Sonic felt like he failed to save a life. Choking back a sob as tears began to sting his eyes, the distraught blue hedgehog had to lean against the wall next to him, punching it in frustration and grief, placing a hand to his face and tried hard not to cry. It wasn't fair. Why did Shadow, who always claimed to be the ultimate life-form, have to die?
Swallowing his sobs and holding back his tears, the fifteen year old forced himself to calm down before he was able to hold back his grief and then headed into the control room where his friends-Tails, Amy, Knuckles, and even Rouge, and their enemies Eggman, Decoe and Bocoe waited as they all turned around expectedly.
"Sonic! You made it!" Tails exclaimed in pure relief, racing over along with the others. But they all paused when they saw that it was just the blue hedgehog who gave them a reassuring smile, which was wavered.
"Where's Shadow?" Rouge asked immediately.
His smile fading away, Sonic lowered his gaze and wordlessly shook his head in sorrow. This was enough to tell everyone in the room, much to their horror, that Shadow is dead. They all stood in silent shock to be silently told that the black hedgehog was gone. The teenage hedgehog then approached Rouge and handed her an Inhibitor ring.
"Sorry, Rouge. I've looked everywhere for him. This is all I could find." Sonic eventually responded.
The female bat thief just wordlessly gazed at the ring from the black hedgehog who, while not being in slight good terms with him, had to admit that she did like Shadow, and to now see that he was gone, the ultimate lifeform whom she kind of called a friend, never to be seen again. She closed her eyes in sorrow and held the ring which was all that was left of him.
As everyone sorrowfully talked over the events that happened, even Eggman shaken of his own grandfather's actions, having respected him as a hero when he'd been a child and wanted to grow up to be just like him, Sonic gazed out at Mobius, over at the spot where he last saw Shadow.
"Do you think Professor Robotnik made Shadow...to destroy the planet?" Amy asked timidly as she stood beside the blue hedgehog.
"I don't judge Shadow for what he was meant to be. I judge him by the way he was. A brave hedgehog who sacrificed himself to save us. That's the Shadow I choose to remember." Sonic responded.
As everyone then began to head out to take the shuttle and go home, with Eggman already beginning to plot another evil scheme as usual, once he had taken his vacation though, Sonic paused turned back into the room and out of the window that viewed his home once more.
"Sayonara, Shadow the Hegdehog..." Sonic whispered in deep respect for a fallen former enemy, who had become a fallen ally. A single tear slid free before he wiped it and the rest away, knowing that there was a thing to do now and crying wasn't going to help. Turning away, he hurried to join his friends as the lights turn off for the last time.
With the past of the Space Colony ARK forever left alone into the darkness.
End of Flash-Back:
"...Shadow sacrificed himself to help me to save Mobius. No one's ever seen him again." Sonic admitted after a moment, tears beginning to well up in his eyes, but he held them back and instead held Tails in his arms as the young fox tried hard not to cry, while Amy was already struggling to hold back her tears, and Vanilla was attempting to comfort her, Cream and Cheese.
"...Poor Shadow." Chris whispered, unable to believe what he was hearing. To think that the black hedgehog was originally made a weapon, instead had become a hero in the end, it must have been hard for Sonic and the others since things had been crazy here on Mobius.
Seeing how even the hero of Mobius looked so sad and even guilt-ridden despite that he tried to hide it for everyone else's sake, the human boy got up from his seat and sat beside the blue hedgehog and two-tailed fox, rubbing both of their backs which surprised them and the others.
"I'm sorry." He whispered with strong sympathy, his heart aching for their loss and struggles. "I wish there was something I could do to help."
"It's not your fault, buddy. But...Thanks." Sonic muttered, smiling in gratitude for the comfort, and Tails nodded in agreement, feeling better with both the blue hedgehog and Chris being there. The girls and chao all smiled tearfully that the young human boy, while not having been there at the time, felt their pain and wanted to help to make them feel better.
After a long moment as the Mobians began to calm down, they continued talking until they noticed that it was starting to get late.
"Heh, I didn't think that today would go by so fast. Still not as fast as me, though." The blue hedgehog remarked, which made his friends all chuckle and giggle at the statement.
"Tomorrow, we should get you all checked in for your new ID and everything you need before we can enroll to one of the Station Square's schools." Tails informed the Earth-Boy who nodded.
"I just hope I don't mess this up. I'm still worried that I might make a mistake and people would get suspicious." Chris said a little nervously.
"It will be alright, Chris. We'll be there in case you need help." Vanilla said kindly.
"She's right, you know." Sonic agreed and his new friend nodded.
After thanking Vanilla, Cream and Cheese once more, Sonic, Tails and Amy bid their farewells to them and Chris before they headed out the door to head back to their houses for the day, though the blue hedgehog decided he would go on another run before heading back home. Before he left the door however, he turned back to the human boy.
"You feeling okay?" Sonic asked softly.
"Yeah, just a little nervous. I'm...I'm gonna miss you, Sonic. I had a lot fun hanging out with you in the last couple of days, even though I know you have all of the hero business and like to go on runs and I'll be at school and stuff..." Chris replied, sighing as he felt the bit of loneliness creep in.
"Hey, I'll be around to hang with ya'. It's not like this is goodbye forever. Plus, I have a feeling you'll be fine at your new school, and Cream, Cheese and Vanilla will keep you company here. Even heroes like me take a break." The blue hedgehog reassured.
"Thanks, Sonic." The human boy replied, feeling a little bit better.
"No problem. And Chris..." The hero of Mobius muttered.
"Hm?"
"Thanks for cheering me and Tails up. You've got a really big heart, pal." Sonic said sincerely.
Chris blinked in surprise, before smiling back and the two shared another bonded hand-shake. Sonic then gave him a two-finger salute, saying. "See you tomorrow."
"Night, Sonic." The twelve year old boy waved, watching as Sonic raced off down the path, while Tails and Amy flew in the X Tornado to drop off the latter to her house before heading back to his own.
"Bye bye, everyone!" Cream waved along with her mother and Cheese.
"Chao, chao." Cheese chirped.
"Alright, dears. I'll begin to prepare dinner, while two you go take a bath and get cleaned up." Vanilla kindly told the two children who nodded.
"Okay, Mama." Cream replied.
"Yes, ma'am." Chris added politely, glad that this usual order was very gentle. Normally he would be harshly told to get cleaned up by his parents and even the house servants. Luckily he did clean up last night, but it would be nice to have another bath.
Bath time and dinner time went along smoothly and while Chris did feel a bit awkward in being in someone else's home, he was welcomed warmly and treated more than a house-guest. He helped with the dishes and cleaning up, then joined Cream in watching animated kids TV shows, and despite that he was a grown kid, he joined her in drawing pictures with crayons which Vanilla happily allowed and improved, before it was time for bed.
Wishing the kind family goodnight, Chris went into the guest room-his room, he reminded himself-and changed into his new simple blue PJs before climbing into bed which was nice, soft and comfortable and laid there to try and get some sleep. He gazed up at the ceiling, feeling a bit lonely without Sonic around. Since waking up in this world and meeting the blue hedgehog for the first time, he had felt safe and happy to be around him. The hero of Mobius was the first friend he ever had.
While Cream was a sweet little kid, Tails and Amy were cool too, and Vanilla was so kind and acted like what he thought a mother should be, the twelve year old boy sighed. He knew he should get some sleep, and he felt tired after another fun day, thankfully without Eggman causing problems, his mind wouldn't shut off into dreamland.
'I really hope I don't mess up while I'm here in Sonic's world. Everybody's been so nice to me. Better than my parents, grandpa, Mr. Tanaka, and Miss Ella have been.' He thought to himself. For the first time in his life, he had been doing things he missed out on most of his life; hanging out with friends, enjoying meals while chatting, learning stories, watching TV, even drawing art without being told that it's supposed to be realistic or that it's not good enough.
He even gave Sonic and Tails comfort when they, Amy, Cream and Cheese felt saddened over the memories of Shadow the Hedgehog's sacrifice.
Sighing once more, Chris sighed as he closed his eyes to try and get some sleep, but began tossing and turning only to open them again as he realized that this was going to be a long night. Then, the door was crept open and, startled in alarm, he relaxed when it was Vanilla who, after checking up on Cream and Cheese in their room, peered through the door, with a gentle but worried expression.
"Oh. I'm sorry, Chris. Did I wake you?" Vanilla whispered, silently approaching the boy in bed.
"Uh, no, Mrs. Vanilla. I was trying to get to sleep, but I was still awake." Chris replied, attempting to settle in. "Sorry. I know I should be resting. It's just...well..."
He sighed as he admitted. "I miss Sonic. Though I know he can't hang around me forever, I...I've never had a friend like him. I never even had friends in my whole life until a couple days ago."
"Poor thing. You must have been lonely in your old home." Vanilla muttered as she sat on the edge of the bed, gently rubbing the boy's arm. "I cannot believe your family could be so harsh on you."
"It's okay, ma'am. It's not your fault. I'm sorry that I'm being a burden to you, especially when you already have Cream and Cheese, and even be so motherly to Sonic, Tails and Amy." The twelve year old boy said, smiling a little weakly before lying his head back onto the pillow.
The elder Mobian rabbit smiled, and responded. "You are not a burden at all, dear. You're such a nice young man who really needs friends and a family to care about you. It's a good thing that Sonic has saved you."
"I really feel like I should thank him for it. And...thanking you and Cream for letting me stay here for a while." The human boy shrugged.
"It's the least we could do, Chris. And don't you worry. You don't have to keep helping just for gratitude. We only want you to be happy and safe, and make your own choices. But do promise me that you will be careful and not do anything reckless, alright?" Vanilla said comfortingly.
His heart swelled up with the warmth of comfort his youngest new friend's mother was giving him; the support of a mother he always wanted from his own family but never got it, rules that were much easier to tolerate and handle that he would follow, and...friends and company that let him be himself, having made him happy and safe already. Letting him choose what he wanted to be, what he wanted to do, and not scold him for his choices of having fun, and in return were grateful for his bravery and kindness, and had worried for his safety but also praised him for his heroics yesterday.
So Chris nodded and replied. "Okay, Mrs. Vanilla. I promise."
Satisfied with his answer, Vanilla pulled the covers up close to the boy's head and to his surprise, gave him a gentle kiss on top of said head and whispered once more. "Thank you, Chris. Goodnight."
"Night, Mrs. Vanilla." Chris replied, blushing a little at the kiss he got, as the nice mother stood up before leaving the room and closed the door behind her to get some sleep. As he laid there, he felt another wave of warmth, kindness, security and freedom wash over him. Despite only having just met her today, Cream's mother had actually kissed him goodnight, tucked him in like he was her own son.
Again things he never got growing up.
Feeling more reassured and knowing that his new friends were once again right, the young Thorndyke closed his eyes in bliss and within moments with those happy thoughts, he drifted off to sleep, and for the first time since beginning his new life here to get his new ID, he couldn't wait for tomorrow and he couldn't wait to go to his new school.
At Sonic's house, the blue hedgehog gazed out of his window with the full moon shining the night sky, giving out white radiant light through out the village and entire land. His thoughts were onto Chris as while he was certain that his new friend was settling into his new temporary home with Vanilla, Cream and Cheese, the hero of Mobius couldn't help but worry about him.
Sonic never thought that he'd grow attached to someone from another world, but he did. Though reliving the days of when Shadow showed up before the Ultimate Life-form sacrificed himself, it made him fear for his new human friend's safety and happiness. He just hoped that Chris would be alright. He thought back to how the poor kid had that awful nightmare the previous night, how Chris and even Eggman had similar family problems.
Though to be fair, Eggman didn't seem to have met his grandpa, who had been busy trying to cure his granddaughter, who was also the evil scientist's really sick but kind-heartened cousin, and the best friend of her grandfather's creation, yet her death by the hands of the back-then corrupted government shattered that harmony and bond, driving Gerald Robotnik to losing his mind in grief and almost destroyed the world.
Chris on the other hand had it worst off; his parents and grandfather never loved him. They only cared about him being their future for survival only to drive him away from his own home, treating him like he was a robot. Plus the things people on Earth did...it was half-construct to what humanity did here in Mobius.
"Hope Chris doesn't have anymore nightmares. Eggman's a big pain in the butt as it is, and he's everybody's nightmare. Maybe I should check on him in a few hours." Sonic whispered to himself, before yawning and then settled into his bed, covering himself in his blanket and turned off the night-light, tucking himself in.
The blue hedgehog looked out of the window once more, thinking about his new human friend.
"Don't worry, Chris. I promise, you'll have the kind of life you always want...ed...Zzzzzzz..." Sonic trailed off as his tired eyes slid closed and he dozed off to sleep, warm, safe and comfortable while his mind began to switch off into dreamland.
Two weeks later...
"You doin' okay, buddy?" Asked Sonic as he and Chris walked together through out the streets of Station Square, the latter carrying a new school bag on his back with everything he needed.
"Y-yeah, I'm okay. Just a little nervous." Chris replied, with a tiny sweat drop on his head.
After settling into Cream's house, Chris had joined his new temporary family along with his new friends to get himself personalized as a citizen of Mobius, having his photo taken in his casual clothes, answering questions while almost making a slip on his origins, but thankfully the organizers didn't catch on and within a week, his new ID was handed out, and was placed under the legal guardianship of Vanilla and her family. During the second week here on Mobius, everyone searched for the best but not too expensive school to get him enrolled for casual students and finally found one.
Which was where the group were heading to right now. Needless to stay, the twelve year boy was excited to finally start his new school even though schools were always boring, but was nervous and hoped that wouldn't make an embarrassment of himself. Yesterday they went into the enrollment meeting with Vanilla to get him settled in and that the motherly rabbit agreed to attend parent-teacher meetings in the future, given a tour around the school which was casual and normal, with boys and girls together, the classes he would attend like maths, English, everything that most schools had on Earth.
Today was his first day as a full-time student, and that was why he was nervous. Most of his time was at the boys-only school and he had to wear those itchy and uncomfortable uniforms. At least here, he can wear casual school clothes as long as it was neat but not too fancy.
"You'll be okay. Just remember to remain calm and be yourself." Sonic reassured and encouraged. Though he could understand why his friend was nervous; being a free adventurer, the hero of Mobius himself never had to attend any schools and learned along the way. Thankfully Chris had the idea to do a bit of home study to get a head-start and memorize everything he learned so far here in this world, and Vanilla granted him much needed breaks for free and fun time, and even let him read interesting fiction books.
Something that Chris really enjoyed. In fact, he was pleased that even the fairytales like Aladdin and the Magic Lamp existed here in Mobius like they did on Earth, and Sonic wondered if everything between the two worlds were exactly the same beside the different names of countries and histories, and the lack of talking animals in the human boy's world.
"Thanks, Sonic. I'll try my best." The twelve year old boy smiled.
"Atta boy." The blue hedgehog praised as the two now stood in front of the school gates, right on time and even a few minutes later where the other human kids, seeing him, all smiled in delight to see the hero be here again and wondered if the new kid had been lucky to get his autograph.
"Well...here goes." Chris breathed, smiling at his new friend. "Guess I'll see you later."
"Later, Chris. I'll pick you up after school, and if I'm not here on top due to you-know-who, either call Tails, Amy or Mrs. Vanilla, okay?" Sonic waved at his friend.
Nodding with a promise that he would, the human boy then began to approach the building and mentally told himself to act like this was his old school back on Earth. He looked over his shoulder to gaze at the blue hedgehog who gave him an encouraging wink and thumbs up, then he smiled back and turned around to head into the building.
"Hey there!" An unfamiliar boy's voice called up from his left, causing Chris to look to see a dark-skinned boy same age as hime with dark hair, brown eyes, green jacket and white shirt with dark blue pants and shoes, and a girl with short ginger hair, blue eyes, freckles, a teal blue sleeveless shirt with peach-red suspenders with pants, white socks and shoes, approach him.
"Hi, are you the new kid from yesterday?" The girl asked friendly.
"Uh, yeah. Sure am." Chris replied, a tad nervously but surprised that a couple of kids had approached him already.
"That's so cool, especially when you're a friend of Sonic the Hedgehog, the awesome hero of Mobius. How did you guys meet?" The other boy asked.
"Well, I don't exactly remember. All I know is that he saved me from Dr. Eggman. Other than that, I lost my memories, so I've been living with Mrs. Vanilla for the last couple of weeks." The Earth-Boy answered, with a bit of a lie that he hoped sounded very convincing.
"You mean you don't remember who your parents are or anything like that?" The girl asked, as she and her friend were shocked to hear this.
The young Thorndyke shrugged sadly. "Yeah, unfortunately. I don't even know where I came from, except that my files say that I came from Westopolis."
"That's too bad." The girl muttered, feeling sorry for the boy.
"Sorry, man. Must be tough having amnesia." The other boy added with feeling.
Chris shook his head. "It's okay. Sonic, Mrs. Vanilla and everybody else had been so nice to me."
"Maybe we can help you too." The other boy suggested after he and his friend shared a glance, feeling sorry for the new school boy.
"You wanna hang out with us?" The girl asked.
The young Thorndyke's eyes widened in surprise. These guys, humans like him but were born here on Mobius, actually wanted him to hang out with them! He was already making new human friends and he didn't even reach class yet. Excited and happy he nodded.
"Sure, I'd love to!" Chris replied.
"Awesome!" The two other kids cheered, leading their newly made friend into the school.
"My name's Daniel, Danny for sort." The other boy, Danny, introduced himself.
"My name's Francies." The girl, Francies, added. "What's your name?"
"My name's Chris; sort for Christopher." Chris replied, feeling even more comfortable now as he joined his new class-mates and even more new friends.
As the three kids talked and chatted with the Earth-Boy being very comfortable for having already making his first school friends, Sonic smiled proudly in relief to see his human friend settling into the new life.
"Way to go, buddy. I knew you'd be alright." The blue hedgehog praised silently to himself, then dashed off to secretly observe Chris to make sure he was comfortable at school for a little while.
Though from the looks of it, things were going along fine already.
A/N: Did the best I could with Chris settling into living with Vanilla, Cream and Cheese, and that he is beginning his first day in school on Mobius. Will things continue to go smoothly? Only time will tell.
Also, as this is an AU story, the events of Sonic Adventure 2 have passed and I changed it to Sonic not being wrongly accused or arrested or even nearly blown up, yet in this time-line, the events of the first Sonic Adventure hasn't happened yet and may be included in this story and I may also include Shadow as well. Just a heads up so that nobody would get confused.
See you later!