Chapter 7: The Last Year of Peace

Sonic awoke to find himself in a dark place. He called to the darkness, but all he heard was his own voice echoing back.

Suddenly, a woman screamed in pain. "That voice…" Sonic thought. "Amy? Is that you?"

He heard the scream again, but it was close. He turned around to the source of the scream, but what he saw next scared him out of his wits.

What he saw was Amy, crying over a tombstone. On the tombstone was written, Rest in Peace Sonic the Hedgehog.

"Is that…my grave? Am I…dead? That can't be right…I'm still here, right?"

Suddenly, Amy's head turned a full 180 degrees around. The thing that looked like Amy then smiled and laughed.

"You fool…" it said in a demonic voice. "This is not just a dream…it is your fate…I will make sure of that…"

At that point, Sonic woke up. Scared half to death, he sighed in relief that it was a dream.

"What the hell was that about?" Sonic thought. "Wait a minute… Where am I now?"

Looking around, Sonic found himself in a small hospital room. His arm was bandaged from the shoulder down, and an IV was in a different arm giving him nutrients.

Before he could move, Amy walked into the room. "Hey, Sonic! Looks like you're feeling better," she said with a smile.

"Oh, hey, Amy. Where's everyone else? Are they okay?"

"Don't worry about it, my little Sonikku," said Amy, cuddling Sonic. "Everyone else is fine; we've all been worrying about you!"

"Thanks, Amy," said Sonic, returning the embrace. "I knew you would be here for me."

"It's not just me, silly," said Amy. "We're all here for you!"

Just then, Tails, Blaze, Knuckles, Rouge, and their children walked in the room. Everyone was not only happy, but relieved that Sonic survived at all. Sonic had been hospitalized for 2 weeks, so their concern was genuine. After some rejoicing and get well soon gifts, everyone except Knuckles left the room.

"What's up, Knuckles?" Sonic asked. "You look scared; are you okay?"

"Sonic, I didn't intend to end up rescuing you 2 weeks ago. I came to warn you about something."

"Warn me? Warn me about what?"

Knuckles then explained the odd vision he had on Angel Island. It actually shocked Sonic a bit; the thought of something that powerful made his spines stand up on end.

"So, we only have one more year of peace?" Sonic said.

"Unfortunately, yes."

With those words, Knuckles left. Sonic, uneasy about Knuckles' vision and his own, began to plan how he would spend the last year of peace.