Chapter 5 Back in Sonic's World
"So all this time, we'd had one." Shadow spoke as he examined the jewel, dangling from my necklace chain that he held in his right hand. "Where did you get this?" He asked afterward.
After another school incident, we all teleported secretly to a place where we could rest, yet, without being bothered by teenagers, teachers, police, or any other people who would get spacious and ask many questions. In this case, we teleported to the park.
When we had gotten here, Shadow wanted to see my gemstone on my necklace, which isn't what it really seems to be. It was a Harmonic Iridescent, one of the new powerful multicolored gems found in my world. Both Shadow and I sat by each other by the nearest park bench by the playground, discussing about it.
When Shadow just asked me the question, I heard Chelsea laughing happily in the background. I turned around for a split second to see what was going on.
Of course she was on the swings, and Sonic was doing the kindness of repeating to push her on one of them. He didn't look bothered while he did so; he always has a grin on his face.
I saw Dylan chilling out on the jungle gyms, texting on his phone. He's probably replying to almost all his friends that texted of what's happening, and probably telling them that he'll be away for a little while. For him not taking any eyes off the device, he really must be receiving a lot of texts.
As I turned back to look at Shadow on the park bench, I saw Trevor walking pass us again, pacing back and forth nearby the bench while texting on his phone as well. He might be texting his girlfriend, Brittney.
"I got it as a Christmas present from my grandparents." I finally answered the black hedgehog. "The jewel was supposed to be fake, but somehow it turns out that it's one of the new gems that Eggman's collecting, a Harmonic Iridescent."
"…Opposite from our Chaos Emeralds." Shadow said softly, not leaving his eyes off the gemstone. "Instead of causing chaos and destruction, it causes peace and harmony to its surroundings, like what the Doctor said. In each of these jewels, they have power of seven Chaos Emeralds combined. If seven or more of these jewels join; imagine what will happen."
"And imagine if the seven Chaos Emeralds were included." I spoke quietly with nervousness trembling in my voice, thinking of what will happen. If Eggman gotten a hold of all these gems, then he'll mess up our worlds just like combining and mixing two different colors of Play-Doh. Everything will turn chaotic. And it will only worsen when Eggman goes into reign.
"We better get going and use this to get back to my world, before Eggman gets a head start." He handed my necklace back to me. As the jewel was dropped onto my palm of my hand, relaxation was spread across my body. Shadow got up from the bench and was about to head back towards the playground. I got up as well, and hurried to stop him by grabbing on to his arm. He glanced at me with a surprised stare.
"Don't you want to keep it?" I asked him eagerly. "I'm afraid I might lose it or let it get stolen. What about—" Shadow made a soft laugh.
"Courtney, it's yours. Obliviously you won't lose it; it'll be chained around your neck."
I sighed, and then I continued. "I'm just afraid of the same thing that happened at the dance. The ring that Sonic gave me slipped off my wrist and got taken from those people. I just…I just don't want to make the same mistake."
Shadow made a small smile. "Courtney, it's less of a mistake, more of an accident." He told me, and then his smile faded to his usual frown. "Which reminds me…if I do see those people who stolen that ring from you, they'll regret stealing it in the first place."
I looked at the black hedgehog blankly for a sec, and then looked at the ground as a short laugh escaped my mouth instead of a 'thank you'. I let go of Shadow's arm.
Geez, you don't have to do that, Shadow…I have enough anger in me to take those people on my own…
As Shadow and I walked into the playground, I headed to my best friend to see how he's doing. Obviously he was still texting.
"Hey Dylan." I said his name with a small smile on my face.
"Hey." He replied without looking at me. He was pressing buttons on his phone in quick speeds before it vibrated again. I continued to watch him do that repeatedly for a few minutes, that is, till he decided to turn off his phone.
"Never again should I text that many people at once." He facepalmed. Then he slid down his hand down his face tiredly.
"How many of your friends were texting you?" I questioned him.
"Too many to count." He replied after he'd made a long sigh. "Mostly I was texting my close friends, but then out of the blue, more friends texted me. I never knew that this many people will text me, worry about me, care about me…"
He got down from one of the bars that he was sitting at on the jungle gyms, and jumped on the woodchiped ground, close to me. I looked again at him with the same smile I had given him earlier.
"What can I say; you're a popular guy." I told him while I huddled my arms in my ivy green jacket as a cold February wind blew against me. I walked around pacing slowly in a small circle, kicking some woodchips on the ground, and also looking at the warm tangerine sky of a sunset.
"At times I wish I have many friends. With if I had many, I will be busy all the time…having fun…But wait…what am I saying?" I closed my eyes and shook my head slowly in disbelief. "Why would I need more, I enjoy the company that I have!"
Dylan laughed as he walked to me and placed a hand on my left shoulder. "I was about to say! Seeing you with many people, that will be surprising for a quiet girl like you."
I turned to him while my smile turned embarrassed. "Yeah. The fact of crowds is what changed my mind."
"Everyone, gather up!" I heard Shadow's yell at the middle of the playground. When we looked over, we saw everyone stopping of what they were doing, and walked over to the middle of the wide space of the play area. While walking over, I heard Chelsea whining that she didn't want to stop swinging. I made a soft giggle.
"So? What's the plan, Shads?" Sonic asked while he came and stood by me in the circle of friends. Shadow looked at him without an angry face, for once.
"All of us are going to teleport to Green Hill Zone, and see of what we'll accomplish from there. And while being in that location, we might have to go to your fox friend for a bit of technology. Obviously, we always need special equipment." The black hedgehog explained.
All of us made a nod except for Chelsea, who just randomly looked at Shadow confused. I looked at the orange sky again and thought of the last time being in Sonic's world, a wondrous, beautiful, utopian place that you can roam about and travel everywhere in. I wonder if I will get to see Bloom City again, or ever get the chance to have fun in Casino Park, or any other places. In other words, I was excited to go back. And I bet Dylan was too, for him to talk about it to me over and over after our first adventure.
"What's Green Hill Zone?" I then heard Chelsea ask everyone.
"You'll see." Sonic answered shortly to Chelsea's question with a grin plastered on his face. Then both hedgehogs looked over to me, scary that they were both smiling.
"It's time." Shadow made a nod.
I didn't know how or what to make a teleporting portal, but if Eggman did it without any trouble, so can I. I placed both of my hands on the back of my neck and unchained my necklace, and then I walked towards the center while Shadow took a few steps back so I could have room. I raised the jewel high in the air, and thought about the place that Sonic had his first adventure. About a few seconds, multicolor sparks appeared where the Iridescent was. While it continued to produce more, I also took a few steps back.
A few more sparks later, a bright multicolor portal appeared right before our eyes, a circler vortex ready to consume us and let us enter the utopian world of Sonic's.
When my excitement took over me, my body now had a mind of its own and started walking back towards the portal. Nobody nor did I stop myself.
As I finally touched and went into the bright colorful entrance, I closed my eyes so that I will not to be blind from all the flashy colors that teleported me. But as I opened my eyes again, a bunch of green trees and plants surrounded me. I then noticed that I was in same forest that I was in twice before, the forest that leads into the Green Hill Zone. I inhaled a bunch of air around me, and slowly exhaled by leaving a big grin on my face.
I'm back!
Behind me I heard my friends entering out of the portal. When I turned and saw Dylan entering out, he was back into his orange hedgehog form, like I remembered when he was here.
I instantly gasped and looked down at my now smaller body, seeing that my shoes, jeans, shirt, and jacket were now shrunk. And my hands were gloved now. Our bodies are used to this world now, and because of that, we don't have to adapt to it again. But that's not a problem. I kind of missed being a hedgehog.
"Court!" Dylan pointed at me, as if I didn't know that I was back being a hedgehog. I did the same with him.
When Chelsea and Trevor gotten here, it made me feel a little bit awkward. They were still human and they were bigger than us. I wonder if Sonic felt the same way whenever he met humans. But besides that, what will happen after three days of them being here? Hopefully they'll change like we did.
"Huh? Where are Courtney and Dylan?" Chelsea asked out loud. Trevor instantly started to look around the forest, thinking that we teleported someplace else.
Me and Dylan both laughed and waved at them till they finally figured it out.
"Court? Dylan…? Oh my gosh!" Was Chelsea's response. She held both hands to her mouth and looked at us wide-eyed. Trevor just stood and looked at us with a shocked face, kind of similar to Chelsea's.
And what happened next…well…Chelsea ran up and hugged me, telling me how cute I looked. And Trevor immediately came to Dylan and told him how cool he looked and asked if he would get to change like that too. After Chelsea finally released me from her hug, I walked to Trevor, crossed my arms, and tapped my right foot impatiently on the grass.
"What?" He looked at me uncertain. "Did I do something wrong? By the way you look pretty cute this way."
I ignored his last comment. "You said this world didn't exist, also weeks before, you said you didn't believe that we were hedgehogs."
"So what are you asking?" He gave me smile, a certain smile of his which scares me half the time.
"An apology." I answered simple and quickly.
"Will a hug work? A looong hug?"
My right eye twitched a little, and made two steps back. Big steps. "Know what? Never mind."
Before Trevor ever gotten the chance to get a hold of me, I escaped to where Sonic was at. He was a little far, but I could see him. He was in the exact spot they we both overlooked the entire zone of Green Hill Zone; also this was the exact spot of which we both fled downhill and took me through the whole course.
"Hey Sonic." I made a little wave as I walked to his side. He looked at me with his usual grin of his, and then looked back at the green hilly view ahead of him.
"Remember what happened here?" He asked me, and then continued. "We both ran downhill together and made you experience Green Hill Zone. Haha! I remember you we're so scared!"
I turned embarrassed once more. "W-Well, I bet you were scared on your first time!" I spat out as I pointed at him, but he snickered.
"For the first time I went down there, I was only a little guy. But I do admit I was scared, but as I went through it, there wasn't anything to be scared about. It turned out to be thrilling and fun! Honestly…I'm kinda happy Egghead showed up…Without him making a troublesome appearance, I wouldn't be going on these fun journeys and adventures! Plus saving everybody at the end makes it all worth while."
Slowly my anger disappeared as a smile formed on my face again, after hearing what he had said. How can you stay mad at Sonic?
"I'm happy that you enjoy your life so much."
Sonic chuckled and turned to look at me again, still grinning. "You have to live your life to the fullest. You can't just stand there and be afraid while everything good passes you by. You'll miss out."
I closed my eyes as a nice cool spring-like breeze passed by in this area, blowing against the trees as well Sonic and I. While enjoying it, I thought about what Sonic said. He had a point. Almost half of my life, I just stood there afraid what will happen while most good things were just passing by. I would've met new people and done many things. But the only thing that was stopping me from doing such was my shyness. I need to learn how to break it one way or another…
As soon as the breeze stopped I opened my eyes, and saw Sonic still looking at me. I would've thought that he'll be enjoying that nice cool air too. But then I thought, I think he gets lots of air already, with him running as fast as he does. After all, he is the wind.
"Wanna go down there together like last time?" He smirked this time, as held out a hand to me. "Unless you're scared again?" He then joked around.
I made a short laugh and took his hand. Unknowingly, he quickly grabbed hold of my form and was beginning to walk fast, getting close to the steepness of the grassy hill.
"You know I'm not human anymore, I can just run beside you." I rolled my eyes at him.
"Heh heh, then it wouldn't be much of a ride! Remember, faster than the speed of sound?"
Before I had the chance to reply, we were flying down the hill already. As we traveled down, I don't remember us going this fast. Ha. Nice try for trying to scare me, Sonic, even though I held on for my dear life.
As the rollercoaster of a hill ended, we didn't stop and went through the course with the same exact speed that Sonic was using down the hill. When obstacles appeared, he quickly dodged whenever he was close to ramming into them.
"Nice try." I stuck out my tongue at him.
"But look, the loop!" He nodded at the big corkscrewed landmark ahead of us. As he sped up and ran up around it, I cheered all the way through. When that was done, Sonic slowed to a stop and let me go.
"I say, I'm impressed!" He gave me a thumbs up with an included proud smile. "You have changed since the last adventure. I think you're ready!"
I made a nod as I smiled along too. "Always have been."
In the distance, I heard an angry yell and other chattering nearby where the forest and the hill was. We looked back and saw that our group far away walking towards us; I also saw a flash of green light in the middle of the group.
"Sonic, I think Shadow's after you…" I warned, but there was no answer. Looking back, I saw Sonic about a mile away, dashing away from trouble. Later, the green light appeared once more, and Shadow was on the move to catch the blue blur. I laughed the sight.
"Things never change."
Back in front, I saw that Chelsea and Trevor had stopped, and saw them both looking and cheering at Dylan showing off of what he could do in his hedgehog form. I laughed again.
I had a feeling this adventure will be greater than the last.