Sonic leaned against the wall casually, arms crossed, tapping impatiently. Managing a race? Right up his alley. Waiting for a bunch of distracted kids to gather at the starting line? Testing. A wolf pup wandered off, following a scent. His mother picked him up and led him back into place. A young hawk kicked at the ground absently.
A little hedgehog stood at the line, more focused than the rest, but not by much. Sonic chuckled to himself. At least someone was on task. Not that a little kid's fun day had very high stakes. He looked over at Tails, who was having a little trouble getting the tape at the finish line to stay. Almost the moment Sonic turned his head, something suddenly dawned on him. He snapped his head back toward the little hedgehog. The little white-furred hedgehog, with wide golden eyes and quills that stuck up from his head at every possible angle.
The blue hedgehog mumbled to himself, "What? Is that-"
"Sonic! We're ready when you are!" Tails nodded toward the finish line.
Shrugging off the surprise, Sonic took his place across from Tails. "Ready kiddos?"
The parents cheered enthusiastically. The kids stared blankly at the track.
"On your marks! Get set! Go!"
And off they went, some running full speed, others wandering along without a care in the world. Leading the pack was a hedgehog with messy green quills. He practically flew across the finish line, throwing his arms out joyfully as he did so. The hawk girl was right on his heels. Most of the runners crossed in a pack, kicking up dust as they went. And trailing behind was that same little hedgehog, quills now a dusty beige. He didn't seem even slightly bothered by his placing securely in 8th and final place. By the time he crossed the line, Tails was already running off to retrieve the box of prizes.
While all the other kids had run off to play, the hoglet had vanished into the crowd. Sonic looked around, trying to find out if his guess was correct. Could that kid actually be the very same hedgehog he had fought all those years ago? The prodigy with power beyond his age who grew up to fight at Sonic's side as allies? Although, he couldn't imagine a kid so stubborn and spirited being so unfazed at losing a race. Was that really him? Was that Silver?
Sonic scanned through the throng of mobians again. Years of fighting badniks led to him startling at the sight of an E-Series among the crowd. It took him a second to notice the tiny kid stretching his arms out to the huge machine. As the robot lifted the kid to his shoulder, Sonic recognized something distinct. The kid's quills and the symbol painted onto the robot's shoulder. That was indeed the kid he had been looking for. And that robot was none other than E-123 Omega.
Shock shot through Sonic's mind. Omega. Rogue badnik turned trigger-happy member of Team Dark. Babysitting a little Silver. Bringing him to a summer festival. Sonic wracked his brain, trying to come up with some logic to explain the sight. The only people he could think of who would trust Omega to tend to their kid would be either Shadow or Rouge. But if the kid is Silver? Did either of them have kids? He hadn't seen them in how long? Quite a few years. Sonic tapped his foot, thinking. He had some old friends to visit.
Notes: Yep, Sonic's here. This isn't too far in the future. Might not fit the canon timeline, but that's what happened in the dream that inspired this. Let's just call it an AU.