Author's Note: Sorry that the last chapter wasn't as good as I had hoped and for the long delay for it. I will try my best with the future chapters of this story as we move along.

Anyhow, hopefully this chapter will 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 14: Hopeful Requests.

Back in Sonic's Dimension-Three days after the Banana Festival...

Three days have passed since Eggman's latest attack, and things were relatively calm once more. However, things were still not adding up to the whole scenario with what was happening with Chris or what was going on. Sonic still couldn't stop thinking about it and his concerns for his friends and for the world only increased. None the less, until they had more evidence, things were as normal as they could get.

At this moment, the twelve year old Earth-Boy was walking along the Silver Valley Lake's shores, while given the time and freedom to be on his own with a caution to watch out for Eggman which he promised that he will be careful. Tails even given him and everyone else new communicator watches to keep track(though Sonic would turn off his if there was a call from Amy).

"Sure is a really nice place here. Sonic's right; Silver Valley is beautiful and calming." Chris thought to himself with a smile, despite that he was worried about his increasing new 'powers', but so far it was relaxing to just take a jog and admire the scenery.

The trees were nice and green as was the grass patches, the water on the lake was crystal clear, the rock formations were pretty cool, the waterfall and river was pretty to look at, the forest all around looked like the forests in Canada he has seen in pictures in geography classes back on Earth. Somehow, the forests in Mobius were much better. The twelve year old Thorndyke paused and looked up at the sky, which was really blue and the clouds were white and fluffy like marshmallows.

"Sure would be a perfect day to go on a picnic. Wonder if the others would agree to coming here for one sometime?" Chris wondered, shielding his eyes with his hand.

His thoughts were interrupted when heard the some of wheels spinning, confusing the boy as he looked to his left to see what was going on. Cars or a motor cycle, maybe? What would they be doing here? However, both guesses were wrong as near the shore of the lake in the muddy patch was a girl, twelve years of age he guessed or perhaps a year younger, with blonde hair that stopped just a little over her shoulders, blue eyes, wearing a pink dress with white short sleeves and matching shoes, and to his concern, she was in a powered-wheelchair which was stuck no matter how hard she pushed the handle to get herself out.

Seeing how the girl, who strangely looked familiar, struggled to get out of the mud, Chris quickly hurried over to help her out and pushed the wheelchair out of the mud. "Here, let me help ya'."

Surprised at first, the girl looked over her shoulder and saw that it was a young boy close to her age and found that he had helped her out. "Wow, thank you." She then somehow recognized him and beamed slightly. "Oh! You must be Chris, the new boy at school."

"You know my name?" Chris blinked, surprised.

"Of course. I've seen you hang out with Francies and Danny." The young girl replied with a cheerful smile. "I also saw you on TV when you, Sonic, Cream, Tails and Amy performed at the Music Fair weeks ago. You have a wonderful singing and guitar-playing talent."

"Uh...T-Thanks. It was nothing much, really. I just had practice." The twelve year old boy blushed a little, finding himself a little embarrassed over the compliment of his newfound talents. "Anyway, what's your name?"

"I'm Helen." The blonde-haired girl, Helen, replied.

"Helen..." Chris repeated slowly, as he felt that he heard that name before. In fact, now that he got a good look at her, she somehow looked familiar too besides that they went the same school together. It then came to him as he softly gasped, remembering why he had seen her before.


Flash-Back: One Chris' second day of school...

With yesterday's incident behind them and Chris a little worried about how he somehow gained new healing abilities, he was glad that his new school friends Danny and Francies weren't scared of him. In fact, they thought it was cool and after he admitted where he really came from yet not having any idea why he has Chaos Energy now, they were stunned at first, but ultimately decided to keep it a secret and to help him gain a normalish life.

So after today's sessions which ended normally with no Eggman to ruin it, the three kids were just about to exit to head back home with Chris waiting for Sonic or Vanilla to arrive when he and his two new classmates noticed, unknowingly to him at the time, Helen with a bit of a sad look, and a taller woman, about in her mid-thirties with long brown hair tied up in a ponytail, and a super fancy outfit which reminded him of his own mother back in New York.

'Whoa...' The twelve year old boy muttered and while he couldn't help but wonder why she looked so sad and alarmingly a bit exhausted, he felt an odd tingly feeling in his insides. While he knew he had to be careful, and some of the girls here including new his friend Francies were pretty, the blonde-haired girl was just...very pretty.

"What's the matter, Chris?" Francies asked as she and Danny noticed their new friend's somewhat dazed look.

"Oh, sorry. It's just...well...Who's that girl over there?" Chris sheepishly apologized, realizing that he was staring at the wheelchair girl which was rude and he felt bad about it.

"Huh?" Both Mobius-Human kids muttered, before noticing and their eyes widened as they recognized the girl who was lowering her gaze in sadness as the older woman was speaking to her, looking quite annoyed, if not angry for some reason.

"Hey, that's Helen. I thought she was supposed to have come back to school earlier today." Danny remarked, before cringing. "Ugh, and her aunt is here too."

"Oh...Not again." Francies sighed as she almost immediately realized what was going on.

"Huh?" Chris muttered, confused and concerned, wondering what was going on. "What's wrong? And, why is the lady yelling at her?"

"That's Helen, she's a friend of ours. Even though she has problems due to, well, her legs being paralyzed that she can't walk and needs medical treatments, she tries to be cheerful." Danny explained, lowering his gaze with sympathy and worry. "Though she's been suffering more problems than that."

"What do you mean?" The Earth-Boy asked, growing concerned.

"That lady over there is her aunt, who isn't the nicest person in town." Francies explained, sighing with sadness.

"Helen's parents try to do their best for her and medication costs a lot of money, so they work extra hard with their jobs, but they can't be around her all the time. So her aunt is supposed to take care of her but...she hates doing it." Danny explained after a hesitant moment of silence.

"She always blames Helen's parents for being forced in taking care of her which it makes her think it ruins her image." The twelve year old girl sighed, shaking her head as she and the others sadly watched Helen being wrongly berated before being lead by her mean aunt down the street.

"Always busy with her job and make-up and she hates the fact that poor Helen can't walk." Danny concluded.

"That's not fair!" Chris softly exclaimed in shock, his eyes wide as he was unable to believe what he was hearing. A girl who was paralyzed in the legs and her parents try to do their best with her, yet her aunt only cared about herself? He began to feel even more guilty since he ran away from a life which, while his own family were forceful and horrible, at least he could walk. But still...

Even though they were both different, the twelve year old boy could already tell that he and Helen had something in common even though like Cream she had caring parents who are trying their best with her, yet her aunt was almost as bad as his parents and grandfather.


End of Flash-Back:

"I remember now! Francies and Danny told me about you." Chris realized.

"I thought as much...though you kinda forgot, didn't you?" Helen teasingly pouted, making the boy flinch and sweat drop apologetically.

"Right...Sorry 'bout that." The young Thorndyke sheepishly chuckled.

The young girl giggled, reassuring him. "It's okay. I'm not mad."

The two children just smiled and laughed, before the twelve year old boy asked. "So what brings you here, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I come here all the time. See that island over there?" Helen looked up ahead and when Chris did, she continued. "I love looking at it. My father says that it has a field with the most beautiful flowers."

"I think Sonic and Mrs. Vanilla told me about it once." The Earth-Boy recalled thoughtfully, remembering some of the stories that his friends and current care-taker mentioned quite a lot and to him they were always fascinating.

The twelve year old Mobian-Human girl nodded, not surprised given that she has seen him with Sonic and the others weeks ago. "My Dad and Mother have been there a few times before I was born. They've always promised that they would take me, but...they're usually so busy."

"Hasn't...your aunt considered on taking you?" Chris asked, hesitantly.

Helen shook her head in sadness. "No. My Aunt Susan's the complete opposite to my father. She hates even going on picnics and would rather go to expensive fancy restaruants. She doesn't even like taking care of me and tells me that I should act like a lady and dress like one instead of coming here to marvel at flowers."

'That's awful. Her aunt's a whole lot like my own mom.' Chris thought to himself with sympathy, saddened that he and his new friend have one thing in common.

On top of everything else, since Helen couldn't walk, she was unable to even use a rowboat to get herself to the island and see for herself. It made him feel incredibly sorry for her and wished there was something he could do to cheer her up before an idea formed in his mind.

"Maybe I can take you." He suggested with a soft smile, surprising her as she looked up at him. "How about, if we're not busy, on this Saturday afternoon I can get us there so you can finally see those flowers? How does that sound?"

"Really?" Helen blinked at such kindness this boy she just met was displaying.

"Yeah, you bet! What do you say? You wanna go see the flowers?" Chris nodded.

Even though they had only just met, Helen already sensed that the young Thorndyke was really sweet and kind, it was no wonder he was living with Vanilla with the rumors of him having amnesia, and being friends with Sonic the Hedgehog as well as Francies and Danny. Plus, she had to admit, the boy looked really cute and handsome.

"Yes, I do. Thank you, Chris." Helen nodded, smiling as she and her newly made friend shook hands that symbolized their friendship.


By the time Chris went home after saying goodbye to Helen who made her way back as well to meet with her parents, and unfortunately her horrible aunt, the Earth-Boy felt calmer and more happier. He made another new friend and even planned on hanging with her if he had the time.

"Mrs. Vanilla, Cream and Cheese, I'm back." Chris announced as he stepped through the door of his temporary home, which was a lot better in coming back to then returning to his home in the Thorndyke Mansion on Earth.

"Hello, Chris! Welcome home." Cream greeted happily as she and Cheese hurried over to their human friend and gave him a great big hug which made the young Thorndyke laugh while keeping his balance, hugging them both back too, and gently rubbing both the little girl's back and the back of the Chao's head which made Cheese chirp happily.

"Thanks, Cream." The twelve year old boy smiled, the warm feeling flowing inside made him feel so happy. Never in his life did he get a greeting like this even from his own grandfather. 'Man, coming home like this sure does relax me even more. I could really get used to it.'

Though he then realized what his friend said and what he just thought. Home...Was it really okay to call this new world home? Did he even...want to go back to Earth someday? It still felt awkward to be on a new planet full of not just talking alien animals who lived life casually besides the usual threats of Dr. Eggman, but humans as well who had zero idea of their Earth-Counterparts.

"Chris, welcome back. Did you enjoy your walk? I hope you didn't run into trouble." Vanilla greeted as she approached.

"Thanks, Mrs. Vanilla, and I sure did. It helped me be calm and no, I didn't run into trouble. But I did meet up with one of my classmates, Helen." Chris explained, mentally staking away those uneasy feelings for now, surprising his caretaker and friends slightly.

Around an hour later after he and Cream cleaned themselves up and helped the latter's mother to make dinner of cottage pie, which Chris found was delicious despite the vegetables, but he didn't complain, he explained his little adventure in meeting Helen and her wish to see the flowers on the island. But he didn't mention anything about her rude aunt and was kind enough to point out that her parents did love her, they were just really busy.

"I wish I could meet Helen. She sounds really nice." Cream remarked.

"Chao Chao." Cheese agreed.

"I agree. She sounds like a lovely girl." Vanilla nodded.

"Yeah, so I was wondering, if it's okay with you Mrs. Vanilla. Can I join her to go to the Island to see the flowers, please?" Chris asked, shyly and somewhat nervously, half expecting to get a no. But surprisingly, he didn't.

"I don't see why not. When when you like to go?" The kindly mother rabbit replied.

"This Saturday afternoon." The boy replied, shrugging.

While surprised, Cream and her mother knew that the boy did need more time to be a normal child given the situation and so far despite Chris' unusual Chaos Energy as well as the threats of Dr. Eggman, both decided that a little adventure on the island with another friend would do Chris a world of good.

"Of course you can, sweetie. Just don't stay up late, and I'm sure Sonic and the others will allow it." Vanilla agreed to the request.

"Really? You mean it?" Chris asked, surprised and happily.

"Yes. After all, it would also be good for you to have a little more time with your friends from school, and gets you to see more of the outdoors." She giggled.

"Uh-huh. It's better to go outside and play with all of your friends, and flowers make everybody happy." Cream added with a cute beaming smile.

It was almost like a dream come true. All the weeks he's spent here in this world despite being care for by Mobians, Chris felt that his life was really starting to get much better and being granted permission to actually hang out with friends, go out and explore, everything he had been denied of for so long was surreal.

Though that left with asking permission from Sonic and everybody else.


The next day after school, Chris met up with Sonic, Tails and Amy and told them what he told Vanilla, and asked if he could spend the Saturday off to hang out with Helen, even though he knew that it was a bit of a risk and worried that he would be denied of it despite that his caretaker granted his permission. On the contrary of his past, the response he got was the same or at least similar to Vanilla's permission.

"You should go." Sonic replied without hesitation with a smile, his hands on his hips.

"Are you sure it's okay?" Chris asked.

"Mm-hm. Yeah, absolutely, pal. A lot of crazy stuff aside in the last few weeks, you shouldn't let any of that stop ya' from having fun. I know I don't." The hero of Mobius nodded.

"And it's normal hanging out with friends, especially on a boat in a lake." Tails added encouragingly.

"Guess that's true. I've never even had a Saturday off before." The Earth-Boy agreed, scratching the side of his face, though the statement shocked his Mobian friends who gasped, before groaning knowingly.

"Don't tell me: Your folks and grandpa made you do stuff even on the weekends, right?" Sonic groaned in annoyance, facepalming himself with a shrug.

Chris sighed, groaning over the memories of those times. "I had to attend Weekend Classes at School. It was a thing they actually invented and some of the other rich people made their kids go for it too. We even had to attend Summer Classes and on Valetine's Day, I had to dance with the girls my parents thought would be good for me, especially the one they betrothed me to."

"Be-what?" Sonic asked, raising an eye-ridge.

"It means arranged marriage from birth." Amy translated, folding her arms in growing anger. "Wasn't it supposed to be the girl your parents wanted you to marry that was snobby and wanting money than romance?"

"Yes it was." The twelve year old boy nodded, shuddering.

"Oh, yuck. I almost completely forgot about that." The fifteen year old blue hedgehog groaned in disgust, while Tails groaned as well. "Good thing she doesn't know that you're here."

"Yeah, tell me about it."

"I know that some people work on Saturdays, but kids shouldn't be forced to go to school on the weekends." The two-tailed fox cub pointed out.

"That's what I said, but in my family's eyes, there's no such thing as people having two days off on the weekends." The young Thorndyke shrugged.

Sonic scratched the top his head in disbelief. "Your family's sounding more and more crazy. Even Eggman has weekends off when he wants to. At least I hope he does and he's a bad guy for cryin' out loud."

"I agree. The point is, Chris, that you should do whatever you want to, especially on weekends." Amy nodded, while thinking to herself furiously. 'I wish I could get my Hammer on that family of his. How dare they ruin his life just for what they want!?'

"All you have to do is ask, no harm in doing it." The blue hedgehog added, smiling once again. "Just as long as you're careful and have fun, that's fine with us."

"Thanks, guys." Chris smiled in appreciation. "I just need a boat and a couple of life jackets."

"There's a rent shop in Station Square's beach resort." Tails advised.

"I'll get you and Helen there in supersonic speed style and bring you home when you're ready." Sonic offered voluntarily, with his trademark wink and thumbs up.

"Really?" The twelve year old boy asked hopefully with growing excitement.

"You bet! Anything to help out a friend." The cobalt teenager grinned.

"I hope you and Helen have fun, Chris." Amy said, before the pink hedgehog girl sighed as she went into her romantic-fantasy land, clasping her hands together as one would imagine to see hearts and stars float in the backward. "Oooh...A boat ride to an island filled with beautiful flowers...That is just so romantic...You're growing up so quickly, especially since you found yourself the perfect one to be your girlfriend."

Chris, Sonic and Tails all flinched in shock and fright with sweat drops upon hearing this, exclaiming in unison. "Girlfriend!?"

"H-hold on, Amy! You've got it all wrong! I've only just met Helen yesterday! She isn't my girlfriend!" The Earth-Boy protested, shaking his hands in the air nervously and quickly despite that his cheeks were turning a shade of pink.

"Maybe not now, but as they say, you see a beautiful girl or a handsome guy, the sight brings you close to them, and the fated meeting blooms into a friendship, before blooming into true love and they become fated lovers. The sight and friendship is what draws them together." The pink hedgehog explained, giving the human boy a flirting wink of encouragement.

"Amy..." Sonic groaned as he, Tails and Chris all sweat dropped in hopelessness.

"It's a lost cause." The two-tailed fox cub whispered.

"And totally embarrassing." The twelve year old boy softly added in agreement. 'Boy, is she hopeless?'

If Amy was a hopeless romantic, no wonder Sonic felt uncomfortable with her flirting despite that she and Tails were the closest things he ever had to a family before meeting Vanilla, Cream and Cheese.


Though later that night while Chris headed for home to start making plans for his day-trip with Helen, as everyone in the continent and region were fast asleep, the hero of Mobius himself was sleeping peacefully in his home, but then he began to groan and shift unconsciously. The fifteen year old began to look distressed, rolling to his side, his legs making slight movements as though he was running, clutching his pillow before rolling over to the other side as he began to have a nightmare.


Inside Sonic's Dream...

Again Sonic found himself dreaming. He wasn't sure what to make of it this time, but all he knew he was running through an unfamiliar forest of. Despite all of his travels he has never ventured there before. The blue hedgehog had been meaning to even visit the uncharted parts of the Mystic Ruins, but he kept on forgetting. The forest was beautiful and untouched by human explorers or Dr. Eggman.

"Somethin's wrong here. Why haven't I seen this place before? Where am I anyway?" Sonic muttered to himself, and he was starting to get anxious and worried. None the less, it was new place and he was going to explore more of it, also to find answers on what was going on.

As he ran, Sonic felt like he was about to face something he really wasn't going to like at all. It was bad enough that he was unintentionally lost, but this keeps on getting too weird. It wasn't until he finally noticed light in front of him which told the blue hedgehog that it was the exit of this forest. Narrowing his eyes as he was determined to figure out where he was, the hero of Mobius sped up and emerged into the light not even a second later.

When he stopped, however, he found himself on a cliff overlooking a sight that made him gasp in shock, disbelief and growing horror. Because in front of him and over the horizon was the remains a city, the same ome in his first strange and haunting dream. It was more clearer and damaging than he thought. Buildings toppled over like a nuclear weapon or something much more disastrous went off, many destroyed, a statue that held a flaming torch and a book damaged on a small island, a bridge broken in half, the few trees that were burnt with no sign of growing new leaves...

Even the water that would've surrounded the two islands were dried up, leaving behind dead skeletons of sea life. The sky was dark like a storm was coming, sounds of thunder rumbled but no rain came.

"W-what the!? What is this place?" Sonic exclaimed, feeling sick to the stomach and his heart stopping for a few moments. He looked over his shoulder and found that the forest somehow disappeared and he was standing on a platform of sorts. "What's going on here!?"

Hearing another noise filled the air causing the fifteen year old to look up and saw the same airship from earlier to appear from the city. He narrowed his eyes as he then decided to try and follow it...

When suddenly the entire scenery shifted again which alarmed Sonic who looked around and suddenly cried out due to the ground disappearing and he suddenly found himself trapped on a floating debris in the middle of the ocean. The blue hedgehog, terrified at the sudden change of area, and that he was stuck surrounded by one of his worst nightmares, quickly knelt to his hands and knees, holding on for dear life as the small floating piece rocked in the violent waves.

"Hey, how'd this happen?" Sonic asked, worriedly as his heart hammered.

"Sonic the Hedgehog..." The strange angelic like female voice echoed in the air, making the teenage Mobian gasp. "The Beckoning is drawing closer...The two worlds are in danger. The dark ones will arrive...and a great beast filled with anger and hate will awaken."

"It's that voice again!" The blue hedgehog exclaimed, looking around. "Hey, can you tell me more about this? And why am I floating here for?"

"The Child of the Distant World must be protected by you, Savior of Mobius/Earth. Only he can decide to leave your world, or remain here for the rest of his days. With that choice..." The voice trailed off when a familiar roar echoed the air.

Suddenly a huge splash formed when a massive pillar of water shot up from the ocean, startling Sonic who screamed and fell into the water, crying out. "WHOA!"

Emerging quickly, the terrified and panicking hedgehog flailed helplessly as the waves kept him away from the only thing keeping him floating, dry and safe from this horrible fate of sinking and drowning.

"AAHHHH! Help me! HELP ME!" Sonic screamed pleadingly, before something coiled around his torso and lifted him up into the air, crying out in alarm and fear.

It felt tight and solid, but cold and almost wet which he wasn't sure if it was the fact that the giant nearly invisible tentacle was really made of water or if he was just wet along with the thing that trapped him. Despite that he was hanging above the water and that the tentacle saved him, it squeezed him tightly as he then tried to pull himself free.

"Hey, let me go!" Sonic grunted, attemping to pull himself free. The roar was then heard again and when he looked up, the blue hedgehog gasped in horror to see a familiar giant reptillec monster loomed with it's eyes glowing bright in green. His heart stopped for a split second. "It's that same monster from my dream!"

Before the hero of Mobius could do anything to try and escape, the massive beast roared while rearing back it's head, and then it tossed Sonic into the air as he cried out and to his dismay and fear, he was falling straight towards it's opened jaws with massive ridiculously sharp teeth that could potentially even eat boulders.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" He screamed and when he was about to land onto it's giant massive tongue that was about the size of two buses combined and the jaws slammed shut once he was inside before the monster was about to swallow him...


"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Sonic screamed in terror as he ended up hitting the floor of his bedroom, but his subconsciousness was still trapped within the nightmare as he flailed about. "NO! LET ME OUT! I DON'T WANNA BE FISH FOOD! AAAAAAHHHHHH!"

As he did, the cobalt teenager snapped his eyes open with a gasp, a bit disoriented while blinking in surprise, abruptly stopping his panic attack. Looking around with his mind still a bit foggy as he panted, covered in cold sweat which slightly damped his face and fur, Sonic began to realize he was safe in his home, there was no ocean attempting to drown him, or any giant monsters trying to eat him.

In his mid-nightmare and panic at the near end of it, the hero of Mobius had rolled over too close to the edge of his bed that he accidentally fell off and was now sitting on the carpet with his blanket having been wrapped around his torso and legs.

"Phew...It was just another nightmare. Boy, that scared the heck outta me." Sonic sighed as he wiped his forehead, thoroughly relieved.

Still, that had been a pretty terrifying dream. That giant monster, and that voice...what did this all mean? He didn't get it at all.

The Dark Beckoning as getting closer? And a great beast with anger and hate awakening? He narrowed his brows in concern.

"Whatever that is, I just hope it doesn't ruin Chris and Helen's hang out together." The blue hedgehog muttered to himself, lowering his gaze. His heart still beating rapidly inside his chest as he willed himself to calm down. Yet his concerns only increased with too many weird things happening lately.

Ever since Chris Thorndyke came into his life, Sonic grew to quickly care for him as a very close friend, and when he heard about the human kid's life story, the teenage hero felt the very same strong feelings and urges when he first met Tails a long time ago: The need to care for him, comfort him, and protect him from all evils in the two worlds. He loved the twelve year old Earth-Boy like a brother, same way like he did with his surrogate two-tailed fox sibling.

'I'll keep you safe, Chris, and make sure you have a happy normal life as possible. I promise.' Sonic closed his eyes, knowing that while he didn't want to become overprotective and be the kid's bodyguard, if anything happened to Chris, the cobalt teenager would never forgive himself.

Just then he heard knocking coming from his front door downstairs, which made the blue hedgehog blink in confusion, briefly brought out of his thoughts as he gazed at his bedroom door. "Huh?"

Who would be visiting him at this time of the morning?

A thought then came into his mind which made Sonic groan with a sweat drop, grumbling in annoyance as he stood up, putting on his shoes while grumbling. "It better not be Amy asking me to go on a date with her again. I hope it's either Tails or Chris, Cream, and Mrs. Vanilla."

As he walked downstairs while dreading another 'date' invite by his self-proclaimed girlfriend even though he really cared about Amy, sometimes she just tries way too hard and let's her romantic feelings and fantasy separate her mind from reality, Sonic opened the front door after taking a calming breath. The visitor standing in front of him was neither the pink hedgehog girl or any of his close friends, but another familiar and unexpected face.

"Huh? Rouge?" Sonic blinked, bewildered. True to his word, his ally Rouge the Bat stood with a charming smile that would make him feel more than a little uncomfortable, as seeing her here can't be a coincidence. None the less, he masked his unease and remarked with a calm smile of his own. "Fancy seeing you this morning."

"Well, morning to you too, Big Blue. At least you have more manners than a certain red echidna knucklehead when it comes to me visiting." The albino bat greeted half-sarcastically. Even though, unbeknownst to the teenager in front of her(not that she was that much older than him, but still), she was feeling just as uneasy due to what she was about to do with him, whether he would accept or not.

"Yeah, that's kinda true. I still gotta work up on that with Mrs. Vanilla and Cream." Sonic chuckled lightly, a little sheepish as he shrugged with one arm. He then stepped aside a little as while he was more than a bit worried on what she would one, and with the absence of a certain black and red hedgehog, he had a feeling he knew why. "Would you like to come in?"

"Spoken like a true gentleman." Rouge remarked happily, politely accepting the offer, stepping inside while Sonic closed the door behind him. "Hope I didn't startle you awake first thing in the morning."

"Nah, I've been awake for maybe about a few minutes before you showed up. Make yourself at home and I'll get us some coffee." The fifteen year old replied, and hurried into his kitchen to make the aforementioned beverages, and make some breakfast while allowing his ally to take a seat at the kitchen table. "So, what brings you here today, if you don't mind me asking? Not every often you even come over to my place."

As Rouge listened in on the teenager's question, she casually gazed around the young hero's home which was her first time actually being here. Given the directions and having spotted him as well as Tails and Amy arriving in this area once or twice, it wasn't hard to realize that the village was their home. Then again she lived around here too, so she had let that slip from her mind. Sonic's house was decent, having a nice warm feeling to it, though if it were for her, she would have given it a bit of a woman's touch to make it more to her taste.

But each to themselves, she noted.

"You know that Shadow is having that memory problem, right? And I've been attempting to help him out along the way." She began, bringing up the conversation from the Emerald Coast up.

While he was shocked as he let out a startled gasp, Sonic didn't stop his task as he prepared two cups of coffee and breakfast, which was bacon and scrambled eggs, making extra for Rouge since she was a guest. Still, the sudden turning feeling of what she wanted with him in regards of Shadow's amnesia problem only increased.

"I guess he still wants me to help him out." It wasn't a question, but a statement.

"Right up your alley." Rouge confirmed, as Sonic then placed a cup of fresh hot coffee, a plate full of breakfast and a fork and a knife, before setting his own and sat at the opposite end of the table while she thanked him. Once they started eating and she had to admit he was quite talented in cooking, she continued. "He wants to go up to the Space Colony ARK and take you with him."

Pausing in eating as his fork stopped half-way towards his mouth, Sonic looked up at her, shocked, blinking. "Why does he want me to go with him? I've only been up there once. You know that."

"I know, but I have a feeling that with you and me up there, it could help him trigger more memories. Plus it would be a good idea to have someone who can match him in speed without causing the poor thing from going all crazy again." The white bat explained, stirring her spoon in the coffee mug, frowning thoughtfully as memories of Shadow's more edgy personality before his sacrifice resurfaced. That admittedly scared her more and she was worried that he could resort into doing it all over. "I'm sure you don't want that, do you?"

Sonic frowned in concern, as memories of when he fought Shadow before the latter's last minute redemption and having been thought dead once they both saved the world came back to him. It had scared him at first that the ebony hedgehog almost had the people mistake him for turning rogue and if the blue hedgehog hadn't been meeting with the President at the time, it could have been a whole lot worse. The blue hedgehog could have been wrongly arrested and accused while the world would have been destroyed.

But...was it really a good idea to go back up to that place? Rouge did have a point, though. He was the only one in matching speed that can keep up with Shadow, even though Sonic was born with his ability, while his rival was fast due to his hover-skate shoes. On the other hand, maybe a friendly race and a casual chat could help. The more the fifteen year old thought about it, the more he realized that it did make a whole lot more sense. So far before helping him and his friends out, Shadow could only remember vauge memories and the blue blur was the very first to be remembered for some reason.

"If you put that way..." Sonic finally shrugged, before requesting. "But, can this wait for at least until after this weekend? I promised Chris to take him and his friend Helen to the lake and back home."

"Chris? You mean that kid you, Tails, Amy, and Creamy and her little Cheese-Ball are friends with?" Rouge blinked in surprise. She didn't see that one coming, and while she and Shadow did wholeheartedly agree to not reveal what they overheard in Sonic and Chris' late-night heart-to-heart, the jewel thief still found it hard to believe that the twelve year old boy could potentially be from another world.

"Yeah, that's him. I saved him from Eggman, and we've been hanging since then." The cobalt teenager replied, though unaware that his ally already knew he wasn't fully revealing the truth on his friend's origins and he didn't want GUN to catch wind on it.

"Because it's faster for them, eh?" Rouge questioned, before giving a sly smile. "Well, that's interesting. You're playing match-maker for the kid who has already found himself a girlfriend. Pretty romantic for the young couple to be at the lake."

That only made Sonic groan as he facepalm himself. Ugh, women! What is it with them and coming to that sort of conclusion? "They're not going on a date, Rouge! He just promised to take her to see the flowers, especially from what he told me and the others the other day, Helen always wanted to go but her parents are too busy. She's been waiting like forever."

"Can't you have Tails take them instead? What about the other kid's parents?"

"Helen's in a wheelchair, so she can't get into the X Tornado, and Chris is living with Cream and Mrs. Vanilla since he's parent-less right now, orphaned and all. Besides, I promised." The blue hedgehog knew that part was a lie, even though in this world, Chris was an orphan considering how his cruel family were on Earth and all they wanted for him was to keep up the Thorndyke Legacy.

"Well...I suppose our little trip can wait. It's not like you haven't been there before. So, when's the kids' 'date'?" The Mobian Agent finally conceded, as long as it wasn't too much longer for Shadow and GUN was already on her case. Yet she could tell he briefly liked about the young Thorndyke's background, but didn't call him out on it. The kid was just twelve and didn't need to be chased down like a criminal.

Plus from what she heard, it was a good thing that he did run away and now felt more comfortable. And who better to be his friends than Sonic, Tails, Amy, Cream and Cheese?

"This Saturday, and like I said, it's not a date. They're way too young for that sort of mushy stuff anyway." Sonic shrugged. "Does sometime next week sound good?"

"Sounds fair to me. Plus it is a trip to space, not an invitation to the President's Black Tie Party." Rouge nodded, accepting that this was better than nothing and at least Sonic did agree to join her and Shadow.

The teenage hedgehog smiled in relief, and while he still didn't trust the shady organization, he knew he can trust the bat before him despite her obsession with jewels, especially the Chaos Emeralds. "Thanks, Rouge."

Rouge just smiled back and finished off her coffee and meal, before standing up. "No problem. Thanks for the coffee and breakfast. I'll let you know what day we're heading off."

"Got it." Sonic winked with a thumbs up. He also knew that coffee was her second love in life.

Once he saw her out yet not knowing what she really knew about his human friend, Sonic sighed while wiping his forehead before thinking about his upcoming trip out in space. It made him feel a little uncomfortable despite that Shadow was having his own problems right now, and to think that this went on for weeks before the Ultimate Lifeform's unexpected return. While he did trust Rouge, the hero of Mobius wasn't sure if this would be such a good idea.

'Maybe I should talk Tails and Amy in comin' with. But should I tell Chris and the others?' He thought to himself, frowning in concern.

Looks like things are about to get even more interesting.


In the end, Sonic decided to tell everyone the truth about Rouge's visit and how she told him that Shadow wanted the blue hedgehog to join him in going up to the Space Colony ARK to find more clues to his memories, and informed them that he would be going sometime next week while the weekend was left free for him to be Chris and Helen's speedy transport to the lake and pick them up when they were ready. Tails in the meantime gave the Earth-Boy a new communicator to call them whenever he and his new friend were ready to be taken home.

At first Tails, Chris and Amy protested as they didn't think it would be such a good idea, but Sonic reassured them that he would be fine. Despite their concerns, they reluctantly agreed by making him promise that he would be alright and that his two closest friends would be joining him just in case. The hero of Mobius agreed, while the young Thorndyke, despite wanting to help out, knew that unlike his Mobian friends, he can't breathe in space as humans don't have the same capability to do so, thus he decided it would be best to stay behind with Cream, Cheese and Vanilla.

Two days later came the weekend, and Sonic sped all the way to Station Square towards Helen's house carrying Chris in his arms, and thanks to both Francies and Danny who had visited her before in the past, they knew where to look and soon enough arrived in a simple nice looking house not too far from the city. It was a one story house with two bedrooms and a guest room, nice for a family of three or four depending.

"Looks like this is the right place." Chris remarked, after Sonic gently put him down, reading the address on the piece of paper his two school friends given him.

It was decent and cosy looking, similar to the homes in Sonic's village. The twelve year old boy wouldn't mind living in a place like this. It was completely a construct to his old home at the Thorndyke Manor.

"I like it. Looks pretty peaceful here." The blue hedgehog commented, before he gazed up at his friend with a smirk. "So, you ready for you big day out of an adventure?"

"Yeah, I sure am. Though it feels a bit weird that you won't be around, but I know that I have to start hanging out with other people once in a while. No offense." In truth, the Earth-Boy was really excited to be hanging out with another friend, but at the same time he felt quite nervous.

In the last few days he couldn't stop worrying about the worst case scenarios: Like what if Eggman attacked and kidnapped him and Helen for ransom? What if something else happened while they were on the island? It didn't help that he had another strange nightmare last night which left him really shaken, but fortunately Vanilla, seeing how nervous he looked, gave him comfort and support while Cream and Cheese reassured him that everything would be alright.

"None taken. It'll be good for you so you'll know what to do in the future." Sonic reassured, before adding as he placed a comforting hand on the human boy's shoulder. "But remember, Chris. No matter how far away we are, as long as we think of each other, we'll always be friends 'til the end of time itself. You got every right to be yourself."

Like many times before ever since he came to Mobius, Chris felt at ease over the blue hedgehog's pure honesty. While not human, the fifteen year old Mobian was one of the most honest people he has ever met in his entire life and from their first meeting, the teenage hero made him feel safe. Not because of the rescue that he was unconscious for when he arrived, but because of his comforting words. Sonic's heart would always be in the right place. Over time, he slowly began to understand how Tails felt and wondered if this what it was like to have an older brother.

"Thanks, Sonic. I won't forget, promise." Chris finally nodded, feeling a whole lot better already.

"Atta boy." The blue blur chuckled with a thumbs up. "C'mon, let's go meet up with Helen and get the day really started."

At the boy's agreement, the two friends walked up the couple of steps before the twelve year old politely knocked on the door a few times. As he and Sonic waited somewhat impatiently, they heard a shockingly annoyed woman's voice bellow out. "Ugh, I'm coming! Hold your horses!"

"Huh?" The two boys blinked before sharing a confused glance, just as the door opened to reveal a middle-aged woman with a shockingly ridiculous amount of make-up, long brown hair with blue eyes, wearing very expensive clothing which made Chris mentally cringe since she almost instantly reminded him of his own mother, with an twice as expensive purse and very high-heeled shoes.

This was the woman that Chris recognized on his second day of school, and from the looks of it, she looked just as rude and terrifying up close than from a distance. He, and unbeknownst the boy, Sonic who felt really uneasy, felt an aura of hatred radiating from her.

The moment she stared at the two, the woman hissed with a snarl in a rude manner. "What are you doing here, Sonic the Hedgehog, Mr. hero!? And who is this casual low-life boy?"

"Ma'am, I'm here with my friend Chris Thorndyke. We're friends of Helen." Sonic, very annoyed with the woman's rude attitude, replied as politely as possible while trying to remain calm.

"We would like to invite her, because I met with her the other day and-"

"Ugh, so you're the new street rat my niece became friends with? She wouldn't stop talking about you and that stupid lake when she should be doing much more important things, like going shopping for new clothes, meeting with more rich friends at restaurants." The woman, Aunt Susan, groaned in disgust, then shrugged nonchalanty. "On the other hand, with you taking her today, it leaves me to head for my job meeting with the big boss. Meaning that I don't have to spend another weekend babysitting her."

The two boys blinked, sharing an awkward glance over the rudeness this lady was displaying. No wonder Helen has had a tough time with her Aunt. She was more for her job than even her own family.

"Blonde-Wheels! You have visitors who are going to be babysitting you today!" Susan shouted over her shoulder coldly. "I won't be back until later and you should hope that your useless under-paid parents will be coming home tonight."

'Blonde-Wheels?' Sonic and Chris both thought, shocked and quickly becoming horrified. Did this woman really just call her own niece a terrible nickname?

"I'm coming, Aunt Susan." Came Helen's more sweet, gentle yet somewhat sad and reluctant voice.

"Well, you're on your own because you're slow, seeing that walking is much faster than wheel-chairs! I'm going to be late no thanks to you and these two who clearly have no real life!" The rude woman grunted, before forcefully pushing both Sonic and Chris both out of the way, hissing. "As for you two, that brat is trouble and too slow, so you better put up your legs for good use. Especially you, oh so great Sonic the Hedgehog. Now get out of my way!"

"Uh, s-sorry, ma'am!" Chris held his hands up in defense, nervously.

"Excuse me." Sonic tried very hard not to sound too sarcastic or rude himself, but already this lady was really getting on his nerves. Who did she think she is anyway?

But Susan didn't even thank them or call out her goodbyes to Helen. Instead she just got into her car, a fancy red and expensive convertible, without giving the boys a second look, and drove off so dangerously fast for a driver that dust and dirt were sent flying everywhere. Sonic and Chris both cried out and tried to shield their faces with their arms, coughing before the dust finally cleared and the blue hedgehog waved his arm in front of face for a brief moment.

"Well, that was rude." Sonic grunted with narrowed eyes, folding his arms angrily. "I can't believe anybody would treat other people like that."

Not only that, he could see why his friend didn't mention about Helen's aunt. That lady obviously loved money more than even her own family.

"She was just like...Like how my Mom would treat me and others." Chris muttered softly, feeling a bit nauseous to the stomach. No wonder Helen didn't like to talk much about her. If his new friend's aunt and Lindsey met, they would probably become the best of friends for life.

That thought made him shudder, because like himself, Helen was the complete opposite to the rude lady. She was sweet and kind and all she wanted was to be a normal person to see the flowers at Silver Valley.

"Say what? That's what your Mom is really like?" The blue hedgehog turned to his human friend in shock after softly gasping, before he cringed with sympathy. "No wonder you had a hard time, and that wasn't even the same lady we just met."

"Tell me about it." The twelve year old boy groaned. Before he could continue however, he and the hero of Mobius heard wheels coming behind them and turned around just in time to see a solemn looking Helen who had been resigned to spend the weekend with her aunt, or maybe for a few hours if she was lucky.

Yet upon seeing the familiar new boy and the blue hedgehog despite it was the first time she was seeing and meeting him in person, the young blonde-haired girl's face lit up. "Chris! Hi there!"

"Uh, h-hey, Helen. How are you doing today?" Chris, attempting to recover from the rudeness of his new friend's aunt, waved awkwardly.

"I'm alright. I'm just glad that you're here, I've been so excited for today." The twelve year old girl nodded, smiling brightly. She then turned to the teenage Mobian and greeted. "And you're Sonic, aren't you?"

A little flattered even though he was famous even though he didn't intend to be, but it can still be fun at times, Sonic grinned with a thumbs up. "That's my name, don't wear it out. Pleasure to meetcha, Helen."

"Likewise." Helen nodded, before she apologetically said to both of them as she could tell they had a rude greeting with her relative. "And sorry about my aunt. She doesn't like anybody who don't work for super rich companies. More than that...she doesn't like children, either."

'That explains everything.' Sonic thought to himself, feeling very sorry for the poor girl. First Chris had a family crisis which rendered the boy into running away and accidentally being send from one planet to another, now he was meeting another kid who had the similar problem. From the sounds of it, at least her parents tried their best, but they were always forced to leave Susan into looking after her.

The only person that seemed to not have any problems with a family was Cream who, despite never knowing who her father was, had a very loving mother who cared not just for her own daughter, but also for the six year old's friends too, having inadvertently becoming the surrogate parent to three orphans: Tails, Amy and Sonic himself. Now she was looking after Chris as an adoptive son. How long will that last, he wasn't certain and that worried the cobalt teenager a lot, but that problem would be sorted out one way or another.

"It's not a big deal. Just didn't expect it, that's all." The hero of Mobius instead responded, attempting to not let the woman's rude attitude ruin today's fun.

"Yeah, she kinda surprised us. It's nothing to worry about." Chris added, chuckling awkwardly as like Sonic, he didn't want that to spoil his and Helen's day out either. "Anyway, you ready to go?"

"You bet!" The twelve year old girl cheered, clasping her hands together.

Seeing the two human kids smile and getting along for the first time made Sonic happy. In a short span of almost two months, Chris was already adapting quite well as a normal child, living his life to make friends and spending time with them. A life he had been denied of for so long. Still, that left him feeling more than a little concerned.

If the young Thorndyke chose to go back to Earth, what would his human school friends say once he left Mobius behind?

Quickly shaking away those thoughts, the hero of Mobius instructed the kids to hold on tight onto the wheelchair as he grasped at the handles, asking in excitement. "Alright, kids. You ready?"

"Ready!" Helen declared, feeling even more excited as this was her first time experiencing the teenage hedgehog's legendary speed.

"Ready when you are, Sonic!" Chris playfully saluted.

"Alright. Here we go!" Sonic declared, speeding away with the two children cheering on as they all raced their way towards the Lake, the little adventure that was about to begin.


Little did the trio know that as they raced past through Station Square, Shadow, who was told by Rouge about Sonic's agreement despite that the blue hedgehog seemed to not understand that leaving a human child who was influenced with growing Chaos Energy with a paralyzed girl isn't such a good idea, watched the younger hedgehog speed away with Chris and Helen.

'Rouge told me that Sonic intends to have the boy spend time with other human children with a promise to pick them up later on, what does he plan on doing? Perhaps I should keep on eye on them just in case.' The black hedgehog thought deeply to himself, arms folded to his chest with a frown.

While the Ultimate Lifeform still may not have much of his memory, something inside him protested that the boy and girl's lives could be at risk and Sonic was making a big mistake. Sighing to himself and feeling rather protective over the young Thorndyke, Shadow leaped off and skated his way to secretly follow the three friends as Rouge was busy with a mission for GUN.

Unfortunately, none of them or anyone else were aware that Dr. Eggman's plans were also being put into motion on this very day which would put Sonic, Chris and Helen into further risk alongside Shadow.


A/N: Again, I am deeply sorry for the lack of updates for this story, and that this chapter didn't have much of action. But as you can see, Helen makes her appearance and now she and Chris are going to have their first hang-out together!

Yet they, Sonic and Shadow are about to face complications in the next chapter, which I'm not sure when that will happen, but I will try and update this again with a bit more action as soon as possible. Also, Helen's aunt is an OC who is kind of a Mobius version of this story's Lindsey but less forceful to certain extent.

See you later!