6:30 am

The early morning light cast a warm glow over the fields surrounding the Smash Bros. mansion. Link stretched his arms, squinting at the vast expanse, while Sonic stood beside him, bouncing on his heels with a grin.

"You sure you're ready for this, Link? You're fast, but I'm the fastest thing alive! I am going to be fair here and not use much of my speed, but we will see about that."

Link smirked, resting a hand on his hip, he was wearing the rabbit ears that give people a significant speed boost while looking ridiculous, it was nothing for Link to wear as he wore worse. "Don't count me out just yet, Sonic. I've kept up with a few fast ones in my time."

With a quick nod, Sonic counted down. "Three… two… one… GO!" In a blur of blue, Sonic shot forward, leaving a gust of wind in his wake. Link didn't hesitate; he bolted down the field, taking long, quick strides. Though Sonic had a clear lead, Link scanned the terrain, spotting a few slopes and patches of tall grass he could use to his advantage.

He leaped onto a nearby rock, bounding off it to gain momentum, and sprinted down a narrow path that cut through the tall grass. Sonic glanced over his shoulder, surprised to see Link closer than he'd expected.

Sonic chuckled slightly "Not bad, not bad! I may be holding back a lot, but you're gonna have to do better than that!" He sped up, dashing in zigzags and making wide circles to show off his speed.

Link grinned, weaving through trees and jumping over small obstacles in the field, refusing to lose pace. As they reached a gentle hill, Sonic pointed to a large tree in the distance.

"First to that tree!"

Without waiting for a response, Sonic took off. Link's instincts kicked in, and he scanned the surroundings, spotting a steep incline off to the side. He veered away from the main path, sprinting up the slope and sliding down the other side, using gravity to his advantage to pick up even more speed.

Sonic reached the tree seconds before Link, looking back just in time to see Link sliding down the slope and landing in a graceful sprint right beside him.

Sonic laughed "Dude, you're pulling out all the tricks!" He laughed, clearly impressed.

Link: "It's not all about raw speed, Sonic. Sometimes you've gotta be clever about it." He gave Sonic a playful shove before nodding toward a nearby boulder. "Next landmark?"

Sonic's grin widened. "Oh, it's on."

They took off again, darting around rocks and leaping over small streams. Sonic occasionally pulled ahead, only to look back and see Link taking smart shortcuts, his quick reflexes and nimble movements allowing him to keep up. Sonic began playfully taunting Link, throwing playful jabs over his shoulder.

"Come on, Hero of Hyrule! Is that all you've got?"

"I don't know, Blue Blur! Looks like I'm right on your tail!"

They shared a laugh, pushing each other to run faster, jump higher, and take even bolder shortcuts. Eventually, they skidded to a stop on a small hill that overlooked the mansion. They were both breathless, grinning ear to ear, their faces flushed from the run.

Sonic clapped Link on the shoulder, still chuckling as Link removed the rabbit ears. "I gotta admit, you've got some serious moves. For a guy with not much super speed to show, you kept up pretty well, and I was being fair with slowing myself down and the ears thing."

Link smirked, catching his breath. "I could say the same to you. You've got speed, but sometimes a little strategy goes a long way."

They shared a moment of mutual admiration, each respecting the other's unique strengths. Sonic's energy and enthusiasm were contagious, and Link's resilience and cleverness had clearly left an impression.

As they headed back to the mansion, Sonic turned to him, a light-hearted smile on his face. "We make a pretty good team, don't we?"

Link nodded, "Yeah, we really do."

After catching their breath from their sprint through the fields, and a giant water break, Link and Sonic walked back toward the mansion, basking in the post-run glow. Link's smile faded slightly, a pensive look crossing his face as he began to speak.

"Sonic, I've been thinking about something… something that's been bothering me for a while now."

Sonic raised an eyebrow, noticing the serious tone. "What's up?"

Link hesitated, glancing over at the fields they'd just raced through. "The visions that Zelda, Young Link, Toon Link, and I had yesterday…they didn't feel like random dreams. It felt like… I was glimpsing something real. Something from other worlds. And not just any worlds...Dark, twisted versions."

Sonic stopped, crossing his arms as he considered Link's words.

Link sighed as if trying to find the right words on what to say "I can't be sure, of course. It's just a theory. But it's like… each vision showed us a different world, and none of them were places we'd want to visit. I keep thinking that if we see more…if more people….more of our friends…start having these nightmares…it might mean something bigger is coming." He paused, his eyes clouded with worry. "I dread hearing about other people's nightmares now, Cloud, Ness and Lucas had some and well…just in case it's connected."

Sonic rubbed the back of his head, trying to hold back the memory of his own unsettling nightmare with that Cyan…thing. But he could see the worry in Link's eyes, and he knew his friend needed a distraction, so he forced a laugh, hoping to lighten the mood.

"Hey, uh…that's some deep stuff, but you know, weird universes aren't always dark and twisted. I have been to many worlds before…I once ended up in a universe where none of my female friends existed. Like, no Amy, no Blaze, no Cream, no Tangle or Whisper and all that, all of them were guys!" He made a face as if trying to find the right words on what to say "You should've seen the look on my face when I ran into Andy Rose. I don't know what was weirder, seeing him or hearing him call me 'husband material.' And let's just say that Male Rouge is something to look at. And the other me seemed to have gone out with everyone at least twice. I wish I knew more about that world; I heard that the other you there is still a wolf or something, and Mario is a Koopa Troopa…I don't know…but I had to leave for reasons."

Link cracked a smile, some of the tension easing from his shoulders. "Husband material? You?"

Sonic shrugged, smirking. "Hey, don't act so surprised. It's just… that world was so bizarre. And honestly? Worlds where men are women and women are men, kind of cliché if you ask me, so having all of them be one gender is something…"

Link laughed to himself "Knowing Princess Peach and Princess Daisy and their bad taste in literature they would chop off their right arm if it means having to be in that world."

Sonic chortled at this remembering the scene where they had to go into a dream world and rescue Daisy and the uncomfortable things they saw.

"Yeah, but if they think that they could 'join in' they would be most mistaken as the only guy there who seemed to have no problem being with a woman is the other me." Sonic said as he pulled an image out of his phone and showed an image to Link that seemed to have came out of a magazine for teenage girl or 20 something year old women or homosexual men.

Link chuckled, shaking his head. "You know, maybe you're right. Not all alternate worlds are bound to be dark, that machine showed us much and even through each of our own adventures. I myself been to some strange worlds like a world where Hyrule is run on technology than magic, and a very strange Hyrule that seems to come out of a Saturday morning cartoon. There was even this world where Mario of all people…" He paused, his gaze growing thoughtful again. "But if these visions are connected to something bigger, something beyond just 'weird,' then we'll need to be ready."

Sonic gave Link a friendly nudge, his voice reassuring. "Hey, whatever's out there, we'll deal with it together. If we're talking about some dark, twisted multiverse, well, I'm pretty good at speeding through tough situations."

Link nodded, the corners of his mouth lifting. "Thanks, Sonic. I'll keep that in mind."

Sonic walked in silence beside Link for a few moments, his usual cheerful expression clouded with worry. He glanced at Link, took a deep breath, and decided it was better to just come out with it.

Sonic sighed as if deciding that he would rather say it now rather than later, "Alright, Link… I think I need to just rip the Band-Aid off and tell you about a weird nightmare I had last night. It was… kinda messed up, honestly."

Link raised an eyebrow, surprised by Sonic's sudden change in tone. "What happened?"

Sonic scratched the back of his head, staring at the ground as he recounted the dream.

Sonic sighed as if trying to force himself to spit out his brain "I was in some… other world. It looked normal at first, but then these huge beams of light just… blasted down from the sky. They hit evertone and everything…it hit everyone and they all just…evaporated. It felt like the end of everything, like those beams destroyed everyone in sight."

Link's face grew serious as he listened, sensing the weight of what Sonic was describing.

Sonic made a face as he went on "There was… another me. Another Sonic, I guess. And he was there, barely alive… with… someone else." He glanced at Link, his voice quieter now. "It was another version of you."

Link frowned, his expression growing more concerned. "Another… me?"

Sonic nodded. "Yeah. He looked… different, though…defeated…like he'd seen too much. My other self pulled your other self up, and they barely managed to ay from the destruction. But that wasn't the weirdest part."

Link tilted his head, a slight frown appearing on his face. "What do you mean?"

Sonic sighed "After they left… there was something else. I saw this… creature. It looked like this strange… fusion. A mix of me and… you." He shuddered as if his blood turned to ice, clearly disturbed by the memory. "It was this cyan…like…like some twisted combination of both our powers and looks. It was… horrifying. And the worst part was… it looked back at me, like it knew I was watching."

Link's eyes widened slightly, and a knot formed in his stomach. The image of a monstrous, combined version of himself and Sonic was deeply unsettling. But not wanting to alarm Sonic any more than he already was, he forced himself to give a reassuring nod.

Link chose his next words carefully "That sounds intense, Sonic. But… it was probably just a nightmare. We all have those, especially with everything that's been going on lately."

Sonic's eyes searched Link's face, clearly hoping for reassurance. "You think so? I mean, it felt… too real."

Link offered a small smile, trying to downplay his own unease. "It's probably nothing. We've been fighting in so many different worlds, maybe it's just our minds playing tricks on us. Besides, weird dreams are normal after all that running and sparring."

Sonic chuckled, trying to shake off the lingering sense of dread. "Yeah… you're probably right. Just a freaky dream. It's not like there's some actual cyan monster fusion of us running around or anything."

Link nodded, hoping his calm demeanor would reassure Sonic. But in the back of his mind, the image of a twisted, monstrous fusion of the two of them lingered, gnawing at his thoughts. He kept his worry hidden, though, determined to keep Sonic's spirits up.

Link patted Sonic on the back "Don't worry, Sonic. Even if there was something strange out there, we'd face it together, right?"

Sonic gave him a genuine grin, the usual spark returning to his eyes. "Yeah, you're right. We'd take it down in a flash!"

They walked on, the conversation easing into lighter topics. But as Link looked back at the mansion, he couldn't shake the nagging feeling that Sonic's nightmare was more than just a dream. And that this is not going to be the only dream he will hear about for the rest of the day.