Trip stumbled down the sidewalk of Emerald Town the next morning, looking at her phone and picking at the already damaged case with her biker gloves. "Sonic still hasn't called back…" Trip mumbled dejectedly. She looked at the maps app, and felt her heart sink a little when she saw a map of the North Star Islands show up for half a second, before loading in the map of Emerald Town. "Hmm… well, what is there to do around here?" Trip asked herself, alternating between looking at points of interest on the map and taking in the sights of the town in front of her. In her sightseeing, she forgot to look straight ahead…! BUMP!
Falling back, Trip caught herself on a chain fence, doing a pas-de-deux with the wiring to keep herself on her feet. She looked in front of her, and saw a jet-black bike with an odd red symbol on it. Someone stepped out from the shade under an apple tree, a paring knife in hand. "Sorry sir, is this your bicycle?" Trip asked. Drawing the blade, the mysterious hedgehog slashed the part of the bike Trip had so carelessly dented.
"Yeah, this is my motorcycle," Shadow the Hedgehog scoffed, stepping onto the leather seat with his Rocket Skate. Trip couldn't keep her hands from shaking.
"No way! You're that guy from the Dodon Games!" Trip squealed, looking at Shadow all over. "Are you friends with Sonic?"
"I'm no friend of Sonic's," Shadow replied, glancing at Trip one more time before climbing onto the bike and slotting his shoes into the ignition. "I'm here on a mission, so get lost—" Shadow's bike began to beep. He looked at a small screen on the dashboard, and swerved onto the sand. Trip's eyes followed him to the shore, where she saw something she wouldn't expect to ever see.
Sonic was kind of swimming!
Shadow shoved through a crowd of beachgoers, watching in equal amounts awe and anger as Sonic spun around a huge wave in the distant waters. He didn't seem afraid or apprehensive in the slightest. "Yeaaaaahh!" He exclaimed, exiting the wave and skipping across the water in style. Shadow took notice of the blue hedgehog's Dream Orb necklace.
"That must be the source of the energy…" Shadow muttered, clenching his fists. Sonic ran along the water's surface, moving so fast that the necklace snapped right off. Sonic's leg then twisted unnaturally, and he suddenly sank as fast as he was running before. Shadow had half a mind to try and catch the orb, but just as his outstretched hand crossed the fizzy line from sand to water, he reeled it back in. "That would be a foolish death. I can't swim either." Shadow growled, watching the Dream Orb until it disappeared into the water. Sonic washed ashore, choking on sea water. "I knew these anomalous energy readings would lead me to you, Sonic." Shadow kicked him in the stomach so hard that he coughed up most of the water trapped in his lungs. "What do you think you're doing, playing around with such a powerful artifact? Where did you find that thing?" Shadow grabbed Sonic's chin and forced the blue hedgehog to look him in the eye.
"Shadow? Where's my Dream Orb?" Sonic moaned groggily. Shadow slapped him, and he seemed to come to his senses. He shoved Shadow away. "Aw, shoot! I lost it in the water…! Maybe I can get Ariem to give me another?"
"What? Who is 'R-E-M'?" Shadow asked. Trip finally caught up, her face and legs covered in sand. "And 'Dream Orbs'? That's what you're calling them? Explain yourself."
"Ariem is a therapist that's been showing up in my dreams. She helped me with my fear of water, even taught me how to swim," Sonic replied, standing up.
"I question your state of mental health," Shadow said, raising an eyebrow.
"Ask Rouge! She'll back me up," Sonic shouted. Shadow shot him a displeased look then turned away, saying something into his wrist communicator.
"Sonic?" Trip mumbled, sneaking around Shadow.
"Trip? Glad to see you're okay!" Sonic exclaimed. He scratched the back of his head. "What are you doing around here?"
"Shh, I'm not Trip anymore. Long story," Trip whispered behind her hand, pulling Sonic aside. He seemed confused. "You saw Ariem, too?" Sonic smirked excitedly.
Shadow skated through Central City, on his way to Night Babylon. "Don't tell me you actually believe what he's saying," Shadow grumbled, the wind roaring in his ears as he dodged oncoming traffic.
"Why not? Considering all we've been through, is a dream dimension really that out of the ordinary?" Rouge sighed.
"I mean the therapy thing. Dreams are unpredictable, they don't usually make sense at all," Shadow spat. "Why would you use them as a source of advice? I find the entire concept laughable."
"You're not laughing."
"Then I find it sad," Shadow followed up, braking in front of Club Rouge. "I'm here. Open the door." Rouge cackled, polishing her nails in the break room.
"You'll just have to find my secret entr-" Rouge trailed off as Shadow appeared before her in a flash of light.
"You say the 'Reverie' is real," Shadow said. "Show me..."
"Of course, let me just get everything prepared. This method worked on Sonic before, it knocked him right out!" Rouge grabbed her tea set, and placed it on the table. Shadow took a seat as Rouge heated up the water. "... You could probably learn a thing or two from Ariem. She's been helping me quite a bit lately."
"What would you even go to therapy for?" Shadow asked, eyeing her. "You always seem so under control. An important quality for the leader of Team Dark." Rouge puffed her face up, before breathing out quickly.
"Okay, this might be hard for me to communicate to you. You know how you're always so aloof and closed-off?" Rouge asked, sitting down with her high-heel boots on the plastic table.
"You could say that, yes," Shadow replied, crossing his arms.
"You know how it's… just a front? So people don't get too worried about whatever is going on in here?" Rouge continued, tapping her head then placing a palm on her chest. Shadow seemed caught off-guard.
"No, not at all," Shadow replied, standing up with his hands on the table. "Rouge, I am completely confident in myself and my place in the universe. I am Shadow Android, that much was made clear during the Dodon Games." Rouge looked to the floor. "I don't know what you're going through, but dreaming about fixing it won't do you any good. Look at Sonic, even he couldn't keep pace with his ambitions once he lost his 'Dream Orb'." Shadow turned around, and headed towards the door as the tea kettle began to whistle. "Ariem is a shared delusion at best. Next time you need to talk about the issues in your life, bring it up with someone who's actually real."
"Like who?" Rouge asked. Shadow paused, hand on the door. He turned back, and looked her in the eye.
"Like me," Shadow replied. Rouge smiled a little, as he exited the room. Rouge took a deep sigh, before the tea kettle clicked off. She opened one eye.
"Hey, Shadow! You forgot your tea!" Rouge exclaimed, running after him.
…
Sonic walked down the beach, carrying Trip on his back. "So… how's life?" Sonic sighed, averting his eyes and sweating. They stopped to listen to the waves for a moment, Sonic's beach shoes drawing arcs in the sand.
"It's been awful, I was kicked out of my island," Trip whispered. "But I'm not really supposed to talk about it." Sonic stared out at the waves. They were so clean… just like home. "But out here, someone less nice than you could recognize me. I might get in trouble." Sonic could only wonder if Green Hill was back to normal, since the Gaias could clean the entire ocean when the planet was put back together, and the prisoners escaped when the Robotnik Empire went on pause way back when. "Bridge Island is kind of deserted, I wonder if anyone would even notice if I could…"
"Go back?" Sonic chuckled dryly. Trip let her face sink into his softened quills. Sonic directed his gaze ahead, and kept shambling along. "There's no point. Eggman ruined it all, it can't be fixed. Not really, anyways." Trip opened her eyes halfway in surprise.
"Sonic's never acted this way before… did his hair just get a little bit sharper?" she thought to herself, frowning. "And… and what he's saying makes no sense!!!" Trip shut her eyes tight.
CRASH!
A plume of smoke and sand erupted from the other side of the beach. Trip looked over Sonic's shoulder. "Was that… from the Starfall Plus?" Trip asked, hopping onto her own feet but holding onto a piece of driftwood for support.
"A Starfall? I haven't seen one of those since…" Sonic muttered, dusting his shaking hand off on his leg. "... Well, now we HAVE to check it out. C'mon, Trip!" Sonic ran off.
"I told you… please don't call me that anymore!" Trip activated a hookshot on her Custom Shoes, which grappled her in Sonic's direction.
Tails held his head, barely opening his eyes by the wreckage of yet another faulty plane. Ata the Olm approached, with a walkie talkie up to her mouth. "Tails? Where'd you land?" Ata asked, hearing her voice bounce back at her from Tails' walkie talkie. Tails snapped awake and grabbed her by the tote bag strap before she could fall into the hazardous remains of the plane. Ata gasped as he pulled her away, and clutched his arm. "Thank goodness you didn't land in the water! Are you hurt?" Ata pulled out an excavation brush and wiped the ash off Tails' face.
"I'm fine, but… it looks like the Prototype Model won't make it to the refining stage without some MAJOR adjustments," Tails looked over his shoulder at the plain gray plane as it exploded. Ata frowned.
"Do you think you'll be able to salvage anything? After the Titanic, I don't think it would be wise to spend a lot of money on brand new parts," Ata asked. Tails pulled a strange jewel from the plane's nose, gazing into the iridescent stone as it cracked and crumbled. He sighed.
"I'll figure it out. It's just an experimental project, I can put it back together, and…" Tails splashed water onto his face from the sea, washing away the remaining ash. "A whole month down the drain. I can't keep doing this to myself." Ata sat at the shore with him, the color draining from her face as she saw the horizon in her mind's eye.
"It's been a long time since the beach was this nice," Ata mumbled, leaning onto Tails. "You know, we—" Ata jumped as she heard fast footsteps in the sand behind her.
"Hey, Tails!" Sonic called.
"Sonic??" Ata asked, spinning around. Tails flew to his feet.
"Sonic! Long time no see," Tails exclaimed, running up to Sonic as he skidded to a stop. "Where have you been? Running off is normal for you, but you didn't even collect your prize for winning the games."
"I've been living here in Emerald Town," Sonic replied, as Trip zipped over to the group and somehow stuck the landing next to Ata.
"You don't say! I was just setting up a lab here. We can be neighbors for a while before you go off on a new adventure," Tails laughed. Sonic cocked his head.
"What? I was thinking about staying," Sonic said. "Y'know, forever." Tails seemed shocked. He shook his head.
"We'll see about that," Tails replied.
"And you're a SUNGAZER? From the NORTH STARS?" Ata cried out, grabbing Trip's hands while jumping up and down. "Did you bring any relics for me to take a little look-see at?" Trip put her hand behind her head.
"Yeah, but… they were stolen by some octopus guy," Trip giggled.
"Well, that won't do! Let's look for him in the ocean!" Ata exclaimed, diving into the water. Sweat rolled down Trip's head.
…
"Aw, what?!" Sonic asked, arriving at the food truck only to find nobody working there. "How am I gonna get my chili dog on?"
"Do you ever eat anything else nowadays?" Tails sighed, leaning against the truck.
"Yeah, you're one to talk with your mint addiction," Sonic argued. "Just glad it's candy and not vapes or something…"
"Huwhuuuuh?? At least my mints don't make my breath stink!" Tails shouted, flustered. Sonic crossed his arms.
"We'll see about that when the sugar rots your teeth out! Chili dogs are a great comfort food," Sonic said, smirking. He put a hand on his chest and a claw in the air. "They actually make me feel something, anything!" Tails stopped chewing his candy, and stared at Sonic. Sonic let his arm fall back to his side. Had he gone overboard? "I'll just stop talking." Tails slowly turned his head back to the truck, as someone came back to the window. Sonic wandered away, he was sure Tails would notice and catch up at some point.
"So my friend here wants a— oh, there he goes," Tails said. He flew up to eye-level with the worker, a sheep girl with white wool and a beaming smile. Tails checked her name tag next to her big bell. "Well, Lanolin, let's just leave it at two chili dogs. I'll have extra cheese."
"Coming right up," Lanolin the Sheep said, crunching the numbers. Tails cocked his head.
"Have we met before?" Tails asked. Lanolin's smile skewed a bit more nervous.
"In your dreams, dude," Lanolin chuckled. Tails piped down. "My family has me here working this shift all day… and EVERY day. It may be that I've served you before, but that's about it." Tails pulled out his credit card and paid for his food. "Enjoy Emerald Beach, it's pretty nice out."
"I will! You have a nice day, okay?" Tails laughed, taking the chili dogs and flying away. Lanolin put a hand to her lips, in deep thought.
…
"HEEEEYYYY SONIIIIIIC!" A woman exclaimed, stomping over to Sonic and tackling him to the ground. Sonic crashed so hard that his back could have shattered, a plume of sand rising from the two.
"OW!" Sonic shouted, struggling to get up. He looked up at the girl holding him down. "Z-Zomom?! What's the big idea?" Zomom struggled to get off of him, before eventually getting to her feet and pulling Sonic off of his.
"It's sooo good to see you! It's been…" Zomom dropped Sonic onto his rear end and counted on her fingers. "Whoawa… confusingly long. Why don't you ever visit?"
"You didn't hear? I got stranded on the Starfall Islands," Sonic sighed, raising an eyebrow and looking up at her.
"Well, WE were on Lost Hex. The rumor mill doesn't reach up there," Zavok grumbled, approaching Sonic. "Zoga might come down here a lot for work, but we won't leave our home for fun if you're not even gonna show up." Sonic grinned.
"Oh? Guess I really am the life of the party, huh?" Sonic snickered. Zavok turned away and crossed her arms. "Still, kinda fancy seeing you here. What's the occasion?"
"Impudent runt," she groaned, side-eyeing him. "If you must know, Little Planet is appearing over this ocean in only a few days. We wanted to see it in all of its splendor." Sonic chuckled nervously. He really didn't want to be the one to tell Zavok she was wrong.
"Hey, Zavok?" Zeena asked, approaching with her pink clamshell phone in hand. "We got it all wrong. Little Planet shows up over a lake in the Iron Dominion, not here."
"W-what?!" Zavok asked, peering over Zeena's shoulders. The green-haired Hexi didn't even look up from her small screen. "What BS! The brochure said in no uncertain terms that we could watch it here!" She tugged at her top's string, Sonic and Zomom averted their eyes in preparation. "The Iron Dominion is a land of great cold… RAAAH! We bought these loathsome bathing suits for NOTHI—!"
"Oh, hi guys!" Tails exclaimed, flying towards the group with the chili dogs in hand. "I didn't know you would be here, if I did, I would've bought extra chili dogs." Zavok stopped pulling on her string, letting it snap into place.
"Tails!!" Zavok exclaimed, delighted. "How's the science stuff going, dude? Figure out any new technology since we last met?" Tails chuckled tiredly.
"Nope, very much at a standstill. Maybe I could make some kind of progress with your EM-Manipulation if you have the time." Tails handed Sonic his chili dog, but just as he went to take a bite of his own, a volleyball flew through and smashed it right out of his hands!
"Waauaauh! Sorry!" Trip cried, hiding her face behind the volleyball net. Zavok stomped past Ata, and looked Trip in the eyes.
"Watch where you're throwing that! You just ruined Tails' food!" Zavok shouted, towering over Trip. "You're lucky it didn't hurt him. I would make you pay dearly."
"Whaaatever happened to Zavok working on her anger?" Sonic asked Zomom as Zavok berated Trip. "Don't you all have the Deadly Sins to worry about?" Zomom turned to him incredulously.
"Not at all! I think Zavok's happy with things as they are," Zomom began to sweat as Zavok hoisted Trip off her feet. "It's hard to tell sometimes when she gets like this, though." Sonic zoomed past the net to intervene.
"Hey, Zavok! Chill!" Sonic exclaimed, holding up his hands. "She didn't mean to do that, Raster's just… clumsy, is all." Zavok groaned, then carefully placed Trip back onto her feet. "I have an idea, why don't you come with me to Ariem's dream therapy? It could probably help get that temper in check."
"WHAT temper?!" Zavok shouted, enraged. Sonic rolled his eyes, and took a deep breath.
"Y'know what? You're clearly not ready to talk about it," Sonic said, shaking his head. "Nice running into you and all, but we'll be going." he glanced to Trip, and motioned for her to come with him. Tails took Ata's hand, and flew after the two.
"Sonic, wait! You forgot your chili dog!" He cried. Zomom frowned, watching as Sonic ran off.
…
Sonic was laying down with his eyes closed on the soft sand, arms tucked between his spines in a relaxed position. Yawning, he reached for his bottle of Ideal Ice Tapioca Tea. Grasping at nothing, he felt around the sand for a moment. "Yo, can somebody hand me my drink? Tails? Ata? Raster?" Sonic heard attempts at quiet slurping next to him. His eyes snapped open, and he tackled to the left. "Tails, I never said you could—"
"Eep!" Amy of the Roses scuttled backwards on her hands and feet, before falling onto her back. Sonic stood wide-eyed, as the sun set between them both. "S-Sooooniiiiiiic…!" Amy exclaimed, shooting an odd smirk his way. Sonic looked right past it at the sky blue streaks in her hair.
"Did you dye your hair blue, Amy?" Sonic asked, cocking his head and sitting on his knees. "Way to copy me."
"What? Not at all! This is just a side-effect from what happened during the games. I ended up only keeping one Inhibitor Ring from the whole ordeal," Amy sighed, twisting her bare wrist left and right. "It was all pretty hectic in the moment, I don't know if you caught it all… Shadow has the other one so he can keep himself under control."
"Yeah… yeah, he did only have one when I saw him earlier!" Sonic exclaimed, staring off into town. Behind him, a strange figure stared off into the ocean. "Where'd that guy go, anyways?" The figure knelt down and placed his ragged, black leather gloves into the water.
"He's always in such a rush. You're a lot alike, you know!" Amy giggled, putting an arm behind her head nervously and averting her eyes. "Hey, I'm sorry for how I acted during the games. I didn't have my head on right, and…" Amy trailed off, looking past Sonic as the dark canine behind him pulled up Sonic's lost Dream Orb from the wet sand. "... Look, I've just had a lot of stuff going on in my life. I would've reached out sooner if only I could find you!!" Amy pouted, throwing her fists behind her and finally looking Sonic in the eye.
"What's the problem, then? The Eternalists?" Sonic asked, crossing his arms and putting his gameface on. A jolt went down Amy's body as the bone-masked jackal looked right at them. Amy put a finger to her mouth… Then the jackal started to laugh, juggling the Dream Orb in one hand.
"Come now, Amy… this fun day at the beach can't last forever, you know," the jackal said in a mocking tone. "Not when he's still around." Sonic turned to face the jackal, only to find himself in an endless expanse of ocean on all sides.
"What the—?!" Sonic yelled, beginning to splash all about. He couldn't see land, he couldn't see Amy. But within an arm's reach was… a dark purple pool floatie with an odd mask for a face. He lunged for it before he could sink, grabbing onto the side and hoisting himself up. He took a deep breath… before being launched into the sky with the pool floatie! He screamed out, shooting beyond the clouds and into a purple night sky that resembled a painting. "Uwuuwuauauahhh…! Oh, this is… actually pretty cool?" Sonic took in his surroundings, an awestruck smile on his face.
"My, my… what a shocker. I don't think either of us expected to cross paths after our last encounter. Now that we're reunited, I must say it's rather nice that you appreciate my work," the jackal sighed. Sonic squinted at the weird mask on the pool floatie, before recognition flashed across his face.
"Oh yeah, Infinite! You're Eggman's android monster who got a cheap shot on me in Emeraldville right before the war started. Just HAD to get me out of the picture before helping Eggy conquer the world, huh?" Sonic asked, holding on tighter to the floatie. "How'd that work out for you?! Dodon Pa undid everything in a day when he showed up!"
"... So you remember me, do you? I'm flattered. After that dreadful tanuki swayed worldwide perception of the Eggman Empire and stole my original power source, I thought I had become a nobody again. Glad to see I left an impression on the legendary Sonic the Hedgehog," Infinite chuckled, blinking in and out all around Sonic. "SONIC, at this point you're likely aware this reality is very different from your own. The laws of space and time you're familiar with no longer apply, I've seen to it that only MY rules do. This will be cathartic." The floatie popped from the pressure Sonic was putting on it, and he was sent hurdling down towards a bed of spikes.
"Whoa!!" Sonic waved his arms in circles, and closed his eyes.
A thundercrack. Amy found herself draped in funeral clothes, standing over a grave in a dark forest. "What—? Where am I?" Amy asked, blinking multiple times as thick pink rain dripped from her hair. It was hard to read the name through the tears in her eyes, and the off-orange astigmatic sheen to everything around her… Suddenly, it became clear as day who rested here, the letters appearing one by one accompanied by the sounds of funeral bells. Her heart skipped a beat. "SONIC?!" Amy held her head, falling to her knees and breathing faster than she could handle. With her bare hands, she dug through the mud Sonic must have been buried under. "This can't be real… this can't be real… this can't be… OW!" Amy pulled her hand back, and stared at the spike jutting out of Sonic's filthy unearthed head. "Who did this…?" Amy looked up at the gravestone with a furious glare.
Infinite put a hand on Amy's back. "Now, now, don't fret. He's out of the way now, and with him gone, all we must do is awaken your true form. Come, your days as a mere mortal are over," Infinite said, pulling her away.
"No! I want Sonic back! Let me go!" Amy cried, kicking around to no avail.
"Well… this hurts," Sonic thought to himself, as his vision started to blur. He felt pins and needles all over. Was this it? He tried to wrap his head around the fact he was going to die. Then, it hit him. "Wait… I shouldn't be able to think with my brains out, right? What's going on here?" Grabbing tightly onto the spike beside him, he slowly pulled himself up. The pins and needles washed away, a blanket of comfort and relief warmed his soul as the twisted torture chamber around him began to glitch and tear.
"What do you think you're doing?" Shadow asked, as Sonic found himself back on Emerald Beach. Clutching Shadow's leg like his life depended on it.
"No spikes, huh…? Shadow! I just had a crazy nightmare!" Sonic exclaimed, checking himself for any iron splinters. "I wonder if I should make a complaint to Ariem…"
"That was no nightmare, you must have seen Infinite's illusions at work!" Shadow shouted, pulling his leg out of Sonic's grip. The dark hedgehog chased the jackal like a natural predator. "INFINIIIIIIIITE!" Shadow roared. Infinite stopped in place.
"You!" Infinite grunted, dropping Amy and separating into multiple replicas of himself. Shadow slashed at each and every one of them, Sonic speeding around and knocking into them at high speeds. The Infinite clones separated into red cubes, toppling like toy block towers. Amy backed away. Shadow then punched the real Infinite in the chest, knocking him into Rouge who snatched away the ruby once firmly embedded in his chest. Infinite grunted in pain, and took a knee. Shadow tried to catch his breath, Rouge pinned Infinite down. "You… dare stand in my way again?"
"I know your game, Infinite. You have no power over reality!" Shadow exclaimed, a crowd forming around the combatants. Lanolin watched from the food truck, squinting at the orb Infinite was holding behind his back. "The Phantom Ruby allows you to create illusions that warp and confuse all five senses, but it's all counterfeit, fraudulent." Shadow smirked wickedly, throwing his head back slightly as he taunted Infinite with his own power source… until the ruby melted into iridescent liquid in his hand. "Huh?"
"Oh, Shadow. You've always underestimated me," Infinite chuckled, clutching the Dream Orb. "Perhaps I set myself up for failure using this new artifact to merely recreate my old power source. To be fair, I only came here for the embryo of Eternamy. I didn't expect you of all people to protect the weak." Shadow scowled, raising his arm. "I'll come back, with another Dream Orb. Then you will see the true extent of my power!" Infinite crushed the orb. What was left of its nearly depleted energy caused him to disappear in a flash of light, leaving behind only laughter. Rouge fell flat on her face. Shadow karate chopped the sand.
"Whoaaa… that bat is… just like meee!" Trip squealed from the crowd, squeezing her own face.
"Doubt he'll come back. Coward," Shadow spat, walking away as the crowd dispersed.
"Where are you going?" Sonic asked as Amy extended a hand to Rouge. Rouge fearfully got up on her own.
"Back to HQ. I really don't have time to join you all in that dream world you keep talking about," Shadow sighed, looking directly into the sun. "I'll be seeing you, now." Shadow blasted out of Emerald Town, leaving a black streak behind him.
"He never has the time anymore," Rouge mumbled, crossing her arms and turning her head away.
"Uhm… Sonic?" Zomom asked, catching Sonic's attention. "Sorry about how things went with Zavok. We all talked it out, and… we want to know more about this 'dream therapy' business!" Sonic smirked.
"Alright then, I'll show ya!" Sonic said, the last rays of sunlight beaming out from the horizon.