Dude, Worlds Are Gonna Collide (A Sonic-TMNT Crossover)

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

"You don't remember me," Kay said sadly.

Silver frowned. "No. Sorry." After a moment he raised a brow. "Should I?"

Kay closed her eyes, forcing her memory of the Genesis Wave from her mind as quickly as it appeared. "I guess not." When she opened her eyes again she allowed herself a moment to take in the hedgehog before her. It didn't look like he had changed much in terms of physical appearance, anyway. In fact, if anything, he almost looked younger. She took in a breath suddenly as the reality of his presence here on Earth sank in. She whispered, "Are you real?"

The question caught him off-guard. His eyes widened slightly and he blinked a few times. "Um...yes? I think so..." Silver brought his hands out in front of them and stared at the turquoise orbs in his palms, wiggling his fingers experimentally. "I mean, it certainly feels like it."

Kay couldn't wait any longer. She had to get closer. Throwing off her blanket, she rose to her feet at first until she realized that she would tower over him if she did so, then dropped to one knee in front of him so that they were nearly eye-level. He stopped his rambling and watched her. Their gazes met.

It only took a few seconds for Silver's life story to enter her mind, and she was startled at how completely different it was from the life story she'd known him to have before. No longer was he a loner on a dark world that suffered from a lack of Chaos Energy – the Silver standing before her had grown up in a bleak dystopian future where a group of five individuals known as the City Council kept an iron grip on every detail of the world around them. Silver had managed to find refuge outside the city limits, living among trash in exchange for a bit of freedom. Kay saw his introduction to his new friends – the Professor and Gold the Tenrec – as well as his valiant rise to the call of heroism and first official world-rescue.

As the images faded away and settled into the depths of her mind, Kay looked upon Silver with newfound respect and admiration. And now that she was looking more closely, she knew that even without her power she would be able to see the years of turmoil he had endured etched into his golden eyes.

She would be getting to know Silver the Hedgehog for the very first time all over again.

Kay snapped back into the present moment when she noticed him take a step away from her. "Uh...what was that? What just happened?"

"I have a kind of power," she explained, folding her other leg under her so she was kneeling completely. "One second of eye contact with anyone – human or Mobian – and I know their entire life story in an instant. Put simply...I know everything about you now, Silver."

Instead of looking perplexed or even afraid like she was expecting, an irritated look crossed the grey hedgehog's features and he muttered, "Great. Wonderful advantage you have there. I still know nothing about you."

"My name is Kay. I know it may be hard to believe, but I used to be a hedgehog living on Mobius."

"I've seen some things in my time. Especially recently," Silver replied. "Try me."

Kay took a breath. "Well...before the world you know existed, an entirely different world was in its place. The Genesis Wave made sure to change reality entirely, not just for Sonic but for you as well. In the previous timeline I was the hand-picked defender of Mobius. I transformed from human to hedgehog, gained Chaos powers, and – long story short – fulfilled the Albion prophecy and defeated Dark Enerjak before he could take over the world."

There was a long pause as Silver stared at her and attempted to process the new information. "So...you're from a different universe?"

She stopped to think about it. "Well...in a way, I suppose. The Genesis Wave did reset everything, creating an alternate..." Kay nodded. "Yeah. Alternate universe. We'll go with that."

Silver was silent for several moments. Then, slowly, he reached for the gem that he'd rescued on the rooftop and held it in front of her. "Where did you get this?"

"That came back with me when I left Mobius. I still have no idea how."

He spun it around to show her the side with the crack in it and looked at her pointedly. "It's broken."

She winced. "Not entirely. And it's not like I wanted that to happen. Besides, I know what I need to do to fix it now." Thank you, Tikal.

"Yeah?" His gaze went from stoic to genuinely interested, encouraging her to continue.

"I need to get it to Knuckles on Angel Island. He'll know what to do."

Silver glanced at the gem. "Aha. That might be a problem."

Kay frowned. "Why?"

"Well..." Silver fidgeted again. "I've been tasked with closing as many Genesis Portals as I can. Something I've noticed is that once they're closed, they won't open again. I mean, they pop up everywhere, but the ones I close specifically – with their specific locations and timelines – never open back up. Meaning the one I closed on the rooftop a while ago is closed forever. I can't get us back to Mobius."

Of course not, Kay thought to herself before his implication dawned on her. "Wait. You mean you're stuck here now?"

"Um." He averted his eyes. "Yeah."

"Then why did you come through at all? If you knew you'd be trapped here?"

"Because you called for me by name, and I was curious! Curiosity killed the hedgehog, didn't you know?"

Silence settled over them then. Kay couldn't believe her luck. She had a Chaos Emerald, but its crack made it uncontrollable and dangerous to use. She was talking to one of her old friends from Mobius, but he didn't know who she was. The opportunity to return to her beloved planet had been right in front of her and she blew it by passing out. Now she had managed to drag another person down with her, trapping him on Earth just as she had been for the past two years.

Way to go, Chosen, she thought.

"Silver," she said at last, "I'm sorry that I made you get stuck here. I would never have said anything if I'd known." She took a deep breath. "But if it's any consolation, I'm really happy to see you again."

He shrugged, then flashed a smirk. "Thanks. Hey, what's life without a little adventure? I've been stuck on alien worlds and managed to get away before. I'll do it again somehow. Something will come up, I'm sure."

"I hope so." It was then that that Kay noticed the birds tweeting outside. She turned her gaze to one of the windows and noticed it was getting light out again. An idea zapped into her head instantly and she shot to her feet. "Hey, I want to show you something. Follow me."