The following is a work of fan fiction by Joshua D. Tarwater and is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS.*
*SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS retains full rights over the Sonic the Hedgehog™ intellectual property and can terminate or take control of this work at any time.

         ★If desire is a dream of the future and memories a dream of the past, then what is a memory of a future once past?

Sunlight glistening off ocean waves
Reflected off corrugated metal
Piled with scrapped robots, wood planks, and airplane skeletons
A workshop made from an impromptu shack
Resting on the beach of jungle lush island
One of a chain laid across a small stretch of ocean
A blue streak tearing through jungle and over island after island

         Though he enjoyed it more than anything in the world, Sonic always wore a look of concentration when he ran. A look of triumph and satisfaction only adorning his face whenever he conquered some self-made challenge. And on this particular day he came up with several as he raced from jungle island to jungle island. It was the only way to clear his head as his particular style of running was not how it appeared to the untrained eye. If anything, how Sonic ran would be better described as scrambling.

         Each step Sonic took would propel him at speeds that could easily take him past sound itself. He rarely went all out however as it would take him from the scenery he challenged. Instead, he would seek traction on the surface of water, run up a cliffside and defy gravity, convincing himself to go faster as the inevitable fall called to him. And if his feet weren’t on the ground he was leaping deftly from tree to tree, rock to rock, cliff face to cliff face. It was anything but simple running, and a mistake would result in a costly accident. Fortunately for Sonic he could see and collect the golden loops that hung in the air and spun on their axes.

         Rings not only made up the matter of the world, but when in the form from which the golden loops derived their name, they could be collected, disappearing into the body as they were and offering protection from harm. Today Sonic hardly needed such protection as the islands he ran across were hardly that covered in danger. But the Rings were creating a unique problem for him and Tails, one he would not learn about until he at last arrived at the two-tailed fox’s workshop.

         “So, anything you can figure out?” Sonic asked as he lounged in the hollowed-out shell of a ladybug fashioned robot. It was one of many such oddities in the shack, some of which even still possessing the computers that allowed them to run as they would. It was from these that Tails managed to put together his own makeshift computer which resulted in the mess within the workshop. It was all effectively a single computer.

         “Kind of,” Tails admitted to Sonic as he plucked several medical electrodes off his friend. “But It’s hard to explain scientifically.”

         “That’s fine by me,” Sonic laughed and waved a hand at the idea of hearing the scientific mumbo-jumbo. “I’m more than happy to hear the simple version of it.”

         “Well,” Tails started with a laugh as he took a seat on anther robot shell, “if the Chaos Emeralds are really a crystalized manifestation of all of the life on Earth, then you’re currently walking proof of that.”

         “Really?”

         “Yeah!”

         Scooping up a makeshift keyboard from the mess that was his workshop, Tails typed in a few commands and pointed to a bulky computer monitor on the other side of Sonic.

         “You See Sonic, Eggman made his robots so that they can detect and respond to lifeforms. They can even distinguish between DNA and RNA based life, with classifications and subdivisions even to make informed decisions based on what they are encountering. It’s really amazing!”

         “And funny hearing you be impressed by Eggman.”

         “He may evil Sonic, but he really is a genius.

         “A-ahem,” Tails cleared his throat nervously as Sonic gave him a look. “If you would look at the screen, please…”

         “And see what asides from the super bright light that you’re trying to blind me with?”

         “That’s just it,” Tails explained further and typed in some commands, the screen immediately dimming. “That was with everything on. Now I only have it detecting RNA based life, and well, it’s still pretty lit up because of the jungle and whatever is in the ocean…”

         “You can cut to the chase Tails,” Sonic interrupted not waiting to hear a lengthy explanation. “Whether I just had a really vivid dream or not, I feel like I need to get going. My nose is itching and I’m sure it’s not just my allergies.”

         “Wha–?” Tails asked confused as Sonic rubbed his nose with his pointer finger. A flick of Sonic’s ear though told the fox that Sonic’s patience was running out, so he hurried along.

         “Right. Well, the setting where everything was really bright was with everything on, including DNA based life, or animals and people. The bright light is literally coming from you Sonic!”

         “How do you figure that?”

“Because while you were out running, I had the time to get everything set up and was watching the readings to see if I could figure out where you were. It was pretty much impossible with you giving off so much ‘life energy’ though.”

         “Not that I’d stay slow enough for Eggman’s mechs to get a lock on me,” Sonic laughed and drew forth a nervous laugh from Tails. Leaning forward and resting his arms on his legs, Sonic gave Tails a more serious look. “There’s something else though, right?”

         “Yeah,” Tails nodded before typing in some more commands.

         Behind Sonic the computer display zoomed out to show the entire island chain under the massive glowing light indicating the life sign reading. As Tails typed some more, the screen flickered, and the image tore as he rewound the data to when he set everything up. As he did, the light got noticeably brighter, and Sonic looked out of the corner of his eye at the screen.

         “So, it’s been getting weaker?”

         “Not just weaker, it’s like something is siphoning it off of you at irregular intervals.

         “You said the Chaos Emeralds had transformed you during reentry so you could survive, but when you saw the girl, they broke away and you haven’t been able to keep the present and what you thought was your life straight, right?”

         “Not thought, lived,” Sonic sighed. “Time travel isn’t really that far fetched Tails. I’ve been to Little Planet and stopped Eggman there too. It’s where I first met Amy, and she told me that we were destined lovers or something like that.”

         “Well, I’ve been thinking about it while running the rest of my tests, but maybe if the energy of the Chaos Emeralds can linger like this, then whatever energies you were exposed to on Little Planet can too. So–”

         “You’re thinking when I used the Chaos Emeralds to survive falling from space that they overlapped, and I experienced a really vivid and long dream. One where I experienced a much smaller resetting of time than this even?”

         “Well, I wouldn’t necessarily call it a dream,” Tails tried to play both sides so as not to further agitate Sonic. “I mean, if you experienced a similar phenomenon during the timeline you were experiencing then it could have been a break where the energies from Little Planet finally ran out.”

         “Considering I had a quite a few adventures between then and now, it’s hard to think it’d linger that long. Especially if something is siphoning away the power of the Chaos Emeralds.

         “Though,” Sonic stated as he stood up and started stretching, “even Eggman managed to steal their power from me during the ‘dream,’ so it’s nothing new.”

         “Do you think Eggman’s involved then?”

         “Maybe,” Sonic stated with unwavering confidence. “Remember that tsunami from a couple of days back? I’m feeling a little prophetic and want to see if Amy is right that the future can be seen. Kind of spoils the adventure if it can be though.”

         “You’re worried about her, aren’t you?” Tails asked as he jumped to his feet.

         “Can’t help it,” Sonic avoided a direct answer. “I can’t figure out why I can’t remember her clearly but saw her reduced to that barely there shadow without any trouble. But, if she’s right and the future can be seen, then Eggman needs our attention first. That and a knucklehead who’ll let him trick him too many times.”

         “You don’t really think–”

         “That Eggman survived that?” Sonic finished Tails’ question. “Whether I lived it or dreamed it, one thing I learned from all those adventures is that Eggman is one of the lucky ones who can use Rings. So, I know he survived. And that means he’ll be causing trouble.”

         “And maybe he’s the source of why you lost the Chaos Emeralds!” Tails added excited as he followed Sonic outside. But a thoughtful shadow crossed his face and he continued unsure. “But I can’t really be sure. It looked like to me the life energy you were giving off got smaller with a timing that would indicate the irregular collecting of Rings.”

         “What, you think the Rings stole the Chaos Emeralds from me?”

         “It could be,” Tails conceded unsure of himself. “Either way, Eggman will have better equipment then I do so we can use his stuff while seeing what he’s up to. But we should be careful because with so much life energy still clinging to you Sonic it could be dangerous.”

         “Probably just a side effect of the Chaos Emeralds being yanked from me. Once we find out who yanked them though it’ll take a lot of thrill out of this adventure.”

         “Hehe! You really do enjoy adventuring with your life on the line.”

         “No better way to feel alive, though I wonder how much danger my life is in with such an abundance of life energy.”

         “Yeah,” Tails nodded in agreement before Sonic put a hand on his head.

         “But how about we call it Chaos Energy when talking about the Chaos Emeralds?”

         “Something from your dream?”

         “Pretty much,” Sonic smirked as he let the memories of his countless adventures become just that. Memories. It wasn’t like him to look back and whether he knew the future or not, losing the Chaos Emeralds before leaving the Park Islands was already different from them. It was a new adventure ahead of him and he was excited, even as Amy’s well being ate at the back of his mind like a shadow.