•Sonic The Hedgehog: Beyond Worlds•

•[21-Repeating Mistakes (part 1)]•

[Just in time for New Years! It's another short one since I kinda had to pull this chapter out of my ass, so sorry if it's a little rushed, but I can't go into 2025 without uploading one more chapter. Sorry for not uploading sooner. I'll try to upload monthly from next year onwards to hopefully stop myself from taking unannounced hiatuses. Anyway, enjoy, and happy new years everyone!]

Sonic's P.O.V

Fuzzy...

My head feels fuzzy. Why does my head feel so fuzzy...? I almost feel like I'm falling into nothing. I try to open my eyes, yet I can't make out anything. Just, emptiness. There's this strange sensation washing over my body, though it doesn't even feel like anything. At least, not anything I felt before...

Then, in the distance, I hear something. It's distorted and hard to make out at first, but I soon manage to figure it out.

A voice...

...why does it sound so...familiar?

"Sonic!"

My eyes suddenly shoot open, only to be blinded by bright light. Blinking away the blindness, my eyes are greeted by... green.

A lot of green.

Looking around I find myself in a huge meadow, green grass spreading about as far as I can see. The sky above is just as blue as me with not a cloud in sight. Everything feels so...calm. Still weird, but calm. It's almost too good to be tru-

"You okay, Sonic?"

I whip my head to the side, my eyes wide as they fall upon the owner of the voice. A fox with bright blue eyes and a pair of tails swishing behind him. Suddenly, everything that happened in the past few months flashes through my mind. I stare at the fox in disbelief.

"...Tails?"

The fox chuckled. "You look like you've seen a gh-"

Without another second to think, I wrap my arms around him in a tight, tender hug. My eyes tear up. The air around us falls silent for a bit as I let the wave of joy wash over me, savouring the feeling of having my little brother in my arms again.

"Uh...Sonic?"

"I thought I'd never see you again, little buddy." I whisper, pulling away and looking Tails in the eyes. He shoots me a confused glance.

"But you saw me this morning." Tails says. I raise my eyebrow.

"Wha- no!" I shake my head. "I-I was stranded on a different planet after Eggman's portal went off. I haven't seen you in months!"

"Stranded? Portal? Man, you must've hit your head pretty hard on our last mission." Tails chuckles.

"No, I'm being serious-"

A loud whirring sound suddenly blares from behind me, cutting my sentence off. I turn my head around to find a weird blue light, swirling around midair, growing bigger and bigger in size. The sight looks...familiar.

"What the-"

With a sudden flash, the light turns into a glowing blue ring of sparking energy, the inside of which being nothing but a dark void. My eyes widen.

"I-Is that-"

"A portal." I say grimly.

The the wind suddenly start to pick up, seemingly being sucked into the portal, taking some of the grass with it. I feel my heart pound against my chest, a wave of dread suddenly washing over me.

"Sonic?"

"We have to get out of here! Now!"

I grab Tails by the hand and try to dash the two of us away from the portal...except, the winds only seem to get even stronger. I find myself slowly getting pulled into it. Despitey efforts, I feel my feet slowly start to slide across the grassy field.

"Come on. Come on!"

"Sonic?"

The winds pick up again, forcing me to slide further towards the portal. I hold on to Tails's hand even tighter, digging his feet into the dirt to anchor himself. Still, I feel myself sliding closer to the portal. I turn to Tails, his face straining from trying to hold on to me.

"I won't let you go, Sonic!"

"Tails-"

A thunderous crash rings through the air, and before I can even react, my hands are ripped away from his and I find myself flying rapidly towards the portal. I try to reach out to him, that feeling of dread overwhelming me.

"Tails! TAILS!"

"SONIC-"

Then, just like that, everything cuts to black.

My eyes shoot open as my body jerks into an upright sitting position. I find myself in darkness, broken up by the light of the moon shining through the attic window. I hold my hand to my chest, noticing how quick my breathing is. It starts to slow after a while...

Then, the dream I just had, and all the feelings surrounding it, hits me like a freaking truck...

"Tails..."

I feel a tear running down my cheek and another crack in my heart start to form. The dream felt so...real. I could've sworn I actually felt Tails when I hugged him. He was right there... I laughed a sad laugh.

"I guess I'm more homesick than I thought."

I feel a tear run down my cheek as I stare out of the attic window. The sky is dark, millions of stars twinkling in the pitch blackness. The moon is out, its light pouring through the window. I let out a breath.

I rummage through my quills for a minute before pulling out a somewhat old picture and holding it in the moonlight. In it is me and Tails.

"One day, buddy..." I stare at the picture longingly, another tear falling down my cheek. "I'll come home to you soon. I promise."

I stuff the picture back into my quills, trying my best to shove my thoughts to the back of my mind before closing my eyes and trying to go back to sleep...

But, as I thought, I can't.

I let out a sigh, wiping away my tears before hopping out of bed and quietly making my way down and out of the attic, then down the hallway until I stand right outside of Alex's bedroom door. I open the door quietly and let myself inside to find him passed out in his bed, drooling on his pillow. I let out another begrudging sigh.

Without another thought, I climb into his bed, getting myself comfortable without waking Alex up, before pulling he covers over the two of us and closing my eyes.

'I'll explain this to Al in the morning.' I think to myself.