Future and Past

Chapter 7: Silver the Futuristic Hedgehog

"Me?" Knuckles looked at the somewhat angered hedgehog.

The question does seem to make the hedgehog even more mad. "Yeah you! How could you have come to the past?"

"What are you talking about?" Knuckles backed away as the seemingly younger hedgehog advanced towards him.

"Woah! Woah! Hey!" Sonic shouted as he stepped in between them, looking at the silver intruder with a little more panic, but he didn't show it. "I don't know who you are or why you're in my house, but Knuckles didn't do anything to you, so leave him alone."

"I can handle my own battles, Sonic..." Knuckles mumbled, but otherwise kept quiet about the blue hedgehog stepping in. The silver one, however, was fuming, yet a curious glint was in his eyes. His eyes searched through the frightened Project, curious Tails, brave Sonic, and confused Knuckles. The hedgehog started to calm down.

"Right. This must be him from the past..." The white hedgehog nodded to himself before addressing the small group. "I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. I am Silver the Hedgehog, and I am from the future, approximately 30 years from this very day."

"Future?" Project asked warily "You can time travel?"

"When this stupid headset works, yes." The one called Silver nodded.

"If you want, maybe I could fix it." Tails offered, choosing to forget about what just happened.

"Eh, sorry kid, but I'm not sure you'd be able to fix it." Silver said.

"Tails is the smartest person I know, and he loves to build and fix stuff." Sonic said. "I'm sure you can fix it."

Silver looked at the young fox for a second, but then sighed and handed him the headset. "Okay... But don't break them more than they already are."

"No problem." Tails smiled. "I'll just take a look at them and see what the problem is." Then he walked downstairs to his workshop.

"Don't worry." Sonic smiled. "It's in good hands."

Silver nodded, and Sonic continued. "How about we introduce ourselves? I'm Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog, and that genius fox was Tails. The other hedgehog is Project, and the echidna is Knuckles."

Project wave nervously, and Knuckles nodded his agreement. Silver stared at Sonic with huge surprise and curiosity as he stepped closer to the Blue furred one.

"You..." He said. "You're the legendary Sonic the Hedgehog? You're real?"

"Of course I'm real! You're only from 30 years in the future; I'm not that old." Sonic chuckled, but seeing Silver's serious yet amazed face, stop. "Wait... I-I died"

The silver one nodded. "Yes... very close to now actually."

"What!?" Project frowned, tears threatening to come. "B-But he can't die!"

"How? Did Eggman finally get to him?" Knuckles wondered, eyes wide.

Silver briefly glared at Knuckles before saying, "I cannot say how, why, or when. It goes against the rules of time travel."

Sonic was looking down, his eyes closed. He wonder what could have happened. What did he do to cause his death? Did he step the wrong way when dodging? Was he saving someone?

Did he want to die?

Confusion swarmed inside him, but he wouldn't let himself show in front of his friends. "Well, I guess I'll have to be more careful in the future."

He was really glad Tails was in his workshop.

"Right." Silver nodded. "I'll stay here until my headset is repaired. Then, I can look for the missing gemstone of my time. I hope that you have a place for me to sleep?"