They had been walking for a while now, Silver either between typing on his machine (he had called it a Miles Electric, Venice recalled), or enthusiastically pointing out plants and the occasional insect. Venice took in everything he was so passionately told, listening intently with his ears pricked. The bright yellow thing in the sky, the sun that Silver had used to come up with his name, felt nice on his skin, and he loved the warmer temperatures that he had told would be here. While he had been in the past for only hours at most, he already infinitely preferred this era over Frozen City. He could see why his friend loved it so much, he had never seen such beautiful scenery in his life.

"The Restoration Headquarters are located in a city called Sunset City," Silver explained to him as they walked on the path towards a valley that laid sprawled out between mountains. "It's located in the middle of a lake! They built it very ingeniously, with a huge bridge connecting all the different islands that the city is made of." His gaze grew disquieted. "It was the best place for us to put our base during the war, with the lake ensuring that Eggman had trouble positioning his forces in the city. Not that that stopped him..." Venice frowned at the other's melancholy tone of voice. While Silver loved talking about the past, he mentioned the war he and his friends had fought in only sporadically, and whatever had happened between that and his trip to Frozen City even less. Venice considered it better to not bring it up. It was clear to him that the hedgehog had suffered massively during that time.

Venice could see Silver take a last look at his Miles Electric and then glanced out over the fields towards the city they were walking to. Now that they had come closer, Venice thought he could see the sunlight shimmering out of the city in an odd manner, and a red structure in its middle. Also, the buildings weren't connected to each other like they had been in Frozen City, instead consisting of clusters with the weird sunlight coming from between them. Next to him Silver whooped with excitement, his earlier sadness forgotten. "That's Sunset City! We made it!"

Looking at the city as well, Venice wasn't too sure what to make of it. It certainly looked prettier than Frozen City had, and definitely also much less destroyed, but it was still quite a distance away from where they were standing right now, and he honestly just wanted to curl up somewhere safe and go to sleep. He also had not yet forgotten the incident with the collapsing highway... That bridge certainly didn't look like it was on the ground, what with the yellow pool of light that it was located on top of. What if he walked on it and it collapsed under him as the road had done in Frozen City?

Unknowing of his worries, Silver grasped his hand and enthusiastically began to pull him along, clearly desiring to get to the city as quickly as possible. Not wanting to let him down, Venice followed gallantly, supressing his fears for now as he ran with the hedgehog over the path, the city coming closer on the horizon. As long as Silver was with him, nothing bad would happen for sure.

However, as they got closer to the city Venice thought he'd get a heart attack. There were people on the road, and they looked nothing like him or Silver. His friend had explained to him that there were more inhabitants of the past than just the two of them, but Venice still felt his skin crawl as they went past the visitors of the area. They were staring at them, undoubtedly looking at how they came running past as maniacs, and Venice glanced in fear at all of them. This was quickly becoming too much.

Silver suddenly skidded to a halt, and Venice nearly collapsed against his back. Wondering why they had stopped, he peeked past the other's shoulder. In front of them, two people were arguing, both waving their hands around and clearly looking very distressed. Venice noticed how oddly they were dressed; they both had a green scarf around their neck, though not made of fur like his orange one, and they wore green boots with black tips and similar-styled green gloves. One of them noticed the two hedgehogs near and gasped excitedly, and the other, wondering why the first's attention was no longer on her, looked as well and followed suit. They made their way over to Silver and him, waving excitedly, but instead of scaring them away Silver... waved back?

"Hello!" Silver greeted them warmly as the two came within earshot. Venice desperately tried to align himself perfectly behind the hedgehog, so that the strangers wouldn't see him. "You're from the Restoration, aren't you? What's wrong?"

"You're Lieutenant Silver, right? Sir, there's a huge problem in one of the surrounding villages!" The male Restoration member seemed to be quite panicked, waving his arms around wildly, until his female companion bonked him on the head, clearly having decided she would lead this conversation instead.

"Mister Silver, in one of the surrounding villages some of the houses and construction material got toppled over, and some workers are still trapped underneath. Sunset City is too far away, the Restoration aid still hasn't arrived, and we don't know what to do!" the girl gasped, clearly not as in charge of her emotions as she had wanted to seem like.

Listening to her story, Venice could see Silver's pose grow more determined with every word, and the hedgehog quickly spoke the words he feared he would: "I'll come help out. Please, show me where to go, I can fly us there quickly." He attempted to bound towards the two Restoration members, but Venice squeaked in fear when he moved away and quickly grabbed his arm from behind.

"Don't leave me..." he whimpered, terrified. Silver looked back at him with a glance that at first was surprised, but that quickly got replaced with sympathy. He turned back and gently clasped Venice's shoulders.

"Ven, there's people in danger, and I can help them. Everything's gonna turn out okay, I promise." His reassuring words did nothing to convince Venice, who grasped his arm only harder. Venice could see him think quickly. "Would you perhaps like to come with me?" Venice shook his head firmly at the question. He could tell there would be more people at the place of the accident, and the two who had talked to Silver were already gaping at him extensively, sending shivers down his spine.

Silver looked around, before his eyes fell on something just behind Venice and his gaze lit up. He quickly picked Venice up a little bit, who squeaked in surprise and slight indignance, before flying back and gently placing him on what Venice knew was called a bench. "You can stay here and enjoy the view, and I'll help out the citizens. I won't be long, I promise." Venice let Silver ruffle his quills, everything going too fast for him to fully process what was going on, before the hedgehog moved away fully and dashed back towards the two Restoration members. Just before he reached them, he turned back once more. "Stay right there, okay? Everything's gonna be just fine!" Venice saw him quickly discuss something with the two, before lifting them up with his psychokinesis. He turned once more to wave at Venice, and with that, he was gone.

Venice sat on the bench, completely frozen other than his nervous twiddling with his gloves and the hem of Silver's coat. He anxiously stared at everyone who passed, too scared out of his mind to even try and enjoy the scenery as Silver had suggested. But as the minutes went by, some people only nodding to him and other not paying any attention to him at all, and no one made any move to attack, he relaxed the tiniest bit. Silver had never lied to him before, and he said he would be back soon. Venice could wait a little longer, and nothing would happen. Yes, everything was going to turn out just-

"Heya, Silv! You're back a lot sooner than you said you would be! I see Amy finally convinced you to put on her coat?"

At the loud voice behind him plus the hand that clasped his shoulder Venice screeched, jumping up three feet in the air and the surprise making him lose control of his power, which came out in a shockwave that sent away everything moveable in its radius. As he collapsed on the ground, an "oompf!" from the mysterious voice made him whirl around, and he scrambled backwards in a panic as he stared into the startled green eyes of a blue hedgehog.

----

Earlier that day

The first rays of the sun hit his eyelids as they shot open, and he threw the covers off himself with a laugh. Jumping out of bed with an elaborate cartwheel, he shot into his shoes, then did two hundred push-ups for his morning routine, which took him less than half a minute anyway. Every fibre in his body, the bright sunlight coming in through the window and the songs of the birds outside told him that today was going to be a marvellous day, filled with laughter and adventure. Throwing open his bedroom door, he bounded towards the stairs, peeking behind him cheekily as if to check whether the other door in the hallway was still closed, before he clambered up on the railing and grinded down rapidly, finishing off with another elaborate cartwheel as he came downstairs and made his way to the kitchen. Yes, Sonic the Hedgehog could tell that today was going to be just perfect.

Tails entered the kitchen just as he had finished two batches of pancakes while whistling and singing fragments of silly songs and melodies. "Someone got up from the right side of bed this morning," his little brother greeted him, stretching his arms above his head and fluffing up his tails as he sniffed the air ravenously. Sonic laughed as he grabbed Tails' plate of the counter, the huge stack of pancakes dripping in chocolate syrup with mint chips and topped with a small amount of strawberries to give it any semblance of healthiness, and handed it to his best friend with an intricate bow.

"Some breakfast crepes for the scientist magnifique, bon appétit, monsieur," he spoke in a terrible French chef's accent, looking at Tails with a glimmer in his eyes as the other stared back before they both burst out laughing. Sonic placed the plate on Tails' spot at their kitchen island and went back for his own, and Tails managed to wheeze out a "merci beaucoup" as he scrambled up his seat, giggling his head off. The hedgehog saw him mischievously eye the syrup jar that he had placed on the counter and made a show of cutting the perfect cube of butter for his own stack, taking much longer than he usually would to entertain the fox's ploy. Turning back to Tails and his pancakes that were now much more drowning in chocolate than they had been seconds before, he sauntered over to his own seat and dug into his own stack with an "Enjoy!", as did Tails.

Breakfast passed with little incident and much small talk, wherein they mostly discussed if the world was ready for a chili-dog-flavoured pancake (Tails had been appalled at first, but with Sonic's careful line of reasoning and well-thought-out arguments he had been swayed eventually), after which Sonic supersonically loaded the dishwasher and stretched out once more, pulling at every muscle in his body. He sighed contently.

"What're your plans for today, Tails?" he asked the genius fox, who was currently going through their living room like a whirlwind, grabbing books, thrown-away tools and the occasional piece of machinery that littered their entire living space. It was a good thing Amy came over on occasion and made them clean it up while providing intricate ideas for colour-coding, organisation, and storage, although those were quickly forgotten by the house's residents. While Sonic knew that if they didn't declutter every once in a while their house would quickly become too hazardous for anyone to live in safely, let alone do cartwheels off the stairs without injury, he wouldn't have it any other way. This was their home.

At his question Tails stopped his mad dash for a second to respond. "I need to recalibrate some equipment of the Tornado, and her engine was making a rattling noise which I have to check out, and then I want to see if I can come up with some new upgrades for the old girl." Tails was just as fond of Sonic's biplane as he himself was, and Sonic wouldn't trust her with anyone but his little brother. "What about you?"

"Eh, just the usual." Truthfully Sonic hadn't really thought out yet what his plans were, usually just following wherever his heart and the wind took him. "Going on runs, taking naps, saving people, stopping evil plans from diabolical dictators..." Every day brought a new adventure, and Sonic couldn't wait to find out what this particular one had in store for him.

"Make sure to take your communicator with you then!" Tails yelled muffledly, currently stuck headfirst into one of the clumsily-built storage boxes that had sneaked in and become a staple of their household, courtesy of Amy Rose's cleaning rage. Sonic quickly went over to rescue him, pulling the miffed fox out of the opening and smoothing down his fur while grinning.

"Right ahead of ya, li'l bro. I'll make sure to call you the moment anything goes down!" He knew that after what had happened just before Eggman's war on the world had begun Tails didn't want to take any chances, and Sonic noticed he had become a lot more careful with some things himself. Besides, it felt nice to know that his friends were just a call away, just in case he ever needed it. Ruffling the fox's bangs, getting an indignant "hey!" in response, he zipped towards the front door and threw it open, the feeling of the wind and sun on his skin making his day only better. He did a third cartwheel through the door opening to get outside, just to ensure he really started in style, and waved at Tails who was shaking his head at him, though he could see the other laughing as well.

"Take care, little bro! I'll be home before dinner!" Waving at Tails one last time, he dashed down to the city, his silhouette disappearing within seconds.

-----

With the sun slowly raising higher in the sky, Sonic raced throughout fields and over hills, occasionally whooping and hollering with enthusiasm. Today had been peaceful, with not a single attack from Eggman or assault by his unorganised robots, and Sonic suppressed any thought about how that could potentially be bad news. He could discuss that with Tails over dinner, he didn't want the idea of the Doctor plotting new diabolical schemes that jeopardised the world to sour his mood.

From Mystic Ruins where his shared house with Tails was located he had made his way to Sunset City, where the Restoration headquarters were stationed. He had a feeling that if nothing was going to happen today by itself, his next best shot at adventure was with Amy and the Chaotix who were toiling away there, working hard to restore the world to its former glory. Racing through the landscape at top speed, looking at all the beautiful flowers the hills were littered with and naming them in his head, he slowed down a little as he came across a nature area close to the city where more people were walking and enjoying the sun-filled day. On occasion one of the residents recognised him and waved excitedly, and he would wave back or gave a thumbs-up with a grin, though never staying long enough for anyone to strike up a conversation.

Getting so enthralled at the beauty of the area he nearly missed the flash of grey that flicked by out of the corner of his eyes, skipping to a halt unexpectedly as he realised what he had seen. Turning around, he took notice of the figure that was sitting on a bench a few yards away from him, a bit wayward from the hustle and bustle of the main hub of the area. The grey fur and intriguing hairdo left no doubt who that was, even if Sonic couldn't see his face, as Silver was sitting with his back away from him. Sonic bolted over in less than a second, grinning widely and clasping his friends shoulder.

"Heya, Silv! You're back a lot sooner than you said you would be! I see Amy finally convinced you to put on her coat?"

While Sonic had expected the other to be surprised by his unexpected appearance, he hadn't expected him to scream out in fear or fly up into the air, crashing down on the ground immediately afterwards. Sonic had no time to reach out to him or even wince as a shockwave of psychokinetic power beat him right down as well, the wind getting knocked out of his lungs. Scrambling up instantly, as he hadn't been hurt, he looked at the hedgehog once more, who had turned around as well and was now gaping at him with noticeable fright in his glance. Staring back, Sonic looked into two oddly-formed blue eyes that most certainly weren't Silver's.

------

Silver rushed back to where he had left Venice, worry having wormed its way in his heart the moment he had to go help the civilians and not leaving until he knew for sure that Venice was safe. While everything turned out okay and the workers trapped under the rubble had only sustained minor injuries, at the time he had heard of the accident he knew he had to act quickly, not wanting to risk possibly losing lives due to indecisiveness. As such he had gone for the quickest, though definitely not smartest option. He just hoped Venice had actually stayed where he had put him.

Racing back to where the bench was located, Silver jolted when he saw a figure looming past it and Venice lying on the ground. Flying even faster, he skidded to a halt in the air just before the person, puffing his quills up threateningly and yelling out a "Hey!". No-one would hurt Venice! He relaxed as he identified the figure as Sonic though, the Blue Blur clearly amused by his antics instead of threatened. Pushing down the slight twinge of contempt he felt about the other not taking his very acceptable performance seriously, Silver landed as he took in the scene in front of him. From what he could see the hedgehog had been trying to talk to Venice, hands held out in a peaceful manner in front of him. Venice himself was sitting on the ground, looking immensely alarmed and positioned as if he had scrambled back in fright.

"Hey Silver, you never told me you had a brother!" Sonic beamed at him brightly as he gestured to the terrified psychic on the ground.

"Brother?" Silver looked at Venice for a few seconds, before the meaning of Sonic's exclamation clicked in his head. "Oh, no, we're not brothers. We just look a bit like each other, that's all." He moved to hoist Venice up from the ground, his friend grasping his shoulders and refusing to let go as Silver lifted him up, whimpering softly.

Sonic chuckled. "A bit? You two are nearly identical!" Silver raised his eyebrows. He really couldn't see what Sonic was talking about, what with Venice's orange tuft of fluff, blue eye colour, and lighter-grey fur. Sonic meanwhile lost some of his enthusiasm and rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "I... kind of thought he was you. Scared him quite badly when I popped up behind him, hehe..." Sonic moved towards the now-standing Venice, extending a hand towards him. "My apologies for that, buddy. It's nice to meet you all the same! I'm Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog!"

Silver watched as Venice gawked at the hand as if it was going to detach from Sonic's limb and eat him, making no move to shake it. After a few seconds of awkward silence, wherein Sonic stood with his arm extended and a grin on his face that faltered just the tiniest bit and Venice just stared, Silver took matters in his own hand. "This is Venice! He's a hedgehog, just like us. I met him in the future, and I couldn't leave him behind there, so I took him with me!"

"Well Venice, the pleasure's all mine!" Instead of a handshake Sonic settled on waving towards the ivory hedgehog. Rather than reacting Venice scrambled back more, appearing to be lining himself up exactly behind Silver, presumably in the hopes of getting out of Sonic's line of sight. Silver doubted that would work.

Turning back to Sonic, Silver saw he had raised an eyebrow. "A hedgehog, huh..." Silver saw Sonic's gaze on Venice intensify for a few seconds, looking contemplative. Whatever the Blue Blur had in mind he did not say it though, instead dropping his hand fully and turning towards Silver. "So if you're back so soon and with someone else, does that mean the future is still not saved? That's really too bad, man." He moved closer and patted Silver's shoulder sympathetically (both ignoring the squeak that resounded from somewhere close to Silver's back), and the grey hedgehog sighed sadly.

"It's alright. I really thought we had done it this time, but I guess not." He grasped the handles of his backpack to squash down his anger at his incompetence, deciding that he couldn't lay that on either Sonic or Venice. His failures to save the past were his to bear alone. Noticing the slight hint of pity in Sonic's gaze, he cleared his throat, hoping that his anger had not been so noticeable to outsiders. "I did a lot of research this time, but I'm afraid I still don't have a solid lead as to what happened now." He hoped the hero wouldn't be upset at his incompetence.

"Silver." At Sonic's unusually serious tone the psychic peeked at him surprisedly. Sonic smiled kindly at him, not looking bothered in the slightest. "Even with no info, now that you and Venice are here, everything's gonna turn out just fine anyway. I can feel it." Suddenly feeling somewhat bashful at Sonic's kindness and misplaced faith, Silver glanced away and cleared his throat once more.

"Um, thanks." Quickly deciding to change the topic, he waved noncommittally towards Sunset City. "Uh, can we go to HQ now? The past few weeks have been rough, and Venice is quite tired, and we both need to eat something." He deemed it acceptable to use his friend as an excuse to get out of the conversation, and looking over his shoulder at the other's droopy, frightened eyes showed Silver it wasn't even a lie.

At the mention of Venice Sonic's attention turned towards him once more, and again he had that contemplative gaze as he looked the other up and down. It made Silver feel anxious, as if there was something wrong with his friend... but there couldn't be, right? Venice was just as healthy as him, and he had gotten quite adept at controlling his powers... so what was on Sonic's mind? Was Sonic really that convinced that they looked almost identical? But also this time, the Blue Blur's inspection of Venice lasted only a few seconds. Bounding a few feet away from them, Sonic grinned and gestured to his midriff. "Grab on, then! Taxi Sonic is right at your service for a one-way trip to Resistance HQ, free of charge!" Sighing at the Blue Blur's antics, Silver quickly checked if Venice was okay with being lifted up, before raising them both in the air and lassoing his powers around Sonic as he had done before that one time at Frozen Peak.

"I'm ready!" he shouted, making sure to hold on to Venice firmly, before realising he should probably tell the trembling hedgehog what was going to happen. But before he could even open his mouth to say anything, to either Sonic or Venice, Sonic gave a salute and blasted away towards the city, and Silver heard him laugh between Venice's terrified screams and his own fruitless attempts to calm the other down. Yeah, once they had arrived safely and Venice hadn't died of a panic attack in the meantime, he was so gonna get the Blue Blur back for this.

The drawing was made by the amazing @XxSilver_LeaxX! <3