A/N: DISCLAIMER: This chapter is not taken strictly from Sonic Generations—I took the creative liberty to alter the lines and interactions.

So, this story was supposed to be for Sonic's 22nd anniversary. And now it's the 23rd. -_-" Oh well. I think I'm going to keep posting chapters for each year, but I hope that it won't take me a year between chapters next time. ._.

So, onto the topic of "Classic" vs. "Modern"... I always asked myself, "How do the other characters not recognize the difference between "Classic" and "Modern" Sonic when they look so different?" I've read some stories where it's because they've aged, and I can agree with that. But what if Sonic has been fifteen all these years? Generations, after all, was the first game to note there was a difference in the first place. Maybe it's because these differences in height, looks, etc. have been exaggerated for the fans' sake… Who knows? If you have your own theory that you'd like to share, please leave it in the reviews!

Happy birthday, Sonic. Regardless of what age you really are, we hope you run many more years. :)

-Blur

"Twenty: Déjà Vu… Again"

Outside the apartment is an instant breather—whether you call it my need for space or my hyperactivity, hot bodies radiating heat in a small space just doesn't mix that well with me. After I reach the elevator, I kneel briefly to rearrange my gifts in the black backpack. The cookies go in the small front pocket—one goes in my mouth—and the flowers carefully go into the middle pocket.

I jab the "down" button and listen for sounds of others at home as I wait for the elevator to come. There's nothing—I guess it's just Amy in the building tonight. Maybe they're all out partying on my behalf. Funny, considering I've had enough of memory lane for one day. Then again, it was nothing compared to two years ago… or is it twenty years ago? Ugh, just thinking about it makes my head hurt. Stupid messed up timelines.

The worst day to be sick is the one you're needed for the most.

I wish I could say I'm immune to illness—doesn't everyone?—and most of the time, I am. I mean, I tried. I really did—well, what I could without running over to the pharmacist, anyway. I put up a good fight for several days, but this strain of cold was as stubborn as me.

Hey, it wasn't my fault Tails wanted to go on the rollercoasters.

"Sonic!" he'd wailed. "Can we go? Please? Please please please?"

"Tails," I began, but my voice cracked. I coughed to try to get it back. "Bud, we gotta get home." Rather, I wanted to get home. Maybe make a cuppa tea or something.

"But Soniiiiiiiccccc…" He grabbed my hands, bouncing up and down, blue eyes begging. "I've never been on one, ever. Please."

So I had a little cotton candy and soda, but wasn't my fault he wanted to ride the scariest rollercoaster. And it definitely wasn't my fault he insisted on going on that water one. He would've been perfectly fine with me sitting on that bench waiting for him, but no, the attendant said he needed a guardian. I don't know why. I was the one screaming my head off.

All right, all right, I shouldn't have given in. But he's a kid who works on machines for fun—gotta have some fun sometime, right. And it was fun… until I woke up the next morning to find my voice was still at the park.

I shook my head and sighed. Stupid, stupid—I threw the covers aside, pulled on a fresh pair of socks and gloves, and walked down the stairs to the kitchen.

"Good morning, Sonic!" There he was, ever cheerful, unaffected by the downturn in my health—he already had the table set and although I couldn't see him behind the counter, I could smell the eggs he was cooking.

"Go on, sit," he said, so I did, taking my usual spot across from his.

"Thanks for taking me to the park yesterday." He came out from behind the counter, holding a plate of fried eggs. I smirked—he was wearing my apron, although he had to tie it up a little higher because it was big on him. He crossed over to the table and set the plate on a coaster. "I thought I'd make breakfast today since you were sleeping…"

I nodded, reaching over to the jug of milk.

He untied the apron and put it back on the hook where it usually hung. "Say, you're quiet this morning…"

I shrugged and speared an egg with my fork.

He watched me for a minute as I began to eat. "Are you mad at me for something?"

I meant to shake my head, but somehow it triggered a coughing fit. Talk about timing.

"…It was going to the park yesterday, wasn't it!" His eyes widened at the realization. "I'm sorry, Sonic! I forgot! I—"

I flapped my hand at him—Don't worry 'bout it, kiddo. I was the idiot, not you—and continued to eat my eggs.

He stared at the air in front of him for several minutes as he ate—doing more staring than eating, as I had to shove the plate of eggs at him and jab my finger at it before he would take any. It was kinda freaking me out. I was contemplating making a goofy face, or maybe balancing my fork on my nose would work. That always made him laugh.

"That's it!" He slammed a fist onto the table, and I jumped, upsetting my fork and sending it clattering to the floor. As I went to go pick it up, I gave him my best "What on Mobius, Tails?" face, which only made his grin bigger for some reason.

"What?" I mouthed.

"Exactly!"

I squinted at him, wondering if somehow the loop-de-loops had gotten to him after all.

He laughed, plucking the fork from my hand and running over to the sink to clean it for me. "With or without your voice, you're very expressive, Sonic. You talk with your hands and facial expression as much as your mouth. And I think I'm pretty good at guessing them." He smiled and handed the clean fork back to me. "See, you're giving me the 'Tails, you're not making sense again' face."

I froze—he was right. I laughed, or intended to anyway. It sounded more like a cat trying to cough up a hairball so I shut my mouth and nodded instead.

"See, I was thinking we could practice a little—you tell me stuff and I'll try to translate for you. If I don't get it, you can write it down for me." The little guy's eyes were shining like stars, excited as he was when starting a new project. "How about it?"

I gave him a thumbs up, grinning.

An hour or so later, he'd gotten the hang of most of my expressions. I only needed to narrow my eyes for him to understand No, Amy, I am not taking you on a date, and he knew the difference between Peace! versus Two chili dogs, please even though both were represented by two fingers. Pleased with our success, I motioned towards the door with a thumb, pumped my arms up and down, and held out three fingers and a fist.

"'Gonna get some air, bud. See you in half an hour.'" He smiled when I nodded. "Okay. You're going to help me with my project later, right?"

I looked up from buckling my shoes and grinned.

"'Yeah, sure, and then we can go get some ice cream later.'" To this, I snorted, evoking a laugh from him. "Okay, I was kidding. I'll see you later, then."

I waved, and with a flash of blue, I was gone.

Over the hills, green and brown and blue blurring together—it still made me giddy when I broke the sound barrier. Still does, because in getting there, I broke a barrier in my life, and I never went back from there. The rush of adrenaline, a feeling of irrepressible joy welling up from the soles of my feet to the tips of my quills flying behind me—I laughed as I went through the loops, not caring that it hurt my throat and I sounded like a dying animal.

RRUUMMMBBLLLEEE!

I lost my footing on a step—I'd hate to imagine if I was upside down in a loop!—but quickly regained it and came to a stop.

What was that?

I turned around, trying to catch something different in the scenery. Was it the purple mountains? The rivers? The hills? But no, there was nothing different. I frowned and squinted into the distance. Still nothing.

I shrugged. Maybe it was just another quake—they're common around here, as the islands and their zones change sometimes, shifting new areas here, old holes disappearing there. I started picking up the pace again, but I went slowly, ears twitching about for strange signs.

RRROOOOAAAAARRRRRRRRR!

I slammed on the brakes and whipped around: there was a devilish-looking… thing, blacker than night, pulling itself out of a purplish hole. It was like a shadow—no, not Shadow. I didn't know him at the time. No, more like an actual shadow, like those monstrous creatures that some kids think live in the corners at night, or under the bed. I was never one to imagine those things—I had more pressing things to worry about as a kid, like what I was going to eat that day. Still, that's the first thing that came to mind as I saw it… But could I even say that? It was hard to look at, its form always twisting and shifting. It came from some hole, purplish and twisting like the being itself, like it came from a rip somewhere between dimensions.

Don't ask me how I knew that.

It spread its "arms" out, releasing a purple wave from its mouth that radiated outwards to cover the whole zone, almost like a gigantic sonic boom… except this one sent a completely different kind of shiver up my spine. The thought, This didn't happen the last time, popped into my head, although I hadn't a clue as to why.

Things began to fade to white around me, the beautiful greens and blues fading away, and it wasn't just the surroundings: something—I couldn't see what—began constricting me.

I tried to call out, Somebody, please, help! but my throat was stuck. I immediately thought of water, but I couldn't feel anything, which only made my fear worse. Another urge to make sound came, one of panic this time, but that invisible force held me, as if trying to squeeze the life out of me too. I pushed back as hard as I could, but it refused to let up, pushing me into oblivion.

I closed my eyes to the fading white around me, clenched my teeth, and held my head high.

"Sonic…"

"Sonic…"

"Wake up, Sonic…"

Mmm, not now, Tails. It's not morning yet…

"Sonic…"

"Wake up…"

Gimme a minute…

"Sonic…"

"Okay, I'm up, I'm up," I mumbled, eyelids fighting to open. "Just a sec—"

White, white, white—it was empty, bright, and lifeless.

"Hello?"

My call didn't exactly echo—an echo is your own voice repeated, isn't it? But this, this was a thousand voices combined into one, vaguely familiar, but not my own. Hello, hello, hello, then swallowed up by the blinding white.

I gingerly got up from the ground, looking around, but all was the same—nothingness that it hurt to look at. I looked back at myself: my tan arms, red shoes, blue legs. Then I reached up to touch my face and blinked in pain when I poked myself in the eye—okay, so I existed.

But where was I?

In an instant, everything came rushing back, fast enough to make me dizzy—morning run, birthday party, twenty years, chili dog, my friends swallowed up by a purple monster...

Something formed in the distance—I figured a mile or two, but it was hard to tell without a point of reference. Off in the distance, loop-de-loops and hills that looked a lot like Green Hill Zone, except "green" didn't exactly fit anymore—everything was white, bleached, lifeless.

"Talk about creepy," I said to nobody in particular—did anyone else exist here? "Still, it's somewhere…"

Swallowing the fear crawling up my throat, I raced towards it, not looking back.

June 23, 1991: A blue teenage hedgehog races through Green Hill Zone. His mission: stop a fat, evil Egghead from taking over his home.

June 23, 2011: A blue teenage hedgehog races through a lifeless Green Hill Zone. His mission: figure out what the heck happened to his home.

The loops, the hills, even the bots were the same—I felt like the newbie hero all over again, without a clue of what I was doing but with the drive to do something.

So I did what I knew best: I ran.

Feet flying, the wind in my face, adrenaline coursing through my limbs—I glanced behind me to see if anyone was coming after me. Maybe looking back (both figuratively and literally), I'd be able to find a solution…

Whoa.

It was like somebody had a giant bucket of paint and was pouring it back over the land—color and life flowed back into the zone as I passed through. The greens, blues, browns, the vivid bouncing flowers and palms I loved so well… Everything was coming back!

I let out a whoop and turned back to the white landscape ahead—confidence now surged through me, and I ran faster and faster, an extra rush filling me from my soles up as I saw life coming back before my wondering eyes. On and on and on… I didn't stop, nor did I want to, until I saw the familiar sign bearing the ol' Eggman's visage. I laughed as I rushed by, flipping it around as the picture transformed into my own…

And the zone ended there.

I blinked in surprise, screeching to a halt—after the sign, there was nothing but the vast emptiness again.

"Come on!" I called out. "You didn't bring me out here just to relive a slice of my memory, didja? I'm on a roll here!"

Of course, the emptiness did not reply except for the echo of here, here, here.

I frowned, slightly bummed there wasn't more. I looked back to Green Hill, wondering if I should just run through it again…

Something white, something lifeless caught my eye.

"Well, that's not right," I said, beginning to walk over to where I thought I saw it. "How come you didn't change back…?"

A very familiar fox stood next to a palm tree, a statue, two tails unmoving for once. I nearly choked when I saw him—that scream was still frozen on his face.

"Tails…"

I positioned myself a few feet in front of him and waved a hand in front of his face. "Tails?"

My little bro made no reply, eyes blank and fixed.

"Tails?" I took a step closer to him and shivered—I could feel waves of cold emanating from his form, lifeless and hopeless, unbecoming for the rest of the vivacious country surrounding us.

I took another step, and the waves of cold fought me, repelling my life force. Still, I looked him straight in the eye, trying to keep my voice from shaking. "Tails… Hey, buddy, talk to me…" Not knowing what else to do, I grabbed his left hand, even though the cold felt like shards of glass piercing through my gloves—

A blinding flash of light consumed the area, and I flinched, releasing his hand and shutting my eyes as I jumped away. Only when the light spots faded from my eyes did I dare to look again.

Like everything else, the color flowed back into him, from his shoes up. When he was back to normal, he blinked, closed his mouth and looked around in surprise.

"Sonic?" I could see the disbelief in his eyes—the same as when I first rescued him all those years ago.

Immediately I was smothered—like being hugged by a gigantic fur coat, except fur coats don't go on adventures with you and laugh with you and scold you and love you and tell you that you're the best thing that ever happened to them. He was warm, he was alive, he was my little bro again.

"Sonic, it was horrible! I thought I was dead! Floating without a body in a black limbo…" He squeezed me even tighter, locking his hands under the quills in my back. "I'm gonna have nightmares for weeks…"

I smiled at him, running my hand through the fur on his head. "But I gotcha back, didn't I?" He nodded, and I looked beyond his head into the white beyond.

Wait, that wasn't there before…

"Tails, you seein' what I'm seein'?"

He released me and turned—off in the distance was a series of pipes, metal structures…

"Looks like Chemical Plant…" he said haltingly. "But… it's all white."

I frowned. "Hmm, that's what Green Hill looked like before I saved you… But after running through it…" I gestured to the colorful zone behind us.

"That's strange…" he said, tilting his head to the side.

"No stranger than rescuing genies in magic books or saving aliens in an interstellar amusement park," I quipped, and he laughed.

"Well, if running through it worked before… Do you think it'll work again?"

"I don't know… But that might be a good place to check out anyway." I tugged on my glove cuffs. "You stay here. I'll be back soon."

He looked like he wanted to protest, but I was already gone.

Ugh, how much whiteness could there be?!

I had been wandering around for what felt like hours—but I couldn't even be sure of that, because I was pretty sure there was no time here. There wasn't anything else, after all. I was sure I'd been running in circles.

Even a robot would be a welcome sight. At least I'd know I was somewhere... There's nothing here but white, white, and more—

Green?!

No doubt about it, up ahead was my beloved home—Green Hill Zone danced and swayed happily, and hope surged in my chest.

Now we're talkin'! I pumped a fist in the air and began to run towards it. Maybe I'll find somebody there…

Just as I'd hoped, as I approached, I could see two figures standing together—one blue, the other orange-yellow. Both of them looked very familiar… The taller blue one turned and raced off towards some other structure in the distance, and the smaller orange one remained, watching…

Wait, was that Tails?

I raced over as fast as my feet would carry me—I wanted to yell, Tails! but I stopped, remembering my voice probably wouldn't carry that far. Instead, I ran up to him and stood there, waiting for him to notice me.

He didn't notice me for a good few seconds. Finally, he turned, jumped, and screamed. "Wow! You weren't kidding when you said 'soon'! I thought you already left!"

I already left?

As if I wasn't confused enough, looking at him gave me an odd feeling somehow… Yes, he was definitely my little buddy, but there was something I couldn't quite put my finger on. I blinked and wondered if it was a dream. No, he was still the same… but different. A hair taller, healthier, a little more confidence in those sky-blue eyes… I knew he hadn't aged since I'd taken him home, but I thought he looked a little…older?

Why did I have an odd feeling about that blue guy from earlier?

I nodded to him—maybe I could catch up to him and figure out what the heck was going on here! I began to run, heading in the same direction as the other blue guy.

I looked back at Tails, and he was looking at me very oddly…

This day just kept getting weirder and weirder.

Where once there was white nothingness, now I found myself in a very long corridor, like one of those fancy ones built just for show in the opulent mansions overlooking Emerald Coast. At both ends of the hallway there were sets of double doors. The one I'd entered in was shut, but the one at the other end was open, bright white light shining out of it. The right wall was lined with mirrors, and a lone chandelier hung from the ceiling…wherever that was, because I couldn't see one. It made me feel like I was in an old black-and-white movie—quite literally, as I was the only colored anything in the place.

"Hey, I like the way I look, but I'm not that vain…" I said out loud, walking up to a mirror. "And these are funky mirrors if I ever saw one…"

I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but something wasn't quite right about my reflection. It wasn't like looking in the mirror when I was a werehog—I think I would've smashed the mirror if that ever happened again. No, it definitely looked like the me I was used to seeing… but not quite. For one, this mirror made me look a hair shorter. And hey, when had I gained a little weight? I patted my stomach and frowned. Hang a sec, I'd seen this before… somewhere…

Whoa, I thought, examining the other blue guy in the glass in front of me.

I'd finally caught up to him here, only to nearly fall flat on my face in surprise when I saw who it was…

It was me.

Just like the Tails I had seen before, this version of me was just a little taller—not even an inch, but it seemed like more because he—I hesitate to say "I"—was slimmer. His quills were slightly longer, and hey, there was something funny about his eyes. I looked a little closer, and he did the same.

It was the irises.

For my whole life, my eyes had shifted between black and green according to my mood—black when I was stressed, upset, or very focused; green when I was happy and peppy. But the other me… his irises were a very solid, vivid emerald green, not betraying any of the shifting black that lurked in mine.

Like the other Tails I had seen, he looked like he hadn't aged, but he gave off an aura of confidence that suggested experience… Like he'd saved the world not once, not twice, not even ten times, but he'd done it time and time again without fail.

I wasn't sure whether to think that was awesome or terrifying.

I had just decided to go with "awesome" when a very familiar and horrible voice resounded in the room, coming from the open double doors:

"Take a good look at yourself, Sonic!"

Doctor Robotnik! If that egghead was here, then what was I doing standing around?

"Eggman!" the other me called.

Even in the future I still called him that, heh.

"It's the last look you'll get before I close your eyes… Forever! Ho ho ho ho!"

I leaped into action—up at the head of the room that set of double doors was closing, and I put every ounce of strength I had into making it through that door.

After Eggman's speech, I was just about to roll my eyes—seriously, his speeches were just getting worse!—but my "reflection" turned in that same direction, running to the double doors in the front of the room.

Wait a sec, that was no reflection!

"There's two of me?! What?! Hey, wait up!" I followed the "other me", running up to the door. He jumped through the door, and the light inside it swallowed him—but I was too slow, only managing to slam my nose into the closed wood.

"ARGGH! You've gotta be kidding me—!" I clutched my nose with both hands as I got up from the floor. It really was a wonder I hadn't broken my nose a thousand times over in my life, what with all the times I missed and slammed my face into hard objects—the ground and walls, namely. I can't remember an adventure where it hasn't happened at least once. Usually I took my annoyance out on bots, but it was just me now…

So how was I going to get out anyway?

I looked back at the corridor: the "mirrors"—huh, I guess they were just glass after all—had vanished, only leaving the two identical chandeliers.

I looked down at the double doors I'd entered through—hey, they were open now! But as if they had sensed my thought, they began to close. So, of course, I tried to catch them before that could happen.

"GAAAAHHHH!"

And, of course, the door slammed on my nose. Again.

This time, I lay on my back on the floor, staring up at the ceiling as my nose throbbed angrily. I had no idea how long for—hours? Minutes? Hmm, if I had worn a watch, would it have worked here? Maybe somebody would find me here eventually. Hopefully it wouldn't be too long, because I hadn't eaten anything since that bite of the chili dog Tails had given me. Some birthday present, really. Yes, I did love the chili dog. Still, nineteen years I've been your best friend, and my birthday present is one when you know I can eat about ten in one sitting—

"Sonic!"

I sat up at the sound of my name—and that voice.

"Tails?"

My little bro flew over to me, twin tails making that familiar fwap fwap fwap sound. He stopped next to me, looking at me curiously. "Hey, your voice is back!"

Huh?

"What are you talking about, bud? I didn't lose my voice," I said, frowning.

He echoed my frown, placing his hand on his chin as he scrutinized my face. I felt like a some complex doohickey for his machines that only he could understand.

After what I thought was a few minutes, a sudden look of understanding came over his face. "Oh! I must've found the other Sonic," he said, more to himself than me. "This must be what the other me was talking about…"

"Other me? Other you?" I repeated blankly.

As if just realizing I was still there, he blinked and looked back at me. "Oh, right! Um… Well, did you see another you earlier?"

"Uh, yeah…?"

He beamed. "Yeah, that's my Sonic."

I stared at him.

"Umm…" The smile faded slightly, but it quickly reappeared. "Here, it might be easier if I show you… Follow me!" He tugged on my hand. Still thunderstruck, I got up and allowed him to pull me along for once, watching his determined face as he dragged me along. I couldn't quite name it, but there was something about him that was different. I recognized the excitable twitchiness—

Hmm, when was the last time I had seen that?

As he pulled me along, the area got progressively lighter—finally, he led me out into the blinding white again, and I blinked as my eyes adjusted to the light. Tails, on the other hand, was busy looking around for something—or somebody.

"Hey, Tails! Sonic!"

That voice…

"Over there," Tails said, pulling me again. "We're here!" he called.

I looked in the direction I heard the voice, and I nearly choked again as I saw him… But this time, it was for an entirely different reason.

Tails was walking towards us.

The Tails that was still holding my hand looked up at me. "See what I mean?"

I pursed my lips—how could I phrase it so that I didn't sound completely baffled?

"Uh… no."

He looked for help to the Tails that had just arrived, and that Tails smiled at me.

"Well, okay, let's just put it this way… We're time-traveling," this "new" Tails explained.

"Oh, that makes perfect sense now. I should have thought of that before. Thank you so much."

He frowned at the sarcasm but merely continued with his explanation—"Well, remember you were running through Green Hill? That was the first zone you went through to stop Eggman."

"And Chemical Plant," the other Tails, the one still holding my hand, chimed in. "1992."

"Yeah, that's right," the first Tails finished. "See, the other me here is from 1993—and so is that other you from before. Right after you left for Chemical Plant, he showed up. I thought he was you, so he decided to run off after you. I thought there was something off, though…"

"That's when I came. We figured out that we were traveling through time once we saw each other."

"It felt like I was looking at a mirror, but I was looking at the way I used to look."

"Which really isn't so different, so that's why we mixed you up."

My brain was reeling from this new information. Lots of words tumbled together and tried to escape all at once, resulting in a very eloquent "Oh."

They looked at each other—he looked at himself?—and shrugged.

"We're—I'm—still working out the details of how we got here," the "younger" Tails said, "But for now, we need to find the other you—my Sonic."

"Speaking of whom…" The "older" Tails pointed behind us. "Younger" Tails and I turned to look: there was a large purple portal with cogs like those from a clock around it. Walking out of it… was me.

Both Tails began walking towards him, prepared to give him the same speech. From the looks of it, he wasn't as surprised, but I couldn't help but stare as I watched my "younger" self.

It was going to be a long day.

"But it was one of the most fun," I say aloud to myself, leaning on the fake gold bars. On the inside of the elevator door, my reflection—my real reflection—nods at me.

"First floor," the female-sounding elevator voice says, and the doors slide open. Waiting outside are several partygoers, perhaps returning home or moving the party to another friend's place. Their party hats bearing my image sit askew on their heads, and one's party horn falls out of his gaping mouth.

I wink at them. "Hey, guys. Nice hats." I easily stroll past the awestruck crowd to the apartment building's main doors, humming "Happy Birthday" as I step outside.

A/N: Please review!