The place felt unsettling, an eerie emptiness hanging in the air. Shadow had expected at least someone to have appeared by now. Surely the explosion would have drawn attention, yet here he was, alone. Was this a dimension where no one existed? That seemed impossible. There had to be something here—after all, a world like this wouldn't exist for no reason.

Shadow raised his head, his gaze drifting across the endless hills and towering mountains. His eyes followed the contours of the land until they fell upon a small lake nestled between two cliffs, with a bridge spanning across it. Perhaps someone—or something—awaited on the other side, so he decided to cross. Curiosity pushed him onward, eager to see what might be different from his own dimension.

As he neared the bridge, a familiar sense of unease crept back into his chest. His heartbeat grew louder in his ears with each step, and his gaze remained fixed on the water, uneasy yet determined.

He was mere feet from the bridge when something abruptly blocked his path. He froze, staring up, his eyes tracing long blue legs to a figure standing tall before him. It was Sonic—but not like he had ever seen him before. This version of the blue hedgehog was taller, thinner, and towered over him with an unsettling smile stretched across his face. Shadow took a step back, trying to take in the full sight of him.

This Sonic's eyes were unnervingly large, with dark, elongated pupils. His smile was thin and unnaturally fixed, never faltering as he gazed down at Shadow. The unsettling features were enough, but something else stood out—three red bracelets adorned his arms and legs, one around each wrist and another around his left ankle. Of all the oddities, this was perhaps the least strange.

Suddenly, the tall Sonic knelt down to else’s level, causing him to flinch. “I’m Sonic. What’s your name?” he asked, his voice, which was not at all reminiscent of a normal blue hedgehog, had a false calm that only added to the tension in the air.