The next morning, Sonic and Amy headed down to Meh Burger for a nice morning breakfast meal. People from elsewhere in the village or outside the village were there too, eating meals and discussing things such as their lives, past or recent events or their plans for later.

As they waited for Dave to deliver their food, Sonic decided it would be a good time to talk to his girlfriend about the nightmare he had last night that made him act weird and he told her everything, from the snake-like figure to the demonic crystal and the dark, apocalyptic events seemingly caused by the crystal.

"And something terrible happened to you and the others," the speedster said as he finished his tale, "The sight of your broken body was so terrifying, I can't bear to think of what would happen if something happened to you or Tails. Ugh."

Sonic placed a hand on his head, trying hard not to tear up as memories of Tails getting hurt in the midst of a battle with Eggman and Burnbot resurfaced. The memory was almost more painful to think of, especially when the speedster had tried to retire and replace him as his sidekick and best friend on Team Sonic.

He even remembered the times when Amy, despite being tough as nails, had ended up in danger and nearly lost her life or got kidnapped by Lyric or by Eggman during the time she tried to help him ensure his lair ended up in a magazine page. Sonic also never forgot when Sticks got abducted by the Froglodytes.

To think that Amy almost ended up getting captured by those freaking frog warriors was unbearable to think about, the speedster was glad that he and the gang managed to save Sticks just as she'd saved them from so many crazy situations a couple times like at the Awardy Awards or the Dreamcaster incident.

"It was hopefully all just a bad dream, Sonic." The pink hedgehog's comforting and lovely voice brought the speedster back to where they were now, yet she sounded uncertain, "But whatever this crystal thing is, its probably out there somewhere and this snake thing... I hope its not Lyric because..."

"Yeah, I know." Sonic held up his hand, "Lyric's gone, but what if there were others just like him? What if there are other ancients just like Lyric who became power crazy and may be still out there, probably sealed away and waiting to rise again. In fact, what if Lyric's got a brother?"

Amy's looked at her heroic boyfriend, eyes wide with terror, concern and shock, "Lyric... having a brother? Uh, Sonic, I think you're suddenly starting to sound a bit like Sticks with her conspiracies. No, no no no! you're starting to become a paranoid conspiracy nut like Sticks, please don't, Sonic, please..."

"What's this about Sonic becoming like Sticks?" Tails, Knuckles and Sticks had just arrived and were sitting down at the same table with the two hedgehogs. Knuckles was frowning as if something never made since, Tails looked surprised and Sticks was scratching her head with confusion.

"Oh, hey guys." Amy waved, "Sonic and I were just discussing this really awful dream that he had last night after our date, its...nothing too important to worry about unless Sonic's concerned that his dream was a vision of what was to come."

"Sonic had a nightmare?!" Sticks cried, jumping into a defensive combat stance, "Oh I can see where this is going, the omen of doom, the warning, the spirits of the universe are reaching out and attempting to warn us of something from the ancient past about to rise and destroy the world and the crystal is at the bottom of it!"

Knuckles looked like he was in a panic, "Wait, there's a crystal that's gonna cause the end of the world?" He leaped from his chair and ran around like a lunatic, screaming, "THE END IS THE WORLD IS UPON US, A CRYSTAL DESTINED TO BRING ABOUT ARMAGEDDON HAS BEEN FOUND! AAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

Villagers watched with confusion, not knowing what was going on. Even Dave the Intern looked unnerved by what he was seeing as he served Sonic and Amy their food. "Why is Knuckles going on about an apocalypse crystal that could bring about the end times?" The fast-food worker nutria asked.

"Somethin' that ol' Knux shouldn't just worry about." Sonic replied, "He should also worry about that creepy evil snake I saw in my dream, whoever that thing was, he's probably just as dangerous as Lyric or Eggman."

To the hedgehog's dismay, Fastidious Beaver, who was sitting nearby at a table reading the newspaper, overheard and turned around. "Actually, its WHOM-ever!" The librarian said, wagging his index finger, "Not 'who', 'whom'." Sonic rolled his eyes with annoyance, having flashbacks of the day of the sidekick tryout race.

"Fastidious has a point, Sonic!" Amy told the speedster, noticing his irritation with the beaver, "So don't roll your eyes when somebody corrects you. Ya know, since we're not so busy and Eggman's out of the picture for now, why don't we all go on a hike this afternoon? We haven't gone exploring in a while."

"Oh," Tails raised his hand, "That sounds like a great idea, maybe it'll get Sonic's mind off those nightmares and whatever dark times are coming. Anyone up for hiking? Raise hands." The fox raised his hand, so did Knuckles and Sticks, even Sonic and a delighted Amy raised their hands, both agreeing to the hike...