What It Could Be Like
Sonic tries to use Chaos Control without a Chaos Emerald. Of course, something has to go wrong. He gets transported into another reality that is not that different from his own. However, he is not aware of this fact and neither are the people of this world...
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise.
[Last Edited: 2018-01-18]
Special thanks to StripedStoryteller for helping me with this chapter.
Chapter 1: Arrival
"You know, Eggman, you really should think about yourself! You're doing a really bad job of trying to take over the world! Just look! It doesn't even hold together!" Sonic softly kicked the last robot, the small push being enough for it to crash to the ground and break apart with a loud ringing sound that echoed through the empty hangar like a beautiful melody of victory.
A confident smirk stretched across the hero's lips as he let his gaze linger at the destroyed robot by his feet. "But I guess it's understandable that you're demotivated. It's not like doing your best work ever brought a different result before!"
The blue hedgehog finally turned around to see Eggman's expression, expecting the usual outburst of anger followed by another declaration of how he would succeed next time.
However, the sight Sonic witnessed was not as he had expected it to be, it did not bring the expected feeling of victory. No. Instead it sent a shiver down his spine and made his gut fill with apprehension. Because Doctor Eggman was standing there with his head held high and a pleased smile on his face, calm as never before, his body language not betraying any signs of distress either; he simply seemed as if everything that happened in last five minutes didn't mean a thing to him.
Sensing something was very wrong about the situation, Sonic made a small step back, his brows furrowing in an uneasy concentration.
And then the doctor started applauding, the sharp unexpected sound making the hero's body jerk reflexively. "Well done, Sonic! Once again you challenged my greatest creations and once again you came out victorious! I shall forever remember this moment! The moment of your last heroic act..."
The cobalt hero frowned at the declaration. My last heroic act...?
"You were a great opponent, the best opponent I could ever have! You showed me where I was making mistakes! You pushed me forward until I reached my limit—reached my true genius!"
Another great talk? Sonic raised a suspicious brow. He has a those only before he carries out his plan...
"But everything has to come to end some time..." The doctor made a dramatic pause, letting the silence linger before— "So let's end this in a great way!"
All the lights in the air immediately dimmed at the exclamation, leaving Sonic and Dr. Eggman as the only two visible objects in the doctor's great lair while the rest became shrouded by darkness. The hero immediately shifted back into his battle stance, vigilant and prepared to face the secret weapon he was sure Eggman was about to reveal.
Green eyes jumped from one place to the other, searching for any kind of weapon that had not been there before. But there appeared to be none—not even a sound of any machinery being activated...
Emerald eyes turned to gaze back at the red ones hidden under the dark blue eye-glasses, the hero silently demanding some kind of explanation. However, the owner of those red eyes just stared back with an impassive expression on his own face, holding eye-contact for a whole minute before finally speaking up again.
"You see, I never was one for long talks..." the evil genius started, the short remark immediately making Sonic put on the 'Are you serious?' face.
Have you ever heard yourself...?
"—You were a phenomenal warrior. You fought countless battles and as your presence here shows all of them—until now—were victorious. However, in this last battle you, hero of Mobius, Sonic the Hedgehog, shall fall..."
Dr. Eggman made an elaborate gesture with his hands that was accompanied by another moment of dramatic silence. The the doctor ever so slightly shifted his gaze to once again lock gazes with the hedgehog on the lower floor.
"Any last words, Sonic?"
The cobalt hero blinked. What did he just—?
"I take that as a 'no'."
All lights switched back on, blinding Sonic in process. Feeling his eyes water and burn, the hero immediately closed his eyes, not being aware of what was happening around him until the sound of running machine reached his ears and he reflexively opened his eyes to see what was happening.
"What the—!"
Suddenly, Sonic found himself floating a few feet above the floor, a weightless feeling similar to when he fought Final Hazard in space spreading through his body. However, this time he was immobilized—while able to move both his arms and legs, he was unable to use them as there was nothing for his hands and feet to grip onto.
Blue ears twitched as the sound of machinery got significantly louder and closer as the pillars that surrounded him were slowly enclosing the space he was in...
Sonic could feel panic build up inside him as he watched electricity jump from pillar to pillar as if charging up to strike him... Eggman doesn't plan to fry me alive, does he?!
"What are you doing, Eggman?!"
A sickeningly pleased smirk appeared on the megalomaniac's face as he responded, "Exactly what it looks like, Sonic. You are about to receive few electrical shocks which will most likely result in heavy burns and a possible cardiac arrest..."
Green eyes widened in horror. Eggman was going to kill him?! But he had never tried that before—! Well, he did, but he definitely wasn't so serious about that—!
Deeply hoping the other had just a twisted sense of humor and that he was just trying to make him scared, Sonic forced out a nervous laugh. "Haha, doctor, a great joke! Really a great one! Now stop joking and let me go!"
The doctor crossed his long arms over his chest. "I'm not joking, Sonic," he replied, nothing but cold-blooded seriousness visible in his expression.
"Oh, come on! You don't kill people! You just want to enslave them and robotize them and wipe out their memory—you know, just destroy their personality!" Sonic called, begging the Universe to make the mad doctor remember his humanity.
But judging by the scientist's next words, Universe, apparently, had better things to do. "Well, this will destroy your personality...along with your body—but that is just a trifle."
Sonic wanted to yell 'No!', but he never had the chance as at the same time one bolt got too close, burning his fur and making him instead shout out in pain.
Think, Sonic, think! What can I do? the hero screamed internally as he tried to twist out of the way of the bolts but found it to be an impossible task while being suspended in the air by an invisible force.
"Farewell, Sonic the hedgehog!"
The exclamation barely registered in the hero's mind as he was currently more preoccupied with the fact that there were suddenly more bolts rushing through the air around him, making burns appear along his form, each new one larger and more painful. He looked around, his eyes hurting from the flashing light as he watched the bolts start to jump randomly, making it harder for him in his weightless state to protect himself from further injury.
I have to get away somehow! he shouted internally, wracking his mind for means of escape. Run!...Jump!...Teleport!...Teleport?...Chaos Control!
With the pain of being electrocuted still coursing through his body, Sonic forced his eyes to close, concentrating on drawing all the chaos energy that coursed through his being into the center of his body to accumulate enough power to bring off the dangerous stunt he planned to do.
Will I be able to make it? he wondered, feeling the potent energy leave the peripheries of his body and move towards the center of his stomach. I don't have a Chaos Emerald on me, but Tails said it should be theoretically possible to execute Chaos Control just with the energy from my own body. Though he also said that there's a 50% chance it'll kill me... More burns formed on his body, legs, arms, and his back... But that will surely happen here, if I stay—!
He could feel the powerful energy being condensed in his being, twisting, stabbing, waiting to be released. It was a different feeling from using the energy of a Chaos Emerald which was simpler to control, not so unstable and unrefined...
I just need to focus... he said, already opening his mouth to let out the activation words. "Chaos..."
"What?!" Eggman jumped in alert, holding on a safety railing as he tried to take a closer look on what was the blue nuisance doing.
And then it clicked.
"NO!"
"...Control!"
Sonic could feel how his body started to change its shape, preparing for teleportation—but at the same time he could feel all nerves in his body screaming in agony as one giant bolt went straight through his half-physical form. He opened his mouth to shout but his cry of pain was never heard as at that same moment he was sent flying right through the time-space continuum, his shout disappearing in the twisted fabric of reality.
Eggman roared in anger, his hands gripping so tightly on the safety railing it started to bend out of shape. Too swallowed in his anger, the scientist failed to notice was happening around him—even the alarming sound coming from the main computer that controlled the trap which Sonic had just escaped from. "That stupid hedgehog! Why can't he die for once?!"
The human would have probably continued in his fit of rage if it weren't for the anxiously sounding voice of his robotic assistant that suddenly sounded. "Sir!" The mad scientist sharply turned to the main computer, seeing Orbot frantically pushing various keys on the control panel. "The device is getting unstable! We have to—!"
But the rest of Orbot's sentence was never heard as it got swallowed by the sound of massive explosion that shook the whole lair to its foundations.
~O~
Sonic groaned, feeling as if somebody tried to burn him alive while running a bulldozer over him at the same time; he was heavily burned, his entire body was trembling from exhaustion and he was covered in dirt from the ungraceful landing.
Blue eye-lids slowly opened, revealing tired green eyes, which slowly scanned their surroundings. He seemed to be lying amongst a flower patch in the middle of a forest but he had no idea how he ended up here; he clearly remembered wishing to teleport to Tails's workshop.
Wanting to move himself on all four, Sonic tried to move his hands. However, his body felt too heavy to move, like lead, arms refusing to move from their position, unable to even attempt to hold his weight. He tried three more times but neither of them brought different result.
I guess I'll have to stay here... He looked to the sky, where gray rain clouds were slowly changing to much darker shades. Thundering could be heard not long after. Oh, come on...
It didn't take even few seconds for a first raindrop to fall—right on his right ear, the appendage twitching when it felt the watery element's coldness. And the lone drop was soon followed by thousands of others, in moments soaking his body to the point it shivered from the cold as well as turning the ground around him into mud.
After few minutes the rain decided to turn into a storm, leaving Sonic in even more despairing state; in his adventurous life he already had to withstand a lot of bad weather, but before he always stayed in some sort of shelter until it calmed down, so being fully exposed to the elements without any way to escape was new to him.
I'm in pain, freezing and unable to move...I hope Tails will wonder where I am and will try to find me. Sonic could feel his eyelids slowly drooping, but forced himself to stay awake just in case somebody actually showed up and he could alert the person of his presence by shouting. Because if they don't find him fast, he will definitely die here—if not from his injuries then from the hypothermia he was in danger of acquiring if he stayed too long in the cold rain.
But who would come out in a such terrible weather?
Few minutes passed and, unsurprisingly, nobody showed up, the hero's hope of being found now practically non-existent.
Who am I trying fool? Nobody will come. I'm who knows where and there probably isn't nobody in this forest. He closed his eyes, his breathing becoming shallow. I'm exhausted...
Suddenly, there was a loud splashing sound which grew louder with each passed moment. Sonic tried to open his eyes, but they became heavy, following his body's example, leaving only a tiny crack to see out of.
All he could see were two black legs with red stripes in white and red jet-skates just a few inches from his face. Then there was a white glove reaching to him. But he couldn't see what happened next as at that moment unconsciousness decided to swallow his mind.
~O~
Blue eye-lids slowly opened, the cobalt hero finally waking up from his deep slumber. Sonic blinked several times as he tried tried to adjust his sight to the darkness that surrounded him.
Wanting to figure out where he currently was, he curiously looked around from his lying position. He could see the silhouettes of objects that decorated the room—a small night table with a small antique clock sat next to his bed, a large wardrobe and long table on the same side. On the right side of the room was a small window, now covered by curtain. He guessed that outside was a night as there were only pale white rays of light piercing through the pale curtain, the moon-shine not reaching far into the room.
He turned his eyes to the left to see what was there. On the other side was a simple door and next to it a cabinet with some shelves hanging above it.
He honestly didn't recognize the room. Maybe some stranger found him? But why haven't they taken me to the hospital then?
Sonic closed his eyes, mulling over the situation. I am in unfamiliar place with who knows who. Is it safe to stay here? He pushed himself to a half sitting position, his muscles protesting against the action. His body felt stiff, ached all over and his head felt dizzy. There was no way he could go out on his own in this state. But what if the person is crazy?
At that very moment, there was a flash of light outside the window and loud thundering ripped through the silent night. Sonic gulped heavily, the memories of his recent highly uncomfortable experience flooding his mind. Well...until now they didn't do nothing to me so it's probably safe to stay...
Closing his eyes, he lay back down, trying to recall what exactly happened before he fainted. He had been in a forest and it had been raining, he was sure of it. But then what? He tried to remember, feeling sleep slowly taking hold of his mind. He could feel the hazy memory approaching along with the need for sleep, but at the very moment he finally remembered that somebody came, his consciousness was taken from him, sleep claiming his tired mind yet again.
But just a moment before entering the dream realm, his ears slightly twitched as they registered the creaking sound of the door being opened. However, in his half-asleep state it sounded more like a dream than reality and so the hero let himself slip into a peaceful slumber, unaware of a dark figure that had just entered the room.
The figure paused at the door as to not to startle the hedgehog should he be awake. But Sonic was sleeping deeply and didn't look like he planned to wake up any time soon.
The stranger slowly walked to the bed and gave a fast glance to the bandages covering the blue hedgehog to check if they hadn't soaked through. Once he judged they hadn't and thus could wait until morning to be changed, the figure took Sonic's blanket and pulled it higher, so it would cover even the upper half of the hero so Sonic wouldn't get cold during the night.
The figure sighed and ran his hand over the big blue quills of the sleeping hedgehog gently. He bent down to whisper into the blue ear quietly but this intention was forgotten when the blue hedgehog unexpectedly rolled over, making the stranger's body reflexively lurch backwards as to be out of reach of the cobalt hero if he attacked.
But Sonic didn't so; he just muttered few incomprehensible words in his sleep and rolled once more. Then he became still again, the rhythmic rising and falling of his chest confirming he's still sleeping deeply.
Hesitant about what to do, the figure just stood there for a moment watching the sleeping hedgehog. But then the stranger shook his head and then, with a last glance to Sonic's sleeping form, left the room.
~O~
The next time Sonic awoke he felt terrible. He felt exhausted and weakened. His muscles ached, he could barely move, and he had trouble breathing. Not only that, but his entire body itched from the bandages covering his wounds—likely because of the wounds and the skin stretched around the scabs. Who ever saved him surely gave him something for the pain last night as he didn't feel this excruciating pain before.
Okay, just don't think about how everything hurts you. Ouch! Bad move... He turned his head to the side to look around, pulling one of really unwilling muscle while doing so. It was easier to recognize things in the room now as the curtains weren't covering the window anymore which allowed the morning light from the outside to lit up the room.
Sonic furrowed his eye-ridges as he took in the sight of the sky. It was covered in dark gray rain clouds and it looked like it would start to rain in any moment. Wasn't it supposed to be sunny today? It seemed the weather man had been wrong again...
The hero attempted to roll to his side and after several tries he managed so—but at the cost of the blanket sliding partially off his body. This action, however, revealed the bandages covering his form and for the first time he could see how heavily he was bandaged. Sonic blinked surprisedly as he continued to gaze at his body. He remembered getting few scratches when fighting Eggman's robots but those weren't serious—which meant those bandages had to be for the burns. Whoa, I look like a mummy...
The hero looked to the door, frowning when he realized he wouldn't be able to even reach it—even if he used all the strength left in his body. He would have to wait until somebody showed up...
Green eyes swept over the room again. It was...plain when he thought about it. The walls were painted with a brownish color, the floor was made of wood, covered with a red carpet, which he hadn't seen in the dark of the night, and all furniture was simple with minimal decoration. Well, he didn't know if it could be counter as a decoration, but the only thing that made the room interesting was the clock on the table next to him. It now showed 7:20 AM.
Well, I hope my host is an early bird...
Blue ears perked up as they caught a very soft clicking sound coming from behind the door. It sounded like if somebody was walking there. But soon the steps stopped and the door knob started to shift.
Feeling torn about what to do, Sonic quickly tried to determine what course of action would be the best. Should he pretend to be asleep or face the unknown person?
Seeing the door slowly open, Sonic shut his eyes and forced his face to relax so he would seem like he was sleeping. He also tried to keep his ears from twitching as the stranger started to approach the bed, a strange clinking sound accompanying each of the person's steps. It sounded like metal clashing against the wood. Maybe the person had walking stick...? The blue hedgehog opened his eyes to the tiniest crack possible to see who it was, but all he could see was a dark silhouette placing something on the table.
He closed his eyes immediately as the person turned around. He could feel how the blanket was taken off from him and after a while as one of bandages was removed, then the second, then the third...
After all the bandages were gone, he could feel a cold wet cloth pressed close to the edge of one of the bigger burns. He had to grit his teeth to not yelp as the cloth continued to clean blood that had leaked from his wounds when he reopened them while he had rolled in his sleep.
Whoever it was, they worked quite quickly and their touches were soft and careful, obviously doing their best to keep the pain to minimum even though he theoretically wouldn't mind it if he really was asleep.
After a while he could feel bandages being applied again. Blue eyelids half-lifted themselves, showing off green eyes that had been hidden behind them. And this time their owner was able to see the mysterious person. It was...
...Shadow?
The memory of the forest encounter struck the blue hedgehog. The skates! It was him! How it come he didn't realize it sooner? Well, you were busy complaining about all the pain... a quiet voice in his mind retorted, but Sonic was too surprised by this new finding to notice it.
The hero opened his mouth, planning to say something along the lines of: 'Hey, Shads! Thanks for saving me! You know, I would probably die out there if it wasn't for you! I tried to chaos control without an Emerald because Egghead planned to grill me! Which reminds me, do you have something to eat? I'm starving!'
However, nothing came out.
He attempted two more times, but he wasn't able to even say the first syllable—actually, he wasn't able to produce even a sound. His eyes widened in surprise at this new finding.
It was at the same time as when the dark hedgehog finished his work. Shadow started to turn his head and Sonic shut his eyes again so it wouldn't end in a direct eye-contact. The hero frowned internally at his own behavior, for a moment confused by his own actions.
What am I doing? It's not like Shadow is an enemy...
There was a noise as Shadow placed something on the table and then stretched silence, which made Sonic want to open his eyes to see what was happening.
Damn, his curiosity.
Just as he wanted to open his eyes, there was an unexpected touch behind his ear. Sonic would have blinked surprisedly at this action if he hadn't had his eyes closed.
That touch...it felt like...a caressing one...
It was about a half minute later Shadow withdrew his hand. And soon retreating footsteps could be heard and when the sound of closing door reached Sonic's ears just a moment later the cobalt hero judged the agent had left the room.
Sonic slowly opened his eyes, the emerald orbs turning to look at the closed door. He still could feel Shadow's touch behind his left ear, the pleasant feeling lingering there despite the confusion that now coursed through the cobalt hero.
What was that supposed to mean?
~O~
After a lengthy thinking session about the reasons behind the dark hedgehog's actions—which actually lasted only five minutes, but in Sonic's time it was like an hour—Sonic decided that they were nothing more than a tiny show of care. Which proved his theory that the Ultimate Life form had a heart, even if his rival would surely deny it.
Sonic continued to lay in the bed, considering his possibilities of what to do. It was only 7:48 AM and he wasn't tired so sleep definitely wasn't a choice. Finding out Shadow was the stranger that had saved him, had woken him up fully.
The hero was highly curious about how it came Shadow was the one who found him. He wanted to ask the other bunch of questions—like what was Shadow even doing in the forest in the first place. Though he'll probably have to leave that part for later—his vocal cords were in a really bad state now apparently...
He looked on the door, through which the dark hedgehog had left just moments ago. Shoot, I should have thought about that before Shadow left.
Green eyes slowly traveled back to the night table. Shadow had left a glass of water and some pain killers there, right next to the old-fashioned clock. To be honest, Sonic would really like to take those at the moment—as his body was right now taking revenge on him for what it needed to endure while traveling through space-time continuum without the protection that a Chaos Emerald always provided—it made some sort of protective field while teleporting from what he knew—and it would probably continue to do so for next few days at least.
He continued to gaze at the pain killers, which provocatively lay within his reach. It was like if they knew, that he was weak and couldn't get them even though they were at an arm-length from him...
If I continue to talk like this, I'll probably need different kind of pills...
Sonic watched the medicine for a while and when it didn't magically jump to him—which he slightly hoped it would do—he decided he would try to sit up again. He bent his arms and pushed himself up, then he rested his weight on his right elbow and tried to crawl onto his pillow to get closer to the desired pills.
After a minute of struggling, he was finally lying with his upper body on the fluffy pillow, elbows pressed against the edge of the night table. His hands were trembling so much he had difficulties to even take a hold of the pain killers. But once he held them safely in his left hand, he reached for the glass of water and, with eye-ridges furrowed in deep concentration, he picked it up, struggling to hold it as it was much heavier than the pills.
He slowly attempted to bring the glass closer but with how weakened he was even this small move was enough to put too much strain on his still recovering muscles—they gave out and the glass slipped from his hold and shattered on the floor.
Blue ears immediately flattened themselves against Sonic's head at the volume of the sound. The hero watched as the water ran along the wooden floor, only to be sucked up by the carpet nearby, turning it a darker shade of red than it had been.
However, the triangular appendages perked up again when he heard a hurried stomping echoing throughout the house—and it took him only a split of second to realize the most probable source of a such noise.
But before he could have done anything, Shadow had already opened the door.