AN: Well viewers, thanks to popular demand, I'm bringing this story! Mind you, this will be a very abstract story, and not something you see every day, so bear with me.
Disclaimer: I neither claim nor own anything from Sega or Sonic the Hedgehog (2006). Chameleon is property of Nobel Six.
Claimer: I claim and own this plot and chracters not affiliated with the above mentioned.
Time… the ever elusive manifestation of all our being. It is what guides and constructs our day, ticking away the minutes till our next class in school, or the next meeting with the board of directives, or maybe even your next use of the restroom. Without time, we are unstable, and we cannot plan for anything in the future, and thus we have it. Without time, we are chaotic and crazed.
But, what is time? We see it in the form of clocks, watches, and alarms; maybe even in the timer of your kitchen stove. Then, there are the more natural forms of time: the passing of the sun, the circling of the shadows, and the aging of things. That is its physical manifestation, but what is time, really? What, in the essence of the word, is time?
Time cannot be described physically, for it is not an entity. Time is not a thing, nor is it a person or place. Rather, time can be seen in mere metaphor. There are those that believe that time doesn't exist; that it is an illusion our minds have created to keep us sane. But, it is impossible, for there is too much to contradict that possibility.
There is the string theory of time and quantum mechanics that is the most well received explanation of time. The basics of the theory is that there are an infinite amount of universes existing simultaneously, each different because of simple decisions people like ourselves make.
For example, let's assume that you're standing in your living room. You want to get a bite to eat, but you don't know whether or not you should wash your hands first in the bathroom. If you take even one step, you've just created another universe, because of your decision. There is no past, only the present because in making that decision, there are several more outcomes that could've happened, in which case more universes must be made or adjusted to accompany it.
There are an infinite amount of possibilities in this world, and therefore, an infinite number of parallel universes. If you go up to the bathroom first to wash your hands, in another universe, there is another you that decided just to get a bite to eat without washing his hands. And then, in other universes, you may have other choices because of previous events that are always differed because of the millions and billions of choices made in the past. Have you ever had a moment where you want to go back and change something? No need to worry. Somewhere in another universe, you did it just right.
However, the string theory presents several problems with other means of science, such as time travel. Surely, if there are infinite universes, how is time travel possible? It would no longer be time travel; it would be traveling across the dimensional plane, which is relatively impossible. Therefore, your only option is time travel. Assuming that you had the capability for such things, you would need something to meld the multiple universes into one to accommodate for this.
Luckily for time-travelers, the very first time travel ever initiated with chaos energy did all of that for you, abolishing the string theory. Now, there is one set path. But also, we must now perceive time differently. Now, rather than multiple ponds and puddles in our multiverse swamp, it is a single universal stream. The stream can be seen as rapidly flowing, dragging all others along with you.
But, for time travel to work, there must be an infinite amount of instances in the past holding everyone. Thus there is, and time travel is made possible. However, in this instance, we realize that we can only ever go back in the time stream, for the future is not destined.
But the one question beheld by all time-travelers is this: Can you take a dip in that portion of the stream without causing ripples? Of course not; simply by existing in the past changes events in the future, or your present. No matter how miniscule the event, from placement of dust and objects, to complete calamities, something is changed.
But, what if your reality was changed in such a way that some things never happened, but other things still did that coincided with the canceled event, only because of an instance involving an abolished god? In this case, a false future still exists, but it is being slowly overwritten. What unfortunate souls would be affected by such an anomaly? Let's lay our eyes on the only one, shall we?
^/\^|v\/v
~ ("Early on in human history, we decided to start measuring the days and weeks, and eventually hours, minutes and seconds. Time was useful in organizing society, planting crops and getting ready for dates. Things worked extremely well until scientists started muddling it all up."–Morgan Freeman) ~
Syaoron the Fox presents
Following the Events of Sonic '06
Accompanied by Various Music and Themes
Remnants of the Past
Chapter 1
Time and Time Again
^/\^|v\/v
Soleanna
September-18-2506
12:45 Mobius Time
[Now Playing: "Trouble" by: Coldplay]
The great city of Soleanna was bustling as usual, with people traveling to and fro, from job to job and from place to place. It was on a day like this that a white hedgehog was sat upon one of the three historical bell towers that were in the city. He looked down on the rushing humans, all with places to go and people to see. Littered among the populace were Mobians as well. Soleanna was one of the few places on Mobius where humans and Mobians coincided. In most other cases, they refused to make contact.
He wondered what they were all going about life for. Was it for family? Or maybe they needed to pay for their friends and loved ones? Maybe they just wanted the money for themselves? In any case, they were all rushing around, be it to home or to work, or even out to lunch. As for the hedgehog, he was always out, not having a specific home for himself, but he was certainly here for lunch.
He took a bite out of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich that was in his gloved hand. As he chewed, he looked at his free hand, which was also gloved. The cuffs of the glove were thick and golden and the palm had a small, glowing blue circle outline in the middle. The hedgehog in question had psychokinetic powers, and thus his apparel was only for enhancement.
As he sat, crouched, he stared back down at his feet and eyed his boots. While mostly black, they had a white stripe going down the middle and the toes were tipped with a neon blue, and another set of gold cuffs finished the top of the boots.
In any case, after swallowing his bite, the hedgehog let out a dreadful sigh. His thoughts at the moment were none too light, as they'd been bothering him for the past thirteen days. According to he and a few of his friends, those thirteen days ago were when he, Sonic the hedgehog, and Shadow the hedgehog had gathered the Chaos Emeralds–seven very powerful gems–and stopped the sun god 'Solaris' from destroying reality. Of course, according to anyone else, nothing had happened because of a space-time paradox that was initiated. He thought time would return to normal, and his greatest friend would return… no, his beloved rather.
But no, it wasn't meant to be. She was still gone, and reality wasn't quite fixed enough for him. He would've asked for help, but those friends were far spread and scarce. Sonic had gone back around the world, probably on another adventure and most likely leaving his friends in the dust again. The white hedgehog gritted his teeth as he thought of the disloyalty the blue hedgehog had presented to his friends.
Shadow had probably gone off, with GUN giving him orders all over the place to apprehend Eggman, a megalomaniacal scientist who was bent on world domination. As for another one of his friends, Miles 'Tails' Prower the Fox, he hadn't seen the kit since those thirteen days ago.
He imagined that another one of his acquaintances, a red echidna by the name of Knuckles, was back at his floating isle, guarding the legendary Master Emerald.
Everything that happened… only they remembered it. It was a blessing and a curse at times, that they knew the world was almost destroyed and that they saved it. For him, it only reminded him of his dear friends: Blaze the Cat.
Her fur was a creamy violet and it blended with the royal purples of her dress which was rimmed with red and collared with gold. The hair on her head was tied back with a red band, and upon her forehead was crested a crimson jewel. She wore white leggings to refine herself often and she wore purple hoes on her feet, which had a white stripe perpendicular to the shoe. He often wondered how, even with the slight raise on her heels, she was able to run.
Before time was changed, they lived in a future that was destroyed by a creature called Iblis. In truth, Iblis was half of the Solaris god, but that mattered not when their entire city was in flames. When she sealed Iblis within herself, he remembered so clearly her last words: "You're still so naïve… but I guess, that's what I like about you." That was what she said before she disappeared into an alternate dimension, taking Iblis with her.
He snapped his eyes open and sighed again, trying to clear her from his thoughts, yet he knew it wouldn't work. She'd been on his mind for days, and it would never quit bothering him. When he looked to his side, he saw her in a faint silhouette; a shadow of what his mind wanted. "What's the matter, Silver?" the apparition asked him, to which he merely sighed.
Silver shook his head and just looked back down, knowing that it was just an illusion. He sifted his hand through the image and it promptly disappeared. "Where's the real you when I need you?" he muttered, even though no one was around to hear his plead. His only lead to finding her was that she was hidden away in a pocket dimension to keep the Iblis from the future at bay.
He then perked his head up as he remembered what she had told him once. Supposedly, in coexistence with the Chaos Emeralds, there were seven octagonal gems of unknown origin and similar properties called the Sol Emeralds. Where the Chaos Emeralds had the power to manipulate time, the Sol Emeralds had the power to control the dimensions and space.
He reached into the quills atop his head and retrieved a small glowing white gem. It was shaped with a point at the bottom which widened toward a circular top, and it was cleanly cut, as if by some unearthly power. Surely, if these mystical stones existed, then so would the Sol Emeralds.
However, as the Chaos Emeralds had once again dispersed because of the use of all seven simultaneously, he only had one in his position. He shook his head, realizing that it wouldn't matter, and he muttered the incantation, "Chaos control."
In a blink of bright light he vanished from the spot, leaving to search for the Sol Emeralds, and eventually, his beloved.
[Stop Music]
^/\^|v\/v
[Now Playing: "If" by: Acoustic Eidolon]
At the same moment, away in the Soleanna Forest, a young fox kit was resting beneath a tree. On such a warm day, it felt nice to rest beneath the shade of the tall oak. As the wind whisked across the plane, the kit fluttered his eyes open with a sigh.
The calm kit was a strange figure, having two tails extending from his spine rather than the normal one. With these tails, he accomplished many things, such as the capability of flight and the ability to run at higher speeds that he could on his own. Even then, his running speed was impressive; fast enough to at least keep up with the speedy blue hedgehog by the name of Sonic… when he wasn't traveling supersonic.
Regardless of his tails, the kit also had a high intelligence. With an I.Q. of 300, it was impressive enough to best some of the world's leading scientists and enough to match Eggman's. Yes, this young child achieved many remarkable things in his short time of life.
As he gazed into the passing clouds on that day, he happened to spot one in the shape of a rose, with the layers and all… all except for the thorny stem. He smiled sadly as he reminisced on times in the past and spoke softly, "It's nice to get a greeting from you every now and then, Cosmo."
Cosmo was a Petali girl from the distant planet of Greengate who requested their help some time ago, before the Solaris incident. When a group of aliens known as the Metarex began to attack planets and harvest their Planet Eggs–the life force of planets–he had piloted his space ship, the "Blue Typhoon", into space to face this threat. The entire war ended when Cosmo sacrificed herself to destroy the final Metarex leader.
Tails–the fox, I mean–was madly in love with the girl, and was crushed by her death, and even more so that he was the one who pulled the final trigger. With some counseling from his friends though, he was finally able to come out of his house after two years and he experienced the world anew.
He, of course, wondered where Sonic had run off to after the Solaris incident, but he never pondered it much. The hedgehog could never be kept in one place for long, always wanting to explore the world. And, wherever he went, Eggman wasn't far from him. In this way, Sonic drew fire from the evil fat man and continued to keep the world at peace.
As Tails drifted his eyes over the scene and spotted what seemed to be an island in the sky. He smiled pleasantly at the island, knowing it wasn't in his imagination. It was always around this time of year when Angel Island drifted over Soleanna.
It was on Angel Island that the echidna by the name of Knuckles guarded the Master Emerald. The red echidna was a good friend of Tails', having helped him and Sonic on several occasions. However, the echidna was often short tempered, and he was displeased by anyone messing with the Master Emerald. Not even the closest of Knuckles' friends were allowed to mess with his precious Master Emerald.
As Tails slowly sat up, he realized that it was about lunchtime, and he was hungry. Luckily, he'd packed himself a picnic lunch since he knew he wouldn't want to leave for a while. As he reached inside a small basket and retrieved a small apple, he took a single bite out of it, resulting in a crunching sound.
Since he'd been inactive for those two years after the Metarex incident, he had become unhealthy. Of course, that was another year ago. Now, since he'd been changing his diet and going on his morning runs again, he was back to his healthy physique.
After chomping the apple to its core, he discarded it in the bushes and fetched a drumstick from the basket. He hadn't gone completely vegetarian, as that would have driven him insane since he's a natural carnivore. However, he had lessened his meat intake.
He then felt through his tail fur and noticed that the yellow Chaos Emerald he had was beginning to shine intensely. At this, the kit frowned. He knew all the emeralds had been gathered by their friends and none of them would react this way… not unless their power was being used. He assumed it might've been Shadow, but he always worried about things like this. It could be anything, from a simple teleportation to a fierce attack.
However, as he drew on the heat and power of the emerald, he began to feel the feelings that came from the one using it. He felt a sense of sadness and loss, but confusion and determination was also present. That didn't sound like Shadow to him, but he felt himself empathizing with these feelings… they were the same ones he felt when Cosmo was lost.
He then stood up straight, and almost knocked over his picnic basket as he remembered the final person who'd been given an emerald. He ran off, knocking his basket over, with only one name on his mind: "Silver."
[Stop Music]
^/\^|v\/v
Master Emerald Altar, Angel Island
September-18-2506
12:50 Mobius Time
The Master Emerald alter on Angel Island was a sight to behold. Crafted of beautiful marble, the altar remained pristine, even after years of wear and tear from the elements. While the large green jewel sat atop a small pedestal, Knuckles laid in front of it, guarding it with utmost care.
It was an Angel Island echidnae tradition that the son of the chief was to be trained to guard the emerald. The training these echidnae went through was tough, but they gained extreme strength in the sense that it was unmatched except by other echidnae of the same, harsh training schedule.
However, with the rest of the Angel Island echidnae wiped out by the ancient god of chaos energy, Knuckles was the only one left to continue the tradition. It was thus his sworn duty to forever guard the gem, and when he couldn't be next to it, he took the gem with him by shrinking it with chaos energy.
Today though; it would be another gorgeous day. With the wind blowing across the plains, he could see almost the entire island on this clear day. In the current time, he was enjoying his day by taking a snooze by the emerald. A small orange butterfly, seeing the echidna's peaceful rest, decided to seat itself down on the tip of his nose.
Knuckles, though still asleep, began to twitch his nose in discomfort. Tingling sensations ran all across his nose, and the way it twittered, you'd have thought his nose was some kind of toy you'd give to a dog. Eventually though, the butterfly's fun ended and the echidna woke from his slumber, sleepily swatting at the thing on his nose.
As the insect flew away and was carried by the wind, Knuckles groaned and scratched the back of his head, not wanting to have been woken up. He was having a nice dream too; something about ice cream that he could no longer remember.
As he slowly picked himself up and stretched his back out, he noticed that Master Emerald was shining with a mysterious green light. Knuckles, having guarded the emerald for years, knew that this was quite a common occurrence, and it happened every time the spirits embedded within the emerald wished to talk to him. He thusly walked up to the gem and placed his hands on it, awaiting the message.
However, rather than being given a message, Knuckles saw a flash of light and blinked. Upon opening his eyes, he realized that he was no longer at the altar. Instead, he saw two figures before him.
One was an orange echidna, wearing tribal clothing from the olden tribe of echidnae, named Tikal. She seemed to have an aura of glee about her as she looked over to the other figure, which was humanoid in shape. However, the being was made of water and had large green eyes. His brain was visible through the water. This was Chaos, the god of all chaos energy that destroyed the early tribes of echidnae when they tried to be greedy and use the power of the Master Emerald for conquest.
It surprised him slightly, since visions weren't as common as other messages that he received from the Master Emerald. Even with confusion upon him, Knuckles knelt before the two and asked, "What is it that you want, Tikal?" He made sure that he was always respectful of the duo since they were legends in the history of the echidnae.
"It's not of our wants, Knuckles," she cryptically replied while giving him a concerned look. "We have discovered recently that Silver is on the lookout for the Sol Emeralds."
Knuckles raised a brow to the spirit. They rarely ever discussed the Sol Emeralds and it was of little matter this time since Silver was going after them. "I don't understand," he told her. "What matter of importance does this concern me with?"
He then heard Chaos speak… or rather, he garbled incomprehensibly. The being had no means of communication, except through Tikal, and he thusly brought a hand over the area where his mouth would be in embarrassment. With a chuckle, Tikal translated, "It's not specifically Silver who's the problem. We think that someone else is trying to gather up the Sol Emeralds, though we don't know who, and we don't know their whereabouts."
"Once again, how does this concern me?"
"Knuckles, use your head!" the orange echidna exclaimed. "Don't you remember the Sol Emerald in your possession? We think that someone might come for you, and that worries us."
The red echidna only frowned. Tikal was never one to underestimate someone, and he didn't expect her to start now. If she thought this guy was bad news, then she was serious. With a nod, he assured her with courageousness that the Master Emerald would be well protected in the Hidden Palace. With another concerned nod, the entire vision dissipated before his eyes and he was standing in front of the Master Emerald again.
He promptly gathered chaos energy and shrunk the Master Emerald down into his palm before traversing across the lands of Angel Island, to a labyrinth hidden in the mountains where the Hidden Palace was located. He had a gut feeling that whoever was coming, they would be arriving soon… and whoever it was, meant business.
^/\^|v\/v
XXXXXXXXXXX
September-18-2506
16:26 Mobius Time
Nearly the entire room was black, aside from the blue torches that dimly lit it. A lone figure walked down the row of columns to greet the being at the end. The area his master often sat in was pitch black; so dark that the dim blue torches made the rest of the room look like it was a Broadway stage during a performance in comparison.
In the light of a single torch, the figure knelt and revealed himself. The black chameleon looked up towards his master, showing the light a scar that ran across his left eye and green scores that seemed out of place on his black body. He was wearing a black body suit with two katanas strapped to his back and several other weapons littered about his person. The horn on his face though was chipped off partly and was a crystalline white, though it seemed blue in the glow.
"What is it that you want, master?" he asked to the figure that was so shrouded in darkness that he seemed invisible.
If anything could be identified about the figure, it was his deep voice as he spoke, "It is time for us to begin our plan, Chameleon. I am sure you're aware of the targets?"
"Yes," Chameleon affirmed. "The three targets-"
"Two targets, Chameleon," the shrouded figure corrected him, "Just Miles Prower and Knuckles the Echidna."
The chameleon cocked his head to the side, rather confused. "What of the third target, Silver the Hedgehog, sir?"
"He will come to us," the shrouded figure reassured his companion. "Given that you provide the proper bait, he will walk right into our hands."
"By bait, you refer to one of his friends, correct?" Chameleon questioned again, trying to clarify everything.
"You presume correctly," the chameleon's master spoke. "The kit will make decent bait. Once we have them, I will reveal the next parts of our plan."
Though confused by the sudden change in his master's plans, Chameleon discarded all thoughts of questioning. The will of his master was absolute, and he lived to perform to the best of his ability. With a sigh the reptile stood on his feet and turned around sharply, exiting the room so as to complete his objective as quickly as possible.
He grinned gleefully as he returned to the darkness, showing his razor sharp teeth. Things would finally begin to piece together now, and the beginning of the end was nigh. Now would begin their conquest.