Fragile Reality
Prologue: The Day Everything Changed...
Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic and co. are owned by Sega.
White Acropolis, a mountain range found not far from Soleanna New Town was once considered a skier's paradise. Although the New Town is well known for its sunshine and dock, the mountain range is revered for its constant snowy weather. Large slopes and naturally formed ramps made it a perfect way to try and bring more tourists to the city. However all that changed not too long ago with the sudden arrival of the mechanical madman Dr Eggman.
The doctor had tried time after time to take over the world but despite his genius level IQ; his plans had been foiled by his nemesis and his companions time after time. The doctor was still threat; although they had failed in giving him control of Mobius his schemes had struck fear into the hearts of many. Among his most noticeable was when he released the God Chaos who eventually destroyed the city of Station Square, or when he used the interstellar weapon the Eclipse Cannon to almost blackmail world leaders into surrendering. More recently Eggman broke the planet into several pieces twice, one with a method which caused only very few people to notice while the other caused planet wide chaos.
But alas each one of them had failed but he had a solution to his problem, and that was to take out the problem. His enemy, Sonic the Hedgehog, he was the one who foiled the majority of his plans but a lot of his best creations had also been destroyed by his friends. If he wanted the world, they would have to go as well. His latest scheme was to alter time and space so that his plans did work but that too had failed thanks to Sonic. It had been a hassle to escape that white world but some time with his past self had allowed him to identify where his problems really arise, the Mobian race in general.
Mobians were anthromophic animals who could speak like humans and could think like them but physically they were superior to humans such as himself because they descended from animals. How this happened nobody knew but it didn't matter, as soon they wouldn't exist.
Eggman was a bold human with a big orange moustache. His eyes were covered by a pair of dark glasses, while he also had a pair of mechanic's goggles on his forehead. He had a red coat on over some black pants which seemed to have shoes attached to them. Right now he was sitting on a chair, his expression tense, his leg balanced along the other and his head in his hand.
His plan was to erase Mobians from existence, Sonic and company included and his latest creation, the Reality Changer was just the device to do it. The machine used the power of the Chaos Emeralds to alter the very fabric of reality, and he was going to use it to prevent Mobian kind from ever coming into being. This would leave the world defenceless and would make it ripe for the taking. He had even gone to the trouble of acquiring the emeralds but that was the problem, it needed time to warm up.
The base rocked but the human didn't flinch. He saw what was happening from the several monitors in front of him. His own robotic defences were currently repealing the Guardian Unit of Nations, better known as G.U.N. who were the only real defence his own kind had from him, and even then their greatest weapons were their two Mobian operatives. There were not why he was tense; it was the absence of the hedgehog.
His thoughts were interrupted by an alarm which spurred him out of the chair and towards the computer to his left. There was an alert on the screen, "Air Space Breach" it said. The screen then showed a blue bi-plane with five figures on it, one in the cockpit, one in the seat clutching something and three standing on the wings. "Sonic! He hissed.
The figure on the middle was a Mobian hedgehog with blue fur but peach arms, belly and muzzle. Like most male Mobians he didn't wear much: just a pair of gloves, some socks and his famed red sneakers with a white strap and buckle. Normally he was laid back but his face had a serious expression and it was understandable, his worst enemy had gotten all seven Chaos Emeralds and that could only mean trouble. He was used to standing on the wings so his balance was practically untouched.
"Are we there yet?" he asked in a bored tone, earning him a sigh from the person to his right.
"Does it look like we're there?" he asked. This person was a red Mobian echidna. He had red fur with a patch of white fur in a crescent shape at the top of his chest and purple eyes. He had long dreadlocks and his gloves were like mittens with two spikes on each of his gloves' knuckles. His shoes were yellow and green and had an odd locking mechanism with resembled the top of a Lego block. This was Knuckles the Echidna who rarely came down from his home of Angel Island except when someone was misusing Chaos energy which could affect the Master Emerald. The emeralds being in Eggman's hands were such a case.
"It was just a question" the hedgehog shot back.
"Actually we are very close" the pilot of the plan spoke up. This person was , an orange Mobian fox with two tails, white fur on his belly and end of his tails, blue eyes, three long bangs of hair on his forehead, gloves, socks and his own half red and half white sneakers. He was Miles Prower, better known by his nickname Tails whose mechanical intellect already rivalled the mad scientist's despite his young age. Current he had a pair of aviator's goggles over his eyes.
"You probably can't see it due to this snow" he said.
"See Knuckles, it does pay to ask" the hedgehog gloated.
The Guardian crossed his arms with a huff. "What's your excuse for asking the other forty times?" he retorted.
"Guys, can we focus on what we're doing?" the third figure on the wing said in a slightly aggressive voice. The voice belonged to a pink hedgehog with green eyes who wore a red dress and red boots with a white strip down the middle. Unlike most hedgehogs she wears hers down hugging her head like human hair. This was Amy Rose, Sonic's self-proclaimed girlfriend although the speedster always denied that they had anything more than a friendship.
Knowing just how scary she could be when aggravated the pair feel silent. She then moved right next to Sonic. "So what do you think he's up to?" she asked, latching onto his arm.
"I've got no clue Amy, and would you mind letting go?"
"You've got nowhere to run to up here" she reminded him with a sly smile.
"Yeah, I know that but you're messing up my balance. I don't want to fall; it'll make G.U.N.'s diversion useless."
"Oh yeah."
"Please be more careful Amy" the last figure spoke. She was a cream coloured rabbit with brown eyes and the big ears that were well associated with her species. Her orange dress with a blue ribbon like design near the top matched her orange and yellow shoes. This was Cream the Rabbit. In her hands was a little blue creature known as a chao who wore a red bow tie. This was her special friend Cheese who was currently hiding from the cold in her hands.
"We don't want Mr. Sonic to fall" she said, with Cheese getting out a "Chao" to support his owner.
"Speak for yourself" the echidna replied, earning him a glare from Sonic and Amy.
"Guys, we're here" Tails shouted as they reached the base before the hedgehogs could react to the comment. It was a large expansive base with a tower in the centre where everyone could guess Eggman was at the moment. "Does this base look familiar to anybody else?"
Everyone but Cream nodded. "Have you all been here before?" she asked only for everyone to answer negatively. "Maybe it looks like another of Dr. Eggman's bases."
"More likely we stormed it in those odd dreams that Tails said could be an alternate timeline that never happened" Sonic thought, although he always wondered what happened and why it never happened since it seemed familiar. Then again he seemed to remember dying in that timeline and being resurrected by being kissed by a human, so perhaps it was better that it didn't happen.
It was then that several cannons appeared from the tower and started firing at the plane. "Looks like Eggman saw through our plan" Knuckles grunted, holding onto the wing as the fox took evasive action.
"Well, now it's a party" Sonic said with a grin as he did the same with one hand while the other arm was around Amy. He could imagine some sort of grin on Tails, who he considered a little brother to him as well as his best friend and fought the urge to look back.
"Could somebody do something?" the fox asked.
Sonic was about to speak up but Amy then turned to Cream and nodded at her, getting one back from the rabbit. "We're on it." With that both female Mobians jumped out off the Tornado 2, the name of the plane.
In an instant a big red and yellow mallet appeared in the female hedgehog's hands which all the Mobians knew was her Piko Piko Hammer. She swung it on one of the cannons which broke off instantly. Before she could fall too far she was caught by the rabbit who was flying by flapping her long ears like wings. Another cannon was broken when Cheese rammed it.
"Good work Cheese" Cream said, Amy nodding in agreement. In an instant though several more cannons were then destroyed by a blue ball who uncurled to reveal Sonic.
"You guys okay?" he asked, grapping hold of one of holes which a cannon he had got rid of. They both nodded. "You two need to get back on the Tornado and go for Eggman at the top."
"What about you?" the pink Mobian asked.
"Tails is going to have some trouble doing that with all of these cannons around. I'm going to have to go the longer way."
"Can't Knuckles do it?"
"He's not too happy about having to stay on the Tornado but we need him to break the roof."
"Okay" she pouted.
"Good luck Mister Sonic" Cream said, with Cheese who was on top of her head adding a "Chao." With that the speedster dropped down, taking out any cannons on the way with his trademark spin dash move. The rabbit then moved away from the tower, the hedgehog still in her grip. The plane quickly moved pass them with Knuckles extending his hand which Amy took, the echidna helping the pair back onto the wings.
"Sonic went on didn't he?" Tails asked even though he knew the answer. They nodded. "I didn't ask him to do that. I was fine."
"Typical" the Guardian moaned. "He goes off on his own once again, leaving us to do the actual work."
"Since when do you do actual work" the pink hedgehog commented.
Knuckles was about to retorted but was beaten to it. "Amy, Mister Knuckles, now isn't the time to be arguing" Cream said.
"She's right" the fox added. "It' time to get going." They were over the top of the tower. "Knuckles!"
"On it." With that he jumped off the plane and started to fall head first towards the tower's roof. He then extended his fists and started spinning, gaining momentum as he fell essentially becoming a living drill, hitting and breaking the metal roof of the control room.
This got Eggman's attention. "Knuckles!"
The echidna put his fists together. "Make this easy on everyone Eggman and give up."
"He's through Tails" Amy shouted to the pilot.
"The cannons have stopped firing" Cream pointed out.
"I guess Sonic took care of them all" Tails replied. "I just need a second to set auto-pilot to take the Tornado 2 back to the workshop." He typed a few more commands onto the yellow tablet in front of him and took his goggles off, tying then around the control stick. "Ready."
With that they all jumped out of the plane, Amy grabbing hold of Cream's had to slow her decent while Tails was spinning his two namesakes like helicopter rotors to slow his own decent, allowing them to go through the newly formed hole in the roof.
"Well, it seems everyone but Sonic is here" the human said with a grin. "Not the entrance I was expecting but never the less, I have been expecting you." With that he pressed a button on his chair, causing the Mobians to feel an electric shock throughout their bodies. Tails was going to move but found that he couldn't and from the corner of his eyes he could see the others having the same problem. He tried his jaw just to see if he could move it, he could. "What have you done?"
"Not this again" Knuckles groaned. "You used this trick back in the Gimme Shelter."
"Yes, the Hedgehog Be-gone." He sighed. "At this rate I'm beginning to think that I'll never use this device on the hedgehog."
"What have you done?" Amy shouted.
"The electricity coursing through bodies will prevent you from moving your bodies."
"Why can we still move our mouths?" the rabbit asked.
"So I can still see and hear your reactions when I reveal my plan" he said with an evil grin.
"What is your plan?" the fox asked.
"I'm glad you asked." He moved over to a mechanical pillar in the centre of the room. It had eight sides and close to its bottom was a control panel which spread across all of the sides. On each side was a slot where a Chaos Emerald was save one which had a computer screen and a keyboard. "This is my Reality Changer."
"Let me guess, it changes reality" Amy said with a roll of her eyes.
"Exactly. I plan on harnessing the power of all seven Chaos Emerald to change reality so that you cursed Mobians never existed." He grin grew bigger at the following gasps and glares thrown his way.
"Why would you do such a thing?" Cream asked.
"Because the biggest problems in my schemes are all Mobians. If I can remove you then there will be nothing stopping me from conquering the world.
"You would erase the lives of thousands just to get back at us?" Tails asked in disbelief, only to feel anger welling inside of him when the doctor nodded.
"Mama" the rabbit said sadly, her expression drooping. Cheese mirrored the action.
"You..." the Guardian hissed before he tried to break free.
"You should have learnt that it's no use the first time" the scientist gloated.
"Sonic will stop you like always" the hedgehog shouted.
"Yeah, he's coming and then you'll be sorry" the fox added.
Eggman then typed something on the keyboard. "It's too late for even him to stop me. All I need to do is to type the command I want, in this case no Mobians, and then press go." With that he pressed a red button next to the keyboard that made it device start up, the emeralds glowing brightly as they did.
"Sonic, hurry up" Tails thought.
Back at the bottom of the tower Sonic curled up into a ball and dashed through several orange, human-like but relatively round robots called Egg Pawns. These were basically the doctor's foot soldiers that took care of any day-to-day jobs and made up the bulk of his army, but numbers was the only strength they had. The speedster had been busy taking out as many as he could after making the skies clear.
"If he had enough time to make all of these he could've at least built an interesting robot for me to trash" he thought as he uncurled and started to physically punch and kick the few remaining enemies before he reached the door, which opened automatically.
The stairs up the tower were now in front of him and were lined with Egg Pawns. "Oh come on" he groaned. "I'm missing out on the explanation while Tails and others try to stop it is Eggman's up to."
He was about to continue but then the tower rocked and the lights began to dim a little. "Experience shows that isn't a good sign. Guess I don't have any more time to play with you guys." He then boosted through up the stairs while being surrounded by a blue aura which allowed him to ram all of the robots in his path. "Sonic Boost never fails" he thought with a smirk. In a few seconds he was at the top of the stairs, smashing through the door before stopping.
"Sonic" everyone in the room shouted, though Eggman did it in a very different tone than the Mobians.
"Hey guys, why are you guys just standing there?" he asked, noticing that his friends were not moving.
"Eggman's got this electric thing which stops us moving" Knuckles explained.
"Okay and what's that thing with the Chaos Emeralds glowing?" the hedgehog enquired, pointing at the device at the centre of the room.
"I had just explained all of this Sonic" the human groaned. "This is what happens when you are late."
"Maybe if you hadn't made cannons that I needed to destroy then I would've been here to hear what you're up too" he countered.
"Sonic that machine changes reality" Amy shouted.
"It's called the Reality Changer" Cream added.
"Eggman, changing reality so that you already rule it?" Sonic taunted, wagging his finger as he did. "So you couldn't come up with a way to beat me so decide to skip that step? What happened to all those ideas you once had?"
"No Sonic, he going to use it to erase Mobian kind" Tails cried out, causing the speedster's expression to harden.
"Oh. Now that I really can't let happen."
"But I'm afraid it's too late Sonic" Eggman gloated. "I've already activated the Reality Changer and locked in my commands. Soon I won't have to worry about pesky Mobians and annoying Chao."
"You're going to get rid of the Chao too?" Cream asked worriedly, feeling Cheese's panic.
"It's a knock on effect from me getting rid of all Chaos energy save the emeralds of course."
"Why would you even do such a thing?" an enraged Knuckles shouted, unhappy that any remains of his culture was on the verge of never existing.
"So that it could never be used against me." He then glanced up. "In fact, it's already begun. Note how the white space has already enveloped the top of this room." Looking up the group noticed that the roof was gone and only white remained which was drawing ever closer. "Ohohohohoh."
"Eggman..." Sonic growled.
"I suggest you spend your last few moments existing with your friends."
"Sonic!" Amy cried just as Cream cried "Mister Sonic!" at the same time, Cheese going "chao" as well.
"Go Sonic, do something!" his little brother shouted.
"But you guys..."
"Forget about us before there isn't an us" the echidna snapped back.
Sonic nodded. "Right, I think I have an idea." He shot towards the control panel were Eggman was, sticking his foot out in front of him so that we swept the doctor's feet from under him before he could even act before turning his attention to the screen in front of him.
Glancing up and noting that everything seemed paler than what it is was a second ago Sonic quickly typed in one more command before he seemed to feel light headed. "Come on" he thought, "just a little longer... done."
He had just enough time to see his statement on the screen before he lost all feeling and his vision went white. He grinned as the statement 'Mobian = human' flashed in his mind before reality faded, Sonic the Hedgehog along with it.