Sonic Generations: The Other Sides

by SilverKeyblade

A one-shot retelling of Sonic Generations with the added perspectives of Shadow, Silver, and Metal Sonic. Light swearing.

Sonic Generations: The Other Sides

A One-Shot Fanfiction by Silver

All Sonic and SEGA related characters belong to SEGA

Any OC's, should they exist, belong to Silver

(…) = breaks to change to another character's perspective

(-) = breaks to change into another part in the story from the same perspective

It was almost finished. Once it was done, his master plan would start immediately. The prototype is also the finished product, and everything was working its way towards brilliance. A sinister man snickered. Once this project was complete, everything would work towards his way, his demand. He would have what he wanted.

In his left hand was a wrench, busy working on one of the cogs of this device. In his right, a gem so powerful it could burn through graphene, the strongest metal existing, like it was paper mache.

The final cog was on. The man had chuckled once again, and inserted the gem.

…

It was another day for him, really. Old Robotnik was back to his old tricks, turning every animal he could find into robots.

Sonic, naturally, was having none of that.

Green Hill Zone was lush and beautiful as always, despite the Crabmeats and the Buzz Bombers. They never took much effort to take out. All Sonic had to do was bop them up a bit and they would immediately free the critter held inside.

After running a small while (and passing the obligatory Robotnik post, which he had quickly changed to look like his own face), Sonic came across a dark portal. A portal that was currently busy sucking up his friends.

With courage at his side, Sonic couldn't wait around much longer. He held a determined face, and ran through the portal.

…

"He'll be here, any second!"

Tails had quickly gathered everyone in a huddle, hoping to surprise his friend. It was this particular friends' birthday, and despite previous years of crushing defeat, he WOULD surprise him.

This particular friend was also running very quickly towards them.

"Hey guys, what's going on? You guys having a party or something?"

This was the moment everyone had been waiting for. On a silent count to three, everyone whirled toward the interloper, who at the same moment, became the guest of honor.

"SURPRISE!"

"Aww, you guys."

Sonic wasn't sure whether to say he saw this coming or not. Give Tails credit, when the two-tailed fox wanted to plan a surprise party, Sonic had to really try to know what was going on. Still, it was a small world, and considering how fast Sonic was, he could get around just as much as the word could.

Still, he knew Tails worked hard planning this party, even bothering to invite everyone, including Shadow, which was a lost cause regardless. Still, he acted completely surprised for his best buddy.

"It's kinda impossible to surprise you." said Tails.

"You totally got me this time, I had no idea!" fibbed Sonic, whilst holding his fangirl Amy off with his hand. Everyone else had already been mingling with one another, enjoying the food presented at the party. Yes, Sonic knew about this birthday party, but it took more effort than ever to actually find out about this one. Finding out when it was was even harder.

Gotta admit, this kid is getting smarter each day.

"Yeah, right. Happy birthday, Sonic. Hope you like this." Tails pulled out the best birthday present the speedy rodent could ask for; a chili dog, with the works.

"Like it? I love it!" Sonic exclaimed, giving his friend a complimentary thumbs up.

Off in the distance, a dark force had gathered, emitting a strange noise that not even the blue blur's ears could pick up on. Soon enough, the energy had exploded outward, sending all the food and supplies on the table flying off.

"Sonic, what's that?!" Tails pointed at the monstrosity coming out. The being had four arms and a face one could only describe as evil, but it was silhouetted from the darkness of the portal it was appearing from.

"W-what's it doing?" Tails had asked. The creature then opened other portals to different places, places that Sonic and his friends were somewhat familiar to. Each of these portals, one by one, separated and pulled Sonic's friends towards them.

"Sonic!"

"Help!"

"NYAAAA!"

Sonic was already angered at this point. "Hey, leave them alone!" Sonic ran up to the creature's face to show it what it means to suck, but the being merely smacked him away.

Tails had been the last one to get sucked up.

"Help us! Sooooniiiiicc!" Tails screamed as he was pulled through.

Sonic, however, was already knocked out.

…

Shadow had already had enough today.

It wasn't bad enough that G.U.N. had already sent him out on a ridiculous mission. It wasn't bad enough that it was Eggman the mission was concerned about. And it wasn't bad enough that Omega had already been assigned to a completely unrelated mission.

But then Rouge HAD to go to that birthday party.

That bat is going to hear some choice words when she returns...

"Agent Shadow, come in."

Shadow pressed the intercom button in his ear. "Reporting, Agent Wolfe."

"Agent, to remind you of your mission, your job is to neutralize Dr. Eggman, and seize whatever weapon he has. Assume he has back-up."

"And yet the logical choice was for me to go in with nothing but my fists?"

"You'd do well not to talk back, agent. It might help you listen more. Our intel, Agent Rouge, had discovered that whatever Eggman was building, it was quite delicate. Recklessly destroying it could result in a complete calamity. Your job is to neutralize Eggman, not risk the destruction of any nearby towns."

Shadow regarded the requirement with an aggravated "hmph" and proceeded towards Eggman's base located in the White Acropolis. The mountains were just north from the town of Soleanna, and further west from Grayley City. Shadow couldn't argue the importance of civilian safety and keeping the casualty numbers low.

Still, one casualty of Eggman would suffice for the melancholic hedgehog. At the very least, he thought, I can rough him up a bit. Even then, Shadow always carried a Chaos Emerald with him wherever he went. It pays to be prepared, at the end of the day.

As Shadow neared the base, a variety of Eggman's robots began to appear. Eggman, being the 300 IQ genius he is, designed these robots to withstand the harsh weather the Acropolis presented. Some of these Egg Pawns were designed with heavier armor to withstand the strong winds that were apparent, while others were coated white in order to camouflage themselves in the snow.

Shadow, however, needed neither of these handicaps. Having fur that can handle the temperature made it easy to move around and keep warm. Not only that, he never needed to hide thanks to his martial arts abilities. In short, Shadow was an effective war machine in many situations. It's why GUN hired him in the first place.

Once inside Eggman's base, Shadow leaned against a corner, crouching behind some boxes, and turned on his intercom again.

"This is Agent Shadow. I have successfully infiltrated Dr. Eggman's base. I believe he is aware of my presence."

"Affirmative, agent. Remember, neutralize Dr. Eggman without damaging the machine. You'll also have no communications further in that base, the comms are starting to jam."

"Roger."

With that affirmation, Shadow proceeded down the corridors, swiftly taking down any robots and sentries in his way. He did not know exactly where Eggman's quarters would be, but guessing the location of said quarters wouldn't be too hard, knowing Eggman. Just locate the door with Eggman's silhouetted face and there you go.

Once Shadow had reached the doors, they opened to reveal a large, dark, empty area. Shadow walked in, fully expecting a trap. Shadow had turned on his intercom once again, only to be met with static.

Jammed. He thought. So the doctor must have known that I was coming.

"Well if it isn't Shadow! How delightful for you to stop by!" A voice had boomed. Shadow had quickly attributed the voice to belong to the good doctor, and looked around to spot him.

"Doctor! Show yourself! What is this weapon you're building?" Shadow asked, hoping to get an answer.

"Now, can't a guy make an entrance?" Dr. Eggman proceeded to float down from the high perched ceiling, in his (trademark patented) Egg-O-Matic hovercraft. The doctor stroked his proud moustache, sneering directly at Shadow.

"So, you've come to stop my latest and greatest project, then? Why is that? This is no plan to destroy you, or even GUN for that matter. All I need is to take care of that miserable blue runt!" Eggman proclaimed that last part with a large amount of disgust, slamming his fist on his hovercraft at the mention of his adversary.

"This weapon, doctor, if used recklessly, it could cost the lives of several innocent civilians. I can't let you activate it, for the good of mankind."

"Feh, still on about that promise then? Collateral damage is just that; collateral. Once that rodent and his associates are six feet under, I'll be able to complete my powerful Eggman Empire! Completely capsuling the human race in total safety and comfort. Don't you want that for humanity? For her, Shadow?" Eggman held out his hand towards Shadow in a mocking gesture. Shadow had an extreme look of anger on his face, one that almost sent shivers of fear towards Eggman. The black hedgehog walked closer towards him, remaining calm with his tone.

"Your version of safety involves complete control and lack of free will for anyone other than yourself. For humanity's sake, I will fulfill my promise!" Shadow leapt towards the Egg-O-Matic, drawing his fist back for a punch. Eggman dodged out of the way, and equipped weapons of his own, two giant hammers from the middle of the Egg-O-Matic. A simple, and yet effective weapon.

Shadow, in the meantime, used his jet shoes to backflip mid air, and leapt towards Eggman again without needing to touch the ground. Eggman had quickly brought up one of the hammers over Shadow, and then slammed it down towards Shadow. The hammer nearly crushed Shadow, bringing him back down to the ground, struggling to hold the hammer above him. Eggman simply laughed as Shadow nearly got the hammer off of him, as he swung the other hammer to the left towards Shadow. With both of his hands busy, Shadow was unable to do anything about the mallet heading straight for him. It hit Shadow, sending him directly towards the wall.

"Nngh." Shadow grunted, in a great deal of pain. Eggman guided the Egg-O-Matic towards Shadow, grinning in sadistic glee.

"Well, Shadow. It appears that, once and for all, I am finally the victor! I would grant you last words, but unfortunately..." Eggman raised the hammers for a finishing blow. "You're even faster with your brain than with your feet."

As Eggman was bringing the hammer down, Shadow grabbed the Chaos Emerald he had with him. He couldn't focus enough for Chaos Control, his head was still swimming from that last attack. Chaos Spear wouldn't be powerful enough. That just left one thought in Shadow's head. Rage.

"CHAOS BLAST!"

Once those words were uttered, a red glow quickly began to fill Shadow's body. Immense anger poured from him, quickly transforming into an explosion that caught Eggman by surprise. He got sent flying from the blast near another machine located in the room. It was a basic machine, a computer terminal surrounding a single glass tube, containing a small dark energy floating in the middle.

Eggman quickly climbed out of his hovercraft and examined the machine. "NO! You imbecile! The machine could be damaged!" Eggman started pressing buttons on the terminal, most likely to check the condition of the dark matter. It appears that Eggman's concerns were correct, Shadow's blast had caused a small crack on the tube itself. The dark matter proceeded to grow larger, swirling around itself like a nebula.

"Doctor! What's it doing?!" Shadow asked.

"The field's been disrupted! It can't contain the project!"

"Project?"

"The code name hasn't been decided. But that's not important! We need to get out of here!" Eggman proceeded to run from his creation, but it was no use regardless. Once the dark matter had seeped out of the tube, white began enveloping everything in site, including a panicked doctor and a surprised hedgehog.

…

Around ten minutes prior to the attack on the base, Metal Sonic found himself wandering as usual. The metallic hedgehog hadn't been put to much use, due to Dr. Eggman's distaste in using a robot several times. Granted, Metal Sonic had been used several times. He was the doctor's first, true success, being the one closest to taking down his biological counterpart.

Considering his boredom, a trait he discovered too quickly thanks to the lack of anything to do, Metal Sonic figured there was really only one thing to do. Find Sonic, and kill him maliciously.

The first part was normally easy to do. It was just the latter that needed upgrading on.

Metal Sonic walked into a room he had dubbed "The Map Room." This room contained a large amount of maps, both real and digital. Plugging himself into the terminal (an ability he can perform after scanning a USB drive), Metal Sonic proceeded to download satellite systems into his head, getting a good location across all of Earth. It was a large Earth, however, so it took about five minutes to actually get the whole thing into his head.

It was true that Dr. Eggman ordered Metal Sonic not to attack his opponent unless he had been commanded to do so, most likely so Eggman could get the satisfaction for beating the blue blur himself. The truth of the matter was that Metal Sonic simply did not care. He had disobeyed the doctor several times and wasn't going to stop anytime soon. The only reason that Metal Sonic hadn't been scrapped was because he had proven extremely useful to the doctor several times.

If only some of those several times HADN'T been, "Can you fetch the TV remote for me, MS?"

Metal Sonic had destroyed 421 Egg Pawns for even breathing the letters "MS."

Once Metal Sonic had unplugged from the terminal he was using, he had heard an explosion. "Doctor!"

Metal Sonic raced to the source of the noise, pushing anything out of his way. By the time he had got there, however, he had been caught in a white light.

…

100 YEARS LATER

"So, after her last crusade mapping out the rest of the Remnant Isles, Mira Tae flew her plane to who knows where. She hadn't been seen since then."

The professor of the class, a rather large elephant known as Tuskel Crayton, wrapped up his speech on the famous feline pilot. Looking at his watch, he had noticed that his Spagonian History class was soon ending.

A young hedgehog, right at this moment, had finished feverishly taking notes on the subject. Looking up at the professor for anything else, he too had felt like the period was coming to a close. The professor looked towards the class again.

"That will be all for today. I expect a fifteen page essay on Mira and her exploits a month from now. Don't be late." Professor Crayton looked towards his class as they proceeded to leave, then had his attention towards the aforementioned hedgehog. "Silver, may I speak to you for a moment?"

"Me, sir?" Silver walked up towards Crayton's desk, a curious look plastering his face. "Is there a problem?"

"Not really a problem, so much as a concern. There are days where you come to class more tired than usual. You even resort to drinking black coffee at points just to stay awake. You don't even like black coffee." Crayton said. "Not only that..." Crayton pointed towards Silver's side, where, with deep inspection, you would notice that the skin underneath the fur was more purple and swollen than in other areas. "Your bruises aren't exactly invisible."

"Er...well...it's really not that important." Silver said. Well, it is, but why would he need to know that?

"Silver...is everything alright? Is there anyone troubling you at all? I may be a college professor, but contrary to popular belief, I DO care about others."

"No, no one's troubling me at all, sir! I...I just...it's a long story."

"I see. Well, my next class will be starting soon. Perhaps you could tell me next Sunday, down over at the Calisto Cafe."

"Umm..." Silver thought hard about this. It's not like I necessarily need the attention that comes with this sorta gig. Still, if I say no, he's going to get suspicious, and that's only going to mean trouble.

Guess I don't have a choice. "Sure. What time?"

"I will be there at approximately 9:30 AM. I expect you'll show up at the same time?"

"Yes sir."

"Good, now then, my class is walking in as we speak. Have a nice day, Silver."

"You too, sir."

Silver sighed as he walked down the halls and out of the university. Why did I have to agree to that? For the past year or so he'd been fighting with a crazed professor teaching at the same particular university.

And by fighting, the author refers to actual fighting. With fists.

Well, okay, mechanics and psychokinetic powers, but most would get the gist.

The professor in question was known as Professor Harold "Eggman" Robotnik-Negatto. Known as Pr. Eggman-Nega for short by Silver, he had an IQ of 500, superior to that of his great great grandfather, Ivo Robotnik, possessed.

Coming to think of it, Silver had believed he needed to go after Eggman-Nega today. Pulling up a sticky note he had left somewhere in hammerspace, Silver observed that self-written on the note was a reminder: Eggman-Nega had somehow acquired a Chronos Emerald and was planning on building a doomsday device with it.

Throwing the sticky note away, Silver proceeded towards the White Acropolis, where Eggman-Nega's base normally resided.

Eggman-Nega grinned at his creation. Things were going exactly as planned.

Planting himself in a university with not much but his IQ and a degree? Genius. Rebuilding his ancestors' devices to be stronger and more efficient? Genius.

Only one word can describe Eggman-Nega. Genius. Out of everything in this world that has the capability and will to even DARE to stop the madman, only one has ever come close to doing so. And he was 100% certain that the same one was coming to try it again. And still 100% certain he was going to fail.

The soft noise of psychokinesis enveloping the door behind him, followed by a loud clunk of the same door confirmed his theory.

"Eggman-Nega! This time I'm bringing an end to your plans!" Silver yelled as he got into a battle position. Eggman-Nega simply pushed his glasses up and grinned, his back still facing the gray hedgehog.

"Silver...such a shame too. You were starting to pass one of my classes." Eggman-Nega turned towards his foe, grin still withstanding. "And now I have to lay waste to one of my most entertaining students…" Eggman-Nega held up the Chronos Emerald he obtained. Silver tensed with anticipation.

"So long...Silver the Hedgehog." Once Eggman-Nega had inserted the emerald, the room went white in almost an instant.

…

"Ugh...where am I?"

Sonic had awoken in what could've been described as a void, empty sort of area. All around him was pure white with no end in clear sight. Look around some more, he had spotted a white structure, but one that seemed rather familiar. Have I been there before?

With curiosity in his eyes, Sonic took off in the direction of the structure, hoping to figure out what exactly was going on. A small portal had opened directly in front of the structure, which Sonic had immediately jumped into. All of a sudden, the land was filled with vibrant colors. Lush palm trees covered the semi-forest like area, and a path had been strewn out, albeit not too safe for human beings.

Sonic, however, was no human being. We thought this would be obvious information by now.

"Well, I know I've seen this place before. But that doesn't matter. I've gotta save Tails!" And with those words, Sonic took off in the direction the path took him at blinding speeds.

...

"Mmnph…" Shadow stood up, and took a look around him, readying himself for combat if necessary. He lowered his defense once he realized nothing was around. He pushed his earcom button.

"Commander? Do you read?" Shadow was met with static. Dissatisfied, he took the now useless earcom out and threw it behind him. Shadow ran off in a random direction, not sure where it would take him. Beats standing around doing nothing.

After about half an hour of running, Shadow came across a white structure that looked painfully similar to him. The ARK… Bracing himself for the worst, Shadow proceeded in the portal to explore. Once he had stepped inside, the world around him gained color, but only barely. The ARK was not made to be a funhouse, but rather a scientific lab located above Earth's atmosphere.

That means space, kids.

Shadow had taken a few steps before noticing his less opaque body. He could see through his hands just barely, along with his feet and torso. Shadow, having been trained to remain as calm as possible in any given situation, regarded this in a calm manner and proceeded forward in hopes of gaining answers.

When he approached the door, it opened automatically, revealing a blonde girl in a blue dress.

"Oh! Hello, Shadow."

…

"WHERE THE HECK AM I?!" Silver screamed at the top of his lungs. He had been running for nearly forty five minutes, and he was getting tired. The yelling did not increase his energy intake as he had initially perceived. Panting, he decided to rest and calm himself down. With deep breaths, he managed to regain his composure. Now...let's see what I can recall...I was fighting Eggman-Nega and then he had that emerald...oh wait! Regaining some memory, Silver quickly pulled his own Chronos Emerald out of hammerspace.

That being the place where people grab things, despite looking like they got it from nowhere. Everyone called it that because of Amy Rose's famous Piko-Piko Hammer and how she practically mastered the space.

"Wait, hold on...what is this?" Silver examined the Chronos Emerald some more. "It's completely gray. There aren't any gray Chronos Emeralds. None that I know about at least." Silver stood up, gripping the emerald tighter in his hand. "Chronos Control!"

It did nothing.

Silver sighed. "It's completely dead. This is like that Gaia incident with Sonic." Putting his emerald back into hammerspace, Silver proceeded forward at a quick stride, hoping to find something rather quickly. After an hour had passed, Silver came across a building that filled Silver with confusion.

"It's all banged up and white but...isn't that my uni?" Silver walked towards the doors of the familiar looking building. He grasped on the handle with a determined look, and opened the door.

What Silver had seen nearly gave him a heart attack.

The only colors that dotted the skies were black and red, and that's without the screaming bullets and explosions covering it. Paratroopers were dropping in just miles from him, and he could hear the distant sound of tanks. It was a complete and total catastrophe of a war. Silver ran for cover, not wanting to get hit by any deadly projectiles.

"ALL TEAMS, CEASE FIRE TEN O'CLOCK. BRAVO TEAM, GRAB THE HOG!" A distant voice shouted. All of a sudden Silver was grabbed by a pair of hands and rushed to another area, with a team of army clad men of several species. None of which were human.

Not long after, Silver was rushed inside a tent, where an echidna, which Silver assumed to be a general of sorts, was staring at him with several emotions. Shock, anger, bewilderment, things that would generally make a hedgehog who teleported in the middle of a war zone feel safe at home with.

"JUST WHAT IN BLAZES ARE YOU DOING IN THE WAR ZONE, CITIZEN?!" The echidna shouted. Silver was busy trying to process all the information presented to him thus far. "CAN'T YOU TELL WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF A WAR HERE?!" Silver could only barely hear him. There was still the sound of the infantry marching, guns firing, the whistle of rockets, missiles, and explosives alike blowing up all around him. It eventually got to the point where primal instinct took over the psychokinetic hedgehog. He grabbed the Chronos Emerald again.
"CHRONOS FREEZE!"

All of a sudden, everything stopped without warning. The general wasn't shouting, there were no explosions, everything had simply halted. Silver opened his eyes again, and saw that his emerald was that familiar shade of cyan.

"But...if it works here...then out there...agh. Time travel. Too much to worry about." Silver simply put the emerald back where it belongs and proceeded to walk towards the nearby map the general had laid out. It hadn't taken long for Silver to realize he was in his hometown.

"Wh...what? My hometown is...a warzone?!" Silver's look was equivalent to that of one who'd just seen Valhalla fall. Pure shock and awe rushed through Silver's face. It took him several minutes for his feet to move. Even still, his brain couldn't handle most of the information it was getting. "Gah! What year is it?!" Silver rushed to a calendar hoping to get information. Fortunately, the map had also provided a year count on it.

3025. 15 years after Silver's present.

"Wha...wh…"

With all this information presented to him in such a rush, Silver started getting dizzy. Not knowing how long Chronos Freeze would last, Silver ran for cover, but blacked out before he could find any. The last thing he saw was his warbound hometown dissipating into nothing.

…

Metal Sonic got up once his programming rebooted. His memory circuits soon after came back on. Metal Sonic looked over the data.

"A white light...Shadow...the doctor under attack…" Metal looked around him. Soon after, his memory circuits began running at higher speeds.

"This is...I know this place." Metal cursed under his breath. "It's where Sonic beat me...long ago." Stardust Speedway is where both Metal and the accursed hedgehog first met. It's also where Metal was first beaten, but not left out of the picture. Metal had proven here that he was not only just as fast, but he would argue more powerful than his fleshy counterpart.

He soon saw his fleshy counterpart run past him.

"T...That was…!" Metal boosted forward immediately, destroying the path behind him, hoping to throw Sonic off immediately. He soon caught up with the blue blur.

"I'll admit, Sonic. You're speed seems slower than usual. Not only that, you seem much younger and pudgier than I last recall. This may have something to do with that 'project,' but I don't care!" Metal almost seemed delighted with this. "Fate has given me another chance...another opportunity to destroy you at your own game! PREPARE YOURSELF, SONIC THE HEDGEHOG!" Metal raced forward ahead of Sonic. Stardust Speedway had made itself to almost nothing but a straight line for the two of them. No obstructions, no laser from the doctor, no deathtrap at the end with some idiot blindingly coming at him with said laser…

It was him and the hedgehog. And the hedgehog will need more than speed this time.

Sonic continued running down the pathway, somewhat confused as to who, or what, was attacking him. It looked nearly like him, however much more robotic.

Maybe because it was a robot. Hard to tell these days.

The strange "Metal Sonic," as Sonic had called it, began charging towards him, spinning in a sort of drill formation. Sonic jumped straight over the attack, dodging it and landing on Metal Sonic, causing Metal to rear back. Metal quickly regained his composure, moving over to another area while still keeping Sonic's pace.

"Dodge this, Sonic!" Metal declared as he proceeded to knock signs towards Sonic. Sonic only barely dodged the attacks, what with Metal hitting post after post, seemingly never resting. Metal then soon returned to the path Sonic was at, clearly tired and nearly depleted of energy. Sonic jumped towards Metal, attacking again and causing Metal to fall to the floor, nearly losing pace with Sonic.

At this point Metal was tired of this fight.

Metal charged up all his remaining energy, surrounding himself with electrical energy and charging towards Sonic again. Sonic looked behind him, seeing Metal's surprisingly angry face barreling towards him.

Sonic ran as fast as he could, trying to outrun Metal and his insane berserker barrage.

Neither hedgehog was letting up, nobody's speed decreasing as the battle continued. Metal continued to charge, putting every bit of energy he could in the electrical field.

Then he heard a small set of beeps.

"No! No!" Metal screamed as he ran out of energy. Metal floated in the air, the momentum still allowing him to keep pace with Sonic. Sonic jumped up, reaching towards Metal. Charging up his foot, Sonic kicked Metal into the air, leaving Metal behind in an explosion.

Sonic quickly celebrated, proud of the victory against his robotic doppelganger.

Sonic ran out of the portal back to the white void, leaving behind a severely damaged, and severely angered, Metal Sonic in his dust.

As Sonic continued running out of Stardust Speedway and into the white void, a mysterious emerald made itself present. Sonic remembered this emerald. It was a Chaos Emerald. Sonic put it into his own personal hammerspace, and continued forward to the next area.

Sonic stepped through another strange portal, not sure where it would take him. It was of no importance. His animal friends needed saving, and he was the one to do it. Still, could be deadly. Then again, what's life without daring?

Sonic began walking forward when he noticed his reflection. He noted that he was somehow...taller. More lean? Did he have green eyes?

Sonic soon questioned the maturity rate of hedgehogs. He continued to examine his reflection.

"Take a good look at yourself, Sonic!" A familiar voice had said. Sonic looked around, trying to figure out where the voice came from.

Then his reflection started talking.

"Dr. Eggman?!" Sonic's reflection stated.

Okay, so not only is Sonic's reflection talking, but apparently, Robotnik has somehow acquired the name "Eggman."

Sonic already loves that name and his reflection for coming up with it. Assuming he did. He probably did.

"It's the last look you'll get before I close your eyes...forever!" Sonic immediately ran through the door after Robotnik's hearty laugh, and prepared for a battle.

The other Sonic was busy contemplating what he just saw.
"Another Sonic? What?! Wait a second!" Sonic quickly ran after his counterpart, however before he could proceed, the door slammed on his face, knocking Sonic back. Not knowing how to handle the situation, Sonic simply proceeded to turn back to Tails to explain the situation.

...

Sonic walked back outside the portal, to see yet another surprise: Two Tails.

That is to say, not that his friend Tails had acquired two tails, he always had those. Rather, there are two of Tails.

It'll be easier if you keep reading.

The second Tails that had shown up was much younger than the Tails Sonic had grown used to knowing. Sonic was flabbergasted.

"Wait, there's two of you, too?!" Sonic asked. Both Tails turned to Sonic, with the older-looking one speaking up.

"Oh, Sonic, you're back already?" Older Tails asked.

"Y-yeah, I just got finished watching myself go through a door. It's completely locked out now. But nevermind that, how are there two of us?!" Sonic asked.

Younger Tails spoke from here. "Well, when that monster swallowed us with those vortexes, we ended up in this white space containing familiar areas."

Older Tails then proceeded. "Considering that, it's reasonable to believe we're travelling through time!"

Sonic grabbed his head as it began to swim. "Ugh...something tells me we've done this before." He said. Older Tails crossed his arms.

"Something tells me we don't want to remember."

"Agreed. Where's Silver when you need him?" Sonic asked. Tails turned to his past counterpart.

"So how much do you remember?" Tails asked. Past Tails took some time to think.

"Hmm...well, I remember Chemical Plant Zone, but everything after that is a blank."

That must mean he hadn't met Knuckles yet. Sonic thought. Considering how he was when we first met...that might've been a good thing.

"So, what's the game plan then?" Tails asked.

"Isn't it obvious? This is a trick Eggman put up. All we gotta do is find him and make him end this time thing!" Sonic said, pounding a fist against his palm. Past Tails nodded. "Right!"

Soon enough the three could hear the sound of quick pitter patters from the portal, to which Past Sonic jumped out. Silently, Past Sonic expressed surprise at seeing his double. Sonic sighed.

"Guess we gotta repeat some info." He said.

…

Shadow could hardly move at the sight he was seeing. "M-Maria?"

Maria's face expressed concern as she saw her friend, curious to what he was surprised about. "Shadow? Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost." She said. She then smiled. "You're usually so cool and composed, it's almost funny seeing you carry an expression." She joked.

Shadow was still in shock from all of this. He shook his head, focusing on regaining his energy.

"I...I need to go for a walk…" Shadow said, heading the other direction. He couldn't focus with...her, standing right there.

Shadow analyzed the situation he was in. Let's see...I was in a white space just outside of here. The only thing I found was the ARK, which I blew up, which is also now completely intact. Not only that, but Maria is alive. Considering that, the only answer must be that I've traveled back to the past. It's not unlikely. Black Doom took me to the past before, and it's something a Chaos Emerald can accomplish…

Wait, the Chaos Emerald!

Shadow searched around him for his usual Chaos Emerald, but it was nowhere to be found.

"Damn...I must've lost it in that explosion…" He said.

"Lost something?" Maria asked, appearing behind him. Shadow turned around, putting on defenses instinctively. Maria gasped.

"Shadow...is everything okay?" Maria asked. Shadow paused, lowered his defenses, and sighed.

The best I can do is just go along with it. "I'm fine, Maria. Just on edge." Shadow explained. Maria nodded.

"I know how you feel. Grandfather is beginning to make GUN unhappy. It might only be a matter of time before they…" Maria stopped, unable to continue her sentence out of fear. She then perked up. "If you don't mind, Shadow, I'm going to get some rest. I'll see you tomorrow morning!" She said, heading off to her room. Shadow sighed.

"Maria…" Shadow began walking down a corridor. Changing the past would be too complicated. The effect on my present could be more harmful. The most I can do now is figure out the secret behind Project: Shadow. Shadow thought. It might prove useful later.

Shadow turned to a door coated with steel. He pressed his hand on a scanner, opening the door to see an old man facing an experiment he was working on.

"Professor."

…

Silver slowly awoke as he was once again surrounded by white. His turned around, seeing his university behind him. He shook his head.

Not again...I can't go back there again…

Silver got up and walked forward, away from his war-torn school. He thought about what happened.

Why did my town become a warzone? Was it just my town? The country? The world? Silver began to walk faster as he thought about the battle he'd seen. I didn't see who those guys were fighting. Maybe the Black Arms? GUN? Silver stopped as he ran across another area. Though it was also coated in white, it appeared to be a forest of some sort. Silver stepped inside, color eventually meeting his eyes once more. This area was much nicer than the previous, shades of green and blue meeting his eyes. As he continued walking, he eventually ended up at a cliffside, seeing a large building with an Eggman logo smack in the middle of it. The logo, however, also had a large N cutting through it.

This was Eggman-Nega's logo.

A large TV-screen encircling the top of the building began to turn on, Eggman-Nega's face proudly displaying itself on the front of it.

"Eggman-Nega…" Silver said. He wasn't sure what time period it was, but Silver knew he had never seen this building before.

Eggman-Nega began to speak. "Wonderful citizens of Negatus. I am elated to say that Project:Purebot is very close to becoming an incredible success! Most of that fear mongering rebellion has died down to the point where we can finally no longer consider them a threat. Of course, presuming you considered them a threat to begin with. The project should be done within three years time. All voluntary members of Project:Purebot, please immediately head towards Building 808080 to receive further instructions. Long live the Nega Empire!" Nega-Eggman gave a sinister smile before the TV screen turned off. Silver looked determined as he processed the information that came to him. "Project:Purebot...what is that…" But the minute he took another step

His world had been completely obliterated.

Silver gripped his head as a massive migraine overtook him. When he began to come to, the area around him grew almost unbearably hot. When he opened his eyes, however

Chills grew down his spine.

The forest he was once in turned into a city, completely cloaked with flames. The buildings could hardly be called those anymore, as they had been destroyed nearly to a point to where they were unrecognizable. And despite Silver never seeing this place, he remembered it perfectly.

"Wh...why...why do I remember this place?" Silver asked himself. Memories started to flash back in spurts. Meeting a demon in this city, hunting down Sonic claiming that he was an arbiter of destruction, fighting the God of Fire, Iblis. In his second momentary panic, Silver pulled out his Chronos Emerald, which was shaking uncontrollably.
"Ch-Chronos Freeze!" The minute Silver said that, time stopped for him.

However, it was not due to the Emerald itself, but the shock from the Emerald shattering in his hand. Silver's breathing began to grow heavy, and his vision was starting to grow dim.

That's when a hand appeared on his shoulder, alongside a familiar voice.

"Hey."

Silver turned around, beginning to get his energy back at the sight of his friend. A purple cat in regal clothing stood before him, seemingly emotionless.

"Y...You're…" Silver said. Blaze nodded.

"I'm not particularly sure if you've heard of me anywhere, but yes. I'm Blaze the Cat, princess of the Sol Dimension." Blaze said. "Who might you be?"

Silver took a minute to understand everything. Why was all of this going on? Last he remembered, all of this shouldn't even be possible. He addressed Blaze, still waiting for an answer, as he figured he would find answers later.

"My name is Silver. What are you doing here?" Silver asked. Blaze took some time to think.

"Well, judging how this wasn't exactly what I was expecting either...I can only guess that this was a trap set by Eggman-Nega." Blaze explained.

"Eggman-Nega?"

"My foe. He comes from my dimension as well. He was heading for this dimension at this time, but…" Blaze looked around. "I don't see any trace of him. He must be hiding somewhe-"

"He tricked you." Silver interrupted. Blaze looked surprised.

"Wh-wha?" Blaze exclaimed. Silver looked around as well. He noticed that he was a tad gruffer, a little more stern than he was before he remembered this place.

"We're not safe here." Silver observed. "Follow me. We need to find some cover."

"O-okay…" Blaze said, following Silver close behind.

…

"Professor." Shadow called out as he entered Gerald Robotnik's room. Gerald Robotnik was a renowned man of science, possessing an IQ of 200, his scientific breakthroughs made him equivalent to a modern day Da Vinci. The professor turned around to see his creation, and smiled.

"Ah, Shadow. An incredible convenience. Do me a favor and hand me that beaker over there, would you? Ah, but don't drop it. You might doom the ARK if you do." Gerald requested. Shadow grabbed the beaker from a nearby table, and handed it to Gerald. "Thank you."

Shadow wasted no time. "Professor. What exactly is the purpose of the ARK?" He asked. Gerald sighed.

"We've had this conversation many times, Shadow. It is simply for the benefit of mankind." Gerald explained. Shadow wasn't satisfied with this answer. However, he knew that the Professor wouldn't yield for him. Shadow had no choice.

"Professor...I apologize." Shadow leapt up, punching Gerald in the back of the head, knocking him out. As he fell to the ground, Shadow immediately checked his vitals.

Not dead...good. Shadow began to search the Professor for any sort of clue he might hold. In the professor's shirt pocket, he pulled out a small card. On the back of the card were two lines.

The first line said "GR_AUTHORIZE_01"

The second line said "I_AND_M_AND_S"

Shadow immediately began making his way towards a computer terminal, hoping to find some answers there. It took no longer than ten minutes to find a computer in an area where he would be nearly guaranteed to be left alone. The computer requested for a username and password to login. Shadow entered in what he found on the card.

LOGIN FAILED.

"What?" Shadow was confused. He entered the password no differently than what was on the card. His brain began to ramble what "I_AND_M_AND_S" could mean.

I'm Maria's Savior? No, that doesn't make any sense. Maybe just IMS? But what does that stand for, if that's the case…

Shadow pondered some more. It's likely the M might stand for Maria. The Professor included that in all of his passwords. I and S… Shadow stared at the screen, noticing that the Professor's logo was somewhat similar.

"Professor...Robotnik...Robotnik...Eggman...Ah." Shadow began to enter the password.

IVO MARIA

That still left the matter of S. Shadow couldn't think of anyone important that Gerald knew who's name started with an S.

…

Wait.

It was just a thought, but Shadow figured there was no harm in trying.

IVO MARIA SHADOW

PASSWORD ACCEPTED

WELCOME, GERALD ROBOTNIK

"Hmm." Shadow smirked to himself, proud of his accomplishment. He searched around the files, hoping to find something important relevant to the ARK and its creation. After a few minutes of hopping from folder to folder, he eventually found a series of documents. The first being "Project:Shadow, First Stages." Shadow clicked on that document, reading the following.

Working in space has been the most tiring event. Most everyone here wishes to go home, Maria especially. I can only hope that we can soon, once her dilemma is fixed.

I only have a small team on board with me. They're not too helpful at most points, but they do have their moments. Still, I'm practically working alone in this building. My team is almost completely inept in biology and medicine. Though I don't have much choice in who I can bring. With Maria's deadly disease, we were the only scientists seemingly immune to it.

At least this way, we can reduce casualties.

Still, researching Maria's disease, I can only conclude that this is the only way to cure her: create an amalgamation of my team's blood, combine it with my own, and have Maria ingest at least a part of that amalgamation. There is no doubt it would have to be living however, otherwise the blood will not mix and flow properly.

Still, this is only half the reason I'm up here. The other reason, the reason GUN sent me for…

Well, I feel it's unsafe to discuss. Even here.

Shadow was in complete shock. "I...I had no idea she…!" Shadow gripped his head. "I...I was supposed to save her...Tch!" Shadow shook these feelings off. He had a job to do. Maria was gone. There was no denying this fact.

He moved onto the next file, known as "Second Stages."

We tested the first result on a lizard that we dubbed "Alpha." Naturally, as I thought, it didn't work.

The reason we seem to be immune to this disease is because of us scientists possessing either Type AB or Type O blood.

I'm still beating myself up for not catching this sooner. How she has Neuro-Immune Deficiency Syndrome. I had simply assumed she was autistic from the gastrointestinal issues alongside the toe-walking. I was so wrong. So wrong. I

The page stops there, then is continued in the next page.

My name is Dr. Edwards. I was requested by Professor Robotnik to continue this document of recording the progress of Project:Shadow while he gets rest.

Alpha was a failure, however, each of us expected this and simply wanted results. It appears that what happened was the Type AB blood completely absorbed the Type O blood, and overtook the lizard's nervous systems, causing it to momentarily create spastic movements and die soon afterwards.

We're somewhat unsure as to how to proceed forward from here, but the professor seems insistent on researching the Chaos Emeralds. We do have one aboard the ship, however it exerts an extreme amount of energy. Should the professor fail to control it, our Ultimate Life Form Project will be completely destroyed. And along with it, us.

Ultimate Life Form Project? Shadow thought. Is that the other reason GUN sent the professor to the ARK?

Shadow continued to the "Third Stage."

It appears that me researching the Chaos Emeralds was the right call. With the Chaos Drives, Project:Shadow finally became a living creature. However, this creature, the Biolizard, was not a success. Despite what the Ultimate Life Form is supposed to do, it requires a machine to survive, and its growth rate is only ever-expanding. The only option we had was to shut the machine down, putting it in an everlasting coma until the machine is activated again. The blood types seem to have mixed properly, but the Chaos Drives completely sent them to overdrive, causing the required machine and growth rate.

We need something that can control that blood.

We need...him.

I shall contact him first thing in the morning.

Shadow pondered on who "he" exactly is. He continued onto the next document, simply called "His Help."

I never wanted to bring him onto my ship. My space colony. My ARK. But I had no choice. I need to save Maria.

He agreed to supply the necessary blood to bring about the Ultimate Life Form, but at a request: to have Shadow bring him all seven Chaos Emeralds in fifty years' time.

Shadow froze at this part. Now he knew exactly who the professor was talking about, who "he" was.

Black Doom.

Shadow had dealt with Black Doom in the past. Shadow had agreed to help him under the condition that Black Doom restore his memories. However, it would come at a cost: enslavement of the human race, and the ultimate destruction of Mobius as a whole.

After destroying Black Doom and the Black Comet using the Eclipse Cannon, Shadow has ultimately put the past behind him. Still, if given the opportunity to find those answers, I need to take them.

He continued reading.

With Black Doom's blood, Shadow seems to be more stable than the Biolizard. But at this point, only time will tell.

Still, his plans were so specific. Why fifty years? What could he be planning with those Emeralds?

I should send a small drone after him.

Shadow moved onto "Black Comet"

The drone was somehow went unnoticed by Black Doom but...my god.

Chaos wasn't this horrible.

Human enslavement, world destruction...and the perfect timing, too. With the Black Comet so close to Mobius, Black Doom's powers would only increase more and more.

I...I need to stop him. I need to destroy him.

I need to destroy that comet.

I'll have my team move their focus entirely on a weapon. What they lack in biology and medicine, they make up for in mechanics. It shouldn't take much more than a week to build this…

Shadow could only imagine the one weapon used to destroy that comet. He moved onto the "Eclipse Cannon."

The Eclipse Cannon took an extra week, but it was well worth it. I'm also satisfied to say that the Ultimate Life Form is awake and alive. He's learning very quickly, he's already grown accustomed to walking and is learning English incredibly well in such a short amount of time.

The Eclipse Cannon should be able to destroy the comet in one shot. With any luck, I can hit it before Black Doom even gets close to Mobius. I can't let him get his hands on it. If he does…

This entire universe will be completely under his rule.

Still, should it come to that, the Eclipse Cannon can also….

…

…

I believe GUN is watching me.

I must stop these documents here. I don't believe they found the hidden one, not like they'd be able to read it, but I've made sure that it's buried.

I believe they're after me.

That's fine. If they honestly still feel that Project:Shadow is too dangerous, and if I can't save Maria…

I still have a Plan B.

A way to keep Black Doom from getting what he wants.

Shadow stopped there, looking down. He knew what Plan B was.

Destroy Mobius by crashing the ARK into it. Still, there was a ton of questions he still had. What was it that Black Doom was after? What was the Eclipse Cannon's second purpose? Shadow felt the only way to answer that question was to find the hidden document that Gerald's drone received.

Shadow looked in every possible folder, but couldn't find anything. He scoffed. At this point, he doesn't have enough to work with.

That's when a paper airplane hit him in the side of the head. Shadow picked it up, and looked at who threw it. All he could see was Professor Gerald, reading some book.

Shadow read the note.

"Shadow,

I don't appreciate the blow to the head. But you'll have to forgive me, I had no choice.

There are some things that I can't speak about aloud. But never mind that. I'm guessing

by now you're probably looking for that hidden document. Speak none of this anywhere.

And Shadow, you must find the secret of the ARK. Please. There's more to it than finding

a cure for NIDS.

GR_AUTHORIZE_BC

JASON

Gerald Robotnik

Shadow immediately began entering the login information. The only thing he could find was a single document, titled "❄︎ ︎ ︎ ? ﾸﾎ●︎ ︎ ︎&︎ ✌︎❒︎❍︎⬧︎"

Shadow had trouble reading the document, but eventually, he was able to just barely read the document itself.

T̛̞͎H҉͙Ę̥ ̦͙͖̩͕̯͟Ḅ̩͍͎̙͠L҉̹̖A͏̞̙̜̳̩̺͎C̸͎̯̙̤̦̝̺K̟͜ ͈͍͍̫̻̫A̴̤R̶͕̞̭M̰̻̼͈̖͙̩S̷̙͎̳̹̖͇͈ ̞͓͇̯̼̱̰H̱̘͍̻̼̘̖A͎͚V̳͚͔̫Ḛ̘͟ ̱̱͎ͅNO̶̖ ̲̻͍̭͉N҉A̪͓M̦̬͔̥͔̦̭E͙̙͕̲͇̝S̗.͔͚̜̲̭͠

̵̦̥̬͉̜̘͈R̼̤̬͡ͅA̢̩̰̩ͅT̥̯͎́H̶̻E͙R̴̟ͅ,͍͖̮͇͜ ͍̞̹͕̣̩̳W͚̯E̤ O̗͔N̦̲L̪̙͚Y̪ ̪͉͔̮̦̹͞ͅḤ̝̖͙A̴͈̭͖͈V͇̖E҉̦͎̫̤ ̩̱T̡͔̖̝̟̭̱̺Í̙̜̝̟̹̗T͓̞͉͖͙̯̙͟L̯͇̝̬͓E҉̥̳̲̖̬S̷̺̥̜̺̜̥,̬ ̘̫̝̜̭̞S̛͓̠U̱͉̪͈̺CH̰͕̟̦ ͠A̘̲̼̯̖̞S̵̪̪ ͏̼͇͔̻S̭͚OL̨̯D̪̟̬̩̫I͕̭̼̗̜̕E̖̘͉͚͔͎̹͠R͝S͕͞,̥͔̖̯̣ ̤̞̥̜D̢̖̲͖͈O͉G̦͝S̛,̷̭͍̖ ̹̣̼̦̰̤̞B̡̼R̢̙U̼͓̟͕̼̻T̫̮E̳̗̼̗̘̰̪S̮͢,͔̭̱̻̙̹̮ ̖̠͓̤͘A͚N̸͚̣͕̩͚D̤̠̘͓̯̙ ͘S̸̖̪̼͈Ù̳̱͔̮ͅC̩͖̘̼̩H̦̱̙͎̱̙͘.͈̜̼͎̫͈

̵̣̭̮̖̤̮͙W̠E̳ ͖̣̳̳A̩̮R̥͖̦̘̦͖̜E̩̰͝ ̣O͚̣͚̤̱͢ͅͅN͔̦̫L̦̣͎̺̣̲ͅY͖̺ ͚̼͖͔͔̮A͔͔̘̻̘ͅͅ ̮͙͕̟̩̕H̗̩̺̮̥ͅͅI͖͉̫̫̬̮V̟̠̳̭̹̬͎̀E͎͍ ̡̣̪̞̖͎W͍̣̝̳̦OR̸̯̻͙̫͎̤KI̴̟͕͙̜N͙͍̬͓G̣ ́F̣̙̩͈O̸̻R̵̜̗̫ ̼̹̻̞̖͢T̗̣̻̩̗̕Ḥ̞̣͈Ȩ̻ ͇̬͇K̨̮͈͖̙͚͓I̞̖͈̰͈͚ͅN̫̤̩͖̫͉G̦̦̯̣̼͠,̡̞ ͠B̦̤͕̭͔͝L̹͉̟̼̥Ạ̯̹̙̰̼̱͘C҉̝̫̟̣̞͈̳K̭ ͔̪̙̮ͅD̟O̡Ó̻̻̱̠̙̬ͅM̛.͞

̣̕Ą̱L̢̯Ḻ ̢H̫̼̞̣̩A̶̱̹̮I̮L͓ ̱̗̮̩͚B҉L͉͉͢A̪͖͜C̞̣͡K̶̤̩̰̗̫ ̯D̡̻̖͉̭͉O͏̯̬̹̹̖O͔̰̘̗̺͓M͎̲̝̱̜̮͙.͔̬̳̀ ̙͇͇

̰͔͓͞ͅB͚͕͙̦̞ͅL̲͙̲͔͉̙͉͡A̲̟͙̫͢C̞͘K̪̲͙̯͚̬̗͞ ̦̝̖͔̰D̨O͏O̼͉̗͚͖͠M̹̯͚͖͟ ̬̜͉̬I̫̠̪͉͖̭S̝̦̥ ̤͕̬͓I̜͟M͇͖̪̫͝ͅM̫̭̪̗͕̼͠O̡̥̰̺̝̹̦Ŗ͙̪̙͇̟͖T͕̼̹͞Á̘̤̘L͍͔̺̻̪̺ͅ ̦̰͞A͜N͓̠̱͡Ḑ I̢N̗̟̯̭͙ͅV̬̣I̵N̴͍͇̟̩̯̣C͚̟͙̙̲I̺̦̘͔̠͠B̴ĹE̶͚.̬͖̰̯̩ ͅH͎̗͔̥̦E̬ ̜̹͎̻C̜̟͖̝̯̱A̺̱̫Ṉ̷̰̩ͅN͉̲̲O̸̤̺̟͈̮T̡̜͖̥͔͍̖ͅ ̬̙͉͖̪̣͓͞B̮̮̦̲͚̼͚͡E̖̟̘̹̥̹̤ ̖̹STO͕̰͈̖̦͖̼P̥̮̘͜P̡E̲̖̺̪͈͘D̶̮̦̘̤,̝ ͏̝͔̜͙N͘O̥͙̳̻͚̙R ͜C͕̦͚ÀN̘̮ ̴͖̮H̩͈Ȩ̖͖̝ ̳͎̳̺D͏̘̲͙̙̤̭Í̻̮̩̝̭E͎̱̦̭̳͈̝.̪͕̘͈͇͝ͅ

S͙͓͓̬͍̞͘H̳̜͘O͚̩̜U̬̻͖̼̖͖̲L͏̩̰̬̝D̹ ̤̹̻̞̻͕̩H̼͈̩̖̫̼͢I̻͕̣͉͉̟͙S̞̫̠͕̰͕̣ ̼́B̪̯̣͓O͇̙̗̘̮͓D̻̝̳Y҉͉̘͕̥̖ ̬̲̪̯͔̦Ę͎̘X̛E͚̺̥̥̳̥͞R͎̗͍T̜̖͙̬͓͚̕ ̜̫̰Ạ̢͓̜L̖̺̭L̵ ̶̬̟POS̡S̢̜̤͖̠͚I̺̖̙͍B͇͍̳̼L̳̗̻̯̬͉̭͡E̥̫̥̭ ҉͖͈̥̞͖̘̳E̥̪̱N͎͠E̟̹R͈̬̭͎͔G̴Y̳, ̺A̘̤ ̩͕̖̤̳R͇̝̙̱̞̣Ȩ̺̭̣M̱̝͖̺Ạ̡̜͍͖̬̰̭I̸̫̺͍͕̮̖N̗̤̮̼͓I҉̟̩͎͈NG͖͉ ̳͇̱̕ͅB͙ͅL̢A̬̩͍͚̝̘C̶̣̖̮̭͍̺K̻̦̞̘ ̫͙͜AR̵̩̺͚̠̫̳M̦̣S̳͖ ͎͍͎̯̫͕͓̀M̰̣͙̺̩̣̲E̜͖̼̖̟̮M͏̝̹̖͎BE͓̹̣͉̻̼̩Ṛ͖͔̭ ̹̲͓̥̕W͏̫͔̳͖̟ͅI҉LL ̼̘̹͙̱͕̣A̝̻̘̟̠͔͘C̷T͖̺̼͔̯̤ ̪̠̠̼͠A͈͟S̲̮͙ͅ ͖͚͈̪͟A͙̺̗̫ ̪͔̜̳͓̰͎Ḫ̦̲̙͘O̴S̥̝͓̠̱T̥̱̤̲̬͎ ̻͙̲̤̗F̫̱̞͙O̘̫͎̥R̸̮͔̫̱̤ͅ ̱͈̭̼̰ͅB̖͔̹̯̳̀L͕̤̦̠͙͍A̭̗̦̪C̖̙̞͠K̭͎̗͈̙̞ ̣͉͉̲͔D̻O̧̯͙̣̠O̻̣̮̲̰M̷ ͎̺T̸͍̲̻O̮̭ ̲̼͟T̜͇̱̟́ͅͅA͉̳̗̤̫͢K͇͟E҉ ̵Ó̥̦V̥͜E̴R̟̻̻͓͍̰̀,̛͙̜ ̸͕͇̰͖͚͕̺W̗̰̻͉͕̠͈͠I̱T̞̳͉̪H ̜͉̙̖͈ͅT͢H̦͈̱̲͎͍E̱̱̖͇I͚̦̟͔͙͕R̨̫̲̫̻ ̜̩͔͍̗B͉̝O̟D̩̦Y̢̜ ͕̖̗̮͇̼͔͘Ṱ͓͈͓R҉̭A̪̜͉N̳̘͓͢S̙͔͚̬͓F̷O̞̟R̡̤̻ͅM̝̗̹I͏̜̟͕N͏͍̠̟Gͅ ̜̣͔͇̮͔̳́I̙̥͚̩̼͈ͅN͏T͖̹̳̼͓̙Ǫ̟̠̻̫̺ͅ ̷̮͈̬ͅB̶̗͙̭̬͙͔L̼A̫̲̺̳̩C̟͖K͏̲͙͙̙͇̟̻ ̧̲͎̟̣͍͚D̵̘͇O͖͕̠͠O̢M͟

̧͖̬̙̩͕I͖̤̻T̗̮̼̦̲͜S͏̝̻̯̘̠Ḛ̵L̢̳̤̠̰̬̺F̭͉̠͈̺

̻̟͘A͎L͇̞͈̥L̰̻̗̭̪̝̗ ͖́H̵AI̸̖̘͇̩̞͕L ͚̠̜̫BL҉̮̻̖̦͕͔A̲̤C̸̙Ḵ̳͈̱̪̺͢ D̷͍̲͓͕O̱̹͓̬̕OM̵

T̵H͓͖̹͖̱͝E̷͕̞̪ ͖̗͕̞͉̤B̮L̩̲̮A͚̣͎̱̟̣Ç̩͍̖̻̦K̡̘̟ ̧̳C̮̝̣̫̣̀ͅO̹̫͢M̠͓͟E̡T̨̗ ̼̖̤I̳̼̙͈̤̪͘S̵̩̙͓ ͅA̝̟ ̛͓S̟͜I̞̲͠N҉͙͇̤̭̥G͜L̲̖̹̱͓̲E͖̠̠̗̯͞ B̵̻̦AS͓̫͚͕E̡͖̻̞̹ ̘F̱̻̳̗̠͚O͖͔R͔̫̫͉̤ T̸̜̤̠̠H͇̻̩̗E̱̗̹͇̹͉ ͖̖͓̪̟B̰͈͔͍̦̣̱̕Ĺ̩͈̩͇̳̮̦A͓C̛̦̠Ḵ̷̘̘̳̥̙ ̨̝͇̣Ą̙͉Ŕ̖̠̬͎̙͈ͅM͏S̕.͕ ̤͈͖̝̟̪͡S̬H̡͉̗̖͈O̢̠̮̳͓̙̘ͅƯ̪̥͍͚̗̥̦L͚̰̞̲͕̩D͕̟͓͔̫͈ ͕͕̟̞͎͇̕I͈͈̳̪T̝̩̹̥ ͓̣́B̟̹͍̖̭E̛̪̹ ͚̻D̬͉͚͓̩̦ͅĘ͈̳͔̙̭̳̠S̴̝͖̖͉T̨̜R̷O̻ͅỲ̹͕͔̬̰͈̼E̛̳D̜̪̲̟͓̩̮͜,̨̳ ̭̙͘A̬̞ ̟̹̜̠͝Ń͓Ȩ̟̭̭̩̼̗W̪ ̴̮̯̦͎̞͕̝O̩̱̞̩͞Ṉ͙̰̙E̺ ̥̯͇̬͉̯̖S̷̭Ḩ̖A̭̹L̰̤͓̭̲̘L͍̩̟̩̜̹̞ ͞B̤͈̤̙̳̀E̗͜ D͚̞̤̬͡E̟̞͢P̨̼̭̯L̯͕̣̝̻͕̠͞Ǫ̺̞Y̨̩̬̼̬̤E̟͙̣̖͟D̮ ͕́B̵͕̥̫̲̩̬̫Y̵͕̤ ̮̠̀T̤̠̯̙̀H̷͔̱͓̱̲͔̭E ̹ͅMO̰̜̲̹̬̺T͈̼͖̘̞̻͠H̶̰͓E̺̱͈̳̪̠̞R̨̮͔̭B̮͓̦̳͖͎A͉͖̤S̵̝͕̗̱͔ͅE̪͜.͕̱̼͙̖ͅͅ

̨̪̪̙̰͓͓̟A͎͕̻L̷͖̜̞̱̰͈̯L͓̭̭ ̢H̭͇̘̼̣́A̦̫͔̖I̘̳̫̜͡ͅL͙͖ ͏͙̭͉̠B͜LẠ͈͕̫͉̟̖C͚͚̥̙͕͔̲͟Ḵ̜͖̜ D̻̰̻̹͚O̻͕̱̫̬O̢̝̫̦M̤͉͈̖̦͞.̡̼͖̻

҉͕A͜Ḷ̻́L ̷͉̞̖̫͓H̜͎̼̜͇A̟I͎̘͈̤̹̼ͅL̹̳ͅ ҉̲͙͖̳̣̝̯B͞ͅL͚͡A͕̣̼͖͞C͏̯̝͕͈K̳͖̀ ͏͓̹̤̖D̜̬͈͓̞O̤̲͎̪͉͜O͖̤͎͇ͅM̖̼̬̙͈͉ͅ.̠

̳͎̗̮́E̶̯̝̻ND̦̀ ̶P̖A͜S̲̺͖̩͝S͠A̬̙͚͎̫͉͕G̖̟͖̪͠E͈̫͓͔̮.̛̮͖̬

Shadow pulled out a nearby USB drive, transferring the file from the computer to the drive. After putting it away, he walked out the door. However, instead of the halls to the ARK, like Shadow expected, he saw a bright, white light that enveloped Shadow. Soon after he was back in the main hall of the ARK. He looked around.

"What was that?" Shadow braced himself as he felt the shockwaves of a nearby explosion in another room.

"Wh-what the?!" Shadow didn't have any time to think as Maria ran by, grabbing Shadow's hand and pulling him towards a hall.

"Shadow! We need to run!" Maria yelled as they began heading down the hall. Shadow knew exactly where he was going.

He knew exactly what was happening.

Even when he lost his memory, this was one he remembered very clearly.

"M-Maria, wait!" Shadow yelled. Behind them, some soldiers could be heard.

"That was a bomb she threw! She needs to be eliminated!"

"Are there any casualties?"

"There's one!"

Maria stumbled a bit, but then continued running. Soon enough they reached the front of the ARK. Where the escape pod was.

Maria quickly shoved Shadow into the escape pod, and slammed the door on him.

"Maria!" He yelled. Maria shook her head.

"Shadow, please! I can't fit in there with you, and it's the last escape pod we have!" She begged. Shadow didn't let up. "Maria, let them take me instead of you! Please! I'm begging!"

Maria sobbed. "I can't, Shadow! You're the Ultimate Life Form! And you have to find the secret of the ARK! I can't do that! Even so…" Maria grabbed at her arms and shivered. "I know I'm dying, Shadow. I know about my condition. That's why I'm here."

"Maria…"
Maria looked up at Shadow and smiled. "Shadow...please...promise me that you'll keep everyone safe...that you'll do what's right for humanity." Tears started welling up in Shadows' eyes as Maria continued. "I know things look bad. But not all humans are like this. There's so many good people out there, Shadow. Like me and the professor!" She walked over to the control panel and gripped the switch. Shadow lowered his head in the defeat. This was the past. And you can't change the past. No matter what you might try to do.

"Goodbye...Shadow." Maria smiled one last time before a soldier came in, seeing Shadow in the escape pod. He immediately pointed a gun, firing just after Maria pulled the switch. The pod dropped into space just before the bullet could hit it, instead ricocheting off the window of the ARK and hitting Maria in the neck. Shadow still stood there in defeat, not wanting to have witnessed Maria's death a second time.

"Maria…" Shadow enjoyed getting to see her a second time. But he needed more.

…

Shadow needed help. He reached for his Chaos Emerald, which he somehow had gotten back. It's possible he acquired it between when he'd gotten information on the Black Arms and when he was running from GUN. He didn't care.

Right now he needed to see someone.

The same one who helped him last time.

The Chaos Emerald began to glow. "Chaos Control."

…

Sonic was still running through the ARK, unsure where exactly he was supposed to go. He did know one thing: There was a Chaos Emerald in this area. If he could find that, he could find Eggman, beat him, and save his friends.

Shadow could see him from above. He seemed leaner and more serious than when they first met. That must mean this was the present Sonic.

Shadow noticed some Chaos Drives trapped inside some glass tubes. Shadow broke each one, letting them escape out of the window and onto the ARC's track.

Sonic just barely dodged them, surprised and confused as to what they were. Shadow landed behind him, looking determined. Sonic turned to see him.

"Shadow! You're here, too?" Shadow just stood there, glaring at him. "Uuuhhh, dude? You okay?"

Shadow grabbed at his Chaos Emerald, showing it to Sonic. "Sonic...fight me for this." He said.

Sonic looked more surprised. "What? Why?! I thought we'd gotten past this."

"Sonic…" Shadow said, not wanting to argue. Sonic chuckled.

"I don't completely understand this…" Sonic got into a fighting stance. "But you're on! Just like old times, huh?"

Shadow smirked. "I assure you, this won't be the same battle. I will win this time!"

"Keep dreaming, faker!" Sonic taunted. And with that, the two took off. Shadow started running side by side with Sonic, drawing an arm back to hit him off the ARK. Sonic rolled into a ball, dodging Shadow's attack and speeding ahead of him using a spin dash. Sonic then hopped into the air, bringing his foot back. Shadow perceived the attack however, and grabbed Sonic's foot, throwing Sonic behind him. Sonic landed on his feet, and the two got into a fistfight soon afterwards. Shadow leapt above Sonic, grabbing a nearby Chaos Drive and absorbed it. He turned back, his eyes glowing red. "Chaos...Control!"

With those words, Shadow disappeared. Sonic began running down the ARK's path, being prepared for anything Shadow might have to throw at him. Almost instantaneously, yellow spears of energy appeared near Sonic's feet, nearly tripping him up.

Those are...Chaos Spears! Sonic continued running as he ended up in a tunnel, still dodging the suddenly appearing Chaos Spears. Eventually Sonic moved up to running on the roof to throw off Shadow. Shadow then appeared right in front of Sonic, drawing his fist back and punching Sonic square in the face, throwing him back onto the floor. Sonic got back up, smirking.

"You're throwing out all the stops today! I'm impressed!" Sonic complimented. Shadow scowled.

"Stop going easy on me! If you want to beat me, you have to give it your all!" He said, lowering himself to the ground as the Chaos Drive ran out. Sonic chuckled.

"You asked for it." Right as Shadow blinked, he lost sight of Sonic. He looked around, but saw no sight of his blue adversary.

"Th-that's impossible! He couldn't have-ugh!" Shadow's thoughts were soon met with Sonic's fist hitting Shadow and sending him flying down the tunnel. Sonic, however, continued his assault. He slid under Shadow, soon after bringing his foot up and sending Shadow further into the air. Sonic then leapt up, grabbed Shadow's leg, and threw him out of the tunnel. Shadow fell to the ground, and struggled to get back up. Sonic walked out of the tunnel, dusting his hands off. "Yeah, sore on your leg, isn't it?" Sonic asked. Shadow glared at Sonic, which was also returned with a glare. A glare only rivals could share.

"I hope you know...I'm not nearly done yet." Shadow said. Sonic nodded.

"It wouldn't be a real fight if you were now." He replied. Two Chaos Drives approached both hedgehogs, and were absorbed by them each. Sonic ran past Shadow, hoping to pull a reach around to hit Shadow with his final attack. Shadow focused on everything that's happened up until now. He focused on every little detail. Being ordered to stop the Doctor. Failing to stop him. Being stuck in a white void. Ending up in the ARK.

A red aura began to grow around Shadow as he clenched his fist. Sonic was 100 meters away. Meeting Maria and the Professor again. Having to assault the Professor. Being forgiven by the Professor. Learning about his past again. Learning about the Black Arms.

The red aura started growing stronger, and Shadow's calm demeanor began to slip. Sonic was 75 meters away.

Learning the ARK had a second purpose. Learning he wasn't just meant to save Maria. Being chased by GUN. Being thrown into an escape pod by Maria.

The red aura began to close itself into Shadow as he growled. Sonic was 50 meters away.

Seeing Maria die for a second time.

Shadow opened his eyes. Sonic was 25 meters away.

"Chaos...Blast!"

"Speed Break!"

Sonic broke the speed barrier as he activated his Chaos Drive, while a gigantic explosion emitted from Shadow. It took milliseconds for the two to collide. It was a battle of push and shove as Sonic tried to force himself through Shadow's attack. Eventually, despite the pain, Sonic began to slowly ebb his way through the Chaos Blast. As Shadow noticed this, he drew his fist back, with Sonic doing the same. As the two were about to collide, a bright white light engulfed the two of them, blinding them.

The two soon woke up back up in the white void. The both of them were standing, their fists collided with each other. Both of them were extremely banged up, and had trouble moving. The both of them were panting, and only Sonic broke the silence by chuckling. Then the chuckling became laughter as he fell to the ground.

"That...That was awesome! I'm not sure our super forms could do much better!" Sonic said, still on the ground. Shadow smiled to himself. This. This is what he needed. Not proof that he was stronger.

But proof that he could move on.

Shadow walked over, ceasing his smile and reluctantly offering a hand to Sonic. Sonic grabbed it, hoisting himself up. Sonic looked around, the area seeming unfamiliar to him. "Uuhh, where are we, exactly?"

Shadow looked behind him, seeing the ARK, now filled with color. "It appears we've exited the ARK from where I came from."

Sonic held his hands up to his head. "Aw, shoot! I didn't get to the ARK from here! How are we supposed to get back?!" Sonic began to panic as he tried to think of a plan. "Ok Sonic, deep breaths, just try to think to yourself, what would Tails do? Uuuhh, he would build some sort of GPS machine using a couple of my quills, toothpaste, and a PEZ Dispenser. No, I can't do that. Uuuummmm-"

"We run." Shadow calmly stated, stretching himself out. Sonic stopped.

"We run? Run where?" He asked.

Shadow looked around, and pointed in a random direction. "That way could be it." He said.

"COULD BE?! You don't even know?!" Sonic screamed. Shadow "hmphed" in response.

"Oh, well that's great. Maybe along the way we'll find an ice cream truck suspended in time. I mean, it could be there." Sonic sarcastically surmised.

"You have been wanting to race me for a while now." Shadow brought up.

"Oh, you want us to race now? After what just happened? We can't run like this!" Sonic argued.

"Then I'll go easy on you." And with that, Shadow took off in the direction he pointed, leaving Sonic in the dust. Sonic sighed.

"At least don't do that." Sonic took off after him, figuring that standing around wouldn't do much anyhow.

…

Silver placed the last rock needed to keep the room barricaded. He and Blaze were in what used to be a luxury hotel. He sighed.

"It's not much, but it should protect us from the weaker ones. At least for a while." He examined. Blaze leaned against the wall, somewhat suspicious about the hedgehog's knowledge of this area.

"You seem like you've dealt with this before. I'm guessing you have?" She asked.

"Yeah. Hate to say it, but this isn't my first time dealing with this." Silver admitted. He sat down on a nearby couch, opting to get some rest. Blaze still had questions.

"You said that Eggman-Nega tricked me pretty confidently. Do you know him?" Blaze asked. "It wouldn't be the first time he's hopped between dimensions. Though, he's never travelled through time until now."

Silver pondered for a minute. "I was actually meaning to ask you a similar question. I was under the assumption that Eggman-Nega was from the future. I've been fighting him for a few years now." He said. Blaze shot Silver a look.

"That's impossible. Eggman-Nega is who I've been fighting for years." She argued.

"I think…" Silver got up, the answer finally coming to him. "I think we've both been fighting him for years. If you come from an alternate dimension, then...maybe we're fighting different enemies that are the same, in a sense." He said.

Blaze crossed her arms. "I don't follow."

Silver crouched down, drawing two circles using the dust on the floor. "Okay, look. These two circles are the same, right? They might have some slight differences, but at the end of the day, they look the same. Still…" Silver drew an equal sign in between the circles, crossing it out as he finished. "They're not the same. And it's precisely because of those differences that these circles, despite looking and basically being the same, are different. It's possible that that's the reason we've been fighting the same enemy. Because I'm fighting an Eggman-Nega from my universe, and you're fighting an Eggman-Nega from yours." Blaze just kinda stared as Silver ended his explanation. That's when she opened up with her own detailed affirmation.

"Oh." She said.

"I-I'm sorry, I have this bad habit of going on and on about these unnecessary details." He explained. Blaze sighed, and turned towards the window.

"This place is apocalyptic." She said. Silver turned to the window as well, walking up towards it.

"Yeah, you can blame Iblis for this." He said.

"Iblis?"

"Yeah. The Flames of Disaster. He's a powerful creature who's responsible for all of this. I don't know how he got released again, but…" Silver sighed. "Guess that doesn't matter right now." Silver looked at his hand. My Chronos Emerald is gone, and I don't have any Chaos Emeralds. I can't time travel to the past like I used to…

"Alright then, all we have to do is beat Iblis, right?" Blaze asked. Silver shook his head.

"It's not that simple. Iblis can resurrect himself from the ashes. The only way to defeat him permanently is to seal him. Unfortunately, we have nothing to seal him with…" He explained. The two sat in silence until Blaze spoke up.

"The Chaos Emeralds. Maybe we can use those to-"

"Do you know where we can find them?"

Blaze's tone was more frustrated towards Silver's response. "Somewhere! We have to try something!"

Silver took some more time to think. He examined the situation in front of him now that he had calmed down. He looked around outside the window to see if maybe there was a way out of here, like there was in his university. Unfortunately, he couldn't see a door that guaranteed such an escape. He also was curious as to how Blaze didn't remember him, or this event. She was acting like this was her first time dealing with Iblis. Not only that, but Silver also felt...wrong. Like his core personality had changed. Silver turned around.

"We stop Iblis." He said. "We might not be able to seal him, but we can at least keep him down for a little while. That should give us time to safely look for the Emeralds."

Blaze nodded. "Alright."
Silver sat back down. "We'll find him tomorrow. You get some rest, I'll keep watch."

"What about you?"

"I'll wake you up when I get tired."

Blaze sighed. "Be sure to wake me up." She said, before lying down on the bed and falling asleep.

Around an hour later, Silver's stomach started to rumble. He sighed. He walked over to the minibar and opened it, seeing that all the food inside had been caked with ash.

"Yeah, sure, alright." Silver walked over to the window, levitating himself a level up to see if maybe there was something in there. He checked the minibar. No dice. He sighed again.

"We might be screwed on food for a while. Maybe we can cook one of those dog monsters…" Silver began to walk back towards the window before something above hit him in the head. "Ow." He picked up the object that hit him from above, a bone.

A bone?

Bone from what?

Silver looked up and gasped. Above him was a skeleton. Wearing Eggman-Nega's clothes.

"N-no way…" And with that, Silver screamed. Blaze came running up soon after, immediately getting into a defensive position. Blaze saw Silver's panicked gaze and followed it upwards, seeing the skeleton and gasping.

"That...that can't be…!" She said. "Eggman-Nega?!"

"H-how is any of this possible?!" Silver exclaimed. "He has an IQ of 500, there's no way he would die here this easily!"

Blaze shook her head, regaining her composure. "We have to get to the bottom of this. There has to be a reason he came here, and I doubt is was anything good." Blaze pulled the skeleton down, searching the clothes for anything useful when Silver noticed the tip of his fur beginning to singe.

Oh no.

"GET DOWN!" Silver yelled, leaping towards Blaze and tackling her as a huge wave a heat soared over both of them, turning the upper levels above them into ash. The wind collected the massive amount of ash, scattering it across the horizon. Blaze examined her nemesis's clothes, which she still had a firm grip on. The two turned around to see a serpent like creature, cloaked in lava and magma.

"Iblis!" Silver exclaimed, with Blaze looking surprised.

"That's Iblis?! That's a monster!" She said.

Blaze could hear some subtle roars behind her, turning around again to find some dog-like creatures cloaked in the same lava and magma. The two ended up back to back, neither of their gazes leaving each other's respective monsters.

"Can you handle Iblis alone?" Blaze asked.

Silver nodded. "I don't really have a choice right now. But I think I can make things easier for you."

"Huh?"

Silver quickly turned around, facing one of the dog-like monsters and grabbing it with his psychokinesis. The dog began to freak out, roaring in anger as the other three dogs charged forward. Blaze kicked the dog leading the charge into the other two dogs as Silver turned around again, throwing the dog towards Iblis. The dog exploded on contact, causing Iblis to rear back and howl in pain. It then proceeded to summon a pillar of lava, firing it straight at Silver. Silver picked up a large slab of cement, using it as a shield to protect himself from the oncoming lava. Silver struggled as the lava started pushing back against him. Blaze turned back, seeing Silver struggle against Iblis's relentless attack, and then continued her assault on the dogs. Two of the dogs charged toward her from both sides while one dog leapt above her, attempting to pounce her. Blaze did a backwards cartwheel, kicking the airborne dog further away from her, and then charged to the dog on her left. The dog attempted to pounce as she got closer, to which she dodged and shoulder checked the dog, sending it to the edge of the building. She then ran towards the other dog. As the two got close, the dog lunged forward, slashing with one of its claws. Blaze leapt up, landing behind the dog and grabbing its tail. She yelled as she spun, throwing the dog towards Iblis soon after. The dog had hit Iblis, causing him to roar in pain again, which disrupted the column of lava attacking Silver. Silver took the slab of concrete he was using as a shield and threw it at Iblis, landing it square in his stomach. Iblis roared again before lowering his head near the building. Silver and Blaze ran up, with Silver leaping into the air to reach Iblis's head. Blaze leapt up and turned around midair, facing the two dogs she had left. She landed her feet onto Silver's, pushing off of them to propel herself towards the dogs while propelling Silver towards Iblis. Blaze drew a fist back, slamming into one of the dogs and landing her fist into its head. She then grabbed the dog by the neck, leaping into the air and slamming it into the ground, causing it to evaporate. The other dog started running up towards her, lunging again. Blaze ducked underneath the dog, raising both her hands in a pointed position. She then began to twirl, flames emitting from her fingertips down to her body, spinning upwards toward and through the dog like a drill, causing it to evaporate as well.

Silver, in the meantime, focused all of his psychokinetic energy onto Iblis's head, hoping to break his mind so that he could be subdued again. This was never too hard for Silver. Iblis's core thought process was to just spread destruction. Inside Iblis was a fragile mind, and one that Silver can easily persuade to sleep. After some rough movement from Iblis, Silver leapt back, now focusing on floating with his powers. Iblis roared in defeat as he sank back into the lava, beaten once again by his gray adversary. Silver sighed, then began to float back down to the "roof" of the hotel. However, his powers began to flicker, and he started to fall. He just managed to grip onto the edge of the building, with Blaze soon offering a hand to hoist himself over with. As soon as Silver brought himself back up, however, Blaze was nowhere to be seen.

"Huh?" The minute Silver blinked, he was no longer in the flame-ridden city, but in grassy plains, the sun beating down on him. Silver's head began to swirl again.

"What?...H-how?"

"Cool yourself, there, Silvo." A mysterious voice said behind him. The voice was feminine, yet also gruff and tomboyish. Her face was covered with a purple hood. She chuckled.

"Cooled your jets? Neat. Now I need you to listen, cause I'm only gonna say this once." Silver stood at attention as the woman threw aside her laid back attitude, straightening her posture as her tone got more serious.

"What you're seeing isn't real. It's an alternate timeline, one where the effects of somebody's poor decision costed the world again and again, trapping it in an endless apocalypse." She said.

"E-endless apocalypse?! How do I-"

"You can't fix it." She said grimly. "It's not possible. This is how alternate timelines are, every possibility happens with them. Even the worst ones." She continued. "Anyhow, you're stuck in an alternate timeline that will be doomed to repeat for you. Blaze isn't real. The Flames of Disaster aren't real. But in order to get out of there, you're going to need a tether to the real world, something that is real. Unfortunately for you, this isn't exactly real either. At least not in a corporeal sense."

"...I don't follow." Silver said, still confused.

"Yeeaaah, don't worry about it. Time travel's a crappy leader. Anyhow, you'll need to find him. You'll know him when you see him. Do it fast, too. Otherwise, you'll be stuck in this alternate world." The woman said. Silver noticed on the woman's chest was a badge. The badge had a globe in the center, with two wings jutting out on either side. Silver squinted at the badge, trying to get a closer look.

"I...have I seen that badge before?" He asked. The woman looked somewhat alarmed, ripping the badge off and shoving it into her pocket.

"L-look, I gotta go, alright? I told you enough as it is, I can't have you knowing too much." The woman began running off before Silver called out.

"W-wait! The university I went to, the one that'll be wartorn in at least 15 years...was that real too?!" The woman gasped, and turned back around, seeming surprised.

"Y-you never mentioned…!" The woman turned around completely as Silver's vision began to swim. He grabbed at his head, beginning to feel a migraine.

"Nngh…" Silver dropped to his knees again as he groaned in pain. When he opened his eyes again, he was back in the apocalyptic future. He got back up, looking around, having a completely different feel after the information drop.

"None of this is real. But I need to find someone that is…" He started looking around. "I'll know him when I see him…" Silver looked down on the streets, seeing if Eggman Nega would pop up.

Instead, he found a different figure running across the streets. Running really fast.

"...it's him. He has to be the one." Silver nodded. At the same time though, memories began reforming in Silver's head. He remembered Sonic also belonging in this alternate universe, and he was aware of his adventures in this future.

Still, Silver needed to hurry. He didn't have time left. Not anymore.

…

Sonic continued running down the streets of the torn city. He was alone, and the path was relatively straight, so he spent less time focusing on running and more time thinking to himself.

I'm glad that me and Shadow found the others, but...why is this place back here? It shouldn't even exist…

Sonic looked up to see a tornado, carrying a car.

Do the Flames of Disaster still exist? No...she blew them out...but then...how is this place?

It wasn't long before, however, Sonic noticed a car flying right in front of him. Sonic quickly slid under the car, looking back at it and breathing a sigh of relief at the fact that he was unharmed.

"Man...that was close...WHAT THE-"

Sonic turned back around to see more cars flying towards him.

After several acrobatic maneuvers, and nearly being clipped by a rearview mirror, Sonic managed to make it past all the cars, dusting himself off a bit. He looked around.

"Who's doing that?!" He yelled. The attacker lowered himself to the ground, staring Sonic down directly. Sonic chuckled.

"I didn't know roadkill was your style, Silver." He said. "Is that how things are done in the future?" Silver just continued staring down Sonic, causing Sonic to become slightly agitated.

"What's up with you? First you attack me, and then you decide to go ahead and act like Shadow? What, did I do something twenty minutes from now?"

"Sonic." Silver nearly interrupted. "This place isn't real...this is an alternate reality created by...well, that's not important. In order for me to go home, to my own universe, I need someone from that universe to act as that tether. That's why...I'm going to fight you." He said, levitating himself again along with several debris and cars. "I want to see just how far you've come, Sonic! That'll be proof that you're the real deal! The true Sonic!"

Sonic took a second to think. "Well, I can't say this is something I really have to do…" Sonic then began stretching. "Buuuut, that speech did get me pumped up a bit. Alright then, you want proof that I'm not just another faker? I'll show you!"

Silver chuckled. "Just know that we don't have a lot of time. If you are the real deal, then you'll be stuck here with me with no way out! So don't waste time; hit me with everything you've got!"

"Oh, like I was going to hold back?" Sonic replied. Silver focused a small portion of his energy. Then he began flying backwards rapidly. Sonic gave chase, dodging several cars that Silver was using to stop him.

I'd probably have an easier time fighting him if he wasn't running...but I need to test his speed, too. This is the fastest way to make sure…

Silver brought up several cars, tossing them one by one at Sonic. Sonic leapt up at one of the cars, jumping on top of and leaping off it towards Silver, drawing a fist back and punching him square in the chest. Silver fell on top of a car, skidding backwards on the road. Silver got up, putting his hand on the car and lifting it while still on it. He hopped off it, throwing it as Sonic. Sonic slid under it, prompting Silver to gather a conglomerate of cars, hoping to ram Sonic with it. Sonic jumped, running on top of the pile of cars and quickly approaching Silver. Silver gave a final push to get Sonic away, then let go of the cars as Sonic jumped again, drawing his fist back once more.

"I won't let you!" Silver yelled. He grabbed Sonic using his psychic powers, tossing Sonic behind him. Silver growled.

I need to defeat him! He's the Ibli…

…

I need to hurry.

Silver then gathered a gigantic ball of debris, lifting it just behind him. Sonic's jaw nearly dropped.

"That's not overkill!" He shouted before running away from the ball. Silver gave chase, dropping the ball so that it would start rolling and gain momentum. Silver, wanting to move things along, threw cars at Sonic, hoping to trip him up. Sonic quickly moved to the side each time Silver tossed one, causing Silver to grow more frustrated. He began throwing anything he could find, and he threw them more haphazardly. It didn't take long for Silver to notice a shadow beginning to loom over him. He turned behind him.

Oh yeah, he made a giant ball of debris of which increases speed.

Silver dropped to the ground, focusing every bit of energy he could on the ball to keep it from moving. The most he could do was slow it down, but he held his stance, struggling to not pass out. Sonic turned back, seeing his psychokinetic friend in danger of getting crushed.

"You drop the ball even once…" Sonic turned back, leaping off of a building from the side and grabbing Silver, leaping off the side of the road before the ball could crush them. The two assumed that they were safe until a strong wind began pulling them a strange direction. The hedgehogs looked left.

That tornado was carrying a car.

"Hold on tight!" Sonic shouted. Silver let go of Sonic, figuring the two of them would be safer if they split up. Sonic ran across pipes, cars, trailers to try and stay alive in the tornado as Silver pushed anything heading toward him out of his way. A storage trailer made its way towards Silver. Silver pushed the doors open on both sides as he went straight through it, catching something while inside it. Silver looked at what he was holding in his hands.

A Chaos Emerald.

He turned towards Sonic, calling out his name. Sonic leapt towards Silver, pulling out a Chaos Emerald of his own.

"Chaos Control!" The two said as soon as they were in arms' lengths. All of a sudden, a bright light engulfed them both, dissipating the world around them.

Sonic was the first to wake up, relieved to see that he had woken up from where he had entered, as he could see Tails and Past Tails nearby.

"Phew...that's good." He said. He looked in front of him, seeing Silver beginning to wake up.

"Ugh...S-Sonic?" He said as he began to get on his feet as well. Sonic shrugged and smirked.

"Living and breathing." He replied. Silver chuckled.

"That's good. Didn't want to hurt you too badly." Silver said.

"Hey, last I checked, I was the one who saved you!"

"If we could speed this along…" Silver turned behind him to see Shadow, his arms crossed and impatient. He also saw Tails, standing besides Past Tails, both of which looked serious. Still, that's not what Silver was worried about.

"Wh-wh-wh-WHAT?! THERE'S TWO OF YOU!?" Silver screamed. Sonic chuckled.

"Well, you know what they say. You can never escape your past." Sonic joked as Past Sonic began to approach, looking confused at the commotion.

And with that, Silver had, once again, passed out.

Silver awoke once more, seeing Tails right in front of him alongside his past counterpart. Silver grabbed at his head.

"Ugh...what the…"

"I'd appreciate it if you kept the theatrics to a minimum." Shadow said, seemingly appearing from nowhere. Possibly hammerspace. Who knows.

"Sorry…" Silver apologized. "Still, how is it that there are two of you at the same time and place? Time should be collapsing in on itself!" Silver said.

"Uuuhhh, dude." Tails gestured with his hand, emphasizing how they are currently in a white void connected to places of their pasts, and to Silver's knowledge, futures.

Silver sighed. "Fair point."

Shadow continued. "Now that we have that out of the way, we should probably discuss how we all got here." He sat down. "I ended up here due to a fight with the Doctor. In a situation where I was forced to use Chaos Blast, I ended up damaging a machine that had caused a bright light to erupt. After that, I had woken up in this void, and ended up in the ARK. I traveled back out with Sonic, and we found our way here through sheer luck." Shadow turned to Tails.

"Well, we were throwing a birthday party for Sonic when we got sucked up by that time monster." Tails explained.

Past Tails nodded. "Yeah, I was sucked up by it, too!"

"Anyways," Tails continued. "When Sonic rescued me from Green Hill Zone, we've just been travelling from area to area ever since, with every one of them so far being from different areas of time we've visited before. Each time Sonic explored the area completely, it would surround itself with color, and we'd free a friend of ours. Was there anyone just outside the ARK, Shadow?" He asked.

Shadow shook his head. "Nobody from what I recall." Shadow turned to Silver. "And you?"

Silver took some time to think. "Well, I got here after encountering Eggman-Nega. He pushed a button on his machine, and just like you said, Shadow, a white light erupted and I came to here."

Shadow had a gloom look on his face. "So, Eggman-Nega is also up to something. And unlike the Doctor, his action was deliberate. The only reason I came to be here was from damaging that machine…" Shadow turned back to Silver. "Go on. What's the first place you visited?"

Silver spoke up. "Well, the first place I remember visiting was my university fifteen years ahead of my future. It was war-torn, but nobody was just outside it like the places Tails visited."

"It was ahead in the future? Odd." Tails said. "Every place we've visited so far was from our past."

"Not for me!" Past Tails argued. "I remember up to Chemical Plant Zone, but everything else afterwards isn't a place I remember!"

"Yeah, that's true." Tails said.

"Then it's not important. Continue." Shadow said abruptly.

Silver nodded. "The next place I visited was a forest. Eggman-Nega made an announcement on a loud tower, something about Project:Purebot and test subjects. After that, I started feeling woozy, and when I came to, I was in that post-apocalyptic future." Silver shuddered at the thought. "It was awful. I ran into Blaze and fought off Iblis and…" Silver, for a moment, debated on telling everyone about the woman he saw, the one who told him about the true nature of the future he was in. He continued on, skipping the detail and figuring it wasn't important to the situation.

"Anyways, I eventually ran into Sonic, and we both made it out of that city. That catches us up, right?" He asked. Shadow nodded.

"I think we have all the details we need." Shadow stood up. "From what I can tell, the one behind this is Eggman-Nega. He's the only one aside from Eggman-Nega who had a deliberate action aside from the time monster."

Silver nodded. "I agree. Still, I have to wonder what Eggman was building that machine for."

Tails got up as well. "Yeah...not to mention the several attacks from Eggman we got."

Past Tails pumped both of his arms. "Yeah! Even Metal Sonic attacked!"

Shadow took his time to think, but it wasn't long before both Sonics showed back up, carrying all seven Chaos Emeralds in their hands.

"Alright, everyone, time to go." Sonic said. "I think we've stuck around here a bit too long. Starting to hurt my eyes." The group got up at those words, and began walking towards the direction they last saw the monster go.

The group wasn't far from their ultimate destination before Sonic slowed his pace to walk besides Shadow.

"Shadow. Be honest with me." Sonic said, casting aside his sarcastic manner for a more direct tone. "Is Eggman really behind all of this?" He asked. Shadow pondered for a minute.

"Can't really say. There's not a whole lot to work with." He said. Sonic sighed, lost in contemplation. In front, Silver was walking casually, throwing his Chronos Emerald in the air and catching it. Sometime soon though, he fumbled, and the Chronos Emerald fell. Sonic ran forward.

"I got it!" He said. Sonic bent down and picked up the Emerald, ignoring Silver's last minute warning of "Wait!"

The minute Sonic touched the Emerald, his vision went hazy, and he began seeing a vivid hallucinations of colors and patterns. A flurry of voices began rushing to Sonic's head, assaulting him at once.

"Seven...with one...twelve...with three...one above…"

"This time, hedgehog, he will awaken!"

"Where is Shadow?"

"Face it Sonic. You can't beat me."

Sonic nearly passed out before hearing a familiar voice shout to him.

"Chronos Control!" Silver shouted, bringing Sonic back to his senses. Sonic immediately dropped the Emerald, backing away from it.

"J-Just what exactly is that?" He asked, nervous. Tails approached his best friend, nervous himself. He had never seen Sonic get like this before.

"Sonic?"

Silver picked up the Chronos Emerald, putting it carefully back in hammerspace. "That was a Chronos Emerald, and you just experienced time displacement. Most others who touch a Chronos Emerald without the intense training that comes with it goes through it. I imagine you saw a lot of...everything, basically?" Sonic nodded. "That's what I thought. You basically had your future and past collide all at once. It's useful in its own areas, but it's also extremely mentally damaging for those who aren't prepared for it."

"And loud. Don't forget loud." Sonic added.

"Haven't forgotten loud." Silver affirmed. Shadow approached Silver.

"What else can you tell us about these emeralds?" Shadow asked. Silver contemplated.

"Without further damaging time, I think I can tell you the nature of these emeralds. One thing I can tell you is that they're not like Chaos Emeralds. Unlike those, there's actually twelve Chronos Emeralds, each of varying power." Silver explained. "Each has a numeric symbol on it. The higher the symbol, the more powerful the Emerald." Silver revealed his emerald, containing a "I" in the middle of it. "I have the weakest Emerald, which only allows me to freeze time."

"That's the weakest?!" Sonic said, surprised. Silver nodded.

"You're lucky it was. Any more powerful and you'd be an empty husk. Physically alive, but mentally gone." He explained.

Shadow sighed. "Maybe that'll teach you to think before you act." He jabbed. Sonic shuddered. What he saw was…

"Sonic." Tails said, standing in front of him. "I understand what you've been through was probably awful…" He pumped his arms. "But we don't have time to focus on that! We still have to save everyone and get back home!" Sonic looked surprised. Seeing Tails take charge like this wasn't something he was used to. He then recomposed himself, nodding and smirking.

"Heh. Don't worry about me, Tails. I'm not going down that easy." He said, confident.

"That's it!" Tails said.

"Uuuhh, guys?" Silver said. "Was this always here?"

Sonic and company turned around to see a giant altar, surrounded by cogs and torches. Sonic walked up to it. "Was this always here?" He asked.

Shadow shook his head. "Unimportant. We've made it, so let's get going." He said. The six began walking up the steps until they made it to the altar's door, glossed in gold and feeling more like an ancient relic lost in time rather than a mechanical lair. Silver lifted his Emerald in the air, pointing it towards the door.

"Chronos Control!" Silver shouted. The Emerald shone a bright light, and the door opened, revealing a pool of darkness gathering at the front of it. Sonic spoke up after a moment of tense silence.

"Alright then. Let's show it what for." He said. And with those words, the six walked through the doors as they closed behind them.

The Sonics and Tails walked up to the hulking monster, devoid of any fear knowing the power they contained. Sonic pointed at the monster.

"Alright, Eggman! Let's get this show over with!" He shouted. From inside the monster, a familiar voice could be heard.

"That's the second time I've had to say the same thing today! Since when can an evil supervillain not make an entrance?" Eggman said as the cockpit on the head opened up. He stood up, putting a foot on the edge of the cockpit as he leaned on that leg. "So, how does it feel to be so up close with my wonderful Time Eater?" He declared.

Sonic shrugged. "I'd say your marketing department needs to spend more time on names."

Tails stepped forward. "Give it up, Eggman! You haven't won the last several times, and you're not winning this time either!"

"Yeah, forgot the fact I could beat you by myself. Now there's two of me!" Sonic said, gesturing to his past counterpart, who stepped forward as well, smirking. Eggman laughed.

"You think it'll be that easy for you, rodent?!" He said. "Who ever said I was alone?"

Eggman opened up the cockpit lower down on the Time Eater, revealing another familiar figure. He laughed.

"OOOOHHH HO HO HO HO HO! Isn't this a nice twist?" The man said. Past Tails walked up.

"Doctor Robotnik!" He declared. Robotnik wagged his finger.

"Nobody calls me that anymore! I imagine it'll take some getting used to, but what's in a name when you're such a genius as I? Isn't that right, glorious Doctor Eggman from the future?" He asked.

Dr. Eggman smirked proudly. "Indeed, glorious Doctor Eggman from the past. Now then, let's squash these rodents and be rid of them all throughout time!" Eggman laughed at the thought of being rid of his arch-nemesis in both past and future. He laughed for several minutes.

Hard.

Past Eggman scratched his head, confused at his future self's behavior. "Wow. Do I really get that crazy?"

Soon enough Eggman recomposed himself, sitting back down in the cockpit. "Now then. Let's end this." He said in a sinister tone as the cockpit closed. Past Sonic and Sonic ran forward towards the Time Eater, the former going into a spin dash while the latter draws a fist back. Time Eater quickly drew its hand back, swatting the two hedgehogs away like flies. The two landed on the ground, struggling to get up from the surprisingly brutal attack. The two Eggmen laughed as the two Tails stepped forward.

"Sonic!" They yelled.

Sonic struggled to gather his energy. "D-darn... that thing's strong…" He said before collapsing again.

"Now then, let's finish things here, Sonic." Eggman called out. "Your time is nigh."

"That's not true!" Somebody had shouted. Time Eater turned to the side, seeing a young, pink hedgehog run up from the side.

"Get up, Sonic! You're stronger than this, I know it!" She yelled.

"Come on, is that really all you got? Maybe I did give you too much credit." Knuckles said, following soon after.

Soon enough all of Sonic's rescued friends showed up, giving their own encouragement.

"You can do this, Sonic!"

"Please don't give up, Sonic!"

"Mr. Sonic, I believe in you!"

"Sonic, get up!"

Past Tails spoke up. "You can beat them, Sonic!"

Tails followed suit. "You always do."

Soon enough, Sonic spoke up again.

"Heh...you really don't get it, do you?" He said. Past Sonic got up as well, his smirk returning. "No matter when or how, Eggman, I will stop you." Sonic finished. Once his statement ended, the Chaos Emeralds began to circle the two hedgehogs, and they began to feel themselves getting stronger.

"No! NOOOOOOOO!" Eggman slammed on a button, and a large ball of energy began to form in the middle of Time Eater. Sonic's friends began to worry.

"No! Sonic can't move out of the way of that!"

"If that hits him he's done for sure!"

"If Eggman uses that, the Chaos Emeralds will shatter! They'll be gone for good!"

However, the moment Eggman fired the attack, the attack was halted in midair, a glow now beginning to encircle the ball. From out of the shadows, Silver walked up, his hand outstretched towards the ball. Eggman sneered from inside Time Eater.

"Future hog."

"Doctor."

Silver threw the ball of energy upward, then threw a rock at it, causing it to disperse. Eggman growled. His past self then spoke up.

"Um, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we only have enough energy for one more of those." He said. Eggman growled.

"No matter, we have other methods of attack." Eggman pushed a button, and spoke into a loudspeaker. "Come on down. We have an interloper."

From above, Metal Sonic began to lower himself to the ground in front of Silver. Metal charged forward, drawing a fist back, only to be quickly met with Shadow's fist. Eggman facepalmed.

"Oh great, he's here too." He said, annoyed.

Shadow glared at Metal Sonic. "You and I need to chat."

Metal glared back, not saying anything before the two got in a fist fight. Eggman slammed both his fists on his console.

"That's enough! We're going in!" Eggman declared. Time Eater began to reel back, then charge forward. Shadow grabbed Metal Sonic and tossed him out of the way, leaping out himself at the last second. Right before Time Eater could hit the Sonics, however, a bright light shone from the two hedgehogs.

And they changed from blue to golden.

"Impossible!" The two Eggmen screamed.

"Eggmen! Your game ends here!" And with that declaration, the two Super Sonics charged forward, grabbing Time Eater by both hands and spinning it around. The Eggmen ended up getting dizzy as the super hedgehogs let go, flying up and looking down at Time Eater. Time Eater stared directly at the two hedgehogs, roaring.

"We're using it." Eggman demanded. Past Eggman started panicking.

"But Egg-"

"WE'RE USING IT!" Eggman slammed his fist on a button, shattering it, yet activating the same ball of energy he had created beforehand. The two Sonics looked at each other and nodded. They started spinning around each other, creating a spiral that drilled into the ball of energy. They began to push the ball back as Eggman stared in awe.

"No."

The ball was meters from Eggman.

"How did it not work?"

The ball was inches from Eggman.

"I can't move Time Eater! We're out of energy!" Past Eggman stated.

The ball was centimeters from Eggman.

Eggman screamed. "HE SAID IT WOULD WOOOOOOORRRRRKKKKK!"

Once the ball had met with Time Eater, a bright light began to shine, swallowing everyone in its glow.

In a matter of seconds, everyone woke up to find themselves back at the birthday party, as if nothing had happened. Sonic had noticed that even those who weren't at his party, such as Shadow, Silver, his past self, and somehow even Metal Sonic (thankfully deactivated), also appeared. It didn't take long for everyone else to begin enjoying the party, now with extra reason to celebrate at the defeat of Dr. Eggman. Sonic chomped on a chili dog, rewarding himself for the hard work he pulled off. Shadow threw the inactive Metal Sonic across his shoulder and began walking off, Chaos Emerald in hand. Rouge walked up to him.

"You're not staying to enjoy the party? At least try the food, Shadow." She said. Shadow gave the obligatory "hmph."

"Regardless, this one has some answers that I need unlocked. It's possible GUN might be able to get him to talk. Aside from that…" Shadow recalled the USB drive he had, the one with all the information on the ARK. "There's another problem I need to sort out. Right away."

"Hey." Rouge said. "Listen, I know you're the 'long hog' kinda type, but one day that attitude is gonna get you killed." Rouge tossed Shadow a small phone. "If you ever need me or Omega, feel free to give us a call. Last thing either of us need is to find you dead on the side of the street."

Shadow put the phone in hammerspace and walked off, silently accepting Rouge's request.

Blaze walked up to Silver, getting his attention. "Hey. The time hole is about to open. You should probably start getting ready to head back home." She said.

Silver pondered a bit before turning his attention back to Blaze. "I can't."

"What?"

"Something's going on…" Silver pulled out his Chronos Emerald, staring at it. "The future is in danger. A lot of danger. I have a feeling that...if I head home now, it'll be too late. That's why I'm staying."

Blaze sighed. "That's how it is, then, huh?" Blaze sat down next to Silver. "If that's the case, I'm staying too."

"...why?"

"If your future is as bad as you think it'll be...then I can't sit by and let that happen. That's why I'm lending my power." Blaze sipped from a cup of milk. "Besides, you're useless without me."

"Wha...I can handle myself fine, thanks! I fight Eggman-Nega all the time!" Silver argued back.

Blaze shrugged. "Oh, sure, you can handle the easy guys. I fight him too, you know."

"So you should know then!"

"I'm more surprised you don't know."

The two continued their playful banter as both Tails finished the portal. Past Tails looked at Silver, who didn't seem in any real hurry to go back home. "Guess he's staying." He said.

Tails shrugged. Then he waved towards the Sonics. "Hey guys! It's done!"

The two hedgehogs walked over, looking through the portal to see Green Hill Zone, as lush as it should be back then. Past Sonic ran around excitedly, trying to get Sonic's attention, then leapt into the air, propelling himself forward once he reached the apex of his jump. He fell to the ground, but nevertheless, Sonic was impressed at his younger self's attempt at a homing attack.

"Dude, nice! And you're only going to get better!" He said. Sonic's past self looked elated at the compliment, then ran towards the portal, eager to resume his battle against Dr. Robotnik.

Though he would now refer to him as "Eggman" from here on.

Sonic waved to his past counterpart. "Goodbye Sonic, and enjoy your future! It's gonna be great!" He called out. Past Sonic waved, then jumped through the portal, with Past Tails following behind him. The portal closed, signifying the end of this grand adventure. Sonic happily munched on a chili dog.

…

"This is all your fault!" Eggman said, accusing his past self of this failure.

"My fault?! You're the one who was at the head of the controls! 'Oh, I'm from the future, so I'm obviously smarter and have more experience!' You didn't tell me you'd be more crazy! Forget this, Eggman is a dumb name anyways." Robotnik declared, taking back his surname.

Eggman looked aghast. "Why I never-"

"Would the both of you kindly shut up?" A mysterious third person walked in, grinning only the foulest of grins. "You're ruining the mood."

"What mood?! And what was with that plan of yours?! You said it was foolproof!" Eggman grabbed the stranger by the cuff of his jacket. The stranger slapped Eggman's hands away, growling.

"Get your hands off me. The plan didn't fail, Sonic was supposed to beat you." The stranger said.

Robotnik looked confused. "Um, he was supposed to beat us? Aren't we supposed to beat him?" He asked.

The stranger asked. "I figured you both expected immediate results. Underestimating those 'hogs is the main reason you both lose so many battles, and so many opportunities to create your Eggman Empire."

"We had a being that could control time itself!" Eggman interrupted. "How could we have possibly underestimated him?!"

"I don't know, you tell me." The stranger rebutted. "Now then, listen closely. Either you two could be stuck here, and soon be forced back into your own presents, which will be very, very painful, or…" The stranger gestured back to the portal he created. You both could come with me, and we create the ultimate machine capable of destroying Sonic and creating the perfect utopia all in one fell swoop." He offered. "What'll it be?"

Eggman's smile began to widen. "I must say, you know how to give a convincing argument. Very well." Eggman got up, walking towards the portal. Robotnik looked nervous.

"Erm, can I just go home? I think I might be able to do a better job trying to crush the 'younger' Sonic." He requested.

The stranger sighed. "I don't see why not." He opened a second portal, which Robotnik ran through quite quickly. The portal closed, and Eggman looked at the scene with very slight bewilderment.

"I always did find it weird I was faster than the rodent at the time." He said.

"Never mind that." The stranger said. Both he and Eggman walked towards their own portal, with dastardly intention. "We have work to get to."