CHAPTER 3: OUR DESTROYER

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"So… you're telling me that in the future. I failed?"

"Yes."

"Those damned 'FREEDOM FIGHTERS'!"

"I understand your frustrations, but this time… "

"This time, there will not be any start-overs."

14:00PM, JUNE 8TH 219 AS

MOBOTROPOLIS, ROYAL ACORN PALACE

"What's your name?"

"Silver, Silver the Hedgehog." He answered.

"Well, Silver. You have succeeded in absolutely blowing my mind, I mean serious. This is some very big stuff you're saying." Sonic said, scratching his forehead.

"Well… time travel is a complicated thing." Silver nervously replied.

"So, tell us, Silver. Do you know where Eggman strikes first?" Sally asked, folding her arms as she gazed at him. Silver nods, "From what I can remember, Eggman attacks Sunset Heights first. It was the battle that started The Etra War, you're the one who led the counter-attack against Eggman then on the mobian side." He answered.

"Any other details?" Tails asked, noting all this down on his Miles Electric.

"The battle does end in our favor, Eggman didn't use all of his power during it." Silver adds, "GUN arrives there as well, the combined forces of the Mobian Fleet and The United Nations Army is what wins us that battle."

"Still can't get over the fact The United Nations Army's acronym is 'tuna'." Sonic snickered, Sally rolling her eyes at the comment.

"Anything else?" Tails asks, looking up from the Miles Electric.

"Most of the Freedom Fighters save for Tails, Knuckles and Shadow are absent." Silver continues, "I have no clue where Sonic was… is… ugh that's confusing." Silver rubs his forehead.

"Hehehe… alright, so I'm just poof, gone?" Sonic asks.

"No, you just didn't show up to the battle, I think you had another mission you were dealing with then."

"Wouldn't it be best if we launched an attack on Eggman now, so that he won't be able to start the war in the first place?" Sally asked, placing her hands on her hip. "That would've been the best way to go, had it been possible." Silver answered, before sighing. "Sonic, did you just have an encounter with Eggman earlier today?" He asked, the blue blur in question nodding. "Alright, then from what I remember, Eggman vanished off the radar and you guys couldn't find him until he sprung out nowhere three weeks later."

"Well, that's a pain." Sonic commented, scratching his ear. "I guess we'll just have to get everyone prepared and ready to roll out when Eggman goes ham on the entire world."

"Alright, I'll see if I can contact the rest of the Freedom Fighters, we'll need everyone we can get." Sally said, turning towards the door.

"Might want to contact GUN as well, maybe get Shadow on the line?" Tails suggested, glancing over. "Right, I'll get on that. For now we'll just sit back and prepare." Sally would walk out of the chamber.

"By the way Silver… why is the Master Emerald so dark?" Sonic asked, glancing over at the oddly colored Master Emerald that sit in the middle of the chamber.

Silver gazed over at the emerald, "Well, apparently the emerald's limitless power can get drained when used to attempt to rewrite history itself, after all we did end up destroying whatever the future would've been."

"Wait wait, so you're telling me there is no future beyond the moment you came back here?" Tails asks, his eyes wide. "Maybe, it could be that the future won't be made until we've successfully rewrote this past, or I could just be dead-wrong on all that." Silver sighed.

"Hm, anyway. You should get some rest; you've probably been through some tough stuff in the future." Sonic said cheerfully, giving him a thumbs up. Silver nodded, smiling. "Thank you."

Meanwhile, Angel Island had just arrived at Mobotropolis and sat above the sea near its coastline. Multiple mobian residents stared with awe at the magnificent massive Island floating over the water. On the ground, Amy Rose was staring up at the sight of Knuckles' home. She'd sigh, reaching into her purse and taking out her phone. She dialed up Knuckles, hoping he at least had his own Miles Electric up there with him.

After a few seconds of waiting, he finally picked up.

"Amy?" He asked, answered the call. "Yeah, Knuckles… ? Why did you bring Angel Island all the way over here?" She asked, staring up at the island that hovered high over the water. "We've got a situation; I was going to come here by myself with this other person here with me… but I wasn't going to risk leaving the Master Emerald unattended." He answered.

"Couldn't you like... absorb the emerald like Sonic and Shadow?" She asked, raising a brow. "And risk having my body be destroyed by the amount of energy? No thank you." He responded. "Anyways, I'm here because this echidna called Tikal showed up on the Island, claiming that in a few weeks' time Eggman is going to launch a couple invasions around Etra." Amy blinked, her eyes widening. "And how does she know all this… ?"

"She claims she's from the future." He answered bluntly.

Amy took a few seconds to take this all in, before inhaling. "Does Sonic know about all this?" She asked. "That's what I'm here to find out, do you know where he is?" He asked.

"I did see the Tornado earlier today headed for the royal palace; he is probably there." She answered, looking in the direction of the Master Emerald. "Assuming… this is all true, I'll head there and meet up with Sonic and Tails."

"Alright, I'll wait up here." Knuckles said, before ending the call.

Amy would then turn and make her way towards the royal palace.

Sonic, Silver and Tails were walking down the hall after leaving the chamber.

They were headed towards the Freedom Fighters headquarters located deeper in the palace. "So, this girl Tikal… how'd you meet her?" Sonic asked, glancing at Silver. "Well, when I went back in time, she was the first person I came across. She kind of sensed the chaos energy and tracked my down as I travelled through this weird wormhole… thing." Tails' eyes would widen, "She has that kind of power… ? She's pretty much a Goddess!"

Silver chuckled, "Well yeah, she is. The only thing stopping her from using her powers is her own life-force, if she uses to much energy she might die." He explained. "Woah, that's a pain… " Sonic said.

"Yeah, well… it is what it is."

"Hey, H-hey, let me go!" They heard shouting coming from down the corridor. They ran down the hall and entered the main hall which was very-very big.

To Sonic and Tails' surprise, they found Amy being grabbed by one of the royal guards. "Miss, you don't have clearance to continue down this way- please go-" The guard was interrupted by a hand being placed on his shoulder, he turned and met the gaze of Sally. "Don't worry guardsmen, she's one of the Freedom Fighters, you can let her through." The guard glanced back at Amy's fuming face before nodding, "Alright, you may continue." The guard walked back to his post.

"Jeez, your guards can be pricks sometimes Princess… " Amy muttered, looking towards Sally. "Well, not everyone can tell when someone is one of the Freedom Fighters." She chuckled, Sonic, Tails and Silver would approach the two. Amy turned and smiled, before embracing Sonic in a hug.

"Sonic!" Sonic laughed nervously while Tails snickered, Silver just looked at this with sheepish smile. Sally sighed. "So, Amy. Why are you here?" She asked. "Oh, right." She let got off Sonic and looked at them all, "Knuckles just arrived with the entirety of Angel Island, he's waiting right off the coast." Sonic raised a brow, "Knuckles brought Angel Island here, why?"

Amy turned, smiling at him. "He said something about some girl called Tikal coming from the future and-" At this point Silver gasped, "Tikal?! She's up there, are you sure?" Amy nodded, "Yep, Knuckles thought you guys knew something about her."

"Well yeah, we do. We found Silver earlier today in this massive Egg-carrier with this dark Master Emerald. He said that in three weeks Eggman was going to start a war and try to conquer the world." Tails explained to her. "Woah, really? We should go get him now!" Amy said, her piko-piko hammer materializing in her grasp. "Well, we would if we knew where he was." Sally said, she let out a frustrated sigh. "All we can do now is prepare."

"Hmm… that is a pain." Amy dematerialized her hammer and folding her arms. "Well, lets get on up to Angel Island, knuckles is waiting."

They all nodded and walked to the hanger.

14:30PM, JUNE 8TH 219 AS

MOBOTROPOLIS

Whilst the heroes made their way to Angel Island via an Air-Shuttle. A mysterious raven-black hedgehog who looked eerily similar to Sonic walked the streets of Mobotropolis, his blood red eyes intimidating all that took a glance at him.

He'd halt, staring up at massive jumbotron on one of the many buildings.

The news was playing, showing footage of Angel Island sitting comfortably by the coastline of Mobotropolis. The Sonic look-a-like sneered, "Already things have changed compared to before… those two are trying hard to change the future." He'd sigh, the sigh morphing into a creepy chuckle. "Let's start changing things… drastically." He said to himself, "I won't let you get off easily."

The raven hedgehog began to float, his quills raising into the air. Mobian citizens gazed at this spectacle in awe, their mouths agape. "Mommy, mommy look! That guy is flying!" A mobian fox kid said to his mother, pointing at the raven-black hedgehog. "I see, I see dear. There are more gifted people appearing every day." She said with smiling, rubbing her child's forehead.

The hedgehog, once a few meters off the ground inhaled deeply. His quills were in a way that resembled Sonic's super form, yet he had not ascended past his base form at all. His gloves began to glow a menacing red, a powerful aura radiating off his body.

The fox kid looked up, he began to lose his excitement and it was replaced with fear. "M-mommy, what's he doing?" He asked, wondering why his hands are red. Bystanders who were also watching wondered what this hedgehog was doing. "I don't know dear, but I think we should continue on now. Your big sister is waiting for us back home." The kid nodded and walked on with his mother, oh what a good call that mother made…

Seconds after the two had left the scene, energy blasts were sent in every direction. People were being flung all over as cars and other vehicles exploded in a blaze of flame, the roads were being shattered and ripped apart. The raven-black hedgehog kept this up, firing energy blast after energy blast at the innocent mobians, completely obliterating them.

The raven-black hedgehog would then descend, his feet touching the ground gently. "Ah… what a good stretch."

"Time to move on." The raven-black hedgehog then sped off, running about as fast as Sonic can.

Meanwhile, Sonic, Tails, Silver and the rest of the gang had assembled by the alter of the Master Emerald.

"So, we all understand the situation?" Silver asked, everyone else nodding. "Sally, you sent the message out to all the other Freedom Fighters across the planet, right?" He asked, Sally nodding in response. "Any word from Shadow?" Sonic asked, Sally shook her head. "Nothing, He must on radio silence right, probably a top-secret GUN mission or something similar." Sonic nodded.

"Now, Princess Sally… I think it's best you prepare the Mobian Fleet and Army for the war." Sally nodded, "Y'know, they might be confused as to why we're suddenly gearing up for war." Sonic commented, leaning against a tree. "Everyone is going to be confused, but everyone will understand in three weeks." Silver said. Suddenly, Sally was receiving a call from the royal palace. She took out her Miles Electric answering the call. It was Nicole the Lynx.

"Princess, we have a situation!" Nicole shouted, in the background multiple guardsmen were running around with their weapons primed. "Nicole? What's going on?" Sally asked, her brows furrowing.

"There's been an attack in the middle of Mobotropolis, we're getting reports of a chaos sensitive individual going on a rampage across the city!" Silver and Tikal raised a brow at this, "This didn't happen in the original timeline… " Silver muttered, Sonic and Tails giving them worried glances.

"Either way, we're going to have to go down there and figure out what the hell is going on down there." Knuckles said, they all nodded. Knuckles turned to Tikal, "I'm guessing you're not good in battles, can I trust you to guard the Master Emerald while we're gone?" He asked, Tikal nodding in response.

"Alright fellas, let's do it to it!" Sonic said, speeding off. "Wait, Sonic we need to get on the shuttle!" Amy shouted after him. Sonic just raised a thumbs up, smiling. He'd run off towards the edge of the Island before leaping off.

"WOOOOHOOOO!" He'd shout with delight, curling up into a spinball and boosting across the air at incredible speeds. After a short while of flying across the air whilst gradually descending, he'd soar past the skyline.

Mobian citizens glanced up, seeing their hero fly above them. "Hello citizens of Mobotropolis!" Sonic shouted before planting his feet on the side of the building, he began to run across the sides.

As he ran, he'd look around, trying to pinpoint the location of the guy rampaging across the city. He'd leap off the side of the buildings, curling up into a spinball again and boosting downwards to ground level. The moment he touched down, he felt something off. He quickly backpedaled, narrowly avoiding a red energy blast that struck in front of him.

"W-woah, I would've been toast there!" He looked around, before spotting a raven-black hedgehog who stood on top of a lamppost. Sonic immediately took notice of how much this guy looked like him, save for the quills pointing upwards as if he were in super form. "So, I'm guessing you're the bad guy runnin' around trying to be the next best villain?" Sonic quipped, folding his arms as he smiled. The raven-black hedgehog mirrored this smile as he chuckled lightly, "A shame you call me a villain, I'm more of the hero in this story." Sonic raised a brow, "Uh, I don't think heroes go around destroying cities bucko."

"A Hero needs to make a sacrifice, to get to their goal, I'm willing to make that sacrifice." The hedgehog replied, smiling from ear-to-ear. "Okay… you have a very weird definition of a hero, I'll remember that… now!" Sonic slid his foot back, "In the name of Mobotropolis and all things that ain't evil, I command you to cease!" Sonic said, trying as best to sound as authoritative as Sally does.

The hedgehog only laughed, before gazing down at Sonic with a sneer. "As if I'll ever bow down to you." Sonic clenched his fists, flashing his ever so cocky smile, "You asked for it!" In a blink and you'll miss it moment, Sonic boosted forward and was already inches away from his creepy look-a-like, his fist about to drive right into his sneering face. To Sonic's surprise, his look-a-like vanished.

He'd blink, landing on the lamppost and frantically look around before having the heel a boot slammed right into his face. Sonic was sent spiraling down onto the road, spider-web cracks spreading out from the point of impact.

Sonic quickly rolled out of the way of the follow up attack, his look-a-like dive kicking into where he was previously.

Sonic would turn, hopping into the air and sending a roundhouse kick into the raven-black hedgehog's head, sending the hedgehog a few feet.

Sonic curled up into a spinball, before spindashing into his look-a-like and slamming directly into his stomach. The raven-black hedgehog flew a couple feet before crashing into a building wall. Without struggle or pain, the hedgehog stepped out of the mini-hole in the building without a scratch.

"That tickled… " He'd mutter, before shooting forward at unimaginable speeds with his fist reeled back. Sonic's eyes shot wide open at the speed of this guy; he was about to get pummeled hard…

If it weren't for a spiked glove crashing into his look-a-likes face, sending him soaring to the right. Mid-flight the look-a-like was struck head-on by an oversized hammer, sending him flying upwards now. Sonic then glanced up to see the shuttle right above them.

Sally hopped out of the shuttle and performed a strong dive-kick into the ascending look-a-like, sending him right back down and into the road a few meters away from Sonic. Knuckles, Sally and Amy walked towards Sonic.

"Next time, we go together." Sally said, flicking his nose. "Err… right." Tails would be descending, landing beside his buddy. "Woah… that guy looks just like you!"

"Yeah and is just about as fast as well… " Knuckles stated, "You got any secret siblings you've never told us about Sonic?" Amy asked, smirking. "Pfft, 'course not… " For some reason, Sally couldn't help but feel that was a lie.

Their attention was drawn back to the raven-black hedgehog who slowly got up, swiping dust and pebbles off his shoulders and back. "I will admit… you all are fun to play with." He said, before turning with his palm wide open. He'd fire another energy blast towards the group, but it got intercept by a light pastel green energy blast, blowing up a few feet from the group. The raven-black hedgehog looked up to see Silver descending, landing right in front of the others.

"Well would you look at that… the time traveler." He said, this earning him a surprised look from Silver. "How do you know that?" Silver asked, aiming the palm of his hand towards the raven-black hedgehog, ready to fire another blast.

"I know what you've done in the future, I know what you're trying to do… I was there when you performed the ultimate chaos control… " He said, walking closer very slowly. "You must understand, your efforts will go to waste. In the end of it all… you will fail."

Sonic snickered, "Yeah, we've heard this talk a lot of times before, creepy dude!"

"You think you can scare us like that?" Knuckles said, folding his arms. "What a pathetic attempt." Sally on the other hand wasn't as confident as them, neither was Tails. She kept an eye on the weird hedgehog, something about him made her anxious. "This isn't the first time we've met, Sonic."

"And it isn't the last time, either."

The hedgehog suddenly vanished without a trace.

The group of freedom fighters kept staring at where he was, before all sighs were set on Silver, who was staring downwards with eyes widened.

"Silver… ?" Amy walked beside him.

"This… this didn't happen before… in the original timeline." He muttered. "This never happened?" Sonic asked. "No, this never happened… at all. Something isn't right, things are going to change… " Silver placed the palm of his hand against his forehead. "With this guy around, things might happen later than scheduled… or worse, sooner." He said, glancing back at them.

"Damn… " Knuckles muttered, unfolding his arms.

"Could he be associated with Eggman… ?" Sally wondered. "He could be, but for now we're going to have to include him in the plans."

"He might end up being part of The Etra War…. " Tails said. The small fox came to a small conclusion, but it was to far-fetched to be true at the moment.

"Maybe he's the reason Eggman took over the world so quickly in the future… " He thought.

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Eggman sat comfortably in the commander's seat of his Egg-carrier, his left leg over his right. "I have returned, doctor." Eggman turned, his gaze landing on the raven-black hedgehog. "Ahh… you have returned, Diaboli." The hedgehog nodded, standing a few feet away from the doctor. "And… ?" Eggman wondered what the result of his creations little venture out into the world was.

"I came in contact with one of the time travelers, a gray hedgehog with similar abilities to mine." He said, "In the future, you launched an attack on Station Square, during the attack the freedom fighters Sonic and Knuckles boarded the ship and took control of the Master Emerald." He explained.

"You were a little too overconfident in putting the Master Emerald in your flagship." Eggman sighed. "Tell me, do you still have the time stone in your body?" Diaboli nodded. "I do, but it is drained of it's power." Eggman would sigh again, before throwing his arms up in the air. "Alright then… I guess it's time we begin the first act, we shall attack Sunset Heights. Cubot, Orbot!" The two bots rushed into the room, "Send a signal out to the Launch Base, prepare the Death Egg for launch." The two nodded, quickly leaving the room. "I suggest you change the name to something else." Diaboli suggested, the doctor turned, raising a brow. "What do you suggest?"

"How about… Luna Exterminatore?"

The doctor hummed, scratching his chin before smiling wryly.

"Yes… that's a good name."