Disclaimer: Grapes is my own creation, nothing else, so back off.
Author's note: It's a bit A/U since I'm combining a few elements from the comic series and maybe a bit from the games as well. Some things may be off because I've lost track of most of the comics and Knuckles… IS RED! NOT GREEN! At least, here he is. You have been warned.
Past:
Sonic – 18
Amy – 16
Tails – 10
Knuckles – 18
Future (Nineteen years after)Sonic – 37, deceased
Amy – 35
Tails – 29
Grapes – 8
Knuckles – 37
Ten years after…Sonic – 37, deceased
Amy – 45
Tails – 29, deceased
Grapes – 18
Knuckles – 47, deceased
"My son! This is my son, our son!"
"Grapes…"
"Grapes?! What kinda name is that, you Knucklehead?!"
"Well, you asked for my opinion…"
"Then it's settled! Grapes the Hedgehog…"
"AMY!"
"My son…"
"Grapes…"
…Father?
…Knux? …Mom?
…Someone?
…Anyone?
Grapes woke up with a start. His eyes widened and when he had tried to move he gave a small yelp of pain. His eyes searched around him, and he found that he was in his old room in his mothers' house, safe and sound. It was already morning and the birds chirped a bit too loud for Grapes' taste.
The pain he felt was all over his body and he felt a lot worse than what he had thought. In fact, he had thought he had died. The blasts were painful enough and should have killed him. His hands wandered over to his stomach and touched the carefully wrapped bandages and winced. He immediately scowled at the thought of the two robots out there that are able to kill him so easily.
I should have fought harder! They beat me, too easily, especially that Mecha Sonic. It didn't even last all that long! Talk about embarrassing… But, that Mecha Sonic… is he for real? Or just an elaborate faker? Grapes wanted to believe him, he wanted his father back, but not at like that, not when he's a robot and another enemy to worry about.
He slowly moved out of bed and using his sword, which was sheathed, as a cane. Grapes began to move slowly outside to his living room. "…Mom?" No response.
He walked slowly towards the nearest window and he couldn't find his mother. Usually in the mornings she'd be outside tending to the nearby flowerbeds. He moved a little bit faster towards the kitchen and looked out the window. He was relieved to find his mother coming towards the house. He waved to her and she waved back cheerfully, smiling all the while, when she saw him.
"What are you doing up? You should be in bed!" Amy yelled as she opened the door, her face contorted into a mask of fury that all worried mothers possess. Grapes only chuckled sheepishly but winced again in pain in doing so.
"Sorry, I just couldn't sleep." He said as he slowly sat down. "So, what did I miss?" he asked nonchalantly.
Amy Rose didn't budge from her place as she kept an eye on Grapes. "You have the nerve to ask me that when I find you floating in a river half dead?" she yelled. She was about to reach for her hammer when Grapes became solemn.
"Mom… I'm just gonna say this first before all else... It's about Knuckles…"
Amy nodded in acceptance. "I know… I found him, after I found you floating in that river. I buried him, next to your Uncle Tails." Amy was just as grim. She went over to Grapes and hugged him and he hugged her back. He soon moved away, trying not to let the sting of the tears and the memories get to him. Grapes only looked at the kitchen table for comfort, unable to look to his mother for solace. He had long given that up.
"I'm sorry for everything…" Amy said, hoping it'd comfort Grapes somehow.
"Eh? For what?" Grapes asked as he turned around. He was confused. Of all people and things what did she had to feel sorry about?
"It's silly, but I'm sorry I couldn't shield you from all this. You shouldn't be worried with war and stopping some megalomaniac! You should be out with friends, maybe dating." Amy said the last part with a sigh. "You should be having fun, going to school, that sorta thing."
At this Grapes laughed with amusement. "Yeah, but normalcy is overrated! Besides, look at what I grew up with! My dad's a renowned hero! You, dad, Tails, Knux, you guys were celebrities. How can I not end up like dad? Even you and Uncle Tails started the hero business around the same age I decided to join the fight against Mogul!"
Amy only shook her head. A small smile tugged on her lips but she didn't want to ruin her point. "Granted, normalcy isn't everything, but sometimes it's what you need to escape the crazier things in life."
Grapes nodded until suddenly something clicked in his memory. "Hey, I was wondering about something… um… what do you know about… robots that were built to resemble dad?" He cringed at his own words but he didn't know how else to put it.
"What?" Amy asked, clearly shocked.
"I—what I mean to say is… I saw something, two robots. One was black and said his name was Shadow and the other one claimed to be… dad…"
"I… don't know what to say."
"I know you know something!" Grapes begged his mother. "If that's my father out there, if that's him, I need to know!"
"Let's say it is him… what do you plan to do afterwards?" Amy demanded with her hands on her hips. Grapes stood fast, silent and without another argument to present. "That's what I thought. You are your fathers' son, too impatient. You need to think this out!"
Amy took a deep breath and began to speak. "I was very young at the time, only eight. I lived on Little Planet, literally, a small planet, all by myself. I remembered when I met your father, and he saved me from a robot that looked like him called Metal Sonic. Later on, I found out he was always fighting this madman named Dr. Robotnik and after that he's always tried to create the perfect mechanical construct of your father, so that he could finally defeat your father."
Grapes listened intently while Amy gauged his face for any sort of emotion. All she could see was his determination for the truth, the same kind of purpose that used to generate from a certain blue hedgehog with green eyes… She took another deep breath and started up again, it's the least she could do for Grapes.
"One day, the impossible happened. I wasn't around at the time, but your father… he was captured… ambushed to be exact, by Nack the Weasel. He was roboticized… It was horrible, he became everyone's worst nightmare, our knight in shining armor reduced to another monster to be destroyed."
"However that wasn't going to happen soon. He was just too powerful. He was the best Robotnik had under his command. He had installed a new feature in his roboticizers, the 'brain burn-thru'. It made your father a slave to Robotnik. It truly seemed like the end."
"Queen Acorn, back then, Princess Sally, called up Knuckles to take your father down, and even then it didn't work. They had to resort to roboticizing him in order to even out the odds!"
"Whoa! Really?!" Grapes was excited at the turn of events since he was kept in the dark of most of the secrets of the past.
Amy nodded. "It worked alright, but the two pretty much fought to the death. It got pretty bad, I don't know much about it, but from what Knuckles told me they were flying straight into the heart of Robotropolis and a cache of nuclear warheads, but your father somehow subconsciously or whatever, put himself in the line of fire to save Knuckles and took most of the damage."
"When they brought him back to fix him up, he was dying. They only managed to save him through Sally's computer Nicole. She found that after your father had gotten his one-billionth ring, it somehow created a mystical aura and contained what was left of your father's spirit. It protected him from the brain burn-thru system and Nicole was able to save your father."
"So I take it everyone got back to normal then, happy ending?"
Amy nodded. "Yeah. But of course your father had to go to trial to prove he didn't volunteer for roboticization. I was a witness at that hearing also. I still kept the picket sign I used to protest against your father being jailed!"
Grapes was just about to make a remark until Amy shot him a look. Wisely he decided to keep that remark to himself.
"Hmm… didn't you mention that there was a robot calling himself Shadow?"
Grapes nodded.
"Well… there never was a Shadow look alike out there. He never lived long enough for one to be made and Robotnik never really bothered to try. As for the Mecha Sonic… tell me, what did this new one look like?"
Grapes stroked his chin as he thought. "Well, it had pretty sharp ears, red eyes, two arm cannons, and for some reason his forearms were yellow and his arms were actually small round spheres connected to each other, like the wasps that usually come around here. Got a hell of an attitude, a bit sarcastic…"
Amy's mouth hung open in shock. Before Grapes could ask what's wrong she quickly asked him. "Is there anything else?"
"What's up? Did I say something wrong?" Grapes asked hesitantly.
Amy swallowed hard. "It's possible that Mecha Sonic is probably based off some designs when your father was roboticized… but… that exactly describes your father when he was roboticized!"
"What?!" Grapes said in a strained voice.
Amy shook her head. "I don't know… that's what the original Mecha Sonic looked like… I don't know…"
"You mean you don't want to get my hopes up..." Grapes stated blandly. "I understand. It could be, it might not be. But it doesn't matter; I'm going to avenge everyone by killing Mogul. Sonic and Shadow could either join me or die."
"Grapes… son…" Amy was about to plead when she saw the look in her sons' eyes. They lost most of its usual hue of intense green. They radiated an intense deadly red for one moment, as if he was starting to power up unconsciously.
"I can't let them live, but at the same time they could kill me, easily! That's how I ended up like this!" Grapes yelled as he pointed to his bandages. He slammed his fist into the table out of anger and loss. "They could kill me just like that… I can't fight my own father, but I can't kill him or Shadow… Much less ask them to join me against Mogul."
"I see…" Amy stated. They both sat next to each other, silent, neither one knowing what to say or do.
"There is something that might be able to help you… but it's a long shot…" Amy said doubtfully. Grapes looked up, his face torn between hope and confusion. Was there something that could bring his father back to him?
"I remember meeting your grandparents some time ago, before they died, they were turned into robots by Robotnik. Well, your father's Uncle Chuck, found a way to use these golden rings to give your grandparents back their free will. Your grandparents regained their memories and everything because of these golden rings…"
"That's great!" Grapes exclaimed as he rushed up from his seat. "Ah! Ah! Whiplash!" Grapes winced and his hand went straight to his midsection. But he soon went back to this new bit of information. "This is great! I'll find these rings and if that's really my dad and Shadow, I'm gonna free them from Mogul!"
"Grapes… The rings have been gone for a long time now. Mogul made sure to get rid of them ever since he came into power! He didn't want anyone to become powerful enough to stop him. Any body of water that contained golden rings was immediately destroyed."
Grapes only stared at his mother in shock before falling back into his seat again. Seeing the reaction on her son's face she quickly tried to amend her statement.
"The only ring in existence is the Ring of Acorns! I don't know where it might be, but I'm sure it still exists somewhere…"
"How do you figure that…?" Grapes asked sullenly.
"I used that Ring to wish myself a decade older when I was six, so I could be closer to your father. If it were destroyed somehow, I'd be ten years younger, meaning the wish would be taken back." Amy stared at her hands in wistfulness. "Well, if it were gone, I wouldn't complain all that much." She said with a chuckle.
"You look fine mom." Grapes said earnestly. Amy looked at her son and she could tell he was being honest, rarely did he ever had to lie to her.
"So I guess that's it then. Why does everything seem like a dead end all of a sudden?" Grapes asked himself.
"Don't be like that. The future isn't set in stone!" Amy said cheerfully. "Well, I think it's been long enough a day, why don't I make you some lunch?" She went to one of her cabinets and began to rummage for some foodstuffs until she realized her son didn't respond. She turned around to find Grapes thinking and gazing out through a nearby window, and into the horizon.
"Grapes?" she asked hesitantly. "Is something wrong?"
Grapes whipped his head around, his face full of vibrant life once more. "Yeah, I'd appreciate some lunch. But first, I got something to handle!" Grapes immediately ran out the door, ignoring the pain that shot through his body. He quickly powered up to his super form, and flew as fast as he could to Knuckles' place.
"Wait! Grapes! Ooh… I swear…" Amy muttered as she watched her son disappear into the distance.
Damn it! There's gotta be something! Grapes thought as he rummaged through the small hut. He remembered how Knuckles seemed so intent on time travel. He also remembered his last words to him. He knew how his last comments must have really hurt Knuckles and this was the only thing that kept Grapes going, the thought that he could make it all right again, by going back in time.
Would he really need to do it? All he would need to do is find the Ring of Acorns and use it in conjunction with the Sword of Acorns. With what knowledge he knew about the sword and how it can grant free will to mechanized mobians, he could restore order, maybe even have his father back.
But as of the moment, it'd too dangerous. The enemy believed him to be dead and if he were to find the ring he'd have to move about in the open. Should he be found out to be alive and well again, he'd doubt he'd survive another encounter. Even his mother has said to him, that second chances were rare in this kind of world.
Grapes slumped against a nearby wall and slid down and ended up sitting on his haunches. I can't leave yet; I know I'm close. I have to find it, I have to make everything right again. Tails, Knux, Mom, Dad… I can't let you all down again. he thought with resolve. He stood back up with the determination, but his wounds made him fall back down again.
"Oh man! This whole wounded thing is really starting to grate on my nerves!" Grapes muttered. He was about to get up when his eyes came across something green. It stuck out mostly because it was covered with white paper and how he had missed it, didn't faze him in the least. He dug through the pile and found that it was a green notebook, filled with Knuckles' handwriting.
A journal? Interesting, I never knew he had one of these lying around… he thought as he sat down and began to flip through the pages. Sorry about this Knuckles, I hope you understand…
Journal Entry #531,
Grapes is making amazing progress. He shows no signs of fatigue when he pushes himself over the limit. He would just get back up, push himself harder and get stronger. His speed is incredible as well. I still have some data on Sonics' old speed records, and the son has surpassed the father in every category by at least fifteen seconds.
However I'm still concerned about recent events. Mogul has been too quiet lately. Grapes is strong but not yet strong enough to challenge him head on. I could only do so much without Tails, and even Sonic and the original freedom fighters to back me up. Times like this, I wish the Chaotix were still around. I'll get him for you guys. Just you wait and see.
Concerning Mogul, there is nothing that'd point to any wrongdoing, as of yet. Our informants and spies from the Freedom Fighters report nothing suspicious and everything is too quiet. The calm before the storm…
Journal Entry #622,
In my experience, a back up plan is always needed. Thus, I've devised this. I'm no mechanical genius but I'm as good as anyone, especially since I discovered some of Tails' old notebooks.
Inside, are all kinds of theories for weapons, dimensions, even time travel and genetic engineering that could revolutionize anything we've ever seen up to this point...
This sorta stuff could pull our tails out of the fire and end this war once and for all. However, the thing that interests me the most is time travel. This might be the end of Mogul after all. More to come later on…
Journal Entry #701,
Experiment twelve worked all according to plan. Out of a total of fifteen experiments, only number twelve worked perfectly. I've been making adjustments here and there, and this is the only one that contains the right frequencies to come and go as you please throughout the timestream.
Only this one; can safely bring you from and to any time period. Soon, everything will be better again and none of this will come to pass. Perhaps I'm being rash but I've always put myself before others and this is no different.
If I'm erased from existence, it won't matter, a Knuckles that has never seen what I've seen, will be there to take care of things. He won't ever know the ravages of war; neither will Grapes and future kids that would've been born if not for Master Mogul…
On a side note, Mogul is planning something alright… Latest news from our spy network points to him leading a search party for Amy Rose, Grapes' mother. I don't know what he wants with her, but there's no way he's getting her. My guess, he wants a way to control Grapes, or at the very least throw him off his game so that he could make a mistake. I won't let that happen…
Journal Entry #705,
It's starting. Mogul has made his move. Queen Sally Acorn, Princess Samantha Acorn… died in an ambush. The last of the Acorn resistance, whatever was left of the monarchy, nearly everyone and everything that was affiliated with them, has been wiped clean off the planet. It had been a 'public execution'. There were some traces left, whereas usually there's none.
This is his message to us. He's telling us that he's gunning for us and we had better pull something from out of our asses or else we're as good as dead… The Brotherhood and The Dark Legionnaires are scrambling to mobilize their troops I'd never thought I'd say this but we're as good as dead at this point. With my dad and the past guardians taken out of the picture, these new guys can't cut it. Without them and their connections, we were lucky to make it this far. It seems this might be it.
Anyways, the last surviving footage I've been able to take from security cameras didn't show much. My hopes were to find the things that did this and maybe knock them off the active roster, thus giving us more time to mobilize or something.
Also, any and all information that spoke of a Mecha Sonic and Mecha Shadow being built over the last few months may have to be disregarded. I have a feeling someone has chosen to betray the throne. It was all too perfect, done without a hitch. It's a theory but I'll keep my eyes open nonetheless.
I've been expecting something like this, but not something to this scale. He massacred them all in one shot. Then again, I shouldn't be surprised. He had almost killed me the same way. I wish I could say the same for my forefathers, surviving to see another day like I had. They didn't make it. However I'm glad they're not around to see what kind of mess Mogul has made this world to be.
That was the last journal entry… And Knuckles knew about Shadow and Sonic! More or less… They were built… but even he said it himself, that info could be fake… Damn… what should I do now? Grapes thought to himself as he closed the book shut. He looked through the entire book and there had been nothing that would show Grapes how far Knuckles had advanced in time travel or anything of the sort. He looked at the book again and inspected it. He then noticed the book covers were extremely thick… compared to an ordinary book anyways.
Did he put it inside the book covers? Did he actually make the covers hollow? He searched the entire journal for some sort of latch of a lock or something. There was nothing… I can't believe this is it! There has to be more!
He got up again and decided to do another search until he noticed the book he was holding, the journal began to slip. The entire book fell out of his grasp and then he noticed that the book was pretty much normal except it was hollow and it had slid off, instead of something that had to be pulled out.
He looked at the book. It looked strange since the book looked mutilated with out the rest of the cover. He noticed there was a folded piece of paper and a key. Grapes opened up the paper and all he could see were strange markings all over it. The only thing he could recognize was one phrase, one location…
The Mystic Ruins…