Sonic, Tails, Amy, Fuchsia, Rex, Felix, and Cream explored the red sandy area where the beach used to be. "Look at that red place!" Cream pointed out. "Is that a desert?"

"Actually, judging by this shoreline and dead palm trees, I think this was the beach!" Amy said.

Sonic groaned in pity. "The beach?" Fuchsia inquired.

"What's the beach?" The twins asked.

"That's right! The beach was destroyed before you guys were born!" Tails said.

"A beach is a place that's filled with water." Sonic explained. "You know, like the big ocean."

"The ocean was filled with water? Amazing!" Fuchsia said. "I bet it was nice in your timeline."

Amy sighed sadly. "Yeah, it was. The tropical sea that we used to visit and swim was clear, sapphire and beautiful. Now it's nothing but a field of ashes!"

Sonic kneeled down and scoped some red dust in his hand. "Although I'm not a fan of water, I miss seeing the blue ocean," he thought.

Over there, Eggman, Decoe, Bocoe, Bokkun, and Dodger riding on his ostrich, trod over the vaporized ocean. Their feet crunched on the arid dry land. "Look at the ocean! It's all dried up like an old raisin!" Eggman commented.

"It looks so different without that massive body of blue water," Decoe said.

"I never thought I'd see it up close," Bocoe said.

"Water existed?" Dodger spoke up. "Man, I'd give anything to see something like that!"

"I'd give anything to see our home again," Bokkun said, riding on the ostrich's head.

Eggman and the gang stopped dead on their tracks when they saw that the base too was in ruins. They gasped in horror. The top of the tower had a huge gaping hole as if something exploded from inside. Eggman eyeballed at it in gruesomeness and placed his hands on his head. "NO! Not my lovely base too!" He screamed and collapsed to his knees.

"Oh my goodness!" Decoe cried.

"Not the kind of home I wanted to see!" Bokkun wailed.

"This was your base?" Dodger asked.

"And our hone too! Now it's gone!" Bocoe moaned. "Oh, what a cruel world we live in!"

Eggman pounded his fist on the dried up ground. He stiffened in anguish. "Those...rotten..dirty...no-good blasted vandals!" He growled in rage. "Of all the nerve! Those idiots trashed my place and went off coercing throughout the world, burning everything that should be mine!" He rose his head up and snorted in vengeance. "Someone is going to pay dearly for this!" He got on his feet. "Come on, gentlemen. My base may be gone but we can still check it out and salvage what left in my laboratory. Also, we can read and learn about this current crisis here and perhaps crack the code about the spacetime continuum."

"Okay, doc," Decoe said. "Just one question, what's a spacetime continuum?"

Dodger and the villains head over to the base.

Back at the devastated city, Israel and Chris explored the dark city. "This place is mess!" Chris said. "Everything's in bad shape!"

"I know," Israel said. Suddenly, he sensed danger. "Get down!" He grabbed the boy's arm and hid themselves behind a car. "Don't make a sound."

"What's wrong?" Chris whispered.

"Ssh!" The two males remained hidden as more Iblis Minions walked through the streets. Chris gasped silently and kept still and out of sight as the fiery creatures walked by the car they're hiding from. Luckily, they didn't see them and disappeared. The boys took a deep breath of relief. "They didn't see us!" Israel said.

"That was close, huh?" Chris said. Israel did not respond. Something is bugging his mind.

"Israel?"

Israel is suffering another hallucination. He groaned and held his head as he visioned that the city was in flames and all the heroes had fallen. He also visioned Silver the Hedgehog and Chris, the last ones standing on the tallest building of the apocalyptic Station Square, paralyzed in terror and turmoil. Silver stood in front of his friend. Iblis rose up toward them and bellowed deafeningly, the whole blazing world heard. Chris whimpered breathlessly as he is too petrified to cry and shed tears or even scream. He just stared at the monster in horror while Silver glared furiously at it as it was about to take on the helpless boy and the raging hedgehog.

"Israel? Israel!"

Israel suddenly snapped back to reality.

"Israel! Are you okay?" Chris asked with concern. He was shaking him.

Israel shook his head and took a deep breath. "Chris..."

"Yes?"

"I...I wasn't always like this."

"What do you mean?"

Israel got on his feet. "I'm not always a strong warrior. You see, I, too, am not from this timeline."

"You're not?" Chris inquired, standing up too.

"Nah. When I a small kid, about your age perhaps, I was involved in a airship accident. I survived, but the others...they weren't so lucky." He shook his head solemnly.

"How did you get away?"

"I wasn't really so sure, but I remembered seeing a bright light when the airship exploded, my friend pushed me there before he died and I got sent here to this distant future."

"Whoa!"

"All my friends died that day, all my family and friends are gone too in this world. My grandpa, my parents, uncle, everyone. I'm all that's left. I was the sole survivor." Israel closed his eyes in mourning.

"Oh my gosh." Chris felt his pain. "I'm so sorry."

"I was all alone in this horrid and unknown world, with no one to talked to. No one to guide me or pick me up. I was so scared and alone. I must have cried constantly. It's like I was sentenced here for something I didn't do!"

"That's sounds just like me." He and his human comrade strolled to the city.

"I roamed here for ages. It felt like forever since I came here. I lived in darkness for so long, I was about to lose hope and realized that I was never coming home. But then, this hedgehog came in the picture and helped me get away from the Iblis creatures. He sided with me as an ally and taught me how to defend myself."

"Silver..." Chris figured out.

"Yeah. He gave me this sword so I could fight." Israel grabbed the hilt and slowly withdrew it out of the scabbard. He held it out in his hand. "I got pretty good with it so quickly, I use it only to defend the others."

"Like what you did back there when you helped us fight the Iblis Minions."

Yeah, I've never even knew that I could handle a sword like that. I turned from wimpy kid into a daring skilled swordsman! I guess being stranded in the future has its advantages." He swung the sword around in his hand as show-off and presented to Chris. His reflection appeared on the steely blue blade. "Wow! It looks pretty strong, and sharp." He said.

"It is, a tiny single swing can turn anything into cutlets! Observe." Istael gripped on the hilt with both hands. He picked a police car as a target and got ready to strike. Chris watched carefully. Israel then swung his sword across, yelling, and hit the lightbars, cutting the roof in half.

"Wow!" Chris was amazed.

"Pretty impressive, huh?"

Chris chuckled. Israel held out his sword to him. Chris looked at it in puzzlement. Israel bulged his head as if inviting him to touch the sword.

Chris hesitated. "Uh, I don't know. Are you sure it's alright for me to take that?"

Israel nodded in hint. His hand moved to the cross-guard so the boy can take the sword. Slowly, Chris wrapped his fingers around the hilt. When he got hold of it, Israel let go, letting the tip drag to the ground. Chris struggled to keep it up. "It's kind of heavy!" He grunted.

"It feels a little weighty at first, but once you get the hang of it, it's really no problem. It's like holding a baseball bat." Israel helped his little friend get control of the mighty weapon. They stood in front of the police car.

With his hands on Chris' hands, Israel guided him through usage of the sword. They slashed the car's metal, creating three slits. "Good," Israel said. "Now, this time, try doing it without my help. Do the same mark on that car." He let go of the hilt, leaving Chris to it on his own.

Chris stood his ground as if he's waiting for a baseball to hit. He then swung and yelled as he created a big gush on the car.

"Alright, not bad, Rookie!" Israel said. "That was great!"

But Chris didn't stop there. He just slashed the car more. Israel gasped. Chris slashed it multiplied times until it came down into minced pieces! He turned around, chuckling with satisfaction.

Israel was impressed by the boy's hidden skills. "Whoa! Tight!"

"HA HA! I learned pretty fast!" Chris answered, scratching his head.

"I see," Israel said. Suddenly, sharp pain thrusted through his head. He fell to his knees as he groaned and held his head in pain.

"Israel!" Chris rushed to his side. Israel grunted and rubbed smartly on his brain. "Israel, are you okay?"

Israel whimpered and stiffened as if trying not to explode or cry. "I'm fine," he whined out. "Just a little..." He squeezed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth as he tried to control the pain within him.

"Israel..." Chris rubbed his shoulders and stroke through his long messy orange hair in comfort.

"Silver!" The man muttered out.

Chris understood his pain. "I know, it's okay." He soothed. "I miss him too. It's okay, everything will be okay. I promise."

Israel still felt alone and afraid. Chris had to pull his ponytail and drag him up his feet. Slowly, Israel pulled himself together and restored his inner warrior. "I'm fine now, thanks!" He wiped his forehead of sweat and settled down. "I'm usually not like that unless I have a weakness for a friend. Silver was the one gave me strength. With him gone, it's hard to keep your strength on with the half of you is apart from you, you know what I mean?"

"You're like me. I can be pretty timid whenever I'm away from my loved ones, especially Sonic. If it weren't for him, I'd never would have seen the world or have great big adventures. It's like he raised me too, besides my mom and dad and grandpa. Heck, I'd still be living in a boring sheltered life if Sonic and the gang hadn't come!"

"You were very brave, Chris," Israel recommended. "I wouldn't last out there in a cold scary world."

"Nah, not as brave as you," Chris replied. "I'm just a normal little kid who always gets into scraps and in need of saving."

"That may be true, but you have a huge gift that not everyone can possess it."

"What's that?"

"Fierce faith and a huge heart. I think you have the power to lighten the way and give people a hand whenever they needed. Sonic must have felt that way about you, you may not be an animal but you're part of the team. Like with me and Silver and the others."

"Hey, you're right," Chris smiled. "We have a lot in common.

"Heh, heh, yeah, I guess we do." For the first time ever, Israel actually cracked a smile!

"Hey alright, you smiled! Finally!" Chris said.

"Really? Wow! That's a first!" Israel beamed, showing his pearly white teeth. "All my years, I've been fighting for my life. I have never knew that I could smile again! Now, I can see the light."

Still smiling, Chris gave back the sword to Israel who placed it back to the scabbard and then clasped it back to his back. "Thank you, Chris." Israel gratified.

Chris smiled and nodded. "Your welcome."

Israel bended down so Chris can ride on his back. "You know, I've always wanted a sibling." The boy said, holding on. "You can be my big brother and live in the present with me!"

"I'm flattered, but I don't know," Israel chuckled.

"Just think about," Chris said. The two humans boys explored the city some more.

Elsewhere, Sonic and co. Explored the deserted shopping center where all the stores are wrecked and demolished. "Look at all the stores," Amy said woefully. "This was my favorite spot. I used to spend all my time here, shopping."

"It's where we get our clothes, toys, and food and all," Cream said.

"Looks like the stores went out of business," Sonic said.

"People came here just to look at things?" Fuchsia said. "How interesting."

"I wonder what items they had that made people came here and stuff," Felix said.

"And what's so fun about shopping anyway?" Rex asked.

"You would know, if the world wasn't ruled by Iblis," Sonic said.

"With all the electronic stores gone, I doubt we'll find any decent gadget," Tails said.

Over at the barren landscapes, Tiny, Knuckles, and Rouge were exploring the bleak lifeless plateaus and mountains. "Hmm...does this place look familiar to you?" Rouge asked.

"Maybe..." Knuckles replied.

"This may sound crazy but I saw a couple of stony old buildings in a dried up jungle." Tiny said. "They looked more ancient that the ones in the city."

"You mean temples?" Knuckles asked.

"This must be Mystic Ruins," Rouge said.

"Also, there was a colossal piece of boulder laying outside this barren wasteland," Tiny said. "It's not really a boulder but it looked more like a piece of land, like, what do you call it? An island."

"An island?" Knuckles and Rouge repeated.

"Yeah, there was no nothing out there, just that fallen island." Tiny said. "I wonder how did it got there."

Knuckles and Rouge looked at each other in suspense, hoping it's not what they think it is.

Tiny led them to the edge of the cliff pointed over their. To their horror, Knuckles' Angel Island laid in demolition on the dead dried sea. Knuckles choked out in grim deprivation. "NO! My gods, no!"

Rouge cupped her mouth in dread. She was too stunned to say anything.

"You know this island?" Tiny said.

Knuckles' legs froze as he continued to stare at his ruined home in horror. "NO! I can't believe it! This isn't happening! It can't be true!" He flew off and glided over to his island with his red lock dreadlocks. Rouge followed.

"Hey, wait for me!" Tiny shouted and launched off the cliff after them.

Knuckles and Rouge arrived at the alter where his guarding spot was in ruins too. The pillars crumpled and the stairs to the where the Master Emerald were practically destroyed. With a heavy heart, Knuckles viewed at his surroundings, realizing he was too late. Rouge sighed in disheartenment as she folded her arms. She too was saddened by the loss of this mystical island. Tiny arrived here and looked around. "Never saw this up close before," he said. "Almost fascinating."

Knuckles leisurely walked up the stairs. To his woe, the Master Emerald he guarded laid in pieces and is now black and powerless. He kneeled down and held the pieces his hand. He gripped on it real hard as he felt failure as a guardian strike upon him. "The Master Emerald..." He murmured in pain. "I should have stayed here all along! Why did this have to happen?! Why?! I was too late! I'm not worthy to be a guardian anymore!" He stiffened in pain and sorrow.

Rouge came to his side and comforted him. "It's okay, Knuckles. It wasn't your fault," she said softly. "You did the best you could."

Knuckles rose his head and looked at her in consolingly. "I'm so sorry," Rouge said. "Really I am. About your island and the Master Emerald."

Knuckles patted her softly on the shoulder of saying "thanks". Tiny approached up the top. "That was a piece of gem?" He said. "Didn't look like it."

"With the Master Emerald gone, there's no hope of using its magical powers to energize the time machine," Rouge said in despair. "Let's face it. They won, we lost. We're all doomed."

"Don't say that," Knuckles said firmly. "We will get through this way, one way or another."

"Maybe..." Tiny said.

"Since we trapped in this world, I might as well come clean with you," Rouge said.

"Well, that's a start." Knuckles said steely. "You can start by confessing how many jewels you took."

"No, I mean, I should tell you how I feel," Rouge insisted. "All these times, I've been bugging you and trying to take your Master Emerald, I always thought you were a conceited musclehead who only cares about his job. But the more I spent time with you, the more I got to know you better. You're a hotheaded knucklehead, but deep down inside, you're okay."

"What's your point?"

"The truth is..." Rouge began to say. "I like you, Knuckles. A whole lot. Maybe more than jewels."

"Well, what a surprise." Knuckles said sarcastically.

"No, I'm serious," Rouge insisted. "I really like you! Like, like-like you!"

Knuckles was a little surprise. "You do? No lying?"

"This is awkward," Tiny said.

"Stay put of this!" The bat and the echidna chorused. Tiny backed off. "Okay!"

"You really mean that, Rouge?" Knuckles asked, eying her.

Rouge uneasily nodded. "It's like whenever I'm around you, I feel safe and secure. I look up to you, not just as a co-treasure hunter or a guardian, but a real man! In my eye, you're the number one gem and I'll never feel it like this for another guy."

Knuckles gasped in surprise. He couldn't believe what he heard. "Wow! That's the nicest thing anyone has said to me! I'd never knew someone would admire somebody like me!"

"However, if you don't like me back, I would understand," Rouge said disdainfully. "Who could love a jewel thief?" She turned her back.

Knuckles took her hand. "Hey, it's okay." He said. "You know, you're not too bad yourself. Maybe there is something more I see in you." He smiled lightly. "At times, you're a pain in the butt and you drive me batty. Whenever you tried to take my Emerald, I wanted to sock you right out of the sky. I still think you're a two-timing jewel thief. But you're my favorite jewel thief. The truth is, I kind of like you too...like-like maybe. 'Cause, I don't think any girl in the world will compared to you. You're one of a kind!" He gazed at her with those amethyst eyes.

Rouge was touched by his words. She looked like she was about to cry. "Wow! No one has ever said that to me before!" She squeaked.

Knuckles held her arms. "It's gonna okay, we'll get through this." He assured. "I promised."

They looked at each other in tenderness and hugged each other in comfort. "You know, sometimes I thought about retiring from treasure hunting business someday, and um...raise a family with somebody very special." Rouge said, blushing.

"Okay, now you're being weird," Knuckles chuckled, also blushing. "Let's not get carried away."

The two showed affection towards each other. It seemed to be that they're finally showing their true feelings for each other. They leaned toward for a kiss when they heard an explosion. The two gasped as they turned to that direction. "What was that?" Rouge asked.

"It sounded like an explosion," Knuckles said.

Tiny arrived at their side. He growled vengefully and cocked his hand gun. "I smell trouble." He knew that great danger is baking once again.

At the ruined base, Eggman, Dodger, Bokkun, and the robots were researching in the broken laboratory. Decoe flicked a broken light bulb. Bokkun rummaged through the boxes and found some old candy. "Find some!" He announced. The ostrich tried to snag some of it. Bokkun moved them away from its beak. "Back off! Get your own!"

Bocoe laid on the dusty table in boredom. "If this was our home, why do I still feel homesick?" He mumbled.

Eggman and Dodger were looking at a large text book. "Hmm... This is interesting." The doctor said.

"What is interesting?" Dodger asked.

"Well, it appears that we've done more than travel through time and space," Eggman replied.

"What, Doctor?"

Before Eggman could explain, there was a loud distant booming coming from the city. Although it was far, it made everyone jumped. Bocoe fell off the table. The ostrich squawked loudly fluttered up and down excitedly. "What was that noise?" Bocoe said.

"An explosion?" Decoe guessed.

"It's way too tremendous to be an ordinary explosion," Eggman said seriously.

"Oh no!" Dodger asked, gripping on his cowboy hat.

Black smoke rose from the deepest part of the city. There was an eerie glowing light of red, which meant lava. Danger is definitely growing. An monstrous danger.

At the city, Israel and Chris saw people running and screaming, fleeing from something. "What's going on?" Chris asked. "What are all these people running away from?"

"Oh no! I have a terrible feeling about this!" Israel said seriously. "I sense evil in the air. Great evil!" Chris gasped as he began to feel afraid.

"Come on!" Israel took the boy's hand and ran to the area of the danger.

Sonic and co. Walked through the city as the people ran past them as they screamed for their lives. They were alarmed and full of suspense and fear when they saw the people's terrified faces.

"What's with these people?" Amy asked.

"They look so scared," Cream said. Cheese chirped in agreement.

"Is it Iblis Minions again?" Tails asked.

"No, it's worse than them," Rex said gravely.

"What could be worse than them?" Amy asked.

Fuchsia looked at Sonic who had the same idea of what is going to happen and it's not good. Sonic nodded, eyes filled with trepidation. "Let's go, guys!" He commanded. He and co. raced the heart of the city. Whatever it is, the time machine will have to wait as they are about to face the most appalling challenge of all.