So! I know what some people are gonna say: "Classic Sonic shouldn't talk! He never talked in Generations, he never talked in Sonic Forces!"

After writing, rewriting, and finally deleting a long-winded rant about why I believe Classic Sonic should be entirely capable of speech, I've settled with this; deal with it. If it really bothers you that much, then... well, nobody's stopping you from just clicking off.

Was that a bit too hostile? :shrug: I dunno. Either way, for those who stick around, thank you very much, and please enjoy the story!

Two Days Ago, Midday…

POV: Miles "Tails" Prower

Just one more tightening of the bolts… I thought to myself. My gloved hands were deep inside of an inactive E-123 Omega. The Team Dark robot had been damaged some time ago and left to gather dust. I had no idea how long he'd been in this city, nor who had wrought such damage upon him. I'd stumbled upon the G.U.N. bot a few hours ago, and had quickly set about repairing what I could with my trusty toolkit.

The patch job wasn't perfect, but it would be enough to get Omega up and running again. At least, I hoped so.

I stepped back for a moment to look at my handiwork. I was disappointed to be met with no motion whatsoever from Omega. "Hmm. That should have done it…"

I stepped in front of Omega and looked into his lifeless, robotic eyes. "I haven't figured it out yet for you, buddy." I told him, as if he could hear me. "I'm sorry. I don't have all the tools I need, here."

A strange glint reflecting off of Omega's shiny armor drew my attention. Something was moving behind me. "Huh?"

I turned around. "Chaos!?" I exclaimed in fear.

The ancient, watery warrior stared at me as it stalked forwards, drawing closer to me with every step. Water droplets hit the brick road beneath him with every motion.

Chaos had been responsible for wiping out an entire tribe of echidnas by himself, thousands of years ago. He was that powerful. I knew I couldn't take him on alone. Not while being as unprepared as I was.

"HELP!" I called out, desperately. "Somebody! Help me!" I staggered backwards, accidentally tripping over one of Omega's feet. "Whoa!"

The sky was suddenly in front of me, rather than above, as I fell onto my back. "Oof!" I grunted as I hit the hard, brick sidewalk.

So afraid I was, I didn't really register the strange, windy noise originating from behind Chaos. As the watery creature started to reach for me, the noise grew slightly louder, drawing its attention and giving it pause, its dripping, liquid claws mere inches from my face.

POV: ?

I sprinted out of the strange portal that had opened up in front of me, and came face-to-face with some weird, watery creature. Behind him, a familiar two-tailed fox was laying on his back, an expression of sheer terror on his face.

I didn't need any more motivation than that. I sprung into action, leaping into the air and aiming straight for the walking liquid thing. My feet slammed into it, hard, and it instantly dissolved into a pool of harmless water.

"No one hurts my friends!" I told the water pool as it drained into a nearby, semi-open manhole. Good riddance!

"Huh? Sonic?" Tails exclaimed, scrambling to his feet. "You… You're alive!" He shouted in glee.

I blinked. Uh… Yeah, I'm alive. Why wouldn't I be?

POV: Miles "Tails" Prower

"Wait, what?" I furrowed my brow in confusion. The Sonic standing before me looked different from the Sonic I was used to. The Sonic that I knew to be…

No. I couldn't think about that. Sonic was gone, so how was he standing right in front of me?

"Oh!" I realized who I was looking at. "You're that Sonic from another dimension, aren't you?" From that whole fiasco with the Time Eater!

Alternate Sonic nodded, and flashed me a happy smile, obviously pleased to see me.

"Right, right, right, that makes sense!" I exclaimed. "...I think." I shook my head, trying to clear the sudden mental cobwebs. "Do you know how you got here, or why?" I asked Alternate Sonic.

He just shrugged, hands open and palms facing the sky. Nope.

"Maybe the power that Eggman is using is somehow affecting other dimensions." I theorized. "Which might work to our advantage! I mean, everything happens for a reason, right?" I asked rhetorically. "We need to save the world." I told Alternate Sonic. "And maybe that's why you're here. To help save the world!"

Alt Sonic gave me a thumbs-up. I'm on board with that plan, was his obvious message.

"Either way," I continued, "it's still good to see you, Sonic. Heck, it's good to see any Sonic."

"So, where do we start?" Alt Sonic asked me.

I thought for a moment. "Well, I need to get Omega somewhere safe so I can focus on repairing him without looking over my shoulder all the time." I told him. "I know where a nearby workshop is, but I can't haul Omega there by myself. Not with all the Eggbots marching throughout the city." I turned away from Alt Sonic, staring at Omega.

"I could take them out." Alt Sonic suggested. "And if Eggman shows up, we'll stop whatever plan he's got cooked up."

Still facing away from Alt Sonic, I winced. Don't think about him, don't think about him. Don't think about how Sonic is… gone. I shook my head. "If Eggman's in the city, then… I guess maybe we could." I said, though I wasn't sure I believed it.

"Hey, by the way, you left this with me, last time." Alt Sonic said.

I turned around to see him holding out a familiar, hand-held device. I gasped. "My Eggman Radar!" I exclaimed. "I'd completely forgotten about that!" I grabbed it, and twisted a few dials, performing a rapid diagnostic. "It still works!" I exclaimed.

"Great! So we can find the Egghead and stop his new plan." Alt Sonic said joyfully.

"We just might!" I replied, feeling hope again for the first time since… since the war started back in Sunset Heights. Since Sonic had been…

"Hey, you ok?" Alt Sonic asked me, taking notice of the pain written across my face. "Where's other me?"

I choked back a sniffle. "He's…" I started to say. "He's…" I couldn't say it. I just couldn't.

POV: "Classic" Sonic

Before my eyes, Tails suddenly broke down into agonized tears. I stared at him for a moment, confused. What's wrong? Why is he crying?

Then I realized. I gasped, and took an involuntary step back. Oh. Oh no… Sonic… dead? How!? "Tails…" I choked out. "I'm so sorry…" I could feel a tear start to slide down my face. "I'm so sorry…" I repeated, going in and placing a hand on his shoulder in sympathy.

A minute passed as Tails bawled wordlessly, his tears dripping freely onto the brick road and his agonized gasps echoing his grief across the empty street. It struck me that, if things had gotten this bad… maybe he'd never been given the chance to mourn.

I looked around us, my tearful eyes finally seeing the unfamiliar world around me for the first time. I took in the devastation. I saw the ruined buildings, the far-off smoke clouds. I heard distant explosions and screams of fear and pain as Eggbots hunted down survivors of whatever had happened here. I could smell the charred bodies that were probably only just out of view from me. The scent of burned wood, melted plastic, and singed earth reached my nose as I involuntarily wrinkled it in displeasure.

Is this the world that Eggman wants? I was, frankly, horrified. That maniacal Egghead is responsible for all of this? I clenched my fists. He's gone too far, this time. He'll pay for all the suffering he's brought about to these people. And if Sonic really is dead… I stared at Tails as he continued bawling into the road.

One of my friends was gone, and the other was left as an emotionally-distraught mess. He'll pay for that, too.

One hour later…

POV: Alternate-Dimension Sonic

"The radar shows Eggman is up ahead!" Tails exclaimed, flying over the rooftops above me as I dashed through the war-torn streets of the city. "There are patrols all over the place, so watch your step."

"He doesn't know we're coming," I stated, "but that doesn't mean he won't have any tricks up his sleeves when we find him." I warned the fox.

"I know." Tails replied. "Which is why we need to be as careful as ever."

More so now that we know Sonic was actually killed taking him on… I decided not to voice that thought.

The streets, broken up as they were, were no challenge for me to navigate. I was used to the narrow, winding passages of the Green Hill zone back in my own dimension. The broken uniformity of the city roads had nothing on the chaotic randomness that nature provided so easily.

I leapt over burnt-out cars and skipped across large gaps with ease using my speed and legendary reflexes. Potholes and blown-out holes in the road never managed to trip me up. I cast a glance around me as I crossed a bridge, and took in just how destroyed some of the city really was.

"They've made a total mess of this place." I remarked.

"It's terrible." Tails replied in agreement. "We have to stop Eggman, and end this war quick."

A trio of Eggbots ahead of me never even saw me coming. The first warning they had was the sound of my razor-sharp quills tearing through the first robot. My feet slammed into the second robot before it could turn around, knocking it over. A fresh dent in his armored exterior.

The third robot pointed its laser arm at me, and I could hear the weapon charging up.

A skillfully-executed jump attack made sure it would never get the chance to fire.

Tails dive-bombed the robot I'd knocked over. A kick to the indent I'd made pushed the bent armor plating further inward, and I heard the crunch as multiple circuit boards broke. The robot stopped moving, and in the near-silence that followed, I could hear the motors of the defeated hulk of metal scrap dying down to nothingness.

We continued onward without a word. Time was awasting. Coming to a seemingly dead-end alleyway, I leapt upwards, managing to grab onto the edge of a balcony on the second floor of one of the two buildings. I pointedly ignored the smell of rotting corpses emanating from within the room in front of me.

Turning around, I realized I didn't actually have a way further up the walls. But Tails had realized that, too. Before I could even open my mouth to ask for a lift, he was offering his hand, his signature twin tails spinning fast enough to give him the gift of flight.

My friend carried me to the roof of the building, and immediately after setting me down, we both took off, heading further out of the city, and closer to the Mad Doctor responsible for all the death and destruction we'd seen so far.

Turning a corner, we came face-to-face with a pair of Eggbots. Tails and I launched into action. My jump attack instantly defeated one of the robots, and my friend's precision strike with a handy wrench ended the threat of the second enemy's gun arm.

I hopped over to it as Tails sweeped its legs out from under it. A stomp onto its spherical carapace crunched through the fragile circuitry inside of it, immediately rendering it nothing more than a pile of dented metal and broken machine parts.

I glanced at my yellow friend and smiled. Piece of cake! The two of us continued onward through the city.

Fifteen minutes passed. Nearly a dozen small groups of Eggbots fell to our capable attacks. This older Tails had really grown from the younger version in my dimension. While my Tails was no slouch, this world's Tails had become quite a capable fighter in his own right. His craftiness and quick thinking made him a dangerous foe for any mechanical opponent. I wasn't taking out the majority of Eggbots. In fact, the down-count was probably evenly split between us.

I was proud to fight by his side.

"I'm detecting a ton of readings besides Eggman." Tails reported, staring at his radar gadget. "Hmm." He scratched his chin. "One of them is a lot stronger than the others. What could it be?"

I shrugged, not even bothering to guess. Whatever it was, we'd know soon enough; the city exit was in sight. The long, straight road heading out into the rural grasslands surrounding the urban warzone felt almost lonely under our feet as we sprinted along it, heading straight for Doctor Robotnik's signal.

Soon, it would be time to confront the madman, himself.

So, the "Eggman Radar" was totally made up by me. But, I couldn't think of any other reason why Tails would just know where Eggman is. No explanation is given, so I provided one. Kinda my job as the re-teller of this story, right?

Up next: Boss Fight! And maybe a glimpse at the evil machinations of one Doctor Robotnik...