Author's Note: One step closer to reach the goal and things were really heating up! Fair warning, this chapter also has a few spoilers on my other worked on project "Sun the Hedgehog". Here we go!
I do not own Sonic The Hedgehog. All rights belong to Sega. I only own the OCs.
Chapter 20: Colourful Memories and Bad Moebius Future.
Upon entering the portal, the four Mobians emerged in, to Sonic and Tails, a very familiar place, one filled with fresh green, knee-height grass, beautiful flowers, giant towering trees that were shaped like flowers with vines hanging, clear blue sky, fresh water in lakes and rivers and, as expected since this was also from their past, the construction site which was now mostly gone back in the real world. While the two brothers of Mobius, not pleased to see the dreaded Eggman site again, were more than happy to see this world again, Young Sonic and Young Tails were in absolute awe.
"Whoa!" Young Sonic breathed, his eyes wide and sparkling. He suddenly felt like he'd died and gone to heaven.
"Wow! What is this place? It's so alien but pretty!" Young Tails exclaimed.
"Yeah, it's a beautiful alien planet, alright." Sonic said with a smirk, rubbing his nose. "Man, I missed this place."
"Wait, so this is where the really nice aliens you're friends with live?" The younger blue hedgehog asked.
"Yep. This is Planet Wisp where all of the Wisps live happily, and luckily I still have the translator." Tails answered, pulling out the Miles Electric. "When Sonic and I first met them in Eggman's Interstellar Amusement Park three months ago, I changed my Miles Electric in order to understand what the Aliens are saying."
"Wow! I should make my own in case we encounter aliens or species that speak different languages." Young Tails exclaimed excitedly.
"Isn't that the same thing that you guys had that had trouble translating things right at first?" Young Sonic asked, remembering what Sonic told him.
The two older Mobians sweat dropped sheepishly as they chuckled, with the older two-tailed fox rubbing the back of his head. "Well, yeah. It brought up faulty translations that didn't make any sense a few odd times and sounded too silly."
"No offense, bro, but I still think the weirdest one is the part with salad being made to wear underwear." Sonic placed a finger to his forehead, closing his eyes over that memory.
"None taken." Tails giggled in agreement, while both Young Sonic and Young Tails blinked in confusion, then shared an incredulous glance as they both wondered what their older, alternate-selves were talking about.
Before either Alternate-Mobians could ask, they, Sonic and Tails heard an alien but cute squeeling from up ahead and when the four of them looked up, to their surprise and delight of the duo who had been here before, familiar Wisps flew over happily, being led by the unmistakable of a white Wisp with the very cute little curl on his head who looked just as happy.
"Yacker!" Sonic and Tails cried out happily, as Yacker the Wisp, their favorite and best alien friend, flew over into their opened arms where the reunited trio hugged and laughed happily, quickly joined by the other excited Wisps with some of them, Yellow, Orange, Red, Green, Blue, and Cyan, flying around speaking in excited alien language.
"Hey, Yacker! Long time no see!" The hero of Mobius greeted, though he and his best friend/little brother knew that it's only been two months since, not long after saving Mobius again a month after their adventure together in space, they visited this world, meeting the Mother Wisp up and personal for the first time, and newly born Wisps who, as Sonic and Tails had spent the day visiting and hanging out with all of the aliens, didn't want to let them go home and wanted them to stay here forever.
It had taken Yacker, the Wisps' mother, and even Sonic himself to convince the younger Wisps that the cobalt hedgehog and two-tailed fox had a home, family and friends to go back to, with a promise to visit again as soon as possible.
"#$% #! %$ #!(Sonic! Tails!)" Yacker squealed happily, nuzzling his head into the chests of his two Mobian best friends despite that, like everything else, he was from the past, but to Sonic and Tails, it was as real as they could get. The cute little alien missed them deeply.
"We really missed you!" The nine year old fox said.
"So that's Yacker, huh?" Young Sonic remarked softly, smiling as he and Young Tails were amazed at just how strange but very friendly and extremely cute the little aliens were. "Cute little guy."
"This is amazing! All of these aliens are so cute, Sonic." Young Tails remarked even as the Wisps that noticed him and the eleven year old blue hedgehog looked very confused to see two of Sonic and two of Tails with slight different appearances.
"They sure are, Tails." The young blue hedgehog agreed.
When Sonic, Tails, Yacker and the other aliens huddling around them noticed, the two older Mobians were the only ones who weren't surprised before the sixteen year old reassured them. "It's okay, they're friends. It's kind of a long story."
"Hi there." Young Sonic greeted with a friendly wave while Young Tails giggled as he waved as well. Despite the confusion, the Wisps floated curiously around the two Alternate-Mobians before immediately sensing that they were just like Sonic and Tails and greeted them in a friendly matter, making the younger Mobians laugh.
'Man, this sure brings back great memories.' Sonic thought to himself, smiling. He made a mental note to have another visit to Planet Wisp once everything's back to normal.
"So, how are things going here?" The blue hedgehog asked Yacker, who waved his arm in front of his face while speaking in Wisp language, to which Tails held up his translator and recorded what the cute curl-headed Wisp was saying.
"What's he saying?" Young Tails asked his older, alternate-self.
"Yacker's saying that things have been so strange here. It's only been a day since we've left and yet all of Baldy Nosehair's robots came back all of the sudden like it's before Sonic came here to shut down the generator." The nine year old fox translated, frowning in concern.
"Well, that explains something." Sonic folded his arms, surprised that this version of Planet Wisp was brought here just one day after he saved the Universe from Eggman and restored the Mother Wisp back to normal. No wonder the construction site was still here. "I have a bad feeling about this."
"Hey, you wouldn't have noticed a giant black monster flying around here, would ya'?" Young Sonic asked the little aliens a little firmly.
Yacker and the other Wisps nodded, with a Cyan Wisp speaking this time, which none of the Mobians could understand except for the nine year old cub who translated. "They have, and there was also something other things unusual. They say that they saw two white shiny rocks fly in two directions of our home in two different shapes they've never seen before, except one of those rocks looked familiar."
"The Sol Emerald!" The sixteen year old hedgehog exclaimed in quick realization.
"And the Chaos Emerald!" The eleven year old hedgehog added, his eyes wide in shock.
"Huh? Wait a minute, if they saw the Emeralds, how could they think that one of them is familiar?" Young Tails asked, confused.
Sonic shrugged as he explained, with certain uncomfortable and horrific memories filling his mind. "It's kind of a long story. You see, Eggman somehow found all of the Chaos Emeralds before me and Tails-your other self I mean-went up to his Amusement Park, but he planned on using those to try and beat me even though it back-fired. He was gonna use them as well as the Hyper-Go-Ons for his robot I was fighting against but somehow managed to lose them..."
He trailed off as he remembered that battle against his late enemy, the blue hedgehog's heart aching over this and his ears drooping despite that Yacker was safe and sound and alive, both here and in the real universe back at home. Sonic lowered his gaze while feeling the tiny traces of tears began to form in his eyes.
"It was luck that he did, actually. If he hadn't, I wouldn't've been able to turn Yacker's Mom back to normal and...and Yacker would't be here right now. When I risked my life to save him, he sacrificed himself to save me." Sonic continued while closing his eyes as he didn't want to remember that day, the day when he and everybody else almost lost the most pure heartened alien friend they ever had. "The Chaos Emeralds somehow read my mind and my wishes to bring him back and performed some sort of ressurrection ceremony or whatever. I've never seen anything like it."
"No way...!" Young Sonic murmured in shock as he and his adoptive little brother shared alarmed expressions while Tails approached his older brother, gently patting him on the arm to which the older blue hedgehog opened his eyes and gazed at him with a soft, grateful smile.
'Uncle Chuck said that the Chaos Emeralds can perform miracles, but I didn't think that bringing back the dead was one of them!' The young blue hedgehog thought in his mind, recalling how his uncle back in his world told him many stories and how he used the Chaos Emeralds to transform into Super Sonic for the first time to help defeat Robotnik for the second time.
Yacker and the Wisps, seeing the sad, frightened and guilt-ridden on Sonic's face over the memory despite that everything was relatively okay, hovered over and gathered gently around the hero of Mobius with the curl-headed alien carefully lifting the teenager's head to gaze at his emerald green eyes with a somber but reassuring look in his adorable single eye. Sonic smiled a bit brighter before he wiped away lingering tears that threatened to slide free.
"Thanks, guys." The blue hedgehog said to all of his friends around him, then declared as he pushed back the negative emotions and felt his real self return once again. "I promise that everything's gonna be okay and things will go back to normal."
The little aliens beamed at that, both at their hero's promise and that he was starting to feel better already and flew around the blue hedgehog as well as Tails, Young Sonic and Young Tails, making all four of them smile.
"So, you got any idea where these shiny rocks are?" Sonic asked, knowing that, as much as he wanted to hang out with the Wisps again, he reminded himself that they were just memories from his and Tails' past and the real Wisps were back in their dimension.
Yacker nodded and babbled in Wisp language again, prompting Tails to translate. "One of the white rocks landed somewhere where the generator is, and the other one, which the Wisps think is the Chaos Emerald, landed on the opposite side to our right."
"Well then, guess that's where we're gonna go." The cobalt hero declared, smirking before instructing both his best friend/little brother and younger, alternate-self. "Tails, you're with me. Sonic, you and your little bro head over to where the Chaos Emerald is and we'll met up back with the others."
"No problemo, Sonic!" Young Sonic replied with a wink and a thumbs up, to which Sonic returned while the two young foxes gave each other a nod and words about being careful, just as the Wisps flew around the two hedgehogs, making the younger one confused. "Huh? What's up with them?"
Even though Sonic couldn't understand Wisp language either, he had a feeling he knew what they were doing and smiled a little despite that he was still feeling uneasy with burrowing their powers. "I don't speak Wisp, but I bet these little guys want to help us out by lending us their powers for a little while."
The aliens all squealed that the hero of Mobius got it right, much to the Alternate-Mobians' surprise, before a Cyan Wisp flew around Young Sonic.
"And I think they wanna help you get the hang of it too, buddy." The older Sonic added.
"Uh...Me? But I don't know how to do that." The younger Sonic shrugged, feeling a little uneasy and admittedly scared.
Sonic knew what he meant, as he placed a reassuring hand onto his younger, alternate-self's shoulder. "It's okay. Sure it was a little bit scary for me too for a little bit, but it really comes to feeling their emotions and abilities. Just put your mind at ease and you'll be fine."
"Are they gonna be okay?" Young Tails asked his older, alternate-self worriedly.
"Yeah. Using the power of the Hyper-Go-Ons don't last really long and they won't use much anyway." Tails reassured.
"Well...Okay. Guess we'll see you guys later." The eleven year old hedgehog shrugged.
"Later, guys, and be careful." Sonic waved and nodded to the Wisps who returned it before another Cyan Wisp flew around him and to the shock of the Alternate-Mobians, flew right into his chest and Sonic heard Young Sonic cry out his name. The older hedgehog instantly felt the familiar rainbow-like energy flow through out his entire body and while he hoped he wouldn't be using much, he knew what he had to do.
"LASER!"
Transforming into his laser form, Sonic flew away while glowing Cyan and zig-zagged straight towards Eggman's construction site, while Tails was then surrounded by a glowing sphere done by three White Wisps and floated away, waving a goodbye to Young Sonic and Young Tails who both had their eyes wide and their mouths gaped open, their jaws nearly hitting the ground at what they just saw.
"Oh man...That. Was. CRAZY!" Young Sonic exclaimed in shock and awe. "He just turned into a laser!"
"This must how the aliens let the other Sonic use their powers." Young Tails remarked, wondering if he was dreaming.
Before the hero of Alternate-Mobius could respond to that, another Cyan Wisp flew over to him along with a couple of other aliens as they stared at the younger blue hedgehog who began to quickly become nervous despite the reassurance Sonic had given him.
"Uh, w-wait a minute, guys." The eleven year old muttered, taking a couple steps back while holding his hands up in defense, scared of what they were about to do. "I-I'm not ready for thi-AAAH!"
He was cut off and screamed when the Cyan Wisp flew right into his chest and far too close to his heart, causing Young Sonic to squeeze his eyes shut and whimpered as he wasn't expecting this and not sure what to expect. To his surprise, the young blue hedgehog didn't feel any pain as he half-expected, but he felt a light new energy that was lighter than the Chaos Energy from the Chaos Emeralds, a sudden change that made him want to fly and go fast...
"Whoa! LASER!"
Like with Sonic, Young Sonic transformed into a laser form himself and screamed as he flew into the opposite direction to where the Chaos Emerald is supposed to be.
"AH! Wait for me, Sonic!" Young Tails cried out to his older brother, only to be gently carried in a sphere by three more Wisps and then flew straight after him, crying out in alarm as he went.
The search for the final two Emeralds had just began for both teams.
When the Time Eater carried Scourge over into the portal, the place they entered was very unusual with moving gears and red scenery in the background. Though the evil green hedgehog has seen this before, quite a few times actually, so he was familiar with it. Eventually the giant time-eating monster approached a large platform where it gently put the Terror of Moebius down and the green hedgehog stretched out his arms and legs.
"Scourge, there you are!" A familiar man's voice called out from his right, making Scourge to turn and found, to his annoyance yet somewhat relief, Robotnik racing towards him, looking still a bit miffed over being punched, and, strangely and suspiciously, relieved to see him. "I was wondering when you would find me."
"Huh. I didn't expect to see you here waiting, Robotnik. You couldn't fly outta here or somethin'?" Scourge responded as he turned to fully face his partner in crime.
"Erm, actually I was kind of stuck and been pretty busy in building a new machine. So I decided to wait until you and our comrade here would come and find me so we could continue our plan." Robotnik seemingly admitted as he twiddled his fingers and thumbs, before stating in anger. "Although I don't appreciate you punching me all the way out here over your tantrum, young hedgehog."
"Sor-ry." The green hedgehog rolled his eyes, before sighing. "Okay, so it wasn't the brightest move and I do owe you a real apology over that. But let's worry about that later, 'cause we have a major problem and not just Sonic and his alternate self."
"Who else could be a problem besides your other enemies from your world?" The evil scientist questioned, while admittedly surprised that the teenage Moebian did admit he owed him an apology.
Scourge tried not to look hesitant as he thought back to just how close he was in getting killed by Cormain and the fact that both he and Robotnik were at the risk of being sent to the Prison of Evil for the rest of the eternity. He wasn't even willing to admit how he had been swallowed whole along with Sonic by the giant Werehog before the blue hedgehog used a Chaos Emerald to free them both.
"Let's just say that you were right about the Chaos Emeralds. Boy are they powerful?" The green hedgehog shrugged with an evil grin as he walked past the now confused mad doctor. "Especially when Sonic from the other world used two to get rid of a giant Werehog that wanted to eat him for lunch."
"...A giant Werehog?" Robotnik asked, dumbfounded. He had no idea what Scourge was talking about and thought that the Werehog thing was nonsense. "I've never heard of anything utterly ridiculous. There are no such things as a Werewolf, let alone a Werehog."
"Oh yeah? Well, it's too bad that your Eggman-self is gone, 'cause I'm pretty sure that he and especially Sonic would tell you other wise." Scourge paused and grinned over his shoulder, which the smirk itself became even more twisted. "That blue hero had gotten himself swallowed up whole alive and had to use the Chaos Emeralds to get himself back out again. He's not invincible, so he's just as weak."
"And just how did he do that? The Chaos Emeralds do not have that kind of power in-" The evil scientist cut himself off when he realized what he was about to say and his eyes widened behind his glasses. "Wait a minute...does Sonic from the alternate universe know more of their powers?"
"Pretty much. Especially when it allowed him to teleport." The green hedgehog shrugged.
"How did you know that and why didn't you go attack them?" Robotnik questioned darkly, folding his arms. "Clearly you weren't there for sight-seeing considering that you were in a foul mood since we failed to turn those blue hedgehogs into our robotic slaves."
Flinching as he realized his mistake, the evil hedgehog groaned and grumbled since he couldn't get out of this now. "Okay, fine! So that giant Werehog not only has been after Sonic but also feeds off of negative emotions and energy from people with dark hearts, which unfortunately includes me, I couldn't fight that thing no matter how hard I try since it's weakness is supposedly positive energy and emotions, the two Sonics and their new friend who calls himself Sun the Hedgehog who looks just like the three of us but orange in colour, were able to draw it back, it was really strong and even caught me, swallowed me since Sonic somehow recovered and he stupidly let himself get eaten too and used this Chaos Control to get us both out before he used the Emeralds to get rid of it. You happy now?"
"...So this giant Werehog gains it's power through negativity, you suffered the same fate as my other self yet the Sonic from the other world let himself become it's meal as well to save your life before he destroyed it?" Robotnik asked, turning slightly pale in shock at this before grinning. "He just made a big mistake in saving your life. It's clear that you're not invincible yourself, Scourge."
"That's why I need the Sol Emeralds so I will be invincible. If I change history, then I can take control of Moebius. Why idiots like him had to go and do that for me?" Scourge grumbled, sighing as he folded his arms. "Don't they know that once you're eaten, you're good as dead?"
The evil scientist frowned and approached his young ally as he stated what he was suspicious of. "You seem like you have nearly experienced this before."
"Fine, since we're so close in getting what we want even though the stupid heroes almost got all of both sets of the Emeralds, you might as well know." The green hedgehog lowered his gaze in defeat, not wanting to relieve this moment but he did anyway. "One of the reasons why I hate Kinto-butt is because, well...not long after the stupid doctors killed my parents, especially that Finitivus guy who was behind everything, that goody-goody idiot took the last thing I had to a family away from me and betrayed me."
"Who?"
"...Maurice. My little brother."
"I didn't now you had a brother. Is he a fox you and your parents adopted like Sonic did with Tails?" Robotnik was once again surprised.
"No, Maurice is my biological brother and a hedgehog, and I used to have a brother, but he's gone! He's gone and it's all Kintobor's fault! That brat betrayed me, going for his side, yet that spoiled kid craved for attention and tried to get me to stop being who I am! He even had the nerve to congratulate me and Fiona before she died, and then he came after me in the Bamboo Jungle before a dragon almost caught me off-guard and then Maurice...he..." Scourge snapped and trailed off, tears beginning to sting his eyes as he struggled to continue.
Memories of his little brother's death filled his mind despite the betrayal.
"That kid pushed me aside and was eaten by that dragon...He stupidly let himself die by saving me! ME! The Terror of Moebius!" The green hedgehog half-yelled before spinning around and tried to calm down, to forget that event ever happened.
'So that's what he meant. All of this isn't just for his girlfriend, but for his little brother who noblely sacrificed himself to save his life. He's more emotionally weak than I thought.' Robotnik thought in his mind. This could really play out since if Sonic and Young Sonic defeat Scourge, that's when the evil scientist and his new secret allies would make their move.
"I see. You really do want to bring your family back. You do realize that by erasing Dr. Ovi Kintobor from existance, your brother will be by your side and that you would prevent his death, don't you?" The evil scientist pointed out.
"Like I said a millions times all day. Minor inconvinence." Scourge responded, trying not to sniffle as he already had a lot of embarrassing crying episodes since this whole mess started.
Robotnik placed a hand onto the seventeen year old's shoulder. "Yes, but he is also the most important key to how you have come this far. Without him, none of this would be possible. It is because of your brother that you are here and have began to accomplish such amazing feats. His sacrifice will be rewarded. By him saving your life, you were given a chance to keep going and now Sonic from the alternate universe has kept the door open for you."
Even though there was something now suspicious the way his partner was talking to him, Scourge began to realize that Robotnik was right. If Maurice hadn't sacrificed himself to save his older brother's life, not only would the Terror of Moebius had been eaten, he would have also been taken by Cormain much earlier and then imprisoned in the Prison of Evil for the rest of Time itself and then one of this would have happened. Maybe bringing his brother back wouldn't be so bad after all.
"What are you trying to say, doctor?" The green hedgehog questioned.
"What I'm saying is that your brother has played an important role to your destiny, and perhaps he somehow knew that you were going to save him and he finally saw the truth through Kintobor's lies. Erasing that buffoon will prevent him from being eaten and also to bring everyone you cherish back. Especially your dear Fiona." The evil scientist explained as he knelt down to Scourge's height level.
As much as he hated to admit it, Scourge now knew that it made perfect sense. Regardless to how his little brother betrayed him, Red still played the key role in all of this and even though he would still be stuck with that little hedgehog, ruling Moebius would also mean getting not just his dear Fiona back and rescuing her from the Prison of Evil, but also getting his family back even though he still just wanted his lover and be King of his world. Now Sonic made the ultimate mistake in letting him live and saving him instead of just letting him become digested by the giant Werehog-Beast.
"Hate to admit it, but I see your point." Scourge replied, sighing to push back his sorrow and smirked once more at the thought of how the hero of Mobius risked his life to save him. "I can't wait to see the look on Sonic's face when he realizes he made the biggest mistake in his life, right before I kill him and the Sonic you're fighting against."
"You can have Sonic's alternate self, but the one from my world is mine to get rid of and once I erase him, that little pincushion will never have bothered me." Robotnik requested evilly with a large toothy grin.
"Fine by me. Those two won't even know what really hit them, and this time, we're going all the way." The Terror of Moebius waved off, adjusting his sunglasses as he gazed up to the Time Eater. "Even with the Chaos Emeralds, there's no way they'll beat us. Once we catch them off-guard and get the Sol Emeralds, we'll be unstoppable."
That statement made Robotnik worried as he stood up. "You're not thinking of repeating the process with the Roboticizer, are you?"
"Nope. We're going to figure out how to ambush Sonic and his friends, then I'll do what he did. If that blue hedgehog can use the Chaos Emeralds to make himself powerful, then I can do the same with the Sol Emeralds. You once told me that your Sonic used the Emeralds to transform into what he called Super Sonic, right?" Scourge grinned darkly.
"I see. You going to use the Sol Emeralds an attempt to transform into Super Scourge to overpower them." The evil scientist realized, shocked, a bit worried and yet very impressed.
"Bingo!" The green hedgehog exclaimed. "Just imagine that kind of power and we'll be unstoppable! Let's get to work guys, and pretty soon there will not be anymore heroes."
While Robotnik and even the Time Eater, who hovered patiently for the new plan, thought this over, Scourge gazed up above while thinking. 'You think you and your friends will be free and return everything back to normal, Sonic. But once I defeat you and use the power of the Sol Emeralds, you will all be trapped here for all eternity. Well, your friends will be, but you will cease to exist along with your little counterpart. I'll make sure of it.'
What Scourge didn't know was that Robotnik secretly grinned behind his back as his own plan was starting to commence and very soon he will overrun everyone, including the green hedgehog and the echidna clan from Sonic's world. The evil scientist was looking forward to this as nothing was going to stop him.
Back with Sonic and Tails...
After returning to normal around a few minutes after he and Tails approached the construction site and thanking the Wisps that helped them out while the aliens bid farewell before flying away, Sonic and his best friend/little brother quickly made their way through the familiar metal nightmare while managing to see parts of the actual world itself since they were in the outer parts of the place.
"Man, never thought we'd go through Egghead's renovations again." Sonic remarked as he ran while the two-tailed fox flew beside him. "This place is a lot better without it."
"Remember, Sonic. This is from the past. The real Planet Wisp doesn't have it anymore. So by the time we visit the world again once we get home, all of this will be gone for good." Tails reminded him.
"I know what you mean, little buddy. It's just...It's been so crazy visiting our past and going through what we've been through all over again. Green Hill Zone, the Chemical Plant, Metal Sonic even though I haven't fought him this time, Mushroom Forest, Sky Sanctuary, Station Square, the Black Comet, Perfect Chaos, even the Werehog and now this." The blue hedgehog nodded in agreement.
"Sorry I wasn't much of a help this time, Sonic." The nine year old fox sighed, lowering his gaze. "Trying the solve all of this while you're going through our pasts made me think I haven't been useful lately."
The sixteen year old hedgehog glanced at his brother in shock before pointing out. "C'mon, Tails. You've always been a big help. Not only you're really smart, you've always been really brave and super caring. What makes you think you haven't been helping out lately?"
"Maybe it's because I've been losing my courage and...been more focused on my projects that I began to forget what was it like to actually help out in battles." The young cub admitted as he lowered himself onto the floor and gazed low, making the hero of Mobius skid to a stop and looked at the younger Mobian in further shock and confusion. "When I keep seeing you and the other Sonic go through all of these worlds, and when I first met my other self, it call came flooding back to me. Then I figured...after I saved Station Square from Eggman's missile, I thought I finally got one step closer to be just like you. I thought that I could go out there and do what you could do and when we teamed up with Knuckles to stop Metal Sonic, I thought I was getting a lot better..."
More than that, Tails felt more discouraged by the fact of his own lack of skills ever since that time and then things just...went downhill not long before the Black Arms attacked.
"But I guess I was wrong. Ever since Black Doom came, I was scared, so I tried to distract myself by doing what I normally would, to upgrade all of my Tornado designs for air-combat, making the Sea-Mask for future underwater trials, that I lost sight of actually going out there to be like you in battle and on adventures. I couldn't fight those Dark Gaia monsters even though I didn't have the heart to do it, and I helped out a little bit right here, plus our adventures in Isalenna and even against Julian and the S.N.A.K.E.S organization with the Sun Stone, I thought everything would be alright especially on birthday...Now all of this happened and I'll have been doing was trying to research on all of this so we could all go back home...!" Tails continued, slowly losing his battle to not cry in frustration, guilt and sorrow.
"Tails..." Sonic whispered, feeling his heart break upon seeing his little brother react this way as he began to feel responsible for the young kit's situation. He slowly approached the two-tailed fox and asked. "Why didn't you tell me? I could've done anything to help ya'."
"Because...because I can't rely on you forever, not that I don't want you to be with me. I'm not a little kid anymore, and yet...I've been so useless, I couldn't even fully help you to recover from your own trauma, I couldn't afford to talk to you about my own problems. Not this time. Not anymore...! Plus I know that-that you like to go on adventures and I was so happy that you were back to your normal-self, but going through this and having to confront the Werehog again...I almost lost you that way!" The nine year old confessed, tears falling free even as he tried to wipe them away, but they refused to stop and kept escaping from his eyes.
"Oh, buddy..." The blue hedgehog began to tear up now himself, as everything his little brother said not only made him feel guilty for not helping him like he should due to his own problems and he really appreciated his and everybody else's supports when they were there for him during the two months of mental torture like he always had with them, he realized that he really taken them all for granted even before the Dark Gaia crisis, but he also remembered the alternate reality where he transformed into a Werehog...and in that same world, another Sonic and another Tails went through the trauma of their relationship crumbling due to Eggman's actions with six evil aliens, who had partially roboticized the young cub who had managed to remove the mind-control part before successfully de-roboticizing himself, proving to be more capable than the evil scientist.
Despite five months of reconnecting with his family since that day, the sixteen year old came to a horrible conclusion that they had been drifting further apart because they hadn't spent more time together, and he had been fearing for their safeties, especially his adoptive little brother, he hadn't even realized that he hadn't been trusting them enough to be like him.
Unable to help it, Sonic pulled Tails into a tightening and desperate embrace to which the young fox, unable to help himself either, returned it and the two tearful brothers cried.
"I'm sorry...! I'm so sorry, little buddy! If only I knew...If only I...If only I haven't been so busy feeling down for myself, I would've...I would've been there for you like I should've been..." Sonic sobbed, desperately hugging his crying little brother, gently swaying him from side to side. "I should've...been there to help you...to support you...to realize that you''ve grown up so fast ever since we met...It's all my fault...! I'm...I'm a horrible best friend and big brother..."
"No, you're not..." Tails shook his head, crying. "You've always...been there for me. Ever since...Ever since the Black Arms attacked, I've become a coward...! I'm only brave...whenever you're around...!"
"Hey, hey. That's not true. I should've asked if you wanted me to train you more, I should've been there. I just assumed that everybody was okay and that was a mistake on my part, and I'm truly deeply sorry." Sonic tearfully replied, sniffling. "You're not a coward, Tails. You never were. The real cowards are Eggman, his Ro-butt-nik self and even his own brother, Julius...If anything, I've been a much bigger coward. But it's you and everybody else who keep me going, to keep me on my toes even though it doesn't always work out due to my own arrogance and ignorance."
Tails looked at his older brother, his sapphire blue eyes becoming a bit puffy red with tears and all the crying. "Why do you say that you're a coward, Sonic?"
The teenage blue hedgehog smiled sadly, "Well, for one thing, I can't swim and I don't like getting wet. But that's nothing new. Everybody has a phobia over something."
"Then there's me with my fear of lightning...I should've gotten over it by now." The two-tailed fox chuckled slightly, relaxing a little when Sonic gently rubbed him on the back of the head.
"Maybe someday you will. I know it isn't easy, and I'll always be there as best as I can during those times." Sonic replied, before sighing. "Then there are...other fears that I can't get over and even now they still scare me."
"You mean like...losing me and everybody else, and Eggman winning...and the Werehog?" Tails correctly guessed.
Sonic shrugged. "All that and...I'm scared of myself. Especially with what I'm capable of doing with the Chaos Emeralds and now the Sol Emeralds. But that's no excuse with how I've been treating you or the others lately because of what happened five months ago, mainly due to Eggman being his usual self. For that, I am deeply sorry."
"How can you blame yourself for me losing myself and working on projects to forget instead of training to be tougher for future battles?" The young fox hugged the blue hedgehog more tightly, resting his head on his brother's shoulder.
"Because I just assumed...I should've tried harder...You can do things I can't, having more patience that I ever did. You can build a lotta cool things for good, build airplanes from scratch and fix them up that put professionals out of their job, you can fly with your two tails, decode stuff that I wouldn't have a clue of doing without getting a headache, even things that Eggman probably can't do. Not only that, you're sweet, humble, brave, kind and caring...heck, you even learned how to use a Spin Dash like me. Don't ever think that you're useless, Tails. I know you're not." The hero of Mobius responded, gently resting his muzzle on top of his little brother's head.
Tails sniffled as he giggled, before teasingly said. "Well, I've made a TV out of paper clips, and I've reprogrammed a super computer with a toothpick and laundry detergent."
That made Sonic chuckle. "See? There's no doubt what so ever. Besides, you and I have been doing a lot of things the last few months since Eggman died...or rather, gotten himself permanently stuck in the Prison of Evil. Remember that sticky gum stuff you created that was meant for his robots but it came in handy when we fought against that stupid cleaner in Tesrod Village? That worked like a charm!"
Flash-Back: During the events of "Sonic in Between"...
Sonic nodded with a smile, and while he still feared for their and Tails' safeties, he was really proud all three of them. He turned his attention back to Jeromony who was still reeling from the sudden attacks, and informed his friends. "We've gotta get that Scepter away from his sight."
"I have an idea! Leave the blind-shot to me!" Tails called out, and at the confused murmurs, the young kit pushed a button on the panel. The bottom of the plane behind the repellers opened up and revealed some kind of small cannon that was not in the way or in any danger of taking the plane down, aimed at the giant wolf.
"Target locked on...Rocket away!" The fox cub shouted, pushing the button again. The small cannon fired a small rocket which shot out straight towards Jeromony who looked up to glare at the group, only for his eyes to widen as when he attempted to use the Scepter to blast them, the rocket exploded into dust and was replaced by a huge blue gum-like stuff that spread out and completely covered the giant wolf's face as though he'd burst a bubblegum and can't get it off since it was too sticky.
"Whoa!" Gavin exclaimed in disbelief.
"What's that gum?" Chloe asked, amazed.
Sonic let out an impressed whistle, smirking as he couldn't help but joke. "Guess that was a cool sticky situation. When'd you built that, Tails?"
"It's a special blinding gum that can only be washed off by water or rain. I haven't given it a name yet, but I made it in case we had a situation with Eggman's robots. I thought it'd be a good idea to distract him in cause he controlled a giant robot again, but since he's gone, there was no need." The younger Mobian explained sheepishly.
"Well, I'd say it sure came in handy now, Eggman or no Eggman." The blue hedgehog chuckled with a shrug, laughing as Jeromony was having trouble seeing and in the midst of trying to get the gum off of his face, his left hand got stuck in the sticky goo that he ended up repeatedly slapping himself in the face.
End of Flash-Back:
Tails couldn't help but laugh over that memory. "Yeah, right before Jeromony ended up shrinking after you destroyed the Scepter. It was pretty funny that he kept on hitting himself while trying to get it off."
"Yep, it sure was, li'l bro!" Sonic chuckled, snickering over the memory as well. "My point is that you're way more smarter than anybody I've ever seen. If not the smartest guy in the universe."
The two deeply-bonded brothers laughed until they settled down and gazed at each other with warm, brotherly-love smiles.
"Thanks, big bro. Knowing that you're here, I...I always feel reassured. Guess everything's been more crazy in the last couple of years." The two-tailed fox nodded, as he and the blue hedgehog nuzzled into each other's arms and he smiled wider when the older Mobian gently gave him another kiss on the head. "Maybe it's because I've been going through what you've been through."
"Yeah, maybe everybody's so traumatized that we've been trying to recover without making things worse. But hey, we're family. We'll pull through. I promise." The hero of Mobius said. "I love you, buddy."
"I love you too, buddy." The young kit replied.
Sonic and Tails then gazed at each other with warm smiles as the former gently wiped away the latter's tears, while the younger Mobian did the same for the blue hedgehog. At that moment, they both felt they were just as close as they had ever been and more than happy to have been brought together in each other's lives.
Their moment of bonding however was then interrupted when the two brothers then heard the unwelcoming familiar clanking and turned quickly to see, to their annoyance, robotic Egg Pawns began to approach them and to the blue hedgehog, he felt another case of deja vu. Sonic and Tails glared at the four robots that began to advance with lasers and axes ready to destroy them, before the two Mobians smirked as they shared a glance.
"Looks like these guys are just begging to be scrapped by the best bro-duo in the universe!" The hero of Mobius jokingly commented. "Ready to take these bot-heads on, partner?"
Even though the young fox still felt a bit bad, knowing that this time he was by the blue hedgehog's side to actually fight again, he nodded with some of his own confidence returning. "I'm ready when you are, big bro!"
The Egg Pawns then opened fire at the duo who quickly dodged it and repeatedly done so while Sonic then Spin Dashed into one of them, knocking them off with his trade-mark smirk and chuckling before kicking it right in the head and flipped. Tails flew and dodged the lasers from another Egg Pawn and, despite not having fought lately, he still remembered back when he, his older brother and Knuckles teamed up and their adventures in Isalenna as well as Soleanna, turning around and using his namesakes to smack the robot on the head and kicking it in the chest, leaving it no chance for it to attack even further.
When the two remaining robots aimed to fire, the two Mobians quickly dodged out of the way again before they noticed a large beam above their heads and, the blue hedgehog having the same idea as he did when he was on the real Planet Wisp, chuckled. Sonic and Tails then shared a nod and the former Spin Jumped while the latter flew, both dodging more of the attacks from the two Egg Pawns and once they were high enough, they clasped hands and did their Double Spin Attack both at three more Egg Pawns that appeared near another platform near it while taking them out and then at the beam hanging on the thick wiring which snapped and then fell straight towards the robots below. The two machines looked up and if they had eyes, they would widen but they did sweat drop worriedly right before they were both crushed by the heavy piece of metal that landed in a thunderous crush and dust flying everywhere.
"Yeah!" Sonic cheered as he and Tails stopped their attack and shared a high-five in mid-air.
"Alright!" The two-tailed fox happily exclaimed, before he quickly grabbed hold of the blue hedgehog's left hand and flew up to another platform while Sonic held on, feeling another case of deja vu.
"Heh, this is just like old times, huh?" The sixteen year old remarked fondly.
Confused at first, the nine year old then realized what his adoptive big brother meant and smiled with a nod as he also remembered that this was how their previous adventures went before they ventured into Station Square. From their first adventure, to their adventures on Angel Island and everything. For that moment, Tails began to feel that like Sonic, he just needed to regain his confidence by doing what he used to do and let go of all of the fears and doubts within himself.
Once Tails gently set Sonic onto the higher platform after flying over parts of the construction site the latter hadn't been to before, they explored the higher parts while taking out more of the Egg Pawns and other robots the hero of Mobius fought the last time. Sonic then jumped and grind his way down the grind rails to the lower ground while Tails flew right behind him, flipping and avoiding any surprise attacks while rescuing the Pink Spikes Wisps that were, to their dismay, once again locked up in those small capsules, with the little aliens grateful for their herosim...except for one who eyed them suspiciously.
"Hey, long time no see." Sonic greeted with a wave, only to flinch as he and Tails saw that the single Spikes Wisp that stared at them looked angry and once again the hero of Mobius felt another deja vu, this time a really bad one which made the two brothers nervous.
Especially when the single pink alien began to seemingly make it's spikes sharper, much to the concern of the blue hedgehog, the two-tailed fox and the other two Wisps who, despite also being suspicious, gazed at their friend worriedly.
"Wait! We're not here to hurt you!" The cobalt speedster cried out, holding his hands up in defense. "My best friend and I just saved you guys!"
But the little alien refused to listen and like the last time the sixteen year old saved these kind of Wisps, it charged straight towards him and his best friend/little brother who both screamed in panic and ducked just in time, causing the cute pink Wisp to end up crashing right into the wall of the corner the two Mobians had came from. It wailed and squealed in frustration as it attempted to get it's head out so it could attack again, this time not willing to miss.
"It's gonna be okay, little guy. It's me, Sonic! With Tails!" Sonic pleadingly informed the poor stuck alien, while the other two Wisps flew over to help their sibling out, while the blue hedgehog and the young kit stood up worriedly and nervously. "We saved you from Baldy McNosehair! We're here to save you again!"
"He's right. We're your friends. You can trust us." Tails added while pulling out his Miles Electric for translation.
Thankfully the other two Spikes Wisps who had managed to pull the third one free, seemingly remembering the last time even though they were just from Sonic and Tails' memories and past, spoke to their hostile fellow alien to reassure it that the two Mobians were indeed their friends and that they had rescued all three of them from the capsule. Even though the single Spikes Wisp still attempted to protest, once it saw the blue hedgehog and the young fox cub not do anything but to stand there with soft expressions, it finally began to settle and then realized that they were indeed friends.
But before it could apologize, the three Wisps saw something behind the two adoptive brothers and frantically pointed behind them. Sonic and Tails, hearing more clanking noises, spun around quickly and leaped back just in time to avoid getting stabbed by the Bee Bots that appeared out of nowhere and hovered threateningly at all five of them, much to the hero's sheer annoyance.
"These guys really have bad timing whenever we're with each other and our friends!" The blue hedgehog hissed, preparing to fight them when the Spikes Wisps flew over around him and the two-tailed fox who gazed at them in confusion, the three little aliens squealing while gesturing at themselves before pointing at the teenager who, realizing what the wanted, asked. "You wanna lend me your powers to fight these things?"
"That's exactly what they want. They want to help by letting you use their Hyper-Go-Ons." The nine year old kit said after quickly translating on what the Wisps were saying, as the three aliens nodded to confirm it.
While Sonic hesitated before he and his friends were forced to quickly dodge the robots that charged at them to try and destroy the group, he knew that there was no other choice despite that he was capable of taking these guys out, but at the same time he knew that the Wisps wanted to help and squeezed his eyes shut, conflicted on whether he should do so or not.
"Alright. Let's do it!" Sonic finally responded, and the Spikes Wisp trio nodded before merging themselves right into his body and he braced himself while attempting to try and will himself to allow the aliens to lend him their powers, hovering a little while glowing pink in aura.
"SPIKES!"
Transforming into his Spikes form, the blue hedgehog then spun all over the place while hitting and attacking the Bee Bots who attempted to attack him and Tails who used Spin Dash to fight back, the two brothers taking out their enemies even as the hero of Mobius spun repeatedly while in this form like before. Like a couple of pinballs in pinball games, they hit every single robot and the reinforcements that came at the signal for trying to kill the two young Mobians. It wasn't long before Sonic and Tails defeated the enemies before landing safely on the floor once again and the former returning to normal with the three pink Wisps flying out of his chest and all five of them cheered while sharing another high-five.
Then the single Spikes Wisp that attacked the two earlier then hovered over with a slightly guilt-ridden and apologetic stare, fiddling with it's tentacles while speaking. " #&%& ^ %#^#^$ ..."
"He's saying, "Sorry that I attacked you guys. I thought you were with Baldy Nosehair and I forgot it was you who saved us"." Tails translated while feeling sorry for the little alien.
"It's okay, little guy. It was just a misunderstanding. We're not gonna hold a grudge." Sonic responded to the little alien, smiling softly. He then gently rubbed and stroked the little alien's face which it surprisingly enjoyed before the pink Wisp and the other two aliens flew over and began to nuzzle him and the two-tailed fox who both laughed at the tickling sensation and affection.
Sadly, their bonding moment was again interrupted, this time by a familiar voice speaking out throughout the air via an intercom. "Attention guests! If you can hear this message, you are tresspassing in an area still under renovation. If you are not a robot, please return to the main park areas and ignore any evil you may have seen here. Thank you."
That just made the group severely irritated and annoyed as they glared up at the building they were all currently traversing through to find the Sol Emerald.
"Ugh...I was hoping to never hear Egghead's lame speeches ever again." Sonic groaned in disgust, facepalming himself.
"Looks like it was too good to be true. At least in our case." Tails sighed in agreement.
"Some displacement of indigenous aliens and destruction of natural resources may occur. Eggman Enterprises not responsible." The intercom blared again, this time very fast which made the blue hedgehog sigh and shrug in exasperation and the two-tailed kit to shake his head while the three Wisps glared up at the sky angrily due to what the evil scientist had done to them, their friends, mother and world.
Deciding to forget about the stupid intercoms, Sonic and Tails said their goodbyes to the three Wisps who thanked them again before flying away, while the two best friends hurried to continue their search for the Sol Emerald as they knew that it was the last one to be found in order to restore Star back to normal as well as figure out a way how to stop Scourge, Robotnik, the Time Eater and the Cormain while hoping that Young Sonic and Young Tails would find the last Chaos Emerald needed along with the other six to defeat the two giant monsters once and for all.
But just as the two were heading inside the construction site, to their shock and dismay everything around them distorted and warped once again.
"Not again!" The sixteen year old grunted as he and his little brother then quickly held hands to make sure they would get separated as they ran and flew while hoping that wherever they would end up in Scourge's world they would get ambushed by the evil green hedgehog or Robotnik again.
But when the distortion stopped and they were in a new area, the place they found themselves in made them gasp in horrified shock as Sonic skid to a stop while Tails landed next to him on his right. Where they were, it was an entire city completely in ruins and somewhat aged and crumbling. Skyscrapers that were slanted with broken windows and dangerously on the edge of falling over, roadways that were broken, burnt with wrecked cars and other vehicles, some that were burned and sliced in half and in pieces, dust everywhere with the air so thick that it was almost smothering and almost unbreathable, dark skies with no blue or sunlight, and even the clouds were almost pitchblack, and the only lifeforms around where the two Mobians who stood there, unable to believe such devastation the laid right before their eyes.
"...Suddenly, I don't feel so great..." Sonic muttered shakily, feeling sick to his stomach, his heart dropping and he felt like he was about to have a panic attack. "This place is in ruins!"
"Man...this is just too horrible." Tails shivered, rubbing his arms as he couldn't help but whimper while the two-tailed fox and the blue hedgehog, who gently wrapped his arm around the young cub's shoulders to comfort him, walked slowly down the ruined road and through the destroyed city.
"What could have caused all of this?" The cobalt teenager asked as he tried to remain calm. "This is...this is like out of my worst nightmares, only it's the real thing. Are we even in Moebius, or someplace else now?"
It was worse than the time when Perfect Chaos destroyed most of Station Square, only without floods and a giant water god-like monster that used the negative power of the Chaos Emeralds. It also reminded Sonic too much of the nightmare he had of the giant Werehog-Beast eating Eggman before going for the blue hedgehog himself.
Tails gulped while looking around before a realization formed in his mind. "We could be...and it also could be that where in the future of Moebius that Silver comes from, one where everything's almost completely gone!"
"So that's why everything's like this! This is Silver's future!?" Sonic exclaimed in horror, looking around before cringing. "No wonder. This is even worse than I thought. We gotta help him to change history and prevent this disaster from happening."
"To do that, we have to prevent Dr. Kintobor from being exposed to the negative power of the Sol Emeralds, and stop Scourge and the other villains and monsters in order to get back home." The nine year old cub reminded, making the sixteen year old hedgehog lower his gaze, reminded of just how dangerous the Sol Emeralds can really be.
"You're right, Tails. I just hope it'll be enough." The blue hero muttered, sighing. "To think that I used to joke about how Eggman turned evil with an experiment gone wrong that made him who he is now even before he died. I...I didn't think that it was a possiblity but in another dimension and with...with Dr. Kintobor who's proven that he's a really nice guy, the total opposite of Robotnik."
"It's not your fault, Sonic. Nobody knew about any of this, at least back in our world or in our other selves' world either." Tails reassured.
"Yeah, but it's still horrible, though. To think that Cormain started all of this even through Space and Time. I'm starting to think that he was sent to an alternate dimension that was more closer here than back at home." Sonic sighed, running a hand through his quills. "It doesn't make sense, though. If Dr. Nega is Kintobor's future-self and turned evil, why would he ask Silver to try and stop Scourge?"
"It does sound really strange. But I don't think we have time to figure it out. We have to get back to Planet Wisp and find the last Sol Emerald."
"Good point. First, we gotta get outta here." Sonic declared, knowing that the couldn't stay in this horrible future that was merging with the pasts and presents of all three realities and threatening every other reality out there the two Time Eaters and Cormain were attempting to destroy.
But before they could do that, all of the sudden the ground began to shake violently which made both of them lose their balance as they fell onto their knees while crying out in alarm. The earth continued to shake as buildings began to topple over and fall. Sonic noticed this and gasped in horror before he scooped up Tails bridal style and ran out of the way while the two-tailed fox screamed and held on for dear life, both of them easily avoiding in getting crushed by the now fallen building that landed in a crush and crumbling the road even further.
The fastest thing alive didn't stop as the road continued to crumble, making it far too dangerous to stand around here. Sonic leaped and jumped as more buildings threatened to fall and he hopped over the ruined cars that shook due to the impact of whatever was happening beside the fact that he and Tails thought it was an earthquake. But the cracking sounds the two Mobians heard behind them even as they were getting into the safe distance made them think otherwise. When the blue hedgehog skid to a quick stop, he and his adoptive brother gasped in shock and disbelief as a massive, giant black worm-like creature emerged from the ruined road. It had a tan underbelly with orange markings on it's body that seemed to glow like fire, a huge mouth as it roared and stared to the distance where the two young heroes stood, their eyes widened, their irisis shaking and their mouths gaped open in horror.
"Sonic...?" Tails shivered.
"Yes?" Sonic replied.
"Now's a good time to either run or fight this...whatever this giant worm is!" The two-tailed fox couldn't help but scream out.
The Colossal Worm roared once more before it charged while causing more distraction, horrifically chomping at the road and swallowing up cars whole as it seemed to be looking for an easy meal.
"Yeah...We're outta here!" The blue hedgehog declared quickly, even though he was willing to fight it but not with the risk of his little brother being put into danger and that there could be more of it.
Sonic then turned and ran away with Tails in his arms while the giant black worm gave chase, gulping down and smashing everything in it's path while it attempted to have the flesh and blood of the two Mobians that were trying to escape. It even breathed out fire at them, but the blue hedgehog quick-stepped out of the way at every turn, yelping as the flames came close to the heels of his shoes.
"Now I know why Silver's scared of flames!" Sonic exclaimed with a sweat drop.
Tails also sweat drop as he added in agreement. "These guys are evil giant glow-worms incarnated!"
"Not sure if that's a joke, li'l buddy, but for once, now's not a good time for-AAAHH!" The blue hedgehog cut himself off with a scream as the ground shook and up ahead emerging from the ground was some kind of fiery monsters with four legs and seem to be covered in molten lava. He skid to a stop and landed himself and his two-tailed fox companion, who also screamed in fear, in the middle of the road clearing.
The group of monsters, around a number of at least six, blocked their exit as the two heroes were shocked and horrified beyond belief.
"Who invited you to the party!?" Sonic asked the monsters, before he and Tails looked over their shoulders and gasped as the giant worm began to gain on them.
"...Either this is where we have to really fight, or this is it for us." Tails gulped despite that he tried not to panic so much.
"At this stage, we have no choice but to fight our way out." The teenage hero declared, gently setting his little brother down as he narrowed his eyes at the monsters that aimed to kill them even as the giant worm was getting closer and closer to them while the six lava-monsters crept closer for the kill.
Despite the fear they were both feeling, they steeled themselves before the nine year old fox had an idea, and quickly whispered said plan into Sonic's ear, which the blue hedgehog grinned and whispered back with a thumbs up. "Gotcha."
Just as the lava monsters lunged for an attack, Sonic and Tails both quickly jumped and flew up to avoid them before the latter grabbed hold of the former's wrists and flew over as high as he could and then called out. "Ready!"
"Get set!" Sonic added as he smirked.
"GO!" The two Mobians shouted as Tails tossed Sonic straight towards the monsters while the blue hedgehog spun in midair using his Homing Attack to hit every single monster with Tails spinning into another Spin Dash, the two of them hitting the enemies who roared and wailed in pain as they they attempted to attack the two but were unable to do so.
When they then saw that the giant worm was much closer now, Sonic and Tails both quickly landed on the ground and while they held each other's hands, they raced around the weakened monsters that attempted to get him and did a super double whirlwind that collected dust, a bit of debris and the six lava beasts into the air as the beasts squealed in pain and agony while getting very dizzy. The blue hedgehog and the two tailed fox then jumped right into it while mindful of not getting spun themselves, punching and kicking three monsters each straight towards the Colossal Worm who opened it's mouth right open and rather than snapping it's jaws at the two heroes, it instead sucked in the six monsters and gulped them down whole, which disgusted the duo as they had expected the inside of the thing to be non-flamable.
Wasting no time, they then attacked this thing while it was busy eating the lava monsters, striking at it's belly with a series of axe-kicks and Spin Attacks as well as Homing Attacks with Sonic using his boost to help increase his speed and strength. The giant worm shrieked in pain and agony while reeling back as while this thing was very tough on the skin and Sonic and Tails cried out as they were bounced back before hitting the ground hard, wincing, they looked up to see that it was falling over and collapsed onto the ground with another shake.
"Let's bail!" Sonic cried out, his little brother nodding in agreement before the blue hedgehog picked him up and made a beeline for it with the worm monster busy attempting to recover as well as trying not to spit out the lava monsters it had eaten up.
By the time the giant black worm recovered, both Mobians were already gone.
Once they made it to a bit of a safe place by hiding in an empty building that appeared to be once a hospital while making sure that no other monsters could find them as they hidden themselves in one of the patient wards, they sighed in relief before Sonic placed Tails onto the ruined but surprisingly still intact recovery bed and checked for any signs of injuries.
"You okay, Tails?" Sonic whispered, a little too afraid to raise his voice just in case there were more of those mysterious, horrible monsters that were lingering around.
"I'm fine. Maybe a couple of scratches and a sore head and butt, but nothing serious." Tails reassured, rubbing his head where he hit the ground. "Good thing it's not enough to give me a concussion."
"Well, try not to fall asleep, okay? Can't take too many chances." The teenage hedgehog instructed firmly as he looked around for anything to help his little brother for his injuries.
Despite that he wanted to reassure his older brother again that he was fine, the firm look in the hedgehog's emerald green eyes made him silent and just nodded. Seeing this however made the hero of Mobius lower his gaze in guilt, giving up on looking any medical equipment since it was all most likely gone due to 200 years of the world being in ruins in this future of Moebius that it was also taken into the White Space, and instead took a seat next to the two-tailed fox's right.
"I'm sorry, bro. Didn't mean to sound so rough on ya'." Sonic muttered, sighing. "To think that today was supposed to be the happiest day of our lives turned into a time and space nightmare. Sure some good things had happened but the rest of it..."
He closed his eyes as he felt so horrible, continuing. "All of this mess started with an evil echidna from a dimension that no longer exists, so that he could get revenge on other versions of me and Knuckles."
"You weren't rough, big bro. Sure I'm fine, but, it is a good idea to not fall asleep just in case. You're just looking out for me like you always do, because we're brothers, and we'll get through this." Tails said reassuringly.
"Yeah...but, that's not all that scares me. I...I guess I'm still scared on what might happen and I still can't get the image of what I saw in that crumbling world out of my head. I'd never forgive myself if anything happened to you, but at the same time, I can't just keep you away from the world. It's not easy being a big brother." Sonic replied, gazing at his adoptive young sibling. "Don't get me wrong, I love being your brother, and I love you so much. I...I just want us to be together and everything to return to normal so we could all go home."
"It's not easy being a little brother, either. And I hate to admit it, but...I'm still really scared. Sure I'm more mature and smart when it comes to mindsets, but let's face it, I'm still just a kid, having barely turned nine and I'll always be younger than you, no matter how old I get." Tails shrugged with a sad smile.
The blue hedgehog couldn't help but chuckle in agreement, sniffling as he pointed out. "Well, I only just turned sixteen today, and I'm still a teenager. Yet I still act the same as I always been, just maturing a little bit ever since the whole Dark Gaia festo."
The two-tailed fox giggled. "Well, it's like you said to Shadow earlier. Not everybody wants to be a boring grown up. Unless your name is Knuckles and Espio."
That made the two brothers laugh at that thought, especially since they had three friends who were too mature for their age and tended to be such party poopers and not being any fun a lot of times; Knuckles and Espio both fitted in. They would count Shadow, but he was already an adult, well into his mid fifties despite being the ultimate life-form and looking the same as he had been since he was created, psychically a teenager like Sun, except the orange hedgehog was made a real Mobian due to Sonic's love for him and Light Gaia's light.
"Sonic. I don't think you should be worrying about what happens in other realities, but it is important to save them as well as ours and the other two worlds. There is a reason why dimensions never been interacted in the first place. I think it's to ensure that everybody keeps on making their own choices, whether they're good or bad." Tails stated after he and the blue hedgehog settled down. "The fact remains that our Eggman is gone, so we won't be going through what happened in the other worlds either."
Even though he still felt a little bit uneasy, Sonic smiled warmly as he knew that his best friend/little brother was right and nodded. "Yeah, you're right, Tails. When we get home, we'll make sure to never venture up into that crumbling world if it does exist and enjoy our new peace and freedom that we were given and fight off any other bad guys that want to cause trouble."
"And another thing, I don't think that world even exists. From what I'm understanding, there were no signs of Decoe, Bocoe and Bokkun in that world, right?"
Blinking in realization, Sonic thought back to the world he'd seen before answering. "Hey, now that you mentioned it, that's a good point. I didn't see Mom, Dad or Uncle Chuck anywhere, or even Chris or Star, and especially not Sun, either. And...didn't Sun mention something about three half-giant aliens, one was red, another was fat and yellow with a serious need of a diet and a shorter one with a staff?"
"Right, those were Zavok, Master Zik and Zomom as he mentioned, before Sun defeated them for good and they were never seen again. Especially since the gateway to the Twilight Cage is permanently closed up." The two-tailed fox explained. "Their world was also crumbling from what he mentioned."
Sonic softly gasped as he realized he forgot about that and turned to Tails with his eyes wide. "So that means that world really was real, except there was only three of them and half of that stuff already happened, but with Dr. Starline and Sun and not me and Eggman. So that crumbling world I saw above Mobius in the other universe is..."
The nine year old fox nodded, finishing for the blue hedgehog. "The Lost Hex. Trapped in the Twilight Cage for all eternity."
"Huh..." The sixteen year old blinked, before scratching the top of his head as he muttered. "Good thing we missed out on that one. Wonder if Sun remembers those creeps."
"Probably, but either way, now we know that what happened there will never happen to us."
Sonic sighed in relief. "And now I'm ever so glad that Eggman never encountered those guys. Maybe like Kaiser, they're already...well, what that guy ended up being."
"Maybe...But my point being is that our lives ended up different in every reality. Like our younger selves where Sonic's parents ended up in the Prison of Evil, and vise versa." Tails responded.
"Right. Guess we're one of the luckier realities, all things considered." The blue hedgehog agreed, nodding with determination. "And we're going to save all of them, one way or another. We've made it this far, and there's no way I'm going to quit now. Besides, I've never been one to quit anyway."
"And I'm never giving up on believing in you, Sonic. We're all in this together, whether it's psychically or spiritfully." The nine year old fox agreed with his own confidence coming back.
The two smiled at each other once more and Sonic placed an arm around Tails' shoulders in a brotherly hug.
"Thanks for cheering me up and making me feel better." Tails whispered.
"Same to you, bud. It's what brothers are for." Sonic whispered back.
Just then, their ears twitched when they suddenly heard muffled banging sounds coming from outside of the room which Sonic had, somewhat with some difficulty, closed the door of the room to ensure that they were both safe for the time being, as well as rapid footsteps coming straight towards the ward. The blue hedgehog and the two-tailed fox froze and remained silent, before Sonic slid off the bed and stood protectively in front of his companion, steeling himself for another monster attack.
But when the door was yanked open, the two Mobians were surprised that it was Young Sonic, Young Tails and Silver, who was carried by the young blue hedgehog with shockingly serious injuries, bursting into the room before the young two-tailed fox slammed the door shut, all three of them panting as though they had outrun a hungry dragon...or rather in this future alternate world's case, giant hungry, fire-breathing worms.
"Oh man, that was close..." The eleven year old hedgehog breathed, before gazing at the future hedgehog he carried in his arms despite being a bit smaller. "How are you doing, Silver?"
"...All things considered, I've had worse." The silver hedgehog grunted, hissing in pain as he felt like he'd been bashed several times before being nearly cooked.
"Sonic? Tails? Silver?" Sonic and Tails both asked in shocked unison, getting the attention of both of their younger, alternate-selves as well as Silver who all looked up and were just as surprised to see them.
"Huh? Where'd you guys come from?" Young Sonic asked, his eyes wide as he, his best friend/little brother and the hedgehog from this horrific future world were all bewildered.
"It's a long story, but let's worry about that later." The older blue hedgehog replied as he and Tails hopped off the bed and hurried to the other two hedgehogs while the four year old fox, making sure that they were safe, joined them quickly.
"You're right, Sonic. Silver's really hurt badly!" Young Tails softly exclaimed.
"Oh man! He's got about at least 20 degree burns and serious cuts and bruises. We're going to have to search this place for any surviving medical equipment." Tails softly exclaimed in horror as he, while not a medical doctor, quickly analyzed Silver's injuries.
"There's some in a couple of floors down the corridor. I used to come here for emergency surviving replies that Dr. Nega would make all the time." The injured fourteen year old hedgehog helpfully supplied, lowering his gaze with a look of guilt, disbelief and utter betrayal.
That sight on his future friend's face made Sonic's blood run cold as he began to fear on what the others were about to say. He pushed aside those feelings and instead carefully relieved his younger, alternate-self by taking Silver into his arms and then gently placed him onto the bed where he laid for much needed rest.
"There ya go, pal. Take it easy, okay." Sonic whispered, full of worry as he gently caressed the silver hedgehog's super long and sticking up quills.
"T-Thanks, Sonic. Both of you, I mean." Silver responded, hissing and wincing in pain.
Sonic stared at his friend a bit longer, feeling guilty for not being there even though he knew that Silver the Hedgehog was capable of looking after himself, especially in an environment where everything was completely destroyed. He had to hand it to the future Moebian, the guy was very tough and brave to have survived for this long yet longing to live in a world that was similar to Red and Blaze's, but probably more like Mobius.
"What happened?" The cobalt hedgehog turned to the Alternate-Mobians who looked just as horrified and guilty, if not shocked on what they had been through.
"Guys, we've got some bad news. Like, mega-mondo bad news." Young Sonic began, scratching the top of his head. "Looks you and that Vector guy were right and we're in serious trouble."
"What do you meant?" Tails asked, worriedly.
What he and Sonic heard next made their hearts stop.
"It's Dr. Kintobor and Blaze, and the Sol Emeralds that Sonic from your world found...they've been captured and kidnapped by Dr. Nega!" Young Tails said.
That sent shock waves into Sonic and Tails as they both had their eyes widened in horror.
Suddenly the situation has gotten from bad to worse.
A/N: Just when Sonic was about to find the last Sol Emerald, disaster strikes as Dr. Nega from the future suddenly makes an attack, which will be revealed in the next chapter as, like with chapters 11 and 12, Young Sonic's side of this will be shown before we continue the quest for the last said emerald as well as the last Chaos Emerald. Plus the scene with Sonic and Tails' flash-back is set in the fourth chapter of "Sonic in Between".
Also, I've based a few things from a couple of games for this story in this chapter.
1: The part with Sonic and Tails are together fighting robots and the flight patterns is based on the new gameplay feature in the upcoming remake Sonic Colors: Ultimate.
2: The giant Colossal Worm is from the DS game Sonic Chronicles(which the Twilight Cage is also from), but the reason why this worm can breathe fire will be revealed either in the next chapter or the chapter after that, depending on how things go.
See you later!
