When Sally opened her eyes, she wasn't standing in the metal corridor.
She was in the middle of a desolate plain. Absolutely no vegetation could be seen for miles. Dust filled wind whipped at her clothes and hair. The sky was colored a light grey, bleak and lifeless.
In the distance was what looked like the ruins of a city. Sally peered at said ruins until a lightbulb ignited in her mind. This field was familiar... it was the field she and the Freedom Fighters just fought in. But what happened? When she saw it a few minutes ago, it was chaotic, yes but it had lush green grass.
The field was littered with rusty husks of robots. Sally approached one, an old centapeedle. The contraption was covered in dust and mashed into pieces. Despite having been destroyed that same day, it already looked ancient. Too ancient.
And what of the ruins? It was in the place of Knothole but it looked... like heck. Surely it couldn't actually be Knothole. Even if the city had been destroyed by Eggman, it looked as if it'd happened years ago. The buildings were eroding.
Something wasn't right.
Sally started walking at a brisk place toward the ruins. As she approached it, the structures looked more and more familiar. On the city wall, there was graffiti, some she recognized, some she didn't. She had to admit, she'd graffitied several months ago after she lost a bet with Sonic. The deal was that the loser graffiti the winner's name, so blue bubbly letters spelling out Sonic's name were right where Sally remembered. But they were barely coherent, fading with time.
Another that caught her eye were sloppy white letters (obviously the vandal wasn't an artist) spelling the phrase Watch me unravel. Where did that come from? What did that mean? Sally approached the white letters and stroked the cold concrete wall. Something conveyed that these letters meant something. Something important.
She looked down and realized that she was still holding the red gem she'd used to teleport from Eggman's battleship. Come to think of it, what was this gem, anyway?
Sally stared at the graffiti, her brow knitted in concentration. After a moment, her shoulders slumped. She had to admit it. This was Knothole.
But what in chaos's name caused the city to look like this? Did Eggman survive the blast? And more importantly, why did the damage look so old? The city itself wasn't even that old. It was as if she traveled through time...
Sally shook her head in frustration and passed through the city gates. The buildings were broken and crumbled. Not a single soul was out and about. The place was a ghost town. Uncle Chuck's diner along the intersection had broken windows and the walls looked burnt. The suburban houses were either trashed or completely demolished. The traffic stop was tipped over. The image was... sad, to be blunt.
The Princess kept walking down the street until she saw something that made her heart sing: a person.
"Silver!" she screamed in joy. As the white hedgehog spun around, Sally enveloped her time traveling friend in a hug.
Silver gasped in shock. "Sally- wha?!" He quickly held her at arms length and looked her up and down. His eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "It's really you... you're supposed to be freaking dead!"
Sally blinked in suprise. "Huh?" Then it hit her. She gave no warning to her friends that she used chaos control. She didn't even have the chance. They must've all thought she was dead. "Oh... crap,"
Silver grinned happily and hugged Sally. This time, it was her that recoiled. "Sally, I can't believe it!" Then he pulled away again, still smiling. "I got the news that you died, so I went back to my time," Then he frowned and his gold gaze turned downcast. "When I came back, everything was wrecked,"
"Wait... we're in the future?"
Silver nodded. "Yep. Two hundred years to be precise,"
"Oh, no no no no," the girl muttered. She held her head as she started to hyperventilate. "No no no NO!! What happened to make things come to this?!"
"Beats me," the albino hedgehog shrugged. "I just got here. I'm just as clueless as you. Here's an idea: how about we find Knuckles? He's a reknowned historian in this timeline,"
Sally's jaw dropped and her arms went slack. "Two hundred years into the future and Knuckles is still alive?"
"Yeah. Something about him being the Guardian of the Master Emerald. Rumor goes that all the chaos energy slowed down his aging process. Least that was the rumor before the timeline turned into this wasteland,"
"Then let's scope him out," Sally decided.
Silver and Sally traveled along the lush expance of Angel Island. It seemed as if the island were the only place spared by whatever wrecked the rest of the world. There were even people in small primitive villages going about their days. It made Sally smile, knowing that this paradise was still in one piece.
Besides the famed Master Emerald altar was an old shabby hut with steam flowing out the opened window. Silver and Sally exchanged a knowing glance. This was the place.
Sally stepped forward and knocked forcefully, accidentally punching a hole in the decaying door. "Um... hello? Sorry about the door,"
Footsteps. Then there was an old crinkled face staring through the hole Sally had punched. "Whaddya want," the person asked in a raspy voice.
"Are you Knuckles?" Silver inquired hopefully.
"Yeah, what's it to you?"
"This is Silver and Sally. Let us in, please?"
Knuckles snorted and threw open the door. His fur was a duller red than Sally remembered. He had a long white beard and was hunched over, supporting himself with a cane. His glare was chilling to the bone. "Two hundred years and you finally dare to show your face, along with a Sally Acorn imposter," He peered at Sally, more thoughtfully. "You do look like her. I bet you'd make a good living as an actor or look alike. But she died two hundred years ago. It's not possible,"
Sally pulled something from her pocket... the necklace Sonic had got her for her birthday. It was silver colored and in the shape of an acorn. He'd bought it claiming that it was practically made for her and Sally thought he was right. She loved the way it reflected light and it was identical to her family crest. She wore it everyday.
When Knuckles laid eyes on the pendant, his purple orbs largened in shock. "Where did you get that?"
"From Sonic, duh,"
Knuckles's eyes filled with tears as he shot forward and hugged her. "All this time... how is this possible?! And how do you still look so young?!"
When he pulled away, sniffing, Sally smiled sheepishly. "Um... I accidentally time traveled in the battleship,"
"During the Battle Of Knothole," Knuckles said, nodding in understanding.
"Battle of Knothole?" both younger Mobians blurted in confusion.
The old echinda sighed. "Inside, both of you. I have some explaining to do,"
He stepped aside so the other two could walk in. The house was messy, to be polite. Books and colorful liquids were strewn about. Old trinkets lined the shelves. A dusty cot was lined against the corner, presumably for Knuckles. A table was set in the center of the room and covered with various books, dishes, and whatnot.
With a careless motion, Knuckles pushed the table's contents off, sending them tumbling to the creaky wooden floor. Several glasses broke, but if he noticed he obviously didn't care. He reached over to a nearby bookshelf and pulled out a thick blue book.
When it hit the table surface, it landed with a loud thud and sent dust into the air. Silver turned his head away as Sally coughed. Knuckles briskly opened the yellow faded pages and an article along with a picture of the field outside the city two hundred years ago.
"Two hundred years ago, the Freedom Fighters fought what is now known as the Battle Of Knothole," he relayed. "Story goes that you and Sonic planted a bomb on Eggman's battleship. Nobody knows what happened to Eggman, although several claimed to have seen him afterwards. It was believed that you died,"
"Oh, yeah. I figured," Sally said.
"That's not all, so don't interrupt!" Knuckles snapped. "Anyway, Sonic was devastated by your death. The guy... he completely lost it. He started causing trouble. It started when he tried to assassinate the President and failed, for he blamed the humans for what happened to you. After that, he caused even more chaos. He took control of Eggman's deserted robots and began attacking and capturing humans with the new weaponry,"
He turned the page. The article showed a picture of Sonic, but he looked... different. Black paint in the shape of claw makrs went doan both sides of his muzzle. A red bandana was tied around his neck. His arms were crossed and showing black fingerless gloves. His green eyed gaze was cold and focused. Obviously, this was an artist's depiction, but Sonic still looked... demented.
"Sonic tried to kill President Johnson again and was successful. He even sent his forces to trash Knothole, which is why it looks so torn up today. He caused a lot of trouble, Sally. He did it because he was trying to avenge your 'death',"
Sally took a step back and lowered her gaze... it was her fault Sonic did all that. Then again, she didn't have many options. It was either travel through time or die. For real.
"Sonic found Eggman's roboticizer and actually started using it! He roboticized countless humans," Knuckles continued his eyes wide and almost haunted by the fact that Sonic would resort to something like that. "With his mecha army, he wiped out most of the humans he didn't roboticize, nearly driving humanity to extinction. A lot of Mobians were caught in the crossfire and died as well. The entire world was ravaged,"
"Sonic would never do that!" Silver interjected.
Knuckles sighed heavily, looking out into space. "Grief can really change a person. You know that, Sally,"
Sally nodded, knowing good and well what Knuckles was referring to. Sonic's space odyssey. While he was trapped in space and trying to get home, Sally and the others believed he was dead. In that year, the Princess had changed. She became more irritable, antisocial. She was constantly trying to track down Eggman. She wanted him to suffer, she wanted him to pay for Sonic's "death." She loathed the Xorda as well and wished she had the chance to...
She became like him. She wanted revenge. Only difference was that Sonic actually went through with it.
Silver cocked his head quizzically. "What happened after Sonic destroyed civilization?"
"The survivors of his wrath spread themselves out into the most isolated areas of the world," Knuckles explained. "Slowly but surely, the world is being repopulated by humans and Mobians alike, although we have a long way to go. As for Sonic, he lived to be around one hundred and eight years old,"
"One hundred and eight?! " Silver and Sally gaped in unison.
"Yes. After his rampage, he locked himself up in the tower he used as his headquarters. That tower was where he defeated the Freedom Fighters with his robots and the Phantom Ruby,"
"What's the Phantom Ruby?" Sally asked.
Knuckles growled lowly, obviously annoyed. "I told you not to interrupt me! Anyway, the Phantom Ruby was a red gem infused with chaos energy, like a chaos emerald but demented. Eggman created several and used them in Metal Sonic prototypes Somehow, one got lodged into Sonic's chest, giving him full use of it's power. The Phantom Ruby kept his body young and healthy all those years. But in those long years, he suffered. He lived with the company of nothing but robots. He never leaved the tower once. Eventually, he had it removed. Nobody knows if it was on accident or on purpose. The only indication of his death was the Phantom Ruby laying on a table and a journal right next to it,"
Knuckles pulled out another book, this one smaller with a brown cover. On the front were the words Sonic's Journal: Confessions Of A Villian. He handed the relic to Sally and she flipped through it. To her suprise, there weren't many entries.
March 12, 3445.
I received this journal from Orbot, who thought it would be a good idea to write my story. Personally, I thought having a journal would be a waste of time, but I decided to give it a shot. It's not like I have anything better to do.
You probably have heard the tales of the fiendish Sonic The Hedgehog. Guess what, everything you heard was true. I'm a monster. I'm heartless. I have no morals. And after all these years, I've accepted it. Nobody bothers to dig deeper, so why make them?
I doubt you know my motives. If you're a human by chance, I would've killed you by now, had I still been alive by the time you found this. Then again, I could be and you could be reading this as you run from my guards or even me personally. No, that can't be right. You wouldn't be able to outrun me.
Keep reading if you dare. And while you're at it, watch me unravel.
April 4 3445
Still here? Good. Here's the confession part...
Those disgusting humans ruined my life back when I was a teenager. They denied us Freedom Fighters well needed aide. We were just kids. Kids! How dare they leave us to a mad dictator that waa even more ruthless than I am now???
In the Battle Of Knothole, wanna know what was lost other than millions of dollars in property damage? The girl I loved and fought for... Sally Acorn.
Sally stopped reading as her throat caught. He... loved her? But... but... how? They had been best friends and had dated in the past, yes, but he still had feelings for her as she did for him?
She shook her head out of shock and continued reading.
You probably know the Princess for her famed tactical skills or beheld beauty. Or perhaps her life long legacy of the Freedom Fighters? Her tragic death?
I knew her as a master chess player, a bookworm. I knew her for the way her nose crinkled when she laughed or the deep lines that formed in her brow when she was angry, most of the time at me for going off plan. I knew her for her love of nature and her bad habit of chewing on her nails. I knew her for the way she comforted me when my parents were roboticized and her tears whenever the trees' leaves died in the fall.
You think you know who Sally Acorn was based on a history class? Guess what, you don't know crap!
Naturally, I was deeply disturbed when those disgusting humans let her die. I still am today. Everything I did... I did for her. Not a moment went by without her tucked in the back of my mind. The look of fear I last saw her with still plagues me today...
June 21 3445
Today was my one hundred and eighth birthday. To celebrate, I performed target practice on an Eggman dummy.
Believe it or not, but I still have the body I had when I was fifteen. The Phantom Ruby has stopped my aging process. I've run some experiments and found that if it were removed, I'd die in a matter of minutes. My heart would stop beating because it would realize that it is one hundred and eight years old... simple as that.
As for my autobiography, you probably wonder to yourself sometimes how I adapted to machinery so easy. Well, before I became a villian and when Sally was still alive, I had a lot of run ins with Eggman's robots. I broke their husks, I predicted their manuvers. Years of fighting the very technology I'd come to use tuned my mind to their functions.
I also spent countless mundane summer afternoons with Tails and Rotor. Sometimes I'd help them with their inventions. Sometimes I'd just watch. Those two left me with a basic knowledge of robotics.
Little known that I was also the nephew of the inventor Charles Hedgehog. My dear old uncle worled alonside Robotnik before the fat man revolted and started the First Robotnik War, in which the generation before fought. Living with Uncle Chuck gave me understanding in mechanics and physics.
In the end, I think it was Uncle Chuck that I betrayed the most. I remember seeing him once... I was gonna habe him sent to the roboticizer for espionage, but the pleading look in his eyes... it stopped me. It was as if I suddenly remembered that he was the man that raised me. Therefore, I let him go scot free. I never saw him again.
September 30 3445
An accident occurred today. I... ran into a wall, as embarrassing as it is to admit. Tragically, in doing so I cracked the Phantom Ruby. I can already feel it's power draining from my body. It's getting harder to move and my breathing has become labored.
I'm dying.
I wonder where my soul will go... Heaven? Hell? Can I be forgiven for what I've done in my life?
What would the others think if they saw me now? Would they pity me? Would they rejoice at the fact that karma was coming back to bite me? I wouldn't blame them.
I've done some thinking... I blamed the humans because all along, I actually blamed myself and was too much of a coward to admit it. I was supposed to protect Sally, I had one job... ONE JOB... and I blew it.
I took my rage out on everyone else. I somehow thought that vengeance would solve things. And now... I have nothing... I killed my friends... I brought the world to it's knees... I'm nothing.
Perhaps this is a good thing. It's my time to go. If by some miracle I see the faces of my loved ones again... I have quite a bit of apologizing to do, but I don't care. I miss Tails... my little brother. He tried to get through to me, but I wouldn't listen. He fought me to try to save me. In the end, it just blew up in his face.
The Freedom Fighters made the right decision in trying to kill me. They didn't want to, I know that now. They were trying to save everyone. I wish I had the mind to spare them... I miss them too.
And Sally... sweet intelligent Sal. I've already expressed what she meant to me through nearly a century of villiany.
And that, reader, is my story. So go and watch me unravel.
-Sonic the Hedgehog.
Sally closed the book firmly and handed it back to Knuckles. Tears were blinking their way in her eyes, but she quickly wiped them. Sonic spent almost a century miserable all because of her.
"Silver," she whispered. "Send me home. I need to stop this... I need to stop him. To save him,"
"I can't,"
"What?! "
Silver bowed his head apologetically. "I depleted my power. Every five months, a shooting star shoots past the Earth. It's what gives me my power... but it runs out after a few trips. Five months from now, it'll come back. I can send you home them,"
"But..." Knuckles said. "... our timelines are linked because of Silver. If an hour passes here, an hour passes there. Five months pass here..."
"Five months there," Sally finished. Her shoulders slumped. "How much damage will there be?"
"Five months after your so called death is the Battle Of Knothole," Knuckles replied. "You'll come back just as it's happening. You'll have a chance to change things, but you'll have to be quick. In the meantime, you'll have plenty of time to train and prepare,"
Sally nodded. "Thank you,"
As Sally walked through the village with Silver, she nervously chewed her fingers. Right in the Battle Of Knothole? What if she came two minutes late to save everyone? What if Sonic thought she was an imposter or accidentally killed her with one of his robots?
Whatever the situation, she had no choice but to face it.
A/ N: Sally lives! Yay!
And yes, I'm using the Phantom Ruby from Sonic Forces. Think of bad guy Sonic as a cocky version of Infinite. Instead of being able to manipulate reality, he has typical chaos emerald abilities.
Will Sally be able to stop Sonic in time? Stay tuned!
