Welcome back! As of now, the journey truly begins! Now that we have officially reached chapter 3, I'm thinking updates will be consistently every three or four days, in case you guys were wondering, but we'll see how it goes.

Warning ahead for scenes of blood/gore and character death.

Enjoy!


Soon enough, all seven survivors had exited the cold sleep capsule room and were now sitting together out in a hallway.

Tails – That's a lot of blood…

Amy – Are you all right?

The lion mobian looked down at his shirt and smiled reassuringly.

Cyrus – Oh, don't worry. It's not mine.

The female hedgehog then looked at the lion mobian skeptically.

Shadow – So only seven survived in the end?

Knuckles – More like approximately seven.

The black hedgehog just hmphed and looked at the echidna coldly.

Shadow – This is survival. Get used to it.

Knuckles – What?!

Shadow – There's no room for weaklings.

The echidna stood up and glared at the black hedgehog angrily.

Knuckles – Who do you think you are?! I'll have you know I'm one of the strongest warriors of my tribe!

Shadow – Then congratulations. You're now the strongest one, now that the world's ended.

Everyone looked at the black hedgehog in shock.

Shadow – Take a good look around. What else could possibly explain what's happened here?

Cyrus – He's right.

Everyone turned their attention to the lion mobian.

Cyrus – Those monsters… My guess is they were some sort of creature that evolved or mutated.

Tails – They did look like something that would result from some kind of apocalyptic event. Luckily those flying ones only have an advantage in the air, so narrow passageways or anywhere with little room should be safe from them.

Sonic glanced over at the young fox and smiled at him.

Sonic – You sure sound pretty smart, Kid.

Ivo just hmphed.

Ivo – Please. Anyone with half a brain could figure that out.

The young fox seemed to shrink in on himself, causing Sonic, the pink hedgehog, the echidna, and the lion to all shoot a glare at Ivo.

Amy – Wait a minute! What could have caused something like that?! Changes like that don't just happen on their own!

Shadow – If you weren't listening, as I said, it must be the end of the world!

As Sonic took a closer look at the black hedgehog, a sense of déjà vu suddenly washed over him while a faint and unclear memory of seeing another figure sprawled out on the ground in the cold sleep capsule room briefly entered his mind.

Knuckles – Just how long were we asleep?

Ivo – Yeah! That M.A.R.I.A AI was supposed to protect us at a time like this! Where are you, M.A.R.I.A?! M.A.R.I.A!

Knuckles – Forget about that! We have to try contacting someone first.

Ivo – Of course! We just need a phone! Get me a telephone!

Shadow – Won't do any good.

The black hedgehog handed Ivo a phone that had its wire cut, startling him and the echidna.

Shadow – No signal could get through.

The echidna then walked over to the black hedgehog angrily.

Knuckles – What the heck?! You just cut it?!

Shadow – Contacting the outside is no longer an option anyway.

The echidna then grabbed the front of the black hedgehog's shirt with both of his fists.

Knuckles – What's your problem?!

The black hedgehog growled in return, grabbing the front of the echidna's own shirt with only one hand.

Shadow – I could ask you the same thing!

Knuckles – Why you!

Sonic then stood up and tried to separate the two.

Sonic – Hey! Knock it off, both of you!

Amy – Yeah! This is not the time to be fighting each other!

The three mobians looked over at the female hedgehog before the black one huffed and released the echidna, turning his head away dismissively.

Shadow – It's none of your business. Stay out of it.

The girl hedgehog seemed taken aback for a moment before she glared at the black hedgehog, stood up, and slapped him right in the face, with enough force to cause him to stumble back. Sonic, the echidna, and the black hedgehog himself were all quite surprised, the girl was much stronger than she looked.

Amy – It is my business! Like it or not, it's all of our business! We're the only ones left! So get your act together!

The girl then turned towards Knuckles.

Amy – As for you, I tried the phone too! It was the first thing I tried!

As the girl hedgehog calmed down, everyone else began to do so as well, not wanting to make her angry again.

Cyrus – Those monsters aren't the only threat to us.

Everyone turned their attention to the lion mobian before looking at their bracelets, knowing he was talking about the Chaos virus. Luckily, all their symptom indicators were still white, but for how long?

Cyrus – And there's no returning to our capsules now.

Knuckles – So what do we do?

Shadow – There's only one option. We go up.

Amy – Up?

Shadow – This place is underground. Up is the only way to run.

Ivo – Wait a minute! How do we know if it's even safe above ground?!

Shadow – We don't! But we do know it's not safe here either.

Everyone looked back at the emergency door to the cold sleep capsule center room, hearing banging sounds coming from inside.

Tails – It's the worm monster! The elevator doors won't hold it forever!

Knuckles – Alright! Let's go up!

Ivo – Are you crazy?! I'm not going anywhere! I'm staying right here!

Ivo sat back down and crossed his arms stubbornly.

Shadow – Suit yourself.

Sonic – Wait! You're just gonna leave him?!

Shadow – There's no telling what else is out there. And having added weight may very well end up slowing us down.

Ivo glared up at the black hedgehog.

Ivo – You watch your mouth, Rodent! Do you have any idea who I am?! I'm Dr. Ivo Robotnik, the grandson of Gerald Robotnik himself!

Tails – Hold on! I think we should all stick together! We have a higher chance at survival as a group.

Sonic – What the kid said! Besides you said so yourself, Eggman's as good as dead if he stays here.

Ivo then turned his glare towards Sonic.

Ivo – What did you call me?!

Shadow – If he wants to die here, who are we to deny him?

Sonic then stepped towards the black hedgehog and looked into his eyes with unwavering stubbornness.

Sonic – I don't care! No one else is getting left behind! Not on my watch!

The black hedgehog and Ivo both were surprised by Sonic's resolution, unable to say anything in response.

Knuckles – The hedgehog here is correct.

The black hedgehog scoffed and turned his head away. The pink hedgehog looked at Sonic for a moment before her eyes widened in recognition.

Amy – Hey, I remember you! Aren't you one of the triplets from my bus?

Sonic then seemed to recognize the pink hedgehog as well, unaware of the narrowed gazes the black hedgehog and the lion mobian were giving him.

Sonic – Oh yeah. You're the girl who was reading "Sleeping Beauty."

Amy – But where are your brother and sister?

Sonic – I don't know. Manic and Sonia only accompanied me here. I don't know what…

Sonic could feel tears welling up in his eyes and tried to force them down, not wanting to look vulnerable in front of strangers. The pink hedgehog looked at him with sympathy, as did the young fox mobian.

Amy – I'm so sorry.

Tails – Are you okay?

Sonic managed to regain his composure and smiled at them reassuringly.

Sonic – Don't worry, I'm fine, uh…

Seeming to realize why Sonic cut off, the pink hedgehog held out her hand to him.

Amy – Amy. Amy Rose.

Sonic in turn reached out and shook her hand.

Sonic – I'm Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog.

Sonic then looked over at the young fox, smiling at him as well.

Sonic – How about you, Kiddo?

Tails – Oh! It's Miles Prower.

The black hedgehog then looked annoyed.

Shadow – We don't have time for this! Do you want to go and see what's happened to the world or not?!

Sonic – See what's happened?

Amy – Maybe we can even find out what happened to our loved ones…

Amy looked over at Sonic with hope in her eyes, earning a confident grin from him in return. Miles nodded in agreement and the lion mobian stood up as well.

Cyrus – Let's go!

The echidna looked over at Ivo, grinning as he too was on board with the others.

Knuckles – Well?

Sonic – What do you say, Eggman?

Ivo – Shut up! I said I'm not going! How am I supposed to walk like this anyway?!

Ivo lifted up his foot, showing small wounds on it, most likely from the thorns. The black hedgehog then took off his shirt and ripped it up, showing a larger piece at Ivo.

Ivo – What is this for?

The black hedgehog sat back down and began using his piece of his torn shirt to wrap his feet up.

Shadow – Use it to wrap your feet. Just remember to keep up, or you'll get left behind.

The black hedgehog then noticed everyone else was looking at him expectantly while glancing at their own bare feet, prompting his expression to turn to one of exasperation as he realized that they too needed wrappings.

Shadow – The same goes for all of you.

Everyone was soon shown beginning to proceed onwards into a hallway covered with so many thorns it looked reminiscent of a forest; each of their feet was wrapped up.

Amy – Once the princess fell asleep, the king, the queen, the royal subjects, and even the dogs and birds and fish from the garden… dissolved into the world of a deep dream.

Ivo was shown to be the last one to follow, hurrying to catch up with the others.

Ivo – W-wait for me!

Unknown to the seven individuals, two single eyes appeared to be closely watching them from within the thorns, one blue and the other magenta.


The group of seven continued to make their way through the hallway of thorns, the lion mobian, the black hedgehog, and the echidna leading up front, with Sonic, Amy, Miles, and Ivo following behind.

Amy – Suddenly, large, thorny brambles wrapped around the castle and completely covered it like a forest that had always stood there.

Sonic however, couldn't stop staring at the lion mobian and the black hedgehog ahead of him, the sense of familiarity he felt before popping up again.

Sonic – (I swear I've met those two somewhere before.)

Shadow – You better be sure this is the right way.

Cyrus – I once designed a plant similar to this one.

The jaw of some kind of creature was then shown among the thorns covering the ceiling, right next to one of the monitors M.A.R.I.A was supposedly supposed to use. The creature then seemed to quickly slink past, going unnoticed to everyone, except for Miles. Eventually, the group came to a dead end, as the floor beneath the platform they were all currently standing on was completely flooded.

Shadow – Well, Mr. Engineer?

Knuckles – What is this?

Cyrus – The tank that coverts seawater into coolant water must've broken.

Suddenly, the echidna and the black hedgehog heard the sound of something dripping. Ivo was shown once again sitting a little ways away from the others.

Ivo – That old geezer's innovations always were too old fashioned! Had it been me in charge, my machines would've secured this facility for centuries! The only reason I took my reserved spot was to guarantee my inheritance of Venus Gate!

Amy and Sonic looked back at Ivo, Amy with a look of disbelief on her face.

Amy – What?! You mean you were given favoritism?!

Ivo – That's one of the benefits of being the descendant of an important figure. Who would be in charge of running this leading corporation in 100 years? Obviously they needed another brilliant mind to take the position. Valuable individuals like myself are prioritized over common scrubs like you!

Sonic then looked away, an expression of guilt forming on his face. More dripping sounds were then heard, and they sounded closer than before.

Knuckles – Quiet!

Ivo – Had I known this would happen, I'd have usurped the old man when I had the chance!

The dripping continued to get closer and closer.

Knuckles – Be quiet!

Ivo – Shut up! Don't tell me what to do!

Ivo stood up as he glared at the echidna, but the dripping sound was now directly behind him, causing him to turn around and look up in fear, seeing that the source of the dripping was drool from the head of a giant dinosaur-like monster climbing along the roof. The beast lowered its head and caught Ivo's own in its jaws, lifting the man off the ground as he struggled in its grip, much too the horror of everyone else. Ivo could only watch helplessly and cry out in fear as the monster's tongue slithered around his head before its jaws chomped down. Everyone else continued to watch in terror as blood followed by Ivo's now headless body plunged back down onto the floor. They all then began running away as fast as they could, only for Miles to stop in his tracks.

Tails – Wait! Don't run!

Everyone else stopped and looked back at the kid in confusion.

Knuckles – What?!

Tails – It reacts to sound! We have to stay quiet to avoid detection!

Knuckles – How do you know that?!

Miles himself looked confused.

Tails – I-I don't know, I just do.

Knuckles – That's not an answer!

The monster had finished chewing Ivo's head and spotted the six mobians, jumping down a little ways behind them.

Tails – Listen, you just have to trust me! It's practically blind, so it relies entirely on its ears!

The monster took a step forward as everyone watched in apprehension, however the black hedgehog seemed to look incredibly focused as he kept track of the creature's movements.

Shadow – You're sure?!

Tails – Yes!

As the monster continued to come closer, the black hedgehog picked up Miles and promptly threw him over the railing into the water.

Sonic – Kid!

Amy – What do you think you're doing?!

The black hedgehog then proceeded to flip Amy over the railing and into the water as well.

Shadow – Everyone jump in!

Sonic leaned over the railing as he watched Miles and Amy get taken by the current before he felt the black hedgehog grab his head and begin to push him over as well, causing a rush of panic to go through his body.

Sonic – Wait! I can't swi-!

Before Sonic could finish, he had fallen over and into the rushing water as well. The black hedgehog then proceeded to jump into the water himself, soon followed by the echidna and lion mobian just before the monster reached them. Everyone was taken by the current, away from the monster that seemed to have lost track of its prey. Miles and Amy were shown swimming along the surprisingly strong current, however Sonic was struggling to stay above the water. He was then pulled under for a moment, allowing the black hedgehog, echidna, and lion mobian to swim past him. Sonic managed to break the surface for only a short moment before he was pulled under again and began sinking like a rock. Meanwhile, the others had managed to swim over to some nearby stairs, all of them on their knees as they struggled to catch their breath.

Knuckles – That was crazy…

Amy – Why isn't it coming after us?

Tails – Shh! It'll only respond to sound, remember? We have to be quiet!

The group went silent once they heard the monster roaring, prompting them all to stand up, ready to flee.

Shadow – Which way now?!

Cyrus – This way! There's a security office this way. Let's take cover in there for now.

Amy then looked around, noticing the group was a member short.

Amy – Wait! Sonic's not here!

The others then looked around, searching for any sign of the blue hedgehog as well.

Tails – Did he get swept away?!

Miles and Amy then looked over at the black hedgehog worriedly.

Shadow – That slowpoke!

Back with Sonic, the blue hedgehog was losing consciousness fast as his body sunk to the floor. The black hedgehog was then shown swimming back against the current as quickly as he could. He soon saw two fish monsters ahead of him before one swam off while the other one turned left at the entrance to some stairs that lead to higher and lower floors. The black hedgehog followed the fish monster around the bend and found Sonic lying on the bottom of the first set of downstairs. Just as Sonic was about to black out completely, he very faintly heard two familiar voices.

Sonia and Manic – Sonic… Please live…

Sonic managed to crack his eyes open and could swear he was seeing a magenta and green arm reaching out to him. He used his remaining strength to reach out in return, just as a black arm with a red stripe took his hand, revealing it to belong to the black hedgehog, who quickly scooped Sonic up into his arms before turning around and seeing the lion mobian underwater at the top of the stairs as well.


Back with Miles, Amy, and the echidna, the three of them were waiting worriedly until the black hedgehog and the lion mobian broke the water's surface with Sonic in tow.

Tails – There they are!

Miles, Amy, and the echidna all smiled in relief while the black hedgehog and the lion mobian helped Sonic to the stairs; the blue hedgehog then promptly fell onto his knees and began hacking up any water remaining in his lungs while Amy, Miles, and the echidna ran over to him, concern written all over their faces.

Tails – Sonic!

Amy – Are you alright?!

Sonic – Y-yeah… Thanks…

Sonic coughed a few more times while the black hedgehog turned his head away in annoyance.

Shadow – I told you not to slow us down. Next time I'm leaving you to be fish food.

Managing to catch his breath, Sonic glared up at the black hedgehog in return.

Sonic – Well, sorry for holding you up by almost drowning! Except, who was the one that pushed me in with no warning before I could even mention I can't swim?!

Miles, Amy, and the echidna all turned to glare at the black hedgehog as well, who just crossed his arms and glared back at Sonic in return, despite knowing the truth in his words.

Shadow – Lets just get out of here.

Knuckles – Wait!

Shadow – What?!

Knuckles – There might be more.

Amy – Do you think they killed everyone here?

Knuckles – I don't know. But we should proceed with caution.

Shadow – Obviously.

Knuckles – Would you just shut up?!

Shadow – I'm only stating the facts!

Before the echidna and the black hedgehog could start fighting again, large drops of drool dripped onto the floor between them, causing them to look up and see a bunch of the same dinosaur-like monster they escaped from before hanging onto the support beams above and looking at the group hungrily. The six mobians all gasped in fear as they took in the sight before them.

Shadow – R-run!

Everyone immediately ran up the rest of the stairs and began sprinting as fast as they could down the hallway as the monsters landed and chased after them. Shadow glanced behind him as he ran, seeing the monsters beginning to catch up and stopped to push some carts lying to the side of the hallway back down towards the charging beasts in an attempt to slow them down. Everyone continued to run, Sonic leading at the front, while holding onto Miles' hand and pulling him along, Amy and the echidna following behind, and the lion mobian at the back of the pack while the black hedgehog quickly caught up to the others. Suddenly they all saw a nearly sealed off shutter ahead of them, a single vine of thorns keeping it from shutting completely. Sonic quickly and skillfully slid underneath the small opening space to get into the next room with Miles in tow, followed by Amy and the lion mobian who ducked under the shutter and crawled through as fast as they could while the echidna swung himself through. Lastly, the black hedgehog tuck and rolled expertly through the opening and swiftly got back up before attempting to pull the shutter the rest of the way down, only for one of the monsters to leap into the narrow opening as well, reaching for the black hedgehog and causing him to jump back to avoid it. The black hedgehog got into a fighting stance as the monster finished squeezing itself through the opening and came closer to him.

Knuckles – Get down!

The black hedgehog looked over to where he heard the echidna shout and saw that he had a rifle on him while the lion mobian was holding a small handgun. He did as instructed and the two armed mobians immediately started shooting at the monster. They seemed to successfully kill it, only for two more monsters to crawl through the opening and enter the room as well.

Shadow – Throw me a gun too!

However, the echidna and the lion mobian were too preoccupied with one of the monsters. The other one then went charging straight at the black hedgehog, who could only dodge it every time it tried to snap its jaws around his head.

Shadow – Hurry!

Finally the black hedgehog was backed to a wall, leaving him no room to escape, but before the monster could attack him, a banging sound from the other side of the room got its attention. The black hedgehog also looked towards the source of the sound, surprised to see Sonic banging a wrench against the wall.

Sonic – Hey! Over here, Lizard Breath!

All the noise Sonic was making succeeded in attracting the monster towards his direction instead.

Sonic – Hurry!

Finally, the echidna and the lion mobian finished killing the other monster and Amy came up and threw another rifle towards the black hedgehog.

Amy – Finish it!

The black hedgehog caught the gun and aimed it at the monster.

Shadow – Get down!

The black hedgehog fired at the monster's back before it could reach Sonic and then fired one more time before it dropped dead. As everyone let out a sigh of relief, the echidna laughed victoriously, impressed by the black hedgehog's skill.

Knuckles – Not bad.

However, the first monster that was supposedly killed suddenly stood up and turned towards the echidna. Sonic and the black hedgehog both grew alarmed as the latter aimed his weapon at the monster.

Sonic – Look out!

The echidna turned his attention to the monster, only to be wacked by its tail in the chest and flung against the wall, hard enough to cause him to cough out a bit of blood. The beast then began running back towards the narrow opening underneath the shutter in an attempt to escape, but that didn't stop the black hedgehog from firing at it again.

Shadow – You won't get away!

The shot managed to break off one of the monster's horns and as it crawled back through the gap, the black hedgehog shot at it one more time before he shot the thorns keeping the shutter open, causing it to close completely. Everyone began to relax again as it seemed they were finally safe for the time being. Sonic was then shown helping the echidna up, who continued to stare at the black hedgehog with a smirk.

Knuckles – Clearly, he's no ordinary guy…

The black hedgehog then glanced back with narrowed eyes, specifically at the lion mobian, who looked surprised before he glanced away nervously, trying to avoid eye contact. The black hedgehog turned around fully and began to head over to the others, only for the last monster in the room to suddenly start moving again. Everyone immediately went back on guard, the black hedgehog and the lion mobian aiming their guns at the monster once more while the echidna held an arm out in front of Sonic to protect him. However, to their surprise, the beast's color suddenly began dulling until it turned a stone grey, and then its body promptly fell apart into a pile of ash. Everyone looked completely astonished.

Shadow – It turned to ash?! This thing had the Chaos virus?!

Amy – That's impossible! They said it could only infect humans and mobians!

Cyrus – Another mutation then… I imagine the Chaos virus must have mutated during the time it took for these things to come about.

Amy – Then it really has been that long…?

Cyrus – Either that, or something that had Chaos mutated and carried on some of its characteristics.

Shadow – Like what?!

The lion mobian said nothing and only looked ahead with an apprehensive but serious expression. Sonic could only continue to stare at the pile of ash that had once been the monster that tried to eat them.

Cyrus – Something…


And that's it for today!

Yes, I killed Eggman. I didn't want to at first considering he's such a major character in the Sonic franchise, but he fit the role perfectly. And hey, at least this universe's Sonic won't have to deal with him in the future.

I hope you guys are liking it so far, and again please comment or send any questions if you have any, cause I would really appreciate it! See you in the next chapter!