Chapter 8

In that split second, all madness was unleashed upon the three animals. Rouge took cover quickly behind a steel pillar as she watched Super Sonic dashed forwards, while Ebony backed off from the upcoming attack from Omen. With them distracted, Rouge was left to her own demises.

In the blasting sounds of gunfire, the Bat looked frantically to her left, trying her best to get an eyes view on the situation. The yellow hedgehog wasted no time in trying to disarm the Gorillas. Both of them came at him at full charge as he speeded down the concrete floor. But something was different from their last encounter. Unlike before, the Gorillas had more space to manoeuvre, making their blows way too close for comfort. Also with the added environment, they were able to use their hands and feet, to swing over the metal frames above them. To them, the warehouse became one large climbing frame. And of course, without the element of surprise, the hedgehog had to come up with something fast. But there was another problem added to the list.

Their weapons.

Dashing just moments as his foot touched the ground, the floor underneath erupted from the sudden blast of the gun. Super yelled and coiled into a ball before slamming hard against a pile of wooden stacks, landing with a thud. Rouge looked up to see the Hedgehog getting back up crouching. Worried, the Bat looked to see he only surfaced a scratch, but boy; did he look angry as his spiral eyes changed to numerous red circles.

"You like our new toys vermin!?" The gorillas shouted, boasting their new tech.

Both of them had the same weapons as before but with the warehouse not providing much light, Super Sonic could only see them as they stood where the moonlight shone down on them. There in fine glory were their new weapons; shiny, lightweight and looking way more powerful than before. If the hedgehog made one wrong move, he would be toasted. Rouge recalled that tech very well.

"Fully electric! Faster and more accurate! They aren't here to mess about Super!"

"Thanks for the mention. You go and find Pyjamas." Super shouted to her.

More then happy to be away from the firing crowd, the Bat went down and crawled towards the area where they saw the Dog. Without her wings to fly her, she felt like a sitting duck; stuck between a rock and a hard place. Ducking down whenever she heard a fire shot towards her, her heart was thudding hard against her chest; she did not sign up to be a mercenary. Getting dirty was not her forte. As she climbed over the debris, she was almost to her target where Pyjamas had been strung up. Debris and dust were still scattered around as she dug her hand into the mess of brick and heavy equipment. And then she saw it, the bounds. However, they were clearly cut and Pyjamas was nowhere to be found.

Where was she? Who cut her out?

But then her ears detected a strange zooming noise from above her, something very familiar. But before she could get better look, a huge explosion erupted inside the building. The Bat took cover and curled up as the shots continued to erupt the place, with no place to go. She was pinned down in her hiding place

Rouge knew then, she was in big trouble…


The dust and debris was still surrounding around Ebony, making it hard to detect Omen from the shadows. But just as a sheer golden light came into view, the feline raised her green shield as the rat jumped into view, blasting her with every spell. Yelling out loud, Ebony pushed back the force and withdrew the shield, letting the red aura overwhelm her with static power, ready for the next assault.

But the rat was more cunning, as he kept returning back to the shadows, trying to take her off-guard. Her eyes danced across in every direction, her tail twitching in agitation; trying to deafen the noise of shots and blasts around her.

But then suddenly she heard her voice being called, was that Super? But that was the moment she let her guard down and Omen took the advantage. Ebony raised her hands up as a wave of purple blasts erupted all around her. The shield wasn't lifted quickly enough as she got hit, sending her crashing to the ground. She screamed as the magic struck her down.

Hissing for breath as she slowly stood up, Omen returned back into view looking satisfied as he stroked down his moustache. He laughed at her pathetic state as her black fur was smothered in dust and rubbish. As she slowly staggered to get back up onto her legs, the rat tutted under his breath.

"Your magic was always weaker compared to mine. You should have paid more attention in class."

"Sadly, unlike me, I wasn't beaten by a TREE!" She cried out, as she dug her fingers into the rubble.

Suddenly Omen looked confused, until suddenly, vines sprouted out of nowhere from under the concrete, the earth ripping through the pavement like paper. The rat used his magic to try and slow them down, but the vines spired up and caught him by the feet. Coiling around his body, the rat tried to overcome them as they coiled around tightly his legs, up to his waist. Cursing, the rat looked at the cat. There, she looked exhausted, but was smiling with one eye open as she continued to concentrate on the spell, sweat bedded on her head.

"A new spell I only just perfected myself also. And I Certainly know you're not gonna like it."

But then the feline got distracted again, as someone called out her name. Looking around, Ebony looked worried.

"Super? I'm here." She cried out.

Then in the madness, she heard his instructions. Omen tried to listen as well, until he heard the reply from the mysterious voice.

"Throw the time stone to me!"

Omen could see the feline, trying to steady herself as she continued to rest her hands directly to the ground. If she was to remove one of them, it may slow down the magic, giving the rat opportunity to make his next move.

And Ebony knew that too. Not knowing where the hedgehog was in this madness of cloud dust and debris, she simply had to trust her gut instinct. Taking a deep breath, she pulled herself up and stopped the magic. In that moment, the feline took hold of the stone, and with one big breath, threw her hand backwards. At that precise moment, Omen used his magic, to push down the merging trees and burn them to the ground with his fire magic. Now free, he dashed forwards to the feline with full force.

With one big yell, she gave everything she got, to throw the stone into the dust cloud.

"CATCH!"

She hoped a hand would reach out and sure enough, in a split of second, someone did. But was it Super? But then the feline turned back to her nemesis and embraced herself for the impact…


Rouge continued to take cover from her hiding space, but the blasts continued to deafen her ears. The situation was getting desperate and there was nothing she could do, but then suddenly she looked up. She could still hear the zooming sound, but it was getting louder, wait that couldn't possibly be-

But suddenly she was caught off guard as more debris from above was falling down right on top of her head. She didn't have time to move as she raised her arms above her, ready to embrace the hit. But as she closed her eyes, something grabbed hold of her, as she felt the sudden gust of force drag her away. Hoping to open her eyes in one tact, she slowly opened them to see. To her amazement, she wasn't squished to oblivion, she was rescued by…wait…

"Super Sonic!?" The bat asked out loud as he carried her quickly to safety from the shots.

But how was this possible? If he was here, who was fighting the Gorillas?

"I don't have time to explain, the bomb will go off any second!" The hedgehog shouted from the bangs and eruptions, pointing upwards.

Suddenly from his hand, he pulled out the time stone and shockingly, placed into her hands. Wait, what bomb?

"Take to this me; the other ME I mean! But he has to take you with him! You must make sure of that; you got it!?" Super explained.

But right now, Rouge questions wouldn't stop filing her head; what the heck was going on? But then something from above distracted her. From behind the hedgehog, near to the top of the roof, she saw two silhouettes leaving the building through the open window. One of them was Pyjamas, the next was…herself? And if as in simple courtesy, the other her waved back to her. In confusion, she waved back and there, looking at the time stone, she knew what had happened, and with determination and a bit of dread, knew what she had to do…


Super Sonic was in a lot more trouble than he thought. Their weapons were even more deadly and accurate, as he speeded passed the two brutes, then changing his course as the bullets continue to chase after him. As he tried to hit them with a spinning dash, they used their large hands and feet, to lift themselves up, missing them by inches. As one dodged his attack, the other one attacked back, working more in sync.

And what was worse, they didn't care what they were hitting, making Super more worried in case Ebony, Rouge or Pyjamas was caught in the crossfire. He had to make it smaller of an arena for the three of them. But an idea popped into his head. Looking around, the debris and fine dust was still gathered around, he could use it to his advantage. Speeding around the gorillas in a circle, the two brutes were huddled together as they tried to aim for him. But as he was doing so, came the thickening dust cloud, making it impossible to see.

"If you can't beat them; BLIND THEM!"

The plan was going well, as it was making the Gorillas agitated again, hearing them squabble between the both of them. But then something distracted him suddenly, someone calling Ebony's name. Who was that? But then he heard something new coming in very suddenly, a beacon sound. He shifted his run just in time, before the blast erupted the area. Super dashed just in time from the full impact, but he landed down with a heavy thud, followed by the deafening boom that shook the whole building.

Dazed and confused, the hedgehog got back up, hissing through his breath as his hands tightened into fists. He was losing patience with these two but what was worse; something else was emerging from within him, the urge to destroy them.

"Well done brother, near blasted the yellow rodent clean off the planet." The Red armoured gorilla boasted.

The Green armoured primate showed his missile rocket launcher but this time, something was included. Looking closer, Super could see something else attached at the top as a little red light, beamed towards the hedgehog's chest. Annoyed, the hedgehog was great at giving heat signatures due to his chaos energy, and one was aiming right for him.

As he tried again to make another move, the rocket launcher was able to detect his movements in high speed, as the hedgehog had only enough time to dodge it. Debris and explosion erupted the whole place as they took notice of their surroundings. The Gorillas could see the tides were changing and were not wasting the opportunity, to take their revenge. Super Sonic could feel his rage burning within as the chaos, pulled him towards destruction. Anger, started to turn into panic as he could feel the rage burning up. His hands started to twist into claws as his breath started to hiss and snarl.

But as he tried to keep under control, he was caught by surprise as the Red Gorilla swung down with his saw. The hedgehog only just missed the weapon by inches as he coiled into a ball, but didn't see his counterpart coming from behind, and smacked him with his fist. He was sent flying to the ground and into the rubble and dirt. Exhausted, the yellow hedgehog pulled himself up, clutching his head. His claws were dug into the ground as Super tried to gain composure. In that moment, he was terrified as he felt the rage becoming too strong.

"Hey look brother! The little rodent looks scared! Should we finish him off?" The Green Gorilla shouted, as he lowered his Guns down at the hedgehog.

Super Sonic looked up at them as he staggered back onto his feet, feeling the course of his energy surging him. He wanted to rip those machines to shreds, tear it all into pieces. His stamina to hold it back was getting weaker as he felt his power corrupting him. He was losing quickly.

The Gorillas joined together, walking towards him. The hedgehog staggered back in defence, unsure what was to happen next; as he felt the raging demon within, screaming to be unleashed. But then, something distracted one of them as he turned away.

"What the heck is that?" The Primate asked, hearing the roar of an engine.

But before he could warn his brother, a large bulldozer, smashed its way through the rubble and straight into their direction. Both Gorillas didn't stand a chance as the large machine collided with them with its large black bucket, sending both of them flying with it. The machine speeded down as Super Sonic took cover from the large heavy metal tracks, erupting the ground as it dashed through the building, and smashing against a large collection of metal tubes and pillars; leaving behind it a cloud of dust. He could hear the protest and chosen words as the Gorillas were slammed between the bulldozer and to the pillars, as they struggled to get free.

This gave important moments for Super to calm down as he got himself back up. He could feel his composure returning, feeling the monster of his past self-returning back to his subconscious. But it left some side effects as his vision was still slightly blurred, followed by a huge headache. As he looked towards the bulldozer, his eyes most be deceiving him as he saw the passenger hop down and heading straight towards him. But as his eyes adjusted, he noticed that he wasn't being delusional, as he looked straight at… Himself?

"That was a close call. Any later and things would have got a lot worse."

It took a few moments to realise what was going on, like a light bulb moment, he couldn't help but groan as he shook his head.

"You got to be kidding me."

"I'm afraid so. I don't have time, but you do. Use it!" His other self shouted, not waiting for a reply as he dashed off.

Super Sonic was left in a haze, till he heard his name being called out. Looking around, he saw Rouge jumping over the large mess. But what she had in her hand, made it more clearly to him, on what was going on.

"Whether you like it or not Super, you need to take me with you."

"And who told you that?"

"You did. Well the other yellow hedgehog did."

Groaning, there was no option not to. But in the past, Sonic used to stone only for himself, what will become of Rouge if he took her with him? Looking down, she passed the time stone to him.

"Wait, Ebony had this, why have you got it?"

"Does it look like I have time to explain that right now?!" The bat shouted, waving her hands around the warehouse.

She made a good point. Sighing, Super Sonic took her by the hand and ignoring her protest, speeded up with the stone in his other hand. Trying to gain momentum through the rubble and debris, he needed to gain enough speed to activate it. Then he looked down to see it was working, as he saw the stone starting to flicker, the small beads encrusted on the stone glowed.

"HOLD ON!" Super cried out to Rouge as he tightened his grip on her.

He ignored Rouge's yelling, as she used her other hand to cover her hair as he gave one quick Sonic boom. The time stone shone like a beacon as the speed erupted its power. In that moment, they were there, the next they were gone…

TO BE CONTINUED IN THE NEXT CHAPTER "Step back in time"