PROLOGUE: HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

The gift Sonic would receive for his 18th birthday would, from this moment on, make him hate birthdays.

Of course, the hedgehog was oblivious as to what was in store for him. Tails and Sonic had been enjoying a stroll through their favourite spot in the woods before he fumbled out an excuse to go ahead. Sonic didn't question it, lost more in his own thoughts. Attacks had been relentless from the doctor as of late, chaotic one might say - hordes sent out across the land with seemingly no real goal. Was Eggman truly losing his marbles? Well, stupid question - he'd lost them long ago, it was a little hard to imagine he had any in the first place.

However, the attacks raised questions all the same - perhaps it was purposeful busy work, made to distract him and his friends from whatever his true scheme was that he was making up. Ah well, he was done contemplating the matter - no need to get worked up over it. He knew everyone would be ready for it. Eggman's plans would be foiled just like every other time.

Sonic made his way past some shrubbery and his eyes immediately lay upon the sight of a long wooden table. Bright colored paper plates and plastic cups and cutlery were laid out. Various cakes and snacks laid out on tier stands, looking comparably much fancier to the cutlery. Although hose observations were swept to the side as his mouth hung agape. In the centre of the table, there was a tall, chocolate tiered cake. A dark icing had been drizzled on the top and dripped down the cake - and various sweet and sugary confectionary was placed on the top, adding a nice touch of red and white to the top of the brown cake. He could smell the cocoa from here.

"SURPRISE!"

Sonic stepped back, almost stumbling - as his friends appeared out from behind the table and surrounding trees, all yelling with beaming faces. He looked over them quickly - Amy, Vector, Espio, Charmy (who had begun inexplicably flying around in an excited circle), Cream, Vanilla, Rouge, Omega - and the slightly more surprising sights of Knuckles and Blaze. Of course, Tails was right there as well - at the centre of it all.

"Well Sonic, did we surprise you?" The fox asked expectedly.

"I really should have guessed." The hedgehog admitted with a smirk creeping on his face. "But I'll be totally real... I forgot my birthday was today!" He admitted with a chuckle. "I'm glad you guys remembered, or I would have been missing out on cake and presents!"

His response got laughs from most, Sonic was often one for cracking jokes - more out of habit at this point, he'd thank everyone properly soon. Seeing his friends together invoked a certain warmness in his chest, a comfortable feeling that he hoped would last.

Amy shook her head, but was grinning. "How could you forget your own birthday?" She asked.

"You're telling me I could have saved money by not buying a gift, because you wouldn't have remembered anyway?" Knuckles questioned in jest, but he received a light punch from Amy on his shoulder all the same.

Never change, Knux. "Come on, tough guy. I know you don't mean that. Although I'm a little surprised you're here in the first place. You staying long or you gotta back to the emerald?"

"I plan on staying." The echidna answered surprisingly "You gave me a birthday party last year on Angel Island so, and I've asked you to hold onto that chaos emerald for me. It would be rude after all that not to come to your birthday party - wouldn't it?"

"Yeah, it would have been." The hedgehog teased lightly. "What about the emerald though?"

"I don't have to worry about it today, Shadow offered to look after the Master Emerald while I'm here."

It explained Shadow's absence, not that it really needed explaining. "You know he's not much of a party guy." Rouge added. "But he did tell me to wish you a happy birthday, and his gift is among these somewhere." She said, titling her head down towards the ground underneath a table. Ah, that's where the gifts were.

"I mean hey, it's more than I was expecting from him honestly." And it was the truth.

Rouge's eyes glinted, you knew the expression of her sparkling eyes meant that she was planning something mischievous. "I'll try roping him into a call later, have him join in singing happy birthday to you." She teased.

Amy giggled at this. "And that way everyone gets to be involved! He's not getting out of it that easily!"

Knuckles huffed in amusement. "If he has any sense he'll just hang up."

Sonic knew that Knuckles was most likely correct, and it didn't bother him. "If you do manage to get him in a call, I'll give him thanks for the gift." He told the bat, and she nodded. He turned his attention to the other he was curious about. "And what about you, Blaze? You sticking around? I don't wanna keep you from your duties."

"Oh, there's no need to worry about that." Blaze assured him with a shake of her head. "Most of my work is handled by administrators, and at present my world isn't under threat. I can spare the time." Her lips curved up into a small smile. "Besides, if I'm asked where I've been - we can always call it maintaining good relations with our neighbouring dimension."

"Ooooh, bad girl." Amy interjected, wrapping her arm around the feline's shoulder, and Blaze let out a silent laugh. He remembered Blaze when he had first met her, so uptight. But their friendship had certainly loosened her, he couldn't imagine her cracking a joke like that back then.

Sonic gave her a thumbs up. "Then your presence bestowed upon me is a gift in of itself." Sonic gave her a wink and a smirk, flattering the princess with a bit of posh-speak.

The cat seemed a little flushed as she picked up a cup of fruit punch. "My pleasure-" She then took a sip. Sonic could hear a jealous huff from Amy, but chose to ignore it.

"Come on! Come on!" Charmy suddenly exclaimed. "Get to opening your gifts already! I want you to see what I got you!"

Vector suddenly reached out and gently grabbed the bees leg, pulling him out of the air above the table, and instead on the ground beside him. "And if you're not careful - you're going to end up flying into the cake!" He scolded him lightly with a sigh, before turning his attention to the hedgehog. "Happy 18th Birthday, Sonic! I know this year is gonna be just as good as any other." Vector's cheerfulness overwhelmed his previous annoyance at the bee. "We've got a special gift from you from the whole Chaotix Detective Agency! For the entirety of your birthday month, you can use our detective services free of charge!"

Vector's teammate, Espio, did a doubletake with wide eyes as he stared up at the crocodile. Sonic felt his surprise, when did Vector ever not want money? It would seem both the hedgehog and the chameleon made the same calculation in their heads. There wasn't exactly much of the month left. Espio gave a disappointed and defeated glance to his team leader before looking back at Sonic. "Happy birthday."

"Heh, thanks. To both of you."

"Come now," Vanilla, the oldest adult among them, was determined to get things moving along. "I'm sure we are all as eager as each other to get Sonic opening his gifts." She pointed out.

"Mama, can I give him mine now?" Cream spoke up with a shy smile.

"Of course you may." Her mother smiled down.

Cream quickly turned around and reached for something on the table, and Sonic swore his heart was about ready to melt with cuteness as he saw a soft, white and pink rose flower crown in the rabbit's hands. "Happy birthday, Mister Sonic! I made it myself."

"Wow Cream, I love it!" He told her genuinely. "Once I get in on my head, I won't be able to take it off." He added a slight joke that caused her to giggle. She was surprised when she saw Sonic bending down on one knee, holding his head down low - but she understood the assignment. She reached over and gently placed the flower crown atop his head.

"Happy birthday, Mister Sonic!" She told him, before skipping right back to her mother.


The gifts were all unique in their own right. A new pair of sneakers from Charmy, crystal bracelets with supposed magical healing properties from Amy, A red and white leather biker's jacket to match his classic shoes from Rouge, a grill from Omega (the robot had it saved to his databanks that Sonic had once spoken of wanting to have his own chilidog barbecue), Blaze had remembered a board game that they had played together while sailing the high seas of Sol with Tails and Marine, Vector gave the hedgehog some gaming gift cards, while Espio had given him an actual katana! Somehow it eventually evolved into a light sparring session in which Sonic almost cut the table in half, in which then it was decided that it was best to put the blade away for now.

Sonic reached for a gift and read the label attached. To Sonic, From Shadow, and he smirked. The gift was small and he was eager to unwrap it, what kind of gift had that hedgehog gotten for him? That smile quickly faded into a more playful pout as he saw the words 'Most Annoying Idiot' written on a mug, and the friends around him burst into laughter. Getting over the initial offence, he joined right in. There was a sense of humor underneath that grumpy exterior after all. Thankfully the mug wasn't the only thing - there were two envelopes, one with nothing written on it - but inside was a large sum of cash, no doubt so the hedgehog could buy his own gift. The other envelope read 'Do not open at the party' Since it was underlined, the hedgehog read it as a threat, so quickly pocketed the letter into the jacket Rouge had gotten for him.

Knuckles seemed a bit red in the face when his turn came up. He muttered something like an apology under his breath before he said his gift was hidden somewhere else due to its size. Of course, this hyped Sonic up - bigger the gift, the better right?

When the echidna produced an easel, confusion swept everyone in the area. It had a canvas on it, so that when Knuckles turned it around to show everyone - they gasped and awed.

"A portrait of me, Knux? Ya shouldn't have." The hedgehog grinned.

"Can't you just be grateful?" Knuckles mumbled under his breath, unable to look anyone in the eye. In truth, it wasn't a portrait of just Sonic - it was of the trio, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles - they had been close friends for a long time at this point, but something about this carefully painted portrait - all of it's intricate details and lighting - not only was it a testament to the skills he didn't even know Knuckles had, but it also told Sonic how much he valued their friendship with the amount of detail had been put into the piece. It would be hung up on the wall of his and Tails' home as soon as he was able to.

"Heh, I am, really. It's awesome! I didn't know you could paint like that." Sonic was walking over to his friend.

"Well, my people often made art and music and-" Knuckles cut himself off with a grunt, Sonic had wrapped his arms around him - patting the echidna on the back.

"Thanks, dude."

Once Knuckles had processed the gesture, he returned it - patting Sonic on the back, with an unintentional amount of considerable force - but Sonic could handle it. "No problem- Happy birthday."

Once he pulled away, he saw Rouge approach Knuckles - ever mischievous with that kind of expression. She leaned into his ear and whispered something only for him - something that made his whole face match the colour of his fur.

Sonic was going to make a comment, but caught sight of his best friend's slightly smug expression. "Guess it's your turn now, buddy?"

"You know it!" Tails said chipperly. He had his hands behind his back. "I decided not to wrap it in the end, the shape would be obvious. Plus I don't think I could wait any longer than I already have... so here!"

Sonic blinked several times, speechless. He eventually managed to move, taking the gift slowly and carefully from the fox's hands. It was in splendid condition, clean and dusted, with an immaculate shine. He noted how it was already tuned correctly in preparation. It wasn't exactly the same as it once was - it had been given a new coating of dark blue paint - and on it there was a light blue logo in the shape of his spines. It had been customised. "I... Tails, how did you know I wanted to start playing again?"

"Hehe- just a hunch-" Tails brushed off, rubbing the back of his head.

Was it possible to be such good friends with someone that you could begin to read each other's mind? If that was the case, then here was your evidence. Sonic passed the guitar to Knuckles so he could use both his hands to pick up the fox and pull him into a tight hug. Tails, momentarily confused as to why his legs were dangling in the air instead of touching the ground, eventually returned it as he laughed fondly.

Sonic then placed him down. "I've been so nostalgic for it lately, it's been so long since I've been able to just jam out on my electric guitar."

"And you won't have to wait long! I've already got the amps set up for when we get back-"

"Well, well, well."

Everyone immediately turned around. They heard a voice that they didn't want to hear today.

"Did my invitation get lost in the mail?"

Who would arrive uninvited other than Dr. Eggman himself, he hovered onto the scene in his Egg Mobile, a calm smile on his face and a lightly mocking tone.

"What makes you think we'd ever invite you?" Knuckles glared, already raising his fists.

"DESTROY!" Omega exclaimed with his guns already loaded and pointed towards the doctor, the only keeping him from firing was Rouge pressing down on his arm.

"Yeah! You're the one that needs to get lost!" Amy added onto him.

"Maybe if you weren't trying to kill me constantly - you would get an invitation, Egghead." Sonic smile was just as even and chill as the doctors. "Lucky for you, I don't fancy a fight today, so why don't we call it a truce? If you're feeling that jealous, you can have a piece of cake and then you'll be off on your merry way."

"Ohohohohoho! I have much greater ambitions than cake!" He informed the hedgehog. "I have arrived to give you my gift - the plan that will defeat you once and for all!" He claimed.

That statement didn't get the reaction he expected, he got a lot of unamused and annoyed faces. "I suppose I shouldn't delay further..." Eggman snapped his fingers, and out from the bushes emerged a dark purple smoke. It begun to surround the heroes, making them stare in confusion and begin to cough as they breathed it in. There was a higher concentration of the smoke that was building up right next to Eggman, a mass of a darker purple - swirling rapidly as a violet liquid dripped down underneath it. This cloud grew in mass, and suddenly a pale blue light shone within it - and then several. It formed itself into, strangely, the shape of a face with angular eyes and sharp teeth.

At this point, all of the heroes readied themselves and their weapons into ready stances. Omega didn't hold back, bullets flew past the heroes heads and headed straight for the purple cloud monster.

Nothing.

Despite it being fruitless, the robot continued to waste his bullets. The other heroes watched helpelessly as it was not done transforming - most confusing of all was when the beast suddenly sprouted gears across its body of gas and metallic claws on the end of its hands - where had that even come from?

"It is a pleasure to present to you - the Time Eater!" Eggman announced to the heroes. "Years of research have finally come to fruition, allowing me the keys to the perfect plan!" Only now Omega had stopped firing.

"Oh yeah?" Sonic challenged, the happiness he had felt during the party had left him - all that remained was a pulsing anger, burning his skin. Could that man not leave him and his friends alone for one day? "What makes you think this time is going to be any different than your other plans?"

"You see, Sonic - I have finally learnt what it was. The reason I kept failing time and time again!" His words were accompanied with a snarl. "It was you, it was always you. You set this all in motion - you were the first to rise against me, you brought to together your rag-tag merry men bunch - and you have wielded the emeralds and brought me down!"

Eggman's eyes met Sonic's through his glasses - locked in an intense stare.

"And if I can't kill you, then it was only plain what I would have to do..." He broke Sonic's gaze and turned to the Time Eater with his own prideful grin. "I would have to erase your pitiful existence! Make it so that you were never born!" Eggman spat. "And so be what we have here... the Time Eater, that will bend this timeline anyway I want - and alter history!"

He continued on mockingly, not giving the hedgehog a chance to speak. "I do hate to be the one to break apart a friendship group, but without Sonic's help - none of you brats would have met." He pointed out, pretending to be concerned for them. "Oh, what a shame. But I'm sure you'll have wonderful, fulfilling lives serving the Empire in this new world..."

"I'm getting real tired of hearing you talk!" The hedgehog exclaimed, suddenly dashing forward towards the Time Eater. Before the hedgehog could land an attack, the world around him enveloped in a misty, purple hue. The greens of the forest had vanished- and it was only him, his friends, and Eggman left in what was essentially a dark void.

"And I'm getting tired of you being in my way." The doctor said. "So let's move on with the show~" The excitement was eating up inside, Sonic was sure.

But the Egg Mobile was soon knocked down by a single punch from an echidna, causing the human to fall out of the device and roll out. Knuckles quickly stood over him, yelling with a ferocity that Sonic hadn't seen for a hot minute. "YOU are going to STOP THIS. NOW!" The echidna had his fist hovering over the man's face, and yet Eggman cackled.

"Oh, it's too late for that."

The heroes gasped as they looked down on the floor, a bright blue illuminated clock hands and symbols alit underneath their feat, the hands on the clock circled around with great speed, making everyone's head spin as the purple mist picked up like a massive hurricane around them.

Knuckles had his arm raised, ready to land a blow to the doctor's face before suddenly his arms flashed blue, and Knuckles roared out in pain. He collapsed to the ground fully, his body glitching out in a blue light - flickering in and out of everyone's vision.

"KNUCKLES!" His friends yelled out for him, with Sonic printing ahead.

The echidna reached out for Sonic's hand and the hedgehog reached it - but there was nothing to grab, instead - Sonic's fingertips made contact with blue glowing particles that blew away in the kicked up wind. "NO!" Sonic exclaimed, voice cracking.

Knuckles' body had vanished into blue dust.

"Mister Sonic?" Cream was too shocked to be able to raise her voice.

He whipped around to see them both disappear.

"No..." He let out weakly, The Chaotix all fell at once, holding hands as they met the same fate. Omega was hunched over Rouge, the bat wrapped in his arms - but it was all in vain - they were gone too.

"Sonic-" Blaze's voice was pleading as she too began to glitch, "There has to be-" Gone.

Body parts of Amy phased in and out of reality. "I'm- I'm sorry-" She was no more.

"YOUR EMERALD!" Tails cried out, and he too breaks apart and fades into a blue dust - which vanishes as soon as it came.

Sonic stared blankly ahead at where all of his friends once were. Once were... yet now they were gone. Would he ever see them again? The hedgehog's eyes flashed wildly, turning back to Eggman who had just stood up from the floor. "You have an emerald...?" The doctor asked in disbelief. "Is that why you're still here...?"

The hedgehog's eyes brimmed with tears, but he glared through them fiercely, producing the emerald in his hands and clutching it tight to his chest. Its yellow glow seemed to surround the hedgehog, creating a bubble, protecting him from the swirling environment. He had no witty comebacks, not this time.

"A variable uncalculated..." He admitted with a disappointed sigh. "But it shouldn't be a hassle. I would have already won."

The doctor removed his glasses, and he could see every inch of the doctor's malicious, sneering face.

"Goodbye, Sonic the Hedgehog."

When Sonic's eyes closed, they wouldn't awake again.


Prologue done! And my, what a ride. That birthday scene could have been a fluff oneshot but it just had to take a turn, didn't it? Things are going to get darker from here on out, but don't worry - it won't be over-the-top dreary - I couldn't stand writing that.

I guess you could call this a Generations AU in a way, in which Eggman uses the Time Machine much differently than he does in the game. Here we get to explore what a world looks like in which Sonic never met his friends. With the lack of a certain blue hedgehog there, did anyone ever rise up against the Doctor? What would all his friends be doing now? Only one way to find out.

I think a fun thing to do would be to give a bit of trivia about the story down below in the notes, just some things like character's favourite foods - because don't we enjoy learning tidbits about the characters that don't belong in the story? Today I feel like sharing the ages of each character in the story, since they have been adapted from canon.

Sonic: 18 years old.
Tails: 14 years old.
Knuckles: 19 years old.
Amy: 17 years old.
Rouge: 21 years old.
Shadow: 18 years old. (50+)
E-123 Omega: N/A
Blaze: 18 years old.
Silver: 17 years old.
Vector: 25 years old.
Espio: 20 years old.
Charmy: 9 years old.
Cream: 9 years old.
Vanilla: 30 years old.

What might also be fun? Sharing which songs I listened to while writing each chapter! Today's song was largely listened to during the birthday portion, rather than the latter half.

Prologue: Happy Birthday!
Song: One Republic - Run
watch?v=WfUxVEK_2Ug

Reviews are absolutely welcome, critiques help make the story better! I hope you've enjoyed the beginning of this tale! But for now, see ya'll later! Updates soon :)