Chapter 4 – The Past

Tails opened his eyes. He was floating. He looked around him. Everything was dark. He suddenly remembered what had happened. He had been rushing towards Metal Sonic and then he had been hit by that wave and had blacked out.

"Where am I?" he said to himself.

Just them the darkness started to brighten and spin. Tails watched on. Slowly images started to appear around him. Tails watched on as one image became bigger. It was an image of him lying on the floor. The picture zoomed out and slowly revealed a glass case surrounding him. Tails gasped. It was a robotosiser. The picture continued to zoom out to show Snively standing by some controls. He was speaking but there was no sound. Just then he saw himself get up. There was a short conversation between himself and Snively before he shouted something. He watched as Snively turned back to the controls and started the robotosiser. Tails started to cry as he watched himself being Robotisised. Just then the image stopped. Tails was now sobbing. Nothing happened for a few seconds and then the image sequence started again. Tails tried not to watch but some force was forcing him to. He watched the event unfold several times.

"NOOOO! STOP!!! DAMMIT TELL HIM!!! TELL HIM WHAT HE WANTS TO KNOW!!!" cried Tails as he saw himself getting robotosised for the 6th time, "PLEASE STOP!!!!"

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Sally groaned as she open her eyes. She was standing in a corridor with Sonic and Knuckles. She felt herself being dragged along by some force. Suddenly a shutter slammed down and then another behind them. A figure appeared out of nowhere. It was Naugus. She tried to yell at Sonic but no words came out. Naugus fired a volley of energy bolts at them, one hitting her on the leg. She tried to scream but there was no sound again. The pain was still there though. She looked down at her wound as she lay on the floor. She looked up to see Sonic leaping out of the way of several bolts. She remembered this. She knew what happened. Sonic would win. Just then Knuckles was hit in the chest with a stray bolt which was quickly followed by several others that sent him flying across the room. He hit a wall and fell to the floor. Sally panicked. This wasn't supposed to happen! She looked at Sonic just in time to see him get fried by a set of energy bolts and end up slumped in a corner. If Sally could have screamed she would have but there was nothing. Naugus approached her and fired a set of bolts at her. They hit her and for a split second she felt incredible pain. She screamed in her head for it to stop but it didn't. The pain remained for what seemed like an eternity. Suddenly it stopped. Sally opened her eyes to see the same corridor again and Sonic and Knuckles standing beside her. Oh god she thought. Not again.

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Bunnie screamed as she saw Antoine getting hit by another set of energy bolts. She must have seen this scene repeated about 20 times now. Antoine hit the floor and she howled in pain and sadness.

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Rotor was in much the same situation. He screamed in his head again as Bunnie wormed free of his grip and shot out into the room again just to be hit by a set energy bolts. He cried as he saw Bunnie hit the floor next to the lifeless form of Antoine.

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Amy blinked heavily as a flash of light dazzled her. When she opened her eyes she could see she was in a flat area. She scanned the horizon. In the distance, a good few miles away, was a city. She recognised it immediately.

"Robotropolis!" she said to herself as she continued to look around.

She was standing in the wastelands to the north of the city. There was nothing around. No animals, no people, no nothing. She held out her hand and in a flash her mallet appeared. She looked down at it. Was that part of her past too? No time to think about that now. I have to stop Metal. She turned towards the city and ran off.

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Metal Sonic was now hovering on the roof of a building. He had arrived in Robotropolis just when he had wanted to. Just before Sonic, Tails and Sally had found out about the Chaos Cannon. He was waiting on the roof of Snively's head quarters waiting for them. Finally he would set thing straight. After he killed Sonic, Tails and Sally the Freedom Fighter would have no leaders. They would fall apart and Snively and himself in the past would be able to defeat them and take over Mobius. Everything was going according to plan.

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Amy arrived in Robotropolis and started into the city. There were numerous swatbot patrols all over but for some reason she could sense and avoid them. She dived behind a pile of metal and thought about what to do. Where would Metal go? What was his plan? Just then she heard a familiar voice. She looked out over the pile of metal. Standing there, not 5 meters from her was Sonic, Tails and Sally. They looked a lot younger than they should she thought, then she remembered that this was the past.

"So which way Sal?" asked Sonic.

"We should go left here and then straight." Sally replied.

"I just hope we can find out what Snively is up to." said Tails.

"Me too Tails." said Sonic, "Snively will pay for what he did to the Wolf Pack!"

Amy was busy thinking trying to work out the time period she was in. So they had found out about the Wolf Pack but not about Snively's plan……hmm. Suddenly it struck her. This was the first attempt to infiltrate Snively's headquarters. It was…oh god she thought. It was just before her Tails was robotisised! The memory made her shed a tear.

"Ok Sal. Let's go!" said Sonic.

Amy looked over the pile of metal to see Sonic, Tails and Sally walking off into the city. She better follow them. She jumped out from behind the metal pile and followed them in the shadows.

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Metal was getting impatient. He was at the right time frame but those Freedom Fighters were not here yet. Just then his radar blipped. He looked in the direction of the blip. Hiding behind a pile of rubble was Sonic, Tails and Sally.

"Excellent." he said quietly to himself.

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Amy watched as Sonic, Tails and Sally ran across the open road to the entrance of Snively's headquarters. Where could Metal be? She thought about him again and it came to her.

"The Roof!" she said to herself and ran to a ladder mounted on the side of the building.

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Metal raised his arm and made ready.

"Haha. Now Freedom Fighters you will die."

He fired. The missile streaked off the room and shot towards the floor. Metal watched as it got closer. Suddenly the missile just disappeared in mid air.

"I don't think so Metal!" said a voice behind him.

Metal spun to see Amy standing there glowing a white colour.

"Now we finish this." she said brandishing her mallet.

Metal just laughed.

"So you found a way to follow me back. Very clever. But you are no match for me."

"We'll see. Come on you stupid tin can!"

Amy quickly spun to the side and swung her mallet causing a wave of energy to be emitted from it. The wave hit Metal full force and sent him flying backwards into a wall. He picked himself up.

"So you have learned some new tricks, eh? No matter."

He raised his arm and fired a laser blast. Amy just stood there and rose her mallet in front of her. The beam hit an invisible force in front of her and refracted into a shower of sparks. Amy dropped her mallet down, eyes glowing a bright white. She rushed at Metal and before he could move hit him full force in the side with a powerful swipe. Metal was sent hurtling across the roof and into another wall. His side was severely dented and he was starting to emit sparks. He got up.

"Very nice." he smirked, "But remember I have these."

Metal pulled out the seven Time Stones, now joined together.

"I didn't forget." said Amy calmly, "I was merely waiting for you to bring them out! TIME STONES! As a descendant of the ancient Acolytes I command you!"

Suddenly the Time Stones glowed brightly. They shot from Metals hands and started to hover between the two of them.

"What is this?!" cried Metal.

"I am an Acolyte!" said Amy, "I now command the Time Stones. TIME STONES! I command you! Dispose of him!"

The Time Stones glowed a bright red and Metal Sonic began to glow a similar colour.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" cried Metal as he suddenly disappeared.

The Time Stone stopped glowing. Amy put out her hand and the Time Stones hovered into it. She looked at them and they glowed a pale yellow colour. She put them away and turned to leave. Suddenly she stopped. Tails she thought. She turned and raced off.

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Amy opened a window in the roof and looked in. Down below was a large warehouse and in the centre was the Chaos Cannon. She looked around. Everything was quiet. Suddenly the alarms went off and Amy's head spun to the side to see Tails trapped on the wrong side of and electric force field. He was yelling at Sonic and Sally but she couldn't make it out. A minute or so later Sonic and Sally left and Tails turned in towards the centre of the room. He drew a laser gun and flew into the air firing. Amy watched as he levelled a squad of swatbots. She then saw another load coming in through another door.

"TIME STONES! I command you! Erase them!"

A number of bots glowed and then suddenly disappeared. Amy looked back towards Tails just in time to see him get hit by several stun guns and fall to the ground.

"TAILS!!!!" she screamed through a face of tears. She watched as a number of swatbots picked him up and carried him off.

I have to save him she thought as she moved away from the window. Just them another thought struck her. What would happen if she did save him? She would alter the timeline! She wouldn't know what would happen. She was torn between saving her love and the possibility of destroying the future. She stood there on the roof for several minutes staring into the distance. Finally her head sunk. She couldn't save him. If she did she would alter time and things could turn out worse than what they were. But how could they? Sonic was dead in her future and the rest of her friends were lost in time. She felt angry at this. She just didn't know what to do. Suddenly a thought struck her. Metal Sonic had used the Time Stones to erase her friends. What if she could reverse the procedure? She quickly turned to her side and made a portal. She passed through it and back to her own time.

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Amy slipped out of the portal back onto the Stardust Speedway. She glanced around. Her parents were still there but they were now gathered around Sonic's body. They looked up as there daughter appeared.

"Did you do it Amielle?" her mother asked her.

"Yes I did. I stopped him." she said looking sad.

"What's wrong?" asked her father.

"I wanted to save Tails too." she said sadly.

"But you didn't." said her mother.

"No I didn't."

Her mother smiled at her.

"You have just passed the first test." she said.

"What?" asked Amy.

"When you use time travel it is often tempting to alter time for your own sake. However, this can drastically affect the future. I'm proud of you Amielle."

"Thank you mother." said Amy producing the Time Stones, "I must now attend to something."

She turned away from her parents and faced the area her friends had been before they had been erased. She raised the Time Stones into the air. They started to hover.

"Time Stones. Undo all that was done by the Metal one."

The Time Stone glowed a green colour and emitted a wave of energy.

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Tails's eyes were sore from tears as he watched himself being robotisilsed again. The image faded and Tails braced himself for it to happen again. It didn't. Instead he found himself moving away from the place the image had been. Moving backwards.

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Sally was shaking as Naugus looked down at her again. She closed her eyes and braced herself for the pain again but it didn't come. She slowly opened her eyes to see the image of Naugus was slowly melting away.

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Bunnie watched in shock as the bolts that usually killed Antoine didn't come. She felt herself being pulled backwards into the vent.

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Rotor opened his eyes expecting to see Bunnie running out into the room and getting killed but didn't. He saw nothing. There was absolutely nothing but blackness around. The blackness was slowly getting lighter too.

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In a flash Tails, Sally, Bunnie and Rotor appeared on the Stardust Speedway. They looked around them tears still streaming from their eyes. Amy rushed up to them and comforted them one at a time until they stopped crying.

"What…..what happened?" sniffed Tails as she hugged him.

"Shh Tails. Don't worry about it. I'll explain later when it is time. I must now deal with something else though."

She stood up and they all watched as she went up to Sonic. She knelt down beside him lifeless body and slowly ran her hand through the air above his body. She closed her eyes and her hand glowed a soft white. Everyone, including her parents, gasped as Sonic's body started to glow the same colour. Amy said something under her breath and then withdrew her hand. A few second pasted and then suddenly Sonic gasped. Sally virtually screamed at the sight. Sonic coughed and his eyes slowly opened a little bit. He saw Amy standing over him and smiled before passing out again.

Amy stood up and faced the others. She blinked.

"Amy?" asked Sally softly through tears, "What did you do?"

"I restarted time for him. He will be fine but we must get him to a doctor, his wounds are serious."

"What do you mean restarted time?" asked Tails.

"It is a long story Tails and now is not the time to tell it. We must go."

She turned towards the exit to the Speedway. Her parents joined her. Tails and Rotor picked up Sonic's body carefully and slowly followed everyone out of the stage.