This is a fanfiction, and as such, most of the characters in the story are not mine. Most characters are © Sega, and are not used with permission.
Chapter 8: Set Her Free
"You want me to what?!"
"I want you to come with me and Omochao back in time to make a change and possibly save Sally."
Geoffrey was completely shocked at Shadow's utter gall for suggesting time travel as a solution. "I heard you the first time, but I still don't believe it."
"Look, it works like this. My Chaos Control is able to warp time, and I can carry you and Omochao to a point in history. While there, you can enact some change to the past that will hopefully put a bit of bounce back in Sally's step."
Geoffrey thumbed towards Omochao. "And what does he do?"
"Omochao will keep you alive. Things that travel through time tend to experience certain ill side effects. My Chaos Control protects me, but there's nothing to protect you. So while I take care of any outside interference, you and Omochao will go and 'tweak' history a bit."
"And just what 'tweak' am I supposed to do. You can't just go around willy-nilly altering history."
"I know, but Omochao has already figured out the most minor change possible that'll get the results we need with the least damage."
"And that is."
Omochao joined the conversation when Shadow motioned to him. "Do you remember Sally's birthday, the one a few months before Sonic's death?"
Geoffrey thought for a minute. "Yes."
"Do you remember when you met Sally and Sonic that evening, after they left the party?"
"Yeah, they were… Wait a minute."
Shadow smiled. "We want you to go back and stop yourself from interfering."
"You want me to go back there and let them… let him…" Geoffrey was getting angrier at the thought.
"What? Have sex? For crying out loud Geoffrey, they're not little kids you know; they're fully mature adults."
"You don't get it you perverted hedgehog! She's a princess, royalty! She can't go bedding with any ruffian that catches her fancy."
Shadow bore an estranged frown on his face. "Especially not Sonic?"
"Yes, least of all… him."
"Then who is she supposed to go with, you?"
Geoffrey was sent over the edge by Shadow's taunt. "How dare you! How could you even think that I… that I would ever…"
Geoffrey's voice was going silent, and he turned away from Shadow.
Omochao floated up in front of him. "You loved her, but you always felt that you couldn't never be more than a guard. Then when she met Sonic and fell in love with him, it made you even angrier."
Shadow huffed. "Look, this is going to be very uncharacteristic of me, and just plain sappy, so I won't say it more than once. Does your hatred of Sonic matter more to you than your love of Sally?"
Omochao turned to Shadow. "That was very sappy."
"I know, and if either of you say anything I'll deny it, then kill both of you."
Geoffrey was left alone in his thoughts, ignoring what Shadow and Omochao were bickering about. He could barely fathom what Shadow had suggested, actually allowing Sally to have sex with Sonic, it was inconceivable. He just couldn't allow that heathen to sully his beautiful princess, no matter what he or she wanted. But that was it, Sally did want it, and he got in the way. For the longest time he always tried to protect her, and Sonic was as much a threat as anything in this world; but to Sally, he was an overbearing barrier. She wanted Sonic, and without him, she was falling into a hole of despair so deep that it would soon destroy her. To let her have Sonic defied everything he believed in, but Geoffrey loved her so much. Perhaps the old saying was true; if you love something, set it free.
"So, when do we start?"
Shadow and Omochao turned their attention to the skunk, a far more silent and reserved skunk than the one they came to with their plan.
"I want to help Sally, even if it means letting her have Sonic."
"We start immediately. Rouge is out collecting Power Rings, this is going to take a lot of them; we go when she returns, and we have to get you ready."
"Is this really necessary?"
Shadow was strapping Omochao onto Geoffrey's back. "It is if you want to survive this little trek."
"Is there something you're not telling me?"
"Just that matter has a terrible time surviving these jumps through time. Omochao can survive, and I'm protected by my Chaos Control; but if I brought you back with no protection, you'd make a lovely nuclear device."
"If you're trying to build up my confidence, you're failing miserably."
"Build up your confidence? Why the Hell would I do that?"
Geoffrey rolled his eyes into his head.
"Do not worry, as long as you stay within a few metres of me, you'll be safe."
Geoffrey turned his head back to see as much of the robot as he could. "If that's the case, then is it really necessary to tie each other together like this?"
"No sense taking any chances."
Shadow pulled tight the last strap. Omochao didn't feel it, but Geoffrey did. "A bit tight, isn't it?"
Shadow walked in front of the skunk. "Alright, let's get everything straight. I'll carry you and Omochao back to Sally's last birthday before Sonic was killed. You stop yourself from getting in their way while I hold off the cops. When you've finished, and they've finished, I'll pick you up and return to our time."
"That sounds way too easy."
"We'll keep the plan simple, and if things get hairy, wing it."
"I can't believe I'm doing this."
Rouge returned a few minutes later with a load of Power Rings, bringing Shadow's total supply to well over 300.
"You think that's enough."
Shadow was putting the rings away. "I hope it's enough."
"I get the feeling that I've done this many times before, but I don't remember it."
"I remember it, and you were as sad and worried as now."
"Then I have nothing to say." With that, Rouge placed her hands to Shadow's head and brought him in for a long kiss.
Off to one side, Bunnie stood watching the couple, barely managing to hold back any sign of her dismay.
Behind her, Tails was having trouble trying to keep himself from laughing out loud at the sight of Geoffrey with Omochao tied to his back.
Geoffrey looked oddly at the smile on Tails' face. "What's up with you?"
"Nothing." Tails snickered.
Geoffrey almost wanted to beat the little snot into a pulp, but he knew he couldn't do that. He looked over to see Rouge kissing Shadow goodbye. For a brief instant, he saw the image of Sally kissing Sonic, and it made him wince. He was about to just give up on this whole plan, unable to go through with the whole plot of getting the two together; but no, he had to do it, no matter much it hurt. He snapped out of it, and realized that they had better get this over with before he did change his mind.
"Are you going to just stand there, or are we going to do this?"
Shadow and Rouge broke off the kiss.
"I'll be back before you know it."
Shadow snuck in a quick last kiss before completely leaving Rouge.
"Alright; if everybody's ready, let's do this!"
Shadow walked over to Geoffrey and took his hand. "Hold on tight, this is going to be a bumpy ride."
In the blink of an eye, Shadow's body burst into the telltale green flame of the Chaos Control, which grew and enveloped Geoffrey and Omochao. Within a second, all three had vanished.
Tails was still waving goodbye, even after they were gone. He stopped and looked over to the two women, both looked equally depressed. "Are you two O.K.? Shadow'll be back."
Bunnie wasn't really feeling any better, but she did snap out of her lull. "I know."
The two of them looked over at Rouge, who was still quietly caught up in her own thoughts.
{But I won't know it...}
Through the drift, a dark green comet shorn a path through the rainbow spectrum.
In the Great Forest, at an indeterminate location, the green blaze fired up and faded away, leaving behind two of the voyagers.
Geoffrey looked up to the sky through the breaks in the green covering. It was in the evening, not yet dark, but the light would be gone within the hour. He had to hurry, nightfall was the time he had to be in place.
"What's wrong?"
Geoffrey turned back to try and see Omochao behind him.
"Shadow dropped us in the middle of nowhere. It could take hours just to find a marker. We didn't post road signs; it's kind of pointless to have signs pointing to a secret base."
"Well duh, fortunately my internal computers have already located the party. Now follow my instruction. Look straight ahead, then turn 20° to the left. Now, go straight ahead."
Geoffrey looked in front and now found himself pointing straight at a tree.
"Go around the tree, stupid."
Geoffrey was rather perturbed.
Shadow was back in the drift, scanning the vibrant color of the background for the impending assault.
Reaching to his ear, Shadow switched on a small communicator, which extended a small microphone to his mouth.
"Come in 'Tin Man', 'Todo' calling 'Tin Man', over."
"Loud and clear, Todo. Over."
"Good, you mind telling me what these dumb names mean?"
"Later Todo, over."
"How's 'Scarecrow'? Over."
"A little disoriented, but otherwise fine, over."
"Right. Over and out."
{If I find out that 'Todo' is something really silly, I'm going to recycle his ass.}
Shadow waited, conserving as much energy as he could. As Omochao had said, time and space were warped in this place, so the job would only take a few minutes from Shadow's standpoint. But his ring supply would only last about 10 minutes, and any interference would cut into that; so every second counted.
As he waited, a dark shadow reached out, pushing away the vibrant color like a dark toxin spilled in a pristine lake; a shadow that mirrored the darkness long buried in Shadow's soul.
"Come to me little ones, for I am waiting..."
Geoffrey continued through the brush, slowly getting his bearings. Off in the distance, he could hear the muffled sound of people.
"I was just talking with Shadow, everything's going fine so far."
"Good. We're not far, it should be just over that hump over there. Why didn't you let me talk to him?"
"Time distortion, unless you can talk at about 3 words a minute it would've been a waste of time."
"Then how about you talking at that rate now, we're getting close."
Geoffrey crept past a tree and looked out into the opening. Just ahead, was a group from Knothole sitting around a small campfire, roasting marshmallows and telling campfire stories and the like.
"Is that it?"
"That's it."
Geoffrey had taken a position in the woods surrounding the birthday party. It was a small clearing a good walk from Knothole. Because of the threat of Robotnik finding it, they couldn't have the party in Knothole itself; the noise and the fire were potential beacons for the vile doctor, so both were kept to a minimum. But all in all, it was still a party; Princess Sally's 21st birthday, and it was meant for celebration. By all accounts, she was at the age she should have been made Queen; but Queen of what?
Sonic joked a bit and called her "Queen Sally", and most called her that at least once through the day; but while sitting and watching, Geoffrey knew there was at least one person who didn't call her that.
It was getting dark, and the party was breaking up. The fire was being carefully put out to limit the smoke, and the party goers were making their way back to Knothole. Each was in charge of cleaning up some trace of their presence, even Sally helped in rounding up the discarded plates and cutlery.
Sonic was also picking up the plates, but he enjoyed eating the last little bits of cake that anyone failed to consume.
Geoffrey continued to look around and watch the careful clean up operation when he saw it; in the back of the clearing, standing in the group but not part of it, was the stoic figure of his former self. As always, he was in command of the situation, making sure that everything went like clockwork.
The Geoffrey from almost two years ago appeared as the staunch drill sergeant he always did, not flinching a bit in his duties; but the older one knew better. Every other second, Geoffrey's eye cast a glance over to Sally, and then to the blue hedgehog that was often too near.
Only the older one truly knew the hatred he held for Sonic, rivaling and even besting that which Shadow felt.
When the place was almost restored to a natural looking state, people started the trek back to Knothole before it got dark. Many wished Sally one last "Happy Birthday" when they passed, until she too joined the progression. Sonic trotted up next to her and offered her his arm. She took it and they headed back together.
Around the dying embers of the fire, the last figure was watching the couple leaving the scene. The watcher paced around the clearing in a brisk walk, following the rest. As the last, it was Geoffrey's duty to watch the trail to make sure no trace was left that pointed the way, but he usually was focused more on Sally just a few paces ahead.
"And there goes the knight in stupid armor."
"Hey!"
The older Geoffrey left his hiding spot and followed his younger self, waiting for a moment to get him alone.
Off in the distance, a small group of flying comets headed for the scene, passing through the bright void towards the passage to Mobius. But when the streaks of red arrived, they found that entrance was barred, blocked by a fierce field of blackness that cloaked the area.
The demons fired energy bolts at the void to repel it, but the field held fast, allowing no one to reach Mobius of that time. The attack continued, with all of the creatures focusing on one spot in the inky darkness, slowly forcing the cover back.
From the depths, a pair of hideous eyes looked out, and found amusement in the attempt. At this rate, it would not take long to muscle through; but certainly, he would not allow that.
"'Come into my parlor', said the spider to the flies."
