Hola! Welcome to the fic!
0-
I only have one thing to say about this next chapter: Fleetway!
Wait, that's probably too much info right there...
0-
I HAVE REDISCOVERED AMPLE SPACING! YOSH!
0-
Disclaimer: see other chapters for this stuff
Claimer: yeah, idjit
0-
-0-
0-
0-
0-
The second he woke up, Sonic dearly wished he hadn't. Wherever he was now was freezing!
0-
It needed about fifty space heaters, BADLY…or maybe an active volcano or three. Yeah, huge pools of boiling, bubbling lava sounded particularly warm and cozy right about now.
0-
0-
Thinking of the many much warmer places he'd rather be, the blue hedgehog forced his heavy eyelids open and his heavy body upwards. And for the record, his personage was only heavy because he was so wiped out.
0-
0-
The view was eerily familiar. Everything was blank. Sky, floor, everything.
0-
But there was one slightly obvious difference between the way the Fount of Light looked upon their arrival and the way it looked right now: instead of being completely white, everything was pitch-black. The darkness made it hard to see very far in any direction.
0-
Sonic could barely even see himself - his regular cool blueness was now a tired, washed-out blue-gray.
0-
0-
"Wow. Cheerful place," Sonic muttered sarcastically as he looked around for the others.
0-
"You should see it during tourist season," an oddly familiar voice agreed sarcastically from behind him.
0-
Sonic turned around to find that he was staring right at…himself?
0-
0-
0-
For a second, he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him and that he was really looking at Shadow or even Raven. But no. The hedgehog Sonic was staring at was his shade of blue, and had his shade of green eyes, and was even wearing the exact same pair of sneakers.
0-
"Something on my face?" the Sonic-clone asked.
0-
"…You…look…EXACTLY like me," Sonic forced out.
0-
"Really? Wow," the Sonic-clone answered sarcastically, "I wonder why? Could it be because I AM you? You are in a dimension that makes your thoughts a reality, you know."
0-
0-
"Yeah," Sonic agreed after a second of thinking about it, "You've got a point. In that case, nice to meet me!"
0-
"Charmed, I'm sure," the Sonic-clone laughed.
0-
"Yeah," Sonic added, "And by the way - if this was inevitable and all, what took you so long to get here?"
0-
0-
The Sonic-clone shrugged.
0-
"Better late than never, right? Although," the clone added in a suddenly serious tone, "It's a good thing I'm getting the chance to talk to you. Otherwise, you're going to end up making a mistake that you'll regret forever."
0-
"A mistake?" Sonic blinked.
0-
The Sonic-clone nodded emphatically.
0-
"Once you finish saving the day here an' all," the clone explained, "You ought to make sure you take a…let's call it a souvenir…back with you."
0-
0-
"What? Wait, are you suggesting I leave this crazy dimension with some sort of new power or something?"
0-
"Hear me out!" the Sonic-clone insisted, "I mean, think about it. Once this mess is cleared up, what can you do? I'll be willing to bet you that you won't even get a single year between this and the next thing that'll try destroying the world."
0-
"It wouldn't be much of a world with no dangers from anything," Sonic said uncertainly.
0-
"Well, yeah," the Sonic-clone agreed, "But you can agree that way more danger comes from exactly one person than it should, right?"
0-
"…You mean Dr. Eggman," Sonic pointed out.
0-
"Yeah. Why not take something back to stop his evil plotting with once and for all? And if you can use it to take care of a few other dangers, so much the better. I mean, you do save the world almost constantly, so why shouldn't you get a break?"
0-
0-
This actually sounded like a good idea. Not that Sonic would be fool enough to take much of something, but maybe a killer new move or two would be okay? Even though it would have to be something spectacular to convince…
0-
"Wait a second," Sonic told the Sonic-clone, "I'm kinda down on this plan of yours, but what about Tails and the others?"
0-
"Yeah, I was about to get to them," the Sonic-clone said - it looked fairly disapproving on this subject, "Those people? You don't need them."
0-
"I don't need -?"
0-
"I mean, sure, they're great people and all," the Sonic-clone was quick to reassure him, "But c'mon! You're a regular one-hedgehog army! Having to look out for their safety is only holding you down!"
0-
"…But…"
0-
"Do you really need Shadow to Chaos Control you from place to place? Nope," the Sonic-clone said, "Do you really need Miles to fly you around all the time - and it was your plane before he got to it, remember? And then there's Knuckles - half the time he's on Dr. Eggman's side. How can someone that easy to trick be anything more than deadweight?"
0-
"Deadweight!" Sonic protested.
0-
"I'm just telling it like it is," the Sonic-clone told him, "Trust me - after all, I am you. I'm just saying the things you're thinking, deep down inside. And that's why you can believe me when I tell you what you do and don't need."
0-
0-
There was a pause while Sonic tried to think of a response to this.
0-
Eventually, he nodded.
0-
0-
"You know what…you're absolutely right."
0-
"Of course I am," started the Sonic-clone, but Sonic interrupted him.
"You're right…about exactly one thing," Sonic added.
0-
"Oh?" The Sonic-clone looked less then pleased.
0-
"And the thing about that thing is, you're completely right. Because you ARE, in fact, me."
0-
0-
The Sonic-clone stared at him. But Sonic wasn't done.
0-
0-
"The thing is, I know exactly which part of me you are, too. You're that nasty little voice in the back of my head - the one that thinks that I should quite saving this mostly ungrateful planet and mind my own business. Not to mention the one that thinks a gun and a couple of bullets is the best way to deal with Eggman once and for all.
"And the truth is…" the blue hedgehog continued, "You do have a point. A BAD point, but then again you're a…well, you're what I would be if I was THAT kind of person.
0-
"But I'm not. So you and your little plan can go take a long hike off the side of ARK, because I'm going to go find my friends."
0-
0-
"Clever," the Sonic-clone replied, now looking angry, "Too clever. And yet not quite clever enough. Because in this place, at this moment, I am more real than you are. And that means you're going to cease existing at all in another second."
0-
0-
As the Sonic-clone spoke, its body started glowing, until with the bright flash Sonic found himself facing a clone of Super Sonic.
0-
An angry and especially EVIL Super Sonic who very much wanted to smash him into a pasty blue pulp.