SO! Two weeks huh? Yikes... Sorry about that, The end of the semester is near and I have to get this work done. I hope you enjoy this chapter! If any readers here have watched the show, get ready to be taken straight to memory lane! Hit it!
The letter was the most horrific thing they've seen from the mustached man. It was a ransom note for their lives! It read,
"You thought I forgot about where I started from the beginning, did you? Now that I have more research, I took over your precious capital and captured your dear mother! I will admit, Using my new weapon on you was the best idea I have ever had! Without your powers, you were powerless to stop me! OH HOH HOH HOH HOH! If you ever want to see her again, Surrender in the next 48 hours... Or she gets it. It's time to end this permanently…"
Received at 2:56 A.M.
There was an attached image to the message and when they opened it, let's just say nearly lost it. The image itself was a photo of a dark caged cell, with one occupant inside. It was her. She was the one in chains. She looked like a mess with tattered clothes, cuts, and bruises all over. It looked like she was on the brink of death…
"I-Is th-that… m-m-mother?" Sonia stuttered.
"Wha- What did he do to her?!" Manic feared.
Sonic didn't say anything, He fell back into the computer chair that was pushed aside from the desk and lowered his head, covering his face with the palm of his hands. Tears broke free from his eyes even when he had them shut so tightly. Given time his shock and sadness was slowly being replaced with anger.
"T-This can't be h-happening…" Sonia whimpered.
"It is, unfortunately…"
The two younger hedgehogs turned their heads to view Tails in the doorway with the same feeling of sadness as they do. His big blue eyes dulled out and his namesake were on the floor, being dragged along as he walked. After a moment, Manic tries to change the subject by coming up with a plan.
"We have to do something, maybe we could-"
A loud guitar riff followed by a small explosion erupted behind them. They all turned to see Sonic in his 'almost super form' with those blood red eyes and his medallion transformed into his triple necked guitar aimed right at where the computer screen used to be. His guitar was mainly colored dark purple with a red center. It has light blue strings and gold tips at the end of each neck. All were shocked and didn't move or make a sound. Sonic let out a sigh and reverted back to normal. He transformed his guitar back into a medallion around his neck and got up out of the chair. He started walking towards the front door, pushing the others away from them.
"Sonic? Sonic, where are you going?" Tails asked.
"Out." Was his only reply.
"But what about-" *SLAM* Manic tried to talk but seeing his brother slam the door shut made him stop. This also left Sonia in tears, Manic had to hold her close until she calmed down. Tails wasn't much better but not as distraught as them.
Silver and Blaze were walking down a forest path around the same time. Blaze was confused on why Silver wanted her to come along. They were walking deep into the forest away from any civilization.
"So Silver, Why are we walking into the forest?"
"I… need some advice." He started with.
"Advice?"
"Yeah, We now know Sonic's backstory and… I still don't understand."
"Well, You aren't wrong. There are still a few things that elude me. But why don't we just ask him? I'm sure that they've calmed down enough from yesterday."
"I don't think so, it might make things worse. Besides, I think I have a better way to understand his past."
He pulls out a familiar shiny purple gem and shows it to her which catches her attention.
"Remember when we first met Sonic?"
"Silver, you can't be suggesting that we time travel. The first time we did that, we nearly caused the destruction we were supposed to prevent."
"That was because we were led under false pretenses. We could just observe some events without being seen, nothing more. Ever since I saw that future, I want to know what happened before Sonic left his family. Maybe catch a look of his mother and how she played a role in all this."
Silver stretches out his arm, emerald in hand and opens a time portal for them to crossover.
"I don't know about this…" Blaze said with uncertainty.
The silver hedgehog and purple feline jumped into the portal and for a brief moment everything was white as snow. It all faded away once they exited the other end of the portal. After it dissipated, they got a look of their surroundings. They ended up in an abandoned alleyway in desert-like terrain.
"Where are we?" Blaze asked.
"I don't-"
"QA, this is CA." A voice interrupts.
Silver and Blaze reached onto a side of the building to conceal themselves from the oncoming tall Mobian whispering through a radio.
"Repeat. QA, this is CA on a secured frequency. I'm on my way to the drainage cavern rendezvous point and I'll keep my eye out for your children as ordered."
Once the man started to walk towards his vehicle, Silver and Blaze got a good look at him. He was tall, but he had yellow skin with orange hair. He was wearing a black and green tunic with white sleeves, turquoise pants, a pair of black shoes, and a black eye patch over his left eye. He looked over his shoulder down the street and started to panic. He quickly got into what looked like a rocket car and sped off with a flying hover vehicle following close behind. Once the coast was clear, they slowly moved out closer towards the street and looked to where they're headed off to.
"Who was that?" Silver thought.
"I think he is some kind of soldier, he was speaking in code. Those callsigns are similar to what most identify themselves as." Blaze told.
"Callsigns… QA and CA?" Silver raised an eyebrow as he lifted his finger to his lips.
"QA was the one he was trying to reach, but who is QA?"
"I don't know…" Blaze replied. "Wait… he also said he would look out for their children 'as ordered.' That must be Queen Aleena."
"You're right! That must be her. But who is CA?" Silver showed double the confusion from the first sign on the second.
Their train of thought was interrupted by a large van speeding past them. Silver was nearly taken down by the wind of its wake if Blaze didn't catch him.
"What the?!" Silver shouted.
Blaze was able to get a glance of what the van was. It was pretty large with a coat of beige as its body color. It had some kind of overhead window on the roof of the van. She was also able to see some kind of symbol on the side of the van. It had the letters S and U with a guitar in between the two. That was about it before it faded into the distance.
"Road hogs." Silver mumbled.
"Silver, didn't Sonic say something about him being in a band with his siblings?" Blaze asked.
"Yeah, I think he called it the 'Sonic Underground.' Why?"
"I think that was them. I saw a logo on the side of that van that I believe is theirs."
"In that case, let's see where they're headed."
Silver started to run alongside the road in the same direction as the Sonic Underground sped off to. Blaze wanted to protest but was already running with him. They stopped when they saw the van parked next to the car that belonged to the yellow mobian which looked to be abandoned on top of what seemed to be a bunch of robots. They both jumped behind some scrap metal and trash about 15 feet away to not be seen as they started to hear their voices. There was a pink hedgehog on a motorcycle, a green hedgehog with a wacky hairdo with a hoverboard, and a familiar blue hedgehog who was much rounder than his normal form.
"Wait a minute, is that Sonic? Wow he looks so round." Silver whispered.
"Almost like a ball, actually." Blaze added.
"Sonic, Check out that hovercraft for clues." Sonia stated.
"Already did." Sonic replied.
"Yeah, right. And I suppose you zipped over there, faster than the speed of light and- Gasp"
Sonic pulled out 3 items like they appeared out of thin air, surprising Sonia.
"Why is she so surprised? Doesn't she know how fast he really is?" Silver questioned.
"Got his car keys, dog tags… Hmmm…" Sonic stopped his voice and got a closer look at them.
"Argus, Captain of Queen Aleena's Personal Guard?"
"Captain… Argus…? CA!" Blaze whispered.
"Excellent!" Manic spoke, "A guy like that is bound to know where we can find Ma!"
Sonic pulled out some kind of photo from nowhere and says,
"And one ancient photograph of-"
Sonia takes the photograph away from Sonic to get a better look herself.
"Aww, Just look at me! Wasn't I cute?" She pointed towards the photo.
"Like, we all were." Manic added. "I don't really remember her from back then, But… that must be Ma…"
Sonic took a double take when he looked around the corner, obviously disturbed by something. He grabbed Manic and Sonia and hid in a nearby alleyway.
"What are they doing?" Blaze pondered.
Right on cue of her question, A large red vehicle similar to the one that was just chasing this Argus fellow returned to the scene of the crime.
"Aw, C'mon, Sleet! Why can't I question Argus at the Robo-center with you?" A gruff voice said before being kicked out of the vehicle.
"Because I need a fly on the wall to spy on the hedgehogs. In case they come back looking for clues." A second voice replied, walking about to the doorway of the vehicle.
Those voices belonged to a big, buff, and orange-ish Dingo with shorts and boots and a thin, small, gray wolf wearing a suit and cape. The gray wolf mobian pulled out some kind of device and shot a laser at the Dingo who actually transformed into a fly!
"Capeesh?" The wolf asked
"What I capeesh is, Ye want all the credit catching Argus!" The dingo- or fly fumed
"What in Chaos!" Silver gasped.
The wolf shut the door to the craft and extended its wings as it started to fly away. While the Dingo Fly was looking around for a bit, he moved to the next block over leaving the Sonic Underground a chance to move.
"They captured Argus! We gotta move, It's juice and jam time!" Sonic announced.
"Right." Sonia agreed.
"Alrighty, bro." Manic nodded.
They all left in the direction towards a large settlement of buildings covered in technology and wires.
"Coast is clear, come on, Silver." Blaze started to walk down the street and Silver followed.
"Where are you going?" Silver stopped Blaze from proceeding further.
"After them? Don't you want to see how this will go?"
"Yeah, but I recognize this place from the future and they're headed near the center of the city. We might get captured or worse. Then, we'll never get back to our own time."
Blaze was going to protest but he had a solid point. They were heading deeper into the city, She was only on the outskirts. Who knows what lies ahead.
"I think we should go to this rendezvous point Captain Argus spoke of. They might be delivering something there." Silver suggested.
"But where is that?" Blaze countered.
"He mentioned something about an underground drainage cavern. All we need to do is find those caverns and maybe the others will be there, maybe even the queen."
"Maybe so… Where do we start looking?"
The time traveling duo spent the next two hours searching far and wide with little interaction to the people of the past to avoid altering the future. They only had to ask directions from a stranger once and they arrived without further trouble.
They entered the cavern through a large open cave illuminated by spotlights on the ground, both sides, and spaced out roughly every 25 feet. After a few more minutes of walking, they were nearing the end of the cave into the said drainage cavern.
"Alright, We're almost there. Now, let's find a good hiding spot before- Oof!" Silver bumped into something and fell to the ground along with someone in a large red cloak. The cloaked one fell to the ground as well, but something became loose from its head and was launched a few feet away.
"Ahh! I'm s-so sorry! I didn't see you there, I didn't think anyone was-"
Silver's gaze was caught by a shiny metal object laying on the floor. He got up and went to retrieve it while Blaze knelt by the cloaked one's side. Once he picked up the object in question, he got a closer look at it. It was made of nearly pure gold with two blocks of gold attached to the sides and one big block in the center with a jewel in the middle. He recognizes it, but from where…
"Is this…"
"Are you alright, miss…?"
Blaze tried to ask before the hood of the cloak fell to reveal the wearer's face. Blaze gasped in awe which caught Silver's attention. It was her. Long dark purple hair, as well as purple fur and green eyes like Sonic. She's the queen, Sonic's mother, and this was her crown!
"It's… you…" Silver mumbled.
Panic started to rise in Aleena's face but was soon replaced with a concentrated look. Quickly, she grabbed Blaze and threw her towards Silver and knocked both of them to the ground. Silver lost hold of the crown laying nearly unconscious with Blaze on top of him. Aleena quickly grabs her crown and puts it back on.
"I'm sorry, but I can't have you here with me." She stated.
Once the duo got a hold of themselves and got upright, they tried to assess their dilemma.
"Y-You're Queen Aleena Hedgehog. What are you doing here?" Blaze asked.
"That is none of your concern. Now, please leave." Aleena raised her hood to shield her face once more. "CA, this is QA. Abort the rendezvous, the location is no longer secure. I repeat, the location is no longer secure."
*Static*
"CA, come in, please." She called.
*Static*
"CA, come in!" She repeated.
*Static*
"Argus, come in, please!"
"It's no use, you won't be getting a response from him." Silver began.
That sent the wrong message.
Aleena immediately went hostile and turned towards the duo with some kind of scepter which froze them in place with a purple field, similar to Silver's psychokinesis.
"Who are you and what have you done with Argus!" She demanded.
"W-we-we didn't do anything!" Silver trembled.
"All we know is that he was captured by some hunters and was taken into the city. Sonic and his siblings followed them in an attempt to save him."
"Sonic? You know Sonic?" Aleena questioned.
Silver and Blaze gave each other a look before Blaze replied, "Yes?"
"Then, you are with the resistance?" She added.
"No… Not this resistance…" Silver responded this time.
Aleena squinted her eyes from that, giving them a suspicious look.
"Then, who are you two? And how do you know Sonic and his siblings, but you're not part of the resistance?"
"That's gonna be a little hard to explain, heh." Silver faltered.
"Silver, we don't have time for explanations. We weren't supposed to be seen!"
"So, you're spies!" Aleena concluded.
Before the argument could continue, they heard the familiar voice of a certain blue hedgehog.
"Hey, Look! It's mom's scarf!"
Aleena gave a look of terror. She released her field and set the two free and hid behind one of the big pipes nearby and peaked over. The triplet hedgehogs started running towards the center of the cavern, unaware that there was a false cape not belonging to their mother.
"They spotted me! But it's too soon, I can't have them find me!"
"Because of the prophecy?" Silver asked.
Aleena froze, "How… How do you know that?" She deadpanned.
"Like I said, it's hard to explain-"
The next thing they heard was one of Sonia's screams echoing throughout the cavern. Silver and Blaze were startled by the sudden sound, but Aleena was ten times worse.
"Sonia?!"
She nearly screamed as she peaked back over to see the swarm attacking them. Blaze looked beside her and noticed something strange. There was a swarm of robots, even if they are different from the ones they were used to, there was one robot who looked different from the rest.
"Silver, Look at that." She pointed towards said robot.
"What? What is it?"
"Look at that robot there, chasing Sonic. Why does he look different than the rest?"
"I don't know…"
Aleena gave a loud gasp once she saw what they were pointing out.
"A-Argus?" She whimpered.
It hit the two like a stone wall once they put two and two together. Silver's ears drooped when he asked,
"Is that what Sonic meant by roboticized?"
"Oh dear…" Blaze whispered.
Aleena was trying to process everything in her head. The two spies, the swarm of SWATbots, Argus' roboticization… It was so much, but she couldn't break down. She turned back at the pair and said,
"Whoever you two are, you need to get out of here. Head back through the tunnel!" She pointed to where they came from with a stern look.
"What about you?" Blaze cautioned.
"I'll be fine, but you can't be seen. Go!"
Silver and Blaze ran towards the exit and hid behind one of the boulders laying several feet away from the entrance. Aleena made sure that the two made it without being caught by watching them. She was startled by her daughter's voice calling out to her.
"Mother! Look out!"
Aleena spun around to see an unroboticized Argus walking towards her with a pair of handcuffs. She knew he was a fraud, It had to be Dingo in disguise. She backtrack, getting ready to run away.
"Your majesty, don't go. I bring news of your kids!" The imposter called out.
"Forget it, Ding-Dong! This kid brings news of his own!" Sonic yelled as he slid on the dirt, pulling out his magic guitar.
Aleena saw this as her ticket to get out of there and started to run. The imposter ran after her in an attempt to capture her. Sonic played loud riffs on his guitar and shot a few lasers at the top of the cave which caused it to collapse. A scream could be heard before the entire passageway was blocked by rocks and rubble.
Dust filled the immediate area and clouded everyone's vision inside the cave for only a moment. Once the dust cleared, Sliver was able to see Aleena who fell to the ground from the quake. But then, sounds of stone cracking got his attention. He looked up to see a huge chunk about to break free and fall right on Aleena! Silver attempted to sprint over to her but it was too late, the chunk broke free and began its free fall.
"Watch out!" He screamed.
Aleena could only brace herself with the amount of time that she had left. She thought this would be the end, but when that moment passed and she didn't feel any pain she opened her eyes slowly to see the stone hovering in the air above her. Silver was able to grab hold of it using his psychokinetic powers and pushed it away where no harm could be done.
"Are you alright?" He outstretched his hand.
"I-… I'm fine, Thank you." She replied as she took it and Silver helped her back on her feet.
A loud crash could be heard from the other side. It almost sounded like one of the structures collapsed. Then, they started to hear voices from the other side…
"-next time, leave my mother alone!" That voice was identified as Sonic.
The next Sonia, "Where's mother?"
"Gone… But at least those guys can't get her either!"
The next thing they heard was a barrage of laser fire.
"I think we have been here long enough, It's time to go." Blaze announced.
Silver nodded and walked towards Blaze, getting ready to go.
"Wait!" Aleena called out. "Who are you two, really?"
Silver looked at Blaze for a response but she could only stare back at him. Silver gave a sigh and started thinking of ways to not corrupt the timeline.
"We can't tell you, your majesty."
"Why not? Are you two spies for Robotnik?"
"Oh Chaos, No!" He screamed.
"Calm down, Silver." Blaze whispered, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Let's go. Even when I saved her, she thinks we work for that mad man." He mumbled and started walking away.
Blaze was hesitant but she gave one quick glance at Aleena then turned back to Silver and followed.
"...I'm sorry…" Aleena spoke softly.
That was enough to get both of their attention as they stopped their momentum and looked back at the gloomy queen.
"I didn't intend to insult you in any way…" She continued. "But may I at least ask for your name before you go?"
The two hesitated for a moment, considering their choices about revealing information that may alter the timeline.
"My name is Silver, Silver the hedgehog."
"I've never seen a hedgehog with your power before."
"Likely not for a couple centuries-" Silver stopped abruptly.
"Centuries?! So you are from the future?"
"Uh…. Chaos…" Silver cursed.
"And what about you? Are you from the future as well?" Aleena turned to Blaze.
"Um… No, not exactly. I'm Princess Blaze the Cat. I'm from another dimension entirely but I was not born around Silver's time. I was born around the same age as Sonic I believe."
"Time Travelers…" Aleena was amazed. "But what are you doing traveling through time? I guess you were not supposed to meet me here, were you?"
"We were only here to observe Sonic's past but I got careless… I may have even disrupted the timeline." Silver scolded.
Blaze saw his sadness growing and went to comfort him. Aleena recognizes this as well. Then, an idea struck her mind which resulted in a smile.
"You know, I don't think you did. You may have done the exact opposite."
Silver and Blaze gave her a confused look, urging her to continue.
"I think that, maybe you were meant to time travel to this point. Otherwise, I don't think I would've survived the collapse of the cave entrance without your help."
Temporal paradoxes are tricky to understand, like how effect can precede cause. But to think of it, how Aleena explained to him, made his spirit grow. A slow smile crept onto his face and gave a small nod.
"Yeah, you're right. Maybe we were meant to be here."
Everyone smiled and relaxed the tension in the air. They all slowly started to chuckle and soon they all started laughing from the whole ordeal. Once they laughter died down, that's when Aleena decided to ask,
"So, if you don't mind me asking, why are you here in search of my son?"
"We just wanted to learn more of Sonic's past." Blaze answered.
"Then, why not just ask him? Or his siblings? Or even me? I'm sure I would still be around if you are as young as him, Blaze."
"Uh… I cannot reveal that answer. Not without changing the timeline." Blaze warned.
"Ah, I see…" Aleena's head dropped. "Do you have all the information you need?"
"No, not exactly. How long has Sonic started looking for you?" Silver questioned.
"Only a few weeks now since he reunited with his brother and sister."
"Are we that far back?!" Blaze uttered.
"Far back? Is Sonic- Don't answer that." Aleena corrected.
"So, if we are only a few weeks in… Then, there is only one thing I can ask. Who are the two mobians after Sonic and his siblings exactly?"
"Oh, Sleet and Dingo…" Aleena growled. "They are Robotnik's bounty hunters who seek out for my children's capture. They are such a nuisance."
"Sonic has rarely ever spoken of them." Blaze concluded.
"Interesting. But unfortunately, we have to end it here. We must be on our way, I don't want to risk further contamination of the timeline."
Silver pulled the purple emerald out which caught Aleena's eyes.
"A Chaos Emerald?!"
Silver outstretched his arm and concentrated. Then, a new portal appeared in front of them. Blaze decided to go first and jumped in. Silver was going to follow suit, but Aleena stopped him.
"How in the world did you get a Chaos Emerald?"
"I found it when I was looking for one. Sonic uses them all the time so it's very random when he's done saving the world over and over again- Chaos. Forget what I said, please?"
"I guess I'll see you soon. Goodbye, Silver." Aleena slowly backed away and was about to walk out of the cave when Silver whispered, hoping that she didn't hear,
"Possibly…" He jumped into the portal and it faded away into nothing.
Aleena looked back to where Silver was and paused.
"Possibly…?" Aleena repeated. Aleena's face dissolved into sadness and darted her eyesight across the floor before turning around and trying to forget she heard that, but now it's stuck with her.
What did he mean by that? Did something happen to them? Did something happen to… me? No, No… Stop thinking about it, Aleena. Thinking about this more will only corrupt the timeline. I must let time run its natural course.
From then on, Aleena vowed to keep this information secret until she meets Silver after he makes the time jump. Aleena reached the end of the cavern to see a starry night. There were billions of stars out there, but she only focused on four of them. One blue star, one pink star, one green star, and finally one purple star. She stared out to them and began talking, even if there was no one there.
"Good luck, Silver. I hope we meet under... comfortable circumstances…"
Well... That's not gonna happen, Aleena. Sorry, but it will get better. You'll see him again next chap-
(HEY NO SPOILERS!)
Oops... Gotta go! *Jumps on Transporter pad and Transports away*