Chapter 5 (Sonic): The Distant Future
Zizz-ba-doom!
"Woooaaaahh!"
Fa-thud!
Performing a flip in the air, Sonic was able to land safely on his feet.
The same could not be said, unfortunately, for Tails and Knuckles.
As the fox and the echidna tried to clear their dizziness, Sonic began to observe his surroundings. The room they were in was cylindrical in shape, metal plating lining the walls; the metal itself appeared rusted beyond measure, but the walls and floor had scorch marks on them as well. Above the three heroes, a broken window could be seen.
This room, Sonic thought. Could it be…?
"Boy, do I feel dizzy…" Sonic turned to see Tails shaking his head and groaning. He couldn't help but pity his poor friend. Same for Knuckles. When his vision cleared up, Tails asked, "Where are we?"
Right as Sonic was about to share his thoughts, he heard the sound of feet—two pairs of feet, in fact—strolling across metal, breaking the already uncomfortable hollowness of the place. Gazing up back towards the broken window, Sonic prepared for whatever it was that was coming.
Only to find himself surprised at who it was.
"Oh, look who's here! I didn't expect to see you guys."
Standing above the three heroes were two figures. The one that spoke was a white bat girl, dressed in a black, sleeveless unitard with white gloves and boots; a dab of pink was present on the gloves and boots; the most notable aspect of her outfit was a large, pink heart chestplate-like top. Beside her, in contrast, was a black hedgehog with red streaks along the arms, legs, and quills. He eyed the group of heroes with his arms crossed, a look of indifference on his face.
"Rouge!" Tails exclaimed. "Shadow!"
Rouge waved her hand lightly. "Hi! Long time, no see!" She then stared at Knuckles, smiling mischievously at his wary glare. "I don't suppose you're still mad about me stealing the Master Emerald a few weeks ago?" Knuckles responded with a growl, his teeth as sharp as a canine. Sonic's next question eased the atmosphere created by Rouge and Knuckles. "You wouldn't happen to know where we're at, would you?"
Rouge's smile vanished instantly. "Well, believe it or not, we're inside Dr. Eggman's base in White Acropolis."
The three heroes froze upon hearing this, but Sonic was the least bit stunned. He had recognized the room they were in, despite the state it was in. But what had happened here?
"That can't be…" Knuckles said. "What did Eggman's machine do, then?"
Shadow finally broke his silence to answer the echidna's inquiry. "It sent you through time. To the future." Seeing the three full of disbelief, Shadow suggested, "Maybe you should see the city to believe it." With that, he turned and began walking away.
Rouge pointed her thumb in the direction Shadow was going. "There's still one teleporter left intact. Come on. We'll show you where."
Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles exchanged glances with each other. They knew they weren't going to get anywhere just standing around in this room. Besides, they were all curious about what became of Soleanna in the future.
Joining Rouge above, they followed her down the empty corridors to the teleporter she mentioned, where Shadow was waiting. Having tapped in the coordinates, he nodded at Rouge to confirm it was ready.
"We came here through this teleporter to see if Eggman had anything to get us back home," Rouge explained, a slight smile returning to her face. "We just don't know if it will work going back. How about it, Knucklehead? Care to be the first guinea pig?"
"Why you…!"
Before Knuckles could finish his sentence, Sonic stepped forward onto the teleporter. He wasn't afraid, but he was anxious to see the future world they were in. Part of it was due to something that white hedgehog, Silver, said:
"For the future of the world, I will destroy you!"
If this was the future that Silver spoke ominously about in his threat, Sonic had to see it for himself.
"I was kidding." Rouge saw the serious expression on Sonic's face, thinking he was concerned about the teleporter. Broken out of his deep thought, Sonic gave Rouge a reassuring wink and a thumbs up. Rouge then turned to Shadow and nodded; Shadow activated the teleporter with the controls, causing Sonic to disappear before their eyes. The rest of them followed afterwards.
Bump! Bump! Bump!
Blaze was running short of breath, inhaling and exhaling rapidly. Her gloved hands had small tears where her fists had made contact with the cell door; her hands were bleeding and they hurt like crazy, yet she continued to pound away. The door had small craters all over it, the bolts holding it down coming loose.
She was almost done.
Taking a moment to recover, Blaze looked down at her hands, thinking of everything that had happened up until now. The attack on the Festival of the Sun. Meeting Sonic. Sacrificing herself for Cream. Sonic rescuing her from Dr. Eggman and their time together. Eggman kidnapping her again.
And Eggman sending Sonic and his friends on a one-way trip through time.
She clenched her hands once more and, igniting them, charged at the door with all her might.
"Hwuah!"
Bump! Klunk!
The door hinges finally gave up their battle with the Princess, letting the door fall to the floor in defeat. Blaze let her arms rest as she continued to try regaining control over her breathing.
She had done it. She had broken out of her cell.
Now, she just needed to escape.
Blaze would've loved to just head straight to Dr. Eggman and give him what he deserves, but she knew such reckless action would not bode well for her. For starters, she was in his territory, meaning he must have tight security around this place. If the security robots caught her (or worse, killed her), then it would have all been for nothing.
Even if that wasn't the case, Blaze did not know the full extent of her powers. As a princess, she learned how to defend herself, sure, but her flames were still unpredictable and, as she had discovered recently, she was prone to passing out due to visions.
No, now was not the time to confront the mad doctor. She needed to get out of here and gather reinforcements. Only then would she take him down, put him on trial for his crimes and lock him up somewhere where he'd never see the light of day again!
"Er…"
"Oh, uh…" As soon as she exited her cell, Blaze found herself staring face-to-face with a pink hedgehog in a red dress. She seemed too out of place to be in league with Eggman, so Blaze assumed she might've been another prisoner that escaped.
As they continued glazing at each other, an alarm went off, the corridors immediately filled with flashing red lights. A female voice spoke on the intercom:
"Prisoner has escaped from Cell Block C-17. All patrolling guards, begin searching immediately. I repeat…"
"This way!" The pink hedgehog grabbed Blaze's hand, urging her to follow.
"O-ok." Blaze, initially startled by the girl's actions, allowed her to guide her through the halls, leaving an echo of footsteps resonating off the walls amid the sirens. As they continued to run together, three security robots—Eggman called them the Egg Rounders—caught sight of the two and moved to detain them. The pink hedgehog let go of Blaze and, upon pulling out a large gold and red hammer from who knows where, raced forward and smashed the leading Rounder in the side, causing it to spiral into one of its friends. As the two robots broke into parts, the remaining Egg Rounder grabbed the hedgehog's hammer as she swung to hit it, lifting it and her off of the ground.
"Ah!" The pink hedgehog screamed from this unexpected turn of events. "Let go!"
As the Egg Rounder attempted to grab the girl with its free hand, Blaze rushed forward instinctively to protect her new companion. Her hands still hurt from bashing them against her cell door, but the same could not be said about her feet. She jumped forward and attacked the Badnik's head with a fiery kick, causing it to fly off. The loss of its head made the robot's body let go of the hedgehog and her hammer, and it fell to the floor dead.
"Thanks!" the pink hedgehog said to Blaze. Blaze silently nodded, and the two continued moving down the hallway. While running, Blaze began to readjust her earlier hypothesis about the female hedgehog. If she had a weapon with her, then that left a few possibilities: A) She was a prisoner that didn't have her weapon confiscated for whatever reason, B) She was a prisoner that managed to procure a weapon, or C) She wasn't a prisoner at all. If the last option was true, why was she here to begin with? Considering this, an idea crossed Blaze's mind.
Maybe she's here to rescue me.
She then remembered what happened to the last person who tried to rescue her; thinking back to Sonic being sent through time sent a shiver down Blaze's back. No, she told herself. I won't let that happen to her, even if she is here to save me.
A few seconds later, the same intercom voice sounded another warning:
"Intruder alert! Intruder alert! All patrolling guards, head to Sector SG-9 immediately and apprehend the intruders. I repeat…"
Intruders, huh? Blaze thought. She hoped it wasn't anyone else here to liberate her, but if the intruders were going to keep the Badniks from going after the two of them, Blaze was fine with that.
With the pink hedgehog leading the way, Blaze ran with her to find the way out of this hellish place.
Sonic had seen an entire city flooded before. In all of his adventures up until now, he had encountered haunted houses, an abandoned space colony, and the most sinister bases Eggman had ever created.
But this…this was the definition of desolation.
Standing atop one of the remaining pieces of concrete, Sonic and his friends looked around petrified at the ruins before them. Buildings were either struggling to remain standing (albeit leaning), or they were lying on the ground in large chunks; the glass windows were all shattered, the lights inside as dead as night. Lava and fire could be seen in numerous areas of the city's remains, the orange color being reflected in the skies above. To top it all, a hollow wind blew through the empty air.
Unreal… Sonic thought, knowing he wasn't the only one. Tails and Knuckles could hardly believe what they were looking at either.
This place was once Soleanna?
"This is the distant future," Shadow stated from behind. "Far removed from our own timeline."
"The future?" Tails turned to see the black hedgehog nod in affirmation; Tails lowered his head with dread. He had heard Shadow back at White Acropolis, but hearing it a second time gave him no comfort. How could it? He was standing in a town that, only a few minutes ago was full of life and beauty, and now because of Dr. Eggman's machine he was here.
That machine…
"With this machine, I'll be able to control the flow of time itself!"
"It sent you through time. To the future."
"Eggman's machine…" Tails muttered, just loud enough to catch Sonic and Knuckles' attention. "It really can control time."
Sonic curled his fingers into fists at the sound of Eggman's name. Seeing this destruction, he just knew the old doctor had to be responsible for it all. And of all the places he chose to send them to…
"Eggman's got some nerve dropping us here," Sonic finally said. He put his arms to his hips, trying to contemplate what Eggman will do now that the three of them were stuck in the future.
Knuckles kicked a rock in front of him. "So, how can we get back to our own time?"
"You need a space-time rift," Shadow explained. "But this requires a lot of energy."
Sonic thought about what Shadow said. The black hedgehog, known as the Ultimate Lifeform, was able to harness incredible power—the power of Chaos, to be precise. In fact, it was from Shadow that Sonic learned how to use Chaos Control (albeit using a fake Emerald to test it out for the first time).
Hold on…Sonic thought. A space-time rift…and if Chaos Control could move a person faster than the eye can see…
"…!"
The answer was clear.
"I see…" Sonic said to Shadow. "If we use Chaos Control—"
"Yes," Shadow interjected, knowing where Sonic was going. "But that alone is insufficient."
"What if," Tails suggested, "We used two Chaos Emeralds instead of one?"
Shadow contemplated this for a moment. "I believe that should work. Still, we need two Emeralds."
Rouge let out a sigh. "I don't suppose you guys have any on you?" The three heroes shook their heads. She then turned to Knuckles, no playfulness in her mood. "Not even the Master Emerald?" Again, Knuckles shook his head.
The two teams stood in silence for a moment, trying to think of ideas. And then…
"I got it!" Tails exclaimed. He pulled out the C.E.T. and held it in front of him. "We can use this."
Seeing the C.E.T., Sonic grasped what Tails had in mind immediately. "Nice thinking, Tails!"
"What is that?" Rouge asked, confused.
Tails elaborated. "I made this as a way to track down the Chaos Emeralds in case we ever needed to find them. Let me just turn it on, adjust the range, and…" Tails pushed a few buttons on the device, and in a few seconds the C.E.T. emitted a slow, continuous beeping sound. On the screen, two dots could be seen blinking. "Looks like there are two Emeralds in the city right now."
Sonic nodded in understanding. Turning to Shadow, he boldly said, "Okay Shadow. You up to a little teamwork?" Shadow silently acknowledged his approval, unamused at Sonic's more childish nature.
"Okay then," Tails said. "Here's the plan: Sonic, Knuckles and I will try and find the Emerald here." Tails pointed to the blinking dot on the eastside of the C.E.T. screen. "That should be around the main business district." Pointing at the other dot in the northwest corner, Tails turned to address Shadow and Rouge. "You two try to find the other Emerald here, near the exit to the city. We'll rendezvous with you on the outskirts of the city, in the mountain region that leads to White Acropolis."
The two GUN agents agreed, but Rouge asked, "How will we find each other if we don't find the Emeralds?" Tails smiled. "No problem. I have a radio with…huh?" Tails tried to pull out his radio—he uses it to contact Sonic in case of an emergency—but he found that it wasn't there.
Rouge cleared her throat, waving a small red radio in her hand; realizing he'd been robbed, Tails stood speechless. Rouge smiled naughtily, returning Tails' radio to him. "Got to be more careful, fox boy!"
Sonic noticed Shadow huff at Rouge's antics. Clearly, he wasn't amused. Makes sense, Sonic thought as he watched him and Rouge walk away. He always puts his mission first. Then again, he hardly gets amused at anything.
After the two agents left, Sonic put a fist to his hand grinning. "What are we waiting for? The sooner we get that Emerald, the sooner we can go home and thank Eggman for this trip!" Tails and Knuckles chuckled at the thought of thanking Eggman, and together the three set out from their position.
Blaze and the pink hedgehog strolled down the familiar streets of Soleanna's New City. Having used one of the teleporters in Dr. Eggman's base, the two were able to escape the mad scientist's fortress in the mountains and his legion of metallic minions.
Finally… Blaze felt relieved. Once again, she was free from Eggman, allowing her to execute her plan to retaliate effectively against her kidnapper.
And yet, she still never got the name of her companion, nor had she thanked her.
"Thank you for helping me escape," Blaze said to the girl. "I am forever grateful, Miss…?"
"I'm Amy," the girl answered. "Amy Rose. What's your name?"
"My name is Blaze."
"Blaze…" Amy looked up and down at Blaze, making the cat girl a little nervous. "Wait, you're not Blaze, the Princess of Soleanna, are you?" When Blaze nodded, Amy suddenly became cheerful. "My friend Cream told me about you!"
Cream? Blaze wasn't expecting to hear her friend's name from Amy. "You know Cream?"
"Of course! We're best friends. To think she's the handmaiden of the Princess of Soleanna, and here I am talking with the Princess herself!" Grabbing Blaze's hands, Amy added, "Nice to meet you!"
"L-likewise." Blaze did her best to smile in this situation. Even when meeting friends of her friends, it was difficult for Blaze to be social outside of what was expected of her being royalty.
Amy then realized something, her smile disappearing as a result. "Oh no. Someone might already be on their way to rescue you!"
Wait… Blaze realized. "You mean, you weren't trying to rescue me yourself?"
Amy shook her head. "I was looking for someone else when I bumped into you. I hope I didn't ruin your rescuer's plan."
Hearing this, Blaze remembered what had happened to Sonic and his friends prior to her escape, leaving her feeling blue. Noticing this, Amy asked, "What's wrong?"
"Someone," Blaze explained, "Someone was, but…"
Eggman sent them on a one-way trip through time, she wanted to say, but couldn't bring herself to say it. Instead, she said, "I don't think they'll be able to, anymore."
It still felt like a bad dream, but the fact of the matter was Sonic was gone. Maybe for good.
"Don't give up hope," Amy said. "I'm sure they won't rest until they find a way to rescue you. You'll just have to keep believing."
"Amy…"
"Nope!" Amy cut Blaze off. "If this guy truly cares about you, he'll do it. Take it from a girl with experience."
A girl with experience? Blaze wondered if Amy had been in her position before. Maybe Amy, too had someone that was determined enough to rescue her, just like Sonic tried to for her.
Sonic…
Ever since she had met him, the blue hedgehog ignored her request to run off with her Chaos Emerald, followed Eggman to a desert and a mountain save her. Considering Amy's words, Blaze knew Sonic was determined.
Maybe…just maybe…he could find a way back. It was a fool's gambit, but it was enough to fill Blaze with hope.
Blaze smiled. "Perhaps…perhaps you're right. Thank you, Amy." She considered something for a moment, then added, "I don't believe you will need to worry about ruining my rescuer's plan."
"Huh? Why's that?"
"This person once said to me, 'Nothing starts until you take action.' I was already following his advice when you found me, after I escaped from my cell. I think he would be content if someone else saved me if he couldn't."
Amy giggled lightly, flattered by Blaze's gratitude. Seeing the princess' smile, however, brought a question to mind. "So, this guy…You wouldn't happen to have feelings for this person, would you?"
"Huh?!" Blaze didn't know how to respond. Where was this coming from? "No! Of course not."
"Your face says it all," Amy teased.
"I only met him a few days ago," Blaze countered, looking away embarrassed. "No one falls in love that fast."
As a princess, she was expected to marry at some point in her life to carry on the royal bloodline. Though she had her fair share of potential suitors, none were to her liking and many others were too scared of her to even offer their hand.
But Sonic? A potential suitor? Nonsense.
Amy walked past Blaze, amused at Blaze's ignorance. "You'd be surprised. Love can happen at any time, and when it does it changes everything. It feels like every little moment in your life is huge! Doesn't it?" She stared back at Blaze with sparkles in her eyes; Blaze could do nothing more than nervously laugh at Amy's perception of love.
The pink hedgehog walked closer to Blaze, a mischievous passion of curiosity emanating from her. "So, what does this guy look like? Have you already been on a date with him?"
Blaze shook her head and, again tried to deny any romantic entanglements with Sonic. "N-no…we're not dating!"
"You're not?! Oh, a one-way love! That's so cute."
"What?"
"Come on, there's no need to be shy. Look, you're a Princess and you're super cute. Whoever this guy is, he's the lucky one."
Blaze put her hand to her head. Why is she so adamant about me being in love? Is Amy some sort of romantic?
Putting her hands behind her back, Amy looked up towards the sky. "I also have someone that I'm pursuing, too."
"You mean, you have someone you're interested in?" Blaze asked.
"Not interested in," Amy corrected. "Destined to be with." Closing her eyes, Amy thought back to an older point in time. "When I was younger, I used to read tarot cards to predict my own fortune—I still do, from time to time. One day, I found I was destined to meet a great hero that I would end up marrying." Amy's expression changed to one of annoyance. "Of course, every time I bring up marriage, he always runs away, but I won't let that stop me!"
Did I say romantic? Blaze reconsidered. Maybe stalker was more accurate.
Still, Blaze couldn't help but giggle a little. As crazy as Amy's machinations are, she wasn't so bad. Maybe later, Blaze can talk to Cream about her friendship with Amy and learn a bit more about her.
"What's so funny?" Amy asked.
"I-it's nothing," Blaze replied, trying to control herself. "I think it's nice that you have someone you care about."
Amy smiled. "Don't forget, you have someone, too." She proceeded to grab Blaze's hands, taking the princess by surprise. "I'll wish us both luck in our romantic endeavors!"
Blaze returned Amy's smile. Guess there's no winning with her, she thought.
"…!" Amy gasped at something behind Blaze; glancing back, Blaze saw what was to be expected: a squadron of Eggman's robots flying towards them.
"Hmph!" Amy huffed, pulling out her Piko Hammer. "That man never learns to quit!" Turning to Blaze, Amy said, "Leave them to me."
"Are you sure?" Blaze didn't want to leave Amy to fight Dr. Eggman's forces alone, partly because it wouldn't feel right of her to leave a friend to battle alone.
"I'm sure," Amy replied. "Just get to your castle. After all…" Amy winked at Blaze. "You owe your knight in shiny armor a date, right? You don't want to postpone it again due to Eggman."
Blaze wanted to argue, but Amy was right. Not about the date, but the fact that Eggman won't quit until he had her in his clutches again. Once she was back at the castle, Blaze could promptly respond to Eggman's forces.
That was her original plan, after all.
Besides, Blaze saw how dangerous Amy can be with that hammer, even with her helping the pink hedgehog. If anyone could hold their own in a fight, it was Ms. Rose.
Nodding in response, Blaze left her new friend alone as she raced to the docks in the Soleanna Castle Town.
Amy stood proudly against the Egg Gunners that landed in front of her, their weapons raised against her. Gripping her hammer tightly, she rushed towards them at full speed.
"Haaa!"
And parts went flying.
"In there!" Tails yelled as he pushed to keep up with Sonic and Knuckles, pointing at an upcoming building. Reacting accordingly, Sonic and Knuckles continued to move at fast as they were able to while trying to adjust their direction of movement towards the building Tails was pointing at.
All while avoiding debris, cars, and the occasional billboard from the fiery tornado behind them…not to mention the fire demons in front of them.
Knuckles knocked down one that came flying at them, its body dissipating into nothingness. "How many of these creatures are there?!"
Sonic chuckled. "Don't tell me you're getting tired now!"
Knuckles grunted in response as the three ran into the building's entrance—whatever remained of it, anyways. The three watched as the whirlwind of fire passed by, objects splitting off from it in all directions. It didn't matter where they hit, of course. What more damage could be done in a city full of wreckage? It's like swatting a fly with paper: a meaningless effort.
The C.E.T.'s beeping started to beep immensely. Examining the device, Tails said, "We're very close. It should be down this hallway." The three stared ahead at the scorched path in front of them; once a beautiful white-colored building for some corporation or firm, all that remained was an empty husk. Sonic took the first step forward. "Let's get that Emerald."
For a while, the three walked in silence, glancing into rooms only to look away immediately from the sights they saw. Every room was full of nothing more than debris, tables flipped over and marks on the walls. Eventually, they passed the public section of the building and entered the private security and maintenance area; the ceiling now showcased pipes, and fewer doors were present.
Knuckles finally broke the silence. "No matter where we go, all we see are ruins. How can this be our future?"
Tails shook his head wondering the same thing. "How could it come to this?"
"Shh!" Sonic's sudden shushing sound made Tails and Knuckles focus on the hedgehog, their muscles becoming tense. Sonic pointed towards one of the doors that was slightly creaked open, a greenish glow emanating from it.
As well as voices.
"If I eliminate that guy, will our world be saved?"
"…!" Sonic recognized that voice and, peeking inside, did everything in his power to remain undetected.
In the room was an array of terminals and a large supercomputer responsible for the light they saw. In front of the computer stood three individuals, one of which was Silver. The other two, a black hedgehog with greyish-blue streaks and a lilac cat. Come to think of it, they almost looked like…
Shadow and Blaze?! Sonic thought. No, it can't be!
Tails and Knuckles, who were also peering inside, must've been thinking the same thing given the expressions on their faces. But like Sonic, the two kept quiet.
"The Day of Disaster…" the black hedgehog said in a haunting, yet collected voice. Turning to the computer, he pressed a few buttons. "Here are my records of this event. This was when Iblis was freed and his flames were released into the world."
The computer's screen suddenly became assaulted with articles and images, though Sonic, Tails and Knuckles couldn't see them too well from here. As if on cue, Silver gave a hint as to what had appeared. "Blaze…is that really you?"
It was hard to seen Blaze's expression from behind, but she said, "I-I don't remember. And yet…these images look familiar."
"You," the black hedgehog explained to Blaze, "Were once the ruler of a kingdom long ago, but your untimely demise resulted in the Flames of Disaster held within you to be unleashed upon an unsuspecting world."
"But how is she still alive, then?" Silver asked.
"Even though Iblis was freed from her, she still holds onto a portion of his powers. And as you well know…"
"He can keep coming back after being defeated!" Silver realized. "Blaze has that ability, too?!"
"Regardless of what she can do, she nor you can defeat Iblis here and now. You must go back in time and prevent the Day of Disaster by killing the Iblis Trigger."
The black hedgehog then pulled out a purple Chaos Emerald, the same one Tails had detected. "And you have this person to blame."
Silver took the Chaos Emerald and stared deeply into it for a moment. Then, he exclaimed, "I see it! So, that blue hedgehog's the Iblis Trigger?"
So that explains why Silver is trying to kill me! Sonic thought.
Blaze slowly turned her head towards Silver as soon as she heard this. "Blue hedgehog…?"
Silver returned the Chaos Emerald to the black hedgehog, who then summoned a ball of purple electricity and energy that slowly expanded. "I'll send us back in time to the point when the Iblis Trigger was alive." Engulfing the three, Silver and Blaze shivered and shut their eyes in response to the feeling of energy that surrounded them. As Sonic and his friends watched, the blue hedgehog noticed something strange. Right before Silver, Blaze and the black hedgehog disappeared, the latter of the three turned his head towards their direction.
Is he…smiling?
Similar to Sonic's, it was the mischievous kind, but it was much more…dark, as if the Shadow lookalike was satisfied something dastardly had been accomplished.
And just like that, the three were gone.
Sonic, Tails and Knuckles emerged from their hiding spot outside the room and entered.
"What the…" Knuckles said. "Who was that guy? He looked just like Shadow!"
Sonic shrugged. "Beats me. I'm more curious about what happened to Blaze, to be honest."
"Th-this is terrible!" Tails exclaimed in fear. While Sonic and Knuckles were looking around the room, Tails had gone straight for the computer to investigate the files the black hedgehog pulled up.
"What's wrong?" Sonic asked.
"According to the data, the Princess died when she was kidnapped by Eggman! Apparently, Eggman's battleship exploded. The date of this incident was…just a few days after the Festival of the Sun!"
Sonic couldn't believe it. If he was still in the present, he could've been there to help her.
"If we don't return in time," Sonic finally said," Blaze will die onboard Eggman's battleship. And if the Flames of Disaster are what causes this future, that means…"
"Yeah," Tails nodded, nervously. "I think so."
"In any case," Knuckles interrupted. "That Shadow copycat had the Emerald we were tracking, right?"
Sonic and Tails looked at each other, the realization now hitting them. Knuckles was right. If that hedgehog took the Emerald with him, the three would now need to find another one! Tails took out the C.E.T. and began to search for another Chaos Emerald.
"There doesn't appear to be any left in the city," Tails said. "But if I widen the radius…Ah...Uh…"
"You got one?" Sonic asked.
"Yeah," Tails replied. "I did, but…" He hesitated for a moment.
"But?" Knuckles gestured for the fox to continued.
"It's near a volcano," Tails finished. "Maybe even inside it. Fortunately, it's near White Acropolis, so we don't have to change the rendezvous point."
The three were silent for a moment. Sonic then smirked. "Well, this is going to be fun."
Knuckles sighed. "Even when the world is in ruins, you find the idea of volcano spelunking to be fun?"
Sonic chuckled a little. "Life's no fun without a little danger. At any rate…" A frown formed on Sonic's face. "We need that Emerald to get back home. Let's head to the rendezvous point and tell Shadow and Rouge what we found."
Tails and Knuckles nodded in agreement, and the three left the room. After a few seconds, the supercomputer began to glitch.
"Princess Dies Aboard Battleship of Mad Scientist."
"Prin—los—Abo—War—Mad Sci—Hero-"
"Princess Loses Life in War Against Eggman. Blue Hero Continues to Fight."
