Author's Note: Nothing much to say, apart from that I'm glad to have finally have both Sonics finally meet in the last chapter. Anyway, enjoy this new chapter!

I do not own Sonic The Hedgehog. All rights belong to Sega. I only own the OCs.


Chapter 8: Time Revelation.

'I still can't believe Scourge is the evil, alternate version of me. Everything that for years ever since my first adventure that I'm so afraid of becoming. A monster with no care in the world. The total opposite of who I am now. But...can Dr. Kintobor really be the good, alternate version of Eggman? Or is he tricking Red and Silver, and their friend Blaze for his own purposes for their world? I'm still not sure if I can trust him.' Sonic thought to himself as he, his other self who was just like him in personality with only a slight difference in appearance, and everybody else all took seats on the floor, forming in a circle with the human doctor in front.

"Now then, first of all, I like to ask you a question, Sonic the Hedgehog." Kintobor began wisely, and while the blue hedgehog raised an eyebrow in suspicion, the good scientist quickly added while holding his hands up in defense. "It's not what you think!"

"...Fire away, doctor." Sonic replied after a moment, trying not to sound too skeptical.

"I would like to know why you are holding the Sol Emerald. Do you know anything of it's power?"

The sixteen year old blinked, before shrugging sheepishly when everyone else gazed at him, as he answered. "Not really. All I know is that they feel kinda like the Chaos Emeralds. A Spirit most of us know just told me that they hold similar powers to our Emeralds to help restore almost everyone, even you. That's how you turned back to normal. See, me and Sonic here were the only ones that didn't end up like everybody else did. Silver's the one who mentioned the crystals' name, but he hasn't said much, especially since he noticed I looked like Scourge."

As Sonic explained, he gestured at Young Sonic who nodded to confirm the story.

"Before we woke you up, the two of us came to realize that we were crossing through Space and Time, because so far every place both Sonics went to are from our pasts." Tails spoke up as he held up a hand to say what he wanted to say, like a student in school asking permission to the teacher, as well as gesturing at his younger, alternate self who also nodded in agreement.

"Both the Sol Emeralds and the Chaos Emeralds were scattered in each of the places we were both in." The teenage hero continued. "I only used them to return Tails, Amy, Knuckles and you back to normal, and before that, when I find them they bring me back here and restore the places to life and colour."

"The Chaos Emeralds I found brought my friends back to normal too, but I was told that they couldn't do that to anybody else. At least not that I know of." Young Sonic spoke up, remembering what Tikal mentioned, before realizing something else and added sheepishly. "Actually, she told me about Angel Island, but I kinda forgot. Guess that's where I came up with the name."

"Well, she was the daughter of the Echidna Tribe leader who attempted on harnessing the Chaos Emeralds due to greed." Knuckles explained to the Alternate-Mobians who, along with Silver, Red and even Kintobor, looked at the last echidna curiously. "It was Tikal's father who was the downfall of my kind in the first place."

"Huh? You mean Tikal's a Princess?" Young Sonic asked, shocked. To think that he was given help by the ghost of an echidna princess who was really nice to him...Wow. He then realized something and asked, "Wait, you said that her dad wanted to use the Chaos Emeralds for himself, right? Was she trying to stop him?"

"Yeah, she was." Sonic answered, making his younger, alternate self to glance up at him. "Tikal had a very gentle and kind spirit within her, making friends with all the Chao, including Chaos. I know, because she's been showing me visions of her past, so much so that she somehow took me back in time to experience it without her past-self or her people from seeing me. Or even Knuckles who went through the same thing. How this happened, well, blame Eggman for that."

"Who's Chaos?" Young Tails asked, blinking.

"The protector and friend of the Chao, and the former guardian of the Master Emerald. He was mostly made a water, but he really cared about the Chao, and Tikal." Tails explained.

"...Made from water?" Young Sonic repeated as he'd gone very pale at the very thought.

"Don't worry about it." Sonic reassured, rubbing the younger blue hedgehog's back to comfort him. "The only reason he's dangerous is because of anger and sorrow for what happened to Tikal and the Chao that made him go all crazy, and after what I've seen in the vision, I was horrified and upset too."

"What happened to Princess Tikal and her dad?" Red asked, concerned.

Sonic's group shared a glance, before the sixteen year old hedgehog explained as briefly as possible, "Tikal's dad let power and greed and even hate against other places get over his head that he refused to listen to her warnings, and even had the nerve of having the tribe soldiers in knocking her and the Chao down before attempting to steal the Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald, our world's version of the Superior Emerald that Silver mentioned a bit about, to use for their gains. Chaos was so mad that he absorbed the Chaos Emeralds."

Young Sonic, Young Tails and Young Amy started to turn pale as they instantly knew where Sonic was getting at, the eleven year old hedgehog muttered as he hid the quivering in his voice as best as he could. "Doesn't the legend say that if anybody with anger and hate in their hearts while possessing the Chaos Emeralds, they'd become evil?"

"Yes, but in Chaos' case, it becomes an near unstoppable giant monster of destruction. It done so thousands of years ago and destroyed the clan, all except Tikal because she was only trying to stop them, and because she is a very close friend. To stop Chaos from causing further destruction, she sealed herself into the Master Emerald, and after that, well, after centuries my people have decayed despite the duty to guard it to ensure no one would use it's power or the Chaos Emeralds for evil. I'm the last one in existance." Knuckles explained.

"That's horrible!" Young Amy gasped, covering her mouth with her hands, making Amy gently hug her to comfort the younger pink hedgehog while trying not to shiver over the memories of hearing that story.

"Whoa..." Young Sonic muttered, feeling guilty now for being annoyed with the last remaining echidna. "Sorry, man. I didn't know."

"It's okay. I'm used to it." The guardian of the Master Emerald sighed. "Besides, I do have some pleasent company once and while with my friends around here, after spending most of my life alone when my mother and father passed."

"C'mon, Knux." Sonic began with a soft smile. "Okay, so we didn't start out well, no thanks to Egghead and you did get tricked by him more times than I can count, and you and me have our arguments and fights sometimes, but I wouldn't trade ya' for anything. Last echidna or not, you're our friend, part of the family. I told ya, you're not alone anymore."

Knuckles couldn't help but smile at his friend, and nodded. "I know. Thanks, Sonic."

The hero of Mobius chuckled as he gave his friend a wink, with Tails and Amy nodding in agreement, and everyone else smiling warmly at both of them, before Sonic continued, "But we'll explain more on that story later. 'Cause anyway, other than that, I have no idea what the Sol Emeralds really do, and, given from what I heard about what Scourge tried do to, I'm too scared to even think about it. 'Cause if they're anything exactly like the Chaos Emeralds, then I'll only be very careful in using them by restoring our friends, and nothing more. Besides, I'm more of an expert on the Chaos Emeralds if I'm careful and put my mind and heart into it."

"Put your...mind and heart into it?" Silver asked, puzzled.

"What do you mean?" Red asked, curiously.

"While the Chaos Emeralds work on negative power because of anger, greed and hate, their real power is the user having positive thoughts and feelings with friendship, to perform the miracle." Tails explained.

"Right, and those with strong Chaos energy within them can do that, turning those positive thoughts into power of light." Young Tails added.

"And the two of us are the experts of positive thoughts. As long as you don't have any doubt within yourself, the Emeralds can help ya' overcome negative energy or any kinds of evil." Sonic continued. "Actually, I managed to use that power to calm Chaos down since I knew that sealing him up again wouldn't make his anger go away."

"I only used the Chaos Emeralds twice to stop Ro-butt-nik." Young Sonic stated, while amazed on how his older, alternate self had calmed a monster like Chaos. "But I know what you're saying."

"Amazing. Then perhaps it's because not only you two have a powerful connection with the Chaos Emeralds, but it could be that due to Scourge's actions upon using the Sol Emeralds, as he is the counterpart of both of you, neither one of you were effected by what has happened to the rest of us." Kintobor theoried, getting everyone's attentions again.

Silver on the other hand, raised an eyebrow and said, "But doctor, I wasn't frozen either. How is it that I remained the same?"

"Hmm...Perhaps you have a powerful connection with the Sol Emeralds because of your abilities, Silver. Not only that, as you have used them to travel through time by their powers, you have the same blazing energy as Blaze." The kind doctor suggested.

"Wait, what?" Young Sonic blinked, surprised.

"Wait a second..." Sonic muttered, suddenly getting the picture as had a bit of an experience of traveling through time himself once on Little Planet and via Tikal, turning to Silver and asked. "Silver...you traveled through time?"

"Oh yeah, I should've mentioned it earlier." The silver hedgehog replied, sheepishly. "You see, not only I come from Moebius, I also come from the future, from 200 years."

"No way!" Both Sonics exclaimed in shock while everyone else except from Kintobor gasped in disbelief.

Red was stunned, muttering. "Whoa...I heard from Dr. Kintobor that Time Travel can be possible, but I never knew you were from the future, Silver. No wonder you hanged out with Blaze and I never seen you before." He then turned to his human friend and pouted, "You never told me that, Ovi."

"Sorry...I was sworn secrecy, and I didn't want anything horrible happen to you." Kintobor replied sheepishly, prodding his fingers nervously.

"Mm-hm, and you thought it was a good idea to send the kid to the Bamboo Jungle full of hungry dragons?" Sonic asked skeptically, folding his arms.

"Actually, Sonic, that was my idea since I knew Scourge was there. I thought I'd try and talk sense into him and Ovi warned me of the dangers." The red-brown hedgehog admitted sheepishly. "I should've listened to not go, but I was stubborn."

"That's still no excuse. He should've at least tried harder." The blue hedgehog pointed out harshly without realizing it.

"Sonic...!" Tails and Amy both whispered to try and get their friend to calm down, even though Knuckles and Young Sonic mentally agreed with the teenage blue hedgehog.

"He's right, Red." Kintobor sighed in agreement. "I knew I shouldn't have sent you out on your own. I am deeply sorry." He turned his attention to Sonic and added. "If anything, the so called legend of your world's Chaos Emeralds must be refering to you, because it is a miracle that you have saved his life, Sonic."

Even though Sonic was still angry with Kintobor, he felt the warning auras from the others and sighed to swallow his rage, before shrugging. "I just do what I gotta do. Even without the Chaos Emeralds, I can't just leave anybody behind. Letting people die...that's not me."

"I can't believe Red was inside that dragon that tried to eat me. I knew I should've stayed to help!" Young Sonic stated, feeling guilty and terrible, saying to the red-brown hedgehog. "I'm sorry, pal. I didn't know you were inside that thing, and I was too worried about Robotnik stealing the Chaos Emerald, but that's no excuse."

"A dragon tried to eat you!?" Young Tails exclaimed in horror, with Young Amy, and her older, alternate self both gasping in horror, Tails, Silver and Knuckles beyond shocked. The young blue hedgehog nodded grimly, only for his older, alternate self to place a comforting hand on his shoulder which made him glance up at the blue hedgehog.

"Hey, don't go beating yourself up, dude. If you hadn't called out for help, I wouldn't have known and saved you or Red. In a way, it's thanks to you that I managed to save both of ya's. Besides, not only it gave me a chance to save the kid, but at the same time it gave us a chance to stop Buttnik from getting the Chaos Emerald. Plus you saved me when he was about to hit me, and you found Kintobor. Put it this way, we teamed up already." Sonic reassured, chuckling sheepishly. "I know that we're both the fastest things alive, but we're not invicible."

"And you still saved both of us with the Chaos Emeralds, big bro." Young Tails added, with Young Amy nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, so you helped to save me too. Thank you!" Red added, smiling gratefully.

The eleven year old blinked and while he still felt guilty, to see that he was forgiven, and realizing that the sixteen year old had a point, Young Sonic smiled a little gratefully. "You're right. Thanks, guys."

"Guys, we're getting off track of the topic." Knuckles spoke up, and while they gave them a look, they knew that he was right and let him turn to Silver, asking. "If you're from the future, why did you travel back in time?"

"Because of a terrible disaster that was about to happen." Silver began with a sigh. "In a timeline where I didn't arrive into the past, Scourge used the Sol Emeralds for his own deeds, which almost wiped out all of the world. Moebius in the future is left in ruins; nothing but darkness and misery. Murders and brutal fights. All life was slowly decaying."

The Mobians and even Red gasped in horror while Kintobor was silent at the grim reminder.

"That sounds worse than what Eggman would've done if he used the Time Stones." Amy remarked to Sonic who nodded in agreement and concern, as did their younger, alternate selves who glanced up at the two older hedgehogs.

"More like one of my worst nightmares." The blue hedgehog stated.

"I see. You traveled back in time to try and change the future." Tails realized, which made him and his friends and even the Alternate-Mobians feel very uneasy.

"Yeah. I came to warn Blaze, who is the guardian of the Sol Emeralds, and Dr. Kintobor about the upcoming destruction before it could ever happen. We did what we could to stop Scourge and keep him away from the Emeralds..." The future hedgehog trailed off, lowering his head in guilt and self-disgust.

"...But it backfired and Scourge got to them, right?" Sonic correctly guessed, already reading along the lines. Silver and Kintobor both nodded to confirm it. "But I don't get how this is related to all of that."

"The Sol Emeralds withdraw their powers connected to the Sun's energy, as well as being able to manipulate across Space and Time, through inter-dimensions. However, they can also grant whoever wields them any wish they want, even by just thinking of it in their minds." Kintobor explained.

Sonic couldn't help but whistle, while having a case of deja vu on the wishing parts. "The wishing thing kinda sounds like the Genie of the Ring."

"It is easy to compare such a thought if genies were real." The human scientist acknowledged.

'Oh, they're real, alright. In magic books, at least.' The blue hedgehog thought, but said nothing in fear that the so-called 'good' doctor might still be up to something that made him uncomfortable, so he stayed silent and let him continue.

"When Scourge had defeated us, he gained them and much such a terrible mistake..." Kintobor continued, and that's when Sonic remembered and put the pieces together almost instantly, gasping in shock.

"By wishing to merge all three worlds together!" The sixteen year old finished in horrified realization. "That's what Tikal warned me about!"

"And what I overheard Robotnik said in Bamboo Jungle, since he's teamed up with that guy!" Young Sonic added with his eyes wide, recalling what Robotnik had said to himself.

"If Scourge and Robotnik get not only the Sol Emeralds but also the Chaos Emeralds since they can manipulate with time as well, that's even worse!" Tails exclaimed in horror. Now everyone was becoming even more frightened over this situation.

Red then had another thought and asked Silver, "Uh, Silver? Can changing the future really happen?"

"It is possible, but in most cases it's very forbidden unless the situation calls for it, but at a price. The memories of those who time-traveled and change the past that would change the future will be replaced with new memories of a new timeline, and not only that, should the ancestors of the decesend die before they are born..." The fourteen year old hedgehog explained.

"They cease to exist...!" Knuckles realized. Everyone shared a horrified glance.

"Unfortunately, Scourge attempts to erase me, and wishes to bring someone he cared about, the only person that seemed to matter to him, back to life." Kintobor confirmed.

"Fiona...Scourge wants to bring Fiona back by stopping her from dying." Red realized, and Sonic glanced at him in concern, recalling the story from the younger hedgehog.

"Who's Fiona?" Tails asked, confused.

"Fiona Fox, just as cunning and cruel, having been in love with Scourge the Hedgehog. She has died during an attack she and that hedgehog have caused." The human scientist explained.

"That's so horrible!" Amy exclaimed, clinging onto Sonic's arm, while her 'boyfriend' felt shaken and attempted to hide his growing fear with a serious expression, unconsciously placing a hand onto one of her own in an attempt to calm her down as well as remain calm himself despite the nagging fear drowning his heart.

Young Tails then gasped in realization and turned to Young Sonic in horror. "Sonic! If that's true, then Robotnik could try and use whatever's happening to erase you!"

Everyone gasped in horror once more, realizing that the four year old kit was right. Still, the eleven year old hedgehog narrowed his eyes with determination and stood up, clenching his fist. "Well, let him try! There's no way I'm gonna let that Egghead get rid of me or Sonic that easily! We already have three of the Chaos Emeralds and three of the Sol Emeralds, right? If we're fast enough, we can find the rest, save everybody else, and make sure those two don't get them at all!"

"He has a great point." Sonic agreed immediately as he realized that they still had a chance, standing up as well with the same determination, a smirk on his muzzle. "Plus, with the two of us around, they both got another thing coming! I've already beaten Scourge in his own game-barely but still-and if we all work together, we can beat o'l Buttnik as usual, and give Scourge a real good lesson in not to mess with Space and Time!"

Then he sighed before shrugging as his feelings and guilt over his theory was now gone, and the heavy weight lifted from his heart and shoulders that made him feel a little overwhelmed, furious for being tricked and humiliated over it. "I still can't believe I let Scourge make me think that I accidentally saved Eggman and caused this mess. I really thought that it was all my fault and I messed up big time."

"Sonic," Amy spoke up softly as she approached, smiling a little as he turned to her even though she was still very worried about his well-being. "Are you feeling better now that you know this wasn't your fault at all?"

"Yeah, heaps better. Especially since it's one less thing to worry about." The blue hedgehog replied, before adding with determination. "Though whether it was or not, I won't give up. We're gonna get our friends back, stop Ro-butt-ink and knock some sense into Scourge's head! I promise!"

Amy nodded in relief, as did Tails and Knuckles, while Young Sonic also smiled in relief, and gave Young Tails and Young Amy a shrug when they looked at him in confusion, wondering what the older blue hedgehog was talking about.

Sonic smirked, before he remembered something, folding his arms in thought and said, "Uh, except that Robotnik's been kidnapped by that monster who I think was found by Scourge, since there's no way that Eggster would pull this off on his own since he was still on the other Mobius before this happened, and the Eggman we know is pretty much digested by now, so he's out of the picture."

"He's been what?" Tails, Young Tails, Amy, Young Amy, and Knuckles all exclaimed in shock and disbelief.

"Yeah, it was after the two of us beaten him. Though that still leaves on where that giant ugly monster had come from." The young blue hedgehog added, mimicking his older, alternate self's current posture in thought.

"Hmm, now that you guys mentioned it, maybe that...thing that kidnapped Robotnik might also be connected to all of this. Especially since it sucked all of us here, while the Sol Emeralds caused all of this to happen. It must exist among this place or somewhere more dangerous and close to it." Tails said thoughtfully.

"A monster? What monster?" Kintobor asked, now confused as this was a new information.

Suddenly there was a rumbling sound which caused him and everybody else to stand up and glance around in alarm only to hear a huge roar that was familiar to the Mobians. Everyone looked up to see a dark portal opening up just above Sky Sanctuary from where they were standing and to their shock, horror and disbelief, the aforementioned beast emerged, roaring as the group felt their hearts leap into their throats. It then began to swoop down towards them.

"Look out!" Sonic shouted, throwing himself over Tails, Amy, Red, and even Young Sonic who did the same with Young Tails and Young Amy as they hit the deck, as did Knuckles and Silver who pulled Kintobor to the floor, lying on the ground as they all braced themselves and hoped that it wouldn't swallow them up again.

Fortunately, it wasn't even an inch close to them, as the giant black beast flew over them and entered another dark portal that appeared above another area which looked like a city, one that wasn't as flashy as Casino Night, and it had also lost it's colour. Seeing this, the group slowly pushed themselves up, as Sonic helped those he shielded with his entire body back up.

"Everybody okay?" The blue hedgehog asked, and was relieved when they all responded that they were all fine.

"Does that answer your question?" Knuckles deadpanned to the only human around who began quivering in fear.

"My word...! What in the world was that?" Kintobor asked nervously, as Silver and Red who rushed over, along with the two Sonics and two of Tails helped him up.

"That is what kidnapped the three of us earlier. Dunno what that big guy is, either." Young Sonic answered.

"And ruined Sonic's Birthday Party we all worked hard on setting up for him as a surprise." Amy added angrily, placing her hands on her hips as she was still fuming over the monster's uninvited appearance.

That surprised the younger Mobians and Red who turned to the aforementioned blue hedgehog, with the red-brown hedgehog asking. "It's your birthday?"

"Well, back at home, yeah. I just turned sixteen." Sonic shrugged, before saying seriously. "But we'll talk more about that later. Right now, we gotta figure out what that thing is and stop it fast!"

"Right!" Young Sonic nodded, as he and his older, alternate self were about to take off.

"Wait!" Kintobor cried out, grabbing hold of Sonic's right arm, and Young Sonic's left arm, making them run but not really going anywhere which forced the two hedgehogs to stop and glare angrily at him.

"Hey, what's the idea!?" The young blue hedgehog cried out.

"Ugh! Let me go!" The blue hedgehog grunted, attempting to pull himself free from the grip. "We've gotta stop that thing!"

"But it has gone too far, and even if you are fast enough, you won't be able to catch it!" Kintobor pointed out firmly, which made both Sonics pause, realizing that, as much as neither one nor their friends really trusted him as much as Red and Silver do, he was right and hesitantly stopped their struggles.

Still, the older Sonic was frustrated and demanded, "Well, what do we do!? Unless this is some kind of a trick on your part, I don't wanna waste anymore time, especially since our worlds and the entire Space-Time Continuum thing are about to be destroyed if we don't do something!"

"Well, running after something that is already gone into that portal isn't the answer!" The human scientist argued.

"He has a point, Sonic. It could be anywhere by now." Tails hesitantly agreed, making his adoptive older brother sigh, before he and Young Sonic yanked their arms free from Kintobor's grip.

"Fine. Then what's your suggestion?" The sixteen year old asked.

"It would be a good idea if both you and your younger self continue to find the Sol and Chaos Emeralds as well as locating the rest of your friends, before Scourge and my evil self do. The young Prowers, Silver and I will see what we can do in investigating that thing further and what it's connections are with the deepest part of reality in between." Kintobor informed.

The cobalt teenager raised an eyebrow suspiciously, yet at the same time knew that the 'good' version of Eggman from Moebius had a point. Plus if Scourge and Robotnik got their hands on the other eight Emeralds, four of each kind, then they were in more trouble. Still, Sonic still couldn't fully trust him because things could easily change. On the other hand, the blue hedgehog did make the earlier point of finding the rest of the Sol and Chaos Emeralds. From the looks of the other Mobians, they too looked skeptical, but at the same time knew that Kintobor had a good point.

Sensing the distrust, the kind man sighed before kneeling down to Sonic's height level as possible, saying softly. "I trust you, Sonic. Because you are the opposite of Scourge, you have saved the life of his sweet and kind younger brother who trusts you, and seeing that you have the same abilities as him, only you use them to do the right thing, caring for others, your heart knows it's place. You know your place. You and your other good self are our only hope in undoing Scourge's actions. In a way, young man, you two are the chosen ones to save us all."

"...I just...I'm so afraid of becoming evil, and, the way how you wanted to use the Sol Emeralds for good, from what Red told me, I can't help but think that eventually an experiment might go horribly wrong and you'll end up turning evil yourself. Things like that are not computers or toys to be played with. I've seen so many horrible things from ancient times Eggman tried to use for his own goals, and how many times it backfired on him." Sonic admitted uneasily, and Young Sonic gazed up at him with the similar feelings, except that he could tell that the older blue hedgehog went through things more horrible and was scared to find out if the same could be done for him.

Kintobor remained silent, as memories of how Scourge repeatedly stole the Sol Emeralds in the past mainly because of his own desire to try and harness their powers for good with the help of Princess Blaze resurfaced. Their days together, and how he met Red, befriending the young child who had been alone since his and Scourge's parents died, Scourge being evil, cruel and selfish, the kind doctor telling the younger hedgehog of the Sol Emeralds. The more things had gotten worse, the more he realized that maybe it wasn't Scourge that would bring about the destruction of Moebius before Silver arrived to warn him about the future.

It could very well be because of Kintobor's desires for a better world, but doing it the wrong way. Plus the more he thought about it, the more that Sonic the Hedgehog, the young hero of Mobius, made a very good point. If Dr. Robotnik/Eggman kept repeatedly wanted to take over Sonic's world(s) by the power of the Chaos Emeralds and not stopping, if an experiment with the Sol Emeralds go wrong...Oh, lord, the good scientist was now terrified of the mutation and while he found sci-fi movies to be nonsense, they may be right on a few things.

"I doubt you will ever become evil, young Sonic." Dr. Kintobor finally replied, carefully placing a hand onto Sonic's shoulder, surprising him, Young Sonic, and the rest of the Mobians who blinked in confusion. "You're too good of a kind heart to do that. If you keep on believing in what's truly in your heart, always think of others, even in the most difficult times, you are safe."

While the sixteen hear old hedgehog still had his doubts, everything he heard from Kintobor so far sounded so truthful, so honest, so kind and gentle, nothing like any of the lies Eggman or Robotnik would say when they pretended to change for the better. Maybe he was being too judgemental given the experiences, because really, if Scourge is the evil counterpart of Sonic, then Kintobor really is the good counterpart of the evil scientist. This guy, from Moebius, the world where Red, Scourge and Silver come from, was everything Sonic had hoped Eggman would become but it was never meant to be.

Though he could only hope that Scourge wouldn't remain evil and Sonic himself will always be who he is now.

Sighing, Sonic nodded. "Okay. I'll trust you for now. Just promise me that you'll never become evil, if you're telling the truth."

"I give you my word." Kintobor replied, lowering his hand from the teenager's shoulder. "Please, save us all, and stop Scourge and that Dr. Robotnik."

Smirking as his confidence boosted, Sonic nodded with a thumbs up. "You betcha."

He then turned to Young Sonic and told him with a fist clutched to continue their quest. "Let's go, partner!"

"Yeah!" Young Sonic nodded, before he and Sonic dashed off once more to keep on going, while their friends watched them run towards their next destination.

"Ahh...Sonic is so heroic!" Young Amy happily and lovingly, as you could see stars and flowers twinkle and bloom all around behind her in the background, and the same surrounded around her older, alternate self.

"Best part is for the two of us, there's two of him." The thirteen year old hedgehog agreed with a happy, loving sigh of her own.

"That's double trouble for both of Sonic, which is a double headache for me." Knuckles muttered under his breath, only to flinch in fright when unfortunately for him, both Amys heard what he said and glared at him with 'demon eyes' and now fire flaring in the background like fiery auras. Tails, his younger, alternate self, Red, Silver and Kintobor all sweat dropped nervously and wisely kept their distance.

"Oh, dear. It seems these two young ladies have special feelings for both of Sonic." Kintobor whimpered, quivering nervously.

"Amy's been in love with Sonic since they met." Tails explained with a nervous chuckle. "Maybe even before then."

"I haven't known the Amy from our world for that long, but Sonic told me that she wants to marry him someday." Young Tails added with a nervous smile.

"That hasn't changed for us." The nine year old fox responded to that, refering to the fact that Amy still wants to marry Sonic. He then thought about how a bit more...relaxed he was around the pink hedgehog.

Even though her flirting was still too much for the blue hedgehog to handle, the hero of Mobius seemed to be getting a bit more closer to her lately, ever since Eggman had died. Yes, Sonic still loves to go on exciting adventures and their adventure together in Isalenna had been the best they ever had together, and Tails was happy to have one with his big bro without the worry of the evil scientist causing problems. Sure there'd been some scary and unusual moments while the two had explored the continent, the back-then-fifteen year old treated it like any of his previous adventures through excitement, ready to face the dangers as always.

But...whether Sonic knew it or not, it became more clear that his feelings for Amy was becoming more apparent, even if the cobalt hero didn't want to admit it. Tails knew that, but he also knew that his adoptive hedgehog brother was good in hiding his feelings, even from himself unknowingly.

'I just hope everything will be okay after this.' The young kit thought, worriedly. Sonic's birthday had been perfect, until that monster showed up. Things had been peaceful for three months without Eggman to worry about. Now this happened.

"Please, Sonic. You must stop Scourge...All existence depend on you and your other good self. All lives are in your hands." Kintobor whispered to himself, with worry and hope in his voice as well, seemingly glad that no one could hear him.

But Tails did, because he had to restrain himself from looking at the kind scientist.


"So um, what was that back there?" Young Sonic couldn't help but ask Sonic as they ran towards their next destination, this time together as a team now that they finally acknowledged each other's existence.

"The monster thing, or me giving that Ovi guy a bit of a chance?" Sonic shrugged jokingly, already knowing what his younger, alternate self was trying to say, making the younger hero chuckle a bit, before the teenager sighed. "I don't fully trust him, but whether the guy really is the nicer version of Egghead and Ro-butt-nik or not, I just wanted to make my point clear."

"...How bad was it when Eggman died?" The eleven year old asked, hesitantly, making both hedgehogs skid to a stop and pause in their tracks. But when he saw the torned expression on the sixteen year old's face, the younger hedgehog quickly held up his hands, waving them. "Uh, f-forget I asked that! J-just t-thinking it out loud!"

"It was pretty bad." The cobalt hedgehog muttered softly, not looking at his younger, alternate self, but spoke truthfully. "A lot has happened in my last three adventures, and I hope that you'll never have to go through what I went through. Sure these days back at home they don't haunt me as much, but they really took a toll on me. The first one wasn't so bad, except having a fire arrow that's slowly killing me was no fun. Sure glad I made it out of there alive."

"I kinda overheard you mention something about rescuing genies in magic books. Is that true?"

"Yep, and it's that same adventure I almost died with the said fire arrow. Okay, so I had to save a genie by fighting another evil genie who had a grudge against humans."

"Really?" Young Sonic asked, amazed.

Sonic nodded, before sighing, "The second one five months ago, well...Egghead managed to catch me and drain the Chaos Emeralds to split the world apart into seven pieces; literally."

"WHAT!?" The eleven year old gasped in horror, his heart stopping for a moment as his blood ran cold.

"Actually, now that we're here in this place, I'm pretty positive I'm gonna be seeing that from my past." Sonic continued, and suddenly his blood ran icy cold as well, his stomach twisting uncomfortably and his heart dropping. He rubbed his arms with his gloved hands, shivering. "That means there's a chance I'll be facing that mutant hairball again, just when I thought I didn't have to see him anymore."

"Uh, mutant hairball?" Young Sonic raised an eyebrow with a sweat drop.

"A giant Werehog. Sorta like a Werewolf, only, well, it's a mutant hedgehog. Let's just say it's a long story, but I'm gonna warn ya right now, that guy came from something that I hope you don't have to experience either, and really was on a strict diet for wanting me for breakfast, lunch or dinner." Sonic nervously explained, "Scared a heck outta me, and did so for months even after a friend destroyed him for good. 'Cause on my third adventure, I was such a wreck that seeing Eggman again and facing his giant killer robots in that amusement park made me hallucinate that thing for one and a half days."

An awkward moment of silence. Young Sonic then found himself having a flash-back of when the dragon almost ate him, and ended up mirroring the older hedgehog's posture, hugging himself and rubbing his arms.

"Suddenly I don't feel right." The young blue hedgehog shuddered. "I can't believe Eggman had the nerve to do that."

"It's even worse when I fell right into his trap. I couldn't stop blaming myself for two whole months, no matter how hard I tried to move on after returning the world back to normal. It was my third adventure, emotional and thrilling, that made me face my sins and fears, and I had help in finally finding it within me to forgive myself." Sonic admitted, shaking his head.

"From who?" The eleven year old blinked.

"Everybody; Tails, Amy, Knuckles, other friends that you'll meet when we find them, a very special friend of one of the aliens I was saving, and even a hallucintation of a very special friend who helped me during my second emotional adventure, that I'll never see again but never forget." The sixteen year old replied with a soft smile, even as he felt tears in his eyes, before he quickly wiped them away over the memories of his last adventure.

Seeing the tears made Young Sonic worried. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just had to let it out of my chest." Sonic replied, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "Before I met you and found out that Scourge tricked me, I thought I messed something up when the giant alien was about to swallow me and I had to use Chaos Control to get myself out."

"That Knucklehead said something about you thinking that when you used Chaos Control to save yourself, it somehow accidentally must've spread into the giant alien's stomach and saved Eggman. What is Chaos Control, anyway?" The hero of Alternate-Mobius asked, worried and confused.

"It's not an easy thing to do, and you gotta have practice with it. Chaos Control allows the user of one or all of the Chaos Emeralds to teleport to places or freeze time for a little while. I learned it from a guy who, uh, let's just say has more experience with it and, we're kinda in a friendship-rivalry-relationship. More rivals than anything else, and he's pretty much a grump. Then again, with a past like what happened to him fifty years ago, I can hardly blame him." The hero of Mobius said sheepishly.

The eleven year old hedgehog blinked in confusion. "Sounds like a pretty tough guy for an old man."

"Weeeeellll...age isn't the issue since he hasn't aged much at all. I can tell ya' that he's the toughest hedgehog I've ever met-well, second toughest now with Scourge around. His name's Shadow, and uh, I got arrested once after being mistaken for him when Eggman had him work for him for the usual schemes before he changed sides, and believe me, being put into jail when you didn't do anything wrong is a nightmare." Sonic admitted awkwardly.

"Another guy that looks like us? Wait, you said that he hasn't aged much at all. Would that make Shadow a vampire or something?" Young Sonic inquired, in shock as well as half-jokingly.

Sonic laughed, "Nope, but he is the Ultimate Life-form. Thing is, he wasn't at the party before this happened." he then realized thoughtfully. "Hmm, guess Rouge couldn't convince him to join in. Oh well, his loss. At least he hasn't been dragged here like the rest of us."

"But Red and that Dragon were, and I haven't seen anything or anybody else in the other places." Young Sonic pointed out, making Sonic gasp softly, realizing that he was right.

That Game and Giant Toy City, having merged with the Casino Night...there had been people there; humans, and, as he now realized, Moebians, not Mobians as he originally thought, and all of them had thought he was Scourge because of his appearance at first, but his mannerism made them think otherwise. So far the teenager hadn't seen anybody inside the places from his past; that thought alone now made him remember why those places looked familiar.

'...The first place I'd been to...It was Green Hill. No wonder it looked familiar. Man, it's been so long I forgot what it looked like. I'd really oughta go back there again.' The blue hedgehog thought to himself. Still, if there'd been robots from the past, and people from Red's world...

Would that mean in the next places from his past would actually have people in them too? More than that...enemies from his past? That thought made him think that if that was the case, then maybe everyone was swallowed up and had become trapped in here. Which means...

"Guess this makes things more challenging." Sonic finally responded, realization dawning onto him, gazing at the city part up ahead, and now that they were only half way from it that the two hedgehogs could reach in a matter of seconds, he began to recognize the buildings. "Let's check it out."

His new companion nodded and the two Sonics reached the entrance in no time, and it was for certain that the older blue hedgehog knew where they were standing in front of, and were about to go into. But the two people that were standing near the entrance that had also suffered the fate of becoming statues made him sigh and shake his head, more so for the smaller one than the larger one. Cream and Big, somehow ending up in the same place together.

"Whoa! That guy's pretty big!" Young Sonic remarked on the large cat.

"Hence to his name." Sonic chuckled softly, folding his arms which made his younger, alternate self gaze at him in disbelief.

"Seriously? His name is Big?"

"Yep! He's a real a nice guy and has a huge heart. Likes to go fishing a lot." The blue hedgehog explained.

"What about this girl? She can't be anymore than Amy's age. Uh, you know, the Amy from my world." The young blue hedgehog quried, gazing at the seven year old rabbit girl's frozen form, his heart aching at the poor child's situation.

Sonic's heart ached more so as he sighed, feeling guilty for being unable to save her from the monster, smiling sadly. "This is Cream. She's a very sweet little kid, and the best friend of the Amy from my world. She likes hanging out with me and Tails sometimes, too."

"You know, this is gonna be too complicated if we keep speaking like this." Young Sonic pointed out, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, especially when they just want to speak one of us." The teenage hero realized in agreement, "And even though I was the same height and age as you are when I first started out, your appearance is kinda like out of those old Mickey Mouse tv shows."

"Like before he had a design change? You're making me sound like I'm a classic or something." The eleven year old teasingly pouted.

"Then I guess I'm more a modern." Sonic mocked a pride expression, before the two shared a laugh. "Come to think of it, it's like that video game of Mickey Mania or whatever it used to be called, where he traveled through time himself, only it's the real thing."

"And we're traveling through space." Young Sonic added.

"I'm sure we can work something out. Right now, our friends need us." Sonic reminded, before turning his gaze to his two frozen friends, saying to Big. "Hang in there, big guy."

He then gazed to Cream and, being rather close to the little rabbit girl who was like a litter sister to not just Amy, but to him and Tails as well, gently hugged her frozen form as thought attempting to comfort her.

"Everything's gonna be okay, Cream. I promise." Sonic muttered.

Young Sonic gazed at his older, alternate self and his heart broke at just how a poor innocent little girl got involved in this, reminding him too much of how he'd found Young Tails and felt so terrible for having put the young cub's life at risk, before Sonic ended the embrace and stood with determination.

"C'mon." The cobalt hero gestured his friend to follow.

The younger blue hedgehog nodded, before the two raced off into the entrance of the city to continue their quest. The moment the two hedgehogs entered and emerged the same way they both had so far with the light covering them, it faded and soon they skid to a stop when Sonic and his younger, alternate self found themselves on top of a building in a familiar blistering city full of life, the ocean not being seen almost everywhere, along with the train station that lead to the mountains. It was a city that the sixteen year old was all too familiar with. In fact, it was one of his home towns on occasions.

"COOOOOL!" Young Sonic exclaimed in awe at the sight that was new to him. "Where are we?"

"This, my friend, is Station Square. A mostly human populated city that Mobians visit sometimes. Actually, it's one of the two places I actually have a house in with Tails with his workshop, and Amy has an apartment here too. Then again, Knuckles is the only one that still lives in the same place, even if Angel Island floated not to far from here from where it used to be." Sonic explained smiling after he chuckling over the younger hedgehog's reaction, which was much like how he reacted when he and Tails first moved here.

"Oh man! If this city is in my world, I seriously wanna explore it! This place is way past cool!" The young blue hedgehog cried out excitedly. "Even the beach and mountains look tons of fun!"

The blue hedgehog nodded. "Sure are. The beach is near the Emerald Beach Zone, and the mountains is where the Mystic Ruins are, which includes the temple."

"The more I hear about this place, the more I actually wanna live here for a while."

Sonic just laughed. "It's funny how I said the same thing when I first heard of it and then came here for real. Word to word, in fact."

Though when he gazed around again, he couldn't help but notice that the buildings looked a bit older than in the last several months and it was then that he realized something that made him frown in concern, folding his arms to his chest. Sure the city had been restored to it's former glory, but the buildings looked brand new in his time before this mess started.

"Hmm...Actually, this is exactly like it was before Chaos wrecked it. I guess we're in the past where Eggman was just about to release it, or maybe somewhere in between. Hard to tell when it comes to time traveling." The teenager murmured.

"Chaos?" The eleven year old asked, confused and, seeing the expression made him feel worried but he quickly hid it as best as he could to stop it from showing. He then quickly remembered where he heard that name and softly gasped. "Wait! You mean the thing you guys talked about?"

"Yeah. Eggman heard of the legend before I did and tried to control him to rule the world, and was even feeding him with the Chaos Emeralds to make him unstoppable." Sonic confirmed, before shaking his head. "But after Knux and I beaten him with the six Chaos Emeralds inside him, he turned against Eggman and backfiring his plans, which is nothing new."

That made Young Sonic groan as he facepalmed himself. "Why do both the bad versions of Ro-butt-nik have to be that stupid in touching things that are too dangerous?"

"Wish I knew. Egghead never even knew that Sushi had fish in it for crying out loud." Sonic agreed in exasperation, remembering how Eggman's announcement of the Bucket O' Sushi had just included fish at the Aquarium Park.

An awkward pause.

"For an evil scientist, he's gotta be on top of the 'Most Dumbest Villains on Mobius' list." The eleven year old deadpanned, and the sixteen year old nodded in agreement.

"More like the 'Biggest Sore Loser' list." The older hedgehog added.

"That too." Young Sonic shrugged with a smirk,as he and Sonic then shared a laugh, which soon faded as the younger hedgehog sighed, gazing at the floor before looking over across the landscape before him. Even though he was still determined to find the Chaos Emeralds and help to save Space and Time, ever since his journey began in this place, his confidence plummeted so greatly that he wasn't certain if he could be a hero anymore.

Despite trying not to let doubt overcome him, and tried his best to take the words from Tikal, Sonic and everybody else to heart, which he really wanted to, and he was taking them very seriously, hearing what his older, alternate self had gone through, so many terrible things of Robotnik's alternate self Eggman had done before his death, Young Sonic was terrified. Terrified that he could end up facing the same difficult and horrible experiences that Sonic had gone through in his world; Chaos, Mobius shattering, the giant Werehog, Fire Arrows, everything. Because they were the same, the only thing that they knew that was different so far was the slight difference of appearances.

Sure Sonic had recovered and succeeded as he always did, which was encouraging, but the young blue hedgehog found himself so scared, and while he was determined and confident in preventing Robotnik and Scourge from changing the futures to their own likings, he was frightened that something could do horribly wrong and he...he wouldn't exist anymore. The idea of being erased from existence was worse than death.

"Hey, you alright?" Sonic spoke up, after noticing the lack of further response from his younger, alternate self. The only reply he got was a nod and Young Sonic looking away and despite trying to hide it, his expression held that of doubt, guilt, sorrow and fear. Four emotions he himself knew all too well and, realizing that revealing his past experiences had put doubt into the younger hero's heart, instantly made the cobalt hedgehog feel guilty and worried.

"Uh oh. Think I've told him too much and scared him without even knowing. I gotta fix this, quick." The sixteen year old muttered to himself, before breaking the fourth wall and held up an extended finger, advising to the readers/viewers. "If any of you end up going through what's happening to me or similar, be careful with what you say when it comes to traveling through space and time."

Knowing what to do, Sonic gently placed a hand onto the depressed eleven year old's shoulder, making the younger Sonic glance up at him while the former then bend on one knee to meet him at eye level. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

"Who says I'm scared?" Young Sonic replied, faking a smile in an attempt to hide how he was really feeling.

"C'mon, little buddy. Your expression says it all. Besides, I'm you and you're me, from two slightly different versions of Mobius." Sonic pointed out, which made his younger, alternate self realize that he was right and sighed, looking away again, making the teenager sigh as well apologetically. "Sonic, I...I wasn't trying to make you doubt yourself or be afraid. I wasn't thinking, and I should've known better, with all the craziness that's going on. It was stupid of me to tell you my adventures."

"It's okay. I think it kinda makes me prepared for what I could be up against, even if it'll take me years to reach where you are." The young blue hedgehog replied with a sad smile.

"Yeah, probably." The blue hedgehog muttered in agreement, still feeling horrible for having frightened his new friend, his alternate self who hasn't even met his world's version of Knuckles yet.

Young Sonic's smile faded as he gazed at the floor again, admitting. "But I can't help but feel like that if Ro-butt-nik figures this out, then he'll do something that'll be stronger than me, and I'm...I'm so scared. I'm scared that one day he'll find something so powerful that I won't be stop him. Ever since my first journey, I'm so afraid that he'll win and take over Mobius."

Sonic knew where the younger hedgehog was coming from, because it had been his fear for a very long time, even before Eggman had died. He lowered his gaze and replied, "Yeah, me too. I used to get nightmares of Eggman winning, and, I've only told Tails a few times. Now that I think about it, it's dumb to think that he'll change for the better if he ever learned his lesson. He's just as stubborn as I am. As we are."

"If that's the case, then...what do I do?" Young Sonic asked helplessly, turning to Sonic pleadingly. "What do I do, Sonic? I know I can get better, but what if...what if my Mobius will be taken over someday? What if your nightmares are creating my future? How will I be able to stop Robotnik? Or what if I can't stop him from taking over Mobius if he does the same thing Eggman? Or even worse?"

Tearing up as he struggled not to cry, the eleven year old felt his own faith being shaken up even further. "Ever since I couldn't save Tails from that monster, and seeing him having turned into a statue, I felt so hopeless and useless...! I thought that I could handle this even after Tikal gave me a clue...but I was wrong! She...she told me not to give into my doubts...to believe in the right thing...but how can I? I abandoned Red, I left you to save him after you saved me, so what kind of a hero am I!?"

Young Sonic squeezed his eyes shut, tears sliding free and his shoulders shaking, as Sonic watched on, his heart breaking because his own words had inadvertently reversed the support and confidence Tikal had given his younger, alternate self. Hearing everything his friend said was everything he himself had felt in his previous two adventures. It began to make him cry as well, tearing up. On top of that, he was scared now that his alternate-self could be facing the horrors of his nightmares, and wondered that if it wasn't some kind of dimensional warning or something, only to have doomed the alternate-Mobius.

'No! It won't happen. If my nightmares haven't come true, then there's no way Ro-butt-nik in the alternate world is gonna be taking over the other me's world either.' Sonic thought firmly, before gently removing his hand from his distraught friend's shoulder and carefully cupped his left cheek which the muzzle was damp from the fresh, warm tears.

"It's gonna be okay." Sonic whispered. Feeling the comforting touch, Young Sonic opened his eyes and gazed at the older hedgehog's emerald eyes as the blue hedgehog continued, "The future isn't set in stone. We make our own destinies. Tikal is right; you shouldn't let doubt get to you. Keep on believing in the right thing, 'kay? I know it isn't easy, and believe me, there'd been times even I doubted myself, 'cause I was so scared. The nagging fear of letting everybody down does get to you, and I know that you and your Tails had just finished your first adventure together, but you guys will always have each other, even when far apart."

"Huh?" The younger hedgehog blinked.

"I've learned a lot in my last adventures, and they sure helped me a lot. The responsibility of being a hero does get to us from time to time, and whether they're sometimes fun or nerve-wrecking, it's part of life. Only the people that you are very close with will understand you, and help you through it, just like you have to those who feel down upon themselves." The teenager explained.

"You mean...like how I always comfort Tails whenever he feels sad or scared?" The eleven year old asked.

"So far, our pasts in stopping Ro-butt-nik on Death Egg in our first adventures with Tails are the same, but you never know. You might be facing different kinds of future adventures. Seriously, look at Scourge; he's an evil version of us, the total opposite, like in reverse." Sonic pointed out.

"You got a point." Young Sonic chuckled softly in agreement.

"I was scared of letting people down too, even after I met all of my friends in my home world. I guess we've...been trying to make ourselves the heroes people would want us to be, but in the end deep down, we're both still ourselves, heroes or not. We can only do our best. When I saw my Tails all statue like, I thought I lost him forever before Tikal showed up. I was just as scared." The cobalt hero admitted.

Sonic then continued with a warm smile, "A very special friend once told me, that the reason I felt like the world splitting up was my fault was because I love Mobius a whole lot, and all of my friends, and everybody in it, taking the whole responsibility in keeping them safe from people or monsters with evil purposes or just out of pure rage and confusion, that my love for the planet is so strong that I kinda accepted in being the hero of Mobius."

"Because of what Eggman could do to it?" Young Sonic asked, immediately understanding where his friend was coming from, before smiling a little. "I-I guess that makes sorta sense. From the height of where the Death Egg was, seeing the world from space...I couldn't love it even more."

"Yeah, Mobius is beautiful the way it is. No matter how many times I've seen it from space, the beauty of mother nature just keeps growing stronger. So full of life, so blue and green, and all kinds of colours that makes it so perfect." Sonic agreed.

"Do you really think how I feel is because I did the same thing you did?"

"Do ya' even have to ask?"

That made Young Sonic shrugged sheepishly. "Right, right. My bad."

"You know, in my last adventure, I learned a very important lesson. If you let guilt, fear and sorrow continue to stay in your heart, they'll eventually eat you alive and then you'll end up having an inner fight within yourself. Keep in mind that they're part of all of us, along with anger, happiness, and love." Sonic told him. "I know that you told your Tails this, but my Tails reminded me that everybody's feeling bad over things that they didn't mean to or when it's not their fault...Except Ro-butt-nik."

He was right, the younger Sonic realized. It was exactly what he'd told Young Tails as well. The older Sonic winked, "Don't worry. I told ya before, you helped to save Red, and you saved me. We're in this together, even if we have to split up once and while in finding the Chaos Emeralds and the Sol Emeralds. Besides, being around friends is way more fun."

Young Sonic smiled emotionally and couldn't help but lean in Sonic's touch before nodded, wiping away his tears as the latter lowered his hand. "Thanks, Sonic. You're right. I really gotta keep that in mind, but things have been so crazy in this creepy place."

"Blame Scourge for that." Sonic shrugged, causing the two hedgehogs to laugh before it ceased and he stood up. "Now, whaddya say we find those Emeralds and go after those creeps that caused all of this?"

"Yeah! I really wanna give those guys a piece of my mind!" The eleven year old hero agreed, feeling a boost within himself which made his older, alternate self relieved to have made his younger self feel better and having fixed up the emotional mess he accidentally caused. "Plus I really wanna check out this city and the places around it!"

Sonic couldn't help but chuckle, "Looks like somebody wants to get into the action more than I do."

But before the two Sonics could make the next step of their journey, suddenly the same distortion that happened before was happening again, causing the two hedgehogs to gasp and glance around in alarm as they realize that it was the merging going haywire again. To their confusion though, it stopped and they remained in Station Square. Looking at each other, they both shrugged cluelessly as neither one had any idea what was going on this time, only to hear a screech that caught them by surprise.

Looking up, they saw a dark portal open up in the sky, and for a moment Sonic and Young Sonic thought it was the giant black monster, as they stood their ground while bracing themselves. What came out of it wasn't what they expected. A metallic like bird that looked like a cross between a raven, a crow, a gargoyle, and a pterodactyl, about the size as Tails' plane the Tornado 1 flew out and gave another screech, swooping down towards them.

"AAH!" The two heroes yelped before ducking, narrowly avoiding in being hit as the giant bird robot missed in grabbing them with it's talons. Frustrated in missing it's prey, the bird screeched once more before flying off across the city and towards the Mystic Ruins in distance.

"Whoa! What the!?" Sonic exclaimed, bewildered.

"What was that!?" Young Sonic exclaimed, shocked.

"I dunno!" The blue hedgehog replied, sweat dropping. "But I got a bad feelin' that it came from Moebius from that portal, 'cause I've never seen that thing before!"

Knowing what to do and feeling that the bird was going after the Chaos and Sol Emeralds, and possibly hurt or kill innocent people despite running the risk of maybe running into his slightly younger, original self who could be busy dealing with the weaker form of Chaos right now or is about to, Sonic couldn't tell, the teenager turned to his younger, alternate self and told him firmly as he stood up. "We can't let that thing get away! Let's move!"

"Right!" Young Sonic nodded, coming to the same conclusion and mentally cursed the supposedly 'good' doctor for having tricked them and now everybody was in bigger trouble.

The two Sonics then sped away in high speed, leaping and running across the roofs of the skyscraper buildings as fast as they could into the direction where the bird had taken off to stop it and find the Chaos Emerald and the Sol Emerald.

Unaware that from the opposite end of the street of the buildings, a black hedgehog was doing his own investigation on what was going on and how he ended up here when he saw not only a giant unfamiliar robotic-alien like bird emerge from a portal, but also not one, but two familiar blue streaks dash by in a sonic-boom, one being a bit lighter but fast none the less.

"What now?" Asked the black hedgehog, in sheer annoyance as he is revealed to be none other than Shadow the Hedgehog, once Sonic's enemy now a rivarly-ally and quite also possibly a friend in the younger hedgehog's book.

Deciding that he had no other leads, and needing to know more no matter what the cost, Shadow jumped and leaped and used his skating shoes to help him go faster as he began to follow Sonic and, unknown to the ultimate life-form, Young Sonic.

Things were about to become more interesting and complicated.


A/N: I know that this chapter was action-less, but I think it was more of a breather before we next the next phase of the story, which is half-canon to the game, half-diverted into my own head-canon which started with Sonic and the Werehog, continued on into Sonic and the Power of the Wisps, vice versa.

See you later!