Author's Note: I'm really sorry that this story isn't living up to everyone's expectations. I'll do my best with it in the future.

To gregorian12: Thanks for the review! If there are any story suggestions you have, and whether if I like them and may be using them or not, you may say so. But like I said before, it depends on whether I may add them into this story or not.

Also, not sure if any of you have heard, but the two Sonic IDW Comic characters Tangle the Lemur and Whisper the Wolf are set to appear in the Mobile version of Sonic Forces(not that I'm a fan of that game, but anyway).

Anyway, let's continue onward!

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


Chapter 9: A Shadow in Chaos.

In a mysterious place of a canyon in Moebius that was slowly merging with both versions of Mobius, where a portal had just closed up, Scourge was standing on top of the giant rock formations with his hands on his hips, a cruel smirk on his muzzle in place as he chuckled to himself.

"That's it, my feathered friend. Squash those two blue bozos like little bugs that they are. Hope you're hungry, because they're a tasty feast for ya. Can't believe that idiot Snively(1) left this behind out of the open. How much more stupid can that dead guy be?" The evil green hedgehog muttered to himself, and pointedly ignoring a pained and annoyed groan behind him.

"I can't believe you let that thing take me in such a rude manner!" The voice of Robotnik grunted, complaining. "Do you realize how painful it was handling not one, but TWO of that little pincushion!?"

"Quit complaining. At least our beastly friend is on our side and be thankful that he didn't have you for lunch." Scourge rolled his eyes behind his sunglasses, waving his hand dismissively. He looked over his shoulder to the evil doctor and suggested dryly. "If I were you, old man, I'd make less childish ranting. It'd save you all the trouble."

"You little...!" The evil doctor grunted, before wincing as he, sitting outside and slumped against his Egg Mobile, a little bit charred from his battle against both Young Sonic and Sonic, but obviously not as kidnapped as the heroes at first believed. "Why did you let the older Sonic know that my other self is still dead?"

"Because since he crashed the party you set up, there was no point in dragging it on. It'd be too boring and eventually he'll find out. But no matter what those losers think, in the end, those Sol Emeralds will be mine, and the Chaos Emeralds will be yours. Share trade, don'tcha think, doctor?" The seventeen year old hedgehog shrugged, turning his gaze back over to the horizon, crossing his arms in thought. "It will also give me a chance to not only make Moebius mine to rule, but it will also get that Kinto-butt out of my quills and my memories, and bring back my Fiona."

Robotnik raised an eyebrow skeptically. "What was that Fiona to you? Your future queen?"

Turning sharply to glare at his ally, Scourge growled darkly. "Watch it, man. She understood me because she was the only person in the planet who shared my dream, and my goals. Sure the only downside in removing the stupid goody-goody scientist from history is that..."

Finding himself pausing in hesitation even when he hadn't meant to, the Terror of Moebius spun around again as a certain memory began to linger and creep up, before forcing himself to not think about it and quickly said. "Forget it. It's not important. It's only a minor inconvenience, anyway. Nothing will stop me; not Kinto-butt, not that Cat Princess, and not that stupid Silver the Hedgehog from the future."

"I know what you are feeling when it comes to having enemies of little pests, hedgehog. Especially from Sonic. He's been a thorn on my side for months, and to think that his other self has defeated my other self to which he has died makes me more determined to make sure the same doesn't happen to me. But I never thought you had some special feelings for others. I thought you wouldn't even care for anyone but yourself." The mad scientist stated.

"Fiona's different. Besides, whether I like it or not, I won't live forever because eventually I'll be dead. Not even the Sol Emeralds will be able to make me immortal. The Superior Emerald only granted me a permanent colour change. I need a legacy to keep my rule going." Scourge admitted grudgingly.

"Do you even truly love her?" Robotnik questioned evilly.

"Of course I do!" Scourge snapped angishly. "I want her back! There's nobody else in the world that can replace her! Heck, Sonic's lucky enough to have a girlfriend and why? Because he's happy in being a hero! I hate him! I hate both of them! What right do heroes have over something I don't!?"

The Alternate-Eggman sweat dropped before frowning, placing a hand on the side of his face in deep thought. "If you let your emotions overcome you, it will lead you to nothing but distractions. I suggest you focus on calming down so that we will succeed in getting the Emeralds and ridding ourselves from Kintobor, and both of Sonic for good. The Sonic from the alternate Mobius is now free from my otherself, which means he is just as a threat as our enemies in our dimensions. He must be gotten rid of in order to get rid of Sonic and Kintobor."

Scourge lowered his arms, clenching his fists, knowing that as much as he hated it, Robotnik was right. Sonic the Hedgehog had proved to be the most difficult obstacle to overcome, making the green hedgehog realize that he made an error for wishing three worlds to slowly merge and take over. If he'd just stuck with two, it wouldn't be a problem and the blue hedgehog wouldn't have been brought here in the first place. Scourge would've gotten rid of Kintobor while Robotnik would've gotten rid of Young Sonic. Not only that, his emotions were distracting him right now, which was something he didn't need.

"You may be lucky to defeat me the first time, Sonic. But just you wait, I will destroy you, and I will make Moebius mine to rule." Scourge whispered darkly, glaring up at the sky as he removed his sunglasses to reflect his emerald eyes that burned with hatred, rage, and greed. "And no stupid heroic hedgehog like you or your smaller self are gonna stop me!"

No one will ever stop him. The evil green hedgehog is going to make sure of it.


Back at Station Square, Sonic and his companion Young Sonic were dashing through the streets of the city as they attempted to catch up to the Metallic Bird they knew not only came from Moebius, but was also a dangerous threat. Who had sent it, they half guessed that it was Scourge, their second half of a guess was the giant monster. They ruled out Robotnik due to the evil man being kidnapped, but at the same time kept in mind that maybe it was another trick.

Though given the numerous Egg-Bots around, that just made things a bit harder for the duo, but it was nothing they couldn't handle. Sonic spun from a lamppost and Homing Attacked into one, karate-kicking and punching it and Spin Dashed into another, which made the third robot, one that looked a bit like Gamma, the first robot that rebelled against Eggman thanks to Amy before it 'died', somehow nervous as it sweat dropped.

"Threat levels reach highest level. Time to retrea-" The robot didn't get the chance to finish, as Young Sonic gave it a surprise attack from behind with a Spin Dash of his own, smashing it into pieces.

"Sorry. Am I interrupting?" Young Sonic taunted the destroyed robot.

"Some things never change when it comes to Eggman's toys." Sonic shook his head with a smirk. "These guys really have no chance against us, right pal?"

"You bet!" The young blue hedgehog replied, giving his older, alternate self a thumbs up and a wink, to which the blue hedgehog returned with a chuckle.

"Man, this sure brings back a lotta memories. It's like I've been here only yesterday." The cobalt hedgehog admitted, glancing around with his hands on his hips.

"This place is awesome. It's huge and flashy and full of tons of action!" The eleven year old remarked with a wide smile on his muzzle, gazing around at the tall buildings.

"Well, if ya' lucky, your world might have a Station Square too, so that way you can explore as long as you want." Sonic replied, shrugging. "I wish I could give ya' a tour around my world when this is all over, but that's not such a good idea, given what's going on."

Young Sonic shuddered at the thought. "Yeah, considering how the Sol Emeralds made Scourge's wish for this to happen start coming true. I'm too scared to even think about holding them."

Sonic in response reached into his quills and gazed at the purple Emerald he had with him, gazing at it in concern and a bit of fear and disdain. "The only thing good about them right now is that they're helping out our friends. Sure they're like the Chaos Emeralds, but...this reminds me too much of how Knuckles had no idea that Chaos and Tikal were inside the Master Emerald for four thousand years."

"Whoa, that long?" The younger hedgehog blinked in shock. 'No wonder Tikal's a ghost.' Still, for both Tikal and Chaos to be trapped inside the Master Emerald for that long and it was only when the older hedgehog had stopped the latter from destroying the world and that the echidna princess found peace until this happened? Wow.

"Yep. Still got no idea how Egghead found out about Chaos, but then again, being a scientist, I shouldn't be too surprised. Sure glad he wasn't brought into this, otherwise it would've been a whole lot worse." Sonic nodded in agreement.

"Did Eggman try to use the aliens like he and Ro-butt-nik would to small animals?" Young Sonic asked, concerned as he and his older, alternate self quickly ran down the streets once more to try and catch up with the Metallic Bird, the younger hero following Sonic due to the latter knowing this place more without getting lost.

Sonic cringed, "More than that. He wanted to use their very special magical powers to fuel up a Mind Control Weapon to brainwash everybody in Mobius, draining them until they had nothing left."

"Say what!?" Young Sonic exclaimed, horrified, his heart stopping, leaping up a car while Sonic air-somersaulted over a bus, both vehicles thankfully already parked and not moving. "You mean he tried to use their powers by killing them!?"

"No, no! Well, at first when I heard that their powers were their life force, I thought that was the case and I was so scared for their safety. But what really happens to them is that they turn into negative aliens that go all either crazy in frenzy, or emotionless like a void. Thankfully, to turn them back, I had to crack open the capsules that held trapped their magic called the Hyper-Go-Ons, which flows back into them and they return to normal. With Yacker's Mom, it took not only to defeat Eggman's giant robot that held the rest of their powers, but also the Chaos Emeralds which he tried to use against me, but never got the chance to." Sonic quickly explained and reassured.

The younger hedgehog sighed in huge relief. "Phew. Dude, don't scare me like that! I thought that they were gonna die."

"Me too, when Tails told me how their powers were inside them, and that, I quote, 'Battery is an understatement'." The teenager smiled apologetically. "You know what? That adventure three months ago back at home was totally worth it! Tails and I got to see five whole different worlds, being friends with the friendliest and cutest aliens in the universe, their home world being the most beautiful I've ever seen...Heck, even the Tropical Resort which is the main park was totally fun and colourful, given Baldy McNosehair's tastes and standards."

"That's a surprise, coming from Buttnik. What'd he try to do? Pretend to change his ways?"

"Yeah, but I wasn't convinced." The blue hedgehog shrugged, before Spin Dashing into another Robot that stood in the way, kicking and punching it expertly near the Casino which he remembered having to win a Chaos Emerald along side Tails during the Chaos crisis. He and the young blue hedgehog both quickly dodged it's double laser attack with ease, then the younger hero Spin Dashed into it's side and stomped the sole of his shoe onto it's metal face.

The duo then finished it off with another double Spin Dash that cause it to fly into the air and explode into pieces. The two heroes of the two Mobius cheered before sharing a high-five. With success, and hearing the screech from the distance, but having 20-20 hearing, both Sonics looked up and listened carefully before realizing that it sounded close; very close.

"If I'm gonna guess, I'd say that giant bird is just approaching the Train Station in the Mystic Ruins." Sonic theoried, smirking. "But with us around, there's no need to catch the train despite that it's pretty fast."

"But still nowhere near as fast as you and me, right?" Young Sonic guessed, itching to get moving.

"Even in a million years!" The cobalt young hero replied proudly. "In fact, the closest that's ever fast before Scourge showed up is Shadow."

Sonic was about to move when he suddenly felt his quills prickle at the sense that they weren't alone. Someone was coming up behind them, and while he couldn't hear who it was or how and why the person he knew that was following them wasn't frozen like most of the others, but he knew that feeling. He knew who it was, though some part of him hoped it wasn't his and Young Sonic's evil green counterpart.

Still, better to be safe than sorry. He spun around quickly and instinctly pulled Young Sonic out of the way just as a black blur ball nearly hit the younger hedgehog, hitting the ground hard before unrolling itself, revealing to be what the cobalt teenager had been half expecting; a black hedgehog with red streaks in his quills.

"Speaking of Shadow..." Sonic continued calmly, while his younger, alternate self's eyes were wide in shock, which grew when the aforementioned newcomer turned around fully to reveal himself. The teenager then greeted with a smirk. "How're you doin', Shads? I was just talking about you."

"Funny, Sonic. I was just thinking about how to question you once I dealt with this new faker." Shadow responded with a dark look, one that made the teenager's smirk fade. "Why are you protecting him?"

"And why are you calling me a fake?" Young Sonic responded, glaring back. He felt insulted for being called a 'faker'. He was still shocked that this was the Shadow guy that Sonic told him about. When he said that age didn't matter, the teenage hedgehog hadn't been kidding! Shadow could easily pass on as Sonic's dark twin brother. Or triplet if one included Scourge.

"He called me a 'faker' when we first met, mainly because he was around 35 years longer before I was born." Sonic apologetically told his younger, alternate self.

"I've spent fifty years asleep not long after I was created." The black hedgehog tensely reminded in sheer annoyance, rolling his eyes. "How was I supposed to know that you were born with parents?"

"Well, how was I supposed to know that you even existed even before my parents and Uncle were born?" The blue hedgehog deadpanned, before sighing. "I'm just glad that you didn't end up frozen like almost everybody else since this new mess started, and not because of Sonic here."

"You are referring to yourself in third person, or your new clone who, unlike Sun, shares your name?" Shadow asked sarcastically.

Before Young Sonic, who growled angrily as he already didn't like the older hedgehog, could even make an angry respond, Sonic quickly explained, "He's not a clone, Shadow! He's me from an alternate universe which, with Mobius and another alternate world called Moebius call got caught up into this mess because of an evil green hedgehog named Scourge!"

That really now made Shadow confused as he blinked. "Huh?"

Sonic then proceeded to explain to his former enemy about what was happening with Young Sonic, who still held a grudge on the oldest Mobian, helping to confirm a few bits in pieces, including Scourge's goal to take over Moebius, the Sol Emeralds, and right up to this point. All this was explained while the trio, with Shadow agreeing to join them as he had no other leads since waking up from a near disaster event earlier, raced through the streets and taking out more of Robotnik's robots since Eggman wasn't around.

"So this Scourge is everything you've been worried of turning into and he's dragged not just our world, but your alternate self into this mess?" Shadow questioned as he skated to keep up with the two Sonics who, despite wanting to find the bird as well as the Sol and Chaos Emeralds, kept up pace with him even though it was becoming more of a race.

"Yeah, and he's even got the same skills as me." Sonic replied. "That guy's like a hedgehog version of Eggman, only more ruthless and no killer robots to send out."

"And you say this Dr. Kintobor is the supposed 'nice' version of Dr. Eggman?" Shadow scoffed. "I'm not buying it."

"I don't fully trust him either, Shads, but we need all the help we can get in how to fix this." The blue hedgehog nodded. "Plus, the others are gonna be keeping an eye on him, so I don't think we should be too worried."

"Um, hey guys?" Young Sonic spoke up, and while he wanted to ask about Shadow's past in being 'created' even though half of him told him that it wasn't anything pleasent, his mind had wandered off on finding the bird and being metallic, and this conversation made him think of a thought that made him feel very uneasy.

"What's up, buddy?" Sonic asked, and, seeing the look of dread on his younger, alternate self's face, he instantly knew that it wasn't anything good.

"You notice that it had metal on it's body?"

"I did notice that." Shadow responded after a moment of silence, causing him and the other two younger hedgehogs to skid to a stop.

"Yeah, me too." The sixteen year old murmured.

"...It's a robot. Do you think Kintobor might have sent it to attack us?" The young blue hedgehog asked, uneasily.

Hearing this made Sonic's blood run super cold, his heart stopping at the very thought. Kintobor was the only scientist so far from Moebius, and despite what the man claimed to be saying, to think that he could really be secretly siding with both Scourge and Robotnik was unsettling to which made the teenage hedgehog realize that if his younger, alternate self was right, then everybody was in bigger danger than he thought, while Young Sonic, seeing his friend's expression, came to the same conclusion and mentally cursed the supposedly 'good' doctor for having tricked them and now everybody was in bigger trouble.

"If that's true, then..." Sonic grunted before hissing softly, clenching his fist angrily. "He tricked us! Ugh! I knew he was up to something! If I didn't know any better, he wants to use the Sol Emeralds for himself."

"Which means that he tricked Red and Silver, too." Young Sonic muttered, feeling the same effects of horror as Sonic. "What do we do? We can't let Kintobor take them or the Emeralds!"

"We'll worry about him later. Right now, we're gonna get the Sol and Chaos Emeralds here and beat that overgrown pidgeon." The sixteen year old hedgehog said firmly.

"Hmph. Let's see what we can find first." Shadow suggested, adding to Sonic. "Afterwards, show me that you haven't gotten too soft since the last time."

Almost like magic, Sonic perked up and grinned playfully. "Heh. Still sore from the last competition I beat you in last month, Shads? I can't help it that you're slower than me."

The ebony hedgehog growled with gritted teeth and looked away in sheer annoyance, folding his arms. "Yeah, well, that was a month ago. I haven't been really resting."

"Whatever you say." The blue hedgehog shrugged. "Besides, I kinda had a feeling you said no to Rouge's offer to join my birthday party."

Shadow didn't get a chance to respond to that, as suddenly a very chilling, dark and deep voice spoke in thin air, one that made all three hedgehogs freeze in their tracks, one that two of them recognized, and shook the oldest one right to the core, one that he didn't think he'd hear ever again. At least not in reality.

"Shadow..."

"What the...?" Sonic whispered, feeling chills down his spine as he and the suddenly increasingly horrified Shadow glanced around to find the source of the voice, one that neither knew how it was possible.

"It can't be...!" Shadow whispered, his heart hammering in his chest, memories of a certain time when he, like Sonic, went through a hallucination situation for three months. Except that this time it was definitely real.

"AH! What's that thing!?" Young Sonic exclaimed suddenly, and when Sonic and Shadow spun to him, the youngest hedgehog pointed frantically at what was behind them after he'd spun around and found the source of the voice. The two older hedgehogs spun to see and the teenage hero gasped with a panic-stricken look, while the oldest hedgehog felt his heart sink.

Because floating and approaching them from nowhere was a star-fish shaped looking black creature with a single eye in the middle, which soon materlized an image of an familiar evil being with three eyes and familiar shape that Shadow believed he would never see again.

"Shadow...I finally found you." The being echoed.

"Black Doom...! I never thought I'd be seeing you again, you parasite!" Shadow growled with clenched teeth and fists. "I thought I sent you into the depths of hell!"

"Yeah, what he said!" Sonic grunted in anger which replaced his panicked expression almost instantly, ignoring his rival's use of bad language. Of all the people to also meet here from his past, it had to be the evil alien that almost had his disgusting larvae have the blue hedgehog, his friends and Eggman for dinner, and Sonic didn't even defeat this guy.

'Oh, man. I hope I get to see Yacker again, 'cause I prefer seeing him and the other cute, friendly aliens then this guy and those black creatures.' The cobalt hedgehog thought to himself.

"Ha ha ha ha ha. I am but from your past, Shadow, and soon to be your future. I've been looking forward to see you again." Black Doom chuckled darkly.

"Forgive me if I'm not feeling the same in seeing you, Black Doom." The black hedgehog responded sarcastically. "Also, I'd say that you're behind that metal bird, but I would be lying."

"Hey, Sonic?" Young Sonic asked as he replaced his own fear with a skeptical look at this giant alien. "Is there something going on between Shadow and this creepy alien-looking guy?"

"More than you can imagine, buddy. Don't worry, Shadow's on our side." Sonic replied in a whisper. "This guy's actually one of the few bad guys I didn't defeat to save the world, since it was Shadow's job that time."

Black Doom ignored the conversation between the two Sonics even though he did gaze at them with a look of distaste, while continuing to Shadow. "Disobediant as always. I regret in ever being part of your creation, you worthless little hedgehog. Now you are much like the beings of this planet."

"Yeah, well, creating me was your biggest mistake. If you think I'd ever join you in destroying this planet, you're delusional." The black hedgehog scoffed. "I told you, I made a promise to protect it, and I kept it. You have no control over me!"

When Young Sonic heard this, he couldn't help but gaze over the Ultimate Life-form in bewilderment. 'Huh? What is he talking about? Created...? But, he can't be a robot, can he? What's going on here? I got a bad feeling about this.'

"There's no way Shadow would ever work for you, Eye-Ball head!" Sonic declared to Black Doom. "How are you here anyway?"

"It is quite simple, lowly little blue hedgehog." The evil alien chuckled. "For now I am but from your pasts, reborn to destroy you all once I gain the Chaos Emeralds. Then I will move on to remove the wrenched mortals who have made this possible; a green little hedgehog and that foolish human granson of that fool Gerald."

"Scourge...! I should've known!" The teenage hero grunted, eyes narrowing. Just when things couldn't get any worse. He then smirked and pointed out. "Well, I've got some bad news for ya', punk. I've beaten that green hedgehog, and if he can't win against me, there's no way you're gonna win against us! Besides, we all know how much Eggman is a loser, human or not."

"And you got me to worry about too, you creep!" Young Sonic finally spoke up, bravely taking a step forward. "I dunno what's goin' on, but if ya think you'll get the Chaos Emeralds, you're Spaced-out!"

"I'll send you back to where you belong, Black Doom; in my memories!" Shadow declared, his ruby eyes almost glowing with anger and determination. "I killed you once, I will do it again! Don't get in my way!"

The evil alien leader of the Black Arms merely bellowed in laughter. "I don't think so, insignificant lifeforms. If you so defeat that thing no doubt that foolish Dr. Eggman has created, come face me at the ARK and I will take all the pleasure of taking my Emeralds and your lives will be a nice banquet for my children."

"If your kids are that hungry, why not just get Double Cheese-Burgers with everything?" The eleven year old hedgehog asked sarcastically, folding his arms.

"Hmph. So speaks the doppelganger of Sonic the Hedgehog, the other bane of my existence. Neither one of you will be alive by the end of this. I will be waiting to destroy Shadow, and to feed you and all of humanity long with other creatures of this planet to my people." Black Doom responded, before vanishing and left the three hedgehogs behind.

"Yeah, right. This isn't like back on the Black Comet!" Sonic shouted even though he knew that Black Doom wouldn't hear him since the evil alien was long gone. The blue hedgehog rolled his eyes. "Ugh, it had to be him to encounter from our past and I didn't even beat this guy. Not on my own, anyway."

"So if this Black Doom guy is here...then I guess you were right about that giant Werehog you mentioned earlier." Young Sonic sweat dropped when he said this.

The hero of Mobius shuddered inadvertently, subconsciously rubbing his right arm as memories of the beast's soul trying to eat it off through Sun's body. "Dang. I was hoping that I was wrong."

"You're still not getting hallucinations of that thing, are you?" Shadow asked, raising an eye-brow as he appeared skeptical, but deep down he was actually quite concerned. He realized that if they were encountering Black Doom whom the black hedgehog had hallucinations of for three months, then the same will be said for Sonic who had hallucinations of the giant Werehog for only two days and that drove him into a near hysterical PTSD.

But the hallucinations were mainly due to how the younger hedgehog struggled to forgive himself. Going through two months of being guilt-ridden no matter how hard he tried to move on, even with his friends there to support him.

"Nope, and I haven't had one in the last three months." Sonic shook his head, instantly perking up. "I haven't even had any nightmares of o'l fuzzy either. Guess I kinda had to let him mentally eat me in order to save the hallucination of Chip to get rid of that mutant hair-ball for good."

The birthday-hedgehog then sighed, scratching the top of his head while placing his other hand on his hip, muttering in uncomfortable realization. "But then Scourge just had to go and mess things up with Time and Space, especially since he used the Sol Emeralds to make all of this happen to not only try and change history but also bring his dead girlfriend back to life."

"In order words, he doesn't want to atone or move on." The older hedgehog sighed, shaking his head as he couldn't help but think back of the days he spent with Maria before her death. "He's more destructive with his actions than I was when I was trying to recover my memories."

"Like how I had trouble for two months, how I was...still really scared of that thing even though he's dead. At least in the present."

"Which means you will have to overcome your fears once more, Sonic."

Sonic closed his eyes and while he was admittedly still scared of the Werehog, especially since he would have to encounter it, instantly he was drawn back to how he overcame that fear that was within his heart with the support and words from his friends, how he accomplished in driving the Dark-Spine-Werehog away for good.

And suddenly he remembered how and why. Back when he had that mental battle to end the conflict within his heart for good.


Flash-Back: During the events of "Sonic and the Power of the Wisps"...

"WHAT!? HOW CAN THIS BE!? THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!" The Dark-Spine-Werehog exclaimed, only to grunt and hiss in pain, bending over in agony. When it looked at it's hands, much to it's horror, it was vanishing into a dust of darkness, being erased from existence. "NO! NO! I CANNOT...VANISH! WHY!? HOW COULD YOU DO THIS!?"

"One; because you never existed inside me in the first place. The real you died out and returned to where it belonged." Sonic explained calmly as he stood there with Chip now floating beside him. "You and Sun both came from me, and yeah, while you two guys formed as your own beings, parts of your bodies were still connected and now Sun's body belongs to him, while you died along with Dark Gaia taking his next million year nap."

The blue hedgehog then smirked and smiled warmly. "Secondly; Everybody's forgiven me for not stopping Eggman from splitting the world apart. Except for one person that I didn't count on."

"WHO IS IT?" The Dark-Spine-Werehog demanded, as fear crept up on it's face while it's body rapidly vanished, leaving only it's shoulders and soon head left.

Sonic's smirk as he continued. "One who didn't allow the chance until now."

He waited until the head was soon almost gone, before he answered the one word that he now knew it feared the most, one that he feared the most.

"Me. Now, I'm going to forgive myself for what's happened; I'll move on, and keep on doing the right thing for the rest of my life. Keep moving forward and don't ever look back!" Sonic declared, and as the Werehog gasped in pure horror, he and Chip casually waved a goodbye at it. "Don't forget to write!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" The Dark-Spine-Werehog screamed as it finally succumbed to Sonic's self-forgiveness, and vanished into dust which faded completely, except for a few particles that drifted into the blue hedgehog's chest. At first the teenager flinched in a bit of fright, before relaxing as he then knew what this meant.


End of Flash-Back:

'I fought that thing and with the help from my friends, especially my forgiveness who took the form of Chip, I won. Because I finally found it within me to forgive myself for what happened. I atoned, and I moved on. I accepted that while I hadn't been able to stop him and that's what made me almost drown completely in my guilt, I made mistakes before and in the end I made it up for it. Because all of those times was mainly Eggman's fault. So what if I have to face that thing again in reality? I know I can beat him. It's not like he's gonna suddenly become Dark-Spine-Werehog in real life.' The cobalt teenager thought to himself.

The more he thought about it, the more he realized that he wasn't as scared of facing the Werehog as he should be, because that thing was the abomination of his fears of becoming a monster, his guilt for what happened to the world, his sorrow for failing and what could have happened to everybody in Mobius. But now...now Sonic knew that he would never change, because he wasn't the monster he feared of turning into, because he was the good side of who he is. Same with Young Sonic, who hasn't experienced that sort of thing yet and Sonic hoped that he never will.

'No. The real monster in hedgehog disguise is Scourge, because he's selfish, cruel and greedy. Even though he loves Fiona Fox, he still left his little bro Red to die after the poor kid risked his life to save him. So it's up to me to try and change him to know better. I won't let the same thing that happened to Eggman happen to that creep. I promised Red, and no stupid mutant hairball made from my quills and negative feelings and Dark Gaia is gonna stop me!' Sonic opened his eyes which narrowed with determination.

Which in that instant he grinned with his optisim returning, smiling proudly. "No problem! I can handle that Mutant-Hog, and this time I won't be running away from it in fear. He's just another challenge before the B-F-B-B."

"...The what?" Shadow asked, really puzzled.

"Big Final Boss Battle!" Both Sonic and Young Sonic answered in unison as the latter knew what his older, alternate self was saying, being the same person only from another dimension.

The oldest hedgehog just continued to stare before groaning in exasperation, and said. "Good to see that you haven't changed."

Sonic pouted, grumbling. "Hey, give me some credit, will ya? Last I saw that thing, Sun kinda wasted it away like he did with all those creatures that Dark Gaia sent out after Eggman gave it an untimely wake-up call. I'm not that worried in facing that thing anymore without freaking out."

He then smirked and added, "Besides, if he does end up succeeding in swallowing me, I can easily use Chaos Control this time with the Chaos Emeralds, and I'm not gonna let fear and guilt stop me. Not this time, and not ever again if I can help it."

'I suppose it is true. I fought down my fears in seeing Black Doom just now. Because I've faced them and defeated the abomination mentally. It's clear that Sonic really did the same with the Werehog.' Shadow thought to himself, realizing that his rival had a good point.

"You've really gotten over it, haven't you?" The ebony and red hedgehog asked.

A bit of a pause.

"Okay, so I'm a little bit scared of seeing that overgrown guy again." The blue hedgehog admitted sheepishly with a shrug, before quickly adding. "But I know the reason why it's so powerful is because it feeds on my anger, guilt and sadness. If I'm really careful, I can handle it this time. I know I can, because I've forgiven myself."

Sonic held up a fist with determination and bravery, shown as his smirk returned. "I'll show that Werehog what I'm capable of, and this time, I'll finish him for good, without being afraid!"

"Um...?" Young Sonic held up his hand, to get the attention from the others. "Guys, you kinda lost me there for a few minutes, and I hate to change the subject. But can we get going before that overgrown bird gets any further away, please? Not to mention handling that creepy three-eyed alien?"

Realizing that they were really standing around, the teenage hedgehog scratched the back of head sheepishly. "Right, right. Sorry, pal. Let's get going."

"If we're right, that bird is heading to-"

"To the Mystic Ruins!" Sonic declared, cutting Shadow off and playfully challenged. "Last one there's a rotten Eggman!"

"You're on!" Young Sonic grinned, taking off after Sonic who ran ahead a mere second earlier, leaving the Ultimate Lifeform to groan in annoyance and exasperation, facepalming himself.

"One Sonic is bad enough, now I'm stuck with two of him." Shadow grumbled, before skating after his rival and the blue hedgehog's alternate, younger self towards the Mystic Ruins where the Metallic Bird had taken off.


It hadn't taken Sonic and his companions long before they finally arrived at the Mystic Ruins via the blue hedgehog having been here more times than he could count. They passed Tails' workshop once the trio caught sight of the Metallic Bird that screeched like an Eagle and followed it into the jungle which Young Sonic wished he could marvel, but Shadow's constant reminder to stay focused really rubbed him the wrong way.

'Man, what's with this guy? There's a lotta things I don't get.' The young blue hedgehog thought to himself, before frowning in concern as he thought back on what Black Doom had said. 'What did that guy mean by 'being part of Shadow's creation'? Is he a robot? Or...is he created like Frankenstien and stuff?'

Even though the latter part sounded disturbingly right, the eleven year old mentally shook his head. 'Sonic, you've been watching too many horror movies. There's no way Shadow's anything like that!...Right?'

It still left him feeling uneasy even as he attempted to enjoy himself by racing against Sonic who was seemingly oblivious with what he was thinking and content on enjoying himself as well as finding the bird, and Shadow who had no interest and just focused on the mission. It was perfectly obvious that the blue hedgehog knew much more than he was letting on, and Young Sonic had a feeling that, if their fates were the same, then he could be encountering his world's version of Shadow at some point. That thought made him shudder considering the stories he heard.

'Maybe I should ask Sonic about this later. Yeah, that'd be a good idea, no matter how creepy it's gonna be and no matter how much I don't wanna hear the horrible news.' Young Sonic decided.

The trio came across three large badniks that resembled to Eggman, only coloured fully in red with thin pointy noses, and the man's signature ugly grin with poorly replicas of his mustache blocking their path. They had cannon arms and looked ready to attack while attempting to look intimidating. But the only effect they've given to the three hedgehogs was making them annoyed.

"Yeesh. Couldn't Ro-butt-nik come up with something that isn't recycled?" Young Sonic deadpanned.

One of the Egg-Bots fired a laser at them, but Sonic and his friends leaped out of the way with ease, before the blue hedgehog Spin Dashed into it, karate-kicking and punching it which rendered it into pieces. The young blue hedgehog used his Spin Dash in another, before Spin Jumping at that robot's head and then punched it squarely in the face, causing it to spring out like a broken toy before it had the chance to attack. The third Egg-Bot fired gun shots which the two Sonics and Shadow dodged easily with Shadow Spin Dashing into it. It crashed onto the ground but the hedgehogs were not done yet.

Young Sonic ran and then kicked the robot just as it was starting to get up, causing it to lose it's arms. This was followed by Sonic using his Homing Attack and kicking it so hard that it ended up launched into the air. Finally, Shadow used this to his advantage to finish it off, summoning the Chaos Spear in his hand for the final attack.

"Chaos Spear!" The black hedgehog shouted, launching his attack as the power of Chaos Spear shot right through the Egg-Bot which exploded into nothing. Scoffing while the two Sonics celebrated with a high-five and cheer, Shadow muttered to himself. "Pathetic piece of junk."

"Man, Shadow! What was that? Talk about way past cool!" Young Sonic exclaimed in awe when he had seen the attack.

'It would'a been way past cool to me too if Eggman hadn't made him a bad guy after finding him.' Sonic thought to himself, wishing he could've admired it the first time.

"I hold more Chaos Energy than anyone in Mobius. That's just the way I was born, and unless you don't already know what Chaos Control is, I can do that even without the Chaos Emeralds." Shadow responded, looking away with disinterest.

"Whoa, really?" The eleven year old asked, blinking in amazement and shock. However, that also made the dread he was feeling get increasingly worse and he wasn't certain on whether he should ask the black hedgehog's connection with Black Doom or just wait until Young Sonic and Sonic were alone again for the story.

"I know what you're thinking, and I know what you're going to ask." The Ultimate Life-Form muttered coldly as he turned to the lighter-blue hedgehog with a dark glare, making Young Sonic gasp softly and nervously. "You're wondering what my connection is with Black Doom."

The youngest hedgehog gulped with a sweat drop, scared of what would the black hedgehog do to him. Sonic, seeing his younger, alternate self looking spooked, gently placed a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder with a warm soft smile, which made the hero of Alternate-Mobius relax a little.

This didn't impress Shadow one bit, however. "Hmph, and you're supposed to be Sonic's alternate self with the same personality? I'd say you're more like a coward version of him."

"WHAT!?" Young Sonic shouted, suddenly and quickly angry, his fears gone in a flash over the insult. He glared furiously back with both fists balled up. "Say that again, you fake hedgehog!"

"And how do I know you're from an alternate universe? For all I know, you're a prototype given fake memories and pretending to believe you're another 'real' Sonic." The oldest hedgehog questioned darkly.

"TAKE THAT BACK!" The young blue hedgehog yelled angrily, preparing to Spin Dash into Shadow, but he was quickly held back back Sonic who held him back both arms which made the younger Sonic's legs run but not going anywhere.

"Okay, seriously, Shads. So not cool!" Sonic snapped at his rival with a glare of his own. "Everything we've said is the truth, and he has very right to know given what's goin' on. So I'd really appreciate it if you just drop your attitude."

Even though Shadow couldn't care less, he saw that the teenage hero was serious, while Sonic then turned his attention to Young Sonic who stopped moving but growled angrily at the black hedgehog.

"I know how you feel, buddy. He ticks me off too sometimes." Sonic told him in his attempt to calm the youngest hedgehog down. When Young Sonic did, the cobalt hedgehog sighed apologetically. "This is gonna be extremely crazy, but Shadow's on our side. Trust me."

While Young Sonic was still hesitant, he sighed and nodded before asking Shadow, this time more calmly and more to his usual but skeptical self. "So, what did that Black Doom guy mean by creating you?"

"I didn't even know it before I lost my memories, until he attacked with his Black Arms army. Ugly creatures of all shape and sizes on their attempts to devour humanity from this world." Shadow began, folding his arms, not dropping his attitude of course, but dropping his hostility against Sonic's younger, alternate self.

"Yeah, those things were crazy to boot and slimy. Totally gross and hard to beat, but nothing for me and Shads to worry about, even with those Black Bulls." Sonic shrugged, letting go of Young Sonic and shrugged with his arms folded.

"Sounds like they make a living in destroying tons of planets, but why else attack humanity?" Young Sonic asked.

"They used to pass by Mobius every fifty years on the Black Comet, doing that for 4,000 years. They couldn't enter the planet up until several months ago, actually." Sonic explained.

Shadow sighed, shifting somewhat uncomfortably over reliving the experience of the nightmare he had to go through. "Let me ask you this, Sonic of the alternate dimension. Are you aware of the existence of the Space Colony ARK? Or Dr. Eggman's relatives?"

The young blue hedgehog shook his head, "No. I have no clue about Buttnik's family, and I never even bothered asking since I kinda figured he left them behind or something."

"Eggman's grandfather was Professor Gerald Robotnik, a brilliant scientist of Mobius, and his granddaughter, the cousin of our enemy, Maria, my very first and close friend, were up on the ARK due to an illness that couldn't be cured and if she stayed on the planet, it would've killed her. A little over fifty years ago, the Professor worked out on finding a cure and...that's where both Black Doom and I come in." The black hedgehog explained.

"...Why am I getting the bad feeling this is like in the movies?" Young Sonic muttered uneasily, as his previous dismissal was coming to light.

"Uh...because it kinda is. The good news is, Shads' here wasn't anything like in those said movies." Sonic responded, just as uneasy as memories of that revelation was creeping back into his mind.

"The reason for that is Professor Gerald intended on creating the Ultimate Life-Form that he hoped would cure Maria, but he needed the perfect blood sample. It was around the time when Black Doom appeared, and made a deal with him; Black Doom would help in creating the Life-Form with his blood, and the Professor would provide him the Chaos Emeralds. With that, and while I still have no idea why I'm a hedgehog, they created...me." Shadow continued, looking away uneasily.

"Whaaaat!?" The eleven year old hedgehog exclaimed in shock, horror and disbelief. "So you're a half-Mobian and half-alien!? No way!"

"I wasn't happy when Black Doom said as much, either. That was the time when I wanted to get my memories back." The ultimate life-form sighed. "I didn't even know of Black Doom's existence since he already left by the time I...well, consider my soul being born when I woke up for the first time. I was sort like a new born."

Sonic nodded, admitting as he scratched behind his left ear. "I remember that transmitter recording that the Professor called you his son. When you think about it, that guy was your dad. In a...awkward kinda way."

Shadow rolled his eyes and deadpanned. "Excuse me for not having a mother."

"That doesn't mean you don't have a heart, man." Sonic pointed out while fully aware of the sarcasm. "That and your soul belong to you and nobody can change that. Sometimes the body doesn't matter. Heck, even Omega might have a soul. Maybe. Decoe, Becoe, Bokkun, Orbot and Cubot though, not really. At least, that's what I think."

"Yeah, and plus, you're just like us and everybody else. Nothing alien about you." Young Sonic agreed, now feeling guilty for the way he acted. He sighed and said. "Shadow, I...I'm really sorry for how badly I reacted."

"I can't say that I blame you. I was never comfortable being around Black Doom anyway." Shadow admitted, turning around before continuing with a sigh. "Sometimes I do question myself why I'm capable of being like everybody else. I guess that's a mystery scientist will never know, and that's all in the past. It's too bad that G.U.N saw me as a threat even though I didn't do anything wrong, and as I said, Maria was my close friend."

"So what happened to her and the Professor?" The youngest hedgehog asked, hesitantly.

"G.U.N stormed the ARK trying to shut down the Professor's research and arrested the poor guy, who along with Maria were actually really nice. I thought so at least at the footage. Never met either of them myself, and sometimes I wish I did." The sixteen year old said.

"I tried to find the Professor under Maria's pleads and to be honest, I was worried. Because of that misunderstanding of my existence, probably due to Black Doom being part of my birth, my creation, they captured the Professor and..." Shadow trailed off, memories of the gruesome departure from his very dear friend filled his mind. "...They killed Maria when she risked her life to save mine, sending me down to Mobius, making me promise to help humanity, to give them a chance to be happy, and protect the planet."

Young Sonic froze in horror as he paled at what he was hearing, feeling completely nauseous of what transpared. Shadow's friend Maria...who was Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik's cousin...was brutally killed because of a misunderstanding?

"That's...THAT'S NOT FAIR!" Young Sonic screamed, the moisture of tears filling up his eyes, trying really hard not to cry. "How can they do that!? It's not like it was your fault, or Maria's fault, or even the Professor's fault that Black Doom is such an evil monster, and she was sick needing a cure! How could they kill someone that needed help the most!?"

"I still ask that sometimes, too. I'm not against humanity since they're like us in spirit with different personalities, and I even have friends that are human, but I was never a fan of G.U.N since they're too much for the authority and some of them are really cruel. Almost as cruel as Eggman and Robotnik." Sonic murmured, hugging himself as tears began to form in his emerald green eyes. He knew that his younger, alternate self was right. It's not fair. The blue hedgehog wasn't even thought of at the time, but again and again, it was still a horrible thing to hear.

"Paranoia and fear, and conspiracy theories. Those are the logical answers." Shadow muttered, and while he did move on from his past, he still held Maria deep within his heart, her beautiful smile, her kind and gentle nature, her bravery and beliefs that were no different from Sonic's, and her love for him as though they were brother and sister. He frustratingly willed his tears that formed to cease.

Sighing, he continued, "I was discovered after landing, and imprisoned and put into deep sleep, but not before the Professor, driven mad to get revenge on all of humanity because of Maria's death, implanted me with false memories to destroy them all and...well, I was asleep for fifty years, because the next thing I knew, Eggman found me."

"And so the rest's history." Sonic continued for his rival, sighing as he wiped away his tears. "In the end, though, Shadow recalled his real memories and helped me to stop the ARK from destroying the planet. Thing is, he crashed landed into it, ended up in a coma and lost his memories...and we didn't know it since we all thought he died. Rouge found him locked up in Eggman's base months later since his robots found him, and they and Omega teamed up to find him while me, Tails and Knuckles went after him. After that, Black Doom happened and Shadow got his memories back, saving us and the planet and destroyed that alien and the Black Comet."

"But now Scourge has brought Black Doom into this world from our past, and I must deal with him again." Shadow concluded.

"You mean, 'we' must deal with him." Young Sonic corrected, confusing the black hedgehog as he turned around, while the youngest hedgehog continued with burning passion and determination in his eyes and on his expression. "I don't care what that nasty alien says, and I know that you and me can't be friends straight away, but I'm not gonna let that creep get to you or get away with what he did. If Big-Me trusts you enough to help out, then I will too."

He then smirked and gave Shadow a thumbs up, "Say what you want about me, Shadow, I'm still Sonic the Hedgehog from the alternate-Mobius, and with the three of us, that guy doesn't stand a chance!"

"Well said, buddy!" Sonic praised with a proud smirk and his own thumbs up. "No way I'm gonna miss out in kicking Black Doom's butt this time around! If he and Scourge think they can beat us, they're so gonna be sorry!"

The teenage hedgehog cracked his knuckles with an excited grin, "First things first, we're gonna roast that overgrown chicken like nobody's business if we wanna be on time for Black Doom's welcome party."

"Good thing we already have his presents, and today's supposed to be your birthday, right?" Young Sonic teased.

"At least back at home in the present, but yeah! Let's go!" Sonic declared, turning to Shadow and said. "This time, we're in this together, Shads."

Before Shadow could even protest or say anything, the two Sonics took off past him and continued towards where the bird was, making him roll his eyes and skated after them. Still, he couldn't help but feel grateful for the support from the two younger hedgehogs. He still had his suspicions about Young Sonic, but his personality and determination was exactly the same as Sonic. They were the same person, just with slightly different appearances, from two different versions of Mobius of two different time-frames.


The three hedgehogs finally arrived at the Mystic Ruins where Sonic easily spotted the ancient Temple that Tikal's spirit led him which not only showed him the mural of Perfect Chaos, but also the first vision he experienced of Tikal, the Shrine of the Master Emerald, everything on fire...the horrible deaths of some of the poor Chao. But what really caught his attention was the loud screech from above, and as the cobalt teenager and his companions looked up, the Metallic Bird was now just right in front of them and hovering over the ruined building.

"Metal-Bird at 10 o' clock!" Sonic called out, smirking with determination.

"Bring it on!" Young Sonic added with a smirk of his own.

"Since it's here, I'm certain this will be a date to DIE for!" Shadow snickered.

"Hey! That's my line!" Both Sonics exclaimed childishly.

The Metallic Bird, as though sensing them, sneered down at the group who all skid to a stop and glared with bravery and determination to win this fight. The giant flying robot gave a loud screech again, making the three hedgehogs cover their ears and wince in pain at the horribly loud sound. They looked up with glares as it then flapped it's wings hard before soaring down towards them with it's talons opened to grab them. Sonic, Young Sonic and Shadow quickly dodged before it could capture them before they glanced at each other and shared a nod as though mentally coming up with a plan.

Before the bird could take off, Sonic quickly went into his Homing Attack on it's back, causing a great deal of damage as it gave a metallic pained 'urk' like it was caught off-guard, and then he gave it rapid kicks on the back of the neck. While he was doing this, Young Sonic Spin Dashed at it's side, but the giant robot caught them off-guard by swishing it's wings back, knocking the younger hero back as he was blown backwards, screaming, and the teenage hero who was thrown back from his attack. While the two Sonics flipped and landed safely with grunts of pain, Shadow jumped before punching the bird on the back of the head, sending in a couple of sparks and wires, but was blown back himself as the Metallic Bird took off, the powerful gusts of wind sending him nearly hitting the ground.

"Man, this bird's almost as tough as Eggman's toys!" Sonic remarked, wiping away invisible blood from his lips where he'd been hit as he stood up. He and his friends, with Shadow having recovered after a near crash landing, all yelped in shock when the Metallic Bird spun around and fired small missiles from it's wings straight at them.

"Look out!" Shadow shouted, moving out of the way. The two Sonics didn't need to be told twice as they already dodged before the black hedgehog even finished his sentence.

"Either Kintobor knew what he was doing or maybe Scourge gave Ro-butt-nik some pretty more crazy ideas with robots!" Young Sonic stated, suddenly coming up with another theory as he attempted to dodge the attacks, somersaulting to avoiding in getting hit.

'That could be the case too.' Sonic realized as he performed a series of back-flips and somersaults to avoid the missiles himself, dashing around with his speed. 'Either way, we can't know for sure if Kintobor really is on our side until I talk to him. If he isn't, then he's got a lot of explaining to do. Gotta beat this bird and find the Sol and Chaos Emeralds first, though!'

Shadow attempted on using Chaos Spear against the Missiles and while most hit and caused several small explosions in the air, the rest almost hit him. The Ultimate Life-Form jumped out of the way again and hissed in frustration. Eventually the attack stopped, but the Metallic Bird swooped down again, forcing Sonic and his friends to run out of the way until the blue hedgehog noticed a weak spot the moment he caught sight of it's chest; a large red gem stone half the size of him glowing and blinking.

Realizing that it must be the power source, the cobalt teenager narrowed his eyes before speeding towards it recklessly once it was low enough despite having missed. Ignoring Shadow's demands on what he was doing, Sonic slid underneath the Metallic Bird gigantic form which he finally took that it was about two inches shorter than the giant Werehog, but ignored it for his target instead. Once directly underneath the giant robotic bird, the sixteen year old curled up into a Homing Attack right into the gem, delivering a direct hit as it began to crack upon impact.

The robotic bird gave out another pained screech, this time rocking the entire area and nearly busted everyone's eardrums. Sonic winced before speeding away to safety as the machine had leaned up and back which gave him a chance to escape. Despite the horrible noise, the trio now knew of the attacks.

"Try and aim for the red gem! That's it's weak spot!" Sonic instructed Young Sonic and Shadow who both nodded, getting the picture.

Young Sonic quickly attempted to copy his older, alternate self's move and tried using his own Homing Attack, jumping high before curling up into a ball and only managed to bash into the Metallic Bird's stomach, while Shadow used a Spin Dash against the legs, jumping and attacked the wings. Sonic, stunned by his younger, alternate self's attempts to copy his move, jumped and karate-punched the robot right at the beak, forcing the bird back before it could take flight.

But before the trio could make another attempt to get to the red gem, the Metallic Bird had other ideas. It flapped it wings just as the three hedgehogs thought it would fire it's missiles again, but instead it created a huge gust of wind that was so powerful that neither one could even stand against it. They were all blown away and screamed before hitting the ground hard, grunting at the injuries they sustained, winds caught out from their lungs. The feathery-bird seemed to snicker evilly, before it lifted off and flew towards them, it's talons open to grab either one or two.

Sonic, grunting as he pushed himself up, gasped in horror when he saw this and that both Young Sonic and Shadow were about to be captured.

"LOOK OUT!" The cobalt hedgehog screamed, ignoring the pain and ran quickly, pushing his rival and friend out of the way just as they saw this. While they were safely out of reach, the same couldn't be said for the sixteen year old as he was suddenly clasped into the right talon around the waist and legs before being lifted off and being drawn high into the sky, crying out in alarm.

"Sonic!" Shadow shouted, shocked that his rival saved him.

"Sonic, no!" Young Sonic screamed, horrified to see his alternate self captured.

Sonic was screaming as he was getting higher and higher, but that didn't stop him as he then quickly attempted to free himself by wriggling, squirming and trying to pull himself out from the giant claws that held him firmly in it's grasp.

"Hey, Beak-Face! Let him go!" The young blue hedgehog shouted, narrowing his eyes as he, feeling like it was his fault that the blue hedgehog had risked his life to save him and the black hedgehog, sped after the bird as fast as he could despite Shadow's protests.

"Get back here, small faker!" The Ultimate Life-Form ordered, but was ignored. Growling in irritation but left with no other choice, he skated after him to rescue the blue hedgehog before the youngest would end up hurting himself.

Sonic in the meantime was still trying to pull himself free, his heart racing and sweat beginning to roll down his face, becoming more and more desperate and beginning to really panic. 'Help me! HELP ME!'

The Metallic Bird landed on top of the Temple with a huge thud on one foot, still holding the trapped blue hedgehog in it's grasp, gazing down at the teenager who glared up to mask his fear while trying to escaping. It then lowered it's head with it's beak open with a cable beginning to emerge from it's throat. It had a metal claw that would cuff Sonic's body and draw him in which he quickly realized that itw as going to swallow him and trap him within it's stomach that was the cage no doubt to trap it's captives and take them to it's master. Desperate and increasingly scared, Sonic began to try harder while squeezing his eyes shut while hoping for a miracle to happen.

"Oh, no you don't!" Young Sonic shouted angrily, running up the stars in high speed, jumping and leaping up the building's walls and small ledges and attempted his own Homing Attack once more, a bit more successful than the last time and passed the shocked Sonic while hitting the red gem which cracked even further.

It worked, and the giant bird screeched in pain once more while losing it's grip on Sonic who yelped and fell with his younger, alternate self leaping and following him. The blue hedgehog quickly flipped to reposition himself and hopped to land safely on the ground while Young Sonic landed next to him. Shadow fired another Chaos Spear to keep the bird at bay, effectively destroying the beak and it's cable, leaving a gap hole where the mouth should be, sparks, smoke and fire forming, and electricity sparking from the main power source.

"Thanks, Sonic!" Sonic gave his other self a thumbs up and a wide smile of gratitude for saving his life. Young Sonic winked, before they both turned back to the bird who, now livid, flapped it's wings before charging once more. "Come and get us, you over-grown Turkey!"

Sonic, Young Sonic, and Shadow ducked while running, dodging it's talons and it's missiles even though it began to fully back down before the three hedgehogs jumped and one by one hit it with several Spin Dashes and Homing Attacks and then with battle cries they all punched the gem simultaneously, smashing it completely as it shattered into tiny pieces. It sparked and cracked as the power source, being destroyed, shut down completely. The trio ran out of the way into a safe distance while the Metallic Bird, now it's power gone, sparked and fizzed as though realizing in horror what just happened, gave a finally pained cry before it exploded completely.

"YEAH!" The two Sonics cheered and high-fived in victory.

"Hmph. Perfect." Shadow smirked, folding his arms as he was admittedly quite pleased with the results. He then turned to the older Sonic and inquired. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, Shads. Thanks for the help." Sonic replied, then turned to his younger self and added. "And thank you for saving me. Seriously, how'd you manage to do a Homing Attack so quickly? I made up mine when I was thirteen."

"I learned from you, and thought I'd try it out for myself. Sure is a really cool attack." Young Sonic replied, shrugging. "Besides, you saved me from the dragon. I really owed ya'."

The blue hedgehog smiled proudly, and playfully but carefully ruffled the younger hedgehog on the head, making his friend laugh, playfully protesting. "H-hey!"

However, their playtime was short lived as from the wreckage of the Metal Bird, they and Shadow noticed two glows of the same colour, but with two slightly different energies. Sharing a glance as while all three of them felt the familiar Chaos power, Sonic felt the faint glow of a different energy that was similar to the Chaos Emeralds, except he knew what it was, the trio headed towards them. Careful not to burn themselves from the flames of the destroyed robot, the three hedgehogs spotted two crystals, one diamond shaped, another rectangular, both glowing in golden yellow which faded slightly.

"The Chaos Emerald." Young Sonic remarked, blinking in surprise that it and the other crystal were inside this thing.

"And the Sol Emerald." Sonic added softly, raising an eyebrow as he realized the reason why the Metallic Bird lured them in was so it could steal the collected Sol and Chaos Emeralds he and his younger friend had already. Question is, was it for Scourge and Robotnik...or was it for Kintobor who attempted to take the Emeralds for himself while pretending to be a nice man?

"So that's why it lured us here." Shadow murmured in the same realization, wondering the same thing as Sonic.

But just as the two Sonics were about to pick up their respective Emeralds, a bright light light from above almost blinded them and their rival, forcing them to shield their eyes and by the time it faded and they were able to look, they all gasped in shock, horror and anger as the cause of it was the unwelcoming presence of Black Doom who, in his single-eye form, used his starfish like tentacles to grab not just the Chaos Emerald, but also the Sol Emerald.

"Black Doom!" Shadow hissed furiously.

"Not you!" Sonic grunted angrily.

"Hey, give those back!" Young Sonic shouted angrily.

The evil alien just laughed. "Ha ha ha ha ha ha! This Chaos Emerald is mine, and so will the rest once I be rid of you miserable little rodents. This other unusual Emerald with the similar power as the Chaos Emeralds is also a nice consulation prize. If you wish to take them back, come and face me on the Black Comet, where you will all face your demise."

"Oh yeah!? The only one going down is you!" Sonic declared bravely back, clenching his fist. Just when he and his younger counterpart were one step closer in finding the answers to fixing the problem Scourge caused, the past self of Black Doom just had to come and make things more complicated.

"We shall see." Black Doom chuckled darkly, as a portal opened up behind him and he simply floated inside with the two Emeralds in hand.

"Come back here, you coward!" Shadow shouted, and without second thoughts, he dashed right into the portal after his nemesis.

"Shadow, wait up!" Young Sonic reached out.

"C'mon, partner! We can't let Black Doom get away with the Emeralds! Gotta help out Shadow!" Sonic gestured urgently, and his younger, alternate self nodded in agreement.

The two blue hedgehogs immediately dashed into the portal as well to find their friend, to help him stop the evil alien and get the two Emeralds back before things could get worse.


A/N: Just thought I'd change things with the Shadow part and instead of fighting him, Sonic teams up with him and brought in Black Doom to fight the heroes instead.

(1) Snively is Dr. Robotnik's nephew from the SATM Sonic TV series, but his appearance and origins is from the Post-Super-Genesis-Wave of the Archie Comics where he isn't related to Eggman at all and lived in Mobeius in this universe. More will be revealed between him and Scourge in the future chapters.

I made up the Metallic Bird robot by the way.

See you later!