Author's Note: This it! The long awaited peak has finally arrived! After two years of hiatus, writer's blocks and delays, we're finally reaching the ultimate climax of this story! Hold onto to your seats!
I do not own Sonic The Hedgehog. All rights belong to Sega. I only own the OCs.
Chapter 26: The Space-Time Showdown.
It was a terrible sight, that everyone that was facing the newly transformed Cormain/Time Eater knew of. None of them had seen anything like it, and for Scourge, it was twice as bad as it ever was when he was first confronted by the monster five months ago in Moebius shortly after Fiona's death.
While not sure how to defeat this thing now that the two monsters merged, Sonic glared bravely at the evil monster that he took a couple steps closer before stopping. "So, Cormain, we finally meet. I don't know what you're you're really up to now, but I know that you tricked Scourge, and caused so many terrible things."
The evil monster leered down at the foolish brave blue hedgehog. "INDEED. YOU ARE THE HERO OF MOBIUS AS WELL AS SPACE AND TIME...SONIC THE HEDGEHOG, THE CHOSEN ONE OF THEM ALL."
While all of his friends and Scourge could only gaze worriedly with glares or fearful expressions, Sonic just glared at the terrible monster who had just merged with the Time Eater as well as capturing Robotnik.
"I wouldn't say that I'm the top Sonic of every reality, but I still won't stop until you're beaten. Same goes for my younger brave self here." Sonic responded as Young Sonic stood beside him.
"Yeah, because we're not the types to give up!" The eleven year old hedgehog added. "What did you do to Robotnik?"
"YOU CAN REST ASSURE, LITTLE ONE, THAT YOUR ENEMY IS STILL ALIVE. I SIMPLY ABSORBED HIM, IMPRISONED INTO MY VERY BEING. JUST AS THE SAME AS THAT FOOLISH ECHIDNA WHOM FAILED TO GAIN THE CHAOS EMERALDS ALL THOSE YEARS AGO." Cormain answered.
"What!?" Both Sonics exclaimed in shock, as everyone else gasped in disbelief, some of them quickly realizing the meaning of the giant beast's words, adding in the dots on what was happening.
"So you're the one who's behind that too!?" Sonic demanded angrily, pointing at Cormain accusingly. "Not only you destroyed the Octosaurs' home while forcing some of the survivors to trap you and themselves inside the Prison of Evil but also managed to trick Scourge into gaining the Sol Emeralds, you tricked Tikal's father 4,000 years ago! No wonder he went crazy and didn't listen! You're the cause for what happened to Chaos!"
Cormain simply laughed. "HA HA HA HA HA...AH, SO YOU HAVE SUCCEEDED IN REALIZING THE TRUTH WITHIN MY WORDS. VERY CLEVER LITTLE HEDGEHOG. YES, THAT WAS MY DOING, BUT THAT IS NOT ALL. I AM THE OPPOSITE OF THE TIME EATER WHO IS WEAKER THAN I."
"Of course. You're a Space Eater, the counterpart of the Time Eater." Tails realized in horrified awe, as did both Young Tails and Kintobor. "You travel through space whereas the Time Eater travels through time."
"When the Octosaurs trapped you, your voice still reached out for ways to escape your prison, and at some point after the Time Eater was sealed away because you hate each other, you tried to gain the Chaos and Sol Emeralds." Young Tails added.
"By doing so, you have attempted to have Pachacamac, Scourge and whoever else to gain the emeralds, but each time you have failed and absorbed them as their punishment." Kintobor continued.
"And if I didn't know any better, I bet you're the one who had the more successful Eggman who took over one world to go over to the alternate timeline because he couldn't give you the Chaos Emeralds since everybody's been defeated." Sonic realized, glaring harder at the evil monster. "Are you the one who used your voice to save that jerk Finivetus to kill Scourge's parents, trap my uncle and my younger self's parents before he was eventually caught when his timeline has been destroyed and replaced?"
"I AM IMPRESSED THAT YOU ALL HAVE CORRECTLY ASSUMED AS MUCH. YOU ARE ALL RIGHT. I NEEDED TO REGAIN MY POWER, SO BY TRAPPING YOUR FAMILIES, THE TIME EATER AND I COULD GROW STRONGER FOR YOUR DEFEATS. HOWEVER, YOU HAVE PROVEN TO BE MUCH STRONGER THAN I ANTICIPATED, SONIC THE HEDGEHOG, BOTH OF YOU. YOUR HEARTS ARE MORE POWERFUL, YET NOT EVEN YOU CAN DEFEAT ME. NO ONE CAN." Cormain responded.
"There's always a first time for everything." The sixteen year old pointed out, despite that he and his friends were shocked that they were right; everything that has happened to them and even to the time-line of the world that was forever changed, it was Cormain's doing as well. "And here's a newsflash. I saved everybody that were wrongly trapped in the Prison of Evil and freed them."
"YES, I KNOW. EVEN THOUGH YOU DID, YOU WILL NEVER DESTROY ME." The giant monster grinned wickedly, slowly reaching out to seemingly grab Sonic who softly gasped and he along with Young Sonic, their friends and the terrified Scourge backed away slowly. "I MAY NOT BE AT MY FULL POWER, BUT THESE THREE FOOLISH CREATURES ARE MY PERFECT BOOST."
"Three? I thought you only merged with the Time Eater and kidnapped that mean Robotnik and Tikal's dad..." Red asked nervously, as Kintobor, Tails, Sonic and even Scourge stood around the youngest hedgehog to try and keep him safe, while Young Sonic did the same for Young Tails, and Silver stood protectively in front of Blaze.
Cormain's grin grew as he continued to reach out for the heroes and former villain, the hand's shadow loomed over them which made them all terrified, with Sonic and Young Sonic both attempting to not let their fear show even though the two blue hedgehogs began to sweat nervously since the hand was enormous enough to grab all nine of them in one swipe.
Unbeknownst to them, Scourge felt even more guilty than he ever had in his whole life. All this time, it had been Cormain who ruined everything, by saving the very echidna who cruely told him about his and Red's parents' passing, which prompted in the green hedgehog in having his life ruined, going down into the path while breaking his promises to his family, losing Fiona, almost losing his own little brother forever, and even worse, Sonic, Young Sonic, virtually almost everyone in three worlds and in the world where Finivetus came from before it was irreversibly changed all had lives messed up and/or ruined.
"This is all my fault...If I hadn't run away in anger and left my own little brother behind, none of this would have happened..." Scourge began to tear up as he squeezed his eyes shut, finally realizing the full truth and whispered. "I wish I could ask the Sol Emeralds to cancel my wish to merge the worlds and return everything back to normal...and I wish that-that Finivetus never came to my world, or Sonic and his younger self's worlds, and Snively never even existed...!"
Then, upon realizing that Sonic and Young Sonic still had the both sets of Emeralds, and that Cormain was after them to take the gems away, not to mention that his two heroic selves are the only hope left in fixing up his mess, the former Terror of Moebius felt his heart quicken, remembering how the sixteen year old cobalt hedgehog had risked his life to save him even by going as far as being swallowed whole alive by the giant Werehog, and earlier did the same thing to rescue Red, because Sonic the Hedgehog did what he always did best in being a hero and caring for others.
He followed his heart. The heart that was filled with compassion, kindness, massive courage, selfless, deep love for his friends and family and was willing to sacrifice himself to save them and the world, the universe and space and time itself...all because of Scourge's actions that Sonic was dragged into this mess. If the teenage hero and his younger, alternate-self died now, then everything was lost. Scourge squeezed his eyes shut again, then snapped them open as he knew what he had to do; pay his dept.
"NO!" Scourge screamed, racing over and pushed the two Sonics, and the two foxes out of the way, much to their and everyone else's shock as he held out his arms to stop Cormain from grabbing the sixteen year old. "You can't have them, Cormain! It's me you want! Take me instead!"
"Scourge, what're you doing!?" Sonic exclaimed in horror, after he and his friends had landed hard on the ground and got up to recover, seeing what was going on.
"You saved my brother, you saved everybody else, you saved me from being giant mutant-hedgehog food...and saved me by opening my eyes to the truth. Sonic...I owe you for that and...I...I...I'm sorry." Scourge explained, and the more he spoke, the more he began to tear up, his throat and heart squeezing painfully which also broke the hearts of his little brother and former enemies. "You were right. You were right all along. I caused all of this and it's all my fault...This is...this is the least I could do for dragging you into this mess. After all..."
The green hedgehog then turned his tearful gaze to his blue heroic-self with a watery sad smile, and continued. "You're the hero of Mobius, and I think you and your mini-self deserve to live. You got everything you could ever dreamed of. You're both very lucky, Sonic. I wish I was a lot like you. Not being selfish, I mean."
"Scourge..." Sonic couldn't help but tear up. In a matter of minutes after he won against his evil-self, Scourge the Hedgehog had gone through a dramatic change from being an evil terrorist to an emotional hero. Though deep down, he had been a lonely and heart-broken Moebian who had lost so much and it wasn't fair.
Young Sonic, Tails and Young Tails shared tearful glances, while Red pleaded Scourge to wait, Silver, Blaze and Kintobor being the most shocked, while Cormain simply laughed, making them, Sonic and Scourge to glare back up to the giant monster.
"AH. LOVE. COMPASSION. KINDNESS. REDEMPTION. I HAD KNOWN THAT YOU WOULD LEAVE THAT PATH. IT WAS A MISTAKE TO BRING IN SONIC THE HEDGEHOG, SCOURGE...NOW YOU ARE WILLING TO SACRIFICE YOURSELF FOR THE BLUE CHILDREN WHO HAVE EVERYTHING YOU HAVE BEEN DENIED OF FOR ALL THESE YEARS. CAN YOU SIMPLY HOPE THAT THIS WILL SAVE YOU FROM THE PRISON OF EVIL?" Cormain grinned smugly.
"Shut up!" Scourge snapped. "Yes, I know that I'll probably have to go to that place forever and be punished, but after what you put me through, I don't care! I deserve it and so do you! You tricked me, Cormain! You used me and that stupid old echidna just to get the Emeralds! You were never gonna bring Fiona back! At least when I do die today and go into the Prison of Evil, I can see her again and I also know that Kintobor will take better care for my little brother Red, especially when I broke my promise when I never meant to! As much I want to be with my brother again, I know that...that I can't. Not after I put him and everybody else through."
"FOOL. YOUR PRECIOUS FIONA FOX WAS NEVER IN THE PRISON OF EVIL. HER LOVE FOR YOU AND HER SACRIFICE TO SAVE YOUR PATHETIC LITTLE LIFE HAVE BEEN KEEPING HER SAFE FROM THE PRISON OF EVIL. AND ALLOWED ME...TO KEEP HER HOSTAGE!" The giant monster informed, maneuvering his hand to open up his palm and revealed not only both Robotnik and Pachacamac who were indeed still alive, but also a familiar beautiful female Moebian fox same age as Scourge and Sonic.
All three trapped and frozen in crystals of ice, Robotnik having a gaped-open mouthed terrified expression which would've made everybody laugh if they weren't in shock, Pachacamac having a stunned and horrified expression, and the fox girl, beautiful as she was, having a look of shock and disbelief. Sonic and everybody else were horrified to see this.
"Fiona...!?" Scourge half-whispered in shock and disbelief, his heart racing upon seeing his true love for the first time in ages. She was alive...Oh, sweet aurora, his dearly beloved was alive! Cormain had revived her and kept her hostage for an exchange for the Sol Emeralds!
Cormain then blew a powerful gust of wind that was dark like a mist which hit everyone on the ground before they were all blown back really hard that they were all badly injured. Despite that Sonic, Young Sonic, Silver, Kintobor and Scourge tried to shield Tails, Young Tails, Blaze and Red, they all screamed and hit the ground. Cormain laughed, as they all struggled to push themselves up and gazed back at the sight before them.
"S-stop, Cormain! Leave them alone...and let Fiona go!" Scourge pleaded, wincing in pain while being relieved that Red was alright.
"IF YOU WISH TO BE WITH HERE, EITHER GIVE ME THE SOL EMERALDS, OR I WILL TAKE YOU AS PART OF MY BODY." Cormain responded, grinning evilly at the mortals before him.
"It's Fiona Fox, Scourge's girlfriend!" Tails exclaimed in horror. "Cormain planned on Scourge trading the Sol Emeralds for her!"
"So he kept her with him all this time!" Young Tails added, his eyes widened.
"No way...!" Young Sonic murmured, before hissing angrily. "YOU CREEP!"
"That's a new level of low, Cormain...! You used Pachacama and Scourge's grief of losing loved ones to your advantage!" Sonic snarled furiously, clutching his fist.
Cormain chuckled, before closing his fist around the trapped trio and absorbed them back into his body. "LOVE IS A WEAK FEELING. IT BRINGS PEOPLE DOWN. ONLY POWER IS THE TRUE DOMINION OF SPACE AND TIME. COMPASSION IS POISON. INSTINCT, SURVIVAL, ADVANCING TO OVER POWER THE WEAK, IT IS THE TRUE WAY OF LIVING LIFE. YOU ALL HAVE FAILED TO ACCOMPLISH THAT, JUST AS THE OCTOSAURS HAVE DONE."
"You're wrong!" Sonic denied, standing up boldly after struggling due to being over tired, but he wasn't going to give up. Not now, not ever. "You only think that because you don't have any idea what it's like to feel love and compassion. You say you're a judge of life, but all I say is a horrible monster who's filled with jealously and think that life is unfair. You're even more alone than Scourge and even Eggman ever were. You try to bring your lonieness and drown other people with it, and spend years driving yourself insane because of it. You don't have anybody to call your friend. Heck, even the Time Eater was a little bit lucky since Scourge called him his friend too."
"Sonic's right! Even I know what it's like being alone, and that is the worst thing to experience. You gave up on seeking companions and want to make other people suffer because of it!" Silver agreed as he and the others, also struggling but inspired by the blue hedgehog's courage and strong will, even Scourge, finding himself feeling encouraged somehow as well, now stood beside the hero of Mobius. "You're the true trigger of destruction, and here today, you will fall!"
"The more you are alone, the more you judge others and do not know how or who to trust. I was once like that...but no more!" Blaze declared.
"Yeah, you're nothing but a big bully who decided to pick on others just because you were all by yourself! I kinda feel sorry for you for that, but I'm not sorry for making other people die because of your mean ways!" Red added, glaring angrily at the monster who ruined everything.
"You think you can destroy us, Cormain. We're a lot stronger than we look. Sure, not everyone has a happy ending or even a happy beginning, and one day life will end, but not today, or tomorrow, or anytime soon...Not if we can help it!" Sonic narrowed his eyes, his inner will and determination flaring up to the max as did with Young Sonic's, which encouraged both Tails and Young Tails, and stunned Scourge in awe.
"And we won't help it either!" Amy's voice suddenly echoed through out the air, startling everyone including Cormain, as the heroes and Scourge spun around to see the pink hedgehog along with her younger, alternate-self appear suddenly with looks of determination, holding hands in fear yet courage.
"Amy!" Sonic and Young Sonic cried out in surprise and sheer relief.
"You can do it, Sonic!" Amy encouraged and cheered. "It's like you just said! You're stronger than you look!"
"You can beat this mean giant monster!" Young Amy added.
Then Knuckles and Chris appeared seconds later, also cheering the two blue hedgehogs on.
"C'mon, Sonic! Smack this guy!" The seventeen year old echidna exclaimed.
"We're with you even in spirit!" The teenage human boy encouraged.
"YOU AGAIN...!" Cormain hissed darkly upon seeing Sonic's friends again...just as more appeared.
Because Shadow and Rouge emerged seconds after the other two did.
"You've got this, Sonic!" Shadow surprisingly encouraged, coming from the Ultimate Lifeform, but even he knew that if anyone can make a difference and save them all, it was his young blue rival. The teenage hero always did, and defeating Dark Gaia had made the black hedgehog finally give his approval to Sonic.
"You can win!" Rouge cheered on.
"Uh...Who are they?" Scourge asked, blankly upon seeing the black hedgehog who looked surprisingly like him and the two Sonics.
"They're all Sonic's friends, and there's still more." Red smiled happily, relieved that it was clear everybody was okay.
Then came the Chaotix as they were cheering on as well.
"You've got the power, Sonic, and courage!" Vector cheered on.
"Focus your spirit!" Espio encouraged.
"We're with you, guys!" Charmy reassured with determination.
Then came Big, Sun, Star, Cream and Cheese as they arrived as well to give out their strong support and love for Sonic and Young Sonic.
"You can do this, friends!" Big cheered on.
"Cheese and I believe in you, Mr. Sonic!" Cream cheered on, with her little Chao squeaking in agreement.
"You never gave up before, Sonic! I know you won't give up now, or ever!" Sun encouraged with an reassuring smirk.
"Your heart is so strong, it's even brighter than the Chaos Emeralds!" Star encouraged.
Then Tikal appeared in her physical but ghostly form, which surprised Sonic's group as she gave our her support. "The fate of Space and Time rests in your hands now, Sonic. If anyone can save us all, it's both of you."
"The Princess is right!" A voice that only Sonic, Young Sonic and even Shadow recognized, as everyone turned to see a portal that leads into the Prison of Evil and, to their shock, a giant dinosaur like being appeared despite hissing in pain due to this, and shoved Cormain back.
"WHAT!? YOU!?" Cormain shouted, recognizing the species of this new arrival.
"Soloman!" Sonic exclaimed in shock and disbelief. He then gasped as Soloman, who had been watching the whole time, made his appearance yet was beginning to steam up and, to his horror, disappear. The blue hedgehog and his friends felt their hearts freeze up, and he cried out. "Are you alright!?"
"Sonic, do not worry about me! Focus on what you know is important! I will be-Ugh, alright! You are one to harness both the Chaos and Sol Emeralds in this world, and by meeting the Sonic of the two separate worlds, the one who is immune to the Roboticizer, the final key in defeating Cormain and the Time Eater is complete!" Soloman, struggling against the evil monster, explained.
"I-I can't! I can't use the Sol Emeralds! I promised I'd never use them again!" The hero of Mobius protested, shocked that he can really use both sets of Emeralds and that terrified him. He didn't want power. He just wanted to save everyone, to save the worlds and Space and Time itself.
"Yes, you can! Remember, Sonic the Hedgehog, you are the chosen one. Your heart is pure. Think carefully of what you know is right, and what you want to wish for-AUGH!" The High-Guard shouted in pain when Cormain then bit him on the shoulder and punched him back, sending the Octosaur to hit the side of the cliff, much to everyone's horror.
"SOLOMAN!" Sonic screamed, holding out his hand for the alien that he had once feared, now trusted because he tested him, and brought him back to Uncle Chuck.
"I am fine...The rest is up to you, now." Soloman hissed, grunting despite the teenager's fears.
Sonic felt a little uncertain. Sure, he can use the Chaos Emeralds and the encouragement from his friends was already helping, but he wasn't sure if he could use the Sol Emeralds, and that was beginning to become a problem.
"Sonic, I know you're afraid, but you will be alright." Kintobor spoke up, causing the blue hedgehog to softly gasp and turn to face the kindly doctor who nodded. "I told you before, you are safe from being corrupted. Because you have a very strong compassion and courageous heart. Never let go of who you really are."
"Ovi's right, Sonic! We're with you all the way!" Red cheered in encouragingly.
"Don't give in, Sonic. The Sol Emeralds allowed you to use them, because you are strong in will. They cross through space and time, and thus through Scourge, they have reached out to you." Blaze added encouragingly.
"She's right." Scourge nodded, gazing at the surprised two blue hedgehogs. "I think I remember something about how the Sol Emeralds not only grant wishes, but they also burn thoughts into fire. Since you and I are counterparts, it makes more sense that they trust you more like those Chaos Emeralds do."
He then smirked. "So, what are you waiting for, Mr. Hero? You got friends, so believe in them!"
Sonic and Young Sonic were stunned, sharing a glance as they both began to realize that they were right. Maybe using the Sol Emeralds to save their friends along with the Chaos Emeralds might be what they have to use.
"I know you can do it, Sonic! Everybody has faith in you!" Silver cheered on, putting all of his trust and faith in the two blue hedgehogs who got all of them this far.
"You can win, Sonic!" Young Tails cheered on.
"You always do!" Tails concluded.
Now knowing that everybody was right, and believing with all of his heart, as did his younger, alternate-self, Sonic nodded, silently thanking everyone before he and Young Sonic turned back to Cormain who growled and prepared to capture them as well as the two sets of Emeralds. The two blue hedgehogs shared a glance and nodded before holding each other's hands and closed their eyes, focusing on the Chaos Emeralds which began to feel their presence, all negative thoughts buried deep under all of the positive energy and thoughts swirling through out their bodies. The Sol Emeralds even began to glow as well, feeling the burning passion of their hearts that began to grow in fire in a good way.
'I know I promised I wouldn't use the Sol Emeralds...but like the Chaos Emeralds, this is the only exception, and a strong cause of emergancy. It's time to test if this is really true.' Sonic thought in his mind, putting all of his thoughts into everything he had.
"We wish to save our friends and families, our worlds, all realities, and space and time...WITH ALL OUR HEARTS!" Sonic and Young Sonic said together, putting their wishes and thoughts into full force.
Not even a mere second later that the Chaos Emeralds and the Sol Emeralds emerged and began swirling around the two blue hedgehogs, the powerful thoughts and wishes from the two young heroes of two separate worlds and timelines, it gave a combination of burning power into their thoughts. Like a colourful rainbow ring and exploding light even as Cormain attempted to reach out for them and Scourge, in a moment of worry, stood in front of Sonic and Young Sonic, the strong light forced the giant monster to back away and the green hedgehog to yelp but wasn't hurt.
Sonic and Young Sonic were lifted off from the ground and glowed, sweating a little as the new combined powers hurt a little but they focused on their thoughts and wishes, feeling like when they both became Super Sonic for the first time. They absorbed the powers and with loud screams of determination, they burst with combined energy and hovered, their quills sticking up. Yet to the shock, awe and amazement of everybody else on the ground, something was different with this transformation.
"THAT LIGHT...IT'S TOO BRIGHT! WHAT IS THIS!?" Cormain shouted, holding his arms over his face to shield his eyes, wincing at the powerful and overwhelming brightness coming from the two heroes of two Mobius.
Even though the two hedgehogs looked like they were in their super forms, somehow their furs were having a mixture of mulitcoloured that repeatedly changed colour, like the Chaos and Sol Emeralds, yet their arms, muzzles and chests remained the same, as did their shoes and gloves, and when Sonic and Young Sonic opened their eyes, they too remained the same; emerald green in Sonic's case, and black in Young Sonic's. When the two heroes looked at themselves, then at each other, their eyes widened, bewildered as were everybody else.
"Whoa!" Sonic murmured in awe, as one certain memory filled his mind; back when he first met Knuckles and helped to save Angel Island and the world from the Death Egg in his fourth adventure. "I haven't been like this in ages!"
"What's going on? Is this the combined power of the Sol and Chaos Emeralds?" Young Sonic asked, sounding a little bit scared.
"It's okay. It's what I call a Hyper Form. I've done this only once, and I guess this is the real special case of emergency." The older heroic hedgehog reassured, gently placing a hand to his friend's shoulder, making the young hedgehog hero gaze up at him, before sighing in relief and nodded, knowing that he was right.
"Okay, that there...that's scary but completely cool." Scourge admitted, unable to believe what he was seeing. 'Note to self; I'm never messing with powerful emeralds ever again.' Being green was fine, but now he understood the meaning of this kind of power. It was beautiful yet terrifying.
"YOU THINK THAT RAINBOW FORM CAN STOP ME?" Cormain demanded, glaring hard at the two Hyper formed hedgehogs who glared back with determined and very confident smirks.
"You bet we can!" Young Hyper Sonic answered, ready to end this once and for all.
"Time to save all realities...HYPER SONIC STYLE!" Hyper Sonic declared, charging alongside his younger, alternate self as Cormain, who snarled furiously, flew away further deep into the abyss of Space and Time with the two hedgehogs following him.
"Sonic! Fiona!" Scourge screamed out, horrified that his girlfriend was taken away again and now Sonic and Young Sonic were about to fight Cormain.
"It'll be okay." Tails reassured, making the green hedgehog gaze at him. "Sonic will save her...I know he will. Believe in them, Scourge, and everything will be alright."
Despite that he didn't know what to do except wait and waiting was never his style, as much as he hated to admit it, the two-tailed fox was right, so he nodded and gazed back upward, thinking. 'Sonic...the rest is up to you. Please, save everyone...and reverse the mess that I have caused for all of you.'
The two Hyper formed hedgehogs flew straight through the portal that Cormain entered in an attempt to destroy the young heroes once and for all as the ultimate battle for the fate of Space and Time has officially began.
"YOU ARE BOTH FOOLS IF YOU THINK CAN TRY AND DEFEAT ME!" Cormain roared, spreading is arms as he spun around while flying backwards, facing the two heroes who continued to chase after him with pure determination and courage to win this fight.
The giant fused monster then fired multiple huge yellow darts of energy that were kind of like Shadow's Chaos Spear, but Hyper Sonic and Young Hyper Sonic quickly maneuvered out of the way by flying all around the attacks, and narrowed their eyes when Cormain/Time Eater roared and then sent out a series of debris, hurling them over towards the two hedgehogs. But again, due to being in hyper forms and being able to fly, they were able to easily dodge it.
"Ha! I've been through this before with Chaos and Dark Gaia, buddy! You're gonna have to try even harder than that!" Hyper Sonic mocked, as he and his younger, alternate-self continued to dodge the attacks as they quickly got closer and closer to the giant monster who was already beginning to feel frustrated.
The giant monster's arms then began to glow green which made the two hedgehogs gasp before he thrust them out at Hyper Sonic and Young Hyper Sonic who easily dodged it quickly though it came dangerously close when two of his arms attempted to squash them by trapping them in their grasp, capturing the hedgehogs who screamed and hissed at the painful tightness while held captive in the massive grip, the two attempting to wriggle and squirm themselves free yet the grasp was too strong even in their current forms.
"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! YOU'RE MINE! NOW GIVE ME THE SOL AND CHAOS EMERALDS AND I WILL ERASE YOU BOTH TO PUT YOU OUT OF YOUR MISERABLE EXISTENCE." The giant monster bellowed in laughter as he clasped Hyper Sonic and Young Hyper Sonic within his grip, beginning to squeeze them as they both cried out in pain.
But as Cormain grinned at what he thought was a quick victory, the heroes of the two Mobius, having an idea in hopes in escaping, shared a glance and nodded before closing their eyes and then suddenly teleported out of the evil beast's grasp, much to the monster's shock.
"WHAT!?" Cormain exclaimed, before glancing up when he could sense Hyper Sonic and Young Hyper Sonic appear above his head, the two heroes having frowns as they then charged at full speed. The giant monster growled before roaring and attacked with it's arms to capture them again, but they dodged quickly before using a Hyper Homing Attack each right at his chest and face so hard that the combined burning power of light and thoughts made Cormain roar a pained scream that the effects of the Chaos Emeralds and even the Sol Emeralds were causing such pain not just to himself, but also to the Time Eater as well.
Recoiling at such power and effects, Cormain hissed and winced before glaring up and attempted to capture the two hedgehogs, but Hyper Sonic and Young Hyper Sonic flew out of the way and they both narrowed their eyes when the giant monster flew backwards even further and burst with high dark energy which caused the young heroes to brace themselves as all three of them suddenly noticed the distoration once again, this time appearing in a swirling vortex kind of dimension with dark and light almost like a void attempting to suck everything in, yet neither of the three were being pulled at all despite the winds picking up. The two Sonics then gasped when Cormain then shot out purple, black and green orbs and multiply fired at them.
"Look out!" Young Hyper Sonic screamed out as he and Hyper Sonic both quickly flew out and repeatedly dodged every single attack despite that Cormain's orbs were exploding in mid-air that was proving to be extremely dangerous and a couple of the blasts nearly hit them. Though it did force them to be send falling down when it was too close for comfort.
They screamed as they were nearing Cormain who grinned again and reached out to grab them, but then Hyper Sonic had an idea and turned to his younger counterpart and friend, exclaiming. "Get ready to dodge and kick! Understand?"
"Right!" The younger Sonic agreed readily, before he and Hyper Sonic swerved their way past more of the orbs, only to be blown and forced back when Cormain blew his dark winds once again and the two hedgehogs had to shield their faces while struggling to avoid in being blown back.
Cormain mentally laughed evilly only to widen his eyes when the two hyper formed hedgehogs, determined to not give up, increased their own power by glowing a little brighter and spread out their arms with yells as hard as they could, surprisingly cancelling the evil monster's attack. They then charged with a double hyper axe kick, hitting the monster's chest and core while causing more damage to the beast who roared in agony before he attempted to grab them again. But Hyper Sonic and Young Hyper Sonic, seeing this, quickly teleported away from him and reappeared in a safer distance yet still close enough to continue the fight.
But the giant monster wasn't defeated yet, as he used the Time Eater's abilities by creating portals and his arms flew into them before reappearing around the heroes, but they quickly flew and dodged every attack, even with Hyper Sonic punching and kicking at one hand at the time as quickly as possible, while Young Hyper Sonic Spin Dashed into two more, both attempting to avoid in being caught. Hyper Sonic was then almost caught when one of the giant hands was about to close it's fingers around him. He quickly used a Homing Attack to bash it so hard that it was destroyed by the power of the combined energies of the Chaos and Sol Emeralds, causing Cormain to roar in agony. Young Hyper Sonic did the same thing with another, destroying the other hand.
"AAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!" Cormain roared painfully, panting at the loss of two of his arms, before snarling furiously like a feral animal. "YOU LITTLE RATS!"
"Hey! We're not rats! We're hedgehogs!" Young Hyper Sonic snapped back as he and Hyper Sonic felt insulted and hated in being called rats.
Cormain growled darkly, before he attacked again by launching more orbs, yet to his frustration the two Sonics dodged it and kept flying towards him which forced the giant monster to fly backwards even further and then began to spin around like a moving clock, a large gale of darkness like a vortex swirling straight towards them. But the two hedgehogs flew up and over it quickly to avoid it as much as possible and gasped when they saw that it was heading straight towards them, so they kept on dodging knowing that the battle was only just beginning to become more and more dangerous.
By then, once the attack stopped as Cormain realized that Hyper Sonic and Young Hyper Sonic were simply too fast but refused to admit that they were becoming more powerful than he was, the Space-Time Eater roared as the dimension shifted again, this time changing into a dimension of several images of other worlds all over the place, much like the tunnel the two hedgehogs had seen earlier and revealing the worlds Sonic had been into during his fight against Scourge. Despite being shocked, the two hyper formed heroes narrowed their eyes as their enemy grinned while he seemingly merged into the blackness beyond it all, only to emerge into something more horrible which made Hyper Sonic and Young Hyper Sonic gasp softly in horror.
Cormain had taken form of the Dark-Spine-Werehog from Hyper Sonic's mental fight three months earlier in his world, only the traces of Cormain's wings and extra arms more visible. The giant monster snarled before roaring and fired spikes from his body to attack the two hedgehogs, but the young heroes quickly blocked the attacks even with the teenage Mobian spinning around to block it, using his Insta-Shield, only it was Hyper-Insta-Shield, successfully knocking destroying them while Young Hyper Sonic used his Homing Attack to smash and destroyed the other giant spikes, shattering them into pieces. This frustrated the giant monster who then launched forward to attack, but the two friends, having stopped their own attacks, flew upward and even as he stretched out his arms to capture them the way the Werehog would do, Hyper Sonic and Young Hyper Sonic, no longer afraid of the Werehog-Beast, just punched and kicked the hands back.
"You think that's gonna stop us!? We're not afraid of the Werehog anymore, Cormain!" Hyper Sonic shouted, knowing that the fate of all realities was at stake and he was more focused on saving everyone than worrying about an old fear of a monster that was long gone for good.
"YES, BUT YOU FORGET. THE WEREHOG COMES FROM YOUR-"
"My quills, negative emotions, the Chaos Emeralds and Dark Gaia's darkness! I know that! That thing was the very fear I was afraid of, but I've overcome that! Because I'll never turn into a monster! You know why? Because everybody makes mistakes, some people try to atone for them, while others like Eggman don't! You on the other hand are the real monster here!" Hyper Sonic interrupted Cormain, knowing what the evil monster was trying to do and wasn't afraid even the slightest since he knew that it was just a fake, charging straight towards the core in his chest and bashing it several times while Young Hyper Sonic blocked more of the spikes, even touching it and was surprised when the light from his energy transformed it into a glowing spike of light.
While Cormain was roaring in agony and shock that Hyper Sonic wasn't affected by the sight of his current form from the teenager's memories of one of his worst fears, Young Hyper Sonic, quickly glancing back and forth between the giant monster and the spike, then had an idea and nodded to himself.
"Hey, Cormain! Eat this!" The eleven year old hedgehog shouted while getting both Hyper Sonic and Cormain's attentions, and with a yell, he tossed the spike so fast and powerful that it was shot like a rocket jet. The sixteen year old smirked and teleported out of the way while Cormain attempted to block it, however the powers of positive energy shot right into the giant monster's chest, striking at the core and his heart. He roared in pure agony while losing the Dark-Spine-Werehog disguise and turning back into his already fused form, hissing and clutching his chest in pain, panting.
The moment the newly created spear of light hit, the two hedgehogs saw the core begin to crack, and the giant monster began to change drastic but slowly, expanding and growing. Hyper Sonic and Young Hyper Sonic gaped in shock, before Cormain, in absolute fury, roared which shook the whole area, causing another massive distoration all around them which shocked and horrified the two in confusion and bewilderment. The giant monster then fired a massive fire ball straight towards them as they both gasped. It was too big to dodge and they feared that if they did, it could potentially fly all the way towards where their friends and families where waiting.
"Oh man! That thing's huge!" Hyper Sonic exclaimed in worry, sweating in fear.
"What do we do!? We can't let it get to our friends!" Young Hyper Sonic cried out, beginning to quickly panic.
"We have to block it! I know it's risky, but we don't have much of a choice!" The older hedgehog replied, narrowing his eyes as he knew that it was their only chance. He knew that he and his younger, alternate-self were beginning to run low in energy and they needed to end this sooner or later, or else everything they fought for would cease to exist, and so would all the other realities, to be recreated under Cormain's image and rule.
Despite being worried about this and fearing that he wasn't strong enough, the younger hedgehog knew that his older, alternate-self and big brother was right. If they didn't do something now, everyone and everything else were all gone for good. So he nodded, and the two then held up their hands and focused on their energies as hard as they could, glowing even brighter which a powerful shield appeared and heavily blocked Cormain's giant fireball even though it was slowly pushing them back despite their best efforts. Hyper Sonic and Young Hyper Sonic grunted and strained and didn't help when Cormain, grinning at this, fired another giant laser beam at them to increase his chances of winning. The two hedgehogs struggled as hard as they could, knowing that everybody that they both loved so much were counting on them, and they couldn't let them down now, they couldn't give up, they wouldn't give up, and they'll never, ever, give up!
Just when things were beginning to look bleak, the rainbow auras around both Hyper Sonic and Young Hyper Sonic glowed even brighter than ever before, spreading out before the areas that Hyper Sonic had been into shone brightly, even a newly restored timeline that has been replaced yet recreated at the same time to it's original state, and even a timeline that was created and shining towards Scourge who glowed slightly as he and everybody else could see a glimmer of the battle far ahead of them, all shone with the other Sonics, still not having any idea what was going on, noticed light portals shining in the sky in each and every single one of their worlds before they too along with their friends and families glowed sightly, surprising them and lights shot up from them and into the sky, through into the battle area.
'C'mon, Sonic and Mini-Sonic! Don't give up now! Sol Emeralds, please! Please hear me! Please cancel my wish! I'm sorry for everything I've done! But please...turn everything back to normal! I beg you!' Scourge thought in his mind, his heart racing, only to notice he too was glowing slightly in light, which surprised him, his brother and former enemies who were all glowing as well. "Huh? What the? What's going on?"
"Why are we glowing?" Red asked, confused and a little bit afraid.
"It's our friendship and encouragement!" Young Tails realized, as he and his older, alternate-self realized what was happening.
"Sonic and his other self are putting all of their efforts to save us! And we are helping them in spirit! Believing in them!" Tails agreed, clutching his fist as he narrowed his eyes, knowing that the two heroes of the two Mobius were doing everything they can to set things right.
"Not only that, but Scourge is connecting his heart and mind to cancel his wish, and his prayers are reaching out for the Sol Emeralds." Tikal realized, confusing everyone as she continued. "He too is Sonic the Hedgehog, but with a different name. A wish can be canceled if the prayer of the one who wished earlier can still reverse it even without touching them."
"She's right. For this to be reversed, Scourge would have to redeem himself and wish for the Sol Emeralds to cancel his first wish." Blaze nodded in agreement. "Together they burn thoughts into fire."
"Like the Chaos Emeralds turn thoughts into power." Knuckles realized, knowing that the Moebian Cat Princess was right.
"It is also needed to defeat Cormain and the Time Eater, and prevent them from corrupting the Executioner. If he succeeds, he will take over the Prison of Evil and destroy us all." Soloman, weakened yet holding on long enough to remain, confusing the group as they turned to the giant Octosaur who continued. "Also, the other Sonics of the other worlds, especially the one who is the fourth Sonic immune to the Roboticizer are unknowingly giving Sonic and his younger self more inner power as they seek to save us all, out of compassion, friendship, courage, and deep love they have in all of you."
Despite being a little bit scared of the Octosaur, the group knew that Sonic trusted him, and now they should trust the High-Guard, and thus he was right. So they all once again focused their encouragement and faith in the hero of Mobius and the hero of Alternate-Mobius, while Amy clasped her hands together.
'Sonic...You can do it! We're with you, no matter where we are!' Amy thought deeply in her mind, giving out her prayers and love to her boyfriend.
"You can do it, Sonic!" Tails and Young Tails shouted loudly.
Amy's thoughts and the voices from the nine year old and four year old cubs along with the faith and encouragement from everyone else reached all the way to Hyper Sonic and Young Hyper Sonic who both widened their eyes with surprised soft gasps, hearing them and feeling the much needed support from their friends and families, while the other Sonics in the other worlds wondered what was happening. The thoughts, prayers, support and lights gathered around and into the two young heroes who felt the extra boost that they needed and, realizing that everyone was counting on them and their love was just as strong, the love for each other, the two Sonics shared a nod before grunting as they put into much effort of their powers, yelling and shouting as they vaporated the fireball and the laser beam, panting but still having enough energy to at least keep fighting.
"HOW CAN THIS BE!? YOU TWO SHOULD HAVE BEEN COMPLETELY DESTROYED!" Cormain exclaimed in horror and disbelief, stunned that the two hedgehogs had survived and erased his two attacks.
"Because we both have things that you will never understand, even in spirit; friends and family!" Hyper Sonic answered, right before he charged with another Hyper Homing Attack, hitting the core and causing it to break and crack even further, weakening the giant monster while Young Hyper Sonic charged at the other arms and even smashed the wings down, severing the Space-Time Eater's chances of flying away.
Cormain roared in agony, as for a split second he began to fizz in and out which confused the two hedgehogs who flew back to a safe distance even as everything distorted them again, closing up the portals to the other worlds and saving them for now, yet even the giant monster was being distorted, as the image of the original Time Eater, as well as the crystalized forms of Robotnik, Pachacamac, and Fiona were briefly seen, before the trapped trio were sinking deeper into the body along with the core which made Hyper Sonic and Young Hyper Sonic gasp in horror. Yet what happened next caused them to quickly shield themselves as Cormain suddenly burst into black like energy with a mighty roar and seemingly covering everything around them in darkness.
Though when it faded, the two hedgehogs hesitantly looked up and found themselves what appeared to be a beautiful vast of space of galaxies, stars, milky ways, a solar system in a far far away distance with a sun shining in the middle, almost like they had entered an amazing part of the universe itself. Hyper Sonic and Young Hyper Sonic gazed out in awe as they looked around.
"Whoa...Where are we?" Young Hyper Sonic breathed in awe.
"Don't know. Must be another one of Cormain's dimension places. Gotta admit, this place is beautiful." Hyper Sonic replied, only to hear a monstrous growl which made him and his younger self gasp again, looking around nervously before looking down and nearly screamed in fright.
Below them was Cormain, but in a much more massive, still-like form of a giant beast, about the same size as Dark Gaia, merged with a giant black and red vortex shaped like a mixture of a horrifying monster, a fortress and a castle all in one, arms and wings completely gone, eyes of white and red glowing, his mouth wide open like a pathway, and somehow something was shining through it's throat yet it wasn't an attack as the two young heroes at first thought it was. Young Hyper Sonic's eyes widened before he ended up clinging onto Hyper Sonic's arm, whimpering a little as the mere sight of the massive creature frightened him a little.
"It's okay, li'l bro. It'll be okay." Hyper Sonic whispered, gently rubbing his younger, alternate-self's shoulder while holding him in a careful embrace.
"I hate to admit it, Sonic...But now I'm really scared." The eleven year old whispered back.
The sixteen year old gazed at his friend with sympathy, before smiling softly as he asked. "Would it make you mad if I said that I'm scared too?"
Blinking in surprise before realizing that Hyper Sonic just repraised what he had said earlier, Young Hyper Sonic began to feel better already and hugged his older friend in gratitude for the much needed support, knowing that the sixteen year old birthday boy was there for him. "Nah, not one bit."
"We can do this, Sonic. I know we can." Hyper Sonic encouraged as he gently stroked at his friend's quills and back, before gazing down at Cormain's more terrifying form, narrowing his eyes. "Cormain's weakness is inside that thing. I think it's his real form, and we have to in there to destroy it and save Fiona, Pachacamac and Ro-butt-ink. I can feel it."
"I think you're right, big bro. They did end up being swallowed up inside him. But what about that giant vortex thingy?" The younger hedgehog asked.
Before Hyper Sonic could answer, there was another massive roar which startled them as the whole area shook, and then saw a familiar monster slowly emerging, eyes leering from the vortex and the darkness from Cormain slowly seeping into it. The hero of Mobius and Young Hyper Sonic gasped as they recognized the monster from before, and this time Hyper Sonic knew what it really was, given how it had captured and eaten Black Doom earlier.
"It's the Executioner!" The two Sonics screamed out in horror.
"Cormain's trying to control it since he's getting weaker! That's why it's here! He's reaching right into the Prison of Evil and take control of it!" Hyper Sonic exclaimed as he realized what was really going on, his heart hammering in fear and dismay. If Cormain did reach into the Prison of Evil and take control, then he would rule over it, destroy what is left of the Octosaurs, and possibly free all of the villains and maybe trap the heroes to take control in an desperate attempt to destroy them.
"We gotta stop him and quick!" Young Hyper Sonic screamed out, realizing that Hyper Sonic was right.
"Right! This is our last shot! We free Fiona and the two bad guys, and then we take out the core! Ready?" Hyper Sonic declared, knowing that it was now or never.
"Set!"
"GO!" The two Sonics shouted as they flew straight down towards Cormain's wide opened mouth which was slowly beginning to close and they held hands to ensure that they would get through this together.
Cormain, in his slow massive form, gleamed at them as he then fired beams from his eyes to stop the hedgehogs from proceeding even further, but Hyper Sonic and Young Hyper Sonic easily dodged the attacks as they were going much faster than ever before and made it inside the mouth which then closed shut, trapping them and the giant monster was about to swallow them alive. But the two young heroes simply flew through the giant tunnels as they followed their instincts to find where the core and the three trapped captives were. They then noticed the glowing getting brighter, meaning that they were getting closer.
"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA...YOU THINK YOU CAN DESTROY ME FROM INSIDE OUT, HEDGEHOGS? YOU ARE TRAPPED, AND NOW YOU WILL NEVER ESCAPE! I WILL DESTROY YOU BOTH, CONSUME THE EXECUTIONER AND RULE ALL REALITIES, WITH OR WITHOUT THE SOL EMERALDS AND THE CHAOS EMERALDS!" Cormain bellowed as his voice echoed all around them, but both Hyper Sonic and Young Hyper Sonic could easily tell that the giant monster didn't sound confident anymore. If anything, he was beginning sound terrified, as thoug he was attempting to make a last quick ditch in defeating them by trapping the hedgehogs and taking over the Executioner.
"Not if we give you a stomach ache, big guy!" Hyper Sonic pointed out with a smirk, and Young Hyper Sonic chuckled, knowing that they can win this.
"Hope you have medical insurance!" The younger hedgehog taunted.
Without another word, Hyper Sonic and Young Hyper Sonic flew straight down towards the tunnel and found themselves in a huge chamber and floated above a huge pool of purple acid that made them both cringe in disgust, pinching their noses as the smell was terrible.
"Phew! I don't know what this guy ate or if he does eat something, but man, it smells like dead jellyfish here!" Young Hyper Sonic groaned, feeling like he was about to lose his lunch.
"Ugh! Think you just came up the right word for this horrible stench!" Hyper Sonic groaned in agreement, before the two looked up and gasped in shock when they saw not only the Core at the ceiling of the chamber, but also stuck in the walls below it were Robotnik, Pachacamac and Fiona, which made things a bit awkward. "It's them..."
The whole place or rather the whole body began to shake which made the two Sonics look up nervously as they gasped as outside Cormain roared deeply, continuing to reach his dark corruption closer and closer to the Executioner who was getting closer itself to finish the job and mindlessly unaware of what was going on.
"We'd better hurry!" Young Hyper Sonic told him.
"Right! It's now or never!" Hyper Sonic agreed with a firm nod, and his younger, alternate-self nodded in agreement, before they flew up straight towards the very core, determined to end this once and for all. They sped up as fast as they could, and despite being exhausted from the battles they had gone through, neither one was willing to give up. For their friends, their families, for all realities, they had to do this, even if it meant never going home, but as long as everybody else were alright, that's all that really mattered.
"It's over, Cormain!" Hyper Sonic declared.
"You lose!" Young Hyper Sonic added.
The two then performed a powerful Hyper Double Homing Attack by holding hands and spun around in a bright colourful wheel of light, smashing right into the center of the core. They pushed themselves through as it cracked further and further, and Cormain began to grunt, groan and growl in pure agony, feeling his energy running out as he realized, much to his horror and fear, not only was the darkness disappearing and not even reaching the Executioner, but also his whole was beginning to explode and fall apart, along with that of the Time Eater who also roared, also being destroyed and that it would never be released, that Scourge would never keep to his word, and everything was about to return to their normal states.
"NO! Y-YOU CANNOT DO THIS! HOW COULD I...BE DEFEATED...BY MERE TWO...BLUE...SMALL, MORTAL...HEDGEHOGS!? I AM IMMORTAL! I AM A GOD! I AM THE LORD OF JUDGEMENT OF ALL SPECIES AND CREATURES...OF SPACE AND TIME!" Cormain screamed in absolute fear he never felt before, as his core shattered and exploded, and both Sonics quickly flew over to the trapped trio and used Chaos Control to get themselves, Fiona, Robotnik and Pachacamac out.
By the time they did, the giant monster, with the horrified realization that his powers were gone, the Time Eater too was being destroyed, and the Executioner, sensing this, opened it's own mouth and began to suck in the remains of Cormain who began to explode himself in ultimate defeat, done by the hands of Sonic and Young Sonic the Hedgehogs.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Cormain bellowed for the final time as he exploded before being sucked in by the Executioner who remained unharmed and sank back into the vortext which then vanished and closed up.
The explosion of light then spread out everywhere, even to where the two Sonics and the still frozen trio were as they had returned to their friends, yet no one had time to celebrate as they saw what was happening. Gasping in shock and fear, everyone braced themselves with Hyper Sonic and Young Hyper Sonic doing their best to protect Tails, Young Tails, Amy, Young Amy, and Chris, and Scourge and Kintobor shielding Red, everyone hugging each other in fear and concern before they were all engulfed by the light, screaming.
Then there was a bright flash...
A little disoriented, yet strangely back to full health as though he hadn't been on his adventure at all, Sonic, having lost his Hyper form and was now back to his true cobalt blue colouring, opened his eyes and found that he was seemingly back in the White Space, because all around him there was nothing at all.
"I'm back here in this place?" The sixteen year old asked aloud, before realizing, to his great worry and dismay, there was nobody else around. He gasped in horror as there wasn't a trace of Young Sonic, Tails, Young Tails, Amy, Young Amy, Silver, Blaze, Red, Kintobor, Knuckles, Rouge, Shadow, Big, Froggy, Cream and Cheese, Vector, Espio, Charmy, Sun, Star, Chris, Scourge...
Not even Soloman and Tikal.
"Tails? Sonic? Amy? Anybody? Hey! Guys, c'mon, this isn't funny! Where are you!?" Sonic called out, cupping his hands around his mouth as he felt a horrible case of deja vu, only he began to feel like it was worse and he was getting more and more scared, desperate, upset...alone. "Can anyone hear me? Heeeeey!"
Still nothing. Except for him, and his voice echoing throughout the whiteness that never ended.
Did something go wrong? Was he erased from time and trapped here forever? Did he accidentally change his timeline? Was he...gone for good? Or was he dead? Or did everybody get erased and he was all alone?
"Oh no...No...No no no no no no...! They can't be gone...they can't!" Sonic shook his head, feeling so alone, beginning to tear up as these thoughts rang through his mind before he looked around again and hoping to see any traces of his family and friends, to hear their voices, to sense their presence, anything to reassure him that he wasn't alone.
But the reality of his current situation soon began to dawn onto him, and the blue hedgehog, beginning to hyperventilate in complete loss, guilt, failure, sorrow, and absolute fear, unable to hold it back anymore, screamed loudly in anguish and loss which echoed throughout the whole area before he covered his face and wept.
"I'm all alone...I...I messed everything up somehow. Everybody's...Everybody's gone!" Sonic sobbed, his tears leaking through his hands and dropped freely. "Everything's gone! I destroyed space and time!"
"No, Sonic. You have saved them all." A familiar deep voice spoke gently behind him.
"Please don't cry, Sonic. It's alright. You will be home soon." A familiar female voice added softly, and kindly.
"H-Huh?" Sonic hesitantly and tearfully looked up, before looking over his shoulder and turned around fully to see, much to his confusion and relief, were two familiar figures, now both in ghostly form while lowering his hands. "Soloman? Tikal!"
Relief washing over him to see at least two familiar figures, with Soloman now back in his smaller form, Sonic raced over and tearfully smiled at them, and didn't even flinch in surprise when Tikal, sensing his mixed emotions, gently gave him a hug which he happily and emotionally return.
The echidna princess ghost felt solid and warm despite only being a spirit, and the hero of Mobius never felt so happy to see her, and right now despite being worried on where everybody else was, he felt safe. For a long time, ever since the Chaos crisis, he and Knuckles had come to know her as a friend and for a long time the sixteen year old did sort of wish to do something for her. Especially when she helped them out so much.
After a moment or two, Sonic moved away from Tikal before he quickly wiped away his tears. "Oh man! You have no idea how glad I am to see you guys!"
"We are very relieved that you and your other self are alright as well, Sonic, and having saved all of Space and Time. I can't thank you enough for what you have done, my friend." Tikal smiled in return, nodding.
"Thanks to you, both. I wouldn't have made it this far without ya's." The hero of Mobius shrugged, before asking in concern. "Wait, where's everybody else? And what happened to Robotnik, your father, and Fiona?"
"Your friends and families will appear in your world as you will, Sonic." Soloman spoke this time, making the teenage hedgehog gaze at him as the Octosaur continued. "Fiona will as well. Robotnik will return to your other self's world, his memories of his time here and battles against you and your friends will be lost permanently. Not even when the Sonic of that world would accidentally mention it. It would only make him forget again and again, to ensure that this would not repeat itself."
"And Pachacamac?"
Tikal lowered her gaze and shook her head. "In spite that you and your young otherwordly self have saved them, Sonic, my father has returned to the Prison of Evil...even knowing the truth, it was already too late to save him from that place. Cormain has corrupted him so much, he was beyond saving."
"So then he..." Sonic trailed off uneasily, knowing all too well what this meant. Unlike Scourge who had been narrowly saved from suffering the same fate, Pachacamac's freedom had been lost 4,000 years ago. That was too long even for him to move on towards the Afterlife. He lowered his gaze and sighed. "I'm sorry, Tikal. I tried...I really did."
"It is not your fault, Sonic. Given time, maybe, one day, he will be remorsed enough to move on. As for myself, I can only return to the Master Emerald to be with Chaos. It is what I have accepted as my fate for years." The echidna Princess reassured, smiling in sadness.
"Yeah, but it was Cormain who messed everything up in the first place, though. Not to mention the Time Eater." The cobalt teenager pointed out. He felt guilty for not being able to at least spare Pachacamac from being imprisoned now that he knew of what really happened.
"Cormain no longer holds any influence of Space and Time, and while history in your world as well as that of the younger Sonic remain mostly unchanged, slight difference has occured to avoid a paradox." Soloman stated.
"Say what? Whaddya mean mostly unchanged?" Sonic asked, raising an eye ridge, not liking where this was going as he had an uneasy feeling inside his stomach. "I thought everything would go back to normal."
"In a way. With the demise of Cormain and the Time Eater, most events still happened. But two timelines have created new paths, leading to a formed time-line yet separate at the same. Finivetus was still imprisoned in the Prison of Evil, but now he has arrived with dual memories, merging into one. Yet his presence all the same no longer interacted with your or Young Sonic's timelines, thus he never convinced Kaiser Bakuvu in following down the dark path, your parents' alternate-selves were sent by another sorcerer who has also sent himself and thus will be executed soon." The Octosaur explained.
Despite not understanding what the High-Guard was talking about, Sonic tried to put the pieces of this weird new puzzle together in his head, thinking deeply as he placed his fingers under his chin.
"Wait, so without Cormain messing things up, the Finivetus didn't escape from when the other world's timeline was completely changed, he didn't end up in my world or mini-me's world, would that mean he didn't cause the more nastier version of Eggman to travel to the other world and caused the world to change completely?" The blue hedgehog asked, dumbfounded. "And that Kaiser really did do that horrible stuff all by himself and some other sorcerer appeared born in the other Mobius to still sent my parents' alternate self to the Prison of Evil?"
"Correct. And in short, he would never have entered Scourge's world. Finivetus would have died the newly restored time-line which links to present along with the new time-line, giving a new reason for dual memories, triple time-lines, just the same in Scourge's world now." Soloman confirmed.
Sonic softly gasped in shock. "Then...history's changed in Red's world, and not just because that I warned Kintobor about the Sol Emeralds, or that Nega wouldn't exist because he changed? It's like what happened to-wait a second! How did that timeline get restored while the new one is still there!?"
"Time is a funny thing. It can lead to many crossroads one cannot pass through all at once. Time controls what it can do and what many live in. That is the way how it should be." Soloman then chuckled. "To put more simply, Sonic, when you and Scourge entered the new time-line, seeing him has triggered the memories of the original time-line, and thus recreated it, restoring it, and erasing the Super Genesis Waves from that history and from Dr. Eggman's mind. In the world that has been restored to it's original state, your other self's friend, the princess you saw, has and/or will be restored to her organic form through him and through his friends' efforts. She will be saved now. The other timelines connected to that world have also been restored and saved, while the new ones remain."
An awkward moment of pause.
"Ugh...Okay. I officially don't like space-time travelling. It's making my brain hurt." Sonic facepalmed himself with a groan, feeling a headache coming on.
"I think would be possible to say that it's like a wish you could change things yet you couldn't, unlike in this situation." Tikal attempted to help explain. "Like a crossroad of whether a path you choose is the right one or not."
"Hmmm...So, bascially, Scourge and I kinda accidentally saved the timeline that's...been erased but is brought back, but the Sonic that we saw doesn't even know it, because he could only have dual memories, not triple." The blue hedgehog slowly began to understand, shock yet somewhat relief forming in his chest.
If that were the case, then the Archie-Sonic now had three pasts, yet could only remember two, but mainly one which was the second permanent timeline. While his old past-self would have a new future without Eggman using...whatever Soloman had mentioned, thus everything was back to normal there, his new past-self lead into two futures similar to each other. Same pasts, different futures.
"It's like a what-if scenario, but more real. Nobody would even know it because they're meant to keep following the path they choose. Not go back in time and hope that they wouldn't experience the same terror over and over again. If that makes sense." Sonic realized, blinking.
"Yes, and it is the same now for Scourge, because he has not only cancelled his first wish twice, he also made two wishes which leads him into the same situation and he and everyone in Moebius will have dual memories. His prayers also gave you and your young self the needed power to destroy the Destroyer of Time and Cormain." Soloman nodded.
"That means Silver's gonna be okay, right? He's staying alive and all?" The hero of Mobius asked, hopefully. While he was surprised and worried about Moebius' condition, hoping that it wouldn't be any worse than he had seen, especially in the future where the silver hedgehog had come from, he prayed to Chaos that the fourteen year old Moebian would be alright.
"Yes. Also, your other selves who had seen you and Scourge throughout your battle will not remember seeing you...except for the Sonic of the two worlds where humans and Mobians exist separately. He will have vague memories but believe your presence is nothing more than a dream. Now, everything will be restored, the balance of Space and Time is back to their original state. Your world's Chaos Emeralds will also return to Mobius, and the Sol Emeralds will return to Moebius where they belong." The Octosaur continued.
Even though Sonic was relieved to hear this, there was still one more thing that was bothering him as he looked up at the High-Guard who had helped him get this far as well. "What about you, Soloman? And the other Octosaurs?"
Soloman sighed, having expected this question and shook his head. "We will remain in the Prison of Evil for all eternity. We cannot change our past. Nor we should not. It is to remain this way."
"Oh...Bummer." Sonic lowered his gaze in sadness and disappointment. He sighed. "I'm sorry, Soloman. I wish there was more I could do to help you."
The gentle Octosaur smiled in sadness over the teenager's kindness and bend low to the hedgehog's height of level, and said. "Thank you, but you have done more than enough, Sonic. We are forever in your dept."
The hero of Mobius smiled sadly back in return and shrugged again. "No need to pay me or anything. It's what I do. In fact, I should be thanking you. I get why you didn't tell me before, but if you hadn't brought me to the Prison of Evil to save the good people trapped there, I never would've found out that my Uncle Chuck and mini-me's parents had been alive all these years. Seeing my unc' again...it was a wish come true. So...Thanks, Soloman."
"You are very welcome, Sonic the Hedgehog." Soloman nodded, bowing his head in deep respect, only to jump slightly when Sonic suddenly hugged him despite being in a ghostly form, but still solid enough for the teenager to touch him. The warmth from the young Mobian felt so soothing, so gentle, so kind and...grateful and familiar somehow.
"I'm gonna miss ya', Soloman. But I'll never forget you. I promise." Sonic whispered, silent tears falling free from his closed eyes.
It was at this movement that Soloman's eyes widened, as memories from his childhood flashed before his eyes, the times when he would play with Singarina, and she would give him warm, loving hugs of deep friendship and love. To think that Sonic was so much like her in personality, it made the Octosaur feel such warmth for the first time in years, and he sighed, returning the embrace while Tikal smiled emotionally. They stayed like this for a little while longer before Sonic and Soloman reluctantly moved away with smiles, and the latter then stood up.
"It is time. You and everybody else will no longer be frozen in time." Soloman declared.
"Huh? Frozen in time? What's that mean?" Sonic asked, confused again.
"Time and Space stood still when you and everyone else came, meaning that neither of you aged the moment you arrived, or even when you were attacked. Now that everything will be back to normal, time will be restored to all of you as well and your lives will return to normal as well. Meaning you can still age once you go back to Mobius, Sonic. As will your friends and families." Tikal explained.
"Oh. So I guess that means I'm not even a second older than I was when the Time Eater attacked and wrecked my party, and I won't be stuck not aging when I get back either? That's a relief." The blue hedgehog scratched the top of his head, realizing what she meant.
The two nodded, and he nodded in return. "Well then, guess I'd better get going. I can't thank you guys enough for helping me. Couldn't have done it without any of you. I'll say hi to the others for ya's."
"That would be wonderful. Goodbye Sonic, give my thanks and regards to everyone, and...Happy Birthday." Tikal nodded, as she and Soloman began to drift away.
"Birthday Wishes to you, Sonic. Enjoy your life. Farewell...Chosen one." Soloman's voice echoed.
Sonic nodded, tearing up as he waved goodbye to two of his friends. "Sayonara, Tikal and Soloman! I'll miss you! Take care!"
The moment they vanished from his sight, brightness covered Sonic's vision once again, as he began to feel himself drift away from the White Space for the final time...and finally making his way home.
A/N: Whooo! Talk about a final battle and the next chapter will finally lead to what we've been waiting for! But it's not over yet as we still have the Epilogue(or maybe the next chapter will be the last, I'm not sure) to get to before the end of this long-waited story which would then lead into my still on-going story "Sonic and the Return of the Wisps" which I also plan on finishing. It may take a while, but I will do my best with it.
Sorry that the final battle wasn't as good as I hoped. I had it set up due to inspiration of the original Time Eater boss fight, the final battles in the classic modes of Super Smash Bros Melee, Brawl and Wii-U, with Cormain's final form being based on the Master Core's Fortress form, while the newly restored time-line of the Archie-Comic universe was inspired and based on the Sonic the Hedgehog Online fanfic comics, but only briefly as I don't own any rights to those or the original cancelled comics, nor am I a good artist.
The Epilogue may be posted soon but I'm not sure. Guess we'll wait and see.
See you later!
