Sonic the Hedgehog: The Chaos Project

Season 0, Episode 5

Speed of Time, Part 5: In Due Time…

Written by ChaosProject

Concept by ChaosProject

Several successful missions later…

The Void

"I have good news, everyone." It is Janice who speaks. "There are only a few Sapphires left, and just one Chaos Emerald. We are making good time. Two more missions each, and we will be ready to fight Chronos."

Sonic objects, "But that only gives us six Chaos Emeralds!"

"As far as I can tell, that's all there is. You'll have to make do. The Sapphires are more important anyways. Silver, you will be leaving next. Your destination is approximately 60 years into your own future. I believe that it is, chronologically, the final Sapphire. Normally, after the trouble that nearly came of Sonic's earlier mission, I would have you be careful of interfering too heavily in the timeline. But in this case, you shouldn't concern yourself too much with it. Actions you take won't have any consequence on yourself or the others. Are you ready?"

He nods, and pulls out a Sapphire. With almost no effort, he waves a rift open in front of him. As he's about to go in, Zero calls from behind him, "Good luck!"

Somewhat reluctantly, he responds, "Yeah…you too." With that, he goes in.

—–—

Floating Isle Zone

Silver walks along the side of a steep cliff. On the other side is nothing but sky. From a higher angle, the ocean can be seen far, far below. Janice speaks in his head, "I'm having trouble pinpointing the exact location of the Sapphire. I believe that it may be moving. You may have to track it down yourself."

"Track it down?" He looks inwards, towards the center of the forested island. "This is a pretty big island."

"I have confidence in your abilities. It shouldn't be a problem for you."

"Janice…how is this island floating? There's no psychic energy holding it up….but there's no technology doing it either. How is that possible?"

"You're a time-travelling hedgehog with extra-sensory perception, and you're concerned about a floating hunk of rock? I think you have more important things to worry about."

"Right."

—–—

"Maybe I can get a better view from up here." Silver begins climbing a large flight of stairs. "This structure must be ancient…certainly from long before Sonic's time. It's incredible that it's still standing."

"It was built for a very specific purpose. Perhaps…perhaps a visit with the Master Emerald will do you well."

"Did you say Master Emerald? I thought that was only a myth!"

"With an objective view over all of time…you find that most myths are, in fact, based in reality. Was not the story of the original Controller just a myth to you? Yet now, you have met him in person. Or… do you still not believe me?"

"No, it's not that, I just…one day, I'm attacked by a stranger as a child. Then the guy disappears, never seen or heard from since. Now, almost ten years later, the same guy suddenly comes back, and you start telling me that he's some living legend. How could I believe that?"

"I find your lack of faith…disturbing. I have been wrong many times before. But I can assure you that I am right about this. Zero is the original Controller."

"He's been nothing but kind since this whole thing started. I'm just so confused… And then there's Sonic. He always gets so uncomfortable whenever I'm around him."

"In his defense, you did just recently attack him."

"Even before that. He acted like…like I had let something bad happen to him, but he knew it wasn't my fault. I just don't get it…"

"You shouldn't worry about it now. You're almost at the top." Sure enough, Silver has just a few steps left in front of him. He mounts the top, onto a large circular platform. In the center lies a massive green gem, the Master Emerald.

"No way…" He runs up to it and puts a hand on it. "I never would have imagined that it would be this big! Or this beautiful…" He stares deeply into it. And he sees something inside. Although it is difficult to see through the shiny green material, a scene plays out inside. There is a blurry humanoid figure with butterfly wings. "Is that…Chronos? It looks a little tall…"

"Silver? What's going on?"

He ignores her. In the Emerald, the figure appears to be engaged in a fight. It blocks a blow from a blue blur. It becomes cloaked in an aqua-colored energy, but it dispels the energy with one dramatic movement. Then it waves its hand, and a space-time rift which is not blue, but blood red, forms. Three hedgehogs—one blue, one green, and one silvery-white—are flung into the red rift, which closes behind them. The scene dissolves, leaving only the Emerald. "I…I don't understand. What does this mean?"

"Silver, I have good news and bad news. I've figured out where the Sapphire is."

"If that's the good news…what's the bad news?"

"It's right behind you."

"Wha–" Silver starts to turn around, but is suddenly locked in place, enveloped in an aqua-colored light.

A gruff, old voice speaks from behind him, "I'm sorry Silver, but I cannot have you getting in my way here. I know that you need the Sapphire. Give me a moment with it, and I'll gladly hand it over. I know how important this mission is."

Silver struggles to free himself from the man's psychic grasp. "What do you want with the Sapphire!? Who are you!?"

"Both fair questions. But you will not like the answers very much. I need the Sapphire…in order to destroy the Chaos Emeralds."

"What!?"

"I said that you wouldn't like it. And as for who I am…" he slowly steps into Silver's field of vision. "…I am you." He speaks the truth. Although he clearly appears much older, with thinner, wispier fur, and somewhat wrinkled skin, he is, without a doubt, Silver. "You want to say that it's impossible. But you know that that isn't at all true. You just don't want to accept it."

Young Silver is speechless. Several times, he tries to say something, but no cohesive words come out. Finally, he manages to ask, "How…why…why would I want to destroy the Chaos Emeralds? It's my sworn duty to protect them!"

"Oh, how naive I was. It's not our duty to protect the Emeralds. It's our duty to protect the world. And that's exactly what I'm doing."

"The Chaos Emeralds exist to bring balance to this world! What could you possibly gain by destroying them!?"

"I don't expect you to understand. But one day, you will." Older Silver passes by the still-trapped younger one, up to the Master Emerald. "The Master Emerald was created as a balance system to the Chaos Emeralds. It can completely nullify their power. But with the added power of a Temporal Sapphire…it can destroy them."

"Stop! You can't!"

"But I must." He lifts out his hand, and the seven Chaos Emeralds appear, circling around him. The circle expands and rises until the Emeralds come to rest on the seven pillars that surround the Master Emerald shrine.

"This…this is why I'm the last Controller…isn't it?"

"That is correct. Better that you come to terms with that now than when you're in my position." He turns back to the Emerald. He raises his arms and begins to chant, "The servers are…the seven Chaos. Chaos is power…power is enriched by the heart!"

"You have to stop this! Please, before it's too late!"

"There is no other time I can do this! Each Sapphire only exists in its timeframe for a brief time, and this one's time is almost up! There will never be another one! This is my only chance to do this!" He finishes the chant, "The Controller is the one that unifies the Chaos!" The Master Emerald slowly floats into the air, spinning rapidly and glowing brilliantly. "Only you can do this! Stop the Chaos Emeralds!" Seven arcs of brilliant blue electricity spark from the Master Emerald, each one striking a Chaos Emerald. The Master Emerald begins to glow blindingly bright. It is at this point that Older Silver places the Temporal Sapphire above the Master Emerald. The arcs of energy suddenly change direction, striking the Sapphire and passing through it before each one reaches its Emerald. As the energy passes through the Sapphire, it changes from a bright cyan-blue to a deep, dark blue. The already-dulled Chaos Emeralds begin to vibrate violently upon being hit.

"No!"

First, the red one shatters, then the purple one an instant later. In a few moments, the cyan Emerald shatters, followed by the blue Emerald. Each sound might be like nails on a chalkboard for how young Silver reacts to them. Each one causes him to shudder and flinch. The green Emerald shatters. Then the yellow one. Only the white Emerald remains, on the pedestal straight across from the stairway leading to the top of the shrine. It rumbles more violently than any of the other Emeralds, as if trying to cling on to its own life. It begins to crack and splinter, but still it remains intact. Then it shatters into thousands of particles of fine, sparkling dust. The Master Emerald and Temporal Sapphire both clatter to the ground, their job completed.

Young Silver breaks into tears as the dust settles all around him. "No! No!" He is released from his older self's grasp, and he drops to his hands and knees. "Those Emeralds…were my whole life…and you just destroyed them…" He sobs for another moment. Suddenly, he outbursts, "How could you!?" He stands up and throws out his open and as if to psychically shove the other one off the side of the monument. But older Silver stands on the other side, directing his own hand in the same manner. The aqua patterns on their gloves burn brightly, but neither of them move an inch, their powers counteracting each other.

"I know you're upset. But you can't let this get in the way of your mission." He indicates the Sapphire lying on the floor with his free hand. "The Sapphire is yours, just like I promised."

"Why should I trust you?"

He doesn't answer the question, but instead continues, "You don't have to worry about the Master Emerald. It draws its power from the Chaos Emeralds. Soon, it will be dull and grey." Young Silver's only answer is to increase the force of his push. The older one pushes harder in turn. "I know that this is difficult for you to understand. Just think of it like this. You now know that this has a chance of happening. When the time comes for you to make this decision, you can keep in mind the choice that I made. You can choose to trust my judgement. Or you can choose to reject it. Your future is for you to decide, not me. This hasn't happened for you yet, and you can stop it if you so choose. I just couldn't have you stopping me."

Young Silver cleary thinks deeply about these claims. His force seems to let up a bit. Then he drops his hand to his side. Older Silver does the same. Still, young Silver seems unsure of what to do. He merely stands there, staring at the floor. But he is forced to look up as his older self presents the Sapphire right in front of his face. "Go on. Take it." Hesitantly, he does. Then, he resumes his silence. "Shouldn't you be going now?"

"…Is this really what I should do? How could there not be another option?"

"When I was faced with this choice…I did want another way out. Do you really think that it was my first choice to destroy the Chaos Emeralds?" He shakes his head. "No. I tried. I couldn't find another way. But maybe, with this knowledge, you can. But for now, you have more important things to worry about. You have 60 years to think about it."

"You…you know about what I'm doing. Because you've done it before. Is…is there anything that I should know now? Before it's too late?"

"Hmm…no, I shouldn't tell you. Foreknowledge of the events soon to come could very well make things irreparably worse. It's important that you learn everything at the right time. I guess just…watch your back…and trust your friends."

"Wait, but doesn't watching my back mean that my friends–" He stops has he realizes that his older self has walked away, up to the already-dulling Master Emerald. "Hey, wait!"

Older Silver puts his hand on the Emerald. "This will be the final time…"

"The final time for what?"

"Chaos Control!" In a flash of blue light, he disappears, leaving the Emerald behind.

"Wait, don't go!" It's already far too late.

"Hurry up, Silver," Janice speaks into his head. "Sonic and Zero are already back."

"Right. I'm on my way." He uses the new Sapphire to open the space before him, creating a new rift. He takes one last look back at the dulling green gem lying in the center of the monument. He sighs, before lifting himself into the portal he had created.

—–—

The Void

Zero hops out of his rift and into the void, sweating profusely. He wipes his brow. "I'm beginning to question… …the judgement of these inanimate objects. A volcano… …why would a Sapphire hide itself in a volcano!?"

Sonic argues, "Sounds like you're the lucky one. The last Chaos Emerald was at the bottom of the ocean in the middle of an archipelago of tropical islands. What's the point of a beach when it's ruined by almost drowning?"

Zero eyes him oddly, but doesn't respond. A moment later, another rift opens as Silver arrives. Zero jokingly greets, "Hey. What took you so long?" Sonic takes on a distant look.

Silver's own voice echoes in his head, "…trust your friends." He silently walks up to Zero. And then, he extends his hand.

Zero seems quite surprised. "What's this? A change of heart?"

"Let's just say…I've decided to start thinking a little more about my future."

Zero happily takes the hand, and as they shake, they look each other in the eye as friends for the first time. "Does this mean that you believe now? That I never attacked you?"

"Maybe you did. Maybe you had a good reason, or maybe you just forgot about it. But what ever happened, I believe that you don't believe it ever happened. And that's good enough for me." He turns to Sonic next. "I think that you and I need to be properly introduced as well. The last few times didn't go so well." He extends his hand once more.

"Umm…yeah, sure." He takes the hand, but still seems as distracted as usual when Silver is around.

"Is there something you would like to tell me?"

"…No. I'm just…glad you're doing alright."

The Janice orb speaks, "Good, we're all friends now. That will make the final battle that much easier. Are we ready to get back to work, then?"

Zero takes a slight look of doubt at Sonic, but they all nod.

"Very good. Silver, you–" She is cut off as the entire void around them begins to shake violently. The myriad rifts littering the area all begin to grow at a rapid rate.

Sonic shouts, "Hey, what's going on here!?" The shaking continues.

When everything calms down, the hedgehogs are all crouching on the floor, though Janice seems unfazed. Behind her, what was once a large cluster of rifts has merged into one giant vortex of blue, easily the size of a small building.

Silver is the first to get up. "What just happened?"

"It is as I feared. We are running out of time. We have to get this mission finished, now!"

Zero objects, "Wait, I thought you said that–"

"I know what I said. Things have changed. If we do not hurry, your universe will not exist for much longer. Silver, get going!"

Understanding the urgency, Silver opens a new rift and heads right in.

"Sonic, you're next, and remember that you're going after a Sapphire, not an Emerald. Non-interference is out the window at this point, do everything necessary to get that Sapphire."

Skipping the usual stylistic toss, Sonic takes off running, and soon disappears behind his own rift.

—–—

Island Base Zone

Sonic takes a look around. He appears to be in the courtyard walls of some sort of military compound. The sound of the ocean can be heard just on the other side. "This seems like a pretty peaceful place." Suddenly, an alarm siren begins to wail. Red lights are cast from some distance away, flooding the area. "Well, so much for that." He suddenly dives out of the way of a round of gunfire. The source was a familiar robot, a G.U.N. Beetle armed sentry drone. Sonic makes quick work of it with a spin attack.

He lands on the ground in front of the robot wreck. He shakes his head. "I don't imagine this'll turn out very well. It was pretty lame last time G.U.N. started coming after me. Oh well." He takes off into the core of the base, the alarms still blaring.

—–—

Sonic has made it deep inside the base. Red lights still flash, but the sound of the alarm is somewhat distant and muffled. "It's quiet. Too quiet…"

A deep, familiar voice speaks calmly from behind him, "I should have known that you would have something to do with this."

Sonic turns around to see none other than Shadow the Hedgehog. "Well, if it isn't Shadow. It's been awhile, hasn't it? The time kind of blurs together when you're saving the world so much and all." Shadow doesn't answer, but merely looks Sonic over, as if confirming a theory. "Oh, I get it." He takes a fighting stance. "You're here to stop me. Well, we'll just have to see about that."

"Wrong." Sonic relaxes a bit, seeming a bit perplexed. "G.U.N. and I are no longer involved."

"Since when?"

"Since five minutes ago. Let's just say this isn't the place for me."

"Hate to say this, but I'm not really interested in your personal problems right now. I'm looking for a long blue Sapphire, and it's very important."

Shadow pulls out a glittering blue gem. "Oh, you mean like this one?"

"Yes, that's it! Hand it over!"

"No. I would never trust a fool like you with this."

Sonic is taken aback by the sudden yet familiar insult."Look, I don't know where this is coming from all of a sudden, but if I don't get that Emerald soon, then the party's over. No more universe. Now give me the Sapphire so I can get out of this drag of a place."

"Sonic…do you even realize that you're breaking and entering into a top-secret military base?"

"Yeah, so?"

"So, it would be difficult to commit much more serious of a crime. If you're caught, you shouldn't expect a trial. You should expect to be shot on sight. But you don't even care. I heard that you had changed. But I never would have expected this. I'm not even talking to the same person who helped me fight the Black Arms. Everything about you, your thoughts, your mannerisms, even your voice has changed. What happened to you?"

Sonic is silent for a long moment. Then he bursts out laughing. "Ha ha ha! That's a good one, Shadow. You really had me going there for a minute. I didn't think you were the type to tell jokes."

"Don't you get it!?" He's grown very angry. "Not everything is a joke! That's exactly your problem! You think that the entire world is some joke, some game! The entire world could collapse around you, and you wouldn't care as long as you could still have your fun!"

"Don't be ridiculous! I'm trying to save the world right now, and you certainly aren't helping!"

"So tell me, whatever it is that you're doing now, how did you make the decision to do it? Was it about protecting the places, the people that you care about? Or did it just sound like fun?"

Sonic thinks back to his response to Janice's initial invitation. "A time-travelling adventure to stop an evil ruler from ending the universe? Sounds like fun." Despite this, Sonic shakes his head. "This is silly. I've always made sure to enjoy whatever I'm doing. You know me. What you see is what you get. Just a guy that loves adventure." Even as he says it, he doesn't quite seem to believe it.

"True, you've always made the best of it. But that was never your motivation. Now it seems that you judge everything by how much you'll enjoy it, as if you're not sure how much time you have left. And let's face it. Adventure stopped being enough for you a long time ago. You've had to move on to 'better' things. More dangerous and with less to learn about the world and about yourself. You're missing all of the passion and pride that used to define you. It's a shame. I was beginning to think of you as a sort of…rival. But now, I understand." He puts special emphasis on the next few words. "You're not even good enough to be my copy."

Sonic moves as if to say something, perhaps some witty response that would allow him to let the insult roll past him. But he stops, as something stirs deep within him.

"That's right. Just think about that. Think about how it makes you feel. About how much you care. Or else, ignore it, and prove to me that you really don't care. About anything. About your own life, about the world you live in. It hurts, doesn't it? To be so insulted by someone you consider an equal? Or a friend, perhaps? That would be even worse. We hardly knew each other last time I spoke those words, and even then you hardly even let me finish saying them. So what are you going to do about it now? Are you–"

Shadow cuts off as Sonic mutters something unintelligible, shutting his eyes and clenching a fist.

"What's that? I couldn't quite hear you. You should–"

"I'LL MAKE YOU EAT THOSE WORDS!" With a changed voice full of passion and fury, Sonic lets out a cry as he moves in to attack Shadow.

Shadow takes a step back as he bobs out of the way of the first punch. Sonic throws another punch with the opposite fist, which Shadow again steps back and ducks around. They continue in this way, Sonic throwing punch after punch, and Shadow slowly moving backwards to avoid them. As this happens, Shadow comments, "Now that's something the old Sonic would have said. Maybe you really do care. Or maybe, you're just trying to fool me so you can get this gem. After all, what do you care about how I'll react, as long as you get your instant gratification? Typical of the new you."

"Shut up!" Sonic puts all of his force behind one big punch. Shadow steps back to avoid like the others, but his foot is stopped as it hits the wall behind him. He is hit by the full force of Sonic's blow, sending his head snapping to the side.

Sonic pants heavily, but seems to be calming down. Shadow slowly turns his head back to face Sonic, bearing an intense scowl on his face. Suddenly, he throws a powerful punch of his own, impacting Sonic square in the chest. Sonic is sent flying backwards, impacting the opposite wall with a thud. He collapses to the ground.

Stunned and dazed, Sonic lifts his head, clutching it with one hand and grimacing. Shadow walks up to him. "Put out your hand." Expecting to be helped back up, Sonic does so. Instead, Shadow places the Temporal Sapphire in Sonic's outstretched hand. "Now, get up and go save the universe."

Sonic struggles back up to his feet. Shadow turns around and begins to walk off. "Hold on." Shadow stops. "You're just going to leave now? Just like that?"

"I've done what I set out to do. There's nothing left for me here."

"You planned to snap me out of it from the beginning? Sounds like I'm not the only one who cares."

"Don't get all sentimental on me. This world needs a hero, not a fool. I made sure it got that. Now, I'm leaving."

"Don't go. Come back with me. The team and I could use your help."

"I'm not interested in working on a team. Why do you think I'm leaving G.U.N.?"

"Where will you go?"

Shadow remains silent for a moment. Then he answers, "…Somewhere I can make a difference. On my own." He begins to walk off again.

"Good luck."

He stops one last time. "…You too." Shadow starts walking out, this time for good. Sonic watches as he disappears into the darkness.

To be Continued…