Sonic the Hedgehog: The Chaos Project

Season 0, Episode 6

Speed of Time, Part 6: Behind the Times

Written by ChaosProject

Concept by ChaosProject

Mad Lab Zone

Zero emerges from a space-time rift, landing onto a patch of grass. Just inches in front of him lies large metal wall.

The voice of Janice speaks to him, "Do you see the Sapphire?"

"No, but there's a building right here. It's probably inside."

"Then hurry up and get in there."

Zero seems ready to respond, but then stops, and looks curiously at the wall. He very cautiously begins to step backwards, his face slowly changing from curiosity to concern, and then to fear. As he gets a view of the entire building, he drops to his knees, and then his hands. "No…"

"Zero? Zero, what's wrong!?"

He clutches the dirt and grass with his hands as if unsure that he can even keep his balance on all-fours. His eyes remain firmly locked on the ground beneath him, his face filled with utter dread, as he almost incoherently mutters, "No…I can't do this, I can't. I can't go back in there, not ever again. No, I won't…"

"Zero! Snap out of it, what's happening!?"

Slowly, forcibly, he unclenches his hands. Each movement seeming to drain all of the energy that he has, he slowly manages to rise again. Still very softly, he says, "Janice…can you put me in contact with Silver?"

"Um…yes, give me a moment." Zero takes a deep breath as he waits, but avoids looking directly at the building in front of him.

After a moment, Silver's voice speaks through the Sapphire, "Zero? What's going on?"

"I…I need your help. Would you switch places with me?"

"Um…yeah, I guess so. Meet me in The Void."

Zero takes another deep breath before turning and heading back into the rift that took him here.

Silver already waits on the other side. "Is there something that I should know about where I'm going?"

"It's…it's personal. A part of my past that I don't want to go back to. Does that make sense?"

"Don't worry, I get it. But…if you wanted someone who understands having a troubled past, you should have asked Sonic."

"A troubled past? Sonic?" Almost habitually, he adds, "Sonic is a fool."

"So maybe 'troubled' isn't the right word. But Sonic…there's something that happened to him that he doesn't want to think about. And…I can't help but get the feeling that it has something to do with me." He shakes his head at the thought. "I think that you judge him too harshly. I think that he's a better person than he lets off. Or at least, he was."

Zero thinks back to his encounter with Amy Rose. She had said, "There's nothing that Sonic does that isn't for the sake of others." He seems about to say something, but is interrupted by Janice.

"Enough chatter. We're on a tight timetable here. Get going."

They both answer, "Right!" With a nod towards each other, they each move towards the rift that the other came out of. But right before Zero enters the rift, he turns to Silver and says, "Don't mess up my history too badly, alright? Even if it seems like the right thing to do." Without giving Silver the chance to answer, he hops into the portal.

—–—

Silver takes a good long look at the building in front of him. Now clearly in view, there doesn't seem to be anything of particular note about it. It's a long, metallic, two-story building, with no windows and only one door. "I guess I just go in now." He strolls right up to the door, which makes a strange beeping sound as he gets close to it.

After a moment, a mechanical voice speaks from the door, "Identity not recognized."

Silver merely shrugs, and uses his power to lift up the door, allowing him to walk inside unhindered.

The inside is just as dull as the outside, a hallway with grey metallic walls extending in each direction. Silver chooses a direction and starts on his way.

—–—

Silver has made it to an upstairs area. As he walks down the hallway, he passes a window at regular intervals looking down at a room in the floor below. Some rooms contain tables covered in what appear to be beakers of various chemicals of every imaginable color. Other rooms contain what appear to be stasis pods, or small, empty cages. Still other rooms contain only a single chair, covered in straps and harnesses. "This place just keeps getting creepier." Silver just keeps walking along, keeping a close eye out for the Sapphire.

He stops as he hears a noise from up ahead, the clanking of metal. He runs ahead a few rooms and finds where the sound came from. Through the window to the floor below, a tall, somewhat large man in a lab coat can be seen opening a cage. The sounds coming from the room can be heard clearly. Not noticing Silver watching him, the man begins to speak with a gruff, vaguely familiar voice, "Subject 000, it is time for your next test."

A weak, almost unrecognizable voice responds from within the cage, "I…I can't. I'm not ready for another test… None of us are."

"Now, now, my friend, how am I to help you if you won't help me? Didn't you tell me that you want to learn more of your own potential?"

"I…I won't. Not another test…"

The man begins to raise his voice. "That's quite enough fooling around. You are coming with me right now, even if I have to force you!"

Slowly, carefully, the one called Subject 000 begins to emerge from the cage. He is none other than Zero the Hedgehog. However, his physical state is nothing like what Silver has seen before. He appears thin and weak. He walks with a limp. Even his eyes appear dull and distant. Against his instincts, Silver remains completely silent.

The man continues, "Good, now follow me." He turns to face Silver's direction, underneath which the door to the room must be, and Silver ducks off to the side of the window to avoid being seen. For a few moments, the man's face can be clearly seen. Although he has a full head of hair, he also has a large nose, and a massive mustache. There is no doubt that he is a Robotnik. A tag on the front of his coat reads, "Dr. Gregor Robotnik, Chief Bioengineer." After a moment of walking towards the door, Robotnik stops, realizing that Zero hasn't moved an inch. He turns back and shouts, "What did I just tell you, rat!? Get over here and follow me to the testing chamber!"

Zero stares at the floor. For a moment, he turns his head to look at one of the other cages, then returns to his downwards gaze. Finally, firmly, he states, "No."

"What did you just say!? I have had enough of your insolence, you insignificant worm! You have been this obstinate since the very beginning, that's why I've been working so hard to get rid of you! Now, you've finally given me the reason I need. I promise you that your next test will be the most painful, terrifying event that you have ever experienced in your insignificant life, and it will be the end of it! Now, return to your cage." He turns to the same cage that Zero looked to earlier. "Subject 009, I will be testing you today instead."

All of this time, Zero has been growing angrier and angrier, clenching his fists and barring his teeth. But with Robotnik's last statement, something snapped. His eyes turn suddenly sharp, burning with ferocity, and locked on Robotnik, he shouts, "No! No more tests! No more experiments! You will not hurt me, or anyone else, ever again!" As he speaks, a red aura begins to form around him, and, forgetting his injuries, he begins to stomp slowly towards Robotnik.

Robotnik is taken with fear, putting his hands up as if to protect himself, and slowly walking backwards, away from the raging hedgehog, "Now, 000, let's not be hasty about this. Uh, maybe we can–"

"That isn't my name! I am Zero! And I am not doing anything with you!" His fury reaching its peak, he begins to float into the air, radiating the crimson Chaos energy of his rage. "I'm finished with you!" With his final shout, all of his rage explodes out in a massive red Chaos Blast. Robotnik lets out a scream, which is joined by several others from the cages, as well as one from Silver, who has no chance to avoid the massive explosion that reaches all the way up to where he stands.

—–—

Sub-Soleana Zone

Zero walks through the streets of what must be Silver's home city. But this area is far different from anything that Silver had been seen travelling through. Everything is dim and shaded, improperly discarded garbage litters the streets, and many building entrances appear to be boarded up. Perhaps ten stories above, another tier of roads and walkways can be seen from underneath, with another tier at each regular interval, each one higher appearing to be in a better state of repair. This pattern continues upwards as far as the eye can see. Zero must be on the very bottom level, while Silver only roamed streets towards the top. Space-time rifts are everywhere, showing the progress of time's destruction. "So strange… This world is so much like how mine once was, and yet so different. Up at the top lies technology like I've never seen, but down here it's so…dismal."

"Unfortunate, isn't it? The state that these poor people have to live in, despite all the advances in the world around them?" Zero turns with a start to see none other than Silver standing before him. However, he is quite a bit shorter, with less length to his quills, and a higher-pitched voice. "Technologically, this world has achieved more than people in your time could ever have hoped to. But governmentally…there are flaws. Flaws which, in your time, had already been solved. That is because the problems you were meant to solve are of a different nature."

"…Silver?"

For a moment, the hedgehog looks down at his own body, then looks back up and chuckles a bit. "No, I am not your friend Silver. I thought that you might be more comfortable speaking with me in this form."

"I don't understand. Who are you?"

"Well, you see, my name…is Chronos."

"Chronos!?" Zero takes a fighting stance and prepares to attack.

"Please, please, calm down, I thought you were the non-violent one!"

Zero takes a moment to understand what he's doing and relaxes a bit. "You're right. I don't know what came over me. I've been waiting for a chance like this since the very beginning. Let's talk."

"Ah, I was hoping you would say that. Come, walk with me."

Chronos begins to move forward, but Zero stays put. When Chronos looks back at him questioningly, he responds, "Forgive me, I don't like to take orders unless I know what I'm getting into. You seem to know a lot about me, perhaps you understand?"

"Of course, I understand completely. I meant no harm by asking, I merely meant to make you more comfortable. We can stay right here, if that's what you want."

"…I'll walk." And so, they begin walking.

"I suppose we should get down to business now. You've been collecting Temporal Sapphires."

"You've been trying to stop me."

"True enough. What I fail to understand is why. You seem like a nice guy, so what would you want with such power, except to fight me with it?"

Zero seems intrigued at Chronos' relative ignorance. "Look around. Time is falling apart. I'm not going to let that happen."

"Yes, it's a problem I've been dealing with for quite some time now. But removing the Sapphires from their correct places is certainly not helping matters. How many do you have with you right now? Three? Four?"

"Four."

"And now you're after a fifth?" Zero nods. "You do understand that time can't stay together properly with so many in one place, yes? The problem you claim to be solving is only being made worse by your interference."

"So you're claiming…that you are in no way responsible for what's happening?"

"Well, I wouldn't say 'no way,' but I think there's a bit of a misunderstanding going on between us. You think that I'm causing the problem, and I think that you're causing the problem. That is, of course, why I've been sending these creatures and robots after you and your friends, to deter you from this task."

"But that didn't work, and that's why you chose to talk to me now."

"Yes, you are quite perceptive. Now, to get to the point. Give me the Sapphires that you have, and I can use them to fix everything. Right here, right now, right in front of your eyes. No more fighting, no more violence. I can send you home, and you can use everything that you've learned on this adventure to help you rebuild your ruined world. Maybe, by your influence, the people living on this level of the city won't be living such poor lives any longer. All you have to do is hand them over." He holds out his hand with a smile.

Zero stops walking as he ponders on this. "You want me…to give you the Sapphires. The objects which act as your one and only weakness." He sighs and shakes his head. "It's clear that Janice was right. You really can't be reasoned with."

"Janice!? You are working with Janice!? Of course…this explains everything…"

"Let's get one thing clear, Chronos. I'm not giving you anything. Now, you can get out of my way, or I can force you out of it. You know which one I would prefer."

"Look, I don't know what Janice has been telling you, but I can promise you that it's all a lie. You are being deceived, tricked into doing the bidding of a power-hungry psychopath. It's likely that her wishes will destroy your world, not save it. Hold on, I have something to show you, a uh…a sign of goodwill."

"I've had enough of your games, Chronos, and I've wasted enough time as it is."

"Please, I'm still trying to be reasonable here. You don't have to give me anything, just take me to her, give me a chance to talk to her, I can fix all of this!"

"Stop telling me what to do!" Suddenly, Zero lunges at Chronos. Chronos easily steps out of the way.

"If that's how it's going to be…" Chronos steps back and closes his eyes, as he begins to transform. His skin begins to bulge, and finally tear, revealing underneath the woody flesh of the Chronos form that Silver fought. Unlike that form, this one holds a staff with a clock on the top, and its face appears far less beast-like. In a deep, booming voice, he continues "I will destroy you if that's what it takes to put a stop to Janice!"

—–—

Mad Lab Zone

"Hey…" the voice sounds fuzzy and distant. Slowly, Silver begins to return to consciousness. "Hey, are you alright?"

Silver manages to open his eyes to see Zero staring down at him, offering a hand and giving a smile. Silver lets out an involuntary yell as he scrambles up to his feet. He stands in the rubble of what used to be the research lab.

"Whoa, hold on! There was a lot of rubble on you. Are you hurt, is anything broken? I can help you."

Silver looks around frantically, trying to figure out what to do. Zero had specifically told him, "Don't mess up my history too badly, alright?" Without saying a word, Silver takes off at a run off into a more intact part of the building.

"Wait, don't go! Please! It was an accident, I swear! I don't know what happened, I didn't mean to, please! Don't be afraid of me!" Zero begins to break into frantic sobbing as he pleads, "Don't go away, not like all the others! You're the only one left, please! Please!" Silver is already gone. He collapses to the floor, continuing to murmur and sob in a state of half-delirium, "Please… please…"

—–—

Silver picks up the Temporal Sapphire from the floor. Even this far away from the center of the explosion, its damage can be seen in the form of damaged and singed objects. It's incredible that Silver walked away unharmed. He takes a look back in the direction where Zero still likely lays. He gives a sigh, but knows that there's nothing he can do. "Janice, this is Silver. I have the Sapphire."

"Very good. Make your way back."

"Right." Silver tears open a new rift in front of him. He takes one last look behind him before lifting himself in.

—–—

CHRONOS PHASE 3

"Time Control!" Zero forces Chronos into slow motion as he goes in for an attack. Chronos is able to wave his staff to dispel the time limitation, but not in time to block Zero's strike on the sundial on his head. The strike is so powerful that a crack and be heard as Chronos tumbles to the ground. He quickly gets back into a crouching position, but does not stand up.

"You are strong. But you will not be able to defeat me when you come to face me in my own realm. If you reveal Janice's deception before it is too late…you may yet survive." He waves his staff around his head, and a large rift forms beneath him, which he sinks into.

Zero looks down into the portal. He shakes his head. "I have work to do." He is about to turn away, but something else catches his eye. He picks it up. It has a long string tied around it, perhaps meant to be a necklace. On the end is a silvery circular object, with a simple aqua pattern on the front. The pattern is a circle, with a straight line coming out of the bottom. "I wonder…did Chronos drop this?" He turns it to the side, where a small latch can be seen connecting two sides of a seam. The object appears to be a locket. Zero pulls at the latch, but it doesn't open. He shrugs and puts it away. He pulls out a Sapphire and begins walking around the rift and onwards to his goal. "Janice, this is Zero."

"I can hear you. Do you have the next Sapphire?"

"No. I just had a run-in with Chronos."

"Chronos!? What happened? Did he take any Sapphires?"

"I'm fine, I beat him, and he disappeared into a rift."

"Good. Did anything else happen of note? Did he say anything?"

Zero thinks on this for a moment. "…No, nothing. He just attacked me."

"He must fear how close we're getting. Keep a sharp eye out in case he comes back."

For a moment, he seems to show disdain at having been given an order, but he quickly shakes it off and says, "Understood." He puts away the Sapphire and keeps walking. "Everything that Chronos said was nonsense. So…why is it that I suddenly don't trust Janice anymore? Could she really be lying to us? Could–" His thoughts are interrupted as he sees that there's a person a person standing in front of him. It appears to be none other than a young Silver once again. He holds a Temporal Sapphire. "Back so soon, Chronos? One beating not enough for you?"

"You caused a lot of damage in that fight back there. People could have gotten hurt."

"Ugh, not more of this humanitarian talk. It's a little bit too late to try and make me feel more 'comfortable'. In fact, it's too late for any of this, I'm running out of time and patience. Hand over that Sapphire, or I'm taking it."

"Why should I give you anything!?"

"How unfortunate that you feel that way. Time Control!" Zero rips out a Sapphire of his own, locking his opponent in place. The grey-furred hedgehog is forced to watch as Zero rushes at him and strikes him, causing him to drop the gem. Wasting no time, Zero picks it up and shouts, "Janice, I've got it and I'm on my way! Time Control!" With a shockwave of temporal energy, a rift opens in front of Zero.

Just as Zero is about to hop in, he stops dead, and looks over at young Silver, who has only just landed on the ground in his slow motion. A look of horror is on Zero's face. He thinks back to words that Silver had said. "This guy attacked me and stole one of the Miracle Gems when I was just a kid!" Zero finally comes to the realization, "That isn't Chronos…that's the real Silver… And I just viciously attacked him and stole his gem, unprovoked. What have I done?"

"Zero, where are you? I thought you were on your way."

"…Yeah, I'm coming." Regrettingly, Zero leaps into the rift, leaving young Silver alone to ponder for years what had just happened to him.

—–—

The Void

Silver lands on the floor of The Void, followed only a few moments later by Zero. At once, Zero says, "Silver." and Silver says, "Zero."

After an awkward moment, Silver says, "You first."

Zero let's out a sigh. "…I'm sorry. You were right all along. I did attack you as a child, unprovoked. I didn't understand that– oh, nevermind. The circumstances don't matter. If you want retribution, now's your chance. I deserve whatever you want done with me."

Silver lets out a chuckle. "Sounds like you're beating yourself up worse than I ever could. Lighten up! I figured that something like this was going to happen. Time travel, it starts to make you think in ways you wouldn't expect."

"You…you expected this? Perhaps you aren't as naive as I first thought."

"Or maybe I've just changed. Wait…you thought I was naive? Why does everyone think that!?"

"Calm down, I'm just kidding with you. It's good to have a friend. Now, you had something to say?"

"Oh, yeah. Umm…while I was there…at the lab…"

"It happened, didn't it? The Sapphire wouldn't have been in there without a good reason. It wanted to show you what happened to me."

"Yeah…but I…I don't think I understand. Who was that man? What were they doing to you? What happened to the others?"

Zero sighs again. "…Where could I even begin? That lab was the place where I was…awakened."

"Awakened? What does that mean?"

"I…I'm not really sure myself. I was alive before I woke up in the lab, but I wasn't…me. And then one day…I was. Just like that. I had no idea who I was or why I was so suddenly changed. And…there was Doctor Gregor Robotnik, offering to help me answer all of my questions. How could I have said no?" He is silent for a moment. "And so, the tests began. I was given a designation. Subject 000, the prototype. The one time I ever asked, I was told that what was being learned about me would be used to help others like me who would be coming. But I wasn't interested in others. Only myself." Again he stops as he gathers his thoughts.

"The tests were simple at first. I was asked to run until I couldn't stand anymore. To lift heavier and heavier objects, until they nearly crushed me. Of course it wasn't comfortable, but for a while I took a different comfort. By discovering my limits, I felt like I was continuing to grow closer to understanding who I was. Soon…the others began to appear. I was never allowed to see their faces. It was around that time that the tests began to change. Instead of testing my abilities…the focus changed to things…things that I had no control over. How my body would respond when injected with various chemicals. Exposed to various diseases. They began testing my threshold for pain. My response to injury. To malnourishment. Any free will that I had thought I had was being stripped away. I detested all of the changes, but my wishes were ignored, and I knew no other way.

"As my situation worsened, I began to seek desperately for other comforts. So eventually I gathered the courage…to speak to the others. Interaction between us was discouraged. I had to do it in secret, at nights when I knew we weren't being watched. Even then, most refused to disobey the rules. Except for one. Subject 009. She was the only one who ever spoke to me more than a few times. We would talk almost every night. Sometimes, when we would run out of things to say, we would just…speak nonsense, just taking comfort in each other's voices. But the one thing that we never talked about…was our feelings. About the tests, about the Doctor, about…everything. I never once saw her face." He takes another moment to compose himself.

"Somehow, Robotnik found out. But rather than separating us…he tried to exploit us. I think…he wanted to get me to hate her. To prove in the most painful, yet subtle way, that there's nothing I could have that he couldn't take away. He wanted me to believe that she was meant to replace me. He would always bring tests to the point of failure, and then threaten to bring out Nine if I did fail. But he was mistaken. I did not beg for him to keep testing me instead out of jealousy. I did it out of…out of…protection. I couldn't stand to let her be hurt in my place. And she knew, even though I never told her. She understood. And she began to think about it." Another pause.

"One of the many things we talked about…was our test results. She told me how much stronger I was than her. And faster, and more enduring, and smarter. And finally she suggested…that I could refuse. That I had no reason to listen to Robotnik any longer. That he was no match for me. I wasn't really sure if I believed it or not. I was the prototype, so why would I be better than the real things? And even if I am stronger than the other ones like me, I thought, who's to say that it makes me stronger than my captor? Every day she brought it up again, and every day I asked myself those questions. All the while, the tests kept getting worse. My leg was broken in one of them, I don't even remember the circumstances any more. So one day…I was called in for a test…and I refused."

Silver speaks for the first time in a while, "And that's what I saw."

"Good. Then I don't have to talk about that part."

"But what I didn't see was what happened after."

Zero sighs. "…It's hard to remember. It's all just a big angry red blur to me. But what I do remember is waking up alone, for the first time in my life, knowing that the only people in the world who ever knew me were afraid of me. Even…even Nine. I hurt them…I could have killed them! What kind of monster am I!?"

"No. You are wrong. They were never in any danger."

"What…what do you mean?"

"The explosion…it damaged so much of the building, an incredible distance from you. An explosion of that much power, it should have vaporized anyone that close to you. It should have vaporized me. But it didn't. I was completely unhurt. Even in your unthinkable rage, you still kept control. Somehow, you made that explosion so that it couldn't affect anything that you didn't want it to. That's incredible! Do you remember that!?"

He lets out an odd combination of a grunt and a sigh. "I…I do remember something. I remember watching her run away. Away from the monster she must have thought I was after I exploded like that. I really don't know how it happened. I've never come close to doing anything like that again. Not that I've tried."

"It must be the Sapphire. Chaos powers are fuelled by emotion, and you had a lot of it, with a Temporal Sapphire lying just a few rooms away, amplifying it all into energy."

"Yeah…that must be it. But…I remember something else. I was so disturbed at the time, I was never sure if it was even real. It was you. You were there, I remember it. And you…you listened to me. You didn't interfere. Thank you."

"Don't."

"What?"

"Don't thank me. How could you thank me!? I had to sit back and watch, while you were forced into a life of solitude and misery! I had a chance to change my friend's life for the better, but I was told not to! Why!?"

After a moment, Zero chuckles a bit. "That question has been in the back of my mind from the minute this all began. And somewhere along the way, I realized…my life is my life. What you propose would make me into a different person, one who hasn't lived and learned from all of his time alone. And the person I am now…he would be gone. He would cease to exist. And…wouldn't that be the same thing as dying? Everything that's ever happened to me, good or bad…it's all part of who I am. It's all important to me. And I'm not going to lose it."

The whole area is silent for a long moment. Then a new voice speaks from behind them, "I'd say that still leaves one question." Sonic has clearly been standing there and listening for some time. "What happened to your city? Or is it your whole world? Just a short time earlier, the whole world seemed like…well, the future. So what changed that?"

Zero seems a bit more comfortable with this topic. "That event…it really goes unrecorded in your history?" Sonic nods. "I'm afraid that I'm not really the person to ask. I know very little. It was called the Chaos War." He takes out the Chaos Emerald which he has kept with him all of this time. "I didn't understand it at the time…but it had something to do with these…Chaos Emeralds. Everyone wanted them. And there weren't enough to go around. And through some process that is meaningless to me, this want led to every country in the world launching their most lethal weapons against each other. I was near one of the launch points when it first happened. I was contemplating…entering the compound. Revealing my existence to the world. But I…I was too afraid. I turned my back and went back to mope on my own again. Only a few hours later…that compound launched its weapons. If I had been in there…they would have been too busy focusing on me to be concerned with their stupid war! I could have stopped the near-destruction of my planet if I hadn't been such a coward!"

Zero looks up with a start as Silver puts a hand on his shoulder. "I think that you have nothing to worry about."

"And why is that?"

"Because, I can tell you from experience. The future of the world looks pretty bright.

Sonic adds, "I can vouch for that."

Zero lets out another sigh, but this one of contentment. "Thanks, guys." He turns to Sonic. "Something seems…different about you. What happened to you during that mission?"

"I met the one person understands me better than I can understand myself. And he helped open my eyes. The fool that you knew is gone, hopefully for good."

After all of this time, Janice finally speaks. "Speaking of missions, we are still in the middle of one. It is time for the final battle to begin."

To be Continued…