Sonic the Hedgehog: The Chaos Project

Season 0, Episode 8

Speed of Time, Part 8: Race Against Time Part 2

Written by ChaosProject

Concept by ChaosProject

Unknown

Slowly, the blackness begins to fade away. Sonic is the first to come to consciousness, his head buried deep in the snow. With a slight struggle, he frees himself, and rises to his feet. He doesn't dare look back at the other unconscious figures he knows lie behind him. A harsh blizzard blows all around, obscuring from view anything beyond a few feet away in whiteness. But Sonic does not feel the cold. Only the guilt. Barely audible over the harsh blowing wind, he finally lets out, "I knew. I already knew. Time after time I saw that it had to be a ruse, but I ignored it. I…I really am a fool!" He kicks a pile of snow in an attempt to expend his rage.

Silver is apparently already awake, though he hasn't moved from his fallen position, simply lying there in the snow. "How could I be so naive, so gullible!? It should have been obvious. The Master Emerald showed me the betrayal, and I still couldn't see it!"

Zero rises to his hands and knees, and pounds a fist into the snow. "All I wanted to do was help fix the world. And all I've done is help along its destruction. What have I done!?"

"So are you going to keep wallowing in your own self-pity, or are you going to do something about it?" The three hedgehogs are forced to turn to face the speaker, Chronos, who uses his staff as support to lift himself off of the ground. "Clearly I've made the greatest mistakes of all, but we accomplish nothing by lingering on it. We must analyze the situation, and determine an appropriate course of action."

Sonic is the first to respond, though he still avoids making eye contact with anyone. "I don't remember anyone asking you."

"Oh, stop it with the self-righteousness already. I'm the good guy, and you were all fooled, so don't treat me like it's my fault you're here."

After a moment of silence, Zero lets out, "He's right."

Finally, everyone begins to look at each other again. Chronos is the only one among them who is significantly wounded, only able to stand by supporting himself on the staff. Silver inquires, "So…where exactly is here? Or…when?"

Chronos begins to look around. "This is what you would call the…Ice Age. Perhaps 25,000 years before Zero's time."

Sonic seems reassured. "So, we're just in the past then? That shouldn't be too much of a problem."

Zero scoffs. "I don't know if you were aware or not, but time travel isn't exactly a simple feat without the Sapphires. I imagine Janice wouldn't have put Chronos here if he had the power to escape so easily. What does that leave?"

"It leaves us with these." Sonic pulls out an armful of six Chaos Emeralds. "If two of us use Chaos Control with different Emeralds at the same time, it can act like a Time Control, and open a Space-time Rift for us."

Chronos immediately responds, "There are two problems with your suggestion. One, you could never get into the Timestream that way. You could return to your own times for perhaps a few hours before the universe is destroyed. And two, even that wouldn't be possible. Look around you. There are no rifts. This is a naturally-occurring phenomena that exists in small numbers throughout this and all other timelines. We are in an Isolated Time Pocket. Under normal circumstances, it would be impossible to time travel to or from such a pocket. This was Janice's punishment for me. Even when I eventually recover my power, I would never be able to leave this place. When the rest of the universe ends, time will cease to progress in this pocket. I would be forced to remain in this unchanging place for all of eternity, with only your skulls as company, to remind me of my failure."

The hedgehogs all shudder at the thought. But Zero responds, "So how do you propose that we escape an inescapable prison?"

"I…I don't know. It's never happened before."

"What!? You're the one that said–"
"I said that we had to analyze, and if I already knew the answer then I would've–"

The two go on arguing, but Sonic stops and puts a hand to his ear as he begins to hear static. Very faintly, a voice can be made out within it. "S–––c –– ––y––– –– –––ch –––! C–– ––– –––r –e?"

"Tails! Tails, is that you!?" Chronos and Zero go silent and turn to Sonic.

The static begins to clear up a bit. "Son–– i– ––at yo–? C–n you he–r me?"

"Tails, this is Sonic, I can hear you! We need help!"

"It works, it actually works! I've been working nonstop to get this radio to work since you left, and– Wait, what's going on?"

"We're stuck here, in a, uh, a Time Pocket, that's like a–"

"A Time Pocket!? How in the world did you get into a Time Pocket!?"

"It's a long story, but we need a way out, any way at all."

"Alright, let me think. Umm…you keep saying 'we,' who's there with you?"

"Well…you haven't met any of them, they're, uh–"

Zero loses his patience, and snatches the communicator away from Sonic, shouting, "Oh, give me that! We're going to freeze out here if you keep wasting time!" He begins using the communicator himself. "There's four of us, three animoid hedgehogs, all Chaos-users, and one Time Lord with lots of knowledge and no power. Can we get out or not?"

Sonic interjects, "There you go using that word–" Zero shushes him. "What does 'animoid' even–" Zero shushes him again.

After a moment, Tails responds, "I think I've got something. There's a red button on the back of the communicator, press it so everyone can hear." Zero obeys, and Tails' voice begins projecting out loud. "When it comes to opening a Space-time Rift, it all comes down to the amount of Chaos Energy involved. It takes all of the power of a Chaos Emerald twice over just to open a regular time portal." While Tails talks, Sonic expectantly puts out his hand, and Zero reluctantly gives the communicator back. "If my calculations here are correct, three Chaos Controls using all seven Emeralds might just be enough to create a rift of near infinite depth, taking you even out of an inescapable Time Pocket, and go to whichever place, or time, you want."

Sonic and Silver both grunt in irritation, but Zero cocks his head to one side. Sonic speaks into the communicator, "That's great and all, Tails, but…we only have six. Could that be enough?"

"…No. No, that wouldn't be enough, seven barely cuts it as it is."

"Then…then we're stuck here." He hangs his head in defeat.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that." Zero speaks, staring off into the distance. "I feel…something."

Silver questions, "'Something'? You mean a Chaos Emerald?"

"I…I think so. I'm not sure."

Tails finishes, "If there is an Emerald, you need to go after it right away. Things…aren't looking so good here. You're running out of time."

Sonic nods in understanding. "Zero, where is it?"

He points off in the direction he's been staring. "It's this way. Follow me." He runs off, and Sonic and Silver follow. Chronos lags behind, using his staff as a crutch.

Along the way, Sonic turns to Zero. "So, I never got my answer. What's an 'animoid'?"

"Well... it's what you are."

"I gathered that much. What does it mean?"

"It means...well, we aren't exactly animals, are we? That has a certain...derogatory connotation. We have a level of consciousness higher than that of regular animals. We certainly aren't human. We're something in the middle, and even then we have abilities greater than either of those groups. I suppose the technical term would be 'anthropomorphic superhuman hedgehog' in our case, but that hardly rolls off the tongue. So, animoid."

"Hm. I'll have to keep that one in mind." The group continues their trek through the snow in silence.

—–—

Glacial Pocket Zone

Zero slams his fist into a sheet of ice. The hedgehogs have arrived at a massive glacier. Zero hits it again, and it begins to crack. Chronos appears to only just be arriving, now walking a bit more normally. Zero hits a few more times, and the cracks spread wider and wider. With one final blow, a large section of the ice shatters, revealing a cave on the inside. "It's through here. I'm sure of it."

The others nod, and begin making their way through the glacial cave, glad to be out of the blizzard. They've hardly walked a few feet before they've reached another impasse. A massive pile of ice chunks sits in their way, reaching all the way up to the ceiling. Sonic comments, "There must have been a cave-in."

Silver steps forward. "Step aside. I can handle this." He cracks his fingers before directing his hands forward and closing his eyes. The pile becomes cloaked in a turquoise light as Silver focuses his power. Suddenly, he opens his eyes, lets out a cry, and pushes forward with all of his might. The ice explodes back, scattering in all directions, and freeing the necessary path. "I'll take the lead. Let's move."

As they walk, Chronos speaks out of curiosity, "I just can't figure it out. Why would Janice send us to the one Time Pocket in all of reality with a Chaos Emerald? How did that Emerald get here in the first place? Even Janice wouldn't be so foolish as to not check first."

Silver is quick to answer. "You have it backwards. This is how the Chaos Emeralds work. It's just like what Janice said to you, Sonic. The Emeralds go where they need to be. Janice didn't send us here in spite of there being an Emerald. The Emerald is here because this is where Janice was going to send us."

The other three ponder this as Silver stops to move a large block of ice out of their path.

—–—

The hedgehogs have stopped once more. Steep, sharp, high-rising cliffs of ice rise high all around them. High on the top of the cliff directly in front of them, an opening deeper into the cave can be seen. Silver says, "I could probably get us up there. But it would take a while."

Sonic steps forward. "No time. I'll go, and bring back the Emerald as fast as I can." Without waiting for a reply, Sonic runs straight for the wall in front of him. His momentum is enough to allow him to run up several steps. Just as he reaches his peak, he kicks off the wall and onto another, which he runs up for a few more steps. He continues this way, leaping from wall to wall, taking advantage of whatever foothold he can find, until he finally makes it into the opening at the top. He continues in at top speed, leaving his friends behind.

—–—

Sonic has reached a wide clearing in the very center of the glacier. The yellow Chaos Emerald lies in the center. "There it is." He reaches down to pick it up.

Suddenly, his communicator goes off again. "Sonic…I think this is it. This is the end."

"Don't say that Tails, I have the Emerald! We're going to fix everything, right now!"

"I've taken shelter in the basement, the rifts seem to move slower through solid mass than they do through air. But they've made it all the way through. I'm surrounded on all sides. I only have a few minutes left, maybe less." Sonic takes on renewed anger and determination at the words, but says nothing. "Sonic…I believe in you. You can fix this. If it's possible to close the rifts, then it doesn't matter if I get swallowed. It'll be like it never happened." He's silent for another moment. "I was right. It was less. Sonic…good luck. I–" The message cuts to static.

"Tails? Tails? Tails!?" Static is the only response.

Sonic looks down to the Emerald he holds. He pushes it up slightly, and it begins to float into the air, orbiting around him. Six more Emeralds join it. He closes his eyes and clenches his outstretched hand into a fist. As his fist begins to shake, he begins to lift into the air. His quills raise up as if blown by an unseen wind, as his fur takes on a golden glow. The Emeralds around him orbit faster and faster, until Sonic's eyes burst open, now a deep red color. "Chaos Control." With those words, he disappears from the room.

—–—

Silver, Zero, and Chronos wait for Sonic. After a moment of silence, Zero lets out, "He should've been back by now, the Emerald is close."

Silver consoles, "He's fine. Have a little confidence."

Chronos seems about to say something, but they all turn as they hear a loud noise behind them. A blood-red rift opens, and the form of Janice steps out. The rift closes immediately behind. "It seems that we have a group of unruly prisoners here. I must say, I wasn't expecting an escape attempt, least of all a collaborative one. I was so certain you would all hate each other."

Silver steps forward with rage. "Janice. We are not afraid of you! We will–"

Chronos puts a hand in front of Silver. "Stay back. You can't defend yourselves without a Sapphire. I'll handle this."

"Taking things into your own hands, are you old master? I began to wonder if you were even capable of acting for yourself with how you ordered me around."

"It was for your own learning, my dear misguided apprentice. You know that as well as I. Even with all of the practice I gave you, you still never learned. I'm disappointed, really. I saw so much potential in you."

"You lie! I've been ready for an eternity! But still you denied me the power I deserved, forcing me to do all of your menial labor instead! You had this coming, you old fool!"

"Look who you are calling a fool, when you do not even realize your own faults! Just think! Think of how many times you slipped up in your mission to dethrone me! You got distracted! You sent them to the wrong times! You mistook Emeralds for Sapphires! You allowed your pawns to meet when they were never meant to! You couldn't even find the Sapphires without the notes you stole from Sonic's enemy! And even then you could barely interpret them quickly enough! You are unskilled! Inexperienced! You can't even finish the rest of your plan! You can't create a new timeline, you don't have the power, nor ability! The universe will end, and you will be the supreme ruler of nothing! You shall be your own undoing, whether your own pawns defeat you or not! End this foolishness now, before it's too late for you!"

"Lies, lies, lies!" Janice swings at Chronos with her staff, and Chronos parries with his own. "I'm sick of all your lies! I don't care if I lose every last ounce of power I have if it means I get to ensure your eternal suffering!"

"We'll just have to see about that!" He pushes her back, then swings his staff into a wave of energy directed at her.

She dispels the wave with a slash of her own staff, then unleashes a beam of energy. Chronos is unable to dodge, and tries to defend with his arms. The beam impacts him, and forces him back a step. Janice begins to laugh as she increases the strength of her attack. Chronos begins to grunt as his struggle increases.

Silver shouts, "Chronos!" He takes up a large chunk of ice and flings it at Janice. Paying almost no notice, she easily blocks the projectile with a hand.

Chronos turns his head to Silver. "Don't worry about me. …I only need to keep her back…long enough for–"

In a flash of golden light, Super Sonic appears, needing less than a second to analyze the situation. At an impossible speed, he jets across the room and into Janice's staff, sending it flying from her hands and ending the attack. Only stopping for a moment, he begins another dash straight into the clock at her core. He crashes straight through the woody figure, leaving a gaping hole where the clock once was.

Janice looks down at the wound. Voice full of irritation, she turns around to face Sonic. "We shall settle this in my realm." Suddenly, the entire form dissolves into dust.

Answering the hedgehogs' unspoken question, Chronos, again weakened by the attack, states, "That was not the true Janice. It was a projection, much like the ones I sent after all of you."

Zero barely acknowledges him, instead staring awestruck at the godlike figure of Super Sonic. Sonic breaks him out of the daze. "Let's finish this." He holds out his hands to the other two hedgehogs. They each put a hand up to one of his, and the other to each other, creating a triangle formation. Slowly, Sonic's golden light begins to transfer into the other two, who similarly begin to float into the air. Silver is his usual white-gold color. Zero turns a deep orange-gold, and his spikes appear to reverse their original angle, now jutting out straight back and then angling almost straight up. The Chaos Emeralds emerge from Sonic, and begin to orbit very slowly around the three golden hedgehogs. "Everyone ready?" The other two nod. "Chaos…"

The two repeat, "Chaos…"

All three finish, "Control!" The seven Emeralds begin to glow brilliantly, until finally, another blood-red rift forms in the center of the hedgehogs. All four of them shout in unison, "The time is now!" One by one, each of them dashes into the rift, and Chronos follows after.

—–—

The Timestream

The place that the hedgehogs arrive in might at first be mistaken for The Void. Besides the crimson light of the rift they came through, blackness lies all around. Occasionally, a single blue streak flashes past, temporarily lighting the area. Chronos speaks. "So long as timelines keep passing by…the universe can still be saved. There is still time independently flowing somewhere." The rift behind them closes, leaving the golden glow of the hedgehogs as the only source of light.

"That is where you are wrong, old man. You won't be saving anything. Your time is up." Another "timeline" streaks by, revealing the massive form of a transformed Janice. Her wings have grown to an incredible size, and have become even more tattered on the edges than Chronos' were. Her arms and upper body have grown large and muscular like the beastly Chonos, but the rest of the body remains proportionately normal. In the clock at her center, the Core Sapphire lies at the middle, with one Temporal Sapphire on each hour notch. She holds a staff in each hand. Within a moment, the light is gone, and Janice is hidden once more.

Sonic floats forward a short distance. "You're wrong. You are a liar, a traitor, and a power-hungry psychopath. Now, you're going to pay for your actions."

Janice's voice seems to emanate from everywhere at once. "Oh? And how do you propose to accomplish that? You no longer have the Sapphires to protect you from temporal powers. And I'm more powerful than ever. I can age each of you into dust just by thinking about it. But I'll tell you what. Get out of the way and let me fight Chronos, and I'll send you back to your ruined timelines. You won't feel a thing. You'll appear there, and then you'll never speak, move, or think ever again. You won't even learn that it's happened to you, because enough time will never pass for you to understand it. Painless."

Chronos speaks. "You know that would hardly be a fight. I can hardly stand in this form for how much damage I've sustained. You would destroy me in an instant."

"Yes, that's the idea. So, Sonic, Silver, Zero, do you accept?"

Now it's Zero's turn. "No. No deals. No exceptions. This is the end of the line."

"I couldn't agree more. This is where you die!" From a new location, a massive beam of blue energy is launched at the hedgehogs, creating a harsh light for just an instant. The hedgehogs are blinded by the sudden light, and shield their eyes. Around them, the seven Emeralds begin to orbit once more, bathing the area in their rainbow-colored light. The beam impacts the barrier created by the Emeralds, and scatters off in all directions. "What!?"

Silver responds, "You have underestimated the power of the Chaos Emeralds. You are not the only one with power here."

"You dare compare your pathetic power to mine!? I shall end you!" Just as Janice throws each of her staves, Sonic bursts forward at light speed. Though the Emeralds can no longer be seen, their colorful light remains. Sonic ducks and dives around the two spinning projectiles. Janice already has two more staves in her hands, and begins rapidly slashing them in succession, creating wave after wave of energy. Sonic skillfully dodges around each of them, but is taken by surprise as he is struck by another thrown staff. He is unharmed, but knocked back slightly, his momentum lost.

Unfazed, Sonic moves forward again, successfully diving around the second staff, and finally dashing straight into Janice's sundial, sending her reeling back, stunned. Next he goes in for a strike on the clock, knocking a Sapphire loose, which he snatches up before being forced away. As soon as he's recovered, he shouts, "Zero, now's your chance to get in close!"

Heeding Sonic's advice, Zero moves in for a close-quarters fight before Janice has a chance compose herself. "You are all fools," she says. "You only prolong your own suffering!" She swings a staff straight at Zero, who dodges out of the way, and goes in for a spinning strike on the clock. He rebounds off and begins the process again, dodging a claw from a massive hand and going in for another strike. The third time around, he is able to get in a series of successive strikes, finally stopping to grab a Sapphire with each hand, which he is able to rip from their places before being flung away like Sonic.

Silver moves forward to replace him. "I'll handle this!" Janice begins sending a flurry of waves at him, which he counters with psychic waves of his own. Next she flings her staves at him, which he catches in his psychic grasp and redirects to collide with her sundial. Then he directs a psychic wave directly at the clock, striking powerfully. He gets a psychic hold on three Sapphires, and rips them out and into his hands.

Without a word, Sonic dashes past Silver, back on a course to Janice. Janice throws, slashes, and now fires her beam at Sonic, but Sonic dodges all of it without a hit. Skipping the sundial, he dashes straight into the clock face, continuing to put power into moving forward after he's already been stopped, beginning to crack the entire clock. He manages to rip out another Sapphire before being forced away.

Now in a rhythm, Zero gets in close and is immediately faced with a beam attack. He barely gets out of the way before he finds a massive claw about to strike him. He shouts in desperation, "Time Control!" For just a moment, the hand stops. It suddenly jerks forward, and then stops again.

Janice demands in outrage, "What sort of trickery is this!? You can't control the time of a Time Lord!" Again her hand jerks closer to its target, the two powers of time clashing against each other.

"I guess I'm not as weak as you thought!" Zero moves in closer for a series of powerful blows to the clock face, widening the small cracks into great fissures. Again he grabs two Sapphires before being knocked away. Only four gems remain: at 10, 11, and 12 o'clock, and one at the core.

Wasting no time, Silver goes on the offensive, sending a flurry of psychic waves directed at Janice. She sweeps each of them out of her way with a staff, which Silver rips from her hand while she is distracted. He flings the staff around strikes the sundial with it. While she is stunned, he takes hold on the final three Sapphires around the clock, and pulls them to his hands.

The three golden hedgehogs meet back up. Each of them release their gathered Sapphires into the air, which begin to orbit around them. Their eyes turn blue a blue aura is added to their golden lights. They turn back to Janice. "This is your last chance."

At first, she doesn't respond. Suddenly, she begins to laugh. "Ah hahahaha! I've already absorbed all of the power I need from those pathetic gems! I still control the Core Sapphire! I have all of the power here!"

"You really don't understand." Sonic chuckles a bit. "You have nothing. Nothing that matters. And you never will, not the way that you are. People like you can never win. And do you know why?"

Zero comes forward to answer the question. "You're all alone. You've never had anyone truly on your side. You've had pawns. Allies, even. But us?"

Silver finishes, "We have friends. We have trust without bounds. And we have more power than just the sum of each of ourselves. You never had a chance."

Almost immediately, Janice resumes her maniacal laughter. "Hahahaha! You think that you have strength in numbers? Well, let me show you just how 'alone' I am!" Just as Chronos did before, Janice begins to move at an impossible speed from place to place, creating multiple images of herself. Not stopping at just three, she continues to jump to every imaginable location from every angle, creating dozens, if not hundreds of duplicates. All of them laugh in unison, "Hahahaha!" Out of the swarm, one Janice is discernable by the Core Sapphire which was not shared with the clones.

The hedgehogs turn to each other and nod in unison. "Let's finish this." As one, the three dash towards the real Janice, one arm each directed forward, coming together as if forming the point of a spear.

The horde of Janices begin their onslaught, sending out waves, beams, and staves from every angle. The hedgehog formation weaves, bobs, and dives, somehow evading every last attack. As they continue to pick up speed, a thick aura of swirling blue and gold forms around the spear shape, nearly concealing the hedgehogs underneath. Passing through one last tangle of beams, the tip of the spear impacts the dead center of the Core Sapphire, and continues to exert force forwards. Janice cries out, "No! NO!" The force of the attack drives the Sapphire through Janice's body and out the other side, completely shattering the clock face. The copies all fade to nothing as the real Janice falls.

Wasting no time, Chronos shouts, "Hurry! You must fix time before it's too late!"

The Core Sapphire floats in place. The three golden hedgehogs orbit around it. The seven Chaos Emeralds and twelve Temporal Sapphires orbit around them, each at a different angle. The trio direct their hands forward, holding them just in front of the Core Sapphire. Sonic begins, "Chaos…"

Silver adds, "Chaos…"

Zero continues, "Chaos…"

"Control!"

A single dot of pure white light appears in the very center of the Sapphire, which begins to expand, ever faster. First it encompasses the gem. Then the hands of the hedgehogs. Then their entire sphere of gems. And finally, the entire Timestream.

—–—

Zero's Vision

Without a lapse in consciousness, the normal Zero opens his eyes, again finding himself in complete blackness. From everywhere at once, a chorus of voices speaking as one declare, "Welcome, Zero."

Zero takes on an odd expression of confusion, fascination, and awe. "Wh…where am I? Who are you?"

The chorus responds, "We are the Lords of Chaos. And we are inside of your own mind."

He is clearly displeased with having his questions so vaguely answered. He stops and thinks for a long moment. "What am I doing here?"

This time, the voices pause. "You mean that question in more ways than one. We have met you here to answer your questions. About yourself. About why you exist."

"You…you really do know the answer, don't you? Please…please tell me. I must know. What am I?"

"You already know much of the story for yourself. But it began when we brought about the creation of the Chaos Emeralds. It is the greatest mistake that we have ever made."

"Are you saying that I'm a mistake?"

"No. The Emeralds were the mistake. You have seen what their presence has done to your world." Suddenly, Zero appears to be surrounded by a hazy image of the city which he calls home, ruined and covered in ash. "But some of your world understood. Understood that they were not ready for this sort of power. And they observed something else. Natural life reacted to the gems in a way that the humans could not understand. Animals would draw near to them, try to protect them. It was decided that this was to be studied. If they could only figure out how the Emeralds drew animals to peace as the humans grew closer to war, then they might avoid their own destruction. Traditional research brought no conclusive results. Until a radical scientist proposed a radical idea."

"Robotnik."

"Correct. Robotnik proposed to create an entire new intelligent species. Or many. His first experiments were failures. Until he acquired a Chaos Emerald of his own. The unstable DNA of his creations could then be held together by Chaos Energy. He chose a simple hedgehog, a small, spiny, four-legged mammal, as the most viable subject. And so, you came to consciousness as the being you are now."

"So that's all I am? Some freak experiment?"

"No. You are so much more. You are something that has never existed before. Something perfect."

"Perfect?"

"Chaos is the natural order of the universe. That is why the simple animals behaved the way they did. And you, Zero, are more closely connected to Chaos than anything that has ever existed within your universe. And now, you have done something we didn't think possible. You have allowed us to communicate. No longer must we watch your world and hope things occur the way we wish them to. Your existence allows us to have a real effect. Your existence allows us to matter."

"What does this all mean for me? What do you expect me to do?"

"That is a question for you to answer. You live alone in a ruined world. What you are to do is anything you can to make that better."

For a long time, Zero goes silent, pondering all that he has been told. Finally, he speaks again. "What…what does that make you? What is your purpose? Are you mortal? Do you even exist?"

"We will explain all. But first, there is someone who wishes to speak with you."

Out of the still-lingering image of the Fallout Zone, a figure steps, unmistakably Chronos himself. "It is an honor to finally meet with you again, wise ones."

The voices respond, "The honor is ours, Chronos. How does eternity treat you?"

Chronos jokes back, "Well, it's as long as ever." He turns to face Zero. "But I came here to speak with you. You see…without Janice, I am in need of a new apprentice. The way you manipulated the power of the Sapphires out there, the way you controlled time…it was beyond anything that should be possible for a mortal."

The voices interject, "This is no ordinary mortal."

"Of course. I understand that, now that I have witnessed it firsthand. Zero, I want you to become my new apprentice. I shall make you immortal, and you shall oversee time with me for all eternity. What say you?"

Zero is taken speechless by the offer. "Uh–…I…" He looks upward in a hope for advice.

"The choice is entirely yours. You can do good no matter where you go."

He starts to look around at the foggy, ash-covered streets. "I…I'm humbled by your offer. But I refuse. I have my own world to fix. In my own time. And besides…I have a funny feeling…" Another figure appears out of the fog crumpled on the ground. Slowly, it begins to rise. It is none other than Janice.

"I…I…" She seems almost unable to speak. She doesn't look directly at anyone.

Chronos mutters with contempt, "What is she doing in my presence?"

The voices answer, "Zero, this is your mind. With your thoughts, and our power, Janice was brought here. Now, explain what it is that you have in mind."

Zero looks to Janice. "Go on then. Tell him."

"I…I…"

"I said tell him!"

In involuntary fear, she cries back, "I'm sorry, I will!" Slowly, she turns to face Chronos, but still stares at her own feet. "G…great and mighty Lord Chronos, I…I humbly–"

"Out with it already!"

Shuddering, almost sobbing, she stutters out, "I'm s-s-sorry. I-I-I was wr-wr-wrong. I…I beg for your forgiveness, my lord!"

Chronos looks from Janice to Zero. "What sort of joke is this?"

To test a theory, Zero suddenly stomps his foot forward and lifts an arm as if to prepare a strike, and Janice involuntarily flinches in fear. He looks back to Chronos. "See how she fears me? There is no joke. She has been humbled. She wishes for her old position back, and I'm certain she's willing to do anything you ask to get it."

Chronos looks back to Janice. "Is this true?"

"…Only if you would have me, my lord."

All is silent. Chronos looks up to the voices, forwards to Zero and back to Janice. Finally, he speaks, "…You will return with me to the Timestream. We shall see if I decide to grant you any further mercies."

"Oh, thank you, my lord, you are kind, you are wise, you–"

"That's enough." He looks again to Zero. "You never cease to impress me, mortal. I would never have given Janice a second thought. You are strong, and you are merciful. I'll be sure to keep an eye on your timeline."

"Goodbye, Chronos." With that, Chronos and Janice turn around, and fade back into the hazy image around them. Zero looks back up to the air. "Now…tell me everything."

—–—

Silver's Vision

Overwhelmed by the intense power around him, Silver drops to his knees. "The Lords of Chaos… You do exist…"

The voices respond, "Rise, Silver. We are not gods. You shall not bow to us."

Unsteadily, Silver rises once more. "I…I have so many questions… Where do I begin?"

"That is up to you."

He takes a deep breath. "How…no. Why…no, that's not it either. What…what…oh, I don't know! I always thought I knew so little, but now I'm here able to ask any question imaginable, I can't think of a single one!"

"Patience, young one. You do not need rush. Think. What do you want to know more than anything?"

Silver begins to think back. Finally, he comes to a certain question. "Why am I the final Controller? Why do I have to destroy the Chaos Emeralds?"

The voices are silent for a moment. Finally, "You have asked a question which we cannot answer."

"What? Why not?"

"We are not Chronos. We have seen all, but we do not see all to come. We are aware of possibilities, events of extreme Chaos which may come, but not in any certain manner. We experience time in a similar manner to yourself. Thousands of years ago, we met with Zero, the first Controller, in this same manner, even though he, at that time, shared the same last memory that you do now. We have long expected this day to come. If there is anything else that you have to ask, we shall do our best to answer."

Silver is stumped once more. He thinks back further. "I…I was never meant to meet Sonic and Zero, was I?"

"That depends on your point of view. If it helps your sense of logic to think in that way, then no, you were not."

"So…does that mean that I was supposed to be alone? To live a solitary life of protecting the Balance?"

"…You may not want to know the answer to that question."

"What? What do you mean by that?"

"To know what has been…what could have been…it may change the course of your life."

Silver thinks on this for a while. "I have to know."

"You, Silver, were a constant in the infinite possible events that led to your time. Not all of these timelines were so utopic as yours. In fact, a majority of them were not. Only in these timelines of ruin and destruction, there was another constant. A companion of yours. You would have known her as Blaze." In front of Silver, a hazy image appears of a cat with light-purple fur, with a red gem embedded in her forehead.

"Blaze…" Silver vaguely recalls the name that Sonic had said to him. "Not only did Sonic know me…he knew about her too. Which means…I must have gone back in time from one of these ruined futures with Blaze…and fixed the future…into how I know it. A future where Blaze no longer exists. She ended her own existence, and I never would have known."

"That statement is even more true than you realize. Do you now understand why we were so hesitant?"

"Yes…I suppose I do. But that does not matter now." He pulls out the locket that Zero found for him, and opens it. It is still empty on the inside. "I think I've figured out what I want to put in here. Can you help me with that?"

"Indeed, we can."

"Good. Then there is just one more thing."

—–—

Sonic's Vision

"What does that mean? What are 'Lords of Chaos'?"

"The answer to such a question is not easily comprehensible. We do not exist within your universe as you understand it. We are outside. We have no contact with your universe without one such as yourself to speak through. Even then we can only speak to you now by your contact with so much Chaos Energy at once."

"So…what do you do, then?"

"We do many things. Long ago, we brought about the creation of the Chaos Emeralds. Just now, we altered your…rather sloppy Chaos Control."

"Altered it?"

"Yes. What you attempted to do would have closed all of the rifts in all time periods, preventing any of your travels through time from ever having occurred. That would be a problem. Just think of all that you and your friends have learned on this journey. All of that would have been lost. But through your attempt to alter reality, we were able to optimally reshape it. As far as history is concerned, all of your travels happened. But there were never any rifts. Just you three, on a mission which you would not specify. But those are all just our abilities. Our purpose…is to protect the Balance."

"Balance, what Balance?"

"The Balance of Chaos."

"I still don't understand, what does that mean?"

"It would seem that you still have much to discover. We shall try to make this as simple as possible. Chaos Energy, the source of the power of the Chaos Emeralds, exists in the form of the imbalance of opposites."

"Imbalance? How do ratios define energy?"

"Perhaps you may think of it as similar to electric charge. Every molecule of matter that exists in your universe is filled with countless protons and electrons, which you would never notice in your everyday life. That is because the positive and negative charges are in balance, negating each other. You only recognize an object as having charge and energy if there is an imbalance in these charges, if there is more negative than positive charge, or more positive than negative. The Balance of Chaos is not exactly the same, but the principle is similar. In everything, there is some Light, and some Darkness. This is the natural order of the universe. Everything seeks balance. Living organisms seek homeostasis, equal input and output, equal Light and Darkness. But just as an organism cannot truly reach homeostasis in its lifetime, the universe as a whole cannot naturally reach a state of True Chaos; a perfect Balance. It is more akin to a war. One side constantly seeking to overtake the other, always overcompensating, forcing the other side to retaliate in the same way. Our task, our reason for existing, is to bring the universe closer to True Chaos. Do you understand?"

Sonic stops to think about that. "I sure wish Tails were here. He'd understand."

"For now, you only need have a general idea to carry out your duty as Controller."

"There's that other buzzword again. You say that I am The Controller. What does that mean?"

"You, Silver, Zero, each of you are a Controller of Chaos."

"So…does that just mean that we can use Chaos Control?"

"Not necessarily. There is another friend of yours." A hazy image of Shadow the Hedgehog appears before him. "This one can use Chaos Control. But he is not a Controller. Zero was the first Controller. Chaos Energy was built into his very DNA. Eventually, Zero grew old, and died. It is a fact of life. But that connection to Chaos did not die with him. We did not allow it. His power was far too vital to the restoration of the Balance. We willed it to a new life form, who grew up, learned of that power, and eventually died as well. So the pattern has continued for thousands of years, until finally it has reached you."

"So…I have a part of Zero inside of me?"

"In a manner of speaking."

"I am this Controller, then. What does that mean for me? Are you saying that I have to be a slave to this Balance, just because you said so?"

"Not at all. As of yet, you have done your job magnificently. The one you know as Eggman…he is the threat to the Balance which you are faced with. You would never allow him to drag the world into Darkness. As Controller, that is the very definition of your job. All you are expected to do is live your life the way you always have. But now that you are informed, you can do it all better."

Sonic thinks about this for a long time. "It all makes such perfect sense. I have the ability to protect the world. So I should be the one to do it. I always did it…just because it felt right. And this is why. This is why I can do things that other people can't. This is why the Chaos Emeralds always appear where I need them most. This is why…just holding a Chaos Emerald feels so…right."

"Do you have any further questions?"

"Just one. You created the Chaos Emeralds. But what are they?"

"To fully answer such a question would take far too long. But we can say this. The crystalline structure of such gemstones are the only way in which something from our realm can exist within yours. To help lead towards the Balance of the universe, we took seven aspects of our own realm, condensed them into Emeralds of yours."

"Aspects?"

"There is no more specific way to explain it that you could possibly understand."

"I…I guess that's all, then. Do I just…leave, now?"

A new voice answers, "Not before I've had a word with you." From out of the darkness emerges Silver.

"Silver? What're you doing inside my head!?"

"The Lords of Chaos sent me here. Well, the future ones, anyways." He looks upwards. "They send their regards, by the way." The present Lords of Chaos don't answer. Silver looks back to Sonic. "I've figured it all out. How you already knew me when we first met. I know who Blaze is. She is a forgotten relic of an ended timeline."

"You really know all that? I…I wasn't even sure that it actually happened."

"And I've realized something else. I don't want to end up like Blaze. At any time, for any reason, my timeline could cease to exist. And my entire life will be forgotten, just like hers was. I don't want that to happen to me. That is why I'm giving you this." Silver drops his locket into Sonic's hands. "This used to be mine, and Zero found it for me. Now, I'm giving it to you. It ties us all together." Sonic begins to examine it carefully. He tries to open it, to no avail. "That won't work. It only opens to my psychic signature."

"Only you can open it? The what's the point of giving it to me?"

"There's something very special in there. But if you want to see it, I guess that just means we'll have to meet again someday."

Sonic smiles, understanding the meaning of the act. "You can count on it."

Silver sighs. "I'll be leaving now, then. Sonic…don't forget about me. Not this time." With that, he turns, and fades back into the darkness.

The voices again speak to Sonic. "Are you ready to leave?"

Sonic nods. "I am." Sonic himself seems to shrink away into nothingness as he leaves the realm of his own mind.

—–—

Epilogue

Sonic wakes up with a start, panting. Tails immediately looks over at him from a desk he sits at. "Sonic, you're awake!"

Sonic sits upright in Tails' bed, holding his head in disorientation. "I…I was asleep?"

"I was starting to get really worried. I found you passed out right outside."

"Could…could it all have been a dream?" "But…what about the rifts?"

"Rifts? What rifts?"

Sonic looks out the window next to him. Everything is clear and sunny outside, with nothing out of the ordinary but a few piles of dirty snow. "Oh…it's nothing."

"Sonic, what happened? Are you feeling alright? Something seems…different about you."

Rather than answer, Sonic starts to stand up. Something clatters to the ground. He bends down to pick it up. It's Silver's locket. Silver's voice echoes in his mind, "Don't forget about me. Not this time."

"What's that?"

"Oh, this?" Sonic stares at the locket for a little while. "It's just something that a friend gave me." He sets it down on the desk.

"Oh, by the way…" Tails pulls out a small black communicator. "I found this thing in your ear. I must say, it's a really incredible piece of technology. I couldn't have built it any better myself. If I can make more of these, it could really change the future of long-distance communication. Where did you get it?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you. A lot of things happened to me, Tails. Not all of it makes sense. But…I have changed. For the better. I understand…the world. I understand myself. And it's time that I make some changes to my life. Set my priorities straight." He looks back out the window at the dirty snow. "Sorry our snow day didn't work out too well…"

Tails smiles. "That's alright. You know, I'd prefer a warm, sunny day at the beach anyways."

Sonic chuckles. "As long as there's no swimming, I can agree with that."

They both laugh. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Sounds like a plan, then. This summer, we're having a beach day. No exceptions."

"It's a deal!" Sonic moves to walk outside, and Tails follows him out. Silver's locket still lies on the desk. It is seen more and more closely, until nothing else can be. The top of it fades away, revealing a photograph on the inside. Silver stands, flanked on either side by Sonic and Zero, arms wrapped around each other's shoulders, laughing and enjoying what they thought would be their last moments together.

The end of one tale…

And the beginning of another.