Chapter 22
Time's End Part 1
A Child of fate…
A seed of destiny…
A twin-tailed hero…
A noble soul…
Two star crossed lovers…
Torn apart by fate…
The time portal was unlike the previous ones, this one seemed…emptier.
Where the others had swirling colors and odd, seemingly impossible shapes, this one was pure white. Nothing within it but them.
If they hadn't felt the odd sense of momentum, they wouldn't even know if they were actually going anywhere.
Yet here they were: Miles "Tails" Prower and Cosmo the Seedrian, moving through time towards a mechanical duplicate of Mobius' greatest hero. A duplicate that had now become nigh omniscient and was close to controlling time itself. To say they were nervous was an understatement, they had no assurances regarding the coming battles outcome and while they both had that coveted sense of determination and hope, they weren't about to get careless, not now.
So they held each others hands tight. They kept each other close as they flew through the void towards they future. Would that future be the one they had both dreamed of? A peaceful future they could share together in joy and happiness? Or would it be dark, miserable future forged by the cold, metal hands of a twisted, evil machine where they'd either be enslaved or dead? Though these uncertainties poked at them from the back of their minds, they remained steadfast in their shared hope and conviction. Death itself hadn't been able to separate them forever, and neither will this enemy, this "Meta Sonic".
As they flew, they felt an unseen shift in the void around them.
"We're here" Tails said aloud.
They white gave way to growing hole directly in front of them. Passing through, they retained the same weightlessness that space and the void had given them. Their eyes grew wide at what they beheld.
All around them was a grand realm littered with what, at first, resembled star. Upon closer inspection however, they realized these were not stars, but seemingly time pockets. Theses spheres and specks were all aligned with the organized line stretching all around the realm and seemingly going on forever. The spheres were aligned but only some of them seemed to have an odd line of energy connecting them. Some lines were red, others a deep purple, but all of them glowed brightly. Some had there lines smooth and straight, while others were jagged and seemed about to fizz out. Beyond these spheres however, there appeared to be a "background" made up of swirling colors and faintly, one could see the image of a line of numbers swirling and spiraling around it, seeming to get closer and closer but never actually passing them.
Their eyes were then drawn to the "center" of the realm. Tails and Cosmo gasped.
Meta Sonic had changed since they last saw him, his irises were now a pure white, and they could faintly make out hourglasses in his "pupils". his body, where it had originally been blue, was now a dark lavender color, his arrows now resembled the hands of a clock, and his center, the cannon, was now containing an odd multicolored energy. His wrists and shins now had links circling them that resembled gears, and finally there was the fact his body seemed to be glowing, the area around him seeming to waver and distort.
He sat on a large throne that, while simple in design, also seemed to be made of that strange multicolored energy. There were large tubes protruding from the throne and stretching out into the void containing the realm, each somehow appearing to plunge into said void and glowing a hot white.
Tails and Cosmo glared at the monster before them, while he simply stared back, his head leaned onto his right hand.
"Welcome my hated foes. Are you enjoying the sights?" he spoke calmly, though his words were tainted with clear malice.
"Where are we? What have you done?" Tails asked
"This fox, is the center of time itself as it exists in our universe, where all the individual timelines that are tied to this universe intersect though never interact. The realm known as "Time's End". and where is shall rewrite it all"
"Don't! there's no telling how much damage you will cause! Our timeline is already suffering horribly because of you! You could erase us all!" Cosmo called out.
"Perhaps if I were a pathetic organic I could, but I am not. I am superior, I am the fullest potential of our universe!"
Tails stepped forward
"Enough! I don't care about your stupid quest to become "Superior"! you've threatened us, nearly killed us, and now you could destabilize all of time! The timelines weren't meant to be tampered with this way!"
The robot chuckled.
"Come now Miles, you are a scientist, surely you've wondered at the possibilities time travel can bring? Or the time stones? You must have wondered such when you were crying yourself to sleep night after night for your lost love"
"That doesn't matter, I can't change the past. What happened, happened. I've accepted that and Cosmo is here with me again. The past won't affect me anymore" Tails rebuked, holding Cosmo close who smiled at him.
"Oh but I can change the past. And while you played with my Meta Kings, I have, quite literally, had all the time in the world to think and observe the other timelines. You'd be fascinated by how things played out in some of them, how your individual counterparts did things or lived. And while I was looking into the vast realm of possibility, I finally solved a mystery that had plagued me since I first merged with that metarex technology"
Tails and Cosmo hesitated for a moment, neither sure if they should ask.
"What mystery?" Tails finally asked
Slamming his fist down on he arm of his throne, the robot replied.
"The mystery if its apparent influence on me! I suppressed the metarex A.I. within it yet it still seemed to influence me. I started out with the greatest focus of my hatred being Sonic, then it became you! You and Cosmo! One humiliation should not have caused my hatred of you to completely eclipse my hatred of him! And for some reason I kept referring to Cosmo as "White Seed"! I feared I would be hindered by this apparent imbalance, so while you where dealing with Neo, I finally managed to purge the A.I. from myself"
He let a pause linger, his glare becoming more intense before he spoke again.
"But the problem persisted! I still seemed to be plagued by this insufferable influence! I tried to reel in my scattered focus by focusing on my manipulation of time and my nearing ascension. Then while I was sifting through the collective time stream, I deduced the answer."
He stood from his throne, slowing stepping down from it a few steps and floating the rest of the way.
"The A.I. was never the source of the problem! There was some other force, whispering to me from beyond time and space! Something else was causing this so that I would do all this, reach this point. It became so clear! The A.I. didn't simply reactivate itself and merge with me, I didn't simply come to the idea of controlling time, I didn't focus on you simply because you humiliated me in one battle, and I didn't ensure that only you two made it hear simply because I wanted to crush you first!"
He came to a stop a few feet away, though he was still floating and beginning to glow brighter.
"This has all been the result of a whisper through time and space! I have been chosen to ascend to become the master of this universe! I don't know who or what called to me, but it doesn't matter! Soon I will be all knowing and all powerful! The dawn of the Metal Universe has begun!"
Tails and Cosmo stared at the power mad enemy before them, both sharing the same thought.
"He's gone completely insane!"
Tails spoke first. "You really believe that? All that manipulating time and power must have fried your circuits! You're just another power mad lunatic Meta!"
"Whether you believe it or not makes no difference to me Miles. And I have finally grown beyond that name as well, I am "Meta" no more!"
Tails groaned audibly.
"Seriously? You really can't decide on one name can you?"
"Oh you needn't worry about that anymore. I have finally reached my final stage, my final name: I am Chrono Sonic!"
The two began to feel a strange shift in the void around them.
Chrono glared at them menacingly and raised his arms above his head.
"And I am the Cosmic Overlord"
At that moment, a large slithering form began to burst out from the void, seeming to come from nowhere, it's large, serpentine head glowing brightly with the multicolored aura Chrono had, albeit a darker shade. It spiraled around the area before it seemed to lunge towards part of the line of timelines.
"Watch as the extension of my will begins to devour the timelines, one after another until only this one remains!" Chrono cackled madly.
From the void, more massive serpentine heads resembling the first one came roaring out, each lunging towards another part of the time stream and consuming timelines. More and more emerged, until there seemed to be hundreds.
The area that made up Time's End began to flicker and waver, as though it was ceasing to exist.
"You should feel privileged" Chrono Sonic spoke "you are bearing witness to the end of the old timelines and the birth of my single. Perfect. NEW ONE!"
Another large head of the Cosmic Overlord emerged and snapped Chrono up in its jaws as it spiraled upwards, though the increased glow in its eyes indicated he had not perished and had intended it to do so.
Tails and Cosmo were rendered motionless in shock, neither had expected something like this.
The head that had snatched up Chrono gazed down at them seeming to observe them a moment.
Before they could react, the massive head lunge towards them, neither even having time to scream before they were swallowed by the glowing creature.
Callin' you
Calling out your name in a sad night
Callin' you
That will be the key to break the enchantment of the world
Tails slowly opened his eyes, Cosmo doing the same. They were holding each other tightly, neither sure of what had happened to them. Looking around, they once again found themselves in a large white void. This one however, had the distinction of one small detail.
The large, lush hill off in the distance, surrounded by trees that were each adorned with a different color of leaves.
"What happened Tails? Are we…" Cosmo began, though finding herself unable to finish.
"We're not dead but.. I don't know where we are...we'll just have to go to that hill and find out"
Quickly picking Cosmo up in his arms, Tails spun his namesakes and began heading towards the hill.
As they flew towards the hill, Tails and Cosmo caught the faintest whispers coming from all around.
"Tails, do you hear that?" Cosmo asked
Tails nodded "Yeah, it's strange, but I don't see anyone around here yet they sound so familiar"
The voices continued as they grew closer and closer to the hill.
"Cosmo…"
"Sister…"
Cosmo's eyes widened
"M-mother? Galaxina?"
Cosmo looked around frantically but still couldn't see any sign of her mother or sister.
"Where are you!? I can't see you!" she cried out.
Tails would have offered some words of comfort, but he himself was being assaulted with whispers from the past.
"Freak!"
"Nerd!"
"Nobody wants you!"
"I'm Sonic! What's your name?"
Tails narrowed his eyes in understanding.
"I know what this is"
Cosmo looked up to him "What do you mean?"
"These voices aren't really here, their our memories. Wherever we are must be drawing them out"
Cosmo said nothing, merely lowering her head, though Tails could pick up the softest whisper of lamentation for her mother and sister.
Finally, they reached the hilltop and once they reached to top, they looked around themselves at the multicolored trees surrounding it.
Each one was the distinct color of the time stones albeit a darker shade. The trunks seemed to pulse with this malevolent energy, one that seemed suffocating to the two, yet also eerily familiar. It wasn't Chrono's energy, but they couldn't shake the feeling they recognized it from somewhere.
"These trees.." Cosmo began "they seem so…sad…angry…and hateful"
"Whatever Chrono has done to them, it must be causing them excruciating pain. He's probably feeding off of that" Tails replied as he went to touch the trunk of one of the trees, only to quickly pull his hand back as a spark of glowing purple energy lashed out at him.
"That's..that's horrible! Why do this to trees?"
"Because I made them"
Chrono stepped out of the trunk of the blue tree, walking causally forward, his eyes fixated on Tails and Cosmo.
"I made these trees, I made HERE. This is all that remains in this timeline, of all timelines. Everything you see before you is all that exists."
Tails and Cosmo's eyes widened. It couldn't be.
"Yes, As the Cosmic Overlord I consumed all other timelines, both for this reality and Earth's. now I begin making my timeline, my perfect metal universe!"
Cosmo spoke in nearly a whisper "B-but then, the voices we heard…the memories."
"Were the voices of those you knew as they faded from existence along with the old timeline, yes Cosmo, they are gone." Chrono confirmed coldly.
Cosmo's eyes began to tear up, bringing her hands up to cover her face, she fell to her knees as she began sobbing hysterically.
"N-no! It can't be true! M-mother! Galaxina! Everyone! They're all gone!"
As his Cosmo sobbed, Tails stood next to her, unsure of what to say and battling with his own emotions as well. He stood there staring at the ground trembling with a mixture of emotions. Everyone was gone. Sonic, Knuckles, Amy, Cream and Cheese, Vanilla, the Chaotix, and Cosmo's family. Chrono had erased them all. Their home, their world, their universe, even Chris and Earth along with it's reality were gone! All because of this insane power mad robot Sonic in front of them!
Tails' grief and sorrow quickly turned to burning rage, as his lifted his head to glare at Chrono while still hearing the sorrowful sobs of his beloved.
Chrono tilted his head to the side mockingly.
"Oh, what's the matter Miles? Don't you like what I've done with our imperfect timeline? Granted, I haven't finished remaking it, but once I do it will be perfect. Perfect."
Tails gritted his teeth as he clenched his fists in anger. "You erased them. All of them! You monstrous, heartless, bastard!"
"My my such language, do you really believe yourself capable of besting me now? It's to late Miles. You've lost."
Tails stepped forward, Cosmo looking to him, silently begging him not to do anything careless.
Unfortunately for her, Tails had become overcome with rage as he raced towards Chrono, who merely disappeared and reappeared once the fox had passed by. Catching the stumbling fox by his namesakes, Chrono sent a burst of energy through Tails' body that sent ripples of pain throughout his body.
"aaaaaaaahhhhh!" Tails screamed
As Chrono glared as the fox, he began to laugh.
"You still don't realize your place do you? You are beneath me fox, you and your plant. I am unstoppable, I control time itself! You can never harm me!"
As Tails cried out in pain once more, Cosmo stood up and attempted to draw on the surrounding plant life, hoping to use the same method of attack she'd used on Chrono when he went super. To her shock however, rather than feel a pull as the plant life connected with her, she instead felt a push. The plant life was rejecting her! Cosmo stared at the trees in disbelief.
"H-how!? I-I don't understand!" she asked aloud
She heard Chrono laugh, and looked back at him to find him looking at her in an amused way.
"I already told you: I MADE those trees, everything here is of my making. You cannot draw on them or command them because my dark energy pulses through them."
Chrono raised his hand, a ball of swirling colors crackling with power forming in his palm.
"You are as helpless now as you were before, you cannot save your beloved fox. And as I promised him, he will be forced to watch you die by my hand before I finally end his life."
The energy ball in his hand grew larger and larger, though rather than grow brighter, instead it became darker and darker, Chrono's own white irises seeming to glow brighter instead.
Cosmo could not move, she was unsure of anything she could do. She was agile yes, but she didn't had the necessary speed to dodge something like that. She couldn't call on the plant life to shield her, and she had no other abilities that would help. She was completely defenseless.
"Tails…I'm sorry" Cosmo spoke, looking into her distraught lovers eyes.
Even through the pain, Tails could see what was happening, see Chrono about to kill the one he loved, see that she would not be able to defend herself.
He could see he was about to lose her again.
"COSMO!" he cried out.
Fighting the pain, excruciating though it was, Tails pulled his right arm back to strike Chrono in the head while simultaneously pulling his left leg back to kick at his arm and hopefully cause him to miss.
His fist actually collided with Chrono's head, though the robot didn't even flinch, however when his leg neared Chrono's arm, the robot dismissed the ball of energy and grabbed Tails' leg. pulling him up over his head, Chrono them tossed Tails forwards with a great amount of force.
Tails impacted the ground on his side, coming to a stop right at Cosmo's feet who quickly knelt down to tend to him.
"Tails..I'm so sorry. I wish I could do something to help you. I wish I was stronger..I-"
Tails held his hand up to Cosmo's face and gently wiped the tears from her eyes, smiling lovingly.
"Cosmo..don't apologize. This isn't you fault. And you've done plenty, you came back. You made me happy again. I was lost without you, and having you back gave my life meaning again. You're more than I deserve, but I'm so happy to be loved by you."
Cosmo, still tearing up, smiled back.
"Tails, you wonderful, loving fox. You've done so much for me too. You gave me confidence in myself, you believed in me when I didn't even believe in myself. You fought to protect me and even refused to remove the spy chip from my brain so I wouldn't lose my sight or hearing. Even when I was at my worst, you still insisted I stay even though I was an unwilling spy. You waited for me when you had no reason to, and when I returned you gave a home, love, and a new sense of purpose. I love you"
Still smiling, Tails replied "I love you too Cosmo"
"hmmm"
The two looked back at Chrono to see he had been patiently waiting and watching them.
"How poetic, how sentimental and sweet"
He raised his arm up again.
"The perfect last words between two star crossed lovers"
As the energy in his hand began to form and grow once more, Tails and Cosmo held each other close, keeping their eyes fixed on each other so they wouldn't see their end and so the last thing they see before the end would be each other.
Out of the corner of her eye however, Cosmo spotted a strange small case just beside Tails' namesakes.
"Tails what's this?" she asked as she picked it up and showed it to him.
Tails stared at the case "The nanocase…Eggman gave it to me before he was left behind"
Tails reach for the case and opened it, his and Cosmo's eyes widening at its glowing contents as they both gasped.
"I don't believe it…" Tails whispered.
Chrono laughed triumphantly as he finished charging the ball of energy.
"The time has come for the last mobian and the last seedrian to perish and be erased! Organics have no place in My universe! This is the end for the last of the old timeline, the old universe!"
Chrono glared at his enemies who seemed to be distracted.
"Yes! Avoid gazing at your end! Give up and accept your fate!"
With triumphant, mad glee, Chrono hurled the energy forward, cackling as it headed right for its target. Tails and Cosmo both closed their eyes moments before impact.
The blast shook the ground for miles and caused the twisted trees surrounding the hill to shake and sway, all while Chrono's mad laughter could be heard.
Chrono quickly stopped however, when he felt and large glowing energy ball slam into his torso, pushing him back slightly.
"WHAT!?" he screeched in surprise
There before him, as the smoke cleared was a large yellow barrier, and he could see Cosmo standing behind it with a smile on her face. Before her, Chrono could see to fiery eyes with red glowing irises. The more the smoke cleared the more he could see the golden fiery aura emanating form the fox. As the horror of what he was seeing began to set in, Chrono caught a glimpse of something to the left of the fox's feet. A strange case, which he recognized from his creators files as a nanocase, now the case had grown to normal size to allow its contents to be collected. And much to his horror, he saw seven, emerald shaped slots.
"You underestimated us again Chrono, and just like last time it means you lose"
Looking back up to face the glowing fox who had just spoken to him, Chrono found himself strangely at a loss for words for a moment before he spoke.
"HOW!? I ERASED THE EMERALDS! I SHATTERED TO MASTER EMERALD PERMANENTLY! HOW COULD YOU HAVE THEM!?" he screamed.
Cosmo answered "But you didn't erase us, nor did you erase Dr. Eggman before he gave Tails the case. While we existed, so too did the things we had with us"
Chrono seethed, this couldn't be happening. How had he made such a terrible oversight? Again!? how had he underestimated his enemies? Again!? and now, at the moment of his final triumph, his vision and victory was close to being undone. Though he had the power of time itself within him, he could not utilize it in the highest sense. This was one reason he had attempted to end them with a direct blast rather than simply erase them. He couldn't. and the Cosmic Overlord had taken to much power to produce, now that there was only one timeline he no longer had such a vast amount of Chrono energy to use to make it appear again.
He was drawn from his thoughts of disbelief when he hear the fox speak again.
"You always made this mistake, face it Chrono: it was never Dr. Eggman who made you fail against us, it was you. Always you."
Chrono glared back. All that planning and power, and he had failed to account for the emeralds, or this wretched fox's ability to use them. None of his bio data even suggested he could!
And yet, here he was before him: Miles "Tails" Prower had achieved a super form. All the magnificence, power, and fiery determination of a super form made manifest in the kitsune standing in defense of the one he loves, Cosmo looking to him with wonder at his form and pride in him for achieving it.
And those fiery eyes were fixed on Chrono with an angry glare.
"Let me show you what I'm made of" Super Tails spoke.
Yes indeed! Tails has gone super! The contents of the case have been revealed and now we have a super powered fox vs a chrono energy powered robot overlord. Just one more chapter left and then an epilogue. See ya!