It is 4:20PM on September 7th and I am rewatching the Steven Universe movie. Here we are in the future, ladies and gents! Well, Steven's doing good enjoying his happily ever after but there's no time for fun and games like that, we have a war to get to. You know what they say, "None of this is good, Vector. That's why it's called war…" And I'm not really sure where I'm going with this AN. Some of you may notice that yeah, I'm starting pretty late starting this chapter. Well, I usually take a week off after each chapter (unless it's short) and then I had exams so that's fun. But I'm here and ready to knock this chapter out of the park.
But before that I forgot to say the last chapter but with the sky boss fight, it took everything in me not to call them Long Bois as the fandom so lovingly dubbed them. But yeah!
So are you guys ready to storm the Death Egg with the Classic Trio? I sure am, so let's begin!

Trials of War- A Sonic Forces Rewrite
Chapter 20
Self Reflection

"This is a problem…" Eggman frowned as Infinite gave him the details of what had just occurred.

Tails, Omega and the younger Sonic the Hedgehog had appeared in the skies and had been heading for the Death Egg.

The Doctor wrung his hands together atop his office desk, allowing his thoughts to gather.

In his typical fashion, Tails had outsmarted, outwitted and outfoxed his greatest weapon and with another Sonic on the scene with him, it was no wonder that the three of them were able to catch Infinite off guard.

How did Tails find his spirits so quickly as to be able to fend off Infinite? What happened to the sniveling child that he had encountered in Green Hill that needed an even smaller child for him to even find his way? What had changed?

Sonic the Hedgehog had always been a threat to him. He had been the one to dismantle each and every one of his plans with that stupid looking grin on his face each and every time and even if the younger Sonic wasn't nearly as strong he was problem.

But Tails… Tails was something else that he needed to worry about. There wasn't a single being on the planet that could rival his intellect, human or Mobian. No one that even came close. No one at all… except for Miles Prower. He had been a mere child when he first met him, even younger than Sonic and he always seemed to be able to figure him out. As a child, he brushed this off as dumb luck, the mere musings of a child who didn't know what he was talking about.

But as time progressed, he knew he was dealing with a mind that just barely breeched into his own league and while he enjoyed the challenge and enjoyed one upping Tails where he could, he knew that he could become an incredible problem if left unchecked. But with him out of the world for his reign, it made things even easier without Sonic.

And if he was back, and able to outsmart Infinite then…

"Master…?" Infinite intruded, breaking the Doctor out of his thoughts and looking to the holographic projection of the being before him. "Should I pursue them?"

"Isn't it obvious?!" Eggman shouted. "I want you to-"

And then he stopped, the holographic image showed an incoming call from Starline in the corner.

Eggman stopped what he was doing and eyed the icon of his new protégé.

"Master?" Infinite asked again.

"Hold off on the attack, Infinite. I want you to continue your patrol. See what you can find."

Infinite nodded. "Yes, master."

And with that, he hung up and disappeared.

And in his place appeared the grinning form of Doctor Starline.

"Greetings, my benevolent emperor!" He chirped.

Eggman couldn't help but smile. "Well hello, Doctor Starline. How are you doing this fine evening?"

"Quite pleasant, doctor!" Starline replied. "And I trust that you are having a wonderful evening as well?"

"Hit a bit of snag, but for all intents and purposes I am doing well."

"Well, whatever snag you may have hit, I am sure that it is no match for the might of Emperor Eggman!" The Platypus beamed.

"You're darn right it's not." Eggman couldn't help but smirk.

At that, Starline clapped his hands. "I would like to confirm the completion of my task you gave me, Doctor. Each and every one of the 623 prisoners are present and accounted for!"

"Ah, excellent." Eggman smiled. "I'm glad that you were able to take care of that."

"Oh yes, it was but a pleasure, Doctor." Starline smiled, proceeding to do an over the top bow in the process. "Oh, you should've seen the looks on their faces when I talked to them. Why Prisoner X11 was absolutely furious with me, it was delightful."

Eggman couldn't help but laugh at this. "Well, I'm glad you're having fun. There's nothing quite like torturing some prisoners to brighten up one's day."

"Oh yes, sir!" Starline eagerly clapped his hands.

"Well, I must applaud you for a job well done, my friend." Eggman mirrored him.

"Oh thank you, your lordship! Your praise is the greatest reward I could ever receive! Now is there anything else that you would like of me before I make my return to the surface?"

Eggman nodded. "Yes, there's-"

And he stopped, Starline looked at him eagerly, ready and waiting to do anything for him. That skill, that determination, he was ready and waiting to do anything and everything for him no matter what and that unwavering loyalty was to be appreciated. But he had yet to receive a proper test for how he could fair in battle. He knew of the battle mechs ready and waiting on the Death Egg and that they would be available for Doctor Starline's personal use when Sonic and Tails arrived.

And there was no better test than the immediate panic of intruders.

Eggman smiled. "There's nothing to worry about at the moment,just stay on the Death Egg and await further instructions."

"Of course, Doctor." Starline bowed as the holographic image of him disappeared.

With that, Eggman turned away from his desk and looked out his window to look over the bustling city of Metropolis. Things were about to get interesting and he was going have to make sure to play his hand carefully moving into the coming battles.

~Trials of War~

Sonic, Tails and Omega were zooming down the endless halls of the Death Egg. They had been running for several minutes but for the time they hadn't been able to find much of anything when it came to their quest. It was strange.

The halls themselves were lined with metal pipes of all kinds of different shapes and sizes that seemed to snake their ways into and out of the walls like the vines of a tree, the halls themselves were bathed light almost sterile glow. Unfortunately the lights didn't do much in regards to central heating as they occasionally shivered at the harsh chill of space. This meant that the only sounds that accompanied them were the light whirring of machines, the feint flicker of lights, the light tip tapping of a supersonic hedgehog, the whips of two tails and the harsh thuds of a robot's feet.

Yes, the trio looked incredibly determined as they continued down more of the halls of the Death Egg, making no chatter as they focused on their mission.

For Omega, the objective was simple, get through the Death Egg's defenses and eventually find the Sonic the Hedgehog that he knew in the present. One and done, that was it.

For Tails, he only had the blue blur on his mind, if he was right then he would be seeing his Sonic today, the one that he thought he had lost so long ago and everything that had seemed so wrong for these months would be made right again. Sonic would fix everything and they'd all go back to Mobius, stop Eggman, he'd probably punch Infinite in the face a few times and the world would be set back in peace as if nothing ever happened. All the pain he had endured over these months would be instantly rectified and he'd have nothing to worry about. He was sure that he would see Sonic again today and it would be perfect. They'd then return to earth, stop the war, overthrow Eggman, maybe punch Infinite a few times and everything would go back to normal.

For Sonic, he was in a similar boat as Omega, where he just wanted to get through the Death Egg and hopefully run into the older version of himself. But even then, he just wanted to do something up here in the Death Egg in order to help the world. The Mobius of this time… or well… his future was in dire need of help and they were just trying to look for him. It… it didn't feel right for Sonic, it didn't sit well with him.

Sonic frowned. This fixation that Tails had on him was beginning to be an issue. The kid had been through a lot over the past six months and of course, he had wished that he had been able to be there for him whether that be as he was now or will be in the future. But… what was happening with Tails… It was too much. He didn't like seeing his little brother in so much pain. If this was Tails' future, then… was any of this worth it? He hated that it all had to turn out like this…

But was it a future that he would see at all? Sonic bit his lip at this thought. He had been having his own suspicions towards the future for a while now, but… The fact that Tails seemed to have no knowledge of anything regarding the adventure that sent him to this future in the first place was bothering him. Sonic knew that he was lying. He could hear it in his voice, see how he would try his hardest to cover it up and know it just by the look in his eyes whenever a question about such events were brought up. He didn't understand why though? Why exactly did Tails not remember their adventure with the Phantom Ruby, but remembered the events of the Time Eater? It didn't make any sense.

None of this really made sense, they were running down these halls with no discernable path in sight and just hoping that they found what they were looking for.

"Alright stop!" Sonic shouted as he skidded to a halt.

Both Tails and Omega turned to look at the Hedgehog, surprised at the hedgehog's sudden outburst.

"Do either of you have any idea where we're going?" He asked them.

Tails and Omega looked to each other and then back at Sonic.

"Uh, yeah. We're going to find the prisoners and that should lead us to the resistance, right? They've gotta be staging a jailbreak at some point?"

"Okay, sure. But where are the prisoners?" Sonic asked.

Tails shrugged. "I dunno, normally we storm these bases and just happen to get lucky and find what we're looking for."

"We've been running around this place for like thirty minutes and we haven't even had the slightest hint that we're going the right way. Heck, we haven't even run into any robots or guards."

Omega nodded. "Sonic is correct. We do not know where we are going."

"Well, what do you suggest we do to fix this?" Tails asked.

"I dunno. You guys have your sciency stuff. Can't you just make a map or something?"

Tails rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah, lemme just make a map for this place out of thin air."

"You don't have to be a jerk about it."

"Well, what do you want me to do?

"Perhaps we can use that terminal to find our bearings." Omega chimed in, pointing to a wall.

Both Sonic and Tails turned to look in the direction and true to his word, a terminal was standing ready and waiting for them.

"Jackpot!" Tails snickered as he and the others ran over to it.

He was quick to whip out his Miles Electric and began getting to work. The screen of the terminal began to have lines of code scroll through it which was mirrored by Tails' handheld.

"Woah, what's that thing?" Sonic gasped, looking curiously at the machine in his hands.

"I call it the Miles Electric, my very own customizable computer. Built it myself a few years back and it's been a pretty handy tool to have on our adventures over the years."

"That's pretty cool." Sonic grinned. "My lil bro's so smart that he built a computer. I don't even know where the rat is used for."

"That's a mouse, Sonic." Tails chuckled.

"Rat, mouse, what's the difference?" The blue blur asked.

Tails just laughed at that.

Omega stepped up and put a hand on Tails' shoulder. "Be cautious when breaking into the Doctor's files. Covering your tracks is of the utmost importance."

Tails nodded. "Already way ahead of 'ya. I made sure to keep all cameras on a continuous loop, so that we can't be seen running around and the Miles Electric uses my own personal code that makes itself as scarce as possible. On the one in a million chance that it is found, it's gonna look like it came from somewhere in the middle of the ocean."

"Which ocean?" Sonic asked.

"Exactly."

"Excellent." Omega nodded.

With that, a few moments of silence passed before the robot spoke up again. "What level of intelligence do you have to confuse a computer mouse for a rat?"

"Hey, tech isn't my thing, tincan."

"Clearly."

Sonic rolled his eyes at this but decided not to say anything to the robot.

Instead, he watched Tails at work but quickly grew bored. He crossed his arms and looked around the room, then started impatiently tapping his foot. He held his arm out and looked down at an imaginary wrist watch that he didn't have.

Finally, just as he was ready to give up and take a rest on the floor, Tails spoke up. "Got it! Let's roll!"

And like that, the trio was off to find the prison.

~Trials of War~

Doctor Starline was pretty pleased with himself. I mean, how could he not after having praises sung from his idol, the benevolent Doctor Eggman?

He let out a sigh of contempt as he looked over the screens displaying security footage of the Death Egg. At the moment all seemed in the clear, so he just allowed himself to just take it all in.

To be appointed a general of Doctor Eggman's Army, to be here on the Death Egg, to be spreading the empire across the globe, bringing about the destruction of those who refused to submit to their might, it was absolutely incredible.

He took another peek at the screens, and still nothing.

He hadn't even gone in depth on showing the Doctor his plans for the Egg Collider, yet he was absolutely giddy at the thought of working with the doctor on a project. It would be he and Eggman, pouring over blueprints, conversing over the specs of their machinery, getting their hands dirty when it came to metalwork, laughing over the deadly capabilities of the machine and what it could do to that troublesome resistance. It would be wonderful.

Starline didn't even look at the screens this time, too lost in his own fantasies. It was a shame too, because he would've spotted a fox, a hedgehog and a robot working on one of their terminals before the cameras flickered back to normal.

What if… when he finished all of this, the Doctor would be so impressed with him that he decided to give him a promotion? Putting him above the likes of Shadow the Hedgehog? And with more commitment and hard work, maybe… just maybe he could replace Infinite and become the Doctor's right hand? The mere thought of ruling alongside him for the rest of their days just… it just got him all warm and fuzzy inside.

He would work hard so that one day that dream would be a reality.

~Trials of War~

Sonic, tails and Omega didn't take long to find the prison after that and quickly made their way inside.

When the sliding door opened, they were welcomed with the sight of the large prison.

Where Tails and Omega were able to move forward, Sonic stood frozen in absolute shock and abject terror at what he had seen.

Rows upon rows of cells could be seen both as high and low as the eyes could see. People and Mobians alike of all sorts of different shapes and sizes were inside. Some looking better than others, but it was clear that a lot of them had been in there for a very long time.

He'd seen some awful stuff when it came to his past with Eggman. He had taken homes from the defenseless and did as he pleased; he had roboticized all sorts of people; he did what he could for all his selfish gain. But this… this was too much. Hundreds of people were trapped here and had been left to rot for months. And for what? Because they couldn't fall into his world order, they couldn't be who he wanted them to be?

Taking freewill from people to be his slaves was one thing, but somehow, Sonic saw that just locking them up and throwing away the key was even worse.

He thought Tails had called for him and honestly, he wasn't even sure when he started moving but soon he found himself on his feet across the prison floor.

It wasn't long before some of the people noticed him and began cheering for him, shouting that Sonic was back and that he was here to save them. That he was fulfilling some sort of promise, but honestly he didn't hear any of it. The child was just so lost trying to process what he had seen.

It was horrible and he wanted to make Eggman pay.

Tails sighed. "It- it looks like he isn't here."

"Doctor Eggman proclaimed his escape, perhaps he is somewhere else on the ground." Omega declared.

Tails nodded. "Yeah, I think so. I- I guess that there really isn't anything here for us. I don't think waiting around the Death Egg is a good idea, but we have no other leads."

"A return to Sunset Heights then?"

"Maybe, but I don't see how that would be any good." Tails shrugged. "The city was pretty wrecked when Sonic and I left, I don't think that we can go there."

"Then how should we proceed?"

Sonic looked at them, absolutely shocked at what he was hearing and with tears brimming at the corners of his eyes. "What do you mean how should we proceed!? We- we have to help these people! W-we have to blow this place out of the sky!"

Tails and Omega looked at each other and shook their heads.

"Sonic…" Tails started. "That isn't possible. We only have the Tornado and there are far too many people here for us to stage a jailbreak."

"Unfortunately he is correct."

"That isn't possible?!" Sonic shouted. "Since when has that ever mattered, I've done all kinds of things that weren't possible. Chaos, you've done a lot of things that have been impossible! You were nine years old and you saved Station Square all by yourself!"

"Yeah, but… this…"

"Is something that we have to figure out cuz that's what we do!"

"Sonic, you don't understand, we can't-"

"Yes, we can!" Sonic insisted. "I'm saving all of these people and there's nothing you can do to stop me, Tails."

Tails bit his lip, seeing the trembling hedgehog who wanted to do nothing more than help people and save the day as he always had. Even with the odds stacked against him, he still wanted to. Once, he would've been right by his side, ready to face those odds no matter what because Sonic had taught him to believe. But now… well, a small part of him wanted to agree to try and help. But another part of him knew that it just wasn't possible there was nothing they could do but if they found the other Sonic then maybe they really could start to do things to help the world. But for now-

"If I may interject…" A voice started, startling the trio.

All of them looked at the source of the voice to see a lone cell that was standing before them. The majority of the cell was shrouded in darkness and the source of the voice seemed to be hiding in the darkness, save for shimmering golden eyes that contained a fiery passion for battle shone out towards them.

"But I believe that the younger Sonic is right. We can free all these people and I'd like to help with that."

With that, the owner of the voice stepped out of the darkness and into the light of the cell and they were shocked to find out who it was.

A purple furred cat wearing a darker colored coat, lined with red, had tufts of white fur at the ends of the sleeves and coattails that went down to her ankles. She wore white pants and red high heeled boots that also had the same white tufts of fur around her ankles. Among all of that, she was also dawned with jewelry such as a golden necklace and a red gemstone on her forehead. Unfortunately, around her wrists were energy cuffs much like the other prisoners.

Tails and Omega were both shocked at this. "Blaze?!"

Blaze couldn't help but smirk. "Of course."

Sonic couldn't help but smile, wiping away a few of his tears. "You're that princess from that other dimension, right?"

She returned the smile and nodded. "Yes, I am. And it's good to see you again, young Sonic. I assume you're the one I met at Sonic's birthday party, right?"

"That's right."

"Well it is a pleasure." She bowed.

Tails on the other hand was still shocked. "Blaze, I don't understand. How… how are you here?!"

"After spending six months imprisoned, I almost thought no one would ask. That platypus certainly didn't seem interested." Blaze mused. "Yes, it is time I share my tale."

EPISODE BLAZE UNLOCKED!

Random notes that I purposefully left unmarked because I didn't wanna spoil that little ringer up there.
623 prisoners, 6/23, June 23
rd, the release of Sonic 1.
Prisoner X11 refers to Agent Topaz. Her Prisoner Code being X11 is a reference to her first appearance in Sonic X Episode 11.

And that's it for this chapter. Honestly, when I finished this, I was grinning like an idiot because I was waiting so long to introduce Blaze to this story. Tek, I know you've been waiting a very long moment for this too and I've teased you for over a year now but she's finally here. Blaze is finally in this story and I cannot wait to tell her story next chapter well after some research on Sonic Rush because I admittedly know very little about the Sol Dimension. But Blaze officially rounds out the roster for Trials of War. EVERYONE IS HERE and I think that'll settle for now. I do have a few more cameos planned but they're more extras and the only other major role I have in mind is Shade, Ix and the Nocturnus Clan, but my idea for them is admittedly a little convoluted so I'm not entirely sure. But yeah, assume that Blaze is pretty much the last character introduced to the story.
With Blaze hype out of the way, this chapter admittedly ended up much shorter and a lot different than I initially concepted. Originally, it was gonna be guns ablazin' fight through the Death Egg but I guess I wanted to roll a different direction when writing and go very introspective on the characters here. You'll be getting a lot more action with the coming chapters, I promise. But I honestly really liked how this turned out and I hope you guys did too. Sorry it took so long for something so short, exams mostly got in the way.
Oh, another thing. Would you guys be interested in a Trials of War Discord server? I've seen some friends across the site doing similar with their own stories so I guess I'm wondering if any of you guys would be interested in that. Lemme know in your reviews and if enough are, I'll start somethin' up.
With that said, it's time for review replies.

TGN:
Honestly, I knew you were gonna hate it, and I am so sorry, man. Especially with this chapter and well, honestly what I'm gonna be doing to Tails for the next few chapters. But I promise that there is a method to my madness and I think you're gonna love what I do with him in the end. But yeah, you're gonna hate Tails before I get you to love him again. But I'm doing this because I want him to have an arc that's worth it in the end even if it means you gotta get through his bull. Stick with me though, because I promise it'll all be worth it.
But lmfao. I feel that procrastination since well, look at this chapter.
And thanks so much for the birthday wish.

Guest 1:
Thank you!

Alexandria Prime:
Well, now you know who the prisoner is!

Guest 2:
Unfortunately, things are gonna get worse for Tails before they get better.

KelWelPower:
Looks like you're right about this whole ordeal causing problems. Too bad it's gonna get worse.
Topaz got captured during the raid on GUN HQ and has been on the Death Egg since. Joseph too if anybody cares about him. Lol.
Were you right about my mysterious prisoner?
Thanks for the birthday wish!

Animation Adventures:
More transition here. Not planned, but eh. We'll be getting right back in on the action next time thankfully.
Chris definitely won't be making an appearance in this story. At least, probably not. Cosmo… I wouldn't know where to start with her, so don't expect her either.
Interesting that you think the Ruby is sentient.
Episode Shadow and the Reunion are still far away, but with each chapter we get closer and closer.

Guest 3:
Oh yeah, I forgot that was a Shuffle reference. As for it's canonicity? Uh… yes… it is canon until otherwise stated.

Infinite's Ruby:
The connection between Classic Sonic and Tails is super important and I wanna make sure to get a full arc out of it. Attachment is a problem, but we'll be working that out in a bit.
Everyone on this sentience bit. Interesting.
Thank you so much!

SharpDragonKlaw:
I'm absolutely flattered that you and so many others think this should've been the script for the game, thank you.
As for Tails and Classic Sonic. I'm working hard on them and want them to be the best they can be. Even if that means Tails has gotta be the worst for a little bit. It's super important and is gonna have a huge payoff.
Thanks again!

Guest 4:
The Tornado has had tweaks over the years to improve on it. It is space worthy in my story.

Guest 5:
The power of friendship. Okay, yeah… this will be explained later.

Guest 6:
They're exhausted for one and this is a new and far more advanced model than before.

TheLostEternity:
Thanks so much for the love and support and I'm glad to have inspired you, man.

Alright y'all, it's 1AM and I got a class to head to in the morning so I'm out and off to bed and will see you all next time with what I'm sure will be a longer chapter for real.