Chapter 13

Time Twist

"Where are we? What are those?" asked Runner pointing out the window. He was pointing at a human who was super alarmed from the random spaceship that came out of nowhere. The human didn't move.

"How can this be possible?! Did that Drayan make us travel through dimensions?! I thought that was only possible with the power of the chaos emeralds!" Tails was astounded. There was more than one Drayan! She sure looked like the evil type.

"Hang on! Didn't a Drayan steal the chaos emeralds?! Is that how she did it?!" demanded Amy with anger towards her.

"I think you're right! Kaira was right when she said she was framed!" Knuckles exclaimed.

"Knuckles, I need you to go check on Kaira. She should be getting better. She might be able to talk. Maybe she could tell us who she is!" Tails ordered. Knuckles was gone right as Tails finished his sentence.

"I hope she can explain some things. Also, I wonder how much time has passed… Is Chris still here and alive…?" asked Cosmo.

"We won't be able to tell until we look around Cosmo. I'm not sure… I hope he is…," Tails replied. He shook his head. Nothing could be certain. A year could have gone by. Maybe a day. Maybe even one hundred years… Nobody could tell.

"Can you look up how much time has gone by since the last time we were here?" asked Amy. The Blue Typhoon could do it in their dimension, but it might not work in this one. The new technology going into the new dimension could have destroyed it altogether. It could get fired up and do anything!

"I'll try, but there's no guarantees that it'll work. If it does, we got a lucky fluke. If not, too bad for us," Tails replied trying to fire it up. The screen flickered. After two seconds, it finally fired up.

"I installed a system that has voice activated controls. You can talk to it. Computer, I request access to the controls of the Blue Typhoon!" commanded Tails.

"Enter password," it replied.

Tails typed something into the computer. The main menu for the Blue Typhoon controls flashed up on the screen.

"Computer, look up the date when we left Earth and the date now on Earth," Tails told it.

"The year when you left Earth is 2007. The year you returned is 2067. Sixty years have gone by. Five years that go by for you is sixty for this world. I never knew that traveling here could be possible without tearing apart the very fabric of the universe. I guess that the writer didn't think of such a thing while this was in production, " the computer replied.

"Y-you mean… If Chris is still alive…, he'd be around seventy-eight years old?! The last we heard from him was when he was eighteen! Also, the last time we came, time almost stopped completely. We can stay here a little while, but the universe would more than likely get torn apart. This world is still pretty unbalanced from the last time we were here. We're getting off topic! Back to Chris! Am I right?!" yelled Tails at the screen angrily.

"Affirmative. You, Tails, have hit the nail on the head. I'm sorry about your friend. It's not like I can do anything, for I am only a mastermind computer with average intelligence. I have to go now. My circuits didn't get coffee on them themselves. I think that Jack was trying to toss it on Cosmic for busting his giant hair dryer. Also, Runner is watching something that will really interest you. I recommend the movie he's watching, but it is using up all my power. It's called, oh you'll find out," the computer replied in a monotone voice.

"MAN! Chris is probably gone! Runner's watching that movie again?! I love that movie… You're right. I should watch it with him. I'll fix you stupid computer later!" Tails yelled running off.

"Hey, computers have feelings too. I'm only a cold, hard, lifeless, emotionless, worthless, piece of junk. Who says that I don't have feelings? Wait. I think I'm crashing. All files are freezing. Help. Black is coming in from all sides. Tails, the blue death screen is coming. Save me. The pyramids are coming down. These are my last words and my will. Make sure to never throw out that toaster. It's the same one that I got to see Knuckles with while he was beating up Sonic with it in a unicorn outfit. He was trying to convince Sonic that it was a peach by eating it after whacking Sonic in the head. Afterwards, he tried to eat a car thinking it was himself. Don't throw that out either. Goodbye world. I promise that the Sonic characters will all die without me. This is true because I am Sonic's father's cousin's neighbor's fourth cousin's former college roommate's toaster's son. You know what that makes us, absolutely nothing. Oh wait, that's what I'm about to become. Nooooooooo…," finished the computer finally shutting down. Tails wasn't sure if it died by the coffee or the amount of junk in its brain.

"FINALLY!" screamed Tails.

Tails ran up to Runner and saw that he was holding a movie in his hands. It had a blue hedgehog on the front. Runner put the DVD in the DVD player. The screen instantly became awake.

"I love this movie! Sonic X The Race Of Doom is the best! It's a shame that we all couldn't be in it," Runner said while watching the Sonic run through the metarex base in search for the leader.

"I am having a serious feeling of déjà vu right now… Almost as if I've seen this before…," said Tails. He looked at the cover again.

"Hang on a second! Aren't we in the process of making this right now?! How are you watching it?! Is this even possible?!" demanded Tails.

"Huh? You mean we're in it! Cool! The movie actually came out a little while ago. People nowadays always release the movie before making it. Hey! There we are! We're talking to each other about how this awesome movie is in existence!" Runner exclaimed.

"Is it possible for us to move forward in the movie?" asked Tails.

"I guess we could. However, it would completely spoil the rest of this story! After all it's a matter of time before it is then!" explained Runner.

"Then? When's then? What's then?" asked Tails.

"I have no idea! I haven't finished the movie yet!" yelled Runner.

"Do you know about anything about the future?!" demanded Tails.

"No. I only know that something will happen then," Runner told his captain.

"When will then be now?!" screamed Tails becoming extremely aggravated by the whole situation.

"Soon," Runner replied calmly and waving his finger at Tails like Sonic does. Tails looked almost offended by it.

"Don't ever do that again," snapped Tails.

Knuckles finally returned. He was obviously successful in getting Kaira to be able to wake up and talk. Well, at least wake up at least. Either one or the other or both. Whichever it was, he was successful.

"I got Kaira to wake up! She wants to see you Tails! WOW! What are you watching? Am I explaining what is going on in that movie you are watching?! Cool!" Knuckles said with interest.

"Runner, turn it off before you spoil the whole thing for everyone! I'm going to talk to Kaira," Tails said before walking away from all the craziness.

"Awww… It was just starting to get good!" whimpered Runner taking out the DVD. Knuckles also looked upset. However, Knuckles isn't the important thing right now.

Tails finally reached the room where Kaira was and opened the door. She was looking a little better, but she wasn't quite completely better yet. Of course, Kaira was also half awake, but still better than completely out. Tails wondered if he could talk to her.

"Hey, you awake?" he asked.

"I'd think that you've known that right away… I sense something different about this place… How long was I asleep?" she questioned.

"You were out for about three days. A lot has happened. There are more crewmates now, and we are back in the human world," Tails explained.

"I can't be here too long… The presence of a Drayan in a fragile world could destroy this place in a month. If more than one, about two weeks. How did we get here?" she asked.

"Another Drayan with black hair and green wings took us here somehow. She used magic. Also, she was near Dr. Eggman's ship. Do you know her? Do you know that she escaped your planet with you? Should we be concerned?" Tails demanded.

"Darn it… Here name is Zaira… I do know her, but not as you see her… She's… my twin… Her life started in the metaltron base, so I knew she was going to be bad news. Sure enough, I was right… I'm guessing that Zaira snagged the chaos emeralds and blamed it on me to keep herself looking innocent. She can't be traveling alone. Not if she is around Eggman's ship. However, she wouldn't like traveling with him. There must be others whom she'd like. Who hangs around his ship a lot?" asked Kaira.

"Bocoe and Decoe used to, but who knows what happened to them. I think that Eggman is working on new slave bots. I don't know who else there could be! Shadow used to, but he died to save us from an exploding planet. Rouge only hangs around his ship for chaos emeralds. Amazing at double crossing people. I don't think that she wants an unreliable partner," Tails answered.

"You never know with her… Sonic got abducted? The metarex have been trying harder. I'll let you know if I get anything else. Consult with me if you have any issues. How about you give me a communication device? That'll help!" Kaira told her.

"Sure! Thanks for the help! So we avoid Zaira for the time being?" inquired Tails just to make sure of what he heard.

"Precisely… Can I get back to my nap…?" she asked drowsily.

"Sure. See you later!" Tails waved goodbye and left. He ran into Daisy and Fury outside. Fury smiled happily and hugged Tails. Daisy however, looked as if she had a question for Tails.

"What is it Daisy?" asked Tails.

"I thought that since it is safe to go outside, we could go look around. You know, meet our new neighbors," Daisy replied in her little shy voice.

"Uh, okay," Tails replied. He thought, 'Why not?' He then remembered the curse of thinking those words. Something will always go wrong.

Tails was able to get everyone to agree on going to explore a little. They each walked outside. Tails kept the communicator to call Kaira close at hand. Shockingly enough, they were shocked! Dr. Eggman's ship was right in front of them! On the ship was a green pair of wings. Her black hair being blown in the wind made her look only more hostile. A look of amusement flickered in her eyes when she saw the pathetic humans gathering around to observe the ships in wonderment.

"Just look at them… Everybody says that I look like a human, but just look at those baffled faces! I've never looked so baffled in my life. Makes me think of them as worthless ants! Actually, ants would be smarter. When they see something unexpected, they turn and hide. When a human sees something unexpected, they continue staring and approach it! How vacuous!" Zaira glared down at each one of them. The thought of crushing them did seem appealing, but who knows what would happen if she did that. She restrained herself.

"Is that her?" asked Cosmic pointing at her.

"It most certainly is. That's is Zaira. Kaira's twin sister. She's not the worst. She's beyond that. She's a Drayan that nobody wants to mess with. Why did she send us here?" asked Tails to himself as he stared up at her. Although, he then noticed something. It was black, it had red fur, and had rings on his wrists. Shadow.

"What? Shadow? Didn't he explode? How is he back again?" asked Tails to Amy.

"Dr. Eggman. He actually came onto the Blue Typhoon when you all were kidnapped to stop me from obliterating Sonic," Amy replied.

"Okay… I'm not even going to ask…," Tails said and anxiously moved an inch away from her. He hoped that she didn't notice. If she did, she made no action. Tails directed his attention back to Zaira.

"What in the-?! Am I-? How can-? Intriguing…," Shadow said slowly once he noticed where he was. He looked up at Zaira with interest. He knew it was her. He slowly approached.

"What do you suppose we do? I've never been here. I don't think we can get back with out a lot of power. Where do you think we are?" asked Zaira noticing that Shadow was walking up to her.

"You tell me. I know where we are. I also know that you know where we are!" Shadow replied.

"Wow. You expect me to know. How can it be possible for me to know everything? I can't. I'm only a Drayan after all!" Zaira replied. Once she spoke the words she instantly regretted it. She said too much. She also couldn't erase Shadow's memory again. That was a problem. Her other self boiled with rage within her. Zaira had to force her other self out of her memory temporarily.

"Drayan? Alright, you said the word. Give me answers for the first time ever," Shadow replied.

"I have to? FINE! Not here however. Meet me at the top of the skyscraper in the middle of Station Square. Be there at 4:30! Don't be late. If you'll excuse me, I've got to be alone if you don't mind!" Zaira snapped fluttering off.

Shadow didn't respond. He wasn't sure if he should go tearing after her demanding an explanation, simply stand there astonished, roll his eyes, ignore everything she said, or go investigate before meeting her on the skyscraper. He decided to ask Rouge to fly him up to the top of the skyscraper. He wasn't sure what she would do to him if he didn't show up. Rouge flew up to him to save him the trouble of going to find her.

"I saw Zaira talking to you. When she left, she looked mad! What happened?" asked Rouge to Shadow hoping for a reply.

"None of your concern. I only need you to fly me to the top of Station Squares' skyscraper in an hour. 4:30," Shadow told her. Rouge nodded. He began to leave. However, he caught a glimpse of Tails. Now was an appropriate time for him to roll his eyes. Tails was looking at him. No escaping Tails this time. He had to fight Tails once. If there was one thing that he knew about Tails from that experience, it was that he is a stubborn fox that doesn't quit for nothing.

"Shadow! I need to talk to you! It's about Zaira!" screamed Tails.

Now he was interested. If Tails knew about her, that would at least make the conversation worth it. He would go to anyone at this point for answers. Even his unfortunate "allies" that he had to help out in the past way more than he ever wanted. Tails ran up to him.

"I heard everything! I know someone who has all the answers! Everything about Zaira and who she really is! You will be surprised!" Tails told him hoping he would listen.

"Surprised nothing. Tell me," Shadow retorted.

"Well…, I think I'd be better if you met with her," Tails said wondering if it'd be a good idea. He said it though. He couldn't take it back.

"Do you mean with Zaira?" asked Shadow looking back at the spot she standing at a minute ago.

"No. I mean her twin sister."

Zaira was flying towards the skyscraper. The world wasn't all that different from Mobius she realized. The only thing different was the humans. There would be swarms of them everywhere. The thought of her being like them made her sick. Zaira decided to rest in a tree until four o'clock. At four-ten, she'd go to the top of the skyscraper. She had a good forty minutes. On her way to the skyscraper, she thought about what she would say. It would be difficult to lie at a time like this. Shadow's a mystery, but he isn't stupid.

"What do I tell him? Should I say the truth? Maybe lie and tell the truth at the same time?" asked Zaira. A voice within her replied.

"You will lie all the way through… We can't take more chances. You already told Rouge, but I let that go for now. She's not that important in this operation. You need to make up something good," her other self told Zaira.

"I can do that. However, I just hate to lie to Shadow. His eyes and story are more important to me than you realize. If I lie to him, he'd be extremely mad…," Zaira says.

"Who cares about feelings?! Just lie to him!"

"I won't do it! It'll hurt me too much!" snapped Zaira.

"Very well. I'll simply take you over! That'll make this job so much easier! Spell that makes the matter of Zaira listen to me, for I will be a better soul than she. She doesn't know what is truly good because her life she never understood. Never resist to come back to me, for this will take her to her true destiny!" screamed her other self. The words of the spell were indeed effective. Before Zaira knew it, she was officially cut off from herself. It didn't hurt, but it was kind of weird. Every time she tried to do something on her own nothing would happen. Her other self was in control now. Zaira was basically a ghost.

"I'm in control of you now my dear girl! I hope you enjoy what I have been put through for too long. You were the only person I could ever talk to! You can only talk to me, but if you do, I'll silence you for eternity! By the way, my name is Vivilock," snapped the new Zaira. She flew away. The ghostly figure of the previous Zaira still remained.

"Great…," she said to herself. She was really annoyed, but the advantages of being a ghost was that she could glide around and float through walls without much of a problem. She could also not have to be involved with anything anymore. She decided to seek out Sonic's pals. She couldn't seek out Sonic. The metarex would easily detect her using heating sensors. She'd have to find Tails. Although he couldn't see her which would be a problem…

"Wait… Hasn't Shadow and I always had a weird connection? He was able to communicate with me through his brain once. It would be cool if she could talk to him. It would be like having telepathy! Telepathy between her and Shadow would be cool for her. Never ending contact with your boyfriend was simply what it was for her.

"I'll find you Shadow… You'll hear my true voice soon…," Zaira mumbled to herself. She glided away without even using any wing motions. Also, there was only ten minutes 'till the meeting.

Shadow of course at this time was at the Blue Typhoon. Kaira was reading a book with one leg on top of the other. She did look a lot better. She looked up as Tails entered the room. Shadow certainly surprised her.

"A black hedgehog? Don't tell me that the metarex cursed Sonic again! If so, I'm not getting rid of it this time!" she snapped.

"No! This is Shadow. He is the neutral guy. He has been traveling around with Zaira and needs to know who she really is!" Tails told her.

"You're Shadow? Wow. I never knew that Zaira had such good taste! I'm kidding of course, but he does look really cool. If I can gain more on his personality, I can tell you why she's following you around! Do you already know that?" asked Kaira.

"She likes me," Shadow replied.

"WHAT?!" demanded Tails.

"I thought so. The thing is, she's not telling you any truth at all! Has she said anything about being innocent, caring, not evil?" asked Kaira.

"No."

"No? What has she been telling you? Absolutely nothing or what? If she doesn't lie, does she tell you anything at all?" asked Kaira growing more serious.

"No. She is the one whom I can't figure out! How many times must I speak to her to get the truth? She promised to tell me everything on the skyscraper at Station Square. I don't think that she'll tell me the truth. I'm not even sure if I can trust you," Shadow said.

"You can trust me. I'm a Drayan after all. A powerful race where we come from. We managed to narrowly escape death on the day it was destroyed by those metalic monsters! Shadow, the only reason Zaira is alive right now is because she's been leading my enemies into battle for thirteen years. She's also leading the metarex. I don't think she was trying to kill Sonic most of all. She only wants me dead! That's the reason I'm in here," Kaira snapped clutching her fist at the memory.

"What? How's that even possible? When I first laid eyes on her, she was the most annoying brat in the world!" Shadow replied with disbelief.

"The Drayans as I said were powerful. We can tell each other apart from our wings. She has the combination of Spellcaster, Defender, and Attacker wings making her the most dangerous creature in the universe. Ever since I figured this out, I made it my number one goal to stop her. She doesn't care about anybody. That's why Sonic is in the hands of the metarex. Without help, he'll die in that base," Kaira answered.

"You're serious? I'm still not convinced!" Shadow retorted.

"Explain to me Shadow, what happened after the first day of her following you around?" asked Kaira.

"Her personality changed after a while… We ended up at Dr. Eggman's base for no reason somehow… Also the chaos emerald disappeared. Let me guess, she really did take it," Shadow said almost reluctantly.

"She has the chaos emerald!? That means she has all seven chaos emeralds! We've got to stop her!" she screamed while leaning out of the bed. Kaira then fell out of the bed because she leaned too far forward.

"Ow…," she mumbled from the floor. Tails helped her stand up.

"What'll she do with them?" asked Shadow.

"I don't know… She might try to rule the universe. That's something I can't foresee," Kaira replied with regret.

"Hang on. I once looked her right in the eyes. I mean really looked. She had envy written everywhere on her. I think that she would want to get her revenge on the universe. It just occurred to me that the fact that she is a Drayan could make it harder for her to fit in. The reason she liked me could have been because we could compare so much," said Shadow thoughtfully.

"That may very well be true. Even so, I still don't know. Bring us back info. You're meeting with her in ten minutes right?" asked Kaira finally recovering from her fall.

"Ten minutes?! I need to find Rouge!" yelled Shadow in alarm. He was going to cut it close for sure.

Sonic walked down the hallway. He wasn't sure what was going to happen. A tiny robot hopped out in front of him. Sonic thought about crushing it. It could be a bomb. Sonic simply kicked it out of the way.

"I don't have time for this. Metarex, just let me out," said Sonic. He continued on. Nothing was coming. Sonic shook his head. He was bored.

"Everybody's super sonic racing. Try to keep your feet right on the ground. When you're super sonic racing, there's no time to look around," Sonic sang to himself as he walked.

Sonic heard a tap. He looked around. When he didn't see anything, he got suspicious. Cautiously continuing down the hallway, Sonic began singing to himself again hoping to appear to not be paying attention.

"Hey all, welcome to the greatest storm. I know you have waited much too long. And I, I will be your shining star. I'm here, here to conquer near and far. Like the-"

Tap!

"Uh… What comes up that must come down? Yet my feet don't touch the ground. See the world spinning upside down. A mighty crash without a sound. I can feel your every rage. Step aside, I'll turn the page. Breaking through your crazy maze. Like a-"

Tap! Tap! Clank!

"In his world, where one is all. In his world, life's an open book. In his-"

Clank! Clank! Crash! Crash!

At this time, the thing was right behind Sonic! He turned around in a flash. What he saw was horrible! It was furry! It had giant ears! Its eyes were the worst ever! It was… a tiny little bunny?

"NO! Not a rabbit! I know this is a test! I must get it away from me!" screamed Sonic. He flung the bunny down the hallway. It flopped on the floor. It gave Sonic the most adorable eyes it could. It was a trap! Sonic was getting lured right to it! However once he reached the bunny, he stomped on it! It sizzled with electricity. Sonic was broken from his trance. He knew that the rabbit wasn't the only thing down this hallway.

CRASH! CRASH!

"AH! Blue Sycamore! How'd you get here?!" cried Sonic. He knew he sounded pathetic, but the sight of Blue Sycamore terrified him. The image of the curse flew through his head. Sonic shuddered. The giant metarex leader laughed at him.

"Oh Sonic, there were no tests! Those robots you met were my worthless ones that never succeeded to be threatening. The light was one of my leftover lamps. I'm the test! Now, we fight! This will be different than last time!" commanded Blue Sycamore.

"Alright then. There are no cursed swords for once right? If this battle is within that limit, I'll fight," said Sonic gaining a little more confidence.

"Of course, we must select the kind of combat," said Blue Sycamore.

"The kind of combat? I thought that a fight was a fight. It doesn't have to have a specific kind of combat does it?" asked Sonic.

"Of course it does! Magic, sword fighting, Olympic events! I happen to be great at most of those. Magic isn't really something I'm good at. I've been practicing, but it isn't very good yet. I am best at sword fighting which is what we are going to do," Blue Sycamore replied half boasting at his powers.

"You armor is impenetrable! I don't think this is a fair fight!" Sonic said knowing what the leader was going to say next.

"Precisely."

Right at those words, two blades appeared. Sonic snagged it before Blue Sycamore, but his opponent wasn't far behind. The swords clashed against each other sending sparks across the ground. Sonic would try to get behind Blue Sycamore to slash at his back, but the leader was too fast. They fought down the hallway with the swords. A light appeared down the hallway. The light was reflecting off of something metal. It was a giant fan that was spinning too fast for Sonic to run through and come out without getting chopped into tiny bits. Blue Sycamore laughed.

"You planned this! How are you going to escape?!" demanded Sonic angrily and sprinting s fast as possible to not get sucked into the the giant fan with razor sharp blades.

"I'm not. I'm going to watch you die! The fan's wind doesn't affect me. However, it will kill you!" replied the leader.

Sonic ran faster, but he knew that it was just a matter of time before he would get tired and get sliced and diced. There was nothing he could do. All he could do was run and hope.