It was a week after Sonic had teleported himself and Black Doom to the sun. The school and many families in the area were still reeling from the news that Sonic was gone. Some had moved on already, others were trying to forget the whole thing. But for three friends, they could never forget the events that led up to that moment.
It all began one morning when Sonic and Shadow woke up in each other's bodies. After struggling through the morning and meeting each other's respective significant other, two in Shadow's case, they finally met up at lunch. Silver found out about the switch and wanted to help them discover who did this and why. Later that afternoon, they met up at Sonic's house and brought Tails along to help.
It didn't take long to discover that Eggman, under the guise of the Grand Gem Corporation, had taken the two hedgehogs into his facility. The facility was in the middle of the forest for better security. Tails and Silver confessed their feelings for each other and got together then and there. The four friends then decided to scout out the base the next weekend. Shadow then remembered that he had a date with one of his girlfriends, Amy, that night. He and Sonic raced to the restaurant to meet with her. In the end, Shadow decided to break it off with Amy. There was still a movie to go to, so the two hedgehogs decided to go see The Avengers in theaters. After a heated debate on which superhero was better, Sonic suddenly kissed Shadow.
They both then realized their feelings for each other and decided to go out together. The next morning, Shadow found out that his house had caught on fire. Within minutes, a Grand Gem van was parked in Sonic's driveway. In a snap decision, the two hedgehogs agreed to infiltrate the base that day. Silver and Tails agreed to the plan and said to meet in the Math Department office. During homeroom, some men in suits came for the two hedgehogs. They escaped to the Math Office, and found a box that controlled them to some extent.
Silver and Tails tumbled into the office a few moments later and the quartet left to Tails' workshop to gather supplies for the trek to the base. They decided to walk to the base, but camp for the night at about the halfway point. They reached the campsite with no incidents and set up. Sonic and Shadow had sex together for the first time that night, as did Tails and Silver, as evident from the moans coming from their tent.
The next morning, they all set out for the base. They came upon trip wires, pitfalls, robots, and even an electric fence. After arriving, Tails set up his computers in a meeting room to observe their progress and mask their trail. The complex went deep underground with many different levels dedicated to different fields ranging from robot production, to psychic testing. The three hedgehogs found a teleportation room and unfortunately, warped to a random floor. After progressing through a few levels, they found a room filled with alien creatures. Tails found out they are called Black Arms and had tried to take over the world in the distant past.
As the hedgehogs delved deeper into the facility, they came across a few psychic testing rooms. None of them had to do with the body swap, but Sonic came under the control of Eggman in the last one. Eggman, as Sonic, led them into a trap and captured the four teens. Shadow woke up, and of course blamed Sonic. Shadow was put to sleep a few times and in the end, none of the boys were in their original bodies. Sonic explained what happened to him and finally convinced Shadow of the truth. They escaped their cages and began to transfer to their own bodies.
Eggman discovered them and told them of his plan to transfer bodies as he grew older. He would be the ruler forever. After defeating him, he told the boys how to get to the main floor, but he lied. They were teleported to a testing floor that took away their powers. Sonic was cuffed, Tails' two tails were tied together, Silver had a headset put on the eliminated his psychic powers, and Shadow's hover shoes were taken away. They eventually escaped and found three Chaos Emeralds. They inadvertently set off the self-destruct mechanism on the base, but Shadow used Chaos Control and teleported them all away and into the forest.
Tails took care of everyone's handicaps, but discovered they had been captive for a few days. Sonic remembered the box in the Math Office and they traced it back to Mr. Briggs, one of the math teachers. After showering and washing their clothes, they all went back to the school to confront Mr. Briggs. He sent them all to sleep and revealed himself to be the leader of the Black Arms, Black Doom. He had manipulated Sonic and Shadow to get revenge on Eggman for destroying his army on Earth. They escaped, but were followed. In the end, Black Doom retreated, but the boys gained all seven Chaos Emeralds, transforming the hedgehogs into their Super Forms. The power was too great, so the emeralds' powers faded.
Tails created three rings to control the power and make the forms last longer. They all found Black Doom and began their battle against him. Black Doom told them that he was immortal, and this was proved when a spear pierced his chest, but he still lived. Shadow and Silver's rings both broke, stripping them of their powers. Sonic was the last one left and took it upon himself to trap Black Doom in the sun. Sonic would die, but Black Doom's evil would never threaten the world again. Shadow was devastated that his lover was gone forever, but a week later, he went to the place Sonic disappeared from. However, he had a shock when he turned to find Sonic standing behind him. However, Tails and Silver hadn't heard the news yet.
It was after school, and Tails and Silver were inseparable. They needed each other for support. The pair was curled up on the couch in Tails' living room, clinging to each other for support. Tails sighed and looked down. Silver looked over with a worried glance. "Are you all right, Tails?" Silver asked.
Tails sighed again. "No… Not really." Tails looked at Silver, tears were in his eyes. "I miss Sonic… I know what he did saved the world… but… Why did he have to die!" Tails exploded. Silver kissed Tails' forehead and held him close to his chest.
"That's what had to happen. If he didn't take Black Doom to the sun, that… thing would have returned and destroyed the world. He did what he had to do to protect us all. Sonic's a hero," Silver said.
"I know all that…" Tails sighed. "But it doesn't help anything…" A tear streaked down his cheek. Silver kissed him gently.
"I'm still upset about it, too," Silver admitted. "But I know there was nothing we could have done."
"Yes there was!" Tails argued. "I could have made the rings more durable! Then all of you could have been fighting!"
"But we still wouldn't have been able to defeat Black Doom. You saw the Chaos Spear pierce his chest, right?" Tails nodded. "And then he pulled it out, and still lived. Even if we kept fighting, we would have been exhausted, and Black Doom would have been fine. We had to do something drastic, and Sonic was the only one who had the courage to do it."
Tails sat in silence.
"This is as hard for me as it is for you," Silver said.
"No…" Tails said. "You're wrong. Sonic and I were like brothers. And… now he's gone. For good," Tails whispered. He started to cry again. Silver only held him closer and rubbed his back. Suddenly, the door burst open.
"Guys!" Shadow shouted as he rushed in. If looks could kill, Shadow would have been dead on the spot from the look Silver threw at him. "Don't glare at me like that! This is important!" Shadow continued.
"More important than my boyfriend crying?" Silver shot.
"Yes! It is!" Shadow said.
"What could that possibly be?" Silver said coldly.
"Hey," came a new voice. Tails whipped his head up to see where the voice had come from. Standing next to Shadow was Sonic. His face was a little bruised, but he seemed perfectly healthy otherwise. Silver and Tails' eyes widened.
"Sonic…" Tails breathed.
"H-how…?" Silver began. The two sat in shock for a moment.
"Well?" Sonic said. "Aren't ya gonna say how much you missed me?"
"B-but… you… you died," Tails began. "You teleported to the sun, lost your powers, and didn't come back."
"But here I am," Sonic said.
"And we have all these," Shadow put in. The two hedgehogs reached into their quills and brought out the seven Chaos Emeralds. They still had their mystical glow, seemingly untouched by the fires in the sun.
"That's impossible! None of this is possible!" Tails cried. He rubbed his forehead. "I must be dreaming." Sonic walked over and pinched Tails' arm. "Ow!"
"See? Not a dream. I'm here, I'm real, and I'm alive," Sonic said.
"But how…? What? How the hell did this happen?!" Tails shouted.
"Just let me go from after I warped away," Sonic said as he sat down on a nearby chair. "After I had used Chaos Control, it seemed like time slowed down. I could see the sun getting bigger and bigger, but I didn't feel any heat. Or cold for that matter. I was still in my super-form, even though my ring was gone, so I don't think space or heat affected me. Black Doom and I both entered the sun and kept traveling through it.
"It was incredible. It really just felt like a warm, sunny day in there. At least for me. Black Doom was screaming. That had to be the worst sound I have ever heard, but I couldn't let go of him. At least not yet. Suddenly, we stopped. I knew we had reached the absolute center. I tried to move, but the gravity was too much. I couldn't move anything. The Chaos Emeralds started to swirl around me again. Black Doom was thankfully outside of their circle.
"As they spun faster and faster, I could feel my powers building. I guess they have some sort of consciousness and knew that without me, they would be destroyed. In a flash of light, I teleported away. I was moving again! But this time, I was heading back here. The emeralds deposited me back where I had disappeared, but a lot of time had passed. I saw flowers and cards all around me. Then I lost my powers and the emeralds fell to the ground. I gathered them up, but left one in a hidden location so I wouldn't power up again.
"I heard someone coming so I hid. Shadow walked up to where I disappeared and started to talk. I was shocked. I had no idea what had happened after I left. After seeing Shadow break down crying, I couldn't take it anymore. I walked out and tapped him on the shoulder," Sonic recounted.
"And that's where I'll step in," Shadow said. Sonic nodded and rubbed his bruise.
"What happened to your face?" Silver asked.
"I happened," Shadow said. "See, I punched him for teleporting away. I mean, he left us! He left me!"
"But I had to, Shadow," Sonic said. "We talked about all this already." Shadow sighed.
"Yeah, yeah. I know."
"But you kissed me right after for coming back," Sonic said. Shadow smiled slightly and sat down next to Sonic.
"I did. I just missed you too much."
"Well, I'm back, baby!" Sonic said with a grin.
"Does anyone else know that you're back?" Silver asked. Sonic shook his head. "We're going to have to tell people, you know."
"Yeah, that will be tough…" Sonic admitted. "But at least I don't have to deal with Knuckles."
"And I don't have to worry about Rouge and Amy anymore, either," Shadow said.
"Well, don't worry about your past relationships," Tails said. "There are other things on my mind."
"Like what?" Sonic asked.
"Like the Chaos Emeralds. Do you have them all?" Sonic and Shadow nodded. "There's something that's been bugging me for a while."
"What is it?" Silver asked.
"Do you remember when you and Sonic used Chaos Control at the same time?" They nodded. "You guys made a swirling portal instead of teleporting away. I want to know where that goes."
"Maybe it's another way to travel through space," Silver suggested.
"Or maybe not. I want to send a robot probe through it to see where it leads," Tails said. "We don't want to risk our lives."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Sonic said with a grin. "Let's go explore!"