Notes: Hello everyone! Hope you all had a lovely holiday, and may I be one of the first to wish you a very happy new year! I had been hoping to get this chapter posted a little closer to Christmas, but since the last Hobbit movie came out I've been seriously fangirling over that, and Pokemon Omega Ruby has been taking up a lot of my time... Yeah, just because I'm on break doesn't mean I stop being busy. At least it's fun though, right? Anyway, enough about how I've been wasting my time, onto the next chapter!
Once everyone was fully awake and showered, they convened in the kitchen for a late breakfast/debriefing session. There wasn't enough room for all of them at the table, so Scourge and the younger Sonic sat on the countertops as they ate. Sonic and Zonic tried their best to explain everything that had happened over the past two days, from Scourge getting a concussion and spending quality time with lil' T to Sonic's scar and Zonic's sudden teenager-ness. In turn, the younger Sonic and older Tails described the huge time monsters they faced, and how they could alter the flow of time around them.
"They slowed me down, man! Everything around me was going so fast, it was crazy," the young hedgehog said, recalling the event unhappily. "They were in control of my speed, not me. It was so not cool."
"At least you can still run fine," his older self said, absentmindedly running his fingers along his scar. "I can only go for ten, fifteen minutes before I start hurting. Dodging the monsters that invaded the Special Zone was not fun, I'll tell you that." He frowned bitterly. That last fight was awful. His lungs had burned, his head started to pound, and even his legs started to feel sore, something that had never really happened to him before. He detested the feeling, and the worst part was that he knew he couldn't avoid it.
"Really?" Tails said, breaking open the yolk of his fried egg with a fork. "Maybe you should take it easy for a little bit, stay home while we get the other Emeralds."
"Are you kidding? I've been at home resting for a day and a half, dude! I feel fine," Sonic insisted. He got up and ran in place, his legs moving so fast they blurred. "See? Totally okay."
"I'm still concerned that the time monsters managed to get into the Special Zone in the first place," Zonic said, his brow creasing. "The Cosmic Highway is under total lockdown now, so the Zone Cops are heavily monitoring any trans-zonal travel. But still... I'm worried that might not be enough. We hardly know anything about these creatures and what they're capable of."
"We know that the bigger they are, the more control they have over time," Tails said. "And that Chaos energy is their food source, but they can't touch an Emerald. That's why they've been gathering wherever the Emeralds are."
"And we know electrifying 'em is a good way to kill them," mini-Sonic said. "The bigger they are, the harder to kill. I learned that the hard way."
"I dunno," Scourge shrugged, "they didn't seem that hard when I was fightin' them. Only reason I got hurt was because we were on a freakin' roller coaster while the fight was goin' on."
"I didn't get hurt, and I was there with you," Zonic smiled.
"Shut up, shorty," Scourge grunted.
"The monsters themselves aren't the only mystery around here," Tails said thoughtfully. "What about Zonic? We know he got younger because time is all screwy, but why him? He's not even from Mobius."
Everyone stopped to think about that one. It was a good question: why was someone from the No Zone being affected directly by Mobius' time stream? Why didn't Sonic or Tails get any younger or older? It was definitely bizarre.
"Well, it looks like we have more questions than answers," the older Sonic said, cracking his knuckles, "but we still know what we have to do. We have to get the Chaos Emeralds so we can stop the Time Eater and fix the time stream. Having answers would be nice, but whether we know exactly what's going on or not, we still have to save the day." He stood up from his seat at the kitchen table and started stretching. He'd been stuck in the house for too long without going on a nice run. The hedgehog was craving some action and some butts to kick.
"Right," Tails agreed, standing up as well. "Well in that case, let's check the Emerald radar downstairs. With five Chaos Emeralds, tracking down the last two should be a cinch." He collected the Emeralds, which were scattered across the kitchen table, before heading downstairs. Everyone got up and followed him into the lab. "Sonic, you said that nothing had popped up on the radar since we left, right?"
"Yeah, it hasn't found anything since. I thought it would have picked something up by now," the green-eyed hedgehog said, staring up at the large computer screen and tapping his foot impatiently. A map of Mobius was displayed on the screen, with bright green dots on it where Emeralds had been found recently. There was no new data, aside from areas of the map that had turned a bright purple color, indicating a disruption in the flow of time. There was beginning to be a distressing amount of purple.
The elder fox began typing away at the computer, bringing up windows and scanning data. After a few seconds of this, he sighed. "Sonic, did you put new Emeralds in here and then forget to reboot the radar?"
"...It needs to be rebooted?" the hedgehog scratched the inside of his ear sheepishly.
"Yeah!" the kit said, exasperated. "Any time you add or take away Emeralds from the energy chamber over here, you need to reboot the system so it can accommodate. No wonder you guys didn't find anything while little Sonic and I were gone." The younger Sonic chuckled and stuck his tongue out at his older counterpart.
"Oh, can it. It'll be your mistake, soon enough," Sonic said with a huff. Tails made sure all five Emeralds were safely inside the energy chamber next to his computer, and initiated the reboot. The screen turned to black, then quickly flashed back to life. The radar program loaded quickly, and almost immediately, a new dot appeared indicating the location of an Emerald.
"See? What did I tell you?" the fox said with a smirk.
"Not my fault you didn't leave instructions for this thing…" the hedgehog mumbled, glaring daggers at the device. Everyone crowded around the computer to get a look at the map. Just two Emeralds left to go, and they'd pinned down one of them. They were almost done.
"So where's the last Emerald?" Scourge asked, staring at the unassuming green dot on the screen. It was in the planet's southern hemisphere, closer to the equator. "Some sort of jungle?"
"Looks like Frog Forest to me," Sonic said, a smile forming on his face. "Sweet! This'll be fun, we haven't been there in ages. Tails, you gonna come along?"
"I think you can count me out on this one," the fox replied with a yawn. "I'm still exhausted from Metal Harbor, and it looks like I'll need to put in some manual effort to search for the last Emerald, since the radar's not picking it up on its own. Plus… " He pulled out a small glass vial, filled with purplish time monster goo. "I have some stuff I want to look into."
Sonic nodded, silently wondering what about the time monsters Tails was interested in. "Sounds fair. Lil' Me? You in?"
"Sure, why not?" the small speedster grinned. He rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck. "I'm not letting you steal all the glory."
"I'm coming too," Zonic said, taking a step forward. Sonic blinked.
"Um, are you sure that's such a good idea, dude? I mean-"
"Prime, I can run again. I'm taking this new body of mine out for a field test, and you're not stopping me," the No Zoner insisted, prodding a finger at Sonic's chest.
"I can't blame you for wanting to go. I'm just saying, you need to be careful. You don't know what your own limits are-"
"Seriously, man? I'm thirteen, not defenseless. I can handle myself." He crossed his arms against his chest and stood his ground. He wasn't about to budge on the matter, and he seemed determined to go, whether or not Sonic thought it was a good idea. Sonic sighed.
"Okay, you got it. You are cleared for travel, Mr. The Hedgehog," he said with a grin, slapping Zonic on the back.
"I'm goin', too," Scourge said, lazily raising a hand. "I'm sick of waiting around here. Thought my days of sitting around doing nothing were over when you guys dragged me here." The elder Sonic nodded and gave him a thumbs up, while the younger glared at him with distrust. After everything that Tails had told him about his Moebian counterpart, he was not feeling terribly inclined to trust the guy. The young hedgehog nearly had a heart attack earlier when he heard that Scourge and his younger brother had spent a day hanging out together. Who in their right mind had let his little bro spend the day with a criminal?
Speak of the devil, Lil' T jumped up and hovered at Scourge's eye level. "I wanna come, too!" the child said excitedly, his dark eyes shining with anticipation. "Can I come guys? Please? Can I can I can I?"
"I dunno," the older fox sounded unsure. "Frog Forest is a lot more dangerous than it sounds. I almost got killed a few times when we were there last time, and I was three years older than you are now!"
"So? I can do it! I wanna go!" the kit pouted. "Danger's my middle name, I'll give those time monster creeps everything I got!"
"Fine, you can come too," the older Sonic said with a smile, shocking his past self and his brother. He winked at them. "But I guess big Tails won't get to give you a tour of the lab once he's done with his work… He said he was really looking forward to it, too…"
Lil' T cocked his head to the side, confused. "The lab? As in, the room we're in right now? I've already seen pretty much everything in here."
The older fox's face broke into a mischievous smile. "Well, yeah, but I could have shown you all the processors, quantum flux hard drives, Chaos propulsion schematics…" He sighed dramatically. "Oh well. I was going to readjust the air canisters on Sonic's old Extreme Gear later, too. I guess I'll just have to do it by myself." He slumped his shoulders forward in disappointment.
The mention of the Extreme Gear grabbed the attention of both the young time travelers. They looked up at the older fox, eyes wide with wonder. "Extreme Gear?" they asked simultaneously, filled with utter curiosity.
"Hoverboard," the older Sonic said with a wink.
"Are you telling me…" Little Sonic said, a grin spreading across his face, "that sometime within the next eight years, I get a hoverboard?!"
"Yup," his older-self nodded nonchalantly.
"As in, a board that hovers? And I can ride on it?!"
"And race it. I've got a couple of trophies upstairs."
"Oh my gods… I'm gonna get a hoverboard!" the hedgehog squealed, his voice bursting up an octave as he did so. He hadn't been this excited about his own future since he saw the video games in the workshop's living room for the first time.
"Yeah!" the twenty-year-old said proudly. "Too bad Lil' T won't get to see it, since he's coming along with us and all-"
"Uh, I dunno," the small fox said hesitantly, wringing his hands together. "That air canister thing sounds pretty tricky… I think older-me could really use my help on this one."
"Aw, are you sure?" Sonic said, placing his hands on his hips and giving Lil' T puppy dog eyes.
The fox responded with no hesitation. "Yeah, I'm sure. Have fun guys!" he said, flying over to Macro-Sonic and pushing him up towards the basement stairs. "See you later, don't forget to write!"
"Alright, alright, we're leaving now!" Sonic said as everyone else laughed. "Come on guys, let's leave the geniuses to their work." Lil' T gave him one last shove as he dramatically fell up the stairs, leading the other three hedgehogs out of the lab. They said a round of quick goodbyes to the two foxes as they left, regrouping in the living room. "Zonic, care to lead the way?" Sonic asked with a smile. Zonic nodded, and made sure he had both his gun and the inhibitor collar attached to his belt before opening up a portal to the jungle.
The four of them emerged from the portal, dropping down a substantial height before each landing on a huge vine. They didn't remain stationary, however; they immediately started sliding down the vines, a surprise to everyone but the older Sonic. The other three wobbled, trying to keep their balance, at least until they brought up speed and their momentum was steady. Zonic was just grateful for the old pair of SOAP shoes he was wearing, making balancing on any sort of rail a lot easier.
The vines twisted and turned through a massive jungle, extending for as far as the eye could see. They were high up in the canopy, dancing above the treetops. Oddly enough, enormous mushrooms that grew from the unseen forest floor poked their heads out of the foliage up top, and the heads of many of them were large enough for groups of people to stand on. Massive tree trunks made up most of the safe-looking platforms, as well as large, mossy platforms that looked like they were entirely formed out of plants. There was a sweet smell in the air, and sounds of wild animals below them sang in their eardrums. It was a beautiful forest, truly unmarred by civilization. The most curious thing about it, though, was the distinct lack of frogs to be found anywhere.
"That's weird," the older Sonic said as they jumped off the vines and landed on solid 'ground,' touching down on a massive tree trunk. "There are usually giant frogs all over this place. Y'know, hence the name. But I don't see or hear any of 'em around here."
"Well, we only just got here," Zonic reminded him. "I'm sure we'll see some later. Which way to the Emerald?"
The two Sonics and Scourge closed their eyes, trying to focus on the energies dancing around them. After thirty seconds or so, they all raised their arms and pointed in the same direction. "That way, about ten miles," they said.
Zonic looked off into the distance, following their pointing fingers. Once again, he felt like the odd man out, being the only one in the group unable to sense Chaos energy at all. Even with his speed back, he still felt like a poser, a cheap knock off. He bit his lip. 'Oh, get over yourself. So you're not a perfect Sonic clone, that's a good thing,' he thought, trying to snap his head out of that train of thought. Why should he care whether or not he could sense Chaos Emeralds, anyway? It wasn't his fault that No Zone didn't have any Emeralds of its own. "Only ten miles?" he said, masking his frustration with a smile. "That's not far at all, we can run there in a second."
"Normally, yeah," the smaller Sonic said, walking to the edge of the trunk and peering out into the distance. "But through jungle this dense? I don't even know how much running we can do out here. It looks like there's a few loop-de-loops way out there, but there's not a whole lot in between. I don't think this place is a particularly speed-friendly environment."
His older-self shrugged. "All depends on what you make of it," he winked. "Most of the speed you get out here isn't from running, but from grinding and swinging, and launching yourself off of the bouncy fruits. It's fun!" A wide grin broke across his face. Finally, he was out of the workshop, in the fresh air, hunting for an Emerald. Plus, if he played it right, he might be able to go this whole trip without his chest and legs getting sore from running too much.
Unfortunately, while this was good news for Sonic, it only ticked Zonic off a little more. "What, so I have my speed back, and now I don't even need it? Great," he said. There went the one upside to him being thirteen.
"I never said that!" Macro-Sonic insisted, quickly backpedaling on his previous statement to make it sound like Frog Forest had more running space than it actually did. Ignoring them entirely, Scourge was looking out at the horizon, his brow furrowed. Something wasn't right here, he could feel it.
"Hey guys," he said, but only the younger Sonic heard him. "Guys!" he tried again, this time successfully getting the attention of the other two. "It's only 11 in the morning or something, right?" he asked, getting a series of nods all around. Frog Forest was in the same time zone as the Mystic Ruins, so the time should have been the same. The green one pointed to the sky. "Then how come the sun is setting?"
That took everyone by surprise. They stared up at the quickly-darkening sky in disbelief. They couldn't believe what they were seeing, and to a lesser extent, they couldn't believe they hadn't noticed it sooner. The sun was also setting incredibly quickly, as if it were on double or triple speed, at least. Plus... was it in the wrong part of the sky?
"If I'm not mistaken, the sun should be setting over there," Zonic said, pointing west. "Why is it in the east?"
"Because it's not setting," the smaller Sonic said, clicking his tongue nervously. "It's rising. In reverse. Time is... flowing backwards, it looks like," he breathed. Looking around at the details in the environment, this became more clear. Plants rustling in the opposite direction from which the wind blew. The occasional bird flying backwards, and at ridiculously fast speeds. If one looked close enough, plants could be seen un-growing with the naked eye.
"Well, that's certainly not good," the older Sonic said. "At least we're not going backwards, too. But still, I'm thinking we should try and get out of here as fast as possible, agreed?" he asked. There was no need for anyone to answer. "So, we know the Time Monsters are here and wreaking havoc, as per usual... but that still leaves one question. Where are all the frogs?"
"What's so special about these damn frogs, anyway?" Scourge asked as the group started walking in the direction of the sixth Emerald. "They're just frogs, why should we care?"
The lighter blue Sonic cleared his throat with exasperation. "Saving animals is kind of my thing, that's why," he said with the sort of tone that dared Scourge to dis wildlife again.
"Plus, the frogs in this forest are giant frogs that can summon rain," the older incarnation said. "If you get up close to one, you'll startle it and it'll summon a short rain storm. Depending on what color frog it is, green or black, the rain will either help plants grow super fast, or it'll kill them. Pretty cool, actually, and both frogs can be helpful in certain situations." He perked his ears up, listening for any tell-tale croaks. "Not sure how that would work out, since time appears to be reversed. Maybe the green frogs would just cause the plants to un-grow faster, if everything is backwards."
"Ugh! Whatever, we'll figure out the dumb frog physics when we find one," Scourge grunted, shoving his hands into his pockets. He muttered under his breath, "We have an Emerald to find, and Blue's worried about nothing but damn frogs… figures…"
Though he intended for no one to hear that comment, the young Sonic's ears perked up. "Hey, let me get one thing straight here," the twelve-year-old said, poking a finger into Scourge's chest. The other two hedgehogs were out of earshot, and were focused more on the wackiness of watching time flow backwards. "I. Don't. Like. You."
"Woah, hey, what'd I ever do to you, shorty?" Scourge said, looking confused and sounding slightly taken aback. "I know you're a total hippie when it comes to animals and the environment and whatever, but-"
"Tails told me about the stuff you've done. The older Tails. That you're the anti-me, that you conquered your world and tried to take Mobius too. That older-me and Zonic brought you here from- from prison!" he whispered harshly, glaring a hole in Scourge's skull.
"He said all that? I'm flattered," the green hedgehog grinned, showing off his razor sharp teeth.
"Yeah. And I don't know what the hell possessed my future self to forgive you, but I'll tell you one thing. I don't. So don't get on my bad side, and for future reference, stay the hell away from my brother. You give me one reason, any reason at all, to kick your ass-"
"Yeah yeah, tough guy, cool your jets. I ain't here to hurt anyone or conquer anything, dumbass. Doncha think I'd have tried something already if I was?" Scourge rolled his eyes and shoved the kid back. "Just because I don't like workin' with you guys doesn't mean I'm not gonna help. I know what's at stake here if we don't stop what's happening."
Sonic clenched his teeth together. "Whatever. Just stay away from Tails, got it?" He glared at Scourge once more for good measure before stomping off to join the others. Scourge exhaled through pursed lips, annoyed.
'Damn, Sonic was even more of a pain when he was younger,' he decided, before following the group of blue hedgehogs in front of him, albeit at a slower clip. He wasn't much in the mood for socializing any more on this trip.
Meanwhile, Sonic the elder and Zonic had run a little ways ahead, happily taking in the scenery and feeling the pounding of their feet on the ground. They weren't moving particularly fast- Sonic wanted to conserve his energy, and Zonic wanted to get used to moving at high speeds again. Both were feeling good, and although Sonic was still concerned by the forest's state of being, it didn't mean he wasn't allowed to have any fun while he was there.
"Hang on," Zonic said, skidding to a stop. "I think I heard someone. Down below." They peered over the edge of the huge tree trunk to the level of vegetation beneath them. On one of the many huge mushroom platforms was a large, purple cat with a fishing pole, calling out someone's name over and over.
"Hey, it's Big," Sonic observed, a curious smile on his face. "What's he doing here?" he wondered. Scourge backed away from the edge, looking uneasy. Sonic didn't notice this, and turned to Zonic and his younger self instead. "Come on, he's a friend. Let's go see what's up."
"Y'know, I'd rather not," Scourge said quickly. "I mean, why waste valuable time talking to that fatass when we could be looking for the Emerald, right?"
Sonic stood up from the edge and frowned at the green hog. "Scourge, it's dangerous here. We need to find out why Big is here and make sure he gets out of here safe. Now come on." And with that, he jumped on a nearby vine, sliding down to the mushroom platform below. The others followed close behind, and Scourge only went along reluctantly.
'Why does this have to happen to me?' He thought with a heavy sigh as he grinded down the vine.
As they reached the bottom, Big was roaming around the large pad, cupping his hands around his mouth. "Froggy!" he shouted, his voice booming and echoing off the vegetation. "Froggy! Where are you?"
"Hey, Big!" the eldest Sonic said, stepping forward and approaching the cat. "Long time no see!"
The feline put down the rock he was looking under and turned to face him. "Oh, hello Mr. Sonic," he said slowly. "Are you okay? Your chest looks funny." He pointed to the scar covering most of the hedgehog's torso.
"Yeah, I got hurt a little bit," Sonic said, shrugging it off. "I"ll be fine, don't worry about it. What are you doing all the way out here? You live in the Mystic Ruins too, yeah?"
"That's right," Big nodded. His features fell as he looked around. "Froggy got lost again. I thought that he might'a come here, since he missed bein' with other frogs, but I can't find him anywhere."
The younger Sonic rolled his eyes and whispered to Zonic, "The guy came to another continent to look for his pet frog?" Z couldn't help but chuckle; it was pretty ridiculous.
Scourge, unlike the others, did not find the cat's ways amusing. He stood back, behind the two younger hedgehogs, and was incredibly stiff. 'He's not Smalls. He's not Smalls. This guy is a total idiot, he couldn't do anything to you if he tried,' he thought, slightly panicked. His fists were clenched tight, his fingernails pressed into his palms. He was having a hard time remaining at ease.
"I'm sorry to hear that, big guy," Sonic said, patting Big's arm. "Uh, not to say you shouldn't be out here looking for your friend, but it's starting to get really dangerous out here. Maybe you oughta look a little closer to home for him, and we'll keep an eye out for him here?" the hedgehog suggested. He knew Big could handle himself in a fight- he'd seen that fishing pole in action, up close and personal- but the guy had no idea what he would be getting into if he stuck around.
"Hmmm…" Big hummed, one of his large ears twitching. "But I could'a sworn I heard Froggy's croak around here-"
"There are millions of fucking frogs in this forest!" Scourge burst, startling everyone and causing Big to jump back. "We haven't even seen one of the big ones yet! The chance that you're gonna find your one, small, specific frog in this jungle is so low, just… just get the hell out of here, you son of a bitch!"
"Scourge, what the hell?!" Zonic exclaimed, giving the green hedgehog a shove.
"What the heck was that for?" The two Sonics asked, completely baffled and shocked. The elder one patted Big gently on the arm, as the cat had his ears pressed low to his head and looked extremely upset.
"This asshole made my life a living hell, alright?!" Scourge shouted, this time being held back by the young time traveler and the cop. "He beat the shit outta me, day in and day out! So don't go askin' me what the hell!"
Everyone's eyes widened at that. "Wha- Scourge, this is Big, not Smalls, dammit!" Zonic growled, struggling to restrain the older hedgehog. "Smalls is secure in Zone Jail, he's not getting out!"
"Big here wouldn't hurt a fly!" Sonic said, standing in front of the feline. He wasn't normally great friends with Big, as they were more general acquaintances than anything. But he wouldn't just stand by and let his bad twin yell obscenities at the gentle soul.
Big nodded, still visibly frightened by Scourge's sudden outburst. "Froggy likes flies," he said rather quietly. "I get sad when he eats them, though."
"See?" said Sonic. "The guy's as sweet and gentle as they come."
"No, you're wrong about him!" Scourge yelled, breathing heavy and shaking. "He's...! I-I..." The hedgehog blinked, and seemed to get a handle on his bearings. His eyes went wide. "I gotta go," he gulped. He took a step back from the two smaller forms trying to restrain him, but he never took his eyes off Big. "I'll catch up with you guys later," he said, his voice thick. He immediately turned and ran, jumping off the huge mushroom they all stood on and landed on a vine, grinding away out of sight.
Everyone was silent for a few moments, trying to figure out what exactly had just happened. "What the hell was that all about?" Little Sonic muttered, tapping his toe to the ground anxiously. He looked to his older self, who only shrugged. Big looked utterly clueless.
"Scourge's cellmate in Zone Jail," Zonic explained after a few seconds. "He was the anti-Big. Apparently, they didn't get along very well."
The other two hedgehogs nodded in understanding, though Big simply looked lost. "Did I do something bad?" he asked, blinking cluelessly.
"What? No, you didn't do anything," Sonic explained to him with a sigh. "My... friend... just knew a guy who looked a lot like you. A mean guy. He doesn't hate you, honest." He looked toward the other two, who were still looking a bit rattled. "Someone should go after him."
Zonic nodded, and wordlessly turned and jumped onto the same vine Scourge had escaped on. He sped away, leaving the two Sonics with Big for the time being. He followed the vine to the end, and jumped off onto another tree trunk, covered with moss and small mushrooms and other plants. Surprisingly, Scourge was sitting at the opposite edge of the platform, his feet dangling over the edge and his elbows on his knees. His head rested in his hands, and he appeared to be breathing shakily. Zonic had expected him to run further, not to stay so close by. "Scourge?" the teenager called, taking a step forward. Scourge didn't move. It seemed like he couldn't even hear his name being called. Zonic frowned. "Scourge," he tried again, louder this time, hoping to snap the older hedgehog out of whatever state he was in.
"What the hell... Of course that's not Smalls, what am I thinking... Get it together Scourge, you're crackin' up..." the green one muttered to himself, seemingly unaware that Zonic was even there. He looked extremely tense and frustrated, if the way he was gripping the short fur on his head was any indicator.
Zonic shook his head. What was up with Scourge? He didn't plan on waiting around to find out, so he walked up behind him and placed a hand on the leather-clad shoulder. Scourge jumped at the touch, getting to his feet in a blur of green. Whether he looked like he was about to punch Zonic or run away from him, the Zone Cop couldn't quite tell. Zonic pulled his hand away and stared at the Moebian, his expression a mixture of concern, confusion, and anger. He searched for the right question to ask, and eventually settled on "What was that back there?"
Scourge clenched his eyes tight and shook his head slightly, clearing his mind. He took a deep breath, in through his nose and out through his mouth, and got out of his 'fight or flight' stance. "I don't know," he answered simply. "I thought he was Smalls and I freaked. Honest mistake."
"Yeah, if you're going off just his looks, maybe," Zonic huffed. "Look, is there something going on with you? Because first it was the mirrors in Twinkle Park, now this-"
"I'm fine. And I told you, those mirrors were just 'cause I was blowin' off steam! So stop nagging me!" Scourge shouted, throwing his arms out to the sides. He stomped back over to the vine he rode down on, crouching down into a runner's stance. "Now let's get the wonder twins and get out of here. I'm getting sick of this damn jungle." He revved up into a spin dash and rocketed up the vine, quickly landing back on the mushroom above.
Zonic, not totally convinced, followed after him, taking a running start and grinding back up the vine. The plant's slippery surface made going up almost as easy as going down was. He met Scourge up at the top in no time and reconvened with the others, who were discussing something with Big.
"Wow, that was fast," Mini-Sonic said, surprised that Scourge didn't make more of an effort to get away. What also surprised him was how Scourge was standing so close to the edge of the pad, eyes down at his boots, ready to escape again if he felt he needed to. 'I can't believe he's afraid of a guy like Big,' he thought, almost feeling bad for the guy. Almost. 'He must have been through some rough stuff if just seeing this guy freaks him out.'
The older Sonic cleared his throat and stepped forward. "We explained the general situation to Big," he said, grabbing everyone's attention. "He agreed to go back to the Mystic Ruins to keep looking for Froggy there, as long as we promise to look for him while we're here."
Zonic nodded. "Sounds fair." Scourge said nothing, he only nodded. He just wanted the cat out of his immediate vicinity as fast as possible.
"Cool, looks like we have a deal," Sonic smiled. He motioned Zonic over and turned to Big. "You ready to go, big guy?"
"Yup," the cat said, happily, not even concerned about Scourge's earlier outburst. Zonic pressed a couple of buttons on his belt, and summoned a portal. There were a few seconds where nothing happened, and then the familiar orange, swirling portal flashed into existence. It looked weak, if that was the right word for it, like it might collapse at any second.
"Go quick, I don't know how long it'll stay open," Zonic said warily. "We must be getting closer to the Emerald, it's making my gear act up."
"Okay," Big said, stepping one foot through the portal. "Bye-bye, Mr. Sonic. Good luck!" he smiled before vanishing through the portal completely. The hole closed up a second or two later.
"Finally," Scourge said, letting out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. "Now that that's over with, can we get a move on?" The other three turned and glared at him.
"What's your problem, anyway?" The young Sonic grumbled under his breath as he shoved past the green hedgehog. Scourge shot him a confused look as he walked away. Zonic followed the younger hedgehog as he stalked off, but the older Sonic hung back a little bit.
"Scourge? You're sure you're okay?" he asked.
"'Course I am! Why's everyone gotta think somethin's wrong with me? So I thought Big was someone else, big whoop," Scourge said angrily.
"Okay, okay, fine," Sonic huffed, sounding annoyed. "Excuse me for being nice." He walked ahead with the others, and Scourge grumpily followed along in the back.
They continued onward, swinging and sliding through the jungle at a decent pace. Because the travel was mostly effortless, they didn't have to stop to rest often, and the scar that had made its home on Sonic's chest wasn't hissing angrily. The older blue and Zonic had taken the lead, steadily travelling towards the sixth Emerald while the two others followed behind. None of them said anything, but they were all thinking along the same lines. Something was wrong with Scourge. Even though he constantly insisted that he was fine, it was obvious that something wasn't right. He was physically okay, sure, but the isolated incidents of him freaking out weren't seeming so isolated anymore.
'Getting Scourge to open up about anything is going to be impossible, I guarantee it,' the older Sonic thought as he grinded down a vine. 'Even if there is something up with him, if he's not going to talk about it, is there really anything we can do about it right now?' Now he was finally able to understand why Tails got frustrated with him when he bottled up all his negative emotions. Sonic had always prefered not to talk about or show that he was sad or worried about something, and it appeared that Scourge was much the same way. 'Huh. Maybe I am as stubborn as everyone says I am.' The hedgehog glanced behind him to see if Scourge and his younger-self were keeping up. Both of them were still in view, with Little Sonic closer than the ex-con was. He smiled, a fun idea hatching in his brain. "Hey Z," Sonic said over the whipping wind, "keep an eye on Scourge for a sec. I wanna do something real quick." He pulled back, turning on the brakes just enough that he was running alongside the younger Sonic.
"Yo, older-me," the child said with a grin.
"Yo yourself," the elder laughed. "Wanna race?" he asked, short and to the point. He needed some excitement- their exploration of Frog Forest had been rather run-of-the-mill up to that point.
"Race you? Only if you're up for it, gramps," the smaller hedgehog stuck his tongue out.
"Gramps?! Oh, you're going down, kid." Sonic sped up his run, pulling ahead of his younger self. The kid smirked and accelerated, easily matching the other hedgehog in speed as they dashed past Zonic. Things were about to get interesting. The older one veered slightly off the path, jumping onto the large, orange fruit that were growing alongside the vegetative highway. He bounced high off of it, his momentum carrying him far. He reached his hand out, catching a stray vine, and gripped it tight in his fingers. He swung back and forward on it once to get a feel for it, before jumping off to the next one. He continued this while the younger Sonic ran on the path next to him, transfixed on the older's movements.
"Show off!" he exclaimed, while himself vaulting over uneven ledges in the walkway. He looked to the other side of the path, the side his older-self wasn't swinging next to, and noticed a long vine more suitable for grinding. He smirked. He pulled himself into a spindash, rolling along the ground at high speeds, before launching off the path and landing dead-center on the vine. He rode on it like it was a track, quickly gaining speed.
The twenty-year-old looked over from his swinging for a moment to see his younger-self spinning on the vine. 'Well, that's one way to grind a rail,' he thought rather proudly. Deciding he should get creative as well, he let go of the vine-trapeze he was swinging on, did a flip in the air, and caught the next vine with his knees, so he was swinging upside down. "Ha! How do you like them apples?" he laughed, his adrenaline pumping through his veins. He looked to see if his past-self could see him, but it looked like the smaller hedgehog couldn't even see very far in front of him. If he could, he would have seen that the vine he was grinding on was un-growing, and shrinking into itself. If he didn't move fast, it would come out right from under him. "Sonic!" the green-eyed hedgehog shouted, jumping off his swing immediately and rushing over to his younger counterpart. He reached an arm out and grabbed the young hedgehog, yanking him back onto the safety of the platform just as the vine ran out. They both hit the ground with a thud, skidding along for several yards and getting grass stains all over their arms and legs.
"What was that fo- oh," the younger Sonic gasped as he realized that the vine he was grinding on had suddenly vanished. He quickly rephrased his statement, a bit embarrassed. "Thanks for the save, older-me."
"Don't mention it, younger-me," the taller one winked. "Any time. I think we definitely need to be careful about where we step from now on," he said, getting back to his feet. He brushed some of the grass and moss off of him, but his royal blue fur was still stained green. "Great, now I look like Scourge," he joked. He offered Mini-Blue a hand up, which the kid accepted.
"Speaking of Scourge, what possessed you to get him out of prison, anyway?" the twelve-year-old asked, surprising his counterpart.
The older hedgehog's face showed a number of emotions at once. Shock and confusion ('Where is this question coming from? Where did you hear that he was in prison? I didn't tell you'), which quickly resolved into realization ('Bet it was Tails, he must'a told you at Metal Harbor'), changing again into pity ('Scourge was a wreck in that place'). He sighed, looking back behind him to make sure Scourge was way out of earshot. "Honestly, as weird as it may sound," Sonic said, his voice oddly calm and quiet, "ever since the guy mutated with the Master Emerald a year or two ago, I thought he'd be able to be a good guy if he just tried. The one time I suggested to him that he and I aren't so different, that he could be good… he just had that expression on his face, that he knew I was onto something, even if he didn't want to admit it."
"Um, hasn't Robotnik tricked you before into thinking he would surrender and be good?" the younger Sonic raised an eyeridge skeptically.
"Okay, that was one time," the older quickly rebutted. "And besides, every time Eggman has ended up in prison so far, he immediately started scheming up some way to break out. Scourge… didn't. The guy had no drive, he just gave up in there. When I found him, he was in the middle of having the living daylights beaten out of him by half the prison. I couldn't help it, I felt sorry for the guy." He shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck. "I mean, everyone deserves a second chance, right?"
"No!" his past-self shook his head. "No, because he conquered his world and then tried to conquer Mobius. Someone who wants everyone to bow down to him shouldn't get a second chance!" he said. He never thought he would be having this conversation with himself. What had happened in the eight years that separated them that had caused Sonic to change so much? The young hedgehog was not one to forgive easily. He also wasn't one to jump head-first into danger just for fun, and he certainly didn't look forward to Eggman attacking so he could experience the 'joy' of smashing robots. He couldn't imagine what on Mobius had changed him to such a degree.
"Right… forgot how much more stubborn I used to be," the older Sonic said quietly under his breath. "You've only been at this hero gig for two years, kid. One thing you're gonna learn is that people change. Sometimes it's best to just start fresh, not to hang on to every bad thing a person has done. Especially if that person is trying to change for the better, or regrets what they did."
"Scourge doesn't seem like the type of guy to have many regrets."
"He also wouldn't open up to anyone if his life depended on it," the dark blue one let out a short laugh. "He said he wanted to give the whole hero thing a try, and we needed help getting the Emeralds. I wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth and leave him in prison, with vultures practically circling around his head."'
The smaller Sonic grunted, his eyes narrowed. "I still don't like him."
"I'm not saying you have to . You asked why he's on the team, and I told you. Simple as that."
The kid shook his head. "How the hell are we the same person…?" His question went unanswered as two sonic booms could be heard a ways back behind them. Scourge and Zonic were catching up to them, and fast. "What's up with them?" he wondered aloud, watching them approach.
"Dunno. I'm thinking we should run with them, though."
"Yeah, sounds like a good idea to me." They both took off running, already going at a decent pace when the Zone Cop and the ex-con caught up to them.
"Why are we running?" the older Sonic asked as they regrouped. "Not that I'm complaining or anything, just curious!"
"That's why, idiot!" Scourge shouted, pointing back from where he'd come. The vegetative path behind them was de-growing, just like the vine Mini-Sonic had been grinding on. The entire walkway was shrinking into nothing more than sprouts and saplings before sinking back to the forest floor entirely. If they didn't move fast, the forest would disappear out from under them.
Sonic's eyes widened. "Okay. Good to know," he said, picking up the pace a little bit. He smiled. It was starting to feel just like old times. "Alright, let's rock 'n' roll!" he cheered.
The four hedgehogs sped through the quickly diminishing landscape, moving as fast as they could. They ran through a few loops and corkscrews before being forced to leave the organic pathway. They leapt onto small, yellow mushroom platforms that were protruding from various trees and vines. Keeping their footing light in case a mushroom shrank out from underneath them, they spent more time in mid-air than they did with their feet on anything solid. The older Sonic started feeling discomfort in his chest and legs, but opted to ignore it. He couldn't stop running, so he just had to hope the aching would go away.
"Uh, guys!" Zonic shouted over the rushing air and the pandemonium of the forest vanishing. "We're running out of space to run, here!" He pointed ahead, and sure enough, they were running out of platforms. At the end of the trail of mushrooms was a larger tree trunk, but past that there appeared to be nothing. No where to go. "What're we gonna do now?" the cop asked, his eyes searching for another route.
"Just follow my lead," the older Sonic smirked. Luckily, he'd noticed something on the trunk of the tree that everyone else had either not seen, or deemed irrelevant. "I've got a plan."
The remaining mushroom platforms soon ran out, and quickly regressed back to mere buds along the vines. The four touched down on the tree trunk, which was starting to sink lower towards the ground as well. There was a large white flower in the middle of the trunk, with giant white petals and a thick stem. Sonic motioned for the others to follow him, and they gathered around the flower.
"So what's your plan? Play ring around the rosie around a giant freakin' daisy?" Scourge asked, completely skeptical of his good twin's planning skills.
"Oh, just shut up and help me whip up a wind!" the blue hedgehog yelled, annoyed. He spindashed rapidly around the flower, forming a small tornado. Noticing the flower's petals begin to spin, the other three caught on and began to help. Within seconds, they'd worked up a massive gale, and the flower's petals was spinning like crazy. "Okay, now hold on tight!" Sonic shouted, breaking the flower's stem and grabbing onto it with all his might. He took off into the air, the others grabbing onto his feet and forming a long hedgehog ladder. The flower was hampered initially by their combined weight, but after a second or two it was whipped up by the winds and got them high off the ground. By the time the tree trunk began to shrink back into the forest, they were far away, soaring through the sky and being flung around like rag dolls.
They were at the flower's mercy; flying through the air with no way to steer, they just had to hope they would land somewhere where the reversal of time wasn't so extreme. Parts of the forest were shrinking all around them, leaves getting sucked back into trees and vines regressing back down to the forest floor. Even parts of the sky were in a frenzy. Clouds coming and going like flashes of lightning, and day changing to night and back again every few minutes. It was bizarre and disorienting, not to mention disconcerting. How many monsters had to be in the forest for time to be messed up this badly?
The flower brought them all high above the canopy of the jungle, giving them an impressive view. The entire forest was falling into chaos, with different areas at different stages of development. It was inconsistent throughout, and made the four hedgehogs feel like there was no where that was safe for long. A number of trees in front of them shrunk rapidly, revealing sections of the forest floor, only it wasn't nearly as green as it should have been. It was a dense blackish-purple, and appeared to be... moving?
"Are those all time monsters down there?" Zonic asked, glancing downward. He was on the bottom of the ladder of hedgehogs, so his view was unobstructed as he looked towards the ground. "They're everywhere... the entire forest floor is covered in them!" he gasped, gripping Scourge's ankles a little more tightly.
"Holy shit," the green hedgehog mumbled, impressed by the sheer number of beasts below them. "We can't take all of them on. No way..."
Mini-Sonic grimaced. "We need to try though, right? We can't just stand by and let them take over the forest… right?" He looked up at his older-self for confirmation.
"Got that right, little-me," he said, his voice laced with his energetic grin. "Ain't no way we're letting these things win here. As soon as we're on solid ground, we're coming up with an attack plan." He leaned left and right, doing his best to steer the flower towards a suitable platform. Just as the daisy started to slow its spin and begin its descent, they passed over a solid-looking tree that looked to be pretty old. Even with time going backwards as it was, all the older vegetation would take a while to become affected. "This is our stop!" he shouted as he released his grip on the flower, sending the group dropping to the ground. They all landed relatively no worse for wear, but the three other hedgehogs all had a look of uneasiness on their faces.
"Alright, I'm just going to ignore the fact that we flew here by flower and get right to the point," Zonic said, stressfully running his fingers through long quills. "There are way too many monsters down there, it's an entire army of them. Before we attempt to put a dent in their numbers, I think we should find the Chaos Emerald first," he suggested.
"For once, I'm with Lieutenant Teen Angst over here," Scourge crossed his arms and frowned. "Not that I don't want to fight all of those bozos, but we came here for the Emerald. That should be our first priority."
"We could always split up," the younger Sonic suggested. "Two of us search for the Emerald, the other two stay and fight."
His older self shook his head. "Nothing doing, little-me. Splitting up is a bad idea, especially in a fight. We should stick together for this one." The younger hedgehog hmphed, but otherwise didn't put up a fight. With the time monster infestation this bad already, the world came first and the forest came second. "We should be closer to the Emerald now than we were before, even with all that side-tracked frantic running to escape certain doom," the older blue said to himself as he closed his eyes, keeping his body surprisingly still.
He relaxed his muscles and focused, letting the energies of the forest swirl around him. There was a large amount of energy in the air from all the plant and animal life, though it was getting smaller by the second. Replacing it was a dark, cold, purplish energy that felt like poison. A shiver went up his spine as he tried to push that energy away. 'Emerald, Emerald, where are you...? There are definitely high concentrations of energy close by, but... they seem to be shifting pretty rapidly. That's weird though, the monsters can't touch the Emerald, so it shouldn't be moving... Wait.' He opened up his eyes and peered over the ledge of the tree trunk they stood on, looking down at the ground. The Time Monsters seemed to be gathered around something, all of them converging on a single, yet quickly moving, point. "Well, I have some good news," Sonic said, giving a short laugh. "I think I know what happened to Big's frog."
The others joined him in looking over the edge, perplexed by what he could have meant by that. "So, that thing they're all following is…" Scourge narrowed his eyes.
"Froggy's always had a taste for Chaos Emeralds," Sonic shrugged simply. "At least this way we kill two birds with one stone."
Zonic sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in between his fingers. "So we grab the frog, and then what? Fight until the cows come home? Prime, there are so many of these guys I can barely see the ground."
"Numbers have never stopped me before. I've taken out armies of robots, no problemo!"
"Yeah, but you weren't hurt then, were you?"
"No, but that's why there are four of me here. We can handle this!" the older blue smiled, taking his friend's shoulder and jostling it excitedly. "C'mon, let's boogie!" Headstrong and reckless as ever, he dove off the edge of the tree trunk, falling towards the massive crowd of monsters and cheering energetically.
"Oh, for the love of-!" the Zone Cop smacked a hand to his forehead before following suit, pulling his spatial stabilizer off his wrist so he could run down the side of the tree easily.
"Alright! Time to bash some faces!" Scourge grinned, hopping down after them. Mini-Sonic followed wordlessly, trying to mentally psych up for the huge fight that was about to ensue. They fell for a few seconds, landing on the heads of some monsters as they came down. The beasts crumpled, grabbing the attention of some of the others. No time for fancy poses or witty one-liners, the four hedgehogs leaped into action, spindashing, punching, and kicking everything purple and goopy that came their way.
"We gotta find that frog!" the older Sonic shouted over the noise of the fight, swinging his legs around in a circular motion to give himself some breathing room. The monsters were densely packed, and came at them from all sides. He was starting to regret jumping into the crowd head-first, but only slightly. He ducked and dodged through their punches, weaving through the crowd with relative ease. He took a deep breath in through his nose, trying to keep himself focused, but he got a whiff of monster. He never really noticed it before, but his younger self and Tails had been right- these things reeked. Just as he thought that, one of the creatures nicked him, its claw scraping his chest. The injury was in no way serious, but it traveled over his enlarged scar, making it sting something powerful. Sonic groaned, losing his footing. That one slip-up made him easy prey, and he was now misjudging all of the monsters' attacks and getting hurt pretty decently. He jumped high in the air to escape for a moment, before homing attacking several of the beasts in a row. 'At least these things are still relatively easy to take down,' he thought. He looked around whenever he had a second to breathe, looking for Big's frog. Where could it have gone?
Suddenly, the skies opened up, unleashing a torrent of rain upon the forest. Through the crowd, Sonic thought he could make out a group of enormous frogs being restrained by the monsters, croaking with fear and anger. The frogs were a mixture of the green and black ones, which explained why the rain didn't seem to be affecting the plant life in the vicinity. The growing and killing rains they produced were cancelling each other out.
"Well, I think we found where all the frogs went!" Zonic said, sidekicking a monster in the chest. He wasn't having the easiest time fighting, as it had been a while since he'd had such powerful kicks. He was more used to throwing punches in close quarters, and had to constantly remind himself that his feet were a far more powerful weapon. He also didn't know how to spindash or use a homing attack, leaving him pretty much stuck on the muddy ground with no way to effectively fight in mid-air. He slowly knocked out monster after monster, steadily making his way through the crowd. He was getting tired though, and receiving his fair share of bruises. He was trying to avoid getting a cut, after seeing what had happened to Sonic, and was avoiding the monsters' claws as best as he could. He tried making his way to the group of frogs, thinking maybe Froggy would be there, but he was having a hard time making his way through the crowd.
Mini-Sonic and Scourge, on the other hand, were plowing through like nobody's business. The green hedgehog wasn't as rusty as he was when he fought on the roller coaster at Twinkle Park, and was spinning through monster after monster without looking back. The younger Sonic stuck to bouncing on their heads, which was easy since the crowd was so dense. He was pleasantly surprised at how little it took to defeat these creatures, as the ones he had faced at Metal Harbor were significantly harder. Plus, the crowd was so disorganized, they wouldn't be able to focus their time-manipulating abilities and work together to slow him down, something he was grateful for. He didn't quite enjoy the feeling that he was killing these creatures, but since they were inherently evil and also attacking him, he didn't dwell on it too much.
He easily made his way across the huge crowd of monsters, reaching the group of frogs in the middle. "Hey there, fellas," he said as he approached them. He doubted his presence would make much of a difference to the huge frogs, which appeared to be moving backwards with the time stream. Watching them hop up and down in place was bizarre, as they didn't have to crouch and wind up before they were in mid-air. Shaking his head and ignoring the "dumb frog physics" as Scourge had coined them, he crouched down low to the ground and looked for a significantly smaller frog with a Chaos Emerald in it's belly. "Here, Froggy Froggy Froggy... Where are you?" he called, attacking the occasional monster as he looked. Spotting movement between the legs of a couple of the black frogs, the hedgehog got on his stomach to see better. Indeed, there was a small frog hopping through the legs of the larger frogs. "There you are!" Sonic smiled, crawling and reaching for the mischievous amphibian, trying not to get squashed by the larger fauna. "Note to self: never get a pet frog," he grunted, wriggling about on his hands and knees trying to catch up to the frog. He finally got a hold of Froggy, the slippery animal almost escaping through his fingers. "Oh no you don't," he said, keeping a firm grip and getting to his feet. He immediately felt his heart race, his blood pumping as he held the frog close to his chest. There was a Chaos Emerald inside of him alright, odd though it was. The sixth one- they were almost there. They just had to defeat the army of bloodthirsty, time-ripping monsters. "Hey guys, I found Froggy!" the small hedgehog exclaimed, holding the small frog above his head in triumph. In addition to catching the attention of his friends, he also grabbed the attention of all of the other monsters in the vicinity that weren't currently fighting them. "Oh crap," he breathed. This just got a lot harder.
Scourge smiled. 'Awesome, got the Emerald. Now I can fight without worrying about stepping on the damn frog,' he thought excitedly, going all out. He swung his legs around with ease, gaining momentum and taking out monster after monster. He cleared the area immediately surrounding him and moved on to the others, just enjoying the fight at this point.
Zonic, on the other hand, was experiencing some difficulties. There were just too many time monsters for him to handle, and the teenager found himself surrounded by them in no time. As a last-ditch effort, he pulled his laser pistol out of the holster on his belt and took aim at the oncoming horde. He fired a shot at the closest monster, but the recoil was a lot more than he was expecting. The laser blast ended up firing way off target, and the gun nearly flew out of his hand. "Whoa!" he gasped, struggling to keep a hold on his usually-trusty weapon. "Tch… So much for plan B," he said, shoving the pistol back into the holster angrily. The monster that he had tried to shoot at was close enough now to reach out and grab him. The hedgehog sidestepped the attack easily enough, but he had no where to go. The monsters were closing in, all of them grabbing for his arms and legs. "Uh, guys?! A little help here!" he shouted, doing his best to shove the monsters away.
The two Sonics looked over in his direction to see him being completely swarmed by monsters. They themselves both had their hands full, with the younger Sonic being chased for the Emerald he was carrying and the older being decently surrounded himself. Scourge was the only one having an easy time, and he seemed too absorbed in his own fight to see what was going on around him.
"Scourge!" the elder Sonic shouted, tornado-kicking another creature away. "Give Z a hand!"
"Hm? What's that?" the green hedgehog yelled back, standing atop a monster's head with a smirk on his face. "Can't hear you over all the ass I'm kickin'!"
"Wha-? Oh, you little... Hang in there, Z!" Sonic grunted, spindashing through the crowd of seemingly never-ending monsters to reach his No Zone self. Zonic was being shoved to the ground, at least one or two of the Mobian-sized monsters latched onto each of his limbs, and several more climbing onto his back. Sonic homing attacked at the ones that were grabbing his arms and legs, freeing Zonic and letting the Zone Cop knock the others off of him. They ended up standing back-to-back, with just as many monsters surrounding them as before. "Okay, not my best plan, I'll admit," Sonic said, his fists raised and at the ready.
"Y'think?" Zonic deadpanned, sending him an annoyed glare.
Meanwhile, the younger Sonic was still using the time monsters' craniums as springboards, keeping an eye on the action and giving himself a short breather. He was curled up and about to land on another beast when Scourge kicked it out from under him. The smaller hedgehog landed on the forest floor with an oof, while Scourge continued beating up the surrounding monsters with a dark grin on his face.
"Wow, clumsy much?" the green one scoffed, homing attacking an entire lineup of monsters. Mini-Sonic fumed, but said nothing. He'd give Scourge an earful later, when they made it out of the forest. If they made it out of the forest. They had been fighting for what felt like forever, but they had barely put a dent in the monsters' numbers. There were just too many of them. Zonic and his older self were completely surrounded, and having trouble even winding up attacks in the limited space they were given. The kid jumped to his feet and raced over to his two trapped friends as fast as he could, making sure to keep a tight hold on Froggy.
'Wait a minute- Froggy... That might just work,' he thought, changing directions slightly and heading for Scourge instead. He grabbed the Moebian's arm and pulled, knocking him off balance as he got dragged along.
"Hey, what's the big idea?!" he shouted angrily, too shocked to try and break free of the twelve-year-old's grip. Sonic ignored him, and raced over to the others. He jumped down on two monsters at once, forcing them to the ground, before pulling Scourge to his feet and standing right by his older self and Zonic.
"I sure hope this works..." he muttered, holding Froggy in both hands. "Everyone, hold on tight! Ch-Chaos Control!" the youngest hedgehog shouted, holding Froggy tight to his chest and clenching his eyes shut tight. He felt the energy surrounding him suddenly twist and warp into something entirely different. The noises of the forest instantly vanished, replaced by the relative quiet of a field, high above the ocean. He cracked an eye open. To his surprise, they weren't in Frog Forest any more. They had all transported back to the Mystic Ruins. He'd just used Chaos Control.
He dropped Froggy out of surprise and fright, taking a quick step back from the group and breathed heavy. All eyes were on him (even as Zonic zipped to recapture the runaway frog). "Wh-what the..." Mini-Sonic breathed, his dark eyes looking panicked. "How did I do that? I didn't expect that to work at all, I shouldn't have been able to do that!' He turned to his older-self, hoping the injured speedster might have an answer for him. He could only shake his head.
"I wish I knew... I mean, it's great that you got us all out of there, but... this shouldn't be happening," he said, struggling to find the right words. His mouth had run dry. 'My twelve-year-old self just used Chaos Control. Something I didn't learn until I was almost fifteen,' he thought. 'He's doing it again. Doing things he shouldn't be physically able to do yet. How...?'
"I'm just glad you tried that trick when you did," Zonic said, holding Froggy in both hands to ensure he wouldn't get away again. "I would have been toast if you hadn't gotten me out of there. Thanks, kid."
"He wouldn't have had to try anything if Scourge had just helped you out," the older Sonic said, his teeth clenched. He knew he'd been defending his choice to bring Scourge along earlier, but watching the green one fight with only himself in mind had ticked him off.
"What?!" the Moebian yelled, tensing up and clenching his hands into fists. "I was helping! Getting myself stuck in the middle with him would have screwed both of us over! And besides, I killed more monsters than the rest of you combined! You're all a bunch of weaklings as far as I'm concerned!"
"At least we know how to fight as a team! We have each other's backs!" Sonic growled. "You only fight for yourself! You don't care about anyone else here!"
"It's not like I came here to make friends," the green one scoffed. "You wanted someone to help you beat up monsters and get Emeralds. That's exactly what I'm doing! Excuse me for my help not being up to your standards!"
"I didn't have to pull you out of Zone Jail, you know!" Sonic shouted, feeling his anger rise up inside him. "I didn't have to give you another chance to prove you can change! I got you out because I felt bad for you, so don't go calling me a weakling!"
"Why, you sonova-" Scourge growled low in his throat, his quills bristling. Without warning, he tackled Sonic to the ground, vanishing within the tall grass.
"Woah!" the younger Sonic and Zonic gasped, taking a reactionary step back from the fight. The two older hedgehogs wrestled on the floor, shouting insults and obscenities at each other as they rolled around in a blur of punches, tackles, and kicks. The two bystanders quickly moved to break up the fight, separating the two adults.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Zonic yelled at them, pushing Scourge away as the younger Sonic held his older self back. The two brawlers were breathing heavily, but aside from a few scrapes and a bruise or two, both came out of the fight relatively unharmed.
"What have you done to help us since we brought you along?" Sonic shouted at his bad twin, fighting against the smaller version of himself holding him back. "Zonic was the one who got the Emerald in Twinkle Park, you didn't bother helping any of us in that fight just now when you easily could have- maybe I should just bring you back to Zone Jail!"
"You bring me back? Mister I-can-barely-run-for-ten-minutes-without-collapsing?" Scourge spat. "I'm sick of you! I'm sick of all of you, thinking that you can boss me around all you want, waving the 'we got you out of prison' card over my head all day long! Well you know what?" Moving quicker than any of them could follow, the green hedgehog yanked the inhibitor collar off the back of Zonic's belt and snapped it around the older Sonic's neck. "You keep using this damn thing on me, let's see how you like it!" And with that, he sped off, the sonic boom that he left causing the tall grass to rustle violently.
"Scourge!" Sonic shouted, clawing at the device around his neck. "Get back here, dammit!" he breathed heavily. The golden collar was sucking everything out of him. His legs felt weak, and his head began to swim. He couldn't feel the presence of the Emeralds, not a single one of them. It was as if all the Chaos Energy in the air had suddenly vanished. He clutched his head in his hands and groaned before slumping over, his younger self luckily catching him before he hit the ground. "Zonic… Get this thing off'a me, will you?" he said weakly, his words slurred. "This is… more intense than I expected."
"Scourge took the key," the Zone Cop said angrily, finding the small remote that accompanied the collar to be missing. "And I don't know if I can keep up after him if I chase him. I'm still exhausted from that fight…"
"Don't worry about it," the older Sonic said, taking a seat on the ground. He massaged his legs, which sort of felt like a giant mosquito had just come and sucked everything out of them. This inhibitor collar was really messing with him, big time. Was this how Scourge felt for the whole year he was in Zone Jail? No wonder he wasn't able to fight back against the jerks in that place, Sonic was impressed that he had been able to stand at all.
"Forget about him," the young Sonic said, having no problem with Scourge leaving them. "Tails and Tails can find a way to get that thing off you, easy."
"Erm… actually," Zonic said, struggling to keep a hold of the squirming amphibian in his hands, "the collar needs to be deactivated by that remote. If it's deactivated in any other way, it'll electrocute whoever's wearing it. As as security precaution."
"A better security precaution would be not letting Scourge get his hands on it," Little Sonic grunted, feeling frustrated. He glared down at his older self. "Why the hell did you try and fight him instead of just dodging his attacks, anyway? You know you're not back up to speed yet," his younger incarnation said, taking a stern tone with him.
"First of all, I'm ignoring that pun," Sonic said tiredly. "Second... I don't think I've quite been myself lately, in more ways than one." He looked down at the ground unhappily. "I've been getting angry when I shouldn't be... Not that Scourge being a jerk and only caring about himself isn't something to get angry about, but I took it too far," he said, taking a deep breath. He was having moodswings, especially where the green one was concerned. Why was he losing control of himself?
"Regardless," Zonic huffed, "someone's gotta go after him and get that key back."
"I'll do it," the younger Sonic nodded, pounding his fist into his open hand. "I wanna show him what Sonic the Hedgehog can do."
"No," his older self said, slowly getting to his feet. "I'll get him back. I need to talk to him."
"And what makes yhou think you can catch up to him?" the kid asked, tapping his foot. "He's probably the fastest out of all of us, at least right now anyway."
"I know. Just… trust me on this one, okay?" Sonic said, putting a hand on his shoulder and smiling a little. He blinked. His head was still spinning from the collar's effects, but he was starting to get used to it. "I have a hunch that he didn't go far. Let me try and find him. You guys get that Chaos Emerald out of Froggy, and get the little dude back to Big, alright?" He jogged off in the direction Scourge went, painfully aware of how slow he was. The two younger hogs he left behind frowned.
"Why do we get stuck with the frog?" Zonic asked, holding the wriggling amphibian out in front of him. Sonic only shrugged. Froggy croaked.
"I dunno," Mini-Sonic huffed. "Let's just get that Chaos Emerald out of him, and pray that older-me doesn't get the living daylights beaten out of him." He led the Zone Cop back in the direction of the workshop, hoping his future-self would be okay.
Notes: Whew, that was a long one! Finally, some long-overdue action, and we get away from Zonic's teen angst for a little while, haha. I'm sorry the frogs didn't do more in this chapter! I really wish I could just write this chapter over again; I personally think it feels kind of disjointed, and I don't think it's my best work. Oh well, maybe I'll get to take another crack at this sometime in the future. When we get Time Warp: Director's Cut in 2045. In 3D! Hehe, kidding. Anyway, I really enjoyed getting all the hedgehogs out of the workshop, and I hope you liked it too!
Remember to leave a review if you liked it! They really do mean a lot to me UwU Thank you for reading, and Happy (early) New Year!