Animoid Village, Fallout Zone – 10,000 B.E.

The voice of Chronos stresses, "The battle is already lost. The Chronophage already has a hold over us. Zero, Silver, it is up to you to save time! Collect the Temporal Sapphires…! Defeat the Chronophage…! Restore…the proper flow…of time…!" He sounds like he's weakening, struggling more and more to speak as he goes on.

Zero asks, "But how? We can't beat that thing! We can't restore time without you!"

"My final gift to you…the Core Sapphire… Find it… I have hidden it where the Chronophage will never…uncover it… I believe in you two…" He cries out in pain, and that is all.

Zero shouts, "Chronos! Janice!"

Silver is beginning to freak out. "This can't be happening. It's not possible. How could anything defeat Chronos and Janice? You, me, and Sonic together were only barely able to defeat Janice alone using the seven Chaos Emeralds and the 12 Temporal Sapphires. The Time Eater only had one Sapphire!" He's visually panicking.

Zero says firmly, "Silver."

Silver continues to panic. "What possible hope could we have of beating it!?"

Slightly louder, "Silver."

"This is hopeless! With Chronos and Janice gone, it's only a matter of time until all timelines collapse in on themselves! We're doomed!"

Zero shouts, "Silver!" as he grabs Silver by the shoulders and shakes him. "We're not doomed, not as long as we keep fighting. Chronos told us to find the Sapphires and the Core Sapphire. Clearly, he knows what he's talking about. Let's trust him and fulfill his final request."

Silver has been snapped out of it. He closes his eyes momentarily and makes no response.

With hands still on Silver's shoulders, Zero points out, "You wanted a grand adventure? Well here it is." He takes a look around his village, making sure to take in every sight. He sighs. "For better or for worse…" He shakes his head in sadness. "Every time I leave this place…I get the sense there's a chance I may never see it again." He sighs.

Silver opens his eyes and nods. "Okay. Sorry about that. You're right. Even if everything seems hopeless, we have to try. It's our role as Controllers, after all."

Zero lets go of Silver. "Exactly."

Silver asks, "But how are we supposed to find the Temporal Sapphires? We only found them before because Janice was leading us to find them." He holds up his own. "And I imagine I only found this one because Chronos gifted it to me."

Zero nods. "Don't forget, Janice never actually knew the locations of the Sapphires. She was using the stolen notes from Sonic's enemy who had tracked them down."

Silver groans. "Are you telling me we have to track down Eggman and ask for his help?"

Zero shakes his head. "No, I know someone else who should be able to help us." He sighs and adds under his breath, "But you're not going to like it…"

Silver & Zero: Partners in Time

Part 2

Dominus Tempus

Written by Yuni Oha

Gregor's Lab, Fallout Zone – 10,000 B.E.

Zero leads Silver into a high-tech but disheveled laboratory. A massive hole is left in the wall above, on the other side of which a giant silver and gold robot can be seen standing. On the opposite side of the room is man sitting in a wheelchair. He wears a white lab coat and has a welding mask down over his face. He's working on welding a giant robotic hand resting on the floor, likely from the robot outside. The man looks up. "Zero! Two visits in as many days! To what do I owe the pleasure? Did you come to give me a hand? Because I must warn you, I already have more than enough hand." He beckons at the robot hand and laughs. He's quick to add, "It's legs that I really need."

Zero crosses his arms. "This is no time for games, Gregor."

The man senses how serious Zero is and raises the welding mask, revealing his face. He's the man from Zero's dream, Gregor Robotnik. His large nose and larger, though neatly trimmed, mustache make it clear he's a Robotnik. He has a full head of hair, and a slim body. Notably, he also has a black eye.

Silver recognizes the man immediately. "Gregor Robotnik!?" He marches straight at Gregor. "You scum!" He swings a fist at the doctor. Gregor recoils instinctively, putting up his hands in an attempt to guard himself, but the punch never comes.

He opens his eyes to see that Zero has leaped in and grabbed Silver's fist before he could make contact. Gregor lets out the breath he had held in.

Silver demands, "Zero, what are you doing!? This is the man who experimented on you! Who tortured you!"

Zero nods firmly. "I know that, Silver. Better than anyone else. But he's also not the same man."

"What does that mean?"

Gregor speaks up, "I'm a changed man!"

Zero bluntly voices, "Shut up, Gregor." He sighs. "But he's right. He's honestly trying to reform and make up for what he did. And since I'm the one who put him in that wheelchair, I owe it to him to help him make that change."

Silver lowers his fist, but he doesn't seem to like this one bit. "Zero, how could you just ignore everything he's done to you? He's a monster with no moral compass."

Gregor points out, "I would like to remind you that everything I did was in the name of science. I followed all–"

Silver and Zero shout together, "Shut up, Gregor!"

Zero stresses to Silver, "Silver, he's practically my father. If he wants to change, and I can help him make that change, then it's up to me to do so. And regardless, he's the only person who can help us now."

Gregor is bold enough to speak up once more. "Ah, yes, you're here because you want me to track the Temporal Sapphires for you."

Zero and Silver both look to Gregor with surprise. Zero demands angrily, "How could you know about that!? Have you been spying on me!? After what we just went through!?"

Gregor quickly wheels back several feet, to a hopefully safe distance. "No, it's not that at all! I swear! I only contemplated spying on you once!" Seeing Zero's look of anger makes him add, "Briefly! Only for a second!" He sighs. "But that's not the point. Your friend there already paid me a visit yesterday, after I got back to my lab. He explained your situation to me and said that you needed me to find the locations of the Sapphires scattered across time. I've been working non-stop at it."

Zero shakes his head in disbelief. "Huh?" He looks to Silver.

Silver states, "I wasn't here recently, I can promise you that."

Zero realizes, "That must mean that at some point in our future you will travel back. And that's good, because it allows us to get the locations of the Sapphires even sooner." He stops as he realizes something. "Wait a second, what do you mean you've been working on it non-stop? What does repairing a robot hand have to do with tracking Sapphires?"

"Absolutely nothing. Ever heard of multi-tasking? I was running through equations in my head when you barged in."

Zero relents, "Fine. So, what do you have for us then?"

"I have the location of one Sapphire so far."

Silver throws his hands up in the air. "One Sapphire!? What are we supposed to do with that? We need ten more!"

Zero states, "Calm down, Silver. One is a start. We'll work from there. Thank you, Gregor. This is a massive help."

Gregor suggests hopefully, "I could be an even greater help if you left one of those stones here with me. You know, to study first-hand?"

"Don't push it."

"Okay, not pushing it." Gregor hands Zero a paper full of handwritten notes. "This should be the exact temporal coordinates of the Sapphire. Travel there, and you'll find it."

Zero nods.

Gregor adds, "And I have another request. It sounds like you're going to go on an awfully dangerous quest. Promise me one thing, Zero."

Zero smirks at Gregor. "Don't worry, Gregor. I'll be careful."

Gregor is taken off-guard. "Oh, yeah. You do that. But also, if your friend here should perish, you should bring the remains to me for study. Imagine the secrets I could find by dissecting–"

Zero and Silver shout loudly together, "Gregor!"

Gregor throws his hands up in the air. "Plenty of people used to donate their bodies to science, you know. I don't see anything wrong with asking for–"

Zero cuts him off. "Just stop digging yourself deeper, Gregor. Please."

Gregor shakes his head in disapproval but says nothing more.

Zero asks Silver, "Are you ready to go?"

Silver hesitates. "I am, but are you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Don't you want to say goodbye to Nina before we go? It could be a long time before you see her again."

Zero shakes his head and looks down. "No, she doesn't need to know what I'm doing. Besides, we'll be time traveling. From her perspective, we'll be back before she knows I'm gone."

Then Nina asks, "So you were just going to pretend like nothing happened?"

Zero gasps. "Nina? What are you doing here?"

She walks towards Zero. "I'm starting to realize that it doesn't mean anything good when you head out here without telling anyone. Why wouldn't you tell me you were about leave on a dangerous quest?"

Zero sighs. "I've put you through too much already. I just want what's easiest for you."

Nina crosses her arms. "And what if you didn't make it back? How would I feel then? If I never got to say goodbye to you. Would that be easiest?"

Zero shakes his head reluctantly. "No, it wouldn't."

Nina nods back. "Exactly." She reaches in and gives Zero a strong hug. "Be safe. Come back to me. To us." Zero hugs her back.

Gregor grins mischievously, observing the embracing hedgehogs carefully, and jots down some notes when he thinks no one's looking. But Silver is watching. He gives Gregor a stern look, causing Gregor to panic, fumble with his pen, and drop it after several failed attempts to catch it.

Zero and Nina part. Zero promises, "I will do anything in my power to make it back."

Nina grins at him. "And that's all I need to hear." She looks to Silver and says, "Thank you, Silver."

This confuses Silver. "Thanks for what?"

Nina grins. "For having Zero's back. You want what's best for him."

Silver grins. "Well, that is what friends are for."

Zero pulls out his Temporal Sapphire. "Okay, now I am ready."

Silver nods, and then looks to Gregor and vows, "Speaking of wanting what's best for him, I'll trust you, for now. But if you do anything to hurt Zero, I'll make sure that both of your eyes match."

Gregor recoils back and rubs his black eye.

Nina laughs. "You're going to have a hard time with that if I get to him first."

Silver turns to Zero. "Alright, would you care to do the honors, partner?"

Zero nods. He holds up his Sapphire and announces, "Time Control!" A space-time rift opens and the two jump in, but not before Zero takes one last look at Nina and Gregor.

—–—

Sunset Heights – 1 B.E

Silver and Zero reappear in the middle of a sloped road in a busy urban environment. Silver takes a look around. "A city, although a fairly primitive one."

There's a loud honking. Silver and Zero look uphill to see a car speeding toward them with the driver making angry gestures for them to move. Silver quickly uses psychokinesis to lift them both above the car. The angry driver, an animoid bird, shouts, "Stay out of the road!" as he passes by.

Silver sets them both down on the sidewalk. He shakes his head in disapproval. "Ground-based automotive transportation. So primitive. And dangerous. Very dangerous."

Zero looks around with awe. "It may be primitive, but it always makes me happy to see a city full of life." He thinks for moment. "You know, if I was reading Gregor's notes right, then we should be in Sonic's time."

As he says this, a blue blur streaks by, running down the hill. Silver and Zero look to each other, shocked by the irony. Before they can say anything, the blur stops, then reverses, rushing back up to them. Sonic appears and says casually, "Hey Silver. What's up, dude?"

This confuses Silver. "What's up? I've traveled here from the future and all you have to say about it is 'what's up'?"

Sonic shrugs. "Eh, what can I say? Crazy stuff like that tends to happen every day around here. Sure keeps things fun, though. Speaking of fun, having a heck of a time on a run right now myself." He looks to Zero. "Who's your friend? Never seen him around here before."

Silver realizes, "Oh, you must be from before you met Zero…" He trails off as he realizes something isn't right. "Wait, you know me, and you know that I know you, but you don't know Zero? How is that possible?"

Sounding troubled, Zero adds, "I can confirm from Gregor's notes, we are about a month before the time when Sonic met us."

Silver shakes his head. "No, this isn't possible." He looks to Sonic. "How do you know me?"

Sonic seems to be getting a little weirded out by this. "How wouldn't I know you? We only just recently worked together to stop Eggman and Infinite from taking over the world. Oh, then there was my birthday party. And you can't forget that time we went–"

Silver cuts him off. "Stop, just stop talking."

"Okaaaaay?"

Silver shakes his head in dismay. "The obvious answer would be that in my relative future I'll meet your relative past, but the problem with that is that you didn't know me personally at all when I first met you a month into your future." He groans. "I've only been time traveling for a few hours, and my head already hurts."

Zero suggests, "Obviously something else is at play here. I had a similar encounter recently, and it all became clear in the end."

Silver shakes his head in further dismay, but gives it up. Instead, he just puts on a grin and wraps one arm around Sonic's shoulder and the other around Zero, pulling them both in close. "You know what? It doesn't matter. All that matters is that we've got the band back together. The three greatest Controllers are working together again on yet another mission to save time. It's poetic. This is exactly what I needed!" Zero looks slightly annoyed, and Sonic just seems confused, but goes with it.

As Zero pulls away from Silver, he taunts, "Jeez, it's almost like you don't have any other friends, Silver."

Silver quickly lets go of Sonic and deflects, "What are you talking about? Of course I have friends. There's… um…" He struggles to come up with a name.

Zero ignores this. "Your social life, or lack of it, isn't really the problem right now." He looks to Sonic. "Sonic, this is very important, have you seen any gemstones like this?" He holds out his Temporal Sapphire to show Sonic.

Sonic pulls away from Silver as well, and looks it over. "Yeah, I have. It's right over there, with Mr. Big, Tall, and Ugly." He points back.

What he points to is Time Eater, flying at them from over the top of the hill. Embedded in its chest is a Temporal Sapphire, which seems to glow a sickly purple-blue. It makes sudden jerky movements every second as it spins. Time Eater seems more solid and less ethereal than last time.

Silver and Zero both shout at once, "Time Eater!?"

Sonic chuckles. "Oh yeah, I might have failed to tell you exactly why I was running. I suggest you start too, if you know what's good for you." He gives them a two fingered mock salute, then runs off.

Zero runs after him and Silver hovers. Neither of them can keep pace with Sonic, but they're still able to outrun Time Eater. Silver shouts, "Sonic, wait!"

Sonic slows down to keep pace with them, hops around, and begins to run backwards. "What's up?"

"You said you were out on a run for fun! What's going on!?"

Sonic scoffs. "I never said I was running for fun, I said I was having fun running. I just so happen to be running from that big boss that won't stop chasing me."

Zero shakes his head in disbelief. "You're an even bigger fool than I remember!"

Silver reminds him, "Hey, don't forget, he's going through a phase right now."

Zero sighs. "Doesn't change how obnoxious it makes him." He looks back to Sonic. "You say Time Eater has been chasing you relentlessly?"

Sonic nods. "Yeah. It just appeared out nowhere. Seemed like it wanted a race, so I was happy to oblige. It's almost like it doesn't care about anything here but me."

Silver realizes, "That's exactly how it was acting when it attacked me."

Zero adds, "And it didn't seem to care about you when it came into sight. It was still focusing on Sonic." He thinks for a moment. "Also, there's something else different about it from what you told me about before."

Silver realizes, "It's not eating time right now. It's not freezing everything around it."

Zero contemplates this for a moment, then suggests, "I have a theory. If that thing eats time, then maybe it needs to do that to survive. It's involuntary. But now that it has a Sapphire, it's able to drain time directly from the source, instead of its surroundings."

Silver nods. "That makes as much sense as anything else with this guy."

Sonic shrugs. "You two talk about some weird stuff. I say you stop overthinking things and enjoy the run."

Zero takes a look around for the first time. He realizes that many of the buildings have been mostly or completely destroyed. Piles of rubble line much of the street. Zero's eyes lose focus, and begin to tremble. Looking at a skyscraper with its windows blown out ahead of him gives him a flashback to a very similar building he once saw in a similar state of disrepair.

With his attention taken off running, he quickly trips and tumbles. Silver notices this and quickly floats back to catch him psychically. "Zero!"

With them not moving, Time Eater quickly catches up to them. Silver prepares to fight to defend Zero, but Time Eater flies right past them, truly only focused on Sonic.

Silver lays Zero out on the ground and asks urgently, "Zero, what's wrong?"

Zero is stuck in the past. In his memory, he's sitting in a cave, stuck in some sort of contemplative stupor. Until he's snapped out of it by a low pitch rumbling noise. Zero rushes outside to see what it is. He looks up to see a trail of light streaking across the sky. Zero gasps, not knowing what to make of this. But then he realizes what it is and runs to pursue it. He runs faster than he's ever run before in a hopeless bid to keep up with the head of the streak. But he can't keep up.

Off in the distance is a pristine and shining city. The streak arcs down, disappearing behind the larger buildings in the center of it. Zero shouts, "No, no, no!"

For a split second, everything seems to go silent, even the sounds of nature. Then the world is ripped apart. A massive flash of light forces Zero to look away. When he looks back, where once was city now is a giant mushroom-shaped cloud. He watches as a shockwave blasts out from ground zero. Only a second later and his ears are assaulted by a massive bang. Another second later, and he's thrown back by an incredible shockwave as the ground itself shakes apart.

When Zero gets up and takes his next look at the city, he notices the buildings in the outskirts. Still standing, but in a ramshackled state. He gasps as he realizes, "The people!" He runs in for the city.

The first building he makes it to is the building he remembered earlier. He punches down the door and runs in. He shouts, "Hello! Is anyone in here!?"

The voice of a terrified woman shouts, "Here! We're here! Help us!"

Zero runs towards the voice. He breaks through a wall to make it quicker. In the next room he finds a badly injured woman next to an unconscious man. Zero shouts, "Follow me, I'll get you to safety!"

The woman looks to him for the first time and screams in horror. "What are you!?" She's absolutely terrified of him.

Zero ignores this. He puts out his hand for her to take and stresses, "Please, we have to get out of here. This building isn't safe!"

The woman throws a piece of wreckage at him and shouts in hysteria, "Get away! Stay back! Stay back!" She's practically crying.

The fear he sees in her eyes only serves to remind him of the terror he saw in Nina's eyes after his Chaos Blast. Zero pleads, "Please, I just want to help! I–" He's cut off by the entire building shaking. The roof collapses in, right on top of the screaming woman. Zero shouts, "No!" As the building continues to rumble, Zero is left no choice but to leave immediately. As he makes it out, the entire building collapses.

Outside, Zero looks up to the sky, left horrified by what he sees. Hundreds of streaks of light fly across the sky. And across the horizon, dozens of towering mushroom clouds. Zero is overwhelmed. He drops to his knees and pounds a fist to the ground. He shouts as tears fall from his eyes and he convulses, "I could have stopped this! I could have stopped this!"

Back in the present, Zero continues to shout, "I could have stopped this!"

Returning the favor from earlier, Silver grabs Zero by the shoulders and shakes him to snap him out of the hysteria. "Zero, snap out of it! What could you have stopped?"

This seems to do the trick. Zero stops shouting and starts panting. He shakes his head, too overwhelmed by emotions to speak right away. After a moment of gathering himself, he says, "Sorry…" He looks around, taking in the destruction around him. "The… the ruined city brought me back to memories I'd rather not think about."

Knowing Zero's story, Silver nods in understanding. "I didn't realize. I'm sorry."

Zero shakes his head. "No, I'm sorry. I should have prepared myself to see anything. I should be fine now… I think…"

Then Sonic suddenly runs in. "You guys okay? I lost you there for a second."

Silver looks scornfully at Sonic, then realizes, "Wait, how are you back here if you're running from Time Eater?"

Sonic shrugs nonchalantly. "Whatever that thing is, it's not very smart. It just chases me in circles. We've made a couple laps around the city at this point."

Ignoring his indifferent attitude, Zero asks, "Sonic, what happened to this city?"

Sonic looks around at the wreckage. "Where have you been living, buddy? A cave? The war happened."

Sonic's choice of words causes Zero to cringe.

Silver steps in to stop this exchange. "Sonic, do you have any idea why the Time Eater is after you?"

Sonic shrugs. "Beats me. But I tend to be a magnet for would-be world destroyers. It's no biggie."

Zero groans. "I wish you would take this seriously! That thing chasing you just destroyed the very keepers of time! This is a 'biggie!' It's the definition of a 'biggie!'" He performs air quotes around Sonic's choice of word.

Silver decides. "I say the time for running has ended. We need to fight back against that thing."

Sonic smirks. "Running is fun, but I can't object to a good ol' boss beating." He punches a fist into an open hand.

Zero asks, "But how could we beat it? You weren't able to do anything to it before."

Silver nods. "But that was just me alone. Together, the three of us are unstoppable. We'll put this thing in its place."

Sonic cheers, "Alright!" Zero doesn't seem so convinced.

As Time Eater can be seen nearing them from around a corner, Silver asks, "Sonic, could you give us some breathing room to prepare?"

Sonic jokingly bows. "It would be my utmost pleasure." He takes off running, practically dragging Silver and Zero behind him. Silver makes the task easier by levitating the two them, so they're not dragging along the ground.

—–—

Sonic deposits them in an open plaza. Zero takes a moment to observe the destruction that's apparent here. He asks, "Sonic, what kind of evil could cause all this ruin?"

Sonic looks around. "An evil that doesn't know when to stop."

Zero looks down in sadness.

Sonic notices this and points out, "But hey, if you ask me, you're focusing on all the wrong stuff."

Zero looks to him quizzically. "What does that mean?"

"You're noticing the destruction, but you're not seeing the good that's coming out of it."

Zero is taken aback by this at first, not sure what to make of Sonic's comment. But then he sees what Sonic's beckoning too. While there is destruction everywhere, there's also animoid citizens working together to fix it. They all happily work together to repair their city. No one seems upset. This reminds Zero of something. It reminds him of everyone working together to construct his village.

Sonic explains, "This is the oldest non-human city in the world. One of the largest populations, too. The citizens here have lived here for generations, and their descendants will probably live here too. They're not going to let a little destruction stop them. They're going to rebuild their city better than it ever was before. They're not fixated on what they lost. On their past. They're fixated on the future, and how they'll make it better."

Zero is speechless. He stares at Sonic for several moments. "I never thought I would hear you utter such wise words."

Sonic chuckles and smirks. "Even I have my moments."

Silver then steps forward, ceases the moment, and announces, "And it's the future we need to focus on. Because if we don't stop the Time Eater, then there will be no future… or past… or even present, for that matter. No time at all. And by that, I don't mean something quick. I mean there literally will be no time." Seeing Sonic's confused look, he quickly adds, "Because it will fall apart. That's why we're here, to stop time from falling apart. We're like… we're like time repairmen. So let's clock-in and get to work!"

Sonic laughs. "This guy, on the other hand, seems to not have his moments."

Zero rolls his eyes. "Tell me about it."

Silver sighs. "Was it that bad?"

Sonic and Zero both nod and say at once, "Yeah, pretty much."

Then Silver shouts, "I hope I at least inspired you a little, because we're not alone anymore!" Time Eater has caught up with him.

Zero curses, "Shoot, we spent too much time talking." He clenches a fist. "But you know what? I've had enough running from problems! It's time to think about the future and confront them!" He looks to Time Eater and shouts, "Let's see how you like being frozen in time!" He pulls out his Temporal Sapphire and shouts, "Time Control!" He holds out a hand and the microtime around Time Eater freezes, halting it in its tracks.

Silver cheers, "Yeah! That did it!"

Sonic points out, "Guys… I hate to be that guy, but no. It didn't."

Zero and Silver look back to Time Eater to see it making lurching movements, as if breaking free from restraints. Within seconds, it's moving again. Zero realizes, "Time Eater exists outside of time! I can't freeze it!"

Sonic asks, "Any more ideas?"

As Time Eater lunges at them, Zero shouts, "Yeah, I got one! Sonic, can you distract it?"

Sonic chuckles as everyone leaps out of the way. "Of course I can distract it. Distraction is my middle name. Sonic Distraction Hedgehog." He smirks. "Let's play." He dashes at Time Eater and begins to run around it in circles. Time Eater attempts to grab him, but Sonic has already zipped to the other side. Sonic taunts, "You're too slow!"

Zero looks to Silver and says, "Silver, help me out with this next Time Control!"

Silver objects, "But I can't use Time Control like you!"

Zero explains, "I don't need you to. Just trap this guy with your psychokinesis!"

Silver objects, "But he escaped last time I did that!"

"Just do it!"

Silver nods. He holds up his hands, gathers his focus, and grabs Time Eater with his psychic reach. Sonic gets out of the way.

Once more, Zero shouts, "Time Control!" This time he doesn't freeze Time Eater, but the psychic energy around him. Time Eater struggles, but can't break free.

Silver realizes, "I get it! By freezing the psychic bindings, they become unbreakable!"

Zero grunts as he struggles to maintain the Time Control. "I wouldn't call it unbreakable. This is a horrible strain I'm putting up with."

Sonic asks, "Cool, but what's next?"

Zero says, "Let's see if we can get a read on what Time Eater's been up to! Time Control!"

Time Eater roars. A bubble of energy forms above Time Eater. In that bubble, an image begins to form.

Silver asks, "What are you doing?"

Zero explains as he struggles, "An extremely advanced version of Time Control. With it, I can create a projection of rewound microtime to see someone's recent history."

The image fully forms. From Time Eater's perspective, Chronos quickly flashes away, dissipating into nothingness. Time Eater then looks around the Time Stream it's floating in. It waves a hand and several images from across time appear for it. All of them are of Silver. One is of Silver battling against Infinite. Another is of Silver standing at a picnic table with a birthday cake on it. It looks across these images of Silver and several others, some stranger than others.

Silver asks in horror, "Why me…? Why the fixation on me…?"

But then Time Eater notices something different. In many of these images, Sonic is also present. Time Eater knows what it must do and leaves the Time Stream. The projection is cut off.

Zero realizes, "It is still after Silver, but it realized that Sonic knows exactly where Silver has been on many time traveling occasions that have yet to come for him!"

Sonic looks confused. "I don't get it. Why go after me when Silver is right there?"

Silver realizes, "It's because I have this." He pulls out his Sapphire. "I'm ready for Time Eater now. It would rather find me in a time where I'm not ready for it. That's why it attacked me where it did originally. Now that I'm prepared, it's trying to use Sonic to find exactly where in time I'm at when I'm not prepared!"

Zero nods. "I concur."

Sonic asks, "So what do we do? I don't take this thing as the type to give up."

Zero says somberly, "There's only one thing we can do."

Before he can say anything else, both he and Silver are thrown to the floor as Time Eater breaks free of the prison. It roars with anger and hurtles towards the three hedgehogs.

Sonic shouts, "Time for more running!" He grabs Silver and Zero and drags them off again.

—–—

Seconds later, he deposits them at the entrance to a nature park in the center of the city. Silver and Zero manage to recover. Silver says, "Thanks for the save, Sonic." He looks to Zero. "So what is it we have to do?"

Zero explains, "If the Time Eater will never give up so long as Sonic knows where to find Silver, then we need to make sure Sonic doesn't know."

Silver doesn't seem to like the sound of this. "Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?"

"There's another variation of Time Control I've been working on. With finite control, I can manipulate the microtime around specific neurons in the brain, especially those that have been affected by time travel, and run them backwards, essentially erasing any memories of time travel-related events."

Silver shouts with instinctual anger, "You want to erase Sonic's memories of me!? I'm his friend! You can't do that to him! You can't just delete a friend from someone's life! Memories of friends are sacred!"

Zero is surprised by this reaction. "You feel strongly about this. Why?"

Silver is about to give an answer but pauses. "I… I don't know…" He looks down at his hands. "Why do I feel so strongly about this…?"

Then Sonic speaks up, "I'm willing to do it."

Silver and Zero look to Sonic with surprise. "You are?"

Sonic nods. "If it means helping you guys stop this thing, then I'm in. Silver, you are my friend, and I don't like the thought of forgetting you, but if it's what I have to do, then I will. I'll make that sacrifice."

Zero stammers, "You're… you're not as self-centered as I thought."

"Just remember, I do everything fast, including changing my mind. Let's get this done with."

Zero nods. "Right." He steps up to Sonic and places a hand on his forehead. "This shouldn't hurt."

Sonic nods. He looks to Silver and gives him a thumbs up. "Hey, Silver. Try not worry too much about this. Based on what you said, it sounds like someday you and I will get to meet for the first time all over again. We'll be on equal footing."

Silver nods. "Look forward to your future Sonic. You may have hard times ahead, but also great ones. Goodbye for now, my friend."

Sonic rubs the side of a hand against his nose as he gives a confident chuckle. "Heh heh."

Zero is prepared. He shouts, "Time Control!" Sonic's eyes begin to glow the same blue as the Temporal Sapphire. Seconds later, he collapses unconscious. Zero announces, "It is done."

This is just as Time Eater catches up once more. Silver and Zero prepare to fight, but the Time Eater stops as it senses something. Somehow knowing what has happened, it roars in intense anger. This roar is so powerful, it causes the ground to shake. Its Temporal Sapphire glows violently, and a similar glow emanates from behind Silver and Zero. The Time Eater lunges forward, forcing Silver and Zero to dodge to each side of it. Time Eater keeps going and grabs a newly revealed Temporal Sapphire right off the ground, absorbing it into itself.

With the energy of two Sapphires, Time Eater begins to transform. Its hazy form begins to condense down, becoming both smaller and more solid, taking on a more definite form, one similar to the silhouette of an animoid, though still lacking any definitive shape, still made from a miasma of black and purple smoke. It's monstrous, jagged maw and sinister eyes still look the same on its now defined head, looking proportionately large as they take up the entirety of the front of the head. The two Sapphires are still embedded in its chest.

Zero gasps. "What's going on?"

Animoid Time Eater takes a look at one of its hands and grins menacingly, showing for the first time some sort of consciousness, some sort of emotion. It holds a hand up and uses the Sapphires to open a space-time rift. Before jumping in, it takes one last look at Silver and Zero, as if it's daring them to follow. It leaps in and disappears, though the vortex remains open.

Silver and Zero breathe a sigh of relief. Silver asks wearily, "What was that?"

Zero suggests, "It would seem that Time Eater is using the Sapphires to gain a form of some sorts. To what end, I can't imagine." Zero looks to the place where Time Eater retrieved the Sapphire from and freezes up.

Silver approaches him and asks, "Zero, what's wrong?"

Zero is looking around, seeing the park for the first time. "This place… it can't be…"

Silver looks around too. Ahead of them is a familiar brook. "No way…"

Zero states in shock, "This…this is home…" He looks around the city. "This grand city is what my people will someday build, from our humble beginnings…" He's choking up, overwhelmed by emotion. "I–…I was afraid that I would never see the village again… But here we are, 10,000 years later…seeing it again…" He clenches his two hands around his Sapphire. He looks to Silver. "We can't lose, Silver. If we lose, this legacy I worked so hard to build will be gone… I can't lose this."

Silver nods. "We won't lose." He points to the space-time rift Time Eater left behind. "Now what do you say we go and follow that creature? Do whatever we can to stop it."

Zero nods. "Let's do it." Together, they both leap into the rift right before it closes.

After they're gone, Sonic slowly comes to. He looks around. "Funny, I get the sense that something important is going on, but I have no clue what it is." He looks up to see a little Flicky bird perched in a tree staring at him. "Hey, what are you looking at? Never seen a guy wake up with no clue what he's doing?" He gets up. "You know, on second thought, I'm not sure I've seen that either. Carry on." The bird flies away. Sonic takes a look around, shrugs, then runs off into his future.

—–—

Imperial Garden, Future Site of Press Garden – ~1,000 B.E.

Silver and Zero leap out from the rift, deposited into a vast oriental cherry blossom trees stretch out in all directions across the landscape coated in a layer of pristine snow. Stone lanterns cast a warm glow in combination with the pale moonlight to illuminate the surroundings.

Zero is taken aback by the beauty. "I've never seen anything so…" He's at a loss of words to describe the sight. "I've never so much life and color."

Silver grins. "It is pretty magnificent." He looks around. "But why would Time Eater come here next?"

Zero points out, "Everywhere Time Eater has appeared so far, so has a Temporal Sapphire. I can only assume that's why it's here too. Be on guard."

But before either of them can get on guard, Time Eater in its new form rushes at them from behind. It shouts something incoherent that almost sounds like words as it holds its hands forwards and creates a wall of shadows that rips its way towards Silver and Zero. They're both forced to the ground, and their two Sapphires tumble away.

Time Eater shouts again, then runs forward, this time not aiming for Silver and Zero.

Silver shouts, "The Sapphires!" He tries to grab them with psychokinesis, but Time Eater has already gotten ahold of them.

Silver and Zero get up as quickly as they can, looking to each other with worry. Time Eater absorbs the Sapphires into itself, adding the two to its three.

Zero realizes, "It had three Sapphires already! It must have found the one here before we appeared!"

Silver realizes, "This was some sort of trap to take our Sapphires! Judging by the way it was acting before, it never could have come up with a plan like this before it transformed!"

Zero points out, "And if we don't get the Sapphires back, we're trapped here with no means of time travel!"

Now five Sapphires form a circle on the front of Time Eater, each one ticking away and glowing a sickly color as their energy is consumed.

Zero lunges forward, "I won't let you take those!"

Time Eater shouts vehemently, and there's a sudden burst of purple light, so intense that it blasts Zero back. When the light subsides, Time Eater has condensed down into an even more amorphous and formless miasma, a whirling storm of black and purple shadows. A deep and ominous voice echoes through the area, shouting, "I live!" The shadows begin to move around in a stream, flying every which way. They move straight up into the air, then dive down, aiming directly for Zero.

Zero leaps back to dodge, but the shadows continue on, impacting Zero's shadow on the ground. The miasma disappears into Zero's shadow. Zero and Silver look to the shadow in concern as it begins to pull away from Zero's body, now more than just his shadow.

The shadow begins to lift up out of the ground, taking form as it does so.

Silver gasps, "What?"

The form becomes clear. It's a doppelganger of Zero, colored entirely in muted shades of black, gray, and gray-blue. Though it lacks any mouth, the form laughs, then says in a steady tone, "You have much darkness and self-doubt inside of you. I will use this darkness to empower myself." As he speaks, his body jerks around in seemingly random motions, as if he were a marionette being controlled by an inexperienced puppeteer. He exclaims, "Oh how good it is to have a body again!"

Silver and Zero both seem terrified of the newcomer and are completely uncertain of how to respond. Silver demands, "Wh- who are you!?"

The figure begins to slowly approach Silver with jerky steps, his body flailing about as he does so. "I have gone by many names. Some have called me the Destroyer. Others the Great Devourer. I have been called Lord of Time, Dominus Tempus. Some know me as a devil. Others, a god. Your self-righteous friend dubbed me the Chronophage. Some even call me…the Iblis Trigger."

Silver's eyes widen. He thinks, Iblis Trigger? Why does that so sound so familiar…?

He's right in front of Silver now, sticking his face right up close to his. Silver is too frozen in fear to move. "But the name I go by is Mephiles! Mephiles the Dark!" His neck cracks to the side at an unnatural angle and an eye darts to look up at Silver. "I have existed as nothing but a formless mass of pure instinct for too long. Now that I am reformed, nothing will stop me from reclaiming my true power!"

At this threat, Silver musters the strength to leap back, as he summons his power. Sensing he must defeat Mephiles quickly, he uses his powers to gather objects from all around. Boulders, trees, lanterns, and more are all pulled towards him as he amasses them in a gigantic ball above his head. He shouts as he exerts massive amounts of power, "Aaaaaaaaaaah!" He prepares to throw the massive orb at Mephiles.

Mephiles' head jerks upwards to look at Silver's weapon. He laughs. "How inconsequential. You are but a mouse staring down a lion. You know not the power that you deal with. This should make you run back to the hole you scampered out from. Remember!" He holds out a hand and a wave of shadows bursts forward, overtaking Silver.

The moment the attack hits, Silver freezes up. A single image appears in his head. It's Blaze the Cat. Silver's eyes widen. "Blaze…?" He begins to shake violently. As he loses concentration, the mass of objects he built up cascade down to floor in all directions. "Blaze!"

Silver is pulled into a world of memories. He remembers himself as a child in the molten streets of Crisis City. He's floating away as fast as he can from two hound-like Iblis Biters and three bat-like Iblis Takers. He looks absolutely terrified. He throws a rather pathetic psychic dagger at one, but the foe just leaps over it without missing a beat. It seems like they're about to catch him. Young Silver shouts, "It's no use!"

Then a confident voice shouts, "Don't give up! Never stop fighting!"

Someone leaps in from above. Silver looks up at her in awe. It's a young Blaze. She lands on the ground and performs a twirling kick to destroy one of the Biters. She then holds out her arms and summons a stream of fire to take out two of the Takers. She looks back to Silver and asks, "Are you okay?"

Silver nods, left speechless. Seeing her fight has inspired Silver, given him confidence he lacked just moments ago. He steps up next to Blaze. The two nod at each other, already understanding what the other is thinking. Silver psychically grabs ahold of the remaining Biter and throws it straight up. Blaze spins around, cloaking herself into fire, and rams into it, forcing it into the remaining Taker. Both are destroyed.

Silver cheers, "We did it! We actually beat them!"

Blaze laments, "Don't be so naïve. Where those creatures came from, there are endless others. This is no moment for celebration. Not until we've driven Iblis from this world."

Silver asks, "Who are you?"

"My name is Blaze."

Silver smiles. "Nice to meet you, Blaze. I'm Silver." He holds a fist up confidently. "I have a good feeling about you, Blaze. I think that you and I, working together, can drive Iblis out from this world."

Blaze chuckles as a slight grin comes to her face. "Very naïve." But the way she says it almost sounds endearing.

Another memory comes in. This one is when they're older. They both sit on the ledge of a wrecked building. Blaze compliments, "You did great out there today, Silver. The way you saved the people was amazing."

Silver grins. "Don't say that like I did everything. I wouldn't have been able to save them if you hadn't held back Iblis' minions." Silver takes a deep breath. "In fact, I don't know what I would do without you, Blaze."

Blaze tilts her head. "Oh? What does that mean?"

"It means that when I'm around you, I feel more confident than I ever would have on my own. If it wasn't for having you on my side, I think I would have given up on this war long ago."

Blaze grins. "I can say the same about you, Silver. Promise me we'll always be together."

Silver nods. "It's a promise."

Blaze thinks of something more serious and sighs. "But I need you to make me another promise, Silver."

"Anything, Blaze."

"We need to save the world. We need to save it at any price. If the choice ever comes between saving me and saving the world, I want you to save the world."

Silver is shocked. "I can't promise that!"

Blaze shakes her head in disapproval. "So naïve." She looks straight at Silver. "Silver, please. We're the only hope the world has. If we don't save it, no one will. Everyone else has given up."

Silver sighs and relents, "Okay, I promise."

The memory skips again. Now Silver and blaze are battling Iblis. Silver holds out two Chaos Emeralds and declares, "Chaos Emeralds, lend me your power! Eternal Sun! The Living Flame that has been entrusted to the royal family! Fall into slumber with my soul, Iblis! You cursed Flames of Disaster!" He holds out the Emeralds and shouts in pain as the flames of Iblis begin to be absorbed into the glowing Emeralds, and a light from the Emeralds is funneled into his own body. But something is wrong. Streams of flame fly right back out of his body, circling back to where they came from.

"No! Why won't it accept me as the vessel?" Blaze steps up to Silver and puts a hand on his shoulder. "Blaze!"

"I'll take Iblis." Silver looks over at her with shock as she reaches for the Emeralds. "Don't worry. My soul is already alit with flames. I will be accepted." Iblis is pulled into the Emeralds, and then into Blaze. She urges, "Come on, make it quick. Use your Chaos Control…to stop time. Then…seal us into a different dimension." She struggles to say this.

"No! I can't do that to you!"

"Didn't we already go through this? We agreed to save the world at any price!"

Silver starts to do something but stops himself. "I can't! I wouldn't know what to do without you! You've fought alongside me to save the world… You're my friend… Right?"

Blaze says with disapproval, "You're still so naïve. But… I… I've always liked that about you." The flames swirling around Blaze condense. Somehow, even without Silver appearing to take action, Blaze begins to disappear.

"Blaze!"

As she transforms into a golden energy, Blaze shouts, "Good luck, Silver!" In a flash of light, she's gone.

In the present, Silver shouts in despair, "I remember everything! Blaaaaaze!" He drops to all fours, tears streaming to the ground from his eyes. "Everyone should have come back! You should have been brought back when we erased Solaris! Why didn't you come back!? My only friend! Why!? Aaaaaah!"

Mephiles simply watches with an emotionless expression, head tilted to one side.

Seeing Silver like this snaps Zero out of his frozen state. He demands, "What did you do to Silver!? You're going to pay!" as he leaps in to punch Mephiles.

Mephiles taunts, "Such anger. You should be careful. We wouldn't want another Chaos Blast incident, now would we?"

Zero freezes up on hearing this.

"I thought not. But you know, your friend is not the only one with memories erased from time. Let me show you what you've missed out on! Remember!" Once again, he casts a wave of shadows, this time aimed at Zero.

Zero is captured by horror the moment it hits him. He shouts in agony, "No! I don't want to see this! Please! No! Don't!"

"This isn't the memory you think it is."

Zero is dragged into a flashback that exactly matches his nightmare from that morning. Right down to his Chaos Blast killing everyone, instead of just injuring. He looks at the dead body of Nina and shouts in horror, "Niiiiine!" But then he looks to the body of Gregor as things take a different turn. "No…this is your fault! You made me do this! You did this! You killed Nine!" He screams in intense anger. In that moment, something in Zero breaks. He becomes unhinged. He starts to laugh dementedly. "You and your kind are wretched! I will destroy you all!" The red aura of Chaos Blast begins to cloak his body once more. He grabs the Chaos Emerald that Gregor had been studying. "Every last human will fall to me! Ah ha ha ha ha!" He forces his way out from the lab.

Zero has dropped to the ground as he spasms, his face a contorted visage of rage. Mephiles looks over both hedgehogs on the ground, unable to do anything to stop him as they remain trapped in their memories. He seems to take pleasure from their pain. He begins to laugh, taking a moment to savor his victory. "Mwa ha ha ha ha!" He holds a hand up and summons an orb of dark energy. The orb explodes around him and he vanishes, traveling elsewhere in time.

To be continued…