1: One Thing Changes, Everything Bad Follows.
Earlier… In the Future…
The evening was still bright and sunny in the future of 2059 as Sonya "Sky" the Hedgehog stood in her penthouse apartment getting ready to go out for her second "job". She was a sky blue hedgehog with the tips of her quills transitioning into a light shade of pink, jade green eyes, fingerless gloves with some of the best high tech you can imagine, red soap shoes, and a black jacket that had "Robotnik Enterprises" on one sleeve.
During the day, she was the security guard for the corporation, as she found out that it's CEO, Dr Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik had retired from villainy (for real this time) and decided rather than conquer Mobius, he would instead assist in making it better for everyone on it in any way he knew how to through the construction of his robots, as well as being quite the amusement park builder.
Sonya stood in front of a holo projector, looking at the holographic image of someone who could only be described as the most rotten person of all time, Dr Jeremiah Robotnik, grandson of Ivo, as she planned her next move.
Sky: (Thinking) I keep trying to tell myself I'm just jealous of Jeremiah's progress. It was only five months ago that he came back to Robotnik Enterprises talking about harnessing energy from a 4th dimension. Now he won't stop until he's running the place. I know his type. He's thinking beyond the corporation, aiming towards who knows what. He's the exact kind of corporate monster I swore to reign in. Especially if he's messing around with time travel. The year 2059 might not be much? But it's all mine. And he's NOT gonna change it.
Sonya swapped from her company jacket to a black Tornado jacket, putting a buff on to cover her mouth as well as a mask that hid the shape of her eyes before she leapt out the window and Spindashed off a ramp her apartment complex had. As she sailed through the air, she activated the Zip Lines she had in her gloves, swinging across the skyscrapers to her destination.
Sonya: (Thinking) He's been siphoning company resources and trying to turn the old gateway in the Virtual Unreality lab into something else. Something dangerous. I tried talking to him, but he's got no time for Sonya Oglevie Hedgehog. But people make time for Sky the Hedgehog.
Sonya landed just inside a ventilation shaft within Robotnik Enterprises, and she disabled a fan, slowly making her way inside.
Sonya: Whatever Jeremy's up to, I gotta shut it down before he gets in over his head, and drags everyone and everything down with him…
Sonya began her slow crawl through the vents before making it to an area just above the Robotnik Enterprises Cybernetic Assembly Lines.
Somya: I see the company is still living up to it's namesake. That's a lot of shockin' robots down there.
She keeps moving, managing to stay quiet even as she rolled up into a ball and moved to a new vent area. The vents were the most unsecured areas in the building, but that was on purpose, so she could do her secondary job whenever she needed.
Sonya: During the day as Sonya Oglevie Hedgehog, Security Chief and Mechanic, I could have walked right in, since I'm the day shift chief. But at night, security protocols kick in, and unless I'm working the night shift, I need a VIP pass, but that risks my identity being compromised…
Sonya landed carefully just in another open area, seeing the Genetics Lab, and finding one of her long time friends, Valkyr, working there. Valkyr was more or less the sister that Sonya never got, but she didn't think about it. In fact, she couldn't as she landed right where she wanted to be, spotting the buff figure with an admittedly bitchin mustache, Jeremiah Robotnik.
Somya: There you are…
Jeremiah pressed a few buttons on his wrist, and his holographic assistant came online. He made his assistant look like Dr Julian Robotnik.
???: Holographic Assistant online. How may I serve you, Dr Jeremiah?
Jeremiah: Hello Julian, run a final check and initiate security bio scans.
Julian: Preparing systems, doctor. This won't take long.
Building AI: Bio Scan Sequence initiated.
The building scanners got to work, scanning Jeremiah, but then they stopped due to the fact they picked up Sonya in the area just above them!
Julian: Bio Scan failure.
Jeremiah: *Sigh* This thing is so oversensitive, an ant probably crawled into it and threw it out of whack…
Sonya: (Whispering) An ant? More like a Hedgehog… Wait, I think it picked me up… gotta stay out of range…
Sonya latched onto a wall using her Mag Gloves and Shoes, making sure she was out of range of the scanner as it reactivated and scanned Jeremiah. Once it was done, a vent opens and Sonya follows Jeremiah.
Julian: Access granted, doctor.
Sonya: Slow down, Sonya. Take your time. Don't want to get caught here.
Jeremiah: The company should be thanking me. Halcyon Industries is going to be taking over this entire corporation unless someone steps up to prevent it.
Julian: You are the only one who thinks outside the box enough to do anything, sir.
Jeremiah: Yes, Julian, I know.
Jeremiah walked with his assistant through the halls, passing other employees whilst Sonya crawled through the vents above.
Sonya: I KNEW he was up to something…
Jeremiah: I'm almost embarrassed it took me so long to come up with it. I simply go back in time and launch Robotnik Enterprises years before my grandfather retires from villainy. Not only can I remake the company in MY image and prevent Ivo from retiring…
Julian: But you can dismantle the Mobius Halcyon branch before they can even get started. You are a genius, sir.
Jeremiah: I programmed you well, Julian.
Sonya: (Thinking) There's a difference between programming a VI well, and making it so it can stroke your ego, brat…
Sonya stops and sees Jeremiah take the hallway leading to the Virtual Unreality lab, following the vents that lead down that way as well.
Sonya: Oh no, you don't get to slip by me THAT easily…
Jeremiah: Of course, my grandfather as he is now wouldn't want me to have that degree of power, even as old as he is, he's all about power. But he won't have anything to say about it by the time I'm done.
Jeremiah stops in front of a door, sighing.
Building AI: Bio Scan sequence initiated.
Sonya didn't see anywhere else to latch to to stay out of range except the very ceiling, so she latched onto that, but the scanner caught her damned nose!
Julian: Bio scan sequence failed.
Jeremiah: This is getting ridiculous…
Sonya: (Whispering) No kidding. What's that thing's range anyways?!
Sonya then decided to try something else, and so she curled up into a partial ball while latched to the ceiling, and that ended up working, as the scanners couldn't catch her!
Julian: Gateway room access granted, Doctor.
Sonya: Yep, he's headed for his Time Research Lab alright. There's an access point near the generators…
Sonya crawled through the vents before she sprung out into a maintenance causeway, jumping from the lights before she entered the room with the Gateway's primary generator. Then it slun to life!
Building AI: Gateway activation successful. Time Travel ready in 60 seconds.
Sonya: No way…!
Sonya dashed into the next room with all the secondary generators, seeing a big wall right in front of her.
Sonya: This thing's almost fully charged and I don't have a clue on how to shut it down! My only chance is to get to the lab before it's too late!
Sonya Spindashed into the wall, then started to climb up it, then she broke into a full sprint on the wall before she jumps over the ledge and slides under a pair of energy coils. She manages to force a door open and she sees the maintenance platforms just above the Gateway room!
Sonya: Almost there…!
She jumps into the Gateway room, landing and seeing Jeremiah was already going through!
Sonya: JEREMIAH!! GET BACK HERE!!!
Just as Jeremiah vanished from view, Sonya leapt into the gateway, but she was stopped by some energy tendrils that held her tightly! She struggles but then stops as she sees… Sonic? Sonic the Hedgehog?
Sonya: Wha…?
She then sees flashes of Sonic being beaten down, and it all culminates in the unthinkable: Sonic lay on the floor, dead!
Sonya: N-NO!!
Just outside the gateway, the unimaginable occurs, the bright future that Sonya called home suddenly changed drastically in the blink of an eye to one that was dark and foreboding, one that she wouldn't recognize. The worst part? Nobody would even notice the change.
Nobody except for her and Jeremiah.
Sonya was launched out of the gateway where she hits the floor, coughing. She slowly sits up.
Sonya: I-its changed… Everything's changed…! But…
She gets onto her hands and knees.
Sonya: It didn't start here. It started… back then. Back around Sonic the Hedgehog's time… And he… he can't fix it… Because he's gonna be dead!
Sonya stood there in awestruck horror.
Sonya: … He did it. That lunatic ACTUALLY did it! And I saw it all…
Building AI: Intruder detected in Time Research Lab. Lethal force authorized.
Sonya: … Shit.