Chapter 1

Race to the Past

Elder Yorven marched back and forth across the grassy hill. His mumbles were hardly audible above the sound of the wind rushing over the plain. Shadow sat with his legs folded and his hands pressed together. Every now and again he would open one eye to check on the old panda's progress. How long is this going to take?

Shadow repositioned himself and tried to exhale his agitation. He focused on the warmth of the sunlight and faint gurgling of the nearby stream. The idyllic scenery was a welcome respite from the industrialized dystopias he had narrowly escaped. Though he attempted to ward away intrusive thoughts, his meditation was interrupted by frequent flashes of his disastrous adventure into the past. Most often his thoughts dwelled on Maria and the horrible fates she had suffered. In one timeline she had been turned into a monster against her will, and in the other, she had done it to herself. Shadow couldn't say which one was worse.

"Your thoughts turn. Try and keep your mind clear." Elder Yorven stopped his pacing to look down on Shadow. "Please, we are nearly done."

Frustrated, Shadow adjusted himself again and opened his eyes. He gazed out towards the distant horizon and focused on a swaying palm tree. Shadow distracted himself by counting the branches, but he soon lost interest. The emptiness inside him swelled and he was brought back to Elysium. Shadow held the clone Maria in his arms as she died.

"Do not dwell on it," Yorven said softly. "Breathe and clear your mind."

"I'm trying," Shadow replied through gritted teeth.

"I know, and your trial is almost over. I think I am seeing the full picture now." Yorven resumed his pacing and Shadow closed his eyes. He inhaled slowly and breathed out. I can't take much more of this. The threat of the Realm Lord loomed over his every thought. A storm was brewing that Shadow feared would break at any moment. Sitting still was the last thing he wanted to do at the moment.

"You may relax now." Yorven sat on the grass across from Shadow. Despite his advanced age, the panda maintained a meditative posture quite easily. Shadow unbent himself and laid back on his arms. The muscles in his legs were aching from the effort of keeping his pose.

"I don't understand why I had to sit like that."

"You didn't, I just thought you would appreciate the stretch." Yorven's eyes glinted and he winked at Shadow. A butterfly hovered near Yorven and the elder held out his palm. It landed gracefully and flapped its large yellow wings. Yorven smiled appreciatively and the butterfly floated away.

"So?" Shadow interrupted. "Did it work?"

Yorven nodded. "I have seen everything that happened to you when you used the Time Stones. I apologize for putting you through this ceremony, but it was imperative that I see everything. Even the smallest detail can make the difference." Shadow didn't appreciate the sympathetic expression on Yorvens face. "You have gone through a terrible ordeal. It is a miracle that you were able to return at all."

"I know that already. What about the Realm Lord?"

Yorven cringed at the name. "I must confess, I have no real answers for you Shadow. Much of what the Realm Lord said contradicts my own understanding of how time works. The idea that he could control the Time Stones, to bring you into specific timelines is quite dreadful."

"But that's what he did."

"Yes, and I apologize for not believing you earlier. It seems quite clear that the Realm Lord brought you to specific timelines. In the first, he attempted to disturb you, shake you to your core and use that to manipulate you. If that failed, he could bring you into the second and have your memories reset."

Yorven stroked his chin. "I have more questions than answers. The Realm Lord admitted that he was banished into limbo. If that is true, then he shouldn't have the power to influence anything. Limbo is beyond time, it is removed from the living dimension. His very identity should have been torn apart."

Shadow leaned forward. "What is limbo?"

"A state of paradox. Limbo is what happens when one meddles too deeply with time. Even the wisest do not understand the consequences of every event. The moving of a butterfly's wings can alter timelines. Limbo occurs when one causes one's own existence to contradict itself. Consider what the Realm Lord told you, "I neither existed nor was absent. I had always been and yet never was." The Realm Lord must have violated a rule of time and created a paradox around his own existence. However, I cannot explain how he has managed to maintain his sanity."

"He seemed plenty insane to me," Shadow muttered.

"He has probably been warped by limbo, but the fact that he has any sense of self at all…is evil."

Shadow paused as a harsh gust of wind made the grass between them dance. "He said he heard the echoes of his former self."

"I assume he is referring to his variants in other timelines." Yorven wrung his hands together as if wrestling with some horrible thought. "As far as I knew, there are no connections between variants. However, you have just convinced me that there can be more than one gateway."

"What do you mean?"

"Those that study the lore of time maintained that time itself was the only gateway between dimensions. However, they speculated that other gateways could exist, forged from the connections between variants. Nothing ever came of these theories, except you have just proved that a connection does exist. I saw it in your memories."

Yorven looked up at Shadow, his large eyes swimming with emotion. "Love. The love you shared with the Maria of our timeline transferred to the Maria variant. Even if she was only a clone, the thread was strong enough to be felt across dimensions. It is possible that the Realm Lord discovered a similar thread that united him to his other variants. He could use this connection as gateways to other universes, anchoring him to reality, preventing limbo from tearing him apart."

Shadow shook his head. "What are you saying? The Realm Lord made it seem like he could move freely through time."

"To be specific, he referred to himself as the gateway between dimensions. I do not think he was being hyperbolic in this case. Literally, his own self, his variants, could be the links he is using to travel through time."

"He called himself the god of time," Shadow countered.

Yorven frowned. He plucked aimlessly at the grass, allowing the wind to blow the drifts away. "Perhaps….The Realm Lord may be unaware of the connections. He may be drawn to his variants through an unconscious instinct."

"What difference does it make!" Shadow vented his frustration by stomping the ground. "I need to know what he is and how to stop him."

Yorven smiled patiently. "It makes all the difference. If he really moves freely across the waves of time then he is a foe that cannot be stopped. Even if you managed to defeat him in the present he would simply appear in the past or in the future. However, if he moves across what he perceives to be time, but in reality it is something else, he is limited."

Shadow scoffed. "That doesn't help me. I need to know where is, and how to find him. You saw what happened as I was leaving Elysium…" He paused as both he and Yorven shivered as if to physically shake off the memory. "I don't know what he did…but it felt as if he were obliterating an entire universe."

"An entire timeline," Yorven added. "I am not unaware of the threat. That is why I begged you to remain here. The Realm Lord is not a foe you can chase blindly. You did that before and barely escaped with your life. We must be very careful."

"I'm not afraid!" Shadow's tone was sharper than he intended, perhaps because he did not really believe what he was saying. "He must pay for what he has done to me and Maria."

"Shadow, you must look beyond your own pain. The Realm Lord threatens everything that exists."

"That doesn't matter to me," Shadow snapped.

Yorven looked as if he might argue, but then he sighed. "I cannot tell you what to fight for. It is enough that you will stand against him. I just wish there was a way for me to help you."

"Is there anyone else who knows more about time travel?"

Yorven shook his head. "No one living is more versed in the lore of time than myself…." The old panda trailed off and his eyes glossed over. Suddenly, he jerked up right, clapping his hands together. "Wait…no one living…there might be another way." Yorven jumped to his feet and started pacing back and forth. "Of course…it all makes sense…you could do it…it is almost as if you were meant…" Yorven paused, a look of deep dread crossed his face. "Almost as if you were meant to…"

"Meant to what?" Shadow prompted.

Yorven closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I…I am almost afraid to say. If the Realm Lord intended you to take this route, then I might be sending you to your grave."

"Tell me."

"There are some whose knowledge of time surpasses my own. The Lore Masters, I am certain they would have the answers that you seek."

"And where can I find them?" Shadow groaned. Every step in his pursuit of the Realm Lord seemed to take him from bad end to another, with every clue only leading to another.

Yorven glared intently at Shadow, as if weighing his courage. "The real question is when. The Lore Masters vanished some ten thousand years ago along with nearly every record of their existence. All we know about them is that they built the most ancient structures of Little Planet, and that their leader, Gothro, was the creator of the Time Stones. If anyone could help you unravel the mystery it would be them."

Shadow shook his head. "I'm not using the Time Stones again."

"Nor would I ask you to. However, there is more than one way to travel back in time." Elder Yorven rose and brushed down his robe. "There used to be chasms within the planet that acted as temporal holes which led to the past of the planet. These were abused by Doctor Robotnik when he invaded Little Planet and we have since then sealed them up. However, there is still one other way. There are sign posts on this planet that endow one with the energy to travel backward in time. They can only be activated with a burst of tremendous speed. There has only been one creature capable of using the sign posts to time travel."

Shadow felt a sick twisting in his stomach as Yorven beamed with indulgent joy. "Sonic the Hedgehog."