Author's Note: And so a new fic begins.

This is a story I've wanted to do for awhile. Both a follow up to one of my stories, and a tie in to Sonic Prime. The story for this shifted and changed for a while, but after the ending of Prime 1B I felt like the idea was solid enough for me to start writing. This will also be a much shorter story compared to The Metallic Replacement, and The Beast Inside. About 10 chapters at most.

Speaking of Prime, this story contains MAJOR SPOILERS for 1B. So if you haven't watched it, please be cautious.

Anyway onto the story.

Chapter 1. A New Shatter-Space

He felt himself lying on something soft. That was the first sensation that returned to him.

At first, he thought he was lying on a bed. That gave him some brief hope. Maybe all the horrible events that had just occurred were just a dream. But moving his arms around, it quickly became apparent he wasn't on a mattress. It felt too rough and loose.

Commanding his hands to grip the ground, he felt his fingers dig into it and he slowly lifted it up, hearing what felt like dirt escape his grasp. So he wasn't back in New Yolk. He could guess he wasn't back in No Place either since it wasn't sand in his hand, and he didn't feel the sea wind. That meant a few things. Either he was still in Ghost Hill, or he was back in Boscage.

Rolling onto his back, Sonic opened his eyes. After the light blinded him for a moment, everything came into focus. He found himself staring up at a forest. The trees around him giving him shade from the sunlight.

So I guess I'm back in Boscage. He thought as he looked at the sky. Given the trees around him, it made the most sense.

The longer he looked however, the more he realized that it couldn't possibly be right. Boscage looked like a jungle. With large flora covering almost every inch of the horizon just above the trees. This forest felt tamer, more natural. As he listened, he could hear birds chirping, rivers flowing, and insects chirping. Sounds that were almost missing from Boscage.

He sat up, taking a look around him. He definitely wasn't in Boscage. The forest almost looked like one he'd see at home. But it didn't have the washed out colors of Ghost Hill. It felt alive and full. He was almost convinced that it was actually his home.

Taking a look at his gloves and shoes, he found that they had changed too. They were grey and plated. With the fingers on the gloves being almost segmented, giving them some flexibility. He definitely didn't recall a shatter-space where they looked like that.

He then frowned as a thought suddenly came to him.

"How did I even get here?" He asked aloud.

He last thing he could remember before waking up here was the argument with Nine, and him taking the shards they'd collected to the Grim through the portal. Leaving him alone with Shadow in Ghost Hill.

Nine….

What happened still hurt.

He had been so close to fixing all of this. So close to getting his home back. Only for it to get snatched away from him. Leaving him with nothing.

He slapped his cheeks a few times. "Don't think about that. Don't think about that right now!"

He tried to think about what happened after that. But the strange thing was, it all felt blank. He couldn't remember anything that happened in between that and waking up here.

Looking around, he decided that he needed to figure out where exactly he was. It was becoming clear he wasn't in any of the shatter-spaces he knew, so it was for the best that he figured out what was different about this place. It could be that this universe was completely empty, or it turned out that his friends were people who lived underground and they would burst out and attack him. Better to figure out what the surprises were before they came to him.

Sonic started to run through the forest. He didn't have too much difficulty navigating through it thanks to his experiences in Boscage. While he did wish he had the climbing claws he had back there, he didn't mind missing them in this case.

Eventually, the forest cleared and found himself near a cliff. Stopping at the edge, he took in the view that the cliff offered him. What he saw confused him even more.

While the forest did continue beyond the cliff, he could see a large town come into view shortly after. However, it wasn't oppressive and consuming like what he saw in New Yolk. But it looked like it was built while considering the forest around it. While the people who had built it obviously had to tear down the trees, they removed just enough so that a forest could still exist.

The strangest part however, was that he had seen towns like this in his home. He had even visited some during his previous adventures. So seeing what appeared to be a normal city after visiting the other shatter-spaces was bizarre. He kept waiting for a ship or some sort of creature to fly above it to break the illusion that he was home.

But if there was a town, then there were certainly people. He decided that he needed to go into the city. Who knows, maybe then he'll finally start seeing the differences and he can stop believing that this was actually his universe.

Leaping off the cliff, he hit the ground and started speeding towards the city. Prepared for whatever he might encounter in the town.

He skidded to a halt as he entered the town. Wanting to check his surroundings before proceeding any further. Looking around, he found that his hope that he would start seeing differences the moment he entered the city was for naught. He saw there were mobians of various species wandering around the city. There were also a few humans walking around. He saw them throw glances at him and even whisper at each other when they saw him. It isn't every day you saw a blue hedgehog after all.

Sonic frowned. What he was seeing still felt familiar to his home. Everyone didn't seem to be under a tyrannical overlord. They all looked happy and normal. Even the humans walking around weren't unusual as he had seen them a few times on his previous adventures.

"I don't get it." He asked aloud as he looked around. "What exactly are the differences of this universe? I can't just have landed here after I lost the only way to restore my home."

Just then he heard a nearby. Looking in the direction it came from, he saw that a baby carriage had rolled onto the street while its mother watched in horror as a car came down towards it.

Wasting no time in preventing this tragedy from happening he sped over to the carriage, reaching it within a second. He then pushed the carriage out of the way just as the car was reaching it. The car then swerved to get out of the way of something that was now no longer there. As he rolled the carriage back to the mother, he heard her cry in relief.

"Thank you." She said to him, wiping tears from her face. "Thank you for saving my baby."

Sonic gave a smile. "You're welcome. Would've hated to see someone's life end so soon."

The woman nodded. Sonic however, saw the woman frown as she looked him up and down. "Though it is odd that you're the one who saved him."

His mouth frowned in confusion "What do you mean?"

"Well, you did die about a year ago." The mother explained.

Sonic blinked in surprise. That was certainly new.

The mother continued, noticing his confusion. "It was all over the news and there was even a funeral. Everyone was so scared during that time. We had no idea who was going to protect us."

Sonic was still processing what the woman had said previously. It was shocking over the fact that compared to all the other shatter-spaces he visited, he actually existed in this one. He had expected people to not recognize him after three universes of counterparts of his friends not trusting him when they saw him. But what surprised him more was the fact that he was apparently dead here.

Looking around at the city around him, he was shocked by the normalcy of it even more thanks to the new info. "Things seem to be alright though."

"That's because someone new emerged to protect us." The mother answered. "We were hesitant of him at first, but he proved that he was capable of carrying on your legacy."

She then tilted her head at him. "Though with you back, are you going to fight alongside him?"

"Uh, yeah." Sonic quickly said, giving a thumbs up. Even though he had no idea who this person who replaced him in this universe was. Plus, he wanted to get out of this conversation. "I'll protect the world like I always have. Gotta go."

He then ran off before the mother could ask him any further questions. Leaving him alone to ponder the conversation he just had. He had expected this universe to be different and with how similar this one was to his home, he was waiting for the other shoe to drop. But he didn't expect the fact that not only did he exist in this one, but dead too. And that someone else had taken his place.

Taking a closer look around the city, he began to notice how people were staring at him. They seemed surprised, similar to the mother he had encountered. They stared at him for a few seconds before moving on. Other times they were taken aback, like they had seen a ghost. In addition, he heard people whispering something when they saw him. He didn't hear a majority of it, but he could make out the words "Dead" and "How?".

"What exactly happened to me in this universe?" He asked aloud. "And why is everything so normal? I assumed things would fall apart without me around."

He had to think about his next move. Now that he had an idea of what this universe was like, what was the next step for him? Finding his friends? If he really existed in this universe, then that meant they would know him and maybe they would be more accepting of his help.

Assuming they don't attack me. He thought to himself. Remembering the encounters with the other counterparts. Or betray me.

He remembered what happened with Nine on that last thought.

But he had to find them. Maybe they would give him answers to what was going on in this universe. All he had to do was not get too attached to them and it would be fine.

He couldn't handle another betrayal from someone who looked like one of his friends.

And besides, once he figured out a way to restore his home, they wouldn't really matter.

He was about to figure out who to start with when he heard an explosion coming from nearby, followed by the sound of people panicking. Over the screams of terror, he could hear the mechanical whirling of robots moving.

"The Chaos Council?! They can't have arrived here that fast!" He exclaimed.

Running towards the sounds of the commotion, he rounded the corner to witness the scene.

Instead of the council's robots, he saw bipedal robots that were egg shaped and moving around with blasters. Firing randomly at civilians, though they didn't hit any. In addition, he saw wasp-like robots flying around. He witnessed civilians run out of the street and into buildings for shelter. The attack wasn't the most shocking thing however. It was the fact that the robots he was seeing were typically used by his Eggman, not the Council.

"This just keeps getting weirder and weirder." Sonic said as he watched before shrugging. "But an Eggman robot is an Eggman robot. And I'm going to do what I do best with it."

He then ran towards the battle, running to the nearest robot first. The robot just had enough time to notice him before he spindashed into the robot. Knocking it to the ground and destroying it. He used the momentum to leap up to one of the wasp robots and kicked it, knocking it out of the sky and it smashed onto the ground on impact.

At that point, the rest of the robots were starting to notice him as they turned their attention towards him and started firing at him. Sonic dodged and weaved his way around the blaster fire and leaped at the nearest robot. He ricocheted off it and hit a few more of them, destroying them in the process. He landed and slid under one of the bipedal ones and kicked it in the back, causing it to slam into a car and onto the ground.

He saw that there were only a few remaining and he dealt with them swiftly. Starting with a robot who attempted to fire his blaster at him, only to easily dodge it and spindash it, using the momentum to hit the other two quickly and finish the attacking forces off.

He took a look back to appreciate his handiwork. He had to admit, regardless of what universe he was in, some things never changed.

Then he heard someone familiar speak behind him, sounding surprised. "How are you even here?"

Turning around, he was surprised by the person. While he knew who the voice belonged to, it was how he appeared that was shocking.

In a small hovercraft floating just above the road was Eggman. Not Eggman as a baby, or a semi-philisophical person, or an old man. It was Eggman as he knew him, right down to the uniform. He was leaning out of the hovercraft, staring at him in shock.

Hiding his surprise, he threw out a remark. "Figured behind this. Who else would send robots to torment innocent civilians?"

"That's what you have to say?" The Doctor asked, now glaring at him. "Especially after you came back to life."

Sonic rolled his eyes and gave out a huff of annoyance. "Okay, why is everyone saying that to me? It feels like that's all people can talk about when they see me."

Eggman let out a huff. "I don't know how you came back to life. But I'm going to make sure you're dealt with quickly."

Sonic took a quick look around and gave Eggman a smug look. "And how are you going to do that Eggman? Looks like I destroyed all your robots."

Eggman suddenly gave an evil grin at him. "Oh those weren't the only robots I had."

He pressed a button in his hovercraft. However, there was a buzz that caused Eggman to look down on the control panel and frown before groaning in frustration. Sonic raised an eyebrow in response.

Eggman then pressed another button and this time, a beep came through that made Eggman grin.

From the sky, a new robot descended and landed on two feet and one hand in between him and Eggman. It then rose up to the ground and Sonic was surprised by what it was.

It was another robot him. Except unlike Chaos Sonic, this one was colored all silver with the exception of its hands and feet, which were black. Its head contained six short structures resembling his quills, and eyes that were black and orange stared at him.

"Really, another robot copy?" Sonic asked with annoyance. "Is everyone just trying to copy me as an evil knockoff?"

"Hey, I had to work hard on making Silver Sonic!" Eggman shouted back. "Especially after my usual one left me after you died."

Usual one? Sonic thought in confusion. He had another one before this one?

Eggman continued. "But that doesn't matter right now. Silver Sonic, attack!"

Silver Sonic launched himself towards Sonic. A rocket booster igniting on his back to quickly close the gap between him and the hedgehog with its arm outstretched. Sonic barely managed to avoid the robot by stepping out of the way. The robot skidded to a halt and turned towards him, leaping towards him with a fist raised. Sonic rolled out of the way, causing the punch to hit the pavement. Sonic responded with a kick that caused it to stumble back, but the robot recovered quickly and responded with a punch to his head.

Sonic took a step back dazed and before he could recover, the robot grabbed his arm and tossed him over its shoulder. Sonic landed face first onto the ground, groaning as he struggled to get back up.

Sensing the robot right behind him and about to stomp on him, he rolled out of the way just as the foot hit the pavement where he was less than a second ago. Sonic responded by curling into a ball and slamming the robot into its side. The force of the hit was enough to knock the robot to the ground, and Sonic leapt into the air, prepared to slam into the robot from above.

Silver Sonic got back up before he could hit him and stepped aside, causing Sonic to hit the ground. The robot then kicked him from behind, knocking him to the ground. Sonic quickly got up and threw a flurry punch at him, which Silver Sonic easily dodged. After a few seconds, the robot caught Sonic's fists with its hands before swinging him overhead and slamming him onto the ground.

Sonic got up, groaning, and looked behind him. Only to see that the robot was gone. He started to look around, trying to find him. The streets around him were damaged from the previous attack, but were clear enough for him to see everything. No matter where he looked, he couldn't see the silver robot.

"Where could he have gone?" He asked.

He then heard something above him and looked up in time to see Silver Sonic charge downwards towards him, a fist reeled back. Sonic had just enough time to run out of the way just before the robot slammed into the ground, letting out a shockwave that caused Sonic to stumble back while creating a cloud of dust from the impact.

As Sonic recovered from the shockwave, he heard the sound of a thruster engine start and only had enough time to see Silver Sonic propelling towards him quickly. The robot then grabbed him by the throat and slammed him against a car. Sonic could feel the grip of the robot strangling him. He tried to break free of the grip, but to no avail.

As he struggled, he heard Eggman speak. "So Silver Sonic can beat you. I should've done those upgrades on him before your death."

"You mind….telling me….how I died…..here?" Sonic asked as he struggled, feeling himself slowly run out of oxygen.

He watched as Eggman thought about it before shaking his head. "You don't need to know." He said. "Now Silver Sonic, finish him off."

Sonic's eyes widened. "You're going to kill me?"

Eggman shrugged. "You died once before. I'm just correcting that error."

He felt Silver Sonic's grip tighten around his throat. He frantically began to fight harder to free himself from his grip, punching the arm holding him and kicking the body of the robot, but the grip never loosened. The robot didn't even react.

Soon his movements became more sluggish and his vision began to darken. He tried to think of some way to escape, but he couldn't.

Is this how it ends for me? He thought to himself. Getting choked by a robot copy of me with no way to escape. Seems pretty lame.

But at the same time, it felt like a fitting end. No home, his friends echoing ghosts, and no way to even restore it. On top of screwing up the lives of everyone in the worlds that were created from the destruction of his own.

After a few seconds, he was barely moving. He couldn't even see anything. He didn't know what awaited him on the other side. Maybe the afterlife, maybe nothing at all.

At least I didn't live long enough to screw up this universe as well.

Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Rouge, Shadow.

I'm sorry.

I've failed you all.

Suddenly, he heard something hit the robot choking him. Almost instantly, he felt Silver Sonic's grip on him vanish. He collapsed onto the ground on all fours, rapidly letting in and out several deep breaths as he regained his own oxygen. Feeling his throat, he was shocked by the sudden turn of events. One moment he was accepting his own death, the next he was trying to get his lungs full of air.

But the question was, who saved him?

Once he felt he recovered enough, he looked in the direction where his savior was standing in front of the recovering Silver Sonic. And found that it was another robot.

Another robot that looked just like him.

Standing in front of him was a robot whose head and torso shared a blue color scheme like him with a thruster on his back, silver arms and legs, feet colored in a red similar to his usual shoes, and hands with yellow on top of them and fingers that ended in claws. The head had three quills positioned triangularly and when the robot looked back at him, he saw it's eyes were black and red with a mouthless lower jaw.

Looking back at Eggman, he saw that he was now glaring at the new robot. His face clearly showing rage towards it. "You!" He growled

Author's Note: In case you haven't figured it out, this is a follow up to The Metallic Replacement. After I finished the story, I had various ideas of what happened after the end and I did want to explore some of those.

Next time, we'll see how Metal Sonic has been doing.