Sonic in Between.
Author's Note: Welcome to part 3 of the Multiverse Adventure arc! I'm glad you guys like how this is going so far and I will do my very best with it. Now then, onward and adventure-ward!
Summary of Story 14-Part 3: Trapped within the mysterious Realm and encountering Eris, the Seer of Timelines, and the mysterious giant Polar Bear, Sonic and his friends are about to learn more of their current situation. Meanwhile, Shadow himself is in a bit of a pickle where he is...
I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog. All rights belong to Sega. I only own the OCs.
Alternate-Sonic's Multiverse Adventure-P3: The Secrets of the Prism.
"Seer...of Timelines?" Sonic slowly questioned, feeling his heart beat.
Just when things couldn't get anymore complicated and worse, now Sonic and his friends are in the mercy of the mysterious womon who called herself Eris, a Seer of Timelines...whatever that meant.
"That is correct, Sonic," Eris nodded, explaining. "I see through time and like many others of my people, watch over the timelines of every reality and the crossroads created and split to ensure the safety of many others, without time from being destroyed."
"Timelines that are...created and split?" The blue hedgehog raised an eye-ridge, dumbfounded. The rest of his friends were just plain confused with blank expressions that you could see question marks pop up all around them as they mostly didn't have a clue on what the Seer was talking about.
Except for Tails, who thought very carefully on what Eris said, before snapping his fingers in realization. "I see! So it's like timelines that are created but without us even acknowledging it, because it could be that our pasts may be the same but the present and the future is different. Am I right?"
"Yes, and it is also that every reality, some that are similar or the same as yours yet on a brink of having a different outcome, others mostly being completely different, do the same at times." The Seer confirmed. "All realities including your own reside in a realm otherwise known as the Multiverse all of you have traversed through."
"The Multi-what-now?" The blue hedgehog shrugged, dumbfounded. Most of his friends shared uneasy glances. Sonic then scratched the top of his head. "But, I don't get it. How are we here in the first place and, what's this place?"
"I see, so what we saw in those crystals and giant ring portals were showing us different timelines." Star's eyes widened, now understanding.
"Wait, so...there's more than just one of each of us? Doing either the same thing or similar or doing something completely different and some of us are not even there?" Sun asked, dumbstruck before he placed his hands on his head, groaning. "Ugh! My brain hurts!"
"I don't even want to know about what the other timeline similar to ours is like. One timeline is complicated enough!" Knuckles complained, facepalming himself in aggravation.
Rouge, thinking back of the other portals and images, sighed a little uneasily but at the same relaxing despite her disappointment. "Hmm...That explains the bad fashion in the crystal and portal images...whatever they are."
"So the images we saw...they're really us and in one of them...I'm really a robot?" Amy asked, her heart sinking and her stomach twisting which was making her feel very nauseous. She placed her hand to her belly and used the other to cover her mouth while Sonic gently placed his hands onto her shoulders.
"Easy, Ames. I'm not gonna let that happen to you." The blue hedgehog vowed comfortingly, even though hearing his self-proclaimed girlfriend unintentionally remind them all of what they saw, as did Rouge, made him feel a bit queasy to the stomach as well.
"I'm afraid the portals leading to those three timelines within the crystals are part of the newly created Shatterverse, in a timeline where one version of Sonic the Hedgehog has destroyed the Paradox Prism." Eris lowered her eyes grimly, her eyes closed.
"What?!" Sonic exclaimed, horrified as his friends all gasped in horror and his guilt increasing, not fully understanding what the Seer had meant. "But I didn't-!"
"MORTALS!"
Gasping in fright, even Eris looked around warily when Sonic and the others jumped slightly at the loud, furious, and unwelcoming familiar voice shout all of the sudden around them. Just before a rumble nearly rocked the platform, the group cried out in alarm before turning sharply to the edge...as the same giant Polar Bear from earlier now towered over them in fury which made the Mobians scream, backing away slowly despite knowing that there wasn't a thing they could possibly do now. The giant Polar Bear had them cornered and there was no escape.
"ENOUGH OF THIS FOOLISHNESS! YOU WHO ATTEMPT TO OVERPOWER OR EVADE ME SHALL BE JUDGED BY THE SEERS OF TIMELINES!" The giant Polar Bear darkly declared, reaching over to grab the terrified heroes who backed away, with Sonic, Knuckles and Sun quickly standing in front of Tails, Amy, Star and even Rouge who stood her ground.
Eris, seeing this and gasping in horror with her hands covering her mouth, and while she was a seer, she had a conscience and consciousness of her own. All of her existence observing the heroics and kindness of Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends and family in most timelines, her heart longed to ensure they would be safe, and seeing how the giant Polar Bear was now in fury, the desire to protect the Mobians overcome her senses.
"Wait, wait, wait!" Sonic, now his guilt increasing over what happened, cried out frantically, waving his arms in panic. "We didn't mean to shatter the Paradox Prism or run off! We were scared, and had no idea what was going on! But we now know, because Eris just told us a few minutes ago!"
"ERIS?" The giant Polar Bear paused his attempts to grab the terrified Mobians, narrowing his brows suspiciously.
"Please don't kill my friends and family! Let them go! If you want to punish anyone, then punish me! I'm the one who accidentally destroyed the crystal and got us all trapped here! I'm the one who ended up destroying the whole universe! They don't deserve any of this!" The blue hedgehog begged, not just to the giant, but also to Eris who, her eyes widening as the creature had prevented her from truly answering the teenager's question.
By then, Sonic's eyes were shedding tears, crying his heart out despite his friends/family attempting to stop him from sacrificing himself for their sakes, Tails, Amy and Star all silently beginning to cry themselves, while Knuckles and Sun both looked distraught and even Rouge placed hand over her mouth, shedding tears of her own in devastation.
"...It's all my fault..." Sonic wept, gazing at the giant Polar Bear who only glared even harder. "Please, I beg you...! We're sorry for attacking you, we were all scared and just want to go home!"
"NEVER." The giant Polar Bear denied, much to the Mobians' horror as they let out dismayed gasps, before he made the attempt to grab them again, and Eris made to stop him to fly over. "ONLY THE SEERS SHALL MAKE THE FINAL JUDGEMENT."
"No, don't!" She screamed, while Sonic and his friends gasped, screaming before making a run for it. But the Seer was ignored, much to her frustration and dismay.
"YOU SHALL NOT ESCAPE AGAIN!" The giant Polar Bear roared, using a powerful blast which forced the group to leap away to avoid in getting hit or captured.
"Stop! Do not harm them!" Eris exclaimed, but to her horror the aura around the giant Polar Bear surrounded him that she could not get through, even when she quickly used held out her hand and hovered in front of the heroes who attempted to try and get away, gasping in shock when she created a shield that was blocking the giant being's attacks, saving them.
"She's protecting us!" Knuckles softly exclaimed, amazed and bewildered.
"Guess she's really on our side, huh?" Rouge remarked, thoroughly surprised.
"Eris, look out!" Sonic screamed, suddenly noticing that the giant Polar Bear was blasting magic again. The blue hedgehog quickly dashed forward in fear of the seer getting killed, grabbing her and leaped out of the way just as the large beam hit the floor which rocked the platform and making the other Mobians scream in alarm.
"WHAT?" The giant Polar Bear narrowed his eyes, now sneering when he saw the teenage hero hold Eris in his arms bridal style and snarled furiously. 'THE BLUE CHILD...HE MUST NOT HARM THE SEER MISTRESS!'
Believing that the heroes are attempting to kidnap the Seer of the Timeline, the massive beast roared and created a lot of crystal shards which grew out of the ground, making Sonic and his friends and Eris gasp in horror to see what was happening.
"Whoa! Watch out!" Sun shouted, pulling Star and Amy out of the way while Tails and Knuckles quickly jumped and Rouge flipped backwards before she used her Drill Kick to smash one of the crystals.
Knuckles then punched several more with Sun using his Homing Attacks to do the same, and Amy summoned her Hammer to break the crystals apart.
"Hey, knock it off! We're just tryin' to fix things up and go home! And you're also trying to hurt Eris too!" Sonic exclaimed panicking, leaping out of the way.
"Seize your attack at once! These Mobians are not intruders or enemies!" Eris commanded loudly, now even more angry at what the giant Polar Bear was attempting to do.
"This is getting to dangerous!" Knuckles shouted, punching the last of the crystals that seemed to finally stop emerging from the ground.
"What do we do now?" Star asked fearfully, as she and Tails both tried to do their best to not in getting hit by the crystals.
"We'll have to bail outta here and have this conversation somewhere else! Before the big guy has us for lunch or something!" Sonic cried out, gazing at Eris with his guilt only increasing. "Eris...I'm really sorry. This all thing is all my fault."
"RELEASE THE SEER, BLUE CHILD, OR PERISH!" The giant creature roared, before he not only created a shield which blocked the heroes who tried to make their escape as they quickly ran away only to hit the nearly cyan-invisible wall which made them all grunt and knocked back onto the ground, but also the seer who, after the blue hedgehog accidentally lost his grip on her, screamed in alarm and hit the floor hard, rolling a bit before lying on her side, wincing at the unexpected stunt and attacks.
"Eris, no!" Sonic shouted, as he struggled to stand back up, panting while Tails and Amy moaned, lying on their side and front, Knuckles and Sun both on their backs, hissing in agony, and Rouge attempting to fight off the dizzy spells.
To make things worse when the blue hedgehog glanced up, he gasped in horror when the giant monster's massive hand made to land on top of him and his friends who all noticed and screamed in horror. They all curled up and braced themselves just as the Polar Bear's hand, the palm open and above their heads, with the fingers curling up to create a make-shift cage, trapped them.
"NO!" Knuckles shouted in frustration.
"We're trapped!" Amy screamed in horror, her own hand covering her mouth in dismay while Tails whimpered and Star gasped shakily.
"Uh oh...! Not good..." Rouge murmured, shocked beyond belief.
"Hey! Open up!" Sonic exclaimed, as he, Knuckles, Sun, and Tails and soon the girls hurried to the fingers, attempting to push one of them to break free.
"Come on! Just open up already, will ya'!?" Knuckles roared, as not even his strength was doing anything much at all.
"Please let us go, Mr. Polar Bear! We're really sorry!" Star begged, but like the rest of the group, the giant Polar Bear ignored her.
Shaking her head to rid the dizzy spells the giant Polar Bear has unintentionally cast, Eris looked up and her eyes widened with a horrified gasp, covering her mouth with one hand once more, seeing how the massive beast was now curling his hand keeping the young Mobians trapped to grasp them.
"No!" She softly gasped, her heart hammering in fear and panic, gazing up as she realized what was really happening. The Seer had to put a stop to this and save Sonic and his friends fast, before it was too late. Especially when, in a huge misunderstanding, Sonic the Hedgehog had risked his life to save hers without second thought.
Even though he misunderstood that the cobalt Mobian was not the trigger of what was happening and apologized for the actions that were not his own. He really is the benevolent hero of his Timeline, as were many of his own counterparts across the Multiverse.
Inside the giant hand, the group noticed and were being pushed back to the middle, screaming and crying out in alarm.
"We're being pushed in!" Tails exclaimed, frightened out of his mind and so were his friends, before they all made the desperate attempt to keep pushing the fingers in order to free themselves.
"No! Let us out! Let us out!" Sonic screamed pleadingly.
"Please, let us go!" Tails cried out, terrified.
"HELP! Help us!" Amy screamed fearfully.
"Open up, you stupid Polar Bear! I'm warning you!" Sun growled angrily, though like his friends and brothers, he was beyond terrified at this point of time.
Just as the giant's hand began to form into a fist to grasp the heroes who screamed, fearing that they were were all done for, Sonic quickly held Tails and Amy close to him while Sun and Knuckles both did the same for Star and, much to the echidna's embarrassment, Rouge, all of them kneeling down and braced themselves for the bitter end of their lives, they were all trapped when the massive being now held them in his grip.
They all screamed as the giant Polar Bear, with his hand clasping them and brought them half way to his face while they all screamed out for help.
"THERE IS NO ESCAPE, MORTALS. YOU BELONG TO ME NOW." The massive being declared as he began to grin wickedly in victory when Eris' voice interrupted his attempts.
"STOP!" She shouted loudly, and this time she finally got his attention which by the power of her voice and glowing in white aura, the light around his body faded and returning him to his listening senses.
He froze with a startled gasp, while Sonic's group could hear Seer who glared at the giant creature, levitating herself to the Polar Bear's face with an angry look, chastising him. "Nero, there is no need for violence! Sonic the Hedgehog speaks the truth! They all not be punished for their actions!"
"MISTRESS ERIS. THEY HAVE EVADED ME AND FOUGHT AGAINST ME, DISOBEYING MY WORDS WHEN I ATTEMPTED TO BRING THEM TO YOU, AND NOW THEY EVEN ATTEMPTED TO ABDUCT YOU." Nero, the giant Polar Bear, retorted carefully, which, hearing this only made the seven friends sweat drop before sharing another nervous glance.
The Polar Bear was only trying to bring them to her and thought they were about to kidnap her? Uh oh...
Thankfully, Eris was not even angry or even a tad annoyed with the Mobians. In fact, her anger was directed at Nero. "I was unharmed until you attacked them out of self-defense, and Sonic the Hedgehog has only tried to protect me in fear for my well-being. Your aura of Might and Power have frightened them, as you have done before. My ancestors, elders and I have told you time and time again, you must learn to ease your soul for those who are good at heart. Or else they would only sense you as a threat and either attempt to overpower you or flee in fear because of your strength."
'Well...That explains why there were red flags going.' Rouge thought meekly to herself, realizing that the invisible aura the giant Polar Bear produced was so strong that it had more negative energy enough to make the misunderstanding even more convincing.
Not to mention easier for mortals to become more terrified. But it was still better to be safe than sorry.
After a long moment of terrifying silence, Nero glanced somewhat awkwardly between Eris, and it's hand that caged Sonic's group who still looked scared, wondering if the giant Polar Bear finally believed them or not. At long last, he slowly opened his hand and lowered it, gently dropping releasing the group who, yelping in fright as they landed back onto the platform, could finally turn around slowly nervously before they all panted in huge relief that Eris has saved their lives.
Nero gave out a sigh, gazing at the traumatized Mobians who hesitantly returned it, fearing that he could capture them again.
"YOUNG MORTALS...FORGIVE ME FOR MY ACTIONS AND MISINTERPRETATION. I COULD NOT CONTROL MY POWER OR EMOTIONS, NOR CAN I CONTROL MY AURA MEANT TO FRIGHTEN AWAY DARK INTRUDERS." Nero spoke, this time more softly even though the group still felt terrified.
Then, noticing the Seer's glare as she folded her arms in disappointment and anger, the giant Polar Bear, realizing that he had also unintentionally caused harm to her as well, failing his duties to protect her and bowed his head in utter remorse and regret.
"MISTRESS SEER...FORGIVE ME FOR HARMING YOU AND THE MORTALS. I WILL PAY FOR MY ARROGANCE AND HASTE." He added.
None the less, they remained on edge when Eris sighed as she decided to lecture the giant Polar Bear later, before hovering down towards Sonic and his friends, explaining apologetically. "I deeply apologize for what has occurred. I simply had thought he would bring you here for further discussions. Even with my powers as a seer, I could predict the outcome for his actions."
"Uh...Sure, no problem," Sonic shakily dismissed with a sweat drop. "So um...Who's your friend here?"
"YOU MAY CALL ME NERO, PROTECTOR OF THE PARADOX PRISM PASSAGE." Nero answered before Eris could respond, making her and the Mobians glance up at him again.
"O-Oh..." Lowering his gaze, now his guilt reaching to the max with tears beginning to leak, Sonic gently let go of the terrified Tails and Amy who, along with the rest of their friends watched in deep growing concern as the blue hedgehog took a couple steps forward, gazing up solely at Eris and Nero. "Eris...Nero...I...I really didn't mean to destroy the Paradox Prism. We tried really hard to protect it..."
The blue hedgehog then closed his eyes in remorse and shame, now silently crying despite trying to hold it back. "But we failed...I'm really deeply sorry...I...I'm so sorry! You can punish me, but...please let my friends go...!"
Sonic looked away while rubbing his right arm, shaking as he resigned himself for whatever punishment Eris and Nero were about to give him.
"Sonic...!" His friends all murmured, quickly hurrying over to his side, and gently surrounded him with supporting and loving hugs in their attempt to reassure him that he did nothing wrong with comforting words that didn't seem to work, and he returned their embrace longingly, wanting to pour his love into them before they would be potentially forced to say goodbye.
On the contrary of their imaginations, Eris felt her heart ache and glared at Nero for making the young Mobians misunderstand, and for having frightened them so to the point of making Sonic the Hedgehog cry in misplaced guilt, especially when the giant Polar Bear didn't give the Seer a chance to reassure the blue hedgehog of the truth.
"FEAR NOT, BLUE CHILD. YOUR WORLD HAS NOT PERISHED, NOR IS THE PARADOX PRISM DESTROYED." Nero shook his head, now attempting to remain calm and feeling quite apologetic for his actions.
"H-Huh?" Sonic murmured, slowly coming out of his crying.
"Huh?" The rest of the Mobians blinked, all of them including the blue hedgehog now baffled over what this giant was talking about. If the Paradox Prism wasn't destroyed and neither was Mobius, then why were they here?
And can they really trust the words of the giant Polar Bear, or was this some sort of trick? They were getting pretty uneasy with the whole thing all together.
"He speaks the truth, Sonic the Hedgehog. At ease, Blue Child. It is not you nor your missing companion Shadow the Hedgehog that destroyed the Paradox Prism in your timeline." The Seer gently held up a hand to calm the frantic blue hedgehog down, and while he and the others were still horrified, they were once again confused as she continued. "However, you were all transported from your timeline into this realm, yet it is drastically changing due to the Shatterverse's creation, because of the unfortunate reckless actions of your one of your counterparts, an alternate version of you, if you will."
Sonic softly gasped, his eyes widening as the weight of guilt began to dim a little. "So then...It wasn't me who wrecked the Paradox Prism...but another version of me?"
"From this moment, he goes by Prism-Sonic, who is a living Paradox because of him not only destroying the crystal in his efforts to prevent Dr. Ivo Robotnik from controlling it and reshape reality, but also absorbing it's power, scattering each piece of the Prism across the Shatterverse. However, it is also linking that new world to other realities and this realm. The crystals you saw showing the other realities have appeared not long before you all came here."
"Of course!" Star perked up, slapping her fist into her palm. "Those timelines we saw in those crystals are not meant to even happen! Whatever happened there to Prism-Sonic began to spread out across the rest of the Multiverse!"
"Is that why I saw that nightmare image before we all tried to stop our Egghead and ended up stuck in this place? It was calling out to me for help?" Sonic shrugged uneasily, gazing back at Eris. "If that's the case, then why did Shadow see it first before me? And is that why I'm absent in those jungle and pirate worlds? Because of what Prism-Me did?"
Eris nodded, raising a hand and created a projector-reflecting like image which revealed, to the shock of Sonic and his friends, the same vision the hedgehog and Shadow saw earlier, instead revealing the ending results making them even more horrified: The now revealed Prism-Sonic being swallowed up by the vortex and ended up in the nightmare futuristic world where he had gotten the new gloves and shoes, being captured by the five Eggmen, and the other two known worlds so far of the jungle and pirates.
But what caught their attention even more was the Prism-Sonic's version of Shadow attempting to stop him, using Chaos Control only to end up in a void similar to the area they had been in earlier, lacking Nero.
"The result is because of the Paradox Prism's destruction and Prism-Sonic now attempting to undo his mistake in a difficult task to restore the crystal, the Shadow Hedgehog attempted to warn him of the dangers, but used force in his blind rage and fear and mistrust, and Prism-Sonic's overconfidence causing a rift between him and his friends. Shadow has seen the vision because of the Prism warning him, yet by using Chaos Control, he is now trapped and thus like Sonic, is too a paradox that he cannot escape." She explained grimly.
"Meaning that Prism-Sonic had gotten pretty too cocky with all the wins against Eggman lately and ended up being full of himself." Rouge guessed grimly.
"And it somehow affected our Shadow since he used Chaos Control too close to the Paradox Prism in our timeline?" Star correctly assumed.
"Does that mean he's trapped in the void too?" Amy asked, worriedly.
'Shadow...You risked your freedom to save me even though the Prism in our world is still okay. I'm sorry...I'm so sorry about all of this.' Sonic lowered his gaze in guilt, and while in his timeline he avoided in creating the Shatterverse, he felt solely responsible for what his alternate counterpart, the Prism-Sonic, has done.
From what he could tell even though Prism-Sonic looked utterly devastated and guilt-ridden for his terrible actions in his eyes, the hero of Mobius could tell he was just as cocky, cynical, brash, arrogant and overconfident just like he used to be until five months ago.
"YOUR FRIEND IS NOT TRAPPED IN THE VOID. HIS WHEREABOUTS IS UNKNOWN, BUT YOU CAN REST ASSURE HE STILL EXISTS. THE REASON HE AND HIS COUNTERPART IN THIS WORLD SHARED THE VISION BECAUSE THEY ARE BOTH PART OF WHAT IS YET TO COME." Nero spoke this time.
"Really?" Sonic asked, a glimmer of hope filling his and everyone else's senses.
Eris nodded to confirm the giant Polar Bear's words. "Unfortunately, his whereabouts are beyond my sights, as I only have the power to shield as much as I can, and watch over the Timelines. Rest assured he is still alive. He and Dr. Robotnik may both be in one of the timelines where the shard of the Paradox Prism of the Shatterverse is, and I ask you, Sonic the Hedgehog, to find the five pieces and bring them to the portal of the shattered reality."
"What about Prism-Sonic?" Amy asked, clasping her hands together.
The Seer shook her head apologetically, with a mixture of doubt and hope on her features. "While Prism-Sonic's quest to restore his world may fail or suceed, it is not yet clear, he is trying very hard. Unfortunately, you cannot encounter him as he must restore his world on his own with the aid of Prism-Shadow. In order to find your friend and your enemies and ensure the Shatterverse does not engulf other realities, this is the only way and I pray that Shadow the Hedgehog will be found safely. Once this task is done and Dr. Robotnik is also found, you all return to your world and timeline, where the rest will be up to Prism-Sonic..."
"Oh, great. Knowing Buttnik, he'll figure this out and we have to watch out for that fat idiot and make sure he doesn't messed up even further." Sun groaned in frustration, folding his arms while everyone else all groaned.
"That's just great." Knuckles groaned, facepalming himself. As if things weren't bad enough, now the evil scientist was out there somewhere, most likely attempting to use this to his advantage.
Narrowing his eyes with determination even though he felt disappointed to not being able to help Prism-Sonic directly and join forces with him, Sonic felt hope rise up inside his chest as he stepped forward. He wasn't sure if he could trust Eris and Nero or not, but at least the blue hedgehog could figure out a clue whether all of this was true or not and then figure out what to do if this proved to be false. Sonic wasn't going to get tricked or used for terrible purposes again, not after what Eggman had done to him and Mobius.
Plus knowing that he wasn't fully responsible for their Paradox Prism's destruction and that their timeline was still safe and sound for now despite feeling like Prism-Sonic's actions were his own, Sonic the Hedgehog now knew what he had to do in order to make things right. He wiped away his tears and forced himself to calm down.
"I'll do it! I'm not gonna let Space and Time be destroyed. We worked hard to stop Egghead from stealing our Paradox Prism. No way it's gonna end like this, and there's no way I'm gonna let him find those shards either!" Sonic declared without hesitation, tightening his fist with a smirk of bravery. He turned to his stunned yet very relieved and equally determined friends. "Whaddya say, guys? We all go on a rescue mission?"
"Since we're all stuck here 'til we get home, might as well." Sun smirked as he stood up, shrugging. That, and he was actually looking forward in going on another adventure.
"A dangerous quest through Space and Time. Could anything be more romantic?" Amy beamed excitedly with clasped hands, and her eyes sparkling.
"No way I'm gonna stay outta this one! Besides, if I don't do something, the Master Emerald will be left defenceless and you guys need all the help you can get." Knuckles agreed, holding up a fist as he was excited for another adventure himself.
"You can count me in, Sonic!" Tails added excitedly.
"As pretty as this place is, it'd be boring to stay here the whole time." Rouge shrugged, glancing around before smiling. "I'm in."
Star beamed enthusiastically. "I wouldn't miss an adventure like this!"
Sonic smirked, relieved to have his friends' support before he pointed at towards the portals of different kinds. "Great! Then it's settled! We're going through Space and Time!"
"Yeah!" The group cheered on.
"Don't worry, Eris. We'll find those shards. I promise!" The hero of Mobius declared, now feeling his confidence return once again.
Eris smiled in relief while Nero nodded in approval, the former bowing in gratitude. "Thank you. I cannot ask for anything more. Yet, there is one gift we shall grant you to avoid confusion in certain worlds, until you return to your timeline."
She turned to the giant Polar Bear, muttering his name as he nodded in obedience. While Sonic and his friends had no idea what Monando was talking about, Nero's eyes glowed which frightened Sonic's group who backed away slightly in fear again, right before the massive being flicked his wrist and snapped his fingers. Instantly, the group's clothes all glowed brightly in light before it spread and before they knew it, their outfits all went into an undergo transformation because once it faded, they all were utterly amazed.
"Whoa!" Sonic gaped in awe, as his gloves were now similar to Prism-Sonic's and even Manny Milestone's, perfected with the circle design on the back with inner cyan and silver linings, the lining onto his glove's palms. His shoes, while also futuristic, were more designed for red, yellow and white, more impressive than the soap shoes he wore briefly once.(1)
Tails' shoes were the more futuristic style to his old ones, and while his gloves remained the same, he now also wore a sleeve-less light-blue vest complete with pockets and a silver utility belt made to fit his Miles Electric, tools, ect.(2)
Amy's dress was still red, but now it had a hood with ears to cover hers if needed, pockets with cute buttons on the front, white little frills on both sides, one white, the other black, a fancy belt around her waist, long purple leggings that went up above her knees with new magenta leather comfortable boots, and cotton gloves with pink bracelets similar to her golden ones.(3)
Knuckles's shoes also went to the similar futuristic transformation like Tails, only he now wore goggles around his neck, and a cowboy hat with a star in the middle(4), which he found very impressive and smirked when he fiddled with his new accessory.
Sun's shoes transformed to have green in the middle, white at the front and heel, gloves similar to Sonic's new ones only with green lines on the back with small button-like dots, his belt all silver and black with his grapple hooks still attached.(5)
Rouge's outfit was more of a purple jumpsuit like her old black one she wore when she first found Shadow, and a black heart in the middle. She smirked in admiration of her new clothes, gazing back and forth at it.
Finally, Star was wearing a long light-blue shirt with no sleeves, but arm gauntlet up to her upper arms hanging loosely to her wrists, her gloves remained, dark-grey shorts with skirt-like hang-overs, and leather black boots. Her eyes sparkles at her new outfit.(6)
As though to help the group get a better look of their new looks, Nero snapped his fingers again and a long horizontal mirror appeared before the seven Mobians and needless to stay, they all admired the way they appeared.
Sonic let out a long whistle. "Lookin' pretty good!"
"Hey, check out my new belt! It's so cool!" Tails remarked happily.
"Wow...!" Amy's eyes sparkled, fawning over her new outfit. "I wish I could keep this outfit! I look like a styled explorer!"
"I feel like a warrior Princess!" Star added, feeling like she was on cloud nine.
"Now this is my kind of taste. You sure know how to pick out a girl's sense in fashion." Rouge commented.
"Huh. Not too shabby." Sun smirked, admittedly impressed.
"I should get myself a hat like this when we get home." Knuckles grinned, feeling like a true explorer and treasure hunter. It gave him a bit of a more sense of freedom.
While admiring his new shoes and gloves that had a better taste than Prism-Sonic's, the fifteen year old hero then frowned thoughtfully, feeling as though something was a bit left out. "Hmmm...Think it needs somethin' else."
Before his friends and the puzzled Eris and Nero could question what he meant, Sonic then smirked as an idea formed into his mind, snapping his fingers with an 'Aha!'. The blue hedgehog reached into his quills and pulled out, much to everyone's surprise, his sea-mask before slipping it onto is forehead and then looked at himself in his reflection.
"Heh...Now this is more like it!" Sonic grinned with a thumbs up, pleased with his finished new look. While he wasn't one for fashion as much, seeing himself in the new gloves, and shoes and his sea-mask to add it up, he had to admit, he was into showing off a little bit.
"You look cooler than the last time, Sonic!" Tails remarked in delight.
"Dashing, heroic and even more action-packed! It makes you even more handsome!" Amy sighed bashfully, now even more in love with her 'boyfriend' than ever before.
Once the group finished marveling their new temporarily looks, Tails then reminded them as a realization came into mind. "We'll have to be careful in where we go and how to interact the people in the other timelines. Otherwise it would cause a dangerous anomaly, and also find Eggman and stop him from interfering with other realities as well."
"YOU WILL NOT CAUSE THE ANOMALY, LITTLE ONES," Nero began, making the group glance up at him and Eris once more. "AS YOU ALL HAVE ENTERED THE PARADOX PRISM AND SEEK THE SHARD, IT WILL NOT DO YOU OR THE WORLDS YOU VISIT ANY HARM. ONLY THOSE WHO USE MAN-MADE DEVICES AND MACHINES WHICH INADVERTENTLY TRAVEL ACROSS SPACE AND TIME ARE THE MOST DANGEROUS."
"So what happens if we come across that?" Knuckles questioned suspiciously, as he still didn't trust the giant being. Especially when Nero tried to capture them against their will and terrifying them.
Eris, while a bit suspicious, did save their lives and was actually quite nice to them. So the Guardian of the Master Emerald might be able to give her a chance. It was Nero that he was worried about.
"Many worlds in the Multiverse can lead to the same paths or slightly or even completely different. Even if your presence should change things in a certain reality, the same will happen in worlds without you all being there, but will not change. It is the similar story with your world." Eris explained this time.
"So it's the same past but different future?" Star questioned thoughtfully.
"Yes, that is correct. Be very vigilant, and ensure no evil use the shards for their own gains."
"Not sure what all this stuff means, but we'll be careful. Thanks for saving us and for the hints, Eris." Sonic smiled at the Seer who nodded with a warm gesture, before he turned to Nero, giving the giant Polar Bear a slight nervous thumbs up. "And thanks for the new clothes, big guy."
"YOU ARE VERY WELCOME, SONIC THE HEDGEHOG." Nero nodded, bowing his head low to the blue hedgehog and his friends. "I AM ALSO DEEPLY SORRY FOR FRIGHTENING YOU AND LETTING MY AURA BLIND MY EMOTIONS."
"We're not gonna hold it against ya'. It was just a misunderstanding, that's all."
"We sort of knew you were very powerful, that's why we tried to escape earlier." Knuckles apologetically shrugged with one shoulder.
"I UNDERSTAND."
"You are all welcome. And Sonic...Thank you for attempting to protect my life. You have a pure heart even through a slight misunderstanding." Eris bowed her head, in gratitude and respect.
Sonic just smiled softly and while he realized he hadn't needed to protect her, he knew that saving Eris had been important and Nero did kind of nearly hurt her even by accident.
"You're welcome. We'll do our best in this. I promise!" He responded kindly.
"I know you will. Go, young Champions of the Alternate Prime Reality. Be very careful." Eris nodded as well, with a smile before gesturing a nearby giant world ring. "These Warp Rings shall take you to other realities, and once you find the shards, they will provide you rings to summon at your own will to return to this sacred realm with them."
"Warp Rings, huh? Sure is a good name for them." Sonic murmured, before turning to his friends, smirking as they all nodded. "Alright! Here we go!"
Once the heroes all waved a goodbye to Eris and Nero, and hopped into the Warp Ring towards their new quest, the two powerful entities watched them leave as it closed briefly behind the seven travelers.
"Be safe on your journey, heroes of the Multiverse." Eris whispered, clasping her hands together in a prayer for their return and success.
Just then, she and Nero both noticed a few flickering from the distance above. Curious and shocked, they saw something odd among one of the Warp Rings: It was dull, grey and as though vanishing. Yet slowly but surely colour was beginning to form, and another doing the slight opposite. While Eris frowned in sadness and concern, Nero frowned in concern yet knowing what this meant.
"SO IT BEGINS. THE CHOSEN ONE TO SAVE ALL REALITIES ALONG WITH A YOUNGER VERSION OF HIMSELF SHALL SOON BEGIN THEIR OWN QUEST. THE DESTROYERS OF SPACE AND TIME WILL PERISH." Nero murmured lowly.
"The results of the Shatterverse being created have made a crack in the protective shield where the creatures are imprisoned. It will soon be destroyed when one of the scourges begin to fall into the trap," Eris pointed out, hovering by the giant Polar Bear's side as he glanced at her. "I can only hope that it is not too late."
Knowing that all was up to Sonic and his friends, Nero hummed before he then teleported away until the young Mobians returned with the first piece of the shattered prism. Eris stayed behind before gazing over her shoulder to where the group had vanished.
"Be careful...Sonic the Hedgehog." The Seer whispered, before teleporting away herself in a dust of light golden sparkles.
The adventure through out the multi-verse, dangerous and unexpected as it is, had just begun.
Somewhere in another Unknown Reality...
'W-What...What happened to me?' These groggy thoughts echoed slowly, in the mind of Shadow the Hedgehog, who was lying on the ground regaining consciousness from the unexpected ride from being swallowed up by the Paradox Prism, his fingers twitching at the same time. The last thing he remembered was shielding Sonic from being absorbed or lethally attacked by the crystal that was in the process of being destroyed.
Then, everything had turned blank after that. The scent of earthy green grass filled his nostrils, the coolish gentle breeze and the ground felt somewhat soft and hard. Groaning, the ebony hedgehog pushed himself up while placing a hand to his head, kneeling on one knee.
"Well, that was terrific." He muttered sarcastically to himself, attempting to rid the dizzy spells to clear his vision.
But once he did, Shadow noticed something to be strangely off yet shockingly familiar. In fact, as the Ultimate Lifeform glanced around his surroundings, to his shock, he was not only outside of the cave where the Paradox Prism was, but everything seemed to be...perfectly fine.
The checkerboard like paths, the palm trees, the green grass, the loop-de-loops, the...bright sunny way? He could've sworn that it had been in the middle of the early evening when he, Sonic and their allies fought to protect the crystal from Dr. Eggman.
"Green Hill Zone? It's...safe and still exists?" Standing up, bewildered, Shadow couldn't understand the concepts of his situation. Why did South Island still exist, let alone the entire planet?
More importantly...Where were Sonic, Tails, Amy, Knuckles, Rouge, Sun, Star, Eggman and those five pathetic robots?
"Yo, Shadow! What brings you here?"
Softly gasping at the familiar, super annoying, obnoxious, happy-go-lucky voice which sounded just like the time before the Dark Gaia incident, Shadow spun around to see, to his dread yet secret sheer relief, was Sonic who raced over to him waving before skidding to a complete stop.
"Sonic?" Shadow murmured, blinking. "Are you alright?"
To the black hedgehog's further confusion, Sonic tilted his head, baffled. "Huh? 'Course I am, just on my way to meet up with Tails." He then chuckled with a too wide of a grin. "Said something about a giant crystal thingy he wanted to show me."
Giant crystal...Could he mean the Paradox Prism? Wait, this didn't seem right.
"How is this happening? Did I...travel back in time? Or was history changed?" The black hedgehog whispered, feeling his sense of dread increase.
"Shadow? Hey, Earth to Shadow! Anybody home?" The now perplexed blue hedgehog, as though never having seen his rival like this before, waved a hand in front of the older Mobian's face. "Heeeeeellllloooooo?"
Blinking out of his troubled thoughts, Shadow eyed Sonic suspiciously, as though the teenager had under-gone a de-transformation from having become mature from his lessons of the Dark Gaia crisis to before the planet was split apart.
"Sonic, why wasn't Tails with you? Are Amy, Knuckles, Sun, Star and Rouge alright? What happened to Dr. Eggman and his useless robots?" Shadow questioned firmly.
"Huh?" Now Sonic was even more dumbfounded, folding his arms. "Okay, first off, I was sleeping under a tree earlier after kicking Egghead's butt as usual. Especially when Orbot and Cubot messed up with his laser-thingy. Secondly, I haven't seen Amy all day, Knux is still guarding the Master Emerald, and I thought you were on a mission with Rouge. And who are Sun and Star?"
A deep sinking feeling filled his chest, a terrible realization forming as he remembered what happened: How Chaos Control had inadvertently messed with the Paradox Prism, him attempting to sacrifice himself to save Sonic and the others, the light that engulfed them all...Shadow closed his eyes in self-hate and shame. The crystal still exists, but it has changed the course of history and while most of them were thankfully still alive...
His terrible actions had now made his and Sonic's vision of the latter destroying the Paradox Prism more certain...By erasing Sun the Hedgehog, Staria Amantha, Decoe, Bocoe and Bokkun...and he lacked the memories of this new timeline.
"...I am a fool. In our attempt to prevent the Paradox Prism from being destroyed, I had instead ensured the future would take place...!" Shadow hissed darkly, grunting as he clutched his fist. How could he have messed up so bad!? Maria would be so ashamed of him!
He had broken her promise! He had made certain that Sonic the Hedgehog would now be the catalyst of the universe's permanent demise! How could he have thought that using Chaos Control would be such a good idea!?
"Uhhhhhh...Okay, now you're really starting to creep me out, 'cause you're not makin' any sense at all." Sonic murmured, beginning to feel more than a little uncomfortable. Unaware of his rival's dilemma, the fact that he had never seen Shadow this remorseful or ashamed before began to scare him.
Inhaling before exhaling, deciding that if he were to at least protect this new timeline from facing a disaster yet again, Shadow had to now try and convince this renewed stubborn, cocky, cynical, brash, arrogant and overconfident Sonic the Hedgehog from making a catastrophic mistake.
"Sonic, I need you to listen to me very carefully. And I mean, very carefully. An apocalypse is coming, and you and I have made this new world. I created this timeline you live in now." The Ultimate Lifeform began.
An awkward moment of silence.
"I think you ate too many coffee beans today, Shad." The cobalt hedgehog scratched the top of his head, dumbfounded.
Shadow sighed in frustration...and just when he had began to show his respect to his teenage ally.
Now it was like they were bitter rivals all over again. Yet what he was unaware of is that nothing is what it seems.
But before the Ultimate Lifeform could begin to explain to a clueless Sonic, the sounds of a jet engine quickly made the two hedgehogs' ears perk up which made them both softly gasp and turn sharply to the same direction from the left and much to their shock and annoyance(and in Shadow's case, disbelief and frustration), a familiar hedgehog-shaped blue and grey robot came charging in with claws
"Not that useless machine again!" Shadow hissed darkly, furious that now not only he had unintentionally(and presumingly) recreated the timeline where Sun the Hedgehog and even Staria Amantha do not exist, but Dr. Eggman apparently scrapped Decoe, Bocoe and Bokkun, or maybe never made them either, but Metal Sonic was still usable for the mad doctor's evil conquest for world dominion.
"Well, looks like I kinda missed one. But that's no biggie, 'cause he's about to become a useless scrap!" Sonic shrugged, a bit sheepishly but perfectly confident and cool, readying himself for a fight.
The moment Metal Sonic charged, he attempted to grab his original, but the blue hedgehog quickly stopped him and the two were now wrestling in a struggle to overpower one another.
"How's it goin', Metal?" Sonic greeted with a strain, pushing as hard as he could against his robotic doppelganger. "You're looking hideous as usual!"
"This is an outrage...!" The black hedgehog, watching briefly as he attempted to help his rival, grunted in frustration.
"I know, pal! It's like looking at the world's ugliest mirror." The blue hedgehog incorrectly agreed.
'Great, and just when I found respect for Sonic earlier, now I lack the memories of this new world and everyone else do not remember what happened before either. This must be a nightmare...' Shadow growled, before Spin Dashing into Metal from the latter's left, smashing it away and breaking the robot's and Sonic's, the real blue hedgehog blinking in surprise, wrestling contest.
Recovering quickly, Metal, his eyes flashing red in what could only be described as anger, began to charge up to attack both hedgehogs under Dr. Eggman's orders to destroy them both and get his revenge on his 'loathsome copy'.
"Oooh, he's angry." Sonic mocked, smirking excitedly.
"We don't have time for this, Sonic! Focus!" Shadow snapped.
"Ah, relax, faker," The blue hedgehog reassured calmly and cockily, waving his rival off. "This will be a piece of cake! We're talkin' about Metal Sonic here and we've beaten him before."
Neither one got the chance to continue the conversation, as Metal Sonic then charged to attack the two hedgehogs who leaped and sped out of the way, before the robot turned to face the real Sonic, firing lasers right at him. But the blue hero was faster and easily dodged the attacks, laughing away mockingly.
"Ha! Still can't beat the real hedgehogs, Metal! You move like a Grand-Mom-Bot!" Sonic grinned tauntingly, cartwheeling expertly when more lasers were fired right at him before he Homing Attacked his robotic enemy, eagle-kicking him straight into the air.
That left Shadow to leap up and perform a series of attacks very much similar or the same as the teenager's, Arial-Attacking without mercy before he punched Metal right in the face, destroying his jet engines and causing the robot to lose altitude, plummeting straight towards the ground.
"Chaos Spear!" Summoning the Chaos Energy, Shadow instantly launched his attack at the defenseless robot who was hit further away, crashing into a boulder and badly damaged that his eyes flickered for a moment before he went offline.
"And just when I was about to kick that faker's butt in an interesting fight too." Sonic pouted, folding his arms as he had been looking forward for a rematch against his robotic clone.
"We don't have time for this! We must find Tails and get to the bottom of this mess." Shadow impatiently reminded after he landed safely, grabbing hold of Sonic's wrist which startled him.
"Hey, whoa! Shadow, would you please tell me what's going on? You're acting weirder than usual today!" The younger hedgehog protested, now getting quite annoyed with his older rival's behavior.
"Be thankful I don't wish to attack you, faker. So unless you have a Chaos Emerald on you, just shut up and let's get moving now!"
'Shadow's acting really weird. What's going on? It's almost like he's a completely different person or something.' Sonic thought to himself, suspiciously yet at the same time, in all the years he had known the Ultimate Lifeform, Shadow wasn't known to be a liar.
None the less, seeing the urgency in his friend's eyes and even tone surprisingly enough, the blue hedgehog shrugged with an exasperated sighed.
"Okay, okay. We'll talk to Tails and hear what you have to say." Sonic conceded.
Nodding in gratitude, Shadow let Sonic take the lead in case the former's memories in finding Tails' old Workshop was no longer in the same location. But as the two hedgehogs sped off to get to the bottom of the situation, neither one were aware that Metal Sonic's eyes were flickering red and scanning the duo's speed readings on their bodies.
Meanwhile, in another Reality with Dr. Eggman...
"Ooough...My head...Can somebody get me an aspirin...?" Groaned Eggman, who after the shock waves that had him, his robots and enemies being swallowed up by the Paradox Prism, he had been knocked out cold thinking it was the end of them all.
Yet as the evil scientist was regaining consciousness with everything being a blur even in his most brilliant mind, his head hurting with the mother of all headaches, to his growing confusion he found that he was lying on something soft and plushy, his head cushioned by a pillow and as he blinked his eyes open, a white ceiling greeted him that was nearly blinding.
But that wasn't the only thing that greeted him, because much to his sheer annoyance, were seven familiar robots looming over him worriedly...
Wait, what? Seven? As he blinked more clearly with his vision returning to normal through his glasses, to his greatest confusion and concern, there was two of Orbot and Cubot. Was his vision going? Or was he hallucinating? Perhaps this was some sort of dream?
"Are you alright, Dr. Eggman?" Decoe asked in deep concern, despite all of the times his creator had been horrible to him and his fellow creations.
"Grr...Great, just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, now my eyesights starting to go," Eggman growled irritated and increasingly concerned, raising an eyebrow. "Yet why am I seeing two of Orbot and Cubot and not the rest of you?"
The five original robots shared an uneasy glance, while the other Orbot and Cubot appeared to be very puzzled and unsure what to say, before the original Orbot began meekly. "Urm, actually boss...We have a really slight problem, regards with what has happened to us before."
"Well, spit it out already, you worthless metal moocher!" The evil scientist snapped impatiently.
Unfortunately, the two Cubots, as usual misunderstanding, took an orange each before biting into the skin before spitting out dust and crust from their metallic mouths, much to the disgust of the other robots except for the other Orbot, and the human scientist who recoiled.
"I meant figuretively!" Eggman groaned. 'I am so glad they are machines, because that is just absolutely disgusting as it is.'
As if one Cubot wasn't bad enough, now he had to cope with two of him and Orbot!
Speaking of two...
"Well, it's about time you woke up, jolly-me! And yes, we both have something in common when it comes to minions." A strangely familiar voice that caught Eggman off-guard, because not only he recognized it...it sounded exactly like him in every way...And close.
Freezing, Eggman slowly turned to his minions who nervously chuckled and pointed across the room to his left.
"This has come quick a figuretive shock to all of us." Decoe meekly closed his eyes in a weak-smile gesture.
"But at least it's still better than being with Sonic..." Bocoe attempted to say optimistically.
Now feeling a sense of dread run down his spine, the mad doctor slowly turned to see what the robots were talking about, and gasped in shock and horror to find a man that was identical to him in appearance...only he was slightly thinner in a more military commander style, his outfit almost resembling to that as well except in red, his mustache was a bit darker, and he sat in a chair in front of a monitor of what Eggman realized was a medical room...
Because before him it quickly began to make sense and his brain stopped almost instantly.
"Hello, Alternate Me. Welcome to my humble Fortress." The second Dr. Eggman greeted rather casually as though this was an everyday occurance.
A moment of silence...before Eggman screamed loudly in pure horror as he realized, with his memories returning immediately, where he and his minions where given there was two of Orbot and Cubot, and now two of him. The question is, how and why?
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! We're-We're in...We're in an alternate reality!" The evil scientist's scream echoed throughout the fortress, of an isolated island...
Close to the alternate version of Seaside Island itself.
Yet little did they all know, a mysterious silhouette figure was standing on top of the mountain of the main island itself, covered in a black cloak save for a mouth that was barely visible under the hood...and upon hearing the loud voice of Eggman, it formed an evil grin with a dark chuckle.
"Well...this should play out rather nicely. Perhaps I can make use with the man who claims to be from an alternate universe." The figure spoke in a dark tone.
It looked like things are about to become far more easier than he thought.
This was the beginning of the more dangers yet to come, for Sonic, his friends and their enemies...Even to Prism-Sonic as well.
To be Continued!
A/N: The next chapter will really begin the Multi-Verse journey through out alternate realities of the blue hero and most of his friends. I'm not sure how many worlds they will visit, but maybe it will be around...three, four, five at the most? Hard to say at this stage. The end of this chapter is a hint to where the first world will be.
(1) Sonic's outfit is a mixture of Sora's from the first Kingdom Hearts game as well as Manny Milestone's, and his Sonic Prime attire from the TV series, but his shoes are that from all three Sonic Riders games, complete with the Sea-Mask Tails created in both timelines of "Sonic and the Power of the Wisps".
(2) Tails' outfit is similar to his original draft from the early concept from the series before the show's actual release, his shoes also from the Sonic Riders series.
(3) Amy's outfit is a mixture of her Sonic Boom attire, Kairi's KH3 outfit and my mixture of the pink bracelets.
(4) Knuckles' attire is also from the Riders games, complete with his cowboy hat seen in other Sonic media.
(5) Sun's gloves are a white version of Sora's from KH2, and shoes from KH3.
(6) Star's outfit is similar to Aqua's from the KH games.
See you later!