Chapter 24: Distant Future
[The Future]
"My name is Silver. Silver the Hedgehog," a light gray hedgehog said as he flew above a devastated world engulfed by darkness. "I don't know how this world came to be. For a moment I had traveled forward and backward through time, hoping to prevent a terrible future. Now though, this is much worse than anything I have ever seen. I am stuck here now, with no ability to return and uncover the truth. My only hope is that there are survivors somewhere, and they may be able to help me. Maybe even rebuild."
Silver landed by what was once Peach's Castle, only crumbled to nothing but debris and dust. He looked around, hoping to find some answers. "This is hopeless. Whatever happened, nothing could've survived," Silver said. Silver sat down on a piece of the castle. "What happened? Why is everything like this?!" he yelled. "It looks like anything I do to change the past only leads to worse destruction. The last thing I remember was the Resistance defeating Eggman and Infinite," he said.
Splosh, splash. Silver looked. Splosh. Splish. Splash. Silver stood up and walked towards something new he saw. "Is this?" he questioned. Silver knelt and touched a substance, and it stained his gloves. "Orange paint?" he questioned. "Woomy!" yelled an orange girl who jumped out of nowhere and shot paint at Silver. Silver used his psychokinesis to stop the orange paint. "What the?" Silver questioned. "Ngyes!" a blue boy yelled as he tossed a pyramid-shaped grenade. Silver jumped out of the way as it exploded with blue paint. "Okay, how badly did I mess up the future?" Silver asked himself. "Veemo!" yelled a pink girl who had a giant paint roller that was covering the ground. Silver used his powers, grabbed the pink girl, and tossed her. "Sorry kid," Silver said. The orange girl had turned into a squid and jumped into the paint. "What?!" Silver exclaimed, shocked. The orange squid jumped out of the paint and wrapped itself around Silver's face. "Hey! Let go, you stupid!" Silver yelled. The blue kid turned into a squid while the pink kid turned into an octopus. They both wrapped themselves around Silver's leg.
They were all yelling. Roar. The kids suddenly turned back to kid form and let go of Silver. "Ouch! Seriously! Was there any reason to do that?" Silver asked. Roar! The sound of mechanical whirring was coming closer. "Hey, what was that?" Silver asked. The kids all yelled and screamed and were running away. "Hey! Come back!" Silver yelled. Silver turned around. He saw that a big object was approaching. A cloud of dust was heading closer. "Yeah, I'm not going to stay around much longer," Silver said as he jumped, flew up, and started to fly away from the object.
As Silver flew he saw the kids all running away and the mechanical object was heading closer. Silver sighed, "I can't believe I'm about to do this." Silver flew down, used his psychokinesis, and picked up the kids and flew them up. "You brats better thank me later," Silver said. "Look out!" the orange girl yelled. "You can talk?!" Silver exclaimed. The object shot out missiles. Silver did a barrel roll and dodged the missiles. "What is that thing?!" Silver exclaimed. "It's a monster!" the blue kid yelled. The object transformed. It became a mechanical bipedal rhino. It had red eyes, giant arms, and a weapon attached to its back. It launched its arm in front of Silver, causing Silver to fall to the ground, with the kids landing beside him. "AH! He's got us!" the pink girl yelled. "Not for long," Silver said. Silver flew up and used his psychokinesis to push the metal monster back.
"What is that thing?!" Silver exclaimed. "It's Galleom!" the orange girl yelled. Galleom roared again as he stood up. Galleom shot missiles from its back. Silver caught the missiles and threw them away and they blew up. "How messed up is this future?" Silver asked. Galleom charged ahead. Silver began to glow up until a large vehicle in the shape of a cat came from the distance and crashed into Galleom, pushing it back. "Quickly! Inside! Before it gets up!" "You don't have to tell me twice!" the blue kid yelled. "Hey! Girls before boys!" the orange girl yelled. "Come on! Let's just go!" the pink girl yelled. Silver got in the vehicle and it drove off.
"Who are you?" Silver asked. In front of him was a man. He wore a masquerade mask and wore a black coat. He had one knife and a gun in his belt. "Codename's Joker," Joker said. Driving the vehicle was a plump Italian-looking man with a mustache wearing a doctor's uniform. "Joker, Galleom is gaining on us," he said. "Doctor, you know what to do," Joker said. "On it," the doctor said. "And who's that?" Silver asked. "His name is Dr. Mario. He comes from a long line of Mario, and I'm surprised you didn't shut up. Most people, well what's left don't yell and attract Galleom," Joker said. "That's what we were trying to tell you," the orange girl complained. "Wrapping up my face and legs is not telling me to shut up!" Silver yelled. "Whatever," the orange girl said. Silver sighed, "It's no use." "Eleven! Are you ready?" Dr. Mario asked. On top of the vehicle was a swordsman. He wore purple and his hair was long. "Just keep it steady," he said. Lightning began to crackle from Eleven's hand. "Kazap!" he yelled. Lightning struck Galleom, sending it back, buying the heroes time.
The car stopped by a castle, still intact. Everyone exited the vehicle. "No injuries?" Dr. Mario asked. "Well besides some bruising from some tentacles, I'll be fine," Silver said. "Come on. Let's go inside," Joker said. "What are you?" Silver asked. "All that is left," Joker said. From above the wall, a sorcerer stood waiting. "Robin, we're back," Joker said. "Hm? It seems so. Come on, open the gates," Robin ordered. Opening the gates was a swordsman who wore green and had a cartoonish appearance to him. "Silver, Toon Link. He doesn't speak much," Eleven said. Toon Link shook his hand. "A cartoon? Well, I've seen weirder before," Silver said. As they walked through the castle, Silver saw someone dressed in blue using a whip to hit a practice dummy. "That's-a Richter. He's one of the last in a line of Belmonts," Dr. Mario said. "Aye. Thou is loud. Nay needs to contact that monstrosity," Richter said. "I'll make sure I do better," Silver said. "Thou better," Richter threatened.
"Greetings. It's nice to see there is another survivor," Robin said. "Robin. He's a sorcerer and right-hand man to the owner of this castle," Eleven said. "And who is the owner?" Silver asked. They opened the gates to a room where they saw a man in armor and another woman who sat in the corner. "Chrom, we got a recruit," Joker said. "Hm? And who is this?" Chrome asked. "I'm Silver," Silver said. "You seem more Gray," Chrom joked, "It is good to see more survived that monstrosity," Chrom said. The woman stood up, "I'm Lucina. Daughter of Chrom," she said. "Pleasure," Silver said. Silver looked around. "Listen, I would really like to know how all of this happened," Silver said. "Strange. Most people would know, or Galleom's rampage would have killed those who knew," Chrom said. "Well it's a long story," Silver said. "Aye. I'll tell the tale," Robin said.
"Long ago heroes across the universe gathered in attempts to defeat a great evil. One day, everything changed. The Subspace Army had built a machine and its sole purpose was to defeat the heroes," Robin said. "Galleom," Chrom said. "Galleom was unlike anything the heroes had ever faced. It was their demise. Only a few survived which allowed many of us to live. Only, the machine had backfired on the Subspace Army. It turned rogue. It became their demise as well, and thus creation met destruction. The entire universe, and its life gone," Robin said.
Silver sighed and paced back and forth. "So this Subspace Army built Galleom, and it did exactly what it was told, but it turned on them and now it terrorizes everything," Silver said. "Yes," Chrom said. "Well, this is great. Everything I do to try and change the future, something worse always comes," Silver said. "What is thou speaking of?" Richter asked. "It's a long story, but to cut it short, I am… was a time traveler. I tried changing the past, yet somehow the future/present ended like this," Silver said. "You learned the secrets of time travel as well?" Lucina asked. "Yeah. Why do you ask?" Silver asked. "Lucina is from the future," Joker said. "Since I have arrived and saved my father from demise, we were trying to find out how to do so again," Lucina said. "You want to return to the moment Galleom was unleashed," Silver said. They nodded.
Silver pulled out his time watch. "With this, I used to time travel. The only problem is that it burnt out when I arrived here," Silver said. "It's-a definitely unique. Even I am-a not so smart to figure this out," Dr. Mario said. "Maybe we don't need to be smart to figure it out. Is Dr. Eggman's base still here?" Silver asked. "Dr. Eggman? You mean the villain who unleashed Galleom?" Chrom asked. "Of course. That's Eggman. Playing with forces he doesn't understand. He did it with Gaia, and the Wisps, and the Phantom Ruby," Silver said. "What remains of his base is the home of Galleom," Eleven said. The Inklings yelped. "Well, that definitely puts thorns on our side," Silver said. "If there is a chance that we could return and fix everything, should we not take it?" Lucina asked. "Aye. I agree with thou fair maiden," Richter said. Toon Link nodded. "It's risky, but I pulled off harder heists before," Joker said. "Well I think we're going to-a die," Dr. Mario said. "I'm with the doctor on this one," Eleven said. "We did kinda keep this castle for our survival. We don't know how secure Galleom has his base. If we go, it'll be a suicide mission," Robin said. "Father, what do you have to say on this matter?" Lucina asked. Chrom sighed and then looked out towards the dystopian landscape. "There is nothing left here. We may not even survive much longer. If there is a chance to fix everything, to go back, then we must take it," he said.
The gang traveled in Joker's bus. They had passed some debris with the face of Doctor Eggman. "Yup, this is Eggman's place," Silver said. "Tread with caution. Thou enemy shan't leave this alone," Richter said. Dr. Mario stopped the bus. "From-a here on, it's-a better if we-a go on foot," Dr. Mario said. "I agree. Let us attempt to not make much noise," Chrom said. Everyone took a look at the Inklings. "What?" they asked. "You know exactly why we're looking at you Blue and Orange," the Pink Octoling said. "Eh too Pink?" Blue asked. "Well, at least I know their names now," Silver said.
They exited the vehicle and walked towards the ruins of Eggman's base. Joker ran up ahead, and his steps could barely be heard. "So tell me how exactly is it that you all got together?" Silver asked. "Fate, undoubtedly. Of course, I had known Robin and Lucina traveled from the future. Dr. Mario, Toon Link, Richter, and myself are descendants of fighters who fought in the war," Chrom said, "We offered refuge at the castle which was once the peak of Altea, and joining us was Eleven, Joker, and the Inklings and Pink." "Seems like you've all been through a lot," Silver said. "You too," Chrom said. Joker looked at the doorway and poked his head inside. "Come on. It's clear," Joker said.
They walked through Eggman's base. "Doesn't look like Galleom's home," Blue said, loudly. Everyone shushed him. "You idiot!" Orange yelled. "Shush!" Eleven shushed. "Ha! See!" Blue yelled. Pink smacked both of them. "Ow! Hey!" they yelled. "Siblings?" Silver asked. "Yeah. Let's keep going," Robin said. They walked through, seeing only robots that had rusted through time. "These robots have seen better days," Pink said. "Aye, truly," Richter said. They finally arrived at the main console, the one Eggman would use to control his robots from afar. "I'll take it from here," Silver said. Silver typed on the computer. "I'm sure Eggman would be messing with time, like that one time he did with the Time Eater," Silver said. "You sure know a lot about Eggman," Eleven said. "Well that's what happens when you travel back and forth so many times," Silver said.
"Well while you do boring stuff, we're going to go see if there's anything fun to do," Blue said. "Yeah! Booyah!" Orange yelled. Everyone shushed her. "Whatever," Orange said. Blue and Orange ran. "Follow them," Chrom told Eleven. "Really. It seems like you're punishing me more than you're punishing them," Eleven said. Chrom tilted his head. "Ugh, I hate this," Eleven said. "I shalt accompany thou," Richter said. "Alright," Eleven said, enthusiastically, "Come on."
Blue and Orange ran through the halls. "Ha ha! You can't catch me!" Blue mocked. "Oh stop being so childish!" Orange yelled. "Never!" Blue yelled. "Shut up and be quiet!" Eleven yelled. "Why thy be so childish? Whence I was a child meself, I played with thy knives," Richter said. "Don't encourage them," Eleven said. Blue and Orange stopped by a robot on the ground. "Huh, look at this. This one looks different from the others," Orange said. Eleven took a look. "Metal Sonic, a harbinger of Eggman. It caused a lot of trouble for the heroes of old, but it looks like it was one of Galleom's many victims," Eleven said. "Looks stupid," Blue said. Blue kicked Metal Sonic in the head. Metal Sonic's eyes turned on. "Uh oh," Blue said. "You idiot," Orange said as she smacked Blue.
Metal Sonic stood up. Eleven and Richter got their weapons ready. "Be ready," Eleven said. Metal Sonic took a step forward and fell down on his face. "Boo, that sucked," Blue said. Metal Sonic turned his face, as if it was depressed. "Huh. Methinks thy robot is weird," Richter said.
"Time Eater. Time Eater. Boom! There," Silver said. "You found it?" Joker asked. "Yup. Eggman's files on the Time Eater. Now if I go check out the files then," Silver said as he pressed the enter button. The computer did not let Silver check the file. "Oh come on," Silver complained. "Let me try," Joker said. Joker typed on the computer, but it did not let him in. "It will not let me in," Joker said. "Eggman always had his brains. I'm betting only the man himself would be able to access the info," Silver said. "Well he's been dead for a long time," Robin said. "Hey everyone, look what we found," Orange said. "I told them not to bring it," Hero said. "Ugh, did you really have to make me drag this thing?" Blue asked. Blue dragged in Metal Sonic who was still on the floor, face down. "Metal Sonic," Silver said. He used his powers and smacked Metal Sonic multiple times on the ceiling and floor. After Silver's attack, Metal Sonic still laid down on the floor. "Huh? He's not fighting back?" Silver questioned.
They had placed Metal Sonic on a chair and he just sat there, head down. Silver decided to check out his memory banks so he attached wires from the computer screen to Metal Sonic. "This is Metal Sonic? I've heard stories, yet they seem to be more fictional," Robin said. "Time has not done him well. Who knows how long he's been here," Silver said, "And… There." The screen changed the image to show the Subspace Army's conquest with Galleom. Galleom taking out fighters with ease. "This is horrible," Lucina said. "Aye. Dracula nay had the catastrophe that this is," Richter said. "Wait, there's more," Silver said. Eventually Galleom began attacking the villains, brutally ending them. Eggman was one of the first gone. "No! You're mine to control!" he yelled. Galleom roared. Metal Sonic growled and charged at Galleom. Metal Sonic stood no chance until one punch from Galleom shut off the screen, ending the replay. "Well, at least we know what happened," Silver said. "It seems Galleom smashed the fighters into trophies and then crushed them," Joker said. "Yikes. That's frightening," Silver said. "It seems it began in-a world called… Alrest?" Dr. Mario asked. "Aye, I've heard thou tales. A world covered by skies," Richter said. "Well if we can power my time device, then we can go back there. Only problem is that we can't because the files on the Time Eater are blocked," Silver said.
Everyone got to thinking. Joker paced back and forth, and then looked at Metal Sonic. "You said Metal Sonic was one of Eggman's creations?" Joker asked. "One of his oldest," Silver said. "Then is it possible that he could have access?" Joker asked. "Maybe. I'm not sure how much information Eggman allowed his creations to access, besides Orbot and Cubot," Silver said. "Although it looks like he doesn't want to," Chrom said. Metal Sonic fell face down from the chair.
A mechanical roar was heard. The entire base began to rattle. "He's found us," Chrom said. Everyone ran outside, except Metal Sonic. A dust cloud was approaching from the distance and ran over the van. "We don't have anywhere else to go," Lucina said. Silver used his powers to pick up some metal plates from the building. "Who said we're going anywhere besides back to the past?" Silver asked. Galleom jumped and landed on his two legs and arms. He gave out a mighty roar. "For the future," Chrom said as he stood beside Silver. Everybody got their weapons ready. "Let's-a go!" Dr. Mario yelled. Everyone charged, preparing to face off against Galleom.