-Somewhere in the Future...

Through a landscape of destroyed buildings where life seemed to have simply vanished with mostly no trace with the exception of a few skeletons, as someone flew through all this desolation, a young silver anthropomorphic hedgehog with white fur on his chest surrounding his neck, gold eyes that have an upturned angular shape with black patterns at their edges, and peach skin. He has a black nose on his muzzle, and two large spines at the back of his head, while on the front of his forehead, there are five distinct spines flared up and back, the two final ones covering up most of his small, triangular ears and a short pointy tail.

For his attire, he wore white gloves with aqua circles with lines sticking out of the bottom leading to his gold cuffs accented with aqua lines curved in a convex shape. The tops of his boots are of a similar fashion with a red gem set in gold. The rest of his boots are navy blue with a white stripe down the center, aqua toes, and gray soles with four aqua hexagons.

The young hedgehog named Silver landed down to the ground, looking around for... Something beyond gloom and doom, his eyes drifted around the scenery as his attention was grabbed by a tinge of green. There growing from a crack in the concrete was a bit of vegetation, not a flower or anything pretty like that but just a small sign of the world healing was inspiring

It was then that a small glow and faint crack claimed his focus as he turned his head to look around before looking upwards to see a faint glowing orb

"Huh? What is that?" Silver said to himself as he used his telekinesis to fly up closer, approaching the orb as he felt a warm fuzzy feeling as he felt almost like it was calling him. When he got close enough the orb suddenly exploded and became a vortex that began to pull him in

"Aaaarrhh!" Silver screamed as he tried to fly away, using all his strength to try and escape the vortex's pull. But his mental stamina was the first to falter as the vortex doubled its force, as he was sucked inside a void of multiple colors along with something within the vortex latching itself onto his arm before quickly losing consciousness

"O heroes please save our world!" A voice asked as Silver regained consciousness, now in a different place above a glowing circle that looked like a strange mark... Was it a spell circle or the other side of that vortex? Was this what caused it to appear in his time?

"What?" He and other three voices responded, these were young and normal teenagers carrying very detailed medieval weapons that had a silver body with plenty of gold details along with black. The spear had a red orb and was being carried by a blond with a ponytail, the bow had a yellow orb and it's wielder was also a blonde teen from what seemed to be a fancy school if his uniform was any indication, the sword had a blue orb and a very serious looking black haired teen was using it... Just then he realizes that his left arm also had a weapon strapped on him, a silver shield with black lines as details and a cyan orb in the middle.

"What are you supposed to be? A game avatar or some type of mascot?" The spear wielder asked as he looked at Silver with the hedgehog looking at him confused as well, but not due to the same reason

"I... I'm more concerned about when or where we are, and I'm a hedgehog for your information" Silver pointed out and clarified to the spear wielder but clarifying his species wasn't what was the problem here

"You don't look like a hedgehog, they can fit in the palm of your hand and are brown" The bow wielder said as he held an open palm in front of him to show the size difference, it felt surreal seeing such a thing that looked like it could just exist in a game or cartoon in front of you breathing and speaking like normal

"I don't know what type of hedgehog you met, but I am a legit one" Silver said as he looked at the three confused, how could they not know what a hedgehog looks like or confuse it with whatever the bow wielder was referring to

'What in the world is that? The shield hero is some form of animal? The ritual must have been botched, I don't know how or why but this is... Can we salvage this situation?' the leader of the robed individuals thought as he looked at the shield hero inquisitively, they had done the ritual perfectly so he didn't know why this would have happened, he thought about the ups and downs of the situation of having a inhuman shield hero, he shook his breath and took a deep breath

"Heroes, I beg of you. Please save our world!" the leader of these summoners once again pledged support of the summoned heroes in the efforts of saving his world, none of the three looked at him with any bit of empathy in specific as they were more concerned with themselves. But Silver was different, he was willing to help whoever needed help and considering that these people were in a world ending event, he would be a cowardly shame of a hero if he turned his back before trying.

"Alright I'll lend you the shield, I just hope we can have some answers for this whole thing, Okay?" Silver said in a somewhat informal way but he kept his composure and lifted his fist in a show of dedication. The leader of the summoners was slightly relieved by this even if annoyed, but more than a few of the other robed men seemed like they did not like that.

"Wait? Your weapon is a shield? Dude, that's not even a weapon, that's armor." The blond spoke loudly. It sounded like he felt pity for him more than trying to insult him, but the slight giggle made it look like it was funny.

"You can forget it" the black teen responded, on one hand he held his sword with the jewel seemingly glimmering under the dull rays of the sun that barely illuminated the room they were in.

"I also refuse myself" spoke the other young blonde haired kid wielder of the bow

"Yeah you two might have the right idea, hey take me back to my world now!" The spear hero demanded in a aggressive way to their summoners

"P-Please! Our world teeters on the edge of collapse!" The robed man argued letting just enough anger slip to let Silver know he was probably very angry, but just hiding it because he was likely disappointed at the answer of the heroes even though Silver had said to help them

"You brought us here without our consent, don't you feel the least guilty about that?" The one with a sword and black hair said, he pointed his weapon to the robed man as if to threaten them

"Not to mention, if you throw us out as soon as we restore peace we would've done all that work for nothing" the bow wielder added with an entitled look. Silver looked at the three surprised at their attitude, his face quickly turning into a frown

"How willing are you going to accommodate our requests?" The spear wielder asked, rather convinced in a way.

"You're asking for demands! These people are amidst a threat to the whole world and you ask for rewards? Do you think that's fair?" Silver was ready to put an arm between the two and disrupt this situation with his telekinesis as these 'heroes' were getting on his nerves but the priest leader had a look of relief on his face for some reason.

"Oh, is that all? Of course, we will compensate you! You are the four cardinal heroes. It is only right that we reward you for what is to come..." His tone was off, Silver didn't know why but something in the way he was speaking was weird, granted he was in another world as far as he knew but that still didn't explain the gesture of these people, were they that desperate that they would willingly accept the demands of these guys?

"However I cannot make you these promises. The king of this great country is the one with the power and resources to reward you, not I. Please let me lead you to him, his majesty is most eager to meet you." The robed man said in a much more serious tone than he was before, very little if not no anger at all in his voice anymore. He motioned with his hands as he led them out of the room.

There was a brief moment where all heroes were silent and looked at each other.

"I guess" the sword hero murmured, putting his sword down

"Well, we can at least see what they offer" The bow hero sounded like he thought the whole world should be grateful for his indifference.

"King or no, our demands will be high. No amount of talking will change that" the spear hero sounded like that stubbornness was a good thing, with Silver still in disbelief of their desire for a reward in return for helping save these people. For his part Silver looked at the robed man who had done the talking and gave him a sympathetic look, which the robed man seemed to receive... Begrudgingly? How did he cause a bad impression when the others were threatening him a minute ago.

They all began following the robed man down hallways and upstairs, this place was huge. As they continued up the stairs, he eventually saw a long row of windows showing off the capital city. Silver was surprised as while the architecture was simple, the scope of this city was surprising. Nothing he hadn't seen before but it certainly felt more fantastic than a normal view... All the buildings looked so old, like something out of a history book so he must be in the past or far enough in the future that society has returned into a more medieval way

As the four heroes and their guide approached a set of large doors leading to the largest section of the castle, they all knew what was ahead. The robed man turned to them.

"Beyond this door lies our king, please try to show some respect" That was said as a plea not an order, that Silver didn't notice was directed to him. As the doors opened and they began to enter, a booming voice announced them.

"Now entering, the four cardinal heroes!" A guard from the other side shouted. As they entered, they eyed the large room. There were many more people here than Silver thought there would be, although it was hard for him to find such a large group in most futures he had been. The room all had looks of shock, disgust and confusion that was directed to the heroes, but the three human heroes knew they were directed towards their 'hedgehog' colleague.

"So are these the legendary heroes?" The king glanced at them for a moment, seemingly analysing the four. Judging their appearance and likely character from the little details their bodies gave away, he was more focused on Silver than the others however

"I am King Aultcray Melromarc XXXII, the King of this glorious country of Melromarc" Wearing finer clothes than the nobles, large rings upon each finger, a bulky thick crown atop his head... Yeah, this was almost stereotypical for a king. He looked very stressed, but hid it well, he was also quite old by the looks of things considering his gray hair and maybe even overweight? He couldn't know if he was wrong on his assumption, not that he'd known anyway.

"Now could the heroes name themselves" he said in a booming voice that filled the room with much authority. Nothing like the robed man who seemed to only be able to plead and beg when talking to the heroes.

"I'm Amaki Ren, 16 years old, high schooler" the sword hero said as he held his sword with both hands, he was looking the most serious of the four.

"I'm Kitamura Motoyasu, 21, college student" the spear hero said next as he laid his weapon over his shoulder. Taking a step forward and placing his thumb to his heart as if doing a flashy pose to impress them, especially the ladies.

"Guess I'm next, huh? Kawasume Itsuki, 17, high schooler as well" the bow wielder spoke before he raised his bow and began inspecting it, likely due to never using one before his arrival in this world

Silver was just now thinking how he was the only one different from the heroes, due to being the only anthropomorphic animal in the room, was there a reason for him to be here? For sure Shadow or Sonic would also be summoned if he was brought from the future here, or was the fact he is from the future the reason behind his arrival?... In any case it was his time to present himself

"My name is Sil-"

"Hmm, I see. Ren, Motoyasu and Itsuki" The king had completely ignored him. This was weird considering he was also a legendary hero, was he... Was he too slow to answer it? Embarrassing thought aside, he would have to catch the attention of the king to announce himself properly

"Hey! King Aultcray was it? I believe you've skipped over me" Silver said as he didn't want to get glossed over, but he also didn't try to come off as arrogant as the other three heroes. The King looked at him for a single instant before looking elsewhere, which just made Silver think that once again he had somehow left a bad impression that he himself was unsure of how.

"Ah forgive me..." Silver was starting to feel weird. It wasn't that the king had looked away, but that in the moment that he looked at Barry, he noticed that was the only instant the king was looking at him. Almost like the king was pretending he wasn't there,or trying to ignore him.

"I'm Silver the hedgehog, I fight for the betterment of the future and for justice"Silver said as he made a swipe of his hand while having a confident expression on his face, the bow hero seemed to perk up on the mention of justice

"Good" the king did a very small nod before turning his attention back to the three other heroes. Which made Silver a bit frustrated by how the king was treating him, he expected a little bit of respect since he was also a legendary hero and all... Was the king biased because he was a hedgehog and not a human? That was the only difference here between him and the other heroes, unless he was judged the worst out of the four heroes in some contest in the few moments he arrived, why else would he be treated like this?

"Now my country of Melromarc is in grave danger of a threat known as the waves." The king prepared to explain the situation of the Waves of calamity which he gave a description of how it was. They could happen anywhere at any time, lasting for multiple hours or until the boss is killed. During that time monsters would continue to pour out of the wave and even after it stopped, any monster already here would remain until slain. All the heroes listen respectfully, Silver out of politeness and genuine interest, the other three due to possibly not knowing all the details about the wave, otherwise they seemed bored by the whole thing. They were told that the first wave had already occurred, apparently the local guards and adventurers at the time were enough to stop that wave. Before any of the heroes could speak the king knew what they were going to ask.

"As to why we were able to defend from that wave, but now we feel we need to summon you... The waves are said to become stronger over time. They last longer, the wave bosses and all under them will be stronger. There are even written accounts of waves with more than one wave boss... It is best to summon you now, when the waves are weak to give you time to strengthen yourselves to stay ahead of the waves' growing threat" he gave a glance to the other three which Silver was starting to get irritated about.

"Strengthen ourselves? Are we not legendary heroes? are these not legendary weapons?" Ren spoke, which seemed off to Silver. No one starts overwhelmingly powerful, maybe he had a head start but even Silver had to learn how to control his powers and wasn't without his weakness. They were dealing with a world wide threat here after all

"Ah, yes. You are legendary heroes and those weapons are the 4 greatest weapons in this world..., but not right now" The king responded as they all looked at him confused, Silver included.

"Each weapon has its own strengthening method. It gains strength alongside the heroes, as for you yourselves, could you activate your status magic?" the king asked, with three out of the four heroes staring at him with confusion while Ren however immediately had activated his menu upon the request

"Um what? status?" Silver breathed, Motoyasu was just as confused but he didn't want to show in front of the others, at this Ren sighed heavily

"It's simple, it's your menu. Either touch the menu icon or focus on it, should be at the corner of your eye" Ren explained, seemly bothered by having to tell them that like it was basic knowledge. Both Motoyasu and Silver found their menu icon right after that tip, and with slight embarrassment Itsuki came in as the last. All four grew silent once they saw their stats

[Name: Silver the Hedgehog]

[LV 1] [Race: Hedgehog (Mobian)]

[Class: Shield Hero, Esper ]

[Equipment: Legendary shield (locked), otherworldly gloves, otherworldly boots]

[Health Points: 150]

[Magic Points: 40]

[Soul Points: 40]

[Attack: 1]

[Magical Potency: 26]

[Defense: 38]

[Magical Defense: 35]

[Agility: 15]

{Psychokinesis}

{You have been born with the ability to manipulate the environment around you with the power of your mind. Whenever using this psychokinesis, you and the targets affected get surrounded in a cyan aura. With it, you can telekinetically lift, throw, hold and move objects (or people) easily, and even immobilize enemies.}

{With enough focus, you can even catch multiple targets at once. Also capable of forming constructs out of psychokinetic energies, such as force-fields for protection and encasing targets. Additionally you can also use this psychokinesis on yourself, thereby allowing the user to hover and fly.}

{Psychokinesis on yourself doesn't consume as much strain or effort as using it onto other people or objects, the bigger the opposing strength more concentration is required}

{Psychokinesis cannot be classified in a numerical stat, it's as strong as the users mind.}

They all stare at the screens with Silver being the only one more so surprised and awe struck when compared to the other heroes, he gave little mind to the one measley attack point as he just looked at everything the status screen offered, amazed at the fact he had magic

"This is worse than I thought..." Ren was thinking out loud, not linking how low his stats were and wondering if Silver had anything different to his considering the difference in species

"I know right? Level 1?" Motoyasu was losing motivation, being level 1 meant they would have to grind up a bunch which could either be fun!... or a tedious process that took hours.

"And we haven't discussed any form of compensation yet" Itsuki already brought the topic of their rewards once again, at this point Silver just didn't know if these guys were greedy jerks or if they didn't have their priorities checked, end of the world? that can wait until our next paycheck apparently in their eyes.

"Yeah, that's right! Do you expect us to do this for free? Surely not?" Motoyasu was sounding more disrespectful the more he spoke, Silver could somewhat understand wanting a reward for a job but he wouldn't be asking about it every time, they were supposed to be heroes after all and they shouldn't be demanding pay for doing the right thing.

"Of course, you will be rewarded handsomely and not just at the end, but after every wave we will reward you heroes. Every step of the way." A man to the king's right side using a purple robe responded as he took a step forward. The three other heroes looked at themselves proudly as if they attained some sort of victory. Silver was still figuring out what to do with his stats, but from what he could gather his telekinesis was unchained by this system, after all a brain is much more complicated than almost any other part of the body

"Don't think this can tame us" Ren said in an arrogant manner, Silver was beginning to think these three either didn't know how to act in front of royalty or thought very highly of themselves to the point of seeing everyone as stepping stone, which he didn't appreciate

"We can't have you looking down on us" Itsuki joined in, with Motoyasu nodding as well. Silver was ready to facepalm as these idiots were pushing their luck and his along with it. The king seemed unfazed by this oddly enough, Silver was also finding it harder and harder to read the room, sometimes someone would look angry or happy and switch between them for seemingly no reason. There had to be something else going on or he was just terrible at noticing these things.

"Well even if we are level 1, there are 4 of us. If we form a team-"

"Excuse me, but that won't do at all." The man beside the king spoke up and Motoyasu was cut off, this caught the attention of the four.

"Due to the unique qualities of the holy weapons, none of you can gain experience while near one another." The man explained and a new notification appeared to the four heroes

[The four holy weapons dampen one another's power while within close quarters. Distance advised whenever possible]

Silver was now confused but also annoyed, if they are meant to work together how come they can't be near each other? Was each supposed to protect one of the Cardinal directions and that's why they are cardinal heroes? Should they discuss who gets to go south or north?

"You must form parties separately. Gather strength then battle the waves together" the king said in his serious tone. Silver had another question, in fact he had many questions, but at this point he was expecting himself to be cut off mid sentence by how the whole interaction has gone.

"Would that not mean that we won't receive any experience during waves?" Ren asked, sounding a little firmer, Silver assumed he asked his question so firmly as not to be cut off like he and Motoyasu were, were they seeing this too? or was he just being paranoid?... It had been some time since he last interacted with a person, most futures had very small communities still around and they were usually nomads so finding people he could take with was hard depending on how devastated the future he was in had become.

"Unfortunately, yes... the waves will have numerous enemies that you can't receive experience for slaying, but you can harvest your prey to still gain power" the king said very vaguely, the four weren't sure what he meant by harvesting prey for power

"Could you elaborate?... I'm not sure I understood" Silver asked, he was still very curious about so many things and yet he felt like he should be careful, asking very little questions at a time in fear of being cut off again. But considering he was stuck with this magical shield, it was best to know everything about it as soon as possible.

"You should see this within your status magic, but it is said that the holy weapons can feed upon the fallen to gain new powers and forms" saying this, another notification appeared to the heroes

[The cardinal shield can absorb objects to unlock new forms, new forms provide stat increases, as well as abilities. Fully mastering a shield provides its bonuses permanently and allows most skills to be used with another shield form in use]

'So it can gain forms by eating objects as a whole? Should I just try shoving everything into it? What is the limit here? And he said we would do this to the monsters as well?' Silver pondered, he thought it should be more detailed but expecting magic from another world to work like what he wanted was a dumb thing to start with, but if there was no limitation to what he could absorb... did that mean he had unlimited potential to grow stronger? He didn't really need that much help considering his powers, but maybe more physical strength could come in handy, however absorbing dead creatures sounded... Wrong even if they were monsters

"Heroes you can ask us questions all day; however, your status magic should be a great aid. Please refer to it tonight. For now, please rest and adjust to these trying circumstances. Tomorrow I will introduce you to adventures who have agreed to aid you in your difficult quest. Between your status magic and seasoned adventures by your side, most questions you have will be answered soon enough" The king motioned to several servants as he finished. The servants motioned to the heroes to follow. With Silver noticing that only they left with all the nobles, knights, and the king were still sitting in their places, best he could guess is that they'll hold the court of something below or of no interest to the heroes.

They were taken into a banquet room full of food for them to eat, it was good for otherworldly cooking and they were also taken to sleeping chambers where the four would pass the night separately, Silver entered his but Ren brought Motoyasu and Itsuki for a talk

"He's weird right? I'm not the only one that thinks that" Motoyasu was the first to say something as he was just weird out, not only because of Silvers personality but by having a cartoon-looking character being classified along with him as "legendary heroes"

"Did he get that Isekai trope of being reincarnated in his avatar? I certainly would like to have gotten that luck" Itsuki said as he imagined that was why Silver looked the way he did, and if that was the case Itsuki felt a bit envious because the avatar of his game Dimensional Web was pretty much maxed out in great gear and weapons form

"I don't think that's quite it, his name and appearance... I think he is a Sonic character" Ren said as he took a look at the door Silver went into in fear that he was going to pop out as they spoke of him

"What is that now? Some video game thing?" Motoyasu asked and Ren nodded as a yes

"Yeah! I don't know the franchise, never really gave a damn but I remember seeing him in a few Google images or in a video about some of the worst games of the 2000's" He never really had any interest in the franchise, he thought Shadow was cool and he remembered watching the movie when it first came out, curious to see if they had actually improved anything from the terrible trailer they first announced it with, but he never really played the games.

"So that's where his avatar comes from? What does he do in the game?" Itsuki was curious now, if he was here as a video game character, why didn't they come as well? did he die a specific way for this to happen? further more what type of powers or mechanics did he bring to the table

"I don't know, as far as I understand he's a knock off Future Trunks from Dragon Ball." Ren knew the franchise more so because of the 'reputation' in the gaming circle, but he almost didn't care for anything that wasn't a competitive RPG, besides game mascots weren't in his priority list when it came to research. He knew who Sonic was, that he fought an evil scientist named Eggman and that Shadow was apparently the best character in the series if his best friend's opinion was anything to go by.

"I don't remember watching that, unless you're talking about a Blue Dragon spin off" Motoyasu's world was very different in comparison to the others as some big historical conflicts never happened, leading to certain things in our modern day to play out differently in the media and thus what ended up becoming popular or not.

"So he has been reincarnated as that video game character... Or he is literally the character." Itsuki was intrigued by the prospect of an actual fictional character being real, but that made what he understood of his own world much more messy... Like was all fiction actually taking place in a different world?

"Should we talk to him? Maybe he has an exclusive item from his game we can absorb" If he was a video game character then he would have something from that game with him, they should take advantage of that fact as quickly as possible.

"I don't think he has anything to offer us. He doesn't even have pants, how would he carry stuff?" Ren made the logical assumption, he could possibly have an inventory with him but as far as he knew, Silver would only be carrying around collectible rings or extra lives, which didn't seem all that desirable.

"Damn you're right, the guy is basically naked." Motoyasu spoke as he didn't really focus on that fact before now, you never really realize how weird it would be until you go out into the real world.

Meanwhile Silver was in the Balcony of his room taking in the view of the night sky, before lifting himself up with telekinesis to fly around and see the city while in the dark. He could see many houses, even a circus tent was being prepared! This sort of thing he couldn't really see in the future, at least not in many of them. Silver found himself mesmerized by this brand new world, it had so much to offer that would be brand new to him and he wanted to not only explore this, protect it as well. Flying like a cyan stream from anyone below he dashes out of the wall surrounding the town, he would return before the sun rises but he really wanted to see just how much he could do in this world.

[Author's notes]

leave a review to help me get a feel for the story and thoughts you had about the chapter, keep in mind that it must be related to the contents of the chapter or this fanfic in general. Follow and Favorite to support the fanfic as well, the more people are interested in the story more motivation and reason I'll have to continue it

I recommend you check the 'Shield of the Wind' fanfic if you wish to see what would be like if Sonic was the shield hero, it was written by TheStoryGenerator as he is a pretty cool guy and we have chatted about the story for some time now, I don't know when he will post a new chapter but I trust that he can deliver a good story once he gets more free time to write it

So I decided to write my own Sonic fanfic after being inspired by a Brazilian fansong, you would be surprised how much of my creative process is motivated by music and rap songs based on geek culture. (I grew up hearing 'Rap do Rock Lee' and others like it, they introduced me to a lot of franchises I would otherwise not have been interested in.)

If anyone is curious about the music that inspired this idea, I highly recommend it but you need to understand Brazilian Portuguese to appreciate the lyrics:

Trio SSS (Sonic) - SUPER Chrono