Chapter Five – Brotherhood
There was utter silence, everyone just stared. Both Sonic and Saffie both knew that name, and for the same reason. Born one of twins, but their sibling doesn't make it. The same story with every 'Sonic' across the Multiverse. Sukko. But Saffie just outright frowned.
"But wait, our brother died as a toddler." He panted, but Tails interjected.
"Yes, that is true, but I searched across the Multiverse, and found a dimension where Sukko survived, but only one." He admitted. Blaze blinked. She had no idea about this, and she suspected, neither did Sukko, though she wouldn't put it past him to have worked it out by now. It was completely and uttering amazing they even found each other, against such incredible odds.
Suddenly Saffie went white, which considering he was a hologram, it turned him into a very weird colour indeed. So much so, he was being stared at. He gasped and hard. The staff, the power shots, and now a powerful Sorcerer, and his brother. Was the God Of The Cosmos actually real? He panted, realising his name was being called, as someone was shaking him. It was the Blue Blur, as Sonic growled at him.
"Saffie. Talk to me, what wrong?" He wondered. The Sapphire Dragon blinked and hard, and then finally admitted the truth. He heaved.
"When the Grimcreep was destroyed and the tear across the sky repaired, I was collared by some locals who accused me of being the 'God Of The Cosmos'." He explained. But Blaze frowned.
"The God Of The Cosmos?" She asked. Saffie nodded.
"Yeah, but I told them no, I'm the Sapphire Dragon, so they showed by the prophecy." He gulped, but Sonic just groaned and hard. He growled.
"Saffie. What is it with you and prophecies?" He spat, but Saffie snapped right back at him.
"I have no idea, but this one definitely wasn't about me." He hissed, of which he recounted word-for-word, what he seen painted on that boulder. Everyone gasped and then stared at the staff. Could it be possible? Could the Sorcerer, Sukko, really be the the God Of The Cosmos? But Blaze just outright laughed.
"Sukko is a incredibly powerful Sorcerer. That is true, but he's no God. I'm sure of it. I'm been to his dimension, and he's been to mine. In fact, he saved my entire kingdom." She smiled. Silver suddenly rounded on her.
"What? The Sol Empire?" He stammered. Blaze nodded, and suddenly she had all four males crowding around her, desperate to know more. She giggled and insisting on returning to the house, for further drinks and some snacks. She settled down in the lounge, and told them all of the story of the mighty Sukko the Hedgehog and about how he turned her kingdom upside down and completely saved it from destruction. It took all day. She didn't tell them everything. She left the pregnancy out, that was still too weird, even for her, but the majority of the story she told. As the sun set, through the windows, Blaze was deep in thought. She heaved.
"Nothing Sukko ever does is entirely by chance. He is so meticulous with his planning that, that never happens." She smiled, rounded on Sonic and Saffie. "He's your opposite. Your mirror image twins. If that staff is here, I have a hunch he'll follow it." She wondered. But Tails nodded.
"Agreed but I also think there may be another reason he might come here. If he was in the Greater Cosmos, which Saffie says he was, then he's seen the Multiverse as a whole. All of it." He explained. Blaze nodded. But Silver interjected.
"How would even survive out there, unless he was the the God Of The Cosmos?" He wondered, but Blaze just growled at him.
"Look, I told you, Sukko is 'not' a god. I have seen with my own eyes that with enough Magical skill anything is possible but that doesn't make him a god. I've seen Sonic being pushed to his limit, and effectively show 'god-like' powers, especially with seven Chaos Emeralds." She paused, the Blue Blur nodded. She heaved. "Sukko has that same range. It's entirely different but also exactly equal. Believe me when I say the Sorcerer is not a god. But as to what he was doing on in the Greater Cosmos and the wider Multiverse, I have no idea." She admitted. But Tails bounced excitedly.
"Well, all Multiverses are created when a main timeline collapses, and it creates thousands of almost identical copies. We're managed to work out that this dimension, was that original timeline." He squealed. But Saffie cut across him.
"Hey, I saw the Multiverse, through the tear, just before it was closed. There were millions of planets there, all Mobius, linked together in long lines, like beads on a string, all on top of one another. There were amassed together somehow, but I think now, after seeing that, that my original understanding of the Multiverse was wrong." He admitted.
Saffie believed the Inter-dimensional portals becomes 'locked' out when one, or more, of the three sides of the triangle was removed from a dimension. With either Sonic, Tails, or more often with Eggman's defeat. At that point, all Inter-dimensional portals would cease, and they can no longer land in that dimension, either naturally occurring or manufactured. However, purple inter-dimensional portals can land anywhere, if generated by supernatural means only. Sukko, using Magic, could to anything, not bound by those rules. His own dimension, was technically 'locked', as the Blue Blur was gone but he could still inter-dimensionally travel there. Blaze, with her Sol Emeralds, could also travel anywhere, within her reach.
But a dimension doesn't become a 'pocket dimension', drifting out into space. It physically doesn't move anywhere from it's position on the Multiverse. Saffie had misunderstood this completely, unable to see the greater Multiverse as a whole. He'd loose sight of the dimension, when the entire Multiverse shifted, and the whole system would moved, spinning around on the central pivot point of the main timeline's planet.
Regardless, Saffie could dial up any dimension, using manufactured portal, but couldn't always land there, but observe. He only saw of the Multiverse what was through those portals. But with it constantly creating naturally occurring dimensions, it was birthing as many dimensions as Saffie was locking. It was endless, and that Saffie had to decide whether it's still worth it. But the Wisps were correct. Locking the inter-dimensional portals would eventually stabilise the Multiverse in the long term. It is because of the naturally occurring inter-dimensional portals, were now landing everywhere, including brand new dimensions, which the Wisps didn't know about, stopping them all, was now impossible.
But the shifting of the Multiverse was entire sporadic. Completely random, it could not be predicted. Sometimes, it wouldn't shift for eons, but then constantly change every few minutes, causing utter chaos, and then back again. The changes on the dimensions themselves, when the Multiverse shifted, was very subtle, but they were there.
After an intense discussion, they all finally understood this. But only one thing was left for certain. The mighty Sorcerer was definitely on his way.
On the main timeline, the Wisps had made their home there. They had been travelling between the different dimensions for decades, including the Sorcerer's own, but now they had finally settled. The aliens were small, and often floated in mid-air, and were spherical in shape. They had three tentacles hanging out of bottom, which the Wisp used to move themselves through the air. They possessed a mysterious power that they allow other individuals to harness. So long as they helped out, in the dimension, they were staying, they were largely free do as they pleased. But truthfully, there were indeed inter-dimensional travels, going anywhere in the Multiverse with their incredible Hyper-go on powers. No one knew the full range of this ability, and Sonic only got a taste if when he absorbs a Wisp to borrow their powers. But even they, despite extensive travels and knowledge didn't know everything about the Multiverse and it true meaning. Having never made it to the Greater Cosmos, they had no idea of the true nature of the Multiverse, so when they sent the Sapphire Dragon on mission, they did with the best knowledge they had.
But now everything had changed. There was someone new, now at play in the Multiverse. The God Of The Cosmos. They immediately saw the good and kindness within him but also knew he'd need help in the greater scheme of things.
The Wisps had been gone from the main timeline for some time. Travelling. Eggman had not been an issue, so the Wispons had been temporally mothballed until needed again, allowing the Wisps their freedom, after which they went home for a while. Whispers wisps also left, but they promised, it wasn't for long, saying they hadn't visited home in ages, and would return soon. That was months ago, and truthfully, people were beginning to get worried.
Without a mission, Saffie decided to stick around Tails' House, and help out. He'd been thinking, a lot lately, especially about Sukko. It had been several days since he found out about him, and he'd been struggling with the idea of a singular version of his identical twin had actually survived out there. Back on his home world, when he was a child, his Uncle Chuck had told him the story, and how about loosing his brother, as an small child, had utterly devastated his mother, from which she had never really recovered. She died, and that was how he ended up being raised alone by his Uncle. He worked at the palace at the time, as inventor to the king, Max Acorn, so they went to live there, which was where he'd met Sally.
Even after all these years, Saffie still missed her, and all of the other Freedom Fighters, from his home dimension. But with a powerful Sorcerer coming to their midst, there might be a way to get him home, as he was locked out, with of the purple inter-dimensional portals. The question was did Saffie now want to go? He heaved, desperately unsure. He suspected, no. Far too much time had passed, and he changed too much. He had a new home now, with good people, so he decided to do the best he could, with what he had.
With just Sonic, Tails and himself home, and was a quiet day, getting the chores done. Suddenly, the door was flung open, and Knuckles walked in, surrounded by more then a dozen little multi-coloured friends who'd hadn't been seen in ages. Sonic squealed, as all of the Wisps dived for him, creating a massive hug pile, as Saffie grinned in delight. Tails beamed.
"Hi, guys, your back. Welcome home. Did you have a good trip?" He asked. One of the Wisps, white, with a huge curl on his forehead, immediately went for Tails and hugged him. He nodded. Tails beamed. "Oh, I'm glad to hear it, Yacker." He smiled. But Knuckles cut across the greetings. He had red fur that covered most of his body, peach skin on his muzzle, a white crescent-shaped patch of fur on his chest, and purple eyes. He had seven deadlock-like spines around the sides and back of his head and a medium-sized, tri-crooked tail. Knuckles wore red and yellow shoes, each with green cuffs and a grey, sextuple-bolted plate on top. He wore large, white, mitten-like gloves with sock-like cuffs and two spiked knuckles on each hand. He cough, clearing his throat.
"Er, I found these guys." He paused, indicating the Wisps. "Gathered around the Master Emerald. They seemed worked up about something, rapidly chattering amongst themselves. I haven't got one of those translators, so I couldn't make out what they were saying. But I get the impression they come home for a very specific reason." He huffed. Sonic, digging himself out from the pile, rapidly got to his feet and faced the Wisps. He frowned.
"Guys, what going on?" He wondered. Suddenly, every single Wisps looked at Knuckles. He blinked.
"Me?" He gasped, but Yacker, just rolled his eyes, and spoke, his very quick paced native language. Saffie, immediately get to his feet. He was the only one there, being a Cyborg, who could understand that alien language on the fly, without a translator. Understanding the Wisp instantly, he shook his head.
"No, Yacker said 'behind you'." He reported. Everyone stared, as Knuckles slowly turned and looked over his shoulder. Finally, he showed himself. Extremely small, Cyan in colour, the little Wisp finally poked his head, around the Echidna's arm. Saffie exploded in delight, running straight for the Echidna and grabbed his old friend. He beamed.
"Squidling!" He squealed, hugging the Wisp hard, as the alien massively returned the gesture. It felt like an age since the two had seen each other, especially with Saffie's inter-dimensional travels. But suddenly the Wisps began to poke Saffie's Squidling rather hard, shouting at him. The Sapphire Dragon frowned.
"What? What is it?" He frowned, understanding them, and then looked around. "The Wisps want the Squidling to tell me something." He reported. Tails rolled his eyes.
"Another prophecy?" He groaned. But Knuckles heaved.
"Well, that would explain the Wisps sudden return." He admitted. Suddenly, all eyes were on the little Cyan Wisp. The Squidling took a deep breath, turning to Saffie.
[A great evil in coming. The Titans must be amassed. One is already here, another is on the way. The third suffers loss, but finds solace in the Sapphire Dragon, and the fourth will require a leap of faith in trust. Find them, bring them together. The Multiverse is relying on it.]
It was indeed another prophecy and there was utter silence, as everyone looked at the Sapphire Dragon, as Tails had used his handheld to translate the Squidling. Several people smiled and hard. Saffie gulped, when he finally realised what everyone was getting at. He gasped.
"Me?" He gulped. "I'm not a Titan." He panicked, shaking his head. But Knuckles just outright laughed.
"Oh really, then that massive Cyborg body of yours outside, has nothing to do with it. The Wisps call you the greatest 'Sonic', the king, how could you not be. We are know your not perfect, you make mistakes, but your a 'Blue Blur', it happens." He added. Yes, he'd heard about Saffie's latest antics, as he looked over to Sonic, who immediately agreed.
But Saffie blinked and stared. After everything that had ever happen to him, both brutally and rewarding, the people he'd helped, the dimensions he saved, he definitely was a Titan. He literally couldn't be anything else. The recent embarrassments over the Grimcreep, had severely knocked back his confidence, hence him hiding out at Tails' House. But now, as a Titan, and he must take a stand and fight. He had the speed, he had the power, he just needed the confidence back. He heaved, and hard, taking a deep breath, and suddenly, Saffie's hologram vanished.
Then out of nowhere, beyond the opened front door, and the Sapphire Dragon himself, in his full incredible spender, was there. He was far too tall for the door, so he crouched on his heels, just outside. He smiled, his bright green eyes glowing slightly. He nodded.
"What do you need?" He asked, his voice strong and steady. Immediately, the little cyan Wisp, the Squidling, just raced across the lounge, out the front door, and straight into Saffie's arms. They hugged deeply was everyone filed outside to join them. It was odd seeing Saffie in his full body, rather then his hologram, especially here in the main timeline. He hid the body so well, that almost everyone had forgotten just how beautifully majestic it was. But Tails frowned, reviewing on his handheld, what the Squidling had said, he frowned, having quickly worked it out.
"Well, according to the prophecy, there are four Titans in total. One is the Sapphire Dragon, the second is the Sorcerer, when he arrives." He summated but Knuckles panicked, cutting across the Fox.
"A Sorcerer? Can he be trusted? I've heard Magic corrupts." He squealed, but Saffie growled.
"Hey, back off. The Sorcerer is my brother. Do you trust me, alongside every other 'Sonic' in the Multiverse?" He hissed, with the resident Sonic by his side. Knuckles gulped.
"Brother?" He stammered, but Tails heaved, cutting back across the Echidna.
"Yes, we suspect so. Evidence we're seen is that the mighty Sorcerer, who is indeed on his way here, and that he is Sonic's identical twin brother, Sukko. From what Blaze has said about him, he's certainly powerful enough to be a Titan." He concluded, as he turned back to the Wisps.
They gave zero response. Tails growled, some indications whatsoever from the little aliens that he was thinking in the right direction, would have been helpful. But he heaved. "But I have no idea who the other two are?" He admitted. He had no clue who the third Titan was, but the fourth, requiring a leap of faith in trust, had a huge air of familiarity about it. He'd had to do it himself, to the counterpart of the potential Titan here, and if he was who Tails suspected he was, then fourth Titan literally couldn't be anyone else.
But right now, they had to deal with them, one at a time. Saffie, who had long since stood up, and now towered head and shoulders above then all, gently stroking Squidling in his hand, he just heaved. Looking down at the little cyan Wisp, Saffie realised it had nothing left to say, beyond the prophecy. They had to work to out on their own. Deep in thought, he realised that something was deeply bothering him. He sighed.
"The prophecy said that one of the Titans, the third one, looses a loved one, but then finds comfort in myself. Don't you think I need to be there?" He wondered. Suddenly, everyone looks up, somewhat confused, as little cyan Wisp, suddenly leaves the Sapphire Dragon's hands and hovers perfectly in front of him. He pointed to the nearby woodlands, just as his fellow Wisps gather together at that point of origin. Suddenly, they intensely glow a deep, bright white, and then break part, scattering in all directions, leaving behind a deep purple, extremely large, inter-dimensional portal. Saffie gasped.
"What? Now?" He stammered, to the intense nodding from all the Wisps. The Sapphire Dragon was terrified. Never had he been so nervous entering an inter-dimensional portal, but never before was he planning on meeting up with such a powerful creature, equal to himself, or potentially more so. But he heaved, holding his nerves. Whomever ever it was, needed him, and like all 'Sonics', Saffie was determined to prove that, despite everything, he was still the Hero of Mobius.
With one last glance back to his friends, Saffie left the Wisps behind and entered the portal.
Dimension – 18219 – The Original Titan
Manic the Hedgehog had a thing for diamonds. Well, one, in particular.
The Heart of Gold.
It was the world famous diamond. A extremely large heart-shaped cut diamond that was the yellow colour of gold, hence the name. Measuring 27.64 carats (5.528 g), and a member of an exceedingly rare class of coloured diamonds. This diamond was worth at least sixteen million Mobian dollars, potentially the world's most valuable diamond. It always travelled in the highest and the most absolute maximum of security, classed at utterly unbreakable, many thieves have tried and failed.
But Manic just wouldn't leave it alone, to Sonic's utter annoyance. He must have returned that stupid diamond back to the Mobian Authorities, about a dozen times, and each time, they just increased it's security, of which Manic then saw as a challenge. He'd promptly stole it again, and this time, properly taking it, not just pretending, by turning it into coal dust. It had become a game, which Sonic had become very fed up of. He'd calmed down significantly since he'd given up is almighty Super-Speed, and became a singular user of Magic.
But the 'Sonic', here, of this dimension, was a Sorcerer, and could begin to feel, beyond his realm, that one, he wasn't alone, as a Magic user, out in the Greater Cosmos, and two, that someone in his dimension was destined for greater things, beyond the planet.
Sonic was certain it wasn't him. He may have been a Sorcerer, with his beautiful shimmering silvery hue and mist emanating from his hands, but in recent times, he's realised that his abilities with Magic significantly paled in comparison to another he could feel out there, in the ether. Through the Magic line, and yet Sonic didn't fear him, at all. If anything, he knew him, but had no idea how or where, but somehow trusted him implicitly.
So what had fate have in store for them? The Blue Blur had no idea, but all was not well. Sonic had been finding it more and more difficult to cast, as the weeks had gone on, as his own Magical powers were beginning to fail him.
It was like someone was forcibly pulling all the Chaos Sorcery from him, and out into the cosmos, either intentional or otherwise. Sonic painfully heaved. That other Magic user. He must be doing this, but why? He was a Mage, that was for sure. An extremely powerful Chaos Sorcerer. Far more then he could have ever dreamed. However, with his friends relying on him, Sonic was desperately trying to hide it, but a certain Green Hedgehog just wasn't buying it.
He was a green-furred Hedgehog whose quills are a lot shaggier than Sonic's, in stiff dreadlocks. He wore a brown vest, red and white shoes, black spiked wristbands and an orange small hip bag, which Sonic knew full well he fitted anything and everything in. From his drumsticks to his lock picks and to whatever he'd stolen. He had big blue eyes, and his left ear was pierced with two small gold loop earrings in a 'punk' style. There was also something else about this Hedgehog that Sonic really noticed. His size. He'd grown, yet again a lot, becoming even more muscular. Manic's powers must have really taken hold, and for a Hedgehog, he was huge, and was now showing his seriously powerful physical power on his body. A lot of physical strength. He was now significantly stronger then Knuckles. They had recently tested it, and he'd just wiped the floor with the Echidna.
He completely dwarfed his Sorcerer brother, but was surprisingly gentle with him. He immediately noticed something was seriously wrong. They were at Dante's Ridge, a place Sonic had been hiding out recently, to get away from everyone. He was sat on the edge of the ledge as his brother joined. Manic frowned, deeply worried.
"Bro? What's going on?" He stammered. Sonic then heaved and then suddenly, he cried.
"I swear, I don't know why, but my Magic is failing me." He admitted. Manic hugged him deeply, when suddenly, Sonic had the worse, most horrible sinking feeling ever, as he made the horrific realisation, as his eyes glowed a deep intense silver, that he may have made a mistake, and it was now costing him his life. It was barely been a few weeks since he'd made his choice, but as he'd expected his powers to get stronger, the opposite was happening, and now Sonic beginning to understand. In Manic's arms, he cried his heart out. "Manic, help me. I've screwed up." He sniffed, but the Green Hedgehog frowned.
"What do you mean?" He asked, but Sonic just whimpered, wiping away his tears.
"When I crashed headlong into that train, saving all those people, it should have killed me, but it didn't. The Powers-That-Be, allowed my to make a choice between the Chaos Sorcery or my Super-Speed." He explained. Manic nodded.
"Er, yeah, you told me that, because you choose the Magic." He smiled. But Sonic just squealed.
"But I don't think I was meant to." He roared, in utter despair. "That's why I was given the choice. I had been accidentally been given the Magic, by the Powers-That-Be, when I wasn't supposed to, and I was meant to give it back." He cried. Manic gasped in horror, but Sonic grabbed him. He gulped and hard.
"Manic, In my dreams, I've seen other worlds, other dimensions, other versions of the Hero. Me, and every single one of them is the Blue Blur, the King of Speed. It was what I was truly destined to be. Manic, I made the wrong choice." He sniffed. Manic gasped, hugging his brother in close.
"But, Bro, is there anything we can do?" He stammered. But Sonic shook his head.
"No. the Powers-That-Be still wants the Magic back, and they are going to take me with it. Manic, I'm dying." He admitted. But Manic roared.
"No, Bro, no. You're not leaving me." He wept, but as Sonic's glowed silver again, he just deeply smiled. He suddenly, looked around Manic, to the nearby woodlands. Someone was watching them. Someone incredibly special. Saffie had landed in the dimension, absolutely silently. No fuss, but bother, which made for a pleasant change. But in the woodlands, he heard voices and has followed them, and had to been looking on, utterly gobsmacked at what he was seeing.
Suddenly, Sonic smiled, and indicated straight at the Sapphire Dragon.
"Hey, come out. I see you, we don't bite." He gasped, coughing hard. Now he was struggling. Saffie gulped, as he tucked his mighty wings and tail in, as close as possible, to hide them, as he wasn't wearing a cloak. Slowly but cautiously walked out to them. The scene ahead of him was just jaw dropping. He'd overheard everything, was just stunned. Ahead of him, was his counterpart, whom...had Magic.
What?
But he was now dying from it, only to to held his brother, who was so massively powerful Saffie could physically feel immense power on him. Truthfully, Saffie was terrified. That Green Hedgehog? His younger brother? Saffie could tell by his age. He was definitely his missing Titan. The Wisps obviously sending him straight to him, just as he'd asked, but what was his power. It wasn't Chaos, it was definitely something else.
But Sonic and Manic stared at Saffie as he approached them. Sonic tried to his feet, to greet his counterpart, but not before collapsing. Saffie with an almighty burst of speed, caught Sonic before he hit the ground. Saffie lay him on the ground, his head on his lap. The Blue Hedgehog smiled.
"Your me, aren't you?" He stammered. Saffie nodded. The Sapphire Dragon was still indeed a 'Sonic', a Blue Blur, despite everything that had happened to him, he still was. Deep within his heart, nothing had really changed. Manic immediately stared, both at Saffie and then back to Sonic. Sonic smiled. "I knew those dreams were real." But then he grabbed Saffie's hand. "Please tell me, the Magic that I have, where is it going?" He wondered. But the Sapphire Dragon heaved. He knew the answer to that, and decided to give his dying counterpart, the truth. Blaze had discussed with him. He heaved.
"Your dreams were correct, the Multiverse is real. I have been travelling it far and wide for years, and yes, Sonic, aka, us, were only ever destined for speed. I have changed my appearance, but I am still a Blue Blur. As for the Magic, the Multiverse, can only cope with one all-powerful Sorcerer, at any point in time. A Mage, some would say. A chosen one. Therefore, any and all others born with Magic, must return it, or perish. Unfortunately, that wasn't you, and it could never be a 'Sonic', as we are destined for other things. Yes, you were meant to give the Magic back, when you had the chance, but I understand why you didn't. Intense curiosity. I probably would have done the same, but then again, I am you." He smiled. But Manic gasped, he understood, and knew that Sonic didn't have long left.
"But who is he? The chosen one of Magic?" He wondered. But Saffie just beamed, straight at his counterpart.
"It's Sukko, our twin." He smiled. Both the brothers gasped, they were aware, like all members of the family, in every dimension, of Sukko's birth and subsequent death in childhood. Manic was gobsmacked, but Sonic grinned hard.
"Wow, what's he like?" He asked, desperate for a chance to actually meet his twin. But Saffie heaved.
"I actually haven't met him yet." He admitted. "Only heard stories. He's supposed to be incredible." He hissed, but then he rounded on the brothers. "Look, I'm here for a reason. A great evil is coming to the Multiverse, and I need your help." He stammered, then he grabbed Sonic's hands. "Go to Sukko, our twin brother. He's has Magic, and he'll look after you, I promise. But please give me your blessing to take Manic with me. He is destined for greater things then here." He asked, to stunned look of the Green Hedgehog. Sonic smiled, and nodded, as suddenly, his body began to explode with deep silvery hue. He placed Saffie's and Manic's hands together, as suddenly, the Blue Hedgehog's body just exploded into dust, gently blowing away on the wind.
Manic cried his heart out.
"Sonic!" He screamed, but not before Saffie just grabbed him, and pulled his little brother into an almighty hug. A fears of the unknown towards each other, vanished, as both of them realised that what everyone had said to them, was the truth. Manic pulled Saffie in close, desperately torn apart with grief, the tears streaming but found huge comfort in him. This weird blue creature, was definitely his brother, the Chaos signature and powers were spot on. All of them were there, he could feel them. He knew them.
But what had happened to him, as Manic spotting his huge wings coming out of the shoulders. He asked, as his curiosity spiked, as Saffie decided to join him at Dante's Ridge and proceeded to tell Manic the truth. Everything. It was distracting him from the grief, and that, right now, was what Saffie needed. Manic had to move past his loss and fast, which was brutal, Saffie appreciated that, but the Sapphire Dragon suspected they didn't have long to prepare before the great evil arrived, and he had another Titan to track down.
As Saffie told him all this, Manic realised that he was right. Truthfully, he'd always been far too clingy with the Sonic here, in his home dimension anyway. He desperately needed to branch out, go his own way. With his 'Sonic' gone, there was literally nothing holding him here anymore. Yes, he truly believed that Sonic and Sukko, with their Magic, would find each other again.
But, though leaving the planet now, was easy, Manic wasn't ready to go just yet. He had unfinished business to deal with first.
The Mobian Authorities. But Saffie frowned.
"What do you mean?" But Manic heaved, explaining the situation.
"Well, here, in the this dimension, Eggman's already been murdered. Shadow dropped him, with a curveball. It was needed. He was failing to achieve physically domination of the planet, so the Human had decided to go for a political one, and he was winning. If he wasn't assassinated, we would have been in major trouble." He paused. "But the problem now, is that the Human had an enormous following. Huge quantities of people of Mobius were behind him, turning them against the Hedgehogs and the Resistance. It black-listed the entire Hedgehog species, with threats to kill us all. Shadow had forced a truce using unsavoury methods, and that was what your was witnessing now. It's very tenuous at best." He heaved. "Lionel. The current chief Executive of the Mobian Authorities, is extremely corrupt, and wants anyone out of the way, who could potentially threatened him." He added, of which Saffie just growled.
"Including all Hedgehogs." He hissed. Manic nodded.
"We are trying to get one of our own running to elected as Chief Executive of the Mobian Authorities. Charlie. He's good, and he's getting some following, but with Lionel heavily blocking him, we're struggling." He sighed. But Saffie frowned.
"But, what can I do?" He wondered. But Manic shrugged.
"Not much really, not without damaging the truce that in place, and putting lives at risk." He admitted. Then he stared at Saffie. "What happened to you?" He wondered.
The Sapphire Dragon heaved and was very brutally honest with him, telling him his entire story, of how he went from a standard Blue Blur, to the mighty monster, to winning his war, to finally the up and horrendous downs of inter-dimensional travel. Manic believed him. He could see it in his eyes. The hell he'd been through, the vast experience he had, and the playfulness he somehow just about still retained. The story of the Grimcreep made him laugh, yes definitely his brother, but the stories of Sukko just outright fascinated him. The both of them now were keen to meet him, but right, what do they do with this dimension?
Suddenly, they were interrupted by a Black Hedgehog, who'd come looking for Manic, but ended up staring at Saffie. There appeared to be a riot in the nearby town. He growled, rounding the Earth Bender.
"The dam truce had just fallen, we have to do something now. Where are the others? Sonic and Silver. The Brotherhood?" He demanded. Manic gulped.
"Silver's gone back to the future, he didn't have a choice, and Bro, has gone. He's died." He cried. Shadow stared.
"What?" He gasped. That wasn't the plan, he desperately needed that Sorcerer, he growled as he quickly realised as he would have to go to the back-up plan. The Ultimate Lifeform looked at Saffie, and quickly realised whom he was looking at.
The Sapphire Dragon fascinated Shadow, but the Ultimate Lifeform of that dimension, realised that the Titan was not meant to be there. When he heard he'd come for Manic, he wasn't surprised either. That Green Hedgehog was too big and incredibly powerful for this dimension. He was much better off elsewhere.
When Shadow divulged his new plan to Saffie. He was shocked, but again unsurprised. It would work, so long as Shadow was never caught. To assassinate Lionel. Cold blooded murder, yet again. Saffie always hated that, but there were times, like this, when it had to be done. They couldn't allow Lionel to win the new election, Charlie had to. He was the only one who could reinstate the truce and save Hedgehog lives everywhere. Lionel's corruption would eventually drive the entire planet into the ground, destroying everything. It was killing one, to save the many, and when Manic found out about the plan, he downright objected, but after much persuasion, he realised it was for the best. But the plan entirely depended on both the Titans leaving and handing the fate of the entire dimension, into the hands of the Ultimate Lifeform. Manic panicked, but Shadow just growled.
"Please, you must do this. Have faith, and trust me." He pleaded.
Saffie immediately stopped and downright stared. He knew that quote, from the prophecy giving from a certain loveable little cyan Wisp friend of his. The Squidling.
[The fourth will require a leap of faith in trust.]
Immediately, Saffie grabbed Manic, by the arm and growled hard. He nodded.
"Manic, we're leaving. There's nothing more we can to here." He ordered, as Shadow suddenly vanished from view. Manic objected, but Saffie growled, as he used his built in inter-dimensional portal generator to create the deep purple portal to the main timeline and home.
Suddenly, Saffie felt a deep foreboding, and huge sense of urgency. Manic too, as they both ran for the portal, as gunshots were heard, and screams of terror.
The job was done.
Dimension – 23691 – Now What?
Tossing and turning through the portal, left a huge anticlimactic feeling in Saffie, when he landed in the main timeline, but he'd succeeded. He got the third Titan home. The dimension they left behind were now entirely on it's own, but thankfully, Manic settled in quickly, despite the huge revelations that he was, in fact, yet another brother. Were all the Titans family? It appeared that way, though Saffie wasn't convinced when he asked around and still no sign of the second Titan, Sukko. The Sorcerer hadn't arrived yet.
But to the fourth Titan, the three brothers weren't related to, as Saffie was now downright terrified. He now knew who the fourth Titan was, which Tails confirmed, and it frightened him. Every single version of this person had scared him, to some degree, even though he'd never even existed in his own dimension, and as a new mission came his way from the Wisps, now Saffie was going to have to track down the absolute strongest of them all.
The Ultimate Version of the Ultimate Lifeform.
Shadow.