The Mirage Express

"Don't teleport us to the future!" The red quokka said panickedly.

Eggman glanced at the civilian through the screen. "Teleport you all…? Oh, to the future, when I've already ruled the planet! Sure I'll do that, whatever." Eggman said, briefly rolling his eyes.

But you know… That isn't that bad an idea… Eggman thought, a grin slowly appearing on his face. He hadn't done something so old fashioned in a while. Maybe he should go back to the classics every now and then? After all, the pests can't stop him if they don't exist in his time.

He shook his head, clearing away the thought. Had to get them here first. "Anyway, soon you'll all be in my clutches! Oh, and make sure to activate the rodent protocol train.." He added, a bit of an afterthought.

Sonic looked up a bit confused. "The rodent proto-?" Suddenly, Sonic felt a sting on his arm. He jumped, looking at his left arm, which had a blow dart sticking out of it.

"Oh, not a-again…" Sonic muttered, before almost immediately falling unconscious. Amy, Tails, and the red quokka looked on in horror. One of the train hands appeared. "Yes, Lord Eggman. My wish will be granted!" It said, both smug and weirdly… desperate?

"Your wish…? Oh, you mean the bounty. Yeah, sure. Just get them here! As for you Sonic…" Eggman grinned evilly. "Have a nice nap! Can't wait to see you here! Don't disappoint me, train."

Eggman's Lab

Eggman rubbed his hands gleefully. Soon, Sonic will be at his base, and he will have them all in his clutches!

Sage floated in, wearing her neutral expression as usual. Eggman looked at her excitedly. "Good news daughter! One of my robotic passenger trains has captured the rodent and his friends! Just give them around 30 minutes, and they'll be here! This calls for celebration!" He said cheerfully. Sage nodded, looking a bit more animated than before.

"Should I tell Brother?" She asked. Eggman knew that she was referring to Metal Sonic. He waved away the question cheerfully. "Of course! In fact, maybe we should get some party favors too…" He muttered.

Sage was about to teleport away, but Eggman stopped her with a hand. "Oh and uh, before you leave… Can you send me the data for plan: 'Future Problem?'" he said.

Something about what that civilian said stuck in his head. The quokka begged for Eggman to not send them to the future. While initially, Eggman just passed it off as a joke, he had to admit the idea struck a chord with him. After giving the idea some thought, he decided that he liked the thought, quite a bit. He'll just send the pests to some far off future, where he's already conquered the world and he won't have to deal with them anymore.

In fact… Eggman started thinking, grinning. Why not send them far enough to where I'm no longer alive? Why even make them a future problem for me, when I can live out all my days as Emperor of the Eggman Empire, and leave whoever is next in charge to deal with them! Brilliant! Eggman started laughing maliciously.

The Mirage Express

"Sonic! SONIC! WAKE UP!" Amy was yelling at Sonic, trying to wake him up after getting stuck with the blow dart. Luckily, the blow dart only seemed to contain a sleeping agent, but Sonic was still knocked out, again. This time, the poison seemed to be far stronger, because despite Amy's best attempts, Sonic didn't even budge.

Barry just looked on with hopelessness. Sonic was knocked unconscious! He was their best bet!

One of the robotic arms somehow looked smug. "There is no hope… My wish will be granted!" Amy turned to the arm with a look of pure hatred. "NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOUR WISH! LET ME OUT! I WON'T BE CAPTURED ON MY BIRTHDAY!" she shouted angrily, before brutally smashing her hammer against the arm.

Barry tried to get a word out, but Amy just started smashing against the walls of the train, and Barry realized that it would be a lost cause. Some first day this turned out to be, huh? Barry thought sadly. All he wanted was a job!

Suddenly, about five mechanical arms appeared and quickly restrained Amy, who tried struggling out of their grips, to no avail. She eventually gave up, but still looked at the train with anger. "So you restrained me, so what! Shadow, Knuckles, and Blaze are more than enough of a match for you!" She yelled, before her mouth was covered with another arm.

Somehow, the train looked even more smug. "Oh, you mean these three?" It said, before the screen in the front flickered with video footage. Barry looked at the T.V in horror, and even Amy's face went pale at what it showed.

Shadow was currently restrained with almost ten arms, and two seemed to be entirely dedicated to keeping his inhibitor rings on, so he couldn't use any extra power. Not that it mattered that much when he was clearly unconscious. The screen briefly glitched, before showing the casino car in total disarray. The whole place was burned and small flames seemed to flicker on the more flammable parts. In the room, Rouge was restrained with two robot arms holding her wings, while Blaze was trying to struggle out of five arms, two of them holding Blaze's hands against Rouge. If Blaze tried to use fire out of her hands, she would burn Rouge before anything else. Lastly, the screen flickered to the Saloon car, which showed a knocked out Knuckles with several broken tables all around him and a pretty sizable dent in the train's side.

One of the robot arms moved to right in front of Amy's face, the robotic eye showing utter contempt for the hedgehog. "You were saying?" It said quietly, taking up an amused tone.

Amy was speechless.

How did this happen…?

30 Minutes Later…

Eggman sat in his command chair, eagerly rubbing his hands. Perfect! He thought, watching the train pull up into his Egg Base. He turned around, eagerly looking at Metal Sonic and Sage, both of who were showing their enthusiasm for the rodent's capture. They both were even wearing a 'Let's Go Dad!' T-shirt. Eggman has never felt prouder of his creations.

Eggman enthusiastically walked over to the train, before grandly opening it. One of the robotic arms he installed flew over to his face. "Doctor! Doctor! I did it! I captured Sonic the Hedgehog!" the train said, looking extremely proud of itself.

Dr. Eggman just nodded, a cheerful look on his face. "Why yes, you did! I must say, I'm beyond impressed! Well done! Now, I know you have a bounty to collect, so I won't keep you waiting for a moment longer! What did you call it…? Oh yes! So, train, what is your wish?" He asked, a glint in his eye.

Suddenly, a compartment opened up and out came what seemed to be the conductor of the train. He was held with multiple robotic arms, and seemed to be unconscious. The train's arm took on a desperate fervor. "HIM! My wish, my wish! Make him stay with me forever! Make him never leave again!" It said, the desperation multiplying.

Eggman took a step back. Oh my Gaia, yikes… parasocial, much?

Eggman cleared his throat, somehow feeling uncomfortable. "Well…. Uh…" he started, before shaking his head. "Very well! I promised you a bounty, and so I shall deliver! Let no one say that Eggman doesn't reward those who deliver! Just allow me to have that conductor for a bit, and I promise I'll make him never want to leave you again…" He said, a smile breaking through his uncomfortableness. It might be a strange request, but Eggman never backed down from a challenge.

In the meantime… "Train, give me your passengers. I want all the ones still awake lined up and restrained." Eggman said, pointing off to an open side.

The train's hand shook up and down in a facsimile of a nod, before bringing out Eggman's new prisoners.

From left to right stood Barry, who wasn't even restrained, just shaking in the line. Next to him stood Tails, who's namesake was getting restrained to keep him from flying. Next to him was Amy, whose hands were restrained and whose legs were held. She was fuming. Next was Rouge, who's hands and wings were held onto by robotic arms, and after her stood Blaze, who was restrained by so many arms she couldn't move even if she wanted to. Vector and Espio were both also restrained. Espio probably didn't need to be restrained though, with how despondent he looked. Next to them, Shadow and Knuckles laid, both still unconscious.

The train decided to be a bit clever and deposited the knocked out Sonic right next to Eggman, who was happy to play along. Eggman grabbed Sonic's leg, before dangling him like a trophy in front of his friends. They all got noticeably more angry, although the hopelessness in their eyes also multiplied. Eggman just laughed.

"So, how does it feel? Knowing that you are completely doomed? Your precious Sonic, beaten? Not so undefeatable now, are we, you spiky blue pest?" He said boastfully, before aggressively shaking Sonic. Amy yelled in outrage.

"Feels more like a failure for you."

Eggman quickly stopped shaking Sonic, his head turning to the pest who said that. To his surprise, and apparently the surprise of the rest of the vermin squad, the civilian is the one who said that.

"I mean, It's kinda embarrassing that it wasn't some big world conquering scheme or an epic clash, but just a badnik, isn't it?" Barry said.

What the chaos am I doing What the chaos am I doing What the chaos am I doing What the chaos am I doing- Barry kept thinking in his head.

Eggman looked angry for a moment, before schooling his expression. "No, I'm not playing this game with you civilian. I got Sonic here, and now I'm going to enact my world conquering scheme!" He said, a malicious grin coming to his face. Barry gulped.

Eggman just dropped Sonic to the ground, before walking up to Barry. Barry slowly looked up at Eggman, who was at least a few feet taller than he was.

Oh wow he's so tall I'm so done for I'm an idiot why would I say that oh Gaia he's gonna kill me- Barry's thoughts were racing, craning his neck to stare at Eggman's face.

Eggman just grinned. He turned away from Barry, before walking in front of the restrained group like a military commander about to give a lecture.

"You see, something your little civilian friend said here got me thinking. And because of this, he gave me an idea. You see, your little friend here was knowledgeable about some of my past schemes. Specifically, sending Sonic through time." He said cheerfully.

Several of the restrained group gave Barry a side eye. Barry pulled on the neck of his uniform, sweating.

"Now, I don't have the time stones on me, nor any Chaos Emeralds, so I can't control exactly where you go. However…" He paused dramatically. Suddenly, Metal Sonic walked in with his party hat and t-shirt, carrying a strange looking gun.

Several members of the group did a double take at the ridiculous get up Metal Sonic was wearing. While they were doing that, Eggman roughly threw Sonic on top of the other two unconscious pests.

Well at least his creations show him support I guess… Barry thought blankly.

"Why I may not be able to get specific, I'm still a genius! And because of this, I created this little contraption of mine, based on Silver the hedgehog's bio data that Metal Scanned from him a while back. Now. Time to do what that quokka suggested…" He said, pausing menacingly.

Suddenly, he pointed at the group, which immediately started to struggle harder. "Good bye, pests! See you never! Enjoy the future for me! Heheheheheh, HAHAHAHAHAHAHA-" He started laughing maniacally, while a bright blue laser fired out of his gun.

The second the laser reached the group, a bright blue light blinded everyone. A moment later, the bright flash dissipated, and Eggman looked at the spot where the pests were a moment ago. No one remained, all of them were gone.

Eggman kept his guard up for a couple moments, knowing just how complicated time travel could get. After about a full three minutes of awkward waiting, Eggman let out a sigh of relief. Then he smiled. Then he started laughing.

SONIC IS GONE! THE WORLD IS MINE!

?

Barry slowly woke up, a pounding headache in his skull. He quickly started looking around, panicked and confused. Luckily, all of Sonic's friends were also next to him, albeit all of them being unconscious. He quickly rushed over the closest person to him, Tails, and shook him.

Tails slowly woke up, looking up at Barry's face blearily. He then seemed to remember what just happened, and jumped up in panic. He looked around quickly, trying to see what was going on. Once he realized they were not in danger, Tails just sighed, before looking at Barry.

Barry looked away, mostly in shame. This was all my fault, wasn't it? Sonic was wrong, I truly am a failure. I couldn't keep anyone safe…

He felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked up fearfully. Then, he saw that it was Tails who had his hand on Barry's shoulder, looking at him with a sympathetic look. "Look, I know you blame yourself. But trust me, you had nothing to do with this problem. So instead of looking down, why don't you help me out? We need to wake up everyone else here. Come on." Tails said, a small smile appearing on his face.

Barry didn't quite believe him, but nodded his head anyway. He walked over to another member of the group, trying to shake them awake. He looked up and saw Tails doing the same thing. After a few minutes, everyone but Sonic was awake. Barry knew it didn't work earlier, but tried to wake up Sonic by shaking him anyway.

To Barry's surprise, Sonic actually started, and slowly woke up after Barry's incessant shaking. Apparently, the blow dart wore off sometime when they were… teleported?

"Wha-, what's going on…?" Sonic mumbled, his eyes slowly opening. Barry just shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine, Sonic." He said quietly. Suddenly, Sonic stood up, his eyes wide. "Whoa- wait! The trains, what's-" He started, before noticing where they were.

He looked at Barry, his eyes wide and confused. Barry just looked down. "We… We failed. We were captured…" He said downcastly.

After a moment of silence, Barry looked back up to Sonic. To his surprise, Sonic just had a grin. "Well, that's a bit of a downer. But, don't you worry bud, we'll break out of whatever prison Eggman's got, no problem!" He said cheerfully.

Barry really didn't want to break the news to Sonic. Luckily, Tails seemed to do so in his place. Tails came from behind Barry, and Barry moved to the side. "Yeah… about that-" Tails started.

Sonic smiled, cutting him off. "Wait, Tails, are you ok? No one hurt you, right?" He said quickly, a concerned look crossing over his face briefly. Tails just shook his head. "No, but that's not important right now! Sonic, based on what Eggman said, he sent us through time!" He said hurriedly.

The smile on Sonic's face was quickly replaced with an exasperated look. "Again? You'd think that Eggman wouldn't try the same schtick twice. Usually he doesn't… actually, where did he get that idea from…?" He asked, a thoughtful look on his face.

Barry froze. Tails also froze, but gave a side eye to Barry. "Uhhh… No idea…" Tails muttered. "Anyway! Based on what he said, he sent us to the future. Although, he said something about not being able to pick when? Well, that doesn't matter now." Tails hurriedly finished. Barry gave him a grateful look.

Sonic just shrugged. The rest of the group was awake by now, so everyone got together. The group explained to the three who were knocked out what went down. Luckily, everyone who was awake was nice enough to not mention where Eggman's idea came from, but there were plenty of side eye's given to Barry. Barry just wanted to shrink in on himself and pretend he didn't exist.

Barry slowly slinked away from the rest of the group, who were conversing about a plan of action. He turned around, checking out his surroundings once again. It kinda looked like the Egg base the group was taken to, although it really didn't look like it had been maintained for years.

Barry looked around, before spotting some kind of trash can. Barry perked up. Maybe the trash can will help! There's always something in the trash! He said, the mantra a constant in his head.

He walked over, before looking inside the trash can. There wasn't much, but there did seem to be some kind of electronic pad shaped like an egg inside. He smiled giddily, before reaching in and grabbing it. The second Barry brought the pad to eye level, an Eggman Empire insignia flashed on the screen.

Suddenly, a female voice emanated from the device. "DNA scan. DNA recipient recognized as… Forefather Red Civilian Quokka. Status: Honorary Forefather. Special permissions granted to Honorary Forefather of the Eggman Empire. Pre-recorded message for Forefather Quokka detected. Play message?"

Barry just looked at it with confusion. Forefather? Barry wondered. He shook off the confusion, before hurrying over to the rest of the group, pad waving in the air. "Guy's, look what I found!" He said excitedly. "It says there's a pre-recorded message for me! Let's listen to it together!" He finished.

Sonic looked at the device suspiciously. "I dunno, it seems like a trap." He muttered. Shadow rolled his eyes before grabbing the pad. Suddenly, the female voice appeared again.

"DNA scan. DNA recipient recognized as… error. Unknown data. Accessing rare DNA signatures… Black Arms DNA detected. Most probable recipient, Shadow the Hedgehog. Status: Ultimate Lifeform, current enemy of the Eggman Empire. No permissions granted to the recipient. Release the Egg-pad or be shocked in 3… 2…" the pad said, before the screen went red. Barry quickly grabbed the Egg-pad, looking at it fearfully.

"New DNA signature detected. Deactivating shock protocol. DNA recipient recognized as… Forefather Red Civilian Quokka. Status: Honorary Forefather. Special permissions granted to Honorary Forefather of the Eggman Empire. Pre-recorded message for Forefather Quokka detected. Play message?" It said, the screen going back to the normal black with Eggman Empire insignia on it.

Tails looked at Sonic. "I mean, it recognized Shadow, and all it was going to give him was a shock, so I'd say that if this is a trap, it's an overly elaborate one." He said. He glanced back at Barry, who was looking at the thing with fear.

Honorary Forefather of the Eggman Empire? What does that mean? Tails wondered suspiciously.

Barry looked at Tails, who gave him a go ahead nod, before saying out loud, "Yes, I would like to hear the message." Everyone in the group crowded around the pad, all looking at it expectantly.

The pad froze for a moment. "Acknowledged. Playing most recent recorded message to Honorary Forefather Civilian Quokka." It stated.

Wait, does it think that's my actual name? Barry wondered briefly, before a hologram appeared over the Egg-pad.

Everyone stepped back in shock, and most tensed up. The hologram was of an extremely old Eggman, who was sitting in a wheelchair being pushed around by a robot that the group had never seen before. Despite his apparent old age though, he seemed to be as boisterous as ever.

"Why, Civilian! If you're watching this, then that means you have finally dropped out into the future, exactly as I hoped! I truly am a genius! This pad is connected to the Eggnet, and if that is still active, that means that the Eggman Empire still reigns, even if I am no longer there to guide it!" He said cheerfully, before he suddenly went into a coughing fit.

He took a moment to get his breath back, and when he looked back up, his smile was very strained. "Let you rest assured, If you're watching this message, then I truly am no longer there to guide my empire any further. It seems that despite all my genius, time is the one thing that even I cannot overcome. Immortality was certainly on my to-do list, but it seems I just never had the time to get around to it." Eggman said, his smile slowly going back to what it was before. He shrugged. "Oh well."

"Now, you may be wondering why I'm telling you all this. By proxy, I'm going to assume that the rodent and all his friends are there around you, but I'm gonna pretend they are not and speak directly to you, as this message was intended." He said, before stealing his hands together.

"Dear Civilian, by the time you see this message, I am dead. There's no doubt, as I've explained. However, that just means good things for you! You see, without your brilliant suggestion to send the vermin to the future, I would probably not be recording this message and just experiencing another failure. I'm sure something would have happened to derail my plans. As it stands though, I have you to thank for the Eggman Empire finally conquering the world!" He said, pausing with a grin through the hologram.

Barry just looked dumbfounded, and pretended not to notice the various shocked glances thrown his way.

"Why is this all relevant, you may ask? Simple. After about ten years, I decided to look back on why I succeeded, and it was all because of your suggestion. And as the years have proven, even during your time, Eggman always rewards those who help him! So, your reward is a status I gave only to the founding members of my empire! Of course, you weren't physically helping me build my empire, so it's only honorary. Most of the benefits are the same however. Let me list them out for you:

For one, being a Forefather gives you access to quite a bit of my troops. Not all of them, of course, but quite a few! You also have one of the highest clearances out of nearly anyone in my empire, and depending on how far in the future you are, you may just have the highest clearance behind whoever is the current Eggman Emperor. You also have a basically unlimited amount of empire currency, so now you're one of the richest people in the empire!" Eggman kept listing benefits of being a Forefather, but Barry was having a hard time hearing.

Why…? Why was Eggman giving him so much stuff? Wasn't Barry an enemy of Eggman's? Besides that, he could just feel the stares directed to him.

"...And lastly I've granted you control of a small town. Back in your day, it was known as Spiral Hill! Now it's known as Quokka Spiral! Clever, I know. In fact, that was one of the very few villages I never personally had a hand in. Out of all the villages of the future, this one should be almost the same as it was in your time. A small courtesy. Now, I'm sure you're wondering why I would give you all of this. I certainly didn't afford the rest of the vermin these kinds of benefits. Besides me keeping my promise about rewards, the truth is…" Eggman paused, his smile turning into the look of a very tired old man.

"Well, after I'm gone, I no longer care what happens to my empire. I love ruling the world, make no mistake! You won't be able to go back to your time and convince me to change! Best years of my life! But…" Eggman just sighed. "But now the end is here. And I've realized something. I was always after the ruling, but I realized that I don't want someone else to rule the world in my place. Strange isn't it? I have a feeling that if I died prematurely, my last wish to Sonic would be that he wouldn't let anyone else take over the world in my absence. How sad is that? I'm dying, and the empire will move on to someone else. Hopefully Sage or Neo Metal Sonic, but I don't truly know. Besides, ruling the world gets so dull after a while. I guess you could say I've grown bored In my old age. So, Whether you just take the benefits and run, help tear down my empire in this time, or become the new emperor for all I care, just make it entertaining. Make me laugh from that place in the underworld with Dark Gaia!" He said boisterously, before having another coughing fit.

Once Eggman recovered, his boisterousness was gone, replaced by someone who truly did look like they were slowly dying. "On the Egg-pad I left behind, it should show you a timeline of events that happened over the years, as well as serve as your personal wallet with a code installed inside. In case you somehow lose it, the code will still work regardless. The code is Prq7qe. Don't forget it! Also, after this message finishes, the Egg-pad will ask for your name, so it can stop calling you Civilian. Have fun in the world you helped build, Quokka!" Eggman said, before the hologram blipped out of existence.

No one spoke for a few long minutes.

Sonic walked up and stood next to Barry, who was trying his best to avoid eye contact with everyone.

"So, think you can lend some cash?" Sonic asked.