Author's note: One step closer to the ending of the Mutagen Saga! But the story is far from over, so get ready for it!
Edited: Due to how horrible the original version was, I've changed and re-did chapter 16 to make it hopefully a little bit better, also to apologize to how the previous couple of chapters were starting to fail me and I am deeply sorry about that.
I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog. The rights of the franchise and all Sonic characters and media belong to Sega, Sonic Team and other connected companies. I only own the OCs.
The Mutagen Saga.
Chapter 17: Origins of Rusca.
Things were getting worse all across Earth and Sonic's world as both were merging faster than ever before. People who were infected by the Mutagen Fog were becoming more aggressive even towards the rest who, while also infected, were frightened for their lives and even had to take refuge from more of Sonic's people who, despite having a distrust towards the humans, all began to see that they were just like them, so they took in those who feared for their lives and the grateful humanity in turn promised to repay them.
Earth Animals were becoming more mutated as well, attacking all across the planet, and those who tried to stop them or get them to calm down were helpless. Even worse, GUN soldiers were forcing people back despite that some of them actually fled the Organization to help the citizens against Commander Tower's orders.
"The merging between both planets is accelerating faster than experts feared, and people are becoming more hostile even towards their own, while nearly 60% of animals not from Sonic's world are mutating in places like Africa and France. What is GUN doing? Where is the President? Can Sonic save us all once again? We'll give you more updates as we go on air through out the day. This is Scarlet Garcia from SSTV News." Scarlet reported from the helicopter that viewed Station Square going into chaos and panic.
This was witnessed in the safe-house where Helen and her parents watched the News, unable to get out without either being attacked by the mutating animals or possessed people, or worse, find themselves arrested by GUN wrongly as well.
"Things are getting worse. Whoever has caused all of this besides Dr. Eggman had better pay for the crime they did, and I do hope Sonic, Chris and the others will be able to set things right." Helen's father muttered worriedly as he sat with his wife and de-aged daughter.
"This is just so horrible. How could this have happened?" Helen's mother asked, her gaze low. "What will we do?"
"We can't do anything, until Sonic saves all of us." Helen grimly answered, making her parents glance at her in surprise. "If anything, it was Dr. Narasu who caused all of this and only Sonic and the others can stop him and Dr. Eggman. But...even if everybody goes back to normal and Time can be saved somehow..."
The young de-aged girl gazed up at the ceiling with dread, continuing as one thought came into her mind. "It might already be too late to prevent the worlds from merging now. I'm not sure why, but...I have a feeling that it will be too dangerous to stop the merging now. I just hope that Chris, Sonic and the others will be alright."
Even though her parents thought that the merging could at least be stopped, judging by their daughter's tone and fear, they began to realize that with the way things were going, she could be right.
The question is, what will become of both worlds now?
Meanwhile, Teams Sonic, Rose, Dark, Chris and Chaotix hurried as quickly as they could with the blue hedgehog taking the lead but he didn't go into his usual super speed in order for his friends and rivals to keep up with him, though Sonic and Shadow were still going faster which left the blue hedgehog to speed up.
"You mind slowing down, Shadow? There are people here who can't run the same speed as the both of us!" Sonic commented.
"We don't have time for this! You said yourself we only have until tomorrow before Dr. Eggman unleashes his attack, and this Dr. Narasu as well as Rusca have a lot to answer for." Shadow reminded him darkly.
"Hey, I wanna stop Eggman and Narasu as much as you do and I don't trust what Rusca's thinkin', but this is a situation where it's going to a lot of team effort this time and I'm not gonna risk in anybody getting killed again." The younger hedgehog argued.
"You assume that it was teamwork that had Christopher save your life and help you cheat in our battle." The black hedgehog grunted with a deep hard glare.
Even though Sonic was about to protest that he won the fight fair and square, he quickly remembered that Chris did save him unexpectedly even though the blue hedgehog had been capable of getting out of the way himself, and realized that it wasn't a fair fight after all.
"Okay, so you got a point. That was kind of cheating even if I owed Chris and I didn't event expect him to save me." He admitted, before suggesting. "Tell ya' what, when this is all over and everything's back to normal, you and me have a rematch that's definitely fair and square. No supporters involved. An one-on-one battle. Sound good?"
"Hmph. I won't be holding back." Shadow smirked.
Sonic smirked in return. "It wouldn't be fun if you did, Shads."
"I told you to not call me that!"
"Will you guys stop arguing!?" Chris called up as he and the others were getting fed up with this. "We're running out of time here!"
"If you two keep bickering like two year olds, then we're as good as done for!" Francies added.
"They're right." Cosmo agreed pleadingly. "Everyone and all of both planets are at stake."
Realizing that they were right, Sonic shrugged sheepishly and apologized. "Sorry, guys."
"My...apologies." Shadow grudgingly added.
"This is getting us nowhere." Knuckles groaned in a hopeless manner.
"We're one step closer in finding all of the Chaos Emeralds but nowhere near closer in saving the worlds..." Tails mumbled worriedly, thinking to himself. 'Rusca might be up to something, but what if he's right? What if the merge can't be stopped? Could it really...be the end of everything and all of us?'
Before the conversation or thoughts could continue, Cream suddenly cried out as she and Cheese noticed something up ahead. "Look! Over there!"
"Chao!" Cheese squeaked in alarm.
This caused everybody else to stop in their tracks and saw a dark looking huge castle in the middle of the clearing of the jungle that looked centuries old, just as the golden sky and sun had now set and night had fallen with stars beginning to blink into existence. Sonic, Tails and Knuckles, Amy, Cosmo, Cream and Cheese, Chris, Francies and Danny, Shadow, Rouge, Omega, and Topaz, and Vector, Espio and Charmy all gazed at the large building before them. Some of them were in are, others weren't that impressed, and the rest were a bit creeped out.
"So is this the Mystic Castle?" Topaz questioned, a little skeptical.
"Don't look like anything mystical to me." Rouge remarked, folding her arms, just as skeptical.
"Scanners analyze this is the Mystic Castle as that rogue hedgehog proclaimed." Omega confirmed.
"This place is creepy." Cream whimpered.
"Chao, chao." Cheese whimpered as well.
"Yeah, you got that right." Danny agreed nervously.
"I hope there aren't any ghosts around. Last time we went into an old castle, it had been haunted with some." Amy shivered while rubbing her arms over the memories of the evil King Boo Ghost kidnapping Ella, Chris's mother, Sonic and Tails, taking over the blue hedgehog's body while the ghost minions possessed the pink hedgehog herself.
"Considering that Rusca's a ghost, hate to say it but I think we're in for more ghostly fights." Sonic informed his self-proclaimed girlfriend, narrowing his eyes. "Let's stick close. 'cause who knows what we're gonna find in there."
"Agreed. We must take every precaution and time that we have left." Espio nodded.
Charmy though was skeptical himself. "Ghosts? I'm not scared of ghosts! I say lemme at 'em!"
"Oh come on, we don't have time for this." Vector scoffed as he began to approach the castle. "Let's keep moving, guys."
But as the group moved on to follow, the green crocodile suddenly jerked painfully once again and knelt forward, placing a hand to his chest which made his friends and even rivals alarmed, causing them to hurry by his side.
"Vector!" Chris cried out.
"Are you okay?" Cream asked, worriedly.
"It's the Mutagen. It's accelerating again." Espio muttered gravely, narrowing his eyes and true to his word, Vector's eyes were turning the hint of red and purple once more, and the dangerous signs of the same coloured aura began to form around his body.
"Vector, snap out of it! Get a hold of yourself!" Sonic cried out, shaking the detective by the shoulders and when that didn't work, he sweat dropped as he came up with a desperate idea to prevent the previous incident from happening again. The blue hedgehog removed the left ear-muff of the headphones and shouted. "WAKE UP!"
"AAAAAAAH!" Vector screamed in fright which made everybody else, even both Shadow and Omega who stepped back, to jump in alarm. Once back to his senses, the Chaotix leader shook his head and blinked in alarm. "What, who, when, where, why!? What's going on?"
"Sorry to yell at ya' like that, but you were about to go all crazy again." The blue hedgehog muttered apologetically.
"Oh man, if I ever recover from this Mutagen nightmare, I'm gonna need a vacation." The green crocodile groaned, placing his hand on top of his head.
"I think we all do." Sonic smiled in agreement.
The only ones who didn't agree were Shadow and Omega, just before the walkie-talkie rang once more, and this time Espio answered it.
"Take precautions when you enter the Mystic Castle. This place is filled with Eggman's robots that will catch you off-guard." The mysterious caller explained almost immediately.
While no one understood the meaning of this information and Sonic became more and more suspicious about how the client sounded far too familiar to his liking, Espio responded. "We will."
"Does that include ghosts haunting these walls?" Charmy asked eagerly which made everybody else sweat drop over the bee kid's enthusiasm.
"Just ignore him." The purple chameleon muttered before hanging up.
"Well then, no more time wastin'. Let's go!" Sonic declared, fixing up his gloves before he took the lead once more, with his friends and rivals following as they stepped through the doors to hopefully find quick answers and a way up to the Egg Fleet before it was too late.
Unbeknownst to the heroes, within the cell the real Eggman sweat dropped as did Decoe, Bocoe and Bokkun before the evil scientist growled in annoyance. "What's this about ghosts all of the sudden today? Where did they get that idea from?"
"It could be the Mutagen now giving everyone on the ground hallucinations." Decoe suggested.
"Dr. Narasu is dangerous in making chemicals that effects other life forms." Bocoe added.
"That is a very good point. Besides, there's no such thing as ghosts." Eggman grumbled, placing a hand onto his left check before gazing at the door worriedly. "I wanted to come back to Earth for a quick visit, but now the merging is accelerating faster than we thought."
"Do you think Sonic and Shadow will be able to stop the merge and fix everything up?" Bokkun asked curiously.
To the robots' dismay, the creator growled in a panic as he knew what was to become both Earth and Sonic's world. "Fix it!? It's already too late!"
That made the three of them gasp in horror, making them now fear that even if Sonic could stop Narasu...Time may be destroyed after all.
As Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Cosmo, Cream and Cheese, Chris, Danny, Francies, Shadow, Rouge, Omega, Topaz, Vector, Espio and Charmy ventured through the castle with the hallways being lit up by strangely already lit up sconces, everyone was on their guard. Unlike most entrances of castles, this one already led through a hallway and lead into the main room with three staircases, one in the middle, all covered in red soft cushioned carpet, dusty paintings hanging on the walls, and a large door on the higher level.
"If this doesn't spell tons of traps in here, then I don't know what does." Chris remarked in a half-whisper. "We have to be very careful, you guys."
"Right." Sonic agreed, taking the lead once more, thinking as he narrowed his emerald eyes. 'What are you up to, Rusca? I don't know what you game is, but it's about to end. I won't let you use me or anybody else for your evil schemes.'
However, before the group could make a move to continue, they all suddenly heard a loud screeching echo through out the walls which made the group flinch in shock and fright which made everyone on edge and Amy asked frantically, "What's that!?"
"Ah! Incoming!" Tails exclaimed, pointing up ahead.
When the group saw what the young two-tailed fox was pointing at, the doors in front of them suddenly opened up and out came more robots what some where flying, some were heavy muscles and others that seemed to be really fast, charging towards the Sonic Heroes who all gasped in shock at the approaching robot army. It wasn't until the robots started firing lasers at them that Sonic made the call.
"Split!" The teenage hedgehog shouted, grabbing hold of Tails and Amy while Knuckles yanked both Cosmo and Cream and Cheese, Vector grabbing Charmy and everybody else leaped out of the way, narrowly avoiding in getting hit or vaporized.
"Dr. Eggman worthless pieces of scrap must not get in the way! Must annihilate all enemy robots!" Omega declared, firing his own lasers back and successfully destroyed two just as another three opened fire at the rogue robot who jumped out of the way himself.
"Beat it, robots!" Rouge snapped as she flew towards them before using her drill kick to smash one of them, and Topaz leaped and jumped before kicking at the legs of another.
"We've got to do something and stop them!" Cosmo exclaimed, jumping out of the way just in time for two robots to accidentally crash into each other.
"I'm open for anything!" Sonic stated, going for a Spin Attack as he smashed straight through several fast robots that were still too slow even for him, where they exploded upon him hitting them.
Tails and Knuckles followed suit by kicking and punching at the robots that came their way, Shadow using Chaos Spear to obliterate five, Espio using his ninja stars to strike at several more before turning invisible to trick the robotic enemies into thinking that he disappeared, only to be attacked and destroyed by the ninja detective using his tricks. Charmy charged alongside Cream as they both kicked at two robots each, causing the four machines to fall onto the ground after smashing into one another. Cream then rolled Cheese who did a similar spin attack at three robots and he gave out a battle victory cry.
"Yeah!" Charmy cheered.
"Hooray!" Cream celebrated.
"Take that!" Amy shouted, swinging her hammer right on top of a robot and literally squashed it flat like a pancake, which actually made the other robots sweat drop upon seeing her strength and wrath. Before they had the chance to even more, the pink hedgehog charged towards them and smashed them into pieces as well just as they panicked.
Vector in the meantime swished his tail against another robot before punching one right in the face and focused on his fire ability, scorching two into crisp but also nearly scorching the covered beds and sheets which made him flinch in shock.
"Careful, Vector! The whole place has high flammable objects!" Topaz warned, kicking another robot in the chest and knocking it down.
"Sorry. My bad." The crocodile detective sweat dropped sheepishly, wincing uncomfortably as the Mutagen in his blood system was getting worse yet he struggled to fight against it, hoping that he wouldn't lose control again.
Chris dodge-rolled out of the way just as another robot came attempting to smash at him, but he responded by whacking at it's legs with his club and then stood up quickly to whack at another, struggling against it's own club with sweat beginning to roll down his face, before Danny came over to save him by using his grapple hooks towards the ceiling and swung over, kicking it's head off.
"Thanks, Danny!" Chris thanked, and his friend gave him a thumbs up, only for the former to gasp and cried out, "Look o-"
But as the robot behind the other de-aged boy was about to grab him, Francies suddenly swung over with her Nun-chucks in one hand and smashed the arms and head off of the machine before she landed safely on the floor.
"...Out...?" The de-aged Thorndyke finished as he and Danny both sweat dropped in shock and surprise.
"What would you boys do without me?" The de-aged girl smirked proudly, standing up.
Her two childhood friends just smiled sheepishly, before Chris heard clanking behind and spun around just in time to smash another robot right in the face with his club, causing it fall over in defeat, before he and his two companions sighed in relief.
"Bye-bye!" Sonic shouted smirking as he leaped into the air and kicked another robot in the chest, then flipped back and spun in high speed, knocking down the air robots like targets in a pinball game.
By the time they were done, everyone regrouped as Sonic shared high-fives with Tails, Knuckles, Chris, Danny, Francies, Amy, Cosmo, Cream and Cheese, while Vector sighed in relief, Topaz and Rouge both smirked at each other, Espio nodded, Charmy cheering on, and Shadow scoffed while folding his arms and Omega just confirmed that the enemies have been defeated.
"We did it!" Cosmo said happily.
"But we're not out of the woods yet. We still have to find that Rusca guy and get answers out of him before Eggman's fleet wrecks everything." Knuckles reminded them.
"He's right. We don't have time. We should get moving." Espio agreed firmly.
"But, we're in a castle, not the woods." Charmy cluelessly pointed out, making almost everyone else gaze at him dully.
"That's an expression too, Charmy." Vector grumbled, facepalming himself.
"Very well done, all of you." A voice suddenly spoke, causing everyone flinch in alarm and shock as it sounded familiar. "You are all stronger than I thought. There is still hope within you and your friends, Sonic the Hedgehog."
"Is that..." Danny trailed off, nervously.
"It is!" Chris nodded, gazing at the doorway again. "Sonic!"
When Sonic and the others looked at the doorway again, they all gasped when they saw the red hedgehog appear once more with a serious expression, yet strangely with a proud and relieved look in his eyes which only made the group uncomfortable even further, and even angered, frightened and horrified.
"Rusca!" Sonic shouted accusingly. "You lead Eggman's robots to attack us, didn't you?"
"No. Dr. Eggman's machines were already here before you arrived." Rusca informed the blue hedgehog.
But Sonic didn't buy this one bit. "I don't believe you! This is exactly what happened the last time bad guys wanted to use me for their evil purposes! They hurt my friends and used my anger to fight against the robots they used to complete their experiment and turn me to the darkness! I'll never join any evil, not even in a million years!"
"What is it that you really want, Rusca? Why torment Sonic's mind and then my own, knowing of how I was created?" Shadow questioned darkly.
The ghost of the red hedgehog stood in silence for a moment before sighing. "You fear of history of what happened to you repeat itself. Just as I had feared for centuries. Now, it's time for all of you to know the truth."
Still suspicious about what he meant, the blue hedgehog narrowed his eyes and cautiously took a couple steps forward.
"What's going on, Rusca? If this is where you wanna talk, then start talkin'. What is it that you really want?" Sonic questioned firmly.
"I told you before. It is not what I want. It has been foretold for eons and eons. Young hedgehog, you wish to know why you were having dreams of myself and seeing a vision of my past. Alas, the time has come for you and your friends to know the truth. It is linked to why our worlds have become separated from the very beginning." Rusca explained, before telling them with caution. "Be warned, as this will frighten you none the less. Especially the young children. Be sure they do not see the horrors of what you are about to see."
Even though none of them were certain on why the mysterious red hedgehog warned them about the safety of Cream and Cheese, Tails and Charmy and Cosmo, the group nodded before they all gasped in awe when Rusca then spread out his arms and there was a flash of light forming all around them, forcing Sonic and everybody else to shield their eyes to avoid in becoming blind. When the light faded, they found themselves in a grass field in the middle of the night, with a couple of bushes here and there.
"Where is this?" Shadow questioned.
"Where are we?" Danny asked, stunned in awe.
"Centuries ago, long after the time when humans began to advance in speech and began to create what they thought was needed to evolve, as then our people began to evolve as well into our earliest known ancestors. Then one day, two centuries after the first kingdoms were established and both sides had learned to live together and coexist, a great war was about to begin. One King had a ruthless ambison to rule the planet, separate humans and Mobians forever, and enslave both kinds by forcing them to go into war." Rusca began.
"Mobians?" Sonic blinked, confused.
"It's the earliest name of our people until they stopped using it for some reason 1,000 years ago. I've heard about it once." Tails recalled.
"How did you know about this, Rusca?" Knuckles questioned, skeptically.
The red hedgehog closed his eyes, before gazing at the bush nearby. "While I do not remember this, I was given the power to view my past as far back as it could allow me. It is here that my Master has found me."
As he had spoken, a human man in royal robes was riding on a horse which made the group stumble back a little, but were surprised that when Omega didn't move in time, the two figures ran straight through him as though they were ghosts, shocking them until most of them realized the meaning of this.
"You're showing us the past?" The blue hedgehog asked, shocked.
Rusca nodded, gazing at the man whom Sonic suddenly realized why the human looked so familiar; it was the leader of a group that Rusca met up with in the previous dream yesterday! The man in question continued to ride until the sound a baby's wail filled the air, causing him listen in surprise before heeding his horse to stop while the four legged animal neighed. Puzzled, the Lord, whom the blue hedgehog noticed was about at least eighteen years younger, got off the horse and went to investigate the noise, rustling into the bushes.
"Is that a...baby?" Amy asked, puzzled.
"Not just any baby, Ames." Sonic began as another realization hit him, turning to the mysterious red hedgehog. "It was you, wasn't it? That guy...adopted you, didn't he?"
"Yes." Rusca confirmed, with a look of sadness as he then held a warm fond smile at the human who gave a startled cry of surprise.
The human Lord then slowly and carefully reached into the bushes, picking up a small bundle no bigger than Cheese, and stood up. In the man's hands was a baby red hedgehog which made everybody else gap in surprise that it was Rusca when he was an infant. The baby Rusca wailed, having been left all alone.
"You poor child. What could have happened to your mother and father? Why were you left all alone?" The younger Lord whispered in sympathy, gently rocking the crying infant to comfort him. "Shhhh...Do not cry, little one. It is alright."
The baby red hedgehog kept crying until he was ceasing it into small hiccups, before tearfully gazing up at the human who smiled warmly at him. The infant in turn then smiled back, reaching out his tiny hands towards him and the man chuckled, holding out a finger to allow the hedgling to grasp it before happily began to play with it.
"It will be alright. I will take care of you...I believe I shall call you...Rusca." The man decided, carefully stroking his finger through the baby's quills.
Then, the scene vanished and faded, and to the surprise of Sonic and his friends, showed off brief images of Rusca growing up in the care of the human Lord in another castle that was rich of gold and jewels that made Rouge's eyes sparkle in pure delight. The others though paid more attention to Rusca's past shown right before their eyes. Some of them couldn't help but remark just how cute the red hedgehog was as a baby and growing into a young child before reaching the point of becoming who they see him as now.
"My Lord brought me in and watched over me as I grew. I dedicated my whole life to the human who gave me a home and a new life. While it was clear I was to never be his heir to the throne, instead I choose to serve him as his Knight. He knighted me as his Captain of the Royal Guard, and a messenger as I was skilled in stealth." Rusca continued, before frowning as the scene then turned for the worst. "Yet our kingdom was overrun by the man who wished for war of both humans and Mobians."
True to his word, the castle was overrun by an human army wearing black armor and capturing many people of both sides within the kingdom, and Rusca, the human Lord and the people whom Sonic recongized some made their secret escape, but not before helping to evacuate as many innocent lives as possible, eventually hiding out in a secret cavern which was the very same place that the blue hedgehog saw in the dream and the secret codes.
"We were forced into exile and into hiding, but we vowed to take down the evil King. I went on secret missions while we discovered an ancient legend related to gems. At the time, neither of us knew of the true meaning and used it as a code whenever I would return." The red hedgehog continued.
Just as Sonic predicted, they were now viewed the very same vision he saw earlier when his dream self followed him, saying the words servers of the seven chaos, much to Knuckles' shock, before they found themselves in the same room where the past Rusca bowed before the human man who raised him.
"My lord. I bear troubling news." The past red hedgehog began.
"Please explain, Rusca." The man gestured.
"A soldier of the Dark King has captured another Mobian, spreading the word faster than ever before. Yet the Mobian the soldier captured had dropped this scroll. I did what I could to save the innocent, and once I led him to safety, he gave it to me and warned me of a coming prophecy." Rusca explained, reaching into his cloak and held out the aforementioned scroll, opening up.
The Lord and in turn, everyone in the present watching this all gasped in shock as eight familiar gems, one giant and the other smaller, were drawn along with a figure floating above them with many people raising their hands up worshiping the figure as their light of hope, with an ancient writing none of them could understand.
"The Master Emerald and the Chaos Emeralds!? It can't be!" Knuckles exclaimed in disbelief.
"No way!" Sonic cried out, his eyes wide in complete shock. The Master Emerald and the Chaos Emeralds...they were part of this whole thing?
"Where did this Mobian get this?" The Lord questioned in horrified awe.
"He did not tell me. From what I can understand, these gems are part of the prophecy he has informed me of." The past hedgehog answered, frowning. "It troubles me because these drawings...they are the same as the so called Master Emerald which in legend controls the Chaos Emeralds. According to legend, they hold mysterious powers that transform thoughts into incredible power."
The human lord who raised the red hedgehog sighed in grief, placing a hand to his face. "Rusca, if this Mobian had this scroll that foretells the Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald, I'm afraid the legend is true. If the soldier of the Dark King attempted to bring it to him..."
Rusca frowned as he shared his master's fears. "Then the Dark King's greed has evolved in wishing to gain such power. If he collects the Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald, it may be catasthropic."
"My fears exactly. We must find these Emeralds first before the Dark King does, or else we are all doomed. He wishes to enslave all of Mankind and all of Mobians. This cannot go on any further. We must be ready." The Lord announced.
"Yes, my Lord." The red hedgehog bowed once more, knowing what must be done.
"Now it makes sense." Knuckles realized, remembering the ancient drawings in the Ocean Palace. "That's what the drawings we saw meant!"
"So that Dark King guy's the one who started the war between humans and Mobians in order to take over the planet. He must have hated Mobians and hated the people who were friends with them, especially Rusca and the Lord who found him when he was a baby." Tails agreed.
Sonic, despite still feeling uneasy with Rusca, began to sense that maybe he was wrong about his first impression of him, and clutched his fist in disgust over the Dark King's cruel and greedy actions. "That's just a new level of low. Even Eggman never gone as far as that."
"It strangely seems very similar to what Narasu is doing." Espio frowned gravely, folding his arms in deep thought.
"True, but...it doesn't end there. We searched for the Chaos Emeralds and discovered the Master Emerald deep within the cave of the Chao Colony sanctuary you now know as Angel Island. Yet the war was drawing nearer, and the peace between humans and Mobians began to decrease despite that there were many who wished for peace and harmony to return...But it was not to be. Not in our era." Rusca continued grimly, as the scenes changed to reveal how he and his Lord along with the other men of humans and Mobians searched for the Chaos Emeralds.
How the red hedgehog fought long and hard against enemies and rescuing the innocent with the aid of fellow knights of the Resistance. How they searched in many different places for the locations of the Chaos Emeralds, with the Master Emerald giving the past Rusca unusual energy and fought long and hard, yet many lives had been lost during the quest which made the red hedgehog feel guilty for failing to save them and furious because of the Dark King's cruelty and greed, and at the parts where things became too violent, Tails, Cosmo, Cream and Cheese covered their eyes as did Amy and Francies, while Vector covered Charmy's and everybody else watched on in horror, with Rouge and Topaz both covering their mouths with their hands.
The real Rusca in the meantime looked and felt guilt rise within his very soul given that he has spent centuries reliving the same nightmare over and over again even after he died. "Even as we reached our goal, neither of us could fully understand the Chaos Emeralds or the Master Emerald. And the Dark King's darkness only increased...as did my own negative thoughts I failed to fully control."
As he spoke, his past continued to unveil to the point where Rusca in the past along with some of his surviving men, both human and Mobians, were taken to a shelter that was the home of Mobian Owls where the red hedgehog was requested to meet with the dying chief, who was lying in the coot bed.
"Chief of the Village. What may I do for you, your wiseness?" Rusca greeted, bowing before the elder who coughed and wheezed.
"Y-You are the hedgehog...t-*cough cough* the child raised by a-a human..." The Chief began weakly, much to the young hedgehog's surprise.
"S-sir? How did you know of my past and my Lord?" The Hedgehoge Captain questioned carefully.
"Tell me, child. Have you had mysterious abilities that view your past, and the past of our history?"
Unsure what to say, as those in the present seeing this were just as surprised as well, and Sonic gazing back and forth between the past Rusca and the real ghost Rusca who actually held true emotions for the first time since this whole mess started.
'Does this guy know about what Rusca's been going and what he's been going through?' The blue hedgehog thought to himself, still not sure on whether he should believe this or not.
"You know something, do you not?" Past Rusca asked, taking a couple steps forward, under the requesting gesture by the dying Chief.
The elderly Owl nodded, wheezing before continuing. "Captain Rusca Hedgehog...Beware of the being born from the negative energy of you and the false Emerads of the Chaos. However, I a-am afraid the days of what is yet to come, will come true."
"I do not understand, wise man. What do you mean?" The Captain responded.
'He's talking about the positive and negative powers of the Chaos Emeralds. Could this mean...?' Tails thought to himself, feeling very uneasy. If this is what he thinks it is, then the young two-tailed fox was beginning to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Plus judging by the shocked and growing horrified expression on Sonic's face, his surrogate hedgehog brother was coming to the same conclusion.
After the dying Chief coughed and wheezed once more, yet stopping Rusca from approaching to help by holding up a hand, silently informing him that there isn't much he could do, he spoke once more. "These emeralds are no ordinary gems. They hold tremendous power of good and great evil. The Master Emerald controls the seven other Emeralds, yet only those with powerful Chaos Energy can unify them. Only those of our people can gain the power of the sacred gems, but only if they are careful. Positive energies will bring about the power of miracles with all seven combined. However, if one with negative thoughts and feelings possess them, they will bring about great anger and darkness which can only be vanquished by the power, thoughts and feelings of love, compassion and companionship."
"So are you saying that no human can control these powers?" Rusca questioned, shocked and in disbelief.
"Yes. We Mobians are linked to them through our past, the knowledge forever lost and should forever remain that way..." The Owl breathed heavily, pausing before forcing himself to continue. "You, young hedgehog, are one of the many few to harness that power, even through false Emeralds."
"What? I...am a Chosen One? How can it be?" Past Rusca gasped in shock. "I am but a Mobian Hedgehog raised by a human and thus do not have any experience with how to harness this power. Power is what has driven the Dark King into great madness!"
'Just like with the Metarex...who were originally among my people before I was born...Dark Oak...years of war and losses driven him into madess as well...' Cosmo thought grimly to herself, her heart sinking as the memories of her adventure with her friends filled her mind, yet finding that the elder looked strangely familiar to her, but she wasn't sure why.
"Rusca...Focus on what is most important. If you let your negative thoughts and emotions overcome you, with the false Emeralds of Chaos, an evil being will be born, to take place of the Dark King and plunge this world into darkness and chaos, to bring about death to both humans and Mobians alike. Only you will know what to do for the survival of both kinds...and-and...*Cough cough cough*...and watch over the one who will restore both back into co-existence...Chaos Control..." The elder continued, becoming weaker and weaker...
"Chief? Chief!?" Rusca exclaimed, kneeling by the dying Owl's side. "Please, I need to know more! Who is it I am meant to watch over? What do you mean by Chaos Control? What shall I do? I am helpless like this! Please, tell me!"
"T-Time in the human world soon to-to be born...will increase once those who have been transported by the Emeralds of Chaos...will increase...months for world of our people sent to safety...will be years...O-Only one, with the purest heart, one who cherishes life and those they love...can bring them back together, only through a choice they must choose for the sake of all life...to protect and save Time itself...One day, the soon to be two worlds will be whole once again...T-The merge...*cough, wheeze*...The merge...M-Must be...Complete..."
Those were the final words from the Owl Chief, before he went limp and his eyes closed, never to be opened again, despite Rusca's pleas before the hedgehog realized that the elder was dead. Horrified, confused, and at loss, grief then took over as the red hedgehog squeezed his eyes shut before bowing his head to pay his respects for the loss of a great leader, who had given him information that still had many questions that were not yet answered.
Sonic and his friends looked on in horror before lowering their heads in sorrow even though this was viewed all in the past, before Cosmo gasped softly as began. "Now I know why he looked familiar!"
"Huh?" Everybody else except for Rusca who gazed at the young Seedrian curiously, gazed at her in confusion.
"Who looked familiar, Cosmo?" Cream asked.
"Chao?" Cheese chirped.
"This man, the Chief...He...he's the elder who told me about what I knew before I came back to life!" Cosmo explained.
"What!?" Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy and Chris all exclaimed in shock and disbelief, while the Chaotix were dumbfounded, Cream and Cheese both gasped, Danny and Francies shared shocked glances, and Topaz, Rouge, Shadow and Omega looked on in confusion.
"I couldn't see him properly as he only appeared to me in silhouette, but I recognize his voice. He was the elder who told me about everything I told you." The young Seedrian continued with a nod.
"The Prophecy!" Tails realized, his eyes wide in shock.
"You mean he was seeing future events?" Amy asked, feeling shocked and even more confused.
"Somehow he knew about what was going to happen to the world before it got split up and...what's happening now." Chris realized, before turning to the shocked Sonic and continued. "The prophecy and the one about the merging..."
""The Merge must be complete"..." Sonic began, turning to Rusca, not wanting to believe this yet he began to feel like that the reality of that was really coming true. "You got that idea from him and so you're the one who caused both worlds to form in the first place!?"
"I did not have a choice. I did what I could to learn the answers and prevent it...but the Dark King had made the future clear. Darkly clear, because of his actions. Humans can only control the Chaos Emeralds through their advanced technology, just as your enemy Dr. Eggman has done." Rusca shook his head, as more of his past continued.
When the horrified Sonic and his group, as Shadow said nothing but narrowed his eyes in suspicion, turned to see that the scenes changed once more. As there was an ambush when Rusca and his men reunited with the Lord only for them to be outnumbered and the red hedgehog was soon knocked out just after he hidden the Chaos Emeralds with the Master Emerald. The next thing that happened, he was chained against the wall with the shackles on his wrists and ankles, and his Lord tied up to two wooden posts in the similar fashion, and the Dark King, who shockingly looked identical to Narasu but with brown hair and wearing a black cape, holding a sword in his left hand and seven Emeralds that looked pretty dark close by.
"Well, it seems that the Chosen one is awake. We meet once again, Captain Rusca." The Dark King greeted coldly, making the red hedgehog narrow his eyes in anger.
"Dark King...You has ambushed us...!" The furious red hedgehog hissed.
"I have merely waited for the right moment to strike. I know you have tremendous power of the real Chaos Emeralds. How do I know this? You will never know. You were a fool to follow the weak King's lead, wasting away your power for the sake of the disgusting harmony of humans and your people. The despicible peace and freedom that do not exist in this world." The evil man responded, grinning evilly at him.
"The only living creature that is despicable is you, you monster...! You cannot even call yourself a human." Rusca growled, getting the idea on what the Dark King wanted. "You say that I made a mistake in following my Lord, yet I know why you say that. You wish for me to join you, so you could use my untrained power for dominion, and rule over humans and Mobians alike and force them to destroy each other for your cruel greed."
The Dark King chuckled while the Lord tied up was in the mixture of being relieved yet was worried, as the former replied. "Very good, little hedgehog. You are indeed quite clever. I knew you would learn of my desires. While you were asleep, as you may be wondering why I have these Emeralds, we have provided your energy into them to create them, for you to power alone. And now, join me, Captain Rusca and use the powers of both the False Emeralds and tell me the location of the real Chaos Emeralds and soon the world will bow before me!"
Everyone both in the past and in the present all gasped in shock and horror, before Rusca in the past yelled. "Never! My place is and always will be to my Lord, my true king! I fight to protect the innocent of both humans and Mobians! Even at the cost of my own life! I will never join you, and you will never know of where the Chaos Emeralds are!"
"Yeah, you tell 'im!" Charmy cluelessly cheered, only for the others to sweat drop at this.
"This is viewed from the past, Charmy. It's not real." Espio reminded in exasperation.
"And I'm getting a pretty bad feeling I know what's gonna happen next. That Lord guy ain't gonna be lasting much longer." Vector murmured uneasily.
Even those who weren't detectives didn't even need one to figure out or ask what the green crocodile meant by that. Because they and the present-Rusca saw the Dark King grin before he approached the trapped Lord who gazed at the past-Rusca proudly in the eyes, having taught his adoptive son well, yet a grim look on his face.
"I have forseen your refusal to join my side, Rusca Hedgehog. It is a shame that you were never meant to remain by your King's side...Allow me to show you that I have won...!" The Dark King responded coldly, and before anyone could react, he was about to attack the Lord, much to everyone's horror, including Sonic's group and the past Rusca.
Rusca in the past gasped in absolute horror and devastation...upon seeing the man who raised him ever since he was an infant, caring for him even on busy days, watching him grow up and appointed him as a knight under the hedgehog's request and promoting him as Captain, was about to get killed.
"No!" Rusca exclaimed in horror, tears beginning to form in his eyes, horror, fear, anger, fury, hate, and loss, all of those negative feelings forming inside his very body and only those who were witnessing this suddenly saw the fake Chaos Emeralds nearby began to glow ominously dark. For Sonic, who felt the absolute dismay and feeling sick to his stomach, noticed this and gasped.
The very sight he never wanted to see or experience again; the fake Chaos Emeralds reacting to Rusca's negative feelings and energy. Just like how the fake Emeralds the Metarex created reacted to the blue hedgehog himself months ago. Though seeing this the teenage hero couldn't blame Rusca for losing the man who had been his only friend and family for his entire life.
"So, what will it be? Join my side, or your Master loses his life? It is up to you, hedgehog." The Dark King chuckled coldly.
"Rusca, no! Do not allow him to use you! Run! Save yourself!" The Lord exclaimed pleadingly.
The Fake Chaos Emeralds in the vision then glowed more dark energy until they broke free from the glass that was created to seal them, and flew around the furious Rusca who had tears sliding down his muzzle yet his expression was full of rage and pure hatred which terrified those who were watching from the present. The Emeralds then circled around the red hedgehog who began to become covered in dark mist, and Sonic and his friends were beyond horrified in seeing what was about to happen.
"NO! Stop!" Sonic screamed, briefly forgetting that these events were already done.
It wasn't long before Rusca absorbed the dark energy of the fake Chaos Emeralds, his body turning from red to black, like Shadow's fur colour only without the red stripes, his eyes turning pure white with no pupils, dark aura surrounding him, letting out an anguished roar and scream. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
By this negative power which was truly terrifying, the shackles and chains were no match for the enraged hedgehog's power as Rusca, having become Dark Super Rusca, broke free which they shattered into pieces, and charged straight at the Dark King who, seeing and hearing this, gasped in shock while the men around them were terrified by this sight. The transformed hedgehog stood there coldly, glaring at the evil man, taking a couple steps forward.
"So, this is the power you hold. Excellent, Rusca. I knew you could serve me. Use this power to destroy all who oppose us, and lend me your power for the world! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" The Dark King laughed manically.
"You are a fool, Dark King." Rusca spoke, except now he was speaking in two voices, one his own and the other dark and monstrous, grinning evilly now himself while confusing the cruel man. The transformed hedgehog then vanished before reappearing right in front of him, snatching his sword and shattering it in one hand with little effort and then grabbed him by the collar of the cape and shirt, pulling the now shocked Dark King right at his face. "This is where you will die, and burn within your grave...!"
At first the Dark King looked horrified while Sonic's group backed away a little as though fearful for what the Rusca with them would do to them, before the evil man growled. Rusca then punched and kicked at the man before tossing him high into the air as the Dark King let out a pained scream of agony. The furious Captain then flew up into the air and did several beatings on the man who almost killed the Lord before grabbing him by the coat once more and then grinned cruely when he saw a pit of lava as the place they were in was at the base of a volcano.
"W-What are you doing!?" The Dark King demanded, struggling to break free. "Unhand me this once, hedgehog!"
"Oh, I will, Dark King. Your days are over. You will never trouble this world again...!" Dark Super Rusca bellowed and before the terrified knights of the Dark King could do anything, the furious hedgehog tossed the man, who held an expression that made him realize he made the biggest mistake of his life, right over the edge of a cliff where the Dark King screamed while falling towards the lava below.
"NO! AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The Dark King screamed as he vanished from the cliff, not even seen in landing into the lava yet he did and was boiled to death.
Dark Super Rusca in the meantime grinned, before he began laughing manically as his mind was clouded, his vengeance and revenge complete. Those witnessing this in the present gazed fearfully, both at the past Rusca and the Present-day Rusca who, normal yet dead, held a look of complete guilt, his ears drooped and also a look of horror of the same reminders over and over again. Cream held onto Amy and Cheese in fear, whimpering.
"Rusca, stop! You're letting the darkness control you! STOP!" The Lord, who had been cut free and fell to the ground, wincing, exclaimed pleadingly as he and the Dark King's men saw what has happened.
When the past Rusca turned and saw the man who raised him look at him, with the devastated look of fear and dismay, a pleading look which told him to stop, something within the hedgehog burst. Seeing him and being reminded of what happened, the Captain's eyes began to return to normal, as he gazed at his hands and body, before gasping in horror as the full realization of what he had done hit him hard. The power of the fake Chaos Emeralds...it caused him to do this.
"W-What? What have...What have I...?" Rusca whispered, before wincing as he suddenly began to burst with more dark energy, hugging himself as he was in agony of something beginning to form and burst within himself.
"Through my anger and actions of what the Dark King has done, I let my negative emotions take me over. The sight of my Lord brought me out of it...but by then, it was complete. Taking away a mortal's life was the key into creating the one who was born of the dark energy of the false Chaos Emeralds..." Rusca confessed grimly.
"I-If that's the case, then...why didn't the same thing happen to me?" Sonic asked, shakily. He was horrified upon what he saw and now even more terrified of the red hedgehog that haunted him in his sleep.
The ghostly hedgehog turned to the cobalt teenager and answered. "Because machines do not have true souls or life, Sonic the Hedgehog. You did not kill, and you were brought out of your anger before the dark powers could overtake you, and the darkness was destroyed within you before it had a chance to be born. Your heart has been protected by the renewed light ever since. But be sure to never let your anger control you, young one."
'Guess I kinda owe Eggman one for getting me out of that jam.' The blue hedgehog thought to himself, nervously turning back to the past version of the red hedgehog who struggled and whimpered in agony over the overdose of the dark negative Chaos energy that began to flow out of his body.
Rusca then let out a scream as all of the dark energy from the fake Chaos Emeralds were flown out of his body and he fell onto the ground, hissing in pain while panting while feeling drained, while hearing the Lord's voice screaming out his name in horror and concern.
The knights who saw this all then fled in fear while screaming out words such as run or monster. The dark energy in the meantime then began to form into a new shape, somehow glowing all light cyan and forming into that of a hedgehog, an evil laughter was heard, becoming louder and louder until it took shape of a giant hedgehog, smooth and almost blue and grey in colour, about at least 80 feet tall with yellow eyes, quills sticking up, and a strange golden triangle on his chest.
"It's that giant hedgehog!" Knuckles exclaimed in disbelief as he and the others gazed up in horror.
"Just like what we saw in the murals!" Tails added.
"This is who you were fighting against...he came from you!" Sonic exclaimed to Rusca, turning to the ghost once more. "That means you are the one who...but...I don't get it!"
"You will understand soon enough. But yes, that monster made of negative energy...came from me and took the form of an evil hedgehog." Rusca confirmed, glaring at the giant evil hedgehog.
The past Rusca, still weak from the experience, saw this and gasped in horror as all anger and hate was all gone, replaced by horror, dismay and guilt. The giant hedgehog in the meantime grinned, flexing his fingers before gazing down at the Captain before him. "AT LAST. ANGER AND HATE HAS FORMED TO CREATE ME. I THANK YOU AND THE DARK KING FOR CREATING MY EXISTENCE, CAPTAIN RUSCA HEDGEHOG."
"No...The Chief was right...what have I done? Who or what are you, you foul beast?" Rusca trembled, struggling to stand up.
"I AM YOUR DARKNESS, NOW FREE TO BECOME MY OWN BEING. YOU WILL REFER TO ME AS NAZO. AND NOW, I SHALL DESTROY THIS WORLD AND ALL WHO LIVE! YOU WILL BE THE LAST TO DIE, RUSCA HEDGEHOG!" The giant hedgehog, naming himself as Nazo, laughed manically before raising his hand high and chanted. "CHAOS CONTROL!"
Before Rusca could stop him, Nazo vanished by using Chaos Control, leaving the devastated and guilt-ridden red hedgehog behind as he then lowered his head in absolute guilt, knowing that he has created a monster that would soon doom the Kingdom. He was only half-aware of a soft hand placed onto his shoulder, his name being softly heard and the Captain looked over his shoulder to see the injured but very worried Lord kneeling beside him.
"My Lord...I...I am so sorry...! It...It is all my fault...! I have...I have been consumed by anger and hate...I killed the Dark King...I have unleashed a monster who will destroy us all...I failed you...Forgive me...!" The traumatized and guilt-ridden hedgehog wept, lowering his head to hide his shame, tears forming and falling freely.
The human man however, gently placed a hand onto the hedgehog's left cheek, saying soothingly. "Shhhh...You are not to blame, Rusca. The Dark King has caused all of this. He used us both. It is I who have failed you .I am deeply sorry, Rusca."
"W-What shall I do?" Rusca asked tearfully. "I caused all of this because of my anget and hate...! I cannot use the Chaos Emeralds the way I am!"
"That is not true, Rusca." The Lord shook his head encouragingly, gently bringing his Captain and ward into a comforting embrace. "Remember our times together, remember all of your positive memories. Rusca, is is up to you to save the people, save the humans and Mobians. You know what you must do .I have faith in you, my brave and noble Captain...My son."
Rusca sobbed, hugging the human man and while he felt he couldn't do it, he knew that deep down, remembering what the Chief told him and now fully understanding what the Owl had meant, and despite his mind being a mess, he realized the pieces of the puzzle including what the Lord had meant, so he nodded, struggling to regain his composure.
"I will. Because I am happy and proud to serve you, and be by your side...and look up to you as my King...and my father." The red hedgehog nodded, smiling tearfully, earning a tearful smile from the Lord.
"I will be by your side until the end. We must do what we can do now, for the sake of both kinds and for the world." The Lord declared with a nod, which he earned a nod in return from his adoptive son.
Rusca sighed, before wiping away his tears and nodded with a look and force of determination appearing on his face as he stood up. "Yes, my Lord. We cannot be defeated now, no matter what it takes! I will fight for the sake of both our people, humans and Mobians alike! Even at the cost of my own life!"
"Spoken like a true Knight and Warrior." The Lord smiled proudly, standing up as well as they both knew what they had to do.
Sonic and the others were quite stunned by the determination Rusca was putting up in order to try and make things right due to what the Dark King has done to them in the past. The blue hedgehog, still feeling uneasy, gazed at the ghost of the present day Rusca and began feel guilty for doubting and distrusting Rusca's actions due to his own fears of what happened to him, and now he knew that the red hedgehog had experienced worse than he did.
Then the scene shifted to the great war of both sides, even if Rusca, who now had the real Chaos Emeralds with the Master Emerald nearby, lead the late King's men to fight against the enemies including Nazo who was leading them through mind control, and the group were shocked to see the fight which was brutal, and that Rusca, with many people lying on the ground with only some still conscious enough to stay awake, was using the Chaos Emeralds to transform into Super Rusca, his body golden just like with both Sonic and Shadow, facing against Nazo as the two fought each other in a devastating battle which destroyed the area with fire breaking out and the War nearing it's end.
"YOU THINK YOU CAN DEFEAT ME, RUSCA HEDGEHOG? YOUR LIFE IS NEARING IT'S END! IF YOU CHOOSE TO USE THE POWER TO RENEW PEACE IN A DIFFERENT MATTER, YOUR LIFE WILL FORFEIT!" Nazo bellowed, struggling in using a blast of energy at the smaller hedgehog who used his own power of light to push the giant hedgehog's back.
Super Rusca struggled against the power, before gazing at the people down below and saw the devasation the war as caused. He turned back to Nazo, knowing what he had to do, remembering everything he heard from the Chief and the Lord.
"My life no longer matters to me. Nor does yours, Nazo! I dedicated my life to protect the people, even at the cost of it! One day, humans and Mobians will live in peace and harmony and will co-exist once again...For now, after what happened today, they cannot remember that the two worlds I am about to create in order to live in peace and happiness, without the fear of each other! You, however, will cease to EXIST!" The super hedgehog hissed, becoming brighter which disspelled the evil giant hedgehog's, much to the amazement of Sonic and his friends.
"WHAT!?" Nazo exclaimed as he was shoved back.
"Begone, foul beast and return to whence you came, for all eternity! CHAOS BLAST!" Super Rusca declared and fired a powerful beam of golden light right at Nazo, who was helpless as he was covered in the power of the smaller hedgehog's causing the giant embodiment to scream in horror and agony before he was vaporized and vanished without a trace.
Panting in exhaustion, wincing as Rusca began to feel his energy running out, he then turned to gaze below where the survivors watched on in awe and some with fear, as expected. The transformed hedgehog sighed as he was the light of hope, yet he knew what needs to be done.
"People of the Earth. Humans and Mobians alike. We have come too far to restore this world to the way it was. Fear and anger will only continue to draw us further apart, and more lives will be lost. I'm afraid our era of co-existing has come to a long temporary end. However..." Rusca paused, remembering he had learned, and then nodded. "One day, should Mobians in the future come to your half of the world, your human world, one of them will be the true light of hope of both, a chosen one who will bond with a human child to mark the beginning of the renewed harmony of both, and should the worlds merge wrongly and be forced to return to the Mobian world, should both worlds be in danger by two who would mistakenly either return or use a portal for their own evil deeds, the power of goodness by the chosen one and those they cherish will merge the worlds once more, but they must choose which timeline to change to match that of the opposite world, while creating a new separate timeline to forever share the past."
The people below, and Sonic's group were stunned in pure shock as the past Rusca speaks to truth, wondering what he meant by that, however.
"Those who have survived and see this now, please do not tell anyone of this. That is...my final request. Now, I will use the last of my power to ensure peace remains and the Chaos Emeralds will be in the world of Mobians, yet still hidden out of the hands of evil. The same with the Master Emerald, as only that will be guarded by the newly created Chao and their guardian...that guardian, I name Chaos. Farewell, my allies. My you all live in peace." The transformed hedgehog continued.
He then gazed at his Lord who realized what was about to happen, tears forming in his eyes as he whispered, knowing that this was an ultimate sacrifice that must be done. "Rusca..."
Everyone was further shocked when they heard this, before the past Rusca, who nodded with a sad smile at his human adoptive father, held up his hands and glowed even brighter as he then chanted. "The servers are the 7 Chaos... Chaos is power, power enriched by the heart... the Controler is the one that unifies the Chaos. Master and Chaos Emeralds, choose your selective chosen to guard you and choose the one who will protect life with all of their heart. Split this world and universe into two, reform them and spare all of humans and Mobians to live in these two worlds, unaware of each other's existence. Go with the Mobians and the Chao and Chaos...may you always be protected from evil. Allow Mobians and Humans to live in peace."
'Is this...how it all began? Because of what happened in the past?' Sonic thought to himself, realizing that Rusca was indeed the one who split the worlds into two...not as an evil villian, but as a hero.
"CHAOS CONTROL!" Rusca bellowed, and soon the light spread and everyone seeing this had to shield their eyes, before they were given a bright glimpse of the world splitting into two, forming into two new separate worlds, and even the universe was split, one half with the Mobians, Chaos and Master Emeralds, and the newly created Chao including, to the group's shock, the newly born Chaos, being sent far across Space and Time, while the Earth was reformed into exactly what it is now, or was before the new merging and the humans who witnessed this saw what was happening.
By the time it all stopped after the second half of the world, which was Sonic's world, formed into a brand new world where Mobians could live in peace, everything on Earth was restored. Yet there was one Mobian who couldn't make it. That was Rusca who, his power used and his life force spent, transformed back to normal and collasped onto the ground, where the surviving human soldiers and their Lord hurried over where the red hedgehog laid there, gazing at the sky with a small smile.
"Rusca!" The Lord screamed out, falling onto his knees and gently cradled the dying Rusca in his arms, as while he knew that it had to be done, the human man didn't want to lose his adoptive son.
"Father...I will...solely miss you...One day...we will see each other a-again...Farewell, F-father...I must...perform my...final...task..." Rusca spoke for the last time, before his head went limp and his eyes closed, never to awaken again, and having sacrificed himself to do this. With that, the Lord wept, bringing the red hedgehog closer to his chest as he cried.
Those were the last words the Rusca in the past spoke in his life, and everyone in the present all felt sorrowed for what was happening even as Omega was a machine but even he wasn't immune to this. Amy, Cream, Cosmo, Cheese and Francies all cried, even Rouge was wiping away tears, Tails struggled not to cry as did both Chris and Danny, Topaz lowered her head in respect. Vector and Charmy cried their eyes out, while both Espio and Knuckles looked away. Shadow too had to look away as memories of Maria's death filled his mind.
Sonic in the meantime, now beginning to slowly understand, lowered his head before wrapping one arm around his waist and covering his face with his right hand as tears began to form in his eyes he tried hard to force back.
"I used all of my life force to split the two worlds into what you all knew for your entire lives. Yet my body was left behind, buried and hidden away, until a group of humans found my skeleton remains, and found traces of my Chaos Energy through my DNA and bones, an an attempt to create a cure for one scientist's granddaughter." Rusca of the Present spoke, just as everything now viewed life after what's happened, including the creation of Shadow who stood in shock as it confirmed that he is a clone created by the red hedgehog's skeleton and DNA.
Then it viewed life in Sonic's world including everything the blue hedgehog and his friends had gone through, much to their shock.
"Hey, that's all of us!" Tails exclaimed, seeing himself seeing Sonic for the first time in the jungle of the island the former grew up in.
"That's when we first met!" Sonic added, just as shocked while seeing the time when he first saw his little brother fix up his plane and give it a blue paint job, something that Chris heard of but never expected to see for himself, nor did anybody else who heard the tale of when the blue hedgehog and the two-tailed fox first met.
"Everything that has linked to the past, linked to the true chosen one who would bring about the renewed peace and harmony. It will be a bit of a struggle, but it's already happening." The red hedgehog confirmed, turning to Sonic and Chris, adding. "That chosen one is you, Sonic the Hedgehog. You and your human friend Christopher, are the two who have already renewed the bond and harmony of humans and Mobians."
It was there and then that they saw Sonic's first meeting with Chris who had rescued him from the adult swimming pool that night when the blue hedgehog, his friends and Dr. Eggman and his robots first arrived on Earth through accident.
The day when Sonic and Chris first became friends, then straight through everything they went through up until the situation they were in now, before light then surrounded the group and the next thing the heroes knew, they were right back in the mansion in the present as the visions had finally come to an end.
"So it was all foretold right from the beginning. The Dark King was the one responsible for all of this." Knuckles realized as the truth was now shown. He turned to Rusca and added. "And you somehow created Chaos to guard the Master Emerald."
"It was also foretold that an echidna would befriend the Chao and Chaos, and be the key role of pure hearted echidnas to guard it. Unfortunately, greed of Tikal's father has doomed your kind to you being the last one of existence." Rusca confirmed, making the red echidna lower his head at the reminder.
"So you're saying that everything that's happened was just the start of all of this happening now. When Sonic and the others had to go back home, Earth's time was saved just like Sonic's world, but our time ended up going faster and that's why six years have passed for us when I went there myself three years ago." Chris realized.
"And the left over years from the future were held in the Master Emerald yet they somehow weren't destroyed. They came back to Earth when Eggman sent Chris back. That's why you were back to your true age before the Mutagen Fog started up." Tails added.
"So the whole thing started because of the Dark King, Tikal's father, Eggman and his grandfather, and now Narasu?" Amy asked, stunned beyond belief as she was still struggling to accept and absorb all of this.
Sonic remained silent for a moment as he folded his arms, before turning to Rusca, asking. "So, the merge has to be done in order to save everybody? Everyone in both worlds have to learn to live together just like you and our ancestors did?"
"I know this is much of a burden for you, Sonic. But only you and those you cherish can save us all now. But you must choose in either matching time of your world with that of Earth and restore humanity's current age...or have your world's time flow remain the same, having the human world's time to flow the same as you, gaining new memories except for all of you and the families of Christopher and the girl he loves as you will have your original memories, yet the humans you are bonded with will have dual memories and create a new time-line and new futures for both and spare those who were born in the speeding timeline. The two universes will also merge, as well as the moons and the suns You must also cure your friend and destroy the Mutagen. However, the dark being will be reborn through one or two unexpected, but be rest assured it is not you. But two who are effected terribly, not through de-age, but through mutation." The red hedgehog nodded.
"Even the galaxy will have to merge too!?" Everyone except for Omega, Rouge and Shadow exclaimed, and Rusca once again nodded.
"I have to...choose?" The teenage hero muttered uneasily, shocked as a realization formed into his mind as did to everybody else.
If he choose to save humanity's current ages, then everybody in Sonic's world including the blue hedgehog himself would have to age by nine years to match Earth's timeline. But if he chose the other way around and create two new timelines with the same past...then everyone will end up being de-aged and...
Chris and Helen would have to wait another nine years to get married!
"The choice is yours, but only have two to choose. You must choose only what your heart knows is right." Rusca answered.
"But what if I end up making the wrong choice? It's not fair to anybody no matter what I choose!" Sonic protested, feeling shaken by the whole thing, especially now that he was utterly crushed that there was no stopping the merge now even though there was at least still a chance to save Time and the worlds and everybody, but all came down in choosing either aging himself and his people by nine years or creating a new time-line for the people on Earth.
"Then trust your friends and see what they believe is best for you to choose. But you must hurry, because time is running short." The red hedgehog nodded his head to the others, prompting Sonic to gaze at all of his friends and allies who looked conflicted.
Those like Amy and Rouge didn't want to end up aging by nine years in a single day, yet Cream and Tails felt that it wasn't fair for Chris and everybody else to end up de-aged and having to go through time shift and reality splitting on Earth to complete the merge as it was just as dangerous. Topaz trusted Sonic's group and was friends with Rouge, yet she couldn't choose and would accept whatever choice the blue hedgehog would make. Cosmo was still in shock that the prophecy she was told was true all along, Knuckles looked at the now upset Sonic and the red echidna couldn't blame the younger teen. The poor hero had to make the difficult choice.
Chris, Francies and Danny shared somber expressions, knowing that if Earth was to match the time flow as Sonic's world, they would have dual memories and have to re-live the nine years of their lives. Yet each of them, reading their thoughts, knew that it was just as unfair for everyone in Sonic's world to lose nine years of their lives just so humanity can keep their lives. The de-aged Thorndyke and his two companions nodded, knowing that what was right, as he gazed at the engagement ring he was wearing and sighed.
'Sorry, Helen. Guess we're just going to have to...call off our wedding for nine years.' Chris thought to himself.
"Sonic..." Chris began, making the torn and and conflicted blue hedgehog and everybody else to gaze at him, as the de-aged boy said. "You should save your world's time-line, and have Earth's time flow the same way as you guys."
Everyone except for the humans all gasped in shock at what he said. Did Chris...suggest what Sonic admittedly felt was the best course even though it wasn't fair?
"Chris...!" Sonic trailed off, unable to believe what he was hearing. "You...you want me to make the new timeline for Earth!?"
"Are you crazy!? Do you know what that means?" Knuckles exclaimed in disbelief.
"It's the risk of causing in creating two new time-lines which one we'll be living in while you guys have to relive nine years of your lives with dual memories!" Tails added.
"It's either that, or you guys and everybody else in your world lose nine years of your lives which wouldn't be fair at all." Chris pointed out firmly, making the other heroes gasp at this selfless sacrifice he, Francies, Danny and even Topaz were willing to make. "Besides, everybody that were born during that time would be sent to another timeline that will be created, creating a new parallel universe. It would be like two timelines having the same past but two different futures."
"Chris...I-I can't do that!" The blue hedgehog shook his head in a protest. He turned back to Rusca with a glare and demanded. "Isn't there any other way to stop the merge or at least unmerge them before it's too late!?"
"I'm afraid not, Sonic. When the two machines reacted, it was already too late. And if it were avoided, you would risk the Earth in being destroyed, as well as your own if you would not learn of how to cure your friend Vector the Crocodile. This is the onl way, and you have only two choices in order to save Time itself as well as prevent the destruction of the worlds and all who live in them." The red hedgehog told him firmly.
Now becoming even more torn and dismayed that it had already been too late from the start, Sonic turned to everybody else pleadingly for some help, but unfortunately for him no one could figure out of any other possible solutions. Not even Tails, and Shadow sighed with a serious expression he always held. Omega obviously knew the answer to that one, and Espio shook his head grimly.
"...It's not fair." The cobalt speedster whispered, frustrated and guilt-ridden for having to make the decision to make a timely aged sacrifice for either side in order for the merge to be completed. He squeezed his eyes shut and clutches his fists tightly. "I wish I could've prevented all of this if I hadn't messed up trying to stop Eggman all those months ago!"
"It's not your fault, Sonic." Cream spoke up softly, making Sonic open his eyes and gaze at his youngest friend who, along everybody else except for Team Dark to approach him. "Everybody makes mistakes, and everything will be okay."
"Chao, Chao." Cheese chirped in agreement.
"It might be different and things look bad now, but at this point, I think it's best to let you decide what you think is best." Tails conceded.
"Whatever you choose, we'll support you." Amy added gently, though she did hold a look of hesitancy in her eyes but at the same time forced herself to accept it.
"And we'll be right there with you." The two-tailed fox added.
"We made it this far, there's no way we'll give up now." Knuckles added.
As everyone spoke of their own agreements, Sonic felt that it still wasn't fair to make either decision, even though he knew that deep down they were right. He then felt a comforting hand placed gently onto his shoulder and saw that Chris held a sad smile on his face.
"I know it's your choice to make, Sonic, and I do want to get married with Helen, more than anything, but I don't mind in waiting for another nine years with my new memories and all. You can't force yourself or everybody else in your world to lose the future nine years of your lives. It's up to you to choose." Chris said encouragingly, with the other humans nodding in agreement.
Even though it didn't feel right to force Chris and everybody else to live in a new time-line to make sense for his world to remain mostly as it was, Sonic felt it was worse if everybody else including himself had to age by nine years. It was hard, but deep down within his heart, he knew...that making the second choice and have humans to live with two timelines was a better option.
"Guess I'll have to make up my mind by the time we catch up to Eggman and Narasu." The blue hedgehog finally conceded, scratching the side of his face with a finger.
All of the sudden, there was a loud but distant aircraft noise coming from outside which made everyone softly gasp and glance up in confusion and concern.
"What was that?" Cosmo asked, worriedly.
"Fireworks?" Charmy guessed incorrectly.
"No, it's the GUN military force! They may have found us or they're targeting Eggman's fleet!" Topaz realized, recognizing the sound.
"What!?" Everybody else save for Shadow, Rouge and Omega exclaimed in horror and dismay, which the robot confirmed.
"Time is running out. All you, hurry! The rest is up to you now. And Sonic..." Rusca paused, gazing at the heroes, more speficially at the aforementioned blue hedgehog who gazed back. "Choose carefully, and share your power with your friends in order to make it possible as well as survive to avoid any sacrifices."
"...Right. Thanks, Rusca, and I'm sorry for not trusting you before. But we'll save Time and the worlds and everybody in it. I promise!" Sonic declared, now no longer distrusting the red hedgehog who nodded, before vanishing. While he wasn't sure if he would see the ghost again, he knew that he'd worry about that later, and turned to his friends, declaring. "Let's go!"
"Right!" Everyone else nodded in equal determination, not willing to let Eggman or Narasu get away with this.
Hurrying outside through the mansion, the Sonic Heroes quickly hurried through the back door and saw as they ran that they were almost at where the Egg Fleet was, as well as seeing the dreaded airfleet of the GUN crafts also heading into the same direction.
Back at the GUN HQ, Tower was almost fully under the control of the Mutagen Fog's effects and grinned wickedly when he saw not only the target to take down Eggman under new orders to finish off the Egg Fleet at the cost of more lives, but also many people being captured all across Station Square.
"Soon, once Dr. Eggman, Dr. Narasu, and Christopher Thorndyke are taken care of, I will destroy Shadow and claim Sonic as my soldier, then the Earth and Sonic's world will be mine to control..." Tower muttered evilly.
Back outside on the ground, the five teams hurried as fast as they could with Sonic taking the lead with full determination to end this once and for all. Will he and his friends and allies be able to save the two worlds and Time itself? What will become of them once they reach Dr. Eggman and Narasu? Will Vector be cured?
What choices will Sonic make during this final scretch of this adventure? This was going to be the toughest and most challenging battle he will ever face.
A/N: I had to redo this chapter since I wasn't happy with the results of it and I'm really sorry how the original version turned out. Anyway, like I said in the previous version, now Sonic must choose between how to save the two worlds and how the merge should be completed.
What will he really choose? Only the next few chapters will tell.
See you later!