Part 4
Sonic quickly curled into a ball and rolled back, flipping out and back up onto his feet, holding up his hand. "Okay, time out, let's talk this one out, somebody kidnapped us, dragged us both here against our will, why don't we deal with him first, then whatever beef you got with me, we can hash it out. Deal?" It wasn't like Sonic couldn't fight this guy, probably win handily if the other two fights were anything to go by, but that would be giving this Time… Not Eater… Ruler? Usurper? Whatever, exactly what he wanted.
But clearly Sonic had said the wrong thing as the green hedgehog simply chuckled darkly. "Whatever beef? What's the matter, blue, I hit your head a bit too hard?" He laughs louder. "I'm gonna beat you down until you ain't moving, then I'm gonna find the guy who dragged me here, and properly thank him for giving me the chance to kill you by taking whatever power he's got for myself." The Green Hedgehog didn't wait for Sonic to reply, spin dashing right towards Sonic's face, which Sonic quickly sidestepped.
Sonic didn't have time for this, and started running towards the Chaos Emerald again, but the green hedgehog slammed into the back of Sonic's head, kicking him into the dirt, his face now a twisted snarl. "Don't you ignore me ya piece of Crap!"
Sonic grit his teeth and turned around. "Alright, fine!" Sonic boosted straight at the leather jacket wearing hedgehog, and the split second widening of his blue eyes showed that he wasn't expecting Sonic to move that quickly. Sonic spun around in the boost, roundhouse kicking the guy multiple times, before landing as a ball and bouncing right back up and smacking him in the face, knocking him into the air, before Sonic flips over and kicks him right back into the ground.
The green hedgehog pulls himself out of the puddle he landed in, but just smirks up at Sonic. "There we go Blue, now we got a real fight, pissed you've been holding back on me, but now you can give me a real fight. No interruptions or help or anything. Just you and me!" A bit of green energy crackled over him as he ran at Sonic, and swung at him, throwing punches and kicks Sonic could only barely dodge.
Sonic had very rarely ever fought anyone as fast as he was. Metal Sonic and Shadow being the only two who got close. But this guy, well, the guy wearing the Time Eater was right, it was like looking in a funhouse mirror. Blue eyes and Green fur, same quills, same height… Who was this guy? Did he have an actual evil twin back on Mobius?
"Hey, Green Sonic, I-"
Evidently that was the wrong thing to say as the Green Hedgehog literally snarled at him and finally got a few good licks in, smacking Sonic across the face, grabbing him and kneeing him, before pushing Sonic against a Tree.
"NO! Not Anti-Sonic, Not Evil Sonic, Not Green Sonic! I'm Scourge! Scourge the Hedgehog! And I'm done being your cosmic punchline!" Scourge threw Sonic against another tree and elbowed him in the gut, damn, this guy hit like a truck. Sonic narrowly ducked under another punch, which caused splinters to fly from the tree.
Sonic spin dashed out under Scourge and kicked him in the back of the head for good measure. Sonic turned around and double kicked the guy under his chin and backflipped away from a wild right hook Scourge threw out at Sonic. "Okay Scourge! Got it, sorry! Jeez!" He couldn't believe he had an actual evil twin, it was something out of comic book, or one of those lame superhero TV shows back in the day.
"You know, if you really don't want to be just Evil Me? Maybe do some good? Like just letting me get the Chaos Emerald?" Sonic suggested, but clearly that was also the wrong thing to say as Scourge crackled with more green energy and charged at Sonic. Spin dashing Sonic straight through another tree.
"I'm nothing like you! Nothing! Understand Blue? I'm no good!" He then smirks. "But all that energy you had when running… Gotta admit that one was pretty cool, but I can do it better!" Scourge got into a runner's pose and smirked dangerously. "My turn Blue!" Scourge boosted towards Sonic and Sonic quickly got to his feet and boosted straight back at him.
BOOM!
"I sent you? From the future?" Rotor asked Nicole, they were sitting with each other, watching the water of the river disappear into nothingness of the White Void.
"Yeah… Not that it much matters anymore…" Nicole sighs, unsure why she is even bothering with her holographic form. Mobius was gone, their home, their friends, their lives. Only New Mobotropolis was all that was left and it was apparently suffering in the middle of the desert with Geoffery St. John making everyone suffer. Which didn't add up at all, but with everything that had happened, who knows. Everything felt so pointless. "What was it all for? All the fighting, trying to save Mobius from Robotnik, fighting for freedom, if it was all going to end… What if my being there didn't help, but hurt, changed the course of events so that Mobius was destroyed! What if-"
"Nicole, don't say that, New Mobotropolis is still out there, if it could survive, maybe others could have too, they might not remember us, but they are our friends." Rotor tried to reassure Rotor, but his voice wavered and cracked. "We just need to find them. Furthermore you didn't do anything wrong, you fought hard with us against the tyranny of a horrible monster. There are people alive in New Mobotropolis right now who wouldn't be if not for you! You are not responsible for any of this! Eggman is, if what Mina says Naugus showed was true, then Eggman ruined everything, and would rather have had Sonic make an unrecognizable world than return it to normal."
Nicole shakes her head. "But what about your memory?" She asks Rotor, who looks a little perplexed. "You said Sonic came to New Mobotropolis and took me away, that I was saying things you didn't understand. What if Sonic needed me to stop Eggman from messing him up? What if I failed to stop him and that's why Mobius is gone!" She goes over to her PDA and looks down at herself. "Why can't I remember what happened? Why can't I-" She froze as her eyes flashed green, then pink, as she gripped her head.
Rotor rushed over. "Nicole? NICOLE?!"
"Partial Memory Unlocked." Nicole stated, her voice completely monotone and mechanical. On her viewscreen, Rotor was able to watch as he saw Sonic, all rainbow colored, grabbing Nicole.
- "NO!!!" Sonic's voice shouted, catching the holo-lynx as she crumpled to the ground. Her left eye was wide in shock and terror as it stared up at him. "Nicole! Nicole, please no!!"
"E-ERROR! ERROR! S-SonKRSCH!" Nicole spat out, her voice switching between normal and robotic randomly. "DATA CORRUP-I'm trying to…DATA STORED FOR RECOVERY…!" and the most terrifying horrifying distorted maniacal laughter echoed forth from somewhere off-screen -
But before the being could fully come into view, Nicole suddenly came out of it, her holographic form winking out of existence, Rotor quickly picking up the PDA. "Nicole, what was that?" He asked worriedly. "That… That wasn't Eggman laughing."
"I…I don't know… Is… Is this what exhaustion feels like Rotor? All my systems seem to be in low-power mode." Nicole managed to get out sluggishly. Even her voice module was softer.
"Take it easy Nicole, I don't think you should try and force anymore memories. But… Whatever it was that happened, it's not your fault. Okay?" Rotor affirmed.
"O-o-okay Rotor… W-we should find… Find Mina…" Nicole managed to get out, her core… well she couldn't feel pain… but this is what she assumed a headache would feel like.
"Yeah." Rotor said, clipping Nicole to his side. He had more questions now than answers, as per usual, but whatever happened between Nicole and Sonic was in those memories, and he would find a way to unlock them, to save his friends, and his home. That's what Sonic would do, Sonic wouldn't give up, and neither would he. Sonic faced something, something that Rotor felt in his bones was beyond anything like Eggman, and he still fought, Rotor had to at least try. That's what Freedom Fighters did, damn it! He headed into the Forest to find Mina, pulling Nicole's handheld out to try and decrypt the data. He would do what he did best, figure things out!
Sonic groaned as he picked himself up off the ground, shaking his head as he looked around at the bent and knocked over trees of Deerwood Forest. "Okay… Never doing that again… Ow…" Sonic shook his head, shaking the leaves from his quills, and just barely managed to dodge the punch that was flung at him. Sonic took a step back and glared at Scourge. "Are you kidding me, learn to take a break guy!"
"What's the matter Blue? Too tired? Need a nap?" Scourge taunted, but it was clear he was shaken a bit from the force of the impact, more than Sonic was. Scourge wasn't used to the power of Boosting and he was panting harder than Sonic was.
"Look Scourge, I don't remember anything. Not you. Not the Freedom Fighters. Not Mobius. None of it! Whatever I did or you did, I don't remember it!" Sonic explained, trying to get through to Scourge.
"Yeah right, like I'm gonna fall for that. You seriously gonna tell me that you don't remember the time I took over your Freedom HQ, or when you and Stripes had to team up to take me down, or when I stole your girl?" He said with an evil smirk.
"... Wait… I dated more than one girl on Mobius?" Sonic asked, unsure how he felt about that information. Two different people had managed to convince him to go on dates? Maybe he really was more different from his other self than he thought. "Because from what you've shown and from what Nicole explained to me about my past life, I don't really think you are Sally's type."
This one threw Scourge for a loop. "The hell are you talking about? Fi, you idiot! Fiona Fox! I got her, and your place, and even nearly busted up your Dad!" Scourge bragged, but Sonic just looked at him blankly.
"Huh… She must have had really bad taste if she decided to be with you then." Sonic teased right back, before laughing a little. "And you nearly busted up my dad… which means you failed…" Sonic laughed a little harder, before stopping and tilting his head. "I mean, we've been fighting for a bit here, you're pretty tough, but if you couldn't beat my dad on Mobius, that must mean that he's even tougher than us…" Sonic hadn't thought about what his parents were like since he was a little kid, before even meeting Egghead for the first time… But now there were people who knew them, and an explanation about where they were, and he could find them in New Mobotropolis, and-
"STOP IGNORING ME!" Scourge spat out as he tried to punch Sonic, but the blue blur sidestepped it easily. "And Fiona has great taste! She picked me over your goody two-shoes crap!"
"Sorry, it's just, ever since I got here, I've had a few things on my mind. Haven't really had a chance to think hard on them, and well, now seems as good a time as any, right?" Sonic smirked, Scourge only getting more pissed. The Blue Blur was able to dodge Scourge's blows a lot easier now. A combo of Scourge's exhaustion and his anger making him predictable and sluggish.
"I'll rattle those memories loose from your head when I crack your skull open!" Scourge vowed as he continued to try and punch Sonic, but his swings were getting slower, and soon enough, Scourge fell to his knees, panting hard. "Wh-What the?"
"Hey, this was a good fight, but you used a lot of energy in that Boost, way more than you need to. Your body needs rest, before you tear a muscle." Sonic explains.
Scourge glares up at Sonic, before looking away. "You really don't remember anything?"
"Nope! But I'm still gonna help everyone get out of here, stop the guy who dragged us all here. Including you." Sonic promised. "Look, I'm not gonna pretend like I know what you're going through, or what you've been through. But the guy the universe decided you had to be the evil twin of is gone now. Yeah, I'm here, but I'm not the same guy you had to reflect. You are your own person Scourge, free to do whatever you want to. You and I, we don't have any problems, and we don't have to have any. Whatever the universe said you had to do or be, they don't get to decide, you do. So… Can we stop fighting? I really need to get that Chaos Emerald to stop this guy."
Scourge didn't move, and certainly didn't look up at Sonic for a while. He just sat there on his knees, looking down at the rain puddle reflecting his own face back at him. "... Whatever I wanna do huh?" Scourge muttered under his breath. "Whoever I wanna be…" Scourge stood up and looked at Sonic, his eyes narrow. "I wanna be… The guy that… Beats you to a PULP!" He ran at Sonic, but the Blue Hedgehog leaped over him, and bounced down on his head, and bounced down on him again, and again, and again.
Sonic bounces off Scourge and looks down at the unconscious hedgehog sighing. He was sure he had gotten through to him, but some people took a bit longer to get through. Still, he hoped Scourge would listen to his advice. He picked up the Green Hedgehog and set him down seated against a Tree, away from the puddles and in a particularly dry spot. "See ya Scourge, better luck with the fight next time."
Sonic turned around and zoomed straight to the Emerald, leaping on the container and grabbing the Cyan Emerald, before heading off. Not noticing the purple portal sending Scourge away.
Rotor and Mina looked at the statue of Antoine. "I hope he is from my time, or beyond, because… I really don't want to have to explain everything again." Mina sighed.
Sonic rushed in, Cyan Emerald in hand. "Chaos Emerald number 4 guys." Sonic said, tossing it up and grabbing. He saw Rotor, but no Nicole. "Hey, how are you guys holding up?"
Rotor sighed but looked Sonic determined. "It's a lot to take in, but we can't figure anything out or help anyone by sitting around."
Sonic grinned and nodded. "That's what I like to hear man! What did you find out?"
Rotor looked at Nicole's PDA and shook his head. "Nothing concrete, But I think someone else other than Eggman might be responsible for Mobius becoming Earth."
Sonic raised an eyebrow. "How'd you figure that?"
"Nicole remembered something, you were in that unknown rainbow colored form that I remember from New Mobotropolis, and something… laughed… It didn't sound anything like Eggman." Rotor explained. "It took a lot out of Nicole, she's taking it easy."
Mina looked at Rotor. "Unknown rainbow form? The thing Geoffrey showed us was Super Sonic."
"Which means either St. John was lying, or we don't have the full story…" Rotor looks down at the PDA. "And someone doesn't want Nicole telling us the full story."
Sonic sighed, but smiled as he saw color return to Mercia. He walked over to Rotor to be there as color returned to Antoine. Who drove his sword down, causing the three to leap back.
"SERVING KING AND Country?" Antoine stumbled and fell flat on his face as the momentum of his sword swing with no impact caused him to fall. "What?! Where?! How?!" Antoine picked himself up and looked at the assembled group with clear and obvious confusion. "Rotor? Sonic? M-Mina? What is going on?! Where is Bunnie? Where is ze King? Where is Metal Sonic and Ze Princess? Where-"
Rotor cut Antoine off by putting his hands on his shoulders, tears pricking at the edges of his eyes and he realizes exactly when Antoine is from. "Hey buddy, it's been a while… I… We have got a lot of things to explain, and none of it is good. I need you to calm down and listen. Okay?" Rotor's eyes were intense, filled with tears, and Antoine looked scared, but took a deep breath and nodded.
"Oui, my friend. Tell me what has happened." Antoine replied.
"It's really good to see you again, 'Twan" Rotor sighed, then turning to Mina and Sonic, before pulling up Nicole's handheld and beginning to explain the situation.
Antoine's sword was safely sheathed, but Antoine was gripping the hilt in a deathgrip, his eyes were screwed shut as tears fell from his eyes. He couldn't believe what he was hearing, everything was gone. Everything but New Mobotropolis. Even his beloved wife was gone. His whole world, his home, everything he had fought for, That Antoine himself apparently fell into a Coma for…
"And then the big guy said something along the lines of everyone being brought here to cause us the most pain. That my memories had met their End, just like the zone. Then he summoned Scourge the Hedgehog, apparently my evil twin or something? To fight me. Had to kick his ass to get this." Sonic finished explaining, holding out the Cyan Chaos Emerald.
"... So. Everyone outside the city, they have been this… how you say… rebooting? Oui? Like Sonic and Tails." Antoine asked, his voice measured as he wiped away the tears.
"Yeah, That… That's right." Mina answered, putting a hand on his shoulder, but he pulled it away.
"And Bunnie, Mon Amour, she was out of the city when zis Super Genesis Wave hit?" Antoine asked, his voice was steely.
"As far as we know, yeah." Rotor also moves to Antoine, but he pushes past Rotor and looks Sonic dead in the eye.
"Zen she is on your Earth! Oui? Bunnie Rabbot D'Coolette! She exists there right?! She is safe and alive and we can find her? Oui? Mon amour est vivant, en sécurité et vivant, oui?" Antoine grabbed Sonic shoulders, begging practically as he gripped the hedgehog, partially for emphasis, mostly for support as he felt his legs were made of jelly.
Sonic thought for a second, before grim recognition hit him in the face, and Antoine instantly picked up on it. "Bunnie Rabbot?" Sonic asked.
"Yes! My Wife! You know her? What has happened to her?" Antoine begged, and Sonic sighed as he remembered the last time he ran into Bunnie.
"She's… a Hooligan." Sonic explained, to the confused faces of Antoine, Rotor, and Mina. "She works with Fang and Bean and Bark stealing stuff."
Antoine's eyes widened. "Bean and Bark… Nack! She… She works with Nack? As a criminal?" He looked like he was gonna faint, throw up, or both. "Oh, oh non, elle ne le ferait pas, elle ne pouvait pas faire ça. She is a good person, ze best, she never would…" Tears fell freely from Antoine's eyes as he began to fall to his knees, Sonic and Rotor quickly moving to help him up, but Rotor wasn't looking much better. "How… How could this happen?"
"We don't know yet Ant, but we are going to find out. First we need to get out of the White Space, once we do, I'll find everyone and we can work on saving what we can." Rotor states, and Antoine, sighing, shakes his head and nods. "Who we can…"
"Right, Mon Amour would not want us to be doing ze moping about. Put me to work Sonic, I will do whatever it takes to see my beloved again. Whoever she is now, " Antoine said, struggling a little, but managing to stand at attention.
Sonic sighed and nodded. "Right, Nicole, what's our heading?" Sonic asked, looking at the PDA, but it was silent. "Yo Nicole, you okay in there?" Sonic asked, tapping the PDA. Sonic took the PDA from Rotor and opened it up.
Suddenly a large spark of green and pink came from the device and hit Sonic square in the forehead, making Sonic nearly drop Nicole as he grabbed his head. "OW? Nicole?"
The holo-lynx appeared, and floated over to Sonic. "Oh Sonic, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-" She cut herself off as she turned to look at Antoine. "Antoine! Oh Antoine, You're okay!" She smiled, to which Antoine gave a tired smile of his own.
"Hello Nicole, it is good to see you too. Sonic, are you okay?" The Freedom Fighter's attention all turned to Sonic, who was still gripping his head.
"Y-yeah I'm fine, just gonna have a headache for a while." Sonic said, quickly shaking away the pain. "What happened Nicole?"
"I… I was trying to force open the memory files…" Nicole looked down, a little ashamed, which only got worse when Rotor glared.
"Nicole! I told you to take it easy, you were forced into low-power mode by doing that! What if you lose them entirely! We have to do it right!" Rotor chastised, his voice laced with worry.
"We needed answers, the answers are there! I had to do something… Something to make up for how I failed." Nicole looked down.
"Failed? What do you mean?" Mina asked, quickly moving to her side, wanting to support Nicole as best she could this time.
"I don't know, it's just… a feeling, it came to me same with the memory, but Sonic took me from New Mobotropolis for a reason, you needed my help for a reason, and in that memory Sonic was holding me, I could see chunks of my data distorting and floating away, whatever I was supposed to do… I failed, and everyone else paid the price for it." Nicole looked down. "I have to find out what happened to me…"
"Non." Antoine's voice was clear and crisp, with no room for argument "Mon Amour and Moi Princess would never wish for you to blame yourself for what has happened. You know zis. All of zis, it is ze fault of Eggman and Zis Time Usurper, and whoever zat figure was in your mémoire. You are not to blame, you fought, and fought hard I am sure. Sonic would not have asked you to help if you could not."
"But… Bunnie, she…" But Antoine shook his head, cutting her off.
"My wife... her spirit lives on. And Ze Bunnie of earth, she… She is still Bunnie, still a good person, zis I know, she may only be working with zese so called Hooligans because she must, or is undercover, or another reason. And even if not, I know she is still trying to do the right thing, even if she cannot right now. I believe in her… She may not be my wife, but I will always care for Bunnie."
Nicole teared up and nodded, floating over to Antoine and trying to hug him, but just floating through. "... I'm never going to remember that I don't have my nanites, am I?" Nicole joked, which thankfully got a light chuckle from everyone, except Sonic who was still rubbing the spot she zapped him. "Sonic, are you sure you're okay?"
Sonic looked at Nicole and just gave a thumbs up. "Yeah, just a headache, I'm fine, So! Where's that next Emerald?"
Nicole nodded. "Right, I'm picking up Chaos Emerald reading's this way." She pointed southwest. "Let's move Freedom Fighters!"
Sonic led the group, and not just because he was the fastest, although that was true, but to avoid being asked anymore questions about his getting zapped. He rubbed his forehead again. Nicole's zap… He remembered something…
- "Eggman! Cut it out, ya nut! You're…" The super hedgehog hissed out as he narrowed his eyes. He needed to focus! "…Gonna… Mess… Me… Up…!"
Eggman let out a snarl of all things and shouted, "If I can't have the universe my way, then you won't have it at all!!"
Despite everything, that one line caused Sonic to look at Eggman. There was drool coming out of his mouth as his lips widened into a hateful grimace. His mustache was messed up, and his glasses slid down his nose… to reveal black and red eyes.
Those… were new. They weren't anywhere in Sonic's memories. "What happened to you, doc?"
"No, stupid! Ignore him! You have a freakin' universe to save!! Two of them if you count Blaze's!!"
Sonic turned his attention back to his Chaos Control, and his eyes widened. Nothing about it was under control. It was cracked, fractured, and wild. Chaos energy was erupting like lightning bolts in random parts, just waiting to burst. If he delayed this any longer, then nothing would be saved!
"Aw man!" The hedgehog hissed, wincing as he shouted, "Here goes nothing…! CHAOS CONTROL!!"
The green energy shot out towards the white light, reality itself warping as it approached the Super Genesis Wave.
"No you don't! FIRE!!"
"NO!"
And the Universe cracked.
"That…" Whatever it was, it seemed to drive the crazy right out of Eggman. "…that doesn't look right… What is that?"
"Oh." Sonic looked back at Eggman and saw that his glasses fell. "Oh my stars and garters."
"Ivo…" Sonic didn't know why he called the doctor by his real name, but… he still did. "…What did you do?"-
Sonic shook his head, that was the clearest memory that spark hit him with. He saw flecks and flashes of other things, An Echidna with a sword, Nicole in his arms missing an eye, A metal looking rabbit giving him a hug, a robot hedgehog with a cowlick and a hedgehog woman with a blonde streak, an old hedgehog with a moustache, a dog, a guitar, a flag, Tails… as a baby? and something big and blackened and evil… and a girl, she was a squirrel? Chipmunk? One of the two, with brown fur and a blue vest, and boots and… Sonic blushed as he remembered she wasn't wearing pants or even a shirt, and… for some reason, remembering her made Sonic feel… Something. His heartbeat was different, his feet wanted to move quicker, his eyes felt just a bit wet… Who was she?
Sonic knew he should probably say something to Nicole, that these memories hit him just now, but it's not like they were hurting him or slowing him down, he was fine compared to how everyone else was doing, they had to focus on getting the Chaos Emeralds. Sonic needed to save them, and they needed Sonic to focus.
"Sonic, you okay? You've been really quiet, not really like you." Mina asked, running up to the Hedgehog, who quickly pulled his hand away from his head.
"Yeah, I'm fine, I told you guys, you don't have to worry about me, I've taken much bigger hits than a little zap to the head." Sonic wrapped his arms around the back of his head as they walked.
"That might be true, but this guy who trapped us all here, he wants you to suffer, that's what you said, he is doing all of this because he blames you for… well… everything…" Mina countered.
"Yeah, and I'll get a straight answer outta him next time I see him. If he wants me to suffer, he's done a really bad job of it." Sonic kept up his cool, looking up at the white void. "If anyone has been suffering, it's you guys… and I'm sorry. I promise to get you guys outta here."
Mina looked at Sonic worriedly. She knew that he didn't really know her, and she only knew him on Mobius, not Earth, but… She knew he wasn't telling the full truth. "Sonic, you know we are in this together. We're all Freedom Fighters right? You can talk to me."
Sonic sighed and shook his head, before smiling at Mina. "Thanks Mina, I appreciate it, but I'm good!"
Sonic turned around to look at Rotor, who was pushing buttons on Nicole's PDA, while Nicole was talking with Antoine, he turned back around to see chalk white buildings approaching them. "Yo! Nicole, where are we now?"
Nicole looked up and floated towards the architecture. "Huh, this looks like… Albion…The city the Echidnas moved to after the destruction of Echidnaopolis." Nicole said, examining the buildings.
"BUNNIE" Antoine suddenly yelled, running to the statue in the middle of the square. Completely frozen in time was the shape of Bunnie Rabbot, long hair, stetson, vest, but something about the statue felt odd, it looked really really smooth, and the stetson was casting the face in total shadow, even when Nicole shone a light on it. "Oh, Mon Amour, what happened? Was zis how I was trapped?" Antoine asked.
"Yeah, everyone kinda looked like this, but it's weird, this one is different. Why can't we see her face?" Sonic asked, hopping up to try and get a better look, but it was no use. Still, he remembered the Bunnie that he ran into before having short hair… "Antoine, you know she might be-"
"Oui. I know zere is the possibility that she is ze Bunnie of your earth, but until we are seeing zis for ze truth, until she is free, I choose hope. I will be staying here until she is free." He said, holding the statuesque form of Bunnie Rabbot's hand.
"Right, you guys should probably stay too, I'll head in and handle whatever this guy wants to throw at me next." Sonic moves to enter the largest building, when Mina grabs his arm. "Hold on, Only one of us has to stay right? Shouldn't some of us come with you? Maybe we can help even out the fight!"
Rotor scratches the back of his head. "Without my Nanite Suit, I wouldn't be much help. There's no way I can keep up with Sonic."
Mina sighed but turned to look at Sonic, determined. "I'm pretty fast, you even taught me your figure 8 peel-out, I can-" But Sonic shook his head.
"Sorry, I really appreciate it, but I outsped my peel-out a long time ago. Trust me, it's safer and faster if I do it alone. Trust me, I've got this!" Sonic gave Mina a thumbs up, but Mina was starting to see past the heroic shield Sonic was putting up, she just barely noticed it before, but it was getting more and more apparent that Sonic wasn't handling this as well as he said he did.
"... Fine, but… Be careful Sonic… Please." Mina said, before finally relenting and moving back to Bunnie's unmoving form.
"Heh, I'll do my best." Sonic said, as he zoomed into Albion proper.
Sonic ran through the streets of the abandoned echidna city, running past abandoned markets, empty street corners, and even through empty buildings. Everywhere Sonic went, it looked less like the city had been empty, and more like someone had just come in and removed everyone. He even ran through an apartment that still had warm dinners set out and the TV still on. "I should have asked more about Albion before running in, huh S-" Sonic cut himself off as he turned around, finding nobody there. "Right, running solo." Sonic shook his head, unsure whose name was on the tip of his tongue just then.
Sonic ran through the eerily quiet streets until he hit a massive town square. Suddenly purple force fields covered every possible exit from the square, and round disks like robots descended from the sky, blasting laser shots down at Sonic, which he easily sidestepped. He ran around the square, leaping up to break through each of the spinning disk like robots… Huh, this felt familiar, just like in the other areas, he's… he's done this before… right? He shook it off as another shot a laser down at Sonic, smash bots first, deal with deja vu later.
When Sonic blew up the last of the robots, he smirked down at the broken bits of metal as they slowly vanished along with the force fields. "No sweat, did you see that Sa… Sal…" Sonic stared at an empty spot, his chest feeling a bit tight. Sal... his body moved to the empty spot, his arms shaking slightly as he shook his head, closed his eyes, and then quickly went running off down one of the streets.
Sonic wasn't a fan of just sitting around or moving slowly, but as he ran by a beach, he couldn't help but stop and look out at a blazing sunset, those memories that got shot into his head surfacing again, that girl… Sally… That's her name, that's the name that was on the tip of his tongue.
Nicole had said they had dated, that apparently they loved each other, and that Sonic would do anything to save her. Sonic had to admit, she was pretty, but Sonic didn't have much memory of her, just the few flashes that zap put in his head. Them hugging while an Eggman base blew up in the background, Them walking hand in hand through what had to be New Mobotropolis? And… Them kissing each other as they leaped from the Tornado.
Sonic sighed, and then shook his head, his brain was telling him that he didn't know his girl, that she was from a world that didn't exist anymore, that all he wanted to do was save her, just like the rest of the Freedom Fighters…
But he could feel it in his legs that wanted to run to her, he could feel it in his arms that wanted to hold her close, he could feel it in his chest, his heart skipping a beat. There was a feeling that ran so deep that Sonic didn't know what to do with it. Sonic hadn't felt like this before, towards anyone, not even Amy… Was how close they were really strong enough to cross universes? Or was this just the effect of that Zap?
Sonic gripped his head and shook it, messing up his fur and quills, kicking up sand as he groaned. What was wrong with him? He shouldn't be worrying about this right now! He had new… old… Ugh! Friends who needed him! A whole city who needed him right now. He needed to focus on that!
"Suffering Hedgehog?" A now unwelcomely familiar voice called. Sonic grimaced as he turned to face the Time Usurper, who was holding the Red Chaos Emerald in his hand. "Good, so much for the punishments being ineffective. You deserve much worse for your failure to save the Zone."
Sonic let out a short "Tch" and shook his head. "I don't remember that. But if what everyone is telling me is true, I really am responsible for a whole bunch of worlds being destroyed… Then I'm sorry. But then torture me! Leave my friend's alone!" Sonic argued, but the figure simply laughed.
"Hedgehog, your friends, your loved ones, they are your weakness, they are your pain, one could not begin to torture you without also making them suffer along side you. Your punishment is best created by punishing them." The Time Usurper flourished his cloak, the pained screech of the Time Eater echoed, so loud that it nearly knocked Sonic off his feet. "This is why you were always favored Hedgehog, so entertaining."
Sonic winced, he felt bad for the Time Eater at this point. "Let my friends, and the Time Eater, go!" Sonic ordered, jumping at the Time Usurper, but Sonic was knocked away by one of his floating hands. He bounced off a lamp post and landed on his feet. "Come on! At least tell me who you are under there! Who knows, maybe that'll add to my suffering or something?!"
"No… not yet. But soon. For now, I leave you with your greatest foe Hedgehog… Machines and Men could not stop you… So now you shall face a God!" He summoned another portal, where a red echidna woman in black leathers holding a whip fell out, falling to her knees.
"Wha- Sonic the Hedgehog? Where…" Her eyes widened as she saw her surroundings. "Albion?" Her voice cracked slightly seeing the Echidna home. But she didn't have much time to say much else, as the Time Usurper held her in place with ethereal purple hands, those same hands held back Sonic. "What?! Let me GO!" the woman glared up at the Time Usurper.
The Time Usurper holds the red chaos emerald in front of him. "The Servants are the Seven Chaos. Chaos is Power, controlled by my Will. The Controller exists to Enslave the Chaos!" pitch black energy filled the Chaos Emerald, and then fell into the Echidna's hand, whose eyes widened. "Wait-"
But whatever she was going to say as she was cut off, blue and yellow and white fabrics replacing her black leathers, her whip becoming golden with chaos energy, and a golden helm adorned her head as she transformed against her will.
"She is far weaker than the version you faced in the skies above Angel Island, what with your failure to preserve the Chaos Force, but she shall still be strong enough to give even you a run for your money Hedgehog." The Time Usurper gloated.
"Enerjak, Sonic the Hedgehog is responsible for the loss of your power. He allowed the great chaos force to be destroyed, and your power to be lost to the echoes of time. He even permitted your enemies to escape to a new world… He is your enemy now!" The Time Usurper claimed, before vanishing into a portal, laughing cruelly and maniacally.
Sonic was let go by the hands and looked up at the woman, who cracked her whip. "... DESTROY!" She screamed, her mind lost to chaos and the dark and evil spirit of Enerjak!
To Be Continued…
