Chapter Text
“Prepare yourself, Sonic...!” There is a well-paced sequence of steps aboard the Egg Carrier, their metallic melody backed by the harmonious sounds of unknown liquids bubbling in glass tanks. Dr. Eggman speaks again, talking to no one in particular as he thoroughly eyeballs readings on a monitor. He clenches his fists and grins maliciously, brimming with a childlike enthusiasm. For him, it's a very good day.
“I've poured all my hatred for you into this one project. My ultimate weapon is now complete!” The doctor turns to face one of the glass tanks, peering into it and practically frothing at the mouth as he ponders the eerie figure floating within it. There is a triangular jewel-like object on its chest, which glows a sickly red and pulsates uncomfortably.
“Every defeat...every humiliation… with this creation, I’ll pay it all back, ten-thousandfold!”
He faces the monitor again. “...This is my dream come true. With this invention, I’ll be able to build Eggmanland… no, the Eggman Empire… and conquer the world!” Stuck in his hubris, the mad doctor cackles loudly, turning away from the big glass chamber with Orbot and Cubot in tow.
“The boss means business this time.”
“Uh-huh...”
Within the tank a hand tightens and a head tilts down to reveal one yellow eye, sharp and full of malice.
“So you say you don’t know what’s going on either?” Knuckles taps his chin, trying his best to make sense of what he’s hearing. He walks over to the Master Emerald and props himself on top of it.
“N-no, I don’t! I just know it’s bad, real bad! You said it yourself - Chaos is normally harmless. He wouldn’t just attack you for no reason! And Pachacamac’s village… it appeared out of thin air...” Silver’s shaking a little, but he’s balling his hands into tight fists and squeezing his palms, probably in an attempt to ease some of his nervous tension. It seems to work. “This all has to tie into the calamity that’s about to befall us!”
“Calamity? What’re you saying?”
Silver plants his feet on the ground and looks up at Knuckles with a stern expression. “Something happens in this time that brings the world to ruin. I don’t know what happens, or how it happens, just that it’s something... and it happens. My future was so bright and peaceful before... but I just woke up one day and found myself in a different world entirely. Our true future, apparently. I'm guessing all the jumping back and forth between time periods has made my perception kind of unstable, and it took until now for reality to catch up to me.”
“You… what? Reality?” The echidna scratches his head.
“I-I mean, it’s like… like a refresh. Does that make sense? My lag from traveling to the past wore off, and my future refreshed itself, basically. A new future based on the way things are supposed to happen now. And it’s not pleasant…” He places a hand on his head, looking at the ground with a solemn face. For a brief moment the hedgehog squints his eyes and they slowly roll to the left, and then to the right, as if he's questioning if his very presence is a figment of his imagination. "Everything was barren and ruined, almost completely empty. The libraries were all destroyed, so I didn't have any luck finding records on the events, and the ones I could find were barely readable.”
“An unknown threat, huh.” Knuckles is deep in thought, trying his hardest to wrap his mind around the intricate concepts brought up by the traveler. “And you don't have any idea what it could be?”
"My future only gave me one clue, from some wreckage I found - it has something to do with Eggman, as you probably could have guessed. But I don't know what role he plays, exactly. It doesn't make sense for Sonic to just lose to Eggman all of a sudden, unless there was something else... or someone else." Silver sighs. "So of course, I traveled back here to hopefully steer off what's happening and save the future. I'm thankful that Little Planet showed up when it did.”
“...And so you came to me. If something happened on the surface, I wouldn’t have known until it was too late.” Knuckles hops off of the Emerald and folds his arms, understanding the gravity of the situation. "Maybe my involvement is crucial to saving the world, then.”
Silver tightens his lips. “I wish I could say I knew that for sure. Being a Guardian, I just thought you should be the first to know. Since you wouldn’t have known before, it’s entirely possible that your participating could change things for the better.”
“Ahuh...” Knuckles is contemplative for a moment. "Well, it's good to see you, Silver. Heck, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you just love coming back to see us!"
“I really do, to be honest,” Silver replies, smiling. "It's always great to see you guys again. But believe me when I say I'm not jumping to the past again just to say hi. I'm here to save my future. Your future. That comes first.”
“Well... we don’t want to waste any more time then.” Knuckles raises a fist, unruffled. “We’ll bring everyone together to face Eggman and this thing that ruined your future. Whatever’s going on, I’ll lead them all against it!”
The hedgehog grins, taken back by Knuckles’ boldness. “I-I don’t know if all that’s really necessary, but I’m really glad to have your help. I guess a little preparation never hurt anything… Let’s gather the others, then, quickly!”