Chapter Text
…
There was a flash of light…
and then he was somewhere…
...new?
...but familiar!
He’d met all these new friends…
Tails.
Antoine.
Rotor.
...Sally.
...but, he already knew them all?
There was this huge fight, and then…
The Death Egg.
Robotnik.
Chaotic energies.
Writings on the wall.
“Hi, Sal.”
...He needed more time to...
...save…
Sal-
Sally died.
Sally died.
Sally died.
Sally got robotici--
The universe took a sudden step to the left.
He came to in the bowels of the Death Egg.
To say that reorienting himself from a universal shift was the easiest thing he’d ever done would have been a bold-faced lie. But, Sonic had been hit harder before, and had found his footing just as quickly.
…Why did he need to recover so quickly? Who did he need to--
The white spots blinked away, and awareness came hurtling back to him.
“SALLY!”
And, for a horrifying split-second, Sonic feared he might once again hear those three fatal shots that prematurely ended Sally’s life (had? would have? will?) before the last remnants of the white pinged in the back of his mind, one last gift from him to him.
Right, the ten second rewind!
His gamble had paid off. He’d been given a second chance.
It’d be a bad spot on his record if he went and wasted it.
Sonic acted as soon as the white light left his sight, smashing into his silver doppelganger before using it as a springboard, wasting no time as he kicked off it and hit the metal floor running, rushing towards the Acorn princess.
He spared a moment to turn back, flipping off Silver Sonic as he did. He doubted his doppleganger was programmed to care, but it felt cathartic. “No cheap shot for you!” Not this time.
Sally glanced back at the commotion, and Sonic nearly tripped over himself, green eyes locking on to blue.
…He’d wasted so much time, hadn’t he? Why’d he ever let her go?
“Sonic!” she yelled, “We’re out of time! We got toooo--”
“Up we go!”
“--oop!”
As much as he would have preferred to slow down for her, Sonic was acutely aware that there was no time to waste. So, in a movement so smooth his younger self would have envied it, Sonic swept his Princess off her feet, never once slowing. Sally’s hands almost immediately found themselves over his kneck, as if instinct. They had done this song and dance hundreds of times before, Sonic realized.
Then he looked down.
Bright blue eyes stared at him. His words died in his throat, if only for a moment.
I… shouldn’t take this for granted.
And, he wouldn’t. He’d savor every bit of this. Every bit of her .
For however long it lasted, this time.
Was this how Sally had felt, when he’d finally come back from space? He’d forgiven her for the slap a long time ago, but now he understood it.
He mentally slapped himself (and the irony did not escape him). Play the part. Keep her safe. Be the hero. See the day through.
The moment, almost eternal, passed in an instant, and Sonic winked. “Way ahead you, Sal!” he grinned, keeping his emotional turmoil to himself. Second chance he might have, now, but the memories of that alternate ten seconds had not left him. The fleshy thuds of metal piercing flesh rang through his head over and over, all the consequence of the fact that he hadn’t been way ahead.
Sally died. Sally died. Sally--
Sally’s alive. She’s alive, and she’ll stay that way, he swore. I promise.
The memories did not respond, but they abated. He’d take the compromise.
Racing down the hallway, Sonic took to the wall just as the chipmunk in his arms cried out a warning, speeding over that damned turret a split second before it fired again, dispatching the pursuing Silver Sonic as it appeared in the hallway. Inwardly, a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding was let out in relief.
“Like I said,” Sonic grinned, “way ahead of you, Sal.”
It was as much of a promise to her as it was to himself. A promise he’d do almost anything to keep, if it meant keeping that future at bay, that future that had been nothing but loss after loss after loss--
Sally died. Sally died. Sally died. Sally was-
Not this time, he cut himself off. Not now. Not ever. Not if I can help it.
Consumed in his own silence, he didn’t notice his Princess staring at a two-word text screen behind them, and the two carried on.
Something was… off.
Sally could have simply mistaken it as nerves, or looming dread, or the sterile lifelessness the Doctor always did his best to incorporate into every single creation… but, it wasn’t that.
Something was missing.
But, she didn’t have time to dwell on that, not now. That could come later.
(She thought back to the green screen she had seen but a scant few moments earlier. She set the thought aside.)
Sonic halted at the next elevator, gently placing Sally down, stepping back and scanning their surroundings for possible threats while the princess plugged NICOLE into a nearby terminal.
“Okay, it looks like most of the Death Egg’s power is being directed to a deck below here,” the princess murmured. “Any idea what it is, Nicole?”
The A.I. in the handheld computed the query for a moment before giving her the digital equivalent to shaking her head.
_I’M AFRAID THE DOCTOR’S SYSTEM IS VERY SECURE
_IT WAS VERY DIFFICULT TO JUST GET THAT MUCH INFORMATION
_I NEED MORE TIME
Sally nodded, before pressing the elevator button down, and with a ding, the lift doors opened. She hated going into the fray without some knowledge beforehand, but…
“Time which we don’t have, unfortunately. We’ll just go down and see what’s taking up so much power.” They would make it up on the fly. It wouldn’t be the first time, she doubted it would be the last. “We’ll make do.”
Moving towards, she made for the elevator’s open doors, only to flinch back when Sonic sped past her and practically spun on the spot inside. “Hold it, hidden cannon inspection!”
Raising an eyebrow at that, Sally waited until Sonic had done his ‘inspection’ before joining him, giving him a look. “...Hidden cannon?”
“Yeah,” Sonic nodded. “Like the one in the hallway. Why?”
Sally blinked, white spots flickering just out of sight. Glimpses of… something flashed rapidly through her mind, but they fled just as quickly as they appeared.
She set the thoughts aside, shaking her head. “Nothing, just... pre-mission jitters.”
Sonic frowned, a glint in his eye that she could not place, but then he shrugged, her excuse accepted. “If you say so…”
The elevator let out a ding! and the doors opened. Exiting, the two Mobians finally beheld Eggman’s coup de grâce, and Sally ceased moving.
It was larger than she remembered, far larger than any she had ever seen or ever wanted to see, but the design was similar enough that she would recognize it anywhere, had starred in enough nightmares that its visage was unforgettable, even if she tried.
Oh, no…
He scowled.
Sonic knew that tech-scheme, that design. It had been the bane of his friends and family for the better part of a decade, and only more recent horrors had pushed it from public memory.
“That…!”
Sally confirmed his suspicions, the Princess’s body tense, looking ready to spring in any direction. “That looks like a giant Roboticizer!”
And, indeed it was. Despite the last time he’d seen one being long ago, Sonic hadn’t forgotten what it looked like. Not something like that, no-- he could never forget, not with everything it had done to the world, and especially not knowing its history with his family.
“A World Roboticizer, to be precise.”
Both Freedom Fighters shifted into fighting stances as Doctor Eggman appeared from a chute above them, obviously tailored to his Egg Mobile, his iconic mad grin etched onto his mustache visage.
Under normal circumstances, Sonic would’ve laughed, would’ve mocked the doctor for seemingly forgetting the fact that Mobius, and everyone on it, was rendered immune to the effects of the Roboticizer.
But now?
Sally was-
Sonic wasn’t laughing. He knew better.
Lost in his mind for a moment, he missed the exchange of words shot between Sally and Robotnik, only refocusing when Eggman snapped his fingers.
“Yes, yes. Those bothersome Bem rewrote the rules of the game, but I change them back .” He chuckled. “Surely you noticed that flash of light? The momentary disorientation? Hah! That was just phase one!”
Sally scoffed. “You bluffing,” she spat out, though even to Sonic, it sounded weak. Not her voice, never her voice, no.
It was the bluff, or lack thereof. Because, s much as he hated admitting Eggman right…
“Everything did reset, didn’t it..?”
Everything he saw was real.
(a part of him, deep, deep inside, despaired. He had failed then, not just in one life, but in the altered one that had followed. He hadn’t been fast enough.
Not.
This.
Time. )
“Regardless, dear princess,” Eggman sneered, “tell me-- what happens when you try to roboticize something that’s already mechanical?”
...What?
Sonic turned to the princess at his side only to find she was staring off into nothing, horrified, and he got a sinking feeling in his stomach. “Sal? What’s he talking about?”
The chipmunk shivered, staring at the Doctor. “When- when I tricked him into Roboticizing my Automaton,” she started, eyes fearful, “he-- it--”
Robotnik cackled, the simulation on the screen behind him suddenly rippling with fire and smoke. “That’s right, rodents! It detonates! All of G.U.N.’s forces, all of the United Federation, blown back to the Stone Age! And lets not forget New Mobotropolis!”
It took him three seconds to connect the dots, before a fury-- the hottest he’d felt since the razing of Knothole-- roared to life in his chest.
He WOULDN’T. He couldn’t !
Mom, Dad, Uncle Chuck-- his family, his friends, everyone down there… even if the majority of the citizens had been deroboticized ages ago, the city- -
“Bunnie! And Nicole!” Sally, ike him, was frozen in fear, and neither of them could move. The princess recovered first, desperately trying to reason with the dictator, while Sonic began to shift, moving to take down the doctor once and for all-
And then the white hit him again, this time, with the memories of another. Her memories.
Her last memories.
“Goodbye…”
…Sonic gave himself a second to mourn the life that would never happen. Then his resolve hardened, and his fists clenched. Horrifying as those last memories were… they had shown him what had to be done.
He knew what he had to do, now.
…I got five minutes.
And that was all the time he needed.
Then he moved.
In a mere moment, he went from stationary to nothing but a blue blur, whisking Sally of her feet (again), ignoring Egggman (despite the fact that he really, really wanted to take the Sword of Light and run Eggman through), and shooting down another hallway just in time to dodge a blow from a pursuing Metal Sonic. Behind them, Sonic could here the doctors fading, angry voice ordering them to be hunted down.
He’d make that task easy, for then. He’d go back. But first…
Come on, I know there’s one here… Where is-- there!
A standard-issue escape pod, Eggman Empire patented. Their shapes were ones Sonic had long been used to. He’d used many over the years to escape from the doctor’s exploding factories, bases, or airships.
What was once more, for old times' sake?
Finally releasing Sally, who wasted no time rounding on him, no doubt to question (or yell, both would make) him about his admittedly out-of-character actions, Sonic took a moment to breath, and to emblazon her in his mind.
Then, interrupting her questioning words, he leaned forward and kissed her.
I wish I had time to explain.
But, time was running out. He had to act, to keep everyone safe. He was their hero, right? This was what he was meant for, after all. Keeping people safe. And, though any importance to his former-knighthood had faded with the Kingdom’s transition to the Republic of Acorn, Sonic still remembered his vows well enough. They had been essentially the same Uncle Chuck had sworn, after all. And in those vows, there had been one held above all the rest.
Defend the royal family.
And, if Sally was his princess-- and he, her knight-- the only thing for him to do was his duty.
Keep her safe. Keep her from that future, he had said to him. I promise, Sonic had replied.
So, he did.
For one last moment, he let himself savor the kiss. One last indulgence.
And then they parted, and before Sally could even get a word of protest out, Sonic shoved her into the escape pod’s open doors, before slamming them shut, making sure to snatch NICOLE off of her before he did so.
Sonic paused long enough to see the confused, livid, and betrayed look on her face, and something in him broke. He opened his mouth to say something-- an “I’m sorry” or a smart little quip about trust.
“Talk to you soon,” he said instead, hoping the glass hid the lie within the truth, before flipping the release and ejecting the pod. He took a moment to watch it plummet to the surface, wishing oh so much that he could have gone with her.
Then the hero turned away.
Time to end this.
He had a future to save.
Eggman was lurking in the hallway when Sonic zipped passed him again, disappearing into the World Roboticizer chamber. Moving before the doctor even realized something had passed him, Sonic wasted no time prying a floor panel loose and jumping into the mechanical depths of the Death Egg, covering the hole before he could be spotted. Finally taking a breather, he brought up NICOLE and opened the handheld.
He was met with the handheld's equivalent of a livid glare
_ENLIGHTEN ME AS TO WHAT HAS POSSESSED YOU.
That... was about as aggressive as he'd expected her to be. Sonic let out a shuddering sigh. If there had been any other way, he would have done this himself, wouldn’t have dragged anyone else into this. But…
“I… think I know how to stop that thing from firing,” he admitted, “but I need your help.”
That got her attention, as he’d hoped, and Sonic forged on immediately. It took a minute to run through the basics of what he ( her) had planned, to bring the World Roboticizer down, and the handheld was silent for a few moments.
_IT WILL WORK, she said eventually. _BUT YOU WILL--
“Yeah, I know,” Sonic grimaced, before shaking his head. “But we’re running out of time, and I won’t let that thing fire.”
Above him, he could here Eggman returning, the thumps of Silver Sonic and the faint jetstreams of Metal Sonic as the searched for him, and Sonic knew the doomsday clock was counting down. Plugging NICOLE in, he watched as she activated and rerouted several programs, finishing in a moment, and he asked one last question.
“Hey, Nicole? You still have those videos you helped me with?”
A second of nothing passed, and Sonic averted his eyes.
_YES, came the eventual answer, and Sonic nodded, content.
Some time after his supposed death, his journey in space, and his subsequent return, Sonic realized that to leave his friends and family (and Sally) with nothing after his death was not something he was willing to subject them to again. So, during one of his free days, he asked Nicole to help film several videos in case he died prematurely, one for the majority of his friends, one for the people in the Republic,, and a few more personalized on for his family and close friends.
He… hadn’t expected to use them so soon.
“Could you make sure-”
_THEY WILL RECEIVE THEM.
Sonic sighed again, and watched as text rolled onto NICOLEs screen for the last time.
_ A.I. TRANSFER TO NEW MOBOTROPOLIS SERVER: COMPLETE
_ BEAM INVERSE OVERRIDE: COMPLETE
_ GOODBYE, MY FRIEND
“...Thanks, Nicole,” he whispered. “And don’t blame yourself for this, y’hear?”
_ EXECUTE? Y | N
With only a hint of hesitation, Sonic pressed yes.
And, in the split second before the World Roboticizer fired, Sonic found himself reminiscing of his life. The people he’d seen, the places he’d went, the villains he’d fought…
...the people he’d loved.
Despite it all, despite how it was all going to end, he couldn’t find it in himself to regret anything besides the fact that he was breaking more than a few promises, both to his friends, his family, and… her…
He smiled, thinking of Sally, and their last kiss. Sonic took
“...Catch you on the flipside, Sal.”
Then he was bathed in light.
“Hey”.
“So, uh, if you’re hearing this, I’m probably dead.” An sheepish chuckle. “Woops…”
“Probably went down in style, hopefully!” A laugh. “Hopefully, at least. It’d kinda suck if I just fell down a cliff or something.”
“But, yeah, I’m dead, which is why you’re hearing this now. Nicole helped me film-- thanks for that, by the way-- so she should have this to you in… maybe a day after I die, tops?”
“Yeah.”
“So.”
Another laugh, this time more nervous-sounding. “Wow, I am not good at this.”
“Guess it’s cause I hide most of my inner thoughts behind my ‘heroic persona’-- Hey, Nicole, don’t laugh--! but, well.”
“Um..”.
“Sal.”
“Sally.”
“Is it weird that I always hoped I’d marry you?”
“Like, I mean, even when we weren’t dating, and we were mad at each other, I still felt this… pull , y’know? Did you feel it too?”
“Not that I’ll ever know anyways, I guess. Kinda dour, come’ta think it. Ah well.”
“Anyways.”
“I thought, since I’m dead and all, that I might as well leave a copy of my annoying voice to listen to over and over again, yeah?”
“...You wouldn’t get tired of me saying ‘I love you’ over and over again, would you?”
“Cause if not…”
“I love you.”
“...Cya, Sal. I’m sorry I broke my promise.”