Chapter Text
“This world is full of surprises huh,” a gray hedgehog said to himself. He faced yet another dead end in what had been his fourth week in this future. Dr. Eggman’s influence was littered all over, but he wasn’t sure if it remained on the people.
Previously he nearly entered a tunnel, which he believed to be an entrance to a secretive part of this city. Sensors picked him up, obviously they’d wanted folks to stay out and made sure of such. Four mechs dispensed from the walls with white glows in their eyes. They had a black sheen with humanoid features. It didn’t resemble something Eggman would make.
Now he was currently on the run, as mechs tried to tail him. They were no match for Silver’s speed, even while he was currently unable to fly. His first visit here was a sure reminder of that, automated weapons that fired globs of an intense flame nearly killed him. They seemed to only notice him when in flight. It concerned the hedgehog, as nothing he’d seen here looked like it could fly, except for him.
He traveled through the streets and small crowds of people, bolting through corners as he lost the humanoid mechs. Except for one who seemed smaller than the others. Whatever it was seemed much more capable for this endurance test.
The chase continued as Silver bolted through the city, his pursuer still hot on the trail. They passed green and gold buildings, agriculture laid between the sidewalks, and robots acted as caterers. People seemed happy outside of their time being disturbed by these two. Nothing about where he was matched Eggman’s usual style.
“Please be advised. You are now entering sector three.” Silver glanced to his side, noticing the source of the cautioned statement. He hadn’t realized the field of dirt he was traveling through.
It was one of many large signs with the tell tale yellow and black stripes for caution. They lie on the borders of each of the sectors forever alerting anything they sense. They warned those entering the previous, more dilapidated sectors of potential dangers. These ranged from the scarcity of food, lack of resources, to the dangerous groups who inhabited these areas.
Silver had fully left the second sector, leaving what he thought was a tunnel entrance to the first sector. Now he entered the third sector, where people were less hopeful and numerous. The switch in architecture was light and day, as colors swapped to black and red, and stone buildings became metal fortressed. The ground all around laid with a pitiful brown. It better suited egghead.
Small groups of people were scattered around in an area much too big for them. Compared to the previous sectors it was maybe five times bigger. Bigger area with more shelter, but less of everything else, lack of food, puddles of water, little amount of stores even stocked a full shelf, even the garbs on their backs seemed smaller. He needed to solve this.
Silver paused his thought process when he checked behind himself. His pursuer was still there, actually it had gotten closer, to the point where Silver could make out some features. Silver could make out red fur and a tanned muzzle in his blurry vision caused by their speed.
“A mobian.” Silver mused, it’d been the first time something organic was after him from sector two. It was his chance to get some questions answered if he could incapacitate him. He knew of a potential resource crisis that these abandoned sectors suggested, and suspected they knew of his existence before he came.
Silver sped up wanting to ensure that he could do this with no interruptions. They dashed through the sector, traveling tens of miles in what had to be under 30 seconds.
The sign’s warnings not even making a peep in his ears. The ground was then replaced with many miles of concrete; they entered the fourth and final sector. Where it was abandoned.
Never had he seen people here, only the concrete buildings, the amusement parks that were spread out, the roots and plants that tried overtaking the land. The hedgehog despised it here, since the numbers of the last two sectors didn’t add up. The areas were so large, but the numbers of people could barely fit a block in sector two.
Silver knew that too many had perished. He needs to figure out what happened. The mobian was his way to solve it all.
He would look behind again only to see the same mobian, the same distance as when he chased Silver. Silver was surprised, besides keeping up with his maneuvers, it stayed on pace with the hedgehog casually. Silver would undoubtedly not be the fastest on foot, Blaze, Sonic, and Shadow each outspeed him. Still, his speed is not something to scoff at for most though.
He stopped, shoes grinding against the floor as he spun on his heel. Again, the mobian was there and it stopped as well. “He’ll be easier to get a good look at I guess,” Silver thought to himself.
The first thing Silver confirmed was his red fur, which covered the majority of his torso except his chest. His fur was short, as dips and patches were noticed all over his body. Then followed the eyes, a curious look was present on the mobian.
His pupils were brown, with almond shaped eyes, a black stripe on his brow separated the two and lined his eyes. His face was narrow, a light shade brown colored his muzzle, with a longer snout. A scar crossed from his right cheek over to his nose.
Silver took note of his build, he was slim, but it didn’t feel Silver. His bare chest showed strong hints of muscle, along with being slightly taller than hedgehog.
An oddly placed bracelet was on his wrists, thick and black with rusted metal knobs circling it. Gloves underneath were black, etched with three yellow vertical lines on each.
He wore pants, baggy and black with a yellow stripe on each side. A black and yellow pouch sat on the left of the hip, seemingly attached with nothing. A similar stripe etched it, but with six instead of three. It was cut short slightly above the knee, exposing legs that are wrapped neatly in white bandages. His shoes were black that would taper off to yellow at the heel.
Despite the pouch, his looks told Silver that he was a physical fighter.
“No one told you that it’s rude to stare, right?” The mobian droned, undoubtedly mocking the hedgehog.
The hedgehog sighed, responding with, “My bad. Just trying to get a look at my potential killer.” The mobian laughed.
“I guess you aren’t entirely wrong, Silver the Hedgehog,” the mobian responded with a grin.
The hedgehog’s demeanor shifted into something more stiff and serious. Silver knew he gave his identity away with the sudden mood switch, still he tried to play it off.
“Sorry, wrong person,” he casually said, “You're certain I’m the right guy?”
“I know your Silver,” the red furred mobian retorted, “The time traveler, ghost of the future, damned child of chaos, whatever the scientists call you!”
Silver stood there, eyes wide and brows raised. He’d had run-ins with those who knew of a time traveler, he even suspected that the people here knew of him. The confidence of his statement surprised the hedgehog, and it began to make him more worried. He gave Silver an idea of who he may be, scientists were never something he saw in any sector he could travel in.
“Okay,” the hedgehog said shakingly, “How about some formalities, who are you then.”
“Nowadays I’m called Ire the Mongoose, but I’m not an ally of yours,” he spoke, beginning to walk a circle around the hedgehog.
Ire used this chance to analyze the gray-quilled hedgehog, “I’m not some bandit, as you may have already guessed.” He scanned the hedgehog up and down, while continuing, “We're close to resolving this resource crisis, so how about you go somewhere else and stay in this timeline.”
This only intrigued the hedgehog further, both of his thoughts of what may have happened in this future were just confirmed. “You seem to know me, so why not allow me to understand what happened 200 years ago,” he argued.
Ire stopped his movements, he noted the symbols on his palms. It matched what he’d been told by the scientists, down to their humming glow. His body matched the description, the gold cuffs, his large gray quills, the chest fur, everything seemed right. “We don’t need your help,” the mongoose responded flatly.
“Why then? I’m sure you know I only want to help. Can I at least know what you're planning to solve this with?” The hedgehog pleaded. It sounded like these people needed some sort of help. Silver figured that maybe mentioning helping them now rather than figuring out what happened years ago could sway him.
“I’ll answer the first question with my own,” the redhead declared, “What happens when you head back?”
The hedgehog knew his chances of convincing the mongoose was low, so he answered flatly, “I tell my friends what happened, then we solve the issue beforehand.”
The mongoose crouched, pulling his arms to his back in what seemed like a purposeful stretch, “Then what do you do?” he continued.
“I ... come back to my future, a ... different future.” Silver said dragging the statement, he knew where this was going. The hedgehog braced himself before the last question.
Ire then stood up, his eyes focused on the hedgehog, “So what happened to that previous one,” Ire droned, growing tired of pulling on what the hedgehog already knew.
“It was erased, made so that it never had and will happen,” the time traveler said in a hushed tone. The time traveler was exhausted from the conversation, as conflict began to grow in his mind. People were uncommon in his travels, but he never thought of what happened to them when he changed the past. His mind grew bothered, imagining how many lives he erased.
“Okay!” The hedgehog yelled, startling the mongoose, as Silver tried to compose himself. He knew that conflict was inevitable, so he pushed all those thoughts from his mind. Silver affirmed to himself that the people he’d see struggling deserved that second chance, even if they wouldn’t be the same people. His friends deserve better as well, but that wasn’t what bothered the hedgehog.
The logic of the thought wasn’t the point, it was to ensure he can fight with a clear mind. Silver knew his powers worked in tandem with his mental fortitude. He took note of Ire’s pouch, guessing that it wasn’t empty, but it seemed too small for anything important.
Ire stood there in silence planning his first move. He knew of Silver’s powers and some of its applications. He can fly, create force fields, and can grab things organic or inorganic. He knew that someone like Silver is a bad match for anyone in a one on one situation, especially someone like Ire. Luckily he wasn't the one going into this blind.
“Glad you know then,” the mongoose said unamused, as he circled the hedgehog’s left one last time. Then he saw a hedgehog following his movements, his eyes, and palms were especially on target. Ire looked at the buildings that surrounded them. His thoughts deepened.
“Avoid his eyes and neutralize his powers," the mongoose decided, “Without his powers it should be easy to take out with physical force.” “If he won’t let me get close then I’ll have to exhaust him from afar”, the mongoose assumed, left hand nearing his pouch. “Luckily I can do both.”
An uncomfortable silence grew between the two, as they stared at each other.
Then Ire made the first move.