Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Trees seemed to stretch out into the distance, the seemingly neverending forest being filled with the noise of birdsong. A subtle breeze barely affected the area, the leaves on the trees barely disturbed by its presence. A series of hills and loops could be seen in the distance from beyond the trees. This was a place of peace for most mobians who lived here, but chaos always seemed to be just around the corner with this being the homeland of a familiar hero.

A blur of blue swept past the still trees, suddenly filling the area with a strong gust of wind. The blue bounced up a pair of trees before flying into the air. The source unfurled for a brief moment after landing on top of a tree, revealing it to be none other than the resident heroic hedgehog, Sonic. He scanned the area with a focused look before locking in on a familiar flight craft. With a shout of joy, he furled back up and used the tree to fling himself towards the nearby human.

The shout must’ve alerted his enemy too far in advance since before he could make contact, a second blur of blue rushed at him and collided into the speedy hedgehog, tumbling the both of them to the ground. Sonic tumbled in the grass before recovering quickly, bouncing back up to his feet. The attacker, who Sonic quickly confirmed as Metal Sonic, was ever so slightly faster in his recovery and was quick to charge his living doppelganger once more. 

Sonic braced for impact and caught Metal’s hands before grappling with the robot, both trying to overpower the other in a desperate attempt at victory. As the two fought to knock the other down while simultaneously trying not to fumble the leverage they held against one another, Dr. Eggman floated his Egg Carrier above them and laughed as he leaned back and just watched.

The blue hedgehog sent the doctor an exasperated look and rolled his eyes. Metal took the brief moment of distraction to sweep a leg out and knock Sonic’s out from under him, sending the hedgehog tumbling backwards into the grass. Sonic’s eyes widened a fraction and he rolled to the side as Metal brought a fist down dead center to where Sonic had been a second prior.

“Yo! Egghead! If you ain’t gonna fight me yourself, then stay quiet!” Sonic spun himself into a ball and launched himself towards his robot counterpart and rammed into Metal’s chest. The robot dug his feet into the dirt and left long grooves in the ground as Sonic forced him backwards. Metal reached out to grab at the hedgehog but Sonic lept away at the last moment before speeding off to gain another vantage point.

“Hohohoho! The great hero of Mobius can’t handle a small distraction? Victory is surely in my grasp today then, hedgehog!” Sonic groaned under his breath and continued running. Eventually, he situated himself behind Metal, putting the robot arms length away from him. A panicked series of beeps sounded from the robot as he tried to turn to face his living doppelganger but he wasn’t fast enough.

Sonic quickly grabbed one of Metal’s arms and began spinning in a circle. Eventually, he had sped up enough to become a tornado of blue, Metal flailing desperately to escape to no avail. With practiced ease, Sonic suddenly planted a foot in Eggman’s direction and flung Metal Sonic towards the human using the momentum from his spinning. The doctor only had a moment to panic before Metal collided with the Egg Carrier, sending them both to the ground with a loud crash.

Sonic nonchalantly walked over to the newfound wreckage, bringing his arms over his head and letting a triumphant smirk cross his muzzle. He stood there as Dr. Eggman pulled himself and Metal out of the wreckage, the robot looking worse for wear, only letting out a couple glitchy beeps before ragdolling in the doctor’s hold. Eggman hoisted himself to his feet, holding his prized robot under an arm, all while glaring at Sonic.

“Sooooo, what was that about victory being in your grasp again?” The doctor narrowed his eyes at the smug hedgehog, who looked all too pleased to have once again defeated the doctor. Sonic just watched, smirk never leaving his face, as Dr. Eggman used his free hand to put out a small flame starting on his mustache.

“Can it, hedgehog. You just got lucky and when that luck runs out you’ll finally see which of us is truly the better.” 

Sonic’s smirk widened into an eager grin. “Oh yeah? Guess we’ll have to see, won’t we? I can do this all day, Egghead.”

Dr. Eggman pulled his goggles off of his eyes and placed them on top of his head and rolled his eyes, leveling Sonic with an exasperated look. Sonic stifled a chuckle at the look and instead brought a hand down to rub under his nose.

“You are the bane of my existence and I know you are well aware of that.”

Sonic didn’t stop the laugh from bubbling out of him and laughed harder at the way Eggman sighed and pinched his nose.

“You know it, Eggy!”

The doctor rolled his eyes and Sonic could clearly tell the look softened just a bit.

“Can it.” The doctor sighed and turned around, beginning to walk off with a half-hearted hand in the air as a mock wave. “Well, I’m off. But I’ll be back next week, so if you don’t want your precious town destroyed you better be ready.”

“You know I’ll be there to kick your butt again! Get ready for another whooping!”

Eggman looked over his shoulder at the smug hedgehog, a smile on his own face. “We’ll see about… that…” The doctor’s eyes began to trail upwards, locking onto something in the sky above Sonic. 

The hedgehog watched in confusion as the doctor’s gaze went from confused to startled to concerned and eventually landing on horrified. Sonic dropped his arms from his victorious pose as Eggman fully turned around, eyes still locked on whatever he spotted. The doctor took a step back and held Metal closer to him.

“Sonic. We need to go.” Sonic looked confused and Eggman’s gaze hardened, though the hedgehog could clearly tell he was panicked. “Now.”

And then a loud roar rippled through the zone.

Nobody had a chance to react as a large creature made of space and gears suddenly flew out from above Sonic and thoughts rushed through the hedgehog’s mind faster than his feet could move as he tried to make sense of this. A large clawed hand reached out for the doctor and wrapped around the human. Eggman was lifted into the sky with the beast and Metal was dropped out of his grasp, tumbling limply to the ground. All Sonic could do was stare in horror as he processed what was happening and what this beast was.

Time Eater.  

How? Sonic clearly remembered defeating it and thought it was not a threat without someone actively using it. And he knew the doctor well enough to know he was not pretending and he looked genuinely fearful. Plus, he wouldn’t have dropped Metal. That robot was one of the doctor’s most prized creations and one of Sonic’s biggest rivals created by Eggman.

But he had no time to think or really react as Time Eater locked onto Sonic standing there. It roared once more and suddenly wind was whipping all around him. He turned around to see a second time rift right behind him and before he knew it, a large hand collided into his body, sending him flying into the purple rift.

As he tried to turn around and grasp for purchase, he watched Time Eater escape through the portal it came from and the rift Sonic was pushed into closed in on itself with a pop. And then Sonic collided into the ground, barely processing the bright neon colors around him before he blacked out.

Chapter Text

When Sonic comes to with a pained groan, the first thing he notices is the pale red sky, as if the sun was trying to set but got stuck part way through. Even the clouds covering the sky were tinted in a red shade. Sonic plants his hands into the ground beneath him and moves into a sitting position. He glances down to realize he’s sitting on cracked asphalt. 

He rubs his eyes and then moves to his forehead, trying to get rid of the throbbing ache in his head. At least the pain was dulling quickly. Man he was way too used to falling from high places and landing on his head. Amy was right, he really should’ve gotten a concussion by now. He shook his head to dispel the thought for now, groaning in pain and shutting his eyes as the pain resurged for a brief moment at the movement. Right. Fell from a high place and landed on head. Don’t do that.

Once the pain ebbed away once more, he opened his eyes to attempt to get his bearings straight. Tall buildings loomed over him, all decorated in various neon signs and pale purple lights from the windows shined out everywhere he looked. He also noted the elevated highways weaving through the buildings, some even looping into the sky before descending back downward, and also decorated in those various neon lights.

With a strained grunt, Sonic pushed himself to his feet, catching his balance on a nearby lamppost as he nearly tumbled back down. He looked forwards and his eyes widened a fraction as he noticed a giant gold statue of Dr. Eggman standing proudly in the center of the city. Well, a younger Dr. Eggman to be precise. The hedgehog remembers when Eggman looked like that but that was years ago, back when they were at one another’s throats for every action the other took as opposed to their more laidback rivalry they had fallen into as of late. Sure, Eggman was still trying to take over Mobius and create Eggmanland, but his ideals have definitely changed and Sonic would even dare to say that they got a good truce between the two of them after the amount of times the two had allied to save the world.

That didn’t exactly matter right now though. Especially as Sonic remembered what brought him here. A familiar and unwelcome entity throwing him into what he can only assume were his memories, Stardust Speedway to be specific in this moment. It’s been so long since he’s been here actually, but the statue was a big giveaway. However, his major memories of this place were back when he was much younger.

Sonic let go of the lamppost and began jogging down the road, busting up any Eggbots that got in his way. He really wasn’t paying them a lot of attention though. He scanned the area, waiting for someone to appear. Stardust Speedway was often where his battles with Metal would occur, so Sonic expected to see the younger version of his robot counterpart fly out of a building to attack him at any moment. He wasn’t eager to fight Metal again so soon after just beating his robo-butt, but he was willing to if it meant finding a way out again. 

The hedgehog paused as the sound of something quickly approaching was heard. And it sounded fast. He grinned and moved into a fighting position, ready to face Metal head-on. The rapid footsteps got louder and Sonic whipped around to meet his attacker face to face.

He turned right in time as the blur had curled up and spindashed directly towards him. Sonic quickly rolled into a ball himself and dashed into Metal. The two collided with one another and they continued pushing against one another on the platform they were currently placed on, neither willing to let up and the two continued their spindashes, trying to get the other to relent first.

But something was odd. Sonic noticed that the figure seemed smaller. So it definitely could’ve been the younger Metal Sonic like when they were last in the space between time. But it didn’t feel like any type of metal he was pushing against. It felt more like quills than anything, sort of like whenever he did this in a fight against Shadow or Silver, or even Amy when they sparred.

Sonic broke their standoff first, bouncing away and to the side. The other was obviously not expecting that and barrelled forwards, directly into a building side a few hundred feet away. Sonic slid into a standing position, a hand planted into the ground so he would be ready to run at his attacker if he was wrong about who this was.

A small form rose from the dust cloud created from the collision and began waving away the debris from their face. As soon as Sonic recognized the silhouette, he grinned and stood up, relaxing his posture. He raised a hand in greeting and waved.

Out from the dust cloud walked his younger self, quietly coughing in an all too familiar raspy sound. Afterall, he really didn’t speak in his youth, he hadn’t had a need for so long and never had wanted to for a long while either, so speaking was never a priority. And Tails never minded either when they met, quickly and easily learning sign so that the two could communicate without writing. 

His younger self seemed to brace himself for an attack before locking eyes with Sonic. He went stock still for a moment before relaxing, offering a wide grin of his own and speeding towards Sonic, stopping only feet in front of his older self. He held a fist out in front of him and Sonic’s grin widened as he returned the offered fistbump, chuckling as he did so.

“We really gotta stop meeting up like this, little me!” Sonic gave his younger self a large grin which was returned in full, the smaller hedgehog making a motion of silent laughter.

The young hedgehog began signing his own greetings, enthusiastically waving his hands in an all too familiar sign language. The younger him was quick to sign to his older self about how he was happy to see him as well.

He paused in his signs for a moment and his grin dropped. Sonic tilted his head in confusion at the sudden mood switch and watched the younger hedgehog turn to look over his shoulder with a frown before returning his gaze to Sonic, moving his hands in sign once more, albeit slightly slower this time around.

He proceeded to ask Sonic if Time Eater had made an appearance in his time as well and if his older self had any idea on what was happening. Sonic shook his head dejectedly, earning a dejected look from his younger self.

“Hey,” he reached out and planted a hand on top of his younger self’s head, making him look back up at Sonic. Sonic gave him a wink and a smirk, “We got through this last time. So we’ll do it again and kick some Time Eater butt!”

Sonic was relieved to see his younger self’s shoulders shake in silent laughter and gave a chuckle of his own as his hand was swatted off of his head. His laughter died out as a strange realization hit him and his younger self quickly caught on to his sudden mood change. His arm was tapped and as soon as Sonic was looking at his younger self, he began to sign a question asking what was wrong.

“I’m not sure, but, Little Me.” Classic tilted his head to the side and raised an eyebrow as he was addressed directly. “The last time that Time Eater caused issues in our timelines, we both made our own runs through the areas. We both ran through different sections of each zone.”

Classic’s eyes widened as he suddenly stood straighter, processing what Sonic was saying. Sonic could only give him a strained grin, trying to figure out what exactly was going on.

“See? You see what I’m getting at? We’re both here. That never happened. Plus, the Speedway wasn’t even somewhere we could run through last time. We need to be prepared to run through some other memories this time around.” Sonic watched as Classic frowned and stared at the ground. This was a lot, even for him. But they were Sonic! They were always able to save the day. They’d be fine.

Sonic reached a fist out to Classic. “We got this! We’ve always gotten through odd things like this, so we can figure this one out too. We’re Sonic! And Sonic always wins.”

Classic gave him a once over, nervousness wavering, before he grinned and jumped up to return Sonic’s fistbump. Once he landed, he began to sign his agreement. Once he finished that, he mentioned that once they were out they should look for their Tails. The two foxes would be able to help them out.

Sonic nodded in agreement and knelt down into a runners start. Classic quickly matched him and joined him on his side.

“Race you out of here!”

Classic responded with a smirk and a finger under the nose.

With a count of three, the two hedgehogs took off, both trying to outspeed the other while rushing for the exit. It was thrilling being able to race like this. Especially knowing the other person was technically yourself and therefore just as fast. Well, almost, Sonic thought with a proud smirk as he pulled ahead of Classic who seemed to be pouting as the older pulled ahead and began trying to run faster. He was technically the older version with more practice so obviously he was going to be faster.

A sharp pain suddenly burst in his chest and Sonic stumbled as he ran. And then it was gone as fast as it appeared. He lifted a hand to where the pain appeared and glanced down, but saw nor felt anything. By now, Classic had caught back up and was now running directly to Sonic’s side and was giving Sonic a concerned look.

While he didn’t know what that was, he decided it was probably just a quick cramp and shook it off. He sent his younger self a smirk and a peace sign as he sped back up and zoomed off. He chuckled as he could only imagine the face that was made at him in return.

He ignored that the pain felt vaguely familiar as if he had felt that exact thing before and instead raced out of the Speedway, leaving his thoughts behind. He had bigger matters to deal with now anyways. So what’s a flash of pain? Nothing to worry about.

It only took another minute for the two to dash out of the Speedway, both hedgehogs skidding to a stop as soon as everything was no longer neon lights and instead a field of white. Both of them laughed and high-fived, Classic not really minding that he lost to Sonic.

The two of them both took a moment to take stock of their surroundings, finding it to be almost exactly what White Space looked like last time they were here. Sonic turned around to face Stardust Speedway and quickly noted that the gateway to the zone was still colorless. Still incomplete. 

He frowned and walked closer, examining the gate. Odd. Since both of the Sonics ran through, shouldn’t it be completely fixed. Echoing footsteps approached and Classic seemed to be looking over the gateway as well, also coming to the same conclusions and questions as Sonic. 

Another glaringly obvious fact he noticed was that there wasn’t a frozen and colorless Tails standing in front of the incomplete gate. In fact, there wasn’t anyone frozen in time in front of the gateway. The hedgehogs sent confused glances at one another before turning to look further into White Space towards the other available gateways. Both of the other gateways seemed dull and colorless, every ounce of life and time seemingly sapped out of them. And neither of them had anyone frozen in front of them.

A pang of panic flickered through Sonic’s chest as the thought of nobody other than the two Sonics being here was a possibility. Sure, Sonic was strong and all and there were two of him right now. But his friends are always an integral part of him coming out on top. The panic only grew as he thought about Starfall Islands and everything that happened there. That wasn’t even that long ago, he can’t relive that again, please. Please don’t make him go through that again.

Before he could spiral any deeper, the familiar sound of tails twisting through the air sounded behind him. And it sounded like more than one set. Both hedgehogs turned around to see both Tails waving at them, with Sonic’s own Tails holding one of his many handheld devices in his off hand. Suddenly, all of the panic and tension leaked back out of Sonic and he relaxed. They were still here. Everything was going to be okay.

The foxes landed in front of them and both Tails ran up to their respective Sonics, leaping into hugs with the elders. Sonic was quick to embrace his Tails and flung him around before setting him back down on his feet, both chuckling for a moment before turning towards the other two.

Once everyone had hugged out their greetings, both Tails turned serious and the Sonics followed suit.

“So,” the older Tails began, “The two of us had both landed in Stardust Speedway and thankfully, getting out was fairly easy. That seems to be the case for you two as well if I’m not mistaken.”

Sonic’s young doppelganger nodded in affirmation, prompting the fox to continue. The younger Tails proceeded to pick up the conversation next.

“The two of us were trying to determine why we were here and the only thing we know is that the younger Dr. Eggman was kidnapped. Though, I think it’s fair to assume they’re trying to pull the same stunt as last time and faked the kidnapping.”

Sonic pondered for a moment before piping up. “I was fighting our Eggman when this happened and he was taken as well, but I also don’t know Eggy to be a particularly good actor for the most part. I’ll be the first to admit that he sounded genuinely terrified when it happened.”

The younger Tails and Sonic gave him an odd look, the fox speaking for the two of them. “I think it’s safe to assume he’s become much better at acting in the future. He’s fooled us before so I would think he’s still able to fool you too. The doctor is very crafty.” His younger self nodded in agreement.

Sonic wanted to refute but knew better in the moment. It was true. This could be a ruse to garner sympathy from him before betraying him in the last moment, it would unfortunately not be a first. But still… the tone of his voice when he told Sonic they needed to leave rubbed the hedgehog the wrong way. Eggman hadn’t tried to trick him like that in forever, not after their unofficial fairness truce.

But he needed to remember that when he was younger, Dr. Eggman wasn’t as forgiving. There weren't any honorary alliances and the Doctor would do anything to get ahead. And he meant anything. So he could see why these two don’t quite believe him. He’ll drop it for now.

“That’s a fair point.” He turned towards Tails with a grin plastered on his face, the fox returning it with a beaming smile.

“So, what’s the plan?”

Chapter Text

The two Tails were eager to explain their current findings to the two hedgehogs. Apparently, they’ve managed to get a lot of work done in the short time they’ve been in White Space. Sonic grinned to himself and rubbed his nose. He didn’t expect any different from his brother, past or present. 

Most of what the two have said so far were things the two hedgehogs already knew though. Dr. Eggman was taken by the Time Eater and it’s up in the air on whether this is staged or not. There are new memories and zones as compared to last time they were here. Both past and present iterations of at least Sonic and Tails are present, though Classic Tails has readings on some gadgets he made for a few friends. That’s been the most interesting part so far, especially since it implies more people from the past were pulled in this time around.

As the four deliberated their course of action and shared any new information from the little time they’ve been here, Sonic still had one thing that was leaving him confused. He turned his gaze towards the gate that led into Stardust Speedway with a frown. His Tails immediately noticed his attention shift and followed the older hedgehog’s gaze. The fox quickly perked up, tails flicking in excitement behind him.

“Right! We nearly forgot!” Tails grabs his tablet out from his tails and quickly starts typing into the device. He nodded resolutely before flying over to Sonic, gesturing at Classic to follow suit. The smaller hedgehog jogged over with his own Tails following behind. The two Sonics peered over Tails’ shoulders to look at the screen while younger Tails turned his attention back to his own device, likely already knowing what the older fox was about to explain.

“I’m sure you two remember, but in order to completely fix the gates in White Space last time, the two of you made a run through the zones from start to finish. By running through the zones found behind the gates, the areas would be restored in time and by restoring enough of them, we could access high energy zones that typically hid chaos emeralds.”

Classic Sonic nodded and Modern found himself nodding along as well. “Sure, but that’s what has me stumped. Both of us were in there together this time around. Since we both ran it already, shouldn’t the gate have already been restored?”

“That’s what we originally thought as well,” Tails explained, grin gone and replaced by pursed lips. “But then we got readings that both of you were in the same exact segment and much like the last time we were thrown in here, there are two distinct segments inside each gate. The difference this time around, is the second segment is being locked by an unknown force and can’t be accessed immediately.”

Classic Tails piped up, using his tails to propel himself into the air to be eye level with the older hedgehog. “But now those readings have changed!” He held his tablet down so the hedgehogs could look. The screen was filled with strange graphs and images that neither hedgehog was understanding very well. The young Tails didn’t seem dismayed from this and pressed on.

“If you look here,” he pointed towards an arch with two glowing points under it, one bright yellow and the other a pale blue, “you can see the two segments inside of a gate. This is Stardust Speedway’s gate. As you can see, there are two lit up points, showing the two segments. But the blue one wasn’t always there!”

The Sonics looked towards one another before turning back to Classic Tails, who seemed rather excited to be reporting his findings. Modern Tails nodded at his younger self to continue, having nothing to add to his other self’s explanation.

Classic Tails moved to point at another arch on the screen, this one only having a pale yellow point under it with a darkened point next to it. “This is a nearby gate we haven’t been to. The first dot isn’t brightly lit up because it hasn’t accumulated the energy from you two running through yet! And the second dot isn’t lit up at all, meaning there’s no way to access the second segment.” He returned his finger back to the first graph, pointing at the pale blue point again. “When you two finished your run through Stardust Speedway, this dot began to glow, meaning you can now enter the second segment to complete the restoration of the gate.”

The older fox finally stepped forwards, ready to continue the conversation. “These segments seem to be requiring much more energy, meaning we’ll most likely need the both of you to run each one together. Plus, we are finding that these segments seem to be based on times of day, meaning the first segment, the yellow points, will be during the day and the second segment, the blue points, will be set at night.”

“So,” all eyes turned to Sonic as he began speaking, “you’re saying we have to run through the zone twice, at a different time of day each time?” 

Both Tails nodded and Modern couldn’t keep the grimace off of his face, but he quickly replaced it with a fake grin. This was feeling a little too much like a point in time he doesn’t want to relive. He’ll be fine though, Stardust Speedway wasn’t even a place of interest during that escapade so he shouldn’t have to worry.

The thought wouldn’t leave him alone though.

Nobody seemed to acknowledge his reaction, much to his relief. He stretched his arms over his head and sent a cocky grin to his younger self. “Ready for another run through the Speedway?”

He got his response in the form of the smaller hedgehog bouncing from foot to foot before dropping into a runner’s start.

Sonic dropped down as well, getting ready to run back in. “We’ll get through these gates in no time flat. Don’t wait up on us!”

The two hedgehogs took off in a blur of blue and both Tails shook their heads in amusement before returning to their tablets, hoping to have more information for the hedgehogs before their return.

Reentering Stardust Speedway felt a lot more normal with the now darkened red sky, the clouds of smog further darkening the area and making the neon lights much more prominent. Everything looked so much more familiar at night in this particular zone, it was so odd seeing it in the light of day.

Sonic didn’t have much time to acknowledge the sights though as a sharp pain resounded throughout his body, quickly bringing him to his hands and knees. He could barely hear Classic skid to a stop over the ringing in his ears. He curled his fingers in as the pain ramped up and could feel bone snapping before suddenly his hands were digging into the asphalt beneath him, sending a small web of cracks around his hands.

His spine snapped and he grunted in pain, and by Gaia, even making noise was painful as every inch of his body was trying to rip out of his skin and make something new and unnatural. His quills felt itchy and uncomfortable and wrong and suddenly his whole body felt covered by a strange mix of fur and quills. And he couldn’t even dwell on it as his muzzle seemed to change as well, teeth sharpening in his mouth, threatening to pierce his lips. He pulled his mouth into a snarl, if only to relieve some of the pain. 

Sonic threw his head back to the blood tinted sky and howled in agony. The pain finally subsided and Sonic kept his gaze locked onto the smog above him, trying to process what just happened. He screwed his eyes shut, trying to block out the reality of the situation. This shouldn’t be possible. He dropped his head back down and shifted himself off of his hands and back onto his feet, stumbling slightly. Two small gloved hands were suddenly on him, trying to help keep the now transformed hedgehog from stumbling back onto the ground.

Sonic reached to his wrist and fidgeted with the old bracelet, letting out a small sigh of relief. It was still intact. It must’ve had remnants of Chip’s power inside of it somehow, which kept it in one piece despite the transformation that was originally triggered by the other god.

With a deep sigh, Sonic slowly opened his eyes. The first thing he saw were the large clawed paws where his gloved hands would normally be. He didn’t need to look at his reflection to know exactly what he looked like right now. He just did not appreciate being turned back into Mr. Monster Guy… he couldn’t stay mad about this while remembering Chip. Maybe if time was messed up enough to bring the werehog back, he could find Chip here too?

And then suddenly there was a small hedgehog zooming around him, staring at him with wide eyes. Sonic looked down to stare at his younger self with a confused look before he realized… oh Gaia, this transformation, the events of Dr. Eggman breaking the world, knowledge of the Gaias, hasn’t happened to this Sonic yet .

Poor younger him, having to witness the horrors of his future before even experiencing them. This must be horrifying seeing him like this, knowing that one day he’ll be forced into this as well and that there’s nothing he can do to stop it. That this is a result from one of the few times Eggman actually wins a fight. That one day he will become a monster.

And then Classic Sonic lights up in a grin, hands suddenly flying into frantic sentences that leave even Sonic’s own mind in a daze with how fast the younger him is trying to sign. His hands were a blur and he had the most ecstatic look on his face. Well, he wasn’t scared. That’s a good thing. He’s not sure if he wants to tell Classic how he first happened on this transformation.

“Whoa-” Sonic broke into a coughing fit and rubbed at his throat. Right, deeper voice feels different. Classic freezes at his voice and Sonic swears he can see stars in his younger self’s eyes. Sonic waves a hand nonchalantly, sending a wary grin back, hoping to convince his younger self he’s fine.

“Sorry ‘bout that, forgot about the voice change.” Classic just stared at him in awe. He had to admit, it was nice seeing someone take this form so well. That’s most definitely not always the case. “Anyways, I know we’re the fastest guys alive, but even I can’t understand you when you sign that fast.” He raised an eyebrow when he finished speaking and Classic wrung his hands together with a sheepish grin. He shrugged in a half-hearted apology and Sonic shook his head with an amused huff.

The younger hedgehog began signing once more, thankfully slow enough to understand this time around. Despite Classic signing slower though, it was definitely still a slew of questions aimed right at him. He was able to decipher that the questions were mostly regarding his current form and why he transformed and why it looked like it hurt so bad. Sonic did not want to answer the last one.

Sonic laughed nervously, putting his hands in front of himself and waving them. “Whoa, whoa! I’m sure you don’t want many spoilers. This will happen to you eventually…”

At that, Classic perked up and, yep, those were definitely stars in his eyes. How is he even doing that? Nope, don’t wanna know. He’s done it before too and he really doesn’t want to know actually.

Classic quickly signed while nodding and it was easy to understand he was agreeing about the spoilers. It was for the best. And yet Classic still seemed excited and curious over this new form.

“I’ll give a quick rundown though I guess: this happens at night- oh Gaia, is this going to happen every night segment?!” He ran a paw down his muzzle, eyes wide as he realized. Oh great, this really was seeming like the world shattering all over again. And he doesn’t have Chip. He glances at a confused Sonic and his gaze softens. He has his younger self. He’s fine.

He takes a deep breath and continues, not bothering to answer on Classic’s worried signing. “Sorry, memories popping up. Anyways: happens at night, it does hurt but I’ll get used to it again, of course this happened because of Egghead, I don’t have my speed anymore,” he watched Classic’s jaw drop in a silent gasp and he brought his hands to his mouth in horror, Sonic just laughed. “Don’t worry! It sucks, but I’m insanely strong now! I bet we could rival Knuckles like this!” He flexed an arm to prove his point.

Classic seemed mostly satiated with that answer, but definitely still worried. Hmmm, he does have one more trick up his sleeve that he’s sure will blow his younger self’s mind.

“Let’s get going. I may not be fast but I can get around doing fun stuff like this!” Classic stared at him oddly as he reared an arm back. As Sonic threw his arm forwards towards a high ledge to pull himself up onto, his arm stretched up to cover the gap. Classic immediately gasped in awe and turned towards him in a starstruck manner.

Sonic laughed and knelt down, throwing his head over his shoulder. “Get on, it’ll be easier to get around like this.”

His younger self didn’t need to be told twice. In a flash, Classic had situated himself on Sonic’s back, wrapping his arms around the elder’s neck.

“Hold on!” Sonic jumped and reeled himself in and in no time they were grappled onto the building top. Classic was silently laughing as Sonic could feel him vibrating on his back. He shook his head with an amused huff and got down on all fours to begin running. Classic hopped off and began jogging forwards. Figures. He knows he couldn’t ever sit still long. At least he’s aware Sonic isn’t going to be fast.

Running through Stardust Speedway at night felt a lot more normal. The only issue was the winding roads. Sonic couldn’t get the momentum he needed to make these loops as a werehog. It wasn’t hard to find an alternative with the buildings everywhere though. With his stretching, leaping from building to building was a breeze.

The two made their own joke race where Classic ran to the exit on the roads while Sonic grappled on the buildings. An unfair race still, but Sonic was willing to make this exception.

Leaving the Speedway felt like a weight lifting off of his shoulder. As soon as they exited, Sonic felt like his bones were trying to shrink into themselves and his whole body felt like he was stuck inside of a hydraulic press. He winced and let the transformation take hold. He can bear the pain if it meant being a hedgehog again.

Once the feeling of his skin shrinking in on itself and his bones cracking and mending to reset his bone structure was gone, he stood there with a relieved sigh. And when he opened his eyes, he saw the younger of the two Tails looking at him in horror, his Tails looking purely shocked, and Classic fussing over him like with his first transformation.

He halfheartedly grinned and waved.

“Oh hey guys. I uh, I think the werehog is back… woo hoo?”

Chapter Text

Knowing that the werehog form was back was a major shock to everyone involved, though for different reasons depending on what timeline each person was from. The younger Sonic and Tails had never even seen this form before now, Classic Tails technically has barely even seen it, only seeing the detransformation occur. That in itself had the young fox terrified for Sonic’s health but his Sonic was quick to sign reassurances at his brother before immediately transitioning into gushing about how cool the new transformation was.

The older duo had a lot more concern over this form being back. Afterall, this form only happened because Dark Gaia had infected him with loads of his energy, enough that he was originally supposed to have died when Dr. Eggman split the world and drained the chaos emeralds of their power. But nothing can kill Sonic the Hedgehog! That does not mean that the hedgehog enjoys every trial life gives him to help him cheat death though.

Tails was checking energy readings on his device after insisting that Sonic sit down and rest. As much as he wanted to protest, he’d rather have answers. His brother fussed over him and continued typing into his tablet and Sonic found himself gazing further into White Space while tapping his fingers to the rhythm he always heard within the Speedway.

His eyes caught on the pale gateway in the distance and he frowned. It wasn’t horribly far, especially not for the fastest hedgehog alive. But that meant the gateway was in full view. And Sonic couldn’t see anyone frozen in time in front of the gateway like there was last time. It left a bad taste on his tongue and a heavy weight in his stomach. As much as he wanted to believe nobody else was pulled in here, he knew better. Considering the Tails found themselves in Stardust Speedway and left the area into White Space, it made it way too likely that more of his friends were located inside of the gated zones.

What made matters feel worse was that the foxes were most likely able to leave because it was the beginning and the two hedgehogs were already there. As shown by the younger Tails, the upcoming gate hadn’t even shown as fully unlocked yet until previous zones were cleared, meaning if more of his friends were in the broken zones, there was no leaving until the Sonics made their run throughs. 

A hand snapping in his face forced his attention to its owner, showing a concerned Tails as the instigator. He gave him a small smile.

“Sorry, zoned out there, bud. Found anything?”

Tails sighed and shook his head, a smile blooming on his muzzle, betraying his amusement. “You zone out every day I swear! But, as for finding anything, not a whole lot. These energy readings do show the presence of Dark Gaia energy, but nothing stable nor substantial. It’s only finding the typical remnants that were left over from the incident.”

“So then why would I transform again? That makes no sense, buddy.” Sonic raised an eyebrow.

“You’re right, but us being in a space where time is suddenly nonexistent also doesn’t make sense. I think it’d be fair to guess that since time doesn’t exist properly here, energy also would behave abnormally, meaning the lack of time existing could easily trigger something from the past.”

Sonic stuck a finger in his ear and rubbed the inside before pulling it out and flicking the gunk off. “Sounds super sciency and like something that is not my field of expertise.” He stood up stretching with his hands clasped firmly together and raised his locked arms above his head. Once he felt his spine pop with an audible click, he sighed in relief and brought his arms back down, resting a hand on Tails’ head and ruffling his fur. “But that’s what I have you for!”

Tails immediately brought his own hands up to grab Sonic’s arm and pulled his hand off with laughter racking his body. “Cut it out, Sonic!”

Sonic chuckled but complied, pulling his arm back down after one last pat to his brother’s head, forcing a complaining whine and another swat at his arm in response.

“Seriously though, Tails, I’d be lost without you. Keep up with that sciencey mumbo jumbo while the two of us speedsters take a run through the next gateway. We’ll see if we can find any answers in there as well.”

Tails flashed a wide grin and gave Sonic a thumbs up. “Sounds like a solid plan! This is going to be so much faster than last time!”

Sonic’s grin slightly dropped but he didn’t let it show, instead offering a thumbs up of his own and a resolute nod. He turned to the younger pair and waved his younger self over.

“If you’re done over there, we should make our first run through the next gate. Race you there?” 

As soon as the words left his mouth, his younger self took off speeding towards the blank gateway. Sonic stood there for a split second, mouth agape, before he dashed off after him yelling, “That is so not fair, man!”

The two hedgehogs quickly sped into the gateway and as fast as they sped in, the two both came to a screeching halt, waving their arms to keep balance before falling off of the metal balcony they were now stood on into the crashing waves below them.

Both heaved a relieved sigh once they were no longer in danger of falling into the water below, the hedgehogs both walking cautiously to the railings at one edge to peer out at the zone. The younger Sonic pulled himself up onto the bar, examining everything with familiarity sparking in his eyes. Ah, so his younger self had finally reached this point in time. That will make seeing Shadow in White Space a tad awkward then… if he’s here.

Sonic shook his head, dispelling the thought. No time for thoughts like that, they couldn’t afford distractions like that right now. He turned to face his younger self, suppressing a chuckle as he was hoisting himself up onto the bar and standing on it with a hand over his eyes to block out the sun.

“I think we’ve both seen this place,” Sonic shoved his thumb over his shoulder, gesturing to the rest of the zone, “We should get a move on. I’m sure our brothers are expecting our runs to go fast.”

Classic nodded eagerly at him and jumped off of the railing, landing on his feet with his arms stuck out to the side and a proud grin on his muzzle. Sonic snickered at the action and his younger self just stuck his tongue out at him. He didn’t complain though, the two easily falling into a run through the zone.

The two were careful on the tight turns, taking care as to not fall into the crashing waves below them. Neither could swim and they knew it, one of them falls and their run is over. And Sonic wants this done as soon as possible.

Halfway through their speeding session, the sound of metal fracturing into pieces came from a platform above them. The two hedgehogs came to a sliding halt, both of them looking upwards with a hand shielding their eyes and going on the balls of their feet to get the best view. A complete mirror image of one another.

A mangled G.U.N. robot was suddenly sent toppling over the edge of the platform and the two watched with wide eyes as it dropped with a loud splash into the ocean below. They glanced at one another before both of them began to quickly hop up the staircase of platforms.

Upon landing on the top platform, the two were met with a horde of G.U.N. robots converging on a familiar pink hedgehog wielding a large hammer. Amy seemed to be holding her own, but the sheer number of robots seemed to be becoming too much, even for her. As soon as she sent one robot crashing backwards in a heap of scrap, two more lunged for her.

Both Sonics were quick to ball into their signature spindashes and both launched themselves into nearby bots, knocking them off of the platform and into the ocean below. Thankfully, it seemed to divert some of the attention off of Amy and the G.U.N. robots began trying to swarm the two newcomers.

With their attention divided, the three hedgehogs were able to easily dispatch the rest of the bots, leaving them in broken heaps on the platform or toppling over the damaged railings into the ruthless waves. Sonic unfurled himself and offered a hand to Classic, who immediately unfurled himself and jumped up to give him a high five. Amy chuckled at the two of them and put her hammer away. 

“Sonic! It’s so good to see you! Well, both of you!” She chuckled, staring at the two of them with a fond smile.

Classic waved at her and she waved back politely. “Though, being here makes a little bit more sense seeing the younger Sonic here as well.” She set her head in her hand with a contemplative look. “But last time we were frozen in front of the gates. And now, it looks like we’re in the gates?”

Sonic nodded and walked up to Amy, immediately wrapping her up in a hug, one she eagerly returned. He stayed there for a moment, just glad that she was here. His friends were here. They were alright. Well, as alright as they could be for being back in White Space, but still. 

He pulled away and rubbed his quills nervously. “It’s great to see you too, Ames. But yes, that seems to be what’s happening this time around. This is our second gate, both Tails and younger Tails were found in the first gate. And now that we found you, we can probably assume there’s someone stuck inside each gate.” He sighed, gaze dropping. “Everything is behaving so much differently than last time we got stuck here. It’s been a struggle.”

“Chin up, Sonic!” Amy exclaimed, forcing Sonic’s attention back onto her. Even Classic seemed to be jumping up to reassure him with a wink and a thumbs up. “We just have to rescue everyone and gather the chaos emeralds! Stopping Time Eater will be a breeze, I just know it.”

Sonic didn’t answer but instead just gave her a weak smile and a nod. His younger self began to tap his arm and as soon as he adjusted his gaze down, Classic began signing that they should get a move on and tell their brothers that they found Amy.

Even the pink hedgehog was watching and nodded in affirmation.

“I’m ready to get out of here too, let’s go!”

The three took off, all being careful of the various turns so they didn’t join the G.U.N. robots in the waters below. The Sonics adjusted their speed so that Amy was able to keep up, though she didn’t seem to mind regardless. She seemed content enough to run by their sides.

They reached the exit in no time and began to leave, Classic darting out immediately. Amy paused for a moment, squinting into the distance. 

Sonic looked over his shoulder and watched Amy with a quizzical expression. “You good, Ames?”

She seemed to startle but quickly recovered, giving him a bright smile with a shake of her head. She jogged the rest of the way towards him and made her way to the exit. Sonic followed behind with a bemused look.

“Thought I saw something! Was probably my imagination. Let’s get out of here!”

Chapter Text

The three hedgehogs walked out of the gate and stepped into the vast and open White Space. Amy walked a bit ahead of the Sonics, glancing around before letting out a sigh with her arms crossed across her chest.

“I did not miss this place, so dreary and boring looking!” She glanced around suddenly, as if searching. “Hey wait! Where’s Tails? You said both he and little him were here but I don’t see them anywhere!”

She turned to face them only to be met with mirrored shrugs. She scoffed with a fond grin and shook her head. “I swear you’re as hopeless as ever.”

Sonic laughed and Classic glanced away, silently whistling as if to avoid continuing the conversation. Sonic snickered at his younger self and swatted him in the back of the head which led to Classic trying to retaliate. The two quickly found themselves in a mini wrestling match on the ground with an amused Amy watching them from afar.

She shook her head and placed her hands on her hips. “Ok, ok, break it up! We got things to do! And I got a question for the two of you.”

The hedgehogs pried off of one another, with a delayed flick from Sonic earning him an indignant glare from his younger self, and stood up. Sonic dusted himself off before strolling up to Amy, Classic right on his heels.

“What’s up, Ames?”

“Something is off with this time through. It’s so different than last time.” Her eyes flicked to the vast whiteness surrounding them. “Well, not the place itself. Just as white and blank as it was the last time. But I was actually in the gate and very much not frozen in time. And the two of you were running that gate together, wouldn’t it be easier to run both of your individual gates at the same time instead of running each one together?”

The Sonics shared a quick glance and Classic motioned his hands towards Amy, gesturing for Sonic to explain what they know. The older hedgehog rolled his eyes, acting annoyed, but he probably should be the one to explain. Younger him being mute really did have it’s perks. When he was younger. Sign language wouldn’t nearly explain this fast enough when they had places to be, so now that he had himself a voice he should explain.

“Tails was actually investigating that! Turns out, the gates are working a tad differently this time around. The two of them haven’t figured out why people are appearing in the gates instead of being frozen outside of them, but their research has led them to figuring out the gates’ new functionality!”

Amy brought a hand to her chin and nodded. “Fair enough, I doubt you guys have been here very long, especially since I’m only seeing one gate in the distance with color and another on the other side that seems completely blank. This must only be the second gateway then.”

Sonic flashed Amy a thumbs up and a grin, forcing a chuckle out of her. “You got it! But they’re still geniuses! They used energy signals detected on their gizmos to find out that the gates are split between day and night and that both of us have to run through both segments. No reasoning on why but it’s something.”

“How strange. Why day and night? I wouldn’t think there wouldn’t even be a difference.” Amy mumbled to herself, a strange look crossing her face. She glanced up at Sonic and began to study him.

Sonic shifted on his feet and held his arms to his chest. He ignored the weird look that his younger self gave him and continued to look anywhere but Amy. Suddenly, he just wants to go back through the gate and get this over with. The less people that know about his werehog form coming back the better… right?

He heard shifting of fabric and footsteps, a glance to the side revealed Amy making her way towards him. He finally glanced up to see her worried face, a hand reaching out for him.

“Sonic… is this like in Spagonia again? Are you-”

“Hahahaha, we should probably get going!” Sonic cut Amy off, suddenly straightening up with a tense smile on his face. Amy’s frown deepened but she pulled her hand back, correctly assuming that Sonic wasn’t going to let this conversation move on any further. She glanced towards Classic who shrugged and shook his head.

Amy sighed and glanced down. “Yea, you probably should. Good luck you two!”

She waved at the two blue hedgehogs as they began making their way towards the gateway again. Classic glared up at Sonic and punched his side, making the older shoot him a look. Once he knew that he had Sonic’s attention, he signed a desperate question asking what the hell all that was. Sonic glanced away before lifting his hands and signing back that he wasn’t talking about it.

Classic startled at Sonic using sign but quickly realized it was due to him not wanting Amy snooping in. While that was fair, Sonic was clearly hiding this from Amy.

Before an argument could spark between the two, Amy suddenly called out to the two of them, hands cupped around her muzzle.

“I nearly forgot! When we were leaving the gate, I thought I saw someone familiar in the distance! Keep an eye out, I think there’s someone else in there!”

The two glanced back at her before sending her mirrored thumbs up with similar grins. Amy smiled and waved at the confirmation. Once the two entered the gate, her grin dropped. She looked towards the blank gate in the distance and quickly made up her mind. She began the trek towards the blank gate, determined to find Tails and see if he knew anything on why Sonic was acting so strangely.

For the Sonics, they entered into Metal Harbor once more, only this time, a full moon hung in the sky with stars speckled across the dark sky in full display. It was a beautiful scene of the night sky, one Sonic wished he could enjoy.

Instead, the familiar sensation of transforming welled up inside of him and he closed his eyes and fell to his hands and knees. He tried his best to ignore the burning feeling as his body changed and warped into a beast of the night. Always best to ignore the pain, it hurts more when he’s thinking about it.

Once it was over, he stood back up, shaking himself off and watching as a few stray strands of fur came off and floated towards the metal plating they were standing on. He glanced up and locked eyes with Classic who was staring at him with a gaze that he easily understood as trying to choose which emotion to display. He looked so torn between concern and excitement at the form that it was sort of comical.

Sonic huffed and shook his head in mock disapproval. He glanced around the harbor before pausing, thoughts suddenly coming to a screeching halt with a singular conclusion.

Navigating Metal Harbor without his speed is going to be a challenge. Normally he wouldn’t think that, but if he messes up a grapple he’ll be sent into the waves below. The waves that look quite a bit higher than they did earlier. It must be high tide. It doesn’t explain why it feels a lot higher than earlier, but Sonic really doesn’t want to think about it too hard. Just blame it on Time Eater and move on.

He shoots a glance towards Classic and notes how he is staring at him with clear jealousy and excitement now. Sonic huffed out an amused sigh. He glanced to the side contemplating, before rolling his eyes and kneeling down. 

He didn’t think his younger self’s eyes could get any wider but he was quickly proven wrong. His eyes grew impossibly wide and they nearly seemed to sparkle. His mouth opened in a wide O-shape and his hands balled into fists and were raised up to his chest. He was practically vibrating in place with all the contained excitement.

“You gonna hop on or what?”

And he apparently didn’t need to be prompted twice. Classic sped his way towards Sonic and leapt up onto the werehog’s back and began bouncing in place. Sonic chuckled to himself at the reaction and shook his head.

He was doing this because it’d probably just be faster. That was the only reason. Not because he wanted to make Classic feel better after potentially worrying him earlier… nope. Not at all.

“You ready?” At the affirmative pat to his shoulder, Sonic lunged forwards and began speeding his way through the harbor on all fours. While it still wasn’t as fast as he’d like it to be, the two of them were making good ground despite everything.

And then they forgot about the risks of running on platforms over the ocean.

Neither of them really thought about warnings as they traversed the harbor, so when Sonic stretched an arm out to reach a rather high platform, neither of them thought to be concerned. And then Sonic jumped and grappled himself up.

The force of his speedy ascent flung Classic up, inertia sending the small hedgehog barreling upwards. Sonic quickly scrambled to his feet on the platform and began quickly scanning the sky, looking for his younger self. A gasp sounded from behind him but he could worry about whatever or whoever that was in a moment. He had a hedgehog to catch.

Soon enough, a blue figure began tumbling back down. And his trajectory was over the edge of the platform and into the ocean. Sonic wasted no time in rearing a hand back and flinging it towards the hedgehog. As soon as his hand clamped onto what he assumed was a leg, he reeled his arm back in.

The force sent the both of them tumbling backwards, their backs hitting a railing. Classic’s eyes seemed to be swirling around, head moving around as if insanely dizzy. Sonic reached an arm to his back to rub at it, not pleased with having flung himself directly into a metal pole. 

An excited scream suddenly rang out and both Sonics flattened their ears down to try and block out the shrill noise, headaches from the collision ringing loudly. A blur of green and pink suddenly tackled Classic, sending him toppling over once more. At least it wasn’t over the edge again.

Sonic turned to face them, not worried as he now had a good idea on who this was. And as his eyes laid on the sight before his suspicions were confirmed. 

Though that did leave him even more confused about their current trip in White Space. Before him, Classic looked exasperated as he was being hugged tightly by Amy. And not the same Amy they brought out of Metal Harbor earlier. Based on the green and orange shirt and skirt combo and the red headband holding quills in a similar position to Sonic’s own quills, it was very easy to conclude that this was Classic’s Amy.

Two Amys, two Tails, and two Sonics now. This was very new. Who else would have their younger selves be here in White Space? Sonic’s brain hurt thinking about it, that would get so confusing. It was already getting confusing enough adding a second Amy to the mix. 

He shook his head to dispel the thoughts, which caught the attention of the new hedgehog. She let out a small “oh!” as she remembered his existence and stood up from where she was latched onto Classic. Classic seemed to breathe out a sigh of relief as he was released from the girl’s hold.

The younger Amy dusted off her skirt before clasping her hands together and bowing down slightly. “Thank you so much for rescuing my dear Sonic! I would’ve dove in after him if he had fallen into the water, he can’t swim! But I don’t know how well I’d be able to help, so thank you so much!”

Sonic raised an eyebrow and glanced at his younger self. Before he could say anything, Amy grabbed his hand and shook it with a closed eye smile.

“Name’s Amy Rose! It’s so nice to meet you, despite how weird this situation is… how in the name of Chaos did we even end up back here?”

Sonic stayed frozen for a moment as Classic began signing a response to Amy. He wasn’t paying attention though. His thoughts all halted on one single train of thought.

Amy didn’t recognize him as Sonic. Neither Amy could recognize Sonic as himself when he was transformed into the werehog. It shouldn’t hurt but it did. He knew he looked different but he didn’t think the difference was that bad. He wasn’t sure if this hurt more or less than Amy thinking he was Sonic and then immediately back tracking once she fully took in how he looked when he had first transformed back in Spagonia. This Amy didn’t even think for one moment that he was Sonic. It helped that Classic was here… but still. He couldn’t help the hurt feeling forming in him.

Ignore it. There’s bigger things to worry about than his hurt feelings. It’s fine.

He ignored the pit that felt like it was writhing inside of him at these feelings.

He gave the young Amy a smile as she turned around back to him with wide eyes and apologies spilling from her lips. Ah, Classic told her who he was. He was looking at Sonic with a worried look again. It doesn’t matter.

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t know you were an older version of Sonic! I came off as so rude, didn’t I?!”

Sonic lifted his arms up in a placating manner, chuckling while giving a small smile. “No no, don’t worry about it! You weren’t here for the last time travel based incident so I get it! This is new for you!”

Despite his reassurances, she still seemed upset over possibly being rude, her lip sticking out in a displeased pout. Sonic sighed, catching her attention and making her stop her nonstop apologies.

He knelt down and threw his gaze over his shoulder, gesturing towards his back. Amy tilted her head in confusion, but Classic lit up and immediately clammored on. He waved the pink hedgehog up with him and she immediately lit up, following Classic’s lead.

Sonic winced at having two people now on his back but it still wasn’t unbearable. Werehog strength definitely had its perks.

“You guys holding on? I am not flinging you guys by accident again.”

He felt a pair of arms wrap around his neck and a pair of hands grasp lightly in his fur. “We’re ready! Eeeeee, this is so cool! I can’t wait for you to become like this too, Sonic! This is going to be such a cool thing in the future!” Her voice rang out right by his ears, betraying Amy as the one holding onto his neck.

Classic kept his hands dug into Sonic’s fur, but he did feel him lean down a bit, most likely in embarrassment. Sonic just shook his head.

“Alright, then keep holding on! We’re off!”

Sonic began bounding through Metal Harbor, a full moon hanging over them as he sped the rest of the way to the end of the zone. He was much more careful to warn the two hedgehogs on his back when he was about to grapple, both grips tightening slightly so they don’t slip and fall.

As Sonic left the zone, the two still on his back, he tried his best to ignore the foreboding feeling pooling inside of him. It wasn’t important. Nothing was wrong, other than Time Eater’s actions. That was it. Nothing else.

The feeling inside him begged to differ. But Sonic ignored it.

Chapter Text

Once they exit the gate, Sonic quickly ushers the two hedgehogs off of his back. As soon as the two hop off, he winces as the transformation starts up. After an agonizing minute, Sonic finds himself as a hedgehog once more. Classic’s Amy looks like she wants to say something but Classic stops her, shaking his head. She seems displeased but doesn’t say anything.

Sonic stands up and shakes his head to try and dispel the leftover fogginess in his head. He turned towards the other two and gave them a thumbs up and a wide smile paired with closed eyes.

“All set! Let’s get moving on, shall we?” 

Classic determinedly nodded and walked up to Sonic’s side to begin heading towards the next Time Gate. The smaller Amy seemed a bit more hesitant to follow suit but seemingly decided to ignore her internal distress and followed suit.

As the three approached the next gate, two figures became visible. Sonic squinted into the distance, hand flat over his eyes like a visor. Odd, his Tails wasn’t here. It was just young Tails and his Amy.

And speaking of Amy, the young Amy who was clinging to Classic paused in shock as they stopped in front of the gate. Her and the other Amy were suddenly locked in a baffled staring contest, both ripped out of whatever conversations they were in. 

“Oh my Chaos! You’re little me!”

The trance the two hedgehogs were in was broken and the two ran towards each other, immediately fawning over the other.

“You’re me?! I look so pretty when I get older!” The younger Amy was examining her older counterpart’s outfit, gushing over every little part. The two began exchanging compliments back and forth, reminiscing on past endeavors or becoming excited for what’s to come.

The young Tails walked up to the Sonics with a small wave. Classic waved back enthusiastically and high fived his younger brother once he was close enough. 

“Great job on restoring the Metal Harbor gate, you two! I got the energy readings not long ago and everything looks properly restored!” Classic Tails pulled his tablet out and began poking around, adjusting the screen. He paused on a screen and nodded.

Sonic rubbed under his nose with a smirk and Classic threw out an enthusiastic thumbs up. “It was no sweat! Plus, we found tiny Ames, so that was a plus. Though that has me wondering something…”

The younger Tails cocked his head to the side, as if prompting Sonic to continue. The hedgehog doubts Tails is going to have the answer yet, either of them really, but it wouldn’t hurt to try. 

“For the most part, we’ve located someone in each gate. The Speedway was odd since the two of you left before we found you, but you were both there. And I can assume you guys were in the night zone, which is why you didn’t originally realize the oddity?”

The small fox nodded. “Yea! Other me was also wondering about the day and night thing, but we figured we were able to leave the night zone, but re-entry was impossible until the two of you cleared the day zone.”

Sonic nodded along, hand on his chin. His younger self was looking at him with his head tilted to the side. The older hedgehog let his eyes drift to his younger self. Once his eyes landed on the younger hedgehog, Classic lifted his hands into familiar motions and asked if Sonic was asking about why they were finding people in the gates instead of frozen outside.

The older hedgehog lifted a hand and tilted it in a so-so gesture. “In a way. The Tails were already looking into that though.” The small fox nodded in affirmation, so Sonic continued. “But I was more asking about how someone has appeared in each zone of the gates, and how we now have two us, two Tails, and now two Amys. Will each gate have someone from my time and then their younger self from your guys’ time?”

Tails lifted a fist to his mouth. “That’s… a good question. But we still have no leads on why we’re appearing inside of the gates this time around. I’ll pass that on to your Tails when he comes back to this gate. For now, we will assume there will be someone in each section of each zone.”

Sonic nodded. “Sounds good to me. Speaking of my Tails, where is my little buddy?”

The small fox lit up and tapped the screen on his tablet a few times before turning the screen to face the two blue hedgehogs. He pointed towards some readings and began to explain.

“A new energy reading popped up that wasn’t necessarily a gate! Your Tails decided to investigate and see if there was anything new or another area to access. And that’s not all!” Tails flicked the screen to pull up a new page that had 7 familiar gemstone silhouettes, with one faintly pulsating. Both Sonics found their eyes widening.

“Wait! You guys found a Chaos Emerald reading?!”

Tails nodded with a wide grin. “Yep! It’s located right with the strange energy source that Tails is investigating. Hopefully, once you two are finished with this third gate, we should have found a way to get the emerald!”

Sonic reached out a hand and ruffled the young Tails’ fur on his head, earning a giggle and a swat from the young fox. As soon as his hand was swatted off, Classic dove in with a smirk to also try and ruffle Tails’ fur, earning a full laugh from the fox.

“Guys! Hahaha, cut it out!”

The hedgehogs relented and gave Tails a moment to smooth his fur back down. He pulled his tablet to face himself again and smiled brightly up at the hedgehogs.

“You two should start running through this gate! I have a good feeling we’re gonna have more breakthroughs soon, so we should hurry!”

The Sonics both nodded and with a wave to Tails and the two Amys, they sped off into the gate, disappearing into the white outlined area.

Upon entering, the two hedgehogs found themselves in a large and lush jungle. Sonic grinned as he registered where they were. Speed Jungle! Well now, it’s been a long time since he was on the Northstar Islands. 

He took a few steps further in, relishing in the atmosphere. This was definitely one of his favorite locations from the islands all that time ago, running through here was an exciting adventure. He eyed the vines twisting up through the trees and smirked. He bets he can get his younger self to vine surf with him. Sliding down those vines was so much fun!

“Alright! This’ll be fun! How about we get some air so we can- what‘cha looking for, buddy?” Sonic watched in growing confusion as Classic was frantically searching the jungle, very clearly looking for something. Oh, wait. Maybe it was someone.

“Did’ja see someone already?” 

His younger self slumped into himself and shook his head dejectedly. Sonic raised an eyebrow in confusion as he tried to figure out what was bothering his younger self. He opened his mouth to just ask when Classic lifted his hands and signed a simple gesture… wait. He remembers that sign! That’s the name sign they gave to-!

“Oh! You’re trying to see if Trip is here! Man, it’s been a while since I’ve seen her too, she’s always so busy over here on the islands and finding time to visit isn’t always easy!” His younger self nodded dejectedly. Sonic felt his grin soften and he walked up to the young hedgehog. He placed a hand on Classic’s back.

“I wouldn’t wish it on her, but maybe she was brought here too. Your Tails and Amy are here, and my friends are brought here, so maybe she was too.” Classic slowly nodded. “And if she is here, we both know she’d be an awesome help! Trip is fantastic! So even if she’s not here, she’ll be safe. We’ll just have to visit her afterwards.”

Classic looked up to Sonic for a moment, studying his face before giving the older hedgehog a small smile. He lifted a hand to his chin and then pushed that hand out in a thankful gesture. Sonic nodded back before gesturing into the jungle.

“Of course, little me! Now, how about we get into the trees and go sliding on the vines? Been a while since I’ve gotten to do that.”

Classic nodded and the two of them took off, both choosing a different tree and running vertically to the tops. Both of them leapt from the tops with an inertia filled launched and set themselves in motion, sliding down the weaving vines. They hopped from vine to vine, laughing the entire time.

The two of them raced through the trees for a few minutes before Classic suddenly began squinting at something in the distance. His eyes suddenly widened and he sped up and leapt off of his vine towards a splotch of red in the distance. Sonic sped up in order to keep up with the smaller him and jumped after him. 

Sonic squinted at the red splotch, which was becoming more of a figure grappling with something the closer they got, and was trying to figure out what, or who, it was. Classic balled himself up and flung himself at a strange shadowy creature, knocking it off of the red figure. The thing let out a piercing scream before suddenly poofing away in a cloud of shadowy smoke. 

Sonic skidded to a halt and stared at where the creature had just disappeared. He’d never seen or heard anything like that before. Classic had taken action so quickly that he was sure neither of them got a good look at whatever it was. 

A grunt sounded beside him and Sonic turned his attention to- oh! He grinned and offered a hand to the familiar echidna. Narrowed eyes were directed up at him, but as soon as he registered who it was, that familiar, sharp grin filled his friend’s muzzle. His hand clasped firmly onto Sonic’s and the hedgehog hoisted his friend to his feet.

“Well, well, well! If it isn’t Sonic! Of course you’d be here while strange things are happening. Have you ever tried having a normal day?” Knuckles smirked at him and crossed his arms over his chest.

Sonic chuckled and rubbed his nose. “Aw, c’mon, Knucks. What’s an adventure without something going awry with me?”

Knuckles barked out a sharp laugh and heartily smacked Sonic on the back. The hedgehog let out a pained grunt at the motion but decided to ignore it. He knew Knuckles meant well.

“Oh don’t I know it? But, you got an answer on why we’re in Speed Jungle? Not that I mind, but I don’t even see young Trip anywhere.” His gaze wandered before slowly landing on Classic. He sighed. “Oh. Nevermind. Seeing you here… answers a lot actually."

Sonic sighed and Classic shrugged apologetically. “Yep, Time Eater is back and has the doc. Now we’re in White Space. Oh, and people are being dropped into the zones this time.”

“Beats being frozen. I know you weren’t, but that wasn’t fun.”

The echidna looked off to the side, going quiet. Sonic didn’t blame him. Everyone had voiced their complaints after being frozen in time and how it was an unpleasant experience. Though he wonders if that train of thought made him remember the other set of islands they were more recently at. They really needed to stop getting trapped like this.

Knuckles broke the silence again. “Any signs on Chaos Emeralds? I was guarding the Master Emerald before waking up here and the Master Emerald was getting panicked. Something about the emeralds being taken.”

The Sonics exchanged a look before looking back to Knuckles. The echidna raised an eyebrow, clearly already anticipating the worst.

“We don’t have any, but!” He interjected into his own sentence, seeing the annoyance and panic set in on Knuckles’ face, “We have a lead! Younger me’s Tails got readings on a Chaos Emerald nearby this gate back in White Space. Let’s get out of here and we can send you to where Tails is currently investigating the potential source. You’re the Chaos Emerald expert, if anyone can find it, it’ll be you!”

Knuckles nodded and glanced to the side. He contemplated for a moment. “Yes, that would be an acceptable course of action.” He looked back up, a smirk replacing the frown that was on his face as he pounded a fist into an open palm. “Let’s get going! We can’t waste any time!”

“There’s the Knuckles I know!” Sonic pointed towards a set of vines above them. “Those are the vines we were taking to get out of here. I’m fairly certain we’re almost out, so we should be able to take those to find our ways out!” Classic nodded in affirmation, promptly running off and speeding up a tree. 

The younger hedgehog stuck his tongue out and waved towards the two still on the ground. Sonic shook his head and sped up the tree to Classic’s right and stared his younger self down and blowing a good natured raspberry at him. That got a quiet, raspy laugh out of the other hedgehog. To Classic’s left, Knuckles hoisted himself to the top of the tree having climbed the whole way up.

All three nodded before taking off, sliding down the vines towards the exit. A few vine transfers later, the three found themselves at the exit. With a couple jumps, the three landed in the dirt (and Sonic landing in the dirt face first instead of on his feet) and made their way out of Speed Jungle into the blindingly bright White Space, now with yet another friend in tow.

Chapter Text

Almost immediately upon leaving the Speed Jungle gate, Knuckles seemed to start looking around. Sonic held his arms up behind his head, strolling up to the echidna casually while Classic sat down by the gate entrance. He seemed like he just needed to be off of his feet for a moment. Sonic couldn’t blame him, he’s definitely been there. With how antsy he’s been though, he’d probably be better off sitting down and taking a small break after they get past this first segment and retrieve that Chaos Emerald. 

“Looking for Tails?”

Knuckles startled at Sonic’s voice and whipped around. The moment he registered it being Sonic, he sighed and relaxed.

“Yes… we need that Chaos Emerald. You said he only has one reading?”

Sonic nodded. “As far as we know, yes. But Tails works fast so maybe the two of them have found a second reading already. Maybe more!”

Knuckles smirked and nodded sagely in agreement. “You got me there. Tails has a brilliant mind. I must join the search though. I… I need to make sure we find them.”

The hedgehog pointed towards the east of the gate, where vague specks could be seen in the distance. Knuckles shielded his vision with a hand as he squinted into the distance, following Sonic’s finger.

“If you go straight that way, you’re sure to run into someone. Seeing as nobody else is at this gate, you’ll find both Tails and both Amys over there.”

Knuckles turned towards him with an incredulous look. He glanced in between the two Sonics, before landing back on his Sonic. 

“Both… Amys? Is the younger Amy here this time?” Sonic nodded which made Knuckles glance towards the half completed gate. “Is my younger self still in the gate then? Is he even here?”

Sonic shrugged and meandered over towards the gate. He looked over his shoulder at the echidna with an apologetic look.

“We’re not sure yet. We think that’s the pattern though. If he’s here, we’ll be right over with him. This is the last gate both of the Tails found.”

Knuckles nodded in affirmation before turning towards the east. He lifted a hand in a silent goodbye and began jogging towards the others to assist in finding the Chaos Emerald. Sonic waved back even though he knew Knuckles can’t see him with his back turned. 

He turned back towards the gate and gestured towards it with a head tilt before making his own way into the gateway. He heard Classic scramble up to his feet and jog after him with a small playful huff directed at the older hedgehog.

The two hedgehogs meandered into the jungle, this time with it being significantly harder to see. Nighttime in a jungle is going to be a much bigger pain than in other places without the typical lighting found in urban areas. Sonic glanced to the side towards a pale, glowing plant. Well, there was the unusual flora in the area at least. It wasn’t much but it worked.

Like clockwork, Sonic felt the energy build up inside of him as his werehog transformation started back up once more. Honestly, he was growing sick of this fast. Despite having traversed 3 different gates now, twice per gate as well, he’s transformed many times in what feels like only a day. It was getting exhausting.

Time didn’t really exist here though, so maybe it was all in his head. It didn’t matter. The sooner they finish this, the sooner he can just get rid of the werehog transformation again. It won’t come back after this… he’s going to ignore the fact that it was able to come back at all.

Once he came back to, he stood up from the ground, using his paws to shove himself back up (when did he go to his hands and knees? Why doesn’t he remember falling during his transformation?) Classic seemed to be eyeing the trees, squinting into the dark and seemingly analyzing the terrain.

Sonic shook off the remaining soreness from the transformation. He should be focusing on getting through these zones so they can grab the Chaos Emerald. And maybe find even more of their friends.

Classic nodded to himself after he seemed to be done analyzing their surroundings. He must’ve been checking if anyone was here right at the start. The two of them gave one another a quick look before nodding in agreement.

They both took off towards the trees, Sonic reaching an arm up to pull himself up into the treetops while Classic sped up in order to scale a tree trunk, landing himself on a sturdy vine. The two traversed the treetops with relative ease, Sonic only struggling slightly because of his additional bulk as the werehog. He definitely caught Classic snickering at him out of the corner of his eye though.

And then out of nowhere, a blur of red flies out of the treetops and Sonic is given no time to react as he is suddenly tackled off of his perch from the branch he was just on. He lets out a yelp of shock and sees Classic staring down at him with surprise shown clear in his eyes as Sonic begins to plummet with his attacker.

Sonic tumbles into the ground and rolls himself into a ball to lessen the impact. It’s… significantly harder to do so as the werehog he’s currently finding, but it works well enough as he rolls back slightly and hits a tree. As soon as he hit the tree, he unfurled himself, groaning a bit at the pain. That was less than pleasant.

Rustling sounded out from a nearby bush and Sonic immediately rushed to the defensive. Right, he was attacked. His lucky attacker must’ve landed in the bushes. Lucky bastard.

He stuck his arms in front of himself and braced himself for impact. As predicted, his attacker came flying out of the bush with a loud cry. Sonic’s eyes widened and adjusted his stance to meet the incoming fist. 

The force from the incoming fist sent him sliding back through the dirt, though the spikes on his shoes did wonders in keeping him upright by lodging into the ground. That didn’t stop the familiar sting of pain that follows one of Knuckles’ heavy punches though. 

The realization of who he was fighting immediately had Sonic switching up his tactics, forcing himself to go on the defensive until Classic found his way down here to join the fray and hopefully calm down the young echidna. And so he and the younger Knuckles began a dangerous dance of the echidna throwing powerful punches and Sonic only just barely being able to maneuver himself out of the way.

The familiar sound of a spindash taking off allowed Sonic to relax his shoulders. A blur of blue light sped in between him and Knuckles and shoved the echidna out of the way. Sonic watched with baited breath as the small echidna stumbled back and kept his gaze warily trained on Sonic while occasionally flitting over to Classic’s small form unfurling from his spindash.

“Hedgehog, what is the meaning of this? Why do you interfere with my fight with this cursed creature? The last creature I’ve encountered like it was nothing but bad news, we must dispose of it at once!”

Sonic winced at Knuckles’ wording. Cursed creature. Yea, it was rather fitting giving the situation but that stung a lot. It was a curse but hearing someone straight up call it a curse and only viewing him as a monster left a sour taste in his mouth.

Classic took a few urgent steps towards Knuckles, hands already raised and explaining who Knuckles was just fighting. From the little bit he could see, Sonic could tell that Classic was also trying to explain the Time Eater situation and how that was most likely the cause for Sonic’s current condition.

The echidna looked hesitant, a wary gaze flicking between Classic and Sonic in a way the hedgehog knew was him assessing a threat. Eventually, he sighed, seemingly giving in to Classic’s explanation, much to both Sonic and Classic’s relief.

“Very well, but know that I only believe you because the large creature that sent me here must’ve been this Time Eater creature you speak of. And the beast I’ve fought prior looked awfully similar to it and I don’t recall you speaking of mini versions of it from your prior adventure in this cursed realm.”

Sonic pursed his lips and he could see Classic doing the same. That… that was concerning. Mini versions of Time Eater could only spell trouble.

Classic tentatively brought his hands up, and after glancing between Knuckles and Sonic making sure both were watching, he signed out that they could discuss this back in White Space where everyone else was. The way it’d be safer as well with the new information in mind was left unsaid.

Knuckles glanced at Sonic with narrowed eyes. “Fine, I don’t completely trust this monster you call the older you still, hedgehog.”

Ouch. Sonic tried not to let that get to him but had to suppress a snicker as Classic furrowed his brows and slugged Knuckles in the arm. The echidna at least had the decency to look ashamed.

The three began their trek through the rest of the jungle and Sonic once again found himself lost in his thoughts, an increasingly dangerous place to keep losing himself if the concerned looks sent to him from Classic say anything. Best not to worry. Just keep moving forwards.

Stop worrying.

Chapter Text

The walk through White Space towards where everyone else was currently was quiet, save for the three pairs of footfalls sounding out as they walked. While they had only just left the Speed Jungle gate, the gate having burst into color and restoring itself after their departure, it had already felt like ages. It didn’t help that both Sonics seemed lost in their own trains of thought, though it's not like the small Knuckles was eager for conversation either. He seemed content enough to take the lead of the small group and lead in silence.

The younger version of Knuckles thankfully hadn’t commented on Sonic’s transformation back into himself. Other than the side eyes the small echidna sent him, he really wasn’t making much of an effort to interact with anyone. Sonic was perfectly fine with that, he really wasn’t sure what he’d say anyways.

It didn’t take them very long to find the others. Both Tails seemed to be deep in conversation in front of a strange mini gate. Both foxes were hunched over their tablets and gesturing towards one another’s devices as they exchanged information. The small Amy was on her tiptoes behind the foxes, trying to get a look at the devices and nodding along seriously as if she understood what they were talking about, but based on the lost look in her eyes, she was still extremely lost.

Sonic’s own Amy was examining the mini gate alongside his Knuckles. The older echidna tapped on the gate with the back of his closed fist, nodding as he turned towards Amy. She seemed to light up and bounced happily in place, making the echidna roll his eyes, though Sonic could clearly see the faint smile at her excitement, even from a distance.

As the group of three approached, the older pink hedgehog turned her gaze away from the mini gate and towards their direction. Immediately, she lit up and lifted a hand in an excited wave.

“Sonic! There you guys are! Tails has some new discoveries, get your butts over here!”

The rest of the group perked up at Amy’s shouting and everyone turned to face the incoming group. The younger Amy gasped in excitement and immediately abandoned the foxes in lieu of tackling Sonic’s smaller self in a hug. Knuckles smirked at them before his line of sight zeroed in on his own younger self, who had immediately froze upon seeing the older echidna.

Sonic watched with clear amusement as the two echidnas stared at one another with narrowed eyes. The younger Knuckles approached his older self and the two held themselves in a silent staredown. Then, the older Knuckles grinned and offered a fist to which the smaller echidna grinned back and gave him a heavy sounding fistbump. Sonic winced to himself just imagining the strength of that fistbump, feeling his own hand throb in empathetic pain despite not having participated in the fistbump.

The echidnas were clearly unaffected though, something Sonic found himself slightly jealous at but decided to leave it be. Knuckles was known for his extreme strength anyways so it was pretty obvious a fistbump with himself would sound… painful.

Two sets of rapid footsteps approached the Sonics, and he glanced up to see the two versions of his little brother approach them with wide grins.

“Sonic! Just the hedgehogs we were waiting for! We got good news!”

Sonic reached out and ruffled the fur on Tails’ head, earning a good natured huff in retaliation. Classic seemed to be resigned to having his Amy clinging onto him and maneuvered himself to give his own Tails a small side hug instead.

“So we heard. Ames was sort of yelling about you guys making discoveries. I bet we can assume that they’re about the strange gate thing in front of us?” Sonic raised an eyebrow as he asked and gestured towards the mini gate. Honestly, he wasn’t even sure if gate was the right word to use, but it did have enough similarities to the Time Gates that he supposed he could still refer to them as such. At least until his genius brother told him otherwise.

“Precisely! We found two things behind this energy forcefield! Well, not quite both things.” Tails began making his way towards the mini gate and gestured for Sonic to follow. The hedgehog followed closely to his small brother. Sonic threw a glance back towards Classic who managed to send him a thumbs up and gestured for him to follow Tails.

The younger Tails piped up, “Don’t worry about him! I’ll fill him in! Besides, we want to wait until you’re both informed and prepared before having you both by the forcefield anyways.”

That raised more questions but Sonic decided to wait to ask them until he caught up with his own Tails. He nodded in response before jogging off towards Tails, who was patiently waiting for him by the mini gate. Maybe he should call it a forcefield like the foxes are? Nah, mini gate is fun to say.

He stopped beside his brother and half-heartedly examined the structure in front of him. “Soooo, what exactly did you mean by ‘not quite both things,’ Tails?” Sonic lifted his fingers up into air quotations as he repeated his brother’s words, looking at him quizzically.

Tails lowered his tablet and gestured towards the mini gate. “Well, with the help of Knuckles, we confirmed the Chaos Emerald reading was correct and there is indeed an emerald past the field. However, once we got close enough we located a heat signature behind the forcefield as well.”

Sonic’s eyes widened and he turned to face the mini gate. “But finding a heat signature means… there’s someone behind this gate with the emerald?”

Tails nodded. “You got it! Heat signatures can’t tell us who it is, but if you look hard enough into the forcefield, you can actually see a vague outline of them!”

Sonic leaned towards the energy surrounding the mini gate’s entrance and squinted. Sure enough, he could see the vague shape of a mobian. He’s sure he’s seen that person before and their name is on the tip of his tongue, he just can’t quite place who it is.

After a moment of trying to decipher where he knows this person is from, he shakes his head and leans away from the forcefield, turning back to face his brother with a proud look on his face.

“Great work, bud!” Tails preened at Sonic’s praise, and Sonic grinned as he saw how proud his little brother looked. “So, any ideas on how to open this bad boy up and retrieve the emerald and the trapped person?”

Tails lit up and pulled up his tablet, frantically typing away before turning the screen to face the blue hedgehog. He pointed at a small graphic in the center of the screen. 

“We have a theory! The energy signals coming from the forcefield itself are extremely similar to the ones that come from the locked Time Gates! As the two of you finished the third gate, this forcefield actually seemed to weaken. It actually weakened a bit more before the three of you arrived, which practically confirms that it’s attached to the previous Time Gates.”

Sonic nodded while examining the graphics on the screen. That made a lot of sense actually. It made him also feel bad for whoever was trapped in there, it looked less like a gate into a zone and more of a mini prison cell.

“Though, it didn’t quite open when you two finished the night version of the third zone,” Tails continued after a moment. “Once we realized that, me and my younger self theorized that maybe the presence of you both would open it completely! It seems to be reacting to just you being here, so if we had the both of you right in front of the forcefield, it should open up!” 

Sonic gave Tails a wide grin and a thumbs up. “Awesome work, buddy! I’d say let’s get this moving so that we can be one step closer to kicking Time Eater’s butt and saving the world!”

A small call sounded from behind them and the younger Tails was waving excitedly and gesturing towards Classic, who had finally managed to convince his Amy to let go of him for the time being. She stood by the small fox’s side and gave Classic a thumbs up and a closed eye smile, one of which Classic returned. 

Sonic’s own Tails waved back and gestured for them to come over there. “We’re ready! If you explained it to your Sonic then we should go ahead and open the forcefield!”

Classic nodded and without missing a beat, zoomed over to Sonic’s side. As soon as the younger hedgehog stood next to him, the forcefield seemed to groan. Everyone watched in anticipation as the forcefield flickered a few times before suddenly dissipating.

Classic’s eyes widened at the sight behind the mini gate and immediately assumed a fighting stance, hands up in front of him like he was prepared to fight. The other Tails, Amy, and Knuckles all gasped at the sight revealed to them and assumed various fighting positions of their own. The young Tails immediately took to the air and pocketed his tablet, sending a glare towards the mini gate. The other Amy whipped her hammer out and held it tightly in her hands, looking ready to pounce at any moment. The small Knuckles bunched his hands into fists and waited with baited breath for something to happen.

There stood behind where the forcefield was once standing, was a face Sonic hadn’t seen in ages. The purple weasel looked just as shocked as everyone else, as if he wasn’t expecting to be freed from his strange prison anytime soon. Sonic watched as the weasel scanned the group standing before him. His eyes narrowed and he slowly and defensively placed a hand over the satchel on his waist.

Nobody seemed to know what to do. For Sonic and his friends, it has been a long time since they’ve seen him. Judging by Classic and his friends’ reactions and adding Classic’s search for Trip in Speed Jungle, it has been a much more recent experience.

The small Knuckles was the one to break the silent standoff, taking a few cautious steps forwards while keeping his fists up to attack on a moment’s notice.

“Ok, Fang, let’s cut to the chase, you’re hiding a Chaos Emerald. Hand it over, we need them to fix this time problem. Do it, and nobody gets hurt.”

Fang’s expression morphed into a sneer, his defensive position over the satchel never dropping. Both Knuckles seemed greatly put off by this and were both ready to leap in to take the emerald back.

“Hand it over? Ha! As if! And don’t you think an eight versus one is lopsided? I thought you were all heroes… hey wait. Why are there doubles of everyone?”

“Long story, and something we need the emerald to be able to fix,” Sonic cut in. Fang’s attention snapped towards him, the weasel tightening his hold on his bag. “I know we don’t have the best past but we need to work together and we need the emeralds.”

“If you really are that pesky hedgehog they call Sonic, then you should know I won’t just hand it over that easily.” Sonic tensed up and went to take a fighting position of his own. Fang smirked at the reaction.

“If this situation is as dire as you claim it to be, I’m sure I could agree to a simple one-on-one battle with the emerald as the grand prize.”

Classic narrowed his eyes and slowly walked to join Sonic’s side. His hands flew up and moved in a blur, but the question he was asking was clear to Sonic and the weasel in front of them.

Fang moved the hand that wasn’t covering the bag that held the emerald over his heart in a fake hurt manner. “You wound me. Of course I’ll stand by that, thief’s honor.” Classic rose an eyebrow and tilted his head, clearly unimpressed with the response. Fang chuckled nervously and glanced away. “Ok, I agree, not the best thing to say. You get the point though.”

The two stayed locked in a silent staredown. Classic seemed to be searching Fang’s expression for any sign of deceit while Fang just seemed ready to bolt if Classic decided to just try taking the emerald without a competition.

After a tense couple of seconds, Classic nodded and stood up straight, dropping his fighting stance. Fang seemed to relax at the movement, even going as far to sigh in relief before remembering where he was.

Sonic quietly watched the exchange, noting how Classic’s eyes stayed narrowed towards the weasel and he never seemed to waver away. He really was a stubbornly determined hedgehog in his youth, wasn’t he? A small smile wove its way onto his face at the thought.

With a lot of complaining from Fang and silent urges and motions from Classic, the two mobians walked towards the previous gates. Squinting at the shrinking figures in the distance, Sonic could make out Classic leading Fang into Speed Jungle. 

He nodded in approval. Good on him, sticking to something they know while also not putting the weasel at a major disadvantage. White Space was all about memories, so taking him to the place they had one their first scuffles was perfect.

Footsteps behind him snapped Sonic out of his trance, making him belatedly realize the two were in the gate already and now out of sight. Turning around, it seemed nobody really noticed. He sighed and walked over towards Tails, who was currently pacing with his tablet in hand and furiously typing something on the screen.

Sonic laid a hand on Tails’ head in between his ears. The fox paused for a moment to glance up at Sonic and gave him a wide smile in response. The two stood there for a few minutes, Sonic shifting his arm to lay over Tails’ shoulder as he leaned over to stare at his brother’s tablet. 

They stayed there in silence, letting the strange peacefulness of the moment wash over them. Saying it was peaceful was baffling but Sonic couldn’t think of anything else to call it. For once since they’ve arrived in this dreary place, things felt normal.

His eyelids drooped slightly and he cast his gaze towards the blank floor. The nonstop tapping from Tails on his tablet faded into the background and a droning of white noise filled his ears. 

A new thought began to buzz in the back of his mind, one he wasn’t quite sure how he felt about. Normal. Sonic could view this as normal. That wasn’t right… being in this many crazy situations shouldn’t be normal. But it is. He loves a life where the unexpected is right around the corner. It’s thrilling!

Not so much when he’s scared of what memory is right around the corner. Not when his younger self is about to see what a mess of a future he’s going to have. Not when Classic is slowly finding out about how they lose everything time and time again, with no end in sight.

Oh. Sonic blinked, feeling a warmth slip down his cheek. He lifted the hand that wasn’t draped over his brother and gently wiped away under his eye. Sonic could feel a slight dampness seep through the fabric at the motion. He quickly wiped the rest away and felt a surge of relief that Tails didn’t seem to notice, too wrapped up in his research endeavors.

The sound of two pairs of footsteps, one light and quick while the other seemed slow and dragging, was a welcome distraction. He slid his arm off of Tails and grinned at the sight of Classic proudly bearing a red gemstone in his grip. Fang seemed to be trailing behind with his arms crossed over his chest and a clearly displeased look on his face.

Classic bounded over towards the group and everyone else paused what they were doing to congratulate the small hedgehog. The small Knuckles walked up to Fang with squinted eyes and arms over his chest, to which the weasel scoffed at and rolled his eyes.

“I said I’d hand it over if I lost. Unfortunately, this pipsqueak is still a nuisance I can’t outpace. A pity but what can you do?”

“Not steal the emeralds?”

Fang snorted. “Ok, sure. I’m a thief. I’ll try again later.” He glanced around with a vague look of disdain. “Maybe not with a gaggle of wannabe heroes who are a pain to deal with though. I can wait.”

The younger Knuckles seemed pleased enough to be satiated for now and let the weasel be. He approached Classic and clapped him firmly on the back, making the young hedgehog stumble slightly and looking to have barely caught himself before toppling over.

Sonic shook his head at the sight and watched fondly as Classic proudly placed the emerald into the young echidna’s hands. He seemed to freeze before a proud grin erupted on his face. The small Knuckles gave Classic another strong yet fond smack on the back of his shoulder, and this time Classic couldn’t keep his balance and stumbled forwards onto the ground face first.

Sonic snickered. Aww, baby’s first face plant! And he got to witness it!

The small Knuckles immediately knelt down to check on the poor hedgehog and all Sonic could think was that maybe it would be alright.

Chapter Text

Sonic wished this strange peacefulness could last. While in White Space, it was hard for anything to feel normal. But sharing a glance with Tails showed the fox to be eager to move on to what Sonic could only assume was a Boss Gate up ahead. Not an ideal thing to run into but something that could give a fun rush of adrenaline. 

He doesn’t pay much attention when his little brother speaks up so he doesn’t catch any specifics, but he gets the jist of it pretty quickly. They need to move on forwards and go through the Boss Gate in order to secure yet another emerald. A quick in and out for Sonic and Classic it sounded like.

The hedgehog turned with arms poised lazily behind his head and he strolled over in the direction he was sure to find the gate. The quick patter of footsteps following with no voice to accompany it was a sure sign that his younger self had the same idea and was right behind him.

It didn’t take long for the two to stand outside of the gate, now wide open with a swirling darkness in the center. It looked nearly hypnotizing with the way energy seemed to swirl around inside the bounds of the golden frame.

Before the two could walk into the gate to get the job done, two pairs of footsteps seemed to be jogging towards them from the direction of the forcefielded gate. Both hedgehogs gave one another a confused look before turning around.

Knuckles and his younger self both came to a stop before them, the younger slightly panting while Sonic’s own Knuckles looked barely phased. He wasn’t even given a chance to ask what was up before the older echidna answered his unasked question.

“We’re coming with you and you two are not allowed to argue, Tails’ orders.”

Sonic opened his mouth, an argument on the tip of his tongue regardless of Knuckles’ statement. The two of them are doing just fine on their own and haven’t needed assistance in these gates yet. He appreciates them volunteering to help but they just don’t need it.

The younger Knuckles quickly silenced any attempt at arguing back with a wave of his hand as he stood up straight again, finally recovering from his minor exhaustion. “Nope, no arguing with us. The future Tails said that there was an energy behind this gate that was more reminiscent of something we’ve fought that you haven’t before. We’re coming with you as backup on the off chance you guys need the help with a weird enemy.”

Sonic snapped his mouth shut and silently contemplated their words. A few seconds of thought was all it took for him to sigh and cave in. If Tails really had done an analysis like that and found an energy signature he associates with Knuckles instead of Sonic, his brother would insist on him taking some help. No arguing that.

Sonic nodded and he noted how Classic side-eyed him before reluctantly nodding as well. He’s sure his little self could understand why they should let the echidnas join as well.

“Fair point, can’t argue that. Especially since Tails will have my head if I ignore his advice again.” The small Knuckles covered his mouth as he snickered and the older of the two also seemed to be struggling to hold in a laugh as well. Jerks.

He rolled his eyes before gesturing towards the gate. “Let’s get a move on then. Can’t waste any time.”

Both echidnas ceased their teasing laughter and nodded in unison. Sonic and Classic walked side by side into the gate with the telltale sound of the two echidnas following right behind them.

The inside of the gate was dreary. It was dark and humid and the air felt like it was hanging heavy over top of him, trying to suffocate him where he stood. And then there was a pang in his chest.

He barely got to react, eyes widening ever so slightly as an increasingly familiar transformation took hold of him and sent him to his hands and knees. The cold, damp dirt was shoving that gross feeling into the pads of his paws as his gloves tore to shreds. The eerie feel in here did nothing to make the pain lessen, only adding to the somber feel of the moment as a whole.

The transformation and the coinciding pain that came with it faded, leaving only a dull ache and the air weighing down on his now fluffier fur. He shook himself with a groan, his body feeling even heavier like the humidity was trying to cling to his body and weigh him into the ground. It was just plain uncomfortable.

He pushed himself off of the ground and stumbled up onto his feet and turned towards Classic, a strained grin on his face. The young hedgehog looked shocked to see him like this and Sonic really couldn’t blame him. This was a boss gate. This wasn’t supposed to happen.

Sonic let out a shaky sigh. This must’ve been a more hidden reason that Tails wanted the two of them to be accompanied by… his eyes widened and he slowly turned around to face the other two people here.

The younger Knuckles looked shocked, but not overly surprised. Probably because he’s seen this transformation once before. And fought Sonic in this form. His Knuckles on the other hand… Sonic wasn’t actually sure what the echidna was thinking. The only thing he could read from the slight twitch in Knuckles’ arms was slight concern.

Knuckles met his gaze in a silent staredown. Sonic clamped his jaw shut and gulped, not sure what to make of this whole situation. He’s already concerned on why he’s the werehog in a Boss Gate, he doesn’t want to add Knuckles’ suspicions to the plate.

At least he didn’t have to, all things considered. Right when it looked like Knuckles wanted to say something, an eerie laugh filled the strange cavern they were in. Everyone flung their gazes to look in the direction of the now echoing noise. After a few seconds of nothing, a large translucent orb seemed to form in the air before them.

The orb floated there for another few seconds when it suddenly burst into a solid white and two large orange eyes burst from it. It grinned in a manic, fanged smile and Sonic watched as two arms formed on either side.

Oh… shit.

Sonic flung himself and Classic to the side as the echidnas both dived underneath the now visible King Boom Boo. A silent thanks to his brother rang through Sonic’s mind as he pried Classic off of him, the small hedgehog now trembling slightly in his grasp. Classic stared up at him with wide, terrified eyes and pointed between the large spectre and Sonic, a silent question begging behind his eyes as he was too caught off guard to properly sign.

“King Boom Boo.” Classic stopped his frantic pointing and stared up at Sonic, silently urging him to continue. “We can talk about him later, preferably when we aren’t in White Space. Long story short, I’ve had one incident with him and Knuckles has had plenty.”

The sparking of fire could be heard and suddenly Classic dashed off to the side. Sonic leapt to the left just in time to dodge a barrage of blue fire being sent in their direction. His Knuckles was sprinting towards a lone Boo behind the King and tackled the smaller apparition. It startled and dropped a strange hourglass onto the ground in the process.

All at once, Sonic remembered exactly what that hourglass triggered. He snapped his head up to the top of the temple and watched with wide eyes as the moon decal was suddenly pulled back to reveal a sun. The werehog immediately attempted to make a break for it, but the sunlight poured in too fast. 

He fell back to the ground, noting how it felt slightly warmer now. His bones cracked as his body shrunk back into his normal hedgehog form. He panted slightly and his arms shook as they tried to hold up his weight, the detransformation complete. He glanced up to see the young Knuckles dive into the ground at a shadow in the ground and pull it up, making the shrunken ghost scream in agony.

The sunlight glinted off of something in his peripheral and he tore his gaze away from the fight. The light seemed to reflect perfectly off of the gold band on his wrist, brandishing a warmth that reminded him of the neverending kindness of his friend when the world was torn to shreds. A smile graced his muzzle and he shakily moved a hand to fidget with it.

And then the light snapped shut and a decal of the moon shone over top of them. His body screamed in pain once more and suddenly he was a werehog again.

Things felt fuzzy. Footsteps rapidly approached him and he could hear two others running around with the sound and warmth of fire filling his senses. A blurry red figure knelt in front of him and all Sonic could do was smile dumbly.

And a hand smacked him across his face. Hard.

“Shit! Sonic, bud, you gotta stick with us! This is going to take a few more tries unfortunately. Think you can help me grab the hourglass and play keep away?”

Sonic blinked up at Knuckles for a moment. Right. Boss battle. King Boom Boo. 

…His joints really hurt.

He nodded slowly and brought himself to his feet. Knuckles had the decency to look apologetic, though Sonic highly doubted it was about the slap.

“This is going to hurt, I don’t think we can hide you from the light. Bare with us, we’re going to do this in as few attempts as we can.”

Sonic nodded again, holding his head suddenly as a wave of vertigo hit him. A flicker of concern showed on Knuckles’ face but he was quick to mask it.

The two sprung into action, the small Knuckles and Classic having distracted the King enough that he left the small Boo unattended and struggling to keep up. Knuckles pounced but the Boo seemed to be more ready, weaving out of the way at the last moment. Sonic quickly reared a hand back and threw a punch towards the ghost, successfully startling the creature. 

It yelped and the hourglass fell, Sonic using his outstretched arm to snatch it up and pull it towards him. He quickly flung it towards Knuckles as the sunlight began to pour in and transformed Sonic once more.

This happened two more times, with four more transformations wracking Sonic’s body. Finally, the sunlight poured in and the two Echidnas and Classic landed a devastating hit, destroying King Boom Boo with a loud burst. A Chaos Emerald dropped onto the ground where the ghost king was floating previously and the three cheered as Knuckles picked it up with a grin.

Sonic pulled himself up off of the ground one more time, brushing off the dirt that had tried to stick to his fur. His muscles screamed at him and Sonic would admit he’s never felt this exhausted. Classic jogged up to him and gave him a look that screamed we need a break for your sake, but Sonic just shook his head and pointed towards the exit, too tired to speak right now.

The echidnas both seemed bothered by this but nobody remarked on it as they stepped out of the Boss Gate and onto the blank white flooring of White Space. Sonic just fidgeted with the golden band on his wrist, thumb running over the familiar green gem in silence.

The two Amys quickly bounded up to their respective Sonics, giving hugs to the two hedgehogs. Classic definitely seemed to be getting a tighter hug though if the pleas for help in his eyes said anything. His Amy seemed to slacken up for a moment though, pulling back and examining him.

“You’re so tired and tense, Sonic. What happened in there?”

Sonic’s eyes drooped down and he tried to look anywhere else. He saw Knuckles walk up to them and whisper in her ear. Her hands flung up to her mouth as she gasped and locked onto Sonic with a look he could only describe as pitying.

He tried flashing her a grin to try reassuring her before suddenly feeling his knees wobble and give out slightly beneath him. Amy gasped and quickly leapt forwards, grabbing him from under his arms and helping to keep him from falling on his face. Sonic groaned, feeling all of the fatigue catch up with him at once. 

Weird. Why was he suddenly feeling fatigued from this? This didn’t happen before. Sure it felt exhausting at times but never to this extent. Maybe with how much time was messed up, the amount of transformations he was going through really was becoming detrimental. 

He blinked a few times to try and reduce the fuzzy light blurring the edges of his vision. He ended up closing his eyes with an annoyed groan, earning a worried hum from the hedgehog holding on to him. Sonic felt Amy slowly lower him to the ground until he was sitting on the blank floor with his legs splayed out in front of him. She never let go, opting to carefully hold him upright so that he wouldn’t fall down completely if he decided to suddenly go slack.

After a few agonizing moments, Sonic finally reopened his eyes, wincing slightly at the brightness of the space they were in. Curse the timeless zone being pure white in all directions. This was an absolute pain when your body decided it needed a break, that’s for sure. 

He looked up at Amy, who still seemed wildly concerned. He opened his mouth to assure her that he was alright.

And then a deafening roar echoed throughout White Space.

Everyone’s attention found themselves looking up and around for the source of the noise. Both Sonics and both Tails tensed up as they immediately recognized the roar. And yet nobody moved, too afraid that something was going to happen. 

But it was going to happen regardless. A large time rift suddenly appeared above them and Time Eater came flying out with another roar. It seemed to look around before locking onto the echidnas, both of whom had a Chaos Emerald in their position. With another roar, it suddenly descended on the two.

Time Eater swooped down towards the Knuckles and reached its large claws out, swiping at the emeralds in their possessions. The two reacted quickly and with a fine tuned precision, ducking out of the way and leaping away from one another. 

The large being of time barreled forwards with the momentum it created, unable to turn to give chase to the nimble echidnas. It crashed into a gate in the distance and angrily roared again, locking its sights onto the smaller of the two echidnas. 

Time Eater barreled forwards again, reaching a hand out towards the emerald. The small Knuckles went to leap out of the way before pausing, staring at the Chaos Emerald with wide eyes. 

As Time Eater’s large claw seemed to be about to grab onto the precious stone, the emerald suddenly glowed brightly, spewing light out of from all directions. Time Eater screamed in what could only be described as agony before turning around and flying away.

However, in its rage, Time Eater flung its claws out and dragged them across the surfaces of White Space. A strange energy seemed to flow from where it made contact, lighting up the space with a bright purple glow. The glow dimmed down after a few moments, leaving cracks in the surfaces where Time Eater had clawed at. A rift opened up above the being of time and the large entity flew through it in a hurry, the rift sewing itself shut behind the entity.

Everyone stared at the space that Time Eater disappeared into with wide eyes. Sonic was glad his fatigue had mostly cleared up now, though it was now replaced but pure, utter shock from the events that just occurred.

“G-guys… I think something is wrong… look.” With a shaky hand pointing in front of him, the younger Tails stared forwards with a horrified expression.

Everyone else allowed their gazes to follow, a series of gasps ringing out from everyone present as they all took in the sight. 

The purple cracks left behind by Time Eater seemed to begin to spiderweb out, leaving traces of their existence throughout the space. Energy looked to be pulsing through the cracks, pushing them further out so that they littered the space before them. Whatever it was, it looked like it wanted to spread farther and was trying to push itself out, like a crack on glass that was jostled and therefore spread further out. 

Sonic grunted as he lifted himself to his feet, staggering slightly. Amy turned her attention back to him and grabbed his arm to help him steady himself. He nodded to her and she let go with a small smile, though anyone would be a fool to miss the worry still evident on her face.

He locked his gaze onto the now broken looking White Space, taking in the new looks of the area before him. Classic walked up to him, his eyes never leaving the strange new development until he was at his older counterpart’s side. 

The smaller hedgehog glanced up at Sonic and quickly signed a quick question about this new development. Sonic just stared for a moment and glanced back towards the cracks in the space. He sighed.

“I’m not sure. But we need to move on. Quickly.” He shuddered and turned back towards his smaller self. “I don’t think there’s anything good that’s going to come out of this. And we need to avoid it. Whatever it takes.”

Classic nodded up at him with a determined look and turned back towards the damaged White Space.

Sonic sighed inwardly and tensed up. Whatever it takes.

Whatever it takes.

Chapter Text

Everything was odd. Once Sonic had broken the silence, it was like a gateway to organized chaos was opened up. Everyone agreed that this could not be ignored and immediately all had gotten to work.

The Tails had both quickly taken off, both with tablets in hand and a promise to try and find a source for why White Space looked as if it was breaking. Sure, everyone saw Time Eater do damage, but this was too odd to not investigate. Time Eater had made its appearance before last time they were here and nothing of this sort occurred back then. The foxes were adamant that they could discover something. So bidding a farewell, the two took to the air with their tails and went on to analyze the cracks and energy flowing through them. 

Both Knuckles were obviously frazzled by the encounter. They had both decided to tuck the Chaos Emeralds away, each of them holding onto one emerald each. It was quickly decided that no one person should be holding every emerald in their possession, lest Time Eater make another attempt and succeed. Though, Tails had made it very clear that the emerald’s reaction to Time Eater strongly conveyed that they were capable of keeping themselves away from the entity. The echidnas appreciated the knowledge, but decided they wanted to search for more emeralds and guard their locations until the Sonics made them accessible. With a salute and a promise to keep the emeralds, new and current, safe, they both ran off towards the newly unlocked area presented to them.

The Amys both seemed anxious after everything. They had asked both the foxes and echidnas if they would need any assistance but was denied by both pairs. However, the pink hedgehogs had determinedly decided they would take position outside of the gates that the Sonics were traveling in so that they could quickly report findings to the ever moving hedgehogs. Sonic and Classic were in agreement that that could be very useful, especially seeing as last time the two had definitely missed things until they were happening. Sonic didn’t miss the strange looks sent his way as the Amys described their plans to the Tails and Knuckles. His way. Not Classics. As if he was the sole reason they felt the need to do something like this.

Sonic would be lying if he said he didn’t think his friends were worried about him. Especially since he really didn’t relay his recurring werehog situation to Amy and Knuckles, both having to find out in less than ideal situations. It had felt harder to tell them than showing the younger versions of everyone. Why was it easier to show his pain to someone who didn’t know of it yet? That was wrong of him, wasn’t it? None of them seemed to think so but it was.

It didn’t matter though, not right now. He was Sonic and he was the hero. He was going to save the day and return their timelines back to normal. He was going to rescue the doctor and everything was going to go back to how it was.

It never would. How could it? Starfall Islands was the last straw and he and everyone else knew it. Everyone was different. After every adventure, someone changed. The Metal Virus had destroyed a lot of people’s lives. Timelines breaking in a time long forgotten from a future he’ll never know. Nearly dying to an ultimate god…

Everything was fine. So stop worrying.

Four hedgehogs stood outside of the next gate. This was the first new gate that seemed to have an accessible opening to it, which meant they had a new Day Zone to traverse. Looking at it, Sonic could clearly sense a feeling of familiarity. And if this was where he was starting to suspect, he really hoped he didn’t have to rescue a certain group of troublemakers out of there.

Both Amys had taken station on the outer sides of the gate, both leaning against what looked to be stone drained of all color and anything defining. Sonic didn’t miss the strained looks his Amy kept sending him, like she was itching to say something and just barely holding it in. If she doesn’t think she should say it, it must not be important. She wouldn’t withhold important information. 

Once they were prepared, Classic and himself entered the gate with little fanfare. No words were really exchanged between them and the girls, instead only being filled with waves and nods as they dashed in.

Entering the zone confirmed exactly what Sonic had suspected. Though, at least the zone was generous enough to give them the proper equipment to fully enjoy this experience to the max. He watched with a small smile as Classic moved forwards with an awestruck expression plastered on his face as he took in the seemingly floating island they were now standing on.

He couldn’t help but take the sights in himself either, eyes searching the island. It’s been so long since he’s found himself in Babylon Garden. The weaving raceways seemed to stretch as far as he could see and he knew they really did, having raced on these tracks a good while ago. He huffed a sigh and shook his head, walking towards the Gear before them. He had a pretty good feeling he knew of some people they’ll probably find here.

Sonic felt Classic’s eyes trained curiously on him as he approached the sets of Extreme Gear placed before him. The quiet patter of feet approached him and he watched with great amusement as Classic leaned forwards to examine what was obviously the Blue Star II and what looked to be a smaller copy of the Gear. Very interesting, though Sonic is glad of all the Gear that could’ve been left that it was this board in particular. After a moment, the smaller hedgehog looked up at him with pure confusion plastered on his expression.

Sonic reached out and grabbed the Gear, holding it in his hands and eyes sweeping over the familiar design. It looked just how he remembered it being. Made him wonder how these zones truly came to be. Sure they were snapshots of memories frozen in time, but having two sets of the Blue Star II, one even scaled down to fit Classic’s smaller stature? Now that was odd. 

Though it’s not his place to be concerned with that. Maybe he’ll ask Tails later, he’d probably be able to find an answer. Though it's not really important like finding a way out or finding a reason why the very space they’re residing in currently looks to be slowly fracturing into pieces. He can ask about the gear later. It's not important.

He turned towards his younger self and gestured towards the slightly smaller set. “This is called Extreme Gear. We don’t use it often but we meet a group who races solely with these. So we also formed teams and made our own gear to race them.”

Classic stared at him for a moment with a weird look and glanced down at his feet and then back up at Sonic. He pointed towards his feet for a moment with a silent question and Sonic nearly burst out laughing.

“Yea, yea, I know. We’d probably be faster if we ran. But really it was a show of good faith and abiding by their rules.” He gestured towards everything around them. “Afterall, we were on their turf. The enemy might not always follow our rules, but isn’t it a fun challenge to follow theirs? Besides, it was a bit easier to traverse these tracks with the gear as opposed to just running, as weird as it sounds.”

Classic seemed to mull his words over before shrugging with a small nod. He pulled his hands in front of himself [sign time! He’s asking how to use them basically]

Sonic gestured for Classic to pick up the smaller set of Extreme Gear before walking towards the track with his own set under his arm. The small hedgehog grabbed the Extreme Gear before jogging after him, fumbling slightly with the strange board.

Sonic placed the Gear onto the track and stood on it. Immediately, the board seemed to light up and began to float above the ground by an inch. 

“Honestly, it’s not too bad! You just need to stand on it and keep balance. Use your body weight to steer and accelerate and you’ll be fine!”

Classic stared at him with wide eyes and set his own version of the Blue Star II on the track. He turned towards Sonic for a moment and signed ‘equal’ and ‘skateboard’ as if it was a question.

Sonic mulled it over before nodding. “Y’know, yea! Pretty much! Just with less resistance with the Extreme Gear floating instead of being on wheels. No friction so things are a bit more difficult, but faster!”

The smaller hedgehog nodded excitedly before hopping onto his own board. Sonic just watched, knowing that his younger self was going to… yep. With a gasp of shock, Classic tumbled off of the board and onto the stone track beneath them as the Gear lit up and floated into the air.

Sonic edged his gear closer to Classic and knelt down. Classic looked up at him, fully unimpressed and Sonic found himself stifling a laugh. “I know we like things fast, but if you aren’t careful and don’t keep check on your balance, you will fall. Like I said, no wheels, no contact with the ground. It’s all on you to keep your balance and stay in the air.”

The small hedgehog shook himself off and patted himself clear of stray dirt and dust before trying again. Sonic moved back and watched with a fond smile. Classic was a lot more careful this time around, seeming to be much more mindful of his body weight distribution as he stepped onto the Extreme Gear. Like before, the Gear wobbled under him as it came to life and lifted up. However, this time Sonic swayed back and forth with flailing arms to try and stay upright. 

Classic froze, arms straight out to his sides and stayed stock still with wide eyes. He stared up at Sonic with his mouth agape. Sonic chuckled and gave the smaller hedgehog a thumbs up, earning a beam of pride from his younger self. His shocked expression turned into a wide smile and he swayed for another moment as he almost lost his balance again, but readjusted faster this time.

“Think you’re ready for a ride?” Sonic smirked at Classic who fumbled for another moment before giving him a shaky thumbs up.

Sonic leaned forwards and took off. Not too fast of course, but he was still going to show off before letting the younger catch back up. He didn’t go too far, sliding to a stop to watch for Classic’s approach. Sure enough, his younger self came sliding in. Not as fast as he was just riding and definitely a lot more careful driving, but still he came in at a rather decent speed for just learning the basics of the Gear.

He pouted up at Sonic and then before the older could react he took off, even faster than earlier. Sonic stayed still for a moment, watching the small hedgehog zoom off on his Extreme Gear before cracking a smile and zooming after him. 

The two raced down the raceways for another minute before a strange sight was revealed to them. A large beast, probably the same size as Sonic if not slightly bigger, seemed to be stalking its way towards something just off the track into the greenery. A Time Beast. And it was looking bigger than the others they’ve found recently. 

And then his eyes laid on the discarded Extreme Gear on the track, looking completely abandoned with no rider in sight. His eyes widened and flicked back towards the Time Beast. And he knew whose gear that was. He had an albatross to save.

“Don’t worry about the gear! Get the Time Beast! It’s trying to corner someone!”

Classic’s eyes widened and he leapt off of his gear, spindashing directly into the Time Beast’s side. The beast yowled and swatted at the small hedgehog but he leapt out of the way before it could make contact. Sonic sped in and tackled the beast into the stoney track, earning a pained roar too similar to Time Eater oh Gaia that just sounded like a mini Time Eater this is new what’s happening before it tried to lash out at Sonic. 

Sonic attempted to roll off of it, but still took a scratch to his arm. He held it in pain with his unharmed arm and glared at the beast. Thankfully, Classic took initiative and rolled into it and sent it toppling off of the track, opposite of the side where Sonic knew Storm was currently hiding. Being at the edge of the island had its perks and with the force of Classic’s hit, the Time Beast was sent toppling down to its demise.

Classic dashed up to Sonic and looked at his injured arm in worry. Sonic kept his hand on the wound and reassured him that it was fine. He quickly diverted his attention towards the now rustling bushes as Storm stood up with a groan. He leveled the two hedgehogs with a glare and crossed his arms.

“I don’t think I asked for your help, hedgehog…” He glanced towards Classic and raised a brow. “Uh, hedgehogs… I’m not going to ask about that either.”

Classic sent Sonic an unimpressed look and Sonic rolled his eyes and shrugged. He leveled Storm with a look.

“Oh sorry, didn’t think you wanted to get mauled by that thing. Whoops.” 

Sonic and Storm held themselves in a silent staredown, Classic glancing between the two and wringing his hands together. He didn’t seem to know what to do to defuse whatever this was that was going on. 

“How about this? Race to the end of the track. No running, only use your Gear. Maybe I’ll forgive you when you eat my dust.”

Sonic smirked and hopped onto the Blue Star II, the board lighting up and beginning to float. The hedgehog smirked and crossed his arms across his chest.

“In your dreams. I think you’ll be eating my dust actually.”

That got a smirk out of the albatross. Storm walked over to his board and with a practiced kick he flipped the board upright and hopped on, the Gear immediately hovering over the track. Sonic grinned towards Classic and motioned towards his board. 

“Ready to show this guy who’s boss?”

Classic nodded with an unsure look on his face. He clamored onto his board a lot less gracefully than the other two and gave a shaky thumbs up when he had caught his balance. Storm sent the smaller hedgehog a strange look but didn’t comment, instead leaning down into starting position.

Storm counted down and the three took off down the track. The race didn’t last long, apparently they were a lot closer to the end than any of them thought. But still, Sonic managed to slip ahead of the albatross near the very end and secured himself a win.

The two slid to a stop, Sonic flipping himself off of his board and landing in a victory pose, kicking his board up and catching it under his arm. Storm huffed and shook his head.

“Yea yea, rub it in. Hey… where’s the other, uh, you?” Storm glanced around before squinting into the distance of the track. Sonic followed his gaze and stifled a laugh as Classic came sliding in much slower than either of the more seasoned Gear users had. The small hedgehog looked unamused as he came to a slow stop and very carefully stepped off of the board, stumbling as he nearly fell off.

The younger Sonic glared up at his older self, finally making the older break and begin laughing at his misfortune. Storm raised an eyebrow at the sight and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Was that your… uh, first time with Extreme Gear?” Storm looked down at the pouting Classic who only looked up at him with a tiny nod. “Well, you did good for your first time… sorry about beating your butt that bad. Would’ve gone a tad easier if I had known…”

Classic seemed unimpressed with the sentiment and Sonic only doubled over in his laughter. Storm scoffed and rolled his eyes, picking up his Gear before walking towards the exit gate. Classic huffed and followed behind the bird, albeit quite a bit slower.

Sonic would follow. But first, he had to stop laughing at Classic’s misfortune. Classic stomped his feet angrily to get the older’s attention and Sonic stood up, wiping his eyes and following with small chuckles still escaping him. Classic just rolled his eyes and dragged Sonic along and out of the zone, though Sonic didn’t miss the tiny smile on his muzzle.

Chapter Text

Stepping out of the Babylon Garden Time Gate quickly brought the sobering reality of their situation back to the Sonics. The three took a couple of steps against the blank ground. Thankfully, it wasn’t completely silent out here.

Sonic glanced to the side and let a tiny smile grace his face as he watched Amy kneel on the ground with her hands on her knees, excitedly telling a story of one of their adventures to her younger self. She glanced to the side, locking eyes with Sonic and waved with a bright smile, momentarily pausing her story. Her eyes flicked over towards Storm and slightly widened before going back to Sonic.

The blue hedgehog just shrugged. Amy glanced back towards Storm as if contemplating before nodding slightly and turning back to her younger self, resuming her story. Must not be any new news from the others yet then.

Classic tapped his arm and the moment he glanced down at him, the small hedgehog thrust a thumb in the direction of the Time Gate. A silent question, no words or sign needed. Sonic nodded to the smaller hedgehog and the two began walking back to where they just exited.

Sonic offered Amy a wave of send off which she returned in kind, never once faltering in her story to her younger self. The taller hedgehog noticed Classic do the same towards his own Amy who waved back with a lot more enthusiasm before returning to listening intently to the older Amy.

Right as the two were about to step into the gate, a voice sounded behind them. “Why in the name of Chaos are you two going back in?”

The both of them turned around to face the large bird who was staring at them with a look of incredulity. The Amys both stopped their conversation, both focused on the albatross. 

Sonic’s Amy hoisted herself to her feet and brushed off her dress. Once she was satisfied she took a step forward and offered a smile.

“We can explain that for you! But we do need those two to make one more run to fix the zone, so they can go on while we explain!” The younger Amy jumped up at that and rushed to her older counterpart’s side, nodding vigorously with a determined look on her face.

Storm glanced to the side as if contemplating before shaking his head. “Explain afterwards. I’m going with them.”

Classic immediately went on the defensive, signing so fast that even Sonic was feeling dizzy from the amount of signs being flung out. Sonic placed a hand on his younger self’s shoulder, making Classic pause for a moment. While Sonic didn’t understand most of what Classic had signed, he got the jist of it.

“What tiny me is trying to say is that there’s no need for backup, we just have to make a quick run.” He conveniently left out that he’d rather Storm not see his transformation. Though, something in him knew that everyone here in White Space would learn eventually. Maybe he could delay it…

Storm scoffed. “No way, I’m coming and that’s final.” Classic immediately raised his hands to protest but Storm lifted a hand and began to speak again. “I was hanging out with Jet and Wave before… this… happened. I couldn’t piece together what was on the other side of Jet’s portal looked like, but Wave was also thrown into the Gardens. But it looked dark. So I’m coming with you to find her, not because I want to help you.”

That gave everyone pause. The Amys both glanced at one another and Sonic watched as the smaller mouthed ‘Jet’ and ‘Wave’ to his Amy. She just smiled down at her and silently mouthed back that they were friends and she’d explain later. Classic’s Amy seemed happy with the answer and nodded firmly before marching back towards her original post and sitting back down.

“He has a sound reasoning, you two. I know you may not be happy with it, but having him there could help you out, Sonic.” Amy walked back towards her side of the gate and knelt back down on her knees. She glared at Sonic when he made a face at her comment and pointed with an accusatory finger. “He’s going to see it whether you like it or not. Just suck it up and ask for help.” Her voice softened as she tacked on a small, “Please. Just try, okay?”

The albatross gave Sonic a questioning look as the hedgehog lowered his gaze with a small scowl. She was right and he knew it, but she didn’t have to say it. He wouldn’t have agreed if she didn’t though… he hated this. He didn’t need anyone else pretending to guide him. Only one person would guide him when he was a werehog and that was Chip…

Chip wasn’t here.

Sonic rolled his eyes but nodded up at Storm. “Yea, yea, alright. Let’s get going then. And no slowing us down. We find Wave and get out fast.”

“Yea…” Storm replied, watching as Sonic dragged his feet towards the Time Gate. Classic stayed standing where he was, shooting a quick look at Storm as he suddenly felt eyes on him. 

Storm leaned down towards Classic. “Is he… you know, alright? That didn’t seem right to me. I’m not the only one, right?” Storm whispered, eyes flicking over to Sonic occasionally. Classic lowered his eyes and shrugged while shaking his head slightly.

Classic would be lying if he thought that his older self was doing perfectly alright. He’d been watching him more intently after the last few werehog incidents where Modern had seemed more down and pulling into himself. It worried Classic.

Classic nodded towards the Gate and Storm followed him as they made their way in, following behind Modern.

Just like every time, when they entered the gate, the zone they were in previously was now shrouded in darkness. Sonic had to admit, it was really cool looking here though. Babylon Garden, while now very dark with minimal lighting, made up for it with the moonlit clouds surrounding the island. 

He didn’t stay distracted by the scenery for very long though, now familiar pained grunts sounding out from a few steps ahead of him. It worried him that the sound and sight of his older self’s transformations no longer instilled a sense of urgency in him. He thought Modern was dying the first time! But then he had a super cool new form that he’s never seen before! And it can do so many cool things and Sonic even got to ride on his back and his stretchy arms were super awesome and he was so strong and he- he’s getting off track.

He watched as Modern shook himself as he stood up, shaking the fine bits of stone and dirt that got into his now fluffy fur during the transformation into his new form that he called the werehog. It was such a cool name too! He was a werewolf hedgehog! Amazing! …So why was his older self so bothered by it?

A strangled gasp finally snapped Sonic out of his internal thoughts… again… and Sonic whipped to the side, remembering that they had a guest with them. And the large bird was clearly someone who had never seen this transformation before either based on the horrified look that he was staring at Modern with. He knew Sonic and this Storm guy weren’t friends per say, but the amount of people that didn’t know about this transformation after Modern had apparently saved the world with it, was concerning.

Unfortunately, his older self wasn’t going to give him any time to muse on this much longer or to ask questions. He huffed and sent Storm a weird look. If Sonic didn’t know any better, he’d say that Modern looked annoyed that the albatross was even here.

“Sonic? Is that you?” Storm kept his voice fairly level but Sonic could see the slight tremble in his body as he spoke.

Modern scoffed and rolled his eyes, turning around and marching towards the Extreme Gear that was before them. “Obviously. Now let’s get a move on. I want to get this over with.”

Sonic stayed frozen in place, staring at the werehog with wide eyes. What. The. Hell. Was. That?

He doesn’t remember ever being so dismissive of others. What changed? …He was right. Something is wrong with Modern. He just can’t tell what it is. That scared him if he was being honest.

Storm narrowed his eyes at Modern’s words and stomped towards him, finger pointing accustorily. “Well excuse me. Sorry for being concerned about whatever the hell that was. Whatever. Ever ride Gear like this? If not, you’re in for a treat.”

Sonic jogged over to grab his small set of Gear. He glanced up at Modern who froze at the sight of his Gear and Storm’s words. As the small hedgehog looked at Modern’s board, he couldn’t help but light up in excitement.

That looked so cool! It seemed that the Extreme Gear had adapted with Modern’s transformation in mind and took on a darker hue and looked thicker. Probably to accommodate the werehog’s new extra mass. And it had these super cool looking spikes on the sides which Sonic knew reasonably were just decoration but those could definitely be used against opponents on the racetrack. Not that Sonic was the type to play dirty like that. Eggman would do that probably.

Modern on the other side, just looked perturbed at the transformed Gear. Storm sighed while picking up his own board, motioning towards the track. “Guess I can give a quick lesson on how to drive when you’re less aerodynamic and more built for strength. Hurry up, we don’t have all day.” He glanced up at the sky. “Er, well, night. Whatever, you get it.”

He marched off towards the track, not looking back at the two hedgehogs. Sonic turned towards Modern who still seemed in shock over his gear and newfound realization. He wanted to ask so many questions. He shook his head. Not the time. They had someone to find.

Sonic tapped Modern, snapping him out of his trance. However, the now much larger hedgehog turned towards him with a nasty glare and a snarl. Sonic stepped back in shock at the reaction and watched as Modern’s face fell into something shocked before it immediately morphed into something full of guilt.

He lifted his hands hesitantly and signed to his older self that they should head over to the track and get moving. Modern looked away for a moment and snatched up his board and tucked it under his arm. Sonic winced as he imagined the feeling of those spikes digging into his underarm but Modern didn’t look like he minded too much. 

“...Sorry about that. Dunno what got into me there. But yea, better not keep him waiting.”

Sonic walked by the werehog’s side to the track, both placing their boards down as they arrived. Sonic quickly climbed onto his own, wobbling as it lifted before standing still and upright. He shot the other two a thumbs up and wide smile, earning a laugh from Modern and an incredulous look from Storm.

“At least he’s a fast learner. Exactly what I expect out of you two. Alright, as for you. Here’s the rundown of things…”

Sonic tuned out the mini lesson happening behind him and instead focused on practicing his balancing on the board. After a few attempts at figuring out how to accelerate (with a few falls that he’s glad nobody else saw), he was finally getting the hang of how his older self and Storm moved so quickly with them! It was super fun! He still enjoyed running more than using these strange devices, but this was still a nice adventure!

Soon enough, he heard the noise of two other sets of Extreme Gear approach him. He paused his practicing to see Storm and Modern slide up to his sides, his older self looking a lot more confident on the board than he did looking at it. That’s good! Means he got it figured out fast!

Modern went to say something before being suddenly cut off by a loud roar. All three of them froze, gazes whipping towards where the noise had erupted from further down the track.

Without any words exchanged, the three took off down the track. Storm sped in front of them, eyes darting around the track. Sonic didn’t blame him. That noise was clearly another Time Beast and if he was right and his friend was here she could be in danger. Modern seemed to be having a slightly difficult time navigating the turns on the track, but he was making up for it by reaching an arm out and latching onto the track in order to pivot himself. 

The location of the Beast and Wave was made apparent very quickly as the sight of a purple swallow trying to wrestle away a massive Time Beast was shown to all three of them. To Sonic’s horror, a second beast seemed to be stalking up to the mobian and looked to be preparing to strike. Without second thought, Sonic balled up and sped towards the second Time Beast. 

He collided directly with its chest and sent it tumbling backwards with a pained grumble. Wave shot him a curious look but didn’t seem to question it for now as the Time Beast she was fighting against put more pressure into its attack.

Thankfully, Sonic didn’t seem to be the only one wanting a piece of the action. Storm came barreling in on his Gear and slammed into the Time Beast that Sonic had knocked backwards. The albatross hit the creature with enough force to send it stumbling towards the edge of the track where it flailed around trying not to fall off. The bird smirked and rammed straight into the beast one more time to send it flying off of the island, the beast falling with a loud screech.

The Time Beast fighting with Wave gave pause at the sound of its brethren screaming and glanced backwards at where the other had been just standing. Sonic watched with awe as Modern flung his arm forwards while the Time Beast was distracted and grabbed ahold of it. The beast startled and began flailing, knocking Wave back onto the stone track with a grunt of pain. She watched with wide eyes as Modern howled and used his elasticity and weight to throw the Time Beast towards its fallen brethren, the Beast screaming as it fell.

Modern snapped his arm back and rolled his shoulders a few times before picking up his and Sonic’s boards. He made his way towards them and stopped in front of Sonic, placing his small board down in front of him. Modern reached out a large clawed hand and ruffled the top of his head to which Sonic immediately let out a grumble and swatted at the offending hand.

Faintly, Sonic could hear Storm talking with Wave. Out of the corner of his eye he watched as the albatross offered a hand to the fallen bird and saw him lift her up to her feet. The two went to check on their boards, talking quietly under their breaths as they did so.

Modern pulled his hand away from Sonic’s quills with a quiet chuckle and placed his own board onto the track. Sonic noted that his older self did seem to struggle for a moment, like he had forgotten his own sudden change in stature. If it had fazed him, his schooled expression didn’t betray it.

Sonic had a feeling it did though. He wanted so desperately to comment on it but knew the older hedgehog would be far from willing to talk on the subject matter so he didn’t try. It shouldn’t be important anyways… right? Modern snapping earlier felt off but maybe it was nerves. Yea. Just nerves, nothing else. That doesn’t stop the nagging feeling in his chest though.

The birds had long since hopped onto their own respective boards and slid their way towards the hedgehogs, stopping only a short distance away. Sonic scrambled back onto his board. To his excitement, he barely even staggered this time! Improvement!

Wave seemed to be studying Modern for a moment before actually piping up. “So you’re actually Sonic. What an odd development. Storm filled me in on what he knew and I’m with him, not going to question why there’s two of you until we’re out. So let’s get moving. I’m getting real sick of those strange things popping out of the dark. By Chaos, a girl can’t ride in peace anymore.” 

The two birds exchanged a look and suddenly took off down the track, both laughing as they left the two hedgehogs stunned. Modern seemed to shake it off and leaned down, giving Sonic a smirk.

“Let’s go show those birdbrains who’s truly the fastest around here!” 

Sonic nodded with a wide grin and the two took off after the pair.

He ignored the pit forming in his stomach.

Chapter Text

The four left the zone, the two birds victorious from their race. Classic seemed to not mind their loss, instead only strolling beside everyone else with a small smile on his face. Sonic however, found himself bickering with the other two, though all in good nature.

“You two had a head start!”

Wave laughed and shoved a finger into Sonic’s fluffy chest. “As if that has ever stopped you before! This new form has made you slow, hedgehog.” 

Sonic rolled his eyes and swatted at the offending finger. Wave pulled her hand back with a laugh as Sonic also gave her a half-hearted glare, immediately dropping it with a small laugh.

“Yea, but I got the strength to make up for it so don’t test me.”

The werehog suddenly blinked, feeling like someone was watching him. He glanced around and looked towards his younger self who seemed to just be staring up at him and studying him with an odd expression on his face. Sonic glanced to the side for a moment and then returned the smaller hedgehog’s look.

“You uh, good there, buddy?”

Classic studied him for another second before nodding and turning his gaze away. Sonic couldn’t help but send the younger an odd look for a moment, trying to piece together what just happened.

Soon enough, the group was stepping out into White Space. Both Sonics seemed to tense at the eerie sight. Right, things were breaking out here. The cracks in the space seemed to have expanded slightly from where they were last time, though maybe that was just paranoia on Sonic’s part. Still, it was wrong. More wrong than being in a blank place and that was already weird enough.

Another step forwards into White Space and suddenly he was down on his hands and knees, the detransformation starting. One would think he’d be used to it by now but here they were, on the ground and grinding his teeth together to try and curb the pain of his bones snapping down in size.

He heard twin gasps and two sets of footsteps begin to make their ways towards him before familiar cries shouted out. The footsteps stopped and he heard two more sets of footsteps approach, stopping where he was sure the first two were. He couldn’t make out what anyone was saying over the intense ringing in his ears, but he knew Amy’s voice anywhere.

Just like every other time, the pain finally began to ebb, leaving Sonic with a dull soreness in his muscles as he stood up. He staggered slightly, catching himself before he fell, before offering a tense smile. 

Before him stood two of the Babylon Rogues who looked, for lack of another term, terrified. Storm slightly less so, most likely because he saw the first transformation, but it didn’t seem to curb his fear that much. Both Amys stood at their sides as well, seeming out of breath with hands on their knees. Right, they weren’t as used to running. Why was his Amy so out of breath though, she was a bit more used to it after joining him for so many runs as of late.

And then he noticed the lack of his younger self. He glanced behind everyone and saw a small blue figure waiting by what looked to be another drained Time Gate. Ah, that made sense. Classic went on to the next gate to wait for him to recover. Lots of new people so he really couldn’t blame him.

The older of the Amys approached with her hands resting at her sides. Sonic couldn’t help but notice her slight shaking. Did he do that? But she’s seen this transformation before, why did she look so worried? So… scared?

“Sonic? Are you… back with us?” 

Sonic glanced up to meet her eyes, confusion filling his expression. …Back with them? What? He looked back towards the birds and finally registered that on top of their apparent fright they also looked rather apprehensive. Why?

“Uh, yea? I never left? At least, I don’t think I did…” Sonic trailed off, glancing back at Amy with furrowed brows. “Ames, why’s everyone acting odd? Did something happen?”

He watched with his confusion still evident as the pink hedgehog let out a breath of relief. Well now he was even more confused. She didn’t give him a lot of time to mull it over as she offered him a tight smile. It hurt him to see she was still trembling slightly. What…. happened?

“Nothing important, don’t worry about it. How about I give you a run down on the White Space situation before you go on to the next gate?” Amy’s voice took a sudden 180, suddenly back into her chipper mood like nothing had happened. No. Why was she just avoiding it and deflecting? Something was wrong… but he was here the whole time. 

Why doesn’t he remember what happened?

“Ames…” Sonic trailed off, trying to urge his friend into talking. All that he got was her grin slipping and her gaze trailing off towards where Classic had run off to. Sonic noted that the smaller version of himself really hadn’t moved. He was a busy body even when younger. Especially when younger. Maybe he just needed rest? …A pit forming in his stomach told him it may be otherwise.

“Seriously, Sonic. We have… other things to worry about right now. It’s… fine.” 

It’s not. He didn’t say that though.

She snapped back into her cheerfulness and at least this time it felt less forced. “Anyways, progress on everyone’s front has been good! Both Knuckles think they’ve felt two more Chaos signatures, both at least somewhat close. We have a feeling it’ll be like the last two, with one behind the forcefield and one behind a Boss Gate. They just have to find the exact locations now.”

Sonic nodded idly. He was listening, he really was. It was just hard. She was hiding something. Amy. Of all people, Amy was hiding something. It just didn’t feel right.

“The Tails have both begun their research on the cracks in White Space and have confirmed that the cracks are mostly due to Time Eater’s influence! So, while it’s still not good, we have the start to the answers!”

That got Sonic’s attention back on track. “Mostly? They think there’s something else in play here?”

Amy faltered. Her hands clasped together and she started twirling her fingers together nervously.

“They don’t know exactly what else is in there. The other Tails is very confused by the other source of energy coming out of the cracks. He says that the secondary energy flowing in there is actually what’s worsening the situation. That’s the main reason White Space is actively breaking.” 

Sonic sucked in a breath. “It’s actually breaking. The space between time is breaking.” Amy just nodded solemnly.

“Unfortunately, yes. It increases our urgency to fix this as soon as we can. Our Tails on the other hand… he hasn’t told any of us yet, but I have an inkling that he has an idea on what the second energy signature is. I don’t think it’s good, Sonic…”

Sonic lowered his head. Yea, that sounded pretty bad. His brother was a genius though, he knew Tails would have it figured out in no time flat and then they would be able to speed through towards Time Eater and stop all of this!

He reached a hand out and placed it on her shoulder, but he pulled it back as Amy flinched at the contact. He decided he really didn’t want to dwell on that reaction. Instead, he offered her a grin and rubbed under his nose. 

“No matter what it is, you know me and mini me have got this! We’re Sonic the Hedgehog! We’re undefeatable!”

Amy smiled up at him, shaking finally gone. She looked relieved to hear him say it and sighed. She then excitedly brought her fists up in a rather determined looking pose with a wide grin. “Yea! You’ll save the day again, I just know it! Go kick those Time Beast butts!”

Sonic nodded and offered a wave to the others still standing there before taking off towards the next Time Gate.

When he arrived, he noticed Classic was sitting on the ground and leaning against the gate’s frame. The smaller hedgehog had a hand clasped firmly on his side and he was sitting there with his eyes closed and seeming to take deep breaths.

“Little me, you alright there?”

Sonic watched with wide eyes as Classic scrambled up to his feet, the small hedgehog seeming to snap into attention as he heard Sonic’s voice. His hand never really left its position on his side. The older hedgehog lifted an eyebrow at that.

“Uh, you good, man? Did you fall off of the Extreme Gear earlier and nobody saw?” Classic stared up at him with wide eyes before hesitantly nodding. Sonic sighed. That was better than what he was beginning to assume, thank Gaia.

He reached out and patted Classic’s quills, quietly noting how he flinched this time instead of swatting him away. Ok, Classic better not have lied. But… Amy would’ve said something if his lapse in memory resulted in him… Classic fell off of his Gear. Nothing else happened. It did idiot, you know exactly what happened. Just remember.

Sonic thrust a thumb in the direction of the blank Time Gate. “Well, as long as you’re still good to go, we should get a move on. The gates aren’t gonna fix themselves.”

Classic nodded and the two made their ways into the Time Gate.

The salty smell of the ocean hit the two of them immediately. Classic seemed to groan silently and throw his face into his hands. Sonic just chuckled as he took in the beachside they were stood at. Another place that’s been a long time since he’s been. Thank Gaia it’s not Crisis City this time though, that was a nightmare last time he was in White Space.

This time, the two hedgehogs were standing at Wave Ocean. Familiar broken piers lined the waters and eroding stone rings and slopes were littered everywhere in sight. A few palm trees were also seen, leaves swaying gently amongst the ocean’s breeze.

“Don’t worry too hard, little dude,” Sonic claimed, earning an incredulous look from Classic as he peeked up at his older counterpart from his hands. “This place isn’t too bad, at least we’re not in a city actively on fire this time!”

Classic pulled his face completely out of his hands to give Sonic a shocked look. Slowly, his hands moved to sign a question asking an incredulous question over how Crisis City and this place were from the same adventure.

Sonic laughed. “Yep! Same adventure! Honestly, it’s a long story. Much better sights here though, don’t you agree?” Sonic placed his hands behind his head and began strolling forwards. Soon enough, he heard footsteps crunching through the sand as Classic came to join him, still with a baffled expression on his face. Sonic noted that a hand returned to hold his right side but didn’t comment, not wanting to hurt his pride more than it already was.

“Honestly, this run should be a breeze- Watch out!” 

A Time Beast seemed to have appeared from nowhere. Though it looked to be dripping wet so Sonic could only assume it climbed out of the ocean. He suppressed a shudder. Great. They were also aquatic. He immediately spindashed and knocked it away from the younger hedgehog, who seemed caught off guard by the sudden appearance of the beast.

Sonic stood up quickly and assumed a fighting position, hands up and knees bent ready to take off again at a moment's notice. “You good?” He glanced behind himself in time to see Classic turn to the side, keeping his left side facing Sonic again. Classic nodded and seemed to grip at his side tighter. Odd. The Time Beast must’ve got the small hedgehog in the already existing injury.

“I got this, don’t over exert yourself.”

Sonic sprinted towards the Time Beast and leapt up with a running jump, quickly slamming down on its head with a foot. It screamed in pain and stumbled back before running towards the hedgehog with its claws poised to strike. The Beast took a wide slash towards Sonic, to which the hedgehog was barely able to spin out of the way and counter with a kick to its side, earning another scream from the creature.

It staggered backwards and with one last spindash, Sonic sped forwards and slammed into the Time Beast at full speed. He bounced off of it and landed on his feet next to Classic, sliding back slightly in the sand. The two watched as the Beast staggered one more time before falling over motionless in the sand. In a puff of dark dust, the creature dissipated, disappearing from sight.

Sonic brushed his hands together and turned towards Classic with a grin. “See? I got you, buddy! Now let’s get a move on.” Classic nodded in agreement and the two began to run along the beach side. A few G.U.N. bots were seen every so often but they were easy to dispatch. Despite his injury, Classic got a few spindashes in as well, knocking the bots into the ground and water. 

The journey felt otherwise uneventful, minus the Time Beast at the beginning. Sonic didn’t mind, but it was strange nonetheless. Classic also seemed miffed by it, especially after the two had taken a risky run over top of the water to get to the other side of the beach. Honestly, that had felt like the most exciting thing that had happened this whole time. 

As the two continued running down the other side of the beach, a large figure suddenly made its presence known by leaping out of the ocean and landing in front of them, kicking up sand in the process. The two hedgehogs slid to a stop, immediately going on the defensive at the sight of the Time Beast. It wasn’t necessarily as large as the previous one, but it definitely seemed sharper.

It locked its sights onto the two hedgehogs and began charging towards the two of them with an ear shattering screech. Before either hedgehog could react, a burst of flame shot out towards the Time Beast. The creature screeched as it was enveloped in the flames before vanishing in a puff of smoke, similar to the previous ones. 

Sonic’s ear twitched as he tried to listen for whoever shot the fire, trying to calculate if this was a friend or foe. Because if it was from a friend then that means the one who fired that shot of flame was…

“Long time no see, Sonic.”

A lavender cat flipped through the air and landed gracefully on the beach. She stood up and brushed some of the stray sand particles off of her dress before looking up to face the two hedgehogs. 

Sonic immediately lowered his guard and stood straight, Classic following his lead. He figured it was most likely because Blaze was here during their last adventure in White Space. 

“It’s good to see you, Blaze!” Sonic’s eyes widened before glancing away briefly with a strained chuckle. “Well, not good, this is a bad situation, but, well, you know, you get the point.”

Blaze lifted a hand to her mouth and chuckled. “I get what you mean, no worries. I do wish this was under different circumstances but alas, fate has us fighting side by side once more.”

Sonic nodded and walked up to her, arms open in a silent question. Blaze responded in kind with a roll of her eyes but closing the distance between them and wrapping her arms around the hedgehog. Classic bounded his way up to them, waving excitedly, earning him the cat’s attention and leading her into pulling away from the older of the two hedgehogs.

“It’s a pleasure to see you once more as well, small Sonic. Seeing you here only confirms my fear of the timelines being endangered once again though.” She turned towards Sonic with an accusatory finger pointing at him. “Something you need to keep under control. Silver is going to have it with you one day if you keep getting into timeline alternating scenarios.”

Sonic laughed, finger reaching up to rub under his nose. Classic joined in his own silent way, shaking with a wide grin and letting out amused huffs of air as he did so. “Nah, he loves me too much to hold it against me for too long now.”

The princess shook her head with a fond smile gracing her muzzle and an exasperated sigh escaping her lips. “How he puts up with your shenanigans I will never understand. Same with Shadow, but that’s not who we’re talking about, now is it?”

His younger counterpart gave the two of them a questioning look, mirth forgotten for a moment as he tried to parse together their words. He continued glancing between the two, hoping someone would give him an answer, though neither seemed as if they were planning on elaborating.

Sonic watched with clear amusement as Classic crossed his arms over his chest with a huff before gesturing down the beach. “Lil’ me has a point, we should get a move on. Don’t know about you, but I’d rather not deal with another Time Beast right now.”

Blaze rose an eyebrow but complied with a nod. “But of course. Though I must ask for you to explain the situation and these “Time Beasts” as you call them.”

The three began jogging down the remaining stretch of the beach, sand kicking up idly behind them as they moved along the oceanside. Blaze seemed rather perturbed by the current situation, especially with how it differed so much from the last time they found themselves here.

“One thing still eludes me,” she mused. Sonic and Classic both sent her twin looks with clear questions as if prompting her to continue. She chuckled at the sight before continuing. “I was at Silver’s place when everything happened and after we were pulled into separate rifts, I woke up here. I’m sure you can imagine my confusion, I didn’t even know that something was going wrong with the timeline until I spotted the first Time Beast. This situation just keeps becoming more perplexing, has an explanation been discovered for the peculiarity of this predicament.”

Sonic shrugged. “No answer for everything, but Tails has his theories. Both of them,” he tacked on as Classic sent him a nasty look for forgetting his Tails as well. “We don’t have a clear answer on why people were sent inside of the zones instead of being frozen outside of them. Both Tails think that Time Eater was trying a different method since the last one ultimately failed.”

“I see.” Blaze went deep in thought for a moment as the group slowed down to a walk as the gate to leave Wave Ocean appeared before them. “And you’re positive Time Eater is working on its own volition and isn’t under the doctor’s control once again? Because this being of time wasn’t exactly sentient when we last fought it.”

All Sonic could do was offer a small shrug. “We have no real proof if I’m being honest. I really do think Time Eater is to blame this time though. The way the kidnapping happened felt too real.” Sonic lifted himself out of his somber mood and immediately lit up with a smile. “But oh well! Everyone else thinks that Egghead is behind the wheel and I’m ready to beat his butt if he’s trying to pull a fast one on me. Jokes on him though, I’m even faster!”

Blaze shook her head with a small smile. As Sonic walked through the gate, he didn’t see her face fall into concern or the way she seemed to study him.

Chapter Text

Sonic felt tense as soon as they stepped back into White Space. The sight of the cracks was becoming more unnerving every time he came back to see them. It was like a shock, going from a perfectly normal looking zone and then walking into a room that was actively falling apart at the seams. The sight of the cracks was beyond putting him off as well. The coloring looked way too similar to an incident that has long passed.

But there was a remnant of that incident right here. He himself was the remnant left over. And he’d see it again when they returned to Wave Ocean in a few moments.

He shook his head trying to dispel his intrusive thoughts. A glance up towards Blaze showed she didn’t notice but Classic was giving him another worried look. He didn’t need his younger self to be worried. He was Classic’s future. He couldn’t show him that they became weak. Because they weren’t. They were Sonic the Hedgehog. They were heroes.

Blaze actually looked just as put off by the state of White Space as he was too, though most likely for a different reason. This area was originally called White Space for a reason. And looking at it now, that name fits less and less every time they step foot here.

She wasn’t given much time to ruminate on the oddity that was occurring as a sudden shout came from behind her before an excited pink hedgehog slammed into Blaze’s side. The princess took it in stride, the worry on her face immediately melting away into fond joy as she turned to embrace Amy and hold the hedgehog close to her.

“Blaze! Oh thank Chaos you’re alright! I missed you so much!” Blaze chuckled as Amy expressed her joy, all the while refusing to let go of the princess. She ruffled Amy’s quills with a gloved hand before pulling away slightly to look at Amy.

“You say that as if we didn’t meet up at that small cafe just last week.”

Amy pulled Blaze back into her and tucked her face into Blaze’s shoulder with an indignant huff. “That was last week. Last week, there wasn’t a time entity threatening the world again. So shut up and let me have this before I Piko Piko you to the next Time Gate.”

Sonic snickered at the barely heard threat and watched as Blaze’s face darkened ever so slightly. Man, Ames was always a joy, even when threatening someone. He and everyone else knows she’ll follow through. If it were anyone other than Blaze though she’d threaten to hit them all the way to Time Eater so Blaze is getting lucky with the threats she is receiving.

The two stayed latched together for another few moments before pulling away. Almost immediately, the other Amy ran up to the pair with eyes sparkling. She clasped her hands in front of her as she stared up at the pair.

“Whoa! You are so pretty! How did we end up meeting someone as awesome looking as you?!”

Blaze’s face darkened slightly more than it was. She seemed to try to compose herself with a deep breath before speaking.

“I do appreciate your comments, dear little Amy. I’ll admit, I was not expecting to see a younger version of Amy here. Last time we had been deposited in this realm between time the only younger versions were of Sonic and Tails, but I now see that has changed.” She glanced up towards Sonic. “Is everyone’s younger self residing in this realm?”

Sonic shook his head. “Not quite. Like you said, both Tails and I’s younger selves are here. And now Amy and Knuckles’ younger selves are here as well. But we’re starting to doubt any others are here since the pattern suddenly broke in the previous gate.”

“I see. That is relieving in that department then.” Blaze drifted off into thought for a moment. “If I may, do you perhaps know where Silver may have been taken?”

Classic chose that moment to step forwards. He lifted his hands and asked a quick question that ended in Silver’s name being spelled out as well. Sonic watched as Classic brought one arm down onto his other with his elbow locked at his hand and met his other elbow with the descending hand. A simple question on if Silver would be inside of the night zone of the Time Gate.

She nodded, though scrunched her nose in confusion. “Night zone? Are these Time Gates split amongst times of day? Is that perhaps why the two of you were in tandem on the beachside?”

He nodded. “Sure is. We haven’t figured out why they’re split like that but they are.” 

Her gaze lingered uncomfortably on Classic, as if she was staring at something worrisome. A new strange look passed over Blaze’s face as she contemplated his words. “Odd, but I’m sure that Tails will be able to solve this mystery. Especially since he has his own self for assistance on the matter.”

“Last we heard, they might have made a breakthrough!” Amy piped up, earning everyone else’s attention. She seemed unphased and continued, “They want to confirm it all first though before sharing. I think the two of them are trying not to scare us.”

“Unfortunate, but unnecessary panic is best avoided.” Blaze turns towards Sonic, a determined look on her face. “Since it is likely that Silver should be located in Wave Ocean as well, much like I was, please make haste to retrieve him before he freaks out too much. We both know how he can become in times like these.” 

Sonic chuckled at that, idly rubbing his nose in amusement. Oh yeah, he definitely knew how Silver could get in times like these. That poor hedgehog was always worrying about something. Sonic sometimes doubted that Silver even knew how to relax at times.

“You can count on us!” Classic nodded along with his declaration, giving the princess a thumbs up and a wide grin. She nodded at the two of them, accepting that as a proper answer before turning towards the Amys and striking up an idle conversation.

The two remaining hedgehogs glanced at one another and nodded in quiet agreement before walking back towards the Time Gate. Both of them stepped through, neither really bothering to go quickly at the moment. Though Sonic had a feeling Classic wasn’t rushing them because he knew what was coming upon their reentrance back into Wave Ocean.

And as always, like expected, a thrum of pain echoed through his body as they stepped back onto now cooled sand. Sonic curled into himself and braced himself on the ground with a hand sinking into the sane and the other arm wrapped around his stomach.

He hated this. He hated this he hated this he hated this.

Ignoring it helped somewhat at least. He’s sure if he told Amy that was how he was getting through his current predicament though she’d throw a fit. Probably a well deserved fit to be completely honest. Sonic knows that ignoring things doesn’t fix them. But they have to fix the timeline. His pain is nothing in comparison to that.

And so he ignores it because that’s the best course of action. And when the pain subsides and he feels heavier than normal, he uncurls from himself and pulls himself back up to his feet.

A glance to the side showed another thing that he noticed became a constant with every night zone: Classic worrying over him with hands held idly in the air as if he was going to leap in and somehow alleviate the pain. That pulled a smile onto his face. It was sweet.

He shook himself off and brushed his hand on his side to shake off some of the sand that got stuck in his paw pads and under his nails. Well, it was now clinging to his fur but he definitely felt it a lot less there so he didn’t mind as much really.

“You ready to navigate the beach one more time?” Classic stared up at him with emotions conflicting on his face. Sonic faltered for a moment, about ready to question his younger self, when Classic seemed to decide on something and just nodded with a determined look.

Sonic huffed in amusement and began jogging down the beach, hearing the familiar sound of feet hitting the sand behind him. 

As the two jogged down the beach, Sonic eventually caved and leaned down to run on all fours. It was maddening how this was the faster way of running in this form, especially while running on sand of all things. It was going to get all up in the crevices of his paw pads and under his claws again! Not a pleasant feeling at all.

The sensory issues dulled as he lost himself in his thoughts. Silver should be here somewhere. He’s never seen Sonic like this before. Sure, he’s actually told Silver about the whole werehog and Dark Gaia incident, he’s pretty sure that the other hedgehog would’ve found out sooner or later and would’ve been super angry to know that Sonic kept something that big from him.

But despite knowing of the incident, Silver also had the assumption that this would never happen again. Dark Gaia was supposed to be sealed for another 1,000 years and therefore would not be making another impact on Sonic’s life. Unless of course someone as dumb as Egghead decided to try and awaken the ancient deity early again but they’re certain that nobody else is going to make that mistake again after the world breaking incident.

He shook his head trying to dispel the thoughts. He can’t be thinking like this right now. He needs to get through Wave Ocean, find Silver, and move on to the next Time Gate. His own problems don’t matter right now.

The two continued their journey in silence, though that was another thing that became more typical as time went on. Besides, his younger self really isn’t a talker yet. And he’s still silent when he does talk so quiet is a normal thing for him. So a quiet journey it is.

The first pier made itself known and out of instinct, Sonic reared an arm back and flung it towards the railing before pulling himself up with no effort wasted. He went to continue on before he heard the telltale sound of a sprint starting up and familiar whooshing of air. Then, he glanced around and noticed that Classic wasn’t up here yet and was most likely having to dash to come up. 

The younger hedgehog finally managed his way onto the dock and stared at Sonic with wide eyes. Sonic just chuckled before they moved on. But then it happened again when Sonic was able to grapple himself onto a nearby eroding stone pillar and Classic had to maneuver himself carefully over. And again. And again.

After what must have been the seventh time that Sonic beat Classic to a new location on the beach, the smaller hedgehog finally put his foot down. Literally. Sonic watched with mild amusement as Classic stomped his foot onto the stone under them with his hands flying in angry sign. While it was somewhat difficult to understand, Sonic got the jist of it.

Sonic narrowed his eyes slightly as one of Classic’s hands crept to his side and seemed to lightly hold on. That’s not good, it looked like that reopened injury from their last Time Beast fight was still taking a toll on him. He wished he knew exactly where his younger self got that injury but it’s alright, he knows he can still help the little dude out.

He rolled his eyes and knelt down, offering his back to the smaller hedgehog. It was like a switch was flipped. Classic immediately stopped his angry stomping and rapid signing and beamed as he all but flung himself onto Sonic’s back. He landed on Sonic with so much force that Sonic actually felt the wind rush out of him for a moment. Why his younger self thought to do that with an active injury was beyond him, but he couldn’t argue. He would’ve done the same when younger.

The werehog flicked an ear as he took a moment to catch his breath before leaning into a running start with a smirk. “Hold on this time. I’d rather not fling you into the air.”

A quick series of pats could be felt on his shoulder and he decided to take that as the younger agreeing with him. Small hands wrapped around his broad shoulders and fingers weaseled their way into his fur with a tight grip. 

As soon as Classic felt secured on his back, Sonic took off with a howl directed at the sky. Springing into action, Sonic was quick to fling an arm towards another pier and grappled themselves onto the eroding platform. Thankfully, he could still feel Classic’s small form latched onto his back so he at least knew he didn’t fling him into the sky this time around.

The two continued their trek along Wave Ocean, though worry was becoming evident in both of them. The zone looked empty.

That shouldn’t be a worry, but with the surge in the Time Beasts’ appearances it was highly unusual. Since Speed Jungle, there have been at least some sightings of the creatures. Encounters had become more frequent since Babylon Gardens. So the fact that Wave Ocean suddenly was feeling empty, and at night nonetheless, was unnerving.

Sonic went to say something about it when someone was suddenly in their path. The werehog slid to a stop, sand kicking up all around them. He could feel Classic perk up from where he was situated and the smaller’s grip loosen on his fur.

Silver stood before them with arms raised defensively and his markings glowing a bright blue as he held large stones in the air beside him. The hedgehog stared at them with narrowed eyes as if he was daring them to make the first move.

The werehog immediately crouched down. Shit, Silver didn’t recognize him. He felt Classic shift on his back and just hoped that his younger self didn’t try diving into combat with the new hedgehog. He genuinely doesn’t know if Classic remembers Silver from their previous adventure as the two of them really didn’t interact much last time they were here in White Space.

Sonic felt the small hedgehog carefully slip off of his back and heard his soft landing in the sand. Silver’s eyes glanced over towards Classic and Sonic could see them widen a fraction as he pieced together who it was.

Sonic slowly brought his arms up, immediately pulling Silver’s attention back to him. He seemed to keep his eyes trained on Sonic, eyes darting over him as if studying him.

“Hey Silver. Hows about you drop those rocks and not throw them at us? It’s me, Sonic! And also Sonic. Uh, White Space shenanigans again. It’s not my fault, I promise.”

Silver lowered his hands at Sonic’s voice, eyes widening fully. The rocks dropped out of the air and landed with quiet thuds in the cool sand. He looked between Sonic and Classic for a moment, mouth agape. Classic took the moment to hesitantly lift a hand and wave, which seemed to finally snap Silver out of his stupor.

The white hedgehog pointed towards Sonic. “Wait! Sonic?! That’s actually you?!”

Sonic winced at the question but nodded in response. He gave Silver a tight smile and spread his arms out and bowed slightly with a strained chuckle. He heard Silver sigh and glanced up in time to see the other hedgehog pinch his nose in annoyance. Ha! Mission accomplished.

“By the emeralds, Sonic. Please stop getting into these messes. I can only take so much of these timeline mishaps.”

“HEY! I just said it wasn’t my fault!” Sonic stood up and pointed an accusatory finger at the other. “Nobody has much control when a time entity gets mad for a reason no one can agree on yet!”

That gave Silver pause. He tilted his head and pursed his lips. “What. What do you mean Time Eater got… mad? It's not a sentient being.”

Classic shrugged and Sonic vaguely copied the movement. “We’re not sure, but after the first couple gates, it has definitely seemed agitated. It all happened with minimal warning. It doesn’t help that Time Eater now seems to be creating little minion versions of itself.”

“Little minion versions..? Like, strange beasts that look as if they’re made out of a strange black substance and fall apart into smoke when they’re defeated?”

The werehog nodded grimly. “Yep, exactly those. I take it you had a run-in with one?”

“Try three. The first one was small but then two more seemed to climb out of the water. I’ve been keeping an eye out for more after defeating those three. I’ll be honest, I thought you were a beast too. I guess looking at you now I can see that you don’t look like them but can you blame me? You look really odd right now.”

Sonic chuckled and lifted an arm to rub the back of his neck. “Oh yeah, I guess I do, don’t I?”

Silver raised an eyebrow. “Ok. And are you going to explain this?” He gestured towards Sonic’s current form. “Did Time Eater cause this too?”

“Oh. It might’ve had a hand in it with the whole disrupting time junk but Time Eater didn’t directly cause this form to become a possibility. That was… Dark Gaia’s fault… you know, the whole, world shattering event I told you about.”

Silver’s mouth rounded into a quiet O-shape as he took in what Sonic said. He nodded grimly and to Sonic’s relief, didn’t press any further. For once, Sonic was glad he had confided in someone about that incident beforehand and that he wasn’t pushing it. 

“Anyways, I guess we should get out of here then?”

Sonic nodded and leaned down, allowing Classic to eagerly hop back onto his shoulder with silent laughter. His younger self immediately latched back onto his fur and he could only imagine the wide smile on his face.

He stood up and walked towards Silver, pausing at the other hedgehog’s side for a moment. He leaned in and gave him a wide grin full of teeth. “You want to ride me too, Silvs?”

Sonic gleefully watched as Silver’s face immediately flushed and his face was shoved away with gloved hands. He couldn’t help the laugh that broke out of him at the reaction as Silver began to sputter.

“S-sonic! Sh-shut up! You’re s-so wrong for th-that!”

His grin softened into something fond as he watched a small smile form on Silver’s face as well. “Well, the offer still stands. Little me thinks the werehog rides are something awesome, so of course I got to extend the offer to my favorite hedgehog from the future.”

“I can walk, ok? Let’s go! This conversation is over, we should go!” Silver’s face looked as dark as it could get. Sonic only laughed louder when the other hedgehog shoved him away and refused to meet his eyes.

Sonic didn’t press any harder though and instead began walking towards the exit which was thankfully not much farther away. Silver followed closely, sticking next to Sonic’s side the whole time.

He missed this. And also having a confused younger self on his shoulders was entertaining as well.

It almost made him forget about the horrible situation at hand.

Almost.

Chapter Text

Sonic was glad to leave the oceanside and return to White Space, though the cracks littering the blank surfaces slightly soured his mood again. At least they weren’t by the ocean anymore. It wasn’t anywhere near as stressful as Metal Harbor but Sonic is starting to get real sick of the chosen zones being very water based zones this time around in White Space.

A sharp intake of breath sounded behind him and Sonic whipped around just in time to see Modern fall to his hands and knees as his body seemed to shrink into itself. Right. Leaving the night zones meant his older self was going to be transforming. Over and over. He can’t believe that he has to endure something like that on a constant basis.

It honestly horrified him to know he’d have to be in that pain at some point in the future. Maybe he’d get used to it. He hopes so. Modern looks extremely pained right now. Sonic knows it’s probably because of transforming constantly with minimal breaks but still. 

A pair of horrified gasps ring out and Sonic remembers that there are two other people here witnessing this as well. As Modern’s transformation came to an end, Silver ran past Sonic and threw himself to his knees at Modern’s side. He gently reached out and grabbed Modern’s shoulder and arm, helping the hedgehog keep his balance.

Quiet footsteps approached Sonic and stopped at his side. He glanced up to see the princess standing beside him, arms crossed across her chest and trembling gaze never leaving Modern’s form.

Silver stood up slowly all while Modern leaned into his side. Sonic frowned as he took the sight in, his older self looked a lot more exhausted than he has been yet. It looked similar to the extreme exhaustion that followed their fight with King Boom Boo not too long ago.

The white hedgehog worriedly wrapped an arm around Modern’s shoulders to help him keep balance but otherwise didn’t attempt to go anywhere. Silver looked up at Sonic with a worried expression plastered on his face.

“Is every one of his transformations like this?! This isn’t healthy!”

Sonic pursed his lips and let his gaze travel over Modern’s form. He slowly shook his head and could see Silver’s face fall in horror. A quiet hum rang out from Blaze at his side as she began to contemplate what was going on. The small hedgehog quietly took a few steps to approach his older self.

Modern didn’t react for a moment, instead opting to catch his breath. When he finally glanced up to look at Sonic, the small hedgehog immediately brought his hands up and was quick to sign his concern. They needed a break and he needed Modern to understand that.

The reaction is immediate. Modern’s face scrunches up in annoyance and he essentially snarls at Sonic. “I don’t need a break. I need to run through these stupid gates and get everyone out of this hellhole. End of story, stop pestering me about this.”

Sonic’s eyes widened as he took in Modern’s snark before they narrowed in defiance. He lifted his hands to begin angrily responding before the older Amy stepped in with a gentle hand on his shoulder. He glanced up at her and she just shook her head. Defeated, he dropped his hands to let her take over.

“He is right though, Sonic.” He rolled his eyes as she spoke and she narrowed her own eyes in response. He immediately pursed his lips and looked away guiltily. “I’ve never seen you look this unwell after a transformation.”

She approached him with a soft smile and reached out to cup his face. “Did you catch something? Maybe some rest will do you good and then you’ll be running even faster than normal-!”

Modern shook his head to push her hand off and roughly pushed Silver off of him. The white hedgehog stumbled back but caught himself fairly easily. Everyone just stared at him as he seemed to snarl at everyone.

“Would you all cut the crap?! We have things to do and you’re only holding me back! Let’s get a move on!”

Modern immediately turned tail and didn’t listen to everyone’s rising protest as he took off in the direction of the next Time Gate. 

Sonic watches as his older self takes off and he bites his lip in worry. What in the world is going on? That didn’t sound like something he would say. He needed to follow him. Maybe he just needed a quick sprint to cool off.

He prepared himself to run after his older counterpart but was stopped when a hand landed on his shoulder. He glanced up to see the older Amy looking down on him with a worried look. Immediately, he dropped his fighting stance to properly turn and face her, tilting his head in a silent question.

“Did… did something happen in there? In the previous Time Gate?”

Sonic slowly shook his head. Nothing super strange happened in the gate. They ran along the beach, found Silver, the two joked around, and they left. Nothing odd happened, nothing different.

Amy still looked tense. Sonic thought she’d like that answer.

“I can vouch that he’s telling the truth!” Silver piped up, earning both of their attentions. He rubbed his arm sheepishly now that the attention was on him. “All of our interactions in there were normal! I… don’t know why he was so exhausted. But he probably snapped at us because he was exhausted.”

Even Silver’s reassurance didn’t seem to quell her worries. Amy took a deep breath and clasped her hands together in an effort to ground herself. After a few deep breaths she looked back towards Sonic. 

“Our Sonic has a tendency to bottle feelings up until they spill over.” Her eyes cast downwards. “We learned that the hard way in Starfall Islands. He won’t ask for help until it’s too late. And this whole situation, paired with the werehog form returning… it’s feeling a bit too much like those islands for me to feel like nothing is wrong with Sonic.”

Starfall Islands? He knows of Angel Island and the Northstar Islands but not anything about Starfall Islands. Must be a place he’ll go to one day. But why was that incident so bad that it’s got their Amy so worried about Modern’s wellbeing?

“We shouldn’t worry too hard!” Everyone’s attention diverted to Sonic’s own Amy, her skirt swaying as she suddenly stood up from where she was sitting. “My Sonic is strong and therefore so is yours! He can push through it! Besides, he always knows to ask his friends for help!”

The older Amy just frowned at her younger self’s declaration. “Just… keep an eye on him. Please. If not for him then at least for my own peace of mind.”

Sonic hesitantly nodded to show his agreement. Once he was positive there was nothing more to be said, he took off in the same direction Modern had taken a few minutes earlier, leaving a worried group of friends behind him.

When he arrives at the gate, Modern is already standing there, gazing off into the distance with a foot tapping idly. Oddly enough, he doesn’t look annoyed at how long it took Sonic to arrive. He just glanced towards the smaller hedgehog and turned to face the Time Gate. Modern gestured for Sonic to follow as he walked through the gate.

This place was gorgeous.

Sonic couldn’t help but be in awe of his surroundings as the two of them stepped into the Time Gate. They were surrounded by trees and damp grass, shallow puddles littering the ground as a faint mist lingered in the air. It felt serene. He may not be one for wet areas, but this was something else, something amazing.

A quick glance towards Modern showed that the older hedgehog looks pleased to be here as well. Must have pleasant memories here. Good. He deserves to not suffer from horrible memories every time they enter a new gate.

He lets his gaze linger on Modern for a little longer, taking in his appearance. He looked fine, he really did. But if Sonic looked past what looked to be a serene stance and expression, he could still see worry and exhaustion filling his bones. Modern didn’t seem to notice Sonic’s studying though and silently urged them to continue.

They didn’t quite run, it turned out to be more of a jog for this zone. And yet, in the silence all Sonic could think about was how tired Modern still seemed. He hadn’t quite believed Amy when she mentioned how Modern would bottle everything up until it overflowed. But now he was thinking about what’s been happening. How Modern was getting angry over tiny things. How frustrated he would get over small inconveniences. 

How he didn’t seem to be quite right in the mind when he slashed his-

“Well now, isn’t this a fun surprise?”

A sultry voice called down from the treetops, making both hedgehogs slide to a stop. The two swung their heads towards the voice in complete unison.

A familiar bat jumped out of the tree and glided down towards the two in a fluid motion. She gracefully landed in front of them with a smug look on her face, though Sonic knows at this point is a very typical look on her and she doesn’t mean to come off rude.

“I had an inkling you’d be showing up, Blue. Though I wasn’t quite expecting to see Little Blue here as well.” Rouge leaned slightly forwards and winked at Sonic. “Can’t say I’m upset about it. Really, I’m just confused on where Shadow ended up this time.”

“Have you seen him around?” Modern piped up, causing the bat’s eyes to flicker over to him. She shrugged in response.

“I mean, he and I were with one another before I ended up here. But I have no clue where the hedgehog has gotten himself this time. He was gone when I woke up.”

Sonic quietly noted how Modern seemed to sag at her response. Huh, odd. He thought Modern and Shadow were like extreme rivals. Shadow definitely had his own grudges against Sonic from their brief moments together so he’s confused on why Modern seems sad that Shadow’s whereabouts are unknown.

Rouge seems to notice as well but doesn’t remark on it, instead throwing Modern a knowing look before speaking once more. “Anyways, this place is absolutely gorgeous and really nothing here has been much of a threat. I thought a place so beautiful must be hiding treasure in some corner.” She sighed dramatically and dropped her cheek into a palm. “But there’s nothing! Not even a small gemstone! A girl deserves her treasures and she isn’t finding them here. So if either of you know a way out then we should find better treasure hunting grounds.”

Both Modern and Sonic roll their eyes. There was typical Rouge searching for priceless treasures to snatch for her own collections. She huffed at the two of them and crossed her arms and jut out her bottom lip in a pout.

“You boys just don’t understand the allure of proper treasures. Not like a lady like myself.”

“I know well enough, especially from the adventure I had here,” Modern effortlessly quipped back. “I literally fought with a legendary, talking sword while I was here!”

Rouge’s arms went slack to her sides as she stared at Modern with wide eyes. Sonic himself lit up and he began bouncing in place as soon as he processed what his older self said. A sword! They would use a sword on one of their adventures! This is awesome!

“Blue . Blue . You can’t just say that and expect us to not have questions. You better spill the details here, darling.”

Sonic leaned forwards, just as eager to learn about Modern’s adventures in this strange place. With a talking sword! A sword! This had to be one of their best adventures ever.

Just as a fond smile graced Modern’s face as the older hedgehog mentally recounted his journey here, loud roars erupted from the treetops. Sonic immediately knelt into a battle stance and rolled backwards just in time to avoid a shadowy creature from descending on him with an outstretched claw. Guess he wasn’t getting that fun sword adventure story yet.

He watched as Rouge startled backwards with wide eyes as the Time Beast locked its gaze onto her. It roared directly at her before thrusting its claws into the dirt and began barreling towards the bat. Out of the corner of his eye, Sonic saw Modern ball up in their signature spindash and launch himself at a second incoming beast, colliding with the creature and sending it splashing into the puddles. 

Before Sonic could react to anything else to leap in and save Rouge, he watched her shocked expression fall into something confident and controlled, a smirk gracing her muzzle with dangerously narrowed eyes to pair with it. She quickly leapt up into the air, allowing her wings to spread and left her floating for a moment. 

The Time Beast slammed into where she was standing previously, skidding through the dirt at impact. It turned to try and find where she disappeared to but Rouge suddenly descended with a pointed kick to its head using the force of her fall from being midair. The beast screamed at the impact and fell face first into the mud.

Sonic watched in awe as Rouge kept herself suspended for a moment longer, assessing the damage. When the beast’s claw twitched and it bent an arm to right itself, she was quick to descend once more into its back. This time, the beast yelped in a warbled tone before dissipating into a cloud of black smoke.

Rouge carefully lowered herself down next to Sonic, keeping herself an inch above the damp ground. Sonic turned his gaze towards her as he heard the telltale sound of the second creature disappearing, announcing Modern’s victory on his side.

The bat looked troubled to say the least, her calculating gaze seeming to search for answers in Sonic’s face. All the small hedgehog could do was shrug and motion to her that it was a long story.

She narrowed her eyes and her eyes flickered over to Sonic’s right side. Sonic tried to school his expression but couldn’t help his eyes widening ever so slightly in surprise. He quickly reached an arm over to try and cover the wound but it seemed to be too late.

Rouge’s head tilted to the side, her eyes still narrowed and now locked onto his own. He pursed his lips and tried not to squirm as her crushing gaze seemed to level him to the ground.

“Little Blue. You didn’t fight that creature at all. So where did that injury come from and why hasn’t it been properly treated yet?” Sonic glanced towards it with furrowed brows, hissing quietly to himself when he removed his hand. Flakes of dried blood flicked off and the fur around the claw marks was matted and clumped. If he squinted, he saw the vague starts of yellowed edges. Oh.

Rouge’s eyes softened and she knelt down to be eye level. “Oh honey, I can get that cleaned up for you. There’s plenty of water around here to do a simple cleaning job and-”

As soon as Sonic heard his older self draw near. He fervently shook his head and physically urged her to stop with a few pats to her muzzle. She looked concerned and stood up with a quizzical look. Sonic felt a wave of relief flood through him as Modern broke the silence, seemingly not noticing Sonic’s strange behavior.

“Alright! Let’s get a move on, I’d rather hit the road before more Time Beasts decide to show their ugly mugs again.”

Sonic nodded in agreement, just happy to have the previous conversation behind them and not have Modern hear it. He doesn’t need to know. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. If he knew… Sonic doesn’t want to think too hard on that with how his older self has been acting.

He glanced up at Rouge to meet her disapproving stare. He signed a quick affirmation to the bat, curtly telling her that she can clean his wound out in White Space. She nodded, but it was clear she had her suspicions on why Sonic was suddenly being so secretive and she was very much not approving of Sonic’s approach to this situation.

The two followed close behind Sonic as they wove through the trees and dodged puddles. Sonic took a deep breath. They would be fine. Whatever was up with Modern would pass and he would never have to know what he accidentally did.

They were fine.

For once, Sonic wasn’t quite sure he believed himself.

Chapter Text

Sonic probably should’ve remembered that neither of them had even bothered in explaining the current situation to Rouge before stepping out of the Time Gate. She only knew what she’s seen or experienced and that’s only been an encounter with the Time Beasts and ending up in an unknown zone instead of being frozen in time outside of a zone.

So they probably should’ve taken into account what her reaction to the state of White Space would be. And yet, both he and his older self seemed to have completely forgotten to mention anything of mention to her.

The two of them watched and held their breaths as Rouge stared ahead with wide eyes, body trembling ever so slightly. She slowly turned around to face them, staring the two of them down with a horrified expression on her face.

“What’s… happening out here? You didn’t tell me the situation was this bad.”

Modern shrugged and gave her a hesitant smile. The bat narrowed her eyes and her lips downturned slightly. She took a step towards them and pointed a finger at the older of the two hedgehogs. He could see how Modern pointedly decided not to remark on how she was trembling ever so slightly.

“Blue. Do not shrug at me. Those strange beasts were one thing. Something is clearly worse than you’ve let on. So I swear on the Chaos Emeralds, you’re going to tell me what’s going on right this moment or I’ll-!”

“Alright, that’s enough. Settle down, bat. These two need to get a move on.”

Everyone swung their gazes to the newcomers. A twinge of surprise pulsed through Sonic as his eyes landed on the older Knuckles, his own version of the echidna trailing only slightly behind. He glanced around the space surrounding the gate but suddenly realized neither Amy was there. Strange. They had made it their job to wait outside of the gates and relay information. And the echidnas were supposedly looking for the emeralds, so why were they both here instead of the Amys?

What’s going on?

“Both our Amy and their Amy are giving both Tails a hand right now.” His Knuckles said, thankfully answering Sonic’s unsaid question. He cast his eyes to the side for a moment and the apprehension on his muzzle was clear as day. “The findings are getting worse. You two need to finish up this gate quickly.”

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Rouge kept her gaze trained on his Knuckles. Sonic couldn’t be too surprised though, she was here last time they were in White Space and the only “classics” were himself and Tails. No sign of young Knuckles. Or Amy. He wonders how she’d react to seeing younger Amy?

“You are a tiny Knuckles. Why do you also have a tiny version of yourself, Knuckles?” Sonic had to suppress the laugh that wanted to escape him. How eloquent.

The younger Knuckles crossed his arms over his chest with a displeased look on his face. He glared up at the bat, clearly unimpressed. Sonic wasn’t. This was kind of funny actually. “I’m still Knuckles you know. And you must be the one who keeps trying to steal the Master Emerald. Older me has told me about all of your failed attempts to thwart us.”

She beamed and turned towards the older echidna, hands clasped together and leaning towards him with a sappy smile. “Aww, Red! You’ve been talking about me? How sweet!”

The older Knuckles rolled his eyes and walked up the bat, shaking his head. “It’s not a compliment.” He turned towards Modern and Sonic with a slight nod of his head towards the Misty Lake gate. “You two just get moving through the gate and finish whatever you need to finish in there. Meet the rest of us over at the next mini gate, it’ll be off to the right.”

“But we haven’t given Rouge her explanation-” Modern was quickly cut off by a firm glare from the older echidna.

“We’ll take care of it. We need you two to start moving. Now… just be careful.” 

Sonic winced slightly as the older version of Knuckles cast him a knowing glance, eyes flicking down to his side. The hedgehog shifted slightly to carefully hold the scarring injury. He didn’t miss how Rouge also gave him a pointed look that screamed at him to be careful. Especially since she hadn’t been given a chance to clean it before they ran off.

He really shouldn’t dwell on that right now. If anything, he should be worried about how cryptic the two Knuckles were being. Tails had to have figured something new out and it was worrisome. But what was it? They better explain at the upcoming mini gate.

He gave the two of them a slow nod. Both Rouge and Knuckles gave him a worried look but seemed to ignore it for now. 

Sonic looked up at his older self who had also glanced down at him. The two nodded at one another, Modern having a proud smirk on his face. Sonic hoped his own grin didn’t look fake. Modern didn’t seem to notice or acknowledge it so he figured he was in the clear.

He watched as Modern turned to face Knuckles once more. Sonic could feel the exhaustion show clearly on his face as his older self turned his gaze away. “We’ll make this quick! You can count on us!”

The echidna nodded and the two hedgehogs turned towards the Time Gate and strolled into the pulsing darkness, letting it take them back into Misty Lake.

It didn’t take long for them to be jogging through the damp woods. Modern’s transformation came and went, the process becoming way too familiar for both hedgehogs to be a healthy thing. Like always, Sonic was forced to watch as Modern went through this agonizing process and eventually felt every inch of his body morph into something else. The only new thing this time around was the mud that Modern had managed to get caked under his claws and in his fur around his wrists and ankles. He’ll admit that part was amusing, especially watching the werehog complain after his transformation.

But now the journey was quiet, save for the wind and the sound of water splashing around as they ran through the puddles. Modern would normally fill the air with chit chat to which Sonic could respond to with exaggerated eye rolls or quick signs. They weren’t even racing. Things just felt tense.

Sonic glanced over at the werehog, taking in his expression. Modern definitely seemed to be deep in thought. Sonic could only assume what it was about. He knew what was stuck deep in his own mind though.

He knew he was worried about what the pair of Tails had discovered. It had to be big. Just slightly under the threshold of the Sonics needing to know immediately. Something everyone had decided that would be easier kept away from the knowledge of the two hedgehogs as they adventured. Why? Probably to keep them from becoming hung up on it. Well, news flash. Sonic was now hung up on it.

Not knowing things created an awful feeling in his mind, especially when he knew there was something he didn’t know. Maybe it wasn’t all bad to not know right now though. There were a lot of things that were going wrong. A pulse of pain rang up his side at the mere thought. He glanced over at Modern, eyeing the werehog’s claws.

A lot of things going wrong might be the understatement of the century.

Modern suddenly skidded to a stop, claws digging into the ground leaving marks in the soft mud. Sonic immediately applied his own breaks as well, heels digging into the soft ground and leaving him stumbling forwards. Once he managed to get his balance back, he glanced up at whatever had made his counterpart stop so suddenly.

Standing there and ever so slightly blending into the shadows, was a new hedgehog. Sonic’s eyes widened slightly as recognition filled his mind.

Shadow.

The hedgehog glared up at the two of them and it was in that moment that Sonic took in the sight by the dark hedgehog’s feet. Lying there were two struggling Time Beasts, both trying to glare up at Shadow while being shoved into the mud. 

Shadow paid them little mind, only sending two quick spears of energy at them, finally snuffing out the beasts into clouds of smoke. His glare never left the two Sonics. Suddenly Sonic felt like they were about to be in a lot of trouble and he wasn’t even sure what for yet.

“What the hell did you do this time, hedgehog?”

Sonic blinked a few times before turning towards Modern, who looked annoyed at the question. Actually, he’d probably consider that irritated. Oh boy. Out of everyone, please don’t snap at Shadow of all people.

“What did I do this time?” Modern snapped, fangs bared at the dark hedgehog. In turn, Shadow bared his own fangs at the werehog.

Sonic sighed. And there he goes. He just hoped Modern wasn’t about to spark a fight. He’s worried about whatever everyone else knows and doesn’t want to take too much extra time. Hopefully Modern doesn’t instigate something huge right now. 

“I’ll have you know that this is not my,” Modern glanced over at Sonic, eyes slightly clearing from their angry fog, “our fault. Time Eater showed its ugly mug and made it everyone else’s problem.” 

Shadow crossed his arms and raised a brow, snarl not quite leaving his face. “Time Eater. The non-sentient time entity. The being which only caused us issues the first time around because the doctor got a hold of it. That Time Eater?”

“Trust me, everyone is a bit confused right now. But Time Eater brought us here and we think it has an issue with-”

Shadow lifted a hand to put a stop to Modern’s rambling. He used his other hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. Shadow took a deep breath as if trying to calm himself before speaking once again.

“I knew that. I was asking because of your chaos energy output, dumbass. That’s not a normal output for you and Time Eater has no dominion over chaos energy. It can’t do that to you.”

Both Sonics froze. Sonic tore his gaze away from Shadow to stare at Modern with wide eyes. His chaos energy output was… off? He knew the other hedgehog had a good affinity for detecting chaos energy in others and could nearly function like a radar for the energy. So obviously he knows what the output of each person feels like. And now he was saying that Modern’s output was wrong. Changed. And they all knew that wasn’t something Time Eater could do.

Modern looked just as put off as Sonic felt. He watched as the werehog brought two shaky claws up and just stared at them. Sonic could see horror beginning to form on his face. His voice came out barely above a whisper.

“H-how? What’s my chaos output look like, Shadow?”

Sonic watched as Shadow pursed his lips. “You’re not radiating positive chaos energy right now. It’s all negative. I’ve never seen this much negative chaos energy off of you.” He seemed to scan over Modern’s form, finally acknowledging that Sonic was currently not a hedgehog. “I take it that this is the werehog form you’ve spoken of. Does this have anything to do with it?”

Modern didn’t answer. His eyes seemed to fixate on his golden bracelet and he slowly brought up his other hand to graze his fingers over the metallic surface. The werehog went oddly unresponsive, whispering under his breath.

Sonic strained his ears to listen, the worry inside him suddenly growing exponentially. He only caught a little bit of his mutterings.

“Why? I have your collar, so why does Dark Gaia have me in his hold again? I thought we sealed him, Chip. I thought he was gone…”

Sonic didn’t know who Chip was but he recognized the name Dark Gaia. And that only made him more worried.

Shadow’s ears pressed back against his head and Sonic was positive he also heard Modern’s mumblings. He didn’t like this. He didn’t like this. He didn’t like this… Was his chaos output wrong too?

He wrung his fingers out and kept his stare fixated on Shadow. It didn’t take long for Shadow to notice the small hedgehog’s extended gaze on him. He just raised an eyebrow, as if silently asking what Sonic needed.

Hesitantly, Sonic pointed a finger at himself before signing the words for chaos energy. Shadow seemed to immediately lock onto what was troubling him, his gaze softening in a way Sonic hadn’t known was possible in his direction.

“No, yours is fine. It reminds me of when we first met.” He gave Sonic a small smile before an odd look appeared. “Well, actually. It’s slightly different. Odd. You should have the exact same chaos signature that my Sonic had back then. It’s almost like you used to, but it’s now starting to change into something else.” 

Sonic’s eyes widened in panic and Shadow quickly raised his arms in a mock surrender. “Not in a bad way! Just… different.” His voice dropped down into a quiet mutter, a volume he was sure he wasn’t supposed to hear and yet he still did. “How odd, it’s like he’s becoming a different person from Sonic…”

…What the hell did that mean?

Modern seemed to have pulled himself out of whatever panic he was in as he laid a heavy claw on top of Sonic’s head. “Don’t worry, little me! I’m the only one here with issues beyond saving. Let’s just… go.”

And if that didn’t send a chill down Sonic’s spine. He flicked his gaze up to Modern in horror and quickly swung his hands up to sign that he was not alright with how Modern phrased that. The older hedgehog needed to realize that he was worth saving. They all were.

Is this what the older Amy meant? What series of events happened to make his older self believe he wasn’t worth saving? That he couldn’t be fixed?

Modern’s smile faded and he pulled his claw away. Sonic wished he would’ve stayed so that he could try knocking some sense into him. But then the werehog was sprinting off as fast as he could towards the exit of the woods. 

Both Sonic and Shadow were at a loss for words over whatever had just occurred. Shadow turned towards Sonic but the small hedgehog only shrugged before dashing after his older self. At the sound of machines whirring to life, he was positive that Shadow was hot on his tail with his rocket skates.

And now all Sonic could think was that maybe he hasn’t quite been worried enough when it came to Modern. And that they had a lot more problems on their plates than they had originally assumed.