The Everyday Life of Sonic and Friends

Hedgehogs Through Time and Space

Shadow woke to see his rival in blue, posing with the Scepter of Darkness. He stuck out his tongue, taking pictures. The Ultimate Lifeform shot forward in an orange aura, grabbing the scepter. "Mephiles needs to remain sealed, or else!"

"Or else what, Kirky the Faker?"

"Sonic, you don't understand-- Satan himself is afraid of that creep. It'll be World War III, cats and hedgehogs sleeping together, mass hysteria!"

"Oh, relax. Big already caused WWIII, and I'm positive that Silvaze isn't that bad. And plus, when we get Elise outta there, you could get a--"

The window in Shadow's bedroom shattered as a white fern-head levitated in. A shard of glass knocked the scepter from Sonic's gloves. He juggled it back and forth until it broke on the floor.

A blast of black slime shot around the room, eventually pouring into the floorboards. Shadow's shadow twisted and turned until it was absorbed into the dark mass of Solaris' mind. Mephiles the Dark bowed. "I knew it wouldn't be long before you fools released me."

Elise stood, nearing Sonic. "He told me all of the horrible things he would do to you. I'm afraid. I'm sorry for ever doubting you." A dark chaos lance stabbed through her, killing her instantly. Mephiles laughed maniacally as he retracted the crystalline projectile.

"Elise? Elise!!!" Sonic wept, holding her hand. The Embodiment of Darkness knelt, shutting the dead monarch's eyes. "I always wondered what would happen if she died instead of you." He vanished in a flash of violet. "Until we meet again, Blue Wind." Sonic continued to cry. How could he be so careless? "It's all my fault..."

Silver broke the silence. "Wait. There's still a way to change this." Sonic listened, still holding Elise's hand. "If we go back to an earlier point in time--" Shadow crossed his arms and turned away. "I'm afraid there's no hope," he said, "Ever since Mephiles drained the Chaos Emeralds, their power has been diminishing gradually. They're too weak for time manipulation."

The Blue Blur swiftly rose to his feet (if he has any. "I've got and idea! I bet that Egghead knows a thing or two about time travel." Sonic sped off into the distance. Silver motioned to the princess' corpse, flies swirling around it. "So... is she just gonna sit here?" Shadow shrugged, following his especially speedy, spiky ally.

...

"I told you, I can't just go wherever I want!" Doctor Eggman shook the teary-eyed hedgehog from the leg of his rubber pants. Shadow looked up at the evil genius, ignoring Sonic's pained cries. "But your machine sent Sonic and his friends to the exact moment in time when Rouge and I appeared there."

Eggman smiled. "Well... you see, that was just a coincidence." Shadow kept his puzzled expression. The Doctor's grin faded. "You know... a plot hole." He rewinded his security camera footage by eleven years. Silver was hypnotized by the Doctor's old design. "Woah, look at his nose!"

"Quiet, you." He rewinded the footage and pressed "play." The 2006 Doctor holographically roamed the room, watching Elise. "Rest assured, they're not dead... yet." He fast-forwarded. "Who knows where they'll end up? It could be the distant past or far future." He paused the projection and asked, "See? Pretty cool, huh?"

Silver examined the frozen holographic imagery, amazed. "Woah, technology! I can't get over how weird his nose used to be." Shadow asked, "So how can we increase the accuracy of your machine?"

"Sorry, but I have no idea."

Sonic's tears flooded the base. "B-but, Elise..." Eggman sighed. "Before he was imprisoned, my grandfather worked on a time machine. You may be able to complete the project by finding his notes on the ARK. He didn't have the time and focused all of his attention on preserving Maria's life, but I think he only needed a power source."