The Void
"Shadow!" Sonic screams and falls through the tear into the void. Multicolored Lightning bolts strike the glass rocks. He lands on a rock.
"I don't care what Shadow says. If he thinks I'm about to run from a fight, he has another thing..." He then hears a robotic cawing sound in the distance. "...coming?"
A group of Grim Birdies with Chaos Ryder on top of the Alpha fly into the void heading towards Sonic. Chaos Ryder's sensor locks on to Sonic.
"Get back here Hedgehog!" Chaos Ryder demands.
"I'll stop you eventually, Nine. And I'll make sure you pay for Ryder, Rory." Sonic steps on a rock and evades the robots.
I'll stop you eventually, Nine. And I'll make sure you pay for Ryder, Rory." Sonic steps on a rock and evades the robots. Sonic hops onto a rock and kicks it towards Alpha Grim Birdie, but it breaks the rock easily. Sonic lands on another rock and starts running. He spins to try and get away from the chasing robot. He is then followed by Chaos Ryder, who spins at him, but he evades while dodging bullets. He leaps off and lands onto another rock. The Chaos Ryder hits him, and he falls. Out of control, he slides through one rock and bumps into another. He lands on a third rock. The Alpha Grim Birdie attacks him with its claws, causing Sonic to yelp and jump off. The rock breaks in half. Sonic flails in mid-air.
"Need... solid... ground!" He gets caught by the bird's wing. "Woah-oh-oh!"
The Alpha Grim Birdie twists multiple times and throws Sonic off, crashing into more rocks. As soon as he lands on a rock, the robot pair attacks again; Sonic jumps off and lands on another rock, with the bird shooting at him. He peels out along the rock, and disappears as he reaches the rock's edge, spinning behind the Alpha. He spin-attacks it and Chaos Ryder. "You want to play rough? Fine by me."
The Alpha Grim Birdie and Chaos Ryder attack Sonic again. Sonic jumps on a rock at the last moment.
"Eat rock, you hunks of junk!" Sonic kicks the rock. Chaos Ryder notices and leaps away, but the rock hits the bird's head. It squawks and breaks free of the rock. On the scanner, a large crack is revealed cutting half of its vision. The two regular Grim Birdies swoop past it and go after Sonic. They both get a hit on him, crashing into a rock. He dodges a bullet and falls and lands on another rock. He watches two Grim Birdies, including the Alpha with Chaos Ryder riding on her, go after him, then peels around in a circle creating a tornado. The two birds swerve to dodge flying rocks, but one of them hits the Alpha Grim. Sonic stops peeling, removing the tornado. The birds land on the rock. Though it seems that Sonic is missing.
"Impossible. Where could he be? Air Force Birdie Blue, fan out!" Chaos Ryder ordered, still thinking about the strike force thing. The birds looked around the rock for him.
Meanwhile, Sonic is hiding under the rock. "That's it. Move along, nothing to see here." He whispers.
Chaos Ryder gets off the Alpha and checks underneath the rock. His scanners don't pick up anything. Sonic had changed his hiding spot to another rock in the distance.
"Sorry, Shadow. I'm going to need some help to stop Nine." Sonic looks at the red portal gate. "And I know just the place to find it." He jumps off the said rock and heads into the gateway.
New Yoke City
Sonic screams and falls onto the dustbin, groaning. He gets up, holding his head. "Ugh, never thought I'd be glad to be back in New Yoke." Sonic peels up a building and spins at the top, seeing Yoke HQ with a blue and a green portal up ahead, along with many cracks in the Shatter Space. "Whoa." The decay has spread to not just New Yoke, but to every shatter space, including Boscage Maze and No Place. "Everything is collapsing. This is terrible."
"Is it?" Nine's voice interrupts his thoughts. A projection of Nine appears. That seems odd coming from you. As far as I can tell, you only care about your own home."
"Nine! Where's Rory? I thought you two were best buds now." Sonic said, feeling somewhat bitter about being replaced.
"He has other matters to deal with. He's working on making our world what it needs to be. Now's not the time to focus on him."
"Nine, we were supposed to fix this together. Are you doing this?" Sonic said, refering to the decay of the Shatterverse.
"No. This disruption was inevitable once the Chaos Council opened these portals. We're just taking what we need to keep our world safe. And now we just need the finishing touch." Nine said.
"Then you're going to have to catch me." Sonic said before he ran down the building and along the road, dodging vehicles in the opposite direction.
"Don't you realize the power I have in my fingertips? You can't run away from me.
A loud whirring sound is heard. Sonic stops in the middle of the road. The world rotates 90 degrees, sliding Sonic to one side and causing him to crash land on the wall.
"Oh, no. What's happening? Agh!" A Denizen hangs on to a lamp post. Nine gasps while generating power, then keeps his focus. "Agh!" He loses grip and falls, but Sonic jumps across to save him.
"You good?" Sonic asks.
"I know you're fast enough to save them all. That's the hero you are." Nine mockingly tells him.
Sonic runs along the building and catches another Denizen. He jumps over the gaps, catching another Denizen, and panting in exhaustion. Suddenly, the world rumbles and rotates again.
"Oh, not again." Sonic complains as he slides down. The world rotates once again. Sonic dodges falling obstacles and catches another falling Denizen. He notices Denizen 1998 hanging onto another lamppost.
"Hang on! I'm coming!" He goes for it, dodging more obstacles, but struggles at every turn.
"You can't do this forever, Sonic. Ryder isn't here to help you anymore. You're all alone now. Help me, and all of this stops." Nine pleads to him.
"No, that's not true. I can save--" Sonic gets hit by an obstacle and slips up. Denizen 1998 loses grip and falls down. "No!"
Prim catches the cat and picks him up in-front of Sonic. Birdie and Thorn pick up Sonic, while the rest of the Denizens are picked up by Rusty's extended arms. Metal-Bone swings from the Kraken and picks up a few Denizens. Inside the Kraken, Black pushes the levers forward. Two Denizens lose grip on the pole. Mangey and Gnarly catch and save them and take them on board the Kraken.
Commander Red holds on to the rooftop but still slips. But before she falls, her hand is grabbed by Ricky, who's familiar face shocks her. He pulls her back on.
"What was that about me being all alone?" Sonic asks Nine.
"You'll never..." Nine's projector fades out. The world tilts back to its normal axis, with metal objects crashing against the ground.
"Who was that? He looks like Mangey." Hangry wonders. Denizen 1998 nudges him; they turn and look at each other. Boscage Froggy and New Yoke Froggy point at each other, while Mangey growls.
"The fox has betrayed us." Rusty realizes with a grim look on her face.
"It's... kind of a long story." Sonic said.
The Grim
Nine stops charging, he grunts frustratedly. "The energy is still unstable." Nine looks behind him and sees Rory meditating while gathering his energy outside his palms to create something. Rory told him that he was creating their fresh start, but he didn't understand what it meant. He only said that when the time comes, this will make the world everything Nine wanted it to be. He talks on his Regulator. Sonic's outside the Council's HQ perimeter. Go get him."
The Void
"Ten-Four, boss." Chaos Ryder acknowledged as he and the Three Grim Birdies swoop toward the red gateway.
New Yoke City
Knucks and Rebel glide down to the Kraken and meet up with Sonic. Knucks smirks. "Sonic. Should have known you'd be here. Nine finally showed his true colors. I tried to warn you."
"She's the last one. Move towards the Yoke!" Prim runs past the doorway, which closes behind her.
"Weird. It sounded like you just said, "Move towards the Yoke"."
"That's because she did. It's the only safe place to hide from those giant tears that are growing by the second." Ricky pointed at the very tears he is mentioning.
"Yeah. I know, that's a problem, but it's the Yoke, hideous eyesore, monument to tyranny, home of the Chaos Council. That can't be safe!"
Rebel flies and faces Sonic. "Look around, Sonic. Nowhere is safe. Where else would you have us go?"
Sonic opens his mouth, but has no ideas, but hears a familiar mechanical caw. "Oh, no."
The Grim Birdies and Chaos Ryder fly through the tears in the sky. Nine's hologram appears. "I'm tired of waiting for you to accept your future, Sonic! Bring him to me alive."
"Are those..." Rebel questions.
"Angry metal death birds? Yep. Worst petting zoo attraction ever."
"What about the bot?" Ricky asks.
"That would be a robot copy of Ryder. Long story short, they're after me. I need to move. I'll see you back at the Yoke in a jiffy." Sonic spins off the Kraken and along the edge of a building. He jumps and spins onto the road, with the birds following him. "Here, birdie, birdie, birdie." Smiling, he looks up at the sky, he can't see any Grim Birdies, he exhales. Chaos Ryder spins in from across another road and hits Sonic, pummeling him into the wall.
"Surprise, Speedy!" Chaos Ryder unrolls and tries to pin him down, but Sonic escapes in time and runs again. Chaos Ryder chases him again. Sonic jumps over a car in a cross junction. "Woah!"
Chaos Ryder flips to the air and is caught by Alpha Grim Birdie, so they can both scout and observe from the skies. Peeling out again, two Grim Birdies chase him. They fire bullets. Sonic weaves to dodge them and turns right along the road. He takes the next turn on the right, leaving the Grim Birdies by. Along the alleyway, Sonic looks behind and smiles, but he yelps and hits the wall, knocking him out. One Grim Birdie blocks the alley behind him, the other one blocks the other side. They threaten him with a mechanical squawk and open their bullet guns. Sonic runs close to one of them and taunts them. He does the same to the other Grim Birdie. Sonic returns to the middle; the Grim Birdies fire lasers at him, but at the last moment, he jumps, causing the birds to hit each other.
Sonic chuckles. "Works every time." He said.
"Not quite!" Chaos Ryder yelled as Alpha Grim Birdie swoops in and grabs Sonic with its claws, causing him to yell. It flips and throws him in the air, where Chaos Ryder can catch him and kick him head-first in the middle of the road, finished off by the other two swooping Grim Birdies. He perks up, exhausted.
"I probably shouldn't have made them angry."
With the Grim Birdies after him once again, Sonic turns around and runs. Chaos Ryder and the Alpha watch him run along the road. The two regulars open fire, firing bullets at Sonic. They scan Sonic as they all make a left turn. Sonic brakes to a halt. The robots swoop up to avoid the buildings before coming back down and landing on the road facing Sonic. Sonic jump-scares to an Alpha Grim Birdie landing behind him.
"Might as well give up Sonic." Chaos Ryder said as he jumped off of the Alpha. "This is the end of your journey." They advance closer to Sonic.
The robots open fire. Sonic dodges and Spin Attacks the two regular robots, causing them to collide into separate buildings. Nine's projector appears while Sonic runs.
"He's right, you know. You can run as fast as you want. It doesn't matter. I know where you're going, Grim Birdie Alpha, head for the Yoke." Nine smirks.
The Alpha Grim Birdie flies away as the other birds and Chaos Ryder keep chasing.
"I won't let you hurt anyone else." Sonic heads towards the Yoke, going after the Alpha. Chaos Ryder speeds up and catches up to Sonic. He attempts to shake him off the Alpha's trail. He throws a punch, but Sonic ducks and catches it before throwing him down. Sonic peels up the wall. The Alpha looks back at him. Sonic spin attacks the robot on its belly, they both crash on the deck. Sonic holds his arm and pants in exhaustion. The hologram of Nine appears.
"Had enough?" Sonic attempts to scare them, to no avail. The other robots surround Sonic.
"Poor Sonic. So brave. So powerless. Bring him to me!" Nine orders.
The Grim Birdies and Chaos Ryder walk closer and threaten Sonic with their lasers.
"Hey, bird brains. Get off my lawn!" Dr. Done-It said as he loaded up his cane weapon.
"Huh?" Both Sonic and Chaos Ryder said, confused.
Dr. Babble, Mr. Dr. Eggman and Dr. Deep appear in their mech suits. Dr. Done-It starts firing tennis balls at the birds. Sonic crouches as they all receive a hit. Dr. Babble babbles as the Chaos Council minus Dr. Done-It initiates a fight with the Grim Birdies. Dr. Babble grabs an approaching Grim Birdie with his arm and slams it to the ground. Chaos Ryder tries to steal the sword off Dr. Deep. He hits him with the burning chainsaw, retrieving his sword, and kicks the robot to the ground. Dr. Done-It appears next to Sonic, jump-scaring him.
"This is where you thank us, you miserable rodent." Dr. Done-It said.
He starts firing again.
"You're helping me?" Sonic asks.
Dr. Deep holds up Sonic and threatens him with his sword. "Helping?! More like "Using"!" He lets him go. "We need your energy."
"For what?!"
"We'll talk later. Plus, if we don't stop this crazy fox, New Yoke City and us won't be around for much longer."
A building starts being shattered into purple crystals, emphasizing his point.
Dr. Babble grabs Grim Birdie, and throws it across the deck. The Alpha pummels Mr Dr Eggman with its claws and knocks him to the ground. Mr Dr Eggman fires a bullet from its chest to force the bird up in the air, crashing into the window beside Dr. Don't, sliding down.
"Huh. Cool." Dr. Don't commented.
Chaos Ryder catches that Grim Birdie and puts it safely on the ground.
Nine's hologram returns. "You're only drawing things out. There's nothing you can do to stop me."
"Oh, really?" Mr. Dr. Eggman mocks.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but Eggmen, let's go bash some birds." Sonic said.
Mr. Dr. Eggman pushes Sonic aside. "Behind me, simpleton. I'm the leader here!"
"Au contraire, Mr. Doctor. I clearly lead this multitude." Dr. Deep claims.
"Yeah, I don't care which one of you is in charge. I'll destroy you either way." Chaos Ryder tells him.
"Agreed, let's speed this up, Eggmen. We have some belligerent bird bots to bash."
The Chaos Council advances forward and starts battling. Dr. Deep tosses shurikens at a Grim Birdie, which dodges. It caws and flies toward him.
"Hold still, you confounded cockatoo!" Dr. Deep said.
Sonic jumps onto another Grim Birdie and holds it on its bill. Dr. Deep throws more shurikens, which explode the robotâSonic jumping off at the last momentâcausing it to crash to the ground. It powers down.
"Nice shot!" Sonic complimented.
"Indeed, it was! And now for another." Sonic turns just in time to see Dr. Deep's sword pointed close to his nose.
Sonic almost panicking pleads to him. "We're on the same side right now. Remember?"
Dr. Deep retracts his sword. "Old habits."
Before he can fly off, Chaos Ryder dashes in, swinging his arm-blade at Dr. Deep, forcing him to block. Sparks fly as their weapons clash.
"You're making this too easy." Chaos Ryder said before he kicks Dr. Deep back and lunges at Sonic, slashing at him. Sonic flips over the attack and lands on a nearby wall, using it to launch himself at Chaos Ryder with a Spin Attack. Chaos Ryder barely blocks in time, skidding back as Sonic lands.
"You're persistent, I'll give you that!" Sonic said.
Meanwhile, Mr. Dr. Eggman grabs another Grim Birdie and tosses it down toward Sonic. Sonic spin attacks it back toward him. He punches the robot up in the air, but before Dr. Babble can land a hit, Chaos Ryder appears in a blur, slicing the bot free and sending it back into battle.
"Not bad, but you're gonna have to try harder."
Dr. Babble babbles in frustration and charges at Chaos Ryder. Chaos Ryder dodges, flipping over him, and slashes at his mech, causing sparks to fly. Dr. Done-It tries to fire, but Chaos Ryder throws a knife, jamming the barrel of his weapon.
"Miserable miscreant!" Dr. Done-it yelled.
The Alpha Grim Birdie lets out a mechanical squawk and charges. It leaps onto Dr. Babble, knocking him down. Dr. Done-It tries to intervene, but Chaos Ryder dashes in, knocking him back with a precise strike. Sonic spin attacks the Alpha and knocks it off Dr. Babble, but Chaos Ryder immediately retaliates, kicking Sonic mid-air and sending him flying into a pile of debris.
"You're just delaying the inevitable, hedgehog." Chaos Ryder claimed.
Sonic groans and stands back up, wiping dirt from his face. He glares at Chaos Ryder as the rest of the Chaos Council regroup. They all open fire on the Alpha, along with Dr. Deep throwing more shurikens. The Alpha bot staggers but doesn't fall.
"That one was mine! I saw my shot hit it first!" Dr. Done-it yells.
"Oh, please! With your eyes, you couldn't hit the ground if it weren't for gravity." Mr. Dr. Eggman retorts.
Chaos Ryder takes a defensive stance in front of the Alpha as it suddenly retreats toward the void. Nine groans in frustration as his hologram appears, flickering.
"No. Not yet! Not again!" Nine's hologram disappears as Chaos Ryder clenches his fists, watching the Chaos Council and Sonic regroup. He exhales sharply, before running to his own retreat.
"Come back, coward. We are not done." Eggman said to Nine.
"It looked to me like he didn't want to go. I think his powers are on the fritz."
"How? If he's managed to complete the Prism, he should have nearly unlimited power." Dr. Deep assumed.
"He still needs something. Me." Sonic revealed.
Yoke HQ
Ricky looks around the tech inside, and is really impressed. This is lightyears ahead of anything he'd find on his homeworld. He wanted to explore the Yoke some more but he was interrupted by Commander Red
"Hey." Red said.
"Uh, hey." Ricky said, not sure what else to say, since he didn't know her.
"Ryder, what happened to your fur?"
"Oh, well I kind of jumped into some mud. The fur's kind of stuck like this but it's good for camouflage. Also, I'm not Ryder. I'm Ricky. From the Boscage Maze."
"Ohh. Right. Sorry, this whole Shatterverse thing has me in a loop."
"Same here. I can't even tell what's real anymore. Am I even real?" Ricky said, feeling genuinely conflicted.
"Hey, don't say that. Of course you're real. Don't let the fact that a bunch of other yous are around means you don't matter. You saved my life. That alone proves you matter." Red encourages him to acknowledge himself, and it works.
"Thanks. You're a lot nicer than I thought you would be." Red chuckles at Ricky's response.
"Tell anyone and I'll burn you alive." They share a laugh for a moment before Red pulled out her blaster. "I wasn't joking."
Ricky's eyes widened from her intensity. "Noted." 'Where did that blaster come from?'
"Good." Red hides her blaster again. "Where is Ryder anyway?"
"I don't know. I haven't seen him. Maybe he isn't here."
Later, Sonic stands nervously between the two groups, the Chaos Council and the Shatterverse doppelgangers. Clearly, they aren't exactly ready to acclimate to each other.
"This is preposterous! Just having these things in our home is an affront to everything we hold dear." Dr. Deep grabs Mr. Dr. Eggman
"You know what?! You keep talking, Doc, and my fist will be affront to your face." Knucks threatens.
Dr. Babble babbles angrily and points at Knucks.
"Quiet down you big baby. Go play with your rattle or something." Ricky said.
"I say we make them walk the plank." Metal-Bone suggested.
Sonic breaks up the argument. "Enough! Stop."
"They started it." Knucks whined.
"They started all of this." Rusty scowled.
"And we'll gladly finish it! You ungrateful-!" Dr. Deep begins before some strange sticky slime is stuck to his mouth, thrown by Ricky.
"Shut it. We've had enough to hear from you. And I barely know you." Ricky said as he walked away, not really into the conversation. Commander Red was curious about him and decided to follow. Mangey too.
"I made a deal with the Chaos Council." Sonic said.
The Denizens gasp.
"You made a deal with these egg-omaniacs?!" Black Rose asked.
"Are you out of yer mind!?" Metal-Bone questioned.
"Nine and Rory are using the Paradox Prism to siphon energy into the Grim. He's created this protective dome to keep his world safe, which has accelerated the decay of the Shatterverse started by your portals." Mr. Dr. Eggman smiles awkwardly. "We're running out of time. We can't escape him anymore, not while he's got the prism. But if we use my energy and the Council's Shatter Drive, we can protect ourselves without doing any damage to the Shatterverse. At least until we can figure out how to stop him. So the deal is, I charge their drive, and they give us sanctuary inside the dome."
"I want to hear it from them." Rebel demands.
Mr. Dr. Eggman groans. "Ugh the hedgehog speaks the truth. Once the dome is up, we'll let most..." A strict Sonic clears his throat at him. "All who wish will be allowed inside." A panel to the Power Core Room fades to transparent. The Chaos Council looks through it and sees Ricky and Mangey pressing buttons on the energy extractor. "Hey. What's he doing with the Energy Extractor? Stop him! Heel, you beast!"
"You first Egg-for-brains!" Ricky quips as he continues working.
"Oh, hey, look. Efficiency just increased by 38%." Dr. Don't mentions.
Mangey and Ricky smile, while Mr. Dr. Eggman looks on in fury.
"We might live in a forest, but we're geniuses everywhere." He then finds some goggles and puts them on and gives some to Mangey, who he then fist-bumped.
"So they're going to drain your energy?" Knucks asks Sonic for clarification.
Rebel taps Knucks. "There has to be another way!"
"I don't think there is. You've all seen it. The worlds are falling apart. This dome is our only hope." Sonic tells them.
"How much energy are we talking about?" Prim questions the doctors.
"Heh, nothing the hedgehog can't spare, I assure you. Though, if he doesn't want to, we could always go for option B." Dr. Done-It offers.
"And what would that be?" Rusty asks.
"We use him." He points to the unconscious body of Wrecker Rex they recovered.
"Wrecker Rex? How could he possibly help right now?" Sonic wonders.
"Rex retained the Prism energy he extracted from Ryder. We can use it to power the Yoke and Sonic won't have to." Mr. Dr. Eggman explains.
"Wait, isn't using him as a power source kinda risky?" Rebel Rouge asks.
"Of course. Due to his normal power source being stolen, the Prism Energy is the only thing keeping his cybernetics active. Those cybernetics are the only things keeping him alive. So, once he runs out of power, he'll perish."
This news shook them to their core. Using Rex would... kill him? Of course, they need his energy to survive, but would that make them any better than the Council?
Eggman shrugs. "Oh well, any takers? Raise your hand." The entire Chaos Council agrees.
"No! We aren't draining Rex!" Sonic argues.
"It's for our survival. It's completely necessary. He's not worth all of us. Besides, according to our records, he's been harbouring a Chaos Emerald for months, and never told us."
"Because it was the only thing keeping him alive. Even a brainwashed slave doesn't just hand over their life."
Ricky runs over to them. "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. It's his energy, isn't it?" He asks.
"His stolen energy." Rusty mutters.
"Well, why don't we just ask him. We can just turn him on." Ricky tries to walk to Rex, but is met with a valley of "NO!" from everyone. "What's the big deal? He deserves so much as a choice."
"We're all his enemies. The moment he woke up, who knows what he would do to us."
"I'm sure that given the choice, Rex would offer his energy to us either way."
"Only because you programmed him to!" Knucks yelled. "The real Rex would never have done the things he's done; Especially not for people like you."
"Why do you care? When most of you knew him, he was working for us. Besides, his only friend is the one attacking us, and his doppelganger is helping him do it. The way I see it, getting rid of him is a bullet dodged." Dr. Done-it said.
"He's not wrong." Ricky shrugged.
"Ricky!" Thorn berated him.
"What? Just saying. It's not like I'm advocating anything." He said, resting his hands on his neck.
"I agree that he's done evil things, but anything we do to him must be fair and just." Rusty said, which was surprising considering Rex betrayed her a while back.
"Enough!" Sonic demanded. "Look, I know what he did was bad, but it wasn't of his own free will. Maybe the real him was friends with Nine, but that means that Nine was a better person when he was around." He said, remembering the hug Nine gave Ryder when they first met. "We're not sacrificing anyone. Understand?" Sonic asked everyone but particularly the Council.
"Ugh, fine. The rodent stays, for now." Dr. Deep said.
"Sonic. You realize that you cannot trust the Council." Rusty points out.
"I know, but I don't have a choice! Look, I know you don't trust each other, and you probably shouldn't. But right now, we all have bigger problems." Sonic said.
"Wait, why are you doing this alone? Where's Ryder?" Metal-Bone asked, drawing everyone's attention. They don't know what happened to him. Ricky and Red perked at his mention, having brought it up earlier.
Sonic clenched his fists. He felt his throat tighten, his body heavy. He had to say it.
"Guys... there's no easy way to say this but... Ryder's gone." His voice cracked on the last word.
Silence fell over the group. Ricky's eyes widened, his usual laid-back demeanor vanishing in an instant. Red took a shaky step forward, searching Sonic's face for any sign that this was some kind of sick joke.
"What do you mean 'gone'?" Rusty pressed, her voice quieter than usual.
Sonic took a breath, but it didn't steady him. "Rory... he dragged Ryder into a portal. Straight into the Void."
Thorn gasped, covering her mouth. Ricky took a step back, running a hand through his hair in disbelief.
"You're lying." Red's voice was sharp, but underneath, there was a crack of desperation. "He's notâhe wouldn'tâ"
Sonic shook his head. "I tried to stop it. I tried. But I wasn't fast enough. The portal closed before I could reach him."
Ricky turned away, hands gripping his head. "No. No, thatâhe always gets out of stuff like that! You're saying he's just gone?"
Rusty, usually composed, looked shaken. "The Void is endless. No one survives it."
Knucks' fists were clenched so hard they shook. "Damn it..." He punched a nearby metal crate, denting it. "That fox was a pain, but he didn't deserve that."
Red gritted his teeth, staring at the ground. "...Then we make Rory pay."
Sonic swallowed hard and nodded. "Yeah. We do."
Knucks, grief stricken turned to Rebel. "Told you we couldn't trust that fox."
"As much as it pains me to admit it, Sonic's right." Rebel walks over to and touches Sonic's shoulder. "For once, everyone in New Yoke is on the same side. We're all just trying to survive. Once this is over, we'll go back to freeing the city."
"And protecting our forests!" Thorn agreed.
"And saving our seas!" Black Rose declared.
"And we'll go back to crushing you under our heel!" Eggman said before he realized what he said. "Uh, but only after we've saved New Yoke."
Meanwhile, In the far view of the two portals and Yoke HQ. Nine's hologram appears high with storm clouds rising behind him.
Power Core Room
Sonic is in the hamster ball alone, looking at the new gang. "See you on the other side." Sonic peels out inside the ball.
Nine clenches his face. A lightning bolt is deposited from the storm cloud and hits the Yoke, with cyan sparks flying out. The Yoke rumbles.
"Structural integrity of the Yoke is at 67%. Guy's got game." Dr. Don't admits.
"Another blast like that and this whole building will collapse on top of us!" Mr. Dr. Eggman
Dr. Babble babbles in panic. Rebel and Prim nod at each other and fly outside the building. They look up at Nine's projection.
"You're only delaying the inevitable! Nothing will stop me from getting Sonic." Nine declares.
The two bats speak on their Regulator. "We need that shield up. Now!"
Sonic continues running; the sphere is surrounded by electricity.
"Faster! Faster, you fool!" Dr. Done-It
Sonic groans as he continues running with all his might. The meter starts rising. Nine closes his eyes and looks down at the Yoke. Two Grim Birdies continue diving, while the two bats watch them. Inside, the ball flashes, with the meter rising close to full power. In the Shatter Drive, another ball flashes and grows. More Birdie robots dive down. Rebel and Prim fly upwards. Around the Yoke, the walls of the shield start to rise, passing through Prim and Rebel. Nine delivers more lightning bolts to attack the Yoke, but they hit the completed shield instead. The Grim Birdies bump into the shield and explode, causing the two bats to flinch and brace themselves. Nine growls frustratedly and fires more bolts at the shield, to no avail. Inside, the Council and the rest of Sonic's gang watch.
"So, it worked?" Knucks asked
Mr. Dr. Eggman turned to him, provoked. "Of course it worked, you insipid fool!"
"Oh, that's it. Time to crack some eggs!"
Before he could, a door opens with Mangey and Ricky helping a depleted Sonic past the doorway. His friends gather around him.
"Are you able to function?" Rusty asks out of concern.
"Who, me? Sure. Never... better." Sonic said, clearly exhausted.
Nine continues yelling frustratedly as his lightning bolts fail to penetrate the shield. His hologram disappears.
The Grim
"Well played, Sonic. You might be safe for now... but not everybody is." Nine said, developing a plan. He is stopped when Rory starts moving out of his meditation position. "Finally. What took you so long anyway? What were you doing?" He asked.
Rory walks over to his friend. "I was creating our genesis." He opens his hands and reveals what he was creating.
The seed has a rounded, slightly elongated shape with a distinct brown and orange checkerboard pattern, reminiscent of classic platformer terrain. The checkered pattern gives it a textured, almost blocky look, making it feel like a miniature piece of a vibrant game world. The surface appears smooth yet slightly reflective, enhancing its stylized appearance. A small crack reveals a tiny green sprout emerging from within, suggesting growth and life.
"What is it?" Nine asks.
"I'm calling it the Green Seed. Once I plant it, in a matter of days, it will change the Grim into a beautiful place. An Oasis of the Shatterverse. It will be everything we wanted this world to be," Rory said with quiet determination.
Nine hesitated, watching the seed closely. "And you're sure this will work?"
Rory gave him a knowing smile. "I didn't spend all that time meditating for nothing."
Nine scoffed but said nothing more as Rory floated up and slowly exited the tower. Finding a small place behind it, he reached out his hand and made a small hole in the ground. Carefully, he placed the Green Seed inside and buried it.
As the soil settled, Rory pressed his hand over it and closed his eyes. A faint energy pulsed from his fingertips, seeping into the earth. "Grow strong," he whispered. "Make this world something worth saving."
Nine watched from a distance, arms still crossed, but there was something unreadable in his expressionâperhaps skepticism, or maybe, just maybe, a glimmer of hope.
The Void
Outside of the Shatter Spaces, within the dark reaches of the Void, unknown to anyone in the Shatterverse, another dimension lurked inside.
It bore a striking resemblance to Green Hillârolling hills, familiar loops, and jagged cliffsâbut everything was drained of color even more than Ghost Hill. The checkerboard patterns were dull gray, the sky a blank expanse, and the air itself felt hollow, as if the world had been abandoned long ago. No wind, no movement, no life.
At the center of this empty world, lying motionless on the barren ground, was Ryder the Hedgehog.
For a long moment, he remained still, as if he had always been there, lost in the silence of the Void. Thenâ
His eyes snapped open.
And the scene fell to black.
Thank you so much for reading this. I had a lot of fun writing it. I hope that it wasn't too boring since Rory and Ryder were barely involved. What did you think of the big twist with Ryder's return? I know some of you probably expected either something like this or some weird ghost, but not to worry, he'll be back. I have a whole plan in mind. Anywho, I'll see you guys next time on Sonic Prime: Shattered Hedgehog. While you wait, how about you MCU fans feel free to look at Luminferno. Trust me, just because it has Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on the cover doesn't mean that it's the only thing I'm planning. I got this whole idea from reading Choejhulkp9's The Perfect One on fanfiction.net. Feel free to check him out. And also feel free to make that vote in my page while your at it for the song.
Drift Out!