Rewind

Sonic leant against the railing, gazing out towards the city. It wasn’t far until dawn and he hadn’t slept a wink. He just wasn’t tired, his body clock totally out of wack with the Floating Island.

He sighed. “Now I know how Knux feels…” He mumbled to himself. “Felt…” he corrected as he remembered where, or rather, when, he was. He’d felt a little weird when Knuckles had invited him to spend the night at the home he shared with Julie-Su…he’d have thought the pair would want to be alone…

He glanced over his shoulder into the darkened living room, certain he’d heard something. But all was still. There was no sign of any of the three resident echidnas. Lara-Su had been rather clingy, like she was afraid to go to sleep in case Knuckles wasn’t there when she woke up. But her mother had insisted, assuring her that she wouldn’t let her father out of her sight.

Sonic shook his head with a chuckle. He still found it hard to believe that the rather hard-nosed female he knew had matured into such a caring and devoted mother. Knuckles was still a little uncomfortable with being a father though. He hid it well, but it was still there…

He caught a flash of red in the pre-dawn light, his head turning quickly towards the movement.

Knuckles dropped gracefully to the ground several dozen feet below. That in itself didn’t surprise Sonic, he’d seen the echidna perform more amazing feats than that. It was the fact that he was, in a way, abandoning his family that concerned the hedgehog.

“Where are you off to?” Sonic mused quietly as he headed for the lift.

~~~~~

The Master Emerald was just as he remembered it. Set in its altar, out in the open, it was as awe inspiring as ever. Knuckles climbed the steps slowly, reverently, to stand before the huge jewel. He stared at himself, reflected in its emerald depths, noting the differences in his appearance.

He didn’t look much older. Echidnas were a long live species, the Guardians even more so. At thirty-seven he was barely more than an adolescent when compared to most other Mobians.

But the length of his spines, the shaggy hair that framed his face, were proof of just how long he’d been away. He closed his eyes, letting out a long, ragged sigh.

“You know…I thought you’d be at home snuggling with your wife…” Sonic’s voice came brightly from behind him. “Ah…partner…spouse…life-mate…?” He added, remembering that the pair weren’t officially married.

The echidna opened his eyes, his glance moving slightly to the hedgehog’s image in the Emerald’s surface.

“Wife is fine…” He mumbled.

“So what’s the deal?” Sonic smirked. He nudged the echidna in the ribs. “You not in the mood? Or did you get enough…snuggling…last night?”

Knuckles looked at him, his expression clearly showing he wasn’t impressed by Sonic’s comment. “Act your age.” He growled at him.

“I’m seventeen!” Sonic pointed out. “I AM acting my age!”

Knuckles let out a snort of laughter, but sobered quickly. “I guess you are…” he said softly before returning his attention to the Emerald, quickly becoming lost in its depths again.

Sonic arched a worried brow. He’d never seen his friend like this before. He was about to say something when Knuckles spoke first.

“This is wrong…” He shook his head.

“What?” Sonic frowned.

“Everything!” Knuckles turned to gesture to his surroundings. “This time…this place…”

“Tell me about it…” Sonic sighed.

“Even Lara-Su is wrong…” He lowered his head.

“What do you mean she’s WRONG?” Sonic found that particular comment very strange.

Knuckles sighed deeply. He looked at his friend, obviously trying to decide if he should explain that comment. He looked towards the sky, through the shield that protected the Island from the poisons outside.

“You remember that year I spent…well…dead?”

“Kinda hard not to…” Sonic admitted. “For me it’s only just over…”

“Well…as you’ve probably already guessed…I wasn’t actually dead…”

“Yeah…we kinda figured that…” Sonic nodded.

“The Ancient Walkers took me…I don’t know where exactly…they told me about my powers…both the Chaos ones…” He held out his palm, forming an emerald sphere above it, holding it for a moment before it dissipated. “And…my other powers…” He formed a bird of fire above the same hand. “Taught me how to control them…but that wasn’t all they showed me…”

He looked at Sonic, sadness and regret in his eyes. “They showed me our children…”

“OUR children?” Sonic echoed with a frown.

“Mine and Julie-Su’s…yours and Sally’s…”

“But Sally’s…” He couldn’t bring himself to finish.

“And Lara-Su didn’t look the way she does…” Knuckles sighed. “She was more like me…but here…she looks like her mother…”

“She’s a great kid, Knux.” Sonic tried to lighten the mood.

“That’s just the thing, Sonic.” Knuckles eyes seemed to sadden even more. “She’s not a kid…she’s pretty much grown…” He lowered his head, closed his eyes. “And I missed it…

“I missed it all…”

~~~~~

Julie-Su let out an exasperated sigh when she found she was alone. She was used to it by now…he had always had a tendency of disappearing. But it didn’t make it any easier…and it still annoyed her. She knew he wasn’t far away though. He’d left a flower on the table beside her bed. His way of an apology for not being there when she woke up.

‘I guess it’s romantic…’ She thought as she inhaled the flower’s sweet scent. ‘But a note might be more appropriate…’

~~~~~

Sonic gave Knuckles a few moments. Even though he had said that his daughter was…wrong…she was still his daughter. A daughter he’d never been there for…a daughter he didn’t even know.

“You okay?” He asked finally.

“Yeah…” Knuckles said through a drawn-out sigh.

“I was thinking…” Sonic began.

“First time for everything…” Knuckles mumbled.

“Guess you ARE feeling better…” Sonic arched a brow. “As I was saying…if this…future…is wrong…do you think that maybe there’s a way to make it right?”

“Undo what was done?” Knuckles frowned.

“Something like that…” Sonic nodded.

“I don’t know, Sonic…” Knuckles shook his head. “The implications alone are…hard to conceive…”

“Hard…but not impossible…?” Sonic prompted.

“You’re talking about messing with the space/time continuum…” Knuckles shook his head. “Throwing the universe out of balance…”

“The space/time continuum’s already been messed with.” Sonic corrected. “I’m talking about setting it right!” He started pacing, thinking. “Mobius wouldn’t be a cesspool…life wouldn’t have dwindled to little more than a handful…” He gazed off into the distance. “Sally wouldn’t be…”

He spun on the echidna. “You’ve got Chaos power!” He said. “Infinite…probability shifting power!”

“Sonic…” Knuckles warned. “You don’t know what you’re asking…”

“C’mon…” Sonic needled. “Chaos Energy can do anything, right?” He gestured towards the Master Emerald. “It can lift an island into the sky…it can make a couple of deranged lunatics immortal…”

“They weren’t always deranged lunatics! It sent them insane!” Knuckles countered. “It’s too unpredictable. Why do you think I never use it? Why do you think I keep it contained? If I used it I could end up a greater threat than Enerjak!”

“You said the Ancient Walkers taught you to control it.” Sonic pointed out.

“Yeah…to heal wounds…to preserve life. NOT to turn back time!”

“You said yourself this world is wrong…” Sonic countered. “What have we got to lose?”

“I knew we’d find them here.” Vector’s voice cut through their increasingly heated argument. The pair looked down to see their friends…the crocodile and his family…Miles…Moni-Ca and the towering Kurlanga…Julie-Su and Lara-Su…

Little Vertice was climbing up her father’s shoulder, smiling brightly.

“What indeed…” Knuckles said softly, his eyes on his own family.

~~~~~

“You’re serious?” Miles asked incredulously.

“Can it even be done?” Julie-Su added.

“SHOULD it even be done?” Vector added.

“Think about it!” Sonic insisted. “It could make a world of difference. Mobius could be a paradise…” None of them seemed very convinced. He didn’t like to open old wounds…but perhaps it was his only real trump card. “Espio…Mighty…Ray…they’d be alive…”

“I’m not saying we haven’t got a lot to gain.” Vector admitted. He ran a gentle hand over Vertice’s head. “But we’ve got an equal amount to lose.”

Sonic turned to Knuckles for much needed support. “You told me I was supposed to have kids with Sally…you know this future is WRONG!”

They all looked at the echidna now. His expression indicated he was rather annoyed at Sonic for mentioning something that he had told him in confidence.

“Maybe so…” he said. “But how exactly are we gonna do it? Set the Way-Back Machine for twenty years ago? It wasn’t technology that brought you here…we don’t have a time machine…I doubt that it’s even possible to build one.”

“I bet Elle could do it.” Sonic smirked. Mentioning her name he realised something. “Where is she any way?”

Julie-Su and Vector exchanged a glance. It was hard to ascertain just what it meant.

“Well…” Vector began.

“You see…” Julie-Su added.

“She’s…dead?” Sonic asked quietly, fearfully. With Knuckles’ refusal to use his Chaos powers, the highly inventive echidna was his last hope for getting home.

“No…” Vector pulled a strange face, not sure just how to explain things.

“She is Ganalli.” Kurlanga intoned matter-of-factly.

“She’s what?” Sonic arched a confused brow.

“Ganalli.” Kurlanga repeated. “The most mysterious of all the echidna.”

“O…K…” Sonic looked to Knuckles for the explanation the long-beaked echidna seemed unwilling or unable to give.

He frowned. “How do I explain this?” He mused.

“He knows not of the three tribes?” Kurlanga asked.

“He’s twenty years out of date…” Moni-Ca looked up at him. “WE didn’t even know about the three tribes then.”

“Three?” Sonic queried.

“The Albion…” Knuckles indicated himself. “The Bruijini…” He gestured towards the towering Kurlanga. “And the Ganalli…” Sonic nodded to let him know he’d absorbed that much. “Think of us as three parts of the one whole. The Albion are the like the brains, working with their minds, inventive, ever curious, forever trying to better the world around them. The Bruijini are the body, strong, working with their hands, living simply off the land…”

“And the Ganalli?” Sonic prompted.

“They are the children of Aurora.” Kurlanga said.

“She’s kind of our deity…a mother goddess…” Knuckles explained.

“You never were in to the tomes…” Kurlanga eyed him.

“The Ganalli are mystics, for want of a better term.” Knuckles went on. “They’re totally in tune with the world around them. They can manipulate nature to their own ends. They can do basically ANYTHING!”

“And Elle’s one of them?” Sonic asked incredulously.

“She’s the last of them.” Lara-Su put in. “Though it’s widely believed that the Guardians are at least in part Ganalli...”

“That’s how she was able to build such amazing devices.” Julie-Su added. “Nobody could ever duplicate them because they weren’t built entirely on technology…they were partly magic…”

“She calls it necro-technology.” Lara-Su explained.

“She kind of instinctively called on her mystic heritage even before she knew about it.” Julie-Su finished.

“Really?” Sonic didn’t seem at all convinced.

“Where do you think this came from?” Lara-Su flicked the pendant that still hung around Sonic’s neck.

“So she IS alive?” Sonic asked hopefully.

“Didn’t I already say that?” Vector asked quietly.

“Yeah…” Julie-Su sighed. “But she’s not at all like you remember her…”

“What happened?” Knuckles asked. The last he’d seen her, though she had known about her birthright, she was pretty much the same echidna he’d always known.

“There’s a link between all Ganalli…” Julie-Su said. “When one of them passes from the living world, their essence…their power…is equally distributed amongst all the other Ganalli. So when Robotnik destroyed all life on Mobius…”

“She got it all.” Knuckles finished. “What the heck did that do to her?”

“It was…hard on her…” Julie-Su began.

“Sent her totally nuts.” Vector informed them. “She’s crazier than a cut snake.”

“I heard that.” A disembodied voice spoke around them.

“Aw…man…” Vector groaned. “I HATE it when you do that!”

“I know…” There was an obvious tone of mischievousness to the voice.

“Doesn’t sound like she’s changed THAT much…” Sonic whispered to Knuckles.

“You’d be surprised…” She replied to the hedgehog’s quiet comment.

“So…” Knuckles spoke to her. “Do you have a corporal form, or are you just gonna go with this whole spooky voice thing?”

“Knuckles!” Julie-Su chided him.

Ellie-Za chuckled. “It would seem your changes are merely cosmetic.”

“Dude.” Vector looked at his friend. “It’s been fifteen years and WE haven’t seen her.”

“So she is just a spooky voice?” Sonic asked.

“I have a physical body…it’s just…rather radically different…”

“Oh, c’mon…” Lara-Su said. “You look cool!”

She sighed. “Very well…but remember…I DID warn you…”

A swirl of electric blue light coiled up from the ground, and continued to coil high above their heads, coalescing into an echidna-like form.

“Whoa…” Was all any of them could think to say, except for Lara-Su who already knew what she looked like, who just smiled at their reaction.

She’d always been tall, but now she towered over them all, even Kurlanga. But she was also extremely slender. It was like someone had taken a firm grip on her spines and her ankles, and pulled. She held a simple staff, and it was hard to ascertain whether it was some form of mystic device or she needed it to keep her frail looking body upright.

Her spines were the same colour, but she no longer wore them in the familiar dreadlocks. They were a series of long, slender quills that reached all the way to the ground, fanning out behind her.

Her once hazel eyes were now a complete blue, glowing softly, with tiny arcs of lightening sparking across their surface. There was an aura of power about her that belied the apparent frailty of her form.

“Definitely cool…” Sonic said softly.

~~~~~

“…and then I woke up here.” Sonic finished his story.

“So Robotnik’s weapon accelerated your already accelerated speed.” Ellie-Za mused. She was sitting now, making her slightly less intimidating. But everybody had noticed that she had stooped as she entered the room.

“Yeah…” Miles nodded. “That’s pretty much what we surmised.”

“Can it be undone?” Sonic asked. “Can we redo the whole thing or something?”

“If we were to recreate the exact scenario it would only push you even further into the future.” Sonic flinched slightly, involuntarily, as she cast her electric blue gaze on him. Those eyes were just too creepy. “Time is like a river…its direction cannot be altered, much less reversed.”

“Well…” Sonic chewed on his lip. “Can you build a time machine or something?” It was obvious that he really wanted to go home.

“I suppose I could…” She frowned. “Given…time. But it could take years…and I doubt you want to return to your own time as a fully fledged adult…or older…” She cast her gaze on Knuckles as he began to fidget slightly. She smiled. She knew what he was thinking, she was thinking it herself.

She also knew why he was loath to bring it up.

“You have something to add, Guardian?” She asked him with a cool smile and a slight arch to her eyebrow.

“You know exactly what I’m thinking…” He said softly, his violet eyes meeting her electric blue.

“Of course…”

“Think it’ll work?” He asked.

“Perhaps…” She admitted. “Time has no meaning there…but you know you’re the one that’ll have to go…”

“You’re more powerful in that realm than I am!” Knuckles protested.

“From this end, yes.” She agreed. “But at the other end I am not even aware of my heritage…”

Sonic leant towards Julie-Su. “Do you have any idea what they’re on about?” He whispered.

“Not a clue.” She whispered back.

“Good…I thought it was just me…”

“Looks like it’s our best bet.” Knuckles sighed.

“Yes…” Ellie-Za agreed. “Do you think we should bring your family in on this?”

“Nah…” Knuckles shook his head. “The fewer who know about this the better. You got an idea of what to do?”

“Yes…” She nodded, glancing at the others. “How do they feel about it?”

“Hey!” Vector grumbled. “Maybe you should ask THEM!”

“Yeah.” Miles agreed. “It’s like you two have totally cut us out of the conversation.”

“If you have a plan, maybe you should fill us in…” Moni-Ca added.

“Why do you mystic sorts always have to be so mysterious?” Vector added as an after thought.

“It’s part of the job description.” Knuckles said with a shrug.

“Very well.” Ellie-Za turned those eyes on the complaining audience. “There IS a way to remedy the situation…”

“You can send me back?” Sonic asked hopefully.

“No.” She turned to him. “But we can arrange it so that you never come here in the first place.”

“Come again?” Sonic arched a brow.

“There is a place that lies between the here and the then.” She said. “Time has no meaning there. The past, the present and the future are one.”

“From there, we can get a message to the past…warn you about what happened so you can avoid Robotnik’s trap and you’ll never end up here.” Knuckles finished.

“Of course that means everything around us will cease to exist…” He added grimly as he glanced from family to family.

“Not necessarily.” Ellie-Za said softly. “If it is meant to be…it WILL be…”

“Meaning?” Vector asked.

“If you’re meant to hook up…” Miles said as he indicated the crocodile pair. “You’ll hook up.”

“That’s a comfort…” Vector mumbled.

“But we’ve finally found peace here.” Moni-Ca pointed out. “Robotnik’s gone…”

“That won’t undo the damage he’s done.” Knuckles countered. “Our world is dying…”

“What do you mean?” Julie-Su looked at him with wide eyes.

“The Island can only support life for another three generations…even with the ecological protocols that have been put into place…there isn’t the power necessary to relocate to another zone like when the dingoes attacked…” Ellie-Za sighed. “If we don’t do this, all life on Mobius is doomed.”

“You really are a downer sometimes, you know that?” Vector glared at her.

“I guess that kinda makes the decision for us…” Julie-Su looked at her daughter. “But…”

“What will be will be, Mum.” She said reassuringly. “Besides…” She took her mother’s hand, then reached over and took her father’s. “It’ll give me the chance to grow up in a world with both my parents…”

“So what have you got in mind?” Vector looked at the tall Ganalli.

“I will help Knuckles enter the realm between realms…where he will get a message to his younger self in order to assist Sonic…”

“Why not just tell me?” Sonic asked.

“No offence, Sonic.” Knuckles said. “But you’re not exactly open to the mystical…I doubt you’d interpret it as a warning.”

“Oh…” Sonic protested. “And you will?”

“I HAVE spent some time there, Sonic.” Knuckles countered. “I know how the place works.”

“Really?” Sonic was unconvinced.

“Yeah…” Knuckles’ temper was rising. “Like a YEAR.”

“Oh…” Sonic said quietly.

“Are you ready?” Ellie-Za asked quietly, breaking the tension.

“Now?” Knuckles asked incredulously.

“No time like the present.” She shrugged.

“Fine…” He grumbled.

“I understand your trepidation.” She said. “I know you really don’t want to go back there…”

“That’s an understatement…” He sighed. “Let’s get this over with…where do you want me?”

“Just take a seat.” She indicated the floor in front of her. Knuckles took up the lotus position as Archimedes has taught him a lifetime ago. He sensed Ellie-Za’s long-fingered hands as they encircled his head. “Centre yourself…”

“Man…it’s gonna be hard…not being able to tell anybody about any of this…” Sonic muttered.

“It won’t be a problem.” Ellie-Za assured him. “You won’t remember anything because you’ll have never been here.”

“Uh…okay…”

“Can we do anything?” Vector asked.

“You can be quiet for a change…” Ellie-Za answered him as her spines began to dance around her head. “We both need to concentrate…”

~~~~~

Sonic glanced up as he entered the ravine, eyes searching for Robotnik’s trap, but he could see nothing. He felt the earth shake. He flicked his head back to see that Robotnik, in some kind of two-legged vehicle, had dropped down behind him. A huge laser cannon mounted to the front of the vehicle was aimed straight at his back.

‘Ah, man…’ Sonic thought. ‘This is gonna hurt…’

He heard the resounding echo of a solid impact, followed by a very colourful curse from Robotnik.

“What in the name of blue blazes are you doing here you rope-headed pest?” The overweight Overlander demanded. “You’ve ruined everything!”

“C’mon, tubbo…” Knuckles chuckled. “You know that’s what I live for!”

“Knuckles?” Sonic wondered aloud as he dug his heals into the soft soil beneath his feet. He turned to find the echidna perched on the barrel of the laser cannon, which was now half buried in the ground. Robotnik tugged at the controls, backing up his vehicle, pulling the weapon from the earth. The echidna back-flipped off before he could be shaken loose. He grabbed the barrel and bent it upwards so the tin-platted tyrant couldn’t shoot off another round.

Robotnik growled and backed away. “This is NOT over!” He promised.

“Wish I had a credit for every time you said that, Botbutt…” Sonic smirked as he came up to stand beside his red-furred friend.

Robotnik fired the rockets on his vehicle and lifted into the air, cursing all the time.

“You know,” Sonic commented. “Sometimes I almost feel sorry for him.”

“Yeah…” Knuckles agreed. “For a genius he sure screws up a lot.”

“But he did raise a good point.” Sonic admitted. “What ARE you doing here?” He eyed the echidna, noticing that he didn’t have a stitch on. “And it’s nice to see that you dressed for the occasion.”

“It was the weirdest thing…” Knuckles frowned. “I…” He broke off into a pained hiss and fell forward. Sonic managed to catch him before he hit the ground.

“Knux?” He questioned. Then he noticed the twin gashes across his friend’s back, so deep he was sure he could see bone. He looked up into the glowing yellow eyes of Knuckles’ metallic doppelganger.

“What the heck is that?” Knuckles hissed.

“Knuckles…meet Metal Knuckles.” Sonic introduced him.

“Metal Knuckles?” The echidna echoed.

“Hey…it’s not everybody that gets a homicidal robot cast in their image…just you and me…”

“I feel so special…” Knuckles muttered.

Metal Knuckles looked past them, a hiss of steam escaping its mouth vent. It almost sounded as if it were angry. Its head flicked quickly from side to side as it took in the sight of the approaching Freedom Fighters. “Odds…against unit…” It said in its flat metallic tone. “Instigating strategic withdrawal.” The robot lifted into the air, following its now distant master.

Knuckles arched a brow at its comment. “What, he didn’t have a personality chip for that thing?”

“C’mon…” Sonic smirked. “I think it sounds just like you.”

“Oh, ha ha…”

“Knuckles?” Sally asked as she reached them. “What are you doing here?”

“Bleeding.” He replied with a wince.

She lifted his spines and eyed the wounds on his back. “These are pretty nasty…we better get you back to knothole and have those looked at.”

“I’ll be fine.” Knuckles said as he pulled himself upright, and promptly fell over.

“Yeah, right…” Sally sighed. “C’mon tough guy, let’s get you patched up.”

~~~~~

“What are you so worried about?” Doc Quack asked. “These little scratches?”

Sally pushed Knuckles spines out of the way and ran a finger along the almost completely healed wounds. Knuckles shivered at the feeling.

“I TOLD you I’d be fine…” Knuckles smirked at Sally.

“I HATE it when you do that…” She muttered.

He hopped off the examining table. “Guess I better be heading home before anybody finds out that I’m gone…”

“You STILL haven’t told us why you arrived in the preverbal nick of time.” Sonic pointed out.

“It was weird…I had this…I guess it was a dream…and I got this overwhelming feeling that you were in some sort of mortal danger…I had to check it out…”

“Good thing you did.” Tails smiled. “Can you imagine what this world would be like without Sonic?”

Sonic shuddered. “Not something I’d like to see.” He beamed at the echidna. “Hey, while you’re here…reckon you can make it to my eighteenth birthday party…seeing as you totally missed my seventeenth…and every one before that…”

“I’ll see what I can do…” Knuckles replied. “But I can’t promise anything.”

“Ah…Knuckles?” Rotor stuck his head around the corner. “You still here?”

“I don’t know…am I?”

“Julie-Su’s on the horn…the Island’s worried about you…”

“Man…you think they’d give me an hour!” The echidna grumbled.

“With great power comes great responsibility.” Sonic smiled at him.

“Oh…give it a rest!”