Rhea Island was considered the black sheep of the Starfall Islands.
The main reason was that there was little to no information regardless of this island in general. While the rest of the islands at last could tell what the Ancients did there, there's no data of activity in Rhea Island.
If this isn't enough, the place is empty. There's no sign of the Ancients' technology and there's no other sign that says they even approached to this island in particular.
However, the ground in the island suddenly began to rumble, and six massive towers (they all were 1483 feet long) emerged from the ground. Once they elevated completely, the top separated from the rest of the tower and began to float in the air, opening some kind of barrier that protected the entire island.
In the new top of the towers, the buttons that could turn the entire tower off shone in a red neon color, meaning that the towers were ready to be deactivated if necessary.
Sonic couldn't remember how he lost his Super form once he arrived to the island.
In fact, he could barely remember how he ended up there. He knew he was fighting against something keeping his friends as prisoners, and that he needed to... well, he actually didn't knew that part, and right now, he didn't cared either.
The massive headache he was experimenting didn't allowed him to think well, and his entire body felt heavy and it hurt a lot, so he had to kneel because of how painful he felt. Still, he knew he had to stay strong and focus is he wanted to free'd his friends and his Little Pipp.
Speaking of them, Tails soon enough arrived to his side, along with Zipp and Pipp. They were still trapped on Cyber Space, but they were also worried about Sonic's current state. Tails tried to touch his arm, but his hand passed through Sonic's body, and he frowned in worry.
Sonic, on the other hand, was panting and trying to recover his concentration, and to reunite all the strength he could to keep going.
"The final lock has been revealed" the mystery voice said, and Sonic looked at the sky with effort, since even moving his head felt painful. "Silence the six towers. Tear down the walls between dimensions" they instructed once again.
Pipp and Tails were very worried about Sonic's state, and Zipp raised an eyebrow when she saw him looking at the sky, but she saw nothing there.
"Oh, good..." Sonic said suddenly. "I thought you were going to say there was a surprise Titan..." he said with a relieved tone and smile.
"Sonic?" Tails called out with worry.
"Who are you talking to?" Zipp asked confused.
"Are you okay?" Pipp questioned with worry as well.
Sonic didn't even replied to any of their questions, he just stood up with effort and smirked at them. "Hang tight, guys. We're almost through this" he stated with confidence.
"What do you mean?" Zipp asked, a bit more harsh than she would like to.
"Just have to... destroy those towers... and then we can leave... and never come back here..." Sonic replied tiredly, also grabbing his head.
"That... doesn't sound like a good idea..." Tails pointed out.
"Well... if this is really it, then... Be careful, Blue Star" Pipp begged with a broken tone.
"'Careful'?" Sonic questioned with a raised eyebrow. "Where's the fun in that?" he added with a smirk, and then he chuckled in pain.
Pipp frowned after hearing that, but before she could say anything, Sonic boosted away from them. Despite the pain, he was willing to go to the end of this if it meant he could finally save his friends and leave the Starfall Islands.
"I have a bad feeling about this..." Tails said with worry.
"Yeah, me too" Zipp said with a frown.
Pipp just gulped, and prayed deep down that Sonic came back in one piece.
Sonic reached the top of the first tower.
The fact that there was rails and boost rings all around the tower helped a lot, but his headache and pain became stronger once he reached the top.
Still, he approached to the button and pressed it, turning off the spinning mechanism on the top by sending a weird signal that came from the pillar where the button was.
But the thing didn't ended there: Sonic suddenly got another vision...
The Ancients were staring at the Purple Chaos Emerald, capsuled on one of the towers that looked like the ones on the Titans' heads.
"The Chaos Engines are harnessing the Emeralds' powers perfectly" one of the Ancients said.
"Finally, some good news" the other Ancient replied. "Hopefully their power will be enough to let us escape" they added with concern.
Sonic shook his head and grabbed it confused after the vision was over.
He still couldn't understand what was going on since his mind was worst than it was five minutes ago. And yet, he was willing to keep going.
Whatever is the reason he ended up there, whatever is the reason he is seeing all of this, he doesn't care. He only wants to free'd his friends out of Cyber Space and leave as soon as he can.
So, he jumped from the tower and took a nosedive, landing in the ground curled in a ball and then boosting towards the next tower, that he managed to climb up as well in less than 3 minutes.
Then, Sonic approached to the button and pressed it again, turning off the second tower as well.
And just like it happened before, he got another vision...
Thousands of ships escaped from a planet that was suddenly covered by something... or rather, someone.
Whatever or whoever covered the planet, launched a massive laser and cut the planet in half. No, I'm not even kidding here, IT LITERALLY SPLIT UP A PLANET LIKE NOTHING.
And of course, the planet exploded after it was cut in half. The worst part? It was the Ancients' home planet, and now it was gone.
In one of the ships were the Ancients escaped, three of them were crying and shouting in despair of loosing their home, while a smaller Ancient, a kid apparently, hugged one of them in search of comfort.
And so, the ships got stuck in space for years, because the Ancients had no where to go...
Sonic shook his head again and started to walk away.
He wanted to move to the next tower, but his body suddenly released some Cyber Energy, and Sonic almost tripped. His headache was more painful, and his entire body was begging him to stop, to take a small rest if it was necessary.
But of course, this is Sonic we are talking about, and he simply stood up and smiled. Despite the pain in his body, he still smiled, and kept moving forward... but he didn't went to far when Sage suddenly appeared again.
"Your Cyber Corruption is accelerating" Sage pointed out. "How can you smile when you can barely stand?" she questioned confused.
Sonic didn't even bothered to reply, he looked back forward, took a deep breath and kept smiling before keep walking, despite the Cyber Energy on his body spreading at fast paste.
Sage looked at Sonic surprised. It was clear to her that he wouldn't give up that easily, or at all. For a second, that weird glitch that changed her color scheme to white and blue came again, but she shook her head, and the glitch stopped, then she left.
Sonic, on the other hand, managed to contain the Cyber Energy again and boosted towards the ground again to reach the next Tower.
Once he was on the ground, he boosted towards a spring that impulsed him to many boost rings, and then said rings launched him towards some rails that took him to the top of the tower.
Once again, he pressed the button and turned off the tower, and like in the last two towers, he got another vision...
After years of being stuck in space, the Chaos Emeralds suddenly began to react and guided the Ancients' ships towards a planet: Equis.
Inside the main ship, the one 'leading and guiding' the others, the Purple Chaos Emerald shone bright after it reacted to something coming from the planet it was guiding the Ancients.
"What are the Chaos Emeralds reacting to?!" one of the Ancients asked, as they covered their face from the glow with their left hand.
Suddenly, a third Ancient entered the room and looked at the other two with worry.
"We've lost control of navigation!" they said with concern.
"What?!" one of the other Ancients said.
"Our lectures says there's a source as powerful as the Chaos Emeralds drawing them in!" the Ancient that just arrived explained. "Now we have no control of the ships!" they added.
"A source as powerful as the Emeralds?!" the other Ancient questioned. "But that's impossible! We found the six of them ages ago!" they pointed out.
"Perhaps there's a seventh Emerald we never heard about?" the first Ancient suggested.
"If that's the case... then maybe there's still hope for our people after all" the second one replied with a hopeful expression.
The Starfall Islands were just as peaceful as always.
The Owls, one of the oldest civilizations that ever existed, lived alongside the Hedgehogs in piece and harmony, one of the best equipped and trained civilizations in combat, at least for the time..
The Owls thought everything they knew about strategy to the Hedgehogs, and in exchange, they trained the Owls in every way of combat they know, as well as a place were to stay.
The Starfall Islands was their home, and they had no choice but to move there after their ancestors had a massive war with the ponies on a distant unnamed land. And how did they found these islands? How they've been able to survive this long?
Well, they have to thank the powerful Gem of Miracles to that. This Gem wasn't an ordinary gem, no: this Gem literally floated, and despite its small size, it contained a great power capable of miracles. It was thanks to this Gem that they found these islands and stablished there for the rest of their lives, and for the next generations as well.
The Gem of Miracles, as they decided to call it, was sealed on a cristal cage and placed on a guarded temple by two Hedgehogs and two Owls, who guarded the Gem day and night.
The Owl in charge was named Adam, and he was a brown fur, tall man with a brown scarf that had yellow and blue stripes at both ends. He also had a spear on his back, prepared for any eventuality since he was the leader.
At his side, there was the leader of the Hedgehogs: Knave the Hedgehog, a light blue hedgehog with an eye patch and a green eye, also having an ear 'bitten' and clothes that resembled the Incas. However, he had a 'hero name', or a nickname that makes his entire people cheer at him: the Blue Blur.
You see, Knave wasn't a regular Hedgehog like the others, oh no: he was born with sonic speed and electrical powers. He could literally ran across the entire island in less than 10 seconds and return to the exact same point were he left. But he also had unique abilities and attacks thanks to this powers of his, like the famous Spindash, or the Homing Attack. But he had a long list of exclusive abilities, actually: Sonic Boom, Homing Shot, Wild Rush, Loop Kick, Spin Slash...
And on top of having incredible abilities, he was happily married to a blue hedgehog girl named Light. Now you get why he's the leader, right? He's the most OP of the Hedgehogs. and all his people admires him, as well as many of the Owls respect him. Yet, Knave isn't a selfish or a bad leader: he's actually a good hearted person that seeks for the safety of his people, his family and his allies. Same thing with Adam: he's the most skilled Owl of his tribe, and everything he wants is for both Owls and Hedgehogs to live in peace and harmony.
But one day, an Owl seer had a vision, about an alien civilization running away from a very powerful enemy, and that said enemy will be defeated by a Blue Hedgehog surrounded with the golden power of 7 powerful jewels.
At first, many though that the seer lost its sanity, but one day, those who doubt the seer were proven to be wrong.
Many ships from space arrived to Kronos island, and they all slowly landed in the grass. Soon enough, Adam and Knave arrived with tropes of their respective tribes, expecting an attack from said ships. Thanks to the warp rings created by the Owls, traveling from one site to another was a piece of cake. Knave rather ran across the island, but since this seemed like an emergency situation, he couldn't care less about running.
Soon enough, the main ship opened up, and two creatures that seemed to have a liquid-like body, with stones inside that seemed to have faces.
These creatures seemed a bit surprised when the Owls and they Hedgehogs pointed their spares to them, and both Adam and Knave were frowning as well, with Adam holding a very large spare and Knave charging electricity in one fist.
"I'll only let myself clear: Whatever you're doing here, you must get yourselves clear, or we'll eliminate you!" Adam warned with a frown.
The two creatures looked at each other and leaned their heads confused.
"Hate to be that guy, but I think they don't understand our language" Knave said, still with his fist charged up.
"Then how are we suppose to know their intentions?" Adam questioned.
Suddenly, another warp ring opened in the middle of the creatures and the soldiers, and the Owl seer came out of it, looking at the creatures with a soft smile.
"Tupanka!" Adam called out to the seer. "What do you think you're doing?!" he questioned in anger and worry.
However, Tupanka ignored him and moved towards the creatures. He made a little reverence, and then... he started to speak in a weird language.
But for everyones surprise, the creatures replied in the same language, and they seemed to be explaining their situation to Tupanka. Soon enough, Tupanka walked back with Adam and Knave with a worried expression, and the owl and the hedgehog leaders looked at each other, both confused and worried.
"Mr. Adam, Mr. Knave" Tupanka greeted with a little reverence again. "I'm afraid I'm not as crazy as you all though" he said.
"What?" Adam questioned with a confused frown.
"Tupanka, can you explain yourself?" Knave requested, turning off the electricity on his hand.
Tupanka sighed heavily, and then looked back at the leaders. "That vision I told you about a while ago... is finally happening" he said with worry.
Sonic shook his head again.
This time he felt intrigued. Once again, he saw his ancestors, and now it seems that he learned the true origin of the Chaos Emeralds. Or, at least, where they really came from: not only they're from a different dimension, but from space as well.
Also, it seems like both sides had a different perspective at first: the Ancients though there was only 6 Emeralds, while his ancestors and the Owls didn't even knew there was more of them.
"W-Why do I keep seeing all of this...?" Sonic wondered, as he grabbed his head since the headache was becoming worst. "W-What am I not seeing...?" he questioned.
He had no time to wonder more, since he still needed to save his friends, so he shook his head again and repeated the same process: jumped from the tower, landed in the ground and climbed up to the next one thanks to springs, rails and boost rings.
At the top, he did the same thing he's being doing so far, and then the next vision came up...
20 years later, the Ancients stablished on the Starfall Islands along the Owls and the Hedgehogs.
At first, there was a lot of distrust between the Ancients and the other two tribes. Learning that the Gem of Miracles was just one of 7 powerful jewels called the Chaos Emeralds was a big chock for both the Owls and the Hedgehogs, and it took them a lot of time to process it and accept it.
Same thing with the Ancients: getting used to the Starfall Islands was one of the most difficult things they had to do. On top of that, they had to study the Light Blue Chaos Emerald, which existence they recently discovered, since they always thought there were only 6 Chaos Emeralds.
Still, they learned to live and cooperate with time. The Ancients even shared their technological achievements with the other two tribes, not only creating an entire virtual reality, but also making bigger and better weapons to protect the islands.
Adam and Knave were the only ones that learned the language of the Ancients to communicate with them properly, but the other members of their tribes were learning too, step by step.
In all these years, Tupanka insisted that the prophecy of the Ancients enemy coming to the Islands, and a Hedgehog using the power of the 7 Chaos Emeralds to defeat and destroy said enemy, will come true eventually, but now even the Ancients refused to listen.
One particular day, Adam and Knave were with Elder, the oldest of the Ancient, as they taught to their children about the story of their alliance with the Owls and the Hedgehogs, as well as the creation of Cyber Space and the Koco that resided inside of them.
"And although our home world was lost, our history was not, thanks to Cyber Space" Elder narrated, making their Koco to shine bright, also activating the Cyber Space portal behind them.
The Ancients kids gasped in awe at the sight of the Cyber Space portal working, and even tho this wasn't the first time they saw it, Adam and Knave also felt surprised by the portal working perfectly.
"All our hopes, our dreams, and memories can be uploaded to Cyber Space and accessed at any time" Elder explained.
Suddenly, another Ancient entered running to the place, and it approached first at Adam and Knave, whispering at their ears that they were needed for a moment.
Both leaders looked at each other with worry after hearing that, so they moved aside and waited for the Ancient to talk with Elder.
"Elder! You are needed" the Ancient said with worry.
Elder moved aside and gathered with the Ancient, Adam and Knave to talk a bit more privately, and to prevent the children to listen.
"Why? What happened?" Elder questioned.
The Ancient sighed heavily and looked at the three leaders with worry. "It followed us. This world is in danger. All of our people is in danger" they said with a worried tone.
Elder stepped back with wide eyes, Adam's haw dropped in shock and Knave felt really mad. He turned and punched his own palm with anger, while Adam grabbed his head as he felt a sudden headache and Elder looked at the floor with worry.
Sonic began to walk away once the vision was over.
More Cyber Energy came out of his body, and this time, he wasn't able to hide it. He was suffering a lot, he was in pain, his headache was worse than ever and he could barely stand... but he wasn't going to give up.
"This is... for your friends" Sonic reminded to himself. "Don't look down, Sonic. You... still need to... save them... to save her... remember!" he told himself with pain and grunts.
He suddenly fell on his knees, and started to pant heavily as he tried to recover energies, when Sage suddenly appeared again.
"I believe I have come to understand you" Sage said, moving around Sonic as he tried to get up, but he kept loosing his balance, and still he tried to keep moving forward despite the protests from his body. "Both of us will do anything to protect those who are precious to us" she added, before looking at him with sadness. "But your fate... is what I calculated" she said.
Sonic finally stood up and kept moving. He was dying, or at last that's what he thought it was happening, and he still kept walking forward, in pain and with a massive headache that didn't wanted to leave, but he couldn't care less: he was saving his friends, even if it was at the cost of his own life.
"Farewell, hero" Sage finished, glitching on the new color scheme again before disappearing.
After finally putting the Cyber Energy under control, Sonic repeated the same process he's been doing for the past 4 towers, and once he pressed the button to turn off the fifth one, the next vision came in...
An Ancient was along an Owl and a Hedgehog.
The three of them were using the Green Chaos Emerald on a tower to create a massive machine, one of four giant robots that they decided to name as Titans. This one was called Giganto... it is pretty obvious why they named it like that.
Then, Elder, Adam and Knave arrived with the three of them, who made a little reverence to show respect towards their leaders.
"These Chaos Emerald-empowered Titans will be the keys to victory this time" the Ancient assured with confidence.
The leaders looked at Giganto in the distance with doubt. "If not... it's been decided a small group of the three tribes will use and take the Chaos Emeralds to a parallel dimension, were a larger one has been discovered" Elder instructed.
"This parallel world... it seems to have its downs, but... at least the next generations will grow in a more peaceful situation than us" Knave pointed out with his arms crossed.
"And the Emeralds will be hidden in temples all across that universe" Adam added. "If they ever run out of power, the temples should be enough to restore them... but I highly doubt someone can be that smart to drain their power" he said with confidence.
"Hopefully, our battle won't become to a point were we have to travel towards this parallel dimension" the Ancient said.
"Hopefully..." Knave added with worry.
After that, he opened a warp ring towards a new place, and made a sign to Adam, indicating him to come along.
Once they both crossed the portal, they were staring at the sun setting in the distance, at the top of one of the mountains in Ares Island.
"Too bad we won't enjoy views like this one anymore..." Adam said with sadness.
"Yeah... too bad..." Knave said with a worried frown. "Adam... I need you to leave with the group if we loose" he added suddenly.
Adam looked at him in disbelief, then blinked a few times and frowned. "Excuse me, what?!" he said in anger and concern.
"I'm not the Hedgehog destined to destroy... how did the Ancients called them again? 'The End'. Whatever they're supposed to be..." Knave said with concern. "The Emeralds do not react with me, and I know Nora is not the chosen one either" he pointed out.
"But Knave––" Adam tried to protest.
"She's just 8, and she can't even create a sparkle without struggling" Knave pointed out again with a frown. "That's why I need you to leave with her and my wife. I need you and your descendants to take care of mine until the chosen one finally arrives to the world of the living" he said.
"Knave, I can't––" Adam tried to protest once again.
"I'm not telling you this as a leader... but as a friend, and as a father. Please... look after Light... and most importantly, look after Nora" Knave begged this time with a worried frown.
Adam felt a lump in his throat after hearing such a petition. Yet, a part of him felt he had no choice... so he looked at Knave with a determinate look.
"I... I'll inform of a change of plans then..." Adam replied. "Be careful out there, Knave" he added, before turning around and opening another warp portal.
"Careful?" Knave said suddenly, causing Adam to stop. "Where's the fun in that?" he added in a playful tone.
Adam smirked after hearing that, and then he crossed the portal ring.
A series of visions began here...
The attack against The End failed, and Knave died along many Ancients, Owls and Hedgehogs while fighting them.
Elder used the Chaos Emeralds to open a portal to the parallel world named Mobius, and the three tribes crossed it safely, although Nora didn't wanted at first after finding out her father will never came back.
Years after establishing themselves on a place called South Island, more specifically to this place named Green Hills, Adam took his promise about taking care of Nora serious, since he was some kind of... father? Master? Friend? Pretty much all of the above.
Then, time passed by, and Adam's descendants kept looking after Nora's descendants for thousands of generations.
Finally, we reached a certain point in time... when Longclaw was the leader of the Owls, and Sonic's parents approached their baby, obviously Sonic, to the 7 Chaos Emeralds.
Unlike with all the previous hedgehogs, the Emeralds reacted with Sonic. They all shone bright and floated over him, as they also seemed to be communicating with the baby hedgehog.
No one could believe it: the chosen one by Tupanka's prophecy of so long ago was finally here: Sonic the Hedgehog was the chosen one to defeat The End...
Too bad they could never celebrate, because they were suddenly attacked by thousands of missiles coming from the sky.
Sonic couldn't believe it either.
Whatever was The End, he was chosen by the Chaos Emeralds to destroy it, he was chosen to avenge his fallen ancestors... but he didn't knew if he could do it all.
His current state wasn't of help, his headache was killing him and he felt he needed all of his energy if he wanted to defeat the very same thing that killed his ancestors so long ago... but then again, he was Sonic after all, and he never gave up.
So, he decided to close this cycle once and for all: after destroying the towers to save his friends, and if he was still alive by then, he will destroy The End to avenge his family.
That's why he boosted as fast as he could towards the final tower, but his body was reaching the limit once he arrived there. Still, Sonic was able to press the button and turn off the final towers, also suddenly getting another vision...
Giganto, Wyvern, Knight and a fourth Titan with a sniper were in space, being piloted by Ancients and fighting against The End.
Or at least trying, because their attacks had no effect on the enemy.
"This isn't working" the fourth Titan's pilot said. "If we can't beat it, we'll seal it!" they stated, putting the sniper aside and turning to the other Titans. "I'll bind it to my Titan. Then you guys seal us in Cyber Space!" they instructed.
"No! We'll find another way!" Giganto's pilot exclaimed.
But the fourth Titan denied with its head, and then it turned around to face The End. After that, the Titan began to contain The End's soul and essence inside of it, not only losing control over itself, but also killing the Ancient inside of it.
"They're... gone... It killed them..." Wyvern's pilot said with grief and sadness.
The fourth Titan began to fall towards Equis, until its image was completely lost by sight.
After a few moments of silence, Knight's pilot decided to brake it. "We can't let their sacrifice be in vain! They had a plan! Let's do it!" they stated with a determinate expression.
Then, the three Titans looked at The End, and their pilots shouted warrior cries before boosting towards it, ready to seal it on Cyber Space as they were instructed to do so.
The entire background became red suddenly.
Sonic's body was full of Cyber Energy, and Sonic himself was trying to move somewhere... but his headache finally reached the breaking point.
Sonic grabbed his head and shook it, as he grunted in pain, before shouting loud and clear, not able to hold it back anymore. His entire body was glitching, and the red and black colors suddenly became a really dark blue before covering his entire body.
Sonic's hands fell and let his head go, while his head looked at the ground. His eyes were widely open... but there was no emotion in them. After all the pain and struggle he passed through... this is how destiny rewards him: No emotions, no breathing, no feelings, no memories, no nothing.
And just like that, Sonic the Hedgehog, one of the greatest heroes of all time, was no more...