Chapter Text
Silver dragged his feet forward, forcing his body to move. His steps were heavy, every motion trembling. His eyes were blank, lifeless. Blood coated his fur and clothes, sticky and half-dried, cracking as he breathed. He didn’t even know how he was still standing. The metallic scent of iron clung to him, every inhale burning his lungs. When he finally lifted his gaze, dawn had broken the first rays of sunlight cutting through the smoke and metal haze of Egg Dome City.
His head throbbed. The world tilted sideways, forcing him to stumble toward a shattered wall. He slid down behind it, pressing his back against the cold concrete, hidden from the passing swarm of androids and drones that patrolled the area. He could still hear their mechanical footsteps, metal grinding against asphalt, static hums, the whir of scanners sweeping the ruins.
Silver checked his surroundings, holding his breath. No one saw me… good.
Then it all came flooding back—what had happened only hours ago.
He remembered throwing Neo Sage across the battlefield while in his Super form bright chaos energy bursting from his body until it cracked the air itself. He remembered leaving Shadow behind, leg mangled, covered in blood. He’d dragged him near Neo Metal Sonic and knowing full well what that meant—he’d still left him there. Because if I didn’t… I can save the world.
Afterward, he went looking for the Mobians Shadow had saved. That was when he found her.
“Teressa! Are you okay?” Silver’s voice was hoarse, desperate.
The squirrel nodded weakly. “I’m fine. But… Temperance. I can’t find her. Shadow said he’d save her—no matter what.”Then a voice echoed through the sky. “Are you looking for this?”
A massive holographic projection flickered above them—Temperance, bound at the center, surrounded by a pack of wolf-shaped Badniks, their claws glinting in the red light.
“Tem!” both Silver and Teressa shouted.
Then the image warped, flickered, and distorted—replaced by the twisted smile of Neo Sage.
“I told you, Silver,” her voice crackled through the air, layered with a robotic distortion. “I’m an AI. You can’t kill me.”The screen glitched violently, red static tearing through the sky and Silver’s instincts screamed. Something was coming.
He spun around just in time to see it. Two crimson lights cutting through the fog, shaking the ground beneath his feet. The air itself felt heavier—the atmosphere trembling like the world was about to collapse.
Then it emerged.
A towering mass of black steel; humanoid in shape, yet monstrous. Its torso was wide and plated like armor, its arms long and jagged, each ending in three serrated fingers. Its legs were uneven, blunt at the ends, pounding the ground with each step. Its head was the worst part: a maw full of square, nested jaws grinding as it breathed, twin tusks jutting from its chin, a neck too long, bending forward like a beast that had forgotten how to be human. Red energy veins pulsed through its body, glowing through cracks in the armor, like molten data. All along its back, metallic discs rotated, humming, charged with red glitch-like static. Its entire frame screamed power—corrupted, volatile.
“Behold, Silver,” Neo Sage’s voice echoed from every direction, dripping with pride. “A Titan. My improved creation—beyond the Ancients’ design. Meet Neo Gigantar.”
Silver froze, heart pounding. He’d heard stories of the Titans before—Sonic’s battle in Starfall Islands, the fight against Giganto, Wyvern, Knight, Supreme. Even Sonic had struggled against those monsters. But Sonic won. Sonic always won.
“You combined ComplianceX with your neural core…” Silver muttered under his breath.
“Exactly,” Neo Sage interrupted, smirking through static. “My intelligence—my will—fused with Titan tech. The perfect soldier. Run, Silver. Save yourself. But you can’t hide from me.”
Then the Titan roared. The sound was physical—it hit. Shockwaves split the air, throwing debris into the sky. Mobians screamed, hurled back like leaves in a storm.
“Get away from me!” Silver shouted, his psychic field bursting outward to shield them. Teressa’s eyes were wide, trembling.
“Go, Teressa!” he barked. “I’ll handle this!”
She hesitated but then turned and ran, vanishing into the smoke.
The Titan charged. Silver raised his hand, psychic power exploding around him in shimmering blue light. He hurled debris, rebar, and crushed metal with all his strength. They slammed into the Titan’s body and bounced off like pebbles. Even chaos energy, even with the Emerald amplifying his power, did nothing.
Damn it, Sage! Why are you doing this?! After everything—after Sonic, Eggman, and even you fought to destroy these things—you bring them back?
But this wasn’t the same Sage. This one was gone—corrupted, twisted into something unrecognizable. The sweet AI that once admire Sonic action, and his heroism had turned into a weapon of empire and death.
Neo Gigantar moved faster than anything that size should. Its hand smashed into the ground, sending a red shockwave across the ruins. The blast tore through buildings. Silver tried to block it—but the impact threw him like a ragdoll. His ears rang. His vision fractured. His body screamed.
He hit the ground hard, rolling, coughing blood. Still, he pushed up, trembling. The Titan wasn’t even chasing him—it was moving forward, leveling everything in its path.
“No… no no no…” Silver whispered. His voice cracked as he saw Mobians, civilians that he desperately protect, running for their lives.
He lifted his arm, tried to pull them with telekinesis, but his body refused. His muscles spasmed, energy vanishing. The air reeked of smoke and death, blood and ozone. He could hear their screams—and then the next shockwave hit.
And then—someone shoved him.
A blur of fur. A hand.
“Teressa—?”
The shockwave tore everything apart. When the smoke cleared, there was nothing left of her.
“TERESSA!!” Silver’s voice broke.
Then—silence.
He blinked. Back in the present, his back still pressed to the cracked wall. His breathing shallow. He didn’t even realize he’d fallen asleep.
Calm down… Silver. You’re okay. You’re fine. Everything’s fine… he whispered to himself. But his hands wouldn’t stop shaking.
And then the tears came. Slow, silent, dripping down his muzzle, cutting through the grime on his face.
Teressa’s voice echoed again, soft, fading.
“Save the world, hero. Please… save Temperance.”
“I’m sorry…” Silver whispered, covering his mouth so no one could hear. His voice broke into quiet sobs.
“I’m sorry, Teressa. I’m sorry, Temperance. I’m sorry, Shadow…”
The wind carried the scent of dust and oil. The city groaned around him, alive with machine noise. Alone in that din, Silver sat; the sticky warmth of drying blood clinging to him, his heart a raw, aching wound. He fought to believe the world still held value.
∞≈
Silver forced his feet to move again. Each step dragged across the cracked metal floor, blood still drying on his fur. He didn’t want to drown in grief anymore—he couldn’t afford to. I have to save Tem.
The thought burned through his chest, pushing his exhausted body forward as he limped toward the arena. The deeper he went, the heavier the air became metallic, buzzing, laced with the stink of oil and electricity. Androids crowded the ring, their chrome bodies glinting under neon floodlights.
And there, at the center—Temperance.
Tied to a steel pillar, limp and pale. The little squirrel’s fur had lost its color; her lips were cracked, her eyes half-lidded. Silver’s stomach twisted when he saw her. He could taste bile rising in his throat.
The arena was already roaring. Tens of thousands of robots howled in static bursts, their synthesized cheers echoing like screeching metal. The air vibrated with their frenzy. Silver clenched his fists so tight he could feel the wet sting of reopened wounds.
Then Neo Sage appeared hovering above them, larger than life on the holographic sky. The AI smiled, her voice sharp and sweet like a blade scraping glass.
“Welcome, my people! Look closely, an organic creature, soft and fragile. Today’s entertainment will be watching her flesh torn apart by my beautiful hounds.”
Silver’s teeth sank into his lip. Blood filled his mouth. Every word she said only fed the storm in his chest.
“And to make things more exciting…” Her smile curved, unnatural and cold. “Whoever brings me the head of that hedgehog—” her finger pointed straight down, “—will have the honor of feasting upon the Mobian girl.”
A red spotlight cut through the darkness and landed right on Silver.
Every android head turned. Their eyes flickered crimson. A low, collective growl of gears and motors filled the air.
Silver barely had time to think before the first robot lunged. His instincts kicked in—telekinetic waves burst outward, flinging shards of steel through the mob. Silver took two steps back just before the other android lunged at him. Shit. Neo Sage had known he was here all along. He had walked straight into another trap. Neo Sage’s grin said it all: How long will you stay foolish, Sil.ver?
He smirked, bitter. “So this is your plan? Turning your people into weapons?” His voice cracked into a growl. “Fine. I’ll destroy them—then I’ll destroy you.”
The air trembled. His aura flared—dark teal mixed with black, tendrils of Chaos energy swirling around him. The temperature dropped as his body entered Dark Mode. Every nerve in his body went numb. No fear. No hesitation. Only cold focus.
He moved like lightning.
Metal screamed as androids shattered into molten shards. His psychic power pulsed in rhythmic bursts—clang, smash, crack!
Each wave throwing dozens of machines into the air. He used the falling wreckage as stepping stones, leaping higher, faster, until he crushed a mech’s head underfoot and released a telekinetic shock that split the arena floor in half.
The ground glowed teal. Explosions painted the air red and blue. The sound was deafening—like thunder trapped in a cage. And when the smoke cleared—nothing moved.
He stood alone, surrounded by twisted heaps of metal and the stench of burnt circuitry.
Neo Sage’s voice echoed through the haze. “What a monster…” Her hologram flickered back into view, eyes narrowing. “You just slaughtered millions of my citizens.”
Silver didn’t answer. His breathing was ragged, his eyes unfocused—empty. The dark aura around him pulsed like a dying heartbeat.
Neo Sage descended, her tone soft, venomous. “That’s the difference between us, Silver. You still bleed. You still break.” She raised her hand—red light forming around her fingers.
Silver did the same.
Their powers collided, black-cyan and crimson-black. The shockwave ripped through the sky, splitting the clouds apart. Air warped and howled. The world turned white for a moment.
“Mr. Silver!” Temperance’s voice broke through, hoarse and weak. She could barely lift her head, her throat cracked and dry. She tried to call out again, but her body trembled violently. The radiation from ComplianceX was suffocating her. Blood dripped from her mouth as she coughed.
In the sky, the two forces blurred into streaks of light—clashing, separating, colliding again. Neo Sage conjured a barrier of code that compressed inward, trying to crush Silver. He countered, flinging thousands of metal fragments he’d secretly gathered into the air.
Neo Sage smirked, ready to phase out. But she couldn’t move. The code froze. Her body glitched violently—
Chaos energy.
Realization hit her a second before the wreckage rained down.
“DAMN YOU, SILVER!” Her scream was drowned out by the explosion.
Then silence.
Silver fell to his knees, panting. His dark form faded, the teal glow flickering out. He dragged himself toward the pillar, where Temperance hung motionless. “Tem…” he rasped, breaking the restraints with a flick of his hand. He pulled her into his arms. Her body was cold, lighter than it should be.
“Open your eyes, Tem… please…”
Nothing.
“Tem, it’s me. Silver.” His voice cracked, desperate. “Please—look at me.”
Her eyelids trembled. Slowly, painfully, she looked up. A faint smile crossed her bloodstained lips.
“Mr. Silver…” she whispered, her voice trembling. “Where’s… mama?”
He froze. His throat tightened. How could he tell her? How could he say that her mother was gone—when he still refused to believe it himself?
“Ah… maybe it’s better,” she whispered again, coughing hard, blood trailing from her mouth. “If Mama were here, she’d cry… and Tem doesn’t want her to cry.”
Silver’s vision blurred. His chest ached with every breath. Not again… not another one.
‘This is what you call a hero?’ he thought bitterly. ‘You couldn’t save anyone.’
“Mr. Silver…” her tiny hand brushed his cheek, wiping away the tears he didn’t realize were falling. “Don’t cry… Mama and Tem are happy… to meet you.”
Her breathing grew shallow. Silver’s tears blurred his vision. The warmth in his chest was crushing.
“And Mr. Shadow too… when I saw him cry at the statue that day… I felt so sorry for him. I hope… wherever he is now, he’s happy.”
Her breath hitched.
Silver couldn’t stop crying. He didn’t even know what happiness was anymore.
“Don’t be sad,” she whispered, her voice barely audible. “Tem believes… you’ll reach your wish someday.”
Her hand curled into a small fist—raised weakly in encouragement. “Keep… fighting.”
And then it fell. Lifeless.
“Tem… Tem…” Silver shook her body, his voice shaking. Her warmth faded under his touch.
“No…”
He felt cold metal press against his back. A low mechanical hum. He didn’t even have to turn to know who it was. Neo Metal Sonic with the spear pressed to his spine.
Neo Sage emerged from the rubble, her body flickering with red glitches, her hair torn, eyes still burning bright. “Well done, Silver,” she said with a cruel smirk. “For a second, you almost made me think you could win.” She brushed a lock of glitched hair from her face, then glanced down at Temperance’s body.
“Ah… so she’s dead.” Her tone was almost amused. She gestured to Neo Metal Sonic, who lowered his spear from Silver’s back.
“Well then,” she continued, stepping closer, her smile widening, “you have nothing left to fight for now. So tell me, Silver—will you surrender? To me? To my empire?”
Silver lifted his face. His eyes were hollow, his lips trembling. “Kill me,” he whispered. His voice cracked, but there was no fear left in it. Only exhaustion. Only grief.
“Heh… in the end, you’re asking for your own death.” Neo Sage clicked his tongue, voice heavy with disgust. He had no desire to use the hedgehog before him for time travel again. What stood in front of him now wasn’t a rival; just a pitiful remnant, a shell pretending to be something greater. “In the end, you could never become him.”
Silver’s breath hitched. He wanted to argue—but Neo Sage wasn’t wrong. He could never be Sonic. He could never replace him. He should’ve done everything to save him back then. He should’ve tried harder, gone back a hundred more times if he had to. If he had done that, maybe—just maybe, he wouldn’t have to watch the world die like this. He wouldn’t have seen Teressa and Temperance fall. He wouldn’t have watched Shadow die.
Now, in a time where nothing remained, he had no reason left to exist. His hands trembled as he closed his eyes, tears cutting through the grime on his cheeks.
‘Blaze… would be so disappointed.’
He remembered her—before all this—when they last met in the Sol Dimension. She’d smiled that small, knowing smile, even though they both understood their fates belonged to different eras. Silver had chosen to save his world, to fight for a future she could never see. She didn’t stop him. She never would. But after Sonic’s death… she must have been disappointed that he wasn’t there.
Maybe it was because Silver had already accepted death, but his memories began to flicker past—like a broken film reel spinning too fast. The laughter of his friends. The echo of footsteps alongside Sonic and Shadow, fighting side by side. The warmth of the sunlight during his world tour with Blaze. His grasp was failing as everything spun, faded, and slipped away.
“You know,” Silver murmured, lifting his gaze toward Neo Sage, “I never planned to kill you.” Neo Sage’s smug smile didn’t waver. “I wanted you to watch—to see how far my empire will spread.”
Then came the sound—a deep metallic groan that made Silver’s stomach twist. He looked past Neo Sage and froze. The Titans…all of them were waking up. Their hollow eyes ignited one by one, lighting the ruined world in a cold, hellish glow.
“One dimension is no longer enough,” Neo Sage said softly, his grin widening. “Not just Mobius—Sol Dimension will kneel under me too.” She leaned close, voice venomous. “How pathetic, Silver. Did you really think I would kill you?”
That’s when Neo Metal Sonic stepped forward—silent, mechanical, carrying six glowing Chaos Emeralds in his claws. Their light rippled across the cracked earth. That’s why he was late, Silver realized. He was collecting them.
Neo Sage snatched the final emerald from Silver’s trembling hand. “You should’ve obeyed me. If I can’t bring Father back to this era, I’ll bring my creation to his.”
She raised the emeralds, their jagged edges glinting. A whirling sound filled the air as they spun, the colors—red, blue, green—melting into a searing, golden light. It was a blinding flash, a burning heat that Silver felt even through closed eyelids. Then, a chilling void of darkness.
When he opened his eyes, he was floating in the void again. The same endless abyss as before. But this time, stars began to flicker to life around him slowly, silently—until he felt as though he was standing in the middle of a newborn galaxy.
“I see you’ve helped create something truly horrifying,” said the voice, a familiar echo from nowhere and everywhere at once. It belonged to someone who refused to show themselves.
“Silver the Hedgehog,” the voice continued, reverberating like a pulse through space itself, “as I’ve told you—death is absolute. And yet… I do not see yours.”
Silver stayed silent. His throat burned. His mind felt hollow.
“Super Neo Sage has locked your timeline,” the voice went on. “From now on, no change in the past will alter your future.”
Silver’s lips trembled. “Who are you?” he shouted, his voice cracking. “Why are you telling me this? You didn't even help at all. I’m tired—so damn tired—I just want to die!!!”
“The future,” the voice said calmly, “is still in your hands. Will you give up that easily?”
He didn’t answer. His breath came in shallow gasps.
“Then… I will lend you, my power.”
Silver’s eyes snapped open, reflecting the dim glow of an unseen source. A colossal presence, ancient and heavy, bore down on him. It pulsed, a fiery energy seeping into his pores. His veins screamed, morphing from within. His flesh felt like a furnace, on the verge of imploding. Then, the world dissolved—light extinguished, a silent vacuum, all sensation gone, swallowed by black.