The following is a work of fan fiction by Joshua D. Tarwater and is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS.*
*SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS retains full rights over the Sonic the Hedgehog™ intellectual property and can terminate or take control of this work at any time.

~EPISODE OF NEW HISTORY 06~

         ★Ring Shifts.

         A simple phenomenon that reshapes the face of the world, exposing the dimensional layers that make it up and preventing major leaps and bounds in technology. There are few exceptions, the nefarious Doctor Eggman being one such example. So vast is his genius that it is not beyond him to make his own artificial moon from which he can see the true entirety of the world as he deigns to shape it to his whims. Yet what powers could possibly also threaten a man who can reshape the world as he pleases?

Tunnels and corridors countless in number
Overgrown, flooded, alive with technology
Wandering stone constructs
Patrolling machines
Rolling meadows
Great electrical conduits
Nature and machine fusing
An impossible world within a great metal egg
Glowing large computer screen reflecting all

         -Dah~ hahahahaha!!

         -That fool Sonic! He surely believes he has bested me leaving my beautiful and wondrous creation in ruins. But it survived reentry and crashing into the ocean, all because of my super genius! I’ll rebuild it in no time and return it to its rightful place among the stars!

         -Dah~ hahahahaha!!-

         “He really did survive,” Tails commented amazed, and with just a hint of uneasy disgust at the video footage of Eggman he had up on the rather massive computer screen.

         “What’d I tell you, Tails? Eggman’s a tough egg to crack”

         It was the second time that day Sonic found himself sitting on a mountain of robots that had been disassembled and put back together to serve as a computer. Unlike within Tails’ workshop however, Tails needed to overpower Eggman’s computer systems and had used far more components and robots. The simple control room that the two adventures now occupied had become more akin to a closet with a massive computer screen making up the far wall.

         “I guess so,” Tails laughed nervously, learning that Eggman was not a threat the world could be free of so easily.” And it looks like there wasn’t a lot of damage to the Death Egg either if he believed he could get it operational again.”

         “I don’t know, Eggman’s a bit miracle worker when it comes to world ending machines,” Sonic shrugged with disgust. “The absolute worst kind of miracles.”

         “More like curses, right?”

         “Exactly!” Sonic snickered as Tails gave a rounding point to the insults aimed at Eggman. But a stern expression soon settled onto his features as Tails worked to find more recordings. “The problem is Eggman seems to be oblivious to my time travel problem.”

         “Then maybe…”

         “Dream or not, it wasn’t a bad idea to pay him a visit if he really could fix this place. We’ll need to shut it down for good before we leave no matter what we learn.”

         -Dah~ hahahahaha!!,- Eggman’s laugh filled the control room as Tails found another clip of interest.

         “He could really do to laugh less though.”

         “Part of the whole world conquering scientist bit he has going on,” Sonic comforted Tails as the fox shuddered. But neither dwelled on it as they listened to what Eggman had to say.

         -What a find!! Plants that believe they can conquer the technology of super genius scientist, Doctor Eggman!!-

         -…-

         -It started with grass on the outside, but now there are whole forests growing inside the Death Egg!! What an uncalled-for mistreatment of my glorious creation!! I’ll have to send out several platoons to burn it away.-

         -…-

         -Not good. The plants are starting to cripple several of the factories. I’ve been having to build my beautiful machines by hand. I built several assistants, but they’ve been taken down now as well. I had thought it was just unusual plants brought in by an untimely Ring Shift, but I haven’t detected any such phenomenon. Yet there are even whole stone structures starting to appear. It’s preposterous!! There should be out of control Ring readings for such a shift, yet there is absolutely nothing!!-

         -…-

         -Dah~ hahahahaha!!

         -I’ve finally found the answer!! The would-be conquerors of my greatest creation are a force of stone statues. I’ve found them roaming all over within the Death Egg and challenging my unmatched robots. I’ll have to rebuild my robots to better engage them, but I am absolutely enamored with the green gems that adorn them. They seem to be a power source and one I shall soon understand!! And once I do, I will turn it to allow for my conquest of all the world!!

         -Dah~ hahahahaha!!-

         -…-

         -Impossible!! The gem upon these stone constructs!! The laser it fires turned the specimen tube I trapped one in directly into Rings!! I’ve never heard of anyway to feed energy back into Rings to force their formation!! Me!! Super genius scientist, Doctor Eggman!! I will not be outdone by mere statues!! I’ll destroy them all myself and study their power sources from the broken remains!!

         -Dah~ hahahahaha!!-

         “That was the last entry,” Tails stated as he leaned back, a look of exhaustion on his features having been exposed to so much of Eggman’s drivel. “At least he has no trouble coming up with different adjectives to describe his work, but could he be more into himself.”

         “You get used to it,” Sonic shrugged, and followed the gesture up by yet again slipping into a more serious demeanor. “But considering how many of his mechs are filling and around the Death Egg, we can bet he’s still out there. It’s probably only a matter of time before he finds us digging through his things and comes looking to pick a fight.”

         “Do you think we should–?”

         “Run?” Sonic finished Tails’ question for him. “Nah. Something is messing up Eggman’s plans and even he can’t figure out what it is. I’m actually thinking of seeing if I can’t rescue him and set him to work figuring it out.”

         “I don’t think that will work,” Tails laughed. “We’d be better off getting out of here and looking back into his stuff when he shows up next.”

         “Except leaving now would leave him with a fully repairable Death Egg. At the least we need to shut it down before we split.”

         “I guess you have a plan then, Sonic,” Tails wagered a guess and jumped to his feet before Sonic stood up and pushed him back down.

         “Yeah, but you still have tests to run, right?”

         “Wait, you don’t mean you actually still want me to try and figure out what happened to the Chaos Emeralds!?”

         “Sure do,” Sonic smirked and flashed Tails a thumbs up. “It’s the whole reason we came here remember, to check on Eggy and give you the chance to use his tech. Besides, my dream seemed to end today, so maybe Eggman actually does know what’s behind my time problems.”

         “I can’t believe you.”

         “Hey, I can trust you to defend yourself here, right.”

         “O-Of course!” Tails enthusiastically replied as Sonic put his faith in him. Turning to the computer he began to furiously type in a series of commands that resulted in several information windows being displayed on the screen. The one that most caught Sonic’s eye was a map of the locations of the Death Egg’s main power reactors.

         “Looks like I have a good route to run today,” Sonic laughed enjoying the anticipation of making things even more difficult for Eggman and his plans of world domination.

         “And I can keep track of you over the security systems,” Tails added and brought up more information windows. “They aren’t all working, which just may be because of the golems, so you may need to break a few on your way to paint me a full picture of what’s going on in here. Then, once you find Eggman and I finish compiling my data on the Chaos Energy clinging to you and what’s siphoning it, I can grab the Tornado and we can get out of this creepy place.”

         “Sweet,” Sonic complimented the plan and tousled the top of Tails’ head. “We’re definitely going to make this a winning day for us. Stopping Eggman again, learning what’s going on, and enjoying a brand-new adventure together! Let’s do it!

         “Yeah!”