9/11 Sonic Tribute

(I do not own anything Sonic-related)

...

"How could that happen?" Silver murmured quietly as he watched a clip of 9/11 on the tv screen. He, Sonic, Shadow, and the others were watching it in remembrance of the horrible terrorist attack, since it was September 11 that day.

"How could the terrorists do that to us? We didn't do anything to them!" Amy cried out, burying her head in her hands.

"They were evil people, Amy. Blinded by their own lust for power." Sonic said gently, laying a hand on her shoulder.

Shadow shook his head. "If only there were some way we could've helped.." He said.

"Well, we were all little back then. Tails wasn't even born yet. I was still in my dimension. And I don't think you had even been sent to Earth then." Blaze said, clearing her throat.

"True…" Shadow said quietly, his mind deep in thought.

"But if there was only some way that we could help..maybe even now." Silver said, an idea forming in his head.

"Wait….you don't mean to go back in time to stop it, do you?" Sonic said, staring wide-eyed at the white hedgehog.

"Maybe I do." Silver said, getting up from the couch.

"Wait! If you do that, you would really alter time! Like, a lot!" Tails shouted, quickly getting to his feet.

"I think Tails has a point Silver.." Sonic said, also getting to his feet and walking over to Silver. He wiped a tear from the determined hedgehog's face.

"But if you want, I'll help." Shadow said, suddenly getting up from the floor. "I think it's time we became true heroes."

"And I'll help you, Silver." Blaze said, walking over to stand next to the white hedgehog.

"But we could seriously mess up the future!" Tails said, reluctant. He looked up to Sonic, hoping the blue hedgehog would tell them that this mission was impossible.

Sonic was having a hard time deciding. He really wanted to help the people, he really did. But he could mess up time, and he could put his friends in serious danger. Well, if they really messed up, they could always ask Tikal to restore time to normal. Maybe.

"Eh, what the hell. Let's help them." Sonic said, smiling with a fire in his eyes.

"Yes!" Silver whooped with determination.

"Alright, let's go get the emeralds." Knuckles said suddenly from nowhere.

After the bright light faded away, Sonic and the others looked around at their surroundings. They were in downtown New York by the looks of it. Luckily, passerby didn't notice them and went on with their daily lives.

"What time is it?" Amy asked, looking around for a clock. The group looked around in urgency. What if they had gone too far?

Shadow finally found a clock after jogging a while. His eyes widened in shock. "Guys! If this time's right, we only have an hour until the first plane strikes!" He shouted to the group.

"Alright, we need a plan. Anybody got any ideas?" Sonic asked, huddling everyone into a circle.

"Well, I could be a look-out so I can see when the planes come so I could warn you guys." Amy said.

"And I could station myself near the bottom of the building, ready to evacuate people." Knuckles volunteered.

"I'll help Knuckles. Tails, Shadow, Silver, Blaze, what will you guys do?" Sonic said, looking to their faces.

"Tails and I'll warn people." Blaze said. Tails nodded in her direction.

"And I'll try and stop the plane." Silver said.

"That's impossible Silver!" Amy said worryingly.

"Don't worry, I'll help him." Shadow said, calming Amy a little.

"Alright, then it's settled. Let's do it to it!" Sonic shouted.

Silver immediately regretted his decision. What if he couldn't stop the plane? He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself.

"You alright there, Silv?" Shadow asked, still looking out into the distance of the city.

"Yeah, fine. Just..enjoying the view is all." Silver said. It wasn't entirely a lie. He did enjoy the view from atop the skyscraper. He looked to the band wrapped around his wrist, courtesy of Tails. It was a radio communicator that was handed out to the group so that they could all talk to each other.

"I just hope this turns out okay." Silver heard Shadow say.

"Me too." Silver said, agreeing.

Suddenly, Silver thought he saw something in the sky. It was a speck, so far away he thought it was a bird. Silver heard Amy's shouting voice through his radio, as did Shadow.

"Guys! I see the plane! Its heading straight for the first building!" She shouted in panic.

Shock ebbed through Silver's body. He breathed in and out, trying to calm himself.

Shadow, after hearing Amy, grabbed his emerald and gun and vanished into thin air. Silver saw as the ebony hedgehog vanished and suddenly felt all alone. He knew that Shadow was only teleporting to the plane to kill the terrorists and try to steer the plane away, but he still felt alone.

"Good luck, Shadow." Silver said into his radio, hoping that Shadow could hear.

The white hedgehog locked his gaze on the plane, picking up his blue emerald and grasping it, his knuckles turning white with the effort. Channeling his energy onto the plane, he was met with a force so strong it knocked him to the ground. The plane then crashed into the building with a fiery blast. Silver was pushed off the skyscraper because of the blast, but stopped himself in midair. He floated back to the top of the building, trying to gain a better grip.

"Damn it, I couldn't hold it! The pressure was too much! You guys okay!" He shouted into the radio.

"We're fine down here, we dodged the rubble." He heard Sonic's voice.

"No one would believe us! Only some of the people got out with us! But otherwise, we're with Sonic and safe." Blaze spoke for her and Tails.

Heavy breathing was heard from Shadow's side, and finally his voice was heard. "I managed to get the passengers off the plane and killed the terrorists. I'm on the ground now. Hold on Silv, I'm coming up there." Shadow said.

Suddenly the ebony hedgehog popped up next to Silver, panting. "You alright up here?" He asked.

"I could say the same for you. But yeah, I'm fine. Got knocked off the building, but I'm fine." Silver said, glad to see that everyone was alright.

"Wait, what happened to Amy?" Sonic's voice was heard from Silver and Shadow's radios.

"I'm right here! I can see it! There's another plane headed for you guys!" Amy yelled into her radio.

"Shit!" Shadow sweared. "Alright, I'll go see if I can help these passengers." He said into his communicator before vanishing again.

Silver took a deep breath as he saw the plane in the distance. "I'm ready for this." He said, grabbing his emerald.

Sonic coughed heavily, the black smoke clouding his view. Everything was hazy, and the blue hedgehog's eyes hurt. Debris from the World Trade Center's first tower scattered the street. Screaming, bloody people were running in all directions, and some bodies were laying around. Sonic saw a young man stumbling in the ash and went to help him to safety.

He winced as he saw the second plane heading for the same tower. He crossed his fingers, hoping that Silver could stop it. But that thought was impossible, of course. Silver could only hope to slow it enough so the impact wouldn't be so great. But even that wasn't enough.

The cobalt hedgehog covered his ears and shouted into the dust when the second plane hit. Glass shattered. Concrete and loose rubble fell to the street, and a ball of fire billowed into the air from the impact. Sonic rushed towards the front of the building to help more people get to safety. More screams filled the air. It was deafening. The hedgehog's heart broke when he looked around at all the destruction. It was much different watching it happen, and actually being in the action.

Suddenly, he heard Knuckles' shouts in the air. He dashed to the sound of his shouts and found the echidna trapped under a heavy piece of rubble. Sonic tried to pull the concrete rock off of his friend, but it was too heavy. "I need help here!" He yelled into the air, hoping for anyone to hear. Amy and Tails were in earshot and came to Sonic. Eventually the rubble was lifted and they got Knuckles to safety.

Sonic shouted into his communicator, "Is everyone ok?"

"My leg was crushed under rubble when the second plane hit, but I can still walk on it with effort. I'm helping more people now." Blaze was heard from the communicator.

"I'm going to help Blaze!" Amy said to Sonic before dashing into the smoke.

"I'm on another plane! But luckily I got here early enough to help the passengers. We're gonna try to land the plane somewhere else." Shadow's voice was heard through Sonic's communicator.

"Another one, seriously? Ok, you make sure you get it to safety!" Sonic said into his communicator. Then he realized that Silver hadn't spoke.

"Silver, you alright there?" He asked into his communicator.

No reply.

Sweat beaded Shadow's brow as he took control of the plane's wheel. He didn't have a clue as to how to fly a plane. But he was going to try, for the sake of the passengers. Shadow had told the passengers to stay in their seats, and one passenger, a man who sort of knew the controls, was helping Shadow steer.

Gray clouds flew by as they descended, and soon they could see the land beneath. Realizing they might be crashing, Shadow grabbed the overhead speaker. "We'll most likely be crash-landing. Everyone just stay in your seats and prepare for impact." He said into it, then went back to steering. Luckily, there weren't any cities or towns below, just green fields.

The ground was nearing, and Shadow pushed the button for the wheels, and the wheels on the bottom of the plane came out. Shadow winced. "Here we go…"

They hit the ground with a bang, knocking off the plane's wheels. The man was knocked back and hit the cockpit door, knocked unconscious. Shadow shouted at the impact, using the limit of his strength to keep the plane from crashing. It was useless though, because the plane had already crashed. The cockpit window cracked, and Shadow hoped it wouldn't shatter. He half jumped, half fell out of his seat onto the floor as a blast of fire billowed into the room. He dragged the unconscious man out of the cockpit and went into the passenger part of the plane.

The passengers were thrown across the floor, and some people were unconscious. Shadow knew that the plane would blow up soon, and he couldn't hope to get everyone out on time. Suddenly, a blast was heard coming from the cockpit, and Shadow turned around to see a pillar of fire and smoke heading towards him. Grabbing as many people as he could, he shouted into the air, "Chaos Control!"

Silver opened his eyes slowly, taking in his surroundings. It was really dark. And his whole body was in pain. He could barely move a muscle. Suddenly, Silver remembered what had happened before. The second plane had crashed into the second twin tower. Silver had used up most of his strength trying to keep the plane from crashing, and went into unconsciousness after being thrown from the building.

Silver finally realized where he was. He was trapped under at least five feet of rubble. Silver was too exhausted and in pain to swear. He slowly brought his wrist to his mouth, speaking into his communicator. "Guys, are you t-there?" He said weakly.

"Silver? Silver! Are you okay?" The combined voices of Sonic, Blaze, Amy, and Tails shouted back.

"No, I-I fell off t-the building…I'm..under at least f-five feet of..rubble." He said, then his wrist fell back to the ground.

"Silver! We're coming!" They shouted back.

"Help…." He mumbled into the stuffy air. He coughed, his eyes burning from the smoke and ash.

Sonic dashed to the scene of the collapsed twin towers. Tears fell down his cheeks, and he barely had the oxygen to breath. He searched under glass, concrete rubble, all without success. "Where are you?" He shouted into the smoke. Blaze and Amy searched with him, their cheeks also stained with tears. Amy collapsed on the ground, overcome with grief.

Blaze searched through all the rubble, not finding Silver, but persevering and pulling out other people buried in the rubble. She had to find Silver. She just had to. Suddenly, she thought she heard a sound from underneath the rubble to her left. She dashed to that spot, listening and shouting, "Is anyone there?"

There was a faint voice, and then a loud shout, "I'm here!" It was Silver's voice. Blaze called Sonic over and they both searched under the rubble. Eventually they could see the limp form of Silver. Pulling the hedgehog out, Blaze and Sonic cried with relief.

"Blaze, take him and Amy and find Tails and Knuckles. I've gotta find Shadow." Sonic said, then dashed off in a random direction. "Shadow, you there?" He said into his communicator.

"S-Sonic?" Shadow's voice was heard.

"Shadow, what happened? Did you save the plane?" Sonic said back.

"No..it crashed, but luckily only into an open field. The terrorists said it was headed for the White House. I teleported out of the plane before it blew up, but I couldn't save anyone…" Shadow said, his voice filled with grief.

"Don't worry, buddy. Those passengers were heroes. They helped to save the White House, so their deaths weren't in vain." Sonic said, swallowing. "Where are you?"

"Go back to Tails and the others, I'll come to you. Did you find Silver?" Shadow's voice sounded through Sonic's communicator and the blue hedgehog came to a stop.

"Yeah, he was buried under rubble, but we found him, and he's gonna be okay. Meet you there." Sonic said, then ran back into the direction of his friends.

"I'm glad you guys are okay." Shadow said for once, as he was sucked into a group hug. They all then turned to face what used to be the World Trade Center, which was now rubble. They eventually found out that another plane had crashed into the Pentagon, and they held a moment of silence for people there. Sonic found that one American flag had survived the events still intact. The blue hedgehog grabbed it and ran back.

Shadow and Sonic held the flag up, and helped Silver to hold it up too. They pledged to their nation, prayed for the fallen citizens and soldiers, and hoped that nothing like this would ever happen again.

...

Just an idea I've had in my head for a while, had to write it down. Plus, I noticed that it was the anniversary of 9/11 today, so I figured it was a good time to write it. As you can see, even though Sonic and Co. went back in time to try and change what happened, nothing was drastically changed. I hope that this was a good enough tribute. Please pray for those fallen that day. And thanks for reading. :)