♡ MIAR ♡

Introduction

Sonic was 30 years old when he married Amy Rose, his childhood love; exactly nine months after their honeymoon, at the age of 31, the hedgehog became the father of a baby girl named Samantha.

More than 15 years had passed since thwarting the plans of Eggman—his archenemy—had become part of his routine. This was undoubtedly exhausting for the villain, who, at nearly 70, was practically an old man. Time was running out for him, and he had yet to realize his dream of bringing Eggmanland to life. If he wanted to succeed, he had to act fast, yet he could no longer come up with any new options.

It was then that, while clearing out files containing failed plans, he stumbled upon records from Project Shadow. He had kept them for years and never expected to use them, but his current situation was vastly different from back then.

Years ago, while building the Shadow Androids, he had considered this option and collected the necessary DNA samples, storing them ever since. The doctor concluded that the time to try something different was now.

The Project Shadow 2.0

It took approximately another four years before he succeeded in bringing a viable prototype to life. The first five failed to progress—for various reasons ranging from unstable DNA to incompatibility with Chaos energy.

The last few decades had been deeply frustrating for the doctor, who was constantly stressed by his inability to get his way. People had even begun to notice that his attacks were becoming less frequent. However, he thought his luck might be about to change; his new plan gave him hope. Unfortunately for the villain, his happiness was short-lived, as the prototype—designed to grow to a specific "ideal age" over the course of fifteen weeks—had been activated prematurely.

The subject appeared to have the physical and mental age of about four years when he drew his first breath outside the capsule. Orbot and Cubot named him “Ombra,” as it was a word that, in another language, carried the same meaning as “Shadow.”

Eggman could not look his creation in the eye, for upon gazing at it, all he saw was the embodiment of his failure as a villain. He immediately wanted to get rid of it, but Sage stopped him, arguing that its creation had required an investment of time and resources that could not be recovered. Discarding it would be a waste, so she suggested giving it a chance to prove its usefulness.

The doctor accepted the proposal from the AI, whom he viewed as a daughter. Even so, he warned that should the prototype disappoint him, he would already be preparing a replacement.

The last act

Ombra possessed a sharp intellect; he learned basic vocabulary in a matter of hours and showed a keen interest in robot repair. His early days seemed promising, but once training sessions began, Eggman met with nothing but disappointment.

A year after his activation, the hedgehog had failed to make the progress his creator had hoped for. To make matters worse, the creature displayed a curiosity about life and a genuine desire to be part of the family—the result of his thought-coding remaining incomplete while he was still in the capsule, combined with Cubot exposing him to family movies and TV shows during downtime. In response, the doctor worked day and night to create the perfect replacement, pushing himself to a state of physical and mental exhaustion far beyond what he had already been enduring.

Meanwhile, rumors continued to spread throughout the community. Some claimed Eggman was plotting something massive and needed to be investigated. Many others felt he was no longer up to the task of playing the villain and that it was time for him to retire. The doctor was offended that not everyone viewed him as a major threat, yet he was also worried that an actual investigation might expose his plans.

Sage then suggested he demonstrate his dominance once more, just like in the old days. The idea was to ruin the official opening of Neon City—Tails’ major investment, which was about to launch—and seize control of it using his technology.

It was a simple plan for a genius like him. All he had to do was hack the city’s network, and if Miles and his friends resisted, he would use his robots to confront them. It wasn't an attempt at world domination; it was merely a reminder that he was still a force to be reckoned with and would never give up... But who could have guessed that this "warning" might seal his doom?

Yet another run-of-the-mill attack marked the end for the Doctor. He had failed to perform the necessary safety checks and tried to push the machine he was piloting beyond its limits. Refusing to accept that the energy output was excessive—and unwilling to back down—he was consumed by the resulting explosion.

He might have survived far worse in the past, but the truth was that he was no longer in his prime.

Although there were no further fatalities, Sonic barely survived the explosion. However, the loss of his right leg would change his life forever, forcing him to slow down to a much more leisurely pace than he was accustomed to.

Peace had finally arrived. Yet, on the very day the world celebrated the end of an era, an AI and a small hedgehog mourned the loss of their father. Meanwhile, the seventh prototype—not activated until a decade later—never knew his creator.

———

If you're interested in learning more about this AU, you can check out my other blog @sonic-heirs-au

Thank you so much for reading this far!!! I hope you enjoyed the story!!!