Sonic: The Loop That Shouldn't Exist

Torn Code

Sonic had seen a lot of weird things over the years — time travel, ancient gods, robotic duplicates. But nothing had ever left him this unsettled. Not until today.

It started when Amy smiled.

They'd regrouped in Tails' lab after the encounter with the dark version of himself. Sonic was pacing. Tails was triple-checking his monitors. And Amy — Amy just stood there, watching Sonic like she knew something he didn't.

"I made sandwiches," she said sweetly, holding up a tray. "You look like you haven't eaten in a while."

That wasn't what threw him off. Amy was always kind. But her voice — it was too calm. Her posture too still. Sonic couldn't explain it, but the way she blinked, the way she tilted her head — it was wrong. Just slightly, but enough to make his instincts flare.

"Uh... thanks?" Sonic replied cautiously.

Amy tilted her head the other way, smile frozen in place. "You're welcome, Sonic."

Tails didn't seem to notice. He was too deep in code, eyes flicking over thousands of lines of data as his machines buzzed around him.

Sonic took a sandwich, bit into it, then pretended to chew as he kept glancing at her. Her eyes weren't tracking him like normal. It was more like she was... observing. Recording.

That's when Knuckles showed up.

He crashed through the door like usual, loud and annoyed.

But that was the only familiar thing about him.

"What's going on here?" Knuckles growled, arms crossed. "The Master Emerald's acting weird. Real weird."

Tails perked up. "Define weird."

Knuckles' eyes narrowed. "I mean... it keeps shifting. It flickers. Like... like it's not here all the way."

Sonic froze. "That's exactly what I saw earlier in Green Hill."

Knuckles glanced at him, but his gaze felt colder than usual. Detached. "What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything, Knuckles," Sonic snapped. "Why would you assume that?"

"You're the one always running around, breaking things," Knuckles shot back, voice sharp. "Maybe the loop's failing because of you."

Tails blinked. "Wait. How do you know about the loop?"

Everyone stopped.

Amy turned, slowly. Her eyes flickered — just once — a glitchy shimmer barely visible.

Knuckles' jaw tightened. His posture shifted, rigid like a soldier.

Sonic stepped back, heart racing. "You're not Knuckles."

Knuckles' voice dropped. "I am Knuckles. Just not yours."

A thick silence filled the room.

Amy's voice followed, soft but eerie. "We weren't supposed to wake up. But now that the loop is breaking, fragments bleed in."

Tails stood slowly from his desk, eyes wide. "Amy...?"

Her smile twitched. "I'm still me. Just not the one you remember."

Sonic's fists clenched. "Then what are you?"

Amy turned toward him, head cocked. "I'm a version from a loop where you never came back. Where Tails vanished in the Null. Where Knuckles went mad protecting a glitching Emerald until he—"

"Stop," Sonic snapped, voice tight.

"I remember," she whispered. "Even if I'm not supposed to."

Tails reached toward his console. "Sonic... these two... they're echoes. Fragments from other loops. They shouldn't be here."

"Should we delete them?" Knuckles asked flatly.

Sonic stepped in front of Tails. "No. We don't even know if they're dangerous."

Amy's smile cracked. "We're not dangerous. We're just... tired. You think being trapped in a broken version of yourself is fun? You think knowing your reality resets every time someone fails the loop is easy?"

Knuckles grunted. "You're lucky. At least your world didn't get scrapped."

The room went silent again, broken only by the humming machines.

Sonic's voice softened. "Then why are you here?"

Amy looked down. "Because this loop might be the last."

Tails' monitor blared a warning. He rushed over.

"Guys," he said, panic rising, "something's happening across zones. Random time fractures are opening. Like the code is tearing itself apart."

Knuckles' hand tightened into a fist. "Then we need to act."

"Or at least choose what to save," Amy whispered.

Sonic stared at them — his friends, but not his friends. Remnants of loops that didn't survive. Ghosts in the machine.

"What do you mean last loop?" he asked.

Amy looked at him, and her eyes — flickering like a skipping disc — were filled with pain. "Because after this... there's nothing left to reboot."

Sonic turned to Tails. "We need answers. Now."

Tails nodded. "There's a zone that's... not a zone. It wasn't finished. It's where broken data ends up. If we're going to find the source, we need to go there."

Knuckles scoffed. "The Cancelled Zone? That place is death."

Amy looked at Sonic. "Or truth."

He glanced between them — the real Tails, his strange-not-quite-friends, the glitching screens.

The loop was breaking. He could feel it in his bones.

And maybe... just maybe... it needed to.

"Alright," Sonic said. "Let's go to the place they tried to erase."

And with that, Team Torn Code — real or not — ran toward the zone where the world ends and forgotten characters wait in silence.