Hourglass

The Hourglass is an object created by Marilyssa Orglace. It serves as the main tool used throughout Sonic's Hourglass. It can warp and bend time and space.

Appearance
The Hourglass is, of course, an hourglass. It has the shape of a standard hourglass, but is lined with gold. On the top, it has angel wings meant to signify humans, which Marilyssa believed to be holy and pure like angels. On the bottom, it has upside-down devil horns to signify Mobians, which Marilyssa believed to be the spawn of Satan. It holds a gemstone that has the insignia of the Yin and Yang seemingly painted onto it. It is possible that the gemstone is the source of the Hourglass' mystical power.

Plot
The Hourglass was created by Kintobor Science Corporation in the year 2126, when Earth first received the Xorda's message that Gene Bombs were to rain down upon their planet. The humans expected the Hourglass to be a last ditch effort to be able to bring the entire planet back in time and far away out of the Xorda's reach, but due to scientific limitations and time restraints, only one person was able to be safely transported through means of the hourglass.

After using a prototype Hourglass to glimpse into the future, the Heads of State and Government agreed it was best for Marilyssa Orglace to use the finalized Hourglass to erase the Xorda from time. Marilyssa was chosen as she had the best idea of how to use the Hourglass, having been the lead developer. The Hourglass was in a sufficient state when the Gene Bombs lined Earth's sky like clouds, blocking out sunlight as Earth sang its swansong.

Marilyssa used the Hourglass to escape the bombs, but in her psychotic rage she made an error. The Hourglass relies heavily on the emotions of its holder, much like the Chaos Emeralds. If the emotions are out of control, the Hourglass will be as well. Marilyssa ended up taking the entirety of Orglace Mansion with her into a time vortex by complete accident. The time period would rapidly change. And the Hourglass could not be controlled. This landed Marilyssa in Sonic's time for a brief period. Enough time for Sonic to enter Orglace Mansion and find the Hourglass in Marilyssa's personal study while she was away in the Time Fortress, which could be accessed through a portal on the top floor of Orglace Mansion.

Sonic took the Hourglass with him, feeling an inexplicable force telling him to do so. He felt that something bad would happen if it were to break, so Sonic eventually developed an urge to protect the Hourglass.