I felt my back slam into the sandy floor, relieved that we had touched ground. Gristly particles floated in the air from the impact; they stuck uncomfortably to my clammy skin. My stomach crawled into my throat. I could feel the nausea creeping upon me again. The pain of the fall eventually set in causing my bruised body to pulsate and sweat, but the satisfaction of lying flat overwhelmed me with gratitude.

I don't know how long we had been falling, or how many zones we had breached, but the everlasting descent made my body weak and exhausted. It seemed like decades since I was last on Mobius, when my feet had touched the ground. My fight with Mephiles on top of the Flux building remained nothing but a distant memory. If only I had some way to know how much time had passed. Had it been days, months, even years?

"Mephiles," I croak, "Please. I can't..."

"How does it feel, Shadow? To have your body gnawed by chaos energy? To have every one of your molecules crushed by the very powers which rip worlds apart? You and I share an even stronger connection now, one built on the unbearable pain of chaos."

My stomach continued to rest in my throat, threatening to lurch out my mouth at any moment. I could feel the cold beads of sweat drip down my forehead as I gasped for air. Every breath made me sicker. As I slowly inhaled through my mouth, I could taste salt in the air. An ocean breeze chilled my body as I shivered from sickness. I could hear the waves billowing to my right, gently brushing sea foam against my shoes. I stared longingly into the blue sky above; when was the last time I had glimpsed the sun? As I gazed upon the golden star above, I heard a voice I recognized. Could this be a dream?

"Blaze, is that… Shadow?"

My spine went rigid. I cocked my head upright, searching for the voice's source. Standing only yards in front of me was my last hope at escaping Mephiles' endless descent. I dug my hand into the sand and forced myself upright, feeling a wave of nausea come over me once more. I had to ignore it; this could be my only chance.

"Silver, Blaze! Help me… please!"

"Shadow, whats wrong, I—" Blaze began to rush towards me, reaching her hand out to grab mine. I only had a few seconds before the falling started again.

"We've lingered here long enough, Shadow. Say goodbye to your friends."

"No. NO!" I scrambled to find the chaos emeralds; they had all landed a few feet from me, glistening pristinely in the morning sunlight. I dove forward to grab them as I felt my feet leave the earth. Within a few seconds, Mephiles' cage sunk into the white sand, disappearing entirely. A new portal had opened and the feeling of falling took over me. Luckily, I had managed to gather the emeralds safely in my grasp. I tried to focus on warping to the other side of the beach, but I remained still. Chaos control, as it seemed, was impossible.

"What the… Shadow!" Blaze jumped towards me, grabbing my arm over the edge of the portal. She gripped my bicep tightly as the unnatural gravity pulled me towards the familiar rabbit hole. I mustered all the energy I had left to give Blaze instructions.

"Blaze, take these chaos emeralds! Go with Silver to G.U.N. and find Rouge!"

I chucked the chaos emeralds over the edge of the portal, hearing them land safely on the beach. My arm slowly slipped through Blaze's grasp as I tried to grab a hold of the edge. I was too weak to warp on my own, and the false gravity was too strong to fight against. I felt Blaze's hand take hold of my other arm, using all her strength in an attempt to pull me up.

"Blaze! Be careful! The hole looks like it's closing!" Silver's body encased itself in familiar teal light, his psychokinesis protecting Blaze from falling with me. I hoped to myself that Silver could pull us both out of the portal, but I knew I would be falling soon enough. Escaping was impossible.

"Shadow, I…I can't hold on! The portal is too strong!"

"Just find Rouge! She's with Sonic at the G.U.N. base outside Soleanna!"

I felt the portal tug one final time, releasing me from Blaze's grip. As I fell, I managed to yell one last remark.

"Tell her I'm alive!"

Once again, darkness took me.