Hmm. It seems as though I didn't make the poll in the last chapter. It also seems as though I've lost quite a few readers. Weird. I guess since school had started back up, people are busy, so I get that. I'm busy too. Ah well, watcha gonna do?

Explanation time for the previous chapter!

*With Silver, forty-eight minutes earlier*

The hero watched as his blue friend sped off along with the rest of the racers, pulling a massive amount of wind along with him. People lost their balance and tumbled head over heels as the large gust of air swept them off their feet. Silver, however, was able to use his mind to keep the wind away from him, so this was not an issue that some of his other friends faced.

"WHEEEE!" Blizzard cheered as he soared through the air, careless as to where the burst of wind took him.

"Three, two, one…" Shadow sighed.

A loud bang sounded as the frosty cat crashed into the brick wall of a pizza restaurant. Groaning, the hero slowly detached himself and flopped to the ground, getting an odd look from a yellow cat and brown wolf as the exited the place.

"Idiot," The Ultimate Life Form grumbled.

Jess shook her head as she went over to help the cat up. "I'll get a medic."

"I believe the correct term is 'doctor,'" Tails stated as he followed behind her with Cream, who had found them a few minutes earlier, right by his side.

The telekinetic shook his head and smirked, looking around at the scene before him. People were mingling and chatting, eating various fatty foods or watching the runners on multiple big screen TVs around the area. Today was a beautiful day for the race.

"You seem happy," Blaze said, walking over to him and yanking his leg lightly, lowering him to the ground. "Having fun?"

"As long as, uh, I'm with you…everything's a blast," The hero sputtered, rubbing the back of his head.

Even though they'd been dating for a while now, Silver still got nervous whenever he was around Blaze. She was something special. He'd never met a girl like her before. She was caring, yet serious. Determined, yet willing to help a friend in need. Something about her made him just…tense…but in a good way.

"Oh, I'm sure," The pyrokinetic chuckled with a smirk, giving the hedgehog a doubtful look.

The hedgehog looked over at Blizzard, who was being slapped back into sanity by Mute and Jessica.

"I'm Shadow the Robot, and I—!"

Slap!

"¿Dónde está los perros de maíz?"

Slap!

"My fellow Americans, I am not a criminal!"

Slap!

"How can our eyes by real if life isn't real?"

Slap!

"Now watch me whi—"

After another smack across the face, the cat returned to his normal self, dazed and confused.

"Sometimes I wonder…" Silver muttered. "What if things had been different? What if Blizzard had chosen to kill you all those years ago? What would've happened? I mean, from what it sounds like, his life was ruined just to save yours."

His girlfriend nodded. "I ponder these things too at times. I'm grateful for his help and for sparing my life, although I'd scorch his furry butt before he would even lay a finger on me, but I do wonder if things could have turned out differently. His home is destroyed, and now he's the last of the cryokinetics, just like I'm the last of the pyrokinetics."

The telekinetic smiled. "Found something you two have in common."

"One of the extremely few things," Blaze corrected, holding up her pointer finger.

For a brief moment, the hedgehog thought about telling Blaze about their icy friend's power issues or the fact that he mumbled "anti" in his sleep, but decided against it. If Blizzard wanted to tell them, he would.

*With Gizmo and Honey, a few minutes earlier*

After being startled by a flying cat, the two gave the dazed feline a strange look as they walked out of the pizza parlor before walking back over where Bandit was waiting.

"Hey, sorry I abandoned you like that back during the whole Darkspine thing," The cat sighed. "I…I just had to go somewhere where I could be alone. I can't believe it's been a little over two years since Mighty's death."

"Don't sweat it, dudette. Everyone's deals with stuff their own way. I understand. The only issue I had after you were gone was having Bandit join my team," Gizmo replied.

The raccoon glared at the inventor, but said nothing.

"Oh yeah, I remember when I first met you! I almost shot you by accident. You used her to check if the coast was clear," The yellow cat laughed.

Bandit rolled her eyes and gritted her teeth. "I'm not listening to this dribble."

As the ex-thief walked away, the two pulled up some chairs and sat down, catching up on who had been doing what. While Honey had been traveling all over Mobius, fighting some baddies and visiting different areas, Gizmo was a little disheartened when he shared that he'd been stuck in his secluded, small city where not much went on. He was ashamed to admit that the big race today was the only way they could get permission to leave.

"I haven't really done any heroic things, you could say. Truth is, dudette, it's mainly escort missions for some officials and the occasional invention here and there. Nothing major or anything, even," The inventor sighed. "You seemed to have done a stockpile of cool things."

"Not gonna lie, that's true," Honey laughed. "Don't worry Gizmo. I'm sure you'll go on some adventures. Being a hero isn't what it's cut out to be, though. Remember that. Being one makes you, your family and friends the target of every villain."

*With Shadow, real time*

"Come on, Manic! Mama needs some new diamonds!" Rouge urged, looking at the giant TV screen that said Manic was seventh.

"Hm. Rouge? Who's in first?" The dark hero asked.

"Shut it, Shadow! There's still plenty of time for Sonic to choke!"

The hedgehog rolled his eyes. "As much as I hate to say it, doubtful."

Everything was going smoothly so far, but wind started to pick up as the race went on, starting slow but becoming more aggressive faster. It wasn't until a loud BAM sounded in the sky followed by frantic screams of pedestrians did Shadow decide that something was amiss.

He and the bat looked upward to see a small, purple portal open up in a large white cloud, growing bigger and bigger until it was almost the size of a football field. A single, black hedgehog floated down from it and looked around with a serious expression.

"WHO THE HECK IS THAT?" Tails shouted over the terrified civilians.

"DON'T KNOW! I'M GONNA GO TALK TO HIM AND SEE WHAT HE WANTS!" Silver replied, slowly floating into the air.

Shadow and the others were no longer paying any attention to the race. They were transfixed on the grey hedgehog as he flew over to the mysterious hedgehog and watched as the telekinetic said a few words. The newcomer's expression didn't change at all, remaining stone cold throughout Silver's speech. The hero was suddenly cut off when the black hedgehog quickly grabbed him by the throat and examined him thoroughly.

"HE'S GOT SILVER!" Blaze shouted.

"HEY!" Mute called, getting the hedgehog's attention. "LET HIM GO, OR WE WILL WE USE FORCE!"

Their foe smirked, changing his expression for the first time, and waved his free hand in front of him. "IF SUCH AN ACTION IS WHAT YOU DESIRE, THEN SO BE IT!"

The black hedgehog whirled around and flung Silver through the air, sending the hero crashing into the glass of a tall building. Shadow and Rouge took cover behind a car, drawing their G.U.N. pistols and peering around the edges. Their assailant thrust his hands outward, shattering the glass on all of the surrounding structures and raining the shards down on the heroes.

Tails and Amy dove behind a hot dog stand while Knuckles slid behind some concrete blocks that used to hold a window frame. Blaze flung fireballs at the hedgehog as she made her way behind a TV screen that had fallen when the glass shattered. Shadow diverted his vision to his left, where Blizzard was creating a shield of ice to protect him, Mute, Jess and Shock Charge from the powerful bursts of mental force that their attacker was using. Mute and Jess were firing their guns from either side of the cat while the electric hedgehog commanded thunderclouds into their area and attempted to hit the newcomer with lightning, which was deflected with ease. In front of him, a familiar wolf slid behind a car, pressing some buttons on a pad on his wrists, which were quickly encased in a cannon. A yellow cat was by his side, shielding herself from the debris that was flying around. A raccoon was above the two, running and climbing across different buildings, making its way higher and higher to where the portal and their foe were.

"I SEEK BLAZE THE CAT!" The villain boomed.

"SO DOES SILVER, BUT HE HAD DIBS FIRST!" Blizzard called, then turned and looked at Blaze. "Could you try to be a little less popular?"

"You think I know him?" The pyrokinetic spat.

Above the Ultimate Life Form, Silver wobbled to the edge of the building. "I'M ALRIGHT!"

He was quickly launched back into the structure by their assailant by another powerful blast of energy.

Shadow turned to the ex-thief. "I've got an idea. You stay here."

"You really think I'm gonna do that?" Rouge asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Worth a shot," The hero grunted, using his shoes to rocket out from behind the car and up the side of a nearby building.

Dodging flying pieces of debris that were thrown by the newcomer, the hedgehog flew past the raccoon, who was climbing the same building as well, and landed on a roof. Shadow continued to do this with a few other buildings until he was close to the height where the hedgehog floated. The hero ran towards the edge and jumped off, flying through the air. He was almost within reach of grabbing the villain to pull him down to the ground when he suddenly stopped in midair.

The black hedgehog turned and looked at him, boring his sharp green eyes into the hero. "A valiant effort, but futile nonetheless."

"Who are you?" The Ultimate Life Form seethed.

The villain lowered his eyebrows. "My title is none of your concern. Where is Blaze the Cat?"

While he was interrogating Shadow, the attacker was using both of his hands to block the bullets, cannon fire, fireballs, ice blasts and lightning bolts that were being thrown at him by Shadow's allies.

"Bite me," The dark hero spat.

The villain frowned before reaching his hand out towards the hedgehog, taking control of him and flinging him downward, slamming him into some rubble.

*With the newcomer*

Insolent fools. Do they fail to grasp the situation? Until they present me with Blaze the Cat, I cannot return to my king—my friend. I must retrieve her, so says my mission.

The villain roared in rage and thrust his hands out, feeling the ground with his mind. The hedgehog took some deep breaths and imagined it collapsing beneath the heroes, and soon, that vision became a reality. Soon, the roads beneath his enemies started to give way, making them scatter in different directions. He decided to pick some off. Thrusting his hand out again, he mentally grabbed ahold of an orange and black echidna, the one who controlled lightening, and launched him into a water tower, where shocks and sparks of electricity crackled and popped in the water. When the hero slid out, he rolled off the small building and flopped on the ground. Stopping some bullets in the air, which were fired by two grey hedgehogs, the telekinetic sent the barrage of metal hurtling towards a fox and pink hedgehog. The boy was able to duck behind a car, but the girl was hit in the leg by one of the bullets, sending her falling to the ground.

Suddenly, something caught his eye. A blue and white cat was attempting to nail him with blasts of ice, but failing. The hedgehog remembered this cat from long ago.

Blizzard the Cat? My eyes cannot deceive me.

The attacker picked Blizzard up with his mind, having him immobilized and brought him close to where he was, encasing the two in a mental shield that prevented any assault on him.

"I don't know who you are or why you want Blaze, but…Hey, has anyone ever told you that you look like Silver?" The cat stated.

It was true, aside from the black fur, boots and gloves, green and gold cuffs that were strapped to his wrists and ankles and piercing green eyes, he looked exactly like Silver.

"Your memory indeed is damaged. I am Catharsis. I am the Anti-Silver from Moebius. Do you fail to recall such details?"

"Dude, you talk like Shakespeare."

"Why do you side with these weak fools? Comrade, don't you remember who you are? What destiny you possess?"

Catharsis looked straight into the cat's eyes and understood immediately.

"You do understand. You are plagued by visions and nightmares. They tell you to commit deeds that you do not want to do, but I fail to see why. Maybe…"

The Anti-Silver held out his hand and slowly reached for the icy cat's forehead to touch it.

"Whoah, man! No touchy! I have a thing about touching my head, and you are no except—"

The cat was cut off when Catharsis touched his head, suddenly going limp. Now, the hedgehog could see inside the cat's mind and dreams. A white fox, lava, regret, and a looming fog all around him. No trace of his old life was in his memories. The cat's life in the Frostbite Dimension, how he met Sonic and the others, fighting off rebels…Everything was revealed to Catharsis in a matter of seconds. Removing his hand, Blizzard regained consciousness and kept talking like nothing happened.

"—ion, sir. Yeah, that's right! Don't touch me. No touchy!" The hero finished.

The telekinetic sighed. "You truly have lost sight of who you are. No matter. I will personally restore you to your former glory."

Gritting his teeth, the villain flung Blizzard into a lower floor of the same building Silver had crashed into. Wrapping his mind around the base of the structure, Catharsis crushed the stone support beams and tipped the building over, sending it falling backwards. He saw his arch-enemy, Silver, leap out from the top floor just in time along with Blizzard.

Friend, I will force you to remember.

"I AM FINISHED WITH YOUR MINDLESS GAMES! WHERE IS BLAZE THE CAT?" He shouted, looking around.

"You want me?" A voice called out.

The hedgehog scanned the area until he saw his target: a purple cat with fiery hands and eyes, gritting her teeth. This was his target? He expected something more…or maybe less. He had heard so much about her, but he didn't expect her to look the way she did. Considering some of the…others he'd met…she was certainly different, but the red mark on her forehead made it clear that this was his target.

"Come and get me!" She seethed.

"EASIER COMPLETED, THAN STATED!" Catharsis boomed, using his mind to wrap restrain her, extinguish her flames and draw her near him.

The Anti-Silver summoned all of his energy and sucker punched her in the face, causing the cat to black out. Looking down at the heroes below, he sent one last burst on energy down on them, knocking them in every direction. After batting away a raccoon who'd tried to perform a sneak attack on him, Catharsis grabbed Blaze and rose into the portal, which sealed behind him.

Coming out the other side, he was greeted by beings with balls of fire for heads and plates of metal for bodies. They bore different weapons. Some were swords, others were bows and arrows, and others were spears. These were called Pyromaniacs, he had learned.

"She's unconscious," A voice stated.

The telekinetic turned to see a male cat in full combat gear and a revolver, who emerged from the pack of fiery beings.

"I specifically ordered her to be brought back ALIVE!" The feline shouted, clenching his fists. "My father will not be pleased, and when he's not happy, I'm not happy. Do you know how bad this makes me look? How can I ever become king of this place if I can't get some simpleton to do the simplest thing?"

The Anti-Silver scowled. "I am no peasant, Prince Ash. I completed what was asked of me. I brought her to you, relatively unharmed. You should be pleased. Anyone else would have failed such a task."

Ash swiftly punched the hedgehog in the stomach, causing him to drop Blaze.

"I am royalty, or have you forgotten? Your king works for us for now, and that means that YOU. ARE. MINE!" The cat fumed. "Worthless! YOU MEAN NOTHING!"

"My destiny is of great importance. It means something. Whatever it is, I shall follow it to the letter. That is my importance."

"Utter gibberish! Can't you speak normally? Fate? HA! You're fate is at my service. If I want you to create a statue of me out of rocks, then you best do it! Your destiny is nothing! A joke!" The cat ranted. "If you screw up again, then I shall personally execute you like I did to Blaze's foes back in her kingdom! Do we understand each other?"

The telekinetic slowly nodded and picked the unconscious hero up once again. "What location do you desire her to be in?"

"Give her to my guards. I don't think you're competent enough to even place her somewhere on your own," The prince hissed.

The Anti-Silver handed Blaze over to the Pyromaniacs and watched as they walked off along with the prince.

"Rough break, eh?" A voice said from behind him.

The telekinetic turned to see a green hedgehog behind him. He wore sunglasses and a leather jacket, which fit nicely with his cocky grin and slash marks across his chest. Next to him, a mainly red fox stood with her hand on his shoulder.

"Scourge, my king. Fiona. For what length of time were you positioned there?"

"Since you arrived, Cath," The green villain stated. "I think he was a bit rough on ya. I know that Sonic and his friends can be a little tough and…unruly. You did what you had to do."

"Why did you idly stand by and observe as I was abused? You did not step in and assist in my defense."

"Hey, we work for them for now. My hands are tied, bud," Scourge replied, holding up his palms. "It'll be over soon, though. Once we get Blaze on these guys' side, we're promised some Mobian land and the pleasure of killing our counterparts ourselves."

The black hedgehog nodded. "Destroying Silver is my destiny, but it was opportune to step in to help me once, at the minimum."

"Whatever! You're stone cold! You can handle it!" The king laughed, walking off after the prince. "We'll see ya around, Cath!"

The hedgehog nodded. "Of course, my king."

Even in hard times, such as these, he still acts as though I am just a servant of him, and not a friend. Are the childhood memories of yours erased as well, Scourge, or are you shoving them into the back of your mind willingly?

*With Silver, ten minutes earlier, in Mobiocity*

After the hero had helplessly watched as the mysterious hedgehog disappeared through the portal with Blaze, the telekinetic could do nothing more than bury his head in his arms and lean against a building, wondering what he could've done more to try and save her.

He had choked. There was nothing more. He was caught off-guard by the newcomer and was quickly defeated because he had let his guard down. Never before, not even when he had faced Nazo, had he experienced a foe with abilities equal to or slightly greater than him. The hedgehog looked exactly like him, yet seemed appalled by Silver's own existence.

Now Blaze was gone, and there was no way to track her.

The hero heard Sonic arrive and talk to Shadow, then to Mute and Blizzard, but he didn't move. Taking out the small purple, velvet box, he flipped it open and stared at the ring, which may never fit on his girlfriend's finger anymore.

*With Bandit*

"Gizmo, what happened?" The ex-thief heard Dash ask.

"Some dude just shot out of a hyper-charged portal and started wrecking the city! It was gonzo! The energy frequencies were off the charts. He took some cat and disappeared into the portal again, which closed behind him! The dude was beastly. None of my systems worked on him. I couldn't do anything to hurt him!" The wolf recounted. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, let's just get this whole…"

The two drifted away, leaving Bandit to wrap a bandage around Honey's leg, which had been injured by some falling debris during the fight. She hated herself for being tossed aside so easily by that hedgehog. He was brutal, cold and…magnificent. She had never seen someone handle their enemies in such a graceful way before. The way he controlled the area around him as well as the people; the way he presented himself and the way he spoke—those things had struck her in some way. She didn't like the guy, no, but she wanted to learn more about him. Other than herself, she had hardly seen anyone control their fighting technique such as him. What was his name? Cathorange? Cathallo? Cath…Catharsis? Yes, that was it. Catharsis.

"I feel so worthless. I couldn't do anything during that. I'm used to fighting with my fists, but I couldn't even get near the guy. I was just a nuisance," Honey sighed, wiping her eyes.

"Glad you could come to terms with it," The raccoon responded blandly, finishing wrapping her bandage. "If you're done feeling sorry for yourself, we should go talk with some of the higher-ups and see what the deal is."

Honey scowled, but got up, limping behind Bandit as they made their way to a military tent. "Can you help me so I don't face plant?"

"You're a tough fighter and supposed hero…You can handle it," The ex-thief called back.

The two made their way into the tent, where a bunch of soldiers and an officer stood, looking at a tablet where the president of Mobius was on. A grey female hedgehog and black hedgehog with red stripes in his hair stood near the piece of technology as well. The two eyed Bandit and Honey as they made their way in. The girl was about to say something when the dark hedgehog raised his hand, stopping her. The two turned back to the screen.

"…to hear this. You say Blaze was taken? How troubling indeed. Do we know who took her?"

"A telekinetic by the name of Catharsis, sir, according to Blizzard. We believe he's not from this world. He claims to be the Anti-Silver," The dark hedgehog stated. "If this is true, then it's more than likely that he's from the dimension of Moebius."

"Moebius? Scourge's area? I thought we had dealt with them all those years ago. Why're they coming back now? And why take Blaze of all of you?" The leader asked. "Do we know where he took your friend?"

"I've got some info, bro," A familiar wolf said, walking into the tent. "Heard the whole thing from out there. Gizmo the Wolf, at your service."

"Who?" The President asked.

The inventor sighed. "Friend of Dash the Cheetah."

"OH! Yes, go on! You said you know something?" The leader questioned.

"As I was saying, whenever a portal opens up, it has to have an origin point. Mobius was the destination, which means that whatever location was on the other side of that portal is where Catharsis took this…Blaze…dudette."

"Yes, we know that. A little common sense can figure that out," Bandit hissed.

"Ease off, Sly Cooper," The wolf said, backing away from her. "What I'm saying is that because the portal was giving off fantastic energy readings, and I know this because my systems picked it up, that means that it was opened through the use of a machine. Every machine can be traced by me if I have a direct link to it. I was able to connect with the software briefly before it booted me out. Fancy stuff, but I was able to go into my logs and find the location of the origin point."

"You're saying you found the place where Blaze is being kept?" The dark hedgehog asked, stepping forward.

"Exactly, bro. That place is known as the Burner Dimension," Gizmo stated.

THERE YOU GO! How it all went down while Sonic was racing has been revealed, as well as a few more things. Hmmmm. What could this mean?

Oh, and for those who are curious, Catharsis is an actual word. It means "the process of releasing, and thereby providing relief from, strong or repressed emotions."

If you're having issues with the OC's, I don't know what to tell ya. Backstories and entrances are in previous stories and I did my best to compile all of the important stuff, but some references are just too small to include in the big summary, so if you feel like it, go back and read any of the three stories that you may have missed. Things'll make a little more sense then.

Let me know what you thought of the new character introduced! Catharsis. The reason behind him is that we know Scourge is the Anti-Sonic with other anti-counterparts, but we've never seen an Anti-Silver before…or another character counterpart for that matter, but that's to be revealed later!

Please leave a review with your thoughts!

More to come…