Sonic Heroes: Millennium
Trip Down Memory Lane
The electric-blue eyes of Mecha slowly dimmed on within the confines of Nega's base as he reactivated himself. He was lying down on the work bench when he woke up, Nega standing over him as the scientist put away his tools. The lizard-like machine slowly sat up, moving his arms around to check maximum motion. He then ran a full diagnostic on his systems, and for a few moments he sat there unmoving.
"Full diagnostic is complete." Mecha stated. "All systems seem to be operating at maximum capacity." He turned to Nega. "I must comment on your repairs, Nega. They are very efficient and well-tuned."
"I am glad you think so, but please don't put yourself in such a condition again!" Nega replied. "The damage that was done to your body was pretty extensive, and I don't have the time to keep repairing you over and over."
"Don't worry, it won't happen again." Mecha stated confidently, jumping off the work bench. "I underestimated Metal's abilities after the centuries have passed. I will admit that I had expected him to be gradually weaker than last time. But now, I fully understand my full capabilities. I will not fail again."
"You better not." Nega growled. "Let's see if that claim is true." He went to his computer and began typing away on his keyboard. "I cannot stress the importance of us having a Chaos Emerald. It would put us on a level playing field with our enemies. We may have lost the last Emerald to the Heroes..." He pulled up two pictures on the screen. "..."I'm certain that one of these two has one on them."
Mecha turned his attention toward the screen, and scanned the pictures shown up there intriguingly. He walked over to the computer and stood right beside Nega just a few feet away. Nega saw the look of interest on him and just grinned at it.
"Without a doubt you have no trouble remembering these two hooligans." Nega stated.
"Of course." Mecha replied. "I've had quite a few battles with these long ago." He turned to the scientist. "And you're certain that one of them has a Chaos Emerald?"
"There is a chance that neither of them might have it." Nega admitted; Mecha frowned. "But even if they don't, you'll still have the chance to take them out. It would be good for us to eliminate the competition from the game."
"...Very well." Mecha agreed solemnly. "I'll find them, and scavenge them for the Emeralds. After that, I'll do away with them personally."
"Mecha, I hope you don't fail like last time." Nega frowned; Mecha gripped his claws tightly, his face partially covered by the shadows. "I would hate to have to find a new assistant – it wouldn't be too hard.
"No need to worry." Mecha stated menacingly. "Everything is under control."
The scene changes to the high-tech metropolis only known as Future City. The technological buildings of the city stood tall all around the city as hovercars drove through the streets at intense speeds at all times of the day. People walked through the streets as they continued their everyday lives within the futuristic metropolis. Silver the Hedgehog walked down the sidewalk of the streets, taking in the view of the city around him.
"Amazing." Silver muttered to himself. "No matter how many times I see the city, no matter how long I live here, I can't help but be grateful with this future and what I have." He looked up towards the sky. "Sometimes I can't help but be happy that the future I knew no longer exists."
"Talking to yourself, Silver?" a familiar voice asked. "Funny, I never pegged you as the schizophrenic type."
Silver turned his attention towards the source of the voice, who was a mysterious figure leaning on a building. This person wore a black cloak that covered his entire body, black gloves over his hands, and also wore black metal boot,, carrying a bouquet of flowers. The hood of the cloak was pulled completely over his face, hiding his identity, but despite this, Silver seemed to know him as he formed a small smile on his face.
"Well, what I can say, I'm just happy." Silver replied. "This is a complete opposite from what I grew up in, and I have no argument about it."
"Of course, but you should know that the world you know of now isn't going to last much longer." the figure said ominously.
"We won't know if that's for certain until it happens, will we...Mephiles?" Silver replied.
Sure enough, the figure lifted his head just enough so the light could show enough of his face to reveal that is was indeed Mephiles the Dark. But instead of a dark, hostile look towards the psychic hedgehog, what was present features was actually a shockingly calm, friendly look to his arch-enemy. He stood up straight and walked over to the hedgehog.
"Maybe, but then again, who's to say you will win this time around?" Mephiles asked back; Silver chuckled.
"It's good to see you, Mephiles." Silver stated with a smile. "Want to take a walk?"
"I'd be happy too." the time demon replied. The two unlikely people began walking through the city as if though they were old friends who had just reunited, despite their past with each other.
"It's kind of nice to be here with you as a friend, instead of fighting you as an enemy." Silver said.
"I'll admit it as well, it is nice." Mephiles replied. "But if Lord Nazo found out I was here, he would probably end us right there and then."
"You're probably right." Silver laughed. "But I think it's worth the risk. You deserve have this day for something other than fighting and evil. Today, let's just forget what sides we're on, forget all the worries, and just remember the good times."
"Hmph, like the time we first encountered one another?" Mephiles brought up.
"Oh yeah, I remember that as clear as day." Silver reminisced. "That was back in that altered future I grew up in. You showed up after I defeated Iblis for the moment. You took advantage of my frustration of being unable to save my home."
"Yes, you were pretty easy to manipulate back then." Mephiles stated. "I gave you something that you thought could save the future, and you jumped on it immediately. Convincing you to try and kill Sonic was like child's play."
"Yeah, but when I went into the past, I began to experience so much." Silver told him. "I began to see you what you were planning and how you were using me. I went back to my future to finally defeat Iblis, but you pulled a fast one on us all."
"Yes, when you destroyed my fake Iblis, I knew time running was out." Mephiles replied. "But I took advantage of opportunity. I killed Amy, and got Elise to cry, releasing the true Iblis. I became Solaris with my brother, and I thought I had won."
"Yeah, for a moment, so did I." Silver admitted. "But I didn't give up. I fought you along with Shadow and Sonic, but you killed just about everyone except me, Blaze, and Elise. But we got the biggest break that saved us all."
"Yes, I was separated from Iblis, and your girlfriend took full advantage, sacrificing herself to seal away my brother." Mephiles recalled. "Then you decided to use Chaos Control to send me directly to Hell. I haven't forgotten about that, you know?"
"Yeah, I figured you wouldn't have that easily." Silver chuckled. "But everything turned out all right. The past was changed, and the future was saved, everyone was brought back to life, and everything returned as before."
"Yes, but as fate would have it, I will never to fade away." The time demon stated. "Thanks to some luck, you and I now existed outside of time, which ensured my continued existence. And then I met Nazo, who offered me my freedom from that place called Hell in an exchange for my undying loyalty. I think you know which choice I made."
"Obviously, or you wouldn't be standing here right now." Silver smiled. "And there's been so much that's happen since then. My first trip to this future with an unfriendly Metal, Iblis coming back, hell, I even had him sealed inside me to this day. But one thing makes it all worth it in my opinion."
"Blaze." Mephiles answered; Silver nodded. "I heard you two are going to get married. About time you got the courage to propose her."
"Hey, I was picking my moment, okay?" Silver defended sheepishly.
"To be honest, I'm actually happy for you." Mephiles admitted. "When I see you two, what you have with each other, it reminds me of the times before, the times me and her shared together."
Mephiles stopped in his tracks immediately stopped in his tracks when he said those words. Silver noticed this as well, stopping right beside the shrouded time demon. He could see the sad expression that his face portrayed, and the psychic hedgehog put a hand on his shoulder comfortingly as he smiled warmly at him.
"You know, it's kind of weird." Silver said. "We're supposed to arch-enemies, fighting each other for as long as we live, yet here we are, friends, connected by something that we both have in our hearts. It really shows how far we've come."
"You think she is happy for me?" Mephiles questioned.
"I'm sure she is, Mephiles." Silver replied. "I'm sure she is."
"There you are."
The sound of the voice, along with it's threatening and hostile tone, was the one thing that put the both of them on alert. They both turned around, only to jump out of the way as an incoming arc of black electricity shot past them, striking a building. The attack immediately sent the people in the area into a panic, ever single one of them running away as fast as they could from the site. Silver floated in the air with his telekinesis while Mephiles landed on the side. The two turned towards the source of the attacker, and found themselves the lizard-like machine, Mecha Sonic.
"And here I thought finding you was going to be a challenge." Mecha smirked. "Looks like luck is on my side."
"Mecha..." Silver uttered, staring intensely at the machine.
"So you recognized me?" Mecha said. "I'm a little surprised, considering the obvious changes I went through."
"Metal described your return and your metamorphosis quite a bit." Silver explained. "This change of appearance actually suits you. It shows you for the snake you really are."
"Touché'." Mecha replied. "But I see something very interesting. Why would you, Silver, of all people be even having a conversation with Mephiles?" The time demon looked at the machine, making sure the hood stayed over his face. "I'm not blind or ignorant as the people that inhabit this city. But what baffles me is that you two are supposed to be personal arch-enemies...and you are actually acting life-long friends."
"It's a complicated matter." Mephiles stated, setting the bouquet down somewhere safe before turning back to the machine, glaring at it. "It's something that you could never understand."
"Well, I would love to actually try to understand it..." Mecha said mockingly. "...But I honestly don't care. I've been looking for you two for awhile."
"Is that a fact?" Silver questioned, floating down to the ground. "What do you want, Mecha?"
"You see, Nega believes that one of you two might have a Chaos Emerald on you." Mecha explained. "I'm here to destroy you both and bring an Emerald to him."
"Tough luck, Mecha, neither of us has any at the moment." Silver informed.
"Well, in the end it really doesn't matter whether you have Chaos Emeralds or not." Mecha stated. "I was told that either way, you two gotta go. So sorry."
"So there's no avoiding this, huh?" Mephiles asked.
"Absolutely not." Mecha replied emphatically. "Now both of you stand still so I can crush you."
Mecha started the battle off by firing off two arcs of black electricity at them respectively. Mephiles and Silver moved out of the way to avoid the arcs. Mephiles dashed towards the machine and threw a punch at him, but Mecha caught it with his with ease. The lizard-like machine smirked, but failed to see the time demon swing his leg upward, striking him at the chin. This caused Mecha to stagger back a bit, and this gave Silver the opportunity to send a burst of psychic energy at the machine. Unfortunately, Mecha saw it coming and jumped in the air to avoid it. Mephiles jumped into the air to follow him and began throwing a volley of strikes, but the machine dodged each one of them easily. The time demon swung his leg at him, but Mecha quickly caught it, and with a devilish smirk, he swung around and threw Mephiles into a nearby building. Mecha
"I thought you would be stronger than that, Mephiles." Mecha stated. "I am truly disappointed."
"Well, you won't be disappointed with me!" Silver exclaimed.
Mecha turned, only to be punched in the face by floating Silver. The white hedgehog took advantage of his stunned state, telekinetically grabbing him and pushing him into a building. But the hedgehog was shocked to find that when Mecha reached the building, he latched onto it like a lizard, and begin scaling it. Silver shook off his astonishment and began taking nearby debris and objects and throwing them at the machine telekinetically. Mecha maneuvered up the building, dodging the debris thrown at him. After a few close calls, Mecha finally reached the top of the building.
"Nowhere to run now!" Silver proclaimed. The hedgehog then psychically grabbed an empty hovercar and threw it straight at Mecha.
But Mecha suddenly pushed himself off the top of the building, his body going over the hovercar, and he gathered electricity into his hands and fired it at Silver. It struck Silver directly, taking him out of the air and down to the ground in pain. Mecha landed on the ground and then shot back into the air directly over Silver, his claws raised for the kill.
"Die!" Mecha exclaimed, about to shoot down towards the hedgehog.
Suddenly a large red arrow of energy came out of nowhere and struck him at the side, sending him crashing down to the ground. Mecha sat up in both anger and pain and looked at his attacker. Mephiles stood before the machine, his cloak slightly tattered but still intact, the hood still over his face.
"You're going to have to do better than that to keep me down!" Mephiles proclaimed.
"Impressive, but I'm afraid it will all be futile in the end." Mecha replied.
Mecha shot back up and swung his claw at the time demon, but Mephiles backed away in time, and swung with a roundhouse kick. The machine brought up his forearm to block the kick, and pushed it away as he stabbed his talons at Mephiles. But the demon back flipped away to avoid it, and then formed a Chaos Lance and fired it. Mecha struck his claw at it, sending the large energy arrow to the side. The demon shot towards the lizard-like machine, but the machine sidestepped him, and gathered a large amount of electricity into his hand and thrust it at Mephiles' side. It tore through the side of his cloak and body as he was thrown across the street. He fell down to the ground, clutching his side, as Mecha came and stood over him.
"It's time to end this once and for all." Mecha proclaimed.
"You can't kill me." Mephiles reminded him. "I'm immortal, remember?"
"Do I actually care?" Mecha sneered. "I'm going to destroy you until there is nothing left of you!"
"Psychic Screw!"
Mecha shot his head up at those words, only to get struck in the chest by a precise burst of psychic energy, sending him down to ground. Mecha sat up to see Silver floating in the air as he threw large debris at the machine. The jet-black machine rolled out of the way of the debris, and shot towards the white hedgehog, and stabbed his claws at him. Silver flew to the side as Mecha past him and threw a kick at his side. But Mecha caught his leg in mid-air and with a mighty swing, threw him down to the ground. Silver, however, recovered with a roll back to his feet, and the moment Mecha touched the ground, he dashed towards the white hedgehog. Silver readied himself for the machine, but suddenly a Chaos Lance struck Mecha from out of nowhere, staggering. Mephiles, his cloak torn, ran up to the lizard-like machine and kicked him straight into the air. Silver then telekinetically grabbed the machine's body and with all his might, threw him into the base of a building. Mephiles and Silver stared at the place he crashed intently.
"Thanks for the assist." Silver told him.
"It isn't over yet, Silver." Mephiles informed seriously. "It'll take a lot more then that to defeat someone like him."
"Well, it's two on one, so we have the advantage." Silver stated. "There's no way Mecha's..."
He never finished his sentence as he felt himself get struck at the gut. Silver gasped in pain as he was struck again in the face. The hedgehog staggered, and both he and Mephiles looked around for the attacker, but could not see him. Suddenly, electricity shot through his body, the hedgehog screaming in pain as fell back down to the ground. Mephiles was taken back by these events, and looked around for his foe. He was suddenly struck from behind being sent down to the ground. He felt his leg being grabbed as he was lifted up and then repeatedly smashed into the ground over and over again before being thrown away. Mecha then dispelled his cloak, smirking at his work.
"I absolutely admire the enhancements the good doctor gave me." Mecha stated. "It really comes in handy."
Mephiles and Silver slowly stood up, recovering from the attack of the lizard-like machine. But suddenly, just as Silver stood up, Mecha took a hold of his throat and threw him straight at the time demon, sending them both crashing down to the mat. The machine took the opportunity a huge amount of electricity into his hand and once he accumulated enough of it, he fired all of it straight at them both. Silver and Mephiles had no time to react as they were both hit dead-on. As soon as the smoke cleared, both Silver and Mephiles laid on the ground battered and bruised.
"Time to finish this." Mecha stated. He took a step towards them, but stepped on something. "What the...?" He looked down, and saw he slightly stepped on Mephiles' bouquet of flowers. He picked it up and held it in his hands. "What's this? Flowers?"
"Give it...back." Mephiles grunted as he struggled to stand up.
"Oh, so this is yours?" Mecha said with a bit of satisfaction. "Why would someone such as you have a need for it?"
"It's for...someone...dear to me." Mephiles managed to say as he stood up.
"Dear to you?" Mecha questioned. "Don't make me laugh. You're nothing but a heartless demon. You have no you care about. Whoever this person you're talking about is, he or she must be really stupid." Mephiles' eye twitched dangerously at those words. "Who could ever truly care about someone like you? This person, if you ask me, must be a complete freak."
The moment those words left him, he was suddenly punched in the face by Mephiles, an uncontrollable rage in him, causing him to drop the flowers. He had snapped as the machine said those words, and he was letting his anger take full control. He continued to strike at the machine, never once letting Mecha a chance to counterattack. He then stabbed his claws through the right shoulder of the machine, earning a scream of pain from him. Mephiles then threw him off, but then he proceeded to fire a Chaos Lance at him. But he didn't stop there, as he fired Lance after Lance at the lizard-like machine, relentless in his assault as his anger flowed through his attacks. Eventually his anger simmered down a bit, and he eventually stopped his attack on the machine. Smoke dusted the area of attack, and as it cleared, Mecha stood, but just barely, as his body was completely torn from the onslaught of Chaos Lances, his face coming as close to shock as it could.
"Unreal..." Mecha uttered. "There's no way...that should've happened. He should of...been finished."
Mephiles then came up to him and swiftly grabbed the machine by the throat, and lifting him up into the air. Their eyes made contact and Mecha could literally see the anger and rage that was present in his eyes. For a few moments, all was still as Mecha waited for the demon's next action, too weak to try and break free from his grip.
"You're not worth it." Mephiles stated; He threw the machine to the side. "Like I said before, someone like you could never understand how I feel. I'm going to let you go simple because destroying you would make me no better you. But I suggest you leave before I decide to change my mind, which is something I'm considering doing."
"You'll pay for this." Mecha growled. "I swear that when the chance arrives, I will make you suffer."
And with those words said, Mecha used whatever strength he had left to flee from the scene and back to Nega. As soon as he was out of sight, Mephiles walked over to the flowers and picked them up. He examined them, slightly damaged, but nothing too serious. The time demon breathed a sigh of relief as he saw this.
"Not the best way to spend your day." Silver stated; he was covered in a few wounds and held his side as he walked up to him.
"How dare he do something like this on today of all days?" Mephiles growled, visibly upset.
"Don't worry, Mephiles." Silver replied, putting a hand on his shoulder. "It's all over now. Let's get out of here before someone comes here and sees you. It wouldn't turn out so well if people knew you were here."
"...Right, let's go." Mephiles agreed. "It's time to pay her a visit."
The scene shifts to a graveyard field just outside of Future City. Rows of tombstones lined up throughout the green field, signifying all those who had died over the years. Mephiles and Silver walked through the graveyard, passing through several of these stones. Eventually they came to a stop in front of particular tombstone. Mephiles stepped forward while Silver stayed back, allowing him his moment. The time demon kneeled before the stone, and placed the flowers in front of it, a sad expression of love.
"Hello again...my love." Mephiles said.
The tombstone read:
Shira Darkcrest
Wonderful mother, wife, and lover.
"It's not what's on the outside, but on the inside that truly counts."
"Sorry I was so late, Shira." Mephiles said sorrowfully. "I got held up by one of my old enemies. Really bad timing if you ask me." Mephiles forcefully chuckled to himself before taking his sad expression once again. "I came here to pay my respects, Shira. You've done so much for me. Before I met you, I was just what everyone made me out to be, a cold, heartless demon. But then you came into my life, and you changed me so much. You saw beyond what I looked like, and loved me for who I was. You taught me so many things, especially love."
"Though it didn't help us very much." Silver said jokingly; Mephiles glared. "Sorry."
"I saw what was truly important in life, and that was you, most of all." Mephiles continued. "All the years we spent together were the best of my 200 years in this world. But there was one thing that came to a head: I was immortal, you were not. As the years went by, you got older, and eventually you fell to sleep forever." The time demon clenched his hands tightly. "That was the most painful day I ever experienced. I thought I couldn't live anymore without you. It took me years before I could accept it. But still...even after all these years, not a day goes by where I miss you, and your warm touch. Not a day goes by, where the pain still plagues me." Mephiles hanged his head in sorrow. "...I miss you, Shira. I miss you, so much!"
Silver felt sympathy for Mephiles, for even though they were arch-enemies, the time demon had loved just like he does right now, and to lose the one person you love more than anyone else must've been the most agonizing feeling anyone could've experienced. He walked over to the time demon, and for the third time today, put his hand on the shoulder of Mephiles, but this time, with more sympathy and emotion than before.
"Mephiles, all I can say is I'm sorry." Silver told him. "I can't imagine the pain you go through every day. But, remember, Shira is not truly gone. She's still with you in your soul, in your heart. As long as you remember her, she'll never be truly gone. I know that she would be happy for you right now. You..." Silver stopped as he felt someone coming into the graveyard, and apparently Mephiles did as well as he turned his head around, and he knew who it was.
"It's her..." Mephiles uttered; he immediately stood up. "I must go. I can't let her see me." He was about to leave, but then turned back to Silver. "Thanks for being here with me, Silver."
"No problem, now get out of here." Silver motioned; the time demon then ran out of the graveyard and out of sight, Silver watching him the whole way.
"Hey Silver." a feminine voice said. "I expected you to be here."
The hedgehog turned around to meet the source, and only smiled in response. The newcomer was a hedgehog with purple fur and emerald green eyes. She had six up-curved quills, each decorated with a white tip at the end. She wore a black t-shirt with red stripes along with skin tight blue jeans, and also wore yellow/red shoes. The final touch on her was the necklace she wore around her neck.
"Hello, Myra." Silver greeted nonchalantly. "How are you today?"
"Quite fine actually." Myra responded cheerfully as she made her way up to the tombstone.
"So...come here to pay respects?" Silver questioned.
"Of course, I mean, Shira was my ancestor after all." Myra told him. "I heard quite a few stories about her from my family. It makes me wish I knew her. She seemed like such a good, kind-hearted person."
"I'm sure she was, Myra." Silver stated with a smile.
"But one thing has bothered ever since I met you." Myra told him. "It's the fact that you come here to this exact tombstone of my ancestor. I understand about paying respects, but what business do you have with coming to her grave? She lived over two hundred years ago. You couldn't possibly knew her...could you?"
"Let's just say that through all the things I've been through, I've had the pleasure of meeting a few people." Silver cryptically replied.
The loss of a loved one can be live through an eternity, but their legacy lives on in a new form. Will Myra ever learn the truth about her ancestry? Will Mephiles ever truly heal from the pain he has felt for centuries? And what will Mecha do now that he has been dealt his second straight loss? Find out in the next Sonic Heroes