Well, this can be a little sudden for some of you, but this is it. The final and EXTRA large chapter. Hope you enjoyed this story, and if not, well thanks for seeing it though. And don't forget to see the epilogue :D
Shadow slowly open his eyes. He finds himself inside a sphere of glass attached to cables leading to the big gem with the emeralds. Looking to the side, he sees Blaze unconscious, leaning down in the glass estructure. He gets near and puts a hand on her shoulder. "Blaze, wake up." The ebony hedgehog whispered softly.
The fire feline sightly moves her body, then open her eyes slowly. She gives a few fast winks and look to the sides realizing where she was. "Are you all right?" The dark hero asked, getting her attention. "Y-yes. I'm just a little dizzy."
Suddenly, Mephiles appears, materializing himself from the ground. "So, you're already awake. Good. Now we can proceed with the transference." He walks to the other side of the room, stoping by a computer and begins tipping a series of unknown codes. When finished, he puts his hands inside two holes shaped in their form, right below the computer. "It Will take some minutes to finish, so if you excuse me i'll take a nap now. Oh, and one more thing... I think you should feel a lack of "sense" in the process." Then, he closes his eyes turning to sleep, leaving the two imprisioned heroes with a puzzled look.
"Do you know what's he talking about?" Blaze asked, curious about what the dark being meant by "sense".
"No. But i'm not going to just stay here an- " Shadow stops talking, realizing that his body was barely moving.
"What's wrong?" The lilac cat asked. But soon she didn't needed a response, seeing that her body was responding in the same way.
"He's still controling our bodies, even in his sleep." He gives a sigh in frustation. "Looks like he thought of everything. We can't even try to get out of here." For the first time, Blaze felt hopelessness in his tone.
"Then why won't you use your chaos powers? Even Mephiles said you could tear this whole place down if you wanted." Shadow looks straight to her with a determined expression.
"Because i can't control it! So if i did that, you would get cought in the middle and probably ending up dead! And i don't want that." He said, trying to get calmer in the last sentence.
The fire princess looked down, with a little blush on her cheeks. "I-i'm aware of that. It's just that... You know i need every sol emerald to keep my world safe. So, i'm willing to do whatever it takes."
"It will not come to that. Trust me. We WILL recover it."
"How can you be so certain?! We can't control our moviments, our powers and we don't even know what's going to happen next!" She looks down again, leaving a heavy sigh.
"Sorry about that Shadow... I know you're trying to help... And i'm Just here complaining." She then closes her eyes with embarassment. Come on Blaze, your world was in danger many times before. You shouldn't be acting like this, you shouldn't be bothering him with your excuses, you shouldn't- Then her thoughts are interrupted by a voice. Shadow's voice.
"There's nothing to be sorry about. I know it's really hard for you to remain calm while your world is at stake. Even more in our currently situation." She felt surprised, yet happy for how he said.
They stayed in silence for a few seconds. Then the lilac cat spoke.
"Thanks for trying to cheer me up Shadow. But... I think you wouldn't anderstand how i feel. So lets just focus on the mission, please." That wasn't the way she wanted say, but her stuborness spoke louder.
Shadow was about to reply, but when the first word came out, strangely, he didn't heard it. Suddenly he wasn't hearing anything. It was like he was deaf. When he looked Blaze, he saw that her mouth was moving. She was trying to say something but he couldn't hear it. Staring into her eyes, he noticed that their golden color was disappearing, leaving only a very light grey.
"Shadow, something's wrong! My vision is fading, i-i can't see anything! Why won't you say something?!" She was confused. Why this sudden blindness, and why Shadow wasn't talking to her?
The ebony hedgehog saw that she was desperetly moving her eyes at all sides, while maintaning an expression of horror on her face. With a lot of effort he moves his arm towards her shoulder, trying to calm her down.
She didn't understood why he did that instead of talking to her. But it didn't mattered. With no vision and movement it was like being in a nightmare. So, with dificulty she moved her hand to his. And tried to relax.
After a while, Shadow felt his hearing returning, little by little. But at the same time, his ability to smell was fading. Something similar was happening to Blaze. Her vision was returning, but she couldn't feel taste anymore. They slowly pulled their hands back.
"Now we know what he meant." He said emotionless, then continued. "I had lost my sence of hearing. That's why i wasn't responding."
"And i lost the vision. Now, i lost taste. What did you lost now?"
"Smell." He answered, simple as ever.
The lilac cat looked over his shoulder, seeing Mephiles completely montionless by the computer. "good, he's still sleeping. Shadow do you have any ideas to scape? Because i don't." She knew their situation was helpless but it wouldn't hurt to ask.
"The only Idea i have is to wait for faker. If he shows up while Mephiles still asleep, maybe he could take us out of here and attack him from behind. It's not a perfect plan, but it's the only thing we can do."
"Then, we'll wait." She said, crossing her hands together over her chest.
"... About what you said earlier. Yes, i know how you feel. I know the fear and the pain of losing everything that is important to you." He said, remembering of none other then Maria.
Blaze's ears went up, now she was curious. "You mean..."
The hedgehog left a sigh. "Yes... It happened to me." Hearing that, her expression turned sad. He expected that now she would say something like: Oh i'm sorry. But, instead it was something else.
"The same... happened to me." Her ears went down as she remembered her parents.
Shadow looked at her surprised. He knew that she had heavy duty on her shoulders just like him. He knew she was stubborn, serious and hid her emotions, Just like him. But he never thought she would have a troubled past... just like him. Suddenly, he remembered when they were in the elevator area... When they acidentaly kissed. When he had that strange feeling. But then, his thoughts are interrupted when she snaps him back to reality.
"You know... Since were going to stay here for a while, i think we could... Share these memories with each other. I just think it would be good share them with someone that understands. But if it's too uncomfortable to you i'll understand." She didn't like talking about her past with anybody... But Shadow wasn't anybody. She was comfortable around him.
The ebony hedgehog stayed silent for a moment. He left his past behind him a long time ago, but still, it was difficult to talk about it. Even so, Blaze was the only one that understood how he felt. Suddenly, his mind turns to the past, but not the past they were talking about, it was when he first met her, back in the sol dimension. Then it was when they fought her and team rose. Remembering every detail of the times he passed with her, all at once. Their relationship was about to get deeper, he knew that. And somewhat, he wanted to happen... But, something was holding him back. Something that could make him regret everything later. It was the fact that he was ageless. He needed to face the fears and the pain that would bring in the future. He needed to share this with her too.
"It's okay. I'll tell everything." He gave a pause. "It all began when i was created by Robotnick, Eggman's grandfather, in the ARK space station..." Shadow stopped, seeing Blaze opening her mouth to speak. "Created?" She asked. "Yes. I'm a hedgehog with alien DNA, created for a Project to be the ultimate life form. I was designed to be perfect. That's why i can manipulate chaos energy so easily, and that's why i'm almost... immortal."
She tried to lean forward. "It means you can't die?"
"No.I'm ageless and very resistant, But not immortal, you know. Continuing, back in the ARK, besides the doctor i had only one friend... Her name was Maria. She was his granddaughter. We expended all the time together. Well... that was until GUN came. They thought the project was dangerous and went after to kill me. Maria saved me putting me to sleep in a scape pod, but... She was cought on middle, shot by one of the agents... ending up dead." He looked down with eyes closed, giving a moment of silence. Blaze stayed in silence too. She was very concentrated in the story. "I slept inside that pod for fifth years, until eggman got me out. That's when i met Sonic."
"And how did that ended up?"
"With me going through earth atmosphere." She chuckled at that. "Now it's your turn. Your highness." He said with a small smile in his face. Indeed, he felt better letting all of that out.
"Well... It happened when i was Just a child, learning how to be princess. My parents gave me the best education they could pay, preparing me mentaly and physically for all the duty i was going to have when becoming older. It was hard but it didn't mattered, my parents were always there for me." Shadow had an impression of how that was going end. "Then, one day i woke up by the smell of smoke. There were flames all over the castle. In panic i ran to my parents bedroom... And when i got there, they were down on the ground, together. Getting near then, i saw what i most feared... They were dead. Suffocated by the fire." She left a sigh. Then noticed Shadow was looking to her with worry. She smiled at him, showing everything was alright. He looked down trying to hide a blush.
At this moment, they had a bond. A bond far more greater than friendship. They cared for each other for more than anyone else. They trusted each other with their lives. And no words were needed to be told to show that. That's why suddenly led by their feelings, they began leaning foward with all the effort they had, closer to each other. Their noses almost touching. Then finally... kissing.
They stayed like that for about a minute, enjoying the moment. Then they felt their missing senses going back. But also... they felt nothing. Both of them had lost te sense of touch, in that very moment. They stop the Kiss and lean their foreheads together, closing their eyes. It wasn't time to demonstrate their feelings for each other. First, they needed to stop Mephiles.
Then, a crack sound is heard. They turn their attention to the office entrance. It was Sonic, climbing up to the room. The blue hedgehog looks around for moment, then notices the lights from the lab. Getting inside he sees Mephiles with eyes closed not even moving. Looking to the side he notices a sphere of glass, with Shadow and Blaze inside it. He runs to them carefully.
"Hey guys. How you're doing in there?" He asked.
"How do you think? We can't even move freely, he's still controling us." The dark hero answered, with an annoyed expression.
"So why you're there? And... why is Mephiles sleeping?"
"Because he's using us to transfer the power of the emeralds to him. And since that would take some time, he simply began to sleep." She said with stoic voice.
The blue hedgehog left a chuckle. "That's great, he'll not even see what hited him." Then he turned to the dark being and formed a spin-dash. "He's sleeping like dead. This will be easy." Shadow seemed concerned, it was really too easy. How he could be sleeping and controlling them at the same time? It was too strange. But Sonic didn't seem to think that, as he spin-dashed towards Mephiles. And that was a mistake. Before he could hit the target, his spin-dash stoped and he drooped down to his knees. The blue blur tried to move but he couldn't. His body was being controled. Shadow and Blaze noticed that their sense of touch returned, and the others senses stayed normal. This could only mean one thing: The transference was complete.
Mephiles opened his eyes, taking his hands out of the metal holes, then turning to the group. "So, you really thought i was sleeping. You fools. I'm Mephiles the dark, i'm not a common being! Idon't sleep." He made a gesture. The sphere of glass disconnected from the platform, leaving the black wind and purple flame to be controled back the center of the office. Then Sonic was controled to follow.
The three stood in line side by side, then drooped to their knees. Mephiles stoped in front of them. "It worked better than i thought. I feel so powerful now that could be called... Like you say- Super!" He said, as green colored flames formed in his cristal skin. "I don't need those weak robots anymore. I can create my own life forms now." He rises his hand forming a demonic cristal bird, then shuts it, reducing the creature to dust. "Now that i've got what i wanted. I don't need you anymore... Well, except you Sonic. I never needed you." The blue hedgehog grinned. "Let's Begin the execution. But who should go first? Hm... I'm in doubt." He looks to each one of then, until his eyes stop by a lilac furred cat. "Of course. You know how they say, right? Ladies go first!" As he said that, he points a fist to Blaze and begins charging a beam in it.
No... Not again... Shadow thought as he remembered Maria being shot. He looks to the princess with determination. NOT THIS TIME! Then, with all the strenght he had, ignoring all the possibilties he tries breaking out of Mephiles control. The beam is launched. He feels all his bones cracking, breaking, twisting and then finally, he's free. Then with immeasurable speed, he jumps in front of Blaze and catches the beam, with his bare hands. Witch made him earn surprised looks, even from Mephiles.
"S-Shadow." Murmured the fire princess almost not believing in what he was doing.
"Impressive. You managed to get out of my crontrol and still holding my attack." But after he said that Shadow's gloves desintegrate, as the power of the beam forces him slighty back. "But for how long?" Mephiles said, at the irony of the situation, leaving a grim laugh. "Shadow, Shadow, Shadow. Many times you sacrificed yourself for this despitable world. But now... for a mere female? Now that's even more despitable." He said, slighty moving his head in denial.
The ebony hedgehog sees the energy in his hands growing, forcing back again, almost touching the fire princess. Sonic looks at them worried.
"It's no use. You had the chance to stop me and now you will die in vain!" The energy grows bigger. Shadow feels his hands being burned and cuted to the bones, until finally getting to the point he couldn't hold it anymore and then... boom. "We'll see about that." He whispered as the contained energy formed an explosion, throwing everyone away.
When it ends, Blaze finds herself sitting back to a wall. She realized that the explosion left her dusted and her robe with a few cuts. She looks around. Sonic is slowly getting up, near the entrance. Mephiles is far ahead half standing. And Shadow... lying on the ground, motionless. Without thinking two times she runs towards him. She sat on her knees by his side, seeing how terrible was the situation. He had fatal wounds all over his body, blood covering his suroundings. She knew there was no way he could've survived that. Tears began falling from her eyes. She couldn't hold her sadness anymore.
Sonic sees her crying over Shadow's body. He gets in front of her, trying to say something to comfort her in the situation. But it Just doesn't come out. Instead he Just looks down and closes his eyes. There was nothing he could say.
Mephiles gets himself together and looks to the group. I can't believe it. The explosion affected me. Liberated those fools from my control. Hmph. It doesn't matter, i'll Just finish them off now. "Poor ultimate life form, dying like this. But don't worry, You'll join him soon enough. If hell is where you want to go of course." Then he began laughing madly in victory. Hearing that, Blaze's expression turned to rage. A rage she was trying to hold since they entered the building. A rage that by seeing the man she loved dead and by hearing that laugh, she couldn't hold anymore.
"SHUT UP!" Both Sonic and Mephiles look to her shocked. That was the first time they heard her voice so loud. Suddenly without any of then noticing, the gem in the lab begins to shine, like the emeralds inside it were reacting to something.
Mephiles feels his Power drooping like water. What?! How?! Is she stealing my Power?! That is impossible... Unless. Looking down to the hand he used to shot the beam, he notices an inhibitor ring is missing from it. The explosion Shadow made must have thrown it away! Curse!
Sonic looks to the lilac cat, noticing she was changing. Her pulpils had disappeared. Her skin was now in a dark glowing red, with fire around her. That wasn't her super form. It was something else, darkness. Suddenly, she stands up, grining wildly.
Without warning, she rushes to Mephiles, pressing him against the wall. "I NEVER felt so much rage in my entire life!" Saying that, she grabs his arm and brakes it in pieces with incrible ease, making the inhibitor ring in it to fall on the floor. Mephiles' expression was now of terror. He had to admit it, Shadow's death was not turning to be in vain. It became his doom.
Taken by her emotions, Blaze begins to throw the dark being on the ground and on the walls without pity. She punched and kicked him several times, leaving cristal pieces scattered all over the room. He was being obliterated and his perfect plan was being torn apart together. She throws him on the ground one more time and jumps over him, punching his face non stop. Then she hears Sonic.
"Blaze stop! We can still save him!" Hearing that, she stops imediately.
"What are you saying?!" She said, not conviced.
"It's like gems. If you use the power you have on Shadow maybe we'll be able revive him. It could be enough to make his heart beat again."
"Are you sure about that?!" She said, with rage still being her major emotion.
"No. But we don't have other choice. He's the ultimate life form. it should work." He said, hoping she would agree.
The fire princess thinks for a moment. That Power was affecting her mental state. She had to think clearly. "Fine." She stood up and went over Shadow's body, leaving an agonizing Mephiles behind.
Sitting down, she tried to calm down. Her pupils returned and her skin became more clear. She was in her true super form now. She Puts her hands over his white furred chest, pressing it. But nothing happens. "Try again... Now." The blue hedgehog said calmly. She tried again. And again. And again. But still, nothing. Then, she stops but not giving up. "Sonic, i need the rings." He simply nooded and went after them.
After a few moments he comes back and wears them on the ebony hedgehog. Blazes gives a sigh and press his chest again, now transfering her power with success and making her return back to normal. At first silence, then she begins to feel a slow beat under her palm, and sees his wounds healing. "It worked!" She almost yelled, feeling relified. Sonic feels surprised, he didn't thought that would actually work. A smile grows in his face.
Shadow begins to open his eyes slowly, taking a hand to his forehead. "Hm... What the..." He said recovering consciousness. Then by impulse, the fire feline wraps her hands around him, giving a hug. At first he feels a little surprised, but then, he Just smiles. Sonic also smiles with a chuckle.
Suddenly, a sound of glass breaking is heard. They turn to see Mephiles holding the two mixed emeralds, with the big gem destroyed in front of him. "You made it. You destroyed my plans... My dreams... My company. I have to admit it, it's all over for me." He said, putting the emeralds inside his own chest. "But... If i will fall, you'll fall with me!"
"What is he doing?!" Sonic asked.
"He pretends to use the emeralds as fuel to blow up everything!" Blaze said, now standing up.
"What?! What we're going to do now?!" The blue hedgehog said getting desperate. But Shadow seems to come up with a plan.
"We have to get the emeralds out of him and difuse them." He said with confidence.
"Yes, but HOW we do it?" Asked the fire feline.
The ebony hedgehog puts a hand under his chin. "It's a wild theory. but, i think if we get our powers together, it could form enough energy to pierce through his chest and separate the emeralds in the process." He said, looking direcly to her.
"If it's all we have, i'm willing to try." She said moving her shoulders.
The two positionated side by side. Shadow formed a chaos spear and Blaze a fire ball. Getting the two powers near, they begin to mix together, forming a yellow lance engulfed in flames. "So how do you pretend to call it?" The blue hedgehog asked pointing to the new brand power.
They look to each other. "Sol lance." They said together before rushing towards the dark being. As the attack hits, a bright light flashes, making Sonic to rise a hand over his a few seconds he lowers it to see what happened.
As expected, the sol lance pierced direcly through Mephiles' chest. Finally leaving the two emeralds separated, lying on the ground.
"I can't believe... That i'll die, like this." Mephiles said as he began looking up. "Iblis... Now i'm going to join you... in the other world." Then, his body begins to break, being reduced to only a pile of dead grey dust. Mephiles was no more. A complete silence.
Sonic begins to form a smile on his face. "Yeahhh! We won! High five!" He said in a cheerful tone of victory. Shadow and Blaze look to each other moving their shoulders, like: Why not? So the three join in a friendly high five. Then with no more power from Mephiles' gems the lights turn off, leaving the room in complete darkness. But it didn't mattered. Everything was fine.