SonicSonic54321: Apparently she researches history, studies ancient tombs, and can read ancient languages now! ...then juggles and sings in her off time.
Katz4: Well, think about it- Elise didn't really start getting all mushy with Sonic until after her little talk with Amy! The irony...and I'm glad you're enjoying Amy! She unexpectedly fun to write about. XD
werewolfl99: I mean that it's the point where nearly everyone involved in this game screws themselves over. STILL not quite at the chapters where I'd like to make my point though...
Absolute Dreams
Chapter 7: Dreaming of Times Gone By
Blaze and I were now hopelessly stuck on what to do the day after our little venture through White Acropolis, with the only trace of the Iblis Trigger now being my shiny blue lucky charm. We returned to the city late last night, and since I figured was no longer welcome in Amy's hotel room, we slept on a park bench, and luckily enough we weren't disturbed.
"We have to find him today. It's the Day of Disaster," Blaze murmured to me as we rounded the block for the fifth time that afternoon.
"I know, I know," I told her, still trying to rub the sleep out of my eye. It was the fourth day of being in the past for us, and we were no closer to nabbing the Iblis Trigger than we were in the future. I wanted some sort of sign; something to tell me what I needed to do…!
And then there he was.
We hadn't seen him since he brought us to the past in the first place, and we STILL didn't know his name. But there he was, our mysterious benefactor standing smack in the middle of the city square. Those slotted green eyes of his weren't starting at anything in particular, but he must've sensed us coming because his unblinking expression eventually turned in our direction.
"You," I breathed, cautiously taking a step forward. "You…are Mephiles, aren't you?"
Blaze looked at me questioningly as Mephiles' unmoving gaze became even more intense, though he kept it aimed at the ground.
"I never told you my name…"
"I learned of the name Mephiles yesterday," I explained, subconsciously readying myself in case I needed to act. "Since that was a name without a face and you were a face without a name, I decided to take a stab in the dark."
He seemed offended by my latter comment, but if he was he didn't show it. Seeing as he wasn't currently hostile, I pressed him with questions.
"Tell me, who IS the Iblis Trigger? Why does he want to destroy the world?"
Does he even WANT to…or does he simply inadvertently cause it?
"Why does that matter to you?" Mephiles' head lifted up, along with his arm to point at us, but he still didn't look at me. It was really unnerving. "Unless you complete your task, your future will remain the same….forever."
As Mephiles' head finally rolled over to acknowledge us, I realized that he had said the exact same words Blaze has said yesterday, though even now it appeared that even her bold confidence was wavering just a little in the face of Mephiles.
"He's currently at the terminal station. It's now or never if you want this."
He stepped back and gestured us in the right direction, and while that's exactly the kind of information we were hoping to get…something about the whole situation felt wrong. When we didn't answer Mephiles immediately, he merely scoffed and vanished into thin air, without a sign of him ever having been there. I was still frozen to my spot, internally torn…
But Blaze stepped forward with her hands on her hips, confidence restored, and nudged her head in the direction of the terminal.
If Blaze was sure, I was sure too…
But I still had a terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach.
. . .
Guards had been swarming all over in front of the entrance to the station for whatever reason, and after the incident trying to get into the desert with Amy, I definitely didn't want to deal with those guys again…thus I managed to sneak past the guards and was currently sprinting through the forest along the tracks as fast as I could.
Which, still, wasn't all that fast.
Blaze, however, must've gotten caught by the guards or something, because she had once again vanished. Part of me wanted to go back and see if she was fine…but then the other part of me was saying that she was MORE than capable of taking care of herself, and if I went back she would've probably had all the officers handcuffed to a pole and would reprimand me for losing our lead on the Iblis Trigger.
Her rage or the Iblis Trigger's…I knew who I'd take my chances with.
Therefore, I once again found myself alone, but I was ready for the Iblis Trigger this time. Amy wouldn't be around to save him this time, AND I had the jump on him, since I knew he was there, but he wouldn't be suspecting me…!
Element of surprise, baby.
"I'm not going to let the Iblis Trigger get away!" I cried, raising a fist to the sky. "Not this time!"
The train tracks were actually rather askew and contained many dangerous drops. I couldn't possibly think this was safe, but considering that Eggman's robots were around, that meant Eggman was too, and that in turn meant Sonic!
"Still doesn't make this any easier for me," I remarked, using my powers to flip all of the drones off the edge. In actuality, I wasn't anywhere near the tracks- I was taking a less direct route, flying over the gaps and using lifts with boxes balancing them to make my way through. Intuition told me Sonic would probably prefer taking the straight forward yet dangerous route, but I wasn't one for risk taking.
After all, playing it safe has kept me alive all these years.
That mindset also sort of extended to my powers- staying back, fighting from afar, using objects as an extension of myself…even now, as I made my way through the droves of robots, I could never fully take them on in close combat. Besides, who would expect a crate to come flying at them when they were expecting fists?
The enemies were many, but I quickly found that I didn't have to confront all of them. A good chunk of them were situated on a series of conveyor belts, leaving them incredibly vulnerable to being pushed right off the edge, if they were to move in the opposite direction. Still, I let them be, carefully timing my jumps as I bounded over the obstacle to avoid the same fate myself. I ended up landing on another scale, which had been empty and now tipped dangerously with my weight.
"Argh, not these again already," I sighed, gripping onto the edge before I fell. I then used my other hand to guide a series of crates over to me, then dropped them all on the other side of the scale. It took a few moments to balance out, but after that, I darted across, then slid to the ground to avoid an onslaught of projectiles from some drones ahead. Growling, I psychically lifted the wooden planks beneath them, tossing them and the robots into the air and out of my way.
"I'm actually getting a little better at this," I stated pleasantly, picking up a crate and twirling it around in place. "The Iblis Trigger's not gonna like it when I pin him down for good this time!"
Nothing could stop me! Not any of his friends, not these ridiculous robots, and certainly not Sonic himself!
"HAH!" I shouted, throwing my hands up and summoning a ring of metal crates around my person. I then launched myself toward a trio of robots, throwing my crates at them one by one until they were nothing more than junk and shrapnel.
Feeling empowered by my small victory, I took off toward another scale, bringing some crates along with me. I then slammed them straight down on the other side of the scale, sending my side flinging upward and me flying into the air. I soared across the railway incredibly fast, keeping myself up with my powers until I reached more solid footing. I ended up in a very worn down building that looked like it had seen better days. Sure, it wasn't burned down or anything, but the walls were made of concrete and yet large chunks of them had been gauged out, foundation was visible, and mossy covered what remained of the floors and walls like a blanket. Doorways were boarded shut where an actual door should've been, and the crates were ridiculously abundant, stacked in the corners of all sort of various colors and contents.
And also, robots.
"I'm so sick of this!" I cried, glowing green and calling forth nearly every crate in the room. The horde of machines huddled around me and proceeded to fire, but my ring of crates withstood the onslaught before I expelled them outward. However, I didn't expect some of them to be, ahem, explosive, so while the robots were decommissioned for sure, the aftermath of the blast hurled me forward through the boarded up doorway, tumbling through the air before skidding along the jagged ground.
Ow.
Wincing from the impact, I cracked my eyes open to see another drove off Egg Shooters ahead of me, and they weren't holding back this time. Yelping, I rolled out of the way before jumping back to my feet.
"If I can paralyze them, then I can grab them all at once with my psychokinesis!" I exclaimed, glancing around. "Now, how to do just that…?"
As usual, my only option rested within crates, so I ran at the robots in a curve, swooping up the crates along the way. When they fired at me, I bounced back while throwing my projectiles forward, stunning them with the impact. From there, I took a psychic hold on the entire pack, then proceeded to crush them against the concrete building.
Once they were cleared out, I saw a spring resting on the edge of the floor. I leapt off of it and found myself bouncing around over a series of train tracks. A train was passing under me towards a tunnel at that point, and I almost thought I saw a flash of blue whisk by alongside it. But when I turned my head to look again, it was gone.
I really hoped my eyes weren't playing tricks on me or something…
Whether it was real or not, the spring had bounced me into the opposite direction, dropping me off in front of some robots again. My eye twitching, I took control of all of them and threw them over my head, back-tossing them over the edge.
"They're not worth the trouble…!"
A train track ran above me, alongside the area I was on. I figured if I followed it, I'd end up at the place that the blue blur was headed. It was a tad rickety, which concerned me slightly, but it also meant that a train was coming, so I was on the right track.
Heh, I'm funny!
Using the surrounding to my advantage, I was like a machine with the way I moved through the railway, smiting my foes and crossing huge gaps without any trouble at all. To think, I had been capable of these amazing feats the whole time…I just had to work for it a little that was all, and though I still hadn't accomplished what I set out to do, I'd get there…I just had to believe.
But the further I got, the trickier it became. Footholds weren't as abundant –or safe- and the robots were getting bigger and more complicated. There were huge red ones that stood at thrice my size and large yellow ones that were missile crazy!
"And yet, still less threatening than the monsters in the future," I murmured, halting the missiles that the yellow drones launched. I then redirected them at the huge red one, blasting off an arm and a leg and causing it to fall forward. I stepped out of the way, allowing it to collapse onto the yellow robots, killing three birds with one stone. I was actually feeling pretty proud of myself until two yellow trains chugged on by, reminding me of the urgency of my mission.
I hopped on one of the cargo carts, sitting down and letting the train do my work for me. I might've been getting better at fighting, but too much use of my power was still a tad taxing. I stared at my palm curiously, making it glow for a bit, then sighing and putting it back down.
"Don't wimp out now, Silver," I told myself, trying to pep myself up. "You came close before. You can do this…Blaze depends on you for this, the world depends on you for this, and the future depends on you for this…"
No pressure.
As long as I caught him by surprise, he wouldn't have a chance to retaliate, and I could finish him off in one shot. The deed would be done, I'd find Mephiles, and I'd go home to a much more pleasant life like I'd always wanted. That's all there was to it.
"I wonder where Amy is though," I wondered aloud, watching the scenery drift by. "She was so upset when she ran off, and…she just doesn't understand."
Oh, that fight with her hurt. She was the first person I met in the past, and she was generous enough to let me in on her life and help me out. She was the one I truly got the experience the world for what it should be with, but once our views and wills clashed, all of that just felt apart, but I also couldn't help but think that she maybe had a point.
…and then again, so did Blaze.
Nothing was going to change for us if I did nothing about it, and seeing as I was given the chance to do so, wasting it would be asinine, even if I had to go it alone. I wanted nothing more than to purify the future of its flaming destiny, so was that truly a bad goal? No matter what you had to do to get to it?
"I'm hopeless," I moaned, falling on my side and lying on the floor of the cart. With my head resting on the metal, I watched the cliffs and trees and construction fly by at an angle.
In this world, life moved on, and it moved forward. In my world, life was at a standstill and had no reason to go forward, and it was unable to go backward. It was just stuck. There was no one left to fight for but Blaze, and yet, if I failed, what was the point of going back? Today the world was going to end if I wasn't strong enough, and then what would I do? Go back in time once again and mess things up even more?
As I contemplated things, I caught sight of that streak of blue once again, but it wasn't moving as fast as it previously was. I stood up instantly and careened off the train, landing in another worn down building. Using my powers to slow my descent, I kept my eyes locked on the direction it was headed, adrenaline suddenly filling my body and fueling me from the inside out. The instinct to survive surpassed all moral desires and any second thoughts I was having evaporated.
"No more…no more!" I cried, tearing through the place with an unmatched fervor. "I will do what I must!"
I pushed my way through door, crashed through robots, leapt over walls, but I never looked away from that blue trail. I worked my way through the building until I was running along another set of tracks…where I finally got a good visual on him.
The Iblis Trigger was running on the ground below me now, and the reason he was moving slower than usual was because the princess was cradled in his arms again. She looked pensive while he was just as carefree and cool and cocky and casual as he was last time, and it served to make the rage burn in me. Here he was, happily living his life when he knew he was destined to destroy it, and he'd probably duped that princess too! Was there'd no length he'd go to make the world end!?
My fist shook as my rage increased, that familiar green glow enveloping my whole body as he ran on by. To even let him live another second was costly, and before I could really realize what I was doing, I cast a psychic knife down at him, and only then did it occur to me that the princess may have been in the line of fire rather than the Iblis Trigger.
Crud, CRUD!
However, my fleeting moment of panic was unnecessary because he saw the knife almost the instant that I threw it. He sidestepped out of the way, placing the princess delicately on her feet before assuming a fighting pose. I growled in frustration and jumped down, raising my hands with my powers at the ready.
"…you again," Sonic huffed at me, still not the slightest bit deterred, but something did seem…disturbed about him compared to our last encounter.
"This time there will be no more interruptions!" I cried. "The Iblis Trigger…must die! And there are no alternate ways to go about it!"
His sharp eyes narrowed at me as he shuffled in front of the princess, allowing harm to come to himself before her, and he looked deadly serious about making sure that was the case. Well, I'd give him that satisfaction, then!
"HAH!" I yelled, firing another blast of psychic power. Sonic tumbled to the ground and once again rolled out of the way, but there was nowhere for him to run now! I didn't give him the chance to bounce back; I captured him with my powers and lifted him up off the ground, stripping of any chances of escape. He struggled around in my dominant green glow, trying to turn his head to face me.
"Eh…Eh…li…" he stammered, his hand slowly starting to rise too. My eyes flickered behind me to see the princess sprinting up to me in her heels, a look of deadly determination on her face.
Somehow I was the one caught by surprise now!
"Stop this! Stop it; this isn't right!" she sniveled, and she was just about to reach out for my shoulder when a long metal arm came down from above and grabbed her at the moment of truth, followed by a maniacal laugh that I'd be subjected to before.
"So, how was your little walk, princess?" Eggman's voice taunted from the cockpit of his machine. She threw Sonic one last look before being drawn in towards the machine at a breakneck pace.
"Naaaaaahhh!"
The look of pain and failure that crossed Sonic's eyes nearly stabbed me in the heart, because it was a look that I'd been wearing often myself. The overwhelming feeling that you've let someone down…it was heartbreaking.
But I steeled myself and forged on.
Snarling, I increased my hold on him tenfold, making his knees buckle under the force and bringing him to the ground.
"…it's time to end this," I remarked darkly, the glow around the both of us become bigger and deadlier. I took a step forward to deal my finishing blow before Sonic could attempt to talk me down from it again, until this…shadowy figure came down from above, set to land on my neck.
"Who the-?!"
I just barely managed to retreat back before he landed on me, my startled state of mind releasing Sonic. He gasped and gaped on the ground, pining for breath, while the shadowy figure in front of me who had dared to intervene…turned out to be a hedgehog?
He was kneeled in front of me, studying me down to the last detail with those scathingly crimson red eyes of his, almost like he was sizing up his prey. But not even that unsettled me the most- his fur was streaked with red, yes, but aside from that, he was almost a complete spitting image of-
"Mephiles…?" I asked, stung with disbelief. "Why are you getting in my way!?"
Had I REALLY been backstabbed again?!
He appeared to be incredibly irritated at the accusation, standing up on the spot with a flair that commanded authority and respect, and a sneer that said he meant business. Sonic didn't appear to be phased by this guy -yeah, cause his life was spared AGAIN- but with that killer look this hedgehog had, it was like I was the one that was going to die.
"I'm Shadow," the newcomer declared boldly, proceeding to fold his arms. "…Shadow the Hedgehog."
Shadow spent a few more seconds glaring at me before turning to Sonic, who smiled and flashed him a thumbs up before darting off after the princess, just like before. I was so not having this again, starting to give chase, but Shadow made just the slightest of movements, and I felt compelled to step back.
I don't want to fight this guy…!
"Silver the Hedgehog…" he rumbled lowly, and I felt myself go rigid at hearing my name. "…I know so much about you yet this is the first time we've met."
"How do you know who I am?!" I demanded, meekly raising my fists. He unfolded his arms and sighed at me, shaking his head.
"I hear you've been doing a lot of meddling in the past where you don't belong, and I'm here to put an end to that." He pointed behind him, gesturing in the direction Sonic had vanished to. "Killing that blue fool won't solve any of your problems; it will only increase them!"
What…?
Just like Amy, this guy; this…Shadow, was only serving to push the world towards its destruction! How could the people of the past be so ignorant? I was trying to show them that the path to preserving their peace was through ridding the world of one single life! I know it wasn't ideal, and I wasn't proud to do it, but there was no way around it!
"You're with him too!" I shouted angrily as I pointed at him. He remained completely aloof and despondent, fueling my rage ever more. "You're one of the ones that wish to see the world fall into disarray!"
"Oh trust me, I've seen what a depraved world you come from, and I assure you that my actions, and Sonic's, don't lead to the future you were born in."
What the heck was he talking about?! What did he know about my world? Nothing, that's what! He wasn't born without hope, he didn't have to fight to live every single day of his life, and he didn't know what it like to be me…and to see him standing there, insisting that he AND the Iblis Trigger knew where I was coming from and that they weren't responsible for anything was complete bogus!
I knew; I knew all that I needed to…!
"N-No! I saw the Iblis Trigger! I saw what he's going to do today! And I trust what Mephiles said!"
My voice was cracking and getting desperate, my hands starting to glow merely to match my rising emotions rather to conjure up an attack. I was shaking in spite of myself, and Shadow just watched me with his brazen red eyes, trying to study me closely or something. The last thing I needed was to hear him preaching about he was in the right again…!
"You don't understand, Amy didn't understand, Sonic didn't understand…no one does!" I cried, grabbing two of the quills on my forehead and yanking them in frustration. "For so long, I've had no way of accomplishing what I needed to do, and now, I finally have something to believe in again…and everywhere I turn, people oppose me and tell me it's wrong!"
I gritted my teeth together, trying so hard not to let the tears slip.
"How is that wrong when I'm only doing what is right?"
Shadow merely shook his head at me, like I was some sort of lost cause and not worth his precious time. Well, I have all the time in the world, and if I failed to get the Iblis Trigger today, I'd just try again, and again, and again…! Mephiles would help me, Blaze would help me, and together we could work to preserve the future! Eventually there had to come a time where I could put an end to the Iblis Trigger where he stood, and Amy wouldn't make me and break me within a few days, and Shadow wouldn't jump out of the blue and start ranting a list of lies at me.
"Perhaps it's not you that's in the wrong, but what you've been told that makes you wrong," Shadow began again, but I was so tired of his dishonesties that I could spit. "I'm telling you, killing Sonic will only bring forth that which you're trying to prevent…"
He was calm and even during all this, the complete opposite of me, who felt like throwing up right about then. How could he just stand there goading me when he could see how much turmoil I was in? How could he hinder me when I only wanted to help those who couldn't help themselves?
What had I done to deserve so much sadness and anguish in my life? Why were so many obstacles coming in the way of me and simple happiness?
"Don't get in my way," I managed to respond after a long silence, enveloping myself in my glow and floating in the air. "I have no reason to doubt what Mephiles has told me, and you're not going to change my mind now! It's no use!"
Shadow looked perplexed at my words, but his eyes then widened when I let out a cry and flung myself backwards, then bringing myself up to a conveyor belt that looked over our little showdown area. Standing perfectly upright, I took hold of every crate and barrel within my range, manipulating them to circle around me. Shadow didn't know what to expect, so I attacked him while he was dazed.
"How about THIS?!"
I rained the slew of debris down upon my adversary, expecting him to be confused by the attack, which would in turn lead to his downfall. But instead, he suddenly burst into a colorful aura of his own –his being red- and he deflected my entire attack by punching the ground and expelling a red dome around himself. It was a deadly looking thing, considering it obliterated everything that it came in contact with, but to be against someone with such power…!
Well, he was still no Iblis.
"Hmph, I'LL give you something to doubt…!" Shadow blared, merely wiping off a few bits of debris after my attack. "Well, I won't hold back! Here I come!"
Okay, time to panic…!
I had absolutely no idea what to anticipate from this guy, so I booked it across the conveyor belt, and these beams of lightning licked at my heels, destroying my perch and nearly destroying me! I kept flying out of the way, but it didn't do me any good when one of those shots nailed me in the chest and blew me off the side.
"Argh, no…!"
The wind was knocked out of me with the one attack alone- landing on the ground just served to leave me gaping like a fish in the grass. I was stunned for the moment, only able to watch as Shadow came skating at me before curling into a ball, prepared to ram into me. My survival instincts kicked in at just the right time, allowing me to roll out of way, take hold of a metal crate, and whack it over his head.
"Ouch…!"
He was on the ground grabbing his head and snarling, so I picked up some more crates and sent them down at him one after another, launching them like I was punching at the air. His red irises flicked up at the last moment, and before I knew it, he was breakdancing on the ground and bashing the crates with a flurry of his fists and feet like it was choreographed.
Oh, come on!
Shadow worked his movements so fast that he was suddenly by me, taking down my stance with a single powerful kick, and I went down like a freaking elevator. I got another taste of dirt as I looked back to see a ball of red energy forming between his hands, and that reddish glow was enveloping him again.
"You should've taken your chances with Amy, not me!" he spat, hurling that ball of power right at me. It exploded next to me on the ground, but I was in close enough proximity to get thrown across the yard, uprooting dirt and sending clumps of grass flying.
"If you refuse to listen to reason, maybe you'll listen to my fists!" Shadow kept running at me, with both fists at the ready to strike. I was so not about to let him punch my face in after all he'd done to me, and when his knuckles nearly brushed against my nose, I congregated up all my strength and held him at bay with my powers. With him hovering above me, looking fierce but not angry, I calmed myself down a bit. I realized that I was frenzied and even sweating, and it was all because of this guy…?
He was a worthy opponent- credit given where credit's due.
As I stood up, I couldn't help but wonder what his motives were. Aside from his likeness to Mephiles, I wanted to know what he had to do with anything. I hated to have been rubbed the wrong way, but he barely knew me, so why would he bother trying to get me to see the other way? I had my reasons for needing to kill Sonic; what were his reasons for trying to change my mind?
"Why are you wasting your time with me?"
Shadow didn't answer right away; he was too busy trying to regain control of himself, shifting around in my grip. He managed to curl his arms slightly, and starting to lift his legs, but he was still entirely under my control.
"I'm trying…to stop you…from making a huge mistake…" he gasped out, still twitching with the desire for moment. My eyes narrowed- that was definitely NOT the answer I was hoping for.
"Yeah? Well that's a mistake on YOUR part!" I declared, tightening my hold on him. Shadow grunted and groaned in retaliation, his eyes blazing as he managed to turning his head to be able to face me, baring his fangs and looking ready to attack the moment he got the chance. His fierce gaze unsettled me to the core, and I was so focused on that I ended up missing him lift his legs, with the rockets in his shoes flaring to life and sending a huge spout of fire at me.
"Argh, nah-!"
I was forced backward to get away from the heat, Shadow flying away above the ground thanks to his shoes, but he had successfully broken free of my hold. I was currently wincing from the slight burns I received, but the pain was not exactly a new experience. Living in a world of fire, yeah, that's the sort of thing you get used to, and here, it actually served to make me strong.
Though there was nothing I could about the nasty spin dash he delivered to me afterward.
I went spiraling upwards, screaming my head off and watching as the world became one giant smear of blue, green, gray, and brown, and I couldn't tell up from down. My eyes spun, my head was dizzy, and I still felt sick to the pit of my stomach, but when that sensation of falling came over me, I had the foresight to make my hand glow and sense for Shadow. As soon as I found him and grabbed hold of what I think was his foot, he had launched another one of his energy beams at me, but the force of me flying backward made me send him off to the right.
I don't know where he landed, because I was too busy slamming into three rafter beams and then the wall of the building behind us. Pretty sure I left a dent too.
When I picked myself up again with a bit of a stagger in my step, I looked over to see Shadow splayed out on the ground, so I took the chance to hover over to him with a group of barrels at my disposal.
"Take THIS!"
He wasn't able to breakdance his way out of THAT, so he found himself buried under a pile of rubble, but…he was a little less responsive that he should've been. His eyes were widened like he discovered something astonishing, and he didn't move.
"If you're trying to fake me out, it's not going to work!" I exclaimed, levitating him out of the debris pile. I let him fly, then followed up by sending a psychic knife into his stomach. Shadow looked completely numb at that attack, like he had simply shrugged it off, and I clenched my fists angrily.
"Are you kidding me?!" I grunted, watching as he fell to the ground, lost in thought. Shouting and screaming, I reached for more barrels and crates and kept throwing them at him until I was sure he could feel it. "I am NOT to be trifled with!"
Shadow simply…sat there, like he didn't even want to fight anymore. And he was totally ignoring me.
"HEY!" I howled at him, growing bitterer with each passing second that he unheeded me. "At least pay attention when I'm pummeling you!"
When once again he didn't respond, I threw another crate straight at his face, but he suddenly came back to life, caught it with one hand, then heaved it back at me. Once again, I was caught off guard, with it striking me in the jaw and sending me spiraling into the dirt.
"What the-?!"
"I've thrown buses before," Shadow grumbled, dusting his hands off like it was no big deal. "Hurling anything at me is a bad idea."
He stood over me as if he was waiting for my next attack, but I was too busy glowering at him and clawing up dirt between my clenching fingers. My glove designs started to glow, and I really wanted to let him have it, turning away from the ground with an orb of energy at the ready at my fingers.
"Well how about THIS?!"
Just when I thought I had him nailed, he wasn't even standing there anymore, and I went slackjawed in the split second before this pain seared up my back, and once more I went flying across the area. I had flipped upside down at one point, and I was able to see him blowing smoke off his fingers with a sneer on his face.
Oh, he's going to pay.
"YAAAAAAAAH!"
I managed to halt myself in midair, just before I got acquainted with the wall of the building again. Still floating, I turned to face Shadow before reaching out to my sides with both hands, taking advantage of the freight trains that were passing us by. The freight on those trains suddenly matched my aura in color, with me lifting them right off of train carts.
Shadow wasn't looking so stoic now, let me say.
"What do you think you're doing!?" he yowled at me, taking a few steps back.
"What I should've done a long time ago!" I yelled back, letting the freight drop down onto him. The two huge metal boxes crashed onto the spot where Shadow was once standing, stuff flying everywhere and a huge mess left behind…
It's just, Shadow wasn't among that mess.
He suddenly appeared in front of it out of thin air, seething in a rage I didn't know he was capable of. He'd been slightly ticked before, but this was a whole new level. He was hovering over the ground as high as I was, his shoes working double time to keep him that high.
"All right," he grunted, tilting his head sideways and cracking his neck. "You asked for it."
I'm gonna die…!
Shadow raised his arms to either side of him like I had, but instead of taking control of anything, his right hand flashed over his head and he started snapping his fingers immediately. With each instantaneous snap, I felt like the world around me was exploding, and I had no idea how he was controlling energy like that, but I knew I needed to fly.
I took off across the yard, and thankfully Shadow had stopped his little snapping episode, but he was flying after me too now, leaving behind a trail of fire in his wake.
"Get BACK here and fight me!"
You couldn't pay me to go up against this guy again!
Eventually we both got tired of flying, me especially because I was really over exhausting my powers, so at long last I turned around to face him. He was looking as overworked as I was, and I figured only one good shot would be enough to finally do him in. I readied the last of my powers to make one last blast attack, my body bathed in green as I kept my gaze locked onto Shadow. He was in the same pose as I was, instead making a ball of red energy between his hands and his body shining crimson.
We both wanted to get in our strikes first, but we had moved at the same time, our attacks thrusting forward as we stepped closer together. The world seemed to fall into slow motion as his blast and my power connected, creating a catastrophic explosion that sent us both flying backward in the aftermath.
"ARRRRRRRGGH!" "NOOOOOO!"
The both of us wailed to the sky as the world was flipped upside down, Shadow landing awkwardly on his arm and I face planting into a dirt pile. The whole scenario was embarrassing for us both, but being hit with a combination of pure power like that…hurt. A lot.
"Not...now…" I mumbled under my breath, feeling a new ton of scrapes and bruises adorning me. My chest was heaving up and down from exhaustion, and my powers were all but drained at that point. I don't even know how I managed to stagger to my feet, but what really made me angry was that while Shadow was also visibly drained, he wasn't nearly as banged up as I was.
"Heh, you're not even a challenge…" he murmured under his breath, and I felt my vision go red.
To see that all my efforts barely had an effect on him…! It was just a kick in the face to remind me of just how weak I was! I failed at catching the Iblis Trigger twice now, I couldn't even face down a little girl, I followed a trail that led to a dead end, and now, this guy was going to beat the heck out of me –like he hadn't already- and was going to prevent me from completing my mission!
Why, why, WHY did this have to be so hard!?
I felt myself flashing back to my first encounter with Sonic, with how easily he brushed off my attacks once he learned how I worked. I remember how angry I felt that I couldn't overcome him; couldn't even keep him grounded with how resilient he was, and how aloof he acted when he pushed me to the ground in my last attempt to show him I was serious.
And here was Shadow, the exact same way.
I was literally trembling- not just from exhaustion, but from the rage building in me; an unbridled fury that had been in me somewhere simmering quietly, but I'd never had the proper outlet to unleash it on. Now, here it was, and as I found myself clenching my fist, I wasn't going to stand for it anymore.
Raising my fist over my head, I ran for Shadow, ready to punch his lights out and just daring him to stop me.
"RAAAAAAAAARGH!"
In the split second it would have taken me to connect my fist to his face, Shadow suddenly drew a green Chaos Emerald out of his quills, and before I could even fathom what that meant, he shouted, "CHAOS CONTROL"…and I suddenly wasn't moving nearly as fast as I should have been.
My forward momentum kept me moving, but out of the corner of my eye I could see him walk right past me, and when time around me returned to normal, I felt a sharp kick drive into the back of my head, and once again I was in the dirt.
…why…?
I lay there for a few seconds, having never felt so defeated in my whole life. I didn't know how much hostility and obstruction I could take at this point. I had tried to overcome so many obstacles in my life, but there had to come a time when you had to decide whether to just try harder…or to finally walk away.
It was the hardest decision anyone could choose to make.
On the ground, I glowered over my shoulder at Shadow, who was just standing there and making no sudden movement, always watching. I was so spent after our fight, but if I didn't get up now, I'd just be admitting defeat, and I wasn't ready to do that. When I finally pulled myself together, Shadow just sneered and flashed his emerald at me.
"Y-You…!"
"Don't bother attacking me again," he chided me, the glow of his gem almost threatening in his grasp. "With a Chaos Emerald's power, I can control time and space. You can't break free."
I…can't break free…? At this point, what COULD I break free of?
"It's no use…! IT'S NO USE!"
For years I've wasted time battling Iblis, which was utterly pointless with the way he kept coming back again, with nothing gained in the process of bringing him down. I worked myself into an endless cycle, and even when I thought I could, could I truly break free of that?
"I won't…give up…!"
I couldn't give up! With the Iblis Trigger off to cause the Day of Disaster, I'd be stuck with the future I sought out so hard to save. I had that chance to do what I could, and I couldn't stress enough to myself of what I could do when I stopped him; what I could change, what I could save…!
"It all depends on me…!"
Yes, me- one of the last remaining survivors of the world after it ended; a young, confused, immature teen that didn't quite know how to use his powers properly. That joke was supposed to bring the world out of its fated demise? A guy like that was going to be the savoir that the world needed for two hundred years?
"…Can't lose…!" I winced, resting on one knee and holding my head in my hands. "Not when I'm so close…!"
I couldn't stop here- I may not have accomplished much, but I had come so far regardless, and Shadow was about to stop me here and now, and I knew he could do it. He had demonstrated that to me many times in our battle, and though he had said that he wasn't holding back, I knew that he was, slightly, and I didn't want to fall victim to his true power…but I really wanted him to fall into mine.
I finally gained the resolve to stand up again, pulling out the trump card of my own, the Chaos Emerald I had found in White Acropolis. If it could help Shadow out, maybe it could help me…just maybe…
Because right now, more than ever, I needed a nudge in the right direction.
Blaze was always the one to give me that nudge. After my confrontation with Amy, and I was so torn on my morals and my desires, she was the one who showed me the reality. While it was hard, I had to do what I needed to. She didn't like it either, but nothing was going to change if I didn't take a chance on today!
"That's a Chaos Emerald," I could hear her voice telling me softly, reminding me of the true greatness that I held in my hand. "It's said that this gem can transform your thoughts into power. Collect seven, and a miracle is supposed to happen."
To think, I held a seventh of a miracle in my own two hands…
"…keep it as a lucky charm."
…A lucky charm was definitely what I needed right now, and with the power I could feel it feeding to me, it gave me the hope…
"It…transforms your thoughts into power, huh…?"
…that maybe I could cause a small miracle of my own. That's all I needed.
I stared into the emerald, a rise of courage filling in place of where uncertainty had been. It showed me how every night, I could feel my pain. I waited for my valor, but it never came. And now that I'm able, I still want to change the past; to mend a faux pas…
And this was my last chance.
With pure conviction and undying tenacity, I outstretched the emerald above my head and refused to be defeated! If Shadow could use the emerald to change what was around him…then why couldn't I?!
I just have to channel my thoughts into power…
"RAAAAAAAAAGH!"
After hearing my shout and seeing me move, Shadow prepared to initiate another Chaos Control, but I was ready for him this time, matching his movements point for point. Maybe if I mimicked him, I could recreate what he did.
"Chaos-" he shouted, holding his emerald forward. I forced my wrist next to his with my own Chaos Emerald, fiercely locking eyes with him as the thoughts of changing the past churned in my head.
"-CONTROL!" we both yelled now, and what happened next I definitely wasn't expecting.
A blue hole ripped through the fabric of time and space itself, and after that the Chaos Emeralds repelled away from each other, also pushing me away from Shadow. I was just really confused by what had just gone down, while Shadow looked like he'd been smacked in the jaw by some realization.
And yet, he took a ton of crates to the face better than the appearance of this…thing.
"…HUH?!"
THAT was from me, though.
"You…induced a Chaos Control? You caused a space-time rift?!" he nearly screeched, and I just gaped at it, feeling the Chaos Emerald pulsate in my hand.
"I caused that?" I asked, dumbfounded, and he nodded dumbly.
"I can't cause a space-time rift by myself, even with an emerald," Shadow explained, still floored by the revelation. "I thought Sonic was the only other person who could initiate Chaos Control…"
SONIC can do THAT too?!
I was actually kinda impressed with my newfound abilities, and I wondered what else I could do with them, but I refused to let myself get swept up in all this excitement. I composed myself and stood straighter, storing my emerald away for safe keeping.
"I won't let anyone get in my way," I reiterated, clenching my fist. "I'll change the past and save the world!"
Shadow stared at me a few moments longer, but then turned away and shook his head in disappointment. I felt myself soften a bit; I really hadn't meant to cause any trouble, I just go so frustrated…
"Mephiles isn't trying to help you create a better future," he finally said after an unsettling lull in the conversation. "He's trying to eliminate the past!"
I stood stunned for a few moments, in disbelief that he could even say that. Mephiles was the one who had helped me get to the past in the first place- what would drive him to do that if he wanted to ruin said past?
"…what?" I choked out, now feeling conflicted. "What are you talking about?"
"I mean, no one knows the truth about Mephiles, and those that do are intent on keeping it confidential," he explained, turning to face the portal we'd created together. "I know that he has something terrible in the works, but I don't know the 'why' myself…"
He gazed into the swirling blue energy of the portal, his fists tightening instinctively.
"To discover what happened, it seems we must see what took place ten years ago."
Wait, wait, wait…he wanted to go into the random space-time rift that we created on accident?!
"Wh-what!? How do you know that portal leads to the time and place that…whatever you're talking about…happened?"
Shadow was quiet, but he eventually faced me again.
"Well, what were you thinking about when you thought to use the Chaos Control?"
"…exactly what I told you; my desires to change the past," I replied conservatively. Why was that important?
The lightest smirk I'd ever seen crossed his face as he stepped toward the portal confidently.
"I think we'll be right where need to be. Now, let's go."
Was he serious?!
"You beat me up and then want me to follow you into some mystery portal?!"
"You struck first," Shadow reminded me, springing into the air. "The choice is entirely yours. Follow me if you want the truth."
He took off into the blue vastness that was the rift, leaving me behind to make up my mind.
I could've let him go do what he wanted, and I could've resumed my search for the Iblis Trigger…but this could be the one time I'd be able to see who was in the right about all. Perhaps this really was where all my problems truly began…two hundred and ten years before I even existed.
Maybe this was where I could see if all my troubles were really what they seemed. Maybe, if I took a look around, I could realize who was preaching all the lies…Sonic and his apparently endless pack of friends, or Mephiles himself.
I know I wasn't one to take risks, but…maybe it was time to start doing so.
Besides, if Shadow couldn't open a space-time rift by himself, how was he expecting to get back…?
"Time travel," I muttered under my breath, but I figured that this quick little field trip would help more than hurt.
And as usual, I was wrong.
