I know events are out of order from the game… But does it matter that much? Again, things are going to be different. ESPECIALLY in the next Mario/Sonic-centric chapter.

Also, the description of Flame Core is probably very little like it actually is in the game. I'm feeling more comfortable with it, though.

Chapter 10

"It's a giant volcano…" Tails said in awe, looking at the huge mountain before them.

"Yes. There's one Chaos Emerald to the right, and another to the left side. We should split up, so we can cover things quicker. Now, who's going to go which-"

"Right," Mario said, dashing off without a second thought. Luigi followed him, without even saying a word, Sonic and Tails close behind.

"… I'll be honest, you two are more my speed," Knuckles said. "Let's go."

The route Mario had chosen happened to be a river of lava, with floating rock rafts sliding down it and fiery bird monsters everywhere. Mario was completely unfazed by all this, as though rivers of lava were a common occurrence. Sonic used said firey monsters to make a path, by using his homing attack, or… Well, just light-dashing rings whenever he found them. Luigi and Tails stuck together, using their combined aerial abilities to follow behind them.

"Your brother seems really confident…" Tails said. "I mean, it's not every day you're in a river of lava, right?"

"… Actually, that describes our lives pretty well," Luigi confided. "Okay, not every day, but at least twice a month. Bowser – our bad guy, like Eggman is to you two – lives in this sort of place."

"… Isn't that dangerous?" Tails asked, as he flew Luigi over a rather long stretch of lava.

"Yeah. But hey, at least there's no ghosts! Most of the time…" Luigi shivered, despite the immense heat. "Hate ghosts…"

"I'm scared of ghosts, too," Tails said, as he set Luigi down on a relatively solid stretch of land. "And lightning… I don't like lightning at all."

Luigi frowned as he ran, thinking of the implications that might have for their friendship.

Shadow, Rouge, and Knuckles had come across something very unexpected.

"Is that…" Knuckles started. "Omega? What happened to him?"

"He's in standby mode," Rouge said, examining her robot friend closely. "Looks like it's been… Probably ever since we left…"

"All the more reason to return," Shadow said. "I don't know why he's here, but if it can be prevented, that would be far preferable."

Mario, Luigi, Sonic, and Tails had stopped for the time being – They'd found a small metal building, reminiscent of Eggman's base, and decided to check it out because of this.

They saw a silver hedgehog, familiar to Mario and Sonic, talking to a weird Shadow look-alike. They hid in the doorway, watching them without alerting them to their presence.

"So… This blue hedgehog… He caused all this?" Silver asked the Shadow lookalike, as he looked at the computer screen in the room.

"Yes. His actions caused the release of Iblis. The only way to save your world is to prevent these actions from coming true. I can send you back to when the Iblis Trigger was alive – Allow you to save your world, by changing the past."

Silver thought for a moment. "I'll do it!"

The Shadow-like figure seemed to grin – quite a feat with no mouth – And caused a purple sphere of energy to appear, enveloping Silver so the hedgehog disappeared. He himself snapped his fingers, vanishing in a flash of light.

The three heroes ran in, to check the computer where the Shadow clone had been showing Silver information. Tails immediately set to work trying to figure it out.

"So… This is where Silver is from," Mario said, as Tails worked. "Hmm… I see why he thinks I had something to do with it, but what could it be that you caused?"

"Well, faker's faker could just have been, y'know, lying. He's pretty much obviously evil."

"Good point."

"Uh-oh…" Tails said. "This is… Really bad, guys… Just listen. Two days after the beginning of the Festival of The Sun, Princess Elise died when the Egg Carrier exploded… Releasing Iblis. It says here, with the disappearance of Team Hero, Team Dark, and the Mario Brothers the previous day… No one was really able to stand up to the fiery beast…" Tails seemed close to tears. "…th… the first to try was… Amy… And…" He took a deep breath before continuing. "… by herself, she couldn't… Then Princess Peach and the Toad Brigade, but they too… Then… I don't know who they are, but the Kongs, Wario, and Daisy… The only one to make it out was Wario, who later came back by himself and…" Tails stopped talking.

"Uh… You okay, bro?" Sonic asked.

"… No… we need to… back… So many people tried to fight this thing and…" Tails trailed off. "… Everyone we know… Team Chaotix… Cream and Big… Everyone tried, but no one…"

Sonic pulled Tails away from the computer, giving his little brother a hug. "Don't worry, Tails, we won't let that happen."

"… We need to get back. Now," Luigi said.

Shadow, Rouge, and Knuckles had made it into the volcano itself, with Knuckles giving Shadow a ride while they climbed through the inside.

"Our lives seem to become increasingly dangerous every day," Rouge said.

"Tell me about it," Knuckles agreed. "Before you know it, the planet's probably going to be broken into seven pieces again, only this time there's also going to be some ancient monster on the loose."

"… And you got that idea where?" Shadow asked. "Agh, no matter. The Chaos Emerald is on that tiny platform way down there in the middle of the lava. Keep going, and don't fall in."

"Don't fall in," Knuckles said sarcastically. "Right. I'll keep that in mind, and try to hang on to my rings."

It was a good thing, really, that Knuckles and Rouge were such good climbers. If they weren't, they'd probably have fallen into the lava – And there weren't any rings down there, so there was more than a little danger. They didn't fall, though, and Knuckles and Rouge were able to safely get Shadow to the Chaos Emerald. With a shout of "CHAOS CONTROL!", the three disappeared from the volcano, to appear outside.

Meanwhile, Sonic and Mario's group was heading over and beyond the volcano, to a group of burnt trees where a cyan light could be seen shining.

"Almost there," Sonic said to his little brother. "And then we'll save everybody, don't you worry."

Tails nodded, still too shocked form the information he'd seen.

As they approached the emerald, a flash of light appeared, carrying Shadow, Knuckles, and Rouge with it.

"Hey, long time no see!" Sonic said, grinning.

"It's been fifteen minutes," Shadow said.

"What can I say?"

"You can – DON'T TOUCH THAT!" Shadow yelled, but it was too late. Fixated on the idea of getting back and saving his friends, Tails had flown to the cyan Chaos Emerald in front of them. A gigantic fiery beast erupted from the ground under it, knocking Tails back. Luigi caught him, and he was unharmed, but shaken. The beast kept coming and coming from the ground, breaking it to reveal lava below, until it reached its full size.

"What is that thing?!" Sonic yelled.

"… Iblis," Tails said, remembering the information he'd read earlier. "… That's Iblis… it's one half of Solaris… The power half… It's mindless destruction with all the strength of a star…"

"Well, then, amici," Mario said, adjusting his hat. "Let's-a-go."