We reappeared in Soleanna.

"I was wondering when you'd get back."

We turned to see Rouge.

"The Chaotix showed and told me you got sent back in time. They and Omega are in pursuit of Mephiles." She stated, pointing towards the end of town.

"What about Milo?" I asked.

"Don't worry, he's fine. Here kitty, kitty!"

Upon her call, Milo ran up to us and jumped into my arms.

"I thought I told Espio to watch you."

"He said the cat kept hissing at him."

"Milo." I sighed, flicking his ear. Milo mreowled lowly.

"So, what'd you find 10 years ago?" Rouge asked.

"I need you to access G.U.N.'s data base. Find out what materials made up the Scepter of Darkness." Shadow replied, walking towards the area she'd pointed.

"Sure, but you haven't answered my question yet."

"I found the means to seal Mephiles." Shadow snapped, and started off again.

Rouge watched him go, before glancing at me.

"It was kind of a revealing trip." I replied.

She shrugged, and we followed Shadow.

:::::::::::::

Omega fired at Mephiles three times, and he steadily stepped back.

The Chaotix stood beside him, ready to attack.

"This only proves you were created to stop Shadow, the ultimate life form." Mephiles remarked.

Omega drew back in somewhat surprise, and the Chaotix glanced at the two of them in confusion.

"What's he talking about?" Charmy asked.

"Don't tell me you didn't know," Mephiles continued, "You may have been programmed by humanity, but what you did to Shadow in the future, that was you-"

He didn't have a chance to finish, as Omega transformed his hands into machine guns, and fired at Mephiles. The demon was hit multiple times, and he fell to his knees. He fell back, letting out a psychotic laugh as he vanished into the ground.

"Okay…" Vector muttered.

"What was that about?" Charmy asked.

They turned to Omega questioningly, but the robot stayed silent.

"Hey!" I yelled as they came into view.

"What just happened?" Rouge asked as we reached them.

Suddenly this scene came back to me, and I bit my lip.

"Uh, why don't we go find somewhere to rest for a bit?" I suggested, grabbing Shadow's arm and trying to pull him towards town. He gave me an odd look.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked.

"N-nothing, just…Omega's probably tired, so let's find a place to recharge."

Omega turned to look at me, then at Shadow.

"Shadow…the one who defeats and seals you in the future…is me." The robot said.

Things were silent for a moment. Shadow's eyes widened, then narrowed at the robot, demanding and confused. The Chaotix were silent, eyes flicking from Omega to Shadow and back. Rouge took a step towards the robot.

"It's…it's so unfair! Shadow's always here to defend the world…but, despite that…"

'When has anything been fair for Shadow?' I thought as I glanced at Shadow. He in turn looked at me.

"You knew about this?"

I hesitantly nodded. "I'm sorry…"

"Eventually when something, or someone, is seen as too powerful…it is seen as a threat…and then the world becomes its enemy…" Omega stated, pointing at Shadow, who had turned away from us.

"But…but that's not fair!" Charmy yelled.

"Charmy." Espio said, trying to quiet him, but the bee didn't listen.

"He saved the world a bunch of times! Sure he was mean at first, but he made up for it! He saved the world from the Black Arms too!"

Shadow started walking away.

"Shadow," Rouge called, and he stopped, "Even if you believe the entire world will turn against you, know that I'll always remain by your side…remember that…"

Shadow looked over his shoulder at her.

"…I will." He said, nodding.

"Hey Shadow?" I called. He glanced at me.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier…I just didn't want to upset you or anything…"

He nodded, and started walking away. We all looked at each other, then followed after him.

::::::::::::::::

We reached the Dusty Desert, and stopped at the entrance.

"Mephiles appears to have headed for that old temple." Rouge stated, pointing in the direction of the temple.

"It appears he's searching for a Chaos emerald." Shadow added.

"He needs them to fuse with Iblis." I said.

"I will seal him before that." Omega announced, closing his claw into a fist.

"You boys sure you wanna come with us?" Rouge asked, looking at the Chaotix.

"You bet!" Charmy replied.

"We're the Chaotix, we never turn away!" Vector added.

"The fate of the world is at stake, we'll do everything we can to prevent that." Espio announced.

"Sides, we still gotta keep an eye on you!" Vector said, patting my head. I giggled a little.

"Okay Milo, ready to save the world?" I asked, looking at the orange cat. He made a noise, and started cleaning his face.

"I'll take that as a yes! Let's go!"

Everyone nodded, and we set off.

:::::::::::::::::

The temple was a challenge to say the least. There were quick sand traps everywhere, and apparently Mephiles was expecting us, cuz his monsters were everywhere too. At one point, I almost slipped and fell into a bottomless black pit, but Espio managed to catch my wrist and pull me to safety.

"Maybe I should carry you until we get to safer ground." He remarked.

"I'm for that." I mumbled.

When we finally reached the end of the chaos, we were met with a large set of stone double doors.

"So, how should we get them open?" Espio asked, setting me down.

"We could always knock." Charmy replied.

"Charmy, I doubt that's gonna-"

Shadow suddenly struck the doors with both hands, and they burst open with a loud crash.

"Or maybe it would…" Espio muttered. Shadow smirked, and we headed in.

"Mephiles!" Shadow yelled as we raced into the large room.

Mephiles was up ahead on an altar with his back to us.

"I was expecting you sooner," he said, glancing over his shoulder at us, "And I see you brought the rest of your little friends. As I'm sure you're aware of, you're already too late."

He turned around, holding the yellow Chaos emerald.

"Aw man…" Charmy muttered.

"But there's still time to change your mind. Join me Shadow, and let us rewrite the future."

"Don't try to deceive me!" Shadow retorted.

"What?"

"He already knows you're just tryin' to use him." Charmy stated.

"Yeah, getting sent back in time 10 years will do that." I added matter-o-factly.

"You have no desire for revenge, you only crave destruction. Your only lust is to fuel Iblis until there's nothing left of time itself!" Shadow growled.

Mephiles paused, before dropping his arms to his sides.

"It's a pity Shadow the Hedgehog, truly a shame that you wish to go against me." He muttered. The Chaos emerald glowed, and floated into the air. It released a burst of energy, and we were all knocked back.

Most of everyone landed on their feet, except for me and Vector. This time Shadow caught me, and set me down next to the Chaotix. Mephiles floated down from the altar, and the floor suddenly turned in a squirming blackish purple mass.

"V-Vector?" Charmy squeaked nervously as he and I clung to each other.

"Don't worry, just stay calm." Espio said.

"Yeah! Just stay calm everyone! Be calm! See how calm I am?" Vector exclaimed hysterically.

I glanced across the room at Mephiles, and for a second our eyes locked, before he switched his glare back to Shadow.

"I'll make sure you regret this Shadow the Hedgehog." He growled.

This was gonna be a loooong fight…

::::::::::::::::::

And so begins our final battle with Mephiles!

BTW, my comp's having some issue so it'll be a while before I upload anything else. It might just be some dust build up, but until we can be sure, I'll be taking things slow and easy with this thing. Wish the best of luck please! R&R!