"So this is the power of the Ultimate Life Form, Shadow the Hedgehog," Mephisto hissed under his breath. "More than I expected anyway... but what power you have is useless compared to our might-"

The beast bellowed, and dark fire surrounded it, then was absorbed into what was still the Iblis- a dark crystalline reptilian beast that roared and made the ground shake and crack under its force.

Shadow watched the thing roar and spew fire, as if announcing its strength. He looked over to see if Silver was still limp- and out of harm's way- but the roaring Iblis growled and charged at the hedgehog coated with purple fire. Telegraphed and easily dodged, but its lashing tail smacked him to the ground and reduced a rock to rubble and dust in the process.

Mephisto chuckled and growled as he turned around to examine the damage done to his opponent. "Some life form."

"Grrooah!" A chunk of boulders and rock smashed into the Iblis's side, almost burying the creature in the wreckage-

Silver heaved as he steadied his arm with his right hand. His body felt heavy and weak but he was able to get a little psychokinesis out-

"You," Mephisto growled, shaking the rubble away. "I thought you were nothing but a doll!"

Shadow started to recover from the blow, watching the monster stare down the weak little hedgehog. It was like watching a bobcat corner a battered mouse. "You really think you and your father are any match for me? And with you in your weakened state?"

Silver was too busy wincing in pain to reply, and only flexed his hand and furrowed his brow. In so much pain...

Shadow didn't see Silver anymore, just a pale gray hedgehog near tears with a blazing midnight sky in her eyes.

Selene-!

Mephisto raised a paw to swat Silver out of his misery- But Shadow yanked the creature's tail to trip it.

"Get out of here," he barked at Silver. "Hurry!"

"I'm... not-" Silver collapsed into a kneel. "I won't.."

"Go!" he yelled, nudging the boy away. "Just go-!"

GROOOO!

The Iblis awakened and engulfed the two hedgehogs in a ring of fire. Its laughter echoed over the whooshing flames.

"I've never seen anything so pitiful- the 'Ultimate Life Form' brought down by the mere thought of this whelp and its dead mother." The green sharp eyes of Mephisto glowed intensely through the fiery wall. "Are these really the two responsible for our destruction? Did we even need to bother with you two weaklings?

"We will consume this planet and all within, starting with you two!"

The heat grew more intense, as the light grew painfully bright. Shadow's black fur smoldered under the pressure, the heat scratching at him from all angles-

"AArrra!" A blast of cool air warped and shaped the flames away from the hedgehogs, allowing them to squint at the newcomer, who was wrapping the flames around them before the Iblis.

"Wha- it's... you!"

As the flames begin to take the shape of a cat their color burned white before the glow faded just enough to see the purple cat that emanated fire- but a warm fire, not an intense boiling rage that Mephisto gave off.

"You- how are you here?!" the Iblis bellowed. "You don't exist here!- You shouldn't- it's impossible!"

"Silver!" the strange cat turned her head over her shoulder. "Are you all right?"

Silver was at a loss for words, both recovering from the ring of fire and Shadow from the past- now this strange fire-cat who knew him somehow- he panted, trying to recover his strength from the Iblis's manipulation.

"Who are you?" Shadow asked.

"That's not important right now," she said, facing the purple and black monstrosity before them. "What matters is that we have to defeat Iblis, here and now, once and for all!"

The monster growled, then chuckled. "You are a part of us," it hissed to the strange cat. "Destroying us... means destroying you."

"It has to be done," she retorted. "If it means peace for Silver's future, I'll do it. I've done it before, and I'll do it again in a heartbeat."

She clenched her fists. "So let's end this, Iblis."

Venice peered down into the ravine where Sicily had been running until her body ragdolled near the edge. As he looked he held the cat-fox's body in his arms, unconscious.

"GRROOOOAH!" The ground and the ravine began to shake, causing Venice to lower towards the ground. What was that? Some sort of roar- like an animal's but nothing like any animal Venice knew about.

Sicily started to moan a bit, and Venice shook her gently. "Sicily. Sicily, wake up."

Her eyes opened, blue like Venice remembered. Whenever she got all weird her eyes were golden, but now- "Hey, Sicily... are you okay?"

Her head rolled over to face Venice as she blinked blankly. "Ven...Venice?" she mumbled, putting a hand to her head. "What's going on?"

Venice sat her down on the ground and held her up by her shoulders. "Sicily... what's going on?" he asked. "Do you know what's happening? Where we are?"

She blinked and looked away in thought, moaning. "No... Where are we?"

"You ran this way, until you reached here- do you remember that?"

Sicily nodded slowly. "It felt like a dream... like I was someone else."

"Someone else?"

"Yeah... and that someone... made me want to find your little brother. So when I went to your house, I was still me, but... someone else wanted me to- so I wanted to..." She looked up, looking a little confused. "Does... that make sense to you?"

He juggled the idea in his head. "A little, I think. Like, you were possessed or something?"

"It didn't feel bad," she said. "It just felt weird...and warm inside."

"So... not like a demon or something? Maybe more like... an angel?"

"An angel..." she echoed, looking up. "An angel of fire."