Chapter 6 (Sonic): Back to the Past
The new castle of Soleanna was an impressive feat of architecture, from the stone blocks to the red carpet. Centered on an island off of the mainland, the castle stood tall displaying the symbol of Solaris on its frontmost wall.
To visitors, it was a sight to behold; for citizens, it was a reminder of the past.
After the failure of the Solaris Project, the original castle was abandoned and left as a memorial for those whose lives were lost. When a new castle was suggested to be built in its place, the citizens unanimously agreed for it to be built far from the original out of respect.
At the time, Blaze felt the decision was best for both her and her citizens, but if it were put up to a vote now, she would've rejected it immediately given her situation.
As soon as the boat she had ridden to the island docked at the pier, Blaze raced up the familiar stairway leading up to the castle. It was unusually quiet.
Where are all the guards?! Blaze wondered to herself.
Normally, there would be routine patrols around the castle grounds, but even at the docks there was an eerie absence of guards. Even the handmaidens and janitorial staff were nowhere to be seen.
Running through one of the outside corridors, Blaze soon found her answer.
A swarm of Egg Gunners revealed themselves from their hiding space above, dropping down and surrounding the cat princess. The last to drop down was a blue robot about her size, his red eyes designed to appear intimidating. Most contrasting from the rest of the robots, though was his hedgehog-shaped body.
"So-" Blaze started to say Sonic's name, only to stop midway.
This isn't him. This is…Metal Sonic.
Metal Sonic stepped forward and tried to grab Blaze at the arm, only for her to knock his hand away. But just as she began to summon her powers…
"Finally. I've been waiting so patiently for you to return, Princess."
Turning to her left, Blaze saw Dr. Eggman on that flying hovercraft of his. He never failed to act in such a caring way around her.
She wanted to blast him out of the air, yet logic kept her at bay.
Waiting? That means…
"Where are my guards?" Blaze demanded. "My staff members!"
"Settle down, my dear!" Eggman raised his hands, chuckling. "They're fine…at the moment. But their lives depend on you."
Blaze raised an eyebrow at this, wanting him to continue.
"Right now," Eggman elaborated, "Your court members and guards are at the mercy of my death squad. One simple order, and they all die. But if you surrender back into my care, you have my promise that their lives will be spared." He paused, waiting for the reality of the situation to sink into Blaze's head.
Smirking, he added, "So, what will it be, your Highness? Will you be an obedient kitty cat?"
Blaze's temper was at its peaking point. Growling, she wanted to end the doctor right then and there. She wanted him to suffer like no one else had before.
Which is why with great regret, she closed her eyes and let the flames in her hands die.
She wanted him to suffer. But her people came first.
"You've made a wise decision, my dear," Eggman commented. Adjusting the aircraft's altitude to Blaze's level, he motioned for her to climb aboard. Upon doing so, Blaze reached her hands out towards Eggman.
"Huh?"
"Aren't you going to cuff me like before?"
"Hmph." Eggman rubbed his fat nose, annoyed. "I'm afraid I'm fresh out, considering you keep breaking them. Make no mistake, though. Do anything defiant and the hostages die. Are we clear?"
Blaze silently nodded her head.
"Good. Now then, we have a train to catch."
"What? A train?" Blaze became confused. Why would Eggman need a train? Couldn't he just fly them back to White Acropolis? Not that flying made the situation any better, but still.
Eggman explained. "If G.U.N. is one thing, they aren't stupid. Seeing as how I've deployed another garrison of Badniks into Soleanna to capture you again, they'll be expecting me to fly over them. Hence, we need a more…discrete way of getting back."
Blaze understood it perfectly. One of the numerous ways in which Soleanna got its supplies was via trains, and the train lines went through the mountains where Eggman's base was set up.
Eggman pressed a button on the control panel, and the aircraft began to ascend forward and up towards the skies. Metal Sonic and the other robots followed closely behind.
"You guys are so slow."
"How about next time, you take the Emerald furthest from the meetup point?" Knuckles retorted to Rouge's insult.
The three heroes had made their way through the ruined city of Soleanna back to the teleporter room. Upon teleporting back to White Acropolis, it was a simple task exiting Eggman's base and meeting up with Rouge and Shadow, who had already done their part and were standing by, waiting for them.
Unlike the present-day White Acropolis, the mountains no longer possessed the same fluffy snow that Sonic, Tails and Knuckles almost got buried in. Instead, the skies above were ashen and the trees were as lifeless as a cemetery.
Tails intervened. "Did you two find anything?"
Rouge smiled proudly at him, pulling out a glimmering green gem for the three heroes to see. "Look."
The three heroes perked up at the sight of the Chaos Emerald. "You found one!" Tails exclaimed.
"Well now, I may not look it, but I'm a real treasure hunter." Seeing Knuckles turning away at this statement, Rouge added, "Unlike a certain echidna I know."
"What?!" Knuckles instantaneously turned around to face Rouge, who smiled waving the Emerald side-to-side. Everyone else stared at Knuckles, expecting him to lash out like an upset toddler. In the end, Knuckles simply huffed, crossed his arms and turned away.
Can't those two ever get along? Sonic wondered.
Shadow then spoke. "Have you guys discovered anything?"
Tails answered him. "Um, yeah. We found a Chaos Emerald, but…we kind of lost it."
Rouge stared at him with disbelief. "Really? You lost a Chaos Emerald?"
"It's a long story. But I know where to find another one. I received a signal indicating there's a Chaos Emerald here, but…well…" Tails pointed to the large volcano in the distance. At the moment, the volcano showcased streams of lava flowing down its sides; the top itself spewed out showers of molten rock, adding smoke to the already dark skies.
Rouge's jaw dropped. "You mean we've got to go through there?"
"If you don't like it," Knuckles said, satisfied at the opportunity to deliver an acidic jab back at Rouge, "You can stay here."
"You've got to be kidding!"
Shadow, undeterred, unfolded his arms and began walking down the path towards the volcano. "Let's go."
Sonic followed, and Tails trailed behind him. Knuckles grinned one final time at Rouge before joining up with the other three. Rouge, knowing there was no other way, sighed and moved quickly to catch up.
As they walked down the grey path, Sonic thought back to what he had seen in that secluded room in the city. It was evident that Silver was, in a way, like Shadow—he was determined and dangerous, but at the same time a good person. All he wants to do is save the future, right? So, when he returns to the past, Sonic thought he could reason with him and try to help him out.
Sonic would never have wanted this to happen to the world, nor did he think he could. But if that other hedgehog's claim about him being the 'Iblis Trigger' was right, there might be a way to fix that.
Speaking of which…
"Hey Shadow." Sonic addressed the black hedgehog, who was silently walking ahead of him. He turned his head to face Sonic. "What is it?"
"We didn't exactly lose the Emerald."
"I figured as much."
"Heh," Sonic chuckled. "I'm sure. Anyway, we found where the Chaos Emerald was, but it was in someone else's possession. We didn't reveal ourselves, but we watched as he and two other people disappeared into the past with the Emerald."
"…Is that so?"
Sonic noticed Shadow's delay in his answer. At first, Sonic thought it was due to annoyance at how Sonic let an opportunity to go back in time slip through their fingers, but upon closer examination, he saw Shadow was thinking about something.
"Y-yeah. But the thing is, he looked exactly like you."
"…!"
Shadow stopped walking, prompting Sonic and the others to stop as well. Seeing Shadow's expression with concern, Sonic asked, "You know him?"
Shadow turned to face Sonic, nodding his head with seriousness. Not the typical 'Shadow doesn't tolerate any nonsense' seriousness, but more of a 'This isn't a good thing' seriousness.
"Mephiles."
"Huh?"
"His name," Shadow stated, "Is Mephiles. He's the reason Rouge and I are here in the first place."
"What?" Tails finally said. "Why would he do that?"
Shadow shook his head. "I'm not exactly sure, but I do know this: he is able to move through time without the use of a Chaos Emerald."
Now Sonic, Tails and Knuckles were at a loss for words. The volcano in the distance was still far away, but the group was close enough now to hear the eruptions coming from it.
"How is that possible?" Knuckles asked Shadow.
"I'm don't know. It's possible that, like me, he can use some Chaos energy."
The three heroes fell silent again. Someone potentially as strong as Shadow exists? It wasn't an impossibility; the Ultimate Lifeform Prototype, while large compared to the final product that was Shadow, was one example. Mephiles could very well have been another case.
Given the state of the future, it wouldn't be much of a shock if the world made another Ultimate Lifeform. But why did Mephiles bring Shadow and Rouge here?
"Hey guys!" Rouge shouted. While the three and Shadow were talking, Rouge had walked a little ahead to examine the path in front of them, only to stop a short distance away. "We've got a problem. The path splits in two. From the looks of it, both lead into the volcano." Eyeing Tails, Rouge asked, "Which way do we go?"
Tails pulled out the C.E.T. Though he tried adjusting the settings, the radar was going on the fritz. "I can't get a lock due to the weather!" He tried walking to where Rouge was to see if that may help, but the signal only grew worse. "Looks like we'll have to split up again."
Knuckles grumbled as he walked towards them. "Great."
As he, Tails and Rouge decided on which path to take, Sonic and Shadow watched wordlessly. When the three had decided that Team Sonic would take the left path while Team Dark the right, Shadow addressed Sonic without turning to him. "Sonic."
"Eh? What's up?"
"If you run into Mephiles in the past, don't underestimate him." Shadow then walked forward to rejoin Rouge and the others.
Sonic stood still for a moment. Don't underestimate him? If Shadow's saying it, I'd better take his word for it.
Sonic then returned to the group to hear the whole plan.
"Alright then!" Tails said. "Whoever finds the Emerald will call in so the rest of us can meet up."
Everyone nodded in approval.
Sonic waged his finger at Shadow, teasingly. "Don't be late!"
Shadow walked past Sonic, indifferent to his challenge. "Same to you."
Facing their chosen roads, the two teams departed from each other once more.
"Hweugh!" Sonic kicked a fiery monster in the face, knocking it down to dissolve as he raced past it with Tails and Knuckles in tow.
The swerving road of black rock was as hard as diamond, but nothing Sonic's feet couldn't handle when it came to running. The blue hedgehog rushed forward up a cliff, jumping off of it down to the nearest area that continued the way to the volcano.
And speaking of which…
"Phew! What a view!" Sonic commented on the sight of the erupting mountain as he fell. No matter where he went, there was always something he enjoyed.
Landing on the ground below, Sonic immediately dashed forward. The area began to glow more as the three started to race past rivers of lava. Pillars of the orange liquid rose and fell randomly.
Gotta be careful not to fall off here, Sonic warned himself.
Ascending upwards, the three heroes found a group of the flame monsters waiting for them; among the familiar lizard beasts was a golem of brown rock, yet it, too was made from the lava. Summoning a red sphere of molten rock and flame, the golem threw it towards Sonic and his friends.
The heroes dodged the attack as it burst upon impact with the ground. As Tails landed a few feet away, the ground below him glowed bright orange.
"Whoa!" Tails quickly rolled to the side as a column of fire vented from the ground. The same phenomenon occurred in other spots as well.
"Lava shoots up from the ground, too? Alright!" Sonic said with enthusiasm, though not without concern for Tails.
"Sonic!" Knuckles pointed at the golem, which was preparing to attack again as the lizards went after Tails. Knowing full well that Tails could take on the lizards with his own skills, Knuckles turned back to Sonic and clapped his hands together, taking a defensive-looking stance.
Sonic understood what Knuckles was thinking, and nodded in agreement. He then commenced a spin dash towards Knuckles who, using his body, was able to redirect Sonic and throw him towards the golem with greater velocity.
Unable to protect itself without letting go of the sphere in its hand, the golem could only watch as Sonic sliced through its core and land behind him. The new red sphere that the golem had created fell off its lifted hand as the golem toppled over onto its back, disappearing into nothingness.
Sonic stood up, turned and gave Knuckles a thumbs up; the red echidna nodded, then turned to Tails who was just finishing off the last of the monsters. The fox boy then rejoined the two.
"Piece of cake," Sonic said coolly.
"Let's just hope the next ones are just as easy," Knuckles responded, and the three of them continued moving on.
In front of them was another stream of lava, but it was carrying large platforms as it flowed downwards. Undeterred, Sonic began hopping from platform to platform as Tails and Knuckles flew above. Upon reaching the end of the river, where the only way forward was up a lavafall, Tails grabbed Sonic's arms and ascended. Knuckles, only able to glide, grabbed on to a wall not covered in lava and began climbing up.
At the summit, Sonic, Tails and Knuckles observed the path ahead of them. They were much closer to the volcano now, which had increased the amount of rocks flying out of its crater; said rocks were also impacting the road ahead.
"Cool, it's raining fire!" Sonic exclaimed.
Tails put a hand to his head. "I hate it when he gets like this."
Tails admired many things about Sonic, one of which was his bravery. However, that same bravado mixes poorly with his desire for action and adventure, resulting in Sonic being too cocky about situations such as these.
Sonic turned to address Tails and Knuckles, not having heard what Tails said. "You ready? Let's head into the volcano!" He then equipped the light blue gem, which transformed his shoes into the same color.
Knuckles raised an eyebrow at Sonic, having no idea what just happened nor what his friend was planning. Tails, on the other hand, knew right on the spot.
Sonic grinned and, holding out his hand, summoned a round gem of the same cyan color. He then rolled in place, accelerating his spin until he stopped and hurled the stone in the direction of the volcano as far away from him as possible.
"Knuckles!" Tails cried as he suddenly gripped Sonic's left arm. "Grab on to Sonic and don't let go!"
"Ok," Knuckles said, clutching Sonic's other arm tight, "But I don't see how this will…Aaghh!"
Instantaneously, the three heroes shot forward up into the air with the same trajectory as the stone Sonic launched.
The cyan stone, when equipped, allows for quick travel from one place to another; this is done through a summonable stone that can be thrown to where the user wishes to go. However, the stone does have a limit with regards to travel: if the thrown stone does not hit the ground or any object within a specific time frame, the stone will disappear and the user will fly towards the stone's last position.
Such was the case with Sonic and co.
"Whoaaa!"
"Whaaahh!"
"Aaghh"
Team Sonic screamed as they raced through the air like a rocket, only to stop on top of the side of the volcano.
Directly above a vent spewing lava.
"Tails!" Sonic screamed.
"On it!" The fox boy grabbed ahold of Knuckles and Sonic tightly and flew them over the vent.
Tails had built up a great deal of strength over the years, given his adventures with the blue blur. Among the perks of this increased strength was the ability to carry heavy things while flying, though it still wore him down after a period of time.
Which is why it should come as no surprise that lifting two people wore him out twice as fast.
Tails began to lose altitude fast, but was able to direct themselves to a vent that wasn't currently spilling molten rock at the moment.
The trio fell into the vent and slid down the channel. Emerging on the other end, they were fortunate to find a pathway awaiting below them.
They crashed into the floor with a thud! with each hero landing on top of each other. As they struggled to get up, a familiar voice echoed off the walls.
"Hi. Dropping in?"
Knuckles, who was unfortunately on the bottom of the three, looked up and grumbled upon seeing Rouge smiling down on them. Shadow was right next to her.
Sonic, who was in the middle of the pile, glanced at Shadow sheepishly. "Were we late?"
Shadow, in a rare break from his usual stoic demeanor, smiled amused, though it came and went quickly. He then assisted Rouge in getting the three up.
"Sonic," Knuckles said, dusting himself off, "We are not doing that again."
"I can feel the Emerald," Shadow stated. "We're very close."
Walking into the next room, the two teams found a large cavern engulfed in a sea of lava below them. Above them, though, were stalagmites and…
The cyan Chaos Emerald.
Rouge, instinctively drawn to the Emerald, flapped her wings and flew towards it. Reaching out, she proudly declared, "I found a Chaos Emerald!"
"DON'T TOUCH IT!" Shadow screamed.
Rouge hesitated for a moment, but managed to react in time to dodge a sudden burst of lava that shot up from the sea. The Emerald disappeared into the flames and, emerging from the sea was a large worm-shaped creature of fire and molten rock. Horns protruded from its head, and its eyes were a nasty green with diamond pupils. It roared in anger.
Rouge landed back on the ground as Shadow and Sonic took a defensive stance. "What? What's this?" Rouge asked, but no one could offer her an answer.
Sonic had a good guess, however.
Unlike the creatures from before, this one felt different. Almost as if it was smarter, let alone more dangerous. Plus, it took residence inside a volcano of all places while the other fire monsters roamed all over the place. Taking all this into account, there was one logical answer.
The Flames of Disaster incarnate.
So, Sonic thought. You're Iblis, huh?
The creature roared again, then retreated into the sea only to rise up in the middle of the cavern.
Sonic grinned, turning his head to address the group. "Leave this to me!" Everyone nodded and stepped back towards the entrance to the cavern.
Except for Shadow.
Using the Chaos Emerald in his possession, Shadow called upon the energy of the Emerald and swiped his free hand sideways at the stalagmites above. The energy hit the rock formations, bursts of energy radiating afterwards. The stalagmites fell from the ceiling and dropped into the lava below, the liquid splashing onto the tops.
"We'll take care of this guy together," Shadow declared.
Sonic didn't bother putting up an argument. When Shadow wanted something, he'd get it one way or another. Since he was willing to help Sonic fight Iblis, it was all the more reason not to deny his assistance.
Sonic nodded and jumped down onto one of the new platforms that Shadow had created; the black hedgehog followed suite.
"Ok, let's party!"
Iblis roared and from his mouth spewed a series of molten rocks. Sonic and Shadow jumped across to the neighboring stalagmites to avoid the rocks as they struck the tops, causing the platform to shake in the lava.
The two hedgehogs then proceeded with getting closer to Iblis, but they soon found themselves out of platforms to jump across.
"Shadow?" Sonic wanted to see if Shadow could provide more platforms to jump across, but was disappointed when Shadow shook his head.
Iblis emitted what sounded like a groan and dived straight into the lava.
"Huh? Where's he going?" Sonic wondered aloud.
As if on cue, Iblis shot up from the orange sea, flew through the air and aimed to crash into the platform Shadow and Sonic were on.
"Move!" Shadow yelled.
The two jumped out of the way in time as Iblis landed face first into the platform; the force of the impact made the rocky foothold break apart into large chunks that flew in the air until they either hit the walls or fell into the sea to sink.
As Iblis lifted his horned head up, Sonic and Shadow both noticed it immediately.
Above what appeared to be a third eye was the Chaos Emerald that had disappeared only a minute ago.
Wasting no time, Sonic raced forward and performed a homing attack on the Emerald to knock it free, only to end up missing due to Iblis moving slightly and hitting the eye instead.
Darn, I missed!
Iblis cried in pain, jumping back up into the air towards the spot it had been when the fight began.
"Hey, what's wrong? Is that size just for show?" Sonic mocked the giant beast for its cowardice, hoping Iblis would come back so that he could try to kill them again. Chances were, though, Iblis would come back of his own volition. It wasn't like he could understand Sonic, right?
Regardless of Iblis' intelligence, the fire demon began to swim towards them. While he was still trying to kill both hedgehogs, it now seemed his primary target was Sonic.
"Sonic! It's coming!" Tails warned from behind. Sonic turned in the direction of Tails' voice and began running across the platforms; Shadow paralleled this motion, though a little distance away.
Iblis, without signs of stopping, rammed through the stalagmites as if they were cannon fodder, closing the distance between him and Sonic. But just as he was about to go in for the kill…
"Hwagh!"
"Roar!"
Over the side of his shoulder, Sonic saw that Shadow had struck Iblis in the head with a strong kick; the power and area of impact managed to knock the Chaos Emerald right off of the beast's head, sending it flying. Sonic readjusted his heading in pursuit of the Emerald so as to not let it fall into the lava below.
No, no, no! Sonic repeated in his head. The cyan Emerald made impact with one of the platforms and bounced towards the edge.
Only to stop before going over it due to a hand grabbing ahold of it.
"Phew! That was close," Sonic said. He was now on his side with his right arm extended, having leaped forward to stop the Emerald from bouncing into the orange sea. Getting up, he looked back to see Shadow delivering a series of blows to Iblis' center eye in rapid succession. The final blow was an upward kick that sent Iblis' head back. The beast cried in pain, and retreated back to the other side of the cavern, sinking into the lava.
"Hmph!" Shadow looked away from the spot Iblis disappeared to check on Sonic's state. The blue hedgehog waved the Emerald in his hand, indicating that he got it. Shadow nodded, and the two returned to their friends' side.
For a moment, the group waited to see if Iblis would pull a surprise counterattack after Shadow's multiple blows. He never did.
Standing across from each other, Sonic and Shadow pulled out their respective Chaos Emeralds and stared at them in silence. They had done it. In a future riddled with destruction and monsters of fire, five individuals managed to survive and secure a way back to the past.
To be fair, such a situation wasn't out of the ordinary for them.
With no more reason to stay, Sonic and Shadow nodded at each other and lifted the Chaos Emeralds up, shouting "Chaos Control!" in unison.
The Emeralds sparkled instantly with a harmonious sound resonating. Following this, a white spiral rose from the Emeralds and formed a blue portal.
No one said a word upon seeing this. Nothing needed to be said. All that was left to do was walk through and leave.
Sonic was the first to jump through, eager to return to save Blaze and stop Eggman and this horrible future from happening. Tails jumped in next, and Knuckles right after.
Rouge hovered towards the portal, looking back at Shadow as she went through. Shadow walked towards the portal, but stopped and looked back at an unusual sight.
Shortly afterwards, the portal closed.
