Chapter 7 (Shadow): The Solaris Project (Mephiles)
"…You again."
"This time, there will be no more interruptions! The Iblis Trigger…must die!"
"Sonic…"
"Take it easy! Can't we just talk this out? I'm not trying to ruin the future. I…urgh!"
"Silver, let him go! He's helping me!"
"Stay out of this!"
"Ngh…phew! I know why you're doing this, but Sonic isn't your enemy. Eggman is the one who would destroy your time!"
"…I'm sorry. Even if Sonic isn't a bad guy, Dr. Eggman is the only one who can remove Iblis from you. Sonic's trying to prevent that from happening and he won't stop trying…whether it's right or wrong, if I don't do something the future will never change. I have to do this!"
"So how was your little walk, Princess?"
"Blaze! Run!"
"But what about you?"
"I'll be fine! If you have time to worry, then run! Remember?"
"Get back here!"
"It's time to end this!"
CRACZZZ!
"Who?"
"Energy readings increasing. Target is within area."
Omega hovered over the sandy shores, the small particles rippling behind him from the power of the thrust. Though designed by Eggman to cover multiple terrains and hostile environments, Omega recognized the hazards sand posed to his body if it were to get locked inside.
For one, the most immediate concern would be friction. If too much sand were to pile up within his body, the increased resistance and mass may cause his servos to malfunction, limiting his movements and abilities severely. Second, the sand was already hot from the mostly sunny day. Increased heat can cause damage to his internal parts as well, prompting a cooldown protocol.
Even with the built-in mechanism to help clean his body out, it wasn't perfect and would require a more extensive cleaning later. And if he was going to battle Mephiles in this environment, best to keep the sand off as much as possible before the fight.
"Readings off the chart. Scanning… energy source found."
Ahead of him, a figure was lying in the sand facedown. Though purple like Mephiles, this figure's color was more of a lavender. The body, too, resembled nothing like the target, instead having fur instead of a rocky texture, and being more feminine. Upon a closer look, it actually was a female.
Omega carefully turned the figure onto her side. "Scanning… match found. Princess Blaze the Cat of Soleanna."
As if responding to her name being called, the cat girl called Blaze slowly opened her eyes. She glinted at the sunlight reflecting on Omega's body, so Omega stepped back and allowed her to wake up properly.
"Urgh…"
"Are you…alright?" Omega did not know yet what was the cause of the Princess's state of unconsciousness, be it sleep or something else. Though he did not spend much time there, Omega had stayed at Club Rouge's original location a few times when off-duty. Rouge brought him to help him emphasize with human emotions and problems, something not easily found in his programming. As far as he knew, royals, like commoners, were acquainted to drinking, so it may very well have been that Princess Blaze may have taken too much for her own good, resulting in her falling asleep far from her castle.
If Omega were a unknowledgeable naïve soldier, that may very well have been what he thought happened. As it were, he was not.
The energy readings he was tracking were strong on Blaze, though they weren't the source. Given her wounds and state, Omega concluded Blaze had encountered Mephiles and came out on the losing side of things. However, there was still one discrepancy: Blaze was reported to have been captured by Eggman and was last noted to be on a train miles from their location. So, what was she doing here?
Multiple scenarios ran through his CPU: 1) Mephiles had taken Blaze through his space-time portal ability to this location; 2) Eggman used the train as a decoy and left her here when Mephiles showed up, scaring him off like he did at the ambush with Shadow and Rouge; 3) this Blaze is a doppelganger of the original…
"Who…who are you?"
Omega stopped his current process and gazed upon the frail girl before him. "I am E-123 Omega, the ultimate E-series robot created by Dr. Eggman."
Blaze's eyes widened immediately. "You're… with Eggman?"
Struggling to get up, Blaze tried to position herself into a combat stance.
Though he wasn't the best when it came to these situations, Rouge taught Omega how to sympathize with the victim, as Rouge would call it. The first thing to do was to calm the victim down.
"I am not with Dr. Eggman! I will be the one to destroy Dr. Eggman and all his robots!"
Blaze stood dumbstruck by Omega's sudden declaration, only able to produce a mere, "O-oh…" However, she began to relax a bit.
Objective complete, Omega registered. Now that the victim is calm, it was time to interrogate…er, ask her, rather, on what happened. Rouge said the best thing to do was be soft and not rush to conclusions when asking questions; it was important to be subtle and let the questions and answers build up to the conclusion.
"Were you attacked by a hedgehog-looking entity that teleports, makes shadow creatures, and time travels?" Omega asked softly. If she lied, he would detect it and reach a conclusion.
"Wha…what? You know who attacked me?"
Based on her expressions, it was impossible to tell whether Blaze was asking the question out of not knowing her assailant or if he, too, knew of Mephiles.
"I am tracking a being called Mephiles, who is highly dangerous. If you know of any details, tell me now or face severe repercussions for impeding an investigation."
Blaze looked away from Omega toward the waves gently colliding with the sand. Closing her eyes for a brief moment, she turned back to Omega and replied, "He was here. I fought him, but I don't know where he went."
"Understood." Seeing as she had no further details to add, Omega began to adjust his scans to filter out Blaze's readings to better track Mephiles. Once he got a lock, he began to march away.
"Returning to primary assignment: capture Mephiles. Princess, return to the castle where you will be safe."
With no other words to add, Omega reignited his thruster pack and continued his search, leaving Blaze behind. Once she was a distance away, Omega realized he had forgotten one crucial element to helping a victim: escorting them home. Granted, looking over her file let Omega know Blaze was capable of fighting for herself, and if he captured Mephiles now, she would be in less danger. However, if Rouge were here, she would still call it a mistake on his part to leave Blaze behind in such a wounded state.
Thus, there was one word Omega learned that is usually said when a human makes a mistake to fit this mess-up:
"Oops."
It seems I arrived in the nick of time, Shadow thought to himself.
Based on the information the train's computer held and his own objectives, Dr. Eggman was chasing after Sonic and Blaze and thus followed the path they had taken to escape. As was expected of the ever-scheming doctor, the two were unaware of one of Eggman's Badniks monitoring their position from above, allowing him to find them easily.
But it seems Sonic and Blaze had yet another problem.
Once Shadow had made it to their position, he was on an unfinished railroad track above them. From here, he could make out wooden shacks and barrels loitered around an enclosed square area. Only two sets of tracks were below, with slow-moving automated cargo trains moving rolling along them. In the area between the tracks, Sonic was held in place by some strange light aura; across from him was the source: a silver-white hedgehog with golden irises. Moving away from them was the princess and Doctor Eggman, the latter chasing after her.
Though Eggman was his primary objective, Shadow could tell Sonic's current state did not bode well. With a grunt of frustration, he leaped from his position and initiated a Chaos Spear between the two. The attack successfully broke off the white hedgehog's concentration, freeing a now-panting Sonic.
As the two recovered from the unexpected surprise attack, they came to see Shadow land between them, resting in a one-knee position.
"Who?" The silver hedgehog stood confused, having no idea who this person was or why he interrupted his hold on Sonic. As soon as he took a good look at Shadow, his eyes widened.
"Mephiles!? Why are you getting in my way?"
Mephiles? Shadow's eyes narrowed as he stood up. Thinking hard about his opponent for a brief moment, he recalled how Sonic stated Mephiles came back to the past alongside two others. Perhaps this hedgehog in front of him was one of them.
"I'm Shadow," he answered arms crossed. "Shadow the Hedgehog."
The silver hedgehog in front of him understood immediately and cautiously moved his body into a battle stance. Shadow looked back at Sonic, his eyes telling Sonic to go after the princess. Sonic smiled and after a quick thumbs up, took off running.
Turning his attention back to Silver, Shadow uncrossed his arms, his hands becoming fists at his side. Based on his opponent's stance, he could tell his opponent was more vigilant, hinting he had fought many battles before. Good, because Shadow was no pushover. Still, these two did not know each other – as far as Shadow knew, he was in league with Mephiles. But how strong was that connection? Was it a lasting friendship, or a business partnership? Mephiles was clever, deceitful. If the guy in front of him was being deceived, then it was only fair Shadow give him a chance to understand without a fight.
"Whoever you are, whatever it is you think you're doing, let me assure you: you are on the wrong side of this."
The white hedgehog narrowed his gaze upon Shadow. "My name is Silver, and this is my mission! Don't get in my way!" With a quick flick of his wrist, Silver unleashed a psychokinetic push on Shadow, sending him flying.
"AAAUUUURRRGHHHH!"
Shadow crashed into a set of barrels, breaking them open. Bundles of apples spilled from the containers, rolling along the grass and dirt.
Ok, I gave him an out. Now, it's punishment.
"I won't hold back," Shadow declared as he got up. "Here I come!"
Dashing from his position, Shadow closed the distance between the two of them instantly. While Silver was in a state of shock from Shadow's speed, the black hedgehog used his shoes to side-step to Silver's right before bursting forward with a punch.
The impact sent Silver straight through one of the train's red container boxes, the wood shattering from the collision. Shadow rushed forward without hesitation, even as Silver regained his footing and shot some of the remaining wood splinters at him psychokinetically. Dodging each piece, Shadow focused his thoughts and energy into his left hand. Once the energy had built up, he threw it forward shouting, "Chaos Spear!"
The energy arced forward towards Silver, who almost didn't react in time to stop it. With his hands, Silver stopped the bolt from reaching him, instead returning it back to its sender with ease. Shadow could only cross his arms and brace for the impact.
Criiiizzz!
"Hgeuuuegh!"
Shadow felt himself drifting through the air again, the energy from the blast stinging his fur. Trying to block out the pain, he somersaulted mid-air and landed on the tracks above. In the distance, Silver used his powers to land on the far-end of the tracks, which were unfinished due to delayed construction contracts.
I've got to put this to an end, Shadow thought. He's getting on my last nerve!
"Had enough?" Silver yelled out.
"You asking me, or yourself?"
Shadow recognized Silver's power as nothing to take for granted, yet all it amounted to combat-wise was grabbing and flinging people to and from. Even the Chaos Spears Shadow directed at him were unable to hit when he held up his hands.
In that case, time to attack outside of physical techniques.
The two jumped over their respective gaps and raced toward each other once more. Right when Silver was about to grasp him in another grip, Shadow angled his body into a small slide toward Silver, avoiding his attack by a hair; he followed up with a spin dash around Silver, sucking him into the miniature black tornado that formed.
"Whoaaa… Whaaaa…. Ahhhh!"
As Silver struggled to concentrate, Shadow jumped at him and used a homing attack to send him falling towards the ground.
"What?!"
Shadow felt himself being pulled toward Silver, realizing the hedgehog had used his telekinesis to grab Shadow as he was falling. The two hit the ground below hard, leaving them both disconcerted. Eventually, the two picked themselves off the ground and stared each other down, panting.
Come on! Shadow screamed internally. Just… give up already!
"HHAAAAAAGGGGHHHHH!"
"…!"
Shadow held his breath as Silver let out a terrible scream, charging at him. Given his reckless attempt to attack him, Shadow deduced fatigue and possibly frustration he was letting out on the G.U.N. agent. In truth, Shadow was the same, though not nearly as much as Silver. He had lost time and energy fighting this misguided, noble idiot, and it had to stop.
Pulling out the Chaos Emerald on him, Shadow demonstrated how out-of-league Silver was with two words: "Chaos Control!"
The already slow-moving Silver became ever slower, his punch almost hitting Shadow. Moving out of the way, Shadow proceeded to waste no effort knocking his opponent down with a roundhouse kick to the back of the head. The added effect of the Chaos Control would increase the pain dealt to Silver, who landed face-first into the dirt.
Once he stumbled back up, Silver looked at Shadow with confused anger. The feeling of having his body stopped with a power similar to his own left him shocked beyond belief. "Y-you…"
"Don't bother," Shadow stated, holding the Chaos Emerald out in front of him. The green glow sparkled outward from its recent usage, but eventually diminished as Shadow continued. "With a Chaos Emerald's power, I control time and space. You can't break free."
Silver shook his head. "I won't… give up! It all depends on me! Can't lose… not when I'm so close!"
Even now, he still appeared to want to continue. Shadow could respect his determination, even if it was foolish and misplaced. But Silver's next move surprised him even more.
Taking out a blue Chaos Emerald, Silver screamed again and charged at Shadow.
You wouldn't…!
Ducking from Silver's latest attempts to punch him, Shadow began again, "Chaos…"
"Chaos…"
"…Control!" The two yelled in unison, their arms colliding with each other.
The Chaos Emeralds began to glow and ring harmoniously as a white hole formed above them. The two backed away from each other and the hole as it grew.
"Huh?" Silver was stunned as the hole finished growing, turning into a spiraling tunnel of white and blue.
"You…" Shadow muttered, "Induced Chaos Control."
"I won't let anyone get in my way! I'll change the past and save the world!"
You naïve, little fool…
"Mephiles isn't trying to help you create a better future… He's trying to eliminate the past."
"… What?" Silver responded dumbfounded. "What are you talking about?"
If only it were easy to give an answer to Silver's question. Mephiles was trying to destroy the past, that much is clear to Shadow. But why did he want to do it? Why rope him into his scheme? If Mephiles wasn't one hung up on riddles and games, Shadow could have figured him out long ago. But this endless game of cat and mouse is getting him nowhere.
There must be something I can go off of, Shadow thought.
Looking at the portal, Shadow began to recall something Rouge told him about, something Eggman also seemed to have an interest in: the Solaris Project… 10 years ago.
That's where the answers would be.
Shadow turned and made his way closer to Silver. "To discover what happened, it seems we must see what took place 10 years ago. Follow me if you want the truth."
If he was wise enough to search for the truth, Silver would follow. Regardless, the journey to the past was one Shadow had to do. Learning about Mephiles' origins may be the only lead on how to stop him now.
Without a second thought, Shadow jumped through the portal, leaving the present day yet again.
Shadow landed with a thud! on the metal floor, but his was not the only one resonating off the walls. To his right, the familiar white hedgehog had landed next to him.
Looks like he isn't a lost cause after all.
The two stood up and, wordlessly, examined their environment. It was a long, spacious hallway, reminiscent of Eggman's bases. But the hallway was empty save for the two of them. The way stretching out in front of them appeared to go on forever into the dark, but turning around, the two saw a light at the end of the tunnel, voices echoing off the walls. Though faint from this distance, Shadow and Silver could barely make out the words.
"An electromagnetic pulse has just been generated! Injecting a decompressing agent… No! The level's not dropping! A spatial meltdown is inevitable! My Lord, it's too late! We've got to take shelter!"
"Why, Solaris!? Why do you refuse to listen to my voice?!"
"Father!"
"Blaze?!"
"…!" Shadow notice Silver tense up at the name, but before either of them could respond, the end of the hall filled with orange light. An explosion. Then smoke. One glance at each other told them they were in agreement, and Shadow and Silver ran towards the tunnel's end.
Upon reaching the end, they found themselves on an observation deck overlooking a circular room. The mirrors separating the two had shattered in the explosion, allowing smoke to enter up above. From above, the room below was a wreck, debris and bodies littered across the floor. Shadow and Silver jumped down from the observation deck into the room, taking care not to land on the glass shards below, and began to look for any survivors. Starting with the closest body, Shadow knelt beside it and starting shaking. From behind him, an orange light began to glow.
"Is that!?" Silver started to say, only to end in awe and fear. Shadow turned and saw an orange ball of pure light glowing above what was a capsule. The light immediately died, revealing a molten core that chipped apart, its pieces falling into a dripping goo on the base of the capsule. Fire began to burst from the ball until it was the only thing left.
"That flame… it's Iblis!" Silver exclaimed.
Shadow, having become fixated on the black goo beneath the flame, realized it wasn't some regular science sludge. It was darkness, a shadow.
His shadow.
"And the black shadow is the original Mephiles."
"That's Mephiles!?"
Almost as if they heard their names, the fire and shadow began to react, each shooting towards different exits.
Silver stepped forward excited. "They're escaping!"
"We'll have to split up. I'll pursue Mephiles."
"Ok. Then leave Iblis to me!"
Before they were able to give chase, a shriveled voice cried out to them. "Wait!" Behind them, a researcher – a lavender cat – was kneeling down, pushing hard on his hands to stay up. With one hand, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a wand of some sort.
The Scepter of Darkness… Shadow realized.
"Seal the darkness with this…" The man held out the scepter to Shadow, his hand shaking.
"Hurry!" Silver yelled before turning to give pursuit. Shadow carefully grabbed the scepter and ran off.
The researcher turned around as soon as the two hedgehogs took off, and began to attend to one of the victims behind him: a small female cat sharing the same colored fur as him.
If I don't stop him now, there's no telling what'll happen to the future.
The laboratory's lights kept the path bright as Shadow raced after Mephiles. Though Mephiles was powerful, Shadow had a suspicion that he wasn't as powerful as he was when they'd first met. Mephiles and Iblis could have escaped through a portal if they wanted to, after all.
He must not be fully cognizant of what's going on, Shadow concluded. He's reacting on instinct.
The ground began to rumble beneath him.
Speaking of which…
Purple creatures rose from the ground before Shadow, their forms barely solid as they struggled towards him.
"How annoying… I'll deal with them first."
Pulling out the Chaos Emerald, Shadow channeled its energy into him before shouting, "Chaos Control!" The creatures began to slow to a near crawling pace, and Shadow used the opportunity to Homing Attack each and every one in his path. Their forms crumbled like sand as Shadow landed behind their remains.
"Mephiles is starting to become aware. I need to hurry!"
Shadow quickened his pace down the corridor, turning right into an open doorway. He found himself in a room of mercury-like liquid, bubbles of the stuff floating in the air. Jumping down onto the liquid-covered floor, he was surprised to see his skates weren't working on it.
It must be the stuff in here. It looks like their science was pretty advanced.
For a moment, Shadow wondered if Professor Gerald or the technology he developed helped built this place, but he regained focus. He had to make sure Mephiles was dealt with first. Exiting the room, his skates turned back on and Shadow sped up his pace down another set of interconnecting hallways. "Almost… There!"
He stopped his hover shoes upon seeing the black mist, how it inched every closer to a freedom it wouldn't achieve for another decade. Mephiles's attempts to delay is pursuers only made him weaker, more vulnerable.
Shadow pulled out the Scepter of Darkness. Recalling the researcher's last words, Shadow used the Chaos Emerald in his other hand to stop Mephiles in his tracks.
"Chaos Control!"
The mist began to flicker purple as it – he – voiced his struggle. "Urgh… What? … Stop!"
Shadow concentrated on the Emerald's power, and focused it into the Scepter of Darkness. The Chaos Emeralds could transform thoughts into power, and there was only one thing on Shadow's mind that he wanted more than anything else right now.
The Scepter shone a brilliant white as it rose from Shadow's hand, hovering above the two like a sun.
"Who… Who are… You?"
"I'm Shadow. Shadow the Hedgehog. And this is where you'll stay, Mephiles!"
Mephiles's lack of form started to break off into strands that headed straight for the Scepter. Little by little, the black mist before Shadow began to disappear.
"Shadow… Your face… Your form… I will remember. Your death… Certain… You… will die! I am... the sun. I transcend... time itself. A bridge to.. other worlds!"
Once the mist had completely been consumed by the Scepter, the wand gave a small flash as if to indicate the job was done and, once the light died, fell to the floor. Shadow caught it in time to prevent it from breaking. Examining the wand, he noticed the small shrouds of black clouds hovering around it.
The job is done.
The sunlight was near blinding after having been through the dimly lit facility, but it was a nice change of pace for Shadow. Holding the Scepter of Darkness, he made his way to a nearby tree, its leaves turning traitor to the wind. Silver stood in the shadow of the tree's canopy, holding a young, sleeping cat girl in his arms.
Silver looked back when he heard Shadow approaching. "Did you do it?"
"Yes. And you?"
Silver glanced down at the girl, as if he sought forgiveness from her. "…Yes. The 'Flames' are properly sealed. It's done."
Shadow didn't question Silver's hesitance, and instead watched as he laid the girl against the trunk of the tree.
That girl… isn't she…?
Shadow decided not to pay it any mind. The life of a girl was not his priority, especially in this time period. The Scepter, however, was.
Mephiles will break free from this in the future. If I try and remove it now, the course of history will change drastically.
Shadow walked past Silver and, next to the girl, placed the Scepter on the ground. I trapped you here because I had to. I'll stop you for good in the future.
"You're going to leave it behind?"
"Yes. I already know what becomes of it in the future." Pulling out his Chaos Emerald, Shadow stood up and walked a small distance away from the tree. "It's time to return."
"Yes… Of course…"
Silver walked up to Shadow with his own Emerald. Nodding in unison, they raised the gems to each other.
"Chaos Control!"
"Chaos Control!"
The familiar portal opened before them. Shadow gave one brief nod of thanks to Silver for his help and jumped in, leaving 10 years ago behind him.
