Blaze assessed the interior of the storm with a bit of surprise. Daylight within the vortex was much brighter, as if it were a different time of day entirely. Blaze judged the position of the sun, and confirmed that it was much higher in the sky now.

"How could a vortex have its own day/night cycle?" Blaze wondered.

"I did hear that New Babylon doesn't follow daylight savings time. Maybe this is where all that leftover light goes?" Silver joked.

The princess tried suppressing a grin, but failed. A few satisfied chuckles rang from Silver's weapon form. They were still floating over sand, but there were many stone structures, both manmade and natural, passing by. Off in the distance was a city.

It reminded Blaze of Death City, with a large main building standing over the township, although this one was directly at the center. Each of it's towers were plump and rounded at the top, with only a small point forming in the middle of each dome. The buildings wore various tones of cobalt, sandstone and gray.

Silver and Blaze hadn't even adjusted yet when everything changed. Their sunlit surroundings flickered as if they were failing images projected from an old TV. The clean buildings in the distance and nearby were replaced with similar, decayed versions. The sky became darkened now that the perimeter of the vortex was visible again. Less than thirty seconds passed before the world became pristine again.

"The vortex is showing us a different version of this place!" Silver observed.

"You're right. I think it's likely that the vortex isn't just changing the time of day, but the time of year as well,"

"So how do we know what period of time is being shown now?"

Blaze shrugged. "We'll need more technology and personnel to answer that question, but that'll take time. Time that we may not have now that the kishin is on the loose. Let's focus on finding as much as we can for now,"

Blaze brought out the timer and gave it a twist. She found Jet and Wave, who were riding just ahead. They noticed Blaze once she got closer.

"Soul protect, off,"

A burst of energy stirred up a gust of wind around Wave, sending sand in all directions. Blaze adjusted her path slightly, just in case she might be knocked off balance. Wave stretched her arms and shoulders a bit, then let out a relaxed sigh.

"Much better,"

The witch swiped her hand through the air. Glowing magical feathers were sent to Blaze.

She responded by steering and pulling her speed back a bit for better control. Each of the projectiles began detonating one by one, releasing their own gusts of wind that nearly shook Blaze off of her board. Once she found her balance, she saw Jet had drawn close. He resonated with his weapon.

"Wind Scythe!"

Jet swung the fan, sending a concentrated air current at Blaze. Lines of green energy swirled through the current that cut large gashes into the sand below. Blaze hit the brakes, causing Jet's attack to pass in front of her. It crashed into a pillar instead. The column was sliced into many segments before each piece flew out in different directions.

"Don't worry, we'll try not to do more than knock you off your board!" Jet promised with a wink.

He fell back in line with Wave. Both were still in the lead. They started using the decaying structures around them as ramps. A tipped column or a slanted platform allowed each of the avians to perform a wide variety of tricks while Blaze spent her energy catching up.

"Do a trick, Blaze!" Silver's metallic voice cheered.

"Now's really not the time!" Blaze protested.

"Oh come on, you can't let them flex on you like that. Do a trick!"

Jet and Wave heard Silver's voice. They chimed in themselves.

"Do a trick! Do a trick!"

The princess blushed. She reluctantly lined up with a nearby sand dune. Blaze launched into the air and leaned forward. Two front flips were successfully completed before she landed.

"Nice!" Jet yelled.

Wave gave a thumbs up.

"Aren't we supposed to be fighting or racing or something?" Blaze argued.

"I don't wanna live in a world where I have to choose between racing or doing tricks!" Jet replied. Then, he sent out another gust of wind from his weapon.

Blaze dodged, growled, then resonated with her weapon. She moved Silver through the air as if he were a wand rather than a sword. Carved columns and chunks of jagged rock shifted through the sands to become direct obstacles in Jet's path. The hawk let out an involuntary squawk, then tilted on his board to dodge each of them. Wave dodged as well, although she was more prepared after seeing Jet get the worst of it. The evasive maneuvers hampered the two rogues' speed, giving Blaze the lead.

All three of the riders were in a flat open area just before reaching the city. Their surroundings flickered once more, revealing the decayed version before reverting again. Jet glanced over at Wave, who nodded. They aligned themselves on either side of Blaze from behind. Jet resonated with Storm, and Wave charged her magic. Both of their attacks went forth and collided into a colorful cyclone of wind that engulfed Blaze and Silver. The two rogues hurried onward under the assumption that the princess was still caught in their attack.

"Burn the Witch!"

High in the air was Blaze, still riding her extreme gear. The board was tilted, allowing the cat to aim her sword at the ground while pulling off a D~A~N~K trick. Her attack hurtled toward the sand below like a meteor, producing a brutal explosion between Jet and Wave. Both riders were knocked off of their boards. Blaze landed properly and took off with Silver in hand.

Sol's investigative duo proceeded into the unknown city. The vortex had brought everything back to looking destroyed for a minute or so. When things reverted, the restored city was bustling with people. They were all different types of avian with clothes suitable to a warm, tropical environment. The people seemed content enough as they milled about their day, unaware of Blaze or Silver's presence. A fair amount of plant life could be found as well, giving the city the appearance of a garden oasis amidst the rest of the desert.

"They all look like normal people," Silver observed. He and Blaze harmlessly phased through the forms of each person they collided with. "But they aren't real. Are they the souls of people trapped here?"

Blaze checked with her soul perception. "No, that's not it. They're being projected along with the environment.

"Still, do you have to drive through them like that? Seems kinda insensitive,"

"Can we focus on our mission?"

"Fine," Silver relented. "Where should we start looking?"

Blaze glanced around. "We'll start at the central building. It seems like it represents a significant standing within this city. If not, hopefully it'll point us in a better direction,"

Fueling the extreme gear with soul resonance hastened their pace. They disclosed the remaining distance to their objective shortly. After clearing the final staircase and reaching the courtyard, Blaze saw something that made her slam on the breaks. Inertia burdened both of them until they reached a complete stop.

"What is that?" Silver asked.

It was a bipedal creature whose silhouette could almost be mistaken as human. Like all the other projections, it didn't notice them. Darkened, almost reptilian skin covered its body. Rounded yellow lenses obscured the creature's large eyes. The creature's muscles were sizable, to the point that they seemed cumbersome, or even unhealthy. Its clawed limbs bore a notable red coloring.

"It's a Black Arm weapon," Blaze breathed.

"That's what they look like?" Silver asked with disbelief.

"Didn't I ever show you drawings from the archive?"

"No!"

"Oh," Blaze's reply sounded distant. She was more focused on observing.

"Is Shadow really related to these things?" Silver wondered. "Even the darkling felt like… I dunno, a person, at least! But this is….they're all just…"

"Monsters," Blaze concluded. She sent a plume of fire at the weapon ahead. The attack phased through, confirming that it was only a projection. Blaze wouldn't lower her guard yet, though.

They proceeded at a much more modest pace. The entire grounds of the facility were crawling with the images of Black Arm weapon variants. Some of them flew through the air on strange wings. Some slithered along the ground using limbless bodies. All of them were unpleasant to look at. No words were spoken by any of them, only the occasional hissing sound or guttural breath was emitted.

"Silver, look," The princess murmured, sounding sick.

Silver's attention directed toward an object in the sky. He expected to see some other abomination, but he ended up seeing a familiar face instead.

"Lord Death?"

A man closely resembling Eggman was floating on a personal hovercraft. It was unsurprisingly egg-shaped, and structured so that anyone inside would operate the craft while standing.

"But he seems older. Could it be the kishin? Lord Death has been stuck in Death City for a while, right?"

"I'm not sure," Blaze tapped into her soul perception again. "At least we know it's not the real kishin. Whoever it is, it's just a projection. Let's hurry,"

The man soon landed near a raised gazebo, then deboarded. Blaze jumped off her vehicle as well, carrying it under her arm. Silver returned to normal, and followed his meister down the path leading to the former grim reaper.

"I'd apologize for being late, but we're past being polite at this point, aren't we?"

The two heard his voice. He certainly sounded similar to Eggman and the kishin. They didn't see who he was speaking with until they entered the gazebo themselves.

It was a demonic looking man with long horns protruding from the sides of his head. His body had no legs; it hovered in the air creepily. He was draped in dark robes accompanied by an assortment of chains bearing symbols carved from metal. He had clawed hands, and dark skin that matched many of the different weapons populating this place. Three, red eyes stared out from his head.

It was Black Doom.