Shadow raised a brow at this accusation. Being mistaken for Mephiles… it did not sit well with him. Anyone could see that Mephiles was an uncanny entity, a false projection using his image. He kept his ruby eyes on the young teen, trying to gather his thoughts on him. The tension in the air was thick despite the metal grinding from the occasional train carts that passed by. The two hedgehogs were waiting for one another to make a move… just one movement, then a fight would be inevitable.
"I finally have you, Mephiles." His voice was cold, emotionless. he flexed his fingers, lifting multiple rocks and canisters behind the ebony hedgehog with scarlet energy. "After waiting for so long… I will finally end you."
Shadow scoffed, shaking his head."I see common sense is something you lack." His ears flicked at the movement of debris behind himself. In a flash, he jumped out of the way just as Venice slammed the objects into the earth.
"Trash talking. That's new coming from you, Mephiles." Cloaking himself in his scarlet energy, he levitated and searched for his foe.
"You may need to get your eyes checked. I am nothing like Mephiles." Shadow spoke as he teleported behind Venice, forming a bolt of chaos energy in his hands- a chaos spear.
The bolt shot through the hedgehog's back, piercing him all the way through as electricity coursed through his body. Losing all focus, Venice fell to the ground. He caught himself, his anger only getting more prominent as he clenched his fists. Despite struggling to breathe as the spear disintegrated, he froze Shadow in place, then threw him to the ground, forcing him back a few feet away from himself.
[I should've known… you just want to hurt people…]
With a grunt and a yell, Shadow jumped to his feet, forming another spear in his hands. "CHAOS… SPEAR!"
As multiple bolts of energy formed around him and fired, Venice quickly levitated out of the way. He panted, trying to catch his breath. His powers felt like chaos energy, raw, but controlled expertly. Mephiles' energy aura was similar but less… composed. As if he was missing half of what made his power complete.
No matter, he didn't have time to think about that now!
The hedgehog lifted more canisters, using them as bullets to fire at the enemy. He hissed in annoyance when Shadow ducked behind a train cart.
/Oh, that was quick, Sliver! What was the reason you came to the past again? To kill an innocent person because this random guy tells you to?!/
[ That's different! The Iblis Trigger is responsible for our world being in turmoil! You're trying to murder someone innocent!]
Stuck arguing with Silver, he landed, stopping his levitation. Shadow jumped to his feet and summoned arrows of chaos energy. As he threw his hand down, Venice took notice and quickly levitated out of the way.
/Silver, he watched as it happened! He took this form! Don't you remember?!/
Shadow, floating from the power in his rocket shoes, caught up to Venice and the two began to fight physically. Fists impacting their cheeks, knees jabbing each other in the side. Venice was not skilled with physical fights, often not being prepared for blows, which led Shadow to punch him as hard as he could, sending him into the ground.
[ No! I… this isn't him! His colors don't match !]
Losing his patience with the voice in his head as well as this form of Mephiles laying beating after beating into him, Venice struggled to his feet, barely escaping another barrage of chaos spears. Using a nearby crate to shield himself, the hedgehog then thrust it forcefully into Shadow, sending him flying back behind a train cart.
/Do you remember when it all burned?!/
[...]
The copy turned to the original, his blue eyes burning through him in his dissociated state, as Venice pounded his fists on the glass.
/Mephiles was there! He was there and he watched! He trapped mom and dad as Iblis came closer until they both died! And you're telling me you don't want any sort of justice for them?!/
[ S-stop it! This isn't about that!]
/Yes it is! Stop being so damn dense and listen to me for once!/
Venice pounded on the glass with each word, striking fear into the white copy of himself.
/He was the shadow that we saw! He directed them to attack us! He was the cause of everything that happened!/
Silver threw his hands over his ears, crouching down as he shut his eyes. He didn't want to hear it. He didn't want to…
[Stop! I... that was different! It was a coincidence!]
The mink turned away from the mirror, scoffing as red energy engulfed his hands.
/You're going to need to open your eyes sooner or later, Silver!/
/Because I don't know how much longer you can keep believing your lies./
Taking advantage of Silver's lapse of input in the body, he wasted no time in levitating and searching for his foe. His fingers flexed, cloaking debris in scarlet as he fired them at the train cart Shadow was hiding behind. Finally, he found his enemy just barely escaping another round of rock bullets. He was near breathless, but not down and out. With a quick somersault, Shadow dodged a metal crate and jumped back in time to miss a barrage of rocky bullets. Grabbing him with his telekinesis, he thrust Shadow into the rocky cliff wall behind him, smirking as he fell to his knees. Satisfied, Venice levitated more of the rocks and canisters, throwing his arms up and ready to slam them down to finish him off.
[Why... why won't you listen to me...?]
/Why won't YOU listen to ME?!/
[Because you're WRONG!]
/Then I WILL show you that I'm RIGHT!/
Just then, he felt the other one co-aware. His arms felt stiff as Silver took control of his mind for a moment.
[No! I won't let you!]
"TAKE THI-" he shouted, but halted. His breath caught in his chest as he felt that form of chaos energy be taken away from himself. Shut off by the other one. "What?!" The debris he was once levitating had fallen to the ground with a resounding thud. Venice dropped to his feet, his focus was shattered.
/What did you do?!/
[ You kept controlling me. I let you control me. Well... not anymore.]
Venice turned to the mirror image behind himself, the fog was getting thick as Silver's golden eyes pierced the darkness. He knelt in front of the glass, placing his palms to it. The psychokinetic chaos energy, that bright and radiant aqua hue, was so vivid in them.
[ You cannot use my power anymore.]
Shadow gave a hollow chuckle, running up to the younger teen and forming a spear in his hand. With a holler, he thrust it into Venice's body, sending a nullifying shock of chaotic energy through his veins.
Weakened and all power having been stolen by the other half, Venice fell to his hands and knees. He tried to breathe, his body shaking from the remaining electricity in his body from Shadow's attacks. His blue eyes narrowed as he glared at the ebony agent.
/What?! You can't do that!/
[ Yes I can! This is mybody, telekinesis is my power! You cannot use it anymore.]
/But what about Mephiles?! Do you want him to continue to lie and use you like-/
[You don't have any power left. And he is not Mephiles.]
He was right. He had used all of his chaos energy to save his host's life hours earlier, and this is how he repays him? Shutting off the only other power he could use to kill Mephiles?
/D-Damn it, Silver! Give me the power back!/
[ You got yourself into this. You get yourself out.]
Venice and Shadow locked eyes, one standing over the fallen with a cold expression. The younger hedgehog shook his head, stumbling to his feet as his host's words echoed in his mind.
This felt like a repeat.
A repeat of the day they as a whole being broke apart.
The words, the sights, the pressure, the pain...
"Grrr-HYEAH!" Frustrated, Venice raised his fist, running at Shadow to land a physical attack. If he couldn't use his powers, he'd have to end this physically… even if he didn't know how.
Almost before he could blink, the ebony hedgehog pulled a green chaos emerald out from his quills.
"Chaos control!"
Time has slowed, almost stopped. Venice could only keep his eyes on his target before Shadow moved, faster than himself. Time resumed the second he felt himself be roundhouse kicked in the back of the head, sending him tumbling to the ground.
It took Venice a second to gather himself, disoriented from the time halting, but realizing that he had met his match with this opponent. This Mephiles. His ears twisted back in anger. That feeling of having lost against him ...
"Y-You…!"
"Don't bother. With a Chaos Emerald, I control time and space. You can't break free."
"When you use Chaos Control, you become the very essence of time and space." Mephiles spoke, holding his violet emerald above the child. Silver, no more than five, gazed at the crystal. It was like a fairytale item he'd read about in stories from the old fairytale books! It captivated him! "Silver, when you hold this gem," the shadow spoke, placing the emerald in his tiny hand, "you can control time and space. No one can break free from such a tight hold. Nobody." The tiny hedgehog felt the smooth emerald before wrapping it in a tiny embrace into his chest. It was warm, docile, and unique. Something within him stirred with familiarity, as if he knew all of this before being told. Like this piece was so smart and yet… he did not know it. "That ability is known as Chaos Control. It can transform any thought you have into reality." He watched the young hedgehog glow with a chaotic and familiar energy. He most certainly was the one he felt in this time, the one who would rejoin him and Iblis. He just had to awaken this puppet's power. "Now," Mephiles spoke, using his crystalline appendages to snatch the emerald away, making the little hedgehog whine. The energy from the emerald brightened, creating crystalline arrows that targeted the child's palms and feet. "Let us get back to practice."/Mephiles… He knew about chaos energy. That was the same lesson they had learned so very long ago… This has to be him./
"N-No! I won't give up!" Venice struggled to his feet, shaking his head as he fought against the dissociation that washed over his from the other one being awake. "It all depends on me! And if I plan on destroying you, then…" His eyes glared at the ebony hedgehog as he reached into his back quills, pulling out the cobalt chaos emerald.
"CHAOS-"
"Chaos-"
"Control!"
The two threw their arms together, each holding the green and blue emerald respectively as sparks of light shot into the sky above them. As the two stepped back, a swirling indigo vortex appeared between them. Shadow's eyes went wide at the inducement and turned to the white hedgehog.
"You induced Chaos Control…"
Venice blinked, unsure of what this form of Chaos Control was. In all his years, He's never seen it create portals (apart from being transported to the past) with his own eyes. He was awestruck and confused, looking at the blue emerald before tucking it securely back into his quills.
"I… I won't let anyone get in my way." He locks eyes with Shadow again. "Mephiles, you're responsible for my world being the way it is. I will stop yo-"
The black and red hedgehog took a few steps closer to Venice, his patience wearing thin as he grabbed his tuft of fur.
"I. Am. Not. Mephiles."
With that, he pushed Venice away and crossed his arms. He turned away. Silence surrounded the two of them as the space-time rift swirl in the silence between them.
/I don't understand… Mephiles, this Mephiles, he's… He's not.../
[ He's not Mephiles.]
The reflection looked back at Silver who stood at the other end. Venice hung his head in shame, shaking it as he clenched his fists. He felt... disappointed. Tired. Drained of all of his energy, left in a state of exhaustion.
/W-Why…? Why can't I end him…? I just want.../
Shadow looked back at the kid who had his hand pressed against the bandage where his head wound was. He groaned weakly, the energy colors changing from scarlet to cyan.
[ Let me handle this. I can find the answers.]
/How? You won't stand a chance against Mephiles!/
[ This isn't Mephiles. Now let me take over.]
The hedgehog lifted his head, once blue eyes were now gold and less abrasive in appearance. Shadow raised a brow at this, silently judging and asking himself questions about this stranger.
"Mephiles, he told me…" Silver spoke, his voice was less confrontational as he stood, looking unbiased at Shadow. "That I have to fix my future by killing someone named the Iblis Trigger. His name is Sonic."
In a disappointed and slightly frustrated huff, Shadow shook his head.
"Mephiles isn't trying to help you create a better future... He's trying to eliminate the past."
Confused, Silver tilted his head.
"W-What? What do you mean?"
"To discover what happened, it seems we must see what took place 10 years ago." Shadow and Silver turn to the portal before looking at each other. "Follow me if you want to know the truth." Shadow glances at him before jumping into the portal.
[ It seems like he will give us answers.]
/Or he's misleading you into danger.../
[...]
Silver hesitates before shaking his head.
[ I need to discover what happened, Venice. I need to know Mephiles' true intentions.]
He jumps into the portal.
The portal had less of an effect on him than Mephiles' earlier. It could've been due to the way the portal was created, or the fact that he had acknowledged his chaos power, telekinesis. It was an enigma to him, something he was confused about but unwilling to investigate it. Not at the moment at least.
Shadow and Silver landed on their feet into what appeared to be a hallway. Sterile, cleaned recently, bearing the appearance of a laboratory. Somewhere deep underground Soleanna. They looked around at the strange sight as Silver took a cautious step towards the walls, feeling how smooth they were. He could hear distant voices, somewhere within the same building they were in.
"An electromagnetic pulse has just been generated! Injecting a decompression agent! No, the level's not dropping!"
"A spatial meltdown is inevitable! My Lord, it's too late! We've got to take shelter!"
Silver hesitated to speak, his voice softer than a whisper.
"Where... are we?"
"Soleanna. Ten years ago."
Silver repeated the words in his head as he took another step. He froze upon hearing a distant thud ahead of them in the hallway.
"Why, Solaris? Why do you refuse to listen to my voice?!"
"Father!"
"Elise!?"
Not too long after, there is a loud explosion that shakes the facility. Silver and Shadow keep their gaze on the hallway ahead of them, waiting until the lab stops rumbling to move. Looking towards each other, they nod and take off.
"Through here." Shadow instructed, jumping into one of the air vents overhead.
"Right." Silver nodded, following the ebony hedgehog.
Using his telekinesis, Silver unlocked one of the vent doors, allowing it to drop to the floor and jump out onto the scene.
Ashes. Smoke. Embers. That is all there was left of the lab located deep under the waters. A destroyed canister in the center, cracked and shattered monitors lay misaligned on their posts, dead bodies of scientists strewn about.
The site was a total ground zero.
"What... What is all of this?" Silver asked in horror as he looked at the pure destruction.
"A research project gone horribly wrong."
The answer was almost too cold to hear as if the words had been deep-seated in the black and red hedgehog's chest. He took notice of an unconscious man and ran to his side, checking for a pulse.
Silver looked around at the multitude of dead bodies. It all... reminded him of something. Something too familiar. Something painful.
A dream. A dream from a time long ago.
The images of the bodies, mangled and broken. People choking on their blood. Survivors that died at the hands of-
*Crackle!*
*drip!*
His thoughts were interrupted at the sound of crackling flames and liquid spilling. Standing, the silver hedgehog watched in perplexment.
"Is... is that...?"
Flames swirled around the core of this... star? Ball of energy? Something indescribable. It was... beautiful but dangerous. An entity with a creation shrouded in misty uncertainty.
Speaking of mist, there was a thick black cloud of it as black liquid spilled onto the floor.
The flames shrunk from glorious and magnificent to tiny and split up. The resemblance of a dwarf planet, a star, is what it was. It began to break, the fallen particles being collected in the overflowing basin below it. Flames began to replace the once whole star, making this top half...
"The Flames... it's Iblis!"
Silver could feel the flames from where he was standing. It was powerful, lusting for more power and destruction as it's form stabilized.
"And that black shadow is the original Mephiles." Shadow pointed out as the black liquid and haze began to converge into one entity, swirling around before stabilizing on the ground.
"That's Mephiles?" Silver watched, almost taken back by what he was seeing.
/I see... so he was.../
[Split from a whole?]
/Appears so./
The flames and dark blob danced around each other before heading into different parts of the laboratory.
"They're escaping!"
"We'll have to split up. I'll pursue Mephiles."
"Okay, then leave Iblis to me!"
The two began to take off before they were stopped by the sound of an old man struggling to stand up.
"W-Wait..."
Shadow looked back to see the Duke of Soleanna pull out a scepter from the inside of his coat. He knelt beside the weakened leader of the city to hear him out.
"Seal it... with this."
Taking the scepter, the ebony hedgehog gets a good look at it and nods, knowing exactly what it is used for.
"Let's hurry before anything else happens!" Silver calls to Shadow, running deep within the laboratory.
Aquatic Base was strange and cryptic. Many scientific studies and researches seemed to have been created, but most were advancements having to deal with time-travel, molecular reconstruction, and other reality-altering experiments. It was strange and gave a vague sense of deja-vu to the teen that he quite couldn't shake. Not to mention, he and Shadow were locked presumably many miles underwater, right below Soleanna. It was crucial to keep the two entities from causing any further damage to the facility.
He occasionally met up with Shadow, the rooms themselves meeting at certain intersections before branching off into different wide open and narrow pathways.
As Silver fought the monsters that were created by the two destructive entities, he could feel he was getting closer. Closer to something that he was determined to find- answers to questions he's been trying to avoid...
'Why was he so afraid of remembering things?'
'Who was Mephiles? What is his history with him?'
'Why are there two of me?'
He spot the trail of flames dance deep into the facility and into a room. One with a dead end.
Perfect.
"Iblis!" Silver shouted, jumping into the room and thrusting his hand forward.
His eyes widened as he felt the split part of deity energy pulsate through his telekinetic markings, straight into his veins. Chaos energy mixing with god energy. He felt rejuvenated but beyond devastated in terms of power.
It was unstable yet stable.
Clean yet unclean.
Muddy but clear.
There was no word for it.
A misty haze that clouded his mental vision, creating a thick sense of realization, leaving the hedgehog alone, stranded in the recesses of his mind.
Visions, faint memories playing like an endless broken film reel over and over.
The feeling of dreaming and falling endlessly.
Trying to see through a fogged window, stained glass that distorts shapes and sizes.
Stuck in a perpetual loop of unfathomable mixed up puzzle pieces unwilling to be put back together.
He could hear it...
A memory he had long forgotten, trapped deep within his subconscious, hoping to never resurface...
And he listened.