Now this story gets interesting.
Chapter 5: Confronting the Shadows
The Magnet Train, as it turned out, was actually running just fine when we arrived in Saffron City. It was just taking off. Dawn managed to sneak on board, while I hid at the very back. Then we waited to make our move, and for a while, nothing out of the ordinary happened. Then suddenly, the train sped up dangerously, knocking me off. I leapt back up and shot after it with my flight power, quickly catching up just in time to see a blue blur race by.
"Got you now, Disturbance," I nodded, keeping my focus on the train. I didn't want to lose Dawn again, so I wanted to stop the train. But before I got a chance to act, the train stopped on its own. The Disturbance stopped it, and then took off, much to my chagrin. I called for Dawn to follow, but she proved a no-show. For a moment, I was torn. Should I follow the path the Disturbance fled on, or wait for Dawn? We'd already gotten separated once, but if we didn't do something, we wouldn't have a future to go back to. Grinding my teeth, I ultimately decided to pursue the Disturbance.
As I followed the path, I wondered about that thing called a train. It was another marvelous form of transportation that I had never seen before, but if Eggman could so easily manipulate it to his own whims, how could it be trusted?
I continued searching my surroundings, desperately seeking out the Disturbance. After a moment, I heard a familiar voice. Turning sharply, I saw him running with that girl again. He looked urgent, and didn't seem to notice me.
Perfect I nodded. I closed my fists tightly, green energy surrounding them, and slammed them on the ground. The two of them lurched forward and hit the ground.
"Ouch!" he exclaimed. "What –"
"This time, there will be no interruptions!" I shouted in determination.
He looked up and his eyes widened when he saw me. "Oh no...not you again! Look, I'd love to stay and chat, but I don't have time. The world's in jeopardy, and I'm trying to –"
"Silence!" I shouted, not having any of it. "I don't have the patience to deal with your jokes right now. The Disturbance must die!" With that, I threw him to the ground, placing him right where I needed him so I could finish him off.
"Ungh!" He grunted. He laid there a moment as I braced myself, then he perked suddenly. "No, stop!" After a moment, he suddenly tried to run away, but I foiled him again.
"It's no use!" I shouted triumphantly. "You're mine!" With that, I continued charging my ultimate psychic blast. He squeezed his eyes shut, apparently seeing no way out. At long last I thought. It's over. It's finally –
"THUNDERBOLT, NOW!"
What happened next shocked me (no pun intended). Instead of finishing off the Disturbance, a powerful electric current coursed through my body, releasing his grip. We both got up, but what I saw next shocked me again (no pun implemented) "What the – Mephiles!? Why are you getting in my way?!" So maybe I was right about him after all I thought as I stared at the hidden figure before me. "I thought that you –"
"Who are you calling Mephiles, you creep?!" the figure stood up. My eyes widened in astonishment. That wasn't Mephiles' voice! I didn't understand what was going on, but the blue hedgehog did, apparently.
"Baseball Head?!"
The figure turned around and addressed him. "You do what you have to do," he said. "I'll take care of this." The Disturbance gave a thumbs-up and took off.
"NO!" I shouted in rage, throwing a telekinetic blast at him, but a blue blast of energy from my new foe neutralized it. I turned towards him in shock. "You...who are you?!"
He looked me in the eyes, a grin on his face. "My name is Ash," he replied. "Ash Ketchum!"
"Pi-Pikachu!" his companion Pokemon grinned, sparks on its cheeks.
I wasted no time. Using my power, I lifted his Pokemon off the ground and threw him into his master, knocking them both to the ground. They leapt back up, and I picked up some boxes with my power to throw at them. Taking advantage of this, he threw a blue ball of energy at me, stunning me enough to let the boxes go. Then he followed up by punching me to the ground. I recovered in time to prevent another punch and threw him back with my power. Still strong, he jumped up and sent his Pokemon at me with a powerful electric attack. I deflected it and blasted them with a powerful, telekinetic blast. They didn't look too good this time around, but they still had some fight in them. I decided to spare them the trouble and finish them off with another powerful blast, but before I could do anything, I saw the Pokemon rushing at me again. I got ready to throw him back, but he suddenly consumed himself in electricity. Shocked by this and unable to deflect it all, I felt myself get thrown violently to the ground, bouncing a couple times before I slid to a stop. I was weary, but I couldn't give up. Not now. I slowly got to my hands and knees, then onto my feet, leaning on one knee while panting. Apparently, my foe was also weary, as he and his Pokemon were panting as well.
Summoning every ounce of strength I had left, I raised my fist and a battle cry, and charged at him. He saw this and looked alarmed.
"Now, Shadow!" he cried.
Suddenly, I felt something slam the back of my head, knocking me to the ground while I winced in agony. Groaning, I stood once again and looked behind me to see someone who looked a lot like the Disturbance. Still, he was easily distinguishable, as his fur was black and red, and his voice was much deeper.
I'm not color-blind. Or stupid.
"Where did you –"
"Shut it," the black hedgehog snapped. "You're not going anywhere." He held a glowing gem. "As long as I have the Chaos Emerald, you can't break free."
I leaned on my knee in despair once again, but when I felt the green sheets beneath me, my resolve returned. "No," I shook my head. "I won't give up. Everyone's depending on me! I can't lose...not when I'm so close!" I charged another blast and fired it at him. He deflected it, but it was only a diversion so I could slam him down. Unfortunately, his friend saw through my strategy and raced to stop me.
"Chaos…" he cried.
"Chaos…" the hedgehog cried as well when he saw what I was doing.
"CONTROL!" they finished. A blast of power threw us all back, as a small glow appeared in the middle of us, slowly growing more intense until a spinning wormhole appeared, humming a futuristic sound.
"Another rift," the black hedgehog muttered.
"What happened?" his friend mused.
"Pikachu?"
I stood up, unaware of what they were looking at. "You won't stop me!" I shouted. "I will destroy the Disturbance and save the future!"
The black hedgehog looked at me, perplexed. "You mean Sonic? You want to kill the blue hedgehog?"
"His actions will destroy the future, where I come from," I explained. "Stay out of my –"
"Who told you this?" the hedgehog abruptly interrupted.
I looked at him, confused and caught off-guard. "Wha - What do you mean?"
"It's not complicated," he growled. "Who told you that Sonic would destroy the future?"
I shrugged. "Someone who looks like him," I said, pointing to the black hedgehog's friend.
"Me?" his friend repeated.
"Yes. His name is Mephiles. He told me I had to kill the blue hedgehog to save the future."
The black hedgehog clenched his fist. "I knew it."
"Huh?" I looked at him, puzzled.
"I figured Mephiles was behind all this."
"Wait, what?!" I exclaimed. He knows Mephiles?! How –
"Yes," he nodded. "I know full well who Mephiles is. Granted, he's mysterious, but I know enough to know that he's not to be trusted."
"Wha –" I stuttered, at a loss for words.
"The solution to your problems isn't killing Sonic," the black hedgehog said gently, eyes softening. "Mephiles knows this, but the truth is in the past." He gestured towards the glowing wormhole in front of us. "Follow me if you want to know the truth." With that, he jumped in. I hesitated, unsure.
"I'd take his word for it."
I turned to look at the person standing before me. "Why?"
"Shadow spent a good effort to find the truth about himself," he explained. "If anyone knows what it means to find truth, it's him."
"Pika-Pikachu," his companion nodded.
"What about you?" I asked. "Are you coming, too?"
"Not this time," he shook his head. "I've got other matters to attend to. Plus, I gotta change out of these clothes! Sheesh! I'm getting hot in here!"
I didn't bother listening to anymore. If what Shadow said was true, then I had no choice now but to follow him. Without another thought, I jumped into the wormhole.