A.N.: First off, I'd like to say: hoorah, first reviewers! Thanks, you guys, for taking the time to read this humble fanfic.

Secondly: I apologise for not cranking out another chapter, I have been busy as of late. Here is a reward for your patience:

Chapter 4: A matter of trust

"...ugh...urgh..where...am I...?"

Sonic opened his eyes drearily to view his surroundings, but gripped his head with a groan; dammit, everything hurt. Like hell. Metal had thrashed him good this time, he had to admit. If not for his saviour, he'd be paste right now.

Speaking of which...

He looked around proper. He was in what appeared to be the remains of a bedroom. He was resting on a moulding matress, and there was a dim light above hanging from the ceiling. The walls were bare of any decoration and wallpaper, bearing only crumbling plaster. The floor was cold concrete. "Awake at last?"

Sonic started and sat up, looking frantically for the source of the voice, but he groaned and sat back again. Entering his vision now was that mysterious Shadow look-alike, looking down at him. Sonic scowled. "Yeah, and that matters to you? Who are you?"

"Mephiles." The black hedgehog lifted a hand, palm upwards, and tilted his head to the side. Sonic though it was a rather strange gesture. "Mephiles the Dark. It is strange once again that you do not remember me, but...well, you didn't really get to know me very well when we first met anyway. I didn't give you the chance...hm hmhmm."

The chuckle put Sonic off, but he narrowed his eyes at the impostor."Look, I never met you before, and I definitely do NOT want to get to know you. What's the big deal? What do you want?"

Mephiles seemed to stare, and let his hand fall slowly, almost dramatically. "I saved your life..." he said, a smirk in his voice not present on his featureless muzzle. "I think you're acting a tad ungrateful." Sonic snorted, and Mephiles' green iris narrowed slightly. "You would have died, surely...if not for my intervention."

"Yeah yeah, alright.." Sonic moaned in annoyance, "thanks for saving my rear, now tell me what's going on!"

Mephiles answered with a nod. "Very well. You are here...because I want to help you."

"Help me?" Sonic inquired with a nearly incredulous smirk. "Look pal, I don't need anyone's help with anything! I'm Sonic...the Hedgehog!"

Mephiles resisted the urge to face-palm or cringe. This guy was full of himself, and he was cheesy to boot. God, knowing that he had killed the guy before made him that much more certain that he had done the human world a service at some point. "Alright, Sonic..pause..the Hedgehog. Then let me rephrase: I want to assist you in ridding yourself of the metal nuisance that almost literally killed you."

"Metal..?" Sonic pondered. "That's what this is all about?"

"Indeed," Mephiles nodded. "I have watched you from this world, Sonic, and this world...is a future. Of what the future would become if Metal Sonic isn't destroyed."

"Wait, you're saying this is the future?!" Sonic asked, suddenly rather hyper as he sat up- only to groan and fall back again. Jeez, he really hurt.

"No...I said a future. A possibility. Nevertheless..." Mephiles stated, gesturing around the windowless room as if he were in a grand open field, "even possibilities can be made real by certain events. You recall the Time Eater, yes?"

"Don't I.." murmured Sonic, before grinning. "Me and little classic me got along great, I think!"

Mephiles ignored this, and continued, "Well, aside from erasing certain events from time, the Time Eater also...realised...others. This wasn't intended, but in a time where I no longer existed...I now do. And for that, I thank you...Sonic."

"Me?" Sonic murmured; he would have scratched his head if he had the strength. This Mephiles guy shouldn't have existed, but thanks to all the Time-Eater woohah he now did? "But, wait a minute," Sonic protested, "After me and little me beat the Time Eater, time was restored completely to normal! Or, that's what Tails said..."

"Hmph," Mephiles shook his head. "Sure...your time was restored. But I was brought momentarily back into existence, and with some willpower and more than a little real power, I forced reality to ignore me when it should have corrected and erased me. So instead of being erased, I was thrown here, into a possible future...with little else to do, I decided to learn the origins of this strange world."

"You MADE reality ignore you? Come on," Sonic scoffed. Mephiles however merely stared, and Sonic's disbelief faded a little. "Powerful beings have the power to bend reality..." Mephiles murmured. "And I am very powerful. Now listen...

"As I said, I studied this world as best I could. As far as I can tell, this is the planet after several tens of thousands of years have passed. The sun is weaker, and the ruins of humanity- once so glorious- are no more. I looked for clues as to who did this, and found out who the culprit was..."

"Metal, right?" Sonic guessed, since the Shadow look-alike had after all mentioned that the robot had something to do with this place. Mephiles nodded. "Metal Sonic. I recovered numerous government documents about how the robot had come across a great power and used it to indiscriminately destroy everything. The world fought back, military, special forces...even you and your friends."

The look the black hedgehog gave Sonic unnerved him. "You all failed."

"Wait, we lost?!" Sonic exclaimed, and Mephiles nodded gravely.

"Oh yes. None of you stood a chance. His newfound power was on an unimagiable scale previously unseen...not even by you, who I know has seen many things. I don't have the specifics...but he charred this world into the crisp you see around you now." Mephiles could tell that this info was having a profound effect on Sonic; he seemed to just stare off to the side and think. Like, really think for once. The blue blur had always saved the world. It was what he lived for. Naturally he didn't do it just because he was obligated and he was usually the only one who could, but he also saved the world because it was fun. Most of the time. This future...he didn't like it. He lost apparently lost in this timeline. He didn't like that at all, espcially since it was to that metal freak.

That he had been beaten by Metal earlier in this same future was nothing short of ironic, but almost prophetic. It proved that he could do it, if he really wanted to. And he was going to destroy the world...

"How do I know I can trust you?" Sonic enquired of the other shaded Hedgehog, narrowing his eyes somewhat. Just because this world was destroyed, didn't mean it was the future. So far, Mephiles had only told him these things. Sonic was hard-headed, but he wasn't gullible. He had never liked this guy from the start, and even now he was still questioning his motives...

"You don't," Mephiles stated simply, making Sonic do a double-take; "But you have no choice. You are probably wondering why I brought you and Metal here...well. It's simple, really. Around this time in the present- your present- Metal will have found the energy source which made him unstoppable. This I know through having traced back dates in the documents I found. I don't know if it would have been a week from your time or a few days...but Metal was nearing the time of his transcendence into the destroyer of this world. I had to act. Seeing this world the way it is...it unsettles me."

Sonic had a hard time believing that. Mephiles hardly looked like the sort who cared for the state of the planet, and he certainly didn't give off that feeling. But he said nothing, and listened as the other continued, "I cannot travel to your time, however. So I decided to bring the both of you here. In this future, Metal cannot obtain the power he woud gain in time since it has already been used here...meaning that defeating him here is the only chance you're ever going to get of beating him and preventing this world from withering."

Sonic was incredulous. Did he really expect him to just believe all this? There were so many holes in what he was trying to put across even Silver would have likely seen through it. He could bend reality, yet he couldn't travel through time...but he could bring them here. And he just could not shake off the feeling that Mephiles wasn't telling the entire truth. Or even the truth at all. He knew that somehow, this wasn't right. Something was amiss.

"Where's Metal, then?" he asked cautiously; "Not the one who beat me, but...the one who burned everything."

"I don't know," Mephiles shrugged with a- Sonic had to admit- genuine sounding ring to the words. "After burning everthing, he seemed to have disappeared...he is no longer here, for certain. Perhaps, with his newfound power, he has moved on to other worlds? It matters little. He isn't here, and therefore he isn't a threat to you. Meaning you can focus on the Metal Sonic of your time."

"I'm sorry," Sonic blurted out, "but I just don't buy what you're saying. I know it all sounds real convincing, but it doesn't fit. I mean, I don't even know anything about you- all I know is you brought me and Metal here, you saved my life, and you were apparently supposed to be erased from time but survived. That's all I know about you, and if I have to be honest, I just don't like you. Why would any of this matter to you?"

Mephiles stared at Sonic for the longest time. The blue Hedgehog was uncomfortable under that stare; then Mephiles waved his hand, and suddenly Sonic found he could move. It hit him- he had never been weak, it had been Mephiles keeping him from moving too much with that power of his. He sat up, and Mephiles turned and walked towards the door leading out of the room; he opened it, but before he walked out, he turned and looked at Sonic with one reptillian iris.

"What if I'm right? Isn't it worth taking the risk? I brought you and Metal here so you could destroy him. That's my reasoning, and all you need to know. And in the end...whether you choose to believe me or not..." He looked forward, breaking eye-contact. "You cannot leave this place until you beat Metal Sonic. If that isn't motivation enough, then I don't know what is. Oh, and another thing..."

He chuckled, back still turned. "You may discover in your next battle...to aid you in your hopeful victory...that I've 'improved' you a little. Given you some of my power. Just a helpful boost."

Then he was gone, and the door closed behind him. Immensely peeved, Sonic got out of the bed and looked around him; well, even if he didn't like or trust the guy, if beating Metal was the only way out- really and truly- then that's what he would have to do. Passing a mirror in the wall as he made his way to the door, he blinked and did a double take, stumbling over to the mirror and looking at himself closely, eyes widened in shock.

His irises were reptillian.