A/N: Don't really have anything to say. Thanks go to Crazy Muffin Assassin.
Shadow's POV
I woke up expecting to see my house. Instead, I woke up with a stick poking my face and two blurred figures standing over me.
"What the hell are you doing?" I demanded. The two figures jumped back at my outburst, and one of them screamed. My vision began to clear up and the figures began to gain detail. Oh, hell. The two figures standing above me were none other than Silver and Blaze. I groaned. I bet it was Silver who screamed. All the buildings around us were burned and destroyed. There were pools of molten lava all over the place. Mephiles sent me to Crisis City.
"Hey, are you new around here?" Silver asked. "I've never seen you before" I forgot how annoying Silver's voice was before he went through puberty.
"Sure" I said. I was still wearing my helmet, so my identity was concealed.
"What's you're name?" Silver asked, extending a hand to help me up.
"I'm lance-" I thought it best to give my rank and some phony name just in case, but someone else interrupted.
"Silver! He's back! Iblis popped up again!" Sky shouted running up next to me.
"Hold that thought Lance. We gotta go!"
"Wait, my name's not-" but they already started running. If I ever get back to the past…or is it the future? The future of the past? If I ever get back to my time, I'm going to slap Silver. Who pokes a sleeping person with a stick? Who names their kid Lance? What am I gonna do now? There's not a whole lot to do in Crisis City. Maybe I can help fight Iblis. Yeah, that would give me something productive to do. I caught up to them in a matter of seconds.
"Hey! Who's this?" Sky asked. "I've never seen him around here before"
"His name is Lance" Silver answered. "Why don't you tell us about yourself? Where are you from?" I thought for a second. If I give them actual information, I could change the future. Not just in Crisis City, but my future too.
"Oh, you don't want to know about me" I responded.
"Well, then why are you here of all places?" Blaze asked. "It sucks here"
Really? I never noticed. "I didn't have much of a choice"
"Well, I'm Silver" he said, extending his gloved hand. Hesitantly I shook it.
"And I'm Blaze" Blaze said.
"And I'm-" Sky started.
"No one cares" Blaze interjected.
"As I was saying, I'm Sky" she gave the lavender cat a venom filled glare.
"Stop arguing; we're here" Silver said, screeching to a halt. I have a newfound admiration for Silver, Blaze, and Sky. Iblis is huge. He's like a 200 foot tall half molten gargoyle, or the giant monster Gandalf fought in Lord of the Rings. Its roar was so deafening and forceful, I was blown back by it. Silver and Blaze dove right in. They were either stupid or brave, and I'm betting Silver was the former. Iblis hurled rocks 20 feet across at them like they were pebbles. Silver stopped them with psychokinesis and threw them back. The way he and Blaze fought as a team was almost legendary. Blaze held the fiery monsters that Iblis created at bay while Silver hurled rock after rock at Iblis itself. That left Sky and myself to fight the other spawn created. It was pretty easy. A punch here, a roundhouse there, and they all dissipated promptly afterward. But for every one that went down, two more came in its place. Sky was on fire, so to speak. I never knew she could fight like that. Then things started going wrong again. Iblis swatted Silver away; he crashed into a ruined building. Blaze ran off after him. Apparently, Iblis viewed Sky as a bigger threat as opposed to me, so he went after her.
"Sky! Look out!" I shouted, pointing to Iblis. He took his garage-sized fist and brought it down. Sky swiftly ran out of the way, narrowly avoiding it. She ran around the plaza weaving around spawn and other obstacles. My heart skipped a beat. Her shoe caught on debris and she stumbled. Iblis seemed to grin as he raised his massive fist.
"Damn it!" this is becoming a pattern. I took off running, my skates aiding my effort. Iblis started to bring his hand down again. I dove, as one would sliding into third base. I wrapped my arms around her, dragging her out of the way when we collided. We rolled person over person until coming to stop, me on top of her. Now, don't be a pervert; I was using my body as a shield. The impact Iblis had made sent all kinds of debris shooting around. Most of it just bounced harmlessly of my back. Some of it hurt. I could feel a few shards pierce the combat jacket and slice up my back. I winced slightly, but sucked it up. Painfully, I stood. Now to take care of Iblis. I brought my hand to my wrist and twisted off the golden ring that resided there. After slipping it off, I did the same to my other hand. I was rewarded with a surge of power. The rush I get when I take off my rings is still euphoric. I really only take them off as a last resort.
Now, I gotta be quick about this. If I expend too much energy, I could pass out, possibly for days. If you've never been to Crisis City, take it from me; it's not a place you want to stay for any longer than you have to. In the spirit of not wanting to be stuck here, I charged. In retrospect, it probably wasn't the brightest idea, charging Iblis in a frontal assault. Iblis threw a rock at me the size of a van. Being as fast as I am, I dodged it without a problem. Iblis must've realized that he's not the best when it comes to hitting things with rocks, so he decided to smash me with his fist. Good. I took a moment to stand still and give him an easy target. I saw a twinge of confusion in Iblis' dull eye when he noticed I was no longer evading his attacks. I guess even a giant monster can be at least a little intelligent, so he decided to smash me and be over with it. Just as I planned. He swung his arm, putting as much force behind his fist as he could. I just ran out of the collision course. His fist smashed clear through the volcanic rock, but when Iblis tried to pull it out, he found that it would not be so easy. Taking the opportunity, I clambered up onto his arm and ran over to his head. Once there, I tensed. If I'm to subdue Iblis, massive, destructive power is called for. Usually, a chaos emerald is required, but apparently, this is the exception to the rule. I reached deep down and summoned forth all the chaos energy I could muster. I started to glow. It was subtle at first, but the more energy I collected the more prominent it became.
And then I released it "Chaos blast!" I shouted. A violent red light formed. First, it started at the tips of my fingers. Then, it spread out, wider and wider. The bigger it got, the brighter and more intense it became. Iblis let out a pained roar as piece by piece he was ripped apart by the blast. After several moments, Iblis began to fall apart. Finally, the remaining pieces of Iblis collapsed into the pit, mixing in with its molten content.
"Whoa…" Sky gasped, when I walked back over to her. "What did you say your name was?"
Back in the past…
Silver's POV
"What happened to Shadow?" Sonic said in complete and utter disbelief.
"We think he was sent to another time," I repeated. Everyone had found out from Rouge about Shadow disappearance, and that we were the last people to see him.
"Not to cast dispersions, but do you have any proof?" Tails asked, looking equally worried as everyone else. I then produced the green chaos emerald.
"Ok, so you have a chaos emerald. What of it?" Knuckles said, emotionally detached. He seemed to be the only one not particularly worried. Charmy, on the other hand, was flipping out. Apparently Shadow was his hero and he started a fan club for him.
"Shadow had this when he left, and he teleported from outside Sky's room. I found this here after Rouge left yesterday"
"So, what are you saying?" Rouge asked. She sounded distressed and on-edge.
"Shadow's not dead" no one seemed particularly surprised by this. He did, after all, survive a fall to earth from the ARK while in space. Rouge looked like she was about to cry. Her usually immaculate blue eyes were watery and glass like. I'd never seen her display emotion, aside from flirting with Knuckles and being excited about stealing jewels.
Shadow's POV
"Lance" I responded, mentally cursing Silver while doing so. "Are you ok? Are you hurt?" I clipped my rings back on. I used up too much energy; I'm starting to feel a little lightheaded.
"I think I twisted my ankle," she groaned. I rolled my eyes. This is just keeps getting better and better. I picked her up and ran off. Sky lead me through the distorted landscape that was Crisis City to her home. It wasn't much; even my place was nicer than this. It was the basement of a collapsed building complex. According to the signs, we were now under what was Casinopolis in the late Station Square. I thought Station Square was impossible to navigate before. I set her down on a futon and took off her shoe. Her ankle was red and slightly swollen. I'll be damned. G.U.N. is actually useful for something. They taught battlefield medicine and how to treat several minor injuries, including sprained ankles. I laid her down on her back and elevated her ankle above her chest. Next, I need some ice, to minimize swelling and bruising. Where am I supposed to find ice in Crisis City? The whole place is one huge freakin' fire! Ok, skip the ice; I need a splint. I took a piece of wood and put it to her leg. I ripped off the left sleeve of my jacket and tore it into strips. Tightly, but not so as to cut off circulation, I tied the board above and below the injured area.
"Thanks," Sky said brightly. Despite being covered in ash and soot, and having small cuts and bruises all over, she still managed to be beautiful. No, I can't think like that now. I'm in her past and my future. I can't afford to be distracted. Then I might actually die. "Where did you learn to fight like that?"
"The military" it continued on like this for about an hour, her asking questions, and me just answering with as few words as possible.
"Hey, Silver should be back by now" Sky pointed out. Almost as if by coincidence, the pair of them walked in. They had small cuts and streaks of ashes in their fur. Blaze's cloths had small tears in many places. They limped over and crashed next to us.
"Gee, Sky thanks for helping" Blaze said sarcastically.
"Stuff it, princess" Sky retorted. Blaze's fist clenched. She hates being reminded of her royal bloodline.
"Sky, Blaze, not now" Silver spoke up, obviously exhausted.
"It's not my fault Sky ditched us" Blaze said.
"I did not!" Sky shouted. "I would be a pancake right now if Lance hadn't stepped in and saved me!"
"My point exactly; you're always getting in the way," Blaze said coldly. It's surprising how cold a pyrokinetic like her can be. Sky struggled to get up on her injured ankle, but buckled and fell.
"Arguing helps nothing," I said, supporting Sky. "She was in trouble, and I saved her. Deal with it" Blaze scowled at me, but figured I wasn't worth fighting with. After all, I just saved them the trouble of defeating Iblis, if only for a short while.
"Thanks" Silver smiled. Apparently, Silver is the mellow person here.
"I'm gonna turn in" Blaze yawned. It just occurred to me in might be around nighttime; I just never noticed with all the fires burning. Well, that and the endless blanket of black clouds that never shows any sign of any sort of precipitation and blot out the sun. Silver and Blaze fell asleep first followed by Sky. I didn't really feel comfortable sleeping in unfamiliar territory, especially with Iblis destroying everything in sight. And if my memory serves, Mephiles will pop up to send Silver and Blaze to the past. I'm going to need to find a way home, and soon. Mephiles could be wreaking havoc in the past and I would have no say in the matter. The sooner I get out of here, the better.
A/N: How is Shadow going to get back to the past? And in the past, what trouble is Mephiles causing?