Sonic The Hedgehog - Chaos on Mobius
4th Saga: The Solaris Merger

Episode 96

Previously on Sonic The Hedgehog - Chaos on Mobius...
After searching through Crisis City, Shadow and Rouge found one of the Time Stones they needed, while Sonic, Tails and TodStar discovered that Sally died two days after the Star Festival aboard the Egg Carrier 2! Shadow and Rouge also found Omega in standby mode for reasons unknown.
When the five reunited, they travelled into a volcanic region, where another Time Stone was located. In an active volcano! Eventually making it the where the Time Stone was located, our heroes were confronted by Iblis! And while Sonic tried to reason with it, they eventually defeated the beast and recovered the Time Stone.
Using Chronos Control to create a small rip in time and space, Sonic, Tails, TodStar and Rouge jumped through it. But Shadow stayed behind to chase after Mephiles.
Can Sonic and friends change Sally's fate? What was Omega doing in standby mode in the first place? Why did Iblis turn on Sonic? And can Shadow find Mephiles? Find out in the next chapter of The Solaris Merger!

Chapter Seven: The Fate of Shadow and Sally

Back in the present day, Rouge lands in Mushroom City through the space-time rift, while a purple Chaos Emerald and a green Time Stone.
"Shadow? Shadow?" She asked as she looked around for the black hedgehog, only for the space-time rift to vanish without Shadow coming through. It was then that Rouge picked up the Chaos Emerald. "Shadow... and he doesn't have her Chaos Emerald anymore..." Suddenly, her communicator started beeping.
"Agent Rouge?" Said a voice she was familiar with. "Report your status immediately. Have you retreived the Scepter of Darkness?" Rouge was hesitant to answer...
"Well... I'll provide a full report shortly, sir." She replied. "Right now, I have a priority situation to deal with. I need to contact E-123 Omega asap."
"Luckily for you, Omega's in the Great Jungle." Said the voice from GUN HQ. This made Rouge grin before she started to flap her wings.

Later, as Rouge flew over the Great Jungle, she spotted a certain large robot...
"Ahh... just the 'bot I wanted to see!" She said before diving down in front of him. "Hey, Omega. Long time no see, big boy."
"ROUGE THE BAT." Omega stated as he looked down at Rouge. "WHAT BRINGS YOU TO MY LOCATION?" Rouge then explained what had happened to herself and Shadow. "SITUATION UNDERSTOOD. WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO DO?" Rouge then revealed the Chaos Emerald Shadow had with him.
"When you find Shadow, give this to him." She said to the robot. "And while you're at it, you'd better give him a hand, too." Omega then obtained the Chaos Emerald from Rouge, and placed it in his storage unit.
"SYSTEM REACTIVATION COUNTDOWN INITIATED." Stated Omega, as he prepared his weapons and other systems for his new mission. "BACKUP POWER SOURCE AND SPARE MAGAZINES SECURED. COMMAND PROGRAM PRIORITY CHANGED. NEW MISSION: SHADOW SUPPORT. EXTERNAL ACCESS NO LONGER PERMITTED. CONFIRMED." It was then the Omega stood to attention.
"I'm counting on you, Omega." Rouge told the robot as he started to walk out of the Great Jungle.

Back in the future, Shadow was looking around in the lava-filled cave for the hedgehog that resembled him, when he found him perched on top of a purple orb.
"So, decided to void your return ticket now, did you?" He asked the Ultimate Lifeform.
"Why are you here?" Shadow asked as he pointed to the imposter. "Did you change Mobius into this?"
"The answer's yes... and no." This confused Shadow. "Perhaps it's better to show you..." Snapping his fingers, the Shadow look-alike revealed what appeared to be Shadow sealed within a small chamber. Seeing this, Shadow was indeed surprised.

"Yes. That's you." Mephiles told him. "After Mobius was devastated by Iblis' flames, what do you think happened? A search for the guilty. Who did this, you may ask? The Overlanders weren't just jealous of your power... they feared it." Hearing this, Shadow looked down at the ground. "They used this incident as an excuse to hunt you down." Shadow seemed unsure about his place on Mobius all of a sudden... "Come with me, Shadow. Let us punish this foolish world of humanity. It's only fair to give back what was intended for you. You have every right to want justice."
"Justice?" Shadow asked before turning to face Mephiles. "You make it sounds more like vengance. In which case, you can forget it." This seemed to confuse Mephiles...
"You forgive humanity this folly then?" He asked while pointing to Shadow's future.
"I determine my own destiny." Shadow replied while clenching his fist. This made Mephiles decide to show Shadow his true self: a crystalline version of Shadow that dived down to the ground in front of Shadow, and became Shadow's shadow! "Don't bother to try and deceive me. I know who I am!"

All of a sudden, small creatures that slightly resemble Mephiles appeared from nowhere and attempted to lunge at Shadow, but he managed to jump out of harm's way, before striking a handful of them with his Homing Attack.
"It doesn't matter how many of them you defeat, you know..." Said Mephiles, still posing as Shadow's shadow. Realising this, Shadow attempted to punch at Mephiles, but he only hit the ground. This was also the time that the smaller dark creatures attached themselves to Shadow. Before they could do anything to him, Shadow started charging up a Spin Dash, shaking off the smaller creatures, before jumping up and diving down onto Mephiles. But his attack had no effect!
"What?"
"I'm your shadow..." Mephiles told him. "You can't even touch me."
"What if I do this?" Asked Shadow as he removed his Inhibitor Rings. As he screamed, Shadow unleashed his Chaos Boost ability, bringing Mephiles up from the ground!
"What? Shadow! You-"
"Chaos SPEAR!" Shadow then struck Mephiles with his Chaos Spear attack, before Spin Dashing into him, then striking him with a distortion surrounding his right hand. "Chaos... BLAST!" Shadow then exploded in a large orb of Chaos Energy that engulfed Mephiles and all of his shadow creatures.

Watching Mephiles slowly try to get up off of the ground, Shadow then approached the monster while reattaching his Inhibitor Rings to his wrists.
"Hmph. You're not as strong as I thought..." Shadow told him, which was when Mephiles blasted Shadow with an attack that sent him into a pillar, before falling onto the ground, panting.
"*laugh* You were saying..." Said Mephiles, as he approached him. Before Mephiles could get too close however, some bullets got in between the two of them. When they looked around, they saw a certain robot that looked dusty and rusted.
"Omega!" Exclaimed Shadow.
"NOW IS THE DESIGNATED TIME." Omega stated as he retracted his machine gun for his right hand, while switching his left hand for missile launcher. "I SHALL ASSIST YOU, SHADOW." Omega then fired a missile at Mephiles, which was a direct hit!
"Omega, if you have a shot at Mephiles, take it!" Shadow told the robot, before using his Homing Attack on one of the smaller shadow creatures that had returned. "I'll cover you."
"AFFIRMATIVE." Omega replied before firing a laser attack at Mephiles. Mephiles tried to attack Omega with a dark orb, but the robot countered it with his laser attack before firing another missile at Mephiles.
"You're just a nuisance, robot." Mephiles told Omega. While Shadow Spin Dashed through any creature that headed for Omega, the robot fired one last missile at Mephiles, which knocked the fiend off his feet(?) and face first on the ground. Struggling to get up, Mephiles eventually created an orb and placed it above his head before floating into it.
"Mephiles!" Shouted Shadow as he and Omega chased him into it. When Shadow and Omega reappeared, they found themselves in the present Station Square, and Mephiles was nowhere in sight. "Dammit."
"SHADOW, I SHALL ASSIST YOU IN PURSUING MEPHILES." Omega stated before seeing Shadow nod.

A few minutes later, a space-time rift appeared on the other side of Station Square, and Sonic, Tails and TodStar fell out of it. It was at this point that TodStar's strength had returned. Little did they know that a familiar-looking robot was standing atop a skyscraper, waiting for them...
"Looks like we made it back in one piece." TodStar pointed out.
"Where did Shadow and Rouge go?" Asked Tails. "Did they appear someplace else?"
"Meh, those two can take care of themse-" Sonic replied, but he was inturrupted when he saw the robot on the building that had a shape similar to someone he knew.
"Sonic, what is it?" Asked Tails, before Sonic pointed up at the robot.
"You don't think he..." Sonic was about to say, but the robot then leapt from the buildingtop to come down to their level, revealing its design: a robotic version of Sally Acorn, complete with light-blue digital eyes, a light-brown robot body with a light-blue chestplate and light-blue robotic feet.

"No... not her... NOT her!" Said Sonic, who looked absolutely terrified at the sight of his friend in this state.
"E-eggman Roboticized SALLY?" Tails asked while looking horrified at the former Mobian, while TodStar allowed a Chaos Spear to form in his left hand.
"That slimy little spawn of Iblis!" He angrily shouted, before Sally lunged at him, making him crash into a hotdog cart that was nearby.
"TodStar!" Cried Sonic. Hearing his voice, Sally turned to look over at Sonic.
"Hedgehog... Priority one." She said, before zooming towards Sonic. Before she could hit him however, Sonic Quick Stepped out of the way and jumped up a building, while Tails flew out of harm's way.
"Sonic! What do we do?" Tails asked as Sonic was hanging from a lamppost.
"I... I don't know..." Sonic replied, which startled Tails.
"What?"
"I can't let Sally hurt you guys... but I don't wanna hurt her, either..." While saying this, Sonic stared at Sally with a look of sorrow on his face.
"Target aquired." Sally stated while looking up at Sonic. "Objective: Destroy Sonic the Hedgehog." Sally then flew up to Sonic with no desire to go easy on her boyfriend...

END OF CHAPTER