CHAPTER TWELVE

Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles ran back to Eggman's base to find some information if there's any Chaos Emeralds near them or near Shadow and Rouge.

When they got there, they walked around and looking inside some cells and rooms. They were still walking around and couldn't find a computer still.

Sonic was looking back and forth, side to side, checking if there were any computers near them, but something caught Sonic's eye, there was a cell door, that looked like someone was trying to get in, there were about five or six dents on the door, that looked like something big, and inside the dark cell room.

Sonic shaked his head, and walked back to Tails and Knuckles.

"No matter where we go, all we see are ruins." grumbled Knuckles.

"How can this be our future?" Knuckles added, he was walking in circles.

"How could it come to this?" Tails said sadly.

Sonic looked at both of them, not wanting to answer or add a question. He walked pass them, still thinking if there's away to get to the timeline and go after Eggman, to get Elise back.

That's all was in Sonic's mind, to save Elise and get her to safety and leave, but it hurt his heart to just leave Elise. Maybe he should of kissed her on the hill and confessed his feelings he had for her when he had the chance, but he was stupid to not kiss her. He remembered when he saw Elise's face went sad after he told her they should go back to the city.

Sonic closed his eyes, coming back to reality until he noticed a light coming from a door.

Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles run to the door, but stopped when they heard voices coming through the door. Sonic walked up to the door, looking behind the door, letting Tails and Knuckles have a peek also of what's going on in there. Sonic had a good view, to see three figures in the room having a conversation.

"Could it be true? If I eliminate that guy, will our world be saved?" Silver questioned and hoped.

Mephiles nodded, he turned around to the old machinery.

"The Day of Disaster... Here are my records of this event." Mephiles told Silver and Blaze. "This was when Iblis was freed and his flames were released into your world."

'Sonic gasped when he saw Silver in the room so this is where he came from,' thought Sonic.

But there was a cat next to him that he hasn't seen before. But he saw another figure, that looked like Shadow but he looks different he had gray stripes in his hair, and when he saw him turn around, he had green snake eyes, not red.

Sonic defiantly knew it wasn't Shadow, so why do they look so similar?

Mephiles turned on the computer, it showed old news articles, pictures, and the dates of when it happened. Silver and Blaze looked at Mephiles as he brought up an purple gem, that looked like a Chaos Emerald.

"And you have this person to blame."

Mephiles handed Silver the gem. Silver looked at the gem with confusion, and gasped. "I see it! So, that blue hedgehog is the Iblis Trigger?" questioned Silver.

"Blue hedgehog..." muttered Blaze.

Sonic widen his eyes he could feel his friend's eyes behind him, looking at him as shocked as he is. Sonic doesn't believe it, even if it was true that he was 'The Iblis Trigger' then he knows why Silver tried to kill him in the city, but all thanks to Amy that she was there at the right time.

He heard the cat mumbled, 'blue hedgehog'.

Sonic looked back, at the unknown hedgehog that wasn't Shadow.

He looked at the dark purple Chaos Emerald.

'Funny.' Sonic thought.

Sonic has never seen such a dark gem before that's when it hit him the hedgehog made it, himself. Sonic and his friends continued to watch and hear the conversation.

"I'll send us back in time to the point when the Iblis Trigger was alive." finished Mephiles, as he does something with his hands, then out came a purple a ball with black lines from his hands. He turns to Silver and Blaze, bring them and himself to the past where Sonic was alive. And disappear without a trace.

Sonic and his friends run to the same spot where they disappeared.

"What the... Who was that guy?" Knuckles asked confused.

"He just looked like Shadow and..." Knuckles trailed off, when he heard Tails yelling at them, with fear.

"Th-This is terrible!" Sonic turned to him worried, and looked at Tails as he was typing on the computer.

"According to the data, the Princess died when she was kidnapped by Eggman!"

At that Sonic ran to Tails, as he was picking more information.

"Apparently, Eggman's battleship exploded!" Tails sounding even more scared and sad. "The data of this incident was... Two days after the Festival of the Sun!" Sonic looked at Tails.

"If we don't return in time, Elise will die on board Eggman's battleship."

Trying to stay calm and control his anger, to not explode in front of his friends. "That means..." Sonic trailed off, not wanting to say it.

"Yeah... I think so."

Tails looked at the floor, not wanting to cry in front of them.

Knuckles was shaking his head, stop from tears to fall out.

Sonic walked out of the room, without them knowing.

Tails and Knuckles ran out of the computer room, to where they heard a loud noise but found Sonic looking down with his fist closed together, and his back turned to them, they looked down where a beaten up wall is broken in little pieces. They looked at each other looking for answers, in their eyes, seeing if they know what was wrong with Sonic, but they shrugged their shoulders letting the question pass and walked up to Sonic.

Sonic turned to his friends, "Come on, let's go back inside and find the Chaos Emerald, to go back home..." walking pass them again, and pretending nothing happened and walked inside the computer room.

Tails and Knuckles wanted answers, but they needed to find a Chaos Emerald first, they went inside and went looking up where the Emerald was.

Shadow and Rouge walked out of a building where they found a Chaos Emerald, all they needed was one more and they're at their timeline.

Shadow was walking fast, as always while Rouge is just admiring the green Chaos Emerald in her hands.

Walking side to side, like she's drunk, only looking at the gem and talking to it. "Hah hah... My precious Chaos Emerald. You are all so beautiful. Your mysterious brilliance..." as soon as Rouge was done talking, they stopped and found a robot that looked familiar.

Rouge whispered, "Omega... Omega! What's he doing here?"

Shadow heard Rouge's heels clicking when she ran to Omega. He stayed at his place for a while, observing Omega, he looked beaten up.

Shadow walked up to Rouge, then walked behind Omega, and opened his control panel.

"He seems to be in standby mode."

"What could have possibly happened to create this future?" Rouge asked.

The silence ended with Rouge's radio beeping.

"Yes, this is Rouge."

Shadow looked at Rouge while she was talking to someone.

"Understood. We'll be there in a minute."

Rouge looked back up at Shadow.

"It looks like Sonic and his friends have found something, too. Let's go." Shadow looks at Omega again, then turns his head back at Rouge.

"It's not like we can do anything for him now." Shadow nodded his head with agreement.

"Yeah..."

And Shadow and Rouge left.

Shadow and Rouge were waiting on Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles to show up.

Tails told them they located the Chaos Emerald, in the forest, or what was a forest. There was rock hard floor, with fire spreading around them, fire were on trees and the grass.

As Shadow and Rouge wait for them, they spot a blue hedgehog coming their way.

"You guys are so slow." Rouge said, with her hand on her hip, while Shadow had his arms crossed.

"Look." Rouge showed them the Chaos Emerald they found.

"A Chaos Emerald! You've already found one!" Tails said happily.

"Well then, I may not look it, but I'm a real treasure hunter. Unlike a certain echidna I know." Rouge smirk as she turned to Knuckles. Knuckles was looking away from Rouge, until she spoke, and looked back her and walked in front of her face.

"What? Hmph!" Knuckles huffed out, then turned his back on Rouge, while she smirked behind his back.

"Have you guys discovered anything?" Shadow groaned, not wanting to play Rouge's game with Knuckles.

Tails replied, "Um, yeah. I received a signal indicating there's a Chaos Emerald here, but..."

"You mean we've got to go through there?" Rouge interrupted Tails.

Tails pointed inside the cave they had to go, but Rouge didn't believe they had to go inside a cave, who knows what's in there!

"If you don't like it, you can stay here." Knuckles pointed out to Rouge and walked up to her face again.

"You've got to be kidding!" Like Rouge would miss out on the fun.

"Don't be late." Sonic pointed at Shadow.

"Same to you." Shadow replied, and ran to the cave, followed by Sonic, Rouge, Knuckles, and Tails.

They were all in the cave looking for a Chaos Emerald, when Rouge looked up and saw a Chaos Emerald. Rouge lifted off of the ground and went to her precious Emerald. "I've found a Chaos Emerald." Rouge was reaching for the Emerald.

"Don't touch it!" Shadow yelled.

Suddenly a big fire snake, came out of nowhere.

Rouge flew away from the Chaos Emerald, before the fire snake came out of the fire below them.

"What? What's this?" Rouge observed the creature.

Shadow and Sonic moved in front of everyone, so they can deal with the snake.

After they dealt with the snake they defeated, Sonic brought out the Chaos Emerald to show Shadow that he got it, before the snake could take it down to the lava with him. And Shadow brought out his also.

Shadow and Sonic nodded each other, "Chaos Control!" they said at the same time, they raised their gems together and it the Chaos Control formed a portal.

Sonic is eager and jumped in first, then followed Knuckles, Tails, and Rouge. Rouge looked at Shadow nodding for him to follow before the portal is gone. Shadow nodded back to her and went inside the portal, before it disappeared.

Unknown to them, Mephiles watched everything. He saw Shadow looked around the place and went inside the portal with his friends. Mephiles also observed Sonic. He saw everything, when his fox friend told him about the Princess death, he saw how mad he was and broke the wall into pieces.

Mephiles smiled to himself, he knew he was getting close to Sonic's weakness, he finally knew how to get Iblis out now! Smiling to himself, he created a portal to go back to the past were Shadow would be and try to find his weakness now.