Sorry for such a long delay. This is trial three of four, and let me say, things are really gonna ramp up now. Silver is gonna put everything on the line in this trial. Please comment and review.

I woke up with Blaze asleep on my chest, still in a deep slumber. I wanted to say something to wake her up, but I was enjoying the tranquil pattern of her breathing too much to say anything. So I laid there, just watching her sleep, wondering what I would do without her. After what felt like an hour, Blaze's eyes finally opened up. She gave me a warm smile and I opened my mouth to say something, but before I could say anything there was a knock at the door followed by the voice off one of the maids, " Princess Blaze, the door is locked, is everything alright?"

I sprang out of bed, grabbed my cloths, and sprinted to the balcony while Blaze said, "No, everything is alright." She got up and threw a robe on and opened the door. I hastily put on my cloths while Blaze was engaged in a conversation with Blaze.

I didn't hear the beginning, but I picked up when the maid said, "If you don't mind me asking princess, what do you see in Sir Silver?"

Blaze's response was, "What do you mean by that?" She sounded a little offended.

The maid quickly added, "I don't mean it as an insult, but what makes him so special that Prince Addsworth from Mons isn't a possibility?"

Blaze replied, "Well, Silver has been my best friend for a long time, and I knew that he would go to the end of the world for me, and these trials prove it. Prince Addsworth is a good man, but he isn't and never will be Silver." There were no more words after that, but I did hear the sound of the maid leaving the room. The coast now clear, I reentered the room to see Blaze putting her hair up in her usual ponytail.

"I better get going before someone else shows up." I said. She got up and gave me a slight kiss on the cheek and I was on my way.

I crept back over to my room and got dressed and went on down to the dinning hall, but on my way down their, I was approached by Marlo, "Good morning Sir Silver."

I smiled and replied, "Good morning Marlo."

He continued, "Today is the day for your next trial. Meet me in the observatory room at dusk." I nodded in agreement and went about my day.

It was almost time and I found myself in the library, a room adjacent to the observatory, reading. I was all by myself, reading an adventure book. It was a story about a boy that went off exploring far away lands, fighting beasts and finding treasure. I hadn't seen Blaze since morning, but as soon as the thought crossed my mind, the door to the library opened and Blaze came walking in. She strolled across the room, but something was off.

She seemed slower, like something was bothering her. "I came to see you before your next trial." Even her voice sounded like there was something on her mind.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing." She answered. Her left ear twitched like it always did when she was lying. I gave her a look that told her I knew she was lying.

She let out a sigh, "It's just...It's just that I don't know about this trial."

I replied, "Blaze you know I can handle anything that comes my way..."

She cut me off, "No Silver! No one has ever beaten this trial. And those that have tried all went insane. This trial isn't about physical strength, it's all mental. Silver, you don't have to do this. You know that I would do anything to be with you. I've left once before; I can do it again."

I gave her a confused look, "What do you mean left."

She gave another sigh, "This isn't the first time my parents tried to arrange a marriage for me. I wouldn't do it, I couldn't. So I ran away. I told you that I stumbled into a dimensional rift, I did." I conceded her point, it was true, she told me she stumbled into a rift.

"But that doesn't matter, I will compete this trial. And then whatever Marlo has for my final trial..."

She interjected, "Your next two trials are immediate. I won't see you until you fail or win."

To which I replied, "Don't worry, I'll win." And at that moment, the observatory door opened and Marlo stood in the doorway, beckoning for me. Blaze and I both stood up and she gave me one last kiss,

"Good luck." She whispered into my ear. I walked into the observatory, and Marlo closed the door behind us. He then led me across the observatory to a pair of cushions on the ground and motioned for me to sit on one of them. Next to the cushions was a pitcher and a cup, the sooner containing some mysterious purple liquid. We both sat down and began to fill the cup.

"Are you ready for your next trial?" and I replied, "Of course." He finished filling the cup and offered it to me, which I took and drank. The purple liquid had a very bitter taste and a thick consistency.

I almost gagged on it all, but I drained the cup. Marlo continued, "Your next trial is the trial of heart. You will go on a journey deep inside your own mind in order top cleanse yourself of the darkness that plagues your soul." I wanted to feel insulted, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that maybe I wasn't the greatest person,

"You need to face your greatest fears and overcome them. Your need to purge yourself of all doubt and regret, and forgive yourself for your mistakes. Only through admittance of failure can you move forward. Don't linger on your past and, when the time is right, seize the moment. You need to see through what isn't there and accept things for what they are and were." I nodded in understanding.

"The liquid you just drank is a sedative that will help induce a meditative trance, specifically designed for this trial." Once he mentioned it, I did notice that I was feeling unusually tired and struggling to keep my eyes open. "Now just relax and let the potion do its work." I did as Marlo told me, no longer fighting to stay awake. I quickly faded into a sleep...

I woke up on grass and could hear the sound of a creek. I sat up and took a look around; I was in a forest, and a rather beautiful one at that. But it was strange, the leaves on the trees had a more aqua hue and upon a closer look of some of the animals and insects, every single one of them had a aqua sort of aura around them.

"They have psychokinesis." I stood up, fascinated by this new world I was in, my mind. I began to walk around, following the sound of the water in the creek I heard. The sound was just what I thought, a small stream. I wasn't sure what I was looking for, but I knew that I would know when I found it. I decided to float myself over the creek and I kept on walking. I wondered how big these woods were and if they ever ended at all. But i wasn't walking for long before I came upon a reflecting pool.

The water was so perfectly still that it looked like a mirror. I looked into the pool and saw my reflection, but the image soon changed, and I was bombarded with images of flames.

"Iblis." I whispered, clenching my fist. But I relaxed my grip, I knew he was gone and that he could never hurt anyone ever again. The image shifted to images of me attacking Sonic and fighting Shadow. I felt bad of that memory, attacking innocent people, but I accepted that I was misled and that they forgave, or at least Sonic did. The image shifted now to Blaze and I standing on that foothold as she took Iblis in her body. I felt more rage boil in the pit of my stomach, that I wasn't good enough to protect her, but then I thought of her and I, our first kiss. The image shifted to that exact moment and then it shifted to a pair of green eyes and an all back figure,

"Mephiles." I said, angry that he deceived me, almost made me destroy the world by killing Sonic. I don't know what compelled me to look up, but I did and my eyes met a green pair on the other side of the reflecting pool.

"Mephiles." I said to him. The being only let out a bone chilling laugh and ran into the woods. I flew after him, believing this to be my test, Mephiles.

Marlo's words echoed in my head, "You need to purge yourself of all doubt and regret..." I could barely keep up with him, but I was following. I could finally see light through the trees and I came to a clearing by a cliff. Mephiles had stopped at the cliff's edge and had his back turned to me. "There's no where eft for you to run."

In a calm tone, the same that I remember, he said, "Oh, I wasn't running; I was leading...leading you to your destruction." He turned to face me, "Welcome Silver, to the destruction of your sanity."

I replied, angrily, "Don't try and deceive me, I know who you are. I regret nothing of my life, not anymore."

He chuckled again, "Oh really, not even her?"

I responded, "What are you talking about?" and he shook his head,

"The cat girl, the one that you're here for. You mean to tell me, that you don't regret everything that's happened to her, even in the slightest?" I shook my head.

"You and I know full well that you still harbor some hatred for Iblis, as well as me...or perhaps, it's hatred for yourself." He toyed.

"Shut up." I said.

"Anger that your weren't good enough."

"Shut up!"

He continued to poke, "Anger that you couldn't save her."

"Shut up!" I yelled.

"Anger that you failed."

"Enough!" I screamed. I set out a psycho-shockwave, that he merely brushed aside. We then began to fight. I hurled anything that I could get a hold of at him, and he sent shadow balls back towards me. He was good, but not as good as me. I began to get some hits and beat him back a little, and he began to get weaker. Now I really began to beat harder on him. But he changed his shape, to Sonic. And with the form change, so did his powers. He began to run much faster and try to hit me with homing attacks. But I had beaten Sonic before, and this was no Sonic. He quickly fell and I began to throw him around. He changed into a crystalline version of himself and he seemed to gain some strength back. But now he was gaining the upper hand. I was beginning to tire and he seemed to have strength to spare. He began to push me back, as I spent more time dodging than attacking.

He finally caught me with a shadow ball and it knocked me right up to the ledge. I didn't have anything close enough to throw at him and I wasn't strong enough anymore to fly.

"Beyond that ledge lies the extent of your mind, if you fall off that, you're sanity will cease to exist." He began to form a shadow ball and said, "Any last words before I take possession of your mind?"

I lowered my head, I failed, on the last trial, in my own mind. But then it hit me, this was my mind, and in my realm, I was master. I got a sinister grin on my face and looked up to meet him in the eye.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

I replied, "It's just that, this is my mind, my reality. And I can make whatever I want reality." His shadow ball disappeared and he lost crystalline form as I sapped his energy from him.

"Ugh, what are you..." I hit him with a psycho-shockwave that sent him flying into a tree. I felt my power surging, I grabbed him and threw him towards the ledge; He barely managed to stand after that.

I picked up a gigantic boulder with my psychokinesis and prepared to throw it at him, but he shifted his form once more, this time to Blaze. In a perfect mimicry of her voice, he said, "Please..."

I hesitated for a moment, but then Marlo's words echoed in my head, "...when the time is right, seize the moment." I shook my head and hit him with the boulder, knocking him over the ledge. His screams lingered for only a moment before it faded into nothing...

I'm sorry if this seems a little unbelievable and turned out to be a rather anti-climactic fight scene, but you stuck with this story to this point, so are you really surprised that it came to this? Again, sorry for the break between updates, and please comment and review with any and all constructive criticism.