Okay, yeah, sorry for not having this up sooner. I've thought about it every day, but, well, there's only so much you can do when you're in the process of moving and you don't have internet at home. I've had to focus on schoolwork whenever I've gone somewhere with internet, so… Yeah, sorry about that. Oh well. But, anyway, here we are! It's time for… SILVER! DUN DUN DUN!

Also, two more chapters past this are written: White Acropolis (Sonic/Mario) and Crisis City (Shadow).

Something else about this story: I don't think I'll include Rosalina. I like using her as an infinite-wisdom, exposition character, but I don't think she should show up this time.

Chapter 7 (VS Silver)

The nation of Soleanna was not, our heroes eventually realized, all that big. It was Sonic who came up with the idea of just taking Elise back to castle town. His reasoning was that Eggman wouldn't think of attacking the same place twice. Mario's reasoning was that he totally would but villains could usually be dealt with by copious amounts of fire.

Luigi and Tails went on ahead, rather than accompanying them with Elise. They wanted to get a headstart on fixing the two planes, in case they needed them later. Mario and Sonic, not having the slightest idea of how to fix machines, just left them to it, talking with Elise as they walked back to town.

Elise seemed to have taken the whole half-raccoon thing in stride, though Mario guessed that was more because she'd never seen him any other way. What seemed to bother her, though, was Mario's affinity with fire.

"… How is it you're so comfortable with your flames? Aren't you… Afraid? That they might destroy?"

"Huh? No," Mario had said. "My fire would never do anything I don't want. It's not like some magic spell. It's more like… a part of myself, really. It's completely under my control."

Elise thought on this. She'd never heard of any power quite like that… How could a fire be a part of you? If something happened to it, would it affect you? She didn't voice her concerns, as Mario had placed a hand in front of her as they reached the gates to Castle Town.

"Something's here, and it doesn't like us," Mario whispered. "We need to see what's going-"

Suddenly, Sonic glowed a greenish-blue color, and was flung against the side of a building.

"Someone get the number of that truck…" Sonic said, dazed. He shook it off, and stood up to see a silver hedgehog flying towards him, glowing the same sheen of cyan.

"Who are you?!" Mario yelled at this newcomer. "And why, exactly, did you feel the need to toss my friend at a building?"

Sonic dashed over beside Mario, and joined him. "Yeah! What did I ever do to you?"

"You're the Iblis Trigger!" the hedgehog yelled. Sonic and Mario exchanged looks. Iblis? "Your actions will condemn us all!"

"And just how is that?" Mario asked. "Who are you, anyway?"

"Silver is my name. What's it to you? Nevermind! I must destroy the Iblis Trigger to protect the future!"

Mario got into a fighting stance, ready to take the hedgehog on.

"And YOU don't matter," Silver said, waving his hand and trapping Mario in a bubble of energy. Mario immediately attacked the bubble with his tail, only getting bounced back by an odd force. This did nothing to deter the plumber, who was nothing if not determined and a bit proud.

While Mario was occupied, Silver could focus on his mission: Destroying Sonic, and preventing Iblis from ever being released. Utilizing his favorite tactic, he picked up Sonic with his psychokinesis and slammed him into a wall. And then again. And again.

"IT'S NO USE! TAKE THIS!" He really shouldn't be enjoying this that much, but this was the single person responsible for the sad, sad state of his future. He did NOT want to give this person any sort of mercy.

After a few rounds of this, the other hedgehog seemed to have caught onto his tactics. Surprising Silver, the hedgehog managed to dash in close, almost quicker than his eyes could follow. With a sweeping kick, Silver was knocked off his feet. He jumped back up as quick as he could, but he was met by a blue ball soaring through the air straight at his head. He was able to slow the blow with his powers, but not quite stop it. The blue one bounced off, but with the force lessened enough that Silver was able to grab him again, and slam him down into the ground. And then twice more, for good measure.

Through the fight, Silver had managed to turn his back to Mario, and Elise had long since run off to a safe, though still nearby, place. When his backside began to warm up, he didn't know what to think, and turned around.

That was a big mistake on his part, and took the upper hand away from him. Within the bubble he'd encased Mario in was a whirling inferno of flames, straining the energy of the barrier. And the barrier was failing – Silver couldn't help but watch as the flames burst out of the barrier, destroying it. Silver barely had time to erect another one between himself and the inferno, and it distracted him from his original foe – He was met with a kick in the back, sending him tumbling to the ground.

The raccoon-man hovered over to him, and the blue hedgehog stepped in front of him.

"Okay, Mister," Sonic said to this new hedgehog. "We beat you. Why did you even fight us in the first place?"

Silver wasn't listening. Instead, he was preparing himself. Without warning, he thrust his hand out, and Mario and Sonic raised in the air with an invisible force choking them. From her hiding spot, Elise was trying very hard not to cry, not truly taking in anything but the scene before her.

"Is this some sort of joke?" Silver asked. "Did you really think I was out? I admit, you're strong. But how could you cause the destruction of the world?"

"What… do you mean?" Sonic was barely able to speak over the psychic hold.

"It doesn't matter. For the sake of the future, the Iblis Trigger must be destroyed!" Silver looked at Mario. "And your friend, too. Those flames… They must not be allowed to contribute to the destruction!"

Suddenly, Elise's scream cut Silver's concentration, and he dropped his two adversaries. Mario flew off, Sonic running close behind, to try and rescue said princess. Eggman's robots had shown up out of nowhere, and grabbed her while everyone was distracted.

"DON'T YOU DARE!" Silver yelled, sending psychic knives at both hedgehog and plumber to bring them down. Sonic fell to the ground, but Mario seemed unhurt, though he did lose his raccoon ears and tail and fall to the ground. "It's time to end this…"

Silver focused on his energy, to put his entire force behind this next attack. It would leave him drained for the rest of the day, but to get rid of the Iblis Trigger, and whoever this flame-wielder was… It was worth it.

Alas, it wasn't meant to be. A pink shape jumped in front of him, blocking off Sonic. A green blur shot past, picking up Mario and moving him away from Silver.

"Amy? Yoshi? GET OUT OF MY WAY! This is my mission!"

"Not a chance!" Amy yelled. "No way, no how, is Amy Rose ever going to let anyone hurt Sonic! If you even dare try, it's the hammer for you!"

"YOSHI YO YO SHI!" Yoshi yelled. Mario was the only one there who could understand what this meant, and it was certainly not something to repeat in polite company. He dashed off, Mario on his back and dragging Sonic behind him. It didn't take Sonic long to recover and run beside Yoshi, leaving Amy Rose with Silver.

"What were you going to do to my Sonic?" Amy yelled, furious that her new 'friend' had betrayed her. "Kill him? Why the heck would you do that?"

"He's responsible for destroying my world!"

"He'd never do that." Amy said flatly. "He's a hero. The best there ever was. He ran off just now, just to save someone he didn't know from Eggman. How is that even possible?"

"Well, this 'hero' of yours will do something in the near future that causes the devastation of my world!"

"True or not, I'll still protect Sonic!" Amy yelled. "Nothing's more important to me than my friends! And you," she glared, "You aren't in that group anymore."

She ran off, leaving Silver all alone, with no companions by his side. He sat down, for the first time, unsure of his mission.

"Could I be wrong?" he asked himself. "Is killing someone to save the world the right answer?"