2:35 p.m.
Shadow and Silver are about ready to fight. Silver looks at his hands and sees that his psychokinesis is beginning to fade.
"NO!" the white hedgehog screams. "I can't lose my ESP now!"
Silver angrily raises his fist and screams, running up to Shadow, all ready to attack him. Shadow, however, brings out his green Chaos Emerald and shouts, "Chaos Control!"
Silver slows down due to Chaos Control, and Shadow round-house kicks the hedgehog in the back of the head, knocking him down. That was way too easy!
"That was pretty damn easy," Shadow chuckles as Silver tries to get up. "I've fought some weak people in the past, but you...you're a joke!"
"My head..." Silver groans.
"Oh quit whining, you piece of trash!" Shadow raises his voice. "What was your deal trying to kill Sonic anyways?"
"I'm not telling you!" Silver screams. "And I'm definitely not giving up on this fight!"
Silver get up and screams in fury, taking his blue emerald out of his jean pocket and marching up to the black hedgehog. Shadow hold up his emerald and says, "Chaos..."
"Chaos..." Silver copies.
"...Control!" both hedgehogs yell out, holding the emeralds closer together. A space-time rift opens in front of them, and they jump away from it.
Shadow is shocked at Silver. "You just performed...Chaos Control," he comments to the yellow-eyed hedgehog. "But...but HOW?!"
"Anyone can use Chaos Control in the future," Silver casually answers. "Though I don't remember using it to open a portal."
Shadow turns to the space-time rift. He turns to Silver and asks again, "Why were you trying to kill Sonic? And why did you confuse me for Mephiles?"
"Mephiles sent me on a quest to kill the Iblis Trigger: otherwise known as Sonic!" Silver explains. "If Sonic dies, the future will become a better place!"
Shadow shakes his head in disappointment and tells the hedgehog, "Mephiles isn't trying to help you create a better future. He's trying to eliminate the past!"
Silver's eyes shrink and his expression becomes confused. Everyone he's met up until this point was right this whole time. He should've listened to them earlier. "W-what are you talking about?"
Shadow walks up to Silver and explains, "To discover what happened, we must see what took place ten years ago."
Ten years ago? What could have possibly happened then?
"Follow me if you want the truth," says Shadow. "You might be surprised who the real Iblis Trigger is."
As Shadow jumps into the portal, Silver just stands there, still unsure if he should take Shadow's advice. How can that guy know what happened ten years ago? Is Mephiles really trying to eliminate the past? Also, how can you wipe out the past? That's impossible! No one will remember anything if there's no past!
After a lot of thinking, Silver jumps into the portal, following the black hedgehog.
2:50 p.m.
The Egg Mobile is flying over the grassy hills. Elise is sitting in the back of the vehicle, wishing she wasn't here right now. She needs an escape plan. The Egg Mobile doesn't have any windows or doors, so the princess can jump out of here and find Sonic on her own.
Just as Elise stands up, Robot turns around and screams in horror, "Doctor, the princess is trying to escape!"
Eggman growls and turns around. "Sit down, you spoiled brat!" Eggman screams to the 17-year-old. "You have nowhere to go."
"I would rather die than be your prisoner again!" Elise speaks back to the villain.
Robot turns to Eggman, grabs onto his collar, and cries, "She's not thinking of committing suicide, is she?"
"I hope not!" replies Eggman. "And let go of my jacket! You're getting it all wrinkly!"
"Sorry," Robot says, letting go of his boss.
Eggman turns his attention to Elise and asks her, "So what are you going to do, princess? Do you plan to jump?"
Elise nods and answers, "Farewell." She leans back and falls off the Egg Mobile.
Eggman and Robot are stunned: she actually tried to kill herself! How are they complete their evil plans now?
As Elise is falling, Sonic is running towards her, not knowing the former is killing herself. He sees her falling anyways, and runs faster to save her in time. Elise ends up falling into the hedgehog's arms, happy to see him.
"Sonic!" she smiles as Sonic runs ahead, still carrying the princess.
Eggman growls and screams, "NO! We were gonna go see the Chichén Itzá together!" he turns to Robot and orders him, "Call the Egg Gunners! We have a hedgehog to kill and a princess to capture!"
Five minutes later...
As Sonic and Elise approach the entrance to the jungle, he puts her down and asks her, "What happened back there?"
Elise looks away with worry answering to him, "I'm tired of that man kidnapping me. I wanted to kill myself..." She tries to hold back tears. "I just had to get away."
"I understand," Sonic reassures the princess. "I would've done the same if I was in your position."
No I wouldn't! Sonic screams in his head, face-palming himself. Why did I say that?!
Luckily, Elise didn't read Sonic's mind. So she instead says to him, "Thanks for saving me again. I owe you a lot, Sonic."
Sonic blushes at Elise's comment, but then he some Egg Gunners heading towards them. The hedgehog turns to Elise and says, "Let's go into the jungle! The robots won't be able to find us in there!"
Elise nods in agreement as Sonic carries her into the jungle.
As a few minutes go by, Sonic and Elise are already deep into the jungle. Elise asks Sonic, "Is it okay if you put me down for a minute?"
"Sure," Sonic nods as he puts the princess down. He then notices Elise taking off her shoes and pantyhose. "What are you doing?" he asks, disturbed.
"Dr. Eggman put a tracking device in one of my shoes," answers the princess. "and I don't want my pantyhose to get dirty if I walk on the grass."
She throws her shoes and pantyhose into the swampy river. Sonic is in awe of the princess. She looks decent; her legs don't look like hot dogs! Her midnight blue toenails look really nice with her pale skin.
Elise notices the hedgehog blushing at her. She feels awkward and asks him, "Aren't you gonna carry me?"
"Yes!" Sonic smiles with glee as he picks her up, running forward.
The two minors go deeper into the forest and so far, none of Eggman's robots have been in sight.
"I think we lost them," says Elise, referring to the Egg Gunners.
"Good," Sonic replies, smiling. He then takes a right turn in the forest.
Elise, curious of the blue hedgehog, asks him, "Where are we going?"
"You'll see," says Sonic.
They enter a lake surrounded by an open grassy field and numerous trees; one covered with tiny baby pink flowers. Sonic puts down Elise as she is in awe of this enchanted place.
"This is so beautiful!" Elise smiles. "I've never seen so many flowers before!"
"That's a tree Elise," Sonic corrects her.
Way to ruin the moment, me... Sonic unhappily says in his head.
"I've never seen that many flowers on a tree before!" Elise corrects herself. "How did you find this place?"
Sonic scratches the back of his head. "Let's just say I've done some research on Soleanna before I came here," he bashfully answers. "I read that not a lot of people come here much. Why is that?"
Elise sighs and explains to the hedgehog, "Believe it or not, lots of people came here all the time when I was little. I never came here myself, but my late mother would."
"Your mother came here too?" Sonic wonders. "Why about you and your dad?"
"My father was always watching over the kingdom," answers the princess. "while I would often play by myself or other family members across the world. The reason why no one enters the forest much anymore is because my mother died from an unknown disease from this very forest."
Sonic has no words to say. This is really sad!
"I was two years old," Elise continues. "so I didn't fully understand death very well. I learned about her death about three years later from my father."
"And how did that turn out?" Sonic asks, even though the answer is pretty obvious to him.
"I cried," explains the princess. "My father calmed me down, telling me strong princesses and queens don't cry. He was upset about her death as well. That's when my father needed help from Solaris: our sun god. He started doing illegal experiments on Solaris to control time. All he wanted was to see my mother again. Two years later, Solaris had enough of the experiments and broke into its two halves: one being the Flames of Disaster, and another being called Mephiles. We don't know much about Mephiles other than being trapped in a scepter, but I do know about the Flames of Disaster."
Sonic keeps listening to Elise, but he has thoughts running through his head. Shadow did mention a Mephiles, who Sonic knows very little about. Is he the Shadow look-alike who's missing a mouth? He also knows the Flames of Disaster: Iblis. He and his friends encountered the monster in the future.
"Right before my father passed away, he sealed the Flames of Disaster inside of me," Elise keeps talking. "I was unconscious, so I didn't know then. He told me that if I cried, the flames will be released, causing the entire world to end!"
How can Elise cope with something so dark? It must've taken years of intensive therapy for her to not cry!
Elise changes the subject asking, "Sonic?"
"Yeah?" he turns to Elise.
"Once you defeat Eggman, you'll leave, won't you?" she asks.
Sonic nods. "We leave Friday afternoon," he says. "My friends and I have school next week, after all."
"I understand," Elise responds. She takes a long look at the pink-petaled tree. "Though I have been frightened many times, I also enjoyed this adventure."
"Say what?" Sonic questions.
"I'm not kidding," Elise laughs, then states, "This adventure allowed me to be more than just a princess. It allowed me to be myself...a girl."
"It sounds like being a princess isn't easy for you," says Sonic. "I have a friend who's also a princess, and she hates it! In fact, last year she moved to my city and went to my old school like a normal person."
"I don't hate being a princess," Elise replies. "Although it isn't easy, it's also fun at the same time! I love this country! Everyone in the castle, the children, all my citizens really!"
"Even those terrible Soleanna guards?" Sonic asks the princess.
"I wouldn't say the guards are terrible," says Elise. "I make sure I give all my love and respect to the citizens. The same love my late mother and father gave me..."
The 17-year-old turns to Sonic and says to him, "I do my best to protect this city. I understand everything my parents said to me now."
Sonic nods in response while Elise keeps talking. "Sonic," she says. "When you go back home, remember this place."
"Definitely," Sonic responds, clenching his fist. He then sees Elise turn around, looking upset. "Elise?" he asks her.
"I'm fine," Elise answers while on the verge of tears. She can't cry now; this moment is too beautiful! She needs to feel happy and warm inside.
I mustn't cry, Elise says in her head. I can't...
The princess runs to Sonic, giving him a quick hug. "Elise," Sonic calms her down. "Smile."
Elise smiles, and Sonic asks her, "Do you want to go home?"
Yes! Of course she does! She needs a bath, she needs to be cleaned up, she's desperate to go home! She misses her servants, her guards, and all her citizens!
"I'd love to go home," she politely answers as Sonic begins to carry her.
Meanwhile...
Back in the swampier part of the forest, the Egg Gunners pick up Elise's shoes and pantyhose left from the river. They bring them over to Eggman, who is standing on a log, along with Robot.
Eggman examines the princess's leftover clothes. "No wonder we couldn't find the princess!" he complains. "She took her shoes off!"
"It also seems she took off her pantyhose as well," Robot adds. "Do you think she's dead?"
"She's not dead, you idiot!" the doctor yells to his sidekick. "If the princess is dead, then the Flames of Disaster should be released by now."
As all the robots fly back into the Egg Mobile, Eggman thinks about the princess and where she and Sonic could be. They can't be anywhere in this forest/jungle area, so the hedgehog must've taken the princess back to Soleanna.
If that's the case, then Eggman needs to come up with a threat. Something that will not only put the princess in danger, but also put the entirety of Soleanna in danger as well! He has the perfect plan!
"Robot!" Eggman commands. "Take me back to the Egg Carrier! We need to kidnap the princess again!"
"Roger that, doctor!" Robot says as Eggman jumps into the Egg Mobile.
And that was Chapter 15! This chapter had some sad moments from Elise (especially her parents), but at least Sonic was there to comfort her. Next chapter, Shadow and Silver arrive at the same time when Solaris splits into its two halves: Iblis and Mephiles.
Remember to review this story/chapter, and I'll see you in Chapter 16!
