Chapter 16: Tale of the Serpent

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It was a typical Tuesday morning, June 22nd, 2170 in Soleanna at around 8 AM. A fresh new day, two days after the Festival of the Sun on the Summer Solstice, had just begun beautifully. The partisans of New Town and Castle Town had already began their daily respective tasks of the day.

This day however, there was a shadow cast over, for earlier that morning, Dr. Kintobor's battleship, the EG-Carrier, was bulldozing its way through the skies heading south, towards the Royal Castle. All knew what it was after. The Princess, their loving monarch. Citizens prayed to their god, Solaris, to wrap her in his wings of protection from this evil.

Suddenly, something happened that sent the citizens of Soleanna from worry to shock and fear. Near the New Town Bell Tower, there was something forming. It was a portal, white and blue of color, cycling outwards. Something was coming from somewhere. This fair city seemed to be under siege since their beautiful celebration of peace was broken into war.

The portal swelled, and out came the body of a blue hedgehog in red sneakers, and he landed with near perfect gymnastic precision. It was the Blue Wind! The hero of Soleanna! He was here to save the Princess, they knew it! Soon to follow was a bi-tailed fox, who unlike the former did take a tumble when he left the portal, landing firmly on his rear. Still smarting from his landing, he had enough sense to get up and clear out of the way, and just in time for a heavy-browed red Echidna came out as well. He stumbled clumsily, but managed to stay on his feet. A quick delay later, a white-furred, purple-garbed bat fluttered through and landed smoothly, using her wings to slow down her speed. Soon after, the portal closed as if it wasn't there.

"Now this is more like it!" Sonic said, breathing deeply. "I never thought air smelled so fresh!"

"I have to admit," began Knuckles concurrently. "that I never thought I'd be happy to see this place." Knuckles wished more then anything to get back to Angel Island since they were stranded here, but coming here after seeing the horrible future was a welcome sight.

"That was a great idea, Shadow!" Sonic exclaimed. "Awesome jo--" Sonic spun back to say the gratification to the black hedgehog's face, but balked when he didn't see him there. Shadow did not come through! "Shadow!"

All jumped at Sonic's exclamation and looked to where the portal was moments before. Sure enough, Shadow had not followed them through the portal into the past. He was stuck in the future.

"What?" Rouge said, alarmed. "He was right behind me!"

"But why?" Sonic had to ask. "Why would he stay behind!?"

"Something must have held him back," Knuckles said, mildly thinking of Iblis. He wasn't entirely convinced they defeated him for good. After all, it takes more then that to kill a demon.

"What do we do?" Tails asked.

"Leave that to me, dearie," Rouge said. "I will find a way to bring him back, but I must go on a hunt to find the person I know who can get him. Do what you need to do," Rouge finished, then fluttered away.

The others looked after her for a few moments, then Tails asked, "Do you think he will be okay?"

Sonic didn't reply for a time. His eyes grew distant. He had witnessed first hand Shadow's death in orbit near the ARK after relocating the whole space station back into stable orbit. Years after that, he lost Shadow again when he, Shadow and a human bounty hunter only known as "Viper" were fighting a hedgehog-like entity called Nazo. Shadow fell, but Hyper Sonic and Viper destroyed Nazo, or so they thought. Then a year after that, Shadow returned with a fresh case of amnesia and had allied himself with the Black Arms, but turned on them and saved the planet again from total destruction for the ultimate cost. Sonic had searched from him after that, but was unsuccessful, and it wasn't until Shadow had turned up on Angel Island wanting to talk to Knuckles a few days ago was when they saw each other. After going through all that, Sonic deemed Shadow as the ultimate survivor. If Shadow could survive a bite from death three times, being trapped in a time was nothing. Shadow would come back...he always did. "He'll be okay, he's a survivor," Sonic said.

Tails nodded. Sonic knew Shadow very well, and the fox trusted Sonic in whatever he said, especially regarding people he didn't know.

"Hey, guys!" chimed a high voice, one strikingly familiar to the three. All turning, they saw a pink hedgehog garbed in red: Amy Rose.

"Amy!" Sonic cried out, feeling the compulsion to dash away setting new land-speed records on the way, but Amy had behaved herself since the ARK incident after a little talk they had the day after it happened. Over time, her maddening affection had dissolved into a simple admiration, which possibly came along with just growing up since Amy was now almost 18. Still, Sonic couldn't help but notice that Amy was still in love with him.

"Hey, Sonic!" she said plainly, and then asked. "Hey, where've you been since yesterday?"

"Huh?" Sonic blinked. Tails and Knuckles had to cock their heads as well mirroring Sonic's confusion.

"Well, I thought you'd be out saving the Princess again after she got captured again by that Eggman-guy, whoever he is, but after we split up after the fight with Silver, I hopped onboard a pod and went into Eggman's base. What is his name, anyway?"

"Dr. Kintobor," Sonic replied. "but I still call him Eggman."

"Ok, oh, speaking of Silver, I need to talk to you about him…"

"What about?"

Knuckles cut in from the side. "Who the hell is Silver?"

"Remember that nut I told you about that wanted to beat my head in for destroying his time? He's Silver," Sonic explained, then went back to Amy. "What about Silver?"

"That's what I was about to say, but he really wanted to kill you!"

Tails blanched, but Sonic didn't. In the future, he had overheard Silver, Blaze and Mephiles talking about destroying the Iblis Trigger. Knuckles not having met Silver or heard the plan was a little glib about it. "Can't say I'm surprised. Sometimes I want to kill him myself."

A growl of annoyance came from Amy, but Sonic distracted her. "Ignore him, Ames. What else was there?"

"Nothing much," Amy continued, her annoyance ebbing. "but either he's a big fat liar or someone convinced him."

Sonic was about to say the latter, but explaining going to the future and what they went through would take a lifetime to tell, time they didn't have, so he kept silent.

Tails gave his two cents though. "I'm inclined to go with the latter. I only knew him a little while, but he doesn't look like a murderer."

"Not yet, you mean," Knuckles interjected.

"Point taken, Knux," Sonic said coolly.

Amy, however, had a fresh reminder why she didn't like Knuckles, but she counted to ten in her mind and continued, "Anyway, while I was in Dr. Kintobor's base, I found the Princess there and smuggled her out!"

"So she DID escape!" Sonic said, relieved. "Good…"

"Yep, thanks to me!" She beamed, obviously proud of herself, but she quickly sobered. "But Sonic, you'd better head to the castle. I just dropped her off there not too long ago, and I saw the Egg Carrier flying towards the castle."

Sonic's relief was replaced by terror, and it registered. "Amy, what is today?"

Amy blinked. "Why?"

"It's really important!"

Amy blinked again, perplexed at Sonic's flip-flop of moods. "I have no idea, Sonic. After that big Chaos Control, I couldn't figure out which day of the week it was."

"Sonic," Tails began. "there's a newspaper stand over there, you can check the date--" Tails was cut off as Sonic rushed to it like a bullet. "--on a newspaper." Tails trailed off, even more perplexed than ever.

Sonic took one quick glance at a newspaper, and then dashed away so fast that the blast nearly blew the three away.

"Whoa," Amy exclaimed. "Did I miss something?"

"I don't know," Tails said.

Knuckles just stared after Sonic, wondering what drove him into this frenzy.

Sonic, however, was thinking more clearly than ever before. The date on the newspaper: Tuesday, June 22nd, 2170.

Elise is destined to die today.

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Sometime later, in the deep jungles north of Soleanna, a robot and a human were hiding in the shadows of a ruin overgrown with tropical flora, and was probably inhabited by countless fauna, but these creatures didn't bother the two strangers, for it seems they had the instinct to leave them well enough alone.

"My scanners have picked up another temporal anomaly, centered in New Town at precisely 0800 hours," said the robot, a blue robot resembling a hedgehog.

"That's the third one in twenty-four hours," said the human, clothed in black and armed to the teeth, and bearing a countenance that could take out a tank.

"Indeed," said Metal-Sonic. "First was the one in the center of Kingdom Valley, 1007 hours, yesterday."

"Where Shadow and Rouge were hiding from Dr. Kintobor," Viper added.

"Affirmative." Mecha continued, "The second anomaly occurred deep within the White Acropolis base, at 2126 hours. The coordinates suggest that it occurred in the same room as where we had attained the Talisman of Darkness. "

"When the first anomaly occurred, it was very close to the same coordinates to what was then Shadow's and Rouge's coordinates."

"Affirmative," Mecha said analytically. "With the second anomaly occurring where the Talisman of Darkness was held originally, and including the Talisman of Darkness being in the same area as the first anomaly, I was prepared to make a hypothesis that the Talisman was responsible for these temporal anomalies…but the third and most recent anomaly shatters this hypothesis."

"How does it?" Viper inquired.

"The Talisman of Darkness remains deep in the Kingdom Valley castle ruins today, until a few moments ago for the reading started moving. The third anomaly occurred in the New Town sector of Soleanna, before the Talisman of Darkness began changing coordinates."

Viper exhaled, processing the data Metal-Sonic had just provided, along with the intel that he collected on what happened yesterday. Shadow and Rouge had mysteriously disappeared, and were unreachable for nearly twenty-four hours now. Viper couldn't help but wonder what happened to them. What was stranger still was that they found out that Dr. Kintobor didn't come near the Talisman of Darkness as it sat in Kingdom Valley for the last day. In fact, he bade a hasty retreat earlier the previous day. Thankfully, the robot had "acquired" an index key to access Dr. Kintobor's lone satellite thousands of miles above the planet—the only satellite in Lou Brenna's exosphere—so he could detect anything in the Soleanna area. Now, three separate and distinct temporal anomalies have been detected by Metal-Sonic with this.

This troubled Viper as well as Metal-Sonic; temporal anomalies as frequent as this dictated weakness in the time-space continuum. Normally, the continuum was stable, and didn't shift nor weave violently like it is apparently doing now. Violent behavior in the time-space continuum dictated the possibility that it was prone to collapse, and when that happened, time would cease to exist, and there would be a spatial meltdown. Ergo, everything would perish.

Viper remembered the bad feeling that was gnawing at him back in the Final Egg base back on Möbius. Was it really a premonition? A warning? If it was, it did no good. Nothing but a deity could deal with a spatial meltdown, and the last thing Viper would ever believe was that there was such a person. Still, that didn't help him from not fretting about this new danger, and when Viper fretted, he was dangerous, for the slightest thing could set him off.

Metal-Sonic interrupted Viper's thoughts. "I have calculated a trajectory of the movement of the Talisman of Darkness. It is moving our direction at a steady pace, attempting to reach our location. My scans do not detect anything large, and in addition, it is following any paths and clearings it comes up to, which suggests that the carrier is traveling on foot or merely a few meters off the ground, but still underneath the forest canopy. In conclusion, the carrier of the Talisman has a seventy-eight percent chance of being an individual. Estimated time arrival: three-point-two minutes."

"An individual," Viper repeated. "I doubt ambush will be necessary then."

"Affirmative."

Mutually agreeing to stay put and wait for the "carrier" to come to them, they awaited the arrival. Both knew that they could take on whatever this carrier was, for Metal-Sonic was a former assassin of Dr. Robotnik, and Viper was the best bounty hunter on Earth and all her colonies. It would be no contest.

Five minutes later—much to Metal-Sonic's annoyance for he like Sonic disliked waiting—a white bat fluttered into the ruin, bearing a silver talisman encasing a black jewel.

Earlier in the day after warping back into the past, Rouge the Bat used her Chaos-energy tracking device—stolen from Dr. Robotnik some time before—to track down the Talisman of Darkness deep within Kingdom Valley, and again to track down the Talisman of the Earth, for she knew that Shadow had left it in Viper's and Metal-Sonic's care, albeit unintentionally. It was by this reason why Rouge came to where Viper and Metal-Sonic were posted.

Seeing them waiting for her, she addressed them thus, "Hi, boys."

"You are late," Metal-Sonic said, coming the closet he ever came to humor.

"Being late is fashionable, you know." Rouge winked.

"Where is Shadow?" Viper said, demandingly, for he had noted that he didn't come with Rouge.

Sobering up some, she replied. "That's why I'm here, but you boys better sit down; it's a long story."

"Start from yesterday morning," Mecha said. "And leave no detail omitted."

With that, Rouge launched into her account on meeting Dr. Kintobor deep within Kingdom Valley, and the brief scuffle involved when the human demanded the Talisman of Darkness. During the fight, the Talisman was hit, and out came a black smoke-like mist. Kintobor had bid a hasty retreat while his forces were demolished by the smoke. After it had melted into Shadow's shade, it reformed into the likeness of Shadow, but with cobalt-blue highlights instead of red, and green crystalline-like eyes with hair-lit slit pupils. Here, Viper's expression changed. "Are you sure about that?" Viper's expression was serious.

"Yeah, you couldn't miss them." Rouge half-closed her eyes with suspicion. "Someone you know, honey?"

Before Viper could respond, Metal-Sonic demanded Rouge to continue. Pausing still to study Viper, she continued. She stated that the shade's name was Mephiles the Dark, and that after some discourse with Shadow—and added that he had acted like he knew Shadow at some point—he opened up a portal that sucked both Shadow and herself into a cursed future, over two-hundred years in. Here Viper and Metal-Sonic nodded: the first temporal anomaly.

She described the future in brief as being ruined and always overcast with dark clouds like a volcanic wasteland. They met Sonic, Tails and Knuckles within the ruins of White Acropolis after they entered a vortex themselves. The second-temporal anomaly. And after journeying back to the ruins of Soleanna, she told their plan on how they came back to this time. She said that they split into two groups, and she described the hunt for the Green Chaos Emerald there and even mentioned meeting Viper's future self.

"By the way, Viper," Rouge began, and the human sighed in exasperation. "I didn't know your left arm was a robotic implant. Was it roboticized?"

That caught Viper off guard, as well as Metal-Sonic. Neither said anything, but Mecha couldn't help by glace at Viper. Viper himself felt uncomfortable and glanced at his gloved left arm, suddenly aware of it. He had not been bothered by it in a long time…a long time before he even came to Möbius.

Metal-Sonic, somehow sensing Viper's masked discomfort, changed the subject. "That is irrelevant. Continue, Rouge, and no more interruptions."

"Oh, fine." Rouge feigned a sigh of annoyance, and continued. She restarted at seeing the black stone gate etched with runes and circles, and finding that a Chaos Emerald was located behind it. After intensely describing their journey through the darkness beyond the gate, as well as fighting a demon called Iblis, she said that they got home after finding the Light Blue Chaos Emerald, and she added that Shadow somehow did not come through the portal back in the future. Ergo, he was still stuck there.

"Why did he stay behind?" Metal-Sonic thought aloud, and quickly added to Rouge, "That was rhetorical," after espying her open her mouth to reply. That was his way of saying "Shut up."

Viper was digesting the story, once in a while glancing at his left arm, which twitched once in a while unconsciously. "So, Sonic and Shadow used a simultaneous Chaos Control localized to create a tear in the time-space continuum."

"When the portal opened up in New Town," Metal-Sonic cut in. "It must have been the exit portal of the future's enter portal."

"Yes," Viper said. "And it seems to get Shadow, we must do the same thing."

"Rouge," Metal-Sonic said. "To get Shadow, we will need the exact date, time and location from whence you came."

Rouge closed her eyes briefly to remember. Back in the future, Shadow and she had learned their place in time by looking through a database on beaten but still functional computer in what was White Acropolis, Dr. Kintobor's base.

"I got it," Rouge exclaimed. "It was November 14th, 2361. It was 2:36 PM when we found out where we were, but it was quite a few hours later when we came back from the future."

"Affirmative," Metal-Sonic said. "I can still use Chaos Control since…that time." Mecha was referring to his downfall over a year before with the Egg Fleet and Metal Overlord, and he was loathed to say it. "so I will program my Chaos Control for November 14th, 2361 for 7:30 PM. Now, the coordinates."

"That's the problem," Rouge said. "I could not get proper coordinates from where we found the second Chaos Emerald due to some strange electromagnetic interference. I can say that it was near an enormous lava-lake in a huge cavern. Only one side of the cavern was solid ground."

"Considering your description of the future itself," Metal-Sonic said. "That doesn't eliminate much of the world at all."

Rouge shrugged. "Don't know what to tell you, hun."

Viper was thinking. Shadow had briefed him on Chaos Aural activity and how it worked with Möbians, such as using Chaos Control. Chaos Control was risky if the wielder did not know precisely where he was going, or didn't visualize it clearly in his mind. Bad accidents have happened when one teleported without good knowledge where he or she was going.

Another conversation with Shadow had said if the destination was unknown, one could use open himself to a Chaos Emerald's power to see where to go. This was called Chaos Vision. This was a double-edged sword, for Chaos Vision also showed times, places, alternate realities. How much it altered with this depended on the Emerald itself, but Shadow didn't say which was easier. Only the strictly disciplined mind could control the images that poured through the wielder's brain during Chaos Vision, and Viper had no experience. In fact, he wasn't even sure that he could use Chaos Aural powers. It was generally believed that no species besides Möbians could use Chaos Aural powers, but Viper was corrupted by the Black Chaos Emerald a year before. Could it be possible that taint of that Emerald enabled him to use the Chaos Aura? Viper knew he was grasping at straws, but he really didn't have much choice. Shadow was a prisoner of time after all. Rouge's description was hardly enough to expect a successful warp.

Viper now had to make a critical decision.

Wordlessly, he took the Talisman of Darkness right from Rouge's hands and marched off into the jungle. Rouge, somewhat aghast at Viper's behavior, made as if to follow him, but Metal-Sonic stopped her. "Leave him be," he said, aggressively. Not even Sonic would refuse the sound of that order, but Rouge sniffed indignantly just the same, but grudgingly obeyed.

Viper had traveled over a hundred paces before he came to a place where he figured he would have his privacy as he attempted to perform Chaos Vision. He looked at the Talisman and was unsure how to start. Merely a year before, both Shadow and he were corrupted by the Black Chaos Emerald when it fluxed around the time when Metal-Sonic's Operation Firestorm was in full swing. Viper got full blast of the flux, but Shadow was still hit as well. E-123 Omega and Rouge were there as well, but since Chaos Auras don't work with robots, Omega got nothing but a power-failure, and Rouge was right behind Omega so she wasn't exposed. Both Viper and Shadow adversely affected. Shadow nearly had a complete mind-wipe which he still totally didn't recover from, while Viper's own body was corrupted, and being non-Möbian, it nearly caused cellular breakdown, but the experiments done on him kept rebuilding his structure. Either his body or the corruption would win, and it took seven months for the corruption to be purged.

That was just seven months before. Viper had believed that when the corruption was purged, all the taint caused by the Black Chaos Emerald was washed away...but maybe...just maybe...could the taint be still present? Being a homunculus prototype, his body was built in such a way that he could quickly become immune to toxins and the effects of harmful energies by being exposed to a lethal amount, and the only way he survived was how his body could quickly rebuild itself after sustaining injury. He always hated that he was a homunculus and not a human since he didn't choose to be the way he was, but he couldn't knock its convenience. If his theory was correct, he could use the Talisman of Darkness or Black Chaos Emerald without harm now since he survived a lethal exposure of its corrupted energy. Not hesitating a second more, he grabbed the Talisman, and touched the gem with his right hand.

Nothing happened. He couldn't feel anything of the Emerald. Shadow had told him that to use the energy, he had to feel it. Feeling completely anti-climatic, he mildly wondered if his theory was a bust and that he was just wasting his time. Absentmindedly, he passed the Talisman to his left hand.

He dropped the Talisman suddenly, and was breathing hard. He felt a cold rush of energy rush from his arm to his core. He felt a sick wave of nostalgia as he was suddenly reminded of the battle between him and his corruption, right in the midst of annihilating the Black Arms. That same energy had nearly killed him, but now it empowered him. Was he going crazy...or did he like that?

Looking at his left arm again, he noticed that the rush of dark energy had burned a nice hole through his bulky arm glove, revealing what was underneath. He cursed silently; he went through so many of those. Heaving a sigh, he pulled it off and looked at what was so revealed.

His left arm up to the elbow was not in the last human. Covered in raven-black rock-hard exoskeleton, where harsh orange glow broke through any cracks in it, it was paranormal to say the least. The exoskeleton of it looked insect-like, smooth on the fore-arm, but grew crusty as it descended to the underarm; it did not gleam in the sun. The fingers, palm and underarm glowed hotly orange like magma. While it looked perfectly frightful, it was a trademark of the fell experiments that were performed on Viper's body and a trademark of his species: it was a gauntlet of alkahest. Using a blend of chemistry and old alchemy on a living human body created what Viper was…a homunculus. That was what Project Oroborus was: to create a super human by making him…not human. Viper had escaped the labs and destroyed the rest of Project Oroborus, or to the point where no one dared to resurrect it. Viper was the first experiment, a prototype at best, but he was a success. Viper was a unique homunculus, for it is generally believed that homunculi do not possess human souls for there is nothing human for it to attach to. While the experiments killed almost all of his organs, his brain lived. That was the only reason why he remembered, for his brain lived. There, his soul attached itself to, so he was still him.

Mark Vasile, that was what he was called once upon a time, but because of the barbaric experiments, he lost who he was for the most part. He was now the Viper, one of the most powerful beings in the galaxy…and he mourned himself because of it. It was lonesome being the only surviving homunculus. He knew most would have perished under the experiments, but some reason he was chosen to live…and he never was sure if he should be thankful or resentful for that.

Viper drifted through the memories of the years he had lived through. He was only thirty years old according to the human calendar, but he still looked in his early twenties. He was a demi-god, so his creators claimed, but instead, he was a bastard child of science and nature. He always faced rejection for what he was, which was one reason why he was a bounty hunter. No one dared cross someone for his looks if he could kill you in three different ways in three seconds.

He always covered that arm because he didn't like to be reminded of what he was. He got that every time he slept at night. He despised his past…but something his caretaker (he never used the term father) once said to him. "You may never forget the past, but that doesn't mean you live in it. The present is where you are, to work for the future. You were given this power, Mark, and you may hate those who have created you, but you have the choice to use that power. Be proud of that choice…for it makes you who you are. Never forget that, Mark. Remember the past, live in the present, fight for the future. There's a greater power that lives inside you then what your past granted you: the power to choose what to do with it. This is who you are, Mark. Become whom you were chosen to be."

Viper wiped away a teardrop from his face. How had he forgotten that? It may not have been his real father that said that…but he was good as one. He was chosen for a purpose…and nothing would stop him now. With new resolve, he picked up the Talisman with his left hand again.

The rush surged through, but Viper held on. His teeth grit and bore, he bore the punishment of the dark energy of the Talisman of Darkness. This power that would have killed him was a part of him…as was his arm. Accept it. It was who he was. The orange glow changed to vivid purple; his arm was absorbing the power…strengthening him…empowering him. Viper's eyes, now glowing hotly yellow, looked into the black gem.

The gem looked to be on fire on the inside. Tongues of orange and purple violently flashed through the facets of the gem. Viper could hear inside his head a fell speech, of which he didn't understand, but he didn't care. He was in control. Soon, three green eyes became visible in the gem, crystalline with hair-lit slits. Viper knew them well.

"I'm coming for you," Viper growled. "I hunt for you from one face of the earth to the other…and I will destroy you."

The speech grew angry, paired with harsh growls echoing through every corner of Viper's brain. This would have shattered a lesser mind, but Viper was strong and would not back down.

"Answer me!" Viper demanded. "Show me the location of Shadow the Hedgehog!"

The three green eyes continued to regard Viper's two yellow ones, then dissolved into an image of a volcanic wasteland. Shadow stood on a plateau surrounded by lava, and he was facing a foe that looked much like him.

Mephiles, Viper thought.

Before Viper could turn away, a new image popped up. It was Shadow again...unconscious, shackled to a crucifix position inside a stasis pod. He could see Shadow through a honeycomb energy field.

And it changed again and Viper saw himself...wounded...defeated...dying.

Viper dropped the Talisman on impulse and reeled back. His arm glowed orange once again, and although he didn't look the worse for wear, his eyes were dilated and his breathing shallow. He didn't know anything about that first image, but that last image...

It was believed that homunculi were immortal, but Viper knew the truth. Homunculi were more like just living, breathing human-like creatures with unspeakable power, but the energy had to come from somewhere, or else a homunculus would die in a matter of hours after creation. When that energy grew closer to run out, their power would dwindle, wounds wouldn't heal and organ functions would start to fail...and when it finally expired...

Viper shook his head. Why would the Talisman of Darkness show him the brink of his own demise? Was it Mephiles just messing with his head?

Viper picked up the Talisman with his right hand and stalked back to the ruin, where Metal-Sonic and Rouge were waiting for his inevitable return. Rouge saw him come back first and the first thing she saw was his left arm. Speechlessly, she gasped a breath, but didn't utter a word. Metal-Sonic was surprised to, for Viper never revealed that glove except to his closest acquaintances.

Viper walked right up to the pair. "Let's do it, Mecha, but before that..." he turned to Rouge. "If there is anything that you left out about Mephiles, now's the time to say it...everything."

-----

Shadow followed Mephiles through the dark tunnels as fast as he could. Mephiles. He knew Shadow somehow, but Shadow had no recollection of him, although the stench that he gave off reminded Shadow of something dark and dreadful. Shadow had only one thing on his mind right now, that even overrode his desire to get back in the past: find out who Mephiles was and what he wanted.

Before Shadow could see it coming, he burst right out into another open cavern, even larger then the last one. This one was a plateau of rock surrounded by a river of magma, flowing with a rumbling sound around the rock. The plateau was featureless, save for a strange structure standing tall in the middle. It looked like a dead tree, but instead of bark and hardwood, it was made of pure crystal, purplish in color. Encircling this tree was wisps of the same black clouds that dominated the land behind the black stone gate...

What stood on these crystalline branches was the quarry of Shadow's attention: Mephiles. From his perch, Mephiles loomed down on Shadow like a hawk sizing up its prey. "I see that you have chosen to void your return ticket," Mephiles began. "I find that most interesting."

Shadow, never into small talk, got straight to the point. "Who are you exactly, Mephiles, and did you destroy this world?"

Mephiles paused and studied Shadow. "You might say I did, and another might say I didn't, and both answers would be correct. Ergo, the answer is yes and no."

So, you want to play games, is that it? Shadow thought. You don't know who you're up against, Mephiles.

Mephiles, however, wasn't done. "I have something to show you, Shadow," he said. "something you just might find...shocking." He punctuated his statement with a snap of his fingers.

Shadow looked to his right, Mephiles' left, and saw a swirling mass of red and purplish light, pooling and twisting in some bizarre display. It was truly hypnotic. Soon, the light began to take shape. Shadow had to look at it for quite some time before he saw what it was: it appeared to be some kind of stasis pod. Shadow had a small phobia of stasis pods, and for good reason as he was locked in one at least three times in his life...let alone lived in one at the beginning of his life. He always saw them as a prison.

"Allow me to tell you a story, a story of betrayal and fate." Mephiles swung his arms dramatically, as if he was on a stage. "You are the ultimate life-form, Shadow, the greatest achievement of mankind at the time: to create immortality. You were the holy grail of science and was revered by your makers, for it was to quote a famous human 'one small step for man, but one giant step for mankind.' Indeed, Shadow, you were the first prototype in a long series of experiments that would enable humans to become gods, or so they thought. Soon, very soon, humanity began to fear you. You quickly turned from being the holy grail of science to the chief threat to humanity's existence. It has always been a staple of humanity's nature to fear what they cannot understand, even if they created it with their own hands. Foolish humans, fearing the very thing they fathered. It's truly ironic. To alleviate their fears, they either attempt to seize control of what they do not understand...or destroy it completely. Humanity's history has been laced with wars and death because humans can't accept anything different from them.

"In result of this new fear, they locked you away Shadow...for fifty years. You escaped, Shadow, and it was wise of you. Ever since then, they sought to imprison you again...or even destroy you. Some are so afraid of you, Shadow, that they make it their life goal to be rid of their fear by destroying you." Mephiles looked at Shadow deeply. "You know of whom I speak."

Shadow did know whom he spoke of. During the Black Arm invasion, he learned that the commander of GUN's military fortresses, General Law, was in fact Maria's younger sister. The commander had (and Shadow had sensed it still lives) an outstanding grudge against Shadow and even sought to kill the hedgehog with his own hands if he admitted, because he saw Shadow as the reason why Maria died.

"You were betrayed, Shadow. Betrayed by the very race you were created to protect. Their betrayal led you to this...you fate:" Mephiles waved a hand, and the cover of the pod evaporated. Shadow could see that it now showed a transparent honeycomb energy barrier, showing what was contained.

Shadow's eyes dilated, and he thought he felt his heart skip a beat. Shadow saw...himself, shackled into a crucifix position, gassed into unconsciousness. To Shadow, it looked like a coffin.

"Some time later, Iblis was released, and what do you think happened? A search for the guilty...and it didn't take long for them to focus on you, even though you did nothing of the sort. While Iblis destroyed one side of the world, they used his release as an excuse...to track you down...and imprison you into a pod indefinitely. It doesn't end there, for Iblis wasn't long in destroying the world. When he hit the world of Soleanna, he leveled it...and the building where your body was house was utterly destroyed. Your pod was crushed under tons of concrete and stone...and you..." Mephiles' eyes flashed. "...died."

Shadow could not answer. Was he really destined to die in such a helpless way? He always saw himself going down fighting...but this?

"That is indeed your fate, Shadow, and all because of humanity, the very same race you fight for...and all for not. How can you continue to fight for them with this knowledge? How can you fight for those whom will inevitably betray you?"

Shadow still could not answer. Mephiles' arguments were sound, and this was reinforced by Shadow's own experience. He indeed had earned humanity's emnity for his actions. He threatened to hurl a gigantic space station into the planet just get revenge for losing Maria, and siding with the Black Arms for a time, but each time, Shadow changed his resolve and saved the world from certain destruction, and even earned the status of a national hero of Möbius, something only Sonic the Hedgehog earned. Still, a lifetime of grudges and thoughts aren't so easily cast aside. General Law was an iconic example. Yes, he was guilty of great sins against humanity, but he still was in denial. How could Mephiles' prophetic tale be his destiny?

"I can see that you are beginning to understand," Mephiles said. "Good, for in the least it makes sense. This may be your destiny, but I have the power to control time. I make you an offer, Shadow:" Mephiles stretched out his hand to shadow, offeringly. "An offer that will save you and grant whatever you want. Come with me, Shadow. Join me in my quest, and together, we will perish the entirety of humanity for the crimes they have committed against you, and most importantly, what they will commit against you. The conspiracy against you strengthens each day, Shadow, but you now know the truth. You can live forever, Shadow, and once the humans are gone, you can decide your own fate."

Somehow, that struck an interesting note in Shadow's mind. At one time, he conspired to destroy the world himself...twice. He changed his mind, however, thanks to the intervention of Sonic and his friends. Before each time however, he was told it was his destiny to destroy the humans. He remembered what Professor Gerald said in his diary when he was on the verge of madness. I too want the humans to suffer. They killed Maria, they put Kent in a foster home, my colleagues and friends, in prison, innocent of anything! I couldn't bear that. I went into fits of insanity. I told Shadow about out project nestled deep in the ARK, and that it holds the secret to revenge. Reader, if you want to fill the world with destruction, release Shadow. This "secret" turned out to be the Biolizard, which when awoken, would lead the colony on a kamikaze dive into the planet. Nearly six years later, Black Doom confronted him with similar words of destiny and fate. Shadow, you were created with my blood, my flesh. You could even say I was a father to you. I created you to gather the seven Chaos Emeralds so that our race may prosper, but with them, you can also get revenge on what they have done to you. It has become your destiny.

Destiny. Fate. Both were decided somehow. Some believed it was decided by an unseen force of some sort, while some believed each person had the ability to decide his own fate. A large number of the former believed that destiny and fate was decided by a god. Shadow's mind flashed to his answer to Rouge's question about the existence of God.

No. I don't.

Shadow believed that earnestly...so that left only one option about fate and destiny.

Shadow snapped a glare at Mephiles defiantly, his resolution firm. "That's absurd!"

"What!?" Mephiles was taken aback at both his answer and the force behind it. If Shadow wasn't mistaken, Mephiles wasn't just shocked...but angry.

"What you said is true," Shadow started. "Some humans seek nothing but to destroy me, but this overrides that. I made a promise to protect humanity against anything that sought to destroy them. I have lived for fifty years, and with the rest of the life I have left, I will continue to fight for humanity." Shadow said, then thought. It was what she wanted.

Mephiles didn't say anything for a short time, but then he burst in anger. "You are a fool! You are destined to die by humanity's hand, and still you fight for them by a mere promise!? You are willing to forgive humanity this folly!?"

"You are mistaken, Mephiles," Shadow said. "There is nothing to forgive yet, and there never will be...for I, Shadow the Hedgehog, am the master of my own destiny...and nothing...even you...will change that."

Mephiles lowered his arms, and glowered at Shadow heavily. "Very well, Shadow. Here you have made your stand, you have chosen your destiny." Suddenly, Mephiles outstretched his arms sharply, and the black mists around the tree rushed around him. Shadow watched with horror and awe as Mephiles' form melted and shifted, like black tar in a cauldron. Quickly, he reformed, and his new form was horrible to behold:

His flesh now was a deep vivid purple, and had the look of fish scales. His spines, ears, arms and legs were laced with crystalline shapes, harder then steel but malleable as fine linen, and these shifted color from silvery blue to light purple constantly. His arms and legs were completely encased by the crystals. His fingers became talon-like claws, and while he wore copies of Shadow's hover-shoes before, he now had clawed feet. His eyes changed even more, for now the whites became a blood-red and more glass-like. The only thing that didn't change was his green, crystalline eyes with the hair-lit slits. His face moved as he spoke, for he now he had no mouth. "Face your newly decided fate, Shadow the Hedgehog, for it is now at hand!"

Mephiles threw his hands forward, and dark energy beams shot out at Shadow. Shadow dashed aside with lightning quick reflexes and retaliated with Chaos Spear, but Mephiles deflected it.

"You'll have to do better then that to destroy me, Shadow."

Shadow smiled in spite of himself. "If that's what you want..."

Mephiles leaped to the floor, and Shadow hurled himself at him in a spinning ball of spines. Mephiles summoned a wall of crystal to block Shadow's attack, so Shadow bounced off.

Both zipped around the room, unleashing their respective attacks and dodging the other's. Neither said a word as each of their respective attention was set on annihilating the other.

Mephiles always changed tactics and that kept Shadow dancing to keep from being caught off guard. Mephiles could summon a crystal spear that he'd hurl at Shadow, which would explode on contact if it slammed into the ground. He would also dive at Shadow in a fell energy ball of power, and when he slammed into the earth, a shockwave of the energy would spread. Shadow discovered that once this happened, Mephiles was vulnerable from attacks to the back, and every time Mephiles dive-bombed, Shadow was quick to retaliate.

This battle lasted for nearly an hour, and both parted for a time for a breather.

"I must admit, Shadow, you do have an abominable resolution to get what you want," Mephiles said. "But it's all in vain, for you cannot destroy me. I'm your shadow, every-present, but never caught." Mephiles laughed again and melted into the ground.

Shadow scanned the area, but there was no sign of Mephiles. He couldn't accept any notion that Mephiles retreated. Was it his imagination, or could he still Mephiles laughing?

"I am your shadow, Shadow. You can chase me, but can never catch me nor destroy me. I am a part of you..."

Shadow looked down and nearly jumped out of his skin. He saw his own shade, but instead of just an outlined silhouette of himself, he saw Mephiles. He still looked shadowy, but his eyes glowed out and the crystalline features stood out. He truly WAS Shadow's shadow! On pure impulse, Shadow hurled a Chaos Spear at his shadow, but it did no good. All it did was tear up the ground.

Mephiles laughed Shadow to scorn. "Is my power of mockery self-evident to you? You cannot destroy your own shadow...therefore, you cannot destroy me."

Shadow paused a while, angry for being defeated by something so simple but genius. Suddenly, he was inspired! "Maybe I can't defeat you by myself...but I know something that will!" He held the Green and Light Blue Chaos Emeralds up high. "Chaos Light!" There were two simultaneous flashes of green and cold blue light as the Chaos Emeralds seemingly exploded in their power. Mephiles gave a sharp cry, and Shadow suddenly saw out of the corner of his eyes the form of Mephiles be hurled from the ground as if the ground itself spat him out. "A shadow cannot withstand the light. While there may always be a shadow in a room full of light...the shadow cannot exist where light reaches."

Mephiles growled, getting up on his feet. "We shall see, Shadow. The light of the sun can still be blocked by the clouds. You cannot destroy me, Shadow. The only way to destroy me is to destroy yourself...for I am your shadow."

"That I doubt," Shadow said plainly, then more powerfully, "The measure of a person is not measured up by his own shadow, for the shadow is nothing but a distorted silhouette of a person. It is never bigger then the person itself. Destroying you will only eliminate the taint of evil left in me...and I'll gladly be rid of it!"

Mephiles glared at Shadow. "It doesn't matter. Your limited power cannot hope to defeat me. You will die by either by humanity's hand...or by my own."

Shadow sniffed. "I grow weary of this idle banter."

"As do I," Mephiles said. Waving a hand, a large crystalline spike materialized in his palm. "You have a fiery passion, Shadow, I will concede that...but I have the power that you can only wish to have...and that is all that is necessary...and with this power...I smite thee." Mephiles heaved the spike at breakneck speeds at Shadow's skull, seeking to impale him.

Shadow, however, was prepared. With the power of Chaos Control, he could dodge anything and more, and was so adept with Chaos Aural Powers that he could activate

them without saying a word. Quickly, he froze time as the spike was within his reach, point aimed squarely for the groove between his eyes. He then had an idea: there was an old saw that said "he who lived by the sword should die by the sword." Why not turn take that literally? Not hesitating, he grabbed the spike and hurled it back with a vengeance. Time resumed right when the spike pierced Mephiles' skull.

Mephiles made no noise as his head was skewered like a Christmas turkey ready to roast, and made no moan as black tar-like blood exploded from the mortal wound. He fell backwards to the ground without a noise uttering from him, the spike declaring its kill proudly and boldly as it stood erect from Mephiles' brow.

Shadow stood and panted. When he grabbed that spike, he felt a strange energy course through his veins and it messed with his head. It took a few seconds for it to clear, but he still stood there attempting to comprehend it. Like Viper, he too had been corrupted by the Black Chaos Emerald and it erased his memory, and when he touched that spike, he felt a eerie sense of deja vu as a dark energy clouded his mind. His mind was exposed to the same energy that made him lose everything that he had known, and it took months to get it all back. Why did that happen? Did Mephiles really have some strange touch with him? Who really was he? He ventured slowly and carefully towards Mephiles' corpse.

Before he realized it, he was blown head over heals backwards, and smacked right into the crystalline tree, winding him. Stunned, he slumped to the ground and couldn't concentrate on anything for a few seconds. When he regathered his mind, he looked up...to see Mephiles stomping his direction. The spike still stuck through his head and out the back, and Mephiles seemed unaware of it.

He laughed. "Did you honestly think this--" Mephiles reached up and pulled the spike out rather noisily, and Shadow watched in horror as the wound closed up and was completely healed, no scar. "--would be the end of me? Ha! I told you, Shadow! You cannot destroy me!" Covering the distance between him and Shadow quickly, he grabbed Shadow by the throat and hoisted him up. Mephiles was taller then Shadow in his new form as Shadow soon discovered. Shadow struggled to escape from Mephiles' grip, but it was like a vice. "Still, I must commend your strength and persistence, for you presented a harder fight then I had anticipated. You even landed a 'mortal' blow, but alas in vanity. Such a shame to kill such a fine opponent."

"You think he's good..." said a voice hardly from Mephiles' right. The crystalline hedgehog looked to see who this new adversary was, only to receive a bullet in the head. The punch from the bullet was so powerful that in an explosion of blood, Mephiles flew five feet back before hitting pay-dirt.

Shadow dropped back to the ground, clutching his neck and gasped for air. Relieved at the new aid, he looked to see who it was...and blanched. It was the Viper, not the Viper that Shadow had met a few hours before, wounded and broken, but fiery and young. It was the past-Viper. Viper somehow traveled two-hundred years into the future!

Viper smiled, "...then you're gonna love me."

"Viper!" Shadow exclaimed, relieved to see him.

Viper regarded Shadow. "Looks like my timing is impeccable as always...and it looks like you could use a hand."

Viper took a few steps forward, a murderous glare shot at Mephiles, who had just gotten back on his feet, his new wound completely cured. He returned the glare. "Well, well, if it isn't the Viper."

"And if it isn't my favorite parasite," Viper returned. "So, it's Mephiles this time, huh? Not a bad name, better then Echelon...for God forbid, Nazo."

Shadow's eyes dilated. Nazo!? An image of a shining white hedgehog with green eyes and unspeakable power flashed in his mind's eye. No, it couldn't be! He was destroyed!

Mephiles grinned despite having no mouth. "So, you figured it out."

"I knew it for quite some time," Viper said plainly. "Your eyes give you away every time; they never change."

"Well, I figured that I shouldn't make it too hard," Mephiles replied sarcastically.

Viper returned with, "Come on, I didn't have to get up too early in the morning to figure it out. In fact, I could have slept till midnight."

"Quite right, Viper, but it seems that one in our party still hasn't caught a grasp on this." Mephiles motioned to Shadow.

Viper looked back at Shadow. "Come on now, can you blame him? After all, you erased his memory...twice. I believe you owe him an explanation."

"I do, and I have a lot to say..." Mephiles grinned. "Ask anything, Shadow. I might as well be an open book before I destroy you."

Viper looked at Shadow, and made a motion with his head towards Mephiles. Shadow nodded in comprehension; Viper had given him the go ahead. Shadow looked firmly at Mephiles. "Who are you?"

Mephiles laughed. "Ah, the question of the hour! I suppose 'tis nobler to know your personal demon, your personal Apollyon. Very well, then, know who I am. Two thousand years ago, a clan of land-dwelling Echidnas—I believe they called themselves the Nocturnus Clan—entered the caverns of Mount Boia, and deep within it, they found an infinite well of Chaos Aural energy. These Echidnas were long jealous of the Guardian clan of the Floating Island, since they protected the seven Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald itself. Blinded by their greed, they used this new well of Chaos Aural energy to manufacture an eighth Chaos Emerald, black as a starless night. The Black Chaos Emerald, the Onyx of Darkness, it has been branded many names.

"Foolish mortals, they did not realize what power they unlocked by doing this. It wasn't long later that the entire clan was wiped off the face of the earth by the very power that they sought to control. The Emerald remained, and from it, I was born. You might even say I'm the physical manifestation of the Black Chaos Emerald.

"You see, the power of Chaos is the lifeblood of the planet you hail from. This world is a mirror image of your world, and because of that, the principle is the same. The Flames of Solaris is the power within the Eight Talismans of Solaris, essences of his power...or so they think. Whatever you call it, it's the same power."

Viper and Shadow had already suspected as much for they tested it, but didn't say anything.

"The Chaos Emeralds were all birthed from wells of Chaos Energy found in different parts of the world, and on these places, the Echidnas built temples to commemorate their power, seven in all, but no temple was built within Boia, for they didn't know that well existed...until the Nocturnus found it. These seven temples remain today, monuments of the power of Chaos.

"I am an entity born of pure Chaos, for Chaos begats own. I exist to bring ultimate chaos to the world. I am the messenger of chaos, destruction and death...and my latest message is marked for you."

Viper holstered his handgun, branded Mortal Coil, and reached up to grab the large blade he carried into battle. He had named it Bane. Swinging Bane around in a pre-attack show of power, he slammed the sword into the ground point first in front of him. "Showtime."

Mephiles charged furiously, but Viper yanked Bane out of the ground and with the same swing intercepted Mephiles. Rock-hard crystal clashed with adamantite steel with the sound of shattering glass. The two parted, but clashed again and again like hammer and tongs. Shadow joined in the fierce melee, eager to land blows of his own.

Mephiles employed the same tactics that he unleashed against Shadow onto Viper, but the latter with grim amusement saw that these tactics were similar to the ones he used before when he and Mephiles last fought, so blocked every one. Shadow was an incredible asset as well, as Mephiles was force to divide his attention between two assailants. Just the same, he dealt severe blows of his own. Shadow was blown backwards by dark energy, and Viper received many slices, but like Mephiles, they healed as if they were never there.

Mephiles couldn't keep it up long however, and when Viper saw a weakness in the defense, he exploited it viciously. In one hole, Viper used his gauntlet arm to snatch up Mephiles, and with unnatural speed and fury, he pounded Mephiles with his fists and kicks and with one final uppercut, sent Mephiles high into the air. Viper wasn't done though, and as Mephiles came back down, he shot him over and over, and Viper leaped up and impaled him with Bane and with a mighty swing hurled Mephiles off. Shadow couldn't resist the opportunity and as Mephiles flew, he flung a Chaos Spear at Mephiles and then grabbed Mephiles and smashed his skull into the ground, finally retreating to join Viper.

Viper wiped the black blood off of his sword while Shadow stood with his arms crosses. Both watched as Mephiles healed himself again a fair distance off. Despite the fact he had just been overwhelmed by Viper and Shadow, he laughed. "What a battle this is! Three immortals battling, locked in mortal combat! So, alien spawn and homunculus, will we continue to battle until the breaking of time?"

"We just might," Viper said. "but if you're feeling impatient, you can always surrender."

Shadow couldn't help but grin. Viper taunted his victims as he killed them often. Sometimes, he was like Sonic as he thrashed robots.

"Amusing," Mephiles said with a scowl. "but that will never happen."

"Then we are at a stalemate," Shadow said.

"Au contraire, Shadow, for I still hold the queen." Mephiles held his hand up into the air, and above him opened a dark portal. "You shall see that in due time. Adieu." With that, Mephiles rose into the portal.

"After him!" Shadow exclaimed. Both he and Viper raced for the portal and leaped into it without hesitation. Inside the vortex, they saw themselves swiftly traveling through a passage of dark clouds, laced with blue and purple lightning. At the end was a bright light, and they raced towards it. Before they knew it, they shot out of the exit. Looking around, they found themselves in front of the clock tower in New Town. The sun was shining and the sky was clear. They had returned to the past, and the very air welcomed them.

Viper scanned the area with his eyes. "Mephiles ran off. Figures..."

Shadow didn't need look then. "I had expected so. Mephiles can melt into mist and drift away with the winds, like smoke."

Viper nodded, then looked around the town. "They say it's impossible to catch smoke." He took out his two handguns, Mortal Coil and Grim Reaper, and reloaded then with fresh clips. "Let's prove them wrong." Viper then reached into his overcoat and tossed something at Shadow. "Let's move."

Shadow looked at what Viper gave him: a sub-automatic machine gun (SMG), Shadow's weapon of choice. Nodding, he took it up in his left hand.

Both Viper's and Shadow's comms chirped. It was Metal-Sonic. "Greetings, friends."

Viper responded, "Same to you."

"You arrived literally minutes after you left, Viper, and I see you returned with Shadow. Good. We will need all the time we can use."

"Mecha," Shadow said. "Do you still have the Talismans of Darkness and Earth?"

A higher voice responded instead. "You betcha, handsome." Shadow and Viper closed their eyes in annoyance.

"We will meet you at the warehouses where you found the Talisman of the Earth." Metal-Sonic said.

"Understood," Viper and Shadow said in unison, then signed out.