CHAPTER 23: Death of a Hero


The sun was beginning to set in the west, now bathing the world with its orange rays of light, giving a whole new look of beauty as nature painted it upon her canvas. The creatures of the day began tucking themselves in for another time of the reigning of the moon while the sun began her preparations of slumber. The chirps of the birds began to slow, as did the scurrying of the creatures of the field as the sky grew darker.

One rabbit was milling in the grassy lands near the entrance to Kingdom Valley, getting a late-night snack from the tender blades of grass and clover before returning to the burrow for a night's slumber. It was busily munching on some clover when it felt something in the air change. It immediately stopped munching and froze. It sniffed the air, hoping to catch a scent of what might be a predator. Finding none, it rose up on its two rear feet and scanned the area. There was no sight of one, but it knew enough that predators could be masters at stealth.

Suddenly, something melted up from the ground. The rabbit remained frozen as the thing that rose up from the ground began reshaping itself. The rabbit felt a malevolent evil radiating from this new creature, and not hesitating another moment, it took off for its den, completely forgetting about a late-night snack.

Mephiles melted up from the ground, after retreating from the desert ruins after a humiliating defeat at the hands of Shadow and Viper. After Shadow unleashed his power with Chaos Blast, Mephiles retreated during the chaos, leaving the two Talismans behind. It didn't matter, for Mephiles had them all fooled. While Mephiles had been busy leading those fools on a merry chase, the other phase of his plan had been working undetected.

Mephiles reached out his hand, and in it grasped the jewel from the Talisman of Darkness. Out of the silver wings, it was a Chaos Emerald…the Black Chaos Emerald. Mephiles allowed himself to smile. Everything was going as planned. The only one who was close to realizing his plan was that naïve fool of a white hedgehog. He had recruited him and his colleague, the purple cat, to prepare the way, and they did so…unwittingly.

She was now primed, and all it took now was one single push to completely send her over the edge, and with that push, she will break, like gravity. All his planning was now about to bear fruit. The key was in the lock…and now it was time to turn it.

- - - - -

Sonic and Elise had remained on the cliff-top for hours, as they can tell as the sun began to set in the west. Since that Kintobor was more than likely dead from the EG-Wyvern crashing, both figured that there was now no hurry to go back to Soleanna. So they remained on the cliff, enjoying the sunset. To Elise, the sunset seemed more beautiful to behold then before.

The two had exchanged in joyful conversation, telling jokes and a little about this and a little about that, both were clearly enjoying each other's company, and also not having to worry about anything, for as far as they could see, it was all over. Project Solaris and the Flames of Disaster were now sleeping soundly again.

Right now, they were talking about Silver and his involvement in the last few days.

"So, as far as you know, you have no idea how exactly Silver changed his mind about you," Elise said.

"Yep. Shadow and Viper took care of him I guess. I don't envy Silver; a lesson from them is like getting beat by a meat hammer." Sonic shivered.

"I've heard about Shadow, but who exactly is Viper?" Elise said. "You didn't talk about him much the last time you talked about your adventures."

"That's because I barely know him myself," Sonic said. "He's some kind of Overlander bounty hunter." He's got a mean swing with that big sword of him and his aim is no slouch either. He's hard to really tick off, although he always looks ticked to me. When he's REALLY ticked though, watch out world. Still, there's something about him that I just can't put my finger on though." Sonic paused. "Oh well, maybe it's for the best. I'm not going to be the one who pries into his personal life; I'd like to live a little longer."

Elise chuckled. "Well, at least he's on the good side."

"When he's paid to be on it anyway." Sonic smiled. "Still, he's cool. Definitely want to be on his good side."

"And you said that was the first time you saw him since the Black Arm Invasion?"

"Yeah, he and Shadow disappeared one night about a week afterwards. They were both in comas for the longest time, and just when we thought they were never going to wake up, both disappeared. I tried tracking them, but I was stopped by who of all people, Metal-Sonic. He told me that by telling me that they were all right, but said not to be followed. After that, I couldn't get another word out of him and he left. I decided to stop following them, but man was my head buzzing with questions about it. Mecha can be a real tight-lipped about things. I saw Shadow sooner…just before we got warped here. He had asked Knux about the Chaos Emeralds, then bam! I woke up near the magnolia tree."

Elise was suddenly reminded that Sonic was from another world, and soon had to go back. She breathed before speaking again. "Sonic, how are you going to be able to go back to your world?"

Sonic looked at Elise. He knew this was an uncomfortable subject for her, but she asked and entered into that subject herself first. Tenderly, hedgehog, tenderly… "Well, I suppose we'd have to go back the same way. We kind of figure that it was some kind of freak Chaos Control that dumped us here to begin with. Our best bet is, well, try the same thing. Thing is we never did it a Chaos Control THAT big. We can make a time portal when we use two Chaos Emerald or those Talisman things. We never did it with more, let alone even tried."

"Sounds dangerous," Elise said.

"Sure does," Sonic said. "But before that, we need to find all those Talismans."

Elise looked at Sonic, and for the first time noticed that Sonic didn't have the Talisman of Water with him. "Sonic, where's the one Talisman I gave you?"

Sonic suddenly straightened. He had left it behind back in Kingdom Valley when he went back in time after he, Silver and Blaze failed to get on the EG-Carrier when it flew over. It was why Sonic was here with Elise now. He didn't like to admit that he had failed the first time, and had to try again. Saying that he screwed up the first time and he had to press the restart button didn't appeal to him. Still, he couldn't lie.

"Um…well…" Sonic clasped his hands together nervously.

"Yes?" Elise pressed. Sonic being uncomfortable was so uncharacteristic that Elise had to fight off a smile.

"Well…you see…you know that Shadow and I had to use a Chaos Control to go back in time, right?"

"Yes…" Elise said, when suddenly she saw where this was going. She remained silent however.

"Well…Silver and I were chasing the EG-Carrier…but when we tried to get on…we couldn't reach it. We saw it crash…and…well…we had to go back in time to fix it."

Elise raised her eyebrows. "Oh?"

"Yeah…"

Elise crossed her arms. "Why do you look so guilty?"

Sonic jumped. "Me? I'm not guilty! What are you talking about? I'm not—" He was stopped when Elise held a finger to Sonic's mouth.

"The thing you need to remember, Sonic Hedgehog, is that you rescued me. How you did it doesn't matter. I'm grateful that you did whatever it took to rescue me. By the way, you look kind of cute when you're blushing."

Sonic covered his cheeks up and wished he could melt into the earth. Now he was even more embarrassed. Why did things like this get so awkward so fast?

Elise was trying her hardest not to laugh at Sonic's embarrassment, for it truly was laughable, but Sonic was looking like he felt pretty small, so Elise was kind enough not to push it further.

As she reminded herself of the subject before, she sobered up. Inevitably Sonic had to go back to his world. Whether it was sooner or later was what was on the table now. It all depended on how fast they could find the Talismans of Essence, where-ever they were. Elise had a sinking feeling in her stomach that a large number of them were already accounted for. She knew that two of them were now in the wreckage of the EG-Carrier, wherever that was. The others were likely already in good hands.

Elise knew that she should feel happy for Sonic, that the chance to go home was very close, but there was a big part of her that wished Sonic didn't have to go. In fact, it felt that she wanted him to stay here. What was so great about the other world anyway? This was a good world, had good people and plenty of room for Sonic to run. What more could he want?

Elise knew that part of her was just the deprived girl side of her talking, and her leader of Soleanna side demanded that regardless of anything, she needed to be a strong queen, and never cry no matter what happens. If Sonic had to go, and needed help going, she needed to step forward and aid him the best she could.

It didn't make it any easier however. Elise sneaked a look at Sonic, who seemed to be recovering from his embarrassment. Maybe if she talked about Sonic's world, maybe it would make her feel easier about it…although, it could also make her feel worse. Just the same, it was a worth she was willing to take. "Sonic?"

Sonic looked at Elise. "Yes?"

"You told me about your adventures…but you never told me much about the world you come from."

Sonic blinked, as if unsure how to answer. "Well…not sure if I can describe it. Interestingly enough, it's a lot like this world. In fact, there have only been two big differences." Sonic looked up at the deepening sky, and caught sight of the pale-faced moon. One, there's only one moon here. Back home we have two moons. One is a lot like the moon here…before Eggman blew half of it to kingdom come. The other is a mini-world called Little Planet. That's a weird place to be, for the planet has to have seven Time Stones keep it from warping in and out of time. The other difference is rather obvious."

"What is it?" Elise was clueless.

Sonic smiled. "No Mobians like me are here!" Sonic laughed, but then shut up immediately. "Oh, yeah. There's Silver and Blaze. Never mind."

It was Elise's turn to laugh, then after recovering herself, she said, "You must miss it."

"Kind of," Sonic said. Elise was all-ears. "I don't necessarily miss the world itself. As long as there's room for me to run, I'm happy! It's the people back home that make me miss it."

Elise looked away, kicking herself. Of course! Sonic likely had friends back home that he'd like to see again. Now it was her turn to feel embarrassed, but she tried to hide it. Rebuking that side of her that wanted Sonic to stay, she listened as Sonic continued.

"Knuckles also needs to go back because he needs to guard the Floating Island. There's a kid that came with us too named Cream. I'm sure she misses her Mom, but she's something else. I haven't heard her talk about it. She's been through a lot as a kid, more than she ever should have had, and it was because of Eggman. That's my big reason why I need to go back. Back home, Eggman's probably went full-steam ahead on a new scheme to take over the world. He really hasn't had a big scheme because he's been interrupted twice now. He's never gives up, but that's why I'm around!" Sonic smiled.

"If Eggman took over the world," Elise began. "How would he rule over it? Dr. Kintobor wanted to rule over time with Project Solaris. He didn't seem the type."

"I thought so too. Eggman however is rotten to the core. Any prisoners he takes end up roboticized. Anyone who gets roboticized is also brain-washed, so they'd serve Eggman without question. It's a fate worse than death." My Uncle Chuck is still trying to build a deroboticizer, so we can change all of those people back. He's not having much luck though. I really hope he succeeds though…especially—" Sonic swallowed. This was an uncomfortable subject for him. "—he's roboticized himself."

"Oh my…"

"Yeah…he was the first. I was able to snap him out of the brain-washing, and while many others were able to get their minds back after Eggman was kicked out of Robotropolis by the human military, many would like to have their old bodies back. I can't imagine living like a robot, so I can't blame them. I want to help my Uncle Chuck…and make sure Eggman doesn't make any more like him."

Elise felt sad. Not for herself, but for Sonic. Like herself, she had lost people she loved dearly. Sonic had lost his uncle in a different way for some time, and it was just as bad, a robot mockery of the being he cared about. It might be even worse then what Elise had gone through.

"Well, Sonic, then I want to help you get back to your home." Elise got up on her feet.

Sonic remained sitting. "What do you mean?"

"When we get back to the castle, I'm going to ask the aid of the people of Soleanna, to help you find the rest of the Talismans of Essence."

Sonic stood up. "You don't have to do that…"

"I know…but I want to." Elise turned to Sonic. "Consider it my gratitude for helping me out these many times."

Sonic smiled, and flashed a thumbs up. "Ok, Elise!"

Elise looked at the sun, which by now was very low in the sky. Night was almost upon them. "Let's go back to Soleanna. I want to find your friends there, so they don't have to sleep in the streets. Allow me to offer the castle to be a conditional home until we find the Talismans."

"That's very generous, Elise."

"It's the least I could do. Sonic…thank you again."

Sonic smiled. "Well, then let's get moving."

Both turned towards the inland, and took a couple of steps forward, when something caught Elise's eye in the gathering darkness. "Sonic, do you see something to our left?"

Sonic looked automatically, but didn't see anything right away. "What?"

"Something shimmered in the sunlight. I was sure that I saw something over there."

Sonic's curiosity blew up ten-fold. "Wait here, I'll check it out." The hedgehog ventured forwards towards the left, eyes scanning the hillside to find something that shimmered like Elise said. Several seconds later, he caught a shimmer in his peripheral vision and focused on it at once. Sonic thought he saw something lying in the grass, but in the deepening darkness, he couldn't determine what it was at first. Venturing further, his eyes caught something that looked like a diamond, but instead of being clear, it was black, blacker then a moonless night sky.

Instinctively, Sonic leaped backwards towards Elise. He backpedaled to Elise, and had a look of frenzy on his face. "Don't touch it!"

"What is it?" Elise was oblivious to Sonic's fear. In fact, she never saw him like this.

"That thing…in the grass…will cause more trouble that Dr. Kintobor could EVER hope to achieve. It erased Shadow's memory and nearly turned Viper into a monster!"

Else felt a terror in her own heart, but mainly because Sonic was afraid of it, and if he was afraid of it, so should she. "But what is it?" Elise found she was whispering, as if the thing in question was a hungry predator that hadn't noticed them yet.

Sonic unconsciously returned the same way, "It's the Black Chaos Emerald, the eighth one. There should have been only seven, but some idiots some time ago apparently crafted another. That thing is like the devil's toy box, and will mess you up until there's nothing left of you. Stay away from it, and let's walk around it."

Elise felt this was a wise decision, but something bugged her about it. "Sonic, what if someone found that thing? We can't just leave it there and let it devour some innocent soul."

"But we can't pick it up! Shadow and Viper didn't even touch it, and they were screwed! Back home, it was left deep inside a mountain. Why did it have to come here!?" Sonic felt angry underneath his fear of the Emerald.

"What do we do?" Elise said. "I can't bear the thought of someone finding it and it destroys them. I would feel like it was our fault because we didn't do something."

Sonic sighed, torn with himself. He'd rather have the entire planet between him and this thing right now, instead of just a modest number of feet. "You're right, but we can't just pick it up."

Suddenly, without warning, a purplish light exploded from the Emerald laying a distance away. Sonic quickly grabbed Elise and turned her away, keeping his gaze away from the Emerald. "Don't look at it! If it gets into your eyes, you're good as dead!" Sonic in fact had no idea what it would do, but he didn't want to take the chance. It worked though, as Elise obeyed without a word. Almost immediately, the Emerald made a ringing noise, as if it was going to get into these two minds one way or another. Sonic stopped his ears, and so did Elise.

Behind the erupting Black Chaos Emerald, a form rose up from the ground, in the shape of a hedgehog, spines and limbs encased in crystal. Since Sonic's and Elise's backs were turned, and their ears were stopped up, they did not detect the new presence of this individual.

Mephiles looked at the miserable two, and had to laugh. "This is too easy! IT's hard to believe that my plan is going THIS well." Mephiles made a ghost of a shrug, and held out his hand. In his grasp was a crystal spike, as sharp as a rose's thorn but shaped like a javelin. "You've defied death long enough, Sonic the Hedgehog, but now, death demands his payment." With that, Mephiles heaved the javelin spike.

Sonic didn't know it was coming, but he gasped as the air was sucked out of him. Time seemed to go into slow motion as Sonic grasped his chest. He could feel the crystal spike, but had no strength to withdraw it from there.

The Black Chaos Emerald had quieted down, and Elise was aware of it. She slowly pulled her hands away from her ears and opened her eyes. The first thing she did was look at Sonic. She made a terrified gasp. Sonic had been skewered through the chest with a spike! "SONIC!!"

Mephiles stayed back, watching the life drain from Sonic like the blood seeping from the wound. Sonic sank to his knees. He felt one of his lungs collapse as the spear had pierced it and his heart. Blood was filling in his lungs so that he couldn't breathe, and his heart was waning. Sonic slowly turned to Elise as his strength waned. "Elise…" He coughed, but kept his eyes in Elise's, although his vision began to darken and his eyes became glazed.

Mephiles made a funny twitch with his hand, and instantly the spike vanished into thin air with a crack, leaving no trace save the wound it inflicted. The removal of the spike shot pain through Sonic's core, and flopped to the ground onto his side with a gasp and a cry. Elise was at his side in a flash. "Sonic!"

Sonic looked at up at Elise, his eyelids drooping slowly. "Elise…just…" Sonic managed, then his head dropped to the ground and his eyes closed after one final breath.

Thus did the fastest thing alive run no more.

Elise was shaking Sonic hard, no, it couldn't be! She called his name over and over, each time louder and more desperate then the last. She turned Sonic onto his back, causing Sonic's arm to limp lifelessly to the side. Elise saw the wound more clearly now, and saw that no blood wasn't coming out…not because it had clotted, but he lost too much blood. She found that her hands were stained with it, as was the grass on the ground.

"Sonic…" she said quietly, placing her hands on her chest. She felt the blood against her chest, but she did not care. There was only one thing she felt now.

"I'm…sorry, father…"

And Elise fell apart at the seams.

She wept bitterly against the still form of Sonic, holding his body against her like a mother would for her baby. She didn't notice a circle marked with flames surround them both nor that the flames flew up above her and began twisting around violently above her. The only thing she cared about had been taken away from her, and now there was nothing to stop the flow of hot tears neither from her eyes nor from her heart as it bled for her departed hero. And there was no way for him to come back. She cried deeply into Sonic's chest, and the pain continued to grow.

Mephiles nearby began laughing ecstatically. Above the crying Princess and the dead hero was his treasure, the being he craved for so long and was denied for ten years, but the time was over! "Finally! I will at last be rejoined to you, my body, my shell, my IBLIS!!"

The flame came down and wrapped itself around Mephiles. The soul that it was deprived of for a decade was here! Being trapped without a soul was torture for it, and now it was ecstatic that its soul had come. With it, he could now destroy those fools that dared to imprison him!

"Now, we must gather the rest of the gems that will grant us unity. It's time for our final curtain call!"

- - - - -

An Echidnaen girl rushed towards a shrine where a great gem rested. There she found the Elder that had been guiding her through warning the ignorant in Lou Brenna. The elder, a heavy set elderly Echidna of a violet color, saw her approach and knew what she was going to say. "It has happened, child?"

"Yes, Elder!" the girl said. "He did it, and now the flames burn!"

The Elder got up on his feet with speed that complimented his age. "It is time. Come, daughter. This is the moment the Divine One told us to act upon. We must leave."

The girl obeyed. "Where to?"

"The World Between Worlds…the Void."

- - - - -

Deep under the destroyed temple, Shadow was reaching for the two Talismans of Essence left behind by Mephiles, when suddenly, they exploded in light. Shadow was knocked off his feet, while the others covered their eyes from the sheer intensity.

- - - - -

In the skies over Soleanna, the night was coming. Many were enjoying what was to be a spectacular sunset, when out of nowhere a storm was rolling in at an alarming speed. The citizens of Soleanna were terrified. Never before did a storm back roll in this quickly from the mountains!

Knuckles, Amy, Cream and Tails watched it approach from the beach. "What is that?" Tails pointed out.

"I've never seen a storm go that fast before!" Amy said.

"It's not a storm…" Knuckles said.

"Then…what is it?" Amy said. Knuckles' words disturbed her.

"Look!" Cream pointed towards the clouds, terror building in her voice. Cheese, her chao, buried his face in her blouse.

In the rolling clouds, a bright light had exploded, breaking the cloud where it sat. In that light, something was moving, but none could see what it was.

Then, the light exploded outwards, expanding and swallowing up everything in sight. Everyone cried out in fright and terror as the light consumed them. Its hunger was not satisfied, and it grew larger, swallowing up the city, the lands around, and it continued to expand.

This…is how the world ends.

- - - - -

Knuckles awoke with a pounding headache, like someone had shoved a bowling ball in his ear. Gingerly, got up off of the stone pavement he lay on. Before he got a look around, he heard others stirring around him. Looking around in the darkness, he saw the shapes of Tails, Amy and Cream lying nearby him. That light did something, that's for sure.

Tails sat up and was getting his bearings, when he noticed his surroundings. "What is this?"

Knuckles looked around, and he jumped up onto his feet in surprise. They were sitting on some kind of floating stone platform, dimly lit by purplish fires on torches surrounding the platform. All around them, the skies twisted and churned like soup in a cauldron, and looked like the storm that had come so swiftly upon them had swallowed up the world except the platform they sat on. "Was this because of that light?"

Amy and Cream worked their way onto their feet, and their faces said the same thing Tails and Knuckles said without words. "Where are we? What happened?" Amy asked.

Out of nowhere they heard a voice shout, "What the hell is this!?"

All jumped and spun around to see this intruder, and saw a human dressed in black. His hair was sandy speckled with black and was unkempt, as was his face which was covered with stubble. He bore a greatsword on his back, pistols on his legs, and a yellow-eyed look that would melt ice. With him was a young white-furred hedgehog with a fanned out forelock. His back was turned to Knuckles and the others, and he sounded puzzled. "What? Where are we!?"

Amy knew that voice. "Silver?"

Silver spun around, recognizing Amy's voice. "Amy? What are YOU doing here!?"

Amy had forgotten her hatred for Silver in light of the new circumstances, and after she saw Silver's red-rimmed eyes. "Are you all right?"

Silver turned away and rubbed his eyes. "I'm fine," he said deliberately.

Viper was suddenly pounced from the side by something in black and was slammed against a pillar, and the assailant pushed a gun against Viper's face. "Talk imposter! Who the hell are you?"

Knuckles and Silver double-took. Viper had been attacked…by himself! This new Viper was fresher looking, clean shaven and had shorter dark hair, as if he was younger than the version he was now threatening.

"What in the world!?" Silver exclaimed.

Three beings came to the "older" Viper's rescue: a black hedgehog with red highlights on his spines and limbs, a white fruit back garbed in tight dark clothing, and a robot resembling a blue hedgehog.

Metal-Sonic grabbed young-Viper by the arm. "Desist! Let him speak! Because of Silver's presence, I think there's more to this then you think!"

"What are you talking about?" Silver asked. "And who are you guys?"

The situation was quickly descending into pandemonium, and only got worse. Knuckles was confronted by a hot-pink chameleon. "Knuckles! What happened? What's going on? Who are these people?"

The two Vipers continued to argue as Shadow and Metal-Sonic were trying to separate them, while Knuckles was trying to explain what he could to Espio, which was very little. By now, there was fourteen people talking and arguing with each other. Finally, one had enough.

"QUIET!!" shouted a high voice, followed up by a bang upon the pavement.

All looked with wild expressions to the speaker. Amy Rose had smashed her Piko Piko Hammer into the stone floor in an attempt to shut everyone up. It worked, as everyone had quieted down as Amy's voice had far overridden their own.

"That's better," Amy breathed, smoothing out her quills with her free hand.

Knuckles followed up on the spot. "I have no idea what in the world just happened, but this is not going to help. First things first…" Knuckles paused to word his question wisely. "Why in the world are there two Vipers here?"

"I'd like to know that myself," young-Viper said, teeth grit.

"Viper," Shadow commanded. "Stand down."

Viper sniffed like an angry bull, but complied.

Knuckles coiled his hands into fists. "Quiet…" He turned to the scruffier looking one. "Who are you and what happened to you?"

"I was the bounty hunter Viper…but for the last two hundred years I've been fighting Iblis. With Silver here, I defeated him in the future." Viper looked hard at his younger-self. "So what's your story?"

"I think we finally have what we need to draw a conclusion," Metal-Sonic said. "There are not two different Viper's here, but one. The same person…from two different time periods." Mecha faced the scruffier Viper. "You are Viper…less than 250 years old, I estimate."

Old-Viper replied with, "I don't know my true age…time doesn't mean much when you're fighting an apocalyptic demon day in and day out. All I know that it's been around two hundred years."

Young-Viper looked old-Viper up and down. "So, you're me in the future?"

"Looks like it, boy," old-Viper said, with a wry smile.

"But how?" Silver exclaimed. "How in the world are we here at the same time? Where is here? How did we get here!? This is all so confusing!"

"One question at a time, please!" Knuckles said exasperatedly. He knew Silver was right, but he sure wasn't helping.

"The light that brought us here felt a lot like Chaos Control, but on a massive scale." Shadow began. "It even went through time and snatched you two from the future." Shadow cast a glance to old-Viper and Silver. "Why it has happened is still a mystery."

"So, it was another Chaos Control?" Knuckles rubbed his temples. "How can two freak Chaos Controls happen so close to each other?"

"I don't think either of them were 'freak,' like you say," Shadow said. "I think Mephiles is involved.

"Who's he?" Knuckles asked.

"Do you know Nazo?" young-Viper ventured. After seeing the look of shock on Knuckles' face, he finished dryly, "Guess so."

"We believe that Nazo and Mephiles are the same person, and he's a physical manifestation of the Black Chaos Emerald."

Knuckles shivered. "That explains why he gave me the creeps. That Emerald is a boon to the world. Messing with it is taboo in Echidna-culture." Knuckles looked hard at Shadow. "But I thought Viper and Sonic destroyed him!"

"So we thought," young-Viper said. "Turns out he merely re-spawned very soon afterwards."

Knuckles covered his mouth in thought. Withdrawing his hand again, he spoke. "The Black Chaos Emerald was created by a rival clan of the Guardian's clan, they called themselves the Nocturnus clan. I heard they found a chaos rift in the Black Mountains and it was there the Black Chaos Emerald was created. That same Emerald wiped them off the face of the earth shortly later. Rumor has it that it was created so powerful that it could rival the Master Emerald. I heard many references that it was basically the nega-Master. Rumor also said that using the Black Chaos Emerald would control ALL of the Chaos Emeralds. That's why it's taboo."

Shadow nodded comprehensively. "Mephiles can use the Black Chaos Emerald efficiently. He must have yanked us off of the planet."

"Something doesn't add up," old-Viper said. "If Mephiles wanted to do that, he could have just done it the first time. Mephiles isn't the kind of person to toy around. If he sent us here, he had a reason."

"I hate to admit it, but I think you're right," Shadow said. "There's more to this…much more."

Knuckles was about to speak again, when a red light darted across his face. Shadow saw it too, and it was quickly followed by a purplish one. They darted around like fireflies in the group. Of the fourteen in the group, three had a strong sense of déjà vu.

The lights came to a clear spot and exploded in light. All blinked in the outburst of light, but it soon faded. All uncovered their eyes to see a young peach-colored Echidna girl and an elderly male purple Echidna stood before them. The aforementioned three recognized the girl immediately.

"Tikal!" Knuckles, Tails and Amy cried out.

Silver looked at the three. "You know her?"

Tails explained. "She appeared to us when a monster called Perfect Chaos nearly destroyed Sapphire City." Tails looked strangely at Silver. "Do YOU know her?"

"Kind of," Silver started. "She showed me different places, and explained some stuff to me. She and that other Echidna did."

"I did," Tikal said. Her face was very grave. "It was all for a reason too. You were blinded by the Dark one, Silver, and we helped you open your eyes."

"Who are you?" Silver asked the elder Echidna.

The purple Echidna answered. "I was a former Guardian of Knuckles' Island, centuries before his time. I am Thunderhawk."

Knuckles looked like someone sucker-punched him in the head. "Thunderhawk? The Guardian that disappeared from the island?"

"Indeed. I was taken away for I was needed in other realms."

Shadow stepped in. "who are you two exactly?"

Tikal answered. "We come from the Promised Land. We were sent to you because something terrible has happened!"

"She is correct," Thunderhawk said. "Mephiles is indeed responsible, but his plan was to wipe you completely off of the map along with the rest of the world. You see…Lou Brenna, the world you were on…is gone."

"Gone!?" Tails exclaimed.

"Yes, melted away into nothingness. Many other worlds will follow because of it."

"What happened?" Silver asked.

"Iblis has been released." Tikal looked very grave.

Several didn't look surprised, while the others were flabbergasted. "How!? How did he get released? The way to do that was to make Elise cry!"

"Who's 'Iblis?'" said Espio, speaking for the Chaotix.

Silver answered. "A demon in my time. He destroyed the whole world by burning it into ashes." Silver looked around. "But Iblis didn't do THIS!"

"You're right," Thunderhawk continued. "Because Iblis became something else…"

Shadow caught on. "Solaris."

"The sun god of Soleanna?" Vector said.

"So they'd like to believe," young-Viper said. "Solaris is actually two demons in one. Iblis…and Mephiles."

Silver looked down. He remembered that Solaris had separated into the two in Project Solaris. "But how did Iblis get out?"

Tikal looked down sadly. "Mephiles orchestrated it all so that the lot of you would be distracted from his ultimate objective."

Thunderhawk motioned behind himself. "Iblis' seal had been broken…due to Mephiles' manipulation."

All looked to see what was behind the two. Unnoticed by the entire group was a human princess, cradling the body of a slain hero. She looked like she had been crying for some time. All looked to see who the dead hero was: a blue hedgehog with red sneakers, bound with white straps and brass-colored buckles.

Amy cried out, "Sonic!" She and Cream rushed to the still form of Sonic the Hedgehog, the others quickly following. Young-Viper leaped over the others to get close. Quickly, he searched for life-signs.

Tails had a sick feeling arising from his stomach, and he had to swallow. "No…you don't think…?"

"Sonic!" Knuckles cried out.

Viper's expression quickly changed. He slowly looked up, his eyes wide in shock and disbelief. He shook his head, as if he couldn't believe he was doing it. "No pulse."

Amy fell apart at the seams. She threw herself against Sonic's body, crying bitterly. Cream was also crying, and she was with Amy at her side. Cheese was distressed at Cream's sadness, and it too made him cry. Tails fell back into his rear and crawled closer to Sonic, his eyes watering. Knuckles was in shock and had to turn away. Young-Viper had rejoined his colleagues, whose reactions mirrored the others. Shadow turned away from the weeping crowd, stunned to silence. Metal-Sonic was pertified. For years, he had envisioned sinking his claws into Sonic's back to kill him, and now in reality, he was here before him, passed on. Mecha looked at his claws, opening and closing them, unsure what to feel except shock. Rouge joined Shadow at his side. Old-Viper mirrored young-Viper to a T. Silver was in shock as well. Just a day before, he was envisioning himself being the hammer that struck for justice against Sonic. Now…he was one of the grievers. Sonic had helped him fix his time, and now he was gone. The Chaotix joined Knuckles, expressing their own shock as well.

"How did this happen?" Silver whispered.

Thunderhawk answered, "He snuck up behind Sonic while he was distracted, and ran him through. He knew what had to be done to get his true form back."

Young-Viper punched the wall in fury. "Son of a bitch! Us hunting him down was all part of his plan?"

"Indeed," Thunderhawk said. "Mephiles is a master of deceit, and hid his true purpose from the world. He may have dropped hints, but never did he fully expose himself. Had any of you found out in some way, you would have abandoned the chase and evacuated the Princess."

"He played us all for fools then," old-Viper said. "His plan all along was while everyone was distracted with their own goals, he would strike where it hurt the most, a weakspot none of us would have predicted."

"So that's it then?" young-Viper spat bitterly. "We fell for the bait when all Mephiles had to do was make a girl cry?"

"So THAT'S why Mephiles wanted me to kill Sonic before!" Silver exclaimed.

"Partly," Thunderhawk said, for Tikal went to comfort those grieving. "Mephiles knew you would fail, Silver. However, your failures were a ripening of the fruit for him. The more Sonic got away and rescued Elise, the more Elise would be more likely to cry if Sonic was destroyed. Either way, Mephiles would win, and you would cease to exist."

Silver had to sit down. Mephiles used them all as pawns and played the game so well. Now it was checkmate, and they had all lost.

Out of nowhere came a loud roar, which made everyone jump and look up. Above was a bright light, which danced and swayed with the roar.

"Solaris," Shadow said.

"Yes," continued Thunderhawk. "He is now complete. Solaris will now consume all remaining timelines, dimensions and worlds, and the very fabric of time will collapse and disappear into nothingness…just as Mephiles wanted. All that will remain is the Void, where we are now, but we will disappear as if we never existed."

"Time was already unstable because of Nazo, and as Mephiles, he continued his work," surmised Shadow.

"Yes, the rift remains above…" Thunderhawk pointed to the light. "But once Solaris has consumed it all, it will vanish."

Knuckles smacked his fists together angrily. "We have no time to waste. We've got to defeat it now!"

"It's not that simple," Shadow said. "If Solaris is an time-devouring archdemon, that means he exists in all times. Past, present, future, all of them. Defeating it here…will mean nothing!"

Silver looked down to the ground. They were trapped in the Void, where time didn't even exist. Silver looked up sharply. If time didn't exist here, then Solaris had only one realm of existence here. Defeating it in the Void would destroy it completely! It wasn't checkmate yet…only check. Moving carefully would reverse the battle. "I won't give up. There is a way…although I don't know what it is yet."

Tails looked up at Silver, the former's eyes reamed with red. "What do you mean?"

"Solaris exists in the past, present and future, right?" Silver surmised. "Well, in the Void, time and space mean nothing. Here, I'll take him down all at once!" Silver grasped one hand into a fist, and his power rushed through him, making him glow blue briefly. "We destroy him here, and we destroy him in all of time!"

Shadow looked at Silver. "Yes…it might be possible…if he was still alive."

Young-Viper looked at Shadow, who looked away. "Without him, I don't think we can win, Silver."

Silver looked down again, and he looked at Sonic, huddled by those who care for him the most. "Why did he have to die?"

The girls were still crying over Sonic. Oh, what words could describe their sorrow for the loss of the great hero. All their hopes hung on him, and they had died with him. Tikal folded her hands in front of her, eyes closed. She seemed to be praying. Thunderhawk joined her at her side and laid a heavy hand on her shoulder. The two Vipers ran their hands through their respective hair, and Shadow and Mecha remained silent. The Chaotix sat down on the ground, wondering what they would do. It was over, and nothing would save them now. They heard Amy's cries for Sonic, as if he was just asleep. How did it come to this?

A stiff wind rose up in the place, whipping everyone as it passed by. None noticed the wind, for they were too wrapped up in themselves…save one.

Elise was done crying, but stayed beside Sonic. She had watched everyone carry on their own forms of grief, and it broke her heart more. Sonic had touched many lives, even those who despised him. Of all people, why did he have to die? It wasn't fair!

When the wind picked up, Elise was the only one to feel it. Elise looked around. There was something about that wind that was familiar, and it lifted her up slightly. It felt like it was saying…smile… Her mind flashed to Sonic's reminders for her to smile.

"Sonic?" Elise breathed.

Silver caught it first. "What did you say?"

"I…felt Sonic's presence in that wind…" Elise said. Some of the others began to slowly look up, as the words began to sink in. Elise continued, "He's not gone yet…I'm sure of it…he's here now! It's not too late!" Elise began to grew excited.

Amy gasped, fresh tears coming to her eyes…but different tears.

Silver slapped himself upside the head. "Of course! We can call him back with the power of the seven Chaos Emeralds!"

All looked at him, surprised, even Tikal and Thunderhawk.

"The Chaos Emeralds grant the wishes of the beholder. If we focus all our thoughts to saving Sonic, the Chaos Emeralds will amplify them and make them become a reality!" Silver rushed towards Elise. "We especially need you, Princess."

"Me?" Elise said.

"Yes, you were the vessel that imprisoned Iblis. That is no small task. My best friend died because she tried to do the same in the future, and had to destroy herself to destroy Iblis. You did something she could not! It will be your voice that will bring back Sonic's soul from the darkness!" Silver nodded at Elise. "I believe in you, Princess of Soleanna."

Knuckles stepped forward. "As do I."

Amy wiped her eyes. "Please do it, your Grace." Cream nodded silently at her side.

Tails joined in. "You can do it, Your Hi—Elise."

Shadow, young-Viper, Metal-Sonic and Rouge nodded, while the Chaotix chorused in. "You can do it!"

Old-Viper strode forward towards Elise, and looked down on her. "You carry the fate of us all, young one. If this is what we have to do, then see it done."

Elise looked at everyone. All had committed, now she needed to do her part. She nodded firmly. "I'll do it!"

Tikal smiled, tears in her eyes. Thunderhawk squeezed her shoulder. "Your prayers may have been answered, young one."

Old-Viper turned to Rouge. "Rouge, you still have that Chaos Emerald tracker, correct? Now's a good time to use it."

Rouge saluted. "Yes, sir!" Seeing hope shimmer once more had made her abandon her flirtatious nature. Whipping out her tracker, she scanned the area. Seven blips appeared on the screen, in random directions. "Solaris must have flung the Chaos Emeralds everywhere. They're all in different directions."

Tails stood up and wiped his eyes. "To collect them all in time, we need to split up!"

Old-Viper took charge. "No one goes alone. Espio, go with Tails. Viper, go with Mighty. Vector, go with Knuckles. Charmy, you're with Silver. Amy and Cream, I'm sure you are strong enough to fight for Sonic…you did before."

Amy and Cream looked at each other, questioning old-Viper's words, but Amy stood up. "It's for Sonic, so Elise…" Amy turned to Elise. "Watch over him." Amy whipped out her hammer.

Old-Viper nodded. Then he turned to the others. "Mecha, go with Shadow. Rouge…you're coming with me."

Rouge nodded.

"Time is short, everyone," Thunderhawk said firmly. "Solaris will suspect what we are planning. Watch all sides of you, but pursue to the Emeralds with all haste. Remember, failure is just one step to the left or right."

Many nodded wordlessly, but some breathed the words, "For Sonic."

"Go. Light shine upon you."

The fourteen scattered into seven different paths on one mission. Now is the time…to finish it!