CHAPTER 26: Piercing the Darkness
Darkness, the absence of illumination; nothing, the absence of existence.
It was the embodiment of darkness, the persona of nothingness; it was everlasting. Darkness is forever. Nothingness is eternal. From darkness, everything became, and to darkness, everything must return. This was the power of darkness. Before light, there was nothing but darkness and nothingness.
Light isn't more powerful than darkness; it is a mere counterbalance. Light only reveals the darkness, and when it does, the darkness is even darker, stronger and more defined than ever before. Where there is light, there must also be darkness.
Yet there is a loophole; light is substance, light is created. All existence begets in the depths of darkness. Therefore, in a sense, light was a begetting of darkness, a child of darkness. Everything must come from darkness and nothingness, and to them must return. Every light must fade, everything must return to darkness. Why continue to fight the fates that govern all of time?
One by one, each world returned to darkness, swallowed by in devouring flame and piercing darkness. That is Solaris, the essence of darkness and nothingness. Each world and universe shall return to darkness, as those who have returned before them. Each world will pass into darkness, not even aware that it has and break down into nothingness. Solaris was the messenger of the darkness, the vanguard for what darkness shall make. Light has no place in this eternal darkness, and nothing shall exist forevermore.
Suddenly, it sensed that it was not alone. There was light, burning light coming up from behind him. Solaris smiled. So, the light decides to enter the darkness as well. To end its futile existence perhaps? It might as well, as all things must return to darkness. Turning to address the light-bearers, it saw three beings of light burning brightly in front of him. Interesting; despite knowing its fate, it burns all the brighter.
"Ah," Solaris spoke. "The noble contenders arrive at last. I have been expecting you for some time, though…"
Ultra Sonic spoke first, jeeringly. "Yeah, sorry to keep you waiting. Had to have a little jump-start, so to speak. I'm fine, by the way."
"You know you have lost, don't you? Soon, very soon, every single world and time will return the place they first became. There is no escaping it. You may have delayed it for a little more, Sonic the Hedgehog, but you only delay the inevitable."
Sonic laughed. "What can I say? I've always been a procrastinator. Just ask Sal."
Solaris laughed. "Even after death, you have managed to hang on to your spirit. But to what point, Sonic? Why return to the mortal state when it too shall return to the darkness from whence it came.?"
"Darkness sucks, that's why." Sonic continued to jeer. "Ever tried to find something in your closet without the light. I'm sure I still got bruises from the last time!"
"Must you remain ignorant?" Solaris continued in spite of Sonic's taunting. "From darkness and nothingness, everything becomes, and when their time comes, they shall return to the darkness as if they never were. Everything, including light. Before the first light shown upon the worlds, before the stars themselves became light, everything was darkness. Everything is darkness. Beyond the first days in the past are nothingness and darkness. Everything has its origin and it is darkness. When everything ends, what shall be left? Nothing…nothing and darkness. Even the stars themselves fade into silence, and are re-birthed from their very shadows, the novae. If rebirth cannot be done, then a well of darkness remains.
"Do you see not still? Everything will return to darkness, for everything IS darkness. Darkness is the absence of light, yet even light itself comes from darkness."
Shadow decided to speak. "You're wrong, Solaris. Darkness is not the absence of light, but the absence of illumination. Even in the darkest room, light is still present, although we as beings may see it not. Does infrared, ultraviolet, radio-waves and Gamma rays mean anything? Different wavelengths of light, yet we see them not. Light is everywhere, but we can't see it. How do we see it? We find what it affects. And, the darkness isn't greater, as it can be bound up by light. Light shows us the darkness, and can bind it in itself and it can never hope to escape from the light." Shadow coiled one hand into a fist, and spoke all the more powerfully. "And greater still, darkness cannot create anything, as nothingness cannot exist. Matter and energy can neither be created nor destroyed…only transmuted into something else. Nothingness cannot create, for there is nothing for it to create from. Nothing is the absence of existence, yes. And what does not exist…will ever exist. Therefore, you are delusional to believe that believing that the darkness is supreme and that it can triumph over the darkness, and that from nothing everything becomes, when nothingness has no such power. Therefore, take heed, Solaris, for you will cease to exist as soon as the light pours through."
Solaris made a motion that actually made him look peeved, and Sonic noticed it, to which he smiled to himself. Solaris however continued to speak. "You are the very testament to what I speak, Shadow the Hedgehog. You are a being born from the darkness directly. You were branded with the darkness, you were created for the darkness, and you are destined to deliver the darkness. Why do you insist on fighting your own nature? You can never hope to win against your own self, for you are what you are…darkness embodied…like me…"
Shadow spat. "I am nothing like you, Solaris. Darkness has no hold on me, despite what I was born to do. I was born to deliver the world to darkness as the ultimate lifeform, but I disowned that for a promise. I made a promise over fifty years ago that I would deliver the world from the darkness that plagues it, and I have stayed truthfully to that promise."
Solaris laughed there and then. "Why do you think that you have stayed so faithful, since you have failed to keep that promise already?"
"When?" Shadow asked sharply.
Solaris snarled. "When you did forget the very promise you made to her when she lay dying in your very arms, killed by her own people, for the sake of petty vengeance! When you swore on her own very name that you would destroy the world in her name! HER name, Shadow! When you did forget your promise again when your own flesh and blood personified tasked you to prepare the world for its day of reckoning and prosperity rituals that would wipe away off life on that world, and even became the right hand in that task and spilled your bloodspawn ally's blood as testament to your forsaken loyalties!"
Shadow looked down, relaxing his fist after suffering a blow that struck home. For the longest time, he had been ashamed and humbled for the times he had forgotten the very person that he would have considered his best friend, and that he had forgotten the very thing she wanted most of all so that he could satisfy his own ambitions. What was worse still was that those very memories were still locked away in a forgotten corner of his mind; every day he cursed his inability to remember. The only reason why he knew that he promised at all was the numerous accounts made by his allies, acquaintances…and friends. Viper himself actually confronted him with the ultimate identity crisis just moments before in the depths of the desert, in front of the very foe that was before them, setting up the choice that Shadow had made. To believe.
One single tear escaped his clutches, and trickled down his face. He had chosen to believe that what he currently knew as the truth…was the truth. Shadow snapped opened his eyes. "Yes, I have. And each time, I have paid for each mistake blow for blow, and each time I rose up the stronger. By your own very word, you have confirmed that I had made that promised to her. I owe you thanks for that, Solaris. Nothing could match my gratitude…not even my hate for you. Also, it is your doing that my memories are not my own. By destroying you…" Shadow clenched his fist like the talon's of a mighty eagle. "…I shall be one step closer to regaining what is rightfully mine. My memories. My promise. I only hope Maria can forgive my poor stewarding of my task."
Sonic looked at Shadow, and his look said everything. Sonic smiled, but not in his usual cocky smile…but a genuine smile. "Shadow, those are the eyes I've been dying to see again. Welcome back for real, Shadow. Glad you didn't due on us after Black Doom."
Shadow looked at Sonic…and smiled too. Sonic held up a fist towards Shadow. Shadow looked at it for one brief moment, and then smashed his fist into Sonic's.
Silver watched all of this, and actually felt a little left out, which confused him. He actually jumped when Solaris began speaking directly to him. "Why have you come, Silver? You had your chance to save the world, and failed miserably. You just could not do the task that was given to you. Every time you had Sonic in your sights, you could not do it."
Silver gritted his teeth. "That doesn't matter! You wanted me to kill Sonic so Elise could cry and that way you could become Solaris!"
Solaris shook his head, which actually made Silver wince. "Silver, have you not learned? I never expected you to succeed. Despite your own power, you are weak. I knew that you would fail, and miserably. You and Blaze both. I did grant you the leniency that you could try, and there was a small possibility that you could have succeeded. Yet, you failed each and every time."
Silver couldn't stand it. "Shut up!"
Sonic looked at Silver earnestly. "Don't listen to that jerk, Silv. He's a savant at getting into people's heads. He's GREAT at manipulating people!"
Solaris continued nonetheless. "You couldn't save your world from the Iblis Trigger. You could not save the Princess even with Sonic's help, and had to return to your own devastation and leave Sonic to do the job properly. You couldn't even take the final blow and sacrificed Blaze to the flames of Iblis."
"No!" Silver screamed, eyes rimming tears. "It wasn't like that!"
"You are weak, Silver. You shouldn't even be the caretaker of such a magnificent power as you are too weak to realize its own true potential. So weak…so vulnerable."
Silver shut his eyes, trying to shut out his own mind screaming at him. No, he wasn't weak. He was not weak!"
Solaris bored on into his head. "So weak…so vulnerable…so small."
In his own mind, he was looking at himself in front of a broken mirror, yet there was a pane fractured enough where he could see himself. He felt something squirming in his mind, and it was driving him mad.
"Look at me!"
Silver saw through the mirror, Mephiles, mimicking each move he made in some dark mockery of Silver's self.
From what seemed like a great way off, he heard Sonic's voice. "Silver! Fight it!"
"You cannot fight for you are too weak, Silver…too weak…to save your friend."
Silver's mind flashed to Blaze, burning away to ashes, a look of great pain across her face. She cried out to Silver as she burned away. "Silver, why could you not save me?"
Silver felt as if the darkness was all around him now. He wasn't the burning essence of light that he was moments ago anymore. He was now floating in darkness, and in front of him rose a serpent-like demon with long clawed arms, a head with a maw that dominated the entire face, and two green crystalline eyes. From his back sprouted several flaming serpents of their own. Each one rushed out to strike at Silver.
Shadow's voice carried into the darkness. "Silver, hold on!"
Silver wanted to scream, but he could not! Was he too weak to even cry for help?
"Silver?" cried out Blaze again.
"Please, stop!" Silver said. "I can't take it anymore!"
"Silver…" said a voice. Silver looked again, and saw Blaze in burning red flames in front of him. "Don't give up…"
Silver and Blaze were hovering in front of each other now in absolute darkness and nothingness. Silver felt so small, so weak in front of a burning Blaze. "Blaze...I'm so sorry…"
Blaze merely looked at Silver.
"I failed to save you. I couldn't do it. I should have been the one, but I was too weak." Tears began pouring out of Silver's eyes. "I'm sorry for everything!" Silver cried.
Silver slapped his hands over his eyes, trying to stop the tears, but they merely trickled through. Damn it, he never wanted to cry in front of Blaze, but now he couldn't help himself. He waited for Blaze to scold him, make him feel worthless.
Blaze however, said only one thing. "You're still so naïve, Silver…but I always liked that about you."
Silver snapped up from his crying, and saw Blaze smiling, just like before she died. She said nothing else, but merely started fading away in the darkness.
Silver reached out for her. "Blaze—"
But Blaze cut him off. "Silver, let the light burn. Let it burn."
Soon, Blaze faded completely, but in her place was a burning light, like a candle. Silver reached for it and it rested upon his hand, burning meekly but boldly. Silver's eyes were still brimming with tears, but somehow…he felt at peace. Over the flame, he slowly curled his fist around it. Closing his yes, and taking one breath, he said. "Thank you, Blaze."
His body exploded in white flame again, and somewhere in the darkness a roar or agony and pain tore the darkness to shreds around him. He set one fist forward into the air and it smashed through the mirror, shattering it into pieces. No longer could he see the darkness…for the light had banished it.
Silver opened his eyes and found himself looking at Solaris again. "Solaris!" He shouted out powerfully. "I have just learned that in the deepest darkness, that there is always a flame of light burning within my heart. I will let it burn!"
Sonic and Shadow, who had heard and seen what just happened in Silver's own mind looked at Silver with a strange expression. To them, Silver went into a fit of fear, then suddenly exploded into a burning inferno of courage as he shouted those words. However, there was no time to pursue him on the sudden mood swing.
"Young fool," Solaris said. "You cannot hope to defeat pure darkness and nothingness with your own strength."
Shadow jumped in. "You said the same to me…Mephiles. Over and over again, I have proven that you cannot be victorious over me. It is you who cannot hope to win against us, for we have come right back each and every time you thought you have won over us."
"So…" Sonic finally said. "Are you ready to fight now, or what?"
Solaris laughed again. "If you think you can will with just brute strength, Sonic, then you are sadly mistaken. You will all perish, and fade into the darkness once again!"
Shadow clenched a fist, and despite his fiery aura, his expression took on a stormy countenance. "I shall utterly destroy you, Solaris…starting with your lying manipulative tongue."
Silver clenched a fist, and his aura flashed a greenish-blue. "Blaze and I have already paid a great price to restore our world, and if I have to pay for it with my own in addition, then so be it!"
Sonic clenched a fist, and his eyes became fixed and determined. "I won't just kick your ass because you tried to kill me…but because you did it purely to hurt someone. There's no way I'm forgiving that one, Solaris."
Solaris spread his arms out to his sides. "So you have come this far to face me. Very well then, as you wish. Shadow, Silver, Sonic, it is time for your return to DARKNESS!"
All three charged at Solaris in a blast of fire. Solaris waved his hands around full circle, and out of the darkness zoomed up twisted remains of buildings of worlds and kingdoms devoured to meet the three head on. Shadow and Silver halted, but Sonic plowed right through them, sending chunks of debris flying. Silver had the presence of mind to grab them with his power and throw them right back at Solaris.
Solaris rose up higher into the darkness, and from beneath him came more and more structures. Sonic landed on one and used it to hitch a ride up towards Solaris, while Shadow and Silver zoomed on ahead and up. Sonic then darted forward, intending to flank Solaris from behind. Solaris expected that and with a wave of a hand summoned more flying architecture to intercept Sonic, tumbling and spinning uncontrollably.
Sonic however wasn't the fastest thing alive because it sounded cool. Smiling, he took off for the nearest one and leaped off of it like a springboard. He smashed through some, leaped off others and soared around the rest. Satisfied with his fun here, he soared upwards towards the back of Solaris.
Meanwhile, Shadow and Silver were attacking Solaris in a direct assault from the front. Solaris opened up one clawed fist and with it fired a sweeping beam of dark energy. Shadow and Silver dodged it effortlessly and counterattacked. Shadow had tried going for the head, but was blocked by Solaris' free arm, which was heavily armored, so he merely deflected off. Silver was having more luck with the armored arm as he swept up space debris hurled by Solaris and hurled it right back. Each rock, building or asteroid shattered on impact as Silver threw them against Solaris' shielded arm, but Silver kept at it.
Shadow was darted in and out using Chaos Spear as Solaris was trying to swipe at him with his other hand. While Solaris never connected, Shadow was growing irritated. Silver was making more progress by hanging back and flinging whatever he could mind-grab. Shadow wanted to get in close to deliver a dreadful blow, but he couldn't quite get close enough.
Suddenly, the armor on the arm Silver was attacking crumbled slightly, pieces of it chipping off. Solaris was outraged and was now swiping at Silver, who was dodging as fast as he could. Shadow saw his chance. He zoomed in and hurled a Chaos Speak right at the face of Solaris, striking just below the eye.
Solaris screeched and thrashed his arms around, causing Silver and Shadow to scatter. As he did, more pieces went flying off of his injured arm. Suddenly, Sonic came flashing in and gave the same arm a pound right from above, sending the remaining pieces flying like a bomb went off.
Sonic flashed back to rejoin the others. "Thanks for distracting him; I was able to flank him and gave him a pound he won't forget."
All turned right around and flashed towards him. Solaris opened his mouth and spat out thousands upon thousands of meteors, rushing at them with breakneck speed. Each one was covered in purplish spikes, sharp and deadly. Sonic darted to and fro, while Shadow was content with spreading a Chaos Spear to break them apart. Silver mind-grabbed them and hurled them back, destroying any others coming had they collided with his.
"Embrace pure darkness!" Solaris said, his voice deep and haunting. Again, Solaris opened his maw. All three felt a sudden wall of bone-crushing gravity come rushing in towards Solaris' throat.
"Let's haul some serious haul!" Sonic said. Without a word, the others agreed. All reversed course and tried to fly again from Solaris as fast as they could, but the gravitational pull was so strong that Sonic was nearly convinced that he was trying to escape a black hole.
Silver looked ahead and saw the meteors come rushing back. Thinking quickly, he threw one hand forward to catch the incoming meteors. The meteors stopped, but Silver felt his speed slacken slightly. Sure enough, slowly by surely, Solaris' inhale was winning against him.
Shadow saw Silver's progressing towards certain doom and thought quickly. Charging up a Chaos Spear, he hurled it back into Solaris' maw. It struck with a bang, and Solaris snarled and screeched. The pull suddenly stopped and all felt themselves lurch forward. At their speeds, they went a considerable distance before restoring themselves.
Shadow looked back, and couldn't help but feel some humor on where he struck. He did say he would start with his tongue, after all. "Looks like the mouth is a weak-point."
"Yeah. Still, I'm not sure if I have the nerve to do something about that," Silver said.
"Leave it to me. You two distract him; find some way to open his mouth again." Shadow said. "When he does, I'll torch him from the inside out."
Sonic grinned grimly. This was the same plan they used to give the Biolizard his due, but he wasn't about to explain that to Silver right now. Like that time, Sonic didn't have the nerve to be in Shadow's stead either.
All three flipped right around and sped towards Solaris again. Solaris whipped up his other armored arm in defense, and Sonic accelerated. There was a part in the armor that caused it all to shatter. The trick was finding it.
Thousands of red portals opened up again and started spitting out space debris of all sorts, and Silver was quick to scoop them up and hurl them back again towards the arm. The armor was built to take punishment, but not forever, and Silver proved it the hard way.
As Sonic and Silver pounded Solaris' defenses, Shadow began to think as he darted in and out, reading Solaris' patterns. All they really managed to do is give him a beating, but nothing significant to destroy him. If his mouth was the only weakness, then Solaris could just keep his mouth shut for the rest of the battle, and they would lose. No, there had to be either another one, or a way to pry open his mouth for another strike.
As Shadow breezed by Solaris' visage again, his eyes caught a glimpse at Solaris'. Of course! The eyes were neural hubs! While the organ itself was tougher than cartilage, it was wrapped in a bundle of nerves. Receiving damage on the eye would be terribly painful for the recipient. Shadow smiled to himself. That was simply asking for Chaos Spear.
Shadow whirled around and dove at Solaris' face. Solaris' gaze rose to meet Shadow's advance, but before he could react. Shadow brought back a fist, and then lashed it out at Solaris' eyes. Red lightning bolts pierced the darkness between Shadow and Solaris, and struck both Solaris' eyes simultaneously.
Solaris screeched in pain as his eyes caught fire. Thrashing about, Silver and Sonic retreated to get out of the way, perplexed at Solaris' actions, but possessing a mutual gut feeling that Shadow is somehow involved.
Before they could finish their thoughts, a blast of fire erupted from Solaris' mouth. The fire blasted out from Solaris' maw and out, disintegrating the armor on the other arm as well as delivering serious burns on Solaris' flesh.
Shadow seemingly appeared out of nowhere beside them. Silver jumped a bit, but Sonic immediately took a guess how Shadow pulled it off. "Chaos Control, Shads?"
Shadow merely looked at Sonic, and a mutual affirmation shot between them. "I'd say he's ripe for a beating now."
Sonic looked back and smiled. "All right, let's give him the boot!"
All rocketed towards him again. As Solaris was healing the burns on his flesh, Sonic took point and curled into a ball and smashed into Solaris' forehead. As Solaris gave back from the force of the blow, Shadow rose up and over and dropped in a spinning ball of spines right on top of Solaris' head.
Silver zipped in and landed right on Solaris' head. Curling his fists tightly, his aura changed from a white and royal blue into a bright aqua color. Using his power, he smashed one fist against Solaris' flesh. And then another. And another! Silver kept pounding away at Solaris in a series of powerful rapid strikes, when finally, he drew back one fist screaming "This is for Blaze!" and smashed it down.
So powerful was the strike that Solaris was sent hurling downwards into the dark clouds of the Void. Silver leaped clear as Solaris plummeted out of sight, shrieking as he fell. As Silver rejoined the others, they all heard what sounded like a rolling boom. Looking back, they saw a brief glimpse of light through the dark clouds below.
"Whoa, Silver, nice hit…er…hits." Sonic smiled.
Silver actually looked as if he was surprised himself. "I didn't even know I had that in me."
"Fury unleashed power that many can never foresee within themselves. If you can control it, you can become a terrible foe, but completely surrendering to the flames of fury is always one step to the left or right. While you would be even more powerful then, you would be completely consumed in exchange."
Silver looked at Shadow with comprehension. He had seen Blaze when she gets angry. Her flames are rivaled only by the flames of the place no one wants to go, while if she keeps her cool, so to speak, her flames are not so strong. He never once considered that the flames are really controlled by her emotions. The hotter they are, the more consuming they become. "Blaze had to be careful as well because of that." Silver looked down at where Solaris fell. "Well, I guess that it."
Shadow looked away and downwards, but said nothing.
Sonic looked at Silver. "Speaking of, you screamed at Solaris before that it was for Blaze just before you smacked him silly. What is that about?"
For one instant, there was a flicker of shock in Silver's eyes as he looked at Sonic. He hadn't expected Sonic to ask that kind of question. Then he looked away, his brow sinking over his eyes.
Sonic blinked. He wasn't expecting that either. "Did something happen?"
Silver looked back at Sonic, his eyes watering slightly. "Blaze is dead."
Sonic looked like he was just slapped in the face; even Shadow looked up at hearing this. "What the heck happened!" Sonic managed to say finally.
Silver looked away again. He couldn't look people in the eye right now. "We were fighting Iblis. Viper was helping us. When we finally defeated him, I tried to seal him away the same way that man in the past did to Elise, using the Chaos Emeralds, but into my own body instead. It didn't work as Iblis kept trying to escape. Blaze stepped in and managed to seal Iblis away in herself. However, Iblis kept trying within her soul, and it was tormenting her. In a desperate move, Blaze transformed herself like we are. But then…she blew herself up. It killed both her and Iblis…"
Sonic couldn't say anything at first. How could he? They were talking about someone's death here. A suicide for the greater good. What could one say about that? Finally, Sonic managed to say, "I thought for sure the Emeralds would work."
"They did, Sonic." Silver looked back at him. "They did what we told them to do. It wasn't the Emeralds. It was me. It's my own fault that I couldn't seal away Iblis myself…and Blaze had to give up her life to do it herself."
Sonic lowered his head. He had seen death before, even experienced it himself moments before. In his Freedom Fighter years against Dr. Robotnik, many of his friends and allies were sent to the roboticizer, which at that point was just as bad as being sentenced to death. Since then, death wasn't something Sonic dealt with as much. Shadow supposedly died, but here he was again. Blaze being dead…was hard to accept.
Silver had to breathe a bit before speaking. "All this time I had been blaming myself for being weak, for being too weak to take the punishment while Blaze had to sacrifice her own life to restore our world; however, we made a promise that we would restore the world no matter what the cost. I may have been too weak to be the vessel to contain Iblis, but I can still fight."
"Was that what you freaking out was all about before we began the fight?" Sonic asked.
"Yes," Silver affirmed. "Solaris got into my head somehow. But I was able…with some help…to fight him off. I still don't know how he got into my head."
"It was because of the Black Chaos Emerald," Sonic said suddenly.
Now it was Silver's turn to look surprised. "How do you know?"
"The Black Chaos Emerald messes up people's minds. A couple of years ago, Viper and Shads got it full blast. Shadow lost his memory and Viper nearly turned into a monster."
Silver looked away again. In his mind's eye, he looked back at when he saw that demon thing come out from Viper before that black stone gate. He also remembered what Viper had said to him regarding it about how it happened.
"But how did it affect me?" Silver asked.
Sonic pointed at Silver. "Because you looked into the Black Chaos Emerald itself."
Silver looked shocked.
"Remember I told you that I went to your future for some time? I followed you, Blaze and Mephiles to Dr. Kintobor's old base. I watched you and Blaze look into the Black Chaos Emerald. I don't think it just let you look at it. I'm sure it fed a little of its darkness into you. The Black Chaos Emerald is bad news for anyone who messes with it."
Silver remembered now. Yes, he and Blaze did look into some sort of black gem, as cold as ice, when Mephiles had shown them whom he said was the Iblis Trigger. He hadn't thought about it being a Chaos Emerald at the time as he had never seen one before then, and he didn't think of it later because he was preoccupied.
"So…" Silver began. "What do we do now?"
"We fight," Shadow said plainly.
"Come again, Shads?" Sonic asked.
Shadow pointed down. As the other two looked, they all could see sparks of white and purplish lightning erupt inside the dark clouds. It got all the more furious as time progressed, which to the three only meant one thing:
This wasn't over yet.
Suddenly, out of the darkness flew out a luminescent being. It flew up a ways in front of them, spinning like a tornado. When it reached their height in the air, it unfolded its wings. Thus, the three looked at the newly reborn Solaris.
Abandoning its avian form like before, it now looked very much humanoid, except that its limbs were encased in jagged rock-hard crystal, each point flexing and moving like a porcupine's quills. Out of its back came out shining wings that reminded Sonic of a picture of an Aztec god he saw once. While the three never saw it before, it was basically a bigger version of the Mephiles that Viper fought on the coastline.
"Wow," Sonic said. "And I thought the last version was ugly."
"Here we go again," Silver said.
"The only way to destroy him completely is to destroy the Black Chaos Emerald within him." Shadow pointed at Solaris.
"How?" Silver asked.
"By combining our powers and the powers of the Emeralds to utterly destroy it."
Sonic smirked. "In other words, the real superpower of teamwork. Real corny, Shads."
Silver flexed his fingers. "Well, then let's end it…once and for all."
As the three charged again, Solaris laughed them to scorn. "Do you three still think you can defeat pure darkness! You poor fools will always amaze me with your blinded perseverance. Although, I admit it makes you all good sport."
Sonic curled into a spindash and hurled himself for right between the eyes of Solaris. Solaris thrust his head forward sharply in a head-butt. Sonic clashed into it and found himself climbing upwards and away by ricochet.
As he stabilized himself, Shadow took point and charged right at Solaris' eyes. Suddenly, Solaris was gone. Shadow skidded to a halt, completely bewildered. Next thing Shadow was sent head over heels backwards from a swift swipe by Solaris' palm.
Silver, who had been hanging back, looking for space debris to chuck at Solaris had seen the entire thing, and saw Solaris bob and weave with unprecedented speed, striking at Sonic and Shadow like a martial artist. Silver quickly darted to the others. "Dude, he's gotten…fast!"
Sonic had shaken himself out. "No kidding. I'm pretty sure I left something behind in front of him."
Shadow glared down at Solaris. "He may have gotten faster, but his moves swing far too outwards. Recovery time is larger because of it. If we can land something during the recovery time, we can hit him."
"Sounds like a plan. Spread out, dudes and let's fly!" Sonic said with a smile.
All three charged again, but darted away from each other giving each other large amounts of space. Shadow took point and charged directly at Solaris' face again.
Solaris laughed. "Again, Shadow? It seems that your forgetfulness of your past has reached out into your short-term memory." With that, Solaris swung out in a forward punch at Shadow.
Shadow twirled around and dropped slightly, avoiding the punch by inches. Taking advantage, he dove forward at Mach 2, smashing into Solaris' neck. Shadow retreated, shaken. Solaris' flesh was now far tougher, and felt like it had the consistency of sandpaper, like sharkskin; however he managed to land a blow, rendering his test a success. The trick is landing a devastating blow.
Silver charged up seemingly out of nowhere from below and struck with a punch to Solaris' jaw. The force was so strong that Solaris' head snapped back. But then, Solaris snapped his head forward again. Silver was not able to recover in time and was smacked, sending him flying.
"Clever," Solaris said, snapping his neck with a loud snap that made Silver grimace. "But you didn't even manage to hurt me with those blows. What's the matter? Is your light finally giving out?"
"Yo, shinespark!" said a voice from above.
Solaris snapped his head up, just in time to see Sonic plummet at him like a bomb. Before Solaris could react, Sonic smashed right into a spot in the middle of Solaris' forehead with the sound of shattering glass.
Shadow and Silver watched as briefly, a flash of dark energy shot through the darkness. In the next instant, Solaris was hunching over, screaming and holding his head as if someone shot him in the eye.
With a flash of light, Sonic reappeared next to Shadow and Silver. The hedgehog in turn shouted back at Solaris. "Made you look, stupid!"
"What did you do, Sonic?" Silver said.
"Didn't you see the third eye he has on his forehead?" Sonic pointed at Solaris. "I saw it while flying by the same time Shadow dodged that sucker-punch. It's smaller than the other two, also, it's black."
Shadow blanched with a gasp. "You mean it's the—"
"Yep, and after slamming into it, it's the real deal."
"You mean—" Silver began.
"The Black Chaos Emerald," Shadow finished. Smiling himself with a sharptooth grin, he clenched a fist. "Now we can finally destroy Solaris once and for all."
"You betcha. You ready?"
All three snapped a collective evil look at the grotesque form of Solaris, who was nearly recovered from Sonic's blow. "More than ready," said Silver.
Now all of them had retreated a great distance from Solaris so he could not hear their plan, so when they charged at him again, they had a great distance to close. In that space, Solaris had repaired his eye and looked out at the beams of light heading towards him again. Spreading his great wings, he closed again over and in front of them like a shield. At the same time, he opened up large red fiery portals, many times larger than before. At breakneck speeds out came spiked asteroids the size of large buildings, spinning and careening dangerously towards the advancing three.
Silver looked up and saw them coming. Slowing down, he thrust his glowing hands out towards the rocks, capturing them with invisible hands, as Sonic and Shadow shot on ahead. Silver heaved them back towards Solaris.
Shadow side-eyed the boulders as they whizzed by. He watched as they struck Solaris' wings with a boom. The wings gave a little bit, but held. Shadow glared, but got an idea.
Teleporting up close and above, Shadow threw his fist downwards towards the asteroids. Lightning blasted out of his wrists and struck the asteroids, shattering them, and sending them against Solaris' wings like a hailstorm.
Solaris' wings gave completely as the attack bent them beyond his tolerance. As he flung them back, he brought his arms together and lashed them out. "Embrace the darkness!" Out of nowhere, white portals opened up and hot beams of light scorched through the air, right towards Sonic.
Sonic dropped below, but the lasers swept through the air, following him. Sonic darted to and fro like a hornet, feeling the heat from the lasers. Despite being Ultra Sonic, he felt that those beams would sear right through him. Sonic gritted his teeth. Solaris was getting serious now.
Shadow darted in to deliver a devastating blow to Solaris' center eye, but was intercepted by an uppercut punch from Solaris. Shadow shot back after recovering, and again was met with another uppercut from Solaris. Shadow shook his head, and then scoped the situation. Sonic was too busy dealing with the lasers, at Silver was being kept at bay by the constantly coming asteroids. Shadow was on his own…
…but he was not helpless. Shadow shot downwards again. Solaris struck at him with a powerful uppercut, but Shadow struck back with his own punch. With a clash of power, they two fists collided. Solaris was thrown back, as was Shadow, but he recovered and dived again at Solaris' now unprotected face.
With another explosion of black energy, all scattered as Solaris' eye was nearly shattered by Shadow's ruthless attack. As the three recovered themselves, Shadow spoke. "The only way to destroy him is to keep him occupied, and then go in for the kill when he is distracted."
"I want a shot at him," Silver said suddenly. "Cover me…"
Sonic nodded. "Let's do it!"
The three charged again. Solaris had now recovered and had brought his wings in front of him again. Silver snatched up more of the asteroids leftover and hurled them back. Shadow in fact hitched a ride on one all the way to crack Solaris' shield. Not one to miss a beat, Sonic did the same.
As the asteroids clashed with Solaris' wings again, Shadow shattered his with Chaos Spear, while Sonic merely spin-dashed his asteroid back into the wings to break them back apart. This time, the wings themselves shattered like glass, enraging Solaris. In retaliation, more white portals opened up sending out sweeping laser fire to sear Shadow and Sonic to ashes. The lasers created a ring of light around the two hedgehogs, yet they did not retreat. Like mad hornets, they darted to and fro, through the narrowest spaces between them, each feeling the searing heat as they shot by.
Solaris noticed something. Silver was not with the group, and the asteroids were no longer being hurled back at him. While before it was a meaningless attach sans what these fools did to his wings, it was enough for him to notice them gone. As a matter of fact, they were floating all over the place in random directions.
Suddenly, all the asteroids glowed blue. Then quick as lightning, they dashed at Solaris at all sides. Solaris was pelted and buffered by his own creations! The damn weasel! It was a trap!
Then suddenly, Silver dashed right in from behind and over, then smashed his fist through Solaris' center eye. With a shriek and explosion, Solaris' thrashed about as his center eye was destroyed. All retreated again and watched as Solaris thrashed about, holding his eyes as his body was lacing with purple and blue lightning. All watched in amazement.
Silver spoke. "You were right, Sonic, but the Black Chaos Emerald is IN the eye, but the eye itself. I smashed the eye, but not the Chaos Emerald. It's out in the open now!"
"Awesome, Silv!" Sonic flashed a thumbs-up. "Now we can roast this turkey!"
Solaris was furious. How can this be! How can these three be winning over him? Even at his purest form, he was being beaten! No, he cannot be! He was darkness! He was nothingness! He IS eternal! How can these three rats be undoing everything he has done!
Solaris cast a burning glare at the three, and with his damaged eye he looked perfectly hideous. "You fools! Do not thing you can defeat me! I am eternal darkness and nothingness! Even if you beat me here, I shall only return stronger and more powerful than before!"
"Man, you big bad evil guys are all the same…even sound the same," Sonic jeered. "Give it a rest or come up with some better monologging."
"Is that even a word?" Silver asked.
"It is now."
"Silence!" Solaris shrieked. "Your words are as empty as the darkness and nothingness you shall return to. I am the vanguard of the end of all things, the harbinger of darkness and nothingness. You cannot win!"
"We seem to be doing a good job winning, if I do say so myself…" Sonic smiled.
"You will return to darkness…and on top your corpses, the shroud of darkness will consume everything!" Solaris brought his fists and legs up in front of him, and in his core, a light was strengthening ominously and furiously. "And then, nothing will be forever!"
"What's he up to?" Silver asked, noticing his behavior.
Shadow blanched. "He's going to detonate himself, wiping out the rest of time and space!"
Sonic gritted his teeth. "Time to destroy him once and for all! We are all going to dash right through his head and destroy the Black Chaos Emerald. Once that's gone, he'll be history!"
"Then, we must race for the rift as fast as we can muster, as the Black Chaos Emerald's destruction will consume whatever is too close around it. It will explode like a supernova," Shadow said.
"Let's do it, now!" Silver shouted.
In one searing roar, the three jetted forward with the roar of rocket thrusters. As they shot forwards, Solaris drew himself in tighter, and the energy within him continued to climb. In mere seconds, the blast would consume all that was left, leaving nothing but perfect and pure darkness and nothingness!
Sonic, Shadow and Silver drew themselves together, becoming one spear of light, firing directly at Solaris' head.
Solaris was glowing so brightly that many features were no longer distinguishable. It was almost time…almost time!
Solaris began to open up again. It's time!
But before he could, his head split open in a blaze of white fire. Sonic, Shadow and Silver flashed in like an arrow of light and skewered through Solaris through his blinded eye, and threw the back of his skull back out.
The Black Chaos Emerald was burning, burning. Shots of lighting and fire blazed through the facets, burning Solaris inside his own head! Flashes of dark energy shot out through every orifice of Solaris' body, and even breaking through his flesh. The Black Chaos Emerald was self-deconstructing, as the Master Emerald had shattered it.
"To the rift, now!" Shadow barked.
In three blazing shots of light, Shadow, Silver and Sonic race towards a lone fading star far away from the battle, fading as the rift was nearing its closing. They must get through that gate, or else the Black Chaos Emerald's explosion would completely wipe them out, even with the Master Emerald protecting them, as it had happened to Gustaf the Guardian in the Great Disaster of Ages.
Solaris thrashed as inside him a raging inferno burned. The Black Chaos Emerald, his core was dying. The Master Emerald's fire was consuming him alive! Each shot of lightning sent him thrashing. No! This cannot be the end! They destroyed his last act to clear away everything! He cannot die! He cannot! Darkness was eternal!
Shrieking and screaming, he cried out as his whole body exploded in one fell dark explosion, with a boom that nearly deafened the three hedgehogs as they raced away.
The shockwave raced behind him, consuming everything that was left behind like a supernova. Asteroids were vaporized from the intense heat, and the remains of Solaris were quickly swallowed up by its own fires.
Sonic felt the heat of the explosion racing up behind him and mustered up any speed he had in racing ahead. He was not going to die here! He wouldn't let Mephiles have the last laugh this time! He will survive!
Up ahead the portal was slowly diminishing, almost completely shot, but it was still there, and all three raced for it, for they knew they would die if they were too late.
Behind them, the fiery inferno raced behind him, looming over them, seeking to devour them as it did Solaris and everything else in the way. It was almost upon them, and they would burn…burn…
Sonic cried out as the light of the portal and the light of the fire behind him overwhelmed his vision. All three raced into the light, as the fire reached out for them.
The darkness had lost. Solaris was defeated, and the Void will now collapsed into its own nothingness. Somewhere, there was a roar of anger, a high shriek tearing the very fabric of the skies. The darkness will return!
All eyes were cast upwards, towards a high distant light that shown like a star in the darkness of the Void. Sometime before, three hedgehogs shot through it to destroy an interdimensional time-devouring demon. The light was a time-space rift, and as time passed, it slowly closed. All watched as the light grew dimmer and dimmer until it was barely visible. Once it winked out completely, the portal would be permanently closed, and those trapped within the Void would be wiped away into darkness as if they never were. The light was now barely brighter than the dimmest of the stars in a clear night sky, and it continued to wane.
Elise and Tikal had taken themselves to pray, for those who were off to war and those who remained, keeping faith. The others took out their stress differently. Knuckles resorted to smashing down some of the pillars around them, for this stress was dreadful and unbearable to him, so he needed to pound something. As time passed, fewer and fewer voice spoke, as the foreboding fear of their seemingly-imminent destruction was weighing heavily on their minds, and none could find the energy to speak. What could be said?
Amy kept looking up at the light. She could feel the muscles and bones in her neck tweak as they grew stiff, protesting to the slightest movement. She didn't care, however. Something like a stiff neck didn't seem very significant in comparison to your life would be snuffed out by pure darkness in the next couple of minutes, she reasoned. More than that however was that she knew that her life wasn't going to be snuffed out; Sonic was going to win, and she knew it. There was no way that Sonic would ever let Solaris win, and with Shadow and Silver helping him, there was no way that they could lose.
She was all too aware of the others behind her. At different points of time since the three left, the others had given up looking up constantly at the light. It wasn't like that they had given up hope, but they just thought they would wait patiently some other way. Amy wouldn't do that however. She wasn't going to look away until Sonic came rushing back victorious from defeating Solaris.
Therefore, it was only her that saw something in the light change. It twinkled just slightly, and it made her gasp. Others heard her gasp, and in their apprehensive state reacted quickly. "What is it?" Tails asked quickly. Knuckles immediately stopped destroying pillars. "Is something happening?"
Before Amy could speak, the light exploded in a flash of white light. All were blinded by it, but some dared to keep looking, and saw tendrils of white light snake out from it as beams of light shot out and away into the Void's darkness, while the light burned like a flash fire. No one knew in their heads what it was, but for some reason, in every heart, it felt like it was a good thing.
Thunderhawk and Tikal looked up and their faces lit up like the sun. "It is over. Solaris has been defeated." Thunderhawk declared.
Those seven words sent so much joy into the remaining crew on the platform that it was almost as powerful as when Sonic first came back from the dead. Cream, Tails and Cheese did a ring-around-the-roses, while Knuckles exchanged high-fives with the Chaotix. Metal-Sonic, the two Vipers and Rouge remained mostly still, but they did feel very weak in the knees as all the adrenalin vanished from their respective systems.
The portal flashed three times, and with the sound of a rocket booster, Ultra Sonic, Shadow and Silver came rushing down from the rift, tongues of blue and white flame pouring behind them. They slammed down onto the platform in a crouch, and all felt the force ripple through the stone underneath their feet. The three heroes were breathing hard like an Olympian after the marathon, and one or two of them had a wild look in their eyes, as if they had touched death itself.
Slowly, Sonic rose up on his feet in a triumphant smile, yet his eyes were dilated from a close-call. Sonic looked over all of them and with a smile, said, "He and that Black Chaos Emerald are history!"
Oh, what tongue could describe the joy that now filled each and everyone's heart that time? As the others cheered on the three heroes, Thunderhawk cut in and said. "Now that Solaris is defeated, and the Black Chaos Emerald destroyed, the devoured times will return to their original states, and the Void will collapse upon itself and never again will exist."
Ultra Sonic's eyes flashed. "Whoa, time-out! That's a good thing, right?"
Thunderhawk chuckled. "In this case, yes. The time-space rift is expanding as the Void is collapsing. As it collapses, we will enter the rift and return back to our worlds."
Shadow cut in. "Not back to Soleanna, but back to Möbius?"
Thunderhawk nodded. "Indeed, Shadow," Thunderhawk then looked grave. "which means that we must all now go our separate ways now. If you all have anything to say to someone, you must do it now."
"So…" Silver said. "This is goodbye?"
Thunderhawk smiled understandingly. "We shall see each other again, sooner than you think, but longer then you wish. Farewell, everyone." Thunderhawk said.
Tikal came to Thunderhawk's side. "Thank you again, everyone."
Elise looked at Tikal. "Thank you for all your encouraging words, Tikal."
"You're welcome. Goodbye…"
As everyone wished the two Echidnas farewell, they both transfigured into a red and purple spark of lights and disappeared into the expanding white light.
Older-Viper looked into the light and looked at his younger-counterpart. "Take care of yourself, kid."
The corner of young-Viper's mouth twitched slightly as he got the humor of his words, and the hunter nodded.
Older-Viper looked at Shadow, and his expression darkened. "When the rift takes us all away, I will cease to exist, as I was never to be a part of Silver's time before Mephiles screwed around with us. So, there is one thing I have to say…" Viper actually sounded melancholy.
"Cease to exist?" Rouge said. "Why?"
"The only reason I was in Silver's time was because of the Chaos Control that brought all of us to Soleanna. Once you all go back, the time I remained in Soleanna for two-hundred years will never have happened, so…I'll just vanish. I'll die. I knew it as soon as I went to find the Chaos Emerald. That hunt was my last. My time is over."
Rouge, young-Viper, Shadow and Metal-Sonic looked shocked, but they all knew that because of the resulting time-space paradox, this Viper, the way he was—broken, aged and scarred—would not exist since it was Iblis that made him that way. If Iblis never escaped, then Viper would never be in this condition. The paradox would eliminate Viper from history. He wouldn't even be remembered, because there would be nobody to remember him. They all suddenly felt the doleful tones of melancholy pluck the strings of their souls.
Older-Viper merely shrugged. He could tell that this was heavy to hear for them. "Even my own species must die someday. I'm not immortal…just a powerful lab rat, an alpha-product at best. But since my time finally has come to an end, I need to wrap up some unfinished business.
"Shadow…it was good to see you again…one last time. And…I'm sorry…"
Shadow blanched, looking at the scruffy-looking hunter, and then relaxed with a nod. They understood each other.
"Rouge, take it easy on the kid. He's been through a lot more than you could ever imagine in nearly forty years. Give him a break once in a while."
Rouge looked at older-Viper. Her first impulse was to come up with some sassy remark like before, but these were different circumstances. Viper here was basically making his deathbed wishes. It felt wrong to dishonor those. "Ok, I'll give him a break…once in a while." Rouge eyed the younger counterpart with a smile. Viper pretended not to notice.
"I know I said this already; maybe I'm just getting repetitive in my old age," older-Viper smirked. "But do take care of yourself, kid. Also, take pride in what connections you have. You never know when you blow it and everything you did have is gone."
Young-Viper looked at his older-counterpart with a strange expression. It wasn't like Viper to give advice on sentiments. Was it because in those two-hundred years something terrible happened, like that he was the one responsible for Shadow's death? Or was it simply because he was going to die in the next fleeting minutes?
Viper felt a foreboding of his own, and after some musing, discovered it to be a feeling of mortality. Being a homunculus, mortality was a concept completely alien to him. Unless he was "killed" and regenerated a great many times over, a being like him could live on for a very long time, as evidenced by his two-hundred-year-old-self standing in front of him. Viper never had thought about death and dying, as it seemed like he never would, yet here was a version of him, only two-hundred years old…about to die. It felt alien…but human.
Viper looked up at his older counterpart, and gave a nod. "Very well, pops."
"Don't call me 'pops,' kid."
"You call me 'kid,' I call you 'pops.' Seems fair to me." Viper smiled smugly.
"Now you're talking, handsome," Rouge added.
"Very funny." Older-Viper smiled in spite of himself. "Well, I'm going on ahead. Follow on after when you're ready."
As the five made their final greetings, Silver found himself listening in. He knew Viper for only a short period, so really didn't know much about him next to the occasional snippet here and there. However, he too felt melancholy about his inevitable demise. Maybe it was some sense of attachment since Viper was a key figure in Iblis' demise. Maybe it was because of how Silver was afraid of him after his corruption was re-manifested. Silver didn't know, but he felt that he should say goodbye.
"Viper?" Silver began. The five looked at him. He wasn't expecting that and froze for a brief amount of time. "Thanks for helping Blaze and me fight Iblis."
Older-Viper leered down at Silver. "I thought I told you. I didn't do it to help you; I had my own reasons."
Silver looked away. Even while he was still in Ultra-form, Viper's countenance was intimidating.
Then he heard from the hunter, "But I suppose I couldn't have done it without your help. So, technically, I should be saying thank you. Let's just call it square."
Silver looked up again and saw a grin on older-Viper's face. Young-Viper saw this with a wry smile. Looks like his personality hasn't change completely with age.
Knuckles looked up. "The light's getting more intense. I think it's almost upon us."
Silver looked up and saw the same. Wait! There was one more thing he had to do! "Amy?" He called out. "Silver…you don't have to say anything." Amy said from his side, to which he quickly turned.
Amy continued. "I know what you want to say, and I forgive you. I know that Mephiles tricked you into thinking that Sonic was the one who caused the problems. I actually should also apologize to you for snapping like that."
Silver looked down. "You shouldn't have to. I would have done the same thing." Silver looked up again. "But thanks."
"I'll miss you, Silver…" Amy said, tearing up a bit.
Silver looked shocked. Did she not know that she won't even remember this? Maybe it was better to not tell her. "Thanks, I'll miss you too…"
"Take care of yourself, Silv!"
Amy and Silver looked to see the new speaker. It was Sonic.
Silver waved back at him. "Thanks, Sonic!"
Elise watched as everyone said their goodbyes with each other, and felt a mixture of emotions. While these were all apparently good people, she really only felt a tug for one present: her rescuer. She was happy that Sonic and his friends would be going back to their home, but at the same time, she felt the sadness of Sonic's departure. She knew he had to go, but it didn't feel any easier.
The light was almost upon them now. Very soon, time would force them all apart. Quickly, Elise cried out to Sonic. "Sonic!"
Sonic turned to Elise, all ears.
"I hope we'll see each other again!"
Sonic nodded and flashed a thumbs-up. "See you later, Elise!"
As the last goodbyes were shouted along, the light came down upon them and consumed them. Thus did the stranded return to the homes they had rooted themselves into, and never again would yank them away from home.
Mephiles was dying. He lay on a floating rock quite a distance from the platform, now being consumed by the expanding time-space rift. He barely had the strength to move, and in his wake from whence he crawled was a trail of black pitch-like blood.
He watched as the victorious departed from his snare of darkness. No, this cannot be happening! He was darkness! He was nothingness! They have returned to the darkness and nothing from whence they came. They cannot come back out! They cannot!
Mephiles rose to a kneeling position, defiantly starting into the expanding light. Curse that light! It had no power over him! They would see. Like before, he would rise up again. The Black Chaos Emerald was destroyed, but not from whence it was made! Him…his Master…in the core…was still strong. Mephiles was merely the vanguard of the darkness and nothingness, preparing the way for his master, the Core-dweller, to rise up and cat them back into the darkness again!
"Celebrate for now…Sonic the Hedgehog. The darkness cannot be contained. It cannot be extinguished. I shall rise up again! When I do, I will have my revenge! The dark lord will hurl your corpse back into the darkness, and this I shall attain my victory!" Mephiles laughed into the darkness of the Void. "You will see, hedgehog! You will see! And not even Shadow or any of your friends can stop me from returning all life and realms into darkness!"
Mephiles laughed again…let them have their victory. They may have won the battle, but the war was not over! Mephiles and his master will return everything into darkness!
Mephiles' boisterous laughing quickly disintegrated into cries of agony, as violent flames of anger consumed him. For several seconds, the flames tore through him. As quickly as they came, they fled. Mephiles lay gasping as his seared flesh burned at the slightest motion of air as his body slowly rebuilt himself.
"Only a god could ever make that claim, Mephiles, and that's what you'll never be."
Mephiles threw his head around to see his attacker, eyes crazy like the fires themselves. His eyes made out a slender figure garbed in purple, with lilac fur. The pose suggested regal stature, but his eyes were so bad now that he couldn't tell who it was by just looking, but he knew.
"You were blown to bits when Iblis destroyed you from the inside ou—" Mephiles screamed again as he was engulfed in furious flames. Writhing among them, he screamed out. "How could you survive!"
"You're the one to blame for that, Mephiles." The figure brushed off her gloves, spreading sparks around. "With that future gone, I never died."
Mephiles was about to respond, but again was sent screaming and shrieking in agony as more flames burned at his flesh. Each time he regenerated himself, but each time was getting slower and slower.
"Even though it never happened, I still felt it ripping through my flesh." She unleashed more flames as Mephiles continued to writhe. "Feel that? That's just a little bit of how it felt like!"
Mephiles was overwhelmed. This scum was letting him have it, and he was powerless against it!
More flames scourged through Mephiles' dying body. And again. And again!
The figure spoke again. "You said it yourself, right? That you can't be destroyed so easily? Well, then. I'll just keep burning you until you do! I have no intentions of letting you live."
The figure upped her ferocity. Each time the flames died, she added more. Explosion after explosion tore through the air, each echoed by the screaming of a dying victim. The furious figure seemed not the least bit concerned that the expanding gate to a healed time was closing in fast. The only thing she cared about…was that this evil would never rise again.
Finally, with one last blast, she waited for the smoke to clear to see what remained of Mephiles. As the blackened burning clouds began to decay, the figure smiled. Lying on an agonized position on the stone, falling apart in ash, was Mephiles the Dark.
Blaze watched as more and more of Mephiles' body blew away into the wind. As the gateway opened wider, the nature of the Void melted away like the corpse in front of her. She gazed into the light as if it was the sun shining down on her face, and smiled.
"Now our world and all others are safe. If Mephiles speaks the truth that he is a vanguard, then I'm sure Sonic is the one that will bar his way." Blaze closed her eyes. "And now, to become part of a new world." Blaze opened her arms as the light engulfed her.
Thus did the great darkness was eternally vanquished by the raging infernos of light.
Elise opened her eyes, feeling as if she had just awakened from the deepest sleep she ever had; as she looked around however, all of that feeling evaporated into the surrounding darkness. In fact, there was nothing around her but darkness. Even the ground that should have been beneath her feet was not there; she was floating in dark space! There was no sound, no wind and no light, like the Void she just had left…or so she had thought.
A flicker of apprehension kindled the worry in Elise's heart. Did something go wrong? Why had she not returned to her world? Where was everything? Did Sonic in fact fail at defeating Solaris, and was mistaken in his proclamation that he was dead?
She felt the sensation of a burning aura burst into flame some distance beside her, and as she looked, she saw a figure of a burning yellow hedgehog, his aura dancing and swaying like the flames of a torch. It was Sonic, no longer Ultra Sonic, but degraded into Super Sonic, like when he was first called back to life in the Void. It must have happened sometime between going into the light, and waking up here. Why was Sonic even here? Wasn't he supposed to go back to his own world?
Super Sonic seemed to feel the same way. "What the heck is this! This ain't the Möbius I know!"
"Sonic?" Elise called out to him.
Startled, Sonic looked towards the voice. "Elise? You're here too?"
"Yes, although I have no idea where is here."
"You and me both. I can't see a thing through all the darkness." Sonic kicked experimentally at the ground. "I don't even see some good ol' solid terra firma!"
"Is this the Void?" Elise enquired.
"Don't think so," Sonic said, although he wasn't too sure about that himself. "I've been in the Void more than once now, and this doesn't feel like it at all. The Void always had this…tingly feeling. Here…there's nothing."
Elise looked away briefly. Yeah, she remembered that feeling, but she was too overcome by depression to really notice it at the time. "Do you think the others are here as well?"
"I'm clueless, Elise," Sonic said, his voice clearly reflecting his confusion. "Wouldn't they be here if they were? I have no idea…"
Elise looked away, considering her next words carefully. She felt she had to enquire about Solaris. "Sonic, did you really destroy him?"
Sonic looked at Elise, but said nothing for a couple of seconds. "I'm pretty sure I did. I mean, he was one click away from wiping the whole slate clean, but me, Shadow and Silver split his head open before he had the chance. I was racing back for the portal, but I looked back and saw Solaris explode when the Black Chaos Emerald did." Sonic looked around again. "Maybe we missed something. I don't think we're dead…"
Elise too looked away again, remembering that even Thunderhawk was sure that Solaris was defeated, and she didn't think he was wrong, or mistaken. No, something else must be going on. He said that they would all return to their own worlds once the Void had collapsed completely.
Suddenly, it dawned on Elise, a great and terrible dawn. Elise remembered something else Thunderhawk had said, far darker and more chilling tidings:
"You see…Lou Brenna, the world you were on…is gone."
Of course Solaris would consume her world before any others, as it was already in that world from the start, and yet, this revelation was terrifying, sobering…and disheartening. Indeed she had returned to her world, except it was now a world of nothingness. The world…had ended. She had to tell Sonic about this revelation. It was heavy news, but the truth…often is. Telling herself not to cry, she spoke, "Sonic?"
Sonic turned to her, all ears. "What is it?"
"I know where we are now…"
Sonic's eyes shot wide open. "You do! How! Where are we!"
Elise took a breath before continuing. "This…is my world."
Sonic looked perplexed. Something didn't compute. "Come again?"
"When Solaris began devouring the times and worlds…he stared with mine." Elise looked firmly into Sonic's eyes. "Sonic, this is a world of nothingness, for it was devoured."
For a moment, Sonic's face remained black, but slowly and surely as this revelation registered, Sonic's eyes dilated as he took a sharp breath. For a moment, he said nothing, paralyzed in his own shock. He didn't dare say Elise was wrong, but his mind was racing with hundreds of possible explanations on why Elise should be wrong…but in the end, each one was laced with pure denial of the truth.
Yet Sonic's never-say-die nature was fighting Elise's revelation. "But…but how? We beat Solaris! Everything should have returned to normal…right? But wait, why am I here? Wasn't I supposed to go back home?"
Elise said nothing. She expected this kind of response. What she did not expect was for Sonic to take it to another level.
"Wait…if this world was wiped out…what about the others? What about…Möbius? Is that where everyone else is then?" That struck an odd note in Sonic's soul. If other worlds were lost during the time when he was dead…had Möbius suffered the same fate? If that had happened, what about the others that went on before him back?
Sonic didn't even realize that he in fact voiced these thoughts aloud, and Elise had picked up on every word. Yes, Sonic was in fact dead for a long time, far longer than Elise would care to say to Sonic. At first, she felt sorry for Sonic, but it quickly became a feeling of apprehension as Sonic continued on in his mindset. "Sonic?" she called out, but Sonic didn't hear her.
"Does that mean…Möbius is gone too?"
"Sonic?"
"And everything else? Uncle Chuck? Sally?" Sonic's voice began to break.
"Sonic!" Elise cried out. In the silence, it sounded louder then Elise had intended, but it was effective. Sonic had snapped out of his growing panic and looked at Elise sharply. Not angrily, but surprised. Elise breathed from her outburst, and then spoke. "Don't worry about it, Sonic. We don't have time for it."
Sonic breathed in sharply to reply, but found that he had none. Relaxing, closing his eyes, he said quietly. "If you have time to worry, then you have time to run." Sonic looked back up at her with a smile. "Thanks, Elise."
Elise smiled back, very relieved that Sonic was a quick recover. It did no good to worry. What will befall will befall, but worrying about a certain one wouldn't help matters. "You're welcome, Sonic. Now, what do you think we should do?"
Sonic looked around, hoping his super-charged glow would at least reflect off of something, or reveal something, but there was nothing to see. "I don't think floating around here will do any good. As much as I hate wondering in circles, I don't think we have much choice. Let's go straight and hope we find something." Sonic offered a hand out to Elise.
Taking it, Elise said, "I'd like to find something at least. Living in an empty world could be unbearable."
"If we don't find anything, then I'll find a way so that you won't have to stay in one. I wouldn't want you to have to stay in a place like this."
With that, Sonic and Elise drifted in a direction that for some reason Sonic felt really good about. As they drifted, they kept their eyes open and ear perked for anything that could break the veil of darkness that surrounded them. And it was a dreary place to traverse; with no visible markers to find direction, nor the passage of light to tell time, they were truly lost with no place to go and no time to gain or lose.
Yet, Sonic was not discouraged. In fact, he was a little perplexed at a strange pricking inside his own soul. He would have this great feeling about going one way or another, and he felt that it was very important that he would obey this pricking of his spirit. It was this same pricking that kept the air empty with murmurs of discontent. Elise too felt no reason to worry, for that lesson was long learned already. Still, the silence was grating on Sonic's nerves, as ironically the lack of any sound was completely noisy in his head. Thus, did Sonic and Elise indulge in some pleasant conversation regarding a little about this and a little about that, merely to make the time pass all the more smoothly. Despite not being able to track it, they were still aware how slow it crawled in silence.
Thus did they venture through the darkness in this atmosphere, when suddenly, Sonic snapped a look to his left. "Whoa, did you see that?"
Elise looked the same direction, but saw nothing. "What?"
"It looked like…sheen!" Sonic darted his head back and forth, like a lab rat seeking to get out of its chamber, trying to catch it again. "There it is again!"
Elise strained to look again through the darkness. She couldn't see anything right away, although she thought she saw something in the corner of her eye, but when she looked directly at it, it vanished into the darkness. It was aggravating, but it must be there if Sonic saw it too. Or maybe they were both going crazy wandering in the darkness.
Sonic was convinced he saw something. "Let's go check it out!"
Elise didn't argue. It didn't seem prudent to argue about whether they saw something or not. Any change right now was more welcome then none at all. As they ventured towards Sonic's target, Elise finally caught a glimpse of it. Yes, it was a sheen, a dull yellow and very misty. In fact, if Elise wasn't looking for it, she would have missed it completely. Thank goodness Sonic saw it. As they advanced, the sheen grew more opaque and definitive. It was a reflection of Sonic's golden aura, reflecting off some cylindrical surface.
Both stroked the surface experimentally. Sonic shared his observations. "It feels like some kind of marble, but I always thought marble was white or clear or something. This stuff is black."
Elise stroked the stone as well. "Back in Soleanna, we have a quarry, and its yield is black marble. We find other marble here and there, but black marble is primarily its yield. Before it was depleted, it was used in decorating the inside of the castle and other important buildings, like the Parliament building."
"Zany," Sonic said. Looking around the pillar, he saw that similar sheens could be seen on other such stone builds. "Elise, I think we're in some kind of hallway. Maybe there's a floor! Wait right here." Without another word, Sonic slid down the marble pillar, one hand on the marble to make sure he stayed beside it.
As Sonic descended, Elise remained floating above, admiring the smooth pillar. It was strange; as she stroked the beautiful umbra-colored rock, a strange sense of déjà vu was tickling her spirit. "Have I been here before?" Elise thought quietly to herself.
Suddenly, from below, she heard an echoing tap of a foot against a hard smooth floor, quickly followed up with a cry of surprise from Sonic. With a rush of energy, Sonic raced back to Elise. "Oh, there is SO a floor down there! C'mon, let's walk the rest of the way. I'm sick of flying."
Together, they descended downwards towards the floor. Elise noticed the same sheen that they saw on the pillar on the ground below them. Elise sighed in relief. They were finally getting somewhere in their search for answers. Soon, their feet now rested on a solid black marble floor. Sonic pounded the floor with his feet. "Now this is more like it. Give me solid ground any day!"
Elise laughed, mildly noticing the echoes of their voices down the dark halls. Sure enough, it was some kind of hallway, lined with these black marble pillars. Even the ground itself was black marble. Also, Sonic's light revealed more things: On the floor, along the base of the pillars and on the walls behind the pillars were tendrils of decorations, glimmering gold in Sonic's aura. Elise ran her hand along them and felt eh presence of déjà vu even more strongly. "Sonic, it's made of silver."
Sonic had noticed the silvery decorations by now. "Yeah, this place is pretty wild." Sonic looked around, down the dark hall. Putting two fingers in his mouth, he belted out a loud whistle, and listened to the echo. Down one hall, the way they came was no echo, yet down the other, there was a significant echo, but judging by the time, it was a fair ways off. "Sounds like we'd better start walking if we want to find out what this place is."
Again, Sonic took Elise by the hand, and thus they ventured down the hall. Sonic didn't seem to notice that Elise was growing more distracted each step they took. This placed bothered her, but not in any harmful way; it was in a way that she felt like she had forgotten this place some time ago and she shouldn't have. Thus did she continue to study any of his mysterious structure for any visual clues. Surely, it couldn't be déjà vu.
Sonic was completely oblivious to Elise's thought, and this lead the way looking purely in amazement and curiosity. The only thing in his mind was to find out what was on the other end of this hall. It must be something important, Sonic thought. Why else would this place be the only place in that dark junk out there?
For untold time, Sonic and Elise walked the halls, turning when the hall turned, progressed as the hall did so. Neither knew how long they were wandering this dark hall, but neither complained, as walking a hall with a definite end beat drifting around in dark empty space. However, they had further conversations again as silence was still grating, although Sonic finally noticed that Elise was distracted. He enquired her on why she was so, but she herself didn't know so couldn't answer him directly.
After some time, they soon reached a shining white door, and it was an eye-opened. Standing tall and majestic, shimmering any light it could reflect, the door was a stark contrast to its dark and lowly surroundings. It was beautified by silver handles, silver lined windows each encasing multicolored stained glass. Dominating the gate itself was a silver archaic circle, circumscribing a bold hexagon, but on top of it all was a great winged figure. It reminded Sonic of an angel.
"Whoa," Sonic said in amazement. "Can't say I was expecting to see something like this, but dang dude, this is awesome." Sonic rubbed a hand along the gate's surface. "This kind of reminds me of something I found in Silver's time, but it was black, and a lot freakier. Led somewhere nasty too. I hope this place doesn't go to a place like that; that's all we need. I'd rather face the dark space above us."
Sonic had expected a response from Elise, and thus was shocked when none came. He turned his head back to Elise, and found her nearly petrified. Her face had paled and her eyes had opened the widest that Sonic had ever seen. Her hands covered her mouth, as if this door meant something profound to her.
"Oh my goodness," Elise said quietly.
"What is it?" Sonic asked, unsure how to confront Elise regarding her present show of behavior.
Elise didn't really hear Sonic. "Is this—could it really be?"
"Could it be what?"
Again Elise didn't hear. Instead, she charged for the door. Sonic leaped out of the way and spun to face Elise, who was now studying the door intensely.
"It must be—it must be!"
"Must be what!" Sonic exclaimed. Patience was not a forte on Sonic's part, nor has it ever been, and Elise's behavior wasn't helping it either.
Elise finally regarded the baffled hedgehog. "Sonic, we have to open this gate! I think I know what's behind it?"
Sonic's mood changed instantly to excitement. "You do!"
"Yes, but I need to see," Elise grasped the handle and heaved. The door didn't budge, but she kept trying. "Help me, Sonic!"
Sonic snapped out of it and grasped the same door handle as well. So they heaved and pulled together. The door was incredibly stubborn and heavy, and even the combined strength of a super-powered hedgehog and a human woman couldn't get it to move right away. Finally, there was the familiar scrape of stone upon stone, and both felt the door budge very slightly. Mustering up new strength, they continued heaving. The door slowly cracked open very slowly. When a determinable crack was made between the two gate doors, a shaft of light burst through the door, as if the door was a keeper of a great source of eternal light.
Finally, the door opened wide enough for them to squeeze through. Sonic lead the way, with Elise close behind. They were engulfed by nothing but light, and it was overwhelming their eyes. Both shielded their eyes in an attempt to keep themselves from going blind, for the light was so harsh that they felt like their eyes would spontaneously combust from mere exposure. Gradually, by degrees, the light lessened to tolerable levels, and just as slowly and carefully, Sonic and Elise opened their eyes to see the scope of the room.
The room itself was made of black marble, but the walls, floor and ceiling were overwhelmed by the silver tendrils, as if it was some silver ivy plant left to grow wild. The room was small and simple in structure in traditional box-shape. On the far end of the room was an altar, and on top of it rested a single burning silver lamp, topped by a small tongue of fire as white as snow. It was protected by a simple bell jar of glass.
There was more scraping of stone upon stone. Both turned to see the doors swing shut with invisible hands. Their first impression was to feel alarmed, but something kept them at peace. So again, they turned away from the white door behind them, and focus upon the distant flame.
Sonic had no idea about the significance of the flame itself, but it must have meant something since it was the only thing in this room, plus the fact it was on an altar. Then he remembered Elise's insistence on entering this room. "Elise?" Sonic started. "Do you know what that is?"
Elise didn't answer for some time, but looked as if something was finally sinking in. When she answered, she answered quietly. "Yes. While we walked those dark halls, I felt a pricking of my spirit, impressing upon me that I have walked those halls some time past, but I couldn't remember when or where. Now that I'm here, I know where we are:
"Sonic, this is the Temple of Solaris, and this room is the Chamber of the Flame, Solaris' resting chamber."
"Wait, you lost me." Sonic raised a hand briefly. "So we're in the temple in Soleanna? And what's this about Solaris?"
"Yes, Sonic. This temple was originally in Solaris, but Solaris' passed this shrine over as he consumed the rest of the world. Sonic…that flame…is Solaris."
"Say what?" Sonic said in disbelief, snapping his gaze towards the tiny flame. "That little thing is Solaris?"
"Indeed. I know it is hard to believe since you have just fought Solaris in his greatest form, but this is Solaris in a weaker form. He cannot maintain any shape but this one. This was Solaris before he became that monster."
Sonic had a hard time bending his mind around it. Elise was saying that this little flame would turn into Solaris, who in fact was Iblis and Mephiles split into two different entities of flame and shadow respectfully. "That's going to take a while to digest," Sonic said swallowing.
Elise didn't really hear Sonic, for her mind was now in another place. Once upon a time, she was a little girl, holding her father's noble hand, staring into the same flame with hope and joy. As they stood there, they spoke about the flame.
"Look, Elise," the aging king said to her. "This is Solaris, the Flame of Hope."
Little Elise looked into the flame, dancing and swaying calmly in its own dance of life. "It's so pretty, daddy…"
The king smiled; Solaris bless his daughter. "This flame is the burning soul of Solaris, entrusted to us as his faithful servants. We tend to it and care for it, for one day it will grow stronger. When it does, our world will change greatly. Solaris will grant to the faithful the power to control time and rewrite history. Those blessed with such a power will be able to rectify past mistake, and therefore avoid bitter fate."
Elise continued to look into the flame. Go back in time? There was only one reason why she, such a little one, would want to go back in time. She turned to her father. "Will we be able to see mama?"
The king smiled, and laid a gentle hand on Elise's auburn locks of hair. "Yes, Elise. We will both be able to see your mother once again. And for that reason, we must continue to tend to this flame and take care of it."
Joy and hope filled little Elise's soul. She will be able to see mama again! Her poor mother had died when she was very young, and didn't remember much of her; only that she loved her so very much. Now, they could be back together again, and they would all be happy again.
"Come, Elise," the king said. "We must return to the castle and prepare for our Festival of the Sun, our celebration for the good things good Solaris granted to us."
Elise looked up at his father. "Okay, daddy!"
The king took Elise by the hand, and led her out of the chamber. At one point, the king felt Elise dragging behind. When he looked to see, he found Elise looking back at the flame. The king smiled again. Bless his little child. He too looked back at the flame. He too wanted to see his dear Elizabeth again.
Elise opened her eyes and found herself back in the room, a golden-furred Sonic looking at the flame with her. Elise smiled to herself. It was so much easier being a child.
"I remember being in this room, when I was just a little girl," Elise explained. "My father, the former duke turned king, took me here to show me what the Flame of Hope was, and telling me that Solaris would give us the power to control time and that I could see my dear mother again. Oh, father, if only he know."
Sonic looked at Elise. "That explains why your father was the head of Project Solaris. He wanted you to see your mother again. And with a time machine like the one Kintobor had, you could do that."
"I don't know, but I'm sure that was one of his reasons. If only he knew who Solaris really was." Elise looked at the flame again. "This little flame was—is where everything began. Who would have thought this little flame would eventually cause so much death, despair and destruction?"
"No one could," Sonic said. "But was it wrong to hope?"
Elise looked at Sonic. "No," Elise looked at the flame again. "But I do wish it didn't turn out this way."
"You couldn't know, Elise," Sonic said assuredly. "It's not like you could ever know what this candle would become. Yeah, it did turn into a big bad guy, but we stopped him together…because you had hope."
Elise smiled. "Thanks, Sonic."
Sonic nodded, and then looked back at the flame. Elise did as well. "The elder Thunderhawk has said that Solaris was something that lived in the three realms of the past, present and the future at the same time, right?"
Sonic scratched his head. "I think so. I was kind of out of it most of the time."
Elise stifled a laugh, but continued soberly. "Which means this Solaris too is in all three realms of time." Elise breathed before speaking again. "Which means we can now fix everything."
Sonic snapped a look at Elise. "Really? How?"
Elise didn't answer right away, but marched up towards the altar. Placing her hands on the bell jar, she lifted it up from over the flame. The flame itself licked and flickered, protesting that its one protection was removed from it. Once Elise had transposed the bell jar, she took up the small silver lamp, barely big enough for two hands, then turned to Sonic. "The reason why this part of Soleanna still exists is because Solaris knew he was a being of three realms. If he completely consumed Solaris, along with this place, he would have extinguished his flame, and it would have destroyed him completely. Therefore did he preserve it.
"I believe now that we both were let here in this dark place to finish what we have started. Sonic, if we blow out this flame here and now, it will wipe away Solaris from the past, present and future as a result. Solaris will not have consumed the world after all."
Sonic began to understand. Solaris' greatest strength was being a transcendent being of three worlds: past, present and future; existing in all, but belonging to none. However, that same strength was also his greatest weakness, fir if this flame faded away, so would he. Blowing out this flame would finish off Solaris for good, rewriting history so that Soleanna and any other worlds Solaris had consumed would be restored.
But there was a catch, and Elise knew what it was. "However, if we blow out this flame, our first encounter…that night…when Dr. Kintobor attacked…will never happen. If it wasn't for Solaris, we would have never met."
Sonic understood, and felt sad for it. "Yeah, you're right. It was the Black Chaos Emerald, Solaris' core that warped us all to Soleanna, under his biding. If Solaris never called us, we'd still be on Möbius doing whatever. Dr. Kintobor would never have had a reason to attack Solaris, because Project Solaris would never exist. We wouldn't even know the other world existed."
"Yes…" Elise said. "Destroying this flame, means completely erasing the last three days."
Sonic felt sad all the sudden. The only way to save the world was to completely forget one of his greatest adventures, and his encounters and the friends he made—Silver, Blaze…Elise—would never have been met.
"Sonic," Elise began. "I must confess something now."
Sonic looked up at Elise, all ears.
"For the last three days, I have been thinking about what it would be liked if you never had to go home to your world. Worse still, I had been wishing that you would stay here, forget about your world. During our adventure, despite the dangers, I have felt like something that I haven't been able to feel like since my father died: to be a little girl. I wanted that feeling so badly, that I wanted you to stay here and never leave. To tell the truth…" Elise had to breathe, for a sudden wetness came to her eyes. "I didn't care about what happened to the world!"
Elise fell to her knees, still grasping the lamp. Sonic was so surprised at Elise's confession that he couldn't speak right away.
Yet Elise continued. "I'm so sorry, Sonic. I hope you can forgive me for being such a selfish person. I should have let go of being a little girl again. I'm so sorry…I'm so sorry…" Elise's pleas disintegrated into gasps as she cried in repentance. For a few seconds, Elise cried quietly, ashamed at herself for her self-centeredness the last three days.
Suddenly, she felt a warm hand on her cheek. Looking up, she saw the burning red eyes of Sonic the Hedgehog, looking gentle…smiling. "Smile, Elise." He said.
Elise gasped once, feeling as if a great burden had been heaved from her shoulders. Relaxing as the feeling sank in, she began to smile gently, letting the smile break her wet cheeks.
Sonic took one of Elise's hands. "I know it must be tough for you to say that. I didn't want you to bottle that in. In fact, I wish you told me before hand, but I knew you couldn't, since you could cry unless you wanted the world to go to heck."
Elise laughed, her eyes still wet. Sonic laughed too, and then continued. "I know that this is what we have to do, if we want to fix everything that Solaris did. But something is telling me that we will see each other again, even if we don't recognize each other. But that's better than not at all, right?"
Elise was starting to feel better. Sonic was always able to help her to get out of her darker thoughts. She'll miss Sonic for that, but Sonic did leave her with sage words of advice. "Don't worry about it, Sonic? If I have time to worry, I have time to run."
Sonic smiled. His eyes looked sad at this inevitable goodbye too, but he was holding it in. He had to be strong for both of their sakes. He looked down at the white flame. "Let's blow it out together."
Elise looked at the flame, and nodded. "Okay, let's do it."
Elise held up the flame to both of their mouths, and both stared into it for a little bit. Then, taking one big breath, they blew in one united wind, banishing the flame from the lamp it burned upon. The flame died quickly and assuredly.
As the darkness shrouded over them, the two shared last goodbyes before the darkness took them away. Thus, the night did end, but as it did, then did the morning beckon the mighty light of dawn, and thus did the adventure become like that of a dream.
