Silver was amazed at how easy the Wisps made jumping through time and space seem. Tails had said something about the Time Stones and the other gems—Sol Emeralds?—giving the Wisps greater power. Silver could wonder about the connection another time; right now, he needed to focus on the battle ahead.
Silver's boots clanged against cold steel. The Wisps had deposited them in some sort of artificial corridor made of metal and glass, its white floor striped with bright red and yellow. Steel beams stretched overhead to support a glass roof through which he could see only deep, expansive black and distant, glittering stars. Silver turned to follow the corridor's path and felt a dizzying lurch of vertigo. Far, far ahead—or more accurately, below, though Silver stood as easily in the corridor as if it had been level ground—was the curve of the Earth, entire continents rendered infinitesimal specks by the vast distance. This was the world of the past, before it was broken into pieces and flooded with darkness. This was the world he was trying to save.
"Nega-Sonic will be here any minute," Tails said, tucking some kind of listening device into his ears. He looked between Silver and Blaze. "Are you two sure you'll be alright holding him off?"
"It won't be the first time," Blaze said.
Silver blinked at her. "I thought you said you were friends?"
"We… weren't always," Blaze admitted sheepishly. "I… might have tried to fight him to the death, once."
"I tried that, too," Silver confessed. "It didn't work very well."
"You don't have to beat him," Tails reminded them. "Just distract him long enough for me to fix… all this." He gave them both warning glares. "And please try not to break him? It's still Sonic's body, even if it isn't his personality."
"I will try not to cause irreparable damage," Blaze promised solemnly. When Silver failed to speak up, she stepped on his foot. With her heels.
"I will too!" Silver yelped, glaring at her. He hesitated, glancing at Tails. "…you have good prosthetics in this time, right?"
Tails sighed. "Just—"
He was interrupted by boots clanking against the metal corridor. All three of them tensed. The Wisps hissed.
"Well, well, well," a familiar voice mocked. "Look who finally decided to show up."
Silver turned to look down the corridor and saw their enemy walking towards them, almost silhouetted against the blue glow of the planet below. A yellow hedgehog, sauntering towards them with lazy ease, a smug smirk curving his dark blue muzzle.
For a moment Silver was thrown back to a year before, when he'd traveled to the past for the first time. He'd poured over every historical record he could find prior to making the trip, desperate to change the fate of his world. He couldn't just remove Argus from existence, and even if he did, Iblis would rise to fill her place. But if he could stop Argus's Wolf from resurrecting her before her time, then Argus and Iblis would remain in balance and Silver's world would be saved.
Eggman had convinced him the "Wolf" was actually someone called Sonic the Hedgehog, and Silver had been desperate enough to believe him. He'd fought Sonic, then, but their fight had ended in a stalemate when they were both distracted by more pressing concerns. To this day, Silver wasn't sure if he could have defeated Sonic had ono one intervened. And now here he was, facing Sonic again. Perhaps he'd get to find out after all.
But things weren't the same as they'd been that day in the past. Now Sonic was on Eggman's side, and it was clear he'd been reaping the benefits. His body was adorned with dark purple armor, made of spiked metal plates and lit by colored indicators. It moved with him easily, soundlessly. Clearly Eggman had designed it to protect his new minion without hampering Sonic's innate speed.
And yet despite the expert design, the armor had a glaring, almost laughable flaw: no helmet. What purpose could that serve? Seeing the pain on Tails's face and the fury in Blaze's eyes as they looked at the face of their former friend, Silver could guess.
"What took you so long?" Sonic—no, Nega-Sonic—asked, a playful lilt to his voice that didn't match the hateful gleam in his eyes. "I was getting bored out here, and you know I don't like being bored."
There was something almost… familiar about the way he spoke, something more than the brief interaction Silver'd had with Sonic in the past. What was it?
"I need to get to Eggman," Tails whispered.
"We'll delay him as long as we can," Blaze said, not taking her eyes off Nega-Sonic. Her expression was unreadable, only the slow lashing of her tail betraying any sort of unease.
Silver raised his hands—an unnecessary gesture, honestly, but it felt natural—and reached out with his mind. There were few objects available for him to use as weapons, but he pulled up several metal panels from the floor and brought them to hover around him. Flames lit around Blaze's fists, and Silver did his best not to flinch away. A fanged grin spread across Nega-Sonic's face.
"Go," Silver said to Tails, and Tails shot off with a burst of Wisp-enhanced speed up the corridor.
Nega-Sonic lunged without warning, leaping over Silver and Blaze to sprint after Tails. Acting on instinct, Silver flung one of the metal plates, stabbing the ground just in front of Nega-Sonic. He swerved around it quickly, but the brief slow in his stride was all Blaze needed to slam into him with a flurry of flames. Nega-Sonic snarled, a feral, inhuman sound, spinning to kick out at Blaze. She dodged, barely, and the two fell into a wild tornado of lashing limbs and fire, a death battle parading as a dance.
Silver took advantage of Nega-Sonic's distraction to lift himself with telekinesis, shooting past the tussling speedsters and coming to a stop between Nega-Sonic and Tails's departing form. Silver raised the metal plates in an impromptu barricade, steeling his mind. Nega-Sonic finally landed a hit on Blaze, his metal boots cracking against her ribs. Blaze groaned, clutching her torso, and Nega-Sonic wheeled, eyes locking on his next obstacle. Silver tightened his telekinetic grip on the plates in front of him and braced for impact.
Nega-Sonic was there in the next blink. The plates buckled under the force of his impact and Silver was sent skidding back, his boots scraping against the metal floor as his mind fought to keep a hold on the plates. For a moment that felt like eternity they were caught in a game of tug-of-war: Nega-Sonic pushing against the plates, speed unflagging, and Silver pushing back with his telekinesis, pressure growing in his skull. Silver's eyes flitted to where Blaze was forcing herself to her feet, shaking off the pain. If she could attack Nega-Sonic while his back was turned…
Nega-Sonic pulled back. For a moment Silver naively hoped he was letting up on his onslaught, but then Nega-Sonic curled into a spinning ball of deadly armored spikes and slammed into the plates with the force of a cannon ball. The impromptu barricade crumpled into scrap metal. Nega-Sonic rebounded and came to stand in the corridor—barely a moment of stillness, but Silver took it, throwing the crumpled metal with as much force as he could muster. Nega-Sonic dodged them all—nearly. One struck him in the middle and— though it did little against his armor—hit with enough force to fling him across the floor.
Quickly Silver grabbed another of the pieces of metal and compacted it into a point. He raised the impromptu spear into the air, but Nega-Sonic was already on his feet and racing towards him. A violet blur, wrapped in red flames, intercepted, slamming Nega-Sonic into the wall hard enough that the corridor seemed to shake, metal ringing against metal. Blaze pinned Nega-Sonic against the wall, flames surrounding her, and… paused.
Nega-Sonic's muzzle curved in a wicked smirk. "Oh, this time she hesitates. Didn't hesitate when you brought your little friend to his death, didja? Or… perhaps death is the wrong word for it, if he was never really alive."
Blaze's eyes widened, and for just a moment her grip loosened. Immediately Nega-Sonic surged forward, headbutting her with his helmet, and then, while she was still reeling, delivered a swift kick to her head. Blaze fell to the floor. Nega-Sonic stood over her, a gloating grin on his face. Too late he remembered Silver and spun around, just in time for Silver to seize him with his telekinesis. He held Nega-Sonic in the air and raised the spear, pointing it at Nega-Sonic's exposed head.
Held though he was, Nega-Sonic cocked his head, the gesture so strangely familiar Silver nearly dropped him. "You, though… it's no surprise you did it. You never liked me, either of me." Silver did drop him now, eyes widening. Nega-Sonic landed with the litheness of a cat (of a lion) and prowled towards him. "I bet you were eager to see him go, weren'tcha, Silv?" He spread his arms, spinning as if presenting himself. "And now look! Two enemies for the price of one! Aren't you glad?"
Silver stumbled back, mind whirling. Now he knew why Nega-Sonic sounded so familiar. He remembered how much White had grated on his nerves when they first met, almost like— almost like—
He met Nega-Sonic's eyes. "What did you do to him?"
Nega-Sonic cocked his head innocently, a painfully, painfully familiar gesture. "'Do to him'? He's right here, Silv. Don't you get it?" He didn't wait for a response. He slammed forward, throwing Silver to the ground. His armored claws dug into Silver's throat.
Silver gasped and choked. Desperately he thrust out a hand, a wave of psychic energy lashing out like a blade. Nega-Sonic was thrown off him and across the floor. Silver reached for the spear, aimed it at Nega-Sonic's head… and hesitated.
Nega-Sonic was his enemy.
But White was part of him.
Silver faltered, and that was all Nega-Sonic needed. He plucked the spear from the air and leapt towards Silver, too fast for Silver to stop him. But then something slammed into Nega-Sonic from the side, throwing him across the floor once more.
"You hesitated," Blaze said.
"So did you," Silver pointed out, heart pounding. "He's… White is part of him."
Blaze looked at Nega-Sonic, her eyes reflecting Silver's own uncertainty.
"Tails will find a way to fix this," she said, sounding like she was trying to convince herself as much as him. "For now, we keep fighting."
Silver nodded and braced himself for the next round.
Tails crept through the corridors of Eggman's space station. Yakker chirped a warning, and he pressed himself against a wall as a troop of Egg Pawns passed through the next hall. Once the way was clear, Yakker waved him forward. Tails sprinted across the hall, following the Wisp's lead. The Wisps had proven highly effective scouts, exploring the ins and outs of the space station without drawing much notice. And when they did attract notice, they just jumped to a different dimension, something Tails liked to imagine caused Eggman immense frustration.
Speaking of Eggman. Yakker stopped at a large door and chirped. {He's through here,} the translator said through Tails's earphones.
Tails nodded to the black Wisp who'd been chosen for this mission, Lu, and a rush of cold energy filled his body as the Wisp flew into him. The Wisps had explained that though they had limited abilities of their own, they were more effective when channeled through a conduit, such as Tails or his energy cannon. He narrowed his eyes and extended his hands toward the door, willing a black sphere of energy to grow around them. He focused, letting the energy build, then quickly released it and leapt away. The sphere of energy exploded, blasting the door open. Black smoke filled the air.
{Good luck,} Yakker said through the translator. She waved to the other Wisps, and they disappeared through the smoke, leaving just Lu, Ember, and Jade (her actual name hadn't translated) with Tails. The plan was in action.
Tails took a deep breath and stepped through the door, reaching for his energy cannon. It had been hastily fixed and messily modified to channel Wisp energy, but the lack of materials available on Little Planet and the limited time he'd had to make the modifications—he hadn't even gotten to test it before coming here—made it look more like a child's arts and crafts project than any sort of formidable weapon. He just hoped it lasted long enough.
The laboratory was unnecessarily grand, as was typical of Eggman. The ceiling soared overhead, high enough Eggman could (and likely would) easily fit one of his more massive mechs inside, and the panelling was in the typical bold red, yellow, and white. Chunks of ancient, ornately carved stone, resembling those found in the Gaia Temples back on Earth, rested against one wall, while a metal portal like the ones leading to the Wisp planets appeared to be in mid-construction nearby. Tails found Eggman easily; the doctor was standing with his back to the door, looking over a dashboard in the center of the room. He was tapping screens with one hand, while with the gauntlet on the other he directed a mechanical arm in hooking up a tangled assortment of wires and cords to the Chaos Emeralds, safely contained in a glass chamber in front of the dashboard. Next to the container lay the twisted and charred remnants of the machine that had created Nega-Sonic.
"Eggman!" Tails shouted.
The doctor whirled around. He sneered at the sight of Tails standing, alone, with only a hodgepodge energy cannon and three alien squids to defend himself. Tails was sure he looked less than impressive. But then, appearances had always been Sonic's strong suit.
"Well, well, well! If it isn't the most moronic genius around!" Eggman cackled, pressing a button on his gauntlet. The mechanical arm went limp, and Eggman disconnected the gauntlet from the console, flexing it freely. Tails raised the energy cannon. Lu growled menacingly. Eggman just laughed. "And I see you brought some new insects to crush. Annoying pests. Can't compare to the efficiency of a good machine. It makes you miss the good old days, doesn't it, Tails? Back when it was just me and my army against two color-coded rats."
"And you still lost," Tails snapped. He forced himself to keep glaring at Eggman, not letting his gaze drift to the Chaos Emeralds. He needed to keep Eggman's attention. "You talk a lot about the superiority of machines, but you still needed Sonic to make this little plan work." Tails smiled innocently. "It's almost like he's better than you, isn't it?"
For just a moment, genuine rage broke through Eggman's nonchalant mask, but it was gone just as quickly. He stalked across the room to loom over Tails. Tails took a step back, keeping the cannon raised, but they both knew he wouldn't fire the first shot. Eggman wouldn't have left himself undefended enough for that to work, anyway.
"Better than me? Please, Miles. You both fell for my trap hook, line, and sinker. I only need that blue buffoon for his… connections." Before Tails could stop him, Eggman glanced over his shoulder at the Chaos Emeralds. Behind his dark glasses, his eyes widened.
There was no time to think. Tails fired the cannon, and Ember blasted from the barrel. She ricocheted off a forcefield that sprang up around a sneering Eggman (of course), bounced off a wall, and shot straight for the console. Eggman yelled, reaching to stop it, but he was too late. The laser cut the console in half. Immediately a force field sprang up around the area where the Chaos Emeralds were held, intended to keep out whoever had destroyed the console… except Yakker and the other Wisps were already at the Chaos Emerald canister, and it was Eggman who was cut off from them.
"Clever," Eggman ground out through gritted teeth, tapping his gauntlet. A hole opened in the floor behind him. "But not clever enough. Nega-Sonic, return to base. We have a need of… pest control." A wicked grin spread on Eggman's face.
Tails growled and lunged for him, but Eggman stepped back, onto the thing rising out of the floor. Tails scrambled back as a large mech, glinting red and black, rose before him. He rolled out of the way as one of its hands swiped at him, the metal fingers shrieking as they scraped the floor. Ears ringing, Tails spun, aiming the cannon, and Lu flew into it almost the same moment as Tails pulled the trigger. A black sphere hit the mech and exploded on impact. When the smoke cleared, the main chassis of the mech had a massive dent.
"Not bad," Eggman said. "My turn."
The mech's hand retreated into its arm, only to be replaced by a large machine gun. A hail of laser fire rained down on Tails. He gasped, scrambling away a hair too slow. The lasers hit… and went right through him, striking the wall and leaving Tails wholly unscathed. Belatedly, Tails recognized the cool energy surging through him. He looked down at his hand and saw nothing. He was invisible and intangible. Thanks, Jade.
"That's cheating!" Eggman yelled, sounding genuinely irritated. The mech swung around, scanning the room. Tails held his breath, then released it as the radars pinged, returning no results. Eggman growled in frustration, though even he seemed to realize shooting up his own laboratory wouldn't be worth it.
"You can't hide forever, Tails!" Eggman shouted. "The Wisp effect will wear off eventually!" He glanced at a screen in his cockpit and grinned. "And soon my latest creation will be here. How delightful will it be for you to be torn apart by your own brother?"
Tails did his best to tune out the taunts. He took advantage of the momentary respite and crouched behind the metal ring that rested on one side of the room. He could feel Jade's energy running out already, and when it did he'd be a sitting duck. They needed a plan.
"We need to get Eggman out of here," he whispered to Ember and Lu. "We can't fight both him and Nega-Sonic at once."
Lu growled in agreement. Ember hummed thoughtfully and tapped Tails, then pointed at the metal ring, chirping determinedly. His headphones had fallen out at some point in the fight, but even without the translator, her meaning was clear.
"Okay," Tails agreed. "Signal Yakker and the others. Lu, you're with me."
Ember shot off, while Tails darted out from cover. Lu flew into the energy cannon; the weapon seemed to be less draining on the Wisps than if they used their powers themselves, allowing the same Wisp to power it repeatedly.
"Hey Eggman!" Tails shouted, firing off a bomb blast.
The mech stumbled at the explosion and whirled around, firing at the spot where Tails's voice had come from a moment before. Except Tails was already gone, ducking around the mech and to the other side of the room.
"What, your oh so perfect machines can't keep up with a few 'insects'?" Tails taunted, shooting the mech again.
Eggman growled and spun around again, riddling the floor with laser fire. He was still avoiding shooting his own equipment. Good.
Tails felt the jade energy waning. He ran across the room, firing at the mech one last time, but this explosion was weaker than the last, barely scratching the metal. Lu left the cannon with a feeble growl, exhaustion clear in the droop of his tentacles, and, at a nod from Tails, flew off to safety. Tails's form briefly flickered into view. Eggman crowed victoriously and fired. He was just a little too hasty; the lasers went right through Tails as he turned intangible for a moment more, right before the jade Wisp's energy ran out completely and she rematerialized with a weary croak.
Tails smiled at her reassuringly. "You did great," he whispered. Jade croaked again and darted away to hide and recover. Tails took a deep breath and stepped forward to stand in front of the metal ring. Just him and Eggman, now.
"There you are," Eggman said, switching the mech's machine gun (if Tails had guessed right, it needed to recharge now)out for its hand once more. "I'm going to enjoy crushing the life out of you."
The mech lunged forward with speed that seemed unnatural for its size. Tails braced himself, forcing himself not to run. Machinery hummed to life behind him. Wait for it… wait for it… wait for it… Now. Tails dashed to the side right as Ember hit the seam of the cockpit with the full force of her laser, severing it from the mech's main body. Carried by its forward momentum, the cockpit flew right into the newly opened portal. Eggman's furious scream was cut off as Yakker and the other Wisps flew out of the metal ring, shutting off the portal and leaving Eggman stuck on the other side.
Tails took a shaky breath. He smiled as Yakker bumped against him, giving him a small burst of warm energy. "That's Eggman dealt with. Now we just have to worry about—"
Nega-Sonic slammed into the room at supersonic speed. His purple eyes fell on the decapitated mech and then Tails and the Wisps, standing in front of the deactivated portal. His face twisted with cold fury. Tails scrambled away, back hitting the metal ring, and the facsimile of his brother shot across the room and grabbed him by the throat.
"You're going to pay for that," Nega-Sonic snarled, lifting Tails into the air.
Tails gagged and thrashed, desperately trying to break his grip, but it was as iron as any of Eggman's mechs. Nega-Sonic's armored claws dug into his fur and then through into skin. Tails's vision flickered. He hoped Blaze and Silver would come soon; he didn't want them to find Nega-Sonic standing over his dead body. Sonic had made a bad enough first impression on Silver as it was.
There was a sound that was half-scream, half-laser charging, and then Ember slammed into Nega-Sonic. The other Wisps joined in, throwing themselves bodily against Nega-Sonic's armor. He stumbled back, releasing Tails from his grip as he raised his arms to shield himself. Tails sat up, rubbing his throat, and watched wide-eyed as the Wisps darted at Nega-Sonic in a furious swirl of colors. The attack didn't last long; Nega-Sonic soon regained his footing and lashed out at the Wisps, his mechanized gauntlets humming. The Wisps he struck cried out, their colors fading even as Nega-Sonic's armor glowed with renewed energy. The other Wisps hurriedly grabbed their comrades and retreated out of Nega-Sonic's reach. But their ploy had worked: Nega-Sonic didn't notice until too late the violet blur shooting through the door in a flurry of flames. Blaze had caught up, Silver close behind.
"Tails!" Silver shouted as he flew into the room, his psychokinesis already tearing pieces off the abandoned mech to use as weapons. "We'll hold him off! Go!"
Tails nodded and scrambled to his feet, darting across the room to where the Chaos Emeralds were still held. Jade, exhausted though she was, darted over to join him, giving him just enough energy to phase through the forcefield. Tails shot her a grateful smile and ran to the Chaos Emerald canister. Yakker's team of Wisps had already broken the glass open and started pulling the wires off the Emeralds, and Tails quickly finished the job. He pulled the Emeralds free and set them carefully on the floor, glancing over his shoulder.
Nega-Sonic was still battling Blaze and Silver, but it didn't look like the fight would last much longer. Nega-Sonic had superior speed, moving too fast for Silver's telekinesis or even Blaze's own superspeed to keep up, and while Blaze and Silver looked exhausted, Nega-Sonic was still moving with manic energy. His armor glowed with stolen Wisp power, repelling their attacks and making his own even more deadly. Any hope Tails had had that unhooking the Chaos Emeralds would lessen Nega-Sonic's power was dashed.
"Come on," Tails whispered, looking down at the Emeralds. They lay on the floor, their colors dull. "Please! I know you can hear me. Do something! Bring him back!"
The Emeralds didn't respond.
Blaze had trained all her life to be the best she could be. She'd poured every moment she had into learning to harness the Sol Emeralds and her own pyrokinesis, to hone her gifts to a fine edge and outpace anyone who might threaten the safety of her world. But it hadn't been enough. This creation of Eggman's, this impostor of her friend, was faster than her, and with that armor he was stronger, too. Even with Blaze and Silver working together, they could still barely land a hit.
Blaze struck hard, kicking Nega-Sonic's armor and throwing him across the room. In the brief respite that gave them, she and Silver regrouped.
"We have to stop him," Silver panted. "He's a threat to all our worlds."
Blaze closed her eyes. "I know. But…" But if we kill him, we kill Black. If we kill him, we kill Sonic.
She could have brought the Sol Emeralds, used their power to end this once and for all. But she did not have the experience to wield that power with finesse, to immobilize and not destroy. She'd trained all her life to control her powers, but it hadn't been enough. She and Silver together should be enough to stop Nega-Sonic, armor or no armor. But not without hurting him. Him, who was, at least in part, their friend.
Eggman was clever. He'd created the ultimate weapon, taking advantage of their greatest weakness. There was no victory to be found in this fight.
In her brief moment of distraction, Nega-Sonic shot across the room and seized Blaze. She growled, fighting his gauntleted grip. Her flames flickered around her bright and furious, but still she held back, because this was— this had been—
Nega-Sonic slammed Blaze into the wall, then wheeled and grabbed Silver, barely seeming to notice the metal thrown telekinetically at him. He lifted Silver into the air and threw him across the room. Silver slammed into the wall with a heavy thunk, then slumped to the ground and didn't move. The glow of his markings flickered out.
Blaze stumbled to her feet, pain stabbing through her body. Blood dripped into her eye from a cut she couldn't remember getting. Nega-Sonic stalked over to her almost lazily. He knocked aside her weak attempts at defense with ease and grabbed her by the throat with metal-coated claws, throwing her at the wall like a toddler throwing a doll. Blaze fell to the floor, body pounding in agony and vision dancing with black spots.
"Stay down," Nega-Sonic sneered. He turned to face where Tails and the Chaos Emeralds waited across the room.
Blaze watched until her vision gave out altogether, her mind dimming into hazy blackness. She'd fought as long as she could. It was up to Tails now.