Chapter 5: A Sinister Future

As soon as Tails' GPS was fixed, they set off to search for the emeralds. Sonic ran through the ruins, shocked at what he saw.

Indigo Plateau wasn't just in ruins. It was practically destroyed. The tower that once stood as the headquarters for all the world's Pokemon trainers, especially the strongest of the strong, had fallen and now covered the whole of Route 23. As Sonic rushed through, he saw fire burning everywhere.

"The whole place is on fire!" he exclaimed. "But how? Was this place recently destroyed?"

Soon enough, he came to a corridor that looked like it was once part of the tower's interior. "Hm...I wonder if there are any Chaos Emeralds around here." With that, he strode through, but he stopped when he heard voices.

"What happened?"

"The world began falling apart about two-hundred years ago. After the deaths of a certain Dr. Ivo 'Eggman' Robotnik and Misty of Cerulean City, the one responsible for all this took the liberty to disrupt the harmony of nature."

Sonic ventured to look in, though he remained hidden. "But why would they do that?" His eyes widened when he saw the white hedgehog who had spoken. It's him!

"It makes no matter," his companion, a hidden figure, said. Sonic looked intently at this figure. Something about him seemed familiar...yet he knew he'd never seen him before. It didn't help that this stranger was shrouded in a dark cloak. Yet his voice...his mannerisms...they all seemed to line up with those of someone else...but who?!

"Close your eyes, and I will take you to the past." Then, in a sudden but slow transition, they disappeared.

"Who was that guy?" Sonic wondered aloud, now coming into the open since no one was there to catch him. Shortly after, Tails and Knuckles walked in behind him.

"Get a load of this place," Knuckles grumbled. "How did all this happen?"

"Maybe this database will tell us," Tails suggested, pointing at the computer in front of them. He began doing some research, his eyes widening. "Oh, man."

"What?" Sonic asked.

"According to this database, the world turned to ash when Eggman's ship crashed into Fire Island of the Shamouti Isles, angering the legendary Fire Bird Moltres and setting off a massive disruption in the balance of power. In this crash, Eggman was killed, along with Misty."

"Misty?!" Sonic exclaimed in fright. "Oh, no. When did this happen in our time?"

Tails gulped. "It's only a day or two after the point when we got caught in that trap of Eggman's."

"Wait a minute," Knuckles butted in, "Couldn't they have used the Silver Wing to empower the Guardian of the Seas? I've heard that he has the power to restore the balance of power."

"The Silver Wing went down with Misty, and was never found," Tails continued. "Nothing could be done."

"Then it's clear what we have to do," Sonic nodded. "We need to get back to the present and save Misty from Eggman. If he takes her down with him, then there's no hope for the future."

Tails and Knuckles nodded, and the threesome set out.

"They're late," Jessie grumbled.

"Probably doing something good," James agreed.

"I can't take it anymore!" Meowth snapped. "I want to get back to our time, and I want to do it now!"

"Shut it, Meowth," Shadow growled. "We're working as fast as we can. Sonic and the rest of them must have found something, or they got held up. Either way, I'm sure they're on their way."

"And now we're here," the familiar voice of Sonic grinned. Team Rocket sighed loudly in relief. "What? Kept ya waiting?"

"For hours," Jessie sighed.

"Since when did you go so slow?" James grumbled.

"The fastest thing alive, going slow?" Shadow growled again. "Give me a break." He turned to Sonic. "Any luck?"

"Not much," he shrugged. "We did find some interesting things, like a mysterious person in a cloak that I swear I've never –"

"Wait, what?" Shadow perked, suddenly interested. "A man in a cloak?"

"Yeah. He was talking to someone I ran into in the present: a white hedgehog, to be precise."

Shadow clenched his fists, heart thumping. "He's still here, is he?"

"Is there something you're not telling us?" Knuckles wondered aloud.

Shadow ignored him. "We have to keep moving," he beckoned, holding out his hand. A green gem was glowing in his palm.

Tails gasped. "A Chaos Emerald! You found one!"

"Yes," Shadow nodded. "I'll use it as radar to find another one, and then we'll be out of here."

"All right," Sonic nodded. "Where to?"

Shadow closed his eyes a moment, then looked Sonic in the eye. "Head to Mt. Silver. The emerald should be somewhere around there."

"You coming, too?"

"Not yet. I have some unfinished business over here. We'll catch up with you later."

"What are we waiting for, that stupid loading screen?" Meowth grumbled.

"All right, then," Sonic turned to head off. "Don't be late."

"Same to you."

With that, he took off.

"I don't remember Mt. Silver looking like this," Sonic mused as he dashed through the barren Silver Plains.

"What do you mean?" Tails asked.

"We've never been here before," Knuckles added.

"I know," Sonic affirmed, "but Baseball Head told me a lot about this place and how it was where he competed in a conference of sorts. He was gonna take Bandanas here for their anniversary, but something happened."

"What?" Knuckles asked.

"Some blizzards surrounded this place and drove everyone away."

There was silence for a moment as the blue blur continued to run, thoughts running through each of their heads.

"Do you think it was premeditated?" Knuckles suggested, breaking the silence.

"It sounds awfully suspicious," Tails agreed.

"But who could have such power as to create an artificial blizzard?" Knuckles wondered.

"Eggman?" Tails suggested.

"Hm," Sonic shrugged. "I guess we'll have to find out when we get back to our own time."

The rest of the run across the Silver Plains was generally quiet, and soon the inseparable trio found themselves inside Mt. Silver. Torches lit the walls surrounding them.

"Well this is odd," Tails mused on observing this.

"What? That it's like a castle?" Sonic smirked.

"No," Tails replied. "This is a mountain in the wild, right? Yet these torches have clearly been intentionally set up."

Sonic's eyes widened. "You're right," he breathed, remembering another room he walked about a year ago that shared a similar characteristic. "Then that means…"

"Are we being watched?" Knuckles wondered.

"I don't know," Sonic shook his head, "but I'm not gonna take my chances. Let's get moving and find that Chaos Emerald."

The other two agreed and continued on until they came to a large wall. "I got this," Knuckles told them, punching his fists into the wall and climbing up with one of his signature abilities. Then he tossed a conveniently placed rope down to them, which they used to ascend, and they pressed onwards. They continued going on like this until they came to the summit. They looked around, but the view around them was strangely obscured.

"Does anyone else have an eerie feeling?" Sonic asked obnoxiously aloud.

"Sh!" Tails hissed, covering his mouth. "I don't like the feel of this place."

"Yeah, me neither," Knuckles agreed.

"Then it's not just me."

The three of them turned and saw Shadow and Team Rocket standing beside them. "There's something sinister at work here. I don't know what it is, but we need to be careful."

They nodded and continued onwards together. "So, what kept ya?" Sonic asked in curiosity.

"None of your business," Shadow retorted. "Let's just get the Chaos Emerald and get out of here."

"Eureka!" Meowth cheered. "There it is!"

Everyone looked up and smiled. "It's about time we found you," Jessie eyes the emerald, greedily reaching for it. "Now we can get back home."

"Don't touch it!" Shadow shouted, but he had hardly spoken when the emerald glowed violently bright, throwing Jessie back while a dark, sinister mass shot out of the emerald and into the sky, a frightful shrieking sound surrounding them. Then all was still, leaving the group stunned.

"What was that?" Tails wondered aloud.

"I don't know," Shadow mused, "but the sinister feeling has faded. Let's get out of here."

Shadow had hardly finished his statement when the shriek of a bird caused them all to freeze in place. The air around them started to heat up as the sound of wings pounding the air became louder and louder and all the more menacing. Finally, Sonic snapped.

"Get down!" he shouted. Everyone ducked, just as a searing wave of heat flew straight over them. When they looked up, they saw a fiery bird-like creature majestically flying over them, glaring at them with a menacing glare.

"What is that?!" Tails exclaimed in fright.

"Moltres," Shadow growled, getting into a battle position.

GYAOO!