(Ugh, every time I think I have time to type, I get distracted by something or I'm told to do something else! I'VE HAD ENOUGH.

Sonic Boom…was some of the most fun I've ever had! Luckily, on the ride to St. Louis, I had some time to think over the next three chapters or so and (mostly) moved past my writer's block. Oh, and if you looked at my profile, I put some quotes from the English version of a cutscene from Sonic Lost World, the new game coming out. :3

Here's a little update you might want to read. DON'T SKIP AHEAD! Okay, good. At the same time of writing this, I am writing my new story, Sonic '06 Bloopers, so hopefully this'll explain my absence in posting chapters for this story. I will post the rest of Sonic'06 Bloopers after I finish In the Dark. However, I will be writing that beforehand and in between chapters of this, so they may come later than usual. Patience, everyone, it will be posted, but with school starting soon the chapters of both stories may come few and far between. The first chapter of Sonic '06 Bloopers has already been posted, and I'm posting this note in both stories as well. Check it out if you like humorous, parody stories!

Anyway…

Last time on In the Dark…

After knowledge of a rescue plan reached Dark's ears, Sally, Amy, and Shadow were sent into the distant future instead of the past. The trio escaped a volcano, were attacked by a fire monster known as Iblis, and were saved and taken in by some new friends from the future; a gray hedgehog named Silver and a purple cat named Blaze. Their new accomplices explained that Dark had released two demigods into the future; Iblis and Mephiles, to capture the three of them. Somehow, all time portals leading out of the future have been closed as well. Trapped in the ruins of the world they once knew, Shadow, Amy, and Sally must find a way out of this timeline and back to the past, so they can prevent Dark from ruining the future and destroying everything in existence.)

For several hours, we contemplated our next move. Or rather, Shadow did while Amy and I took time to get to know our new friends. Eventually we fell into an awkward silence and I thought up a question that might put us on the right track to escaping the future.

"So, is there something or someone who can control the time portals to open and close them?" I asked.

Silver thought for a moment, and then snapped his fingers in realization. "Yeah! Mephiles is in possession of a gem called a Dark Emerald. It's related to the Chaos Emeralds, but controls time."

"So if we find this Mephiles guy and take the Dark Emerald, we should be able to open the portals, right?" I thought aloud.

"That sounds about right," Blaze confirmed. "But it'll be extremely dangerous. You have no idea what he's capable of."

"Please," I said. "He can't be worse than Dark if he's working for him, can he?"

"You'll just have to see for yourself," Silver said, standing. "C'mon, we can lead you to his home."

The rest of us stood and followed Silver. Silver and Blaze led us outside of the building that the safe house was hidden in.

(Ironically, I'm listening to Dreams of an Absolution, Silver's theme song. X3 Well, now it's Area – Sweet Mountain…still a Sonic song.)

As we walked through the city, we were attacked by strange worm-like things with claws for mouths seeming to be made of molten rock and fire. They popped out of the ground and tried shooting fireballs at us, and fire-breathing oversized lizard-dog creatures and fire birds ambushed us. Silver and Blaze, however, took care of these fire creatures with ease.

"Iblis's creations," Silver briefly explained after the first attack. I nodded in understanding.

We continued through the vast city for several hours. My feet were killing me, and the soles of my shoes were melting and getting thin from walking on hot ground.

"We'll be there within another half an hour," Silver announced. I sighed with relief.

Little did we realize that one of our number had strayed away…

(So the point of view in this chapter is going to jump around a little bit…Sorry about that, nothing I could think of to fix it.)

Amy looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings, wandering around like a lost puppy.

"I thought I saw some place familiar, but now I think I'm lost…" she murmured to herself. She rounded a corner and saw, standing in the middle of the street, was Shadow, but he was alone.

"Shadow!" Amy cried, and ran to him. "Do you know where the others a—" She stopped, realizing several things at once. One, this wasn't Shadow. The hedgehog looked exactly like her friend, but his fur seemed more…muted. He looked at her with acid green eyes, and she noticed that he had no mouth. The final thing she realized with a shock was that something hot was breathing down her neck. She went rigid with fear, and slowly turned her head to see who was behind her.

A fiery monster, about twice the size of Amy herself, stood behind her, seeming to be coming out of the ground. It seemed to be made out of molten rock, and had three eyes. Its arms were so long they almost dragged on the ground, and one was reaching out towards her.

"Take her to Dark," the strange hedgehog said in a deep voice, sounding slightly like Shadow. Amy had just enough time to scream before the fire creature grabbed onto her wrist, burning her skin.

From several blocks away, Silver, Blaze, the real Shadow, and I heard the scream. It was only then did I realize Amy wasn't with us, and all four of us bolted toward the sound, Shadow and Blaze leading. We soon reached the street and saw that Amy was being held by the fire creature not unlike the ones that attacked us, and the hedgehog that looked remarkably like Shadow standing nearby. We were just in time to see the fire being disappear in a sudden flame – and Amy disappearing with him.

"That was Iblis…" Blaze murmured upon deaf ears.

"AMY!" I cried, and tried to charge at the spot where Amy had been, but Silver grabbed my arms and held me back.

"Stop, Sally!" Silver cried. "It's no use, she's gone." (I'm going to be using that meme a lot…)

"Who are you, imposture?" Shadow snapped at the hedgehog.

"I am Mephiles the Dark," said the stranger. "And if you want your friend back, you will hand over your Chaos Emeralds to me, or I will personally kill her. You have one week. You know where to find me." On that note, he took out a deep purple Chaos Emerald and disappeared in an orb of indigo light.

Silver released me, and I fell to my knees, stunned beyond belief. Tails is dead, Sonic is corrupted, and Amy is all I have left, but now even that has been taken from me. I may have Shadow, I barely know Silver and Blaze but they seem to be on my side, but it felt like I was alone in my fight against Dark.

Silver looked up at the dark sky. "It's getting late. We should head back."

Numbly, I got to my feet and followed the three of them back to base. Our numbers keep falling, and I'm fighting a losing battle. Who would be next, and who would be the last one standing?

Hours later, I lay awake on a mattress with nothing but a sheet covering me. I couldn't get any of my lost friends off my mind. Silver was keeping watch outside the building, and the only sound in the room was Blaze's steady breathing and the soft drip of water from a sink in another room, keeping time for me. Shadow was lying on the same mattress I was, since it was the only makeshift bed Silver and Blaze happened to have. However, I could tell he wasn't sleeping. Upon glancing at him out of the corner of my eye, I saw him lying on his back with his hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling. He looked an awful lot like Sonic when he was thinking, though Shadow would kill me if I voiced that thought. After a few hours of no rest, I felt the mattress move as Shadow got up. I opened one eye to watch him leave the room. Once I was sure he was a safe distance away, I quietly followed him up the staircase. He went outside, where Silver was, leaving the front door slightly ajar. I leaned against the wall and listened.

"Can't sleep?" I heard Silver say.

"Yeah," Shadow replied. "There's a lot on my mind."

"Like what?" Silver asked.

He didn't answer directly. He hesitated before asking, "Who did you say he was a shadow of?"

"Who?"

"Mephiles."

Silver was the one who hesitated this time. "My father. Why?"

"I just thought it was weird how he looked exactly like me. What was your father's name?"

This time, it took a good half a minute for Silver to answer. "…Shadow the Hedgehog."

There was a long silence, and I realized what they were saying.

Shadow broke the silence. "Would that be even possible…?"

"Of course it is," Silver replied. "I kind of suspected it when I first heard your name. Actually, I thought you were him…from this timeline, I mean. He left when I was very young to find the cause of all this wreckage. I haven't seen him in years."

Shadow, once again, hesitated. "Who was your mother?"

"I don't know. She died when I was still a child. You never – I was never told her name, and I don't remember what she looked like."

I knew I had heard too much. I dashed downstairs and back to the bed. Immediately, new thoughts filled my mind, and one stood out above all else.

Shadow is Silver's future father.

Amy appeared with Iblis in a dark room lit by torches. The room had a bridge that, upon a closer look, seemed to be made out of bones. The bone bridge had several different paths that branched out in different directions, leading to wrought iron doors along the walls. The bridge rose only a few inches above a deep pool of crimson blood, and the iron railing along the sides had Mobian heads speared on its spikes. The blood pool bubbled in certain areas, and sometimes a decomposing hand would reach up onto the path and sink back down. Skulls lined the paths with candles burning inside them. Amy shuddered and felt a cold shiver run down her spine.

The main bridge led to an alter with two thrones on top of it; one made out of flesh and meet, the other made out of skulls. Sitting in these thrones were Dark and Sonic Exe.

"Fresh meet," Sonic Exe hissed when he saw Amy. "Is she the next to be executed?" He raised his hand, prepared to snap his fingers. Amy gulped.

"Patience, my friend," Dark replied in a lazy voice. "All in good time." He addressed the demigod, Iblis. "You've done well…so far. Where are the others?"

Iblis spoke in a voice that sounded like stones being grated together. "We managed to capture one, and will manage to get the Chaos Emeralds you requested, Master. But to do that we had to leave the rest."

"Good," Dark replied, a grin spreading across his face. "Store this one in Cell 2BX." He shifted his gaze to Amy, and another shiver ran through her body. "We'll deal with you later."

Iblis clasped onto her already burned wrist and started to drag her down one of the paths.

"You can't succeed!" Amy shouted, struggling. "Sonic, I know you're in there, don't let him do this to us! We're your friends, come back and help us!" Then the heavy iron door slammed shut behind her.

Dark glared after her, then growled and put his head in his hand.

"Are you alright, fellow ruler?" Sonic Exe asked.

Dark didn't open his eyes. "He's getting stronger," he replied. "But he won't be strong enough without help. I suggest we get rid of his lifeline as soon as possible."

"But we can't," Sonic Exe pointed out. "They have two of our Emeralds; they're the only ones preventing us from rising to full power."

Dark opened his eyes, which were glowing fiercely. "Then we'll have to multitask. We'll destroy them and take what's ours…when the time comes."

(FINALLY. I'm done with this chapter! But I still have to proofread… *shot*

The whole "Shadow being Silver's father" thing is Skye's idea. She believes that to be true, and she pointed out some strong evidence that supports it. So I don't know what to think.

That's all for now. Hope you all enjoyed, and sorry for the late post!)

~SonicTheHedgehog-Nerd