Chapter 59: Festival

By the time Shawn and Rouge made it to the G. U. N. rendezvous point at Kingdom Valley, which was where Soleanna's abandoned castle stood, it was sunset.

"Sure seems like an odd place for a rendezvous point," Shawn remarked as he cautiously stepped into the main courtyard with Rouge right behind him. "This used to be where the duke resided, right?"

"Yeah, although he died ten years ago due to a sudden 'accident' that occurred here," Rouge responded.

"What kind of accident?" Shawn asked.

"Had something to do with an experiment to test a new source of energy, and if I remember my research correctly the project's name was—

"Project Solaris."

Shawn and Rouge looked behind them and saw someone who looked like Shawn but with gray highlights, green eyes, and wearing a long black trench-coat.

"Who are you and why do you look like me?" Shawn asked.

"Shadow, don't you recognize me?" the person said, taking off his trench-coat to reveal an identical black fur-lined jacket and pants that matched Shawn's. "I'm Mephiles the Dark."

Immediately, Rouge Baxter changed into Rouge the Bat and flew upward while Shawn warped and reappeared as Shadow where he kicked Mephiles in the back of the head which sent him flying into a nearby pillar.

While Mephiles was recovering, Shadow warped over to him and picked him up by the collar of his jacket. "I thought you died when the world ended."

In response, Mephiles laughed quietly underneath the black scarf that covered the bottom-half of his face. "A being like myself never dies so easily. Once my host Metal Sonic was destroyed, I merely reverted back to the primordial substance I'm made from and waited for another vessel to occupy."

"Like the Scepter of Darkness?" Shadow said as he tightened his grip on Mephiles' neck.

"As much as I hate that prison of a scepter, I knew you would eventually come along and seal me away, which is exactly what you did ten years ago, so I could steal your new form and be released once more in the present time."

"What is he talking about?" Rouge said as she landed behind Shadow. "You were never here ten years ago. Right, Shadow?"

"No, he was not, but he will be."

Mephiles then turned into a dark purple substance which slipped out of Shadow's hands and sank into the ground. While Shadow and Rouge looked around for him, Mephiles appeared again a few feet from them. But before Shadow and Rouge could make a move, Mephiles engulfed them in a glowing purple energy orb.

"I suppose I must reward you two for setting me free again," Mephiles said as he took the Purple Chaos Emerald out of his trench-coat pocket and concentrated on it. "It's been so long since I've had a physical form that I've almost forgotten how wonderful it feels like."

"Where are you sending us?" Shadow asked irritably as he and Rouge started to vanish. "It had better not be the future."

"Aww," Mephiles said looking up from the Chaos Emerald. "Now you've ruined the surprise."

Before Shadow could respond, he and Rouge disappeared completely as the purple orb swallowed them up.

###

While the sun had gone down outside, Sonny Miles and Chuck were relaxing in their hotel suite when a sudden series of rapid knocks came from the door. Reluctantly, Sonny got up and answered. It turned out to be Amelia, and she was wearing a pink satin dress that was a little nicer than the one she normally wore.

"Hey, Amelia," Sonny said blushing slightly. "You look, uh, nicer than usual."

"Aw, thanks," Amelia said as she twirled around for a moment. "There's a festival that's going on tonight, and I was wondering if you would like to come."

"Are the other girls going?" Sonny asked.

"Yeah, so you should bring your friends too." Amelia gave Sonny a small peck on the cheek and skipped down the hallway. "See you in the lobby!"

Sonny rubbed the part of his cheek where Amelia kissed him as he closed the door.

"What was that all about?" Chuck asked as he lay on the couch with his eyes closed.

"Oh, Amelia just invited us to come with the girls to a festival tonight," Sonny replied sheepishly.

"Why do you sound embarrassed?" Miles said looking up from a book he was reading. "Did she kiss you before leaving?"

"Lay off, Miles!" Sonny exclaimed.

Miles chuckled in response. "So I take it from your reaction that she did."

"So how is your relationship going?" Chuck said as he got up from the couch. "I know for a while you guys weren't sure if your love was genuine or not."

"Oh, we got over that months ago," Sonny replied. "She's pretty sure it's genuine because of how she reacted whenever I was in danger or possibly dead. I agree with her for the most part, but there's a part of me that's a little doubtful."

"But that could just be Sonic's indifference toward Amy that you're feeling," Miles suggested. "I mean, considering how long we've had these spirits inhabiting our bodies for, I wouldn't be surprised if some of their personality traits have started to wear out on us."

"Well, I know I'm definitely more short-tempered than I used to be," Chuck interjected. "Now are we going to that festival or not?"

"Of course, Chuck, wouldn't want to disappoint Amelia of all people," Sonny said with slight irritation as he dashed into the bathroom before Miles and Chuck could get to it first.

###

In the lobby, Sonny Miles and Chuck found Amelia chatting with Maria, Shahra, and Merlina who were wearing nice dresses as well.

"Where's Elise?" Sonny asked as he approached the girls.

"She left to take care of a few things, but said she'd be at the festival later," Merlina answered looking down at her cellphone. Her dress was magenta like the top she wore earlier, with puffed-up sleeves and a corset-like front. "That's what her text message said, anyway."

"I hope she doesn't take too long," Maria said, wearing a short-sleeved version of the dress she wore when Sonny first saw her in the club classroom. "The parade is about to start."

"Then we should get going so we don't miss it," Shahra exclaimed as she straightened out the light-purple sleeveless sundress she was wearing.

The others nodded and quickly made their way out of the hotel, across the plaza, and up to the main canal which was crowded with hundreds of people that Sonny didn't recall seeing earlier that day. As they tried to squeeze towards the front, loud cheers from the crowd erupted as the sky suddenly became lit with fireworks that exploded nearby. Then from the side of the canal that connected to the piers, a white ship slowly paddled upward with several people onboard. While some were dancing and others standing, there was one lone figure that stood on the bow of the ship. However due to the immense crowds, Sonny and the others could barely see who it was.

"Hey, Chuck!" Sonny shouted over the cheering crowds of people. "Since you're the tallest of us, can you see anything?"

"Uh, guys, you're not going to believe this," Chuck said with slight hesitation. "But Elise is standing on that ship!"

"What?!" Sonny jumped on top of Chuck's shoulders, which made Chuck flinch slightly, and looked at the white boat as it passed by.

To his shock, the figure standing at the bow of the ship was Elise. She was wearing a short white dress with gold embroidery, orange tights, and red heeled slippers. There were also two pairs of matching white feathers pinned to the sides of her head which glowed slightly as she turned to the cheering crowds on both sides and smiled while waving.

"What the heck is she doing on that ship?" Sonny asked out loud as he got off Chuck's shoulders.

"She's the princess of Soleanna," Miles answered, which made Sonny, Chuck, Amelia and the girls look at him with surprise. "I was going to tell you guys earlier, but Amelia cut me off and then I forgot about it till now."

"Oh, so it's my fault that you didn't reveal a crucial bit of information that would've been nice to know before we got here," Amelia snapped.

"Well, I don't think Elise would've wanted me to tell you, anyway," Miles said defensively.

"But why would she keep this a secret from us?" Shahra wondered. "We're her best friends."

"My guess is that she didn't want to say anything out of fear that everyone at school would ostracize her, including us," Merlina said firmly.

"She wanted to be treated like a normal girl, not a princess from some foreign country," Maria added.

"So where's her dad?" Sonny asked. "I didn't see him on the boat with her."

"Hmm, that does seem odd," Merlina replied. "And it's only know that I realize in all the time I've known her, Elise hardly ever spoke about her father."

"You're right," Shahra said. "Every time I asked her, she would go silent and immediately talk about something else."

"Maybe she has an estranged relationship with her dad," Maria suggested.

"Actually," Miles said, causing everyone to focus on him. "Elise's dad is—

A series of explosions suddenly occurred along the buildings closest to the canal, causing the crowds to scatter and run in opposite directions. Unfortunately, they were soon cornered by a bunch of ten-foot tall robots with sleek white arms and legs that appeared from above and pointed their guns at the crowds along the canal. Meanwhile, a familiar circular floating device came down from the skies and drifted toward an altar at the center of the canal where Elise was standing.

"Eggman!" Sonny exclaimed. "What's he doing here?"

"Keep your voice down, Sonny!" Miles hissed. "We can't let his robots know we're here."

"So what are we supposed to do? Stand around? No way!"

Before Miles could stop him, Sonny dashed through the closing crowd, past the robots, and onto the altar where Elise was cornered by Eggman's robots. After he transformed into Sonic along the way, he demolished every single one of Eggman's robots in only a matter of seconds. Elise was too shocked to ask questions as Sonic picked her up and ran. Eggman then ordered his robots to attack while launching missiles from his own Egg Mobile. Fortunately, none of the missiles hit either Sonic or Elise as they found themselves running through the backstreets of New City.

"Are you…The Blue Blur?" Elise asked after a period of silence.

"That's what the military likes to call me," Sonic answered casually. "But you can call me Sonic the Hedgehog."

Just as Elise was about to speak, more of Eggman's new robots showed up and blocked Sonic's path. He quickly put her down and ran to deal with the robots. But by the time he finished, Sonic heard a scream and saw Elise being carried off by Eggman.

"If you thought you could run away from me, Sonic, you're wrong!" Eggman declared. "Now I shall take the girl with the Chaos Emerald and be on my way."

"If it's the Chaos Emerald you want, then you can have it!" Sonic shouted. "But let the princess go!"

"Oh, no, I'm not giving her up," Eggman retorted. "She's more valuable to my plans than you think."

"Ugh, Sonic," Elise said as she struggled against the two robotic arms that held her captive. Then from her dress-pocket, she pulled out the Blue Chaos Emerald. "If I give you the Emerald, will you promise to take it and save my friends?"

"Of course, Princess," Sonic answered. "And I promise I'll save you as soon as I can."

"Fine," Elise responded, tossing the Blue Chaos Emerald in Sonic's direction. "Then I'll be waiting!"

As soon as Sonic caught the Chaos Emerald, Eggman grumbled to himself and flew off in the Egg Mobile up to the Egg Carrier which was hovering above the city. Once he was inside, the Egg Carrier took off in the direction of the jungle and the valleys beyond that. While Sonic held the Chaos Emerald tightly, Silva saw him go from the second-floor of a viewing tower that overlooked the city near the main canal.

"That fat man in the strange vehicle kept calling that guy with the blue hair 'Sonic,' which means he's the Iblis Trigger that Mephiles was talking about," Silva said to himself. "Now all I've got to do is follow him and—

"Hey! What're you doing up here?"

Silva turned saw a girl with short pink hair and green eyes wearing a pink satin dress standing behind him.

"I was, uh," Silva said as he looked back and saw Sonic leave. After a brief sigh, Silva turned back to the girl and said, "Looking for someone."

"That's funny, because I was just looking for someone too," the girl said cheerfully and looked in the direction Silva was looking at. "Was that person just here?"

"Yeah, kind of," Silva replied.

"Oh, I'm sorry if I interrupted you," the girl said with guilt. Then she took Silva's hands and said, "Why don't we look together?"

"What?' Silva's eyes widened.

"Two heads are better than one, right?" the girl said confidently. "I'll help you find your person, and you could help me find mine."

"Um, sure," Silva said after a brief hesitation. "I guess I could use some help."

"Great!" the girl said with an excited smile. "What's your name? Mine is Amelia Rosen."

"Silva. Silva Hedgeworth."

Satisfied, the girl who was apparently named Amelia dragged Silva by the hand down the viewing tower and toward the dispersing crowds of people near the main canal.

To be continued…