Sorry that this story-arc is taking longer to resolve than my other story-arcs, but it's mostly because the original game's story is ridiculously complicated and I'm trying to keep it down to the basics. But even the basic elements are complicated, so bear with me as I try to wrap things up within the next few chapters before moving onto the next story-arc.

Chapter 66: Future

After stepping through the white vortex a second time, Silva found himself standing in one of New City's main plazas with Blake standing in front of him.

Blake blinked a few times before asking, "Where on Mobius did you come from?"

"You're not going to believe this," Silva said, shaking his head wearily. "But I just got back from the past."

"No way," Blake said dismissively.

"I'm serious, Blake," Silva responded. "It would take too long to explain, but I found out that Sonic's not the Iblis Trigger."

"So Mephiles was wrong?"

"He deliberately tricked us from the start, hoping we would kill Sonic so that Iblis could be released from Elise and—

"You mean the Princess?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Sonic brought her back to the New City palace yesterday."

"Are you saying I've been gone for an entire day?"

"Pretty much."

Then just before Silva could respond, a black shadow blocked out the sun. Silva and Blake looked up, and saw a large red and yellow ship flying above the city. A few civilians screamed when they saw the ship, while the rest ran into nearby buildings for shelter.

"That's the same ship Eggman took Elise into when he kidnapped her the first night we got here," Silva said. "He's probably heading for the palace."

Blake followed the ship's path and took off in its direction. "Then we should get to Elise before he does."

"Right, but we're not going to kill her," Silva said as he followed Blake's lead.

"Because it will release Iblis?"

"Yeah, and we can't have that happen at any cost."

###

"People of Soleanna," Eggman's voice bellowed over the speakers attached to the Egg Carrier. "If your beloved princess does not give herself up this instant, then I shall burn New City to the ground!"

"That's the same threat he used on us," Chuck said as he and the others watched the Egg Carrier fly over the hotel.

"I guess Eggman's running out of ideas," Miles said sarcastically.

"Well we can't just stand here and let him take Elise," Sonny said. "We've got to stop him."

"But Sonny, you just got back," Amelia said, grabbing Sonny's arm. "And why do you seem to care more about Elise than me?"

"It's not that I care about her more than you," Sonny answered, looking down at Amelia. "She's in danger and I feel obliged to help her."

"I understand that, yet I have this feeling you might die for real if you go through with this."

Sonny hesitated, and then he said, "You're always worried I'm going to die whenever I do something reckless to save the world."

"I know, but this is different."

"I'll be fine, Amelia. Trust me."

Amelia sighed in response. "Well, if you must go, then take this."

From her dress-pocket, Amelia pulled out the Blue Chaos Emerald and gave it to Sonny.

"Where did you get this?" Sonny asked, recognizing it as the same one he gave to Dr. Eggman at White Acropolis.

"I stole it while I was on Dr. Eggman's ship," Amelia answered giddily.

"Glad you found it," Sonny said as he kissed Amelia on the forehead. "I'll see you later."

Then Sonny took off while Amelia waved him goodbye with a sad look on her face. Miles and Chuck watched Sonny disappear before they followed Amelia back into the hotel lobby where they saw Maria, Shahra, and Merlina standing with their suitcases in hand.

"Where do you think you're going?" Amelia asked irritably.

"We're going back home," Merlina answered. "It's no longer safe for us here."

"But what about Elise?" Miles asked. "Don't you guys care about what might happen to her?"

"We tried to see her yesterday when she came back, but the guards wouldn't let us into the palace," Shahra said frowning. "So Merlina assumed that Elise has cut us off."

"Isn't that a little presumptuous?" Amelia said folding her arms.

"That's what I said," Maria piped. "But Merlina—

"Stop making me look like the bad guy!" Merlina snapped. "If you want to stay here and possibly get killed, fine, but I'm still going."

Merlina then took her suitcase from the pile and was about to walk out the door when a Soleanna guard blocked her path.

"Excuse me," Merlina said trying to sidestep the guard, but he got in the way.

"No one is to leave this hotel till further notice," the guard said.

"Why not?" Merlina asked.

"The Princess of Soleanna has ordered all civilians and tourists to stay indoors for safety reasons while she is in the process of negotiating with Dr. Robotnik's demands."

Merlina's eyes widened and then she scuffed and walked back to the others.

"What did the guard say?" Shahra asked. "Can we leave?"

Merlina shook her head. "No, it seems our princess got the bright idea to have everyone wait inside while she tries to talk to Robotnik."

"That's very brave of her," Maria said solemnly. "For a Princess, I mean."

"Yes, but it means that she'll either wind up as Dr. Robotnik's hostage, or possibly get killed if she refuses."

After that, everyone went silently back to their rooms.

###

"Hey," Rouge Baxter said once Shawn had emerged from the white vortex that appeared in the alleyway she was standing in. "I take it you time-traveled again."

"How long have I been gone?" Shawn asked as he stood up from his crouched position while the vortex closed behind him.

"About twenty-four hours," Rouge answered. "Where did you go?"

"To the past. I learned what I needed to know about Project Solaris and how to defeat Mephiles."

"Well, that's good because Omega's been tracking him for quite a while."

"Did Omega tell you how he ended up the future?"

"He told me all about it after I failed to get in contact with G. U. N. yesterday."

"Was your transmitter broken?"

"No, we think Dr. Eggman might be jamming communications between Soleanna and the outside world."

"So what did Omega say?"

"He said Mephiles broke into a G. U. N. facility a few miles south of White Acropolis, killed one guard for his trench-coat and scarf, and was caught stealing a Chaos Emerald. But before Omega could apprehend him, Mephiles transported him and an experimental containment device with a Shadow Android inside it to the future where he was immediately shut down by Mephiles."

"Then that means what Mephiles predicted about me might actually happen if we don't stop him first," Shawn said as he concentrated on the Red Chaos Emerald once more. "Where is Omega now?"

"At the Wave Ocean inlet," Rouge said. Then she heard ringing coming from her transmitter bracelet and answered it. "Hello? Hey. Yes, Shawn's here. You did what? Where did he go? Okay. We'll be right there."

After Rouge hung up, Shawn asked. "Was that Omega?"

"Yeah," Rouge answered, sounding concerned. "He encountered Mephiles and tried to subdue him, but he got away."

"Does he have a sense of where Mephiles might've gone?"

"Omega's sensors seem to be picking up a faint signal to the northwest of here, which would take us right into the Dusty Desert ruins."

"How do you know that?"

"I looked at some maps of Soleanna while you were gone."

"Then we should get going." Shawn walked past Rouge but was halted by Rouge's hand holding his.

"Remember this, Shawn," Rouge said quietly. "Even if the world turns against you, I will always be by your side."

Shawn looked back at Rouge and nodded as he squeezed her hand tightly. "Thanks."

###

Sonic pursued the Egg Carrier relentlessly as it flew just in front of him. He passed through the jungle north of New City, Kingdom Valley, and had just gotten through an abandoned castle when he saw the Egg Carrier's engines suddenly catch fire and then the ship started slowly descended behind a large cliff on the other side of a lake that lay north of the castle. A faint but audible booming noise soon followed, which made Sonic's eyes widen as his knees suddenly gave way.

"Not again," Sonic muttered. "I was given another chance to save Elise, and I blew it."

"There's no point in beating yourself up now, Sonic," Sonny's apparition said. "We tried our best."

"But our best wasn't good enough," Sonic said as he took the Blue Chaos Emerald from his trouser-pocket. "If only we had two Chaos Emeralds."

"It's not too late!"

Sonic turned around and saw Silva standing behind him while a purple-haired girl stood nearby.

"How long have you been following me?" Sonic asked.

"Since New City," Silva answered as he took the Silver Chaos Emerald from his jacket-pocket. "If we use my Emerald and yours, you could go back to an earlier time and save Elise then."

"So I take it you got in touch with Silver," Sonic said as he walked toward Silva with the Blue Chaos Emerald in hand.

Silva nodded, and then he and Sonic both shouted, "Chaos Control!"

The white vortex immediately opened right in front of Sonic and Silva.

Sonic was just about to enter it when he turned back to Silva and said, "I very much appreciate what you've done for me, Silva. Now you need to do your part to save the world."

Then Sonic stepped through the vortex after throwing Silva the Blue Chaos Emerald. After Silva caught it, the vortex closed behind Sonic. Silva looked at the two Chaos Emeralds and then at Blake.

"I wonder what he meant by that," Silva wondered out loud. "How are we supposed to save the world when we've been unintentionally trying to end it up till now?"

Blake looked toward the other side of the lake and saw a fiery light rising over the cliffs. "We need to go to the future."

"What? Why?" Silva then noticed the fiery light and scowled. "We just need to seal Iblis again, and he's right over those cliffs across the lake."

"That's not Iblis," Blake said. "What we're seeing is Solaris, the combination of Mephiles and Iblis, and we're not strong enough to take that thing on currently. In order to prevent this from happening, Iblis needs to be sealed in the past, present, and future of our current timeline."

"How do you know this is the right thing to do?" Silva asked as he reopened the vortex.

"While you were gone, I actually met Blaze, the one whom Dr. Eggman mistook me for," Blake said. "Not in person, though, but—

"In your head?" Silva finished.

"Is that where you met Silver?" Blake asked.

Again, Silva nodded.

"Then there's no point in questioning my judgement," Blake said as she went through the vortex first.

"Yeah, but something about this plan bugs me," Silva said as he followed after Blake.

To be continued…