Chapter 3: The Brink of the Disasterous Future
200 years later in the future, a snow-white hedgehog was flying around the ruined buildings with flames and a sea of lava. A thick layer of grey smoke darkened the clouds as a massive volcano erupted. It looked like a huge black pillar, reaching for the skies. The sound of rumbling and flashing of lightning filled the air, and small bits of debris were blown all over the place. Everything seemed to be burning as a massive mushroom cloud surrounded the entire city, but it wasn't visible anymore.
His fur was gray and the collar of fur around his neck was white. He wears gold-banded gloves, and his hands have blue, glowing lines across the wrists, which help him direct his psychokinetic powers when he flies, attacks, or defends. Those boots have aqua blue toes, black sides, and white in the middle. The tongues are red, with gold ankle bands that sport blue, glowing lines to concentrate his psychokinesis. Additionally, he has yellow eyes. His quills were shaped like a star and two long quills in the back of his head.
This world was devastated before I was born. A harsh, bleak place, where we live in eternal darkness. Life is a struggle, and people live without hope. How did this happen? No one will answer me directly. But they always point... to the flame.
A tornado of flame swirled up before the ivory hedgehog, he used his psychokinesis power to clear the flame away. The flames burned down immediately after he made his way through the destruction, but the charred earth was left behind.
These flames. They burn away at my world destroying everything in their path. They come from an eternal life form we cannot truly defeat. The Flame of Disaster is known as Iblis.
"Silver!" a girl's voice rang out in the distance. Silver's furred ears twitched as his golden yellow eyes focused on the lavender cat. An elegant golden collar hung from her neck, a violet tailcoat trimmed with roses, and white leggings. She also wore white gloves and high-heeled rose ankle boots, both featuring white fluffy cuffs on them. A thick white stripe runs down each front of her boots, followed by gray soles and gray heels. A red hair tie adorned four plumes of violet hair pulled up in a high ponytail. Her forehead was also adorned with an oval red gem.
"Blaze! What's wrong?" he asked, noticing the distress on her face.
"He's appeared again!" she pointed to the horizon. A column of fire, almost too bright to look at, was headed right toward us. Silver scowled upon hearing Blaze's words as he raced forward, dodging any stray fires on his way to get ahead of the approaching pillar of fire. As he got closer he could feel its heat as it grew even hotter.
Silver and Blaze arrived in Crisis City shortly after to confront Iblis, the sea of lava began to emerge from the depths of the crater. The firey golem demon was ready to fight, while Silver and Blaze were ready to attack.
"Come on, you monster!" yelled Silver.
Ilbis roared in response before firing a stream of fire in Blaze's direction. "Fireballs!" she exclaimed, using her pyrokinesis to summon a wave of fire to intercept the incoming fireballs.
As Blaze deflected the projectiles she noticed Silver staring intently at the ground below him, he quickly glanced upward in time to see Iblis's giant claws shoot straight toward him. He jumped upwards just in time, narrowly avoiding getting crushed into a pulp by the beast's massive claw.
"Silver!" Blaze shouted. "The ground is going to collapse. Iblis is coming up behind you!" She summoned more fire to blast her flaming fists at Iblis. The golem was quick though. Within seconds, the ground cracked open under Iblis's feet. Blaze cried out, ducking to avoid getting hit.
"Don't worry, Blaze," Silver said, "I'm gonna protect you!" He shot a psychokinetic blast at Iblis, who quickly dodged out of the way. Iblis then let out a roar and charged straight at Silver, his fist ablaze with deadly flames. Silver took evasive maneuvers until Blaze could reach him. She wrapped her arms around his chest and teleported herself away to safety. Once she landed Blaze released Silver from her grip and the hedgehog quickly shot a blast of psychic energy at Iblis to prevent him from pursuing them.
The firey monster roared painfully at the sight of Silver shooting his blast of psychic energy at him. His eyes glowed brighter, almost blinding. Before Silver could do anything, he fired another beam of fire. Silver blocked the fire, and it bounced off of him harmlessly. He didn't have time to dodge it. He felt his body tense as the next attack was about to be launched. He breathed a flamethrower at SIlver, but he quickly dodged out of the way. Just as Iblis turned the corner and saw Silver dodging another attack, Silver flew backward and blasted him with an explosive burst of psychokinesis. The force sent the giant golem careening backward. The firey monster went back to the molten lava beneath it, leaving a massive hole in the ground and covering it with a thin sheet of lava that formed a barrier between it and the outside world.
"Looks like we stopped it for now," said Blaze, crossing her arms over her chest.
"But it'll just rise up from its ashes again," Silver hit the brick wall in frustration. "What's the point of all this?! It'll never end!"
"Calm down, SIlver," Blaze comforted him as he calmed down. Silver sighed in disappointment. "Then tell me what we should do. How can we completely destroy Iblis?" asked Silver, as Blaze closed her eyes unsure of what to think. Suddenly a dark voice from the top of the ruined building.
"...By knowing the truth, of course." Silver's ears twitched in surprise as Blaze opened her eyes in confusion and turned their heads to where the voice came from. There was a dark grey and green hedgehog who looked exactly like Shadow, but he had no mouth. His eyes were green with a slit pupils.
"Just as a flower comes from a seed, or a chicken comes from an egg, everything has an origin. You need to find the being originally responsible for this catastrophe," he said as he raised his arms in the sky.
"Is that really the answer to our problem?" Silver asked as he pointed to him. "Tell me, do you know who it is?"
The dark hedgehog looked at Silver with a sinister look in his eyes. "No…" he stated as he walked past Silver. He reached out a hand, and Silver noticed that his fingers glowed pinkish red, "but there is someone else who does." Silver and Blaze glanced at each other in confusion.
"Who are you?" asked Silver.
"My name is Mephiles. If you know the answer, I come to help you," answered the dark hedgehog, walking away.
Silver shook his head and glanced at Blaze. "We'll follow him."
*At the Database*
"To fix the present timeline, you need to change the past," said Mephiles.
Silver was shocked when he heard those words and he stared up at the mysterious dark hedgehog. "You mean, we need to rewrite the past...?" he asked.
Mephiles nodded. Silver thought for a moment as he pondered whether or not they would listen to Mephiles. "But that's impossible!" said Silver.
"With my help, you can, because I have the power to travel time!" said Mephiles.
"No way!" Silver was surprised at his answer. Was he able to use travel time to change the future where it needed to be?
"If you don't accept my offer, you might never get another chance to fix your future and I won't be able to help you anymore," replied Mephiles.
"Why should we trust you?" Silver questioned Mephiles, narrowing his eyes at him.
"In order to change the past, you must eliminate the individual who has awakened Iblis. The Iblis Trigger," said Mephiles.
Silver and Blaze glanced at each other, both wanting to believe Mephiles's words, then looked back at him.
"If I eliminate that guy, will our world be saved?" asked Silver.
Mephiles nodded, "Yes. The Day of Disaster... Here are my records of this event. This was when Iblis was freed and his flames were released into the world," Mephiles said as he turned on the computer, Silver and Blaze the images of Tirathana.
"And you have this person to blame," Mephiles took out a purple Choas Emerald and showed it to Silver, who examined it curiously. A vision of a blue hedgehog and flames appeared within the crystal.
"That's him... that's who the Iblis Trigger is meant to kill..." Silver mumbled, looking thoughtful. Blaze gazed intently at Silver. She knew something was wrong.
Mephiles continued, I'll send us back in time to the point when the Iblis Trigger was alive."
He created a dark sphere with his hands, placed it on Silver and Blaze, and three of them completely vanished.
*Back in the Present of Tirathana*
It was a beautiful day outside. The blue skies were full of clouds as the sun gently shined down. The wind rustled through the trees, causing some leaves to fall onto the ground in front of the house. A gentle breeze blew by, carrying the aroma of fresh flowers. The birds were chirping happily. All was normal, peaceful, perfect… suddenly a portal appeared above them. Silver jumped out of the portal alone as it closed behind him. He was looking around the surface, this place was peaceful, tranquil, and untouched.
'Where am I?' thought Silver. "Blaze?" he called out as he looked around. Blaze was nowhere in sight. "Blaze!" he called out again, but there was no response. Where could she possibly have gone?
Silver was standing there in the beautiful place, not sure of how he got there, but he was determined to find his partner and get them home safely. He walked through the meadow filled with colorful flowers and the flowing river running along the side of the meadow. As Silver walked, he leaned down scooping his hands up water with each step to drink, then drank as much as he could. The water was cold and pure, refreshing the taste buds on his tongue.
"Ah, the water here tastes great." Silver sighed blissfully as he gulped down more water. "There was no water back in my future…" he grumbled quietly to himself.
After finishing drinking his fill, he stood up as he was ready to find Iblis once and for all. "No time to lose," said Silver, beginning to walk. "I must fight for the future."