Adventures of the Orange Flash
Chapter 8: A Step too late and A Burning Battle
It was a normal day in the city of Soleanna and everyone were going about their daily activities without a worry in the world when suddenly a giant shadow loomed over the city. The inhabitants looked to the sky in curiosity and began to shake with fear upon seeing something that was all too familiar to them.
It was the Egg Carrier which was slowly flying over the city and towards the castle where Princess Elise accompanied by the ladies-in-waiting watched from the balcony. Then Eggman's voice was heard through the loudspeaker for everyone to hear.
"Princess Elise, ruler of Soleanna…your refusal to negotiate has forced me to take drastic actions. Meet me at the specified point alone at 4 o'clock today, failure to do so on time will result in my leveling of this city so that nothing but ashes remain!"
Elise was silent as she was deep in thought before one of the ladies-in-waiting spoke up.
"Miss Elise, will you really go to him?"
"I'm afraid so, in order to protect my people from harm I will have to comply with his demands," said Elise, she turned around and proceeded to walk away.
"But Mistress, isn't there any other way?" asked the other lady-in-waiting worriedly.
"There's no other choice, it is my duty as the Princess of Soleanna to go…" Elise resumed her walk with the ladies watching on with worry and hoping that someone would once again help save the Princess from Eggman.
Meanwhile within the depths of Tropical Jungle, Naruto sat on the ground in the middle of a clearing cross-legged and eyes closed to show that he was deep in meditation. After escorting Princess Elise to the castle, Naruto went back to the jungle for some training in order to readjust himself to the natural energy and regain Sage mode.
Orange pigmentation appeared around Naruto's eyes before opening them to reveal yellow toad-like irises and he was wearing his short sleeved red coat with a black flame pattern around the hem which normally appears when Sage mode is activated and disappears afterwards. Naruto looked to the west with a frown on his face as he stood up.
"You sense that too Kurama?" asked Naruto.
"Yeah, the citizens are panicking in the city. It must mean that Eggman has returned," said Kurama with a growl.
"Then we better head back to the city,"
Naruto immediately took off while darting left and right to avoid the giant trees for a few minutes before exiting the Tropical Jungle and was on the road to the city of Soleanna. After reaching his destination, Naruto could see the looks of worry on the faces of the citizens as he walked along the streets.
"You might as well ask them what happened before we got here," said Kurama.
Nodding in affirmation, Naruto approached a man and called out to him "Excuse me but could you tell me what's going on? I just got here and saw everyone making a fuss,"
"It was Dr. Eggman, he came here with his fleet of robots and threatened to destroy the city unless Princess Elise surrendered herself to him, so she choose to go to him in order to protect us," said the man.
"I see…thanks for the information," said Naruto before running off with a frown on his face "That guy just doesn't know when to quit!"
"Now's not the time to complain, we need to figure out where they would be heading to," said Kurama.
"You've a point there," said Naruto before walking off to gather any source of information.
Inside the Egg Carrier, Elise could be seen seated on a chair at the main control room as Eggman walked around.
"You wasted so much of my time. If you had cooperated with me earlier, I wouldn't have to do this," said Eggman.
"What are you trying to do Dr. Eggman? Why are you trying to revive the Flames of Disaster?" asked Elise.
"Did your parents ever disclose anything to you about Solaris? Solaris's secrets are in his eternal flames. His power…can change time, and even manipulate the fabric of time itself. I wish to obtain this power and dominate everything in this world. From the past all the way to the future,"
"You wish…to rule over…time?"
"That's right, and the secret…it remains dormant in you, Princess," Dr. Eggman approached the control panel and proceeded to input commands on the keypad "the Princess of Soleanna and the seven Chaos Emeralds…once I have everything, the fate of the world will change. And one of the beautiful gems is just ahead,"
[Chaos Emerald located] said the AI of the computer system as it displayed the target on the screen.
"Finally…now let's go collect that Chaos Emerald,"
Meanwhile Naruto had met up with Sonic and Tails who had also heard of Dr. Eggman's appearance in the city and Princess Elise's surrender.
"From what I've speculated, Eggman will probably head over to the ancient castle," said Tails.
"Then we should get there first and save Elise," said Sonic.
"Do you know how to get there?" asked Naruto.
"Actually no, but I heard of a bishop that would know of the way to that place," said Tails.
"Let's go and ask around for him," said Sonic.
The trio went around the city while asking for directions to where the bishop could be found and were told that he was last seen at the bell town. They went there and found the man they were looking for.
"Excuse me sir, we're looking for a way to enter the ancient castle," asked Tails.
"The way to the ancient castle of Soleanna? It's been a while since anyone has asked me that," said the bishop. "The old castle is a holy place, and only those of the royal family may enter,"
"Is there any other way?" asked Naruto.
"There is…the entrance is blocked by a special seal, which tests anyone who tries to enter. If you want to enter the old castle, you must overcome three trials. These are the trials of life and death…are you sure you want to face them?"
"Yes we are," said Sonic with Naruto nodding in agreement.
"Very well, I'll take you to the trials,"
Then the bishop led the group out of the city to a forest through an unknown route until they found themselves standing before what appears to be an ancient temple and there are three priests inside.
"Here is where the trials will take place, speak to any of the priest to begin a trial. I wish you luck," said the bishop.
"Let's get this over with, we need to get to the ancient castle quickly," said Naruto.
With that said, Naruto and Sonic took on each of the trials. The first was a test of courage, where they had to use warp gates which teleports to different places, picking the wrong warp gate will send them back to the beginning while the right ones would get them closer to the goal. The second was the test of courage, here the duo had to defeat several groups of robots without receiving a single hit. The final was the test of love where they had to choose whom they love the most, both passed that test but refused to reveal whom they loved with Naruto looking a bit depressed.
Upon returning to the temple, Sonic and Naruto saw two large eagles hovering in the air before them.
"You both have passed all three trials, these eagles will carry you," said one of the priests.
"Thanks very much," said Naruto.
Sonic and Naruto jumped and grabbed onto the talons of each birds as they were carried to the top of the temple where they saw another one of those large mirrors which was displaying the image of ancient castle ruins.
Without hesitation, they leapt into the mirror and soon themselves standing in the middle of a vast open plain and a few kilometers from them is are the tall walls that surround the ancient castle of kingdom valley. They ran down the road and were halfway across when a fleet of Egg gunners landed on the ground before them, forcing Naruto and Sonic to skid to a stop.
"You tin cans better get out of our way!" Naruto drew out a Hirashin kunai ready to attack with Sonic crouching a bit as he prepared to dash at them.
Suddenly a cyan aura surrounds all of them completely halting their movements, then someone landed before them and it's to their surprise that the person was none other than Silver the hedgehog, Silver thrusts his hands forward which sent the robots flying backwards and being destroyed in the process. He turned to face the duo but they noticed that he wasn't aggressive and soon Blaze landed next to him.
"You two look like you're in a hurry," said Silver, he then looked at Naruto "And you must be Naruto,"
"And you're Silver the hedgehog, Neko told me about you," said Naruto.
"Neko?" Silver looked confused.
"Sorry, it's a name which I called Blaze since it means cat in my language," Naruto rubbed the back of his head looking sheepish.
"So what's going on?" asked Sonic curiously.
"Circumstances have changed. I need to rescue the princess," said Silver.
"It looks like you know the full truth, don't you?" said Naruto.
Silver nodded in confirmation "Yeah, Sonic was never the Iblis Trigger and Mephilles had been lying to us this whole time,"
"Naruto was right about him, our true target is Dr. Eggman," said Blaze.
"Then let's get a move on," said Sonic before continuing on his way with Naruto, Silver and Blaze close behind.
Elsewhere on the Dusty Desert, Shadow, Rouge and Omega stood on one of the ruins overlooking the landscape as they closed in on their target with a new Scepter of Darkness in hand.
"Mephilles appears to be headed for those ruins, he's probably looking for the Chaos Emerald that's supposed to be there," said Rouge.
"There's no doubt in my mind, his movements show that he's seeking any Chaos Emeralds he can find. Supposedly, he needs one in order to join with Iblis again," said Shadow.
"I will seal him before that," said Omega.
When he and Silver jumped through the time rift, they ended up going back to the when the great disaster occurred in the Solaris project, it was there they discovered that Mephilles and Iblis were both created from Solaris. Then the dying Duke gave Shadow the original Scepter of Darkness to seal Mephilles away hence explaining why the dark being was so familiar with him before. Silver pursued Iblis and held it in place with his psychic powers, then Duke brought an unconscious Elise who was a child at that time and use a Chaos Emerald to sealing the flaming entity within her.
After returning to the present, Shadow met up with Rouge and Omega who revealed a shocking truth, the one who defeated and sealed him in the future…was Omega himself. Apparently there was some truth as to what Mephilles said before that humanity feared his power and that he would turn against them, which was why they programmed Omega with the command to subdue Shadow should it ever happen. Despite that, Shadow still choose to go after Mephilles as he remembered the words which Naruto told him along with Rouge and Omega offering their full support no matter what happens.
"Let's be on our way, I'm pretty sure that Sonic and foxy are making sure that Eggman doesn't get his hands on the Flames of Disaster," said Rouge.
"Okay then, let's go!" Shadow skated off with Rouge and Omega close behind as they went in search of Mephilles.
Music Start: Sonic the Hedgehog OST; Kingdom Valley- Wind, The Castle, Lakeside, Water
Back with Naruto and the group, they ran down the broken descending spiral bridge as they jumped from one part to the other with the use of dash ramps and springs.
"The pat splits up from here!" said Blaze pointing at a dash ramp to the left and spring to the right.
"Then let's use the classical 'Divide and Conquer' tactic, then we'll met up at the other side of the castle," said Sonic.
"A sound strategy, we'll carry it out," said Blaze.
"Catch you guys later," said Naruto.
Silver and Blaze hit the spring on the left which launched them across the canyon towards an unknown part while Sonic and Naruto did the same with the dash to be sent elsewhere. They landed in a circular platform where a group of egg gunners being led by a yellow one except it is equipped with missile launchers on each arm. The robot took aim at Naruto and fired a pair of missiles at him. The blond darted to the side as the projectiles flew past before dashing towards his target with fists clenched.
"Kit heads up, those missiles you dodged before are coming back!" said Kurama, Naruto looked back to see said projectiles pursuing him from behind.
"In that case, I can use it against to my advantage!" thought Naruto with a smirk, as he closed in on the Egg Buster who swung an arm at him, he ducked low and slide between its legs then leapt onto its back as the missiles collided into it and exploded. All that was left are pieces of metal and a burning log as Naruto stood nearby with a foxy grin on his face "None have saved the lives of countless ninjas more than the great log,"
Meanwhile Sonic curled up into a spiny ball and started spinning rapidly while standing in place, then he blasted forward at one of the egg gunners and slammed hard enough to knock it off the platform before bouncing off to hit another like a pinball. He knocked back an egg gunner into a weak wall which collapsed to reveal something of interest.
It is a vertical column that possesses an eagle statue on the top and a long horizontal bar with a green glowing orb collared to it.
"I wonder what it does," said Sonic muttered, for some strange reason he had an inkling to hit the green orb which he did with a kick, the green orb rotated and a white jet stream shot out of it and weaved around the tall pillars ahead of him "That's pretty cool! Hey Naruto, we can use these jet streams as grind rails to get across,"
"Gotcha!" Naruto jumped onto the jet stream after Sonic who was already ahead him, they grinded around the pillars then Sonic immediately into the air to pass through a rainbow ring which sent him somersaulting high into the air before landing on another platform which Naruto landed on next to him after jumping off the jet stream.
Ahead of them were tall thin pillars and there were vines intertwining each other to form a makeshift rope which is attached between the columns like a tightrope. Getting an idea, Sonic dashed forward and jumped in the middle of the tightrope which sagged from the weight before bouncing off high into the air and landing on a ledge that was formerly too high to reach. Naruto followed suit and they continued on the move and hit a wide spring, sending them higher.
A squad of egg flyers appeared to attack, but Sonic used his Homing Attack and Naruto used the Hirashin to take them out as well as get across to land on a stone bridge before running along it to get to the other side. The speeding duo stopped before a cliff wall where a group of Egg Bombs climbed on it, the crab-like robots detected their presence and threw bombs at them, and Sonic and Naruto avoided the explosive devices and charged forward.
Naruto took out a normal kunai and latched on to the cliff wall with chakra on his feet "Swift Release: Bladed Shadow Dance!" he sped up, leaving behind afterimages as he weaved in and out of the mechs while slashing with his kunai before reaching the top. Sonic also used the Egg Bombers as stepping stones to climb up the cliff as well. They stepped on a dash panel which boosted them to run vertically along a wall and arrived at the end of another where another one of those wind switches.
Naruto hit the green orb with a kick to send it spinning for it to shot out another jet stream as it flew around leaving behind a trail for them to grind on. Naruto and Sonic hopped onto the stream and slid along it. The trail rose and fell in height as they grinded along before hopping off to land on a large circular platform where another large eagle perched on a branch and staring at them with interest.
"I don't think that the big guy can carry two of us, so what do we do?" asked Sonic.
"Don't worry about it Sonic, I got it covered…Transform!" Naruto performed a single handsign before being covered in a puff of smoke which cleared away to reveal a Hirashin kunai laying on the ground.
Sonic was stunned at the sight "Whoa Naruto, is that you?"
"Yeah, now pick me up and let's get going," Naruto's voice echoed out from the object.
"Okay,"
Sonic picked up the kunai and waved at the eagle who flew off its perch and hovered before him as he grabbed onto its talons with a free hand. Then the eagle ascended towards the sky and over the tall wall into the castle grounds.
Elsewhere, Silver and Blaze had already found their way into the ancient castle and were currently running along a stone bridge.
"Darn it! I should have realized Eggman's scheme instead of going after Sonic who wasn't the Iblis Trigger!" said Silver.
"Now's not the time to berate yourself Silver, we need to hurry and save the princess," said Blaze running alongside him.
"You're right,"
They reached the end of the bridge to a circular platform they met an Egg Guardian with two Egg Gunners behind it. The Egg Guardian aimed both arms which had large spheres attached and launched them at the duo.
"I don't think so!" Silver held his hand out as his body was covered in cyan aura to signal the use of his psychokinesis, the spheres were surrounded with the cyan aura and froze in midair then he thrust his hand forward to send them flying over the giant robot and hitting the Egg Gunners which resulted in them being destroyed.
Blaze dashed at the now armless Egg Guardian and leapt into the air "Fire Claw!" then she launched herself forward with a small burst of flames while spinning horizontally with her right claw forward like a flaming drill, Blaze into the robot to knock it off balance as it crashed onto the floor before descending with a fiery kick to destroy the power core.
They turned left through a short bridge towards a tower, but there was no stairs for them to climb to the top. Silver looked over the edge to see the broken stairs sticking out of the lake, he quickly used his psychokinesis to levitate them back up and reattached them to their original place before he and Blaze climbed up to the top. There were metal bars blocking the entrance though Silver easily bent them apart enough to pass through.
Inside were a group of Egg Gunners and Busters along with an Egg Walker, Silver used the nearby metal containers and wooden crates to knock the walkers legs off balance then levitated it to bludgeon some of the smaller while Blaze used the Spinning Claw to take down the rest. A large gate opened up nearby to reveal two large metal pendulums in parallel, Silver looked ahead to see a tower that appears to be weak.
"I can use that last pendulum to knock down the top of that tower," Silver along with Blaze jumped off to land on top of the first pendulum and slammed a palm to make it swing back and forth before jumping to the next one. He repeated the previous action and this time the pendulum smashed into the tower which knocked the top half over before they jumped off to land on the bottom half. Silver went left as he jumped into the air and use psychokinesis to levitate himself over to a broken staircase with using an Axel Tornado to clear.
Below them were Egg Bombers who were holding bombs at the ready to attack, Silver cut off his levitation before diving towards them with psychokinetic energy in hand "Psycho Shock!" he landed in the middle of the group and his hand on the ground which released a shockwave which upon hitting the robots caused them to and not react. Silver grabbed them and was about to throw them off the platform when Blaze called out to him.
"Silver wait, you can use them to destroy the next tower!" said Blaze.
"Okay Blaze!" Silver focused on the targeted tower and gathered all the captured mechs in one place "Hold Smash!" then he flung them all at the same time with enough force to also knock the top half of the tower.
Silver and Blaze moved over to the next and ahead of them was stone bridge and on it were a pair of Egg Busters with another Egg Walker. The three robots took aim and fired a salvo of missiles at the duo, Silver brought a hand back as he charged the psychic energies in his body and waited for the missiles to draw close "Psycho Smash!" he swung his arm to unleash a strong shockwave on the missiles to sending them back to destroy both the robots and the bridge.
They then hit a spring which launched them into a few others to get across the waterline before landing on a circular platform where a giant eagle perched on a branch.
"I'll use my psychokinesis to carry you while I ride with the eagle," said Silver.
"Okay Silver," said Blaze.
Silver grabbed on to the talons of the eagle then used his psychic power to lift Blaze as they flew into the air to wherever the bird is taking them.
At the other side of Kingdom Valley lies a castle that is built into the wall with a large metal gate designed with the crest of Solaris and surrounded by water but separated by a platform. It was there that two eagles both carrying passengers descended towards and dropped them off before flying away.
"So you made it here too," said Silver.
"Yeah, had to take a few detours before getting a ride from the eagle," said Sonic.
"But where's Naruto, I thought he was with you?"
"He's right here," Sonic held out the Hirashin kunai for them to see as Blaze immediately recognized it.
"Did Naruto give to you so that he could teleport over to it?" asked Blaze.
"Not exactly," said Sonic before tossing the kunai into the air before being covered in a puff of smoke which cleared away to reveal Naruto landing on the group.
"I had to make some room for the flight," said Naruto with a foxy grin, making a small smile appear on Blaze's face momentarily before it disappeared.
"Once we pass through here, we should be able to get to the princess," said Silver receiving nods of affirmation from the others.
The group approached the gate that opened up when they got close and passed through a passage, after reaching the exit they were surprised upon what splayed out before them. It is a deep ravine with the water actually rushing upwards with sets of ruins encircled by it while there is a long broken stone path crossing over to the other side of the ravine.
"Looks like it's a straight line all the way, is everyone ready to go?" asked Naruto crouching low.
"You bet!" said Sonic doing.
"I'm ready," Silver floated into the air ready to fly.
Blaze simply nodded.
They all took off along the stone path at high-speed with Silver flying above them and keeping up, Sonic Naruto and Blaze darted around the broken arches and pillars ahead. Then several Egg Gunners in flight mode descended from above and proceeded to open fire upon the three runners. Naruto dashed in front of the group armed with a pair of kunai in reverse grips while using the Swift release to speed up his reflexes as he deflected the shots then Silver used a Psycho Smash to paralyze the mechs as they flew out of control and crashed into the pillars.
The stone path broke apart a few times, but the runners traversed over them before hitting dash ramp to be sent flying over the rushing water. Naruto, Sonic and Blaze made use of the ruins to leap from one point to another before actually skidding along the right side of the watery gorge and sped on it as it slanted back into the path. Darting around a few more times did the path slant to the left side of the ravine before slanting back.
"The exit is near!" said Silver pointing far ahead of them.
"Gotcha!" Naruto responded.
The trio hit a dash ramp at the end of the broken path and once again used the torn ruins as stepping stones before stopping in front of the gate with a skid.
Music End
"We made it!" said Sonic.
"Yeah but let's hurry!" said Naruto as he ran towards the gate with the others close behind.
In the Egg Carrier, an alarm was going off and Eggman was rapidly typing keys on the computer while Elise watches on worriedly.
"Huh? The engines are malfunctioning…And what's this?! Stop all engines now!" said Dr. Eggman, however the commands failed to execute "No! We're about to crash!"
Outside the Egg Carrier, a section of the ship burst into flames which was soon followed by another.
Naruto and others had finally come out of Kingdom Valley and were about continue on when they heard a sound and looked up only to be horrified upon seeing the Egg Carrier in flames and rapidly losing altitude and then explodes into an orange tint behind a mountain.
"Elise!" Sonic cried out in despair.
"We…we were too late, we…failed," Naruto muttered in disbelief, memories of when Neji sacrificed his life to protect him despite his oath to protect everyone during the war. Although Hinata and Kurama were able to restore his zeal, the death of his friend still plagued his heart.
Sonic fell to his knees and pounded the group in anger and sorrow, Naruto simply stood there with tears building in his eyes, Blaze walked over and placed a hand on his shoulders in an attempt to comfort him. Silver looked down sadly before suddenly perking up in realization and then looks at Sonic and Naruto.
"Wait, there's still a way to change this," said Silver, everyone turned to look at him in confusion and a bit of hope.
"What do you mean?" asked Naruto.
"If we return to an earlier point in time, we can save her,"
"That's a great idea Silver, then we would be able to get on board the Egg Carrier and get princess Elise out before it crashes," said Naruto.
Sonic got to his feet with a look of understanding and hope "I understand,"
He brought out the cyan Chaos Emerald and Silver brought out his white Chaos Emerald, then they approached each other while Naruto and Blaze are watching. They crossed their Chaos Emeralds together and raised them to the air before calling out simultaneously "Chaos Control!" Then a blue swirling portal appeared in midair
"Naruto, I need you to listen to what I'm about to say," Kurama who had been silent for a while suddenly spoke out.
"What is it Kurama?" thought Naruto.
"I want you to follow Silver and Blaze back to the future,"
"What?! Why should I do that when I should be helping Sonic save the princess?" asked Naruto who was surprised by Kurama's suggestion.
"I can tell that those two intend to fight Iblis and seem to have a way to defeat it, a method which we could learn about and use should the flames ever be released,"
"But still,"
"Don't worry about the princess, Sonic should be able to rescue her this time for sure,"
"…Okay Kurama, we'll go with your plan," Naruto let out a sign before turning his attention to see Sonic hand over the cyan Chaos emerald over to Silver.
"Okay Naruto, let's get going," said Sonic.
"Actually Sonic…we might need to split up again, I'll be going with Silver and Blaze to the future," said Naruto much to the surprise of the others.
"What? But why?" asked Sonic confusedly.
"Just a feeling that they'll need my help, I have faith that you'll save the princess,"
"Okay Naruto, but be sure to come back in one piece,"
"I definitely will and that's a promise!" said Naruto with a smirk.
Sonic smirked back before jumping into the portal, then Naruto turned to Silver and Blaze.
"Are you sure about this Naruto? Wouldn't it be better for you to follow Sonic?" asked Silver.
"Of course, I have faith in Sonic to come through with it which leaves me to helping you guys fight against Iblis," said Naruto.
"Okay then, let's go back to the future!" Silver leapt into the portal with Blaze and Naruto close behind.
Upon exiting the portal, the newly made group found themselves standing on a ledge overlooking Flame Core.
"Never thought I would find myself back here again," Naruto muttered to himself before turning to see Silver holding the Chaos Emeralds.
"I know how to save our world now, we don't have to change to past," said Silver.
"Do you have a plan?" asked Blaze.
"Yeah, and I guarantee that it will work,"
"If you're sure of it, then we need to head for Iblis as soon as possible," said Naruto "Kurama can you sense where it is?"
"It's currently residing deep within the volcano where we last encountered it, seems it was still recovering from the damage that you and the others inflicted on it," said Kurama.
"Alright, I've located where Iblis is, so let's get going,"
"Okay then," said Silver.
With that said, Naruto lead the group towards the volcano where they'll face and take it down once and for all.
Back in the present, in an unknown underwater facility, the Egg Carrier was currently making preparations to take off as the bay doors slowly opened.
[Gate open, thrusters increasing, engine output at maximum. Course plotted, lifting off] said the AI over the P.A
The docks holding the Egg Carrier dislodged themselves as the ship slowly moved forward and increasing speed. Up above the ship, Sonic having found his way into Eggman's hidden base with the help of Tails and Knuckles was running along one of the catwalks. He jumped off and managed to land on top of the ship's tailfin.
"I made it, now to rescue Elise before the ship crashes. I hope things are also working out well on Naruto and Silver's side," said Sonic before the Egg Carrier shot out of the underwater base.
Meanwhile Naruto and the others had made their way into the core of the volcano, having traversed through the lava tubes with the minions of Iblis getting in their way.
Music Start: Sonic the Hedgehog OST; Flame Core-Volcano
"Get out of our way, Rasengan!" Naruto rushed forward and rammed the blue sphere into the core of a titan which resembles the golems from before but possess a black-purple coloration and appear to be stronger.
They had started running into the black-purple variations of Iblis minions that were much tougher than the ones that they fought before.
"It must mean that Iblis is slowly awakening its power to the point that it could create much stronger monsters," said Kurama.
"Then we better pick up the pace," thought Naruto.
The trio ran along the stone pathway and through a tunnel until emerging at the other side where the entire cave was completely dark and only large volumes of the lava could be seen.
We need to get through here as quickly as we can," said Blaze emitting flames from her body to light up the way, Silver channeled his psychokinetic energy throughout his body for a similar effect and Naruto's eyes was already attuned to the dark. The trio moved forward to the edge of the path before them, Silver slammed a palm on the ground, causing a circular platform that was floating in the lava to move towards them with his psychokinesis.
They all jumped onto the platform with Silver controlling it to float over to another part of the cavern before jumping off keep on the move, suddenly a pair of Iblis worms and a few Iblis takers burst out from the ground before charging at them.
Naruto stood at the ready as one of the Iblis worms lunged at him with its jaws wide open, at the last second he sidestepped to evade the attack and responded with a flip kick to knock its head into the air then he threw a Hirashin kunai upwards and disappeared in a flash. He reappeared to catch the kunai in midair with a Rasengan in hand which he rammed into the worm's head, sending them both plummeting to the ground and forming a crater. "Psycho Smash!" he swung his arm to unleash a strong shockwave on the other Iblis worm to paralyze it before using psychokinesis to wrench it out of the ground and flung it into the lava below them. Blaze engaged the Iblis takers as she leapt into the air "Fire Claw!" then she launched herself at one of the flying enemies and took it down with a backflip before lunging at her next target then wrapped it up with an Axel Tornado to take the remainder out.
They continued on their way via more floating platforms across the dark room until reaching the end and passing through a lava tube to end at the end where the cave was a lot brighter now. In the middle of a much larger room, the group saw a gigantic sphere made out of lava hovering in the air while emanating flames around its form.
"What is that ball of flame? Is that the power of Iblis?" asked Silver.
"Seems like it, I can sense the energy signature of it within," said Blaze.
"All we know is that it's got to go," said Naruto.
The trio ran down the slope and leapt over the lava onto a platform with a large boulder nearby, it was at that moment when the sphere unleashed a wave of flames outwardly around it. By instinct, they ran behind the boulder for cover as the wave passed over them, they waited for a bit longer then the lava sphere released another wave after a few moments.
"It seems like the attacks come in regular intervals," Silver spoke up.
"Then we could use the time delay to get close enough to destroy it," said Naruto.
They ran out and jumped onto another platform and went to hide behind another before waiting for the next wave to be released and sure enough it happened. Silver saw that there weren't any more platform and used his psychokinesis to summon stone pillars below them to serve as footholds. The group crossed to yet another platform and repeated the process until getting close enough to the lava sphere to make a move.
Naruto spoke up for them to hear "Silver I'll need you to use psychokinesis to throw me high into the air right above the lava ball so that I can use the Rasengan to destroy it,"
"Got it," Silver held out a palm towards Naruto as he was engulfed in the cyan aura and lifted into the air before being thrown high up until reaching the cavern ceiling which he latched onto with his chakra coated feet.
"Shadow Clone jutsu!" a copy of himself appeared next to him ready for action "Time to crack this hot egg!"
"Got it boss!"
They held their hands as the chakra gathered around to form a blue spinning sphere before its size increased, then they leapt off the ceiling and dove towards the lava sphere. "Giant Ball Rasengan!" once the large blue spinning sphere made contact, it grinded through it and completely blew away the entire lava sphere causing all of the lava around them to instantly cool down to the point of forming a platform and revealing a tunnel before them.
Music End
"Just as I expected," said Silver having landed on the ground with Blaze landing not soon after.
"Pretty much that," said Naruto.
"Now all we have to do is take Iblis down,"
"Then let's get a move on,"
Naruto, Silver and Blaze went inside the tunnel towards what the hope to be the final battle against Iblis.
Back in the present over at the Dusty Desert, Shadow and his team had finally located Mephilles in one of the underground temples, but they were too late as the dark being already had one of the Chaos Emeralds.
"Mephilles!" Shadow called out.
Mephilles turned around while holding the yellow Chaos Emeralds with a non-visible smirk on his face "I was expecting you much sooner. As you must know, you're already too late. But there's still time for you to change your mind, join me Shadow. Let us teach this world a lesson and rewrite the future,"
"Don't try to deceive me, you have no desire for revenge. You only crave for destruction, your only lust is to fuel Iblis until there's nothing of time itself," said Shadow with a scowl.
"…It's a pity Shadow the hedgehog. Truly a shame that you would go against me!" Mephilles held the Chaos Emerald to float into the air before releasing an energy pulse strong to send Shadow and the others skidding backwards and the entire platform's surface turns dark.
"Target locked on, commencing subjugation for sealing," said Omega as he transformed his clawed fingers into arm cannons.
"We're with you to the end Shadow," said Rouge hovering in the air.
Shadow nodded in affirmation before charging forward towards Mephilles with them by his side.
In the Egg Carrier, an alarm was going off and Eggman was rapidly typing keys on the computer while Elise watches on worriedly.
"Huh? The engines are malfunctioning…And what's this?! Stop all engines now!" said Dr. Eggman, however the commands failed to execute "No! We're about to crash!"
"Playtime is over," a voice spoke out.
Everyone turned to the voice and saw that it was none other than Sonic the hedgehog.
"Sonic!" Elise called out happily as she ran to stand behind him.
"This ship is about to crash, too bad Eggman," Sonic smirked at the irate doctor who was throwing a tantrum.
"I'm not finished yet! You keep getting in my way you pesky little hedgehog so I'll take you out myself, summon the Egg Wyvern!" said Eggman angrily.
"Right back at ya! I'll finish things here!" Sonic stood protectively in front of Elise ready for an incoming fight.
In the future, Naruto and the group had exited from the tunnel which led out of the cave and stood on a large platform overlooking a sea of lava, suddenly a large pillar of flame shot out before them and faded away to reveal Iblis who was in a much more humanoid form and appearing way bigger than its previous form.
"Come on Iblis! This time I'll finally stop you!" Silver declared.
"That's right, time for the final round!" Naruto as he flared his chakra.
Music Start: Sonic the Hedgehog OST; Boss: Iblis
Iblis slowly approached where the group are as harden balls of lava emerged from the magma ocean and swirled around it, the burning entity raised both hands in the air to launch them towards its targets.
Silver stepped forward with his palms held outward as several lava balls were caught with his psychokinetic powers, however there were some which weren't caught and continued to crash into the platform.
"Neko come on! We need to deflect the other lava balls that Silver couldn't catch!" said Naruto.
"Okay Naruto!" said Blaze.
The duo quickly positioned themselves on either of Silver and swung into action. Blaze used her Fire Claw and Axel Tornado to knock the stray lava balls back into the magma while Naruto busted out a new jutsu for the job.
"Swift Release: Shadow Rush!" he began moving around and kicking away the incoming lava balls from his side at speeds enough to leave afterimages behind.
Silver gathered all of the lava balls in one place "Hold Smash!" then he flung them all at the same time at Iblis, all making their making their mark and causing the entity to roar our in agony before walking towards them once more. It stopped midway and put its hands together while interlinking its fingers almost as if performing a handsign, then waves of fire shot out towards them as the targets.
"Guys move out of the way of the flames!" said Naruto urgently before they took evasive action to avoid the flames however that gave Iblis the opportunity to move close enough to be right in front of them. The flaming giant raised both arms into the air before bringing it down on the platform and shattering the edges, making it smaller.
"He's trying to destroy the foothold, we shouldn't let it get to us!" said Blaze.
"It's no different from when we last encountered it with Sonic and the others," said Kurama.
"Yeah, if worse comes to worse, we might have to kick things up a notch," thought Naruto.
Iblis lowered its head to roar at them and prepared to attack the platform again. Silver ran forward and jumped off the platform and levitated halfway before landing on its head, there he slammed a palm on top of green eye located on its forehead and released a blast of psychokinetic energy which launched him back to the platform while Iblis gripped its forehead in pain and recoiled back across the magma sea. Iblis finally recovered then it put its hands together again and this time a massive ball of lava appeared in the sky above it.
"He's trying to destroy the foothold from the distance this time, here it comes!" said Blaze.
"Don't worry Blaze, I got this!" said Silver, Iblis launched the flaming sphere and as it drew close, he held out a palm and with some effort was able to catch it. Silver brought a hand back as he charged the psychic energies in his body "Psycho Smash!" then he swung his arm to unleash a strong shockwave to send the giant lava ball back at Iblis and damaging it.
"Good one Silver but it's not over yet!" said Naruto, and just like he said Iblis roared out at them in anger as it launched another salvo of lava balls much more in number than before.
"I don't think I can get all of them this time," said Silver.
"Don't worry, I got this! Shadow Clone jutsu!" Naruto crossed his middle and index fingers together before there was a puff of smoke which faded away to reveal a large group of clones behind him "Let's get to it guys!"
"Okay!" said the clones simultaneously, they all leapt towards the incoming flaming projectiles each with a Rasengan in hand which they used to destroy the lava balls before disappearing in a puff of smoke afterwards while Silver captured a few more and sent them back at Iblis.
Iblis concentrated once more to create another large lava sphere which is twice the size of the first one, and Naruto knew that Silver won't be able to catch this one.
"Kurama it's go time!" thought Naruto as he raised a palm above his head before bringing it down on the seal on his stomach and twisted.
"You got it kit!" Kurama released his chakra throughout Naruto's chakra system.
Naruto took on an immediate transformation as his body is coated in yellow chakra with his clothes undergoing the same thing and emanating like that of flickering flames. Two front spikes of his hair pointed upwards to resemble horns, six black magatama markings around the collar of his jacket with a prominent swirl design over the stomach, and various other archaic lines extending along his body. This was Naruto's chakra mode.
Silver and Blaze were stunned upon seeing Naruto's sudden transformation.
"What kind of power is this?! So much is pouring out of him!" thought Silver.
"This power…it feels so warm like the sun, just what are you Naruto?" thought Blaze.
"Here goes!" Naruto took off at high-speed as he jumped off the platform and was flying straight towards the massive incoming lava ball, then he performed a handsign as an arm made out of yellow chakra shot out of his back which waved in an arc and formed multiple Giant Ball Rasengan above his head before multiple chakra arms appeared to hold the spheres "Rasen-Rampage!" and thrust them towards the target, the spinning spheres rammed in from different angles and completely destroyed the lava ball.
Iblis swung an arm at Naruto in an attempt to swat him away, but the blonde sped away in a yellow streak and positioned at its left and slugged it across its face. Naruto turned to call out to the others "Silver come on!"
"On my way!" Silver levitated himself into the air and flew on towards the battle, Naruto created a shadow clone to go and carry Blaze with a chakra claw.
Iblis lashed out with a punch to which Naruto thrust a hand forward for a large hand made out of chakra which caught the punch. Silver used his psychokinetic power to levitate a large rock pillar nearby and swung it to hit it in the torso.
"Fire Claw!" Blaze leapt off the clone's claw launching herself forward with a small burst of flames while spinning horizontally with her right claw forward like a flaming drill before slamming into the middle green eye on Iblis' forehead making it roar in agony before backflipping into the air and landing back on the clone's chakra arm.
"It only gets worse from here Iblis! Aerial Tailed Beast Flash Bullet!" Naruto shifted into high gear as he moved around Iblis leaving behind a long trail of yellow as he launched a high-gear all the while unleashing a combo of punches and kicks before finally backing away "And now for the finisher…" he raised a hand above it and a pair of chakra arms appeared from his back and proceeded to create a Rasengan with four large white points resembling throwing stars swirling around the core and was giving off a loud screeching noise "Wind Style: Rasenshuriken!" he threw the elemental spiraling sphere across the magma sea before colliding with Iblis and detonating to unleash a vortex of wind which completely engulfed the flaming entity with Naruto and the others retreating to the platform and waiting for the winds to die down while the Naruto deactivated the chakra mode.
Music End
Everyone watched as a flame pillar rose up with nits of magma falling around and a defeated Iblis becomes a ball of flame.
"So that's his weakened state," thought Naruto.
"So what is that hedgehog going to do now?" said Kurama.
Silver stepped forward while holding out the white and cyan Chaos Emeralds "Chaos Emeralds, lend me your power! Eternal Sun! The Living Flame that has been entrusted to the royal family! Fall into slumber with my soul, Iblis! You cursed Flames of Disaster!"
Naruto's eyes widened upon hearing what he said "Does he plan to seal Iblis within himself?!"
"It certainly seems so, just like how the princess was the container of the Flames of Disaster, he intends to do the same," said Kurama grimly.
Naruto and Kurama watched the Chaos Emeralds glow up then the flames are absorbed into both at once, which tried to inject them into him as beams of light. However they noticed that Silver began to grunt in pain.
"Silver, what's happening?!" said Naruto urgently.
"It's Iblis…it's refusing…to accept me as…its vessel," Silver grunted out.
"This is bad, at this rate Ibis will escape to recover," said Kurama.
Blaze walked forward and placed a hand on Silver's shoulder to get his attention.
"Blaze what is it?" asked Silver.
"I'll be the one to take Iblis,"
"What?! Neko what are you saying?!" said Naruto.
"My soul is already alit with flames, I will be accepted," Blaze takes the emeralds from Silver and uses their powers, and the Iblis was instantly absorbed into her at once with the flames swirling around her as her chest glows up in light.
"Neko, you can't contain the flames for much longer!" said Naruto worriedly.
"I know…which is why…I want Silver to…use Chaos Control to stop time…and seal us into a different dimension," said Blaze, making them look at her in shock.
Silver immediately refused "No! I can't do that to you!"
"Didn't we already go through this? We agreed to save the world at any price!"
"But It's not worth sacrificing a friend! Please Neko, there has to be some other way!" Naruto looked at her pleadingly.
"You know deep inside that there is no other way,"
Naruto gritted his teeth in frustration knowing that she was right, the flames refused Silver as the vessel and he is already a jinchurriki so he can't do the sealing. Silver attempted to use Chaos Control but kept hesitating.
"I can't! I wouldn't know what to do without you! You fought alongside us to save the world…You're my friend…right?" said Silver with sadness.
"*Sigh* You're still so naïve…but that's what I like about you," said Blaze with a smile "Chaos Control!"
A dark shield appeared around her, and she drops both emeralds as she and Iblis fade into the void. Naruto and Silver chased after her but stops as she floats upwards and waves goodbye.
"Good luck Silver…and I'm glad to have met you Naruto,"
Blaze floats up to the clouds and into light with its rays piercing through the dark clouds, quenching the lava and flames altogether. Naruto and Silver look up to the now clear sky at where Blaze had been, Naruto looked away with his shoulders shaking as he struggled to keep the tears at bay with Silver feeling the same way.
"In the end we still lost a friend despite everything," thought Naruto.
"Kit…" Kurama could only extend his chakra out to Naruto as a form of comfort.
"It just..hurts Kurama, I could have done more and yet I knew that there weren't any other way,"
"I know, but remember what Itachi said to you before. Don't always place everything on your shoulders or you might lose your sense of self from the burden,"
"Yeah, I remember…I should return to the present and meet up with Sonic," Naruto approached Silver to talk to him "Silver, I'll be returning to the present. Will you be alright on your own?"
Silver was silent before finally responding "…I think I'll be able to manage for now,"
"Ok but you can always call on me or the others when you need help,"
"Thanks Naruto," said Silver, the blond fox smiled softly.
They approached the Chaos Emeralds on the ground and were about to pick it up…when they suddenly emitted a powerful white light, blinding the both of them.
"What the?! What's going on?!" shouted Naruto but they couldn't say anything more as they were engulfed in the light.
This is Hussbek online with the latest chapter, despite Naruto and Sonic being able to get a second chance to save Elise before the crash, the group still ended up losing someone in the long run and now the Chaos Emeralds are acting strangely…just what is going on here? Stay tuned for the next chapter and grand finale to the Solaris arc. Read and review as always.
For those who might complain about Naruto not being able to fly in chakra mode or bijuu mode, I should inform you that I tweaked it so that upon attaining the Rikudo Sennin mode, the other modes excluding Sage mode also got the ability of flight so I don't want to hear any complaints.
This is Hussbek from Ghana.
Signing out.