-Chapter 177-

Fight the Future

Soleanna

Elise was running down the streets of Soleanna, drawing odd stares from passersby. She ignored them all, scanning the crowd for any recognizable Freedom Fighters. Luckily for her, she didn't have far to go. Bunnie and Antoine were sitting in front of a small restaurant, sharing a milkshake. She immediately ran over to them, catching her breath as she leaned on the table.

"You... you're Bunnie Rabbot and Antoine D'Coolette, right?" Elise stammered. "Of the Knothole Freedom Fighters?"

"That we are, Princesse," Antoine confirmed.

"Are you alright, sugar?" Bunnie questioned. "What's wrong?"

"Sonic…" Elise looked up. "A white hedgehog is trying to kill him! We just got back from Robotnik's base when he attacked him out of nowhere!"

Both fighters were instantly on their feet.

"Must be this Silver Nicole sent alerts about." Bunnie realized.

"I'll escort our royal guest to safety," Antoine decided. "I leave the charge to you."

Bunnie nodded. "I got this."

She pecked Antoine on the cheek, then activated her rockets and took off.

"Please follow me," Antoine requested.

Elise nodded, following him to the hotel.

-X-

In the hotel, Blaze had just stepped out of a hot shower, Sally holding out her freshly laundered dress.

"Here," she said. "All clean."

"Thanks."

Blaze got dressed just as Nicole's handheld buzzed. Nicole appeared, visibly shocked.

"The Princess is safe, but Sonic is engaging with Silver," she reported.

"What?!" Blaze screamed.

"In the bazaar, near the Meh Burger stand."

"Oh no…" Sally let out. "We have to hurry!"

-X-

At the bazaar, Sonic dodged another attack from Silver.

"Just what's going on here?!" he demanded. "What'd I ever do to you?!"

"Nothing," Silver replied. "But I have information that you're the Iblis Trigger. Your actions will condemn us all!"

"That's ridiculous! I'm the hero of Mobius! I'd never do something that horrible!"

"I don't want to believe it myself. But my future, my world, is absolute hell. And if there's even a one percent chance that destroying you will change it for the better, I have to take it as an absolute certainty. I'm sorry."

He began timing Sonic's attempts at dodging, then managed a precise throw, getting Sonic with a psychic knife right in the foot. Sonic howled in pain, falling over and skidding several feet.

"SONIC!" Amy struggled to bend the metal holding her, and slowly it was beginning to give. Silver loomed over Sonic, another psychic knife forming as Sonic clutched his foot.

"I'm telling you, you have the wrong guy!" he insisted. "Whoever this Iblis Trigger is, it's not me!"

"Sorry, Sonic. But I can't take that chance. For the sake of the future, the Iblis Trigger must die!"

Suddenly, there was a loud metallic pop, then something hit Silver hard on the back of the head. Amy had gotten her arm free, eyes blazing as she recalled her hammer. She swung down, smashing the chair as Sonic focused his Chaos lightning, vibrating his foot to heal it up.

"Sonic, get out of here," Amy ordered. "I'll cover you."

Sonic grinned, which was slightly offset by his pained wince and sweat on his brow. "Kick his ass, Amy."

He hobbled away at that. Amy advanced on Silver, hammer in hand.

"Amy, you don't understand!" Silver pleaded.

"What's not to understand?" Amy spat. "You're running off half-cocked and trying to kill Sonic with next-to-no evidence he's actually done anything wrong!"

"He's the Iblis Trigger! He causes the end of the world!"

"Says who?!" Amy demanded.

"Uh…" Silver stammered. "It doesn't-"

"Yes, it matters! WHO?!"

She brought up her hammer, preparing to smash him.

"He called himself Mephiles!" Silver said quickly. "He sent me back here from my time, two hundred years in the future! He told me Sonic destroys everything, leaving it to burn in eternal fire!"

"And you actually believed him?! How stupid are you?!"

"I have to! This is the only chance I have to-"

"SILVER VENICE!"

The blood drained out of Silver's face at that scream. "Kriff…"

Lara-Su rounded the corner, the boys and Kat behind her. She walked slowly up to Silver, a blank expression on her face as he began to sweat.

"Oh... h-hey, Lara-Su. What's happening?" Silver chuckled nervously.

Lara didn't stop until she was right in his face. Everyone winced as a heavy blow sounded; Silver's eyes widened in pain as he reeled back, clutching his gut as Lara-Su retracted her first before letting loose.

"You… complete and utter… fern-headed… IDIOT!"

Amy lowered her hammer, just staring as the kids came over.

"Uh... who's that?" she asked.

"Time Traveler," Keith said.

"Knuckles' future daughter," Chris added.

"And my protege," Kat concluded.

"Oh... That explains it," Amy remarked.

They watched as Lara-Su ranted and raved at Silver.

"Have you completely lost your mind?! Going off and trying to kill Sonic the Hedgehog?! The freaking HERO OF MOBIUS?!"

"Mephiles said-"

"So what?! If Mephiles told you to jump into one of the lava pits in Crisis City, would you?!"

"Of course not-"

"And yet you believe him about this?! You've completely lost any form of common sense! HE HAD! NO! MOUTH! And he just happened to know how to stop all this, and it involved killing Sonic?! For all we know, he's the real Iblis Trigger and he sent you to kill Sonic to ensure our horrible future came to pass!"

"You've seen the future, Lara! It's absolute and total HELL! We've tried defeating Iblis dozens of times, and he just keeps coming back! What else was I supposed to do?!"

"Use your freakin' head! Actually think this through!"

"Your Master said it herself! Her memories leading up to the disaster were hazy! For all we know-!"

An ominous snikt (1) sounded, and he found Lara's fist spikes extended and less than an inch from his muzzle. He gulped, holding up his hands nervously as he let out a meek murmur of surrender.

"Shutting up now…"

"Okay!" Kat cut in. "I'm stopping this."

She grabbed Lara-Su by her scruff, pulling her back. The echidna yelped, immediately going limp at the grab. Silver suffered a similar indignity, tensing in Kat's hand.

"You…" She held up Lara, "sheathe the spikes now. We do not threaten murder. And you…" She held up Silver, "I don't care how old I get, I'm gonna damn well remember if one of my friends caused the end of the world. Especially if it's Sonic. Now both of you are gonna calm down, shut up, and we're going to get to the bottom of this like rational beings. Have I made myself clear?"

"Yes, Master," Lara-Su let out. "Sorry, Master."

She sheathed her spikes, hanging her head.

"Silver…?" Kat pressed.

"We're clear," Silver nodded quickly. "Perfectly clear."

"Wow…" Amy remarked. "You know things are bad when Kat's the rational one."

"Tell me about it," Kat sighed.

The Freedom Fighters reconvened at the hotel, where Elise was helping herself to a cup of chamomile tea to calm her nerves. Sonic finished healing his foot as Lara-Su shoved Silver toward him.

"Silver here has something to say to you." she told him.

Silver was tense and nervous, looking down at the ground and wringing his hands.

"Now, Silver," Lara ordered.

Silver looked up. "I-I'm sorry. My future is a complete mess. I was desperate to do something to change it. So when I was told you were the cause of it and killing you would fix things, I convinced myself that was the case."

"Is it really that bad?" Sonic questioned.

"There's barely anything left there," Blaze explained. "Only a handful of survivors, endless ruins, and eternal flames.

Elise's tea cup fell out of her hand. "The Flames of Disaster…"

They turned to her at that.

"Eggman keeps mentioning them," Sonic recalled. "What do you know?"

Elise sighed. "It ties into Solaris, the sun god our country honors. It is told that Solaris's rage would destroy the world. His wrath comes in the form of the Flames of Disaster. Ten years ago, my father enacted the Solaris Project, seeking to harness his power for the good of mankind. Instead, our country nearly faced the full force of his fury."

Everyone turned to her, giving her their full attention.

"Please Princess, tell us what you know," Tails begged.

"Yes," Lara-Su nodded in agreement. "Maybe with your knowledge, we can find the real Iblis Trigger."

"I don't remember much of the details. I was only seven at the time, and knocked out in the explosion that…" Elise's breath hitched as she fought back emotion. "That claimed my father's life."

Sally took her hand.

"I'm sorry…"

Elise nodded, composing herself before going on.

"And now Dr. Robotnik is trying to cause the same disaster again."

"That's Eggman for you," Knuckles grumbled. "Wherever that madman goes, death and destruction are sure to follow."

"Maybe he's the Iblis Trigger," Silver suggested.

"I'd believe it," Shorty snorted. "I mean, how many times has the guy nearly caused an apocalypse?"

"Chaos, ARK, Metal…" Tekno began listing on her fingers. "Am I missing anything?"

"Embalma's curse," Sally supplied.

Tekno snapped fingers, pointing at Sally.

"Right. Embalma's curse."

"Then it's simple," Mina declared. "To stop the bad future and the Flames of Disaster, we just keep Elise from Eggman. Problem solved."

"Is it really that simple?" Elise questioned.

"Nothing starts until you take action, Elise," Sonic told her. "If you have time to worry, then run."

"For now, let's see if we can find Eggman," Sally decided. "Nicole, run a sweep of the area. He'll be wanting Elise back."

"On it" Nicle began the scan, and her eyebrows furrowed. "I'm picking up a LoJack frequency right here in the room."

Her eyes slowly turned to Elise, the others following.

"It's coming from me?"

Elise patted herself down, searching for anything that could be giving off the frequency. Eventually, she felt something hard in her right glove, reaching out and pulling out a small device bearing Robotnik's logo that was giving off a low tone. Keith took it, looking it over before his eyes widened behind his glasses.

"Guys... this is a tracking device," he reported. "He bugged Elise."

The horror slowly donned on them.

"And that means…" Porker began.

Right on cue, they heard metallic noises and looked out to see an army of Swatbots stomping right for the hotel.

"Standard search-and-destroy pattern," the commander announced. "Find the Freedom Fighters and neutralize with extreme prejudice."

"Shit!" Sonic cursed. "They found us!"

"Give me the tracking dot," Silver insisted. "I'll run a diversion, try and draw them away."

"No way," Sonic insisted. "You have no idea what these things can do. Besides, I have Priority One with these losers. You wanna help? Then get the Princess to safety."

"Sonic, what are you thinking?" Johnny asked.

"Simple. We all know Eggman's Priority One protocol means any Badnik who sees me will drop everything they're doing to try and take me out. I take the tracker and lure them away so you guys can get Elise outta here."

"And the rest of us?" Knuckles asked.

"Help me out. Robotnik's expecting us." Sonic turned to Blaze, Lara-Su, and Silver. "But not them."

"Meaning we can sneak her out undetected," Blaze realized.

"We'll get her back to the palace," Lara-Su decided. "At least there, her guards can help us."

-X-

The Badniks were about to break down the door when Sonic jumped out the window, whistling.

"Hey!" he called. "You oversized tin cans looking for someone?!"

"Alert!" the Badniks declared. "Hedgehog, Priority One!"

They fired on Sonic, who immediately took off, running just slow enough to make sure they followed him. The other Freedom Fighters quickly moved to get involved in the fight. Meanwhile, Lara-Su stuck her head out the back door.

"Alright, coast is clear," she reported.

Both Blaze and Elise were wearing cloaks to try and hide their faces. They crept out, Silver and Lara-Su in the back as they headed for the palace.

"Why are you wearing a cloak, Blaze?" Elise asked.

"Robotnik's met me once," Blaze explained. "If he saw me, it may clue him in."

-X-

Meanwhile, the Freedom Fighters were easily holding off the Badniks.

"Man, we're old hat at this stuff now!" Mina declared.

"Agreed!" Rotor remarked. "It's almost too easy!"

Knuckles punched one bot out, taking notice of something.

"Hang on... it IS too easy!" he shouted. "There's no strategy here! They're just throwing bots at us!"

Sonic perked, immediately breaking away before making a run for the palace, only to be blocked off by more bots.

By this point, Team Silver and Elise had made it back to the palace, only to find the guards sprawled out cold. Much to their shock, Robotnik was lounging indolently on the throne as if he owned it.

"Finally," he said, giving the quartet a small smirk. "I've been waiting so patiently for you to return, Princess."

He looked over the three travelers, brow furrowing in confusion

"And just who are you three? Sonic's latest plucky recruits?"

"H-how-" Elise stammered, "How did you-?!

"I am a genius. I knew it was only a matter of time before Sonic started trying to use my Priority One system as a diversion. In fact, I was counting on it."

"So you could corner the Princess here, with no Sonic to stop you…" Silver realized.

"Exactly. Now, all that stands between me and my goals are you little upstarts."

"Eggman, listen!" Lara-Su begged. "We're from the future! If you release the Flames of Disaster, you'll destroy all of Mobius and make it a living hell!"

"It nearly happened once already ten years ago!" Blaze added.

"I'm well aware of how the Solaris Project ended," Robotnik rebuffed. "The Duke was a genius, but also a fool. He thought he could harness the power of a god without a contingency plan, or proper precautions. That's what did him in."

"And you think you'll fare any better?!" Elise exclaimed.

"I don't think I will. I know I will. The only reason I lost control over Chaos is because my bumbling do-gooder niece destroyed the device I was using to do so. I can easily whip up something to keep Solaris in check as well."

"You fool!" Silver exclaimed. "No you can't! Unleashing Iblis will destroy everything! Nothing can control him!"

"You're risking an apocalypse for the sake of your own selfish ambitions?!" Lara-Su screeched.

"Yes, the damage that'll ensue will be a pity," Robotnik allowed, "but at least there'll still be enough left of Mobius for me to conquer."

"No there won't!" Silver snapped as he began glowing.

Robotnik rolled his eyes at the display.

"Oh please. If I had a Mobium for every time one of you do-gooders started glowing."

"I won't let you destroy the world, Robotnik!" Silver swore. "I'm gonna stop you, even if it means killing you right here and now!"

He launched a psychic knife. Robotnik's eyes widened before he managed to dodge.

"Alright, I'll admit, that is impressive. But if there's one thing I've learned after two years of fighting…" He drew a gun from his jacket. "It's that almost all supernatural abilities... are based in the Chaos Force."

He shot Silver, who was suddenly depowered. He dropped to the ground, curling into a fetal position as he held himself, looking like he was having a seizure.

"SILVER!" Blaze and Lara-Su cried.

The two of them were quickly shot as well, suffering from similar convulsions.

"No!" Elise screamed. "What did you do to them?!"

"Chaos Disruptor," Robotnik explained. "Exactly what it says on the tin. Their Chaos energy has been disrupted, and they'll remain that way for quite a while. Now, Princess... you will accompany me back to my base, or I'll kill them, and your guards."

Elise was frozen, knowing she had no choice but to comply…

-X-

Sonic came running in, only to find the trio on the ground, the guards knocked out, and Elise gone.

"No!" he shouted. "Damn it!"

He looked them over, recognizing their symptoms. "The disruptor... Eggman rebuilt that damn thing…"

He sighed, leaning down to help the others up.

"I-I'm sorry, Sonic…" Silver let out. "I tried…"

"Save your breath, Silver," Sonic said, not unkindly. "It'll be some time before your Chaos field stabilizes. Right now, all we can do is get you three somewhere safe."

Carefully, he got the three downed travelers out of the palace, silently vowing to find the Princess.

Kingdom Valley

Meanwhile, Shadow, Rouge, and Hope had escaped to the nearby Zone of Kingdom Valley, and were currently waiting for the heat from Robotnik's forces to die down. At that moment, Omochao beeped, patching in a message from Omega.

"E-123 Omega reporting in. What, pray tell, possessed you to abandon me in the snow?"

"Hey, look at the positive side," Rouge pointed out. "You got to introduce plenty of Eggman's bots to fire and doom."

There was a moment of silence

"My annoyance has decreased. However, I sustained heavy damage. I will be reporting for maintenance and will not be joining you for the remainder of the mission. Attempt not to perish in my absence."

"We'll do our best." Shadow assured.

"Guess we continue on then." said Rouge. "Still got the scepter?"

Shadow held it up.

"Good. The rendezvous point isn't too far from our position."

As they headed in, Rouge explained some things about the area.

"This is the ancient castle of Soleanna. The old kings used to reside here... until the Solaris Project backfired ten years ago. Nobody's lived here since."

"Must have been pretty bad to reduce the place to this," Hope remarked.

"Mobius seems to have a history of projects going cataclysmically wrong," Shadow muttered.

"Well… you're not wrong," Rouge confessed.

"The hubris of mankind, Shadow," Hope admitted. "A lot of people are so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they don't stop to think if they should."

"Right…" Shadow remarked.

Hope leaned into him.

"For the record, you didn't go wrong," she assured. "You went right."

"Yes, right into my clutches!"

They all perked as Mordred appeared, Egg Soldiers flanking him. Shadow snorted.

"Who's this clown?" he asked.

"Clown?!" Mordred hissed. "I am Mordred Hood, Sub-Boss of the Eurish Egg Army! And in the name of Dr. Robotnik, we demanded you hand over the Scepter of Darkness!"

"Hang on, aren't you the guy who used to work for Rob O' Hedge?" Rouge asked. "The one that got the boot a week into your position?"

"Eggman must be scraping the bottom of the barrel if he picked you up," Shadow mused.

Mordred hissed before firing on them. Rouge grabbed the Scepter before flying up, trying to escape, only for a Buzzbomber to cut her off and knock her out of the sky, sending the Scepter flying out of her hands. Shadow slid to catch her as the Scepter hit the ground, shattering. Almost immediately, dark smoke leaked from it.

"No!" Mordred screamed in horror. "Damn it! Fall back!"

They immediately hurried away, Team Dark recoiling as the accompanying Badniks short-circuited. The smoke shot out in a pillar and swooped around, destroying the downed Badniks before landing on the ground before Shadow. As they watched, the cloud of smoke seemed to draw Shadow's shadow into it. The mass began to solidify, rising off of the ground to take the form of none other than Mephiles. As he finished his transformation, he looked himself over, flexing his fingers.

"What-" Shadow gasped.

"The-" Rouge muttered.

"Fudge?" Hope finished, censoring herself.

Mephiles laughed, and despite his lack of a mouth, when he spoke he sounded like he was grinning maniacally.

"Oh, how ironic fate can be! I would never have believed I would be resurrected through your shade! I thank you, Shadow the Hedgehog."

He bowed, while Shadow looked confused.

"Who are you? How do you know my name?"

"I'm Mephiles. Mephiles the Dark."

He walked towards Shadow, who instinctively put himself between his copy and his team.

"What, did you forget me? I owe much to you Shadow. Oh, yes." Mephiles formed a purple orb in his hand. "What you gave to me, I now return to you! A one-way ticket to oblivion."

The orb surrounded Team Dark, all four of them disappearing...

Author's Note:

(1): The sound Wolverine's claws make when unsheathed.

The plot thickens. Can the Freedom Fighters save Elise? And what is Mephiles?

Please R&R. Until next time!