After a long battle against many clones of Mephiles, Shadow glared at all the dark goop that surrounded him, Rouge, and Omega. They've finally done it. They've stopped the clones.

Shadow frowned a little, not knowing how exactly they were going to get out of the shrine. Rouge could carry him and Omega just fine normally, but now she seemed worn out from helping Shadow fight. The hedgehog folded his arms and slowly shifted from side to side.

"Did we terminate the real Mephiles?" Omega asked, his robotic voice echoing in the room.

Shadow's red eyes widened with the realization. Did they get the real Mephiles? Is he a part of the goop, or did he escape during the battle, leaving the trio to fight his clones as a distraction?

The black hedgehog glared at the dark substance as he put his inhibitor rings back onto his wrists.

"Knowing him," he looked back at his robot friend, frustrated with the possibility, "Most likely not."

Rouge turned her head, annoyed and defeated.

"So we fought this long for nothing?" The white bat placed her hands on her hips. "Where is he now, then? And how are we going to beat him? He broke through the Scepter of Darkness— what other way is there to get rid of him?"

"We will terminate him," Omega told her. "No matter what it takes."

"I appreciate your determination, Omega," Rouge folded her arms, "But Mephiles isn't... normal. He's from another world, from what I've gathered. We'd have to get into contact with someone from that world. It's not impossible— there's that whole island, right?"

Suddenly, Shadow jerked his head up with a slight glint in his eye. It's like he knew who to contact.

"That cat," he said quietly.

Rouge blinked twice.

"I'm sorry?" The bat squinted. "What did you say?"

"That cat that Sonic introduced to us once," Shadow looked at her. "Blaze."

Rouge's teal eyes grew wider. Mephiles is from her dimension? She looked down at the ground and back up at Shadow.

"She's here?" The bat asked. She smiled a little bit. "Hm, it would be nice to say hello to an old friend."

"You met her once," Omega stated.

"Shh, we got along," Rouge elbowed the bot, although that didn't do much to him. "But point is, you think she can help?"

"...Possibly," Shadow replied after a long pause, "We would have to contact Sonic or Tails— they're most likely with her now."

"But how do you know she's actually here?" Omega asked, moving his arms as if to shrug.

The black hedgehog looked at the robot for a long moment. "Information from the future," he said.

The black hedgehog looked down at the ground and saw the yellow and green Chaos Emeralds. He frowned, confused as to why Mephiles would leave them here. Didn't he need one to fuse with Iblis?

"Strange that a smart guy like Mephiles would leave these here," Rouge said with a snarky attitude. "Don't the others have the other Emeralds?"

Shadow's eyes widened. Mephiles could go for them...

"Contact Sonic or Tails," he immediately turned his head towards the bat. "Now."

• • •

Sonic ran through the fields as he watched the map to guide him where to go. According to the map that Tails sent him, the last Emerald was in a small field in the forest by Wave Ocean. Thankfully for the hedgehog, it wasn't too far, so he could make it there with a quick jog.

Within a minute, the blue blur located the last Chaos Emerald. The gem was just floating by one of the large rocky structures in the field, its purple aura glowing brightly as every other Emerald's aura did.

Sonic smiled to himself. Heh, this was easy! He thought. I don't know why Tails was so worried about this, but hey, the Emerald's lookin' alright, and I'm safe and sound. Time to bring it back!

As the hedgehog reached for the Emerald, the gem started flashing repeatedly from a bright white to a dark purple. Sonic covered his eyes, as the constant change in the colors practically blinded him.

Okay, that's not normal, Sonic squinted, still covering his eyes with his arm. Still, could've at least given me an epilepsy warning, sheesh!

He began to back away from the Emerald, wondering if the flashing will stop if he gave it space again.

Behind the hedgehog, a dark puddle slowly formed in the ground, and from it emerged none other than Mephiles the Dark. The chilling crystallized hedgehog knew that he had to use the hero in order to get what he wants. His pawn wasn't able to do the deed for him, so he had to take it into his own hands.

Plus, he didn't mind seeing other people suffer just to accomplish his goal. In fact, he enjoyed it. He was willing to achieve his objective the long route if he got to have as many people to suffer as possible along the way.

And to cause the most pain and manipulate the princess, he knew exactly what he needed to do.

While Sonic was still confused and trying to shield his eyes from the bright flashes, Mephiles took the opportunity he needed. He raised his arm towards the blue hedgehog and summoned an energy beam, shooting it straight through the hero. The beam impaled through Sonic's chest, and the hedgehog froze.

Everything happened so fast. Sonic gasped as if he had lost his breath. He began to choke for air, but he couldn't breathe. The hedgehog's green eyes were wide as he was looking down at the glowing beam that impaled him. He looked back slowly at the person who attacked him as his vision began to blacken. With his vision blurred, he couldn't make out what his murderer looked like exactly. The last thing he could remember was the killer's neon green eyes practically glowing with coldness.

The hedgehog's limbs became numb, and Sonic's eyes fluttered shut with his final breath.

Mephiles withdrew his energy beam, and with that Sonic's body fell to the ground. His chest was bleeding from the vertical wound he got from being stabbed. The hero's eyes were just barely open, but the bright green in them that always glowed with excitement was now lifeless.

Sonic was dead.

Mephiles laughed as the hero's body laid before him. He hasn't killed anyone in his crystallized form before, but he knew that destroying lives in his physical state was much better than as a smoky liquid inside a scepter. Now he craved becoming one with Iblis even more. He would then be able to destroy all of time and space for his own pleasure instead of just making the dimension he came from suffer. He was going to reunite with Iblis properly soon.

The crystallized hedgehog knew exactly where Iblis was. If he wasn't so close, he would've admittedly been afraid to even try to get to it, since the one who possessed the flame was the princess that was prophesied to end Iblis and Mephiles, thus ending yearly catastrophes in the Sol Dimension. However, now that he had the blue hero killed, he could finally manipulate the princess into giving the Sol Emerald with Iblis inside of it to him.

Though having Silver as his pawn didn't continue to the end, Mephiles was quite pleased with all the chaos the white hedgehog brought after Mephiles toyed with him and got him to think Sonic caused his dreadful future. Getting that young hedgehog to believe that was surprisingly easy. He was desperate— and Mephiles used that to his advantage.

Looking back at all the suffering that was caused by his plans, Mephiles did not at all regret using Silver as a pawn for a while. Now it was time to use a new pawn to complete his quest to rejoin with his other half— and that pawn was Sonic's dead body.

With his next destination in mind, Mephiles took the purple Chaos Emerald he used, lifted up the blue hedgehog's body via levitation, and he disappeared into a dark smoke.

• • •

Meanwhile, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and Blaze were all still back at the cottage, keeping watch on the safe with the Chaos and Sol Emeralds inside. Tails and Knuckles arrived back from the battle minutes ago. They managed to drive away as many robots terrorizing the town as possible, but they cut back just in case Eggman noticed their presence. Blaze was still feeling absolutely sick to her stomach about the whole situation, but she was doing better than before. Amy helped Blaze to a couch and knelt down beside her while Tails brought some ice for her head once he returned. Amy's, Tails's, and Knuckles's conversation from before the boys left resumed while Blaze rested on the couch. Every once in a while, Tails would switch out the ice for Blaze's head.

So everyone was calmer than before, to say the least.

"Sorry for being a burden," Blaze said, her eyes closed. "You didn't have to immediately help me and cut off your important conversation."

"Don't say that," Amy shook her head. "Besides, the conversation escalated to something that's not about the situation at hand." She glared at Knuckles, who gave her a why me? expression in response.

"Plus, you seriously don't look okay," Tails frowned, worried. "Before we left, you were really shaky and your breaths were either like full gasps, or they were super shallow."

At that moment, Tails felt a buzz on his wrist. A sense of relief washed over him, hoping desperately it was Sonic to let them know he's okay. To his surprise, however, it was Rouge. Maybe she, Shadow, and Omega found the Chaos Emerald they were supposed to get.

The yellow fox tapped on his communicator and answered the call. "Rouge?" He asked.

Knuckles, Amy, and Blaze all looked up and listened, hoping the news would ease everyone up. There has to be good news, they really needed it.

"Tails, this is Shadow," Shadow answered on the other end. "Sonic isn't answering, so you are the next option. Is that princess with you?"

"Blaze? Uh, yeah," Tails raised a brow, confused. "Why do you ask?"

"Okay," Shadow said, "Who else is there?"

"It's just me, Blaze, Knuckles, and Amy," the fox frowned a little. "But seriously, what's going on?"

There was a pause.

"This goes to all of you," the black hedgehog finally replied. "Protect the Chaos Emeralds and those other gems from Blaze's world. There's most likely something headed your way." He stopped for a second. "Wait, so where's Sonic?"

Tails, still shook from the vague news he just received, slowly looked up at the others on the couch. They looked alarmed.

"He left a few minutes ago looking for the last Chaos Emerald," the fox answered hesitantly.

Again, there was a long pause. It made Tails even more anxious about the whole situation— as if he wasn't already anxious enough.

"... He's screwed," was all Shadow said.

Tails's blue eyes widened.

"What do you mean, 'screwed'?!" The fox demanded. "What the heck is happening?"

"Does Blaze have that Sol Emerald with Iblis inside it?" Shadow asked.

Blaze frowned a little. How did he know everything? Was it because he went to the future with Sonic and the past with Silver to gather information?

"Yeah," Tails replied, getting more and more worried about how serious the situation has just gotten.

"Tell her to protect it with her life," Shadow ordered, his voice serious and firm. "And someone go look for Sonic and let him know not to be careless right now. Rouge, Omega, and I are in a bit of a... well, goopy problem. So we can't make it in time."

Knuckles and Amy turned towards Blaze, who's golden eyes were wide. First Sonic told her to keep a hard eye on it, and now Shadow? She knew this Sol Emerald was important because it had Iblis inside, but what's coming for it? Will all their efforts go to nothing? ...Will the prophecy fail?

"G-got it," Tails nodded, starting to shake from stress. "Good luck getting out of your problem, then."

"... Thanks," Shadow replied somewhat hesitantly. "Now hurry."

"Right," Tails nodded and ended the call.

He looked up at the others, who were sitting on the couch in front of him. They were all looking at him with wide eyes.

"Wait, what's happening to Sonic?" Amy asked, her green eyes filled with worry.

"I don't know," Tails looked down at the ground, terrified with what could come. "Shadow just said that Sonic's in trouble looking for the last Emerald..." The fox looked back up. "So we need to go out there and get him before he gets there... Hopefully he didn't find it yet..."

"Then we need to hurry," Knuckles stood up. "Tails, stay here and guard the other Emeralds. I'll keep watch outside to see if he's on his way back. Blaze, go look for Son—"

"But what about the Sol Emerald?" Blaze asked. "Both Sonic and Shadow have said that I have to protect it..."

"Take it with you," Amy suggested. "I'll come with to make sure nothing takes it!"

The purple feline slightly smiled at the pink hedgehog.

"Thank you, Amy," she said.

The pink hedgehog smiled, closed her eyes, and nodded.

"Be careful, guys," Tails wished them luck.

"We will!" Amy waved as she took Blaze's hand and pulled her out of the cottage. "Now let's go find Sonic!"

The girls ran in the direction that Sonic ran off towards. Blaze somewhat remembered the digital map, so she knew which way to go. She ran through the small hills and attacked any little enemy that got in her way. Amy helped her whenever she could, also fighting off any fiery or smoky purple monsters that showed up.

Eventually, the two made it to the little field in the forest. They searched for Sonic everywhere— behind trees, boulders, anything that someone could hide behind. However, to their dismay, the girls couldn't find him.

Blaze did notice some marks in the grounds that looked like someone skidded, so she knew the blue hero was definitely here. Even Amy with her "girlish intuition" sensed that her crush was in the area before, but no luck.

"Do you think he left?" Amy asked. "Maybe he's on his way back home."

"If that were the case," Blaze closed her eyes and lowered her head, "We would've seen him on our way here."

Amy's head hung low, her arms behind her back. Blaze looked down at her blue Sol Emerald. The images that flashed before her started consuming her thoughts again. She then thought about what Shadow said. He's screwed. Was Sonic truly in danger? Or was it just the feline's paranoia of the situation?

"Let's see if he did make it back though," the purple feline turned to Amy, trying to cheer her friend up. "Maybe he took a different route?"

With that, Amy's smile slowly reappeared on her face. The pink hedgehog nodded, and the two girls made their way into the forest again.

The cat and hedgehog walked in silence on their way back to Tails's cottage. They didn't know what to exactly say to one another, especially not in the current state they were in. Both were tired and worried sick for Sonic, and they both silently but desperately hoped he was alright.

When the girls were deeper in the forest, the light of the sun got a little dimmer with the leaves of all the trees casting shade before them. Though the scenery was beautiful, the atmosphere seemed quite eerie to Blaze. Her gold eyes darted everywhere to make sure nothing was come up behind her and Amy.

Suddenly, a short yelp escaped Amy. A purple Chaos Emerald appeared in front of the two girls, flashing wildly. It appeared out of nowhere, which made the pink hedgehog's heart stop for a second. Amy and Blaze shielded their eyes from the blinding flashing.

"What's happening?" Amy exclaimed.

"My, my," a masculine voice said behind them. The voice sent a chill down the girls' spines. "Two lovely young ladies out here in the woods alone..."

Blaze and Amy turned around and made eye contact with the person that was behind them. He looked a lot like Shadow, only a rocky version of him. He had bright neon green eyes, and what normally would be the white part of the eye was red. Amy nearly jumped back, but she managed to keep her composure.

Blaze, however, froze in fear. Her gold irises shrunk as she remembered this exact figure being one of the images that flashed before her eyes. Not only that, but she also felt a familiar energy around him. When she saw the purple smoke surrounding him, she instantly knew who this was. She couldn't even believe it— how he made it out of the ancient scepter, she had no idea.

"Mephiles," she just barely whispered. "Pool of the Dark..."

"I see you recognize me, my dear Blaze," the dark hedgehog bowed. "It is an honor, your Highness, that even in the form of your friend, you know who I am."

Blaze frowned, her heart pounding fast. She never thought that the cause of the yearly devastation in her world would ever stand before her. The feline has always seen the demonic smoke in the Scepter of Darkness in Soleanna's archives when she was younger. She never would've thought that he could even take on a physical form.

"Blaze?" Amy whispered to the cat, glancing at her and back at Mephiles. Even she felt uneasy around this mysterious figure. "Can we just move past him...?"

"There's no way we can hide from him now," the feline whispered back, not tearing her eyes away from the crystal hedgehog. "And I don't want to bring him back to where we stayed..."

Mephiles lowered his head, but his eyes stayed locked on Blaze. He held out his hand towards the purple feline, staring right into her eyes.

"I believe you have something that belongs to me," the crystallized hedgehog continued.

While Amy stepped back and wanted her friend to do the same, Blaze stood her ground. Her grip tightened on the blue Sol Emerald, which was hidden behind her back. She knew very well that she shouldn't show fear towards Mephiles, although she was truly uncertain with how she would get herself out of this situation.

"I am well aware it is prophesied that you will blow out Iblis," Mephiles lowered his outstretched arm. "If you may, I would like to come to an agreement, Princess." He paused, making sure that the feline wasn't going to try anything that would go against him. "If you agree not to blow out the flame, perhaps I will consider ending the annual destruction in your dear home."

Blaze's shoulders slumped, her frown slowly loosening. She was meant to stop the chaos in her dimension by blowing out Iblis, thus destroying Mephiles. And yet here he was, offering a different way to stop the catastrophes? What was he talking about?

"You want your home to be safe, correct?" Mephiles continued. "Look where trying to complete the prophecy brought you. The ceremony failed. I am offering you a different way to fulfill it."

Before she could become tempted to agree, Blaze shook her head and narrowed her eyes again.

"You don't keep your promises, Mephiles," the princess glared at him. "I've heard of things my ancestors have tried to do when it came to bargaining with you. I know your tricks."

Amy just stared at the two of them, confused. She figured that Blaze knew this person based on things she had just said. Mephiles... she recognized that name— Silver said it. Was this the person that manipulated the white hedgehog?

"Oh, Princess," Mephiles laughed evilly. "You are very smart indeed. You're not an easy person to fool. You should be proud of yourself, Blaze."

"Don't patronize me," the feline growled.

"However," Mephiles continued, his voice more chilling, "You are easy to shatter."

Before Blaze could ask what he meant, Mephiles waved his hand, and purple smoke appeared. In that smoke, a body showed up. Blaze and Amy both squinted to see what the hedgehog was trying to show. When the smoke cleared up, the body dropped onto the ground before them. A blue hedgehog laid there with a thick red wound in his chest. His eyes were barely open, but the color was almost unrecognizable with all the life sucked out of them.

The two girls froze. Amy began to hyperventilate, her eyes stinging from the forming of tears. The pink hedgehog fell to her knees and screamed.

"SOOOOONIIIIIIC!" She cried, sobbing. She tried to shake him to look for any sign of life, but there was none. His emerald green eyes were now dull and pale, and his limbs just fell every time Amy tried to lift them up. Amy sobbed into her hands, her tears streaming down her face.

Blaze stood there, paralyzed. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't even comprehend what happened. Sonic, one of her very first friends, was now laying on the ground before her, dead. Her limbs went numb, and she lost her grip on the Sol Emerald she held. It slipped out of her hand and fell behind her as she stared at her lifeless friend. She wanted to scream, but she couldn't find her voice. She wanted to cry, but her eyes wouldn't let her. She felt as if her whole body was shutting down.

Why? She asked herself, just barely managed to shake her had. What has Sonic done to him? Why would he care if Sonic is dead?

With the princess frozen in place and her friend sobbing over the hero, Mephiles took this opportunity to take what he wanted. He levitated the blue Sol Emerald from behind Blaze and let it float to his palm. Once he held it, he laughed evilly once again, knowing the princess was too paralyzed with shock and dread to even react.

Thoughts were still running through Blaze's head as she slowly lifted her head up to stare at Mephiles. She suddenly heard a voice in her head that wasn't her own.

BLAZE! SNAP OUT OF IT!

She blinked twice and noticed that Mephiles held the Sol Emerald with Iblis inside.

He used Sonic against me, Blaze's eyes widened with the realization. ...HE USED HIS DEATH AGAINST ME!

"NO!" She shrieked as Mephiles disappeared with the Sol Emerald, leaving the two girls on their own with their dead friend.

Blaze's body finally allowed her to react in despair. She fell to her knees and punched the ground, tears dripping from her face onto the grass. She wasn't just crying over Sonic— she was crying because she couldn't even fulfill her dead friend's wish.

Protect that Emerald at all costs.

A wave of rage washed over the feline, and she screamed so agonizingly loud, that she felt she was going to lose her voice. She looked back at Amy, her vision blurry from her tears. Blaze tried to move over next to her and Sonic while still on her knees. She screamed and sobbed at the same time as the sight of the dead blue hedgehog. As Amy hugged Blaze and sobbed into her arm, Blaze pulled Sonic's lifeless body onto her lap. His dull, dead eyes just stared back at her through his semi closed eyelids. The feline's eyes were blinded by tears again.

How could it have come to this? She asked herself. How could the prophecy fail?

...

How could Sonic of all people fail?

• • •

In the center of Soleanna, people were running left and right, screaming. Adults were rushing children inside their homes, and some children were crying from fear.

Looming above the city was Mephiles, surrounding himself with a dark cloud. He held up the blue Sol Emerald towards the sky.

"Now, Iblis!" Mephiles called, "The seal is broken! At long last, I'll be able to join with you!"

Bright fire began to pour out of the blue Sol Emerald, and it swirled around him.

"Now, Chaos Emerald!" Mephiles bellowed. "It's time for the final curtain call!"

Once he said that, all the Chaos Emeralds appeared. They surrounded him, the seven colorful gems glowing brightly. Even the Sol Emeralds were teleported to him. Both sets of gems swirled around him as Iblis enveloped Mephiles. The crystallized hedgehog's laughs echoed around as he became one with Iblis. The two entities remerged, re-creating the sun god Solaris.

The world was going to end.

• • •

Tails paced around the room while Knuckles sat on the couch with his arms behind his head. The echidna was listening to Tails's worried venting, but he didn't know how to comfort his young friend. He wasn't anything like a therapist, and he's not really an optimist, either. All he could do was listen.

"Do you think Blaze and Amy are okay?" The fox pressed his hands on his head. "I feel like everything's going wrong, I feel so useless! Why didn't Sonic let me go with him? Why am I worrying so much about him if he saved the world without me countless times already?"

Knuckles closed his eyes, also wondering the same things. He wished he knew so that he could let Tails know everything was fine. Plus, hearing someone stress out only made the echidna more agitated, and he did not want to put his friend down.

"Tails," he finally said, "I don't know the answers to your questions. But it's Sonic. He can take care of himself. The same goes to Blaze and Amy— they're perfectly capable on their own."

Tails lowered his head and took a deep breath.

"It just doesn't seem right," the yellow fox sat down next to Knuckles.

"Buddy, listen," the red echidna faced his friend. "I may not be the best at cheering others up, but I— AGH!"

Tails's head quickly snapped towards Knuckles. The echidna was clutching his head, like he had just received a massive headache.

"Knuckles!" The fox exclaimed. "Are you okay?"

"Check the Emeralds!" Knuckles ordered, his purple eyes wide.

Without another word, Tails rushed over to the safe and unlocked it. When he opened the door, he gasped. He was at a loss for words. All the Emeralds they have collected thus far were gone with no trace of them left.

Knuckles ran over to confirm his thoughts. Unfortunately for him, his thoughts were right. The Emeralds have vanished indeed.

The echidna clenched his teeth and closed his fists tightly. He barged outside, and Tails quickly followed him. However, as soon as he walked out the door, Knuckles knew the sky was off. In the distance, he saw large dark clouds and a fiery light in the middle. There were several colors glowing around the fire, which the echidna immediately knew were the Chaos and Sol Emeralds.

"Look!" Knuckles pointed.

Tails squinted and saw exactly what his friend was pointing to. His blue eyes widened with alarm as a bright white light began to grow from the center of the commotion. The white light consumed Soleanna, and it started to reach towards Tails and Knuckles.

Before the two could react, the light caught them. Tails and Knuckles yelled as they were enveloped by the white.

In the temple in Dusty Desert not too far from Wave Ocean, Shadow, Rouge, and Omega finally managed to leave the room. The two Chaos Emeralds they had disappeared right before their eyes, and they already knew something was wrong.

Soon enough, though, the same fate met them. White light suddenly appeared through the ceiling, blinding the trio. Screams escaped them as the light of Solaris enveloped the friends.

Solaris's light covered Soleanna and all of the surrounding areas, leaving nothing behind. Mephiles has succeeded— he not only reunited with Iblis, but he also made people suffer along the way.

It seemed that the world was truly gone.

• • •

AHHH I FORGOT TO UPDATE ON MONDAY SKDNNFG

Hope you guys enjoyed!! New chapter tomorrow since that's gonna be on schedule!!

Again, sorry for posting this late! 😂😅

~

Chapter art by me (sweggyllamaqueen)