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Silver is no stranger to power. Between his psychokinesis, Blaze’s fire and stories of the Sol Emeralds, and Iblis itself, he’d encountered his fair share of abilities even before he started time traveling and teaming up with hedgehogs who run at the speed of sound and hedgehogs who are immortal, what?
So, yeah, he’s seen a lot. But nothing could’ve prepared him for the energy of the Chaos Emeralds. It is completely overwhelming and foreign, sliding over him like a forcefield, and yet it feels like some missing piece of himself has clicked into place, finally. He didn’t even know he wasn’t whole until the Chaos filled something within him.
It’s familiar, and that kind of terrifies Silver, because this new form is so different and new—he’s glowing, by the way, turned from silver to gold, and that’s the coolest thing literally ever—but he doesn’t have time to truly dwell on any of that because as soon as he’s stable, he and Sonic and Shadow are launching up towards the god that’s trying to consume all of time.
They decimate Solaris. Silver has spent most of his life unable to find a permanent way to defeat Iblis, but here he is, with two other chaos-powered hedgehogs from a completely different time, shrinking the fire-time-god-thing down until there’s nothing left but a minuscule flame and an agonized scream as something lurches out of the fire.
The formless thing (it can only be Mephiles, really) plummets, and the three hedgehogs soon follow, trailing just behind it as it heads straight for what looks like a piece of the city Sonic and his friends come from. It lands with a loud splat, and Silver wrinkles his nose as he touches down in front if it.
Sure enough, the goo soon begins to shape itself, and Mephiles gasps raggedly as he tries to reclaim his original form, but he’s kneeling, and his hands and legs still melt into the puddle.
Sonic and Shadow stand on each side of Silver as he stares down at Mephiles, the complimentary half of the being that’s been terrorizing Silver’s world for most of his life.
“You’ve lost, Mephiles,” he says, holding out a hand. A teal shimmer surrounds Mephiles as Silver immobilizes him. “It’s over.”
“You won’t destroy me,” Mephiles says, and he releases a gurgling laugh.
“Oh, really? Why’s that?” Silver says, and curls his hand into a fist. Mephiles’ form wavers as the psychokinesis squeezes him, but he only laughs again.
“If you kill me, you’ll never be able to save your world,” Mephiles says. “Or the people in it.”
Silver falters. “The people?”
“You didn’t really think you and the cat were the only survivors, did you?” Mephiles taunts. “They’re suffering because of your failures.”
“We could use the Chaos Emeralds to help them,” Sonic says. There’s a comforting energy radiating from him, and Silver can almost calm down a little.
“It’s far too late for that. When I brought you back in time, you were never going to be able to save your future,” Mephiles says. “You created a new timeline just by existing here! Your gems will never bring you back to your world. Only I have the power to do that.”
“Don’t listen to him,” Shadow growls. “He’s lying.”
“Am I?”
Silver’s hand falls, but Mephiles still does not rise. If he’s telling the truth…if there are still people in his world…
“If I let you go…” Silver starts. If he lets Mephiles go, he could send Silver back to his time, where he could use the Emeralds to defeat Iblis once and for all. Blaze would be safe. His world and anyone still left in it would be safe.
But Mephiles would be free, and with all the Emeralds in one place he would just merge into Solaris again, restarting an endless cycle.
“No,” Silver says. “If I let you go, there won’t be any worlds to save. I will not be the reason that anyone else suffers by your hand.”
He thrusts both his hands forward, his super-powered psychokinesis swirling around Mephiles in flashes of teal and gold. Mephiles cries out, the sound somehow echoing in the open space around them, and he is slowly pulled into the goopy puddle he emerged from.
“You are not strong enough,” Mephiles cackles, deadened eyes seeming to stare right through Silver.
“Good thing I’ve made some friends, then,” Silver says.
“Thanks for introducing us, by the way,” Sonic says, sauntering forward. He flicks one of Mephiles’ quills as Shadow, too, moves closer. “Gotta say, you don’t make ‘dark and edgy’ work nearly as well as Shadow.”
Shadow doesn’t reply, but he does look back at Silver with a nod before both he and Sonic close their eyes. Silver shoves forward all of the energy he has left, ignoring Mephiles’ gargling as he’s compressed into a glob of darkness at their feet. In perfect sync, Shadow and Sonic cry, “Chaos Control!” and a blinding white portal opens above them, pulling Mephiles inside and then zipping closed within a matter of seconds.
Silver blinks, and everything around him disappears.
~•~
His world is not saved.
He sees it, now, still covered in ash and smoke and flames. Iblis, impossibly, roams what’s left of the streets. Silver hovers aimlessly around, and finds the last hideout he and Blaze had been using before this whole time travel mess began. It is not destroyed, but his heart shatters all the same.
He knows, somehow, that Mephiles was lying. There is no one left here. He and Blaze were the only ones, and probably have been for a very long time. There were others, once, Silver is sure of it; otherwise, how would he be here? But he doesn’t remember them. And Blaze isn’t even from this dimension to begin with. This world is his alone.
He glances around the hideout again. There is no indication that it belongs to him. If a stranger stumbled upon this room, they’d have no way to determine anything about who Silver is. He is the only one left in this world and yet nothing within it has ever been his.
That hurts a lot more than it should, he thinks. A lot more than the realization that he’s the lone survivor, because other than Blaze, he never had anyone to lose, anyway. But this world, his present…it’s empty. It was doomed from the moment Iblis awoke.
When everything disappears around him this time, he embraces it.
“I’m sorry,” he says aloud to no one. “I wish I was able to save you.” I wish there was something I could save.
He’s needed somewhere else, now. Silver feels the chaos energy leak out of him, and the fire fades into nothingness.
~•~
“Silver?”
He bolts upright—oh, wait, he’s already standing?—and gasps, flailing an arm around to find something to grab onto before he falls flat on his face. When he manages to pry his eyes open, he is gripping Blaze’s arm tightly, and Sonic is smiling knowingly behind her.
“Rough landing?” he asks, and he’s blue again, Silver realizes.
Silver coughs, holding out his own arm, which has also returned to its usual color.
“Rough landing,” Silver repeats, blinking. “So I’m supposed to feel like my soul just crashed back into my body?”
“The first transformation is always the harshest,” Shadow says as he emerges from just beyond Silver’s field of vision, and Silver squawks in surprise.
Blaze snickers, gently removing his grip on her and readjusting him so he can just lean on her entirely.
He smiles at her gratefully, before turning back to his fellow hedgehogs. “You guys have done that before?”
“Probably too many times,” Sonic says, shrugging.
“That’s so cool,” Silver gasps. “Wait. Where’s everyone else? Where are we?”
He feels Blaze’s chuckle more than he hears it. “They’re all fine, just around the corner. We didn’t want to overwhelm you. After you three defeated Mephiles, we were all brought back to this city.”
“Station Square,” Shadow supplies. “In our time.”
“I’m sorry, Silver,” Sonic says. “I think this means Mephiles was telling the truth, for once. You won’t be able to go back to your future. Er, your present, I guess.”
“I saw it,” Silver said. “After we left that void. Nothing changed. And…there’s no one else.”
“Oh,” Blaze says softly.
“We’ve definitely created a new timeline,” he continues. “Iblis wouldn’t have still been there otherwise; we removed all traces of Solaris from this world. Where did you guys send Mephiles, anyway?”
Sonic grins sheepishly. “That’s a good question! A great question, even. Wish I had an answer for ya.”
“We think,” Shadow cuts in, before Silver can panic, “that Mephiles was consumed by chaos energy and removed from existence.”
“You think,” Silver repeats.
“He’s gone, Silver,” Blaze says. “I cannot feel the flames of Solaris at all. I would be able to tell if there were any risk of him returning, but there is not. You did it.”
Silver takes a deep breath. They did it. Solaris is gone, time has been saved, and everyone he cares about is okay.
“So,” he says, tentatively letting go of Blaze to stand on his own, “I guess we should get to know our new world.”
She smiles at him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Your new world.”
Silver grins. Sonic is already babbling about all the things he has to show Silver, and as the four of them leave to reunite with the rest of the group, Silver realizes he’s gained what he’s been seeking for so, so long: a home, and a purpose.
There’s a new future to save, after all.