Chapter Text
Mephiles sat atop a stone brick tower in Kingdom Valley, gazing out at everything below him. There was nothing of interest here. Nothing too closely related to Solaris for him to grasp onto. The only living creature in this area was a rather large purple… cat? Mephiles believed this creature was a cat, but then he compared him to Blaze and doubted it. Blaze was a purple cat, and she hadn't been a fraction of this guy's size.
This big “cat” somehow looked both incredibly suspicious and like a bumbling fool. Mephiles avoided him. All he did was go fishing in a fishless river, anyway.
Looking for something that wasn't there.
Mephiles raised a hand to the sky. He'd realized it wasn't even the actual sky, either. It was simply a dome, with no clear exit. Meaning he and everyone here were still trapped…
Together, but stuck. It drove him mad all over again. Freedom just wasn't for him, was it?
Maybe he should have taken Sonic’s shadow instead. That might’ve made him faster, fast enough to chase the freedom that kept slipping through his fingers.
Mephiles’ eyes focused on said fingers as he danced them around in the air. His claws shimmered faintly in the red light. He truly didn't mind the eerie redness of the dome. In fact, he preferred this to its blinding white color earlier. This colored sky… it almost matched the sky in Silver's future. The doomed future, where Iblis resided. The moon thing with eyes would even roar occasionally, reminding him further of Iblis.
Unfortunately, they sounded nothing alike. The moon’s cries were brief and distorted, whereas Iblis sounded more like an entire whirlwind when he roared. Mephiles couldn’t delude himself into believing Iblis was here.
Until, finally, the moon outright screamed. It was a horrific, deep, and agonized sound that shook the dome and made triangular pieces of it fall. Mephiles had to hold onto the tower to avoid falling off.
The redness of the fake sky faded away, and the moon suddenly… exploded? How fascinating.
Shadow came jumping out of the explosion and flew down to the ground. As the smoke of the explosion cleared to reveal that the moon was no more, his wings appeared to shrivel and fade. Shadow stood up, shook it off, and… Rouge approached him.
Rouge had been here? Wait, how many people were here?
Mephiles watched as Shadow handed Rouge a Chaos Emerald, and she flew off. The Chaos Emeralds were even here?!
Shadow went up to Gerald and Maria. They talked. Then, Shadow turned to Kingdom Valley. He squinted until he found the tiny figure perched atop the tallest tower. Shadow waved him over.
In the blink of an eye, Mephiles vanished. He slipped into the shadows, zigzagged down the tower, across the ground, and reformed right beside Shadow. Shadow raised an eyebrow at him, startled to find that he could do that. But all he muttered was, “Say your goodbyes.”
Mephiles looked at Maria and Gerald. They were slightly transparent. His eyes widened. “Pardon? What's happening?”
Shadow hooked an arm around Mephiles’ shoulder and turned away from Maria. He leaned close and whispered, “They're going back to their point in time. 50 years into the past. And they…” Shadow bit his lip. “They're going to die. If they don't, time will…” He trailed off.
Mephiles blinked. “What…? How? Is it… her illness-”
“Gunned down in a raid. She… Um, it must happen… Too much would change if they knew their fates. They're leaving now. Go on. Say your goodbyes. Someone else is working to get us out as we speak. We have to go… I can't look at them anymore.”
And Shadow truly couldn't. He kept his back to them. It looked like he wanted to flee, too, but he waited for Mephiles.
Mephiles pulled away from Shadow and faced Maria. She was smiling at him and opened her arms for an embrace. He mindlessly walked up to her and took it.
Gerald raised a hand, remembered Mephiles disliked his touch, and then lowered it.
Mephiles stared absently through Maria's chest, which he could now do as she slowly faded. “Goodbye, Mephiles. It was so nice to meet you!” Maria said sweetly. “I wish we could've gotten to know each other more, but I'm so glad you're doing better now. Maybe we can hang out again in the future!”
Mephiles said nothing. His thoughts raced.
This sweet girl was going to die? Even the professor? Gunned down, of all things? Why was the kindest person alive going to be given such a brutal death?
There was nothing he or Shadow could do. If they were warned at all, time would be irreversibly altered. Mephiles understood that very clearly, of course. It was… fated to happen.
Fate.
He lingered on that word.
Fate. Fate, fate, fate…
Fucking fate.
Fuck fate.
Fate knew no limits; it could be as sadistic or as merciful as it pleased. And it chose to smite Mephiles. Every good thing in his miserable life was struck down and laughed at.
It liked to toy with Shadow, too. He got to lose his family twice. Likely even in this timeline, he was doomed to be betrayed and imprisoned in the future.
But Mephiles didn't care about Shadow. Why should he? Shadow was the source of his misery.
He wondered if saving Maria and Gerald, since that would alter Shadow's life, meant that Shadow would never be the one to seal Mephiles. Yes, that was it… Mephiles could save them and never have to meet Shadow in the past! Shadow wouldn't seal him or get in his way or kill Solaris-
No, no, snap out of it. That wasn't true. Mephiles would've just been sealed by someone else. And since Shadow was also the one to free him… he likely would never be freed if Shadow weren't there. There were too many what-ifs. It was risky.
Besides, Shadow was quite miserable now. Mephiles should be reveling in this. Let Maria and Gerald die and watch Shadow suffer.
But that meant letting fate win.
And as much as Mephiles hated Shadow, he detested fate tenfold.
Mephiles finally backed away from Maria. He'd been lost in his thoughts for so long that she was barely even visible anymore. His eyes lingered on her ever-so-bright smile. Shadow could be heard sniffing behind them.
To hell with fate. It dared to control time in Mephiles’ presence? It dared to beat him at his own game?
No. The mind and will of Solaris would not be bested again.
A dark look had come over Mephiles’ expression. It was maybe even a bit smug. And then, without saying a word, he raised his arms. Like a puppeteer.
On command, he willed all seven Chaos Emeralds right to himself. They appeared in a flash, circling around him in a dazzling rainbow light. Newfound energy shot through his essence, powerful and pure.
Shadow shouted from behind him. “What the-?! How?! Mephiles! What are you doing?!”
Mephiles did not respond. His gaze remained locked onto Maria. Her eyes were wide. Almost completely transparent. Gerald stepped forward, his mouth hanging open in awe. “Are those the… Chaos Emeralds?”
Mephiles bent over and leaned toward Maria and Gerald. His reptilian eyes flickered with a golden glow. He didn't take on a Super form; he didn't have one. However, his crystalline quills rippled in a nonexistent wind, and the sound of them rustling against each other filled the air with windchimes.
He took their hands, or what was left of them. And then, without a word, he yanked on them.
For a moment, they vanished.
In that second, which was exactly one second, the illusion of a golden clock appeared around Mephiles. It ticked once. Mephiles’ hands remained clasped around something.
And then, after that second, Maria and Gerald reappeared. Fully visible.
The clock vanished, and Mephiles drifted back down to the ground. He let go of their hands.
Shadow moved forward. “What… What did you do?! I told you, they have to-!”
“I plucked out the version of Maria and Gerald from… precisely seven seconds ago and let the other versions of them fade back into the past. Now they are permanently here. And what happens in the past happens to their splitting images. Neither are copies. They’re the same from exactly one second apart. The timeline proceeds as normal, without overlap or any change. So…” Mephiles turned to Shadow. The Chaos Emeralds circling around him slowed and approached Shadow. “Here they are. Alive.”
Shadow held out his arms and scooped up the emeralds. His eyes were still wide. He waited for Maria and Gerald to start fading again, but that didn't happen. “B-But… How…?”
“I'm a time god, Shadow. We even met once, in another life… But I'll tell you all about it later. You said you were in a rush to leave? Go.”
“Wait! Will you still be here after the White Space vanishes?! What if you only exist in this reality?! What if-”
“Shadow.” It was Maria speaking this time. “If… If I'm saved from whatever happened in the past… Am I going to get to see the Earth now…? Right now?”
Her words shot a chill down Shadow's back. He almost teared up right then and there.
Mephiles nodded. “Go on, Shadow. I'll wait with them. And we'll be waiting for you.”
Shadow stared for another moment. He looked down at the emeralds twinkling in his arms, and then he ran. Full speed, past Rouge, who was wondering where her emerald had gone. He ran and ran and ran, hoping he wouldn't be too late. Hoping Mephiles’ time bullshit would work.
That image of the three of them was stained front and center in his brain.
Throughout both Sonics’ flashy fight with the Time Eater, throughout all the encouraging words their friends said, Shadow remained silent. His mind was in another world.
Rouge was by his side. She left him alone, figuring he was just mourning.
He might’ve been. Or he was just worried that he soon would be.
The moment the Sonics delivered the final blow to the Time Eater’s core, everything went white. Shadow didn't know how much time had passed between the destruction of White Space and his return to the real world.
When the light faded, he found himself not back at the Ark like he expected. Now he stood in the middle of grassy rolling hills, under one of the few trees. There was a long table before him, loaded up with all kinds of party snacks, chili dogs, and cake. One by one, all of Sonic’s friends appeared around him. Sonic and his younger self appeared last, no longer in their Super forms. This was, undoubtedly, Sonic’s birthday party that Rouge had mentioned to him.
Everyone cheered. Shadow looked for Maria.
She wasn’t there.
Rouge approached Shadow with a cupcake. He didn’t even process her presence. All he did was take off in a bright yellow streak at full speed to find them. All three of them.
They had to be around here somewhere, right?
Shadow dashed across hill after hill, never slowing. That image of their last moments haunted him. What if Mephiles had brought Maria and Gerald back just to have them erased by the destruction of White Space? Where would that leave Mephiles? Would they all be stuck in limbo?
“Time god.” That title still had Shadow in disbelief. Mephiles, a time god? What he did with the Chaos Emeralds backed up his claim, but… Well, to be in the presence of a god. And a god who’d started out so pathetic.
They'd met in another life, too?
Shadow had a strong feeling that they hadn't been allies. Mephiles initially didn't seem to like him very much. He kept his distance. But if they were enemies, why was Mephiles helping him now? So many questions that he prayed he’d get to ask…
The birthday party wasn’t even a speck in the distance. Shadow continued his search, now even calling out for Maria. Every empty hill he passed only made his heart sink further.
Such intense fear as this had only been felt once before, during the raid on the Ark. The first time he had lost someone. Shadow tried to tell himself that it would be okay if they didn't survive. He could move on. He’d lost Maria and Gerald before, and he truly didn’t know enough about Mephiles to really miss him.
But… Dammit, Mephiles got his hopes up! So much so, he could feel his eyes burning.
Tears were left behind in Shadow’s frenzied wake. Hill after hill… The sun was close to setting beyond the horizon. Once it went dark, it’d be hopeless.
Shadow hiccuped.
They had to be alive! He needed all three of them, perfectly intact and not at risk of vanishing on him again!
They had to be real!
They had to be… sitting on the hill before him, basking in the sunlight. Shadow choked on his own breath.
What a sight for sore, glossy eyes. Maria, dancing in the grass with the biggest smile possible. Gerald stood beside her and removed his glasses to wipe his eyes. Mephiles watched her play with an unreadable expression.
Maria saw Shadow racing up to them. She shouted and waved at him. The gesture wasn’t needed, though. Shadow was already on his way to jumping right into her arms.
He tackled her to the ground, not caring about her illness in that brief second. Nothing felt better than using all his might to wrap himself around her. Maria laughed.
Gerald helped them back to their feet, only for Shadow to immediately take them both into a tight embrace. He buried his face into Maria’s dress and used the fabric to wipe his tears.
Mephiles stepped closer, craning his head to see if his eyes deceived him or Shadow truly was crying. However, Shadow suddenly shot out a hand and pulled Mephiles into the hug. “Get over here, you damn time god,” he hissed. A bit of playfulness trickled through his whisper.
Mephiles, now wedged between Gerald and Shadow, froze all over. The last thing he expected Shadow to do was embrace him. A hug? From Shadow? How out of character!
How… pleasant.
Mephiles sighed and gave in. He leaned into the hug, savoring it for what it was worth.
It was worth a lot. Much more than he’d ever admit.
Maria and Gerald didn’t understand the gravity of the situation quite like the other two hedgehogs. But they knew that something bad was going to happen to them in the past. Now, they were saved from it. Maria wept from the sheer joy of being on Earth with all of her loved ones. Her emotions were contagious, and Gerald shed some stone-faced tears beside her.
Surrounded by three weeping people, Mephiles figured no one would notice if he let a few small tears slip. He was only now starting to process his freedom. He was… yes, he was free. When had he ever been free before? Truly free, both physically and from any crushing responsibilities?
And… And now people cared about him, on top of everything else? He felt Gerald’s hand softly patting him on the head, and it brought him no fear this time.
Much like before, he found himself overwhelmed by all the change. Mephiles raised his shaking hands and laid them on Shadow and Gerald’s backs. He wished he could’ve touched Maria, too, but Shadow was having her all to himself. Fair.
At last, somebody spoke. It was Shadow. “Mephiles. How… How can I repay you?”
“Mm.” Mephiles looked up. His dripping eyes met with Shadow’s equally glossy ones. “You needn’t. Just let me wallow in this feeling for a while.”
And they did. The embrace only broke once the sky turned a gorgeous pink color, and Maria pulled back to admire the vibrant colors. The undersides of the thin clouds had turned orange.
Gerald left his hand on Mephiles’ head, but he spoke to Shadow. “Well, I… suppose this will take a lot of adjusting. And I would like to know what exactly became of us in the past-”
“Later,” Shadow muttered with a shake of his head. “I'll tell you later.”
“Very well. We'll need to find a hospital to treat Maria's illness, too-”
“Oh, let's not worry about that, please!” Maria exclaimed. “I'm sure the technology has advanced since it's been… 50 years, right? Can't I just enjoy this for a little while?”
Shadow's mind was already racing with solutions. He could take Maria to Tails… maybe even Eggman. But he'd rather work with Tails than Eggman any day of the week, especially after all that Eggman had just put them through. Tails it was, then. He took Maria's hand and tugged her forward. “There's a party… not far away. I know someone there who could help you.”
“Really?!” Maria's face lit up. “A party?! Yes, yes, let's go!”
Shadow led her back to Sonic’s birthday party. Maria skipped the whole way, laughing and enjoying the feeling of the grass brushing against her legs and the wind in her hair. A butterfly fluttered down, and she tried to catch it. When it slipped away from her, Mephiles floated up into the air and caught it instead. He presented it to her.
“That's a butterfly,” Shadow said.
“A painted lady butterfly,” Mephiles corrected.
The birthday party, still underway, appeared over a hill in the distance. Maria used her free hand to take Mephiles’ hand. She burst into a sprint, wheezing with every breath. But never stopping. Shadow kicked on his air shoes and guided her, while Mephiles floated along behind her. Gerald cursed under his breath and hurried after them. He was out of breath after just a few seconds. All the same, a smile lit up his face.
Neither of them noticed Mephiles holding a middle finger up into the sky.
Fuck fate. He'd achieved happiness in spite of it.
Mephiles recalled that Shadow once told him… “I determine my own destiny.”
Yes. Yes, they did.
