Oh dear god, the plot bunnies wouldn't stop! So here's… somewhat of a novelization of Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 (otherwise known as the worst Sonic game Sega's ever come up with, but hey, besides Sonic's mach speed sections, I don't have a problem with it). To avoid any and all accusations of bestiality, everybody is HUMAN. Believe me, humans with superpowers are MUCH more plausible than a duchess (DUCHESS, not PRINCESS!) giving a freaking HEDGEHOG a Disneyfied kiss of life. So… enjoy?

XX

A boy with silver hair, dressed all in white, floated above a city engulfed in flames. Lightning flashed in the sky, the only bits of light besides the perpetual flames. He glared down at the flames, his fists clenched tightly, wondering as he always did what possibly could have happened to make the world this way. Of course, he reminded himself. No one knows… other than… the flames. Suddenly, fire spiraled up in front of him, and his golden eyes widened in alarm. He shut his eyes and jerked his arm across, mentally forcing the flames away. These flames… they burn away at our world, destroying everything. They come from an eternal life form that revives no matter how many times we defeat it. The Flames of Disaster, Iblis. "Silver!" he heard a female voice call from behind him. He turned to see a girl his age, dressed all in purple with her lavender hair pulled back into a ponytail, jump onto a rooftop.

"Blaze!" he called to his friend. "What's wrong?" She halted and pointed behind her.

"He's appeared again," she told him calmly. Silver sighed heavily. Not again… he thought. When will this ever end? Still, he nodded to Blaze and flew in the direction she pointed. They soon reached a clearing where a large black figure rose from the flames below. It gave a mighty roar, and Silver and Blaze stumbled backwards.

"That's enough, you monster!" Silver yelled. Iblis simply bellowed, and Silver began picking up boulders lying nearby and projecting them toward it with his telekinesis. Iblis, meanwhile, was chucking flaming boulders towards Silver and Blaze and trying to crush them with large pieces of rubble. Soon enough, it roared in pain and sank back into the flames below. Silver panted slightly, and Blaze leaned against a wall nearby.

"Looks like we've stopped it for now," Blaze said in a monotone.

"But he'll just rise from his ashes again," Silver refuted. He slammed his fist against the wall in frustration. "When will this ever end?"

"Calm down, Silver," Blaze said quietly. Silver squeezed his eyes shut, his fist still resting against the wall.

"Then tell me what we should do!" he yelled. "What do we have to do to completely destroy Iblis?" Blaze turned away from him and sighed.

"By knowing the truth." Wh-What? Silver thought as he jumped and gasped. We're being watched? He looked up to see the source of the voice, a boy with hair as black as an oil slick and vibrant green eyes. The boy stared down at him and Blaze with a sort of pity in his eyes, wiping dust off his black coat. "Just as a flower comes from a seed," he continued, "and a bird comes from an egg, everything has an origin."

"Who are you?" Blaze asked.

"There is a person who serves as the catalyst of this destruction," the boy announced, ignoring Blaze raising his hands into the air.

"The catalyst of this destruction?" Silver repeated, staring up at the boy in wonder. "Do you know who it is?" The boy turned his head towards Silver and stared at him. It's like he can see right through me…

"Who are you?" Blaze repeated, a bit irritably this time.

"I am Mephiles," the boy introduced. "Now if you will follow me, I can show you… what really transpired the day Iblis was released." Mephiles led them away from the city's ruins. Iblis' spawn, the creatures lining the streets, seemed to part ways for him as he led Silver and Blaze through perhaps the most monster-infested area of the city. They soon reached a secluded building, relatively untouched except for the layers of dust and grime that accumulated over the years. Mephiles pried open a door door and beckoned for Silver and Blaze to follow him inside. There was a large computer on the back wall, and Mephiles stepped towards it. "To change this present timeline, you must go to the past," he instructed. Silver glanced behind cautiously to see if anyone else was following them.

"But that's not possible," he muttered distractedly. And I thought we were finally getting somewhere…

"It's possible," Mephiles insisted, "because I… I have the power to travel through time." Silver's eyes widened in shock and slight disbelief.

"Really?" he asked.

"In order to change history," Mephiles continued, "you must eliminate the individual who triggered Iblis' awakening: the 'Iblis Trigger'."

"I don't buy it," Blaze whispered to Silver. "I think it's a trap."

"If we kill this person, will our world really be saved?" Silver asked Mephiles. Mephiles nodded and stepped over to the computer in the far end of the room.

"The Day of Disaster…" he whispered, "the day when Iblis was freed from his seal… and his flames were released into the world, is recorded here." He pressed a button on the computer, and several pictures, depicting a city existing peacefully under a beautiful blue sky, showed up on the screen. "And you have this person to blame." Mephiles reached into his pocket and pulled out a shining purple gem. He handed it to Silver, who shut his eyes as he grasped it. All he could see were flames, and in the center of it all…

"I see it!" Silver gasped. "So, that blue-haired boy is the Iblis Trigger…" Blaze frowned at him quizzically.

"Blue… hair?" she repeated faintly. Silver handed the gem back to Mephiles.

"I will send us back to the time the Iblis Trigger was alive," Mephiles said. He raised his hands above his head, where a dark purple orb gradually grew. It soon enveloped Silver, Blaze, and Mephiles, and the three of them disappeared altogether.

Silver landed on something soft, and looked up to see the sun shining in a bright blue sky above. Where… am I? he thought. He crouched down and ran his hand over the green surface he landed on. It's so soft… What is this? Dread settled in his gut as he realized that he was alone. "Blaze?" he called. "Mephiles?" He sighed when no one answered. I guess we got separated… Have I really gone back in time? He stared at a large structure nearby – It's called a "tree," I think – and sighed. I will get all of this back without fail. And with that, he took off running.

Blaze found herself in the middle of a large pit surrounded by green grass and trees with long, large leaves. This is the world of the past, huh? she thought as she paced around. I wonder if it's all right to let that Silver run wild by himself… She stopped pacing and stared at the ground below her. Iblis Trigger… blue-haired boy…

The Duchess of Soleanna, Elise III. On one hand, extraordinarily beautiful and kind to all others. On the other, cold, distant, and reserved. She was always quick to offer a gentle smile to passing children on the streets, or frown slightly when displeased at some new policy or law the Parliament had come up with. But one thing was absolutely certain: all of her emotions – happiness, anger, confusion, disappointment – were suppressed, and sadness and sorrow were absent altogether. Rumor had it that she never shed a single tear when her father, the former Duke of Soleanna, passed away when she was a mere seven years old. Yes, there was always that random woman on the streets of Soleanna claiming that she used to tend to the Duchess back in the day and had, indeed, seen her cry, but no one could be sure. The Duchess was truly an enigma, a secret vault guarded only by the best in Dr. Ivo Robotnik's E Series (and a few Shadow Androids as well).

No one knew her secret. No one could know her secret, that Soleanna's beloved sun god Solaris was not as gentle and forgiving and compromising as the scriptures stated, that, in reality, it was evil and vengeful and wrathful, and could ultimately bring about the end of the world. No one knew that a part of Solaris was sealed inside her, and that a single tear would unleash its wrath upon the world. No one knew how difficult it was for her to carry on every single day, knowing that one tiny slip up could cause ultimate devastation. Elise was aware of her status as a potential weapon of mass destruction, and she was far from proud of it. She took careful measures to distance herself from others, to not get close to any one person, so that when that person finally passed away, she would feel absolutely nothing.

But she couldn't tell her beloved citizens about the terrible darkness that loomed ominously before them. They believed so fervently that Solaris was watching over them, protecting them, making sure that all would be right in the end. Oh, how wrong they were. But, somehow, she felt she should tell them, warn them, at least, of the danger that she posed. Oh, Parliament would make a fuss, of course; that was to be expected. And what about everyone else who trusted their beloved Duchess absolutely, thinking she could do no wrong? The guilt continued to gnaw at her insides as she forced a smile and waved at her beloved citizens during the Festival of the Sun, because, really, what was there to celebrate? "Yay, Mommy, guess what? Solaris didn't go on a rampage this year!"

She missed her father terribly. She missed resting her head on his lap, crying until all she felt was a sort of weariness. She missed that boy in white (by Solaris, even his hair was white!), staring sympathetically at her with those beautiful, shining golden eyes of his, telling her softly, "Please, Elise, don't cry. Then all that your father sacrificed will be for nothing." She vaguely remembered trying to break away from him, to run to her father lying dead on the ground, wanting to let out all her emotions in a deluge of tears. She remembered begging him to kill her so that she wouldn't be a threat to her people, and she could still clearly picture the way he calmly shook his head. He'd given her a lucky charm then, to help her cope with her loss. He told her that, if she kept it safe, always kept it by her side, she would be strong. She never once learned his name. She so desperately wanted to reach for that lucky charm now, but as she wrapped her fingers around the torch the bishop handed her, her hopes faded. Maybe I should just end it now, she thought. Set myself on fire so that Solaris dies inside me. But she didn't. She couldn't, with her entire country's eyes resting on her, waiting patiently for her to light the ceremonial lamp. Because committing suicide would be showing weakness – Is it really weakness when I'm killing myself to protect my people? – and there was always that sense of self-preservation she knew was there in all humans, regardless of their circumstances. She stepped up hesitantly and fought back tears – this was all so wrong – and pictured herself rising above it all, vicious flames engulfing her country, an abomination rising slowly from the ashes. "Miss Elise?" her attendant called softly, snapping her back into reality. Elise squeezed her eyes shut, trying to clear her head.

"It's all right," she assured her. She shut her eyes and began reciting the same thing she recited every year. "We give thanks to these blessed flames. May we always have a pure future. O Sun of Soleanna, guide us with your eternal light…" How ridiculous. She lowered the torch slowly, lighting the lamp, and the flames began to spiral upward. It truly was beautiful, yet Elise couldn't help but feel as if she was betraying her country somehow. The crowd cheered, and fireworks boomed in the sky. She forced a smile and continued to wave, until she saw something flying out of the corner of her eye. It landed close to where she was, and the surrounding area exploded. She shrieked in surprise, and jumped a little. She felt a huge gust of wind and looked up to see a large silver mechanism descending down in front of her. Now there was nothing stopping her. She promptly dropped the torch and reached for her lucky charm. She clasped the blue gem tightly as a bald man with a long mustache peered down on her.

"A pleasure to meet you, Duchess of Soleanna," he greeted pleasantly. "I am Dr. Eggman. I've come to obtain the secret of the flames of disaster from you, and to take the miracle gem that is the key to those secrets, the Chaos Emerald!" Chaos… Emerald? Is he talking about my lucky charm? Why does he want it so badly? Her grip tightened protectively around it. "Now, your highness, come this way." She shut her eyes pensively. If I go with him, but refuse to comply with him, he may kill me. If he does that, then Soleanna will be free from Solaris's threat. She gazed up at him, her face completely void of emotion. She opened her mouth to voice her agreement before she and Dr. Eggman were surrounded by a blue vortex. The vortex dissipated, leaving a boy standing on a higher ground. The boy looked to be at least a couple years younger than her, with his blue hair spiking behind him. He smirked, his green eyes shining mischievously.

"Well that performance was extremely short-lived!" he scoffed. The silver robots surrounding Dr. Eggman began shooting at him, and the boy zoomed between them, destroying all in his path. He landed in front of one standing at the edge of one platform and kicked it lazily, sending it plummeting down. He then took off again, skidding to a halt in front of Elise. "I'm Sonic," he introduced before placing one hand on her back and lifting her off the ground.

"What do you think you're doing?" she demanded immediately. "Unhand me this instant!" But Sonic didn't listen; he ran as if she hadn't said a word. Dr. Eggman raised his fist.

"Damn that meddling hedgehog!" he ranted. "Get him!" he ordered his remaining robots.

"Put me down!" Elise yelled as Sonic dodged the missiles the robots launched. Soon enough, they were alone, running in the streets. The air was heavy with smoke and ash, and Elise found it difficult to breathe. "I said, put me down. Why do you insist on saving me?" Sonic stared up at the sky for a moment.

"No reason," he answered finally.

"No reason?" she repeated. "I have to get back there to Dr. Eggman, I have to—"

"So are you saying you don't want to be saved?" Sonic asked, staring at her with wide green eyes. Elise almost answered "yes," but somehow couldn't bring herself to do so. She knew it wasn't fair to Sonic to be treating him so harshly when he only had the best of intentions. He didn't know why she so certainly had to die. He didn't have to know.

"Never mind," she said quietly. "Thank you." Dying would have to wait another day. Suddenly, five robots landed in front of them. "Mr. Sonic!" Sonic skidded to a halt and gently let her to the ground. He hurdled towards the robots, smashing them, turning them to scrap metal, and landed gracefully with his back towards her. Suddenly, she felt something cold clamp around her and squirmed as whatever it was began to lift her off the ground. She looked back and saw Dr. Eggman, floating in the sky in one of his contraptions. It made a whirring noise, and Sonic turned back in alarm.

"Duchess!" he yelled. Elise squirmed in Eggman's machine's grasp and reached for her lucky charm. She frowned at the sparkling blue gem. If I keep it with me… then I'm sure to live. Still, she had to thank the boy who saved her life, even though his actions were misguided and misplaced. She chucked the Chaos Emerald towards him, and he caught it with one hand.

"It's a lucky charm," she told him. "Keep it safe."

"I will," he promised. "Don't worry, your highness. I'll rescue you!" Elise calmly shook her head.

"No," she objected. "Don't waste your time."

"Yes, Sonic," Eggman sneered. "Do listen to your dear Duchess. Fear not. I will come back for that Chaos Emerald." And with that, he flew away. Sonic stared at the Chaos Emerald, clutching it tightly and frowning in determination. She really doesn't want to be saved, he thought. She doesn't care at all about her safety… Well I'm not going to let her get her way!

XX

And so concludes the first chapter. Notice how out of character Elise seems? Don't worry. THAT'S THE POINT. I HATE the original Elise because she always, ALWAYS gets captured, and she's your typical Disney princess. BUT SHE'S NOT A PRINCESS. A RULER IS A QUEEN, OR IN ELISE'S CASE, DUCHESS, NOT A PRINCESS. That's been bugging me the entire game. And Silver is my absolute FAVORITE character in the entire game. Most of the dialogue in this fic is based on an English translation of the Japanese version of the game, which is subtlely different, and, in my opinion, better. That, and the Japanese voices are far superior to the English voices in every way possible... well, except for maybe Dan Green's Mephiles, which is pretty good on its own.

So, obviously, some things about this story are radically different from the game. For one, everybody's human because it just makes everything seem a bit more… real… Two, Elise is perfectly aware of her status as the Iblis Trigger, something that was never really made clear in the game. The seal will be broken if she cries and ONLY if she cries. If she dies, then Iblis dies inside her. So, naturally, she wants to die to save her people from the Flames of Disaster, and she believes that Eggman will eventually kill her when she outlives her usefulness. Sonic, however, isn't going to make things easy, because he's hell bent on saving her, no matter how many times she tells him she doesn't want to be saved.

PLEASE REVIEW!