I surrender. There, I said it. I've given up on this story- there's no way I'll ever be able to finish it in a satisfactory way. Combined with the fact that I don't play Destiny anymore, I have no motivation left to even try. I'd hate to just hit the abort button and leave it at that, so I'll do what I said I would, even if it possibly violates FF rules. Here's what's left of this incoherent nonsense:

Chapter 5- The Inquisitive Mind: Picking up where the actual story left off a year ago, Sonic and Knuckles work their way to the Nexus below Eggman's base to destroy the Inquisitive Mind (I had this chapter about 33% complete, but the last time I touched it was August). During a quiet moment in an elevator, Knuckles presses Sonic on what exactly has been causing him so much stress. Sonic skirts the issue, but asks Knuckles how he'd react if somebody they knew had gotten killed- not like Cosmo, who sacrificed herself for the greater good, but if one of their friends simply was killed in a fight. Sonic says nobody they know personally has been killed, but Knuckles still suspects that there's more to it. Knuckles admits he'd lose his temper, but would direct his anger at whoever was responsible, telling Sonic he can't help Sonic if his plan is to kill Eggman. Sonic accepts this, then they reach the Inquisitive Mind, which Eggman froze in time using 4 of the Chaos Emeralds. They're confronted by two heavy security mechs, which they fight and destroy (Knuckles using a slab of Vex metal he tore off the wall as an improvised shield- there's some foreshadowing for you). Rouge confronts them as they're about to free it and destroy it, and attempts to get them to stand down, as per Eggman's request. However, the Inquisitive Mind breaks free of its restraints (them having already claimed one of the Chaos Emeralds to use in the earlier fight) and attacks them. In addition to the Harpy minions it summons, it's capable of trapping them in detention spheres, using the Chaos Emeralds. After a long and painful fight, they manage to destroy it, and the Nexus collapses, Sonic teleporting them out at the last second. Eggman contacts them, warning them that the Vex now view them as a greater threat, believing that initially, the Scisix only came to study them at first. They split the Chaos Emeralds among them, Sonic and Rouge each taking one, Knuckles taking the remaining two and returning to the Master Emerald with them. Sonic and Rouge go their separate ways. Some cryptic dialogue shows another Axis Mind taking over the Scisix Inquisitive.

Chapter 6- Terminus: In the future, Sapphire and her new companion fight their way through an army of Vex to reach the Juncture. Sapphire's recklessness and cocky attitude annoy the Black Guardian to no small extent- he openly admits that she's pretty much a child. She disputes this for a few seconds before returning to the fight. After destroying Vechron, Spire Lord, the Black Guardian disables the shielding around the gravity lift leading to the Terminus with his Vex mechanical arm (which Sapphire teases him about). They head up, finding the area seemingly empty, with a large Conflux on the far side of the platforms, and immediately identify it as a trap. Regardless, they work their way across, and the Vex attack just as their Ghosts access the Conflux. After much mounting Vex pressure, they get the information they need and are forced to jump out of the Citadel. Sapphire miscalculates her descent, and hits the ground at terminal velocity, dying instantly.

Chapter 7- A Promise: After a nightmare about his first encounter with the Vex, Sonic wakes up on the grounded Blue Typhoon with Tails, where he went after the fight with the Inquisitive Mind. Tails has also had trouble sleeping, and has been monitoring the military's radio frequencies to keep tabs on Vex activity (Sonic's world isn't detailed very well in Sonic X, which was sort of difficult for me to work with). It seems the past several hours have seen a decrease in Vex hostility, but they're moving much more- like they're searching for something. Some of them have returned to the city they had wiped out. Sonic and Tails debate what their true purpose here is, and how they can defeat them, comparing to what it would be like to fight the Metarex, had they never found Cosmo. Sonic tells Tails he needs to see Amy the next day.

Cutting to the future, Sapphire awakes in a cave on Venus with the Black Guardian. An acid rain storm forced them to head north and seek shelter in the Ember Caves, after driving out the Fallen, before Sapphire could be revived. She teases him a little bit about his seeming change of heart, but he remains as distant as ever, saying he just still needs her. Undeterred, Sapphire tries to get him to open up a bit more. In a canon-contradicting move, she tells him about her previous life. From what little she can remember, she had a husband and a child in the final days of the Golden Age. During the collapse, they went to the Russian Cosmodrome to try and escape Earth, but their refugee convoy was ambushed by the Fallen. All of them were killed. The last thing she heard was her daughter crying for her, then being reborn by her Ghost. She admits Sapphire isn't her real name- it was given to her by Cayde-6, from the silver/sapphire ring from her previous life she always wears (plus Sapphire Wire, her eyes, and my total lack of creativity). All he tells her in return is that his name is Shadow, which she considers a start. His Ghost privately tells him that there was someone in the Vex network, seemingly calling for help.

Knuckles returns to the Master Emeralds shrine, fortunately finding it still safe. Soon after, though, he's attacked by Vex. He fights them off, until a laser beam impacts from the sky, knocking him out. This was the OC Vex I had come up with, but had a hard time truly implementing them in the story- they're called Archangels. They're like satellites the Vex deploy in orbit of planets during inquisitions, mostly used for mapping, surveillance, and network communication, but can also double up as fire support or excavation.

Chapter 8- :The next day, Sonic and Tails go to see Amy, and Sonic reveals what had happened to her. During his first fight with the Vex, she had been severely injured, almost killed, by the time he found her, and was hospitalized in one of the still-secure cities. It's very likely she's been permanently handicapped, which to Sonic is a fate worse than death. During his visit (I had never really finalized whether or not Amy would actually be conscious for this), he hears Knuckles angrily yelling in the next room over, where he's being treated for injuries sustained in his fight with the Vex. They check on him, and he tells them about the fight, and how Rouge dragged him to safety after he'd been knocked out, unwilling to lose another one of her friends after Eggman told her Shadow was dead (she had gone to the Shrine in the first place to try and steal the Master Emerald again- "die doing what she loved," so to speak). However, he reveals that the Vex had taken the Master Emerald, and very likely are going for the Chaos Emeralds next. Just then, they're attacked by Vex (again)- Hobgoblins on the rooftop across the street, and an Overmind Minotaur on the ground. Realizing it's after the Chaos Emeralds, Rouge gives hers to Sonic and goes with Tails to help evacuate the hospital, while Sonic and Knuckles engage the Vex, Knuckles attacking the Minotaur while Sonic clears out the Hobgoblins. Soon after, Tails joins in the X-Tornado, but the Overmind Minotaur proves too powerful to destroy- it's capable of using the Master Emerald's powers to negate the effects of the Chaos Emeralds. Despite damaging it's case, it still manages to seize the Emeralds and retreats. Shortly after, Eggman sends them a message through Bokkun (whose voice modulator was damaged in the fighting, and he threatens to repair it if they don't listen). The Vex are building some sort of portal in the ruins of the destroyed city (I never had a name for it), and likely needed the Chaos Emeralds to power it up (directly contradicting my earlier statements about their capabilities). Wherever it leads, and whatever they need the Emeralds for, is unknown. Sonic volunteers to go through the portal, with Knuckles coming as well to retrieve the Master Emerald.

Chapter 9- The Crest Of Eternity: This is where the stories start to really intertwine. Using the X-Tornado, Tails takes Sonic and Knuckles to the portal as it's powering up, and Qodron appears, attempting to stop them and take the Chaos Emeralds. They manage to get past it, entering the Vex pocket dimension. In the future, Sapphire and Shadow head to the Endless Steps, luring out Zydron, their next target. Seizing an opportunity, Shadow apologizes before darting past the Gate Lord and passing through the portal, but Sapphire follows him anyways. The dimension inside appears to be a massive, shifting, stair-like structure- an appropriate continuation of the Endless Steps. It appears to be under construction of some sort. The teams work their way up, bot evading the Gate Lords of their respective time periods, and inadvertantly run into each other at it's Nexus, where the timelines merge (a brief fight ensues). Recognizing them, Shadow removes his helmet for the first time, revealing himself as Shadow the Hedgehog (Sapphire is initially confused, but admits she's probably seen- and killed- stranger things). He gets a brief moment to explain what happen- he had been frozen in time for ages- possibly thousands or millions of years- after the fight with Final Nova, and was finally released on Earth, shortly before the Darkness hit, bore witness to the Collapse, and was chosen as one of the first Guardians- he's been one for hundreds of years. They're set upon by the Gate Lords, fight ensues. Sapphire offers Sonic and Knuckles guns, which they both turn down, her taking offense to it. They successfully destroy them, and Zydron releases something- a data fragment, recording the last words of Kabr in the Vault of Glass, which recites a paraphrased version of a bunch of Grimoire cards. The fragment is deleted, and they're confronted by another Axis Mind, this one without a physical manifestation, claiming it knows all of them. Shadow finally recognizes it- it's the mind of Black Narcissus. The Metarex had long adapted Vex technology into their bodies after discovering Vex artifacts on their home planet, and encounters with them during their galactic conquest. Black Narcissus studied them intently, keeping most of his discoveries secret from the other Metarex leaders, and devised a plan to merge his consciousness into the Vex Collective in the event of his death. Shadow deduces his endgame: When he had interrogated Qodron in the Prison of Elders, he realized Qodron was secretly rebelling against the higher Vex consciousness, possibly with other higher Axis Minds. The "forbidden power" was, in fact, the ability to control and rewrite reality within the Vault of Glass. Shadow had actually been in the Vault before, with Kabr, Pahanin, Praedyth, and possibly two other Guardians who had been erased from existence. Like Pahanin, he had fled, and the Vex altered the events that transpired so that they "never happened," and they were wiped from his memory. This power can only manifest within the Vault, but the use of the Chaos Emeralds could amplify it's power, allowing them to control the universe- and Black Narcissus would use it to undo the Metarex's defeat, and reform the universe into the lifeless, harmonious reality they envisioned. This whole time, he had been subtly pulling strings within and without to get the Chaos Emeralds to him and forward in time, to Venus. It's purpose being served, he begins to destroy the Nexus, but not before Knuckles can take back the Master Emerald. They return to their timelines, however, Shadow's Ghost goes with Sonic and Knuckles, and Sapphire forcibly drags him back to keep him from getting himself killed.

Chapter 10- Breaking Point: This is where the Destiny side gets kinda ambiguous, given how many times I've rewritten the story. In an earlier draft, Shadow had a more direct tie to the Darkness and the Collapse. Believing him to be evil, and being partially brainwashed by the Vex, Sapphire would have attempted to kill him, but ultimately just abandons him on Venus. After debriefing the Vanguard, a conversation with Cayde-6, and a transmission from Shadow's Ghost (who didn't go with Sonic in this draft), she returns to Venus to help him storm the Vault and stop the Vex. This all was scrapped, but I never found a suitable replacement for this particular chain of events, but it still ends the same way. In any case, he at least tells her about his identity. He hadn't always been isolated from the Tower. Only after the failed Raid on the Vault of Glass did he drive himself into exile. His rare appearances, trademark dark armor, and years of handed down quotes from Pahanin's mad ramblings began spawning rumors of the "Black Guardian." He was well aware of them, but chose to let them evolve as they did, but also admits that the stories of him and his supposed power were often wildly exaggerated.

Sonic, Knuckles, and Shadow's Ghost (I should add: due to her voice, he named her Maria) return to their world, finding the flow of time had been distorted for them and several days had passed. The Vex are still present. They meet with Tails, Eggman, and Rouge on the Blue Typhoon to discuss the situation, joined by Amy, who's been discharged from the hospital, albeit bound to a wheelchair and attended by Cream. They know it's a longshot, but their best course of action is to go to the Vault in their timeline, even if it means leaving their world- the fate of the universe is more important. Eggman says he'll stay behind and have what few robots he has left try and hold off the Vex as long as possible. Amy says she's going too, despite Sonic's protests and knowing she can't do much in her state. After some maintenance, Tails gets the Blue Typhoon spaceworthy again, and Maria gives them the galactic coordinates to Venus.

Chapter 12- Become Legend: In the future, Sapphire joins Shadow outside the Vault, narrowly saving him from Praetorians. A reinforcement fireteam is on the way from the Tower- even the two of them wouldn't be able to get into the Vault. Before they can show up, however, the Vault activates. It's power is sent to the Vex Citadel, which emits a dimensional field that engulfs Venus. The Blue Typhoon arrives in orbit around Venus, noticing the same anomaly in the past. Tails discovers that all Time is converging on the Vault, and the field is expanding, which will eventually encompass everything. Knuckles is able to use the Master Emerald to temporarily halt it, but they still can't get through it. On the ground, an army of Vex confront Shadow and Sapphire, more than they've ever faced before. Despite fighting hard, Sapphire is mortally wounded. Ghost can revive her, but she has a different plan- one that will kill her, permanently. Detecting that the field is weakened, if her Ghost allows her to release her Light, she might be able to breach it, letting in whoever's outside- a Guardian's unrestrained Light is incredibly powerful. It's what allowed Kabr to forge the Aegis and seal the Vault in the first place. Standing with her to the end, Ghost agrees. In a flash of Light, Sapphire dies, and forms a hole through the field to the Blue Typhoon. Her spirit meets those aboard, and her body, gear, and the remains of the Vex, as well as her and Shadow's jumpships, are reformed into five Sparks of Light, which are given to Sonic, Knuckles, Amy, Tails, and Rouge, bestowing them with Guardians' armor and abilities. Maria takes them down to the surface, where they meet up with Shadow (the Vex retreated after Sapphire died). Not expecting to return, he took most of his arsenal with him, and distributes several weapons among the reluctant new Guardians. Standing together, they prepare to face the Vault of Glass.

Chapter 13- The Vault of Glass: Quick breakdown of the fireteam: Shadow, Gunslinger, generic scout rifle/Icebreaker. Sonic, Bladedancer, SUROS Regime. Knuckles, Striker, Thunderlord. Tails, Sunsinger, generic fusion rifle. Rouge, Voidwalker, Fatebringer. Amy, Defender, Universal Remote (this was written long before Sunbreaker existed).

The final chapter was a long showcase of the Vault of Glass. Originally, this story was a nonsensical one-shot of Team Dark and Team Rose taking it on, but I eventually wrote it out into this full story. This was the "predictable ending," and yes, I know a lot of stuff doesn't make sense. It was all just a means to an end. Anyways:

Having infiltrated the Axis Minds and receiving data from Kabr's memory fragment, the group knows how to enter the Vault of Glass, and vaguely knows what's inside. They begin by taking the Sync Plates in order to form the Spire. Shadow and Rouge take the center to provide covering fire for the others, Tails and Amy take left with weapons specialized for CQC, and Knuckles and Sonic take right. They struggle, but eventually manage to open the Vault. Once inside, they follow the trail to the Templar's Well. The first Conflux appears, and the group defends next two confluxes appear. Tails, Amy, and Knuckles defend the right conflux, and Shadow and Sonic defend the left. Shadow lends his Icebreaker to Rouge and has her provide covering fire. During this fight, Sonic is Marked by a Fanatic, and barely manages to be Cleansed before being unmade by the Templar's Ritual of Negation (after being tackled by Shadow). Then they're attacked by the Oracles. Their first defense against them falters, and the team is Marked. Rouge is forced from her sniping position to Cleanse with the rest of the team, and can't make it back up. The second wave of Oracles is summoned. Shadow splits the team up across the Arena, and they manage to hold off the wave. A third wave is summoned, and easily dealt with. Then the Templar disappears as the pool of light in the center forms into Kabr's Aegis. Shadow recalls Kabr's message about the shield, and claims it as the Templar appears. Shadow gradually learns how to use the shield, and the team fights back against the Templar. They learn to predict the Templar's movements, and how to prevent it. Tails is killed by the Templar while trying to prevent its teleport, but is able to self-revive using his Sunsinger abilities. Shadow has the team fall back to a defensible position after learning of the Aegis' cleansing capabilities, and they take position in an isolated ledge, well protected from the Templar. After a hard fight, Sonic spins through the Templar's eye, destroying it, but as its body explodes, a portal is opened which tears the Aegis out of Shadow's hands. They then make their way down to the Gorgon's Labyrinth, managing to sneak through it, but have to kill the last Gorgon after it detects them. They skip over a chasm with shifting blocks by having Tails and Rouge fly the other members over. They then reach the center of the Vault of Glass, where they confront and defeat the Gatekeeper. Shadow can detect the Light of the Aegis behind the Timegates, as well as the Darkness of the Precursor and Descendant Gatekeepers, and knows they must defeat it in order to summon Atheon. Sonic goes to the Past and Shadow goes to the Future, while the others keep the Gates active and defend the Conflux. Knuckles and Amy defend Shadow's portal, and Rouge and Tails defend Sonic's. Sonic takes out his Gatekeeper and retrieves the Aegis, but starts going blind. He defends himself from the Vex using its bubble, learning to cleanse himself with it, then sprints out. Shadow takes longer, as he gets pinned down by Hobgoblins and starts going blind before he kills his Gatekeeper. Outside, Amy and Knuckles are pushed back by a Praetorian, and the Timegate seals. With Sonic on the outside, he takes his Aegis and goes to defend a Conflux in the center platform while the others counter-attack the Praetorians, destroying them and opening the portal again. Shadow defends himself from the Vex, and manages to boost through the portal as soon as it opens. They all run to the Conflux and defend it until it dissipates (this fight has many more Vex, and is much more dramatic than in-game. Think the final scene from Age of Ultron). Both Aegis' merge into one, and fire a beam of light at the Conflux of Time. It then disappears, and the manifestation of Time's Conflux, Atheon, is summoned. Black Narcissus speaks to them through Atheon, claiming that they are only trying to delay the inevitable, and that the Vex will recreate time regardless. The Raid team fights back, but Atheon's brutal power forces them into cover. Then Atheon opens the Timestream, sending Sonic, Tails, and Amy into the past. Shadow can detect their light through the portal, and he, Knuckles, and Rouge set about opening the portal while Atheon is frozen and they're swarmed by Supplicants. The team on the other side begins fighting the Oracles as they remake time, and the portal opens just before they get killed. Once back in the Vault, the team once again focuses on Atheon, but he opens the Timestream again, this time sending Shadow, Sonic, and Knuckles to the Future. Unable to tell or guess where they are, the team still in the Vault is forced to open both Portals, spreading them thin and nearly getting overwhelmed, but the team on the other side manages to get back through, faster this time. They notice that they feel more powerful immediately after escaping, Shadow believes its because, as they destroy the Oracles, the Vex's grip on Time is loosened. They damage Atheon more seriously, and he opens the Timestream once more, sending Shadow, Amy, and Sonic to the future again. Rouge, Knuckles, and Tails blindly guess, and manage to open the correct portal one last time. The other side staggers back through, and they regroup in the center of the Vault. Atheon mocks them again, saying that he will claim the universe. Sonic rebuts this before passing the Aegis to Shadow, who puts up a field around them as Atheon opens fire. They fire back, but Shadow is growing weaker. Atheon/Black Narcissus says that their death has been foretold by the Oracles, and they cannot change their fate. Shadow is then supported by the spirits of Kabr and Sapphire, renewing his strength. He claims that they're Guardians, and they make their own fate, before using the shield to project a beam of pure Light at Atheon, severely crippling him and momentarily preventing him from opening the Timestream again. Taking advantage of this opportunity and empowered by "Time's Vengeance," the raid team charges him, beating him back to the Glass Throne inch by inch. Shadow drives the Aegis into Atheon's power core, causing it to plummet over the edge and into the abyss. The Conflux of Time is stopped, and Shadow is unconscious from Atheon's blast. The Conflux of Time then begins to collapse on itself. Trapped in the Vault, Sonic is able to take back the Chaos Emeralds, now that the Vex's control is dispelled, and uses Chaos Control to teleport them back to the Blue Typhoon. The Vault of Glass then permanently seals.

Chapter 14- (Atheon's) Epilogue: Sometime after the team returned home, the Vex have abandoned Sonic's world. In a small display of respect, Shadow takes Sapphire's cloak and helmet, and makes a grave for her, similar to Molly's. He has a private conversation with Maria, wondering if he can still stop the Collapse, and acknowledging that Black Narcissus is still within the Vex. She says she doesn't know if he can still change the future- perhaps the Collapse was predestination. She also suspects Black Narcissus could've been discovered and deleted by the Vex- they never returned to Sonic's world. They're interrupted by Sonic, whose sworn off firearms, but is still stronger thanks to his Guardian powers, asking for Shadow's help against Eggman. Still seeing it his obligation to fight and protect people, he joins him.