The Darkness Returns

It Begins

In the dark chamber of Solaris, an orange haired young woman in white accompanied by a cobalt hedgehog approached an ornate object that contained a tiny white flame attached to the single visible wall. The container of the 'Flame of Hope' Solaris.

The pair stopped in front of the object to stare, mesmerized, at the flickering white flame contained within. Slowly the young woman stepped closer to the container, "This is where everything began…" she wistfully murmured aloud, walking towards the contained flame, "Who knew such a tiny flame could bring such devastation?"

She walked closer still to Solaris and held out a hand, palm facing towards the glass of the object, causing it to glow bright white and disappear. Delicately, she lifted Solaris' tiny silver cradle from the rest of the container and carefully held the small object at arm's length. "If we put out this flame… Solaris will never exist, and then we'll never have to worry about the flames of disaster, right?"

The blue hedgehog nodded once in silent response. The young woman stared down forlornly into the pure white core of Solaris, watching as it bent and swayed gently. "But our encounter…" she murmured, turning slowly to face the wide-eyed hedgehog. "You and I… will never meet."

The hedgehog's emerald eyes stared forlornly into her pale grey ones, each mirroring the other's sadness. "It will never have happened." the girl continued, eyes becoming moist with tears. She sniffled and took a few deep, hitching breaths to calm herself. Once she was composed she continued to talk, "I… to tell the truth," a single tear slid from her right eye, down her cheek and then her chin, leaving behind a thin wet trail in its wake. "I don't care what happens to the world!" she cried, no longer composed, her voice lightly echoing in the dark chamber. She bowed her head, and began to sob.

The hedgehog closed his eyes and slowly clenched and unclenched his fists. When he reopened his eyes, they stared calmly at the crying girl. "Elise." He said softly. Upon hearing her name, the Soleannan princess looked into his eyes. "Just smile." Sonic the hedgehog continued encouragingly. Elise lifted her head, pale pink lips tugging into a tiny smile. He returned the facial expression and nodded. The princess gazed back down at the flame, its brilliant light reflecting in her eyes. Slowly, she leaned back, inhaling through her nose as she did so. Then just as slowly, she leaned towards the tiny flame, breath puffing out gently from her mouth until the flame was extinguished, plunging the already dark chamber into full darkness.

A shadow on Solaris' container warped, stretching out and moving out of the container. As the shadow moved away, Solaris' bright light reilluminated the chamber with pure white, expelling most of the darkness. The shadow continued to warp until it became a black hedgehog with teal-grey stripes. Mephiles the Dark. Mephiles' smooth mouth less muzzle creased into what may have been a smirk. Solaris was still intact… he had succeeded.

Mere minutes ago, Solaris' final form, which was a fusion of Mephiles himself and the so called 'Flame of Hope', had been shamefully defeated by a trio of hedgehogs by the names of Sonic, Shadow and Silver. As Solaris and Mephiles began to disintegrate, Mephiles became a patch of shadow, attaching himself to the Princess of Soleanna, Elise. Mephiles' will to survive, coupled with his rage and wounded pride allowed him to prevent complete disintegration, unlike his soft-willed counterpart. Consequently, this allowed him to travel with Sonic and the princess to Solaris' chamber. With his other half in sight, Mephiles quickly detached himself from the princess and slipped into Solaris' container, shielding his other half from sight as the princess tried to extinguish it with her somewhat pathetic exhalation of breath. Her stupidity astounded Mephiles.

"Stupid girl! As if something as simple as a light exhalation of air could extinguish Solaris!" Mephiles sneered. He began to laugh in his sinister, chilling way, the harsh sound echoing eerily throughout Solaris' chamber. They thought they had destroyed him… they were dead wrong. And now… it was time for him to exact his revenge.