The Inlet

"Okay, where was I?" Eggman asked himself, sitting inside the living quarters of the Egg Carrier and reading through a book he had stolen from an unmanned tower off the coast of Soleanna. Its title was the Book of Darkness. Shunned by the Soleanna church eight years ago, it was just what he needed to read to understand the Flames of Disaster. "Ah, yes yes. Story six, page six, paragraph six. 'To unleash the Flames of Disaster, you must locate the royal vessel it resides in and bring them to tears. Only then will the Flames of Disaster come to life.' Hmmm…."

Sonic and Elise escaped the Castle Town, as it crumbled in the flames. "My kingdom…" Elise mumbled. She looked over Sonic's shoulder as the clock tower stopped ticking. As the buildings turned to ash. "It's… it's…" Elise felt embers dance into her eyes.

Sonic screeched to a halt, and spun to face the town. "Why did you stop?" Elise asked. Suddenly, a rush of blue wind burst towards them at unprecedented speeds. Many of the fires were extinguished. Sonic stood still as the gust passed by and turned to a calm breeze.

"No special reason," Sonic replied. He continued his run, far away from the Castle Town and into a beach. The sun rose, every footfall ran parallel with another ray of orange sunshine beaming down onto the scorched land. They could hear the Egg Carrier not far behind them.

"Sonic? Eggman's ship is coming! How are we going to—?" Elise asked. Sonic then sped up exponentially, creating a trail of flame under his shoes as he ran. A gloved hand reached out from the fire, until Sonic hit the water and it retreated back into the dying flames.

"Last chance, hedgehog! Stop running or burn!" Eggman shot missiles at the beach as Sonic reached the sand. Sonic ducked and dodged the missiles, eyes darting all around to keep track of each one. In the crackling and flaming explosions, Sonic saw a figure that seemed to be running alongside him. Suddenly, a violet cat leapt out of the flames of an explosion and scratched him, leaving five long burns along his chest. Sonic grunted, as Elise screamed.

"Y-you're hurt…" Elise gasped. Sonic kept running along regardless.

"It's nothing," Sonic replied, with a calm tone of voice. "We can't stop now! If you have time to worry, then run—!" Silver lowered to the ground up ahead, Sonic was headed straight for him.

"You demon! Stop at once!" Silver shouted, swinging his arm and sending Sonic hurdling back into a large rock. Sonic absorbed the worst of the impact for Elise, and slid down the rock as shards of stone fell onto their heads. "Unhand the princess, Iblis Trigger!"

"Who-now trigger?" Sonic asked, getting up as Silver threw a metal crate at him. He ran out of reach, only to have a palm tree slam into his legs, tripping him up and allowing Silver to catch him. Silver grabbed Sonic telekinetically, made him drop Elise onto the ground, and then threw him to the clouds. The Egg Carrier followed Sonic into the sky.

"Are you okay, princess?" Silver asked, kneeling down to Elise once the Egg Carrier was too far away to directly bomb them. Blaze appeared out of the flames. She walked ever closer to Elise while the princess' eyes were locked onto Silver in fear. "I'm not going to hurt you. But that guy… he was going to." Elise inhaled sharply. "His name is Mephiles. He wants to awaken the Flames of Disaster… whatever that is."

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Elise mumbled, backing away only to feel Blaze's warm hand clench hers.

"Miss Elise, it's time to go home," Blaze mutered, dragging Elise towards Castle Town. "You're too close to the border. We mustn't expose you to the Wastelands outside the kingdom."

"I don't want to!" Elise shrieked. "Sonic! HELP!"

Sonic finally stopped flying into the air. All his upward momentum died out. There was only one problem… it was now time to face the fall. He felt the wind crash against his face and spines as he tumbled out of control. "Aah, ah. Not so fast, hedgehog!" Eggman's voice blared out from the Egg Carrier's speakers. "I won't let you die on my watch."

"Huh… I appreciate the attempt, Egghead. But I think I got this one!" Sonic shouted, slamming himself into the Egg Carrier's windshield and running in sideways circles on the glass.

"Hey! Cut that out! You're smudging the—" Eggman shouted, before being hit in the face with a plate of carved-out glass. Sonic scurried up the roof of the battleship, and stomped repeatedly, making the Egg Carrier dip in altitude until it was skidding through the sand. Eggman climbed up onto the roof of the carrier with mechanical limb enhancements attached, and Sonic turned around to face him. They both put up their fists. "What I meant to say is that you owe me a very IMPORTANT artifact. You promised me shortly after the festival that you'd give it to me here in exchange for leaving the princess alone, before disappearing into the night."

"What's that? Can't hear you over the sound of your mustache flapping," Sonic called, bopping Eggman on the dome as Eggman tried to punch him.

"Really? Must I repeat myself?" Eggman asked, grabbing Sonic with a metal fist twice as large as his body and holding him up to one of the carrier's jets. Sonic smirked as he began to catch fire. "You made a deal with me, hedgehog. You planned to waste my time. I can go through the trouble of prying the scepter from Elise's cold dead hands, or you can speed things up for both of our sakes and give it to me right now!" Sonic burst into flame and lightning, spreading the two destructive elements through the air. Eggman's face was seared, and he let go of Sonic. Sonic leapt off of the carrier as it crashed into a large lighthouse. He then darted right back for Elise.

Only to screech to a halt when he saw a spot of ash where Silver, Elise and Blaze once stood.