Mephiles was starting to get annoyed now. He had those Stones right where he wanted them, he was finally victorious. But then everything fell apart as not only did all of his foes come together, but he also lost the Soul Stone. But he was still determined.
He wouldn't lose now.
He was too close.
Mephiles clenched his fists, "You all fail to grasp the reality which you all face," He declared as a purple aura appeared around him, "Let me show you what I'm made of!"
Sonic smirked in response and turned his head to his allies, "Let's get him."
Mephiles roared angrily as he released a burst of dark energy which engulfed the street they were standing on. A dark dome formed over the four Hedgehogs, allowing them to battle without any interruptions. Shadow glared hatefully at his nemesis before he crouched down.
"Let's end this."
"Gladly!" Mephiles retorted in anger.
The battle had begun.
Sonic dashed forward at impossible speeds with Shadow skating alongside him. Silver took to the air and darted forward with the others. Mephiles shot forward and met the three Hedgehogs head on. Once they collided, an explosion of darkness went off, sending each of the Hedgehogs backwards.
Shadow recovered quickly as Silver and Sonic were getting back up.
Shadow wasted no time in continuing the fight as he shot forward to take Mephiles alone. Mephiles didn't hesitate to charge at his foe either. The two Hedgehogs met in the middle and interlocked hands in a struggle to overpower one another.
The struggle ended as Mephiles was suddenly struck in the side, which sent him flying off to the left. Shadow darted his eyes toward Sonic, who gave the Ultimate Lifeform a thumbs up. Both Hedgehogs turned to face Mephiles, who skidded to a stop.
The being of darkness then stomped on the ground, sending pillars of dark fire sprouting from the ground towards our heroes. Sonic dashed off while Shadow used his rocket shoes to hover in the air and dart forward before he could get hit.
Mephiles shot upwards into the air, hovering above his foes.
Silver used his telekinesis to lift pieces of the ground up into the air and hurled them at Mephiles the Dark. The Hedgehog of the dark made no attempt to dodge the incoming attack as his hand was suddenly engulfed in a purple fire made to resemble a blade.
Mephiles flew forward and used his blade to slice the incoming attacks in half.
Silver growled in anger before he shot forward, reeling back a punch. The Hedgehog of the future threw the punch, but Mephiles disappeared in a fog of black before he could land the strike. Mephiles took advantage of Silver's confusion and reappeared behind the Hedgehog and roundhouse kicked him in the side of the head.
As Silver flew through the air, Shadow and Sonic jumped into the air and caught the Hedgehog before he could crash onto the ground. The two rivals set Silver down on the ground as Mephiles summoned two orbs in his hands.
He then hurled the orbs at his foes as they were recovering.
Silver caught sight of this and used his powers to shove Sonic and Shadow out of the way before they could get hit. Silver then quickly created a shield with his powers to block the attacks, but it didn't hold up against the strength of Mephiles' assault.
One orb shattered the shield while the other struck Silver in the chest, sending him rolling across the ground.
Mephiles laughed in victory before he shot downward, his Dark Blade ready so he could kill the Hedgehog. But just as Mephiles was about to reach Silver, Shadow threw a Chaos Spear so he could protect the unconscious hero.
Mephiles was struck and thrown off course, allowing Silver to continue living. Shadow boosted forward as Mephiles the Dark got back up. The Ultimate Lifeform hurled multiple Chaos Spears at the darker half of Solaris, making sure he doesn't sleek away.
But Mephiles wasn't so easily defeated, as he simply faded into a black fog to avoid Shadow's projectiles. Once Mephiles morphed back into his body, he was struck in the back... And then the front... And then from side to side by multiple Homing Attacks.
Once Sonic struck Mephiles again, he uncurled and planted his feet on the ground, skidding to a stop. Mephiles' head turned 180 degrees, which caused Sonic to shiver involuntarily. The rest of Mephiles' body snapped 180 degrees to match the direction of his head.
Mephiles then shot several balls of darkness from his left hand as Sonic took off running.
Mephiles kept firing blast after blast as Sonic ran up the walls of the dome to keep ahead of the projectiles. While Mephiles was distracted, Silver regained consciousness and sat upright. He then saw that Mephiles was open to attack and decided to take this rare opportunity.
Silver shot upwards and flew over towards Mephiles.
Mephiles was then tackled from behind by Silver, causing them both to crash on the ground. As the smoke cleared, it was revealed that Silver had Mephiles in a telekinetic grip. Silver raised Mephiles into the air, allowing both Sonic and Shadow to boost themselves forward and attack.
They both reeled back their fists as they flew towards Mephiles.
Both Sonic and Shadow then punched Mephiles in the face, sending the creature of darkness flying through the air and crashing against the dome. Mephiles pushed himself off of the wall of the dome, revealing it to be cracked slightly.
As the three Hedgehogs regrouped on the ground below, Mephiles growled in anger as he raised his arms into the air, "I will not allow you three to best me again! I will not be denied my destiny!" It was then that a massive black orb the size of a meteor formed in Mephiles' hands.
The three Hedgehogs looked upward at the swirling Bomb of Darkness with worried looks on their faces.
Sonic suddenly snapped his fingers as an idea popped into his head. He turned to Shadow, "Shadow, you and I will curl into a combined Spin Dash," He then turned to Silver, "Silver, you get a good grip on us with those powers of yours and when I say so, you throw us at that bomb with all you got!"
Silver nodded as he slowly floated upward into the air while Shadow and Sonic interlocked hands.
"If you tell anyone about this..." Shadow growled through his teeth.
Sonic simply rolled his eyes as they both begun to spin, creating a combined Spin Dash. Silver used his telekinesis and raised the two Hedgehogs into the air as they charged their attack. Mephiles looked at the sight before him and scoffed.
"You just don't get it, do you? This is not a fight you can win, fools! This is fate, destiny has decided that--"
"You talk too much and need to shut that imaginary mouth of yours!" Sonic interrupted the demon.
Mephiles growled as he threw the bomb downwards.
"SILVER, NOW!!!" Sonic shouted as the bomb fell. Silver nodded and yelled as he threw the two Hedgehogs forward towards the Bomb of Darkness. The combined Spin Dash made contact with the bomb and tore straight through it, shocking Mephiles greatly.
"I-IMPOSSIBLE!!!" Mephiles stuttered before he was struck in the chest by the combined Spin Dash and was sent hurling towards the wall of the dome.
Mephiles crashed through the dome, causing it to shatter completely.
Sonic and Shadow untucked before the Blue Blur gripped Shadow's hands and spun him around a few times before letting go. Shadow zoomed downwards before landing a solid kick to Mephiles' chest, sending the demon crashing down on the road, creating a crater where he landed.
Sonic and Shadow landed as the smoke cleared, with Silver landing behind them and walking towards them. All three Hedgehogs stared down at the Hedgehog inside the crater as he tried to get back up, but he just didn't have the strength and fell back down to the ground.
Shadow folded his arms over his chest, "I told you, Mephiles. I will never let you win, I will never let you desi crate her home. Not now, not ever."
(End song)
Rainbow flew towards a Mephiles clone with an intent to ram right through it, but she simply phased through it as it faded out of existence. As a matter of fact, all the other Mephiles clones faded away as well, confusing everyone greatly.
Vector scratched the top of his head in confusion, "Uhh... What just happened?"
Ben Grimm punched his palm with a grin on his face, "I think we just won!"
As everyone, sans Doom, celebrated their victory over the clones, Dr. Strange glanced down at his hand as the Time Stone appeared in his palm. He then looked forward and created a portal to Sonic's location.
Mephiles groaned painfully as he rose to his feet, not intending on giving up without a fight. He looked up slightly and saw Shadow and the other two Hedgehogs looking down at him just outside the crater. Mephiles tried to take a step forward, but he found out that he was still weakened from the fight.
All of a sudden, an orange portal sparked to life behind the three Hedgehogs. Dr. Stephen Strange stepped out of the portal with the Time Stone in hand.
Sonic waved to the Master of the Mystic Arts, "Hey, Doc, glad you could make it."
Strange nodded in reply, "It appears that the threat has been dealt with," He glanced down at the Time Stone with a stoic expression on his face, "Now, it is time to restore the balance of time." Strange then floated off of the ground and hovered downward into the crater.
Dr. Strange landed on the opposite side of the crater and stared Mephiles down, the Time Stone shining brightly in his hand.
Mephiles chuckled weakly, "And what... Do you think YOU can accomplish here, sorcerer?" Mephiles outstretched his arms, "I am a God, while you are nothing but a fool with cheap parlor tricks up his sleeve."
"You may be one half of a Time God, but you were erased long ago." Strange took a step forward as his cloak flapped with the wind, "You somehow survived, but now it is time to right this wrong... For good."
Mephiles, to everyone's surprise, took a fearful step back, "W-What do you think you are doing?!"
Strange closed his hand around the Time Stone before stretching his arm forward, aiming his fist directly at Mephiles, "Teaching you a lesson." Strange gave Mephiles a coy smirk, "You mess with time, it tends to mess with you back."
(Play from 0:33 to 1:29)
Without warning, Strange fired a green laser from the Time Stone directly at Mephiles. The beam struck Mephiles in the chest, causing the demon to screech out in pain. The sheer power of the Stone created a mighty gust of wind that sent Sonic and Silver sliding backwards, but not Shadow.
Shadow jumped into the crater and slowly approached the two.
As Strange continued to use the Stone, Mephiles' eyes darted to his right hand, to which he saw it crack like glass with a green glow shining through it.
Mephiles' eyes widened in horror when he finally realized.
He was being erased from existence.
"GRAH...NO! TH-THIS IS N-NOT P-P-POSSIBLE..."
As Mephiles' body began to crack, Shadow removed his Inhibitor Rings and quickened his pace towards Mephiles. As his body deteriorated, Mephiles began morphing into the various forms he has taken over the years. The Nightmare Forces, The Pony of Shadows, he had no control as his body fell apart.
Strange grunted as he struggled to keep control of the Stone's power, "YOUR FATE WAS DECIDED LONG AGO! IT IS TIME FOR YOU TO PAY FOR THOSE YOU HAVE HURT, DEMON!!!"
It was then that small shards of Mephiles' body flew backwards off of his body, "Y-YOU M-MORTAL WHELP!!! I... AM... S-SOLARIS!!! I... AM... A GOD!!!"
Shadow's slow walk then turned into a full on sprint before he started skating towards Mephiles, his body engulfed in a red aura.
"KNOW THIS!!! T-THIS ISN'T THE END... I-I SHA-ALL RE-RE-RETURN!!! S-SOMEHOW!!! S-S-SOMEWAY!!!"
Shadow had heard enough. He leapt into the air and reeled back a fist as Mephiles fell apart. Shadow and Mephiles locked eyes with one another as Shadow drew closer to his most hated enemy.
The light inside the cracks in Mephiles' body brightened immensely, "I'LL BE BACK!!! D-DO YOU HEAR ME?!!!"
There was almost nothing left as Shadow threw the punch.
"DO YOU HEAR ME?!!! SHAAAAAAADOOOOOOOWWWWW!!!"
Those were the final words of Mephiles the Dark as Shadow shattered him like glass. The beam ceased as Shadow landed on the ground in a crouched position. Strange fell to one knee just as Shadow stood upright, opening his hand and gazing at the appendage.
Shadow scoffed as he clenched his fist, "You call yourself a God?" He then crossed his arms, "A God is nothing to the Ultimate Lifeform."
(End song)
Shadow turned around and walked over to Strange, helping him to his feet.
"Thanks for the assist." Strange thanked the Hedgehog.
Shadow merely nodded before walking over and placing his Inhibitor Rings back on. The Ultimate Lifeform then saw Sonic and Silver just outside the crater, looking down on him with smiles.
Sonic gave Shadow a thumbs up.
Shadow rolled his eyes and returned the gesture with one of his own.
Sonic chuckled as Strange floated out of the crater and landed beside him and Silver. They all turned around to see Twilight and Peter leading the massive team of heroes over towards them.
Sonic turned his head to Strange, "What's next, Doc?"
Strange looked up to the sky with a grim expression on his face, "Now it's time for our next fight."