Tomorrow War

by Battwell

Mephiles

Mephiles and Shadow stared each other down for what seemed like an eternity, but in actuality, it was only a few seconds. Celestia and Luna quickly flew across the room and landed next to Shadow, both Alicorns glaring at the demon the entire time.

"Sir Shadow," Luna addressed the Hedgehog, but didn't turn her head away from Mephiles, "You know this creature?"

Shadow's eyes never left Mephiles for a single moment, "I do and yet, I don't."

It was then that Mephiles decided to chuckle evilly, "Perhaps I should explain, it would make this whole scenario a lot easier to understand."

"Alright, we'll bite," Strange said as he walked over, "Who are you?"

Mephiles then bowed politely as he introduced himself, "I am Mephiles." Mephiles then raised his head, "Mephiles the Dark." He then turned his gaze to Shadow, "Shadow and I have a history, if you couldn't already guess."

Shadow took a step forward, "But how? I've never seen you before, and yet, I know you. Are you the cause of my visions?"

Mephiles chuckled darkly as he stood upright, "If you are referring to the restoration of your lost memories, then yes, I am the cause of your visions."

"Lost memories?" Shadow repeated in a confused tone.

Mephiles chuckled darkly as he folded his arms, "Yes, from the Forgotten Timeline, where we last met."

Rarity tilted her head in confusion, "What do you mean by Forgotten Timeline?" Rarity asked for further clarification, to which Mephiles chuckled again.

"Allow me to explain," Mephiles began, the heroes listening to every word he had to say, "A few years ago, I manipulated that fool Silver the Hedgehog to travel back in time and kill the blue hero, Sonic the Hedgehog. He failed, and then he turned on me, because of you, Shadow.

"You two went further back in time and sealed me in the Scepter of Darkness. I vowed vengeance against you, I vowed to make you suffer for sealing me away. Eventually we met once again and I took your shade so I could have a body of my own.

"Eventually we met once more in the future, where Iblis, my other half, had turned the world into an apocalyptic wasteland. We battled, but you failed to stop me. I travelled back in time and stabbed Sonic right through his heart, unleashing the Flames of Disaster, which allowed me to be reunited with my other half, Iblis.

"I became whole, I became a God once more. I became Solaris, God of Time. I was about to win, to fulfill my destiny. I was free." He then glared daggers at Shadow, "But then you brought the Hedgehog back! You, Sonic, and that idiot Silver transformed into your Super Forms and denied me my destiny!

"Sonic reset the timeline, ensuring that those events never happened." Mephiles then chuckled evilly, "But what he didn't count on was me, still being alive. A small piece of my essence still existed, I still existed. But it was utter hell. I just floated there, formless, in a vast, empty void where absolutely nothing exists. I was doomed to that fate forever.

"Or so I thought, since a tear in reality entered the void. I surmise that this rift was caused by someone messing with time."

Rarity turned to the two Alicorns, "Starlight." She muttered to the two sisters, both seemingly agreeing with her. It seems that Starlight's messing with time not only opened a rift between dimensions, but timelines as well.

Mephiles continued, "I finally had a way out. I was able to finally exact my vengeance upon those who had denied me my victory. I entered the rift, only to end up in an entirely different world."

"Equestria." Luna uttered.

Mephiles nodded before he continued, "I had arrived in this primitive dimension with no way of restoring my body or merging with Iblis. Unlike myself, Iblis did not survive the reset. My destiny was unachievable, but I could still have my vengeance against those who wronged me.

"But I needed a way to restore my body, I wasn't strong enough to take somebody's shade, I was trapped as a black fog. That is until I found someone. Someone who was seething with pain and misery. The one who had brought the Pillars of Equestria together."

The Equestrians' eyes widened in realization, "Stygian!" They all shouted together.

Mephiles laughed in amusement as he nodded, "Yes, Stygian, that fool. All he wanted was to be recognized, to feel useful, to feel appreciated for his efforts. When Starswirl sent Stygian away, the fool grew bitter. He wanted to give Starswirl his comeuppance.

"And I gave it to him. I appeared before Stygian, I promised him power and strength, I promised him payback towards the one had abandoned him. He accepted, of course. I merged my essence with his body, and together, we became the very thing that would spell eternal darkness for the world."

Celestia's eyes widened, as did the other Equestrians'. The solar Alicorn glared at the demonic Hedgehog before her, "It was you. You corrupted Stygian. YOU are the Pony Of Shadows!"

Mephiles nodded, "Yes, a name declared by that idiot Stygian. Although he used my power like a child! He didn't know how to wield such power. He ended up getting us both stuck in limbo for thousands of years. But thanks to that eager moron, Twilight Sparkle, I was freed.

"While Stygian focused on sealing Equestria in darkness, I was focusing on getting my power back! As you Horses know, Stygian wasn't powerful, he had no magic for me to feed upon. So, I decided on the next best thing. His life force."

Luna's eyes widened as she gaped at the evil Hedgehog, "Y-You were killing him, and he didn't even know. You dishonorable monster."

Mephiles continued, ignoring Luna, "But I didn't get the chance to completely drain him. Twilight Sparkle and Starlight Glimmer tore him away from me and sealed me away, not that it did them any good, mind you. In the end, it was a fools errand.

"Once Sombra released me, I knew I had a being with great power at my disposal. While he was trying to kill all of you, I was draining him of his Dark Magic. His magic was the very thing I needed to get my strength back," he turned to Shadow, "And when I saw you, I knew that I had to act. When you struck me as I was freeing myself, I used every ounce of my being to give you your memories back.

"After all, what's the point in killing the one who took everything away from you if they don't even remember you?"

The Equestrians were in absolute disbelief, Shadow was shocked about this revelation, Strange and Ghost Rider simply glared at the evil Hedgehog.

Mephiles then motioned to himself, "And now, you're all caught up. And this time, you won't escape me, Shadow the Hedgehog."

Shadow tightened his fists as he glared daggers at Mephiles. If looks could kill...

Mephiles then unfolded his arms and raised his right hand, pulling the Soul Stone off of the ground and placing it in his demonic hands, "And with these Infinity Stones, my vengeance shall be absolute." He looked towards the group of heroes and chuckled, "The souls within this Stone shall never be freed, even though more souls shall enter the Stone, these lot shall never know peace. Starlight Glimmer shall never know peace!"

The Equestrians looked at the Hedgehog with faces of shock and hatred.

Rarity stood forward, "Where is Starlight?!" She demanded to know.

Mephiles chuckled and looked directly into Rarity's eyes, "Dead."

The Ponies' eyes shot open in horror. Starlight's dead? No. He had to be lying, right?

Mephiles glanced down at the Stone in his hand and spoke, "I felt her soul enter the Soul Stone a few moments before I merged with Sombra. So, I decided to seal her soul along with the others inside the Stone forever. She's gone, and you'll never see her again."

Rarity had already collapsed to the floor and began openly sobbing while the two Alicorn sisters lowered their heads, tears threatening to fall.

Shadow snarled at the demonic Hedgehog as he laughed evilly. He then turned to Shadow and spoke in a serious tone, "This is what you bring to others, Shadow the Hedgehog. Pain and misery. Death seems to follow you wherever you go. You'll bring death to ALL who follow you."

"What do you want, Mephiles?" Shadow asked through gritted teeth.

Mephiles glared daggers at the Ultimate Lifeform, "I want to make you suffer. I want you to watch as I rip everything away from you. You see, I'm not going to kill you right away, no, I'm going to make you watch as everything around you dies. First, I'm going to kill Sonic and Silver, then I'm going to kill that Bat friend of yours, Rouge. Then I'm going to destroy Omega, then I'll kill Twilight Sparkle and her annoying friends.

"Then the Pillars of Equestria will fall, as will The Avengers. I'm going to kill all of your allies and make you watch! Then, when your world has finally reached the brink of death, when you have suffered eternal torment, I shall grant you the sweet release of death."

"You won't get the chance." Shadow threatened.

Mephiles chuckled as he tilted his head to the side, "Oh? And why is that?"

Shadow's expression became cold, colder than anyone had ever seen him, "Because I am going to kill you before you leave this room."

Mephiles then laughed right in the Hedgehog's face, "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Oh, I'm afraid that you won't get the chance. You see, Shadow, when I gave you your memories back, I forgot to mention that I could see YOUR memories as well. I know you have the Reality Stone and the Mind Stone in Stark Tower, I think I'll go and take them off your hands."

Shadow took a step forward towards the demonic being, "You're not going anywhere near those Stones!"

If Mephiles had a mouth, he would be smirking at this moment, "Oh yeah?" he said with a hint of amusement in his voice. His tone then turned dead serious, "Watch me. Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog. Mwahahahahahahahahaha! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

Shadow bolted forward and tried catching Mephiles before he could do anything, but alas, the dark Hedgehog had already teleported out of the Well of Shade, presumably heading towards Stark Tower.

(End song)

Shadow fell to one knee and slammed his fist onto the ground in anger, Mephiles and the Soul Stone were right there, and he let them both escape his grasp.

Strange was about to interject, but he suddenly felt something, something that wasn't suppose to be here, something out of this universe. His eyes widened in realization, it was the Multiversal Trespassers, they were on The Raft, along with Spider-Man and his team.

Without saying a word, Strange used his magic and opened two separate portals, one that went to The Raft, and one that went to Stark Tower.

He then turned to his allies, "I must go to The Raft, the Multiversal Trespassers are there. I have to send them back. You all head to Stark Tower and protect those Stones."

Rarity sniffled as she got back onto her hooves, her eyes showing nothing but determination and focus.

Celestia and Luna looked to one another before turning to Strange and nodding.

As Ghost Rider hummed in agreement, Shadow got back to his feet and turned towards the portals. He then looked towards each and every one of his teammates before making his way towards the portals.

As Shadow walked, he spoke with determination, "Those Stones cannot be allowed to fall into Mephiles' hands. Not his or Thanos'. We protect those Stones with our lives." When he looked back to his team, no, his friends, although he would never say that aloud, and saw the determination in their eyes. They were with him.

He then raised his wrist to his mouth and spoke into his communicator, "This is Shadow to all available members of The Avengers, Freedom Fighters, and Elements of Harmony. The Stones are at risk of being taken, head to Stark Tower now! I repeat, get to Stark Tower and defend those two Stones!"

As Strange entered his portal to head to The Raft, Shadow led his team through the portal and made their way to Stark Tower. His team, they had his back....

And he had theirs.

End Of Arc 4

Author's Note:

If the world chooses to be my enemy, I will fight like I always have

Comments

[Stalin with Da Spoon]

Man, this is getting quite chaotic.
If it gets anymore chaotic, the Inter-Universal Chaos Control Authority will have to step in and commence a total universe reset. Pretty sure we should've stepped in as soon Eggman did that stupid merge with the stones, but we considered it best to observe.
Anyways, we shall continue observation. When this story is all neatly wrapped up with a bow on top, we let them savor their victory, then reset. Like it never happened.

[Lucasnike123]

Let's recap:

Mephiles explains his history to our heroes and reveals that he was the Pony of Shadows all along and that Starlight died at the hands of Sephiroth.

Now, our heroes head to Stark Tower, along with Twilight's group, to protect the Mind and Reality Stones from Mephiles, who escaped with the Soul Stone and Starlight's soul in his possession.

Have I forgotten something?