#Shadows of A Forgotten Time | Mephiles

[the-muse-coven]

@vindictiime liked for a starter

Shadow glanced over at the other individual. There wasn't quite proper recognition of the other being in front of him, though he did seem more than a bit confused by the...striking similarity to him from the other, only his coloration was far different from them.

His red eyes watched the other who matched him for height exactly, like he was a mirror copy. Like the phantom ruby copy but not.

"And you are?" The half-alien hedgehog asked in a rather neutral tone of voice. He didn't have a good gut feeling about the other, but he wasn't about to assume. He'd been in that position before and he wasn't going to be on the opposing side.

[shxdesofchaos]

Tag post for the sake of making sure they're all in generally one place. Some of these WILL in fact, be tags that I have transferred over from my main blog. Others have been made up on the fly.

[south-sea]

(a drabble where i cry about the tragedy of mephiles)

~400 words

-

Solaris loved them.

At first, there were few. They would dance and sing and smile in the company of a small fire they had built, and Solaris would watch from behind the embers. These humans looked so big from down here. They were fascinating, endearing, inspiring, and Solaris found comfort in them.

Few became many. They cheered and told stories and passed down those stories to even tinier humans, and Solaris would watch from the fireplaces warming their dens. These humans looked so happy from back here. They knew each and every one of their names, and Solaris would greet each new name with a sunny day.

Many became incomprehensible. They built their towers and their altars and had their festivals, and Solaris would watch from behind a burning sun. These humans looked so small from up here. They were precious, fleeting things, and Solaris loved them.

These tiny, precious, fleeting things did not need to be told they were there. They knew. They knew. And they loved them for it.

When Solaris sang, the people knew. They felt it in the tender cradle of a sunset whose warmth would linger just a few minutes longer than it would anywhere else. When Solaris sang, the cold seas would warm and calm. When Solaris sang, the shadows and terrors of night would shrink back away from scared children in their beds, and gentle mornings would greet sleepless widowers with honeyed rays and dove song.

When the humans grew greedy for power and paper, Solaris still loved them. When the humans reached for more and still more and were never satiated, Solaris took pity on them. They provided, and provided, and the humans decided this was not enough. When the humans entitled themselves to their generosity and their mercy and their love, Solaris loved them still and wept.

It rained for three days and three nights when the humans took one thing too much.

When Solaris could love them no longer, the humans knew not what they had lost. The seas could not be quelled, the shadows were not without their nightmares, the mornings were not tranquil.

Still they had their festivals for a god they had slain, still they sang and danced and drank and ate and shivered at relentlessly cold nights.

Solaris had loved them. They had loved them. They had loved them.

Mephiles did not know the meaning of love.

[raeloganthesonic06fangirl]

"Shadow Generations" is so funny from Mephiles' point of view.

Imagine getting erased from the prime timeline, spending who knows how long is some sort of limbo void as your essence leaks out around it, spending all that time plotting your revenge, waiting for the right time when your target finally arrives

I mean, Mephiles already had a grudge against Shadow for that paradox they were stuck in back in Sonic 06, where it's basically Mephiles was sealed by Shadow in the Scepter, but Shadow only has the means to do so because Mephiles broke out in the first place to attack Shadow, who goes back in time to seal him, blah blah blah repeat repeat repeat, so of COURSE Mephiles ain't missing his chance to catch him off guard

Presumably, Mephiles spent his countless length of Time in White Space, fantasizing about finally taking down Shadow, planning his attacks, his counters, maybe even his quips just to throw some references back in Shadow's face

Then it finally happens, Shadow finally shows up, and he takes his chance

Sure, Shadow doesn't remember him, but what else is new? At this point, Mephiles is probably considering the possibility that Shadow just has memory problems or something because, wow, this is like at least the third time he's been forgotten even though he's pretty sure been enough of a nuisance to stick in Shadow's brain.

No worries, he's got Shadow's moveset memorized, he knows all his weakness, he's been primed for this exact moment, there's absolutely no way Shadow could possibly scrape by without getting significantly damaged-

And then Shadow turns into a squid.

Mephiles absolutely cannot with this guy

[hadesknockedupintheunderworld]

The Mephadow crumbs from Shadow Generations still make me insane

Like Shadow is going through one of those moments (what will become lowkey routine by the time he's faced with infinite) where someone who's fighting him and is actively his enemy seems to know him and be obsessed with him. And not only does he not know who this bitch is, he doesn't like him and doesn't enjoy being fixated on. On top of that, even if he DID remember him he'd still be opposed to him.

Meanwhile you have Mephiles who (despite having actually liked Shadow) is fighting for his right to exist again. And you know it would be okay enough if his thirst to exist makes it easy for him to forget how he felt about Shadow, or if he turned to revenge again after what happened in Sonic 06. But nope! Yeah he's fighting Shadow desperately for his right to exist, but he fuckin. He offers to spare Shadow. He's fighting him because he has to, but he still wants him if he can have him.

So imagine being Shadow like "Who tf is this guy and how does he know me", and then Mephiles who was just thinking "maybe this is some joke of fate. It is my second chance" and is now crying internally because Shadow "forgot" him again

Mephiles: So we meet again, Shadow!

Shadow: Who tf are you. Whatever. I'll beat your ass

Mephiles, internally: 🥲 Again?

Mephiles, externally: So you've forgotten me again, have you?

Mephiles, later: I might consider sparing you, you know

Shadow: Ha. No.

Mephiles, externally: Oh, Shadow, how disappointed I am. Truly disappointed!

Mephiles, internally: Seriously, rejected again?🥲

[greatdenimbeast]

About diamond castle au: Why Apollo did not intervene when Mephiles was taking control of everything? Was he not aware of what happened with the other muses and Silver? Also, how Maria stayed in this situation?

Shadow and Sonic were turned into stones like in the barbie movie?

I am 90% sure, but just to confirm: is Sonic a trans guy in this au? 👁👁

Im gonna answer these questions in reverse so:

1. Yes! Sonic is transmasc in this au and all my other au’s and Shadow is agender but usually goes with he/him pronouns

2. Yes Sonic and Shadow are turned to stone just like in the movie. Usually their joined harmony would be enough to protect them from something like this but cuz of the divorceTM and their fighting (not like the usual kind of fighting they do) they’re not in harmony anymore so they get petrified (all according to Mephiles’s plans). But unlike in the movie Silver does not know this and neither does anyone else besides Mephiles and Iblis

3. During Mephiles’s takeover, after they hid the castle, Shadow and Sonic told all the attendants, including Maria, to flee to prevent capture. But over the many millennia since that happened Mephiles captured them all and turned them all into hypnotised slaves to attend him and only him, including Maria

4. This one is gonna be a doozy cuz there’s quite a bit

The reason why Apollo didn’t intervene with Mephiles’s takeover was cuz he was under the assumption that it was a justified and necessary move in order to save the arts

Ya see it all comes back to the fighting and subsequent divorce between Sonic and Shadow.

It was intense to put it lightly and it seemed basically endless to all the other onlookers, their feud was even infamous amongst mortals and was generally giving the muses a bad reputation cuz of how chaotic these fights can be in the godly and mortal realm, and after hundreds of years mortals could hardly remember a time where they weren’t like this, it was just the norm

(In fact not even Sonic and Shadow could remember how their usual rivalry became this endless bitter fued, all they really know is that the other started it. I’ll probs touch upon this more in its own post but it was actually Mephiles’s fault all along)

The fact that Apollo chose them as his muses kinda made their behaviour reflect badly on him despite them being pretty good at their jobs. Mephiles, being all manipulative, kinda put it in his head that mortals with their ‘fickle feelings’ and ‘simple outlooks on life’ just weren’t really suited to the duties of a god so it was ‘getting to them’

That if they, hypothetically, retired it would probably be best for everyone involved.

So when Sonic, Shadow and their son just disappeared one day along with the castle Mephiles explained that they had lashed out against him and hidden the castle from him and that he had ‘taken care of them’ Apollo didn’t bat an eye. It was sad but if it was necessary then it had to be done, he didn’t actually know about what became of the other two muses but they were out of the way and that’s what matters

From then on Mephiles was the only muse people worshipped and prayed to for all the arts, generations upon generations knowing the tale of how Lord Mephiles bravely defeated the other two muses and saved the arts from their on-going war

Effectively rewriting history and becoming the only muse while the Sonic and Shadow and the truth of what they were actually like, and the fact that they were even married at all was forgotten. They were just minor players in Mephiles’s story, the one-note antagonists who never stopped fighting

Just like Mephiles wanted

[destinywillowleaf]

we're calling it an "afterparty" because it's a party after we saved the world

(Sonic X Shadow Generations)

In which Blaze knows things no one else does, Sonic remembers what his friends tell him, and Shadow pays attention to people trying to kill him.

Light spoilers for Shadow Generations? Nothing plot-heavy, just a boss and related dialogue. Mostly under the cut to not clog up too much on mobile. these thoughts would not leave me alone so here they are

EDIT: now as a more fleshed-out fic on AO3!

(Parenthesis) are internal thoughts, [Brackets] are actions/descriptions.

~~~~~

Sonic: Hey, Blaze?

Blaze: [She turns to face him.] Hm?

Sonic: You said you were in that Crisis City place before.

Blaze: I did. (Where is he going with this?)

Sonic: Call me crazy, but it seemed like you really knew the city. But I don't remember running through anything like it in the Sol Dimension, and none of the other locales in White Space were from adventures you guys had without me. What's up with that?

Blaze: (Ah.) It's... something I've been wondering myself for a while now.

Sonic: Huh?

[Her eyes grow distant, looking beyond the trees as she retreads memories.]

Blaze: You're right. Crisis City was not in my world. From my best understanding, it was a future of your world. I wound up there not too long after our adventure together, and was forced to learn the environment quickly at risk of being incinerated by the flames of disaster. Alongside... a friend, we kept it at bay as best we could.

Silver: A friend?

Blaze: (You.) After one such defeat, we were approached by a... hedgehog who claimed to know how to stop it once and for all. According to him, a lone individual was responsible for the awakening of the flames. (If I had questioned him more before, perhaps we wouldn't be in this mess of forgotten memories now.) You, Sonic.

Sonic: Me?!

Blaze: That turned out not to be the case, but nevertheless we still set out from our time into the past - your present. We were in the Kingdom of Soleanna, around the Festival of the Sun, I believe. I know... my friend encountered you a few times, but I met you then as well. We eventually returned to the future to seal away the flames once and for all. I fully intended to sacrifice myself but when it was all done... I awoke back in my own dimension.

Sonic: Eh... it's kinda ringing some bells.

Blaze: Really?

Sonic: If you told me any of this yesterday, no, but I feel like running through those streets brought something back. I definitely passed by the kingdom at one point, but I don't think I remember meeting you there. [He scratches his head.] At the same time, I kinda remember meeting someone there...

Blaze: I see.

Sonic: Side note, any reason why're you being so vague about your friend? I feel like their name's on the tip of my tongue but I just can't place 'em.

Blaze: (Because saying anything now means admitting that I've known exactly who was in Silver's dreams and never told him.)

Shadow: If I may be so bold.

Blaze: Yes...?

Shadow: Everything surrounding this... Crisis City seems to have been forgotten. Lost in time, as it were.

Blaze: I suppose that's one way to describe it. I just wish I knew why I seem to be the only one to recall anything that happened.

Shadow: Regardless, you said it was a hedgehog who approached you and your friend about the one responsible for the flames.

Blaze: He appeared to be one, at the very least. (Come to think of it...) He actually looked quite a bit like you, and still spoke to us despite lacking a mouth.

[Shadow's eyes go wide.]

Shadow: Was his name Mephiles?

[Blaze freezes in place.]

Blaze: ...how do you know that name?

[Shadow looks away and clenches his hand.]

Shadow: He confronted me earlier, raving about restoring himself to the timeline. I had no idea who he was, yet he claimed to know me. [He turns, meeting her eyes briefly.] You are the only one to remember...

Blaze: ...because that timeline no longer exists. (Something happened to destroy it. Returning to my dimension must have protected me from having my memories affected. It's a miracle Sonic remembers anything now at all.) How did he manage to find you, then?

[Shadow shrugs and turns away, leaving Blaze to her thoughts.]

Silver: Hm....

Blaze: Is there something on your mind?

Silver: You and your friend were fighting some big fiery creature in the future together, right? [Blaze nods.] It kinda sounds like Ifrit, but that was me and Espio.

Blaze: (...I've kept it from him long enough.) It was Iblis.

Silver: Ibl—

[A look of recognition flashes in his eyes. Everything clicks into place.]

Silver: All this time... it was you? They–They weren't dreams or future visions at all?

Blaze: I'm sorry for not telling you sooner. (Not that I've had many opportunities to do so to begin with.)

Silver: I've never really felt like I belonged in my own future, even before I tried to change it the first time. [Silver lets out a tired chuckle.] I guess I know why now. And–And why I was there instead of anywhere else, and why it still felt familiar even though I didn't know where I was. Except, I guess, I did know where I was. Kinda.

[The party air is distant despite being so close, and the gap between them feels like a chasm.]

Silver: What was it like?

Blaze: The old future?

Silver: Mhm. What kinda stuff did we do besides fighting fires?

Blaze: Well...

~~~~~

if you're reading this part you're cool B) but seriously i think it would be fun for Shadow to be the only other person who actually knows Mephiles. Silver has shreds of memory at best, Sonic never learned the guy's name, and no one else even has a shot at remembering. even after generations Sonic doesn't remember most of what happened and Blaze can't help since she wasn't around for most of it. idk if anyone ever finds out that Sonic died during all that nonsense.

(also something about Shadow, the one guy notorious for having a shit memory thanks to Amnesia, being the one to know/remember stuff from a timeline that doesn't exist is just. inherently funny to me)

[duckapus]

You know, considering his Whole Thing is Time, you'd think Mephiles would understand why Shadow has "forgotten" him twice. And yet he's still genuinely offended by it, cause like, how dare his arch-nemesis be a Mortal who can only experience time linearly, right?

[ssaluss]

With shadow generations i've been thinking about Silver a Lot.

This will be a Long rant about a comic/concept that i will NOT be able to work upon, i'm a full time College student and work as an illustrator via Freelance, alongside personal projects ill say i feel like i have too much at hand but enough talk, concept below cut

As you'll see, this was inpired by Mephiles return, i can Dream abou a new silver campaing and i think a good villain would be Silver himself (Kinda inspired by an video i've seen years ago, if i remember wich one i'll link it in the comments).

Like, erased Silver being one of the remnants of this forgotten world, going back to his future to find nothing, learning how to time travel himself so he could save the life he wanted to have, but he keeps failing because he (his 2006 self) don't exist anymore.

Erased/06 Silver is a different entity than current canon Silver, whom i imagine have an ok future that sometimes is in danger so he goes back, fix things and everything is fine and rainbows again.

Borrowing the concept of multiple realities out of prime and dimensions cause Rush, Erased Silver trying everything he could to save his reality, his world in shambles and everyone that could have survived, he tried the chaos emeralds, not his as his world don't exist anymore, searching through dimensions and alternative realities were, even if he gater them all, they do nothing, even the Master emerald once, it just kicked him back to the nothingness.

So he becomes not quite a villain but someone desperate by all means to just exist.

I just think its neat the team discovering some new threat cause the Canon Silver said his future is starting to colapse but he can't trace the moment in time that explains why, just to fight something like the Time Eater but learning that the one pulling the strings is someone that seems familiar but they can't figure out why (different design, maybe masks like infinite or shade ya know). And he keeps the theme Mephiles started...

"I want to exist"

In his mind he's still a hero trying to fix everything and bring everyone back.

The more fanfic-ish thing out of this already fanfic-ish concept is Canon Silver or Good Future Silver being raised by Shadow cause i love their dynamic and think its neat, not in the board of "oh he's actually his biological father" yadda yadda (if you are thats ok, im in this boat if we talk about vincent and sephiroth) but id like an adopted father/tutor role cause my boy Shad have seem much and he cares about his friends, so if he saw little silver just waddling around you can't convince me he wouldn't take care of the little thing (and i love the idea of silver's bracelets being some kind of inhibitor, im still making fanfic at heart).

Also holy shit What im made of is back this was my whole childhood soundtrack alongside his world and i am all of me.

[hunniegl4zed]

Alright. Time for the new years headcanons!

Who is dressed to the nines for the event?

Who is plotting evil politicians’ downfalls? (100% betting on seelkadoom and shadow plotting something-)

Who is drunk off their ass in preparation for the hellish year 2025 will be?

Who is trying to have a good time and make sure that everyone is having a good time?

Who gets the new year’s kiss?? 👀👀

Who’s bringing all the fun board games and stuff?

Who’s chilling in the hot tub and listening to the gossip being spilled? Or just hanging in there to just chill?

Who went off to enjoy their time with their friends and other loved ones (a partner of some kind)

Who brought all the good foods and snacks, alongside the fireworks?

Who helps set up the fireworks display and helps set them off? :D

Who’s watching the kids use sparklers and stuff?

Who’s watching the ball drop this year in New York?

Who is falling into the pool after getting drunk? LMAO

(You can use any and all characters from your and my AU. GO NUTSO GLAZE! :D)

Ohhhhhh goooddiieeee 👀👀🔥🔥🔥

I think pretty much everyone will be dressed to impress when they arrive. May it be the most gorgeous of fashions or the most dank-ass thing ever. Everyone will pull out all stops 💅

Definitely can see Shadow and Seelka doing that. Hecc, even Mephiles will join in on the fun, too 🔥🔥🔥

You can bet that Scourge and Mayhem will be the ones ending up drunk and getting the party animal vibes going stronk. Figured Aeon and Rouge recording their fails xD Mighty having to drag their asses out of the pool and drag them back home again 💀💀💀

I bet Vanilla and Vector host the party, making sure everyone is happy and having a good time.

Krush, Tails and Infinite will bring snacks, drinks, and fireworks. Although they might be tampered with for the little extra something 🔥🔥🔥

They both will watch Sonic, Knuckles and Silver fire off the fireworks... only to find out a little TOO late that it's not your basic fireworks 💀💀💀

Amy, Surge, Cream, and Blaze will play board games and watch the ball drop at New York ✨️✨️

Nazo, Iris, Annihilation, and Camellya will be chilling in the hot tub. SPILLING THE TEA THAT HOTTER THAN THE WATERS SIS 💅💅✨️✨️✨️

All of the couples will be getting their New Year's Smooch 😌✨️✨️💕💕

Just to name a few x3, I might have forgotten some people, but yeah ✨️✨️✨️

[ostebee]

Tumblr fandom game:

Sonic 🦔

blorbo

It's obviously Tails and Shadow! When I firstly discovered Sonic (it was sweet times of flash player existence and I was forbidden to install games on mom's PC) I liked Tails and his ability to fly a lot. For 8-9 year old me Sonic was kinda difficult game to play and Sonic wasn't my fav at that point so... Tails it is even nowadays :'). I like his levels on SA2.

And Shadow happened to me much more later. I like his lore and personality in SA2 very much. He's quite relatable for me and design-wise he's just peak.

scrunkly

I think it's Metal Sonic but I don't really feel aggressive towards characters (unless they're complete shitheads :'D).

scrimblo bimblo

It's a really hard one. It might be Cream because she's really... forgotten kinda. But she's quite nice in Sonic X so yeah.

glup shitto

For me it's going to be Rouge. I mean she's barely the character who's gotten as little screentime as Big for example but every time she's on screen I'm literally like WHOOOOOAH HELL YEAH BABY. In Sonic Prime writers did pretty nice job for her in my opinion. And Maria, I like her upbeat attitude even though she's ill and her impact on Shadow is just... Something.

poor little meow meow

Chris from Sonic X and Elize from Sonic 06. Yeah. Everyone hates them just because? But I really like them both. They're making a good company for Sonic and I actually want someone like Shadow to interact with both of them. Maybe in some kind of au?

horse plinko

Knuckles. No comments, I'm not a big fan of Knuckles :'). Also Eggman.

eeby deeby

Mephiles (affectionately). He's just that kind of villain that is so cool to hate whenever he's on screen not because he's terrible, but terrifying. And...and that chaos council guys from Sonic Prime, they're not nearly charismatic, funny or entertaining, they're just bland and shitty straight up.

[catholic-character-tournament]

Round 4 - Catholic Character Tournament

Propaganda below ⬇️

Knuckles

Knuckles is very heavily Christ-coded - walking on water, resurrection, prophecies, the whole nine yards. Not necessarily Catholic specifically, but I feel like there’s a comparison to be made between the Brotherhood and the Catholic Church as a structure. Also he’s made it to the semi finals of the Christ coded tournament if that means anything to you

God this whole thing was literally insane. Also pretty much completely forgotten as soon as p*nders was off the comic, which was probably for the best tbh.

Ken penders did a lot of wierd fucking bullshit, and made knuckles literally Jesus.

Nothing left to say except another fuck ken penders.

In the Archie comics, Knuckles inherits the role of being a spiritual leader to a lost tribe of Echnidnas, that have been wandering, searching for their prophesied homeland for centuries. Knuckles is the one to finally lead them there.

He also dies and comes back, and because of this is hailed as the prophesied “Avatar” by his people, the one who’s supposed to bring peace to their planet, Mobius. Cannot for the life of me remember where this went though.

It maybe isn’t allegorical as much as it is the writer thinking putting Judeo-Christian themes would make it cool or something. But the comparison to Jesus is at least intentional, whereas it probably isn’t with Shadow.

Shadow

In sonic destruction (the AI generated fan thing snapcube made a while ago) shadow was catholic or something which I think is reallyyyyyyy funny

Ok listen. I know this is a stretch but hear me out. He says “oh my God” in the Twitter takeovers so we know this is a possibility. I see him as a Christ-like figure because I saw his whole confrontation with Mephiles and was like “this is a thing that happened in the Bible??” and the pose Mephiles shows him in is literally like a crucifixion and Mephiles is meant to be a demon / false prophet reference. And also he’s called a demon in Shadow The Hedgehog 2005 then the guy who calls him that is like “I was wrong I’m sorry” and that also reminds me of a thing with Jesus in The Bible. But the biggest reason is his whole thing with Maria cause I think he’d come to earth and hear Ave Maria once and convert to Catholicism idk he’s like we’re comforted by a female familial figure named Mary sometimes called Maria?? And her color is blue????? Heck yeah I’m in because I Will Cry. Also feel free to share this as propaganda obv even if he doesn’t get in the bracket just. It’s funny.

I feel like he’d battle a lot with being seen or portrayed as a demon and how the aliens he’s related to very much look and act like demons idk lmao- and also I feel like confession would just be good for him I think he needs it for his mental health

There is a debate on the lovely website tunblr that Shadow T. Hedgehog is an allegory for Jesus Christ.

He is Jesus, idk what to tell you. He lived, he was sealed away, he was awakened again and deemed the ultimate lifeforms, he’s angry but not evil, does what he believes is best for people and the world at any given time. Total loser.

[shxdesofchaos]

He watches as Mephiles sticks the needle below the deity's own collarbone, the glow of the chaos drive fading as the chaos energy stored in the drive drains into Mephiles' body, the green color fading from the drive.

"I suppose I do." Shadow started off, turning his crimson gaze onto Mephiles as he sees him slouch in a relaxed posture. He turns further, the wing closest to Mephiles curling, though the tough, fleshy texture still brushes against one of Mephiles' own limbs, the sharp points of the wings turned inward as they're wickedly sharp and he doesn't want to cut anything, skin or otherwise.

"I don't know your name, what is it?" Shadow asked, "And I can sense you're strong, far stronger than the average Mobian...so I have to assume as well that you aren't a Mobian... so, I would like to ask what exactly you are?"

The alien hybrid does his best to tuck the wings into a curled position on his back, the movements somewhat slow and jerky as he's unused to moving the muscle groups that manipulate them.

He's doing his best to be polite about it, as it's clear the I suppose is the polite way that he's tamping down on curiosity, as reserved as it looks. Tired crimson hues remain calm and generally composed. Lidded eyes looking up slightly at the slouched deity as he stands up very slowly. He wobbles slightly as his body is more back heavy than he's used to. It feels similar to when he was first getting used to wearing his air shoes, grunting slightly when rights himself properly.

That was an amusing response, if also slightly worrying. Whether it be an old song and dance that he was relatively used to or not, he was not eager to step into rhythm at this moment in time. Mephiles was glad when the other seemed to decide against giving in to whatever it was that he felt precisely, though that had also left him curious. What was that, and why?

Forced upon me. That seemed important, but if he admitted that these mutations were indeed improvements, did… did it matter? It was a very perplexing question that Mephiles wasn’t entirely sure there was a ‘correct’ answer to. If a being more powerful than another inflicted its will upon another, the subject’s willingness in question, did it matter?

A little voice in the back of his head told him that it didn’t, not when it came down to deities, their powers unmatched, and the weaknesses of mortals. Another brief moment’s thought and he decided that this wasn’t someone he was interested in voicing those thoughts to.

There were plenty of questions buzzing about his mind. Did they matter so much? He wasn’t sure. There was also the matter of the chaos drive he was still holding.

Mephiles gave the other a small noise of acknowledgement, though what exactly it could have been interpreted as was unclear. What he did clearly do, however, was stand up straight, eyeing the battery, the reason he was in this specific moment in the first place. Decisively, he stuck the needle into his chest, just below a collarbone. The ensuing result was mostly pleasant, he decided. He really should have investigated these machines far sooner.

“You have answered the ones that matter most, I suppose.” He tilted his head at the other, relaxing back into an almost slouching posture as he did.

There was a whole sequence of dialogue that they ought to go through, introductions, deciphering of whether or not they knew anything of one another and then how far that knowledge went, if anywhere at all. Mephiles was keen to start that, just a little anxious now, but…

“Surely you have questions for me.”

[superscourge]

Bang is just like "My family is so rad!!"

Meanwhile, Moon is a tad bit concerned about his families problems/crimes. Like he wasn't phased at first, but after learning his whole family has:

Attempted murder (either once or multiple times)

Successfully killed someone (some of them, not all)

Overthrown a government and took over said government (Scourge)

Tried to destroy a planet (Mephiles, Iblis, and Shadow)

Committed several war crimes (both on purpose and by accident)

Literally killed gods (*cough* Sonic *cough*)

And somehow, let a crazy zombie doctor who experimented on some kids, turning them into cyborgs, and has probably tried to kill the entire family at least once, be the uncle of the family.

It's fine tho! Moon is only a tad bit concerned! Just a tad bit, definitely not secretly setting up a therapy appointment.

this made me laugh really hard not bc of the thing with moon but bc it reminded me flatline was part of this au and i had COMPLETELY FUCKING FORGOTTEN despite him being a very important piece of this puzzle

[doomhearted]

In a hypothetical Christmas Carol scenario, I think the Ghost of Christmas Past for Shadow would have to take the form of Gerald Robotnik, the Ghost of Christmas Present would be Sonic (since he lives in the moment), and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come would be Silver.

Maria's ghost (Jacob Marley) is the one to warn him that he will be visited by the three spirits in an attempt to save his soul.

When Silver comes, he isn't really all that intimidating about showing him the future until he disappears and some terrifying, forgotten being out of time takes his place--it's Mephiles (or maybe Black Doom) that tells Shadow that the world will turn its back on him and then he just startles awake in a cold sweat. It was all a dream.

[fragmented-deity]

and for the other one: does your muse consider themselves petty? would others describe them that way?

Mephiles would not describe himself as petty so much as vindictive. It takes a long time for perceived or actual slights that raise his ire to appropriately cool themselves to something that he doesn't feel incessant need to act on them in some fashion. Compared to the alternates that he has seen through his ability to traverse time and timelines by proxy, he's much calmer since he has had enough time to have the resentment for the Solaris Project dull to a simmer, especially with all the humans responsible for the project now deceased. He often holds confusion for alternates who tend to veer more towards total eradication of existence or who were as a result of that desire erased from their particular timelines and left to exist in a space outside of it, forgotten by everyone else as a result of their own zealous need for revenge or repayment for the slight received.

He was not always this calm and could have gone the route those alternates did, but Shadow being present, assisting him, and generally talking him through it to something more specific and reminding him frequently that not every human or mobian would have been aware of the project talked him out of that particular pathway.

Now, his main goal is just to be whole again.