Teaching Darkness

Shadow stepped forward, picking his power ring bracelets from the ground. The liquid puddle that had been Mephiles separated at his feet.

“I’m so glad that’s over…” Said Rouge, watching him snap them back onto his wrists. “I was beginning to think you actually met your match.”

Shadow shook his head, and scoffed an “As if…” under his breath, running his hand through his quills. No one seemed to notice the puddle beginning to evaporate.

Shadow stepped over it, lending Rouge a hand as well. Omega followed as they made their way to the exit.

The dark mist crept slowly behind them, flattened against the ground, it’s eerie whispering unheard by the trio. Suddenly, Omega stopped.

“What’s up?” Said Shadow, as he and Rouge turned around as soon as the robot’s movements ceased.

“Warning: Supernatural-force-detected-within-the-immediate-vicinity.”

“Well, considering-“

“Supernatural-force-detected-behind-Shadow!” This time, Omega actually sounded a little frantic, a very unusual occurrence for the robot. He was now pointing his guns behind Shadow, who looked back rather confused.

The mist formed into a blob and leapt at Shadow, who barely had any room for a reaction time. He slammed into the hard stone floor, dust from the sands stirring up as he tried to hold the blob back, which was beginning to ooze between his fingers. Rouge made a frantic grab for it as well, but her hands simply passed right through it.

“What the-?”

Shadow’s eyes widened as the blob shot out of his hands and slowly began to cover his body.

Rouge and Omega could only watch in silent terror as it began to sink itself into his fur. He finally let out a scream of horror that had remained absent during the struggle. His red quills began to take on a teal tinge to them, as he began to writhe on the ground. The mist surrounded his body, engulfing him in darkness. His crimson eyes were now gaining a poisonous green rim to them, and his gloves and shoes disappeared completely, leaving sharp, clawed fingers and toes. His quills and tail were beginning to form crystals on the edges, and his markings were becoming frayed in appearance.

Rouge and Omega suddenly snapped out of the states of shock and hurried to assist the poor hedgehog. Or at least tried to; a purple energy blast quickly threw them back.

Rouge shook her head as the dust cleared, seeing a silhouette of a form rise from the ground. It straightened itself and began to look at its fingers, flexing them, inspecting.

“Shadow?” She asked uncertainly, as Omega shifted around, agitatedly.

The figure looked at her, two toned eyes narrowing with dark amusement. He grinned, showing off Shadow’s fanged teeth as he did so.

“Shadow’s not here right now,” Mephiles’ voice sounded from this new entity. He closed his hand into a fist, shifting his foot back, preparing to tear across the space that separated him from the white bat. “But, if you want… you’re welcome to join him…”

Rouge was frozen with fear… She couldn’t react fast enough.
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Shadow felt himself drifting… floating inside the darkest chasms of his mind. He was in a mild daze as his hurting brain tried to sort things out.
Mephiles.

Mist.

Rouge.

Blob.

Attacked.

He had been attacked by Mephiles’ mist form… hadn’t he?

His mind was so confused. What happened? Where was he? What happened to Rouge and Omega?

It was Rouge’s scream that jolted him to his senses.
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Rouge felt herself get plowed out of the way by a large hunk of metal. She looked up from the ground and saw Omega standing his ground between her and Mephiles’ new form.

“Do-not-become-incapacitated-when-confronted-with-Shadow-like-being.” He reprimanded her, turning his head to glare through his red, lights of eyes.

“But… But that is Shadow! Or it was!” She said quite shocked. She stared at this new darkness, which had strafed to the side to avoid an “Omega-Blast”. He laughed at this apparent “futile” attempt. He cracked his neck, as if to say he was expecting more of a challenge.

Rouge’s wings flattened against her back as Mephiles took another charge at the two.

“Prepare to be engulfed in darkness, like you’re dear friend Shadow here…”

Before Omega could lock and load his weapon, Mephiles suddenly took a dive, skidding to the ground, clutching his head, yelling harshly. For a brief moment, one could hear Shadow’s voice crack through, before it took over completely.

“…Leave… my brain… and my friends…ALONE!” Shadow growled under his breath. Mephiles/Shadow got up shakily, stumbling back a few times, struggling internally with Shadow/Mephiles. He/They/It dropped to the ground, body twitching.

“Shadow?” Rouge crawled past Omega, who seemed like he was going to pull her back, but didn’t, and instead watched her, ready to help if her idea went wrong. She crawled over to Shadow/Mephiles, and placed a hand on his/their/its shoulder as he/they/it began to shake, staring ahead blankly. As soon as the hand touched, the eyes transformed quickly into Mephiles’ poisonous color entirely, a look of extreme hatred flashing across his/their/its face.

“BACK OFF!” He snapped at her, swiping a hand upwards, which sent Rouge flying back. Omega caught her before she hit the ground, and set her down, charged his energy cannon, and pointed it at Mephiles/Shadow. Rouge looked up in horror, rubbing her face where she had been hit. She could feel a bruise beginning.

“Shadow-like-being-attacked-Rouge-the-Bat. Prepare-for-“

“NO!” Rouge got up and put herself in the way, arms out to the side, showing Omega she wasn’t planning on moving anytime soon. “I’m telling you, Omega… this is Shadow!”

Omega lowered his gun, and stared at the bat with the kind of silence that would be called “confusion”. He turned his head at Mephiles/Shadow, scanning for the familiar life form that was his friend.

“Error. Sensors-detect-life-form-Shadow-The-Hedgehog-is-located-behind-you. Sensors-also-say-Mephiles-The-Dark-is-behind-you-as-well. Visuals-confirm-neither.”

This time, the Mephiles side spoke up.

“You nuisance. Can you not see that I have taken control of your friend?”

“Error.” Omega “shook” his head. “Sensors-“

“WOULD YOU JUST SHUT UP ABOUT YOU’RE STUPID SENSORS?!” Rouge screamed loud enough to cause even Mephiles to cringe slightly at how shrill it sounded. “BELIEVE IT OR NOT, THIS IS SHADOW! SOMEWHERE IN THERE, BUT HE IS SHADOW!”

Omega was silent. His head shifted from staring at Rouge, to Mephiles/Shadow, back to Rouge, who stared at him hard, back to Mephiles/Shadow, Rouge… well, you get the idea.

If Omega wasn’t such an advanced robot… he might have exploded from trying to sort this out. Instead… he just figured he should shut up.

A grunt of pain quickly met their ears (or at least Rouge’s), and the two quickly turned their heads to see yet another internal struggle take place and unfold. Mephiles/Shadow gripped right behind the ears, backing up into a stone pillar. His/Their/It’s eyes slowly shifted to red, flashes of green lining the edges every few seconds. One long, dragged out howl of agony partially secured the possibility of Shadow’s subconscious making its return. Teeth gritted, he curled inwardly, trying to fight for the rights of his mind to be returned to his full control once more.

“…Shadow?” Rogue said, dropping her arms to her side, as she turned fully around, kneeling beside him as he began to gasp roughly. “Is that you? Are you back with us?”

Shadow stared blankly in front of him, at nothing in particular. After a few more gasps, he nodded uncertainly, hugging himself with his new, clawed hands.

“…Yeah… I-I think so…” He looked up at Rouge, and upon seeing the bruise Mephiles had left on her cheek, he cursed softly, shaking his head. “… I don’t know how much longer I have control over myself…” He started urgently. “But… I need you to…” He paused, thinking of the best solution. He came across one. He knew they wouldn’t like it… but they had to, if they couldn’t find another way. He decided to try “sugarcoat” this the best he could. He looked up at Rouge. “… Remember what I said… when that Giziod was around?”

“Shadow…” Rouge began, not liking how he was starting this.

“…Unless you have a better way… you need to ki-“

“WHAT?! NO!” Rouge protested, shocked that he would come that solution again.

“Well, what other way is there?” He whispered grimly.

Silence.

Omega spoke for the first time in five minutes.

“Requesting-alternative-solution-to-aid-Shadow.”

“Like what?”

“Perhaps-the-usage-of-the-Chaos-Emeralds-might-assist.”

“Do you realize what could go wrong? I have Mephiles fighting to control my mind. And you just want to give him the Chaos Emeralds!?” Shadow snapped at the robot with an anger that was not wholly his own. Briefly, his eyes flashed green, and both voices fused. Shadow took as shaky deep breath, closed his eyes, bit his lip and calmed down.

“… Just… help me…” he half begged.

Rouge looked at Omega, who’s silence indicated his sorrow for his friend. Rouge bravely took Shadow/Mephiles hand and helped him up. He opened his sad eyes to stare at her before asking: “How can you stand to even be this close to me now? Look at me! I… I’m a monster!”

Rouge smiled warmly, leading him and Omega towards the exit. “You’re my friend and I want to help you… besides… I said I’ll always remain by your side, right?”

Shadow stared blankly at her, feeling Mephiles own confusion within him, before returning the smile weakly.

“Thanks…”
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Inside Shadow’s mind, Mephiles was utterly confused. He raged around in his frustration of not understanding this. How could she stand to be beside such a monstrosity? Why did she have such an attraction to Shadow? What was it that made the trio protect each other?
He did not know why he was so concerned with such, as he would see normally, “trivial” thoughts. Perhaps Shadow’s personality had rubbed off on him as his did to Shadow briefly.

He now saw himself faced with a few new questions that made him scream in aggravation. What did she mean, always “by his side”? Why did the robot hesitate at Shadow’s request to kill him? Why did he feel Shadow’s concern for the bat and robot?

One question haunted him more than any of the others. It troubled, and puzzled him to no means.

What was… “friends”?