Teaching Darkness: Flux C3

"But-"

"I said no..." Dark was being stubborn now. He dropped himself to the floor and folded his arms. He intended to let himself be a dead weight and not go an inch further.

He had agreed to having an early checkup, yes... but he did not once agree that he was going to allow for an MRI.

"I will not allow it. You just want to-"

"Dark! This is the best way to check for anything internally!" Mephiles tried to reason. "Even things you can't even feel. We're just-"

"Oh, I know just what's going to happen. You'll see just how much of my brain is in use, then deem it a medical marvel and then try to keep me here!" Dark glared, trying to scare everyone back.

To be quite honest, that was not what Dark thought at all. He just assumed they would think that. He was just running with it because he didn't want to address something that he found to be a bit of a problem to him.

Did you know that Dark was actually claustrophobic to some degree? The decade in the Scepter of Darkness had steadily added to his unease of enclosed areas that gave trapped feelings. Dark did not want to be in a a enclosed space that emitted loud sounds and seemed just too bright for his liking (although, it seemed that everything was too bright for him...).

"That's not gonna happen..." Mephiles said before turning to Thizon and adding an unsure: "I-Is it?"

I don't get paid enough for this job... Thizon sighed mentally before shaking his head.

"See, Dark? He says that's not going to happen..." Mephiles said, grabbing one of Dark's arms to pull him to his feet.

Then it happened.

Dark's eyes shot wide open as soon as Mephiles touched his arm. The hedgehog saw a rush of panic flash behind the shadow's eyes, and before he could respond... Dark's teeth clamped down on his arm. Tightly.

The hedgehog cried out in pain, trying to pry his twin off before the teeth broke the skin.

"Hey! Let go! That hurts! Ow! Ah!"

The first effective way he could think of to get Dark to let go seemed to be too drastic, as it would involve having to fight back, but Mephiles didn't want to hurt him. The next way seemed to be not guaranteed a success, which would be to lodge something under his teeth and pry him off, but that could fail too. The next...

Oh, forget trying to think... this really hurts!

Had Mephiles been thinking more clearly, he might have considered melting into his shadow form to free himself, but the pain from that bite was clouding his better judgment.

He wasn't sure how long had passed, but he finally felt Dark teeth loosen and get pulled back. He looked at his arm and saw that Dark had actually drawn blood when his teeth had punctured the skin on the hedgehog's arm, which would mean that Mephiles would have to get some minor medical care to make sure he didn't get an infection.

But he was more concerned for Dark, who was now spitting out fur and blood from his mouth, looking quite a bit disgusted. Dark also looked unsteady, as if he was on the verge of passing out.

"What's-"

"He's only been sedated..." Thizon explain, as Mephiles noticed the nurse who had an empty syringe in her hands. He started to look at the hedgehog's arm. "Let's have a look at that bite..."

"... Dark never bitten me before..." Mephiles said slowly, ignoring that his arm was being examined as he eyed Dark with an anxious stare. "Well, I mean there was that one time... but that was because he panicked. And he only bit my hand... so it didn't really count..."

"Silvia, can you find some disinfectant and the gauze?" Thizon addressed the white cat, who nodded and left quickly. He looked back at Mephiles. "While she's doing that, why don't we help him up onto here..." He gestured to the cushioned examination table. "Until he's a little more alert and patient?"

"... I... I dunno why he's being like this..." Mephiles tried to apologize, looking at his arm as he squeezed a hand over the wound, knowing that he wouldn't be able to heal all of it right at that moment. "He said that he'd agree to the check up... but... I... I-I'm sorry... I don't know what's gotten into him lately..."

"How long has this been going on?" Thizon took out his pen light and tested Dark's reaction to light. Dark's eyes shifted a bit, but the sedative was not allowing him to be as rash as usual. "Hmmmm, starting to regain focus... that drug should wear off within the hour..."

"That wasn't very long..."

"We didn't use that much..." Thizon put his pen light away as Dark glared at him slightly. "Now... how long has this been going on?"

"Uh... I think... let's see..." Mephiles thought for a moment, looking up at the ceiling. "Well, he's sleptwalk... eh... sleepwalked... oh... you know... for two days now..." Mephiles looked back at them. "But.. he's been acting odd for at lease the whole week so far... about the time when the egg human guy split the planet..."

"Only at night?" Thizon asked suddenly.

"Y-yeah... how'd you know?" Mephiles' ears perked up in surprise.

"Because he's not the first..." Thizon sighed carefully and removed his glasses to wipe a few specks off them. "All this week, we've been getting patients and reports of people acting strangely at night. Doing and saying things they wouldn't normal do, and doing so quite frequently. It's getting to be an epidemic... as if everyone who has it have lost their minds. Then, when the sun comes up, it's like it never happened..."

"What's causing it?" Mephiles' eyes went wide. "Is it a virus or something? Is it's contagious? Do you think Dark has that?"

"As far as anyone can tell, it's not even medical related. If that's the case, it's out of my expertise..."

"If it's not medical, then what is it? What's wrong with everyone?"

"None of us know."

Mephiles looked at Dark anxiously. What if Dark was one of the many people who had been "infected" with this strange "virus"? How would he know? If he was, how could they cure him? What if-?

His head was suddenly filled with so many what ifs that his brain was starting to hurt. Why was he getting so worked up already? They hadn't even confirmed that Dark even had this disease. He could just have the flu for all they knew, and was acting weird just to hide it... yeah... like cats do...

But... what if it not the flu..?

Here I go again... Mephiles facepalmed mentally. We haven't even decided if something is even really wrong with him. He could just be sulking, for all I know... that would explain why he's so irritable lately...

Finally, Silvia returned with the disinfectant and the bandages, and Mephiles' bite wound was tended to. His left arm was dabbed with peroxide (which he was very good about not freaking out over the well know stinging sensation and bubbling reaction.), and wrapped to keep it from getting dirt and debris in the marks until they healed.

Dark was starting to be more aware again, and almost couldn't hide how appalled he was at himself for chewing on Mephiles' arm like that. He directed his attention to the ground and kept his head low so that his face could not be seen clearly. He did not want to make eye contact.

Dark was more or less cooperative during the rest of the examination. He complied quite listlessly, however, hardly making much sound as he adopted that sad and tired look on his face again. Thizon then dismissed his episode of bizarre behavior as a result of a mood swing because of his bipolarity, as he seemed to be exhibiting signs of depression now in stark contrast to his hostility earlier.

"Being that I still have no clear idea how the physiology of the two of you work..." The porcupine made a few notes in the thin folder. "I cannot feel certain to prescribe anything. However... I'm sure he'll recover quite fine. This should only be temporary..."

"That's all? A mood swing?" Mephiles looked so relieved. "He's just depressed and not infected with that bad thing?" He looked like he could have hugged anyone. In fact, he tried to do so with Dark, but the shadow merely grunted, reaching a hand up to pry him away forcefully, not once lifting his eyes to look at him. Mephiles' ears drooped again as Dark folded his arms and kept his head low.

On the way home, Dark still hadn't said anything, but it seemed as if a cloud of gloom was hovering around and over him, as Mephiles could feel an uncomfortable vibe coming from him.

When he tried to question Dark, however, the shadowy hedgehog suddenly snapped.

"BACK OFF!" He barked in almost an ordering kind of voice as he shoved the hedgehog to the ground, then spun around to run.

Mephiles looked up from the ground in shock, having landed on his back, and sat up to see where Dark was going. He quickly got to his feet and tried to catch up to him, having to work a bit harder since he wasn't as near to as fast Dark was (he hadn't been lying when he mentioned how fast he was when Mephiles, Rouge and Shadow had to catch that nutty rabbit!). He finally was close enough to grab his hand so that he could swing his other hand up to grab his arm and try to get him to stop.

"Let me go... or I'll snap your neck and leave you in that alley..." Dark growled threateningly.

"No, you wouldn't..." Mephiles looked at him innocently. "You're just saying that to make me let go... which I'm not until I know you won't run away again, and when you tell me what's wrong..."

"It doesn't concern you..."

"But it's making me concerned..." Mephiles brought his hand that was on Dark's up to the shadow's arm now to get a better hold. "Dr. Thizon said you're depressed right now... I want to know what's causing it... what's making you so sad?"

He doesn't even realize that's not the half of it... Dark frowned and clenched his teeth. There's too much going on to even pinpoint what goes with what... persistent as ever, though...

"Dark? Please, I know something is wrong... tell me..."

"Telling you won't make it go away..."

"Maybe not, but maybe it'll ease some of it?"

"You're such a child..."

"I'm only ten... or is it eleven? I can't tell... we never really had a birthday for me..."Mephiles was suddenly distracted with such a trivial thing. "Not like I can remember the real day I was born on, that is... I guess that I'd have to pick the day we met as it... huh..."

Dark's eyes flashed dangerously.

"No." He said coolly. "You can't have that day..."

"Why not?"

"After what I did to you? After what happened that day?" Dark narrowed his eyes slowly. "What is there on that day that is worth celebrating..?"

"Well, that's the moment you were given some kind of form on this planet... in a sense, you were born... and that makes it your birthday..." Mephiles blinked and continued to look at him innocently. "Everyone needs a birthday, right?"

"Yeah... everyone except me..." Before Mephiles could protest, he continued as he jerked his arm free from Mephiles' two handed grasp. "You do realize how many died at that moment, right? And those who didn't, died shortly there after..."

Mephiles blinked.

True. He had a point.

"But that was a long time ago." Mephiles reasoned. "I know it was bad, and it can't be fixed... but that's just it. It was a long time ago, and we can't change it. But almost everyone seemed to have moved on now..."

"You're ignoring the fact that all of Soleanna would rather pitch us into a lake while watching us flounder about, and listen to our cries for help than even let us breathe their air..."

"Okay... point taken... B-but what about Shadow? He's doing better!"

"He likes you... he'd rather cuddle a large and venomous centipede then even acknowledge I'm here..."

"You're being difficult again..." Mephiles groaned. "And that's not really true. I'll have you know how much he helped out both those times when Iblis slashed your side, and when you where thrown down the stairs..."

At the very mention of those incidents, Dark visibly shuddered and absentmindedly grasped his left shoulder, but quickly made it look like he was brushing it off once he caught himself. Truth was, he had felt it twinge, perhaps as a reminder of what had happened to it.

"Do not speak of that!" Dark whispered furiously. "The sooner we all forget of it... the... the better..." He faltered on the end of the sentence. He cursed himself mentally.

Mephiles looked at him carefully, tilting his head as he studied every inch of him.

"..." He was silent as he bit his lower lip slightly, thinking about this carefully. Finally, he spoke up. "... You... really don't want to forget him... do you..?"

There was nothing Dark could do to hide that flinch. Everything about Dark went tense. His quills and fur raised a few degrees as they stood on end. Then he looked livid.

"Shut up. Shut up! SHUT UP!" Dark screamed in rising tones, clenching his fists and punching the hedgehog. Mephiles yelped and clutched his arm, gritting his teeth in pain as he was shoved to the ground again. He looked up just in time to see Dark disappear in a swirl of purple and black energy, taking to his base form and warping out of there.

Mephiles did not know where to find him, and could only hope he had headed back to the house. It was dark out now, with only streetlights illuminating the sidewalks and roads, and Mephiles shivered, not liking to be out by himself when the sun was gone, and only the moon was out. He looked up, wondering why he never saw the moon full around here. It seemed to always be a crescent, and upon closer look, he could swear that it looked like a huge chunk was blasted out of it.

I'll ask Shadow about that when he gets home... He concluded as he picked himself off the ground and headed home quickly, staying under the lights of the street lamps.

He didn't want to be out here if anyone was getting infected with this perplexing "disease". If people where acting strangely, he didn't want to see how. He just wanted to go home and turn on all the lights, hug his Chao, and maybe start up a cup of coffee to fight off that shiver that had settled down his spine as he tried to figure out what was Dark's problem.

I hope he just went home... Mephiles wished desperately.

Feeling that rush of panic again, Mephiles nearly tore the house apart looking for him. He called his name, once or twice telling him that this wasn't funny and all that, trying to coax him out wherever he might have been hiding.

Mephiles tried to listen for him with his ears, his heart and his mind, trying to read and find him, realizing to his growing horror that Dark was not even in the house, or in the neighborhood for that matter.

One could hear the long scream of realization a mile away as the nesting birds in the trees that had already turned in for the night awoke with a start and took to the air.

He sighed, lowering his head to rest on his knees, which he had drawn up to his chest. He knew that he had acted irrational, and it was unnecessary to have struck Mephiles like that, but he couldn't help it. He didn't know why, but he had done it before he could keep himself in check...

And, of course, he had bitten the poor hedgehog when he had only been trying to help.

"... What's wrong with me..?" He muttered, wanting nothing more than to curl up and disappear. Not like many would notice anyway...

His ears twitched again, and he lifted his head to see what he had heard. He shrank against the wall of the alley to hide in the shadows that felt so welcoming to him. Staying in the dark, he peered around the corner and bit his tongue, literally.

There was a large, shaggy, blue creature. And by large, he meant muscular. This thing was about as tall as your average Mobian hedgehog, but he only looked somewhat like a hedgehog. Almost ninety percent of it seemed covered in thick, coarse dark blue fur, with it's hands and muzzle had what seemed to be a thin coating of light blue fuzz, almost the same color as Dark and Mephiles' crystals. Instead of crystals, however, this creature seemed to be all organic, and sported some thick looking claws. Not claws... more like talons.

Dark flinched and shrank back, trying to stay as hidden as possible as he observed this beast.

There was a hint of something familiar about it. Like he had seen him before, just not like this. The shoes seemed familiar. It had green eyes, though it's eyes where angled in a glare not unlike Shadow's or his own.

Dark narrowed his eyes to focus more on this.

If anything... this looked like a lovechild between a hedgehog and a wolf. A werewolf.

Dark's mind blew a raspberry at him. That was ridiculous. Werewolves existed in only monster movies and folklore. This was just some hairy hedgehog in need of a stylist. That's all.

And accompanying this thing was probably the most bizarre and cute little imp Dark had ever heard of. A cross between a chihuahua and a fairy, it seemed. Mauve colored with big yellow eyes, tiny green wings, a puffy white pom-pom tail, a mohawk of white hair, white paw markings to look like gloves and socks and a head bigger than it's body. It seemed to be content with hovering shoulder level to this creature that could easily swallow him in one bite. So maybe this savage hedgehog was friendly?

Then Dark heard exactly who this creature was, and simply looked at them in shock as neither of them saw him.

"Wow! Sonic! Look! Look!" The fairy dog pressed himself against the window of the store. "They sell up to five scoops of sherbet to one cone!" He seemed to be drooling as his eyes were fixed on what he wanted.

"You already had something an hour ago..." "Sonic" had a big hand to his face. "Don't you ever get full?"

"What's that?"

Dark didn't bother to hear the rest of it. He stumbled back further into the alley, his mind reeling.

This was that blue hedgehog? What happened to him? Was this what that evil energy could do to people? Make them into visible monsters?

Dark's mind greeted him with a rather strange image of what he would look like as one of those... hedgewolves... that seemed to be the right word to call it. Dark's eye twitched as he tensed and held back a strangled and silent cry of fright and disgust.

Yes, he had admitted to acting like a monster many times before...

But he would never intend to look like one. After all... he was a vegetarian.

With those teeth? His mind shot back as Dark's tongue brushed against his sharp canines. He hated those teeth. He really did.

That settled it. He wasn't going back to Mephiles... at least until this whole deal with the darkness and monsters and junk was over. He didn't want to endanger him any further...

Dark then inhaled and sighed deeply.

At that moment... he felt incredibly lonely and helpless. This was one of the worst things he ever felt.