Okay. Just a bit of a new fic with Mephiles in it to help break in the new category for Mephiles, which was added after I requested it. So for all us Mephy writers out there... try to fix your character category in the story to him if he's the star.
Now, it's been a bit of a while since I tried to make a suspense fic. But I just had this interesting idea that was inspired by a couple of other stories, a Linkin Park song, an episode of CSI: New York, some art and an idea.
I could say more... but I'll add that at the end so I don't ruin the story.
Have fun :D
A striped black hedgehog cowered behind some crates, inhaling sharply through his nose and letting himself sink to the cold ground of the alley, his ears twitching at every sound he heard.
Just calm down… he can't find you here… he told himself shakily. He'd never look here…
He peered carefully around the corner of a crate and felt his heart skip a few beats painfully.
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He could just make out a set of bright green eyes belonging to his doppelganger…
How'd he find me?! Oh, man, I gotta get out of here!
Wrapping his gloved fingers around a stone on the pavement, he took a deep breath and threw it as hard as he could, scrambling away at the sound of glass shattering.
That should distract him long enough for me to get away and hide elsewhere… He told himself, the metal bottoms of his shoes scrapping against the damp sidewalk, hardly paying attention to any of the cars that were driving by slowly, the light rain wetting his face. I can't seem to lose him, though… Everywhere I go, I see those eyes…
He shuddered at the thought of those eyes, cold and venomous… the eyes of a monster…
Slowing down to catch his breath, he glanced to his right and froze when he saw the reflection on the shop window.
Oh, no! I've got to lose him!
He clenched his fists and hurried into the streets blindly, not bothering to check for traffic.
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Big mistake…
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In a split second, he screamed as the vehicle slammed on the brakes, coming to a screeching halt as he threw his hands up in a weak attempt to shield himself.
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Whimpering, he looked up to find that the car was just inches away from him, having stopped so suddenly before it could collide with him.
"Are you okay?" The driver called to him, getting out of her car. "You could have been killed. Didn't you see that it wasn't safe to cross?"
He sputtered an apology, his body shaking terribly as he tried to explain about the demon that was following him, nearly identical to him, but also not. He went into a quick description of the being in question, so that she would understand.
When she gave him a look of alarm, as if she thought that he was unsound and unstable, he began begging for her to believe him, and that he needed to keep running if he was to get away and live.
He promised that if any damage had been done to her car, he would help in ensuring its repairs, but for now… he had to run…
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He felt his stomach lurch when saw a familiar shadowy shape in the now more heavily falling rain, and stammered a hurried farewell as he took off and ran between two buildings, his shoes splattered with the water and mud from puddles that he ran through.
Panting, he found another alley and crawled into an old, soggy cardboard box on its side, pulling the flaps shut to hide.
Squeezing the water from his quills after taking his gloves off, he lay in a crouching position, in case he needed to run.
The scrape of metal outside, he tensed up as he fumbled to get his gloves back on.
He won't find me if I don't make a noise… He told himself. Don't move… don't breathe… don't think… don't… don't…
He screwed his face up as a sneeze forced it's way out of him, shaking him and the box.
Oh, no… I'm dead… I'm dead… I'm dead… I'm dead… I'm dead… I'm dead… I'm dead… I'm dead… I'm dead… I'm dead… I'm dead… I'm dead… I'm dead… I'm dead…
"There you are! I've been looking for you…"
Screaming, he shot out of his shelter and ran as fast as he could. His steps faltered and not far away, he tripped, hissing in pain as gravel dug into his palms and knees, causing them to bleed.
Ignoring the pain, he scrambled up and ran as hard as he could, cursing the rain for hindering his hoverskates' ability to work.
If it wasn't raining, I could get away faster!
He needed a familiar face… someone to help him…
Rouge! He would look for her! She was never too far from where he was! She would help him!
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But where to find her?
Maybe the jewelry shop? She was always attracted to gems… no doubt he'd find her there.
Stopping to breathe, he leaned against a wall, clawing his fingers against his chest to clutch at his heavily beating heart, his head starting to spin.
Where was the jewelry shop from here? Left? Right? Down the street? He had to keep walking…
Not long after, he found someone standing by a display window under the cover of an umbrella. To his immense relief, it was Rouge, admiring the gems that had been laid out.
"Not quite like an Emerald… but pretty all the same…"
He stifled a laugh and hurried over to wrap his arms around her, declaring how glad he was to have found her.
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The umbrella dropped and, to his surprise, she pried him away slowly, giving him a strange look. It wasn't welcoming, or relief of his safety, or even her kind one she gave him often.
He asked her what was wrong, why was she acting like that? He didn't have any time for that, because his shadow was hunting him down. Say something! She was worrying him!
She gave him the same alarmed stare that the girl from earlier gave him. What was wrong? It was him! Shadow! This wasn't the time to play games with him! Stop!
She picked up her umbrella, and took a step back. This confused him. Why did she do that?
He took a step forward, and she took one back to keep her distance.
He told her to stop. Now was not the time to be doing this. He needed her to help him get away!
"From what?"
From what?! Mephiles, of course!
She now looked disturbed.
What was wrong with her? She now looked like she was afraid of him. Did he scare her when he got mad? He apologized frantically, feeling horrible about scaring her.
"But… you… Well… Mephiles…"
He twitched an ear, gasping harshly at the sound of metal scraping against the wet ground in the distance. And he himself was out in the open!
Wrapping his hand around her wrist, he pulled her down the street and into another alley, taking cover behind some boxes and clapping a hand over her mouth to get her to stop asking questions.
He told her that he'd explain later, and that it was important to stay quiet right now.
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Raindrops fell through the metal bars of the fire escape above their heads, water collecting in his quills and making them heavy as the water dripped from them.
His heart pounding, he readied himself for a sudden attack, clenching his hands tightly into fists. He charged at the set of eyes, roaring in fury at the owner.
How dare he take his image, and twist it into something so vile?! How dare he?! It mocked him, welling up inside him such hatred that he forgot his fear. He ignored his spell of vertigo as well as he threw the first punch…
His fist smashed into something, the knuckles of his glove stained red with blood as the silk fabric had been torn, exposing the fur on his hand.
Ignoring the pain, he felt his heart jump past several beats as he could make out more sets of green eyes through the haze of his mind and the rain.
Oh, no! He's cloned himself!
He could hear them mocking him, laughing at him as he threw furious punches, more and more of them seemed to appear before him.
Stopitstopitstopitstopitstopitstopitstopitstopitstopitstopitstopitstopitstopitstopit!
The words were glued together in a string of near gibberish as he was driven to the point of near insanity, trying to get rid of his double.
But the more punches he threw… the more of the clones seemed to appear… laughing at him… mocking him… ridiculing him… His fists were beginning to burn…
He wasn't going to have it! He was going to make him stop! He was going to end it right now! Hah! Mephiles wasn't even defending himself! This was going to be over soon!
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A set of hands caught him by the wrists and he thrashed against it, trying to pull free. He had spoken too soon! And they outnumbered him! He hoped that Rouge was still hiding, he didn't want anything to happen to her…
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"Calm down… I'm not going to hurt you…"
What? Was this a trick? It had to be! It must be! He had to break free!
He screamed, kicking his feet into his double's leg as he felt another set of hands try to pull him to the ground.
Looking up to see the other person, he was half expecting another clone. Instead, nearly felt sick to his stomach at who he saw.
Rouge! Why was she helping this thing?! He thought she was his teammate! His friend!
He thrashed even harder, ultimately heartbroken at finding that his closet friend was working against him.
He screamed at her. What happened to always being by his side!? She lied to him! She lied!
She gave him a look of pity, as if she felt sorry for him. What was going on!?
Clenching his teeth in anger, he turned his head sharply to look up at Mephiles, ready to seethe terrible comments at the monster.
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His heart stopped.
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His body started shaking.
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His voice died in his throat.
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He thought he was really going to be sick now.
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When he had looked up, he had not seen Mephiles as he had expected. No. Not at all…
The fur was the same color. The same kind of shoes, gloves and Rings on his wrists and ankles. Same height…
But he could see that the eyes he was staring at were a ruby red. The marking matched those eyes as well, and the accents to his attire were red too. The patch of fur on his chest was white, not grey. And his eyes held not hatred or even the chilling manic obsession Mephiles' eyes held when he stared at him… but rather… they held pity…
Wh-what was going on!? Why was he looking at himself!? Did Mephiles figure out how to trick his mind?! Who was this?!
"I'm Shadow."
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No…
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No.
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No! Lies! It was all lies! He was Shadow! Shadow the Hedgehog! This was just a trick! A lie! Deceit! A deception! Stop it! Stop mocking him!
"Take a look at yourself… what do you see?"
No! Stop it!
"Just look at your arms… tell me what color the stripes are…"
He hesitantly did, and to his horror, he could see blue-green striping running the lengths of his arms and legs. His patch of fur on his chest was grey, a light grey… and his Rings were not gold, but a rusted blue color. His shoes were accented with the color that streaked across his arms, and his fur was a lighter shade of black.
His eyes shot wide open, and he screamed frantically, writhing against his hold, absolutely horrified.
Wha-what?! No! Noooo! This can't be right! He couldn't be Mephiles! He was running away from Mephiles! He had seen his eyes! He had seen them!
The red stripped hedgehog before him gestured for Rouge to grab one of his arms as the look-a-like grabbed for a large shard of glass on the ground, and held it up to where he could see his reflection.
"Is this what you saw?"
He shuddered at the sight of the green eyes on the reflective surface, a scream rising to his throat. He thrashed against his restraint, bellowing that that couldn't be right, that that was not his reflection! Something was wrong! He couldn't be Mephiles! He just couldn't be! He was just fighting him a few minutes ago! His hands were bleeding to prove it!
"Take a look at you hands… what do you see?"
Glass… glass embedded in the knuckles. So he had punched glass at least once! He was just attacking blindly because he was scared! Mephiles had been making copies of himself!
"You were attacking a mirror…" Rouge told him. "I was there… I saw you attacking a mirror…"
He must have had her under a spell! He saw him! He was sure of it! He had seen those eyes!
"Those were your eyes…" His look-a-like said calmly.
Lies! Lies! They were not! He wasn't Mephiles! He was Shadow! Shadow! Shadow! Shadow! Shadow! Shadow! Shadow! Shadow! Shadow! Shadow! Shadow!
Then everything started to spin as he swayed unsteadily.
I am Shadow… I am Shadow… Shadow the Hedgehog… I am Shadow… I am Shadow…
He could barely keep his head up. Darkness was creeping around the edges of his vision, slowly blinding him.
He was Shadow… He was sure of it… they were lying… it was all lies…
Lies…
Lies…
Lies…
Lies…
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He woke up a bed of some sort. Opening his eyes slowly, he could see that the room had a white color scheme. Such a perfect white, that it was unnatural.
His stomach lurched when he realized where he was.
It was a hospital room of some sort.
His gloves gone, he saw that his knuckles had been bandaged, as well as the pebbles embedded in his skin had been removed, his cuts bandaged as well.
He saw that a hospital gown had been put on him needlessly… aside from his shoes, socks, gloves and Rings… he never wore anything since his body was covered with fur.
He saw to his dislike that his Rings had been removed. That was a mistake! He needed them to help channel his power! He had far too much Chaos Energy than his body could handle without his rings!
Calm down… it won't be a problem if I don't let it take over…
Taking a deep breath, he tugged at the patient bracelet absentmindedly. It must be a mistake… that's all… he'd explain to them when someone got here…
To his unease, he noticed that the windows had bars on the outside, as if they had expected him to jump out. That was unnerving… but he knew he wasn't insane…
Sitting up and sliding off the bed, his bare feet touched the cold tiles, causing him to shiver. The gown stopped at his ankles, he noticed needlessly. He walked to the door, only to find it locked. Now he was starting to feel weak-kneed.
Standing on his toes to peer through the small window with tiny bars inside the glass, he could see a hallway with doors. People in white coats and different colored scrubs walked up and down the hallways, some never even looking up from their clipboards.
He spotted a familiar bat, and felt his mood lighten. Perhaps she was coming to take him home!
Then he felt his stomach drop a few feet when he saw his look-a-like with her. No… that couldn't be Shadow… because he was Shadow! This was all wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!
He was curled up the far corner of the room when they came in, shaking and whimpering in fright as he tried to sort this all out.
"Mephiles?"
That was not his name! Stop calling him that! Stop it!
He rounded on his look-a-like angrily, knowing that he had to have been Mephiles, mocking him by taking on his appearance.
He demanded to know why he was in this room. Why was Mephiles still alive? He had seen him get buried under the falling debris during their fight in Dusty Desert! The pillar had collapsed when Mephiles had thrown him into it! It toppled in large pieces onto the both of them! He made it out, and didn't find any sign of Mephiles! What was he doing here?! Why did he look exactly like Shadow now?! He knew that the rubble had buried the dark hedgehog… he had heard his scream!
"That was your scream."
No! No it wasn't! Impossible! He had got out of the way fast enough! Mephiles was just too slow to react! He had tried to put up a shield, but Mephiles was buried alive anyway!
"We couldn't just leave you there… so Shadow dug you out…"
But he was Shadow! He was! Not that look-a-like! Him!
"You had a nasty bruise on the side of your head, and you had some broken bones…"
Lies! Lies! Lies!
He was starting to feel dizzy again. He brought his hand to his head, wincing at a sore spot his fingers had touched against.
"They said that the impact had caused some brain trauma…" The look-a-like said. "You developed a fugue state of mind and your suffering from mirrored self-misidentification. You think you're someone else, and you don't recognize your own reflection."
No! Lies! He was Shadow! Not Mephiles! Shadow the Hedgehog! If he was Mephiles, why did they help him?! They would have left him for dead! Lies!
"It was an accident in the fight. I felt bad about getting out of the way, and you didn't see it until it was too late. You were still alive, but just barely… so we got you some help. I guess we were too late to save you completely, but at least you didn't die…"
Lies! Mephiles was dead! He died when the rubble buried him! Mephiles is gone! Mephiles is gone! He's gone!
It didn't take him long to realize that hot tears were falling down his face. He kept denying what they told him, shaking his head, but the evidence of their truth was right there before him.
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The pain in his head…
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The blue-green markings…
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The green eyes that stared back at him through every reflection…
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The stranger in the mirrors…
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He collapsed on the cold, hard floor, bracing himself with his arm as he shook violently, sobbing uncontrollably as he realized the cryptic message in his last words he had said…
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Yes…
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He was right…
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It was true…
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Mephiles was gone…
Pretty different, really. I found that the last words were a bit... something...
Mostly I wrote this after looking up some horror and suspense fic about Mephiles and almost all the time, he's the killer, bad guy, or just plain jerkwad. For a long time, I've wanted to see a fic where Mephiles is the victim (I guess my series can count too... XD ), and this is written to reflect his state of mind, which I really believe the Mephiles from the game was unstable and unsound of mind. I mean... he ends up taking on the form of the one guy he hates most... I'm sure he was laughing out of insanity... and not just for the irony.
Now, in case you're wondering, this takes place some point after the second boss fight... and this is the Mephiles from the game... not my Mephiles from my series.
As for the inspirations:
The fic Isylum by Uruseirox ... my cousin.
A fic called Should Not Be by Darkhymns
The remix of "Forgotten" by Linkin Park ("In the memory you'll find me... eyes burning up... the darkness holding me tightly... until the sun rises up...")
Several fan art depicting Mephiles to be the image on other side of the mirror when Shadow looks in.
The episode of CSI: New York with the lady with Capgras Syndrome who believes her reflection is another person.
And my little idea of Mephiles staring in the mirror and not recognizing himself at all.
Wish I could have done this for Halloween :D