"I never get a break," Shadow snarled as he dodged one of Mephiles' surges of power by jumping to the side. The energy bolt passed the surprised hedgehog an inch away from his head, then hit the wall far behind him. The dark hedgehog snarled at his sinister look alike by bearing his teeth in anger. Mephiles gave a small chuckle.
The ultimate life form charged up in a split second and charged towards his counterpart with great speed. A flash of light sprung from Shadow's body before he ran towards Mephiles. Due to his intense swiftness, Shadow was able to punch Mephiles square in the chest. Unfortunately, Mephiles was not a normal creature, so it didn't hurt him or knock him to the ground. Instead, the demon dematerialised and flew away in his liquidised state. The purple substance flowed around the area then formed the shape of a hedgehog on the other side.
Shadow looked towards his target while he stood on the other side of the dim cave. The dull colours of his body blended in quite well with the surrounding, and with the light becoming more and more scarce, it was harder to see him. Shadow didn't blend in with the colours of the cavern, since his fur was jet black and red, whilst Mephiles' was a paler black and grey. This was surely the wrong place to go to for a fight like this. In Shadow's defence, he didn't know Mephiles followed him.
"How do you always come back!?" Shadow cried out in frustration when he missed his shot. "No matter how many times I defeat you, seal you, or erase you from the timeline… you always find a way to return."
"I find a tear in the fabric of time and crawl out," Mephiles explained arrogantly while held out his hand. Shadow gazed at him hatefully, after so much effort, it seemed like Mephiles would always come back. "Why look at me like that? Do you think that you're the victim? I am the victim. All I want is revenge, and you never give it to me. I'm the one who gets thrown off course each time."
"You wouldn't get thrown off course if you didn't try to torment me each time we met. I wasn't looking for trouble today, yet you showed up."
Mephiles chuckled mischievously in return. Shadow became unnerved and stepped back and began his combat again. Wanting to get Mephiles out of his way as soon as possible, Shadow jumped into action again. The ultimate life form jumped into the demon's range and expelled a Chaos Blast from his body. Surely that didn't miss. Mephiles couldn't have materialised away from the blast in the same way that he did the punch.
Mephiles grunted in pain and liquidised again.
"That's it; no more traditional combat. How will you stand against this?"
The flow of purple spread out into a U shape, curving out like a thick strand of string. Shadow watched as Mephiles' shape twisted and changed into the curve; he didn't understand how it was a threat. A spike that could impale flesh made more sense. Shadow realised what was happening when it was too late to dodge. The hedgehog widened his eyes and attempted to jump out of the way.
Like a horse shoe landing on a stake, Mephiles tugged at Shadow's neck, bringing the hedgehog to the floor in the process. The lethally shaped demon wrapped himself around the hedgehog's gullet a second time, then a third, pulling tighter and tighter each time, as if to make sure that Shadow wouldn't be able to breathe.
The frantic hedgehog tried his hardest to breathe in, but he was only able to choke out in pain. He clawed at Mephiles' twisted body, but that only made it worse. Every time Shadow moved, Mephiles pulled tighter. The hedgehog chocked out audibly. Shadow realised that he didn't have much time before the oxygen deprivation began to take effects on his body, so he had to act quickly.
"C-chaos- ack-" Mephiles pulled tighter on Shadow's throat, causing him to choke out again, making the poor hedgehog unable to perform any Chaos attacks. "Mephiles… you're playing dirty…" Shadow rasped out very quietly. "This isn't fair-"
"I'll stop," Mephiles said, making Shadow believe that there was light at the end of the tunnel. But there were more. "If you beg."
"No chance…" Shadow spat. "I'd rather die than to submit myself to you."
The hedgehog's words were incomplete, as he was unable to fully pronounce all vowels due to the fact that he had no air to breathe in or out, nonetheless his message was clear. Mephiles let out a laugh of amusement.
"You won't die… you'll remain alive, in an agonising stalemate," Mephiles teased. Shadow wished he could gasp at this statement, but his airways were blocked. All he could do was clench his teeth and bare the pain. "I won't give in until you beg with all of your might!"
"Never! You'll never hear me beg, Mephiles!"
"We'll see about that."
Mephiles extended his strung self further and reached out for Shadow's leg, and wrapped the extended parts of his figure around Shadow's ankle. Shadow felt a strong sense of vertigo and nausea as he was lifted from the ground by his ankle and dangled there. Strips of purple remained around his neck and ankle.
"Willing to give in yet?" Mephiles pried.
"You really think that being help upside down is my snapping point?" Shadow choked out spitefully. "Try harder!"
Mephiles extended himself even further like a stretching piece of elastic. The tip of his ribbon like body ran across Shadow's ankle and reached down to the hedgehog's upside down torso. A loop was made around Shadow's body. With teary and pained eyes, Shadow watched unknowingly. Then, the loop retracted and Shadow was winded as though a lasso caught him in the abdomen. A yelp of pain and shock escaped from Shadow's mouth.
Having his stomach pressed against, Shadow felt as though he was going to vomit, but nothing came up. Even if it did, it couldn't get through his throat.
"Give up?" Mephiles asked. Shadow shook his head frantically. "You're setting yourself up for an uncomfortable ordeal…"
Shadow's oxygen starved body trembled profoundly, the effects of having no breath kicked in. The hedgehog's muscles burned and his head spun. He was so tempted to beg, but that would never happen. Shadow never begged.
Mephiles extended himself once more, unable to reach any further. There was limited substance, and it could not stretch further. Nonetheless, it was enough to reach its last destination. Shadow squirmed as he pointed his pained eyes towards his lower body, thus looking upwards. He shook his body as if it would change his fate. Mephiles' rope like body was headed down Shadow's abdomen, towards his legs.
A flash of shock passed his face while his teeth clenched and his eyes widened. Shadow gave a scream of terror. Mephiles had done the unspeakable.
"Yes, hedgehog, I did go there," Mephiles teased maliciously.
"You're sick…" Shadow choked. Mephiles had himself wrapped around Shadow's neck, ankle, stomach and now he'd reached himself between Shadow's legs. Realising he still had his hands free, Shadow reached towards his crotch to try and remove Mephiles from it. The hedgehog realised that Mephiles didn't have any perverted goals in mind, and he just wanted to put Shadow through the worst possible discomfort, but Shadow couldn't take it.
"Stop it!" Shadow cried out as he attempted to remove Mephiles from certain body parts.
"Is that a plea for mercy?"
"No!" Shadow retracted his request for freedom.
"It sounded like it. I thought you would never beg…" Mephiles sang out teasingly. Shadow cried out again in frustration. How could Mephiles get away with this? The demon wasn't even in his crystallised form and he was beating Shadow with no problem. This unexpected tactic proved lethal for Shadow.
Shadow's tense muscles relaxed, and his struggling arms and free leg drooped. An exasperated and breathless groan escaped Shadow's throat, the sound of him giving up. It seemed his body was out of oxygen, and his mind out of hope. His eyes grew dim as his eyelids fell half way in weakness. The hedgehog began to utter out words with a pained expression.
"How… long?" he asked.
"Until I'm satisfied with my revenge."
"And… how long do you think that will be?" Shadow groaned. Mephiles chuckled again.
"Only a few centuries."
Shadow tense up again and began thrashing about.
"No! You can't do this to me!"
"Oh, I can let you out now if you beg!" Mephiles said in fake sympathy. Shadow shut his eyes tight to stop the tears from falling. So much pain and frustration. Should he go back on his word and beg? It would certainly be the most sensible thing to do, but it wouldn't be the most dignifying thing to do. "A moment of indignity… or an era of pain… what would you rather?"
Both sounded just as bad to Shadow… but one was shorter than the other. Nonetheless, Shadow just couldn't bring himself to do it. He could feel the last of his Chaos energy slipping, and without his Chaos emerald, he would run out fast. His body used Chaos Energy to make up for the lack of oxygen inside of him, that's what was keeping him in relative comfort, but as soon as the energy ran out… he was in for an agonising experience.
"Damn it!" Shadow cried out as he felt the last of his energy slipping away. Then searing pain filled his body like white hot needles and acid driving through his flesh, muscles and bones. The hedgehog cried out in agony, screaming and choking like he'd never done before. Mephiles enjoyed every second of it. "You expect me to put up with a few centuries of this!?"
"No, I expect you to beg!" Mephiles exclaimed. Shadow cried out again, realising his worsened dilemma. Becoming desperate for Chaos Energy, his body began an emergency reflex action, one it never needed to result to before. "What… what's going on?" Mephiles exclaimed as he felt his body getting pulled into Shadow's even more, only it was against his own demand. It was as though Shadow was… pulling Mephiles inside of him.
"I think my body is absorbing all of the Chaos Energy that is can, and since you're in liquid form… it's taking you in too…" Shadow explained through his reducing pain. "I thought I'd sensed that you were full of the stuff!"
"How else can I perform Chaos Control without an emerald?" Mephiles exclaimed irritably. He then cried out as his liquidised self was sucked into Shadow's body for real, not much of him was left. "Not this! No! This is worse than the Sceptre of Darkness, worse than getting thrown out of the timelines! This can't be happening!"
Shadow fell to the floor as the last of the purple substance seeped through his skin. The hedgehog sat up and took on many deep breaths, almost hyperventilating in the process. His Chaos reserves returned to normal, and his body slowly became functional again due to the oxygen returning. The pain was reduced to a mere throb on his head where he hit the ground with.
It took Shadow a few moments to come to terms with what just happened. Mephiles… was sealed inside of him.
