AN~ This random little fic on this random little topic might need a little explanation considering that it came out of the blue. I've been getting back around my old fandoms and one of them was, yes, Sonic; specifically the underutilized and incredible villain Mephiles the Dark. This lead to me looking through some Deviantart works and finding 'Be Mine...' by the artist Tri-Jean. (No, it is not a slash image, in spite of the title.) This image got me thinking about Mephiles' role in the story and his powers. Finally, this, in turn, lead to this fic. Enjoy.
Humanity had done it before... Many times, in fact... Used him as their scapegoat as to keep themselves from the blame... Many of them even still wanted him sealed away... after all he'd done for them... After ALL he'd sacrificed... After all he'd gotten past... All he'd left behind... for THEM! He gave up everything he'd once been and everything he'd been intended to be... and they still wished him gone... dust under their heels. Ruby eyes gave the being before him a considering stare. Silence was such an oddity between them, yet there it was, stark and still. As soon as it was created, it was broken, however. A gentle fire crackled in the distance, a roaring crevasse of hell around them. His mind wandered farther, though... Farther than the idea of humanity betraying him... He looked to the image of himself, locked away and wondered... If he could have been free... just a while longer... Could he... save them in time? Defy their betrayal by fixing this future? How would he do it? He looked at his shadow once more and tilted his head... He knew the answer... They would ALWAYS betray him... again and again... There was only one way to stop it...
Show them what happens when HE betrays THEM...
"Make them pay?" he asked. "Defy this future?" The emerald iris' upon him glinted faintly. There was a little surprise in them, like he'd expected something else yet gave the benefit of the doubt regardless.
"Make them all pay..." came a voice, smooth and cold. "We'd show this world what REAL destruction is. We'd show them how mistaken they really are... If they do not value you as an ally, they will fear you as an enemy... Simply agree, and it will all be within your grasp." Mephiles morphed into a simple shroud of dark, slithering from his pedestal to re-create himself before Shadow, but a foot or two away, hand outstretched in a welcoming gesture. "I will deliver you a future where you are free and you are safe from them and their ways. At my side, you will have it all..." Was he really considering it? So many voices in his head screamed at once. So many to stop and so many to continue. He'd made promises and he'd given it all for humanity. He'd saved them and he'd been willing to die for them... Yet, they still would defy him? Ignore his gestures and his feats? Ignore his sacrifice? There was an angry growl in the back of Shadow's mind, one which had been gone for what felt like eons. It was a feral dog, eating at the back of his mind with pure rage in every snap of its powerful jaws. This beast was a shade... a simple memory of everything that had been... Everything he'd been fighting for so long... Giving in... It'd be easy... It'd feel amazing... It'd release him from humanity and himself... He'd no longer have to fight who he was... He'd become what he was meant to become... A monster...The hand remained steady... The eyes remained expecting. Against it all... against himself... against the voices and the doubtful thoughts...
He took it.
In that second, a flash of purple light consumed the both of them, the grip on Shadow's hand growing deadly. In this light, he saw it all... His memories... His past... everything he'd long since abandoned was rising up again. He saw his rescue of Rouge from Eggman's clutches. He saw his Defeat of the Black Arms... He saw his betrayal of the Doctor... he saw his victory of the Space Colony Arc with Sonic... for the sake of Humanity... And he saw a face he hadn't in so long... a ghost buried dead to him... A good-bye... a sacrifice and a promise... Eyes of blue filled with tears... hope... for him...
And it was all erased...
He was gone... lost and burned in the flames of disaster... All that was left was a shell, a beast to the bend of the wind. The creature which had once been a shadow now stood before him, a crystallized beast beyond recognition. His claws dug deep into Shadow's hand, drawing forth a stream of red. The other yanked him about, turning Shadow's back towards it and it clung and dug into his scalp... Another draw of blood... "You... mine... You will help me desolate the existence of time itself... And you will be erased... All which you have known and all which you were is now your enemy. The WORLD is your enemy! Do as I say and destroy it! Destroy them all! You are no longer Shadow! You are me! You are mine! Now... Kill them... Kill them all... Show no mercy, no conscience, no remorse, no soul... Be the monster you were made to be..." When he released, the drone fell to his knees... Blood shed around him and voices numbed to but mumbles... His ruby eyes... were dead... He was dead... inside... And he'd destroy them... They were his enemies... They were in the way... of the greater goal. He'd ravage this world. He'd ravage humanity! He'd kill them all!
He'd betray them...