"Sonic, to your left!" Sonic quickly evaded the beam of purple light and gave Silver a thumbs-up.
"Thanks!"
What do you want from us now, Mephiles?!" Shadow yelled at the evil deity as they continued to fight. "You're never going to win! Just leave us be!"
The demon laughed. "I see you still haven't figured out who you're dealing with."
"CHAOS SPEAR!" Shadow sent a bolt of green lightning flying toward his look-alike, who simply melted into a black mass and disappeared before it got near him. To everyone's surprise, he didn't reappear.
"Yeah! That's what I'm talkin' about!" Sonic smiled and held up his hands to give the other two high-fives.
Silver returned the gesture and slapped his hand, but Shadow just crossed his arms over his chest. "He's going to be back."
"Yeah, but not for a while!" Sonic replied, "Don't worry about the inevitable; we'll cross that bridge when we come to it!"
"I guess so, but-" Shadow was suddenly cut off when he felt something cold wrapped around his right leg. He looked down and saw that it was a smoky black tendril. "FUCK!" He screamed as it jerked him onto the ground and his face hit the dirt.
The other hedgehogs turned around and Sonic gasped while Silver screamed, "SHADOW!"
The ebony hedgehog found himself being dragged across the grassy field to the cliffside. "No! NO!" He clawed at the ground as the others ran after him. Sonic caught up fast and grabbed Shadow's arm, but it slipped through his fingers and a Mephiles clone solidified to grab him and hold him down. The same happened to Silver.
"What's happening?!" Silver shouted to no one in particular.
"We're going to find you, you sick bastard!" Sonic screamed, struggling to get free. "And then we're going to kill you!"
The clones laughed, then replied in unison, "You can't kill me. Just look at your friend over there. Hell, you should see him once I'm done with him!"
"SHUT UP!" Sonic screamed. Silver hung his head and whimpered.
-XXX-
Shadow's gloves were torn and his arms covered in scratches before he realized where he was being dragged. Near where the rocks of the coast acted as a barricade against the crashing waves, there was an eerie cave that went far into the cliffside. It was a very dark, wet, secluded spot. Shadow had a feeling that was where he was being taken. But why?
The grass quickly became sand underneath him and, as expected, the black hedgehog was dragged into the cave. He was very deep into it before the tendrils finally released him and he could hear that laughing again. He brushed the sand and dirt off of himself and held a particularly bloodied arm. A rock had caught on it while being dragged and now the red liquid was dripping onto the floor. Suddenly, Mephiles's evil laughter started up. He clenched his teeth and looked around for the source of the noise. It appeared to be echoing off the walls and ceiling.
"Where are you?!" He yelled, "Where the hell are you?!"
The deity walked out from behind a large stalagmite, still laughing.
"What's so funny? What's with all the laughing today?"
The demon shrugged his shoulders. "Guess I'm just excited."
Shadow's stomach dropped, but he tried to play it cool. "And what for, may I ask?"
"You'll find out, in time."
"Well, you know…"
Shadow let go of his wounded arm and put his hands behind his back, keeping the assailant talking while he summoned a Chaos Spear.
"What?" Mephiles continued to walk toward him. Shadow took a few steps away. His back was to the entrance, but it was a significant way away from his current location.
"This!" It was cliche, but he couldn't think of anything better at the time. Shadow quickly threw his Chaos Spear, but Mephiles wasn't at all surprised. He sidestepped and it glided past him, hitting the wall of the cave and ricocheting, sparks going everywhere.
"Damn!" Shadow muttered. Fight had clearly not worked for him, so he decided that flight was the only option at this point.
He turned around and kicked on his rocket shoes, skating as fast as he possibly could in the other direction. He could already see the entrance.
Shadow made the mistake of looking back, and he saw that Mephiles's dark smoky coils were after him again, Mephiles following slowly in the distance.
And he. Looked. Pissed.
"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit..." Shadow panted heavily, wondering if he was going to make it.
And of course, just to his luck, he tripped on a stalagmite. He didn't fall to the ground, but he stumbled and it slowed him down significantly. His shoes turned off automatically due to the decrease of speed, and he didn't have time to turn them back on, so he found himself merely running by foot. Something he wasn't used to at all.
Oh, but the entrance was so close! Just a little further and he wouldn't have to fall victim to whatever methods of torture Mephiles had ready for him.
BAM!
Shadow's legs were grabbed yet again and he face planted for the second time. Unfortunately, the floor of the cave was much harder than the grass or sand. His teeth hit the ground so hard that he figured they must have chipped.
Instead of these arms of dark matter pulling him back into the cave like he assumed they would, they disappeared. Shadow pulled his head off the ground and winced. Slowly, he turned his gaze to behind himself. "Ah!" Shadow fell and stumbled onto his back. Mephiles was right in front of him.
"Your attempts at escape are useless, you petty little mortal!" Mephiles lifted an arm and struck Shadow, forcing him back onto the ground. Blood trickled out of his mouth.
"W-why are you doing this…?" The intense pain was all over his body. It wasn't easy to be dragged for a mile and then get bitchslapped by a demon.
"Get up." Mephiles growled.
"Why…?" Shadow repeated.
"I said get up, foolish mortal!"
Shadow remained on the floor, staring up at the deity as he panted heavily. "N-no. I will not obey you!"
Mephiles's look of anger turned into a smirk. "Clearly, you don't understand how this works."
Shadow narrowed his eyes. "What are you-"
Suddenly, Mephiles grabbed Shadow by the arms and pulled him onto his feet with ease. Even the Ultimate Life Form couldn't match the godly strength of Mephiles the Dark.
"This is inevitable." He growled. "Now move."
There wasn't any way to escape the deadly grip of his captor, so Shadow more or less willingly walked back into the depths of the cave. It was better than getting dragged again, in his opinion.
"I'm moving, dammit!" Shadow responded, matching Mephiles's level of anger.
When they were fairly farther back into the cave, Mephiles threw Shadow onto the ground. "Well, that was hard enough." The demon put a foot on Shadow's chest. "You're quite the fighter, I'll give you that."
Shadow spit blood at him.
Mephiles wiped it off his face with his right hand. "Heh heh. That's what I love about you, Shadow. You never give up. Never allow yourself to be broken." The demon brought a finger to his face and licked a drop of blood away. "But I know a few tricks. And I'm confident that I can break you."
He approached his victim again and got down on his knees. He grabbed Shadow by the neck and squeezed, watching Shadow grab at his own throat and try to pull the demon's left hand away. To no avail, of course.
Mephiles closed his eyes and reopened them slowly. "It's so hard not to kill you right now. So tempting. But I really want to break you first." He let go and Shadow gasped violently.
"And… what does that mean… exactly…?" Shadow asked.
"Tsk tsk tsk… so impatient! You're even more excited than I am!"
"Fuck… you…!"
Mephiles smiled, showing his razor sharp teeth.
"You read my mind."