chapter 01

make no mistake when you leave
make no mistake when the curtain falls

emeleutheromania:

(noun.) an intense and irresistible desire for freedom.

When I was young, my father taught me many things. He taught me how to walk and talk in the way I talk now. He taught me how to count until my lips were dry and fight until my knuckles bled. He taught me math and science and history until I understood how the world operated on a daily basis. He even gave me that "coming of age, the birds and the bees" talk that I didn't want to hear (but had to listen to anyway because I was actually... growing...in quite a few areas). And I was grateful for all of it. No matter how useless it felt to me, or how much I hated hearing it all, I was grateful for every inch of my newfound learnings. Thank you, my father.

At the end of my physical training, I would sleep. I would hide under the staircase, cuddle myself into a ball with my tail as a blanket, and close my eyes. I'd fall into a deep sleep and I would stay this way until the color of the sky changed from blue to black. ...One day was different. I found myself too large to hide under the stairs and there was nothing I could do about this. My eyes were closing very slowly and my body grew slow in movement. I decided to sleep in my own bed, so I began to ascend the stairs.

Suddenly, a strange feeling overtook my body. My face grew hot and my legs felt useless. My heartbeat began to quicken like a ticking time bomb. I began coughing, which quickly transformed into choking. I opened my mouth and tried to get fresh air, but it didn't work. Losing everything I had, I fell down the stairs and my eyes closed for what felt like an eternity.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

When I opened my eyes, I found myself in a room that was far different than my own. The sheets I was adorned underneath were a satin black. The room was so deadly cold, it felt as if the room had achieved absolute zero. There were only two windows, but they were both covered by black and dark violet curtains. I looked at myself. I saw that I was no longer clothed, and the sheets were the only thing covering me from the cold air in the room were the sheets. My left arm was chained down to the bed. My right arm was covered in medical bandages, and when I tried to move it, a feeling I couldn't identify ran through me and made my face flush hot and gasps ran out my mouth. A mirror hung across the room and when I took a peek at myself, I saw what I wanted to see. My long black hair was untouched and strands of it still covered my face. My eyes were still its dark color, and my shoulders still in curve. As I began to sit up to see more of myself, the door opened and I saw him.

My father, Mephiles the Dark.

It hit me like a falling skyscraper. This was his room. I had never seen his room and by process of elimination, it was clearly his.

Despite the fact he never had a mouth, he spoke to me and I was never happier to hear his voice again. "Don't say anything. Just listen to me."

I kept my mouth shut as he laid his black heart bare to what had happened. It had been over a year since I had fallen for that 'eternity'. He had come to look for me when he was attacked by his own half, Iblis. They fought, in which he was not the winner. His loss affected my body and changed me. My teeth grew sharper at the ends. At the ends of my fingernails were sharp points that only caused me pain. A blue stripe formed in the bang of my black hair. "Those are not the only effects, my darling. Your insides were also effected by my foolishness. Parts of your brain have.. gotten weaker. As a result of this, you have gained a power that even I cannot achieve. You can create portals. They stay open as long as you wish, as many as you want at a time, and take you anywhere you wish to go. If you wanted to travel back in time-"

"...wh..."

"..hm?"

A question formed in my mind that I just had to ask him. My throat stung as if a sword had pierced the entire thing, but I ignored the feelings I felt.

"..why...Why are you telling me... a-all of t-this..."

Mephiles closed his eyes and approached me. He reached under the bed and pulled out a silver key, and used it to free my chained arm. He took my hand and put it to his face, where his lips should have been. "What I did was foolish, I admit that. I choose to tell you because I refuse to keep it a secret from you. You are my daughter and I will keep you safe. That makes me different from anyone else. I will not lie to you. I promise."

"...s-stop that..."

Mephiles' ears perked up. "What?"

I gulped and spit it out. "...stop.. stop doing th-that.. stop beating yourself up o-over me... I'm.."

"You are what? Stupid? Hideous to look at? Not worthy of my time? Tell me, what could you possibly think that I think of you now that you are dead? You are dead now, my darling girl. How does that make you think?"

"...I'm... dead?"

My father sighed and let go of my hand. He took his hand and held my cheek. "After losing, I went back inside the house to find you at the bottom of the stairs. Your neck had snapped from your fall. Your heart beat couldn't keep up in time to save your life and as a result, you died. Your heart exploded inside of your chest. You, my darling, are extremely dead. I had to cut you open to see all of this."

I moved the sheets away from my stomach and saw a blue line running vertically down my chest, starting at my neck and ending at my belly button. I took my hand and ran my fingers along it and the strange feeling I felt a long time ago hit me. "...F-Father... What is this..."

"What you feel is called pain. Although you are dead your new ability to create portals will cause you what is called pain if used too often. It will harm you if you are not careful. Consider this a warning. Be wise of what you do, and you will not have to feel pain for a long, long time." He gently took my hand and put it back at my side.

"...Father..."

"Yes, my darling?"

"Call me Portal from now on. Abandon my old name and let's never use it again. Now, tell me about my power."

My apologies. I never once said my name, now did I?

My name is Portal the Dark. I am the immortal daughter of the malevolent, individual triple-threat Mephiles the Dark. I have the power to create portals at will and manipulate whatever I want. I am a fox with grey fur, at a short five feet. My hair is a dark raven black with a random blue streak in my left bang of it all. My eyes are a cold and dark color that can only be defined as black, or charcoal.

As the daughter of Mephiles, I have somewhat taken on a form of his. On my arms I have inhabited small black and dark violet crystals. I live in Soleanna after the destruction of the world. Food and water seem to be scarce, but that is a lie. Those that have survived the fall of the world simply don't know where to look. But I do.

I live where the water does not mix with the liquid lava, where food is not a mirage. Buildings are in perfectly good condition, and do you know why?

...because Iblis protects this area.

As Mephiles is Iblis' other half, they protect each other and what they love, respectively. Mephiles protects IBlis from dying out, and Iblis protects our home, and protects me. A fair trade.

I sat atop of a broken building holding a wooden crate of fruits. Two vines of white grapes, strawberries, oranges, bananas, watermelon, and a ripe cantaloupe... all present.

It was a shame I didn't like it. I picked up the cantaloupe and threw it as far as I could, and threw the remainder into a pit of lava down below.

I looked at the lava pit and proceeded to look around it. Only an empty sky as far as I could see. I had a few hours of sunlight on my hands before I would have to go back inside and shield myself away from the white bulbs in the night.

I stretched both of my hands out, crossing my index and middle fingers together and leaving every other finger tucked in strange positions. With my hands like this, I could use my power.
...but I screwed up.

Instead of creating a portal like I wanted, I made something else, and I didn't like it. My head began to hurt and my vision began to blur out. My face grew hot and my knees bucked in. What I was feeling was not pain. It felt... different. Strange. I didn't like it. It felt ten times worse. And with that, I blacked out and fell off of the building.

"...orta..."

"...ortal... can you... me..."

"...Portal..."

Something cold slapped across my face, bringing me back to my senses. I opened my eyes and saw Mephiles standing above me, a look in his green eyes I couldn't decipher. He had found me and brought me home. And he was the one that slapped me.

I looked around and saw that we were in my room. Nothing had been touched- the closet, the drawers- everything was left in the way I liked it. I looked across the room and I saw something that I had never seen before. Atop of my closet was a sleeveless black dress with a white collar. I blinked twice, taking in how beautiful it was.

Mephiles turned his head away from me, a rose pink forming on his cheeks. "Is it not beautiful? You have been out for a while now and I thought that this would be a lovely surprise for you."

"How long have I been out?"

"...approximately five months."

I was shocked. I was knocked out for almost half a year?

" After your fall, you fell into a condition similar to an eternal sleep. I had no idea how to wake you up. How ironic fate could be. I had no idea that a slap to the face was a cure for that."

I looked under the blanket and saw that I wasn't naked, but rather dressed in a dark violet nightgown. Mephiles sighed. "Do you know how difficult it was for me to live like this for five months?"

"What did you do?"

"Every week, I had to check your vitals and be in constant check that you were fine, even in your sleep. I had to change your clothes out and take your place as a sentry."

"A... sentry?"

"A sentinel, a guard. At the time that you fell, you were on the lookout for survivors. Those who survived the wrath of Iblis. You told me you wanted to eliminate all who stood in my- our way."

Mephiles gently pushed me down on the bed and placed his hand on my forehead. "Please, say nothing more. You need to rest. When you have rested fully, I will come back for you and help you put on your new dress. Iblis is right outside, and he will watch over you until my return."

"...where are you going?"

"I will continue as your position as a sentinel. Now please rest, my darling." He took his hand and waved it over my face, a strange feeling of tiredness took over me. My eyes began to close slowly as Mephiles removed his hand and left the room, closing the door behind him. That was the last thing I saw.

I was trapped.

Iblis creatures had me surrounded from the ground up. I could fight my way through them as much as I liked but that just wasn't working for me. My hands and head hurt from my attempts to make a portal to flee, and from fighting. If I didn't escape I would be engulfed in the flames of my own stupidity.

I was born from a mother and father like any other baby, and I was supposed to use fire as my very ally. However, it was not destined to be this way. I was deadly afraid of fire.

A circle of flames surrounded me at my feet and began to burn my fur. I covered my mouth to prevent myself from screaming? Where was Mephiles to save me?

"LEAVE HER ALONE!"

I heard someone scream and as I looked up to the source of the voice, I did not see my father. Instead I saw someone different.

Atop of the building I saw a blue cat, about 11 or 12 years old. Her eyes were a green color that were similar to Mephiles, except hers were less sickly in vermillion. Her ears were pinted straight up. On her body she wore a white t-shirt and jeans that were ripped in almost every area. Her feet were bare, but the expression on her face was not. Her eyes were furrowed down in anger and hatred.

"DON'T TOUCH HER!" She ran and in one step, took a flying leap off of the building. She outstretched her hand and when she did so, two tornadoes formed on the ground beside her as she landed. Both tornadoes grew into massive size and began to trap and destroy the monsters around me, each monster dying as the tornadoes hit them.

As the tornadoes went to work, the cat ran towards me, screaming at me about whether I was okay. But before I could answer, something unbelievable happened. The flames at my feet became a high wall, covering me from her. I screamed as the flames continued to burn me, begging for her help. Instead, she dropped to her knees, and with tears in her eyes I heard her say one final thing:

"I'm so sorry..."

I jumped up from my bed with a jolt, falling onto the floor. It was only a dream. I looked around and saw I was still in my room. It was only a dream. I was still in pain and I still wore the nightgown. And the beautiful dress still lay in front of me atop of the closet. It was only a dream.

A dream that felt so real.

What did this dream mean? Was Mephiles not faithful? Was this cat still alive, and if she was would she explain everything to me?

...I had to find out.

Removing the socks from my feet and the nightgown from my body, I grabbed the beautiful black dress that Mephiles gave to me and put it on. I reached under my bed and saw a pair of black shoes and a collection of beautiful, light colored pastel necklaces. I slipped the shoes onto my feet and carefully locked the necklaces onto my neck, afraid I would break them if I wasn't cautious. As I looked into the mirror that hung on the wall, I no longer saw a nuisance, or a royal pain in the neck. I did not see an ugly fox that was hideous to the eyes, or a worthless girl. I saw a strong, beautiful vixen. I saw me.

Iblis had fallen asleep and the door out was left open. I knew my father wasn't here because of how quiet it was in the house. I ran out the room, down the stairs and out the front door. I kept running. I didn't care that I would mess up my clothes or that the heels of my shoes would come off. I felt the adrenaline running through my veins and that was all I needed.

Out of nowhere, something hit me over the head. I screamed and looked down to see a rock, the size of my palm. "OW! Who the hell did that?!" I was feeling a little lightheaded, but I kept strong. And that was when I saw her.

About a foot away, I saw her. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. It was the cat from my dreams. She was completely, 1000% real. Nothing was fake about her. And she was looking right at me.

Her green eyes looked into my dark charcoal ones. She took a step towards me. Was she going to charge at me?

She finally spoke and when she did, it felt like a hailstorm of neutral feelings. "...Who are you?"

"DO NOT TOUCH MY DAUGHTER!"

I turned around and saw someone I never expected to see. I saw my father, Mephiles the Dark. And he. Was. Pissed.

He was running like hell was right behind him and when he ran like that, you would want to start running, too. The cat let out what could have been a scream and ducked behind a car. He was definitely going to hurt her.

...and I was not going to let that happen.

I put my hand up in a halting gesture. No one was getting hurt on my watch. "Stop!"

Mephiles halted where he was, giving off a hateful look to the cat, who was still behind the car. I walked towards him, my arms at my sides and a neutral yet determined look in my eyes. "What are you doing, father?! That citizen has done nothing wrong!" I yelled.

Mephiles glared angrily, a glare colder than ice. "She was approaching you, Portal! I thought she was going to harm you!"

I clasped my hands together and began to plead with him. The cat stayed behind the car and watched us as we argued.

"I know you're listening to me, father."

"I would love not to."

I had no idea what face I was making as I begged him not to hurt her, but the expression on his face struck me deep along with his rage. He was mad I didn't obey his instructions, and even madder at this cat.

"Please, father! She's done nothing wrong!"

"She would have caused you deep pain if I hadn't arrived to save you!"

"You don't know that! After all, she's only herself! I can guarantee she's most likely afraid of me! She's lost and scared and terrified of me! Terrified of you! Please, let us spare her!"

"Never! She deserves to die! You're still in a sick condition, don't you forget that!"

"Father, I swear, I'm fine! I just want to-"

"What?! You want to do what? Spare her? Let her live? Like hell I will allow such a foolish action! Remember your place! Not only are you the sentinel of this world, you are my daughter! And you will obey me! You will kill her, now!"

"...screw you, you damn genocider."

I turned away from Mephiles and faced the car that the cat had hidden behind, and walked towards it. I saw her cuddled into a ball of fear. I reached out my hand and winked at her, our eyes meeting. "Get up, and don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you. Neither is my father." She slowly took my hand and I helped her stand.

Mephiles stood mightily and fiercely, staring us both down. "Portal, go back home. NOW!" I turned towards him, determination and ferocity gleaming in my dark eyes. "Don't worry Father. She is not dangerous."

I expected a full on slap from him to come crashing down on me any moment now, but that didn't happen. Instead, he grunted and with a, "Hmph, fine.", he left us alone, disappearing in a cloud of dark violet dust.

I faced the cat, my arms crossed behind my back and happiness in my eyes. Before I could do anything, she spoke to me. "First off, I'm sorry for kicking that rock at your head. Second off, do I know you from somewhere?"

I froze up. Maybe she wasn't my expectation of a "terrified citizen". I had to stay calm about this. "Actually, I should introduce myself. I'm Portal the D- Vixen. The hedgehog you just saw was my father, Mephiles the D- Hedgehog."

I could see it in her eyes as she examined me like a spider on a butterfly. She recognized me.

She didn't believe my lies. And she was definitely going to hurt me.

Suddenly she asked me a question I didn't expect to answer in a long time.

"You look familiar. Did I save you once?"

Now I was in trouble. She was clearly awful with even more awful intentions.

My hearing faded itself out as she asked me something I couldn't hear and suddenly, she disappeared. I gasped. Where did she go? I looked around and didn't see her anywhere.

"You know you've messed up, my darling."

Mephiles was standing right behind me, his green eyes turning a nasty color, and his quills sharpening. I fell to my bottom and in an instant, he had me by the hair. "Get up!"

He pulled me up by my hair and grabbed my neck with his free hand, choking me. "You are foolish, daughter of mine When I give you directions, you obey. Or will I have to punish you?"

His grip on my neck was strong, but it wasn't strong enough. I snapped my arm forward and pushed him away, watching him let go of me. I fell to the ground, coughing. I had to get away from him.

I got to my feet and ran, Mephiles on my back, chasing after me. I turned corners and after a while I finally lost him. I had reached a dead end, and he would find me in no time.

I had to use my powers.

I stretched out my hand and immediately created a portal. I wasn't safe here, but I knew where I would be safe.

Walking through the portal and looking back one last time, I made my decision.

Farewell, Mephiles, my father. See you never. The daughter you are trying to reach is gone. Leave a message and she'll never get back to you.

Time to go back home. Back to Soleanna, years before its very end. If I can change something, maybe I can stop the destruction of the world, and stop Mephiles.

I looked ahead of me, and as I walked on the portal closed.

The inside was beautiful. The left half was a beautiful glimmering white and the right side was a mixtures of dark purples and blues with strange shining dots. The floor under my feet felt like I was walking on air. I could have stayed here, but that isn't what I wanted. I took off my shoes and ripped off my necklaces, throwing all of them but two on the ground, and continued on. I began to think about what I would do when something happened to me. My body was getting weaker. Opening a portal to the outside, I jumped through it and immediately fell through it, falling on the ground, the portal closing behind me forever.

My eyes began to close slowly and as they did, I saw two strange figures run towards me. I heard some, but not all, of their words.

"..."

"...say something, Shadow."

"There's nothing to say."

"So what do we do?"

"We take her to Rouge. She should know what to do."

I opened my eyes to see the figures in front of me, but I only saw one of them. A blue hedgehog with green eyes and fresh white gloves. I began to stand and the blue hedgehog gasped. "W-who... are you...?"

I turned around to see another hedgehog standing behind me, his hands behind his back. He was a black hedgehog, with red eyes, and crimson stripes running down his quills and his arms. He seemed so much like Mephiles in body. Before the blue hedgehog could say anything, the black and crimson hedgehog was first to speak, a voice deep and husky. "I am Shadow the Hedgehog, the Ultimate Lifeform, agent of G.U.N. Accompanying me is Sonic the Hedgehog."

"...where am I...?"

Sonic chuckled and held out his hand to me, a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye.

"Welcome to Mobius."