Okay... first off: Thank you for a total of 14 reviews, and a future thatnks to many more I know will come from this.

I would had this done sooner, but I was rocking out a a friend's Sweet 16 last night... and well... anyway... I got this done this afternoon.

In case you haven't figured out... the hallways is supposed to be a representation of Shadow's mind...

I hope this chapter runs as smooth as the last ones... Enjoy.

Shadow groaned, as he rubbed his forehead, a small headache was beginning to form. It was now nearing sunset, and he could say he had been this weird beast for a good five hours. He was now becoming anxious; a little worried that he might have to stay like this for a while. He let out a tired groan.

"You okay?" Rouge said a little worried. He had been doing that for five minutes, and was beginning to look weary. Shadow looked at her through one eye, before turning away and shrugging uncertainly. Omega was silent, and had been so for the past half hour. The trio watched the moon begin to show as the sun disappeared from view beyond the west horizon.

Mephiles, on the other hand, was still reciting the lyrics, and seemingly enjoyed doing so. Never had he really any time for such leisure, as he was stuck in that accursed Scepter of Darkness for a good ten years, plotting his revenge. All because of Shadow.

He tapped his "icy" shards that were his claws on the wall which he leaned against, tracing them into something, while combing a finger through one set of his crystal quills with the other.

"I can't escape this cell

So many times I've lied…

But there's still rage inside…"

He took his hand off of the wall and stepped forward, his eyes narrowing with excitement. He was ready.

"…Brace yourself, Shadow… it is time" He said as he brought his clawed hands above his head. He formed a bright swirling purple orb in his claws, sparks and lights jumping off of it as it became larger with each passing second. With a thrill of pure excitement, he crisscrossed his fingers together and swung his hands down, and pressed the orb to the ground. He narrowed his eyes even more and gave the orb a slight nudge to help it sink into the tiles.

Shadow suddenly clasped his hands to his head as his eyes widened, then let out a pained cry. Rouge and Omega became a little worried, even more so when he fell to his knees, curling inward slightly as another sharp pain shot through his head, then another, and another. He clenched his teeth before letting out a dragged scream of agony.

Mephiles made another orb and this time, threw it at a wall, where it bounced off and rebounded off the walls down the hall for a few times before becoming absorbed into the door. He could almost hear Shadow's screams of pain. This gave him even more thrills of excitement.

Shadow dug his sharp claws in his quills, pricking at his skin as his screamed louder, if possible. Rouge was holding him as he leaned into her heavily, almost unable to keep himself up. Rouge looked up at Omega, her eyes begging him for a solution, but the robot was at a loss as well. He felt a little helpless; he was watching his best friend in pain, and couldn't do much of any thing to help….

Shadow fell to the ground heavily with a muffled thud; his strength to fight against Mephiles was fading away slowly with each passing second…

Mephiles was enjoying himself beyond anything right now. He was now torturing Shadow the Hedgehog, weakening him just enough for him to try another take over. He threw one more orb for the hell of it and made his way to the door Shadow had been so "kind" enough to leave open for him. He slipped out and shut the door.

Shadow was now silent, staring at nothing in particular as his eyes glazed over. He seemed dazed from that brain attack, and was slowly blinking his red eyes. After a long while of this, the eyes blinked once more and this time they were green.

Knowing what this meant by now, Omega quickly stood his ground as Rouge shot back, away from Mephiles.

"Where's Shadow?" She asked him as he began to pick himself up off the ground, her voice angry and scared, all in the same go. She took a breath and said with a lot more confidence to her anger: "What have you done with him?"

Mephiles let the silence drag out, giving it just the right effect as he wiped Shadow's tears of pain from his eyes.

"He's gone nowhere but right here…" He said, tapping a finger lightly to his head. "He's just simply where he has kept me shut for the past five hours."

Mephiles stretched his arms out above himself, and began stretching his muscles as if he had just woken up. This was adding something to Team Dark's silent horror, and Mephiles knew full well of it. He was simply savoring the look on Rouge's face, and the silent terror that was radiating off of Omega. He lived for stuff like this.

He held up his claws in front of him, palm side facing him, and flexed his fingers before shifting his gaze upward, staring at Rouge in particular.

"Let's play a little 'game', shall we?" He said, as a small blobbish orb began to form just above his claws. He grinned insanely, once more showing of Shadow's fangs, which gleamed brightly as the light of the moon began to peek through a cloud. "I like to call it 'Get out of the way fast enough…'. Think you can?"

Rouge was in a kind of stunned silent terror as Mephiles edged closer. Omega readied his guns as soon as Mephiles raised the orb.

Shadow pushed himself up off, taking note that his appearance was just the same as it was when he was in the hallways. He looked up and saw…

The hallways…

"Dang it…" He cursed, looking around expecting to see Mephiles somewhere. All that greeted his eyes was emptiness and scorch marks on the walls and floor.

Pushing up off the ground with his knee, he stood up and made his way to one of the scorch marks, the one on the wall near the first door Shadow had tried. He ran his hand over it, feeling the blackened bits of charred stone marble scrape off under his fingers. He rubbed his fingers together for a moment, and then nodded slowly. There was Mephiles Chaos signature laced in it.

"But, where is Mephiles?" Shadow mused to himself, turning his head behind him before walking down the hall. The doors were closed, several of which had burns and charred pieces of wood, while the metal ones looked like they were beginning to cool down, some still glowing. The tile wasn't as cold on his bare feet as it had been last time.

He stopped abruptly at an etching in the wall, which looked like it could have been done with claws. The words stirred up a slight panic as he stared at them, making him quiver involuntarily. It made him bite down on his lip, and his heart jump past a few beats, missing a couple, making his heart pound painfully in his throat.

Let the bodies hit the floor…

As the orb was thrown, many things happened at the same time.

Rouge snapped out of her daze and jumped out of the way. Omega shot at Mephiles. Mephiles strafed back and slipped. He waved his arms around as a quick surge of panic ran through his mind, and he looked behind himself quickly. What he saw made him panic even more.

Water.

He couldn't swim, and he was pretty sure Shadow couldn't either.

"DANG IT!" he screamed as he lost his footing entirely, and fell into the water that made up the "streets" of Soleanna with a heavy splash.

He splashed around frantically for a brief minute, before dipping under. He brought his head up to take a deep breath, and sunk in completely. He looked up as the bottom of the body of water came closer and watched the surface further its distance. He reached up a hand and exhaled unintentionally, watching in terror as the bubbles of air surfaced in a way he could not. He was going to drown, and he knew it.

How unfitting of an end for me…He thought as his mind began to fog up from the lack of oxygen. He vaguely saw what looked like someone coming to save him… but he figured he was just imagining it. His mind slowly went blank as he cursed at the world...

Shadow was suddenly jolted from his terror as the hallways shook and began to dim slowly. The air suddenly began to chill; his breath was now visible as small puff clouds of vapor that disappeared after swirling for a few seconds. He suddenly became aware that water was seeping out from under the doors, washing over his bare feet and slowly rising to his ankles.

A sudden thrill of panic shot through his mind. What if the water was going to keep rising? He couldn't swim. What was he going to do if it does? He couldn't find the door he used last time. He felt like he was screwed.

Mephiles was fading slowly as the world turned to shades of gray, his brain and lungs screaming for air. He felt the water's floor hit his feet and stir up some mud.

He vaguely felt a hand close around his wrist and begin to pull him upward. He was too waterlogged to really care who it was, and he reached his other hand to grab onto the hand that had grabbed his wrist, as a silent thanks.

The lighting began to brighten as the water stopped rising. Shadow was holding onto a doorknob trying to wrench the door open, the water was at his waist before he realized it had stopped rising. He looked around in pure confusion as it slowly began to drain out and under the door. He felt a little annoyed that water got to escape, and he didn't

Mephiles coughed hoarsly as he felt the water drain from his lungs as he leaned over the water's edge, his clawed hands grasping the edge of the sidewalk that was just over it. The cool air of the night felt biting against his wet skin and made him shiver and quake from the cold. He cursed to himself silently for that mistake.

He looked behind him to see Rouge staring at him with her arms crossed. She too was drenched and water was dripping from her fur, particularly her ears, tail and fur tufts on the back of her head. She looked at little ticked off.

"…why did you rescue me?" Mephiles questioned with an icy voice, having to talk through his teeth to keep his words from quivering from the cold. "…you could have let me drown… and end this entire ordeal…"

"Yes… I could have… but I didn't…"

"Why…?" Mephiles asked her, feeling his confusion override his frustration at trying to understand the simple yet complex minds of Humans and Mobians.

"I didn't let you die because Shadow's in there…" She leaned forward and flicked his head hard on the forehead. Mephiles let out an angry growl, but was still feeling too weak from his near drowning to do anything but think about what he could do to her for that. He instead decided to ask her more questions.

"… Tell me… what drives you to be so close to Shadow? Why would put his life as high as your own?"

Rouge shifted her gritted teeth to where the canines on the right rested on top of each other, and gritted those instead, before answering.

"He's my friend… and he would do the same for me…"

"But why?" Mephiles persisted, feeling that didn't answer his question.

Rouge let silence pass. Mephiles didn't like it.

"WHY?" he said louder, in case she was going to say she didn't hear him. Rouge simply smiled, partially to the fact that she now had the upper hand.

"Because… we've shared a lot of moments together. We're teammates. We're friends. We help each other. It's what we do…"

Mephiles was visibly at a loss for words. The answer was so simple… but confusing. He coughed again as the last of the water drained out of his lungs. Never again will he let his guard down around any bodies of water, even a puddle. Why anyone would want to be so close to something that could be the end of you… he would never know…

Rouge stared at him with a look that almost had pity. She shook her head before turning her head away.

"This doesn't change anything…" Mephiles said softly as he coughed for what he had hoped was the last time. "I still hate you…"

"Same here…"

Okay, so Mephie almost drowns, Shads stuck in his mind, Rouge and Omega's stuck in the middle... Hm... Please review.