Shadow threw another punch towards Mephiles, who saw it coming that time and dodged. Shadow grit his teeth in frustration, and turned around to try again, Chaos Spear in hand this time. He swiped his hand, and launched the spear in Mephiles' direction. The demon ducked, and the spear lodged itself in the wall before fizzling out.
"Damn!" Shadow exclaimed. "I have to pay for that!"
"I can rid you of that burden," Mephiles offered mischievously and flexed his claws.
"Why don't we take this outside?" Rouge asked.
"It won't matter when I've dealt with both of you," Mephiles said. "Really. You'll both be dead before long. It does not matter."
"Wrong," Shadow snapped. "We're taking this outside."
"If you wish," Mephiles said. "I don't want you to hold back just because you're worried for your property." The demon spawned a large sphere, and took them to a large, dry, deserted area.
…
"Curse you, hedgehog!" Mephiles exclaimed as Shadow sent yet another Chaos Spear at the demon. Mephiles was beaten all over his dematerialising body. It dripped with purple goo all over as he lost his hedgehog shape and became a puddle on the floor.
"I told you," Rouge said, walking closer to the battle scene after having made a safe distance. "You can't defeat Shadow."
"But he cannot defeat me either," Mephiles said, his liquid form began spiralling into the air. It shot towards Rouge. Shadow gasped, and jumped in front of her, and was consequently caught by the neck. "Oh, Shadow. I didn't know you enjoyed the fights like these!"
"DAMN!" Shadow rasped. He was grabbed by his ankle and hung upside down, still choked and not allowed breath. "R-Rouge…" Not this again. The bat jumped up to help Shadow, and hovered towards them. But Mephiles pulled Shadow away.
"No no! Shadow and I are having some quality time," Mephiles said. "He simply loves it when I do it to him. Look, he's enjoying it." The pained expression on Shadow's face said otherwise. The bat wasn't going to stand and watch any longer. She shot towards Mephiles, leg out. She performed a screw kick against the cloud of mist besides Shadow. She expected it to be scattered and free Shadow, but instead, it caught her by the ankle, and she hung by Shadow.
"How appropriate for a bat," Mephiles said in amusement, and shook the bat about playfully. Rouge closed her eyes tightly, not enjoying the ride.
"Let her go!" Shadow choked out.
"I wonder… if she will squirm like you," Mephiles said eerily. The mist reached for Rouge's throat. She struggled, afraid to fall into the same fate as Shadow. The bat flapped her wings frantically, and it swatted Mephiles' goo away temporarily. But, the liquid came in from the front and slowly wrapped itself around her throat, getting tighter and tighter until she couldn't breath at all.
"Meph… p-please," Shadow choked out. Mephiles increased his grip on Shadow's throat, and he choked even more, he couldn't speak anymore. He flailed his arms, hoping to catch a part of Mephiles, but instead, he got Rouge's hand. The bat grabbed it, and squeezed Shadow's palm. Was this way of begging him to save her? Shadow glanced over to Rouge through the thin slits his lids would allow him. She was almost unconscious. Shadow felt Rouge's grip loosen on his hand.
Shadow had no choice. He formed a spear in his hand and aimed it… for his own throat. It managed to slice through Mephiles temporality, and also his own jugular. The demon's mist retracted from Shadow's neck.
"You fool!" he cried out. Shadow passed out, and Mephiles was pulled into the hedgehog once more. The mist dropped both Shadow and Rouge as it was sucked into the hedgehog's body. Rouge shook herself to attention, feeling half awake. She saw Shadow laying on the floor, and Mephiles gone. She jumped towards the hedgehog and grabbed his inhibitor rings.
But it was too late. Shadow awoke and slapped Rouge awake. But it wasn't Shadow, on the inside. Yet again, it was Mephiles. The bat stepped away, watching the possessed hedgehog fearfully. The hedgehog rubbed his head and stood up groggily. He looked down at the wrings on his wrists. Rouge tilted her head, curious about the behaviour. Shadow looked at her.
"Rouge…" he said, then widened his eyes in realisation.
"You're… not possessed yet," Rouge said in a huge relief.
"And… you weren't Mephiles trying to…" At that, he tore off his rings. The demon was spat out again. Shadow leapt over to Rouge and stood in front of her protectively.
"You're such a nuisance!" Mephiles snarled. "So what if I have to make a few tweaks to your psyche in order to defeat you! I'm just using my abilities to their full potential!"
"Believe what you want to believe, Mephiles. But face it. You can't defeat Shadow with your fighting power alone," Rouge said.
"Especially when he has his friends," he said in disgust. "Speaking of which…" he said mischievously. "That Commander of yours. Where do you think he is right now?"
Shadow grit his teeth. That tone made the question sound more like a hint of something.
"In work…" Shadow said.
"With?" Mephiles asked, rather excitedly. Shadow and Rouge looked confused. "A certain human I'm currently possessing…?"
"But you're here!" Shadow said. "How-" he opened his eyes in realisation.
"Time travel, Shadow. I can be in several places at once," he said. "And I know for a fact that before I showed myself to you in this form, I got up to an awful lot of trouble as that human."
Shadow grit his teeth and formed fists.
"What have you done?" Shadow asked.
"I had a feeling I may have failed here, so I decided to guarantee myself at least one small victory before I left this timeline," Mephiles said smugly. At that moment, Rouge's communicator crackled.
"Agent Rouge, please come into work," a masculine voice came. Shadow and Rouge felt their stomachs twist, it wasn't the usual voice of the Commander. "There's been a terrible accident."
Mephiles raised his head in triumph, then formed a large sphere beside himself. Shadow and Rouge looked at each other with wide eyes.
"Have fun…" Mephiles called as he faded into the portal. "... at the funeral."
"The Commander," the voice continued. "He's been found dead."
The End