I believe as of now, this story now has more words than "Relapse", even though it's a little more than half as many chapters ^^

And this story is far from finished ^^

Alrighty then... quite a chapter ahead for you guys. ^^

Enjoy ^^

Needless to say, Mephiles didn't enjoy his visit with Dr. Thizon, as usual.

"I wasn't expecting to see you for quite a while longer…" Thizon said as Mephiles folded his arms and narrowed his eyes at him. "I see your foot healed up pretty fast…"

"As it turns out, Mephiles has healing powers…" Shadow explained. "He was able to heal his foot so he could walk…"

"Well, that's interesting…" Thizon nodded. "So, what's the reason for this visit?"

"It's a bit complicated, but in short, Mephiles was hurt earlier, and was almost strangled…" Rouge said. "We're just worried about the injury, and hope it's not too bad."

"I see, is that all?"

"Well, he also has had a panic attack again, and something that he said felt like it, but he wasn't panicking."

Mephiles huffed, not at all happy about this.

"I see. So you said he said that if felt like it… but he wasn't panicking?"

"He said that it felt like he was being stabbed." Shadow said. "Granted, he was just having somewhat of a bad day, so we hoped that it was just stress catching up to him. Still, we figured that we should have you check him out."

"Wise choice…" Thizon nodded. "Let have a look at his neck first…"

Mephiles frowned, but was nice enough not to make a fuss over it.

"Who tired to do this to him?"

"You remember Dark, right?" Shadow said.

"Yes… you mentioned him last month…" Thizon nodded. "Are you saying that he did this?"

"Not exactly-"

"It wasn't Dark." Mephiles said, speaking for the first time since he got there. "His flame of a brother managed to take control of him and tried to kill me."

Thizon blinked.

"I have to say, given last months events, I'm not too surprised." He muttered. "You sure seem to attract a lot of injuries. I'm more astounded that you don't have any lasting damage from all of this. The last time you were here, we weren't expecting you to wake up for at least a week. And you surprised us with just a few hours."

"What can we say?" Shadow snickered. "He's quite a fighter and a survivor."

"Darn straight!" Mephiles said.

"Still, I'd appreciate it a bit more if you hadn't nearly obliterated the room and broke my glasses. These are expensive to keep replacing…" Thizon pushed his glasses higher up on his face, and one could see a layer or two of scotch tape around the nose of the frame. "And it takes a few weeks to get a replacement pair…"

"Like I said before, I was scared!" Mephiles said, frowning. "Think about it: I blacked out for a while after I nearly died, and woke up in a room with none of my friends, and I didn't even know we won against Dark or not, so I'm still confused, and was in some amount of pain…"

"All the same, next time, ask questions first, then decide whether or not it's worth it."

Mephiles merely grunted in response.

After the checkup, it was decided that Mephiles' bruise was already healing and shouldn't be a problem to him in a few days.

Now they needed to continue their quest for the Emeralds.

Stopping by the store on the way to the museum, where the red one was kept, they picked up a few backpacks to carry the Emeralds they found, as well as a few needed things for their journey, such as winter wear in case they needed to go to a cold location, and so on.

"I was just thinking…" Mephiles mused. "What if that snow I saw with the yellow Emerald a clue to the next one?"

"Perhaps, but there is a lot of places where it snows." Shadow pointed out.

"But, with luck, it might be close by." Mephiles countered. "Where is the closest place where it snow from here?"

"Not in this city…" Rouge said. "But the nearest is Ice Cap. It's a mountain region, but you need to go to the Mystic Ruins to get there."

"How?"

"There's a train that's in Station Square that takes you there, but we'd need to take a train from here to get to Station Square."

It was no problem for them to retrieve the red Emerald, Shadow storing that one in his backpack as Mephiles jumped away from it, growling in contempt.

After two seemingly long train rides to Mephiles, who was displeased to find that much like the airsickness from the plane, he also got that same feeling on a train.

On the second train ride, Mephiles' muzzle was gaining a greenish tinge to it, Mephiles half glad that he hadn't eaten anything yet, and therefore had nothing to for his stomach to send up.

"You doing okay, Meph?" Shadow noticed Mephiles sink in his seat a bit, the poor hedgehog looking quite ill at the moment.

"… I hate these things…" He grunted, hugging his stomach, which was starting to cramp. Starting to feel dizzy and tired, he added: "… wake me up when we get there…"

No sooner, it seemed, had he fallen asleep was someone shaking him awake.

"Huh? Whuzgoinon?" He mumbled, rubbing his watery eyes with the back of his hands. He yawned and realized that the train had stopped. "We there already?"

"You were asleep for about an hour, but yes…" Shadow told him.

"That's good… hopefully, I'll feel better once we get off… I was starting to get sick…" Mephiles yawned again, still a bit tired.

Mephiles had to admit, Mystic Ruins was quite a pretty place. It was quite unlike the city, and as far as he could see, there were only two buildings in sight from where he stood. By the area that led to a waterfall, he could see a large purple cat sitting down and fishing, a small green frog next to him, hopping up and down excitedly.

"Wow…" Mephiles said as they made it down the station platform. "Just… wow…"

"Sonic's friend Tails has a workshop here, so we might be able to catch him and see if he has any Emerald tracking devices…" Shadow explained. "He's quite a genius and no doubt his ones are more accurate and have a wider range."

"How old is he, by the way?"

"About eight years old…"

"What?" Mephiles wasn't sure if he had heard that right. "He's younger than me. Is it safe for him to be doing that?"

"You shouldn't underestimate someone just because of their age." Rouge said with a smirk. "Tails has done quite a few accomplishments that astounded even the President. He once even single handedly faced up against Eggman, and defused a bomb that was about to obliterate Station Square. He's even created aircrafts that were able to withstand the environments of outer space."

"You're kidding…" Mephiles was convinced that that was just an exaggeration.

"Well, you'll see when you meet him." Shadow said. "I don't think he's at his workshop right now. His plane isn't in the runway, so he must be adventuring with Sonic…"

"So, which way to Ice Cap? All I see right now is more desert-y than snowy…"

"It's been a while since I've been here, so I'm not quite sure…" Rouge said, looking around. "We might have to ask for directions…"

The cat that was fishing , as it turned out, was someone whom Shadow and Rouge had met during a battle against a Sonic lookalike robot, who was named Metal Sonic. The purple cat's name was, unsurprisingly, Big, and the frog's name was, again, so surprise, Froggy.

The cat tilted his head and said: "Have we met before? You look awfully familiar…"

"It was a while ago, but yes…" Shadow said. "We and several other people were fighting against a crazy robot, and you had a couple of friends with you, Amy and Cream."

"Wait… he knows that little rabbit I met at the Chao Garden?" Mephiles said. "Wait… she got to fight that thing too? But, she's like six years old!"

"There were a few people younger than you, Meph…" Shadow said before returning to his talking with the cat. "I'm sure you remember that."

"Oh, of course! That mean robot took my friend, Froggy, and the cute rabbit's Chao's brother! Then he tried to do all sorts of bad stuff, I don't like him!" Big reeled in his line and set his fishing pole down. "And then we all helped that nice blue hedgie who helped me save Froggy the time before that, and those pretty gems made him all gold. But, at least I got my polliwog pal back, and that hedgie and his buddies fixed everything."

"Okay, so now that we both are reacquainted again… we need to know how to get to the mountains from here."

"Oh, that place has such wonderful fish!" Big grinned and nodded, Froggy hopping excitedly. "That tunnel by the train takes you right to it."

"Thank you so very much…" Shadow thanked him. "Good luck with that fishing…"

The tunnel was quite long. It seemed to stretch on for quite a while, and as the trio went on, the air around them began to chill, their breaths becoming puff clouds of vapors.

"I think now would be the time to put on our snow stuff…" Rouge said. "The air is just going to get colder…"

Shadow had gotten a light blue hat that covered his ears, a matching scarf and thick white mittens to keep his hands from freezing.

Mephiles had also gotten a hat, and scarf, which were green in color and didn't need anything for his hands and feet, since they were less likely to get cold due to his crystals.

Rouge, on the other hand, lacking the presence of as much fur as the two boys, had to don a sweater, a hooded jacket with fuzz, gloves that were water resistant, and a host of other things to try to counter the cold weather. She had chosen them to be in shades of pink and purple, to match her usual attire.

The tunnel began to have an iced over look, hinting that they were very close.

When they got in, they found that the tunnel led to a cavern inside the mountain, with plenty of iced over ponds and icicles hanging dangerously from the ceiling.

They took no time in hurrying out of there and into another tunnel that led to another cave that had yet another tunnel that finally led to the mountain top.

The Emerald Radar led them not too far from where they exited, finding the Emerald to be sitting on the ground, its aqua color making very easy to see against the snow.

Mephiles wanted to be the one to carry it, and for a moment, nothing seemed to have happened.

Then red flag signs seem to rise up.

Mephiles was clutching the aqua colored Emerald in his clawed hands tightly, shivering from the onset of cold, but muttered something under his breath, as if he was talking to himself.

Shadow eyed him anxiously as he saw the crystal hedgehog begin to stumble.

"You okay Meph?"

Mephiles nodded slowly, gasping suddenly as he released a hand from the Emerald and shook it as if it had burned him.

"I'm f-fine…" He muttered, lowering his head. "But this Emerald is giving off a lot of heat… or something…"

"Need me to hold it for a moment?"

Mephiles' head shot up and he narrowed his eyes and frowned.

"I said I'm fine!" He snapped harshly, his eyes glinting madly as he clutched the Emerald tighter. "I can handle it!"

The look in his eyes had not passed undetected. Shadow blinked and reached out for the Emerald.

"I think you've been around this too long…" He said simply. "You're starting to act weird…"

Mephiles bristled his fur on his back as Shadow neared, taking a step back.

"That's for me to decide!" He hissed. "It hasn't been too long! I just got it a few minutes ago!"

"Mephiles… give me the Emerald now…" Shadow said cautiously. "You're not acting right, so you may be having a reaction…"

"I am not!" Mephiles barked. "Just leave me-!"

He suddenly clapped a hand to his head and dropped to one knee in the snow, grunting in pain with his eyes squeezed shut.

"Mephiles!"

Rouge and Shadow were now beside him, trying to get the Emerald out of his hands as they tried to get him to respond. Rouge held him up to keep him from collapsing in the icy snow as Shadow tried to pry his fingers from the gem.

Then he opened his eyes slowly… or rather… it wasn't Mephiles who did that.

Cat-slitted pupils contracted in a moment of fear as Dark's eyes scanned the white frozen area quickly, his expression quite confused.

His eyes shifted to a very dumbstruck Shadow and he merely blinked before swiveling his eyes to the Emerald in his tightly clenched hand.

Then something happened that astounded both the black hedgehog and the white bat…

Dark's eyes widened and he threw the Emerald from himself, watching it land several feet away.

"Sorry about that… He was getting unruly…" Dark explained as if it wasn't at all a problem that he was in control of Mephiles' body, had looked Shadow in the eyes and threw a perfectly good Chaos Emerald away, then proceeded to converse with his known enemy. "Like me… that Emerald begins to twist his thoughts after a prolonged exposure. If I didn't do something about it, he was going to go mad…"

Shadow and Rouge blinked and let go of him, letting him collapse in the snow.

"Oh, geeze… what was that for?" He growled, sitting up and brushing the snow off of him before taking note of the color of scarf he, or rather Mephiles, was wearing. "Green? Not the color I would have chose…" He removed the backpack Mephiles had been wearing and tossed it to Shadow. "Here… I have no use for that Emerald either…"

"Dark… what are you doing here, and what did you do with Mephiles?" Shadow narrowed his eyes at the demon.

"Must I repeat myself? I said that he was getting unruly because the Emerald was driving him mad. He's in his mind right now until he cools off, otherwise he was going to fight you for the Emerald. I'm taking over right now because otherwise, he'd be unconscious, and doing that in these temperatures would result in a serious case of hypothermia, and perhaps… his death. I don't think that would be fitting of an end to him…"

"How do we know you aren't the one causing all that madness?" Shadow asked suspiciously.

"Questioning? That's good, Shadow… it lets you know what's going on…" Dark said, getting up from the snow and wagging his tail to try to get the blood circulation to heat up just a little. "I suppose you can't really be sure, and that's up to you to decide whether or not you want to trust me. I'll admit that I haven't been the most trustworthy person at all, but I'll also admit that for right now, as long as Iblis is trying to kill Mephiles… I won't be your enemy. The both of us are sharing a common goal, and that is making sure that Mephiles does not get killed by my flame of a brother."

"Why would you even care about what happens to Mephiles if you've wanted him dead before?" Rouge spoke up.

Dark shifted his eyes at her and nodded slowly.

"Ah, yes… Mephy told me that your name was 'Rouge'… He made sure to correct me after I had been calling you 'That Bat' this whole time…" He said needlessly. "Perhaps Mephiles mentioned this before… I want to be sure that I'm the one given that chance to kill him. Either of our final deaths are to be determined by which one of us is indeed the most powerful. It is to be decided after a battle between just the two of us, with no help from anyone. We are to fight as equals, and only that. If Iblis were to interfere with that, then I would no longer have a purpose, as well as no way to be gotten rid of. Only Mephiles has the true strength to do that…"

"Why does it matter to you if Meph beats you or not?" Shadow said edgily. "Wouldn't you be glad that Meph was killed either way? And why would you want him to be given a chance to get rid of you?"

"My dear Shadow… the matters between Mephy and I are quite complicated…" Dark rolled his eyes. "Though I was created in the accident eleven years ago, I was only truly given life once I made contact with a living thing, which happened to be a little brown hedgehog that escaped from his cage…"

"But you said before that you were created from the dark thoughts in Meph's mind…"

"That was what I thought for some time as well…" Dark sighed. "It seemed that I too had a bit of amnesia from the accident, having forgotten exactly how I came to be. I'm sure that you would believe that Mephiles' own fears and thoughts are what gave me power and life as time went on. Mephy's fears were what, for want of a better term, nurtured me until I became powerful enough to make my first move. Unintentionally, Mephiles became my caregiver over time, though he was convinced I was his friend. Perhaps, if I wasn't kept alive through negative energy… we might have been friends. He was so excited when we first met, glad that someone was around to help him cope with the darkness within the Scepter. At times, I was unsure why, but I felt inclined to give him a few lessons in things. You might have noticed that slip at least once during that fight last time, when I briefly noted how he should try to attack me…"

"This is getting confusing…"

"I understand why…" Dark nodded. "But, there is a complicated relationship between Mephiles and I that stems from our time as both friends and enemies. At first, I had wanted to use him merely as a puppet for my own reasons, but as time passed, I tried to be more of a teacher to him, but only educating him in how to use his power for his own gain. He didn't know any better, and since I was the only one around… he wasn't too keen on getting me to leave…"

"And you're saying..?"

"Mephiles and I are now one in the same, but from different ends of the rope or what ever you want to use as an analogy. It is up to the both of us to decide which one of us is to survive and which one of us is to live. Mephiles fights for others and I fight for only myself. He represents altruism, and I represent egotism. But, there are time when I will breakaway from that and help him if it is needed, only because it will help insure that that final battle will indeed happen…"

"And, aren't you worried that you're going to get attached to him and instead hold back when that happens?"

Dark blinked and then threw his head back and laughed.

"Oh, heaven's no! Of course not! If he is the one capable of all that, then by reasoning, I should not be. Besides, I'm selfish!" Dark added, folding his arms and smirking. "I look out only for myself unless it benefits me to do otherwise…" He sighed. "I'm going to return to the back of his mind, hopefully by now, he's had some time to recover…"

With that, he closed his eyes and in a few seconds, they were Mephiles' colors when they opened again.

However, his eyes immediately darted to the Emerald, which was sitting close to the edge of the flat part they were standing on, no doubt a part that was unstable and perhaps just a layer of snow.

"Mephiles… what are you doing?" Shadow said slowly as Mephiles got ready to spring at it. "Meph, don't… it's not safe…"

Almost as if he hadn't heard him, Mephiles made a mad dash for it anyway, Rouge unable to catch him by the arm or anything in her attempt to stop him as he pushed passed Shadow.

"MEPHILES! STOP!" They both cried as the crystal hedgehog pounced on the Emerald and sat up, holding it above his head and laughing in a singsongishly tone, not at all noticing that he had weakened the snow he was sitting.

"I got it! I got it! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!" Mephiles squealed excitedly, ignoring Dark's frantic reprimanding as he continued to chant. "I got it! It's mine! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

"Mephiles! Get away from there before it collapses!" Shadow barked, not daring to try to go get him, knowing that the weight of the two of them would break the icy cover.

"I got the Emerald! I got the Emerald! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!" Mephiles didn't seem to hear him at all. He simply just continued his mad cackle of excitement as he waved the power gem above his head.

Shadow and Rouge watched in horror as they could see the ice crack slowly, the line spreading slowly along the outline of Mephiles' sitting place.

"Shadow! Do something!"

"I can't! If I go over there, it's going to break and send us both down the mountain!" Shadow explained frantically. "It's like he can't even hear us!"

"Darkie's mad! Darkie's mad! But I've got the Emerald! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!" Mephiles was laughing, completely lost in his insanity.

Then his ear twitched, and perhaps a moment too late, he realized his mistake.

"Oh, cra-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

Mephiles disappeared from sight as the platform of snow collapsed and sent him screaming down the mountain, the commotion causing an avalanche on the way down.

"MEPHILES!" Shadow and Rouge bellowed in horror as their friend was caught in the middle of this unfortunate disaster.

"What are we going to do, Shadow?!"

Shadow slung Mephiles' backpack over his shoulder and hurried down the slight slope to the side, Rouge following after him.

"Follow that avalanche and find him as soon as possible! When it stops, we'll Chaos Control to the bottom and look for him! C'mon!"

Enveloped in a frozen blanket of snow, Mephiles fought hard against the current as he tried to find his way out, clutching the Emerald tightly in his hands.

'You idiot!' Dark barked. 'They told you not to go after that Emerald! They told you! Now look what you've done!'

Dark, I think the more important matter here is me not dying… Oh, dear God! Which way is up?!

'Don't fight against the current! It's going to wear you out, lose too much air and weaken you! Just let it carry you until you come to a stop and then try to burrow your way out!'

Mephiles reluctantly did what he was told and let himself get pulled by the current until he felt the avalanche stop.

Dark? Which way is up? I can't tell!

'I don't know! Just start moving before to get hypothermia!'

Mephiles would have nodded if he could move his head. He cursed lightly when he realized that he had lost his wool cap during the fall, and could now no longer feel any feeling in his ears.

Dark? I can't move… the snow's packed around me…

'I've got an idea… remember how your orbs give off so heat?'

Yes…

'Focus on making one in you hands and I'll amplify it… the heat should melt some of the ice and make it easier.'

Dark… it's too cold… I don't know if I can do it…

'For the sake of both of us, you can!' Dark snapped. 'Now focus and you can do it!'

Mephiles grunted and put all his fading thoughts into forming an orb in his freezing hand, finding it to be much harder than usual.

'That's it… you've almost got it…' Dark urged.

Mephiles was jolted to his senses at the tone Dark was using.

Dark… were you just encouraging me?

'Maybe I was, and maybe not… does it matter?'

Well, it makes it easier to do something hard when someone is cheering you on…

'If that's what makes it easier, than so be it… Just don't lose focus…'

Dark… I'm getting a headache… I can't feel my arms and legs… I can't do this…

'Yes, you can! You've had worse from me! If you die now, Iblis is going to get the Emeralds!'

Mephiles felt a part of him wake up, and he closed his eyes as he focused on creating the orb, feeling a spark in his hand as a rush of heat began to wash over his hand.

'You're doing it! Keep it up, make it a little more powerful and I'll make it bigger to melt some of this snow…'

Dark, hurry up… I don't know how much longer I can do this…

'Just a little more and I can do it… keep it up, almost got it… perfect! Hold on!'

Just then, Mephiles felt the surge of energy that was Dark's and felt the ice beginning to melt, freeing his arm as he got enough room to move. More of the ice melted, making a small chamber for him before he collapsed straight down on his back, telling him that the way out was directly above him, and he had been on his back since the avalanche stopped.

'Good, now disperse it so you don't use up the rest of your Chaos Energy, and start digging upward with your claws…'

How am I going to pull myself up?

'You're a hedgehog, more importantly a rodent. This will just like burrowing, which is bred into your instincts... Just keep moving and don't stop until you're out…'

Mephiles nodded slowly and dug his claws into the layer of ice above him. He carved out a hole that would be wide enough for him to be able to dig his feet into the sides. Then he started to burrow upward, pulling his body up as he cleared more space, holding the Emerald in his teeth.

It seemed to stretch on forever as he dug his frozen tunnel, Dark trying his best to keep him motivated.

'I have an idea…' Dark said suddenly as Mephiles faltered for a moment and slid a couple if feet down. 'How about a story of some kind?'

Dark, now is not the time… Mephiles growled.

'No, no… hear me out on this. How about one about a little hedgehog who never gave up?'

If it'll keep you talking to me, okay then… Mephiles was freezing too much to realize what Dark was trying to aim at.

'Very well then… some time ago, there came into existence this hedgehog. He was much like his siblings in appearance and was really nothing out of the ordinary…'

Uh huh…

'The little hedgehog was quite determined, however, to find out if there was something more to his existence then just sitting around all day and do nothing but eat and sleep and run in a wheel. The others thought he was quite an odd little guy, but that never once deterred him from his goal of finding out…'

Hmm…

'One day, however, he succeeded in his goal of escaping his mediocre life and was pulled into the greatest adventures one could dream of. From this, he met and befriended many people, all of whom grew fond of him. He held each of his favorites quite dear, and would stop at nothing to protect them, even if it was the cost of his own health and safety. Though, all this was at the cost of his own family, whom he never saw again until many years passed.'

Mephiles grew silent as he started to understand what Dark was telling him.

'The little hedgehog was upset about this, and at one point, blamed his most treasured friend, the one who he had tried so hard to gain acceptance from. Despite this tragedy, he was comforted to know that he had someone, or rather a couple of them, to help him cope. His two most dearest friends took care of him when he needed them, and in return, he tried his best to protect them, even if he was in over his head.'

Mephiles dug faster, trying to get out of the frozen trap.

'That little hedgehog pushed his physical boundaries until he was unable to move anymore, but still found the strength to push himself up off the ground when what he held dear was threatened. He always gave more than his hundred percent in each one of his adventures and even captured the hearts of those that once hated him. He wasn't the bravest, or the strongest one around, but he was willing to give it a try if it was needed.'

Mephiles pushed his hands against the ice once more and felt his heart lift as he pushed it up and a beam of light shone in the snow tunnel, Mephiles grasping the surface and pulling himself out slowly as he gasped for air deeply, getting to his feet and wiping the snow from his fur.

'And now… that little hedgehog just overcame one of his toughest challenges yet…'

"D-dark?" Mephiles stuttered from the frigid air, taking the Emerald from his mouth before tried to speak. He inhaled deeply before continuing. "H-how d-does that st-story end?"

'Ah, my dear Mephiles… that ending is up to you…'

Mephiles nodded with a small smile as the wind picked up and made the air even colder. The hedgehog swayed unsteadily for a moment, stumbling back as a spell of vertigo hit him suddenly. Then his eyes rolled back and he collapsed face first to the frozen ground, too tired and cold to try to get up.

He could hear Dark faintly trying to keep him from falling asleep, but Mephiles was too overwhelmed by the elements to keep his eyes open.

…

…

…

…

…

…

… Thank you, Dark…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

It wasn't long until Mephiles was found, nearly frozen to death and quite stiff from the cold. A couple of feet away from him was a hole in the snow, just about big enough to hint that he had dug his way through.

Rouge and Shadow didn't dare think how long it would have been until they found him if he hadn't had that green scarf on.

He was breathing quite shallowly when he was found, and his pale muzzle was nearly white. Rouge tried to get him to stop shaking so horribly by trying to transfer some of her body heat to him, taking off her jacket to where she had just her sweater and wrapping it around him, puling the hood over his ears to try to heat those up as well.

"What are we going to do, Shadow? He needs help fast and we don't know where the nearest hospital is."

"We have three Emeralds right now, so it should be powerful enough to get us to Station Square from here. There's a hospital there."

Mephiles shuddered visibly under his shaking and whispered something weakly under his breath, opening his eyes just slightly, a shine of green under his eyelids. Then, his stiff body relaxed a bit and he latched onto her, trying to get warmer. Then his eyes closed and he sighed, losing consciousness once again…

Ah, perhaps letting Mephy touch that Emerald was a bad idea.

But, at least he made it out to the surface, thanks to Dark ^^

Who know the little demon cared enough?

Hope you enjoyed this one ^^