"He's got a likely chance to pull through... But for now, he's in a comatose state, and we don't know how long to expect..." Dr. Thizon reported, thumbing through the small packet of paper. "We've located the source of the internal bleeding and stitched that up, as well as his tail appears to be dislocated, his brain shows signs of a concussion, but no indication of swelling, and he may need a transfusion to compensate for the amount of blood he's lost..."

"What about his eye..?" Shadow asked nervously.

"Well, the good news is that there's no sign of damage to the part the actually sees, so I'm sure he won't be blind there..." Thizon smiled slightly only to let it fade as quickly as it came. "The bad news is that we don't know if there will be a lasting mark, because it's quite deep, and we don't know to what extent his ability can correct it... So we're not sure if it's going to be a scar or not..."

"What about Dark..?" Rouge added. "... He wasn't in good shape when we found him, either..."

"... It's hard to say if he faired any better than Mephiles, because his damage seems to fall into a completely different category..." The porcupine doctor flipped the pages a few times. "... As far as physical goes, Dark is showing signs of extremely poor sleep quality, he's really underweight for his size and age, he's showing signs of continual illness that has been poorly treated, there's electrical burns on his neck from that collar you mentioned, his quills are in brittle condition again, and there's evidence of at least one near bone fracture on his wrist that's been in the last month..." Thizon flipped the page again. "As for the effects on his brain because of all this... It's too soon to be clear, but he's going to likely have some form of PTSD from what he just experienced. How severe it is, time will tell... Mental evaluations aren't really my specialty, however..."

"But you're probably the only doctor he's going to let get near him..." Rouge pointed out.

"Yes, but I really only handle physical trauma..." Thizon explained again. "... Once Mephiles is out of the ER, do you want him moved to Dark's room, or next door or what..?"

"... I don't know if it's a good idea to have them in the same room..." Shadow said slowly, shaking his head. "... It might upset Dark even more to see him like that..."

"My thoughts exactly, but I just wanted an opinion..."


Sitting on the bed, pressing the buttons of the remote tethered to it idly, switching the TV on and off, Dark was waiting for a sign of what was going to happen next.

So far, it's been nothing but good signs. He wasn't locked in the room, nor was he handcuffed to the bed, and no one was really standing by the door to make sure he hadn't left. Honestly, it seemed like if he wanted to, Dark could simply step out of the room and wander the halls in boredom, and no one would care.

... I know that I hate being watched closely like they think I'm plotting something... But the least they can do is ask me how I'm doing... He frowned, now taking to leaving the TV on and just rapidly flipping through the stations, knowing full well there was going to be a lack of interesting programming this time of night. ... Better yet... Tell me how Mephy's doing, and where he is now...

Pausing on a station for a moment, he realized there was a lot more channels than he was used to in previous stays at. Westopolis' hospital.

Geeze... That insurance musta been real good to be able to get digital cable after the rebuilding... He blinked. ... Come to think of it, the whole place just looks better than usual... I don't recall the printed wallpaper before either... Wait... He absentmindedly changed the channel again, not really paying attention to what's on screen. ... That means that hallway isn't there anymore... As well as that particular set of stairs... Wow...

Another click on the remote.

... What's taking them so long to be able to tell me anything..? He glanced at the door in annoyance. ... If anyone has a right to know what's up with Mephy, it's me...

Frustrated that he had been left in the dark about what was going on for the past three hours, he was now the point where he was using his powers to slide the heavy curtain between his bed and the empty one, back and forth.

Finally, he caught a glimpse of the bat and black hedgehog though the room window to the hallway. He slid off the bed quickly and made his way to the door to listen in on what was being said.

"-It's universally compatible either way, because the Professor wanted to be sure that there'd be no chance of rejection when the NIDS cure was cultured and transferred via a transfusion from me..." Shadow was explaining in a low tone, shaking his head.

"What's going on? What are you talking about?" Dark interrupted, gaining their attention rather quickly. "Where's Mephy? Is he alright?"

The slight cringe worried him.

"... Well... They've stopped the bleeding and his eye is expected to have no damage to his vision..." Shadow started.

"I'm sensing a 'but' to this statement..." Dark groaned weakly in dread.

"... The bad news is that he's likely going to need a transfusion to compensate for the amount he's lost..." Shadow looked away nervously, finding interest in a corner somewhere. "... We also don't know when he may wake up again..."

"... I... I don't... What?" Dark looked as though his brain couldn't process that. He blinked several times, shaking his head before looking up from the floor and said in an accusing tone: "... What do you mean you don't know? He's going to wake up, like he always does."

"... He's hurt pretty badly..." Rouge tried to explain as carefully as she could. "... He-"

"Use mine." Dark interrupted.

"What?" Both Shadow and Rouge said in unison.

"Use my blood for the transfusion..." Dark explained further, frowning a little more. "If anyone is a perfect match to him, it's me... We used to be one person, after all... Our blood should be nearly identical..."

"... About that..." Shadow offered almost nervously, actually taking a step back while holding a hand up. "... Well, for one, you're under the age limit to give... Two, your body is in no condition for that, because you're underweight, ill, and it's a risk to you..."

"I don't care... If it's going to help Mephy, then-"

"You've also already received a transfusion, so your blood is already mixed, and it degrades the effectiveness to another receiver..."

"... What?" Dark said flatly, his mouth hanging open for a moment before he regained his bearings, somewhat poorly. "... No, I haven't... I would have known..."

"The night you were attacked in the living room..." Rouge explained, allowing Shadow another chance to step back. "You lost enough blood to make it necessary to give you a transfusion to keep you alive..." Dark continued to stare in a dumbfounded state. "There's actually two people there at that time who had a compatible type to yours... And one of them was pulled into a room to be questioned over and over about what happened to you..."

"... Wait... Then that means..." Dark looked like he couldn't decide if he should be thankful or disgusted. "... Oh... Oh my... Oh, geeze! Don't tell me he's the one!" Dark shouted angrily, pointing at Shadow. "Of all the people, and it had to be you! That stuff has already run through every inch of my veins! It's touched my brain! I don't know whether to be grossed out or impressed that you didn't let me die when you had the chance!"

"... Uh, you're welcome?" Shadow said awkwardly. "... Yeah, we kinda didn't want to tell you before because you'd freak out like you just did..."

"... Whatever... When can I see Mephy..?" Dark held his head with one hand, sighing.

"... It's kinda late to be doing that..." Shadow reasoned. "... It's probably best that you wait until tomorrow..."

"But if you're going to give blood, why can't I follow you to see him..?"

"Because we're very sure that you don't want to see them do that..." Shadow said, shaking his head. "... I'm sure you don't like things piercing skin..."

"... N-no..." Dark look a little disgusted, but that look faded quickly. "... But I want to see Mephy..."

"... Now's really not a good time... You should do that tomorrow..."

"I've been away from him for two months! I'm not waiting another second!" Dark shouted, getting frustrated. "You can't stop me!"

"If it helps any, he's in the room next door, and he'll be there tomorrow..."

"I want to see him now!"

"... You're really not going to like what you'll see..." Shadow pressured, looking anxious. "... Look, the longer you take arguing about this, the longer it's going to take to get him that transfusion. It's been a long night already, and it'd probably be better if you just wait until tomorrow..."

"I need to see him for myself!" Dark continued to argue.

"... Fine, then... But once they start the transfusion..." Shadow finally caved in out of the fact that he was worried about hour much time was lost already. "... You need to go back to your room and call it a night..."

"... I'll do what I want..." Dark grunted, but nodded nonetheless.

Once he stepped into the room, he immediately looked sick at what he saw.

The blood was cleaned off the fur and skin, at the very least, but the injured hedgehog still appeared almost lifeless. The hurt eye now had clean gauze taped to the affected area, an oxygen providing tube was shoved into his nostrils to help supplement his already weak breathing pattern, several sensors were stuck to him to monitor his vitals, an IV drip was attached to an arm, and the young hedgehog's muzzle was as pale as paper.

Dark stumbled back, leaning against the doorframe as he inhaled deeply and quickly, as if starting to hyperventilate again.

"... Hey, are you alright..?" He heard someone, possibly the bat, say to him in concern.

He shook his head slowly, holding his head in one hand as a familiar twinge started up to signal an oncoming headache. He squeezed his eyes shut, and everything felt like it was spinning and tilting, all this making him feel dizzy and lightheaded, his legs trembling in the effort to keep him from crashing to the floor.

"... Here, I'll take him back to his room..." Rouge said anxiously. Shadow started to protest out of concern for her safety with a clearly addled Dark, but she replied: "You're the one giving blood, you can't keep them waiting any longer... I'll be fine, I'm sure..."

Dark flinched at a careful touch to his shoulder, pulling away with a cry of fright, obviously distressed enough as it was.

"Kid, it's okay, I'm just going to help you back to your room..." He heard her say, and he slowly opened his eyes to find himself staring at her feet, and gradually lifted his eyes to stare at her's for hardly a second before quickly shifting them back down, trying to avoid eye contact. His breathing was still quick and deep, and it was getting obvious by the second that Dark was going to collapse very soon if he wasn't calmed down. "... I want you to breathe a little slower, too... Can you do that?"

Dark didn't give any indication that he heard.

"... You're going to make yourself sick if you keep breathing like that..." She explained, giving him a slight nudge in the direction of his room, and he only stumbled that much in that direction before being still again.

... It's like he's just shut off from everything... Like he's in shock...

After the somewhat difficult task of getting him practically next door, and eventually coaxing him to crawl back onto the bed, Dark rolled over to face away from her and curled up, trembling and still breathing heavily.

Deciding that it was more important to make sure that Dark wasn't going to hurt himself from lack of proper carbon dioxide expulsion, on account of him taking in too much oxygen by the was he was breathing, Rouge reached over to touch his shoulder again, and said: "I'll stay in here until you've calmed down and fallen asleep, if you want..."

"... What about... Mephiles..?" Dark's voice just sounded so flat and dead right now.

"... He's in good hands with these guys..." She tried to reassure him. "They brought you back from the dead before, after all. They'll take good care of him..."

"... Should have never happened..." Dark mumbled, shaking his head, but not looking her way. "... I tried to tell him to not hold back... But he was afraid of hurting me..."

"I won't lie, you do look like you'd break a bone more easily than the last time we saw you..." Rouge agreed to the claim quietly before speaking a little louder. "... A little bit related here, but if you don't mind me asking... What happened the day you two went missing? We found the hats and scarves covered in blood, and signs of a struggle... When Mephiles was able to contact us to tell us he was alright and that Sonic and Tails found him, he mentioned a blue robot had attacked both of you, and the last thing he remembered was being struck in the head before he was knocked out..." As she continued, Dark lifted his head to look over over his shoulder at her. "... Your scarf had blood on it... Were you hurt at all when that happened..?"

Dark stared before shaking his head slowly and looking away again.

"... I was using it to try and stop the bleeding... He was struck trying to get between me and that robot..."

"... I see..."

"... He only got between us because I made a stupid remark earlier about how he was easy to scare, and couldn't fight very well... I was irritable from lack of sleep and shrugging, and shouldn't have said anything..." Dark grumbled miserably, pulling the pillow over his head. "... It was also my fault for us even being in that alley... He heard the thing coming before I did and said we should just go home, but thought it would be safer to hide there until it disappeared... He didn't want to go there, and kept telling me that he felt like something bad was going to happen... I thought he was just being paranoid because he was already scared, and he tends to think the worst case scenarios when he's like that..."

"... But you can move fast like Shadow, and make yourself disappear when you want to... Why did you choose to hide..?"

This did not sound accusing at all, and Dark appreciated the tone.

"... Several reasons... I cannot use my abilities as well as normal under extreme stress or fear... If I had tried to warp, I might not have been able to take Mephy along with me, and I wasn't going to leave him alone with that thing..." Dark lifted the pillow off his head for a moment. "... Mephy was also panicking, so I was more concerned with trying to keep him calm than I was trying think properly... And... Well... I always try to hide... it's a natural shadow thing to do..." He sighed heavily, shuddering as he added miserably, pulling the pillow back on his head: "... I do not think I will be able to sleep very well tonight... If at all..."

"... You look like you haven't in weeks..."

"... I've heard plenty about that..."


By two o'clock at night, Shadow and Rouge had to leave to go home, now that the transfusion was successful, and Mephiles was in a more stable condition... It was after normal hours, after all.

Dark had to stay overnight, of course... And was expected to remain at the hospital until his half starved, exhausted, brittle quilled, scrawny body was brought back to a more tolerable condition, preferably the kind of what he had been prior to the "infection" of the little Dark Gaia monster.

He was, as expected, having trouble falling asleep, and staying such. At least twice in the same ten minute time frame, he jolted to his senses, somewhat panicked before forcibly reminding himself that he was no longer being held captive by that Human, and that Mephiles was safe just a room away, and hopefully dreaming of far better things than he himself was...

Pulling his hands from his face, he looked around the darkened room, and he couldn't help but wish that he had Iblis' company there to reassure him that everything would be alright, even if he didn't truly believe so himself.

... It's just too risky for him to be showing up here, even at this time... Dark thought dejectedly, drooping his ears. ... We should have thought of a meeting strategy...

Laying down on his back, rubbing his eyes with his knuckles, and arching his back a bit to work out a slight soreness that was settling at the base of his spine, Dark yawned widely, eyes watering a little as he tried to fall asleep again.

He just couldn't.

... No way I can do this, not as long as I know Mephy is like that... He frowned, sitting up and swinging his legs over the edge of the bed, feet dangling above the floor. ... Geeze... I've gotten so used to having some sort of voice in my head that this silence is louder than anything Dire could have come up with...

Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, he slid off the bed and stepped over to the window that overlooked the outside, leaning against the sill with his arms folded against it, looking out to the world outside.

Whatever time had passed in his captivity, it was still snowy, although very slushy on the streets with the traffic having driven through the settled frozen water crystals... He could see that from the whatever story window he was looking out of.

What perplexed him the most was the amount of lights put up as if some sort of decoration around buildings, street posts, and even trees, he could see from the distance.

Frowning slightly more, as he had never seen holiday decor, much less celebrated holidays, his first assumption was that the people had done such with the light as a way to repel the dark little creatures that had preyed upon tormented souls like him.

If only he knew...

Glimpsing upward, he could see the glow of the moon just barely visible above the edge of the top of the window, so he immediately wanted to see it.

Looking around carefully, he checked to see if he was really left alone, and closed his eyes again, thinking about what he wanted to do at this exact moment.

In a flash of purple, he found himself on the roof of the building, and he looked up at the sky. It was peppered with stars, most of the expanse marred with clouds, and the moon half hidden behind one, but it didn't matter... He had seen his first glimpse of the sight in the past two months.

He realized that he was standing in a patch of snow that had settled on the roof over sometime during the weather, but he didn't care if he got cold from that... He really didn't care about anything beyond whether or not his hedgehog was going pull through...

"You'll get sick if you stay out here too long, y'know..."

Dark jumped as if startled for a moment, and lowered his head from looking up at the sky to settle his gaze on his twin, who looked just as forlorn as he did.

"... Hello, Brother..." Dark looked away again and just nodded.

"... I'm really sorry it turned out like this..." Iblis added, stepping closer, the snow around him melting from the heat his body gave off. "... I wanted to help, but I'm certain that he would have been even more scared at seeing me... Even in that other form, the fire would give it away... That kid is good about reading between things like that..."

"... Nobody blames me... It's very bizarre, really..." Dark frowned in confusion, not looking away from the sky. "... Once the story got straightened out, I'm being treated as a victim as well..."

"... Well, maybe they can get you back into better shape now..." Iblis was unsure as to what to say, really. "... I'm quite baffled as to how you can even stand when you're so frail looking..." Dark shuddered as Iblis wondered if he said something wrong. "... Oh, I didn't mean to upset you, Dark... I just-!"

Dark suddenly spun around and launched himself forward towards his twin, wrapping his arms around Iblis' torso tightly as if afraid the flame was going to disappear quite suddenly without warning.

"... Dark...? What's wrong now..?" Iblis was confused when it happened, and even more so when Dark started to shake and gasp, inhaling sharply.

Dark just shook his head, and started sobbing, which startled Iblis even more.

"Did I say something wrong? If I did, I'm sorry!" Iblis was looking around to see in any attention was attracted to them, but thankfully not from what he could see. He lifted a hand hesitantly and placed it on the younger one's head in his awkward way of trying to restore order. "... You probably shouldn't be up here this time of night, anyway... It's cold, it's wet and you could get sick real easily if you stay here..."

"... Did you see how he is right now..?" Dark squeaked in a somewhat strained voice, obviously trying to force himself to be calm, but having a hard time doing so. "... Th-this isn't like th-the other times... He really c-could have d-died if we h-had been left th-there any longer th-than we were!"

"... I suppose the important thing now is that he's getting the attention he needs, and that you just need to wait until he's healed over..." Iblis stated, feeling awkward by the second.

"... No one even knows how l-long it'll take..." Dark lifted his eyes slightly from where he had his head buried (in the white chest fur...). "I d-don't even have a c-clue... And th-then there's the complications th-that may result... As well as the p-possibility that he may f-freak out at the sight of me... And-!"

"He knew it wasn't you doing that to him." Iblis reminded him carefully, gently guiding him out of the melting ice puddle. "He knew as soon as that thing took over, that it wasn't you. He has no reason to blame you, because he knows that you would never do that to him, and that he was well aware that you were... Well, 'infected'." Iblis tried to reason, steering the shadow closer to the door that led to the stairwell inside.

Right away, Dark stiffened at the sight of the door that he knew led to where he was quite afraid of, and so he immediately dug his heels into the gravelly covering of the flooring of the roof to try to anchor himself.

Iblis, who had once again overlooked a detail like this, was concerned when Dark started to tremble again, this time from fear. Then he realized the cause and mentally kicked himself for such a blunder.

"... I can assure you there's nothing to be afraid of..." He tried to be comforting, but Dark continued to try and place distance between him and the stairwell. "... I understand it was a terrible ordeal, and one of the worst things you ever experienced... But you can't cower from something inanimate forever..."

"... Thirty-seven..."

"... Pardon..?"

"... Thirty-seven... The amount I counted before I blacked out..." Dark shuddered again. "... Th-the amount of times I counted hitting a step... B-before I c-couldn't count anymore... Thirty-seven steps my head hit at the very least..."

Iblis stopped quite suddenly, then closed his eyes, sighing.

"... I seriously cannot tell you how much I regret that..." He said dejectedly, shaking his head. "... But, you have to come down from here... What if someone realizes your room is empty and finds you up here..? What are you going to say..?"

"... Nothing... They'll just assume I was sleepwalking..." Dark answered quietly with a strange amount of truthfulness. "... It's on my records... I'm a certified somnambulist according to them..."

"... A what now..?"

"... It just means I sleepwalk sometimes..." Dark explained briefly, seemingly distracted by the subject. "... I'll end up wandering the building sometimes... Other times, I just sit up as if I were awake... Sometimes I just talk nonsense... I've been told that I even stacked cups like a pyramid once..." Dark got less tense. "... I thought you already knew about that, though..."

"... If I did, that was probably during..." Iblis faded off the sentence before changing the subject. "... How about we do it like this? I'll take you back down myself... I'll either carry you, or you can choose to walk down but you can hold on to me if you want..."

"... But what if..?"

"If you start to fall, pull me down with you... I'll be able to catch us both anyway..." Iblis reassured, pulling the door open. "Handrails exist for a reason, after all..."

Dark looked down into the stairwell tentatively, eyes running over each visible step, his brain already providing all the horrible scenarios from a mere slip... His thinned quills would do nothing to cushion the impact... A bone would crack, maybe even break...

He stumbled back, trembling again, looking almost sick, a blank look touching his eyes.

"I suppose we can start with me just carrying you..." Iblis frowned slightly, catching Dark's wrist and leading him to crawl onto his back to carry him down the steps, having to encourage a scared Dark to do so. "... But someday, you're going to have to do this on your own..."

Dark squeezed his eyes shut and tightened his grip, almost impossible to remove now. Iblis folded his ears back.

"... You know... You're at least taking the first step in overcoming this..."

"... Just g-get it over with..." Dark moaned in dread, still shaking.

"You got yourself up here, remember?"

Thanks to the otherwise silent and deserted hospital halls because of the time of night, the two were able to navigate back to Dark's room without running into someone. Dark felt that he might as well have been on a slow spiraling roller coaster, with how lightheaded he was starting to feel, despite his eyes being squeezed shut.

After what felt like longer than it should have been to him, he heard: "Well, you just survived five stories worth of stairs... How does that feel?"

Dark shot one eye open and sure enough, he was back on the correct floor. Turning his head to look behind him, and upward, he saw the spiraling climb of steps towards the roof, and calculated that he must have made it down at least two hundred and twenty-five steps without actually passing out.

"... Dizzy..." He murmured, tearing his eyes away from the sight. "Nothing to celebrate... I didn't do anything on my own..."

"True, but you did choose to try. That's more improvement than you think..."

"You're starting to sound like Mephy... Stop it." The shadow growled bitterly as he was allowed to put his feet back on the floor so he could walk the rest of the way. "... He'll probably never even know about this, considering you're not supposed to be here, according to everyone but us..."

"You're afraid of it one less degree... You'll be more willing next time to try it again, and that alone will surprise him..." Iblis responded with a strangely cheerful approval.

Dark groaned in annoyance before frowning, twitching his nose and sneezing.

"You can't be getting sick again, Dark!" Iblis was quick to respond to that, grabbing the shadow's arm carefully, and starting to lead him back to his room, Dark not really putting up much protest. "What were you thinking, standing in a half frozen puddle, anyway? Your immune system is probably not at it's best at the moment, and catching even a cold would really hurt you..."

"The longer I have to stay here, the less of a chance that I have to leave Mephy alone here..."

"That's foolish and not well thought out, you know." Iblis reprimanded him carefully, pulling him into the room and leading him to the bed. "Not to mention that if you're ill, you might have to be kept away from him while he's in that state, because if you pass a cold to him, it would do more harm than good... He could get a lung infection, or something like that..."

Dark looked apprehensive at the thought.

"... I don't want that..." He whispered, shaking his head as he was helped back onto the bed. "... I would not be able to live with myself if that happened..."

"Then the only thing I can suggest is that you just try to rest, and don't go outside like that again unless you're certain you won't get cold..." Iblis smiled lightly as Dark settled back down.

Before he could leave, Dark quickly grabbed his arm, stopping him in his tracks.

"... Don't go... Please..?" Dark was looking at him with his best puppy eyed look, which was surprisingly effective most of the time.

"Dark, I can't stay here all night... It's too risky..." Iblis tried to remind him, shaking his head. "If someone sees me-"

"Can't you just change into 'Shu', then..?"

"There's still the matter of me having gotten into a rather secure building by myself, at this time of night, with no visible signs of forced entry, and a host of other things that would be one problem after another, if I get caught like that..." Iblis frowned to himself.

"At least until I fall asleep..?" Dark pleaded desperately, biting down on his lower lip. "... Please..?"

"... Oh, alright... But I have to leave for now when you do..."


The hedgehog recognized the couch in the void right away. He was in a place he hadn't really visited in a long time... Not that there was really anything there to visit, now that Dark had long since vacated his mind...

"... Well if I'm here... Then I guess I'm not dead..." Mephiles smiled weakly in relief, taking a seat on the piece of furniture. "... Forgot how comfy this thing was..."

"I'm sure Dark will be pleased to hear that..."

Mephiles' eyes shot wide open, and he shouted in shock at the voice he instantly recognized, despite having not heard it in months. He immediately jumped from the couch and spun around, stepping backwards with his hands held up defensively as a response.

"What are you doing here!" He shouted, seeing Iblis leaning over the back of the couch almost casually. "You're dead! Oh, no... Then that means-!"

"It means that you're quick to jump to conclusions, really." Iblis frowned just a little, not really Pleased at the reaction. "Since we already know each other in some way, I don't think I need to reintroduce myself, unless you want me to..."

"Uh... What now..?"

"Let's try that again..." Iblis smiled slightly, as if amused. "Hello... I'm the person Dark has been seeing for the last two months. And by 'seeing', I mean that, by some strange reason, Dark could see me while I was on another plane of existence parallel to this one. He wasn't really hallucinating, it turns out..."

"... Wait..." Mephiles frowned at him, lowering his arms a little. "... You really were just standing there all those times he..?"

"Yep."

"Then that means that you were the one who clawed his arm." Mephiles bristled his quills, glaring under his startled appearance. "When he told me not to tell anyone... That was you!"

"I admit, that wasn't one of my better ideas..." Iblis cringed, pulling away from the couch a little. "I already apologized to him about that... My temper got the better of me because he was continually trying to disprove my existence, not even listening to what I had go say..."

"I wouldn't either, after what you did to him!"

"I don't know if this makes a bit of difference, but Dark's already started to forgive me..." Iblis looked at the floor in shame, having expected that response. "... Before you start on me, I've already established that I was in the wrong, that Dark never deserved any of it, and that I should expect you to judge me however you want..."

"And just how much of it did Dark actually believe?" Mephiles was acting uncharacteristically cold, but then again, given what he had seen the fire creature do without hesitation to Dark... Can you blame him?

"If you're implying that I made up the explanation to trick Dark... I didn't." Iblis looked up, now wringing his hands nervously. "... If it's not too much trouble... Perhaps you can take a moment to hear my side of things so you can see why I thought and did what I did... You're a kind enough hedgehog to at least consider..."

"... When I see Dark again, I'm going to ask him what you told him, and I'm going to see if you changed anything at all..."

"I don't care, as long as you hear me out..." Iblis said, waiting for the hedgehog to allow him the option.

After a long, silent pause, Mephiles finally lowered his hands all the way and nodded shortly, saying: "Fine... But if you're lying... I'll know..."

Iblis smiled gratefully, and launched into his explanation about how, at the time of his bout of insanity, he had been under the impression that the hedgehog was trying to take Dark from him, and that, at the time, it made sense to him to do such actions. As he explained further, he offered insight about his and Dark's time as simply elements prior to being forcefully split, and how he had originally gone insane because he had protected Dark from the overwhelming force outside their little safety containment that was constantly gnawing at Iblis mind, and how he had concluded that the only way to spare Dark from that experience was to allow himself the full force of the exposure... And that doing so caused what he wanted to prevent in the first place, which was Dark going mad anyway...

"I suppose the final straw was how he was quick to call you his brother..." Iblis had migrated to actually sitting on the couch, head low and hands folded in his lap. "... Imagine it like this... You have a brother... He's younger than you, but not by much. You've been with him since the first day, and you've watched him grow everyday, learning more and more, and he's always so eager to share his findings with you. As far as the both of you are aware, you two are the only things that exist in this little world of yours, and you can feel what the other does at all times. Then one day..." Iblis sighed. "... Something changes that world, and you find yourselves growing more and more distant every second, no matter how hard you try not to. Your brain starts giving conflicting messages to you, and you react opposite of what you intend, and now you've succeeded in terrifying him. You assume it's not your fault, because you didn't intend that, and so it must be the fault of whatever is outside..."

"... The Disaster..." Mephiles stated slowly, piecing together the timeline. "... I remember I heard you tell Dark it was no accident, though..."

"... Because I wanted to make it stop." Iblis said, shaking his head. "Those scientists were constantly sending pulses of energy at us to invoke some sort of reaction... Possibly something like Dark and my powers combined... But it was continually eating away at me... Dark was exposed less to it, which is why he took longer to lose his mind, but during what happened to me, he was constantly worried, and assumed it must have been something he had done instead..."

"... I guess that explains his tendency to assume the worst..." Mephiles noted to the side, as if it started to make more sense to him. He shook his head lightly. "... But you still killed all those scientists by doing that... You even murdered the princess' father... Which, since I guess because he was in charge of everything there, that would kinda make him your father as well..." Mephiles added the last part as more of an observational afterthought before continuing. "... I was there too... I saw what happened to them, and not all of them died right away..."

"I only wanted it to stop, I didn't intend to kill anyone..." Iblis was pulling at an ear nervously.

"... And then you killed my mom, my brother and my sister..." Mephiles dropped his gaze to the dark ground, closing his fingers into lightly held fists. "... I don't know how it went down in there, but... When we went to Soleanna last time, I found their little skeletons in a corner of the room all the animals had been kept in... I don't know which one was Chinus, and which one was Ceus, because they were about the same size, but Mom was curled around them, trying to protect then from you..." He looked up, narrowed eyes brimming with tears. "... I know that you were trying to escape the lab just like Dark... But I don't understand why you chose to do that to three harmless critters... And more baffling was that they were my family..."

Iblis held his gaze for a least half a minute, looking as though he had dreaded the question ever coming up. He lowered his head and sighed dejectedly.

"... Dark has asked me about that as well... And because of the state he was in, I avoided trying to answer because the last thing I wanted was to upset him further, considering his soft spot for creatures smaller than him..." Iblis started, not wanting to keep eye contact. "I told him I would explain to him further on another day, so he doesn't really know, if you intend to ask him afterwards..." Rubbing the back of his head nervously, he continued as Mephiles held the same stare he had when he asked. "It was purely unintentional. While you and Dark were being followed by Shadow... That other hedgehog, the white one, was following me with the same intent to seal me away as well. That room happened to have been one of the ones I was herded into, and before he caught me the first time, I flared up, trying to scare him away so I could make a run for it. It worked, but I hadn't realized he and I weren't the only ones in that room at all... Wrong place... Wrong time... I'm sorry about that, really..."

The slight glare Mephiles had softened just a little.

"... It doesn't change that it happened..."

"... I figured you might say that..." Iblis sighed, tilting his head back to look upward at the nothingness. "... Dark, however, is ever so adamant that you would be able to forgive me, even though I continually reminded him of what I have done to the both of you..."

"... Well, I don't really hold grudges..." Mephiles admitted awkwardly. "... So, you've been with Dark the whole time he was there? How was he treated..?"

"Not the best, but then again, not the worst I've seen..." Iblis explained. "The first few weeks, he was kept in a cell, but it agitated him enough that he started to inflict damage on himself out of desperate hope that he might be moved to another place entirely..." The flame didn't look at him. "... He had already established a conflict between himself and the thing that attacked you, and that only worsened when he tore it apart, and damaged it enough that it couldn't speak anymore. That only caused it to be more persistent in bothering him. The first day or so, he collapsed from overheating from the effort to try and break himself out, trying to get back to you, so that's why he had the collar in the first place... It keeps his body temperature at a safe degree, because he's very sensitive to heat..."

"I saw burns on his neck..."

"... It was also set to go off if it was tugged at, which he tried a few times, one of which purposely, and I did so once when he lost control of his powers... If you had seen it, you would have understood why!" Iblis added quickly when he received a glare. "He lost control at least three times there. Something like blackish, sticky but at the same time slimy oil started filling the room... And it all seemed to radiate from him. The first time, it stuck to me, and if I hadn't pulled the collar, Dark would have probably suffocated me under all that before he knew it."

"..."

"The second time, it slipped right off me, and made a barrier around Dark and I, which really startled him when he regained awareness... I guess Dark's afraid of the... dark... That sounds odd when you say that out loud..."

"I kinda figured he was after a few incidents... Anything that's small, dark and closed off seems to upset him." Mephiles nodded, moving closer, as if contemplating as to whether or not he was thinking of taking a place on the couch as well, but was still nervous about who else was there. "One of the things that do, anyway. How'd you get him to calm down, then..? He'd be hysterical if he realized he was somewhere where he couldn't see at all..."

Iblis tapped beside an eye with a finger.

"Apparently, they glow when the light dims... It does nothing for my vision, but gives enough light that Dark's eyes can work the way they do."

"... His eyes are kinda like a cat's, I think." Mephiles nodded, looking away at nothing in particular. "His eyes are reflective in the back, and he just needs a little bit of light to use his night vision... I'm completely blind in the dark, myself, so I don't know much about how it works beyond that it's just like a cat." The hedgehog looked back. "I guess if you're a flame, then the glowing is a characteristic of yours... And since Dark is your twin, then maybe it's a natural complementary to his ability. Something like, well... Maybe to make up for what the other can't do on their own..?"

"You know only as much as I do. I just found out I have Space powers recently, and Dark has Time... So I'm new to this..."

"Well... Think of it like this..." Mephiles tried to explain further the best he could, summoning a small purple, misty orb in a hand. "I can make these, mainly because Dark gave me the power from being with him as one person so long. But I can only make them this big by myself... If Dark helps me, I can make them much bigger. It's one of our powers between us, and it only works best when we combine our skills..." He flicked his wrist and dissipated the orb. "... So, how did Dark react to you actually being there after all..?"

"I think once the shock wore off, he was more than thrilled to see me actually more sane than I had been before..." Iblis shrugged nervously. "Are you aware that he can be very drastic when he's not thinking clearly?"

"Yes." Mephiles said flatly without hesitation. "It scares me sometimes."

"And he seems to have a deep rooted fear that should something happen to you, no one will even bother with him..." The flame added, shaking his head. "And when he find out you were still alive after being attacked, he was afraid that you decided to give up on him, and make new friends to replace him..."

"How did-? When-? Why would he think something like that?" Mephiles stammered for a moment before getting the right words, startled at the thought. "It might have taken me a lot longer than I wanted to to find him, but the whole time, I was worried and thinking about him, and how scared he had to be and how he must have thought I was left in the snow, and how he probably assumed it was all his fault... I might have been making new friends, but most of the time, I was fretting about him too much to really enjoy myself for very long. And do you know how hard it is to find a square cantaloupe?"

"A what now?"

"It's Dark's favorite food in a shape he wanted me to find that I still have yet to get one to him..." The hedgehog explained briefly. "Well, there was one time, but it spoiled before he got to try it... Anyway, why would Dark think I'd do that to him?"

"That Dire thing kept trying to drill that into his brain..."

Mephiles looked apprehensive.

"Oh, geeze... That thing was in his head, and probably kept filling his mind up with useless scenarios, and maybe did who knows what else..." He shook his head, holding his hands to it.

"Apparently it liked to talk a lot, because more than once, Dark would try to slam his own head into the wall or floor if I wasn't able to keep him distracted from it long enough..." Iblis frowned, looking at the floor again. "... And if Dark was already weak and sick from something stress related... He was making himself sick again by trying to not fall asleep, or by refusing to eat even... At least that Human had the mind to keep him from keeling over..."

"He looked so sick and thin when I saw him, though... He looked worse than before we got separated..."

"He's actually better than he was a couple weeks ago, though. At that time, he could hardly walk on his own without collapsing, and he had a few scary episodes, where his blood pressure dropped very low, and he had trouble breathing properly..." Iblis explained, shaking his head again. "Had to have something over his mouth and nose because not enough air was getting to his lungs when that happened..."

"Oh geeze..." Mephiles shook his head slowly, tearing up a little. "... If he hadn't been separated from me, it might not have gotten that bad..."

"... You know what? You haven't asked me at all about yourself and why we're here, have you?" Iblis was keen to change the subject now... It was getting depressing.

"... I'm honestly more worried about Dark." Mephiles said truthfully, wringing his hands.

"Just ask me so we can move on... It's getting to be a real downer, and all I'm managing to say is various ways of how sick Dark was without you..." Iblis clenched his teeth. "I think we've establish that it's a terrible ordeal, Dark is probably scarred for life more, and that creature deserves more than it got."

"... But-"

"You're in a coma!" Iblis shouted over him, desperate to move to the next subject.

"... I am..?" Mephiles perked his ears forward as if he though he had misheard that detail. "... How long..?"

"At least the last six hours so far... And no one knows when you're getting out of it." Iblis explained, getting off the couch and stepping aside so Mephiles could sit down at a safe feeling distance. "You lost enough blood to warrant a transfusion, and Dark is just mess over that."

"... Wait... I'm at the hospital then?"

"Yes, seems like Shadow and that girl got there in time thanks to that fox boy." Iblis was smiling slightly.

Mephiles widened his eyes.

"That means that Shadow probably saw Dark with my blood all over him!" He squeaked in horror. "Oh no, that's-!"

"Actually, things went a lot better than you would have expected." Iblis knew what the hedgehog had been thinking. "Shadow realized that Dark was as much a victim as you, and reassured him that nothing was going to happen to him regardless. Probably saw him more as a scared child at the moment than anything else."

"... You're not joking, are you?" Mephiles said in disbelief, shaking his head yet again. "... Because Shadow kinda follows the 'better to assume and apologize later, than to let down your guard and pay for it' approach... Sometimes, he doesn't even apologize."

"It's probably the best they've gotten along so far." Iblis smiled nervously. "The main reason for that is that they both care about you, and they both don't want to lose you. Common ground, isn't it?"

"... Well, Shadow isn't really heartless or anything..." Mephiles agreed. "He just doesn't like what Dark used to do. I think he's got some sort of dread that Dark might lapse back into that or something, and I'll be too close. Change happens slowly in his eyes, I guess..."

"I think you'll be pleased to hear some of the new things that's happened in the last half a day." The flame added a little more cheerfully, sitting on the floor. "Shadow was being more considerate to Dark, Dark didn't pitch a fit over being examined for damage like he normally would... And just between us, Dark managed to get carried down the stairs without trying to fight his way back up. I'd really like to see him get passed that fear..."

"Wait... YOU carried him down them? How did you manage that without freaking him out, considering-?"

"First off, it was late and not many people were around, and he managed to get himself up on the roof to look at the sky while standing in a half melted ice patch..." Iblis said, laughing a little at the explained situation. "I figured he wasn't going to come down the same way he got there, which was warping, because he wanted to stay there probably a good long while to be left alone and to get a chance to be outside. But it's cold, and there's snow up there, so he would have gotten sick being out too long. So, second, we managed to agree that I'd carry him down the steps if he was willing to try."

"But how did you convince him?" The hedgehog pressured. "It's almost impossible to get him near a set without him panicking and all that."

"This has kinda been a work in progress for the last two months." Iblis admitted. "The first time I tried, he fainted before I could even get him on the first step. When he realized I was actually real much later, he tried to get up them without thinking clearly, and when he realized what was going on, he lost his footing and almost fell again, if I hadn't caught him. He was halfway up, in fact. But only because he panicked and tried to get away from me..."

"Have you told him anything about why you..?" Mephiles ended the sentence in a fade, nervous about bringing the subject up.

"Threw him..?" Iblis cringed at the mention. "... I've apologized repeatedly, and there was never a good reason for that... I was furious at him for telling that I was hiding in your mind at the time, when I had told him not to, and I reacted violently... I should have never done that, but I clearly was insane at the time and I deeply regret that just as much as I did for tearing his side open, and poisoning you to get to him... And stealing his cat... And... Chaos, I'm horrible..." Iblis slapped a hand to his head and dragged it down dejectedly. "... To be honest... He's thrilled to have me back in a manner of speaking, but he gets scared of me rather quick when I either get annoyed, or angry at something other than him. Then there was a few times where I had to try and snap him out of some sort of fit... He ended up biting down on my arm hard enough to nearly scrape bone, so I had to smack him once to snap him out of it... He promptly called me a liar for hurting him again when I had promised not to anymore..."

"How did he end up biting you?"

"That creature scared him badly after leaving him alone for a few days, and Dark was desperately trying to get away, even though it was what he heard in his mind..." Iblis explained, frowning slightly. "He was already ill, so he was having trouble moving safely to begin with, so I had wrapped my arms around him to keep him from tripping and hitting something like the side table. He must have forgotten I was there, and bit me to get free..."

There was a pause of silence.

"... He seems to think that you'll let me move in with you... But I've already explained to him countlessly that it's not that easy..." He continued, shaking his head. "One, I'm expected to everyone else to be dead... Two, while he might be willing, there's still the approval needed of the remaining inhabitants of your home... Three... If anyone has the right to say no to it, it's you, because of what I've done and caused to you..." Iblis looked down. "... Four... It's too complicated, and trying may result in us never seeing each other again. I tried to explain it best I could, but he's too happy to have me back... And now that you're here, I have to wonder... What happens to me when you take over as his brother again..?"

"..."

"... If it helps any, I can change my shape to something completely different, so no one other than the ones that know, know that it's really me..." Iblis added in a softer tone. "... Dark already lost me once... I really don't want him to have that happen again in any way, shape or form..."

"..." Mephiles rotated his ears forward a little more. "... Did you really look after him during this whole thing..?"

"Yes, of course..." Iblis nodded, looking up. "If I hadn't, he would have ended up harming himself from his own negligence. He was convinced for at least a month that you were dead and that it was his fault... He was close to starving himself over that."

"... I told him not to starve himself..." The hedgehog frowned sadly.

"And he would have pushed himself too hard if I didn't keep pestering him to take breaks and lay down when he insisted on walking around the room without pausing, when he already had trouble walking from being ill."

"... Yeah, sounds like something he'd do. He probably kept trying to push away and do it himself?"

"So he does that often, then?"

"He gets embarrassed when he's having a weak moment. Sometimes, he'll hide-"

"Under a blanket and curl up so you don't see him?"

"I guess you've found out, then..."

"Yeah..."

"... Thanks for looking after him for me..." Mephiles smiled sheepishly, a little nervous still. "... I feel better knowing that he wasn't all alone this whole time, and at least had someone to talk to..."

"How do you keep from going crazy from all the stuff he pulls?"

"I just go with it. Sooner or later, he'll calm down and tell me what's really wrong, even if he's not clear about it..." Mephiles shrugged. "It also helps that I can 'hear' his feelings, so if he's holding back, or whatever... I'll know anyway."

"... You really are an odd hedgehog..."


Dark, laying on his side, felt something brush against his nose lightly, causing it to twitch, which made him ease his eyes open to the lightened room, the time clearly in the late morning.

Something dark colored was in front of his face, and it looked blurred from his eyes not adjusted to the task of seeing clearly yet.

The shape moved and Dark heard a "Mmrow!" sound that sounded unmistakably like a cat.

"TAPE?" Dark shoved himself up and blinked repeatedly, rubbing at his eyes to clear his vision so he could see what he hoped this sight would be.

Black with white tipped markings on his paws and face, bright yellow eyes, and medium length hair... It was his cat. Sitting on his bed. Having touched his little nose to Dark's.

The young cat immediately flopped down on his side and rolled in place, stretching his paws out to reach at Dark's hand that was bracing the shadow up, as if encouraging him to pet him. Dark could hear the purring so clearly, as if Tape was breathing in and forcing out the sound as much as possible to be are that his pleasure at being with Dark again could be heard.

"... I haven't seen you in months..." Dark smiled, first happy thing to happen to him in too long of time, as he reached over to gently rub under the cat's chin. "... Somebody's been taking good care of you, I see... And here I am, an absolute mess..."

Scooping the cat up in his arms, finding the vibration of the purring to be calming, he sat up more properly and looked around the room. A pet carrier, with the wire door open, was sitting on the floor by the door, a bowl of food and water for the feline left near it and a note stuffed under the handle.

Dark slid off the bed carefully, keeping his hold on Tape, and stepped over to the carrier to see the note, which he tugged free.

Figured he was one of the first things you wanted to see. -Rouge

Dark smiled feebly. Yes, true... He had wanted to see his cat after so long...

"... Sorry it took me so long to come back..." Dark said, knowing the cat probably didn't understand him beyond the tone he was using. "... I'm just glad it's almost over..."

Dark looked around for a moment and frowned slightly.

"... I wonder if I can actually visit Mephy now..? I know he's out of it, but I can still try, right?"

"Mew..."

"Oh, you're so silly... You'll agree with anything I say..."

"Mmrm..."

Dark snorted lightly and decided to step out of the room and hopefully into the room next door, where Mephiles was. He stopped before he could look at the hedgehog, freezing in place as if dreading something.

"... What if he looks as bad as he did last night..?" Dark bit his lip, shaking his head. "... Like, just as pale and weak and helpless..."

The cat just reached a paw up and batted at a fur tuft on the shadow's cheek.

Dark decided to go ahead anyway, and leaned forward to peak around the corner, because the wall window's blinds were drawn shut, so he had to look through the door.

The hedgehog was still pale, but not nearly as much as the night previous... Almost as if he had simply caught the flu and was just resting... Even though Dark knew otherwise.

The same bandaged areas, the same wires and tubes and all that, but at the very least, it seemed that the transfusion had worked and was taking to his system to strengthen his body back to normal.

Well, not completely back to normal... If that red spotted gauze taped over his left eye was to testify...

But still... Dark found some comfort in seeing that Mephiles looked even the slightest bit better than the night prior.

Tape jumped from his arms and padded his way to a chair beside the bed, sitting down on the floor and looking up expectingly. Dark had to smile at that... That cat almost seemed too smart to be just a cat sometimes.

"... I don't see any harm in staying for a little while..." Dark nodded lightly, stepping to the chair and taking a seat beside the bedridden hedgehog. "... You never told me I had a transfusion too, Mephy... I guess because it was from Shadow, you figured I would have freaked out... I probably would have then, but at least I'm not dead..." Dark started talking as Tape hopped up into his lap, earning a soft petting on his head.

Dark looked around the room, for a moment and added: "... I'm sorry for letting myself get so sickly... I thought I lost you, and just got depressed over it, so I didn't care about much after that... Then you turned out to be okay, so I had a lot to really work at and fix... You're not upset about that, are you..? I didn't mean to get like this... It just kinda happened... Kinda quickly..."

He didn't expect a response.

"... I... Uh... I wish you could actually hear me..." Dark's eyes stung a little as he carefully touched a hand to the hedgehog's still one. "... Because I really need to hear you tell me it's going to be okay... I need to know if you're mad at me for not being able to stop Dire from hurting you..."

Dark sniffled loudly, trying to keep his nose from dribbling.

"... I know we're safe now, but I still feel scared..." Dark mumbled through a stuffed sounding nose, clenching his teeth. "... I'm scared that they'll decide that I tried to kill you and they'll take me away... I'm scared that you'll get worse and won't wake up... I'm scared that you'll hate me for letting you get hurt... I'm scared that you'll be scared of me when you do wake up..." Dark was trembling, shaking his head. "... I'm even scared for reasons I don't understand... I mean... Are you dreaming right now..? Are they nice..? Do you feel any of the pain you were in now..? Are you just in some dream state that you're not even aware that all happened and we're together safe and happily...? Because... My dreams are bad right now... They've been bad during this whole thing..."

Dark blinked and something wet fell down his face.

"... They don't even deserve to be called dreams... They're nightmares... Worse case scenarios... Bad outcomes... Is that how your visions are..? Like nightmares..?" Dark felt Tape rub his head against him, but didn't care. "... You hardly remember them, though... I wish I could do the same..."

Dark shook his head slowly, looking up at the ceiling.

"... You know I tried, right..? I tried to break free and stop him, but he had me locked down very good..." Dark sniffled again. "I didn't really see or hear it... But it's trapped in my mind like a bad memory, so I might as well have... If I wasn't so negative, maybe this would have never happened from the start..."

Dark lowered his head, running a hand along the side before pinching the bridge of his nose.

"... I love you, Mephy... I really do..."