"Yeah. Okay. Yep. Thanks for the support, Silver. I'll call you tomorrow. Bye." Rouge ended the call and hung the phone back up on the wall. "That was Silver. He saw the news today and wanted to make sure we knew."

The sun was long-gone now. After lunch, the three had decided to stay inside and try to relax. Shadow only moved from the couch once, to take another shower.

"Whatever."

She turned to him and saw that he was looking around nervously again. "Seriously Shadow," she walked over and sat down next to him, "he's not coming back. The lack of sleep must be getting to you."

"But I can't sleep. It's just not going to happen!"

"Okay, remember when I said I wasn't going to force you to sleep yet?"

He narrowed his eyes, but nodded.

"Well, we're at that point where I'm going to have to force you."

"What makes you so confident that you can subordinate me?"

"I know a few tricks."

His expression suddenly became soft and vulnerable. He swallowed his spit. "...W-what?"

She was confused at first, but then remembered learning that Mephiles had told Shadow those exact words. "I'm sorry… I don't mean to keep doing things like that…"

A bolt of lightning suddenly lit up the dark sky outside. "Looks like we've got a stormy night ahead of us." Shadow commented, changing the subject. A clap of thunder soon followed.

It didn't take long before the rain was coming down by the bucketfuls. The TV lost signal and the lights would occasionally turn off and on.

After yet another series of flickering power, Shadow finally mumbled, "Why the hell don't they just stay off? This is giving me a headache and it doesn't even make any sense."

"I don't know, Baby. It's just one of those weird things." Rouge stroked his cheek. They were still on the couch.

"What did I say about the nicknames?"

"You can't stop me from using them. It's just something I like to do."

He sighed. "Whatever. I'm starting not to care anyway."

She leaned in close to him. Their faces were almost touching. She inched just a little closer, so that their lips would touch. But he stopped her.

"Rouge, I'm sorry." He pulled away. "It's not personal, I swear. I just… this stuff is making me really uncomfortable lately. You can understand why."

"You're right. I'm sorry I pushed it on you." She scooted away and looked at the floor. Personal or not, it stings to get rejected.

Suddenly, the lights began to flicker again. "Dammit! Why does this keep happening?!" Shadow rubbed his temples. A few seconds later, the lights went out completely. "Finally! They just stayed the f-"

Then the door locked. The two stood up with alarm. "Amy…?" Rouge called out.

Shadow began to shake noticeably. "Oh my God. he's here."

"No Shadow, don't worry, he's not-" She turned in his direction to see that he hadn't been looking at the door. He was staring at the corner of the room, where Mephiles the Dark was standing.

"Holy shit…" She muttered before glaring fiercely at the demon. "What do you want? Get out of here!"

She ran toward him, but all he had to do was lift a single hand, and he had her flying across the room. She hit the far wall and slid down to the floor.

"You asked me a question and didn't even give me a chance to speak. You, my dear, need to learn some manners." His blood-red scleras lit up the dark room. His jagged, crystalline body casted terrifying shadows as a bolt of lightning struck the sky.

Rouge glanced over to the phone.

"You can try, but I already cut the lines."

"Bullshit! I just got off the phone with Silver a half-hour ago!"

He laughed.

"What?!" She screamed. Somehow, Amy didn't seem to hear. Mephiles must have added some sort of temporary soundproof quality to the room.

"Well to be completely honest with you, Rouge, that wasn't Silver." He said the last three words in a high-pitched, slightly nasally voice that sounded identical to the ivory hedgehog's.

Shadow's ears were already flat against his head, and a low growl started up in his throat.

"What do you want from us?" Rouge asked again. "You got what you wanted from him!" She motioned to Shadow. Her voice was beginning to sound pitchy and frightened.

That smirk never fell from the deity's face. "Yeah, but here's the thing." He walked over to Shadow and lifted his chin up slightly. The ebony hedgehog was frozen in place by fear. "My original intentions really were just to break your spirit. Why? Because I wanted to. But then..." He looked Shadow up and down lustfully. "Then I really enjoyed myself doing so. And what can I say? The greed got to me. I wanted- no, needed more. And here I am today."

Shadow threw a punch at him and the demon stumbled backward, holding his face. "C'mon Rouge!" Shadow grabbed her by the arm and pulled her up from the floor. They looked around frantically for a way to escape.

"The window!" She called out. They scrambled for the exit and Shadow quickly unlatched it.

"Oh, you're going to get it now, foolish mortals!" Mephiles raged, regaining his balance and beginning to approach them.

The two stumbled out of the apartment and onto the roof of the building. "I can survive the jump down!" Shadow yelled over the rain and thunder, "You fly and get help! Amy's probably still in there!"

Rouge nodded in agreement and leapt off the structure into open air. She caught the air under her wings and turned herself around despite the wind, to make sure Shadow was following. He took a few steps back, then began to sprint toward the edge. Unfortunately, Mephiles quickly appeared in the window frame and climbed outside.

"Hurry!" She yelled. But it was too late.

Shadow didn't even get a single foot over the edge of the roof before Mephiles grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him back. The demon laughed maniacally as Shadow kicked and screamed. "Rouge!" He yelled.

"I'm coming, Shadow!" She prepared to land on the roof again.

"No! Just... Get help! Please!"

"But... He'll..."

Shadow nodded. "I know... but it's inevitable at this point. Better you not be there!"

The demon cocked his head the side, coming to a halt instead of entering the building. "You've got a decision to make. It's your choice." Mephiles let go of Shadow's shoulders and grabbed him by the waist. "You can go and attempt to get some help from those useless humans, or..." Shadow whimpered as Mephiles stroked his face. "You could try your luck and go against me. Either option is going to end badly for you, though."

"Please..." Shadow's face was cloaked by rainwater, but Rouge could tell he was crying. "Just go."

She choked back her own tears, and turned away. The police station wasn't far, but Mephiles was right. It didn't make a difference whether she got them or not. He was too powerful. At that same time, though, she couldn't just sit around and do nothing while her best friend suffered that torture! She wanted to respect Shadow's wishes, she really did. But despite it all, her sheer hatred for the evil creature that currently held him was just too strong.

She whipped herself around and flew toward him at full speed. "I'm gonna kill you!" She screamed. Mephiles sidestepped and held out one arm to grab her.

"Have you forgotten that I have your beloved Shadow in my arms?" He questioned as she struggled to get free of his single-handed grip. "And now I have you too. Tsk tsk tsk. So very stupid."

"In my defense," she growled, "I knew Shadow could handle the impact. I just wanted to give you a piece of my mind."

"You shouldn't have done that." Surprisingly, it was said black hedgehog who had spoken. "You could've escaped."

"I couldn't bring myself to leave you alone with him." She argued.

"Alright, enough with the soap opera." Mephiles interrupted, "Let's get back inside, shall we?"