A/N: Points to anyone who can guess which song the chapter title's from! Speaking of songs, what I'd give to be an animator; I would so want to make a trailer set to "Devour," by Shinedown. Or Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze" for Fiolet. :P Ah, well, can't win 'em all.

Also, props to LilyRosetheDreamer, who can spot a biblical reference at fifty paces! I'm guessing this chapter'll be no more than you expected, Lily. :)

Guest: Well, thank you again! And my compliments on your masterful use of the ellipsis. ;)

Shadow didn't even have to think; already his hand was tingling with the afterglow of a Chaos Spear, and the serpent was nothing more than a burnt streak upon the boulder. Slowly a rivulet of purple mist dribbled from the rock and dripped to the ground, swirling, then drew into a solid form. A little purple mongoose stood in the grass, blinking up at Shadow.

"Wait—"

And already it had gone up in another burst of Chaos Energy.

"Get away from me, Fiolet!" warned Shadow, as the mist began to swirl again. "I'm immune to your bite anyway."

At least he sure hoped so. He hadn't gotten a new flask of antidote since giving his to Rouge.

Meanwhile the mist swelled higher, and suddenly a purple kangaroo stood before him.

"I said, get lost!" barked Shadow, driving a Chaos Spear at this apparition too. "I can keep this up all night, you know!"

A purple fox appeared, and instantly died, only to be replaced by a purple penguin. Next came a purple monkey, a purple tarantula, a purple groundhog, some strange purple beast that Shadow didn't even know the name of. Several more purple creatures appeared and instantly bit the dust before Shadow realized something didn't ring right in this pattern.

"What's your problem?" he asked tersely, pausing another Chaos Spear long enough to glare suspiciously at the purple pine marten before him. "Do you have a death wish or something?"

"I only wish to speak to you," rasped Fiolet, sounding exhausted. Continually dying and reforming was evidently taking a massive toll on him. "I will stay here until I have spoken."

"Then you can talk in your mist form," growled Shadow. "Last thing I need is you talking around a mouthful of me."

"I cannot speak while in my mist form," panted Fiolet. "Nor can I return at will to mist form once I am solid. My powers do not extend that far."

"You mean once you're solid, you stay solid until you die?" said Shadow, surprised.

"Correct. Now hear me out!"

Shadow growled and flung another Chaos Spear at the pine marten. Killing Fiolet had such short-term effects that it was becoming a disturbingly trivial act.

"Seriously," he scowled at the eddy of purple mist. "You expect me to believe that you want to talk to me?"

The mist roiled outwards and gelled swiftly into a large, sleek form. An enormous purple panther stood before Shadow, at a respectful distance. It was as tall on all fours as Shadow was standing up, with fluidly shifting muscles coiled beneath darkly shimmering fur. Only its eyes glimmered faintly yellow in its dark purple face.

"Consider," Fiolet murmured, his mouth not moving but his voice clear. "Remember that night when I attacked you as a griffin? You were lying unconscious in the hallway when I returned to my mist form. I could have taken any form I wished and bitten you right then and there. Yet I did not."

Shadow paused, perplexed. That was true . . . why had Fiolet gone off to bait Omega instead of pouncing upon the nearest prey?

"Consider also," continued Fiolet, settling back on his haunches slightly. "You are the most powerful being in this region. Biting you could create catastrophic effects. And yet, I have not yet chosen you as my target."

Shadow chuckled bitterly.

"Oh, that part didn't surprise me. You only take good traits. I assumed you hadn't found any in me to take."

"Come now, no need to be self-effacing," said Fiolet, chuckling in return. "There are many traits in you that my venom could wreak havoc with. I must admit biting you is . . . tempting." The giant cat's rough purple-pink tongue suddenly flickered over its lips, while its eyes studied Shadow longingly. More than a little unsettling.

"So then," Shadow said bluntly. "Get to the point. Why didn't you bite me?"

"Because I did not want to sour relations with you. I . . . wish to ask for your assistance."

Shadow gave him a cold look.

"You expect me to help you? What do you take me for?"

"A realist," said Fiolet reasonably, tilting his head. "Practical, sensible. I am sure that we can come to an agreement that serves us both well."

"After all you've done to us?" hissed Shadow, ears laying back. "After all the chaos you've caused?"

Fiolet nodded calmly. Shadow stared at him in a mixture of disbelief and mistrust, not sure what to make of him. With a soft breath of amusement, Fiolet got to his feet and began to lope slowly around the boulder where Shadow sat, circling him like a sinister spirit. Shadow sat tensely, ready to leap aside if Fiolet made any sudden moves, but took care to project an air of calm and mild superiority. At length he glanced at Fiolet and raised an eyebrow.

"So you're saying you have something I'd be interested in. It would have to be one hell of an offer."

"It is," smirked Fio, pausing in his predatory orbit. "Several offers, really. Supposing . . . supposing I promised your friends' safety if you helped me?"

Shadow laughed. The panther's eyebrows twitched upwards.

"Skeptical?" he murmured. "Well, rightfully so. More realistically, supposing it was the safety of only one of your friends? One who is particularly dear?"

"I still wouldn't believe you," said Shadow coldly. "I know better than to trust the word of evil spirits. One false move, your end of the bargain would 'accidentally' be broken, and there would be nothing I could do about it."

"Such a cynic! Such a suspicious mind!" chortled Fiolet, sounding vastly pleased. "You are no fool. You are well-versed in the ways of deceit and treachery, aren't you?"

Shadow felt an answer was not strictly necessary here. He regarded the lurking panther impatiently, wishing there was an easy way out of this conversation. He could just say "no way, get lost," of course, but he . . . didn't want to close off all his options just yet.

"Very well then," resumed Fiolet. "My offer of safety for one friend still stands. Whether you believe me or not, I will leave a person of your choosing alone if you help me. But if that still does not win you over . . . perhaps you would change your mind if I said I could grant your dearest, deepest desire?"

Shadow stiffened. Something in his expression locked away.

"That's a tall order," he said guardedly, "considering you don't even know what I would wish for."

"I do know," said Fiolet. He sat down, curling his long cat's tail around his paws. "After all, even though I die repeatedly, I suffer from a type of immortality myself."

Even Shadow couldn't fully suppress the flash of recognition on his face. Fio knew he had guessed right.

"It's a lonely existence, isn't it?" he said quietly. "I know what loneliness is. I was trapped in a slab of rock more than a mile thick for thousands of years, unable to move, unable to take solid form, still able to think. It is a hellish existence—and you live knowing that the same will someday happen to you."

Shadow snorted softly, folding his arms and contemplating his shoe. Fio shook his head.

"But you are not a machine or a spirit, Shadow; you are a living being. You are biologically predestined to love, you crave it just like any other creature. But you do not allow yourself. You push all hints of love away, because you know it will only hurt for eternity when you lose it."

"You speculate," said Shadow coldly.

"No. I know." Fiolet got up and began to pace slowly around Shadow again. "I've seen the thoughts playing out on your face. I know you feel something around Rouge, something you deny even to yourself. You know that she's only waiting for you to admit it. But you never will admit it, because you don't want to have your heart broken as she grows old and dies before you."

Shadow's eyes were growing hard and cold, and his ears were slowly laying back against his head.

"If I were you," he said quietly, "I would stop now."

"It drives you to outright desperate pettiness," scoffed Fio. "You tell yourself you should hook her up with Knuckles, so you will no longer be tempted. And yet, every threat to their relationship fills you with quivering hope. When I bit Amy and she became attached to Knuckles, you privately rejoiced that the echidna was now 'taken.' When I bit him, you wished his madness would drive Rouge away, and cursed when it instead drew them closer. When I bit her, you hoped that he would be disgusted and frightened by her transformation. Even the antidote—yes, I know you gave her an incomplete dose—you wanted to give her more power. And why? So she would be more like you, perhaps closer to immortal—"

"Shut up!" Fiolet bounded aside as a Chaos Spear sliced into the earth at his feet. Landing nimbly, he pattered rapidly into a trot, now making much broader circles, out of Shadow's firing range.

"Is it frightening to have your soul laid bare?" he sang mockingly. "Deny what you will, I know what I see. And the same for everyone else—you push them away and snarl at their friendly advances, because you don't want to be left missing them forever."

"Shut up!" Shadow lunged, Chaos energy blazing from his hand. Fiolet was now forced to make a great leap to get out of the way, and the actual panther made its first sound—a high feline yowl of pain—as the bolt grazed one hind foot.

"Blast you!" hissed Fiolet, landing and stumbling, lurching along on three legs. The fourth folded reflexively beneath his body, the burnt paw jerking away from the ground whenever he attempted to step on it. Snarling, he fixed Shadow with a cold gaze. Shadow glared back, breathing heavily, his eyes full of warning, his hand still glowing. Fiolet drew a deep breath, then chuckled bitterly.

"And Maria?" he jibed. "Poor little Maria. You can't help but love her, you can't stop once you've started. Already you watch her grow older every year, dread the day she will match your age, dread the day she will pass your age, gradually waste away before you. Are you prepared to lose her again, but this time more slowly?"

Shadow stood in silence, trembling all over with rage. His eyes burned bright red through the darkness, his fingers twitched in and out of a fist, itching for death. He struggled for a moment, grinding his teeth; then all at once he hurled the Chaos Spear out to the side and slumped back onto the boulder, hanging his head.

"You're not worth it," he gritted, digging his fingers into his quills. "You're not worth my anger. Get out of here before I skip the Chaos energy and kill you with my bare hands."

Fiolet waited silent, motionless, watching as Shadow pawed at his forehead and struggled to get a hold of himself. He couldn't seem to stop trembling. Eventually the panther slipped closer.

"Your fondest wish, Shadow," he whispered. "I can give it to you."

The only answer was the scrape of gritting teeth.

"No, not a trick." The velvety voice was soothing, gentle. "I wouldn't give it immediately, I wouldn't give it when you didn't want it. I would simply give you a normal life. Aging, normally, living a full life alongside those you love—dying peacefully alongside them when the right time comes. I can grant you this, if you help me."

Shadow kept his gaze fixed on the ground, breathing slowly. He didn't trust himself to look into Fio's eyes. The silence stretched longer.

"There is no pressure," said Fio softly. "I will give you time to think about it. But I cannot stay here now, the dawn is coming swiftly. At my current size, I would have a difficult time hiding in daylight."

Shadow listened to the uneven rhythm of three legs limping away. Before the patter of paws had retreated very far, it stopped.

"Do you know the cave south of here, where the forest meets the mountains?" asked Fio, as an afterthought. "I will be there at an hour past midnight tonight. If you decide to reject my offer, do not come; everything will continue as before, and you shall be my enemy. But if you wish to talk . . . I will be waiting."

The staggered beat of pawsteps resumed, faded away into the nearby woods. Shadow propped his forehead up in his hands and closed his eyes.

He was somewhat drowsy after a sleepless night, but his brain refused to shut down. After lying in his room staring at the ceiling for almost an hour, he flung himself out of bed and began to pace restlessly around headquarters.

It was not a pleasant day. Rouge had more or less recovered a balanced state of mind, though she still looked a bit wan and dizzy. She reported for on-call duty at HQ, settled onto a rec room sofa, and began to fill in paperwork for the afore-mentioned transfer request. Shadow passed by the doorway and looked in, but refrained from making his presence known.

He liked to think he was not easily influenced—screw Black Doom, he'd just been confused at the time—but now he was apparently confused again. His mental processes were out of whack.

Normally, he might have considered going in to speak to Rouge, but the thought would have passed quickly. Now, he couldn't belive how much he wanted to, for the sole reason that Fio had said he couldn't. It was like the old game, "don't think about pink crocodiles!"—the surest way to start wanting something was to have it denied you.

At last he found himself wandering back to his room again. The newly-repaired window across the hall only soured his mood; as he sank down on his cot, his glance fell upon the picture frame on the nightstand.

The photograph had been taken almost a year ago, when Shadow had managed to spirit Maria away to a sci-fi convention. She was bright-eyed, slightly disheveled with the day's excitements, jubilantly holding up a plastic spaceship model she had won in a quiz game; he stood next to her, watching her elation and smiling inadvertently. Behind them, the room was darkened, dotted with pale blue movie screens and the shadowy forms of people.

It was a rare day when this picture didn't lift his spirits. Now, however, he picked up the frame and slowly traced his finger along the edge, scrutinizing.

She had changed. He had visited Maria on Eggman's base only a week ago, and she had been happy, still innocently unaware of Fiolet and the chaos outside. But looking hard at the year-old picture now, Shadow compared it to what he had seen last week. She was definitely taller now. She'd had her hair cut, really just shortened, but somehow the style had still matured a little. Her face, her smile, her eyes, they had all changed slightly, shifted as the girl eased slowly towards being a woman.

Shadow hadn't aged a day since then.

Perhaps listening was the first step towards betrayal; perhaps hearing out an offer was merely a part of accepting it. Certainly Sonic would never have done such a thing.

But Shadow wasn't Sonic. At fifteen minutes to one, he stood waiting outside the agreed-upon cave.