5:59 p.m.

"This is all your fault, Faker!" Shadow growls, holding his injured shoulder. His normal deep, apathetic voice is full of mostly irritation but has some pain in it. He's more than sure that's it dislocated from when they fell into this dark abyss, and he smacked his shoulder against a ridged ledge, which caused him to land on his back.

"Ha, that's rich coming from you!" Sonic retorts while holding his left side. He's pretty sure he broke a few ribs when he hit more of the cave's ledges several times while falling before landing on a boulder down here. He's surprised his head didn't crack open, but he now has a throbbing headache too.

Shadow grips his shoulder tighter, trying to find the easiest way to pop it back into place. "If you paid attention, like I told you to,"

Sonic just rolls his eyes. 'And here it comes.'

"-then," Shadow grabs his upper arm and takes a breath before pushing it upwards into the socket, a sickening pop following afterwards. He bites down on his tongue to stifle any unwanted grunts from the pain. Though it's not his first time dislocating his shoulder, it still hurts as if it were. Luckily for him, he's quick in the healing department thanks to his Chaos Energy. "-none of this would've happened."

"Oh yes," Sonic leans back against the wall, trying to let his eyes adjust to the darkness. The only source of light is coming from the top where they fell, and it was dim up there to begin with. "-because I'm supposed to know just how sturdy the ground is in this old, crumblingcave that could collapse at any moment. A thousand pardons your highness." Sonic scoffs as he tightens his grip on his side. Unfortunately for him, there's not much he can do about broken ribs.

Shadow glares at where Sonic's voice is coming from and clenches his good hand in irritation. "I refuse to be stuck with you on this mission longer than need be. You are going to direct us in the right path, and you are going to do it right now."

"Hey genius," Sonic pushes himself from the wall and takes a step towards Shadow's voice, "-I would oh so love to but I've never been down here. Trust me, I'd remember if I ever went into a pitch-black cavern where I can't even see my hand in front of my face."

"Tch," Shadow turns his head and tries to listen for Rouge, "-you're useless, like always."

Sonic rolls his eyes again as he takes small steps, wanting to make sure he doesn't trip over anything. "Aw, didn't know you cared so much about me."

Shadow snaps his head back to Sonic's direction, barring his teeth. "I swear to Chaos I will end you once this is over."

At this point Sonic is annoyed. Shadow is partially right that this was his fault but how was he supposed to know that the ground was going to collapse when it did. Not only that, but he can't see anything in front of him, on top of him being in a lot of pain right now. "Please, you haven't been able to before. What makes you think you'll be able to now?"

"Can we focus?!" Rouge hollers as she's gripping her right ankle. She can't tell if it's sprained or broken but she could care less now. All she knows is that her foot and the back of her head are killing her. It's a good thing that she has wings, so she doesn't need to worry about walking at least. "Look, we all know how much you both love,"

"Hate," Shadow corrects his partner.

"I'd say dislike, almost border line hate but not really," Sonic smirks, knowing he's still pissing the brooding hedgehog off.

"Faker," Shadow takes a blind step towards the younger hedgehog.

"'Sup, honeybuns?" Sonic knows he's poking the bear but it's his way of coping with the pain. It's starting to get hard for him to breathe.

Any other situation Rouge would have laughed at the nickname but now is not the time and she's going to firmly remind them. Although she can't see too well from the rock that hit the back of her head when they were falling, she can still pinpoint their location with her exceptional hearing. In fact, she picks up a few pebbles and is ready to throw them at the immature heroes if need be.

"-we need to focus on getting out of here. Sonic," she turns her attention to the hero. "How are you holding up?"

Said hero lets out a few shallow breaths before shaking his head. He's trying to calm himself down. "Oh, you know, a broken rib here, … one over there, another … over yonder."

Shadow lets out an annoyed sigh before he rolls his eyes. "Just say you have broken ribs."

"Why, it's more fun to piss you off."

"Trust me, hedgehog," Shadow glares in Sonic's direction again, "-you're going to regret doing that."

Shadow hears something small whizzing through the air and slightly moves his head, just having the small object miss him before it connects to the wall in front of him. He turns his direction to where it came from.

"I won't miss the next time, honeybuns." Rouge tosses a pebble in the air before catching it. Her eyesight is finally coming back to her so she can at least try to direct them in the right direction. "Now kiss and make up and let's start moving."

Shadow just clicks his tongue against the roof of his mouth and listens to the flapping of Rouge's wings, following her.

'If I ever did that I'd instantly be on my deathbed.' Sonic chuckles at Rouge's choice of words but instantly regrets it when he feels searing pain in his side.

"Shadow," Rouge flies next to her partner as she looks back at Sonic, "-shouldn't you help him?"

The black hedgehog raises an eyebrow and turns to his partner, wishing he had her vision for once. "Why?"

"Because he's injured."

Shadow just looks forward and keeps walking, being cautious with each step. "Not my problem."

Rouge stops in her tracks and puffs her cheeks out before throwing another pebble at the back of Shadow's head, successfully hitting him this time. He lets out a growl but keeps walking which makes Rouge roll her eyes. She then turns to fly towards Sonic, helping him if he needs.

"Big Blue, what can I do to help?" Rouge flies around him and notices his hand tightly gripping his upper chest. Her ears pick up his ragged breathing, causing her to frown. It's never a good sight to see someone strong so injured before the mission is over. She recalls the debriefing they had yesterday:

Flashback: 9:00 a.m.

"Sonic." The commander of G.U.N. welcomes the young hero into the room full of agents before giving him a salute, signaling the rest of the room to do the same.

"Commander Tower," Sonic returns the salute and sees the human bring his arm down before placing them behind his back in a professional manner. The rest of the room sit down in their chairs. Sonic brings his own arm down. "'-tis an honor working with you again."

"Indeed, the honor is ours to work alongside the Hero of Mobius."

A small grunt can be heard in the corner of the room, making Sonic's ear twitch before he glances to the side to see his "friend" already annoyed with him. A small smile goes on his face before he turns his attention back to the commander.

"Take a seat so we can begin."

Sonic nods his head and sits up front, next to Rouge and Topaz, if he remembers her name correctly.

"There has been information about an energy source coming from a cave and before anyone asks, no, it's not the Chaos Emeralds." He looks at Sonic then to Shadow before continuing. "Our scanners have only picked up the readings but our scientists cannot decipher what type of energy it is."

"Tch, of course they can't." Shadow mumbles as he crosses his right leg over the left.

Rouge rolls her eyes and lets out a quite chuckle. Of course Shadow would say something about them. He's not the… biggest of fans of the G.U.N. scientist for trying to do tests which turned to experiments on him when he first joined. Luckily for them Rouge and Omega were able to calm Shadow down enough not to blow this place to smithereens.

"And this is where you come in, Sonic." Green and brown eyes look at the hero. "You know of the location and you've explored it several times."

Sonic blinks twice before raising an eyebrow in confusion. "-"

"Sonic will assist Team Dark to Mystic Cave."

'Ahh, got it. Okay, yeah, I can lead them there no problem.' Although it's been at least two years since he last visited to cave he would be able to maneuver around it with no problem.

"Team Dark, once inside the cave you will heed Sonic's every command,"

Both Rouge and Sonic can practically hear Shadow's internal screams, knowing that Sonic is the last person Shadow wants to take orders from. Sonic and Rouge look at each other, grinning before turning back to the debriefing while Shadow had already mentally Chaos Blasted the room four times now.

"-and once you've reached the energy source, you will immediately report to me, where we will further discuss your findings. Do I make myself clear?"

Everyone in the room stands at attention. "Yes Sir!"

Present: 6:16 p.m.

Sonic lets out a raspy breath as he's clenching his side. On a scale to ten in pain he's at an eight right now. He closes his eyes and keeps walking forwards. "Nothin… just… be my eyes and make sure… I don't trip on anything. Don't need… anymore injuries…" he ends with a small snicker.

"If you two are done playing around back there," Shadow fusses as he finds an opening and feels cold air blowing across his face but is still irritated that there's no light down here. "-then hurry it up."

"Yes, because helping an injured person is so playing around." Rouge throws another pebble at Shadow but misses when the latter rounds the corner. The sound of the pebble hitting the ground echoes through the darkness.

"Tch." Rouge narrows her eyes at the fact she missed.

"Hey… better luck next time…" Sonic chuckles.

Rouge turns to look at the hero. "Yeah, next time I'll hit him in his big, ego inflated head."

"Rouge…" Sonic stops as he bends over, trying to laugh, "…it hurts to laugh… ha ha… ah… this sucks…"

"Sorry hun," The bat puts her hand on top of Sonic's quills, trying to give him some comfort. It's not her forte but she does know how to be compassionate when she needs to be.

"Nah, it sucks… but…" He straightens himself up as Rouge takes her hand from him and flies forwards. He takes a step forward only to feel something wrap around his midsection, He doesn't have time to pry it off as the thing instantly tightens its grip on him, putting unwanted pressure against his broken ribs. "AAAAAAAAAAAARRRGGHHHH!"

"Sonic?!" Rouge turns around only to barely see Sonic lifted in the air by something. "Sonic, hold on-" she sees something launch itself at her, to which she flies to the left, dodging the attack. She hears another scream leave the hero's lips as the thing pulls him further into the darkness.

"Chaos Spear!" The attack penetrates through the darkness, allowing both agents to see black tentacles rising from the ground with the hero thrashing around, trying to break free from the grip for a few seconds before the darkness comes back.

"That idiot!" Shadow snarls before his left ear twitches, indicating an oncoming attack to which he backflips out of the way. He charges up another Chaos Spear only for his wrist to get grabbed. He tries to yank his arm free but can't when the tentacle suddenly swings him across the room and throws him. His back connects with the wall of the dark cavern, and he let's out a groan of pain. He's getting tired of his back getting abused in this place.

Rouge continues to dodge the onslaught of tentacles trying to knock her out of the air while keeping an eye on both hedgehogs. Though she's probably the least injured between the three, even if Shadow says otherwise, there's no way she can help both at the same time. She can go help Shadow and the two of them would have a better chance in helping Sonic. But on the other hand, Sonic probably can't wait too much longer to be saved. Who knows how tight a grip those things have on him.

She loses her train of thought when she sees more of the tentacles going for her legs and wings, which she maneuvers in between them, safely getting to Shadow's side. "Darn it, they pushed me away from him."

Shadow kicks oncoming attack away from him and charges another Chaos Spear in his hand. "Tell me where the idiot is."

Rouge flies up, just missing another attack coming her way. "Two o' clock!"

Shadow shoots his attack in the direction seeing the onslaught of tentacles disappearing into goop, taking Sonic with them, before the attack hits the wall just above the threat.

"No!" Rouge cries out and flies over to where her friend was just at, not able to see any sign of him.

Shadow shoots another Chaos Spear nearby, only to confirm that the blue hero is gone. "Damn it!" He looks up, seeing the small hole that they fell through is now blocked. The only source of light they did have is now completely gone. Not that matters anymore.

Shadow grips his aching shoulder and walks back to where the cold air was. "We have a mission to finish."

Rouge bites her lip in frustration, knowing there's nothing they can do for Sonic right now. "We are going to stay once it's finished to find him. I don't want to hear any if's, and's, or but's, got it?" Rouge firmly questions as she flies ahead of Shadow, being his eyes.

"Tch, whatever. Let's just finish this first."

? 6:41 p.m.

A choked groan leaves peach lips as Sonic turns on his side, clenching his ribs. His eyes are clenched shut as he's gritting his teeth. If he was at an eight on the pain meter earlier then he's definitely at a ten now. It feels like someone is taking a jack-hammer and slamming it down on his ribs.

Rolling onto his stomach he pushes himself up with his left arm and sits on his knees. He cracks open his right eye and sees dim lights coming from the crystals in around him. The crystals are all different sizes, ranging from a few inches to several meters tall and all sorts of different colors. It's a good thing that the light coming from them is dim or the sudden harsh light would have damaged his eyes.

Looking around, he sees most of the crystals in this place are either indigo, fuchsia or turquoise in color. He lets out a shaky breath and turns to his left, seeing a turquoise crystal right next to him. He reaches out to touch it and is surprised to feel some type of warmth from it. He's never seen this part of Mystic Cave before.

"Huh…" He picks himself up to stand on shaky legs, trying to balance himself. "-I wonder… if they're all warm…"

"Now, should you really be moving in your state?" A deep, smooth voice asks rather curiously.

Sonic turns his head to the right and his eyes instantly go wide. Of all the people… "Oh… you've got to be kidding me…" He unconsciously takes a step back while clenching his side. "You… you're supposed to… be dead… or at least… some other dimension…"

Sonic doesn't take his eyes off the person, who is just sitting on a crystal carved chair, with one leg over the other and a smug look on his face, well, if he had a mouth. "Meph… Mephiles…"

"Ah, good," said creature intertwines his fingers and places them on his lap. "-you remember me."

Green eyes narrow. "… kind've hard to forget… when someone stabs you in the back… killing you…"

Mephiles moves his leg so that his ankle is resting on top of his other leg. "Yes, what a glorious day that was, being able to reunite with my other half that is."

"Yeah… up until-" Sonic takes a step forwards but is forced to stop when a searing pain shoots through his side, making him clench an eye shut.

"You should lie down and rest. We wouldn't want you to hurt yourself, now would we?"

Sonic opens his eye and just glares at the entity before him. "…cute. … Didn't know you cared… so what? … you're here for Iblis again… to destroy the world?"

Mephiles lets out a chuckle. "Don't get me wrong, Hero. I would love to see my other half once more, but I have no desire for this world's destruction."

Sonic just stares at the being in front of him before he starts to sway on his feet. He takes a step back to try and balance himself before he focuses on Mephiles once more.

"You should really take a seat. I would hate for you to get injured some more."

"I'll pass…" Sonic sees the entity get up and slowly walk in circles around him. Sonic just follows the movement with his eyes. He trusts this guy less than he does Eggman.

"Very well." Mephiles continues to walk around the younger. "To finish answering your initial question. I'm not here to find Iblis. I rather like being my own person," he's now walking behind the hero, faintly hearing the steady heartbeat of the other before he continues his circle. "-even though, I do feel empty from time to time."

Sonic turns his head right to see Mephiles continue his path. "So… you're just living… your life in … this cave…?"

Mephiles briefly stops and closes his eyes before slowly turning his head towards the young hedgehog, who get slightly uncomfortable at the motion. And even more so when he sees those green, snake-like eyes piercing through him for a few seconds before the owner continues to walk in his circle. All of the sudden does Sonic now feel like prey caught in his predator's trap.

"Hmm, something like that. Although," Mephiles stops walking and allows his body to turn into darkness before hiding in the shadows that the crystals are creating. Sonic turns his head left and right, trying to find where his enemy disappeared to. Green eyes scan along each wall he can see, over every crystal and shadow they cast and finally in front of him but see nothing of the dark creature.

Suddenly a reaches out from behind him, grabbing his chin the other wraps around his middle tightly, making sure to put more pressure on the broken ribs. Sonic clenches his left eye shut and tries to turn his head to see the deity but is stopped when Mephiles places his chin on his shoulder.

"-you were not my original choice."

"Choice?" Sonic tries to yank his head out of the hand at the very least but seeing how that's not working he brings a hand up to try and pull the other's off from his face. He feels the other lift his head from his shoulder but instantly feels Mephiles' breath tickling his ears which make him lower them to his head. "What… choice…?"

"Oh? Interested are you?" Mephiles whispers as his grip on the hero tightens and he hears a strained cry choked back. The hero is trying everything he can to stay strong.

"You see," he slowly moves his fingers along the peach jaw down to the younger's chin before moving them back up, feeling Sonic tense in his grasp. "I wasn't going for you originally. I have nothing against you. Shadow was my target, not you."

"Don't tell me…" Sonic jerks his head to the side only for the hand that was caressing him to grab his face even tighter. "-your eyes are that bad that… you can't even… tell us apart…?"

Mephiles uses the tip of his middle finger to lightly trace down the chin and over the hero's throat. He can hear how the younger's heart is beating faster with each movement. "I am darkness incarnate. It would truly be ironic if I couldn't see in the dark."

"Yeah… ironic…" Sonic bites his bottom lip hard and leans forward to get out of the other's grip when he feels the other hand dig against his ribs.

"But no, you've caught my attention instead. Not only do you get under Shadow's skin," he scrapes alongside the ribs, drawing a bit of blood from the action and is earned a muffled cry, making him repeat the action. "-but you're able to tolerate more pain than I give you credit for. To have broken rib and," he pulls his hand away from the throat before he lightly rubs the back of the hero's head, "-to have a concussion from that fall. You truly are something. Finally he releases his hold on the hero and walks over to his chair. He takes a seat and intertwine his fingers once more, observing his pretty in front of him.

Sonic is trying to catch his breath as he continues to glare at the jerk in front of him. He's not trying to think about it but he knows for a fact that Mephiles is not the psychopath that's been writing him letters.

"What now…" Sonic pants, "-seeing how I'm not… who you were after… you're gonna let me go-"

Mephiles leans back in his chair and lets out a hearty laugh, making Sonic feel even more uncomfortable than he already was. There's something about that laugh that he really doesn't like and he's pretty sure he doesn't wanna find out why.

"Oh, I never said anything about letting you go, Hero" Mephiles looks back at him with delight in his eyes. He gets up from his seat once again but this time he slowly makes his way towards Sonic, forcing the hero to take a step back with each step he takes.

"Why?... You… clearly don't need me here-"

"Oh but I do."

Sonic feels heat against his back and he turns his head to see he's against the turquoise crystal he touched earlier. A hand turns his face to look forward and he can see just how close the other is to him. He knows he won't be able to get out of here easily, especially because of his ribs. Even still, he glares at the older man and bares his teeth.

Mephiles slightly tilts his head to the side, clearly amused by the display before him. "You see, one can only explore every nook and cranny of this cavern before it gets tiring."

"You're bored…" Sonic finally swats the hand away from his face.

"I am, and you," Mephiles suddenly grabs the hero by the throat and presses him against the crystal, knowing that the hard material is digging into the blue back. He's not choking the hero, just has enough pressure to keep him still. He leans his face close to Sonic's, his green eyes boring into the young, angered and slightly frightened green eyes. "-you are going to entertain me, my pet."

Yay! Finally, we're getting somewhere with this story. And I mean harem, not the actual plot.

Sorry, that sounded really bad. Haha, ah, I should just stop while I'm still ahead.

I didn't know how much fun it is to write Shadow and Mephiles. Had I had known, I would've done it sooner. Okay, I digress. Part 2 of Crystal Cavern will hopefully be out soon.

Until then, take care of yourselves~