Entry 73
Echoes In The Dark
''Caught between who I was and who I'll be! A fractured soul no destiny! I am the shadow standing tall! Through the chaos I'll break the fall! Lost in the echoes of what's been done, but I won't stop till the battle's won! Fate can't hold me, I won't rewind! I'll find my path, leave the past behind!''
– Echoes In The Dark by AI Zone (Theme of Shadow)
xXxXxXx
Ferra and Metal Sonic had to admit that they were shocked when the Black Arms Invasion suddenly began, with the aliens immediately swarming the city. Fortunately for them, they were safe within the Egg Base inside the Tamago Corporation, but they were well aware that Team Neos was stuck in a rough battle. They wondered what Dr. Eggman had planned for the invasion, whether he would interfere or stay out of this whole situation. Frankly, neither of them could care less about what would happen to Team Neos, but they had to admit that, if someone had to win this battle, they'd prefer it to be Lucas, Sonic and their friends instead of the Black Arms.
''I wonder how Shadow is dealing with this…'' Ferra muttered, with Metal Sonic giving her a curious gaze. She added, ''He is a hybrid with Black Arms DNA. He'll be right in the middle of this mess.''
''Well, I wouldn't want to be anywhere near this mess,'' Cubot voiced his opinion.
''Me neither. Fortunately, we are completely safe within the Egg Base,'' Orbot added. Ferra and Metal Sonic exchanged glances, not too surprised that Orbot and Cubot were happy to stay inside instead of dealing with the Black Arms. ''I just hope the Doctor won't try to involve himself in this.''
''I doubt that,'' Ferra said in a deadpan tone.
''Even if he does decide to get involved, count me out,'' Cubot said. ''Unlike you two, we weren't built nor made for combat.''
The small group suddenly heard steps from behind, with Eggman walking inside, carrying a blue gem that left them stunned. Ferra stared at it, giving Eggman a baffled look. ''Wait, is that-?''
''That's indeed a Chaos Emerald,'' Eggman confirmed, holding up the blue gem. ''I've been busy extracting energy from it for my newest project.''
''May I inquiry what that project is?'' Orbot asked. Eggman grinned, looking quite excited.
''Oh, it's nothing special,'' he stated, with Ferra and Metal Sonic rolling their eyes, well aware that, if Eggman was acting like this, it had to be something huge.
''This project involves using a Chaos Emerald. I sincerely doubt it's nothing special,'' Ferra pointed out in a snarky tone, folding her arms. ''What are you up to?''
''Be patient. I will reveal my plan in time, because the project is not ready yet,'' Eggman replied, turning to the monitors Ferra, Metal Sonic, Orbot and Cubot were looking at earlier. ''In fact, it won't be ready until the Black Arms have completely taken over Neos City and changed the environment.''
''Does this mean that you know what is going on with the AR Fields, Boss?'' Cubot asked.
''I do, and according to my calculations, it should happen soon,'' Eggman replied, then turned to Ferra and Metal Sonic. ''I have a mission for you. You will lead the Badniks against the Black Arms.''
''Ah, so we finally get to fight,'' Ferra said, smirking. Metal Sonic's eyes glowed, showing that he was ready for the challenge. ''I was wondering when the Eggman Empire will get involved.''
''Don't think that I'm involving myself because I want to protect Neos City,'' Eggman told her in a sharp tone. ''I want to destroy the Black Arms so they don't get in my way of conquering the city. If they succeed in taking over, there's nothing going to be left to conquer for me.''
''Yeah, that sounds reasonable,'' Ferra continued with the snark, which Eggman didn't seem to have noticed.
''I'll be going to the city to prepare everything. Neither Team Neos nor the Black Arms will know what hit them,'' Eggman said, laughing mirthfully. It took him a moment to notice Orbot and Cubot giving him a nervous look. He furrowed a brow. ''What?''
''Uh, Boss, what is our assignment?'' Orbot asked.
''Did you really have to ask?'' Cubot asked Orbot in a hushed tone. Eggman stared at them for a moment, feeling exasperated by his more cowardly assistants. Unfortunately, he knew well that he was the one who programmed them to act like that.
''You two will be staying here and make sure no one enters the Egg Base,'' he said. Orbot and Cubot sighed in relief, while Eggman just shook his head.
xXx
''Here! We have the locations of the Chaos Emeralds,'' Lucas exclaimed, pointing at the holographic screen. ''Warren and Tails tried their best to make an app that would give us the locations of all the Chaos Emeralds, but looking at the map like this only gives us a general idea where they might be. The one closest to us is at Sentoraru.''
''It is moving,'' Loki noted, giving the two a confused look. ''Is the Chaos Emerald supposed to do that?''
''Only when someone's holding it,'' Sonic replied, with Loki frowning. ''In other words, someone has found it.''
''It could be anyone…'' Lucas muttered, although his gut feeling was telling him that, given how the signal was close to where the Tamago Corporation was, it was possible that Dr. Eggman had one of the Chaos Emeralds. This was bad, however, this was also something he couldn't admit in front of Loki, as he decided to keep Eggman's connection to the Tamago Corporation a secret known only to Team Neos. He took a deep breath, trying to figure out his next move. ''I think we should go to Sentoraru. I cannot guarantee that we'll run into Shadow there, but at least we can get our hands on a Chaos Emerald.''
''That sounds like a good plan to me,'' Sonic replied, giving Lucas a confident smirk. ''Let's go and-''
Before he could even finish his sentence, suddenly, the red rifts and data particles that had been spreading across Neos City grew bigger, with there being a surge of energy, followed by a red wave of light from above them, almost blinding the three. It didn't last long, though, but when they opened their eyes, they realized that the environment changed.
The dark clouds above them were tinted red, with the red cracks disappearing. Their environment, the cityscape itself was suddenly covered in red, purple and black mass, both streets and buildings, with tree-like things sprouting everywhere, bearing red fruits. Strange orbs were scattered across the city, with Lucas feeling strangely familiar with this kind of landscape. He didn't have time to process it, because they immediately got attacked.
''Watch out!'' Loki pointed his gun at the Black Oak that suddenly emerged from the nearby black and red mass. He fired at it, but the alien shook off the energy blasts, with Sonic going for a homing attack to knock it back, achieving only so much.
''Damn, this guy is tough!'' Sonic noted, with him and Lucas exchanging glances. Without a word, they reached out for each other.
''Chaos Surge!''
Sonic felt a sudden burst of energy, dashing around the Black Oak and performing another homing attack at insanely high speed, knocking it down for good. He turned to Lucas. ''I'll try to not use the Chaos Surge too much.''
''Don't worry about me. The more important part is that we get this done,'' Lucas replied. He felt something heavy in his chest, though, aware that they were far from ending this chaos. He knew that, even if Shadow was their teammate and despite their speculations, they had no idea what he was up to or whether Black Doom managed to take control over him. If there was possibility for that, they would need help.
As they made their way to the Chaos Emerald, Lucas realized that there was someone who could aid them in dealing with Shadow.
xXx
''Hehe! Look at that loot!'' Rough laughed as he and Tumble broke into an abandoned store, grabbing as much items as possible. Having decided that the Black Arms were the problem of everyone but them, they decided to use the whole invasion as a distraction to steal as much stuff as possible.
''People are so stupid for leaving this valuable stuff behind for us to take!'' Tumble laughed along, carrying a handful of items.
However, the moment they exited the store with the stolen goods, they were caught in a crossfire between several Black Arms aliens and Omega, who was scoffing at their weapons.
''Back off, peashooter!''
Omega pointed his arm cannons, easily taking down the Black Warriors. This was followed by Rouge delivering a swift kick to the ones that remained standing. She then spotted Rough and Tumble holding the goods they had stolen, immediately realizing what they have done.
''You two really couldn't keep your hands away from what's left behind,'' Rouge said as she flew up to them, with Rough and Tumble glaring daggers at her.
''We won't give you any of our loot!'' Rough growled.
''I don't care about your loot. If the Black Arms take over Neos City, it'll be useless,'' Rouge replied, surprising the skunk brothers.
''What do you mean 'useless'?'' Tumble asked.
''The Black Arms are planning to conquer Neos City and either enslave or devour everyone they come across. They won't care about your loot, they'll care what they can do to you,'' Rouge pointed out. Rough and Tumble exchanged glances with alarmed looks. ''You can either stand around and let the invasion continue, or fight back.''
They suddenly got interrupted when Omega unleashed another salvo on the flying aliens, the Black Wings dropping down like dead flies, only to get replaced by the Black Hawks, who were much tougher, much to Omega's chagrin. Some of them attacked Rouge, who flew upwards before dropping one of her bombs at them, destroying them.
''You lookin' to scrap?''
''Then get ready to crumble!''
''Brace yourselves for Rough and Tumble!''
She looked down, taking note of Rough and Tumble dropping their looted goods and getting into a fight with another Black Warrior, and sighed. Admittedly, she couldn't really care much about those two vandals, but she knew that they'd need everyone's help if they wanted to survive this invasion. Unfortunately for her, the Black Warrior that the skunk brothers took down held a plasma machine gun, with Rough and Tumble grinning as they realized that they got their hands on an alien weapon.
''Now we can do some real damage!'' Rough said, pointing it at the aliens, only to get it shot out of his hands by Omega, with both turning angrily towards him. ''Hey, what's the big idea?!''
''All aliens and alien weapons will be eliminated with prejudice!'' Omega replied, firing another barrage at the Black Warriors. Rouge smirked, glad to see this happen, because even with the Black Arms attacking them, the last thing she wanted is for Rough and Tumble to gain access to their weapons. She suddenly got a call on her AR Visor, putting the eye-piece on.
''Lucas?'' She was surprised when she saw who had called her. ''Do you need anything, honey? We are a bit busy here…''
''I know that this is a bad time to call, but I need your and Omega's help,'' Lucas said, with Rouge picking up on his serious tone.
''I'm listening,'' Rouge replied, understanding that this was important.
''I need you two to go find Shadow and talk to him. The leader of the Black Arms, Black Doom, will try to take control of him and since we don't know where Touka is, we need someone to keep an eye on him. Sonic and I are also trying to find him, but considering what just happened…'' Lucas paused for a moment, with Rouge nodding. She too was in a part of the city where the urban environment changed to something more suitable for the Black Arms. ''I know that Shadow won't listen to anyone, even among Team Neos, and besides Touka and Sonic, I believe that you're the only ones close enough to him to convince him to explain himself.''
''I see. Don't worry, we have this under control,'' Rouge said, ending the call and reaching for another of her bombs when she spotted several of the aliens getting too close to Omega. The robot of mass destruction didn't even flinch when the bomb blew up the aliens, looking more annoyed that Rouge stole his kill.
''I called dibs on those,'' Omega protested, but Rouge shook her head.
''Don't worry, you'll get to destroy plenty more. However, we got a mission – find Shadow and make sure that the aliens didn't get into his head,'' she explained.
''Confirming new objective,'' Omega responded immediately. Despite the robot's sole purpose in his life being to track down and destroy Eggman robots, as well as Eggman himself, he was more than able to deviate from this purpose to help out his teammate. He was determined to find Shadow and making sure that the hedgehog was all clear.
xXx
''Sonic, you go ahead!''
''What?'' Sonic skidded to a halt after successfully knocking down another alien, giving Lucas a look of disbelief.
''I called Rouge and Omega, and they'll also be trying to find Shadow. If he's at Sentoraru, you're our best bet to reach him before he disappears again,'' Lucas told him. ''I have Chaos Surge, so we should be able to handle ourselves here.''
''Frankly, I don't like the idea of splitting up, but if it serves a purpose-'' Loki cut himself off, firing at another flying alien that got too close to them. The cobalt hedgehog grinned.
''Got it! Don't end up as food for the aliens!'' Sonic gave them a thumbs up, then dashed away. Lucas couldn't help but smile. He knew that the battle wasn't over yet, but he hoped there would be a light at the end of the tunnel regardless of what happened.
xXx
Shadow dashed through Westoru, having used Chaos Control to leave the Codex Research Facility and Infinity Forest, returning to the urban landscape of Neos City. Unfortunately for all its residents, the environment changed and Shadow took a moment to observe those changes. There was a purple and black mass covering the streets and buildings and when he approached it to examine it, he realized that it was quite viscous, and he could stand on it without getting hurt, but at the same time, it was difficult to run on it as it felt sticky.
Shadow furrowed a brow, realizing that this whatever this mass was, it was connected to the Black Arms, and therefore, to him. He somehow understood that his Doom Powers would allow him to traverse through this mass, allowing him to travel through the city much faster. However, he wasn't certain whether he should continue using those powers. As much as he relied on them, he could only do it because of his own unbreakable willpower, because Black Doom was still there, whispering in his head, making him question his decisions. He was stuck in an infinite loop of doing his best to fulfill his mission and save Touka while also fighting back Black Doom's influence on top of processing his own connection to the Black Arms. It was exhausting, but Shadow refused to show any weakness. He needed to continue, no matter how difficult the road ahead of him was.
He could sense the Chaos Emerald within Sentoraru, knowing he was on the right path, but he had no idea what kind of obstacle awaited him again. Fortunately, Doom's Eye was nowhere in sight, so he at least didn't have to listen to it. He shook his head instead, his air shoes igniting as he continued past the purple and black mass. He knew it was asinine to believe that he wouldn't need the Doom Powers to find the Chaos Emeralds and defeat the Black Arms, but he needed to be careful about using them. He couldn't let Black Doom take advantage of him.
Shadow leapt over several abandoned cars, noting the emptiness of the streets. Unfortunately, he couldn't help any of the humans or ARNavs unless they were directly on his path. He couldn't save any of them, which left him with a sense of anxiety. In some way, he understood that this invasion was his own fault. If I never existed, the Black Arms wouldn't have invaded Neos City…
Suddenly, the dark hedgehog stopped in front of a store, staring of his own reflection. He felt his heart almost break his ribcage for no reason as that thought replayed in his mind. If he never existed, Black Doom wouldn't be here, leading his kin to destroy Neos City. If he never existed, many people wouldn't get hurt, not only the victims of this invasion, but also the people he hurt during his rampage at the Codex Research Facility. If he never existed, Touka wouldn't have been put into so much danger.
Shadow punched the glass, leaving a crack in the glass as he gritted his teeth, screwing his eyes shut. The sense of pain surged through his body, but it was nothing like a physical ache. It was a different kind of anguish, one that made his insides tear apart, an emotional and metal suffering that he hated experiencing, fueled with immense guilt as a voice echoed in the darkness.
If I never existed…
Shadow stared at his cracked reflection, seeing a dark hedgehog staring back at him, his crimson eyes now glowing in an ominous, dark light. His body was tense and he looked like he was about to tear anyone apart who dared to cross his path. He was dangerous, a weapon made for mass destruction, a soldier created to lead the Black Arms. What if I had never been created?
''Enough.''
Shadow's own voice rung clear, clashing against the sense of trepidation that was spreading in his mind. He didn't even know whether he wanted to contemplate all of those possibilities, forcing himself to push his fears to the back of his mind. He couldn't allow himself to be consumed by his own dark thoughts. Not here, not now. He needed to press on and find the rest of the Chaos Emeralds. He needed to fulfill his mission first.
Shadow stepped away, focusing on the energy of the Chaos Emerald he had sensed in this area, realizing that it was close and left, his mind still clouded by his fears.
xXx
Eggman was hovering over Neos City in his EggMobile, flying towards an energy signal he had detected earlier. He was holding the blue Chaos Emerald in his hand, alongside a device he created back at the Egg Base.
''Once I find the convergence point for the data stream the Black Arms were using, it should be easy to put my plan into fruition,'' he muttered to himself, grinning. ''Hohoho, I could easily take over the whole of Starpoint Area if this succeeds.''
Eggman was quite pleased with the plan he came up with, planning on using the Black Arms own way of manifesting within Neos City to summon something that could rival the Black Comet and all its technology and army in pure power, but at the same time, he knew he had to be cautious. He had absorbed enough energy from the Chaos Emerald for his plan to work and while he had no intention of giving it to anyone, he knew that Shadow would also probably be on the move, searching for it. The smile faded from his lips as he thought about the situation for a moment. If he had correctly predicted Team Neos' plans and if Shadow was indeed still loyal to his teammates rather than switching sides to the Black Arms, he had a good idea of how they would be trying to defeat the Black Arms. Unfortunately, this also meant that he had to give them the Chaos Emerald, much to his chagrin. He had so many plans for it, but unfortunately, this crisis took priority. Things didn't improve when he came across the last person he wanted to meet. Eggman's eyes narrowed when he spotted Shadow, realizing that he was in trouble.
As for Shadow, he immediately zeroed in on Eggman and the blue Chaos Emerald he was holding. Suddenly, he vanished, only to appear in a flash of cyan light in front of the EggMobile, attempting to grab the Chaos Emerald, but was met with a reddish-orange barrier, with Eggman laughing as Shadow used Chaos Snap to get back on the ground.
''Ha, did you really think I'd let you take the Chaos Emerald so easily?'' Eggman said, snapping his fingers. Shadow looked around, only to see data particles forming into Egg Pawns. It appeared that the Doctor made sure he would have an easier access to his own robot army via the AR Field. However, Shadow knew that he could defeat all of them. Instead, he was more focused on how to break through the barrier Eggman put up around the EggMobile. It appeared that Eggman anticipated Shadow's thought process, as he flew up higher, focusing on keeping out of the dark hedgehog's reach.
Shadow was fighting his way through the Egg Pawns, using a chain homing attack to break them and followed Eggman. Unlike Tails, he was more than willing to attack the Doctor, as he wasn't just in his way, but also an enemy. He threw a Chaos Spear at the EggMobile, but the barrier Eggman put up neutralized it. He then turned the Eggmobile around and faced Shadow.
''I'm giving you only one warning, Doctor. Hand over the Chaos Emerald,'' Shadow said, eyes glowing as he glared at Eggman.
''How about I don't? I have plans for this Chaos Emerald, and I'm not going to let you or anyone else interfere,'' Eggman replied, giving Shadow a curious look. ''Especially not if you're gathering them for the Black Arms.''
Shadow growled, with Eggman remaining alert. He knew that the hedgehog was dangerous and that it would be a bad idea to provoke him, but he couldn't help satisfying his own curiosity.
''To think that you out of all people would work together with the Black Arms isn't surprising. After all, this has happened before, in a different setting. But, the question is whether you can even be trusted,'' Eggman continued, quite confident that his barrier could withstand any of Shadow's attacks. ''After all, I know your potential. You can take any route you wish, from becoming Black Doom's vanguard to taking over Earth by yourself. You can also take the hero path and save the world or simply try to prove your own superiority. You can even be deluded into thinking that you're an android or that your own existence is worth nothing.''
''Shut up!'' Shadow growled, his quills bristling upon hearing the last part.
''Hoho, did I strike a nerve?'' Eggman asked, grinning smugly. ''Is that what's going through your mind? That you shouldn't exist? How pathetic!''
Shadow gritted his teeth, clenching his fist as Chaos Energy sparked between his fingers.
''So much for the Ultimate Lifeform,'' Eggman continued in a snarky tone. ''If you believe that your own life is meaningless, then why don't you just give up and leave this battle to someone more capable? I know that you have two Chaos Emeralds on your person, so you can just give them to me and I'll use them to destroy the Black Arms and conquer Neos City. I'm sure people will prefer Eggmanland over whatever this is.''
Suddenly, five spears of energy came flying towards the EggMobile, with Eggman quickly activating the barrier. To his surprise, those energy spears were nothing like the Chaos Spears he saw before, being powerful enough to actually leave a crack in the barrier. He furrowed a brow, wondering of Shadow had somehow acquired a new power, with a sense of dread suddenly sinking into the pit of his stomach. He turned his attention back to the dark hedgehog, whose eyes were glowing dangerously as dark energy swirled around him, with black vines emerging from below him, wrapping around his hands, legs and torso and dragging him into the mass below him.
Eggman's eyes widened in shock as, instead of a dark hedgehog, a black entity with red patterns, resembling a squid emerged, leaping out from the mass and into the purple and black surface that covered the streets and buildings. This entity had eleven tentacles, which surrounded a central buccal cavity. His mantle featured five blank red eyes on each side, and the head curved downward at the front.
This ability was Doom Morph, allowing Shadow to transform into a form closer to his alien heritage and letting him travel across Corruption-infused surfaces. Eggman could only stare in horror as the hybrid swiftly swam across the mass, leaping towards the one on the building to reach a higher point, taking advantage of the light orbs scattered across the street to swing right above Eggman, then boosting straight into the barrier, shattering it and almost knocking the EggMobile over, using one of his tentacles to grab the Chaos Emerald and swing away, leaping from one Corruption-infused surface to another.
Eggman was flabbergasted, having been taken completely off guard by the sudden display of Shadow's Doom Powers. When the finally took control over the EggMobile, the squid-shaped hybrid was already gone, with Eggman assuming that he was searching for the next Chaos Emerald.
''I guess I should be happy that he didn't try to kill me,'' he grumbled under his breath.
''Yo, Egghead!''
Eggman was startled when he suddenly heard a familiar voice calling out for him and quickly turned his head towards the source of it. To his annoyance, it was none other but Sonic, the last person he wanted to deal with. It also appeared that Sonic saw his whole conversation with Shadow, being just as stunned as Eggman was in regards to Shadow's new power.
''What was that all about?!'' Sonic asked, hoping for some kind of answer.
''I could ask you the same question, Hedgehog,'' Eggman replied. ''It seems like your teammate isn't exactly mentally stable.''
''You were the one provoking him!'' Sonic pointed out, frowning as he shot Eggman a glare.
''Tsk, tsk, let's not point fingers now. We all know who the real enemy is,'' Eggman said, avoiding the accusation, with Sonic rolling his eyes in response. ''Unless your friends had some kind of agreement, Shadow might be well on his way to either destroy the whole city.''
''He's not going to destroy the city!'' Sonic protested firmly. ''I'm sure that Shadow is trying to save it.''
''Whatever it is, if I were you, I'd keep a close eye on him,'' Eggman replied, then added just before he left, ''I've sent out Ferra and Metal Sonic with the Badniks to fight against the Black Arms, so you can inform your friends about that. Do NOT assume that I'm helping you! I just want to make sure that I'll be the one to conquer Neos City!''
Sonic remained silent as he watched Eggman leave, deciding against pursuing him. Instead, he ran after Shadow, or rather, the squid-like form Shadow took on after triggering Doom Morph. He had to admit that he was genuinely stunned to see Shadow using such a power, wondering if it was something that had to do with his Black Arms DNA. Lucas did explain to him Shadow's origin in detail, but he didn't mention any kind of power Shadow would acquire. Sonic knew that he probably should pay more attention to the video game lore, especially if it was going to be relevant in the future, but for now, he needed to find Shadow.
He could still remember the fury and hurt in Shadow's eyes as Eggman belittled him, and while Sonic was well aware that he had no idea what was going through his head, he was certain that Shadow didn't want to harm anyone nor work with the Black Arms. However, he had to talk to him. He had to ask Shadow directly what his plan was and see whether he could help him in any way.
He had to remind Shadow that he wasn't alone.
xXx
Eclipse walked through the Black Comet, feeling a stinging sensation in his chest, as if thousand needles pierced it. He absolutely refused to believe anything Touka said, even though part of him knew that she was right to some extent. Shadow clearly treated Touka the same way as Eclipse treated the Black Arms, considering her his family. Eclipse understood that feeling of familial connections, but he refused to accept that Shadow considering Touka his sibling instead of Eclipse. He hated that a pathetic human was more important to his brother than his own biological family. Dark thoughts clouded his mind, only for him to feel a sudden chill when an entity emerged from his shadow. He turned on his heel, glaring at the culprit.
''Stop doing that!'' he hissed at Mephiles, who just laughed in amusement.
''I assume the conversation with Shadow didn't go well,'' Mephiles replied.
''Why would you care?!'' Eclipse snapped.
''I believe that Toshiro and I had told you that Shadow would vehemently refuse to join the Black Arms. He couldn't care less about you or Black Doom, as his loyalty remains solely with Touka,'' Mephiles responded in a calm tone. ''The only way to convince him to join is to take full control over him, and even then, I doubt any of you would be able to break his will. Perhaps, Black Doom should just give up on Shadow and destroy him instead of bothering wasting his time with the hedgehog.''
Eclipse glared daggers at Mephiles. ''Father will convince Shadow to join our side, one way or another!''
''But not without removing Shadow's sense of self, turning him into another soldier with no will of his own,'' Mephiles said in a dark tone. Eclipse froze, his eyes wide.
''D-Did you-?'' Before he could even finish his sentence, Mephiles vanished into a shadow, leaving Eclipse standing alone in the corridor.
The little alien felt a sense of dread as he wondered whether Mephiles overheard his conversation with Touka. Even though he was used to the hive mind, sharing his own thoughts and feelings with the rest of the Black Arms, he didn't like the fact that Mephiles out of all people was spying on him. There was something about Mephiles that creeped Eclipse out, and while he couldn't exactly pinpoint what it was, he knew that Mephiles was someone who couldn't be trusted.