“Mephiles!” A voice calls out across the field.

	The shadow hedgehog turns to stare down at the blue creature yelling up at him from his perch on a cliff.

‘Ah, Sonic.’ The shadow muses. ‘How… lovely it is to see you again.’ He jumps from the cliff and lands a mere three feet from the other being. ‘What brings you here?’

Sonic grits his teeth and glares. “Don’t play dumb, Mephiles! We’re here to take you down.” He takes a fighting stance.

Mephiles chuckles darkly. ‘We?’ he asks as he looks away, even tilting his head as if to see if someone was standing right behind the other. ‘As far as I can tell, I only have one nuisance to deal with.’

At that utterance, Sonic turns to look around himself as well, as if just realizing he was the only one there. Where were the others?

“What- where?” The blue hero turns his eyes to the shadow hedgehog again. “What did you do with them?”

Mephiles shakes his head and crosses his arms. ‘Nothing too serious.’ He pretends to clean his claws. ‘They’re most likely dealing with my minions at the moment…’

“Damn.” Sonic growls under his breath. This won’t be an easy fight if he’s on his own. He’ll have to think of something and quickly.

‘Besides,’ the dark being continues, ‘five against one doesn’t seem very fair. Don’t you think?’ He tilts his head as he questions the blue hedgehog. Though Sonic doesn’t answer him. Mephiles closes his eyes in thought. ‘You know, you’re quite the interesting specimen, Sonic.’ He starts pacing.

Sonic’s eyes follow as the shadow hedgehog walks back and forth, watching his every move. “What do you mean?”

‘Now that I think about it,’ Mephiles says instead of answering the other. ‘I think you would be better worth to me alive.’ He stops pacing to stand in front of Sonic again. ‘Why don’t you join me?’

Sonic scoffs with a rough laugh. “Are you serious? You have to be kidding me, right?”

Mephiles raises an eyebrow. ‘I can assure you that this is no jest. And I can guarantee you will be much better off if you agree.’

	“Hell no,” Sonic says immediately.

	Mephiles shakes his head again and looks to the sky. ‘I was afraid that would be your answer.’ He looks to the other hedgehog again. ‘Though, I guess it was naive of me to think you would join me so easily.’ He huffs out a breath. ‘Fine, let us fight if we must.’

	Sonic readies himself for Mephiles to attack, but he wasn’t prepared for two clones to appear and restrain him. Mephiles watches, having made no move of his own.

	“Hey, what happened to a fair fight!?” The blue hedgehog growls, glaring harshly at the shadow being.

	Mephiles chuckles darkly as he shifts to his crystalline form. His mouth filled with sharp teeth stretches into a wide grin. “Foolish creature.” He advances to where Sonic is being restrained until he is right in front of him. “I never said that I would fight fair.” He then thrusts out a hand, wrapping it around the blue hero’s throat. His clones release their holds on Sonic as Mephiles lifts him from the ground.

	Sonic chokes, gasping for the air that he is being denied. He reaches up to grasp fruitlessly at the clawed hand around his neck. He can see spots clouding his vision and it’s only a moment or two before everything goes dark.

	“Ugh! There’s just no end to them!” The red echidna growls as he punches back another clone. He looks over his shoulder to see how the others were fairing. They seemed to be in similar situations, each battling their own group of clones. Shadow keeps the clones at bay with raw strength and Chaos force, while Silver is throwing them around and knocking them into each other with his telekinesis.

	“Ahhh!”

	Knuckles whips his gaze around as he hears Tails let out a cry for help. Ignoring the group of clones he’s fighting at the moment, he goes to the young fox’s aid. He spots Tails not too far off from where he is. Three clones are closing in on the young genius. Knuckles leaps high into the air and signals for Tails to jump. He smashes down onto the ground in front of the clones with an intense force, knocking them all several feet back.

	Knuckles looks up to where Tails is hovering. “You alright?”

	The young fox softly lands next to the echidna. He seems unharmed. “I’m good, thanks Knuckles.”

	Knuckles gives him a nod before returning his eyes to the field. It looks like the clones are… disappearing? He looks to Shadow and Silver who look just as confused as he does.

	“Where’s Sonic?” 

	At Tails’ question, the other three seemed to notice that the blue hedgehog isn’t anywhere to be found.

	“The Faker must have gone ahead. That idiot.” Shadow mumbles the last bit under his breath. He takes off in the direction that Silver said Mephiles would be, Silver not too far behind.

	“Damn it, that dumbass is going to get himself killed.” Knuckles shakes his head as he follows the two hedgehogs, Tails trailing behind him.

	But, when they get there. There’s no one. The field is vacant of any other beings.

	“Huh?” Tails questions quietly, looking around as if he had missed them somehow.

	Shadow turns to the ivory hedgehog, eyes narrowed. “I thought you said he would be here?”

	Silver shakes his head in confusion. “That’s what he said. I don’t know where he could be.” He frowns, thinking back to the conversion he had with the shadow hedgehog. Had he misheard him?

	“But if he’s not here, where’s Sonic?” Tails says worriedly.

	Knuckles sees something peculiar in the distance. “Has that castle always been there?”

	Silver turns to where the echidna is pointing. “No, it hasn’t…”

	“Do you think Sonic’s in there?” Tails questions.

	“Only one way to find out.” Shadow heads off to the castle with the others trailing him.

	The room was lit with a purple flame that reflected off the dark stone walls, illuminating the room. The room was mostly barren, the throne that sat in the middle being the only piece of furniture. Mephiles entered the room, a downtrodden hedgehog following close at his heels. He takes a seat and calls the hedgehog to his side. The hedgehog trots forward, kneeling next to the shadow being’s legs obediently.

	The hedgehog purrs as he is pet by his master, nuzzling affectionately into his clawed hand.

	“I think I prefer you better this way,” Mephiles says with a grin. “Much quieter and… vulnerable.” He pulls away from the hedgehog, reclining into his seat. “I wonder how long it will take your foolish friends to get here,” he mused to himself. He turns to Sonic, who stares at him unblinkingly. A thought comes to mind that causes him to snicker. “In the meantime,” he grips the influenced hedgehog under the chin, “why don’t we have a little fun, you and I?”

Sonic makes no response to Mephiles’ words and continues to stare at him.

Mephiles narrows his eyes with a huff. “You are rather dull now, aren’t you? No matter.” He snaps his fingers and a collar materializes into his palm. A shiny green gem dangles from the black leather, gleaming in the firelight. He loops it around Sonic’s neck, clipping it snugly in place. He taps the gem when he’s finished, making it sway.

“Do you like your new collar, pet?” The shadow being pets the blue hero between the ears again, making him preen. Sonic nods happily as he purrs. Mephiles leans back in his seat again. “Excellent. Continue being a good pet and I shall reward you.” Raising a hand, he summons a clone to his side. “Keep an eye on those pitiful creatures.”

Saying nothing, the clone leaves to do as told. As the echoing of its steps on the stone floor fade, the room becomes quiet again. After a moment of deliberation, Mephiles stands from his throne.

“Come, pet,” he says, calling the blue hedgehog to stand beside him. “I think this castle needs a little… redecoration.”

“Okay, what the fuck?”
	
	Tails’ eyes widen at the sudden outburst from his friend. “Knuckles?”

	The red echidna shakes his head with a huff. “I’m sorry, but am I the only one here wondering how this bastard made a castle out of thin air?”

	“And it’s not just an illusion either.” Silver raps his knuckles on the wall for emphasis. He then pushes at the door to try to get it open. “Door’s pretty sturdy too.”

	Knuckles rolls his shoulders as he approaches the door. “Stand back. I’ll just break the door down.” He winds up his arm for a punch. He throws a straight jab at the door. There’s a dull ringing resounding from inside the castle but the door doesn’t budge. Knuckles feels a tremble go up his arm and through his body from the force of his punch. He falls backward onto his rear. It’s like the door absorbed his punch and pushed it back onto him.

“Knuckles are you okay?” Tails runs up to him and helps him stand.

Knuckles brushes off the worried genius. “I’m fine. That door’s tougher than it looks.” He’s a little miffed that he was bested by a freaking door.

Shadow huffs and steps up the door next. “Maybe your brutish strength isn't the answer.”

The echidna glares at the dark hedgehog. “What did you say?!”

Shadow ignores Knuckles in favor of charging up his own attack. He throws his glance at them. He cautions, “out of the way unless you want to die.” He barely gives them time to back away before hucking his fully charged Chaos Spear at the door.

The energy blast makes a loud booming sound as it makes contact with the door, leaving smoke in its wake. When the smoke clears, they can see that the door is still in one piece, barely a scratch on it.

Silver gives the door a long look before turning to Shadow. “Uh, it didn’t work…”

Shadow growls under his breath, turning a piercing glare to the ivory hedgehog. “Shut it, you incel. I can see that.” He throws a low-powered Chaos Spear at Silver, knocking him back.

Knuckles shakes his head with a sigh. “That’s Shadow for you,” he says loud enough for only Tails to hear. “He can talk big but can’t back it up.” This gets a chuckle out of the young fox before he straightens up and gets serious.

Tails bring a hand to his chin as he thinks. “I wonder if the castle is linked to Mephiles somehow?”

“What do you mean?” Silver dusts himself off, throwing a mean look in Shadow’s direction.

“If we can’t force our way in,” the fox starts, eyeing the door. “Maybe we have to gain access.”

Knuckles scoffs. “What? You want us to knock on the door and ask that psycho to let us in?”

“Actually…” Silver’s eyes are trained on the figure standing on one of the towers of the castle. “I think that’s exactly what we have to do.”

Mephiles contemplates the look of the room. With a wave of his hand, the empty space is turned into a bedroom. A large canopy bed and a closet and dresser, for aesthetics mostly, appear in the room, colored a deep black with gold accents. There’s a chandelier high on the ceiling, bathing the room in a light purple hue.

The shadow being gives the room a once over, nodding his head as he is pleased by the look of it. “Ah, almost forgot.” He snaps his fingers and a cage appears next to the bed. “Misbehaved pets don’t get to sleep on the bed.” He casts a look at Sonic, who just tilts his head in response. Mephiles rolls his eyes with a scoff. He sits on the bed. “Come.” He snaps his fingers again, pointing to the spot between his legs.

Sonic, not wanting to be punished, scrambles to his master, kneeling in the spot indicated. He looks up at the shadow hedgehog, waiting for his next command. Mephiles cups his face between his hands and he nuzzles his cheek into his palm.

“Aren’t you a good boy?” Mephiles coos at the blue hedgehog, making him purr as the praise. “A very good pet.” He strokes his thumb over Sonic’s cheek. “Perhaps you deserve a reward…” He thinks for a moment before remembering something. “It seems like you had… relations… with that other hedgehog. Is that something you desire?”

At the mention of Shadow, Sonic’s expression seemed to sadden. Mephiles takes note of this reaction.

“I see.” The shadow hedgehog says mostly to himself. He leans forward and presses his nose against the blue hedgehog’s quickly before pulling away. Sonic looks at him questioningly at the action. As if knowing what the hero is thinking, he says, “his memories are my memories. Though, my feelings are my own.” He pets the hedgehog under his chin, making him purr again. “I will make you mine.”