The Gang's All Here

16: Dark Chaos (Let Me Explain)

Everything was set.

Mephiles and Fleetway felt that they owed Silver for reuniting them. Silver said that, in return, they had to promise that they wouldn't cause unnecessary harm to anyone and had to help set up the party.

The two already weren't concerned with harming anyone, and they were efficient when working together, so things were finished quickly.

Once they were done, Sonic badly wanted to kick Mephiles and Fleetway out of his house. But, by this point, Scourge now wanted to attend the party with his old friends. Sonic felt that he had to let them stay.

The things you do for love.

Soon, Silver realized something: "Hey, when people arrive for the party, how do you think they'll respond to seeing Mephiles and Fleetway?"

Sonic and Shadow thought. "Well, I don't know about the tall guy, but they won't like seeing Mephiles." Shadow answered.

Sonic looked at Fleetway, who was cuddling with Mephiles on the couch. Mephiles was laying on Fleetway's chest, talking quietly but excitedly about something. Smiling, Fleetway was holding Mephiles close to him, listening to whatever Mephiles was rambling about.

From far away, Fleetway just looked like someone's giant, lovey-dovey boyfriend. But any stranger that got a really good look at him would be afraid of him.

"I don't know." Sonic finally answered. "They'll definitely be scared of Fleetway at first sight, but hopefully nobody remembers what he's done."

Scourge spoke up. "Actually, if we just need it so that no one recognizes them, that's an easy fix."

Silver, Shadow, and Sonic were intrigued. "How exactly would we disguise them?" Shadow asked.

Scourge walked over to Fleetway and Mephiles. He whispered something to them, and they both nodded.

Scourge walked back to the other three, smiling.

Sonic asked, "So... What was that?"

"You'll see. Watch them."

Everyone watched as Fleetway stood up, and Mephiles (who was a foot shorter than Sonic, two feet shorter than Fleetway) stood on the couch.

"Pfft. Short." Fleetway joked, hugging Mephiles.

"Pfft. Cuddler." Mephiles said, hugging him back.

As their eyes glowed red and their hug became tighter and impossibly tighter, a bright light flashed.

When the room lighting returned to normal, everyone besides Scourge was surprised.

Where Fleetway and Mephiles once stood was a strong-looking hedgehog with light gray quills, pale blue-green stripes, red snake eyes, and a peach muzzle.

Scourge turned to everyone. "Everyone, this is Dark Chaos. D.C. for short."

The three hedgehogs stood, still shocked.

"Well? No comments?" The new figure said after sliding their long purple tongue over their sharp teeth.

Shadow excused himself to the bathroom.

"This is amazing. How did you two... 'combine' your bodies?" Silver asked.

"For years, neither of us could understand, we just did this as we pleased. Mephiles pondered it and may have an explanation: we assume you remember Iblis?"

Silver and Sonic nodded. Scourge, also listening, had no clue who his friend/s were talking about.

"Iblis was originally Mephiles's other half. Mephiles is the form of darkness and cunning, Iblis was the form of raw strength and power. In simpler terms, Mephiles was the 'brains' of the two, Iblis was the 'brawns'. Since Fleetway's body is entirely made up of chaos energy, another raw energy, it was easy for us to merge our physical forms."

"Wait," Silver interrupted. "If you two... 'merged' yourselves, wouldn't you be more unstable than before?"

"Actually, no. Apparently darkness and chaos energy don't naturally repel each other. In fact, they cancel each other out into a neutral energy form,"

D.C. pointed to themselves,

"what this form is made up of, and becomes more stable. The raw energy Fleetway is made up of negatively affects his mind, and Mephiles's own dark matter constantly leaves him cold and feeling lonely. Us being together feels better mentally and physically."

Sonic became curious. "I'm asking Mephiles this: who was better to be with? Iblis or Fleetway?"

"Fleetway. By a lot. Iblis was much, much stronger than Fleetway. He also had violent tendencies, which Mephiles respected. However, all Iblis ever wanted was to destroy whatever he saw. He didn't have any pleasant feelings for anything or anyone, no matter how hard Mephiles tried to get him to see the good in things. Iblis was stronger, but Fleetway was always nicer, more interesting, and much better company."

D.C. blushed a bit. "Along with that, Fleetway clearly saw Mephiles as more than a tool for power. He was protective and caring, where Iblis would've abandoned Mephiles if he didn't need him. After being exposed to Fleetway's affection, Mephiles didn't really want to spend any time with Iblis and his neglect."

Scourge noticed D.C.'s cheeks blushing magenta. "Why ya blushing?"

"That's mostly Fleetway. He's flattered."