The Dark Knight
Chapter 2
The Base

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Forgive me if I'm a little bit shaken, since I have been through quite a lot in the past few days. Quite a lot is as in the fact I am alive at all, when I had intended to perish once I had kept the promise I made with a rare angel who died so long ago. I couldn't relax if my life depended on it, for I am confused beyond belief and disheartened since I am still on this very planet I wished to leave behind for good, along with the suffering and loneliness I have endured for so many years.

So many thoughts and details are flitting through my mind at a dizzying rate that they cause me to shut down completely, consuming my time and effort when I wish it all would just... disappear. That certainly isn't helped by the fact Eggman has kept me in an ice-cube for the past two years, after finding me still alive somehow after I was sure I was as good as dead, the very moment I had kept a promise and felt I had nothing more to live for.

But Eggman is a scientist. As a scientist at heart, he of course has downloaded many tests data from the ARK secret mainframe so that he may know more about my development. I apparently fascinate him for some reason I can't understand.

What he intends to do with me, I have no clue. Why I am here, I have no clue... And so I am honestly frightened for good reason. Trapped like a frightened animal in his one of many secret labs, being prodded and toyed with day in and day out as if I was his guinea pig. Blood tests, endurance tests, tests of strength, stamina, combat, and speed. Physical tests. Tests of memory, intelligence, creativity, personality, and trauma follow closely behind. Psychological tests.

Needless to say, this testing provides me no welcomed comfort. But the doctor could care less, and his tests continue at full steam without relent. The blood tests alone have drained a great amount of my strength, making something as simple as a flight of stairs a punishing ordeal. I kept count, and roughly one liter of blood has been drawn in the past day. But the doctor is no idiot about blood. He must provide me with plentiful food and water to nourish my starved body and wait for two months before drawing that much again, lest he render me defenseless, or worse, dead.

Why does he keep me alive? I was ready to leave this world once and for all, my purpose was fulfilled! Confusion compounded with frustration and disappointment, I am mentally exhausted as well as physically, the latter from so many damned tests and so much blood having been drawn from my veins.

Can I not simply end it all here and now? If I try, will I be stopped again? Then why do I hesitate to do so? What's holding me back from ending my grief? I feel as if a well deserved rest has been stolen from me, but now it is in my grasp again why must I hesitate like this? I am on the brink of bursting into tears, pushing myself over the edge and to my end. But I am being held back. Held back? By what! What the Hell could possibly be enough to hold me back, keep me alive and pushing onwards even as I have already finished the godforsaken marathon?

Being confined as I am has taken a toll on my morale. I didn't even know how long I was confined until somehow I got a robot I spoke with to spill that fact, thanks to its realistic artificial intelligence. How many days ago was that? Does it even matter? If two years have passed, what happened to the others? Are they the reason? Are they the reason I can't end it all, the reason I am here right now? Are they alive? If so, do they even know I am here? And if they did, would they even care about my fate? Why would they bother to rescue me?

I have so many questions and no way to answer them. I have so many pains and no way to soothe, no way to silence my torment and inner turmoil. I crossed my arms and sighed as I glanced down at the cold, damp floor of my cell. The silence was so complete, it was almost burdensome, and it had weight pushing down on my chest, coupled with my anxiety from being trapped in such a confined space.

I was far underground, at the very bottom of a base that extended hundreds of meters into the ground, with massive complexes, sectors, and levels littering every which part of it, every corner. I could almost mentally feel the weight of the rock above that trapped me there.

Without warning the one and only door before me was blown clear of its hinges with two loud blasts. The suddenness of it all caused me to jump a foot. The door fell unceremoniously with a loud bang that caused the entire room to vibrate like a bell, making my toes tingle with the resulting impact. In the darkness, smoke from the chaos obscured my vision, and the only thought in mind was "What will he do to me now?" I expected an attack to follow, but nothing happened. No shots were fired, no missiles launched, no egg pawns charged in with guns at the ready.

I stood guard expecting an ambush once I relaxed and became vulnerable, so I wanted to avoid presenting the chance. A moment passed before light footsteps tapped their way into my prison and a shape formed from within the smoke. Something, or someone stood before me, with large prominent ears flicking to the side, and a pair of bushy tails silently swept about. A curious, young voice called out like a lost child calling for its parent.

"Shadow?" I was dumbstruck. Relief, hope, and confusion filled my mind completely. The fox? What was his name?

"Tails? What the Hell are you--" Before I could finish my sentence, the young kitsune pulled me by the arm out of what had been my private tomb with surprising force.

"No time to explain! We have to get outta here!" We made a sprint down the cold, dark hallways that were no more inviting than the cell in which I was held before. A dusty floor of cold cement was surrounded by colder walls of solid steel, presenting an environment that was both cold and hostile, not unlike the person who controlled the entire base. I would have been lost down here in such an unfamiliar place, but apparently the fox had figured things out. I followed him without delay.

By the time we reached a stairwell, I briefly paused to collect my breath after such a long run. This caused the boy alarm, and in the pale fluorescent light his deep blue eyes widened in shock.

"Shadow, what's wrong with you? You look sick. That wasn't a problem for me; that definitely shouldn't have been a burden for you."

"I know... Tails... the Doctor took... tests on... me..." I took a large gasp of air. "He took a blood test and I lost... a liter of blood... I don't feel that great."

The fox grimaced for an instant at the newly revealed complication, but tried to remain calm and not discourage me in my exhausted state.

"C'mon, Shadow. We can get through this, follow me." The kid grabbed my hand firmly and walked me, or more accurately, pulled me up the flight of stairs as I struggled to avoid falling on my back. No telling if I will see daylight ever again...