Chapter 11: Finding A Clue
They found a map half an hour later in one of the other buildings.
"Here we are," Shadow said. "Now...where should we go?"
Shadic looked at the map with a frown. "Maybe..."
He pointed to a place on the map.
"Looks good." Shadow gave him a pat on the back.
Shadic smiled. "Let's go."
They ran off in the direction Shadic had pointed to. When they got there, they looked around.
"Now what?" Shadow asked.
"Look around I guess."
"All right. Let's take a look."
They looked around the area.
"Any clues in here?" Shadic asked Shadow.
"None yet."
Shadic sighed. "What good are they if we can't find any?"
"It's supposed to be difficult. They can't just get handed to us."
"I know...but we haven't found any."
"We'll find something soon."
"I hope so," Shadic said. "I don't want to be stuck here."
"We won't be stuck here."
"You think so?"
Shadow nodded. "There's a way out."
"Good. Where is it?" Shadic asked.
"I don't know. We have to find it first."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's find it."
"What do you suppose it would look like?"
"Dunno," Shadic said. "We don't even know how many there are."
Shadow sighed. "This is a pain."
"It is. If only Sonic would give us a hint..."
"Hopefully we'll know it when we see it."
Shadic nodded, and they continued on. After a while they found themselves in another large empty room. "Where are we?" Shadic asked.
"I'm not sure."
Shadic sighed and looked around the room. "I don't see anything helpful in here either," Shadic said. A glow came from the other end of the room. "That wasn't there a few moments ago."
Both of them cautiously walked toward it. They reached the end and the glow stopped, revealing part of a map. Shadic picked it up. "Looks like part of a map..."
"A map?" Shadow asked. "Interesting..."
"Maybe it'll show us the way out."
Shadic nodded. "Most likely."
"Hopefully it won't take too long."
"We should tell Knuckles and Tails."
"Let's go look for them."
Shadic nodded and followed his father. For the next hour, the two ran into little more than monsters. They eventually reached Knuckles and Tails.
"There you are!" Shadic ran over once he saw them.
"Hey," Knuckles said. "Where have you two been?"
"Around."
"What happened to you?" Knuckles asked Shadow. "There are burns all over your body."
"An electric chair happened," Shadow said. "I'm fine now."
He smiled and looked at Knuckles. Shadic held up the piece of parchment. "We found a clue."
"Looks like part of a map."
"Most likely it is. We need to find the others."
"Did we see anything like that?" Knuckles asked Tails.
Tails nodded and brought out a piece of paper. "I think this might be one."
"How many more do we need?" Shadow asked.
"Won't know until we find more."
Knuckles was about to speak when Sonic appeared. The demon looked at them and grinned.
"What do you want?" Knuckles asked it.
"Just checking in," the demon said.
"Why?"
"A demon can't check in on his playmates?"
"How many more of these map pieces do we have to find?" Shadow asked.
"A few."
"Where are they?"
"Why would I simply tell you?"
Shadow frowned. "How much longer do we have here?"
"Plenty of time."
The demon vanished, and Shadow looked at the others. "We need to find the other two parts of the map."
"Who says there's only two?" Knuckles asked.
"The demon," Shadow told the echidna.
"I didn't hear him say anything about two." Knuckles crossed his arms. "That would be nice though."
"What do you think we should do, Tails?"
The fox smiled. "Look for the rest of the pieces, of course. We'll never get out if we don't."
"I agree," Shadic said.
"Any ideas where to start looking?"
"In different buildings, maybe?"
"Let's spilt up then. Be careful."
"I'll go with dad," Shadic said.
"We'll go this way," Knuckles said.
He and Tails left. Shadow looked at his son. "Where should we look first?"
Shadic shrugged. "Dunno. Maybe on one of the rides."
"The Ferris Wheel?" Shadow looked over in its direction. "The top is where I would hide a hint to the way out."
"Let's head there, then."
The two stared walking over to the Ferris Wheel.
Shadic looked at the burns on his father's body. "Do they hurt?"
"Not really."
"Alright. I'm just concerned."
Shadow looked at his son. "Concerned? About what?"
"You."
"I'm fine, son."
"I can't help it." Shadic looked down. "I already lost one of my fathers... I just don't want anything to happen to you too."
Tears started to fall down his face. He looked up at his father, and hugged him.
"You're not going to lose me." Shadow placed a hand on Shadic's back. "I can't be killed that easily."
"I know," Shadic said. "But you can still die...I don't want to lose you like I lost Silver or dad."
"You won't." Shadow placed a kiss on the top of Shadic's head. "You know how many people have tried that kind of crap on me?"
The teen hedgehog nodded and looked at his father, smiling. Shadow wiped Shadic's tears away and took his son's hand.
