I'm writing up a storm! Here we go!
Disclaimer: Whatever.
The three anthropomorphs, human and three Chao entered the pyramid. Straight ahead was a passage leading deeper into the pyramid. There was a tablet with writing in English on it. Shadow walked over to the tablet and read it out loud. "Greetings trespassers. Congratulations for making it this far. I must admit surprise that you made it through the ruins. However, the ruins I modified are nothing compared to the dangers within this base. If you are trying to get into my inner sanctum, you will first have to work your way through the long and arduous interior of this ancient pyramid. I have planted loads of timed switches, platforms, doors, and spinning maces all over the place. I have placed quite a few E-1000's throughout the interior, and have also hired the ghosts of tomb robbers to haunt and guard the place from which they tried to steal. If you somehow manage to get through the interior, you will have to find three keys before you can unlock the door to the pyramid's core and my inner sanctum. The keys are scattered throughout a place that I have aptly named the Death Chamber. And even if you get all the keys, you'll never defeat the Chamber's guardian! And Shadow, who I am sure is reading this, just in case you do get to the core, I have arranged a little surprise for you that will ensure you never reach my supply shuttle or teleporter. And if anyone else is with you, they'll die as well. Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha-" Shadow turned away. "He keeps laughing for twenty more lines of inscription." "So, what is our course of action?" asked Robotnik. "Simple. Amy already did her job by clearing the ruins for us. I'll pave the way through the interior of the base, and Knuckles can find the three keys." Said Shadow. "Hey, why do I have to find the keys?" protested Knuckles. "You're the world's greatest treasure hunter, aren't you? Just tweak your Emerald sense a little to pick up keys." Said Amy. Knuckles grumbled, but said nothing. Amy looked over at Shadow. "You'll be fine, won't you?" Shadow nodded. "Of course. Even if Snively did manage to whip up something really dangerous, it won't stop me. I promised to marry you, and I try to never break my promises, intentionally or accidentally. I trust you'll be able to follow me in the mech after I clear the way? Good. Here I go!" Shadow ran through the door, everyone waving goodbye to him.
Stage 8: Pyramid Cave. Mission: Infiltrate Snively's hidden base.
Shadow began the level, racing down a stone ramp. Most of the pyramid interior was dark, filled with platforms, pillars, and giant snake statues. There were also quite a few braziers scattered about. Most of the pillars had Snively's face on them, and his face logo was embossed on most of the floor tiles. The ramp ended in a gap, with a spring at the end. Shadow ran into the spring, launching up to the path above. He ran down the path and came to a big hourglass in front of a path leading to a blank wall. High atop the wall was a ledge with a sealed stone door. Several horizontal poles ran at differing heights along the path. Shadow kicked the hourglass. It flipped over and the door opened. As the sand in the hourglass trickled down the timepiece, the door slowly began to close. Shadow quickly bounced up to a pole and grabbed onto it, swinging around it. When he had built up enough speed, he let go, launching onto another pole. He swung from pole to pole until he finally landed on the ledge. He somersaulted beneath the door just before it could close. After going through a short corridor, he was back in the giant main chamber. The path ahead of him had two E-1000's on it. They didn't notice him yet. As Shadow was about to charge up a spindash and ram into them, a ghost appeared from behind and grabbed him. Surprised, Shadow accidentally called out, getting the attention of the robots. They took aim, ready to fire their dangerous missiles. Just as they were about to fire, Shadow backflipped, causing the surprised ghost to be in front. The robots fired, their missiles striking the ghost and causing it to vanish. Before the robots could try again, Shadow ran between them and destroyed the machines with a roundhouse kick. He continued down the path and came onto a platform with a hearth. Past the hearth was a gap, across which was the path. There were a couple of horizontal bars over the gap. Shadow ran around the hearth and jumped onto the first pole, swinging around and jumping to the next one, swinging from that and landing on the path. At the end of the path was a sheer cliff. An hourglass sat between the gap and the cliff. Shadow flipped the hourglass, causing several platforms to pop out of the cliff wall and slowly start to retract. Shadow ran over to the wall and jumped up the platforms, reaching the upper path before they were completely back in the wall. At the end of the path was another sealed door, with an hourglass right in front of him. Shadow activated the hourglass, then ran down the path and through the door with plenty of time to spare. He went down a short hallway and came back out in the main room. He walked up a ramp in front of him and onto a platform. A bridge led across to a ledge in front of a fairly high wall with no clear way to get up. On the ledge, standing at opposing ends, were two E-1000's. Shadow ran down the bridge, stopping right between the two robots. The machines targeted him. Shadow jumped up right as both robots fired their missiles, hitting and destroying each other. As he landed, he grinned at the stupidity of Snively's robots then thought about how to get up the wall. He curled into a ball and started bouncing up. After half a dozen bounces, he got on top of the wall. He continued down the path and came to an hourglass. The sealed door was pretty far down the path. Shadow hit the switch and ran like the wind down the path. He rolled under one door and found another one lowering in front of him. He somersaulted under that one as well, and the lowering one after that and the one after that as well, finally leaving the now-sealed corridor. Ahead of him was a long rail leading to the next path. He jumped onto the rail and grinded down it to the path. An E-1000 was waiting at the other end. Before he could run into the E-1000, Shadow jumped off the rail and Homing Attacked into the robot. He continued down the path, coming to a narrow bridge over a shallow pit with four swinging spiked balls. He came to a ramp with a sealed door at the top and an hourglass at the bottom. Shadow flipped the hourglass, curled up, and spun in place for a second or two, right before launching into a spindash and rolling up the ramp and through the door right before it could close. He went down a short hallway and came into a large sideways chamber with a huge sealed gate at the far end of the room. A circular pedestal lay right in front of the gate. It looked like something was meant to go there. Shadow looked down the length of the room and saw numerous white ledges and a small object guarded by ghosts. Shadow ran over to the end of the room, alerting the ghosts. The spectral goons rushed our dark hero. Shadow launched into a series of Homing Attacks, sending the ghosts to the afterlife, where they belonged. He grabbed the object they had been guarding, a small artifact or something. He took it back across the room and placed it on the pedestal. The gate opened, allowing him passage. He was once more back in the main chamber. A short path led to a pulley. Shadow walked forward and jumped onto the pulley and was elevated to a higher path. He jumped onto the path. At the far end was a sealed door with an hourglass in front of it. Shadow ran over, flipped the hourglass, and ran through the door and the short hallway after it. At the end was a narrow ledge over the dark abyss of the chamber's floor. He saw a chain of Beetles leading across the void to a platform. He Homing Attacked across the chain of Beetles, landing on the platform. He saw a pulley on the platform and grabbed it, lifting himself to another platform. He jumped onto the platform and saw a larger platform to his right with a hearth on it. He jumped to the hearth platform. He saw another hearth platform to his left, and jumped over to it. He saw another one straight ahead, and jumped to that hearth platform as well. He saw a pulley hanging a bit away from his current location. Shadow Homing Attacked onto the pulley and was raised to a platform. He jumped onto the platform and saw another chain of enemies. He Homing Attacked across the Beetles and fell after he had destroyed the last one, landing on a rail. He grinded down the rail, eventually stopping on a ledge with a pulley. He grabbed the pulley and was lifted to the top of a path. He jumped onto the path, noticing a switch right in front of him. He hit the switch, and some dash panels appeared before him. He ran onto the dash panels and down the hill, going into two loops and launching off a jump plate. He landed on a platform with a bloodthirsty E-1000 and a spring. He killed the robot and hit the spring, landing on a platform with an hourglass sitting in front of a wall. Shadow hit the hourglass and the wall lowered, then slowly started to creep back up. He jumped over the wall and down the path behind it, avoiding the large swinging maces in the way. He came to a shallow pit filled with more maces, and a rail going over the pit. He grinded across the rail and continued down the path, coming to a ramp with a sealed door at the top and an hourglass at the bottom. Shadow hit the hourglass and used a Spindash to get up to the top and through the next series of lowering doors before it was too late. He was now in another long sideways chamber, but this one was even bigger. There was another huge gate and pedestal, missing the key to open it. The gate and pedestal were on a sort of higher platform. Several smaller platforms formed a set of stairs to a courtyard below. Across the courtyard was a thick wall with a sealed door and no visible hourglass. A rail in front of some dash panels went over the wall, to a room behind it. Shadow ran over the dash plate and onto the rail, grinding across it and over the wall. The rail ended at a ledge, which Shadow jumped off on. He dropped to the room below and found himself surrounded by a group of E- 1000's. As they took aim, Shadow tensed his leg muscles, then jumped right as they fired, causing the robots to destroy each other. Landing, he looked around. He saw the artifact that would open the gate, an hourglass, and a corridor leading into the thick wall and ending in the sealed gate. Shadow hit the hourglass, grabbed the artifact, and ran down the hall. Finding he didn't have enough time to run through the door, and since he couldn't somersault while carrying the artifact, he threw the ancient key under the closing door, which closed right after. He ran back to the hourglass and flipped it over again, opening the door again. He ran through the hallway and somersaulted under the door before it closed. He picked up the relic, jumped up the stair platforms, and onto the gate platform. He put the artifact on the pedestal, opening the door. He went through the door and groaned. He was at the start of an incredibly huge, long and twisting tunnel. There were ghosts flying all around, unaware of his presence. There was an hourglass right ahead of him. He could not see the door, because it was all the way at the other end of the tunnel. Not even he could run fast enough to the door before it closed if the hourglass lasted the same amount of time as all the others. He studied the tunnel ahead, noting the vast number of ghosts. He suddenly had an idea. He walked right behind the hourglass and curled into a ball, spinning in place. At first it seemed like he was charging a spindash, but he kept on spinning, lights racing around his round form. Finally, he got up, glowing. "There's no time for games!" he yelled, before unleashing the Light Attack. A black and red ball leaving a trail of yellow light, Shadow flew through the air at the speed of light, tipping over the hourglass as he started moving. He spiraled through the air, killing every ghost as he automatically homed around the tunnel. He finally killed the last ghost, landing at the end of the tunnel, in front of a small pit, with the stone door slowly closing behind it. Shadow jumped over the pit and somersaulted under the door right before it closed. He got up and saw a tunnel ahead of him, leading to a set of stairs. Just before the stairs was the Goal Ring. Shadow grinned and leaped through the ring, ending the level.
(STAGE CLEAR. RANK A.)
Shadow radioed the others with a little communicator Robotnik had given him. They made their way through the Pyramid Cave, blasting through the doors instead of messing with the hourglasses. They rejoined Shadow at the stairs and went down to the next area.
Another level cleared! How was this for Shadow action? Stay tuned for the first Knuckles level since Wild Canyon! And please, please review!
The three anthropomorphs, human and three Chao entered the pyramid. Straight ahead was a passage leading deeper into the pyramid. There was a tablet with writing in English on it. Shadow walked over to the tablet and read it out loud. "Greetings trespassers. Congratulations for making it this far. I must admit surprise that you made it through the ruins. However, the ruins I modified are nothing compared to the dangers within this base. If you are trying to get into my inner sanctum, you will first have to work your way through the long and arduous interior of this ancient pyramid. I have planted loads of timed switches, platforms, doors, and spinning maces all over the place. I have placed quite a few E-1000's throughout the interior, and have also hired the ghosts of tomb robbers to haunt and guard the place from which they tried to steal. If you somehow manage to get through the interior, you will have to find three keys before you can unlock the door to the pyramid's core and my inner sanctum. The keys are scattered throughout a place that I have aptly named the Death Chamber. And even if you get all the keys, you'll never defeat the Chamber's guardian! And Shadow, who I am sure is reading this, just in case you do get to the core, I have arranged a little surprise for you that will ensure you never reach my supply shuttle or teleporter. And if anyone else is with you, they'll die as well. Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha-" Shadow turned away. "He keeps laughing for twenty more lines of inscription." "So, what is our course of action?" asked Robotnik. "Simple. Amy already did her job by clearing the ruins for us. I'll pave the way through the interior of the base, and Knuckles can find the three keys." Said Shadow. "Hey, why do I have to find the keys?" protested Knuckles. "You're the world's greatest treasure hunter, aren't you? Just tweak your Emerald sense a little to pick up keys." Said Amy. Knuckles grumbled, but said nothing. Amy looked over at Shadow. "You'll be fine, won't you?" Shadow nodded. "Of course. Even if Snively did manage to whip up something really dangerous, it won't stop me. I promised to marry you, and I try to never break my promises, intentionally or accidentally. I trust you'll be able to follow me in the mech after I clear the way? Good. Here I go!" Shadow ran through the door, everyone waving goodbye to him.
Stage 8: Pyramid Cave. Mission: Infiltrate Snively's hidden base.
Shadow began the level, racing down a stone ramp. Most of the pyramid interior was dark, filled with platforms, pillars, and giant snake statues. There were also quite a few braziers scattered about. Most of the pillars had Snively's face on them, and his face logo was embossed on most of the floor tiles. The ramp ended in a gap, with a spring at the end. Shadow ran into the spring, launching up to the path above. He ran down the path and came to a big hourglass in front of a path leading to a blank wall. High atop the wall was a ledge with a sealed stone door. Several horizontal poles ran at differing heights along the path. Shadow kicked the hourglass. It flipped over and the door opened. As the sand in the hourglass trickled down the timepiece, the door slowly began to close. Shadow quickly bounced up to a pole and grabbed onto it, swinging around it. When he had built up enough speed, he let go, launching onto another pole. He swung from pole to pole until he finally landed on the ledge. He somersaulted beneath the door just before it could close. After going through a short corridor, he was back in the giant main chamber. The path ahead of him had two E-1000's on it. They didn't notice him yet. As Shadow was about to charge up a spindash and ram into them, a ghost appeared from behind and grabbed him. Surprised, Shadow accidentally called out, getting the attention of the robots. They took aim, ready to fire their dangerous missiles. Just as they were about to fire, Shadow backflipped, causing the surprised ghost to be in front. The robots fired, their missiles striking the ghost and causing it to vanish. Before the robots could try again, Shadow ran between them and destroyed the machines with a roundhouse kick. He continued down the path and came onto a platform with a hearth. Past the hearth was a gap, across which was the path. There were a couple of horizontal bars over the gap. Shadow ran around the hearth and jumped onto the first pole, swinging around and jumping to the next one, swinging from that and landing on the path. At the end of the path was a sheer cliff. An hourglass sat between the gap and the cliff. Shadow flipped the hourglass, causing several platforms to pop out of the cliff wall and slowly start to retract. Shadow ran over to the wall and jumped up the platforms, reaching the upper path before they were completely back in the wall. At the end of the path was another sealed door, with an hourglass right in front of him. Shadow activated the hourglass, then ran down the path and through the door with plenty of time to spare. He went down a short hallway and came back out in the main room. He walked up a ramp in front of him and onto a platform. A bridge led across to a ledge in front of a fairly high wall with no clear way to get up. On the ledge, standing at opposing ends, were two E-1000's. Shadow ran down the bridge, stopping right between the two robots. The machines targeted him. Shadow jumped up right as both robots fired their missiles, hitting and destroying each other. As he landed, he grinned at the stupidity of Snively's robots then thought about how to get up the wall. He curled into a ball and started bouncing up. After half a dozen bounces, he got on top of the wall. He continued down the path and came to an hourglass. The sealed door was pretty far down the path. Shadow hit the switch and ran like the wind down the path. He rolled under one door and found another one lowering in front of him. He somersaulted under that one as well, and the lowering one after that and the one after that as well, finally leaving the now-sealed corridor. Ahead of him was a long rail leading to the next path. He jumped onto the rail and grinded down it to the path. An E-1000 was waiting at the other end. Before he could run into the E-1000, Shadow jumped off the rail and Homing Attacked into the robot. He continued down the path, coming to a narrow bridge over a shallow pit with four swinging spiked balls. He came to a ramp with a sealed door at the top and an hourglass at the bottom. Shadow flipped the hourglass, curled up, and spun in place for a second or two, right before launching into a spindash and rolling up the ramp and through the door right before it could close. He went down a short hallway and came into a large sideways chamber with a huge sealed gate at the far end of the room. A circular pedestal lay right in front of the gate. It looked like something was meant to go there. Shadow looked down the length of the room and saw numerous white ledges and a small object guarded by ghosts. Shadow ran over to the end of the room, alerting the ghosts. The spectral goons rushed our dark hero. Shadow launched into a series of Homing Attacks, sending the ghosts to the afterlife, where they belonged. He grabbed the object they had been guarding, a small artifact or something. He took it back across the room and placed it on the pedestal. The gate opened, allowing him passage. He was once more back in the main chamber. A short path led to a pulley. Shadow walked forward and jumped onto the pulley and was elevated to a higher path. He jumped onto the path. At the far end was a sealed door with an hourglass in front of it. Shadow ran over, flipped the hourglass, and ran through the door and the short hallway after it. At the end was a narrow ledge over the dark abyss of the chamber's floor. He saw a chain of Beetles leading across the void to a platform. He Homing Attacked across the chain of Beetles, landing on the platform. He saw a pulley on the platform and grabbed it, lifting himself to another platform. He jumped onto the platform and saw a larger platform to his right with a hearth on it. He jumped to the hearth platform. He saw another hearth platform to his left, and jumped over to it. He saw another one straight ahead, and jumped to that hearth platform as well. He saw a pulley hanging a bit away from his current location. Shadow Homing Attacked onto the pulley and was raised to a platform. He jumped onto the platform and saw another chain of enemies. He Homing Attacked across the Beetles and fell after he had destroyed the last one, landing on a rail. He grinded down the rail, eventually stopping on a ledge with a pulley. He grabbed the pulley and was lifted to the top of a path. He jumped onto the path, noticing a switch right in front of him. He hit the switch, and some dash panels appeared before him. He ran onto the dash panels and down the hill, going into two loops and launching off a jump plate. He landed on a platform with a bloodthirsty E-1000 and a spring. He killed the robot and hit the spring, landing on a platform with an hourglass sitting in front of a wall. Shadow hit the hourglass and the wall lowered, then slowly started to creep back up. He jumped over the wall and down the path behind it, avoiding the large swinging maces in the way. He came to a shallow pit filled with more maces, and a rail going over the pit. He grinded across the rail and continued down the path, coming to a ramp with a sealed door at the top and an hourglass at the bottom. Shadow hit the hourglass and used a Spindash to get up to the top and through the next series of lowering doors before it was too late. He was now in another long sideways chamber, but this one was even bigger. There was another huge gate and pedestal, missing the key to open it. The gate and pedestal were on a sort of higher platform. Several smaller platforms formed a set of stairs to a courtyard below. Across the courtyard was a thick wall with a sealed door and no visible hourglass. A rail in front of some dash panels went over the wall, to a room behind it. Shadow ran over the dash plate and onto the rail, grinding across it and over the wall. The rail ended at a ledge, which Shadow jumped off on. He dropped to the room below and found himself surrounded by a group of E- 1000's. As they took aim, Shadow tensed his leg muscles, then jumped right as they fired, causing the robots to destroy each other. Landing, he looked around. He saw the artifact that would open the gate, an hourglass, and a corridor leading into the thick wall and ending in the sealed gate. Shadow hit the hourglass, grabbed the artifact, and ran down the hall. Finding he didn't have enough time to run through the door, and since he couldn't somersault while carrying the artifact, he threw the ancient key under the closing door, which closed right after. He ran back to the hourglass and flipped it over again, opening the door again. He ran through the hallway and somersaulted under the door before it closed. He picked up the relic, jumped up the stair platforms, and onto the gate platform. He put the artifact on the pedestal, opening the door. He went through the door and groaned. He was at the start of an incredibly huge, long and twisting tunnel. There were ghosts flying all around, unaware of his presence. There was an hourglass right ahead of him. He could not see the door, because it was all the way at the other end of the tunnel. Not even he could run fast enough to the door before it closed if the hourglass lasted the same amount of time as all the others. He studied the tunnel ahead, noting the vast number of ghosts. He suddenly had an idea. He walked right behind the hourglass and curled into a ball, spinning in place. At first it seemed like he was charging a spindash, but he kept on spinning, lights racing around his round form. Finally, he got up, glowing. "There's no time for games!" he yelled, before unleashing the Light Attack. A black and red ball leaving a trail of yellow light, Shadow flew through the air at the speed of light, tipping over the hourglass as he started moving. He spiraled through the air, killing every ghost as he automatically homed around the tunnel. He finally killed the last ghost, landing at the end of the tunnel, in front of a small pit, with the stone door slowly closing behind it. Shadow jumped over the pit and somersaulted under the door right before it closed. He got up and saw a tunnel ahead of him, leading to a set of stairs. Just before the stairs was the Goal Ring. Shadow grinned and leaped through the ring, ending the level.
(STAGE CLEAR. RANK A.)
Shadow radioed the others with a little communicator Robotnik had given him. They made their way through the Pyramid Cave, blasting through the doors instead of messing with the hourglasses. They rejoined Shadow at the stairs and went down to the next area.
Another level cleared! How was this for Shadow action? Stay tuned for the first Knuckles level since Wild Canyon! And please, please review!