Luff: Hello and welcome to our next episode!

S. Chensu: Oh, it's so exciting, isn't it?

Luff: Err...

S. Chensu: Just get on with it!

Luff: Okay okay! First of all, reviewer replies!

RichaCo- Don't worry, a bit more will be revealed this chapter! But, this episode is not Knuckles' episode! No! Oh well. Please enjoy this one until it gets put up!

Yugi and Mai- Yeah, we're sorry for confusing you, but hey, we're humans! It can't be helped. And yes, we are sure this episode is about Shadow and Sonic! No lies this time! Promise! -;

S. Chensu: Now, disclaimer! We do not own Sonic or any of the other characters apart from Shaylea and Kensa, and also the Arcs! Well, we own the name. He he!

Luff: Right, on with the episode!

Episode twenty-one: Questions and answers...maybe

He could see a dark room, but nothing else. As a light slowly formed in what could only be the middle, he knew he didn't want to know what was about to appear. He tried to run, but couldn't. As the creature materialised, he screamed in pure terror. It leapt forward, knocking him over...

Shadow woke up with a start, breathing heavily as he looked around the room. He looked over to where Sonic was and saw that he was still asleep. It was just then that he remembered where he was and he ran through the events of yesterday (If it was. There were no windows so he couldn't be sure), pondering on where Shaylea and Kensa had appeared from. And not only that, but also where they were now and how come no one seemed to know about this place.

As he continued to try and find answers to his questions from what had happened so far, he became aware of something at the bottom. Looking down he saw Gregg staring up at them, frowning as he seemed to be thinking about something too. However, because Shaylea and Kensa had still not come back from their trip he wasn't able to get to their level. Trying to move forward a bit, Shadow also realised that they had put the chain back around his ankle. He leant against the bars and the metal felt hot against his skin. Remembering how they had been treated yesterday, Shadow hoped he hadn't been damaged permanently. He did feel slightly crispy and for a moment, he thought his brains had been in a liquidiser.

Feeling tired and weak, he wrapped himself up in his blanket and closed his eyes. Instantly, the images from his dream came back to him and he wondered if the creature was the thing he had to face. He couldn't see what it looked like, he only knew that it was very large and it didn't seem to have a specific shape, like a shape shifter. He suddenly thought that this creature might be the boss of this prison and that this 'Book of Knowledge' supposedly predicted Sonic and Shadow's appearance. Maybe Shaylea and Kensa had captured them for this specific reason.

But that can't be right... Shadow thought. They were told to capture us... Maybe this boss person knows about the book too and is wondering whether Sonic and me are the right people. After all, we're meant to cause his downfall. He turned over, trying to get comfortable when he heard someone hissing something.

"Hey Shadow, are you awake?" It was Sonic and wondering how long he had been awake for, Shadow sat up.

"Yes I am, I've been awake for some time." He decided at that point that he wasn't going to tell Sonic about the dream.

"Do you think they're going to release us anytime soon?" He asked.

"Does it look like it?" Shadow indicated the chain around his ankle. Sonic saw his too and sighed.

"No is the answer to that one. I thought they trusted us not to escape." He sounded put out.

"I don't think it's that. It's probably just in case someone else comes along to check up on us. It would ruin their plans if something went wrong." Shadow commented.

"We don't even know their plan is yet! They attack us totally unprovoked, then they enrol us in something we don't know anything about and now they've gone off somewhere." Sonic paused. "That was after they put us to sleep of course."

"They'll tell us what's going on but if you keep ranting and raging like that then they won't. Just have a bit of patience."

"That's easy for you to say, you've been asleep for fifty years! I hate waiting, you can't get anything done. We shouldn't be sitting here, we should be doing something!"

"I was /imprisoned/ for fifty years, not asleep." Shadow said coldly. "We don't know anything about this place, if we tried to do something we would just get Shaylea, Kensa and Gregg into trouble."

"They've got /us/ into trouble! If, as they say, the others have gone looking for us then they could get hurt or killed! It may not matter to you but Tails and Knuckles are my close friends. They mean a lot to me, we've always worked together and I don't want to lose them because you're happy to wait here." Sonic shouted.

"Fine then, you break that chain and the door. Then jump down to the floor, walk through the door and find them." Shadow crossed his arms and glared at Sonic. "It's that simple. It's also that simple to get /yourself/ hurt or killed." Sonic turned away from him.

"All right, all right! You made your point, happy now?" He spat.

Shadow rolled his eyes and looked down, trying to see if Gregg was still there. He was and Shadow smiled.

"Gregg, when are Shaylea and Kensa coming back?" He was extremely perplexed when he heard the reply.

"Shut up you miserable little bugs!" He yelled, waving his scythe at them. He seemed to be signalling something.

"What?" Shadow said quietly.

"That's right, you bugs! No more Mr Nice Guy!" He yelled again.

"Why does he keep calling us bugs?" Sonic had come out of his stress and he was looking from Shadow to Gregg.

"I think he's trying to signal something." Shadow muttered. Sonic stared for a few more moments before leaning down.

"Gregg, are you trying to say that this place is bugged?" He asked.

"Yes, you're right there!" He snarled.

"Bugged?" Shadow thought for a moment. "It's not the place that's bugged, it's him! It must be something that keeps track of his voice but ignore everything else..."

"So he can't help us escape!" Sonic added.

"Yes, that's right... We'd better not say anything to him then, in case he says something he shouldn't by accident." Shadow decided. Sonic nodded his head in agreement.

"I've just suddenly thought Shadow, what if he's not the only thing bugged? He might not know if we're bugged too." He fell silent.

"And if we are..."

"Then we might have already ruined the plan." He whispered.

"But surely if we have then someone would have come to kill us by now. And wouldn't Shaylea and Kensa know?"

"How can we be sure we can trust them? They might have acted like that just to try and get our sympathy." Sonic commented.

"We'll have to confront them when they get back then." Shadow said.

"If we get the chance." Sonic said gloomily.

Just then, the door burst open and Shaylea and Kensa ran in. They seemed extremely alarmed about something.

"What's happened?" Gregg asked.

"Arcs! We don't have time to explain, we have to hurry!" Kensa said quickly while Shaylea flew up and took their blankets forcibly.

"I'm sorry about this, we'll explain afterwards...if we survive." She put them back in the cupboard and while Kensa put an illusion over it, Shaylea put all of the torches out. Suddenly plunged into darkness, Sonic and Shadow became disorientated but their other senses improved to make up for it. They heard a group of creatures stomp in and after a few moments, the room was flooded in light again.

They looked down and saw what could only be Arcs. They were like pigs but they walked on two legs and were black. They had huge tusks and were extremely ugly, covered in piercings and stitches. They carried swords, which could be lengthened into lances, depending on the situation. They wore boots and trousers but their chests were bare, allowing them to display the tattoos and scars they had gained over the years. Some of them were eyeing up Shaylea and Kensa in a way that made them extremely uncomfortable but Kensa held her trident slightly in front of her to keep them away.

At first, Shadow and Sonic couldn't make out what they were saying. It appeared to just be grunting and slobbering but after a while, they could make out the words they were saying.

"At least you kept them in the dark." The leader of the Arcs, a particularly large and warty specimen muttered. "How have you been treating them?" Shaylea was trembling slightly and refused to say anything so Kensa had to answer.

"Poorly, what else do you expect?" Her voice had once again become cold, like the first time she had talked to them.

"Then you won't mind us looking at them?" The leader took a couple of steps forward and turned back. "I hope they haven't been touched, for your sake." Kensa tensed slightly, remembering that they had been burnt badly. She pushed past the creature and a flash of anger passed its eyes but it stopped when it remembered the trident Kensa carried.

"Shaylea, take us up please." Before the Arc could reach her, Shaylea had already sent Kensa up into the air on a chunk of ground. She reached Shadow and Sonic's height and knelt down to them. "Give me your hands please, this is important." They did so in silence and she closed her eyes. They could feel something travelling up their arms and realised that she was healing them. Soon all of their burns had gone and they looked down to the bottom, where the leader and Shaylea were having an argument.

"You were meant to take me up too! Something's fishy here... Bring her back down now!" He yelled.

"I can't, I need a break between moving the ground, it's hard work." She replied. Suddenly, a lance was pointed at her throat and she backed away until she reached the wall.

"Move it back now or I'll add this as an accessory to your already overdone body, you little we." It threatened.

"I can't, I've already told you. I don't have the energy to-" She stopped suddenly though when he jabbed her in the throat. She cried out in pain, stumbling forward. "Ok, ok! I need to be closer..." She whispered, feeling the blood trickling through her fingers. She took her time, seeing that Kensa had still not finished.

"Kensa, you've got to stop now!" Shadow hissed. She shook her head, straining as she tried to speed up the process.

"Just a few more minutes..." She murmured.

"No, stop now! It's going to kill her!" Sonic tried to get free of her grip but it was too tight.

"Wait..." By now, Shaylea was on her knees, weakened by the amount of blood she was losing. "I'm done." Kensa said softly, her eyes still closed. Hearing this, Shaylea moved the ground back down before slumping forward. The Arc walked over her as it made its way to where Kensa was. It held its lance out at her so she couldn't go past him and Shaylea shakily moved it back up again.

Sonic and Shadow found out something else about Arcs: their breath stank of rotting flesh. It looked closely at them, jabbing at them occasionally with its lance. Once it was satisfied with what it saw, it grunted loudly at Shaylea and it was eventually back on the ground again.

"Keep them here until we fetch them in a few days time. And don't touch them, get it?" Kensa nodded her head. "Come on then you lot." It shouted to the others and they walked out of the room.

As soon as they had gone, Kensa ran to Shaylea, tears in her eyes.

"Come on Shaylea, you can't be dead." She pleaded and she turned to Gregg, who had appeared from the shadows. "Is she dead?" He stood by her and looked down.

"No, but she doesn't have long." He said sombrely.

"I don't have much energy left, I spent it all healing Shadow and Sonic." They looked at each other guiltily.

"Kensa..." Shaylea whispered hoarsely, opening her eyes.

"Shush, don't say anything." She turned to Gregg. "Get some of the blankets from the cupboard and rip them into bandages." He went and she looked up at Shadow and Sonic.

"Shadow, do you think there's a way we could give her some energy?" Sonic asked.

"I don't know." Shadow said, looking down.

"Kensa, you have to go to Sonic and Shadow. They can help you..." Shaylea said quietly.

"But how?"

"I will get you up there..."

"No, you don't have enough energy! It'll kill you!" Kensa shouted.

"Do it please...get Gregg here too..." Just as she said this, Gregg came back with a range of shredded blankets. The ground started rumbling and they rose up into the air until they were level with Sonic and Shadow. Shaylea's eyes closed and Kensa looked straight at the two hedgehogs.

"Will you two help me?" They nodded their heads in silence and Kensa opened the doors. "You will need to move into the same cage for the moment ok?" Sonic moved soundlessly out of his cage and soon he was with Shadow. Kensa lifted Shaylea into the now empty cage with ease and she took some of the blankets from Gregg, wrapping them around her wound, which was still bleeding.

"What about the rest?" Gregg asked.

"Give them to Sonic and Shadow. It might get a bit windy in here tonight..." She smiled at this while Gregg passed the remaining blankets to Sonic and Shadow. "You will have to give me your energy if I'm going to help Shaylea. You may feel a bit weak but hopefully you won't be knocked unconscious."

She placed her hands on their foreheads and where they had felt something entering them before, now they felt like liquid was being poured out of them. It didn't hurt though and they merely felt a bit dozy. Her hands left their foreheads and she moved to Shaylea, working quickly. As she did her work, she was explaining it to Sonic and Shadow, who looked on with interest.

"I need to make her stable or she might end up becoming one of her forms. After I've stopped the bleeding though..." She did both in a few minutes and covered her with a blanket. "There, she should recover quickly hopefully." She closed the door and sat down on the rock with Gregg. "Are you both ok? I tried to not take too much energy."

"Yeah, just a bit tired. A lot has happened though." Shadow said.

"Kensa, can you tell us about this place? So far, we don't know anything at all." Sonic requested.

"Basically, it was formed when the boss decided he needed a palace. He wasn't very strong at the time so he also used this place as a base to recruit more slaves. He created the Arcs to do his dirty work and keep the rest of us in check. I don't know how it happened but he's grown in power recently and wants to try and take over the world." Kensa explained.

"It's your basic power crazed, insane being story. For some strange reason though, he has no affect over humans..." Gregg added.

"Where are we though?" Sonic asked.

"We're underground. I'm not sure where exactly, we don't get told anything. When we captured you, it was the first time we had been above ground since we first came here. It made Shaylea happy, she got so excited about it. She really loves Earth..." Kensa stared at Shaylea sadly.

"And what about the Book of Knowledge? Where is it?" Shadow enquired.

"It's here, in Acumen. However, many Arcs guard the area it is in. You won't be able to visit it I'm afraid and it's too heavy to take here. Maybe if you defeat the boss then we will take you there." She saw that they were having trouble keeping awake. "Come on, you should get some rest now."

"Just one more thing..." Sonic said and she nodded her head. "Are our friends ok?"

"They've had a few shocks but they're not hurt. This place is a strange one and there are many outlandish areas of it. Some of the things they have and will see, they may think aren't possible. But they are. I will try to see how they are doing now..." She stood up and floated down to the ground, disappearing into the shadows.

"How will you get down Gregg?" Shadow asked.

"I'm a god strictly speaking so I cannot be hurt." He stood by the edge. "Now do as Kensa says and get some rest." He jumped down and faded away. Sonic and Shadow turned to each other.

"We may as well..." Shadow said and lying down, he closed his eyes. Sonic did the same but he found it harder to fall asleep.

Luff: Dun dun dun! What's going to happen next? More will be revealed in the next episode...

S. Chensu: Oh wow. Yes, the next episode will definitely have Knuckles in it!

Luff: And we're not joking this time! It is Knuckles!

S. Chensu: Yes. Anyway, please don't forget to read and review, as always, and the next episode will be up on Sunday 11th!

Luff: So, until then, goodbye! And see you next episode!

S. Chensu: Bye!