Chapter 7: Old Files
When I left off Knuckles and Shadow entered the restaurant and saw Blade the Mouse. He finished his pie and left but unfortunately, he didn't know about Nightmare City.
"So let's get some food and ask around while we're eating." Knuckles told Shadow.
Knuckles walked up to the counter to get a table. The man at the counter told them what table to go to. They got there and Shadow noticed how huge the restaurant was. Its walls were black and it had pictures of athletes and also trophies. Knux and Shad could tell that the trophies belonged to the owner of the restaurant.
A few minutes later their waiter came. He was a tall, brown armadillo wearing huge, thick glasses.
"Hey, I'll be your waiter for today. My name's Peterhamadilko. Just call me Pete. What would you like to drink today?"
"I'll take some Sprite." Knux said.
"I guess I'll get some Coke." Shad answered.
"Are you ready to order your food?" Pete asked.
"Nope." Knux said.
"Well then I'll be right back with your drinks."
Pete walked off and Knux asked Shad "Who should we ask first?"
"How about that family at the booth over there." Shadow pointed to a five person green parrot family at a nearby booth. The seats on the booth were blue.
"Okay." Knux said. "Hey, you parrots."
"What do you want?" The oldest one, who appeared to be the father, asked.
"Raaaawwwwwwk! Polly want a cracker." The one who appeared to be the wife said.
"Not now, Polly. I'm talking to that echidna over there." The dad said again.
"Raaaawwwwwwk! Okay." The wife said again.
"Okay, well, do you know anything about Nightmare City?" Knuckles asked the man.
"Nope. Sorry." The parrot said again.
"Alright."
Then Pete came back with the drinks.
"Are you ready to order your food yet?" Pete asked.
"I'll have the Salisbury steak and a side of ham." Knux said.
"And for you?" Pete asked Shad.
"Just get me some apple pie. It's good." Shad answered.
"Okie dokie. I'll be right back with your food. And I agree with you, apple pie is delicious!"
Pete walked away.
"So who should we ask now?" Knux asked Shad again.
"That spider over there."
"Hey, Mr. Spider!" Knux called the spider.
"What do you want?"
"Do you know anything about Nightmare City?"
"I've heard of it but I'm afraid I do not know where the secret entrance lies."
"Okay then Bye." Knux started talking to Shadow again. "So Shad, who should we ask now?"
"How about the waiter?"
"Good idea. We'll ask him when he gets back."
Just then the waiter came back.
"Wow you guys sure can cook fast." Knux complimented.
"Well we don't do it alone. We use a Nightmare Emerald. Those are like Chaos emeralds except from the alternate dimension of Nightmaronka. The only way to get to Nightmaronka is through Central City. There's a secret entrance somewhere here." Pete said as he handed them their food.
"What?" Shadow was in awe. "Where is the secret entrance! I must know now! I'm on a quest to figure out… I mean to save Sonic and friends from Dr. Eggman's brainwashing!"
"Figure out what, Shadow?" Knux asked. "Is there something you are not telling me? Well, I know there is because you won't tell me why you are helping me."
"Just never mind. So where is the entrance?" Shadow asked Pete quickly to change the subject.
"I don't know. It is not me who retrieves the emeralds. It is an old man. But he has recently disappeared. We only have one Nightmare Emerald in our possession but if we had more we could cook faster. The old man is the only one who knows how to get to that place in Central City. Others may but we only know he knows." Pete answered.
"Well we need to be leaving now. Do you know where the old man lives?" Shadow asked.
"Yeah he lives in the basement to this restaurant. I can give you two keys to go down there if you must."
"WE MUST!" Knux screamed as he grabbed the keys and ran.
So they entered the basement and saw no sign of the old man. It was dark and cobwebs were everywhere and it was dirty. The only clean thing was a computer in the center of the room.
"Let's check that computer." Shadow said as he signed on.
Shadow researched a bit more and read files. "There seems to be a camera system. Let's check it for the last time the old man was signed on."
Shadow tried to get in but the computer said "Access Denied."
"What? Damn. It's password encrypted. What would the password be?" Knux asked Shadow.
"Let's try Nightmare."
"Access Denied."
"Damn. Let's try Nightmare Emerald."
"Access Denied."
"Damnit! I'm getting pissed. Maybe the password is Nightmaronka."
"Access Denied."
"What is it?" Shadow asked himself.
"Try Nightmare City." Knuckles suggested.
Shadow tried it and "Access Denied."
"I'll try Old Man."
"Access Denied."
"Try Dark Nightmare." Knuckles suggested again.
"Access Denied."
"Worst Nightmare."
"Access Denied."
"Fear."
"Access Granted."
"Yes, we are in." Shadow smirked. "Now let's watch this."
They watched the camera of the last time the man was signed on. He was reading files on Sonic the Hedgehog's adventures. The door opened and someone walked in. The old man turned around and was knocked out. The man who knocked him out walked into the light of the computer and was revealed to be someone working for Eggman.
The man said "I'm taking you back to Dr. Eggman's Central City base. He's at his main base right now. We'll use you to get into Nightmare City and find the Nightmare Emeralds to finally destroy Sonic."
Then the camera went blank.
"So that's how Eggman hypnotized our friends! He learned about Nightmare City somehow and kidnapped the old man and interrogated him to find the secret entrance to Nightmare City. He then got the Nightmare Emeralds except for the one here. He used those to brainwash ours friends and turned them to the dark side. Where is Dr. Eggman's Central City base?" Knuckles asked.
"I don't know but I do know that he wouldn't be there now. That would be stupid because he knows we are in Central City and he doesn't want us to find him. So let's go find the old man and figure out how to get to Nightmare City."
To be continued.
Next chapter will have a lot of action.