The door creaked closed behind him and he continued up a few more stone steps into a large hall.

Collapsed pillars and debris lay everywhere, he could only assume that this was caused by the earthquake he had experienced earlier. Everything was still dull and lacking of life. Just like his current situation, it all looked the same. Once in the centre, a sudden white light took over his vision and voices occupied his hearing.


"You be sure to stay safe." He heard himself say.

"Would you relax?" A younger voice replied. "I can take care of myself." He said with a chuckle.

"I know, but Espio would kill me if you got into any trouble."

"I'll behave, I swear. I'll be back later." He heard footsteps as the other ran and a door opened. "Bye, uncle Shadow!"

"Bye Charmy." It quickly closed again.


"What the…" Shadow said to himself as he returned to the coldness of his current surroundings. "Who's Charmy? My nephew or something?" He wondered as he addressed him as 'uncle'.

The hedgehog continued to walk with no other leads and saw another exit to his left. He was a little more hesitant this time, remembering his previous experience. With his gloved hand, he slowly reached for the handle of the large door, but just as he had feared, the disturbing cry boomed throughout the halls. The key difference this time was the materialisation of a mysterious red, flesh-like matter.

"What the fuck?!" He shouted out of frustration and fright. His hand touched it only to be greeted by the slime that trickled onto his glove. His body shuddered and he was quick to shake it off. Knowing that this exit was now blocked, he realised that he would either have to find another way of escape or search for this 'Espio' that the note had mentioned.

He headed back the way he came until he noticed a chest in the corner. It contained a pot of oil and another cylinder-shaped object. This time, he took it with him to see if he could figure out its purpose. Once back in the main entrance hall, he saw three possible paths. One opposite, which led downwards, some more stairs to his left which went up and a corridor to his left that led to two doors. Shadow thought that going down wouldn't get him anywhere, so he ruled that option out for now and decided that going up could wield some results. The mammal walked up the steps until he was startled by a woman's scream from the corridor.

"No! Get away from me!" She shouted. Shadow had no idea who it could've been, but perhaps whoever it was may have also been stuck here and could therefore help him to get out. He ran back down and into the corridor. Being led by instinct, he approached the left door first only to find that it was locked.

"Damn!" He shouted in anger as he ran to the other door, leading to the Laboratory.


As soon as he slammed the door shut, he felt the atmosphere instantly change. It was dark and uncomfortably quiet. Only his own pounding heart could be heard along with his unsteady breathing. With caution, he continued down some creaky, wooden steps. The cry returned, it sounded distant this time, but it still sent a chill through his body. His bright, red eyes glared at the environment around him as he went deeper. A path to his right was blocked by another rock slide, which forced him to go left.

"It's… cold. It's so cold." Shadow said to himself. His fur should have worked wonders against the low temperatures, but this seemed different. It felt as if he was exposed, vulnerable to the elements, as if he was naked entirely. It cut through him like paper and he was forced to endure it.

After a few more steps, he came into a small room that was dimly lit by a few candles. A grate in the centre caught his attention as the reflections from water shone against it. Shadow approached and peered over to see what was down there only to be startled by a garbled cry that came from beneath the surface. It thrashed a little before moving off. Widened eyes continued to gaze upon the disturbed water for a few more moments, just to make sure that it had really gone. Once the waves had settled, he looked around for anything useful.

He came across a table to his right that had some strange, scientific equipment on it. A few glass bottles and some burners underneath each of them. There was also another note next to it. This one wasn't directly for him, but it did provide some information. It explained how no chimney in the lab has caused the fumes from recent experiments to contaminate other 'less stable' chemicals. They were all moved to the Wine Cellar. Shadow could only assume that the locked door nearby led to it, but he would need a key. The chemicals it housed perhaps could be useful to him. He searched the other end of the room only to be engulfed in another white light.


"There should be more Cuprite… let me see… and one part Aqua Fortis."


It was short and the voice he heard wasn't one that he recognised. It was male and… loud, even obnoxious and Shadow felt it irritate him, but not enough for him to react.

"This is getting weird." Shadow thought, before looking through a desk. It had a chemistry pot, which would be useful for carrying these chemicals, and another note. In short, it explained how four chemicals could create a powerful acid, something which Shadow saw as a potential weapon if he should run into anyone hostile, despite having no idea if anyone else was around.

"Better to be safe than sorry." He looked through the drawers of the desk only to find another cylinder thing. Out of frustration, he messed with it until a candle on the desk suddenly lit. Shadow gave a smug grin before looking through the final compartment of the desk. It housed yet another cylindrical object, but this one was different. As soon as he touched it, his vision was blinded by white and he could hear his own voice talking.


"My only hope now is you. I would give anything, sacrifice everything… can you not see that? If only you knew of my sorrow. We could share it and allow our worlds to crush us."


Shadow stumbled back, nearly falling backwards onto the ground. His breathing had quickened again. It was his voice without a doubt, but what was he talking about? His head shook.

"This has to be a dream…" He thought. "…or some kind of nightmare." With his lantern still lit, he decided that now was the best time to leave. His pace had sped up until he had left through the door he had come in at.


"There was no woman in there, no one even." Shadow thought aloud as he went back up the stairs where he had heard the scream. A landing led to two more doors. One was at the bottom of some stairs to his right, but it was boarded up, meaning that he had to go forwards into the Archives.


As soon as he entered, something felt… wrong.

*Growl*

After a single step, a strange, unfamiliar growl came from a room to his right that already had its door knocked off the hinges. With no other weapons, Shadow clenched his fists and with a deep breath, he jumped around to see… that nothing was there. He sighed in relief and looked around. The only item of interest was a note that lay on a table in the centre.

'Today, Tails informed me about an odd energy signature that was coming from underneath Eggman's most recently destroyed base. He was certain that it was a Chaos Emerald and insisted that I go with him. I would never turn down an offer like that; the sound of adventure is just hypnotic to me. Cream would also tag along, which I was happy about. She has grown a lot in the past few years, yet I feel she has matured more than I have. That bothers me to some extent, but hey, being me is more fun!

I asked Tails about the emerald again and he told me that Eggman must have left it there in his haste to escape. That was understandable and now it was ours for the taking.

We leave tomorrow. I don't see myself sleeping tonight, but I guess I'd better try.

Best not tell Dad or uncle Shadow… they'd kill me if they knew what I was doing.'

Shadow thought hard about the note he had just read. Who was Tails? Who was Cream? Judging by how Cream was described, his best guess was that they were friends with this 'Charmy' character, who he assumed had written the note and who he still assumed was his nephew. Placing the note with the others, he moved into the room opposite. It was far darker, to the point where he required the aid of his lantern to banish it, but as he tried to turn it on, it simply fizzled and remained unlit. After some investigation, he figured out that it was out of oil and used the two pots of oil he had to refill the lantern about half way.

Now with light, Shadow looked through another desk to find another cylinder. Not knowing what the proper name for them was, he simply decided to call them 'lighters' seeing as that was what they did. He quickly skimmed the few bookshelves that were in the room to find another note.

'I am sick and tired of that pesky hedgehog ruining everything I set out to do! This time shall be different! I will come up with something that will really strike fear into them and this time, none of them will know what is coming!"

The hedgehog raised a brow at this. Was it talking about him? He shrugged it off as nothing major and continued to look around. The Archives were certainly fancier than the environments he was surrounded by previously. The walls and floors were made of a polished wood as were the furnishings, even if they were a little dusty. It was mostly tidy, except for the odd broken door or out of place book. The only inconvenience was the lack of lit torches. Its small corridors had very few windows making it incredibly dark and forcing Shadow to use his lantern more often; not good when his oil supply was very limited.

*Groan*

He went through another pair of doors only to stop in his tracks when an alien groan was heard from somewhere else in the Archives. His furred body didn't move and his ears twitched at every little noise. Hearing nothing else out of the ordinary, he decided that it was just a one off before looking through another desk to find a lighter and a note.

'Today was the day!

We all made our way to Eggman's old base to see if Tails' suspicions were correct. While it was still standing, it was very unstable, which meant that we had to be very careful. Thankfully, each of us could fly making getting into the base a piece of cake. Now we had to find the Chaos Emerald.

We walked for about two hours before meeting in front of a large, steel door. Tails told us that without power, we would have to force it open. After a quick game of rock, paper, scissors, it was decided that I would go inside, whilst Cream and Tails opened the door.

It was one of those doors that slid up and down to open and close, making it difficult for the other two. They could only manage a small gap, which somehow was big enough for me to crawl underneath. Once I was inside though, they couldn't hold it anymore and they were forced to drop it.

With a large gulp, I forced myself to look around.'

Shadow huffed at the note, deciding that it didn't reveal much about the trio. He did wonder what a Chaos Emerald was though.

A door to his right led to another horribly dark corridor. He looked around quickly in order to make the most of what oil he had. There was a door opposite, which had a sign next to it. 'Old Tomes' it read, despite it being in an unfamiliar language, Shadow could somehow translate it.

This box room seemed old and forgotten with no light and dust everywhere. His blood-coloured eyes glanced around, but as he turned away from the bookshelves against the far wall, a sudden bang caused him to nearly jump out of his fur. He swung back around and stared at the book that had somehow fallen off the shelf, creating a cloud of dust as it struck the floor.

Shadow growled at it, as if the book fell on purpose just to scare him. He scolded himself for being so jumpy, as if being frightened was wrong and unnecessary. Before he could look around, he could clearly hear a piano being played in the next room. Someone else was here and he was going to get some answers. He walked swiftly, but quietly to where the music was coming from… only to find that no one was there. The mammal looked towards both ends of the long hall that he was in and still there was nobody. A confused look was present on his face as he slowly walked back the way he came. He didn't go back to the room he was previously searching in, feeling that the room 'wasn't right' and instead, went to the one door that he hadn't been through yet. It led to the 'Local History' room, but unfortunately was locked. The hedgehog grunted at his run of luck and went back into the hall to see if there was an alternate entrance.

*Groan*

As he walked down, another alien-like noise was heard to his left; the problem was that there was a wall there.

"Huh?" Shadow whispered as he continued to walk, slowing his pace in order to remain quiet. The black hedgehog slowly peered his head around the doorway at the end to see if anything was there. Satisfied that there was no one, he went in and instantly noticed the rock slide that had caved in through one of the walls. Some of the boulders had blood on them, but this didn't bother him all that much. Thankfully, he was able to walk around the large rocks and venture around this new area. A table to his left by a window had a pot of oil upon it, which allowed Shadow to breathe a small sigh of relief. He put the oil into the lantern and continued.

There were two doors at the end, one left and one right. Shadow decided to go right first into a room labelled 'Floor Plans'. The room itself didn't look interesting, it looked bare if anything. He went in nonetheless and walked to the far window past some shelves, but froze at the sound of more piano music. Another piano was by the window where he found his most recent pot of oil and knew that there was absolutely no one nearby. Upon looking back around the door to where the piano was, again… there was no one. Shadow searched the area just to make sure and didn't know what to think.

"Ghosts?" He first thought, but was quick to chuckle at the idea. "Yeah right." He went back in and found a small chest at the far end with a pot of oil and two lighters, which he took with him before heading to the other door, this time labelled 'Maps'.

Just as he walked through, a loud crash shook the environment, causing Shadow to fall to his knees. It lasted for a few seconds and the hedgehog quickly got to his feet as he felt vulnerable otherwise. His body shook after the shock of the loud noise and he carefully went to see what had caused it. Back down the corridor, another rock slide had broken through and was now blocking his exit.

"This, I didn't need." He growled before storming back to the maps in frustration. To his annoyance, the only two maps in the room were of somewhere named 'Prussia' and not of the building that he was in. With no new info, he looked through another desk, finding one more lighter in a drawer and a note on top, but as he went to reach it, he suddenly felt his vision go blurry and his head begin to ache. The sensation quickly became too much and he collapsed.


His eyes opened to blackness. Red irises looked around, not expecting to see the pleasant light blue of a very powerful gem. A voice was heard, but it was not his own.

"I couldn't believe it! Tails was right! There it was, a Chaos Emerald! It looked so beautiful, so… mesmerising. I could stare at it forever with its infinite grace."

He heaved himself up off of the plain, steel floor. He wasn't sure how he passed out in the first place. He approached with some caution knowing what something like this was capable of, but his excitement quickly forwarded his steps.

He enclosed both of his hands upon the gem and it seemed to glow brighter with his touch, before gently fading to normal. A sense of security filled him as he cupped the emerald in his hands. He felt as if no one could hurt him, he felt as if-

"Charmy!"

He could hear the name being called from the other side of the door. Tails and Cream were clearly worried. How long had he been in here? With not much time, he put the emerald in his jacket pocket and returned to the door, informing them that he was ok.

"Mission complete." he thought.


"Ugh…" The hedgehog groaned as he moved his body. The floor boards beneath him creaked to his movement as he got up. Realising that he was still in the map room, he remembered what he had seen. It was a memory without a doubt, but it wasn't his. From the voice he had heard, he knew it was Charmy's.

"Why was I seeing it? Is there a reason?" Pounding returned to his skull and he soon got the feeling that he was about to throw up; staying still seemed to calm it enough for him to continue finding a way out. He picked his lantern back up, but before turning it back on; he noticed another light coming through a crack in the wall.

Once he was close enough, he peered through to see that a few bricks were missing; making this part of the wall weaker, perhaps weak enough to break through and use as a means of escape. The hedgehog clenched his fist and slammed it into the bricks forcing them to fall apart with ease. A grin ventured slowly across his face before climbing through and being taken over by another bright light.


He first heard footsteps and then a door open. His body suddenly felt warm and he could feel himself smiling.

"Hey." He greeted as he felt himself sit down.

"Greetings." Another voice replied. This one he hadn't heard yet, but it was just as deep and smooth as his own. "I'm assuming Charmy went out?" The other asked him.

"He did, he said he would be back later. I told him not to get into trouble otherwise you would be on my back." He chuckled as did the other male.

"You learn quickly, hedgehog." He then felt a hand stroke his cheek. The feeling was gentle and caring and he couldn't help but smile more.

"After the first few shuriken stars, you get the idea."

"I've told you time and time again that those were an accident. I merely overreacted." The other told him. "I am just very protective over him."

"And not over me?" He joked, but he soon felt an arm wrap around his neck, whilst the other hand messed with his chest fur.

"If anyone touched you, I'd kill them." The other whispered into his ear.

"…I guess that's one of the reasons why I love you so much, Espio."


Wide, crimson eyes looked around as he returned to his uncomfortable environment. He leaned against a wall for support as he realised all the new information that had been presented to him.

"Espio… is my lover?" He asked himself over and over. "Surely, I would remember something like that." His muscles couldn't move out of shock for a good few minutes. Something didn't feel right. Espio's name echoed in his mind, yet it didn't sit well with him. His fist made heavy contact with the wall out of anger, yet he couldn't understand why he was angry. "Dammit… I've got to get out of here." He told himself as he refocused on the situation. The mammal was now in a room with many books, but as he looked around, three of the books looked… off. As he went to pull it off the shelf, it caused a ticking noise and slowly began to move back into place on its own. What had he done? He approached the other two odd-looking books and did the same. Once he pulled the third, a bookshelf to his left slid open to reveal a secret room.

"Impressive." Shadow carefully ventured inside to immediately notice another desk, this time with a key placed on top of it. He grinned at his success and picked the key up with his gloved hand. His confidence soon was cast down however, when a bang came from the other room.

*Growl*

The hedgehog whipped his head around; it came from the previous room. With no time, Shadow decided that it was best to hide until 'whatever it was' had passed. There was a wardrobe by the door, which the hedgehog dove into and closed behind him. While he was hidden, he tried his absolute best to calm his breathing and to stop his heart from bursting out of his chest.

"What… was that?" His voice trembled as he whispered along with his bones that shook. After a few minutes of eerie silence, Shadow slowly opened the wardrobe and looked around to see that it was all clear. He got up from his crouched position and returned to the desk only to find a note in the top drawer.

'I've got to think of something! Something different, something that will make a statement and something that even Sonic cannot stop!

Why is this so difficult? Perhaps I'm thinking too hard…

That's it! Everything up until now has been complicated weapon after complicated weapon. What if I were to take a different approach? Where they are the weapon?

It is nothing short of perfect!'

"Who the hell is Sonic?" Shadow asked instantly. "Perhaps he's the hedgehog this psycho was talking about before." He assumed as he put the note away. Now that things were quiet, he looked at the key again to notice a label that said 'Wine Cellar'.

"Hmph… perhaps now I can save that woman." He peered around the door to be sure that there was nothing there and went through another door that he was sure was closed previously, whilst picking up another pot of oil from one of the lower bookshelves. Shadow again checked his surroundings before moving on through and noticed the sign next to the door. He was in the Local History room and the door, which was now open, used to be locked. Upon realisation, 'whatever it was' had smashed through the door, giving the indication that it was strong. The mammal felt a little nervous, but he forced himself through it and made his way back to the long hall with the piano in it.

Just as he entered, he caught sight of something moving to the far right of him. His head quickly turned to see a glimpse of something walking through the door out of the hall. His gaze was fixated on the now empty doorway. The lantern was turned off before sneaking towards the entrance. As he moved past the piano, the lid for the keys suddenly slammed shut on its own causing Shadow to jump back. His pulse raced. He knew for certain that he didn't touch the piano, so how could it have done that? His breathing had rapidly increased to the point where he had become a little dizzy. He eased his way past the piano, being sure to keep his distance from it before focusing back on the doorway.

Shadow remained crouched being sure that the only sound he made was his very careful steps upon the floor beneath him. Once he made it, he peeked around the corner to see that once again, the corridor was clear.

*Groan*

He moved slowly forward until another alien groan came from right behind him. Shadow froze as every bit of fur stood up on end. His body trembled as the harshest shivers tore through him like knives. His pupils tried their best to look behind him, but he would have to turn his head in order to do so. The hedgehog's neck creaked as his head turned, he was sure that this was the slowest he had ever moved. His entire body relaxed when he saw nothing there, but his mind was very aware that the noise must have come from something… but what? It was now that he realised just how much he was sweating.

"Sweet crap." He thought as he wiped his head with his arm. "This is ridiculous. Noises aren't scary; I shouldn't be in this state." A low grunt came from his windpipe before continuing down the corridor. The exit was to his left, but before he could make a dash towards it…

*Growl*

…a growl came from the same room with the knocked down door. At the same time, the piano in the hall began to play again. "Get out, now!" He thought and gathered up his courage to make a bolt for the door. The moment the door closed, he didn't look back.