It's that time again! Welcome back, everyone! How have you all been? It's been a stressful week, but what week isn't, right?
On a side note, I got an Espio plush! That may not be a big thing to the rest of you, but Espio has been my all-time favourite character since I was little. So this, to me at least, is freaking awesome! He's sat next to Shadow on top of the snake tank, for obvious reasons.
The chameleon, snake and fish are doing fine. Zeus is actually shedding again, his eyes are really cool and really creepy at the same time, since they're completely white.
Other than that, no real news on my end, so I'll stop chatting and let you read in peace.
See you all next week!
Arby xx
As soon as the natural light reached his face, the exhausted mammal fell to his knees and nearly broke down out of relief. He was indeed out of the prison, free from the dark corridors, but it wasn't over yet.
He now felt that he could find his way back to normal civilisation, but it soon hit him how far down he was when his eyes travelled upwards. He was in a huge cylindrical room, where natural light was flowing in from far above. In the centre was a platform, and a ladder which could take him up to it, as long as he got it down first. He took a final breath of 'fresh' air before walking into another flashback.
"Dammit… which way now?" Shadow asked.
"You pick." Espio replied, his voice lacking motivation.
"You're not helping, Espio."
"Is that so? Well then 'leader', how can I be helpful to you?" Sudden sarcasm could be heard and he felt himself forcing back anger.
"Look, I know we're both stressed, but arguing isn't going to solve anything." He felt a little strange being the sudden peacekeeper, but in order to make any progress, he had to be, regardless of whether he fit the occupation or not. Espio gave a heavy sigh.
"I just cannot help thinking that Eggman has us in the palm of his hand. That we are just a part of his game that he has already planned out."
"Then we shall play it and we shall win."
Shadow found the lever which would pull the ladder down, but it was stuck and the hedgehog, despite his efforts, couldn't dislodge it. He found a nearby brick and threw it, hoping that it would solve his problem; it didn't and, with a grunt, knew he had to find another way.
He checked a large door nearby, his hand hesitated as he was convinced that more of the flesh will manifest upon it. Luckily though, the door simply wouldn't open and the beast didn't appear.
A tunnel was on the opposite side with stairs going down. Unfortunately, the rest of the stairs were flooded so he swiftly returned, but not before noticing a pipe that was leaking oil. Upon further inspection, it was too thick for his lantern, but perhaps it could be of some other use. He filled the glass jar with the blackened liquid and poured it on both sides of the lever, as if to grease it. The lever then loosened and was able to be pulled down. The ladder lowered until it got stuck on a pipe.
"Who the hell put that there?" He wondered, but he saw that the pipe was bent by the impact. Shadow then repeated the motion until it was damaged enough to allow the ladder to lower fully.
Once at the top, only one door was reachable out of the three; the one ahead. However, there were two bridges, which needed to be lowered in order to reach the other two. As he walked to the first door, he noticed two long levers. The one on the right worked fine, lowering the right side bridge steadily, while the left one didn't work at all. With another grunt, he entered the Control Room.
The area was large and split into several rooms, each having its own type of machinery. The first two doors he came across seemed mirrored. They both had three weights on chains, with wheels that controlled how high they were. The one on the right had the first weight being hung the lowest, the second being hung the highest and the third in between. The left room had all three on the floor.
Shadow assumed that this was what powered the lever outside and memorised the three weights so that he could mimic them in the left room. The room rumbled at first, but then the machinery could be heard. He left the room and found a heavy door with a wheel next to it. The wheel raised the door, but it wasn't strong enough to keep it there and so it slowly descended. Upon looking around, Shadow piled two boxes, one on top of the other in order to stop the door and allow him to crouch through as much as he pleased.
Once through, he noticed a similar layout with a door on his right and left and a third ahead. He went left first to notice a huge metal cylinder protruding out of the floor. There were three levers nearby, which Shadow wasn't sure about. Once in the right room, he saw that the cylinder wasn't sticking out and was level with the floor. He looked at the levers, which were arranged differently to the others. One up, two down and one up. He memorised the pattern and mimicked it in order to get the machine working.
"Shadow, is that you? What are you doing?" Espio's voice invaded his ears.
"E-Espio?" Shadow stuttered. He got no answer and was trying to figure out if it was real or a hallucination.
He ventured into the third room to see pipes on the wall to his right and several gaps where pipes should be to his left. The hedgehog remembered seeing several pipes scattered around the rooms and quickly went to search for them. As he did so, he found a pot of oil, a lighter, a wooden crank, which he had no idea what to do with, and a note.
'I couldn't help but listen in as the two intruders were on the verge of an argument, but they settled it, much to my disappointment. I've always wanted to see those two fight. Shadow would probably kill him, just to feel horribly guilty afterwards. Now that would be something to watch!
I've been keeping an eye on all four of them. Tails and Cream somehow wandered off, but my robots will deal with them soon enough. They don't interest me anyway.
The other two do.'
Shadow gave a quick growl at the note, as if growling to Eggman himself.
There were three pipes, which Shadow easily found on the floors of the rooms. Once he carried them back, he had to arrange them correctly onto the wall. It wasn't overly difficult, with few places that all three could go without hindering another. A cog wheel above him began to turn, which let him know that he had done what was needed. Shadow quickly went back into the Cistern Entrance and lowered the remaining bridge.
It descended about half way until it suddenly stopped. Shadow's patience was wearing thin and he climbed down the ladder to find a solution.
"Perhaps now this will work." Shadow said as he picked up the same brick from before. He took it with him back up the ladder and threw it so that it would land on the bridge. To his surprise, the impact dislodged the chain and the bridge fully lowered. "Well then…" The mammal commented, being proud of his work. Of the two newly available paths, he chose to go right and into the Cistern.
Water. It was the first thing he noticed and the first thing which made his mind shrivel up and cry.
"No… not this shit again." Shadow growled quietly, hoping to not disturb anything which could potentially be in here. The mammal was sure to stay on the raised walkways as much as he could and only go into the water if he absolutely had to. The path right was the closest, so Shadow decided to navigate his way there first.
Annoyingly, some of the walkways had collapsed and Shadow had to jump across using the few bits of the path that remained. He was lucky enough not to fall this time, but a sudden pebble fell into the water next to him.
"Fuck!" He yelled a bit too loud out of fright. Shadow cursed under his breath as he approached a valve with a note above it.
'Espio seemed to calm after deciding which way to go. Even when more robots jumped down, we handled them with ease and dispatched them within minutes.
Suddenly, we heard gunshots. They were incredibly faint, but to me, they were unmistakable; assault rifles, fully automatic and deadly. We were about to run back to see what was going on, but a door suddenly slammed in front of us. It was then that I realised that Espio was right. Eggman had been watching us the entire time. He knew where we were going and what we were doing.
I don't think I've ever hated someone this much.'
A sign above the valve said 'Redirect Sewer Water'. He could only assume that it meant the water that flooded the tunnel and turned the wheel until the entire Cistern shook.
All the torches blew out from a huge gust of wind, meaning that Shadow had to use his lantern. He wasn't at all concerned by this now, especially after he found a lighter and a pot of oil in a small chest. There was plenty of oil now to last him a little while.
Shadow went back the way he came and ventured to the path which was opposite the exit. Three steam outlets turned on and off at regular intervals. The steam was boiling and the hedgehog knew how badly burns could hurt. He carefully timed it and walked past each pipe quickly. He made it to a valve at the end, which turned the steam off completely, stopping the chance of him getting burned on the way back. The winding path led to another valve and another note.
'He's trapped us! The bastard trapped us!
Not only did he shut the door behind us, but he shut the one in front as well. I was about to lose it until Espio noticed a vent in the ceiling. I mentioned about his claustrophobia and asked if he would be alright.
He told me that while he was nervous, he knew I wouldn't leave him.
Even little comments like that make me smile. Damn, he can be cute sometimes.'
The hedgehog smirked before turning the wheel next to him, which resulted in another gust of wind and darkness. He backtracked and realised that he had to wade through a large portion of the water to get to the next area. After three very deep breaths, he ran. About half way across, and his heart raced at an unworldly gargle from behind him. He cursed frantically and didn't dare to look back. Shadow tripped up the stairs because he was running so quickly, but at least he was out of the water. His fur was wet again, which only weighed him down like drenched clothing, but he still continued until a bridge, which was chained up, halted his progress.
His eyes scanned the ground until he found a small rock. The hedgehog aimed it precisely and threw it at the chain, thus breaking it and allowing the bridge to fall. The impact was loud and echoed throughout the Cistern. Whatever was in the water certainly would have heard it. After some more rock hopping, Shadow made it to the final valve and note, plus a pot of oil behind some boxes.
'We crept through the vents as quietly as we could, unsure whether Eggman could see us while we were in here. Every opening we passed, we checked to make sure that Charmy, Tails and Cream weren't in the room.
The whole place was a maze. It's not as if we knew our way around.
Another opening was about to pass underneath us, but I peered over to see if there was anything down there.
I raised a brow when I saw another vent opening in the floor. I was about to shrug it off and move on when I saw a red laser point upwards from the other vent. I jumped back as a flurry of bullets shot up into the vent.
Espio held me tightly while I was too shocked to move. I couldn't believe I was nearly shot, nearly even killed. At least Espio is good at comforting. He kept his hold on me until I had calmed down.
I knew he wouldn't leave me.'
Once the wind had calmed after turning the third and final valve, Shadow topped up his lantern as he began to head for the exit. He approached the steps that he scurried up before, and could hear the distinct hisses of the water monster. He knew it was there and now he had to run through the water again, and there were no distractions this time. Thankfully though, the stairs leading to the walkway were right around the corner meaning that Shadow would only be in the water for a second, but he didn't care. He continued running until he made it to the door.
He breathed heavily once he was back in the Cistern Entrance. It wasn't as bad as the Prison, but it wasn't exactly a pleasant experience. There was only one door left and Shadow wasted no time in heading into the Morgue.
His mind screamed when he saw the familiar stone on the floors and walls. It looked exactly like the Prison and Shadow immediately associated it with bad luck and inhuman monsters. He crouched low, as if it was instinct, and moved into another flashback.
"Are you ok?" Espio whispered into his ear.
"That bastard has thought of everything. Motion- sensing turrets that fire upwards into the vents?! That could've been my end!" Shadow trembled after the shock.
"I know, and that terrifies me, but we still have to get to Charmy. He still needs us. Tails and Cream as well." Espio reminded him.
"I know, but we need to keep an eye out for everything. Trust nothing." Shadow warned him.
"Except you." Espio whispered warmly.
"And you." Shadow replied.
There were two paths. He headed straight to begin with, as it led to a small room. The downside however, was that it was full of human remains.
"What the?!" Before he could react fully, he was consumed by white.
"Someone let us out of here!"
"It's no use, Tails." A high-pitched voice told him. "We're stuck here."
"Hey, don't give up Cream. I'm sure Shadow and Espio will save us." He replied.
"But they've gone to help Charmy."
"I know, but they wouldn't leave us. I know they wouldn't."
A second flashback began immediately after the first. He didn't know they could occur back to back.
"It's been a while, hasn't it?" Cream began.
"True, but this base could be huge. It may take them a long time."
"I hope they find us soon. I don't want to stay here." Cream saddened and her voice showed it.
"Me neither Cream, me neither."
"That was… odd." Shadow stated once he had returned. He found a lighter, Laudanum and a strange copper tube, before heading to the only other room.
As he walked, he felt a sense of dread and noticed his vision go slightly dark, before returning to normal. He hadn't felt that since he first woke up here and he could only hope that he didn't pass out now.
He came to a wooden door, which led into a small room. It had shelves, two more doors and a table with a naked, human corpse.
"Ugh… pleasant." He commented sarcastically before looking around. A lighter and note were found on the shelves. It explained how there was a poisonous fungus in the sewers and that a vaccine was being worked on. Shadow became concerned. He somehow knew that he would have to go to the sewers at some point and he could only hope that he wouldn't become fatally ill.
The next thing the hedgehog searched through was a desk in the corner between the two doors. There was Laudanum in the bottom drawer, a lighter in the middle, a note on top and another strange, cylinder object in the side compartment. He checked the note first. It explained how a vaccination was found and how the process was difficult. It went on to explain that injecting vaccinated blood would serve as a suitable shield for a short time. Shadow lifted his head up and slowly turned to the corpse on the table.
"No… fucking… way." He growled before checking the cylinder.
"I knew you; at least I thought I knew you. I have never seen you like this; then again, such an event has never happened before. I miss you, yet you are right there. I miss the things you provided me. I truly took you for granted, but as fate would have it, I took you away from myself."
It was these cylinders that intrigued him the most. They gave away so little, yet so much. Shadow was always left wanting to know more. What did they mean?
He glanced through the other two doors, but quickly closed them both when he saw piles of corpses in both rooms. He cursed some more as he approached the one on the table. If he really had to inject himself, he needed to figure out the quickest and least disturbing way of doing so.
Shadow searched through the items he had collected and got out three that he thought would be useful; the hollow needle from the Archive Tunnels, the carpenters drill from Storage and the copper tube that he found here. He studied the body and decided that the skull would be the best place to retrieve the blood as it would cause the least amount of mess. He gripped the drill tightly and was about to pierce it when a familiar deep voice spoke to him.
"I hear you breathing, Shadow. Do you hear me? Do you remember yet?"
"Remember what?" Shadow replied, but again he got nothing in return. With some added frustration, he stabbed the drill into the skull and turned it until blood was spilling out. The drill broke afterwards, only annoying Shadow further. He got the copper tube and stabbed it where the wound was. Now the blood was flowing out the end of the tube. All he needed was something to pierce his own skin; the hollow needle. He attached it to the tube and braced himself.
"Sweet Chaos." He groaned, before forcing his arm onto the needle. His entire body stiffened and his eyes closed tightly, not wanting to see the sight. His teeth grinded in order to cope with the stinging as he pulled the needle out of him. His stomach turned into a washing machine at the thought of what he had just done, but did he really have a choice? Not wanting to think anymore, he was about to leave when an alien growl came from the other side.
*Groan*
It began smashing on the door and Shadow was forced to hide in one of the corpse rooms. He stared at the wall, not wanting to look at anything else and listened to the deep groans the monster was making. In no time at all, the door was completely destroyed, allowing the unworldly beast to wander in. Its limbs screeched as it moved. It came close to the door as its groans became noticeably louder. Shadow was ready to run, but it soon moved away and left the area. With a sigh of relief, Shadow exited the room and went to exit the Morgue altogether.
Shadow pondered what to do now, but then remembered the flooded tunnel. He went to check if the water had drained and thankfully, it had. As he went down the stairs, he could feel the air become thicker and it made it harder to breathe. He could only hope that the horrid injection worked as he entered the Sewer.
