Play Of Shadows: Anonymous

Shadow's P.O.V

I really hate Autumn. It constantly feels as if my days are just getting longer and longer, every hour dragging out behind me. Or maybe that is because I've been in seemingly endless agony the past three and a half weeks. You see, ever since I fought that Chaos-awful monster Solaris, Rouge has had an eagle-eye watch over me, making sure I don't partake in any strenuous activities that could make my wound worse, mainly dealing with one blue pest I know of… Well, I wouldn't call him a pest! I'm just going to use the term 'hedgehog'. I actually haven't seen him in a while, to be honest. Something inside of me is saying that he's avoiding me, but it's not like I even give a damn!

I take a deep breath.

Moving on… For a whole two weeks I had been stuck with Rouge playing nurse, forced to live in her apartment under strict orders from the hospital I was originally stationed at. Apparently, they though I couldn't cope without someone at the foot of my bed, so they personally assigned the klepto to take care of me until I got the stitches out of my side. The only good peak to my situation was that I could get some well-deserved time off work. And seeing the Commander's reaction when he discovered that he couldn't torture me for a whole month… I'm pretty sure I almost laughed. I slightly smile at the memory. Somehow the most trivial of memories are the fondest.

"Shadow?~" I heard Rouge call out in her sing-song voice from down the hallway. My half-smirk turned into a frown.

"Uhhh… Yes, Rouge?" And what did she want this time?!

"Somebody", she walked in without bothering to knock, "sent you a letter. And from the looks of it, it wasn't G.U.N." She strutted over, handed me the letter and walked out. Rolling my eyes at her usual antics (and because she forgot to shut the door again), I pulled the folded tab from the envelope and pulled a handwritten letter out of it. Which struck me as odd…

The writing was stylised and awfully fancy considering it was just a few words on a piece of paper. It was almost like someone had taken care with making this perfect. Strange…

It read:

Shadow,

I hope you are resting up well & I would like for you to know that my condolences are with you. Usually, I would speak to you face-to-face, but considering the current circumstances that would not have been possible. We need to talk, & soon.

Time is running out for both of us & I find it necessary we speak before it is too late - since you have been restricted to anywhere but your bed, this will be a difficult feat. I cannot just come to meet with you due to having several bounties on my tail, so we must converse at a time when it is only the two of us. When there is no one around, I will approach you…

Trust me when I say "This will not take long…"

There was no name, or… I looked over the envelope. No return address either.

"Great", I mumbled unhappily, "Anonymous letters and intrusion of my peace. Obviously, someone's wanting their head ripped from their body or it's to do with 'The Fate of the World'… Or it's a trap." Let's see…

1) Too much time and work to be even slightly close to a prank.

2) Someone like Espio could've sent this and it really does have to do with the Earth's safety again.

3) Malicious elegance, anonymous, knows of my condition, striking at right time, no possible ways of escape, mysterious finishing and being followed by bounty hunters…

"Yep, it's a trap…" I ungraciously flopped back onto my pillow, grimacing when I hit my wound on the bedside table. Reading it over Chaos only knows how many times, I shook my head, disappointed with the amount of effort this person put in attempting to tricking me.

"I'm not falling for something like this. I mean, come on, whomever it is must've thought I was as gullible as that damn echidna…"

"Echidna?" Shock came over me fast and I hit my side again. Rouge rushed over to help me but I convinced her I was alright.

"Hang on, were you eavesdropping again?!" I growled in anger. Rouge gave me her 'You know me' look and sat at the end of my bed.

"You seriously thought I would walk away without finding out who it was. Hun, you've got to know me better than that… Now, who's the letter from and what does it say?"

"It's anonymous and clearly a trap", I replied, passing the letter over. I watched her expression change from curiosity to confusion, suspicion, back to confusion, hesitation, worry, and ending in thoughtful. "I checked the envelope and there's no return address either."

"It's really fancy too…" I nodded in response. She glanced between me and the open letter, stopping on me. "Do you know who it could be?" I shrugged.

"You're reasonably smart Rouge; is it the Doctor's writing?" She looked back to the letter.

"No. He would've used a video recording or one of those SMART Technologies' paper things. Plus, Sonic is pretty much his bounty, so that wouldn't make sense." She went into her calculating mode; the one most people don't see. "Must be other enemies of yours. Black Doom?"

"He was destroyed along with the rest of the Black Arms and the Comet. I made sure of that."

"Metal Sonic, possibly?"

"Wasn't he destroyed by Sonic's younger self?"

"I think so… Sonic's anti, Scourge?" I looked at her like she had just grown an extra two heads.

"I don't think he's that intelligent, Rouge. If anything, it would've been a death threat spray-painted onto the side of my house."

I leaned back and closed my eyes gently, thinking it would help jog my old memories a bit. I heard Rouge gasp and I flicked my tired eyes open. She gazed over me, like she was hesitating to speak of what she had discovered.

"What if it was Mephiles?" Suddenly, I didn't feel so tired anymore. My eyes hardened and I turned my hand into a tight fist under the blankets. Images of my look-alike flashed through my mind. I tensed up, which was very painful to do in my condition. I scrunched my eyes shut from the pain, but his haunting eyes hovered in my head. It all vanished when I felt a warm hand touch my face.

"I'm ok…"

"No you're not, Shadow. And it's my fault. I'm sorry I reminded you of him, but I was just thinking of possible suspects. Everyone knows he's gone because Sonic erased him from history. It isn't him… I'm sorry."

I opened my eyes to look at her, but they closed again and my body shut down…