Maria had gotten a call from her mother, asking if she wanted to come onto the set and see how things were done. Maria jumped at the chance, asking if everyone else could come along. Since Robotnik had been gone for awhile, everyone decided to go, even Shadow. However, things had been just a little awkward. Maria thought she'd have a chance to see her mother, not who her mother was playing. Tails and Amy had stayed with Maria, keeping her company. Cream had gone and wandered off, Shadow stating he'd keep an eye on her. The day went by in a drag as Maria had been talking with Tails and Amy when she heard "CUT!" thinking the production was over for the day.
"You were fantastic in that last take Lindsey but I'd like to give it ONE more go, take it slower, and let those tears go this time." The director said, much to the disappointment of Maria.
Maria looked over and saw another woman in a costume, however she looked familiar. "Ella?" Maria asked and Ella turned around. "Did mom get you a part in the movie?" Maria asked genuinely curious.
"That's right." Ella confirmed. "They needed someone to play a young and beautiful house keeper so they type cast me." Ella said with a laugh.
"Alright everyone, places!" The director called out. They shot their scene, Lindsey letting her tears go and "Bret" playing his role pretty good as well.
"Wow..." Amy marveled. "She sounds like she was really into Bret."
Maria gave a nervous chuckle. "Well, she is an outstanding actress."
"I heard outstanding actress. I assume you must mean me?" Lindsey walked over getting Maria's attention with a slight chuckle.
"Who else would I be talking about Mom?" Maria answered with a smile.
"Where are these friends of yours that you brought?" Lindsey asked, Tails getting her attention. Lindsey raised an eyebrow. "It's amazing what they can do with some time and make-up, isn't it? You almost look like a real fox."
Tails was a bit confused, asking Maria if she told her mother about them. "Well..." Maria answered. "I don't think she quite got it..." I wonder where Shadow and Cream went off to."
.
Elsewhere around the castle, Cream had decided on a game of hide and seek. Shadow reluctantly agreed, this place giving him the creeps. As he was searching, he heard a noise coming from inside the castle.
"Cream? That you?" Shadow asked as he walked in, hearing the laughter of a child. "I got a bad feeling..." Shadow thought as he walked into the castle.
.
"Bret! Please, don't go!" Lindsey called out, running after "Bret". The camera man followed her, but hit a stone hour glass.
"What the-?" He asked, looking at the small pedestal with some weird writing on it. "I didn't notice this thing here before...I'll have to move it." He stated, grabbing and removing it.
At the same time, Shadow had searched under the castle when suddenly the floor glowed a dark purple color as his hands shot up in a green flame. a few seconds later, things seem to return to normal, but an odd wind blew through the place. Shadow walked onward, his hands still in the green flame as he used it for light.
Shadow searched the castle all day for the odd subject, but found nothing. He walked out and saw it was nighttime. "I must be getting a little paranoid." He thought, searching around till he found everyone else, Cream included with him.
Cream ran up when she saw shadow, asking if he was ok.
"I'm fine, Cream. Just got a little turned around." Shadow answered, then got a concerned look on his face. "Cream, I want you to stay with the group from now on, understand?"
"Ok? Is everything alright?" Cream asked.
Shadow hesitated slightly, then continued on. "Of course, I just don't want you getting lost like I did." Shadow stated, everyone buying it. Almost everyone. Tails was the only one that noticed the slight hesitation Shadow had. As Shadow walked away, Tails caught up to him.
"Shadow..." Tails said, getting Shadow's attention. "Tell me what you won't tell Cream and Cheese."
"I just have a weird feeling Miles. Something isn't right about this place." Shadow responded.
"I'm sure your just paranoid..." Tails responded cautiously. Shadow's instincts were usually spot on, but what about this place could be harmful?
"Let's hope your right." Shadow responded. "Head back into the castle, see if you can find anything about this place."
"What about you?" Tails asked, Shadow stating he'd keep looking for awhile just to be sure. Tails nodded, advising Shadow not to go looking for ghosts where none existed.
Shadow walked along the fields, catching a glimpse of a fallen stone hourglass. He examined it, turning it around a bit and noticing the moon side and the sun side. "What the heck is this thing?" Shadow asked himself, when he heard a scream.
.
a few minutes earlier, Maria had walked away from her mother's room after saying her goodnights. As she walked back into her own room, she just saw Tails sitting there with an old book.
"Where is everyone?" Maria asked. Looking up from the book, Tails responded stating that Cream, Cheese, and Amy are with Ella having a sleepover. "And Shadow?"
Tails sighed a little bit. "He's...exploring the place a bit. Something has him spooked."
Maria was taken back by this. "Shadow can get spooked?"
Tails chuckled a bit. "It's not often. He's probably just a little uneasy with Robotnik back and all. He can be just a bit protective. I'm sure everything is fine." Tails explained, heading back into the book. As he was reading, he found something interesting about the past when suddenly, they heard the scream. Lindsey was gone.
Everyone searched frantically, Shadow zoomed around the outside of the castle while Maria and Tails searched inside. Amy, Cream, Cheese, and Ella went down below...unknown to Shadow.
The four of them searched when they heard the child like laughter. Ella put her hand to a wall with weird writing on it, knocking on it asking if it was Lindsey. The laughter got louder and the four decided to bail. But as soon as they were leaving, transparent hands shoot out of the walls and grabbed Cream, sucking her into the texted wall and started dragging Ella to. Maria and Tails arrived just in time to see Ella's hand latched on to Amy's, both of them trying to pull Ella out. But it was no use and Ella vanished just as Shadow arrived with the hourglass in hand.
"Where's Ella? Where's Cream and Cheese?" Shadow demanded and Maria pointed to the wall, her face pale. "Get back." Shadow ordered, his tone harsh as he threw a Chaos Flare into the wall destroying a part of it. However, what they saw shocked them. Another wall made of a weird dark purple energy, the same Shadow had seen earlier. More hands reached out as Shadow dodged. "I always did hate ghosts!" Shadow yelled out, dodging them as everyone else ran. Shadow went in for an attack, but phased right through as more wrapped around Tails and dragged him into the void screaming. "MILES, NO!" Shadow cried out as he grabbed his wrists, ready to bring this whole castle down when he was smacked against the wall and dragged inside, struggling. "AMY, CATCH!" Shadow yelled as he threw the hourglass.
"What is this!?" Amy asked in a panic as the wall started to repair itself.
"Outside, pedestal! HUR-" was all Shadow could say as the wall closed with him inside.
"No, SHADOW!" Amy yelled to the wall, hitting it with her hammer but to no avail. "Bring him back, you hear me? BRING HIM BACK!" Maria watched, pale faced, as Amy just broke down in front of her. "Sh-shadow..."
Maria grabbed the stone hourglass, trying to keep her head screwed on straight. She looked at the relic. "Pedestal outside? What did he mean by that..." She wondered, going up to Amy and putting a hand on her shoulder. "Amy, we need to go. This thing has to be important..."
Amy nodded, getting up as the two ran outside, searching for the pedestal with a circular indent.
"This must be what Shadow was talking about...but what's the big deal?" Amy asked.
Maria took a closer look, seeing faded out writing. "Hold on, look. "Appears un_er the moon...disap_rs under the su_" Wonder what that means." Maria thought. Using common sense, she was able to guess the missing letters, but the message was still pretty vague. It was still nighttime out, and ghosts supposedly got stronger at night. She took a glance at the base of the pedestal, seeing the grass blow with no wind. She bent her knees down, checking and sure enough there was a breeze from below. "There must be a hidden passage way down here..."
Step aside!" Amy ordered, bringing out her hammer and slamming the side of the pedestal, causing it to move and reveal a set of stairs. The two looked at each other and nodded, heading down.
"Maria, ghosts tend to love attention so be careful." Amy suggested.
"I'll pretend I don't notice them." Maria confirmed as the made it to the floor, hearing laughter as more ghosts came after them. The two of them screamed, Maria holding the relic in front of her when the laughter stopped. Taking a peek, Maria saw the ghosts look a the hourglass then turn away fleeing.
"That's right, you better run!" Amy yelled and impulsively ran after them, Maria calling for her to wait but to no avail. The two came up to another set of pathways, looking around when Amy noticed the ghosts head through a doorway...literally. The two walked up to the door, Maria sticking the relic inside first before walking in. "Shadow, you in here?" Amy asked, looking around and seeing at the dark room except for an odd light blue coming from
.
"Uh, ugh." Shadow muttered, looking around and seeing he was trapped in a weird void. He saw everyone else with him. He tried getting up but felt slightly drained. He looked up to see a giant white ghost, black eyes bugging out slightly as two small arms came out of it's massive curved body. Shadow took a step back, trying to access his abilities but he couldn't. He could feel the Chaos Energy coursing through him, but he just couldn't tap into it.
"Shadow, you in here?" He heard Amy whisper, looking down to see her and Maria.
"AMY, MARIA!" Shadow yelled, getting their attention. "Listen to me closely, I-
"-want you to know that I've always trusted you the most, Amy." was heard, thought the voice sounded weird and distorted.
"Shadow, is it really you? Your voice sounds...off." Maria stated.
"I'm trapped in a phantom void. I might be able to get out if-"
"you put that stone in the space on the wall." "Shadow" informed.
Amy looked around, again coming to the oddly lit space. She and Maria walked to it, as "shadow" egged them on with compliments. Maria got more and more suspicious.
"Excellent. Now put that stone inside with the moon facing up." Maria, still holding the relic was about to put it down much to Shadow's panic. She then kept thinking of that odd inscription and Shadows voice.
"Appear under the Moon, Disappear under the Sun." Went through her head again.
"Maria, hurry! We need to get everyone out." Amy said impatiently. As Maria was about to place the stone down, she hesitated.
"Maria...please..." shadow begged. She reluctantly put the stone down as a weird glow came about with an ominous wind. The two turned to see the giant ghost stalking towards them, several of the smaller ghosts nearby.
"No..." Maria shook, trying to remove the stone but it was no use. It was stuck in place.
"You! You tricked us!" Amy yelled, charging forward and swinging her hammer. However, she went right through the ghost and as she landed she was scooped up and possessed.
"A-Amy?" Maria asked. She had gone from creeped out, to scared. Now she was terrified. Amy's body turned around, opening its eyes as they were round and black, he mouth filled with fangs and sharp teeth.
"Don't worry, Maria." amy said ominously. "Keep your chin up and everything will be fine." Maria ran away, scared tears falling from her eyes. Her back was against the wall, as amy swung her hammer, smacking the relic off the podium. All the ghosts backed up and Maria looked at the relic again, understanding the warning. She put the stone back in the alter, sun side up. At this, Shadow and everyone else was set free when the ghosts backed up.
"Finally!" Shadow yelled, becoming a blur as he took care of all the small ghosts. "Guys! Get out of here!" He warned, glowing red as he entered his Chaos Boost state. Everyone ran as Shadow stayed behind. "It's just you and me now." Shadow warned as he charged up his spin dash, slamming into the King of Ghosts. Said King was hurled back into the stone wall, collapsing it as Shadow landed, catching his breath and reverting to normal. He grabbed the relic and ran, throwing a Chaos Flare to buy a little bit of time.
Shadow caught up with everyone else. "We need to hurry! I hit him with what I had but-"
"RRHAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Was heard coming from below. Everyone took off as Shadow threw more Chaos Flares, collapsing the stairwell. He made it to the top as Amy slammed the pedestal back into place and Maria put the relic sun side up. They looked around to see it was morning and Shadow collapsed, doing his best to stay conscious.
"Miles...what was this place?" Shadow asked.
"From what I read before everything got crazy, this castle is built on top of an ancient burial ground." Tails responded, helping Shadow up. The Director ran up to them, a police officer on his tail.
"Where have you guys been? We been looking all night." He asked.
"You guys might not want to be hear at night..." Tails warned, telling them the story.
"Wait, so you guys escaped the ghosts?" The officer asked. "From what I hear, nobody has been able to do that."
"Let's get moving." Shadow stated, walking with Tails's help. "I hate ghosts." He stated, Tails chuckling.
"I know...So do I." Tails responded, Shadow giving up a slight chuckle.