It was one of those nights. Sleep would not come to him, so when the transmitter on his bedside went off, Shadow was not nearly as irritated as he could have been. Especially not when he heard the panic in the voice on the other end.
"Shadow—Shadow?! Do you read me?!"
Shadow's eyes shot open. He grabbed the transceiver and sat up in bed. "Rouge? What's wrong?"
There was a crashing sound in the background followed by what sounded like a snarl, causing him to pull the device away from his ear. What on earth was going on?
"You know how I said I was looking for treasure in the forest? Well, I found it! But I pissed off a monster in the process!"
Another crash, followed by distant yelling.
Shadow gripped the transceiver. "A monster? What are you talking about?"
"There's a knuckle-headed glowing monster after me, Shadow, that's what!" Rouge hissed. "I'm hiding in a vault in this castle, but I don't think the door is going to hold much longer."
On cue, a metal screeching sound rang out over the transceiver and Rouge let out a shocked cry.
"Damn it! Shadow, I'm sending you my coordinates, I don't know how much longer I can hold out—" her voice was drowned out by a chilling, animalistic howl unlike anything Shadow had ever heard before.
The call cut out.
Shadow was already on his feet, staring at the last received message: a set of coordinates.
His brows furrowed, grasping the transceiver so hard it threatened to crack. "Damn it, Rouge." He cursed aloud, stomping across his room and throwing the closet door open. He kneeled down and lifted up a floorboard
Lying there were his rocket skates. He pulled them out of their hiding place and slipped them on. Even after months of disuse, they still fit like he had been born with them. There was no time or need to get dressed.
Energy flowed into Shadow's skates. With a blast of yellow light, he sped out through the door out of the apartment and into the night, soaring towards the forest.
Maneuvering through the forest proved to be more difficult than simply flying over it, but it was no challenge whatsoever to the ultimate lifeform. He made quick work of it, weaving through each tree and up the sides of cliffs following the directions from Rouge. Then, the ground dropped beneath him. He wrapped into a ball, shredding down the side of the slope and halting in front a thick wall of foliage. Shadow had admittedly never ventured into the forest before, but he could say for certain this wasn't what he expected to find. Of course, none of that mattered presently. He wasted no more time, leaping over the wall and trekking through the woods of glowing fungi.
Then, he was upon it: an iron gate surrounding a magnificent palace, looming and ominous in the darkness.
"So Rouge actually meant a castle, then." He mumbled to himself, honestly surprised that it actually existed. But he had no concern for what was real or myth right now. Shadow sped over the fence and across the courtyard, all the way into the front entrance where he finally slowed to a cautious pace, pulling out his transceiver.
"Rouge, do you copy? I've arrived at the castle. What is your status?" It almost scared him how easily he fell back into agent-mode.
There was no response, so Shadow put the device away.
He listened intently, eyes darting around the palace as he ventured deeper into its walls. There was an eerie silence, and it truly seemed to Shadow that nothing had lived in this place for centuries. But then, what about that cry he heard during his call with Rouge? If she was in this castle, she definitely wasn't alone.
And to that end, neither was he.
He was in the center of the foyer now. Somehow, Shadow didn't see it until he was nearly below it. Faint moonlight from glass ceilings illuminated green eyes. Shadow's eyes widened when he realized what he was looking at. A hulking figure stood at the top of the stairs—staring straight down at him.
Shadow could make out its massive form, at least twice his size, fur wild and standing on end. One massive hand adorned with razor sharp claws rested on the handrail, the other trailing low near the floor. It was unlike any creature Shadow had seen in the flesh before; it looked more like something one would see in a horror movie. Then, those eyes, sharp and calculating—he felt them bore into him.
Rouge was right. Shadow swallowed.
This was a monster.
There was a tense moment of stillness between the two. Then, the beast opened his mouth. A low, rough voice echoed out across the foyer.
"You." The monster growled. "Are you the one the intruder called for?"
Shadow bristled at the words. Despite his best efforts, Shadow was not much of a negotiator. He tended to run head first into potentially dangerous encounters, better to get the jump on an enemy then leave himself open to attack. And this, under his criteria, was a potentially dangerous encounter.
He pushed off the ground, skates fired up and shot up the staircase like a bolt of lightning. He caught the split second as the beast's expression twisted into a brief flash of shock, and then into one of aggression. Shadow tucked into a spin and launched himself towards the creature in a homing attack—only to find himself spinning in place.
Powerful hands had him pinned. The beast had blocked his attack, arms straining against the force of the spindash as he struggled to keep a hold of it.
"Woah, would you look at that!" The beast sounded amused under his gravelly voice. In fact, Shadow thought he could hear a hint of laughter in his tone. "Finally, something interesting!"
Shadow felt himself being thrown through the air like the world's fastest basketball. He was flung to the point where he only just managed to uncurl and push off the wall he nearly crashed through, leaving a significant impact in the structure. Again, he launched a homing attack, only for the creature to dive to the side and unleash his own counterattack. Razor claws sliced through the air towards Shadow's head.
Reactively, he routed energy to his skates and leaped backwards in a hover. But, to his shock, a right hook from the beast followed him into the air, decking him across the head. He went careening into the ground, vision rattled by the blow.
What the hell was that!? He shouted in his mind as he clenched the impacted side of his head. Did that thing's arm just stretch? Shadow leapt onto his feet and broke out into a sprint, dashing around the room and walls as he built speed to the point where the beast's eyes struggled to keep up with him.
Using that to his advantage, he landed blow after blow on his opponent. The beast managed to block some of them—but, unable to keep up, he ended up taking the brunt of the attack.
Shadow ceased his barrage momentarily. The other was slightly hunched over now as a result, but his eyes still burned with the same amount of determination. Then, he began laughing. Laughing to the point where he threw his head back. Then, he punched into his open palm in the universal signifier of an imminent beatdown.
But instead of attacking him, the beast only grinned, amusement in his eyes. "You use the same attacks as me, you even kind of look like me! And you're fast, almost as fast as I am! Are you supposed to be some kind of imposter?"
Imposter? What nonsense was this beast spouting? Not only did they not resemble each other in the slightest, this hulking lunk had nowhere near the speed Shadow possessed.
"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just here to retrieve my comrade." Shadow growled in response. "Tell me where she is, and I'll spare your life."
"How generous of you." The beast flashed a grin. "That bat girl tried to steal something important to us, so Knuckles cornered her into the dungeons. She wouldn't give it up, so he's probably still squabbling with her down there."
Shadow blinked. That wasn't…exactly what he was expecting (well, besides the stealing part. That was exactly what he had expected).
"I don't know how you two found this place," the beast continued, gaze falling and smile disappearing, "but you and your friend better get out of here while you still can. Though, it might already be too late for you—I did clock you pretty hard."
Shadow clicked his tongue, unsure on whether to take his final comment as some kind of weird threat. He ignored it anyway. "Fine by me. Tell me where she is and we'll be out of here."
The beast nodded. "I'll lead you to her, as long as you can convince her to give up the chaos emerald."
"You're the ones who've imprisoned her, why can't you take it yourself?"
The beast raised his gaze to look at Shadow. He almost looked…sad. "She's been exposed to us too long already. If we get any closer to her she'll never be able to leave. The same goes for you."
—-
"What is that supposed to mean?" Shadow questioned after a moment of silence.
"Follow me." He responded, ignoring Shadow's question. The beast walked down the rest of the stairs and followed the ground floor hallway deeper into the palace.
Shadow watched him as he moved, and then followed behind. No words passed between them as the two ventured deeper into the castle. However, Shadow noticed how the beast often glanced back at him and subsequently adjusted his pace to maintain a distinct distance between them.
They came upon a staircase, and at the bottom, an iron door led into rows of empty cells. There, at the corner of the room, Shadow heard the distinct voice of a certain bat berating someone else.
That's when he saw Rouge standing in a cell at the end of the hallway. She gripped the rusted bars and was currently in somewhat of a shouting match with someone sitting on the edge of a chair several feet back from the bars of the cell.
"Hey, Knuckles, I found the intruder!" The beast barked, pointing a thumb over his shoulder at Shadow.
"Knuckles" whipped around aggressively in his seat at the same time Rouge exclaimed in relief. Shadow instinctively took a step back at the sight of him. He was smaller than the beast, but still much larger than Shadow himself. Unlike his acquaintance, this "Knuckles" creature almost looked like a recognizable species, but he still appeared too different from any creature Shadow had ever seen.
What caught Shadow off guard about him were the glowing runes along his body that illuminated the dungeon. It gave him an alien appearance, and his matching eyes and protruding horn-like appendages didn't help in that regard.
Just what the hell had Rouge gotten them into?
Knuckles narrowed his eyes, glaring suspiciously at Shadow. "What should we do with them?" He inquired of the beast.
"He said he'd get her to give up the chaos emerald, and then we let them leave."
Rouge and Knuckles both shouted their disapproval at the same time, before immediately returning to their yelling match between the bars.
"Quiet down, will you?!" The beast hollered, silencing them.
"But your majesty," Knuckles grumbled, "they know of this place now. What if they come back with reinforcements?"
The way he referred to the beast did not go unnoticed by Shadow. Now, his interest was piqued.
"I'm not imprisoning anyone else here." The beast snapped back. "If they try to come back, we'll just have to really knock some sense into them!"
Knuckles sputtered at the beast, stupefied but with a certain weariness to him that was not lost on Shadow. Perhaps this beast had a history of letting intruders off the hook.
"I can assure you we have no motivation to return to this place, especially not with any 'reinforcements.'" Shadow spoke up, drawing the two's attention. "I can't make you believe me, of course, but I will say I know what it's like to be hiding from the outside world. Allow us to leave peacefully and we will leave you to your devices."
Shadow suddenly took several steps forward, causing the beast to step further away in response, his brows furrowed.
"But tell me, who are you? And this castle, just what is your connection to it?"
Knuckles abandoned the chair, now facing Shadow with an aura of hostility. But before he could come any closer, the beast put up a hand, signaling him to stand down. He studied Shadow for a moment, as if contemplating his response.
"Well, I used to be the ruler of this land." The beast finally spoke, expression unreadable. "And this place, it used to be our home. But now, it's a prison. You may not believe me when I say this, but I used to look a lot like you, actually. That was a long time ago though."
The way Knuckles tensed up as the beast spoke told Shadow that he was likely not lying. Did this mean the supposed missing royalty of this region was here all along?
"This place is under a curse. It turned me into this." The beast continued, pointing a finger at himself. "And it's contagious—once you're infected, it's no longer safe for you or anyone else to leave this place. That's why we've had to stay here for so many years."
The beast narrowed his eyes at Shadow. "To be honest, I'm shocked to see you haven't been affected, especially considering I made physical contact with you. I guess you're just lucky. But who knows if that'll last."
Rouge tapped on the bars of the cell, shifting attention back towards her. "Well that is, admittedly, a pretty unfortunate situation, your majesty. But if you're stuck here, what do you need a gem like this for? If you're worried about people coming to seek it out, you may as well let me take it off your hands."
"Silence!" Knuckles faced the bars again, pointing an accusatory finger at the bat. "Like I already told you, the chaos emeralds are an ancient power only to be used by the royal family! They are not toys for the likes of you to ogle out."
She only sneered back at him. "And yet I see they've done little good for you or your king over there, considering you look like this!"
"Why you—!" Knuckles growled.
"It's fine, Knuckles." The beast interrupted. "Look, we can't let you have the emerald, but there's no shortage of treasures here. If you give it back to us, you can have your pick of any of it."
The beast had said it was fine, but the vein now visible on his forehead told otherwise. Rouge only narrowed her eyes at the offer, crossing her arms. It was clear that she was not quite convinced.
But Shadow, on the other hand, was getting fed up with this situation.
"Rouge." He finally intervened. "Just give it up."
The two former teammates exchanged a look, and then Rouge sighed deeply and shrugged in defeat. "Fine! I guess I don't have any better options. But you better have something worth my time in those stashes."
She fished the gem from her bag and chucked it through the bars. Knuckles caught it and held it close to him protectively, curling his lip at Rouge.
Shadow couldn't help but twitch in annoyance at the sight of the thing. It didn't look all that magnificent to him. In fact, it looked rather dull and lifeless if anything.
Once Knuckles had taken the emerald safely back to a new hiding place, Rouge was released from her cell. Now, the four made their way to the entrance of the castle, the beast in the front and Knuckles behind Shadow and Rouge (now with a bagful of gems from the vault). From the way Knuckles mumbled behind them, Shadow assumed this is not the outcome he had prepared or hoped for.
"I'm sure you can find the rest of the way?" Said the beast as the four arrived at the edge of the door, halting just before the stairs to the courtyard.
Shadow nodded and Knuckles let out a scoff that sounded like "good riddance."
Rouge wasted no time heading down to the gate after one last obscene gesture towards Knuckles, but Shadow lingered momentarily. Something was still on his mind.
"Tell me," he said, "if you are royalty, how did you manage to stay here during the Revolution? Did no one come looking for you?"
The beast scratched his cheek. "I'm not sure what Revolution you're talking about, but no one has gone searching for us in all the time we've been here. I'm sure the world out there has long forgotten about my existence." A sad smile graced his features, "But that might just be for the best."
For the first time, Shadow wondered what it must be like to go from being on top of the world to being forced to live in a one where you are forgotten by everyone. To the outside world, it was like the beast and this castle had never existed, and yet they remain.
Shadow grimaced at the memory of his own fall from grace—50 years a prisoner and then several more as a dog of the military. He would love to fade into obscurity, to live in a world that had forgotten his existence. But unlike him, he imagined this beast once had many people who respected if not loved him. To watch those important to you vanish as you remain a bystander with no control…that was a feeling Shadow could emphasize with at least.
"There are those who believe you never existed at all." Shadow spoke up after a moment. "But then there are also plenty of people out there who believe the opposite. And there are plenty still trying to prove you were really real. So, I wouldn't say everyone has forgotten about your existence."
The beast stared at him, eyes wide in surprise. His sad smile twitched into a more genuine one. "Heh, I suppose that's good to hear..."
The beast rubbed the back of his head bashfully, and Shadow couldn't help but notice how strange the action looked coming from someone of this build and stature.
But with that, Shadow nodded at him and turned away, heading after Rouge towards the gate.
"Hey!"
The beast's voice stopped him in his tracks. He turned only enough to catch a glimpse of the other standing illuminated against the grand entrance.
"I hope you can escape whatever it is you're hiding from." He said. Then, in a move that nearly threw Shadow for a loop, he cracked a huge grin and held out a thumbs up. "And I just wanted to say…in another life, it would have been great to race you!"