Chapter 7: Hunger Part 1

A few hours later, Six woke up after a little bit of a good rest. After all that's happened, she was glad that there was a little bit of calm for her after all the chaos but was about to get out of bed for a drink when she heard Shadow slowly start to wake up.

"Hey, are you thirsty?" he asked her to which she nodded in response.

The hedgehog then got up and went to find some water for her. After looking around the abandoned building they were in, he found a small cup near a table and after filling it with water, he returned and handed it to her to which she happily drank.

"I bet you're probably hungry also?" asked Shadow to which she nodded. The two then left the bedroom and out of the abandoned building to try and find anything for Six to eat in the Pale City.

After a couple minutes of searching, the two ultimately found a nearby backdoor leading into a restaurant. After slowly opening the door, Shadow looked around to check if the coast was clear for them to continue moving through.

After climbing some stairs and passing through some swinging traffic doors, it brought the two to another room filled with laundry carts. As he pushed the smallest cart close to the window leading to a pantry, the hedgehog began to have a sneaky suspicion that they might not be alone in here. Soon they came to a corridor and after Shadow checked if it was safe, Six entered a cooking area by crawling through a small doorway leading under some counters where there was a massive fish head. She ultimately didn't move or make a sound after seeing a Chef cutting some steaks. Shadow studied his movements as he walked back and forth between the cutting board and a boiling pot where he would toss sausages. Once the hedgehog made a distraction to the chef by throwing a nearby object in the room, Six started to sneak past and hide underneath some shelves just before the doorway to the next room. After not finding anything, the chef walked down into the next room and tended to multiple ovens. Six tried to sneak down the steps and make her way to the stairs across the room while the chef had his back turned. She tried to be cautious as she found herself underneath a table with fish pieces as the chef began working. She tried to control her breathing but she was so nervous about getting caught. The chef soon spots her underneath it and before he grabs her, Shadow jumps in kicking him in the side of his head.

"Thanks Shadow." Six replied as the hedgehog carried her in his arms and sped away to the next room while the chef began to recover from the hit and began to wonder what had just happened.

Once they made it to safety and climbed up the stairs in the next room, they found that their path was blocked by a large metal door closed with a padlock. Six quickly began to climb some shelves and then leaped onto the wooden beams overhead, and slowly made her way back to the left side of the room while Shadow activated his air shoes and flew up towards her. They then saw cages and baskets filled with small fish, which the girl used to climb to reach a vent leading to a double-toilet washroom while the hedgehog hovered by her side ready to catch her in case she slipped. They soon found themselves in a bedroom where another second chef was sleeping on the bed.

They saw a key to the padlock hanging across the room, but they had to be quiet unless they accidentally woke the chef. Six slowly and carefully began to climb the tall drawers across the room with Shadow keeping an eye on her ready to help her at any second. The chef soon woke up and left the room to head for another room in the corridor. Six began to climb back down and jump for the ledge and then grabbed onto the key and swung herself to dislodge it from its peg and drop it to the floor. After Shadow picked up the key, they went to the elevator located in the corridor and the hedgehog pulled down the switch. Once they entered the elevator, the pressure sensor caused it to automatically descend back to the corridor below which connected the pantry to the cooking area.

The two then made their way to the door but Shadow thought it would be wise to peek into the next room to make sure the coast was clear before they continued. They saw one of the Chefs wander around the kitchen but was always on alert after getting hit by the hedgehog. Once Shadow distracted the chef again by throwing another object, they snuck past and managed to unlock the padlock. They then opened the door to the next room which had a meat grinder. Six threw pieces of meat in the grinder and pulled the rope while Shadow grinded the meat and created a rope made of sausages which fell onto a plate which he guessed that the chefs would use later. Shadow then gave Six a boost to reach the small vent to the right that leads into the next room while he teleported to her which led the two to find themselves in a freezer.

They found that their path was once more blocked by another metal door locked by a padlock. Pulling the switch in the corridor will bring down the elevator with the second chef inside. Before the gate opens, Shadow grabbed Six and quickly ran back into the freezer and hid her inside the wooden box while he hid behind one of wooden poles ready to help her in case the chef saw her. The chef then grabbed a piece of cheese from the box and then proceeded to inspect the meat hanging above. While he was distracted, the two made their way to the elevator, but unfortunately the chef was immediately alerted once it started to rise. The two immediately exit the elevator and Shadow helps Six hide in a nearby vent.

"Try to sneak into the next room. I'll distract him." he told her to which she nodded and as soon as the chef saw him, Shadow instantly sped towards him and hit him with a spin dash to the face.

As the two battled, Six sneaked into the second cutting area and made her way to a small opening in the wall. Six quickly hopped onto a nearby table and grabbed the key they were looking for and ran back to the elevator and once Shadow saw her with the key, he went into the elevator with her and threw one last chaos spear to the chef to prevent him from following. Once they returned to the metal door below, they unlocked the padlock and they ran inside the room and Six hid in a metal box while Shadow hid behind the door. After finding nothing, the chef lost interest in the pursuit and walked through the door to the dish area.

Once the chef left, Six jumped to grab the metal hatch and climb inside to make her way down the garbage chute while Shadow slowly opened the door to the next room. Six soon found a ladder which she can climb to make her way into some drains leading to the dish area where both chefs are now cleaning dinner plates. Six climbed out of one of the drains and hid under the sink with the toilet plunger located close to it with Shadow keeping an eye on her ready to spring in at any moment. Soon, both chefs leave the sink in the center of the room and start working on opposite ends with their backs turned. While they're distracted, Six slowly sneaks underneath the center sink, and continues to the next one to the right. In an adjacent room, she tried to climb the counter and pull a switch which began to reverse the movement of the hooks below. This alerted the chefs so she quickly jumped back down and hid under one of the counters.

Once the chefs lost interest, Six tried to sneak back across the room. However, the chefs soon noticed her and tried to grab her, but before they did, Shadow jumped between them and told Six to run while he covered for her.

"RAT!" The chefs screamed and pointed at Shadow as Six then began running and the hedgehog followed her and there chaos spears at the chefs and did a few spin dashes in case they came too close. The chase soon brought them into the next room.

The first chef tried going behind carts filled with plates so Shadow threw a chaos spear at him before she came within his arms reach. This caused the second chef to go past him and give chase, so she tried to run and slide underneath the table to evade his grasp.

Six must keep running and saw some nearby boxes which she began to climb like stairs to reach for some hooks going upwards. Grabbing onto one brought her to a door leading into another room, and Shadow activated his air shoes and flew up to her.

"You okay?" he asked to which she nodded.

"You let them get away! Me?! Yeah You!" the chefs screamed at each other angrily before erupting into a brawl with each other.

"How did we fail to get one child and that filthy rat!" one of the chefs screamed out angrily before both chefs jumped back after a chaos spear landed near their feet.

"Hey!" a voice shouted to which the two chefs looked up and saw Shadow holding Six in his arms looking angrily at them.

"I'm not a rat! I'm a hedgehog!" Shadow told them before turning with Six in his arms and walking into the next room leaving the two chefs behind in frustration.