From the first day he opened his eyes, all Shadow remembered was digging. He wasn't sure why or where he was even digging, but something told him he had to keep digging until he couldn't dig anymore.

One day, he could no longer dig and was now cast into the sunlight, free from the terrible darkness. Humans and Mobians surrounded him, asking him his name and trying to tend to his broken and battered body. Now, finally, he could rest.

When he awoke, he was quickly attended to and given an understanding of his situation.

He had dug a tunnel from deep within what was known as the Underground; what seemed to be an endless array of floors and caves beneath the planet. There had been a very long war between the Overground and the Underground. With resources on both sides eventually dwindling into a stalemate, the war ended in the Overground's favour.

One day, the masters of the hundreds of thousands of Labyrinths released their prisoners after yielding to the demands of those above.

Many left the hellish Underground and walked out to embrace the warm sunlight. Among them was Shadow the hedgehog, who had dug his way from the 14th Floor of the Underground.

The sound of his phone buzzing roused Shadow. Even though it was late afternoon, he was still tired from his lengthy expeditions without rest. The last thing he needed was another mission. With a groan, he answered the vibrating device.

"Hello, Shadow. This is Labyrinth Manager Jewel."

"What do you want?" Shadow replied gruffly, familiar with the woman behind the voice. He sat up now, more awake than before.

"We have a job available for you."

Shadow could already hear Maria and Dr Gerald nagging him in the back of his mind, warning him that he could do anything except go back into the dark pits of the Labyrinth. But with her marriage coming up, he couldn't help but want to put aside something for her dowry. That's why he had been disobeying them for so long already.

"Available for me? Or you couldn't do it without me anyway?"

"Haha, you're not entirely wrong. We're stretched quite thin at the moment-"

"-And as usual, you need me to fill in the gaps."

"Precisely."

"Payment?"

"We've already sent you a down payment of 1.5 million credits, and you will receive another 2 million when you complete the task."

Shadow was now in the kitchen, preparing a light meal of toast. No one was currently home with him, and someone had already eaten all the leftovers in the fridge, presumably Dr Gerald, during one of his all-nighters.

"That's lower than usual. What do you need me to do? Babysitting?"

"Well, you could call it that."

"What?"

"Simple guide work. Well, it's just until the second floor…"

"Fine."

The call ended just as fast as it had begun. He was already figuring out how to justify the increasing amount of money he would give Maria. Quickly finishing his breakfast and putting on his shoes, he left the house in a streak of yellow.

Ten men, women and five mobians were dressed in thick clothes in the scorching midsummer heat of June. Their attire might have seemed inappropriate for the surface, but it was definitely fitting for the icy, cold, and dark passageways hundreds of meters below, except for Shadow, who had nothing at all. His fur protected him significantly from the cold that would easily seep into the flesh and bones of the others. The other mobians barely spoke to him, but he could feel their jealousy burning holes in the back of his head as he talked to the client.

"Nice to meet you, Undergrounder!" the flashy mobian girl, a peacock, said. She was covered in designer clothing from head to toe. Even the hand she stretched out to greet him contained two rings, which shone fiercely under the Sun's glare. "I'm Auroreen Magnifique; I'm sure you've heard of me before."

Shadow didn't comment on it; rather, he didn't care to remember the names of famous people and merely shook back as he greeted her.

"Call me Shadow. I will be your guide." He replied curtly. With that, he turned and walked towards the Dungeon gate, expecting them to follow, which they did. But his ears twitched as he heard the chatter behind him.

"That wretched Undergrounder, how dare he have no manners to the President's daughter?!" One of the human men said, angry on her behalf. The peacock laughed instead, finding Shadow an exciting change of pace compared to the other men who usually bowed down to her at the mere mention of her name.

"He's a fun one; leave him alone."

"As you command, miss..."

Shadow led them down into the Underground through the nearby passage, a giant hole that didn't seem to belong there. As they ventured deeper, the passage expanded, and the group lit up their torches to see better. Shadow didn't need one himself; he was naturally used to seeing through the darkness of the Underground. Occasionally, Auroreen would make comments to hype up the atmosphere while the cameraman diligently shifted his lens around to capture the surroundings on film. Shadow knew he had to caution her as she made a fuss about touching the walls of the underground tunnel.

"You mustn't touch anything carelessly, even familiar objects, down here underground."

"Who do you think you are to tell Miss what to do?!" One of the guards, carrying a military backpack and a firearm, said back to Shadow, his eyes holding hostility. Shadow merely looked back at him coldly before answering.

"The Underground isn't some kid's playpen. Everything we do could attract the monsters down here."

"You think we don't know that?!"

"I think you wouldn't be raising your voice if you did."

As if in response to the argument, a groan echoed from deep within the Underground. While it seemed still far away, it was enough to put them on high alert. Shadow sighed as he continued along the passage. He could feel something terrible would happen if they didn't keep moving.

"This is all for the crew's safety," he murmured, slowly but surely picking up the pace as distant sounds echoed from other tunnels and passages connected to theirs. He looked back to check on those he was guiding. "Try to keep up. I'll be paid less if you die."

He frowned when he saw that Auroreen was staring elsewhere. She seemed to trust the armed bodyguards in black as she kept glancing in their direction. He couldn't help but smile bitterly. The four bodyguards were nothing but ordinary humans and mobians equipped with hunting rifles and electric batons. What could they do here with hunting rifles that could barely injure a wild boar?

Shadow felt a sense of foreboding. Meanwhile, the bodyguards looked at him condescendingly, and their cold look caused Shadow's expression to stiffen further.

It seemed that times had changed. Ordinary humans had once been afraid of the dark, but they didn't seem to be quite as scared anymore. In addition, many people discharged from military service after the war were now making a living by exploring the Underground. The Labyrinths were no longer a stage monopolized by the Undergrounders.

Auroreen and her crew ended up completely exhausted. They weren't too physically tired since Shadow was moderating their pace, but they were mentally exhausted. Walking along the seemingly endless passageway had overwhelmed them. Fortunately, the place where they decided to set up their camp was a vacant lot of ten square meters. The crew could finally take a break and began to setup their equipment to relax. Shadow once more gave out instructions.

"We'll rest here for 6 hours. As for night watch, we'll take it in turns every hour and a half."

The guards agreed silently, not bothering to answer him back. Instead, someone attempted to speak back.

"Wouldn't you be good enough to do all 6 hours, Mr Undergrounder? Don't you know all about the Labyrinths?"

Shadow merely rolled his eyes at the ridiculously weak taunt and sat by a rock to begin his night watch. Since he wouldn't respond, the rest of the guards got back to work, and tents were set up everywhere.

Auroreen watched as her bodyguards set up camp at the entrance of the vacant lot. Then she asked the cameraman next to her, "Did you manage to get some footage?"

"There's nothing much to film. I don't think there will be something interesting enough for us to film until we arrive."

"That seems to be the case."

"That Undergrounder, focus on him."

The man's helmet camera focused on Shadow sitting on a rock nearby, seemingly deep in thought.

"What? We're not here for him; we're meant to focus on the Labyrinth!" The cameraman replied, sighing at Shadow's seemingly uncaring attitude towards the camera.

"But he's an Undergrounder that's never been on film. No one even knows what floor he's from..." Auroreen's eyes glistened as she looked at Shadow.

The Underground was a hostile place.

Even though the group had just entered the first floor, the environment was still cold and freezing hundreds of meters below the surface. Despite the scorching heat on the ground, they constantly felt shivers running down their spines and feared their hands and feet would freeze at any moment. Sleeping in such a place was understandably a challenging task.

"It's so cold..." Auroreen moaned, blowing her runny nose into a tissue. One of the mobian guards gave her a cup of something warm to drink. She observed Shadow, who was leaning against the entrance's wall. She couldn't see his facial expression as he sat with his back turned to the rest of the group peering into the darkness. Still, there was no doubt that he looked awfully familiar with this place.

That was to no one's surprise. He was an Undergrounder after all. He had spent more time in here than on the surface, so it made sense for him to be more familiar with the environment down below.

Shadow stood out among the Undergrounders due to his abnormality. Most Undergrounders had become obsessed with the labyrinths after the war and had to join the Association to fulfill their obsession. In contrast, there were scarcely any records of Shadow enlisting in the Association, nor was there any indication in his database that he had entered the Underground in the past five years.

The reason he had been chosen in the first place had been because Auroreen had begged her father to use his resources to get the most talented Undergrounder to escort them. The extra bodyguards were merely her father's overprotective nature, but with them around it she thought it would be even harder to see a Deep Floor Undergrounder at work.

She must have been staring too bluntly due to her strong curiosity, as Shadow turned his head to look at her and said, "You better catch some sleep while you can. Tomorrow will be tougher." The sound traveled through the quiet campsite with an odd echo.

With butterflies in her stomach, Auroreen frowned and tucked her head back into the sleeping bag.

Shadow let out a bitter smile. It wasn't just her; the other members of the crew also woke up and took turns to stare at him. Still, he could understand why.

It was obviously uncomfortable to sleep in the unfamiliar and cold underground world. They might only be at the entrance of the first floor, but Shadow could already feel the distinct atmosphere of the Underground creeping into his mind. If someone born and raised in the Underground could already feel this much, it would be strange if ordinary humans touring the labyrinth for the first time could sleep well in the presence of such distinctive pressure from the Underground.

"By the way, that hunting rifle looks modified. Is it?" Shadow turned his gaze away from Auroreen and asked the bodyguard who was standing opposite him. The bodyguard, who was awake because it was his turn on the night watch, nodded in reply and raised the rifle's barrel. Shadow sighed once more in annoyance.

The bodyguards would have been worried about entering the Underground with generic hunting rifles. Fortunately, it seemed they had prepared for this journey in their own way. Still, one thing was for sure—no one among them had any experience inside the Underground. Anyone with experience knew that hunting rifles were useless against the under-beasts. It didn't matter whether they were modified hunting rifles or generic ones.

"Even if we do meet an under-beast, don't even think about using that gun," Shadow warned.

The bodyguard felt that Shadow wasn't giving his weapon enough credit, even though he had worked hard to modify and prepare it. As a result, the bodyguard scowled and looked away. Shadow wanted to speak up, but decided to remain silent to prevent any conflict. From the start, no one in the group had been pleased to have him there.

"A gunshot can instantly attract every under-beast nearby, so don't use it." In the end, Shadow spoke a word of caution, but the bodyguard ignored it.

Shadow was jolted awake as a gunshot rang out, immediately followed by a few more. He rushed over to the source of the noises.

"What are you doing?!"

Shadow grabbed and threw one of the bodyguards to the side as he prepared to shoot again. They had found and shot at an under-beast, but judging from the other unrelated injuries it had, it was already on the verge of death before it arrived at their camp.

"You fucker!" The bodyguard got up and swore. There was a commotion as the other bodyguards restrained their agitated colleague, but Shadow ignored them.

The under-beast, easily the size of a small car, had horns behind its ears that were as thick as an adult's forearm. The teeth attached to its protruded snout were as sharp as razors. It was a menacing sight. The monster, which appeared to be a mixture of a bull and a wolf at first glance, breathed heavily as it lay on the floor in a pool of its own blood and flesh.

"Damn it!" Shadow whispered. Why were bad omens always so accurate? He wasn't just mad, he was livid.

"If you had just called me to deal with it, we wouldn't be in this mess!" He growled as he turned to face them, his voice gaining strength as he spoke. The bodyguards weren't as intimidated by him.

"We know you're an Undergrounder, but we also have to prove we're worth our salt. We can't just stand still when a monster like that prowls around right in front of our eyes," the supposed leader of the four bodyguards said. Shadow just turned his head away.

"No one wanted you to stand still. But thanks to you, we're all fucked now." Shadow signed, resting his head in his hand. He began to think of a way in which he could save them. He couldn't just abandon them; from what he'd heard from the group, this woman was an extremely important person and wouldn't take kindly to their death. And he would definitely have to pay a high price for it too.

"We can settle matters on a higher floor like this. Don't be so cocky." The bodyguard's expression settled into a despicable look of triumph that replaced his formerly blank façade. He must have been mindful of Shadow's perceived derogatory comment regarding his rifle's firepower earlier. When Shadow looked around, the other bodyguards also gave him defiant looks.

"O-Oh my god! Did you film this?"

"Yes, I did!"

Auroreen and the rest of the group's members were making a fuss, in contrast to the serious atmosphere around Shadow and the bodyguards.

"You're amazing!" Auroreen gave the bodyguards a thumbs-up. The bodyguards raised their chins proudly in return.

Shadow could feel his body cool down. He was merely a subcontracted laborer, but he was still in charge of the crew's safety in the Underground. He calmed himself down as he observed the obstinate crew members.

But there was no time for him to reprimand them all.

The sound of a charging herd reverberated from afar.

"Pack up everything. We need to leave now!" Shadow ordered, but everyone merely looked around in confusion. The leader smiled and answered on the group's behalf.

"Nah, we can win." He said proudly.

Shadow was perplexed by their reply. They had clearly gotten high on their first kill in the Underground, but they had no idea of the real terror awaiting them.

In the Underground, there were not only vicious monsters, but also their prey. The creature that the crew had fought and defeated was a prey. Its blood had splattered all over the place during the fight, and predators were likely to smell it and come after it.

"We'll be to kill them if we catch them in a tight corner." The bodyguards began to discuss between themselves their next course of action.

"Right? This one fell after a couple shots. We've got the ammo and we've got some time to prepare."

"And think about it. This one could probably get us a huge score for its materials. If we could get a few more? We'd never have to work again a day in our lives!"

Shadow walked by them, disgusted by the clear greed shining in their eyes and coming from their mouths. He realised quickly that they were beyond saving and moved towards those he might be able to save from the incoming tragedy instead. Walking towards another passage, he signaled for the rest of the crew to pack up their items faster.

"Follow me." He growled, to which they couldn't help but listen to him. Thankfully his attitude and anger had made them obey, but as they had barely entered the passage, Auroreen spoke up, displeased about their filming situation.

"You've ruined the filming leading us here!" She started, walking towards Shadow and pushing her finger into his chest. "Aren't you an Undergrounder? Or are you just a coward?"

"Being an Undergrounder has nothing to do with this," Shadow replied, swatting her hand away from him easily. "If we don't want to be food for the under-beasts we need to get out of here now-"

Shadow stopped as a blood-curling scream came from within the clearing they had just been in. No shots had even been fired yet, which Shadow guessed was because they had underestimated their enemy and been caught off-guard. The sounds of gunshots finally rang out, but it was only about three before there was nothing but the sound of chewing.

The group was paralysed with fear, the shock and realisation of what was going on finally coming upon them. Shadow pushed past them to the front and peered out of the passageway.

"Fuck." Shadow swore, seeing the gruesome sight. "They didn't stand a chance."

Furred creatures with horribly long and crude forearms. Razor-sharp teeth and claws.

"Wolf Monkeys..." Shadow murmured, concerned about their appearance. "Why are they on the first floor?"

But that was a question to ponder when they were safe. Right now, he had to figure out a way to get them away without alerting them. But there was another scream, this time down the passage they had just entered.

"No!" Shadow shouted, racing back the way he had come and spin-dashing through the head of another Wolf Monkey that had attempted to bite through the cameraman. From the clearing, the Wolf Monkeys ran into the passage, even throwing each other aside to get to the group first.

"Run! Now!" Shadow ordered, shaking the shock out of the group and forcing them to start moving. They tripped over each other, trying to get through the passage. Picking up Auroreen himself, he began to lead them through the tunnels.

"No! No! It wasn't meant to be like this!" Auroreen wailed loudly. Shadow didn't bother trying to keep her quiet, they had already been found. He looked back to see the group could barely keep up. Out of the darkness, a furry hand grabbed one of them and pulled him shrieking back into where the light couldn't see.

Shadow put her down after running for a long time. He hadn't planned on putting her down at first, but Auroreen's legs gave way as she stumbled onto the floor. Her confident face from before was nowhere to be seen. Instead, she was a complete mess, her face smudged with tears and snot.

Shadow gave her a perplexed look as she stared vacantly ahead instead of getting up as fast as she could. Soon afterward, he observed the passageway they had just passed through with a stern look. They had to run toward the exit.

However, he knew that he had taken the wrong way. But that didn't mean he was lost. Rather, they had been chased into a corner. The ferocious and violent monsters had intelligently cut off their path of retreat, and they had been surrounded. It was shocking—but it wasn't unexpected if one thought about it. Anything could happen in the Underground.

The situation seemed bleak. Not only did Shadow have a burden to take care of, but their paths had also been obstructed.

To be honest, the monsters on the first floor were nothing to him. But Shadow wore a stiff expression nonetheless because the furry forearms that he saw definitely didn't belong to the typical first-floor monsters he knew of. Either way it didn't matter to him. Now he and Auroreen were the only two left in the passageways; the rest having become food for the predators. With fewer people to protect and only a dead end, he could now go all out against the creatures. Those monsters would never give up. They were tenacious predators that would never let their prey go once they had their eyes on them.

Shadow's eyes, however, were glistening even in such a difficult situation. After all, he was an Undergrounder who had crawled and dug up from the 14th floor, and he had emerged alive from the whole ordeal.

This would be the last thing that would put him down for good.

Hearting the Wolf Monkey's howls, finally reaching close enough, he conjured a green spear from thin air and threw it with all his might into the passageway. The spear lodged itself into a Wolf Monkey's head just as it came out of the passage, killing it instantly. As more trampled over its body to get to them, Shadow snapped his fingers, causing the spear to explode violently; killing two more creatures.

"Stay here," Shadow ordered Auroreen, who didn't answer. Concerned, he glanced back at her and saw she was shakily holding the camera recording him. Kissing his teeth at her, he curled into a ball and shot towards the Wolf Monkeys again.

He ripped through one of the Wolf Monkey's chests and uncurled to cover his hand in a green light shaped like a blade, cutting off the head next in line creature while in mid-air. Then he kicked them in the chest, pushing the dead body into the other Wolf Monkeys trying to get past. Making the green energy blade longer, he sliced through the air into the passage multiple times, throwing arcs of green energy that dissected the Wolf Monkeys before they even had a chance to reach him. With more than enough bodies piled up together, the Wolf Monkeys seemed to switch targets and began eating their own had-been companions.

Shadow breathed heavily as he raced back to Auroreen's side, whose camera had died. She was still sobbing and now decided to finally speak up.

"Why?! Why did you let the others die?!" She wailed, seemingly blaming him for the situation.

"You seem to be misunderstanding something, you spoilt brat." He hissed, grabbing her by the head to look into her eyes. Shadow felt anger boil in his chest at her stupidity. "I was hired as a guide. Not a guard."

She trembled as the coldness in his eyes looked down on her.

"B-but, people died..."

"You're the one who hired a bunch of useless, arrogant and greedy fools to waste their lives down here, not me. They did what I warned them not to do and paid the price with their lives. Not my problem."

He roughly swept her off the floor, carrying her like a knapsack, when the floor began to shake beneath them. Just as Shadow was about to begin moving again, the floor beneath them fell away.

Auroreen screeched at the sudden fall but quickly realised they weren't going anywhere fast and was quiet in amazement. Shadow used his rocket soles to dodge the falling stones above them and landed safely, dropping the girl once again.

"You could learn how to treat a lady..." She murmured, rubbing her backside. Shadow turned to look at her with disgust.

"You could learn to shut up."

She glared at him in response but knew she had no valid come back to what he had said and wiped her face clean of tears, blood and snot. Shadow raised a hand covered in green energy, but this time, it was much brighter, which showed his surroundings. When he saw what was ahead of him, he couldn't help but swear loudly.

"A fucking labyrinth..."

As much as Shadow had been down within the Underground over the years, even he didn't know every passage or route. The Underground was a constantly evolving environment, almost like its own entity. Entire ecosystems within it could change overnight and Overgrounders would have no choice but to adapt to any situation that arose from those changes. Which could also explain why there were Wolf Monkeys on the First Floor.

"We've got to-"

Shadow was about to turn and leave when he saw what seemed to be quite a menacing-looking mask. However, Shadow couldn't help but stare at it, seemingly entranced by its appearance. He didn't even realise he had walked over to get a closer look at it until it was too late.

The Mask of Enerjak... Finds you worthy.

"Shit-"

A bright red light shone from the eyeholes, and Shadow's world went black.

Shadow.

He was too strong.

You are the Ultimate Lifeform.

He was no longer Master Mogul. He had announced himself as "Grandmaster Mogul".

Save us.

The very fabric of reality was splitting, breaking into pieces from their fight. The Super Genesis Wave was nothing compared to this.

You're the only one who can.

Ultra Sonic, Turbo Tails, Hyper Knuckles, Burning Blaze, The Zone Cops, The Ancient Masters, The Neo Masters, The Brotherhood of Guardians, The Egg Empire, The Dark Legion, The Black Arms, The Xorda, the Bem, even the mystical Sword and Crown of Acorns... Nothing seemed to stop him.

You're the only one left...

Their only hope was Chaos Control...