Hello! This is the fifth chapter! Apologies for putting this out three weeks late after my two week vacation is up. I almost ran into writer's block that led me going back to rewrite the fourth chapter's last scene so that ending flows well into this chapter's beginning scene. In fact, I made minimal changes to the previous chapters and I recommend you to go reread the first four chapters before reading this chapter, the fourth chapter specifically. Whether you choose to do it or not however, it's up to you.

Alright. Let's dive in to the fifth chapter, everyone! Enjoy!

Shadow couldn't stop looking. He already knows this entire situation shouldn't be possible because the person standing before him is long, long gone. He beaten this fact to his head from time to time, reaching its zenith after the Time Eater/Black Doom incident passed. This is the work of an illusion. The machinations of the Neo Fabricated World, he's sure! He shouldn't be fooled again. Not like this.

"…Shadow? What's wrong? You look shocked."

And yet, her sweet smile. Her glistening blue eyes. Her kind-hearted demeanor implied through her curious question, delivered in a gentle tone… All of them are unmistakable part of Maria and he remembers those traits as clear as a day.

The hedgehog continued looking at Maria, who steps closer when he hasn't responded. She leans down, employing a concerned expression as she asks again. "Hey, Shadow. Are you… alright?"

"Huh?" He finally snapped out of his shock upon being aware she leaned close. He instinctively took a step back like he's scared of her. "Oh, uhh… I'm… I'm fine. I was just…" He glanced sideways, finding himself flat-footed on how to respond next.

"Hmm? Yes?" Maria goaded, tilting her head.

"Errr…" Getting frustrated of his lack of response, Shadow shakes his head. "Sorry. I… have a lot of thoughts in my mind. I wish to be alone so I can recollect myself."

"Oh, so that's why you're zoning out. Don't worry Shadow. We can watch the Earth together so you can clear your mind." Maria straightened up and extends an open palm. "Here. Let me pull you to the nearest window. You won't miss it, I'm sure of it!"

Shadow stared at her palm next. He's tempted. Very tempted to accept her invitation to gaze out into space like they used to. An experience of looking at Earth floating in space is not something every person has the luxury of doing, and having to do it with someone else? It makes for an unforgettable memory. Maybe he should relive it for a moment. Take a break from exploring the cursed gallery. Reminisce on the times his surrogate sister was here, still alive and…

And…

And…

Wait, what am I thinking? Snap out of it!

However, he recognizes something's wrong. He felt like he's being enticed by this… this… illusion. Yes, he mustn't forget that. He knows he's trapped in the Neo Fabricated World, eliminated three artworks and several of the cursed gallery's minions, and was about to step foot into the fourth area when all this happened. Everything happening here felt too real for his liking, and the more he thought of it, the more he's angered that the gallery resorted to fool him with this memory of the bygone days.

Sensing he gathered back his bearings, Shadow looks up to Maria and says, "I'm sorry but I must decline. I want to be alone for a while like I said. It sounds nice going star gazing with you but I have to decline this time. Sorry Maria."

The disappointed expression Maria showed almost made Shadow wince; even though she's probably a fake, seeing her disappointed feels too real. He feared he let her down.

"Oh, I see. I understand," she replied, her frown turning into a smile. "I guess we can do it next time. We have a lot of time to watch the Earth below."

Except it's not really a lot. Shadow mused sadly. "Yeah. We do. So… I'm taking my leave. See you… later, okay?" Waving goodbye, he turns around and starts walking in the opposite direction.

"Oh, Shadow! Don't leave yet!" Maria stopped him.

"Hmm?" He looks behind with a quirked eyebrow.

"Before you leave, can you give something to me, please?" She clasped both her hands. "Something you've been holding on the whole time."

"…Huh?" Shadow senses the implied meaning behind her peculiar words. He faces her, becoming a little cautious. "What are you talking about?"

"Do you have to ask?" For the third time, she reached out an open palm, seemingly expecting he'll give him that "something". She smiled again, though unlike the sweet smile he remembers, it's a mischievous or malicious type of smile, and through that, her face stops being benign as she glared. "Your rose, please."

The black hedgehog takes a step back again, one hand reaching up to his quills. "Huh? You… How did you-"

"Would you give it to me Shadow? I promise… I'll take good care of it." Maria tilted her head, her smile widening across her cheeks and eyes partially closing. It's also in this moment the lights went out, coating the ARK's hallway in darkness. It's not as dark the first time Shadow entered the Neo Fabricated World so he can still see but the suffocating and foreboding feeling returned with vengeance. "If not, then… we'll take it from you… by force…"

If the alarm bells haven't ringed in his head before, then it should now when "Maria's" voice dropped octaves lower and intertwined with other people's voice like she's speaking together with them, resulting in echoing effect. Then he noticed the darkness behind "Maria" encroaching to engulf her as several booming footsteps are heard coming behind "her". For her part, she simply keep up the ominous smile as she's completely swallowed.

"Maria!" Shadow reached out a hand, but he snapped out of it quick. Vindicated of his assumption he's looking at a fake the whole time, he spun on his feet and started rushing through the darkened corridors to escape the incoming darkness containing chorus of unrecognizable voices and wet gaits. Damn! I should've get away the first chance I have instead of talking the… the… fake Maria down! He bemoaned, ashamed he almost fell to the trappings of the illusion, and very angered by the gallery's machinations.

And so, Shadow sprinted for his dear life as the entire corridor seems to be closing in on him, the ARK's image or façade breaking down or getting mixed with the cold halls of the cursed gallery like paint being washed off halfway through, creating a surreal imagery combining his memories and features of the gallery.

"Shadow, wait…! Why are you running?"

His adrenaline-filled body tenses when hearing Maria's voice. Unlike the first time, her voice sounded more ominous and echoey, almost obscuring her actual voice. He keeps going, refusing to look back.

"Did I do something wrong? Stop, please!

He beat the fact to his head that her voice is nothing more but a trick. That he must continue running for his life. That the way she's speaking is not in-character for her. Just focus! Keep your head straight!

"I'm sorry for troubling you after you told me you wish to be left alone. It's my fault, right? I only want to apologize, so please…! Stop running from me!

NO! Stop… tempting me…! Shadow sharply shuts his eyes while gritting his teeth. It's getting harder not to be distracted the more "Maria" speaks. It's like, she's outright pleading him, fearing he's shunning her. But he didn't. Never pushed her away and welcomed her company. Besides, the girl he remembers is not like the fake. He mustn't… shouldn't… allured…

"Shadow…" The manner she addressed his name for the fourth time… it spat with venom and contempt. Not helped when she continues, "Is this what you want? Not giving me attention? Unwilling to make amends? Fine… We'll make sure YOU listen and become ONE OF US!"

O-One of us…? Shadow blinked at the choice of words. He has no time to think about it however, when several meters away he catches glimpse of headless statues and painted ladies spawning from black paintings staining most of the corridor everywhere. Even from this distance, he can make out their appearances a bit and realize these are not the normal types he encountered.

For starters, the ladies and statues must be having difficulty maintaining their form as trickles of paint cover their entire being. They slid along their arms or legs that seemed to droop, probably contributing to the slouched or arched postures the statues are trying to maintain. As for the ladies, they all show a crazed look not unlike the Lady in White, complete with wide eyes and crooked, wide smile. Oh, and those eyes have black sclera and white irises, inching them close to their slain eldest sibling.

"Kehehehehehehehehe…" The black-eyed painted ladies cackled again before they start clawing alongside the headless statues. Noticing this, Shadow channeled Chaos Energy to his hands… only he felt nothing. Huh? What's this? Am I not… sensing Chaos energy in me? He tried again and again, but he couldn't tap into it no matter how hard he tried. No! Why now? And… how? How I cannot channel it? Like… something is forbidding me from using it!

Something forbidding him? Sounds like how he's restricted from activating Chaos Control whenever Black Doom sent him into a distorted space of his own creation. If that's what's happening here…

Argh, no time to think about it! I must keep moving and dodge those monsters! Fend them off if I must!

And so he did, eyeing the horde of painted ladies and statues coming his 're deceptively faster than he expected, almost matching his speed. Nevertheless, he continued, adrenaline rushing through his body in Chaos Energy's stead as he hopes he could find a way out of this space.

"Shadow… I'm… I'm sorry…" Unfortunately, the fake Maria addressed him again. "I'm sorry for yelling at you. I just… I wanted you to join us. Become part of the world. The world where we can be together at last, forever."

Rounding around a corner, Shadow processed her words. Shut up! Just… SHUT UP! This is not where I belong! Stop tempting me!

A myriad of disembodied hands rising from the floor and in the opposite direction entered his sights. Those that are rising up stretched about twenty meters ahead and reach up to ten feet in height, until they bended downwards and are zooming straight at Shadow. This made him grimace.

"Out of my way!"

Again, he evaded every clawed hands coming his way. He's glad his athleticism and agility has always supported him when he couldn't muster his well-known skills. However, he hopes he wouldn't rely on his natural speed as a clutch too much when he ends up in a straight up fight. His speed could only reach him so far, ironically.

"You'll fit in this world, I'm sure. The energy you're using to attack our brethren? Almost everyone has it, including me."

Jumping across a series of pits and running along the wall to reach the dilapidated section, Shadow ponders the meaning and implication of the… faker's claims. Energy? Is it Chaos Energy…? Now that I think about it, why do the art monsters release Chaos Energy after I kill them? How did they get it firsthand?

He tried not to get lost in his thoughts again after figuring the creator is ramping up the frequency of its attacks and the minions it can send, which has headless statues and painted ladies sent out at him up front. A kick, punch, or homing attack or two are enough to fend them off; however, they got some hits on him, especially to his arms and legs. He guessed they're targeting his extremities to stop his escape, and in response, he began doing Spin Dash to gain a burst of speed and effectively push away the creator's minions. Too bad he can't tap to his Chaos Energy in order to boost.

"Ring around the rosie… Pocket full of posie… Ashes, ashes… We all fall down!

If it's possible to describe what happened after the fake began singing, the decaying corridors suddenly vanished and Shadow lost his footing. Before he realized what happened, he's in outer space.

"Uwoughhh!"

The hedgehog flailed his limbs wildly and spun his body, registering a little late he's falling. His eyes and mouth are wide and agape, really freaked out and startled. He gritted his teeth, trying to calm down in spite of it all, but he heard her voice once more. And unlike the irritating curiosity-induced tone it employed to presumably lull him to a false sense of security…

"Come, Shadow… Let's live together with our new friends in this world… For all eternity…

Nothing happened in the interim, so Shadow's only companion is the whooshing wind rushing past him as he continues falling. Then gradually, he felt his descent slowing down until, whether he preferred this over falling non-stop or not, he's floating in the abyss.

He held his breath, eyes darting left and right even if it's pointless when darkness covers his surroundings. He waited for something, anything, to show up, no matter how nerve-wracking it may be. Though he refused to show it outwardly, he's really close to panicking due to the incomprehensible predicament any sensible person didn't ask to be in.

Then without warning, hundreds of black hands appear in every direction, zooming at the frozen hedgehog. High-pitched laughter accompanied them and it grew louder and louder as the hands inch near.

"Shadow the Hedgehog… You. Are. MINE."

Thoroughly freaked out, Shadow does his damnedest to break free from his stasis in spite of escape made impossible. "Stop. Get away. I said get away!" He demanded in a panicked tone.

"Kihihihihihi…"

"I'm warning you! Don't come closer! Y-You'll regret crossing me if you do!"

"Kyahahahahaha…"

"Aaaarghhh! Stop! I said STOP!"

"AAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!"

The moment all hands are only an inch away from touching him does Shadow scream in a mixture of fear, panic, frustration, and anger.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHHH!"

He throws a Chaos Spear to a wall, creating a cracked fissure. His gritting, anger-laden face settling on his face for a few seconds while panting, before he slowly but surely, realized he's not floating in stasis, and he's not in a dark space surrounded by plenty of hands out to claw at him.

"H-Huh? I'm… standing? On a ground?" He muttered, looking down and checking if he's in one piece. He scans his surroundings next and is greeted by yellow walls stained with paint or riddled with cracks. Taking all of this in, he registers that, somehow again, he escaped with his life intact. Away from fake Maria.

He went silent for about five seconds, unmoving and panting still, before he lets out a heavy sigh. "I'm… I'm alive… Still alive. Good."

Throwing a hand to his face, Shadow takes his sweet time breathing in and out to calm his nerves and frantic mind. It's a little hard to do when he still hears fake Maria's words in his mind, how he stepped foot in the ARK's interior, no matter if it's an illusion, and the ensuing escape. They're all fresh than he'd like and he wished he just forget that it happened. The scars of his past is teetering close on reopening, especially as he desires to leave it behind after making peace for the second time.

Urgh… This world… It's doing a number on my head. Shadow chose to have a very short rest as he leaned against the wall, never removing his hand off his face. He closed his eyes and keep taking in deep breaths, and gradually, his heart returns to a normal pace and his body stops tensing up at an inopportune times. Three minutes would pass before he kicks himself off the wall, partially composed.

"Okay… Okay… Looks like I calmed down," he muttered, lastly shaking his head to remove any lingering fear still clinging to his head. He directs his eyes to the wall possessing a cat's face complete with two-pointed, oval eyes and triangular protrusions above resembling the ears. It has no mouth, or at least, a fish-shaped hole occupies it in the middle in its stead. "…Hmm, guess I have to find a key that fits the hole. Maybe in the process of finding it, I can forget what happened minutes ago. From the looks of it, there don't seem to be any path leading to that weird space, which is good. Don't want to encounter her… again." He sighed again.

Reminding the objectives he must accomplish (retrieve the Chaos Emerald he believes to be supplying the Neo Fabricated World with its energy and find a way out if he failed to activate Chaos Control even when he found it), Shadow goes to the left door. Here, a stick figure greets him and instructs him to survive getting attacked by many statues, the headless ones and the new type of enemy existing only as a head and cannot move, all without killing them for a minute. Easier said than done when he's sorely tempted to just dispose of them (and vent out his simmering anger) and he's immediately crowded by the statues and almost pelted by beams of hot paint fired by statues of the head. Wanting to accomplish the first puzzle however, he obliges with the rule. Much to his delight, he finds out he can paralyze the statues via careful uses of Chaos Spear without violating the rule. The minute mark has passed, and a ringing chime is heard seemingly causing the statues to crumble to pieces.

"Well done. You get prize." The writing besides the stick figure painting said. The prize turns out to be a wooden fish's head that fell audibly from a painting of a knife fish called "A Chef's Talent." Deducing the second part is in the other room, Shadow gets out and proceeds there.

Similar to the first room, Shadow is tasked with a second challenge; this time, he must jump from platforms to platforms, which are giant crystals submerged in water that has flat tops exposed above the surface, and light all of them up without taking a step back. Oh, and there are painted ladies occupying some crystals, and he's instructed not to attack them once. Shadow frowned to this caveat, feeling like he's being restrained by the rules. He wants to let out his inner turmoil out as way to pay the cursed gallery back from toying with his past. Or maybe this is not yet his time to shine.

Either way, he gets to work lighting up the crystals, avoiding the swipes of the cackling ladies, and figure out the best pattern to kindle the first four crystals. After managing to light up four crystals, he's teleported back to the starting platform and three more crystals pop up from water after the room apparently expanded, totaling in seven. Without hesitation, he ignited all seven crystals after a minute and a half of figuring out the accurate number of steps. Ten crystals show up after finishing the second puzzle, and Shadow completed it thrice in a row. It took him up to three minutes however due to having to avoid many painted ladies and the complicated pattern he needed to study first before getting it. That should be the last puzzle he must finish and so, he's rewarded with a wooden fish's tail that emerged out of the water into the starting platform.

Finally. The second piece… Expressing relief, Shadow gets off the crystal platforms and picks it up. He promptly gets out of the room, ignoring the wailing ladies and leaving them behind as they fall into the water harmlessly.

Connecting the two pieces together, Shadow stands before the fish-shaped hole. He next inserts it, producing a clicking sound and steps back. Two seconds later, the cat wall suddenly meowed as its eyes become narrow and red, then the part of the wall with the inserted wooden fish and the walls behind each vanished one by one with a series of meows. He recognizes a new path has opened, so he moves to the next room, which is actually the second part of the Yellow Area. And it's spacious.

Deciding to explore first, Shadow takes note of a concaved section in front of the narrow hall containing a sculpture of a tiny sprout in a pot titled "Clockwork Plant", two paintings hanging on both sides outside of it including an unnamed painting depicting a doodle of red eyes, smiling mouth, and a tongue perpetually wiggling on the left and a painting of an incomplete box called "Unbalanced Box" on the right. The room expands further on both sides, creating an almost square shaped formation if not for another corridor reaching out to its right and a small section that has a door. There's also a vase on the lower left corner of the room for Shadow to put his rose in and restore four petals back while healing his wounds he sustained earlier. Good thing he checked his rose first.

A group of dolls hanging upside down on a red thread occupies the topmost part, the sight of it never failing to unnerve Shadow and in the rightmost corridor (ignoring yet another black claws sprouting out from both sides), there's another hole in the end, this time it's diamond-shaped. "…Guess I have to find the second key." He inferred. Before moving back to do the puzzles, he spots a green sprout sitting at the dead end; he quickly ascertain it can be twisted like one would to a wind-up key so he did thrice. I wonder if this is related to the tiny sprout back there. What he thought as he walks back.

As he expected, the potted sprout did grow into a small trunk by inches. Aside the trunk looking crystalline and the tiny leaves glistening like they're precious stones, it hasn't grew up completely yet so Shadow goes looking for the second wind-up sprout. He quickly found it after eliminating the hanging dolls when inspecting that part. They try latching on to his body with the intent of piling on top of him, something that can be done because there are thirty of them and a little fast, but the hedgehog easily ripped them apart like paper. When the only things left behind are the hanging red strings, a second wind-up key emerge from the ground. He twists it thrice.

Only one more to go… Shadow speculated, flicking off any cotton and yarn from his fur and gloves. After checking back the potted (crystalline?) plant and saw it grew again, taking note of a small… fruit budding from a branch, he makes his way to the leftmost room labeled, "Honesty Room", and enters.

Inside the so-called Honesty Room, six paintings of three faceless, colorless men and women dressed in shirt, pants, and dresses are presented before Shadow. In the middle between them is a written instruction and as has become routine at this point, he reads it.

The six will ask you a question. Answer them truthfully. If you lie, be prepared to bear the consequences of a liar.

…Will a yes-or-no answer suffice? He wondered, walking to the one in green. Up to the woman in white dress, he's asked by rhetorical or curious questions that he quickly find out is aimed to his aspects and personality. Like they're probing or reiterating his past…

What is your name?

"…Shadow. Shadow the Hedgehog."

What's the title you like to be called?

"…The Ultimate Life Form."

What's your place in the world?

"…To protect it from anyone trying to harm it."

Do you have friends?

"…I do. Two of which I'm close to."

Are you willing to do anything to achieve your goals? No matter how bad it is?

"…Of course. But if there's a safer option, I might be willing to consider it."

So far, he answered truthfully. He hesitated to respond to the third and fifth questions at first, but he's in the clear. Only one last question left so he marches to the woman clad in red, confidence in his stride but staying cautious still. "Well? What's the last question?" Shadow demanded.

Have you moved on from your past?

His breath went still briefly. The last one… Oh boy, this is going to be difficult. This time, he really hesitated and couldn't give a straight answer right away. Moving on from his past… He wants to say yes but as stated a few times before, his old wounds reopened or came close to be reopened. Maybe he should say no? He already pledged to start moving forward. Leave his past and everything painful that happened behind. But how can he was forced to confront them for the second time?

Unwilling to leave the question hanging lest there's an unwritten consequence for failing to answer it too, Shadow puts forth the best answer he can. "I… I don't know…"

"LIAR!"

"Huh!?"

Backing away, Shadow watched as six paintings come out from the frame and the room start oozing with paint. Red paint dripping from the crevices of ceiling and floor. The irate, hostile paintings close in on Shadow, each equipped with sharp weapons, whilst chanting that word repeatedly like a mantra. Dammit! Should've said either yes or no!

And so he made short work of the paintings, firing Chaos Spears to paralyze them before pummeling them all until they stop moving. Their immobile bodies dissolve into featureless liquid paint getting mixed with other paint, leaving orbs of Chaos Energy behind for Shadow to absorb. Other than their features vanishing, the entire room didn't returned to its prior state… except for the third wind-up sprout in the middle. He twists it thrice before making haste out of the room.

Becoming silent on his way back to the adult potted plant, which is actually an ichor brown and vine green crystal made to look like an adult miniature tree, Shadow takes the diamond stone from the branch and, avoiding several hands coming out from walls of the wide area, returns to the diamond-shaped hole. Holding the diamond up and inspecting it, he puts it to the hole, producing a clicking sound when it fitted in like a glove. A passage opened up leading to the next corridor and the hedgehog proceeds forward without looking back.

A descending stairway is found at the end of the short hallway. He goes down but not before evading a falling guillotine when passing by a series of six paintings depicting a guillotine rising up from each frame until the sixth one which it came down. All it did is adding another crack underneath it and irritating Shadow more.

Focus… Need to… focus… He reminded himself as he steps down the stairs. He can feel his mind racing again because of his past being brought up in the Honesty Room. He must continue onward however. He must endure everything the Fabricated World is throwing at him, refusing to let it win. Have to keep moving… I have to… I don't belong here. This false world… He drew in deep breaths, sensing his rose in his quills and reminding it was restored to its full health. With these in mind, he continues downward, ignoring the faint musty smell.

And downward.

And downward.

And downward… And downward… And downward… And downward… And downward… And downward… And downward… And downward… And downward… And downward… And downward… AND-

"…Wha!? What just…?!"

Shadow came into his senses all of a sudden, becoming aware he's looking at rocky walls and floors that has crystal embedded in them, stalactites hanging from the ceiling, and tiny gleaming particles in the air. Everything here is bright, allowing him a full view ahead some meters away. If there's a common theme he can describe, it's that this… underground cave contains ichor brown crystals embedded on every surface, either with flat heads or sharp tops. They vary in size, but mostly these crystal are his size, probably bigger than him. He must have stepped in a pristine mine.

He looked somewhat perturbed as he blinked. Like he's trying to make sense of the lithic part of the Yellow Area. In reality, he's thinking back how he must have… blacked out or zoned out during his descent down the stairs. They're still here when turning around. He wants to brush it off but considering the uncanny events he witnessed, he fears there's a new hazard he must be careful of.

"Hnngh. I might have said this before but… This place is not good for my mind. Hmph, that's not a good sign to me if I believe I'm getting delirious," he opined. He shakes his head with a groan. "No! I won't yield by yet another of this place's tricks again. I must… I have to!" With this little encouragement, he starts moving, going deeper into the underground crystal cave.

However, he haven't gone too far in when he encountered an obstacle a bit sooner than he expected. What obstacle, you ask? Purple gas filling up the corridor. The tainted fog seems to be coming from a slimy goop sticking on the floor and walls, colored in darker tone and having an unpleasant smell. The mist looks dense enough that he couldn't see pass through it. It doesn't appear to be expanding outward to occupy more of the passage thankfully, but that's only his minimal concern. These obstacle is blocking his only path forward.

"…So. This is the new hazard, huh? Doesn't look like I can walk through it even if I cover my mouth," he deduced. He glanced back, remembering a branching path he spotted few steps earlier. "Guess I'll explore that path then. Maybe there's something to dispel the gas or protect me." The hedgehog turns around and takes one step away from the toxic section momentarily.

"Shadow? Shadow, is that you?"

Alarm bells ring in his head again when Maria's voice entered his ears. He stopped and looked back to the purple cloud. Again, he cannot see through it, and in addition, Maria. He thought of responding to the voice, but he remembered something like this happened before. He closes his mouth.

It's a fake. Or the Fabricated World is tricking me again. I have to get away.

Shadow move three steps ahead but didn't get far when "Maria's" exclaimed in a distressed tone. "Shadow, wait! Where are you going? That's the wrong way!"

A sense of trepidation comes over Shadow, originating from behind. Realizing what might happen, he starts sprinting away… but one leg got caught by something and begin tugging back. "Huh? What's-" He couldn't act fast enough when he lost his footing to the ground and is pulled away into the purple cloud. "NO! ! !"

Once engulfed inside, he was thrown to the ground, emitting a gasp from the hedgehog. But that's the least of his concern as he quickly get back on his feet, unknowingly inhaling the tainted gas. Immediately, a sense of vertigo came over his head, knocking his balance lopsidedly. Then his head started pounding agonizingly, causing his vision to unfocus and his chest becomes heavy as his lungs take in more of the poisoned air.

A-Argh! No! This air…! Choking from the burning pain, he covers his mouth and nose in vain hope of preventing more of the purple cloud from entering his lungs, exchanging that for holding his head to prevent it from splitting apart. It's too late however.

He can feel his feet shuffling around the muddy sludge, surprisingly not as sticky as he thought but is threatening to make him fall. He can sense his vision starting to blur, indicating he's beginning to lose consciousness. And his breathing… It's starting to slow down. He's beginning to feel himself getting cold. Like he's gonna…

"No! I-I must… get out…! N-Need to… m-m-move…!"

Steadying his wobbling posture a little, Shadow starts running back to the direction he thought he got hauled by an invisible force. Unfortunately, in his muddling mind, he can only move around in a circle in one place because his sense of direction is being affected too. On some level, he must have realized this after seeing he's not making progress, yet he refuse to stop. His survival instincts is pushing him to do something, anything, to move out of this mist.

"Chaos Control… *coughs twice* I-I need to use…!" He tried channeling Chaos Energy but, possibly another effect of the poisonous cloud, he cannot tap to his stored energy. At this point, his coughing increases in intensity to the point he's hacking up his lungs. He wonders if he tasted something iron in his throat and mouth when he coughed. He threw a hand up to his lips and it felt wet. …He couldn't have expelled a lot, right?

"Oh Shadow… There's no need to struggle. It'll be okay. We'll be okay!"

Eventually, Shadow stops moving and falls on his knees, his coughing continuing. A hand on his chest, Shadow attempts to keep his eyes open as he starts crawling his way out, alternating between coughing and panting in the effort he took to move.

"This is where you belong now. We welcome you with open arms so don't worry if you're worried that you'll be alone."

"I-I… I…" Aware his body has grown numb due to accumulated poisonous gas in his chest, Shadow lies down on the hard floor with one hand stretched out forward some steps away out of the dense cloud still and his chest not rising anymore. The sludge sticks to his fur, like it's rising up to engulf his entire body even though it remains unmoving. His half-lidded eyes are kept open for few seconds but his vision has become blurry and is surrounded with encroaching darkness. Like the cloud is obscuring his vision.

His black rose lie besides his head after it fell from his quills when he did. Almost all petals have fallen off, two of which are partially rotting. Then one petal fall off…

"Ring around… rosie… Pocket full of…. Ashes… We… fall down…"

He couldn't hear some words. He's starting to lose his hearing. Her voice… It must have gone farther away. Is this it? Is he going to die like this? Without… saying goodbye… to his…

Ma…ri…a…

The toxic cloud continues covering Shadow's unconscious form without mercy… until a blinding light force them to get pushed back, exposing the still hedgehog and the black rose that has one petal remaining to the other occupant of this area. Someone who's in the same predicament as him.

She came running back to the cloudy obstacle after hearing a scream coming from it.

It was right on time after she finished an obstacle course involving making it to the end of no less than four corridors where big crystal stuck on the floor perpetually send out circular waves that can knock her feet off and she has to either get behind something or jump if she wishes not to get hurt. Alas, she did get hurt twice before she reached the end though fortunately, the object she obtained that could help protect her from the poisonous cloud makes her struggle wroth something.

Bringing the object with her, she was on her way out of the branching path leading to the obstacle chamber when she heard a gruff male voice shouted "NO!". That voice is not like the ones this place likes to send, the place she no longer came to be familiar with and is explicitly out for her all because she tried to leave without exchanging someone.

She shakes the thought off. Right now, she must go through the thick cloud and find out who shouted. If that someone is actually what she hopes, maybe… Just maybe she won't be alone and… They can help her. Help her escape from this Neo Fabricated World a few other artworks spell out before starting an arduous journey through three colored and alternated areas.

After making sure she's holding a lantern containing a vaguely fire-shaped crystal stored inside the glass case, she raised the luminescent lantern up to the purple mist. A small part of the mist and icky slime on the floor is dispersed or vanished by the radiating light, indicating this is the object required to go through the mist safely. A smile appeared on her face, happy she can pass through. But for now, that'll have to wait.

With nervous steps, she moves through the mist. Thanks to the luminescent lantern creating a barrier-like light, she isn't breathing in the unpleasant gas and her feet isn't dragged down by the sludge. She cannot help but feel giddy; she just has to not let the lantern go as the last thing she wants is tripping and losing her grip.

…But that's what ended up happening when her feet hit a snag.

"Wh-Whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa! ! !"

Flying forward, she almost let go of the lantern as it falls down. Not wanting to break it, she throws her hands fast and managed to grip it on both sides. She eventually fell on her front whilst raising the lantern up. "Owww…" She groaned as little waves of pain coursed from her face down to her knees. At least she didn't mush her face into the sludge. That would be disgusting, and dangerous. Carefully lowering the lantern down, she pushes herself up to a kneeling position, shakes her face, and looks back to see what tripped her with narrowed eyes, like she's annoyed.

"…Huh?"

Her thought she tripped on a loosened stone eroded when she recognizes a peculiar-looking shoes with odd-looking soles. She looks over at the collapsed figure of a black-furred and crimson-marked… hedgehog? He has quills so he must be a hedgehog. She did read about the species living in the real world and can recognize almost every humanoid animals and their species. Anyway, she quickly notice he isn't breathing, a trait that lets one denote if they're alive so out of worry and curiosity for this stranger, she scoots over to his after grabbing the lantern and carefully rolls his body over. She takes a gander to his pale face and see he didn't react anyhow to being moves, making her wonder if he's unconscious or… sleeping. Not the eight-hour sleep, but the kind of resting for eternity.

Then a thought occurred to her. "…Does he has a rose?" She looks around for two seconds until she catches the one-petal rose beside his unconscious form. Quickly, she scoops it up, trying not to wince at the thought of this hedgehog barely hanging on life represented by this one black petal. Despite looking halfway withered, it still clung on to the bud. Maybe… if she put the rose in a vase then… he might wake up.

"The vase I used is empty. Maybe there's another vase pass this mist? …Okay, guess I have to proceed. Just hang on until then."

Motivated by concern for his well-being and, though unaware of what she'd done at first, jubilant of encountering someone else in a same situation as her, Mary starts pulling the black hedgehog through the mist, holding the lantern's handle in her mouth and pocketing his black rose, hoping she can pull them to safety. As usual, unbeknownst to the somewhat desperate and scared "girl", the entirety of the Neo Fabricated World is watching them outside the confines of the corridors. From now on, it seems they shall watch two of its victims working together to escape… if they haven't lose themselves yet in the whims of this world… They will be glad if it happens… or if one of them may redeem themselves in their eyes by fulfill what she's supposed to do.

Finished!

Yup! This is probably the moment you've been waiting for! Mary and Shadow are in the process of establishing the start of their friendship once the hedgehog wakes up! Their relationship will be the major core part of the story going forward and I'm excited to finally watch these two endure the horrors of the art world together in order to escape. Expect Shadow to be a tsundere (the platonic kind) as he grows to care and protect her, and expect Mary to see him as an aloof brother she never thought would have, and perhaps become his companion serving to fulfill Maria's ill-fated wish after many years.

However, their blossoming friendship won't be a smooth road: Shadow's internal issue, Mary's underlying motive she may or may not go through, and the Neo Fabricated World's influence will test it all the way to the end of their journey. Not helping is the mysterious appearance of Maria, who's already revealed to be a fake created by the false world to prey on Shadow's reopened scars and tempt him from giving up escaping… These two are in for a hard time as the horrors of the world pile up.

Originally, the last part should've end with Shadow encountering Mary's unconsious form. Instead, I swapped their places because I thought it would be interesting to see Shadow knocking on death's door after five chapters of him triumphing his adversaries with little trouble. Also, he was meant to encounter Guertena in the beginning section but I chose to add Maria to emphasize his growing worries over confronting his past for the third time. Yeah I know he made peace with his past and pledged to move forward but, as you might have known already, it's not easy and may take a long time for one to say he's not bothered by his troubled past anymore. So that'll be one of the plot points the story tackles, the other being Mary trying not to give in to her pre-existing insanity born from living in the Fabricated World since her "birth". Just to be clear, I'm not glad having to put these two through a wringer but I have to do it.

Well then, I'll stop here. The next chapter will come out next week later. Starting afterward, I'll try targeting a bi-weekly schedule to allow much wriggle room for my time and ensure I wouldn't be burned out. My apology for this incoming inconvenience and I hope you understand.

See you next chapter!