Shadow: The Origin Of A Legend

Chapter 55

The elegant white bat alights atop the lighthouse gently. Fortunately, since it's around noontime, the light isn't on--that would've been a pain to deal with!--so she simply ducks in a shattered window, landing right before the staircase. Glancing about, she assesses the structural stability of it; so far, it seems alright, but there's heavy water damage here. The wood floors are partially rotted, and Rouge silently thanks evolution for her hollow bones. Treading carefully, she trots down the stairs, keeping her keen ears trained for sound. The top floor is the most damaged, pieces of the floor missing. Rouge sweeps her gaze side to side, looking for anything glimmering, but no luck. Huffing annoyedly, she continues to the next floor down; it's less damaged, and the floor is made of some sort of plaster rather than wood. She frowns down at it, puzzled. Weird, why is the flooring different? Looking about, she tries to pick up clues, but something shiny catches her eyes. Abandoning the floor, she flaps her wings, lightly lifting off the ground, and soaring over to the shimmering object. As she grows nearer, she realizes what it is, and a grin lights up her face. "Come to mama!" She cheers, grabbing the jewel. It's a large stone, oddly shaped, and a deep purple, reflecting light dazzlingly. Rouge purrs happily, inspecting it. "Well, you're a little rough around the edges, but that sparkle...Mesmerizing." Putting it away, she turns back around, expertly trained eyes surveying the rest of the floor. Across the room, she spots a trunk, sitting nestled in the curvature of the room. Her ears prick as she flits over to it, excited. "Well, helllooooooo, what do we have here?" Fiddling with the lock, the dexterous snow-colored bat deftly opens the chest, but to her dismay it's simply filled with old papers and such. Sighing, she sifts through them, hoping that perhaps at the bottom of the chest there lurks at least one precious gem, but it's no use; the chest is completely filled with papers. Picking one up, she scans it, but it's just nautical logs. Grumbling, she shuts the chest, stepping back with a growl.

To her surprise, the ground suddenly shakes slightly, and she freezes, hearing the sounds of commotion somewhere down below. Guess Shadow found the thieves, she says to herself, but something doesn't feel right. Cautiously, she walks back to the stairs, heels clacking at what seems to be a deafening volume to her ears. Carefully clopping down the spiral staircase, the ivory bat keeps her wings half-open, leg muscles tight with bound energy, prepared to spring away if necessary. The floor beneath her holds the jackpot she was looking for, with goods scattered everywhere, but she ignores them all. Something moves her to keep going downstairs, though with every step a sense of foreboding grows, weighing heavily on her shoulders. She shivers involuntarily, hair on end, brows furrowed in worry. The closer she gets to the third floor, the greater her fear grows, until her knees are shaking with its power. What an aura, she thinks, eyes wide; but where is it coming from? Hesitating at the edge of the fourth floor, verging onto the third floor, she bites her lip. All is silent below, but as she waits she hears a quiet thump. Her ears perk up, and she slowly creeps down the remaining stairs.

In the room below, she first sees the husks of what seems like three different robots, lying in decimated heaps. Her eyes widen in surprise--they don't look to be of Robotnik origin to her. There's too much going on; one seems like it was made entirely of blades, another of tiny platelets. Only the last one seems vaguely of his design, but as she squints at it she realizes the third heap is two robots on top of each other, one still fizzing sparks. Turning the corner of the staircase, she lets out a gasp. "Shadow?"

Her ebony and crimson partner is standing over an unconscious tan and brown creature, and he doesn't react upon hearing her call his name. Maybe he can't hear me. Leaping up and off the stairs, she soars down, flapping her wings gently. He stirs, one ear flicking, and glances over his right shoulder at her; her eyes widen as she sees blood dripping down his chin from a cut on his cheek, and the closer she gets the more small slashes she sees lacerating his body. The moment his eyes meet hers, she freezes, terror spearing through her. It's him! She realizes in horror. He's the one emitting the aura!