A dark blur dashes through the dark cavern corridors, with a light green scarf whipping behind it. The figure clutches a group of papers in her hands, taking care not to wrinkle them too much, and she pants as she runs rapidly. "SoulSilver! 'Silver!" She cries out, bursting into a more open and brightly lit cavern.

"What?!" SoulSilver, seated at a roughhewn wooden table in the center of the room, turns to face her cousin, baffled. "What is it?"

Sky thrusts the papers into her silver-striped relative's hands. "Look!"

The ocean-master hedgehog stares down at the collection of paper. It's a week-old, slightly stained newspaper. "What, exactly, am I supposed to be looking at?" Silver raises an eyebrow skeptically, sounding a little weary.

"Loo-ook!" Sky insists, and jabs at a photo on the front page. "Look at the hedgehog there!" Underneath her claw, a slightly blurry image of a black and red hedgehog smashing a robot's face in with his foot is printed on the paper. Silver folds the paper, bringing the image closer to her face, eyes wide. Sky leans in, hovering over her cousin's shoulder. "Doesn't that look like...?"

"Oh, my God."

------------------

The trees are all blackened, dead, their boughs stretching out like charred fingers towards the sky. My feet splash slightly in the dark green pool beneath the trunks; all around me, a deep grey fog hangs thickly. The trees reach, resembling clawing hands of undead corpses. I writhe my way through them, trying to flee their grasp. My breath comes in ragged gasps as I wrench another clawed branch from my chest, stumbling into a wide, open expanse. The water beneath me acts as a solid, though it washes over my feet in gentle green waves. A few feet away, with her back turned towards me, is a familiar figure. I stare for a moment, not comprehending, until she turns slightly, fixing her luminous jewel-toned eyes on me, her purple fur glowing in the faint greenish aura of this place. Somehow, I know her name. "Heather," I call out in an oddly hoarse voice, "where are we?" Silence meets my query, and she turns away from me, beginning to plod forward. I try to lift my foot, only to discover it bound tightly by something I can't see. Puzzled, I look down, and discover writhing snakes curled about my feet. I gasp, struggling, and reach down to pull one off, but before my hand can reach the snake a dark tendril erupts from the water, wrapping itself around my hand. I gasp, yanking my arm back, but the rope-like black tentacle doesn't let go; three more shoot from the ground, one wrapping its way around my throat and pulling my down. I look up at Heather, standing now a mere foot in front of me, and staring down at me with a blank expression. "Heather!" I scream, fighting against the forces pulling me down, "Help me! Help!"

She tilts her head to one side, her mouth slightly open, but other than that she doesn't move. My knees buckle under the strain and I feel the tendrils sliding further up my body. "Heather, please!" My voice cracks and tears well up in my eyes; through my blurred vision, I watch her turn away and begin to walk off. I'm on my hands and knees, my wrists already below the surface. The waters are cold, frigid, and I start to shiver. "Please, I'm begging you!" The tendril around my neck tightens, pulling my head down. "D-Don't leave me..." I choke out, now elbow-deep in the water, shuddering from how bitterly cold the now-rapidly-ascending green fluid is. She's walking further and further away, her silhouette shrinking. "Don't leave me alone again!" I howl, sinking up to my chest, chilling my lungs and freezing every muscle in my body. "I can't--" The water envelops me, dragging me under. I thrash, bubbles leaking from my mouth, eyes wide with fear, but I can't move very easily. The water around me, dark on the surface, is now glowing a bright neon green, and pain sears through my skull. I throw my head back, screaming, but no sound carries further than my mouth, and all the air leaves my lungs as I shriek. A dark vine wraps around my mouth, gagging me, and I'm pulled further and further down into the painfully frosty water. Writhing, I tear at the vines around my wrists, but for each I tear off, three more appear. My empty lungs beg for me to breathe in, but I know I can't; not only am I too constricted by the tentacles, but this liquid is definitely not something I can breathe. My struggles are fruitless, but appear to have angered these peculiar tendrils--one stabs straight through the center of my back, and I cough out crimson blood. Its deep, rich red blurs and blends into the glowing green fluid, tainting it, and the cloud formed by my own blood obscures my vision. All I can see is darkness as I sink further and further into the abyss, feeling the life ebb from my limbs... Alone.

-------------

I jolt awake, my eyes flying open to meet a very ocean-blue pair looking down at me. Confused, still not sure of my surroundings, I tried to shuffle backwards only to discover that I was sitting up against a rock. "E-eh?!" I stutter out a squeak as I recognize the cerulean eyes to be Rouge's. She's leaning very uncomfortably close to me, her face mere inches away from mine; practically sitting on top of me, and I feel a crimson blush spread across my cheeks.

"You okay, Shadz?" The white bat chirps, blinking at me innocently. Behind her, Omega is examining me as well.

"I-I'd be b-better if you could get off me!" Still puzzled and now a bit alarmed, I try to control my voice to keep myself from stammering.

"'Kay~!" She chirrups cheerfully, stepping back. I pull myself to my feet, brushing dirt off of myself, and keeping my head angled downwards to avoid looking at her. How embarrassing--why was she acting like this? Does she not know the definition of personal space? Before I can voice these thoughts, Rouge interrupts them by patting me on the back as she passes me. "We made it here about five minutes ago, and I wanted to see if my staring at'cha would wake ya up. Looks like I was right!" She turns around and grins at me playfully.

"Hmph, very funny," I growl, crossing my arms and beginning to walk with stiff legs towards her.. "Anyways, where exactly are we?" I glance at the trees, trying to figure out our location.

"We're at Robotnik's most recently abandoned fortress." The bat answers as I catch up to her. Omega follows behind me, his thudding footsteps unnerving me. There's just something about that sound that disturbs me. "We're gonna have to be on our toes here," Rouge barrels on, looking at the trees as we trot along the now-overgrown path to Eggman's old lair, "because the power generators may still be up. The defense systems may have repaired themselves--I don't know just how bad the damage Sonic dealt was. So he may have taken out everything, or not...Either way, be very careful."

"Right," I growl, clenching my hands into fists at my side. If it's abandoned, there's hardly any reason for us to anticipate an ambush, but some leftover traps and such might hinder us. I'll have to keep my senses sharp.

For around half an hour, we walk along the overgrown road with little to no issue. Eventually, we reach a blown-in door, with dark scorch marks stretching outward from it. Chunks of machinations litter the ground, some with jagged edges and others with corroded bits falling off them. Jeez, what a dump... I look around, grimacing at the mess. Rouge trots up to the dark entryway, peering inside; deep within the base, electricity flickers from half-torn cables, sparking and popping, illuminating the hallway in flashes.

"Rouge," I step up beside her, pensive. "I don't know about this..."

"Heh, relax!" The white bat giggles. "It'll be fine. I have flashlights for you!"

Annoyed, my ears flick back with a sigh. Don't be an imbecile... "That's not an issue for me," I growl, "I can see perfectly fine. My concern is whether or not this area is safe to enter."

"Whaddaya mean?" She grins. "It's perfectly fine! Now hurry up or I'll leave you behind!" With a leap and a flap of her wings, Rouge takes off, rapidly flying into the base.

"Wh-Wait!" Shocked, I stutter and stare after her. What the hell?! What is she thinking?! She didn't even try to assess the situation! Why is she so impulsive? Dashing after her, growling with frustration, I take care to avoid any and all stray wires. Behind me, Omega utilizes his thrusters to keep from touching the ground at all, inspiring a bit of envy in me. Wish I could fly like that, I think to myself.

"Rouge," Omega booms, "Where are we going? Why are we here?"

Rouge glances over her shoulder, then wings a hard left down another corridor. "We're here for some files of Robotnik's. My last raid failed, so I wanna see if this old place has any info on where ol' Eggy keeps his jewels." Attempting to catch up to her, I leap up onto a wall, running along it for a moment, and then kicking off to land on the ground again. Surprisingly, I feel my shoes glide smoothly on the floor. "So, it's off to the basement for us, and we'll hack into his database--that is, if the old computer still works."

Looking down at my shoes, I realize that they're hovering a few centimeters above the ground somehow, sliding along effortlessly. Baffled, yet excited, I decide to try moving as though I were skating. For a few short seconds, it works, but after one more wobbly step, I feel myself lurch forward. "Wh-WHOA!" I yelp, tumbling head over heels down the hallway.

"Shadow?!" Rouge cries, flapping her wings to slow herself as I crash past her. "What the hell?!" With one final THUD, I faceplant into a metal-plated pipe running along one of the corridor's walls, my arms stretched beneath and behind me, with my tail almost smacking into the back of my head. I hear Rouge land beside me as my rear end falls down to the ground. "Shadow?" She pokes me. "Uh...what just happened?"

I drag my arms out from underneath me, planting them firmly by my side. "Ugh...Sorry," I mumble, pulling myself upright. "M-my shoes did something...weird." Embarrassed, I pretend to be inspecting them until she turns away.

"Well," she sighs, "whatever it was, don't let it happen again. You really had me worried there, ya know." Turning back to me, she grins and extends a hand. "Don't do anything else stupid, mm'kay? I don't wanna be down a teammate." Blushing, I grab onto her her hand; she helps me to my feet. "So! Now that that's over," she lets go of my hand, which I immediately withdraw to my side, "let's get to the basement, shall we?"

"Yeah." I nod, and we begin to move down the corridor again.

-------------

"Sweet!" Rouge chirps, excited. "All the equipment's still up," she dashes around, checking all of the machinery. I shiver--it's quite cold down here, and I'm surprised she's not freezing like I am. I guess that outfit is a better insulator than I had previously thought.

"What, in specific, are we looking for?" I query, examining the room. It's a wide, open expanse, with different monitors, consoles and other such tech strewn about (What a mess, I think to myself, cringing inwardly); none are active, and the only light comes from Omega's eyes and Rouge's flashlight. At one point in time, perhaps it could have been a command station. Looking around, I can almost picture it--I close my eyes, and I can see what the station might have looked like in its heyday: brightly lit, with glowing screens illuminating the robots as they bustle around, Robotnik at the center of the room...Something about the image seems so familiar.

"Yo, Shadow! Hello?" Rouge snaps her fingers and my eyes fly open. She's standing right in front of me. "Earth to Shadow, we don't have all day!"

"Er, yeah," I stutter, "I was paying attention." I cross my arms.

"Oh, you were?" She smirks. "Then, what did I just tell you to do?"

I hesitate, sheepish. Urk...I didn't think she was gonna call my bluff like that...! "Uh...It was...something to do with these machines?"

She glares at me, and I shrink back. "Way to go, Captain Obvious," the white bat snaps, exasperated, "you got it right. I want you to see if you can figure out how to turn this back on." With one arm she makes a grand sweeping gesture, indicating that she means all of the technology.

"Got it." I nod, turning towards the keyboard closest to me. It holds an odd configuration of buttons, each inscribed with peculiar characters. The languages seem to alternate between Japanese, French and English; the French keys are grey, with clear letters inscribed upon them--clearly some part of an LED system-- and both the Japanese and English keys are black with white lettering. It's almost as if Robotnik cobbled this together from a combination of different keyboards. Which means the letters and characters printed on them may or may not be significant... Frowning, I rub my arms with my hands in an attempt to gather some heat. Gah, why's it so cold in this room? Annoyed, I decide to quit examining and start doing something. Gently, I tap one key, inspecting the nearby monitor for a reaction. I shuffle to one side, standing in the middle of the keyboard, and suddenly I was struck with an odd sensation of familiarity. I know this system...I know what to do. Closing my eyes again, I let my hands guide me, tapping first one key and then another. A few seconds later, I hear a soft humming sound, and cool blue light washes across my eyelids. My eyes open slowly, and I stare at the blank, blue screen before me. Glancing to my right, I realize that Rouge has already moved deeper into the room, out of my line of sight; I swivel my head to the left, realizing that Omega has vanished as well. Tch, whatever, I'll go ahead and start looking through this for them.

Turning back to the screen, I note that it's now changed to a light blue color, with a white-trimmed box in the middle of the screen, bearing white letters spelling out "PASSWORD |________________." I stare at it for a moment, perplexed by the flashing cursor and the oppressive feeling of déjà vu. I've done this before, but when? Without my even realizing it, I've typed in a passcode and pressed enter. The white box vanishes, replaced by a black line with white letters spelling out "L O A D I N G . . ."

How did I know the password? I lean back, feeling queasy. How could I have known that? After a second, I realize I've been holding my breath, so I inhale deeply, trying to force myself to stay calm. The machine beeps, drawing my attention. The "LOADING" screen has been replaced by a white box with the grey lettering of "Search" within it, and an hourglass symbol beside it. I tap a few keys, trying to trigger the search box; eventually, one marked 'はい' does it--the cursor flashes, and I decide to try only tapping on the English keys. It takes a few moments, but I've eventually tapped out "TREASURE" into the search prompt. I tap 'はい' yet again, and the search box is replaced by another loading screen, but this one is swift. My search turns up about a hundred results, and I use the up-down arrow keys to leaf through them all. Most are about places supposedly concealing lost treasures, but after a few minutes of searching I conclude that none of them are going to be of any help. Biting my lip, I rub my hands absentmindedly over my shoulders, still chilly. Huh, so...what do I do now? It seems like Rouge might be wrong about Robotnik holding some secret treasure somewhere.

An idea flashes into my head. Idiot, just searching for 'treasure' isn't gonna work! I lean forward again, this time typing "finances" into the search box. A couple dozen results pop up, and I scan through them until I find what I was looking for. Of course! He's running an empire, so naturally he's going to have treasury records! Moving rapidly, I analyze each page of his records; they're kept in an unusual manner. It seems that every time he gains or loses an amount of money, or anything worth something, he writes down the date it was acquired/lost as well as its worth and where it's being stored. It looks less like a checkbook and more like a data log, but telling him how to run a treasury isn't any of my business. After a decent amount of time, I find exactly what we're looking for. "Perfect..." I hiss under my breath, and then I turn around and call out to Rouge and Omega. "Guys! Hey, guys! I think I found it!"

The clacking of heels on metal sounds, and Rouge dashes into view, rounding the corner rather rapidly. "Did you? Did you really?" Excited, she runs up to the monitor.

"Take a look for yourself." I reply, stepping back. "It's Robotnik's treasury records, and I think he included things that aren't necessarily money on the list as well as actual cash funds."

Rouge gasps. "This is perfect!" She stands up straight, facing me with a look of glowing delight. "I could kiss you right now!"

My cheeks flare red. "Er, d-don't do th-that." I stammer, uncomfortable.

She giggles. "No, there's no time! I have to go get Omega back from the back of this room so we can go. Stay right there!"

"Where, exactly, would I go...?" Raising an eyebrow, I watch her dash off, grumbling to myself. Running my hands across my biceps, I glance back at the console again, feeling more than a little curious. "Y'know...I wonder..." I muse aloud, biting my lip. Could this database have a file on me? I mean, if I were working with Robotnik at one point, that would make sense, wouldn't it? On a whim, I back out of the program, returning to the search box, and I type in my name. The loading screen takes far too long for my liking; I shiver with anticipation, heart pounding in my chest. With a 'BING!', the screen immediately begins to display a wall of text. Apparently, when there's only one file, the search box takes you right to it. I lean back, keeping my hands on my upper arms, as I begin to read. My eyes widen and a sick feeling brews in the pit of my stomach as my eyes scan the text. "Oh...my...God..."