Shadow the Hedgehog

"I do have these," said Rouge as she pointed to her ears. "Besides, where there's a will there's a way," she whispered. "Ziona and Glen. Very well, which way to them?" asked Shadow.

Rouge attempted to cheer Melody up. "Don't write yourself off just yet. You never know what the future may hold."

"I'm sure you'll be able to get there again. If Eggman can create a dream altering machine, I'm sure someone else can too. Just without the nefarious plans," said Rouge. Shadow walked over to the pair. "Ok, where do we go now?"

Rouge laughed. "Thanks. Though being a princess must have been pretty nice for you." At that moment Shadow appeared, taking a swig out of the flask with Crowley following close behind.

"I see. You probably don't want to follow me there then. Feel free to wait with Rouge and the others." Shadow then headed off and the scenery began to change around him. Meanwhile, Rouge walked up to Melody with a smile. "Hi Melody. Was your dream as fanciful as this?" she asked as she played with a ruby in her hands whilst taking a glance at her castle. Shadow found himself walking down a hallway. As he approached the end a figure was propelled into view and went halfway through the wall, going limp. Crowley turned the corner with a smile on his face. "Shadow. Sorry I didn't prepare anything for you, I've been renovating," he said casually. "Crowley. Listen to me this is a-" "Dream? Yes I know. It was going well until these cretins showed up. But at least they gave me some exercise. Let me guess, some magic has brought us all together again?" he asked. "Not quite. It's probably some kind of machine. My bet's on Eggman." "I see. Then we best get going," he said as he took a hip flask from a cabinet and handed it to Shadow. As they walked towards the door, the figure climbed out of the wall and limped towards Crowley, who casually lit a cigarette. After taking a drag he moved his hand to his waist so the lit end was pointing at the assailant. Suddenly there was a bang and the man fell over, a small hole in his chest. "Turns out smoking can kill you," quipped Crowley as he discarded the cigarette and walked through the door.

"Ok, but I need to find Crowley first. I can't leave him here, and I must admit I'm quite curious to know what his dreamscape is like, him being an alternate of myself."

Shadow heard Melody and instantly turned to face her. "What are you doing here Melody? Has something happened?" he asked.

As Shadow led the group away from castle, it suddenly dawned on him that Crowley was probably here too, and so he began to head off, hoping the landscape would change for him, but also dreading the possible depravity he could be walking into.

Shadow arrived in Rouge's throne room and walked up to her. "Shadow? Wait, but you're next to me and now you're..." "Bad news Rouge, this is a dream. That's not really me. I'm me. Our dreams are connected, and something's obviously not right." Rouge just looked at him with her jaw dropped, totally flabbergasted. Seeing this, Shadow walked over to her and took hold of her, looking her straight in eye with as much reassurance he could give. "I know this must be confusing for you. But you just have to trust me." As he talked to her the dream versions of himself and Rouge seemed to walk straight into their real selves, merging with them.

(OOC Ah fair enough).

(OOC Locke that didn't happen. And even if it did, Red certainly wouldn't know about it).

Shadow continued running with Hope, Maria and Rouge in tow. The scenario slowly shifted and he was nearly blinded by the light reflecting off the castle's exterior. "I guess that's the place," he said with a hint of irritation.

"A diamond castle? That definitely sounds like Rouge's dream," said Shadow.

(OOC Crowley is just in a room. It doesn't have a way in or out as such. Everything he wants is there. And yeah, a diamond castle does seem to fit Rouge).

"I see your point," he said begrudgingly. "So I best get to meeting up with her."

Shadow glowered at Melody. "That may be true, but it doesn't mean we need his help."

"Oh no! I am not letting Locke into my head. Besides, we don't need his help anyway," said an irritated Shadow.

"Ok then. So does anyone want to volunteer to test that theory?" asked Shadow, to which everyone seemed to respond by looking at him.

"I see. Then that means it's probably technology, which makes me think of Eggman, but combining dream worlds doesn't seem his style, especially when things were so pleasant up until now. Maybe some nut got a hold of his technology. Or perhaps it's some ancient echidna technology that said nut stole."

"We're here because someone wants us to be. It's unlikely Mina would voluntarily jump into my head. It must be some sort of area of effect... magic perhaps? Or some sort of machine emitting an energy?" thought Shadow out loud.

"Ok now keep quiet, we don't want to attract any more attention." Shadow then looked into the cave, which seemed to go on for quite a bit. "Well at least we don't seem to be trapped in here," he muttered.

"Let's head for the cave. At least it gives us some protection from whatever that thing is."

(OOC They haven't discovered Eggman's involvement yet, so we should probably all stay in it).