Shadow the Hedgehog

Exactly. And that's why it must be stopped. If we fail, that's the thing we'll have to deal with.

"Haha. Thanks. I don't think we'll be seeing him for a while. He's pretty burned out. It seems like we've got Insanity on the backfoot. It must be quite depressing to watch your carefully thought out plan crumble before your eyes."

"No problem. You did save me from angry werehogs. Twice. As for my hand, I had a run in with my own doppleganger and well let's say in hindsight stabbing him was a bad idea. His blood was some acidic junk and well this is the result. Can barely use it now. This better not stay over in the real world, I use righty for everything."

Shadow gave a simple nod and crawled over to Locke. When he got there he once again took off his left ring and gripped the blade of his knife, heating it up. Once it was glowing red hot, he took hold of the hilt and prepared himself. "Locke this is gonna hurt like hell. Get ready." With that he pulled out Melody's knife, steadied his hand and made an incision around the wound, removing a chunk of infected tissue. He ignored Locke's grunts of pain and then put the flat of the blade against the gaping wound, which was soon seared closed. "There, if I had more time I'd have cleaned the wound first. I just hope I didn't give you a death sentence."

"Darn it Skye will you listen to yourself? No kid your age takes on assassins and lives to tell the tale. Being faster or stronger has nothing to do with it. You were injured and outmatched. I know more than anyone what its like to watch someone you care about die. Giving into guilt won't bring her back Skye. She'd want you to carry on. To live your life. Not to wallow in guilt and insanity."

Shadow had one last plan to save Skye. Removing the inhibitor ring from his left hand, he felt some energy return. Rather than waste time healing his wounds, he channelled it into his fist and punched through the wall, revealing Skye and the possessed Melody. Hearing his mutterings, he tried to reason with Skye as he put his ring back on, now almost completely drained. "Skye it wasn't your fault! If you had kept trying to fly you'd have died along with your sister. If you want to blame someone blame the assassin. They caused your sister's death, not you."

Shadow found the wall he saw Skye go through and frantically threw his weight against to no avail. His attempt to push it ended in disaster as pain coursed through his right hand. He then saw the extent to which his hand had been burned by the corrosive blood: the glove surrounding his palm and backhand was eaten away, and his raw flesh was plain to see. He slumped down against the wall, exhauasted and in agony. As much as it pained him, he knew he couldn't help Skye.

Just before the doppleganger was upon him, Shadow span out of the wqy, holding his knife where he once stood. But he was surprised that he felt no impact. The creature then appeared in front of him and grabbed him. "Though you are without your powers, I am not. Now tell me, where should I start, your legs? Or perhaps your abdomen? There's no rush" it said with a smile. Shadow managed to free his knife hand and thrust into the creature's torso, a corrosive black ooze pouring out. As he fought through the pain, Shadow cut downwards before grabbing his last flare. "I think it's time you saw the light, friend", he quipped as he lit the flare and thrust it deep into the wound, causing the creature fo release its grip and scream in agony. Shadow then ran back to where he had been with Skye, laughing at his close brush with death, but knowing that as long as Skye's insanity controlled this dream, the doppleganger could be back at any moment.

Shadow knew that this was his only shot. He began to walk towards the creature before breaking into a jog as the creature moved back, faster and faster until it was backed against the wall with nowhere to run. Shadow then tossed his flare next to it, revealing its true form. Shadow was facing a twisted version of himself. The only real differences between the two were the obviously brighter red eyes, which seemed to serve no purpose but to reveal its presence, and a mouthful of razor sharp teeth. It gave him a toothy grin, before walking forward, clapping. Then it began to speak in an eloquent voice. "Impressive. Most impressive. But I'm afraid our little fight is far from over. Were you expecting me to just combust in the light? Come now, where's the fun in that? Since you've traveled so very far, be my guest and let me entertain you!" At that moment the doppleganger charged at Shadow, who juat stood there smirking.

"Skye, what happened?!" Shadow's face was a picture of fear. Not himself, but for his friend, who was now at the mercy of his seemingly unreachable sister. As the flare continued to burn, he kept his eyes locked with the creature's. He was still surprised at its intelligence. This would not be an easy fight.

Shadow barely noticed Melody's awakening as he sees the red eyes get closer. He quickly rises to his feet, candle in hand. Knowing this dim light would not stop the creature's approach, he decided a different tactic was needed, but what? Then he realised he still had not changed since his hunt. Around his waist hung a belt with 2 flares. For once he was glad he had been careless. As the creature closed in, he grabbed a flare and lit it, the burst of light forcing the creature to retreat. The split second it was engulfed in light, it looked harrowingly familiar. He knew that this would only buy him a minute or 2, but it was a welcome relief. "Go back to the shadow. You will not harm this boy. Not while I still breath."

"The only way we could stop him would be to knock him out, which is not an option given we'd need something pretty big to whack him with. I knew someone with a giant hammer but they aren't here, which is probably a good thing. We're just gonna have to wait his transformation out. Or maybe Locke can get through to him. And no the crypt isn't particularly safe. But it gives us room to maneuvre if Dylan or anything else comes down here."

Shadow slammed the book shut and grabbed it along with Melody and Skye. "Locke. I think he's found you!!" he shouted as he ran to towards the door. He knew that not only would the stairs act as a choke point for them to get mauled in, but they also had to get past Dylan first. The crypt was their only option, and it had space for them to hide in

"I think you might be right Slye. There has to be a book of your insanity which we can find. But I doubt it'd be kept here. Your insanity would want to protect itself. Hide itself away. If you got to that book, you could destroy it along with your insanity. Or at least force it to show itself."

Still keeping a hold of Skye, Shadow lead them down the spiral staircase. "I'm sure he's fine Locke. He lives in a zone full of werehogs and the DEL. This should be child's play for him." As he reached the bottom step, he atopped and peeked round the corner. "No sign of Red Eyes. Let's go." The room was just as he left it. Candle on the desk, the book closed. "That book there Skye. Maybe you can make something of the text."

"Well that was an intersting development. Everyone ok? We're almost at the library. We can plan in there."

"Don't worry Skye. We've got the coward on the run. Why else would it strike now? It's desperate. You defeat it here and it'll never bother you again". After trying to reasure Skye, Shadow taunted the entity. "If you want to get inside my head, jump on in. The demons in there will tear you to pieces."

"It's just down here" said Shadow. He froze at the top of the stairs, wary of the fact thst he had lost his torch fighting the winged assassin. The stairwell, previously lit by a few token torches, was now pitch black. He stepped away, grabbing a candle from a table. "Its better than nothing I guess. Stay close guys" he said, as he descrnded once more.

"It's not your fault Skye. There was nothing you could've done. I know that doesn't make things any more comforting." Shadow then got up and tried to remember the way back. "We have a choice; we can either go through the crypt which leads directly into the library, or we csn try and work our way back to the entrance and go down from there. I'll warn you, there's another creature. I only saw its 2 red eyes, but I know it's smart. It won't run headfirst into a fight. It's more.... calculating."

"I second that buddy. The sooner we leave the better. As for how? It could be anything. Maybe you need to remember more things about your past. The library I found was full of blank books, but they gradually filled in, so maybe they're connected to your memories and get filled in as you subconsciously remember. I couldn't read them, but maybe you can."

Shadow came limping down the stairs, covered in claw and bite marks, his fur stained with blood. "She got a little too frisky for my liking" he joked, as he sat on the bottom step. "She's wounded and fled back into the night, but I'd wager she'll be back. How are you feeling Skye?"

"Get Skye out of here Locke, I'll deal with this." said Shadow as he stood up. "May I have this dance?" he asked as he ran towards the monster. (OOC I hate to leave at such a dramatic moment, but I have to be going. Night guys, I'll be on in the morning).

"Nooo!" screamed Shadow as he rushed over, grabbing Melody by the throat before kneeling next to Skye as the rain continued to pour. "Were you not a child I would kill you where you stand!" he hissed, before turning to Skye, inspecting his wound. "It doesn't look lethal. Skye, this is going to hurt a lot but it has to be done." With that he swiftly pulled out the knife and put pressure on the wound with his left hand, the blood staining his glove. "Locke get up here! Skye's hurt bad." Looking him in the eye, he tried to reassure the crying Skye. "You're gonna be ok, you hear me? We'll get you patched up. Locke's on his way right now. It's all gonna be fine." (OOC Bye Dylan).

Shadow sprinted ahead, reaching the roof where Skye had been confronted by Melody. "Come on Skye" he shouted. "We have to get you out of here."

Ok Locke. But if the children of the night swarm us its on you.