The hallway lights flickered. Shadie walked without seeing where she was going—eyes forward but unfocused, like she was drifting through someone else’s body. Her breath left her uneven, shallow, and the deeper she went into the corridors, the colder everything felt. Then the voice came. Faint. Distorted. Too familiar. “Obey.” Shadie stopped moving entirely. That voice wasn’t real. He wasn’t here. Eggman wasn’t whispering in her head. The base wasn’t supposed to sound like this—buzzing, glitching, like the world was slightly off its hinges. But the voice slithered back in anyway. “Laugh for me.” Her heartbeat jolted so violently she thought her ribs might crack. She pressed back against the wall—only to flinch at how warm it felt. Warm like blood. Warm like memory. Shadow’s earlier words repeated, sharp and echoing: “You hunted them.” “Your eyes were empty.” “You laughed.” Her breath fractured. She didn’t move. Didn’t blink. Then the hallway shifted. Just a flicker—lights stuttering overhead—but in that moment she saw the walls streaked with red. Her chest tightened painfully. And down the floor stretched a trail of footprints… little ones… her own, stamped in scarlet and leading further down the hall. “No—” the word slipped out raw. She slammed her eyes shut. Bad idea. The darkness swallowed her whole, and in it came the sounds: Screaming. Metal tearing. Boots running. Her own high, sharp laugh cutting through the carnage. “Good girl, Shade-01. Again.” Her eyes flew open. The hallway was normal. But she wasn’t. Her legs trembled as she stumbled forward, thoughts spiraling faster than she could catch them: Cream saw a monster. Maybe she’s right. Maybe they’re all right. I shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t— The lights dimmed again. And in the split-second of darkness that followed… something cold clamped onto her shoulders. Her heart stopped. She couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t scream. The lights flickered back—and nothing was behind her. But that was enough. Enough to make her turn away from everything. Shadie walked forward, slow and silent, like a ghost trying not to disturb the living. She didn’t cry. Didn’t shake. She simply left. Left the hallway. Left the memory. Left the world behind her. She rounded a corner— And stopped. Rouge stood in the middle of the corridor, wings folded, eyes wide with something rarely seen in her—fear. “Shadie…?” Rouge whispered softly. “Baby girl, what happened?” Shadie didn’t answer. Her expression didn’t change. Not anger. Not sadness. Not even recognition. Just silence. Cold and distant. Rouge stepped closer carefully, as if approaching a wounded animal. She reached out a hand— Shadie stepped back. Rouge’s heart cracked at the rejection. “Oh honey…” she breathed, far too gently for a world this harsh. “What did he tell you?” Shadie still said nothing. But her eyes… Her eyes looked hollow. Like something inside had slipped loose. Rouge swallowed hard and tried again, voice trembling despite her strength. “You don’t have to talk. Just—don’t run from me. Please.” For a moment, Shadie’s gaze flickered—pain, fear, something breaking— Then she turned away. And walked past Rouge without a word. Rouge didn’t chase her. Didn’t shout. Didn’t demand answers. She just stood there, hands shaking, staring after her like she’d just watched someone fall off the edge of the world. “…Shadow,” she whispered to herself, voice brittle. “What did you DO?”
