A Dark Turn for the Worse
The rest of Dawn and Shadow’s underwater trek was uneventful, but Dawn still enjoyed being in a marine environment. They eventually surfaced on a beach surrounding a jungle, where they departed from the submarine and sat down on the sand, taking a breather from their fight against the Tunnel Bots.
Shadow gently touched Dawn’s bandaged arm and leg. “I haven’t checked on these since yesterday.” he said. “Let’s see if they’ve healed.” He carefully unwrapped the bandages to examine Dawn’s wounds-or what was left of them. The red welts she sustained at the volcano were now faded marks, and when Shadow touched them, she didn’t feel a thing. But he still rewrapped the bandages, as he and Dawn both agreed that it was wiser to keep them on until the wounds fully healed.
Dawn laid down on the sand, folding her arms behind her head. “Man, being underwater sure put me in a good mood.” she said. “And fighting the Tunnel Bots gave me the rush I needed.”
“I can tell.” Shadow said. “Both certainly had a positive effect on your well-being. Your face has become full of color.”
His last comment made Dawn look up at him with surprise, but he quickly looked away with embarrassment, not having meant to say it. Dawn sat up, that feeling from the night before coming back to her. The one that had to do with Shadow, but until this moment was unfamiliar. Now, she felt like she knew what it was.
She scooted closer to Shadow, close enough so that their legs were touching. He looked back at her, and the two of them sat in silence as they eyed each other. It took them a while, but they realized they were slowly leaning in. Dawn looked away at the last second, feeling Shadow’s lips brush against her cheek.
“I better call my parents.” she said. “Give them the daily progress report.”
She stood up and headed into the nearby jungle, leaving Shadow awkwardly alone on the beach. When she was far enough into the trees so that he couldn’t hear her, but not so far so that she couldn’t see him, Dawn contacted Sonic with her communicator.
“Hi, Mom. It’s me. I just wanted to talk.”
“Sure, sweetie. What’s on your mind?”
“It’s about Shadow. You see, I’ve- “
“He’s not giving you a hard time, is he?”
“No, not at all. He’s been really good to me. In fact, he’s been so good to me that…I’ve been getting these weird feelings about him. Ever since he joined me on my trial, I’ve felt so happy. Happier than I’ve ever been. But it’s not just because he’s here to protect me, it’s him. His courage, his determination, everything about him is just amazing to me.”
Dawn hesitated for just a moment before she added, “That’s why...I think I’m starting to like Shadow. As in like. Is that okay with you, Mom?”
“Yeah, Dawn. Of course.”
“Really?”
“Absolutely. I don’t care if he’s my rival. You can date who you want, and no matter what, we’ll all be here to support you both.”
“Thanks, Mom. Well, I guess Shadow and I had better get going. I'll talk to you later.”
“Good luck, honey. Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
Dawn hung up and called to Shadow that she was ready to continue. They made their way into the jungle, keeping an eye out for danger, but there didn’t seem to be any in the area. As they walked, Dawn kept thinking about Shadow and her impending feelings for him. He was unlike anyone she had ever met before. She side-glanced at him, her eyes taking in his striking features, which she remembered bore a close resemblance to her mother’s. She vaguely wondered if he had the same feelings for her. For the most part, he only appeared interested in being her good friend, but there had been moments where he hinted at wanting to be more than that. For now, she could only wait and wonder.
It was nightfall when they arrived at what appeared to be the entrance to a cave, only it resembled a menacing skull and had what looked like glowing eyes. They looked inside and saw jagged spires of dark rock and walls covered in thorny vines. The place seemed to give off an aura of impending danger.
“It looks quite perilous in there.” Shadow said. “We should move on.”
Part of Dawn wanted to agree with Shadow, but another part, her thirst for adventure, wanted to go through it, maybe fend off some enemies, feel the rush of adrenaline. Not only that, but she saw this as another test, another opportunity to prove her heroism, and she simply couldn’t turn away from it.
“Let’s check it out, Shadow.” Dawn said. “We could get a good challenge out of it.”
“Are you sure about this, Dawn?” Shadow asked.
“As long as we stick together, we’ll be okay. Come on, Shadow, let’s try it.”
“Alright, Dawn. But let’s stay together the entire time and watch for danger. I sense hostility from this cave.”
The moment they entered the cave, they felt an unnerving chill, as if their surroundings were warning them of frightening perils to come. They treaded lightly down cracked walkways, the cave becoming foggier the deeper they went. Although they kept a sharp lookout for danger, the fog eventually became too dense for them to see anything. As they were contemplating what to do, several vines covering the walls slid towards the pair, the fog hiding them from view.
Dawn let out a startled cry as the living vines wrapped around her wrists and ankles, only for it to be cut off as another covered her mouth. Shadow cried out her name and lunged forward to help her, only for the vines to entrap him as well. The vines began pulling their victims to the ceiling, but Dawn used her knuckle spikes to cut herself free. She then spindashed off the walls to reach Shadow and freed him, too. Dejected, the living vines retreated to their former place on the cave walls.
“Are you alright, Dawn?” Shadow asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Dawn answered before wearily eyeing the now immobile vines. “We should move on, though, in case those things come back to life.”
“Yes. That would be preferable.” Shadow agreed.
They went deeper into the cave, not encountering any more hostiles, but remaining on high alert. The walls started to expand, massive animal skeletons lining them. There were decaying scaffolds, abandoned hangars, remains of old buildings. Eventually, they reached a complex that was in surprisingly good shape, unlike the rest of the cave. There were dark spherical objects everywhere, although their purpose was unclear. In the center was a pillar of light that shot straight up through a hole in the ceiling and into the sky, which was now fully dark.
“What do you think it’s here for?” Dawn asked.
“I’m not certain, Dawn,” Shadow replied, “but to me it’s either a source of transportation or a guide to help someone find this place. Although given what we’ve experienced so far, I don’t see why anyone would want to.”
“Well, we won’t know what it does until we check it out.” Dawn said, and slowly walked toward it.
“Tread lightly, Dawn.” Shadow warned. “We don’t know this light’s true nature.”
They approached the light cautiously, prepared for anything. But as they were getting close, Shadow noticed movement past his peripherals. He turned to see a blue figure dart up the walls before stopping to shoot something at them. A rocket. And not just at them, at Dawn.
“Dawn, look out!” Shadow cried and shoved Dawn out of the way. The rocket zoomed past them and exploded on the other side of the complex, debris scattering everywhere. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah. Ugh, what was that?”
As Shadow helped Dawn to her feet, the blue figure that had targeted her landed before them, and they saw him clearly for the first time. A robotic hedgehog, with a cold and deadly look in its red eyes.
“That robot looks a lot like Mom.” Dawn stated.
“It’s Metal Sonic.” Shadow said. “Your mother and I once joined forces to fight him. He must be trying to take revenge on Sonic by killing you. But don’t worry, I won’t let that happen.”
“We won’t let that happen.” Dawn corrected, assembling her battle stance beside Shadow. “We’ll show this robot faker what a mistake it was to mess with us.”
Using his built-in jet boosters, Metal Sonic lunged directly at Dawn. She punched the robot before they could collide, expecting to put an impressive dent in his metal hide, but it was surprisingly sturdier than she expected. She did manage to knock him back a few feet, and Shadow zoomed in and pinned him from behind. Metal Sonic elbowed Shadow between the eyes, making him loosen his grip for just a moment, but it was all he needed to break free and kick Shadow in his midsection, making him gasp and fall to his knees.
“Okay, now I’m mad!” Dawn exclaimed and tackled Metal Sonic, pinning him to the ground. She easily held him down with her inherited super strength, but then he activated his jet boosters and flew to the other side of the complex. Dawn managed to grab him and hold on right before he took off, and she now dangled from his left arm while he clawed at her hand and wrist, trying to make her let go. The sharp metal tore into her skin, drawing blood, but she refused to loosen her grip and give him an opening to attack.
Having recovered, Shadow spindashed up to them and grabbed Metal Sonic’s right leg, and the robot started to have trouble staying in the air with the added weight. Metal Sonic prepared to fire a rocket at Shadow, but Dawn reached up and grabbed the arm readying the weapon, pulling on it until it ripped off. She and Shadow lost their grip on the robot as the sudden motion sent him flying into a wall, and they landed on the ground safely.
They ran up to Metal Sonic before he was fully on his feet, and Shadow grabbed him and held him in place while Dawn repeatedly punched, finally doing some serious damage to his once very durable hide. Eventually, his eyes dimmed to black and he slumped to the ground, defeated.
Shadow cleaned the blood off Dawn’s hand and wrist and wrapped them in fresh bandages, also removing the ones on her arm and leg, as the burns from before were fully healed now. With their assailant taken care of, they turned their attention back to the light in the center of the complex. They walked up to it slowly and carefully, but when they were just a foot or so from it, one of Metal Sonic’s eyes lit back up and gave off a brief flash of light. A split second later, the floor beneath Dawn gave out from under her.
“Dawn!” Shadow cried out as she fell what felt like several stories before landing on the hard ground below and blacking out.
