Shadow of Time
A/N – This might not sound good so please don't flame me. Constructive criticism is welcome, but try to put it gently. I get discouraged easily. This chapter will be short, as will the next one, so don't expect anything long too soon. So, on with the show… after the disclaimer.
Disclaimer-I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog or Transformers, nor any other series I may put in at a later date.
"Speaking"
'Thought'/Emphasis
Prologue: May I ask your name, Giant Robot?
Shadow's ears rang as he awoke. "Ow… did anyone get the license plate number of the car that hit me?" he muttered to himself, still quite confused. He shook his head to clear it. Surprisingly, a soft chuckle answered his muttered question. "I am afraid not young one." Said a 'Voice' as Shadow had now mentally dubbed it. Whipping his head around, he began surveying his surroundings.
It was…odd… to say the least. He appeared to be floating in a weird dark green and purple cloud of some sort. That was not the oddest thing he saw, however. As he squinted his eyes, he noticed that there were strange ethereal clocks everywhere, each one displaying a different time. "Why would clocks be in a cloud?" he muttered distractingly in confusion. "Because you are not in a cloud, young hedgehog." Replied the Voice, sounding slightly amused at the hedgehog's confusion. Shadow did not enjoy it as much, however. Straining his ears, he could make out a faint 'tick tock' in one direction. It wasn't coming from the clocks, so, Shadow deduced that that must be where the 'Voice' was. Whirling around, he roared out "Chaos Spear!" Shadow's spear flew strait and true, shooting through the dark cloud at supersonic speeds. It was meant to illuminate the 'Voice', a job it did splendidly. Before the chaos spear died, he saw the outline of a colossal machine. "Come out and show yourself." Shadow boldly declared, a scowl appearing on his face as he charged another chaos spear. "I don't want to attack, but I will if necessary." He heard the trademark noise of shifting gears before an massive old robot emerged from the shadows, a small frown forming on it's face. "You could have just asked." The robot rumbled as it stepped near Shadow.
Shadow looked up at the colossus, in a bit of shock, and a bit of awe. Whoever built this machine was certainly a master. The robot was easily 4 or 5 times a Human's size, and roughly 7 or 8 his own. It had some exposed gears on it, but they seemed more aesthetic then anything. It had a shallow bowl like indent in it's chest with a circle in the middle, in addition to shoulder pads and a sort of hip guard-Shadow thought it actually looked a bit like a cross between a long shirt and a skirt, but he wasn't picky. In addition to these, he had armor on his forearms that seemed to have some sort of attachment ports on. To top it off, the robot carried a massive sword in one arm. The color of the robot was a light teal purple with green-blue eyes? Optics. That's what their called for robots. The face seemed old and wise, giving it a grandfather like appearance. That, in combination of the gears, caused Shadow to mentally re-dub the robot, Grandfather Clock. Realizing that he was staring, Shadow looked away for a moment. After a few awkward moments the robot decided to speak
The robot finally asked "May I ask what you doing here young one?" This managed to get Shadow's mouth to move. "I don't know to be perfectly honest." Here, to Shadow's surprise, the robot lifted what he thought was an eyebrow. 'Grandfather Clock' noticing the surprised look on Shadow's face, found himself curious about the organic. "May I ask what you are looking at?" He said, a small smile beginning to tug at his lips, as he looked as the organic (Mobian, as his databanks told him), tried to come up with an answer. "Sorry, but I've never seen a robot with the ability to express emotion as you have." Shadow said, his scowl and guard starting to slip as his curiosity grew. Now the robot could not hold it out any more and allowed a small chuckle to escape his voice box. Shadow merely glared at the mechanized giant in return. "Forgive me young one, but I have not had company for a long time. As for your question, I am rather unique, even among the Creator's other children." Shadow, as happy as he was with the answer, was now even more curious about the robot then he was before. "If you don't mind me asking, where are we? Why were you so suprised" Shadow inquired, gesturing to the dark cloud. "I'm guessing it's why you don't have visitors." The robot merely nodded sagely in reply, before gazing out at the darkness.
"The reason why I am surprised you are here is that…" Here the robot seemed to hesitate. Shadow nodded for him to go on. "This place…" The robot gestured to the darkness around them. "Is a place outside of time, a place no being except I… and now you, have been able to enter. I am surprised because whenever someone who has a preset path… a destiny, if you will, tries to enter here, they are destroyed." The robot looked pained as he said this. "So… This is your prison?" Shadow said, feeling slightly nervous. The robot looked affronted and replied softly, as if with regret "Of course not… it is my duty to safeguard space and time." Here Shadow tilted his head in thought and small hope. "Tell me… could you send me back to my world, because I don't think I can get there on my own."
Shadow had a sinking feeling as the ancient machination looked at him in pity. "I am sorry, young one, but you are not of my universe, but of another. I alone do not have the power needed to send you back where you came." The Robot sounded truly sorry at this. "Only one person has the power to send you back." Here, Shadow's ears perked up in hope, but were crushed when he saw the sad smile on the robot's face. "Only the Creator himself has the power needed, but he will sleep for many more millennium before it is time for him to wake once more. You will gone by then, I fear." Here Shadow scoffed, "Do you know who you are talking too? I am Shadow the hedgehog, The Ultimate Lifeform! I was designed for immortality. I will be around when time itself ends. So time is no issue, for I will wait for eternity if I must." His trademark scowl on his face, Shadow looked up at the robot, his eyes defiant. The robot held something indefinable in his eyes as he gazed at Shadow, before he nodded slowly.
"…Very well, but may I ask one more question?" Shadow nodded, slightly confused now. The robot smiled, "Would you mind waiting here with me? I get awfully bored here. Plus then you'll know when the creator wakes from his sleep." Shadow put his hands in his heads as he thought in the dark. To stay with the robot he had grown to slightly like (At least he can handle intelligent conversation, unlike Sonic) or go into this robot's 'in time' universe and see if he could find a way home. As he looked up though, he realized he couldn't leave the robot alone. He, of all people, knew what it was like to be alone. He couldn't do that to anyone (Except maybe Sonic). With a sigh he stood up and looking the robot directly in the eyes/optics announced "I'm staying".
The robot didn't jump for joy or anything, but Shadow could tell he (He was pretty sure it was a he!) was happy. "On one condition" Shadow finished. The ancient robot merely nodded in reply. "We need a proper introduction. Otherwise I'll call you 'Robot' Forever!" Here the robot began chuckling. "Very well, you first." Shadow nodded in reply to the request. He held out his hand. "I am Shadow the Hedgehog, The Ultimate Lifeform, Survivor of the ARK massacre, and destroyer of the Black Arms. Your turn." The robot nodded in reply "Very well. My name is- "
A/N-And cutoff! I did that so I could see who could guess who the 'Robot' is! Angel fruit cake for everyone who can! Not real fruit cake, of course, but imaginary ones that I send to imaginary you in my imaginary world, even though I probably don't know you. So, Review and see if you can guess who the 'Robot is. And I hope I see people read the next chapter… when I get around to it. Remember, NO FLAMES. Constructive criticism is good, but do it gently.