-pops out of a birthday cake-
SURPRISE! I bet you didn't expect me to update so early, did you? Well…don't get to exited yet; I'm probably not going to update for two more weeks thanks to finals.
But hey, I updated, right?
Oh, and I remembered that I was going to plan to tell you the theme songs of each different universe, so here it is:
PART 2: Lord of the Swords theme music:
"A Storm is Coming", by Howard Shore, from the moive "The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King". (it's the music that played at the very beginning of the movie)
Like I said before, if you have limewire OR are willing to spend 99 cents on itunes, you should hear it first to set up the mood for the universe, and then start reading.
Don't own anything SEGA owns.
Chapter 7: Not all Shadows are fast...
"AH STOP IT'S NOT A WEAPON!" Shadow cried immediately, seeing the other hedgehog grab the chaos energy-filled sword. The other Shadow stopped in mid-grab.
"How do I know it is not a weapon? It can stay in mid-air, can't it? How do I know it would not do other things?" He asked quickly, hands gripping tighter on the hilt of the sword.
"It's not! I'm using this simply to show you that I'm from another world! I mean no harm!" Shadow also said quickly, his heart beating quicker against his rib cage. He quickly deactivated his shoes .The other hedgehog slowly, but hesitantly let go of the sword, allowing it to lie against the wall again. He sighed again.
"My deepest apologies. War has made me tense, and I cannot help it if I am alert and ready for an attack all the time. However, I am not dumb and naïve; I know that the shoes you are wearing is incapable of being produced in our world. On top of that, I have read some ancient texts that talk about 'alternate realities'. You look and sound, too much like me to be some pathetic rebel in disguise. I…I trust your words…for now."
That was good enough for Shadow.
(Like always, when the medieval Shadow is talking his name will be capitalized)
SHADOW looked down and sighed,
"Come now…is your name also Shadow?" SHADOW asked. Shadow nodded.
"Oh…well, come on Shadow, I will offer you a feast as my apology for locking you in there. And perhaps we can also exchange some information about our worlds; I am greatly interested in this idea of 'alternate worlds'." He said wearily.
"FLEECE!" SHADOW shouted, walking into the main dining room. Shadow followed him, observing the magnificent interior of the great halls.
"Fleece! Where are you?"
A hefty female sheep carrying a spatula skidded out of a door, greeting SHADOW.
"Yes, my lord? Do you wish for a snac-OH MY!"
Clang!
The spatula dropped on the floor as the sheep named Fleece saw someone who looked exactly the same as her lord.
"Fleece, do not worry! He is no imposter. Have you ever heard of 'alternate worlds'?"
For a moment, Fleece continued to stare at Shadow with her mouth open. Shadow in response glared at her. Finally, she snapped out of her trance.
"Oh! What, my lord? 'Alternate worlds', you say? Yes…I have heard about it but…is he…how…but I though it was only myth…but…how can he…this is…"
"Fleece, you are not making at sense." SHADOW said plainly.
"I'm sorry, my lord. It's just that…oh, this is such an unexpected surprise! I thought the 'alternate world' was only a myth."
"Yes well, apparently you-and I was wrong. This hedgehog here is another 'version' of me, traveling far from an alternate world. Do you mind if I ask you to prepare a grand feast for our guest here? It is nearly time for dinner anyway."
"Not at all my lord! I will ensure you and…our guest the grandest meal yet!" With one last glance at Shadow, she hurriedly walked back to the same door she came through.
"Oh, I almost forgot." SHADOW said, turning around to face Shadow, "My apologies for my squire's overreaction at the village. You see, war has made him even more tense than I."
"Squire? You mean Tails?" Shadow asked, letting out a small chuckle. "If he was anybody's squire, I'd have guessed he was Sonic's."
SHADOW looked surprised,
"Well…actually, he WAS Sonic's squire four years ago! Hm, I guess there are some similar elements in different parallel universes after all. Speaking of him…I think I hear his footsteps."
As he finished his sentence, Tails descended down a flight of stone steps. As he caught sight of the two Shadows, he froze.
SHADOW sighed,
"Fine, I will explain the whole thing over again…"
Shadow, Tails, and SHADOW were now seated comfortably in an oversized dining table (like those really long dining tables that you see in movies), talking. Mountains of delicious food of all sorts were arranged on the table, with Shadow staring wide-eyed at it.
"I really am lord Sonic's best friend in your world?" Tails asked, bewildered.
"Yes, but in my world there aren't really 'lords'. Don't ask me to explain it; it's rather complicated." Shadow said, chewing on a chicken leg. "Hmm, I've never eaten anything so good my whole life! Seriously, the foods at my world are literally stuffed with chemicals of all sorts that make it taste like shit."
From the corner of a wall, Fleece grinned with pride and bowed,
"A thousand thank-you's, my lor-…uh…I mean, guest."
Shadow raised an eyebrow,
"Is everybody in your world so…formal?" He asked, reaching out for something that looked like pie. SHADOW laughed at this.
"We are not always 'formal', as you have put it, around our friends. For example, Tails and I here have already been friends for a long time; we are usually not formal around each other. Speaking of speech, I have also noticed that you talk…how should I say? You talk…differently than people of this world."
Shadow shrugged, taking a drink from his goblet,
"Yeah, well I was just about to tell YOU how you guys talked like the people in The Lord of The Rings or something…"
Tails and SHADOW gave him funny looks.
"Uh…never mind." Shadow said, waving his hand. "So, you guys are fighting a war? And you're some kind of knight or general, right?"
SHADOW nodded. Shadow took another sip of his goblet.
"…and is Sonic also a general?"
SHADOW nodded again,
" Yes, Sonic the Hedgehog, Lord of Thebes, and a General in the King's Army."
Shadow blinked. For a couple of seconds, he didn't move at all. Suddenly, no longer able to keep his amusement, he spit out the water, laughing uncontrollably…causing him to fall over his chair.
Again, Tails and SHADOW exchanged funny looks. Shadow picked himself up, his cheeks turning a little pink and cleared his throat.
"Ahem…sorry about that, it's just that…if you knew the Sonic I know, you'd be laughing your asses off too."
"Riiiight…" SHADOW trailed off. "So speaking of your world's Sonic, do you have any idea where he is? If he lands in the enemy's territory, I cannot imagine what horrors awaits him."
Shadow shrugged, looking for the next thing to eat,
"I'm sure he's fine. He can withstand a couple thousand useless swords and arrows. That's all you use to fight with, right?" Shadow realized that both Tails and SHADOW looked offended, and quickly added, "Um…I don't mean ALL the swords are useless. I know for sure YOUR sword is special, considering how much chaos energy it contains."
"Special?" Tails asked, looking at SHADOW in confusion, who had suddenly looked nervous, "You never told me your sword was 'special', Shadow. How is it special? And what does our guest mean by 'chaos energy'?"
"Tails, I think…I hear someone by the gate, why don't you go and check?" SHADOW said very quickly, glancing nervously at Shadow. Tails didn't move, but looked even more confused.
"I do not hear any-"
"TAILS! GO! NOW!" SHADOW shouted, standing up abruptly.
"Y-yes Shadow…" Tails mumbled nearly falling out of his chair from shock. He glanced at both Shadows quickly, and ran out of the room. SHADOW looked a little regretful that he yelled at Tails. He sighed, and turned to look at Shadow in a very business-like look.
"What is this 'Chaos energy' you speak of?" SHADOW asked sternly, eyes locked onto Shadow. Shadow crossed his arms.
"Why should I tell you?" He said coolly
"I need to know." SHADOW said through gritted teeth.
"Oh yea, like I'm going to tell you just because you-"
Out of nowhere, SHADOW drew out his special sword. Before Shadow had time to even blink, the sword was pressed against his neck. Shadow looked at the lord with unfazed eyes, and disappeared.
"W-what?" SHADOW looked around wildly, "Where are you!"
Swish!
SHADOW looked down in surprise, seeing his empty hand that held his sword a second ago.
"Looking for this?"
SHADOW turned to the source of the voice, and upon seeing Shadow holding the sword, growled.
"Give it back to me!"
"Sheesh, you have a bigger temper than me even." Shadow teased, looking at the sword with slight interest. "Where did you get this from, anyway?"
"I said give it back!"
"Nope."
SHADOW lunged for the sword, but Shadow seemingly disappeared again, only to reappear behind SHADOW.
"You know, for an alternate version of me, you're pretty slow."
"I am the fastest hedgehog in this world!" SHADOW lunged and missed Shadow again, only to have Shadow appear behind him again.
"Then your world must be pretty slow."
"SILENCE! Give me the sword!"
SHADOW was immensely surprised when Shadow obeyed, casually tossing the sword towards him. Catching the sword single-handedly, SHADOW looked confusedly at Shadow, receiving a shrug in return.
"I wasn't going to keep it anyway." Shadow said, chuckling darkly. "Besides, I wouldn't WANT to keep it, seeing as how I felt so much evil chaos energy in it when it touched my hand."
"E-evil?" SHADOW stammered.
"Yes Shadow, evil." Shadow walked up to SHADOW, and looked at him sternly. "You do realize that this weapon is evil, don't you?"
"I…yes…I guess."
"So why don't you get rid of it?"
"I NEED IT!"
Shadow raised an eyebrow.
"Uh…what I meant was, I need this sword to win the war. Listen…I do not wish to talk about this right now. Besides, why do you care? This is not your own world. It will not affect you anyway if it gets destroyed." SHADOW said, not wanting to go deeper into the topic of his infamous blade.
"Huh, you do have a point there. Don't worry 'my lord', I was just curious how a seemingly ordinary piece of metal could emit so much chaos energy. By the way, you still want to know what 'chaos energy' is?"
SHADOW opened his mouth to say yes, but stopped himself.
Do I really want to know? I will discover more about this mysterious weapon if I do but…what if I…
He closed his eyes.
What if I discover something even more horrifying? I have enough nightmares already…
"Shadow?"
I don't want to know…I'm afraid to know…
"Shaaaadow?"
Why…why do I have to suffer…
" Oh-great-magnificent-slower-than-a-snail-Shadow?"
SHADOW opened his eyes to find his 'twin' waving a hand in front of him.
"What is it?" SHADOW said, voice cracking slightly.
"Do you or do you not want to know what chaos energy is?" Shadow asked impatiently.
"I…do not." SHADOW said, allowing his hand to fall against his sides. He sighed, and walked to a pedestal, resting his sword on it. Shadow shrugged.
"Fine by me. By the way, Tails is still by the gates checking for non-existent people; you should go get him."
"Yes…of course." With that, SHADOW walked gloomily out of the room.
Shadow watched his medieval counterpart go with slightly narrowed eyes, and sighed. He looked again at the seemingly harmless sword. He sighed again.
"I guess…there are individuals who have suffered more than me after all…maybe I really should try to, as Sonic would put it, 'enjoy life'…"
Shadow smiled.
"Maybe having Sonic as a brother isn't such a bad thing after all. Oh…great, now I KNOW Sonic's starting to rub off me…damn."
Sonic: SCORE!
Shadow: Huh?
Sonic: My personality's starting to rub off you! HA!
Shadow: Fucking author…
Sonic: Hey don't be so mean! I LOVE YOU PLAYSTATION14!
Me: Um…thanks, but you're going to hate me in the next chapter. Believe me, Sonic.
Sonic: -small squeaky voice- What are you planning to do to me?
Me: You'll see. Oh yes, you will see….-does the whole villain laugh thingy-
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