Reviews make me happy! Happy authoresses update with bigger chapters!
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And then we huddle under rocks to hide from people that hate cliffhangers! (ducks under rock) Like so! Sorry about ending the last couple of chapters like that everybody!
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Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic
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Claimer: I own Raven and the Fount of Light!
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"…So, should we follow them?" Tails asked.
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"I hate to say it, but maybe Raven can't be beat, even with all of us together. And how can Shadow be able to fight already - we saw when Knux broke his leg!""And it got fixed when he entered the Fount of Light," said Knuckles' voice as the echidna walked up to them.
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"Hey, Red! Finally woke up, huh?"
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"Shut up," Knuckles growled, "I saw the whole thing. Besides, Shadow's known Raven a lot longer than we have, so he must know his weakness or something."
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"Stop calling him that!"
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The three turned their heads, startled to hear Shadow's voice. The memory-Shadow was still there, glaring at them.
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"Stop calling that weirdo creep by my brother's name. That is NOT my brother!"
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"Hey, if he's a memory, why's he still here?" Sonic whispered.
"Uh-oh," Tails said as he figured it out.
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"Oh man, that was not the answer I wanted to hear from you, Tails," Sonic groaned.
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"Most of these memories we've been seeing are coming from Shadow's mind," Tails explained, "The ARK didn't appear until he entered, probably because Ra- because You-Know-Who," Tails changed what he was going to say when Young Shadow started glaring at him specifically, "Because You-Know-Who's memories are all distorted."
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"And your point is?" Knuckles asked.
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"When Ra…when HE saw this little Shadow, he wanted to kill him, practically desperately. He's fixated on this version of Shadow, and because he wants to destroy the real Shadow, now THIS one is real too."
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"…I just knew things were going to get even weirder," Sonic moaned, "Somehow, I just KNEW it!"
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"So, what do we do now?" Knuckles wondered.
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Young Shadow snorted and rolled his eyes.
"I'm done with you bunch of weirdos. I'm gonna go find my brother now. My REAL brother."
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The younger Shadow was around the corner before the other three caught up to him.
"Hey, wait for us!"
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Young Shadow glared at them from over his shoulder, before deciding to ignore them and starting to run. He was leading the way into sections of the ARK that none of the other three had ever seen, so they just followed quietly.
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Occasionally, the deck underneath their feet rumbled from the distant battle of Raven and Shadow, the Ultimate Life Form Brothers. But as for Raven and Shadow, the Regular Young Hedgehog Brothers, Raven was so far a no-show. The section they were in now was a residential area, but no matter how many sliding doors they palmed open, there was no one else here.
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"Were there a lot of people living here once?" Tails finally worked up the nerve to ask.
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The younger Shadow hesitated, then shook his head.
"The Doctor said we had to stay in a room in this wing 'cause we're his important experiments," Shadow explained, "He said that these rooms aren't used yet because most of the people here are researchers, and the researchers live in a different section with their families."
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"Families?" Sonic wondered, "Hey, uh, Shadow, does Doctor Robotnik have a, um, granddaughter?"
-"Grand-daughter," Shadow mused, "Oh wait, those are children of your children, right? I remember reading about that…well, if the Doctor has a grand-daughter, I never met her."
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"What was that about, Sonic?" Knuckles asked.
"Robotnik's granddaughter is that Maria that Shadow's always been crazy about," Sonic reminded him, "I guess he didn't meet her until after Raven escaped…"
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"There's home!" Shadow suddenly announced, more to himself than any of his tagalongs.
The door he palmed open had signs in several languages. The only thing the signs actually said was that 'Authorized Project Personnel Only Beyond This Point', but Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles entered anyway. They were actually slightly curious to see what Shadow considered his 'home' on the ARK.
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Unlike the other, one-room rooms they had passed, the hedgehog brothers had been given a large multi-room apartment. It was done in all metallic colors, like the rest of the station, but it was still a nice place.
Shadow left them standing in the main room. He walked over to the first door and opened it. Inside was a sizable bedroom.
"Raven?" called the young dark gray hedgehog.
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He opened the other two doors as well - one was a bathroom, the other was another bedroom - and called for his brother in each.
"That's weird," Shadow finally said, turning back to his 'guests', "My brother wouldn't go off without at least leaving a note or something…"
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Before the others could say anything, though, Shadow's face lit back up.
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"I got it! He must be in the gym! Raven always heads off to the gym when the Doctor doesn't need him…"
Shadow ran past them, out the door into the corridor, and vanished around a corner before they could stop him.
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"…I feel really sorry for that kid," Knuckles said at last, "He's going to keep looking for the Raven he expects to be here…but the only Raven he'll find is the one that wants to kill him."
"Then why did we let him just run off like that?! C'mon guys, we gotta find Shadow!" Tails exclaimed.
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"Which one?" Knuckles said in a bad joke as the fox and the echidna both headed after the young hedgehog.
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Sonic was right behind them, until he got distracted by something he spotted out of the corner of his eye.
It looked like there were people in the second bedroom. Sonic crept over for a better look and got the surprise of his life.
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Inside the room was Shadow…and Raven.
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This Shadow was still the young dark gray hedgehog they had been following, but possibly older. As for Raven, he looked exactly like he did now - white with silver stripes and eyes, except for the black ruff on his chest. Maybe he was younger than the evil Ultimate Life Form they knew and loathed, but he didn't look too much saner than the present-day Raven.
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"Don't be such a baby!" Raven was yelling at Shadow, "You'll never be good at anything if you go around acting like a spoiled brat!"
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"But -" started Shadow.
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He was interrupted by Raven's backhand. It knocked the younger hedgehog to the floor, even though the slap hadn't been that hard.
At least, Sonic remembered, not hard for someone who was an Ultimate Life Form. It was getting really hard just to sit here watching - even if this was just another memory.
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"No more back-talk!" Raven snapped. "If you were really my brother, you'd be helping me. But you must love the Doctor more than you love me!"
"But I AM your brother!" Shadow protested, already climbing back to his feet as he spoke, "You know that, Raven!"
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'Oh, he knows,' Sonic thought, a sick feeling growing in his stomach, 'He's counting on it…'
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"Well then, Brother," Raven said in a weird-sounding version of a pleasant tone of voice, "Since we're family, you'll help me with my work when I need you, and not tell the Doctor anything about what's going on, right?"
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"…I can't tell the Doctor?" Shadow asked, sounding unsure.
"Of course not," Raven continued in that same tone.
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He put his hand on the other's shoulder. Even Sonic could see how Shadow flinched at his brother's touch, but if anything Raven's smile grew bigger.
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"You just promised to help me and not to tell, so therefore you'll help me and you won't tell. Remember, you never break a promise, right Little Brother?"
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"…Right," Shadow agreed, after some hesitation, but more importantly when the grip Raven had on his shoulder became less light and friendly, and starting being more tight and painful.
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And if anyone knew how Shadow got when he thought he was keeping a promise, Sonic the Hedgehog did.