College has started...AAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHH!
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...Ahhhh, I feel better now.
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Disclaimer: I only own Raven, the Fount of Light, and all the other stuff invented by me.
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-Raven did notice when Tails and Knuckles attacked him, though.
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Not that it fazed him much - the white hedgehog jumped into the air, right over his two attackers, and they were so busy scrambling to avoid hitting each other that they never saw his powerful kicks coming. Raven's concentration was still firmly fixed on controlling his Chaos Blades.
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"Heh heh heh," he chuckled, "I guess this ended up being a teensy-weenie bit more fun then I thought it would be…but I can't spend the whole day having fun! I have things to do! And parting hedgehogs from their lives is such sweet sorrow…"
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It might have even been prearranged, although how was anybody's guess: Shadow and Sonic both made abrupt 90-degree turns, and put all their energy into a last burst of super-speed as they raced towards Raven.
"Guess what Raven," Sonic laughed as he kicked his speed up another notch, "This time you're It!"
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Annoyed, Raven made a point of yawning loudly before he deigned to reply.
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"You have got to be kidding me. This lame ploy is the last defense your feeble minds could concoct? My control is perfect - I guess I'll just have to slice you each in half with the blade I was going to use on the other."
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'Hmm,' Raven thought to himself next, 'That actually sounds more amusing then what I was going to do…I guess these idiots are good for more than just target practice after all!'
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He laughed out loud. Having realized the slight hitch in their plan, Sonic and Shadow were struggling to slow down enough to turn without letting Raven's Chaos Blades catch up to them. Shadow especially was having trouble, due to a serious lack of traction because of his air jets.
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This sight, like much else that had happened in the last sixty seconds, was very amusing to Raven.
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Which probably explained why his mouth was open when a quill-covered ball intersected with the space his head was occupying.
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"GAAAAAH!" Raven shrieked, jumping away as the sphere-of-quills-and-ouchies attacked again.
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This time, Raven grabbed the ball by the arm. He gaped in shock when he found the face of the young/memory Shadow glaring right back at him.
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"What the…" Raven wondered aloud, "Are you supposed to be helping me kill you or something? Did I win a free squished hedgehog?"
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"It's a surprise," Young Shadow said, his expression unreadable and none too pleasant.
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Then he sank his teeth into the arm holding him. Raven yowled and flung the dark gray hedgehog away.
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Shadow hit Sonic, who tripped and fell on his face.
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At the same time, Shadow attempted to slow down too fast and slipped, landing on his own face.
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Both Chaos Blades, not being directed towards their targets anymore, continued forward, aimed for each other -
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And Raven.
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"Surprise!" Young Shadow laughed.
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Spotting the danger too late, Raven's only option was to hastily jerk the Blades upwards, while he curled into a ball. The Blades hit each other before they were halfway to the ceiling.
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In the ARK gymnasium, a sun was born.
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"Do you even know how much time it took to make this machine! How much longer it will take to fix it again! And that won't be happening any time soon, considering how many of the parts NO LONGER EXIST! WELL! What do you have to say for yourself Shadow!"
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I waited for Gerald to finish ranting and raving. His anger washed right over me, but I was calm.
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Why make excuses? He knew what had happened to my brother after this procedure…did he really think I would give him the same courtesy of letting him use the machine ever again?
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"Why must all my work show such signs of psychotic behavior?" Gerald moaned to himself under his breath.
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I ignored him. Let the human keep his delusion of still having secrets. He'd soon learn…
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"All right. Maybe this isn't entirely impossible," Gerald said, this time talking about me, "Until I can determine the depth of your current…instability, Shadow, you will be remaining in this special containment area. And you can forget about getting out the way you got into the ULMD room - in case you've forgotten, you helped me create this very enclosure for your brother."
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I tapped on the reinforced glass and laughed, although even to my ears I didn't sound at all amused.
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"In case you have forgotten," I answered him, "My brother and I have always been smarter than you, weakling human. That's why you needed my help to defeat him, yes?"
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Gerald snorted and left the lab in a huff. I let myself smile then, eyeing my reflection in the polished metal equipment nearby.
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For the life of me, I couldn't remember why Raven had ever had to leave. Once you got over the whole torture thing, this change was good. I could feel the same sort of power my brother had used. And who knows?
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Maybe my brother would come back.
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My reflected smile grew bigger, almost grimace-like.
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Maybe when Raven got back, he'd see how powerful I was and he'd finally appreciate me the way he should of. If I hadn't helped Gerald, he'd never have been chased off the ARK.
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Now he'd see how useful I really was…but then again, who'd need such an idiot helping them anyway?
It would be so easy to just kill him.
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My musings were interrupted when the doors opened again. Gerald, back already from weeping over his damn machine?
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No…
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The human who walked in - at least I assumed it was a human - was no one I'd ever seen before. The weird human seemed to be looking for something, but when it saw me it came right over.
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"I'm sorry, I didn't notice you right away," it said, "Are you a hedgehog?"
"Yes," I growled back, annoyed at this stupid human, "What sort of thing are you supposed to be?"
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"I'm a girl, silly," said the girl, "I've never met a hedgehog before. I like your stripes and your little white ruff."
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…What?
I looked down to find my hand idly rubbing the white fur on my chest. It wasn't a big deal, just where some wires and tubes had been when I was being grown in the tube…Raven's had been black.
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As for the stripes, they were totally new.
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"I like your ruff because it sticks out against the rest of you," the girl continued explaining, "And I like your stripes because they match the color of your eyes."
"…Thank you," I said, barely remembering what you were supposed to say when you were given a compliment.
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I also remembered something else.
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"Uh, my name is Shadow," I said, "What's yours?"
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"My name's Maria," the girl replied, "Your name goes with all the other stuff I liked. I like it the most of all."
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"…I like your name too. Maria."