Chapter 4: One Week in Looneyville

Author's Note: I'm proving I am not all Doom-and-gloom! This is what I call a filler chapter, it will be rather short. The week they spend in the past is very uneventful. This is Shadow's "journal" of what happened Don't worry, only about ½, maybe less, of my story takes place in the past!

Day two

Looneyville; that is what I called this stupid place. These people are crazy! They look at me like I'm some sort of freak. When I told this to Tails, he just explained it like this; "You are a freak Shadow." That was about all he said to me the entire week. After I woke up, my back was incredibly sore. I yelled that I was getting a bed that night. That got me a punch from the red guy himself. Before we went into a huge argument, I quickly left the room and went to explore the village.

I was always awed by the Temple in the Ruins, but it was truly amazing now. The colors were so vibrant, not dull like they were from where I was from. I looked around. The color of the echidnas ranged from white to light pink, or hot pink, in Ky's case. Most of the children were light pink, so light that they looked almost white. I hadn't caught a whiff of any of the pure white Echidnas we met our first day.

When I returned from my walk, it was well after dark. Needless to say, I had to sleep on the floor again.

Day Three

I woke up again with a back ache. It had to have been around noon. I growled and walked into the bedroom. Tails was reading an old scroll. Not bothering to ask him where he got it, I left him to his work. Knuckles was gone for the day again.

I went in search for where Tails got the scroll. It was bored out of my mind. I walking into Ky.

"Hey!" He said cheerfully.

"Hi," I muttered. "Do you know where I can read a few scrolls?"

Ky nodded and led me down the street. Children stared at me, wide-eyed. I didn't look at them and tried to ignore their stares. It made me uncomfortable. It reminded me too much of being in the lab on the ARK and being in GUN. I was always stared at. Some kids even ran. Ky told me not to worry. Hedgehogs weren't popular around there, I guessed.

Ky led me into what looked like a library. "Here you go," he whispered. I sighed and walked down the rows of shelves stuffed with scrolls and what looked like parchment books. I picked up one with a picture of a dragon-like creature. I thought it looked something like Perfect Chaos. I opened the parchment book and began reading:

Is there such a creature that can cause so much terror in one day? Is there a creature that could easily destroy with water alone? The answer is yes. Some say he is a myth, but I've seen this creature. It is one so horrible, the bravest of the Echidna race would run in fear of his might. Some call him by many names. I call him Chaos, for his destruction abilities. His long introductions are not needed. This is my story of my encounter of Chaos and the Chao he protects. I was only a boy when. . .

"That is one of the best books we have here."

I spun around. A black Echidna was staring down at me from where I sat on the floor. Black? "It seems interesting."

"Yes. Elene was said to be crazy. It was his only fiction book. Most of what is in this building is either Legend or non-fiction. Though some will argue that the book you hold is non-fiction, it is purely fantasy." She blushed. "Forgive me. My name is Quiden." She held out her hand.

"My name is Shadow," I said, standing and shaking her hand. She had a firm grip.

"You are that hedgehog that came with that red echidna and the two-tailed one, aren't you?"

I nodded with a smile. "So, are we that popular."

"After your flight through the city, yes," she said with a laugh.

I shrugged. "Yeah, about that. . ."

"No need to explain."

I smiled again and went to a table to read the book. By the time I finished, the sun was going down. "Shoot," I muttered. I replaced the book to it's spot. "Bye Quiden!" I called and ran back to the house. The beds were taken again. I sat leaning against the wall and fell asleep there.

Day Four

I woke up completely stiff. Knuckles was gone again, along with Tails. I left the house as well.

Some kids were playing in the street. I decided to ask if I could join. The oldest looking one shrugged. "Sure!"

It wasn't a hard game. It was sort of like kick-ball. The kids took a rather smooth rock and throw it at the "batter". The object of the game is to punch the rock the farthest and while the batter runs the full length around the Temple, the other players look for the rock. The points are given by how far the batter gets around. A loud scream indicates that the rock has been found. You get 20 points for making it all around, 5 for making it to the first corner, 10 for the second and 15 for the third.

When it was my turn to bat, I stood ready. My fists weren't really made for this kind of punching, but I let it rip. The rock itself didn't go far, but considering my speed, I skated the entire track before they found the rock.

"You cheated!" One of the children yelled.

"I didn't cheat! I'm just fast!" I yelled back. Big mistake. I was outnumbered one-to-ten and was quickly over taken. The fight itself was embarrassing enough, but actually getting beaten was worse. I limped back to the house. It was well before the sun went down, but Tails and Knuckles were already in the beds. I limped to my usual place and fell asleep. That night, I dreamed.

Day Five: Early Morning

"Tails!" I screamed. He was fighting someone on top of a hill. "TAILS!" I screamed again. He didn't look at me. Beside me stood a shadowy figure. I couldn't make out the shape of the creature beside me.

"Help him!" A voice said. It was coming from the figure beside me.

"How? I don't even know who he is fighting!" I yelled back desperately.

"Help him!" The voice repeated.

"Where's Knuckles?" I asked suddenly scared something had happened to him.

"Knuckles is safe." It wasn't the same voice that had been speaking to me. It was a disembodied one.

I looked on the hill. Tails was losing! Who was he fighting? With a scream, he fell. I watched in horror as he rolled down the hill, dead. The figure he was fighting followed. The figure was cloaked. I looked beside me. The creature that had been talking to me had fled. The figure walked and stood in front of me. "We finally meet, Shadow the Hedgehog."

"Who are you?"

He laughed and threw off his hood. There, standing in front of me was an exact copy of myself. There standing in my face, holding a bloodied weapon that was used to kill Miles Tails Prower was Shadow the Hedgehog!

"NNNOOO!" I screamed, jolting awake. Tails and Knuckles ran into the living room, both looking very worried.

"Shadow?" Tails asked, his voice heavy with worry. That shocked me. I looked down at my hands. They were shaking. Knuckles was staring at my. He looked ready for a fight. So they both really cared. I crawled to the wall, breathing very quickly, still shaking. "Knux, get some water!" Tails snapped. Knuckles nodded and ran out, most likely to the well. Tails placed his hand on my shoulder. "Shadow, it was only a dream."

I looked at his face. The haunting image of him dead in my dream raged second worse in my mind. The memory of me standing there in front of me was the worse image ever. Knuckles came back with some water. I slowly drank it until I stopped shaking. I felt sick. Tails led me to his bed and I fell asleep, feeling like I had the stomach flu.


When I woke up, Tails was sitting on Knuckles' bed. "I figured it out," he whispered. I gave him a confused look. "I know how we can get home."

"Ok?"

"We just need to use Chaos Control again. We have messed up the time stream. According to my calculations, the stream will fix itself, sending us home at the exact moment we left," he said. I nodded. "Shadow, what did you dream about? Was it Maria?"

I shook my head. "No, Tails, it was not. It was about. . . Never mind. I'll tell you when we get back home." Tails nodded.

Later on the day, I went to visit Quiden again, but she wasn't there. I'd have to tell her good-bye when we left. I grabbed another parchment book. I went back to the house later. The beds were once again taken. That night, I did not sleep. I stayed awake all night, to scared to close my eyes.

Day Six

Nothing happened on the sixth day. I stayed in the house that day, hoping to get one of the beds. I read all day, actually. Oh, and at the end of the day, Knuckles walked in. This is what he said: "Hey guys! I just want you to know that I'm not coming home with you."

Author's note: I hope you enjoyed it. The dream was the only thing that was suppose to be gruesome. If you haven't noticed, I'm bagging on poor Shadow, but there is a reason for that!