Here it is! The short awaited edited version of "The Future Looks Bright"! I really hope that my readers enjoy this, my best (ignoring my more popular Coming Out Of The Closet) story so far! Please R&R
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Chapter Two: Execution Day
Knuckles couldn't believe what he was hearing; Shadow, under arrest! Then again, Knuckles thought, he has done quite a few things wrong… Knuckles had landed about ten feet away from a group of robots and one bat who was very familiar. He had watched as one of the robots shot a laser at a Shadow. The bat had stepped forward and stepped down on Shadow's chest. Then, smirking, he had said loudly, clearly enjoying himself, "Shadow the Hedgehog! You are under arrest for crimes against the Overlord!"
Quickly, Knuckles moved towards the group hoping to discover why Shadow was under arrest. From his spot he could clearly see Shadow, lying on the ground smiling slightly.
"Well, Epsilon," Shadow remarked, "Looks like you've finally got me, but, it's been so long since I was last captured, that I've forgotten why I'm under arrest." Knuckles stared at Epsilon, not believing that Shadow would betray the Sonic Team like this.
"Alright," Epsilon began slowly, looking at Shadow warily. He began to read off what Shadow had done. Knuckles watched Shadow as he listened to his crimes. He had winced at the word murder. Murder! Shadow, a murderer? That was one thing that Knuckles couldn't believe. He watched as Shadow lifted up one of his hands. He flicked his wrist and suddenly his fingers were twice as long and razor sharp. Knuckles gasped knowing that only the robots such as Ten could do that.
Shadow moved his clawed arm in front of his face and slashed Epsilon viciously on the leg. Knuckles backed away as blood splattered out of Epsilon's leg and onto Shadow. Epsilon fell backwards and Shadow got up and ran. The robots closed in around Epsilon, clearly worried about him. Epsilon shrugged them off and ordered them to go after Shadow.
Knuckles, careful not to make a sound, stood up and followed Shadow. It was hard to keep up as Shadow was a supersonic hedgehog. Shadow finally stopped at a café and sped inside. Knuckles followed him and sighed in exasperation. Shadow had obviously used the hologram Tails had made him to make him look human and was blending in to avoid further capture. He looked around hoping to spot Shadows conspicuous black and red hair, but it was nowhere in sight. The closest he got was a man dressed purely in black with black hair sitting at the piano playing a mournful tune, but it sounded as though he had been playing for hours. When the man stopped, Knuckles clapped politely along with the rest of the café.
A waitress nearby looked over at Knuckles and jumped in surprise when she spotted the fact that he was an echidna. She walked over and asked him his name. Knuckles calmly replied "Satoru." This was the name that Shadow had given him as a code. The waitress nodded slowly and hurried over to the man at the piano. Knuckles heard her say "Kage, there an echidna here and he says his name is Satoru. Is he the one we've been waiting for?" The man, Kage, perked up at this and turned revealing crimson eyes to the café. The waitress pointed Knuckles out and Kage nodded smirking slightly, the waitress nodded and returned to her business. Kage beckoned Knuckles and he obliged curiously hurrying over to the man.
"Satoru is it?" he asked, his voice strangely familiar even though he had never seen this man before in his life. Knuckles nodded and Kage grabbed his arm with a strangely cold hand and dragged him into the back.
"What do you think you're doing!" Knuckles exclaimed as Kage locked the door and pushed Knuckles down into a chair. Knuckles stared up at the man nervously as Kage started to laugh.
"Come now, Knuckles! Don't ruin your pride by getting all nervous on me!" Knuckles breath caught in his throat; this guy knew his real name! Not only that, but he had realized where he had heard Kage's voice before, it was the same voice from the message telling him not to come to the future!
"You're… you're Ten, Aren't you!" Knuckles shouted as Kage stopped pacing.
"Why do you think…? Oh, right, at the meeting you were convinced that my brother sent the message."
At this, Knuckles stared at the man before him intently.
"Shadow?" he asked in a tiny voice.
At this the man smiled and looked Knuckles in the eye nodding. The man looked at his wrist and poked it obviously trying to turn hedgehog. When nothing happened he cursed and hit his wrist on the wall. The hologram disappeared and the arrogant black and red hedgehog stood before him.
"Yes, Knuckles! I was afraid for a second that since you thought I was my brother, that you'd attack me!" Knuckles stared at his friend not believing that he had almost attacked him. Then he remembered why he had followed him.
"Shadow, why are you under arrest?" he asked suddenly. Shadow froze and winced slightly.
"You…you heard all of that?" he asked. Knuckles nodded in reply. Shadow sighed and continued, "Everything that Epsilon said was true. I did all of those things."
"No…" Knuckles murmured, "You murdered someone!" Shadow winced again as if hit sharply on the head. When he recovered, he nodded unable to speak.
"Who?" Knuckles asked. Shadow looked at him as tears welled up in his eyes. He briskly brushed them away and turned his back on Knuckles, refusing to tell him.
"It was Sonic, wasn't it?" Knuckles pestered. Shadow winced again, muttering something that sounded like 'tactless'. Knuckles looked down feeling awful that he had made his friend so upset.
"Alright, but even if you don't tell me, I think you should turn yourself in!"
Shadow turned back to Knuckles an odd look on his face almost like sadness but it passed and nodded slightly saying
"If you think I should, then I will, but first you need to get back to your own time." Knuckles cocked his head to the side,
"Why? I like it here! Besides, I uhhh… kinda broke my time machine…" he laughed nervously at the look of disdain mixed with sadness on Shadow's face.
"Well then," he said in an oddly choked voice, "you'll have to stay here … in the inn. You can use my room … well, my area. I live here and in the alleys you see … this is my temporary residence when I'm not in my alley." Knuckles nodded slightly confused. "Oh and one more thing, if you come with me to the Overlord's palace then you'll need to wear this," at this Shadow held out the ring with the hologram projector, "it will give you a human form and you can't say a word. Also, we have to go tomorrow." Knuckles nodded again as Shadow went to the door and unlocked it. He paused for a second and touched his ring-less hand and suddenly he looked human again. Knuckles wanted to ask why but he bit his tongue and followed Shadow out of the door.
The room fell silent as Shadow and Knuckles entered. They stared from Shadow to Knuckles and back to Shadow. The hedgehog nodded slightly and a huge cheer broke out. Knuckles jumped slightly as many of the people ran towards him wanting to shake his hand. Shadow sent them all away and pushed up the stairs. They entered a dark room and Shadow locked the door behind them. For a second Knuckles saw a bright sphere of light in the corner, but it disappeared and Knuckles decided that it wasn't important.
"What was that all about!" Knuckles exclaimed as Shadow sat down.
"Well, I told them that when you came that, well, that there would be some new hope in our lives." Knuckles stared at Shadow an incredulous look on his face.
"Hope?" he inquired but Shadow refused to answer.
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The next morning as Knuckles and Shadow walked down the stairs from Shadow's room, the waiter and waitresses all clapped for the red echidna again. It only took a look from Shadow to make them stop. Shadow then ordered some food and the two friends sat down to eat breakfast in silence.
Knuckles noticed that Shadow seemed a bit paler today and much more somber and he had lost his happy, well happy for Shadow, attitude of the day before. Knuckles was dying to ask him why, but something in Shadow's mood made him stop. Shadow explained how to operate the hologram projector and warned him not to bump into things. After breakfast they took to the streets. On the way, Knuckles took a different turn than Shadow and ended up lost. Being separated from the only person he knew in this futuristic world caused him freak out and, accidentally, bump into a wall. As he attempted to find Shadow, he nearly got arrested by a group of robots surrounding a wanted poster of Knuckles himself. After a few minutes of wandering away from the robots, a cold hand grabbed his arm and dragged him into an alleyway. Knuckles looked up to see Shadow grasping his arm with a look of pure exasperation on his face.
"Didn't I tell you not to go wandering off on your own! And why are you in halfway form?"
"One, I got lost and two, I got nervous thanks for worrying MOM…" Knuckles replied sullenly. Shadow shook his head and dragged him in the direction of a huge palace.
"Shadow," Knuckles asked as they neared the palace, "Why am I under arrest?"
"Probably to draw me out of hiding." Shadow replied dejectedly. "Well, here we are."
Knuckles couldn't help but gasp at the sight ahead of him. The palace was huge and, strangely enough, blue. Knuckles was now thoroughly convinced that Sonic ruled the planet. Shadow beckoned him and moved toward the palace. As they approached the entrance, Shadow muttered 'remember, not a word' and walked up to the guards. Immediately the guards moved their spears to block the entrance.
"Halt! What is your business here?" one of the guards asked gruffly. Shadow glared and touched his left hand slightly. The human disappeared and Shadow the hedgehog stood before the guards. The guard that had spoken smirked slightly as he saw the hedgehog before him.
"His Excellency has been waiting for you, Shadow." The guard said smiling cruelly as they allowed Knuckles and Shadow into the palace.
As they walked down the hallway, Shadow seemed to get more and more nervous and Knuckles was confused. If Sonic was the ruler of the planet, then why was Shadow nervous? Sonic would give him a fair trial. The reached the throne room and Shadow froze as if in fear or anger. Knuckles shook his head and made sure no one was near. He then murmured "come on" and opened the door. Shadow nodded and led the way in.
"What do you want!" a cruel, cold voice bellowed, "I said no disturbance―" the owner of the voice froze as he saw Shadow. "Well, what do you know…" he started. The owner of the voice walked forward and Knuckles gasped as he realized who it was.
The Overlord had bright blue hair with white streaks in it. It was slicked back and held there with a ponytail. His complexion was pale and he had red eyes. He wore the uniform of a commander except with a long cape from the shoulder. It was obvious to Knuckles that he was using a hologram no matter how good it was. As Knuckles backed up a step and Shadow narrowed his eyes the robot smirked laughing softly,
"It's good to see you again, Little Brother." Metal Sonic Ten said as he started down from his throne.
"Can't say the same about you," Shadow said as he began to quake with either anger or fear. Probably the first Knuckles mused as Shadow glared daggers at his older brother.
"And who is this with you?" Ten asked, staring at Knuckles and completely ignoring Shadow's comment. Shadow scoffed
"Like I'd tell you!" Shadow replied hatred dipping off every syllable. Ten raised an eyebrow and snapped his fingers. Instantly, Shadow yelped in pain and clutched at his left hand. Breathing heavily, Shadow flipped his older brother off and began calling him some very dirty names. Knuckles stare at Shadow in wonder; he didn't know that so many curses existed. He didn't notice that Shadows voice was growing weaker by the second or the steady drip of blood. By the time Shadow had gotten to his third language, Ten snapped his fingers again, and Shadow let go of his wrist and continued cursing Ten. The robot sighed in exasperation and yelled,
"Could you just tell me his name already!" Shadow's stream of curses stopped and he replied no and continued his cursing spree. Tens eye twitched and he walked toward Shadow and said
"If you don't stop this foolishness and tell me his name, then I will be forced to cut off your other hand." Shadows mouth snapped shut as Knuckles exclaimed
"What! You're missing a hand!" The two brothers stared at Knuckles as Shadow hit his head on his hand and Ten said,
"I'd recognize that voice anywhere. Welcome to my world, Knuckles." Knuckles shivered slightly at the thought of the world belonging to the robot. Shadow looked down slightly as if in anger of Knuckles' out burst. Knuckles didn't understand why Shadow was so angry, so what if Ten knew he was here! It didn't matter…right? But if it didn't matter, then why did Shadow look so upset? Knuckles didn't understand. Ten smirked at his younger brother and then turned to Knuckles saying
"I invite you to come to the palace tomorrow as my guest. There will be a," he paused looking at Shadow cruelly, "a ceremony and you will be the guest of honor." Knuckles nodded warily as Shadow looked at his brother in disbelief.
Ten waved his hand at Knuckles saying "you can go now, I need some alone time with my brother." Knuckles nodded again and left the throne room.
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"I still don't understand why you need to interrogate me! You know Knuckles is alive!" Shadow yelled as Ten circled him. Shadow was, once again, tied to a chair underneath bright lights as his brother tried to get information out of him.
"Yes, well, what I want to know is how is he still sixteen? He should be twenty six! It has been ten years after all."
"Well, maybe he's like us! We were created to remain at one age―"
"I see one flaw with your lie, Shadow,"
"How do you know it's a―"
"I saw him using a hologram! If he was like us, then his hologram would appear to be twenty six! But he was still sixteen! Did you put him in suspended animation after you found out that you were to kill all of the Sonic Team? No that couldn't be it… he was gone when I called you to the Space Colony two years before that," Shadow, not wanting Ten to know that Knuckles was the worlds only hope of this future never happening, tried to change the subject.
"Don't you want to know about my… uh… hideout?"
"Not particularly, no… maybe…" The robot fell silent as a malevolent grin spread across his face. He began to laugh as Shadow blanched fearing the worst.
"That's why my spies heard you calling his name! You sent a message to the past, to Knuckles telling him… well I haven't figured that out yet, but I will soon enough," he said turning to Shadow, his hand prepared to snap. Shadows eyes widened as his older brother walked over to him. He leaned in close to Shadows face and muttered,
"If you don't tell me why you sent that message then I will kill you." Shadow glared at the overlord who scoffed,
"Very well, prepare to die." Ten snapped his fingers and Shadow began to scream in agony. By snapping the robot activated a chaos emerald shard embedded in Shadows wrist. When activated, it would cause every scar on his body to open. The resulting blood loss would kill him.
"I'm, surprised that you stood as long as you did when I did this in the throne room. Normally, you would have been on the floor by then."
"I… didn't want Knuckles… to know… what you were… doing to… me..." Shadow choked out.
"I could stop this pain. If you tell me why you sent the message then I will let you live for another day," Ten murmured. Shadow, whose vision was going black anyway, muttered, "I… I… didn't… want him to come… here…"
"Why?" Ten asked as he snapped again deactivating the shard and causing the wounds to heal again. Shadow looked up and Ten felt a twinge of guilt as he saw his younger brother's pain ridden face. He shook it off, years ago, when he had discovered that Maria supposedly preferred the black and red hedgehog to him, he had decided that he didn't need anyone anymore; especially not his younger brother. When Shadow just stared at him, Ten began to lose his temper, "Well!" he demanded,
"If… he didn't come…" Shadow paused for breath, "Then none of this… would have happened…"
Tens eyes glinted evilly as Shadow looked down. So that's why he didn't want me to know it was Knuckles… Ten thought, he was trying to protect him… hmmm… how unlike Shadow. Ten turned to leave.
"Wait!" Shadow cried his voice surprisingly strong,
"What?" Ten asked annoyed that his brother would dare address him while he was plotting.
"Why did you invite Knuckles to my execution!" Shadow demanded. Ten looked back at him and smirked,
"I want you to watch him die before I kill you."
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Shadow lay in his bed, thinking, as always. He rolled over and began to fall asleep. He felt a hand touch his shoulder,
"Tikal?" he muttered rolling over to find her sitting at his bedside. He sat up to ask what she wanted but was cut off by her kissing him fiercely. Shadow blinked then relaxed into her kiss and kissed her back.. Her hands wrapped around his back as they broke apart for air. She smiled at him and then her features began to change. Shadow cried out as he realized who it was; It was Metal Sonic Thirteen the only girl in the Metal Sonic ranks. She had been created by Ten when he was bored one day. He had been trying to clone himself, but ended up with basically a girl version of himself. Although she had originally been with Ten, she was very fickle and had gone with all the other major robots, like Metal Shadow and Metal Knuckles. Her fickleness had caused the death of the two others she had been with, She was now, sort of, a wife to Ten.
"Guess who?" she asked a cruel smirk on her face. Shadow stiffened as her fingers extended into claws and dug into his back…
Shadow awoke with a start. He was laying face first on the floor of a cell. The dream had been so real… then he realized why; the pain in his back was real. His brother stood over him, his claws embedded slightly in his back.
"What do you think you're doing!" Shadow demanded
"Waking you up," Ten replied calmly, removing his claws, "Heal him." The robot ordered of one of the guards that always followed him around. The guard clumsily walked over to Shadow and pulled out a bottle of crystal clear liquid. He dabbed the liquid on Shadow's back. The wounds healed instantly as Shadow winced and asked,
"Why are you healing me?" Ten smirked
"I want you to be in tip top shape for the execution today." Shadows eyes widened as he remembered his brothers words from the night before. He had to figure out a way to keep Ten from killing Knuckles. If Knuckles died, then this would be destined to happen. Shadow wouldn't let that happen, even if it was the last thing he ever did.
"Get him up," Ten snapped. The guard pulled Shadow to his feet. They walked down the hallway of the dungeon and towards the staircase to the main castle. As they walked Ten fastened handcuffs around Shadows wrists.
"Don't want you escaping again, now do we?" The robot asked snidely as Shadow glared daggers at him yet again. Like metal handcuffs are gonna hold me, Shadow thought annoyed, my brother must really underestimate me. They exited the castle and walked toward the wooden platform where Ten would kill Shadow in front of hundreds of people. Shadow stood on the platform and looked around trying to find Knuckles. He spotted him staring back at Shadow curiously and nervously. Ten stepped forward in all of his 'glory'. The people started cheering him for the capture of the infamous Shadow the Hedgehog. Shadow shook his head in exasperation as Ten, once again, started his long speech about how justice would finally be served as soon as Shadow was killed. In the middle of Ten explaining how he had captured the 'infamous hedgehog' Shadow cut in.
"Excuse me, uh, big brother?" Shadow smirked as every one of the people around gasped not believing that their ruler was related to the dangerous fugitive Shadow the hedgehog. Ten shot a look at Shadow that, if looks could kill, would have killed him.
"I just wanted to tell you and everyone else that you didn't catch me, and that there will be no execution today." As the audience stared at Ten in shock, the robot extended his claws and started towards Shadow. The hedgehog smirked and used the handcuffs as a shield. As the handcuffs fell to the ground Ten advanced again and Shadow smirked disappeared in a flash of green light. The hedgehog reappeared behind the robot flipping him off and just inviting his to kill him. Ten slashed at him again, only to have him disappear and reappear behind him again. Ten slashed at his brother again but missed as Shadow disappeared into the audience.
Ten looked around thoroughly fed up with his brother's antics and yelled "Well, don't just stand there! Find him!" Meanwhile, the hedgehog had appeared next to Knuckles and he grabbed the echidnas arm. Knuckles started and looked at Shadow sighing, "Oh thank god it's you." Shadow shook his head but it was too late, someone turned and shouted "I found him!" Shadow jumped and clutched Knuckles hand tighter. He muttered "Chaos Control" as the robots closed in. they appeared again in the alley outside of the palace just as Ten screamed, "Go after him!" Shadow cursed under his breath and started to run holding onto Knuckles hand. They sped up as they reached the street and Knuckles was nearly flying out behind him. Shadow looked over his shoulder and cursed again, as the robots were still following him. Knuckles looked at Shadow fearfully, and Shadow nodded and they disappeared once again in a flash of green light.
"We have lost visual, repeat, we have lost visual," One of the robots said as they turned back to the palace.
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"That was your execution!" Knuckles shouted as they landed gently on one of the beds in Shadow's room of the inn. Shadow nodded,
"Yeah. That was my fifteenth execution this year. Ten still hasn't been able to kill me, anyway, this is your room. We can't go outside until our escape dies down, so make yourself comfortable." Knuckles nodded and asked if he could explore his new living quarters. Shadow nodded waving his hand. Knuckles was amazed at how big this room was. He walked past a door and saw a light. His curiosity getting the better of him, he entered the room and found a small shrine with a capsule similar to the one Rouge found Shadow in on Eggman's base. Knuckles walked forward and placed his hand on the glass rubbing away the dust. What he saw nearly made him cry out in terror. Inside of the capsule was Tikal. But she looked about twenty-four. Her hair was long and brushed, and her clothes looked good as new. But, Knuckles thought as he stared at her, she's way too pale… maybe I should let her out. The echidna reached for the release button but froze as he realized that she was also too still. He chest didn't move at all and he realized looking back she hadn't moved at all. He backed away, not wanting to believe what he had realized. As he backed up he ran directly into Shadow. He looked up at his friend and looked back at Tikal with tears in his eyes. Shadow reached down and brushed the tears away.
"So I guess you know now," Shadow muttered as Knuckles looked back at the hedgehog, "the reason that I am a fugitive is because I killed Tikal."
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End Chapter…
Dun dun dun DUUUUUNNN! Yikes! Shadow killed Tikal! Oh the Cliffhangerness! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Oh and by the way, it might be a bit before a put Chapter three up, I'm still writing it. I'm actually about half way through…
Anyhoo, Please R&R
Next time:
Death and Destruction