Chapter 7

Meanwhile…

He returned to his lair within the super continent, there his apprentices waited for him. "Master?"

"The current shadow king is a brainless teenager!" he announced. "However, he will not be swayed to our side, he trust those around him far too much…" he then fell into silence as he began to think over the situation.

"Master Adus… What do we do now?"

He was about to speak, when he felt a strange presence. His disciples froze in fear of the strange man that appeared out of nowhere. The young man was smiling a wicked grin as he wondered into the room. "You… You followed him here!?"

"Death…" growled Adus, but he merely smirked. "Have you not learned your lesson?"

Death merely smiled to him, before he childishly leaned in and whispered. "I will never stop haunting you… until your corpse is taken from this world and your soul is punished…" he said and then the smile grew. "I may not be able to do anything now… but just you wait…" he paused as his eyes gazed down at the druid's robe. Death touched it for but a moment, before tears began to fall from his eyes, however death doesn't cry clear tears, they were blood. "Hold on, just a while longer, I promise you… not much longer."

Adus pulled his robe away from Death's odd touch. "You forget yourself, I cannot die!"

Death didn't appear disturbed by the announcement. "Everyone can… it's a known fact. I don't quite care how powerful you believe you are, you are mere insects compared to the Shadow King… quite frankly, I am rather fond of him. He speaks with an open mind and heart, those under his care are treated with respect and dignity, and they have never been given such a thing before." He paused for a moment. "Let this be my one warning to you." Death stated. "You are better to die at my hands, than that of the Shadow King, Bad. After all, I have rules I need to follow… He doesn't."

With that, Death vanished into the darkness.

Adus sneered to him, he turned to his disciples before announcing they are returning to the other side of the super continent, where the Others live. "We are not going alone either… I want you to spread the word to all those living in the underworld criminal organization… If they want to indulge in their passions, and be paid for it… bring them here… we will take them back with us."

His disciples were confused. "Master? Why?"

Adus grinned wickedly. "Simple really, we are going to bring the Shadow King to us… and we will take his power for ourselves, but first… we must be sure he appears and then… we push him to his breaking point…"

#

The next morning…

Bad woke with a yawn and a stretch, he got to sleep in for once, and nice change of pace to say the least. Yet, as he turned to get out of bed, he found Sonic in his room, kneeling before him. "Uh… you couldn't wait until I got dressed?" Bad asked.

"Forgive me, my King, I have come to warn you…" Sonic stated. "I have been observing this druid who came to your offerings ceremony yesterday… I have come to realize that he has had ties with the past King of the Shadows."

Bad was listening now. "Go on…"

Sonic rose as he explained all he could. The Druid's name was lost to the ages, however he is aware that this is the very one that allowed the previous King of the Shadows to take over. "There was a potion made, with the deaths of thousands. Forged from the bodies of the fallen and used to poison the last king. How it was made, I don't know yet. However, I am certain, this is the druid who made it."

Bad nodded. "Death came yesterday…"

Sonic himself froze. "The King of all darkness… Did… did he approve of you?"

Bad snickered. "The guy apparently loves me!"

Relief came over the face of the ninja, however now he was even curious. "If Death came to you… what was his purpose?"

Bad explained what happened that day with the Druid and how he wanted to offer a 'gift' to Botan. Bad refused the blessing, the druid then threatened it would become a curse if he didn't accept it.

As he explained, Sonic was all ears, listening intently to what Bad said, he nodded his head to it all but there was something bothering him. "Pig God put a seal all around the place, saying if anyone was hostile towards him or the family, it would eliminate them… Nothing happened when the druid threatened him. Was the seal a fake? Or what? I mean, Death had to step in!"

Sonic sighed. "There have been rumors of an immortal druid." He explained. "I heard this years ago but have never believed it until now. What happened with the seal was two things. Yet, it would have worked and no it wouldn't have killed him."

This took Bad aback. "What do you mean?"

"The druid you met has a way of remaining alive. Rumor has it, death follows him very closely, waiting for his time to remove him from this world. But despite his efforts, the druid has not suffered anything that would bring about his death. Some believe he has a bit of power from the previous Shadow King due to an arrangement they made, yet, there is something more to this. I am certain."

Bad nodded. "Death told me to end him. How the hell can I do that if Death himself can't!"

Sonic began to have a wicked grin on his lips. "You fail to realize how powerful you are… you are a god among men, but not A god. They are bounded by rules and regulations among themselves to prevent any one of them from becoming too zealous and interfere too much in the ways of the humans and all living things. However… you are not a god, therefore are not bounded by these… obligations… my King." He leaned in and said. "You could go about and do some damage to this world, certainly the gods will interfere. However, as I heard Pig God state… they have no idea what the Shadow King is capable of… nor the extent of his power."

He gulped his pride a little. "Shit…" Bad muttered. "I ain't the kind that is going to do damage like that to the world. I mean… what would my sister think of me!?"

Sonic sighed aloud.

"Be that as it may, my King. You need to heed Death's request seriously. He wants this druid dead, and I advise you find out what this man is hiding and end him to appease the god who has given you his power. I have no doubt Death would hold this over your head, it is rare for even him to make such a request. But, Death also loves life… perhaps this druid has done so much harm, that he needs to be stopped."

Bad gave a disgruntled sigh. "Why the hell do I get in crazy shit like this?"