Sonic Series Fan Fiction ❯ Miles 'Foxy' Prower! ❯ The Shadow of a Shadow ( Chapter 8 )

Ahhh, this one's very very very short, I warn you… but it explains Shadow's past… and the people loved it on FF.net… which, by the way, NEEDS TO FUCKING DIE.

 

Anyway, ignore my hateful comments for now and just read it!

 

Miles `Foxy' Prower! Chapter 8: “The Shadow of a Shadow”

 

 

Tails looked at the Ebony Hedgehog, whom had a peaceful, fascinating presence. Just seeing Shadow made you want to know more about him. The ultimate lifeform…. What shadows lie in a shadow's past?

 

“Ok… First thing, what happened to you after you fell from ARK?” Tails asked. Shadow did his sign language to respond.

 

“I thought I was dead… however…” Shadow stopped, and looked around for a moment. “… You might want to grab a chair.”

 

“Oh. Erh, c'mon, this way to my living room…” Tails informed him, walking into his lounge. Shadow followed, making not the slightest little noise.

 

In fact, Shadow was so quiet, Tails was startled when he turned around.

 

“Shadow, are you c-…Ah! Oh.. I… didn't hear you come in…” Tails said, holding his heart. He'd thought Shadow was still in there, since he didn't hear so much as a footstep.

 

“You never will.” Shadow mimed.

 

Tails sat on his Sofa, and looked at the dark one, expectant. A moment passed, and Shadow only stared.

 

“Aren't you gonna sit down…?” Tails asked.

 

“I prefer to stand…” Was his answer. Tails nodded and made a face, finding that peculiar. “Are you ready…?”

 

“Whenever you are.” Tails said, paying careful attention to each letter. Shadow took a deep breath, but didn't make a sound… it was almost as if his very presence was a tangible form of quiet. He began his story…. concentrating on each and every detail.

 

(Flashback)

 

It was strange… a very very odd feeling. To be alive one moment, and dead the next… but, what was even more bizarre was this, to be dead one moment, and alive the next.

 

Shadow's eyes opened, slowly, as he had slight difficulty with it… it was almost like they were glued shut. A dull, blurry view entered his mind. It was a brilliant shade of purple, dotted with white sparkles. It was the night sky.

 

… The sky… He remembered what Maria had told him a long time ago… she talked about a place called Heaven… She talked about it with those dreamy, sparkling eyes, which glimmered when she spoke of such things. She told him that Heaven was where you go when you die, if you earn the right during your life. She said that it was a perfect place, where you live forever, and you never become sad, and nothing bad ever happens…. Maria said that Heaven was in the sky. Shadow knew that's were Maria was… He'd hoped to go there himself one day…

 

…But Shadow wasn't in Heaven… Maria said that Heaven was a place where you felt no pain… and his whole body ached.

 

He tried to turn his head to the side, but a brutal surge of pain stopped him from doing so. He shouted out in agony.

 

(Flashback intervention)

 

“Wait a sec…” Tails interrupted… Shadow stopped and looked at him.

 

“You mean you didn't lose your voice from your injury in the fall…?” He asked. Shadow shook his head.

 

“I somehow survived the fall… but I was dying. I couldn't move, and I didn't know where I was.” He explained.

 

“So how did you survive?” Tails prodded.

 

“Hold on, I'm getting to that part….” He told him, in his gestures.

 

(Continue Flashback)

So this meant he wasn't in Heaven… so…

 

Shadow became afraid.

 

Maria also talked about another place you go when you die… a place called Hell. She said it was a very dark place. She told him that if you weren't good during your lifetime, that's where you go… It was the exact opposite of Heaven, where you spend eternity suffering, being ripped apart again and again in the most brutal way imaginable… is that where Shadow was? He was in pain… but…

 

It wasn't that bad.

 

After lying there for a while, waiting for something to happen, the paralyzed hedgehog's ears finally began to pick up sound… He heard a washing noise… a very strange one, but familiar.

 

He remembered, one time, Doctor Gerald gave Maria a present, which he picked up from Earth. It was the weirdest thing he'd ever seen at the time… some kind of odd shell, which had barbs, and spiral in the center of it. He remembered how much Maria laughed when he'd mistaken it for some kind of weapon when she tried to hand it to him... She told him that it was called a `seashell'. He remembered how confused he was when she told him that you could hear the ocean in it. He didn't believe her. Then she put it up to his ear….

 

…It sounded just like this. So he was next to the ocean…? He sighed.

 

“…Where am I…?” He wondered.

 

Suddenly something unbelievable happened. Something just… appeared above his incapacitated form.

 

“Huh… looks like you're still alive, huh?” came his own voice.

 

Shadow was startled. Floating above him was an exact, mirror image of himself. Shadow flinched, hurting himself.

 

“Hey, take it easy, pal, you're not in the best condition, you know.” His reflection said.

 

“What… who are you?!?!” The ebony original yelled. His replica folded his arms.

 

It faded away, then reappeared at a different angle, startling him again.

 

“What? You don't recognize your own shadow? Considering that you were named after one, that's pretty sad!” The floating Shadow speculated.

 

“Stop doing that… How do you do such things?” The real Shadow asked.

 

“What, this? All shadows enjoy such abilities!” He explained, fading out, and reappearing upside down.

 

“And you say… you're… my shadow…?” the injured hedgehog said, somewhat in disbelief. The floating shadow disappeared and reappeared again.

 

“Yup. I've been following you around for a loooong time buddy. I'm that thing you see on the ground, when it's bright ouside, I'm your reflection, what you see when you look in the mirror, or a puddle, or something shiny.” The being claimed. Shadow didn't understand at all.

 

What…? Now you claim to be my reflection as well…? Nonsense. I don't believe you.” The raven hedgehog told the being, “Mirrors simply reflect light, and a shadow is merely absence of it…” The hedgehog stated. The spectre-like `shadow' shook his head.

 

“…Man, you're WAY too coherent. You've got it all wrong. It's not that simple. A shadow is something everybody has, as is a reflection. They may mimic you're every move, but that's because they ARE you… in a way.” The reflection explained.

 

Shadow was silent.

 

“Hmmph. The only reason you can see, and hear me now is because you're about to die.” He explained. Shadow looked worried.

 

“I'm going… to die…?” He lamented. Shadow's shadow reappeared closer to him, grinning ear to ear.

 

“You don't have to. You and I could make a pact.” The reflection said. Shadow's ears perked up.

 

“A pact…?” He said, curious. His mirror-image nodded.

 

“Yes. You see, in certain, rare cases, when people are peculiarly in touch with the shadow world, that's where I'm from, the shadow can pass over when that individual is about to die, and appear before them. This is why I'm here in front of you. You're one of those cases. I'm here to make a pact with you. Though I'm not tangible in this world, I am alive, and if we make a pact, that life will be added to yours. A shadow lives a lot longer than a person from you're world, longer as in forever. So, if you agree to make a pact with me…”

 

“I'll… become immortal…?” Shadow asked in disbelief. His reflection looked pensive.

 

“Well… not exactly. A pact means we combine. Your mortal, I'm immortal, should we unite, you'll be immortal, but vulnerable.” It explained.

 

“Vulnerable to what…?” Shadow asked.

 

“Well, most of all, sunlight! You see, if not for me, you'd toast in the sun. Ever wonder why sitting in the shade on a hot day is cooler? The more shadow you have, the less sunlight hurts you. You have your OWN shadow, which protects you. But, If I go into YOU, you've got no shade anymore, and the sun'll fry you.” The shadow explained.

 

“… I think I understand… but what else will happen when we make a pact…?” Shadow asked, certain it couldn't be as simple as that. His reflection smiled.

 

“First of all, You'll die! But you'll come back, once the pact is complete. When you do, Lots of things WILL, and CAN happen. You'll, of coarse, no longer have a shadow, meaning, like I said, the sun will kill you if you're exposed to too much of it. You won't have a reflection anymore, either. Everything else is all uncertain. Sometimes weird side-effects take place, like paler skin, or acquiring a taste for blood. In some cases, I've even heard pacts resulting in the ability to turn into a bat.” The messenger of the shadow world explained.

 

“…What will happen to you…?” Shadow inquired. His `shadow' grinned.

 

“I enter your conscience. Your personality won't change any, since I am you, essentially.” He said.

 

“…If you're immortal already, why do you want to chance dying just to save me…?” Shadow asked. The reflection smiled.

 

“…Because you would.” He proclaimed. Shadow was touched, and started to understand things in a new light.

 

“So… Shadow the Hedgehog… will you make a pact with me…?” The Shadow from another world invited, holding out his hand.

 

Shadow considered for a long moment.

 

He then struggled, fighting to lift his arm… and after much effort, finally managing to do so, placing his dying palm… in the hand of his mirror-image.

 

“Yes… I'll do it…” came Shadow's dying words… as he quietly slipped away…

 

The being bared his fangs, and bit the fallen hedgehog on the neck, penetrating the skin, marking him with the symbol of their unity. Shadow and his shadow unite, both glowing until they became one.

 

The Pact was a success….

 

You see Shadow slowly stand up in the distance, unscathed, and more powerful than ever before…

 

(End Flashback)

 

At the end of the hedgehog's story, Tails was, quite simply put, FLABBERGASTED. Shadow stood there, expressionless, giving the fox time to register all the information. Tails looked down…

 

Indeed, Shadow had no shadow.

 

“…I can't believe this! It's not possible! Not logical!” Tails yelled, seeming to have a breakdown. He ran off into a different room, and came back with large mirror, practically tripping on all of the junk on his floor and almost breaking it on his way in there.

 

He set the mirror on the ground and pointed it toward the ebony hedgehog. He looked into it, and gasped in pure astonishment.

 

…He didn't have a reflection, either.

 

Tails ran over to Shadow, and moved his cloak a bit. Shadow saw what he was doing and let him, showing the fox his neck.

 

The foxboy almost flinched when he saw the bite mark, the mark of the pact…

 

Tails couldn't believe it…

 

“Shadow… you're a… a vampire!” the fox boy said, looking like he didn't believe it himself.

 

Shadow stood there, emotionless as always. He made a few signs.

 

“…What is a vampire…?” He asked with his hands. Tails sweatdropped.

 

“You don't know what a VAMPIRE is? Well… actually, I'm not surprised… You haven't been around people enough to have heard the myths… or, I guess they're not myths…” The two-tailed teen said, looking at the ground. This actually explained a lot, even in the field of science.

 

“…Wait… so I guess losing your voice was the `weird side-effect' of the pact…?” Tails questioned. Shadow nodded silently.

 

“I see… so you've been living in the shadows all these years, literally… cleaning up the streets at night…” The 15 year old genius concluded. Shadow simply nodded again. Tails tried to think of something he didn't know yet to ask him, and he thought of something.

 

“By the way… is that the only side-effect? Do you… erh… by any chance, have a craving for… blood…?” Tails asked, twiddling his thumbs. He hoped not… He remembered Sonic telling him about vampires sucking blood when he was a kid… he had nightmares for weeks.

 

Shadow, however, shook his head.

 

“I require no sustenance, so I've never tried it.” He gestured. “…And as far as I know, there is no other side-effect, other than those fore-mentioned.” He added. Tails sighed with relief. He then looked at the ground, and closed his eyes, looking to be deep in thought.

 

Suddenly Shadow tapped him on the shoulder, making him jump. Tails figured he'd have to get used to Shadow sneaking up on him.

 

“…How is Sonic…?” The jet-black hedgehog asked with his sign language. Tails smiled.

 

“Sonic's just Sonic. He hasn't changed at all… He still goes out looking for you every now and then, you know.” The fox told him. Shadow smiled, but he hid it. Tails saw, though.

 

After a moment of silence, Tails noticed the ebony hedgehog do something strange. Sort of like a flinch, or a sudden realization of something… anyway you put it, Shadow snapped to attention, and looked out a window.

 

Tails looked at him peculiarly.

 

“What's wrong…?” He asked. But before he knew it, Shadow dashed out of the room, and out of the house, as quickly as possible.

 

Tails gave chase, calling to him.

 

“Hey! Wait! Where are you going?!!??”

 

Shadow didn't respond, but continued to jet-skate in the direction of a neighboring city.

 

Tails ran outside, but stopped, and looked around.

 

Shadow was gone without a trace…

 

End Chapter

 

And that's the end of that short ass chapter. What do you think? Shadow? A vampire!? Did I make it look cool enough?! You'll never understand the pain I went through inventing the `logical' explanation of how Shadow became a vampire up… unless you've been fucked up the ass by fanfiction.net…

 

Yes, I know.. I know… I feel your pain. And don't worry! It'll get what's coming to it one of these days… I'll SEE TO IT. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

 

Now… if you've got nothing better to do, review… and if you HAVE something better to do…

 

REVIEW ME DAMMIT! It's the logical choice….

 

~YiffyOne