[cynda1]

PolarStarQuote

Along the path paved through a somewhat crowded area, the unfortunate Shadow the Hedgehog found himself shoving through a crowd of incessantly loud people, blaring words and various music like a horn directly into his ear. The hedgehog’s entire face was crunched into a pile of anger and annoyance all wrapped up in one aggravated bow. Shadow’s head was pounding from all the noise that everyone else seemed to be enjoying, and the fact that they did seemed to only make his head hurt even more.

Chaos, he hated this place…

He didn’t know whose idea it was for him to warp here (it was his own idea) but he was gonna make them regret it (he already did). Shadow looked around, hearing various gossiping of various people he was certain they didn’t even really know personally, like Mario or Sonic, and a lot of it was incessantly negative and none of their business. It wasn’t even any of Shadow’s business, yet here he was listening to it because it was everywhere. Now I get what Sonic’s talking about... Shadow thought to himself as he heard a group of people talking about the Absolution situation and how Sonic was a “real bad guy” or whatever.

And that was just one example of the dozens of “did you know?” that Shadow had to hear that day. “Did you know that Mario’s accent is fake?” “Did you know that Arle is one of our new leaders now?” “Did you know that Bowser weighs at least 20 tons?” Were any of these right or true? Shadow didn’t know, and honestly he didn’t care. He just wanted to get out of there, or for everyone to just shut up.

The hedgehog noticed someone staring at him, a wary look of uncertainty in the stranger’s eyes as Shadow simply met the man’s gaze with an arch of an eyebrow. Shadow stopped walking. The stare down commenced. The man gritted his teeth as he tried to force a smile, but Shadow did absolutely nothing to reward it. The longer this staredown lasted, the more the man tried to change his expression, getting nothing out of Shadow. 

Finally, feeling quite a bit too intimidated, the man simply walked off as fast as he could, finding this confrontation a mite too freaky for his liking. That’s what Shadow though the man was thinking anyway. The hedgehog let out a huff. “Idiot.” However, thanks to that pause, it seemed as though Shadow finally was able to get out of the crowd. The square was still rather loud and obnoxious, but not nearly to the brain splitting degree it was just moments ago. With everything around him calmed down, the hedgehog folded his arms and decided to just take in what little silence there was while he could before it’d inevitably pick up again...

[Claus]

...And yet, Once Shadow felt free of the gaze of one man, A Similar gaze would be found on his back. This time, One less interested in sheer interaction, but one that was totally lifeless. If Shadow turned, he would see a Boy, Only a few inches taller than he was, Wearing a steel helmet, One eye covered by a eye-piece of his helmet, Arm cannon on one side, and blade at his hip, as the Cyborg boy watched...And then, Approached.

"Teleportation." The Boy would say, briefly, Looking at Shadow. "Accessed by that crystal. Power unknown...I demand explanation." Claus would say, Robotic tone in his voice as he gestured his arm cannon to Shadow.  He was barking command's at Shadow....Not by choice, of course. Claus was being forced to investigate whatever weird thing caught porky's eye. And it happened to be Shadow's ability to teleport.

[cynda1]

Shadow took in a deep breath as things seemed to quiet down all the more. However, the more he thought about it, the… stranger it felt. This place… it was clear that people didn’t clear out of it often, much less so suddenly. There didn’t seem to be a panic or anything, but something seemed to cause people to leave the scene. That became very clear to him when he heard a familiar, rather robotic voice, and a click sound as if a weapon was being aimed at him.

In most cases like this, Shadow would take this as a threat, but when Shadow turned around to see Claus, the hedgehog didn’t seem to be riled by it at all. He actually seemed rather relaxed, though he did seem to have a concern. “Good to see you again, Claus.” Shadow said this phrase that was very much unlike him to say in his normal tone of voice. The hedgehog didn’t pay the weapon that was pointed at him any mind as he kept his attention squarely on the boy. “You don’t need to put up such a guard, Claus, I’ll tell you.” Shadow did arch an eyebrow at the boy. “But you’re trying to get this information for Porky’s benefit, huh? Well, let’s just hope you get something out of it, too.”

Shadow put his own concern aside for the moment as he brought out an emerald he seemed to have hidden in his quill. “This is a Chaos Emerald,” Shadow explained. “It has a lot of power in my world, though it’s hard to access that power without having all seven. I can access a lot of its power just by having one, and in some cases I don’t even need one. I was… made to have this ability, so it’s not easily accessible by everyone.” Shadow paused, allowing all of this information to sink in for Claus.

Shadow didn’t wait for too long, though, as Porky seemed to be an impatient little brat, and the hedgehog didn’t want Claus to be harmed as a result. “The technique you’re wishing to know about is called Chaos Control. It was a power I was born with. With it, I’m capable of manipulating time and space, so I can either slow down time around me, or warp from one location to another in an instant. This is the most basic form of my powers as all of my techniques are really another form of Chaos Control.” Shadow looked Claus in the face, trying to get any sense that the boy remembered him at all.

Shadow’s eyes softened a little. “...Do you remember me?” Shadow huffed. He should’ve figured. Porky was a nasty piece of work, wasn’t he? “Well, that’s fine if you don’t. I’ll just have to remember for the both of us, then.” Shadow folded his arms over his chest, casting his eyes to the ground. “You told me once that it was alright for us to talk, and that it would’ve been alright for us to talk again. I told you that we would talk again at some point… I’m sorry it took so long.” Shadow brought his attention back to Claus himself, looking down at the weapon that had been aimed at him. Maybe it still was, maybe it wasn’t, either way, Shadow looked at it. “That weapon seems pretty serious. Causes a lot of damage, huh?”

[Claus]

"...You are my enemy. Guard is necessary." Claus would say abruptly to Shadow's offer to drop his guard. That was, Until shadow pointed out his direct reasoning for asking. It was for Porky's Benefit-- More Porky's curiosity. "...Claus is not my name. I do not have a name. Continue." Claus demanded once more, as he stared at Shadow...Though, Shadow might notice that Claus's hand cannon was now maintaining its aim at the ground, keeping away from Shadow's harm's way. 

Claus simply stared, absorbing the explanation that Shadow gave, Until it had ended, to which Claus would simply nod. "...Understood, Inaccessible then. Shame." Claus would reply robotically as ever. As Claus looked at Shadow as he asked if Claus remembered him...

"...You are located in my Data as "Black Trash Rat."" Claus would simply say. "I do not remember unnecessary information...The fact you are installed in my data is considered necessary. Take it as a compliment." He would say roughly, Before Shadow had asked a bizarre question...It was ok for them to talk. It was, Right? How else was Claus supposed to get information from the life sphere for future planned attacks.

"...It doesnt matter to me how long you take." Claus would say, Raising his cannon up...More to give Shadow a better look at it , as he aimed it more to a wall than directly at Shadow. There was some kind of force pulling the cannon away from being aimed directly at shadow. "It is a PSI Thunder Cannon made by Porky Minch's Top of the Line talent. It converts my Psychokinetic abilities into a raw force of power that i can launch to electrocute my foes and dispose of them...Quickly." Claus would say, before dropping the cannon to his side once more.

"...Why would you ask me what my weapon is? I am your enemy. What does it matter what i will kill you with?"

[cynda1]

Shadow did notice the amount of effort Claus was making to keep the weapon from being aimed at the hedgehog. The Ultimate Life Form couldn’t tell if it was just in the boy’s nature to try and avoid this kind of confrontation, or if Shadow had made enough of an impact on him to sway him in this direction. It didn’t really matter to Shadow either way, the hedgehog could tell that this kid still had a lot of character behind his brainwashed state.

Shadow formed a smirk on his face, choosing to take what Porky meant as an insult as a compliment. The hedgehog nodded at Claus’s statement that he was kept on the database at all. “My name is Shadow,” the hedgehog clarified. “But you can call me whatever you like, or whatever he makes you call me. And I do appreciate that I am in your database, thank you.” In most cases, Shadow wouldn’t respect this kind of behavior, but for Claus’s sake, he seemed to tolerate it this time.

Shadow’s smirk softened ever so slightly at Claus saying that it didn’t matter how long it took. Shadow still wished he’d come across or tried to find Claus sooner, since the hedgehog always felt like he was getting closer and closer to a solution for the poor by every time they talked. Obviously it wasn’t leaps and bounds or anything, but every time they talked, Shadow always felt a tiny bit of hope rise within him for Claus’s hopefully inevitable freedom.

On top of that, even if Porky wouldn’t allow him to have it for long, Shadow did like giving Claus a glimmer of hope, too. That maybe there was a light at the end of the tunnel, or something. It made Shadow feel like he was fulfilling a need for the boy, which is something he felt was part of his purpose.

Shadow nodded at Claus’s explanation of the weapon, showing it in an angle that allowed the hedgehog to have a better look without necessarily being targeted by it. Once again, it seemed like the boy needed to try really hard not to aim it directly at Shadow, so the hedgehog decided that perhaps that would be a topic to steer away from unless it turned out to be the least painful one for him. “I see…” Shadow nodded. “So you’re Psychokinetic? I know someone from my world who has Psychokinetic powers, though I don’t think he’s capable of producing thunder or lightning or the sort.”

Shadow’s smirk finally softened down to just a sympathetic smile at the confusion the boy seemed to show. “I don’t consider you my enemy,” Shadow explained. “I don’t really see a reason for you to be.” Shadow glanced upward to the sky. Despite it bringing the annoying crowd that was there earlier, Shadow appreciated the weather that day. The breeze blowing through Shadow’s quills, and the clear sky was something Shadow always wanted to experience himself when all he knew was the Space Colony Ark. That seemed like such a long time ago…

“...I think I understand you in some ways, Claus,” Shadow confessed as he turned back to face the boy. “I know what it’s like to be in… some of the situations you’ve been through.” He was obviously talking more about the current situation he was in now, but he wouldn’t want Porky to be too aware of that. Instead, he brought attention to the hedgehog’s own powers looking down at his own hands. “I don’t have psychokinesis,” Shadow explained. “But the powers I possess are one of a kind. That came with a price. People feared me as a result, and still do.” Shadow looked back up at Claus. “I used to despise them because of everyone else’s fear, so I worked on perfecting my skill to prove to everyone that I wasn’t some kind of monster they thought me to be.”

Of course, it didn’t end the way Shadow wanted it to…

“...I don’t know if you ever felt that way,” Shadow continued. “But I think your powers could definitely be seen in that kind of negative light. Like, a weapon that can’t control itself.” Which, considering that Porky was at the helm that wasn’t completely untrue, but… “I’m not afraid of any of your weapons or abilities. Maybe that’s not something Porky likes to hear, but hopefully you would like to hear it. I can be in this conversation with you, and you can know that I don’t feel tense in the slightest. It’s… something I would’ve liked to have when people were afraid of me.”

Shadow wasn’t certain if any of this helped, but at least it kept the topic away from how Shadow felt about Porky. “Alright,” Shadow said again. “You said that Porky is out for information? What else would you like to know?”

[PolarStarQuote]

This thread has been continued and finished on Discord