"…."
"...so…..nic….." Nikki slowly opened his eyes. He was in a field of sorts. The sun was shining, and there was long grass and flowers that softly swayed in the calm breeze. It was peaceful and all was silent, with the exception of a soft voice calling out the name 'Sonic' which Nikki didn't understand. Seeing no other options, he took a step forward, and the voice grew clearer and louder.
"….Sonic…follow…me….. Nikki cupped his mouth before yelling into the distance.
"HELLO? IS THERE ANYONE THERE?" he got no response, only the voice repeating its words over and over again. Nikki narrowed his eyes as he thought he'd spotted something in the distance. A small speck of something. He started walking towards it, but the further he walked, the farther away the speck seemed to get, so his slow steps turned into a jog, and his jog eventually turned into a sprint as he desperately tried to reach out to the speck. Just as he was gaining on the speck, he noticed it had a mobian-like shape to it, he couldn't make it out completely though as he lacked his glasses. He got closer and closer towards it, finally stopping in front of it. The figure was shorter than him, and had its back turned away from him. He still couldn't make it out very well, aside from the figure's vibrant blue colour. He stretched out his hand to touch the figure, but suddenly they turned around, their eyes letting out a blinding light, causing Nikki's world t snap back to darkness once again.
He bolted up, almost head butting the figure kneeling in front of him. A scream from next to him startled Nikki and he turned to the source, which he assumed, by their small size, was Abigail. She blubbered out words so quickly he couldn't understand anything, and he also had a splitting headache and everything was spinning, so all he did was let out a strained croak. A hand came to his cheek and twisted his head to look at a blurry black figure in front of him. Nikki narrowed his eyes and he made out a pair of red eyes staring deep into his own. The figure opened his mouth and their voice was deep and smooth.
"Can you hear me, Nikki?" Nikki didn't question how the person knew his name, he just nodded his head dumbly. The voice spoke up again. "Alright, can you stand up?" he didn't know, could he? He went to go try, but found it too hard to lift his shivering body up off the grass. Fortunately, he was helped up by the dark figure and one other person whom by their colours, Nikki deduce was his mother. She slipped something around him as she took a hold of his hand and squeezed.
"Wh-what…" Nikki let out a hacking cough, keeling over before speaking again in his strained voice. "What's….going on?" his voice still hurt, but he wanted an explanation.
"You were drowning." Ah, now he remembered. He and Abigail were kidnapped by this weird woman who beat him up and threw him into a river for apparently absolutely no reason whatsoever.
"Oh." He heard his mother let out a snort, which he found to be highly insulting, considering the current situation he was in. "What's so funny?" he pouted as his mother covered her mouth to stifle her laughter.
"I'm sorry, honey, it's just…..gosh, you are so much like your father! I mean, you nearly died and all you have to say to that is 'oh'?" she shook her head while smiling before taking his cold, shaking hand into hers.
"I'm glad you're okay though. Really, I am. I don't know what I would've done if you had-"she cut herself off and Nikki noticed the tears threatening to fall out her eyes. His expression immediately changed from one of annoyance to concern and he held his other hand out for her to take, but instead she yanked him into a tight hug, Nikki cringed as he was held in her viper grip. She held him in her arms for a few minutes before letting him go, a sniffle escaping her as she looked at him again, a smile on her face before she turned to Shadow, who was holding a sleeping Abigail in his arms, looking down at her with a soft expression on his face. "Come on, let's go home and get you warm, then we can all talk, okay?"
"So….you're saying my Nikki is destined to save the world?" Shadow nodded as he placed the mug of coffee in his hands on the coffee table in front of him. Carmen bit her lip as she looked at her two children, asleep on the couch next to her. After getting back home and getting Nikki warmed up again, the two had basically collapsed on the couch together, whilst Shadow spent the last few minutes telling Carmen his entire story. Carmen didn't know what to think. Her Nikki; her shooting star, was supposed to save the entire world? She looked back to Shadow and took a deep breath and urged him to continue.
"In short, yes, he is the reincarnation of an old friend of mine. And the woman who tried to kill him today is the reincarnation of our old enemy, doctor Eggman." Shadow ran a hand through his quills, and looked away shamefully "I've been keeping her at bay for several years now, but I got careless this time, and now she has the power to destroy the entire world….all because I got reckless and cocky. And I really must apologise for having to ask this of you but-"
"It's okay." Shadow looked at Carmen, his eyes widened at her sympathetic smile aimed at him. "I understand. And I agree to your terms, but I just have one request."
"Yes?"
"Please….look after him. He's…" she glanced at him again. "…please promise me he'll come home alive." Shadow thought for a few moments before answering.
"….of course. You have my word, Ms Hedgehog. I will return your son home safe and sound; I promise." Carmen smiled sadly and stood up, picking up their empty mugs.
"I will hold you to that…..I'll go and get his stuff ready." She began to leave but stopped at the doorway, turning her head back to look at Shadow. "Feel free to sleep on the couch." She gestured to the couch opposite her children before leaving. Shadow let out a soft sigh as he lied down on the couch, spreading his legs out into a comfortable position. His eyes were heavy as he felt himself drift off to sleep. He really was tired, as much as he hated to admit it. He propped his arms behind his head and closed his eyes, glad that he could actually sleep for once without being attacked or hunted throughout the night. Although, he would have to get up early tomorrow, he had a lot ahead of him. But for now, he was going to enjoy a good night's sleep.
Nikki was awoken by a rough hand gripping his shoulder. He groggily opened his eyes, sitting up on the couch, where he assumed he had fallen asleep yesterday after almost dying. He found Shadow staring at him through the darkness. Nikki yawned before stretching.
"What…time is it…?" he mumbled, his voice deep and hoarse from lack of hydration. He looked down at his clothes before grunting and getting up off the couch and heading to his room, Shadow following behind him.
"It's four twenty six in the morning, and we've got to go." Nikki ignored Shadow as he changed his clothes and got his spare pair of glasses off his bedside table before noticing the packed suitcase on his bed. He pointed to it.
"What is this?"
"Your belongings. Now let's go."
"Where? I have school today." Shadow rolled his eyes.
"Not anymore, we've got to start your training."
"Uh…..what training?" Shadow groaned in annoyance before pinching the bridge of his nose, trying to hold his temper. He counted to ten before speaking again.
"Remember? We discussed it briefly last night before you fell asleep. You're the reincarnation of a hero from centuries ago and you have to stop an evil madwoman from destroying the entire world and I have to train you because let's face it….." he looked down at Nikki's attire. "….you're not hero material. Yet." Nikki wracked his brain, trying to remember the conversation.
"Oh! Oh yeah, I remember now. Can I say bye to my mum and sister first?" he asked, about to head out his bedroom door, but Shadow grabbed his arm, stopping him.
"no." he took Nikki's suitcase in one hand before producing a glowing green gem from his quills. Nikki had no time to react. "CHAOS CONTROL!" and they were both engulfed by a bright white light, causing Nikki to squeeze his eyes shut.
When he opened them again, he wasn't in his room anymore. He was in a city. There were tall buildings and thousands of people everywhere, pushing past him and Shadow. Nikki was about to say something but he was once again dragged away by Shadow before he could speak. The two wandered around the unknown city for a while in silence before Shadow turned into a café of sorts and sat Nikki down at a table.
"What do you want?" Nikki raised the arc of his eye.
"Excuse me?" he asked quizzically.
"To eat." Shadow shoved a menu at him and Nikki let out an 'ah' before browsing through the menu for a few minutes before settling on a simple spicy omelette and a double chocolate milkshake. Shadow ordered and the two sat in silence before Nikki spoke up again.
"so." He began, Shadow immediately looked his way. "Where exactly are we?" he fiddled with his glasses as he gave Shadow a questioning look.
"Station square." he answered simply, his gaze moving back to the window. Another short conversation, Nikki thought. Thankfully, his food arrived so he was distracted for a while as he ate, but not for long, as his mind began to wander again. Station square….where have I heard that before? Oh, wait, I know where we are! This is…southern Mobius! Yeah! Wait, that's a long way away from where I live! How did he… Nikki shot Shadow a suspicious look.
"Chaos control. It's a power you should be able to use, with proper training." Shadow answered Nikki's un-asked question, who, in return, simply nodded his head. Shadow stood up, producing a bunch of rings from his quills. "Are you finished?" he asked impatiently. Nikki held up a hand as he drunk the last of his milkshake. Shadow rolled his eyes and tapped his fingers on the table. Nikki took a breath as he finished and stood up.
"Okay, I'm done." He heard Shadow grumble a 'finally' and he paid for the food before they exited the café together. Shadow looked both ways before he began walking again, Nikki in tow, firing thousands of questions at him, one after the other. 'So, how do you do chaos control?' 'Are your quills naturally like that?' 'Who exactly is doctor Eggman?'
"Where are we goin-"Nikki bumped into Shadow's back quills as he abruptly stopped. Nikki pulled the stray quills out of his face and groaned, rubbing his face. He stepped to the side to see why Shadow had stopped, he hadn't noticed the change in scenery. They were now in a mountainous region of sorts, and they were standing in front of what looked like a huge warehouse cross observatory. Shadow walked up and unlocked the door, holding it open for Nikki to walk in. he looked apprehensive for a few seconds, but then he walked straight in, Shadow right after him, flicking on a light switch. Nikki looked around. The place was quite homely. It had a kitchen, dining room, rec room, and a second floor he had yet to see.
"What…..is this place?" Shadow walked past Nikki, his bag still in his hand and he began walking up the stairs.
"Tails' workshop." He answered as he reached the top of the stairs.
Annnnd that's another chapter done! i would've had this chapter up sooner but...i'm kind of a lazy butt. But I hope ya enjoyed it! as always, any feedback is appreciated! any reviews in general are appreciated! even if its technically not a review, just, anything! i love getting comments! you could be complaining about how much you hate minions and i'd still be happy!
special thanks to blackandredrose for her review! glad ya like it so far!
also...THANKS FOR THE FAVS AND THE FOLLOW! I LOVE YA! STAY BEAUTIFUL!
as always, i appreciate ya choosing to read! stay tuned for the next chapter with bated breath!
