For the rest of the day, Espio continued training the young girl. She was exhausted, of course, but the more she did it, he thought, the easier it would be. After returning inside, she slunk to the couch and laid down on it. The ninja couldn't help but smirk amusedly. He assumed that she must have never worked out so much in the past before. Then his smirk faded, not knowing if she was to be fully committed to the intense training that lied in wait for her. He figured he'd have his answer the next morning.
"Master Fumio! Master Fumio! Watch this!" A younger Espio stood ready, then performed a hi-jump kick, landing perfectly on his feet. "I finally figured out how you did it! Wait until I get on your level, Sensei, because I'm gonna be the greatest ninja ever!"
The old master, a yellow-grayish rat with light purple eyes, looked at the young ninja-in-training. "Espio," he said. "Because you have learned how to perform a perfect hi-jump kick doesn't mean you should gloat about it."
The young chameleon pouted, crossing his arms. "Why not? I want the whole world to know!"
"The best trait a ninja can have is not pride, but humility. You must be modest about your skills, never boastful."
Espio stopped pouting as he heard his sensei's words. "Oh, really?" He rubbed the back of his neck. "Gee, I guess I never thought about it like that."
Master Fumio smiled, then patted his young student on the head. "You are still young. There are still many lessons for you to learn. Now, show me a double dragon punch."
Espio smiled. "Alright, Sensei! I know I can do that one!"
His eyes shot open in the darkened room, staring at the ceiling a moment before realizing what he had dreamt about. Why did he suddenly dream of his childhood days, and why now? Espio never dreamt anything of the sort. In fact, he never dreamt at all. He sat up, placing a hand on his forehead. The ninja shook his head a little, and gently closed his eyes again.
The next morning, when the ninja went to see if Cheyenne was there on the couch, she was nowhere; she had gone. I somehow knew she couldn't keep her promise. He shivered a little. I know this feeling. Winter's coming. Espio turned to the window, seeing little white flakes gently fall. He suddenly had a sinking feeling. I hope she doesn't get into trouble.
The day went on as usual, with the heater cranked all the way up. Since Espio and Vector were cold-blooded, the heat was often a little too much for little Charmy.
"It's too hot," he whined a bit. "Can you turn the heat down, please?"
"Sorry, Charmy," Vector said. He wore a thick, heavy gray sweater. "You know how Espio and I don't do well in the cold. We gotta keep the heat up." Then he mumbled, "Even though the landlord would be thrilled to get his money's worth."
"Even landlords have to eat," Espio said.
"Shut up, Espio. And where's the Kid? I thought she'd be doing ninja moves with you."
That's what I thought. "I'm sure she'll be around... later."
But as the day went by, she hadn't come back... not even at sunset, her usual time. The outside had become dark, covered in a blanket of white snow. Charmy was by window looking out for her, waiting. The ninja glanced out the window occasionally as well, but he started to feel that something was wrong. Really wrong. Vector had grown very impatient, drumming his fingers on his desk. Finally, the crocodile slammed his hands down on the desk, standing.
"That's it!" he declared. "Boys, this is a search-and-rescue! We're going out!"
Espio grabbed a black coat. Usually, he was never fond of the cold, even as a child. But if there was an emergency, he would do what it would take to get past that. The three detectives went out into the snowy forest, calling for her as they went along.
"Where is she?" Charmy asked.
"I don't know," the croc replied. "But I got a bad feeling, and it's right on my nose." Some snow fell from a high branch of a tree, landing right on his snout.
"Really? All I see is snow on your nose."
He shook the snow off his snout. "Enough talking! Let's keep looking."
The ninja looked around, trying to sense something through the darkened trees. Where could she have gone? It's not like she disappeared into thin air. A low rumbling took his attention suddenly, straight ahead from where he stood. "Vector, this way," he said, and quickly took the lead, the other two quickly following behind.
"Hey, Espio! I'm the leader here!"
That noise... I just know Eggman's up to something again. I don't want her to be involved.
The three detectives suddenly stopped, seeing a giant robot gorilla, possibly the size of King Kong. Floating next to it was indeed Eggman in his little carrier, and in the robot's giant hand was Cheyenne. It seemed the robot was crushing her, for she let out a pained scream.
"That thing's gonna kill her!" Charmy squeaked. "What are we gonna do?!"
I warned him. Now he'll pay the price...!
Vector bent down, picking up a rock. "Hey, Egghead! Take this!" he called, and threw the rock at Eggman.
"WHO THREW THAT?!" Eggman yelled. The rock must have hit him.
"Over here!"
Eggman and Cheyenne looked down, him not happy to see them, her the exact opposite.
"Guys!" she happily called.
"Ya know, Eggman," Vector said, "this is not the way to treat a young lady."
"Yeah! You're rotten!" Charmy yelled.
"Now you shall feel our wrath," Espio said. And then some.
"Actually, you'll feel mine," Eggman said maliciously. "KD-207, engage attack mode!"
Without warning, the robot threw Cheyenne high into the air.
"CHARMY! CATCH HER!" Vector shouted.
"On it!" Charmy said, and quickly took off into the air after the screaming girl.
"And now to deal with Monkey Boy 2000."
After Charmy had safely brought Cheyenne back to the ground, the three detectives tried their best to take the robot down. But no matter what they did, as the robot fought back, they didn't seem to even put a dent in it. As Espio fought on, he tried finding a weak spot. But it seemed there wasn't any he could see. It wasn't long until all three were on the ground, bruised and bleeding.
"Kiss your lives goodbye, detectives," Eggman said in a dark, malicious tone. "KD-207... Eliminate them."
The robot raised a leg, ready to finish them in one fell swoop.
I guess this is it... Espio just closed his eyes, willingly ready to accept his fate. Suddenly, footsteps were heard, coming from behind the three, then stopping in the front. The ninja opened his eyes and saw Cheyenne standing there, arms spread out, as if she was trying to protect them. What is she doing?! She'll be killed with us!
"What the hell are ya doin', Kid?" Vector asked in a strained voice.
"I'm not standing back anymore," she spoke. "I'm gonna prove myself, one way or another, that I'm gonna be something great. If I were to die to become great, then so be it."
The ninja's eyes widened a bit. Something... great?
The crocodile laughed weakly. "What you're doin' is completely stupid."
"I don't care, croc! I just don't care!" A white glow started circling her. It was so bright, and also very warm.
"What in the world?!" Eggman exclaimed. "KD-207, KILL THEM ALL!" The robot dropped its leg quickly, but its foot quickly exploded into pieces when the white glow came into contact with it. "What is happening?!"
"Hey, Eggman!" Cheyenne shouted. "You wanna know why my energy levels are incredibly high? Here's why!" The white glow circled her faster and faster until a large creature of energy and power came into view. It looked serpentine in its form, but it was difficult for the ninja to tell. "Say goodbye to your precious robot! Shiro Tatsu... KOWASHITE!" With her hand held out, the creature immediately went right through the robot's torso, as if it were nothing. The attack resulted in an explosion that sent Eggman away, while everyone else was protected in some kind of protective force field.
When the white glow had diminished and the smoke cleared, the trees throughout the area were completely destroyed. The force field had vanished as well. The three detectives managed to pull themselves to their feet.
"Okaaay," Vector started slowly. "Can anyone explain what the hell just happened?"
The response to his question was a thud a few feet ahead of the three. Cheyenne had passed out.
"Chy!" Charmy squeaked as the detectives rushed to her aid. "Is she okay?!"
Espio checked her pulse. "She's fine," he said. "She'll be unconscious for a while, though."
"She's starting to get cold," Vector said as he picked her up. "Gotta get her back to the agency."
After getting her settled on Espio's bed - Vector quickly made a Nose Goes on deciding who's bed she should occupy for a while, and somehow, the ninja ended up losing - Vector, Charmy, and Espio regrouped on the main floor, pondering in their heads what had happened, especially Espio.
That strange power she displayed. Was that what she was hiding all this time?
There was a knock at the door, interrupting everyone's thoughts.
"Now who could that be?" Vector asked. "And at this hour?" When the crocodile opened the door, a couple of familiar faces were present. "Silver? Blaze? What are you two doing here?"
"Uh, well," Silver started as he and Blaze entered, "we sort of found a part of the forest destroyed, and we kinda know what happened."
Vector raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Care to explain?"
The gray hedgehog looked over at the purple cat, as if asking permission. Blaze gave a quick nod, Silver looking back at the team. "I'm pretty sure you guys have seen Cheyenne acting strange for a long while," he said.
Not Vector and Charmy, perhaps. "So what's been going on?" Espio asked.
"Well, truth be told... she isn't exactly completely human. She's actually half Immortal."
The Chaotix detectives' eyes widened in shock as dramatic gasps were let out of their mouths.
"Wait... what's half Immortal mean?" Charmy innocently asked.
"Whoa whoa WHOA!" Vector said "Hold the frick up! You mean to say that the Kid's a god?!"
"A demi-god, actually," Silver replied. "I said that she's half Immortal."
Espio was quiet as he pieced everything together. The force field, the creature, the fiery light. It all adds up. Why didn't she tell us about this before?
"So... if she is a god, why didn't she say anythin' about it?" the crocodile asked.
"That's the thing," the hedgehog stated as-a-matter-of-factly. "She's not supposed to say a word about her power. That's sort of why we don't see the Immortals hanging out with us on a daily basis."
"How do you know about any of this, anyway?"
"We're her teachers. Blaze teaches her how to control her powers and how to apply them in combat, and I teach her the rest of the important basics." He paused. "Not trying to change the subject, but how did she manage to blow up the trees like that?"
Vector shrugged. "Hard to say. We were about to be killed by Eggman's giant robot, and here comes the Kid tryin' to act like the hero. Then there was a white light that just went right through the hunk of junk like it was nothing, and then the robot exploded."
Silver's golden-yellow eyes widened with surprise and fear. "Oh, my God...! What about Cheyenne? Is she okay?"
"She's fine," the ninja interjected. "She's upstairs resting. The light she unleashed very likely wore her down."
"Oh, that's good." He took a deep breath. "I just hoped she couldn't do too much damage until after her training was complete."
"Ya know," Vector spoke, "I always figured something was up whenever she would go out for a walk every day."
"When have you thought that?" Espio asked.
"I've had my suspicions, Espio, so don't doubt me."
I'm sure you have. A small sneeze came from up the stairway. The ninja couldn't help but smirk as everyone's attention was drawn to the stairs. She must have been listening in on us. "It seems we have a spy."
"Busted!" Charmy sang.
"Come on down, Kid, we know you're there," Vector said.
Cheyenne slowly descended the stairs, surprised to see Silver and Blaze. "What are you doing here?" she asked Silver.
"Well," he started a bit nervously, "it's because you sort of, uh..."
"You freaked out and destroyed Eggman's gorilla bot," Vector finished for him.
"With FIRE!" Charmy piped up. "And a giant white, uh... THINGY!"
"And you were able to protect us with a kind of force field," Espio said.
She appeared confused at first, but then quickly remembered, for she covered her face with her hands as she sat down on the couch. "Oh, no...!" she said. "I can't believe I did that! I'm such a freaking moron!"
Espio just looked at her.
"Aw, c'mon, you're not a moron," Vector said. "You were smart enough not to tell us about this whole god training thing when ya did."
"Immortal training," she corrected.
"Potato, po-tah-to."
"Wait..." She turned her gaze at Silver. "You told them? Why, Silver?"
"I had to tell them," he said. "They had no idea what happened." He turned to the Chaotix. "Anyway, I hope you three can understand the current situation."
"It's no problem at all," Vector said. "We'll send her over in a couple days when she's ready to go."
"We'll see ya later, Cheyenne." He and Blaze left.
The room was filled with silence, no one uttering a word.
"Well, I'm gonna go get a sandwich," Vector spoke. "Charmy, ya want one?"
"Uh-huh," the young bee squeaked.
"How 'bout it, Espio?"
"No thank you," the ninja replied.
"Want a sandwich, Kid?"
Cheyenne just slowly shook her head.
"Alright, then. More sandwiches for the two of us." The two headed into the kitchen.
Suddenly, Cheyenne said, "Just say it, already."
"Hmm?" the ninja questioned.
"Don't play dumb. You knew that I was doing something suspicious. I bet you even thought of trying that ambrosia tea again, but were too afraid of the consequences. You had to bide your time and wait for the opportune moment to say 'I was right; you were hiding something.' Now brag away."
Espio couldn't help but feel a bit sorry and sympathetic. She seems... defeated. He shook his head. "I'm not going to brag about me being right."
"Why not? You have every right to."
"I was taught that the best trait a ninja can have isn't pride, but humility."
"Humility?" She scoffed. "That sounds a little redundant."
"It depends on one's perspective, I guess." He paused. "You can have my bed for the night. I barely sleep during the winter anyways."
"Oh, uh, alright. Goodnight, then." She got up from the couch, heading up the stairs.
Espio quietly sighed as Vector and Charmy returned from the kitchen, sandwiches in hand. "I take it you two have been listening."
"Of course," Vector said, then took a bite of his sandwich.
