Chapter 13: The Legend of the Chaos Princess
Knuckles walked inside Scarlett's bedroom, he stopped in front of her bed, "Scarlett, would you like to come with Sonic, Miles, Amy, & I to visit Tikal?" she didn't respond; he shook her shoulder, "Scarlett, are you awake?"
Asleep, she started speaking in her native tongue; Knuckles only understood a few words that she had taught him, & that was, "Taci!" & "No!" which translates to, "Shut up!" & "NO!"
He shook her more roughly, "Scarlett? Scarlett!" now becoming frustrated with the Italian girl, he decided to shout out a new sentence, "Scarlatto Rosa Macioci, wake up otherwise there's not going to be any pasta dishes today!"
She flung her body around to find the red echidna looking down at her, "I'll take the pasta any day!"
He shook his head, "You're becoming more & more like Mario everyday…I'm sorry Rosa, we wanted to know if you were coming with us to see Tikal."
"Sì, I will. Just let me get a pasta breakfast ready & get dressed. Man! When you said no pasta for today, it made me want some." she giggled as she walked over to the closet; she could hear giggling coming from the hallway, "Who's trying to pull a prank today? No?" she looked in the hallway to find the only three, male, anthropomorphic, multicoloured, hedgehogs on the ship outside her bedroom door.
"What are we doing today Blue Blur, Ultimate Lifeform, & Silver Boy?" she teased the three.
"Well…we all kind of pitched in to help make breakfast this morning."
Miles & the others stepped out of the bedroom across the hall, "We wanted to show you how much we appreciate you Scarlett. You do so many things for us already that we don't know how to repay you."
"What he said," Sonic's voice came from the small crowd of hedgehogs, "& that we'll do all the chores today for you Scarlett."
"Grazie guys. Grazie mille."
"You're welcome Scarlett." that voice, that Scarlett knew, came from Shadow. She knelt down next to the three hedgehogs & hugged them along with the rest of her family, "I'm going to get dressed. I'll meet you downstairs for breakfast."
Everyone left except for Shadow; he stood next to the door, "Come on Shadow." she picked him up, cradling him in her arms, carried him into her room & laid him on her bed. He watched as she continued to gather her clothing for that day.
He shivered when he felt a cold breeze hit his back when she opened the window; it was still early morning, so he had expected the cold air.
"I'll see you at breakfast Shadow." Scarlett left the hedgehog, curled up in a tight black & red ball in the middle of the warm sunlight on her bed. Scarlett glanced back to him & chuckled softly.
A few minutes after her shower, she went back to her room to find her favourite green earrings. She looked inside the drawer & found her blue ones, but not her green pair. She stepped back & thought for a moment.
Shadow was still lying on his back on the unmade bed watching her, "What are you looking for?" he asked, "Maybe I can help."
"My green, pearl earrings; the ones that Maria gave me back on the ARK. I know I had them before I took my shower…they were sitting on the vanity."
He stood up & walked to the dresser & picked something up, "You mean these earrings?" he showed her a pair of earrings, the ones that she had described, "YES! Those are the ones! Thank you Shadow."
She put the earrings on, they matched her blue eyes perfectly, "I saw them on the floor earlier, so I laid them on the dresser so they wouldn't get lost."
"Grazie mille Shadow for finding them for me." she pulled her red hair back with a clip that had a baby blue bow on it, "Is the bow straight?" she turned so that he could see, "It's almost perfectly straight." he adjusted the bow for her, "Now it is straight."
"Grazie. Let's go get some breakfast." she motioned for him to follow her, "Where's Flora?"
"Last I heard is that she's playing with Tails & Melody in the meadow behind the ship. Why do you ask?"
"I haven't seen her too much in the past two days."
"Don't worry Scarlett, she has friends to play with now."
"Come on, I'll race you to the kitchen!"
"You know I'll win so why do you ask?"
"Because of that." Shadow looked in the direction Scarlett was pointing to then gasped, "Wha-!" he dodged the table before he hit it, Scarlett started to giggle, "See?"
"Yes, I see."
Into the kitchen they ran; Scarlett let Shadow win like she did most of the time.
There were waffles, fruit, & orange juice spread out on the table, & even a dish that looked exotic,
"Knuckles, don't tell me you made that papaya, mango, & pomegranate dish that you made on Angel Island…didn't you?" the dish she pointed to was made up of cooked fruit, with cacao beans & fried plantains with lemon & sugar sauce poured atop it; all inside a pie crust.
"Yes, I did. I know it's your favourite breakfast dish on Angel Island. I saved you a pomegranate since it's your favourite fruit." he handed her the pomegranate.
"Grazie mille Taranaki, grazie."
They all sat down to eat, some tried the new dish Knuckles had made, & some didn't; Yoshi & Tails in particular, loved it.
Something seemed to bother Scarlett throughout the entire meal, "Scarlett, are you alright?"
"I need to speak with Knuckles alone."
As they left, everyone wondered what was going on.
She dragged him outside the ship near the meadow, "Now why did you drag me out here?"
"I've never told anyone about this before. But…watch." she flipped her hand over so her palm was facing up, then suddenly, a small, orange flame appeared on her hand, "Chaos Flame." she stated simply, "Watch."
She turned around to face the open field, "Chaos Spear!" suddenly, a Chaos Spear appeared in her hand & she threw it across the field & landed in the middle of the field causing a miniature explosion. She turned back to the echidna, "That's not all…I can travel throughout time & to different dimensions whenever I want. I can also use the four elements, earth, water, wind, & fire as well as lightning & others in any way I want or possibly can; & I have every kind of power imaginable. Like Blaze's power, fire, & Silver's, telekinesis."
"Only the Chaos Princess can-" he stammered, struggling to finish his sentence; suddenly, his eyes grew wide, "Scarlett?"
"Knuckles, remember the inscription you showed me on the Master Emerald about the Chaos Princess?"
"Yeah…" he looked her in the eyes, "You remember that inscription on the Master Emerald about the Chaos Princess?"
"Yeah, I don't remember all of it, but, is the legend true?"
"I'm not 100% sure Scarlett. I'll tell you what, we'll both go to the Master Emerald later today, after we visit Tikal & find out when she's going to get out & maybe reread that inscription okay?"
"Okay. Who is the Chaos Princess anyway?"
"The Chaos Princess is the Daughter of Chaos. She has greater powers than Chaos himself; she can perform the moves that Shadow can, like Chaos Control, Chaos Blast, & the other ones without a Chaos Emerald. She is gifted with every kind of power imaginable. It is even said that she can travel through time & to other dimensions."
"If she's supposed to destroy every living thing, then why are we still here?"
"She hasn't come yet, but it said that she will come."
A noise sounding like someone choking on water was heard behind them.
They both turned to see all of their friends standing a few feet away from them & a wet, blue hedgehog (they supposed that he had gagged on the water); their faces showed pure shock, "Did I just see what I think I saw?" Shadow continued to stare toward them completely dumbfounded.
"Sì. You did."
"Everything you just described & can do sounds just like the Princess." Knuckles continued, "To have those powers…Shadow can use those powers because his life was started using the Artificial Chaos Emerald; his life depends on it."
"Sonic, Silver, Shadow, Blaze, & you can transform into Super Form. I can also transform into Super Form; without a Chaos Emerald."
Knuckles expression matched the others around him; he grabbed her hand, "Come on. We're going to see Tikal; she knows more about this than we do. Miles, get the X Tornado ready to leave immediately; we're going to the Mobian Hospital." his bass voice was the only thing heard in the area.
"Alright." the young kitsune ran off to the X Tornado & came back in a matter of seconds with the huge spaceship/airplane.
"The plane's ready! Let's go!" Miles called from the X Tornado as the others climbed in.
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"So you can perform the same powers that Shadow can? Like Chaos Control, Chaos Punch & you can control the four elements & have all kinds of different powers & the other ones like the Princess can?"
"Watch." she ignited the orange flame she had shown Knuckles earlier, "Chaos Control." she disappeared & reappeared on the other side of the hospital room, "I have no Chaos Emerald with me; all Seven Chaos Emeralds are back at the Blue Typhoon."
"This is unbelievable…Scarlett, you are the Chaos Princess!"
"I can't be Tikal."
"No, you are."
The nurse stepped in the room, "Ms. Tikal, here are your release papers. You are free to leave whenever you want. Just be more careful. Okay?"
"You can count on it. I'm not letting you get hurt again. EVER!" Knuckles hugged the reddish-orange echidna which lay on the bed next to his chair.
"Knuckles, let me get dressed & then take us to the Master Emerald."
"We'll be back in a few minutes." Sonic, Knuckles, & Tails left for the waiting room while Scarlett stayed to help Tikal get ready to leave.
How can Scarlett be the Chaos Princess? the Knuckles thought, If she's the Princess then…she's the daughter of Chaos! Chosen by the Master Emerald to be her! There's something I forgot…what is it?
Sonic noticed the red echidna's eyes grow larger with each passing second, "Knucklehead, are you okay?"
"I just forgot something very important that was written in the inscription. I can't remember what it said."
"We'll be able to figure it out what it was when we get there." he chuckled softly, "That's kind of funny, my mother, Queen Aleena, was royalty, & now Scarlett, or Princess Scarlett, is royalty."
"Why aren't you a prince, Prince Sonic?" he teased.
"I don't really like the royalty bit. I like to be free from all that "royalty" stuff. I couldn't take on the responsibility anyway. If I'm cooped up in a castle day after day, I'd go NUTS! There'd be nothing to do!" he complained.
"Guys, we're ready to go." Scarlett walked into the waiting room with a nurse & Tikal.
"Let's go." Sonic motioned towards the elevator, as he pressed the "down" button. The elevator made a sharp "ding!" & the doors slid open, "Next stop: Angel Island!" Sonic imitated a train conductor, as he held the elevator door open.
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"Watch out for the quicksand." Knuckles warned the others behind him as he led them through the last part of the jungle on Angel Island.
The jungle was filled with tropical flowers, fruit, & colourful foliage, "Knuckles, should I warn them about the you know what?"
"Huh? Ohh…that you know what. No, let them figure it out for themselves."
"You sure?" the Guardian simply nodded in response.
"What are you talking about?"
Scarlett couldn't hold back the giant grin that appeared on her face.
"You'll see in due time."
Sonic shook his head, "This must not be too good…"
They walked a few more minutes & came to a wide river with a very large school of piranha fish, "I believe that that is what you were talking about right?"
"Sì." she continued to walk towards the river as the piranhas gathered near her, "ARE YOU CRAZY? GET OUT OF THERE!" Sonic tried to bolt toward Scarlett but Knuckles held him back before he could step one inch from where he was standing, "Calm down Sonic! She knows what she's doing; I taught her a secret that no one else knows." he lifted the blue hedgehog above the ground to prevent him from making an even larger hole than there already was beneath his feet.
Scarlett walked casually over to the edge of the riverbank; a piranha fish jumped out of the water less than a foot away from her face, though, she ignored it like it was another one of the million rocks. She continued to walk along the river's bank as more piranha fish jumped out & tried to snap at her. She glanced up in a nearby coconut tree near several avocado trees. Taking off her sandals, she climbed the coconut tree with ease. When she reached the top, she stood up, then leaped to the closest avocado branch stretching across the river, "Scarlett!" Sonic began, "Be careful!" by the time he finished the second syllable in "careful," she was already cutting a rope on another tree which let a small, narrow, bamboo bridge down across the river.
Sonic's jaw dropped, "How'd she move so fast? I've never seen anyone move so fast in trees except for Tarzan."
Knuckles started across the bridge, "You could say that I taught her a few tricks of my own & a few she invented." he paused, "I hope that answered your question." he left the "Blue Blur" to catch up with them.
"Where to next?" the kitsune asked glancing around at their surroundings, it was all jungle foliage, a bamboo bridge with a hedgehog stalling to cross it, a peach tree, a red echidna starting down a narrow dirt path…wait! A hedgehog stalling to cross a bamboo bridge?
"Sonic, aren't you coming?"
Scarlett turned to see the so called "Blue Blur" still standing on the bank across the river from them.
She sighed as she crossed the bridge, she picked him up & slung him over her shoulder like a sack of feathers, then returned with the hedgehog staring down at the rushing water with huge eyes. "You are too old for this Sonico! Grow up!" she let the blue hedgehog jump out of her arms.
"Sorry." he said as he continued to stare at the rushing water beneath them.
"Let's get going." Knuckles interrupted as he continued to walk down the trail with the others, leaving the blue hedgehog behind, until he noticed that Tails had left too, "HEY! WAIT UP!" he ran after them.
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"We're here Scarlett, now we'll find out if you really are the Chaos Princess." said Knuckles as he knelt in front of an old stone plaque with ancient Echidna writings mounted on the stone platform the Master Emerald rested in mid-air on.
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Scarlett sat alone on the bottom step of the Hidden Palace & let her mind wander to past events, 'The servers are the Seven Chaos. Chaos is power, power is enriched by the heart. The controller is the one that unifies the chaos.' that isn't true anymore: yes, the Seven Chaos Emeralds are the servers for the Master Emerald to keep them from going berserk. But no, it doesn't take hatred to unify them, it takes love & friendship to unify them. Chief Pachamach, if only you would have listened to your daughter Tikal, then, maybe, the other invading tribe wouldn't have caused so much chaos here on your island & possibly saved your tribe many years ago & Knuckles wouldn't be the last one left…though, Tikal was able to travel through time to the future about a year ago to help stop the Chaos Creature & be with Knuckles. Scarlett glanced over at the two echidnas.
Scarlett sighed, The Master Emerald is what keeps this floating island afloat. If the Master Emerald shatters again like it did back in Station Square & release the Chaos Creature again, she cringed, Eggman might have another chance to take over Mobius.
Sonic sat next to her, "Do you really believe that you're the Chaos Princess?"
"It depends…when Knuckles comes with the translation from that plaque, we'll know for sure. If I'm the Daughter of Chaos, then wouldn't that mean that that Chaos Creature back at Station Square is my father?"
"I guess so…" he shrugged, "But how did you end up in Italy?"
"Don't look at me!" she raised her hands up in a surrendering kind of gesture.
A few minutes passed; Knuckles & Tikal seemed deeply disturbed about something as they spoke in their native language. Scarlett walked over to the two echidnas, "You both know that I can speak you native tongue right? Did you find anything out?" she inquired in their language. The two echidnas both looked at each other for a while without saying anything. Knuckles was the first to tear their gaze; when he saw Scarlett's patient & searching eyes, he sighed, "Scarlett, I have some good & bad news. The good news is…that you are the Princess."
"The bad news?"
"The bad news is that the Chaos Princess would destroy the entire Universe, dimensions, & all living beings in them. It didn't say when; but I have a feeling it's going to be around similar circumstances like when we destroyed that creature back on that planet. Remember?"
Scarlett nodded, "Yeah…what about my father, Chaos? Isn't the Chaos Creature…Chaos?"
"Yes, he is, & yes."
"A person who can cause so much damage…?" she trailed off, "Aren't I a member of your tribe too?"
"You're definitely a member of our tribe."
"But I was born in Italy & I don't…have any…parents…" her mind wandered off for a moment, "Do you think that Chaos visited Earth? Or they were under attack & chose to have me born in Italy in order to protect me?"
"Maybe."
"& it just happened to be that I'm going to destroy the whole Universe because I'm the Daughter of Chaos!"
"I'm sorry Scarlett, but, there's absolutely nothing we can do to prevent this."
"Isn't there another translation?"
"No. There is only one translation for it & that is it."
Scarlett shook her head, "No…no…" she turned around to begin running down the steps.
Sonic & Tails by now, had decided to go up to where the others were. As they climbed the steps, they saw Scarlett running by them with tears streaming down her face away from the Hidden Palace Zone to Heaven's Waterfall in the east part of the Mystic Ruins.
"Knuckles! What did you say to her?" a baritone voice made himself quite clear that he was very upset with the red echidna. The echidna started to explain what he told her when he finally calmed he hedgehog down.
"Is the "destroy the whole Universe" thing the reason she's crying?"
"I'm afraid so Tails."The kitsune glanced back to the trail Scarlett had followed, "Don't worry Lil' Bro. she'll be back soon." the cobalt hedgehog laid his hand on the kitsune's shoulder as he gazed in the same direction, "She'll be back…"
Scarlett walked the trail along the river to Heaven's Waterfall, the tallest waterfall on the island; it reached up into the skies so high, that you would have to had climbed the waterfall in order to see it.
Along the path she continued to walk, tropical hibiscus & native flowers lined the path; only making Scarlett cry even more knowing that this would all soon be destroyed…by her soon.
She sat atop a large rock staring down into clear, blue, water. A tear dropped making a small splash & a ripple. She threw a rock in the water, causing it to skip across its surface a few times before sinking.
"I can see why you're hurt." a voice began.
"SONIC! LEAVE ME ALONE!" Scarlett snapped turning around to see nothing, "You may the King of Speed, but I know you're here somewhere. Just leave me alone."
"I'm not Sonic," the voice said again, "I'm Ariel, your Chaos Guide."
"Now I'm hearing things!" Scarlett got up from her sitting position & began walking away toward a vanilla vine, her favourite plant besides roses; it reminded her of Vanilla, Cream's mother. She teared up again remembering its fate.
"Princess Scarlett," the voice began once more, "you aren't hearing things. I am real. I know that you cannot see me, but you soon will." her voice changed to a more stern voice, "You must understand that you must never tell anyone about me. Understand Princess?"
"I don't care who you are! I don't want this Chaos Guide! I already have enough problems as it is! One, I'm a "princess," two, I've been thrust into several different worlds several times & my age during those times has changed, three, I'm going to destroy the entire Universe & all of the dimensions everything in it, &, four, I have someone talking in my head who says they're my Chaos Guide! Isn't that a little much for one person?" she snapped at Ariel.
"Princess Scarlett, please calm down. I'm here to help you. You won't destroy the Universe."
"But Knuckles said that there is no way to prevent it from happening."
"Forget what he said. I'm going to teach you how to use your powers so that you don't destroy the Universe."
"You'll teach me how to use them?"
"Yes." Ariel answered.
"How long have you been with me?"
"Ever since you first used you powers back on the ARK. Remember? You transported yourself from the Space Observatory to your bedroom. Remember?"
"Oh yeah…I remember. But that was over fifty years ago; you were there when that happened on the ARK?"
"Yes. Everyone who can use the Chaos Emeralds' Power has a Chaos Guide. Even Shadow."
"That makes sense…what about Sonic?"
"He too. They know about them, but they aren't allowed to say anything."
"Anyone who uses the Chaos Emeralds? Even Silver, Knuckles, & Blaze?"
"Correct. When they first used their powers, they received a Chaos Guide."
"Including me…" she mused, then, an idea hit her, "Parla Italiano?" Scarlett asked suddenly.
"Non parla Italiano Scarlatto. But I've been able to pick up on a few Italian words when you speak to Mario or Luigi, but not the whole language. I may know a lot about your life, but not everything."
"I'm assuming that you know Knuckles & Tikal's language, Angelican & are a member of their tribe?"
"Yes." Ariel paused, "& I'm assuming you want to know about Chaos. Correct?"
"Yes."
"Well, he's not exactly your father, you're called the Daughter of Chaos because you have the powers of the Chaos Emeralds in you. The Master Emerald chose you to be the Chaos Princess out of all of the millions of other girls in the Universe; the Master Emerald gave you the powers to control the Emeralds the day you were born. You are the Chosen One; the Chaos Princess."
"Oh…"
"I might suggest that you Chaos Control back to the Blue Typhoon & ask Shadow if he can help you learn how to use you powers. He knows how to summon the right ones at the right time & can help you a great deal."
"Wait. I thought that you were supposed to teach me."
"I am. Shadow will teach you, whereas, I'll help you to improve you skills as you progress & help teach you when he isn't there. I just want to give you a heads up, I'll talk to you whenever you need help making a decision in a battle; it'll to help you not to make irrational choices."
"Just let me tell Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, & Tikal where I'm going. Alright?"
"Alright Princess."
"Why do you keep calling me that?"
"Because you are royalty. You have been royalty ever since the day you were born."
"How? My parents weren't king & queen of some land."
"No, they weren't. The Master Emerald chose you, out of all the others in the Universe to be the Chaos Princess."
"& I'm not even going to ask why."
She approached the Hidden Palace Zone; Sonic & the others were wondering why she was smiling but didn't ask why, "Ciao, guys! If anyone wants to know where I'm going, I'll be back at the Blue Typhoon. Ciao! Chaos Control!" before anyone could object, she had already Chaos Controlled away to the ship where she had startled Shadow when she suddenly "popped in."
"Sorry Shadow, I didn't mean to spook you."
"It's alright. Where are the others?" his voice remained as emotionless & as mysterious as the day Sonic met him years before.
"Back at Hidden Palace Zone. Can I ask you a favour?"
"What kind?" his expression was unreadable, as always.
"Could you teach me…" she lit up the flame from earlier, "how to use my Chaos Powers?"
"I'll teach you in the meadow." he reached into his quills for the Green Chao Emerald, "CHAOS CONTROL!"
The meadow they were transported to was the meadow where Tails & Melody had met a few months ago.
It was about three square miles & had nothing but dying plants; the perfect place to practice without killing anything or catching anything on fire; besides, Fall was coming for the planet of Mobius & Angel Island.
"Alright Scarlett, how many do you know already?" the black & red hedgehog still held the Chaos Emerald in his hand, "I know all of the ones that you know Shadow. I've watched you practice your attacks & Chaos Powers & I've tried to imitate them. I need to learn how to control them & practice them in attacks."
"Even the Super Form?"
"Without the Chaos Emeralds & I can last for as long as I want to, & with them I can perform every single kind of attack."
"Without the Emeralds?" Sonic, Knuckles & all of the others came to watch; they were standing near the edge of the field.
"I am a part of Chaos ain't I? & the Master Emerald & the Seven Chaos Emeralds' power is within me; sort of like Shadow."
"I guess so." they shrugged.
"Did I forget to mention that I have Super Speed like you Sonic? I can run almost as fast as you can-like Amy. With & without my hover-skates."
"Oh! Come on!"
Shadow listened closely as she spoke, "Sonic, I would like you & Scarlett to practice your speed skills first. Do not use Chaos Attacks. Just do speed attacks."
"Alright. Ready Scarlett? 'Cause here I come!" he shot away from the others towards Scarlett at full speed only to miss her because she simply stepped to the side. She did her own human version of Sonic's homing attack on him at full speed. She hit him sending him flying to the ground, "You're better than I thought."
"I've had several years to practice them Sonikku. Ever since I was on ARK." she said as she dodged a blue ball of quills coming at her, "& I've managed to master most of your attacks." she dodged another, "& Knuckles taught me a few coordination moves in the martial arts, karate, tae-kwon-do, tai chi chuan, ninjitsu, kung fu, aikido, judo, kendo, jujitsu…"
"OKAY! OKAY!" he mock-teased, "Then I guess I won't take it easy on you." he spin dashed directly at Scarlett, knocking her down, "I think you need some practice." he continued to tease her.
He then raced several hundred feet away, made a very sharp u-turn, & ran as fast as he could, curling up tighter than cannon ball performing his ever-so-classic spin dash once more. Fortunately, Scarlett saw him coming again & did her own version of the spin dash by jumping while curled up in a ball the best she could while dodging the "blue blur."
She raced to the edge of the field where she turned around to see Sonic getting ready for another spin dash.
This time, she was the first to take off & knocked the wind out of the cobalt hedgehog, "I told ya so!" she taunted as she did the final attack taking him off guard & sending him a few feet back.
"ALRIGHT! You win!" he sat straight up, "You're a good fighter Scarlett. I didn't know that you had it in you." he gave her his trademark grin & thumbs up.
"Than-kwoo Sonico." she blushed when she realized that she had mispronounced "thank you" because A) she is still learning the complex English language & words, & tends to use words she doesn't know in English in Italian (which Mario or Luigi has to translate for the others sometimes), &, B) she pronounced it like somebody who is just learning how to say "" for the very first time.
Sonic chuckled & wrapped his arm around her shoulder, "It's alright; it happens to everyone. Nobody is perfect." he continued to stand up, "You're starting to rival my speeds…& not by hover shoes like someone else I know." he pointed to Shadow using his thumb.
"I'm a few hundred miles below your speeds Sonic! I can't possibly-"
"WHOA! You can rival mine Scarlett," he interrupted, "if you keep working at it."
"Alright!" Shadow called from where he & the others stood, "We'll start target practice with the Chaos Spear!" he said as he set up a cardboard box in the middle of the meadow.
"Ready?" he asked Scarlett, she nodded, "Alright, begin!"
Scarlett called forth a Chaos Spear & threw it at the cardboard box with skill; Shadow watched her, "Very good Scarlett. Very good." he complimented his friend as she continued her target practice.
About an hour passed & Scarlett was growing tired with each spear she threw, "Shadow, I have to quit for today. I'm too tired to go on."
"Alright, we'll stop." they walked together back to where most of their friends were standing.
Sonic by now, had walked back out of the ship to the small group. Roselle waddled over to him from Amy,
"Daddy!" she stretched her little arms out to him, wanting to be held; Sonic, giving in to her, picked her up, "Did you just say 'daddy'?" he exclaimed to the small pink & white hedgehog.
"Daddy!" she giggled again.
"Amy! Roselle just said her first word!" he exclaimed hugging the little hedgehog in his arms.
"She did?" Amy ran over to them.
"You bet she did. She said, 'daddy;' her very first word!"
"She knows who her daddy is Daddy Sonic!" Silver laughed.
Everyone there, including Shadow, went "Awww…." as Sonic nuzzled his face against Roselle's as she snuggled against his chest, closed her eyes & fell asleep, "I love you my little angel…" he whispered.
This father-daughter moment was also being watched by a pair of two eyes, Scrap & Grounder.
"Come, Grounder, we must take this information back to Dr. Eggman." said a high pitched voice coming from the rooster robot.
"I don't know if he'll like this Scrap." replied the other's dumb-sounding voice.
"OH! Come on!"
"Hmmm…" the scientist replied after the two robots told their story, "Now, all we have to do is find out how to catch a hedgehog."
"What if we take a cage & drop it over the Blue Rat?" Grounder said mimicking the movements of the trap.
"NO!" the scientist boomed, "Not another one of your stupid ideas!" he boomed once more.
The argument went on about what kind of trap will be used.
Later on that week in Bowser's Castle, King Koopa was becoming increasingly curious about the blue hedgehog & his world. As far as he knew, the hedgehog was once Mario's rival in gaming & could move faster than the speed of sound.
Standing up from his throne, King Koopa called his dear, little, reptilian Koopalings, "My dear little Koopalings," he began I'm going to make a visit to the blue hedgehog's world."
"You mean Sonic the Hedgehog? Why?" interrupted Bigmouth.
"Because," he began again, sounding irritated, "we can wreak all kinds of havoc in his world for him & those Drain Brains they call plumbers.""Alright! Finally to get payback for stuffing all of our garbage back in our castle a few years ago." the toughest of the group said with excitement.
"Actually, you guys littered the Mushroom Kingdom with it. Remember?" said the koopa floating in his own little cloud, named Lakitu said.
"You don't need to rub it in." said Kootie Pie, with her annoyingly high-pitched voice & spoiled manner.
"We'll leave tomorrow morning." said King Koopa, "If any of you aren't ready in the morning, you can forget about going, because I'll leave without you. Understand?"
The Koopalings all nodded & raced off to pack for their adventure in the morning.
"I hope you don't pack your entire bedroom Kootie Pie." said Bigmouth as Kootie Pie left for her room.
"I WON'T! I'm only taking the things that I can't possiblylive without." she said before stomping back off to her room.
"Like everything."
"Bigmouth, you're such a bigmouth!" the Koopalings yelled in unison.
"Man…"
TASH&MB
"There's Mobius!" said King Koopa as he stared out the large window of his airship towards the planet which looked similar to Earth & the Mushroom Kingdom's planet; it had seven continents like those planets, but they looked different in some strange way that he couldn't lay his finger on it.
"We're preparing to land in a few minutes father." cried Iggy from the controls; but just as he said that, the ship caught fire as it entered the atmosphere & left a long tail behind it.
Fortunately, the airship was also a spaceship which had a metal covering instead of its former wood covering.
The ship continued to fall down towards the land at an angle, continuing its trail of fire behind it.
Meanwhile, somewhere several miles away, Scarlett & Shadow were dangling their bare feet in the cool, rushing water of a river nearby the Blue Typhoon gazing up at the stars & talking when they suddenly noticed the "Shooting Star."
"Shadow, look, a shooting star! Make a wish!" she exclaimed.
"Why wish on a shooting star?" he asked.
"Because, it's fun, & it's a tradition on Earth." she explained. As they watched the shooting star, Shadow still wondered why humans made up traditions like these anyway. Sometimes, they're just plain stupid.
Oh well…he can't change any of them anyway.
Scarlett stood up, grinning from ear to ear, "I'll race you back home Shadow. We'll just see how fast the Ultimate Lifeform can run without his hover skates." she held the said item up tauntingly.
"Hey! Gimme back my shoes!"
"See ya at home!" she ran away carrying his shoes with her.
"You're gonna wish you hadn't said that." he said as he took off behind her. He managed to run despite the limp he had.
Before long, he caught up to her & they raced back to the Blue Typhoon, which was out in the boonies of Westside Island. When Shadow was running along side of her, she pounced on him & tickled him. The two tickled each other for several minutes, then continued on their way back home, where they spent the rest of the night watching movies with friends & ended up falling asleep together on the couch halfway through the first movie.
Nothing can separate those two. the blue hedgehog chuckled quietly to himself as he watched them sleep peacefully on the couch. Scarlett had her arms wrapped around the bundle of black & red hedgehog asleep in her lap.