Chapter 5

Birth of a New Hero

On the day of Dr. Fox's baby shower, everyone showed up at the lab to give Dr. Fox gifts for her future child. As everyone was socializing, Shy awkwardly stood in the corner, out of everyone's sight. Kittycorn noticed that, so she walked over to her friend to assure her that everything is going to be fine.

"You don't have to feel nervous, Shy. If you socialize with others, you might feel less nervous!" Kittycoorn assured.

"I don't know if that's a good idea, Kittycorn. I don't think anyone even wants to talk to- Whoa!"

Shy didn't finish her sentence as Kittycorn grabbed her hand and showed her around. It was at this point when Kittycorn dragged Shy over to Master Frown and Brock.

"Hi, guys! Shy is a little nervous and I'm hoping that you two can talk to her to make her feel less nervous."

Master Frown merely gave a yawn. "No offense, Kittycorn, but I'm not exactly in the mood to talk either."

"Don't listen to him. We'll be more than happy to talk with you, Shy!" Brock smiled.

"Thanks, you two! I really appreciate it!" Kittycorn thanked before walking back to her family.

As Kittycorn left, Brock tried to think of something to say to Shy.

"So, are you enjoying the baby shower so far?"

"It's alright, I guess." Shy said without looking at Brock. "It's not exactly easy for me to have fun since I'm a doom lord. Sometimes it feels like I don't even belong here in the Unikingdom."

As he heard that, Master Frown looked away for a second as if he was pondering something.

"Brock, can you give us a minute? I have something I want to say to the kid."

"Um, sure, man."

Once Brock left, Master Frown brought his attention back to Shy.

"Listen. Shy, was it? I just want you to know that I might know what you are going through." Master Frown explained. "15 years ago, Unikitty and I weren't exactly on the best of terms. I always tried to make Unikitty and her friends miserable. Despite that, they ended up accepting me as their friend. Despite how awesome I was at being a doom lord, the job just wasn't for me."

"Really? From what Kittycorn and her parents told me, you weren't really so good at your job." Shy pointed out, much to Master Frown's annoyance.

"The point is if Unikitty and the others are willing to accept me, I don't see why they won't accept you. Knowing Unikitty, I'm pretty sure that she accepted you already."

Shy took a moment to think about what Master Frown said. In the short time that she had known him, she never would have guessed that Master Frown would say something so encouraging. "Wow, I never thought of it that way before. Thank you, Master Frown!"

"Don't mention it, kid!" Master Frown smiled. "I'm serious, though. Don't tell anyone what I said to you. I wouldn't want them to think I'm some kind of sappy good guy."

Shy giggled. "Don't worry, Master Frown! I promise not to let anyone know that you are secretly nice."

With that, Master Frown returned to meet up with his husband while Shy decided to talk to Kittycorn some more. It wasn't long before the last present was opened and the baby shower ended.

"So, did you like the gifts we got for your child, Dr. Fox?" asked Unikitty.

"They are all wonderful, Unikitty!" Dr. Fox smiled.

"Yeah! Our child is going to love them." Hawkodile agreed. "I'm very excited for the day we meet our child, Dr. Fox."

"Me too, Hawkodile! I-"

Before Dr. Fox could say another word, she suddenly collapsed to the floor.

"Dr. Fox!"

Everyone rushed over to Dr. Fox's aid as they helped her back up. Dr. Fox looked exhausted as she could barely keep her eyes open.

"Dr. Fox, can you hear me? What's wrong?" Hawkodile asked, concerned.

Dr. Fox directed her eyes back to Hawkodile. It took a while before she finally found her voice.

"I-It's the baby. It's coming." Dr. Fox explained.

"What? How is that possible?" Richard started to panic. "The baby isn't supposed to be coming for another two weeks. Dr. Fox is having her baby today?"

"Oh no! What are we going to do?" Unikitty asked.

"I-I don't know." Dr. Fox panted.

"What do you mean you don't know? Aren't you a doctor yourself?" asked Puppycorn.

"I'm not that kind of doctor, Puppycorn! We need to take me to the hospital!"

"Then what are we waiting for! Let's hurry!" said Hawkodile.

Wasting no time, Dr. Fox's friends helped her out of the lab before rushing her to the hospital. The doctors took Dr. Fox to one of the hospital rooms while everyone else stood outside the room in anticipation. They were all worried for Dr. Fox, hoping that nothing would go wrong.

After waiting for what felt like forever, everyone noticed the doors to Dr. Fox's room being opened as a doctor walked towards them. Hawkodile was the first to stand up.

"What happened? Is Dr. Fox alright? What about our child?"

"Relax. Everything is fine!" the doctor assured. "Your child has just been born."

It was at that point when everyone smiled, happy with the good news.

"Wow! That's great! Can we come in and see the baby?" asked Puppycorn.

The doctor nodded. "Yes. Just make sure to be quiet. Both, the baby and the mother are really tired."

With that, the group of friends quietly entered the room. Here, they found Dr. Fox lying in a bed, carrying her baby. She looked over to her friends and gave a weak smile.

"Hawkodile, it's a boy. We have a son!" Dr. Fox smiled.

Just hearing those words made this the best day of Hawkodile's life. He had always longed for the day he would have a child and that day was today. Hawkodile did his best not to get too emotional as he walked over to his newborn son.

The child was revealed to be a fox with orange fur and had the wings of a hawk, along with a crocodile tail.

"Oh my gosh! He's so adorable!" Unikitty squealed in delight. "What are you going to name him?"

"Well, Dr. Fox and I have been thinking of a name for awhile." Hawkodile explained.

Dr. Fox nodded. "And we decided that we were going to name our son, Foxodile."

Soon, Kittycorn noticed that Shy was awkwardly standing in the corner so she decided to encourage her friend.

"Hey, Shy. Do you want to meet Foxodile too?"

Shy soon took a nervous step forward. "Do you really mean it?"

"Go ahead, Shy. I'm sure that Foxodile would be happy to meet you." Dr. Fox encouraged.

With that, Kittycorn led Shy over to the baby. The child took one look at Shy and started to smile. The innocent smile of the child was enough to warm Shy's heart. She soon smiled back.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Foxodile!" Shy said.

Just seeing this heartwarming moment was enough to get Master Frown emotional as he started to tear up.

"Dude, are you crying?" Brock asked, noticing Master Frown's tears.

Master Frown soon did his best to wipe his tears away. "No! I just have something in my eye!"

"Don't worry, man. I'm here for you." Brock comforted his husband by giving him a hug.

After a couple of hours, everyone returned from the hospital with Hawkodile carrying his son to the castle and Dr. Fox at his side.

"Are you still feeling alright, Dr. Fox?"

"I'm fine, Hawkodile." Dr. Fox assured her husband. "This is just the best day of my life!"

"Mine too! I know that Foxodile has a great future ahead of him. Who knows? He might even earn his own pair of shades in the future." Hawkodile guessed.

"Somehow, it wouldn't surprise me. If he's anything like you, I'm sure that Foxodile would end up being an amazing action hero." Dr. Fox smiled.

Once everyone returned to the castle, Kittycorn and Shy decided to stay outside to watch the sunset together. As they watched the sunset, they both thought back to the eventful day that they had. After a few moment of silence, Shy finally decided to speak.

"Kittycorn, I just want to thank you for, well, everything. You really helped me out today with encouraging me to socialize with the others!"

"Don't mention it, Shy! It was all worth it to see you happy!" Kittycorn replied.

Shy giggled before turning back to the sunset. "Well, it's getting late. Guess I'll be returning to Frown Town now."

As she said that, Kittycorn noticed a sad expression form across Shy's face. "Shy? Do you really want to go back to Frown Town?"

"Not really. I just have to. It's complicated."

Kittycorn felt bad for her friend as she knew that Shy was going to miss the Unikingdom. Soon, Kittycorn looked down and noticed something on the ground that gave her an idea. She picked up a small yellow flower before handing it over to Shy.

"Here, Shy! Take this flower to remember me by!"

At first, she was taken aback by Kittycorn's gesture. She couldn't help but blush as her heart began to race.

Shy soon got over her surprise as she found her voice. "Uh, th-thank you, Kittycorn, but why are you giving this to me?"

"I know that you don't really like it in Frown Town too much, so I just thought that I should give you something that would remind you that no matter how far apart we are, we will always be together!"

Shy took one look at the flower and smiled. This was the nicest thing that anyone had ever done for her.

"Thank you so much, Kittycorn!" Shy thanked the princess. "I love it and I will always cherish it!"

It was at this point when Shy reached into her hood and placed the flower in her hair. With one last wave goodbye, Shy made her way back to Frown Town. Once again, Shy found herself in the dark and depressing area of Frown Town. However, she wasn't going to let it bother her this time. After the day that she had with Kittycorn, Shy was too happy to let anything upset her.

Soon, Shy entered the abandoned building as she made her way back to her room. However, before she could even touch the knob of her door, she heard a voice that immediately replaced all of the happiness she had from today with fear and dread.

"Master Shyness, where have you been?"

With a sigh, Shy turned to Master Death, doing her best not to tremble.

"Uh, I was just spreading misery throughout the kingdom like you wanted, Master Death." Shy lied.

Master Death stood up from his chair in anger. "Don't lie to me! I know that you have been spending these last few months with your friend!" the elderly doom lord yelled, frightening Shy. "Lucky for you, while you were attending these ridiculous activities with your friend, I have been gathering information around the Unikingdom! It seems that Queen Unikitty and King Puppycorn are planning another one of their celebrations in a few days. That would be the perfect opportunity for us to strike and for you to finally prove your worth as a doom lord."

Deep down, Shy didn't like the sound of that plan. She didn't want to make anyone sad, but at the same time, she couldn't disobey Master Death either.

"Um, people are not going to get hurt are they?"

Master Death shook his head. "Of course not! Just think of it as a little joke!"

"Do you mean like a prank?" Shy asked.

Master Death stayed silent for a moment before he forced a fake smile. "Yeah, sure. Like a prank."

"Then what is it that we are planning?" Shy replied, almost too afraid to ask.

"You will know when it is time for us to make our move on the kingdom. For now, go to your room and get some sleep."

With a nod, Shy walked over to her room, but not before Master Death stopped her one more time.

"Hold it! What's that under your hood?"

Seeing that she couldn't keep her secret from her mentor, Shy reluctantly reached into her hood and pulled out the flower from her hair.

"I-It's just something that Kittycorn gave me earlier today. It's no big deal." Shy replied as she started to blush.

Shy's stutter along with her nervous expression was all the conformation Master Death needed. After everything that had happened, Master Death knew exactly what was going on.

"So, you are in love with the princess, aren't you? Do you really think that she could love someone like you?" Master Death asked, to which Shy started to tear up. "You are a doom lord and doom lords are not supposed to fall in love with anyone!"

Shy soon wiped the tears from her eyes, careful not to cry. "B-But Master Frown used to be a doom lord, and he got married to his roommate, Brock."

"Master Frown was weak! Even when he got all the powers of a doom lord, he still wasn't able to handle it! Master Doom might have failed him, but I'm not going to make the same mistake with you! On the day of the celebration, you are going to prove yourself as a doom lord!"

Shy gave a sad nod. "Yes, Master Death."

With that, Shy returned to her room and sat down on her bed. Despite everything that Master Death told her, she didn't feel like thinking about fulfilling her role as a doom lord. Instead she took a glance at the flower Kittycorn gave her and thought back to all of the fond memories she shared with Kittycorn. After all the time she spent with Kittycorn, Shy couldn't deny the truth. Shy was in love with her best friend.