The next morning in the workshop Omega watched Silver heat a sword over the furnace. He noticed his glum face "You shouldn't be angry. A leader must be tough on everyone". Silver cooled the sword "I'm not everyone. But it doesn't matter. The guy's impossible to please". Omega was loading a machine gun "Be thankful. Favouritism has been proven to start uprisings". Silver rolled his eyes "He's covered in that department". He placed the sword on a rock "If we didn't live in the same house, I wouldn't even know he was my father". Omega turned his arm into a hammer "Have you told him that?" "Of course not". Silver held the red hot sword as Omega hit it repeatedly to straighten it "We barely even make eye contact. And when we do it's always with this disappointment scowl like he's been cheated, or someone skimped out on the meat in his sandwich". Silver lets go of the sword and puts on a deep voice "Excuse me, waiter. I'm afraid you've brought me the wrong offspring. I ordered a tough boy with extra strength, with some guts and glory on the side. This here. This is a talking fish bone". Omega shook his head "You misunderstand. It is not your lack of muscle mass which displeases him. It is your personality that he cannot stand". Silver narrowed his eyes "Thank you for summing that up" "There is the normal way. And then there's your way. From my data I have deduced that your way makes people uncomfortable" "Speaking of uncomfortable I'd like another conversation please".
Omega tried to think of what organic beings usually talk about "How is finding a mate going?" "Oh, yeah, way to get the mood back on track" Silver said sarcastically. Omega put the sword on a rack "I do not understand your rituals and even I see the way you look at the feline". Silver rolled his eyes "Please. Blaze wouldn't come near me if she was on fire, and I had the only bucket of water in town" "Hey". They looked to the door and saw Blaze standing there with her axe "Can I get this sharpened" she threw it into a log. Omega pushed Silver forward "My perfectly healthy apprentice will serve all of your needs. I must go to the town meeting" he left. Silver nervously chuckled "Omega". Blaze removed her axe from the log but looked hesitant to give it to Silver. She eventually did so and he dropped it. He dragged it over to a grinder "Okay. Razor sharp battle axe coming right up" "Careful. That's my mother's". Blaze started looking around the room at all the weapons. Silver started sharpening the axe "So, I saw you guys on fire patrol last night. Looked like a good time". Blaze examined a splitter "Yeah, I didn't get burned though. It's only fun if you get a scar out of it" "Oh, yeah. Pain. Love it. I would have been there too, but I was busy downing a Laser. So, yeah, pretty busy". Blaze was now checking a sword "I heard about that. So, where is it" "Uh, haven't gotten a chance to go out for its body yet. But it's definitely out there". He gave a smug look "Yeah, this apprentice thing is sort of on the side. I'm mostly here to bulk up. Lift some iron and stuff. Become one with…". He suddenly noticed he had ground completely through the edge of the axe.
Thankfully Blaze didn't notice, and he quickly hid the axe under a table. He then saw Blaze look behind a curtain "Uh, you're not actually supposed to, uh". Blaze saw a new room with the walls covered in designs for strange machines "What's all this?" "Uh, those, nothing". While she was distracted, he took out a new axe and started to attach it to the handle "Just some stuff I'm working on. Confidential and all that". Blaze examined one "The Regulator?". Silver started assembling the new axe "Yes. Basically, it sends out a pulse that weakens Wisp energy" "How do you aim it?" "You don't have to it sends it out in all directions". Blaze looked slightly impressed "Does it work?" "Well, yes and no. The pulse does work. Trouble is it only neutralizes anything within a few centimetres so not as ground-breaking as I'd hoped". Blaze shrugged and put the design down "Oh, well. I'm more of a cut it in half with an axe kind of girl anyway. It's kind of our way, you know?" "Yeah, go us". She came back out not noticing the new axe. She smirked "Gaia, I can't wait to get started tomorrow. We finally get a chance to show them what we've got. I'm so excited". Silver stopped grinding and looked confused "Oh, yeah. I am… so excited… for you". Blaze turned to him "Wait. You didn't hear". Silver just shrugged, "They're pulling men to crew the ships" "And you're happy because you like to wave goodbye" "No, stupid. They need replacements to defend the town. We start training tomorrow. We'll be fighting wisps". They heard Shard outside "Blaze! You coming to practice or what?". Blaze looked back to Silver who handed her the axe. She held it for a moment "This feels different" "Oh, I rebalanced it. Tightened it. Finessed it. We're a full-service outfit here". Blaze casually swung it checking the balance "Huh. Thanks" "Sure". She nodded thankfully to him before running outside to meet with the others.
In a large hall Shadow stood around a table with the villagers "Either we finish them, or they'll finish us! It's the only way to get rid of them. If we find the nest and destroy it, the wisps will leave. They'll find another home! One more search before the ice sets in". The villagers look apprehensive "Those ships never come back" "We're Onyx. It's an occupational hazard. Now who's with me!?". No one says anything, Shadow stood up straight "Alright. Those who stay will look after Silver". Everyone raised their hands "To the ship!" "I'm with you, Shadow". Shadow nodded "That's more like it". Everyone leaves except for Shadow and Omega. Omega tried to eat a pizza "I will pack my rockets" "No, I need you to stay and train some new recruits". Omega nodded "Very well. While I am busy, I can have Silver cover the stall. Molten steel, gun powder, lasers and large amount of time to himself. I'm sure no one will die". Shadow at next to him and lowered his head sighing "What am I going to do with him, Omega?" "Put him in training". Shadow rolled his eyes "I'm serious" "I am always serious" "He'd be killed before the first wisp is out of its cage". Omega did some calculations "Not a certainty" "It is, actually. You know what he's like". He stood up "From the time he could crawl, he's been… different. He doesn't listen. He has the attention span of a Chao. I take him fishing and he goes hunting for Egg Pawns" "Don't remind me of those insignificant models". Shadow sighed "When I was a boy…" "I do not forget things, Shadow" "My father told me to bang my head against a rock and I did it. I thought it was crazy, but I didn't question him. And you know what happened?". Omega was barely listening "You received a major concussion" "That rock split in two. It taught me what we could do, Omega. We could crush mountains, level forests, tame seas! Even as a boy, I knew what I was, what I had to become". He sat back down "Silver is not that boy". Omega turned to him "You cannot stop him. You can only prepare him. You might not like to think so, but you won't always be around to protect him. He is going to get out there again. By my calculations' he already is". Shadow looks away deep in thought