The Return of the Purple Penny!
Chapter 1: The Blue Blur, a Purple Dragon, and a Red Plumber
Well, the votes are finally in, and now the first chapter is coming out!
Princess Aquaech: Knuckles won! Yay! Maybe TTE can get me some backstage passes and I can meet him...
Platypous: No! It can't be! Aww!
Ech: Hunter won too. It's just too bad that Elora didn't, TTE had some plans for her.
Roo: I'm sure that TTE had plans. More than likely it was you who wanted those backstage passes to meet her.
Antiech: Who wouldn't?
Antiroo: Grrrr...
Antiech: Uh... heh heh. Not that I would...
Wex: And Luigi won too. But TTE doesn't own any of them. And the funny thing is that I'm always on the disclaimer.
Well, we'll have time for complaints later, Wex. Now it's time to get the story started!
"Knuckles, you're up." Sonic said, pointing at the red echidna. "Sorry, Tails, Shadow, I just think that Knuckles is just the best choice."
"Don't worry about it, Sonic." Shadow said while he took out Tails' fake Emerald, "I'm sure that the echidna has much more knowledge of the Chaos Emeralds than I do."
Knuckles looked at Shadow thankfully. Now he didn't have to trust the Master Emerald to anyone, or risk having the Chaos Emeralds going on another rampage. "I may have more knowledge of the Emeralds, and I may guard their Master, but my power isn't anything compared to yours or Sonic's, Shadow."
"Sonic, wait!" Tails yelled as Sonic turned to leave with Knuckles to wait for their transport. Sonic tuned to look at Tails, but he was already gone from sight, appearing from his room's doorway moments later holding his Chaos Emerald. "Take my Emerald with you!"
"Tails, I already have the blue one with me, just in case I need to use Chaos Control."
"I would think it wise to take more than one Emerald with you, Sonic." Robotnik told his blue former foe. Sonic thought about it for a moment, holding out his blue emerald, while the others around him produced the purple, light blue, red, and green Emeralds, and Robotnik himself held out the gray Chaos Emerald. "They might be your only chance of defeating that penny!"
"What can I say, Doc? You guys are the greatest!" Knuckles pulled out his own Emerald, the Master Emerald, and put it, along with the other seven Emeralds, into Sonic's backpack. Knuckles and Sonic were about to get their other stuff ready to leave when Tails yelled to them from the window.
"Sonic! There's a metal thing outside that says your name on the side!" Knuckles got to the window first, looking at the transport disgustedly. "'& Friend'?" he yelled in disbelief, "Sonic gets half of the thing having his logo on it, and all I get is '& Friend'?"
"Oh, just be happy that you got mentioned." Shadow was again irate at something. "I got to be the guest star in Sonic Adventure 2, but he didn't tell them about how I wanted to be in the title."
Shadow continued to go on about his exclusion from every one of the times in Sonic's life that Sega had published, when he was as much there as he was during their actual adventures in ARK and against Metal Sonic. Sonic ignored him and his self-centered nature, being that he still thought that he was the Ultimate Life Form, and walked outside with Knuckles. They walked up to the transport, opened the door, and walked in.
"Welcome, Sonic the Hedgehog and Friend," the computer inside told Sonic when the door had shut. "There it goes again! 'And Friend'!" Knuckles was still fuming from Microsoft's ignorance of his existence. "Knuckles the Echidna, welcome to the Microsoft Transport Version 1.21." "Hey, how'd you make it do that?" Sonic shrugged his shoulders and sat down on the couch behind him. "Sonic and Knuckles, your adventure will begin now. The Purple Penny is affecting our programs and may destroy Microsoft, eventually spreading to your world to continue its destruction." Sonic nodded at the computer. "Take us to Microsoft. We can handle it."
"Thank you, Sonic." The computer told the two heroes to sit down and prepare for liftoff and to pay attention to the biographies of the others who would help them to vanquish the Penny. "This is boring, Knuckles. Change the station." The computer began to rattle on about Spyro the Dragon as Knuckles turned the knob to his own favorite station: K-NUX. The transport shifted to high power, taking Sonic and Knuckles to their destination.
Spyro slept the night after his mysterious call from Microsoft, tossing and turning from his horrible nightmares of chaos, bright, golden lights, and finally of all of Avalar below his feet, two others floating in empty space near him. He woke up with a jolt, turning on the light and getting up from where he slept. "I know just who I'll bring." He read the large clock tower across from his apartment in Avalaria, Avalar's capital: 5:22 A.M. The transport would be near soon, he had to tell his friends.
"Spyro, what are you doing up so early?" Sparx asked from his breakfast of magical fodder butterflies. Spyro just shook his head while he sat next to his friend in the apartment kitchen. "I'm not bringing you with me to Microsoft. Sorry, buddy."
"Aw, don't worry about it, Spyro. It's a lot more fun around here anyway. And less dangerous, too." Spyro shook his head again, this time laughing at his small dragonfly partner. "Thanks for making me feel better about this, Sparx." He said sarcastically.
"So if I'm not coming along, then who will?"
Well, I was thinking that–" Someone knocked at the door. "Hold on, Sparx, I'll get that."
Spyro walked through his small living room, where he had agreed to let Ripto spend the night, and over to the door. Ripto was still sound asleep, snoring as drool flowed from his mouth and onto the couch below. Spyro walked slowly over to him and kicked him swiftly, stirring him from his dreams of taking over Avalar. "Wake up, Shorty, there's someone at the door." Ripto groggily gazed around the dark room. His fortress usually wasn't this dark, and Crush and Gulp never called him– "Shorty, come on, unless you want whoever it is to see you in your underwear!" Ripto looked at the dark shape in front of him. "Aaagh! Get away from me!" Ripto looked for his scepter and pulled it out, illuminating Spyro's face with red light. "Oh, it's just you." Ripto looked at Spyro for a second. "Hey, wait a minute, what am I doing here?"
Spyro was already at the door, though, and opened it so that Elora could enter. She didn't look too good; Ripto figured that she had just woken up. "I don't know what it is, Spyro, but I just can't get this bright green shape out of my head." Spyro closed the door as she walked into the living room and was barely able to stifle a laugh. "And I thought that you wore only dark clothes, Ripto." Ripto stood there, completely paralyzed by both Spyro and Elora's presence in the room–the room that he was in his underwear in. Ripto ran off to the bathroom with a high-pitched scream, grabbing his dark robes before locking the door and hiding away.
"I had the same dream, Elora. Only it was a purple light." The door was again rapped on, this time by everyone's favorite cheetah, Hunter. "Hey, Spyro, did you decide who's gonna go with you to Microsoft yet?" Hunter was his usual enthusiastic self, which Spyro couldn't understand, it was only just about 6 A.M. "Well, that's what I wanted to talk about guys." Spyro sat down at his table after pouring them all a glass of orange juice, and Elora and Hunter pulled up a chair each. Hunter sat down on his backwards, while Elora sat down normally, her eyes focused on Spyro completely, while Hunter's were darting around the room. "How do you keep so enthusiastic, Hunter?"
"One word, Spyro: caffeine."
"Now, Elora, I know we've been together for almost five years now." Spyro took a drink of his juice. Elora nodded at him, he had saved Avalar from Ripto on July 26th, 1999, the day that they went on their first date in Dragon Shores. "Well, I know that you wanted to be together on our anniversary, but... Hunter can use a bow and arrow better than you."
"Oh, don't worry, Spyro." Elora said. "I'm sure that even if you don't stop that penny by then you'll at least call me and talk to me. Right?"
"Of course, Elora." Spyro was relieved by her tolerating his decision. "Tell you what, I'll bring you back a souvenir, and then we can have our anniversary dinner when I get back."
A bright light flashed into Elora's vision as she and Spyro looked out toward the Avalarian Clock Tower, and she covered her eyes. Ahead of them, a metal ship-like object landed in the street just across from Spyro's window. On its side, Spyro's name was painted in bright purple letters, matching the color of the dragon himself. "Well, there's our ride, Hunter, we should get going." Spyro gave Elora his keys to the apartment as he walked out the door, hugging her goodbye as he closed the door behind him. Elora yelled out to him quickly, stopping him from getting into the elevator just in time. "Wait, Spyro, take these Orbs with you, you might need them." Spyro thanked her again, and closed the door behind him. Ripto heard the door closing from his position in the bathroom, and opened the door to see if everyone was gone. "Whew, at least that annoying faun, Elor–Aw, crap."
"Hey, why don't I get any recognition on the side? I should at least have a cool logo like you, Spyro."
"Well, it does say '& Friend' on the side, so I guess that they figured that I might pick anyone." The door opened to Spyro and Hunter, gull-wing style, and they stepped into their transport. "Welcome, Spyro the Dragon and Friend." The computerized voice was the same as it was for Sonic and Knuckles. "We at Microsoft have made many accommodations for you, such as–" "Hey, a couch!" Hunter sat down on the cushiony green fabric, allowing him to rest his legs from the short walk over. "You can tell me later, computer. I'll figure out the stuff in here by myself."
"Hey, Spyro!" Hunter yelled excitedly from his spot on the couch, "Look at this, they have a cappuccino machine here!"
Spyro sighed and sat down on the couch after telling the computer to take off. It was going to be one long ride.
Mario surveyed the mess that was Peach's former bathroom after his call from Microsoft. It was completely destroyed; water was spurting up from where the toilet and sink used to be, and the tile was scratched so much that the Mushroom Kingdom's national emblem was barely visible on even the less wrecked ones. "Peachie's gonna need a new bathroom." Mario said with a sigh, and turned to walk back to tell her about Bowser's irreversible renovations. He would get his company to work on it while he was gone, and he could only trust Peach there to keep it supervised. He couldn't take her, and there was just something about Bowser that bothered him... Luigi would have to go. Mario went downstairs with his mind made up to tell the three waiting contenders who he'd take with him.
"Guys, I'm-a sorry about the penny. I should have-a destroyed it before it got so out of control-a."
"No, Mario, I'm the one who should be sorry." Bowser hung his head in shame. "I made that penny what it was for my boss, the one who wants that penny for himself, as well as twenty thousand more just like it."
"Bowser, you should-a be safe here. Peachie, you too. I'll-a take Luigi to Microsoft and destroy that penny once and for all."
"But Mario, you know what happened to you in the bathroom!" Peach started to cry, talking over her sobs. "If that penny gets any more powerful, it could actually kill you next time!"
"No it won't-a, Princess Peachie." Luigi took charge of the situation, deciding just what they'd do. He asked Peach for some of the Power Stars that guarded he castle for their extra powers, since he and Mario both figured that if the Penny did get any more powerful, they'd need extra protection too. Peach agreed to the loss of eight of her 120 stars, just for the moment until the Purple Penny was defeated.
"We'll be back-a soon, Peachie!" Mario called out to her as he and Luigi walked out the castle door. Mario did feel cautious about leaving Bowser with Peach, but he figured that this time he would let Mario go to battle the greater evil of the Purple Penny in peace.
"Where is-a that transport?" Mario scratched his head as a dark shadow overtook both him and Luigi. "Hey, Mario, when-a did the sun-a stop shining? It's-a broad daylight!"
Mario looked above him to see the transport falling quickly towards them both, shouting "Mama mia!" just as Luigi pushed him out of the way and the transport fell to the ground where they stood not five seconds before. It didn't look very sleek, and its formerly shiny metal surface was covered in rust. "I-a guess we got one of-a the older models, heh heh."
"Well, it's-a here, so we should-a get in." Luigi opened up the gull-wing door, having to crack much of the rust on the hinges and bottom before it opened with a loud squeal. What he saw inside was terrible: All of the controls were covered in rust of all different metal types, and the seats looked as if they had been submerged for quite some time. Thankfully, the screen on the computer still worked, and Mario could see his name, as well as '& Friend,' written on its black background in white letters. Luigi saw the keyboard, and after struggling to get it unstuck from the wall where a rotten, old candy cane had it stuck, typed in his own name instead of the 'Friend.' He figured that the thing was voice activated, being that it came from Microsoft, so he said his catchphrase to make it go. "Let's-a go!" The craft remained motionless. "I-a said, 'Let's-a go!'" Luigi kept yelling 'Let's-a go!' at the computer, hoping that it would work, when Mario pressed a small, inconspicuous red button.
"Mama mia, what did you-a do, Mario?"
"It looks-a like I-a started this thing-a up." Mario took the small steering wheel in his hands and pulled back, causing the not-shut door to wiggle up and down and smash Luigi's hand before opening up once more. "Mama mia, that-a smarts!" Luigi reached for the handle as Mario took off at a safe speed: 35 miles per hour.
"Speed it up, Mario!" Luigi yelled at his brother once the door was taken care of. "The Hylian Sea is-a more than 200 miles from-a here, and Microsoft's not for another 700 miles after that!"
"If-a you have so many-a complaints, why don't you-a drive?" Mario looked angrily at Luigi, not noticing that their speed was increasing quickly to 500, 600, 700 miles per hour. Mario kept looking angrily at Luigi, not paying attention to the window in front of him. "You always want your own way, Luigi, and you... what's-a this?"
The computer screen was blinking black and white, displaying "WARNING" as Mario and Luigi argued. The two looked up just in time to see a huge white tower increasing in size very drastically as the seconds ticked on. "Mama mia!" Luigi yelled and took the wheel. Unfortunately, he only managed to rip it right off. "Look at-a what you-a did now, Luigi!" The Tower of the Gods approached quickly in the window, and Mario resorted to smashing every button in the craft to somehow make up for what happened. Miraculously, he it an Install button just as the Tower seemed to be right on top of them, upgrading the cruddy old system to the brand new Windows QK. The control switched to autopilot, and Luigi and Mario's lives were spared–for the moment, as they traveled over the Great Sea towards their destination: Microsoft.
Antiech: Wow TTE, that took quite a while to write. You finished now?
Well, I want it to be good. You can't rush these things, you know. And now I'll get to work on Chapter 2, where I'll let you vote on some other outcome of the story. But not this time, sorry.
Antiroo: But hey, still review, and maybe, just maybe, TTE will get to work on this when he finishes with part of his next, over the summer, stupid, evil, and morally wrong English project: Reading over the Summer, FOR A GRADE!
And to think that the school could've let me just read my second favorite trilogy of all time, and I'd be fine. I'd gladly write a book report on that, even a book, if I could.
Platypous: See you next time for some more of the story. But now, TTE has to stop writing and get on with ideas for next chapter. Bye!