3. Eggs
Jag awoke to the sun shining through the window in his room. He stretched, and yawned. He got out of his bed and checked his sky blue egg. It seemed warm enough in the heated blanket at night. He decided to bring it with him when he went to go see Boomer at the park. He stroked it, got on his shoes, and went to breakfast. Making sure to keep the egg out of sight.
He knew it would take at least a few days for it to hatch. He gobbled down the eggs and bacon his mom put in front of him. Noticing that his brother was still not at the table when he finished or when he left the house. That wasn't unusual, his brother sometimes stayed in his room for days working on whatever he was doing.
He ran to the park to get his blood pumping in the cool fall weather. Jag and Boomer lived in a community area close to down town, so there was little green around except in the park. The park was two miles long and three miles wide with plenty of room to run. It was one of the largest parks on Mobius.
He arrived in a few minutes, still breathing lightly. Even though the park was a few miles from his house. Jade got to a bench by a big old oak and sat down. He took the egg out of his backpack and started to rub in absentmindedly while rereading a few chapters in his instruction book.
He was just beginning the chapter describing how chao owners affected there chao when Boomer zoomed up. He looked like he didn't get much sleep and he looked hungry.
"Hey Jag, got your egg?"
"Yeah," Jag said, showing the sky-blue egg. "Got yours?"
"Yep." And Boomer pulled the bronze egg out from his backpack. "You know what; I think I heard mine making small purring noises last night." Boomer then flopped onto the bench next to Jag.
"Really! Cool Boomer, when do you think yours is going to hatch?"
"I don't know, maybe in the next few days."
"Boomer … what happens if the chao hatches while you're at school?"
"I'll just bring the egg to school until it hatches; it's as simple as that."
"But Boomer-" Jag began.
"It doesn't matter anyway." Boomer interrupted. "Everyone else brings there chao to school. What's stopping my from bringing my chao egg."
"Well you do have a point…"
"And bronze eggs are usually really expensive like two-thousand rings!"
"Wow." Was all Jag could say. They usually get bullied because there the fastest kids in school and Boomer being different from other hedgehogs.
Instead of being content going slow Boomer was fast, really fast. And Jag was a cheetah, naturally fast. But because of his reputation of 'not being the sharpest tool in the shed.' He was bullied to. Jag was smart, he just wasn't good at paying attention to stuff that bored him.
Ray was a friend of theirs that got bullied too. One thing was his two tails, but he kept them out of sight most of the time by curling them together, giving the appearance of one tail instead of two. Another thing was that he was a kid genius but the teachers didn't pay enough attention to know that. The teachers at their school just looked a grades, not potential.
What drew attention to them in the first place was that they were some of the only kids in school without chao, until now. Jag and Boomer had been entering a bunch of races and saving the money they won to buy some chao. Ray said that he had gotten a part time job. They didn't know he meant the NCC until they saw him there themselves.
Now the bulling would probably go down now that they got chao eggs but it probably wouldn't go away all together until the bullies found someone else to pick on.
Boomer then kept talking about how his mother unrightfully punished him for getting a pet. Then he asked Jag, "How'd your mother take it?"
"Well … I didn't tell her."
"You didn't! What are you going to do when the egg hatches?"
"I'm going to see if they notice it all. If they ask where the chao came from I'll just say, 'You didn't notice? I've had this little guy for weeks!'"
"Heh, I wish my parents were that distant."
"No you don't. Believe me."
"Can I see your egg?"
"Sure." Jag handed over his egg to Boomer, who began inspecting it.
"Hey Jag."
"Yeah."
"Why did you choose an egg that was the same color as my fur?"
"I think it's a good color for a chao."
"Oh." Boomer said, handing back the egg.
"Want to race?"
Boomer grinned and said, "You bet."
"Lets get started, can you carry my egg in your backpack?"
"Ok."
"Let's GO!" And they raced around the forest as always. With two eggs securely fastened in Boomers backpack.
Floating Island
Jade reached the secret cave without incident. What he didn't know was that long ago three heroes met here for the first time. Two were chained to the wall and the other suspected them of trying to steal the Master emerald.
(Most of you probably know that particular seen from the game or from issue 13 (( Unlucky number)) When Knuckles first met Sonic and Tails.)
It was hidden in the mushroom zone. No one ever went there so Jade decided it was the best place to set up camp without fear of being attacked by gang members. A majority of Echidnapolis had taken a disliking to guardians when they tried to expand the city. The Brotherhood stopped them, saying it would hurt the natural balance of the island.
The public didn't take to the idea; the city was getting far too cramped. Smart echidnas went to the mainland city Albion, while a majority still stayed, making the problem worse. The city was still in all of its technological glory, but there were simply too many echidnas.
Eventually gangs popped up and certain areas of Echidnapolis, making them a hazard for everyone. Soon even the few Mobians that visited (Tourists.) stopped coming. Even citizens now carry blasters for protection and the local law enforcement (The EST.)((Echidna Security Team)) has their hands full.
Everyone blamed the current guardian at the time and shunned the young echidna. Jade learned to avoid others of his kind and went about caring for the island. To young to understand why everyone hated him.
His dad had joined the Brotherhood just before the problem so the young echidna was forced to extreme measures to survive. Fighting off gangs and being shunned from all of his kind had a terrifying affect on him.
The first of these was small bumps appearing on his fists that soon grew into long spikes. The second was his body strength and senses growing far beyond that of a normal echidna. The third was his canine teeth growing sharp and pointed like a carnivores.
The Brotherhood watched in fascination and terror as the youngest guardian slowly turned into an animal. But since his first meeting with Slider Jade seemed to grow a more humane personality. Though his body was that of an animal, his mind had been saved by a small friendship with a chameleon.
The Brotherhood was fascinated by the development of a chao egg. Happy the young guardian would have a friend, hoping it would stop him from going completely primal. They looked into there records to see if something like this had ever happened before. They found that the only time something remotely like this had happened was with a guardian called 'Knuckles.' Only he was born with his spurs due to his father exposing his egg with raw chaos energy and messing around with his own DNA.
The trait had passed down to his daughter, Lara-Su, but had stopped there and wasn't passed down further. They were fascinated to see Jades spikes were longer and sharper than Knuckles' spurs.
'Probably due to the more hostile environment.' Said one.
'Or maybe the gene was passed down within are DNA and has evolved after each generation.' Said another.
Ether way they wouldn't be able to know the right answer unless they got a blood sample, but they weren't allowed to come in contact with the young guardian until his training was complete so all the had now were guesses.
Only two of the Brotherhood was truly worried about Jade. Axon, his grandfather, and Doran, his father.
"I'm worried Axon, no guardian has had to go through something like this before."
"I know Doran. But the code says once he is left alone on his sixth birthday he must fend for himself until he is ready. That is the only way he can truly grow. And he now has a companion. That is sure to stop his primal regression." Axon put a hand on his son's shoulder. "Get some rest Doran, collapsing from lack of sleep wont help your son." Axon then left the monitor room.
Doran stared at the screens a while longer then left the room, saying as he left. "It's not regression … its evolution."
Jades Cave
Jade entered his underground cave, making sure know one saw him enter the hidden chute that lead to it. The décor was simple, a table, chair, refrigerator, closet, and bed were all in the cave. He placed the egg gently on his bed and read the chao manual. He was surprised to learn that the egg could survive in any environment, just as long as it was kept warm.
He looked at the egg for a second, an idea forming in his mind. He got up and got out a fishnet from his closet, grabbed the chao egg and began walking down one of the many tunnels leading out from the cave.
After a while of walking he reached an underground stream. He fastened the fish net down on a near by rock and rapped the chao egg up and … put it in the slow moving river. The underground river flowed from Lava Reef. The water was warm so the chao egg wouldn't get cold and the fish net would hold the egg in place.
'He'll probably be able to swim like a fish when he hatches … or he might not and I'm an idiot for putting a chao egg in hot water.' Jade thought to himself.
He moved his bed by the slow moving water so he would be able to take the egg out when it hatched. He started to read the instruction manual as he sat on his bed, waiting for the egg to hatch.
Ray, his House
Ray sat on the bed in his room adoring his chao egg. Of course technically it wasn't his room, since he shared it with two other kids.
"Wow Ray. It's really yours!" A young eight-year-old male orange fox said; his voice full of admiration. (Turin)
"Yep."
"And you paid for it? All one-hundred rings?" Another eight-year-old asked. A red girl fox . (Roxy)
"Yep, all one-hundred rings."
"Cool." They said in union. "Can we touch it?"
"Sure, just be gentle." Ray said.
The two young foxes stroked to egg and gazed at it with wide eyes.
"How'd you get the money?" Tor asked.
"I worked at the NCC for a week. And you know what?"
"What?" They both said.
"They gave me a full time job."
They both stared at him, and then Roxy said, "What are you going to do there?"
"Well, I take care of the chao on Mondays and work at the egg shop for the rest of the week except on Sundays."
"Why not Sundays?" The boy Tor asked.
"Because I need at least one day off."
"What are you going to do today?"
"Well …" He said, dragging out the word. "Nah, on second thought I won't tell you."
"Please tell us!" They said together with the best 'puppy-eyed' look they could pull of.
Ray couldn't help but laugh. Then he answered "No you two, it's a secret."
"Aww." They both said in disappointment.
"Don't worry; I'll be back in time for dinner. Can you tell Nana that for me?" Ray said; referring to the owner of the foster care facility. She was an old gray fox. Most foster care facilities are limited to one species.
The government says that helps the house remain 'positive.' But mostly it's because the don't want a beaver thinking he's a duck because he's being fostered by ducks and so on and so forth. It just helped minimize problems.
"Sure Ray!" They said gleefully.
"See-ya guys later!"
"Bye!"
At the Park
"Boomer!" Shadow called, agitated. He had been searching for the young hedgehog ever since Serena told him about her sons 'moves.'
He hadn't visited in about a year and had come back recently with Boomers father, Bolt. Bolt worked at a job that kept him moving around the world all the time. Shadow only came around once in a while because he didn't want to get too attached. He had learned over the millennium to never get too attached to anything … because it never lasts forever.
"Boomer you sorry excuse for a hedgehog come over here now or I'll come and get you!" Shadow shouted at a fast moving blue dot in the forest of the park. Shadow was interested because Boomers 'moves' sounded a lot like a spin dash and sonic wind.
Shadow's look hadn't changed much over the years, he still wore the same thing and he only looked twenty years old.
Boomer quickly zoomed up along with Jag and said, "Hey Uncle Shadow what's- OW!" Boomer said as Shadow hit him on the head. "What'd you hit me for?"
"How many times have I told you, stop calling me uncle!"
"But uncle-OW! But Shadow its fun."
"Grrr, what do I have to do to get it through your thick skull that I'm not your uncle!"
"Oh, I already knew that, I just like calling you uncle to annoy you."
"Ugh … never mind. Do you know how to do a spin dash?"
"A spin what?"
"Spin Dash."
"Never heard of one, but I can do this." Boomer handed his backpack to Jag; then demonstrated by curling up into a ball while running and hit the ground, leaving a spot of bare earth where grass use to be.
"That's a spin dash." Shadow told him.
"Oh, what's this then?" Boomer then squinted, a focused look coming onto his face. Shadow was surprised, Boomer never concentrated. Then a few feet away a small blue tornado formed in the air and lifted leaves of the ground. Then the leaves seemed to spell: Cool, ain't it?
"Ain't isn't a word Boomer." Jag corrected him.
The leaves then spelled: Cool isn't it, and don't be such a genius Jag. It doesn't fit your personality.
Shadow was momentarily shocked. That was sonic wind, but boomer had perfect control over it and (What shocked him most.) Boomer didn't even need a chaos emerald to pull it of.
'Even I need a chaos emerald to do something like that … so what would happen if boomer did get a chaos emerald?' Shadow thought to himself for a moment.
"Ok Boomer that's enough sonic wind for now." Shadow said.
"Wow, that's the perfect name for it Uncle OW! Shadow. How'd you come up with it?"
"It was already named before you discovered it."
"Aw … I hoped I had made it up all by my self. Who made it?"
"Sonic."
"Sonic who? I've never heard of him."
'Sigh' 'Kids … I'm glad I never had any.' "Sonic is an ancestor of yours, waaay back in the Freedom Fighter era."
"Freedom what's?"
"Never mind, how did you do that any way?"
"Well I just concentrated and boom, a living tornado."
'Interesting…' Shadow thought. 'No wonder he just figured this out recently … he never thinks.'
"Boomer, try practicing on that. It might prove useful in the future."
"Uncle OW! Shadow why do you always have to be so dramatic. And you never smile, what's up with that?"
"There's nothing to smile about, so why should I?"
"Well … ugh … I don't know!"
"Exactly."
"Well see-ya Shadow, me and Jag aren't done with are race!"
"Yeah, see-ya Shadow!"
The two then zoomed of, a blur of blue and yellow. Shadow then thought to himself, 'That's the first time Boomer hasn't called me 'Uncle Shadow…'
I hope you people, or aliens, or mutant animals, or whatever liked the story. For those of you reading please take a look at the story Bronze and Darkness by: ChaosShadowXana. It's really good!
To:Playstation14: I'm basing my story mainly on a mix of the comic books and video games, if you didn't figure that out already…
