Chapter 16: The Secret of the Dragon Scroll Pt. 1
Back at the Jade Tower, the sun has risen in a very nice orange glow as two warriors arrived at the main gate. They have just returned from the mountains from what it turned out to be a changing week. Not only for Sonic who has become a Kung Fu master and was now skilled enough to hopefully to defeat Shadow but for Espio as well. He too has changed. At first, he was grumpy old chameleon who wanted to get rid of Sonic but now, he was sincerer master and is almost fulfilling his promise that he made to the late master for training the Dragon Warrior. The final step for Sonic was to give him the Dragon Scroll that has been left untouched for many years.
As they entered the courtyard, Sonic has an easy spring to his step. "You have done well, hedgehog," acknowledges the chameleon.
The smiling hedgehog couldn't help but brag a bit more. "Done well? Done well?" He becomes all excited of he has accomplish at the end of his training. "I've done awesome!"
He swings his arms up but accidently hits Espio in the face; knocking him off balance. Annoyed, the master quickly regains his dignity and keeps on walking. He was also think about what became of his students since he left the Station Square about a week ago. Maybe they are in the Training Arena doing their usual routine? Or maybe they are in the kitchen enjoying a tasty meal. Sooner or later, he will find out eventually.
He turns his attention back on Sonic. "The mark of a true hero is humility," Espio said before putting on a smile. "But yes… you have done…" he then does a playful punch into Sonic's side which it was hard enough for him to stagger, "…awesome."
Although he finds it painful in his chest, he laughed it off with Espio joining him. For the past few days, both Sonic and Espio have formed a bond and became good friends after their time together. Espio has learned to respect the hedgehog like the teen has already to the master.
But their good time has halted. Their chuckles begin to falter when they heard something approaching in the distance.
Sounds like…flapping wings?
The two creatures turned around to the source to see an indistinct figure coming through the clouds high above them.
"Huh?" Sonic uttered as the character got closer which became a lot more visible.
It's Kate. And by the looks of it, she is carrying… the others?
The wounded Dradian falls into the courtyard; crashing in a heap. Her paralysed comrades are scatted in the middle as the warrior begins to catch her breath after carrying them from the rope bridge all the way to home. For some reason, Shadow didn't paralyse her. Maybe, for some reason, he wanted to give the message to Espio in person that he has overpowered the Five; effortlessly and was heading this way no time.
At the sight of his student all defeated and with their fur and skin all bruised and battered, this has made the chameleon speechless. Now, he knows what his students have been doing while he was gone.
They went to face Shadow. All by themselves.
To him, it was a rather foolish and fatal mistake to take on a potent warrior like the black hedgehog. Then again, he did mention that he was out of options on how to defeat him so his students decided to take him head on. Espio mention before that it was not their destiny to defeat Shadow. Guess they didn't listen to him and look how it turned out.
Shocked to see his heroes, Sonic quickly throws his backpack aside and rushes over to them. "Guys? GUYS! They're dead?!" he cries out but checks again. "No, they're breathing! They're asleep?!" He checks again. "No their eyes are open…"
The Dradian herself was exhausted from all that flying. Her hair was a mess, her clothes were all muddled and her legs and arms were all filled up with big bruises but other than that, she and the others are very much alive.
The chameleon approached his moving pupil. By the look of his face, he knows they went after Shadow despite his warning. And they have a warning to deliver.
"We were no match… for his… nerve attack…" Kate uttered while catching her breath.
The shocked master approaches the first one who is paralysed. He places his hand on Chip's body. Terror has already stabbed his heart. He has fear for this for so long.
"He has gotten stronger…" Espio spoke. He presses some pressure points on the red creature's chest; freeing him from his state. He revives with a gasp.
Sonic was also shock from what he has seen and heard. "What? Shadow? Stronger?" he said. He was standing next to Tails as Espio comes over to the motionless fox with his fist right above him. The chameleon starts freeing Tails with Sonic leaning over him. The fox was suddenly released from his paralysis… only to deliver a punch to Sonic's face. The hedgehog grabbed hold of his face in pain as the fox fearfully sit up.
"He's too fast!" he cried out. He slowly realizes where he is and looks up to see the hedgehog that just got sucker-punch by him. "Oh! Sorry , Sonic."
Espio goes over to Amy and kneels before her. He works to free her as the pink hedgehog gasps when she's revived. Once she came to, she looks away from her master; ashamed for what she done.
"I thought we could stop him…" she croaked. But Espio wasn't mad at them at the moment. He knows that they did everything they could to stop Shadow.
"He could have killed all of you," he quietly rebuked her; walking over to Knuckles who was the only one still paralysed.
Standing next to the chameleon, Chip was barely on his two feet. "So, why didn't he?"
"So you could come back here and strike fear into our hearts. But unfortunately, it won't work," he answered; freeing Knuckles.
After seeing his heroes wounded before him, Sonic was now more worried than before. "Uh, it might… I mean, maybe a little," he tap his fingers together; nervously. "I'm pretty scared," he admitted. He never knew Shadow was stronger than he was years ago. He was now petrified.
"You can defeat him, hedgehog!" Espio strongly urges his student.
Sonic just stares at his master. "Are you kidding me? Well, if they can't take him down, then I can't." the hedgehog begins to doubt himself as the Five around him are all tired and flattened. "They're five masters. I'm just one me."
Sensing Sonic's hesitation, Espio knows what to say to make the hedgehog confident again. "But you will have the one thing that no one else does."
Sonic's eyes went so wide.
Don't tell me. Is he saying what I think he's SAYING?!
The heroes of Mobius made their way into the Hall of Warriors where the moment is at hand. High above the moon pool filled with a number of peach blossom petals that re floating on the calm surface is the Dragon Scroll; resting in the mouth of the golden dragon on the ceiling. The seven warriors look on the ancient artefact with great admiration. For many years, they have been dying to wonder what the secret to limitless power is and now, they are moments away from finding out. Only one person is going to get the Dragon Scroll. And that person is the Dragon Warrior.
After looking at the scroll, Sonic turns his attention to his master. "You really… believe that I'm ready, Espio?" he asked. He has been only training for a week and Espio wants to give him the Dragon Scroll. Was it too soon for him? For him, Shadow is on his way here and there wasn't enough time. But the chameleon has now full confidence in him.
The master turns to face him and placed his hand on the hedgehog's shoulder. "You are… Sonic."
Sonic was now surprised and puts on a smile. He couldn't believe Espio is addressing him by his name rather than 'hedgehog'. It seems Espio has finally believed that Sonic is the Dragon Warrior and he has respect for him.
But his smile dropped when Espio walks over to the side of the hall. Hanging on a rack surrounded by candles was Eggman's staff. Right above the staff is a portrait of the late great master; performing his usual Tai Chi beneath the peach tree. When the royal staff has heard the passing of Master Eggman, they did a painting of the master in honour of him. As his students stand by, Espio halts in front of the display. He takes a deep breath before taking the staff off the stand and walks over to the reflecting pool. As he comes to the edge of the pool, the chameleon looks up at the scroll before looking down and closing his eyes.
This is it; the big moment.
Opening his eyes, Espio whirls the staff around until he places it behind him. That is when the peach blossom petals were picked up by the wind that was made by the master. Espio has learned this form from Eggman during his youth and now, in the name of Eggman, he was fulfilling the last wish from the late master. He continues to twirl the staff around as the petals rise in a flickering, spinning cloud up from the pool. Sonic and the others watch on; expectantly. Espio continues to do the form as the gentle tornado rise up around the carving that holds the Dragon Scroll. A single petal flew up to the edge of the artefact and lands on top of it.
The scroll begins to move due to the extra weight. Espio notices this and stops spinning the staff. The Dragon Scroll falls out of its hold and heads straight for the pool. At the last second, Espio reaches out with the staff in front of him. He catches the scroll with the end of the staff. Once it was catch and due to the weight of it, the staff itself drops and makes contact with the water; making a small but quiet ripple.
Success!
Astonished, Sonic takes a couple steps forward. Petals fall behind him as Espio turns around to face the speechless hedgehog and hold sit out to him. "Behold, the Dragon Scroll. This is yours."
Cracking a smile, Sonic reaches out for the scroll. But the second he does, he hesitates. "Wait!" He shouted but becomes softer. "What happens when I read it?"
"No one really knows," Espio said, "but legend says that you will be able to hear a butterfly's wing-beat."
"Whoa!" Sonic gasped. "Really? Cause that's really cool!"
Espio continues on. "Yes. And you will be able to see light in the deepest cave. You will also feel the universe in motion around you."
While he was explaining the limitless power to Sonic, the hedgehog couldn't help but get overexcited as he begins to imagine what kind of powers he would possess. The expectations are overwhelming his mind at this moment. "WOW!" he quickly get into a bow stance while punching. "So, can I punch through walls?" Brought his feet together and does little circle motions with his index finger. "Can I do perform a quadruple back flip?"
Espio was beginning to be annoyed since Sonic was again not paying attention. "Focus."
But Sonic continue to rant on; getting into a fighting stance this time. "Or maybe I will have invisib—"
The chameleon holds the scroll out a bit. "Focus!"
Sonic gets out of his daydream and turns his attention back to Espio. "Huh?"
"Focus," Espio instructed the hedgehog.
"Oh, yeah… yeah," Sonic nodded.
"Read it, Sonic, and fulfil your destiny," Espio urges. "Read it and become... the Dragon Warrior!"
For the second time, Sonic's eyes went wide. "Awesome!" Sonic gasps; taking thescroll from Espio's hand. It was the moment of truth. Once he has opened it, he will know the secret to limitless power and fulfil his destiny as the Dragon Warrior. He grasps the tube and begins to twist the top off off…but for some reason, it didn't budge. Sonic grabs hold of the top and strains at it.
The hedgehog chuckles lightly and starts again. "It's impossible to open." He strains it again. He puts it in his mouth and tries to bite it off.
Espio just looks at him. Doesn't hedgeh—Sonic know how to open things?
"Come on baby. Come on now..." Sonic grunts; trying all his might to take the lid off.
Letting out a silent sign, Espio holds out his hand; offering to open it up for Sonic. The hedgehog sees the offer and passes him the scroll. Espio grabs hold of the end…and pops the end off; effortlessly.
Oh! You pull it off, not twist it. The chameleon and passes the opened container back to Po.
"Thanks," Sonic acknowledge; grabbing the container and pulls out the scroll. "Guess I probably loosened it up for you though..." Now in his hands was the scroll; ready to be unfold. Sweat was now rolling down on his forehead. "Okay, here goes nothing." Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, he unrolls the scroll. As opens up the ancient artefact, Espio and the Five watch him; all eager to witness the history in the making. The golden light has bathed Sonic's face as he opened his eyes. He has finishes opening the scroll and takes a good loo—
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"
Gasping, Espio and the Five are all startled by his sudden scream. The hedgehog stops screaming and takes a few breaths before looking at the scroll again. He raised an eyebrow and looks at Espio. He looked utterly terrified… and confused. The chameleon was now concerned. What did he see? What did make the hedgehog scream? Was it something that he must do like destroy Station Square or worse, the world, in order gain the secret? Or was it t—
"It's blank," he answered.
Ok, something that Espio was NOT expecting.
"What?" Espio exclaimed. What does Sonic means it's blank?
"Here! Have a look for youself!" Sonic said; showing him the inside of the scroll.
Surprised that he too was going to look inside, Espio covered his eyes and turns his head away. "What - No! I am forbidden to look upo—"
But he can't help himself. He quickly grabs the scroll from Sonic's hands; causing him to drop the staff and takes a peek. He closes and opens it a couple of times. Looks back and front. He was hoping there was a secret message that would appear. But no matter how many times he thoroughly looks, there was nothing.
No secret message.
No visuals.
Nothing. Just a blank, golden reflective surface.
The master lowers the scroll while still looking at it; astonished. "Blank? I don't…" he looks to his students, "… I don't understand."
Neither does his students. They were also shocked from the news. They have waited years for this moment. But now that the secret is out, they were all speechless. Not to mention that they never thought of what the secret can be. Espio turns away and looks back; contemplative. While taking the time for this new information to absorb, one question rattles in his mind: What cant this mean? Meanwhile, Sonic, on the other hand, is deeply disappointed. He finally finds out the secret only to find its blank as the clear river with no meaning.
He was the first to break the silence. "Okay. So like, Eggman... was just a crazy old human after all?" Sonic wonders.
"No. Master Eggman was wiser than all of us," Espio corrected him while walking back to the pool to pick the container and proceed to seal the scroll up.
"Oh, come on! Face it. He picked me by accident," Sonic infuriated exclaimed; crossing his arms over. "Of course I'm not the Dragon Warrior. Who am I kidding?" The hedgehog looks away; dejectedly. The Five also didn't argue about this outcome but they have another thing on their minds.
"But… who will stop Shadow?" Amy shakily wonders. She knew neither herself nor her teammates can defeat him. They already faced him and look how that turned out.
"He won't hesitate to destroy everything… and everyone," Tails pointed out while holding on his injured tail.
As they discuss these questions, Espio gazes down at his reflection in the moon pool. In his hands is the now-sealed Dragon Scroll. Espio did not see how Sonic could defeat the black hedgehog on his own. With Shadow approaching the city in matter of minutes and there was nothing else that could be done; that only leads one last resort for the chameleon. After a long moment, he looks oddly calm as he turns to face his students. He knew his decision is a risky one but what choice does he have.
"No." He hands the scroll to Sonic before taking a step forward to the Five. "Evacuate Station Square. You must protect the citizens from Shadow's destruction," he ordered. If the Five and Sonic are going to do that, that leaves only one person out.
The de facto leader herself speaks up. "What about you, master?"
Looking away from his foster daughter's face, Espio knew she and the others are going to like this news one bit.
"I will fight him," he spitefully answered.
By the look on Sonic's face, the Five were not the only ones. The hedgehog stares at him like he's gone crazy.
"What?" Sonic gasped. Espio was going to fight Shadow. After what has happened to the Five, the chameleon would be insane to go through something like that.
"I can hold him off long enough for everyone to escape," the chameleon explained his situation.
"But Espio... he'll kill you," Sonic pointed out.
His expression quickly changed to full of sorrow. "Then I will finally have paid for my mistake."
By death?!
The Five and Sonic all looked devastated. Their master is going to make the ultimate sacrifice himself to stop Shadow and save his city. The five heroes all knew that their master was willing to do anything to protect his people and that time was now.
Espio turned back to his students as Sonic steps up. "Listen to me, all of you. It is time for you to continue your journey without me." For what he was about to say, one student of his student had always longed to hear from her master and now, she will finally get a chance to hear it before they part ways. "I am very proud to have been your master."
He proudly smiles at them and salutes them. The Five and Sonic respectfully saluted back. As the Five had their eyes close, Sonic didn't. He was heartbroken from all this. He watches Espio turn away and stops at the edge of the moon pool. In the short time that they knew each other, they have grown respect for one and another. And now, Espio was expecting to die in battle.
Away from their view, Espio too was heartbroken. He knew it was a risky move but time was running out as Shadow is getting closer and closer to the city and he knew he has to get his students out of the city in order to protect the citizens of Station Square. So, if he fails, he know that his students will protect the people of Station Square.
The Five begin to move out. All excerpt for Sonic. Tails sees the motionless hedgehog and goes up to him. The fox kindly puts his hand on Sonic's shoulder; pulling him away. At first, the hedgehog resists for a moment. But knowing that they were ordered by Espio as his final wish, he was then reluctantly leaves with the Five.
Now, the Five and Sonic's mission was to send the warning to everyone about Shadow's return and evacuate the city as quickly as they can. And for Espio to stop him at all cost.
Author's Notes: Part 1 down, part 2 coming soon. Sorry for the late update. Just got back from drama (My drama class, of course. Then again, my life is full of drama!) and I haven't finished reviewing this chapter to make sure it's good and this section. At first I was going to finish this chapter like the previous one but with my grandparents down for the weekend, I had little time. But now, with probably six chapters to go – Yes, that's right. SIX CHAPTERS TO GO! Until this story is complete! CAN'T WAIT! After this, I would probably have a week break, get my head around for the next story by getting inspirations from either reading or watching. By the way for the next story I'm doing, it is one of the first stories that I did years ago. Guess which one?
Also, my job interview is tomorrow and I think they are weekend shifts if I get it. That doesn't mean it will halt my stories, I will have time.
Anyway, nothing from me, have a nice week and see ya Sunday!
Until we meet again,
TheDragonLord2912
I do not own any Kung Fu Panda or Sonic related characters. They are property of Dreamworks and Sega. Other character who appeared in this FanFic belong to me.