K.O. – There will be times where I have to skip certain episodes. This would be one of them.
Sonic- You're skipping this one?
K.O. - NO! I skipped the one before it. That one where Tails and Chris save the animal reserve.
Sonic- Then that means this one is...HOLY CRAP! NOT THE ONE WITH KING BOOM BOO!
K.O. – YUP-NESS!
Sonic- BUT THAT'S WHERE-! -K.O. uses a sleeper hold-
K.O. – NO GIVING CHAPTER SPOLIERS!
Sonic- -lost in his own dream world where there is no such thing as a Sonic torturer and everyone loves him. -shudders- What's wrong with him?-
RECAP: Knuckles slightly blushed. He thought that when Airie said 'unifies our hearts' she meant…something else. Poor innocent soul that is he. Airie hated not being able to tell him everything, but she knew she couldn't. She didn't want things to get more messed up than they already were. She didn't have a choice but not to tell him.
Didn't she?
Chris's mom was doing some scenes for her new movie. The scene's were being shot near an old abandoned castle, which Sonic had volunteered to investigate, while Airie, Amy, Tails, Cream, Chris, and Ella stayed at the set. Ella was preparing for her role as a housekeeper, and Cream and Amy were telling her that she'd be great at that. Chris was with Tails, who was running some tests on Airie. After she told him about the incident with the Lady Ninja, she wanted to be sure she was normal.
Well, as normal as a girl can be when she's somehow been transported into an anime.
"I don't see anything wrong with you." Tails said. "And the scanner isn't picking up anything strange. I guess you're alright." Airie still wasn't convinced. How could summoning a magical kitsune and shooting water from you're hand mean you're alright?
"Do you remember anything else from that night?" Chris asked. Airie racked her memory. "Just that my chakrams changed into a double-sword and…a fox." "A fox?" Tails asked. Airie nodded. "It looked a lot like you, now that I think about it. But it was a little older and it only had one tail." "What do we do about it now, Tails?" Chris asked. Tails shrugged. "I'm not sure. Unless Airie can bring out that fox so we can ask it a few questions." "Tails, I'm not even sure how I summoned it in the first place!" Airie yelled. They all took a moment to think about this. Airie broke the awkward silence between them. "Well, I'm going to se how the movie's goin'. Tell me if you find something out about him." Tails' ears perked up. "Him who?" Airie gave a small smile. "The water fox guy. I've given him a name." "What is it?" asked her small two-tailed friend. Airie closed her eyes.
"Water Tails." She said. "That's his name."
Airie and Chris re-joined Amy and Cream. Cream was exploring around the set with Cheese, Chris went to see his mom, and Amy was awaiting Sonic's return. This made Airie feel terrible. She knew that Amy was going to be tricked by the Ghost King because of her love for Sonic. She also knew that she couldn't tell Amy about it, and even if she did Amy would never believe her. This only made Airie feel worse.
One of the stage crewmen came out with Chris. "We have a problem!" he said. "My mom's gone missing!" Chris yelled. "Where could she have gone?" Ella asked. "I hope she's ok…" Cream said. Cheese solemnly. "I dunno." Amy said. "But don't worry! I'm sure she's alright!" She turned to face everyone. "Well then, let's go find her!"
Everyone went off in different directions. Airie went with Amy's group. They quickly found Sonic, who said that the camera man that went with him vanished too. "You don't think that castle is really haunted and that the ghosts are taking people, do you?" Chris asked. Sonic chuckled a little. "No way! There's no such thing as ghosts!"
"I wouldn't be to sure about that."
Everyone turned to Airie. It took her a moment to realize just how loud she spoke. Sonic looked her in the eye. "Do you know where Chris's mom and the camera man are?" he asked. Airie got a nervous look on her face. "Um, uh…Nope! Not at all! Not a clue! Nada! Zip! Zero!" she stammered. Sonic didn't look convinced, but let it go.
Airie felt as low as the ground she walked on. No, she felt she was lower than that. She hated lying to her friends like that. She hated not being able to tell them about the danger they were getting in. She hated not being able to tell Amy that she was going to be tricked. Each step she took made the guilt grow stronger.
Amy noticed something in Sonic's hand. "Where'd you get that vase from Sonic?" Sonic shrugged and looked at the vase. On one side there was a moon, and on the other a sun. "I found it in that castle. Not sure why it was there. After I grabbed it, the camera man was gone. Weird huh?"
After a while, they decided to split up further. Ella, Cream, and Amy were in one group, and Tails, Sonic, Chris, and Airie were in the other. Airie had insisted that she go with the others, but Sonic just said she was being superstitious. Besides, he wanted to keep a close eye on her. Something just told him she wasn't telling the whole truth. A few times, he tried to get more out of her, but he failed miserably. He still didn't give up.
"C'mon Airie! I know you're hiding something!" he yelled. If you have a little brother or sister, you know how annoying they are. Airie was feeling that annoyance. She couldn't take his questions anymore. "Look Sonic! Just because I know what's going on doesn't mean I can tell you! For all I know, something could get seriously messed up, here or in my dimension! Would you really want some 50-foot monster attacking my world where you can't be the big hero!" This actually got through Sonic's skull, which was particularly thick to the obvious answer. "I do want to tell you." Airie said quietly. "But you have to understand that I just can't."
She recalled her little adventure with Knuckles, and how she almost told him what would happen. But that was Knuckles. He was reallyskeptical, henever trusted anyone, and even if he did, it wasn't a whole lot. Of course, he would never have believed her unless he was proven wrong. But Sonic saw everyone as trustworthy, which made him always wanting to know what others knew. He couldn't help it. It's just who he is.
"I know I'm not being much help." Airie continued. "And I know me not telling won't help, but if I did it could put you all in serious danger, so I won't take that risk." Sonic was stunned by her speech, "Airie, I-" he was cut off by a scream. Airie's eyes widened. "It's the others! They're in trouble!"
They ran in the direction that Amy's group had left in. They reached Amy and Cream, but the only part of Ella they saw was her arm sticking out of a wall!
"Hold on Ella!" Amy cried. She tried pulling her out, but it was no use. Ella's arm was gone. Cream and Cheese were being sucked in too. Tails was able to grab them, yet he was being sucked in with them. Sonic grasped Tails' leg, but even he was starting to lose his grip on the ground. Tails lost his hold on Cream and she was gone along with Cheese. Sonic lost his foot hold and he and Tails were flung in. Once they were in, the weird portal on the wall disappeared. Amy started hammering the wall, but after 3 or 4 swings, she broke down in tears.
Airie couldn't believe it. She just couldn't believe it. She just let the ghosts win. She just let her friends be taken. She just left the Ghost King with the option of tricking Amy. And the worst part was, Sonic still had the vase, their only chance of winning. And he was the last one to be taken. The mental abuse inside her head continued on like that until she noticed something on the ground.
It was the vase.
'Sonic must have dropped it when he went for Tails…' Airie thought. She went over and picked it up. Amy and Chris looked at her oddly.
"With this…" Airie said. "We still have a chance."
"Alright Amy. This is the spot."
Airie had explained to Chris and Amy how important the vase was. Amy said that Sonic would always save the day somehow, even if he didn't fight.
Man, if Amy put that kind of devotion into anime, she'd be the world's biggest otaku instead of the world's biggest psychotic fangirl.
Back to the story, Airie had led them to the pedestal where the secret entrance was. Amy, using her hammer, has able to knock it out of the way. Airie went down the tunnel first, Amy and Chris reluctantly following.
The stairway led into a hallway inside the castle. They walked down for what seemed like hours. Amy had her hammer out in case, and Chris stayed between the two girls so he wouldn't get hurt.
It wasn't too long before they met some unwanted company.
Two blobs of white appeared in front of them. They slowly grew eyes, teeth and arms, revealing two of the Ghost King's familiars. Chris and Amy were easily frightened, but Airie wasn't fazed at all. This was very odd to the two ghosts. They tried scaring her by making faces, pulling their mouths off, juggling with their eyes, that sort of thing. Yet they still got no reaction from Airie other than a yawn. "This is getting boring…" she said. She pulled the vase from behind her back and held it out for the ghosts to see. They stared, their eyes wide and their mouths slack-jawed for a minute. Then they clutched each other, screamed and phased through a wall in pure terror.
Airie smiled, satisfied with herself. "It's alright guys. You can come out now." She said. Amy and Chris came out from behind the pillar where they had been hiding. "Why were they scared of the vase?" Chris asked. "This vase is the one thing that can stop the ghosts. Their whole plan is in jeopardy because we have it." She started to walk again. "No sense pondering about it here. We should keep moving." And keep moving they did.
Every time they came to a corner Airie stuck the vase out to scare away any ghosts that might be there looking for them. Every hallway looked the same, except for one. It had a tapestry on it, not like the other ones in the last hallways. On each corner was a symbol. On the top-left corner was a hedgehog surrounded by the sky and on the bottom left-hand corner was a human surrounded by flowers. On the top right-hand corner was a fox surrounded by clouds and on the last corner was an echidna surrounded by flames. In the center was a shield with a large 'K' on it. They all stared at it for a while. "I'm getting a serious Deja-Vu feeling about this about this, guys." Airie said.
"You should be feeling that. But then again, I miss her, too."
Now THAT, scared Airie. All of them jumped to the side, startled by the voice, which was oddly high and squeaky. The looked to where it had come from. It was a little ghost, not like the others. This one was wobbly and transparent, and it large periwinkle eyes were soft and adoring. Amy and Airie would have let out huge 'awww's if they weren't so scared.
"I'm terribly, terribly sorry!" wailed the ghost. "I just…miss my partner, is all." Airie felt bad for the little guy. (A/N: Ghost. Thing. Whatever.) "Don't worry. It's ok. We're alright now." She said calmly. The ghost sniffed. "Thank you Airie. Oh, I haven't introduced myself!" Its attitude suddenly went very perky. "My name is Gaga. I'm the Steward for the Gate Keeper!" "Hey, who did you know my name?" Airie asked. "And what did you mean that I 'should be getting a Deja-Vu feeling'?" she asked. Gaga looked confused. "You mean you haven't figured it out yet?" he said. "No matter! I didn't expect a friend of the Gate Keeper to know if the Gate Keeper herself doesn't know!" "What's this Gate Keeper you keep talking about?" Amy asked. Gaga looked very happy that she asked. "I will tell you the tale. The tale that includes the life of heroines who risked their lives to keep the worlds in balance. I know it all. I was there every time!" Gaga cleared his throat and began his story:
"Long ago, there were four worlds. The Human World, The Demon World, Heaven, and The Spirit world. Each of them co-existed in peace and harmony, yet some rules were set. Demons could not enter Heaven and Angels could not enter The Demon World or their bodies would be destroyed. Humans could not enter the Spirit World or they would instantly die. The only world that they could all enter was the Human world, which was a bit of a problem. If any of the other worlds would declare war on the Human World, the worlds could become one, ending both of them and its inhabitants. So therefore, the Gate Keeper was chosen. The Keeper would make sure that the Human World's gates to the other worlds would remain closed, so the tragedy would be avoided.
"The first Gate Keeper was not a boy, as most would hope, but a young girl by the name of Colette. She was a Human, and the only gate that could have been opened when she took the duty was Heaven's. Her people feared for her and did not want her to be killed if Heaven did attack, so the leaders of each world came to one meeting place and combined their powers, thus creating me in the form of a Hero Chao, the Gate Keeper's partner, Gaga. They gave me the title of 'Steward' because I would defend Lady Colette from any danger.
"Lady Colette did her job with pride. Although Heaven did not declare war, she enjoyed doing her duty if it meant protecting her people. When she passed on, I admit, I was very sad. Until the next Gate Keeper was born, I retained this form, awaiting her return.
"The next Keeper was an angel, a hedgehog by the name of Cade. She also protected the Human World from Heaven's gates, for Humans were very short lived and Lady Colette did not live long enough for them to close. When Lady Cade left perform her duty, I took the form of a Son-Chao, and once again helped and protected her.
"Believe it or not, an Angel can die, and Lady Cade did pass on. I awaited the return of the Keeper once more. This time she was a fox from the Spirit World, Lady Cocoluu. She was hesitant at first, as most form the Spirit World were, but did take the job, and I took the form of a Tails-Chao.
"Unfortunately, the Spirit World did declare war, and when Lady Cocoluu tried to intervene, she was killed by her own people. I was powerless without her and could do nothing to stop them. The Spirits did enter the Human World, but they were able to stop them, sealing them away within this castle. I was to stay here as well, waiting for the Gate Keeper's return, where we would then send the Spirits back to their world and saving this one.
"But the Keeper did not come. For many years I waited inside this castle, hiding from the Spirits, ever vigilant for the day my partner would come back. I found a way to see the other worlds, and as it seems, the Spirit World was turned into another Human World. That is where the Gate Keeper was. She's a girl from the Demon World, and she doesn't even know it."
"Although I could not see her, I still watched her, which is how I learned of you, Airie, and all her friends. I could not tear her away from you, but now that you are here, I can bring her here as well." Gaga took a breath. "And that, is my story." Everyone took some time to let it set in. Airie broke the silence. "Gaga? What were the Gate Keeper's family name?" Gaga smiled weakly.
"Kendo." He said simply.
K.O.- Since I had no more room at the top of the chapter, I will do the reviews down here today!
ShadowKiller27- Great idea! From now on I will put the reviews on each chapter. But I will need at least five before I post the next part. Glad you like how I put in Water Tails. You'll see more of him later.
Carolyn the Hedgehog- Thanks, but changing your character's appearance will not be necessary unless you want me too.
Twilight-Link- Thanks for the OC! I will put him in, but in a different way like the others. I'm going to send you an e-mail with the info later on, so when you get it let me know what you think! BTW, I put that South Park line in so I wouldn't forget to watch it while doing my homework!
Saith-chan- I will also be using your OC, and just like Twilight-Link's, it will be sort of different. Be expecting an e-mail from me soon, and let me know if you like or don't like it.
K.O.- And let it be known now that flames or replies that really hurt me will not be put in the reviews. So Story Killers who crush the young writers of the world'shopes anddreams, I'M ON TO YOU!
