Chapter 14: The Master Showdown
"WAIT!" A sudden voice shouted, causing both Jem and Knuckles to freeze. The voice had come from a raggedly panting Vanilla the rabbit, "Do not fight in my kitchen! Please fight outside!" Jem's eyes widened in fear at the wrath Vanilla would unleash onto him once she grabbed her breath and he quickly grabbed Knuckles and sprinted out of there.
Jem ran about 100 meters away from the house on top of a slight hill,
"Alright...now we can continue the fight..." Jem wheezed before regaining his battle stance once more,
"Uwaaaah! Wait wait wait!" Another voice called out,
Knuckles punched the nearest tree, "Come on! When can we start?!" Roseanne and Galexia rushed up the hill, conviniently donned in white and black referee outfits.
"Alright! I'm here, and Galexia and I will be posing as your referees!" Roseanne said as Galexia struck a pose, "Here are the rules, no biting, no kicking in the nether-regions or else Jem will cease to exist-" Both Jem and Knuckles blushed at that, "No cursing, this thing is K+, and whoever is down for the count first wins!" Roseanne listed off of her fingers,
"Chao Chao chaoooo!" "Now assume your battle stances!" Father and Son both nodded and ran to the opposite sides of the hill. Roseanne and Galexia were standing in the middle,
"Three..." The female hedgehog called out. Knuckles squinted at Jem noticing the curve of his hair that was strikingly similar to his, Perhaps this kid could be my offspring...but...but I refuse to believe it! Let him prove himself worthy!
"Two..." Jem cracked his knuckles, if he couldn't win how else was he supposed to prove that he was his son? After all his old man was a stubborn knuckle head..that only left one option. He can't fail.
"One..." All of the kids began to run up to the hill to witness the fight,
"Chaoooo!" "You may FIGHT!" Galexia shouted. Roseanne and Galexia jumped into the air, dodging both Knuckles and Jem as they rushed at each other,
Knuckles started with a few quick jabs to the left and right, which Jem sucessfully dodged by deploying his wings,
"What's the matter old man? Can't hit me?" Jem teased,
"Raahg! I'm just getting started!" Knuckles growled, letting his anger fuel a sharp uppercut that landed on Jem's neck
"Ooooh!" All of the kids groaned. Xavier covered his eyes with his tail,
"That's gotta hurt," he moaned,
"And it seems like Knuckles has just landed a wild uppercut on Jem's face," a voice resonated over the scene, "I'm Maria, along with Sun and Cream and we'll be announcing for today,"
"Cool! I'm on a loud speaker! Sun here!" Sun's giggling voice resonated,
"And I'm Cream! Let's just hope there aren't many injuries! Cheese says hello too!"
"Chao chao!"
The force of the punch sent Jem flying into the air, but Jem deployed his wings fast enough to avoid the ground and sent himself jetting back towards Knuckles,
"Screw kick!" Jem called out as he sent his body into a rapid spiral, contorting until it resembled a mini tornado,
"Ha! Predictable!" Knuckles smirked as he grabbed Jem's leg before the bat made contact and threw him,
"Oh wow! Uncle Knuncles was able to stop Jem mid-screw kick!" Sun said in awe,
"Knuckles is a great fighter, poor Jem may not be able to win..." Cream said with doubt in her voice,
"Hah! If you're really the next guardian then you're sure not proving it," Knuckles shouted as the bat on the ground, "Get up and fight me! Or have I already worn you out?" Jem laughed,
"I'm not done yet, old man," Jem grinned as he slowly got up. Knuckles, enraged at the old man comment, let out a gutteral yell and charged for Jem, fist leading,
"I'll punch you so hard you'll be sent back in time!" Knuckles yelled. However at the last moment, Jem spread his wings wide and glided over Knuckles. The force of the punch and lack of contact led Knuckles to stumble and Jem swung around and landed a kick to the head,
"Hah!"
"And Jem finally lands a blow, with a kick to the head," Maria's voice called out, "This fight isn't over yet,"
"Cyclone!" Jem bat his wings furiously, sending lashing torrents of wind that sent Knuckles flying once more. Knuckles fell back towards a tree, however, he then propelled himself against its trunk and flew into the wind current, latching onto Jem and forcing him out of the air.
"Get off of me!" Jem grunted, forcing Knuckles off of him and sending the red echinda flying into the ground. The two continued to spiral around on the ground, punching each other's faces all the while. Finally after rolling around for a while, Knuckles ended up on the bottom and kicked his legs upward, sending horrendous pain up Jem's stomach. The bat let out a whimper before falling onto the ground, catching his breath,
"What?! Is Jem down for the count already?" Sun shouted,
"Ha! I knew it! You can't be my kid, the true future guardian must be able to fight any intruder, and if you can't even handle that tussle then what proves that you're my son? Even Tails can last longer than that and he doesn't even fight!" Knuckles smirked as he walked over to the bat on the ground, "I hope you're feeling some serious pain, heh, proves you right for acting like such a cocky ki-" Knuckles was startled as Jem lashed out his leg and swept Knuckles down to the ground,
"Wow! I thought he was done! Go Jem Go!" Cream cheered,
"Chaooo!"
"Ha! Never let your guard down even for a second! And never gloat till the enemy's unconsious! Didn't you teach me that old man?" Jem smirked as he quickly pounced onto the echidna and held him in a sleeper hold, "And I am your son. Don't be so stubborn."
"Argh! Let go of me you filthy bat!"
"And Uncle Knuckles is down for the count!" Maria called over the loudspeaker,
"Is Jem about to win?" Cream questioned, suspense in her voice,
"I've never seen anyone pin Uncle Knuncles like that! Well...except for Auntie Rouge..." Sun wondered...
Roseanne and Galexia suddenly jumped down from the tree,
What? Knuckles thought, Auntie Rouge? I knew those moves were familiar...screw kick is one of Rouge's signature moves...wait...does that mean...Knuckles was shaken out of his thoughts as he heard Roseanne call out,
"One...Two...Three..And Jem's the winner!" Roseanne counted as the kids cheered. Chaos! I got lost in my thoughts and Jem was able to pin me down for three seconds!
Jem quickly got off Knuckles and offered his hand to help him up, "That was a good fight...for an old man of course," Jem grinned, Knuckles swatted it away, climbing to his feet.
"Peh, I don't need your help,"
"Listen old man, I beat you. You have to accept that I'm your kid now," Jem said, the grin still present but with a more serious tone, Knuckles turned his head and began to walk away,
"Hmph..." Suddenly, Jem's face contorted into a snarl. He grabbed Knuckle's arm,
"Hey! Listen to me! I beat you! You have to call me your son now! Whatever you may think or don't believe, you made a promise and you have to keep your word like a proper guardian should!"
Knuckles stopped walking but didn't turn to face the bat. Jem laughed shakily as he placed a finger on his forehead,
"Gosh you're a stubborn old man...I didn't want to have to do this, but because nothing ever gets through your knuckle head..." Jem grumbled before forcing Knuckles to face him as he ripped open his vest, "Look at my mark and try to deny my destiny. I am your offspring and the future emerald guardian!" Knuckle's eyes opened wide,
"Lord of Chaos..." This...this can't be happenning...Master Emerald give me strength...!\
For imprinted on Jem's chest was a pale yellow cresent moon; the marker of the guardians. Knuckles was speechless. Jem smiled before zippering up his vest, taking a mental picture of his father's gaping face. His old man didn't make that face often in the future and it was hilarious.
"Well that was enough seriousness from me in a lifetime," before turning to walk back towards the crowd that had formed during the fight, "Come on old man, Uncle Tails wants to de-brief you on his plan to send us all home, and if you faint one more time Sonic, the twins and I will really prank you this time," Maria and the rest of the kids ran up to Jem chattering about and giving him praise while Knuckles stood in the middle of the field, dumbfounded. Sonic ran over to the echidna and placed a comforting gloved hand on his shoulder. Knuckles was the first to speak,
"So Rouge and I...we have a kid...?"
"Are you just realizing that Knucklehead? Boy, I mean I knew you were dense but that takes it to a whole new level of stupidity-" Sonic shook his head, before Knuckles interuppted him,
"That mark only appears on echidnas...how is that possible?"
"Well he is half echidna..and half bat...hey is he the first echidna bat hybrid? That's awesome Knux. You produced your species' first hybrid! Congratulations!" Knuckles sank to the ground, exasperation exuding from his pores,
"I don't know whether I'm happy that I produce a successor...or that I'm enraged that I did 'it' with that crazy batgirl..." Sonic sweatdropped, before picking up the echidna,
"Come on man, we've gotta get back to the house and hear Tails' plan," Knuckles nodded before they both started into runs as they raced back to the house, cleaned off their shoes on the mat and walked into the living room.
Jem was sitting on the couch, surrounded by both sets of twins and Sun all shouting praise, while Cream and Vanilla tended to his wounds,
"Jem you were awesome out there!" Flash shouted, "I mean you were all like 'Bang bang!'-"
"Yeah and then you flew above Uncle Knuckles and WHAM! Right on his head!" Dash butted in,
"And Cyclone looked better than ever! Teach me how to do that!" Sun said eagerly. Jem sweatdropped,
"But Sun you don't have wings...and plus its really painful...if you do it for too long you get cramps..."
"Well it must have been some fight," Vanilla smiled as she disinfected a scratch on Jem's knee, "If you were able to gain these many bruises," Jem just laughed it off.
Meanwhile, Maria and Roseanne were sitting together on the loveseat. Roseanne was swooning,
"Maria wasn't Jem just amazing out there?!" She asked with a rosy blush on her cheeks, "He looked so handsome..." Maria turned her head away in disgust,
"Ugh. Stop talking. He's like your cousin. Dating him is like incest. Gross,"
"First of all we're not related. Second of all, I can't help it if he's hot," Roseanne grinned, "Don't tell me you don't think he's hot Maria?" Maria groaned,
"I'm gonna sit with the twins..." the ebony hedgehog said as she got up to go sit with her little brother and sister,
"Hey...wait! Don't avoid my question!" Roseanne called out, arm outstretched, before sighing in defeat. Sonic noticed the deflated expression on his daughter's face and went over and rubbed her head,
"What's up kiddo? Why the long face?" Sonic asked softly,
"Aw, its nothin'...just that Maria's being difficult again. She's so moody. I now understand what you had to go through with Uncle Shadow, Dad." Sonic smiled, noting the obvious similarities between the two hedgehogs, "Don't worry. They get better over time,"
Suddenly Tails came into the room, a stumbling Lily on his arm. Instantly the chatter died down as Roseanne and Maria went to help up the cat from Tails.
"Lily are you okay?" Roseanne asked. Lily growled,
"Roseanne your too loud, I have a pounding headache-"
"LILY!" Sun shouted as she glomped the poor cat, "You're finally awake! How do you feel-" Sun was abruptly interrupted by Lily sending a punch to the seedrian's face,
"Uwaaaah! Daddy! Lily punched me!" Sun cried, scrambling to Tails. Tails touched by Sun's adorable expression angrily turned towards the time traveller,
"Hey! What gives Lily?!"
"Young Tails, you don't understand the toils that time travel does to the mind..." Lily groaned, "Its like your entire brain is pulled apart by the fabrics of space and time and are slowly and painfully put back together, which creates the most painful type of headache, and that idiot-" pointing to the whimpering seedrian, "Knows fully well never to talk to me right after waking up,"
"Is that true Sun?"
The seedrian pouted, "Yeah...well...I just wanted to see if she was okay...normally she's only out for an hour buts its been five,"
"Normally I don't travel back farther than 10 years, Sunflower!" Everyone went silent. 10 years...in 10 years they would be having kids...
Roseanne and Maria led Lily to a chair and the exhausted cat sat down, "I know what you're wondering Young Tails...how I was able to find Roseanne and the twins, right?" Tails blanched,
"Actually I was..."
"Not to seem like an over-powered fan-character but...when I was born I was blessed by Chaos and was given many special abilities..."
"Here we go again..." Maria rolled her eyes as she sat down next to her siblings. Maya instantly climbed into Maria's lap and Inca started playing with Maria's long quills, "The twins and I were also blessed by chaos, don't make it sound like such a big deal..."
"And on the day I was born-" Lily continued, choosing to ignore Maria, "I immediately sensed the presences of the great water god and was given the power of chaos sense. I used this to sense the twin's high output of chaos energy and transported the group to that spike in the timeline. My guess is around 15 or something years in the past."
"Wow that's amazing!" Knuckles said, amazed at the story. Not many children were blessed by Chaos, "Shadow and I also have the ability of chaos sense! But that doesn't explain how you were able to time travel-"
"My mother is Queen Blaze the Cat and my father is King Silver the Hedgehog. I inherited my father's time-travelling abilities but not his telekinesis nor my mother's pyrokinesis. Apparently those mutations tend to skip a generation so my children will probably both have these traits," Vanilla, who had gotten a cup of tea after fixing up Jem, sipped it,
"You sound very intelligent for your age Lily...If you don't mind me asking, how old are all of you?"
"I'm eight and a quarter!" Sunflower chimed instantly, "And Xavier's 9 and a half!" Xavier nodded,
"That's right...for once..."
"Hey!" Jem sweatdropped,
"Anyway, I'm the eldest at 13-" Knuckles choaked on his spit as Sonic began to clutch his sides from laughter"Heh! You have a kid first AND you have it with Rouge! Bwhahaha~ This is gold! My sides! My sides! Hahahaha-" Sonic was silenced with a punch to the stomach. Everyone groaned as Sonic flopped to the ground, and Jem continued with the ages, "I'm the eldest kid at 13 and Lily is 10." Lily spoke up once more,
"Roseanne and Maria are both twelve-" Sonic who had gotten up from the floor with the help of Flash and Dash, sweatdropped at that, "And both sets of twins are 6," Now all of the other adults in the room sweatdropped,
"That's pretty creepy Sonic..." Tails said with a weird expressio on his face, "Why are both your and Shadow's kids the same age?"
"He probably didn't want to be outdone by me," Sonic smirked. A bright light suddenly flashed and filled the room and disappeared as fast as it came,
"Who didn't want to be outdone by whom faker?" A deep voice resonated. Maria, Maya and Inca's faces went white,
"Father..."
For standing in the middle of the living room was Shadow the Hedgehog.
ASDFAKXHADSLFJ! I totally thought that I already did a chapter update for July and then I was looking at my profile and saw that I didn't and OMG IM SORRY! TT^TT You guys will be getting a double update from me for sure this month! Promise!
Anyway, Next Chapter things get even crazier! As the climax comes!
Chao for now!
GTC
