ZairaDrayan: Chapter 3! I've been taking a break from Wings of Fire and the Shadow of the Opera Bloopers, but I'll get back on those eventually. Just be glad that I have this up! Enjoy!
Shadow and Silver had flown across the ocean a long way and finally reached the island in the sky called Angel Island. Shadow and Silver landed cautiously onto the floating island.
"Are you sure this is the right place?" asked Shadow looking around.
"Positive! I think…," Silver replied.
The two of them wandered around for a little bit, but the place looked abandoned. There was thick jungle everywhere. Shadow looked around and saw an echidna up in a tree blending in with the scenery. Silver hadn't seen this yet. Shadow slowly approached.
The red echidna had purple eyes and a white crescent mark on his chest. He looked really strong like Shadow and was focussing on something. Shadow looked over and noticed that his eyes were fixed on a giant emerald.
A bat fluttered up to the rock, looked around, and when she touched it…
BOOM!
The echidna burst out of the tree and landed on top of the bat. He growled at her.
"What are you doing here Rouge?!" demanded the echidna.
"Why hello Knuckie! I've been wanting to see you all day!" Rouge said charmingly. Knuckles shook his head.
"You were after the master emerald!"
"Yeah! I'm also playing two characters in this story!"
"Story? What story?" asked Knuckles with a baffled expression.
"I should have known that your dopey mind wouldn't understand! Well, I'll be taking that emerald now if you don't mind!" Rouge yelled kicking Knuckles off of her. He grabbed her shoe and she tripped over.
"You don't deceive Knuckles! The guardian of the master emerald! Prepare for a big hole in your face!" Knuckles yelled drawing his hand back.
"Did you say your name was Knuckles?" asked Shadow awkwardly. Knuckles sat up in surprise.
"What?" he asked.
Rouge kicked Knuckles off and flew away with a smirk on her face. "Later Knuckles!" she yelled to him as she flew.
Knuckles growled at her and turned to Shadow angrily. "I don't know who you think you are, but I was in the middle of dealing with a thief!"
"Sorry, but I was told to come here. So, you are Knuckles," Shadow said.
"Yes. Who's the other guy?" asked Knuckles pointing to Silver suspiciously. Silver's ears twitched.
"Him? That's Silver. Yeah, he's with me."
"Good. If he wasn't, I would have had a barbecue using him! What brings you here?" asked Knuckles.
"I was sent here to be trained to be a hero!" Shadow replied enthusiastically.
"Yep!" Silver supported.
Knuckles walked up to the master emerald and sighed. "Sorry, but I can't help you any."
"You can't?! Why not?!" demanded Shadow.
"Two words: I, am, retired!"
Shadow counted the words in his mind. That was three words… Oh, whatever! That wasn't what was really important! Shadow shoved that to the back of his mind.
"For crying out loud, I have to do this! Haven't you ever had a dream that you would do just about anything to get?" asked Shadow.
Knuckles sighs again and shakes his head. He walks up to a little hut that he called home. "Dude, come inside. I've gotta show ya something."
Shadow obeyed and Silver tried to follow, but Knuckles told him that he had to stay there and watch the master emerald in case if the jewel thief came back. Silver groaned but did as he was told.
As soon as Shadow had entered the hut, he was amazed. There were statues of all of the world famous heroes. Shadow was so amazed that he accidentally hit his head on a large wooden mast.
"Watch it! That was part of the mast of the Argo!" Knuckles snapped.
"The Argo?" asked Shadow looking back at it with wonder.
"Yeah. Who do you think taught Jason how to sail? Cleopatra?! I trained all those would-be heroes. Odysseus, Perseus, Theseus. A lot of "yeuseus." And every single one of those bums let me down. Flatter than a discus. None of them could go the distance. And then there was Achilles. Now there was a guy who had it all - the build, the foot speed. He could jab, he could take a hit, he could keep on comin'. But that furshlugginer heel of his! He barely gets nicked there once and - kaboom! He's history. Yeah, I had a dream once. I dreamed I was gonna train the greatest hero there ever was. So great the gods would hang a picture of him in the stars... All across the sky, and people would say, "That's Knux's boy." That's right. Eh, but dreams are for rookies. An echidna can only take so much disappointment," Knuckles said with a sigh.
Shadow could barely believe what he was hearing. "I'm different from those guys! I can go the distance!"
"You don't give up do ya?"
"Watch this!" Shadow yelled to him. He bolted out the door and was gone in a flash. Knuckles stood almost dumbfounded.
"Holy Amy Rose of the Hedgehogs…," Knuckles exclaimed.
Shadow then came back from the other direction. Knuckles was impressed, but still not convinced.
"Try a little harder rookie."
"Okay," Shadow answered with a shrug. He ran outside and picks up a giant metal disc that weighed tons like it was nothing. He sent it soaring across the ocean. Now Knuckles was sure that he was more than a demigod.
"Well, maybe… If I- NO! Snap out of it! I'm too old to get mixed up in this again!" Knuckles snapped at himself.
"If I don't become a true hero, I can't rejoin my father Sonic!"
"Sonic? Sonic the Hedgehog? He's your father?!" Knuckles instantly fell to the ground and began to laugh his head off. Shadow glared at Knuckles. "Sonic?! The big guy?! He's your, daddy! Mr. High-Speed Winds! Read me a book would ya da-da? Sonic!" he began to mimic Sonic. "Once upon a time I had a son!" The echidna's sides were beginning to hurt.
"It's the truth!" Shadow snapped.
"Do you want me to prove it?!" demanded Silver from on top of the master emerald.
"PLEASE!" Knuckles yelled rolling his eyes. Shadow knew he was gonna start singing.
So you wanna be a hero kid, well, whoop-de-do.
I've been around the block before with blockheads just like you!
Each and every one was disappointment
Pain for which there ain't no ointment
So much for excuses
Though a kid of Sonic is
Asking me to jump into the fray.
My answer is two words:
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a giant funnel cloud (tornado) appeared and Knuckles was sucked into it. As he was whirling around in it, he yelled the words, "Okay!" The funnel cloud disappeared and Knuckles landed on his face on the ground.
"You mean you'll do it?!" asked Shadow hopefully.
"You win!" Knuckles yelled still trying to get his face out of the ground.
Shadow and Silver started celebrating and dancing in excitement. "You won't be sorry Knux! Can we start training now?!" asked Shadow.
"Oy, vay…," Knuckles groaned.
They began to set up for training and everything came together nicely in the end. Knuckles was still singing.
I'd given up hope that someone would come along
A fella who'd ring the bell for once not the gong
The kind who wins trophies
Won't settle for low fees
At least semi-pro fees
But no, I get the greenhorn!
I've been out to pasture, pal, my ambition gone
Content to spend lazy days and to not mow my lawn
But you need an advisor
An echidna, but wiser
A good merchandiser and- whoa!
(He gets shot in a bow rather than the arrow when he was teaching Shadow about bows and arrows)
There goes my ulcer!
I'm down to one last hope and I hope it's you
Though, dude, you're not exactly a dream come true
I trained enough turkeys
Who never came through
You're my only last hope
So you'll have to do.
While training, Shadow's objective was to rescue a test dummy from a hoop of fire and dash across the incredibly dangerous and fragile log bridge with no hand rails. Well…
"Rule #6: When rescuing a damsel, always handle with care!" Knuckles shouted to Shadow.
Shadow jumped through the hoop, got caught on fire, dashed across the bridge, broke the bridge, and fell into the water. The test dummy didn't exactly make it… Shadow sheepishly watched it float downstream and climbed out of the water.
"No…," Knuckles complained.
Later…
Now Shadow was learning how to hit moving targets. The targets were being controlled by Silver's psychokinesis. Shadow grabbed a bunch of knives and threw them all at the same time.
"Rule #95: Concentrate!" yelled Knuckles.
As soon as the knives left his hand, Knuckles was pinned against a tree because Shadow completely missed. Knuckles barely survived the unintentional attack.
"Rule #96: AIM!" Knuckles shouted half out of anger and pure terror.
Demigods have faced the odds and ended up a mockery
Don't believe in the stories that you read on all the crockery
To be a true hero, kid, is a dying art
Like painting a masterpiece it's a work of heart
It takes more than sinew
Comes down to what's in you
You have to continue To grow!
Shadow had gone through weeks and months of training. Eventually, when Knuckles measured Shadow's muscles, Shadow would break the tape measurer! It would snap!
"That's more like it!" Knuckles exclaimed with excitement.
Later…
Knuckles had set up a giant obstacle course of death to see if Shadow was really ready to end his training. There was fire hoops, sharks, devices built to squash Shadow, enemies, arrows, and lasers. Shadow and Silver stared at it in disbelief for a second. Shadow gathered up his courage and lept out into the field. He ducked and jumped through obstacles while avoiding sharp blades at incredible speeds. He punched the sharks out of the way and destroyed many mechanisms. He lept through the fire hoop and grabbed the test dummy. He jumped into a clearing and got out his shield. He used it to block all of the arrows from the enemies that were shooting at him. Shadow bent his sword into a boomerang and sent it flying towards the wooden enemies. It cut off their heads and Shadow grabbed the sword when it came back to him.
I'm down to one last shot and my last high note
Before that blasted underworld gets my goat
My dreams are on you, kid
Go make 'em come true Climb that uphill slope
Keep pushing that envelope
You're my one last hope
And, dude, it's up to you Yeah!
Silver applauded Shadow for his amazing performance and Knuckles for singing. Shadow bowed for his clapping fan. Knuckles was more excited than ever.
"Did you see that?! Next stop, OLYMPUS!" Shadow yelled.
"Alright, let's just take it easy champ!" Knuckles told Shadow.
"I'm ready! I wanna get off of this little floaty island and go someplace! See monster's, battles, or maybe rescue some damsels! Come on Knuckles!" Shadow pleaded.
"Well…," Knuckles started about to give him a big no.
"Aw… Come on! I've been here for months on end training! Let's see if it's paid off!" Shadow begged.
"Fine! Do you want a road trip? Well, saddle up because we're going to Thebes!" Knuckles announced.
Shadow and Silver began to celebrate again. Silver flew them in the correct direction. Knuckles explained to Shadow why they were going to Thebes.
"Thebes is a place with a lot of problems. It's a tough town and a good place to start building a rep," Knuckles told him. Shadow nodded.
Suddenly, they all hear a high pitched scream from down in the trees. Shadow's ears twitched and he looked to Silver who nodded.
"Sounds like the classic D.I.D. Damsel in disTRESS!" yelled Knuckles plummeting down to the ground because Silver and Shadow didn't need to be told who it was. He landed on his head again. "OW! Watch how you're flyin'!" snapped Knuckles.
"Sorry…," Silver told him.
Shadow dragged them down into the high grass and they watched from the sideline What was happening. A female Drayan was being chased by a giant centaur. It grabbed her and began to growl in her ear.
The Drayan had long black hair and green eyes. She wore a green shirt with a black sash and black pants with white boots with an emerald in the side to match her eyes. Her wings were emerald green with a spiral pattern on them. They were roundish and pointed. She looked back at the centaur with eyes full of anger and rage.
"Not so fast sweetheart!" the centaur growled.
"I swear, Nessus! You put me down or I'll-!" the Drayan yelled.
Nessus laughed at her as she struggled in his hand. Shadow's instincts were screaming to dash into the clearing, punch the centaur, and bring her to safety. He had no idea that Knuckles was giving instructions to him.
"Ooooh! I like them fiery!" Nessus roared.
"Alright, Shad. First, analyze the situation. Don't just go in there without a plan. Then-" Knuckles looked over to see that Shadow was gone. Silver and Knuckles stared at each other for a moment. Then Knuckles smacked himself in the face. "He's losing points for this!"
"You don't know what you're-" she cut herself off from the sentence at the appearance of Shadow. Nessus and the Drayan looked at him for a second without responding.
"Do you mind if I step in for a sec," Shadow asked sounding really annoyed with the centaur.
"Step aside two legs!" Nessus growled.
"Wow… Did You notice that just now? You are so smart… Do you want to go back to magic centaur kindergarten? I could have sworn I met another centaur just like you, but a million times smarter. Do you happen to be his dopey brother he was talking about?" asked Shadow.
The centaur roared in a rage at Shadow, but the hedgehog kept his cool. The Drayan was now just annoyed with everyone because Shadow wasn't doing anything, she didn't need rescuing, and you never make a centaur mad.
"I am going to have to request that you let her leave without a scratch," Shadow told Nessus.
"Get movin' junior. I can handle this," she told the hedgehog.
"Okay!" Shadow said turning around.
"You think you're going to leave after that insult?!" demanded Nessus.
"Yes. At least, she does. I just thought she was a damsel in distress," Shadow said with a shrug.
"What's he doing?" asked Silver.
"His own thing…," Knuckles answered with a groan.
"I'm a damsel, I'm in distress, but again, I can handle it!" she snapped.
Shadow shrugs and runs off faster than the centaur could see. He ran around the entire area and approached the centaur from behind. He kicked it over. It yelled at him. And was off-balanced for a second. Shadow used that chance to land another blow, but the centaur pushes back at Shadow before he could dodge. The impact sent Shadow full speed into a boulder.
"Ow…," Shadow said to himself standing up.
"Come on Shadow! What are you doing?! Use your sword for crying out loud!" Knuckles commanded.
"Sword? Swords are for rookies!" Shadow snapped.
"WHAT?!" cried Knuckles. Silver was biting his fingernails.
Shadow ran back up to Nessus. He drew back his arm for a powerful punch. Nessus was going to counter with another punch almost more powerful, but Shadow was too quick. He dodged the punch gracefully and crushed the centaur in the mud.
"Sorry madame. You wouldn't be all muddy if you asked for my help, but at least you're alive. You can thank me for that!" Shadow chirped.
He picked her up and put her on a rock next to Knuckles. She began to use her magic to fix her hair and to get rid of all the mud on her clothes.
Shadow turned around and charged towards Nessus. He drew his hand back and sent electricity/chaos power to his hand. He released it all at once turning that power into a chaos spear. The spear soared through the air in a straight line directly for Nessus. It hit the centaur and he was sent up into the air to land hard on the ground. The monster was knocked out.
"Is wonderboy here for real?" asked the Drayan.
"Of course, he is! You best keep your- Wowie! You know, I'm real too," Knuckles said slapping a dreamy smirk on his face. The Drayan smacked him in the face and he fell into the water. Silver giggled. She threw Silver into the mud also.
"Dude, it's no use," Knuckles said shaking his head. Silver gave him a sad look.
They watched the Drayan walk away.
Shadow trotted back to the viewing audience. He smiles at the Drayan, gives Silver an odd look for being covered in mud, and didn't seem at all surprised by Knuckles.
"How was that?" asked Shadow to Knuckles.
"Ugh! You have to learn to listen to your instructor! You can get away with not listening in the modern triathlons, but this is THE BIG LEAGUES!" Knuckles yelled.
"At least I beat him right?!" Shadow sapped back.
"Next time, don't let your guard down because of a big pair of goo-goo eyes! You've gotta stay focussed and-" Knuckles looked over and realized that Shadow had left once again. He sat on a log with an annoyed look.
Shadow completely walked past Silver when Silver was trying to congratulate him. Silver, once again feeling annoyed, sat down next to Knuckles and growled. Knuckles growled with him.
Shadow was more concerned about the Drayan. He could deal with the other two later.
"So, now that I've saved your life, would you mind telling me your name," he asked.
"Zairiada but my friends call me Zaira. At least, they would if I had any friends. You?" she asked barely looking at him with any interest.
"Uh… Shadow," he told her.
"Hm… I like wonderboy better," she said with a shrug.
"How'd you get mixed up with that thing?"
"The pinhead with hooves? Well, you know how men are. They think "no" means "yes" and "let go" means "take me, I'm yours". Don't worry, shorty the echidna can explain it all to you," Zaira replied to Shadow.
Knuckles growled at her. Shadow shoves him into a nearby tree. Silver gasps and goes to help Knuckles.
"Well, thanks, Shad. It's been a real slice," she said with a slang accent.
"Uh… You don't think that we could hang out more sometime maybe?" asked Shadow.
Zaira shrugged. She waves again and walks off. Shadow had to hiss at himself in his mind to keep his feet from moving.
"Later Shadow!" she said told him.
"She's… SOMETHIN'!" Shadow yells at Knuckles with an unfamiliar feeling fluttering in his chest.
"Yeah… Yes, she is. A REAL PAIN IN THE BUTT! Let's go!" Knuckles yelled.
"Right…," Shadow said with a sigh.
Zaira was walking through the woods and it grew to be really misty. A bunny and chipmunk ran up to her.
"Aw… How cute… A couple of rodents looking for a theme park," she said. Her voice turned bitter.
"Who are you calling rodent?! I'm a bunny!" Cubot yelled turning back into a robot.
"I thought I smelled a rat," Zaira said when she saw Orbot and Cubot.
"Why Zaira, how good to see you!" Eggman exclaimed.
"Hi Egghead…," Zaira said glaring at Eggman.
"Hello. I thought that you were going to get the river guardian for me, but now I'm river guardian-less!" Eggman said acting as if he were surprised.
"I'm sorry, but he made an offer I had to refuse."
She flicked the river guardian off of Eggman's checker board. She walked away from it as soon as she did.
"Instead of taking two years off, I'll add two years on to your sentence. Okay!" Eggman chirped.
Zaira froze and turned around quickly. She continued to glare at Eggman but looked more stressed and agitated rather than angry.
"Listen, it wasn't my fault! It was this wonderboy Shadow the Hedgehog!" Zaira snapped.
"WHA-?! Say his name again…," Eggman told her casting a hostile glance at Orbot and Cubot.
"Shadow? Why does that name ring a bell?" asked Orbot beginning to worry.
"Maybe we own him money?" asked Cubot.
"His name is Shadow the Hedgehog," Zaira repeated.
Eggman stopped and turned to Orbot and Cubot. He looked as if he were going to explode. The two robots shrunk down and huddled in a corner.
"What a second… Wasn't Shadow the kid we were supposed to-" Orbot stopped in mid sentence. Orbot and Cubot looked over at Eggman in terror.
"Holy god of Chaos!" the two robots screamed.
"RUN FOR IT!" Cubot cried.
Eggman grabbed them.
"So… You took care of him… DEAD AS A DOORNAIL! Weren't those your exact words?" asked Eggman.
"This must be a different Shadow! It's become a very popular name!" Orbot said.
"I'm about to rearrange the Cosmos and the one schlemiel who can louse it up is waltzing around in the woods!" bellowed Eggman.
He then used all the amazing powers from being a god he got to destroy the forest. Zaira somehow dodged the attack. Orbot and Cubot, not so much… The two robots looked as if they had fallen into a volcano and then got stuck in a typhoon. However, then were still in working order.
"I'm okay…," Orbot mumbled.
"Hang on a sec! Didn't we still make him mortal?" asked Cubot.
"That's right! We did! We can just kill him and then you can take over Olympus!" Orbot suggested.
Eggman thought for a second. He drew all three of them closer to him. He nodded to himself at the thought of killing Shadow.
"Fortunately for you three, we still have time to fix this rather egregious oversight. And this time, no foul-ups! We must get rid of Shadow once and for all…,"
ZairaDrayan: Hooray! Chapter three is done AT LAST! Okay, After this I'll finish the next chapter of Shadow of the Opera Bloopers. Then I might do another Chapter of the Sonic Wings of Fire story. After that will be me working on the Sonic Hawaii story. Then I'll be back to this for a new update! Hope you liked it!