Sonic Series Fan Fiction ❯ The Light and the Dark Side of Amy ❯ The Manta ray's nose: CHAO RACE! ( Chapter 3 )

(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((The Light and Dark side: Chapter 3))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

(((The Manta ray's nose)))

*~* DISCLAIMER *~*

Bwahahahahaha! I'm on chapter 3 already! YES! I love writing fanfiction! I don't own Amy or Sonic or Tails or Knuckles or Rouge or whatever! I only own Nyako, Darlene, Heat (the Chao, not the B-A-G character), and well…more are to come! I like the counterparts Angie and Devi and their names and plots are MINE! ALL MINE! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! (Gets hit with a cinder block) Not again! Ouchies…

*~*

(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((Chao Races…night time…))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

All seems well on the empty Chao Racetrack this night and Omochao is, as usual, patrolling the area, since he's a robot he doesn't sleep, making sure the track is prepared to run on, climb over, swim through, and fly about in. Tomorrow another nothing-out-of-ordinary race would take place, but for beginners like a Heat it would be the most breath-taking experience of his life! That is if he was at the very least in 3rd place or higher. And especially if he won 1st place.

But something that was not foreseen by Omochao or any of the other guards was crawling about the track. Its shadow silently made its way over to the end of the track. It was…a chao? What would a adorable little chao be doing around here so late at night, after the other races that were scheduled that day had been finished and over with. This adorable little chao was neither a normal nor an angel or a devil chao. It was simply a black chao with a silver chao emo-sphere; another one of the many names for the small sphere above a chao's head that we all know shows the chao's emotions, which is why emo is a part of the word.

The black chao had pinkish red tips on his arms and feet as well as the silver emo-sphere. It would've the no-animal appearance and rude manners of Chaclon if it had not been for traces and parts of the animals he was given. Chaclon was and is a little rude by the way he shows off and just stayed there at the beginning of the races he was ever pitted in. He probably had too many peacocks from the earlier times in Sonic Adventure and as we should all know Peacocks give chaos the instincts to lay around on their sides and show off their stunning tails.

Anyway, the chao was sneaking off while fluttering up and down, off the ground and back on his feet. Then Omochao's heat sensors picked up an unidentified being on his heat sensors, besides the familiar guards, and saw the black chao fluttering around. Omochao flew off and landed in front of him, halting the trespasser.

"You are not permitted to be here! You are unauthorized to be and that must only mean you are a trespasser! Leave the tracks at once!" Omochao commanded. The chao scowled back the robotic annoyance as his only response.

The silver emo-sphere was bobbing up and down but then froze as it revolved around to show two-camera lens, or so they appeared, with neon green illumination within them.

Omochao didn't know what was to come after this but the chao did. The once neon green `lens' were now red and out came lasers hitting Omochao's eyes or heat sensors or whatever you would like to know them as.

Omochao turned to face the moon as if he forgot that the chao in front of him was even there and the moon's pale face cast its light down upon his eyes, and after the sparkle in Omochao's eyes died, YOU, the reader, could tell something was wrong.

The black chao reached out of its pouch, yes its pouch, and slipped out a walkie-talkie of his own and began speaking to an unknown (A/n: YEAH RIGHT!) voice.

"Good, Red. Step 1 is complete…Now on to Step 2, Red!" Said the voice on the end of the phone. Red deviously smiled back at Omochao as he commanded Omochao, too bad you can't listen, and they both walked off.

We see the front door with the words "Racetrack Editing" labeled across the door right across the center. The door is push opened and swings until it slowly swings to a stop.

(((((((((((((((((((((((((((Station Square Chao Garden! Almost Morning…)))))))))))))))))))))

Dream sequence…

"I love swimming!" Heat said as he changed from breast stroking to backstroking. Heat then swam in place in the water and dove in to the deep blue.

Then a figure had swum in front and across Heat and kept sticking its path.

"Who are you?" Heat asked as he swam after it playfully. It's tail swung elegantly left to right slowly as it swam.

"You have a nice tail…"Heat told it. The figure just pressed on, ignoring the little chao. Heat then swam on his back with his arms wrapped around his neck as he kicked forward.

"You don't talk much, do you?" Heat asked. The creature didn't have any arms or legs. It had beady eyes and…a golden nose?

"How come you got a nose all golden like that?" Heat asked. The figure went on and swam ahead.

"All you have is your tail, and your nose." Heat said.
Then a drilling had some how made itself heard.

"What is that?" Heat asked.

Dream sequence ends…

The sun rose, or rather the lights turned on, to greet the slumbering chao for the new day that awaits them. To chao, it could be considered to be an equivalent to Olympics.

Heat's left ear, well it's invisible but it's there, was pressed against the wall listening to all the noise he had heard coming from the outside Chao Racetrack. He slept just fine if you're think that he didn't. It's just that sooner or later there was a hissing or a grumbling or even a crash and it interrupted his dreams. But no other chao seemed to notice.

Heat had gotten up early, toe touching to his toes, arm after arm on each foot, with ease. He was an early riser and even earlier one thanks to the provided noises he heard. Heat was awfully nervous about the whole race coming up. He knew was going to happen. Angie and Devi and maybe those two other fellows, Sonic and Tails, would come up to him and pep talk him a bit. Then they'd cheer him on, but he'd need to be in, at the least, 3rd place to get a compliment. Or that's how it was with other chao and their owners.

Heat couldn't believe how many times he'd seen chao in the race who were even in 2nd place finishing a race and were still getting yelled at and lectured for being a `stupid chao who will never win a race'. He saw the cruelty of other owners, while they were in the chao garden.

But Heat saw good, kind owners as well. For instance, his owners were the nicest he had ever met and seen. But that's just him. He met, or well saw, an owner that had even went through a lot of trouble to get plenty of fruits to make a special treat for their chao, and that chao had just came in last place that very same day.

Heat noticed who had just entered while the other chao were still asleep. Heat crawled onto the tiles, hoping that the unknown chao would just think he was another sleeping chao amongst the others. He began to shut his eyes tightly; well wince is more like it, hoping whoever it was to not notice him fidgeting.

Red walked around and sat in front of a vacant palm tree. She hadn't gotten too much sleep and she was hoping to get almost an hour's worth of sleep, since she did all that work for Nyako. She batted her eyes a few more times before entering her slumber. Heat rose head to stare across the room at Red. It was a bit too early for him to just exercise. Heat then closed his eyelids and went into a deep sleep.

(((((((((((((((((((((((((((Station Square Chao Garden! MORNING!)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

"Wake up, sleepy head. " Angie said on her knees.

"It's almost race time! I always thought you were an early riser." Devi said to Heat. Heat finally blinked opens his eyes a couple of times until he was fully awake.

"What do you mean? I'm always an early riser." Heat said standing up. But then he noticed that all the other chao were already up doing whatever they were doing.

"I woke up to early and decided to go back to sleep." Heat told them.

Then Tails along with Sonic following him made inside the garden.

"Why hello there Tails! Hello Sonic!" Angie said turning around to greet them.

"Are you guys racing your chao today or not?" Devi asked. That was the closest he was ever going to get to a `hello'.

"Well Sonic and mine aren't racing today because they already beat this race last year and they are competing in more advance races now. " Tails responded.

"So you are here to cheer on our chao?" Angie asked. Tails turned red once again and nodded.

"I understand you being here…But what's HE doing here?" Devi asked. Sonic raised his eyebrow and began to speak.

"What? Can't I tag along with my best friend?" Sonic asked.

"Whatever." Devi said grabbing a nearby tree and shaking it until a triangle fruit fell off.

"Here you go, little fella." Devi said handing over the fruit. He began to eat and soon it was gone into his stomach.

"Well that ought to prepare him for the race to come. But I lets not feed him another one…He'll get really drowsy." Angie said picking up Heat and gently petting him.

Then a beeping came from Devi's new wristwatch. It was an alarm for when the race would start.

"Angie, it's almost time for the races to start!" Devi informed her.

"Okay. Are you ready to go out there?" Angie asked finishing her petting but still holding him in her arms.

"I am READY!" Heat yelled with his arms in the air.

"Too much Sponge Bob." Devi said.

"But I love that show!" Angie replied.

"Are you two coming or not? This is your race we're here for." Sonic said already at the race's gates.

"Yeah, yeah." Devi said as her and Angie followed them.

(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((Chao Racetrack! RACE TIME!)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

Heat was sitting in a number 2 track as his owners and the owners spoke to him and the other competing chao.

"Hey Angie and Devi…Do you think I'll even make 5th place?" Heat asked. As you can see, Heat is not all that confident.

"I think you'll make it into one of the first three places." Devi told him.
"I think you'll make 1st place!" Angie said.

"Really?" Heat asked.

"Don't be so hard on yourself. " Devi said stroking his forehead.

"THE RACE IS ALMOST ABOUT TO BEGIN! OWNERS, PLEASE TAKE YOUR SEATS AT THIS MOMENT IN THE STANDS! THANK YOU!" Said a male voice on the intercom.

"Sorry Heat…We got to go back and sit. We're cheering for you all the way!" Devi said. They both went into the stands to find their seats next to Tails and Sonic.

Heat grew nervous as he looked around to see the other chao. A lot of them, about four, were neutral/ normal chao but some were transformed into NiGHTS/ Alien/ Sonic/ Dragon chao.

There was an angel chao…and a devil chao but then he saw…Red! The black chao from before!

"What's she doing here?" Heat asked as Red was sitting there alone. Her owner hadn't come to pep talk her like his owners did. Heat felt sympathetic towards her…but he wouldn't for long.

"Master? You want me to win the race?" Red said on her walkie-talkie.

"Yes! You know all the short cuts now! The only thing they can do when they're in front of you is guess where to go! But even when they're behind you all they can do is watch where you go…and the only thing they can do is follow after! It's an ingenious plan! And you know the plan…You must dive into the deep depths of the water in order to get the nose! And you must make it to first place so that Omochao can deliver it to our base. You have to do that just before you get in the camera's view, since those girls are watching. Omochao will fly over and take it, and you'll get a prize, whatever it may be." Said a guy on the other line who was dressed covered within the boundaries of his overcoat, derby, and his boots.

"Who's she talking to?" Heat wondered. Red immediately turned off her walkie-talkie. She hid it in her pouch once again and whistled like nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

Three huge screens are shown in front of the stands and the man on the intercom speaks.

"HELLO ONCE AGAIN CHAO FANS AND CHAO OWNERS! WELCOME BACK TO STATION SQUARE'S CHAO RACETRACK AND THE RETURN OF THE SPHERE, TRIANGLE, SQUARE, DIAMOND, AND, LAST BUT NOT LEAST, THE EMERALD TRACK!
DURING THIS PASS WEEK THE INDIVUAL TESTS FOR RUNNING, STRENGTH, SWIMMING, AND FLYING. NOW FINALLY IT'S TIME FOR THE RACE WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR. LET'S CUT TO THE CHASE AND START OUR RACING OUR CHAO FOR THE EMERALD RACETRACK!" Boomed the intercom.

The audience cheered in reply to this announcement and roared with excitement.

"READY FOLKS? HERE WE GO! 1…" he said. Dramatic tension began building up as all the lined up chao grew aware of what was happening. They crouched on the ground as if they were doing push-ups.

"2…" The announcer said as they crouched higher than before.

"GO!" He yelled as they ran.

Red had already blazed forward with his talented running skills. But Heat wasn't too far behind.

"He's the only one I've got to worry about." Red said as Heat followed closely behind him.

The first obstacle came shortly after their little run. The trees right in front of them, seeming as if only the sky was its limit. As much as Red and Heat would want to just gaze at it until the sun fell, they back their courses as they heard the footsteps of the chao trailing behind them.

Red stared off into Heat's cerulean eyes with her own ruby pupils, as Heat stared at her back. They grunted and shook the tree in front themselves and not too long after the coconut fell, fortunately before the other chao had just started to shake the tree.

"CHAO 1, OUR VERY OWN PAST COMPETITOR RED, AND CHAO 2, THE NEWBIE RACING FOR THE FIRST TIME, AND MIGHT I ADD, WITH STYLE WHO IS KNOWN AS HEAT AND THEY BOTH ARE IN THE LEAD, FOLKS! IT SEEMS THEIR SKILLS ARE EQUALLY MATCHED AND THIS COULD END UP A DRAW!"

"Come on Heat! We fed you like a million animals and chaos drives and I do NOT want to see all that work go to waste!" Devi yelled over the audience's cheers.

"Don't worry, Devi! I'm sure Heat will do just fine!"

Red and Heat ate their coconuts quickly and were smart enough to avoid dancing and ignore sleeping. They ran ahead as the bunch behind either followed, slept or danced.

Red ran on the left side and Heat ran along the right as they stared at eachother through the corner of their eyes.

Then they took a left turned and chose to fly across into the water and get back to their same pathway. This was Heat's specialty though and he hardly needed to gasp for air except for every now and then but Red sort of lagged behind in the water gasping for air several times, since the nose cap doesn't work over water but only deep within it.

As they reached land, then need for their arms' and legs' rest didn't stop them either, they were both very stubborn and persistent. They ran across land until they made it too the blue tiled hills. Red pressed a gismo inside her pouch and Red's invisible headphone appeared.

"Omochao…Do it now." Red ordered as Omochao, lurking in the hidden bushes along the sidelines nodded in agreement to Red's command.

Only a moment later…the camera had been turned off!

"WHAT'S THIS? THE CAMERAS THAT WERE FOCUSING ON THE EVERY CHAO HAVE MALFUNCTIONED! THE ONLY ONE THAT REMAINS WORKING IS THE ONE PLACED ABOVE THE FINISH LINE! FOLKS, ALL WE CAN DO IS WAIT FOR THE WINNERS TO COME FOR NOW…" Stated the announcer.

"What the heck is going on!?" Devi yelled in disbelief. She came here to watch her chao race and win and it'd be great and all if he did win but it wouldn't be much fun to her if she didn't know if he had won by a centimeter or a mile. She pouted and began to curse over the audience's sounds and words of dismay.

"Calm down, Devi. I'm sure we can just ask Heat how he won." Angie said as calm as ever.

"Yeah, and besides…who ever said he was taking 1st place anyway?" Sonic asked. Devi glared at him through the slits of her eyes and slipped out the Piko Piko Hammer.

"Don't…insult…Heat!" She yelled whacking him across his face. She pushed the mallet back within the tight, leather jacket of hers and nodded triumphantly as Sonic sat there with a blue bruise on his cobalt face.

`I didn't want to ruin his face…But he asked for it.' Devi thought.

Anyways…Back on the track.

"Phase 2…Omochao." Red said as they kept running.

"Yes…" Omochao said flying along.

Back at the bunch chao following behind who were closing in on our chao, the earth began to rumble and all the chao froze in their tracks, except for Red and soon after Heat remembering he had no time to just stare off into space.

Then the earth crackled open and fell beneath the feet of the poor helpless chao and brought them down with it. They fell into the earth and landed in the depths of an unknown, under ground cave. It was damp and dark but still lit and they had to carry on, in order to continue the plan. The audience or the announcer himself didn't see the incident, so they were on their own.

Up on land, the two rivals were going at it once again. They approach the mountain and Heat walked forward to get his paws on it and climb it but Red's actions stopped him.

"I'm going to win this race and get the golden nose!" Red yelled.

"What are you talking about?" Heat asked.
Red took out a control with only a big, red button and a few dials as the switch.

"I can't wait for Omochao to do the work. I have to do things myself." Red said as she tapped lightly on the button and the mountain before them sunk slowly into the water and the entire area was now made up of nothing but water.

"What'd…you do? You know I'm better at swimming than you are anyway."

"You never said anything about diving underwater. I'm as slick as a dolphin with this nose cap and I don't have any problems without my breathing issues." Red said.

She spun a few dials and pressed the red button again, as a huge glass dome appeared to cover the water before them.

"What is this?" Heat asked at the huge snowglobe. He put his paws against the glass and stared inside.
A glistening sparkle from the bottom of the dome caught Red's eye. She came closer to the glass dome and saw what she hoped to see. A golden triangle was on the lake's bottom and glistened again.

`I must…get…that…nose…at all costs.' Red thought and switched one more dial and pressed the button once again. A circular glass door had opened and Red dived in and swam bellow.

"Hey! You come back!" Heat said gaining his attention back on the race. He dived in after her and swam a bit faster than she did.

`This sucks! He's faster at this, even underwater!' She thought as she came to the lake's rocky bottom. She floated down and leaned downwards to grab the golden triangle as her feet hovered higher into the water.

`What's with this thing? It's stuck!' Red thought as she struggle to pull the triangle from its rocky restraints. Again she pushed against the bundles of sand against her feet but still hadn't managed to retrieve the object.

`Man this thing's stubborn! And I'm running out of time too! It's almost as if…' Red began to finish her thoughts but never finished as the golden triangle wiggled.

`What?' Red asked mentally as she figured out that the nose actually WAS a nose belonging to a manta ray!

`Oh my god!' Red said scrabbling higher to reach the already ahead Heat. But that only caused an even bigger issue with the manta ray. He was angered to see what Red had attempted to do and he flushed red with anger. In a flurry, he swam after the chao.

She swam her right behind Heat and clung onto him.

"There's a MANTA RAY chasing after me!" She yelled through the water.

"What's a manta ray?" Heat asked.

"Oh never mind! I'm getting that nose of his if it's the last thing I do!" Red said as the manta ray had charged at her from behind her, surprising her.

"WHAT THE?" She yelled as he swam furiously towards her, but lucky for her, she paddled out of the way and grabbed onto his tail as he swam in the direction never stopping.

"It's that thing from my dream!" Heat yelled as Red had slowly climbed forwards on top of the manta ray's back and made it to the nose.

"I've got you!" Red said, as she was about to set her paw onto it and just grab it off like that. But Heat had jumped in and kicked her off of him

"That was easier than I thou- WHA!" Heat said as his grip fell to the end of the Manta rays tail, because of the newfound speed the manta ray found. He then wildly swam about, like a bull that had a person riding on his back. He desperately tried shaking off Heat but to no avail, he just stayed on as if he was glued to him.

"Why do you want to just yank me off? I saved your life and your nose! Don't you remember me?" Heat asked but the Manta ray had then jetted off in the direction of the earth's walls.

"Are you trying to kill me?" Heat asked as he hung on utterly confused at the chaos and turmoil that he must've been going through. The manta ray had still headed off into that direction. His plan was to swim into the wall but make a turn at the right time and his tail would collide with the wall, hardly, but Heat would be gone.

Heat nervously closed his eyes as they were coming to his close end. But then something that he'd thought never happen, happened.

The manta ray had finally gathered the strength to throw Heat off it's tail and still kept head off in that direction.

"He's going to hit the wall!" Heat said.

Then a cloud of dust and brittle had floated in the water and slowly drifted away. The manta ray had smashed into the wall at speed that could almost beat Sonic's!

"No one…can survive that!" Heat said as he swam over to the dead beast. His frail body floated above the manta ray and he illuminated as well.

Then he faded away, leaving behind the golden nose.

Heat clutched the nose into his arms and sadly stared at the place where the manta ray had last been.

`He saved me…and killed himself…but for what?' Heat asked mentally.

`He figured out he was a threat to peace and brought only chaos to those who didn't deserve it…He was thinking about everyone else's' safety and wanted to bring peace to those that kept it. Ryu was too stubborn to give in to this truth…' An unknown voice had told him.

`Ryu?' Heat asked himself but nothing else was heard. He then took the triangle, really it was shaped like a boomerang, and was kicking in rage to catch up with Red, who had been stroking her own head and easing the pain.

"It's YOUR fault! You want this?" Heat asked raising the golden nosepiece. Red didn't know what Heat meant, and stuttered to think.

"Well you're not getting it! I'm finishing this race!" Heat yelled as the female chao followed after him in anguish.

"You better give the back!" Red yelled.

"It wasn't yours to begin with!" Heat snapped back and began paddling even harder. Then they both began racing in with quite agile speeds. They even began to cheat and grab pebbles and rocks and throw it at the other, sometimes missing and sometimes getting a hit.

"There it is!" Heat said as they swam out of the dome but made it outside again and found them extremely close to the finishing line.

Heat glanced once again at Red through the corner of his eye, this time not so nicely, and growled afterwards. The water lapped behind them and whenever one set of waves had settled, a new set one make themselves visible.

"I'm winning this one for that manta ray!" Heat said. They both found got themselves on to the small island and…

"HEY LOOK! THE FIRSE PLACE WINNER HAS SHOWN UP! IT APPEARS THAT…WAIT…WAIT…"

Angie and Devi stared at the two blurs across the screen.

"WE'LL HAVE TO SEE A SLOW REPLAY!"

Angie, Devi, and Tails lean forward as the tension grew again. Sonic was staring at Devi's…and Devi whacked him hastily and then turned to the screens.

The replay rolled and showed the chao run forward again. But then Heat fluttered into the air with the angel's wings to carry him and they lifted him into the air across the finish line faster than Red could run past it and…Heat…had…WON!

The audience screamed with delight as Angie and Devi stood up and hugged with tears trailing down theirs cheeks, well at least Angie. Tails seemed happy for the two and so did the rest of the crowd.

"I'd knew he'd win! NOW what do you say Sonic?" Devi said with smirk on her face and her arms folded.

"Reeeeeeeeeeeed…" Said a voice with anger rising in his voice. He exited the stands and once he was out of sight he revealed himself to be…Nyako! (A/n: As if you didn't already know…)

"I knew I shouldn't have counted on Red. That stupid, insulant chao." He stated.

The other chao that were following behind and had managed to enter swimming out of the water dome and ended up finishing the race.

((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((CHAO TROPHY AND PRIZE GIVING)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

Heat stood proud on the high 1st place mound. He had the golden boomerang in chain necklace around his neck and tears flowed from his eyes like a raging river. He'd never been so happy in his life. Or was it the fact that no one would remember his manta ray friend. No one except him. That his tears were full of the sorrow he'd given in only one single minute.

But that couldn't be. He felt content and proud that he stopped Red from accomplishing anything after the death of the underwater creature.

He took a moment to cast a look down upon the 2nd place mound with a very ashamed Red not even basking in her glory of second place. What was on her mind was the upcoming fate she was headed towards with Nyako. The physical abuse that was to come…the hitting…the kicking…the jabbing…the thrashing…the pain. She shivered at the thoughts of what he did to her last time. Maybe that was why her name was Red. She was probably named that after all the bloodshed she'd gone through.

Her eyes were filled with tears too. But not a single drop held half the joy Heat's tears did. She just stood there, staring up and above at him, sorrowfully. Heat couldn't stand her ruby eyes like that.

"3rd PLACE IN THE EMERALD TRACK RACE IS…HONEY!" He announced as the audience applauded. A golden chao began dancing on the third place mound.

"2nd PLACE WINNER IN THE EMERALD TRACK IS…RED! WHO ONLY LOST BY A HAIR!" The announcer said. Nyako just scowled, hidden within the background scenery. Red just looked away from her owner.

"AND 1st PLACE WINNER AND THE ONE TAKES HOME THE EMERALD JEWEL AND THE SPECIAL ROBO- BUNNY IS…HEAT!"
Heat flew down into Angie's arms and Devi hugged him. Heat just stared in Red's direction.

"Heat! Let's go out and celebrate!" Devi said giving Heat a piggyback ride and then walking off with Angie, Tails, and Sonic.

(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((Chao Garden! Night!)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

Heat was set on the ground of the normal SA2 Chao Garden with a full stomach and chocolate still at his lips. He licked some of it off and rolled on his side.

"This day must've been the most exciting day in his life so far. He deserves to get some rest to calm him down." Angie said whispering. Devi nodded and kissed him on his cheek and they walked out the door.

His eyes shot open as soon as the door shut. He sat up and had too many thoughts on his mind to worry about anything else. The other chao in the garden were sound asleep and it seemed he was the only thing looking at the constellations of stars above.

Then a rustle was heard from a palm tree and there sat under it was Red. She had many cuts and bruises along her black skin and she sat there and cried.

"Red?" He asked.

"I ran away…away from that maniac…" She told him.

"What are you here for?" He asked.

"Don't worry…I'm not after that stupid piece of gold anyhow. I don't care about him anymore." She said sniffling and whimpering as a rushing river had flowed off her cheeks and onto to the grass below her.

"Okay…" Heat said calming down a bit.

"Nyako…I hate him…" Red told Heat.

"Red-"

"DON'T call me Red. I hate that name. I hate him. I hate everything." She said.

"Well I guess that means you hate me."

"I used to…But you're not worth hating." She said.

"I'm not?"

"No…But I am. After all I did." Red said standing up against the tree.

"Don't say that. People can redeem themselves you know." Heat said.

"Not me…I don't have an identity anymore. I don't have an owner. I don't have anyone." She stated.

"You have me." Heat said bashfully.

"That's so nice of you to say that." Red said brightening, even though her face was clearly the same color of black.

"Maybe you should stay here for right now." Heat said.

"Yeah." Red told him. She lay on her back and began to doze off as heat went to his early sleeping area and slumbered off.

((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((Chao garden! Morning!)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

Heat woke up and looked over at Red, to see a metal shell of an emo-sphere on the floor and a blue halo floating in its place. She looked over to see Red dreaming peacefully with golden wings across her back.

(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((CLIFF HANGER)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

*~*PREVIEW*~*

Next time…What's with the animal guardians and their parts of the cat statue? I love the ending to this chapter and I know all of you do too!