Sonic and the Half-Genie Hero

Chapter 5: Rest and Refreshment

In the hour following, Shantae pulled out a signal flare from her lamp and used it to get Sky's attention, and after a minute or so her friend soon arrived, riding atop her giant bird Wrench. "Where you headed next, short stuff?" Sky asked Shantae. "Just a sec," She said, absorbing her hedgehog pal back into the ring. "Skyward to Sequin Land, please." Sky nodded. "Aight, Hop on." Shantae climbed up her massive bird and they took off.

   "So," Sky asked, "still stuck with the guy, huh?" Shantae nodded. "It's not that bad, Sonic's actually kind of a cool guy. Awful cocky, but his heart's in the right place." Shantae admitted. "Well hey, if he needs a place to stay, he's your problem, not mine." Sky replied. At this point they had reached the destination, and Shantae was now getting off.

   "Okay, then. Later!" Shantae said with a wave to her airborne friend, who was now returning to her own home. She then took the ring off of the lamp strap and clicked it to let Sonic out. "Are we there yet?" Sonic asked, now standing where the ring was pointed and looking around. "No. We're walking the rest of the way." Shantae told him. Sonic nodded and followed her lead.

   "Some place you got here," Sonic said, looking about, "you think we could see more of it sometime?" Shantae nodded. "Not at the moment," she told him, "maybe we could take a walk around some other day." The two just passed the Squid Smith and now were headed inside of Scuttle Town's local shop.

   "Morning, Shantae!" the shopkeeper greeted. Shantae waved back. "Anything hygienic in stock?" she asked. The shopkeeper motioned to the shelf for her and Sonic to see. Sonic grabbed a basket and followed Shantae to look for items. Soon enough he found a bottle of "CamelCare™ Pet Shampoo" (basically Shantae's world's Mane n' Tail) and dropped that into the basket.

   Eventually he stopped to wait for Shantae, whom of which was trying to make up her mind while looking at a pair of products to decide between getting. "Hmm..." Shantae said, slowly looking back and forth between the bottles in her hands. "Hey Sonic," She asked the hedgehog, "Which one should I get? This one says "For richer hair", but this other one says "For more powerful hair". Which one? Rich? Powerful?"

   "Whichever one gets us out of here faster..." Sonic sighed. Shantae looked at the two and thought for a second. "I'll get both!" She eventually concluded, dropping them into the basket. They were then headed to the soaps and detergents section when they met with Shantae's friend Rotty Tops.

   "Hiya, Shantae!" Rotty said. "Hi, Rotty!" Shantae replied. Sonic rushed behind Shantae. She looked at him in confusion. "What's the matter with him?" RT asked Shantae, "He seems especially scared of me." Shantae turned to Sonic to ask him what the matter was.

   "I'm sorry Shantae," Sonic hoarsely whispered, "she just looks like this girl Amy, but back from the dead with an undying lust for my hand in marriage!" Shantae was now as humored as she was surprised. "What are you going on about?" She chuckled, "Rotty is just an everyday zombie! She doesn't eat hedgehogs, just humans!"

   Rotty Tops stepped a bit closer. "There's not a problem I'm making, is there..?" She nervously asked. "Oh, no," Sonic sighed, "just my head playing tricks on me again is all, nothing to worry about!" RT looked at him and back to Shantae with a concerned expression. "You know, like, how he hit his head? Yeah, he's still recovering from that. This is normal." Shantae told her friend.

   "Oh... Sorry if I spooked you!" Rotty Tops said, just before leaving them to go about her business again. Shantae and Sonic then went back to looking to the shelves, and after awhile Shantae finally put some soap and detergent in the basket and they now were ready to check out.

   "Sonic!" Shantae whispered, shaking his arm, "It's time to leave the store, bud!" Sonic woke from his state of half-sleep and followed her to the cashier. She then paid for the items and absorbed them into her lamp, and then they left the store and headed for her place.