Disclaimer & note: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog just the words below.
This fic was inspired by a chapter from SilverDawn2010's story Aftermath and kinda what should have happened in Dark Brotherhood.
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"This is a complete waste of time!" Knuckles grumbled as the party wandered around Green Hill Zone in search of the supposedly alive and still kicking Doctor Eggman. "We should be trying to find Angel Island!"
"Do you have any idea where we should start?" Tails asked not looking up from the handheld console he had put together from various pieces of Eggman technology to create a sort of signal finder that would hopefully lead them to the man in question.
"If you're so worried about that hunk of rock, go look for it yourself. I'll keep an eye on the Master Emerald until you catch up" Rouge offered only for the echidna to glare her way.
"Because the moment I leave, you'll leave to go find and keep it for yourself" Knuckles threw back having fought her over the giant jewel on several other occasions since they first met.
"Why not share?" Big suddenly asked causing the two to go red in the face and look away from each other.
Tails allowed himself a small chuckle before going back to the task at hand. With Angel Island missing and no clue as to where it or the Marauders had taken it, Tails had used his intellect to botch together a device that would either lead them to Eggman or hopefully somewhere that would help shed some light on the situation at hand. So far, he was getting nothing.
"If only there was a way to boost the reception" He muttered to himself.
"Any luck yet, Boss?" Sonic asked him making his ear twitch at his new title.
Because the blue hedgehog had not been around for a while, Tails had to grow up some and learn to fend for himself. By the time Sonic had returned, the orange two-tailed fox had become quite the accomplished hero himself; nowhere near Sonic's level, but a hero all the same. He had become important enough that Sonic needed Tails to be with him in order to enter GUN HQ and since the little guy seemed to be calling all the shots, Sonic had decided to teasingly call him boss, chief or commander whenever he got the chance.
"Nothing yet" Tails replied knowing that his best friend and brother of sorts was teasing him good naturedly. "We'll probably find something eventually. Just don't know when"
Sonic accepted the answer having known the fox long enough to know that his inventions always pulled them through. He just hoped they found something soon; he wanted some action to wear out his high adrenaline levels.
As the team continued to traverse through the zone's namesakes, they eventually found something. However it was someone rather than something in the form of a cream rabbit in an orange dress.
"Cream?" Tails exclaimed when he noticed the young doe that had not noticed them yet.
"Tails! Sonic, you're really back!" said the doe when she recognised the voice followed by the hedgehog standing beside the voice's source.
"What are you doing out here? And where's Cheese?" Tails asked as the doe ran towards them noticing the absence of her Chao companion. Immediately the doe's cheerfulness gave way to sadness.
"Tails, it's terrible!" She cried as she latched onto the foxes arm. "Cheese and I were picking flowers when we were attacked! Angry animals came out of nowhere"
The others, minus Big, shared a knowing look. They had been attacked by the zone's normally docile creatures themselves. The poor doe and her companion had clearly been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"We tried to run, but we got separated! I haven't been able to find Cheese since!" She explained as Tails rubbed her back with his free arm trying to calm her down. "I'm worried, Tails. He's just a little Chao! I bet he's scared to death!"
"Don't worry, Cream, we'll help you find him" said Tails after the doe had calmed down some.
Knuckles immediately tried to object but was swiftly stopped by Amy stomping down on his foot.
"Really?" Cream asked hopefully to which Tails replied by nodding his head earning him a big hug from the small rabbit.
"We'll search this way whilst you look around here" He suggested when she finally let go of him.
"Okay!" She replied before using her ears to fly over the nearby stream in search of the little blue Chao. "Good luck!"
"You be careful Cream!" Amy called after her.
"Why are we doing this? We're supposed to be looking for Eggman, if he's still around, and finding out where Angel Island is!" Knuckles exclaimed when the doe was out of earshot.
"Red's right, that jewel is slipping further away from me—I mean us as we speak" Rouge agreed thankful that Knuckles did not hear her slip of the tongue.
"We're searching the Zone for anything of Eggman's so we might as well look for Cheese at the same time" Tails explained.
"And Froggy!" Big chipped in making everyone but Amy jump having been quiet so long.
"But how do we know we haven't passed that Chao already?" Knuckles pointed out.
Tails realised what Knuckles was getting at but before he could come up with a plan Sonic had suddenly dashed off nearly knocking everyone but Big off their feet in his wake. By the time they had managed to regain their balance, he was back dashing passed them again before standing where he was before he left whilst the others looked rather windswept.
"Show off" Knuckles grumbled.
"Blue's probably just jealous that fox-boy's getting more attention than him" Rouge added as she sorted her hair.
"Any sign of him?" Amy asked Sonic knowing why he suddenly dashed off.
"Not a peep" Sonic replied glumly before looking pointedly at Tails. "So, you and Cream, huh?"
Tails just rubbed the back of his head bashfully whilst Amy replied for him.
"He's just been there for her when she needed help, unlike you" She told him although it was only partly true. The only time she knew of the fox actually helping out Cream was when her mother's house had blown a fuse. "That's something Tails and Dexter have in common but you don't, they're dependable when the time comes"
"Then why aren't you calling him and asking him to help out, if he's so dependable?" Sonic challenged not buying the whole dumped-and-replaced act the pink hedgehog was putting on.
"Uh...Because...um...He's...out and he doesn't carry a cell phone" Amy replied after quickly trying to put together an excuse before walking off. "Now come on, Eggman and Cheese won't find themselves!"
"And Froggy!" Big added as he plodded along after the pink hedgehog followed by the rest of them.
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It was several hours later before the team had finally managed to find Cheese (and Froggy). The poor thing had gone and hidden itself atop an old tower and was only discovered when Amy faintly heard its voice. Needless to say, Cream was overjoyed when she was reunited with her best friend.
"Cheese! I was worried sick!" Cream cried happily as she hugged the little Chao as tight as she could without hurting it.
"Chao, chao!" The Chao chirped as he snuggled into the rabbit's embrace.
"Thank you so much, Tails" Said Cream as she then went and hugged the fox in question.
"Well...It was actually...um...Amy who found Cheese" Tails stammered. He had been thanked by the doe many times before, but not like this.
"Just ignore him, Cream; he's just being modest" Amy told the young rabbit.
Sonic just stayed quiet and let the fox have his moment. He could always tease him some later on anyways.
"Hey, are you guys doing something?" Cream asked after letting go of Tails. "You're saving the world again, aren't you?"
"Eh...Uh...No. Why do you ask?" Tails asked hoping the doe was not about to ask if she could join them.
"Come on, Tails! You, Sonic and the rest of the team are back together, running through the Green Hill Zone" Cream said as if it was obvious. "What is it? Is Eggman back? Someone new?"
If it were any other seven year old, the team would have been stunned. Since this was Cream, who had fought alongside Amy and Big to rescue Cheese's brother Chocola, it was not so surprising.
"Why do you want know?" Sonic asked curiously.
"I want to help. It's the least I can do" Cream answered honestly.
"This is no job for a little kid" Sonic declined. Sure Eggman may be involved, but who knows what side the Marauders are working for if any.
The smile on Cream's face faded at his answer.
"Sonic, Cream has helped us before, and she was just as helpful as anyone else!" Amy defended her having fought alongside her.
"Yeah. If we run into any all-day lollipops, we'll need her expertise" Rouge remarked sarcastically.
"Please, Tails?" Cream asked looking at the fox almost pleadingly. "I promise I'll help out. I promise!"
Tails cringed and looked to Sonic for advice. The blue hedgehog just shrugged his shoulders as if to say "you're the boss, you decide". Whist it was true that she was too young for this sort of thing, Tails was in the same boat she was only being a couple years older. Yet, also like him, what she lacked in age she made up with determination and her unique abilities. In her case it was being able to fly and use Cheese like a missile nearly hitting him once when they met up at the power plant in Grand Metropolis.
"Okay, you can come along" Tails said knowing he would hate himself if he upset her. "But you have to listen to what I say, okay?"
Cream replied by cheering happily as she flung her arms round Tails neck and kissing him on the cheek making the cub blush orange.
"Come on, team, let's get moving" He said snapping out of his stupor. "We've got work to do"
"Yes sir!" Cream replied before giggling as she fell into step beside the two-tailed fox with Cheese fluttering along behind them.
"You never meant what you said to Cream, did you?" Amy asked Sonic as the two hedgehogs trailed behind the others.
"I have no idea what you're talking about, Amy" Sonic replied although the grin on his face told otherwise.
Amy beamed at the blue hedgehog and barely managed to refrain from hugging him for what he had done.
"You're sweet, Sonic. But not as sweet as my Dexter" She added knowing it would get to him eventually.
Sonic was saved from replying by Tails yelling for him to hurry up as the handheld console indicated it had found something. He grinned as he dashed towards him in hopes that there would be something fun to fight where the signal was coming from.
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Review if possible & 'til next time
Watch this space & peace out!