Chapter 2: A legend about a Princess
Confusion was all Sonic could take in as he landed with Tails in the Tornado, next to the castle. The cyborg hovered down, a clear look of frustration on her face as to the whole ordeal. She almost gave all the data away and now has lost two of the gems to the unknown thief. Tails comes by to reassure her. "We can also go after the thief?" he said reassuringly. "And you know where they might have run off to?" she answered distastefully. "Hey, at least the kingdom's safe after we saved you. You don't need to snap at my buddy over one thief" Sonic shouted, putting the lioness back in order. "I don't doubt your help and I'm thankful that you saved me, but those gems are important to us. Especially now" she looks distraught as she stares at the ground.
The castle doors suddenly burst open. A female cat; dressed in a white formal short-sleeved top and pink skirt, looking around in desperation. She spots the cyborg, immediately running towards her.
"Lexi? Thank God, you're safe!" she pronounces. "Much better than 13 years ago-" the now announced Lexi being squeezed in a tight hug. "Ok, even I can feel you crushing me, your highness!" Lexi blurts out, a slight chuckle in her voice once she's let go.
The rest laugh until it dawns on Sonic and Tails that the second-born princess, unnoticeable by her strange normal attire. "You must be the saviours. How can I ever thank you?" she directs at the duo. Sonic raises a hand up with a devilish thought for a mountain of chilli dogs, but Tails intervenes. "Your gratitude is enough, your majesty". "Although..." Sonic wonders. "Yes?" the princess asks.
"We couldn't help but notice your situation with that thief that stole your gems". Lexi looks away but the princess wants answers. "What thief? What happened to the light sapphire?". "Someone got it before we or Eggman could. They seem to have two now and know how to use them well" Lexi sighed. "So they already had the other one, hmm. Do you think they know where the next one is?" she says. "Possibly. It's held tightly in GUN's base off the South coast, but I don't think they'll be able to stop them" Lexi worries.
"Oh... Well, we may need to ask for your help after all" the princess politely asks. " We don't mind at all, that's what we're here for. Besides, that thief seems like a great new opponent" Sonic declares loudly. "Yes, we might just need some background on everything so we can help the best we can," Tails says alongside Sonic. "Of course. Oh, where are my manners? I haven't even asked your names!" she says apologetically. "The names' Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog", a smirk on his face and pulling a heroic pose. "Miles 'Tails' Prower, at your service" Tails bows before her.
"I am Crystal and, I'm sure you've met with my first-in-command, Lexi" she declares, however, Lexi is too busy looking at the monitor on her arm evaluating her choices rather than looking at the two. "Why don't we talk this through over tea?" she asks. The boys nodded as they all enter the castle.
The boys fall silent after hearing about the demise of the kingdom's history. Tails speaks up. "So, most of your people are actually cheetahs!". "Yes, they are. There are some species like Lexi, but we're more dominant. The reason we don't look like the ones from this dimension is that we don't have spots. Our skin only shows our spots when we're scared or in ill health" she explains.
"Wow" Tails wondered. "And the princess? Your sister?" Sonic asks. Crystal and Lexi look at each other with a sad look. "She's still missing. 10 years it's been now. She'd be 18 by now" Crystal whimpers, tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked-", "No, it's ok. We're still hopeful. After all, there's a legend about her the people made". The legend, huh? I guess we'll find out know, Sonic thinks.
"It's not the greatest of legends. That being I told you about. The Dark Presence. They'll return to destroy what they should have year's ago. But, it's said that my sister will return with the powers of the Master Sapphire to save us all" she explains. "The Master Sapphire, it has more powers than the Light Sapphires and the Chaos Emeralds itself?" Tails questions. " It moved our entire dimension. I can't begin to think what's capable with powers like that. That's if she comesback, in which case we need those gems for ourselves" Lexi buts in.
"That's where you come in. By the sounds of it, you're fast and strong enough to beat them Sonic" Crystal asks. "I can take them on, no sweat!" Sonic smiles at them. "Well you better get moving, we don't know when they will attack the base. I'm giving you two a transmitter so I can talk to you during all this. Here's the location" Lexi says, handing out the transmitters and a map of the GUN base.
After setting up the Tornado, the two wave back at the princess and the cyborg. Crystal waves back whilst Lexi is more focused on setting a plan on how to get the thief.
Sonic could only think of the battle ahead.
I'm going to defeat you this time, for sure...