A/N: Hello, everyone. Man, this is turning out to be a little longer than we expected. Not that we mind. As long as you're all enjoying it, then we're good.
Pen: *on the phone* Cancel my card!...What do you mean 'you can't'? *bangs phone until it breaks*
That's coming out of your allowance, Pen. So, before we get into this chapter, as always, Tails, Cream, and all related characters belong to Sega. Snively belongs to Archie. Beauty and the Beast belongs to Disney and Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont. Sword, Pen, and the story belong to me. And finally, the story was requested by soul96961. Thank you to soul96961, EchidnaPower, kingjohnson424, TailsLovesCream, alienlover64, and DaddlerTheDalek for their last reviews. Now, please enjoy.
Pen: Where's Sword? I'll kill her!
Settle down. *backs away from Pen's death glare* Easy now. Want some literature? *throws some Chaucer books at him and runs*
Chapter 7- Eye in the Sky
Robotnik and Snively scoured the skies until well into the evening, searching for any sign of the elusive drone. They came up empty-handed and Robotnik cursed the "infernal machine." He collapsed his telescope, reached into his jacket pocket, and pulled out the photographs again. Skimming through them, he determined that they were indeed in the right spot. Vanilla's house was a stone's throw away from their cover of thick bushes and low-hanging trees and the drone had appeared above this very area.
Snively yawned and smacked his lips. "Sir, it's late and I doubt we'll find it in the dark. We don't even know what it was."
Robotnik stuffed the photos in his pocket and rounded on Snively, but a pair of voices cut him off. He yanked Snively lower into the bushes and squatted as much as his girth allowed.
Two figures came up the road. A candle held in one's hand lit up Vanilla's and Vector's faces. Vanilla held the candle and kept moving her hands to the bulky baskets of food Vector held.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," he said in a grunt. He hefted the baskets up higher, nearly tipped them, and steadied himself, taking long strides to the house. "Just open the door, please."
She rushed up the steps and held the door for him. "You can set them there," she said, pointing beside the entryway. He set the baskets down and stiffened, an audible pop! reached Robotnik and Snively. Vanilla covered her mouth. "Are you okay?"
"Never better." His raspy voice betrayed him, but he stood up, pain washing over his grimace and bowed robotically. "Anything else?"
"No, you've done more than enough. Thank you," she said, smiling at him. They lingered there like a pair of wallflowers, rocking on their heels and quickly gazing at something else whenever they caught each other's eyes.
Vector coughed into his hand. "I suppose I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yes, see you tomorrow," she said. Yet they continued to stand there, both of them in no hurry to end the night. They seemed to be waiting for something. Robotnik rolled his eyes and shifted his legs. This position was starting to cramp his thighs and dirt stained his jacket.
Suddenly, Snively sneezed into his hand, muffling it as much as possible, and went still when Robotnik glared at him. Vector and Vanilla looked out their way, puzzled by the noise.
"Don't move," Robotnik whispered. Several tense seconds passed as Vanilla and Vector stepped out onto the porch, peering into the night. A squirrel ran by and an owl hooted in the distance. They took those as signs that all was well and forgot about the noise.
"I better get back," Vector said, stepping carefully down the stairs. His face, now turned from Vanilla, went through a range of agonizing expressions with every step. "Got a lot of work tomorrow."
"Vector?" Vanilla followed him. "Has there been any news about Cream?"
He sighed and shook his head. Vanilla fiddled with the hem of her dress. "Sorry. We're doing everything we can."
"I know you are and I appreciate it." She gave him another smile and pecked his cheek. A goofy half-grin formed on his lips, then disappeared as he took her hands.
"We'll get her back. Don't you worry." They gazed at one another for another long moment, then broke apart, bidding one another good night. Once Vanilla was in the house and Vector long down the road, Robotnik and Snively stood up.
"Finally!" Snively stretched his back and wiped his snotty hand on his pants. "I thought they'd never stop making moony eyes at each other." Robotnik clubbed him with his telescope. "Ow! What? I have allergies!" He clubbed him again. "Sir, it's not my fault the stupid drone isn't out." A third time shut him up.
Stroking his mustache, Robotnik looked at the photos again. It was unlikely they would find the drone tonight. It may not even be out at night. Might have to recharge.
"I guess I'll check this place out tomorrow morning," he said.
"Good," Snively said, yawning. "This has been a complete waste of time."
Robotnik glanced at the cabin. "Oh, I wouldn't say that." Snively trumped ahead of him through the bushes. "And where do you think you're going?"
"To bed."
"No, you're not." He grabbed him and planted the short man firmly in the midst of the bushes. "Stay here and keep an eye out for that drone. If it comes back, I want to know about it. Come get me if it does. I'll be back early in the morning."
Snively stomped his foot. "But sir, why not have a drone watch this place? Or your guards?"
"Because they need to charge," Robotnik said. "Now stay here and don't let me catch you wandering off. Got it?" Groaning and mumbling to himself, Snively nodded and Robotnik missed the evil eyes he cut at him. "Good. And stay alert. Don't let me catch you napping either."
"Aye, aye, sir," he said with a mock salute and a tired sigh. Robotnik whacked him again. "Ouch! I'm awake! I'm awake!"
"Just checking," Robotnik said, and he left Snively and returned to the office, ready for a well-deserved rest.
Cream sat on the roof the next morning, guiding the Scout Master in a lazy flyby of her house. It was too early for her mother to be up, but she wanted some peace and quiet from Rouge's snoring.
Last night, when Miles came down for dinner, he was preoccupied and quiet, more so than usual. Cream let him have his peace throughout the meal, supposing he was concocting some design for the Love Harness. However, it continued through their experiments that night and while building a new design of the Love Harness. When she prodded him for any conversation, he grunted or gave one-word answers.
"So, this one should work?" she would ask, handing him a tool.
"Should," he would say.
"Good. You'll be back to your old self soon." And a heavy grunt followed that sounded like it agreed.
The orange sky rose for the sun like an eyelid opening and blinded her. She sighed. There was something amiss. She had been getting along so well with him.
She almost missed her mother leaving the house and feeding the horse. She snapped a picture of her and watched her mill around the yard for a few minutes before Vanilla went back into the house. She would cook breakfast, clean for an hour, then head into town, regular as clockwork.
Her thoughts drifted back to the prince. They had close to three weeks now. Maybe he was stressed? But something didn't seem right. She figured she should try to talk to him.
Cream left the Scout Master hovering around the cabin. It could stay there for an hour or so and she would track her mother later. She traipsed down the stairs, planning how to broach the subject with the prince. On her way, she heard a commotion from her room. The door was ajar and she pushed it open a little further.
Inside, Knuckles waddled back and forth, flapping his cupboard doors. "I told you to scram!" he said to Rouge.
"And how am I supposed to go anywhere?" she asked. "I can't move like you can."
"I'll throw you out," he said.
"And let me get real cozy with that emerald you keep?" He fumed and stomped harder. "That'll go nice with my collection in here."
"You give those back!" he said, coming closer, but flailing his doors in vain. "Those belong to the prince!"
"He has enough jewels."
"I'll get Sonic to get them back."
"I'd like to see him try," she said. "I'll bite him if I have to!" She snapped her lid shut for emphasis.
As they argued, Cream backed away and cleared the rest of the stairs. Definitely don't come on that strong. When she entered the foyer, she came across a pair of servants: a black dustpan with an extendable robotic hand on its handle that lifted carpets and rolled along a trashcan, and an orange broom with brown bristles that excitedly swept more dust into the air than into the pan.
The dustpan coughed. "Watch it, you stick," he said in a hateful voice.
"Excuse me," Cream asked. "Have either of you seen the prince?"
"He's down the hall," the broom said, giddy and atwitter. "I hear he's gonna make us all normal again!"
"No hope for you," the dustpan said under his breath.
"I can't wait!" The broom kicked up dust and the dustpan coughed more, swearing and swatting at her.
Cream searched the hall, room by room, and soon heard voices coming from the library. She entered and found Sonic and Miles. "What did you do? Yell at her again?"
"No."
"Oh, you tried to confess but got tongue-tied?"
"No! No, no, no! Not at all."
"Methinks thou doth protest too much."
"No." The prince shook his head, burying his large snout in a book. "It's just this Love Harness." He groaned and Sonic patted his back with his hose. Cream stole up the staircase and to the balcony overlooking their table, staying low and out of sight.
"Hey, it's okay. We all know you got this." That didn't seem to make the prince happier. If anything, his face fell further.
Amy came to life, surprising Cream. Then again, she wondered how oblivious she had been to not notice the oven at the corner of the table. "Hey," she shoved Sonic aside with a bump and a warning look, then softened as a tea kettle jumped from her stovetop and refilled Miles' cup. "Don't stress yourself. We know you're doing the best you can."
"Thanks," he nodded and sipped his tea. He pushed one book aside and grabbed another and for a long while, the conversation died. Cream sat back, frustrated at another dead end.
"Can I ask you two a question?" Miles said suddenly. "If you could do something that would help a lot of people you care about, would you do it?"
"Yeah," Amy said.
"Course we would," Sonic added.
"Even if it came at a price?"
"Like if I had to give up something? Sure," Sonic said.
However, Amy was more keen on the uptake and peered at Miles. "Like something bad?"
"Well," he cleared his throat, "let's just say there's a consequence."
"To you?"
"Just in general. And it's a fairly big one. Would you do it?" Sonic and Amy exchanged unsure glances. "I mean, it's helping people. And say it's the only way to help these people."
"Tails," Sonic said, laying his hose on his hand. "Whatever you're thinking about doing, don't do it."
"Tails," Amy said, coming from the other side, "don't rush this. That's what happened before and look what happened to everyone. There's always another way to approach a problem. Clear your head and don't panic, okay?" She smiled and pushed against him in what Cream assumed to be some sort of hug, holding him to her bosom of an oven door. "You're doing your best and no one can ask for more."
"Yeah, man," Sonic wrapped his hose around both of them. "We'll figure something else out. All of us. Don't sweat it."
Miles' back was to Cream, so she couldn't see his reaction. But he stood up, breaking off the embrace, and shuffled out of the library with a face as heavy as his gait. "He's pushing himself too hard," Amy said, moaning. "We're pushing him too hard too." She nudged Sonic. "You can't pressure him."
"Hey!" he raised his hose defensively. "I wasn't trying to! I was going for encouragement!"
She looked after Miles. "What do you think he meant by all that?"
"I don't know," Sonic said, "but I don't like it."
"You think he has a chance?"
"Yeah, don't you?"
"Yes, but I'm just worried he'll do something rash."
Sonic rolled forward. "I hope for his sake, he finds something before the deadline."
"Why? You don't think he would do something, do you?" she asked.
"I don't know. I hope not. At the very least, he'll take it really hard."
Amy joined him with a sigh. "I better get back and start dinner."
"And I'd better get to cleaning the foyer."
Before they were out of hearing, she asked, "What did you mean about Tails confessing?"
He chuckled. "Why do you think?" An audible gasp and then Cream couldn't hear their conversation.
Standing, Cream now had a partial answer. The Love Harness. Something bothered Miles about it. Something potentially dangerous? She set her sights on his study. She would have to sneak in again, this time without anyone knowing. Even Sonic or Amy.
Robotnik peered through his telescope, perplexed by the drone in the sky. It had stopped moving a couple of hours ago and was stock still. Vanilla had already left the cabin and went to town and the drone hadn't followed her, leaving him, Snively, and his pair of robotic guards alone with it. All the same, every time the robots whirred, Robotnik shushed them.
Every now and then, Snively kept dozing off and falling against the robots or Robotnik and would be shoved off. He hadn't slept all night and grew more irritated by the second. "Can we please shoot it now?" he asked.
"Something's not right," Robotnik said. "Why would they leave it in plain sight?"
"Maybe they went to bed," Snively said, biting a yawn. "What's the big deal? It's right there."
"The big deal is we don't know what kind of weapons it has," he said. "It could be aiming at us. Or if we shoot it, we could activate some countermeasure."
That woke Snively up and he ducked lower in the bushes as if it would help. "Then what do we do?"
Robotnik pointed to one of his guards. "You, get on the path." It stepped out of the bushes and stood out in the open, in full view of the drone. Robotnik scanned for any change. Nothing. He ordered the robot out further and still the drone didn't react. Even when his guard was next to the cabin's steps, there was still no movement.
"I guess it is idle," he said and scratched his chin. "You," he said to the other guard, "over there." He pointed to a bundle of trees beside a fence and the robot marched, forming a triangle with its brother and Robotnik.
"What now?" Snively asked.
Robotnik withdrew a rifle from his coat and loaded a couple of shells into it. He lined up several aiming sights on the top, adjusting them until satisfied. "Take aim!" he said. The robots raised their own rifles and Robotnik flipped a switch above his trigger. The barrel of the gun extended half a foot and he squinted one eye, looking down the sights.
"Ready!" He had the drone dead to rights and cocked his rifle. Beside him, Snively covered his head. A bead of sweat dripped into Robotik's eye and his finger inched to the trigger.
A moment's breath, then, "Fire!" He squeezed the trigger and three shots went off all around the area. Robotnik and Snively dove behind their own trees and waited for any retaliation. But all they heard was a heavy thunk! nearby.
They peered out. The guards still stood with their rifles aiming in the sky at nothing. On the ground, the drone sputtered and crackled out of three clean holes through its shell.
Robotnik stepped out first. He approached the drone carefully and prodded it with his rifle. It whined, but otherwise, didn't do anything. He returned his gun to his coat and lifted the drone. It was fairly heavy and of a sleek design.
However, what fascinated him more was the circuitry inside. Already, he could tell the machine was advanced beyond his own technology. The work of a true artist, someone to be admired, and a perfect rival to his own work. He picked a scrap of a destroyed part out of the drone, turning it over and over. "Amazing," he said breathlessly.
"Sir?" Snively asked. "Is it safe?"
"Yes, yes," Robotnik said, digging through the drone for more parts like a kid with a candy bowl.
"Everything is good then?"
"Good?" His mind raced with all the possibilities, all the useful inventions he could craft with this technology. The robots, the machines, the weapons. He held the drone up, smiling at his own reflection in it. "Everything is perfect."
A/N: And that ends that chapter.
Sword: Ooo, I can't wait to see more!
Pen: Found you! *tackles her and throws her into a wall*
I'm going to step aside. But as always, we thank you for reading and ask that you please let us know what you think of the story so far. We hope you enjoyed it.
Pen: *chokes Sword* I have a million dollars in overdraft fees! And you're going to pay them!
Sword: *kicks him off* But wouldn't that make you a…draft dodger?
Pen: AAAAGH!