Mobius: The Final Stand Ch. 21
9:03 am
Somewhere in space…
Raymond zoomed past as he narrowly navigated the space-ship through little bits of asteroids and meteors. It had been about twelve hours since his departure from Newark last night, and he had been on the controls for the entire time. Unfortunately, they didn't have an auto-pilot, so Raymond had to keep himself focused and awake…
The good thing was that first of all, most of his wounds and injuries had healed. Raymond had also found fresh water and food in the ship's fridge, along with a map, that happened to be just a little bit outdated. But Raymond didn't really need a map anyways. He was just fine with travelling wherever he felt like. Only one thing was on his mind…
"The Master Emerald… I've got to find that so I can bring Emily back!" Raymond muttered to himself, half-awake. His eyelids were slowly slipping closed, and he felt incredibly tired. He hadn't gotten any rest since when he had slept in that field outside of Woodberry…
Around him, hazardous chunks of rocks still zoomed past him, some dangerously close. Raymond started to nod off, trying his best to pay attention to driving, but could barely even focus, only driven on by willpower and the desire to bring back his loved one alone… He needed to sleep soon. Or rather, he needed to find a place to stop and sleep. Raymond tried his best to keep his eyes wide open and try to be aware of his surroundings. Planets rushed by him at high velocities, but he took no notice of them. Finally, there! In the distance lay a bright neon sign that read: "Chaotix Café" or something of the sort, though Raymond was too tired to care what it said. He maneuvered his ship towards that direction, grateful he had made it this far without crashing at the condition he was in at the moment.
"Hopefully," Raymond thought to himself as he lowered himself through the atmosphere. "I could ask if I could stay there for the night. Or rather the morning…" As his ship approached the small planet, he checked his fuel tank. It was still fairly full, so he really didn't have much to worry about. He just needed a nice, long rest….
He parked his ship in the back, and hopped out right away. However, as Raymond took his first step, he almost tumbled to the ground; his legs feeling like wobbly jelly, barely able to keep them balance himself.
"Travelling on a space-ship for long periods of time is really hard to get used to…" he noticed tiredly as he took another uncomfortable, treacherous step.
Raymond finally made his way to the front door and pushed it open, almost keeling over as the door swung ajar. He was immediately greeted with loud noises of chatter and music, and the sight of people everywhere, all drinking and eating various items from the menu. On the far corner, a green crocodile was playing a tune on the piano, and a purple lizard ("Chameleon?" Raymond thought to himself.) was cleaning dirty glasses and serving at the bar. A bumble-bee was buzzing around, bringing the drinks to each table. On the far wall, stood a wanted poster, but Raymond didn't take notice of it. He walked tiredly over to the purple chameleon, as Espio glanced at Raymond curiously, then nodded towards the menu lying to the side of him.
"What do you want?" Espio casually asked, ready to serve another potential customer.
"Uhh…" Raymond took a quick glance at the menu. "I'll take a cup of coffee." He dully answered, resting head his on one hand.
As Espio poured the coffee, Raymond suddenly asked him. "Can I speak to the person in charge here?" He hoped that he might be able to bargain with the owner if they let him sleep somewhere. Even a dark closet seemed appealing at he moment…
Espio pointed towards the green crocodile while he got the coffee prepared. "That'll be Vector over there." He answered, handing Raymond the coffee "And that'll be-"
"It's on the house, Espio." Vector called over, still playing a tune on the piano.
Espio frowned, shrugged, and shook his head. "I don't know how we'll stay in business this way…" He muttered to himself while Raymond gratefully took the coffee and got up.
Vector continued playing the piano while Raymond walked over to him, sipping from his coffee. "Whaddya want?" The crocodile asked curiously.
"Are you in charge of this place?" Raymond inquisitively asked in response.
In return, Vector cleared his throat importantly. "Yes, I am in fact!" He stopped playing the piano long enough to attempt to put on a business like face, pulling out a pair of sunglasses from his pocket. "You're speaking to the HEAD of this place, young sir!"
"Uhh.." Raymond just stood there while confused at Vector's antics. "Well do you mind if I could stay here for a few hours. You see, I've been driving for-" As he prepared to explain his long story, Raymond took a closer look at the wanted poster. It was just a bunch of other animals he wouldn't have thought much about, but one of them looked a bit familiar. Raymond pointed at them, indicating for Vector to have a look.
"Who are they?" Raymond asked Vector curiously, who in return looked back at Raymond with a strange expression.
"What does it matter to you?" Vector asked in suspicion. If this guy was with Eggman or the Meterex…
Raymond pointed at the yellow fox. "Him…. He looks sort of familiar…" He tried to explain where his familiarity was coming from.
Vector looked back and forth from the picture of Tails to Raymond. "Yeah, you're right, you two DO look rather similar…"
Raymond shook his head. "No, I mean… there's more of us foxes… it's just that I think I know him from somewhere…"
Vector was surprised at Raymond's answer. "You know Tails?" He asked intriguingly, leaning back in the piano bench, one hand under his chin.
Raymond also leaned back in thought. "Tails… hmm… that somehow sounds oddly familiar…" He tried to piece together his broken memories… Maybe he had heard that name a long time ago?
Vector shrugged casually. "Well, if you're a friend of Tails, then you're a friend of ours! You can stay here as long as you'd like!" He enthusiastically replied.
Raymond grinned in reply. "Cool, thanks!" Then, he noticed something as his grin faded. "But why do you have him on a wanted poster if he's your friend?"
"Uhh.." Vector tried to explain. "One of our enemies, the Meterex, has been fighting us for a while now. They're looking for Sonic and his friends because they keep messing up the Meterex's plans…"
Raymond thought hard as he recognized another familiar term. "The Meterex…? I think I've heard of them too…" Then it hit him. Malcolm's allies! Why were they out here in space? Were they hunting him down?
Vector chuckled. "Wow, you're full of surprises! You know the Meterex too? Maybe you could help us fight them too!"
Raymond nodded slowly, still shaken at the fact that the Meterex were already after him. "Yeah… I'd like that…" Obviously revenge was on his mind.
Suddenly, the red fox yawned as a result of his tiredness, which he had almost forgotten over the course of their conversation. "Wow, I'm really tired…" He mumbled to himself.
Vector got up, leading the way courteously. "Here, you can sleep upstairs." Vector led Raymond up the stairs to a small attic, where there was a small blanket and a pillow lying in the corner. At the moment, it seemed like heaven to Raymond
"Don't worry about the cost, it's all free for anyone on our side." Vector reminded Raymond as he thanked Vector. As Vector headed back downstairs to close up the shop, Raymond plopped on the blanket and tried to go to sleep. He planned to nap for a few hours, get back up, leave, and go search for Tails, whoever he was… finally falling into a long, deep sleep, exhausted. Tomorrow was another day anyways…