Yay! What's gonna happen next?
Chapter 20
After the Ball
(Alley's POV)
I stared at the small box a servant had just brought to mine and Amy's room, swallowing nervously.
"What could it be?" Amy inquired, peering over my shoulder. She seemed to be in higher spirits then she'd been in quite a while.
"I've no idea," I murmured. "There's a card."
She snatched it, opening it quickly. As she read, her smile spread. "Oh, gosh, we've fooled him good, Alley!"
I took the card from her and found that it was from my father. He'd promised to thank me for bringing Sonic around and here was his gift of gratitude. Yet I still had my doubts. Were it something even partially threatening, everyone would have to run away immediately.
Carefully, I slid open the box and gasped. Diamonds and rubies glinted ostentatiously, layered generously on the necklace before me. I lifted it from the box, amazed by the sheer extravagance of it. The only other time I'd ever received something like this had been when I had laughed at a poor beggar while riding about the city with my father. He'd been so pleased I'd been given a brooch heavily decorated with a rainbow assortment of jewels.
Later, however, I'd gone back and had given the man a pair of diamond earrings. My father had never noticed the loss and the man had wept with joy.
"We have fooled him," I realized. "Your friends are true miracle workers."
"Didn't I tell you?" She threw her arms around me, laughing. "Didn't I tell you everything would be all right?"
"Yes…Yes, you did."
Soon…
Tails passed some sort of laser across the necklace, the box, and the card in search of any listening devices. One couldn't be careful, of course.
"Well?" Sonic demanded.
"There's nothing." The fox grinned. "Absolutely nothing. We've got him right in the palm of our hands."
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Shadow stare at his hand. Then, with the smallest of smiles gracing his features, he curled that hand into a fist. I smiled at him, understanding and appreciating the gesture.
And then he leaned against a wall with a deep sigh. "Three weeks until we return to Mobius, then."
"Back to civilization," Rouge added, lounging in a chair.
My smile faded a bit. In three weeks' time, Shadow would be out of my life forever.
"Alley?" Amy placed a hand over mine. "What is it?"
"I…I suppose I'll miss you. I've grown rather fond of you lot." Which was the truth, of course. Just not the whole truth.
(Shadow's POV)
I looked down with another sigh. Three weeks was all I had left with Allison. Well, that was fine. I didn't need anymore time. In fact, the sooner we left the better.
"We could come an visit," Cream interjected, breaking into my thoughts. "With you as queen, this planet would be much better for that."
My head snapped up. No. No, no, no. I couldn't return once we left! Seeing Allison…
Scowling, I looked away once again. What the devil was I worried over, anyway? There was no reason at all for such fears. After returning to Mobius, I would have the distance required to study these experiences from an objective angle. Surely once I was away from Allison these foolish emotions would evaporate.
I heard her laugh a something Cream said and felt my heart constrict painfully. Certainly I only needed distance. Certainly…
(Tails's POV)
I blushed, staring hard at my feet. Had Cream really had to just announce that our fake relationship wasn't so fake? Desperate for something to take my mind off of my embarrassment, I searched for the note Star had given me earlier.
Seriously. Something's going on up there and I reserve the rights to it when you guys get back home. And, speaking of home, I should get back to Mobius tonight. I can check up on Eggman, see if he's up to something using my amazing power of…knowing people. I'm sure I can get someone to blow up his base if he's already rebuilt it, slow him down some more. Anyway, send me an e-mail so I know how to reach you. Knuckles knows the address. I'll keep y'all updated on the Eggman front and you give me deets about the Freesia situation. Lots of love!
"What's that?" Sonic asked, looking over my shoulder.
"A message from Star. Knuckles, you have her e-mail?"
He rattled it off while I pulled up e-mail on my laptop and Sonic smirked. "Already thinking of other girls?" he asked me.
Tongue in cheek. "Are you?"
"Ah…" Satisfied that all attention was currently on Sonic, I suppressed a laugh and fired off a quick message to Star.
Got your message. I'll keep you updated as well as I can. OFF THE RECORD. Anything about Eggman would be appreciated. Be careful. –Tails
I hit "send" just as something to the far side of the screen caught my attention. I slid the headphones on and watched Shift ordering a guard. "Go fetch Sonic the Hedgehog, will you? As well as Sir Quarry the Rat. The three of us have things to discuss."
"Yes, Your Majesty." The guard bowed and left the room.
The king tapped his fingers together, smiling softly. "This should be quite amusing," he murmured.
I yanked off the headphones. "Shift's sending a guard up here to get Sonic. He wants to talk to you and Quarry."
"What?" Sonic whined.
"Why?" Shadow demanded.
"I don't know, but he expects it to 'quite amusing.'"
"Damn…" Sonic sighed, shoving his hands into the pockets of the pants he still wore. "I thought I was done with that for tonight."
Shadow frowned. "This could be very bad. If you slip up even once–"
"I won't," Sonic interrupted, his eyes on Amy's. "I know what's at stake. So how close is the guard, Tails?"
"On the stairs already."
"Okay. Get me up there. I'll have to close the trap door and stuff. Can it be opened from down here?"
The twins both nodded. "Yes," Alley confirmed.
"I grabbed Sonic's hand and lifted him up and into his room. He was frowning deeply. "Hey, I just thought of something… What if he wants to talk about Alley?"
"Why would the king do that?"
"He…Nevermind. You'd better get back down there."
"Yeah." I shuffled my feet. "Good luck, Sonic. And, listen, if you do mess up we've always got Plan B."
"I guess." He gave me a glimmer of his usual grin. "Thanks, pal."
Saluting him, I dropped down to Amy and Alley's room.
Soon enough, I saw Sonic enter the room and smoothly shut the door in the guard's face. He was dressed just as he had been at the ball, minus the tie. "Okay, he's in." I unplugged the headphones and jacked up the volume while everyone crowded around me to watch.
"Hello again, Your Majesty." A simultaneous shiver went up through all of us at Sonic's smooth greeting. Would that ever not creep us out?
"Sit," Shift invited. "Quarry will be here shortly."
Sonic's brow winged up as he settled in the obviously uncomfortable chair. "Will he?"
"Of course." Shift steepled his fingers atop his desk. "I have some information and wish the glean both of your reactions."
"Oh, hell," Shadow muttered behind me.
I have to admit that I even felt a bit nervous. Just what sort of reaction would Sonic need to have?
Uh-oh... Don't fuck it up, Sonic! ! !
And I write fast IRL, which is why that note from me is so long.
Review if you love tator tots! Or eevn if you don't. We'll play pretend.
Next chapter POV's are Sonic, Shadow, Sonic, and Alley.