"Are we there yet?" Those were the annoyed words of the blue-haired hero, traveling with his friend Tails through the bounds of the Mystic Ruins. "Just a little further," he heard his enthusiastic friend speak from a short distance. "The radar's picking up strong signals around this same area. Hurry up, Sonic. Don't dawdle behind." Sonic let out an unhappy groan and exhaled. "Fine, fine," he said. "Just wish you'd hurry up and tell me where it is so I can get it." Seconds after he finished his sentence, the radar began flashing violently. Tails looked to his feet, for there was a Chaos Emerald on the right one. "Oh! Here it is!" His arm reached for the emerald, but before he could grab it, something suddenly pushed him away, causing him to land on the ground. "Ouch!" he exclaimed. "What the hell was that!" Sonic hurried to his friend's side and aided him back to his feet. They both saw that the emerald was simply sitting there, untouched by the hands of man for quite a while. Suddenly, the emerald shaped into a small metal box, grew little propellors and began to fly back towards Station Square. Baffled and clueless, the two friends slowly turned their heads to face each other. "What just happened?"
A small sign began to rise from the dirt, and it was flashing the words, "Come to our latest resort, Casinopolis!" Tails had to think for a minute, then he remembered something important. "Casinopolis is that new top-class casino that was built almost right across from that hotel in Station Square! Maybe that's where the emerald...umm...'flew off' to!" Sonic grinned at his friend and started to noogie him. "I'm just glad we have that little brain of yours!" he laughed. He started running back to the train station to get away from Tails' playful anger. "I don't have a little brain!" he shouted on the way back. They took the train and arrived at Station Square within the hour. It was already sunset before they got there, so it was time to hit the casino. For a few minutes, they just kind of stood there...a little blank as to what to do next. "Sooooo...ummmm..." Tails couldn't think of anything, which was surprising. Sonic suddenly thought of an idea to get in. "Hey, Tails..." he said. Tails looked a little nervous, but when he saw his friend take a few steps and to the door, he suddenly felt really stupid. "Y'know, we could just..." Sonic said, placing his hand lightly on the button to open the door. Pressing it, Tails couldn't feel more ashamed of himself. Sonic grinned. "Walk in."
The place was flashing with seizure-inducing lights and the tables were surrounded with people, ranging anywhere between the ages of 21 to 34. Women dressed in bunny costumes were practically littered around the place, and their outfits were so revealing that they were barely 20% covered. Tails couldn't help but feel a little...well, out of place. Even though he was a high school student, and you'd expect him to have a Lifesword in his pants by now, he was more embarrassed and ashamed than excited and aroused. Sonic glanced over at his friend, and he lit with a wide grin. "Virgin," he played. Tails, almost immediately after the comment, snapped out of his shame and punched Sonic in the face. "So what!" he detested. "Not like YOU'VE done anything better!" Sonic's cheeks turned a little red as he got back on his feet. "Y-Yeah, sure..." he hesitated. "Uhh, anyways...Let's look around!"
The two friends split up, searching every corner of the resort for any signs of the emerald. Sonic's first stop was the chip booth, where numerous prizes were set up for those who had the chips. Along the way, he was ambushed by a group of bunny girls, who kept ranting about how adorable his cheeks were and how they'd like to eat him up...you know, stuff like that. Tails' first stop was, of course, the shower room. He wasn't even thinking when he started pulling curtains and looking inside. Even though, almost every time he did, he was forced to let out a static "Sorry!" and close the curtains, moving along to the next shower, only to do the same. You could say it wasn't his GREATEST experience. Finally, Tails returned to the main room, a wide crimson on his face. His eyes averted downwards to hide from the sight of others. Sonic returned to his friend, and he witnessed his eyes and grew concerned. "Hey, what's wrong, Tails?" he asked. The yellow-haired teen shuttered, and he grew a disturbed look on his face. "That's the LAST time I ever start my search in the shower room!" he declared.
"Why'd you start there in the first place?" played Sonic. "Well, whatever. I got some info." Tails blinked at his friend. "Wait...so, YOU get information...but I don't? This sucks...I'm starting to think you're smarter than me sometimes..." Sonic started rubbing the back of his head. "Nah, I'm just better at getting answers! Anyways, I heard that there's a one-time prize here in Casinopolis. If we can collect 4,000 chips, we can turn them into the prize chamber ahead and collect the Chaos Emerald!" Tails clapped his hands in a playful yet taunting manner. "Congratulations! You're not so useless, huh?" Sonic noogied his friend and made him laugh. "Of course not!" The two then began to compose a plan to collect chips quickly. There were plenty of games to play to find the chips, but there had to be one in particular that gave out a healthy amount. There ended up being one: NIGHTS Into Dreams.
"Hey, this one looks promising." Sonic pointed to the giant head of the fabled NIGHTS, the famous icon of Casinopolis. Tails looked up to see the entirety of the massive head. "Oh, right...NIGHTS! NIGHTS even has his own TV show called NIGHTS Into Dreams...of course, there's a Casino attraction named after it!" This comment actually phased the blue-haired teen. "Umm...how did you know there was a TV show based off of NIGHTS?"
"Umm...it's actually a cartoon."
"Uh-huh..."
"...What? Is something wrong?"
"Dude, you're fifteen. Still watching cartoons?"
Tails slapped Sonic on the back of the head. "Okay, sorry!" he played. "Well, whatever the case, let's get to work!" Tails was the first to try the game, but to his dismay, he wasn't very good at it. In fact, he lost within the first round. He didn't receive any chips. But when Sonic's turn came around, he was practically born to gamble. In fact, he ended up getting farther than anyone has ever gotten before: Round 90, which was actually the final round! The entire crowd of people in the casino were speechless to see such talent, and they began clapping and cheering behind Sonic as he continued to win chips. However, unbeknowst to him, he had already won a whopping 6,054 chips, which was more than enough to get the emerald. So, Tails slowly tiptoed past the crowd of people with enough chips to get the emerald, purchased it, and tugged on Sonic's shoulder to let him know it was time to go. "Not yet, just a couple more minutes," he would hear Sonic say every time he tugged on his shoulder. His reaction was always in the same tone of voice, too...It's as if he was a zombie. Eventually, Tails managed to lunge Sonic out the door and finally get him out of the clutches of a casino game.
"Thanks," Sonic blurted, "I needed that...It was so...addicting!" Tails laughed at his friend's distaste. "Well, you must be a natural-born gambler!" he joked. "Anyway, we got the emerald, so we don't need to be here anymore. Let's go-" Before he could finish his sentence, a small black ball suddenly tapped him on the foot. When his eyes met with it, the ball suddenly spread out, revealing a shiny, polished internal mainframe, along with eight holes that suddenly started to exude some kind of gas. It was a type of sleeping gas! Within seconds, the two heroes were down on their knees, coughing and wheezing, trying their best to stay awake. "Damn...!" coughed Tails. "What...is this...?" That was all he could say before he passed out on the ground, and Sonic followed shortly after. Afterwards, a hooded man in a stained white cloak appeared. Bending down to his knees, he shifted through the pockets of the young teenage braniac, scoring the Chaos Emerald they had worked so hard to obtain. The man ran off from the scene, unknowingly dropping a sort of tracking device on the ground. It was in the same shape as Robotnik's signature logo, the one he places on all of his evil creations.
It was morning by the time the heroes awoke from their forced sleep. Sonic was the first to rise, confused and a little frustrated as to what happened. He began to tug on Tails' clothes, eventually waking him up and causing him to arise. As soon as he stood on his two feet once again, he felt an unexpected draft in his pockets. As he began searching through them, he felt that the emerald was missing. "No!" he exclaimed. "Where the hell is it!" Sonic suddenly grew angry. "Lemme guess; the emerald's missing?" he shouted. "Damn! That gas HAD to be Robotnik! He just stole the emerald...Now, he's got three!" Tails brushed off his pants and turned to face his friend. "That means three to none, and that's NOT good. C'mon, Sonic! Let's get back to the Mystic Ruins and see if we can't find anything!" Sonic nodded, and with that said, the two friends began dashing towards the Mystic Ruins, hoping that they could once again obtain an emerald...and this time, keep it. Three down...only four more to go!