Chapter Thirty-Five - Waves
(…)
Tails stood looking out over Sky Babylon as the sun began it's decent from the sky.
The wing blew through his fur and he closed his eyes from the sudden sweep of cold over him.
A warm tingling came to his arm followed by an even warmer touch as Cream moved closer.
She rested her head on Tails' shoulder making him nuzzle his own head against her's.
"Ten minutes..." Tails breathed, "Then we get to go home..."
Blaze looked at the four orbs arranged in a perfect circle.
"Why did we have to come all the way UP here...?" Blaze asked again.
Silver pulled her closer and she calmed down a bit.
"From my calculations, this place corresponds with Angel Island in our dimension. So until we can set up the gate at that end, we will end up moving in dimension but not space." Tails explained not moving from his spot with Cream.
"Never thought we'd be drudging round this ol' place again..." Marine said looking at the ruins with a half smile.
Charmy just hummed a small tune to himself.
"Going to be one heck of a new venture, once I get a ship an all..." Marine continued.
Ten minutes passed so fast nobody actually expected it to come.
Things seemed much more likely that they would just skip over it without anything occurring, but they didn't.
A small timer let out a small beep that was quickly drowned out by the massive roar of the machinery springing to life.
"Going to be a heck of a time to move all this..." Silver commented as he looked at the machines working away.
"You won't have to, once the gate is set up you will be able to put the orbs anywhere and the gateway will be supported by the ambient energy from the different dimensions." Tails smiled as Cream pulled him closer.
"So what all do we need to do once it's working?" Silver asked and Tails turned with his arm wrapping around Cream.
I would suggest moving it to the capital, we could easily set ours up at Mystic ruins so I can check up on it and anyone can hop a train or boat to where they're headed"
"what didn't you think of?" Cream asked him playfully.
Tails looked at his feet for a minute before pulling out the four spare orbs for their dimension.
"We have nine orbs here, and hopefully three more back home... but i'll have to find them and set them up before the gate will work."
"Is that a problem mate?" Marine asked concerned.
"Only for me... it will take me a minute to get from Angel Island to the cliff where Eggman sent us off from, if I can find those orbs, we're fine... otherwise the gates would have to stay alined or they would only be one way tickets." Tails walked slowly up to the four orbs as they began to show every color imaginable.
Blue pulses gripped Tails and he clung to the pack with the other five orbs.
The pulses turned to purple and Tails felt his fur being pulled at lightly.
"Once I stabilize these extra orbs, assuming I find the first three, we should be able to move the gates, but until I get back, don't try to send anything th"
The green waves made Tails body shake and cut him off as he faded from sight.
Cream moved forward a bit with her smile showing.
"How long will it take?" Charmy asked looking around.
"Knowing Tails... and what he said about time differences... About five minutes..." Cream said with her smile widening.
Silver levitated a small pocket watch up and checked it.
"Four fifty three..." he red out the remaining time.
Below them a couple hundred feet was solid air, just flowing as expected.
Below that sat a small nearly unnoticeable island.
It sat in it's place, unaware of what was going on above it's misleading caves.
All that troubled it, among all that could, were small, simple rivulets of water washing against it's shores as waves.
(…)
Tails felt his entire world pop as if he had been squeezed out of a tube of toothpaste.
A moment of weightlessness came over him the same time that his feet hit hard ground as if it had rushed up upon him.
He crashed to his knees with his breath wrenched from his lungs.
Tails coughed for a second before a strong hand pulled him from the ground.
"You have a second to say something before someone get's really angry" a deep voice sounded as Tails tried to look around.
Before he could get his mind to work he was spun from the source only glimpsing a few streaks of green.
The next image how ever came in crystal clear and it scared him half to death.
Vanilla walked up to him with a smile on her face.
"Please dear... tell me Cream will be here in a minute?" She asked.
Tails was dropped to his feet by Vector.
"How... but... how did you know..." Tails scrambled for a way to make sense.
A familiar chuckle made him turn to see an all to familiar shade of blue.
"These things let us see where the fourth orb was... so we've been checking up on you guys for the past month and a half..." Sonic said with the three orbs stacked atop his one finger, spinning away in perfect balance.
"The orbs... this is perfect!" Tails shouted before he was pulled back.
"I'm sorry but you said Cream was coming, correct?" Vanilla's smile made Tails shiver.
He dropped his ears and his tails fell still.
"Not yet... I need to make everything safe..." Tails saw Vanilla's smile become more genuine.
"What do you need?" Amy asked cheerily.
Tails moved to Sonic and grabbed the orbs.
"Three minutes and I could really go for" he stopped as a small object bounced off his head.
Tails grabbed the object as it fell and smiled, "A mint..."
"I remembered" Amy said with a soft smile.
Tails placed the orbs around in a circle, joining the four original ones and producing the other four spares.
"With these, I can tune them into the other dimension perfectly, they've been to both and I can tap into the other dimensions sequence..." Tails spoke more to himself then anyone.
"Charmy didn't get in too much trouble did he?" Espio asked as Tails worked.
"Well... he did... he nearly died, risked his own life, fought in a small war oh and the worse part..." Tails grinned a little as he began his small joke.
Espio slapped a hand to his face, "What did he do now?" Vector asked sullenly.
"He saved a girls life and they're together now" Tails said with a small grin.
Amy squealed a little, "That sounds romantic, another of your foxy plans?"
Tails blushed a little at Amy's look, "No... that uh... was a one time thing..."
"Look, lets finish this later, everyone isn't home yet..." Vector said making everyone quiet down.
Knuckles stood off against a pillar, still silent.
"I guess you're going to need something for power?"
Tails turned with a surprised look.
"The Master Emerald, Knuckles, never let anyone call you an idiot again!" Tails shouted as Knuckles pointed back at the large green emerald atop the altar just a small distance away.
"Don't give him all the credit, old Knucklehead didn't know you guys had gone until we asked him about the emerald last week" Sonic snickered.
"THATS CAUSE YOU WOULDN'T TELL ME!" Knuckles roared back raising his fist at Sonic.
Tails just began flying to the altar steps.
He placed two of the extra orbs next to steps before running back to the other four.
"GET BACK HERE!" Knuckles was shouting as he chased Sonic around.
"Glad to see not much changed while I was gone..." Tails chuckled before moving to the center of the circle.
"Here I go" Tails smiled as he saw the orbs begin to light up.
The colors of the pulses changed as the two orbs at the altar glowed a bright crimson.
He felt his fur being pulled upward again as the purple began to shift to green.
He looked back at his friends as he began to fade, them sending him off with beaming smiles and waves.
(…)
"One twenty four..." Silver counted out.
"We know" Blaze said with a small smile as she pulled the watch from the air.
A grim feeling swept over Tails as he landed for the second time.
Everyone looked at him with smiles spreading.
"It's all set" Tails said placing the other two orbs around the existing circle.
Cream ran up to him and jumped on him just as he set the second orb down.
Tails fell to the ground with a smile.
He let the kisses rain upon him with laughter in his heart.
Cream's lips caressed every inch of his face before finding his lips and cutting off his light laughter.
Tails pulled lightly at her back inching her closer so they could deepen the embrace.
Cream opened her mouth more and explored Tails mouth with her tongue.
Tails fought back trying to reach Cream's own mouth but she was pressing her tongue against his furiously.
Cream pulled back for air and Tails moved forward as she inhaled.
Her soft breathing turned to a sharp gasp as Tails teeth brushed against her neck as his lips caressed her skin.
Tails moved up and kissed Cream on the lips as she tried to overcome the surprise.
He licked his tongue across her lips and they slip open without protest and it was now his turn to explore her mouth.
She felt her lungs press forth what little air she had in a moan before her mind took a short break just to enjoy the sensation.
Charmy buzzed forward with Marine in his arms.
"Don't mean to be an interruption" he began before Marine pulled him closer.
"They're busy mate, use the moment" She said with a wink before her lips met his.
Tails and Cream soon broke from each other with heavy panting.
"Time to go..." Tails said as he helped Cream to her feet.
"Don't forget the wedding is in a few days" Blaze said as the two looked back from the circle.
Tails looked into Cream's eyes as he moved to the center of the ring.
He extended his hand as the blue pulses started.
Cream grabbed it and twirled into him like a dancer.
The purple pulses held them locked there as the orbs glowed brightly.
"We won't..." Cream said as the green pulses pulled them from the Sol dimension.
They landed and the pulses released them of their hold.
The held momentum of Cream spinning into Tails sent them both for a quick spin as they got their bearings.
A figure rushed forward and pulled Cream from Tails arms.
She protested for a minute before seeing her mother smiling at her.
"OH CREAM!" Vanilla had no other words for the occasion and instead resorted to a solid stream of tears.
Tails frowned a bit at the loss of Cream's touch but quickly smiled as Vanilla pulled him into the hug.
"And you made sure she got back safe!" Vanilla dragged the words from the deep reaches of her mind as if it was the hardest sentence she'd ever said.
Vector grabbed them all and lifted them in his strong grip.
"Thanks for making us a family again you little genius..." The croc began to tear up himself.
Their small celebration ended as a flash of light signaled the next arrival from the other dimension.
Marine jumped from Charmy's arms and wobbled a bit.
Charmy rushed to steady her.
"I feel like i'm seasick... that just won't do one bit..." She muttered before looking around.
"MARINE!" Sonic nearly fell to the ground.
Amy looked at Sonic with a pang in her heart.
"You know her?" Amy asked, her hammer conveniently already ready.
"No, I mean yeah... I just... Tails said Charmy saved a girl and they were together... I just didn't figure on her..." Sonic raised his hands up immediately.
"He was a mate on my crew back a set of years, he bore witness to the great adventures of Captain Marine first hand!" Marine said proudly.
"But what are you doing here?" Sonic blurted out.
"Charmy here is my new first mate and of course I couldn't pass up the chance of a whole new world to explore, there will be heaps of adventures yet to come!"
"Welcome Ms. Marine" Vanilla said as she tried to dry her tears.
Espio walked up to Charmy with his hand behind his back.
"Uh... you aren't still mad about the shuriken are you?" Charmy asked seeing his serious face.
Espio looked him straight in the face before pulling out a small package and handing it over.
"Huh?" Charmy said before digging into it.
"There you go, your own ninja training kit, now you can stop playing with my stuff" Espio smiled.
"Maybe you can learn to grow up if I actually try" Espio was cut off as he dodge a kunai.
"CUT IT OUT!" he yelled at Charmy who just laughed.
"Good, I thought you might have changed, here..." Charmy laughed as he handed the kit back.
"It's more fun to play with your stuff!" he grinned like an idiot.
Espio just returned his hand to his face.
Vector walked over with a soft laugh in his throat.
"Nice to have you all back, and looks like we've even got a new member for the agency!" Vector said casting a glance at Marine.
Charmy was about to say something when a bright flash made them all turn.
"What now?" Knuckles asked shielding his eyes.
Out stepped a sight of surprise to all.
"We were going to let them tell you... but how many chances do you get..." Silver started as he looked around at the mostly strangers.
"You've all been invited to a royal wedding, in four days." Blaze said with a soft purr as she moved closer to Silver.
Everyone stood there in stunned silence until a fit of laughter filled the air from one of them.
Everyone turned to Sonic to see him nearly fall to the ground.
"You guys go on an adventure with out me and it sounds like something I would have jumped at the chance for!" Sonic kept on laughing as everyone looked at him.
Sonic took a breath before continuing his laughter.
"Man you guys know how to make some waves!"
(…)
End of Act Four - Home
(…)
Another chapter and another ending.
Act four is complete and our heroes are home...
I will probably be taking a small break between this and Act five but it shouldn't be too long.
I'll go let myself hum happily... yes happily...
I'm so glad all of you have read this far and I hope that you will stick around for the last act of my best story.
I say best as it has just as many favorites as Beast By Moonlight and I actually managed to have a story with more then just plot, but complicated, thinking, mysterious, romantic, wondrous, fantastical elements I couldn't have imagined using before...
Now I shall leave you...
(…)
Good Night, Live Life, And There Is A Bit Less... But Still Much To Do!
-One Psychopathic Maniacal Fox