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"Finally!" Imp said.
"What, did you find the chaos emerald?" Shelby asked.
"No, I found my bandana!" Imp said, holding out a red cloth.
"Very nice, now can we please get going?" Shelby asked, tapping her foot.
"Alright, I'll go…away from here!" Imp said. "You can get yourself killed by the ghost captain if you want, but I'm out of here."
"Imp, you're impossible, you know that don't you?" Shelby asked, tapping her foot.
"Yeah, well you're nuts to try and go after Scar Blade." Imp said, tying his bandana around his neck.
"This coming from the guy sent Rainbow's choa to-"
Imp covered Shelby's mouth before she could finish.
"Don't even say it!" He snapped. "Look, I'll help ya as long as you don't say it."
"That's a good boy." Shelby said, patting his head.
"Yeah, yeah don't get sappy." Imp said. Shelby only rolled her eyes in response.
"C'mon, we've gotta move it." She said. "We still have a deadline to make."
"Yeah." Imp said, placing his hands behind his head.
Meanwhile…
"He'll what?" Sonic asked Topaz in shock.
"You heard me. He'll kill her if we don't warn her!" Topaz exclaimed.
"But why would he want to kill her?" Sonia asked.
"It's too long of a story, let's just say something happened and now they're both in the other's most hated books. One look at the other and they're fighting tooth and nail." Topaz explained.
"Oh man, they must seriously hate each other." Manic said.
"Hate? HA! That's an understatement! They'd drag the other down to the deepest darkest reaches of the underworld themselves if it would get rid of the other!" Topaz said.
"Man, what he do?" Manic asked.
"Well, let's just say that if it weren't for Tucker, our friend Icy wouldn't be who she is today." Topaz said. "Now come on! We have to hurry! If he so much as sees an exposed point on Shelby, he won't hesitate to kill!"
"Alright, we're coming!" Eddy said. "But I still don't see the big deal is for us to hurry."
"Eddy, if Tucker sees me with you guys, then he'll know that you guys are friends with Shelby, making you his enemy. So he will kill you guys too." Tucker said.
"What?" The Peach Creek kids asked.
"Tucker hasn't just tried to kill Shelby, he's tries to her, me, and our friends! He's attempted to kill them all but, Icy!"
"Why only her?" Sonia asked.
"I think it would be a story you better ask Shelby. She knows the details better then I do." Topaz said, taking to the air. "Now let's move it!"
The royal triplets, Shadow, Tails, Tune, Nova, Knuckles, and the pirates nodded their heads and followed at once but the Peach Creek kids weren't moving. The risks had been raised they themselves could be killed by this nut and just for knowing someone.
"Hey, you guys coming or what?" Manic called.
"Of course we're not!" Kevin snapped. "I'm not ready to end my life!"
"Yeah, how can you guys just charge head first in action even at the risk of losing your own lives?" Nazz asked.
"Well, we're always risking our lives when we fight Robotnik, so it's nothing new to us. Besides, if we don't help, who will?" Sonia answered.
"I guess that makes sense, but what if you don't come back? What then? Who's gonna stop Robotnik?" Eddy asked. "I mean, it might be right, but what if something bad comes from it?"
The triplets looked at him funny.
"What?" He asked.
"Oh, sorry." Sonic said.
"It's just…" Manic couldn't say it.
"Someone we once knew said something like that before." Sonia said.
"Yeah, he was one of the bravest Freedom Fighters anywhere and he was seriously way past cool." Sonic said. "But one day, he said he had to go to somewhere very faraway and he wasn't sure if he would ever come back."
"And if he ever did, it would be a long time." Manic added. "It's been nearly a year now since he left."
"Yeah, and Sonia here had quite the crush on him." Sonic added quickly, causing her to blush.
"You guys can remember about the past later." Shadow hissed. "Shelby and Imp are still in danger or did you forget that?"
"Yeah, yeah, Shad don't have kittens." Sonic said, walking past.
"So what does this Tucker goy look like?" Manic asked.
"Well he-DUCK!" Topaz cried pushing the others down into the underbrush.
"Hey, what's that big id-"
"Shut up, Sonic!" Topaz hissed quietly, slapping her hand over his mouth. "Look up but don't make a sound."
Everyone looked up and saw a very large and dark transport ship taking to the air. But something flashed. It was a mark in the shape of a 'T' written in old fashion quill, totally made in gold.
"That's Tucker's ship." Topaz whispered.
They stayed quiet as the HUGE ship flew over their heads, revealing just how big it really was, hundreds upon hundreds of yards of dark metal but the whole time, Topaz glared at the ship with hate. They waited until it was out of sight before they came out of hiding.
"Whoa, what was that?" Kevin asked.
"That was Tucker's ship, that was his mark on it. If it's gone, then that means he's no longer here." Topaz explained.
"Why'd you push us into the bushes and slap your hand over my mouth?" Sonic asked.
"Because that thing is really good at finding its pray. If we had been out in the open like we had been, we'd have been discovered. They can also pick up noise very well. Heck it was a miracle it didn't catch you when you were talking, Sonic." Topaz said.
"So what you're saying is that this guy is worse then Robotnik?" Manic asked.
"Oh yeah." The young fox said, nodding her head.
"Well, what does he look like?" Sonic asked.
"Funny you should be the one asking Sonic, because he looks just you, only brown were you have blue with a black belly but he doesn't keep his spines as neat." Topaz said.
"Are you serious?" Sonic asked.
"As serious as your mother." Topaz said.
"Whoa, that's deep." Manic said.
"I know. What's even more creepy is that Tucker looks more like our friend Pyro, who has a red stripe on his top spine." Topaz added. "That stripe is one of the few ways we can tell the difference. At least Pyro isn't as sick as Tucker."
"How bad can it be?" Manic asked.
Topaz leaned forward and whispered something into his ear. Once she was done, Manic's pupils were less then a quarter of the usual size.
"You're kidding!" He cried.
"I wish." Topaz said. "That's how bad he is."
"What she say?" Sonic asked.
"That Tucker guy's willing to kill a sic-year-old rabbit and her choa just to get what eh wants!" Manic cried.
"He's even willing to put Queen Aleena's life on the line." Topaz said coldly.
"That does it." Knuckles said. "If I ever get my hands on that guy, I'm gonna tear him limb from limb!"
"Now that is something Mimi or Flame would say!" Topaz said happily. "And if that guy ever shows his ugly mug around us again, I think we have a pretty good chance of beating him."
"Yeah, no one beats us!" Manic said.
"Indeed, we cannot allow someone like this run wild and do as he pleases." Double D agreed.
The others all agreed and headed for the cave, they needed to help out Shelby and Imp before going after Tucker. But the two were having their own problems.
In Scar Blade's quarters…
"It's never easy with you, is it?" Imp asked.
"Nope." Shelby said, looking into the room.
Scar Blade was asleep on a canopy and the two had just been quick enough to see him stick the black jewel under his pillow then lay down for some sleep, a way to make sure no one stole the emerald.
"So what 'cha gonna do?" Imp asked.
"Sneak in, steal the emerald, and sneak out." Shelby said, taking her first step inside. "Cover me."
Imp just watched as the blue hedgehog slowly made her way across the wooden floor, doing her best not to make it creek. She ducked behind objects as the Scar Blade tossed around in his bed. After five minutes, Shelby had made it to the side of the bed.
'She made it!' Imp thought.
Shelby slowly and as carefully as she could, slipped her hand under the pillow. She felt something, something hard and smooth. An exited look came to her face. She quickly grabbed it. But the second she did, a hook trapped her hand to a pole that held up the bed! Shelby looked and could see Scar Blade.
It was a trap…
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Okay, now I hope you enjoyed that, and a round of applause for kirby200 for giving me my hundredth review (wild applause). R&R please.