"Fancy meeting you here, Croft." Montana Jane sneered, staring down Lara, "Then again, its always so cute when we cross paths." Oskar reached for his gun but Tails stopped him and whispered, "No, wait."

Lara scoffed, "You've gotten under my skin for quite some time, Jane. You sending mercenaries after me for the heck of it just annoys me! Guess what? You ain't getting your way, ever!"

Montana Jane chuckled, "Where did we hear that before, Lara? Oh yes, the night we were with that rich prince."

"Hey, Montana Jane!" Sonic said with a cough, "What's up? I bet we never crossed paths before in our lives, huh? I think you're the worst!"

Montana Jane took notice of Sonic and blew a mocking kiss, "Well, well. Sonic the Hedgehog, long time no see, I'm surprised you don't remember sweet Alice Kestington aka Montana Jane."

Sonic was shocked, "What the...? NO FREAKING WAY!" Montana Jane chuckled, "It is me, handsome. Remember when you treated me to dinner?"

Lara's eyes widened as she glanced at Sonic, "You hung out with her?"

The hedgehog shrugged, "Long story, but lets just say she helped bust me out of a situation and I didn't realize at the time that you two had a history."

Alice snapped, "That's because you didn't bother to ask me at the time! You remember when we snuck away to have all the fun in the world?"

Sonic smiled dreamily, "Believe me, I always have all the fun in the world, be it with gorgeous girls or when I'm on adventures!"

"You also ditched me back when we went on that mission to one of the doctor's bases and what have you been doing since our... split up? Playing with more girls, doing your own adventures and you hooked up with my rival."

Montana Jane's face was purple with fury, "You said I was your dream girl, then it turns out our relationship wasn't meant to be. I SEE WHO AND WHAT YOU REALLY ARE; A JERK, A PUSHOVER AND A PLAYER!"

"Hey!" Tails shouted, "Lay off on Sonic. If it wasn't meant to be for you two it wasn't meant to be. Sonic's busy all the time and you weren't the girl of his dreams, so let it go and move on with your life, find some other guy."

Montana Jane, caught off guard by that statement, scratched her chin, thinking about what Tails said. "Huh," she said, "Could I actually...?" She trailed off, looking as though she was listening to a voice in her head.

"Boss, what's the hold up?" The purple hedgehog demanded, "They're stalling for time long enough to plan some sort of escape with the key."

Montana Jane's henchmen were scratching their heads yet nodding in agreement, but Alice glared at them, "Who's stalling? AND I AM NOT AN IDIOT! Where do you get those ideas, Violet Hedgehog!"

The female hedgehog called Violet shrugged, "I was just sayin', boss!"

Sonic took notice to the purple hedgehog in a combat uniform next to Alice, "Well, hey Violet, long time no see, how can I ever forget you from when I was getting to know your employer."

"Don't talk nice to Violet, you speedy blue hedgehog bastard!" Montana Jane yelled, "You're still in hot water and you have TONS of super important stuff and we know what I am talking about so hand over the keys or else."

Lara drew her pistol, "No, you're not getting what you're here for!"

Oskar nodded and reached for his gun, "Aye, you're not getting it by force."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk!" Lara's American-Accented rival rolled her eyes, "Still stubborn as usual, I see. You haven't changed a bit. How pathetic!"

Lara smirked, "Yeah, well, you and your minions have been pathetic too." She pointed to the sky, "WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?"

Montana Jane and her associates looked to the sky, unaware of the trick until Lara and Oskar began shooting and took out three militants, shocking Montana and Violet, who ducked just in time.

"Now's our chance." Lara said to Sonic, "Go!"

Sonic made a dash for it, heading towards Baru Sawaki just ahead. Lara, being the fine athlete she was, followed close behind despite not having super speed herself.

Oskar, Tails and Sarah?

They took off running with Lara as well, Oskar stayed at Lara's side while Tails used his fast flying to catch up with Sonic while carrying Sarah in his arms so the trio could reach the plane before Lara and Oskar together.

Behind the group's trail all the way back at the pyramid, Montana Jane got to her feet and stomped the sandy ground angrily.

"That snarky, persistent asshole!" She shouted, "I'LL GET THOSE KEYS IF IT'S THE LAST THING I'LL DO! You hear me, Lara? I'LL HUNT YOU TO THE FAR REACHES OF THIS PLANET AND WILL NOT STOP!"

Violet raised her hand, "Uh, ma'am, I don't think they can hear you."

The blonde glared at her, "Do you think I care if they can't?"

In the streets of Baru Sawaki, people stopped their usual activities of shopping or exploring and got out of the way in time as the blue hedgehog raced on past, followed by a two tailed fox carrying a female fox, also followed by a brown haired British girl and a Scottish boy.

"Excuse me!" Sonic said as he swerved to avoid a Muslim man carrying watermelons as well as an Indonesian woman holding a couple vases, "Coming through, watch out!"

Those the hedgehog evaded were shocked, pondering what that was about.

Oskar was starting to get a bit tired from running, but he tried to hold it in and not give up even though at one point he said, "Lara, I think I'm getting exhausted from the heat and the running."

Lara didn't look back and told him, "Keep running, we'll get a breather soon as we're out of here." Oskar did not argue with Lara, he knew she was right, they had to keep going for not just the sake of friends and family, but for the lost riches of the Ratakya tribe.

Sarah was starting to sweat from the sun and she was getting a bit dizzy and exhausted, she needed rest. "Tails," she gasped, "Can we get something to drink? I'm beginning to feel tired."

Tails was panting, yet trying to hold on and not give up.

"We'll get a drink soon, dear Sarah." He replied, "Just gotta keep going and not look back. We don't wanna lose our prized possession or get captured, there's no time to waste." The voluptuous vulpine nodded, "Yes, Tails, got it."

Baru Sawaki was soon behind them as they dashed across the outskirts where the Tornado sat, completely unharmed and still in good condition, especially after sitting in the sun for minutes.

After all, the material used to make the plane was heatproof metal, which was a very rare find whenever you tried to look for it somewhere in the world.

"Thank golly no scavengers have come after my plane." Tails said, his face beaded with sweat. Sonic, who was faster than the others, jumped into the passenger seat of the plane and called for Tails to be quick and start up the engines before somebody came for them to get the key.

"Coming, coming!" The two tailed hero called, he was almost out of breath but could not give up as his friends depended on him and so did the world.

"Got the key?" Sonic asked Lara as she and the others finally made it and climbed into the plane, Tails taking the pilot seat as usual while Sarah and Oskar climbed into the back and Lara joined Sonic.

"Of course, I got the bloody key!" The nineteen year old archeologist replied, reaching into her pocket and pulled out the day blue Ratakyan key.

"What?" She asked, "Thought I lost it?"

"Lets just get back to the mansion before something almost happens."

Just as Tails was starting up the plane's engines, a gun went off and metal clanked as a bullet bounced off the side.

"YOU AIN'T GETTIN' AWAY WITH THAT KEY EASILY!" Somebody shouted in an Australian accent.

The group turned and caught sight of a man in a cowboy costume, holding a rifle and accompanied by ten other cowboy costume-clad men.

"Oh, brilliant!" Lara shouted, "Cowboy Connery!"

"Take off in ten seconds!" Tails shouted, even as the one called Cowboy Connery and his goons attempted to shoot at them.

In the end, the plane took to the air and Team Sonic-Croft escaped with their third key as, down below, those who'd attempted to catch them and get the key threw temper tantrums and vowed to get their vengeance.

In the back of the plane, Sonic and Lara chuckled and shared a kiss, commemorating another successful key grab.