"I can't believe it!" Sonic said happily, doing a little victory dance, "We found the statue and without a big challenge at all. Oooooh, this is way past cool. All we have to do is nab it and BOOM we're outta here."

"Why don't we keep exercising caution?" Lara suggested uneasily, "Er, just in case if there is anything the Ratakyans set up, trap related that will challenge those collecting the statue or trying to potentially stop us?"

"C'mon, Lara." Tails laughed, "I think you're being a bit nervous, if the Ratakyans let us take the statue without a fight, they'll let us take it without a fight. Did they set up any traps? Nope, because why? Generosity, of course."

"Did I bloody say anything about the Ratakyans being the kind of people who would absolutely ruddy well despise the idea of anybody getting their damn hands on anything that was their bleedin' property?"

"Who or what said that you said something about the Ratakyans not letting people take the Yujunaka Statue without a fight?" Oskar commented, intervening to prevent an argument, "Why don't we just calm down a peg, eh?"

"We are calm, Oskar." Sonic, Tails, Sarah and Lara yelled.

"Ok," The Scot was rubbing his ears as if the yelling had rattled his ear drums, "No need to shout, besides, we don't wanna cause the whole place to collapse on us, I think we just made dust fall down from the ceiling."

Sarah sniffed the air and looked at herself, just in case if Oskar was right and dust DID happen to fall from the ceiling above. When she saw that there was no dust on herself, she gave a thumbs up and whispered, "All clear."

"So?" Sonic asked, tapping his foot impatiently, "Can we get the statue now and worry about something nasty happening later instead of bickering and waiting for something really way past not cool to happen."

"We're about to go get the statue now and then worry about somethin' happening later." Lara said, holding the speedy blue hedgehog's gloved hand, "We're just, uh, surveying the room and our surroundings."

Deciding the time for talking was done for now, the group slowly made their way across the room and approached the dais while checking their surroundings to make sure nothing came out of the shadows and attacked.

However, if something were to come out of hiding, it was not going to be a monster or dangerous trap. As Sonic and company walked their first few paces across the room, a small, furry creature came out of the shadows.

The group stopped and watched the furry animal approach them, its eyes glowing in the dark, illuminated by the light coming in from the cracks in the ceiling. Covered in dark fur, skinny and purring, the animal was a tabby cat.

"Mew." The cat said, its meow squeaky but soft, "Mrow." A few more tabby cats emerged from the shadows, all of them skinny but cute, mewing softly. Taking a look at these animals, it was clear they'd been here for ages now.

"Awwww!" Sarah said happily, holding her hands together up to the side of her head and smiling, "These poor little cute kitties look as though they were somehow stuck down here for years with nobody to care for them."

"Who leaves cats down in the depths of a temple with almost nothing to eat and nobody to care for?" Sonic quipped, picking up a cat to examine it, "And they haven't bathed, darn they smell, why are these animals here anyway?"

"They must be Senga Tabbies." Lara commented, "I read somewhere that the Ratakyans had the power to grant anybody immortality. Apparently, the ancients didn't leave the statue unguarded and left these cats here."

Tails grabbed out a cat carrier sized pack with a handle from hammer space and unzipped it, "Well, since we're here and the statue's gonna come with us, these kitties are not gonna be here alone forever."

"Um, what are you doing, Tails?" Oskar asked.

"We're gonna give the cats a new home." Tails replied, he set the box down and opened it before gesturing to the first cat to come. At first the cat looked scarred, but it nuzzled against Tails' leg before disappearing inside the box.

The other cats in the room soon approached and all went inside, mewing happily and some purring loudly. One by one, the skinny Senga Tabbies disappeared in the seemingly small cat carrier until no cats remained.

Tails zipped up the bag and put it away, wiping some sweat off his forehead now that the task was done. "What was that?" Sonic asked curiously, "I've never seen that before and how can so many cats fit in such a small bag?"

"Its something I worked on a few years ago and never even bothered showing off." The two tailed fox replied, "I call it the Transdimensional Tails Carrier, its capable of carrying more than one animal inside."

"And you had it the whole time?" Sarah giggled, "You're very resourceful, my sweet two-tailed passion. Yes you are." Within seconds, she was showering him with kisses, while Oskar and Lara looked away, a bit grossed out.

"Darn it," Sonic groaned, "We got distracted from the statue again by other stuff again!"

Recalling what they were trying to get done before they'd been distracted by cats and romance, the group walked towards the dais slowly until the statue was at last within reach, Sonic being the one who reached out and grabbed it.

Holding the statue within his hands, the hedgehog examined the Yujunaka Statue, impressed by the craftsmanship put into making this. Even the others were thrilled, however, there was a bit of dust on the statue.

Eager to take care of the issue quickly, Tails got out a cloth and wiped the dust off the idol until the statue was shiny and clean once again for the first time in over a thousand years since the day it was left here.

Sonic put the Yujunaka Statue in his pants pocket, amazed that it could fit in there, before high fiving Tails, who high fived Oskar and then kissed Sarah while the blue hero kissed Lara, the group complimenting each other.

Despite the odds against them, despite the fact so many people by the likes of Montana Jane and Solvetsky Romanov had tried to get in their way and despite the challenges, the group had worked together and gotten the statue.

Not only did they make a good team, they got along well and some new friendships had formed, Tails and Sarah had bonded with Lara, Oskar and Tom while Sonic got himself the girl of his dreams.

What could almost ruin their victory now?

As the heroes turned to walk away from the dais, somebody chuckled and the chuckle echoed across the room along the walls before turning into evil laughter, laughter that unmistakably sounded familiar.

"I know that laugh." The blue blur growled.