Sorry for another delay. Had some things going on. I hope we can get out of this Covid nonsense and some other issues happening as well. Anyways, ONWARD to the story!
(Series Intro)
Chapter 5: Shiny Stones
It was another beautiful, sunny day in the Great Valley. Tria was gathering rocks together and making some kind of rock decoration. It had a few pretty colorful stones. She finished by placing a very shiny stone on top. The shiny stone looked like a small crystal. Tria smiled at the rock decoration she made. Cera and Tricia walked over. Tricia giggled as she ran to Tria. Tricia bumped into Tria and fell on her back. She giggled again while wagging her tail like a happy puppy. Tria laughed a little and tickled the little Three-Horn, making the little one giggle some more. Cera looked at the shiny rock pile. She then saw the crystal on top.
"Where did you get the new rock? From the Canyon of Shiny Stones?" Cera asked with a curious expression.
Tria then walked over to Cera. "Nope, from right around here. Pretty, isn't it?"
The crystal sparkled in the sunlight. It was quite pretty. Tricia then walked over and mumbled some sounds.
"What is it Tricia?" Tria asked.
Cera then came in saying that Tricia was hungry and wanted some good tree stars but Cera can't reach them. Tria then said that she'll help get some tree stars. Tricia got really happy. Tricia started to run to the big tree with Tria following. Cera stayed behind and looked at the pretty rock pile. She then walked over. She wanted to get a closer look at the crystal. She put her front legs on the pile and looked closely. But then, she accidentally knocked the rock pile over. Cera gasped as she saw the crystal bounce a couple of times towards a river. She ran to try to get it but she was too late. The little crystal rolled and fell into the river. Cera groaned. She lost the crystal. Cera felt a little sad. She then walked back. Tria and Tricia came back. Tricia munched on a big tree star. Tria then gasped lightly when she saw that her rock pile was knocked over. She also saw that her little crystal was missing. Tria looked at Cera.
"Cera, what happened to my pretty stone?" Tria asked. Cera felt sad but then frowned at Tria.
"That's all you care about! Your pretty stone. (Kicks a rock away) I just scraped my chin trying to save it. But do you care? No!" Cera said with an attitude. The snobby Three-Horn then walked away.
Tria felt a little upset. "Cera."
Cera kept walking away. Tricia then stopped eating her tree star and mumbled with sadness as she watched Cera walk away. Meanwhile, the other kids were playing hide n seek. Tails came to visit the kids this time. Sonic went running around the Valley. Tails decided to play the game with the kids. Ruby was the one counting.
"One tree star, 2 tree stars…" Ruby counted. The others ran to hide. Littlefoot hid behind a tall rock. Petrie hid behind a fruit in a tree. Ducky and Spike hid in some bushes. Ducky then saw that Spike's tail was sticking out. She worked quickly to push Spike's tail back in the bushes. Tails hid up another tree nearby. Though, Chomper couldn't think of where to hide. He paced for a moment.
"Chomper" Littlefoot whispered. Chomper let out, "Huh?"
Littlefoot then grabbed Chomper by the tail and pulled him behind the tall rock.
"Ready or not, here I come" Ruby called out. Ruby then looked around for the others. She walked past some spots Littlefoot and Petrie were hiding in. She then stopped by another big rock and looked around. Littlefoot and Ducky stuck their heads out. Ruby didn't see them yet. Littlefoot then ducked back down. Spike then looked up from his spot. He then sniffed the bushes and ate some of it. Ducky then frowned lightly.
"Spike, you're eating our hiding spot again" said Ducky. She then gasped because she spoke a little too loud. Tails raised both eyebrows. Ruby then gasped because she heard Ducky speak. She then walked back over. Ducky tried to push Spike back in but Spike moved already and Ducky fell on her tummy. Luckily, Ruby didn't see Ducky. Ducky then got up and moved slowly behind Ruby. While Ruby looked around, Ducky snuck back in the bushes. Tails watched from another tree. He almost thought that Ruby would find Ducky. Ruby still couldn't find anyone. But then she spotted Cera walking over.
"Cera, you're it. I found you" Ruby said with a smile.
Cera frowned. "You didn't find me."
"Sure I did. I saw you there and here you are. So, I must've found you" said Ruby. The others came out of their hiding spots. Petrie then said that Ruby found Cera alright.
"You are it Cera. Yep, yep, yep" said Ducky. Cera then got mad.
"How can I be it when I wasn't even playing the game" Cera said with anger. Ducky had an upset expression.
Tails sighed. "I guess that the game's over."
"Are you okay Cera?" added Littlefoot.
"No!" Cera groaned with a big frown.
"Then what's wrong?" asked Tails.
Cera sighed. "I yelled at Tria. I told her that she cared more about her pretty stones than about me."
"Why did you do that?" asked Chomper.
"Well, I didn't really mean it but I was just so mad" Cera said while feeling upset.
"Mad about what?" said Tails. Cera then explained that, by accident, she dropped Tria's shiny stone in the Fast Water (River). The others then let out, "Ohhh."
Tails then smiled. "It's just a stone. You should know that a life is more precious than any stone Cera. No rock could ever replace you or anyone else."
Cera smiled lightly. "Thanks, Tails. (Sighs) But I shouldn't have lost Tria's stone."
Ducky then tried to comfort Cera as well. "It's okay. You can just say 'Oops Eeps' and say you're sorry to Tria that you lost her pretty stone."
"That's a nice idea Ducky. But it's not enough. I gotta do something more" said Cera.
The others looked at each other then back at Cera. Petrie then suggested that they all could bring Tria all the tree stars that they can carry. Cera then said that Spike would eat all the tree stars before they got to Tria. Spike nodded in a silly way but then shook his head, and let out "Huh?" Chomper then suggested bringing Tria some fuzzy insects. Ruby then said that Chomper would eat all the insects. Chomper let out a nervous laugh. Cera then thought for a moment. She then told the others that they could go to the Canyon of Shiny Stones and bring Tria a new shiny stone. The others agreed with the idea. Tails then said that the idea could work. Petrie, however, didn't like the idea. He shook with fear. Tails then asked Petrie what was wrong. Petrie shook while saying that the canyon is near the Smoking Mountain. Tails understood why Petrie was afraid but the others didn't.
"What is so bad about the Smoking Mountain?" Ducky asked.
"It have big black smoke that make sky dark and spookily, and sometimes it get all shaky. (Makes shaky movements) like Cera when she mad" Petrie explained. Cera then raised both eyebrows and mumbled "Huh?" Littlefoot then said that they will be fine and that they'll just walk past it with no trouble.
"Just because it shakes like Cera does not mean that it is scary as Cera. No, no, no" added Ducky. Ducky then froze at what she said. Tails raised an eyebrow. Cera then frowned at Ducky.
"Um… you know what I mean" Ducky said with a nervous expression. Cera groaned as she rolled her eyes. Tails shook his head. Cera then asked Petrie if he had ever seen the mountain up close. Petrie then said that he had… from far away. Cera then said that he could fly past the mountain. Petrie then flew up, shook his head, and said that he could get lost in the smoke or fly into something. The little Flyer then bumped his head on a tree branch. He fell to the ground. Ducky then came over and helped Petrie stand up. Petrie felt a little dizzy.
"Me better head home now" said Petrie.
Tails then came in. "It's okay Petrie. If you don't want to come along, you don't have to."
"Nobody wants you to do anything that makes you scared Petrie" added Littlefoot.
"Okay. Thanks" said Petrie.
"We'll be back with no problem at all" said Tails. The others nodded. They started their way to the canyon. Petrie then walked back to his nest but then stopped after a few steps.
"Wait… they think me scared?" Petrie said with a frown. But then he saw that he was alone as the others walked farther away. He didn't like being alone.
"Wait for me" Petrie called out. He then flew to the others. They all walked to the canyon.
"You had second thoughts after all huh?" Tails said with a smile. Petrie let out a small laugh while shrugging.
"This might be fun. I don't think that I went on a journey with the kids before, so why not?" thought Tails.
However, they didn't notice that Daxter was watching from up a high hill. He looked at Tails curiously.
"So, the hedgehog brought a fox friend along huh?" said Daxter. The Dome-Head thought for a moment. He then grinned evilly. "I can have some fun with this one. He may not be as strong as the blue rodent."
Daxter then followed the group while keeping his distance. The group was almost to the volcano. Ducky rode on Spike's back as usual while Petrie rode on Cera's back. Petrie still felt nervous as they got close to the volcano. Everyone heard some dinos roaring all around them. The volcano came into view. Black smoke came out of the volcano. It sure was active today.
"Wow, the Smoking Mountain sure is a smoking mountain" said Ruby.
"I also heard that it is called the Booming Mountain because sometimes it booms" said Ducky.
Petrie shook with fear again. "It… it booms?"
Tails looked at Petrie. "We'll be alright Petrie."
Littlefoot then said the canyon is just beyond the mountain. They made their way closer to the mountain. Daxter followed slowly. Within a few minutes, they reached the top of the mountain. Tails then said that they will have to be careful should the mountain erupt. The kids nodded. While they walked around, they peeked into the volcano. Some black smoke came out and there was lava boiling below. Some of the kids thought that the lava was a bit colorful. The volcano was a bit calm.
"See Petrie. There's nothing to be scared about" said Cera.
Petrie then frowned. "Me not scared. In fact, me could fly over Smoking Mountain if me wanted to."
The other kids felt a bit nervous at what Petrie said. Tails was a little nervous too.
"That might not be a good idea Petrie. It could blow at anytime" said Tails.
"Tails' is right. You don't have to do that" said Littlefoot. But Petrie wanted to show them that he could be brave.
"Yes, me do. Everybody watch" Petrie said as he flew upwards. The others had anxious expressions as Petrie flew through the black smoke. He coughed a little. Tails sighed. Petrie was almost half way through the mountain. Petrie smiled lightly.
"Me doing it. Me flying over Smoking Mountain" said Petrie. But then suddenly, the volcano started to shake. It started to erupt! The mountain then shot out fire rocks and more black smoke. The others felt the rumbling and started running. The other kids screamed in fear. Tails yelled for them to keep running. Petrie dodged some fire rocks. Petrie then screamed in fear.
"Oh, no! Me never should have tried it! Me made the mountain mad!" Petrie exclaimed.
"Petrie, fly back to us now!" yelled Tails. The volcano shot out more fire rocks and spewed lava. Petrie had trouble avoiding the black smoke.
"Me trying!" Petrie yelled. The little Flyer avoided some more flying lava rocks.
"You can do it Petrie!" Ducky called out.
"Fly Petrie! Fly!" Ruby and Chomper yelled.
"Me flying! Me flying!" Petrie yelled back. The others ran around to avoid the flying fire rocks. One landed right in front of Littlefoot but he didn't get hurt. He jumped over the burnt spot and kept running. The others followed. Petrie coughed some more from the smoke as he flew back to the others. He kept trying to avoid the flying lava rocks. The black smoke clouded his eyes. He then crashed into Ducky and Chomper. The 3 kids rolled and hit the ground. The 3 kids rubbed their heads and started to regain their senses. The rumbling then stopped. The volcano started to settle. Everyone stopped running.
"It stopped. I think we're okay now" said Tails. The others felt relieved.
Ruby sighed. "Everything's fine."
Petrie then got upset. "Fine? Nothing fine! Me almost hit by fire rocks and all that shaky, boomy stuff my fault!"
Cera raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean your fault?"
Petrie then frowned. "Smoking Mountain no like Flyers! Me make it mad! Oh, this bad place!" The little Flyer got really upset.
"That's silly" said Littlefoot.
"Petrie, it doesn't work that way. It's just a mountain. You didn't really make it mad" said Tails.
"How you know? Me fly over it go boom. Me stop flying no more boom" Petrie said with a frown.
Tails rolled his eyes with a small smile. The other kids looked at each other and then back at Petrie.
Cera rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine. Just don't fly over it and it won't happen again.
"Oh, don't worry. Me not fly over it. Me not even fly anywhere near it" said Petrie.
Tails sighed. "It's still just a mountain Petrie."
Petrie still felt a little scared of the volcano though. Littlefoot then saw that it was getting close to sunset. Littlefoot then said that they better get moving before it gets dark. The others agreed. The group walked to the canyon. They were unaware that Daxter was following closely. Though everyone didn't know that lava was slowly rising inside the volcano. After a few moments, they reached the Canyon of Shiny Stones. They saw a lot of crystals all over the canyon. Some had different colors. The group looked at the canyon in awe and wonder. The crystals were quite pretty.
"Pretty" said Ducky. Spike agreed with an "Uh huh." Ruby now understood where the canyon got its name.
"I've never seen this many crystals before" said Tails. The others felt confused at the word.
"Crystals?" said Littlefoot.
Tails looked at Littlefoot. "It's what we call shiny stones or gems at our home."
The others replied with an "Ohhh…"
The group looked around in the canyon. There were crystals of many shapes and sizes. Littlefoot walked to a crystal taller than him. He made some funny faces on it with his reflection. Ducky then slid on a crystal. The kids had a bit of fun examining the shiny gems.
"There's so many. I don't know which one to choose" Cera said with a smile. Petrie held up 2 crystals to his eyes. He saw many shapes and it made him look like he had many eyes. The others played with the shiny gems as well. Tails smiled as he watched the kids having fun. However, they didn't notice that Daxter was watching from up a small cliff. The Dome-Head was thinking of ideas for trouble. Cera then spotted the one crystal to give to Tria. It was stuck to the side of a rock wall. It was a little larger too.
Cera smiled. "This is it! This is the one. It's even prettier than the one I lost."
Tails smiled. "Good choice Cera."
Ruby gasped lightly. "It's beautiful."
"Yes it is. Yes, yes, yes" added Ducky.
"If only I could get it loose" said Cera. The little Three-Horn then used her horn to pull the stone. The stone then popped loose and flew past Cera since she pulled hard.
"Oh, somebody grab it" said Cera.
"I got it" said Chomper. Chomper then went to pick up the little gem. Tails then raised both eyebrows as he sensed something off. The ground began to shake. The volcano was erupting again! The rumbling made some of the crystals roll around. Cera's gem rolled with the other crystals. The group then had nervous expressions.
"This is not good" said Littlefoot.
"Not good at all" added Tails.
"Oh, this all my fault. Smoking Mountain still mad at me. Really mad" Petrie said with a sad expression. The group saw that the volcano spewed out lava fast. The rumbling got stronger. Littlefoot then said that they have to get out of the canyon before the Flowing Fire cuts off their path. Tails now understood what the Dinosaurs named lava. Tails then said that they must move quickly. The others agreed. Cera then quickly picked up the shiny stone for Tria on her horn. Daxter watched the group run. They were almost out of the canyon. But the group then stopped running. They were too late. Lava was already pouring down into the canyon and blocking their escape. The lava was just a few feet from them. The group had frightened expressions as the lava moved closer to them. The molten rock bubbled.
"Back into the canyon, quickly!" exclaimed Tails. The others nodded and followed. Spike picked up Ducky and Petrie with his snout and put them on his back. Spike smiled as he carried them and ran faster with the others. Suddenly, the shiny rock on Cera's snout came loose and rolled to the ground. Cera stopped and ran back for the gem. She scooped it up with her horn. The lava was very close. She could feel the hot heat. She then ran back to the others. They all stopped as they reached the end of the canyon. They saw the lava getting closer to them. It seemed that they were trapped. Daxter smiled as he saw the lava get close. He thought that the lava will get rid of them for good.
"What'll we do?" Cera said with a frightful expression. The others then looked around for a way out. Tails then looked up and spotted a ledge.
"Up there! We'll be safe on that ledge!" exclaimed Tails. The others saw the ledge as well.
"But how we will reach it? It's too high" said Ruby. Tails then looked around and spotted an old log leading up the ledge.
"We'll use that log! Follow me!" exclaimed Tails. The yellow fox then flew with his tails. The others followed quickly. Tails flew to the ledge while the others climbed the log. Cera was the first to climb, followed by Littlefoot, then Spike. Spike grabbed onto Littlefoot's tail to make sure that he wouldn't slide. Littlefoot helped pull Spike up. Daxter then frowned when he saw that the group was climbing to safety.
"I won't let you all get away that easily!" Daxter exclaimed. Daxter then grabbed a black rock he found from the volcano. He then spotted a little worm nearby and picked it up. He laid both the worm and the rock in his hand.
"Viventum igne salietur" Daxter chanted. The gauntlet glowed. The rock and worm combined, and formed into a red and brown crystal. He then held the gem over the canyon.
"Dispose of them" Daxter commanded. He then let go of the crystal. It fell and hit the lava. The gem sank into the lava. The lava started to boil rapidly. Within a few seconds, the boiling stopped. Something swam in the lava. It slithered like a snake. It peeked out. It had dark orange eyes that glowed. It saw the kids climbing the log. It hissed and swam to them, doing what its master commanded it. Ducky then climbed the log. Ruby was the last to climb. She saw how the lava almost touched the log.
"Oh dear" Ruby said with fear. Everyone was almost to the ledge. The lava was now covering the ground of the canyon. The lava started to burn the log. Suddenly, the kids saw something slithering to the log. The creature then rose up and hissed at the kids. It was almost as tall as the log. It was some kind of lava worm. Tails and the kids couldn't believe their eyes.
"W-W-What is that?" stammered Littlefoot.
Tails' eyes went wide. "I have no idea. (Frowns) But it definitely means trouble."
Ruby held onto Spike's tail. Ducky climbed on Spike's back. Chomper and Petrie made it to the top. Littlefoot was almost to the top. The log began to break. The other kids climbed as quickly as they could. The lava worm then hissed and smacked the log with its tail. The log shook hard. The kids held on tight but Ducky lost her grip and tumbled down. She screamed as she fell. The others gasped. Ducky managed to grab the log but she was slipping.
"Help me!" yelled Ducky. She started to slip some more. The lava worm then got under Ducky by a foot away and opened its mouth wide. It was going to swallow her! Petrie then flew down and grabbed Ducky's hand.
"Me got you Ducky!" exclaimed Petrie. Petrie tried to pull Ducky up. Tails then flew upwards. Petrie then pulled some more but he lost his grip. Petrie gasped. Ducky then screamed again. The lava worm was ready. Suddenly, Tails then double kicked the worm away. He scooped up Ducky and flew upwards. He brought her to the ledge. Spike then held onto Littlefoot's tail hard and Ruby held onto Spike's tail as the log broke apart. The log then caught fire and sank into the lava. Littlefoot then tried to pull up Spike and Ruby. The 2 kids made it up safely. They saw that the lava started to fill up the canyon. The kids had sad expressions. The lava had burned all the pretty gems.
"No more shiny stones. No, no, no" said Ducky. Ducky then looked at Tails.
"Thank you for saving me Tails" Ducky said with a smile.
Tails smiled. "You're welcome."
Tails' smile faded as he saw the worm hiss at the group again. The kids gasped. Tails then had a brave expression. He flew again to fight the worm. The worm then hissed at Tails. The yellow fox then turned on his arm blaster on his wrist. He aimed his weapon at the fire worm.
"This is for trying to eat my friends!" exclaimed Tails. Tails then shot energy blasts at the worm. The worm growled in pain. The worm tried to hit Tails with its fiery tail. It missed a few times. Tails shot more blasts. The worm growled in pain. The worm then hissed angrily. It inhaled and spat a fire rock at Tails. Tails quickly evaded. The worm shot more fire rocks. The kids watched the fight.
"You can do it Tails!" Littlefoot cheered.
"Get em Tails!" Cera cheered. Tails fought the worm some more. Daxter watched the fight as well. It seemed that he underestimated this Mobian. He glared at Tails.
"So, this fox is not as weak as I thought. No matter, I'll just create another monster to deal with him" said Daxter.
Meanwhile, Sonic was zooming around the mountains. He did some more air tricks. He then heard the volcano erupting. He saw the volcano spewing out lava. He then spotted something in the distance. He zoomed to get a closer look. He saw that it was Daxter. He then frowned at Daxter.
"What are you up to now Daxter?" said Sonic. The Blue Runner then zoomed to Daxter. Daxter grabbed another black rock. He was going to create another lava creature. But before Daxter could do anything, he heard a voice say, "So where's the party Daxter?"
Daxter then dropped his black rock while raising both eyebrows. He looked behind himself and saw that the voice was revealed to be Sonic. The Wind Runner had a cocky smile. Daxter then faced Sonic. He then crossed his arms and frowned greatly at Sonic.
"So, we meet again hedgehog" said Daxter. "You shouldn't have refused my offer. Now you and that fox friend of yours shall pay."
Sonic raised an eyebrow. "Tails? (Glares at Daxter) What did you do to him?"
Daxter then grinned darkly. "He's busy playing with one of my pets."
Sonic then looked up and spotted Tails flying. His friend was shooting at something. He then saw the fire worm jump at Tails. Tails barely avoided the fire worm's bite. Sonic then glared at Daxter but then Sonic went wide-eyed when he saw a big green fireball coming his way. Sonic dodged the attack and the fireball hit the ground. Daxter shot more fireballs at Sonic and Sonic dodged them with ease.
Tails avoided a giant fire rock that the fire worm spit out. Tails then charged up his arm blaster and shot out a big energy ball. The ball hit the fire worm hard. A small thing popped out of the worm. It was the little crystal Daxter made. The worm then froze and fell into the lava. Tails hovered and felt confused. He saw the crystal fall back into the lava. After 3 seconds, the worm appeared again. Tails then knew that the crystal was its source of life. Tails then charged up another shot. He avoided another lava rock from the fire worm. Tails then fired another big blast. The energy ball hit the worm and the crystal popped out again. Tails then flew and caught it. He then threw the crystal high up and hit it with his blaster. The crystal was now shattered. It was no longer useful. The worm then hardened into solid rock and fell into the lava. The kids cheered with joy. Tails then smiled at his handiwork and flew back to the kids.
"You did it Tails!" exclaimed Littlefoot.
"Thanks for saving us" said Cera.
"It was no problem. Though, I wonder what the monster was" said Tails.
"At least we don't worry about that fire monster anymore" said Chomper.
"Yeah, but now we have another problem" said Cera. The group saw that the lava was slowly rising in the canyon. It was a foot away from the ledge. They felt the volcano rumble some more. Tails knew that the kids couldn't stay on the ledge for too long. The lava will reach it soon. Tails then looked at Petrie.
"Come on, Petrie. We have to go for help" said Tails.
Petrie felt afraid and shook his head. "Me no fly here. Me only make the mountain madder."
Tails then frowned. "For the last time, you didn't make the mountain mad Petrie. Even if you did, we still have to help our friends."
"We're counting on you guys" said Littlefoot. Petrie still felt unsure.
"You can do it Petrie" said Ducky. The others nodded with a smile.
Tails then hovered. "We have to hurry Petrie."
Petrie then gulped and finally seized the courage. "Okay. Me go."
The little Flyer then flew with Tails. Tails then looked at the others.
"We'll be back guys. Don't worry" said Tails. The others nodded. Tails and Petrie then flew farther to the mountain. The 2 Flyers then saw Sonic fighting Daxter. Sonic then kicked Daxter. Tails and Petrie wondered who this Dome-Head was.
"Who's that?" asked Petrie.
"I don't know. But right now, we need to help the others. Don't worry, Sonic can handle this" said Tails.
Petrie replied "Okay." The 2 Flyers got close to the mountain. Petrie got nervous again.
"Me not make mountain mad, me not make mountain mad" Petrie repeated. The 2 Flyers then flew past the mountain as it rumbled some more. Petrie then saw that the mountain didn't erupt more when they flew past it.
Petrie smiled. "It not mad."
"See, it's just a mountain" said Tails.
"You right. Smoking Mountain just a mountain after all" said Petrie. The Flyer laughed a little. Petrie then said that they must find the grownups. Tails nodded with a smile. The others were happy that Petrie got over his fear of the volcano.
"Now all we have to do is wait" said Littlefoot.
"And when all you have to do is wait, waiting's easy to do" said Ruby. Spike felt nervous looking at the rising lava. He accidentally bumped into Cera. Cera nearly dropped her shiny stone.
Cera frowned at Spike. "Yeah, easy to do."
Back in the Valley, Grandma Longneck and Petrie's mother wondered what the kids were doing since they didn't hear them laughing or having fun.
"It's just been so quiet lately. I hope the kids aren't getting bored" said Petrie's mother.
"You're right. I just hope that they are not in trouble" said Grandma Longneck. Suddenly, they heard Petrie yell, "Mama!"
Petrie then tried to slow down but he crashed into his nest. Tails then flew over.
"Tails, Petrie. What's wrong?" asked Petrie's mother.
"Me friends, (pant) need help" said Petrie. Both parents gasped.
"Yes, the other kids are stuck in the Canyon of Shiny Stones" said Tails. The yellow fox explained that the Smoking Mountain erupted and the kids are stranded by the rising lava. Grandma Longneck then told Grandpa Longneck, Ducky's mother, and Tria. Tails, Petrie, and the grownups then went to the canyon.
Back by the canyon…
The other kids saw that the lava is touching the bottom of the ledge. They could feel the hot heat as the lava was still rising.
"Is it just me, or is it getting kind of hot around here?" said Ruby.
"It's not just you" said Cera.
Meanwhile, Sonic kept fighting Daxter. Daxter kept using fireballs but Sonic kept dodging.
Sonic grinned. "Heh, I can do this all day."
Daxter panted a little. "I admit that you're a good fighter. But you won't win."
"You sure about that?" Sonic said as he grinned some more. Daxter then glared at Sonic. But then Daxter saw that the grownups were coming. He also saw that his lava worm had failed. Daxter growled in annoyance. He then looked at Sonic.
"Fine. You win this round, but you won't win the next one" said Daxter. Daxter then created a big fireball and threw it to the ground. It caused an explosion and a dust cloud. Sonic covered his face with his arms. While Sonic was distracted, Daxter then propelled himself into the air using fire blasts. He jumped far back into the Mysterious Beyond. When the dust settled, Sonic saw that Daxter was gone. Sonic hmphed and crossed his arms.
"I'll get him next time" said Sonic. Sonic then heard Tails call his name. Sonic turned around and saw Tails flying with Petrie and Petrie's mother. The other kids then felt happy when they saw the grownups had come to help them. Their parents rescued the kids just as the lava reached over the ledge. Littlefoot and Spike rode on Grandpa while Cera and Ruby rode on Grandma. Petrie's mother picked up Ducky and Chomper. Tails then landed by Sonic.
"Hey Tails, what's up?" asked Sonic. Tails then explained his adventure with the kids.
"…And I had to fight this fire worm. It had this little crystal in its head" said Tails.
"I heard. And I think I know who did it" said Sonic.
"Was it that Dome-Head that I saw you fighting?" asked Tails. Sonic nodded and then he explained his first encounter with Daxter and how he had to fight a rock golem. Tails was a little surprised by what Sonic said.
"So we have another villain out there huh?" said Tails.
"Yep. But I have a feeling that there's more to it. He told me that he has some kind of goal. It involves that crystal wristband he's wearing" said Sonic. Sonic then said that they'll take care of anything that Daxter comes up with. Tails nodded with a smile. The kids then told the grownups about how they got stuck on the ledge and how Tails fought a fire creature. The parents were astonished by the story. The parents thanked Tails. Tails laughed a little. The kids climbed off Grandpa and Grandma. Cera then told Tria that they got a new shiny stone. But then Cera lost her balance while getting off of Grandma's head and dropped the gem. She gasped as she saw the gem roll close to the edge of the canyon. She tried to get the stone but she was too late. The gem rolled off and fell into the lava filled canyon. The gem was gone. Cera sighed in sadness. Tria then walked over. Cera looked at Tria.
"Oops eeps. I'm really sorry Tria. About everything" said Cera.
Tria then nuzzled Cera. "I'm just glad you're safe Cera. You're much more important to me than any shiny stone."
Cera smiled. Sonic then gave Tails a thumbs-up.
"You did great job today buddy" said Sonic. The kids agreed.
"Yeah, thanks for helping us Tails" said Cera. Tails nodded with a smile. Sonic then ruffled Tails' head. Tails laughed. Tails then walked over to Cera.
"You actually didn't lose the stone Cera" said Tails.
Cera felt confused. "What do you mean?"
Tails then held out a fist and opened his hand, revealing another shiny stone.
Cera smiled. "You got another stone?"
"Yep. Just in case we would lose the other one" Tails said with a smile.
Cera then hugged Tails. Tails laughed and returned it. Tria then nuzzled Tails.
"Thank you for watching out for Cera and the other kids. And finding another shiny stone" Tria said with a smile. Tails nodded.
"Way to go buddy" Sonic said with a smile. Tails replied, "Thanks."
Tria then said that it was time to head home. Grandpa then said that they'll have to take the long way because of the volcano erupting.
Petrie then smiled. "Not us. We Flyers."
Petrie and his mother flew upwards. "Last one home is a rotten hatchling" Petrie said with a challenge.
"You're on!" exclaimed Sonic. The Blue Runner zoomed off back to the valley.
"You got it!" exclaimed Tails. The yellow fox then took off into the sky. The others then laughed and made their way home.
Back in the Mysterious Beyond, Daxter sat by his ship. He felt really angry that he was beaten by not one, but 2 Mobians.
"Next time, I'll make those pests suffer by my hands. For they have no idea of what's coming" said Daxter. His frown slowly turned into a dark grin.
End of Chapter 5