Chapter 3
Calm before the storm
"Are you guys ready to order?" asked the waiter, stomping his foot on the ground with his arms crossed; much like Sonic. (Y know, "I'm waaiitttiiinnngggg!")
"Um.sorry, not yet. We're still waiting for someone to come." Sonic said, sweat dropping. Maria and Tails, who took the window seats, nervously darted their eyes out the window and back, trying to keep watch for their missing companion.
"Fine, but you'll have to call me over when you're ready to order; I'm not going to waste my time coming back here over and over." The waiter said. He left to go serve another table.
"How rude! The nerve of that guy!" Amy said.
"Especially since we give the biggest tips in Station Square," Sonic added, "He gust blew it."
Knuckles stretched and threw a few fake punches at Sonic across the table. "When is Rouge going to get here? We've been waiting for almost an hour."
As if on command, the white bat ran into the restaurant and to their table, almost knocking over a waitress in the process. She slid into the booth next to Knuckles and threw her briefcase loudly on the table.
Knuckles said, "You're late."
"I'm sorry!" Rouge said, "The President kept me back. I went to check in with him this morning like I usually do but he made me stay longer."
"Did it have to do with the crime? Any new information?" Maria asked.
Rouge said, "Not at all. He was acting really funny; asking me questions about what I have been doing and stuff that's been bothering me. It was like he was trying to get a certain answer out of me."
"Now, that is weird." Tails commented.
"He also asked about my last mission on ARK, like how I feel now about what happened." Rouge said.
"And how did you answer him?" Knuckles asked.
"Professionally. I don't want to lose my job, you know." Rouge relied, "I didn't tell him anything about how I felt."
"Did he look like he wanted to tell you something? It sounds like it with all those weird questions." Maria said.
Rouge pondered, "You might be right, Maria. He was just beating around the bush, he didn't have a point-"
"Probably because you didn't answer him right. Maybe whatever he wanted to tell you, he had no place to say." Knuckles said.
"I think I'll follow up on that. You guys always help me figure this stuff out." Rouge laughed.
"That's what we're here for." Sonic said, giving a thumb's up sign.
@------
After chasing after the waiter who purposely avoided them and eating their lunch, the gang went to the park to relax and hang out. Despite no frequent adventures, the team hasn't had to do this with work and up coming events. They settled down under a group of trees deep inside the park.
"Hey," Tails asked, "Did you guys read in the newspaper about the winter festival coming up?"
"What about it?" Sonic asked, not really interested. He flopped down on the grass and stretched.
"A festival? Here?" Maria squealed.
Tails shook him head, "Every winter we have one. The streets are lined with food and game stands. The city also puts together a play every year."
"That's so cool!" Maria said, "I have never been to a festival before."
"You've been missing out then!" Amy said. "The best part is 'The Tunnel of Love!'" The boys groaned at the remark.
"I was going to ask how were planning on performing the play?" Tails said.
"What do you mean, we're not putting on a play!" Knuckles stated. The rest nodded their heads in agreement.
"You didn't hear? We were picked this year to perform the winter festival's play. The people who are in the plays are always picked from a hat. Our whole group was chosen."
"WHAT!" Everyone screamed in union.
Sonic grabbed Tails by the neck and shouted, "There's no way I'm putting on a play!"
Amy said, "None of us got any phone calls or anything."
Tails said, "As you remember, the performers are announced in the fall town meeting assembly."
"We weren't there that day! We were heading out to the space colony, remember?" Knuckles said.
"Yeah, but I taped it and found out. I thought you guys already knew." Tails said.
"It doesn't matter now, the play has to be done." Maria said, "I'll help you, I think it would be fun."
"It could be a romance play too!" Amy said. She was already thinking up ideas for the play, it consisting of her and Sonic falling in love.
"No way!" Sonic shouted, waving his arms in the air, "nothing romantic!"
Tails said, "But romantic plays are the easiest to perform."
"So, it's settled," Rouge said "Leave it to us girls to decide what play we are doing."
@-------
After coming home, Maria flopped onto her bed and stared up at the ceiling. 'A romantic play, huh? I think maybe something along the lines of Sleeping Beauty. That's an easy play to perform and we won't need that many people. There is a problem though; we are short on girls. Since someone has to be the queen and the princess and the witch, no one is left to play the three fairies. It looks like some of the boys will have to play them.'
Maria got up off the bed and walked over to the window. She looked outside to see the kids next door playing with their dog. Their shouts of laughter could faintly be heard from where she was looking. On the other side, an old oak tree swayed over the property line of Rouge's house, threatening to fall over even with the slightest push. The sun had already started to set; it would be nighttime shortly. She lightly leaned against the window and sighed. 'I wonder how Shadow would react it he found out we had to do a play.' Maria shook her head 'No, stop! That's such a stupid thought. I can't believe I think of these things. I feel so stupid.'
Just then, the telephone could be heard in the other room. Maria ran to pick it up, almost tripping over in the process. "Hello?"
"Maria? It's Rouge. Can you meet me in front of the Zenco Company building right now? This is urgent." Rouge said. She sounded nervous yet at the same time completely calm.
"Um.is that the building that's the tallest in Station Square? Is that what you mean?" Maria asked. She remembered Tails telling her about it and seeing it tower over the tops of ever other skyscraper. (It stands out, much like the Empire State building in New York, you can't miss it ^_^ )
"Yes. I called everyone else over as well." Rouge said, hurriedly.
"Alright," Maria said, "I'll be there." She hung up the phone and ran back into her room. She grabbed her jacket and stuffed her arms into the sleeves as she hopped down the stairs. Even though it wasn't that cold out, her mother's words still echoed in her head to wear it.
Maria locked the door behind her and quickly ran out into the street. As she headed into the heart of the city, the streetlights and neon signs turned on; the city was getting ready for the nightlife. Maria kept looking ahead of her; her eyes locked on the tallest building. "What is this import?" Maria huffed, sharply turning a corner, barely missing a mother and her child. 'I have to watch where I'm going!' Maria thought 'But it's itching me to know why Rouge is calling us.'
She saw Tails ahead of her, or should she say, above her. He was flying as hard as he could, his two tails spinning so fast that it looked like the inside of a blender. "Hey Tails!" She called.
Without saying a word, he grabbed her hands and lifted her into the air. "Hey Maria! I think I'd better take care of you now. You look tired."
Maria wasn't about to argue, loving the way the wind blew in her face. 'This is nice.' She thought, at least until she heard a grunt from Tails. "I'm not to heavy, am I?"
"No" Tails said, "I'm just out of shape, I haven't carried anyone for a while. Just bare with me." Tails flew up a little higher, enabling the both of them to get a better view of the Zenco Company building. Maria looked down and watched the streets for any signs of the others while Tails kept flying ahead toward the building. When they flew close enough to touch the building, Maria saw a blue dot jumping up and down on the sidewalk accompanied by lots of other dots. "That must be them, land down here, Tails." He nodded and slowly lowered them to ground.
Sonic ran up to them and said, "What took you so long? You're five seconds late!" Knuckles broke into a fit of laughter behind him. "What? You know I'm not used to waiting even for that long!"
Rouge pushed through, now standing in the middle of the group. She nodded at Maria and Tails and spoke, " I'm glad you all made it here fast. I just got word from The President. He said that a secret meeting is going to be held in this building around eight o'clock, a half an hour from now. The only information he has is that the meeting involves Dr. Eggman. The President wants us to investigate and see if we could find anything out. "
"A meeting? Dr. Eggman? How did The President find out about that? The last time I heard, no one was keeping a watch on Eggman." Sonic said.
"The dimwit rented a room in this building and used his real name. The manager of the building sent us this information." Rouge said. She looked up at the building, as if to add suspense.
"Yeah, but do you know what the meeting is going to be about? Does it have anything to do with the crime?" Amy asked. She took out her Piko Piko Hammer and held it tightly in her hands.
"That is why we are going to find out. Why would Eggman just suddenly crawl out from under a rock and do something like this if there was no scheme behind it. This is what we have to find out." Rouge said.
"So, basically we are taking your job and have to spy on Eggman, right?" Tails asked.
"Exactly." Rouge said. "Even though I called all of you here, we only need to people to the job. The Zenco Company didn't want us to snoop, so we have to sneak around without them knowing. Once again, only two people are needed. Who's it going to be?" Rouge asked.
"I'll go!" Sonic said, giving a thumbs up sign, "Leave it to me."
Maria said, "I will go too."
Tails said, "Maria, that's not a good idea. You aren't experienced enough to go."
Sonic stepped behind Maria and put his hand on her shoulder. "I think she should go with me. This little mission will give her experience enough; it's better to do this than to just through her into a battle. Come on, guys!"
"Alright then. Maria and Sonic, you have less than a half an hour to find the room where Eggman is having his meeting. Good luck!" Rouge said.
Maria nodded, "Yeah."
Kimmie's Corner:
Kimmie: Yay! Another cliffhanger! I never stop surprising myself! FF.net wouldn't upload my chapter till now!
Shadow: You know, they are going to kill you for doing that.
Kimmie: Yeah, well.at least I can say the next chapter won't end in a cliffhanger. No, wait.never mind.
Shadow: *sigh*
"Are you guys ready to order?" asked the waiter, stomping his foot on the ground with his arms crossed; much like Sonic. (Y know, "I'm waaiitttiiinnngggg!")
"Um.sorry, not yet. We're still waiting for someone to come." Sonic said, sweat dropping. Maria and Tails, who took the window seats, nervously darted their eyes out the window and back, trying to keep watch for their missing companion.
"Fine, but you'll have to call me over when you're ready to order; I'm not going to waste my time coming back here over and over." The waiter said. He left to go serve another table.
"How rude! The nerve of that guy!" Amy said.
"Especially since we give the biggest tips in Station Square," Sonic added, "He gust blew it."
Knuckles stretched and threw a few fake punches at Sonic across the table. "When is Rouge going to get here? We've been waiting for almost an hour."
As if on command, the white bat ran into the restaurant and to their table, almost knocking over a waitress in the process. She slid into the booth next to Knuckles and threw her briefcase loudly on the table.
Knuckles said, "You're late."
"I'm sorry!" Rouge said, "The President kept me back. I went to check in with him this morning like I usually do but he made me stay longer."
"Did it have to do with the crime? Any new information?" Maria asked.
Rouge said, "Not at all. He was acting really funny; asking me questions about what I have been doing and stuff that's been bothering me. It was like he was trying to get a certain answer out of me."
"Now, that is weird." Tails commented.
"He also asked about my last mission on ARK, like how I feel now about what happened." Rouge said.
"And how did you answer him?" Knuckles asked.
"Professionally. I don't want to lose my job, you know." Rouge relied, "I didn't tell him anything about how I felt."
"Did he look like he wanted to tell you something? It sounds like it with all those weird questions." Maria said.
Rouge pondered, "You might be right, Maria. He was just beating around the bush, he didn't have a point-"
"Probably because you didn't answer him right. Maybe whatever he wanted to tell you, he had no place to say." Knuckles said.
"I think I'll follow up on that. You guys always help me figure this stuff out." Rouge laughed.
"That's what we're here for." Sonic said, giving a thumb's up sign.
@------
After chasing after the waiter who purposely avoided them and eating their lunch, the gang went to the park to relax and hang out. Despite no frequent adventures, the team hasn't had to do this with work and up coming events. They settled down under a group of trees deep inside the park.
"Hey," Tails asked, "Did you guys read in the newspaper about the winter festival coming up?"
"What about it?" Sonic asked, not really interested. He flopped down on the grass and stretched.
"A festival? Here?" Maria squealed.
Tails shook him head, "Every winter we have one. The streets are lined with food and game stands. The city also puts together a play every year."
"That's so cool!" Maria said, "I have never been to a festival before."
"You've been missing out then!" Amy said. "The best part is 'The Tunnel of Love!'" The boys groaned at the remark.
"I was going to ask how were planning on performing the play?" Tails said.
"What do you mean, we're not putting on a play!" Knuckles stated. The rest nodded their heads in agreement.
"You didn't hear? We were picked this year to perform the winter festival's play. The people who are in the plays are always picked from a hat. Our whole group was chosen."
"WHAT!" Everyone screamed in union.
Sonic grabbed Tails by the neck and shouted, "There's no way I'm putting on a play!"
Amy said, "None of us got any phone calls or anything."
Tails said, "As you remember, the performers are announced in the fall town meeting assembly."
"We weren't there that day! We were heading out to the space colony, remember?" Knuckles said.
"Yeah, but I taped it and found out. I thought you guys already knew." Tails said.
"It doesn't matter now, the play has to be done." Maria said, "I'll help you, I think it would be fun."
"It could be a romance play too!" Amy said. She was already thinking up ideas for the play, it consisting of her and Sonic falling in love.
"No way!" Sonic shouted, waving his arms in the air, "nothing romantic!"
Tails said, "But romantic plays are the easiest to perform."
"So, it's settled," Rouge said "Leave it to us girls to decide what play we are doing."
@-------
After coming home, Maria flopped onto her bed and stared up at the ceiling. 'A romantic play, huh? I think maybe something along the lines of Sleeping Beauty. That's an easy play to perform and we won't need that many people. There is a problem though; we are short on girls. Since someone has to be the queen and the princess and the witch, no one is left to play the three fairies. It looks like some of the boys will have to play them.'
Maria got up off the bed and walked over to the window. She looked outside to see the kids next door playing with their dog. Their shouts of laughter could faintly be heard from where she was looking. On the other side, an old oak tree swayed over the property line of Rouge's house, threatening to fall over even with the slightest push. The sun had already started to set; it would be nighttime shortly. She lightly leaned against the window and sighed. 'I wonder how Shadow would react it he found out we had to do a play.' Maria shook her head 'No, stop! That's such a stupid thought. I can't believe I think of these things. I feel so stupid.'
Just then, the telephone could be heard in the other room. Maria ran to pick it up, almost tripping over in the process. "Hello?"
"Maria? It's Rouge. Can you meet me in front of the Zenco Company building right now? This is urgent." Rouge said. She sounded nervous yet at the same time completely calm.
"Um.is that the building that's the tallest in Station Square? Is that what you mean?" Maria asked. She remembered Tails telling her about it and seeing it tower over the tops of ever other skyscraper. (It stands out, much like the Empire State building in New York, you can't miss it ^_^ )
"Yes. I called everyone else over as well." Rouge said, hurriedly.
"Alright," Maria said, "I'll be there." She hung up the phone and ran back into her room. She grabbed her jacket and stuffed her arms into the sleeves as she hopped down the stairs. Even though it wasn't that cold out, her mother's words still echoed in her head to wear it.
Maria locked the door behind her and quickly ran out into the street. As she headed into the heart of the city, the streetlights and neon signs turned on; the city was getting ready for the nightlife. Maria kept looking ahead of her; her eyes locked on the tallest building. "What is this import?" Maria huffed, sharply turning a corner, barely missing a mother and her child. 'I have to watch where I'm going!' Maria thought 'But it's itching me to know why Rouge is calling us.'
She saw Tails ahead of her, or should she say, above her. He was flying as hard as he could, his two tails spinning so fast that it looked like the inside of a blender. "Hey Tails!" She called.
Without saying a word, he grabbed her hands and lifted her into the air. "Hey Maria! I think I'd better take care of you now. You look tired."
Maria wasn't about to argue, loving the way the wind blew in her face. 'This is nice.' She thought, at least until she heard a grunt from Tails. "I'm not to heavy, am I?"
"No" Tails said, "I'm just out of shape, I haven't carried anyone for a while. Just bare with me." Tails flew up a little higher, enabling the both of them to get a better view of the Zenco Company building. Maria looked down and watched the streets for any signs of the others while Tails kept flying ahead toward the building. When they flew close enough to touch the building, Maria saw a blue dot jumping up and down on the sidewalk accompanied by lots of other dots. "That must be them, land down here, Tails." He nodded and slowly lowered them to ground.
Sonic ran up to them and said, "What took you so long? You're five seconds late!" Knuckles broke into a fit of laughter behind him. "What? You know I'm not used to waiting even for that long!"
Rouge pushed through, now standing in the middle of the group. She nodded at Maria and Tails and spoke, " I'm glad you all made it here fast. I just got word from The President. He said that a secret meeting is going to be held in this building around eight o'clock, a half an hour from now. The only information he has is that the meeting involves Dr. Eggman. The President wants us to investigate and see if we could find anything out. "
"A meeting? Dr. Eggman? How did The President find out about that? The last time I heard, no one was keeping a watch on Eggman." Sonic said.
"The dimwit rented a room in this building and used his real name. The manager of the building sent us this information." Rouge said. She looked up at the building, as if to add suspense.
"Yeah, but do you know what the meeting is going to be about? Does it have anything to do with the crime?" Amy asked. She took out her Piko Piko Hammer and held it tightly in her hands.
"That is why we are going to find out. Why would Eggman just suddenly crawl out from under a rock and do something like this if there was no scheme behind it. This is what we have to find out." Rouge said.
"So, basically we are taking your job and have to spy on Eggman, right?" Tails asked.
"Exactly." Rouge said. "Even though I called all of you here, we only need to people to the job. The Zenco Company didn't want us to snoop, so we have to sneak around without them knowing. Once again, only two people are needed. Who's it going to be?" Rouge asked.
"I'll go!" Sonic said, giving a thumbs up sign, "Leave it to me."
Maria said, "I will go too."
Tails said, "Maria, that's not a good idea. You aren't experienced enough to go."
Sonic stepped behind Maria and put his hand on her shoulder. "I think she should go with me. This little mission will give her experience enough; it's better to do this than to just through her into a battle. Come on, guys!"
"Alright then. Maria and Sonic, you have less than a half an hour to find the room where Eggman is having his meeting. Good luck!" Rouge said.
Maria nodded, "Yeah."
Kimmie's Corner:
Kimmie: Yay! Another cliffhanger! I never stop surprising myself! FF.net wouldn't upload my chapter till now!
Shadow: You know, they are going to kill you for doing that.
Kimmie: Yeah, well.at least I can say the next chapter won't end in a cliffhanger. No, wait.never mind.
Shadow: *sigh*