Author's note: With the announcement of the new Sonic Prime TV series coming out(though I think I'll avoid it because it may be too dark for my taste), and leaks of rumors of both Sonic Rift and Sonic Unlimited(which could be fake and I'm wiry with them, but I could be wrong), things are heating up this year for Sonic's 30th Anniversary. Anywho, here's episode 7!
I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog. All rights belong to Sega. I only own the OCs.
Episode 7: Parties and Flowers.
The new day started out like usual, and Sonic and his friends were once again seated in the dining room table preparing to have breakfast before Chris would leave for school. Or...at least it would be breakfast. The Mobians and even their human friend weren't certain because, from what the twelve year old boy had warned Sonic, Tails, Amy, Cream and Cheese, his mother was a terrible cook. While Amy didn't think it would be a problem, and Cream wondered if she should help with the baking as she used to help make breakfast with her own mother from time to time, Sonic and Tails felt more than a little uneasy.
"No offense, Chris, but I swear I can smell burnt pancakes coming from the kitchen." Sonic whispered softly.
"Knowing my Mom, that's what it is. I know she tries, but I sometimes wish she'd take cooking lessons from Ella." Chris whispered back, his head low as he braced himself for the horrors of Lindsey's 'cooking'.
"You want my Mom to teach her too? She makes killer pancakes." The blue hedgehog offered half-teasingly. His human friend smiled a little, remembering how the teenage hero mentioned that Bernadette would make pancakes once every two weeks and they were luckily always delicious.
Lindsey by then arrived from the kitchen with a plate of her homemade pancakes, humming happily while wearing a pink stained apron. "It's marvelous to be back in the kitchen again. On my movie sets, the chefs won't let me cook a thing. Here are your buttermilk pancakes, dears! Enjoy!"
As she set the plates of pancakes in front of the group, they all sweat dropped at the sight of how badly burnt the food was. Chris lifted his up with a fork with a skeptical look, Sonic hesitantly cut into his with a fork and a knife, Tails poked at his, Amy carefully tried to bend hers over, Cream gently poured maple syrup onto hers, and Cheese tried to bite his with another fork. Chris, Tails, and Amy's pancakes crumbled into pieces, Sonic's somehow vaporizing into a pile of burnt ashes, Cream's shattering and turned into a yucky pile of burnt goop, and Cheese's collapsed while he tried not to throw up as he only tasted the burnt ashes in his mouth.
"It's, um...delis?" The hero of Mobius shrugged, smiling awkwardly.
"R-Really fantastic..." Tails muttered.
"It's really yummy..." Cream lied, since she was taught proper manners and didn't want to hurt Lindsey's feelings.
"I agree." Amy replied, though she was thinking to herself. 'And here I thought my cooking was bad. Thank goodness Ella's been teaching me how to begin to do it right. I can't be Sonic's wife if I'm a bad cook like Mrs. Thorndyke.'
'Man, now I know why Chris said his mom's a terrible cook. Forget buttermilk pancakes. These should be called burnt-coal pancakes.' Sonic thought to himself. He was too scared to even take a bite out of the pieces.
'I can see why the chefs at the movie sets won't let her cook a thing. They probably know how terrible she is at it. Feel sorry for her, though.' The two-tailed fox thought.
'Poor Mrs. Thorndyke.' Cream thought, sadly. 'She tries so hard to be a good mother to Chris, and she seems really happy to be in the kitchen.'
Chris in the meantime, could only sigh in dismay. He loved his mother and wished she and his dad were home more often, but one could only cope with Lindsey's terrible cooking skills.
At that moment, Ella came into the room and was shocked when she saw the burnt food on the table, sweat dropping. "Oh my! I smell something burning!"
While the Mobian girls looked horrified at the kindly housemaid's comment, Lindsey paid no mind to it and just giggled, oblivious. "Oh, Ella, it's so good to be home again!"
She then clapped her hands together, saying. "I have an idea! Let's have a big party!"
"Party?" Chris, Sonic, Amy and Tails all asked in unison.
"Yes. A dinner party tonight." Lindsey declared happily. "We can all dress up, if some of you wanted to! I'm sure Ella can prepare something absolutely scrumptious!"
"A party's a great idea!" Chris said in agreement.
"I'd love that!" Amy squealed in excitement.
"Wow, a party! This is great! I love parties!" Cream exclaimed excitedly.
"Sure sounds like fun!" Tails agreed.
"I could use a bit of a party-time." Sonic shrugged with a smile. "Though I think I'll pass on the dressing up part, if that's okay."
"Of course, Sonic. You can be whatever you want." Lindsey said.
"And do think you could invite your brother Sam to come over since he's my favorite Uncle?" Chris asked, as he and Sonic had both admitted that the latter met the former's racing uncle to Lindsey and Nelson and despite that the blue hedgehog fidgeted a little, he could only hope that Sam Speed wouldn't tattle-tale on him, especially since he and his friends have been staying over for a while as the teenager was still looking for Cream's Mom.
Plus Sonic did meet up with him the other day during his search before Robotnik arrived to steal the Chaos Emerald. The racer may have an attitude worse than his, and even more competitive when it came to speed, but the blue hedgehog had to admit that he was an okay guy. Despite the hesitation in telling him of what happened, the fourteen year old was relieved that the S-Team Captain agreed to keep Cream's knowledge in staying in the Thorndyke Mansion at low key as possible, especially since the Goverment might have other things to say and humans had about may 1% of Mobians actually living in Station Square.
"Of course, darling, you can have anything you want!" Chris' mother said happily, before hugging him. "Anything at all for my adorable baby boy!"
As the Mobians couldn't help but chuckle and giggle at the sight of the human mother and human son hug each other, Sonic gazed at Cream and couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt rise in his chest again. Despite what she said to him the other day, he wished he could do anything to make her happy.
"If we're having a party tonight, this calls for heavy duty cleaning! Time to clear some clutter!" Ella declared as she rolled up her sleeves, giggling as she walked away.
"Maybe we can help in decorating." Cream suggested happily.
"Cream, I was thinking of the same thing." Amy said, smiling at her friend who giggled.
Today was going to be exciting...in more ways than one.
Later at school, Chris was telling his friends Danny and Frances about his mother's idea, yet the twelve year old Thorndyke had yet to tell them about Sonic, whom the two other kids thought was really cool and hoped to meet the blue hedgehog someday.
"A party?" Danny asked, surprised.
"Yeah, my mom wants us to have fun while she's home. My uncle's coming for the party, too." Chris explained as he and his friends were studying.
"The racer who raced against Sonic, like the news said?" Frances asked, blinking in surprise herself.
The ginger-haired boy nodded. "Yeah, he's the coolest! And he's the leader of the S Team!"
What the three kids didn't know was that Mr. Stewart was listening in on the conversation and, secretly knowing that Sonic and his friends were staying at the Thorndyke Mansion, smiled before walking away. This will be a good opportunity to add in another spy gadget on the Mobians.
Back at home, Cream, with both Lindsey and Ella's permission, was humming to herself as she wandered off outside, was giggling while she and Cheese were picking flowers.
"Everybody's going to love these. This will make the party even more special." Cream was saying, smiling.
"Chao Chao!" Cheese squeaked happily.
Inside as they were in the lab gathering a few things for the party, Amy and Tails heard their youngest friend's giggle and looked out of the window, while Sonic, stretching his arms upward as he had raced around helping out with the party, took a bit of a break and was relaxing with his eyes closed.
"I wonder what Cream's doing out there, Amy." Tails muttered.
"I bet she's picking flowers. Probably to make it more decorative all around the living room." Amy replied as she and the two-tailed fox watched the five year old rabbit girl at the flower bed. This prompted Sonic to open his eyes as he overheard their conversation.
"But we'll have plenty of that since you and Ella bought some already." The eight year old kit shrugged. "What else is so important in picking more flowers?"
He then gasped in realization as he remembered what Cream had told them days earlier.
Flash-Back...
The moment the group had entered Chris's home and Sonic introduced his friends and Cream and Cheese to the human boy and his grandfather, Cream had sat down as she began telling them her story on what happened.
"So, Cream. What happened?" Sonic asked, curiously.
"You told me and Amy that you were picking flowers before your home was attacked, right?" Tails added, recalling how Cream told him and Amy of her story.
The little girl nodded. "I was surprising my Mom by making her a crown made out of flowers."
End of Flash-Back:
"I guess she really misses her mom." Tails muttered in sympathy.
Realizing what he meant, the pink hedgehog sighed as she felt a pang of guilt and sorrow rise up at the reminder that the Iron Empire had Vanilla and other villagers prisoners to try and find Cream and Cheese.
"Of course she does. I just wish...I just wish we could do something to cheer her up." Amy sighed.
'I do too. Poor kid.' Sonic thought to himself, looking away, thinking back on how he found the ruined flower crown in Floral Forest Village. He could tell that it had been beautifully made for Vanilla, and wondered if Cream wanted to make another one for Lindsey for being so kind to her. It sounded like a lovely thought.
But the flowers here could only do so much and he had a feeling that the young rabbit girl would want to have more, even with the time-limit. As the blue hedgehog stared up at the ceiling, something caught his eye on a poster that was hanging on the wall. It was a canyon-like meadow with beautiful flowers of different colours, all surrounding a lake and the writing "Peace Valley" was just below it. Sonic gave a thoughtful frown before an idea formed.
"Hey, guys. I'm gonna go out for a bit. I'll be back for the party." Sonic announced to his little brother and self-proclaimed girlfriend who turned around curiously. Before they could ask what he meant, the speedster stood up before zooming to snatch the poster and sped downstairs.
"Sonic?" Amy blinked.
"Where's he going?" Tails wondered aloud.
While Sonic had sped out to find Peace Valley, Cream went back inside and began making flower crowns to surprise everyone. She sat on the guest bed before she ran out and let out a soft sigh. "This crown doesn't have enough flowers. I'd better pick more."
Hopping off the bed, the five year old Mobian raced downstairs and skid to a stop when she saw Lindsey decorate the ceiling with garlands. Curious, Cream went over just as the human mother carefully climbed down the ladder.
"Hello, Mrs. Thorndyke. Is there anything I can do to help?" Cream asked kindly.
"Hello, Cream. Well, maybe we can help each other with the living room. If you want." Lindsey replied, smiling warmly.
"Sure! I'd love to!" The five year old nodded happily.
Back at school as the bell rang to end class for the day, Chris waved a goodbye to his friends and fellow students before heading over to his locker and grabbed his backpack.
"Hey, Chris!"
Startled, Chris turned around and saw, to his surprise, Mr. Stewart approach him. "I haven't been teaching here long, but I just wanted to say thanks. I'm really lucky to have so many intelligent and talented kids in my class."
"Uh..." The twelve year old boy trailed off, not sure what to say about this. But what Mr. Stewart said next nearly set him off into a panic attack.
"You kids are terrific and I wanna know all of you better. So, I'm coming to visit you and your family later today." The teacher said, making Chris cringe nervously with a sweat drop. "Huh. I can't wait to meet your mom and get her autograph!"
With that, Mr. Stewart walked away, leaving Chris to stand there in horror and disbelief with his mouth gaped open. This was bad. If Mr. Stewart found out about Sonic and the others staying with him, not only the whole school would know, but news would spread out and then everyone in Station Square would gather around for Sonic's autograph...and it could also lead to Robotnik invading his home, or worse, Julius catching wind and put his entire family into jeopardy!
'So much for my new friends joining Mom's party.' Chris thought to himself. He had to warn the Mobians of this, fast.
Meanwhile, miles away in the mountain canyons, Sonic stood on a cliff with the poster in hand, examining the canyon landmarks and looked back up to the scene before him.
"This must be the place. Isolated but still enough to be found...Maybe I'll even find the Iron Empire's secret base, if I'm lucky. If not, then at least I'll be bringing Cream some more flowers for the party." The blue hedgehog muttered to himself, having his hand over his eyes making sure he was in the right area, before rolling up the poster that served as his map and then raced down the rock and into the mountain valley to begin his search.
"Hey, I'm home." Chris called up as he entered the front door, greeted by his mother and three of their Mobian friends, and Mr. Tanaka.
"How was school today, Master Christopher?" Tanaka asked, bowing his head to the boy.
"It was pretty good, Mr. Tanaka." Chris replied, before being hugged by his mother.
"Oh, Chris darling, you're home!" Lindsey said happily.
Chris shrugged, before sighing as he announced to everyone. Mainly focusing on Amy and Tails. "Uh, sorry, guys, but you both, Sonic, Cream and Cheese will have to hide out for a little while during the party."
That surprised everyone, with Amy asking in shock and disappointment. "What!? How come?"
"Because my teacher, Mr. Stewart's coming over today for a visit." Chris replied apologetically, turning to his mother. "If it's okay, Mom, and it sounds like he's really a big fan of your movies!"
"But Mr. Stewart doesn't know anything about us, and that could cause some problems." Tails realized, as he came to the similar realization as Chris had earlier.
"Oh! And Cream and I were looking forward for that party!" The eleven year old hedgehog girl whined. She wouldn't mind meeting Chris' teacher and unlike the two boys, she didn't think of it as much of a problem.
"Yeah, well, it's to be safe than sorry and he might be asking for Sonic's autograph as well, which could lead him to tell everybody in class how you guys are staying here and that could lead to problems. You can all join the party after Mr. Stewart's gone." The twelve year old boy explained.
While Lindsey was in an agreement with Amy, she decided to play it said, before a realization came to her as she gasped, placing her hands on her cheeks. "That reminds me! What am I going to wear? I should have had the studio send over a gown!"
"I feel sorry for Mobini dogs." Came Chuck's voice, as everyone looked up to see the elderly Thorndyke descend from the stairs, tugging the collar of his suit and tie that he was forced to wear. "How do they stand it? This collar's killing me!"
"How come you're wearing those clothes, Grandpa?" Chris asked as he and Tails approached him.
"Yeah, Mrs. Thorndyke said we could dress up if we wanted to and you didn't have to do it." Tails added.
Chuck grumbled, sending a glare at Mr. Tanaka who pretended to not notice. "Yes, well, Mr. Tanaka says I can't wear my lab coat at the party. I don't see why Sonic gets out of wearing the suit while I'm not spared of that particular mercy."
"Uh, speaking of Sonic, where is he?" Chris asked.
"He said he's going out for a little while and would be back for the party." Amy explained, remembering Sonic's sudden departure.
As the youngest Thorndyke now felt even more worried, especially since Sonic left at the wrong time, he looked into the living room to find that Cream and Cheese were helping to decorate, the little girl having volunteered to keep working while Lindsey had greeted him.
"If you guys see Sonic, please tell him to stay out of sight until Mr. Stewart goes away." Chris requested.
"Of course, Master Christopher." Mr. Tanaka nodded.
"Cream is going to be disappointed, but I guess it can't be helped. Better to be safe than sorry." Chuck muttered, only for him and everyone else to notice that Cream and Cheese were no longer in the room. Their eyes widened in worry until they heard her hum and glanced to see that she was talking to Ella, who happily lead the young girl and Cheese into the kitchen. They sighed in relief.
"She's such a sweetheart, volunteering to help." Linsdey said thoughtfully.
"Maybe the next time we should put up a surprise party for her too." Amy suggested, still wishing to help make Cream feel better. "Maybe we can still help before Mr. Stewart arrives."
Chris, though he thought that maybe it wasn't such a bad idea, felt that time wasn't on their side.
Sonic was still speeding through the mountains while looking at the poster skeptically, wondering if he was ever going to find Peace Valley. None the less, he kept going with hopes in finding it. But as the teenage hedgehog sped past another mountain, something caught the corner of his eyes and skid to a stop, running back and faced the mountain wall. To his great shock and surprise, part of it had been dug up into a huge hole with metal covering it, though it looked dented and worn out, badly camouflaged with dust and rock but well hidden for not anyone else to notice.
But what really caught his attention was the faded familiar symbol he'd seen belong not to Robotnik, but his newest enemies.
"The Iron Empire's symbol...Could this be it? Is this...their secret base?" The fourteen year old muttered to himself, feeling an inkling of hope rise up. Though about 80% of him said that he was lead to another dead end, at least he found something. Despite that he didn't have much time before the party, he decided to go for a quick look without getting caught and then come back tomorrow to investigate better.
Nodding to himself as he could at least smash it despite knowing that he could land himself into further trouble, Sonic then curled up and Spin Dashed through the wall, smashing the door open, but was greatly surprised that there were no alarms going off. In fact, as he stood up, the lights weren't on either. The place was rather a bit dusty, with cobwebs all over the place.
"Hmm...Either this place has been abandoned or it's just sorry looking. I'd better make this quick." Sonic muttered, racing down the hallway. It looked similar to Robotnik's secret bases, but it was really narrow and dark. Unless there were hidden cameras for Julius to wait to set up the traps. But he wasn't worried as he can easily outrun anything.
Problem was that it was so dark he couldn't see anything. The further he went inside, the darker it became and he was starting to slow down when he realized that he couldn't see his hand in front of his base.
"It's too dark in here. Maybe I should turn back now and come back tomorrow." The cobalt teenager said, slowing to a careful walk...
Only to realize too late that part of the floor caved in and he was left stumble and to his alarm while failing to keep his balance, he fell down into the dark abyss screaming. Sonic almost lost his 'map' but quickly caught it and rolled it up, yet it did little to stop him from descending until he reached the bottom where light was shown from the floor with lamps gathered, and found himself stopping and bouncing a little, the floor seemingly wobbling a bit, much to his confusion.
"What the?" Sonic blinked, though when he tried to get up, he found that his arms and legs and even his back were stuck to something that felt all cotton and sticky. He then struggled and grunted. "Ugh! I can't move!"
When he tried to move his head to see what he landed on, his eyes widened in horror as he gasped, realizing that, given the sight of the room, he had landed onto a giant spider's web!
"Oh great!" The blue hedgehog cried out, struggling to try and free himself and hope to avoid in either being spider food or being vaporized by a giant spider robot, chasiting himself for falling into the trap. "Hey! Let me go!"
"Well, what do we have here?" An unfamiliar, smooth-like voice spoke from above. "Looks like somebody broke into my place and dropped by for an uninvited visit."
When Sonic looked up, from the darkness of the ceiling he saw eight eyes peering down at him and the silhouette of eight legs, hanging upside down from another ceiling. His heart froze, beginning to sweat in fear as he whimpered while the giant spider began to descend. The blue hedgehog knew in that instant that he was going to be eaten.
"W-wait, wait! You can't eat me! I'm just all skin, spikes and bone!" Sonic exclaimed pleadingly, renewing his struggles to escape, but the web held it's grip on him.
It was futile, as the spider got closer and closer, coming into the light even though the hero of Mobius knew that he was about to be rolled up into a cocoon before he would be stabbed by those fangs and be sucked dry like a vampire's prey. Not wanting to see his end like this, Sonic squeezed his eyes shut as he braced himself, screaming as the spider landed on the web and loomed over him.
"Wait a minute...Jules, is that you?" The same voice, closer and sounding surprised now, asked.
Confusing as he soon found that he was still alive, the teenage hedgehog hesitantly looked up and flinched when he saw the spider too close for comfort, before realizing that there was something odd about it, or rather, him. This spider had not eight legs, but eight limbs. Four arms with gloved hands, four legs with boots, a dark vest and black fur with red eyes. It took a moment for him to realize what this giant spider really was.
"You're...a Mobian." Sonic muttered, puzzled. While he was aware of Mobians coming in almost all animal species like Mobini's, he hadn't expected to actually meet a Mobian Spider as he half-figured they were an exception.
At first the Mobian Spider was about to retort, when he got a better look at the young Mobian Hedgehog, he muttered in confusion. "Say, you look just like Jules, only you're younger with green eyes and impressive shoes."
"Hold on. Jules?" The blue hedgehog blinked, then stated. "That's my Dad's name."
"Your dad?" The Spider asked in surprise, before a realization kicked in and he smiled while laughing. "Well, I'll be doggone! You're Jules Hedgehog's son! Never expected him to have kids, but I guess miracles come in every package. You look just like him, though it's obvious you got your mother's eyes. A handsome young blue devil, I reckon."
Sonic was even more surprised. "You know my dad?"
"Know him? Heck, we go way back when he and Chuck first came to Station Square! Boy, did we get into all kinds of adventures and trouble back in the day when we were kids." The Spider chuckled, before carefully plucking the web off of Sonic, freeing the young hedgehog and then helped him safely onto the ground. "Allow me to introduce myself. Name's Ferrel, Gentlemen Treasure Hunter!"
Now relieved to be freed and that despite the creepy appearance, sensing that this guy, Ferrel was actually nice, the hero of Mobius replied. "Thanks, Ferrel and nice to meetcha. I'm Sonic the Hedgehog."
"Sonic, huh? Good name. So, are Jules, Chuck and your Mom visiting town? I've yet to meet my old buddy's wife." Ferrel said.
"Actually, I came here by myself a couple weeks back. My folks are back on South Island where I was born." The blue hedgehog shrugged. "Dad's the one who directed me here since I'm an adventurer, and hero of Mobius."
"Thought I'd heard rumors of that for the last three years, and now your name finally hit me. But I never thought the hero would be the son of Jules and the nephew of Sir Charles." The Mobian Spider realized, before asking. "By the way, who is old Charlie?"
Sonic lowered his gaze in sadness he tried to hide, scratching his head uneasily. "He...well...I guess you haven't heard, but...Uncle Chuck, and fifty other people...they died eight years ago. Went missing and were never seen again. Nobody knows what happened to them."
Ferrel's eyes widened in shock, and he could tell that the teenage Mobian really didn't want to talk about it, especially since his emerald green eyes and expression held emotional pain over the memories of the news that his uncle, obviously very loved, was taken away from him and his family.
"I'm sorry, kid." Ferrel muttered with sympathy.
"Not your fault. Plus, I bet you guys didn't get into much contact, right?" Sonic shrugged, attempting to swallow the sadness from the past.
"Yeah, pretty. Wish I did, though. Last time I saw those two were about 17 years ago. We unexpected met up and hanged about before I left for another adventure and they went off home." The Spider replied, rubbing the back of his head and neck with both left hands.
"So why are you here in the Iron Empire's abandoned base?" The blue hedgehog asked, curiously as it was now obvious that this base had been abandoned for quite sometime and Ferrel took it over at some point.
Ferrel looked at him in surprise. "You know of those dangerous criminals?"
"They attacked Station Square on the night I first came here, and I even ended up meeting their leader, Julius, who happens to be the just as evil brother of the bad guy I've been fighting since three years ago; You know, Dr. Ivo Robotnik, who I most of the times call either Ro-butt-nik, Buttnik or since the other day, Eggman." Sonic explained.
Hearing the taunting nicknames Sonic gave Robotnik, Ferrel couldn't help but burst out laughing. "Now I know that you're Jules son and the great hero of Mobius! I can't believe I never came up with any of those nicknames for Robotnik! HA HA HA!"
The blue hedgehog chuckled as well. "Yeah, well, I'm starting to like Eggman better than Ro-butt-nik, especially since I can come up with other names that start with an egg, like he can with his robots."
"But, wait, what were those guys doing in Station Square?" The Mobian Spider asked, after he and Sonic ceased their laughter.
Sonic explained to him as briefly as possible about the situation, including Julius' desire to kidnap Cream and Cheese to find other Chao, about what he learned in the last several weeks up until today. But when he came to the part of how he found this place, the blue hedgehog gasped as he remembered what he was meant to actually do today.
"Hey, that reminds me. I've gotta found Peace Valley and be back for Mrs. Thorndyke's party!" Sonic exclaimed in remembrance, examining the poster again, which Ferrel managed to look at.
"I know where that place is." The Mobian Spider said.
"You do?" The blue hedgehog asked, curiously.
Ferrel nodded. "Sure, if you continue along the tunnel here, it'll lead you back out and then cross the forest you see and over the bridge. From there, you'll be able to find Peace Valley. Just be careful, 'cause the bridge is really old and could easily break at any moment, if it's not gone already."
"Cool! Thanks a bunch." Sonic said gratefully. "Hey, before I go, how come you're here?"
"Oh, right. Rumors say that it's due to an attack by GUN a couple years ago, forcing Iron Empire to abandon this place. It's no thanks to them that I lost my home, but then again I travel a lot and come back here once and a while. Made that front door myself and no one really comes here anymore." Ferrel explained.
Realizing what the Mobian Spider meant, the blue hedgehog shrugged sheepishly. "Sorry. I much pretty broke the door down. I thought I'd find a clue on their secret base."
Blinking, the Mobian Spider then shrugged. "Eh, it's just a door. I can make another one. Doors are replaceable and I've got a spare that I bought last month, anyway. The way how you did, I'm surprised you got here already."
"Right. I'll make it up to you, but I've gotta go. Thanks again, Ferrel. See ya later." Sonic nodded, and waved a goodbye to him which his father's old friend returned, before speeding out in the direction he was given, nearly knocking the spider over.
A moment of silence.
"Whoa. That kid's super fast." Ferrel muttered, bewildered of Sonic's legendary speed.
Back at the mansion, despite that there was very little time left, Cream was helping Ella with the cupcakes, adding colourful sprinkles on top.
"You have such a talent in the kitchen." Ella said, affectionately patting Cream on the head.
"Thank you. Ms. Ella." The little girl replied happily.
Nearby them, Amy was adding the finishing touches of the nice cake by making frosting flowers. She was wearing a green apron, even though her mind was onto a certain blue hedgehog who was still absent and could only hope that he'd be back after Mr. Stewart had left.
'Sonic, I hope you're okay. I know that you're worried about Cream, but you need to take it easy.' The pink hedgehog thought to herself, believing that her 'boyfriend' was once again out searching for the Iron Empire's secret base, which left her annoyed that he changed his mind on having a day off.
But at the same time, it was mainly for Cream's sake.
Unaware to the three girls, Rouge, after another attempt for finding shiny jewelry, was once again spying on them despite that she was unaware that another spy that she knew of was coming over as well.
"Well, at least she's happy and safe. Like any other good little girl." The bat thief whispered to herself about the little rabbit girl, quickly hiding behind the wall to avoid in being seen.
Thanks to Ferrel's coordinates, Sonic had exited the base and was right on track. He came to a stop on the edge of another cliff on one side of the bridge, and found that he was right in front of a waterfall. He whistled in awe.
"This is cool." The blue hedgehog muttered.
However, when he saw the state of the bridge, he quickly understood why his father's friend warned him about it. It was old, wrecked and unstable with some planks having fallen off, a couple others dangling dangerously over the high ravine blow. That didn't stop him, though. Trusting his speed, Sonic raced right over it, making it to the other side safely and easily while more planks were flown off due to the force of his run.
After the last arrangements of the party was all set, and the Mobians, with Sonic still absent, retreated to the garage, Lindsey was in her room having put on a simple red but beautiful dress, putting on her earrings after choosing what kind of jewelry she should wear.
"This should do, at least for my entrance." Lindsey thought to herself, smiling as she was ready for the party. However, before she could head downstairs, her phone rang, much to her slight annoyance. Sighing to herself, she answered. "Hello?"
When she listened, she gasped as she stood up with excitement. "What's that? The starring role? I'll catch the next plane!"
However, her face fell when she was told that she had to leave straight away, unaware that Cream, who felt that she should help with the last minute arragements, and Cheese, were just passing her bedroom when they overheard the conversation and peered around the corner of the door, silently listening curiously.
"Oh, actually I'm having a little party for my son, tonight. I'm afraid I'll have to leave tomorrow morning." Lindsey explained, only for the caller to tell her otherwise and that she had no choice but to abandon her plans. "Oh. I didn't realize. We have to shoot on location first thing tomorrow morning. I know you can't put a hundred million dollar production on hold for a party. I'll leave immediately. Goodbye."
As the caller was satisfied as the person believed that family were not important at all, she hung up and turned off her vanity's light, guilt-ridden and heart-broken and mentally wishing she was never an actress, being too weak to say no or pass on the starring role for someone else.
"Why does it always have to happen this way? I don't even have time to spend with my little boy. I may be a great actress, but I'm a terrible mother." Lindsey muttered to herself, covering her face as she cried. "Please forgive me, Christopher."
Cream could only watch in heart-break and sympathy. It made her sad that Lindsey always had to leave her son just because the movie staff refused to let her say no and spend more time with her family. The little five year old wished she could do something to cheer her up.
"Mrs. Thorndyke?" She spoke up softly, causing her friend's mother to turn around and notice her, quickly wiping away her tears.
"Oh, hello sweetie." Lindsey greeted with a sad smile, approaching her. "I...I'm sorry, but I have to leave. I hope you understand."
"It's okay. I'm sorry that I overheard what happened. I wish I could do something to cheer you up." The young Mobian girl replied with sympathy.
Lindsey at her in shock, before smiling tearfully, bending down and gently hugged her. "Oh, Cream. If only I could even help you to find your mother. You're such a good little girl."
Cream could only hug her back, since it was the only thing she could do to cheer Chris's mother up...and cheer Chris up as well once he finds out that his mother had to leave the planned party.
Sonic by then had reached the top of another mountain cliff, stopping as he looked at the poster again and hoped that he was at least getting close. When he lowered it to check, to his delight and surprise, he saw the exact same place just below him. The flowers and the lake in a small canyon pit. He finally found it! He found the beautiful meadow that was better than the picture.
Smiling happily for having succeeded, the blue hedgehog cheered in joy. "Yeah!"
He quickly raced down and stopped just in front of the beautiful flowers, and picked one as he looked at them before sniffing it, liking the scent. Mission accomplished. Now all Sonic had to do was pick as many as he could carry and then head back to the Thorndyke Mansion. Cream was going to be so happy!
After Lindsey kindly told Cream that everything was set and hoped that once Mr. Stewart was gone, she and the others could enjoy the party before the little kind girl went back to Amy and Tails, she had Ella to find Chris and apologize to him while Mr. Tanaka was putting the last of her things into the trunk of the car. By then, the kindly housemaid came outside from the front, looking quite worried and guilt-ridden.
"Ma'am, I've looked all over, but I'm afraid I couldn't find Chris anywhere!" Ella said apologetically.
"He must be checking up on his friends." Lindsey said, before taking the maid's hand and told her apologetically. "Ella, please tell Christopher how sorry I am and apologize to Sonic, his friends, Mr. Stewart and my brother."
"They'll understand. You take care, Mrs. Thorndyke." Ella promised.
The Thorndyke mother nodded as she walked to the car, saying to the house servants. "Call me if Chris needs anything."
"Certainly, Mrs. Thorndyke." Mr. Tanaka bowed, though once Lindsey waved a goodbye and drove off, he looked up and shared a worried glance, knowing that Chris was going to be very disappointed.
"Cream and Cheese are missing!?" Chris exclaimed once he checked the garage where Amy and Tails were, and the two were just as worried as they looked all over.
"One minute they were there, and then the next, they were gone!" Tails exclaimed worriedly.
"Oh man! They were supposed to be here and Mr. Stewart's gonna be here any minute!" The twelve year old boy cried out as he held his head. "What'm I gonna do if he sees them!?"
"Who's gonna see who?" A sweet girl's voice asked, sounding confused.
Startled, the trio spun around to find Cream and Cheese just closing the door behind them. They sighed in relief and hurried towards her.
"Cream! You were supposed to stay here until Mr. Stewart left!" Chris informed her.
"I'm sorry. I just thought I'd help with any last minute things for the party, and I was talking to your mom." The five year old girl replied, before sighing. "I guess Miss Ella told you already."
That confused the three of them as Amy asked. "Tell Chris about what, Cream?"
Now it was Cream and Cheese's turn to be confused, until realization sunk in before the former asked in sadness. "You mean you were looking for me and missed her? Oh no..."
"What's wrong, Cream? Did something happen?" Tails asked, worriedly.
"I didn't mean to overhear her, but the movie people called her and wanted her to go star in a new movie, so Mrs. Thorndyke had to leave and not allowed to join the party." Cream explained in sadness.
"No way!" Chris exclaimed in shock.
"She said that Miss Ella would find you so that she and Mr. Chris could say goodbye. But I guess it was too late." The little girl sighed.
Chris groaned in disappointment and anger, folding his arms in sheer annoyance. "That's just an excuse for her to go off and spend more time with her dumb movies than with me! It's all she mainly cares about! She always leaves in a rude way and doesn't even delay her departure or even say no to the movie roles! It's not fair!"
"Chris!" Amy scolded angrily. "How could you say that to your own mother!?"
"But it's true! It's always movie first and family last! That's how it works for her, and then she wonders why I'm so mad!" The boy pointed out.
Cream was shocked to hear Chris say that, even after she saw Lindsey's heart-breaking dilemma.
"Please forgive me, Christopher."
"You're wrong!" The five year old girl shouted angrily. "Your mom felt very bad that she had to go and she tried to find you to say goodbye. You're lucky! You get to talk to your mom all the time on the phone."
Chris, Amy and Tails were shocked that Cream the Rabbit, such a sweet, gentle and kind little girl with a forgiving personality would yell like that. Then came the tears in their friend's eyes.
"I can't do that!" Cream added, before storming out of the garage, crying heavily.
"Cream, wait!" Amy cried out as she and Tails quickly hurried to follow her and try and get her to calm down.
Chris on the other hand, stood there in muted shock before lowering his gaze, guilt-ridden for having complained like a spoiled brat that he realized that he was. He hadn't meant to hurt her feelings, and had forgotten that Vanilla was in the terrible clutches of Julius Robotnik of the Iron Empire.
Cream was right. He still had his own mother, unlike the five year old.
Taking the other exit, the boy somberly entered his house and into the living room where Chuck, Mr. Tanaka and Ella had just entered moments later, finding Chris all guilt-ridden and sad. He had his gaze low, Cream's words racing through his mind.
"Chris? What's wrong?" Chuck asked, sitting next to his grandson. "Is everything all right?"
"Cream told me that Mom had to leave for the party, after she came back when I asked Amy and Tails where she was." Chris somberly replied, not looking up at his grandfather.
"Oh, dear. I was looking for you so you could say goodbye." Ella said, placing a hand onto her cheek, worriedly.
"I know. But...that's not what upsets me, even though I am disappointed." The twelve year old boy sighed, his guilt growing worse. "I complained too much about Mom missing the party and...Cream got mad at me and made me remember that her mother is still captured. I didn't mean to make her upset. Now she's outside crying with Amy and Tails..."
The human adults stared at him in concern even though they were disappointed in him for having done as such. Before they could berate him more softly for his actions, the door then opened up to reveal Sonic holding a large bouquet of the flowers he picked, expecting to see everyone there.
"Hey, I'm back." The blue hedgehog greeted smiling, only to hold a confused and quickly concerned expression when he found only the four humans, who, except for the guilt-ridden Chris, turned to notice his presence, available, and no sign of his friends or even Mrs. Thorndyke. "Huh?"
"Ah, Sonic. Now's not a good time. You'd better find the others and hide in the garage. Chris' teacher Mr. Stewart will be arriving shortly and we can't have him see any of you." Chuck told him quickly.
"Uh...okay? Where are they and where's Mrs. Thorndyke? Is she still getting ready for the party?" Sonic asked, raising an eyebrow. He did figure that none of them wanted Mr. Stewart know or else it would cause an uproar, but he couldn't understand why Chris looked quite sad.
"Mrs. Thorndyke will not be joining us, I'm afraid." Ella explained sadly.
"She received a call to star in an upcoming film and had to leave straight away. She sends her apologizes to you, Mr. Sonic." Tanaka explained.
"Oh. That's a bummer. Guess it can't be helped." Sonic said, frowning as he turned to his human friend, muttering. "Sorry, buddy."
Chris just nodded, not having the heart to say anything.
"The others are outside and will tell you more and, well, I suggest you apologize to Cream for your absence." Chuck wisely advised, which made the hero of Mobius even more worried.
Concerned on what happened, the blue hedgehog nodded and quickly raced outside to find his friends, now feeling guilty for having gone for too long. When he came outside and looked around for the two girls, the Chao and his adoptive brother, he found them sitting at a tree where he would sometimes sleep in. What worried him even more was that Cream was crying hard, while Amy and Tails tried to comfort her and dry her tears, and Cheese floating in front of them, worriedly.
"Uh oh..." Sonic whispered to himself, walking over which got his friends' attention and he knelt in front of the upset little girl. "Hey Cream. It'll be alright. Don't cry."
"Sonic. Where have you been?" Amy demanded with a glare, but in a soft tone to avoid in the little girl getting more upset.
"Amy, not now..." Tails pleaded.
"Sorry. I was getting something to cheer Cream up, and kinda got held up. Which reminds me." The blue hedgehog held out the large bundle of flowers to the upset five year old, who looked up and her eyes widened in surprise before wiping away her tears and smiled happily.
"Wow! Thanks, Mr. Sonic." The little rabbit girl said happily as Sonic handed her the flowers. "You went out and picked these pretty flowers just for me?"
"Yep! Thought they'd cheer you up." Sonic replied as he returned the smile and winked at her.
It didn't take Tails or Amy, who felt a little jealous since the blue hedgehog never gave her any flowers but held it back for Cream's sake, long to realize that he must've gone out to pick these to really cheer the youngest Mobian up, and despite the situation that just happened, it worked like magic. Unfortunately, before Sonic could ask what had Cream cry so badly, they heard a car about to pull up and when the five of them looked, their eyes widened as they saw an unfamiliar car about to approach the drive-way. That instantly told them that Mr. Stewart was here.
"Uh-oh!" Tails yelped.
"It's Chris' teacher!" Amy cried out.
"We'd better hide, quick!" Sonic gulped, and he and his friends, including the puzzled and young Cream and Cheese quickly hurried back to the garage before Mr. Stewart would spot them, not realizing that Rouge was sitting on the roof of the mansion, watching them before turning her gaze to the car and spotted Mr. Stewart park his cark and step out.
"Well, it looks like somebody's here to bust the kid out. I'd better go berate him for the little cutie's sake." She muttered to herself, and while she felt a little bad to reveal the group's locations, she knew what Mr. Stewart intended on doing.
The spy-teacher was holding a bouquet of roses with a small track device in hand, and was about to approach when a voice he was familiar with spoke up.
"And what are you going to do with that listening chip?"
"Huh?" Mr. Stewart flinched a little, looking up to see Rouge hover down towards him. "Agent Rouge? What are you doing here?"
"Doing the listening in for the Government and keeping tabs on Sonic and that kid he made friends with." The albino bat replied, looking a bit annoyed.
"I knew it. Chris really does have Sonic and the other Mobians with him." The spy muttered, narrowing his eyes. "How long have you been here?"
"Since they first arrived." Rouge shrugged as she landed to give her wings a bit of a break. "If you're going to rattle them out, don't borther. They have things under control."
"I just need to confirm it as the President wants to speak with Sonic the Hedgehog and we need him and his friends as soon as possible, and you know as well as I do that the little girl is in danger of being targeted by the Iron Empire." Mr. Stewart pointed out, frowning.
Rouge stubbornly folded her arms she glared harder at him. "So, you think Mr. blue hero isn't enough to handle things with his friends side, do you? Well, let me tell you something, Mr. Big shot! That little kid is perfectly safe here and happy! I can keep an eye and ear open for them, but if they find out about that little device of yours, I'll rattle YOU out! Sonic's been trying very hard to find the kid's mother and went out of his way to cheer her up! So you either put your little toy away and pretend you don't know, or I'll force you to leave and make you call these people that you couldn't come over for some little party!"
Despite that he was a bit of higher rank than her, Mr. Stewart began to sweat in fear which made him lean back a little. He knew that it was her word against his and despite being a thief, she had a great sense of hearing and a good pair of eyes, or else she wouldn't be on the best agents of GUN and the military. Hearing this made him a bit torn, before he sighed as he realized that Chris was only trying to help out while living a normal life. With that, he simply put the device into his pocket.
"That's better. Now, you go and enjoy the party." Rouge smiled softly, satisfied before she flew off, leaving Mr. Stewart on his own. He sighed again before ringing the doorbell.
Mr. Tanaka answered, as Mr. Stewart greeted. "I'm Chris' homeroom teacher, Mr. Stewart. Do you mind if I come in for a quick visit? I promise I won't be long."
"Welcome, sir. We've been expecting you." Tanaka greeted, bowing his head and leading the man into the lounge room, where Ella and Chuck were still attempting to cheer Chris up.
"Oh! Hi, Mr. Stewart. Come in!" Chris greeted, attempting to put up a brave face.
"How are you, Chris?" The 'teacher' waved, before saying apologetically. "I'm sorry but I can't stay for long. Got a call back from school for a meeting, but I would like to meet your mother before I go and give her my compliments."
"I'm very sorry, Mr. Stewart, but just before you arrived, she was offered an important movie part and she had to leave right away to start filming." Ella said apologetically.
Mr. Stewart blinked and noticed Chris's sad expression even though the boy smiled apologetically. That, and Rouge's words ringing in his mind made the spy decide that he wasted his time, before saying, sounding disappointed. "Oh, well that is too bad. I was really looking forward to meeting her in person. Guess I'll offer these to you then."
He gave the flowers to Ella who was greatly surprised.
"Oh! Why thank you, Mr. Stewart! What beautiful roses! I'll put them in some vases around the house." She replied as she took them and he smiled.
"That is very kind of you, Mr. Stewart. It's too bad you can't stay long." Chuck remarked.
"It's alright. Perhaps maybe next time." The blonde-haired man replied, before deciding that he should take his leave. "I'd better get going, I have homework to grade. Please give your mother my regards, Chris, and tell her I hope we get to meet soon."
"Uh, okay. See you later, Mr. Stewart." Chris replied. "I'm sorry."
"Don't worry about it." Mr. Stewart replied, walking away after saying his goodbyes to Chuck and the house servants, leaving by the front door and left to his own thoughts. 'I guess Rouge gave me more than enough information.'
As Mr. Stewart drove off, Sonic and the others were watching through the window yet they didn't see the conversation he had with Rouge and instead waited until the coast was clear.
"I guess Mr. Stewart couldn't stay long." Tails remarked as the teacher's car vanished into the city.
"Guess this means we can finally join the party." Amy remarked happily, turning to Cream who felt a little better. "You still want to join us, Cream?"
"I'll be there in a little while. I won't be long." The little girl replied, with flowers in her hand as she was finishing up the flower crown she started on earlier.
"Well, if that's alright with you." Sonic shrugged, though he felt a little uneasy in leaving her and Cheese by themselves.
"You guys go on ahead. I'll stay here with her." The pink hedgehog volunteered, apparently reading her 'boyfriend's' mind.
Nodding her thanks, Sonic and Tails left the garage and headed inside to meet with the others who all sighed in relief and saw the two Mobians enter.
"Heya, guys." Sonic greeted. "We miss anything?"
"Not really. It's a good thing Mr. Stewart didn't stay long. I'm just sorry that Linsdey couldn't be here." Chuck replied.
"It's okay. Now that Chris' teacher didn't see us, we can enjoy the party." The blue hedgehog replied dismissively.
"Amy and Cream won't be too long. They'll join us." Tails explained.
"Cool." Chris nodded, before quickly remembering the little argument he had and, in guilt and sadness, stood up while excusing himself and walked away, which concerned and confused everyone else.
"Huh? Chris?" Sonic muttered, confused. Surely his human friend couldn't be that upset with his mother missing out, and he had heard what happened which made Cream apologize for yelling at the twelve year old boy. Sharing concerned looks with everyone else, the blue hedgehog decided to follow him while Tails and the rest of the humans could only look on worriedly.
The fourteen year old peered through his friend's bedroom door and found Chris sitting on the edge of his bed.
"What's wrong? Why are you sad?" Sonic asked, approaching him with a concerned and confused shrug.
"I didn't mean it when I complained about my mom missing the party, but Cream got really angry. I didn't even think about how bad she misses her mother." Chris replied in guilt and worry. "I...just hope she doesn't stay mad at me."
"Don't worry. It'll be okay." The blue hedgehog winked at him, before sighing as he confessed. "Though, if there's anybody she should be mad at, it's me. I was her only hope and the first person she could think of in finding her mom and I'm still nowhere near close. I can only hope that I'll find her before it's too late."
Before Chris could reply, he and Sonic then heard Cream's humming voice and turned to see the renewed cheerful little girl race into the room, with a bunch of flower crowns in her arms.
"Hello, Mr. Sonic and Mr. Chris. I made these especially for you. Do you want to put it on?" Cream greeted, holding out two beautiful flower crowns out to the two boys who were greatly surprised by the gifts.
"You made these for us?" Sonic asked, genuinely surprised, and when his youngest friend nodded, he and Chris both smiled as the latter knelt down before they both bowed their heads, allowing Cream to gently place the crowns onto them. "Aw, thanks, Cream."
"Wow. Thank you." Chris added.
"You can wear it on your adventures, Mr. Sonic, and you can wear it to school and tell all your friends I made it for you, Mr. Chris. I'm gonna go give everybody else their flowers." The five year old girl said happily, giggling as she raced back to the party.
"Aw, woulda look at that?" Sonic muttered happily, realizing how much Cream had come to like them since they were all taking good care of her. "It looks like Cream only gives her flower crowns to the people who she really likes, like us."
"Really? You think she likes us?" Chris asked happily and in relief.
"You bet!" The blue hedgehog winked with a thumbs up. "C'mon, let's head back to the party."
His friend nodded and the two hurried back into the living room, both feeling just as good as they had this morning and a short time ago. When they entered, they saw such a wonderful scene; Cream was giving out more flower crowns to everybody.
"Thank you, Cream. These are amazing!" Tails was saying happily.
"They're the most beautiful flower crowns I've ever seen. I'm gonna treasure mine forever!" Amy cheered happily as she, Cream and Ella who was also wearing one, all hugged each other and laughed with everybody else cheering and Sonic and Chris smiling.
"Hey, hey!" Another voice called in, causing everybody else to turn around and saw Sam Speed, in his casual clothes, having let himself in and greeted. "Hey, where's the party?"
"Uncle Sam!" Chris greeted.
"Huh? Oh, so my sister made these flower crown-" Sam muttered, before noticing a familiar blue hedgehog who smirked and waved at him. The self-proclaimed speed-king was greatly surprised and smirked back. "Hey, Sonic! Glad to see ya!"
"Hiya, Sam. You're just in time for the party." Sonic greeted back.
"Uncle Sam, these are Sonic's friends, Miles Prower who everybody calls Tails, Amy Rose, and our new friends Cream and her Chao named Cheese." Chris introduced, glad that his uncle had made it.
"It's nice to meet you, Sam." Tails greeted, as the girls said their hellos as well.
"Same here, little guy." Sam shook the two-tailed fox's hand. "Well, I don't like to brag, but I'm the leader of the S Team."
"That statement is only half correct." Chuck deadpanned.
"My uncle drives fast. No other driver's quick enough to catch him! That's why he's called the Speed King!" Chris explained to the Mobians, though Sonic couldn't help but laugh at the, in his opinion, ridiculous claim.
"The Speed King?" The cobalt speedster chuckled. "Did you come up with that name yourself?"
The racer glared at the teenager and said proudly. "Of course I am! A little self-promotion never hurt anybody, and I'll have you know, Sonic, I like speed! I've always been fast, I even beat the doctor to the delivery room. I was the only kid in town who had a five-speed transmission in my baby carriage."
Everyone sweat dropped at that claim, before Sonic laughed even louder.
"Come on, that's the speediest thing I've ever heard of!" The blue hedgehog laughed. "You may be fast in your car, but all I need his my feet. I can take you one anytime, any place."
"Hey! Just you wait, Sonic the Hedgehog, I'm gonna catch up to you someday!" The racer declared. "I'll be challenging you to a race if you're still around by the time I prepare it!"
"I'm not leaving anytime soon. Station Square's really cool. But let's worry about that later, since today's supposed to be a happy day." Sonic smirked, attempting to prevent an argument from happening.
As much as Sam hated to be turned down despite that he felt somewhat relieved that his new 'rival' was staying, he knew that the fourteen year old was right. "You got a point. Anyway, where's Lindsey?"
"Sorry, Uncle Sam. Mom can't be here for the party, but she got a phone call and had to leave to make a movie." Chris replied, and, remembering what Cream had said, shrugged as he added. "She did apologize for not being around, though."
"Wow. That sounds like my sister, alright. But I suppose it can't be helped." Sam commented, before shrugging as he took a seat, smirking. "Let's cut the chitchat and get this part moving. It's too slow!"
"And your mouth is too fast." Ella said with her eyes closed, annoyed.
Sonic laughed again, "Wow, and everybody says I'm the speed devil."
This prompted everyone to laugh surprisingly, and then began to enjoy the party, with Sonic glad that Cream really did like all of them, which made him realize that she was fitting into his group of awesome friends just fine.
Perfectly, even.
A/N: Ferrel the Spider is based on Manic's boss and foster father in Sonic Underground. Just thought I'd extend Sonic's appearences in this episode and changed things around.
See you later!