Chapter Sixteen:

Sonic and Knuckles Saved


Tails and the girls' vision cleared once more as the mist dissipated, they blinked and the darkness blocking out their surroundings melted away. When they blinked again, the trio was standing back in the attic and they still had Ghouleena's staff with them.

Both heroes took a moment to look around the room and listened to their environment, just in case. They kept their ears opening, listening for ghostly sounds or for something more terrifying.

However, neither of them had to worry. The mansion was silent, eerily silent, but still silent nonetheless.

Amy looked at the paintings of Sonic and Knuckles, still sitting on the wall. They couldn't leave them hanging up there; they had to come down and the band had to get back together. The pink hedgehog approached the wall, holding the magic staff, followed by Tails and Sticks.

"Ok." Tails said, "Let's get you guys down."

"Wanna do the honor, Tails?" Amy offered the twin-tailed fox the magic staff.

"I'd be glad to, Amy." Tails said with a nod.

The fox took Ghouleena's magic staff and looked at the paintings in front of the trio, Sonic and Knuckles didn't seem to be struggling. The guys were still, their eyes fixed upon the trio in front of them.

Somewhere in his heart, Tails knew Sonic was counting on him to set him and their burly red friend free. He looked at Amy and Sticks, the girls looked at him in the eye and they nodded.

'Do it.'

Tails raised the magic staff and pointed it at the two paintings, concentrating as hard as he could.

The fox then tapped the ground with the back end of the staff and the red-colored core of the evil sorceress' staff glowed vibrantly, a warm breeze filled the room, as if it had come through an open window. Tails lifted the magic staff one more time, aiming it at the paintings and he flicked his wrist.

A blinding light filled the room, the paintings engulfed in an aura of power. Tails shielded his eyes, Amy and Sticks closed theirs as well, the light intensified and the magic staff shook in the twin-tailed genius' hands.

It didn't take long. The light soon faded and the room was silent, Tails, Amy and Sticks uncovered their eyes and blinked, their vision cleared again and the three heroes took in the slight that awaited them...

Sonic and Knuckles, standing in the attic, fully mobile and tangible with the world again. The paintings that they were part of had vanished; so too had the frames that the paintings were held in.

Sonic looked at himself and rubbed his head, almost confused. Knuckles looked at his hands and started to count his fingers, then he scratched his head and muttered something about being unable to read.

"SONIC!" Tails cried. He ran over and hugged the hedgehog with tears rolling down his face, the fox just couldn't be happier to see his big brother figure was alright, even after what he'd been put through.

Sonic noticed Tails and grinned. "Hey, hey. Tails." He chuckled, the hedgehog ruffled the fox's head, "C'mon, buddy. There's no need for tears, I'm fine, we've dealt with worse."

"Hey, there you are, Miles!" Knuckles hugged Tails, "How's everyone's favorite two-tailed goofball?"

"Knuckles, you're the goofball." Sonic reminded the red echidna.

"I thought you were the goofball of the island." Knuckles remarked.

"Knuckles, I'm the hero and you're the goofball."

Amy and Sticks smiled happily at each other; some things just never changed. With Sonic and Knuckles all right and their captor Ghouleena defeated, that closed the book on their latest wacky adventure they'd ever experienced and it was time for Team Sonic's lives to go back to normal.

"What's with the funny vacuum cleaner?" Sonic asked, noticing Tails' Ghost Vac.

"Oh, uh..." Tails scratched the back of his head, "A... A monkey guy gave us these devices called Ghost Vacuums while we were on our way to the mansion, their purpose is to suck up ghosts and we've used them to vacuum up a lot of phantoms and ghouls while we were here."

Knuckles raised his hand, "Was it the Old Monkey? I didn't know he was a genius."

"No, Knuckles." Amy face-palmed, "That was a different guy. I think his name was Cornelius. Not every monkey guy has to be associated with the Old Monkey."

"Aww, but I like Old Monkey." Knuckles said sadly.

"Great to have you back, Knux." Tails patted the red echidna on the shoulder.

"Now that's settled..." Amy glared at the duo furiously with a hand on her hip, "Next time, if you guys receive an anonymous party invitation, let us know about what's going on and let us tag along so we can look into it together! You guys blindly accepted an invitation to a party that was supposedly being held here and didn't turn back as soon as you saw the mansion with your own eyes?!"

Sonic and Knuckles raised their hands with terror in their eyes as Amy raised her voice.

"Whoa, Amy." The speedy hedgehog said as he approached the pink heroine, "There's no need to be mad at us, we didn't know what Knuckles and I were getting into..."

Amy grabbed Sonic by the side of his head and pulled him into a kiss, much to the surprise of Tails, Sticks and Knuckles as they watched. Tails looked away, Knuckles scratched his head and Sticks watched with a smile, seeing Sonic and Amy kiss was so sweet to see.

Sonic and Amy's kiss lasted a minute, then Amy broke it off and hugged the speedster.

"I'm just glad that Ghouleena didn't do anything too serious to you guys aside from turning you into paintings." The pink hedgehog said, "But next time, give me and the others a heads up if you receive a mysterious invitation instead of just accepting it only for the party to turn out to be a ruse. Think before you act."

"Obviously, there's no way we're making the same mistake twice, Amy." Sonic chuckled, "So, uh, you wanna chill at my beach shack with me tonight, if you're available?"

Hearing her boyfriend's invite made the teenage pink hedgehog giggle.

"Sonic!" Amy chided, then she kissed him on the cheek and said, "Yes, I'll come to your shack tonight."

"Okay, lovehogs, can we leave now?" Sticks asked with a slight hint of annoyance in her voice, "The real estate agents will probably be along and Eggman might be planning to carpet bomb the mansion if we're still here and his spy-bots detect that there aren't any more spooky ghosts."

"Dunno if I can agree with Sticks on the last part, but I can agree on the first part." Sonic said, "I think Knuckles and I have seen enough to decide not to endorse this mansion."

"Me too." Amy remarked, "I'd rather live in the house that I already have."

"What should we do with the magic staff?" Tails asked, holding Ghouleena's rod.

"Burry it, just leave it to rot." Amy told Tails, "We don't need it, not now anyway."

"Yeah…" Sonic nodded, "After what that witch did to me and Knuckles with it, that thing deserves to collect dust and be forgotten. Sure, it could be used for good, but someone could use it to cause trouble again. Wherever this thing came from along with Ghouleena, it's time to retire this staff for good."

"And I guess we don't need the Ghost Vacuums anymore." Sticks quipped, taking her Ghost Vac off of her back.

"We'll give them back to the old man for safe-keeping…" Amy said, "Maybe we could give that staff to Cornelius and let him be the one to get rid of it."

"Good idea." Tails said.

"Okay then…" Sonic said, "Guess it's time to leave."

The heroes left the attic and headed downstairs to the foyer, the mansion was quiet and a few lights had turned on.

With no phantoms to worry about with Ghouleena gone, that left the mansion to be nothing more than an old and abandoned house. Team Sonic headed out the door and Amy led the way to Cornelius' place, which wasn't that far from the mansion.

When they got there, they found the old monkey man waiting on his doorstep, resting upon a cane with a smile.

"It's you three again..." Cornelius said, "I see you found your friends and I take it you fellas used those handy Vacuums I gave you?"

"We did…" Tails said, "They helped us in the ghostly encounters that took place in that mansion. Now we'd like to return them. And we also go this…"

The twin-tailed genius handed the old monkey over the Ghost Vac and Amy and Sticks did the same, then Tails handed Ghouleena's magic staff, which had already stopped glowing.

"My, my. Those vacuums feel a little heavy, you truly have used them to catch ghosts in there." Cornelius said, "And I say, that's the magic staff of the evil sorceress ghost queen Ghouleena. That is a pure evil tool of sorcery, I say. I will bury this staff where it will be forgotten and make sure nobody uses it ever again."

The monkey took the magic rod, which had ceased glowing just a short while ago, and then he put away the Ghost Vacuums. Afterwards, the Sonic crew said their goodbyes to the old man and proceeded to leave while Cornelius waved after them, wishing them safe travels and to take good care of themselves.

Amy and Sonic walked through the forest, holding hands sweetly, with Tails, Sticks and Knuckles by their side. Sunlight poured its way through the trees, giving light to the woods and cutting out the darkness as the warm rays of the sun shone down upon the victorious heroes.

After the ordeal they'd faced in there, Team Sonic's bond was as strong as ever and, whatever came next, they would be ready to face it together as a group and they were very fortunate to have each other no matter the odds. And with the mansion behind them, so too was the haunted mansion mystery...

The End