After landing in Brazil and making sure the Tornado was secure, Sonic, Tails and Sarah explored the village near the rainforest where the ancient, forgotten ruins of a Ratakya village and shrine lay waiting to be explored.

But first, before going into the rainforest close by, the trio wanted to make sure they were in the right place. So it was decided they should talk to the locals first as well as the village leader, who was said to be the wisest in South America.

As they walked about, breathing in and smelling the sweet fresh air and well-cooked food from nearby restaurants, feeling terra firma beneath their feet, hearing the sounds of animals and observing the chatter-y people of different skin colors in different outfits going about their daily lives.

Sonic thought of all the times he'd visited another country such as France, remembering the days he spent there, signing autographs, hanging out with and getting to know the twin daughters of famous French artist Phillipe Lepeu.

"This town is so lovely." Sarah commented dreamily, "One of the most prettiest places in the world." Tails laughed and winked at her, "One of the prettiest? Then you have yet to see the French city of Paris or any of the other lovely places Sonic and I have visited during our travels all over the world."

Sarah smooched Tails on the cheek, "Oh, I've seen so many lovely places, Tails. However, I'd be happy to visit other places in the world with you..."

"Ok, lovebird foxes." Sonic interrupted, "We'll start making plans for your own futures together later, right now, I think we may have to ask somebody if we're in the right place and for the directions. I can't wait to find some ancient treasure, so lets do it to it, man. YEAH, time to be way past cool."

—–

The white-bearded, purple robed old man with a big turban on his head smiled happily as Sonic and his group approached him in the entrance hall of the big open-door mansion, "Ah, guests. Its been almost too long since I had visitors, how may I help you three?"

Tails coughed, "Uh, we're adventurers and we came here because we heard tell that there were ancient ruins somewhere about these here parts in a rainforest, is that true or are we hearing rumors?"

The old man chuckled, "Yes, you are in the right place, those old ruins you seek are on the other side rainforest not too terribly far from here."

"You know about the legend of the Ratakya?" Sonic asked.

"The Ratakya? We know the story, they were real. Long after they got wiped out by a terrible event, many of their descendants walk among us. Me? I'm the descendant of a Ratakyan Scribe."

Tails and Sarah looked at each other with amazement, they were talking with someone who's family dated back to the time of the Ratakyan tribe, somebody who knew the ancient history.

This was incredible, they were not going to forget this for the rest of their own days together.

Sonic stared at the old man, caught off guard by the revelation at first, before the shock was replaced with a smile, "Well, its nice speaking with somebody who knows the Ratakya Tribe as a descendant of one of their members, eh?"

"Yes," The old man nodded, walking up to shake Sonic's hand, "It is nice to speak with someone who knows almost everything just as it is nice to finally meet Sonic the Hedgehog himself."

"You know me?" Sonic scratched his head.

"Almost everyone knows who you are."

"Sounds nice, pal." Tails cut in as he and Sarah took their blue buddy by the arms and started to drag him out the door, "But we gotta go, we're gonna go through that rainforest and we're gonna see the ruins and that temple that's definitely there in said ruins. We got treasure to hunt."

Sonic gave a thumbs up, "Stay groovy, I like groovy people after all and I try my best to show dignity and respect towards groovy dudes and lovely girls."

The old man smiled gently and waved as the trio made their way out the door, "I wish you three the best of luck on your seemingly perilous quest."

—–—–

As the Croft Enterprises plane came to rest upon the open South American grassland, Louis made sure the touchdown was soft and gentle in order to ensure that the plant life didn't suffer and nobody got hurt.

In the end, like usual, the plane did touch down smoothly, much to Lara's delight. "Jolly good, Louis!" She called, You've done it again. Another excellent landing if I say so, eh?"

Louis smiled happily, "Ah, yes. I've done a capital job, haven't I, Oskar?"

Oskar, who'd actually helped make sure the landing went smoothly given the fact he was co-pilot, nodded, "Yes, you have."

"Oskar!" Lara called, just as she was getting up from her seat, unbuckling her seatbelt first, "C'mon, lad. Time for some adventurin' and archeology stuff. I need me stuff ya know and I do have an assignment for ya, eh?"

Louis pat Oskar on the back, "Go on, lad. Your big sister figure needs ya." Oskar laughed, "Got it, Louis. Comin', Lara." Scots. Louis thought with a smile, I wish I had a Scottish accent, well, at least I have a Scottish relative.

Setting foot outside onto solid ground, feeling the green grass under her feet, Lara reached into the pocket of her shorts and pulled out black shades and put them on over her eyes before putting a furrow eyed look on her face, mostly to try emulating a RoboTerminator, despite not being a buff Austrian dude.

Lara breathed in the fresh air and the smell of dirt and grass, the dirt smelled like fresh coffee (given the fact that coffee tasted like dirt as it was always ground), the smell of grass tasted like pasta and milk combined and the sky was clear.

The intrepid Englishwoman felt the soft and gentle breeze of wind upon her face and skin, blowing at her hair and making Lara feel very warm. The birds sang happily as trees and bush hedges rustled in the wind, nature was at peace.

"I wish I saw a RoboTerminator film."

Lara jumped and turned, Oskar was right next to her, holding the bag full of Lara's belongings in one hand and his own pistol in the other. "Oh, Oskar." Lara nearly blushed, "I almost didn't notice you right next to me, blimey, cor blimey, don't startle me like that."

Oskar laughed, "Sorry, boss. Didn't mean to startle ya, I don't think you're that startled you were probably a bit caught up in trying to impersonate somebody super intimidatin', eh?"

"My guns, Oskar?"

"Already got 'em in your pockets, Lara."

Lara put her hands into her pants pockets and felt two metal objects, Oskar was right, she already had her guns. The action heroine held out her hand, "Backpack?" Oskar held up a brown pack with shoulder straps.

"Thank you, dear." Lara complimented as she slung the backpack on her shoulders and backside, "Now, fill it in, eh?" Oskar unzipped the backpack and began placing certain items from his bag into the backpack; Machine guns and rifles, explosives, a compass, etc.

"Good boy, Oskar." Lara commented, "You've once again proven yourself to be a rather useful companion, my friend." She hugged him gently and Oskar gave Lara a warm embrace right back, like a mum and her son as well as brother and sister.

"LOUIS!" Lara yelled, "WHILE ME AND OSKAR GO OFF, YOU GUARD THE PLANE AND MAKE SURE NOTHING MUCH HAPPENS!"

Louis chuckled as he poked his head out and gave a thumbs up, "No problem, Ms. Croft. I never ever disappoint you, ever! 'Eck, I never failed to make my commanding officers proud of back in my youthful days in the RAF. However, I sorta crashed once and nearly upset dear Captain Jackston.

"May 12th, 1941, Monday morning, 3:42 A.M. My squadron and I had just carried out a bombing run against the Reich, bombing the city of Hamilburg. The plane I was piloting had taken heavy damage from artillery fire and was smoking, me and the boys managed to make it back, away from the enemy.

"Those shot down either lost their lives or became P. , as for the squadron flying back, we took few losses. Jerry Nelson's plane caught fire and been bullet-ridden, the damage was so great, Jerry had to crash in the ocean where a sub picked him up. Tomson made it while Harold went up in flames.

"As for us who made it into English airspace, very few had taken heavy damage and some had to land in the countryside.

"Me? I kept flying until fuel ran low, Thankfully, I got to Crittendon Airfield where I made my landing and I survived with just a few aches, but smashed a few planes and almost destroyed Jackston's plane. My plane was ablaze so I tread carefully to get out safely, least Jackston's plane was spared the worst..."

"Oh for crimney's sake...!" Lara shouted, "ARE YOU DONE RAMBLING, LOUIS? OR ARE YOU GOING TO HOLD US UP WITH YOUR STORIES ABOUT YOUR RAF ADVENTURES BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER WWII!"

Oskar was shaking his head with annoyance, Louis was one weird old man, in a good way, but there was a time and a place. "Oops, heh heh!" Louis scratched the back of his head, smiling sheepishly, "Got carried away again, didn't I?"

"Aye, you did and now is not a good time." Oskar nodded as he and Lara walked off to go find a motorbike that could take them to the nearest settlement where they could find the rainforest containing the Ratakyan Ruins, "Right now, we don't have much time to waste."

Lara chimed in, "You heard Oskar, Lewis. Guard the bloody plane, we'll be back soon, eh?"

—–—

As Sonic, Tails and Sarah treaded through the rainforest towards the ruins of Ratakya, they made sure they did tread carefully in order not to run into any thorn-plants or get bit by ants, which were everywhere.

A few spiders tried to crawl up Sarah's legs only for her to swat some away and let Tails rid of the rest, Sonic wasn't bothered by bugs one bit, save for the occasional mosquito fly and few bees that flew about.

"Are we there yet?" the hedgehog sighed with boredom and annoyance after a while, he was used to speed, but he couldn't stand super slow walking.

"Almost, bro." Tails grunted, trying to shoo off some insects, "We just gotta keep movin', the clearing's just ahead. All we gotta do is avoid these bugs," the yellow fox slapped a mosquito that was buzzing him, "and these jackass vines," he smacked some plants aside, "then we'll be there. Right, Sarah?"

Sarah nodded, "That's right, love. We're," she smacked a bug on her arm, "Just about," Sarah squashed a spider underfoot, "There." *smack crunch* The group started smacking stuff aside like mad.

The speedy superhero wanted to zip through the rainforest to the ruins in seconds, nearly leaving his friends in the dust. Sonic decided against that option, he didn't want to risk tripping over trees, or hurting himself.

The blue blur still had flashes of when he fought and defeated a giant crab during a day of relaxation at seaside a few years ago, that stupid thing pinched his leg and bit his knee, even stung him in the shoulder.

After that day, he told himself that he would do his best in the future to make sure he did not have any more bad leg injuries.

Finally, after so much hardship trekking through the rainforest, after smacking their way through so many bugs and plants, Sonic and his group finally managed to make it out into the clearing where they could breath.

"Well, we made it!" Tails gasped for breath, dusting off his shorts and swatting away a left over jungle insect. The trio looked at their surroundings, not a bit of forest in sight or a bit of overgrown plant life.

The only things in the area were rubble, decayed houses, black rocks and, just up ahead, a huge structure that barely survived the last many centuries.

The ground was barren and lacked any grass, save for a few spots, the houses were tan-colored with a bit of black and everything seemed to be surrounded by the trees leading into different parts of that crazy rainforest.

As for the rocks, something seemed off about them, something spooky and ominous was going on in these ruins, the strange black rocks looked furry and seemed to rise up and down as if they were creatures fast asleep.

Somewhere else from far away, something was snoring loudly, causing the ground to rumble, and hissing too, hissing like a pair of enormous snakes.

"I got a bad feeling about this place." Sonic said with a shiver, "A really ominous bad feeling about the area right now."

Tails glared at him, "Well, what do you expect, Sonic? Ancient ruins, strange stuff lyin' about, weird noises. Of course something's gonna cause a bad feeling about this place. We do want to obtain treasure, isn't that right, Sonic?"

Sonic nodded, "Hooba dooba, of course." He winked at Sarah, "So, when it comes to the treasure of Ratakya, what would you and Tails use it for, Sarah?"

Sarah giggled, "What would I use valuable treasure for? I dunno. I think that's a secret between me and my precious milk-making, chili sauce n' cake frosting machine," She winked seductively at Tails, "Right, sweetie."

Tails blushed, "Um, yes, dear. Our little secret, who wants to know how we could use ancient treasures to help with our love live, especially when it might enhance the experience of our harmless intimacy."

"Lets go see the ruins now."

With all of that settled, the trio walked forward into the Ratakyan ruins, towards the tall structure ahead where the ancient treasures inside lay waiting, the group failing to notice the creatures occupying the ruins beginning to wake.

The snake monsters, deep asleep, could smell blood and began to hunger. While Sonic smelled danger, he ignored that and focused on two other things only; Adventure, Exploration and Treasure Hunting...