By the time Sonic and Lara got back to the mansion, Sonic was starting to get hungry and Lara's tummy was rumbling too, signaling that she was getting hungry herself. This meant one thing, a nice and quick break from treasure hunting to have a nice dinner.

"I could ruddy well do with a hamburger and some vegetables," Lara commented, rubbing her stomach as they approached the mansion, she'd parked her motorcycle close by and would put it away later.

Sonic laughed, "Really? Why not have a chili dog?!"

"What's with your love of chili dogs?"

"Chili dogs are my favorite food, I've been eating them since I was a baby."

"What did you eat when you were an infant and at ages two and three?"

"I drank milk from a baby bottle and had peaches, I ate clean."

Making their way up to the door and breathing in the night air, Sonic knocked on the door and Lara rang the door bell. "Tom," she called, "We got the key."

Footsteps approaching, just like earlier, the knob turned and the door opened, the butler standing in the doorway with Oskar at his side.

"Marvelous!" Tom proclaimed as Sonic and Lara entered the house, Lara holding up the Golden Satuyama Key, "Brilliant, one key down and three left. There have been no complications so far and that's a good thing."

"We could use some dinner before we go after the other keys later." Lara said, her tummy rumbling again, "Would you mind?" Tom chuckled, "Of course, Ms. Croft. What shall it be for dinner, the usual meat and cabbage?"

"A hamburger and veggies, maybe you can make Sonic some chili dogs."

"Of course I can, I'm good at making some and they're my favorite."

"Really, is that true?"

"Where are Tails and Sarah, Tom?" Lara cut in. The butler smiled, "They just had their dinner a short while ago, now they're upstairs apparently 'having their desert' which consists of 'fox cake' with lots of 'passion and filling'."

Sonic chuckled, "Those two foxes, they love each other and their times of need for alone time together. Ok, guess it wouldn't hurt to eat dinner without them, I'll check on Tails and Sarah later. Until then, time to get dinner."

"Maybe we could do a candlelight dinner?" Lara suggested, this got the speedy blue heroic hedgehog to give her a full on look of surprise. "Wha… LARA! You wanna have a candlelight dinner?" Sonic hissed, "The only time its done is when some romantic couple is seeking to have a nice dinner together."

The archeologist giggled, "Sonic, its ok. It's a special occasion, nothing crazy is going to happen."

Sonic shrugged, "Ok. Candlelight it is? Where's the dinning room?"

Tom winked, "Allow me to show you, Mr. Sonic. You and Lara can wait at your table while I prepare dinner."

—

Sonic sat at the wide table drapped in red cloth, awaiting his meal, Lara sat two chairs away from the blue hedgehog on his left. Oskar was sitting across from them on the other side, waiting for his meal too.

It had been minutes since the butler had gone off to the kitchen to cook and prepare dinner, how long did it take to prepare stake, veggies and chili dogs?

The wax candles lining the middle of the table had already been lit, smelling like sweet apple juice and fresh soda, candle wax always smelled nice and, for the blue hedgehog, it had been ages since he last did a candlelit dinner.

"Where's that meal?" The blue blur commented, "I'm waaaaiiiiiiitiiiiinnng... very patiently in fact." He tapped his foot softly.

Lara rolled her eyes, "Sonic, not everything happens super quickly, it takes time and people have to be slow because, if you rush it, the food will be sloppy."

Oskar glanced at Sonic, "That's right, Mr. Sonic. Be patient, don't rush the cook or insult the cook if the food is not perfect, nobody likes it when somebody's art is royally insulted."

The blue hedgehog banged his gloved fist on the table, "Hey! I'd never insult the cook, unless the cook was a villain and I was served POISONED FOOD!"

"I was in a situation where somebody tried to serve me poison once." Lara said. "I was in Italy two years ago, seeking out an ancient shrine, and I stopped at a café to get something to eat and drink.

"Unfortunately, the people working there happened to be a group of terrorists and they put toxic slime in my coffee, I caught on fast, smelling the poison from across the room. I grabbed me gun and shot up the thugs, I'm lucky."

The blue hedgehog chuckled, "Me too."

It was then that Tom came in with a tray with three plates on it.

"Dinner is now served." He declared, "Chili dogs for Sonic, meat and veggies for Lara and a delicious hamburger and carrots for Oskar."

As Tom served Lara, Oskar and Sonic their foods respectively, Sonic let out a happy yelp at the sight of the chili dogs, they'd been made perfectly.

"Chili dogs!" He exclaimed, "Its been ages since I last had you for one of my meals. Most of the time, I'm a vegetarian and a meat-eater and most of my meals consist of burger, fries and carrots."

Lara sighed happily at the sight of her meat and veggies, "My all-time favorite foods."

"Burger and carrots!" Oskar shouted with glee, seeing the food on his plate. The trio dug in, Tom sat at the left end of the table, smiling as he ate a bowl of rice pudding he enjoyed to occasionally eat from time to time.

Savory chili dogs weren't his only favorite food, neither was it steak, it was super mega delicious rice pudding, regardless if it was desert from time to time.

All the while, as the meal was scarfed down and the drinking glasses emptied, the the candles continued to glow and burn, lighting the table and continuously illuminating the darkness within the dining room.

"Well," Sonic commented once he'd eaten all of his chili dogs and drank his glass of milk to wash it down, cleaning his mouth a bit with his tongue and swallowing any remaining chili sauce in his mouth that had been stuck to his teeth, "That was a sweet meal, more yummier than Mr. Jim's chili dogs.

Thanks for making sure my chili dogs did not taste terrible, Tom."

Tom, who'd just finished his rice pudding, raised an eyebrow, "Who said anything about making bad chili dogs, Mr. Hedgehog?"

The green-eyed hedgehog shrugged, "Dunno, all I said was thank goodness we have really good cooks."

Lara and Oskar nodded. "I agree."

The archeologist said happily, she'd just finished her meat and vegetables the same time Oskar had finished HIS, "Tom is an excellent chef and not just a great family butler, most butlers are well known for being great cooks, having vast cooking knowledge besides other people who aren't maids or butlers."

Oskar sighed, "Ah yes, my mum is a fine cook, I remember when I was a wee lad she'd cook up some soup whenever I got sick, made me feel better. Pop was the best cook in the family too, always making the Bessington family recipe."

Just before Sonic could ask Oskar about the Bessington recipe, Tails and Sarah, who were done with their private business, dressed in the clothes they'd been previously wearing earlier, entered the room.

"Oh, hey guys." Sonic said with a sweet wave, "How are you two doing?"

The two foxes looked at each other before Tails got out a piece of paper, walked over and handed it to Sonic. "While we were finishing our fox cake desert, somebody threw a rock through the window and it landed near the bed. We got a good look at it and there was a note on it."

"Its from her again, isn't it?" Lara inquired. "Y'know, Alice Montana? Or is it from another one o' me rivals who still wants me outta the picture for good." Sonic coughed, looking at and reading the note, "Good news, the note's not from her and its about where we can get the next key. The bad news? Well, the letter's from a Russian named Solvetsky Romanov."

The candles went out as a cold chill swept through the dinning room, Lara had been holding her fork the entire time long after she'd finished her meal, so basically she dropped it on the table in absolute shock.

"I know that name." She breathed, "What does it say?"

Sonic began to read the letter...

—

Dear Croft,

While you have succeeded in getting your hands on a Ratakyan key,

ve have gotten our hands on another and, yes, we've also taken part in the race for the Ratakyan Treasure.

We also know the story and the legend of the Ratakyan tribe as I am descended from a tribesman.

Our expeditions have taken us China where we found a certain key within a shrine. We took it and, being the terrorists we are, blew up the shrine and terrorized the nearby village.

If you wish to get your hands on the key, then come to our base, we will be waiting there. We dare you.

Solvetsky Romanov,

Russian Terrorist Leader

—

Lara clenched her fist, "Nobody gets a single filthy hand on an ancient key before us and uses it as bait to lure me into a trap. Turn the paper around, Sonic. Did Solvetsky actually leave any information about his hideout?"

Sonic flipped the paper over and his eyes widened before he smirked and handed the paper over to Lara, "Ya, bet your honcho, Ms. Croft. Solvetsky just made a great super, ultra-mega, whopping big mistake." Tails, Sarah, Oskar and Tom both laughed, obviously tickled by that last bit.

"Well, well, well." The teenage archeologist said, smiling like a psycho as she looked at the paper, "Solvetsky hasn't found a cure for his massive ego. He's left a map and address, they're located…"

She held up the paper and allowed everyone to see what was on the back of it, an address and a sketch outline of an unknown secret military base. "…At an old Soviet outpost in North Russia, Solvetsky has ties to the Soviet regime as his family served the KGB."