Sonic: Vines of Sorrow Ch. 7
Three lights, one purple, one blue-green, and one green, that have traveled a long way, approached Sonic's world. Once they noticed Dark Sapling's giant ship in orbit, they knew they had found the place.
Meanwhile, the team landed at their next destination: the small continent of Adabat. The Blue Typhoon touched down a few miles off shore in the coast.
Cream sat in her room, looking at the white lily clip that Tails had given to Cosmo.
'Why?' she thought to herself, 'Why am I falling in love with Tails? Is this even true love?'
Then, there was a knock on her door.
"Come in," Cream said.
The door opened revealing Amy.
"So," she said, "Ready for the 'mission?'"
"I am," Cream said, putting the clip away into the pink box.
Amy noticed Cream's guilty expression and the white lily clip confirmed what the problem was.
"I know what you're thinking Cream," Amy said, "But give this a try. He might love you back."
Cream knew he might not accept her love, yet part of her told her that he might.
They hurried to the docking bay to prepare the X-Tornado for launch. Tails and Cream sat in the front two seats while Amy and Cheese sat in the back. The doors of the docking bay opened and they prepared for takeoff.
"LAUNCH X-TORNADO," Tails exclaimed.
The X-Tornado shot forward, via catapult, and they took off toward Adabat, unaware of the purple light that followed them quickly afterward. Tails and the others on board looked down at the country. The continent was mostly filled with jungles and bodies of water that prevented the Blue Typhoon from landing freely in any area.
Focusing on their destination, Tails checked the Chaos Emerald radar for the location of the next gem. They were able to find it and landed in a clearing several meters off to retrieve it. They were able to obtain the silver jewel with no problem. However, the purple light had caught up to them and circled around them, with a bright light engulfing them.
When the bright light cleared, Tails, Amy, and Cream then found themselves on a hillside. They discovered a green echidna with white stripes sitting on the hill. Tails, Amy, and Cream tried to get its attention, but unlike the flashbacks that Tikal the Echidna gave them back when they fought Chaos, the guardian god of the Chao, they were unable to interact with it.
"Lee," called a voice that belonged to a purple Thorndrigan, or male seedrian.
"Hey Lucas," the green echidna responded.
Lucas took a seat next to Lee and looked at the stars with him.
"Look at that," Lee said, "Thousands of stars, many of which have their own systems, all laid out for us in the sky."
"That is true," Lucas said, "What do you imagine the world would be like on the planets of those systems?"
"I would like to go out and see some," Lee said with a smile, "You know what they say Lucas. Sometimes you've just gotta get away from it all."
"You know," Lucas said, "You can't really get away from it all. There's always going to be some kind of trouble; some kind of conflict."
"Conflict," Lee said with a sigh, "Don't you wish we never had any conflicts?"
"You know that that would be really hard to accomplish," Lucas said.
"Hey, I'm just saying," Lee responded, lying on his back, "Besides, who knows. Someday, I don't know when, the galaxy, maybe even the universe, will be a peaceful place. A place with no war, a place where there is only joy and laughter. Yeah, that would be the place."
"You always see things so positively," Lucas said.
"You should act that way yourself," Lee said, "Gimme a smile, my brother."
Lucas couldn't help but do so. "I am glad to have such a positive friend," he said.
Then, the light engulfed Tails, Amy, and Cream again and, once it cleared, they found themselves back in the jungle.
"What was that?" Cream said.
"I don't know," Tails said, "But it's not important now. We have to return to the ship."
But before they could head back to the ship, more Gizoids came out and attacked them. Using Sonic's fast moves and Tails' technical attacks, neither Amy nor Cream were able to fend off the Gizoids. Cream was gravely injured. Tails, using another power ring, was able to fight back and dispatched the Gizoids. Afterwards, Tails picked up the beat-up bunny. The two were locked in each other's eyes as Tails pulled Cream up by the hand. Suddenly, Cream's sensitive hearing picked up a twig snapping. She looked in the direction of the sound and, acting quickly, pushed Tails out of the way before an arrow shot out of a bush towards them. Tails toppled over with Cream falling right on top of him. The two looked at each other and blushed before they quickly scrambled to their feet.
"L-l-let's get out of here," Cream stammered with fear and embarrassment.
"I…I-I agree," Tails responded.
Tails, Amy, and Cream jumped aboard the X-Tornado and started to head back to the Blue Typhoon. Behind the bush, Bokkun, with bow in hand, watched in rage as the three went back.
While those events unfolded, Sonic, Knuckles, and Chris were monitoring everything on the bridge, when the blue-green light came out of nowhere, encircled them, and caused a bright light to engulf them.
When the light cleared, the three found themselves in a sort of city, much like the city they found on planet Greengate, only in much better condition. They noticed a fight between a green echidna with white stripes and a purple Thorndrigan and a familiar Petali, or female seedrian, with blue-green hair.
"Why are you doing this Earthia?" Lee yelled, "Why do you say we can't be together?"
"Because plants and animals are not meant to be together," Earthia said, "It has been proven since a group of yours planned an attack on our government. You and the rest of the Nocturnus Tribe, those that have come from your far away planet of Mobius, have been exiled. You must find your own world to call your home."
"Lucas," Lee said, "Tell me this can't be. Tell me that we can still all be together; the three of us."
"I'm sorry Lee," Lucas said, "We can't. It is the rule of the government."
"Forget it," Lee said, "I'm staying. I don't care about the rules of the new government. I grew up on this sphere. This is my home. I've resisted being drafted to fight alongside them, to the point in which I was exiled."
"If you don't comply," Lucas said, "you will be destroyed."
Lee knew that he couldn't fight against it. With the rules of both governments and his sadness victorious, he turned around and walked away, but not before looking back to say one more thing to both of them.
"Goodbye," he said, "Goodbye Earthia, the one I thought was my true love; and goodbye Lucas, the one I used to think of as my brother."
Earthia and Lucas could only watch as the always bright and happy echidna walked away sadly.
Sonic, Knuckles, and Chris were unable to intervene, due to the effects of the flashback. Then, a bright light engulfed them again and, once it cleared, they found themselves back on the Blue Typhoon.
And while all that had happened, the green light searched for something of its own. It found it in Tails' room, the potted plant. It was all that remained, since even the combined powers of Chaos Rejuvenation from Sonic and Shadow were unable to sew the millions of charred pieces back into the girl that they created. The bits of pieces that were not charred were all crumpled together and condensed into one seed. But it was far too late for the girl. Her soul had left the body, and it couldn't return. Now, the light only looked at the plant that would be nothing more than her daughter. She got closer and, using her abilities, read the memories that it contained. She heard and saw it all. She heard Cream's mention of Emerl, she saw Cream give Tails an ice cream cone, she saw Tails crying, feeling a tear come down on top of her, she heard Tails talk to Cream after their adventure in Holoska, and, finally, she saw them gazing into each other's eyes, filled with a certain desire. But there was something wrong. There was an artificial substance in both of them, giving off an aroma that only they can pick up on.
Meanwhile, Sonic, Knuckles, and Chris checked the monitors for any unusual activity. They then noticed something big on the radar that was heading towards the Egg Carrier on the left. They looked outside the glass dome.
As Tails, Amy, and Cream flew back, they noticed what Sonic, Knuckles, and Chris saw as well. A giant, squid-like robot was heading towards the Egg Carrier. They made it back to the Blue Typhoon and went out onto its deck when the squid approached. Sonic and Knuckles joined them.
"Who are you?" Tails asked, "It's no doubt you are with the Donkel as well."
"You can call me Killer Kraken," the giant, robotic squid said.
"Try saying that five times fast," Sonic said.
"I will tear apart your ship," Killer Kraken remarked.
"Someone already tried and failed with us," Sonic said, "Some kind of green viper. Volt Viper was it?"
"WHAT?" Killer Kraken screamed, "YOU HAVE DESTROYED VOLT VIPER? SOMEONE WHO WAS LIKE A SISTER TO ME? YOU WILL PAY BY HAVING YOUR COMRADS ANIHILATED!"
"Who said Eggman was our comrade?" Sonic said.
"We still got to help them," Cream said.
Sonic did not object to that.
Killer Kraken wrapped his tendrils around the Egg Carrier and started to try to crush it. Rouge, Shadow, Scratch, and Grounder rushed out to fight back.
"Sonic!" Dr. Eggman said aboard the Egg Carrier, "Help us! Do something!"
"We already are," Chris said over a communications radio.
The Blue Typhoon lifted itself out of the water and prepared the Sonic Power Cannon to fire at Killer Kraken. Tails took aim and fired Sonic right at the target. Sonic drilled right through Killer Kraken, bearing a hole in him.
"NO!" Killer Kraken cried, "I have failed. Still, Volt Viper, I will be with you soon."
Killer Kraken then exploded, doing the same amount of damage Volt Viper did when she exploded on the Blue Typhoon.
Afterwards, everyone on the Egg Carrier started repairing the damage. Breezy noticed Bokkun come in with a bow and arrow.
"Man," Breezy heard Bokkun say, "I thought I had him. Just one shot and he would be up there with Cosmo and I would be down here with Cream."
Breezy gasped at what she heard and went over to talk to Bokkun.
"Bokkun?" she asked angrily with hands on her hips.
"Yes Breezy?" Bokkun responded embarrassed.
"What were you doing?" Breezy continued, "Were you trying to hurt someone?"
"I was planning to kill someone," Bokkun said smugly, "Tails was messing with my Cream. And the only punishment suitable was an arrow in his heart. That way, he would be up there with his true love Cosmo and I would be down here with Cream, my true love."
Breezy gasped and said, "You wouldn't do that would you?"
"She's the most gentle and caring person," Bokkun said, "And no one can have her but me."
"I can't believe you would sink so low," Breezy said, glaring at him, then, turning her look into one of disappointment, "You should know that there are other people here who care about you."
"Who cares?" Bokkun said as he walked to his room.
"I care," Breezy said after Bokkun disappeared from the room.
Back on the Blue Typhoon, the crew celebrated their findings in the same room where they held the party for their fight against the Metarex. Cream went over to Tails, who was looking out the window at the orange horizon. Neither had noticed the green light hiding behind some props.
"Tails?" she asked.
"What is it Cream?" Tails responded.
Cream held out the pink box containing the white lily clip.
"I found this in the Cargo Bay yesterday and wondered if you wanted it back," she said.
"You can keep it if you want," Tails said.
"I don't want to," Cream responded, "It belongs to the person you truly love."
Tails took hold of the box and they found themselves gazing into each other's eyes again. They quickly broke free of the gaze.
"I'll go put this away," Tails said.
"Go ahead," Cream said, "I'm going back to my room."
Tails walked to his room and the green light followed him, phasing into a nearby wall. Tails put the pink box with the white lily clip right beside the potted plant. The green light phased in through the floor right underneath Tails' bed. Tails looked over to his plant.
"What am I to do?" he said aloud to the plant, "Don't get me wrong. I still love Cosmo. I just thought that I found someone else to love; someone else who would be important to me; someone else… that meant the world to me."
The green light heard everything. It then phased through the walls into Cream's room, hiding under her bed.
Cream walked in, followed by Amy, and sat down.
"Why?" Amy asked, "Why did you give back the clip to Tails?"
"Because I know that he loves Cosmo," Cream said, "And I know that he will not take me."
"Don't say that Cream," Amy said, "I was there. I could see in your eyes that you really love each other. You can't lie. Just watch, he will give it back to you. I know it."
The light then phased into the floor, down to check on the Chaos Emeralds that the team had gathered.
Knuckles was resting, so he couldn't notice the green light. The light found the five emeralds they had gathered: the red, the blue, the yellow, the green, and the silver ones. The light observed the red one and noticed that there was a strange form of life in it. Instead of one that was natural, it was something fairly artificial.