When morning rolled around, Tails got his revenge by splashing cold water over Sonic at 8am. He surely wasn't happy, but it he saw the funny side of it once he got himself to the kitchen. Once everyone else had made their way into the kitchen and made a great breakfast, Sonic and Tails explained what happened when Sonic woke Tails up.
'So her name is Tikal?' Amy asked.
'And she's actually ancient?' Rouge added.
'How come she told you this and not me?!' Knuckles snapped.
'Hey, chill out Knux! How should I know?' Sonic said as he put his arms up defensively.
'What else did she say?' Cosmo asked.
'She said that we had to bring Cream to the other side of Mobius. To the last place we would ever think or want to go.' Sonic explained.
'So when this dork, 'Tails gestured to Sonic, 'woke me up and told me this, I suggested we check out the ancient tombs.'
'Makes sense, isn't the girl really old but alive now or something?' Shadow said as he rolled his eyes.
'Something like that.' Tails shrugged.
'Alright, so do we know where these tombs are?' Amy asked.
'I've been there before, but it was quite some time ago now.' Rouge admitted.
'What would you be doing in an abandoned tomb?' Knuckles raised his eyebrow.
'That's for me to know and you to wonder about, Knuckie my sweet.' Rouge winked.
'My guess is snooping around for valuables.' Shadow smirked.
'Oh, piss off, Shadow.' Rouge huffed before folding her arms and sticking her nose in the air.
'Can you get us there?' Tails asked curiously.
'I could get us close, but the tombs themselves are hidden really well. It would surprise me though if once we got close, Tikal would send more messages to Knuckles and Sonic.' Rouge said with a proud smile.
'You're probably right. Well, let's start with that!' Tails said cheerfully.
'Great! Let's load up the X-Tornado!' Sonic said with a thumbs up.
With that, the gang stocked up on supplies while Tails adjusted two of the Tornado seats so Cream could lie down. Sonic went upstairs and picked up the fragile rabbit before carefully walking down to the garage and laying her down in her special seat. Amy covered her in a warm blanket, to which she reacted and curled up in a ball.
After all the supplies were stacked up and ready to go, Amy and Cosmo took place in the remaining passenger seats while Tails drove the ship out of the garage. Knuckles and Shadow soon jumped up on the wings of the Tornado, allowing Sonic to trek it on foot and Rouge in the clouds.
'She looks so peaceful.' Amy sighed as she looked over her shoulder at Cream sleeping.
'Don't worry, Amy. I don't doubt Tikal knows what she's doing.' Tails assured her.
'How are you so sure, Tails?' Cosmo asked graciously.
'She's done it before, she'll do it again.'
The X-Tornado suddenly lifted up into the air and over Sonic's head, causing his adrenaline to kick in and race Tails prize ship. Rouge joined in and soared down to Sonic's level, keeping up with him along the dirt path until they came up to the forest. The ivory spy flew into the air and alongside the Tornado where Knuckles lay casually on the wing.
'How you doin' there, Knuckie?' Rouge winked.
'Fine thanks, Rouge.' Knuckles rolled his eyes.
'How are you feeling down there, Sonic?' Amy asked through her wrist communicator.
'We just left, Amy. I'm good for a while.' Sonic chuckled nervously
'So, Tails, what's the plan?' Cosmo asked as she leaned forward in her seat.
'Well, I'm not entirely sure. I suppose we keep going until we all need a break and can find somewhere to stay the night.' Tails said with a genuine smile.
'Great! Do you know anywhere?'
'Well, I don't. But Sonic knows everyone, so I don't doubt we'll run into someone that will recognize him!'
The two began to giggle and joke before turning on a little light music. Amy slouched in her seat and couldn't help but feel a ball of jealousy rise up in her stomach. It was so easy for Cosmo and Tails! They won't admit it, but they like each other a lot. They get on like a house on fire and could talk for days on end. Why couldn't she break that barrier with Sonic?
The pink hedgehog leaned over and looked out the windows to find her blue hero running alongside the X-Tornado with a large grin on his face as he felt the crisp breeze brush against his face. Shadow jumped off the wing and challenged her hero to a playful race around the area.
She let out an audible sigh as she slouched in her seat. She could certainly go for a rest stop, she was over being cramped up in here already. To think there was so far to go. When afternoon came around, Tails gradually landed the X-Tornado in a small clearing, Amy held in how grateful she was just to stand up. Mainly just to be closer to Sonic…
'What's happening, Tails? It's only three o'clock?' Shadow asked in confusion.
'Yeah and we've been going for 6 hours straight. I know we need to get there fast but I needed a break.' Tails said hazily as he gradually got himself out of his seat.
'I think we all do. It's good we stopped here though, I think there is a small property not far up.' Rouge recalled.
'I think you're right, I recognize the area. I'll go and check it out!' Sonic said before leaving a trail of dust behind him.
Ok, so maybe Sonic wasn't the best person to rely on to send out looking for that property. He got a little sidetrack from the scenery and went on a little run instead. He came across a tiny but beautiful clearing that was bursting at the seams with dozens of different species of flowers. He got to thinking about how much Cream would love to see this, no doubt she would spend her days here making flowers crowns for everyone and then some.
He then came across a rose bush, which he could swear was the biggest one he had ever seen before. The strangest thing about this rose bush was that it had next to every colour of rose all in the same plant. All sorts of reds, pinks, white, yellow, blue and even a few purple ones. He plucked a bright red one from its stem, narrowly missing a large thorn, and brought it up to his muzzle before closing his eyes and smelling it.
'It smells just like Amy.' He thought to himself with a smile.
His eyes quickly snapped open when he realized that sentence had coursed through his head. How did he know that Amy smelt like beautiful, red roses? Beautiful? Was that his way of calling her beautiful? Wait on, what's happening?
He shook his head rapidly before realizing he had been gone for at least an hour. He gripped the rose before running out of the clearing and having another quick look around for the property.
'Yes! At least Knucklehead won't say running around was a total waste of time.' Sonic chuckled to himself as he thrust his fist in the air and walked towards the small cottage home he had laid his eyes on. He walked up to the front door and politely knocked on the door. He heard light footsteps jog towards the door before a young cat answer.
'Hi there!' Sonic greeted the young, yellow female.
'Sonic the Hedgehog?' She asked as she stared at him in amazement.
'That's me?' Sonic answered, confused.
'You probably don't remember me. You saved me once, my name is Vanessa.'
'Hey, yeah! I do remember! You were trapped in a net by a river around here when I was running past. How have you been?' Sonic asked politely.
'Fine, thank you. It's lovely to see you again! Would you come in?'
'I really can't, I have my friends with me a few miles away. You see my friend has been badly hurt by an enemy of ours and we have to cross the planet to find another friend that can help her. We've had to stop for the night and take a break. Long story.' Sonic chuckled as he nervously scratched his quills.
'I see! Well in that case, I can finally repay my debt. Would you please bring your friends to have dinner tonight, and you are all welcome to spend the night in my barn. It's not much but it's warm and there is plenty of hay to lay on.' She smiled at him.
'Wow! Thank you, Vanessa. That's awful kind of you! Here, this is for you.' Sonic said as he bowed a little and handed the bright red rose over to the yellow feline. She would have been not a year younger than him, she was awfully flattered by his gesture and blushed furiously.
'I guess I shall see you… and your friends later tonight?'
'Great! See you then!' Sonic winked at her before speeding off towards the rest of the gang.
Vanessa watched the blue blur speed off into the distance before gazing down at the red rose Sonic had left with her. She looked up to where Sonic had stood seconds ago with a coy and flirtatious smile. If there was anything to know about Vanessa the cat it was that she was a girl who knew what she wanted, and she was determined to get her latest target…