Chapter 5: A Golden Surprise

Dil and Ichy were searching for the kids but they were getting tired. It was night and they had no luck finding the kids or the Runner. Dil said that they should rest. Ichy agreed but he said that he would rest and that Dil should keep going. Dil got very upset about it but kept searching. Dil kept bumping into things because of her poor eyesight. Dil groaned in pain and in frustration each time she bumped into something.

Sonic and the dino kids walked for awhile. They were now in a field of plants. Everyone, except Sonic, was getting very tired. They were also getting hungry. Sonic was also a little hungry but he paid little attention to it. Littlefoot asked Ali if they were close to finding the night flower. Ali then said that she hoped that they were close but she admitted that she has never seen the night flower. The kids felt very upset about what Ali said. The kids started yawning. They were very tired from escaping the Sharp Beak and Belly Dragger, and from walking so far. Littlefoot then said that they should rest for some time. The others agreed. Sonic then said that he would look after them while they rest. The kids nodded. All the kids sat down and went to sleep. Sonic looked up at the night sky. He looked at the moon and stars. The wind blew by a little. Sonic was a little tired too. His eyes started getting heavy.

Suddenly, Sonic's eyes went wide. The field started blooming with bright yellow flowers. They were quite pretty. Sonic then smiled. They finally found the night flower. Sonic went to wake his friends.

"Guys, wake up! We found the night flower!" shouted Sonic. Everyone started to wake up. The kids were very happy. They shouted in joy.

"We were looking for the night flower but the night flower found us" Ducky said with a smile.

The kids laughed in happiness. Sonic smiled brightly.

"Alright, let's grab some of these flowers and go save Littlefoot's grandpa" stated Sonic.

"Yeah!" exclaimed the dino kids.

They grabbed a few flowers and started their way back to the Great Valley. They placed the flowers on Spike's back.

Sonic looked out into the distance while he followed the kids. "Hold on Grandpa Longneck. Help is on the way" thought Sonic.

The kids walked through the field. They believed they could make it home very soon.

Suddenly, Ichy appeared behind some tall grass, followed by Dil. "Surprise!" exclaimed Ichy.

The kids gasped and shook in fear. Sonic went wide-eyed then frowned at the mean animals. "You guys again?" said Sonic.

"You're not going anywhere but the inside of our stomachs. Right Dil?" said Ichy. Dil nodded then snarled at Sonic and the kids. The kids then screamed and ran to hide. Sonic ran with them to protect them. The 2 predators ran after them but the kids managed to hide behind a large rock.

Ichy looked far and he guessed that the kids were hiding behind the large rock. Sonic was ready to defend the kids from the mean animals.

"I'll flesh 'em out and you nab 'em" Ichy said to Dil. Dil nodded and bared her teeth.

Petrie looked over the rock to see if the mean animals didn't follow them. But suddenly, Ichy grabbed Petrie by the throat and took him to Dil. The kids gasped. Sonic then frowned. He was about to go fight Ichy but he didn't want Petrie to get hurt, so he stayed with the others. Dil tried to snap her jaws on Petrie but Ichy dodged Dil's bite. Dil complained that Ichy was keeping Petrie to himself for a snack. Dil kept trying to bite Petrie but Ichy would pull Petrie away.

"You're so selfish" growled Dil.

"Me? You're the one who's selfish" yelled Ichy.

The kids looked at each other with great fear.

"What do we do?!" exclaimed Cera.

Sonic was trying to come up with a plan. But then Tickles squeaked in anger and then pointed at Dil. Sonic and the kids looked at Tickles.

"What's the plan Tickles?" asked Sonic.

Tickles pointed at Dil again and then grabbed his own tail, and did a munching gesture while squeaking some more. Sonic then smiled and nodded. "Gotcha!" said Sonic. The Blue Runner then ran behind Dil. He then grabbed Dil's tail.

"He's mine and that's final" stated Ichy. The Sharp Beak was about to bite Petrie. The little Flyer shook in fear. Sonic brought Dil's tail over to Ichy's mouth in a flash. Ichy bit Dil's tail instead. Dil gasped and growled at Ichy. Ichy spat Dil's tail away from him. Petrie flew back over to the others. Sonic also ran back without the 2 animals noticing him. Ichy tried to apologize to Dil but it looks like the angry Belly Dragger wasn't going to listen. Sonic and the others then started to sneak away. They hid behind some trees. But Cera giggled too loud and the 2 predators heard them. They all started to run away. The 2 predators chased after them.

They crossed over a log that made a bridge over a river. But then one of the flowers fell off onto the log while they ran. Ducky saw this and ran back to get the flower. But then Dil and Ichy caught up to her. Ducky screamed. Ichy then grabbed Ducky and carried her into the air. The kids stopped and saw that Ducky was in trouble. The kids gasped. Sonic silently gasped then glared at Ichy.

"Me save you Ducky" said Petrie. The Flyer flew over to the Sharp Beak.

"Go away! Leave me alone!" exclaimed Ichy. Petrie didn't listen and flew to help Ducky. Petrie then grabbed Ducky by the tail. Ichy and Petrie kept tugging at Ducky. But both Flyers lost their grip when they pulled too hard. Ducky screamed and fell into the river. Sonic went wide-eyed. "Ducky!" yelled Sonic.

"Ducky!" yelled all the kids. Ducky floated to the surface. She was okay but she was knocked out. Dil dove into the water to eat her. Dil caught Ducky on the top of her snout. Petrie gasped and tried to help Ducky.

"Put my friend down!" shouted Petrie. Dil growled loudly and tried to bite Petrie. The Flyer managed to avoid Dil's snapping jaws. Dil then tossed Ducky into the air with her snout. Then Dil tossed Ducky higher. Then Dil opened her snout wide, ready to swallow Ducky. All the kids gasped. Sonic glared at Dil.

"Oh no you don't!" yelled Sonic. The Blue Runner jumped high and stomped down on Dil's snout. He caught Ducky in his hands.

"(Grunt) Get offa me!" groaned Dil. The Belly Dragger tried to shake Sonic off. Sonic then jumped and stomped down hard on Dil's head. Dil groaned painfully.

Ichy glared at Sonic. "Hey, that's our snack, you spiky animal!" shouted Ichy.

Sonic glared at Ichy then he looked at Dil. He smirked and had an idea. Sonic then looked back at Ichy.

"Well, you're a stupid excuse for a Flyer" said Sonic.

Ichy glared at Sonic. "I am not!" yelled Ichy.

"You are too!" Sonic said with a smile. Sonic and Ichy kept arguing.

"Are not!"

"Are too!"

"Are not! Are not!"

"Are too! Are too!"

Ichy growled at Sonic. "That's it! I'll show you what I can do!" yelled Ichy. Dil started to clear her senses.

Sonic smiled in a prideful way. "Then come and get me Feather Brain!" shouted Sonic. Dil then growled at Sonic but Sonic waited for the right moment. Ichy charged at Sonic with his sharp beak ready. When Ichy got close, Sonic jumped high to a tree in the water and then jumped to a ledge close to the others. Dil opened her jaw and Ichy flew right into it. Ichy couldn't stop in time."Got ya!" yelled Dil. Dil then chomped down. She thought that she got Sonic. How wrong she was.

"Don't swallow! It's me, Ichy!" yelled Ichy inside Dil's mouth.

"Ichy?" said Dil.

"Open up, you idiot!" yelled Ichy. Dil opened her jaw and Ichy flew out. He was very angry at Dil.

"You almost ate me!" growled Ichy.

"But it was an accident Ichy. I thought I got someone else. I didn't see you" said Dil.

"Of course you didn't see me. You can't see your own nose at the end of your face! You're useless!" shouted Ichy.

"Useless?! Without me, you would starve!" yelled Dil. Dil and Ichy kept arguing at each other. They decided that they were done with each other.

"I'm going it alone!" Dil and Ichy said to each other. They both went their own separate ways. But then Dil smacked Ichy far away with her tail.

"That'll teach 'im" said Dil. The Belly Dragger started to swim away but she bumped into something. She looked up to see that she bumped into a Hydrotherosaurus. It looked mean and hungry. Dil went wide-eyed in fear and started to swim away while calling Ichy's name. She was alone this time. The Hydrotherosaur kept trying to bite Dil.

Sonic brought Ducky back to the others. The kids were happy to see that Sonic and Ducky were okay. They were amazed of Sonic's idea of tricking Ichy to fly into Dil's mouth.

"You did great Sonic!" exclaimed Littlefoot.

"Yeah! You really showed that Belly Dragger and that Sharp Beak" added Cera.

Sonic chuckles. "Thanks guys!"

Ducky smiled at Sonic. "Thanks for saving me, Sonic!"

Sonic smiled back. "You're welcome!"

"You're very brave" said Ali. Sonic chuckled.

Ducky also thanked Petrie for trying to help as well. Petrie smiled.

They all started on their way back to the cave that leads back to the Great Valley.

Meanwhile, Dil was still trying to get away from the mean Hydrotherosaur. She kept dodging the plesiosaur's attacks. Suddenly, a giant metal hand grabbed Dil and carried her away. Dil tried to free herself but the metal hand held her tight.

"What's happening?!" said Dil.

The giant hand flew back to its owner. Dil looked at who captured her. It was Dr. Eggman.

"Huh? Who are you?" asked Dil.

Eggman grinned. "I'm Dr. Eggman. And you're going to join my army."

Dil tried to free herself again. She tried biting the metal hand but her jaws had no effect. Dil called out to Ichy for help. Ichy heard Dil and flew up. He went wide-eyed when he saw Eggman and his floating armor bot. Ichy frowned at Dil. He decided that he wasn't going to help this time. He hmphed and flew the other way. Eggman then pushed a button on his vehicle. A blue robot flew by Eggman and after Ichy. The Sharp Beak looked at the robot with frightful eyes. It was Metal Sonic. The blue robot looked more intimidating than Sonic. Ichy tried to fly away but Metal Sonic zoomed, and caught Ichy. Metal Sonic flew back to Eggman.

"Hey, let me go!" yelled Ichy. The prehistoric bird tried to peck at Metal Sonic but it was in vain.

Metal Sonic looked at Ichy with its dark red eyes. "You will help my master."

Ichy then gulped. Metal Sonic flew and stopped by Eggman.

"Great Job Metal Sonic! These 2 creatures will make fine soldiers in my army" said Eggman.

Eggman and Metal Sonic flew back to the battleship. The evil genius placed Dil and Ichy in separate cages. Eggman then saw the Hydrotherosaur swimming in the river. He grinned wickedly.

"You too!" said Eggman.

Eggman used his armor bot and grabbed the plesiosaur. It struggled to get free but the giant hands held tight. It roared at Eggman. The evil genius simply grinned. He brought the plesiosaur and put it in a really big tank with water.

Dil and Ichy glared at each other. They couldn't get out of their cages.

"This is all your fault Dil!" yelled Ichy.

"No, it's your fault!" growled Dil.

Eggman walked by. Ichy glared at Eggman.

"Let us outta here!" yelled Ichy.

Eggman grinned. "I'm afraid that won't be possible. You 2 will help me destroy a certain hedgehog."

Dil and Ichy looked confused. They both raised an eyebrow at Eggman.

"Hedgehog? What's a hedgehog?" said Ichy.

"Oh, you'll find out soon enough. After I'm done transforming you into my super dinos" said Eggman.

Eggman then laughed evilly. Dil growled but Ichy moaned in fear.

Eggman then looked at his robo raptors. He believed that it was time to test them out on Sonic.

He called the raptors to follow him. Dil and Ichy started arguing with each other again. Ozzy and Strut stood by and watched them. They were amazed to see a feathery Flyer and a prehistoric croc. Ozzy and Strut jumped in fear when they heard snarling sounds. They saw that Eggman also captured 2 Dome-Heads. The angry Dome-Heads kept trying to head butt their way out of their prisons but the cages were very strong.

Sonic and the others were close to the cave. But then suddenly, Eggman arrived. The evil genius laughed wickedly and blocked their path. The dino kids gasped. Sonic went wide-eyed then glared at Eggman. Ali never saw Eggman before. She was afraid and confused.

"Who is that?!" exclaimed Ali.

"That's Eggman, Sonic's smart enemy" said Littlefoot.

"And he mean. Very mean" said Petrie. Ali gasped.

Ali wondered how Eggman could fly with his machines.

"Hello Sonic and kids. Thanks for leading me to the Land of Mists" said Eggman.

Sonic and kids were confused.

"What?!" said Cera.

"What are you talking about?" said Sonic.

"I simply used one of my invisible robots to follow you here. Just look at this place. It's filled with dangerous dinosaurs. Soon I'll build an unstoppable army and I'll finally destroy you all" said Eggman.

The evil genius laughed wickedly once again. The kids gasped. Sonic got into his fighting stance.

"But first, I'd like you to meet my new dino soldiers" said Eggman. Eggman pushed a button.

The 3 robo raptors flew down and landed towards the group. They snarled at the kids. All the kids had very frightful expressions. Sonic glared at the metal raptors.

Eggman then pointed at the group. "Destroy Sonic my raptors!" commanded Eggman.

The robo raptors snarled and charged at Sonic. The Blue Runner dodged their attacks. The raptors then fired lasers from their red eyes. Sonic managed to dodge the lasers. The robo raptors kept trying to slash and pounce on Sonic. But still, Sonic dodged their attacks. He jumped up and did a triple homing attack. All 3 raptors got knocked down. But the raptors shook their heads and got back up. They snarled angrily at Sonic. Their metal claws then extended. The kids gasped when they saw the long and very sharp claws. Sonic stood his ground. Suddenly, a laser hit Sonic's back. He yelled out in pain and got knocked down. He looked at who shot at him. Sonic glared. It was his evil metal copy bot. Metal Sonic then charged at Sonic. Sonic did a homing attack but Metal Sonic dodged it. The blue copy bot shot a laser from his arm gun. Sonic quickly evaded it. Sonic then charged at his evil copy. But when Sonic got close, Metal Sonic used his electric shield again. Sonic got shocked and was sent flying towards a rock. He hit his back and groaned in pain. He rubbed his head. The 3 raptors started advancing towards Sonic.

The kids gasped. "What do we do?!" said Ali.

Tickles squeaked angrily. The little mouse ran over and climbed on the back of a robo raptor. He crawled through a small crevice in the armor. The kids wondered what Tickles was doing.

Sonic got back up and prepared to fight again. The robo raptors were about to pounce on Sonic. Metal Sonic had his arm gun ready while hovering. Suddenly, one of the robo raptors' jetpacks turned on. The raptor started flying around in an uncontrollable way. The other Raptors looked confused. So did Sonic and Eggman.

Metal Sonic was about to fire his laser gun but then the robo raptor was about to crash into Metal Sonic. The blue robot dodged the raptor and it crashed into the other raptors. The robo raptors were dazed for a moment but then they got back up, ready to attack Sonic again. Tickles jumped out of one the raptors and on to the next one. Sonic was also ready for the raptors. But then suddenly, Metal Sonic charged at the kids. They all tried to evade the blue robot. But Metal Sonic grabbed Ducky and held her in the air.

"Help!" yelled Ducky. Sonic heard Ducky's cry. He glared at Metal Sonic. The kids gasped.

"Let her go!" yelled Sonic

"Surrender or say good bye to your little friend" said Metal Sonic.

Ducky tried to get free but Metal Sonic squeezed her tight. Eggman chuckled evilly. Sonic glared at Metal Sonic.

"Ducky!" cried the kids. Then something unexpected happened.

"Duck… Duck… Ducky!" yelled a voice. The kids saw that it was Spike who spoke. The kids gasped in surprise. Sonic, Metal Sonic and Eggman looked surprised too. Another raptor's jetpack malfunctioned. It crashed into Metal Sonic. The blue robot didn't see it coming this time. Metal Sonic dropped Ducky from high up. Ducky screamed as she fell. Petrie flew up and caught her. Petrie brought her back over to the others.

Metal Sonic and the raptor crashed to the ground. Sonic saw Tickles jump out. Tickles waved at Sonic. Sonic smiled and nodded. Tickles ran back to the kids.

Eggman pounded his vehicle with his fists. "This can't be!" exclaimed Eggman.

Sonic then charged up his spindash. He knocked out the other raptors with a powerful homing attack. Metal Sonic then flew back to Eggman. Eggman got really mad at Sonic.

"You may have beaten my raptors but that was only 3 of my soldiers. When I return, my army will destroy you and your friends" said Eggman. The evil genius and Metal Sonic picked up the robo raptors, and flew back to Eggman's ship.

The kids were happy to see that Sonic and Ducky were okay. They were also happy to see that Spike talked, especially Ducky. Sonic also thanked Tickles for helping him stop the raptors. Tickles squeaked happily and nodded. Sonic petted him.

They finally went back to the cave entrance. Tickles decided to stay in the misty land. It was his home. Sonic and the kids said their good-byes, and Tickles waved good-bye.

It was now morning and they all finally made it back home. They had to hurry to help Grandpa Longneck. They ran to where Grandpa Longneck was laying. "I hope we're not too late"said Sonic. Littlefoot thought the same thing. Grandma Longneck was so glad to see that Sonic and the children were safe and alright. Littlefoot asked if his grandpa was okay. Grandma Longneck said that his grandpa is very weak. But Littlefoot assured his grandma that the night flowers will heal him. They quickly gave the golden flowers to Grandpa Longneck. He ate them all up. In no time, Grandpa Longneck started feeling better. Littlefoot told his friends that his grandpa will be alright. They cheered in joy. But then they remembered that they have to get back to their parents. Littlefoot's friends went back to their own families. Sonic smiled at Grandpa Longneck. He was glad to see that Littlefoot's grandpa got better. Grandpa Longneck then smiled at Sonic.

"Thank you for protecting my grandson and the others again" said Grandpa Longneck.

"You're very welcome" said Sonic. Grandma Longneck nuzzled Sonic's head. Sonic chuckled.

After some time, the Old One then said that the cousins will be leaving in a few moments. They were off to migrate once again. Littlefoot was glad that he wasn't going to migrate. Ali then said her good-byes to Littlefoot and the others. The others said that they will miss Ali and that she will too. They encouraged Spike to say Good-Bye but he was too interested in eating plants. The kids laughed at this.

"Good-bye Sonic. I'm gonna miss you a lot too. You're very brave and strong. And fast too" said Ali.

Sonic chuckled. "Thanks. It was nice meeting you too." Ali hugged Sonic. Sonic laughed a little.

Littlefoot and the others watched as Littlefoot's cousins were on their way again. Ali took one last glance at them and ran back with her family. Littlefoot wondered when he will ever see Ali again someday. Littlefoot remembers the fun times he had with Ali. Sonic then said that it was time he headed back to his home. The kids hugged Sonic. Once again, they hoped to see Sonic return soon someday. Sonic activated his time device and went home.

Meanwhile, Eggman started transforming the Dome-Heads, the Belly Dragger, and the Sharp Beak into robotic soldiers. Eggman grinned wickedly. He was going to prepare his next attack very soon.

End of Chapter 5

To be continued…