Chapter 3- Welcome, Willkommen, Bienvenidos, Croeso, Selamat Detang
Rising up! Back on the Streets!
...Bokkun? What on earth are you doing?
Singing some-
Apart from singing Survivor?
Telling you to STEP IT UP!
But my Smash bros skills are severely lacking.
No, not that, that's later... I mean the Mighty dream knights, you know, the one with me in it?
Urgh, I should've known. Alright let's do this.
Not exactly in the writing spirit are you?
Strange portals have a tendency to be just that, strange. The strange strobing green lights, the strange humming energy, and the generally strange atmosphere, all left everyone slightly at edge.
Well, maybe that's the wrong word, maybe 'internally panicking a whole lot' fits more.
Cream was on the verge of having a seizure and an emotional crisis through some kind of emotional hypnosis.
Tails was feeling the usual: Fearing for his life, fur, masculinity and species classification. All have been lost and recovered from his inventions.
Charmy was in fear of losing the Tornado in the swirling vortex, that and he seemed to grow and stretch a lot.
Cheese wasn't sure whether or not he actually was the food that he was named after.
Bokkun was feeling very peculiar, mainly because he turned into a transistor radio, an egg, a microwave and then some bizarre combination of all three, and not necessarily in that order.
Finally King Lord Stuffington was in the predicament of being on fire.
After what seemed like both days and seconds the adventurous group with regal company made it through the portal and into a completely black void filled with absolutely nothing. Then slowly giant circles of light similar to floodlights at stadiums lit up, all pointing down towards one runway floating in the nothing.
"Looks like that's the only way to go." Cream spoke, her voice lacking an echo in the vast expanse.
"Yup, though to be honest I'm not liking the whole... Alien ship design. I mean a beach or something recognisable would be nice."
As soon as the words escaped the young kitsune's lips, the scenery changed to that of a beach resort, palm trees and all, with the runway still there.
"Hmm... Nice of them." Stuffington noted, the kings normally were too full of themselves to change their big opening to the whim of an outsider.
Tails landed the tornado on the strip, making sure not to hit the palm trees now sticking out of it, Charmy following suit and Bokkun not being so lucky. "Ow! I hate trees! They're my arch nemesis!" Immediately the tree caught fire. "Oh Heck yeah! I have power over dreams!"
Cream heard this and wondered if everyone did; she reached down at the ground, willing a flower to appear, and sure enough, a small carnation grew and bloomed in just a few seconds. "Now that's cool." She said picking the flower and making it close and open it's petals at will.
"Yes, and powerful, could you imagine what would happen if someone managed to gain control of something like this?" Stuffington noted fanning the now smouldering fur out before immediately growing it back to a vibrant green colour.
"Whoever did would be God on Mobius." Tails replied, making sure the Tornado survived the landing without damage, any damage he did see seemed to repair itself.
"Guys, we've got company." Charmy called to the group. At the end of the runway were six figures of varying shapes and sizes, walking, floating or even rolling towards the heroes.
"Ah, here come the rest of the kings." Stuffington mumbled, a slight disappointment in his voice.
"Welcome heroes!" Boomed the tallest King, who towered over the runway, leaving a shadow over the group. "I am the King of all dreams! You, no doubt are the heroes the Psychic King spoke of!" The group nodded, Tails graciously allowing Cream to take command.
"Um, I think so, I don't know how your psychic powers work, but we were told that we are the ones who would help save the land of dreams, your highness." She curtsied, following the manners taught to her by her mother.
Before the Grand King could respond, a smaller, older hunched woman with a staff and wearing a cloak of the most dazzling purple. "Yes, you are the ones I had seen, the ones who will push the red egg out of our realm." She said, raising a bony finger towards the group.
"Uh, red egg?" Charmy said, returning to his sense after being bewildered by the kings. "Don't you mean Eggman?"
"Alas, the psychic king is sometimes vague with her predictions, we other kings usually figure out what she is saying." Said the Grand king, looking down at the psychic king with the same eyes someone might give a beloved, if slightly crazy, grandparent.
"Why are you all kings if some of you are female? Sorry if I'm being blunt but it's and odd little detail, I love odd little details." Tails said sitting on the wing of the tornado.
"Because, we kings believe in gender neutral titles? No I'm sorry, quick joke." Came a voice behind the Grand King, no one laughed. "Well, anyway, the actual reason is that we kings are figments of imagination, gender is arbitrary, in fact Stuffington himself is genderless, aren't you?" The voice asked making King Lord Stuffington's fur stand on end in a rather violent display.
"I'm a teddy bear what do you expect you fool." Cream could sense a rivalry in the air, and decided to ease the tension.
"I think this conversation would go along a lot smoother if our mystery voice would come out from behind the King's foot here?" When nothing happened, the Grand King simply lifted his leg and lightly kicked the owner of the mystery voice who landed face first on the sandy runway. When he got up, everyone's jaws dropped, apart from the kings, who had known that this would happen, either through common sense or psychic prowess. What stood before the group of heroes was Tails, despite the fact that he was still on the wing of the plane, the person in front of them gave a nervous laugh and began explaining himself.
"Uh, Hello, I'm Miles, though I would prefer Tails, and I'm the King of the inventors dreams." Tails himself jumped from the wing and introduced himself to the King in front of him.
"Hi, I'm Miles, though I would prefer Tails, and I'm the King of inventors." He looked out of the corner of his eye to see Cream raise her eyebrows and cross her arms, he let himself have a cheeky smirk.
"I know that much Tails, I'm a fan of your work." Said the King, shaking Tails' hand.
"I can see that. They say copying is the sincerest form of flattery, but you my friend have taken it to the next level." Tails said, looking around the King which was eerily like looking in a mirror.
"But who's copying who? I was like this before you were born, which means either we are alike through some sheer cosmic coincidence, or the universe knew you would be a great inventor and modelled you off of me." Both Tails' cocked their right brow, something they usually did when their mind began coming up with ideas, theories and plans.
"Well, that's certainly aroused my interest..." Tails began, quickly regretting his choice of words.
"Only that Tails?" The king said making Tails twitch nervously.
"What are you talking about, er, me?" The king simply laughed and looked at Cream as he said.
"I curate his dreams, this scenario has popped up a few times, rather imaginative situations I must say." Tails held his head down in stress and embarrassment, Charmy was trying desperately not to laugh, and the other kings just sat in thrones which they had summoned, amused by the spectacle, Cream was starting to turn red.
"Like you haven't had it 'pop up', you're me, And here I'm taking 'fantasies' are your reality." The king couldn't argue back, he was defeated. Cream took this opportunity to bring the group back on task.
"Well, now that that's sorted out, let's get on with stopping Eggman shall we?" The kings shifted uncomfortably. "What? Something we missed?"
The Grand king spoke, for all his bellowing nature, a bit awkwardly. "Well, yes, you see, Eggman hasn't actually arrived yet..." The group's jaws dropped.
"You mean you called us here early?" Cream began in shock, but had a change of heart. "That means we can stop Eggman before he does any damage to the world of Dreams, right?"
"Wrong..." Tails answered, banging his head repeatedly against the tornado. "How could I have been so stupid? Eggman's message, then me building a portal allowing us through, he planned it. He couldn't get through on his own, so he got me to build his way in for him, huh, I'm flattered. And now, with all these introductions and a invasion of my mental privacy which I am not thankful for obviously; Eggman could be anywhere in the land of dreams wreaking havoc." Everyone became even more shocked and panicky, Cream meanwhile took command as she was prophesied to do.
"Alright everyone, we've got work to do, first we find Eggman, then we find a way to stop him, everyone start searching. Tails, fire up the Tornado." He immediately set to work, not quite sure about what was going on. "Remember, we have power over our dreams here, we should do well. Charmy, get in the air, see what you can find around. Bokkun, Cheese, with me if you would."
When they didn't come to her Cream turned around, in front of her was all the trees ablaze, Bokkun whipping around laughing crazily while Cheese did his best to put the fire out with a giant bucket and the seawater.
"Well, this might be interesting." Cream sighed.
Man, this chapter is Loooong!
I consider it an adequate length thank you very much.
And all the Tails stuff is weird and freaky.
That's... Sort of the point.
Oh... Still... NEEDS MORE ME!
You'll get some stuff later, I promise.
YAY!
Now then, thank you for getting this far, next time things might get even stranger, or not, whichever, don't ask what possessed me to write King Tails, I thought it would be funny. Anyway, thank you again, and I am sorry for such a long delay.
Until we meet again, Pip Pip Cheerio!