10:00 a.m.
Inside a chamber of the ancient ruins of Dusty Desert, Elise is sitting on an edge of some ruins, with her hands placed on her knees. Ever since Eggman took her here, that's all she's been doing. Eggman had been busy with his robots, and has no sympathy for the poor princess and won't even entertain her.
Elise is on the verge of tears, but then remembers something her father told her: You're a good girl, Elise. Remember: be brave. Don't cry...no matter what happens.
That's what her father told her before he passed away. Ever since then, Elise hasn't cried. Sometimes she came close, but remembering her dad's advice has made her stronger. Her servants ended up taking care of her and they did everything they could to make her happy: getting her presents, making new dresses, cleaning the castle, etc.
Bringing her back to reality, a small part of the chamber blows up, entering Sonic and Tails.
"Hi Princess!" Tails greets her as he waves.
Elise waves to Tails and notices Sonic. "Mr. Sonic!" she says as he runs up to him and gives him a hug.
"Just call me 'Sonic'," says the 12-year-old.
"I'm so glad you came," Elise thanks him.
"I always keep my word," replies Sonic. (Then why didn't you search for her immediately?)
Tails interrupts them as he screams, "Um...Sonic?! There's a big robot dog behind us!"
Sonic and Elise turn around and they see the Egg Cerberus sealed in a cage. Eggman walks in the room and says, "Well, well, well... It looks like a pesky rat has stuck its nose where it doesn't belong. Well, technically a hedgehog."
"Get to the point, Egghead," Sonic says.
"Fine," says Eggman, "The princess is mine...until I unlock the secrets of the Flames of Disaster!"
"Alright Eggman," Sonic starts, "Let's battle!"
"Oh, you won't be battling me," says the human, "You'll be fighting against my Egg Cerberus!"
Tails looks at the giant robot and asks, "Wait...THAT'S A CERBERUS?! CERBERUS HAD THREE HEADS! THAT THING ONLY HAS ONE!"
"Yeah," Sonic agrees, "Didn't you do your research while making this robot?!"
"I don't need to do research!" Eggman responds rudely, "I just thought 'Cerberus' was a cool name!"
"Yeah yeah," Sonic spits back, "Can we just fight?"
Meanwhile...
Silver and Amy are also in Dusty Desert, looking for Sonic.
"Sonic!" Amy screams.
"Sonic!" Silver screams along, "Where are you?!"
Amy stops walking and says, "Hold on. I sense Sonic's presence here."
Man, that's creepy! Silver yells in his head about Amy.
"Call it my girlish intuition," Amy keeps talking.
Girlish intuition? Silver thinks, What is she talking about?! Silver then asks the pink hedgehog, "How can you sense him?"
"Oh. Sonic and I have been living next to each other for seven years," she answers, "It's like I keep an imaginary tracking device in his ear or something."
"Um... I've been meaning to ask..." Silver begins to say, "What does Sonic look like?"
Amy then grows a big smile on her face and explains, "He's really cute! He's about your age, he has green eyes, he's a blue hedgehog..."
The girl keeps talking as Silver remembers something familiar: around his age, green eyes, blue hedgehog... He's the hedgehog Mephiles ordered him to kill! It all seems familiar!
Silver keeps his order to himself and says to Amy, "Actually, I think I was looking for someone just like him..."
"Really?!" Amy is eager to know, "What's it for?!"
Man, I can't tell her that I need to kill him, Silver worries in his head, It'll break her heart...and she would hate me forever. The white hedgehog then lies, "It's nothing personal. I just really want to meet your friend."
"That's cool," Amy says. The two hedgehogs begin to walk until they come across some ruins. "Aha!" Amy says, "Sonic should be in here!" She opens a door and the two walk inside, only for the door to shut behind them.
"Uh, Amy...?" Silver becomes scared, "I think we're trapped!"
Just then, a big, electronic banner with colorful lights and party music pops up in front of them. "Welcome to the Dusty Desert Ball Puzzle!" says the banner, "You will be given one giant ball! All you have to do push the ball into the last hole! If it goes into the first or second hole, you will need to start all over again! You can't leave this place until you finish the puzzle! Any questions?"
Silver asks the talking banner, "How may times can we do the puzzle?"
"An infinite amount!" the banner says, "Who knows how long you'll try to get out of here: hours, days, weeks, months, even years! The possibilities are endless! But be careful: there are a lot of dead bodies in the first and second holes from the people who tried the puzzle and couldn't get out! Have fun!"
The banner leaves, and Amy tries to push the giant white ball. The ball wouldn't budge. Silver walks up to Amy and says, "I got this." He holds his hand out and uses his psychokinesis to try to lift the ball up. It still wouldn't budge. "Damn it, how heavy is this thing?!" Silver freaks out.
The banner appears again saying, "How should I know?! I just hope you two get out of here soon because these ruins can't risk having anymore dead bodies."
It leaves again, hopefully for the last time, and Silver tries to think of another way to move the ball.
"I got it!" Silver exclaims as he has another method. He walks up to the ball, and starts creating a psychic spear. He then throws the spear at the ball, which starts moving through the hallway.
"It's moving!" Amy says, "Great job, Silver!"
"Thanks," says Silver, "Let's go after it!"
The two hedgehogs then run through the hallway, with the ball going down the second hole. Silver, with a now upset face, drops down on his knees and screams, "NOOOOO!"
And once again, the banner appears and says, "Don't worry, kid. I have lots of backups!"
"WILL YOU SHUT UP?!" Silver shouts at the banner.
Meanwhile...
A large hoard of Egg Gunners are flying towards somewhere, finding Sonic, Elise, and Tails. A dark green jeep comes up, and one of the Soleanna guards climbs out of it.
"Hey, you found the princess!" says the guard.
"It was pretty easy," Sonic replies, "What should we do with the princess?"
"How about you return her to the kingdom?" Tails suggests, "After all, that's what we were supposed to do."
"Or Sonic can take the princess out on a get-together -" the guard begins to say, only for Sonic to cut him off.
"A get-together?" Sonic asks, smiling, "Like a date?"
"Well, I didn't say date, but that could work," the human responds.
Sonic then jumps in excitement and cheers, "YES! I get to date the princess!" He then picks up Elise and carries her bridal style. "Come on, Elise! I know a great place to hang out at!"
As Sonic runs away with Elise, Tails looks up at the guard and asks, "Aren't the robots gonna go after them?"
"Nah," the guard lies, shaking his head no as the two enter the jeep and drive away from the desert.
And that was Chapter 5! I'm sorry it took a while. I loved writing the ball puzzle bit; it was so funny!
In other news, expect a lack of many chapters in my stories, as I will be back in school in a few days. With that said, please remember to review this story, and I will see you in Chapter 6!
