Chapter 4
After returning to Station Square via the train, we then hit up the ice cream parlor by the casino area and I finally was able to get my ice cream sundae, me opting for the chocolate marshmallow flavor. And it tasted exquisite! And seeing Tikal's face light up at her first bite of ice cream? I only wish I had a camera to capture the moment!
"How have I been missing out on food this good?... It's a crime, it really is!" Tikal said with a wide grin as she hummed while savoring the deliciously sweet treat.
"I'm glad you like i-" I was about to say... before I felt another sharpness in my brain. "GACK!" I shouted, still unprepared for when they'd appear.
"What is it? Another Chaos Emerald?" Tails asked, me nodding at that. It was coming from... inside of the casino, as I thought.
"We're going to need to go to the casino next door. That's where my brain says the emerald is," I said, Tikal nodding as we proceeded to simply walk through the door, no lightspeed dash necessary. And once inside, I followed the compass right to the vault, where the emerald was perched high above in a chandelier.
"I got this one," Tikal smiled as she proceeded to float up to the emerald and grab it, then coming back down and handing it to me. And when I held this one in hand, I gasped as I suddenly felt... well, I felt like I was extremely calm, cool, and collected. And when I opened my eyes, I saw that everyone around me had some kind of aura on them. Tails's was yellow, Sonic had blue electricity, and Tikal had orange swirls, green circles, and flowing water.
"I... think I can see some kind of life force in you all..." I said with my mouth hanging open.
"The white emerald allows one attuned with it to feel and manipulate the energies of life itself around them. It allows the user to either weaken or empower auras by either breathing in the power from others or breathing out auras," Tikal said, me smirking at how I felt like a super strong Lucario!
"Sweet! Maybe I can try to drain Eggman's aura and give some of it to myself or others?" I smiled. We then proceeded to leave the place... but not before I decided to wing it and simply put five rings inside of a slot machine. And after I did so, I gawked at what happened. I WON! And not just won, I won the 2nd biggest prize of 50 thousand rings!
"WHOA! That was so lucky! You got the jackpot!" Tails smirked widely at me as the different patrons looked at me and proceeded to clap their hands and cheer a bit, me smirking at the attention as the house people then came over and happily gave me the check to cash, which I was definitely going to need to open up a bank account at the bank located in the resort... and make sure that it'd be salvaged if Station Square did get attacked with tons of water.
"You're a very lucky girl, ma'am!... Would you like to leave now, then? We can't get rid of our bottom line, after all," the big boss said, me smirking and nodding.
"Honestly, it was just a one-and-done deal for me anyways. I just got REALLY lucky. I'm just going to cash my check and be on my way," I said, him nodding as I simply got the check, making sure it was real and that it'd be good to use, and I then proceeded to leave the casino with the others... and I heard the hum above us.
"Evasive actions!" I shouted, the others then ducking out of the way of an extending arm from the Eggmobile, but I did accidentally drop the emerald in the process.
"ACK!" I shouted in shock as I then tried to reach for it and Eggman then did the dirty.
"OH NO YOU DON'T! EHEEHEE!" he shouted as he sprayed out the sleeping gas, me feeling sleepy immediately... before I then managed to touch my finger to the emerald... I then proceeded to take some aura from Eggman himself... just enough to keep me slightly awake as the others were woozy and started to sleep. I simply played possum as Eggman took the emerald and proceeded to exit the Eggmobile and go to the resort on foot. I then got on my two feet (wearily) and, holding my check, I went inside of the hotel JUST as Eggman went up the elevator. And luckily, Knuckles didn't notice me and went after the fat doctor. I then went to the bank section and smiled at how the teller was there, even at nighttime.
"Hey... could I cash this jackpot I got at the casino?" I asked with a yawn, the teller smiling at me as I then handed her the check.
"And what account do you want me to put it in?" she asked, me smiling.
"A brand new one... this is the start of a checking account for me..." I smiled.
"Well, we thank you for choosing Pachacamac Banking... now could I get a name and a proof of identity?..." she asked, me then sighing as I went into my pockets... and I sighed at how I didn't have a single thing in them. Aside from my small stress ball.
"I... don't know how to say this but... I don't have any ID... and I doubt you'd believe me if I told you the reason," I said, the teller smiling at me.
"I think I already know. It's because you're an orphan, right?" she asked... that... was a pretty good lie! And what's better, I didn't even come up with it!
"Yes... I was dumped at an orphanage from birth. I didn't even get a birthname, so I simply called myself Cheryl, but it's unofficial... is that going to be a problem?" I asked, her smirking as she simply took a photograph of my face and then, after a bit of working with some computers, she then did something that shocked me. She legitimately gave me my very own ID (in the form of a birth certificate) and my own checking account!
"There, that should make it easier... to tell the truth, I actually do know a little bit more. I overheard you speaking with the Mobians on the train a couple times, since I was on a day-long vacation to the Mystic Ruins yesterday. So I know you're a unique case. I got on the horn with the mayor and he gave me permission to do this," the teller said, me smiling at her with a couple tears forming from my eyes.
"I... T-Thank you! Thanks so much, miss! May I please get your name?" I asked with a smile.
"My name? It's Maria... Maria R," she said... but when she said that, I looked at her in confusion. Maria R? Only one character in the series had that name!
"W-Would that last name happen to be shared?" I asked.
"Sorry, but no. I'm not allowed to say it... I'm in the witness protection for a reason," she said, me only now noting everything that was going on. She had an appearance that looked like a young adult, her hair was golden yellow, her complexion fair, and her body thin and frail...
"Can you please share a secret with me, since you know my secret?... Just tell me something... Are you Maria Robotnik?" I asked, her then placing her hand on my mouth and shushing me.
"Shh! Okay, okay... I'll tell you, but keep it down!... Meet me tomorrow morning at the bumper car races at Twinkle Park. I'll tell you what you want to know then," she said, me nodding.
"Okay, I promise not to say a word until then," I said, her nodding at me. She then proceeded to input the check of 50 thousand rings in my account and, afterwards, I smiled as she gave me my own bank card.
"But be honest. How does this process work in your world?" I smirked at her question and shook my head while laughing awkwardly.
"Truthfully... the process is MUCH more difficult... the process can take up to a month just to open the account... and to get the card takes another two weeks or more," I smirked.
"Sounds tough. I'm glad you could find our service easier and more enjoyable," she smirked. "By the way, where are your Mobian friends?"
And when she said that? I gasped. "Oh my gosh! That's right, I completely forgot! They got attacked by Doctor Robotnik and got put to sleep with some weird sleeping gas! I have to go get them woken up, now!" I said seriously as I then took my new checkbook and placed both it and my birth certificate in the hardest place for people to steal from, my bra, and proceeded to rush out the door to the casino, me noting that they were finally waking up, but they were still woozy.
"Oogh... w-what happened?" Tails asked as I then smiled at them and decided to be honest.
"I-I'm sorry guys... I abandoned you and got very distracted... I'm just happy you're okay..." I said with a sad frown.
"Where's the white emerald?" Tikal asked.
"I dropped it... and Eggman managed to snag it... but the green one is still safe in my bra... That means that there are four more left and we're in last place in the race. We need to get back to-" I was about to say before yet ANOTHER compass feeling hit my brain hard. "GACK!... I.. the compass is going again..." I groaned as this time, I was able to see the location in full. And what was it? The snowy mountain of the Mystic Ruins. "I see... a blue emerald... in a snowy mountain... Mystic Ruins..." I said, that making Tikal smirk.
"Your emerald powers are growing. Now you can sense their locations and see them!" Tikal smiled.
"Less talk, and more running! We need to get there before Eggman gets wise to our plan," I said, her nodding at me along with Tails and Sonic. It was still nighttime and I didn't feel tired, so it was now time to go to the Mystic Ruins and go get some snow on my back.
...
After another train ride, we heard something loud happen once we got there, me noting that it was due to the wall breaking apart. Of course. "The air is too frigid at the top of the mountain to tread during flight, so we'll need to go on foot," Tikal said, that making Sonic confused.
"What makes you the expert?" he asked her.
"I'd say trust her. She's 1000 years old, after all," I smirked. And though it got Sonic and Tails to chuckle, it still wasn't worth the slap on the face I got from Tikal, which stung like a bitch. "Yeah.. tss.. deserved that one," I groaned.
"I may be that age in terms of technical standards, but I'm still 15 and young," she said, me smiling at how she could be pretty affirmative when she wanted to be. Regardless, our group got to the area of the mountain where my compass told us to go to and we found we were in the world of Ice Cap. We proceeded to fly our way to the entrance to the cave in the first bit... and when inside the second cave, I proceeded to jump all over the place with extremely loud and heavy foot slams, making the rocky crags crumble with every one I did. But surprisingly, I felt no pain!
"What are you doing? You're going to make the cave collapse!" Tails shouted... before we hit pay dirt. The giant central icicle fell from the ceiling and skewered into the ground, followed by the bridge lowering afterwards. Why? Because the icicle mentioned prior was holding it open with some steel harpoons!
"Hmm... that was a pretty dangerous, yet smart idea," Tikal said, me smirking at that.
"When in doubt, just smash stuff," I said with a smirk.
"Sounds like something Knuckles would say," Sonic smiled.
"Ugh... he must've inherited my father's genes, then. The ones that make him a brutish thug," Tikal sighed.
"Oh, he's not a brutish thug, Tikal. He's a brutish thug that does whatever it takes to protect the Master Emerald as well as his friends," Tails smiled as we then got to the bit that I was wondering how to handle it. The avalanche. The moment I went out onto the snow... I was shocked to find the emerald laying right there! But I didn't have time to stay and use its powers, because of something else.
"You've fallen for my trap!" said the emo-voiced Chaos as I looked up behind all of us in time to see that Chaos was using her second form's powers to cause the avalanche!
"WE GOTTA RUN, NOW!" I shouted, grabbing Tikal with my arms and running down the mountain as fast as possible. As for Sonic and Tails? They were doing their own thing with Sonic hanging onto Tails's feet while Sonic rode on a broken tree trunk like a snowboard. Lucky bastard still managed to get a snowboard while I had to run while holding Tikal!
"Keep going! I don't want to become ice cream!" Tikal shouted in worry as she held me tighter and I simply sped us down further and further until the avalanche stopped chasing us, right around the area with the giant hills that you could get some sweet airtime and time saved in the games. I then let Tikal down and saw that the poor girl had ice shards all over her face and that she was chattering her teeth like crazy!
"You okay, Tikal?" I asked, her shivering at that.
"J-J-J-just... use th-th-the emerald... m-m-melt it off..." she shivered, me then seeing that it was the blue emerald. I then held it in my hands and let its power flow within me... I felt at ease, calm, like the waves of the oceans were whispering to my ears... I had a feeling it'd be based on water, to be honest. I then simply held my hands (with the emerald) to Tikal's frosty head and proceeded to melt the ice off into water vapor, her then sighing afterwards... but then came a new problem.
"A-A-...AAACHHOOOOO!" she sneezed loudly, causing yet more snow to start coming down the cliff. Still not enough to reach us, but it was a good bit.
"Looks like we're out of the frying pan and into the fire, Tikal. I got the coldness off of you, and now you have a cold... let's get off this mountain and get you some hot cocoa," I said, her sniffling in a booger at that as she held onto me and I proceeded to run us through at a much slower pace, going from our area to the mountain base. And when we did, we noticed that Sonic and Tails were still trying to get off the mountain and that there was a red Echidna standing by the small pond.
"Maybe Knuckles would like to see us again? Just a thought," I smirked, noting that it was at least three in the morning, meaning I still had a bit of time to kill before I met up with Maria... yeesh... of all the people to run into at the bank, it had to be my absolute most favorite character in the series?... Despite being dead in the games? I just had to wonder what her story would be...