Chapter 42: Crystalia
"Tangle's Log,
Hello, me again! Back in space cause of course! It's been, well, a day since we found the first Chaos Emerald… and we ALMOST lost it already! Thanks Knuckles…
I guess I should explain what happened. Basically, the locals apparently started to throw a festival to thank Sonic and Amy for saving the Planet Egg, and the rest of us got caught up in it… minus Knuckles.
While that was going on, I guess he bumped into Eggman… yeah, he's involved now too.
And you could probably guess what happened next: Knuckles got tricked by Eggman… again.
This is the second time since I met the guy that he got tricked like that… apparently, it also happened not long before I met him too! So since I showed up in Chris's world, that's three times he got tricked by Eggman…
AND HE'S SOMEHOW NOT GULLIBLE ENOUGH TO FALL FOR MY TRICKS?!
… Anyways, Sonic and Knuckles of course got into a fight over Knuckles wanting to help Eggman, cause of course. Eggman tried stealing the Emerald, but we caught him. A Metarex came and tried to take it, Chris managed to execute a good plan to save the day.
Pretty sure Cosmo is starting to learn just what she got herself into by getting us to help her though… she was kinda worried about Knuckles and Sonic fighting so much.
Oh! Speaking of Sonic! I found out how they saved the Planet Egg! Chris made him HOVER SHOES!
HOVER SHOES!
You know, SHOES THAT HOVER?! I WANT A PAIR!
… And yeah, he used them to trash that big Metarex after Amy rescued him.
Still haven't talked to Jewel by the way… just haven't had a good time where we could be alone… I'll do it today, I have to.
She means too much to me for me to not.
So yeah! Tails and Chris are kinda discussing some kinda Emerald Radar, seems important, so I better pay attention."
Putting her journal away she caught the end of the conversation.
"So it'll take you another night to get it done?" Knuckles asked.
"Yeah, sorry." Chris said. "We wanted to have it done before we took off from your planet, but we had to rush because of the Metarex attack."
"Bummer. Oh well! You'll get it done no problem!" Tangle said before turning to Jewel.
Then she noticed something, Jewel was staring at something out in space with stars in her eyes.
Following her gaze, she saw a planet…
A planet that appeared to be made completely out of multi colored crystals.
"What planet is THAT?!" Tangle asked.
Sonic sped over from his seat, and took a look.
Then he pulled out his guidebook.
"Let's see… says here that place is called Crystalia." Sonic said. "Most beautiful crystals in the galaxy are harvested there."
Jewel just stared on intently, amazed by the sight of the planet.
Seeing this, Tangle turned to Tails.
"Hey, think we can land there while you guys work on that radar thingamajig?" Tangle suddenly asked.
Jewel turned to Tangle, shocked at the suggestion, before turning to Tails.
"I mean, I guess we could… but we don't really need to." Tails said. "We could just work on it while flying."
"No, I'm gonna have to agree with Tangle here." Knuckles said suddenly. "The less strain we put on the Master Emerald, the better."
Tangle turned to Knuckles and smiled, internally thanking him for giving a good excuse to land for a bit.
"… I guess you have a point." Tails said. "Alright! We'll stop at planet Crystalia until we get the radar working, then we're off to find the next Chaos Emerald!"
"Right!" Everyone cheered at once.
Looking towards Jewel, Tangle couldn't help but smile at the excited look on her face.
Yeah, this was absolutely a great idea.
"Well, I'm gonna go exploring." Tangle said excitedly when they landed on the planet.
"Ok! Be careful and let us know if there's any Metarex!" Tails said with a wave.
Tangle gave Tails a thumbs up and turned to Jewel.
"You coming?"
"Huh?" Jewel said, surprised at Tangle's suggestion.
Tangle just rolled her eyes, like she just said the most obvious thing in the world.
"I mean, you always came with me when I went on our little adventures as a kid, why would now be any different?" Tangle asked.
Jewel smiled fondly at the memories… though she cringed when she remembered the multiple times that Tangle almost got herself killed.
"I don't know, do you really need me to tag along any more?" Jewel asked. "I mean…"
"Psh, of course!" Tangle said, cutting Jewel off. "I always need my bestie watching my back!"
Jewel stared at her in surprise, before smiling and nodding.
"Alright, I guess it'll be nice." Jewel said before walking over.
"Great! See you guys later!" Tangle said.
The two then began making their way outside the ship, and looked around.
Nearby, they saw what appeared to be a cave of sorts.
"Ooooooh! I wonder if we'll find better crystals the deeper underground we go!" Tangle said excitingly.
"It's possible. I guess we're taking a look?" Jewel asked.
"Of course!" Tangle said with a thumbs up.
The two of them, deciding on where their adventure was going to take them, took a step towards the cave…
However…
"Wait!"
Turning around, the two of them saw Cosmo approaching them.
"May I please come with you?" Cosmo asked suddenly.
This caught the two girls completely off guard.
Cosmo didn't seem like one to want to go on adventures like this… so why was she all of a sudden asking to tag along?
"I mean, I don't see why not." Jewel said. "But why?"
"Oh! I uh… wanted to get to know you two better." Cosmo explained. "I realized on Planet Hydo that I don't really know anyone all that well… and I wanted to fix that."
Tangle and Jewel turned to each other and nodded.
They did notice that Cosmo was pretty on edge with Knuckles and Sonic fighting, even though it was the most "them" thing they would ever do.
"Well then, come on!" Tangle said with a wave.
Cosmo smiled before looking like she realized something.
"Actually, can I talk to you really quick before we go Tangle?" Cosmo suddenly asked.
Tangle looked to Jewel, who just shrugged, before nodding and walking over.
"What's up?"
"I… I'm sorry to intrude on your 'adventure' with Jewel… but I needed your help with something." Cosmo said sadly.
Tangle tilted her head in confusion.
"You see… I said some things on Planet Hydo… and I'm afraid I might of offended Jewel."
That caught Tangle off guard.
"I… was hoping you could help me apologize to her…" Cosmo explained.
Tangle couldn't help but smile.
"Sure, I think that's a great idea!" Tangle said happily. "Truth is, I wanted to go on this trip to try and cheer her up, since she seemed so down since I met up with you guys on Hydo."
Cosmo just looked down sadly.
"I'm sorry, it's probably my fault..."
Tangle responded by putting her tail around Cosmo's shoulders.
"Come on! It's not that bad! Jewel is just a bundle of anxiety, I'm sure she's just stressed from everything!" Tangle said in a cheerful tone. "That's why I wanted to come here! To cheer her up a bit and get her to not be so stressed!"
Cosmo contemplated Tangle's words, before looking at her hopefully.
"Are you sure?" She asked.
"I know my bestie! So yup!" Tangle said with a smile and thumbs up.
Cosmo saw this, and couldn't help but smile.
Something she had come to learn already is that Tangle's optimism was incredibly infectious.
So, she nodded, and the two went back to meet Jewel.
Jewel looked to Cosmo, a bit concerned.
"Everything alright?" She asked.
"Oh! Yes! Just fine!" Cosmo said. "Just a little nervous… I have never done anything like this…"
At that moment, Tangle hopped between them.
"Alright! Cave is over there!" She said with a point. "LET'S GO SPELUNKING!"
And with that, Tangle was jogging away.
"T-Tangle!" Jewel shouted, worried before flying after her, with Cosmo following behind.
"Is she normally like this when you go on your… adventures?" Cosmo asked.
Jewel couldn't help but laugh at that.
"She's always been like this period." Jewel said. "She's the antithesis to 'look before you leap' I always say."
Looking towards Tangle, who was standing at the entrance of the cave, grinning widely and waving rapidly, Cosmo couldn't help but feel worried…
What did she just get herself into?
Trouble… she got herself into trouble, and a lot of it.
Jewel's saying from before turned out to be completely true, as Tangle had, on two separate occasions, almost gotten herself killed…
… within the span of one minute…
The first time….
"Oh MAN! Look at all this stuff!" Tangle shouted, admiring the crystal stalactites along the ceiling of the cave.
In her excitement of looking above her, she completely missed the incredibly brittle stretch of floor below her.
Jewel thankfully noticed, and as Tangle was now standing over… well nothing, considering the floor collapsed, Jewel quickly flew down the hole and caught her by the tail.
When Cosmo looked down, she saw Tangle was laughing hysterically, waving her arms rapidly, as her face was mere inches away from crystal spikes at the bottom.
When the two came back to land, Tangle was still laughing…
The noise caused a stalactite to fall from the sky, requiring Jewel to push Tangle out of the way.
Cosmo watched this in horror.
"A-are you two sure you've done this before?!" She asked.
Jewel sighed at this.
"Yes… unfortunately." Jewel said. "We used to go on weekly adventures… and that was pretty much what happened every time…"
Thinking back… Tangle was very thankful the two of them never came across a certain village during those adventures… maybe that's why the Mayor always steered them away from that forest…
Cosmo however, was just now realizing why Jewel was "a bundle of anxiety" as Tangle put it.
"Now then, ONWARDS!" Tangle shouted, walking forwards…
A stalactite fell right behind her, barely missing her.
Cosmo and Jewel began to sweat.
"Let's… follow her…" Cosmo suggested.
"Agreed…" Jewel sighed out.
And so, the three kept walking…
"So, do you guys remember how we got this far in by the way?" Tangle suddenly asked. "Cause I completely forgot!"
The two girls stopped, and stared at her, mouths agape.
There were so many turns and different paths, that they had no clue how to get back to where they came!
Heck, they were kinda hoping that Tangle had an idea for that!
"Tangle!" Jewel scolded. "How are we gonna get out of here?!"
Tangle just laughed it off.
"We'll figure it out! Let's just keep exploring for now!" She said, still as cheerful as ever.
Tangle then continued to walk forward.
Cosmo sighed, but then saw that Jewel was… well, not upset.
"Jewel?"
"Hm?"
"Are you… alright? I thought you'd be more upset about this."
Jewel smiled softly.
"Well, this is stressful to be sure… but honestly, I guess I'm feeling nostalgic right now." Jewel explained. "Like I said, this was par for course for when we were kids… I guess I kinda missed it."
Cosmo then smiled at that.
"Hey… I'm sorry for what I said on Planet Hydo…" Cosmo said.
"Hm? Jewel said. "Oh, about my name? Don't worry about it! It was a reasonable conclusion to come to!" Jewel said.
"But… you seemed so upset and…"
Jewel cut her off with a hug.
"Hey, that has nothing to do with you, don't worry." Jewel explained. "I just… have a lot on my mind is all."
Cosmo was relieved to hear that she wasn't the cause of Jewel's distress… but was also still worried about her.
"Well… I'm here if you want to talk about it… Tangle too I suppose." Cosmo said.
Jewel smiled at that.
"I'll… keep it in mind."
The two then continued to walk, deciding that catching up to Tangle before she got into more trouble was a good idea…
Only for Tangle to be jogging back to them.
"Oh Tangle! There you a-"
"SHHHHHHH!" Tangle shushed. "We got company!"
The two girl's eyes went wide, before they began sneaking.
Before long, they heard something… the sound of… a drill?
Tangle went over to a corner and peeked around it, Cosmo and Jewel following suit.
There, they saw a group of Metarex. All with drill hands, and surrounding a much larger one, with all its appendages being drills.
"Oh no… do you think they are after the Planet Egg?" Jewel asked.
"Probably, yeah…" Tangle said. "This is bad though… I don't think I can take so many of them…
Jewel had to agree… it was one thing if they were out in the open and they were without a big boss backing them up, but they were in a cave.
While it wasn't tight enough to trigger Tangle's claustrophobia thankfully, it certainly wasn't open enough for Tangle to fight freely…
"Ok… so should we go and get the others?" Tangle asked.
"No…" Cosmo said suddenly. "We're lost in here, remember? By the time we find them, the Metarex might already have the Planet Egg…"
Tangle nodded.
"Ok… then we need a plan…"
Jewel thought for a moment, before she got an idea.
"Tangle, you hide… Cosmo, you help me."
"Huh?" The two other girls said, before turning to each other and shrugging, deciding silently to go with Jewel's idea.
"Ok… be careful." Tangle said before jogging away and hiding behind a large crystal.
Jewel then took a deep breath, before stepping out into the open.
'Time to put my acting skills to use!'
She had no skill as an actor…
"Oh no! Are those the Metarex Cosmo?!" Jewel asked, very clearly putting on an act.
Cosmo's eyes went wide at this, but Jewel mouthed "play along" and Cosmo nodded.
"Why yes Jewel! What should we do?!" Cosmo responded.
Cosmo was just as bad of an actor.
"The two of us are not good in combat! We need to go and get our friends, including Sonic the Hedgehog! You know, the only one who could use the Chaos Emeralds?! The one who's helping us save the Universe FROM the Metarex?!" Jewel said.
"Oh yes! Once we retrieve him, he'll easily destroy them! We better go get him!" Cosmo said.
The group of Metarex stared at them…
"GET THEM!" The leader suddenly shouted, before all the smaller ones began chasing Jewel and Cosmo.
"RUN!" Jewel shouted as the two began sprinting away.
Tangle watched them run away, worried for their safety, but realizing just what they wanted her to do…
"Please be safe…" Tangle said, and when they were all gone, jumped out.
"Well then! Guess it's just you and me now!" Tangle said, cracking her knuckles.
The big boss turned around and faced her.
"Oh? I see, so they were a distraction… guess I can't be ashamed for falling for such a brilliant act!" He said.
"… Pft… yeah, sure." Tangle said, trying to contain her laughter.
This guy was an idiot… so it should be easy.
Back with Jewel and Cosmo, they were currently running for their lives.
"Ok! While we got these guys' attention, Tangle should take care of the boss!" Jewel explained.
"And how are we going to lose them?!" Cosmo asked.
"We don't." Jewel said with a smile. "We're gonna beat them!"
Cosmo's eyes went wide at this.
Neither of them were suited for combat… how were they supposed to beat a whole crowd of Metarex by themselves?!
However… for some reason, Cosmo felt like they would be fine.
Jewel on the other hand, was scanning the ground as they were running.
They had taken a completely different path from where they had come, and she was hoping she'd find…
"THERE!" She suddenly shouted.
She then began to fly, grabbing Cosmo's hands and taking her off the ground.
The Metarex kept chasing, but because their attention was focused on the two in the air, they didn't notice the brittle ground.
The ground collapsed under the vast majority of them, causing them to fall and be impaled by the crystal spikes below, destroying them.
Jewel then placed Cosmo on the other side of the hole, and circled around, using her hard shell to break off as many stalactites as she could, causing them to fall and destroy the rest of the Metarex that remained.
When she landed, she had the biggest sigh of relief.
"I can't believe that worked…" She breathed out.
Cosmo just looked at her in amazement.
"That was incredible!" Cosmo said. "How did you come up with such a brilliant plan?!"
Jewel just looked bashful at this.
"Oh, it wasn't special… you or Tangle would have come up with something better given enough time." Jewel said.
"Nonsense!" Cosmo said. "I felt completely lost back there!"
Jewel smiled at that.
"Yeah, she's right."
Looking over, they saw Tangle walking over, a broken off drill in her hands.
"Your plan was pretty good Jewel, good job!" She said with a thumbs up.
Jewel blushed at this, not used to the praise… but then, her smiled faded.
"Yeah well… it's not like it's that big of a deal… It's not like Tails couldn't have come up with something better…" Jewel said sadly. "If all I am good for is coming up with plans…"
"Huh? Where's this coming from?" Tangle asked. "Do you… feel like you shouldn't be here or something?"
Jewel sighed, before nodding.
Cosmo looked to Tangle, and saw an absolutely devastated look on her face.
The lemur then rushed over, tossing the drill to the side, and began hugging her friend.
"Don't ever think like that again!" Tangle said, tears pouring out of her eyes. "You're here because I want you here… cause I NEED you here Jewel!"
Jewel's eyes went wide at this.
"W-what?! Why would you ever need me here?!" Jewel asked.
"Are you kidding me?! You saved my butt twice while we were in this cave!" Tangle explained. "I always need you Jewel… because I always feel so much better with you watching my back…"
Then, she began rubbing her arm.
"Plus… and don't tell anyone else I said this… I'm scared…" Tangle admitted. "It's like you said back home… this is big… bigger than anything we've ever done… and that is scary to me."
Jewel's eyes went wide at this… Tangle was always the fearless one between them… to hear her admit that she was scared…
"But when you're here… I don't feel afraid anymore… cause I have my big sister here to back me up." Tangle said.
Jewel smiled…
The two of them always considered each other family… but calling each other sisters was, well, not common… at least, not yet…
Jewel liked it… she liked it a lot.
"Oh Tangle…" Jewel said before hugging back.
Cosmo watched them, a smile on her face.
"You two… really have such a beautiful bond." Cosmo said. "Despite being different species… you are such close friends… family even."
Tangle and Cosmo looked to each other and smiled.
"You're our friend too!" Tangle said.
Cosmo's eyes went wide at this.
"R-really?"
"Of course!" Tangle said with a smile. "After all the stuff we did together today, how could we NOT be friends?"
Cosmo smiled at this, before walking over, pulling the two into a hug.
"I… thank you."
The two hugged back.
"OH! So get this!" Tangle said before beginning to walk away. "When I was fighting the drill guy, the wall he was drilling into broke! You GOTTA see what I found inside!'
The two other girls shrugged, before following Tangle.
Thankfully, the Metarex left indents in the ground with their steps, so it was pretty easy to get back to where the girls found them.
And when they got there.
"Oh… my gosh." Jewel said, looking around.
In the center of the room was the Planet Egg…
But around the walls, were some of the most beautiful crystals they had ever seen.
All varying in colors, it was an absolutely gorgeous display.
Tangle then saw a few crystals nearby, walked over, and broke off a few shards.
She then handed two of them over to Jewel and Cosmo, while holding up one herself.
Tangle had an orange one, Jewel a blue, and Cosmo a green.
"A symbol of our friendship!" Tangle said. "And to remember this adventure!"
The two other girls smiled.
Yeah, today had been a good day.
…
"Hey! You three!"
Looking over, they saw… Knuckles?
"Knuckles? How'd you get here?" Tangle asked.
"I found a cave in the other direction you guys went… I kinda just followed all the noise!" Knuckles explained. "Wait, is that the Planet Egg?!"
The three turned to each other and smiled.
"We'll tell you all about it on our way back to the ship." Tangle said. "Please! Lead the way! We're kinda lost…"
Knuckles shrugged, and turned around.
"Alright, follow me." Knuckles said before he began walking.
The three girls followed, still smiling from the day they had.
"And that is how we saved the Planet Egg!" Tangle said, finishing her story. "Pretty cool huh?"
Cream had been listening, amazed at the story she had been told.
"Ms. Jewel! You are so cool!" Cream said in awe.
"Oh, it wasn't anything special…" Jewel said bashfully.
"It was TOTALLY special! Cause my girl Jewel was so cool back there!" Tangle said, putting her arm around Jewel.
Jewel turned slightly red from the praise.
"Well, I'm glad you guys are alright." Chris said as he walked over. "Here, just like you asked."
He then handed the three girls a necklace, each one holding the crystals they had found.
The respective girl put the necklaces on, and smiled.
A symbol of their bond… it was nice to have.
"Anyways, the radar is done, so once Sonic gets back from his run, we'll be taking off." Chris said.
"Right!" Tangle said with a smile.
She then turned to Jewel.
"And whatever happens, I'll be happy to have you watching my back, got it?" Tangle asked.
Jewel nodded.
"Right!"
Tangle turned to Cosmo.
"And we'll do everything we can to help you Cosmo… don't forget that." Tangle said.
Cosmo nodded.
"Of course… thank you." Cosmo said with a smile.
And so, the three went to return to the bridge, crystals shining in the light.
End of Chapter 42
And here we are with an original chapter. I have plans for one most completely original chapter in this story right now… when will it be you might ask? Well… let's just say it'll be a bit.
I wanted to do something to reaffirm Tangle and Jewel's strong, sisterly bond that I have in this story, while also giving Cosmo some time to really get to know and befriend the two of them.
I want to have for this arc, a strong bond to be forged between Tangle, Jewel and Cosmo, so expect a bunch of moments between them.
Anyways, next up should be Planet Breezy, but well… you'll see next time. See you then!