The three huge trucks drove in a row across the desert as if they were sliding on the sand. On the surface they looked like simple Supply Trucks, the typical ones used to collect what the kingdom needed, but it was a facade. Inside each of the trucks, about twenty troops, half Freedom Fighters and half Diamond Cutters, stood waiting for the next orders. On top of the vehicles, disguised as typical truck guards, were the leaders of the troops. In the last truck, Tangle and Bunnie stood guard, in the second truck were Lanolin and Antoine, while in the first truck, which led the way, Whisper and Cream stood guard.
Cream's request had been to be part of the team that would search for and eliminate her kidnappers. As expected, Lanolin refused completely, but the young Rabbit insisted with all her might.
"When...," Cream tried to come up with an excuse that was credible enough to allow her to participate. "When they kidnapped me, I felt so... helpless. I'm supposed to be the best in my promotion and yet I couldn't stand up to them. Thinking about it has kept me awake at night, that they were able to enter the kingdom and hold me... It could happen again, and maybe not to me, but to someone I care about, like Vector or... my mom."
"You don't have to worry about that-" Lanolin tried to comfort.
"But I do it! I can't stop doing it! If I'm not able to protect my family, what's the point of everything I train for?".
"...What's your point?...," interjected Whisper.
Cream couldn't see her eyes, but she could feel Whisper scanning her up and down, looking for inconsistencies.
"I want to redeem myself, I want to not only stop them from doing what they did again, but prove that I am capable of protecting my home."
Cream kept her gaze firmly fixed on Lanolin, trying to make her determination look as convincing as possible. Whisper remained silent, while Tangle was on the verge of tears.
"That's the spirit!" whined the Lemur. "I vote to keep her with us and I'm willing to fight for my decision!"
After a sigh, Lanolin turned to Whisper.
"And what do you think?".
A heavy silence pervaded the room, only the sound of the fan was audible. Cream struggled to maintain her composure as she fell victim to the silent scrutiny of the she-wolf, until at last she said:
"... The records say you have good eyesight, you can be useful to me...".
Cream was thus assigned to work as a spotter alongside Whisper who was serving as a sniper.
The mission had started several hours ago. At first the young rabbit was active and full of energy. She had no plan in mind yet, but she knew for sure that she had to prevent the Freedom Fighters from meeting Sonic and Amy. She kept his eyes diligently scanning the horizon for traces of the two hedgehogs in order to act and somehow divert the attention of the troops elsewhere. But over time her stamina decreased to critical levels. The inclement sun, the stale desert air and the grueling hours of surveillance had exhausted her more than a whole week of training at The Academy. She found it hard to keep her attention, distracted by every minor inconvenience. The sturdy armor she had been given weighed her down and she felt like she was in her own personal oven. The sand somehow got into her eyes despite the armor's visor, and the position she was in, lying on her belly, was simply not comfortable. The cramp made poor Cream forget for a moment what her purpose was there.
"Uncomfortable, Suga'?", Cream heard a voice ring in her head. At first she was startled, but then it dawned on her that it was Captain Bunnie, and she was speaking into the microcom.
"No, I'm fine," Cream replied.
"Really?", Antoine's strong Northern Spagonia accent added to the channel. "You must teach me your secret, mon Enfant. 'Cause I am about to lose my mind Mon Gaia! What horrible heat!".
Laughter began to ring through the channel.
"There's a reason the real supply trucks go out only at night," Lanolin added.
"I don't understand why we're going out in the daytime, then," Tangle protested.
"... Increased visibility, better chance of capturing clueless targets...," Whisper said.
"At this rate the targets will find us toast," Bunnie joked.
Another laugh, Cream began to feel less miserable.
"Ok, seriousness, please. It seems Cream is the only competent one besides Whisper," added Lanolin.
"That kind of justifies her being here, at least," Antoine observed.
"Hey, Cream is the best of her Promotion! She's more than competent to be here!" defended Tangle.
"Doing a couple of chores for the school doesn't make a good soldier," replied Antoine.
"There is also evidence of their capabilities even before The Union," counter-argued Lanolin.
"Yeah, she was already kicking ass alongside Sonic even before we met her!" added Tangle.
"We are aware that Cream-suga' has the capabilities. What Antoine is referring to is that a good soldier is both capabilities and attitude."
"Well, that's what she's at The Academy for. I don't know if your mom told you yet, Cream, but she aspires for you to become Commander Shadow's relief," Lanolin was saying.
"Yes, I know...", replied Cream, trying not to let her dismay show.
"Ha! Comme si je pouvais! It sounds like a nice dream, but I doubt the little girl can even reach the Commander's heels. There's a reason why Our Majesty chose him to lead the forces and not any of us. It was hard to understand at first, but now it's as clear as day to me."
"And what am I missing?", Cream suddenly asked. "What do I lack to be equal to the Commander?".
"...I detect Movement, needed confirmation...", interrupted Whisper.
Cream immediately turned her full attention to what she could see through the binoculars. She could notice some light mounds of sand sliding on the horizon, but immediately dismissed the possibility, thinking it might just be the wind. What she did was to focus on the nearby crags, and there she could notice an unusual movement.
"West, 200 yards-", suddenly Cream remembered what her real mission was and tried to cover her mouth, but it was too late.
"... Yes, 200 yards...," Whisper certified. "... Well Done...".
The trucks began to change their path of travel in the direction of the specified point.
Amy remained crouched next to a handful of lookouts as the vehicles drew closer.
"What luck!" exclaimed the Hare. "They're supplies trucks. We'll have a great feast tonight-".
"No-uh, it's obviously a trap," said a familiar voice behind them.
"You finally wake up, sleeping beauty," Amy replied without turning to look at Sonic.
"Beauty, sure. Sleeping, not so much. I feel like I haven't slept in years," said the blue Hedgehog as he joined the group. "Do you have the drops on you? My eyes are drier than this desert, and i wouldn't mind something to eat."
"I thought you still had 2 hours," Amy said as she handed Sonic the drops.
"The calculations aren't that accurate, or at least that's what he told me before he let me go," Sonic explained as he poured the drops into his eyes.
"What a Muttley."
"You said."
"What do you mean it's a Trap?" interrupted the Hare as he handed Sonic a bag with some purple fruit inside. "And who are you talking about?".
"Thank you, comrade!" the hedgehog thanked as he took the fruit. "The latter is a long story. But the former is obvious: they never go out in the middle of the afternoon for supplies, unless they love to roast under this lovely summer sun. The only ones masochistic enough to do this are the- Hey!" the hedgehog interrupted himself as he inspected the fruit. "These things, I remember them from somewhere...".
"Sonic...," Amy exclaimed to stop Sonic from rambling.
"Yeah, sorry. It's the FF," concluded the blue hedgehog before taking a bite of the fruit.
"If it's the FF...," the Hare deduced with a certain terror in his voice. "Those three huge trucks..."
"Full of soldiers, no doubt," the hedgehog babbled with his mouth full.
"By Gaia, we are finished."
"I could with them if-"
"No," Amy sentenced categorically as she fixed her gaze on the blue hedgehog.
Sonic looked back at her for a second before putting on a half smile.
"Yeah, you're right. I don't want to miss another week, we have more important things to do anyway."
"Then what shall we do?" the hare asked worriedly.
"Fighting is not an option, but if we stay, we will be forced to do so; and if we withdraw, we could be seen and persecuted," Amy analyzed.
"So...," Sonic fiddled with the fruit between his fingers as he devised a plan. "We'll do both and neither. Tell everyone to change positions and hide as best they can, but leave the sleeping bags and food, make it look like we left but we'll be back," Sonic motioned for one of the binoculars and with them checked the vehicles further. "But What are my eyes seeing? its that a pair of long ears flapping in the wind?" Sonic joked as he put on a big smile.
"Is Cream with them? why?" wondered Amy.
"Like any good adventurer, she loves to get into trouble. That's convenient, now the plan went from acceptable to perfect."
Upon reaching the crags, the troops were released and ordered to investigate the entire perimeter. They were able to find several small caves filled with supplies and sleeping bags, but not a single soul in sight, they seemed to have vanished in the wind.
"Trop Bizarre... They went and left everything," Antoine was saying to himself as he checked one of the caves.
"They must have seen us coming and retreated, perhaps to seek reinforcements," Bunnie deduced standing at his backs.
"Then they'll be back. What do we do about it?" asked Tangle.
"... No sign of the direction they went, they may still be nearby...", Whisper proposed while checking the few signs in the sand.
"An ambush," Lanolin concluded. "We sure outnumber them, they're waiting for us to be unprepared to attack us."
"Well, let's give it to them," Antoine said as he came out of the cave. "It's about to get dark, we'll stay here for the night and wait for them to lose their patience. If they attack, nous les finiron," he said as he made the gesture of sliding his index finger across his throat. "If they escape, we chase them, reach their lair and le même," he concluded by repeating the gesture.
"Isn't that a little cruel?" asked Cream quietly, almost to herself.
When the rabbit saw Antoine turn to look at her, she froze. Then she watched as a half-smile formed on the coyote's mouth.
"No doubt, but those are orders from tu sais qui," after speaking Antoine gave a loud whistle to get the attention of all the troops in the vicinity, he made a couple of hand signals and the soldiers began to mobilize. "That's just what the commander has that you lack, mon Enfant. He would never ask that question."
The stars were shining brightly overhead, the temperature had dropped considerably, and the breeze made the place more pleasant than it seemed. The three trucks were moved away from the site along with a small squad led by Tangle and Bunnie to protect them. A good part of the military force had remained at the site, all well concealed enough to make it appear that no one was actually there. The watch was done by round, the first half being taken by Whisper, who was standing with Cream at the top of one of the crags.
It was time for round two, Whisper was resting while Cream kept watch. Although the nighttime atmosphere was nowhere near as pleasant as in the kingdom, the contrast with the embracing afternoon sun was enough to make it difficult for the Rabbit to stay awake, she was deeply tired. For a brief moment her blinking stopped with her eyes closed as her head slowly tilted to one side. When suddenly something held her by the mouth and covered her eyes, then pinned her hands and legs to finally lift her up. Naturally she panicked, but the hold was too strong to fight, then she felt a strange feeling of Déjà vu, so she stopped fighting.
When she sensed that they had stopped, that she was on the ground and they were leaving her mouth free, the first thing she said was:
"Miss Amy?".
"Shh, not so loud!" the male voice said as he pressed an index finger against the Rabbit's mouth. "Wrong, better luck next time, giantess."
"Mister...!", Cream started to shout before covering her mouth. "...Mr. Sonic...", she exclaimed almost in a whisper.
"Ok, not so low either girl, you can't be heard."
"Are you okay, Cream?" asked Amy behind her before hugging her. "I didn't hit you too hard the other time, did I?".
"Vector said I was unconscious for three days."
"By Gaia, Three Days! I'm so so so so so so so so so sorry!" apologized the pink hedgehog as she hugged tighter and kissed the Rabbit's head.
"Don't blame yourself either, Ames. You're used to punch more hard-headed people," Sonic was saying as he pulled Cream away from Amy's arms so he could speak directly to her. "Now, tell me girl, what are you doing getting in trouble again?".
"It's just that... Sergeant Lanolin told me about the operation to find and take you down. I didn't want things to end badly because of me, so I came to sabotage the search, but...".
"They hit right on the nail of where we were, I imagine thanks to you," Sonic concluded.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't do a good job...".
"You didn't have to," Amy tried to console her.
"And they're just coming for us?", Sonic continued to ask.
"just?" replied Cream, confused.
"It's not common for the FF to deploy such an operation just because of some Scavengers... Unless they know who we are...", Amy deduced.
"If they knew, The Faker himself would be here, not T'wan," Sonic joked. "Maybe they have a clue, but the fact that the Diamond Cutters are here tells me they're looking for something else."
"Something like what?" asked Cream.
"If you have too much information it would be counterproductive, child. Be content to know that we know that you know things."
"Do you think they're looking for that too?", Amy asked Sonic.
"Maybe, though they could also be looking for Him," Sonic replied.
"Or they could be doing a reconnaissance of That Place," Amy replied.
"Huh?" the young Rabbit was quite confused and dizzy.
"Don't worry, kiddo. The less you know, the better," Sonic tried to reassure her.
"But why? why is the Coman... Why are Mr. Shadow and the Freedom Fighters looking for eliminate you? Why doesn't Queen Sally know you're still alive? I thought you and her were best friends," Cream asked Amy.
The pink hedgehog took a step back and looked down, some of the sparkle in her eyes was lost for a moment as she rested her hand on the base of her neck. Sonic for his part looked at her with an expression somewhere between concern and sadness, which quickly changed to resentment as he turned his gaze back to Cream.
"What did Acorn tell you?" asked Sonic, the words coming out of his mouth with an icy feeling. Cream felt a Déjà vu again.
"Sonic," Amy said firmly. The blue hedgehog averted his gaze to look at her. "No," the pink hedgehog sentenced.
Sonic ran his hand through the quills of his hair, gave a sigh of exasperation and turned away for a moment, his back to the girls. Amy then turned to Cream and while holding her by the shoulders said:
"We're still Friends," for a brief moment Amy looked over Cream in the direction of where Sonic was, then looked back at the Rabbit. "These are complicated times. We're all scared, the world isn't what it used to be and we don't know who to trust. The Union separated us and made us, even among friends, hurt each other. We mustn't lose hope in laughing together again, but...".
"But we also can't err on the side of innocence and pretend everything will be magically fixed by chatting," Sonic interrupted as he approached the girls again. "Look kiddo, we have...".
"You have," Amy interrupted back.
"Whatever. There's a plan, and that plan will benefit us all. The problem is that we're all looking out for our immediate interests: food, water and stuff. It's normal, it makes sense, but everyone is like cornered cats, showing claws and fangs, that's why so much hostility. But that will change, things will go back to the way they used to be. I swear", at the end of his speech, Sonic gave Amy a look, but she didn't return it, so the blue hedgehog turned his attention to the Rabbit. "And you can be a lot of help now, Cream."
"How?" asked the Rabbit.
"We have business to attend to, we know that you know something we didn't know, but now we know."
"Huh?" confusion returned to Cream.
"We have an informant," Amy explained, "I think you already know...because we know you know- great, now I said it, perfect."
"So are there's truly a rat?" asked Cream.
"First, language; Second, why do you think Amy was in the kingdom? Do you really think she would risk her butt just for some cooking ingredie- You know what? I think you would," Sonic said before looking back at Amy.
"Yes, yes I would," Amy conceded.
"To the point: you know that we know that you know Things, and we're going after one of those Things. But we can't be with the FF's chasing us, so it's your job to prevent it."
"What's my assignment?" asked Cream as she stood firmly and looked decisively at the blue hedgehog.
"Simple, just tell them you saw us go North."
For a moment Amy looked at Sonic quizzically, to which he responded by winking slyly at her.
"Ehh... Yes! We're goin North," Amy confirmed.
"North...?" repeated Cream. Sonic and Amy were nodding affirmatively at the same time. "Yes... North, very good," the Rabbit affirmed confidently.
"Perfect, get back to your post before they notice your absence. And remember: we're going North," Sonic was saying as he escorted Cream out of the hideout they were in. "You're lucky that now there's no need to knock you out for a week."
Amy tapped Sonic's shoulder and he let out a laugh which was joined by Cream and Amy.
When the young Rabbit vanished into the darkness of the night, Amy confronted the blue hedgehog.
"Why did you tell her exactly where we're headed?".
"Relax, Ames. I've got it all under control."
"Explain yourself," the pink hedgehog demanded as she crossed her arms.
"Gladly, you see: Cream is not only a smart kid, she knows she's a smart kid. And the thing about smart people who know they're smart is that they often overestimate how smart they are. It happened to Egghead all the time, and to Tails too."
"Your point?".
"It's obvious: Cream is going to over-think what we told her, believing she's being smarter than she is, which will lead her to conclude just the opposite, therefore..."
"They went South!" said Cream with all the confidence in the world. Antoine stared at her for a moment.
The morning had come with force, the sun illuminated the scene with all its splendor. Nothing had changed, the abandoned objects were still where they were, and there was no sign that they had returned for anything. Antoine then turned to look at Whisper, who was inspecting something else on her side.
"C'est vrai? Do you confirm it?" he asked her.
"... It's hard to say. There are no indications to the contrary...", the she-wolf replied.
"What is your evidence, mon enfant?", Antoine asked Cream.
"It's... It's impossible for them to have gone north. That would imply that their lair is close to the Kingdom. It can't be that being so close we wouldn't have been able to detect them earlier."
"Those are deductions, mon enfant. I'm asking for evidence."
"Hey, I think I found something!" exclaimed Tangle 20 feets to the south.
"Would you go check it out, mon amour?", Antoine was saying to Bunnie without taking his eyes off Cream.
"Sure, but don't be so hard on the little girl, honey," Bunnie replied as she walked toward Tangle.
Cream kept her gaze firmly on Antoine as he kept his gaze on her. She knew it was a test, though she wasn't sure what kind. Did he want to know whether she was wrong or not? Or was he testing her loyalty? Did he know she was lying?
"Can you remind me again why you accompanied us here, mon enfant?".
"I..."
"Honey, come and see!" shouted Bunnie from where she stood beside Tangle. "The little girl is right."
Antoine immediately looked away from Cream and went in the direction of Bunnie, closely followed by Whisper and Cream. At the site were a couple of sleeping bags, an empty canteen and a small bag filled with purple fruit.
"I would recognize these fruits anywhere," Tangle was saying. "They were abundant where I lived before The Union, and that place is much farther south."
"Didn't your family grow these fruits in their orchard, mon amour?" asked Antoine to Bunnie.
"Yes, but the seeds were brought from the south of the continent. When The Union happened, it became impossible to obtain them and all the plants that gave them in the Kingdom withered."
"...How do we know the same plants didn't wither in the South?..." asked Whisper.
"In addition to the seeds, there is a special type of oil that is needed to maintain the plants, and like the seeds, it was only available south of the continent. It's not unreasonable to think that they have that oil in abundance there, making it easier for them to maintain the plants," Bunnie replied.
Antoine looked at Whisper, seeking his opinion.
"... We don't have enough information from the South, anyway...," he replied at the end.
"Yes, for good reason. La Reine de Cristal is over there," Antoine stated, visibly uncomfortable. "Well, if nothing else...", he concluded before whistling and making several hand signals. Immediately all the troops around him took action.
"The what of Cristal...?" wondered Cream.
"If we move cautiously and get lucky, you won't need to know who it is," Antoine replied. "Let's get going."
Going in a line on theirs Xtreme-Gear, Sonic, Amy and their escorts were crossing the desert in a northerly direction. Amy, who was immediately behind the Hedgehog's back, moved forward a little to the right to talk to him.
"I can't believe it worked," Amy told the blue hedgehog.
"I may not know how to converts meters in yards, but I might have a PhD in being smarter than the smartest of the smart. Want some?" replied Sonic as he offered Amy some of the purple fruit.
"Gladly. And do you know where we're going to re-meet Jet?", Amy asked as she grabbed a piece of fruit.
"I know perfectly well. We'll see if he knows anything other than what your informant said and then we can find out who this Red Beast is."
Random trivia: Sally and Amy are "best friends"? But they hate each other!
Where does it say they hate each other? Huh? Where's the evidence? And just like Antoine, I don't want "deductions", or headcanons, I want "evidence".
Seriously now, I am aware of the unwarranted hatred that some Amy fans have towards Sally, and also the hatred that some Sally fans have towards... mainly towards Amy's most annoying fans, which by proxy ends up affecting Amy. As a die hard fan of the little pink rat, I too at one time felt an animus towards the half-naked squirrel, that was until I read the Archie comics and saw what a tremendous character she was. I liked her so much that I really wish she and the Freedom Fighters could come back in IDW Comics in the future.
Fandom infighting seems absurd to me, and I refuse to contribute to the hatred. For that reason I made it my main rule that Neither Sally nor Amy will lay a finger on the other, there will be no battle in the Thunderdome between them or anything. An argument? A disagreement? Sure, but nothing physical or destructive. And to cement that, I made them best friends, using what happened in chapter 4 as a starting point to push the idea forward. Relax, I'm going to develop and show that friendship so it doesn't feel forced. I'm even thinking of creating a complementary fic for it so as not to fuck up the rhythm of the main plot.
Anyway, Sally and Amy are friends to death in this story, and if I were a bit braver, I would even make them a couple, but that will be in another story. God willing, Amen.