Emerald Coast - Traveling Conversation

[Tony]

Sonic found that he had to raise his voice a bit moreso than before -- either due to the engine's noise, or to Tails' obvious aggravation -- but he continued on with his realization, the hedgehog slowly taking note that they weren't headed back to their prior rendezvous point...

"Well, remember our good ol' pal Shadow? HE'S been busy lately..! I scrapped with him over an emerald a bit before the trial business in Station Square -- and then, right before we left the courtroom, he appeared -again-..! The first thing outta his mouth besides cursing my name was something about 'Who has an emerald?!' Or, somethin', my head was kinda seein' stars around that time... but either way! Every time I've spotted him lately, he's been after Chaos Emeralds -- I think he's our notch in the plan! He mighta Chaos Control'd to the base to get his fill of the Emeralds! It'd explain why they just kinda... vanished, ya know?!"

Sonic pondered as he finally managed to brace himself against the rock of the waves and the speed of the boat, glancing outwards to the open ocean behind them.. "... And if he was able to find the base then, he oughta know where it is if we can find him!"

But more importantly, he thought... -Why- does he keep seeking out those emeralds? What the crap is his deal...?

... ... ...

"H-hey, Tails..! Look out over the coast..!"

The hedgehog pointed...! But to what...?

[Topaz Mutiny]

As the information sinked in, Tails relaxed on the throttle, and the boat slowed down to a more reasonable fast pace. Shadow... of course! Why didn't he think of him before! Emeralds didn't just disappear for no reason after all; someone had to have moved it, whether physically or with the emerald itself.

Tails was about to make a reply, when he heard Sonic trying to catch his attention. What was he pointing to? That damn fourth whale? ... No... Tails searched the margin of where Sonic was pointing, and eventually rested his sights on something yellow and purple.

"It's Mina!" Tails cried out, absolutely ASTOUNDED by the sight of her. As he turned to drive parallel to the still quite-distant coast, he could see three little figures, one of which was obviously Mina. The gray one was probably that crazy koala friend of hers, and the purple one... escaped his knowledge. Still, the main thing was, Mina had somehow managed to escape Eggman's clutches, and reunited with her friends.

Deciding that the girl was safe within the city in the company of her friends, Tails drove on towards the dock at a relaxing speed, thinking about what Sonic had said prior to the outburst.

"Do you think Shadow had anything to do with that?" Tails asked, talking about the mongoose they had been attempting to rescue themselves. "After all, she WAS the one who had the emerald last."

Meanwhile, Amy was pondering things. She really was quite glad that the girl they had been going after was already safe, but those feelings had been quickly shoved onto the backburner. Shadow, huh? She hadn't seen him for quite a while. And, even if what Sonic said was true about the chimera going emerald-hunting, it looked as if Shadow still had enough of that softspot left to help that girl escape from Eggman.

[Tony]

The hedgehog sat back against the side of the boat, and stared off into the skies, preferably away from the water, and he thought for a moment.. "... Well, he has a history of things like that, yeah... Though, I doubt he even knows the girl. It seems a tad unlike him, but... I dunno. Maybe his soft spot got bigger. Who knows? It's the best theory we got, though."

He scratched his chin some, and glanced over to Amy.. "Granted, it obviously means that he's got himself another emerald for sure... What the crap is he trying to get them for..?"

[Topaz Mutiny]

Tails and Amy both shrugged. "Beats me." They both said, pausing and looking at eachother.

"Hopefully not for anything stupid again. There's already been enough trouble around without Mister Unsmiley stirring things up." Sonic's little buddy added, driving alongside the docks now. Eventually, Tails found the spot he was looking for, and guided the boat in, finally coming to a stop.

Amy.... drifted off into (day)dreamland again.

[Tony]

The hedgehog shrugged, and sighed. "Who knows what goes on in his head...? In the meantime, we need to figure out what we should do about it. That, and the whole Sol situation. I kiiinda want those emeralds from Shadow so we can get some leads on this whole thing... maybe even fix it."

He sat up, and scratched at an ear, both hands flopping to his sides.. "... But I need to find Blaze, too, if we're gonna hope to do anything like that..."

Grumble.

He leaned back once more, and crossed his arms.

"Geez. So much 'finding things'. Stuff needs to fall into -my- lap more often, ya know...?" He closed his eyes, and lay back, looking just a little annoyed..

[Topaz Mutiny]

"Well, lets get back to my place then. The 'ol Tornado's still in the bottom hangar, so we could use that to help search for Blaze and the emeralds while the Tornado II is on Angel Island." Tails suggested, hopping off the boat and shaking away what felt like still moving ground.

And Amy finally snapped out of her reverie, the top half of her body opportunistically laying on Sonic's legs and chest.

"~I could fall into your lap~" The pink hedgehog commented seductively, grinning like a Cheshire cat. Her movie plan hadn't quite worked out, seeing as by now the tickets were likely expired, so this opportunity she just couldn't pass up.

Even though she knew it was only going to make Sonic squirm.

IGNORING~

[Tony]

"Yeah, the Tornado sounds like a good ide--OOMPF."

... Amy in his lap.

...

Sonic kinda tried to sidle away slightly, looking slightly, er... uncomfortable.

"... Mind steppin' on it, pal?"

[Topaz Mutiny]

... Okay, now Tails couldn't hide the grin that suddenly appeared on his face.

"Whadd'ya mean? You're the one who's still on the boat." Tails replied, looking down on Sonic from the dock, trying not to grin but obviously failing.

*SUGGESTIVE WRIGGLING~*

[Tony]

"..."

Sonic was merely distracted.

He gently got Amy up to her feet... and then very quickly hopped onto the dock, making haste...

[Topaz Mutiny]

And now that Sonic finally realized the boat ride was over, Tails tore away from the wharf, and, with Sonic, began making his way back to his workshop in Mystic Ruins for like the zillionth time that day.

And by now he had started laughing at his idol.

Amy, unsurprisingly, was left in the dust, though she knew exactly where they were headed. And so, giggling and tittering about what she had just done, she frolicked towards Station Square.