Sonic Series Fan Fiction ❯ On the Road Together ❯ Clean Sweep ( Chapter 12 )

Chapter 12: Clean Sweep

With Jackson, Mississippi on the road behind them, Sonic drove the RV to the north to find a lake. The others had enough of city sightseeing for now, and so they were hoping to find a lake to visit and maybe even go fishing also. Tails' laptop was very helpful to find the right streets and shortcuts. Even though Mississippi seemed slow like the river that had its name, he began to like it there. There was so much to see; he did not know where to start. The others relaxed in the RV, some taking naps, some playing games, and others just read books.

Tails turned the page of a book, and he asked, "What River is called the Father of Waters?"

Amy shrugged, unsure. "We give up."

"The Mississippi!" Tails answered, chuckling.

"How can Mississippi be anybody's father?" Knuckles wondered. "It should be Mrissippi."

"Yeah, but Mississippi is the mama," Freeway said, smiling.

Everyone laughed. Not long after this, Sonic stopped the RV when a lake came into his sight. The green trees stood to show a wonderful sight with the sky giving a great view. Shadow opened his front passenger window. The wind was calm and cool outside the afternoon.

"Well, what do you think?" Sonic asked. "Here's a lake. Is this what you guys had in mind?"

"It's even better!" Tikal said, amazed.

"Perfect!" said Knuckles as he stood up to see better.

"Oh, I like it!" Amy said happily with Freeway nodding.

"Looks great! Let's go," said Rouge.

"Yeah," Metal-2 agreed. "This looks fine."

"Cool!" Tails added.

Smiling, Sonic turned to Shadow. "And you?"

Silent at first, Shadow faced him. "Can I drive?" he asked.

Sonic chuckled. "Sure." He switched places with him.

Soon they came near the beautiful lake with water that seemed crystal clear. The sun was shining with only a few clouds above, and the birds let their voices be the sound to enjoy with the calm wind blowing. The RV stopped and the engine rested under a shady tree. They watched the lake for a few minutes, thinking of where they could spend the day. Sonic turned his head when he heard voices nearby. Not far away, he saw two men standing and talking with each other. They seemed to be arguing when one of the men left in a truck. The other man, older than the one that left, stayed. He shook his head and turned, looking at something through the trees. Curious, Sonic opened the door of the RV, and then he stepped outside. The others went out with him.

"Sonic, what are you doing?" Knuckles asked.

"I'm a tourist," Sonic answered simply. "I want to know what's going on."

"That man looks very sad," Tails noticed.

"Come on," said Amy. "Maybe we can help." She approached with Tikal ahead of her.

"Excuse us," Tikal said gently to the man. "Hello, sir…"

The old man turned around and faced the group. "Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm Tikal," the girl echidna replied. "And these are my friends."

"You must be tourist," he said, and the group nodded. "Well," the man said, "I'm sorry, but there's not much to see here…not anymore." He sadly shook his head.

"But this place has such a beautiful lake," Amy said.

"And the trees are huge!" Knuckles added, opening his arms wide.

"You don't understand," said the man. "This land has been my family's place for a long, long time. But my son thinks this cabin is useless now and needs to be destroyed."

"What cabin?" Tails asked, and the man pointed to it.

"Over there," he said, showing them a log cabin, which looked very old, in need of repair.

"Wow, it looks really old," Sonic said, blinking.

The man nodded. "My grandfather built it for travelers, but it's finished now."

There was a moment of silence. Sonic watched the old man looking at the broken cabin as if it would be the last time. His green eyes turned to his friends. They all nodded at him.

Sonic smiled and turned back to face the man. "No, it isn't finished."

The man raised an eyebrow. "It's true," he said. "That thing is a wreck, I'm too old to repair it, and my son wants it torn down. We just don't have what it takes."

"You do now," said Sonic. "My friends and I can fix it up in a flash."

The elder looked very surprised, studying the stranger's face. "You…you will?"

"Yeah!" Knuckles answered, "Look, I'm as strong as an ox!" He punched at the wind.

"And you're as big as one, too!" Rouge giggled.

Knuckles blushed and everyone laughed, even the old man.

"Okay, I'll tell you what," he said to the crew. "If you fix this cabin up before my son gets back, I'll let you have it as long as you stay at the lake. I don't have much cash to pay you…"

"Don't worry about that," Amy said to him. "We'll think of this as part of our road trip."

"We'll do it," Sonic promised, and they shook hands. The man looked much happier.

= = = = =

Later that day…

After some dusting and mopping, the floors and walls inside the old cabin looked much better. Metal-2 worked hard on the outside, repairing the windows with Tails helping him. The girls were busy mopping and dusting the rooms. Sonic entered the cabin, carrying a paintbrush and a pail, wearing a white cap to protect his head. He stopped, looking around.

"Come on, Shadow, hurry up!" he called, looking behind himself.

"I'm not going," Shadow's voice answered from behind the slightly closed door.

"Hey, we've come too far," Sonic said, tapping his foot. "You can't back out now."

"Tell you what, you go on without me. Maybe I'm better off helping the android…"

"Shadow…now!" Sonic commanded.

Then at last, Shadow entered the cabin, holding a pail and paintbrush with a cap also. "You'll pay greatly for this," Shadow promised the blue hedgehog. "The Ultimate doesn't paint!"

"He does now," Sonic chuckled. "This will be a breeze, just wait and see." He winked.

"Let's just get this over with," Shadow sighed.

"Good idea." Sonic started painting with his brush. "We don't want to paint in the dark."

"Yeah…right." Shadow nodded, walking to a wall with his paintbrush ready.

Nearby, Rouge and Amy finished mopping up the kitchen. Tikal was beating a rug outside with Freeway trying to help. Tails hammered to be sure the window frame was steady.

"There…how's that?" He asked, looking down at his android friend.

Metal-2 stopped and looked up, carrying a ladder. "Looks as good as new!"

"Thanks!" Tails smiled, flying down to him. "We just have three more to repair."

"Then let's get to work!" Metal-2 led the way to the next window.

Tikal dragged in the rug after washing it. "Okay, this one's all clean!"

"There's one more behind you!" Rouge told her from in the kitchen.

"I'll get it!" Tikal answered, and she turned to get it.

Amy watched Tikal and Freeway drag the dusty rug outside, and then she continued her mopping. "Rouge, I haven't seen Knuckles. You know where he is?" she asked the bat.

"Oh, sure," Rouge replied, cleaning the sink. "He got the job no one else wanted."

"Oh? What's that?" Amy asked.

Just then, dust came falling down from the chimney and then they heard Knuckles coughing.

"Chimney sweeping," Rouge finished answering, and then they got back to cleaning.

Back to the painting hedgehogs, Sonic and Shadow finished working in the bedroom. It was not a very big room, which was good for them. It was a job well done.

"Plain and simple, Shades," Sonic said, standing to admire his work. "It's a great job!"

"I suppose," Shadow said, shrugging.

"Well, sure it is," Sonic assured him. "We got it done before dark, just like our goal."

"Your goal, not mine," Shadow corrected, tossing the paintbrush aside.

"Okay, whatever you say." Sonic let him win this time. "Let's go patch up the stairs now."

Meanwhile, on the rooftop, Metal-2 and Tails were busy replacing the broken roof tiles. Metal-2 hammered in the last nail, but he needed more for the remaining tiles.

"Tails, go get some more nails over here, will you?" he asked.

Tails nodded, standing up. "I'll be right back."

He hurried to the toolbox, reaching for it, but to his surprise, it suddenly moved by itself. Tails gasped, backing away from it. He reached for the box again, shaking. Again, it moved.

"H-hey, stop that!" Tails said to the box.

"What's going on?" Metal-2 asked, looking over his shoulder.

"I don't know, but--" Tails stopped before he could finish his reply. Something black from underneath the toolbox appeared with the box on top of it, causing Tails to yell in fright.

Metal-2 quickly stood up, aiming his blasters at the black thing. "Stop right there!"

The black thing with the toolbox on its head coughed. "Guys, it's just me!"

Tails recognized the voice. "Knuckles!"

"What? It can't be," said the surprised Metal-2. "He's all black!" He blinked.

"I'm cleaning the chimney!" Knuckles explained with only his head to be seen. "Looks like I finally made it up to the rooftop and all the way to this heavy toolbox."

Tails smiled, taking the box off the echidna's black head. "Sorry about that."

"Nothing to worry about," Knuckles said. "Anyway, I have to get back now."

"Okay, be careful," Tails cautioned him.

Knuckles nodded, and then he moved down into the chimney to finish his work. And so, hours later, the sun was going down. Twilight arrived when the crew stopped working. It was finished. Knuckles cleaned himself, so he was gladly red again. He did not quite know how Shadow could stand it. The place looked neat and clean with fresh paint, new windows, repaired roof and stairs, and one very clean chimney, thanks to Knuckles. The crew gathered together in the living room.

"Good work, guys," Sonic proudly praised them. "We did it!" They clapped and cheered.

"Let's celebrate with some fresh popcorn!" Amy surprised them.

"Popcorn!" They cheered, "Yeah!" Everyone sat down near the fireplace to eat.

"It's a good thing you cleaned up, Knuckles," Rouge said. "Now we can all enjoy it."

Knuckles put another piece of wood in for the fire. "Yeah, but Sonic needs a wash, too."

"Huh? What?" Sonic looked at the echidna. "I wasn't in the chimney."

"I know, but you got white paint on the back of your head." Knuckles pointed.

Sonic blinked and pulled out a small mirror. When he saw himself, he felt like screaming. Knuckles was not joking. Shadow, clearly the guilty one, started to laugh. Then Sonic knew.

"So, it was you, huh?" Sonic asked, pointing to his white quills.

"Of course," Shadow answered. "It just goes to show you who is the Ultimate around here."

He turned and walked away. When he turned, everyone in the cabin laughed. Shadow had white paint on the back of his head also, just like Sonic. They must have done the same thing to each other, not really knowing it until later. The night came and the sonic crew enjoyed fresh popcorn in the restored cabin. The RV safely rested just outside under the tree. Sonic and the others slept in their sleeping bags inside the cabin. Metal-2 stood guarding all night long on the front porch. Nights did seem like a very long time, but he had memories to look back on to pass that time. When the old man saw the cabin the next day, he was speechless. It truly looked like a different cabin, inside and outside. It was saved, thanks to the Sonic crew. It would be used again so other travelers could enjoy it with the lake. But Sonic could not stay in one place for too long. They had to move on. After spending another day there, they packed up and moved out in the RV. They were on the road again together, not knowing what was ahead of them. Sonic made the RV turn west. There were so many more places to visit and see. In Mississippi, they left a landmark of their own. It was not in gold or bronze. It was just a cabin, but in a way, it became a shining castle.