Sonic Series Fan Fiction ❯ On the Road Together ❯ New In New Orleans ( Chapter 13 )

Chapter 13: New In New Orleans

It was raining when they left Mississippi with an eerie wind blowing through the trees. The clouds were dark and scary, but no lightning showed itself. The thunder was not very loud and the storm soon calmed down to a soft, gentle rain. The RV needed a wash, anyway, so Sonic the Hedgehog did not complain much. Some of them were taking a nap while Shadow, Knuckles, and Metal-2 stayed awake with the blue driver. Sonic was driving on a lonely Mississippi road, leaving the state. He suddenly stopped the RV and the wheels screamed like a troubled owl.

"AN OWL!" Tails yelped as he woke up on the sofa from a nightmare.

"Relax!" Metal-2 calmed the surprised crew down.

"What happened?" asked Rouge, rubbing her sleepy eyes.

Sonic unbuckled and turned to the others. "Wow! We're facing two states!"

"Big deal!" Shadow said sarcastically. "Somebody beam me outta here!"

Sonic let a sweat drop run down his head. "Well, I was just surprised." He chuckled.

Knuckles nodded. "We better pick one."

Tails opened a map file. "Let's see…we're now facing Arkansas and Louisiana."

"That's a tough one," said Amy. "Which state are we going to see next?"

"I know!" Sonic pulled out a coin. "Brilliant, huh?" he grinned and the others stared.

Knuckles rolled his eyes. "Just do it."

"Heads or tails?" Sonic wondered.

"I'm Tails…but who's Heads?" asked the fox.

"He meant the coin," Rouge quickly explained.

Shadow decided for them. "Heads for Arkansas and tails for Louisiana."

"I agree," said Knuckles, and likewise said the others.

"Okay, here we go!" Sonic flipped the coin and it fell to the RV floor, spinning.

Every eye carefully watched the coin to see which side it would fall on. It turned and turned until at last, it fell to the floor. The side showed tails. The crew smiled at the answer.

Sonic started up the RV again. "Louisiana, here we come!" He drove on the road.

"So, lookout!" Shadow warned the state ahead of the wild blue one.

= = = = =

Meanwhile, at a nearby hotel…

Just outside of Louisiana, Dr. Eggman happily relaxed on a long chair near a swimming pool. He felt so glad that the RV had disappeared with Sonic nowhere to be found. Chaos Zero swam around in the pool, which scared all the other swimmers away. Metal Sonic stood coldly at the gate near Eggman. He watched while silently doubting the RV was gone for good.

"Hey, Metal!" Chaos called from high up on a diving board. "Watch this!"

Metal Sonic ignored him at first, but then a sudden idea came to his mind. "Okay," he said, "Just let me get my sunglasses on…" The blue robot hovered to a wall, which had a control panel. He broke it open and then he put a pair of red sunglasses on. "Anytime now!" he said.

Chaos nodded and then he bounced up and down on the board for a great jump. When he jumped off, Metal Sonic pulled a switch on the control panel, which was for the pool to let the water drain out. It did so very quickly, emptying itself before Chaos could splash in. He fell flat on the cement floor at the bottom of the pool, very dizzy upon impact. Metal Sonic chuckled.

Chaos sat up, a little flattened after that. "Taxpayers," he groaned in pain. "They can't even keep a pool full of water." He climbed up, hanging onto the edge of the empty pool.

Eggman opened his eyes after hearing the crash. When he looked toward the pool, he froze with complete surprise and shock. Through the chain-linked fence, he saw the RV driving by, entering Louisiana. He yelled and fell backward in his long chair, which made Chaos fall back in the pool.

Metal Sonic shook his head. "I'm surrounded by dummies."

= = = = =

Location: New Orleans, Louisiana…

"Here at last!" Sonic said, stopping the RV in front of a welcome sign.

"It's green," said Tails, looking outside a window with Metal-2.

"Sure is, and better yet, the rain stopped!" Amy giggled with Tikal.

"Now we can hunt for treasure!" Rouge rejoiced.

"Ha! There's no treasure around here…is there?" Knuckles asked her quietly.

The bat winked. "Only one way to find out."

Tails changed the time on the clock. "I almost forgot that we're in the Central Time Zone now."

Shadow blinked. "Sounds like something outta the Twilight Zone to change time like that."

"We should find a place to park the RV first," Metal-2 said to the driver.

"Right," Sonic agreed. "Let's go do that, and then we can look around."

Metal-2 closed the window. "I still have doubts that we lost them…"

"Doctor Eggman?" Tails asked, and the android silently nodded.

"Don't worry," Tikal comforted him. "He's gone now."

Metal-2 continued to watch the window when Tikal left to sit with Amy. Tails stayed with him, saying nothing. He tried not to worry, but something told him to watch out for any signs of danger. He wondered if Metal-2 could feel that also. The RV moved on to find a parking place. Lake Pontchartrain seemed to welcome the travelers that were heading for the city. It was sparkling at the airport as they passed by and a few pelicans flew overhead.

"This brings back memories of Florida," Sonic told the crew. "Let's wear our hats!"

"Okay!" Knuckles and the others did so.

Just then, Amy saw someone standing at a stop sign. "Look, someone's there!"

Sonic looked ahead. "He might need help…" He stopped the RV at the sign.

"I'm not so sure about this," Shadow doubted.

"The least we could do is give him a ride to town," said Sonic.

Knuckles opened the RV to the stranded stranger. "Hey, there, need a lift?"

The stranger in a coat nodded. "Yes, thank you!" Then the man entered. When he came inside, he saw Sonic and the crew, all wearing their Mickey Mouse hats from Disney World.

"Hi!" Rouge waved at him.

The man was very surprised. "What is this?!" he asked, almost shouting it out.

Sonic grinned. "The chance of a lifetime," he answered. "You're about to ride a RV!"

"More like crash and burn!" the man panicked. "This is where I get off!" And he left.

Shadow turned to the blue hedgehog. "You scared him."

"Well, I hope I scared you both," he grinned, driving away.

With the song, City of New Orleans playing, they entered the city. Tails found it funny that the state bird was the brown pelican. He had seen a few flying over them and the nickname for Louisiana is Pelican State. He looked at the state on a map, trying to imagine it to be a pelican.

"Where are we now? What is this strange street?" Knuckles asked.

"Let's see…" Sonic stopped and looked at a sign. "This is Paris Avenue."

"How in the world did we land in France?!" Amy gasped.

"No, it's a street name," Tails corrected, pointing at his map.

"Oh!" Amy exclaimed. "Since we're in a city, maybe we could have lunch at a restaurant."

"I like that idea," Knuckles said, hungry. "How about you, Sonic?"

"Music to my ears," he answered and then he looked at Shadow. "What do you say?"

"I told you before," said Shadow. "I say very little."

"I'll take that as a yes." And Sonic drove in the city again.

Soon he stopped at City Park in New Orleans. The RV rested there in the shade. Everyone stepped outside, and after making sure it was locked and safe, they left to see the city. Amy took pictures with her camera, some of the buildings and some of her friends.

"This is a neat place!" Sonic exclaimed, looking around while walking with the crew.

"It won't be so neat when a herd of alligators come to eat us," Shadow said.

Rouge smiled. "Come on, Shadow, you know nothing is gonna eat you."

"You can say that again," Sonic smirked. "He's way overcooked!" He laughed.

Shadow chased him and Sonic ran, still laughing.

"Hey, you guys, knock it off!" Tails shouted at the running hedgehogs.

"Hmm…watching them run around like that makes me hungry," said Knuckles.

Rouge looked away, sighing. "You're always hungry."

"Where could we go?" Tikal asked.

Before anyone could answer, they heard music. Knuckles blinked and turned around. On a sidewalk, he saw a crocodile with a Walkman approaching with headphones on. That was the music they were hearing. The crocodile did not seem to notice them because he had his eyes closed, dancing his way on the sidewalk. Knuckles recognized this reptile.

"Hey, that's Vector," he told the others. "It's Vector from the Team Chaotix!"

"Really?" Tails asked; looking to be sure and it was true.

"Why don't we talk to him?" Amy suggested.

"I'll try…" Rouge walked over to Vector. "Hey!" she called, "Vector, it's us!"

But Vector did not see or hear her because of the music and his closed eyes. Knuckles knew what to do. The red echidna leaped up and snatched the headphones off. Vector opened his eyes.

"Hey, who took my tunes?!" He snarled down at the sweating red echidna. "You!"

"W-wait a minute!" Knuckles gulped, backing away. "Don't eat me! It's Knuckles!"

"Knuckles?" Vector took a closer look. "It is you, Knux!" He laughed and so did Knuckles.

"Sorry, but we tried to get your attention." Knuckles gave the headphones back.

"No problemo," said Vector. "Say, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"We're traveling on the road together," Tails answered.

"Yeah, and we're starving!" Amy said.

"Starving? So am I!" Vector licked his lips and the others backed away slightly.

"Um…do you know any good restaurants?" Metal-2 asked.

"I sure do," Vector replied. "Just follow me and we can go together."

Just then, Charmy the Bee flew over, stopping beside Vector's head. "I'm coming, too!"

"Hi, Charmy, long time no see," Knuckles greeted, and the bee kindly waved his hand.

"Charmy, these are our special guests," Vector told him. "So, the bill is on us."

"There's a little, tiny, slight problem," Charmy announced. "I'm broke!"

"You, too, huh?" Vector shrugged. "Well, there's always Espio. Where is he?"

"He's over there." Charmy pointed at a nearby tree, but the crew saw no one there.

"I don't see anyone," Tikal said, confused.

"That's because he's using camouflage to hide himself," Charmy explained.

Before their eyes, the crew saw the purple chameleon appear on the tree. He was hanging upside down by his tail like opossums do sometimes. His eyes curiously scanned the guests.

"Espio, we need to take out a loan with you," Charmy requested. "It's for our guests."

"Don't worry, we'll pay ya back," Vector promised.

Espio climbed down from the tree and stood up on the ground. He waved his hand in front of himself, keeping an eye on the others. "I don't go for that stuff," he said. "It's not a loan."

"You're all very kind," Amy said gratefully. "Thank you."

"We should go now," Espio told them. "Lunch has already started. The bill is on me."

"Thanks!" Knuckles said, "Well, come on, you guys. Let's follow them."

"But where's Sonic and Shadow?" Tails asked.

"They'll chase each other for a while," Rouge said. "I wouldn't worry about them."

"Don't worry. We'll find them later," Knuckles assured them. "For now, let's go."

"We can order a takeout for the runners," Vector suggested, and they left.

When they all turned down a corner out of sight, Metal Sonic and Chaos Zero stepped out of a dark alley. The robot silently left to take a shortcut.

= = = = =

A little later…

The restaurant was a nice place. Knuckles and the others settled down for lunch there while Metal-2 stood watching. He could not sit down because he was almost positive that trouble was nearby. He had to keep alert. Tails poked curiously at his crawfish and then he cut a piece off.

"This is pretty good," Tails commented after swallowing a bite.

"Possibly the best in all of New Orleans," Knuckles added.

"Thanks. We knew you'd like it." Charmy smiled, sitting next to Vector.

Espio sat down and looked at the bill. His eyes grew wide. "How did I get myself into this…?"

Rouge, Tikal, and Amy Rose were at the salad bar, selecting some things there. Charmy ate his soup, enjoying every drop, and Vector chewed hungrily on fried chicken.

"Delicious, huh, Espio?" Vector asked the chameleon. He only nodded to answer.

"Yep…" Knuckles lifted a forked piece of steak. "This is--" He stopped when something shot the piece of meat off the fork, causing Knuckles to drop it to the floor. "What?!"

The others stared down at the burned fork and then they heard people screaming, running out of the restaurant. Metal Sonic entered the building with Chaos Zero behind him.

"Surrender!" Metal Sonic demanded and everyone jumped to their feet.

"Yeah, stick 'em up, losers," Chaos threatened. "We got you trapped this time!"

"Oh, yeah? We'll see about that!" Knuckles jumped into the fight.

"Get ready to rumble!" Vector joined him with Metal-2 also.

From underneath a table, Mario and his brother Luigi peeked out to see the fighters. "Oh, this is awful!" Mario exclaimed. "I wish we had a mushroom so we could help them!"

"Oh, my! Our beautiful restaurant!!" Luigi screamed in fright at the mess.

"Wait, Luigi! This is not our restaurant, remember?" Mario asked him.

"Oh…yeah…" Then Luigi screamed, "Somebody's beautiful restaurant!!"

Mario gasped and hid himself, pulling Luigi down also to avoid the shots.

"On guard, Captain Hook!" Chaos pointed his deadly hand at Tails, who was cornered.

Knuckles punched Chaos away from the fox, sending the creature all the way to the salad bar. Chaos rolled and crashed into it, and then the girls ran, shocked at the sudden impact.

"What was that?!" Rouge asked, keeping her eyes on the broken table.

Chaos stood up with a white tablecloth over himself. He tried to get it off.

"It's Chaos!" Amy said, and then she removed the tablecloth, ready to hit him with her hammer. But when she saw Chaos, she screamed and ran because a huge watermelon was over him.

"Turn on the lights!" Chaos requested with the watermelon covering his head and face.

Metal-2 and Metal Sonic tackled each other into a table, crashing. Now with both of them underneath a tablecloth, Metal Sonic fired at him with his gun again. Metal-2 was hit hard and he fell backward, injured. Then Metal Sonic ripped the tablecloth off himself.

"Now you see…" he said, backing away, and then Vector appeared behind him.

"Now hear this!" Vector shouted, pointing his headphones at the robot, and then he turned the volume up so high, it blasted Metal Sonic out a window. Chaos blindly followed him to escape.

"Oh no!" Tails ran to Metal-2 as fast as he could. He quickly removed the tablecloth and knelt down beside the fallen android. "Are you okay?" he asked, gently touching his shoulder.

After a few moments of silence, Metal-2 opened his eyes. He was quiet.

"Please get up!" Amy cried, kneeling next to him.

Then Metal-2 sat up, allowing Amy and Tails to hug him. His chest was hurt, though. Metal-2 hugged them back, closing his eyes for a moment. "I'm fine now," he answered.

"Is anyone else hurt?" Knuckles asked, looking around.

"We're okay," Tikal replied with Rouge.

"Everything's cool," Vector told Knuckles. "Looks like we showed them!"

"We better find Sonic!" Tails said, standing up with Metal-2 and Amy.

"Right," Knuckles said. "Come on!" He ran outside with the crew following him.

When they were gone, Mario and Luigi came out from under the table. "…WE'RE ALIVE!"