Sonic Series Fan Fiction ❯ Sonic Adventures: "On the road" ❯ Cave wonders ( Chapter 8 )

Chapter 8: Cave wonders

And so, with the team all safe and together again, they continued in their adventure on wheels, on the road again. They soon entered west Texas and it became dry and sunny outside, no rain and the sky was clear, blue and beautiful. The driver was Sonic the Hedgehog as he and his great crew came to a place called Sonora, Texas. You may or may not have heard but there is a wonderful, interesting cave to explore and learn facts about caves there. Located just 8 miles west of Sonora, Texas, the Caverns of Sonora is a great place to experience the wonders of nature. The Caverns of Sonora is a natural cave that is one of the most active caves in the world, with more than 90% of the formations in the cave still "growing" and is known as a Natural / National Landmark. At the Caverns, there are many activities to keep you busy, such as: Sluicing for gems, exploring the nature trail, camping out, and relaxing while enjoying the outdoors. Tours of the cave leave constantly with usually never more then a thirty-minute wait. Three different tours display the caves beauty, with each tour showing different areas of the cave. It's all in the Lone Star State.

"Hey, listen to this, Sonic…" Tails said, holding a Texas traveler's guidebook. "According to this, there's a cave close to us here, where you can be a tourist and learn about them."

"I don't think I want to be a tortoise in a cave, little buddy." Sonic gulped.

"No, not a tortoise, but a tourist." Tails corrected him.

"Well, a cave sure sounds interesting. Maybe we should go see it." Knuckles suggested.

"Okay, I'll do it for you guys." Sonic said, and then he followed the directions of Tails until they reached the place. Sonic stopped the RV in a parking lot and then he stepped outside.

"Oh, it's so good to be outside again." Rouge said, breathing in the fresh air.

"Sonic, it's beautiful here!" Amy giggled, standing beside him with a smile.

"Yeah, it's okay I guess." Sonic shrugged. "But right now, let's go see the cave."

They entered the building together but the villain Dr. Eggman saw them. Metal Sonic and Chaos stood ready to attack. Eggman sat in his ship and he turned to them with another evil plan.

"Okay, the targets have been spotted. Metal, Chaos, on with the show!" Eggman said, "Go inside and follow them, get that Emerald and destroy the hedgehog once and for all."

"That will be easy, boss." Metal Sonic said, with no doubt. "We'll be back."

The robot hedgehog walked toward the building and Chaos followed him inside. They watched as Sonic and his friends stood to buy their tickets.

"Here you go, sir. Your tour guide is waiting for you at the door to your right." The lady pointed.

"Thanks." Sonic said, and then he turned, walking toward the door. The blue hedgehog and his team stopped next to the door but they saw no one there.

"Hey, where is he? Where's the tour guide?" Tails asked, looking around.

"I'm down here." A voice said, and then the team looked down, very surprised.

"Oh no!" They all said it together when they saw Omochao.

"Hi! I'm Omochao, and I'm here to help." He said to the Sonic crew, happily.

"I don't believe this! I'm dreaming. Somebody pinch me!" Knuckles said, amazed.

Shadow shrugged his shoulders and then he pinched the red echidna, making him yelp.

"Ouch! My goodness! Why did you do that?" Knuckles asked, holding his arm.

"You asked for it." Shadow answered, simply.

"Me and my big fat mouth." Knuckles mumbled to himself.

"Please follow me and I'll be very happy to give you a tour of the cave." Omochao said, leading the way outside the door. The Sonic team followed, not having much of a choice.

"Now is our chance…" Metal whispered, "Victory is ours, no doubt about it."

"They're getting away. We must go after them." Chaos whispered, stepping forward.

Metal Sonic walked ahead of him but then the lady at the front desk stopped them. "Hold it right there, you two. You must purchase a ticket before entering the cave with a guide."

"I do not need a guide. I have radar." Metal told her, pointing to his head.

"That may be true," The lady said, "But you must have a ticket."

"Uh-oh. Were we speeding?" Chaos asked, worried in his voice.

"No." The lady answered, clearly annoyed at the ridiculous question. "You need to buy a ticket before you enter the cave and a tour guide will lead you."

"Strange world." Metal said, shaking his head, no. "We cannot buy a ticket."

"Why not? Do you have any money?" She asked him.

Metal looked where his pockets should be and Chaos did the same, feeling for a wallet, but none was found. Metal looked up at her again, shaking his head. "Nope." He answered.

"Then how do you expect to see the cave?" The lady asked.

"Well, we don't expect it. We just want it." Chaos replied, and Metal nodded, yes.

"This is outrageous! I'm calling security…" The lady reached for a phone and when she looked up again, Metal Sonic and Chaos were gone, nowhere in sight.

= = = = =

Meanwhile, the Sonic crew were already well on their way in the cave journey as they followed the tour guide Omochao. He explained to them some facts about caves and showed them deep in the heart of that underground world. "No one really knows for sure how our Cave was first discovered, but the most popular legend behind it all is that around the turn of the century, a hunter was hunting on the Mayfield Ranch. Supposedly, his dog chased a raccoon into the entrance of the cave, which was only 15 inches in diameter. The entrance to the cave was then covered and forgotten. Then, in the 1920's, two teenagers, a brother and sister, explored a short way into the cave using only candles and twine to find their way. During the 1950's, the Mayfield's had the cave professionally explored. 7 miles of passage was discovered, only 2 of which are shown on current tours. The cave was then developed and in 1959, the cave was first opened to the public…" And so Omochao talked throughout the tour.

Amy remained close to the side of Sonic to feel safe. "It's so dark down here," She whispered, "I wonder if it ever ends, Sonic."

"At this rate, I hope I see the light very soon." Sonic said, stepping away from her.

Knuckles stopped and stood still, looking up at the cave's wall, perhaps fighting the temptation to climb. He turned to Rouge who was standing beside him. "Well, at least you should be right at home here." Knuckles teased, grinning.

Then Rouge, with anger seen on her face, pinched Knuckles on the arm.

"OW!" Knuckles gasped, surprised. "Why in the world is everyone always pinching me?"

Then Tikal pinched his other arm, not very hard but enough for him to keep quiet.

"Yow!" Knuckles said; jumping away and he came to Sonic and Shadow.

"Hey, the tour guide said no jumping in the cave." Sonic reminded the echidna, quietly.

"If you only knew…" Knuckles sighed, shaking his head with his eyes closed.

"Knew what?" Sonic asked him, but before Knuckles answered, Metal Sonic spoke.

"You're doomed, hedgehog!" Metal said, pointing a gun weapon toward the team.

"You again!" Sonic said; stepping forward and Shadow stood beside him.

"Oh, yeah, I get around because of my intelligence." Metal said, "And now, as I was saying…"

"They're doomed, remember?" Chaos reminded him.

"Yes, doomed, of course. Like I said before, victory is mine." The robot hedgehog said.

"Victory is ours, so that's me too." Chaos said, a little angry with him.

"Whatever. Let's just do our job." Metal said, and then Omochao came in front of them.

"To purchase a ticket for the cave tour, go to the front desk and a guide will lead you through. It's the best way to learn about caves and underground wonders--"

Omochao was forced to stop speaking when Metal fired the weapon and then without any warning, Omochao was caught in a spider web, which came from the gun weapon.

"Hey, stop that! Let me go!" Omochao said, trying to free himself but it was useless.

"Good shot, Metal." Chaos said, and he clapped his hands.

"Thank you, thank you. I am humbled." Metal said, quite proud but Sonic was furious.

"You must have followed us here and that means Eggman is near." Sonic said, understanding.

"You're right, and now, here is your prize!" Metal said, and then suddenly, both Metal and Chaos fired the weapons toward the team and before they could move, they were trapped against the wall with the spider web wrapped around them, holding them to the cave's dark wall.

"Yuck! This is sticky, slimy and stinky stuff!" Sonic said, trying to fight against it.

"Cut out the stinky and you'll have a lollipop." Tails said, and then he gulped.

"Maybe grape jelly would be better." Knuckles added.

"I was thinking of peanut butter." Shadow said, feeling hunger in his stomach all the sudden.

"You eat what you eat, I'll eat what I like." Knuckles told the black hedgehog.

"Silence!" Metal said, with his voice echoing in the dim lighted cave. "Well, Chaos, it looks like we got them all this time, but I'm almost sure there were a few more."

"There were more and it was the girls. I don't see them anywhere." Chaos told him.

"Oh, it doesn't matter. That pink one always gives me a headache." Metal said, quietly.

"You got that right, buster!" Amy said, as she suddenly jumped from behind a rock and she swung her hammer toward the robot hedgehog, hitting him hard on the head.

"Not again." Metal said, dizzy as he fell to the cave's floor, damaged.

"Amy!" Sonic called, as Chaos turned to the female hedgehog, hissing. Sonic struggled harder to free himself but it was no use. Chaos came in front of the pink hedgehog, ready to attack.

"You are extinct, pink!" Chaos said, lifting his deadly clawed hand to strike her.

But then suddenly, Rouge who was hanging upside down from the cave wall above them appeared and she kicked the enemy down with her white boot. Sonic and his friends watched with total surprise as Chaos fell down to the ground beside Metal and Rouge stood up.

"How's that? Perfect, like me?" She asked, winking her eye and smiling proudly.

"You were great, Rouge!" Amy said, clapping her hands and cheering.

"Hey, you weren't so bad yourself, girl." Rouge said, turning to the pink hedgehog.

Then Tikal appeared and she made the final touches, using the enemy's weapon and so Metal and Chaos were trapped in a spider web together. "How can I make you understand?" Tikal asked, and then she came to the other two girls and they together cheered for their victory.

"This is awful. Girls saved us." Tails said; astonished at what he just saw.

"But I thought we were the heroes." Knuckles said, feeling so small now.

"How humiliating." Shadow whispered, closing his eyes to escape the sight.

"Yeah, shameful." Sonic quietly agreed and he blushed when Amy freed him from the web trap. He stood up and then he freed the captured Omochao.

"Thank you for saving me. I was so scared." Omochao said, very grateful.

"No problem." Sonic said, and he watched as the police took Metal and Chaos away.

After that, Omochao led them through to the end of the tour and the Sonic team enjoyed it. They came to the exit and found the RV, unharmed and so they continued in their journey. There was so much to see and Sonic wanted to see most if not all of it. He was a leader, explorer and a traveler. The RV began to move and it left the area. Meanwhile, Eggman was able to save Metal Sonic and Chaos from jail and again, he was disappointed to meet with failure.

"How could you let them escape again?" Eggman asked, after rescuing them.

"It was his fault!" Metal and Chaos said at the same time, pointing to each other.

"You're lucky I didn't leave you to be jailbirds, but next time, I won't be so merciful." Eggman warned and then he asked them, "How did the hedgehog escape?"

"We did capture him, boss, but I was hit on the head." Metal pointed to it, sadly.

"Yeah, and a monstrous white vampire bat attacked me." Chaos added, trembling.

"How horrifying." Eggman yawned. "We will hunt them down and find them. I will not tolerate any more failures. The hedgehog will be terminated. Is that clear?" He asked.

"Clear as a bell, boss." Metal Sonic replied, nodding his head, yes.

"We understand, master. We will try harder." Chaos told him, humbly.

"Very well. Now with that settled, we must continue and find that RV." Eggman said, and then he drove in his huge truck, following the road with Metal and Chaos.

The Sonic crew in the RV had a safe start to reach safety, away from the enemy but it was only a matter of when, not if Eggman would strike again. Somehow, Sonic knew his foe would never give up but he would keep his friends safe; keep them away from danger because he could never lose any of them. Friends are priceless, and no matter how far Sonic had wandered that is one thing he had learned and never forgot. Leaving the dust behind, he traveled onward.