Chapter 20: Sleep tight

The RV of the Sonic crew drove onward until they finally reached Omaha, Nebraska. It was quiet, a peaceful place to stop and rest after a long drive on the road in the journey. It was nightfall when they arrived, so it was very dark outside when Shadow the Hedgehog looked outside the passenger side window. He noticed that the RV was suddenly slowing down and he turned to face the driver. He gasped when he saw Sonic, driving in his sleep.

"Sonic!! Wake up!!" Shadow called and he gripped the steering wheel in time. He took control of the RV while Knuckles and Tails carried the worn out blue hedgehog to the sofa.

"Huh? What am I doing here?" Sonic asked, sleepily and he turned to see Tails.

"You fell asleep while driving. So, we thought you could rest here." Tails explained.

"I never fell asleep while driving in my life!" Sonic sat up, looking up to face Shadow.

"Well, you just did, Sonic. Now, get some sleep." Shadow said, driving the RV.

"How long was I driving?" Sonic weakly asked, fighting to stay wake, but he was losing.

"Go to sleep, Sonic. It's okay." Tails said, quietly and covered him with a blanket. He watched Sonic close his green eyes and heard him sigh, weakly before falling asleep.

Shadow soon found an RV park to stop for the night, and so they settled down there for the night.

= = = = =

While Sonic and his friends slept that night, they did not know Dr. Eggman was working on another evil plan to destroy them and steal the Emerald from them. While the scientist was working on a new invention, Chaos was busy melting the ice, which Metal Sonic was trapped in, frozen and unable to move. Above all other things, Chaos used a hairdryer to melt the ice, but it worked and Metal soon fell out from the ice, free at last.

"Metal!" Chaos called, shaking the robot to wake up. "Are you alive? Say something!"

When the robot hedgehog gave no answer, Chaos dragged him to the fireplace to warm him up. After a few moments of the fire, Metal lifted his head and his eyes began to glow a bright red again. He stood up on his feet, looking around at the new surroundings of a laboratory.

"Hey, Metal, you're awake! Do you remember anything?" Chaos asked him.

"I remember that you're wrong and I'm right, as usual." The robot replied.

"Oh, boy! You're back to normal! Yippee!" Chaos cheered, gladly dancing around him.

"I think I was better off in the ice." Metal whispered, crossing his arms. He tapped his foot and he wondered where they were. "Yeah, where are we anyway?" He asked.

"I think the Doctor said we're in Alaska." Chaos answered, falsely.

"No, we're in Nebraska!" Eggman said from the table close by, still working on something.

"It sounds the same as Alaska. Maybe they're related, you think?" Chaos wondered.

"No, and I'm sure NOT related to you!" Metal said, angrily.

"That's a shame. We would make swell brothers." Chaos said, and then Metal fainted. "There he goes again, but at least I got him out of that ice." Chaos then covered him with a blanket.

"Never mind that now." Eggman said, and he stood up with his new plan. "I have a new and improved invention that will make the hedgehog have his last nap, because after I used the spare parts of my Weather Disorder, I was able to invent these Sleep Tight grenades."

"That's great, master!" Chaos clapped his hands. "Brilliant plan! Wonderful job!"

"Yes, and so once I find the RV, they will sleep tight for the last time. That will be the opportunity to destroy them all. They will sleep without being able to fight it." Eggman turned to laugh out loud and he was confident beyond any doubt that his idea would work.

"Huh? What's going on?" Metal asked, and he sat up to see a blanket, covering him. "CHAOS!!"

= = = = =

The next day…

After a peaceful night of rest, the team woke up with the sun shining to let the world know a new day had arrived. It was a calm morning at the RV Park where they were staying at the time, and Sonic the Hedgehog awoke at the smell of coffee. He had no doubt that it was Shadow. He did not even have to open his eyes to see. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, sniffed and then he turned toward the small kitchen. Sure enough, there was Shadow, stirring his morning cup of hot coffee with a spoon. He stopped stirring for a moment and only his eyes moved, looking as if he heard something and then he continued stirring until he was satisfied.

"You know, Shadow," Sonic yawned, "Maybe you used to be a red hedgehog and when you drank too much of that strange black stuff, you became black with red streaks."

"But I remember myself as black from the very beginning." Shadow said, and then he blew the hot steam away, sitting down on a chair to read the newspaper.

Sonic shrugged. "Sure you do." He whispered as he climbed into the driver's seat.

"You wanna waffle?" Shadow asked, offering it to him.

"Yeah, thanks." Sonic took it from his hand and they both ate a quick breakfast.

"You want some coffee?" Shadow asked him, and then Sonic choked on his waffle.

"No! Never!" Sonic answered, shaking his head after he recovered.

"Fine, just thought I'd ask." Shadow shrugged and he returned to his reading.

Later that morning, the RV started moving again with Sonic as the driver and they began to spend some time in Omaha together, enjoying an afternoon with a clear blue sky above them. The city's people there were very friendly to them and they even gave them free hats for being good tourists. Sonic had a Texan cowboy hat, Tails had a green jungle hat, Amy loved hers with flowers, Rouge made sure hers had fake jewels on it, Tikal enjoyed hers with a yellow ribbon, Knuckles was a little embarrassed to ware a baseball cap, and Shadow had the strangest of them all, and it was a hat from Mexico. He wore it only to make the Omaha people happy, but he was glad to remove it when they returned to the RV. So, they had a fun afternoon, had lunch together and then we find the heroic crew taking a walk down the town's streets. The girls went window-shopping and Sonic raced Shadow around the place, while Tails and Knuckles finished drinking a cup of soda. The two racing hedgehogs stopped when Metal Sonic suddenly appeared in front of them.

"I'm going to hang you!" Metal threatened, angrily as he remembered what happened before. Behind the robot hedgehog, Chaos and Eggman were seen, back for revenge.

"Oh, look, it's the Gooey, the Bad and the very Ugly." Sonic pointed toward them.

"Which one is which?" Shadow wondered, scratching his head.

"You'll think differently when you know that I have captured half of your team!" Eggman said and he laughed when the girls were heard, screaming inside a nearby abandoned building.

"Guys, let's move out!" Sonic called and he ran with Shadow to find the missing friends. Knuckles and Tails ran, but when Knuckles threw his cup toward a wastebasket, it missed.

"Uh-oh!" Chaos gasped, and he took the cup and tossed it into the wastebasket. But then Metal dumped all the trash into the street and threw the wastebasket on Chaos, covering him.

"What do you care? We're supposed to be evil, the villains, and the bad guys! Get it?"

"Oh, I remember now. I get it, all right." Chaos nodded his head, with the basket over him.

"Stop getting IT and get that hedgehog, NOW!" Eggman commanded, growling.

Meanwhile, Sonic and his crew entered the dark building and they found the girls inside, tied to a wall and Freeway the baby deer was trying her best to chew the ropes to let them go. The girls were still screaming when the team arrived and the boys covered their ears, closing their eyes.

"Gals, we're here, so stop screaming for hearing's sake!!" Sonic begged.

"Oh, that's nice." They said, calmly and the boys shook their heads, no. But before they could free them, Metal and Chaos arrived, standing at the doorway.

"Surrender, hedgehog! It's over for you this time!" Metal said, pointing to him.

"Hey, it's so dark! Turn on the lights!" Chaos said, still in the wastebasket. Metal growled and threw the basket off and Chaos shook his head, blinking his eyes to adjust to the light.

"You embarrass me, no good liquid! Now, throw the grenades!" Metal commanded.

"The what?" Sonic asked and he did not understand what was happening. But he forgot his question when he and his crew were surrounded with white smoke, which filled the room rapidly. Metal and Chaos laughed as they shut the door closed, locking it after them.

"What is this stuff?" Knuckles coughed, falling to the floor with weakness.

Sonic ran all around inside that small building, even on the walls but then he fell down, coughing as the smoke overcame him. Tails fell down beside Knuckles, coughing. The others were already asleep, because of Eggman's plan, which was working as he hoped for. Sonic crawled on his hands and knees, trying to reach the door, but he fell flat on his stomach, closing his eyes. Shadow was the only one left standing and he hurried to Sonic, lifting him up. Sonic leaned against a wooden box while Shadow held him. Both of them were coughing.

"Everyone is down, Sonic! It's just you and me now!" Shadow told him.

"Shadow…" Sonic said, sleepily. "I can't…. Why aren't you sleepy?" He asked.

"I drank coffee this morning. Remember?" Shadow reminded him and Sonic groaned. "Sonic, we must think of something! Don't fall asleep, don't give in, stay awake and fight!"

"I…I can't…" Sonic whispered, closing his eyes, but then Shadow shook him awake.

"No, don't!" Shadow yelled. "Don't sleep! Talk to me, Sonic! Uh… you remember that time we were fighting the Finalhazard and you really were kicking tail? I saw you and so this is nothing!"

"Shadow…I…I…" Sonic then whispered his last word. "Emerald…." Then he was gone. He uncontrollably collapsed into Shadow's arms, asleep like the others and then Shadow was alone.

= = = = =

Outside the building, Metal and Chaos reported the news to Dr. Eggman. "They're all out and counting sheep, boss, but there still remains that black hedgehog." Metal explained.

"Black hedgehog?" Eggman asked, knowing it was Shadow and he thought of it for a moment, and then he shrugged. "Ah, it's nothing to fret about. They should all be down by now."

"Okay, we'll look and see." Chaos said, and then he and Metal opened the door. But they were shocked to see no one inside. The room was empty and the heroic crew was gone.

"It was Shadow!" Eggman angrily growled, realizing it. "He used the Emerald to warp!"

"What a troublesome black wart." Metal whispered; shaking his head while Chaos shrugged.

= = = = =

Later, Sonic the Hedgehog opened his green eyes and his head hurt slightly as he slowly sat up. His vision was a blur at first, but it soon all came together clearly and he was surprised to find himself in the RV, safe and sound. He looked toward the driver's seat and there was Shadow.

"Hey, sleepy head, how are you doing?" Shadow asked, after taking a sip of coffee.

"Shadow!" Sonic shouted with surprise, knowing that he saved them all from danger.

Everyone else woke up when they heard Sonic shout and they ran toward Shadow, very thankful. The black hedgehog was surrounded with hugs. They clapped and cheered for their great friend who was able to rescue them from a horrible fate. It was all in a day's work for him. The RV moved on, traveling to leave Omaha and discover more interesting places, to explore and see things that may have never been seen. Knuckles and Tails were looking at the map while the girls were baking cookies, and then the echidna turned to the two hedgehogs that were sitting up front.

"Sonic, you know where we're going to next?" Knuckles asked him, wondering.

Sonic and Shadow turned to face him, and the red echidna was very surprised to see them each holding a coffee cup, grinning. They both took a sip, making a slurping sound. Knuckles and Tails looked at each other in horror, realizing something. Sonic became a coffee drinker!

"Oh no! Now there are two of them!" Knuckles and Tails gasped, imagining horror music playing in the background, and then the girls looked toward the two coffee drinking hedgehogs.

"I'm a believer!" Sonic said happily as he let his cup touched Shadow's with the sound of a chime. It was easy as finding a dime to know that our great team had more travel time ahead.