Sonic Series Fan Fiction ❯ Sonic Adventures: "On the road" ❯ Circus Escape ( Chapter 21 )

Chapter 21: Circus Escape

The wheels of the RV turned and turned, around and around until it stopped in Missouri where a city called St. Louis awaited the crew of Sonic the Hedgehog. It was a cloudy day when they arrived but just enough sunshine gave them needed light to see the area and they were surprised. It was actually a nice place to see, nothing like Sonic expected. In need to refill the RV, Sonic as the driver stopped and the others gladly stepped outside to see the great view. After the stop, they came to see the Saint Louis Gateway Arch. The stainless steel structure rises 630 feet high from a 60-foot foundation and spans 630 feet at ground level. They had a wonderful afternoon at the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial Park, and now we will see how they are doing.

"Dog gone it! I think we're lost." Knuckles told the news as he struggled with a map.

"Lost again? Maybe they should call this place Saint Lost." Rouge said, sighing.

"Don't sweat it, Knuckles, we're fine." Sonic said, calmly while looking toward the sky.

"Fine?" Shadow asked him, "Do you remember where we parked the RV?"

"Uh… um…" Sonic began to sweat as everyone looked toward him. "…No." He answered.

"Then we are lost. What should we do now?" Tails asked the blue hedgehog.

"It's okay, little buddy. If anything can be lost, it can be found. Just leave it to me."

"We did, and now look what happened." Knuckles murmured, quietly.

"I heard that." Sonic said, looking right at the red echidna. "Cool it, guys. There is a way…"

"Maybe we should simply find the parking lot." Shadow said, after clearing his throat.

"Right, Shadow. I knew that." Sonic winked his eye. Then he turned to Tails who was now holding the map. "Hey, Tails, can we find the parking space from here?" He asked.

"Sure, we can." Tails replied, but when he opened the map to look, a sudden wind blew it away. "Oh no! That's the only map we have!" Tails gasped, pointing toward the flying paper.

"After that map!" Sonic shouted and he ran with the others following him.

"Strange idea, but the only choice. Follow it and don't let it get away!" Knuckles added.

"This is crazy." Shadow said, and then he joined in the chase for the flying map.

"There it goes! I see it!" Amy ran and she pointed toward the cloudy sky.

"There must be a reason why the wind is blowing in this direction!" Tikal said, running.

"Reason? Ha!" Rouge laughed, and then she began to glide.

Sonic and the other runners were forced to stop when a fence blocked the path. Sonic gripped the chain-linked fence, looking up at the sharp barbed wire above, panting.

"Don't worry, Sonic. I'll get it for you." Tails promised and then, doing his best, he flew up toward the sky and over the high fence to find the missing map, which was needed.

"Be careful, Tails!" Sonic called, gripping the fence tighter.

Above the city, Tails searched the sky carefully with his eyes until he saw paper, falling down toward a building. Tails rushed toward it and he caught it, even surprising himself. He quickly turned back and came to his friends who were all waiting for him to return. "I got it!"

"Good work." Sonic said, and then Tails gave it to him. But Sonic had a confused expression on his face when he opened it. He blinked his eyes, looking again, but there was no change.

"What's the matter? Is something wrong with the map, Sonic?" Knuckles asked him.

"No, because it's not the map at all. It's a brochure for a hotel." Sonic told him, and then everyone fell to the ground, sitting down to release a groan. It was a disappointment.

"I'm sorry, Sonic. I failed." Tails whispered, sadly looking down at the ground and away.

"No, Tails, don't ever say you failed. You did great, and always look on the bright side. If we can't find the RV, we'll know where to sleep for tonight, huh?" Sonic asked with a smile.

"Yeah, I guess so. Then you're not angry with me?" Tails asked, slowly looking up at him.

"No way." Sonic answered, shaking his head. "Everything will work out." He assured.

"Oh, Sonic, look!" Amy said, pointing with a finger. "We could ask that man over there."

Sonic lifted his green eyes to see a man standing on a sidewalk across the street with his back turned toward them. "Okay, we'll give it a shot." Sonic said as he approached. They crossed the street safely after looking both ways, of course, and then they came to the man.

"Excuse me, sir…" Amy said, shyly and then the man turned to face the team. "Oh!" Amy gasped with surprised to see that the man was dressed as a clown. He raised his hand to calm down the surprised female hedgehog and then he made a balloon become a pink poodle. He gave the balloon to her as a gift and Amy shyly took it, smiling. "Thank you." She said, and the friendly clown only smiled, nodding his head, yes.

"Hey, wait a minute. What is this place? Where are we?" Knuckles asked, very confused. To answer, the clown pointed toward a nearby sign, which said: Circus today

"The circus!" The Sonic team said together, surprised at the location. The clown nodded.

"Can you talk?" Tails asked, curiously and then the clown shook his head, no.

"This is nuts!" Knuckles said, turning to Sonic. "You led us into a world of dumb clowns!"

"What could possibly be worse?" Shadow asked with his arms crossed, keeping away.

"Easy, guys, just lighten up. We'll find our way back." Sonic promised them.

The clown listened to their words and he thought for a short moment, and then an idea came to mind. He opened a small gate and stretched out his arms, inviting them inside.

"Sonic?" Amy asked, and then the blue hedgehog turned from arguing with Knuckles.

"What?" He asked, trying to keep his voice calm.

"He wants us to go inside and see the rides." Amy told him, and the clown nodded, smiling.

"We can't now." Sonic refused the offer, shaking his head.

"But he wants us to." Amy said, looking down sadly.

"Well, Amy, sometimes we don't get what we want. That's not the way the world works." Sonic tried to explain, but then he saw Amy's saddened face. Sonic let out a heavy sigh and then he forced a smile to appear on his face. "All right, we'll go and see." He said, finally.

"YES!" Amy shouted for joy, leaping into the air with gladness and excitement.

And so, the team entered the gate and the clown had a surprised look on his face to see a little baby deer walk in last, following the others. It was Freeway, no doubt about it.

= = = = =

Meanwhile…

Not far away, Metal Sonic and Chaos searched high and low for the heroes, but there was no sign, no clue or even a track left behind until finally, a Saint Louis map flew into the face of Chaos, blinding him. He walked until he knocked down Metal to the ground by mistake.

"You foolish fool!" Metal yelled, standing on his feet and pointing toward him.

"I'm blind!" Chaos cried; trying to get the map off and then Metal snatched it away.

"You got that right." Metal said, and then he looked at the map. He opened it, scanning. "Aha! We're very close to them now!" He said, holding the map in his hand.

"Really? How can you tell?" Chaos asked him, confused and wondered how.

"This map has coffee stains on it!" Metal pointed, and then Chaos nodded his head.

"Yep, that's them for sure." Chaos agreed, and then he asked, "But where are they now?"

"We will simply follow the wind in the opposite direction to find them." Metal explained.

"What's the opp-the oppo… The octopus?" Chaos had trouble saying the word: opposite.

"The other way." Metal said, making it simpler than what he first said.

"Oh, right! Of course, the opportunity." Chaos said, still not getting it.

"Never mind, hollow head, let's go." Metal said, and he left with the map, and Chaos followed.

= = = = =

While Amy happily finished her cotton candy, the others shared a bag of popcorn as they watched the colorful light displays of the rides. Sonic was still gazing at the lights as he passed Rouge the bag of popcorn for the bat to get her first share. Rouge took one bite and then she swallowed.

"Hey! This isn't low fat…" She said, and then she continued eating. "But it is pretty good."

"Sonic, let's go on the merry-go-round and ride a horse, please?" Amy asked.

"Well, I don't know. That's not my style to go in circles. I'm a hedgehog, not a hamster."

"Please? Pretty please, Sonic? Don't say, no. Say, yes! Say, yes! Please?" She begged.

"Okay." Sonic finally gave up. "Everyone can go ride, even you, Shadow." He pointed.

"Oh, no I won't!" Shadow shook his head, holding onto a long steel pole.

"Oh, yes you will!" Sonic insisted and he pulled Shadow, but the black hedgehog held on tight.

"Let go, Shadow!" Knuckles called while pulling on Sonic to help.

"No! No! No!" Shadow held on tighter and closed his eyes, refusing to move.

"You're coming with us!" Tails said, and he pulled on Knuckles, and then finally, Shadow fell down backward to the ground with all three of the others, Sonic, Knuckles and Tails.

"You're coming and that's final." Sonic said, and he lifted the black hedgehog to stand. Shadow stood on his feet beside Sonic and then without a warning, Metal appeared.

"Prepare to die!" Metal said, and he pointed a laser gun toward them to shoot.

"Ready?" Sonic asked, and then he suddenly attacked the robot, knocking it down. "GO!" He said to his friends and then they escaped before Chaos arrived, looking for Metal.

"They went that way!" Chaos said, pointing as Metal stood up after the sudden attack.

"After them!" Metal said, and then Chaos ran passed him, knocking the robot down again.

"Whoops! Sorry, Metal." Chaos turned back and lifted the robot to stand up.

"You'll be VERY sorry when I'm done with you! Get that hedgehog!" Metal yelled.

They both ran into the direction of where Sonic had vanished and they stopped next to the merry-go-round ride with music playing and colorful lights blinking. Then to their surprise, they saw Sonic and his friends riding on the merry-go-round horses, having a fun time.

"Yahoo!" Sonic shouted as he rode passed them and the others followed.

"This is so much fun!" Amy giggled with Tikal riding beside her.

"We're going nowhere." Rouge shook her head as she disappeared with them.

"Happy trails!" Knuckles waved his hand and he vanished with the bat.

"And Tails!" The fox said; riding right behind him and behind them all was Shadow. The black hedgehog was rather embarrassed and he snorted before he disappeared with the others.

"That's the hedgehog! Get him!" Metal pointed toward the ride.

"I'm on it!" Chaos said, and he hopped onto one of the fake horses, catching a ride.

"Not that way, you crazy raindrop!" Metal covered his eyes with his hand, ashamed. The robot hedgehog stepped onto the ride and walked to find Sonic, but it was difficult with the loud music, the laughter of children and the bright lights, which seemed to surround him. He shook his head and focused carefully to find his wanted foe, but then suddenly, he heard a voice.

"Wow! Look, everyone! It's Metal Sonic! He's real!" A boy called, happily and he pointed toward him. "You're my number one favorite character to be in Sonic Adventure 2: Battle game!" He said, and stood beside the robot hedgehog without any fear.

"Huh? What on Earth are you talking about?" Metal asked, extremely confused.

The boy's sister approached him, giggling. "I'm Amy Rose! Please kidnap me!" She squealed. And so Metal Sonic became surrounded with young fans while Chaos continued riding.

But it was all in vain, because Sonic and his friends were well on their way back to the RV with the newly found map to help them. They returned back safely and Sonic carried Freeway in his green backpack until he reached the RV and then he drove them out of the city. After the circus escape, the RV moved on to the next adventure that was yet to come. Sonic knew the way.