Winds of Freedom

Chapter 34: A Magical Surprise!

Chapter 34: A Magical Surprise!

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Royale Palace - Palace Halls, Night Hours

Outside the grand halls of the Royale Palace, with the guards still preoccupied in the dungeons, a hidden section of the palace wall creaked open, revealing a secret entrance. From it, our heroes-Sonic, Lilac, Tails, Carol, Torque, Milla, and the two Shang Mu guards-emerged, finally escaping the dungeon.

"Phew, finally out," Sonic said with a wide grin as he stretched his legs. He took a deep breath, the fresh night air washing over after hours in the cramped underground. "I never want to be stuck in a jail cell again in my life!"

"You said it," Lilac agreed, though her focus quickly returned to the task at hand. "Now that we're out, we need to find the planes. They must have them locked up somewhere," she said, scanning the area, the tension still lingering.

Tails, standing beside her, couldn't help but grin sheepishly. "Uh, I think I know how we can find them." With a flick of his twin tails, he reached into the fur and pulled out a small device. "It's a tracker I designed to help me find the Tornado."

Torque blinked in surprise, staring at the convenient device. "You had that this entire time?"

Tails let out an awkward laugh. "Hehe, well, I made it because, uh... Sonic tends to just leave the Tornado wherever, and it helps me keep track of it."

"Hey!" Sonic nudged Tails playfully. "We always find it eventually, right?"

Tails rolled his eyes with a smirk. "Sure, eventually."

Lilac's tense expression softened, her lips curving into a smile. "That's one less problem to worry about. And if the Tornado's here, the yellow plane should be close by too. We'll be able to get out of here in no time-assuming we can avoid more guards."

Everyone nodded in agreement, knowing they were now a step closer to freedom and their next mission.

Carol, licking the last crumbs from her fingers after finishing her snack, turned to the two Shang Mu prisoners with curiosity. "So, what about you two?" she asked nonchalantly. "How are you planning to get out of here?"

Vern, ever brimming with overconfidence, waved a hand dismissively. "Eh, we'll figure it out. No big deal."

"Yeah, somehow we always do..." Leo added with sarcasm "We'll head back to Shang Mu, talk to the mayor, and see what we can do from there. You kids go save the world and all that crap. We're outta here." He gave a slight wave, motioning for Lavernius to follow as they began to part ways with the group, disappearing into the dim palace halls.

Sonic watched them go, his smirk growing wider. "Well, there go the two weirdest guys I've met, and I've met some real characters."

"Ehhh, they were alright," Carol shrugged, though a scowl crossed her face. "Still not forgiving them for breaking my bike, though," she huffed, arms crossed.

"Oh, I'll miss them. They were kinda funny," Milla said with a sigh, feeling a bit of fondness for their constant bickering. They were certainly entertaining, at least.

"They've got their own mission, and we've got ours," Torque said, focused and ready to retrieve their planes, he was more than prepared.

"You said it," Sonic agreed, stretching his arms once more. He glanced at Amy, who stood beside him with her hammer resting on her shoulder. "Time to head out. You ready?"

Amy's face lit up at his words, and she leaned closer to him, her eyes softening with affection. "Oh, with you? I'm always ready," she said with a dreamy smile.