Chapter Nine: Morning Crisis
Sonic awoke early because of the early morning light, and sat up, blinking. He looked around him as if wondering where he was for a moment, and then he remembered just where he was and stood up out of his bed. He still had his biker outfit on, which was normal for him. He never changed into night clothes before going to bed. As he stood up, he saw the figure of Blaze on the opposite bed and stood there for a few moments, wondering why she was there in the first place. He shook his head and left the room, thinking, She'll be up in a little bit. It's time to get a breath of fresh air.
As he walked into the lobby, the desk clerk asked, "Did you sleep well?"
Sonic replied, "Yeah, I did."
He walked outside and looked around. Nothing was out of the ordinary outside. It was just like any other normal day. As he began to wander around outside, something in his side pocket began vibrating. He reached in and felt a cell phone, which he found odd. He never used a cell phone before. He pulled it out and looked at it. It was registered by Verizon Wireless, and had a text message on it from an unknown sender. It said, "Sonic, meet me in the city at noon near the casino, and Blaze along with you. I have have something I wish to discuss with you."
Sonic wondered who gave him the cell phone, and then put it away, not even thinking too much about it. He instead looked back into the hotel to see Blaze, back in her biker outfit, walking out. Her jacket was now zipped so that none of her chest showed. He asked, "Are you ready for another interesting day?"
Blaze replied, "Yep, I'm ready."
Sonic said, "Let's head back to the city. Someone wants us over there by noon."
Blaze gave him a quizzical look and asked, "Who wants us over there?"
Sonic replied, "I don't know. I just got a text message on my cell phone saying that someone wants us over by the casino at noon today to discuss some things."
Blaze said, "I have a pretty bad feeling that it's going to be a trap."
Sonic grinned and said, "Even if it is a trap, I'm still heading over there. I live for the thrill."
He walked up to the train station, and Blaze said, "Same here."
They both walked up to the train station side by side, nearly close enough to hold hands. Blaze was half tempted to reach up and take his hand in hers, but she fought it, deciding that it wouldn't be a good idea at that point. They got tickets to head back to Station Square for free, and the clerk said that someone had prepaid for their tickets. Now, Sonic was beginning to get a little suspicious that it was going to be a trap, but nonetheless, he decided that he was going there anyways. When Sonic sat down, Blaze sat next to him, which made him wonder to himself, Does she like me more than she let's on? I know I like her a lot...but does she like me?
"I noticed that you're beginning to go everywhere I go," Sonic commented to start a conversation.
Blaze replied, "I just feel a little more secure when I'm around you recently. Also, you did save me back at the mine cart jump."
Sonic said, "We really saved ourselves. Had you not been there, I would have died in that circumstance, or if I had survived the fall, I probably would never have been able to get back out."
Blaze looked at him and asked, "You're sure about that?"
Sonic replied, "That jump was too far for me to jump, even if I propelled myself using my super speed. I needed a little bit more of a boost upward, and your provided it. So, working together, we got out of a situation that would have killed us both."
Blaze commented, "I noticed something last night. We worked together pretty well, despite hardly knowing each other."
Sonic replied, "Eh, I could have done better. I wasn't expecting those guys to be that powerful. I wonder who their master was..."
Blaze said, "Well, whoever it was, they sure know how to put fear into a guy. The man wouldn't even say his master's name, even though he would have lived anyways, whether he told us or not."
Sonic looked out the window, as if impatiently waiting for the train to arrive in Station Square. Blaze said, "Sonic, it's an hour long trip. I think it'll be quite a while before the train arrives."
Sonic said, "I just don't like going by train."
Blaze asked, "Why not?"
Sonic replied, "It's not fast enough. I could outrun this train."
Blaze asked, "Then why don't you?"
Sonic paused for a moment, as if trying to find an answer to that. Then, he turned with a smile and replied, "I enjoy your company."
Blaze was surprised by his answer, but then she just smiled. As their gazes met and locked, there was just a brief moment when Sonic could have sworn that he was about to say that he loved her. However, right as as his lips parted to say something that just instinctively came to his brain, he was interrupted by the PA aboard the train saying, "The train will be arriving at Station Square shortly."
Sonic shook himself out of the sudden daydream he had somehow lapsed into, and looked out the window again. He said, "Now the train begins to arrive...wait..."
He turned to her and asked, "Didn't you say it was an hour's ride?"
Blaze nodded in reply. Sonic's eyes went wide and he looked back out the window. Then, he realized that something wasn't right. He saw someone walk past them, heading towards the engine, and Sonic faintly heard beeping. Blaze heard it too, but she didn't think much of it. Sonic, however, knew the beeping instantly. Reacting quickly, he leaped out of the bench and tackled the man to the ground. He was a human being, meaning that Sonic was a little undersized to effectively wrestle him. However, Sonic did manage to reach into the trench coat he was wearing and turn off the bomb before the man suddenly kicked him back. Blaze had witnessed Sonic deactivate the bomb, and when the man stood up to go after Sonic, she kicked him in the face, knocking him back over. Then she leaped onto him and held her hand, now on fire, up to his neck.
Threateningly, she said, "Make any move, and I will kill you."
The man grinned and said, "You're too late to save anyone."
Her eyes widened in surprise, and then multiple explosions rocked the train. The explosions knocked it off of the tracks, and the whole thing nearly fell off and down to the deep jungle below. People began screaming in fear, and when it finally stopped, Blaze found herself against the wall, the man knocked out cold, and Sonic lying on top of her. Sonic rolled off of her and stood up, looking upward as he stood on the wall. He said, "This is bad..."
Blaze's shoulder was acting up again as she stood up. She said, "How long do you think this train is last?"
Sonic replied, "Not long enough to get everyone off."
Sonic began leaping up to the door using the seats, and Blaze followed. When he reached the door, he opened it and someone tumbled through, only to catch on to one of the seats using his big, gloved hands. Sonic grinned and said, "Long time, no see, Knux!"
Knuckles looked up at him, and said, "Nice to meet you, Sonic, though not the best place for us to meet."
Knuckles was wearing a black fighting gee, as if he was going to some martial arts competition or something. Blaze asked, "How did you end up here?"
Knuckles replied, "I'll explain it all after we get off of this train wreck!"
Knuckles began climbing again, and as Sonic followed him through the open door, he saw the people on board the train all panicking and clinging onto something to keep from falling. He said, "Don't worry! I'll figure out a way to get all of you off of here in a bit. But first things first, we need to secure the train."
One of the people said, "It was a miracle that the whole train didn't go shooting off the edge!"
Blaze came up and asked, "What did you have in mind to secure this train, Sonic? Neither of us are strong enough to hold it in place."
Sonic replied, "That's where Knuckles comes in. Think you can figure out a way, Knux?"
Knuckles gave him a thumbs-up and replied, "Leave it to me, Sonic."
As they climbed to the top of the train, Sonic wondered how long it would take for them to get everyone off of the train and moving back to the city across the train tracks. He turned to Blaze and asked, "If we were to get everyone off of the train and back to the city, how long would it take?"
Blaze thought for a moment, and then replied, "I'd say that, at this rate, it would take us until nightfall."
Sonic said, "Then I have a phone call to make."
As they reached the top, Sonic noticed that most of the damage had been to the bottom of the cars. The bombs had been set under the tracks to blow the train off of the tracks, but the plan hadn't worked as well as the people who had attempted it had probably hoped. Knuckles began pushing himself against one of the cars that was still on the track to keep the train from slowly slipping down. Blaze went back in to escort people out of the train and onto the tracks. During that time, before joining Blaze to help her out, Sonic traced message he had received using knowledge he got from Tails and called that number.
A rather deep voice on the other side answered, "Who is this?"
Sonic replied, "Sonic the Hedgehog speaking. You sent me the time to meet you today, right?"
The person on the other side chuckled a bit and said, "You've got a little bit of skill in tracing calls and messages, eh? That's nice...but why are you calling me now?"
Sonic replied, "The train jumped the tracks, but didn't fall off completely. Me and my friends are getting people off of the train and back to the city, but it is going to take an awfully long time."
There was silence for a moment, and then the person said, "Alright, I'll call a rescue force from on the military branches to have them carry the handicapped and elderly back. Let's arrange another time for meeting, this time at about eight o'clock by the casino."
Sonic asked, "Who are you?"
The person replied, "My name is Shadow. I'll explain exactly who I am later."
Sonic heard a beep, signaling that Shadow had hung up. He walked over to Knuckles and asked, "So, what's going on?"
Knuckles said, "Well, I was blown off course by a short-range missile that turned out to be a dud while I was going towards Station Square."
Sonic asked, "Why were you leaving your island in the first place? Don't you have the Master Emerald to guard?"
Knuckles said, "Well, it's a long story..."
