Good Fortune

The Exit

Sonic, Shadow, Knuckles, and Tails entered the next room and took a look around, doing their normal routine. The first thing that came to Sonic's mind when they made it into the clearing was that the room was especially large, even when compared to the tall room and the jail cells in the beginning.

"How in the world did they manage to fit such a huge space into a cave?" Knuckles asked, almost as if he read Sonic's mind. "This place is massive."

"With all of the places in the world that would make a viable cave system, this wouldn't be impossible. But the idea of putting in cameras, sensors, traps, and all of this other stuff seems like an awful lot of work just to make ten people miserable."

"I doubt that we're the only subjects," Shadow responded as he looked around. "Even if everyone on the planet helped out with the creation of this cave system, it would have taken ages to build. No doubt that they would want to use it on many people."

"Seems kind of sadistic," Knuckles said as he took a walk around the room.

"Well, what did you come to expect?" Sonic said simply. "They definitely did not bring us down here so that they can feed us tea and crumpets. They want something from us."

"Makes sense," Shadow said, searching for the sign that gave out the rules of the room. "They make this sound like one big test. Not only do they gives us signs that explain the trap, but they also explain what the trap means." Shadow looked back at the group. "Teamwork and trust seemed to have been a recurring theme in almost all of the rooms."

"We can work out the logistics of this later," Tails said.

"Tails is right. Someone look for the sign that explains this trap and I'll take a look around." The group nodded and searched the beginning area. Sonic took several steps forward and got a good look of the entire room.

It was a huge oval with a deep hole in the center, resembling that of a generic racecar track. There were some stairs leading upwards on the other side which peaked Sonic's interest. All of the rooms up to this point had been keeping them going in a straight line. This was the first time that he had seen anything that would lead up.

"Sonic, I found the sign!" Shadow yelled. "You're really going to want to hear this."

"I could use some good news," Sonic said. "What does it say?"

Welcome to the exit. If you have made it this far, that means you have learned a lot about the people around you and how to work well with each of them. That also means that you have made it through the most grueling traps that life has perhaps thrown at you.

"You got that right," Knuckles said, crossing his arms.

"I like the sound of this," Sonic said. "I don't like the part about the most grueling traps in my life, but I do like the idea of being next to the exit. Does it say anything about getting there, though? Something tells me that they're going to let us leave lightly."

"There's more," Shadow responded.

In order to make it to your freedom, you must pass this final test. There are several pressure pads on each side of the room. Even one slight push of the pressure pad will set off something that will most certainly lead to your doom. Watch your step.

"Okay, that's a little scary," Tails said. "What did they mean? What's going to come out to kill us?"

"I think I have your answer, Tails," Sonic responded. "Come here everyone!"

Knuckles, Tails, and Shadow kneeled down next to where Sonic was and looked at one side of the room.

"Are those what I think those are?" Shadow asked.

"Train tracks," Tails simply said, essentially answering Shadow's question.

"You mean that there are pressure pads all around these tracks that set off a train?" Knuckles asked. "That would kill you in a second!"

Sonic shook his head. "No, that would kill EVERYONE on the track in a second." Sonic stood up and looked down at the rest of his friends. "Alright, guys. I don't want to get all dark on you right now, but we have to think smart about this."

Knuckles stood up. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, there are two sides to this room and it seems like they're both the same thing. Train tracks, pressure pads, deadly train."

"Your point is?" Knuckles asked.

"My point is that we all should not be on the same pair of train tracks. If one of us slips up then we would all die because of it."

"So are you saying that we should split-up?" Shadow asked.

Sonic frowned. "I-It's just a pre-caution. I have complete confidence in all of you, and I believe we will all make it out of here. But… just in case."

Tails nodded, though he wasn't particularly happy about the plan. "No, we get it, Sonic. Knuckles and I will take one side and you can take this side with Shadow."

Sonic nodded. "Alright, that sounds good."

Knuckles pat Sonic on the shoulder. "I'll see you on the other side, alright?"

Sonic flashed Knuckles a slight smile. "Yeah… I'll see you on the other side, Knux. I believe in you."

Knuckles and Tails left their side and headed for the other side of the room. Knuckles slowly took a step onto the tracks, paying attention to where the pressure pads were. Tails followed him, essentially placing his feet exactly where Knuckles left so that there was no guessing where a pressure plate was.

"I see their technique," Shadow said as he stepped onto the first track as well, avoiding some obvious pressure plates.

"I do, too. I'm guessing you want to take the lead."

Shadow chuckled. "I'm always taking the lead, Sonic."

Sonic rolled his eyes as he followed Shadow's lead. "Oh sorry your majesty. I didn't mean to offend you."

"I find it surprising that you're actually a bit calm when doing this," Shadow said, watching his every step.

"Well, if I start freaking out now, then there is a really high chance of me fidgeting onto a pressure plate," Sonic said, starting to feel a bit more tense. "And I never heard what it's like to get hit by a train. I have a pretty good idea why."

"Don't even think about the train," Shadow replied as he jumped to the next train track. "Think about the exit instead. That's what I'm doing."

"That's what I'm doing too. Getting to the exit is probably why I'm joking around with you in the first place."

"And that's a good thing," Shadow said, nodding.

"I guess I should let you concentrate, though," Sonic stated.

"Don't worry about it, Sonic," Shadow responded. "If it calms you down, then it calms me down, too."

Sonic smiled. "Alright, then. Then I guess we'll make it to the exit in no time."

On the other side of the room, Knuckles and Tails remained silent. Knuckles knew that Tails was probably really nervous about each of his steps, but he couldn't think of anything to say that would make him feel better. Especially since he was too busy concentrating on his own steps.

Eventually, he stopped for a moment and asked, "Are you alright, Tails?"

"Yeah, I good Knuckles," Tails said as he stepped on a track weirdly. "C-can you keep moving?" he asked since he was fidgeting around.

"Sure," Knuckles replied. He jumped to the next train track and kept the motion going. He made sure to turn back to Tails periodically to make sure he was okay, but he couldn't exactly tell how he was doing. In reality, Tails' heart was shooting up and he was starting to get shaky. This was causing him to make mistakes.

After a few more technical steps, Tails landed on a track wrong and nearly stumbled backwards. "Knuckles, grab me, grab me, grab me!"

Knuckles turned around and noticed that Tails was falling backwards, directly onto a sea of pressure plates. Knuckles quickly held his hand out to save Tails from falling and managed to grab him. Though, this didn't do too much good.

Tails' weight was just enough to topple Knuckles over along with him. They hit the ground with a solid thud and Knuckles could've sworn that he heard several clicking sounds. He gasped and waited a moment for what was coming next. It didn't take long.

A big red light on the right side of the room began to flash as a moderate alarm went off.

The train is now arriving!

Knuckles and Tails freaked out, getting themselves up immediately. They turned around and tried to see if they could escape through the entrance, but… what they saw made their faces go white. A gate had already risen from the ground to block them from getting off of the train tracks. The same had been done with the other side.

They had two choices: take the train or jump into the hole in the center of the room.

Sonic and Shadow watched this all unfold. "No, Knuckles, Tails!" Sonic yelled. He instinctively went into hero mode and tried to run and save them, but he didn't pay attention to his own predicament. The first step he took caused him to land on a pressure plate. The similar alarm process ensued on their side of the room.

"Sonic, what are you doing?!" Shadow yelled, as they could hear a faint train horn in the background.

"I don't know! I snapped!" Sonic yelled. He looked around and noticed that they were also trapped and that the train was coming. Sonic looked at the other side as Knuckles and Tails tried to claw their way through the metal bars of the gate. They had no such luck.

Sonic turned to Shadow, looking desperate. "W-what do we do, Shadow?"

Shadow stopped for a moment and stared at Sonic. Sonic's legitimate fear was reflected in his own face. Though, he wasn't fearing for his own life as much as he was fearing for Sonic's life. His look of fear went down to a look of sadness when he eventually said, "End of the line."

"W-what?" Sonic said, gasping. "You're giving up on this, Shadow. You don't have any more plans to help us get through this?"

Shadow shook his head and grabbed Sonic's arms. "We slipped up, Sonic," he said calmly. "It's the end of the line now."

"Shadow," Sonic started. "Please hug me. I really just… need someone to hug me right now as my entire life crumbles."

"I want to do more than just hug you right now," Shadow responded.

"Wait, what?" Sonic asked, feeling almost embarrassed from hearing that from Shadow.

"Sonic…" Shadow said as he looked around. "This might be a bad time to say this, but I literally have no other time to say it ever again. Sonic, I have had feelings for you for the past couple of years and they have not gone away. You would think that I could easily just get rid of them like I would with everyone else in my life, but they haven't gone away."

"What are you saying, Shadow?" Sonic asked, a few tears leaving his eyes.

"Sonic, I love you," Shadow responded. "I just needed to get that off of my chest before I die with y-…"

Shadow was cut off since Sonic pressed his lips up against his. They were like that for a few moments before Sonic separated from him. "I… I've had feelings for you this entire time, too. Everybody kept telling me that I should just tell you, but I was a coward."

"Y-you love me, too?" Shadow stuttered.

Sonic sighed. "'Til death." Sonic leaned forward and gave Shadow a warm kiss.

Sonic didn't know what he was feeling at this point. This was the most emotions he has ever felt all at once. The impending fear of being hit by the train, his heart rushing at several beats per minute, and the warm feeling from Shadow's breath.

Though Sonic could hear the train closeby, Shadow's kiss braced him for the impact.

It never came.