Chapter 5: No Escape from the Past
March 4th, 2314 – 12:30 PM – Forest outside Erople, Tneicna
On top of the cliffs above the roadway, Sonic and Tails watched the two men in the suits grab Carrie. The tiger and the cheetah started talking, but they were too far away to make out what was being said.
"I'm going to save her," Sonic said, moving towards the edge of the cliff, and getting ready to jump down.
"But Sonic!" Tails said. "They have guns! You could get killed!"
"Tails, I'm going to save her, no matter what you say," Sonic said as he turned around to face the fox. "I don't want somebody else to die because I ran away. I don't want her to end up like your dad."
"Sonic..." Tails said softly.
Sonic turned away from Tails and looked down below. The tiger pulled a revolver out of his jacket, and cocked it. He pointed it at Carrie's head.
"Oh crap," Sonic whispered. "He just pulled out his gun. Time to go!"
He leaped off of the cliff, feeling the brief moment of freefall as the rocky walls whistled past him. As soon as he hit the ground, he turned to face the two cats and Carrie. The tiger still had his revolver aimed at Carrie's head. Sonic acted quickly, dashing straight between the tiger and Carrie. He swiped the gun right out of the tiger's hand, and stopped standing a few yards away from them.
A second later, the tiger realized he wasn't holding his revolver anymore, and said, "What the hell? Where'd my gun go?"
"What just happened mate?" the cheetah said. "You had it in your hand one second ago..."
Sonic grinned, about to collapse with laughter. He had run past them so fast that they hadn't even seen him take the gun away.
Finally, he held out the revolver in his hand and said, "Are you looking for this?"
The tiger, cheetah, and Carrie turned to face Sonic.
"Wow..." the cheetah said. "That kid's got your gun Wallace!"
"How the bloody hell did you pull that one off?" Wallace the tiger asked. "You nicked it from me right in front of my face, and I didn't even see you do it!"
"I'm just too fast for you, that's all!" Sonic said with a grin.
"Enough of this, Wallace," John the cheetah said. "We've got a job to do here. Now get your gun back, kill the girl, and let's be off."
"Right mate," Wallace said, as he started to walk towards Sonic. The tiger towered over Sonic, since he was at least twice his size. When he reached Sonic, he said, "Alright kid, enough games. Give me that gun back, and I won't hurt you."
He started to reach towards Sonic with one massive hand, but Sonic moved so fast that he was standing behind Wallace before he could even lean over to reach down.
"Where'd you go!" Wallace shouted.
"He's behind you Wallace!" John said.
Wallace turned around, and his eyes were wide open in total surprise.
"Totally insane!" he said. "You using some kind of magic on me kid?"
"Never mind mate," John said. He pulled out his own revolver and pointed it at the back of Carrie's head. "I'll just kill her myself."
Sonic dashed straight towards Carrie and John. He pulled a move that his father Swift had shown him how to do a long time ago. He ducked and went into a roll, and became liked a spiked ball rolling along the ground. Sonic plowed right into John, causing him to crash into one of the rock walls and drop his gun at the same time. Sonic quickly swiped the gun off the ground, put it in the hand with Wallace's gun, and grabbed Carrie by her arm.
"Come on Carrie!" Sonic shouted. He started to pull her towards the pathway away from the two gangsters' SUV. "Let's go!"
"Oi! Hold it right there!" Wallace said. He stood with his legs and arms spread out, kind of like a wrestler. "You're not taking her anywhere kid! That girl's gotta die!"
"Says who?" Sonic said.
"My boss, that's who!" Wallace responded. "If she doesn't die, we're gonna be in quite a bit of trouble, me and my partner John are!"
John just moaned out a response from where he was imbedded in the wall, unable to say anything else.
"I don't care!" Sonic said. "I'm not letting you kill Carrie! You better get out of my way if you don't want to end up like your friend over there!"
"I'm not afraid of a little kid like you," Wallace said. "Let's go!"
He charged toward Sonic with a mighty roar, his mouth wide open with his fangs barred. As he was about to reach Sonic, he jumped up into the air. It looked like Wallace was going to try to tackle both of them. However, before he could reach Sonic, the hedgehog moved so fast that he and Carrie practically teleported right behind him. Wallace fell to the ground hard, with massive clouds of dust flying up around him. He growled out his frustrations, and turned around to face Sonic.
"Damn kid..." Wallace muttered.
He charged towards Sonic once again. However, Sonic let go of Carrie, ran towards him, and went into a roll. The impact of Sonic running into him sent Wallace flying backwards through the air. He screamed out in pain, just as he slammed into the side of his truck. The impact shattered windows on the truck, and left a big dent in the metal exterior. Wallace stayed standing up against the side of the truck for a moment or two, before he softly groaned and collapsed to the ground unconscious.
"Wow, so incredible!" Carrie said. "You took out both of those big men like it was nothing! Now I know for sure you're the son of Swift Hedgehog!"
"Thanks..." Sonic said. "I'm glad you're ok. I didn't think I'd be able to do all of that without you getting hurt."
"Sonic!" Tails called out from above. "Is it safe to come down?"
"Yeah Tails!" Sonic yelled back.
Tails jumped off of the cliff, and spun his tails so that he could slowly fly down. Carrie looked at Tails' little flying trick with wide-open eyes.
"Whoa! You can fly with your tails like that!" Carrie said in amazement. "That's the coolest thing I've ever seen! You two are the coolest kids I've ever met!"
Carrie continued to babble on about how great it was that Sonic could take out bad guys, and how Tails could fly like that without wings. However, Sonic simply stood there and smiled, looking at the two criminals he just defeated.
It feels so great, being able to do what I just did and save a life. I feel so much stronger than I did before. I didn't save Kyle, but I can still save everyone else I meet along the way. From now on, I'm gonna help people in trouble and rescue them. One day, I'll even be strong enough to save the world from Robotnik...
Sonic smiled, thinking about how great it would be to take down the one man who'd been responsible for the deaths of his dad, Tails' parents, and countless other people on this planet.
"Sonic? Sonic!" Carrie said, yelling into his ear. "Are you awake?"
That brought Sonic out of his little daydream. He turned to look at Carrie.
"What is it?" Sonic said.
"I was saying, I think we should get the soldiers from the town to come over here and arrest these guys. Then, after that, we can fly on to Nedlo. What do you think?"
"That sounds good," Sonic said. "Let's go!"
The three of them walked back towards Erople. They stopped at the city gates, where a few soldiers were stationed. They were only armed with spears and swords, but they could probably handle a couple of unconscious thugs easy enough. After telling them where Wallace and John were, and handing over the confiscated revolvers, Sonic, Tails, and Carrie got in the Tornado and flew off towards Nedlo, Carrie's destination. It had taken Carrie a little coaxing to get her to ride on the wings, but after Sonic said she could use some rope to secure herself to the wings and that Sonic would hold her hand, she changed her mind.
As they flew on through the air, Sonic said, "By the way, I forgot to ask you before. You weren't telling us the whole truth about why you're here when I first asked you about it, did you?"
"Uh...no..." Carrie mumbled, a bit of an embarrassed look on her face. "I guess the two guys in that truck tipped you off, huh?"
"Yeah," Tails said. "Why didn't you tell us before you ran away? We could have gotten you out of the town a lot faster."
"I was afraid they'd kill you," Carrie said. "I didn't want you dying over me, but boy was I wrong about you. Sonic, you can be my bodyguard any day."
"Heh, thanks Carrie," Sonic said with a grin. However, his smile quickly slipped away. "Anyway, why are those men after you anyway? Why do they want to kill you?"
"I don't have any idea Sonic. If I did, I'd go try to do something about it. But I don't, so I can't do anything except run. This isn't even the first time assassins have been chasing me."
"It's not?" Tails said in surprise.
"No. This is the fourth time in nine years I've had to go on the run again. And every time, I've had to say goodbye to a place that's been my home for at least a year, and to good friends I've made there."
"Nine years?" Sonic asked. "Wow! How old are you now?"
"I turned seventeen in December."
"You've been doing this since you were eight!" Sonic yelled.
"Yeah. The first time assassins came they killed my parents at my old home in Gerrant, which is the capital of Cictra. Me, my brother, and my baby sister got away. I don't know where my brother or my sister is right now though. My baby sister was too little for us to take care of, so we left her with one of our friends' families. My brother ran off to join a gang of bandits, and I didn't go with him because I didn't want a life like that. Even so, I miss both of them a lot."
"That's awful!" Sonic said. "How did you stay alive for so long like this?"
"I don't know how, but somehow I... I have a sixth sense for trouble. I don't know how else to explain it. Somehow, I can tell when the people around me are about to commit a crime, or attack someone. When I have that tingling feeling on the back of my spine, I know that a criminal's somewhere close by."
"That explains why you ran away when we were in that restaurant!" Tails said.
"That's right Tails," Carrie said back. "I don't know where I got this power, but I don't really care as long as it keeps me and other people alive. Anyway, Sonic and Tails, thank you so much for everything you've done for me. If you hadn't come, I would have been shot in the head."
"You're welcome," Sonic said. "Thank you sharing your food and supplies with us."
"It's no problem at all Sonic!" Carrie said. "It's the least I can do."
"Guys..." Tails said. "We've got a problem!"
"What's wrong?" Sonic said, turning to face Tails.
"We're running low on fuel," Tails said with a sad face. "We're going to have to set down somewhere."
"Oh great..." Sonic moaned. "Where are we supposed to find fuel for a plane in a country like this?"
"I know a place," Carrie said.
Sonic and Tails turned to look at her.
"There's an ancient city called Rotisiv nearby that has an airport. It was one of the stops on the route I was planning to take to Nedlo. Tourists visiting Tneicna like to enter the country through there, and that's why it has an airport. We can buy fuel there!"
"You saved us again, Carrie!" Sonic said. "First the food, and now our fuel!"
"Hee, well...you saved me too from those gangsters," Carrie said.
"Head for Rotisiv then, Tails!" Sonic said.
"You got it!" Tails shouted.
After getting the coordinates from Carrie, Tails turned the plane in the direction of Rotisiv, and they flew off into the distance. They'd have their fuel and be back on their way to Nedlo in no time at all.