Chapter #6: A Hero's Duty

10:25 AM

Station Square Train Tracks

Time Left: 10 minutes

The whistling of the runaway train brought Sonic and Knuckles out of their daze, and they jumped away just as the locomotive whizzed past them. As it passed, Sonic saw the horrified faces of the doomed passengers. He gritted his teeth and began to dart after it, but then he heard the voice of Tails call out to him.

"Sonic! Knuckles!" Tails and Cream came flying into view, and they landed beside their friends. "Are you guys okay?" asked the fox, almost oblivious to Metal Sonic's presence.

Cream stared after the train as it continued its unstoppable crash course. "Mr. Sonic, you've got to stop that train!" she pleaded to the hero with "puppy eyes".

Sonic nodded and turned to pursue the train again, but then Metal Sonic's voice stopped him. "Aren't you forgetting a few things, hedgehog?" The robot stepped in his way and held up the brake lever again. "That train can't stop; trying to save those humans is a useless attempt. There are other lives you should be thinking of…like your girlfriend's."

Metal had Sonic's full attention. "Amy?" he said with clenched fists. "Where is she?"

"The question you should be asking is 'How much time does she have left?' Her trap has already started, and she has less than ten minutes to live. So now you have a choice: save your girl, or save those humans? You must choose who lives and who dies. There are lives in your hands…including your own."

"Sonic, what's he talking about?" asked Tails.

Before the hedgehog could respond, the headaches returned, along with pains all over his body. The sudden attack was so great that he fell to his knees, groaning in anguish. When the others tried to help him, he simply stood up and resumed glaring at Metal. The pains persisted, but he did his best to ignore them.

Metal Sonic activated the rockets in his boots and hovered a few feet above the tracks. "You had better make your choice fast, hero! Time is running out…" With a robotic cackle Metal rocketed into the sky; Eggman had ordered him to stay out of this part of the plan.

As his robot nemesis disappeared from sight, Sonic looked down the tracks where the train had gone, his mind racing.

What was he supposed to do? If he didn't stop that train, many innocent human lives would be lost. And he couldn't forget Amy or the poison. This delay could cost Amy her life…and he might not make it either…

Metal's words came to mind. "You had better make your choice fast, hero…"

And suddenly the answer came to Sonic.

He was a hero, and a hero's duty is to help everyone in need, no matter what the personal cost. He had to save both Amy and the train passengers…even if it cost him his life…

He only hoped that Amy could wait, because that train certainly wouldn't.

"Guys, we're goin' after that train!" he declared finally to his friends. With that he sped off, not waiting for them.

He surged around a bend in the track and caught sight of the locomotive. He rocketed past its front, searching for the hole that would spell doom to the humans. Instead he saw a good length of straight track; good, maybe he could push against it and stop it.

It was only when he was straining against the front car did he realize how stupid his idea was. The train was tons heavier than he was and much bigger in size; even though he pushed against it at a hard speed, it generated too much force for him to hold it back very well, much less stop it.

The pains came back again, and he was forced to stop pushing the train. He rushed alongside it, trying to think up a new plan. Suddenly something red dropped from above and landed on the roof of the front car: Knuckles!

"Sonic! Did you try pushing on the train?"

"I did!" replied the hedgehog. "It doesn't work!"

He shouted back, "Tails told me to disable the engine! That should slow it down!"

"Go for it!"

Knux smashed through one of the front car's windows feet-first and disappeared into the car. As soon as he heard the engine shut down, Sonic resumed fighting the train. But even though it was off, the train continued to move.

Knuckles reappeared on the top and called to his friend, "It's off, so how come we're still moving?"

"You expect this thing to just screech to a halt, Knux?" Sonic called back. "It needs some time to slow down and stop!"

The Guardian spotted something ahead in the distance, and his eyes widened. "I don't think we have much time." He pointed a finger. "Hole dead ahead!"

Sonic turned his head as far as he could to see for himself. Ahead of them was the gaping hole that Eggman had blown into the train tracks, and they were headed straight for it. But then he spotted something that Eggman had neglected.

Before the hole, the tracks split into two directions. The hole was on the right turn, and the left led further into the city. The track switch sat between the two paths, with the sign indicating that they would be going right. The sight of the switch caused an idea to pop into Sonic's mind, and he instantly went into action.

The hero turned on one heel and sped forward for the junction, running as fast as his legs could go. He was at the switch in seconds; he grasped it and began to pull it in the right direction. The switch was quite rusty, so he had to put more effort into it. The switch tracks clicked into place only moments before the train arrived. It raced onto them and turned down the left bend, safe from the hole. Inside the passengers cheered.

Grinning with triumph and panting from the close rescue, Sonic ran to the side the slowing train. As he raced neck-and-neck with the front car, he gave his echidna companion a thumbs-up. Knuckles nodded and smiled back.

"Good job," Knux called to him.

"Couldn't have done it without ya, partner," Sonic replied. His words made Knuckles smile even more.

The train pulled into a station close by Emerald Coast, halting in the perfect place at the platform. As the passengers filed out, many praised the two Mobians for their deed. Just as Sonic finished shaking hands with the conductor, Tails and Cream raced up to them, quite relieved to see that the rescue had succeeded without any injuries. The hedgehog and the fox slapped a high-five.

Hidden behind a soda machine, Metal Sonic watched the four, grinning inwardly. "Party all you want, hedgehog, but it won't save your girlfriend," he muttered. Then his wrist communicator beeped, and he spoke into it. "Yes, Master?"

"How did it go, Metal? Did the hedgehog fail?"

"I am afraid not, Doctor. You forgot the train switch, and he used it to send the train to safety."

"Curses! I should have remembered that!"

"But I have some good news."

"It had better be good…"

"The poison is working perfectly; it appears to be attacking Sonic's nervous system, causing severe pain all over his body."

"Ho ho! Perfect! If he decides to rescue the girl, then the antidote will be beyond his reach! And we'll be rid of him once and for all, Metal Sonic!"

"I cannot wait, Master…"

Time Left: 6 minutes