Chapter 49; The hunter's first pray
"Did you pack everything Miles?" Amy asked him.
"Mom for the last time yes I packed everything."
"Your toothbrush?"
"Yes."
"Your toothpaste?"
"Yes."
"Your deck?"
"Yeah! Why are you only asking me? Why are you not asking Aurora and Evelyn the same?" Miles asked her back.
"Don't bother trying to make sense Miles. Women just tend to want to control the situation all the time. So, with this logic your sisters have packed everything for sure while you may have forgotten something." Sonic said joking while driving the family car.
"Yeah but without me you wouldn't even have remembered to bring a single good suit to wear besides your black duelist suit, when we visited Venice for our honeymoon." Amy said with a smile.
"Huh? You went to Venice for honeymoon?! Sooooo romantic!" Aurora said while taking a dreamy look. Miles laughed inside of him. Aurora always found everything very romantic.
"How come you never told us about that mom?" Evelyn asked her.
"I guess we never brought it up. But it was very beautiful. Do you remember Sonic?"
"Of course. I remember especially that day when I stole one of the gondolas from his asleep owner."
Miles' outburst of laugh literally almost shook the entire car despite the fact they were on the road.
"You… you stole a gondola?! AHaahahahah! What an idiot this owner would have been that day."
"Why did you do it dad?" Aurora asked Sonic.
"I wanted to take your mother on a tour around Venice ourselves. And I was a bit exaggerating when I said stole. He never realized it. So we technically borrowed it without his permission."
"I wish my husband in the future does the same." Aurora said while taking the same dream look again.
"Well we're here kids." Sonic said parking the car outside the airport.
The 3 siblings took their luggage and headed for the departures section. The rest of Sonic's friend's kids were already there. Luke and Ruff were posting pictures on Instagram about their journey. T-bone and Marianna were waiting patiently for the arrival of Miles and his sisters. Sonic and Amy left their children at the entrance of the gate of the flight they would travel with and after a long and kind of tearful farewell on Amy's part, she and Sonic returned to the car.
"Our babies have grown and go on journeys of their own. I'm so proud." Amy said wiping her tears.
"Yeah. I remember them being tiny as our palms and now they're almost adults. Time sure does fly."
"Yeah. At least we passed everything to our children. Our characteristics, the game heritage for the most part, our looks. I mean since we're almost elders now."
"What do you mean elders? We're not that old yet."
"I don't know Sonic. I've started to feel like so ugly."
"Come on baby, I've had you in my life for like ever. I can sure tell you haven't lost any for your godlike beauty that I fell in love with along with you."
She immediately kissed him hard. Then she calmed down and they started driving returning home.
"You know it's the first time in years that we will be alone at home." Sonic said realizing that as well.
Amy thought about it for a minute. Ever since the time they were trying for their second child and ended up with twins she and Sonic had hardly any 'personal' time.
"You're right." She concluded.
Sonic smiled in an 'evil' way.
"Maybe we should take advantage of this."
"Hmmm… tell me what's in your mind?"
"Oh. You'll see. I'd rather keep you waiting so you enjoy it much more when the time comes."
Amy felt once again like in her youth; a girl that had just fallen in love. The next 4 days belonged to just the two of them.
Back at the airport Miles and his sisters had just gone through the checking part of the airport. Miles was very relieved. This whole journey with his friends was his idea. But was also nothing more than his first ever criminal hunt. He had come prepared. Hidden in his bag and hidden in a bag made of special material, was his father's gun. He 'borrowed' it in order to track down the criminal that was said to roam in Valenciennes. He and the rest of the singed ones' kids were gonna visit Brussels. He suggested it as a way to escape from routine just for once. But while they were going for tourism, he was going for the hunt. When his bag was checked and the gun wasn't noticed he hardly managed not to look relieved. Afterwards he joined his sisters in the waiting room where his friends were waiting.
"Hey." Aurora said while meeting with Luke and Ruff.
"About time" Ruff said "the boarding process will start soon."
"Sorry. Mom was making sure Miles didn't forget anything. And then had a hard time letting us go." Evelyn explained.
"So did my parents." Ruff answered "Especially T-bone. Dad literally had to distract Mom for her to let him go long enough for us to leave and make it here."
"lol." Miles said.
T-bone and Marianna got up and greeted the Hedgehog siblings. After several minutes of discussing what they were gonna do there, the boarding process began. Miles was showing Marianna about the landmarks of the city when he noticed Aurora playing the romantic chick on Luke. He showed Marianna and they both laughed.
"Does she ever stop?"
"No. She literally is trying to get a memory that is like a romantic movie scene. I know. I read her diary once."
"Hey that was not nice."
"Who said I broke into it? Evelyn showed me."
Evelyn was the serious one of the twins, always having to apologize for her sister's 'romantic' behavior.
Behind Miles were Ruff and T-bone finishing a pack of potato chips while Evelyn was listening to music through her headphones. Once they boarded the plane they decided to take a nap since it was still morning and they needed plenty of energy when they reached their destination.
Back home, Sonic and Amy had decided first of all to meet with the rest of the singed ones who were all having breakfast together at Tails' house.
"How long till the kids arrive at Brussels?" Wave asked.
"Relax Wave. They must have just taken off. It is a 4-hour flight". Knuckles said.
"I already miss my girl." Wave admitted "It will be so long until I can even talk to her let alone see her?"
"What wouldn't I give to join them" Tails said "it would feel like I was 18 a second time."
"Yeah. Those were good times. For the most part at least." Sonic said.
"Maybe we could go on a journey again." Amy suggested "and I don't mean join you on a pro league final."
"Indeed we do need some time off. When the kids are back we are gonna have out turn."
They all agreed and started discussing a possible destination.
Later that day Miles and his friends arrived at the airport and went pick up their luggage. But on the wait for it, Miles was very nervous. He feared the possibility of his luggage falling in the wrong hands by accident and the consequences of his gun being found inside. If that happened it would all be over. His chance to hunt down and put down the criminal who lived at the forest of Valenciennes. Or worse. Realizing the gun was his since the luggage had his name on it. Marianna noticed it but ignored it since his luggage arrived at that moment and he calmed. Afterwards they had a quick lunch. Next they headed to the hotel were they decided to relax for some hours before going out. The boys had one room and the girls another one right next to them. Ones they were in Evelyn sat next to Marianna who had just taken out her deck preparing for a duel with Aurora, crossed her legs and asked her in a funny interrogating tone.
"Say Mari. I noticed you have grown closer to Miles."
Marianna blushed immediately.
"Eeeh.. yeah… we are kind of close."
"Really?" Aurora asked her "You don't happen to have.. feeling for him now do you?"
"Wha..? no of course not. How did it ever cross your mind Rory?"
"Oh too bad. I'm sure you and Miles fit. I hate it when my brother dates chicks from school. They're only into him for being the so called 'duel prince'. That and nothing more."
"Oh… yeah…" Marianna said drawing her 5 cards and blushing like a strawberry.
On the boys room the vibe was more immature as they kept asking Miles about his successes with the girls. Miles of course decided to impress them a bit by giving some false info about his dates. Luke was jealous in a good way of Miles' success with the girls. He had adopted Tails' way of thinking and liked to analyze every move before doing something. He was also a big nerd when it came to studying. He didn't like it, but his willingness to do it because it was his responsibility earned him several well-intentioned taunts from his friends. Ruff was looking up to Miles for his successes but didn't attempt anything. Once he was caught by Miles making out with Evelyn after seducing her and received the ass-beating of his life both literally and in a duel. But in the end there were no hard feelings. Finally T-bone who was only 15 could just listen to his friends. However he and his brother looked like they were in the same age. That gave him an advantage despite not having any adventure with a girl yet.
At about 11PM the boys went outside ready for a night out and waited for the girls who came out at 11:45. After a lot of jokes, they started roaming the city's center in the end choosing to go dancing at a club they saw which seemed good. They paid also for several bottles of alcohol. They stood around the table as the dj was waiting for the place to be filled with people. Miles filled their glasses with beer and made a toast.
"To a journey we will never forget" he said and drank his glass followed by his friends.
Approximately one hour later the music started getting strong and good. The 7 youngsters started dancing. Aurora noticed, while talking to a guy who was trying to seduce her, Marianna looking at Miles flirting with other girls with a desperate face. He informed Evelyn who had taken the chance again and flirted with Ruff. They decided they would interrogate Marianna one of the following days. Miles was dancing at the same time with a girl when he noticed a familiar face in the crowd. He excused himself and hid in the crowd as well while taking out his phone. He went to the pictures and headed to the picture of the criminal he had downloaded before departure. To his shock the person he recognized was that very same guy! He felt his rage once again conquering him.
"He is here" the voice from inside his head said.
But he couldn't attempt to kill him now because the gun was back at the hotel. He saw the guy walking towards the bathroom with another guy. Miles followed them. Then when he reached outside the bathroom he heard them conversing.
"We have to find a way to cross the border with the money."
"I know but we can't just walk through them. The border is guarded."
"There is no possibility they won't search us right?"
"No."
"What if we went by train?"
"And then what? if we stop at the station they will check us upon arriving."
"Maybe jump off the train once we enter the forest?"
"At the train's speed?"
"We'll pull the emergency break. Then once it slows down enough we'll jump off."
"Risky."
"Any other clever ideas?"
Momentary silence. Then..
"Fine but give me one day to pack my staff and the money."
"Ok then. The train station. In two days. Our only chance. First train for Paris."
Miles immediately returned to his friends. He had just developed a simple plan to find and put down these guys without his friends even realizing.
At the same time Amy and Sonic were at their house drinking some wine while watching a movie of Amy's choice. However, she felt uneasy for some reason. Sonic noticed it.
"Hey what's wrong? I thought you loved this movie."
"I have a bad feeling. Like if a storm is up ahead."
"But it's summer."
"No I mean metaphorically. I have a feeling we'll have to fight again."
"What makes you think that?"
"I don't know. I just feel like it."
Sonic caressed her hair and suddenly attacked and kissed her neck, surprising her pleasantly and turning her on.
"Well… let me fix that."
"Be my guest" she responded while they laid down on the couch.
The next day when Miles woke up he looked at the times of the trains' departures for Paris. He found out that the first one was at 9AM and the next at 11AM. So if the criminals took the first route for Paris and jumped off the train when it reached the forest, there would be plenty of time for him to take the next route with his friends and find the criminals in the forest. Then he and his friends spent the next day roaming the city and visiting museums and landmarks. When they returned to the hotel for the night, they all gathered to watch some TV. Miles then took the opportunity to express his idea.
"Hey guys. Have you heard about the abandoned Eurostar train?"
"Abandoned Eurostar train?" Ruff asked.
"There is an old model of the Eurostar train abandoned in a forest in Valenciennes in France. But it is very close to the borders with Belgium." Luke explained.
"Really? That sounds cool." Aurora said.
"Maybe we should go visit it." Miles suggested.
"I don't know Miles. The forest is huge. What if we get lost?"
"Then we should go while the sun is up. That way we can use his position in the sky to direct ourselves. And besides we can just follow the rails and find it."
"You're right." Marianna said while watching a video of the train on her iphone realizing it was abandoned on a rail next to the main line.
"So who's in?" Miles asked them."
They all answered yes. The next morning at 10:30 AM they were waiting for the train at the station. Miles was scrolling through the news and found what he was looking for. Apparently the first train of the day was stopped in the forest next to the borders for an unknown reason. The engineer said that someone pulled the emergency break. Besides this there was no other clue or casualty of any way. Miles looked at the location where the train stopped on the map and realized it was on their way towards the abandoned train provided they walked through the town of Valenciennes into the forest. When they boarded the train he started looking out while his friends were discussing. After a short 30 minute ride they went across the borders and entered the forest. Soon they ran by the abandoned Eurostar train. They were filled with awe and sadness at its sight even after only seeing it for a moment due to the speed of the train. Later they arrived at Valenciennes and left the train. After buying some food for the way to the train and the way back, they walked to the entrance of the forest. Soon they found the rail leading into the forest. They started walking on them. Soon another train came towards them while heading for Brussels. They got off the rails and felt a strong breeze after the train sped by them at 200MPH. Miles took out his cell phone after this and saw they were very close to the place where he would have to start walking into the forest to find the criminals.
"Hey guys I'm gonna go a bit ahead to find the train and make sure there aren't any bad guys or junkies on it. You know how these guys use these places as hiding spots. If there are I'll return. If not I'll wait for you there. Cool?"
"Cool" they all answered. Miles started walking faster.
"Miles!" Marianna shouted. Miles turned to her.
"Take care." She said.
Miles smiled and nodded positively. He then walked in front until he made sure he was too far ahead for them to see him. Then he walked to the part where he knew the criminals jumped off the train. When he got there he saw what he was looking for; a footprint. It was facing the direction of the eastern part of the forest. Miles took out his gun and walked into the woods leaving the rail behind. He felt his will to kill increase. Soon he heard music from somewhere. He went further ahead and saw a small cabin. He felt like he won the jackpot. He went as close as he could. Then he fired a shot in the air. He was sure his friends wouldn't here it. Or if they did hear it they would think it was the train's wheels screeching on the rails. Either way they wouldn't know. 2 men immediately ran out of the cabin and pointed their guns towards the trees. They looked scared.
"Who's there?!" One screamed.
Miles decided to play with them.
"Are you scared?" he shouted creating an echo.
"Who are you?!" the other guy answered.
"DEATH!" Miles shouted again while pointing his gun at the head of the first criminal. He aimed carefully and fired again. The result was instant. The man let out a weird cry of pain and fell to the ground with the back of his skull torn into pieces and parts of his brain landed at the feet of his partner. The latter screamed out of fear. He started spinning looking all directions scared. He had no idea where the bullet came from. Miles then walked slowly unseen towards him.
"I'm armed just so you know!" the criminal tried to intimidate Miles. But it was no use. Miles pointed his gun again at the second criminal's head. However the latter wore a duel disc and, without Miles realizing it and thereby causing him to be unable to react, turned around and fired a rope at Miles' disc which he was also wearing. Miles for one moment felt surprised. That guy was using a police force duel disc which would fire ropes that attached themselves to duel discs forcing them into activation.
"Ho? So you wanna duel me?!"
"Who are you? What do you want from me?" the criminal asked scared "You want the money?! Go ahead take them just let me live! Please."
"You pigs are all the same. You first do the bad thing, then you think you will either escape or be caught and judged. You never consider the possibility of death. But with me here there is no court or second chances! You performed a crime?! You deserve to die! And you WILL DIE!"
"You are a maniac!" the criminal said shocked.
"You challenged me. Very well. DUEL!" Miles said drawing 5 cards.
"DUEL!" the criminal decided to fight drawing 5 cards as well.
"I'll go first" the criminal declared. I set one monster and 4 cards face down. I end my turn."
"Pathetic! You just signed your death contract! I draw! I summon aleister the invoker!"
"I activate solemn judgement! I negate the summon and destroy it for half my life points!" (Criminal LP 4000)
"So pathetic! So predicatable! And so easy to beat you! I activate a trap from my hand!"
"Trap from your hand?!"
"Exactly. I activate the counter trap red reboot! For half my life points" (Miles LP 4000) "It can be activated from my hand! When you activate a trap I can negate the activation. Then you can set a trap directily from your deck! But it doesn't matter. For once this card is resolved you can't activate traps for this turn!"
"What?!"
"Now you're exactly where I want you. In my mercy! And I have no mercy for animals like you!"
"Just because I can't activate traps doesn't mean you will win! If I can make it through this turn…"
"YOU WON'T! IT ALL ENDS HERE FOR YOU! I add invocation to my hand! Then I activate it! I fuse aleister with mekk-knight yellow star! The magician who unites with the elements and the knight of the stars! Now become one and summon the beast of the light! FUSION SUMMON! Come forth! invoked mechaba!"
"Invoked mekk-knight?! You are.."
"That's right! Miles the hedgehog! Sonic the hedgehog's son!"
"Why are you doing this to me?!"
"To fix the world my father is the king of! My dad could easily hunt down and take down criminals like you! And he has before! But he values you and your co-alikes lives! He is wrong! You don't appreciate life! SO YOU DON'T DESERVE LIFE!"
"But I didn't kill anyone! I robbed a bank with my partner yes! But no one was shot! We just took the money and left!"
"You took the money of thousands of innocent families and people! The money they had to live! You killed them! I don't care if you didn't do it literally! You still deserve to die!"
The man tried to disengage the duel mode and ran. Miles immediately raised his gun and shot the guy at the leg. He fell to his knees screaming in pain and begging Miles to stop. But there was no stopping him now.
"I activate the effect of my aleister in the graveyard! i put it back in my hand so invocation goes back to my deck! Next since the are on mechaba's column both him and one of your set cards! I can special summon mekk-knight indigo eclipse! His ability activates! He moves to another column! Then I special summon the same way mekk-knight red moon! Battle! Yellow star! Eliminate that set monster!"
Yellow star attack the set monster. It was dupe frog. This guy was using Paleozoic frog deck. But without the traps it was useless.
"Time to end this! Red moon! Mechaba! Attack him and end this!"
"AAAAH!" (Criminal LP 0)
"And now!" Miles said removing his duel disc, putting away the gun and taking out a knife "you will pay for your crimes!"
"No please!" the guy begged while crawling away from Miles.
"AAAAHH!" Miles screamed as he jumped on the guy immobilizing him. Then he looked into his eyes. To his surprise the pathetic begging look in the guy's eyes slowed him down.
"Please. I got a little daughter. She needs that money. Please. She needs me!"
Miles felt compassion for a second. But then he heard the voice from his head.
"His daughter doesn't deserve a father like this!" Miles' expression became a mask of rage.
"YOU SHOULD HAVE THOUGHT OF HER BEFORECOMMITING YOUR CRIME!" Miles screamed while stabbing the guy at the chest.
The fallen criminal screamed in agony.
"YES! SCREAM YOU GODDAMN ANIMAL! ASK FOR HELP! WHENEVER YOU DO THAT PLEASURE RUNS THROUGH MY ENTIRE BODY!" Miles said stabbing him again and again increasing the speed with every stab.
The guy soon was near death. He grabbed Miles from the shoulder and with the last surge of his power whispered.
"You.. are.. the murdered here."
Miles stabbed him in the face in retaliation while screaming in anger. The criminal's body soon stopped moving. Miles got up and headed for the inside of the cabin. He washed his hands to remove the blood and cleaned up the knife. He then left the cabin with a big smile on his face. His first hunt was complete. And it felt sooo good. He wanted more. He wanted to stab a person in the chest and feel their blood running on his chest. He wanted to look in their eyes as their blood has covered his entire face and make sure they saw the one thing they deserved to see while they were still alive; the face of death. He didn't have the opportunity to do that since he had to meet up with his friends at the abandoned train. He couldn't be seen with blood on his clothes. He headed north for the location of the train. He prayed he made it there before his friends. He eventually came across the tracks again. He followed them and witnessed the abandoned Eurostar train. Despite his excitement from killing those criminals he felt sadness filling him at the view of such a fast and possibly still useful train, be left to rust in the forest. The metal giant had his body painted in many places by graffiti artists. Several of the windows were broken. He stood outside of the train and waited. Another Eurostar train sped by him en route to Belgium. He noticed it was the new model. He felt a vibe like one of those movie moments where the past and the future met. That's what had just happened with the meeting of the two trains. Soon he saw his friends coming from the turn that led to the train. He waved at them and they waved back. They joined with him and them they all climbed the abandoned train. They went through the once luxurious wagons and felt sorrow and a feeling like they were filled with memories of the train. They made it to the engine. There they took photo's in the driver's seat pretending to drive the train. Afterwards they got off and walked by the train heading back. They looked at it one last time and then began the journey back to the town.
"Man. I don't know whether I am filled with awe or sorrow." Evelyn said breaking the silence.
"Yeah it is just pity that this thing was just abandoned here instead of being properly dismantled. It is like being a paralytic and being left to live alone." Luke answered.
"It was still a nice experience though." T-bone said while eating a chocolate for energy.
Soon they made it back to the town. They visited a restaurant to have a proper meal. Afterwards they took the train to return to Brussels. They looked out of the window and saw the abandoned train one last time, silently bidding it goodbye. After another short ride of 30 minutes they arrived at Brussels. They all went to sleep since tomorrow night was their flight for home. Marianna laid on the bed and started thinking about the train once again feeling pity for it. But then she remembered something else. When she exchanged seats with Miles on the engineer's cab to take photos she saw a small red stain on Miles' hand. She didn't give it too much attention at the moment but now that she thought of it better, the stain looked like.. blood! She felt dizzy at the thought. Something had happened to Miles when he went ahead. But before she had any chance to think about it, she was approached by the hedgehog sisters.
"Come on Mari. Admit it. You like Miles don't you." Evelyn asked her.
"What? But I told you i…"
"We both saw the way you looked at him 2 days ago at the club. And we're here for you. We'll help you make sure he gets a crush on you." Aurora said "I already have devised several plans."
"Do they involve romantic moments?" Evelyn asked her.
"Why yes."
"Then she sure is in good hands" Evelyn answered.
Aurora ignored her.
"When we get home, we'll set you on a date with Miles but first you'll need some drastic changes especially in behavior."
"Um… ok." Marianna said worried about Aurora's plan.
Next morning the youngsters left the hotel and headed for the airport. Once there they had their luggage checked. However when they checked Miles' luggage they saw the special material bag.
"Excuse me sir" the checker asked him "Could you please open that bag inside your luggage?"
Miles felt sweat running on his back. He had several staff in that bag. On top were his duel disc and deck and several clothes. Under them was his gun. If they searched the bag and then it was over.
"Sure." He said trying to keep calm.
He opened the bag and the checker took out the duel disc checking if it was some kind of bomb. He returned it one moment later.
"Sorry for the inconvenience sir. Have a nice flight."
"Thank you" Miles answered while his heart beat calmed down.
They boarded the plane one hour later which took off 30 minutes after boarding due to bad weather. 4 hours later they were home. The 7 friends took the train and returned home each stopping at a different stop. Miles, Aurora and Evelyn made it home after a 10 minute walk from the station. When they opened the door they found a note from Sonic and Amy saying they had gone out and if they returned earlier there was food in the fridge. The 3 siblings rested for an hour. Or at least Aurora and Evelyn. Miles was searching in his laptop online for more criminals. He knew that since he had just traveled he couldn't just suggest another journey. He was busy thinking of all that when he heard his parents return. He went to the living room and greeted them with his sisters. During dinner Sonic asked them about their journey.
"It was awesome. I can't wait for the next one." Aurora said.
"I agree. I say we go somewhere tropical after we're done with school." Evelyn suggested.
"And you Miles? Did you have a great time?" Amy asked him.
Miles looked at her for a moment with a serious expression. He recalled all the fun time they had with his friends. But then he remembered the joy he felt when he kept stabbing the knife into that animal's chest. His bulging eyes, full of fear, begging for mercy. He smiled.
"Yes mom. It was great." Miles said already making plans for his future hunts.
Later that night after the kids were asleep Sonic got up to change a shirt and noticed the gun he usually kept on his locker, the same one Miles used, in the closet. Miles had made a terrible mistake when they returned. He was planning to put it back where he got it from but Aurora caught him in their parents' room and he explained he wanted to try Sonic's black duelist suit for fun. Aurora believed him. But he then forgot the gun on a pile of clothes.
"When did i put it there?" Sonic wondered "Hm.. guess I'm really getting old." He said thinking he just forgot where he put it when he came home the last time he carried it with him. Then he returned to bed unaware that the normally fully-loaded gun was missing 2 bullets.
