Chapter 51; race against time
30 minutes after the realization that Miles had left Sonic and the singed ones gathered around the table in Sonic and Amy's house. Eager to learn what was going on Tails asked first.
"Why did you call us all so urgently?"
"Tails! Miles left the house!" Amy screamed.
"What do you mean?"
"He took some of his stuff and left."
"But that's impossible. He is with Marianna." Jet said
"How do you know that?" Sonic asked him
"Because when we left Marianna was not back yet."
Sonic then lost his color from the shock.
"What's wrong?" Wave asked him.
"She never returned…. Because she is still with Miles!"
"Sonic what you say just makes no sense." Tails tried to make them see reason "you say that Miles left the house and that Marianna is just not home yet but instead with Miles somewhere out there. Why would he leave? And why would she follow him if that's the case?"
"Tails we talked to Tikal the echidna." Amy intervened.
"The survivor of the rider of justice's attack?"
"Yes. And she said that at the nose of the rider's duel runner were painted the letters MTH. Which stands for…"
"Miles the hedgehog!" Knuckles completed her phrase.
"Exactly" Sonic said.
Everyone in the room was left stunned by the revelation.
"But what does my daughter have to do with any of this?" Jet asked immediately
"We know." Aurora's voice was heard from the hall.
"Aurora?" Amy said shocked.
Aurora and Evelyn walked inside the room.
"We – meaning Luke, ruff and t-bone as well – heard all of it. And well… Marianna was in love with Miles for the last couple of months. We've been trying to help her strike a relationship with him. And apparently we did it. Sorry."
"So you're basically saying.. that Marianna followed Miles in a path of blood?" Wave said shocked.
"No! My baby girl would never hurt a fly."
"Actually we have this to share." Evelyn said revealing her cell phone. On the screen was a message from Marianna.
"She sent it just now. From the airport."
The singed ones read the message.
"Thanks for everything. Now I can follow him forever everywhere."
"No!" Jet screamed angry and started walking around unable to process this.
"Jet calm down!" Sonic tried to calm him down. But Jet turned around and punched him with all his power.
"JET!" Wave screamed as she rushed to his side.
"His son is the reason our daughter's gone!"
"She is not gone yet! Jet! Fighting amongst each other won't bring her back to us! We need to go after them!"
"Probably they are planning to travel abroad. Tails. How soon can you have a private jet ready?"
"5 seconds ago." Tails said sending a text with his phone.
"Good. Everyone pack your bags. We're leaving as soon as possible."
"And where will we go?"
"If my theory is true Miles will start killing big game criminals. Meaning that he will probably start off of easy targets. We will need access to police data."
"I can hack them for you." Luke said.
"Definitely no son." Tails said "You and the kids are staying here."
"Miles is also our friend. No. He's like a brother to us. We are coming!"
"I said no!"
"Tails is right kids" Sonic said "Miles has become a cold blooded killer. It will be dangerous for you if you come along."
The kids stopped resisting. Soon afterwards Sonic and the singed ones were at the airport discussing how they would find where Miles and Marianna were heading. However soon afterwards a guard came running to the room where they were.
"Mister the hedgehog!"
"What's the matter?" Sonic said.
"Someone's trying to steal your private jet! We saw several silhouettes boarding with bags. The guard responsible for the jet was found fainted several feet away!"
"Great. More trouble!" Sonic said angry and he started running towards the hangar where the jet was. He made it in time. The rest of the team soon followed. They entered as silently as they could and heard voices from the main room.
"Come on guys faster. If we're discovered it's over."
The voice was familiar.
"That's Luke's voice!" Tails said shocked. He burst into the main room and saw Aurora, Evelyn, Ruff and T-bone sitting in front of a laptop. As for Luke he was at the door of the cockpit.
"Luke Prowers! I told you to stay home with your mother!" Tails screamed in rage.
"And I am old enough to decide for myself whether I will listen to you father!"
"What are you kids up to?" Amy asked them.
"We were planning to steal the jet and go after Miles ourselves." Aurora answered.
"That was a very foolish move on your part. The world is vast and dangerous! You wouldn't make it out there by yourselves!" Amy said angry.
"Mom that's enough!" Evelyn screamed "Our brother is out there and we are going after him with or without your permission! And if you stand in our way we will fight you!"
"Young lady you should know.." Amy started saying but Sonic grabbed her shoulder.
"Amy…. I think the kids are have a point. They should come with us."
"Are you crazy? We have entered a path of blood to retrieve Miles and you wanna bring them along?"
"It's as they say. They are of age. It's their choice. If we lock them at home they will just break out and go their own way again. Our targets are the same. We will need as much help as possible."
Amy remained silent for several seconds. Eventually she gave up.
"Ok. But on one condition. You will do as we say. If we tell you to stay on the plane then you stay here and wait. Am I clear?"
"Crystal clear" Aurora said.
"Good so where are we headed off to?" Tails said while heading to the cockpit.
"We can use the time of Marianna's last contact time to decide which flight they took and go to the same destination" Aurora suggested.
"That's not guaranteed. Maybe you just received the message at that time. We're not sure she texted you at that time" Sonic said.
"But then we got no leads. How will we find them?" Jet said.
"All the kills until now where for the most part burglars and robbers. The bank robber kill was his most serious until now. So he will probably keep this pace. Luke check for bank robberies. Focus in Europe. All the flights around this time were for European cities so he must be heading somewhere there."
Luke immediately took out his laptop and started searching through bank robbery reports. 30 seconds later..
"I got something. Prague. 2 days ago a bank was robbed and the cashier was killed while trying to call the cops. Witnesses said one was muscular and all he did was just collecting the money while asking everyone for some reason kindly not to move. The other one was a thin guy who not only played with the victims who were present in the bank by forcing them to stand naked against the wall but also played Russian roulette with one of them. While he was busy the cashier dialed the police and when he was discovered he was immediately shot. There was a one-minute fight between the robbers but they collected the money and left after this."
"If I had to guess I'd say one is the dominant personality and the other is the subordinate in the team" Amy said thinking "one is just trying to take the money and the other is playing with the victims."
"Luke are there any reports about the testimonies of the victims?"
"Only two spoke. The one described the two robbers. They said that the muscular one had a tattoo on his neck and on his hands. He also had a wedding ring. His face even though it was covered, was obviously not very good looking. The other one was very thin and was also very cocky. Saying things like I'm the boss and stuff."
"So we got someone who does this like it's a game and one who barely is able to. And at least one of them is a family person or just a husband."
"That's barely any evidence." Knuckles said
"We are not after them Knucks. We are after Miles and Marianna. If we can predict where they look we will easily find them. Alright Tails. Let's get going." Sonic said.
"Off we go!" Tails said accelerating the plane and taking off.
At the same time in Miles and Marianna were riding through Prague on Miles' runner. Marianna had actually sent her message from Prague. Miles and she had already found plenty of clues about the robbers' identities. They had stolen a super-secret phone owned by Sonic which could access anything in the world. They themselves had hacked into the bank cameras and saw the whole thing in repeat. Miles saw the tattoo on the muscular guy's arm and realized immediately it was self-done meaning the guy was a tattoo artist. He then hacked into citizens data and found his target. It was Robert Williams a poor man trying to preserve his family whose house was at the brink of eviction. He also found out about his partner Spencer Ratts, also known at the streets as the Rat. According to the messages from Robert's phone (which Sonic's super cell phone could also access) they would have a meeting at the neighborhood where Ratts usually operated as a drug dealer. Marianna was ready for the mission however doubts existed in her heart.
"So where will we find them?"
"Their meeting place is 10 blocks away. They will meet in 1 hour. I'll take the junkie. You kill the muscular."
"About him… couldn't we make an exception? He didn't do it on purpose. You saw the data. He is facing eviction."
"Did YOU see that he has rich parents? If he cared about his family he would have asked for help."
"Yeah.. I guess you're right." Marianna said with guilt in her heart. However she ignored it.
Meanwhile Sonic and his friends as well as the kids reached the same conclusion. Luke's hacking skills didn't grant as much access as Sonic's super cell phone but they proved enough to find the robbers as well as their meeting point. They landed and immediately headed for the city. Unfortunately they were seen by someone. 5 minutes later rumors about Sonic's presence in Prague started showing up on social media which of course drew Miles' attention.
"Damnit! My old man is after us." He said while typing at the super phone.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm texting both of these guys. I'm gonna make sure they meet at the other side of the city. Away from my father."
"Do what you need to do." Marianna said.
45 minutes later Sonic and his friends were waiting at the original meeting place of the robbers. However since the Rat wasn't around as he usually did, trying to find customers Luke started suspecting something was wrong and hacked again the messages. And what he read almost made him drop his laptop.
"WE'VE BEEN PLAYED!" he screamed which drew the attention towards themselves. The singed ones and their kids made a run for it. Once they were safe Sonic was very angry.
"What the hell was that scream for Luke?!"
"Uncle Sonic we're been played! Somehow the meeting point has changed. They will meet at the other side of the city!"
"What?! How?! That's impossible. This guy would never act outside his comfort zone." Sonic said shocked.
"Unless.." Aurora said.
"This is Miles' doing!" Evelyn completed her thought.
"That's impossible. Miles doesn't know programming or hacking. There is no way it's his doing." Amy said.
"Amy…." Sonic said remembering something scary.
"What honey?"
"Did you bring my super cell phone along?"
"I went to pick it up from where you put it and it wasn't there. I thought you took it."
"I didn't! It was missing! Since I don't have it and you don't have it…."
"MILES HAS IT!" the whole group said shocked.
"Miles used the super phone to lure them to a trap. Let's ride! And fast!" Sonic said jumping on his runner. Soon enough they were racing through the streets against time.
Meanwhile on the other side of the city Miles and Marianna were ready.
"I can see the Rat. He looks anxious. Can't blame him." Miles said smiling while loading his gun.
Marianna on the other hand wasn't smiling. Miles wasn't affectionate at all ever since they arrived. During the plane he talked full of love for her but now he was nothing more than a senseless killer. However she didn't have a moment to think about it because Robert arrived at that moment. Spencer approached him.
"What was that idea to meet here Robert?! You know the cops are just waiting to catch me ever since that incident with the tampered drinks I sold."
"My idea? You texted me to meet you here."
"My idea? Are you as idiot as you look? I would never come here when I can have the field advantage."
"Look man just give me my share. I already feel bad for what we did. Let's just take our share and put this all in the past."
"If you have set me up I swear I'm gonna really hurt your wife and son."
"No I haven't!"
Spencer attempted to give him the money when he felt a gun being put at the back of his head.
"Don't you dare turn." A voice said.
Spencer looked at Robert in anger.
"Your family is as good as dead!"
"I didn't call him here." Robert said unable to move from the shock of the unexpected turn of events.
"Actually I was the one to lead you both here" Miles said looking Robert in the eyes.
Robert saw Miles' face and immediately started running. He heard Miles saying "you won't get far". When he turned into a dark alley he felt a bullet going right through his right leg. He screamed in pain and fell to the ground grabbing his leg. Then he saw a dark figure walking towards him from the shadows.
"Who… who are you?" he said scared.
Meanwhile Miles was still pointing his gun at Spencer's head.
"It's judgement day you bastard" he said trying to scare him.
"You think you can scare me rider of justice?"
"Interesting. You know who I am."
"News spread fast. I knew you would eventually come for me. But I have news for you. I don't care what you do to me. I have no regrets for what I did."
"That's the first time I catch someone who doesn't cry and ask for mercy."
"If you don't do interesting things in life then it is a wasted life. You and I are not so different. I hurt people for fun. You hurt people this way too. Maybe we should…" but he never got to finish the sentence because Miles immediately shot him through the chest. Spencer couldn't even feel the pain from the shock. He heard Miles saying… "I hurt people like you to protect the rest" and then walking away. He realized what was coming next. A duel runner's lights were lit. Spencer started laughing like a maniac while his head was torn to shreds by Miles' runner's wheels.
Sonic and the group heard the gunshot and the runner sound. They split and started searching. Sonic and Amy found Spencer's body immediately. Amy was horrified by Miles' doing. Sonic contacted the rest of the team but what he heard was that the kids ran off while they were searching, despite their promise to do as they are told. They immediately started searching for them knowing that they would chase after their friends.
While all this was unfolding Marianna was targeting Robert with her gun.
"Please. Don't kill me." Robert begged her "I only did what I did to protect my family."
"You have rich parents don't you?"
"We are not in talking terms. They hate me for not marrying the woman they wanted me to. They wouldn't help me."
"There is no way they wouldn't help their grandson. You had your chance. Now is judgement time."
"Please. I beg you. They need me."
Marianna hated herself for what she did next.
"Maybe. But justice must be served."
"If you are not the rider of justice who are you?"
Marianna put the gun on the guy's forehead.
"The sky striker" she said pulling the trigger.
The gunshot was heard by the twins. They immediately rushed to the location they heard the gunshot from and saw their friend with the gun pointed where Robert's head once was. He was now lying on the ground with his head shattered into hundreds of pieces.
"Marie…." Aurora said unable to utter any more words.
She turned around and saw them.
"Hey girls."
"What have you done?" Evelyn said.
"I serve justice. Along with my love."
"Don't you see Miles isn't ok? I don't know about his feelings but either way he is using you."
"He is not using me. I chose to follow him."
"Look into my eyes Marie and tell me! Did you choose it? Did you?!" Evelyn screamed.
Marianna felt the pressure building up. She wanted to scream yes but something wouldn't let her.
At that very moment a duel runner's headlights flooded the scene. Aurora and Evelyn dodged the oncoming runner which stopped in front of Marianna. She jumped behind Miles who looked at his sisters for one second and then accelerated. In a few moments he was gone.
Evelyn and Aurora heard the police on the way so they ran and informed the singed ones they would meet them back at the plane. 1 hour later after they all were ok, Amy slapped both of her daughters for disobeying.
"YOU PROMISED ME YOU WOULD DO WHAT WE SAY!"
"Mom I'm sorry. It was my idea." Aurora said.
"No it was mine." Evelyn intervened.
"No ours." Ruff and T-bone said as well.
"They're all lying. I thought of it." Luke tried to take the blame.
"IT DOESN'T MATTER WHO THOUGHT OF IT!" Sonic screamed silencing everyone "What you did tonight was very dangerous. Miles and Marianna are now both killers. What if they had hurt you?"
"Hey! She is still my daughter!" Jet tried to intervene but Wave held him back.
"Marianna is not doing this on her own free will. I don't know if Miles threatened her or is manipulating her but she didn't choose to follow him." Aurora said.
"Maybe her feelings are pushing her." Luke tried to explain "Didn't she say she can follow him forever everywhere? She is afraid she might lose him."
"It still doesn't change the fact she is following him." Tails said.
"Apparently it does." Amy muttered.
Everyone looked at her.
"Back when I and Sonic first fell in love I also wanted to try and protect him. My feelings were pushing me to do it. I never got a chance though but it still proves the power of feelings."
"So you are saying she is too blinded by love to see the truth."
"Maybe there is something else." Sonic said "Kids go and buy something to eat from the fast food inside the airport. We have something to discuss." he ordered them.
The kids left but waited on the entrance of the plane despite the freezing cold outside of the plane.
"I've been feeling some anomalies in my mark lately" they heard Sonic's voice "Like if someone is using its power."
"This doesn't make sense. I thought the dragon's power was dead. We haven't felt anything in years." Knuckles said.
"I've been feeling my blue-eyes white dragons' energies kind of weird too. As if they are sensing some kind of danger." Wave mentioned.
"What could this mean? That Miles is under someone's control?"
"No it can't be. We are the only ones left who know of the lunar dragon's existence." Tails said.
"Unless… Miles is tapping into the dragon's power."
"But that's impossible. We checked it upon their birth. We were considering the possibility that they would inherit our powers." Amy remembered.
At that point Aurora and Evelyn had had enough and burst into the room.
"What is that all about?" Evelyn screamed.
"Didn't I tell you to go to the fast food?!" Sonic said angry.
"That's not the point dad! What is all that about dragons and powers?! What are you hiding from us?!" she said.
Sonic looked at his daughters as well as Luke Ruff and T-bone who entered as well.
"Fine. I'll tell you the truth."
"Sonic no. They are kids."
"Mother enough! It's about time you treat us as adults! I don't care if we're not 18 yet! We demand the truth!" Aurora said silencing Amy.
Sonic took the chance to start talking.
"Long ago back when we were about your age… our lives changed drastically through dueling. We awakened a dragon god who gave us powers. We originally received our powers in order to save Tails from his anger about being unable to beat me. After the duel when I became champion…. Tails was freed of the darkness in his heart and the power of the lunar dragon ours to wield as we liked. Later on I and your mother saved the world of spirits as well as the future."
"This all only sounds like a story out of a science fiction book." Luke stated.
"It's true son" Tails answered "Sonic and Amy were gone for days from this dimension."
"We traveled to the future and saved it from an evil descendant of mine. That's when I acquired my black feather sky ruler dragon changing the timeline. Now the future is unknown to us. Several years later soon after your mother and I married there was another incident. The lunar dragon's power extender millennia ago. Incarnations of me Tails and the rest of us existed in all times. One of them was ancient Egypt. That was when an incarnation of mine was sealed into a pendant after the fight with that time's Tails. We set him free by finding the 3 illusionary beasts. Also known as…"
"The Egyptian gods! The legendary cards owned by you! Dad told us stories about those monsters!" Ruff said in awe.
"Yes. Them. After that incident I wasn't only the leader of the singed once -us- but also the vessel of the lunar dragon himself. And now… years after…. I've been feeling this" he showed the kids his mark "again. It has been years since the last time. And it's not the usual feeling. It's weird. Distorted."
"What if" T-bone guessed "Your powers have been passed down to us but we couldn't tap into them because we weren't at the age you received them yet?"
"That's a possible theory." Jet said "Does that mean that Marianna is being controlled by the dragon?"
"Maybe."
"Then try to set her free."
"I can't control people Jet. I am not that powerful."
"You are technically the god of this world. Try!"
"Even if I can break the spell that possibly controls her I cannot stop her from being affected again. She must break free herself."
"Ok that's good and all you know the history lesson, but we still have not made any progress in getting Miles and Marianna back. They're still out there. And maybe even on their way somewhere else."
"We will chase them until we can find how to stop them." Sonic said.
At that moment the lights of the plane started twitching. The tv on the wall opened. On the screen was Miles' face.
"Miles!" Amy said in shock.
"How cute! You will chase us! But you'll never catch us! Because we have a sacred mission! To make this world a safer place!"
"Miles listen to yourself! The world won't become a safer place by eliminating humans! Please son. Come back! Before things get out of control."
"No dad. It's over. If you won't clean this world then I will! No one will suffer the way I did! No one! So let's see who will be the real hero! The black duelist or the rider of justice?!" Miles screamed before shutting the TV. He has used the super phone to connect the duel runner's screen with the plane's TV. Afterwards he accelerated once again with Marianna still behind him in search for new targets.
Back at the plane Sonic was in shock. Not because of Miles' statements but because the moment Miles challenged him he felt a surge of power moving through his body and saw his mark shining. It was official. The lunar dragon was awakened again. The war had begun. And Sonic feared it wouldn't end well.
