Chapter 10

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[Time - 2:17 P.M.]

[Date - July 1st, 23XX)

(Location - Station Square, Central District, Train Station)

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{Now Departing, Train 06 to Central City.} A female human railroad engineer spoke over the intercom system heard throughout the train station.

Sonic stood in line behind a few people, waiting to get a train ticket from the man behind the glass of the kiosk. He was still thinking about Amy. In fact, since he had left her apartment, she was the only thing that had been on his mind. He felt weird, like his brain wanted things to go one way while his heart wanted them to go another. Trying his best to hold steadfast with his decision, he continued to convince himself that this was for the best. No matter what, he had to keep telling himself that this was the only way to protect her. He had to keep envisioning her face of great fear to repeatedly renew his courage.

"Next…" The guy in the kiosk spoke as the person he had served walked away with their ticket.

'I hope she doesn't hate me now.' He thought as he tapped his foot from having to wait. 'I'm doing this to protect her, not to make her think I'm some sort of mega jerk.' Sighing, he hung his head as he finally admitted to himself that he had no clue whether or not this was actually the right choice to be making. All he knew was that he was doing it; now he had to follow through. It would be super awkward to head back now and admit he was incorrect. 'I guess this makes me stubborn, huh?' He chuckled aloud to himself, receiving a few glances 'Who am I kidding? I know I'm stubborn.' Lifting his head, he stared at the man in the booth as the person worked at registering people's tickets on his computer. 'It's not a good trait, but it's my trait.'

"Next…" The guy in the kiosk said the same thing as he moved the line along.

Moving up a step, only a single woman was in front of Sonic now, so he did his best to keep waiting; despite patience clearly not being a strong suit of his. To cheer up, he started to try and push the thoughts of Amy out of his head. He knew he couldn't stand there endlessly dwelling on how she was going to react to his absence. Doing such a thing would be a complete drain on his already feeble psyche. Shaking his head to sling away the thoughts, he cleared his throat. 'I'll be okay and she will be too. She might be upset, but if she truly loves me as much as she claims to, as much as I know she does, then she'll probably understand and forgive me. After all, it's not like I plan on staying gone forever, just until things cool off with all the local violence toward me.'

"Next…" The guy said with bored suspiration.

"Hi there." Sonic said as he approached the window to the booth. "Can I get a one-way ticket to the Mystic Ruins, please?"

Turning to face the computer, the man's fingers momentarily hovered over the keyboard. "Soonest departure?" He asked. When he saw Sonic nod, he typed in the destination prior to scanning the screen for the options. "You're in luck. The next train to the Mystic Ruins arrives in five and departs in fifteen minutes. Do you want it?"

"Yes, please." Sonic said.

Confirming the destination on-screen, the man in the kiosk replied. "That'll be forty-eight dollars and fifty-two cents."

"For a one-way ticket to the Mystic Ruins?!" Sonic asked in shock over the price.

"Yes, sir." The man nodded his head in acknowledgement over the price increase. "We had to go up on our price since the worker strike forced the union to give us the pay raises we deserved."

"That's ridiculous!" Sonic ranted at the man as he pulled out his debit card, handing it over to him. "They couldn't find funds for your pay raise in any way other than to squeeze a bit more money out of us?"

Taking the card from Sonic, the man shoved it into the card reader as he rolled his eyes at the hedgehog's annoyance. "I said the same thing, but I'm just glad we got a pay raise. It was worth the strike if you ask me."

"Worth it?" Sonic scoffed. "You basically shut down transportation to get a dollar added to your check." Blinking, he suddenly became conscious of how rude he was being. It was unusual of him and he didn't know why. Nonetheless, he tried to apologize for his behaviour so the man wouldn't think he was an asshole. "I… I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I'm just frustrated about something else unrelated."

As soon as the ticket was printed out, the man in the booth gave both the debit card as well as the ticket to Sonic. "Whatever... Next."

Sonic held his tongue, not wanting to say anything further lest he prove right then and there that he was indeed a bit of a jerk. Instead of replying, he just nodded and took the card and papers. Moving out of the way as the person behind him went up to the kiosk, the blue hedgehog found an empty spot on a nearby bench where he sat down. 'I'm so irritable.' He thought. 'What the hell is up with that? Could it be because of that dream I had?' Looking down at his hands, he saw that they were trembling. 'It was so creepy and realistic. Maybe that's what it is. I do think I've been a bit on edge since I had it. I know it was just a dream, yet I can't stop thinking about it… I keep thinking to myself that it might have a bigger meaning.' The only thing he could think of that it could possibly mean is that he has to protect Amy, which simply encouraged him to try and distance himself. Pursing his lips, remembering what happened in the hair-raising nightmare, he wondered if his dream self being forced to hurt Amy subtly meant that he was unwillingly the biggest threat to her life. He wasn't an expert in dream interpretation, on the other hand, it sorta made sense to him, thinking of it like that.

However, he also had an abrupt memory flash in his head of the things he did to her, how intimate he was after she helped him recover from the gunshot wound to his shoulder. All of his thoughts were fleeting. For one minute, he would feel as if he made the correct decision, while the next he's feeling like he made the biggest mistake of his life. Glancing up at the giant clock belonging to the Train Station, he crossed his arms while leaning his head back on the uncomfortable wooden bench. He prayed that any second now he would hear his train approaching the station. For the time being, he tapped his foot, trying to further distract himself from the memories of how beautiful Amy was, how smooth her stomach was or how tight her insides got. Like a series of intrusive thoughts, he couldn't get the encounter to go away no matter how hard he tried.

{Now arriving-...} A woman's voice called over the intercom system there in the train station. {Train 22, for the Mystic Ruins.}

Sonic stood up from the bench, making sure he had all of his stuff before making his way toward the platform where the train would show up. Numerous other individuals appeared to be going to the Mystic Ruins as well, so he had to stand behind them in a neat orderly line. It made it easier on him to not have any luggage to worry about; nothing that he had to check or keep constant watch over to ensure it didn't get stolen. Standing in the line, he heard a train's whistle off in the near distance. Knowing that it was his train, it made him feel better to get the ball moving on this.

Slowly but surely, the train pulled into the station, coming to a halt in front of the platform, at the exact spot it needed to. The brakes hissed loudly as it came to a complete halt. Doors at the end of the train slid open and a horde of humans on the way to their respective destinations came pouring out, all either carrying their luggage, or headed for the baggage checking area. Railroad Workers did their duties by making sure the train had plenty of lubricant, diesel for the alternator and water. It wasn't until all the passengers got off the train that the doors for entry slid open, revealing a conductor. The conductor donned typical attire of said profession, in addition to a ticket scanner in his hand. "ALL ABOARD, FOLKS!"

The group of people Sonic stood in line behind started moving forward, each individual stopping to get their ticket scanned by the conductor. By the time Sonic got up front, the guy was in such a mindless rhythm of drone work that he barely processed who he was looking at, just took the ticket from the blue hedgehog and scanned the barcode. "Your seat is to the left, seat 14A. Enjoy your trip."

Sonic nodded to the guy before walking up the stairs to get inside of the train. Most people were busy trying to get situated; putting their luggage in overhead bins or finding their seats. Hunting for his seat, Sonic noticed it was the farthest down the car, next to the exit door as well as the bathroom. 'Really? Great…' Sonic complained to himself regarding the location. 'I better not be getting whiffs of farts and crap the entire ride. I hate sitting next to bathrooms.' Grumbling, without anything that he could do about where he had to be, he chose to merely sit in his assigned seat instead of fussing. However, as soon as he sat down, he realized now that not only did he not get the window seat as he would have preferred, but he would also likely have somebody else sitting next to him. 'I hate public transportation. If I wasn't so beat up, I'd run to the Mystic Ruins myself.' Scoffing, he waved his hand in front of his face. 'It already stinks in here.'

"Excuse me, young man." An elderly lady said, breaking him out of his vexation. Sonic glanced up, noticing that it was a feeble woman of significant age. She wore a black dress with a classic mourning veil covering her face; it was plain as day that the human had been to or was going to a funeral. "Do you mind if I sit next to you? My seat is 14B."

Sonic blinked a few times as he took in the fact that she was just a widow and not some big galoot who might bother him the entire train ride. The turn of events made him realize that he was once again acting oddly pessimistic. So, to rebuke his current attitude, he lightened up, motioning his hand in the direction of the window seat. "Of course not. Besides, it's assigned seats."

He could see a hint of a smile from beneath the mourning veil as the woman gently slid past him in order to take a seat. "True, but it always pays off to have good manners. It's more comforting than having a stranger sit next to you that you don't know. At least you know I have etiquette."

"Lady…" Sonic said with a long sigh. "People these days don't seem to know what etiquette is anymore. You're right though and I appreciate it."

"Sure thing." Sitting next to him, she stared for a bit prior to asking. "Aren't you Sonic the Hedgehog?"

Nodding his head, instead of looking at her, Sonic watched as everyone proceeded to board the train. He wasn't a big people watcher, but it was better than keeping his eyes glued on an anguished widow for standing out amongst the others. He didn't want to answer her. He was almost afraid that she would tell him something like, it was a family member who died and it was all his fault. For whatever reason though, he ignored the worry and told the truth. "Yes I am."

"It's nice to meet you. My son was obsessed with you." She smiled before her shoulders heaved as she began to cry in lamentation.

Scrunching up his face as he bemoaned his expectations coming true, he surprisingly found himself wanting to be the hero, wanting to know what was going on. Laying his hand on her shoulder, he asked "Are you okay?" The fact that she didn't swat his hand away or punch him in the face meant that he likely didn't have anything to do with her son's death. That speculation turned out to be correct as well.

The elderly lady lifted her veil to dab her tears away with a tissue. "No-… Yes-… I don't know. My son died a few days ago in a car accident." She laughed solemnly, not really finding whatever she was thinking of to actually be very funny; ironic maybe, but not funny. "He liked to race those damn musclecars, doing street races. I hated him doing it and I told him this would happen. The boy was good at it though and thought that might spare him from messing up. I tried to tell him that all it would take is a single mistake and you'll crash, that even professionals make mistakes, especially whenever you're going over a hundred miles per hour just to show off to your friends." Blowing her nose into the tissue, she dropped it into the garbage chute beneath the window. "He loved to go fast."

Sonic's eyes widened slightly and he removed his hand from her shoulder as her words resonated with him. It was almost as if the saddened widow was subtly speaking in a way referring to him as well as her deceased son. "I'm so sorry to hear that." The blue hedgehog expressed his sympathies to her, hoping to provide any level of solace. "I know how rough it can be."

"Did you lose somebody?" She asked with a sniffle as she used another tissue to dab the tears away from her eyes.

Wiggling his mouth side-to-side in advance of nervously licking his lips, Sonic nodded once more in agreement to the lady. "Yes… I lost somebody. It was a while ago, but I lost someone very important, someone who used to take care of me." He didn't know why he was telling her this. In one sense, it was awkward to be telling a random old lady dark secrets from his past. Then again, since she was an individual he'd likely never encounter again amongst a city of nearly three million in population; he decided it might be the perfect person to share things with that he'd otherwise never tell friends. "I never met my mother or my father. They both died in a car accident too. Their van was t-boned by a big truck when I was just a baby. I was in that van with them, but somehow I survived." Exhaling sadly, he combed his fingers through his quills out of frustration from bringing up old memories. "I was rescued by a man who took me in and raised me as if he were my father."

"I-If I may ask, how did that man pass?" The old lady inquired as she continued to wipe away tears that were constantly involuntarily shed.

Sonic shook his head with a sarcastic chortle. "Oh, he didn't die… Worse actually. He lost his mind; wasn't fit to be a parent anymore. It was dementia or something like that."

"Oh my…" She gasped in shock. "Do you still talk to him anymore?"

Sonic shook his head again, but this time more tentatively. "No… He's too far gone. I try to stay away from him; every time I do see him just winds up leading to disaster."

{Now Departing} That same woman's voice droned on over the train station's intercom, loud enough to be heard from within the cabin of the train. {Train 22 for the Mystic Ruins.} From the outside of the train, the whistle sounded, echoing throughout the station. After a different pneumatic hiss could be heard, the train's wheels gradually began moving forward, leaving behind the platform in addition to the station.

"I'm really sorry to hear that." The old lady said to him as she lowered her veil. "Do you have any other family you've been staying with?"

"No…" Sonic immediately replied. "It's just me now. I'm the last of my lineage."

Placing her hand on Sonic's, she gave him a few gentle pats to let him know that it would all be okay. "You're still young. You can change that." Removing her hand, the both of them looked out the window as the train accelerated to full speed down the tracks, making its way toward the edge of Station Square city limits. "Do you have anybody who's special to you?"

Giving a gallic shrug, he pulled his lips back to represent his inability to properly explain it. "I do, but I keep pushing her away to protect her."

Cocking her head, even though he couldn't see her facial expressions from behind the mourning veil, he could tell that she was looking at him funny. "What do you mean?"

He waved her off, suddenly deciding that he no longer wanted to talk about it. "Eh, nevermind. I'm sure I'm just boring you."

"No, go ahead, tell me." She told him with a kind voice.

Not able to resist, he continued his explanation. "I have a dangerous job, miss. I fight bad guys and rescue the world from evil villains. It's not exactly a romantic scenario and it's definitely not safe for somebody that I love to be subject to the insanity I deal with on a daily basis."

"She told you that it was too dangerous for her?" The lady asked.

Sonic shrugged. "Not necessarily, I just know it's true. She's safer away from me instead of being around people who will want to kill her just to hurt me."

The lady continued to be confused by Sonic's answer. It seemed hard for her to understand for some reason. "That is not the best way to look at it, my dear. You might think you're protecting her, but what you're really doing is letting those bad guys win by allowing them to deprive you of true happiness." Opening up her purse, she dug around in it for a bit in advance of removing a wallet. Fingering amongst the insides of the wallet, she pulled out a picture to show him. It was an old picture of a man with a mustache as well as a big smile. "This was my husband, Eustace. It'll be five years since he passed away. I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't had him in my life. He gave me my son and even though they're both gone now, I wouldn't trade the experience for anything in the world. To give up these memories in my head, it would be like them dying all over again. So, for what life I have left to live, I keep telling myself that I gave it my all and got to experience life to its fullest because of that."

"I guess I didn't think of it like that." Sonic wavered again in feeling as if he made the right decision in running away from Amy, avoiding her like a typical scaredy cat that always made excuses to distance himself. His lips curled to one side as his leg shook from nervousness. Watching as the lady put the picture of her deceased husband away, he drove himself crazy in contemplation as to what he could do to implement what she said into his own life. 'I'm always keeping my distance from Amy because I'm terrified that she'll get hurt during one of my battles with Eggman or another jerk. The problem is, she follows me everywhere anyway. So, what's the point of me trying to protect her if she throws herself in harm's way just to be with me?' Eyeing a train conductor as the person walked past him to do their job, he took a deep breath prior to sighing for the hundredth time. 'Am I depriving myself of a one of a kind relationship because I'm scared she'll get hurt?'

"Oh, and honey?" The elderly widow broke him out of thought by pointing to his chest. "Just so you know, your bandages look like they need changing."

Staring down at his shoulder, he saw that there was a gradually growing red spot on the bandages wrapped around the gunshot wound. Grumbling, he stood up. "Sorry about that. I'll try to fix it." Going into the bathroom directly behind him, he closed the door and locked it. As expected, it smelled god awful in there and the toilet wasn't the most pristine of thrones either. Nonetheless, within the tiny bit of seclusion, he merely grabbed a few paper towels, stuffing them beneath the bandages to soak up what bled through. He didn't know why it was bleeding again, but assumed it was because he didn't tie the bandages tight enough for proper pressure. Since he didn't bring anymore bandages with him, his only option was to try and stop the wound from weeping anymore than it already had. 'Nggh… I'm feeling some pain.' Grabbing the medicine bottle from his pocket, he popped the top off. Although he knew he was supposed to wait until later before taking another dose, he didn't care to do so, wanting immediate relief right this instant. 'Whatever.' He told himself in regards to the timeframe, taking a pill anyway.

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[Fifteen minutes later]

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{Now approaching, Stonewall Gardens.} The voice spoke over the train's intercom system. {Last stop before the Mystic Ruins.}

Sonic had long since returned from the bathroom to find the old lady taking a brief nap. He didn't mind the alone time. It gave him a chance to rest his mind as he tried his absolute best to not think about the situation he was in. Looking beyond the lady's sleeping form, staring out the window, he watched as the train pulled into the station at Stonewall Gardens, a twee village bordering the edge of Station Square. He'd been here once before, but there wasn't much to stay for. It was mostly cottages, a couple of businesses and a single convenience store, nothing to gawk at. From the outside, he heard the familiar hissing of the train's brakes being engaged, followed by a loud steam whistle.

Before the train had even come to a complete stop, people were standing up from their seats to get their baggage or recompose themselves, most of them blocking the aisle without a care in the world. The conductor had to squeeze by them to go do his job. As soon as the train halted directly in front of Stonewall's station, the doors behind Sonic automatically slid open. The passengers departing here made their way to the exit, leaving the train. There weren't too many of them since it was a quaint place. On the outside, just like back in Station Square, railroad workers removed luggage from the baggage car while others made sure the train had all it needed to operate efficiently. Families of loved ones met a few of the people who got off the train, most hugging upon being reunited.

"All aboard, folks!" He heard the conductor shout to new arrivals down by the entry doors.

Sonic's leg continued to shake from anxiety as he watched people board the train, all of them either taking their seats or dealing with their luggage. One young man in particular laughed loudly as talked boisterously with his two amigos. It was obvious he was a bit tipsy from booze and everybody knew he would keep being loud since that was likely part of who he was. Thankfully, it wouldn't be much longer until the train reached the Mystic Ruins, so the blue blur wouldn't have to deal with the obnoxious behaviour for much longer.

"Go, Steelers!" The meathead yelled like a drunken frat boy, spinning his ballcap on his head before high-fiving his friend.

{Now Departing, Train 22 for the Mystic Ruins.} The announcement system alerted everyone that the train was about to start up again in order to stay on track.

Sonic exhaled in frustration as he leaned back as far as the seat would go. He wanted more than anything to get off this train so he could stretch his legs. Knowing that it would only be another ten minute ride from here, he stayed calm and tried to keep his mind off of what Amy might be currently doing. The last thing he wanted to think about was how the pink hedgehog might be frantically running around her apartment, freaked out due to his absence. Hoping for the best, he prayed she would sleep until well rested, that way it would take longer for her to notice that he was gone.

Because the train continued to sit still, he noticed that he hadn't heard the brakes engaging, nor did he hear a steam whistle. He figured it might take a minute, but once that minute passed, he started to wonder what was going on. From down the aisle of the train car, two conductors and an engineer came walking by, passing Sonic to head toward the exit door. Craning his head to look at them, he saw that the door wasn't closing like the others. The automatic process that was supposed to make sure the doors slid closed had failed.

"Not again." The conductor said.

"We've got to report this to the Station Square Transit Authority." One of the engineers replied. "I know it's a pain, but this has happened three times now and we can't shrug it off anymore. It throws us off schedule every time."

"I'll make an announcement." The other engineer responded to the situation in advance of making her way over to the intercom system. Tapping the microphone to make sure it was working correctly, she spoke into it. {Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your engineer of train 22. I apologize for the inconvenience. We're having a small maintenance issue, nothing to worry about. We'll make sure to resolve it as fast as possible so we can get you on the way to your destination. Thank you for your patience and understanding.} Following her speech, she hung up the microphone prior to returning to the door that was having the malfunction.

"Maybe you should try to restart the train's systems, see if that clears up the problem faster than just waiting for it to troubleshoot." The conductor gave suggestions.

Nodding, the woman engineer started making her way back toward the front of the train. "I'll give it a shot."

Sonic shook his head at the troubles, but held his tongue, aware of the fact that it wasn't the railroad workers fault that the train was malfunctioning. He glanced over at the old lady to see that she was still resting; her chest rose and fell slowly too, a sure sign that she was in a deep sleep. Looking at others, he saw that a decent few of them were staring at the remaining engineer as well as the conductor, trying to figure out themselves why the train wasn't moving yet. Some saw the issue with the door and realized what was happening, choosing to go back to occupying themselves until the problem was resolved. Low and behold, as expected of someone of such caliber, the rambunctious young frat boy piped up with his own opinions on the matter.

"Yo, what's the hold up!?" The dude said with clamorous gestures.

"We're sorry, sir. The door won't close." The conductor told the guy, hoping that a bit more information would calm him down. "Just give us a minute and it should close on its own."

The moment the frat boy stood up from his seat, Sonic knew that the man's intent was to cause trouble. Bouncing like he thought he was a hoodrat, the dude strolled over to the group, holding onto the seats so he wouldn't fall. "Ight. Let me see em', I bet I can close em'." He spat with quick speech while passing by Sonic.

"I'm sorry, sir." The engineer remained professional as he held up his hand to indicate he wanted the man to stop walking toward them. "We can't allow you to do that. It's against regulations. If you return to your seat, the system should restore itself momentarily and we'll all be on our way."

"Naw…" The doofus waved him off as he kept approaching them, coming up to the door. "I'm like, super strong. I can do it. I won't hurt myself, I promise."

Although they couldn't restrain the man or at least didn't want to do such a thing, running a risk of getting hurt, the engineer plus conductor both still tried to dissuade the guy from what he was about to do. "Sir, please. It's an automatic system. You can't force it."

"Oh, yes I can!" The guy exclaimed before taking hold of the edges of the sliding door.

The conductor took his hat off as he stepped back angrily. "Sir, please! You're going to break it and then we'll all wind up staying here longer until it gets fixed!"

"I… can… do… it!" The fratboy said as he pulled on the doors as hard as he could, his muscles bulging with all the strength in his body.

"SIR, PLEASE!" The engineer retorted. "YOU'RE GOING TO BREAK IT!"

Gritting his teeth and grunting, the guy kept pulling, laughing once he felt the doors begin to wiggle. "Al-...moost!"

Being unable to take the scenario any longer, Sonic stood up from his seat. His fists tightened as he turned to face the troublemaker. Watching the meathead struggle to try and close automatic doors that were stuck as railroad workers attempted to dissuade him, the blue hedgehog felt fury growing within him. It was maddening that certain individuals couldn't do as they were told, no matter how easy it was. Sonic's lip twitched from the sheer madness coursing through him. It was infuriating to know that yet another human was trying to delay his progress in making it to Tails' Workshop. Stomping over toward the commotion, the engineer and the conductor took immediate notice of the blue blur's hostility. As for the backward hatted frat boy, however, he just continued to fight with the automatic door. "Excuse me." Sonic butted into the situation. "I'm pretty sure you've been asked to return to your seat."

Stopping for a moment, the guy looked at Sonic before saying. "It's alright, my man. I'm just trying to fix it."

"No, what you're trying to do is show off to your friends, but what you're going to wind up doing is breaking the door." Sonic stood up to the muscled buffoon's foolishness. "Go sit down."

"I got it, dude." The guy kept saying, not fully comprehending how much he was pissing Sonic off by not listening.

Feeling a guttural growl coming from the depths of his throat, Sonic narrowed his eyes in seething vexation. Heaving a heavy sigh, he groaned loudly. He didn't know why, but for an unknown reason he felt like he was being driven insane by the incessant interruptions to his plan of the day. No matter what he did or where he went, it always seemed as if there were somebody trying to delay the natural flow of his life. Then again, this scenario is just plain ridiculous. The fact that this guy was merely trying to show off to his friends, but would in all likelihood end up making the train take even longer to depart if the engineers had to fix what he breaks; that's absurd. Also, seeing his refusal to listen to anybody made Sonic so mad he fists trembled. "I'm warning you." Was all that managed to slip out of the blue hedgehog's mouth as the fur on the back of his neck began to stand on end.

"I got it." The guy said without any regard toward Sonic's brewing attitude.

"GO SIT DOWN BEFORE I RIP YOUR FUCKING HEAD OFF AND SHOVE IT UP YOUR ASS!" Sonic shouted ferociously at the annoying human. However, as soon as he did, he realized what he was saying in addition to how aggressive he was being. He could feel his chest bowed up without him even consciously doing it. In fact, in a certain sense, he wished the guy would take a swing at him so he could utterly annihilate him. "I'M NOT PLAYING AROUND HERE!" The raving mad hedgehog made the situation crystal clear. "IF YOU SO MUCH AS TOUCH THAT DOOR AGAIN, YOU'LL BE DRINKING FOOD THROUGH A STRAW! UNDERSTAND ME!?"

At first, being yelled at the way he was made the frat boy wanna fight Sonic. The alcohol coursing through his system probably didn't help him when it came to using common sense either. Turning around toward the blue blur, the human's facial expression read fury for a split second until he managed to comprehend who he was talking to. Were it any other regular person, the meathead probably would've decked them in the nose straight away. Nevertheless, upon realizing that it was Sonic the hedgehog and not a random person, he was aware enough of the fact that he wouldn't win that fight to even try. His anger at being told what to do swiftly diminished as he relaxed his fists instead of throwing them. "S-Sorry, man. I was just trying to help."

"They don't need your help!" Sonic interjected, pointing to the railroad workers once he saw that he was getting through to the drunken dope. "They told you it would fix itself automatically and they requested you return to your seat. Are you going to listen to them, or are you going to deal with me? I'm ready for that, if that's the path you wanna go down. But, I'm warning you now, that it won't be pretty."

Staring into the hedgehog's green eyes, the guy started backing off. Although the dude was muscular and young, he could see the flame of madness flickering in Sonic's pupils. Despite being a bit drunk, he knew better than to mess with somebody who looked so enraged they wanted to blow up. "Alright, alright…" The human finally relented at long last. "Don't blame me when it takes another hour for this tin can to start moving again." Walking away, he went back to his seat where his friends were watching him from this whole time. It was probably a bit emasculating to have a much smaller anthropomorphic animal speaking to him in such a way, but he needed someone to put things into perspective for him. "Fucker." He uttered under his breath once he got to his seat.

Sonic eyed the repugnant human, staring him down further after hearing his curse. Nonetheless, without the need to be wound up anymore, he started to calm down. It wasn't worth getting into another argument now that he got what he wanted. Turning around to go back to his own seat, he noticed everybody else on the train staring at him, even the two railroad engineers who hung back to deal with the malfunctioning door. At first, he assumed they were simply wondering what was going to happen next. However, he soon realized it was because they were frightened of him, scared that he was really going to attack that frat boy. Some genuinely wanted to see a cool fight, but the others were terrified he would do exactly as he said he would and rip the guy's head clean off before planting it firmly up his asshole.

Sitting down in his seat, Sonic tried his hardest to ignore anyone who was looking at him. In the end, he didn't care nor did it really matter what they were thinking. All that mattered was that the situation had been resolved. Thankfully, his point was soon proven as the automatic door that was malfunctioning suddenly slid closed on its own, likely due to the first engineer restarting the train's computer system.

{Now Departing, Train 22 for the Mystic Ruins.} The train's intercom system reactivated.

Sure enough, immediately after hearing the announcement, everyone could hear the train's steam whistle going off in advance of the hissing from the brakes. A few people clapped as soon as the train started moving onward down the track, ecstatic that they were progressing along their journey again. Outside the window, the blue hedgehog watched as the train station to Stonewall Gardens slowly disappeared from view.

"I knew it." Sonic chuckled quietly prior to thinking. 'All that guy needed to do was give them more time for the train to fix itself.' Closing his eyes, he decided to get a bit of rest for the next twenty minutes until they managed to reach the Mystic Ruins. In his head, all he could think about was making it to Tails' Workshop so he could have a well-deserved brotherly conversation with the yellow kitsune. 'People are so impatient. They're not even the ones with such important topics stuck embedded into their head. Jackasses.' Opening his eyes for a split second, he saw that there were still numerous people staring at him. He rolled his eyes as he thought they were too weak to try and stand up to the bully like he did. Ignoring them, he closed his eyes again and laid his head back against the headrest.

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[Eighteen Minutes Later]

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{Now approaching, the Mystic Ruins.} The train's intercom system woke Sonic up from his short nap, the voice speaking loudly.

Opening his eyes, he saw that the elderly widow next to him had also awoken from her brief slumber. Looking out the window like she was, they both saw how far away from Station Square they were. Instead of buildings, streets and billboards, there was only nature; not that nature wasn't far more picturesque than a concrete jungle. "Finally." Sonic said aloud before thinking in his head 'This took forever. I'll definitely be running the next time I go somewhere. Trains are just too slow.' Scoffing, he smirked as he continued to stare at the open plateau close to where Tails' Workshop was, then looking over at the lake and cascading waterfall. 'At least I can get plenty of running in out here without worrying about a car hitting me… or gangs attacking me.'

Quickly coming into view was the train station out here in the Mystic Ruins. It was a very old station built well over two hundred years ago, whenever the first of ancient Echidna Civilization Ruins were discovered by humanity; long before modern anthropomorphs came into existence. Constructed out of wood, it blended in relatively well with the surrounding environment, happening in spite of being three stories tall. The old train tracks led to the top tier where the platform was located, downstairs was the station itself and beneath that was a ladder and stairs that led to the docks on the Sapphire Sea. Seeing as how it was a quaint unincorporated county outside of Station Square, the only metropolis around, there weren't all that many people hanging around, even less so than in Stonewall Garden. Considering the location, he had a good feeling that it would be much more peaceful than where he just came from.

Waiting as the train started its deceleration into the station, Sonic stood up to stretch his legs, staying there so he wouldn't be out in the aisle where he'd block people. "Looks like this is my stop." He spoke to the elderly lady who was still taking in the scenery.

"You take care, honey. Remember what we talked about, okay?" Her smile barely showed from beneath the mourning veil.

Sonic nodded as the brakes of the train hissed and the steam whistle echoed off into the distance. "I will. I'm sorry for your loss. Take care of yourself, ma'am."

The woman gave a solemn nod of her own as the train came to a complete halt in front of the platform.

As soon as the train ceased movement, he walked out into the aisle, heading for the exit door. He did, however, stand to the side to let the conductor pass him. Thankfully, it seemed as if there wasn't going to be another train malfunction as the door automatically slid open without a single issue. The conductor was quick to help the few people ahead of Sonic down onto the platform, making sure nobody fell onto the tracks below. Sonic gave the conductor a quick two finger salute before hopping off the train. 'Thank god.' The blue hedgehog thought in relief, nearly willing to kiss the ground. 'I thought I was never going to get off that thing.' He moved out of the way as more people disembarked from the train, but it took him a moment to gather his bearings. Taking a deep breath, he did find the fresh outdoor air to be more rejuvenating than the constant vehicle fumes of the city; not to mention the reduction in noise pollution. 'At least I'm almost there. Tails' Workshop is only a few minutes away.'

Finally, without anything else to get in his way, he felt relief, smiling even, as he envisioned relaxing with his fox brother. His thoughts drifted further away from Amy and more toward playing the SEGA Heroes video game or soaring amongst the clouds in The Tornado. Taking another deep breath of fresh air, he also imagined running to his heart's content, dashing through the Mystic Ruins at top speed without having to dodge anything other than trees. Having finally made it here, he started deciding that he did indeed make the correct decision in taking a break from all of Station Square.

{Now Departing, Train 22 for Green Hill Heights.} The intercom of the train station sounded loudly as the doors slid closed to the train.

Hearing the steam whistle and brakes hiss a final time, Sonic started walking across the platform toward the stairs leading down into the station. In the near distance, he heard the sound of motors starting, but he figured it was either an archeology expedition or perhaps maybe something Tails was doing at the workshop. "This is going to be so good." He told himself as he felt the stress already beginning to melt away from him. 'No yelling or bright lights, no guns, no group of people ambushing me. This is going to be exactly what I needed to recuperate from all I've been through.' Still feeling his lips curled up into a smile, he grew closer to the stairwell that led down into the station. He let everyone pass him. Despite being the fastest on the planet, after all the rushing, he just wanted to take his time. He wanted to see if he could hear the roaring of the waterfall, but all he could hear was whatever those engine noises were.

"What the heck is that noise?" A lady asked as her husband looked around while gathering their luggage.

"I don't know, but it's annoying." The man, her husband responded.

"No kidding." Sonic said in agreement with their frustration over the noise.

Right before coming to the front of the stairwell that led down into the station, the noise of stomping could be heard. Out of nowhere, an entire team of Station Square Police showed up. The cops were part of a unique unit equipped with special weapons and tactical gear; ubiquity known as a SWAT Team. Similar to the ones that showed up due to gang activity at Twinkle Park, this crew had assault rifles as well as ballistic shields. None of their faces could be seen behind mirrored visors. Sonic didn't have the time to react to their sudden appearance before that loud motor noise revealed itself to be multiple police helicopters, all three of which abruptly flew up into the sky above the train station where they could be seen hovering around the blue blur, encircling the area. Lasers from sharpshooters riding the helicopters zoned in on him, targeting his chest.

"SONIC THE HEDGEHOG!" An officer holding a megaphone shouted to him from one of the helicopters while the ground forces filed out of the stairwell, surrounding the blue hedgehog. "THIS IS THE STATION SQUARE POLICE DEPARTMENT! WE HAVE A WARRANT FOR YOUR ARREST! DO NOT RUN! PUT YOUR HANDS ON YOUR HEAD AND LIE FLAT ON THE GROUND!"

The couple that stayed behind on the platform were swiftly escorted away to safety as every other one of the cops that showed up had their sights aimed on Sonic. From a road leading into the Mystic Ruins, a series of police jeeps came out of the jungle with their lights on and sirens blaring. Taking a step back in shock, he couldn't believe what was happening. It didn't make sense for there to be S.S.P.D. officers in the Mystic Ruins since it's an unincorporated county unaffiliated with the city. Nonetheless, having three red dots moving across his chest put things into perspective. These police didn't show up recently, they were waiting for him. This whole arrest had been planned out by law enforcement with extreme prejudice. He wanted to ponder how they knew where he was going to be, but he was far too surprised and in a state of needing to take immediate action that he couldn't spend any time thinking of how this happened.

"THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING!" The officer with the megaphone shouted as the helicopters circled around. Each cop on the ground took a step closer, tightening the perimeter. "Don't do it." One of them said, "Just come quietly, Mr. Sonic." Another tried to convince the hedgehog to go peacefully. "I'm sorry it's come to this." The last replied prior to the officer in the helicopter dishing out the same command for a final time. "PUT YOUR HANDS ON YOUR HEAD AND LIE FLAT ON THE GROUND OR WE WILL BE FORCED TO RESTRAIN YOU!"

'No way.' Sonic's mind raced. 'This can't be happening! I just got here! I just got to where I could relax and now this! Why!? WHY!?' Shaking his head, his breathing increased as did his heart rate. His eyes darted all around, to each and every police officer in addition to the helicopters encroaching upon him like vultures in the sky. 'I've got to get out of here. Who knows what they want to take me in for.' He continued to think as he tried to look for a gap in the police barricade. To his dismay, he was completely surrounded and it wouldn't be easy to escape without being caught or severely harmed. Nonetheless, he knew he had to try. Something inside him told him he couldn't let them catch him; be it because he didn't want to go to jail or because he deeply feared being caught, held down in a way that he couldn't move. Seeing how these cops were prepared to take him to the ground, he knew it would end that way if he didn't fight back or with him in a jail cell if he submitted. 'Damn these humans!'

Gritting his teeth, his leg muscles tensed up as he plotted his path of escape. Unfortunately, it would seem that the police spotted his behaviour, knowing what he was thinking. "DON'T DO IT!" The megaphone officer shouted.

Taking off running without any warning, Sonic ran towards the nearest cop, grabbing his gun, using the leverage to hop up on the officer, jumping off of his shoulders as the man frantically tried to grab at him. The other officers couldn't react in time and whenever they did, since the speedy hedgehog was atop one of their own, they couldn't open fire with their assault rifles. As soon as he jumped off the cop's shoulders and leapt down from the top story of the station, as he fell all the way to the ground, the megaphone officer shouted "THAT'S IT! TAKE HIM DOWN!" A few of the police up on the platform shot at him with their assault rifle, yet he was too quick, even for their bullets. They merely weren't able to move their arms fast enough to aim at the blue blur. "DON'T LET HIM MAKE IT TO THE JUNGLE!"

Curling into a ball to reduce the impact damage from hitting the ground, as soon as he rolled away from the building, he uncurled and began running. Police from the train platform kept trying to hit him, but were still unable. One of the sharpshooters had him in their sights, firing a bullet, but Sonic was simply too fast to be struck by it. He did, however, hear the bullet whizz by his head; the sensation of which only served to make him go faster. All of the police jeeps floored it, accelerating to converge on his location, their sirens blaring amongst the tranquility of the Mystic Ruins. Dodging one of the jeeps, he had to curl back into a ball in order to roll beneath another. He was almost run over, but luckily managed to succeed in coming out from underneath the other side of the jeep.

'Son of a bitch!' His shoulder hurt from trying to maneuver acrobatically. He knew he shouldn't be pushing himself like this, yet he had no choice. Feeling a stitch rip from the bends and turns he put his body through, he knew he was going to be bleeding pretty soon. All he could do was hope he'd be out of harm's way by that point. 'I can't go to Tails now because they'll charge him as an accessory. Fuck. I'm going to have to go into the Mystic Ruins.'

Two police jeeps tried cutting him off, attempting to drift into him at high speed. Nonetheless, Sonic was able to jump clear over them. One of the officers tried deploying his taser, hoping to incapacitate the speedy hero, only to miss. "Dammit!" The cop shouted.

"Screw it, shoot him!" The driver demanded as they took potshots at the hedgehog.

Sonic easily avoided the bullets. On the other hand, he knew that his luck would eventually run out. He wouldn't be able to dodge everything forever. That's why he tried so desperately to make it to the Mystic Ruins, where he could hide much better in the dense tropical jungle, than out in the open like this. 'Almost there!' He thought to himself as he heard another sharpshooter's sniper bullet whizz passed him. 'Almost there!' Dashing to the treeline, his heartbeat raced as quickly as his feet, yet the pain in his shoulder increased as well. All the fatigue he'd experienced was threatening to bring him to his knees at any moment, were it not for the adrenaline pumping through him. 'Almost there!'

"OPERATION MOUSETRAP HAS BEEN APPROVED!" The megaphoned officer riding in one of the helicopters suddenly shouted. "DEPLOY THE HYPER FOO-DRONE NET!"

Those same red dots targeted him as all three of the sharpshooters riding in the helicopters took aim. He couldn't see it from the distance they were at, but this time the sniper rifles were replaced with a weapon resembling a bazooka. Glancing up, for a split second, Sonic saw the helicopters get pushed to the side in mid-air as the sharpshooters fired their newly utilized weapon. Similar to a rocket launcher, the missile from their weapons flew in the direction of the blue hedgehog, obviously equipped with some form of guidance system to keep a lock on their target.

"What the hell!?" Sonic cursed in curiosity as to what they just shot at him. He assumed they were regular missiles, thus wasn't overly concerned since missiles traveled even slower than bullets.

With less than a minute of running needed to reach the treeline of the Mystic Ruins, he was proven wrong as the rockets seemed to break apart three-quarters of the way to him. Instead of explosions, what came out was three orbs from each of the three rockets, equaling out to nine orbs. Every ball suddenly accelerated faster than the rockets went, whirring toward him with a subtle buzzing sound. The blue hedgehog tried to take evasive action once they started surrounding him, but he soon realized they were following and adjusting their trajectory based upon any movement he made. Again, he wondered what kind of weapon this was that had rockets transform into a group of self-aware metal balls. Without a second more to think, the strange humming orbs flashed brightly, with such intensity that it nearly blinded him. Before he knew it, while still recovering from the flash, he wasn't able to dodge the main effect of the 'Hyper Foo-Drone Net'. Each ball released a series of strings that immediately connected to its nearest sibling. Working in tandem, all the orbs connected until what they formed was a giant net. Sonic had only just blinked away the blurry vision when he saw the orbs rapidly retract.

"FUCK!" He shouted as the net wrapped around him three times prior to tightening. The orbs hummed a second longer in advance of cutting off. Nonetheless, entwined by the net at the speed he was going, the velocity made him keep going until he fell to the ground, rolling like a runaway burrito. "BASTARDS! LET ME GO! I'M SONIC THE HEDGEHOG! I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!"

"SUSPECT DOWN! I REPEAT, SUSPECT DOWN!" The cop with the megaphone announced for all in the vicinity to hear.

The police jeeps were quick to converge on his location now that he was immobilized by the weirdly advanced net weapon. As soon as they reached him, the officers hopped out and ran over to Sonic, who was still screaming to the top of his lungs while desperately trying to free himself from the device. "LET ME GO! I'M SONIC THE HEDGEHOG, DO YOU HEAR ME!?" Struggling as the net seemed to constrict even more, he started trying to claw at the netting, but his gloves got in the way. Without any other option to try and free himself, he used his teeth, hoping he could chew his way to freedom. 'I have to get away!' Was all he could think.

Right away, the police officers noticed that the blue hedgehog was making faster progress in chewing through the rope of the netting than anticipated. Thinking quick, one of the cops deployed his taser in order to render Sonic incapacitated. He'd never been tasered before, yet he'd been electrocuted numerous times. As soon as the probes of the taser embedded into his flesh, he felt that familiar yet still highly unpleasant feeling. His muscles expanded and contracted rapidly as the electricity caused him to spasm. His fangs bit into his lower lip, drawing blood. In spite of trying to tough it out, he knew none of this was going to end well. Once they stopped tasing him, he caught his breath in advance of saying "STOP IT! I'M SONIC THE HEDGEHOG!"

"Shut up!" One of the officers shouted back at him as he and several others dog-piled onto the much smaller anthro. "Stop moving!"

"LET ME GO!" Sonic proceeded to scream.

"Spray him!" One of the police officers commanded as they saw the blue hedgehog trying to chew through the netting again. Retrieving a can of pepper spray from off their belt, another officer held it up to Sonic's face prior to pressing down on the nozzle, spraying him right in the eyes with it.

"MOTHER FUCKER!" Sonic screamed out in agony as the pepper spray fogged his eyes. "I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU!" Feeling his eyes water as he coughed from the extremely unpleasant stinging sensation, he couldn't stop himself from trying to get free. Even with blood red eyes and snot dripping from his nose due to the intensity of the spice, he still tried to chew his way out of the net, knowing that to give in would mean giving up. All he could think about was desperately trying to get away from these cops. "THIS WON'T STOP ME! NO NET CAN STOP ME! I'M SONIC THE HEDGEHOG, DO YOU HEAR ME!?

"Taser! Taser! Taser!" Another cop yelled, making the others get off of Sonic's back so they too wouldn't be shocked by the additional deployment of another taser.

"GHAAA!" Sonic hollered in pain as he felt his consciousness slipping away. "S-S-STOP-P-P!"

Despite the small anthro spasming on the ground without the ability to see and hardly able to breathe, the cops continued to assault him, using all the non-deadly weapons they had in their arsenal. "STOP MOVING!" The officer demanded while proceeding to taser the hedgehog until he did finally cease movement. At first, they were concerned they had been too rough on the little guy when they saw him go limp. Thankfully, the fact that he was still breathing meant that they hadn't killed him.

"Don't move!" That same officer spoke as he removed his hand cuffs. "Don't you move an inch!" Approaching their once upon a time hero, several of the cops continued to aim their weapons at the blue speedster, afraid that he was trying to trick them so he could free himself. Using a knife, the officer cut through enough of the net to reach the hedgehog's hands. Locking the handcuffs around Sonic's wrists, the cop waved at the others for assistance. "I need leg shackles too! Let's not forget this dude is faster than anybody and anything on the entire planet!" Upon retrieving leg shackles from one of his allies, the cop clasped them onto Sonic's ankles, making sure that they were adhered onto the blue blur as tight as they could go. Feeling Sonic take a deep breath while the cop had his knee to the anthro's back, the guy feared the hedgehog was awakening from his daze to resume fighting. However, Sonic proved to merely be coughing, unconsciously trying to clear the spice out of his lungs from the pepper spray.

"Do you have him?" A cop holding Sonic at gunpoint asked.

"Yep… He's out." The officer restraining the blue hedgehog replied. "Let's get him to the precinct so we can charge him."

Lifting the unconscious hero up off the ground, as they carried him back to one of the jeeps, all of the police officers sighed as many of them said "Who would have thought Sonic the Hedgehog would become a murderer?"