Chapter #5: Enter the Blue Blur
In a desperate attempt to save the train, Spike ran into the engine car and pulled hard on the brake lever. The train's brakes squealed, but they weren't enough to slow it down in time. Jimmy tried to help, but they accomplished nothing…except accidentally break off the lever. The cars were a cacophony of noises: whistles from the enemy train, gunfire from the robots' trucks, the screeching brakes, chugging of the wheels, and the screaming of the terrified passengers.
Booker shouted for the umpteenth time, "We're doomed! …I think…"
"Why oh why did I leave the sea?!" wailed SpongeBob.
The dummy Patrick was sitting in his seat and looking out the window. Suddenly he pointed and cried, "I can see my rock from here!"
Coming back from the engine room, Spike yelled down the car to the caboose, "Hey, alien guy! How are things on your end?"
Over the din of Ratchet firing his Annihilator, he called back, "First off, I'm Ratchet! Second, we're not doin' so good! I got the trucks, but that train is still comin' at us full force!"
Tom Nook shouted, "We're going to crash! Brace yourselves!"
Patrick asked him, "You mean put on geeky braces?"
Copper grabbed the starfish. "No! Put your head down!"
All of the passengers ducked, waiting for the end. The only exceptions were Spike, Jimmy, Ratchet, and Clank. They had heard something over all the noise, and it was getting louder and closer.
Jimmy got up and looked out a window. "That sounds like…"
Suddenly something whizzed by them, and the entire group stood up.
"It's a bird!" cried SpongeBob.
Copper yelled, "It's a plane!"
Booker again said, "It's a blimp! I think…"
And Patrick said the silliest. "No, it's an ice cream truck!"
"No really!" Copper exclaimed, pointing out the window. "It's a plane!"
It was a plane. A blue biplane, to be exact. It was in front of the train, and it was headed straight for the roadblock!
Tortimer managed to get a good look at the pilot. "Well, I'll be derned. It's a fox!"
Copper went up beside him, watching the aircraft. "Foxes are supposed to be clever. What's he doin' driving ahead of us?! Is he out of his mind?!"
"No," said Spike, "I think I know what he's up to. If he's got guns…"
Just then the pilot fired a missile at the fallen trees, and the roadblock was blasted to smithereens!
Jimmy whooped. "He destroyed the roadblock!"
"Yippee! He saved us!" SpongeBob jumped up and did a little dance.
Tortimer shook his head with a big grin on his face. "That guy deserves a medal."
Ratchet and Clank had heard the commotion and saw the plane take out the roadblock, but there was still a problem. "Uhh…guys?" said the Lombax.
They turned to him.
"In case you haven't noticed, that train is still on our tail!"
The train suddenly lurched, and everyone was thrown onto their knees. Clank stood up and added, "And the robots are firing at us."
Copper glared at him. "We kinda found out already, thank you."
"Can't you take it out, Ratchet?" Blathers asked him desperately.
He shook his head. "My Annihilator is no good! It can't penetrate that armor! It's too thick!"
Clank said, "If we jettisoned a missile at a faster speed, the armor could be penetrated. According to my calculations, it would have to go almost as fast as the speed of sound…about 760 miles per hour."
The mayor threw his hands into the air. "Where are we goin' to get somethin' as fast as that?!"
Copper muttered sarcastically, "The only way that thing can be demolished is if lightning hits it!"
BOOM!
Everyone covered their ears, and many people shouted "What on earth was that?!"
"Guys, you've gotta see this!" Ratchet called from the caboose.
Tortimer, Tom Nook, Copper, Spike and Jimmy raced out onto the caboose's platform. They couldn't believe their eyes!
Off in the distance, there was a blue blur streaking across the plains!
Tom Nook exclaimed, "It's lightning! Scratch that; it's blue lightning!"
Copper gaped. "I've been jinxed!"
Spike looked up at the sky. "But there aren't any clouds!"
Jimmy looked around in bewilderment. "What's going on?!"
Suddenly Clank said, "Ratchet, I am picking up signals of a fast-moving object coming directly toward us. Its speed…800 miles per hour."
"What?!" all of them cried at once.
"Is it an enemy?!" asked Tom.
"I do not think so," replied the robot. "It has changed course. It is headed for the enemy train."
Just then, there was a deafening crash. The animals' jaws dropped low.
The blue blur had smashed into the black train, and it had blown a perfect hole right through the locomotive!
"Holy guacamole!" said the mayor.
Tom's eyes remained locked on the train as it screeched to a stop, its engine car useless. "What did this?!"
ZOOM!
Clank said, "I believe the culprit has just gone right past us. Fortunately, I managed to get a reading of it as it passed."
Ratchet nodded his approval. "Give it to us, Clank."
"Processing data now…" Clank shut his eyes, and a whirring noise could be heard inside his body. Finally he opened his eyes and said, "Origin: Unknown. Height: Approximately 4 feet. Velocity: 800 miles per hour due north and slowing. Condition: …Living."
Even Ratchet was surprised. "Huh?!"
Jimmy scratched his head for the millionth time. "What kinda animal can go faster than even a racecar?!"
"Even I am baffled," said Clank. "I have never seen a creature with this ability, even in our galaxy. Not even a robot could accomplish this feat."
Tom shrugged. "Well, whatever it is, I think we can find out soon. Like Clank said, that thing is headed north. We can follow it, since that plane took out the roadblock."
As if by magic, the train's brakes finally stopped the locomotive. When the gang looked, they realized they were in front of the AnimaCity Train Station. Tortimer, Tom Nook, and Copper raced out of the passenger's car and almost bumped into Porter.
"Welcome back to AnimaCity, friends!" the monkey greeted them.
Skipping the greetings, Copper asked, "Porter, have you seen anything whiz by here? Anything going faster than a racecar?!"
Porter smiled and shook his head as if the dog was crazy. "Sorry, fellas. The only fast things I've seen today are your train and that blue biplane that landed close by here."
Tortimer gave a start. "Blue biplane?! Where is it? I need to find its pilot! He saved us from certain doom!"
"Err, I'm not sure exactly where he went. I think the plane landed somewhere in the A acres."
Ratchet, Clank, SpongeBob, Patrick, Spike, and Jimmy had hung back to help take the injured Allies out of the train. When they stepped out on the platform, Porter greeted them. "Welcome to AnimaCity! Ook ook!"
Jimmy's eyes widened. "Hey, look! A monkey!"
Spike saw the look he called "Monkey Catcher fever" in his cousin's eyes, and he yelled, "Jimmy, wait!"
It was too late. Jimmy pulled out his secondary weapon, the Monkey Net, and charged at poor Porter with the net in the air. "You're mine, primate!"
Upon seeing that the boy was mad, Porter shrieked and raced away from the train with Jimmy in hot pursuit. He was looking behind him, so he didn't watch where he was going. He collided with someone, and he fell onto the ground with a thud. When he got up, he discovered the person he had bumped into was a young fox, who looked no older than 10 years. He had blue eyes and wore a leather bomber jacket, the kind pilots wear.
"Oops. I'm terribly sorry, son," Porter said as he stood up and wiped dirt off his uniform.
"That's okay," replied the kit. "By the way, I'm looking for my friend. He was supposed to meet me at the train station. Have you seen him?"
"Err, what does he look like?"
Before the boy could answer, they heard Jimmy cry, "There you are! Come back here, you dirty primate!"
Again, Porter squealed in terror and dashed away. The fox, being curious, followed them. Porter decided to head back to the train station, and he hid in the passenger's car, where he found the newcomers. "Won't somebody stop him?!" he wailed.
Spike stepped out the car. "I'll take care of it," he said.
When Jimmy raced into the station, his cousin stopped him and proceeded to talk some sense into him. As he was doing so, the fox caught up with them, and Copper recognized him.
"Hey! You were the guy flyin' that blue plane! You saved us!" the police dog exclaimed.
The vulpine blushed and rubbed the scruff of his neck in embarrassment. "Oh yeah, that. Well, I didn't do it alone. You wouldn't have made it to the station if my friend hadn't helped you."
Porter came out from behind Ratchet and said, "You never did describe him for me."
Suddenly all the activity at the station came to a halt, and the animals and newcomers paused. Their ears were picking up a strange noise; it sounded like a racecar of some sort. But as it approached the train station, the noise vanished, and all that was heard was the sound of feet pounding on gravel. When that stopped, there was silence. And then…a casual voice.
"Whew, what a run! I like this place already; it's got plenty of room!"
A pair of gloved hands grasped the edge of the train platform, and the Allies and the heroes backed away from the area. All of them stared at the unusual character that climbed up and stood before them.
He was a blue hedgehog with green eyes, red sneakers, and a cocky, confident grin. He certainly didn't look like a local; he didn't even look like he was from Animal Crossing.
For a moment the astonished animals simply blinked, but then Tortimer cleared his throat and stepped forward with a hand outstretched. "Welcome to AnimaCity, stranger. I'm Tortimer, the town mayor. And you are…?"
The hedgehog took his hand and shook it, his smile growing wider. "I'm Sonic the Hedgehog," he replied.
The fox walked up to him and said, "Hey, Sonic, what took you so long? I thought you'd beat me here."
He shrugged. "I didn't wanna lead those robots to this town, Tails—had to take a detour. By the way, I saw you blast the roadblock; good job." He held up a hand, and they did a high-five. Then the fox began to take off his jacket. (He was hot, okay?)
Jimmy scratched his head. "'Tails'? Why are you called—"
The kit finished removing the jacket, and the boy got his answer.
"Whoa! You have two tails!"
Tails blushed again. "Um, yeah, I do. …Do you think it's weird?"
The six newcomers looked at each other with mutual thoughts; from the way he had asked the question, they guessed that he had been teased about his extra tail before. Jimmy gave his answer honestly.
"Actually, no. They're kinda cool!"
Tails' face lit up, and his ears pricked forward. Behind him, Sonic, who had been ready to defend his buddy if the wrong answer had been given, relaxed and smiled.
Suddenly Clank, who had gotten off Ratchet's back, approached the new pair, his green eyes filled with curiosity. "Pardon me if I sound rude, but I have a question." He looked at the blue hedgehog. "Why are you called 'Sonic'? I know that the name derives from the word 'supersonic', which refers to the sound barrier."
Sonic leaned against a nearby column, the smirk still on his face. "It's because I can run faster than the speed of sound."
The robot's eyes became brighter in astonishment. "Would I be correct, then, in assuming you were the one who destroyed the black train?"
Sonic grinned again and nodded. "Yup. That was me."
There was stunned silence. And then Jimmy said, "Whoa."
Tortimer shook his head in disbelief. "Well, I'll be derned. You don't know how thankful we are for that deed, Sonic, and for your friend's. Since you're not from around here, my associates and I would like to talk with you and six of our other new friends at the museum. You don't mind, do ya?"
The hedgehog and the fox looked at each other, then back and replied in unison, "Not at all."
It was Clank who appeared hesitant at first, and he said, "What about the hostages and injured men you brought aboard your train?"
The mayor gestured to the train station, where other agents were helping those very animals off the train and toward a different part of the town (specifically, the Post Office). "We have folks in charge of takin' care of them. You've all done your part in that area."
This seemed to satisfy him, and he hopped aboard Ratchet again. "Very well. Let us proceed."
"Good! Foller me then, y'all!"
Sonic, Tails, and the other three duos followed Tortimer and the other Alliance leaders, not knowing that one of their greatest adventures was about to begin.
Version 2 Author's Notes:
There you have it! My fourth and final crossover is Sonic the Hedgehog! He and Tails are owned by SEGA.
On a different note, I have had a couple people say that Sonic steals the show in this story. So, I would like to apologize. Sonic is my favorite franchise out of all of these crossovers (and the archive I am most experienced in, as far as fanfiction goes), so I did give him an edge. I did, however, try my best to give some kudos to the other pairs. So, to those who like the other pairs better, I'm sorry. (sheepish grin)
