Chapter 6: Fast Enough?
"And it's about…here," a hovering Tails said as looked over the area while in the air, checking the map on his WRID on one hand while carrying Sonic with the other, "this is where the containers with Yeung's cargo currently is, according to the files I got."
"Why here though?" Sonic asked with a raised brow as he let go and dropped onto the tarmac, making sure the bag he was carrying stayed on his shoulder.
"No idea." The fox was looking nervous when he also landed. "It can't be anything good, though. Better watch out."
At this time at night, the generally busy Port of Hong Kong was less active, although the sector they had come to was unusually silent. Even the lights that the rest of the port had were not turned on here, somehow, and there were no signs of guard patrols. Did Yeung own this section or something?
The duo wandered down the wide rocky lane formed by the tall stacks of cargo containers on both sides, peering uncomfortably into the darkness. They were likely being watched, but even from the air it had been hard to spot any possible sentries – the vast expanse of containers and the lack of light meant that they could hide pretty much anywhere.
Minutes of silent tension finally broke when powerful lights suddenly turned on, shining right into their faces. It was startling and blinding, yet in a way Sonic found it slightly relieving. At least they didn't have to wait long before they got to know what happen next, regardless of what that was.
When their eyesight cleared up, Sonic and Tails were drawn to the additional areas that been lighted up, several meters in front of them. A group of six armed, muscular men were there, some of them with obvious 16K Triad markings and all with pistols and submachine guns. The hedgehog could see right away that four of them were the same guys he'd beaten up earlier, but any plan to charge straight at them again were dashed after noticing what was right next to them, and also at the end of their gun barrels: Rebecca, her mother and some man in a cap – the same man, they noticed, that had given the USB drive at the Heart of Asia. All three of them appeared to be in distress, although only the man was crying out of fear.
"Oh, man," Sonic found himself saying after a gulp. At this distance, there was definitely no way to run up to the three hostages without them getting shot first, and they couldn't exactly expect Knuckles to suddenly drop in and assist them as with last time. Unlike Adabat, Hong Kong wasn't in the middle of a civil war, and had an even more vibrant nightlife that the echidna himself could have difficulties slipping past.
"I knew you would know where to come," a man's voice unexpectedly said, calmly but audibly, coming from behind the armed group and promptly getting the duo's attention. In focusing on the hostages they had neglected to notice the vehicles around them, namely an SUV, two 18-wheelers, a forklift, and the luxury Lexus sedan that the speaker and guest star of the show had just stepped out of. "Honestly, you two are lucky that I'm not planning to report any of you or press charges," Yeung Chiu-wah continued speaking, lowering his volume but maintaining his stoic aura as he stood there, hands inside the pockets of his black long coat, "on the contrary, I only intend to keep certain things…off the radar." Even from this distance, the glare from the elderly man's eyes was unnerving.
"Let them go, Yeung." Despite the defiance in his voice and glare, Sonic knew it was all bravado, that he was giving an order he couldn't enforce. Next to him, Tails was glaring too, namesakes curving tensely while his teeth showed, but deep down he was also aware that making nasty expressions was all they could do right now.
"I will. All you need to do is follow a few steps, and they will be free," Yeung stated flatly before looking at the fox. "Tails, I know you have copied data from my computer onto that device of yours. Erase it."
The statement knocked the wind out of Tails' attempt to look in charge as he now stood there, utterly stunned. So Yeung really did know after all. But…how?
"I take care of my Guanyin bronze figure, in case you're wondering," Yeung added, already knowing what Tails would be thinking of. "The joss sticks I placed in front of it had moved from where I'd placed them, and there's an air vent in the ceiling above. It wasn't too hard." Oddly enough, there was no smug malice when he explained it, sounding more like he was simply giving a report. Not that it hurt less for Tails, though. "But now…erase it. 你過去看," he added to one of the goons nearby, gesturing at the duo with a finger before the goon began walking over to them.
"Tails, don't," Rebecca spoke up, in a firm yet pleading tone, and immediately Sonic and Tails both turned to face her. The gun was held ever closer to her head, but at least it didn't look like she had been physically roughed up. "That's the only evidence we have on him. You can't-"
"收聲！" the goon behind her shouted as he grabbed her shirt and pulled back, and she promptly did what she was told, not saying anything more out of fear for her mother and the man. He might have been an errand boy for Wong Heng, but that didn't mean he deserved this.
The other goon that had just walked up to the duo shot a threatening glance down at them. He didn't aim his gun at them, but he didn't have to. "Delete it now, or they die," he spoke in a low, menacing tone that was almost reminiscent of Robotnik. Had the doctor been teaching them?
Not seeing that he had a choice, Tails reluctantly brought the WRID up to let the goon see the screen as he tapped away on the keys. His heart felt heavy when it finally came to pressing the 'Delete' key, as he glanced at Rebecca, then the goons, and then at Sonic again. "I'm really sorry, Sonic," he said with a sigh.
"It's okay, bud," the hedgehog replied, trying to sound assuring, even though he knew it was most likely not working out, "we'll find another way."
After the screen flashed 'File Deleted', Tails shot his own glare at the CEO. "It's gone, Yeung," he spat out, not bothering to address him with 'Mister', "now what?"
"Well, I'm willing to bet that you are recording everything we are speaking on that device of yours now," Yeung stated, still stoic but sounding more confident, "stop the recording and delete it."
Tails only cringed further upon hearing the command. Man, he's good. And he had guessed correctly too, and without looking again at the hostages the fox slowly pressed a few keys to erase the ongoing recording, no matter how much it ate away at him. Like Sonic had said, they could find another way again…eventually. "Done," he said unenergetically.
"Ah Cheung, 你查一下," Yeung ordered, and the goon abruptly grabbed Tails' forearm and poked around on the device himself to make sure nothing else was hidden, while the two of them could do nothing but watch tensely. The WRID had been designed for maximum user-friendliness, which came with this unfortunate downside. Either that, or it was possible this Ah Cheung knew a thing or two about technical devices, judging from the smooth way he handled its controls.
After nearly a minute of checking every possible menu, the goon looked at Yeung and gave a thumbs up – the same gesture Sonic wished he could give right now.
"Good. Once again, you're lucky I haven't just seized or destroyed your device. Now, the bag and the USB drive. Hand it over." Just to punctuate it, Rebecca and her mother were pulled backwards even further, the former showing equal parts pain and frustration.
"Alright, alright! You don't have to do that!" Sonic snapped as he pulled the bag out over his arm. He hated sounding, feeling, looking and being this powerless, but he knew he couldn't afford another Mazuri on his conscience. Moving more like granite than the wind, the hedgehog gave the bag over to Ah Cheung, who proceeded to check and validate its contents. Another thumbs up. Another one gone.
"Very good. Now, only one thing left," Yeung stated, maintaining his calm, reserved demeanor, as he gestured at the two 18-wheelers nearby. "These semi-trailers contain some rather, shall we say, sensitive cargo. I'm having them transported away to a secure location, with the two of them as the drivers," he continued, pointing to Mrs. Cheuk and the nervous man, "and once I've confirmed that they've arrived, I'll escort the two of them away from there. Then Rebecca will also be freed. Now, if you make any move to save them beforehand, or if the cargo fails to arrive, Rebecca will die. Understood?"
Sonic and Tails turned to exchange conflicted glances. In a way, it was humiliating that this was the best deal they were getting – not getting pressed with break-in or burglary charges even though they could be, just merely left empty-handed. Yeung would get to continue performing secret exchanges with Robotnik, his company would get rich, and who knows how many Mazurian children would remain enslaved. The hedgehog gave Yeung the harshest stare he could possibly muster, something he'd never even given Robotnik before. "You won't get away with this."
"I'll take that as a yes, then." His face emotionless as ever, Yeung turned to the goons holding Mrs. Cheuk and the man in cap. "拉他們上車。"
Rebecca gritted her teeth as she watched her mother and the man being pulled onto their feet and then forced at gunpoint to walk over to the trucks and climb into the driver's seats. The goons said something in a threatening tone to them, but it was just too far to hear. Finally, right before she closed the vehicle door, Mrs. Cheuk shot a glance at her daughter. It was brief, and her eyes showed deep worries, but it was mixed with resilience and assurance too.
The diesel engines slowly gurgled to life, and soon both Volvo trucks were rolling out, turning left towards the exit out to the road one after another. All this time, nobody moved from current positions, but Yeung decided it was time to change that. "So, shall we wait elsewhere?" he asked, sounding like he was offering tea, "you can follow us from behind, but one wrong move, and she gets it."
Rebecca was dragged onto her feet, pistol still placed firmly at her head, and the goons then turned towards the vehicles, two following Yeung to his Lexus while the others took Rebecca to the SUV. Sonic and Tails weren't moving yet, however, just standing there, desperately trying to think of another way around this.
Noticing their stillness, the CEO paused and faced them again, with that same distant, unfeeling gaze. "If it helps," he spoke, now sounding marginally warmer, to their surprise, "I assure you that none of this is personal."
Sonic's scowl did not cease. If anything, Yeung's so-called assurance only made him look worse in his eyes. At least Guerrez did what he'd done out of anger and vengeance, and those warlords throughout Africa and in Shamar – most of them at least – out of fanaticism of some kind. This man, on the other hand, was simply doing it for the money. "Given what you're doing, I kinda wish it is," the hedgehog replied bitterly, "at least I'd…understand."
"You will, eventually. You'll just have to be patient." As usual, he was doing a good job of hiding any feelings on the matter – the chances of it being either triumph or guilt were about equal. "Now, let's not stay out here any longer than we have to."
They had just opened their car doors when one of the goons looked upwards at the tall stack of containers and seemed to see something, and immediately reached for his gun. "老闆，小心！"
The other goons, their guns already ready, all abruptly started firing at the threat they had spotted, and before Sonic and Tails could move to intervene, they suddenly noticed rapid gunfire raking down at their positions as well, which made them reflexively jerk back and leap for the nearest cover based on their direction, a stack of wooden pallets on both sides of the alley.
Despite the loud gunshots, the duo could still hear something else happening ahead – what sounded like a kick and a grunt, coming from Rebecca, while car tires squealed against the tarmac and engines roared up.
Taking a risky peek, they saw that Rebecca had, during the confusion, managed to free herself from the goons' grasp while they themselves were frantically getting away on their SUV, but she was now pinned down by gunfire behind the forklift. Behind her, the goon that had been holding a pistol at her head was riding on the side of the vehicle's exterior, one hand holding onto the roof rack while the other returned fire at the unknown shooters. He shot a nasty glance at his freed hostage before the SUV turned away behind one of the containers.
As Tails watched nervously, unable to decide between helping Rebecca or going after the cars, an idea suddenly raced up to his frantic but quick-thinking mind, one he accepted at the first millisecond. Noticing that Yeung's Lexus was about to get away as well, the fox brought his WRID up again and quickly launched the same tracker he'd used on the van at the club earlier. The projectile traveled quickly, and he was sure it stuck onto the sedan right as it turned out of sight, but another wave of gunshots forced him down with a yelp before he could confirm it.
"We gotta deal with those shooters up there!" Sonic shouted over the continued shooting, "Rebecca ain't got much cover!"
"R-right!" Tails was already spinning his namesakes, and right as they reached maximum spinning speed he shot upwards into the air, reaching the same level as the top of the containers within a second, where the two shooters were standing. Before the ones nearer to him could adjust their aim, the fox had already zoomed forwards and tackled them onto the metal surface. On the opposite stack of containers, the other three shooters were only able to fire off a few missed shots before similarly getting knocked down by the hedgehog who had leapt up there while they'd been focused on Tails.
With the attackers out for the count, Sonic dropped down onto ground level and approached Rebecca, who appeared shaken but was fortunately unhurt. "Rebecca, you alright?" Sonic asked as he went up to her.
"I'm…fine," the detective said while panting, "who were those shooters?"
"Those guys had dragon tattoos," Tails said, hovering down from the top of the containers with a worried frown, "they're Wing Seng. They must have found out about this meeting somehow and tried to kill everyone here to avenge their boss."
"Wing Seng is renowned for their vengefulness," Rebecca replied with a nod, "but…wait a minute. Yeung's men left me here, so he has no more leverage over you…but it can't be that easy. If Wing Seng knows about this meeting, then the cargo-"
"Wait, you hear that?" Tails's ears were twitching as he looked over at the direction the trucks had headed in. "It's coming from there, sounds like…more gunshots." Then his face fell. "Oh, no."
"Wing Seng must be trying to hijack the trucks," Sonic quickly figured, but it didn't diminish his shock, "they're in trouble!"
It was Rebecca's turn to look horrified now, and for good reason. "My mom!"
"We'll go save them, I promise!" Sonic quickly assured her, "you find a way out of here, okay? Tails, c'mon!"
The fox, already hovering in the air again, gave a firm nod. "Right, take this!" He tossed to the hedgehog a small, familiar item the size of his thumb. Recognizing it as an earpiece, Sonic promptly put it at the appropriate location on his head. "And Rebecca, this is yours," he added as he gave the cellphone that he'd taken out from his tail pockets to her, "get the police here. Y-Your mom will be fine, okay?" Tails then said, glancing back at the cop with a determined gaze as he and Sonic started moving.
"O…okay," she replied, trusting them but unable to hide her fear, "I'll get a team here…but please," she said more loudly to the now distant duo with deeper desperation, "help them!"
"We gotta split up," Sonic told Tails as they traveled along the street with an on-ramp onto the highway, "I'll go after the one up there, you go for the one in front, alright? Stay in contact!"
"Got it!"
There were still sporadic gunshots, which made their heartbeats race but also allowed them to find the trucks more quickly. Sonic dashed along the empty, lit-up highway, following the curve and the noise, until he heard what seemed like motorcycle engines ahead. As the road straightened out, he got his confirmation.
The 18-wheeler in front was being flanked by at least three motorcycles on each side, and every one of them had two riders. The reason for this became obvious when he saw the passenger on the front-most bike, riding right next to the driver's door, grab onto the truck's exterior handle and step off the bike. Then he smashed the window with the extended stock of his submachine gun, and even though Sonic was still trailing behind them by a dozen meters, he could still hear the panicked cry of an elderly lady out of the vehicle's cabin. "Crap," the hedgehog reported, "Mrs. Cheuk is under attack from bikers! I'm going in!"
"Same situation here!" Tails answered loudly as he hovered above and behind the semi-trailer getting swarmed by armed bikers on both sides, "is this actually part of Yeung's plan?"
"Who cares? He doesn't matter right now, let's just deal with them!" The biker had already managed to get the door open and had reached his arm inside, with the full intent of throwing Mrs. Cheuk out onto the road. Hissing with anger, Sonic knew it was time to make his presence known.
The Wing Seng biker had just grabbed a hollering Mrs. Cheuk's shirt by the shoulder, but did not get the chance to exert any strength to pull her out, as a blue blur abruptly appeared and collided with him from back to front. The impact was such that the entire door came falling off with him, and Sonic barely slowed down as he dropped the man from his arms onto the side of the road, narrowly preventing him from being run over by his colleagues, who had started opening fire again.
His momentum intact, the hedgehog quickly jumped to the side – onto the front of the truck, in fact – to avoid the shots, wanting to wait for a bit before tackling them again, but then noticed the same glass-smashing sounds coming from the vehicle's other door. Realizing what it meant, Sonic shimmied along the front bumper over to the truck's left side, ignoring the heat from the engine on his back, before grabbing the side mirror and swinging himself around. His feet slammed into the door, onto another biker who was holding it open while trying to get inside, and the man promptly fell onto the tarmac after losing his grip. Sonic wasn't too worried about him – at this speed, the guy wouldn't die, though it would still be painful, which suited the hedgehog just fine. Besides, he's wearing a helmet.
Meanwhile, Tails, having himself just realized that there was no way he could stop the hijacking without someone getting hurt, bit down on his hesitation and got to work. He descended onto the rearmost bike on the right side of the young man's truck and grabbed the rear passenger by the upper arms. The man howled in panic, but the fox made sure to slow down slightly before dropping him onto the road, and then sped up again to do the same with the rider, who had just turned his head after hearing his friend's cries before also suddenly finding himself rising in the air. The rider was shocked enough that his hands only gripped the handlebars tighter, causing the bike to rise with him.
Not expecting the extra weight – nor the man's cries for help – Tails ended up dropping him and his vehicle sooner than intended. Although the bike landed on its wheels, the panicking rider ended up skidding sideways and falling off the seat.
Going faster now, Tails went up to the next bike in front, whose passenger had already turned to aim his pistol straight at the flying fox. Out of reflex, Tails reached his hands forward and grabbed the man's arm, and swerved to the side just in time to avoid the shot, but the muzzle flash and noise made him flinch, causing him to hold on a little too tightly, and as a result the man was dragged off the back of the bike with a surprised cry. His own reflexes made him desperately cling onto his riding comrade's arm with his other hand as he was about to fall – not a good idea, as both of them ended up falling off, though Tails at least did pull up to soften their impact before letting go. Their bike jittered around without a rider for a few seconds before collapsing.
There were plenty of bad ideas to spread around, apparently, as the two men on the remaining bike in front turned to face Tails, still gaining up on them, out of fear. It was their own fault that when the truck unexpectedly swerved to take a hard right, they ended up colliding with the side of the vehicle before Tails could even shout and warn them. At least they'd fallen onto the sidewalks and were safe from getting run over by the trailer's rear wheels. Although their faces were obscured by their helmets, the fox could see from their writhing that they were in pain.
The sight made him cringe, but Tails had no choice but to keep moving in order to deal with the other three bikes. All those men he'd taken down were likely to have suffered broken bones – he knew what that felt like – but he tried to console himself by saying it was the best he could have done. He wasn't sure if it was true, but it would at least let him move on to help save the truck driver.
In a private office somewhere else, a Wing Seng underling was nervously giving his boss a report. "Boss, they've called. Sonic and Tails…they're thwarting our men from hijacking the trucks."
"Damn it, don't they know how to distract them?" Wong Heng's successor asked loudly, veins practically showing on his forehead, "tell them to keep trying, or we'll have no choice!"
It took some struggling, but Sonic had managed to jump onto the roof of the truck. With the driver's door now gone, the hedgehog was worried that the remaining bikers on the right side would have it easier trying to grab Mrs. Cheuk again, and sure enough, he heard her crying out in horror again.
Immediately Sonic reached down and yanked the hijacker by the back of his jacket, snarling at him. "Get your hands off her!" Angered at their callousness, the hedgehog observed the speeds at which both the truck and bikes were moving and their positions – not to mention the apparently growing traffic, judging from the number of honking cars they'd passed – before deciding that the next move he had in mind would be suitable, if rough.
Still holding onto the man's jacket, Sonic leapt down ahead of the incoming bikes, slowed his pace, and swung the screaming man straight into their path. Unable to swerve in time, all remaining riders were knocked off backwards. Both men and metal fell onto the tarmac, rolling over several times before coming to a stop, although the force of the impact also made the hedgehog lose his footing and stumble along the ground, grunting as it happened. Compared to them, the man Sonic heaved got off lucky as he was simply dropped onto the side relatively gently, though most of him would probably be sore for days.
The risky move done successfully, Sonic got back onto his feet and continued accelerating along the bending highway. When the truck came back into view, however, he noticed something strange that took him a moment to process. One random car had stopped, not aligned with the road markings and bullet holes on its exterior, with one rear door hanging open.
Next came more screaming from further ahead, except this time, it was that of a young boy rather than Mrs. Cheuk. Sonic finally saw that one of the biker pairs was holding said boy with them and getting away, and as he passed the car he saw, very briefly, what appeared to be a panicking and crying young couple in the front seats, their windshield damaged by more gunshots. And to make things more complicated, the truck was driving down an off-ramp while still getting hounded by the two remaining bikes, whereas the one with the kid was breaking off to continue on the highway.
Trying to distract me, huh? Sonic had no idea how they were able to get the car to stop and grab the kid so quickly, how he hadn't heard the gunfire, or how they'd planned it in such short notice, but one way or another, he was going to make sure their little stunt didn't work. He shot forwards and went after the kid first, hoping that Mrs. Cheuk could hold on just a bit longer. The distance between him and the bike that he had to bridge was relatively long, however, and the rear passenger, holding his young hostage between him and the rider, took advantage of it by looking backwards and opening fire with his pistol, trying to slow the hedgehog down.
Sonic, of course, knew how to dodge, and the effects of the gunfire were minimal, all the way until the shooter ran empty, ten shots later. As he struggled to reload, Sonic knew it was his chance. Jumping over two more cars, he zoomed up to the side of the bike, grabbed the crying boy out from between the two men with a balance of gentleness and forcefulness. Then, as a final safety precaution, and perhaps a need for some kind of retribution, Sonic angrily body-slammed the bike, and immediately the rider lost control as he and his passenger fell over, the vehicle flipping sideways multiple times before screeching to a stop.
The boy, looking to be about eight years old – actually not far off from Tails, Sonic noticed unnervingly – was shaken up but fortunately unhurt as the hedgehog ran back to the stalled car and delivered him to the couple inside. Without saying anything or waiting for words of gratitude, however, Sonic leapt away, jumping down the off-ramp, on his way to save someone else. He really hoped he could make it.
People were already starting to go on their morning commutes and fill up the streets, Tails noticed, and was worried about the complications that could arise from this as he kept up with the truck and bikes. Soon enough, however, he got his answer.
One of the bikes unexpectedly slowed down, dropping behind Tails. Initially ignoring this, the fox continued going after the other two in front, until he suddenly heard gunfire behind him and panicked cries from passers-by. Turning around, he noticed with a gasp that the two on the bike had grabbed a young woman, with the rear passenger holding her tightly around the neck with one arm while shooting in the air with the other before revving up and speeding in the opposite direction on the street. The intent was clear – they were forcing Tails to choose between the truck and the woman.
With their bike moving much faster now that they weren't bound to chasing the truck, the fox made his decision in a split-second and switched course – the truck he could came back to later, hopefully. The bike was weaving back and forth between the numerous cars that were showing up, to surprised honking, and although Tails flew over them easily, he had to be careful not to crash into any of the colorful billboards and store signs hanging over the streets.
Once they were out on a street with relatively fewer overhead obstructions, Tails shot ahead, hovering directly over the bike as it continued swerving around with its screaming hostage, before descending onto them and grabbing the woman by her upper arms. Needless to say, she was not expecting a sudden ascent into the air like that, and in panic she began kicking her legs wildly. One of them connected with the rider's head, and although it was protected by the helmet, it still caught him off-guard, and as a result they ended up crashing into a taxi ahead, sending them flying. Tails wasn't feeling too concerned about them, although unlike Sonic it was more out of his overwhelming worries over trying to handle the situation rather than anger towards them.
Still, hovering, he set the panting woman down on the sidewalk, to the amazement of all onlookers. "Sorry for scaring you!" he said quickly before flying off, not staying around to hear anyone say anything.
Tails had not been pulled away too far from the truck and was able to catch up with it within ten seconds, but could already see the trouble ahead – the truck was already starting to crash or almost crash into the cars around him as it maintained its speed in this increasingly congested area, and it made him wonder if there was something else going on. True, the bikers were being very persistent pursuers, but that didn't seem like the only reason the driver just wouldn't stop.
Then, as if he needed anything else, Tails heard yet another noise added into the mess – police sirens.
When Sonic caught back up with the truck, now rolling down the streets as well, the bikers were now trying to force their way into the cabin from both sides at once. They weren't taking any chances, even after thinking that their other comrade had done enough to pull Sonic away. Uncaring as they were, the hedgehog had to give them credit on their tenacity and ingenuity. But it still wasn't going to help them.
Going over to the more vulnerable right side first, Sonic ran along next to the bike there and smacked its rider off with an elbow, before jumping up and punching the hijacker who was again trying to throw Mrs. Cheuk out like the ones before him. Considering how well previous attempts at doing the same had worked, and that they were obviously able to pull off other tricks, this struck Sonic as less than clever, and soon the man was also thrown onto the road as well.
Finally, slinking his way into the cabin, right between the steering wheel and a terrified Mrs. Cheuk, Sonic planted his heel right onto the face of the guy that had just climbed in and pushed hard. The door still not fully closed, the man ended up dropping out with a wail, and Sonic moved onto his seat and peeked outside just in time to see him fall straight onto his fellow rider.
Confident that the threat was solved, Sonic took in a heavy breath, and sighed loudly in relief. "Mrs. Cheuk, they're gone," the hedgehog told the elderly lady as he continued to pant, "come on, let's pull over. Rebecca, uh, Ah Yan," he said, remembering how she called her daughter, "she's safe now." He wasn't sure she would understand, but certainly she'd notice that there weren't any more hijackers, not to mention possibly connect the mention of Rebecca together with his relieved tone, right?
But it was not to be. "不行啊，不可以放慢啊!" she replied while furiously shaking her head, as Sonic looked on in confusion, "慢的話，炸彈就爆啦！"
"What?" She was obviously worried, even terrified, about something he couldn't see, but there was no way for him to understand her here. Immediately Sonic reached for his earpiece, as he had a feeling that what she wanted to say was urgent. "Tails, you there?"
"Yeah!" Tails frantically replied as he dropped the last two men he'd just lifted off their bike onto the sidewalk after having done the same to the other two, "kinda busy though!"
"Tails, something's wrong. I've taken out the hijackers, but Mrs. Cheuk isn't stopping and I don't know what she's saying – she seems worried about something, could you get patch me over to Rebecca?"
"Okay!" The fox was already hitting Rebecca's name on speed dial, having gotten her number while at her home earlier. "I know what you mean, Sonic – this guy's still driving like crazy in heavy traffic! Something's going on!"
Mercifully, there was only one dialing beep before the call was answered. "Tails? I'm in a car behind you," Rebecca quickly stated, "anything?"
"Rebecca, they're not slowing down even though the bikers are down!" Tails hovered over to the driver's side of the cabin to get the attention of the man inside. "The driver knows why, but you gotta translate for us! I'll put you on speaker!"
The door window was open, fortunately, so there was no need to wait for it to lower or smash it before the fox handed over his WRID to the young man, who seemed utterly terrified and was breathing heavily. "Hey, this is the police!" Rebecca's Cantonese voice emanated loudly and authoritatively from the speaker, doing a good job of masking her own worried over the situation, "pull over now!"
"不能啊！" the man cried out, "我停下，炸彈就爆了！"
There was a strange silence before Rebecca came back on. "Oh, shit."
"What? What's wrong?" Tails said, heart racing, and not in the way he enjoyed. At the same time, a black cargo van had turned onto the same street as the truck, right in front.
"There's a bomb on the truck!" Rebecca exclaimed, "if he stops, it will explode! And the police are about to blockade it!"
Right as Tails went wide-eyed over the revelation, the cargo van ahead slammed on its brakes, and the truck slammed straight into its back. The van was nowhere near as big or heavy as the 18-wheeler, but it would be enough to end the danger the larger vehicle posed, or so the police thought.
As both vehicles screeched to a stop, the fox was now looking over the underside of the trailer, desperately trying to search for any sign of the bomb, but couldn't find anything. That meant it was most likely inside the trailer itself, but there was not enough time to dig in there.
Out of options now, Tails opened the driver's door and grabbed the hysterical man out from the cabin, flying him to what was hopefully a safe distance while trying to warn everyone present, both passersby and police. "Stay back! There's a bomb on the truck! Get out of here now!"
"Boss, the first truck has been surrounded by police…they've failed."
The boss eyes his underling with a stare of rage. "In that case…blow it. We cannot let the cops find out!"
The younger man was stunned by the order. "Boss, it's in the middle of a crowded-"
"Do it now!"
The patrol car that Rebecca was riding in was just pulling over to the side when it happened. Straight ahead, the trailer loudly erupted into a ball of fire, and produced a shockwave that made her and the driver duck down just before their windshield was shattered.
Despite the horrid shock and ringing in her ears, the detective was able to pull herself up, open the door and stumble out, heading in the direction of the chaos while she took the nightmarish sight in. The explosion had broken most of the glass in the vicinity, and numerous people were lying on the ground, bleeding or crying out in agony. One of them, she saw with a gasp, was Tails.
Rebecca quickly ran up to the fox, who had been knocked out of the air as the bomb went off and was bleeding from the forehead. Despite this, he was still aware enough of his surroundings that as he noticed her coming, he weakly held his now damaged WRID up, gesturing for her to take it. "Tell…" he said slowly and quietly as he tried to breathe, "…Sonic…"
Just as she took the device and nodded, Tails closed his eyes and his head rolled over to the side. It was hard to tell if he would be okay from here, but right now the only thing she could do was ensure that the other bomb didn't explode…and it wasn't just because her mom's life was at stake too. "S-Sonic?"
"Rebecca, what the hell just happened there?" Sonic asked, still in the passenger seat with Mrs. Cheuk and in shock. "Where's Tails?"
"The…the bomb went off," she replied with a shaky voice, "Tails has been knocked unconscious."
"W-What?"
"Sonic, let me talk to my mom…I'll tell her what to do, and make sure nothing happens on her end too."
"G-got it." Considering the language barrier, this was the best way to go about it. Right as he was about to take the earpiece off, however, the sound of gunfire interrupted him, and the bullets came smashing into the windshield from the right. As Mrs. Cheuk started wailing in fear again, Sonic quickly got out of the cabin on his side and climbed onto the roof again, before running over to the right to check who was shooting again, now of all goddamn times. "Damn it, not now!" he shouted in frustration after seeing what it was.
"What's wrong?"
"More company! Lemme deal with them first!"
A white van and gray SUV full of pissed off Wing Seng triads were keeping close to the truck, its passengers now firing assault rifles at both Mrs. Cheuk and Sonic, as part of a last ditch effort to get rid of the hedgehog, hijack the truck, or both, illogical as it seemed. Nevertheless they danger they posed was obvious, especially since they either didn't know or care that there was a bomb waiting to go off.
As much as Sonic wanted to simply spindash the two vehicles, he knew he had to pay attention to the crowds nearby, lest they go out of control and drive straight into them instead. What the hedgehog did instead was to leap straight into the van's large open side window, kicking the goon in there as he entered. Then, forcing his way to the front seats and punching both men there in their faces, Sonic grabbed the driver's leg by his jeans and had it stomp on the brakes. As the wheels locked in place and screeched, the van began to tremble, so he held the steering wheel tightly, maneuvering it to make sure it didn't go onto the sidewalk. Although he succeeded on that front, he wasn't able to actually bring the vehicle to a gentle stop before it crashed into a parked car on the side.
The impact wasn't too hard, but it was enough to make him knock his head against the windshield. He cringed at the pain, but nevertheless bit it down as he jumped out of the window.
When he caught up, the truck was going onto the highway again via an on-ramp, and the SUV was just about to follow it there, when Sonic noticed that the immediate area was clear of cars or passersby, other than a nearby parked bus. Still bitter at the timing of their attack, the decision to take harsh measures came instantly. Speeding up, he spun into ball form and slammed into the SUV by the side right before it could go onto the same on-ramp, bursting one of its tires in the process.
Sonic uncurled himself and was just about to head back up to inform Mrs. Cheuk, when he heard what sounded like children's screaming, yet again. When he turned around, he noticed to his shock that the damaged SUV was careening in the direction of a bus stop full of schoolchildren, which had been obscured by the bus just now. Crap!
The schoolchildren were already trying to flee from the incoming collision, but there were a few that stood there, frozen in fear at imminent death. Just a few feet before the SUV could run them over, however, it was unexpectedly struck by something from its left, making it spin a full ninety degrees before its momentum was redirected, safely away from the children.
Sonic collapsed onto the floor right after uncurling himself from the impact, but recovered within seconds. Right after a quick glance showed that the children were safe, he raced back the other way, up the on-ramp and onto the highway, intent on getting back to Mrs. Cheuk…but he saw he was probably already too late.
Going back onto the highway in an attempt to find a route with fewer obstructions was a mistake, as Mrs. Cheuk had just realized, as the police had set up a thick roadblock ahead. Even if she managed to smash straight through, it would likely hurt many officers, and if she didn't…even more would be.
She was running out of time and distance. Sonic was too far behind to rescue her. The police vans had closed off the road right after the left bend. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes, feeling oddly calm, as she took the only remaining choice left to her.
She steered right.
The 18-wheeler plowed right over the concrete barrier that prevented most vehicles from falling into the sea. As the front end went into free fall, Mrs. Cheuk unexpectedly heard a familiar voice loudly calling out to her from side. "Mrs. Cheuk! Grab my hand!"
"Boss…we…we have lost the second set of cargo."
"Then detonate it!" the boss shouted with virtually no hesitation.
"But boss-"
"Are you deaf? Do it!"
The underling's hands were shaking as he reached for the detonator. "…h-hai."
Sonic had never known how to swim, but fear of drowning for the moment had been completely and overwhelmingly swept aside by another fear – that of failure.
Grabbing Mrs. Cheuk's hand and squeezing it tightly, the two of them had just dropped into the water surface right as the semi-trailer blew up from the inside, consumed by a ball of fire that launched lethal shrapnel in all directions. This was followed right up by the entire vehicle's now burning carcass smashing into the water just several feet away, and the waves it generated forcefully pushed them away.
The only good news was that they were now floating in the right direction, towards the rocky, not-too-distant shore. Not exactly a beach where tourists could relax, but it was still land, and Sonic wasn't keen on feeling picky about it at the moment.
The water was shallow, and soon enough Sonic's feet came into contact with something. It was rocky, jagged and uneven, but he could walk on it, at least. Behind them, the burning trailer sunk deeper into the water with a metallic groan, and the smoke made it difficult to breathe every time his face came out over the water and then back down again. He also had the added difficulty of carrying Mrs. Cheuk on his back, though the load was lessened by the water – something he was grateful for, surprisingly enough.
After enough struggling, Sonic was finally standing firmly on mostly dry ground again, the water splashing about his soaked shoes. With that worry out of the way, he turned his attention to his next one, setting eyes on Mrs. Cheuk, who was lying on the ground. And promptly dropped his jaw.
He had not managed to get her to safety in time after all. There was a wound on her abdomen, likely caused by the shrapnel, and her breathing was weak. "Mrs. Cheuk!" he called out in desperation, even though there was no chance she would understand him, "no…you're…you're going to be fine!" Then he called out to the street ahead. "Someone help, please!"
Sonic heard something from his earpiece, a voice, but it appeared to have been clogged up by the water, although fortunately not actually damaged. He took it out of his ear and shook it up, and soon he was hearing Rebecca clearly, although that was not entirely a good thing. "…Sonic, I…I heard a blast," she said anxiously, "please…tell me that…"
His whole body trembling, the hedgehog looked downwards to see Mrs. Cheuk weakly moaning and reaching her hand out for the earpiece, apparently knowing what it is. Considering the way she looked, he didn't care to guess her chances. He handed the earpiece over, figuring it was best if she could speak to her daughter…possibly one last time. No, no, he furiously denied, she'll make it. She'll make it!
"Ah…Ah Yan," she called out softly, "can…you…hear me?"
"M…Ma?" Rebecca shouted upon hearing her mother's weak voice, "are you okay? Are you okay?"
"Ah Yan…I don't have…much time…left," Mrs. Cheuk began, sounding strangely serene and at peace, "I…I will be fine. But please…do not blame…Sonic," she continued, and Sonic looked on more closely as he heard her mention his name, the only word he understood, "he's…done his best to save me. You must…help him, and let him…help you, okay? He is…a…real hero."
There was silence, followed by what was obviously sobbing from the other end. Rebecca knew the truth now. "…I…I will, ma, I…I don't blame him."
"Ah Yan…" Her voice was growing weaker every second, now barely above a whisper, "I…I love you."
Rebecca's sobbing that continued was louder than her mother's speech. "I…I love you…too…"
With her last vestige of strength, Mrs. Cheuk reached up to Sonic to give the earpiece back. As his wet gloved hand came over to take it, she held onto it tightly, and even though it was probably just his imagination, it seemed like she was…smiling. "Th…thank…you…" she said, in the first, only and last time Sonic had heard, and would ever hear her, speak in English.
Then, her grip loosened, and her hand fell back down lifelessly. Her eyes had closed. She had stopped breathing.
The similarities were cruel and unforgiving. Mrs. Cheuk had suffered a shrapnel wound – as his mother did ten years ago. Mrs. Cheuk had spoken a few final words to him before dying – as his mother did ten years ago. Mrs. Cheuk showed nothing but kindness to him in her final moments – as his mother did. Mrs. Cheuk was now dead because of him – just like his mother.
And just like the Mazurian kids he'd failed to save weeks ago. Because of him. And Yeung Chiu-wah was going to get away with everything. Because of him. And Tails was now hurt. Because of him. Once again getting the worst possible outcome on a mission, the sting of failure struck hard, like an 18-wheeler.
Facing the sea, Sonic the Hedgehog took in multiple arrested breaths, before letting out a loud yell of anguish and despair that felt like it would never end, just like the pain itself.
Somewhere else, in a dusty underground loading bay, Yeung Chiu-wah had just stepped out of his Lexus, before going over to the two 18-wheelers. The workers unlocked the container's doors and pulled them open, and Yeung was relieved to see that the cargo – armored vehicle parts courtesy of Dr. Robotnik – were all in place. "Boss, all the cargo is here," one of them reported.
"Good," Yeung remarked, again keeping his feelings hidden, "we are fortunate we managed to switch their positions in time. And it appears our deception over the bomb was successful."
"With what the Wing Seng did out there today to get their cargo back, it is safe to say they are goners. And it's their own fault, too," his assistant said with a smirk, "well done, boss."
Yeung didn't seem to be in a celebratory mood, however, even appearing slightly uncomfortable. "If only it didn't have to be this messy." Right after that, though, he'd snapped back to his usual business mode. "Still, we've definitely tied up all loose ends. We can continue with our normal plans."
Author's Note: Holy crap, I'm finally back after ten months. Sorry about that. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this.