An Enigmatic Past (Pt.4/Pt.3 continuation: Westopolis)
Rane watches as the train comes to a halt, stopping with a set of doors before his eyes. He boards the back car and puts his luggage in an overhead compartment. He then sits in his seat. Quickly the tired hedgehog goes to sleep, knowing that once he hits Westopolis, he's going to need all of his energy to just to make it through the day. The conductor outside makes his last call and then the door closes. Over the PA on the train, Rane can hear the statement: Train from Mystic Ruins to Westopolis, arrival time, 4 hours.
Rane awakens from his slumber, having slept for half of his journey. He decides to get up, looking down the narrow center of the railcar; Rane can see kids running down the aisles while their parents sleep.
"Great." He thinks to himself, "Why'd I get the car with the little kids."
Soon he falls back into his chair goes back to sleep. Hoping that he won't wake up until he arrives at his destination without irritation from the children at the front.
As quickly as the teenage hedgehog was asleep, he was awake again. This time the train was at a stop. Looking outside, Rane could see that the train was about twenty miles outside what appeared to be his destination. Wanting to know why the train had come to a sudden stop, Rane taps the arm of a man across from his seat.
"Hey mister, do you know why this train has stopped?" the hedgehog queries to the stranger.
"The conductor says we need to remain quiet and that situation is being negotiated." The man replies back to the hedgehog.
"Negotiations, what kind of situation are we in?"
Just as Rane's question was about to be answered, a gunshot is heard up in front. People go into panic and a man yelling can be heard in the front. Out from the front end three men can be seen through the glass doors that divide each car, two of the men are armed with submachine guns while the third is only carrying a pistol. All of them seem to be wearing full black body armor and combat boots. They continue to march down the cars until they reach the back one.
"Ok, everybody on the ground. Anything and everything worth of value should be placed in your seats, now!" One of men yells.
Everyone except Rane follows the terrorist orders. The hedgehog is unwilling to give into their demands and give up without a fight. Planning his strategy, Rane stares directly at the men. Knowing they probably won't take the immediate measures to counter the hedgehog's quick surprise attack, though his combat experience was fairly limited and he wasn't that skilled of a fighter.
"Sorry, can you repeat yourself. I have trouble listening to empty threats," Rane says arrogantly to his opponents.
"I said get on the ground and give up your valuables or I'll blow that cocky little mouth of yours off. Do you understand?" the man says holding his firearm out.
Rane quickly gives a grin and leaps from his seat landing a kick into the man's chest. He then pulls the firearm off of the man. It happened to be one of the submachine guns. He swiftly flips the switch over to single shot and points the gun directly at the terrorist's head.
"You guys want to leave or do I have to put a six inch hole in this man's head?" Rane asks the assailants, though he knew he couldn't kill the man due to the fact that he was truly bluffing. All he needed was for them to bite the bait.
Scared from the unexpected move and from inexperience. The men drop their weapons and flee from the car. Rane picks up the additional weapons and throws them to the back of the cart. He then moves his way up to the front of the train. Looking from left to right as he makes his way forward. He spots the man who had been shot; it was a minor graze and had appeared to be treated. Once at the front, Rane spots the conductor.
"Sir I've ended the crisis. We can continue our journey to Westopolis now." Rane states as he heads back to his seat.
At his seat Rane waits patiently for the train to start. It soon doe's, carrying it's passengers toward their final destination. From a distance, Rane can see that Westopolis is a thriving metropolitan city, filled with large skyscrapers and other assorted buildings.
With only an extra hour of delay, he had finally met his destination. Once the train came to a full stop, Rane exited his car with his bag and made his way through the Westopolis train station. It was larger than the one at the mystic ruins and more complex. The architecture of the station was that of large concrete ceilings with escalators leading up to the main city. Rane pushed through people, making his way onto one of the six escalators in the area.
Soon he was out in the city, hundreds of people hurried past the short hedgehog. Looking through a window at what appeared to be a TV store, Rane could see on the TVs was the 4 o'clock news. He walked into the store and watched, he watched until he saw the main story. Apparently it was about the incident on the train.
"Today's main story is one of great heroics, a single hedgehog onboard a incoming train from the Mystic Ruins fought three armed robbers and single-handedly defeated them. With an eyewitness is Wendy Stevenson." A female newscaster says.
"Thanks Barbara, now with the eyewitness. You say you saw this young hedgehog flip from his seat and stole a gun right from one of the terrorist hands?" Wendy asks.
"Damn straight I did, it was amazing. At first it looked like he was going to be dealt a bad hand with hot lead in his chest and in mere seconds the crimson hedgehog turned the tide. He had instantly resolved the situation with only a few moves and a cocky mouth. He told the men to leave and everyone was saved. This guy must of only been thirteen or fourteen." The eyewitness replies.
"Can you give us a description of this hedgehog?"
"Yes I can, he was about 3'5" looked to weigh only 70lbs or so. He was dressed in an azure blue t-shirt with a navy blue T shape running down the middle of the front of the shirt, white wristbands, brown shorts and dark brown leather moccasins. Also his eyes were like lightning."
"There you have it, the description of today's hero. Now back to you."
"Thanks Wendy."
As Rane was about to leave he saw three men come from behind him, all were dressed in black suits and wore sunglasses. They also were about the same height, six feet.
He began running down a the sidewalks for about two blocks before stopping to catch his breath. Looking behind him, he saw that they were still tailing him. Needing an escape Rane, spots a road filled with street vendors. Seeing a large crowd, he dashes into the middle hoping to hide from his unintentional followers. Feeling that he lost him he continues to one of the vendors selling food. It appeared to be shish kebab, pulling out the bit of money he has he spends $2 of it on some of the food and an iced tea.
Soon the thought comes to Rane that he needs to find a place to sleep. Seeing that he might have enough cash for a hotel room, he begins to wander up and down the streets of the city looking for a hotel.
After a couple of hours of wandering aimlessly, he finds a hotel. Opening the doors to the hotel, Rane finds a large waiting room along with a front desk that has a bell on it. No one seemed to manning the desk, so Rane rang the bell. Out came a tan man of around 5'8" dressed in brown bell-bottoms a formal white shirt and a red vest.
"How may I help you sir?" the man asked.
"I need a room for the night, are there any available?" Rane retorts.
"Why certainly and how long will you be staying?"
"Around a month."
"That's quite awhile, but I won't ask any further. And you're just in luck; we're having a deal on extended stays. You can have a room for that length at around $250. Will that be cash or credit?"
Retrieving money from his bag Rane hands the man $300. The man takes the money and puts it into the cash register handing the hedgehog his change. He then walks him to his room, opening the door and handing Rane a keycard.
"If there's anything you need, please feel free to call. We always have lines open for room service or any other possible questions. Also since you paid for an extended time, breakfast and dinner will be on the house. Please enjoy your stay at the Westopolis Grand Hotel."
Rane enters the room and closes the door behind him. In front are a bed, a T.V., a small mini-fridge, and a desk with a lamp on it. On his left is a small bathroom. He soon puts his bag on ground and walks toward the bed. Getting in he quickly falls asleep after a long day of excitement.