Chapter 2: Island hoppers
Bark drove through the night an headed for the north coast. They finally arrived at Tails workshop. The sun was just starting to set (it was a long drive through the wilderness). Except that tails workshop wasn't a workshop, it was an abandoned airfield! It had a paved 1000 foot runway, a small terminal, a tower, and a hanger. It looked old and seemed to have been abandoned for a long time. There were several decrepit aircraft parked all in a row.
"Tails, this place is amazing." Said Amy in awe. "Is this all yours?"
"Yes. This was the only airport on the island for a long time. Then they built starlight international and put this place out of business. I plan to rebuild most of the planes here including a helicopter and these babies."
Tails pushed a garage door remote and the giant hangar doors started to open. suddenly the theme from 'Space Odyssey 2000' started to play over the loudspeaker.
"Wait for it…" he said.
They waited…
and waited…
and waited.
10 minutes later the hangar doors finally opened all the way to reveal not one but 2 original Douglas DC-3s
"Tails, just how old is that plane?" Asked Amy.
"I have absolutely no idea, but it looks cool, doesn't it."
"Yeah sure the vintage look is sooo in, but will it fly?" Asked Fiona sarcastically.
"Of course, I fixed it myself."
"Its got a flat tire" Said Mighty.
"This is going to be one interesting flight." Said Bean, mostly to himself.
"A plane like this only has a first class section, right?" Asked Fiona.
"Yup."
"Yes! We're flying first class"
"Well, not quit first class…"
they stepped onto the plane to reveal a plush interior with red and gold padded walls. The interior was all fixed up, except there was a noticeable lack of chairs.
"Uh, tails…"
"The plane was used at one point to transport livestock, so no chairs."
"Great. Well, lets get this show on the road." Said Amy.
Tails quickly patched the tire and they all got on board tails fired up the dc-3s twin 14 cylinder engines. He threw on an old bomber jacket. They backfired a half dozen times but finally started. Tails taxied the plane out to the end of the runway and turned around
"India gulf niner niner requesting clearance for takeoff"
"Tails," said Sonic "there's no one in the tower"
"Are you sure…"
Tails grabbed his remote and pressed another button.
"This is island tower to India gulf niner niner. You are clear for takeoff" Said a female voice over the radio.
"Dude, Is that a recording of you doing a girls voice?"
"Uh, er… do I hear sirens"
Sonic opened the door to find 3 cruisers chasing someone down the driveway. It was Lien-Da. She was driving a Capsule Corp #7 motorcycle that was loaded to the brim with new clothes."
"Hey Tails, Lien-Das' been shoplifting again. Hurry and take off."
Tails revved up the engines and the plane started to roll down the runway.
"Hey, Lien-Da! Lose the goods and hurry up." Shouted Sonic.
Lien-Da pulled up alongside the plane and tried to reach the door, but couldn't.
"Either drop the coats or go to jail!"
With that sound logic Lien-Da dropped the coats and made a lunge for the door, Sonic grabbed her and pulled her in as the plane gained speed and pulled up.
"I see you got our message"
"I lost all my new clothes. You better have some booze on this plane, and I don't mean those tiny airline bottles, either."
Sonic just sighed
They left the ground and soon reached a cruising altitude of 1500 meters. The day was beautiful and the view of the ocean was gorgeous. The trip took about three hours. In the rear of the plane tails had a Betamax player hooked to a projector so they could have an in flight movie. Unfortunately the only movies Tails had on board were "My Little Pony" and "The Best Of Excel Saga". At one point Tails came out of the cockpit.
"Tails," asked Sonic, "who's flying the plane?"
"It's on Autopilot."
"I didn't know DC-3's have autopilot."
"Mine does."
Actually his autopilot was a rope tied around the wheel and a rock on the pedal. Fortunately Tails only had to use the bathroom and was back in the driver's seat within a minute.
20 minutes later they were approaching the coast of the Emerald Hill Zone.
"This trip is boring. I wish something would happen." Said Bean.
"No, don't say that! You'll…" Sonic started to say.
WRRRRRRRRR—RR-R-R SPUTTERSPUTTER-SSSSSSSSSS
"…jynx us."
They looked out the wind to find that engine #1 was spewing smoke and the prop had stopped rotating.
"Uh Tails? We seem to have a problem here" Said Sonic.
"You thing I don't know! My dashboard is lit up like a Christmas tree."
"Should we panic?"
"Not unless we lose engine 2"
Suddenly the plane lurched to the right.
"Now you can panic."
Everyone was still staring out the window at the billowing smoke. The DC'3's Pratt & Whitney engines were very old. Tails had not done as thorough a job rebuilding them as he though. Engine one threw a rod, while engine 2 blew its oil pan gasket. Both were leaving a streak of black smoke throughout the sky. They were also losing altitude.
"Panic! Paaanic!" Yelled Ray.
"I can't die I'm still a virgin!" Said Lien-Da
"I could change that."
"Not the time, Sonic" Said Sally somewhat perturbed.
"Relax," Said Mighty," were over water. If we really have to we can jump, right Tails. Tails?"
Mighty turned around just in time to see a pair of orange tails disappear out the door.
"TAILS! Crap! Time to bail out gang" Said Mighty.
"Parachute! Parachute! I need a Parachute!" Yelled Ray frantically.
The parachute rack only had a note on it that said 'Dear Tails; Buy some parachutes. –Tails'.
"I guess were doing this freestyle. Bonzai!" Yelled Sonic.
The plane was at 300 meters as they all bailed out.
"Don't you dare look up my skirt."
"Hey, Amy's not wearing panties!"
"Sonic!"
They all splash down in the crystal blue waters of the Emerald Hill atoll. They finally dragged themselves to shore, where they found Tails sipping a tropical drink on a lawn chair, devoid of his pilots outfit.
"Why didn't you tell us we had to bail out!" Yelled Sonic.
"Well I figured if you noticed me gone and the door open that you'd figure out what to do"
"Well give us a friggin heads up next time, will ya!" Yelled a drenched Fiona.
"Fine, fine, don't get your knickers in a twist."
"Where are we, anyways?"
"We're back at my old stomping grounds," announced Tails, "the Emerald Hill Zone."
"That's right, I forget that your not a native of South Island" Said Sally.
"Yup. I use to hang around here. Then I escaped from the orphanage and hitch-hiked with Sonic"
"Well then, that means you get to be our official tour guide." Said Sally.
"What! But I…"
"Everyone for Tails as our tour guide say aye.
"AYE!"
"Its unanimous. Your in. Where do we go first."
"Well, I had a little clubhouse nearby. We could start their first."
They all started traipsing through the zone and soon made it to a half collapsed shack.
"We're here." Said Tales.
"Tails, we cant stay here. It doesn't even have a door." Said Lien-Da.
They all went into the 150 square-foot shed. the only thing inside was a beat-up locker.
"I wonder if I left anything in here" said tales as he struggled with the locker's latch.
Inside was an empty soda can, a moldy comic book, and a scrap of paper. Sally picked up the paper. It was a map.
"This looks like a treasure map! Tales, do you know what this leads to?"
"Well, I can't remember, but I know it was a valuable treasure."
"Treasure hunt time!" Yelled Amy giddily.
"I'll take it from here, Sonic" Said Fiona as she snatched the map away from Sally.
"Here we go again." Said Sonic.
"If I'm reading this right," Said Fiona as she clenched the map, her eyes growing as big as dinner plates, "this map will lead us to a clue that will lead us to another clue and so on until we get to the treasure!"
"Well, what's the first clue?" asked Amy.
"It shows a place on the map that looks right downtown, but its only a general place. There's a rhyme that goes along with it that pinpoints the exact place of the second clue."
"Read the rhyme already." Said an impatient Tails.
Fiona read the rhyme. It went like this:
Find a place that's really funny
Then go up high
Go to where it's not sunny
And the 2nd rhyme will be nigh.
"Cute, but what does it mean?" Asked Lien-Da.
"Will know when we get there." Said Fiona
"Actually," said bean, who had been quiet until now, "Bark and I are going to push on to the Casino Night Zone. We'll meet you at the Sands Motor Inn."
With that Bean and Bark left, and then there were 8.
They all took of for the place on the map, which was located in the middle of the main village in emerald hill. They went to the road intersection listed on the map.
"Does anyone see anything that's funny?" Asked Sonic.
"Apart from Ray's hair, no." said Fiona.
"Look," said Tails, "A comedy club. That's funny!"
"I guess 'up high' refers to the roof. Lets use the fire escape." Suggested Mighty.
They climbed up to the roof. There wasn't much up there except the back of the clubs sign and the door leading to the stairwell.
"Where could it possibly not be sunny? I mean, we're on the roof. It's always sunny up here."
"Wait a minute." Said tails. He paused to think for a moment before exclaiming. "I've got it!"
"What! What!" Yelled Lien-Da
"The stairwell building cast a shadow, and the north side would never get sun!"
"Brilliant, fox boy, there's hope for you yet." Said Fi.
They all walked over to the north side of the stairwell enclosure. There was nothing there except for an 'X' drawn on a brick. The brick was loose.
Tails pried the brick out to reveal another scroll. He opened it and read it aloud:
One clue found, two to be dealt
Follow the map and you'll see
The one place Timmy never fell
Is where the next clue shall be.
"As cryptic as the last, and the map says to go to an abandoned farm." Said Fiona.
It was nearly lunch when they made it to the farm there wasn't much left as most of the buildings had collapsed.
"Where should we start?" Asked Sonic.
"Lets see. There's a barn(collapsed), a farmhouse(collapsed), a garage, and a chicken coop"
"What's that little building over there?" Asked Ray
"Looks like a well house. A lot of old farms have them"
"Well! of course, that's it" Exclaimed Ray.
"What's 'it'? Did you figure it out?" Asked Fi.
"The one place Timmy never fell – the well!"
"Of course!" Said Tails. "There's that old gag about that show where they would say 'Timmy fell down the well!' except he never did."
"To the well house!" Said Mighty
they all trotted over and opened the door to the little shed. On the floor in the corner was a steel box.
Sonic grabbed it and brought it outside. They opened it to find another scroll. Ray got to read it this time. It went like this:
Two down
One to go
But be careful
You wouldn't want to blow!
"The map has us headed for a quarry in the Hilltop zone." Said Ray.
They all headed off towards the Hill Top Zone. It took a while and they had to camp out for the night. None of them could sleep since they were all too excited. The next day came and they finally arrived at the quarry. It was an old one and was abandoned since it was destroying a mountain and was shut down by the Hill Top Government.
"OK everyone, spread out. We've got a lot of ground to cover." Said Sonic
They spent the next two hours covering every inch of the quarry. There were a dozen buildings to search and tons of rust equipment. Eventually Mighty discovered the meaning behind the clue, and he rounded everyone up. he led them to a small shed far away from the main buildings. It was about the size of a two-car garage.
"You know, mighty, you look sort of glum. I figured you'd be happy finding the last clue." Said Sonic, Noticing the sad look on Mighty's face.
"Oh, I'm happy I found the clue, but not where I found it."
"It's in this shed, right?" Said Fi standing by its door.
"Yes, but think of it. The last line of the clue said 'you wouldn't want to blow'. The word 'blow' is the key"
"Wait, this isn't…" Said Tails.
"Oh, but it is." Said mighty as he swung open the door to reveal rows and rows of shelves filled with dynamite!
"So?" Said Sally. "All this TNT is really old. Besides, its all wet."
"Sally, that's not water," said Tails, "it's the nitroglycerin leaking out. This stuff is highly unstable, and this shed looks like it could fall any second."
"But the treasure?" Said Amy.
"I'll get it." Said Sonic. "I'll sneak around and find the clue, and if anything happens I can outrun the explosion."
"Good luck, Sonic." Said Amy as she hugged him.
"I'll make sure to say something nice at your funeral." Said Mighty.
"Ha, ha. Well, here I go."
With that everyone took off running to get a good distance from the impending explosion.
Sonic started to slowly sneak around the shed, going down each row, scanning the shelves for a clue.
"This isn't so bad." He thought to himself. What he saw next mad him wish he hadn't said that.
There on a shelf was another steel box, except that a stick of dynamite had fallen on it. Sonic slowly opened the box and hopped the Stick of TNT wouldn't roll off. he felt around for the scroll and found it. As he grabbed it he suddenly he heard a snap and felt a sharp pain across his fingers. Along with the clue was a mousetrap. He yelled and yanked his hand out which caused the lid to fly open and send the stick of dynamite to flip through the air. Sonic spun around and ran at full speed out of the shed. When the Dynamite hit the ground it blew (it would be a boring fanfic if there were no explosions, wouldn't it) and caused all the dynamite in the building to blow with it. The fireball was massive, but fortunately Sonic was well out of its blast radius. He ran over to where the rest of the gang was waiting for him.
"Nice going, twinkle toes. At least tell me you got the clue." Said Fiona.
"Oh Sonic, are you ok? You almost got blown to pieces and there's a mouse trap on your fingers" Said Sonic sarcastically.
"Yeah yeah, just read the clue."
Tails took the scroll and read it aloud. It said;
Neon and bright am I
Deep down below I lie
Enter here an beware
Your money will become quite rare.
"The clue is abstract but the map isn't." Said Amy. "It leads us right to the famous 'Welcome to the Casino Night Zone' sign. That's what's neon and bright."
"It's buried below it." Said Mighty
"But what about the rare money bit" Questioned Ray.
"You loose your money at casinos, hence your cash becomes rare." Explained Fiona.
"Well then, lets go." Said Tails.
It was evening by the time they made it to the sign. It was 8 meters tall and lit up in yellow and white lights. It was of the side of the road. Being on the edge of the zone it was an uninhabited area, and they were all alone.
The box itself was only an inch below the earths surface and only took them a moment to find. As they opened it there almost seemed to be a glow shining from inside the box. It quickly went away when they saw what was inside.
"A baseball?" Said Amy.
"An autographed baseball." Said Ray.
"It looks like an entire team signed it." Noted Mighty.
"Which team" Asked Lien-Da.
"The Westside rollers, 3220." Read Sonic.
"How valuable does that make it." Asked Sally.
"Worthless" Said Tails.
"What?" Yelled Fiona.
"The Westside rollers," Said Tails, "Were part of the island league. The team lost every game between 3215 and 3222, at which point all the players were fired and they renamed the team 'The Westside Canines' since most baseball players are of the dog family"
"Crap." Said Fiona.
"Double crap." Said Sally.
"Crap to infinity…" Said Mighty.
"…and beyond." Added Ray.
"On the bright side I were at the Casino Night Zone. Lets catch up with Bark. I think he's at the 'Longview Motel' on the boulevard. "
"Cool. Lets go."
It didn't take them long to find Bark. They snuck everyone into his room and one by one they fell asleep. Except that Bark had a plan for the next day, and he and Sonic talked into the night.
END
Pop culture references (think you'll do better than last time?)
DC-3 Registration IG99 (India gulf niner niner) - in 'The Incredibles' this was the registration of the jet Elastigirl uses to get to the tropical island. She calls it out frantically several times over the radio.
CC#7 Motorcycle. - Bulma drove this in chapter 2 of Dragon Ball.
The Best of Excel Saga on Betamax - In episode 20, 'The Best Of Mr. Pedro', Excel and Hyatt are watching clips of scenes with Pedro. All the clips are on Betamax cassettes (just so you can tell them apart, you can only see one of the reels in a betamax cassette, whereas you can see both on a VHS).
The Westside Rollers - One of the 3 main gangs in Grand Theft Auto San Andreas.
To Infinity and Beyond - Buzz Lightyear's catchphrase in 'Toy Story'.