Torrin sighed as she plopped down in the airplane seat. She pulled her headphones over her ears, leaning back and closing her eyes. A smirk slowly grew on her face as she heard someone sit down beside her. She didn't have to open her eyes to see who it was; she already knew. It was the exact person she had fiercely debated with to get the window seat.
"Enjoying the middle seat, Rachael?" she cocked one green eye open to see the sandy blonde haired girl glare daggers at her.
But the girl didn't respond, much to her surprise. She simply turned away, adjusting her bag full of things to entertain her during the plane ride under the seat in front of her.
"I'm just happy we get to go…" she muttered under her breath. She was glad Torrin had already begun to listen to her music—she hadn't heard her comment, even though it was true.
Each of them had to ask their parents if they would allow them—all of them—to go on a four day trip to Vero Beach. Some of the parents said that one of them had to go as chaperones—but otherwise, they agreed. It puzzled Rachael, though. Why would their families let them go almost alone to a place that was miles away? It didn't add up.
She sighed, leaning back in her chair. Her eyes trailed over to the black haired girl sitting in one of the seats across from them. She had to look over Bridget who was sitting right beside her, but she could see Shawon clearly. Then again, she told herself silently, nothing has been adding up lately since that girl arrived.
"Rachael-chan? Is something wrong?" Bridget used her new nickname for her friend.
Rachael turned her attention to her best friend, and whispered, "I don't think Shawon is telling us everything…"
Bridget nodded. "She barely told us anything! Right after she told us she knew chaos control, she refused to answer our questions until we reached Vero Beach!"
"I don't trust her…" the sandy blonde haired girl spat quietly.
Bridget looked at her friend with sympathizing eyes. "We have to, Rache…she decided our fate last time we went to Sonic's world—and I think she'll have a say in this one, too."
Rachael looked at her friend as she knew that was true. She leaned back, sighing. "I guess…"
"Don't worry, Rachael-chan," Bridget smiled. "Everything will be okay. You'll see. It always is."
Rachael smirked. "You're right, Bridge-chan…you're right."
"Everyone situated?" an adult male voice called. That was Bruce, Shelby's father, who had decided to join and be the chaperone for the trip.
Various chimes of "Yeah!" and "Uh-huh!" arose from the six children.
"Good!" he smirked. "Then let's get this show on the road!" With that, he sat down in the seats in front of Rachael, Bridget, and Torrin.
Luke, meanwhile, was gripping the armrests like they were life themselves. His eyes were closed tight, and his body rigged.
"What's the matter, Luke-boy?" Shawon asked from the window seat on his far right, chewing some gum nonchalantly.
Shelby turned to her, since she was sitting in the middle. "He hates airplanes…" she informed.
Shawon snickered, opening a magazine. "He's gonna need a lot of work if he wants to save Mobius and Earth…"
Shelby glared at her. "Not everyone can be as brave as you are, Shawon."
"Maybe…but they can learn to be," she smirked.
"You can't teach someone how to be courageous," Shelby pointed out.
Shawon parted from the magazine to look the 12-year-old in the eye. "There's a way, kid. You just don't know how."
"Don't call me 'kid'," Shelby replied through gritted teeth.
Shawon shrugged, turning a page in the magazine. "Whatever, kid."
Shelby let out a puff of air through her nose, before crossing her arms over her chest and leaning back in her seat. She wasn't really too fond of that Shawon-girl right now…
Suddenly, the seat-belt light turned on, indicating that all the airplane passengers should buckle up.
"Attention passengers. Thank you for choosing to ride AirTrans…" a female flight attendant's voice spoke through the speakers, continuing to explain what to do in an emergency. Everyone paid attention, since they knew that it was wise to do so. Well…everyone except Torrin and Shawon.
Once that was done, the captain came on the speakers, announcing, "We will now proceed to take off. Please fasten your seatbelts, and enjoy the ride."
Luke felt the plane move forward, and he gasped, closing his eyes tighter. Shelby could only laugh.
"Relax, Luke," she said. "We're only heading to the take-off strip; we're not gonna fly yet."
He seemed to settle a little bit, but was still tense. "I just hope nothing bad happens…" was all he could say.
Shelby laughed again. "You're not cursed," she said. "Don't worry. Everything will be fine, okay?"
Luke nodded, but was still stiff. Shelby shook her head, still amused.
But little did they know they were in for a big surprise on their way to Vero Beach.
It had been a couple hours into the flight. Many of the travelers were asleep, including Luke, Shelby, Bridget and Rachael. Torrin and Shawon had no interest in getting shut-eye at the moment.
But perhaps that was for the better…
"We are now nearing the Orlando Airport. Please buckle your seatbelts as we—"
All of a sudden, the pilot's voice was cut off, and silence took over the plane. Some people exchanged glances, and murmured to one and another. Torrin looked over at Shawon, who looked calm.
"We're sorry about that. A little technical difficulty, that's all," the pilot's voice came back on over the intercom.
Torrin scoffed.
"As we were saying, we are going to begin our descent shortly. Everyone please buckle your seatbelts and—"
Again, his voice was cut off.
Torrin raised an eyebrow, before putting her CD player away. Was something wrong…?
"Sorry to interrupt your flight, but we have an emergency."
That was a new voice. It was male, but totally different from the pilot's voice.
Shawon sat up as if she recognized the voice. Torrin was intrigued even more. What was going on?
Rachael had woken up in time to hear the new recent voice. She then began to wake up Bridget.
"What…? What's wrong, Rache?" Bridget yawned.
"I dunno—but something's up. They said there's an emergency," Rachael whispered.
Bridget's attention was caught, and looked up at the intercom, as if awaiting what they'd say next.
"I need a few people to come up her to the cockpit, if you would," the new voice continued. "Those people are all in the same group, so if you hear your name called, and then another name that you don't know, it's probably not you, for these people all know each other. They are: Rachael, Bridget, Luke, Torrin, and Shelby. You five please come to the cockpit immediately. Thank you."
And then the intercom was shut off.
Rachael and Bridget's eyes were wide. That was more than just a coincidence. Something was going on.
Rachael looked up into the seat in front of them. Bruce was asleep. Thank goodness.
"Would those five please come up here—this is an emergency!" it sounded like the male voice was getting urgent. "We won't land until you do!"
Murmurs raced across the plane from the passengers. It was evident fear was in the air.
"Well…best not keep the kind man waiting, eh?" Torrin stood up, beginning to step over Rachael and Bridget.
"What are you doing, Rin?" Rachael whispered. "We can't go up there—"
Shawon stood up, getting behind Rin. "You're friend is right, Rachael. We shouldn't keep him waiting." And with that, she pushed through Torrin, starting to head towards the front.
"Rachael…" Bridget whispered. "Shawon's name wasn't called. Why is she going up there?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Torrin asked, hearing the whisper. "She knows more than we do about our situation right now. She probably knows who called us. We should go up there."
Rachael and Bridget exchanged glances, as if debating, before finally nodding.
"Let's go…" Rachael replied, standing up. Bridget followed suit.
"Good. Took you long enough. Go wake the two sleeping heads while I head to the front," without waiting for an answer, Torrin made her way to the cockpit.
The murmurs got even louder when the passengers saw that the people needed were only kids and young teenagers.
"Oh, shut up!" Torrin shouted, turning around to face the passengers. Everyone silenced, before she turned around once more and continued her journey down the hall.
Rachael sighed. Torrin could be so rude at times… The sandy blonde haired girl then reached out, shaking both Luke and Shelby.
Luke was the first to awaken. "What…? What's the matter? Have we landed?" he yawned.
"No…but we're having some difficulties. We've been asked to come to the front," Rachael explained.
Luke groaned, still rubbing his eye to get the sleepy seeds out. "You've got to be kidding me…I knew I was cursed…"
It was at that time, Shelby woke up. "What did you say…?" her question came out muffled by her yawn.
"That I'm cursed…" Luke then told her what Rachael had informed him of.
"Really?" Shelby yawned once more. "Is my dad awake?"
"No, he's sleeping," Rachael assured.
The brown haired girl nodded. "Good…well, we might as well head up there, right?" Shelby didn't sound too sure of herself as she said that, but as she stood up, her confidence seemed to heighten.
Luke groaned. "What if its just a way to kidnap us or something…?"
"Shawon went up there, and her name wasn't called," Rachael informed. That seemed to say everything.
"Then let's get going," Shelby said.
Rachael nodded, turning to see Bridget had already walked to the front. She then began to trek up to the cockpit as well, Luke and Shelby following.
Everyone was uneasy as they entered the room. To their surprise, the pilot and co-pilot weren't tied up and gagged at all. They were merely having a friendly chat with the male who had used the intercom.
Once everyone was there, the man turned to the young teenagers, giving them a warm smile.
"Good…I knew you'd come…" he murmured, standing up. He walked over to the group, before saying, "It is a pleasure to meet you Crossers. My name is Dominic Hendricks, and…" he paused for a moment, as if analyzing them. "Isn't there three more of you?"
Bridget looked around. Obviously, Shawon had hidden herself in the shadows, and obviously, Dominic thought all five of them had been the original Crossers.
"Sorry, sir," Shelby spoke up. "But not all of us have been to…" She cast a glance at the pilots who seemed to be eavesdropping. "…the twin side." She dared not say 'Sonic's Dimension'. That would arouse a lot of attention.
Dominic furrowed his eyebrows. "I…I see…um…follow me. We have a private room in the back."
And with that, the dark brown haired man began to lead them down the hall once more to the back.
Shelby looked over, and saw that her father was still asleep. Convenient.
Upon reaching the room, everyone entered one by one. It looked like a small (very small) lounge quarters for the flight attendants.
Dominic shut the door behind them, turning on the lights. The children each sat in a chair around the small round table, and soon, Dominic seated himself in the chair at the front of the table.
"Now…please explain by what you mean that not all of you have been to Sonic's dimension…" he began.
"After you tell us if you were the person who sent us the letter to come to Vero Beach," Rachael spoke up.
"Yes. I was the person who asked you to come to Vero Beach. And, before you ask the other question, I was the person who sent you the chaos emerald, Bridget," Dominic told the blonde haired girl.
"What?! How do you know my name?" Bridget asked.
"I have to know your name to have sent you the letter, right?" Dominic replied.
"Yeah…I guess…" the blonde haired girl shrugged.
"Speaking of the jewel…do you have it with you?" the adult inquired.
Bridget nodded. "It's in my coat pocket."
"Good…because I have a feeling that you'll be heading to Sonic's world sooner than expected…" Dominic seemed distressed at that.
"But first, you need to answer some questions…" Shelby chimed in.
Dominic looked at his watch. "All right…but hurry. We have to get you to Sonic's world and back before this plane lands."
Silence.
"How in the WORLD do you expect us to cross dimensions in only a matter of minutes?!" Luke exclaimed.
Dominic sighed. "There's so much to explain…"
"Then allow me to help, Doc," came a familiar female's voice.
Dominic tensed up, sitting straight in his chair. "Shawon…what are you doing here?"
"Doing exactly what you're trying to do," the black haired girl stepped out from the shadows. She had followed them there. "Send them to Sonic's world so they can settle the balance and mend the veil."
"What is she talking about?" Shelby whispered to Bridget. The blonde haired girl could only shrug, as confused as her.
"But that's not the only thing we have to worry about…by now, the next game is set and is about to begin. They will have to go through that one as well," Dominic replied.
Shawon shrugged. "Shouldn't be a problem. Not for them at least. After all, I'm going with them."
Dominic stood up. "No! You can't! You'll only disturb the veil even more!"
"No I won't. It's not like I'm going to another game that I wasn't created for. Besides, they need one more person. I have to go with them," Shawon answered.
The young teenagers exchanged glances. What in the world were they talking about…?
Dominic sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Fine…you can go…but if you pull anything off like you did before…"
"Dominic, I'm here so then my life can go back to normal…" Shawon informed. "I wouldn't do anything to make the situation worse—you know that."
The artist couldn't disagree.
"Okay, can someone please tell us something that makes sense??" Torrin asked, getting agitated.
Dominic opened his mouth to reply, but Shawon quickly intervened. "There's no time. We must get to Sonic's side. Now."
Shelby's heart skipped a beat.
"What? Why?" Rachael asked.
"We've delayed this far enough as it is. The more we wait, the more the veil becomes unstable. Quickly, you must form teams of three," Shawon informed.
"Teams of three…?" Luke murmured. Why three?
Shelby's eyes widened as it dawned on her. "Sonic Heroes…" she whispered.
"Make teams NOW or else I will divide you guys by myself—and I won't acknowledge any complaints!" Shawon exclaimed, her voice becoming urgent.
Rachael stood up. "Me, Bridget and Rin will be a team. You, Luke and Shelby can be another. Sound good?"
"WHAT?!" Bridget and Torrin stood up at the same time, protesting loudly.
"SILENCE!" Shawon barked.
In a second, everyone was quiet, and staring at her with wide eyes. "Your friend made a quick decision—a decision that we need. Do not blame her. Now Bridget…the chaos emerald…"
The black haired girl held out her hand to take the amethyst gem. Bridget handed it over without question.
"We must hurry. When we arrive, our two teams will be separated. The teams must stick together, and follow the game if we want to meet up so then we can mend the Veil," Shawon instructed.
"Is anyone else besides me totally lost?" Bridget asked.
"All will be explained throughout our adventure. Right now what matters is getting to Sonic's world. Everyone gather around."
The two groups did as told by Shawon, gathering in a circle around her.
"Good. Now let's get this party started," the black haired girl smirked, as her grip tightened on the emerald.
Then, her mouth opened as she cried, "CHAOS CONTROL!"
And in a flash of light, they were gone.
-
"So much for trying to escape…" Muscles muttered under his breath.
MJ sighed, leaning against the metal wall. That had been their fifth time in the last hour of trying to get out of Eggman's base…only to be caught again and thrown back into their cell.
"Well…any ideas?" Kristal asked, rubbing her arm where a bruise was forming.
The white seal shook her head. "None…"
"Maybe we should take a break…just…talk, you know?" Muscles suggested.
"What is there to talk about?" MJ questioned, a slight edge in her voice.
"Well…" the red echidna stood up. "For one, if we are a team…then we should have designated parts of the team."
Kristal was intrigued. "What do you mean?"
"We need a Speed person, a Flying person, and a Power person," Muscles explained.
MJ stood up. "He's right…"
"I can be Power," the brother of Knuckles continued. "But what about you two?"
"Neither of us can fly OR are really fast," Kristal murmured, discouraged.
MJ thought for a minute. "Well…remember Sonic Heroes?"
"Yeah?" both Kristal and Muscles chimed simultaneously.
"Amy and Espio were the Speed members of their team. Neither of them were very fast…but they could run faster than their other team members, and had the agility Speed required," MJ informed. She turned to her white hedgehog friend. "Kristal, you could be Speed, and I could be Flying."
"What? Why me?" Kristal stood up, confused.
"Think about it: you're attacks are similar to what a normal speed person's would be. And you're probably faster than me or Muscles…" MJ said.
Kristal thought about this for a moment. It could work… "But then, how can you fly?"
MJ smirked. "Easy. All we have to do is a little raid on Eggman's machinery wing. There should be a gadget I can use to fly."
Muscles grinned, cracking his knuckles. "Sounds good to me."
Silence took over as Kristal thought for a moment. Then, she said, "Shouldn't we have a team name?"
"Good point…" Muscles muttered.
The three instantly fell into a deep silence again, this time, thinking hard about what their team name should be.
Muscles finally got fed up with the silence. "Ah…who needs one, anyway?"
"It would be cool to have a team name…" MJ murmured under her breath.
Kristal heard what her friend had said. "We'll think of one later, okay?" she told her encouragingly.
MJ looked up, a bit meekly at first, but then she smiled, nodding. Her confidence returned.
"So…let's go do some raiding, what do you two say?" Muscles smirked.
Kristal and MJ looked at their team mate, smirking as well.
"Let's do it," MJ said.
And with that, all three of them headed to the front of their cell.
"Think you can break the lock?" Kristal asked Muscles.
"Psh…done it the other five times, haven't I?" the red echidna grinned, heading towards the lock.
"Wait!" MJ held out her hand to block her friend from breaking it.
"What is it?" Kristal inquired.
"Remember the last times we broke the lock? Each time, the alarm would sound. Deactivate the alarm before doing the lock," the seal advised.
Muscles smirked. "Smart thinking, M! Let's do it!"
"Allow me," MJ winked, before turning around towards the lock. After inspecting it closely, she noticed a few wires coming out from it that led upwards towards the ceiling.
The other two leaned in, and saw what their friend noticed.
"Should we cut it?" Kristal asked.
"No…" MJ shook her head. "The alarm would sound if we did. There should be an interval between when the alarm is on and off…"
"How will we be able to tell?" Muscles inquired.
"That's just it…" another shake of the head from the seal. "I don't think we will know."
"Great, then how do we get out of here?!" the scarlet echidna stood up.
Kristal looked at the bars, before a smile spread on her face. "Hey, Muscles…think you're strong enough to put a big enough gap in these bars so we can get out?
Muscles' grin returned, and he cracked his knuckles. "No problem…"
With that, he stepped forward, a hand on each bar. Then, he gritted his teeth as he put all his strength into pushing the two metallic bars apart.
"Come on, Muscles…you can do it…" MJ whispered.
Kristal nodded. "We know you can…"
The echidna's arms began to shake from the force, but he kept pushing. Slowly, the bars began to bend.
"Yes! That's it! You're almost there!" MJ cheered quietly.
"You can do it!" Kristal added.
Muscles closed his eyes, putting in even more strength. To his relief, finally, the bars were wide enough. He let go, his arms dropping to his sides.
"Phew…what a work-out…" he panted, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
"Good job, Muscles! You did great," MJ and Kristal both gave their friend pats on the shoulder.
The echidna smiled. "No problem. Now let's get to that room."
The other two nodded. Kristal walked up to the spread bars, and poked her head out. She scanned the room for cameras. There were two, on both sides of the room, she discovered.
She watched them carefully. Both had a red light on them that went off every 30 seconds. But they only stayed off for 5 seconds.
"All right, guys…I'm gonna have to run both of you over one at a time. That okay?" she asked.
MJ and Muscles nodded.
"Take her first," the power member then added. "I'll wait."
MJ turned to him. "You sure?"
Muscles smiled. "Positive."
"Okay…" Kristal nodded, taking MJ's hand. She then looked out again, waiting for the red light on both cameras to shut off. As soon as it did so, she ran across as fast as she could. It wasn't as fast as Sonic or Shadow, but it was fast enough. As soon as she got across, she had to wait for the light to turn off again, before running back for Muscles. In no time, all three were out of the cell room.
"Piece of cake," Muscles smirked, licking his lips.
Kristal chuckled.
"Let's keep moving," MJ suggested, and the group did so.
Ever so silently, they stalked down the halls, keeping to the shadows. Everything was going by smoothly, and soon, they found themselves in the machinery room.
Muscles couldn't suppress a whistle. "Wow…that Egghead sure has a lot of gadgets…"
The room was full of them. There were tables and tables filled with little pieces of machinery—there were even hooks on the walls that held up neat kinks.
"Let's stay focused," MJ reminded. "You two wait here while I go get what I need."
Kristal and Muscles nodded.
"Be careful," Kristal whispered.
The seal winked, before jogging off to find the device she was looking for. She passed table after table, but none seemed to hold what she wanted. After about three rows, she was beginning to get the idea Eggman might not have created it…
But then, she saw it. She smiled, walking over to the table. "Perfect…"
To the ordinary eye, it would look like a normal pair of tennis shoes. But in actuality, it was a gravity-defying mechanism. She knew the madman had this invention—she had overheard him talking about it. The seal smirked, kneeling down on the ground and taking off her old shoes. As she slipped the new ones on, she felt something hard in them.
"What…?" MJ took off the tennis shoe, looking inside to find two bracelets. She gently grabbed them with her hand, taking them out. They were light blue wrist bands. "Huh…I wonder what these are for…" she murmured.
With a shrug, she continued to put on the shoes. She smiled. They looked almost exactly like her old ones, except on the bottom it was grey, and in the back, they were raised up a tiny bit, with a green light in it. Then, the seal looked at the two bands in her hand. She could put them on…
Oh, why not? With an adventuring smile, MJ slipped the two bands on her wrists. As she stared at her left wrist, she suddenly remembered that she didn't have Shadow's bracelet on her. She had dropped it when they had been kidnapped. MJ sighed sadly, remembering home. She closed her eyes to calm herself, before opening her eyes with a new determination.
"All right…I'm already to go…I just wish I knew how these things worked…" she muttered the last part to herself.
"MJ!" the seal's head snapped up, hearing Kristal call her name desperately. She ran with all her strength to where the door was, only to find her two teammates captured by Eggman's little red robots, and the scientist himself standing there, looking smug.
"Well, well, well…trying to get away, are you? How cute…" Eggman grinned.
Before the seal could react, two other little pudgy robots grabbed onto her arms, capturing her as well.
She scowled.
They had been captured. Again.