Chapter 4

Carnival Night

The first thing Tails saw were the lights. Lights of every color. The next thing he noticed were the brightly painted buildings, then the loops of a huge roller coaster in the distance. Beyond that was the darkening evening sky.

Tails turned to Sonic in surprise. "What is this place?"

"It's called a carnival, Prower."

Sonic and Tails turned to see Knuckles approaching, wearing his customary smirk, and his body language dared Sonic to fight him. Sonic and Tails sideyed each other and backed away. Knuckles stopped and folded his arms. "I should welcome you here, but I'm not going to."

Sonic folded his arms, too. "What is your problem, Knux? Why treat us like this?"

Knuckles ignored the question. "I see you regained all the emeralds."

Tails shot a quick glance at Sonic.

Sonic nodded, gloved fingers drumming on his arm. "So I did. What's it to ya?"

"A lot. I know you won't give them to me. But you know what? The gates are locked, and I doubt you could jump the fence again. You two will stay here without food or water until you're ready to hand over the chaos emeralds." He smiled as if he were doing it for their own good.

"Why you-" Tails began, but Sonic touched his arm. "Chill, little bro." He looked Knuckles in the eye. "That could be a really bad idea."

"Why? Gonna fight me or something?"

"No. I have a friend who could make life absolutely miserable for you."

"Stop the charade."

Sonic looked at Tails. The fox lifted his silver whistle to his lips. Sonic returned his gaze to the echidna. "What do you think will happen when Tails blows that thing?"

Knuckles sneered. "Nothing. It's just an old whistle. What kind of idiot do you take me for?"

"How many kinds are there?"

"Don't change the subject. You could blow it until you turned blue and nothing would happen."

Sonic looked down at himself. "I already am blue."

Knuckles started to walk away. "Go ahead, you twerps. But you're stuck here now."

Sonic nodded to Tails. The fox drew a quick breath, then blew his whistle. It was silent, but Knuckles heard the rasp of air. He turned. "Ha! It doesn't even work!"

Tails looked at Sonic as the echidna vanished into the twilight. The hedgehog looked smug. "Don't worry, kiddo, he'll regret it. She'll make him pay, and good."

I stalked through the carnival, passing though bright pools of light, then darkness. Try to scare me with a wimpy little whistle, ha! Sonic was too goody-goody to have friends like that. I wondered what had happened to Tails; he looked like he had been standing in front of a hair-dryer. Maybe had had tried to use the emeralds the wrong way. Now THAT would have been worth seeing.

I hung a left and entered an alley between four buildings. There was little light, but I knew the way. That Sonic! What a jerk-Tails, too. Maybe Doc would let me maim them before he attacked them. Yeah, that would be fun.

Doc's ship was parked at the end of the alley. He was bent over the engines with a flashlight, but stood up as I approached. "They're here," I told him.

"Good," he replied. "Any luck?" He meant the emeralds.

"No," I said. "Sonic has all of them now, and he's not about to let them go."

Doc snapped his fingers in disappointment. "I'm not surprised. Cut the power whenever you feel like it."

"Okay. Hey, I was wondering-"

"No!" he bellowed. "Not yet! I have tests to run, and the computer still has bugs. Forget it!"

"I wasn't talking about the robot," I snapped. "I wanted to know if you'd like me to disable Sonic and Tails so your new gear would have a chance."

"Oh." He seemed surprised. "You mean beat them up?"

I nodded.

"Go ahead."

I grinned. "Thanks. I'm gonna cut the power now."

Sonic and Tails walked along, looking at the rides and attractions. Tails had his eye on the distant roller coaster. "I wanna go on that, Sonic," he said, pointing.

"Okay little bro, so do I. But it's kinda far away, and we might as well see what else there is."

"Oh, all right. But can we walk faster? It's-"

Suddenly all the lights in the park blinked and went out.

"Heck," Sonic said.

"Double heck," Tails added.

I stood near the power box in the darkness. Amazing, I thought, how the flipping of a little switch can effect an entire carnival. I squeezed my eyes shut and counted ten seconds. When I opened them, my night-vision had kicked in.

I stepped away from the building and turned toward the eastern horizon. The moon would be full tonight; I could see its rim beginning to poke up. Good. Enough light to see by, but not too much. I started back toward where I had left Sonic and Tails. I would enjoy this ...

I was halfway there when I began to feel I was being watched. "It's just the dark," I told myself. I kept moving, trying not to look around. But every so often I glanced over my shoulder. I couldn't see anybody, but something was out there. My heart told me so-it ricocheted off my ribs every time I heard a sound. I didn't like the feeling.

At last I thought, "I wouldn't feel like this unless there's someone out there. Maybe it's Sonic." I felt a red fury at that. I ducked behind some display booths, wove through them, then dove into some shrubs flanking the brick fence. I watched my trail. If it were Sonic, he would come out, look around, and move on.

But nothing happened. I think that scared me more than if I had seen whoever it was. I stepped out of the bushes, wishing I hadn't turned out the lights. "Is anybody there?" I called.

"I'm going to find Sonic and Tails," I muttered.I stepped into a display booth and grabbed one of the prizes- a little mirror. Holding it so I could see over my shoulder, I jogged toward where I had left Sonic and Tails.

For thirty seconds nothing happened. Nothing stirred around me, and I began to think it had been my imagination. Then a shadow behind me bulged outward. I looked back, but it had vanished. "Who is that?" I demanded, angry at being frightened.

To my horror, it answered. There were no words, but the sing- song snarl it made was enough. It was close, and wasn't where I had seen it. It was all around me. It like a lion's growl, but it had a high hiss I didn't recognize. I freaked.

I bolted in the direction I had come, feet hardly touching the ground. I kept my teeth clenched so my heart wouldn't leap out of my mouth. All I could think of was, "It's going to eat me." The only reason I stopped was to catch my breath.

I didn't see anything following me, and I couldn't hear anything over the pounding in my ears. I felt a little safer. Maybe I had left it behind.

I leaned against the chain link fence at the foot of the roller coaster, staring out into the dark carnival. I didn't remember running all that way.

Three claw-tips touched my shoulders and ran down my back, tinking against the fence links. At the same time, I felt a hot breath on my neck.

Sonic and Tails, standing on the boarding platform of the roller coaster, were startled by a shrill scream. They jumped. "What-what was that?" Tails queried.

"Gosh, I donno," Sonic replied, peering in the direction it had come from. Slowly a smile spread across his face. "Hey, know what?"

"I'll bet she got to him."

"Oh man! Was that Knuckles, then?"

"Probably. SHE doesn't scream when she's stalking somebody." The two exchanged a huge grin. They had been stalked by her before.

After a moment, when they heard nothing else, the two returned their attention to the roller coaster.

Three different tracks intersected in the station, forming a clover-loop through the park. The cars were lined up nearby. "Too bad it runs on electricity," Sonic said. "It'd be neat to put it through its paces." He stared out at the dim loops and spirals of the track.

He turned to Tails, a gleam in his eyes. "Hey, remember those tracks we ran on in Robotnik's mine a couple months ago? They were old roller coaster tracks, right?"

"Oh yeah," said Tails, catching on. "Think we could do that on this thing?"

"Why not? I think I'd better go first, though."

"You? Why?"

"To make sure it's safe!" Sonic flashed a grin at his friend. Tails started to protest, but Sonic stepped onto the track and vanished down it.

The track he had chosen contained several sharp turns and drops. He could see the moon gleaming off the silver rails and guided himself by them. This worked until he entered a stretch shaded by several trees. The track swerved right. His flying feet encountered empty space, and down he fell.

The tracks were low there, so he only fell eight feet. Slightly embarrassed, Sonic picked himself up, dusted himself off and looked around. He was on the far side of the park, a few yards away from the brick and barb-wire fence. "Too bad I can't jump it," he thought. "There's just not enough room for me to get up enough speed."

He turned his attention to remounting the roller coaster. The metal struts and supports didn't look hard to climb.

He climbed five feet and stopped, as there weren't any other handholds in reach. He sat in the crook of a strut, puzzled. The blocks of moonlight spilling through the track above were confusing. Maybe he could get a foothold in those recessed bolts ...

A sound. Sonic looked down. Someone running through the maze beneath the roller coaster. He pressed himself against the main beam and held still. There was no light there, and his dark blue made him invisible.

A figure came into view. He was running, one hand outstretched to keep from smacking into the pillars. As he drew closer, Sonic could hear his ragged panting. Knuckles. A rectangle of moonlight brushed him, showing his red fur. Why was he running around beneath the roller coaster? Sonic remembered the scream they had heard.

The echidna was slowing down, head turning from side to side, but the hedgehog held still and Knuckles's eyes flashed past him. Knuckles backed up to the foot of Sonic's pillar and crouched down, trying to hide. Only his loud breathing betrayed his presence. Sonic looked down at him, close enough to touch the scarlet head, a warm glee spreading over him. "This is a very interesting situation," he thought. "He doesn't know I'm here. What can I do to him?"

My terror had run away with me twice. I wasn't aware I had screamed. The thing was big, black and shapeless, with glowing green eyes. The pupils were vertical slits, like cat eyes. Those eyes were all I could see-that and the occasional glint of white teeth.

I had ducked under the roller coaster, hoping the Thing wouldn't follow me, but it had. Between my hard gasps, I could hear it hunting. Its breath purred through its throat, giving away its location. It was coming after me, slow and determined. I gulped, trying to quiet my breathing. It was close enough to hear me.

My survival adrenaline was pumping, so when I heard a rabid snarl above me, I broke and ran, clawed my way over the chain link fence and fled into the carnival beyond. As I did, I heard an outburst of laughter. Sonic had scared me? Where the heck had HE come from? As I pondered this, I remembered his threat when he first entered the carnival. "I have a friend who could make life absolutely miserable for you." The whistle. It must have been a dog whistle, too high for us to hear. His friend was the monster that chased me? Oh gosh, then it would kill me for sure.

I sank down beside a carnival booth, exhausted. My legs felt like rubber, and my entire upper body was on fire. I leaned back against the cool wall and closed my eyes.

After a moment I heard the dreaded purring breath. As it drew nearer I had a terrible urge to open my eyes and look, or to get up and run, but I did neither. I sat where I was. It came to the edge of the building and stopped. I could hear its soft intakes of breath, then the purrs that sent chills down my spine.

It growled. I felt my heart turn over with terror, but stayed put. After another long moment it said, "Run, fool." The voice was gruff, as if it were speaking through a growl.

I opened my eyes, but it was standing around the corner, out of my line of vision. "No," I said into the darkness. I heard the slight tremor in my voice and was ashamed. "I can't run anymore, so go ahead and maul me." I closed my eyes and waited, knowing I was a goner.

The purr faded out. I heard it sigh, then say, "I admire your courage, Knuckles. I will not harm you." There was the soft thud-thud of its departing footsteps.

It left me alone the rest of the night.

"There you are, Sonic! What took you so long?"

Sonic skidded into the station, a wide grin on his face. "Hey, Tails. Here's a bit of advice; don't take this track."

"Why?"

"There's a place you can't see the railing. I fell off."

"YOU fell off? Mister sure-footed fell off?"

"Yup."

"HA! Well then, I'll take this one."

"Tails, listen to this-" But Tails had shot away down the track of his choice. Sonic watched him go, still grinning.

The fox tore along the track, occasionally rolling head over heels to increase his speed. His course was as long as Sonic's, but simpler; most of it was curves and drops. After a few minutes Tails whizzed into the station, and nearly collided with the parked cars at the far end.

Sonic helped him up. Tails was loopy from going so fast, and had to lean against the rear car. Sonic thumped him on the head. "You need to get your brakes fixed, kid."

Tails looked up at him. "Fixed? I never had any!"

Sonic chuckled, then told him about seeing Knuckles under the roller coaster. "Oh man, he jumped three feet and took off that way! He didn't touch the ground again until he hit the fence and had to climb over. You should have seen him-what a riot!"

Tails was laughing. "I wish I had been there. Serves the creep right!"

The two jumped off the platform and returned to wandering through the silent carnival. It was about eight-thirty. The western sky was a faint blue, and most of the sky was velvet black and strewn with stars. Sonic and Tails were feeling the effects of adventuring. "If I just fall over," said Tails, "with my feet sticking up, you'll know it was too late to feed me. Then I'll shrivel up like a raisin ..."

The main gates were their next stop. "If you can't jump 'em, I can," Tails said with a confident nod.

They found the brick wall and were following it when a call stopped them. "Sonic, Tails!" It was Knuckles, hurrying up to them. "C'mon, I'll get you out of here." He glanced around nervously. "Stay out of the shadows. The gates are this way." He trotted away. Sonic and Tails exchanged a suspicious glance and followed.

But true to his word, Knuckles led them out. The gates were wrought iron and painted white. Knux unlocked them and swung one open. As they stepped past him, Knuckles hissed in Sonic's ear, "I'm gonna get you for scaring me."

Sonic smirked. "So you say. But who was chasing you?"

Knuckles didn't answer. He stepped back inside the gates, locked them and walked off.

"He's ticked," Tails said.

Sonic shook his head. "The guy's been ticked since we got here. He's got a problem."

"Yeah, us."

The moon's soft light illuminated a flat, grassy stretch with woods forming the borders. A dirt road led out of the park and curved away toward the distant mountains. Sonic and Tails stepped onto it. "Let's call Slasher," Tails suggested, holding his stomach.

Before either could do anything, a throbbing hum filled the air. They scanned the starry sky. "Robotnik?" Tails asked.

"Robotnik," Sonic replied. "Kiddo, go hide in the woods. It's dark, and I don't want you getting hurt."

"You mean you don't want me to get in the way," Tails replied grumpily. But he moved off in the direction of the trees.

Just in time. Robotnik's ship swooped over the carnival wall. Sonic stood in plain sight, head thrown back defiantly.

The ship bore a new set of accessories. A brass wheel encircled the underside, studded with huge glass balls. The wheel was turning, the glass catching the moonlight. Sonic backed away as it approached, sensing the wheel was the weapon. The ship halted over the dirt road. Sonic watched as three clamps released and a gigantic marble fell from the underside. It was two feet in diameter, and its polished surface shown a translucent sea-green.

Sonic watched from a safe distance as the wheel began to spin. The glass balls glowed and sparked. Lightning began to play back and forth on the wheel, then arcked downward to the green marble. Faster and faster it flashed, blinding the spectators. A strange magnetic field began to pull all mobile objects in range toward the lightning ball.

Tails was out of range, but Sonic was sucked toward it. He fought and struggled, but the current was too strong. Suddenly he said aloud, "Why am I fighting this?" He looked up at Robotnik and yelled, "I might as well give in!" He drew out two chaos emeralds and struck them together.

His cool blue changed to hot yellow. He lunged into the center of the lightning and stood over the green marble. The lightning hit his body, but, as he was unable to conduct the charge, it bounced off and back up into the ship.

Over the crackling of the lightning, Sonic heard Robotnik bellow in rage. As the ship turned to fly away, Sonic grabbed the back end of the craft and hung on, letting the charges of his invincibility flow into the metal. Unfortunately, he was hanging against the engine and was flung off when it backfired. As Super Sonic this didn't hurt him, but by the time he scrambled to his feet again, Robotnik had escaped.

Sonic deactivated the emeralds as Tails ran out to him. "Gosh," the little fox said, "I thought he had you when you jumped in there."

Sonic nodded. "How depressing. He still escaped! Not even Super Sonic could stop him."

They stood there in silence, staring into the dark sky after the departing ship.

Sonic said, "I'm too tired to worry anymore. Let's call Slasher. She might have some news for us."

Tails nodded and covered his hears. Sonic lifted his own whistle to his lips and blew one silent blast on it. (Sonic's whistle was a lower note than Tails's, and Tails could hear it clearly.) At once there came a bird-like trill from the woods. The two looked at each other in surprise. "She's already here?" Tails asked.

They walked into the woods, looking for their friend. She found them first. The big dark form that had terrified Knuckles appeared out of nowhere. "Hi, you two," she said gruffly.

Sonic and Tails walked up to her without fear. "Hey, Slash," Sonic said. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, just causing trouble and snooping around. Nothing new. You guys wouldn't be hungry by any chance, would you?"

"Oh yeah, we're starved," Tails said.

"Good," said Slasher. "I've got a camp set up a little ways back. C'mon." The creature walked away, and Sonic and Tails followed.

The camp was only a sizeable campfire built beside a brook. They sat down beside the fire, extending their hands to its warmth.

The light revealed that Slasher was a reptilian-looking creature. She walked on her hind legs with her forearms held out. Her long, stiff tail was twice her body length. Dark brown stripes marked her light tan body, and formed big patches around her emerald green eyes. The eight-inch arched claw on either hind foot showed her species: velociraptor. But her size marked her as a mongrel-she was too large to be a purebred.

Her most noticeable feature were not her teeth or claws, however. They were the golden feathery wings folded against her sides. They were usually immaculate, but tonight they were ruffled, as if she had been flying hard all day. Sonic noticed this. "What happened to your wings, Slasher?" he asked.

She cocked her narrow head and looked down at them. "I haven't had a chance to preen them yet today. I told you I've been up to no good."

The big raptor knew Sonic and Tails well, for she had prepared a meal of big, messy chili dogs. As the two adventurers fell to, Slasher lay down across the fire from them. "My day has just about matched yours, stride for stride. Care to hear about it?"

Their mouths full, Sonic and Tails nodded.

Slasher began. "A little bird (a literal little bird) told me you two lost the emeralds by less-than-above-ground-methods, so I came on out. I arrived when the bomb squad did. I searched as fast as I could, but I couldn't find you. I did find Knuckles, however." She paused, and Sonic and Tails leaned forward.

"He was running from the fire. From where he was, he couldn't see that the wind had swept the tree fire around him and cut him off."

"What did you do?"

"Well, first I attacked one of the bomb ships. They were built for pilots because they all had oxygen masks and little tanks. I took one, flew down and found Knux. He was about dead of suffocation, but he revived when I gave him the mask. I carried him over the fire and left him in the rocks at the foot of the mountain."

"Is that when you ran past us and flew away?" Sonic asked.

"I ran past you?" Slasher said, not really surprised but pretending to be. "Figures. That's why I couldn't find you."

Sonic looked at Tails. "And that's where Knuckles got the oxygen mask. Remember, in the cave with the first teleporter?"

"Oh, yeah. What else, Slash?"

"Well, what I did next is classified," the raptor said with a wink, "but it involved getting the island turned around so the fire would go out. I was still busy with that when the Flying Battery blimp attacked you. I didn't even see it until it flew away. And then, when Robotnik showed up, I just watched, thinking you two could handle him. And you did, too. Too bad Knux is such a spoil-sport.

"I couldn't find an inlet into Hydrocity I could use, so I ended up on the far side of the island, about the time you guys got washed out. I still didn't know where you were until you blew the whistle, Tails. I came back around and Ah Ha! you were in the carnival. You two looked all right, so I tracked Knuckles back to where he met up with Robotnik. He asked his boss if he could maim you guys, and Ivo agreed. I couldn't let him do that, now could I?"

Sonic had finished eating by this time, and Tails was nearly done. Both were listening with enjoyment. "What did you do to him?" Sonic asked.

Slasher shrugged. "Oh, not much. Just followed him around until he was ready to go nuts."

"Who screamed?"

"Oh, you heard that, huh? That was him. I sneaked up behind him and traced my claws down his back."

"Gosh, no wonder!" Sonic exclaimed.

Slasher nodded. "I felt bad after our little game of Cat-and- Mouse ... he actually refused to run from me anymore. So I came back here and rustled up some grub for you two."

Tails shook his head. "I think the red-haired creep was asking for it. Anything else?"

"Just a little. Robotnik left the island tonight. He told Knux that if you defeated him again, plan B was to retreat to his secret base in the Ice Cap mountains. I can take you there in the morning, if you like."

Sonic nodded. "Fine with me. Him and Knux are up to something. Did you hear they built a robot together?"

Slasher perked up. "No. Really? How'd you learn that?"

Sonic told her what they had heard on the bi-plane's radio. She seemed concerned when he finished. "Design ANOTHER robot," the dinosaur murmured. "They could have built any number of them. Have you seen any badniks today?"

Sonic and Tails looked at each other. They had not.

Slasher growled, "Then something's up. Be careful tomorrow, guys. They might decide Ice Cap is the place to test their inventions."

The three of them straightened up their camp, then Slasher lay down again, broadside to the fire. Sonic and Tails lay down on either side, and she draped her big wings over them for warmth.

Tails was on the side facing the fire, and Sonic was on the cooler, forest side. He curled up against the raptor's warm flank and sighed. Being with Slasher was like being with a tank escort.

As he lay down, Sonic suddenly remembered something. "Hey, Slash, we saw this weird mural in Marble Gardens, and I wondered if you could read it. I don't know what language it is." He dug out the brick fragment he had been carrying and gave it to her. She took it and studied it.

"Mm, ancient inscription of some kind. It's a short word- probably 'and' or 'the' or something. I can't read it, but maybe I can have it translated. Think Knuckles would know how to read it?"

"Naw, it's pry too old."

"You don't know that. He could be bilingual and you would never know."

Slasher set the fragment down between her forepaws and lowered her head. "Sleep, you two," she commanded. Sonic and Tails lay down obediently.

Tails was asleep in fifteen minutes, but Sonic was not. His mind was turning over the possibilities of tomorrow. Ice Cap. One of the tallest mountain ranges in Mobius, the highest peaks were locked in snow winter and summer. A ski resort had been constructed on one of the more hospitable ridges, the only sign of civilization for miles. Mountain climbers trying to conquer the highest peaks were routinely killed. No one had ever climbed Mount Neverest, the eight-mile high giant, and lived to tell the tale. The Ice Cap was avoided and feared by the Mobians.

Sonic had not heard about Robotnik's secret base, but wasn't surprised. Robotnik was always on the lookout for suitable locations to practice his illegal experiments.

And then there was Knuckles. His threat at the carnival gates came back to haunt Sonic. When would he be forced to fight him?

Slasher caught Sonic's heavy sigh. She lifted her head from her forepaws and murmured, "What's wrong, Sonic?"

"I can't sleep."

"Aren't you tired?"

"I'm exhausted. Knux told me he was going to get me for scaring him, and I'm afraid he'll have the chance tomorrow. What am I gonna do, Slash? Do I fight him?"

Now it was Slasher's turn to sigh. "Well Sonic," she said, lifting her wing to look at him, "I've seen how he's been treating you. He thinks if he pushes you around you'll give up."

"He says he wants the emeralds."

"Likely story. He'd still hate you, even if you DID give them to him. No, his problem goes deeper. He's lived here alone for years, and views you not only as trespassers, but as intruders into his life. He wants confrontation."

"So, what do I do? Challenge him?"

"No, no, anything but that. Try to hold off a fight as long as you can."

"Why?" Sonic asked, miffed. "You think he'd beat me?"

"In a word, yes."

"Slasher!"

"It's true, squirt. He's bigger, stronger and more experienced in fighting."

"But you just said he's pushing a fight."

"Yes I did. But you two are nothing more than a couple young cocks, both crowing about how good you are. His spurs are longer than yours, and he may hurt you badly." The velociraptor paused a moment, feeling Sonic relax against her side. "Remember, never give up, in or out, and you'll make it."

"I felt like all three today."

"But you didn't, and that's something. If you ever need me, I'll be close."

Slasher lowered her head and closed her emerald-green eyes. Sonic shut his eyes, too, glad to have his mind at rest. As he began to doze, lulled by the rise and fall of Slasher's side, he heard her say quietly, "Rest well. You'll need it."

Peace settled on the clearing.