Chapter 28: Ransom

Tails flew above the trees in the direction his Emerald Detector pointed to. He figured that Dr. Eggman must be storing the Chaos Emeralds onboard the Egg Carrier, and so if he found the Emeralds then Tails would surely find Eggman. Eventually, he came to the western coast of South Island which was shrouded in a heavy fog that rolled in from the ocean.

"That's weird," Tails said to himself. "According to Miles, there's usually never this much fog along the coast, even during the daytime."

As the Emerald Detector beeped rapidly in the direction of the ocean, Tails flew over the beach and over the waves that lapped the shoreline. Along the way, he noticed a rowboat that was torn into pieces with parts of it floating away. On one such part lay an unconscious girl who looked to be about Miles' age with medium chestnut hair and dark-brown highlights tied into downward pigtails wearing a green tank-top and black shorts. Concerned, Tails flew down towards the girl when an explosion occurred forcing him to look toward the ocean. Several cannonballs were flying through the air in his direction, forcing him to quickly grab the girl and fly back to the beach. Fortunately, none of the cannonballs hit him, but the explosions they caused in the water were loud enough to disturb the girl.

Before the girl regained consciousness, Tails placed her gently down on the beach and quickly transformed back into Miles. Once this was done, Miles knelt next to the girl as she opened her eyes. They were bright-blue like the ocean on a clear day.

"Are you okay, Miss?" Miles asked. "What were you doing that far from the shore?"

"My boat," the girl replied wearily as she sat up. "Where's my boat?"

"It's…kind of torn up out there," Miles replied. "Probably because of those cannonballs that came flying out of the fog."

"Cannonballs?" The girl gasped. "That's right! I was heading out to see my cousin Stilla on Bygone Island when this weird fog rolled in followed by a cannonball that put a hole in my boat. I tried to swim back to shore and…I guess I got too tired and fell asleep."

"Well it's a good thing that I rescued you when I did, otherwise you would've been killed."

"You rescued me? How?"

"I was, uh, walking along the beach when I saw you floating in the water and so I jumped in and swam out to get you."

"But you don't look wet."

"That's because my clothes dried while you were unconscious."

"How long was I out?"

Noticing that the girl didn't have a watch, Miles said. "I'd say an hour, maybe two."

"Wow, I really was tired," the girl said as she stood up. "But thanks for rescuing me. My name's Marina Racco."

"Miles Prower," Miles said as he extended his hand out to the girl.

Marina gladly shook Miles' hand. "Hey, didn't you attend South Island Middle School? I think we attended the same class together in eighth grade."

"Oh, yeah. I thought you looked familiar."

"So how have you been?"

"Um, good, but do you think we can resume this conversation once we're away from the beach?" Miles interrupted. "Whoever threw those cannonballs could be watching us and planning to strike again."

"Right, I forgot. Sorry."

So Miles and Marina walked along a trail that began at the palm-trees that outlined the beach. During this time, they talked about what they did after graduating middle school, though Miles had to change some of the details for his experiences. Then the conversation shifted to Marina and some of the personal issues she was having.

"So your parents just abandoned you here?" Miles said trying to comprehend what Marina just told him. "Who raised you?"

"The Coconut Crew construction workers did," Marina said. "There really nice guys, especially Tab. He was like a father to me."

"Did something happen to him?" Miles asked. "You don't sound too happy."

"He left three years ago to find work on the other islands, and didn't even ask me if I wanted to come. I hate him for doing that to me, because I want to get off this island more than anything else and explore the rest of the world."

"I understand that urge. That's why I went to Station Square to attend high school."

"I would've gone there too if the Coconut Crew guys had enough money. So I've been taking part-time jobs around the town to save up on a boat so I could sail out of here, but now that it's gone I'm back to square one."

"Well if you had a boat, why did you wait till now to try leaving the island? Is it because of your cousin?"

"Yes," Marina answered. "A few weeks ago, I found her on a website dedicated to slovenly people and she was at the top of the list. After that, I did a little research and learned she's the daughter of my dad's brother. But her parents died in a tragic boating accident recently, and so she's an orphan like myself. I want to go to Bygone Island and comfort her really badly, but now I can't get there."

"You will, Marina," Miles said confidently. "Because I'm going to help you build a new boat."

"But you don't know anything about shipbuilding," Marina responded. "I built my boat from scratch after eight years of studying the craft. What makes you think you're up for the challenge?"

Miles scratched the back of his head. "I have what you might call an 'unusual gift' for fixing just about anything that's put in front of me."

"All right, then let's go to my workshop and see what you're made of." Marina took hold of Miles' hand and was about to drag him down a fork in the path when he stopped.

"Maybe later, but I've got some business I need to take care of," Miles said, releasing his hand from Marina's. "If I could have your phone-number so I could call you when I'm done, that would be great."

At first, Marina looked disappointed, and then she smiled. "Sure!"

After they exchanged phone-numbers, Marina and Miles went their separate ways down the forked paths in the trail.

###

Meanwhile, Sonic was busy running circles around the G. U. N. base with the soldiers constantly shooting at him. None of the bullets touched him, of course, but there were a few that got a little too close for comfort. So he ran faster, causing the dirt surrounding the base to spiral up into a miniature dust-storm that caused the soldiers to miss more frequently and eventually cease-fire altogether. Once this was accomplished, Sonic left the G. U. N. base as quickly as he came but soon noticed a shadow following him along the ground. When he looked up to see what it was, there was nothing in the sky and the shadow was gone. It was then that Sonny's cellphone vibrated from his trouser-pocket, which Sonic picked up with ease due to his unfamiliarity with the technology.

"Hello?" Sonic asked.

A voice answered back. "Sonic, this is Tails. I think I've found where Dr. Eggman is hiding, but there's a slight problem."

"What is it?"

"There's some unusually dense fog obscuring the Egg Carrier from view, and it seems to be guarded by something that spewed cannonballs at me."

"Were you hurt?"

"No, but there was a girl whose boat got hit. She was barely conscious when I brought her to shore, but she's fine. I think it's best if we regroup at the Chao Garden for now so we can think of a plan of action before taking Dr. Eggman on directly."

"Sounds good to me. I'll get in touch with Amy and Knuckles to see where they're at and we'll meet you back at the Chao Garden."

"Okay. See you later, then," Tails said, and hung up.

Afterwards, Sonic scrolled through the list of contacts and, after a brief sigh, he called Amelia's phone-number.

###

"Sonic! How nice of you to call me," Amy said cheerfully. "I don't think you've ever done that before. Does this mean you're interested in dating me?"

Sonic hesitated for a moment. "Uh, not really. I was just wondering where you and Knuckles were."

"Oh, we're just finishing off the last of the robots by the old ruins," Amy replied as she dropped her hammer on the head of the robot that was standing beneath her feet which caused brief sparks to fly from it. Then she looked over her shoulder and said, "Right, Knuckles?"

"Yep," Knuckles replied, retracting his Shovel Claws out of a fallen robot.

"So what's happening on your end?" Amy asked to Sonic.

"Tails thinks he's found Dr. Eggman, so we're heading back to the Chao Garden to figure out a plan of action," Sonic replied.

"What about G. U. N.?"

"I've taken care of them."

"Then I'll meet you at the Chao Garden. Bye-bye!" Amy let out a long sigh after hanging up.

###

Back at the Chao Garden, Miles told everyone about what he saw on the western coast and of his encounter with Marina. The sun was past the zenith point and the Chao had come out of hiding to resume their play. Then once Miles finished his story, everyone was silent for a few minutes in concentrated thought.

"That sounds like something Dr. Eggman would do to keep the islanders away from the Egg Carrier," Chuck said after a while.

"But it's only going to be a matter of time before G. U. N. finds out," Amelia said.

"We've got to get the Chaos Emeralds back from Dr. Eggman before that happens," Sonny responded. "I'm not sure what G. U. N. would do if they had the Chaos Emeralds in their possession, but I don't want to find out."

"It's getting late, guys," Crème said abruptly. "We should get home before my mom starts worrying about me."

"Crème's right," Miles said. "Maybe if I sleep on it, I'll have a more definite plan by tomorrow."

"Whatever you say, Miles," Sonny said. "We're not in a hurry to beat Dr. Eggman, after all."

So the five packed up and left the Chao Garden. The lake's surface slowly grew darker as they walked around it, and the steep path that led back into town was completely in shadow by the time Sonny and his friends got there. Once in town, they expected to see empty streets under the assumption that Rouge warned the people but instead the streets were occupied by the usual bored residents and restless tourists.

"I bet Rouge didn't even bother to warn the people of this town," Amelia said irritably. "That lazy no-good—

"Chill out, Amelia," Miles said. "The robots didn't go near the town and G. U. N. was distracted, so maybe Rouge didn't need to warn the town people. If anything, it would've caused everyone to unnecessarily panic, and that would've gotten G. U. N.'s attention."

"It might've even gotten Rouge in trouble, and we can't let that happen now that she knows our secret," Sonny said.

"Do you think it was a good idea to tell her?" Amelia asked. "We haven't known her for that long and she could rat out on us to somebody."

Sonny scratched his head before answering. "Well, we didn't have a choice considering she was already suspecting something and it would only have been a matter of time before she found out the longer she stayed with us."

"Then why did you invite her on this trip in the first place?" Amelia snapped as she stopped walking and turned to face Sonny.

"How was I supposed to know that Dr. Eggman would show up here while we were on vacation?" Sonny said defensively. "If he hadn't, we wouldn't be in this situation."

"You didn't answer my question."

"I told you already. Rouge said her dad wasn't going to be around for Winter Break, so I offered her to come with us and she said 'Yes'."

"Are you sure it wasn't for any other reason like…you wanted to spend more time with her?"

"Yes, but only because I hope to at least be friends with her since she seems quite interested in me."

"Sonny, the only reason she's shown interest in you is because she's planning to seduce you like she has with so many other boys at our school."

Sonic blinked rapidly. "Is that why you've been hard on Rouge since we got here? Aren't you being a little paranoid?"

"No, Sonny, I know girls like Rouge better than you do. They may seem nice on the outside but inside they're manipulative she-devils who will seduce men and break their hearts as soon as they're through. All of Rouge's ex's demonstrate that, and I don't want the same thing to happen to you."

"But I don't see Rouge in that way. If she tries to seduce me, I'll just tell her I want to be friends and nothing more."

"Fine," Amelia said as she turned away from Sonny. Then under her breath she said, "For both of our sakes, I hope that's true."

"You seem to like Sonny a lot," Crème said looking up at Amelia. "Maybe you should date him."

This comment took everyone by surprise, but especially Amelia who turned bright-red and walked on ahead. Miles, Sonny, and Crème tried to catch up to her, but they were suddenly distracted by a familiar voice coming from the electronics store they were passing by in the downtown area. They went inside and saw Dr. Eggman laughing maniacally on all the television sets in the store.

Once he was done laughing, Dr. Eggman said, "If you're wondering why your television sets are not working right now it is because I, the illustrious Dr. Robotnik, have hacked into South Island's cable network. The reason I have done this is to inform you all that I'm here to claim what should've been mine three years ago: your island. However, I will need a certain someone known as The Blue Blur to pay tribute to me. So if you're listening to this broadcast, Blue Blur, I want you to bring me the last piece of Chaos by noon tomorrow, or else—

Dr. Eggman paused to bring someone onscreen. It was Ms. Hare, and she was gagged and tied up. Crème's eyes widened as Cheese tried not to move despite the growing frown on his face.

"This beautiful woman will get roboticized. Now for those of you who are unfamiliar with robotization, it's a simple process where organic life-forms are replaced with mechanical parts and essentially turned into robots. What I did to the hostage children was a form of robotization, but they were merely placed inside robots. Here is a demonstration of what true robotization looks like." Dr. Eggman then showed footage of a man whom Sonny recognized as Mr. Chaplain being dragged into a dim-lit room and strapped to an operating table. Next, the operating table lifted upward so that Mr. Chaplain was facing away from the camera, but his screams of agony and pain were audible. After several minutes, the screams stopped, and the operating table turned towards the camera to reveal a mechanical version of Mr. Chaplain. Afterwards, Dr. Eggman cut back to himself and said, "Unless you want the same process to happen to my hostage, bring me what I want to the West coast of South Island tomorrow at noon, Blue Blur. I'll be waiting."

The broadcast ended, and all the television sets resumed back to normal.

"Mama," Crème muttered. Then she turned to Sonny with tears in her eyes. "You're going to save her, right?"

"I will, Crème," Sonny said, pulling Crème close to him as she cried silently into his shirt. "I promise."

To be continued…