All aboard the Hype Train, or shall I say the Hype Coaster that is. We are now witnessing half of the heroes having the time of their lives while the other half would eventually talk with Blaze Fielding's group about the shards. For most of this chapter, you will be seeing Ryo have his romantic date with Honey (which may be perfect for the shippers out there). But that isn't going to go well soon, which you'll find out once you read this chapter. In the wise word's of Zobio, reeeaaadyyyyyyyyyy go!
The Amusement Park is one of the biggest attractions of Wood Oak City, known for its fun attractions and exciting atmosphere. The neon lights of every ride glows as bright as stars, making it possible to be seen from miles away by any tourist. Many of the attractions included a fast paced roller coaster, a massive Ferris Wheel, a pirates show, a sci-fi theme area, an arcade full of Bare Knuckle machines, the finest diners in Wood Oak City, and many other carnival games. This would be a quite a fun day for the heroes in which they had already arrived at the place. As previously mentioned, Axel agreed to look for his crew to retrieve the Master Emerald shards for this city with some help. The people who were walking him down the road were Knuckles, Shiva, Akira, Jacky, Kiryu, and Electra since they would least want to have fun unlike the others. The red echidna glances back to make sure that everyone was still following him and turned forward to look for their next destination.
"So Axel, did they specifically tell you where we should meet them?" he asked.
"No, all they said was to head to the northeastern part of the park and no other detail. But I do know what they look like so that wouldn't be a problem at all," said the blonde cop.
"Tell me something, Axel. Did you guys managed to fend off criminals from taking over this city more than once?" Jacky asked.
During that question, Axel remembered all the times he would fight by their side from the Syndicate taking over the eastern side of Wood Oak City to Mr. X's last plan involving nuclear weapons to the city.
"Yeah, we did since it was our responsibility. Making sure that insane crime lord doesn't take over this city with gang violence is always a high priority when it comes to me and the crew," Axel said seriously.
"I know it is, dealing with many criminals from time to time. I do have to fight in order to carry the honor of the Yakuza, even though I am no longer associated with the Tojo Clan anymore. That Ryo kid called me a dangerous Yakuza member back at Kamurocho before we took on the Tanaka Clan, but I gladly accepted it since it was one of my most notable titles after all," Kiryu said sincerely.
"I've heard that you were the type of guy that is fond of children. As for how to I know, Mr. X sometimes try to make a deal with other criminal organizations before the Legion of Subspace had arrived. As always, one clan that used to know you did tell us about the last time you were seen," Shiva remarked.
"I have opened an orphanage since I do care for the homeless children in Kamurocho and give them a safe environment where they could live without any exposure to pointless violence. They are the future generation after all and they don't deserve to die unlike older and more powerful warriors like me. After another situation that occurred involving more Yazuka, I moved to another part of Japan to serve as a taxi driver," said the Yazuka member blankly.
At this time, he thought of the times when he'd used to be around the children of his old orphanage. The more he thought, the more started to regret leaving such a peaceful place behind. Jacky knew that he wasn't feeling that great and decided that it's best to change the subject to make things less depressing.
"Speaking of taxi drivers, I wonder what B.D. Joe and the others are up to in the park?" he asked.
Electra shrugs sarcastically and glanced towards the sky to look at the shining stars above her.
"I think they are having the times of their lives right now. So we shouldn't really be worried abut them at this time," she said.
And she was right, everyone near the southern section of the park were enjoying themselves dearly as if its what they've been wanting for years. Big is fishing in the massive lake that hid under the blue coaster in hopes of finding Froggy. Sometimes he would lose concentration of getting a bite due to the coaster rolling loudly above his head and being scared by the creaking of the ride's tracks above him. This park was pretty popular for years and staff had barely checked on the conditions of the park or even bothered remodeling any attraction in this fun place.
"Huuuuuuh, I really hope that I can find Froggy in here since he does love to swim a lot. I wonder if my little pollywog buddy is alright after disappearing a while ago," said the purple cat.
But he wasn't too sad since he managed to catch him some fish for future use or perhaps for a fishy meal soon. Toejam and Earl were strutting from the pirate show with their meal and disappointed looks. Earl had a massive bag of popcorn under his left arm while his red buddy sips on his cola drink.
"Earl, that show was a major blowout. While it did have an interestin' set up, but it was just too funking predictable for a show like that," Toejam said disappointingly.
"Earl, it was supposed to be predictable from the start since it was for kids. But since we were the only ones watching it, I wonder why we are the only ones enjoying this park," the yellow alien wondered.
"If ya listened to what Mr. Stone said when we've got here, the park's owners decided to open up the park for free after his buddies done saved the place from some damn Earthling criminals earlier. So there's no need for you to worry and we can enjoy ourselves as much as we want. No need to worry at all, homie," said the chill red alien.
The two funky aliens kept walking past a roller rink where everyone's favorite rudie was practicing for fun. Beats skids across a long railing and leaped towards another sets of railings to grind on. He was told that he's sadly not allowed to spray any graffiti in the roller rink under order's of Axel, but he is still having fun regardless since it reminds him of all the times we'd grind in Tokyo-To. He leaps back onto the sloped dome and kept rolling at aggressive speeds with an excited expression. This was an overall adrenaline rush for the red headed rudie in the park.
"You know, this actually reminds me of why I love aggressive in-line skating and I love this place so far. I wonder if the others are doing anything as exciting as this," he says while constantly skating.
He skates up the sloped walls of the dome to perform a special air trick that he's been saving for Gum: The Jet Set Beatdown. First, he does a few kicks and continues with a few other stylish poses (one of them performing his trademark arm crossing gesture). Then, he continues with a few other break dance inspired moves as he kept falling towards the done below.
"And now for the grand finale, the Technopathetic Maneuver!" he shouts while performing an even riskier dance move in midair.
After a few other poses during the climax, he managed to land onto the rink safety and kept skating around to gain even more speed. B.D. Joe was playing what appears to be a virtual kart race reminiscent of a familiar Sega arcade racer in the Arcade next to the pirate show. He is doing great on the game since he was an expert taxi driver after all and these were the type of games he enjoy playing as a teen back in the day.
"Hey hey, come on do and experience of Cah-raaaaaaazeeeeee Kart Racin'," he said in glee.
The Bonanza Bros were busy scraping at the bottom of the barrel by looking around the Arcade for anything more valuable than arcade tokens. Mobo was already unamused since he doubts that he would find anything interesting here despite what his taller red compadre would say.
"Are your sure that we are going to find anything good here that isn't notable enough for the prize guy to call for security? We've been searchin' around this place for nearly twenty stinkin' minutes!" the blue thief complained.
Robo bonked his partner on the head after steaming from Mobo's past few complaints in this nearly empty arcade.
"If you stop being whiny and actually put effort in searchin', then you'd find something good," he remarks, "Like how I managed to find this rare purse for example".
He pulls out a purple leopard skin purse that he had found a few minutes ago to much of his partner's jealousy.
"So quit your yappin' and keep looking around. After all, we would rather not have the prize guy get any suspicious," he continued.
With that said, Mobo decided to look behind the Bare Knuckle arcade for something good. B.D. Joe would say something to humor them, but he was more focused on beating somebody's high score and didn't want to get his thieving buddies in trouble. Last but not least, both Honey and Ryo were having a bumper car match against Ash and Kasumi. Both sides were having a heated match in this buy ride in the electronic course as the park attendant watched them. Honey and Ryo piloted a navy blue bumper car with yellow headlights and a baby blue bumper. While Kasumi and Ash where piloting a hot pink bumper car with red headlights and a fuchsia bumper. The two camps were bumping against each other for a great twenty minutes as their bumping competitions raged on in this festive attraction.
"Come on Ryo, make sure they don't out bump us so that we could win this fight!" Honey said cheerfully.
"Alright Honey, one bumper charge coming up!" her boyfriend said before maneuvering the car towards Kasumi's car.
The blue car rams the pink car successfully, causing Kasumi and Ash to bounce back from the recoil. Ash twitched his mustache in annoyance and glared at his opponents as they laughed.
"Should I retaliate against these rude hunnies now, Kasumi?" he asked.
Kasumi chuckles slightly and replied, "Sure, go at them with full force as you please."
Ash charged straight at the blue bumper car and did a slight turn to trick them at first. Ryo didn't know how to react at all and eventually got their bumper car rammed by Ash's pink vehicle. Honey glares at them and made a pouty expression from their dirty trick.
"Those cheaters would be slick enough to pull such a trick. Ryo, go for the pink one and crush it!" he yelled.
Ryo eventually gets his game face on and eased into a straight path before initiating the kamikaze attack. Ash smirked and charged dead at them with his adorable bumper car for this risky method. Ryo scrunched up his eyebrows in determination as his flamboyant target done the same thing six feet before they would eventually meet in the collusion.
"Alright, bumper car riding is over for the night! Time for this crazy match to end!" a park attendant shouts.
Both bumper cars eventually braked abruptly to both teams surprise, which disappointed them since they didn't want such a fun match to end. They all panted heavily from exhaustion since this was one hell of a bumper car match to do for their first break I n history.
"You heard what the man said, we must find something else to do for the night," Kasumi said faintly.
She walks out of the vehicle as the muscle-bound man tried to squeeze his body out of the tiny vehicle. Ryo steps out of the vehicle first and reached out his hand for Honey with a caring face. She blushed at first, then gladly accepted his hand to pull herself out of the blue vehicle. The two pairs walked out of the Bumper Course and stopped in the middle of the road to talk about their plans. Kasumi faced everyone with a smile and decided to tell everyone what she was doing first.
"I am going to look for a game that has a sakura fan since I've heard that they should have some foreign prizes on their rack. As long as the game is challenging, it will be something that's worth it," she declared.
Ash watched as the kunoichi teleports for her next destination in awe since he did have a thing for beautiful flowers. Then he realized that he should tell his new friends what he's planning to do next with his mustache twitching.
"I'll just look for my favorite Strength Test game since I've always wanted to get myself a new bear. Especially the pink ones with the valentine's hearts all over his fluffy big paws. Be right back!" he said while gushing about the bear halfway through.
He eventually ran towards the left of the road to search for his beloved teddy bear prize, leaving the Japanese couple speechless. While Ryo was still surprised, he had felt something warm hold his hand. He turns to see that it was his pretty girlfriend that was holding it as she looked at him with her auburn eyes. He looked into them as well and felt his heart rate and temperate rising. It's been a while since he had true had someone this close, though he gave up years ago due to not wanting those close to him getting hurt. But it was a different story with Honey since he's equally as strong of a fighter as him and they could easily watch each other's back.
"Ryo, ….. I guess that we can have our date together now that we are finally alone," she said softly.
Her sweet voice and innocent face alone led him to look forward to it even more as he smiles.
"Yeah Honey, we can enjoy our special night together now that it's just you and me," he responded in the nicest tone.
The two grasped each other hands even tighter and walks toward the east to find there perfect spot for their date. They had arrived at the Serene Streets, which was a fancy restaurant known for its high quality food and romantic atmosphere. There were sets of tables that had the a pair of heart shaped chairs, flower pots with roses, scented candles contained by rose shaped glass cases, and enough utensils for the average couple. Both Ryo and Honey sat near the edge of the pavement where the equally luminous Ferris Wheel towered above them during this romantic night.
Both couplets looked at each other like lovers during a lovely evening as the atmosphere got even more date-like. Despite her original red armor being destroyed, Honey didn't mind since she wanted more freedom and it would be awkward dating in such a thing unlike her black under armor. Ryo decides to place his brown tiger jacket onto the back of his chair since wanted more freedom during this moment. He didn't mind that his body was well built for a guy his age since he wants to be a cool as possible for his girlfriend. Especially since he hadn't done something like this in a while since he would normally fear for the safety of a girl due to his enemies usually going after the one's he had loved. Honey gazed back at her boyfriend's body while blushing like a love stricken schoolgirl.
"You know Ryo, you look even more handsome than I've imagined now that I look at you. You know what I mean when I'm saying that, right?" he said nervously.
"Well yeah, I get what you are saying. But that still doesn't mean that you are still the beautiful girl you are since we've known each other," he said in a romantic manner.
The atmosphere heated up as both lovers' hearts resonate at the same speed as the Ferris Wheel slowly spinning behind them.
"Excuse me sir and madam," said a mature voice.
Both Honey and Ryo turned to see the middle-aged, mustachioed waiter holding their meals in hand and waiting for an answer. He had both massive plates covered with metal pots that protected them from any outside intruders and wore an outfit that a Fresh diner would wear. Honey is eager for the meal since she could smell it despite its distance and coverage and she hadn't eaten in a while.
"Ah, that's our meals alright. We can take it from here and we'll hit you up later if we want dessert," Ryo said quickly.
The waiter sits both plates onto the table, removed each metal top, and regains his butler-esque stance.
"Here are your meals, sir and madam. Enjoy it while hot and enjoy your stay at Serene Streets. I'll be back in case you need anything else to make your night enjoyable," he said in a noble manner.
Honey gazed at her meal like a kid in a candy store as she observed her meal with glee. It is consisted of glazed honey ham, oriental salad with roman lettuce and Mandarin oranges, roasted chicken noodle soup, and rice beans. Ryo gawked at his meal as well since it was his first time eating Western cuisine and it looked equally as appetizing as the food he enjoyed back in Japan. It's quite similar to what Honey had, except it had steamed broccoli as the sides and a smoked turkey sandwich with provolone cheese instead of the ham. They were both alone at the moment since the waiter most likely reported back to the actually restaurant across the street from the outside tables. Within minutes, they were silently enjoying the meal and talking to each other in between to make things less boring as the Ferris Wheel spins. It wasn't until they actually received their dessert where the interesting conversations would begin.
"And that's why I've stopped dating in the past since things would be too dangerous for any girl I fall in love with. But with you being as good of a fighter as me, I shouldn't be too worried about anything that happens to you. It was glad that you actually defeated Electra without the help of your armor too," he said before taking a bite of the strawberry cake on his fork.
Honey giggles slightly in response to the question and took another bite of her cake during this interesting conversation.
"I actually feel sorry for what happened with you and Joy in the past. Those black hearted criminals must have really wanted to make your life miserable. But it's good that you have me since I can actually defend myself easily while helping you against our new enemies at the same time," she said after gulping part of her desert.
Ryo smiled after hearing her words and grew even more thankful about having this date with his understandable girlfriend.
"Honey, are you sure that you don't get bothered by anyone looking at you in "certain ways," he said in an embarrassed manner.
He was informed about her job as a fashion idol earlier when she talked more about things that would normally happen on her job while gazing at her semi-baring body to make things even more uncomfortable. Honey blushed at first, then did another giggle to express how cute he looked during this unexpected moment.
"Well, being an idol is a job that actually requires you to wear all sorts of stylish outfits that make you the center of attention. Plus I do acknowledge that I do participate in fighting tournaments and I'd kept focusing on defeating my opponent even if my beautiful body is being showcased. Though there are exceptions like being humiliated in front of my fans during a show, especially if there's children involved since I'd rather not offend overprotective parents," she remarked.
Ryo felt slightly relieved when he heard that since she's the type of girl that would keep fighting at all costs even if embarrassment was an issue.
"But I don't mind if you are looking at my body since you do meet my expectations to witness such beauty with your own eyes. I'm even surprised that you aren't fainting yet after seeing my body like this since the time we've met," she said to Ryo's surprise.
He accidentally gazed at her cleavage momentarily and looked back at Honey's face in embarrassment since he's rather not make a fool of himself in from a girl this revealing.
Honey giggled at this again and said, "It's ok, Ryo. It's normal for a couple to look at each other in anyway they want. Besides, I won't hit a cute guy like you again like I've done the last time."
The Japanese boy laughed as well and became more comfortable with the situation since he is dating an open minded girl after all. The two continued to talk to each other during their date as things grew more interesting on the other side of the park. Axel and the gang finally met his crew near the park's massive photo booth to discuss more about the Legion's plans based on what they've heard from some Syndicate members. Dr. Zan is talking with Akira and Jacky about how the Syndicate had been reclaiming the city while Mr. X had left for another location that wasn't inhabited by life. Max asks Electra and Shiva what they plan on doing to help the heroes now that they aren't working with the Legion anymore. Skate boasts about the butt kicking he had done on the east side of Wood Oak City to impress the intrigued Kiryu, which isn't surprising for a kid his age. Lastly, Blaze explains everything they'd done before they headed here to Knuckles and Axel in a professional manner. Knuckles nods in agreement and glanced at the four shards he had received from the red wearing policewoman.
"I see, you've guys must have had it pretty rough for all the years this city had to be defended from these persistent punks. But I do appreciate everything you guys had done at recovering more pieces of the Master Emerald," he said thankfully.
"You're welcome, Knuckles. I would like to thank you for keeping Axel in check before he got here. I'd like for you to keep doing so since we do have to stay behind the city for maintenance after everything the Syndicate had done," said Blaze.
"That's much appreciative of you, Blaze. I'll be willing to help Knuckles on this quest to recover the Master Emerald and put and end to the Legion's plans since "he's" still out there," Axel said sincerely.
He places his hand on Blaze's to her surprise as the two started to look into each others eyes. She had known Axel for a while and fought by his side the most of the crew, making her a very close individual to the police leader himself. Axel did care deeply for her since there were times were he had saved her in the past like in the fight against Zamza in this theme park before. Knuckles glared over at the more interesting scene of Kiryu playfully rubbing Skate's head after their conversation was over. This sight made him smirk since he finally believes that he was a guy that was great with children despite his former job as a Yakuza member.
He glanced at Jacky cracking jokes as usual, which boggled Dr. Zan's mind and made Akira facepalm from disbelief. This led Knuckles to do a slight chuckle from the situation since that sums up he felt about his jokes. Now that last thing that caught his eye was seeing Electra and Shiva embrace each other after their conversation with the large Max Thunder. The dominatrix looked at her dark haired partner with a simmer of hope before he hugged her even tighter. This prompted the red echidna to look back at Axel and Blaze, who were just done kissing while he was concerned with everyone else in the photo booth.
"Axel, please don't lose yourself since I'm really concerned about what you're up against. You'll be facing more than just Mr. X and they had also taken over plenty of areas in the world with subspace," she said in a worried manner.
Axel looks back at her with his determined look and placed his hand on her shoulder like any other concerned man.
"Don't worry about it, Blaze. If I can survive fighting for this city four times, then I can handle taking these unruly villains on despite their numbers or abilities. I'll promise you that I'll definitely live and not fail any of you while I'm gone," he said in a serious tone.
She smiles after hearing his words and looked back as him as he smiled as well, an overall emotional tension between the two.
"Now that our business here is done, I guess we can get the others and head for our next destination," Akira said.
"You should pull up the Emerald Tracker and see where to go next. It would be nice to actually leave to a less battered place like this," Jacky said in a joking manner.
Knuckles pulled out the device and activated the sonar for further instructions. The sonar depicts two icons, both depiction a bunch of Master Emerald shard icons, heading straight towards the park at high speed. This really had alarmed Knuckles, making his eyes widen in horror and his heart rate to rise as fast as his speed.
Dang, that metal monstrosity is back for more. We have the head back to the south before things could get any worse.
"Hey, Knuckles what's the matt…" This had garnered the attention of Kiryu and he definitely turned from calm to angry within seconds.
"That's not good. Someone else that has the shards is on their way here to stop us! We need to leave this place now!" he shouts.
This alarmed everyone else in the both to the point of them nearing Knuckles for further instructions.
"You heard what Kiryu had said, we need to hurry or else "he" will get here and hurt our friends soon!" he demanded.
Before Knuckles could leave, Max grabbed him by his arm to stop him for some answers.
"Who is "he?" and why should we be worried at all," said the large wrestler.
"Metal Sonic, the same mechanical monster that shattered the Master Emerald in the first place and he isn't no slouch for severely hurting anyone for them shards!" the red echidna responded.
Just hearing that last statement alone had Kazuma, Akira, Jacky, Shiva, Electra, Skate, and Dr. Zan to head south immediately. Max had let the echidna go and follows him afterwards to find Metal Sonic before it's too late. Axel and Blaze watched their allies run down the road with serious expressions and the need to enforce justice.
"Blaze, do you know where our police car is?" he asked.
"Sure, we parked it behind this booth in case of emergencies. Since we're dealing with another robot, explosives ought to put that mechanical abomination out of its misery," she said.
Axel stands on his own two feet after letting her go, getting ready for his next serious mission.
"Alright Blaze, let's do this and help our new allies!" he exclaimed.
On the other side of the Amusement Park, Toejam and Earl were heading towards the Ferris Wheel for a ride and noticed something blue fly past the wheel. This caused the jammin' aliens to widen their eyes in horror and head for the hills in fear. Big overhears them and decided to stop fishing since his friends were in danger and Froggy would be a matter to deal with later at the time.
"Toejam? Earl? Is there something wrong going on in this park?" he bellowed before running up the hill.
They weren't the only ones who saw it for which Beat stopped having run at the rink soon as he saw that familiar intruder fly overhead.
Damn, he must be here for the Master Emerald shards and the Chaos Emerald too!
He started skating towards the south east to see what was up with B.D. Joe and the Bonanza Bros. following him as a well. Kasumi teleports onto a block a few feet from the Bumper Cars to see how the others where doing until she noticed that same figure flying towards the Serene Streets. This led her to start running in that direction, which even concerns Ash after he won his teddy bear and Kasumi went pass him.
"Hey Kasumi, why are you running that way? Isn't there something wrong, sweets?" he says while rushing after her.
Back at the Serene Streets, Honey and her date Ryo were just now leaving the restaurant after having their romantic embrace and paying the waiter's tip. The two lovers had no idea what was going on and kept walking with their hands held in care. The figure itself stopped directly above them and started to slowly descend to his unsuspecting targets. The sinister intruder glares at them with blood red eyes shining through his eye shaped visor.
Honey noticed the intruder hovering a few feet in front of them and yelled, "Ryo, what is that thing?"
This eventually caused him to check out who it was and the aggressive expression he made was enough to tell him that this is no ordinary foe. He knew exactly who it was and know that he's no joke either and decided to protect his girlfriend from this mechanical monster.
It appears that there's not only two, but three people following them the whole time (the third on who had already arrived with his own set of shards like Knuckles). He is back for some revenge since he barely defeated Knuckles in Angel Island, but this time he'll focus on harming his new allies. Will they be able to fight for themselves until the others arrive or will they be singlehandedly defeated by the mechanical doppelganger. We shall tune in for the next chapter which will be released next week. PS: It's my 20th birthday this Thursday which is another reason why I'll be pretty busy this week. That's it for now and please rate/review/favorite if you're enjoying the story so far! ;)
