Rev panted as he struggled to keep up with Tech as they made their way through the crowd to catch up to Ralph. "Tech! S-slow down," Rev gasped. Tech turned and saw Rev doubled over and struggling to catch his breath; his face red from exhaustion. "Rev, what's wrong?" Tech asked, placing a gentle hand on Rev's shoulder.
"I'm okay, I just… just need a second." Rev panted. "What's going on here?" a voice snapped. Tech turned to see Ralph standing behind him. "I'm okay, Pop." Rev promised, "I'm just having a bit of a hard time getting around, that's all." Tech looked around and spotted a young avian couple, a pair of Cactus Wrens, with a luggage trolley handing their bags over to one of the boarding assistants.
"Hang on, Rev." Tech said putting his bags down and dashed over to the couple as they handed over their last bag. "Excuse me," Tech pipped, "Are you done with this?" The Wrens turned to him and gasped, clearly shocked, but quickly recovered and said in a friendly tone, "Oh, yeah. W-we're done with the trolley."
Tech nodded and thanked them before rolling the trolley over to where Rev and Ralph were waiting. Ralph and Tech loaded all of their luggage onto the trolley and the three made their way to the booth to get their tickets. "Three tickets for Bullet A4, please." Ralph chirped. The booth operator took a moment to scan the trio, his eyes widening a bit as he spotted Tech. "Um… okay. That'll be $90 for all three."
"You're kidding?" Tech asked, dumbfounded, "That's about 30 bucks a pop." "It's 90 bucks or bust, buddy." The operator shrugged, "Take it or leave it." Tech grumbled and looked to Ralph as he pulled out his wallet and shuffled through his cash.
"I'm a few bucks short for the third ticket," Ralph sighed. "Pa, we swung by the bank right before we came to the station," Rev pipped, "What happened? I thought you said that we had enough cash." "I thought we did, son." Ralph clicked, "Perhaps there was a malfunction with the ATM?"
"Then what am I supposed to do?" Tech asked, "It's fine, Tech," Rev said reaching into his tote, "I've got you covered." Ralph and Tech turned and watched Rev pull out a small roll of money and pull out six five-dollar bills. "This should cover the cost of the third ticket." Rev said cheerfully as he handed the cash to the booth operator.
"Uh… Rev, where'd you get that?" Tech asked. "Oh, I have my ways," Rev said cheekily, "Don't worry yourself about it." Rev gave Tech's arm a playful nudge before shooting his dad a stern look as Ralph paid for the other two tickets. Once the three men had their tickets, Tech quickly handed off the trio's luggage with one of the aides before rejoining Rev and Ralph at the ramp to board the train.
"Tickets, please." He said tensely, holding out his hand. "Yep, right here," Rev chirped handing him his slip. The warbler kept his eye on Tech as he scanned Rev's ticket, than Ralph's, pausing for a moment before accepting Tech's. He paused for a moment, turning to the two roadrunners questioningly before Rev pipped up saying, "Oh, he's with us."
"W-w-seriously?" the conductor tweeted. "Seriously," Ralph nodded, clearly trying to sound upbeat and positive, much to the appreciation of both Rev and Tech. The warbler eyed Tech suspiciously as he scanned the slip and allowed him to pass along with the Runners; Tech could feel the conductor's eyes linger on him as he boarded the train. Even after escaping the warbler's gaze, he could still feel the scowling expression in the avian's eyes all over him.
As Tech followed Rev and Ralph to their seats, he noticed many of the passengers were eyeballing him with various expressions. Some seemed perplexed, almost as if they were concerned that Tech was lost or something. Others appeared slightly nervous, as if they weren't too sure how to feel seeing a coyote so up close and personal. And then there were others whose expressions would almost certainly destroy him if looks could kill. And what was truly terrifying for Tech was it wasn't just avians that were giving him dirty looks; there were humans and other evolved beings as well, pretty much all of whom where prey species.
"Tech, come on!" Rev called, waiving Tech over to try to get him to hurry up. Tech quickly caught up with the roadrunners as they entered their booth and took their seats. "Tech, look at this." Rev said cheerfully pointing out the window. Tech and Ralph both turned to see Zadavia and the other Loonatics waving. Tech couldn't help but smile as he and Rev both waved back.
Just then, the horn blared, signaling the train was about to leave the station. The faint sound of the conductor could be heard making the last call for the A4 bullet as everyone still standing on the platforms stepped back. Tech and Rev smiled and waved at the others as they chased after the train for a few yards, waving farewell as their friends finally departed for Rev's hometown.