A/N: Buckle up for another long chapter, one that could be KagamiPINKAgreste's favorite!
Tails and Ten ended up in the lounge car, which was luxuriously decorated with gold trim, an emerald-shaped chandelier, fine leather chairs and couches, and the finest mahogany furniture. In one corner, there was a Chao jazz band consisting of a pianist, a double bassist and a drummer, playing a smooth jazz tune. Halfway across the room, Amy was having a talk with Shadow:
"I know you won't talk, but I know exactly why you've been locking those doors!"
"It's hard to get a word in as you talk over me," said Shadow. "I have my reasons. I…"
Amy raised her index finger. "No reason is convincing enough! It's inconceivable what you did!"
"Hey hey, what's going on?" said Tails.
Shadow put a fist on his hip. "Hmph. I see you made it here, Tails. But I didn't expect the phony train employee to be here as well."
"Let me riddle you this:" said Ten. "If I was a phony, don't you think I'd have tried to kill you by now?"
Shadow crossed his arms. "Shut up. Amy and I know you're not who you claim to be."
Amy clasped her hands together. "Shadow, even if he is a phony, my Hedgehog Sense tells me he's on our side! Can't you cut him a break?"
Shadow glared at Amy. However, the longer he bored into her emerald green eyes, the less he was able to resist her. He sighed.
"Fine."
Amy smiled. "See? I knew you'd be amenable!"
"Anyways, I'd also like to know why you've been locking doors throughout the train, Shadow," said Tails.
Shadow crossed his arms. "Well, it seems Amy already knows, so ask her."
Amy clenched her fists. "Hmph!"
"I'm not saying a thing. You two will have to tell me why. Now, if you could leave me be, I have an appointment coming up."
(An appointment?) thought Ten. (Who could he be meeting?)
"Well Ben, it seems like Shadow isn't gonna talk!" said Tails. "Let's do some investigating!"
"You don't have to tell me twice. Let's talk to Amy first. Hey, Amy…"
"Glad you two finally caught up!" Amy crossed her arms and frowned. "I'm surprised it took you so long to get here; I thought you wanted to save Sonic."
"I did my best," said Ten. "I gave him an ice pack. It was the least I could do for now."
"Do you have any clues for us?" asked Tails.
Amy smiled. "Just a hot tip, but all will be revealed in due time. I think I'll be shedding a big light on this whole case!"
"Then do tell us now," said Ten.
"No way! Journalist reporter Amy Rose is always first to reveal a scoop. When you're ready to challenge Shadow, talk to him. Then I'll be ready."
Ten crossed his arms. "Ordinarily, I would have you arrested for obstruction of justice, but I feel bad enough about what happened in the pantry, so I'm staying my hand."
Amy giggled. "See? I knew you'd see it my way!"
"We'll hold you to it!" said Tails.
Then, Tails and Ten decided to start their search. Immediately, Ten was drawn to a big wardrobe.
"What's up?" asked Tails.
"I feel like there's an important clue in this wardrobe. Plus, somebody might be hiding in there. Here goes…"
Ten opened the wardrobe, only to get bombarded by a thick layer of dust, which resulted in him coughing up a storm.
"Jesus!" exclaimed Ten.
"You opened the door too fast!" said Tails. "All the dust blew everywhere!"
"Oops!" Ten sneezed.
"God bless you!"
Ten pulled out a handkerchief from his jacket's breast pocket and blew his nose. After getting that out of his system, he looked through the wardrobe, only for his interest to be piqued…
"Tails, do you see this?"
Tails stroked his chin. "A pull string?"
Ten put his hand on it.
"What was that for?" said Tails.
"I had a hunch about this…"
Ten pulled the string, only for the back of the wardrobe to open, much to Tails' surprise:
"What the…?"
"Look, there's a passageway back here. Let's check it out."
"Right!"
Tails and Ten entered the passageway, only to end up in…
"This is the library!" said Tails. "I didn't think there was a secret passage!"
"I don't believe it, either. Let's go back before anyone sees us."
Tails and Ten headed back through the passageway before Espio or Vector could spot them. Then, Ten's attention was drawn to a personal computer:
"I knew this would be here," said Ten. "The computer has Internet access for casual browsing."
"How lovely!" said Tails. "Seems convenient."
"It is. It's too bad somebody would spend their precious time with electronics when they could enjoy the splendid view from the windows, though. Then again, whoever uses the computer must really have a need for it."
"Right."
Then, Ten's attention was drawn to the bulletin board.
"Tails, look at this…"
"A keyring?" Tails stroked his chin. "Makes sense since Shadow's the locksmith."
Ten stroked his chin. "Interesting that there's only two keys. You'd figure that a locksmith would carry more. Still, let's take it."
"Yeah, let's take it!"
Ten took the keyring, but not before he took notice of something else…
"Looks like there's a printer hooked up to the computer. Why don't we try printing something?"
Tails smiled. "Sure! I know just what to print…"
Tails hopped on to the computer and opened up DeviantArt, after which he printed something out…or at least tried to:
"Huh, this printer is surprisingly tricky to use."
"Really? I'm surprised a tech genius like you has so much trouble with it."
"Well, the user interface isn't very clear, but I won't let it stump me!"
Tails continued to fiddle with the printer, until finally…
"Aaaand…here you go!"
Tails produced a picture of Sonic and Rouge in a forest, with Rouge hugging Sonic from behind, saying "C'mon Big Blue. Can you do this favor for me?" Sonic looked flustered, to say the least. Ten scratched his head upon seeing it.
"A curious piece of art. I didn't think Rouge would fall for a guy like Sonic."
Tails chuckled. "You'd be surprised! They're both really into freedom, and neither one is very fond of settling down."
Ten nodded. "OK, I can see how they'd be a good match for each other. Still, it puzzles me how a guy with a heart of gold like Sonic could fall for a two-bit criminal like Rouge."
"Rouge may not be the most morally upstanding person, but deep down inside, she's a kind, caring person who wants people to be happy."
"She's quite the character; I'll give her that. Then again, Sonic seems to have attracted an interesting cast."
"You don't say!"
Ten proceeded to look in a trash bin near the computer, much to Tails' annoyance:
"No."
"Tails, we really need to check the trash bin."
"Every trash bin has been empty, Ben, and you've been disappointed every time."
"So?"
"Are you gonna get sad again if there's nothing in the trash bin, Ben?"
"Since when have I ever been sad?"
Tails sighed and gave a look of resignation. "Alright, let's check it."
Ten rifled through the trash bin, and this time, he found a crumpled-up piece of paper.
"What's this?" said Tails.
"Let's see…"
Ten uncrumpled the paper, which showed a webpage from Ticketmaster.
"Looks like this is for the band 'Hot Honey'," said Ten.
Tails stroked his chin. "Interesting. Hot Honey is one of Amy's favorite bands."
Ten nodded. "I see." He put the paper in his pocket.
"Are you sure that's not just trash?"
"You never know."
"OK…"
"Let's question Shadow and Amy now."
Ten headed over to Shadow, as did Tails. Seeing this, Amy even came over.
"Why did you come over here?" said Shadow.
"Shadow, we have questions for you," said Ten.
"Will you three get out? I'm busy. As I said, I have an appointment to attend to."
"Sorry, but this is important. Shadow, we questioned everyone on this train, and all of them mentioned running into you. You've been locking every door on this train, and…"
"And I know why!" said Amy.
Tails and Ten were stunned when Amy brought this up. Shadow crossed his arms:
"Then do tell me, why was I locking all the doors?"
Amy giggled. "Time to reveal my hot tip! Hope everyone's ready for a scoop found by yours truly!"
"Tell us, Amy!" said Tails.
"According to the map, the next car is the conductor's car, where Sonic was stationed. This door, right here in the lounge car, is the only door that leads to the conductor's car. Following? So, Shadow was locking doors for one reason and one reason alone: to keep Sonic from escaping the conductor's car!"
"So you think Shadow was trapping Sonic?"
"I sure do! He locked the conductor's car, and then locked all the others so one locked door wasn't suspicious."
Shadow kept his arms crossed. "Pure conjecture. All of you, get out and leave me be.
Amy crossed her arms as well. "Well, my source can back up these claims. They'll remain anonymous, but I think the point stands. My source claims they never saw Sonic again after he went to the conductor's car. Why? Because he was trapped and couldn't leave the conductor's car!"
Shadow clenched his fists. "Reckless speculation."
(As much as I hate to admit it, I think I agree with Shadow here.) thought Ten.
"I'll play along and follow this train of logic, Amy," said Tails. "If Shadow did lock the door to the conductor's car and imprison Sonic, then how was he found in the dining car?"
"Exactly," said Shadow.
"I agree with Tails," said Ten. "We can explain the change of cars."
"How so?" said Amy.
"Tails and I found a hidden passage in the wardrobe that leads right to the library car."
Shadow raised an eyebrow. "What?"
Amy gasped. "A…a secret passage!?"
"So, someone could've used the passage, snuck through the library car, walked past Knuckles and Vector as they were playing the arcade machine, and safely arrived at the dining car," said Ten.
Tails smiled. "Excellent work, Ben!"
Amy crossed her arms. "Hm. This adjusts my theory a bit. So, Shadow murdered Sonic in the conductor car, but then thought the crime scene being so close to his station was suspicious, so he picked up Sonic, locked the door to the conductor car on the way out and dropped the body off at the dining car."
"Are you officially accusing Shadow of murder?" said Tails.
Amy smiled. "I am! But of course, this is just a theory. I uh…don't have any evidence to back this up, other than my hot scoop."
"If Shadow's not going to talk, then we'll humor you again," said Ten. "If Shadow travelled through the hidden passage and appeared in the library car, then how did Espio and Vector not see him?"
Amy rubbed the back of her head. "Well, um…I suppose it would be hard to sneak around two people…"
"Indeed. I suppose Tails has a guess, too."
"Oh?" said Tails. "Well, Espio and Vector didn't see Shadow because Espio was behind a bookshelf at a table reading."
Shadow raised an eyebrow at this remark.
"Espio reading in the library checks out; that's what he told me, too," said Amy.
Shadow crossed his arms. "He's lying."
"Are you so sure, Shadow?" said Ten.
"When I completely obliterated Knuckles and Vector at Super Monkey Ball, I left the saloon car. I spent some time looking for Espio, but he wasn't in the library car."
Amy crossed her arms. "Like I'd believe you! You're currently my number-one suspect! Why were you even searching for Espio, huh?"
"If you must know, I needed to give him a key."
Amy put her fists on her hips. "As if! Why would a locksmith be giving away his keys?"
"Shadow has been giving away a lot of keys, actually," said Tails. "Everyone but us seems to have one."
"That's true," said Ten. "Everyone's been able to unlock the next door for us."
Amy put her index finger up to her chin. "I didn't know that! Shadow's been passing out keys?"
"There's only one reason why there'd be exactly two keys on that keyring," said Ten. "He meant to give those keys to Espio and Vector."
Amy crossed her arms. "No way! And what of his own key? Could one of them be for him?"
"I have my own key." Shadow produced his own key.
Amy gave Shadow a look of suspicion. "Interesting." She crossed her arms. "So let's say Shadow's telling the truth, then what? If Shadow didn't murder Sonic and bring him to the dining car, then what possible reason could he have for locking all the doors?"
"I think I know that," said Ten.
"First, we have a question for you, Amy," said Tails. "Has everyone given you a birthday present today?"
Amy smiled. "Oh, most everyone, yeah! Everyone's been so sweet!"
Shadow's eyes widened.
"Just…um…Shadow and Sonic haven't given me anything yet," said Amy. "But that's OK! Just them being here is enough!"
Tails smiled. "Thank you, Amy!"
"You're welcome, Tails!"
"So anyways, I think Shadow was locking all the doors not to keep Sonic in, but to keep us out," said Ten. "More specifically, I think he wanted to keep Amy away."
Amy gasped. "WHAT!? EXCUSE ME!? Shadow would never do that! It's my birthday!" Amy tapped her index fingers together. "You know it's my birthday…right? Don't you…Shadow?"
"Um…"
"H-how dare…Ben, show me some evidence!"
"How about this?" Ten pulled out the crumpled-up Ticketmaster homepage, much to Shadow's confusion:
"You went rooting through the trash?"
Amy stroked her chin. "Huh? What's that?"
"We found it in the trash bin next to the printer," said Tails. "It's for Ticketmaster."
Shadow clenched his fists. "Tails, don't…!"
"Wait, is that for Hot Honey!?" Amy put her hands on her cheeks. "OH MY DAMN CHERRY BLOSSOMS!* I love them!"
"Just who is 'Hot Honey', anyways?" asked Ten.
"It's this pop group that I'm currently obsessed with. Jeremy Bee is my favorite!"
"So they must all be bees."
Amy giggled. "Yes, isn't it cute? I haven't been to any of their shows yet, though. Their tickets are really hard to get. You have to be online at a specific time, and they sell out in minutes."
"So the question becomes: why was this paper found in the train car Shadow was stationed in?" said Tails.
Shadow clenched his fists. "Watch it, Tails."
"I know why:" said Ten. "Shadow wanted to buy their tickets as a birthday present for Amy."
Amy gasped. "W-what!? Shadow…is this true!? Were you trying to buy concert tickets for my birthday?"
Shadow crossed his arms. "I did a poor job hiding the surprise, it seems. Yes, it's true, I was trying to get you tickets to Hot Honey for your birthday."
Amy gasped. "OH MY DAMN CHERRY BLOSSOMS!* Shadow, you're the sweetest!"
Amy put her hands on Shadow's cheeks and kissed him. At first, he flailed about, shocked that the little pink hedgehog would be so loving towards him and also unable to process how good her lips felt against his. Soon enough, though, he wrapped his arms around her as well and gladly accepted her love. Ever since she'd accidentally glomped him during the Space Colony ARK incident, he'd been madly in love with her, but he always struggled to find the words to tell her. Having managed to say it with his gesture of concert tickets, though, he could feel the darkness that permeated his life fading away, to be replaced by the light of hope. Filled with lust, Shadow began pushing against Amy until he'd backed her against the computer desk.
"Shadow!" Amy gently pushed Shadow away.
"What?"
Amy giggled. "I'm glad you love me, but can we please take it down a notch? You're really intense, you know."
Shadow rubbed the back of his head. "I'm sorry, Amy, it's just…this is the happiest day of my life, and you're the most beautiful girl I've ever met."
"Awww!"
"Just one question:" said Tails. "How did you manage to get that printed out? I used the printer earlier and found it unintuitive. When you logged on, did you print the homepage by accident?"
Shadow nodded. "Yes, that's exactly what happened. I'm usually good with computers, but that one's been giving me trouble."
Amy rubbed the back of her head. "I can't believe this…after I accused you of murder…spill everything, Shadow! The cat's out the bag, so I wanna know EVERYTHING!"
"Fine. The surprise is ruined, anyways."
(Guess that's our fault…) thought Ten.
"When I arrived on the train, I realized everyone else had a gift except for me," said Shadow. "Worried about what Amy would think of me, I immediately began brainstorming ideas and saw the computer. I remembered that Amy had never seen Hot Honey live and looked up Ticketmaster. That's when I accidentally printed the homepage. It was then I realized that the concert tickets weren't on sale yet, but would be soon."
"Then that must be the so-called 'appointment' you keep speaking of," said Ten. "You were trying to be online at the right time to buy the tickets."
Shadow nodded. "Precisely. I haven't purchased the tickets yet. I knew I had to keep Amy away while I waited to buy the tickets, so I began locking all the doors. However, for the safety of everyone, I handed out keys so they could get in and out, telling them not to let anyone through. Unfortunately, it didn't work. Amy still got in somehow."
"That's because the conductor gave me this…" Amy produced the birthday key. "This key opens up any door on the train. I've gotten through every locked door with ease."
"That was your plan's fatal flaw, Shadow," said Ten.
"I should've guessed," said Shadow. "It's a well-known privilege."
Amy rubbed the back of her head. "Listen, Shadow, I'm sorry I accused you of murder. How about this: let's buy the tickets later, and to make it up to you, I'll let you come along!"
Shadow smiled. "Amy, please call me Shaddy."
Amy put her hands on her cheeks. "Awww, what a cute nickname!"
"Rouge came up with it. I used to hate it, but it's grown on me. Anyways, I'll go with you, but on one condition…"
Amy smiled. "Name it!"
"I want you to go to a Voron Vikings concert with me."
Amy scratched her head. "Who are the Voron Vikings?"
Tails shrugged. "Yeah, I've never heard of them before."
"Neither have I," said Ten.
Shadow let out a loud gasp as his eyes widened. "NONE of you have heard of the VORON VIKINGS!? They're the Roseinian Empire's best speed metal band…hell, they're the best Roseinian metal band period! Granted, no band will ever replace Iron Maiden, but in my opinion, these guys come really close. Here, let me show you one of their songs…"
Shadow opened up YouTube on the computer and searched for the song "Heavy Metal Madmen". The first result that came up was the official audio from the Voron Vikings' official YouTube channel, so he opened it up and kicked out the heavy metal overdrive:
"You're goin' to the show, you wanna have fun,
You're wearin' your denim and leather,
You're in the front row, you don't care if there's sun,
You'll see us in all sorts of weather,
We're tellin' you right now, we're not like all the rest,
We're blowin' you away with metal,
You're bangin' in the crowd and you want all the best,
We're layin' down some serious pedal!
Get up those horns,
Bang all your heads,
Mosh to the sound,
Rock 'till you're dead,
It's not too loud,
You're just too old,
'Cause we're the Voron Vikings,
And we're all heavy metal madmen!"
Shadow had eagerly thrust two "devil's horns" gestures up high and was headbanging to the music. Tails and Amy, however, were not too keen on the VVs' triple-guitar attack, as evidenced by them covering their ears:
"Shadow, what is this awful noise!?" said Tails.
"Turn it off!" cried Amy. "My ears are bleeding!"
In contrast, Ten didn't seem to be fazed by the music:
"Very interesting stuff, though it's a lot heavier than what I listen to."
However, Tails found the possibility of going deaf to be uninteresting, so he used one of his tails to grab the mouse and pause the video.
"Tails, what the hell was that about?" said Shadow. "I was enjoying that!"
"Yeah, well some of us don't enjoy having our eardrums blown out!"
Amy crossed her arms. "Shaddy, I love you, but the only way I'm going to see those guys with you is if 1. I get to wear triple-layer hearing protection, and 2. You give me a massage."
Shadow nodded. "Deal. Happy Birthday, Amy."
Tails smiled. "I expect lots of pictures from both concerts, you two!"
"Hmph," said Shadow.
Meanwhile, Amy was still bummed about being wrong:
"I blame my source for all this! That wasn't a hot tip at all, leading me to believe Shaddy was behind everything. My credibility as a journalist reporter, down the drain!"
"So, who is your source?" asked Ten.
"I'd like to know as well," said Shadow.
Amy raised her index finger. "Sorry, strictly confidential. My credibility may be shot, but my principles must stay intact!"
Tails stroked his chin. "I have a strong feeling I know exactly who your source is…"
"Oh?"
"…but we need to investigate one last area: the conductor's car."
"I'll come with you," said Shadow. "I'd love to know who's been dragging my name through the mud."
"And I'll join as well!" Amy put her hands on her cheeks. "Time to see this through to the end!"
Tails smiled. "We're more than happy to have you both!"
"Looks like our investigation is finally coming to an end," said Ten. "Let's end this and find out who the real culprit is."
"Let's do it!"
"First, though, I wanted to put in a little request…" Ten walked over to the Chao band. "Excuse me, but do any of you know 'Star Light'?"
"Chao!"
The pianist gave a thumbs up and began playing the music from Star Light Zone. Upon hearing it, Amy approached Shadow and grabbed him by the hands.
"Shaddy, may I have this dance?"
Shadow smiled and nodded, and the two broke out into a quick waltz. For the first time in his life, as opposed to feeling the horrendous darkness that came from Maria Robotnik's death, the Ultimate Life Form felt genuinely carefree and happy. Even if he wasn't a big fan of Hot Honey, he was greatly looking forward to spending time with the love of his life. Similarly, Amy felt like she was having the best birthday ever. Even if Ten had been mean to her earlier, it was now just a small blemish on what was turning out to be a really fun, enchanting day. She too had had the biggest crush on Shadow, and now that she was with him, everything was turning out to be like heaven to her. Ten was even getting a charge out of seeing the two dance together. After seeing so much death and destruction in his line of work, it was a great relief seeing this couple dancing and being happy with each other. Tails even took notice and smiled. However, after a few repetitions of the song…
"Will you excuse me, Amy?"
"What's going on?"
"I'll be quick; I promise."
Shadow walked over to the Chao band.
"Excuse me, would any of you happen to know 'Could I Have This Dance'?"
The pianist gave a thumbs up. "Chao chao!"
Thus, the band broke out into an instrumental version of "Could I Have This Dance", and Shadow proceeded to dance slowly with Amy, whose smile brightened when she swayed to the music with him. For a long time, Shadow had secretly been a fan of Anne Murray, but until now, he'd never had an opportunity to share his passion with anybody, and having this dance with his favorite girlfriend, it erased any negative feelings he'd been experiencing. Truly, he wanted to have this dance with her forever and ever. Amy couldn't help but be entranced by Shadow and the music. For the longest time, she'd known him to be a nasty brute with a secret heart of gold, but seeing this more sensitive side of him, she knew that she didn't want to be with any other guy. In her opinion, he knew how to treat a woman, and to her, there was nothing hotter. Ten, however, found the whole scene to be emotionally overwhelming. As much as he tried to bottle up his emotions, his stone façade faltered, and he broke down crying.
(This…this was my mother's favorite song!) thought Ten. (Caroline and I even danced to this at our senior prom! I…this is too much!)
Ten pulled out his handkerchief and buried his face in it. Tails frowned when he took notice of this, not being used to seeing such a tough-as-nails detective like Ten getting so moved by this scene. Not sure of what else to do, he put his hand on Ten's back. Ten gladly accepted the comfort, unable to think of anything else but 1. How beautiful Shadow and Amy were together, and 2. How much he wanted to see his dear Caroline. By the time the song was over, Shadow and Amy stood motionless, holding each other, basking in the sparkle in each other's eyes.
"Shaddy…this is the happiest moment of my life!"
Shadow smiled. "Speak for yourself, Amy. I feel like a new man because of you."
"Shadow the Hedgehog, I love you to pieces!"
Amy gave Shadow a big hug, which he gladly returned. Knowing that his crush loved him so continued to make him feel warm and fuzzy, but he couldn't help but take notice of Ten…
"And why the hell are you crying?"
Ten blew his nose and wiped his tears away. "I-I'm sorry. It's just…you and Amy…that was the purest, most wholesome thing I've ever seen in my life. I hope you two get married and live happily ever after."
"Hmph. Before you break down on me anymore, just tell me who you really are."
Amy gently tugged at Shadow's arm. "Shaddy, let it go! I don't want this romance to be ruined!"
Ten raised his hand. "It's all right, Amy." He flashed his badge. "Detective Corporal 1st Grade Ten the Wolf, Royal Mobian Constabulary."
Shadow snorted. "I knew there was something fishy about you. Now tell me, why the hell did the Constabulary send one of their detectives to a nice girl's birthday party?"
"We received intelligence that someone was plotting to murder Sonic the Hedgehog, and I'm trying to protect him."
"And you think that this murder mystery party is for real?"
"Well, whatever the case, we can't delay any further. Sonic was still alive when I last checked, but we'll have to hurry."
Shadow clenched his fist. "Right."
Tails, Ten, Amy and Shadow proceeded into the conductor's car, ready to wrap the whole thing up.
*Yet again, the phrase "OH MY DAMN CHERRY BLOSSOMS" is a registered trademark of KagamiPINKAgreste, used with permission.
Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.