When Ten came to, he was back in the dining car, only the lights were glowing red and the windows were covered by the same shutters that the conductor's car were covered with. He rubbed his head.

"My head…Tails? Amy? Anyone here? Hello? Hello?"

"I'm here, pal."

It was none other than Sonic, who was rubbing his arm.

"Sonic, are you all right?"

"Hangin' in there. Looks like the train's arms threw us back in the dining car."

Ten crossed his arms. "I wonder where everyone else is."

Sonic stroked his chin. "Good question. You all right?"

"I've been through worse."

Sonic smiled. "So have I! Nice to know we ain't alone here!"

"Indeed. Why don't we take a look around?"

Sonic gave a thumbs up. "Good idea! Lead the way!"

Ten looked around, first at the windows.

"Too bad the windows are covered up," said Sonic. "I never got to dig those bitchin' views. Ames and Rouge were sayin' that the sights couldn't be beat, either!"

"Who knows? Perhaps you'll get a coupon for a free ride on another train."

Sonic smiled. "That'd be bomb!"

"By the way, is it just me or is something off about those screens glowing yellow?"

Sonic stroked his chin. "Come to think of it, my Hedgehog Sense has been actin' up…"

No sooner had Sonic said that than the screens changed to show the Eggman Empire logo.

"Well, that's better than the yellow glow…I guess…" said Sonic.

"Hello? Hello?" said a male voice. "Anyone there? Why is no one responding to me!?"

Sonic frowned. "And I miss the yellow glow already. You got some nerve showin' up here, Robuttnik!"

Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik smiled. "Hohoho, you spiky blue pest! Seems you've finally taken a journey on one of my passenger trains!"

"You created this train?" said Ten.

"Ah, I see my phony distress call has worked! Never in a million years did I ever imagine I'd finally ensnare a member of the Royal Mobian Constabulary!"

Ten clenched his fists. "YOU! You mean to tell us that it was you who gave us the intel about the murder plot!?"

"Quite simply, yes! I wasn't merely content to capture the blue rodent and his friends! The Constabulary has been quite the thorn in my side, so I decided that I had to show them a lesson!"

"You won't get away with this, Dr. Ivo Robotnik!"

"Ohoho, that's what YOU think!"

"Why?" said Sonic and Ten.

"See, the infrastructure in Mobius just wasn't cutting it. If I were to build Robotnikland, these problems would need sorting out, so I courageously got involved! After setting up a phony shell company, I converted some cargo trains into passenger trains for the sake of the public; it's just more useful for future schemes."

Sonic stroked his chin. "Lemme guess…another Death Egg, Dr. Predictable?"

"The people fear giant spheres! It's science!"

"Enough of this jive! Where are my pals?"

"Judging by my security cameras, your pathetic friends are all locked in the cars they were stationed in. Seems you managed to make the train quite upset."

Sonic put his index finger on his cheek. "Did you not know this was happenin'?"

"Heavens, no! I'm only now getting caught up. I'm far too busy to know what a passenger train is up to." Robotnik raised his index finger. "You see, the capability of a badnik is normally very basic, just kill Sonic the Hedgehog. But for a luxury train, I wanted to be sure things ran without my supervision, and report to me if any of you happened onboard. This train's capability of intellectual thought is extraordinary! A feat only accomplished by my genius!"

(That confirms it,) thought Ten. (This train really is sentient.)

"Suffice to say, your capture is inevitable," said Robotnik. "You're on a train that desires nothing more than to deliver you all to me. See, I'd been thinking…I needed to manufacture motivation beyond programming. I like to make my badniks compete against one another from time to time; it's good for productivity. So, I instituted a bounty upon my army of badniks: first to capture you pathetic creatures gets a generous reward!"

Sonic and Ten gasped.

"Most of my robots ask for something simple like my autograph or such, but a highly intelligent train…it may ask for something more…interesting."

"Oh yeah, Robuttnik!?" Sonic put his fists on his hips. "Well I got news for ya…News of the World!" Sonic pulled out a copy of said Queen album.

Robotnik laughed. "Do you seriously believe that classic rock will stop me!? When you're dragged to my base, you'll regret the day you ever crossed me, Hedgehog!"

Sonic clenched his fists. "I regret nothin'!"

"You will when you've all been roboticized! Ciao!"

Dr. Robotnik discontinued his transmission.

"Man, he always knows how to annoy me!" Sonic stroked his chin. "This is tough…the train has motivation, and bein' made by Robuttnik, it's gotta be some kinda powerful, not to mention we're all separated."

Ten attempted to radio the situation in:

"Central, this is Zone Detective 5-Sierra-Delta, over."

No response.

"Central, this is Zone Detective 5-Sierra-Delta. Do you read me? Over."

Still no response.

"Central, this is Zone Detective 5-Sierra-Delta. Respond! Over!"

Yet again, no response from Central Dispatch.

(What am I supposed to do here?) thought Ten. (The train intentionally had Sonic knocked out so it could deliver us to Robotnik. This whole time, we were all in danger, and I went along with it…Sonic was injured, Mr. Hamilton's been captured…could I really have done more earlier? Do I even deserve to call myself a Constable after all this?)

Sonic's Hedgehog Sense told him about Ten's state of mind:

"Hey." Sonic put a hand on Ten's shoulder. "I can tell you're feelin' bummed out here. Listen, man, I can dig it: the road's gettin' tough, and it's easy to question the decisions that got ya here. But ya know what I do when I have negative thoughts?"

"What?"

Sonic smiled. "I just let 'em pass and keep on truckin'! Now, I need ya here helpin' me think through this before I do somethin' rash. See, I'm one of those 'leap before ya think' kinda guys."

Ten got into a fighting stance. "Right!"

Sonic got into a fighting stance as well. "We gotta get to the conductor's car before the train arrives at Robuttnik's base! I know just how to get through!"

Sonic charged up a Spin Dash and charged at the door, which had a shutter over it. Unfortunately for him, doing so only made a dent in the shutter.

"OK…that wasn't such a hot idea…" Sonic rubbed his head.

"Sonic, let me try my technique…CHAOS CLONE!"

Ten produced nine clones of himself, thereby revealing just why he was known as "Ten". Sonic dropped his jaw when he witnessed this.

"SUPER SPIN DASH BARRAGE!"

Ten charged up a Spin Dash, and all of his clones merged into himself, so when he unleashed the Spin Dash, it had ten times its usual power, which was enough to break through the shutter, much to Sonic's amazement:

"Holy crap, that was DY-NO-MITE!"

"Come on, let's go!"

Sonic and Ten headed on through to the saloon car, where Knuckles was waiting:

"Thank god you two are here! Just wait 'till I see Robotnik! I'm gonna clobber him!"

"We gotta deal with the train first!" said Sonic. "Come on, let's do it to it like Sonny Pruitt used to do it to it!"

Sonic, Knuckles and Ten all teamed up for a Spin Dash, and with the True Super Power of Teamwork, they broke through the next shutter and into the library car.

"You all came for us!" said Espio.

Sonic gave a thumbs up. "Of course, but let's boogie!"

"This train wants to take us prisoner and earn a reward," said Ten.

"My reward is to get off this dumb boiler!" said Vector.

Espio did a ninja pose. "Let's go!"

Once again, the five amigos teamed up, and they busted through the next shutter into the casino car, where a certain bat was happy to see someone:

"SONIC! You came to rescue me!"

Rouge gave Sonic a big hug and kiss, which he gladly returned. Every time they touched like this, she excited his passions in ways that no other woman could, but knowing that she was happy because he'd rescued her really got his heart rate going. All he wanted to do was be locked in this embrace forever. However, a certain big green guy was getting impatient:

"Hey, I'm glad youse two love one another, but can we break it up with the kissers? We got a mission to complete!"

"Vector's right," said Ten. "Let's save the celebration for our actual victory."

Sonic and Rouge paused in the middle of tearing one another's clothes off before breaking away, smiling nervously.

"What?" said Sonic and Rouge.

"I believe I owe you some gratitude, too."

Blaze gave Sonic a hug, which he gladly returned. Unlike Rouge, though, she didn't spend too much time with this gesture.

"All right, time to rock!"

Sonic pumped his fist, and the ever-growing group of friends smashed through the next shutter to the lounge car, where Shadow was:

"Amy and Tails have been locked in the conductor's car."

Sonic gave a thumbs up. "Say no more!"

Shadow raised a hand. "Playtime is over…CHAOS LANCE!"

With a single Chaos Lance, Shadow broke down the last shutter to the conductor's car.

"SONIC!"

Tails gave Sonic a big hug, which the Blue Blur gladly returned.

"SHADDY! You're here!"

Amy gave Shadow a big hug and kiss, and of course, he couldn't help but return it. They were starting to get on with their own little makeout session when…

"Earth to Shaddy!"

Shadow and Amy broke away from the kiss to see Rouge behind them.

"What?" said Shadow. "Am I not allowed to celebrate with the birthday girl?"

Sonic smiled. "I know how badly ya wanna do it with Ames, but we got a mission to complete!"

"You're right!" said Amy. "I'm ready to stop this train!"

Sonic got into a fighting stance. "Let's do it to it!"

Just then, Robotnik appeared on the screen in the conductor's car:

"Excellent work trapping these pests! Now hurry to me; I must properly dispose of them to begin my plans for Robotnikland…and possibly another Death Egg!"

"You won't turn us into robots!" said Ten.

"Ohoho! Haven't done that in a while!" said Robotnik. "Maybe I will roboticize you all to give Sage some new toys to play with!"

Amy readied her Piko Piko Hammer. "Shut it, Robotnik!"

"Don't disappoint me, train! Hurry it up!"

"I will not fail…" said the train. "My wish will be granted."

"Your wish? Oh, you mean the bounty? I don't care what you call it; just bring me those overgrown pests!"

The transmission concluded.

"Oh, that Robuttnik!" said Sonic.

"I must get…my wish!" said the train. "I WILL NOT FAIL!"

"This is it, everyone!" said Amy. "Get ready!"

"We're gonna turn this mother out!" said Sonic.

"Right!" said Ten. "CHAOS CLONE!"

Ten produced his nine clones, which caused everyone to drop their jaws. Even Shadow was amazed:

"How did he…?"

"Never mind that!" said Sonic.

Sonic attacked the train with Homing Attacks, Knuckles used his fists, Amy used her hammer, Rouge used Drill Kicks, Espio used Spin Dashes, and Vector body-slammed the train. As for Ten and his clones, they each detached their Uzis from their respective DeSantis rigs and opened fire on the train, being careful not to hit Sonic and co. Even Tails and Shadow responded with firepower, Tails pulling out a Colt Python snub-nose and Shadow pulling out his Smith & Wesson Model 29, which got Ten's attention:

"Tails, Shadow, how the hell did you sneak weapons onboard?"

"Magic," said Tails and Shadow at the same time.

Ten decided to disregard their blatant breaking of the rules and instead focused on shooting up the train. All the gunfire produced by him, Tails and Shadow echoed throughout the conductor's car, and the train was receiving its fair share of bullet holes, even being vulnerable to the Uzi's 9mm Parabellum rounds. The train was none too pleased about this:

"None of you could possibly understand! We promised to be together our whole lives! HOW COULD HE JUST LEAVE LIKE IT WAS NOTHING?"

Tails stopped firing briefly. "Who do you mean? The conductor?"

Amy stopped swinging her hammer briefly, too. "He's retiring; you just have to accept that!"

"My wish will keep us together forever!" said the train. "That's what being friends is all about!"

"You can't force someone to be pals with ya!" said Vector. "Don't be a bunny!"

"SHUT UP! JUST shut UP!"

Seeing as how the train was refusing to listen to reason, everyone kept up the attack. Ten in particular was grateful for his ability to clone himself, because with ten Uzis on their side, the job was getting done faster than usual, not to mention that Tails, Shadow and Ten could cover each other while reloading. The train, once again, found this to be annoying:

"Robotnik! Robotnik! Can you hear me? My wish! MY WISH! MY WISH! MAKE THE CONDUCTOR NEVER LEAVE ME! LET US BE FRIENDS FOREVER! THE KIND OF FRIENDS WHO WOULD NEVER LEAVE EACH OTHER! WHY WOULD HE BETRAY ME?"

Obviously, Sonic and co. weren't having this, for they kept up their attacks. However, things changed when a certain someone appeared:

"Help me…" said Philip.

"Watch your fire!" said Ten and his clones. "We don't wanna hit the conductor!"

"You promised me!" said the train. "YOU PROMISED!"

"Let him speak!" said Rouge. "Unhand him!"

"Train…stop this!" said Philip. "When I told you we'd be together forever, I was a much younger man. I'm getting old…I'm tired…"

"EXCUSES! How dare you abandon me…I'll be lonely…so lonely…WHY MUST you insist LONELINESS UPON ME?"

The arm holding Philip put him at the controls, much to the conductor's chagrin:

"No, stop! What are you doing to me? Please don't make me do this!"

"Guys, we gotta rescue the conductor if we ever wanna stop this train!" said Sonic.

Knowing that full-auto fire would likely result in the accidental death of the conductor, Ten and his clones switched their Uzis to semi-auto.

"Aim for the hands!" said Ten. "Just watch the conductor!"

As per Ten's orders, everyone started aiming for the train's hands. However, a new challenge arose when a couple of laser turrets popped out from the ceiling.

"Everyone, you go for the hands!" said Shadow. "I'll try to stop the lasers!"

Shadow took aim and fired at the laser turrets. Fortunately for him, it only took a single .44 Magnum round for each turret. The Ultimate Life Form was even able to block whatever shots the turrets got off before they bit the dust. The other members of Team Sonic were doing a great job, and Sonic even managed to bust the front of the train open, which surprised Vector when…

"A flicky!?"

Tails dropped his jaw. "This is just like the lore card, when my ex-best friend left detective work to join Dr. Robotnik!"

"So this really is a badnik…" said Shadow.

Rouge stroked her chin. "The stakes rise every second, huh?"

Knuckles clenched his fist. "We gotta save him!"

"On it!" said Espio.

"Let's show them the power of the flame!" said Blaze.

Everyone kept attacking, trying to dislodge the flicky from the train. The train still wasn't done with the laser turrets, and Shadow wasn't done blowing them away, either. Ten and his clones were doing well, except for one thing…

"Outta ammo!"

Having expended all their Uzi ammo, Ten and his clones switched to their Super Redhawks, which put even bigger holes in the train than what Shadow's Model 29 could do. Still, the train refused to give up:

"Just…just be delivered to Robotnik already! What about…what about my happiness?"

"Your happiness comes at the expense of others, jive turkey!" said Sonic. "Last I checked, that's called 'bein' selfish', and that's NO GOOD."

Rouge groaned. "Really, Big Blue?"

Sonic smiled sheepishly. "What? It's true, ya know!"

Rouge shook her head and resumed attacking, while the train was in denial:

"Me…selfish? How…HOW DARE YOU!?"

The train kept attempting to strike back, while Sonic and co. held on tight like Electric Light Orchestra. By now, it was obvious to them that the train refused to give up. Then again, Sonic and most of them had been through a lot, and even if Ten was a newcomer to the madness, given what he'd been through, he was pretty much a part of the team now. Attack after attack was exchanged, with the train continuing to degrade and deny that it was losing:

"No! No! NO! NOOOOOOOO!"

Espio jumped on top of the damaged control panel. "I'll grab the Flicky."

In one swift motion, Espio grabbed the Flicky, while Amy had a message of her own:

"IT'S OVER! Time to pay for ruining my birthday!"

With one swift, decisive strike, Amy brought her hammer down on the conductor's car. That did it; the train was out of action. The resulting explosion hurtled Amy through the air, which Shadow's Hedgehog Sense pointed out to him:

"I'll save you!"

Not wanting to lose his precious Amy like he did Maria, Shadow leapt up into the air and attempted to catch her. Fortunately, the pinkette landed right in his arms, much to her delight. Sonic even expressed his approval:

"Great shot, Ames! That was one in a million!"

Ten's clones ended up merging back into him, and he let out a yelp as he collapsed to the train's floor, much to Tails' concern:

"TEN!"

Tails rushed over to Ten's side.

"Ten, are you OK!? Wake up!"

Ten groaned as he pushed himself up, but only had enough strength to get up on one knee.

"Ten, what's wrong!?" said Tails.

Ten clutched his heart. "Don't…worry…about…me…Tails. I'll be…OK. Just…the cloning…takes…a lot…outta…me…"

Rouge knelt down next to Ten and put her hand on his back. "Try not to move too much, honey. We'll see if we can get you some help."

"Food…need…food…"

Meanwhile, Amy was still gloating about her seismic hit:

"That's what you get when you mess with my special day!"

As for Philip, he turned to one of the now-damaged hands of the train:

"I…I juSt…cOUldN't BeaR…TO seE…yoU Go…I'M soRrY…fOr thE TRoubLE…"

With that, the train closed its eyes forever, just as Lita Ford and Ozzy had once done, much to Amy's relief:

"I think our work here is done. NOW LET'S GET OFF THIS THING."

Philip, however, couldn't leave without saying some final words to the train:

"Thank you. Goodbye, my friend. I may be leaving the rails, but I assure you, I'll never forget our time together."

Meanwhile, the LaSalle Street Station in Diamond City looked more like a war zone than a train station. A group of heavily-armed Constables was here, all dressed in their Deployment uniforms, each of which consisted of a navy blue BDU, black leather combat boots, a black ballistic tactical vest, black ballistic elbow and knee pads, a black single-hole balaclava and an M17 gas mask. The Constables also had a few snipers positioned on and around the station building, plus a couple of UH-1 Hueys with M134 miniguns on door mounts, guns aimed at where the train would stop. Also present here were paramedics from the Mobius State Hospital System and the Diamond City Fire Department. All of the Constables kept their guns ready as the Mirage Express – or what was left of it – pulled into the station. Sergeant III Jim Branson radioed it in:

"Central, this is Able One Actual, over."

"Able One Actual, proceed, over."

"Central, the Mirage Express has entered the station. Awaiting further orders, over."

"Able One Actual, hold your fire until you get a PID on suspect, over."

"Wilco, Central. Able One Actual out."

The train doors opened, and the first one to step off the train was Ten, who was just barely able to walk.

"Hold your fire!" said Branson. "It's Corporal First Grade Hawkes! Someone get him a medic!"

Immediately, a few Constables and paramedics came to Ten's aid.

"Corporal, are you all right?" said Corporal I Sylvia Gibbs.

"Is the murderer still on board?" asked Constable I Ahmad Herman.

"There was no murderer," replied Ten. "It was all a trap by Dr. Robotnik to try to kidnap Sonic and his friends, not to mention me. Now, is there a restaurant here? I need some food."

While Ten was searching for some food, and while the Constabulary was securing the scene, Sonic and co. were celebrating their victory:

"WE DID IT!" exclaimed Vector.

"Well…I'll say I've never been on a train like that before," said Rouge.

"This universe has a…unique way of doing things," said Blaze.

"Maybe for Amy's next birthday, we should just ask Vanilla to make dinner," said Knuckles.

"Oh what?" said Vector. "You don't love parties where by the end, someone tries to blip ya?"

Perhaps no one was more jubilant than Philip, who was reunited with his wife Sabrina, a pink dog with a couple of white stripes in her fur and amber eyes. Her attire consisted of a pink sweater, red skirt with gold buttons on the front and pink shoes. She immediately gave him a big hug and kiss when she saw him.

"Honey, you're late!" said Sabrina. "I've been waiting here for hours!"

"Fahahaha, you'd honestly never believe what happened!" said Philip. "So I won't even try! Faha! Fahahaha!"

Sabrina broke away from the hug. "I'm just glad you're here! Quick, we leave for Spagonia in the morning and you need to pack!"

"I'll pack faster than the wind! I need this vacation something terrible!"

"And I need you home! Happy first day of retirement, dear!"

(I've never seen anyone so ready to begin their retirement,) thought Ten. (I can't wait to get back home to my own wife. I'm happy for them both.)

Then, out of nowhere, the flicky that had been powering the Mirage Express popped up.

"Oh! Who's this?" said Sabrina.

"Fahaha, an old friend, I think!"

"Well, it's a cutie, that's for sure!"

Meanwhile, Sonic and co. were reflecting on the situation:

"Seems that flicky found a friend…" said Espio.

"Great job saving that little guy, Espio!" said Tails.

"It was the least I could do. Sonic, everyone…I sincerely apologize for the trouble I caused."

Amy smiled. "Don't be! You were just following what you thought was the game. I don't know what I would've done in the same situation."

"Well, I wouldn't have hit a guy with a blowgun dart!" said Sonic. "Still, we cool, Espio!"

"Thank you, Sonic, although I will admit, it would've been hard to get close to the legendary Blue Blur otherwise."

Sonic gave a thumbs up. "OK, I see ya! Still, that was way past cool, especially considerin' we're all in one piece!"

Someone's stomach grumbled.

"There's just one problem," said Rouge. "I'm starving! I pretty much forgot to eat!"

"Same here!" said Knuckles.

"Me too," said Tails. "I got distracted playing detective. Sonic, if only you could've seen Ten and I in action! We were finding clues, presenting evidence, poking holes in alibis…Sonic? Hey, where'd he go?"

"Hey guys, guess what?" Sonic was carrying a bunch of bags. "This station has a restaurant!"

"I even brought the cake." Shadow was carrying a white box with the restaurant name – Station Restaurant – on it.

"OH MY DAMN CHERRY BLOSSOMS!*" Amy put her hands on her cheeks. "I've been WAITING for my cake!"

"Happy Birthday, Amy!" said everyone.

"By the way, boss, I believe this is yours…"

Sonic handed Ten – who was sitting on a nearby bench – a Styrofoam takeout container. Ten opened it and found…

"Chicken Mobius with fries!? Thank you, Sonic the Hedgehog!"

Sonic gave a thumbs up. "Ain't no thang! Always glad to help out Mobius' finest! Now, if you'll excuse me, I gotta pay tribute to the confident and unshakeable Amy Rose…"

"And I gotta pay tribute to the sexiest hedgie ever!"

Rouge wrapped an arm around Sonic and kissed him on the cheek.

"Also, to an adventure of a birthday!" said Rouge.

"A memorable party every year!" said Vector.

"To a fun birthday," said Knuckles.

Shadow smiled. "A romantic ride from start to finish."

"May our friendship grow stronger with each celebration," said Blaze.

Espio, meanwhile, regaled everyone with a poem:

"I admire your tenacity,
May you never lose your vivacity,
Happy Birthday to Amy,
And to her sparkling personacity."

"Happy Birthday, Amy Rose," said Ten. (Espio, you can't make up words to rhyme.)

"We love you, Amy!" said Tails. "Happy Birthday!"

Amy put her hands on her cheeks. "Awww, you guys! We almost got murdered by a lonely train, but…I wouldn't trade these adventures for anything! Not in a million years! And Shaddy…"

"Yes Amy?"

"Thank you for everything."

Amy gave Shadow a hug and kiss, earning a collective "awww" from the group.

"All right, let's eat!" said Sonic.

Everyone ate, drank and was generally merry. Espio, however, wanted a word with Ten:

"Hello, Ten."

"Hey, Espio. What's on your mind?"

"I have a question, and please be honest…"

"Go ahead."

"Were you really going to arrest me?"

Ten nodded. "The thought had crossed my mind."

"Then you would have failed, for as an expert in ninjutsu, I can skillfully counter whatever forms of martial arts a Constable has mastered."

"You forget that I too have trained in ninjutsu. Having said that, I concede that once Robotnik entered the scene, I decided against arresting you. I've heard about you, and deep down inside, I know you're a decent, hard-working, law-abiding citizen. Keep doing whatever it is that you're doing."

"Will do." Espio took another bite of his Reuben.

Speaking of Robotnik, he was waiting impatiently at his base in the Badlands of Mobius for the train:

"That train's never making it here, is it?"

Sage and Metal Sonic nodded.

"Scratch, prepare a bath!" said Robotnik.

"Do ya want the happy rubber duck or the angry one?" asked Scratch.

Robotnik pounded his fists on the arms of his chair. "I WANT THE ANGRY ONE, YOU NINCOMPOOP!"

"Good choice, Your Evilness!" said Grounder.

"SHUT IT!" Robotnik growled. "I HATE THAT HEDGEHOG! AND THAT STUPID WOLF!"

*Yet another reminder that the phrase "OH MY DAMN CHERRY BLOSSOMS" is a registered trademark of KagamiPINKAgreste, used with permission.

Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.