Chapter 9 - Double Trouble

The sight that they saw as they continued to fall down the pit was pure blackness. They braced themselves for impact, but found that they were caught in what felt like a net.
"So Coach Kahn is really Lerich," said Knuckles, "that explains alot."
"But what I wish would be explained," said Tails, "is why he decided to follow us here?"
"That's something I'd like to know too."
They realized that voice was different than any of theirs; someone else was in the pit with them.
"Huh?" They puzzled.
"It's us," a girl's voice that was neither Cream nor Amy's said.
"Epiphany? Cain?" Knuckles asked. He peered down in the dark, as he was able to make them out much clearer than the others, as he had more experience exploring dark caverns and subterranean passages.
The others, though it was hard to tell if they could see, just listened in.
"Irrika Vexus and Lerich Snomis captured us and locked us in a cage and dumped us here," said Cain.
"We heard his plans of disguising himself as a coach to get his hands on you in the name of vengeance," Epiphany quickly added.
"Yes," said Cain in a tone that sounded annoyed, "I was just going to tell them that."
"Vengeance for what?" Amy asked.
"He said it was about his circus getting ruined," Epiphany said.
"You just had to beat me to it, didn't you?" Cain said, annoyed again.
"He's bent out of shape about that?" Sonic asked in flat disbelief, "can't he just whip up a new tent? He never payed his performers." 
"We can't stay down here," Tails said, "we have a test to take so we don't get expelled!"
"But how are we all going to get out?" Amy asked, "you and Cream can't carry all of us, and it's too high up, so you'll get tired before reaching the top."
"I think I've got an idea," said Knuckles, "hold on."
He then started to climb a wall and dug a passageway that started out as horizontal then went vertical, repeating this pattern in a zig zag until reaching the top.
He then came back down.
"Going up?" 
They all walked into the tunnel but not before Cream said,
"We'll come back for you!" 
Tails lifted Sonic up the vertical parts while Cream did the same to Amy. They all ran through the horizontal part of the tunnel and kept alternating this until they reached the end at the top. From a distance, they saw Penders and their professors waiting on the field and rushed over.
"We're sorry we're late," Tails said between pants.
"I hope we're not too late," Amy added.
"I'm afraid so," Penders said, "that means we have to expel you."
"I admit I came late, too," Taffy said, "I rushed over here after Irrika left and wouldn't answer my calls. But I was able to drive here since she didn't take the car."
"And I'm sure they had a good reason for being slightly tardy," Professor Grimley said, "let them take the test."
"Very well, then," Penders said, sounding a bit irritated.
"The ingredients for Polyelixir, "Professor Grimley started to ask, "are laceback mosquitoes, leeches,  powdered tricorn horn, lobgrass, fluxseed, shredded boomlingo skin and what else?"
"A piece of something belonging to a specific person," said Amy, "such as the hair of the person you want to become."
"That's incorrect!" Penders said.
"Actually," Professor Grimley said, "she's correct."
"Bonus question," Grimley continued, "what kind of transformation won't work with this potion?"
"Trans-species," Cream answered, "if a human tries to turn into an animal, or vice-versa, it will only work halfway."
"Wrong!" Penders said.
"No," Grimley told him, "that's right."
"Who discovered the use of Fireball eggs and when?" Professor Flynn asked.
"Quon Pai and 16th century," Knuckles answered.
"You couldn't be more wrong," Penders sneered.
"Actually," Flynn said, "I'd say he couldn't be more in point.
"What speeds are a Lightning Bolt vacuum capable of?" Asked Professor Partridge.
"0-150 miles per hour acceleration in 10 seconds," Tails answered.
Penders imitated a 'wrong' buzzer.
"The boy is correct," Partridge told him.
"And up to how long can a time out be called in a game of Fiddich?"
"Two hours," Sonic answered, "if the game has gone on for 12 or more."
"That is incorrect," said Penders.
"Actually," Professor Partridge said, "it isn't."
"I think they're good students," Grimley said, "I'm sure they can stay."
"The student that deserves to be expelled is Caterina Diff," said Professor Partridge, "she never studies and is more concerned about her physical appearance over schoolwork, and she's just a dreadful person."
"The only reason these five urchins participated in Fiddich is because of a fight they got into," Penders stated,
"your records report participation in a school fight, and breaking one of the vacuums in one of your classes. Plus, two students are too young to attend," Penders continued, "we only accept students from ages 11-17, and we have no previous records of the two being advanced for their ages. And you're currently standing in front of the Dark Forest, which is off-limits. Now that they're expelled, it doesn't matter."
"We don't care, anyway!" Amy shouted.
"Besides," Tails added, "this magic stuff is a bunch of baloney."
"We just want to know where our friends are!" Cream cried.
"Since Epiphany and Cain are guilty by participation," Coach Kahn said, "I had them working with invisibility potions, until they simply vanish themselves."
Knuckles didn't believe him "Liar!"
"Insulting the coach," Penders said, shaking a fat finger, "that is grounds for double expulsion!"
"He's just as reasonable as Lerich Snomis," Sonic muttered.
"I've heard of him," said Coach Kahn, "I hear Lerich was the best Demontail wizard in the world who later went on to run his own circus, until some troublemaking members of it decided to ruin it for everyone."
"And you'd know all that since you're him in disguise!" Tails said accusingly.
"Don't be ridiculous-" Penders said.
"That's all that's being done here!" Amy stated.
"Never," hissed Penders, "interrupt the Deputy Headmaster! Triple expulsion!"
"Make him take off his disguise and we'll show you we're telling the truth!" Cream squealed.
"He's already said his facial hair doesn't come off!" Penders said, "You should be more tolerant of his culture." 
"It's not about that," Amy said.
"We're sure that it's him," Tails added.
"Since that's the case," Knuckles said, "then it won't hurt to pull that beard off."
"Sorry," said the coach," I can't. I need it.... to fly..."
He then levitated from his spot and gave the gang a very evil grin as he did so. He then began flying into the hall.
"That's preposterous!" Professor Flynn cried, "only very few wizards have mastered flight without a vacuum!"
"That won't stop us from catching him!" Sonic declared and dashed after him while everyone else followed from a distance behind, with Tails and Cream flying after the villain. Unfortunately, Lerich (and I'm glad to finally be able to call him that since his disguise has been uncovered) used a transportation spell, his body looking like it was being twisted into a vortex with a loud cracking sound.
"Only few wizards have mastered the transporting spell!" cried Professor Partridge.
The gang continued running, out to the front lawn, where Lerich was getting into his truck and Angelina was holding two young people in the passenger's seat; Epiphany and Cain!
"No!" Knuckles shouted as the rest of the gang skidded to a halt and fell to the ground, with the two young kids losing altitude.
Knuckles leapt into a glide to the truck's passenger door.
"Hang on!" he said, trying to reach for Epiphany. Angelina tried pushing him out before closing the door on him, but he simply tore the door off its hinges and tried again.
"Knuckles, just let go," Epiphany said.
"I'll have you out in no time, don't worry," he told her.
"But I must tell you something," said Epiphany.
"You can tell me later," he replied.
Angelina saw, as Knuckles tried to jerk Epiphany out of the truck, that his strength was overpowering, so she extended her claws and scratched him across the chest.
Lerich, now reaching the truck, let out a monstrous roar, and kicked Knuckles away from the truck, put the passenger door back on, got in the driver's seat and began to drive off.
"That clunker won't get too far against me," said Sonic and he began running after it. But a few feet into driving, it exploded into the trees, setting them on fire.
As Sonic skid to a halt, Knuckles was sitting in the same place when Lerich had kicked him. As the hedgehog ran back to his friends, they all sat quiet, exhausted physically and emotionally.
Knuckles kept staring into the spot Lerich detonated his truck, tears forming into his eyes, but he decided to fight them off with anger instead of letting them fall and pounded the ground with both fists and breathed heavily for a few seconds.
In the background, Penders could only say, "Now we've lost another coach thanks to those needless ne'er-do-wells! Get off my campus now before I call the authorities! There's no room for murderers here!"
Sonic glared at Penders as he walked off, knowing well that none of them caused the explosion, but knew Penders was too full of himself to care.
After a few seconds have passed, everyone crawled in closer to each other to talk amongst themselves. 
"That explosion had to be a trick," Tails said, "who knows where he really went with them?"
"What if he's a terrible person that won't let them live?" Cream said tearfully.
"We'll make sure to get to them," Amy reassured her, "but we have to get going soon if we want to."
Taffy approached the young mammals.
"I'm very sorry that this had to happen to you," he said, kneeling down towards them, putting his hand on Cream's shoulder. 
"For what it's worth, I don't think you're murderers."
"Thanks," said Tails.
"But we can't just keep standing around!" Sonic said, with anger and determination, "We need to think up a plan to save Cain and Epiphany!"
"And my fianceé ran off with that wicked man," Taffy said, "but I did find this before she left our estate."
He pulled a piece of paper out of his coat pocket.
"It's a receipt for a ticket she must have bought. For a check in at one of the world's most oldest hotel."
"Do you know where it is?" Amy asked.
"As a matter of fact I do," Taffy said, "come on, get into my car."
And the five boarded his vehicle, and all looked out a window with one thing on their minds; to search for the two abductees any way they could.

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