Prologue

The office was clean and opulently decorated, mostly in red and gold, particularly the curtains and the carpet. It was empty, except for the man sitting motionlessly at the large oak desk in the center. Behind his leather chair, the windows showed the lights coming from the contours of the night-time city skyline in the distance, as well as the moon above. Aside from the computer monitor, they were the only things illuminating the room at the moment.

Here, Yeung Chiu-wah had sat for hours, trying to make a decision. The decision. The one that could change everything. One that, despite the risks involved and the commitment needed, could very well be worth it.

To aid him in making that decision, Yeung had been looking and relooking at news articles, including the same ones over and over on his computer. All of them, regardless of the newspaper they came from or the language they were written in, were about the same subjects: Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles 'Tails' Prower, and GUN.

The change those mobians had brought about since they had come to planet Earth, Yeung knew, had been tremendous, to say the least. After six months of inactivity, they had begun showing what they really could do, using their talents and abilities to do what they believed was good.

Sonic had already taken down various armed groups and governments that had once thought themselves untouchable single-handedly, starting with Adabat and then continuing throughout the Middle East and Africa, and as a result had been credited been with saving thousands of lives from war and conflict. Meanwhile, Tails, the two-tailed genius fox, was now considered the inventor of a revolutionary energy source that hailed from their homeworld, the same thing that was now making once troubled American defense contractor GUN, not to mention himself, a multi-billion dollar success, all while continuing to gather dozens of patents to his name.

It took five more minutes for all of that information to really sink in. Once it did, Yeung abruptly closed the web browser. He finally decided what his answer was. And as he looked at the clock, he realized the time at which he did so was just right, too.

As expected, the cell phone on the desk began ringing, with the incoming number blocked from being displayed. The sixty-year old took a deep breath before picking it up and accepted the call. "Yes?" he asked quietly and calmly.

"So," the voice of Doctor Ivo 'Eggman' Robotnik boomed, managing to sound bombastic even by just saying one word, "have you made your decision?" He made no attempt at hiding his anticipation for Yeung's answer. The right one, at least.

Which was exactly what he was getting. "I have," the elder man said, "my answer is yes. You will get your cargo."

"Excellent!" Robotnik replied loudly, and expressed his glee with a maniacal cackle that lasted for a solid fifteen seconds. "I knew you would do it! I knew it!"

"My man will deliver what you need before the end of the month," Yeung continued simply, ignoring the mad scientist's outburst.

"And mine will deliver yours, as agreed."

"Good. I believe it is best we do not speak again."

"Of course, of course," Robotnik agreed, "you won't regret it, I promise!"

"Hopefully. From here on, it is all yours to manage," Yeung said flatly, doing a good job of masking his emotions, unlike Eggman. "Now, if you will excuse me, I have…other people to talk to."

"Ah, yes. Well, in that case, good luck. It will be great doing business with you! So, I suppose, goodbye! Hohohoho…"

The annoying mad scientist hung up, which made Yeung glad, as he likely never had to hear that laughter again. There was still another call he had to make, however, before he could leave this place. He dialed the number and waited patiently until it was picked up. "Mr. Yeung?" the male voice at the other end of the line said in Mandarin Chinese, "how was it?"

"It's done," he replied in the same language and tone, "the cargo will be shipped to him soon."

"Hen hao. You've done the right thing," the other voice said in satisfaction, "it shall work out well for you and all of us."

Yeung sighed. "I hope so too."

"The next time we need your services, we'll contact you again," the voice continued, "thank you for your efforts, Mr. Yeung."

"You're welcome," Yeung replied, doing his best to sound good-natured before ending the call.

He stood there for a few more minutes, silently wondering about the decision he had just made. He wasn't even sure how much he was troubled by it, if at all. Just in case, however, he decided to go up to the small bronze statue of the Buddhist figure Guanyin in a recessed area in the side wall to light some joss sticks. There, he stood with his body bent slightly and his eyes closed before the Goddess of Mercy, asking for exactly that, if only because he knew what effects the consequences of his decision, including the one he'd just made and those he'd have to make in the near future, could have on his conscience.