Chapter Two

Bikin' It

Nack wiped beads of sweat off his forehead as he pushed his bike beneath the high-rise buildings looming above them. He wasn't doing much of the work, with Bark at the back of the vehicle and giving it a (very effortless) push, but it still bit at the weasel's nerves that the Marvelous Queen had ran low on gas. It never ran low on gas. The only time it ran low on gas was when he made the stupid decision to give Bean the responsibility to fill its tank—which was usually when Nack wasn't paying enough attention. And sure enough, here they labored with awkward stares on them, as Bean sat in one of the sidecars and slurped loudly on a bright blue ice pop.

"The least you could've done is MENTION you hadn't filled the goddamn engine." Nack hissed at the duck, dropping the front of his vehicle in fury to fume at his ally. Bean shrugged; threats didn't bother him. Especially from Nack—the bastard had worn out every insult in the book at this point. "Get out of there and help Bark, ya good fer nothin' punk!"

Nothing—not that Nack expected otherwise. Bean continued nonchalantly sitting in the sidecar. He just passed the white fox on the driver seat a purple ice pop. Stella popped open the tab and slide the pop straight into her mouth. Nack had left her on the bike for this little escapade. It wasn't like the kid had enough physical strength to help them push a heavy piece of machinery through a crowded town anyways. Still, he couldn't help but miss the hat that he had thrown to the kid; the sun was starting to get in his eyes.

The weasel swore under his breath. Kids, he hated kids. Yet he had agreed to do a job for one and then ended up taking the little fox into his group. A little voice in the back of his head, probably that 'conscious' bastard he had buried ages ago, reminded him that he had taken the kid on without complaint. Reminded him that despite his bitching, he had felt pretty happy when the brat's family had decided to throw her at him. Reminded him that only a few months ago, he had actively risked his life for the sake of the little brat sitting in his bike sucking on an ice pop. Maybe it wasn't responsible of any party to place Stella Frost in the care of hitmen, but…

…Well, he would be lying if he said he regretted it or any such nonsense.

With nothing else to do as he mindlessly and tirelessly helped drag the Marvelous Queen through the streets of Westopolis, Nack found himself reflecting. Taking care of kids was just as tough and annoying as he expected—still, there were benefits, if the pistol that she was loading with her spare hand was any indication. The kid had been a slow learner at first but she was already showcasing an innate ability with firearms. Some sort of pride swelled in Nack's chest to know that he might be making the next best sharpshooter. He squashed it quickly; the kid knew that she was cared for amongst the Hooligans, but the weasel wasn't about to let the kid bask in it.

Just enough to know. That was all.

That was enough.

Besides, she seemed to know about their target.

"So are we really going to see Miss Mina?" Stella said through the melting ice. Her eyes shone with what could only be called sheer excitement. "Like, really-really? We're really gonna see Miss Mina? Do you think she'll give me her autograph? Maybe I can get her to sign something for me! Like her newest CD, I really want that! Or maybe my gun!"

"Don't screw up a good gun like that. And it ain't your gun anyways." Nack muttered. The little girl didn't seem to be paying attention to his griping; she just seemed to be descending further into the throes of wild fangirling. The weasel couldn't even be surprised anymore—what shock could it be to him that a ten year old girl liked the pop weavings of Mina Mongoose? The so called 'Songoose' had exactly the sort of flavor that appealed to Stella's age group. As far as Nack was concerned it was only by the virtue of the mongoose's natural talent that she managed to get anywhere at all in the music industry.

He sniffed in irritation; maybe the girl's music just wasn't for him. It certain had never been his genre and in an almost impulsively spiteful way, Nack wasn't keen on listening to the music of people who allied themselves with his enemies. And Mina Mongoose had all but declared Sonic and crew to be the true kings of the universe. Her alliance with the Freedom Fighters was infamous—hell, it was her alliance with them that had reportedly encouraged her to pursue her passions. The weasel would know; they wasn't a single goddamn interview with Mina Mongoose where the subject wasn't brought up.

It had been bothering Nack since they had accepted the job. Mina Mongoose was allied with the Freedom Fighters. She was buddy-buddy with Sonic and his stupid friends. Without a doubt, at least one of them was going to be on their heels as soon as they had the songstress under their control. They would have to get a living being that openly disliked them from point A to point B, across the sea…with the group that ALWAYS foiled them biting at their heels.

He groaned loudly. A smoke. He really needed a smoke.

"Nack, what's the matter?" He looked up slightly; Stella was perching herself on the front of the Marvelous Queen watching him with curiosity in her eyes. "You've been really quiet ever since we got into Westopolis. Is something going on?"

"Nah, nothin' much. I'm just thinkin' bout how to deal with the popstar, that's all. That's lesson number one: it's always best to go in with a plan, kiddo." Nack replied absently. It was pretty clear the young fox wasn't buying it, probably because Bark and Bean had been acting slightly off as well. He was sure the both of them had already realized the inevitable. Stella, however, had yet to be with them when they had a run-in with Sonic—this would be her first. She hadn't seen their perpetual failure in the face of the Freedom Fighters.

Nack grimaced. It didn't sound good even in his head.

He couldn't dwell on it, though; they were already in Westopolis. He had to look into it but this was apparently where the Songoose's next concert was. It didn't seem like a major show which he could only say was an advantage. Less people, less security, less trouble. It was even a thankfully small venue. Nack shielded his eyes from the sun as he looked up to the theater as they passed by it; a pair of guards eyed him suspiciously as he pulled the bike by. Bean stuck his tongue out at them.

Their glares didn't matter. Nack was already putting two and two together thanks to Stella's incessant fangirling.

"Miss Mongoose made the hit song Sonic Boom, but MY favorite was definitely Look-a-Like. Her voice is just fan~tab~ulous in it! She doesn't perform it as much but whenever she does its absolutely perfect." Stella gushed, leaning backing into the seat of the airbike. "I heard that she always stays at the Hotel Tropius because she's got a deal worked out with the chain! It's supposed to be a real nice, ritzy place. Have you ever been to the Hotel Tropius, Nack?"

"Nope, but I'm gonna go soon." Nack replied curtly. Stella gasped.

"Are we gonna stay at the Hotel Tropius, Nack?! I've heard it's the glitziest, glamory-est, coolest hotel in all of Mobius! And the Westopolis one has a special reputation too, as being the best one!" Stella sighed dreamily and the weasel rolled his eyes. The kid had been drowning in money back in the Aurora Ice Fields, but her exposure to the real world had quickly revealed itself to amount to little more than what she saw on television and in magazines.

"Nah, we ain't got the money for that kind of fancy joint. Least not right now." Nack snickered. "Maybe after this is all over we'll take a stay in it. Get my feet massaged or something. But hey, I'll give ya this, shortie: we're still GOING to the Hotel Tropius."

"We are?" Stella paused for a moment, and then a grin spread across her face. "Ohhh, an ambush. How mysterious."

"He's bad at ambushes." Bean said casually, swinging his half eaten ice pop around haphazardly; chunks of the soft wet ice smacked both the little fox and large bear in the face. Bark simply wiped it off his brow and continued pushing. Stella slinked forward to try and nab the pop out of the duck's hands, only for him to hop over her head and rest back in the driver's seat of the Marvelous Queen. The fox girl pouted openly but the duck only let out a high-pitched cackle.

"I'm not bad at nothin'." Before either of his cohorts could begin their long lists of what Nack was decidedly bad at, the weasel sharply continued. "Besides, we ain't going IN the hotel. Just in front of the hotel. Then…"

"We make her disappear!" The duck shrieked, pulling out a bomb. Nack sent him a withering look and Bean quickly doused the lit fuse with his fingers.

"Are we gonna make her disappear, Nack?" Stella asked nervously.

"Not like usual. She'll come back as soon as our…funders are finished with her." Nack replied. He somewhat regretted that the girl had so quickly picked up on the common jargon for bounty hunters and hitmen. No kid really wanted to hear that one of their favorite celebrities was 'going to disappear' in the way that Bean had meant. The duck made so much trouble sometimes. "Look on the bright side, shortie, you'll get to meet the world's favorite pop sensation. And if this goes right you'll probably get to, uh, hang out with her for a while."

"Maybe she'll tell me how she comes up with songs!" Stella beamed.

"Doubt it takes that much effort." Nack groused under his breath. Thankfully, the exuberant young girl didn't seem to hear it. With a huff the weasel dropped the front of the Marvelous Queen as they finally managed to push it to a gas station. An attendant rushed hurriedly up to them and Nack slapped a credit card into her waiting hand. "Bark, Bean, Stella. Group in."

Bean and Bark both looked to each other incredulously—Stella may have been their ward, but the child was rarely allowed into a planning discussion. It was just a general measure of security. They were being paid to keep the kid under their ward. Granted, it was a fee that Bean had immediately wasted this month on a diamond that turned out to be fake, but it was a fee none the less. And generally it went unsaid that she wasn't to be directly involved in missions. Sometimes she came up with ideas, and Nack was training her with guns on the side, but she was never up and front on the field.

Until, apparently, now.

The arctic fox clambered excitedly towards the circle, reaching up to wrap her arm around Nack's shoulder—her fingers barely managed to curl around the nape of his neck. Her other arm fared no better at Bark's side, simply nestling awkwardly at the crook of the bear's back. If he thought anything of it, he didn't show it on his face as he loomed over the two and rested a paw on the small fingers by Nack's shoulder. Bean climbed overtop his shoulder and leaned inward with a manic grin on his beak. Their weasel leader withheld a groan. Every day he wondered what he had done to deserve the group that surrounded him.

"Okay, listen up, you pack of idiots." Nack whispered. "Here's the plan."