Sally,
Sonic's finger hovered beside the array of shiny plastic buttons until he selected the one he wanted. The black number 4 lit up as he pressed it, and the elevator started to move. Casually, the hedgehog leaned back against the wall.
"Do you think they'll like me?" the girl in the elevator with Sonic was Princess Sally Acorn of the royal Acorn Family. She was a chipmunk, and he had met her only several days ago whilst out and about adventuring in the Acorn Empire. Sonic was bringing her to meet some of his closest friends.
"Don't sweat it," said Sonic, "They'll like you fine. We're an easy-going bunch."
"Okay," she replied.
The elevator took them up to the fourth floor, its doors sliding open with a ding and a scrape. Sonic led Sally out into the boring beige hallway with brown carpet. Static white lights lined the ceiling, keeping the hallway illuminated with a sterile glow. Sonic took her down the hallway to a door marked 15 in thin black numbers below the little peep-hole. Sonic knocked.
The sound of videogames and rock music poured out of the door as it opened. Knuckles stood there in the entrance, glaring at them. "Oh, Sonic, I thought you were the pizza guy."
"Hey Sonic!" called Tails. He was sitting on an old brown couch in the front room of the apartment, an Xbox controller in his hands. He was busily tapping buttons, delighting in some of Ayane's higher kicks on the big screen in front of him. Rouge sat beside him, enveloped in the game completely.
"Hey!" said Sonic, stepping into the room, "Everyone, this is Princess Sally Acorn."
"Hey, Sally, I'm Knuckles," said Knuckles, extending one of his giant hands. She took it and shook it daintily.
"Pleased to meet you," she murmured.
"That's Tails and Rouge," said Knuckles, pointing at the couch "Don't mind them, they're sort of into the game right now."
"I see."
"Isn't anyone going to introduce me?" Amy had just entered the room. She bounded over to Sally and extended her hand. "That's okay, I'll do it myself. I'm Amy Rose; it's a pleasure to meet you Princess!"
"Oh, hello…" began Sally, reaching for Amy's hand. Sonic stepped between them.
"Hey, Amy, give the girl some room to breathe!" said Sonic, then he turned to Sally and added, "That's Amy, she's a little bit out there, try to ignore her."
"Hey, I have ears you know!" complained Amy.
"Sonic," said Knuckles, changing the subject, "You have to check out this website, man, Tails was showing me. They've got this video of some guys who blow up a honeydew melon with some fireworks; it's pretty badass."
"Sounds educational," said Sonic, following Knuckles out of the room. Sally watched him go, helplessly.
"That's okay," said Amy, "Those guys are lame anyway. Now it's just us girls."
"What about me," said Tails, his eyes not leaving the TV screen.
"Aww, Tails, you don't count."
"Hey!"
"C'mon Sally," said Amy, taking the princess' hand, "You can sit with us. We're playing DOA until the pizza gets here. Then we're gonna watch a movie."
"Oh… okay…" said Sally nervously, following Amy's lead. Amy sat her on the couch beside tails, and then pulled up another chair beside them. Sally watched a bit disinterestedly as Tails and Rouge continued to tap buttons, willing the fight on the TV forward.
"Ha! I've got you!" cried Tails suddenly. The screen flashed as the fox landed one final blow. Rouge groaned.
"My turn!" cried Amy.
"Ah well," said Rouge, tossing Amy the controller, "You win some, you lose some. I wanted another drink anyway." With that, the bat seized a glass of wine from the coffee table between the TV and the couch.
"So, Sally," said Rouge, "Tell us about yourself."
"You're going down Tails!"
"You wish!"
"Well, um…" began Sally, "Let's see. I guess I really don't know where to begin. No one's ever asked before."
"Oh, that's okay," said Rouge, sipping her wine, "Just say whatever. We all have stories to tell."
"I suppose," replied Sally, "It's just I'm not used to this sort of thing."
"Okay, okay," said Rouge, "We'll make it simpler. What do you do for fun?"
"Oh," said Sally, "Well, I enjoy attending parties. And films can be quite nice. There's a fish pond at the palace which I'm quite fond of as well…"
"You said you like movies," said Rouge, eager to find some common ground, "What type of movies?"
"Well," said Sally, "Dramas are delightful. I enjoy anything which can captivate real-life struggles… the emotions some actors can convey are simply amazing. Why, when I saw "Gone With the Wind", I was absolutely breathe taken…"
"What about like slasher flicks?" asked Tails.
"Pardon?" asked Sally.
"You know," said Tails, without looking away from the TV of course, "Slasher flicks. Scream, Psycho, Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, Friday the Thirteenth!"
"I don't believe I've seen any of those…"
"Aww, man, you've never seen Psycho?" cried Tails, "That's a classic. The scene in the shower… I saw it when I was five, and I wouldn't take a bath for weeks."
"I remember," said Amy, "You smelled like Sonic's sock."
"It's Sonic and Knuckles' faults for letting him watch that trash," said Rouge, "They've poisoned the poor child!"
"Hey, I'm nearly sixteen!"
"You weren't nearly sixteen when you were five," said Rouge, "So I really don't see your point. And you're still a kid."
"You're just mad because you paid $5.75 to rent this game and get your ass kicked."
"You little shit!"
Sally gasped.
"That's okay, Sally," said Amy, "I don't like those kind of movies either."
"Here comes my finishing move, Amy!" cried Tails, his fingers a blur across the Xbox controller. Amy pouted.
"Aww…" she sighed with defeat, "Here you go Sally, your turn. Beat him for me."
"Oh that's okay," said Sally.
"No, go ahead," said Amy, "Don't be shy, you can play too."
"No, really, I mustn't…" said Sally.
"It's alright, Sally," said Tails, "I'll go easy on you."
"It's not that," said Sally.
"What's the matter then?" asked Tails.
"Well," Sally hesitated a moment, then said, "I don't care much for video games."
The room went silent. There was a small crystalline sound as Rouge dropped her wineglass and it shattered on the floor, adding one more stain to the already ravaged carpet. Tails and Sally's eyes met, and he raised one eyebrow at her.
"You what?"
Lights down, cue the music.
Coming Soon Incorporated Presents
In complete lack of cooperation with Sega of America
SONIC in LOVE
By GINO ORTIZ
Chapter 2,
The hangar was quiet and dark when Tails arrived. It was five in the morning, and he'd been up for an hour and a half already, to catch the early train from the mystic ruins into the city. He wasn't tired. In fact, he had barely slept. The excitement was simply too much. Today was the big day: the Station Square Air Expo, the most important event of the year for stunt pilots in the area. Tails had his eye set on first place.
He could imagine it: the fame, the fortune. Winning the race would land the fox the publicity he needed to start his own professional workshop, with sponsored planes and everything. Also, it would kick-start his inventing business if he could get his name recognized in the aviation field. Not to mention how nice it would feel to be in the spotlight for a change.
It wasn't precisely that Tails was jealous of Sonic, it was just that Tails was sixteen now. There are certain things on a sixteen year old boy's list of priorities- no matter race, creed or fur color- which are hard to acquire when everyone thinks of you as 'the little buddy'. Hanging on Sonic's arm was cool when he was five, but at sixteen it was sort of pathetic.
Never-the-less, Tails did live a life of fame under Sonic's wing, and like all famous people, Tails could afford to compensate for his shortcomings with fancy cars. Or, in his case, planes. And the Tornado was one hell of a plane.
The custom 'x-wing' design would make the plane the sleekest, most innovative stunt craft to date. With the ability to compensate for extreme wind conditions, the aptly named Tornado was capable of sustaining flight in tropical storms. Its engines, powered by synthetic chaos gems, were capable of putting out twice the horsepower of most standard stunt craft on the market. Also, Tails manufacturing methods could, theoretically, build the things and make a profit substantial enough to pay off all the George Lucas copyright infringement suits.
This was the key to not being little-buddy anymore. This was the way out. The plane was Tails' own personal, rigid, steel security blanket.
However, Tails primary motivation laid in the things a 16 year old wants that he couldn't seem to get. The foremost of which being a female. This was a fascination that had been brooding for some time now, and could not be easily silenced. It had all started with a story Knuckles had told Sonic in front of him…
It was just after one of Eggman's most devastating attacks on Station Square. The damage was horrible, and for some time the area would not be livable. However, the rebuilding process was kicked in to high gear in support of Sonic and his friends. The group personally agreed to help with the reconstruction, a diplomatic sort of arrangement which Sonic and his companions had thought to be limited to a superficial once over of a few construction sites for moral support. Knuckles had been the only one to handle well the actuality of lifting heavy cinder blocks and operating machinery.
They were all eating lunch together.
"Dude," Knuckles said. He used to say that a lot. "Okay, so it was like a commercial or something. You know, like for body spray or something? I was just walking by with this block of concrete on my shoulder, and this lady cat walks by and she's giving me that eye, you know? So I stop to take a look, and she's gorgeous. We're talking the whole shebang, round thighs, perfect chest, soft lavender hair. She looks at me, and she like smiles, and I smile back, right? But the thing is, I'm still walking, so I turn and WHAM! Right into a metal crossbeam. I dropped the cinder block and fell on my ass. I got up and looked back, and she was looking at me, and I waved, and then she started laughing at me. It was sort of embarrassing."
"You're such a sad story, Knuckles," said Sonic, coolly, "But I guess we can't all have the same luck as me when it comes to the ladies."
"Being chased by children in pink headbands?" offered Knuckles.
"No, cock-knocker," replied Sonic, dryly, "I have the moves. Let's face it, I'm the cool one. Every girl has a poster of me on her wall."
"Hah!" Knuckles laughed, "You don't read the papers do you? You're out this year, blue-balls. It's all about the supporting cast these days. You just don't have the image."
"What are you talking about?" cried Sonic, "I AM the image. Sonic the Hedgehog! I'm a damned household name."
"That's not the kind of image people want these days!" said Knuckles, "You're right, you're an institution, and these days that's out. You represent what people are used to, and they're sick of that. I don't mean to be so hard on you, but its best you realize it."
"Okay, dumb-ass," said Sonic, "I'll give you one chance to explain to me what the fuck you are talking about."
"Okay, look, it's like this… Tails, he's the cute one. See? Look at him. Cute. Me, I'm the tough guy. See the spikes on my hands? Tough. And Shadow? He was the badboy."
"Yeah, and he was totally emo," said Tails.
"Totally," Knuckles nodded, "And as for the girls, Rouge is the temptress, Amy is the princess, and Cream is the innocent one. You on the other hand… well, you're Johnny hero. Face it, that's stale."
"What about Omega and Big?" asked Tails.
"Who?" asked Knuckles.
"I'm the rebel!"
"No, that's Shadow," said Knuckles, "Can't you pay attention?"
"You're so full of shit," said Sonic, "I'm still cool! I'll always be cool!"
"Sorry to burst your bubble, Sonic," said Knuckles, "But it's true. Even Tails can probably get more action than you. How about it, Tails?"
"I… uh…"
"Tails hasn't even had a girlfriend yet!" said Sonic, "Man, why are you such an asshole?"
"Me?" Knuckles looked shocked, "You're the asshole, man! Show some respect for the poor kid."
"I don't think Tails is the one being disrespected!" cried Sonic, "Don't you think that maybe, just maybe, telling me that I'm unpopular and pathetic is a little bit of a dick thing to do?"
"I'm just saying, man," said Knuckles, "You need to get with the times. Maybe you need to find your niche. I know, maybe you're the gay one! We don't have one of those yet."
"Oh that's it!"
As Knuckles and Sonic fought, Tails paid no attention. His mind was lost in what Knuckles had been saying. Women… he'd been noticing them lately. They made him feel like he needed to go lie down if he looked at them too long. And it was hard not to look at them. Indeed, something about the big hemi-spheres they carted around on their chests was intoxicating. Rouge in particular, with her tight-fit wardrobe, and considerable bosom size, had captivated the young foxes mind. He found it hard to look her in the eye whilst he talked to her.
Of course, it had been several years since then, and much to Tails' dismay things had not changed much. The problem was that no girls seemed to realize that time didn't stand still, and Tails was getting older.
There was a metallic noise like a lock coming open, and Tails lifted his head too quickly, hitting it on the flight console. Swearing under his breath, the young fox poked his head out of the Tornado's cockpit and took a look around the hangar. Clipping across the room in the direction of the Tornado was a black bird in a brown bomber jacket. He reached into his pocket, removing a pack of cigarettes, which he flipped open with his thumb. Casually, he fed one into his beak, and then replaced the pack in his pocket and began rummaging for a lighter. He found one, put it at the end of his cigarette, and lit it flawlessly. He was exhaling smoke by the time he got to Tails.
"Miles Prower?" asked the bird, before Tails could say anything.
"Yes…" said Tails.
"As I understand, you're competing in the expo today," said the bird, "Nice plane."
"Thanks," said Tails, "Who are you?"
"A kid like you ought to be careful flying in such a dangerous race," said the bird, "You might get hurt."
"Excuse me?"
"Oh, nothing," said the bird, "Just a friendly warning. Be seeing you."
"Wait!" Tails called, but the bird was already turning to leave. The fox leapt out of the plane as quick as he could, and chased the bird across the room. The bird, however, had already reached the hangar exit. Tails followed the bird through the door, but he found himself alone in an empty hallway.
A bit shaken and very annoyed, Tails went back to finish working on his plane.
The Station Square coliseum was a big, oval-shaped arena with tall bleachers, and a ring of small shops, food stands and the like at the top. The entrance consisted of a grand lobby, and beyond that a small mall of shops and restaurants as well as a convention floor and two substantial hotels built right in to the coliseum. Below the coliseum, sub-structures housed the necessary space for sporting events ranging from ice hockey to open air plane races; A very versatile environment. It had cost the city millions.
Consequently, when Knuckles entered the huge glass front doors, he found himself staring at a road block. There, above a long counter lined with windows, twenty-two brightly lit marquees each read the same thing.
ADMISSION FEE:
Adults…..$6
Children..$3
"There's an admission fee?"
"Of course there's an admission fee! Haven't you learned anything? It's a city funded event. Remember the last time we went to a city funded event, we had to pay $35 bucks a piece for dinner at our own awards ceremony."
Knuckles shrugged off Rouge's criticism, and continued glaring up at the big marquee half-heartedly.
"How am I supposed to afford that? I live by myself on an Island!"
"It's only six dollars," chimed Amy.
"Yuppie," replied Knuckles.
"I'm an orphan, you jerk!" cried Amy, "And I was about to offer to buy you a ticket, but you can just forget about it."
The girl-hog turned her nose up and let it lead her as she stormed away. Knuckles watched grudgingly.
"All orphans should have $80 SOAP Shoes," said Knuckles, quietly, "Now… how am I going to get into this thing?"
"Don't worry," said Rouge, "I got ya."
"You sure?"
"Well, I will have to dip into my laundry money," she said, "But what the hell."
"Aww," said Knuckles, "I feel bad. You shouldn't have to."
"Don't feel bad!" she said, "After all, one of us has to do the manly thing and pay for the dainty little lady. Even if it's the only one of us with a vagina."
Rouge only stayed long enough to see the look on Knuckles face, and then she was gone in a flash. She dashed towards the ticket counter, leaving Knuckles to chase her. Behind her, she heard him yelling, "Get back here you dirty flying rat!"
The bat ducked under the rope in front of the ticket counter, and dashed up to the window. Behind it, a cat in a blue striped uniform was chewing gum and lazily flipping through a magazine. "Two please," Rouge said, and the cat didn't look up.
"$12," said the cat.
Rouge scooped some quarters onto the counter, just as Knuckles arrived. He stopped behind her, realizing that it probably wouldn't be a good idea to punch her through the ticket window. He watched as the bat counted out twelve dollars in quarters, and pushed it through the little hole in the counter window. The cat girl popped her gum, scooped the money into the till with one hand, and simultaneously retrieved two tickets and slid them back out at Rouge.
Rouge took them and handed one to Knuckles.
"There you go, big guy."
"Thanks," he said. There was barely a pause before he added, "Hey Rouge?"
"Yes?"
"Isn't $12 kind of a lot of laundry money to have stuffed into your bra?"
The bat looked confused for a moment, and then distraught. She blushed and said, "Shut the hell up!"
Knuckles had already walked past her and through the turnstile though. The click of her boots echoed as she ran after him.
The hedgehog remembered that he was an hour or so late, which made him paranoid that he'd missed the action. He was too proud to ask anyone, and too impatient to wait in line and get a program.
"Hey Sonic!"
The Hedgehog's first mistake was relaxing. He knew who he was. He was famous! Everyone knew who he was. So it wasn't safe to let his guard down in public. That was precisely how they got you. One day you were lying down on a beach chair sipping lemonade and reading magazine articles about yourself, the next day, bam! Some squealing fan girl has a diamond ring on her finger, and Sonic the Hedgehog has a shiny new ball and chain tied to his leg, slowin' him down. He was slipping in his age though, and Amy had caught him off guard.
"Ahh!" he cried, jerking out of his slouch on the uncomfortable steel bleacher. He had just about fallen asleep with his head in his hand. His leg seemed to have drifted off without him. Thus far the air expo had been incredibly boring. There had been nothing but a few antiques putting around the sky, and some crop-duster doing slow loop-d-loops. Tails had promised Sonic racing! He had promised him speed! Action!
Tails had NOT promised him Amy.
"A… my…?" squeaked Sonic. He let his eyes slowly navigate the rest of his head in a nervous, hesitant turn.
"What's up Sonic? You look like you saw a ghost," said Amy.
"No," said Sonic, "Just you."
"Don't be a jerk!" said Amy, taking a seat next to him, "It makes you sound like you're trying to be Shadow."
"What's that supposed to mean?" growled Sonic.
Amy recoiled slightly, scooting one celebrated inch away from Sonic. The little pink girl-hog said very crossly, "Well, I thought it was pretty straightforward."
"Are you trying to call me a wimp?"
"No," said Amy, thoughtfully, "I'm trying to call you sensitive."
"That's worse!" Sonic buried his head in his hands.
"See. You're emotional too."
"Shut up!"
"And defensive."
"You sound just like Knuckles," sighed Sonic.
"Knuckles?" Amy perked up, "Whoa, Sonic. I thought you were fighting about these kinds of things with a girl, but Knuckles? Whatever man… maybe I've been barking up the wrong tree…"
"Wait, YOU thought I was fighting about stuff with a girl?" said Sonic, "Who?"
"Well, you know, that… Sally or whoever," said Amy, "Aren't you seeing her or something. She's here you know. And I thought that you were fighting since you were sitting here alone."
"Sally's here?" said Sonic, "Really?"
"See?" said Amy, "You ARE seeing her."
"I'm not!" said Sonic.
"Sonic," said Amy, "I saw you kiss her."
"I told you," he explained, "Those were… peculiar circumstances. Believe me, do you think I'd lie to you of all people if I weren't available anymore."
"Oh?" said Amy, "Well we'll see about that."
"What do you mean?"
"Knuckles and rouge are at the royal booth right now, visiting. And they should be back with the Princess in any minute," said Amy.
"Oh shit!" cried Sonic, "She'll be here any minute? My quills are all oily. Do I smell? I was running earlier… well, duh… but…"
"Ha!" cried Amy, "Caught you! You're babbling like a confused schoolgirl."
"No, that's not what's going on…" said Sonic, glancing over his shoulder. Far up at the top of the tiers of bleachers, coming down the stairs slowly and elegantly- or at least one of them came down that way, and the others were hindered to an impatient, crawling amble in her wake –Rouge, Knuckles, and Princess Sally Acorn. "There they are!" cried Sonic, turning right back around in his seat. Amy snickered.
"I just love watching you squirm," said Amy, "It's SO cute."
Sonic waited what felt like weeks, unable to even watch the painfully slow march down the stairs. Since he and Sally had kissed, things had changed quite a bit. For example, he was nervous as hell around her, and she was infatuated with her ability to make him blush. Amy Rose hedgehog, who had become an unfortunate part of the otherwise happy occasion of Sonic's royal romance, seemed to have gone completely insane. And Sonic wasn't sure that Sally could take Amy, if she had to.
"Hello, Sonic," said Sally very quietly.
"Oh… Sally… hi…" Sonic looked as though he were going to say something, then stopped, then started again, and then stopped. "How are you?" he spat, finally.
"Good," she nodded, "How are you?"
Sonic smiled, paused a little too long, "Oh! Uh… fine, fine, good… just, you know, here to see Tails. Little guy is pretty enthusiastic…"
"Yes, so am I," said Sally, "Young Tails invited me personally to the event. He said I would probably like the 'boring' parts."
"Did he now?" Sonic made a mental note to kill Tails for not saying anything.
"Yes," said Sally, "And I was inclined to accept, seeing as how I was also personally invited by the mayor of Station Square."
"So are you staying in town tonight?" asked Sonic, more comfortably.
"Yes, I have a suite."
"A suite?" sonic brightened.
"Yes, with my mother and father," said Sally.
"Oh," Sonic slouched a bit, "Well, you should hang out with us for awhile."
"That is why I am here," said Sally, "To 'hang out' with you and your friends."
"Oh," chuckled Sonic, "Of course."
"Hi, Sally," said Amy, darkly, offering the princess her hand. Sally took it reluctantly and gave it a small shake.
"Amy… how do you do?"
"Oh, you know," said Amy, "These summer nights can be lonely sometimes, but it's nothing I can't handle."
"Sounds dreadful," said Sally, hesitantly.
"Oh, it's not that bad," said Amy, "But then I guess you wouldn't know."
"I'm sure I don't follow…"
"I'm sure too," replied Amy, "Living in a castle all your life is very different than being an orphan."
"I never said it wasn't!" remarked Sally.
"Girls, girls," cried Knuckles, putting himself between them, "Calm down! We're not here to fight, so relax."
"Has anyone seen Tails?" asked Rouge.
"Not yet!" said Sonic, "Been looking for him all morning."
"I saw him," said Sally, "Down on the field, working on his plane earlier."
"We oughta go looking for him," said Sonic.
"That won't be necessary," said Knuckles, who had become bored and let his attention wonder, "He's right there."
The Echidna pointed one spiked mitt up the stairs behind him. The group pivoted to look. There, about half way up the steps, and descending at a slow run, Miles Prower looked urgent.
"You guys!" called Tails, leaping over the last few bleachers between he and his friends, practically tripping, "You guys! Something strange is going on here."
"You're telling me!" replied Sonic, "Where's the racing? Where's the action?"
"No, not that, Sonic," said Tails, "I mean this morning, this weird bird came up to me and told me to be careful."
"What do you mean?" asked Sonic.
"I told you!" said Tails, "He told me to be careful, and that racing was dangerous for a 'kid' like me. And I was about to say, 'hey, I'm almost 17 and…"
"That doesn't sound like a friendly chat," said Rouge, "That sounds like a threat."
"…yeah and I'm not really a kid, so…"
"Did you tell security?" asked Sonic, "Did they catch him? Question him?"
"No," said Tails, "I didn't think it was such a big deal…"
"Did he leave the coliseum?" asked Knuckles, his fists clenched.
"I don't know…" said Tails, "He disappeared, so he could be anywhere in here."
"We'd better look into it," said Sonic.
"Of course," agreed Rouge, "Being who we are, we can't afford to ignore these kinds of things."
"I just want to smash something up," said Knuckles, "Might as well make that impulse useful."
"Tails," said Amy, "What did this guy even look like?"
"He was a bird," said Tails, "A black bird in a brown bomber jacket and sunglasses. He looked… like he thought he was cool or something."
"Okay," said Sonic, "Knux, Rouge, you've got the detective thing. Me and Tails are going to head to the Tornado and make sure that it hasn't been sabotaged."
"Whoa there Team Leader," said Knuckles, mockingly, "I'm a treasure hunter, not a detective, and I'm the muscle so I should be the one watching out for Tails. So you and Rouge go do the detective thing and me and Tails will go check the Tornado."
"Hey, who says you get to call the shots, Knucklehead?"
"Ugh! I hate it when you two do this, you sound like you're married," cried Rouge, "Look, why don't you avoid the measuring contest and just rock, paper, scissors for it."
Knuckles and Sonic exchanged glances, and simultaneously shrugged. Knuckles raised his giant fist out before him, and Sonic did the same. "One… two… three…" they counted.
Knuckles' fist remained closed, but Sonic's didn't. His index and middle fingers snapped out into an imaginary pair of scissors. He saw his own hand and acted as if he were surprised, then rapidly tried to change his answer.
"Ha!" cried Knuckles, "Rock smashes scissors. Tails, c'mon, show me where the Tornado is. Sonic, Rouge, you know what to do."
They each nodded, Sonic a little less eagerly.
"Okay guys," said Knuckles, "Meet back here quick as possible to report anything. Let's go."
Without another word, the group of seasoned heroes departed, leaving Amy and Sally standing together in the bleachers.
Amy turned away from sally and flopped down on the bleacher, holding her chin in her palms glumly. "We… I guess it's just us girls."
By the beach in Station Square, there is a small factory building which dispatches thirty some odd unmarked diesel trucks per week, full of weapons, to be traded on the underground market. The 'business' is run by a Lion of rather questionable moral beliefs, his name is Zinzeph Lionheart, and his biggest customer has been, until this morning, a large mustachioed sociopath by the name of Dr. Ivo Robotnik.
However, Zinzeph is a very cowardly Lion. And when a mysterious stranger came along with a plot to sell the good Dr. down river, under the condition that Zinzeph not ask questions, and in exchange for a very large some of money… well, let's just say this Lion's courage could be bought.
The matter at hand now was ensuring the success of the plan. There was the mere formality now of his new clients business at the Station Square Air Expo. The villain reclined in his squat brown leather office chair, sucking cigar smoke through the thick teeth of his dumb grin. With one pudgy, pin-tipped finger, the lion pressed a small button on the keyboard of his personal computer.
In Station Square coliseum, in a deep and forgotten storage room, something woke up.