And the story goes on. Please enjoy. That's all I ask. This is long overdue so I am going to try to get this done as fast as possible. Thanks again for reading.
Station Square had a dock for loading and unloading freight onto ships. It was about a square mile in length and was the place of employment for many well-known shipwrights. Currently docked at the pier were two giant titanic like freighters along with a couple fishing boats, tugboats, ferries, and barges that were scattered about around the port. As the day ended, the shipwrights and dock workers were all going home for the night until the next day they worked. As the last group of workers were eagerly leaving the shipyard, one dock worker ran back to the dock.
"Go ahead without me, guys. I'll catch up. I forgot my lunch box. I'm about to go grab it right quick," said the dock worker.
"Alright, man. You know the spot we always go to after work. Just meet us there," said one of the workers from the group.
"I gotcha. See you in a few," said the solo worker.
He ran back over to the end of the dock where he had his lunch today. He quickly spotted his lunch pail sitting on the edge of the dock. He quickly walked over and picked up his lunch box. He inspected it just to make sure it was his and turned to leave when suddenly he could hear the sound of bubbles coming from the water. It looked like there might be a person down there.
"Is anyone there?" he called out.
Suddenly, a giant figure came lunging out of the water towards the dock worker. Before he could get out a scream, there was a giant wet wing obstructing his mouth; so he wasn't able to speak. He could only scream a muffled scream that wasn't audible past five feet. Rampage, panting hard, came out the water like he was a great white shark, striking fast and fiercely. Water dripped rapidly from his feathers as he held the scared dock worker.
"That was close. I almost ran out of air," said Rampage as he took deep breaths. His chest was rapidly expanding and inflating like his lungs were about to burst through his chest.
"Well, no one told you to breathe so heavily while you were underwater did they?" Borais asked. The other three felons surfaced a few moments after Rampage grabbed the dock worker. "Sometimes, I swear you don't have any common sense."
"Screw you, dude. I'm a bird. I embody the air itself. It is what gives me power. I can't cheat myself out of what keeps me strong," said Rampage.
"If you drown, your strength won't matter, you dumb bastard," said Borais.
"Why you little..." Rampage started.
"Ok that's enough. Cease this pointless arguing now. We're not in the clear yet," said Barry. His fur was just as wrinkled as the birds' feathers were.
"We're clear enough. I'm out of here. There's not any resistance by air for miles. Wasn't that the point of swimming all the way here?" Borais asked.
"And what's your plan? Where will you go? What will you do? Do you have any rings to survive off and put your plans into action?" Barry asked.
"Rampage and I are going back to the Babylon Rogues. Unlike you two, we belong to something greater than ourselves. We belong to a family," said Borais proudly.
"Well, where was that family while the two of you were rotting in Iron Gate? They didn't seem to miss you guys that much. At least I cared enough to bust you guys out when I made my escape. Without me, you would still be eating that bird feed crap they feed you guys on the inside!" Barry exclaimed!
Rampage growled softly. He hated to admit it but Barry was right. He and Borais had been locked up in Iron Gate for over seven years. If the Babylon Rogues were going to bust them out, they would have done so by now. They had a twenty year bid each; so neither one of them would be getting out any time soon if not for Barry.
"Which begs the question. Why did you spring us in the first place? You're smart enough to put this escape plan together; so I'm pretty sure you could have read that map without me as well. Lazarus provided the ride, and you obviously never planned to escape by air; so why bring along two flyers?" Borais asked.
Barry smiled. "Very perceptive, Borais. You're right. I didn't just bring you guys along for kicks. I actually need your help with a very important task. I'll tell you the details later. Right now, we need to get the hell out of here. I know we can't see anyone right now but the manhunt is still going on. We won't be able to move around properly until the heat dies down. I know just the place we can go too until it does. Follow me."
"What about this guy?" Rampage asked, holding up the dock worker who started muttering something behind Rampage's giant wing.
"Make sure he stays silent for a while," said Barry.
Suddenly, Lazarus quickly took out his claws and drove them right into the chest rather savagely and pulled them out hard causing blood to pour out and drain profusely from his body. The dock worker screamed for a few seconds behind Rampage's wing but the sound never traveled more than a few feet. His body went into shock until he finally passed out from the blood loss. "Forever is a while, too." He showed no mercy when it came to humans. He hated them with a fiery passion and did not even try to hide it.
"Watch it, dude. You almost got blood on my feathers," said Rampage. He threw the body into the sea where it created a large red puddle formed around it.
Lazarus stood with a blood soaked claw. There were a few bits of the dockworker's organs caught between his claws as well. He had a blank expression on his face. "You should just be lucky you're not one of them or I would do the same to you with no problem."
Rampage smirked. "Don't let that stop you., pussycat. Just make sure your mouth don't write a check that your ass can't cash!" Rampage stood in a fighting stance signaling that he was ready to throw down. Lazarus pulled his claws back out and was preparing to attack.
"Knock that off, guys. As much as I would appreciate watching you two knuckleheads kill each other, I still have a need for your services, and I don't have time for your foolishness. If you guys want to fight, be my guest, but I guarantee you two will be back in your old cells before daybreak," said Barry.
"We'll finish this another time, feline," said Rampage.
"I'm looking forward to it, pillow stuffing," said Lazarus with the comeback. With that, the four convicts ventured off into the night with Barry at the point.
It was early in the morning when the gang arrived at the cabin in the forest. The trees surrounding them were mostly pine and oak trees that had been growing for hundreds of years. They provided excellent camouflage from above while still allowing adequate amounts of sunlight to the ground below. The cabin was stationed on a small plateau in a clearing surrounded by a cluster of pine trees. There was enough space for a yard around the cabin before the cluster of trees that led into the forest. Unfortunately, the grounds were not well kept in their absence. The cabin itself was made primarily of logs and plywood. It was a more traditional two story log cabin with a porch on the first story and a balcony on the second. There was also a patio area out back as well as a chimney. In order to get to the cabin, you had to travel two miles off the trail through uneven in order to find the cabin itself.
Vector was the only person still awake since he was the driver. He had driven the whole way here, which took five hours by car. He had been driving all night and was a little sleepy admittedly but he had to get his family to safety. It was what kept him alert the whole night through. He pulled up at the base of the plateau that led up to the cabin and turned off the ignition. He looked back at his passengers. Vanilla was asleep in the passenger's seat, Charmy, Cream and the Chao were asleep in the middle row, and Espio was quietly snoozing in the back, although he looked like he was meditating. Vector could hear him snoring, though.
"Wake up everyone! We're here!" said Vector aloud. Espio opened his eyes instantly. Vanilla was the next to slowly open her eyes along with Cream who had both Chao in her lap. As Cream yawned and stretched her arms, the chao in her lap both opened their eyes with a little confusion having been nudged awake by Cream's sudden movements. Charmy remained sleep throughout Vector's announcement. Vector cleared his throat very loudly and obnoxiously but Charmy remained sleep. Espio threw an empty smoke ball over the seat and smacked it against Charmy's helmet. Charmy remained asleep. Vector blew the horn but the only change was the fact that Charmy had now started to drool slightly which suggested that he had fallen into a deeper sleep state.
"Oh, I give up. It's not worth the effort. Besides, this is probably the most peace and quiet I am going to have all day," said Vector.
"Well, there's no reason to start today off on the wrong foot. Why don't you get everyone settled in, dear, while I make everyone a nice delicious breakfast. After all, you can't protect us on an empty stomach now can you?" Vanilla asked with her carefree smile that her daughter so rightfully inherited.
"Did someone say breakfast?" The mention of breakfast seemed to snap Charmy out from his coma. "Waffles, Waffles Waffles!" The ecstatic bee burst out the door and began flying through the air.
Cream's eyes were barely open. "Charmy, how do you have so much energy already?" She asked as she got out of the car.
"My energy never runs out!" said Charmy with a smile. "I'm like that rabbit in that commercial. Hey, do you know that guy? You think he'd give me an autograph?"
Cream chuckled. She loved Charmy's playful spirit. "I don't know him I'm afraid but I'm pretty sure he would give you an autograph if you ever met him and asked him nicely."
"Oh boy!" said Charmy.
"Stop screwing around, Charmy, and help with the bags," said Vector. He went and grabbed most of the bags from the trunk. Espio grabbed the remaining six that were left in the back. Vector had grabbed so many bags, however, that his line of sight was blocked. Charmy grabbed a small suitcase on the top of Vector's pile and flew off. "Gee thanks," Vector replied sarcastically. The gang all went inside the cabin, and Vector dropped the bags once he was through the door. They all looked around at the interior of the cabin. It wasn't what they were expecting. Vector's jaw dropped to the floor.
"Looks like the last people to rent this place said screw cleaning up," Charmy boasted,
"They were probably in a rush and just forgot or something," said Cream.
"This isn't an ordinary mess, Creamy. It looks like there was a party or something. There's paraphernalia all around, and I keep smelling burning grass. Did they start a bonfire indoors or something?"
"No, Vanilla, that's…. nevermind what that smell is. Vector, I think you need to call the rental company and have them come clean up this mess or at least give us a nice discount for the inconvenience," Espio explained.
"There's no time for that. I say we just make the best of it. With a little elbow grease, we can have this place in tip top shape in no time. Between the five of us, we can have this place spotless just in time for breakfast," Vector said.
"Can we start with the kitchen, Vector? I'm really hungry. Some food would help me clean faster," said Charmy with a big grin. Vector's stomach started to growl. It seemed to agree with Charmy's plan.
"Fine. Let's do it, Chaotix!"
Over the next half hour, the gang all pitched in and cleaned the house in their own unique ways. Vanilla started by washing some of the dishes left behind and unwashed by the previous tenants. Once she finished, she began working on the gang's breakfast. Cream started by washing the counter tops and windows with some cleaning supplies that they had brought along. Charmy used his stinger to pick up paper products left around the house. Espio did a quick sweep by using a controlled leaf swirl attack to carry dirt and debris out the window. Once the debris was outside, he used a more powerful leaf swirl attack to create a tornado which carried the debris far off into the distance. For some unexplained reason, Charmy came out of the cabin to talk to Espio only to be sucked up into the tornado and carried off with the debris and paper around his stinger. Espio could only look on in confusion as Charmy faded from his line of sight. He shrugged and went back into the cabin where Vector was setting the couch down as he finished organizing the living room.
"Nice job, Espio! You did good work. Take five and then we'll start unpacking," said Vector.
"Breakfast is ready!" Vanilla called from the kitchen.
"Breakfast! Breakfast! Breakfast!" Charmy came barging through the door with glee. He flew right past Espio and Vector into the kitchen. The sound of broken glass could be heard emanating from the kitchen after Charmy buzzed into there.
"Charmy, stop that! Get off of there! Just go wait at the table. We'll bring it to you in a minute. Ahh! Charmy, GET OUT!" Charmy was literally booted from the kitchen by Vanilla back over to where Espio and Vector were standing. He bounced over and landed at their feet. Vector began cracking up immediately.
"You must've been doing something really bad for Vanilla to raise her voice like that," said Vector between chuckles. "It takes a lot for her to get annoyed."
"Charmy's a special kind of annoying. He's truly mastered the craft," said Espio.
"Gee, thanks, Espio. I've never been called a master at anything. Glad to know hard work does pay off," said Charmy picking himself up off the floor. "I was only trying to help her bring the food out so we can eat faster. I'm just trying to prove how useful I can be around here."
"Have patience, my friend. The time for you to prove yourself will come, but leave food preparation to the professionals," said Espio.
"Yeah, what he said. Until that time comes, though, let's eat," said Vector with a big smile.
After spending most of the night running through the sewers, the four convicts eventually made it to the outskirts of Station Square. They found themselves in a wooded area near a suburban community a few miles from the Speed Highway. The convicts were trekking through some bushes with Barry at the point. They were all winded and exhausted having been on the lam for about ten hours at this point, not stopping once to take a break or find something to eat.
"How much further?" Rampage asked.
Barry kept going, completely ignoring Rampage's question. Rampage had already asked the question once before to which he answered 'not long'. He ignored Rampage this time out of pure annoyance.
"Hey, I know you hear me talking to you, rabbit," said Rampage.
Barry stopped suddenly in his tracks. The other three anthropomorphs followed suit. He stood still for about five seconds before finally speaking. "We're here."
Lazarus and Borais looked at each other puzzled. They looked around for a safe house but all they saw were grass, trees, and bushes.
"Where exactly is here? I thought you said we were going to a safehouse, Barry. This isn't a house nor does it feel safe," said Lazarus.
Barry walked over to a medium sized bush and pulled on a twig. The bush suddenly slid to the side revealing the bush to be a fake. The bush was covering what looked like a giant rabbit burrow. "I expected doubts to come from the giant pheasant, but I'm quite shocked by your disbelief, Lazarus."
Lazarus smirked. "My apologies. It will never happen again," Lazarus replied.
"PHEASANT?!" Rampage exclaimed. He ran over and jumped in Barry's face. "Who the hell are you calling a pheasant, furball?" Rampage stood towering over Barry. His frame was similar in build to Storm the Albatross, however, his chest and limbs were a little more bulgy, and his beak was more straightened. Barry was already pretty chiseled himself but Rampage still dwarfed him if only a little.
Barry did not flinch or even blink. "Get your beak out of my face, Rampage, before I break it off," said Barry. He flicked Rampage in the chest with very little effort, however, it provided enough force to knock Rampage off his feet and into the giant rabbit burrow he had just revealed. "I told you before I was a hare. I'm not going to say it again."
Rampage yelped as he fell to the bottom of the burrow. He landed beak first into the dirt. He hopped up quickly in a fit of rage. Lazarus and Borais came down next followed by Barry in the back. The bush above returned to its original position. There were fluorescent lights that lit up the dark burrow showing a corridor that led to a door about 100 meters back.
"I'll take the verbal jabs but no one puts their hands on me. I'll kill you, bastard!" Rampage exclaimed. He punched the ground which caused a tremor. Small rocks fell from the roof onto the anthropomorphs.
"We're in an enclosed area, Rampage. If you try to fight down here, you will bury us all," said Borais.
"Worth it. I can't let this guy get away with disrespecting me. If he gets away with that crap now, he'll always think he can do this. I know he's the one with the plan but he can't just push me around. I'll beat his ass here and now. Once I have his respect, we can continue on with his plan if I don't just take over as the boss," Rampage boasted.
"Even if you could best Barry, there's no way I would follow you to the end of the block. You're not fit to lead anyone who follows you might as well call Iron Gate and tell them to get your room ready now," Lazarus said.
Rampage groaned. "Fine. Then, I'll beat his ass to prove that he is unworthy to lead us anywhere as well, making this all a waste of time and showing that we should all just go our separate ways," said Rampage. "I'm out of here, but first I'm going to beat the living hell out of you for pushing me down this hole.
Barry just looked at him and smirked. "As if I would ever lose to a bird who can't even fly."
Triggered, Rampage screamed out in rage as he rushed Barry head-on. "There isn't much room in this corridor for you to dodge and you can't run away. These conditions greatly benefit me in this fight. You can't win!" Lazarus and Borais, who were standing on both sides of Barry stepped out of the way as Rampage raised his fist and threw a haymaker right at Barry's head. Barry moved his head out the way with a quick dodge causing Barry to punch the soft dirt wall behind them. It caved in after the blow and created a small dust cloud. Lazarus and Borais covered their faces as the dust settled. As they looked on, they noticed that the blows stopped being thrown after that one. Surely, Rampage hadn't given up after just one punch.
"Agghh!" Rampage screamed in agony. His body was slightly convulsing. Barry had an elbow pushed so far into his gut that you could almost see it from behind him. Rampage wrapped his wing around Barry's elbow, trying to remove his elbow so he could hold it but Barry kept it firmly dug into his abdomen.
"All that power and you're too slow to even hit someone with it. And you want to lead? Don't make me laugh. You don't qualify," said Barry.
"RABBIT PUNCH!" Barry removed his elbow and unleashed a series of quick jabs with his fists that completely pummeled Rampage like he was just a heavy bag at the gym. Within the span of seven seconds, Barry had hit Rampage over fifty times in various spots across his face and thoracic cavity. Lazarus and Borais watched with both terror and delight as Rampage suffered through his beating. When Barry was finished, his knuckles were stained red. Rampage stood there a broken mess. Other than ruffled feathers, he was also bleeding from his mouth and forehead. A stream of blood was running down the side of his face as well as out the side of his beak. Rampage was still conscious but barely. He was also breathing erratically like he had just jogged a marathon. He was still standing, though. "This fight is over. If you ever challenge me again or even call me a rabbit instead of a hare, I'll kill you." Barry finished him off with a vicious kick to the chest which sent him flying down the corridor spewering blood from his beak. Rampage was thrown into the door at the end of the corridor, breaking it down upon contact. As the dust cleared, Borais and Lazarus were the first two to approach Rampage's motionless body. His eyes were open but his pupils were gone.
"Damn, Rampage. He messed you up good," said Borais.
"If you ask me, the big wind bag got what was coming to him," said Lazarus.
Suddenly, footsteps could be heard coming towards them from inside. It sounded like only one person but they were headed towards the convicts.
"Who's there? Show yourself and we won't hurt you," Borais demanded.
Lazarus readied his claws and poised himself to strike.
"My goodness. What is all of that racket about? I could hear you all the way in the back," said the voice belonging to the footsteps.
"That sounded like a woman," said Lazarus.
The figure finally came into the light. It was a young woman. She was a slender anthropomorphic bunny with golden fur, big hazel eyes, and offsetting blonde bangs. She wore a black cocktail dress with matching rhinestone gloves, and had an hourglass figure with white fluffy paws and cheeks rounded out by her ample bosom. Her facial features were a meld between Bunnie Rabbot and Lola Bunny. "I'm not just a woman, sugar. I'm a lady."
Borais and Lazarus looked at each other for a second but couldn't take their eyes off the stunning bunny. She had Rouge level sex appeal and Amy's level of charm.
"What happened to this fella? Looks like you guys dug your way here and used him as the drill," said the bunny, looking down at Rampage.
"He had a little trouble with...compliance," said Barry walking up from behind. He stopped just short of the golden bunny. "Goldie Logan, it's been a long time."
"It's good to see you too, darling. I was starting to think you would never make it back to me," said Goldie.
"I see you never moved out of my house; so I'm sure your faith wasn't totally misplaced in me," said Barry. He walked past his two subordinates into the safehouse. "Pick up this fool and bring him inside." Barry then turned back to Goldie. "I hope you've kept the place tidy at least." He walked through the door into his safehouse past Goldie. Lazarus and Borais both carried Rampage through the busted door and into the safehouse. From outside, it appears to be just a regular rabbit burrow, however, the inside was very spacious and hollowed out. He had the setup of a medium sized home minus the windows. He made up for that oversight with giant monitors on the walls that were receiving feeds from hidden cameras outside. It consisted of three bedrooms with two baths and all the other common areas associated with a home. Lazarus and Borais dropped Rampage hard onto the floor of the living room area.
"Nice digs, boss, said Borais. He walked over and opened up the refrigerator. It was one of those double door models. He opened both doors. "Whaddya got in this joint to eat? We haven't eaten all day."
Lazarus went over and stretched out on the suede couch. He recklessly placed his sharp claws into the arm of the couch as he grabbed the remote for the giant 100 inch flat screen on the wall. He turned on the news. There was a special report about their escape.
"Four convicts escape from Iron Gate Penitentiary in the biggest breakout of the year. During their breakout, they managed to kill four armed correctional officers and are believed to be involved in the disappearance of dock worker Darryl Wilson. All four convicts are anthropomorphs and considered extremely dangerous. If you see any of these men, please exercise extreme precaution. Contact the local authorities. Again, suspects are considered armed and highly dangerous," said the reporter on the news as mugshots of all four fugitives all appeared on the screen.
"You damn right we're dangerous, and we're just getting started," said Lazarus with a clenched fist. Borais came out of the kitchen with a triple decker sandwich with ham, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and banana peppers. He took a seat in a reclining chair across from Lazarus. He propped his feet up and began feasting.
"Your friends certainly wasted no time making themselves comfortable, Barry, my darling," said Goldie.
"It's been a minute since they've had some time to just relax. Borais and Rampage had been in Iron Gate three years before I got there, and Lazarus had been in there for six. Because of the way humans charge anthropomorphic animals for crimes because of what they can do, they are often tried as adults at a younger age. Anthropomorphs as young as six have been given life sentences whenever they are deemed a threat. They throw our children away and wonder why there is a growing disdain among all anthropomorphs for humans," Barry said. "But I digress. We'll take a few days to rest up, give Rampage some time to recover, and then, I can start training these hardened criminals for the task at hand. Barry turned and cuffed Goldie by her slender waist. "In the meantime, I think I'm going to get reacquainted with some things that you get denied in prison." He began to caress her thighs wholeheartedly. "If you catch my drift?"
She returned his advance by feeling his chiseled abs. Barry had not been doing anything except working out for the past five years. His number one goal every day in Iron Gate was to push his limits and get stronger so that whenever he got out of there, he would be ready to destroy Vector. That caused him to jack his already buff body even more. He was in peak form. This caused Goldie to blush hard after feeling how solid Barry felt. He felt like a mountain. "Oh my! That does feel nice, hon."
"You haven't even seen the best part yet," said Barry with a smirk. "Let's head to the back so we can get reacquainted properly." Goldie giggled as Barry nudged her towards the back of the burrow where the bedrooms were located.
"Heyyy!" Lazarus called out. "What the hell? I know you're not about to go get your jollies off while Borais and I just sit out here and listen."
"I don't think you have to listen to them, dude," said Borais.
"Stay out of this. I'm just saying, you know Borais and I have been in prison a lot longer than you. We have bestial urges that need satisfying too," Lazarus explained, while looking lustfully at Goldie. "And since she is the only woman here…."
Goldie looked insulted by Lazarus's offer. "Shug, I don't think you're my type or my species."
"Goldie's is mine and mine alone. End of story, If you even breathe on her wrong, I won't hesistate to end you," said Barry. "Still, I won't sit here and try to devalue the worth of a woman's fruit especially to a man who's been denied it for so long."
Goldie looked at Barry sideways. "What exactly are you trying to say, Barry?"
"Order us a couple dozen pizzas too while you're at it. Haven't had one of those in forever," said Borais.
Barry sighed. "You just can't get good help these days." He disappeared back into the master bedroom and came back with a metal briefcase. He picked it up and placed it on the wooden coffee table in the middle of the living area. There was a padlock on the briefcase which Barry promptly entered the code on. He opened it and revealed all of the ingredients needed for a fiendishly good time. There was a bottle of blue dyed alcohol named Chaos named after the creature that destroyed Station Square along with a carton of cigarettes, an ounce of both weed and cocaine. There was also a 1000 ring capsule to round out everything nicely. "This is my party case. I used to use it when I would go away for weekends. This should keep you guys occupied for a little while. Use the rings and get yourselves an exotic dancer or something."
The faces of both convicts lit up with glee.
"You know what, Barry. You alright," said Borais.
"Tell me something I don't know. Now, take this and enjoy your weekend," said Barry, looking back at Goldie with a smile. "I know I will."
"This weed is a little stale," said Lazarus.
Barry was now a little triggered. "It's either that or nothing."
"We'll take it. Thanks boss," said Borais. "Quick! Hurry up and order those pizzas."
Barry disappeared quickly back into his room with Goldie in tow. Within seconds, you could hear the sound of bodies being flung against the walls, muffled moaning, and furniture being knocked over. You know how rabbits can get.
"Hey, what's the address to this place?" asked Lazarus.
ICY KNUCKLES