"..Well, I think your fox friend is a goner, I mean look at this photo" Manic gives Cream her phone back and sits down on a concrete block
The rabbit takes her purple phone back and quickly puts it in her purse "I can't look at that.. He can't be dead, he just.."
"We'll get this guy, Cream. Don't worry. Him and all of his goons. They won't get away with this.." Marcus assures the rabbit
"If you are planning on erasing this dude off the planet, you better do it fast cause he will come at ya with everything and won't stop" Manic adds
"And let me guess, you fought Miles as well?" Espio asks
"Not many guys I lose to but he's one of them..." Manic dumps some pain killers in his hand "He gave me a hell of a fight a few years back but I was just starting out then, now I think I can I could take him down myself"
Manic bites the pills and swallows them as Marcus and Cream look at him weirdly, while Espio hands the hedgehog another white bottle of The goods as Manic calls them. He crunches on the pills and they take effect immediately.
A few of Manic's friends open a gym bag full of food and some chocolate, and this catches The Raccoons' eye. Marcus walks towards the thieves and looks down at them as they eat
"Huh, I bought some groceries the other day and I got robbed, and I swear those look just like the stuff I bought.."
The thief girl looks up at Marcus and grins "Hehe, Coincidence?"
"..And my house was broken into"
"Well, maybe-"
"And I was robbed. Twice"
"Alright, man, it was my idea, they just needed to eat" Manic interrupts "They're sorry and it won't happen again.. so, are we cool or what?"
Marcus hesitates for a second "I'll let this one slide, but next time, your buddy won't be there to pull out his little shot gun on me"
"And we won't rob you anymore, unless we need to eat again. Case solved, lets move out" Manic orders
Marcus growls but Espio calms him down. Cream and the Espio wait for the gang of thieves to leave the tunnel so they can follow. Upon getting back onto the street, the rain stops but it's still all damp and cold out. Espio hears his name being called and everyone turns around
"Espio! hey, what's up?" the familiar voice of the chameleon's new friend he met, Lindsey
"Whoa, Espio's got a girlfriend?" Marcus jokes with the chameleon
Espio scuffs at him and walks towards Lindsey
"Marcus?" Lindsey asks as she looks at the large raccoon
"Who, me? nah.. I think Marcus - he uh, took off towards Solstice avenue or somewhere the opposite direction, you know?" Marcus tires to avoid eye contact with Lindsey and stands behind Manic
"Espio, whose your friends?" Lindsey asks
"They're just uh, my old buddies from Station Square, they're here for a… a visit.."
"Espio, you don't have to lie about them. Anyways, I just wanted to talk to you one more time before I take off for Jericho city, that's just outside the Mystic zone" Lindsey says
"Isn't that on the other side of Mobius?" Espio asks
Manic yells out before Lindsey can speak "Can we hurry this up? I wanna go punch someone"
Espio looks at the hedgehog and yells "Just wait a second!" So Manic takes a seat on the curb and mumbles to himself angrily
"Sorry, he's not one of my closest friends.. So, is this a for sure thing?"
"Well, by midnight I'll know. I just wanted to tell you instead of just leaving without saying goodbye" Lindsey replies
"Just kiss already!" Manic yells
Espio glares at him and looks at Lindsey "Well, I did want to talk to you, but just us. I'll call you before 11, and we'll have one more beer together, okay?"
"Yeah, that's cool with me. But we've got to do this before midnight-"
"Right, right, he'll be there and you can drink the night away, but now we have to go, bye" Manic says
Espio waves to Lindsey as he walks back to the group and they get back to business, finding Miles' hideout. The combined teams of Skyline and Manic's gang of loyal thieves make their way through Two Gates, searching the streets of anyone in Miles' crew. Manic makes the plan to find one and get him to spill the whereabouts of the evil fox. Espio constantly checks his phone for the time. As the sun starts to come out, it sets just as fast. 5 pm turns into 8 as the gang keeps searching for anyone associated with Miles.
Hours don't go by as fast for Tails, unfortunatly. Around the same time when his friends are out searching the streets, the fox wakes up with a frozen stiff steel chain wrapped tightly around his neck. Things get worse as an almost blinding search light is shined in the fox's face from the wall in front of him. Tails covers his eyes, scrambles to his feet and he notices he is in a small pit-like area, big enough for about two people. He grabs the chain and feels it connect to the white concrete wall and shakes it. He hears the chain rattle and sees it goes further down a metal pipeline. Finally, The evil fox everyone is looking for shows his face above the pit as Tails glares at him
"What is this, some freaky chains and whips fetish you got with me?" Tails says
Miles laughs and sits on the ledge of the pit, keeping eye contact with Tails "No whips, here.. no, I've got something much, much worse than that. Remember when I told you I could stop your vitals at anytime? Well now it's not just you I can toy with"
Tails looks at Miles as the evil fox signals for someone to come towards him, and suddenly Tails tries to reach out at him. Miles grabs Celia by the arm and forces her to sit next to him on the ledge. Tails can tell she is terrified and this Psycho has the biggest grin on his face as he puts his arm around her
"Real tough, threatening a girl!" Tails yells
Miles chuckles and looks at Celia "Who said I was gonna take her life? Not me, Tails... Besides, she came here on her own. I didn't send anyone to get her"
Tails looks at Celia, now with tears running down her face. Miles pushes her hair back and dries her tears. Tails now understands, this is who she has been living with, and trying to avoid
"I'm sorry, Tails.. he's looked af-after me since I was a kid, and I couldn't tell you that, or.." The ferret can't look Tails in the eyes while she speaks "..you wouldn't have.." Celia starts to cry gently as Miles puts his arm around her and she rests her head on his shoulder.
Tails takes a step back and leans on the concrete wall, while the grin on Miles' face slowly turns into a blank look
"Yes, and since the day she left home and ran into you, well I wasn't too pleased. I cared for her, and she leaves me just like that... I learned the one thing that hurts the most is the truth.." Miles looks above him and Celia starts to calm down and looks at Miles
The evil fox's grip gets tighter on her arm, which frightens her "You were like a sister to me! I can't tolerate this, the things you do. And especially hanging with trash like this?... No one is coming to save you this time. and everyone you thought you could trust, loved ones, that's all bullshit" Miles looks at the fox inside the pit, then back at the ferret
"Celia, you know I can't have you slowing me down, having to worry about you all the time. I am going to miss ya, don't think I'll just forget about you.."
Tails isn't sure what to think, having being deceived countless times, led on, beaten down, and hiding from this guy. Miles shoves Celia down into the small pit with Tails and looks at both of them. Celia falls onto the hard floor but isn't injured. Tails backs up from the ferret, and she crawls into a corner, still crying
"I'll find the most appropriate way to kill you, but for now you'll live... and Celia?" Miles looks at the ferret "..Enjoy these last moments with your boyfriend, and I want you to know.. you're dead to me"
Miles walks away, leaving the two alone in the small pit, but neither speaks, they only sit and think to themselves. In their minds they both have a million things to say, but nothing comes out. Tails sits in the corner across from Celia and he sits on the floor, leaning on the cold wall. Every time he wants to speak, he tells himself to keep quiet, even when all he wants to know is why. Tails tries to take his mind off of this situation and thinks about his friends on the outside
Are they even looking for me? If anyone of them were stuck in here I'd be the first guy to break down the walls and rush in. I bet Cream hates me, and it's all her fault. That ferret. God damnit, it's not her fault, it's all mine. it always is, anyway. I might as well talk to her, I'm sure it won't be as boring as sitting here.
Tails looks over at Celia, still huddled up and quietly crying to herself. The fox feels more and more remorseful to her situation
"You know, I wouldn't have cared if you told me you were living with him, honestly.."
"No, don't tell me that! I can see how much you hate him, you would've been angry at me, and you would never want to see me again.." Celia looks at the fox
"I might have, or I would've understood your situation" Tails sits up and looks across at the ferret "My point is just tell me the whole story, and I can help you, it's what I'm good at.."
Celia inches closer to Tails, but keeps distance from him as she still feels like he isn't too welcoming of her at this point. The more Tails talks to her, he realizes she isn't the one to blame in this situation, and his hate for Miles goes up that much more
"So, you're not mad at me for.. for everything? All this?" Celia asks
"Well, a little heads up would've been nice but eh, what can ya do.. that psychopath up there is responsible for all this. When it comes to me and you, we're good" Tails answers
Celia blushes, then hesitates to ask "Tails? I uh, I really need a hug, I just really feel bad for what happened to you and.."
Tails goes to hug the ferret but the steel chain around his neck stops him, so Celia comes to him and the two embrace. The fox lets go but the ferret's grip gets tighter, so he stays with her. Celia looks up at him and kisses the fox, which surprises him, but he lets go
"What's wrong?" Celia asks
"I can't, no.. I've got a girlfriend and.. I like you, but I'm taken, Celia…" Tails says
"Oh, I didn't…didn't know. I'm sorry, Tails, I just had to, I'm really sorry"
"Ah, it's fine. We're better off as friends in the long run" Tails sees the ferret is a little upset "Don't worry, I know you'll find a guy that's right for you"
"But I only want you"
"You'll meet a guy twice as good as me, I promise you"
Celia hugs Tails again and the two lie down next to each other, and eventually falling asleep on the cold hard concrete floor. Tails doesn't want to think about it, but he knows there is no getting out of this alive. He just holds Celia and hopefully reassuring her they'll make it out. Up in a security room, Miles watches the two on a computer monitor with a live camera feed. He punches a wall and walks out
Back on the streets, Espio and Manic lead the search, asking around for any sign of Miles' crew members but having no luck. Espio still checks his phone for the time. 9 o'clock. Manic tells Espio about how he left his family and became what he is today
".. After my sister took over, I didn't want to be around there so I came here and did what I was good at, steal. And soon these guys wanted to join the cause, so I took them in and trained them to be almost as good as the boss. The boss being me, of course" Manic says as he walks down the street
"Hmm. Never thought any of Sonic's siblings would turn out to be just as hot headed as him" Espio replies
"Well, in this day and age, you need to assert yourself or no one will know who you are, and you'll get walked all over. isn't that right, Stella"
"Damn right, sir" The thief girl answers Manic as she walks behind him and Espio
"Quite the little gang of storm troopers you've got, Manic.." Cream says
"Why thank you, rabbit. Jeez, how long have we been looking for this guy? I need a beer or two like, right now" Manic exclaims
"I was thinking the same thing, lets go" Espio says
Cream is the only one who doesn't enter the bar, and after a half an hour Marcus comes out. He sees her sitting on a nearby bench so he sits beside her
"What's up? you don't look too good, girl" Marcus says
Cream doesn't say a word, she only sighs. Marcus tries to talk to her but she doesn't say a thing for 10 minutes. Again, the rain starts to come down, and Cream doesn't speak a word. Marcus gives up trying to talk to her, and they just sit in silence. Cream turns on her phone and gives it to Marcus. He looks at the screen, shocked.
A picture of Tails and Celia kissing is shown, and a smiley face emoji is shown below the image
"Whoa.. that boy gone and fucked up, huh.." Marcus says
Tears fall from Cream's eyes and onto the ground, and suddenly she gets up and punches the brick wall of the bar. Marcus cautiously gives her phone back and shakes his head in disapproval.