Chapter 8: Uncertainty

Manic and Tails have their hands zip tied behind their backs as they sit back-to-back in the meat packaging plant. Dried blood stains the wooden chairs they're sitting on.

Simian lets his goons attack the defenceless duo, Tails taking punches from a skilled boxer while Manic gets his legs smashed with a long wrench. The pained groans only give their attacks more confidence to continue and laugh.

"Alright, enough foreplay. Let's get the show going" Simian orders

Manic and Tails' eyes widen once the giant Warthog picks up a blow torch from a table

Simian is even more shocked than them when one of his goons suddenly shanks him in the gut, causing blood to spill all over the white tile floor.

Bark the Polar Bear pulls the hood off his head and attacks the entire gang, giving Manic and Tails a chance to recover.

It takes the Polar Bear just 15 seconds to beat the entire gang and send them running out of the building in terror.

"...ahoy there, gents. Feeling ah'right?" Bark says in his Australian accent

Manic spits out blood "Took your fuckin' time, didn't ya..."

"It almost seems like you wanted Simian to kick our asses for a while" Tails says

"Well, it was sort'a satisfying to watch, gotta admit. Now, let's haul ass outta here, police are on their way"

Bark cuts their zip ties and helps them get back to their feet. Before they leave, Manic looks through a cupboard and grabs a few bottles of cleaning chemicals. He dumps everything all over his and Tails' spilled blood so police can't identify them through DNA samples.

The trio escape into the dark back streets just as the first police cruiser pulls up. The officers search the building but everyone who occupied it 10 minutes ago, are now long gone.

A cab arrives and Bark sits in the passenger seat while Manic and Tails get in the back. The driver looks at the duo, covered in blood and bruises, but doesn't say anything as they leave the north end of town.

It takes 15 minutes to get back to Farrell's house, but they discover the front door has been kicked in.

"DAD?!" Manic shouts

He rushes inside, stumbles over smashed furniture and broken glass, but keeps searching the house.

He finds Farrell slumped over his fire place, just as bloody and beaten as the duo

But still alive

Manic kneels down next to Ferrell "Hey, you're alright, Pops, we're gettin' help"

"Ah, I'm fine... fuckers piled on me but none of that shit hurt. Can one of you pass me a beer from the fridge?" The older hedgehog asks

Bark looks around the kitchen but can't find any fridge, so he moves some debris out of the way and finds it flipped on it's side. He opens the door, grabs a six-pack and passes a tall can to Farrell.

"They really tore this place up, eh" Bark says

"Thanks for pointing that out, captain obvious. Pops, what the fuck happened?" Manic asks

Farrell takes a big drink before answering "...couple 'a cops busted in here, cracked me over the head with a billyclub... your girl took off to hide but they ripped this place apart looking for her. They kicked my ass, trying to get me to point her out, but I didn't say shit. (Sigh) ...didn't matter, they found her eventually.."

"Where is she?!"

"How in fucks' name should I know, boy?! These were dirty cops! She could be anywhere in this god damn town!"

"They took her to Scourge. And he's gonna give her back to Simian... they're in this together" Tails growls

Manic stands up "Bullshit, man, there's no way!"

Bark steps in between them "Yer boy's right. I was up there when Scourge an' Simian made the deal"

As Manic realizes what this means, Scourge meets Simian in a guarded compound on the opposite side of town. The fat Warthog holds a large bandage over his fresh wound, but continues to walk through the compound next to the evil hedgehog.

"You gonna live, fatass?" Scourge mockingly asks

"Fuck you. Did your guys get my prisoners or not?"

A thug opens a massive shipping container door and shines a light inside

Cee, along with 2 dozen other captives stand inside a large cage.

"It took a little while, but the boys in blue rounded up everyone they could find. Including that little blondie you were going on and on about" Scourge says

Simian walks to the cage bars and looks down at Cee, absolutely terrified after she's been brought back to the Warthog.

"...you did good, Slimeball"

"Course I did good, I'm the most reliable dude in this entire town"

With one last smile, Simian leaves Cee trembling as he exits the shipping container and slams the door shut behind him.

"I want a dozen more, Scourge. We have a lot of rebuilding to do" Simian demands

Scourge lights a cigarette "Dozen more, eh. That'll cost ya extra"

Simian motions for his crew to back a large, armoured track into the compound

"Money is no issue, greaseball. Just get my workers. I need Genocide City up and running NOW"

The evil hedgehog opens the back doors of the armoured truck and nods his head as he looks at stacks of Cash and Gold.

"You'll get your workers. I'll call ya when we got 'em"

Simian stops Scourge "I think I'll wait right here for you. I've got a lot of heat on me, out there. And, I wanna make sure you don't rip me off"

Scourge flashes a devilish smile "Aw, that's cute that you don't trust me. I need more business partners like you, pal"

Scourge laughs and signals for his crew to follow him

"Put everything in briefcases for me" Scourge says "Don't leave anything out"

One of his men from the bank job looks at him "Wait, ain't a portion of this goin' to the cop shop?"

Scourge takes another drag of his smoke "You know those guys? FUCK 'EM! I'm taking it all!"

"But, that ain't how it works, boss"

The evil hedgehog lets out an annoyed sigh "Rochelle, deal with these clowns for me, Christ..."

A tall female hedgehog from the MMA gym steps beside Scourge "Yes, boss"

The bank job thug looks at Scourge "CLOWN?!"

"THAT'S WHAT THE FUCK I JUST SAID! ...MOVE, NOW!"

"You really changed, bro..."

Scourge ignores his henchman and leaves his crew to load up the cash. He jumps in the back of a limousine and pops open a bottle of champagne as he is driven back to his luxury suite.

The first drink makes his head spin, so he rolls the window down to get some fresh air, observing the dark city streets as they drive around.

Back at Farrell's house, Bark put the kitchen table back together and set up 4 chairs. Tails, Manic and Farrell join the Polar Bear for a beer while they think of a plan.

"...I know where the lil' shit hangs out, he's got this compound. Stores a bunch of shit down there" Bark says

"I don't want his stuff, I want my Medallions, and I want him DEAD" Manic says angrily

Tails looks at him "Y-you mean you wanna murder him?"

"T, he killed Cass! Cut her down like it was nothing to him... He's dying for that, bro. I'm not fucking around anymore"

Farrell finishes his beer "Boy, you don't want that kinda heat on ya. I get it, I know how much you wanna kill that snake piece 'a shit, but you can't. They'll lock you up for life, Manic"

"Then what am I supposed to do? Bring him in for justice? Huh?"

"Outsmart the bastard"

Manic sighs "...okay, I won't kill him. But I can't promise I won't break his legs, though"

"Good enough for me"

Tails types on his artificial intelligence program, and finds Scourge' exact location

"...our guy is safe and sound at home base. He's got a good portion of Metro PD protecting him, along with his own gang. Getting to him is going to be damn-near impossible" Tails says

Manic sighs "Just lovely..."

Bark finishes his beer "I can get those cops outta there"

"How?" Manic and Tails both ask

Bark opens the last beer and chugs it, while keeping eye contact with the duo

"...B, we can't ask you to do that. You just got out of jail!" Manic says

Bark burps "Ah, I owe ya's one, after trying to kill you a few years back. I've got this"

After thinking it over, Manic nods at the Polar Bear and lets his new ally walk out the door. Bark lets out a ferocious roar and takes off running through the suburban neighbourhood.

"...We'll get our chance to break in once we hear sirens. Depending on how much shit Bark is able to stir up, those crooked cops may or not be called in to stop him" Tails says

"Then I guess that means we'd better gear-up and prepare for the worst"

After they wash the dried blood off, Manic and Tails find protective hand wraps, commonly used by boxers, and they wrap their arms and legs with the white strips.

The fox puts on two undershirts for a little more protection and covers it with a black button-up shirt. He wears matching black jeans and puts on one of Manic's old gold necklaces.

The green hedgehog digs through his closet and pulls out his black punk rock vest, grey hoody, grey skinny jeans and black converse sneakers, the outfit he wore in high school. He, too, wears a long gold chain around his neck, but this one is used as a weapon.

When both friends are ready, walk out the door and into the street.

"Watch yourselves out there. I don't wanna be scraping you off the sidewalk" Farrell says

"Appreciate the vote of confidence, Pops" Manic says

"And grab me another six-pack, boy!"

Manic laughs looks at the fox

"You wanna do your flying thing and get us up there, my good sir"

"Don't get salty on me, you'll have your gems back soon enough" Tails jokes

He grabs Manic's forearm and flies him in the air. They make their way to Scourge's high rise building downtown.

By now, Bark has gotten dozens and dozens of 911 calls about his destructive antics around town, and the first police cruiser spots him smashing the front window of a house.

The officer shines a spotlight "Get on the ground!"

Bark drops his weapon, then quickly jumps on a motorcycle in the nearest garage and rides across the front lawn. The tires rip the grass out as he speeds away from the police cruiser, so the officer calls in backup.

"Yeah, that's right, come follow me" Bark says

He rides through town, smashing mailboxes as he goes by.

6 more cruisers join the chase and soon a helicopter shines a massive spotlight on him.

It doesn't take long for the crooked cops in Scourge's building to be called in.

"Where are you guys going?" Scourge asks

"Top brass is calling us in, we have to go" a dirty cop says

"Hey, I ain't paying ya to just run off on me!"

"Yeah, well, maybe your boyfriends can come protect you, Mr. Big Shot"

The 8 officers leave the luxury suite and hop into an elevator, while Scourge takes another drink of whiskey

"Rochelle, get some more shooters up here. The blue balls crew just fucked off..."

"They're on their way" she answers

"And keep me informed of any intruders, I don't think Simian will tolerate our business tactics much longer"

The MMA girl nods and leads her own crew around the high rise building.

Simian sits in the compound office, opening a fresh pack of cigarettes when suddenly police sirens get louder and louder in the area

"They coming here?" He asks

Just then, the front gate is broken down by Bark the Polar Bear

"What the f-"

In an instant, the entire compound is flooded with SWAT cops and most of the Metropolis Police Department. Bark is able to reach Simian and tackle him to the ground and punch him in the face before police grab him

"This is for Manic and Tails, ya prick!"

As police drag him off, Bark stomps on Simian one more time

"Argh! ...you rat fuck!" Simian shouts

"Let's see who the cons kill first, hound"

Police and News helicopters fly over the compound and document the raid, while the entire city has been woken by Bark, putting a smile on his face as he's taken away.

Tails and Manic fly up to the 20th floor, open a window and sneak into the high rise building. Manic looks out at the city, knowing he's only going higher from this point on.

And it'd be better if he had his Medallions in case he falls off the building.

They quickly run through the colourful hallways and reach an elevator that will take them to Scourge's luxury suite.

Manic pushes the 60th floor button and leans against the mirrored glass as the doors close.

"...nervous?"

Tails looks at the ceiling

"Yeah"

"Well, this shit's coming to an end as soon as we get off this elevator, so uh... I'm glad you came with me, Tails. You're my brother. I love ya, pal... no homo"

They both laugh, then take a moment to enjoy the peace and quiet inside this elevator.

The bell makes a DING sound as they reach the top floor

"Let's go get this fucker"