Disclaimer: I own nothing
Hail to the King
Chapter Ten: Wild Eyes
Hey guys, first off I want to apologize for the long wait for this chapter. Between finding a job and working at said job I haven't really had time to do much, let alone write. I'd like to take a little time to answer a couple questions that have been asked in the reviews. Uh, I apologize for not answering these sooner, I've been meaning to answer them at the end of previous chapters and it always slipped my mind.
I was asked if I was going to add OC's to this story. Um, the answer to that is probably not. I have nothing against OC's but I try to avoid using them in my stories because I always end up making them overpowered even when I don't mean to and it never ends well. So long story short, probably no OC's. If I have any they'll probably only be there for a like a second. As very, very minor characters.
I was also asked why Tails doesn't go to Sonic for help and if Sonic has any idea that Tails is (or was) acting as a double agent. This story is in the Sonic Underground universe. Admittedly I've brought in characters from other Sonic universes (video games, Archie comics, etc.) but the basic elements of the story remain the same. Tails was not in the Sonic Underground television show so in this universe Tails and Sonic haven't met (yet). So, again long story short, Tails can't go to Sonic for help because neither character knows the other exists.
Anywho, I hope the answers helped, here's the chapter.
Xxx
Nazo nudged the bullet-ridden corpse in front of him, expression horribly vacant. The Cartel members that had come with him were doing their best to stay out of his way, knowing that he could explode at the slightest provocation. The albino took a deep breath through his nose, inhaling the coppery smell of blood and the acrid burn of gunpowder. He absently loosened his tie and unbuttoned his vest with one hand, never taking his eyes off of the corpse. It was a fox but it wasn't the right fox. It wasn't the right fucking FOX!
A sudden tidal wave of rage overtook him. He pulled back his foot and slammed it into the corpse, screaming ferally. Something popped in the corpse's side. The sound made him angrier. He threw his machine gun to the floor and began to kick the corpse repeatedly, growing angrier every time he heard a bone break. Ten minutes of incoherent screaming and kicking later he brought a foot down on the corpse's head, his psychotic rage giving him enough strength to crush it beneath his feet.
He whirled around, breathing heavily, and glared at the Cartel members who weren't smart enough to flee the room when their boss snapped.
"Where the FUCK is HE!?"
No one answered.
"NACK! WHERE THE FUCK IS NACK?""
The wolf/weasel hybrid stepped forward, looking incredibly nervous. "What do ya' need Boss?"
"Come here Nack, come here right the FUCK now!"
The bounty hunter stepped closer. Nazo grabbed him by the arm and pulled him closer, simultaneously pulling his knife from his pocket. He flicked it open and pressed it against the underside of Nack's jaw, putting enough pressure on it so that it broke the skin.
"Where the FUCK IS PROWER!"
"I don't know Boss." Nack tried to keep his voice level but it shook anyway.
Nazo scowled, his voice dropping into a murderous hiss, "Are you trying to fuck me over asshole? Did you tip Prower off? Feed me false info? How much are they paying you? Tell me the truth or I swear to Chaos I will skin you alive."
Any measure of self-control that Nack still possessed left him. He knew from experience that Nazo was not making an idle threat. He began to blubber, "Boss I'm telling ya' the truth, ya' gotta believe me. All Prower's info was sent here, I swear! Please, I swear, I thought he was here. Swear to Chaos, I thought he was here! Don't hurt me!"
Nazo stared at him with his horribly vacant eyes. After a moment of tense silence he threw Nack away from him. The bounty hunter hit the floor hard and groaned as his head bounced off the concrete.
"Put the word out." Nazo swept his eyes across the remaining Cartel members, "ten thousand Mobiums for Prower's head and tails, twenty thousand if he's brought to me alive. Nack if you bring me Prower first I'll consider not bleeding you dry."
Xxx
Manic woke up from a rather heated dream with a sound halfway between a gasp and a moan. Out of instinct born from sharing close quarters with his siblings, he sat up and pulled his legs up to his chest, hiding the effect the dream had on his body.
"Have a nice dream, darling?"
The shaggy-haired teen scowled and glared sleepily at the thoroughly amused looking hedgehog that leaned against the far wall of the van.
Scourge smirked around his cigarette, "Like what you see?"
Manic groaned and buried his face in his hands, "I really think I might hate you dude."
"That'd be a lot more convincing if you didn't moan in your sleep."
Manic groaned again, wishing that he could just melt through the bottom of his bed and fall through the floor of the van.
Scourge let him mope for a minute and then pushed himself off of the wall, "Come on, get up kid. I wanna go out and Princess threatened to castrate me if I went without 'supervision'."
"Go out? Go out where? Where are we anyway?"
"Outpost."
"That's not helpful at all."
"It's this tiny little border town. Now come on, get up. I wanna go out but I don't wanna risk my fun bits, ya' know?"
The drummer flopped back down on his bed, rolled onto his stomach, and buried his head into the pillow, "Can't you get Sonic to take you?" he mumbled.
"Na, Blue somehow managed to drag St. Croix out to get chili dogs and Princess wandered off to do…whatever the hell she does."
"Oh," Manic shrugged from his prone position and shifted to get more comfortable.
A minute of silence passed and when it became apparent that Manic wasn't getting up Scourge scowled, "Kid, get up."
"No dude, I'm sleeping."
"Get up."
"Nooo."
Scourge took a deep drag on his cigarette, trying to think of something that would convince the other hedgehog to get out of bed. Normally when someone wouldn't wake up he'd…no, that wouldn't work; he wanted to keep his body intact after all.
After another minute of thinking he finally came up with something, "I'll make a deal with you, kid. Outpost has this awesome metal club that always has live music. Take me to restock on my stuff and I'll take you there."
Manic perked up at that, lifting his head off the pillow to look at Scourge. It had been a while since he'd been to a concert where he was in the crowd instead of on the stage. Actually, he couldn't remember the last time he had been in the crowd.
Manic stared at Scourge for a minute more (trying to see if he was serious, not because he couldn't get that stupid dream out of his head.) Finally he sighed, "Fine. Give me ten minutes."
An hour later Scourge and Manic were walking down one of Outpost's narrow, seedy streets. Surprisingly, Scourge hadn't been nearly as antagonistic as usual (although every time he saw Manic looking at him he'd smirk and wink just so that he could see the shaggy-haired teen's face go red.) The two green furred hedgehogs had actually managed to have several civil, albeit short, conversations.
They turned onto an even narrower street and had to step around an unconscious drunk.
"Dude, how do you know about this place anyway?" Manic glanced at the other teen out of the corner of his eye.
Scourge shrugged and took a sip from his newly refilled flask, "St. Croix brought me out here during the harvest festival when I was little."
"So you and St. Croix have been friends for a while then, huh?"
"Been a long damn time, that's for sure."
"How'd you guys meet?"
"Long story, we don't talk about it." his tone and facial expression clearly said drop it, and Manic did. "Now we're getting close so I gotta tell you the ground rules, alright kid?"
"Ground rules?"
"Yeah, first off, I know you're all proud to be a Freedom Fighter and shit but people around here really aren't big fans of you guys. So keep your mouth shut about it unless you wanna have to fight off a shit-ton of angry drunks."
"They don't like Freedom Fighters?" Manic was shocked, "Why not?"
Scourge lit a cigarette and blew the smoke out of his nose, dragon style, "Right after the coup a couple members of the early resistance holed up here and started launching counter-attacks against the Sovereign Fatass. When Robotnik tracked 'em back here and started sending in the SWATbots they bailed, didn't even try to save the locals. Outpost lost about half its population in one day."
"Dude, that's horrible." Manic said, aghast.
"No shit Sherlock. Anyway, rule number two: if you've got money on you, don't show it around. I don't wanna have to deal with some Synth addict trying to mug your ass."
"No problem there." Manic had seen some Synth addicts back in Mobotropolis. The drug turned them nearly feral. Patches of their fur fell out, they lost weight rapidly, they rarely slept, and they attacked anyone they could, trying to get money for their next fix. It was a life that he wouldn't wish on his worst enemy (although, losing some weight would probably be good for Robuttnik).
Scourge stepped into a side alley and pushed open a rusted, graffiti-ridden door, revealing a rickety set of metal stairs leading down into the darkness. He shoved his hands into his jacket pockets and began to walk down, ignoring how the stairs rattled and shook with every step. Manic followed apprehensively, one hand gripping the safety railing just in case. As they went farther and farther down into the darkness (it was now dark enough that the only thing visible was the cherry of Scourge's cigarette) Manic could hear faint notes of music drifting up to them. The music continued to get louder and louder and when they reached the bottom of the stairs it was almost deafening. Scourge pushed open another rusted door and Manic let out an inaudible gasp.
The room beyond the door was small, lit by several flickering ceiling lights that looked like they had seen better days. The far wall was occupied by a stage made from scrap-wood and the Mobians on it looked like they were having the time of their lives, pounding skillfully away on their instruments. That wasn't what made Manic gasp though, what made him gasp was the crowd. The entire floor, from just in front of the stage to a couple of feet in front of the door, was a swirling vortex of bodies, shoving, punching, and slamming into each other.
Scourge glanced back at him and mouthed 'come on' before throwing himself into the crowd. Manic hesitated for a moment more and then followed him into the mosh pit.
"We are the diamonds that choose to stay coal
A generation born to witness the end of the world
Against the grain
Against the odds
Against the world
Forever the underdogs"
A/N: and that's the chapter. Again sorry for the long wait, I'll do my best not to let it happen again, but I can't guarantee anything. In case you're wondering the lyrics above are from the song 'Wild Eyes' by Parkway Drive.
ALSO I NEED YOUR HELP!
I need a new title for my ZonicXSonic story. It's posted here under the title 'Narcissism' but I don't really think that it works too well. So here's the summary and any suggestions for a new title would be greatly appreciated.
summary:
"When Scourge and Mephiles instigate a violent riot and subsequent breakout that leaves Zone Jail in ruin, Zonic recruits his Mobius Prime counterpart Sonic to help him gather up the escapees and stop whatever it is that they have planned. But that's easier said than done when Zonic is constantly getting distracted by how pretty Sonic's eyes are…"
Anyway reviews are awesome motivators,
trancepanda