I shifted in my seat as I stared back at the set of monitors in front of me. An image of Sonic flickered back at me, a slightly overhead shot of him pulling on the collar of a white, button-up shirt we made him wear, along with a very nice tuxedo, shiny shoes and all, generously donated by Blitz. I looked over at Vector, who was pulling a small stand microphone towards him.
"Can you hear me Sonic?" He asked. Sonic gave a small nod.
"Are you sure I have to wear this?" Sonic grumbled quietly.
"Glad the earpiece is working," I chuckled a bit. "You have to look nice Sonic, you're going to be… you know… with nice people…" I trailed off a bit. I watched Sonic smirk and look around.
"You saying I don't normally look nice bud?" He asked. I watched him start to walk forward, vanishing from view on one monitor, and appearing on another, at a different angle.
"N-No, I just-"
"I'm teasing, relax," Sonic laughed a bit again. "Do I look ok?"
"Yup, you clean up nice…" I laughed softly as Sonic gave the camera a wink. "So... why do we have all these cameras even though the game isn't taking place on the casino floor...?" I asked, looking over at the Chaotix who were, surprisingly, laser-focused on their work. Mighty was manning a separate station full of even more monitors, Espio was on a computer looking up information, Charmy… well, actually, Charmy was bringing us refreshments, which was, in his eyes, very important, and Vector was at the helm of the whole thing. I was seated to his right, staring at a small bank of screens that changed every now and then as Mighty sent us camera views he thought were important, while Espio occasionally pinged us some relevant information that would appear on top the images.
"We just like to be thorough," Mighty said, looking over some of the monitors obscuring him and smiling at me. "You never know, we might catch someone else cheating. We might be able to knock them out of the game, which means less competition for us."
"Aren't we cheating too?" Sonic asked, adjusting his sleeves for the umpteenth time.
"Technically, no," Espio said, typing furiously into his computer still, "The rules state that we cannot look at another player's cards unless that player reveals them at the table. Since there's no camera in the room, and because the only camera Sonic has on him is the feed we're going to get from his contacts, which won't allow us to see anyone else's cards other than his own, it's not cheating."
"But what about us talking in his ear," I couldn't help but chuckle as I asked, "That seems like cheating."
"Nothing in the rules says that you can't recieve external coaching," Vector smirked, "And it definitely never mentioned that the external coaches couldn't be in a different room."
"I dunno, this whole thing still seems a bit sketchy…" I said quietly… "What if they kick him out-"
"Deep breaths Josh," Sonic said quietly, looking up at the camera we were watching him on, "It'll be ok. Ok?"
"...alright…" I finally said.
"Just keep an eye on me, ok? Use those Creepy Senses of yours to help me out," Sonic smiled a bit and nodded.
Everybody found out about my Creepy Senses when we began to play some practice games, in order to see who was going to go down and play. Sonic noticed I would act funny whenever someone would bluff and called me out on it, which lead me to spilling the beans. Everyone agreed this was very useful. Only reason I wasn't down there was because, despite him saying otherwise, he had the best poker face, and made the smartest plays out of all of us. He whooped my butt, cleaning me out pretty early in the practice game. He chalked it up to saying he could see my tells pretty easily.
"Alright Sonic, we're gonna be turning on your contact cams, ready?" Vector motioned to Mighty, who pushed a button. "You might see a bright light for just a second when it-"
Sonic suddenly stumbled back, covering his face, like he just got smacked in the forehead. "Thanks for the warning..." He grumbled, walking forward, blinking a few times. An image transferred to one of the monitors in front of me and Vector. A first person view of the casino. Slot machines and table games stretching from red and gold patterned wall to red and gold patterned wall. Smoke hung in the air, creating a sort of haze, giving the video an almost dream-like quality. Sonic made another turn and headed up a flight of stairs.
"Looking good Sonic," I said, watching closely, "We're seeing everything."
"That's good," Sonic nodded, "'Cuz all I can see is a bright spot..."
"We'll fill you in on players as you see them," Vector said. Sonic only nodded again as he turned another corner, heading down a hallway to a set of glass double doors. He pushed into the room, and stepped into another world. The room was a cooling blue, in contrast to the chaotic red and gold outside. Blue carpeting with thin white lines running through it, and white walls and ceiling illuminated by small, blue spotlights. A bar hung off to the right, the glassware behind the bar twinkling in the light. To the left was a lounge area, with soft looking couches and love seats, all of them upholstered in a luxurious navy blue. Above, a small crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling, sending a soft white glow through hundreds of twinkling jewels into the room. It was beautiful, serene, so different from the gaudiness and craziness of the casino floor. Sonic walked in, heading to the bar and asking for an ice water. He looked around... a couple of people had already come in.
"Ok, on your left, the badger is Pearson Green, he runs a publishing company, and on your left is Virginia White, also known as The White Wolf, she's the head of InCOM," Vector said, reading off a few sheets of paper he had in front of him. "They've been coming to this game ever since Mr. Boddy started this game."
"Says here they don't play great, but they have a lot of Rings to play with," I read, leaning a bit closer to the papers, Vector politely scooting them between us, "So... we might be able to use."
"And the elephant in the corner of the room is the Colonel Albert Mustard," Vector said. Sonic turned his head, looking at a slightly elderly looking man in a dark blue military uniform, adorned with many metals. "Served overseas 20 years ago, one of Mr. Boddy's oldest friends. He's been playing since the beginning as well, though more for the drinks and conversation."
"Shouldn't be too hard to knock him out," I mumbled, scanning over the documents. Two people were yet to show up... Professor Henry Plum, an estudious fox who was famous for inventing something called "light-based eonic communication," whatever that was, and a last minute wild card entry, a cat named Natalia Scharlachrot, which is apparently pronounced sha-la-hoht, I guess. Beyond that though, we didn't have much on her, which was odd... And then, of course, the man of the hour, Mr. Boddy. He was the proud owner of, not just this casino, but a bunch of casinos throughout the area. He was loaded, and liked to host things like this, events where Rings flowed freely, just to show it off. He never seemed to mean it in a bragging sort of way, he just liked spending his cash. When asked why, he just shrugged and said "What else would I do with it?" Everyone invited was selected because of the large amounts of Rings they made. All aside from us.
"Why is Boddy even letting us play this game?" I asked, looking over at Vector. He just shrugged.
"Your friend Blitz said he would take care of it," He replied, reaching over and taking a large gulp of water from a nearby cup. "We'll see how good his word is."
Let me just add here, really quick, even sitting down, Vector was an intimidating sight. He stood head and shoulders above everybody, and it looked like he was built like a tank, just... muscles everywhere. I thanked my lucky starts he was on my side. But, once he got to know you, turns out he's a pretty big softy, especially when it concerned younger clients, such as myself. Case in point, lunch.
"Alright," He said as he stood up, stretching his back. "I'm gonna go grab everything before the game starts. You sure you don't want anything else?" He asked, looking down at me. I laughed a bit.
"You ordered practically everything off the menu for me, I won't be able to eat all of it!" I replied.
"You're a growing boy, and this game could go on for a while. Not to mention, you're probably pretty stressed," Vector explained. "C'mon boys, let's get some grub." The Chaotix stood up, starting to file out of the room. Mighty looked back at me.
"You're sure you'll be ok on your own?" He asked. I nodded.
"I'll be fine Mighty," I chuckled a bit, "I've been alone for a couple minutes before, I'm a big boy." Mighty nodded and left, closing the door behind him. I leaned back in the folding chair, grabbing the microphone and pulling it to me, laying it on my stomach. "Alright Sonic... just you and me." I heard Sonic let out a quiet, breathy laugh. "Maybe I could tell you to do embarrassing things and you have to them, like on those prank shows?"
"Or how about we try not to make it obvious I have something in my ear?" Sonic muttered into his glass before taking a sip. I laughed a bit, leaning back.
"Oh, hey, what did you want to talk to me about earlier, before Mighty interrupted us?" I asked, looking around at a few of the monitors. "It sounded serious."
"It's... not exactly the right time," He said, looking around to see if anyone was watching him. No one was. "I just had a question, that's all, it's nothing you gotta worry about right now."
"...alright..." I mean, he seemed pretty worried at the time, but if he didn't want to talk about it... "How you feeling?"
"Fine," Sonic replied, taking another drink, "I've done crazier things than playing hoity-toity poker, eating hoity toity food, and drinking hoity toity drinks for a Chaos Emerald."
"I guess that's true," I sighed a bit, looking around at the monitors. "Kinda jealous, I'm getting burgers, you're getting 5 star cuisine."
"Hey, give me a burger over foie gras any day," Sonic replied, "All this fancy stuff is too rich for my taste." I laughed, closing my eyes for a moment. A few thoughts raced through my head all at once...
"...Do you think we can do this...?" I asked quietly. Sonic didn't say anything for a moment.
"Hey... I promise, one way or another, I'll get that Emerald for you," Sonic replied, "I gotcha buddy. I'll take care of you."
"Take care of 'you?'" I asked, tilting my head a bit, chuckling a bit.
"It. Take care of it," Sonic shook his head, laughing softly. He paused for a bit. "Though, if you need me t-
I didn't hear the rest of what he said. I started breaking out into a cold sweat. My heart pounded. I quickly sat up, looking around... what was that about...?
I heard footsteps from outside the door. I turned, listening as whoever it was passed the detective's office. I slowly stood up, setting the microphone on the table.
"Josh...? Buddy, you there...?" I quickly picked up a small earpiece, similar to what Sonic currently had.
"Someone just walked outside the office," I said, pushing the piece into my ear and walking over to the door, "They triggered my Creepy Senses."
"Your Creepy Senses? The ones that you just told us let you know when something's wrong?" Sonic asked.
"Yup."
"And from the sound of it, you're getting up to try to follow the person."
"Mhmm."
"And none of this sounds like a bad idea to you?"
"Look, no one else is here except me, and if they're after the Emerald, or worse, you, someone's gotta try to stop them," I said as I quietly opened the door, slipping outside.
"I can take care of myself bud, just wait for them to get back," Sonic urged, sounding like he may have been a bit louder than he meant.
"Look, it might be nothing, I told you, it's like... 70% accurate-"
"And it goes up when you're stressed. You're not exactly relaxed right now."
"Look I'll just..." I sighed a bit as I looked down the halls, listening for footsteps. As far as I knew, this floor was empty aside from me and, now, the mysterious stranger, so it wasn't hard to hear, "I'll just spy on them, I won't engage..."
"Josh don't go-ugh..." I could almost hear Sonic shaking his head. "Fine, just... if someone sees you, tell them you're lost and you're looking for the detective agency."
"Got it," I snuck around the corner, catching a glimpse of someone slipping into a shop. I hurried forward, wanting to peek into the window. I crouched, placing my hands on the wall as I got under the window, and slowly raised my head up. I was greeted by a thick piece of brown canvas paper. I looked over to see more papers go up on all the windows of the shop.
"Something's going on..." I said, looking around, "They covered up the windows."
"Josh, get out of there...!" Sonic hissed urgently, "They're up to no good obviously...!"
"But what if they're after the Emerald?" I whispered back, looking for any crack I could peek through.
"You're more important than some stupid Emerald, just get back to the office!"
"But Sonic-"
The door suddenly opened again. I quickly stood up, trying to casually lean against the wall. Nothing suspicious going on with me. No sir. I wasn't peeking. The person who came out, some kind of gorilla, possibly a silver backed one, in a hawaiian shirt and shorts (trying to look like a tourist?) looked me up and down for a moment before gruffly addressing me.
"You the guy?" He asked, holding up a silver briefcase. Um…
"Yup. That's me." I replied, trying to sound tough.
"What, who's you?" Sonic asked, sounding more panicked. I ignored him, walking forward and holding out my hand. The gorilla shoved the briefcase at me.
"Hurry up, boss is waiting," The man growled, opening the door for me. I nodded, scooting into the skeleton of a shop not yet realized. The walls hadn't even had drywall put in yet, the wood studs and wiring out for everyone to see. In the middle of the room was a table full of scientific equipment, beakers, burners, scales, powders... I walked over to the table, looking at it.
"Payment's in the briefcase," The ape grunted, leaning on the door, "You'll get the rest once you do what you need to do."
"Y...yes... perfect..." I replied, gazing at all the various bits and bobs on the table. If it wasn't obvious before, I was in trouble. There were a few problems. The first, and most pressing... whoever this guy is looking for, it wasn't me, it was some kind of chemist or scientist. I had no idea what I was supposed to do.
"Well?" He grunted impatiently, motioning to the table, "You gonna do what we paid you to do, or are we gonna have a problem?"
"...I can't do it with you watching," I said, thinking quickly, "Trade secret... can't let anybody else see."
"I'm not leaving," The man grunted, crossing his arms.
"Then I won't make it," I shrugged, "And you can beat me up if you'd like, that just means your boss won't get what they want." I stared the man down, listening to Sonic make a confused and concerned noise in my ear, before waving my hand to shoo the ape out. The gorilla huffed angrily, before turning, yanking the door open, and marching through it. I sighed a bit. "Problem one is solved..." I mumbled.
"Now what are you going to do when the actual guy gets here?" Sonic asked, "That guy you were talking to is gonna know what you're up to when the actual person gets here!"
"I know," I muttered, fear starting to build up in me. "I-I gotta get rid of one of them somehow..."
"...ok, ok, calm down, just..." Sonic paused for a bit before speaking again, "This might work, just repeat everything I say," I listened to a few more instructions from Sonic before moving to the door and cracking open the door a bit.
"Hey!" I hissed out to the gorilla, trying to sound angry, "Your boss just called me, pissed!"
"Called you?" The gorilla grunted, looking over at me.
"They've been trying to get ahold of you, why aren't you answering?" I looked down the hall the other way, looking for any sign of the actual chemist.
"I haven't gotten any calls," The gorilla responded, suddenly starting to sound a lot less tough. He pulled a glass smartphone out of his pocket, checking it. "I-I haven't gotten any-"
"Well I did, and I just got an earful!" I raised my voice a bit, trying to look flustered, "They just kept asking 'why isn't he guarding the hall'-"
"B-But I am guarding the ha-"
"The hall where the game is you idiot!" I let myself yell a bit before lowering my voice. I looked around again. "Look... get down there, or it's both our necks, got it?" I watched the man nod fearfully before practically stumbling over himself to get to the elevator. I couldn't help but smile a bit as I closed the door, leaning against it and sighing.
"...ok... now mind telling me what the heck is going on?" Sonic said slowly.
"I'm not sure... but it's something to do with the poker game..." I muttered.
"You sure?"
"The guard didn't bat an eye when I told him to guard the game, he didn't think it was weird his boss wanted him there. Not to mention, pretty weird coincidence this guy shows up the same day as a poker game where tons of dollars-"
"Rings."
"Rings are on the line," I explained.
"So what do you think they're going to do?" Sonic asked, starting to sound serious.
"Something to do with chemicals... poison maybe...?" I mused.
"Right..." Sonic was quiet, apparently dumping his drink in a plant. "Ok, get out of there."
"I'm not done yet," I replied, "I wanna see who Mungo was waiting for and what they were going to make."
"Josh-"
There was a knocking on the door. "Just hang tight," I whispered, hurrying over to the door, cracking it open. A green lizard in a black hoodie glared at me. "...are you the guy?" I asked, holding up the briefcase. The lizard nodded, eyeing the briefcase hungrily. I opened the door, letting him slither in. "Advance payment in the case, you get the rest when you do what we're paying you to do."
"Yeah yeah..." The lizard yanked the briefcase out of my hand, making his way over to the table. "...awfully scrawny for a bodyguard." He remarked, looking back at me. "What are you anyway, some kinda deformed monkey?"
"...yes..." I said slowly.
"Did he just call you a deformed monkey?" Sonic asked, suddenly sounding like he was going to punch someone.
"Huh... weird..." The lizard stared for a while more before going to the table, getting right to work. He began to mix various powders and liquids together, boiling them, sifting them, all sorts of things I just couldn't follow, until finally, he poured a highlighter yellow liquid into a small tube, stopping the top with a cork. He walked over to me and practically shoved the tube into my chest.
"Just a couple drops," He said quietly, walking past me. "This stuff is my strongest blend."
"Er, yeah... t-thank you," I mumbled, staring at the tube.
"Did you just say thank you?" Sonic asked. I quickly looked over at the lizard, who was looking back at me with an odd look.
"...are you waiting for an invitation or something?" I asked, trying to sound angry, "Get out of here! You'll get your Rings before the day is out!" The lizard sniffed a bit before nodding a bit.
"...weird monkey..." He muttered, smirking a bit, before strolling out of the door. I waited for a few minutes, making sure he was gone, before dashing over to the table, pocketing the tube as well as all the materials I could grab, then sweeping off all the beakers, burners, equipment, everything, off onto the ground, watching everything break and shatter. I bolted out of the room, sprinting down the hall and locking myself back into the detective agency. I hid behind a desk, taking deep breaths.
"Josh, are you ok?" Sonic asked urgently.
"Yeah, I'm good..." I replied, looking down at the tube of yellow... stuff. "Someone was trying to sabotage the game..."
"What'd you find out?" Sonic asked, sounding a bit calmer.
"I don't know... they made some kind of chemical, and whatever it does, it only takes a couple of drops," I replied. I pulled on the cork a bit, wiggling it out just a little to take a sniff. It smelled like some kind of fruit, but, since I wasn't smelling it directly, it was hard to make out... not that I really wanted to be taking big sniffs of whatever this was... I already felt a small buzzing in my head.
"Ok, come down here," Sonic said urgently, "I don't want you alone up there."
"Copy that, on my way..." I agreed, checking to make sure no one was standing outside the office, before standing and depositing the stuff I stole in a desk drawer. I made my way slowly to the office door, crawling just in case somebody was looking for me. As long as I stayed low to the ground and hugged the wall, no one would see me through the glass door, and the windows were placed in such a way they couldn't see much of the floor. I settled beneath one of the windows, taking a deep breath before peeking around to see if anyone was standing outside the glass door.
Someone was.
A pair of icy blue eyes stared down at me.
Okay everyone... so it's been a couple months. You're probably wondering what's been happening. I'll tell you.
This chapter. This chapter killed me.
I've rewritten this thing countless times, trying to figure out where in the heck I wanted to take this before finally deciding on this story line. And even then, I had to rewrite this multiple times to get it to a point I liked! It was frustrating. I didn't want anything to do with it some days, which didn't help either. And even now, I'm not very satisfied with the results of this, I'm just... RRRRRGH. Hopefully, things will be smoother in the next few chapters, and the next writer's block I hit won't be as bad as this. But yeah... this chapter was one of those cases where the idea I originally had just didn't pan out quite like I wanted. This was just gonna be a poker game, a la "007 Casino Royale," but... there just wasn't much there to work with. Then I debated doing a haunted casino thing, a murder thing, even a carnival thing like in the original, but... in the end, I decided to do what I'm about to do, which I'm a little excited for. I hope you guys like it!