Good morning!
Gatekeeper here as always, hope you all are having a great holiday!
As we begin this chapter, I want to extend my heartfelt thanks for all those who have read this story and continue to. I hold no illusions about my experience (or lack thereof) in writing but I cannot help but look back on this story and the previous with fondness.
I appreciate you all
Sincerely, Gatekeeper
Chapter 12: Of conflict, conspiracy and curious circumstance
At a certain alleyway, 1:45am
Boss was getting impatient, waiting for his target to come. He stood at the end of the alleyway, right next to the dumpster he had been restrained by at their last meeting. He rubbed his arm as he remembered it breaking underneath the strain of the robots hand.
"It's kinda weird being here again, not ta mention meetin' with Egghead too." Thought the villain. "I thought I would never see this place again, or leading my crew at all what with being in jail. Lucky for me that those big-wigs found me there. Now I get to end Eggman, get that girl AND walk away free! Talk about having your cake and eatin' it too!" he smiled evilly.
As he waited he started counting on his hands, going through a mental checklist. "Ok, so I've got Vanilla in the room behind me guarded by the big ol' brute that I was able to hire to watch over her. I've got four guys hiding in the rooms to the sides of the dead end with guns all loaded for the surprise and I have the EMP set up on the roof. That way even if Eggman doesn't want to take off his suit it'll still knock out anything he has, that stuff's set up to knock out enough equipment to send the city back to the Pre-Mobius days, all sectioned off to this tiny area! Seriously, I never would have guessed that people were so fed up with Sonic's antics at not finishing off Eggman to warrant this kind of deal, not that I'm complaining of course."
Just as he was finishing his notes he heard the walkie-talkie strapped to his waist start going off.
"What is it?" he growled, anxious for Eggman to arrive.
"He-He's coming, Boss. What do I do now?" a nervous voice answered back.
"Stay there till he comes, you meathead! When he gets close you just point him down the alleyway, then you can go. You can do that, right?" asked Boss exasperatedly.
"Right." said the voice glumly. "He's not gonna hurt me, right?"
"If you don't shut your trap and get him here I'm gonna be hurtin' you!" snarled Boss. "Just don't piss him off and we'll be fine. Now zip it and get him over here."
"Right Boss, I'll be quiet."
"Good. Let me know when he's entered. Boss out."
Down the street from the alleyway
"H-Hey! Eggman! Over here!" called out a voice.
Eggman looked up, steeling himself for a fight when he noticed a grey hedgehog waving to him. Checking his GPS, he noticed that the direction of the alleyway was also the same as where the hedgehog stood.
Moving quickly, he soon towered over the hedgehog. The Mobian grew very shaky and in a nervous voice said "B-Boss told me to tell you he's waitin' in there." he waved a hand towards a non-descript alleyway not too far from where he stood. "Just go on in, he knows you're comin'." Eggman nodded and brushed by him into the alleyway. The grey hedgehog whispered something into a remote before hurrying away, undoubtedly wanting nothing more to do with what was going down.
Eggman walked cautiously, being prepared for any ambushes that might spring up (literally) out of nowhere. As he walked down the alley, he spotted the entrance to the dead-end. He felt he was living back in the past, and was waiting for Clink and Clank to come barreling at him to plead for him to stop what was happening.
Unfortunately the only thing he heard was the last voice he wanted to hear.
"Hey there Eggsy! Took you a bit to get here. What happened, old age catching up to ya?" called out a cheerful voice. Boss was standing at the back of the dead-end, next to the broken dumpster with a smug look on his face.
"Always with the bad one-liners!" groaned Eggman in his mind.
"With you around it feels like my mind just became numb from hearing your voice, please refrain from talking in the near future." muttered Eggman. Boss laughed
"Glad ta be of service." smiled Boss.
Eggman shook his head. "Enough." he said coldly. "I've come as you asked, alone. Release Vanilla and we can finish this all here and now."
"I'm sorry, who's the one with the hostage here? Me, that's who. So we'll settle this my way." Sneered Boss.
"The rules are simple Eggsy, I want a real fight, just between us. If you win..." He motioned for Eggman to wait while he opened a door behind him, revealing a terrified Vanilla tied to a chair.
"Vanilla!" shouted Eggman
"That's right Eggsy you get the girl back. Plus, you get to throw me back in jail, so it's a good deal. And if I win, well, you'll be dead so I won't bother with saying what will happen to her." chuckled Boss.
"And one more thing. Take off the suit." commanded Boss.
"No." said Eggman.
Boss shrugged. "Well it was worth a try."
"You didn't try very hard…" thought Eggman
At that moment, Boss decided to reveal a small remote device, and pressed the big shiny red button in the center. A shrill whine was heard, closely followed by a loud whump as Eggman fell to his knees. Boss laughed heartily
"What have you done!?" cried Eggman as he struggled against his now dysfunctional suit.
"Me, oh I just pressed a button. However, you can thank some friends of mine for loaning me the EMP generator it was connected to."
"So that's why he didn't bother trying to convince me, he already had something to make me yield." thought Eggman cynically.
"I'll let you get up and ready for a bit. I do want to actually get this over with." said Boss.
"...fine." spat Eggman as he started getting out of his suit. A short while later he was free, though still peeved by the EMP.
"There, better?" asked Eggman sarcastically.
"Much" smiled Boss. He stood at the end, a little off to the side of the alleyway so that Eggman had a clear view of Vanilla.
Boss's face grew sharp as he snarled. "Let's finish this, come at me!" and beckoned Eggman to advance.
Eggman began walking forward, his speed picking up as he thought furiously.
"Even without my gear I still have some training in hand-to-hand combat, well what I had when I enlisted with the Overlander Army corps but it should do. I still have power and reach on my side but I should stay careful, I don't know what he has to been trained in."
He crossed the threshold of the dead-end, and started sprinting as he hoped to get as much power as possible for his first strike. Boss advanced carefully, looking ready to dodge any kind of attack.
Without warning Boss stopped and yelled "now boys!"
Eggman started to notice the very end of gun barrels sticking out of the windows on the sides of the dead end.
"So this is how it ends, I should have figured he was lying about that. Ah well, I did the best I could. Forgive me, Vanilla." thought Eggman.
Bright flashes and the sound of gunfire filled the alley until multiple clicks were heard. Immediately after, two loud thuds and groans echoed from the buildings. Two window panes decided to open and a familiar brown quilled head popped out from each one.
"Y'know Boss, you should really check people's work history before you ask them to join a gig. I shoulda told you sooner but now seemed good, don't you think Clink?"
"Couldn't have said it better myself, Clank. Especially when you threaten said people the last time they worked with you. Really puts a damper on the work-space atmosphere. Maybe you should take one of those seminars they offer at Metropolis Business Center?"
Ivo voiced his surprise "Clink? Clank? What are you doing here?" he exclaimed.
"We were doing a side job for Ol' Boss over here. He called us up and asked if we wanted to try and get into the gang by helping take down Eggman. He also said we'd get a hefty bit of money for it too." Said Clank.
He turned his head and looked at Boss, who was still shocked by the turn of events, before saying "Hey Boss we are still getting our cut right?"
"NO!" shouted Boss. "What did you do? You've ruined everything!"
"Us, oh nothing much." Said Clink with the flap of a hand. "Just switched out the mags so they shot blanks instead of lead. You wouldn't believe how cheap those are!"
Boss screamed his frustration before falling to his knees, defeated. "It's over, isn't it? I can't beat you three, not on my own. Fine, here's your victory. Hey newbie!" he called. "Let the girl go, your job is done."
A grunt came from the open door as a large brown arm extended to the chair, starting to cut the bindings.
Boss sighed. "Everything was planned out! There wasn't a thing I could mess up so bad that I would lose. And yet here I am."
Eggman felt a sliver of sympathy go through him at the statement. It sounded much like him, not so long ago.
"Speaking from experience, it doesn't matter how much you do, sometimes you just put the self-destruct right next to the execute button. It's like building a castle of matchsticks, it's going to fall down anyway." said Eggman quietly.
"I'd say you're right, If I was trying to make the castle last forever" admitted Boss
They heard the sound of the final rope snapping as Vanilla rose from the chair, eagerly getting up before dashing towards the door.
"I'm coming!" called Vanilla.
Eggman, feeling the rush of victory looked steadfastly at Vanilla. His gaze stayed mostly on her, almost missing the wide grin that began to spread on Boss's face. Almost
"Except that I'm trying to burn it down with me." said Boss evilly.
A shout was heard from where Vanilla was coming before a massive explosion rocked the very earth they stood on, flinging them all to the ground. Clink and Clank hit the walls, out cold.
"NO!" Cried out Eggman as he got to his feet again.
"Yes oh Yes Eggsy! It seems you just lost the girl! How tragic is that." Said Boss humorously
Boss stood with a pistol in his hands, pointed directly at Eggman. The room behind was engulfed in smoke and flame. He laughed maniacally.
"Did you, did you really think I was just going to let her get taken again? That I was going to let you walk away like it never happened?" He laughed again, sounding more deranged by the second.
"NO I WONT! I"LL TAKE YOU WITH ME!" And went to pull the trigger.
A distinct clicking was heard, but no bright light or loud crack signalled a bullet being thrown.
It seemed the gun had jammed. Boss screamed out a painful, frustrated anguish.
Eggman quickly rushed over, and with all his strength gave Boss the biggest hay-maker he could muster, instantly laying him out flat and knocked out.
He then rushed into the flames only to be picked up by a large creature coming out, it's hide charred and smoking from the room. He was quickly put back down and looked at his short-time captor. It was a bear, his hair a dark brown with patches and areas bleeding and burned by the explosion.
One that was distinctly familiar with his scorched flat cap and now charcoal black singed T-Shirt.
"It is good to see you again, Ivo. Though I suggest that we retire to your home quickly, something of this magnitude will not go unnoticed, no?"
Eggman couldn't believe his eyes. "Stone?"
"Indeed, Ivo. I guess tonight has been full of chance encounters were they not?" Stone said chuckling.