Good Morning!
Gatekeeper here again, hope you are all having a wonderful day.
I gotta say that last chapter hit me like a storm, I hope you enjoyed it.
Let's see what else is in store for us today, shall we?
Once again thank you all for reading this fic, if you have questions or want to see more feel free to leave a review or send me a PM!
Sincerely,
Gatekeeper
Chapter 16:
At the Royal Palace, when Agents Bluff and Ridge left.
Eggman pondered his current situation as he was escorted by the guards.
"Something's off, Agent Bluff wasn't expecting that reaction from the guards. A secret code, maybe? That means someone's here who's not supposed to be. Someone who is using this meeting between Sally and I to do something. I must stay vigilant."
He continued to walk down the hallway, but tried to take notice of anything that might be useful to know in case things turned sour.
All too quickly, he was brought before a door guarded by two other guards.
"Interesting." he thought "Not only a escort, but there are guards at the door? Someone is expecting trouble."
As he entered, he noticed that it was layed out like a informal meeting room. A table sat by a side while the center was commandeered by a set of two plush wing-backed arm chairs and a couch facing them, with a guard standing by near the wall behind it. A red-furred ferret sat in the chair nearest to the door, and upon seeing Eggman enter, he stood up and brushed off his black suit.
"Ah! Thank you, Gentlemen. Please, resume your posts." He waved to the guards at the door.
The two guards that had escorted Eggman stepped in behind him and took positions in the room, one behind the ferret and the other by the door.
The ferret strode up to Eggman and extended a hand, which he took.
With a vigorous shake, the ferret spoke. "Welcome, Mr. Kintobor I presume? My name is Jacob Xain, Minister of Defense. Please, sit down."
He waved a hand to the couch, and Eggman took a seat. He remained wary of his surroundings, and tried to consider more on what he'd found out.
"Minister Xain, I was led to believe I was meeting the Princess here. Was I misinformed?" Eggman asked curiously
"You will be meeting with her Highness here shortly, please rest assured that everything will work out for the best. For all of us. In fact, I'm glad that I was able to meet with you early as we'll be able to get some details out of the way." the ferret explained.
"Sounds like a wonderful suggestion. I am curious, however. I don't seem to have remembered making this meeting, would you inform me as to what the general reason was for calling me here?"
"Not a problem at all. You see, my position details the protection and defense of our citizenry and we've been having some... issues with a rising violence problem. However, I am unable to extend the full weight of my position because of some... restrictions that have been placed because of actions from the previous Minister. I assume you know who I am referring to, yes? Well because of him, Princess Sally has been required at any meeting I set up with an outside source along with other such things. It's really quite a hassle."
Eggman noticed the slight snarl the ferret tried to hide at the word "restrictions"
"Ambitious, are we? Reminds me of myself when I received the position of Minister of War."
"Of course, Minister. There's not a Mobian alive that doesn't know about War Minister Robotnik's betrayal." Eggman nodded
The ferret smiled. "It's interesting you phrase it like that, most would just call him Eggman, Mr. Kintobor."
"He knows something." Eggman thought "That was his proper title, it would be best to speak the truth about it." He shrugged
Jacob got up, and lightly dusted off his clothes again. He started pacing
"Funny thing, truth." He mused "It's very easy to obscure, if you know how to do it. But if you know what to look for, it's somehow always right in front of you in the end."
Jacob turned, and grinned a full toothed grin.
"Let's start with you, Mr. Kintobor. You're not really a Mobian are you?"
Eggman felt a chill go down his spine, but answered. "I am as much as I can be, without being born here."
"Oh, but you're so much more than that. Tell me, have you ever encountered a hedgehog by the name of Boss?" Jacob asked calmly
Eggman felt his lips go dry. "How do you know that, Minister?"
"Well, I should know my informants now shouldn't I? You did me a big favor by winning back at your second showdown with him, you put him right where I wanted him. And speaking of that, let's stop beating around the bush, Mr. Kintobor."
Jacob stopped right in front of Eggman, and stared into his eyes.
"Or should I say, Eggman?"
"He knows, HE KNOWS! How did he find out!?"
Eggman tried to jump off of the couch, and get out the door, but he was held back by two guards as they wrestled him back to the couch.
"What do you want, Minister Xain?" Eggman said coldly, tensing up as he felt the pressure of the guards arms increase on him.
"A lot of things, really. I'm quite greedy. Some pistachio ice cream sounds nice, A boat as well." He mused
Jacob motioned towards the other guard standing behind the chairs, who opened one of the nearby cabinets. After struggling a bit the guard came back with a bound figure in his arms, who he unceremoniously dumped into the other chair.
Sally Acorn sat, a look of pure rage and panic in her eyes, gagged and bound.
Jacob continued. "Oh yes, I'd also like for you to dispose of Princess Sally for me, would you? It would make everything so much easier."
At a home, on the other side of Mobotropolis
A figure lay spread out on the porch, his blue quills ruffled by the breeze.
Sonic was enjoying, finally, a well-earned sun-nap after his latest debacle.
"Man, and I thought taking out Egg-head was hard! I'm never going to mess with those constructions guys again! That concrete was WAY too difficult to get off my shoes."
A moment of silence passed, before his cellphone rang.
With a groan he got up and answered it.
"Hello?"
"Hello is this Sonic? I'd like to get two chili dogs without the chili..."
At the Royal Palace meeting room
"You want me to WHAT!?" Eggman roared "She's your Princess! What has she done to deserve this!?"
Jacob snarled "She's weak, and you know what exactly she did to deserve this!"
"What do you mean?"
"After all you've done; the lives you ruined, the kingdom you destroyed and the king you removed, her own father, and she does nothing to avenge us." Jacob spat
"She's relied on a fool and his friends to track down the most wanted man in the world. The best part? He doesn't even try anything, too! She's unfit to rule, too blind to see what's happening."
He turned to Sally for his next remark. "Too cowardly to do what needs to be done."
"What do you mean, what's happening? Mobius is currently at peace!" Eggman exclaimed
Jacob sighed. "...And here I thought you would see it, too. I guess you were too busy playing dead."
He pointed outside. "The humans. Have you read about them? Savages, all of them. They've been killing each other for thousands of years, and they are good at it. What do you think would happen, if G.U.N. disintegrates? They'd march over us like dandelions. We need a leader who can, no, who will be able to prepare us for anything."
He smirked. "And I happen to be the one best suited to do so. I'm doing this for us all. For the greater good of Mobius."
"Of course." he reasoned, "Seeing as how our greatest foe has happened to kill himself. Nice work on the cover-up, you had us all fooled by the way, no one would want to sacrifice to make us ready. But what if he came back? What if he managed to infiltrate our city, even kill the Princess? I'd be devastated, and would need to declare Martial Law in order to maintain the peace during the possible riots and chaos. I would just make sure the people remembered enough to never have to lift it again. So you coming to Mobotropolis was the blessing I always knew I needed. I really should thank you, but I don't need to associate to villains."
Eggman felt the back of his neck crawl a little, feeling a portion of a familiar energy starting to draw near. He glanced over at Sally, and knew she felt the same thing.
There was still hope yet, they just had to stall for a little longer.
"Ha!" Eggman laughed. "Don't give me that, Jacob. You know as well as I do what's really going on in your mind. After all..."
He stared Jacob in the eyes.
"...I was once in your shoes too. You think I don't know how you feel? How the bureaucracy and the politics are getting in the way of sound, ideal counter-measures? How easy it would be to fulfill all of your duties if you just had free reign? Because that's exactly what started me down the road to conquering Mobius. And it wasn't even me who started it! Tell me, how much do you know of the Minister before myself?" Eggman queried
Jacob shrugged "Not much, but I don't see how that is relevant to right now. Anything else you wish to add?"
Eggman shook his head. "Well, all I would say is the he himself already had plans to take over the Kingdom, so I'm proud you decided to carry on his legacy! Good for you."
Jacob snarled. "I am nothing like you or the previous Minister!"
Eggman raised his eyebrows and dramatically nodded over to Sally. "Says the pot calling the kettle black, Minister Jacob. You really should reflect on these things more."
Jacob sighed, and shook his head as he took two blue medical gloves out of his pocket, and slipped them on. One of the guards, also gloved, handed him a pistol and examined it carefully.
"Well, unlike your reign I wish to give you a choice, Eggman. You can work with me and I'll let you live in peace; or you can refuse, and you'll be disposed of along with her. Either way, I win. No one will drag us back into the hellscape you created, over my dead body."
He smiled, and said. "Well, those sound like some terrible options. I'll take number three."
Jacob couldn't help but laugh a little. "Ha! And what is that? Stop me? Like you can even move!"
"Oh, I never said it would be me stopping you now did I?"
The guards were outside were heard yelling something before a whirr sounded and the they heard the sound two bodies hitting the floor.
"Tell me Minister, how do you fight something that moves faster than your eyes can see?"