Act I: AWARE
Chapter VI: Demon Days
Top of Nightfall Tower: Wednesday, 10:53 PM
The night was cold and helplessly dark.
The moon was obscured by thick clouds, though the stars shone through brilliantly.
It was a typical night in Central City – foggy, cold, yet a sense of serenity was still lingering in the air.
Nazo hoisted himself to the roof of Nightfall Tower, landing in a bend of the knees. He gazed at the stars, chuckling to himself.
He took a deep breath. Turning his attention to the figure obscured by the shadows, he took some careful steps forward.
"The detectives visited me today. Brought me the Zypothime." Nazo said, the figure ahead of him snickering under their breath.
"Is that so?" the voice spoke.
Nazo nodded, crossing his arms as another chuckle escaped the figure's mouth.
"Looks as if it served its purpose," the voice replied.
Nazo shrugged, opting to return his gaze to the stars.
"They're going after Shadow now. Who knows if they'll find him?"
"Maybe it is your best interest that they don't?" the voice responded.
Nazo tilted his head, taking a few more careful steps forward. "And why is that?"
"One dark road leads to another." the figure replied. "It will only be some time until they begin to suspect you as well."
Nazo scoffed, placing a foot on the ledge of the tower. "They are not as smart as everyone thinks that they are, and even then, I have played no part in this."
"Ah – but you have. Even if you did not commit the offense, your hand is still on the occurrence. Besides, you have escaped prison once again. Surely, when the news of your recent breakout hits their ears, you will be on their radar."
Nazo scowled, staring into the shaded figure.
"I know how to sneak around. I can go undetected, like always."
Nazo, for all his experience in remaining unseen, it was understandable his ego would be high. For as many times as he was put behind bars, he would simply break out again.
Like clockwork.
The figure began to approach slightly, though the shadows still obscured him from vision.
"Are you foolish, Nazo? The time for all of us to be obscured by shadows of doubt will pass soon. The reality of Tikal's death will be revealed in due time. Maybe not to the pair of detectives, but to you? Or – perhaps to someone else."
The figure began to hover, some light shining on their dark furs.
"Your misdeeds and wickedness will shed to light. It happens to every one of us."
Nazo crossed his arms, staring at the hovering figure. "Are you challenging me?"
The figure simply chuckled, hovering back to its original position. "I would not dream of such a thing. This is no time for challenges anyway. There are already many obstacles in our paths."
Nazo felt the moon's beams shining onto his back. He turned to the sky, looking at its radiance piercing onto the rooftops.
"I do not know the detectives next move. I recommend being more careful."
The figure scoffed, hovering to the edge of the tower, underneath a makeshift ceiling.
"Advice unneeded, however I thank you. I know my next moves from here."
Nazo scoffed, tilting his head. "What would those moves be?"
The figure turned to look over its shoulder, a light laugh escaping their muzzle.
"Now – you should know I am keen on surprises."
The figure fell from the tower, as Nazo hopped to the ledge. Looking down, he knew that the figure had vanished to parts unknown.
His typical drama.
Nazo smirked, before dashing across the ledge, hopping to nearby roofs, in search of his next assignment.
C.C.P.D.: Wednesday, 6:20 PM
"So, you're telling me that you believe Nazo used YOUR security card to escape?"
Sonic and Tails could only stare blankly at Knuckles, who's grim face bore into the pair.
Sonic swallowed, before sighing. "It's likely, boss."
Knuckles buried his face in his hands, a sigh cutting through his gloves.
Tails tapped his foot, opting to stare at the floor. Were they going to be in trouble? Was this entire thing a bust?
Did Nazo only use us to get out of the prison? Was EVERYTHING he said a lie?
Questions kept popping up in his mind. Everything was starting to crumble right in front of them.
And, for Gaia's sake, they had JUST gotten started.
"We will see if Nicole can track the ID number on the card to it's location. Given if Nazo still even has it, or if he even has it at all. You sure it's not in your car or something?"
Sonic shook his head, resting his cheek into his hand. He felt like Gaia was just laughing at him from above.
And with good reason – everything they had done so far had been a bust.
"Well – it's not a shock to me that Nazo could have possibly swiped your card. Hell – maybe it fell off and that's how he managed to get his hands on it. I don't know – but what I do know is – after this, I'm gonna say we don't pay any more visits to him."
Sonic nodded, taking a drag from his cigarette.
The door opened, as none other than Scourge the Hedgehog walked in,
"Hey guys. So – I took some liberty on goin' down by the tailor shop. I hope that's alright with you."
"Well – while we would save that for official officers, I do appreciate the inititave." Knuckles spoke up to the street-thief.
"Alright – well, I took some pictures of the inside."
He handed the phone to the detectives, who began swiping through the images.
"Agh – wait. Don't swipe that far back."
Sonic looked at Scourge, a snort escaping his mouth as he swiped back in the next direction.
"Huh. These are great, Scourge! I can see a lot of good vantage points into the basement."
Tails smiled, looking up at the Sheriff's pleased expression as Sonic spoke.
Scourge rubbed the back of his neck, smirking. "Ah – thanks, man. Tried my best."
Knuckles cleared his throat, looking up to the green hedgehog.
"Scourge – before you started, well, breaking and entering and stuff, had you ever considered joining the police force?"
Scourge felt all the eyes in the room on him. His eyes peeled back, as he glanced around nervously.
"Well – uh. Guess not, no."
"Hm. Alright, then."
Scourge pursed his lips, raising an eyebrow. You're asking the dude who robs and vandalizes for a living if he ever considered joining the force who dedicated their lives to stopping people like him?
What is that logic?
But it made sense in a way. Scourge was a natural at finding stuff out – and while his motives may not be the most noble, they sure were helpful.
Sonic smirked, handing the phone back.
"Well – with all that being said, I think we can go down there tomorrow night. We'll need to acquire a warrant first, then head on over."
Knuckles nodded, before raising an eyebrow. "Who owns that place anyways?"
Scourge tilted his head. "Uh – well, it's that Oswalt guy, right?"
"No – he passed away, but someone bought it out."
Knuckles said, scanning through the information on the Internet.
He stopped, his head tilting to the side, catching Tails glance.
"What does it say?"
Knuckles scowled, as he grunted a bit under his breath.
"It's under Ashton. Tikal's fiancé."
Mafia: Unknown Location, Wednesday 9:02 PM
The door to Shadow's office swung open.
The sound of heels clicking approached his desk, knocking Shadow out of his stupor.
"You need to see this, Shadow."
He looked at Rouge, as she slid a newspaper across his desk.
As he read, he could feel his annoyance rising through his entire body.
"So – the church was attacked by Bean and Nack. Lovely."
He chucked the newspaper across his office, leaning back in his chair with his head in his hands.
He is continuously one-upped by Robotnik. Everywhere he looks, this imbecile is getting the upper hand on him.
He could only muster out an exasperated sigh, his fingers thudding into his forehead.
"The good news is the pair are in custody. Their sentencing will be coming soon. They'll be down two members." Rouge said, taking her place across his desk.
Jet was tossing a stress-ball up and down, as he cocked his eyebrow towards Shadow.
"Well – with two outta the way, sounds like that could be a good opening to start raiding through his places of operations."
Storm grunted in response, reclining in the chair across from Jet.
Shadow stared at the hawk, before he began sorting through the files that Bark had managed to grab.
As his eyes panned carefully over the list, his finger landed on one spot in particular.
"This one will be first. I remember hearing of this one, and it seems like many of Eggman's more secretive projects are held here."
Rouge hopped up, making her way around the desk. Leaning over, she followed where his finger was leading.
"This one, huh? How can you be so certain?"
Shadow shrugged, a sigh escaping his lips.
"Even if we're wrong – we have to start somewhere. From what I have heard, this will be one of the easier places to start. It is not that heavily guarded."
Jet and Storm trudged over, leaning over the desk. Grins plastered on their beaks.
"Alrighty, boss-man. Guess we better get to plannin'."
Rouge smirked, as she read the name of the spot they would soon be breaking into.
Oswalt's Tailor Shop. 808 Ocasio Street.
Central City Jail: Wednesday, 11:48 PM
Nack and Bean sat in solitary on either side of the wall.
They received their charges earlier today, and now?
Just sit and wait until the sentencing.
At this point, there was not much hope for either of them.
Bean was scratching his hair, while Nack laid sideways on the bed, his boots resting up against the wall.
Nack could feel the blood rushing to his head as it hung off the side of the bed.
He bit his tounge, scowling at the ceiling.
"Guess we just sit here and wait 'till we find out how long we rot for."
Bean scoffed, rocking back and forth against the wall.
"They'll have all the fun showing Shadow whose boss, meanwhile we'll be stuck behind metal bars. How fair is that?"
Nack couldn't agree more. Sure – they knew their actions would have consequences, but honestly? Who cares.
They weren't TRYING to kill innocent people. Just sending Shadow a message was all.
And he hoped that the hedgehog got their message loud and clear.
Their thoughts were quickly interrupted by a blast in the wall – sending the weasel and woodpecker slinging over towards the door.
The blast concussed their senses, both stumbling up – seeing the whole in the wall through blurred vision.
Standing there was Metal, as he approached them through the wall.
Nack was ecstatic – seeing that Eggman didn't leave them high and dry.
Infinite approached, arms crossed as he gazed through his mask.
"Let's go. Ivo has sent us to retrieve you. We must break for it now."
