Act I: AWARE

Chapter XVIII: Hole In The Earth

C.C.P.D. Main Precinct, Friday 8:25 AM

Paramedics lined the streets, news-reporters groveling for any information they could get.

This was one of the biggest stories to hit the city yet.

The police precinct had been bombed, and the number of casualties and injuries were still coming in. The number didn't matter though. The deed was done.

Someone had taken innocent lives. Lives that were just trying to do right by the city.

A case could be made that some of the victims were also corrupt – tied to the mob by whatever Sonic's dad's plan was being used for, but regardless of that – people died.

They lost their lives for the sins of his mother and father.

Sonic sat on the stairs, head in his hands as the footsteps of paramedics and other officers scurried behind him.

It was true pandemonium.

He denied speaking to any news reporters – he knew they were aware that he was the intended victim.

But he was still here, still kicking, and still reeling on.

Amy sat next to him, squeezing his shoulder suddenly with a smile.

"How you holdin' up?"

Sonic sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"As good as I can be at the moment," he replied, a dry laugh exiting his lips.

"The casualties aren't too high at the moment, but I'm not sure when the final numbers are gonna roll in. Either way – it's bad. This guy has set us back."

Sonic nodded along with Amy's words, considering them carefully.

He knew some more about the mob after his talk with Shadow, but what difference did it really make?

The only way to end this nightmare was to find this guy, and put him away for good.

There were roads that led to him, Sonic was sure of that. It was about finding those roads.

"What did you find at the Restoration building?" Sonic asked.

Amy sighed, clasping her fingers together. "Nothing, just a bunch of empty Zypothime cases and then – well, his show about how you were his next victim."

Sonic shook his head, facepalming. "Dead ends, dead ends, and more dead ends."

"Now he's not only a serial killer but a terrorist. Where is he even getting bombs from?" Amy asked pensively.

Sonic shrugged, lighting a cigarette. "It seriously beats me."

Tails trudged over, alongside Sally and Cosmo. "Final casualty number at 15 dead, 40 injured," Tails remarked, sitting alongside Sonic with a sigh.

Amy put her hand over her mouth, as Sonic opted to keep staring at the ground.

"We're gonna have to move our operations to the precinct on 5th Ave," Sally stated, tapping away on her watch.

Cosmo just stared off into space. Something occupied her mind.

They all continued talking, before Sonic stood up and made his way to the sidewalk – staring off into space while he smoked a cigarette.

He huffed a sigh, teaming with a cloud of tobacco that blew from his mouth.

Chatter on the left of him started picking up – Sonic's eyes gazing from his peripheral.

Vector and Espio were chatting with Knuckles, and Sonic was only able to make out one sentence.

"Geoffrey St. John was reported missing last night. Probably this guy as well. Seems he's retaliating for his failed kill," Vector stated.

Sonic felt a shudder creep up his spine. Seriously, another one gone missing?

Geoffrey was a city Senator, who used to be a District Attorney before running for the Senate and winning. He ran an abnormally well-funded campaign.

But now that he's been targeted next, it seems like his well-funded campaign was probably not as abnormal as he first thought.

Things seemed tense, but not as high-octane as last night. Silver and Blaze went to check on other precincts – while the core officers stayed behind to keep assessing the damage. Sonic only stopped home for a quick nap once – but even then he couldn't really sleep.

A call blared on Knuckles's radio. The code was one Sonic recognized, and it scared him to death.

Hostage situation.

Knuckles rushed into the van, pulling out a megaphone, flicking it on.

"Officers! We all need to converge at the courthouse, there is an active hostage situation with Geoffrey St. John. All units must report there immediately. Let's get going!"

Sonic felt his heart stop, his legs unwilling to cooperate. Tails ran up behind him, thumping him on the back.

"Sonic! Come on, we gotta go!"

Sonic only nodded hurriedly, following Tails as they rushed to their squad car.

Gaia, please – just have mercy on us all.

Mafia: Unknown Location, Friday 1:15 PM

Shadow had sat at his desk for hours. After the news of the police-station bombing, he was frozen in place.

He was just grateful Sonic made it all out alive.

Shadow felt his leg bobbing up and down, before forcing it to a stop with his hand, exhaling a deep sigh.

The door opened, Bark and Wave stepping through.

"Boss – seems your friend has taken a hostage today," Wave said, before placing the laptop on his desk.

News coverage had converged at the scene, and a remote-controlled camera was steered into the courthouse.

There sat Geoffrey St. John, duct tape on his mouth with a bomb around his neck.

No one was there holding him hostage except for the bomb that was situated on his collar.

Shadow sighed, closing the laptop and sliding it back towards Wave.

"Geoffrey will be good riddance. I did not care for him," Shadow said, glancing at Bark and Wave.

Bark nodded, arms crossed as he began trekking outside of the office. Wave waited for him to leave – before turning to him.

"Look – I dunno…how to start, but…"

Shadow raised an eyebrow.

"I found some files in one of the cabinets in our library here. I had never seen 'em before."

Shadow scowled, tilting his head. "What were they?

"Well – they were…old documents that Robotnik and Finitevus had drafted. I dunno why they're here but…they are."

Shadow stood up, walking around the desk as he grabbed the rose – slipping it into his suit pocket.

"What did they say?"

"I didn't read 'em – didn't feel like my place. They're in the cabinet behind the bookshelf on the left wall. I thought you should have a look," Wave stated.

Shadow nodded. "Thank you."

Wave smiled, as Shadow made his way out of the door, and down the left hallway to the library.

Left wall bookshelf.

Shadow sauntered over, pulling the bookshelf slightly off the wall where the cabinets were lined behind them.

Wave had left them on the top of the file-cabinets. He swiped them, stepping from behind the bookshelf and sitting in a recliner.

The divider tab of the folder had Rouge's signature. So – she read these, and she kept them here. Why she needed to keep them in the back, paired with Wave not remembering of them made for a suspicious case.

Shadow opened the folder, his eyes immediately catching the heading.

"ORDER OF BOUNTY."

So – this was Mafia documentation of a hit. They used to do this to keep track of funds, in case anything was to go south.

Usual enough.

"HIT ORDERED BY: DR. E. FINITEVUS AND MR. I. ROBOTNIK."

This was surely before he was running the other half of the mob. This was when Finitevus was still on the streets, and still in control.

Shadow nodded, and continued reading.

As he read, his eyes stopped. He felt his heart-rate quicken, his blood pressure spike. His eyes went wide, and fury began reeling across his entire body.

"HIT TARGET: GERALD THE HEDGEHOG."

Shadow's mouth hung open, his entire body beginning to quake with rage. Fury raced across his veins as his legs and hands began to shake.

"HIT PERFORMED BY: PREDATOR HAWK."

The guy who killed Gerald. He's in prison now. Finitevus is too.

His entire mission was to find these two. He found them.

But they were already rotting.

His purpose was ripped away from him. His chance for vengeance – gone.

He flipped the page – and all he needed to see was the description of the job.

"LOCATE AND ATTACK THE TARGET. MAKE THE DEATH AS QUICK AND CLEAN AS POSSIBLE. DO NOT KILL HIS TWO CHILDREN, MARIA AND SHADOW."

They lied. They lied.

They did kill Maria.

She did die.

They lied.

Shadow seethed with rage, his vision encased in absolute red. He felt his anger rising minute by minute.

"Shads?"

Shadow shot up, turning to see Rouge at the doorway – hands on her hips. She appeared passive, until that look on his face caused her expression to drop.

"Shads, what's goin-"

"Why didn't you tell me about this?" Shadow said, his voice coming out shaky and hushed.

"Tell you about wha-"

"THIS." Shadow hollered, holding up the paper.

Rouge stepped closer, reading the head before stopping. Her breath caught in her throat.

"Shadow, I-"

"SAVE IT. This entire time, you knew. You ALWAYS KNEW."

Rouge bit her lip, her eyes welling up fast.

"Shadow, I just – I didn't know how to tell you! You were so headstrong on your mission, and I-"

"THIS WAS MY MISSION."

Rouge stopped, nodding as her eyes zoomed down to the floor. She couldn't bring herself to look at him.

"All of this. Gaia, ALL OF THIS – was for THIS. THIS DOCUMENT RIGHT HERE."

"Shadow, don't you see! You already got your revenge. You got Finitevus locked up, Predator is rotting away as well on a life-sentence, you did it! You succeeded!"

"NO. THEY PAY WITH BLOOD ROUGE."

"Shadow, come on! Look at me!" Rouge exclaimed, grabbing his shoulders. Shadow opted to keep his focus lasered on the ground.

"Shadow. You have already won! Finitevus and Predator – they're gone! You don't have things to fight for anymore!"

"They killed her! They killed him! No life sentence in a jail-cell is going to change the fact that they killed them – and Robotnik was in on it too-"

Shadow stopped himself, eyes wide with realization and fury.

Robotnik was in on it too.

He was still out there – he took his plans for the factory. His factory that he was building for Maria. He put it under Maria's name for Gaia's sake.

Robotnik was keeping him from memorializing Maria.

Shadow slammed the folder across the room, a roar exiting his mouth as he did, before caving into the chair – face in his hands.

Rouge walked slowly, biting her lip so hard that she began to draw blood.

"Robotnik. He is still out there. He was a part of this. He always was."

Rouge nodded, her eyes trained on the ground.

"If I cannot get Finitevus, and I cannot get Predator…"

Shadow turned to Rouge, and for the first time in a while, Rouge saw absolute fury in Shadow's eyes.

"Then I will break every bone in Robotnik's body."

After those words left his mouth – Shadow returned focus to the floor, clenching his fists tight by his side.

Rouge sat down across from him, leaning over as she too stared at the floor.

"Shads – I'm sorry. I didn't know how to tell you. I didn't know I – I thought it would hurt you to know. I don't wanna hurt you."

Shadow sighed, fumbling for the fake rose in his pocket.

"I know."

Shadow wasn't lying. He did know deep down. Rouge was always his most trusted friend and confidante.

He knows she is looking out for him.

Shadow sighed, before returning his gaze to Rouge.

"Then – let's make the one person who can still pay…pay."

Rouge snickered, rubbing her nail against her chin.

The door opened, Jet and Storm trudging in as Jet held a card in hand.

"Boss – it's from your friend."

Shadow scowled, taking the card.

"TO SHADOW."

Opening it – he was greeted to a fairly normal Hallmark card, however one side was scribbled in code.

The other side…

"THE NEXT PHASE OF THE STORM HAS ARRIVED. SEND SOMEONE TO DELIVER TIKAL'S NECKLACE TO ROBOTNIK, AS WELL AS EMPTY CASES OF ZYPOTHIME. I WILL ARRANGE FOR HIS ARREST TO BE MADE PROMPTLY."

Shadow closed the card, throwing it to the side.

Deliver Tikal's necklace to Robotnik?

Send someone else to do it?

Fuck that.

Shadow would deliver that to him in person – and that was how he'd make him pay.

That is how everyone would pay.

Central City Judicial Courthouse, Friday 2:04 PM

The police had convened outside the courthouse. Charmy set Omega up, as the mech trudged inside.

Using the cameras on his eyes – they were able to assess the situation.

Geoffrey St. John had duct-tape across his mouth, a bomb situated on his neck as a phone rang over-and-over again.

Sonic stood by Knuckles, as they watched on the TV screen set up.

Helicopters swarmed overhead, news vans were parked around the scene – adjacent to swarms of police vans, cars SWAT vans, SUVS…

The whole nine yards.

Another television had the live news coverage of the situation – he could bet the entire city was watching.

Hell – there were citizens across the street standing outside filming, cheering on the killer, watching intently.

It was a madhouse.

"Charmy – how is the defusing kit coming along?" Mighty asked.

"I can't do much from out here! I have to get closer!" Charmy exclaimed, his head in his hands.

Antoine and Bunnie sighed, as Amy spoke to Sally and Cosmo.

Sonic watched intently with Knuckles and Tails, unable to rip his eyes away from the sight.

"I gotta go in there."

Knuckles and Tails whipped their heads towards him, shock and confusion all over their faces.

"Sonic, are you insane?!" Knuckles exclaimed.

"We almost lost you once, we can't risk that again!" Tails added.

Sonic shook his head, biting his lip. "Well – I'm obviously the one he wanted. If I had died, Geoffrey wouldn-"

"Did you say what I think you just said?" Whisper said, hand-in-hand with Tangle.

Sonic looked at her, grimacing.

"Like Tails said, we almost lost you. There is no world where we will risk that occurring. We can assess out here – and until we know that it is safe, then you can go in…" Whisper said.

"You know I always love you bein' a badass – but Whisp is right. You're much more useful to us alive and breathing, y'know?" Tangle added, with an infectious giggle.

Sonic smirked, shoving his hands in his pockets. "If you say so…"

Vector approached, hanging up a call. "Silver and Blaze are almost here. Since they're better equipped, I think we should send them in."

Knuckles nodded, "I agree."

"Then I want to go with them!" Sonic exclaimed.

"Sonic, didn't we just talk about this?! It's too dangerous!" Amy exclaimed, hands tight on her hips.

"They have powers, and gadgets and gizmos! They'll keep me safe! I have to go in…I just have too."

Sonic didn't know if it was his typical self-righteousness, or if he was just shitting his pants with worry.

Either way, the killer had wrapped him up in this – he had wrapped his family up in this.

There was no way he was going to lie over.

Behind them, a flurry picked up as the two superheroes landed, quickly walking up to the television sets to see what was happening.

Blaze sighed, as Silver shook his head. "My gosh…it never ends," Silver said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"We think you two should go in. You have the best chances of getting this done safely," Tails stated, earning nods from Vector and Espio.

Silver and Blaze looked at each other, a collective sigh from the two of them, before nodding.

"You have our help," Blaze said.

"And I'm going too," Sonic spoke up yet again.

Silver turned to Sonic, a slight smirk on his face. "You sure?"

Sonic nodded. "Deadly sure."

Silver shrugged, chuckling lightly. "Well, then I guess he's comin' too!"

Blaze rolled her eyes with a snicker, as Knuckles shrugged.

"Alright – then get in there you three. Let's save another life."

With a nod from Silver and Blaze, they began their trek inside, Sonic behind.

Opening the door, the lobby was empty – with one chair in the center that sat Geoffrey St. John, Omega whirring beside him.

Geoffrey looked up at them in terror – immediately mumbling incoherencies behind the tape.

Silver stepped up, tearing it off.

Geoffrey began breathing heavily, the phone taped to his chest continuing to ring.

Blaze looked at Silver pensively, before reaching forward and tearing the phone off his chest.

Holding it up to their faces, she accepted the face-call.

The trio were greeted by the same upside-down cross backdrop, heavy breathing entering the air.

Slowly, the side of the killer's face reached into view…yet still obscured by darkness.

"You came. All three of you."

Sonic stepped between them, scowling. "Who are you?"

"The one that got away…" There was a light snicker.

"Ah…me? I'm no one. I'm nothing. I'm just the tool to rip the mask off this filthy, disgusting city."

"What do you mean mask?" Silver asked.

"The secrets...the liiiieeees. All of it, so perfectly hidden. Tied up…in a neeeeat liiiittle booooow."

Another light chuckle.

"But we get to do it together. We get to watch it happen. I reached you by phone once…and I was sooooo excited to do it again."

"What do you plan on using to unmask this city next?" Blaze asked.

"Oh…you'll see."

Outside the courthouse, Amy approached Knuckles briskly.

"Knux, look at the news coverage."

All heads turned to the television, as the news-station was now showing that the killer…

Was livestreaming.

To 13,567 people.

"My Gaia. People are really watchin' this?!" Bunnie exclaimed.

"Now…say hello to the people of this city. My followers. They are here to watch this show! I may have missed my shot on the detective…but I had a backup plan in mind, and now?! They get to be a part of it too! Now…to my favored ones – the man that sits across from you – bomb on his neck? He…is dead."

Geoffrey began shouting, the panic finally taking up to him. The skunk shook in terror, as blood trickled from his head,

"Jesus! Can we please get someone in here to get this bomb off my neck?! This maniac is gonna kill me-"

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH. YOU DESERVE TO BE DEAD AFTER EEEEEEVERYTHING YOUUUUU HAVE DONE. DO YOU HEEEEEEEEEEEAR MEEEEEEE?!"

Geoffrey caught his breath, tears forming in his eyes. "Y-Yes. Yes."

Silver clenched his jaw tight, as the man on the phone began to laugh slowly.

Sonic furrowed his brow, his fist shaking at his side.

"I…am offering you a chance. I did not offer the others chances. I am feeling…merciful tonight, Mr. St. John. Now…I have always loved games. Codes. Those things…made me feel like I could leave the horrors of my life. The horrors of this world. I thought…maybe? They could bring that same comfort to you, Geoffrey."

"You…want me to play a game?"

"I do! A game! A fun, little game that will shoooow the city just how truly DIIIISGUSTING! YOU AREEEE!"

A jolt was sent through the trio at the killer's sudden shout – Silver instinctively grabbing onto Blaze's hand.

"Okay, okay. What's the game?"

"It's a trivia game! Do you like trivia games, Geoffrey?"

"Yes – yes! Yes, of – of course!"

"Peeerfect. Two minutes on the clock. If you don't solve all the questions…then? BOOM!"

Another jolt was sent through them. This man was truly manic.

"Are you ready, Mr. St. John?"

"Okay..okay. So – you – you want me too-"

"BEEP!" A loud siren went off on the collar, as the time started – causing a yelp from the skunk.

"QUESTION NUUUUMBER ONE!"

Sonic trained his eyes on the skunk, biting his lip hard.

Geoffrey paced around the room, phone in hand as tears began spilling down his muzzle.

"This was your first maaaajor job! Before you went to spread your cacophony of trash on the Senate floor! This is how you seeeerved this city!"

"Wait – wait. Can you – can you repeat that? Can-"

"District Attorney," Sonic called out.

"Huh?"

"Your first major role!" Blaze commanded. "You were the District Attorney!"

"Oh Gaia – District Attorney?!" Geoffrey asked the man.

"BINGO!"

Geoffrey sighed, saying a silent prayer.

"You were another proponent of juuuustice! Just like the late mayor, police chief and former D.A. – right, Geoffrey? Or…you were SUPPOSED TO BE!"

"Yes I – I was, I was!"

"QUESTION NUUUUUMBER TWO!"

Silver took two small steps forward, heart beating out of his chest.

"Since you weeeere justice, you may have something in common with Spike. He named a price, but you had a price too! What were YOOOUR rates to turn your back?!"

"My – my rates?"

"The bribes," Silver stated.

"Bribes?!"

"He's asking how much it cost for you to turn your back."

"Oh Gaia – you can't be serious…" Geoffrey muttered.

"1 MINUTE LEFT!"

"How much, Geoff?" Sonic asked.

"Nothing, I swear!"

"HOW MUCH?!" Blaze exclaimed.

"Uh – ten grand?! No – fifteen! Fifteen grand and I wouldn't prosecute certain cases!"

"Which cases?" Silver asked.

"He didn't ask me that – he didn't! That's my answer, fifteen grand!" Geoffrey exclaimed, as the killer loudly belly-laughed in his face.

"Ahhhh – you are such a weak, weak man! But you are playing along soooo well! Maybe I'll add a minute for your good sportsmanship…KIDDING. QUESTION NUUUUUMBER THREE!"

Geoffrey sniffled loudly; his eyes wide with tears.

"A certain plan in place helped YOU and soooo many other people of justice profit off of the CRIME that ran beneath this city! Can youuuu remember…the NAME of that plan?"

Sonic felt his heart drop, opting to turn his gaze to the floor.

"A plan that – gave us money off of crime? Wh-"

"Restoration," Silver spoke up.

"Oh – the Restoration plan!" Geoffrey exclaimed.

"CORRECT! Created by the late mayoral-nominee Jules the Hedgehog, which was then used by the mafia and the city's politicians in oooorder to PROFIT off blood, murder and drugs! You turned your back on cases that would have seen baaad men go away for a long time – JUUUST TO MAKE A QUICK BUCK?! ISN'T THAT RIGHT, GEOFFREY SAINT JOHN."

"Yes! Yes – it's all true. It's true!"

"You've played along so very well. It's time…for your fiiiinal question!"

Geoffrey let three tears escape, before biting his lip hard.

"You have proven your justice…to be veeeery select. You said something about a certain case? One that I didn't ask you? Well – the time has come. What is the naaaame of the RAT that you PAID TO PROTECT IN THE DR. FINITEVUS CASE."

"The – the what?!"

"The Rat! He's asking you for the name of the informant in the Dr. Finitevus drug bust case!" Sonic exclaimed.

Geoffrey looked at Sonic for a moment, before shaking his head.

"N – No! Absolutely not!"

Sonic, Silver and Blaze rushed forward, Sonic grabbing his shoulders.

"Geoffrey, listen! If you don't give that name, he's going to kill you!"

"It doesn't matter! Either way, I'm dead! If I give up that name, I have family! People I love that he will kill!"

"Who is he?!" Silver said.

"It doesn't matter! They're watching!"

"Who is they?!" Blaze exclaimed.

"L – Like Spike said! It's everyone! The entire city, the entire SYSTEM is in on this! They all have mob ties! Trust me – it's EVERYONE. We ALL paid to protect that informant so that we could bust Finitevus and use the Restoration plan to profit! It gave Shadow and Robotnik control of the city!"

Silver's eyes widened. He spilled everything. He had nothing left to lose.

"5! 4!"

"Gaia – please! Have mercy on me!" Geoffrey cried.

Silver stepped back, gauntlet's glowing blue. "Back up, now!"

"2! 1!"

"BYE BYE!"

With a click of the collar, the bomb exploded.

Silver sent a cyan hue in front of Sonic and Blaze, pushing his feet back across the marble floor as Sonic and Blaze were launched through the air.

Silver attempted to push back the flames, Geoffrey's screams drowned out in the noise of the billowing explosion.

Silver grunted, holding the flames still as much as he could, before his gauntlets began sparking.

With an exasperated roar, Silver telekinetically billowed the flames towards the ceiling – the impact throwing him off his feet as he too skidded across the floor.

Knuckles gasped, Amy's hand flying over her face.

Vector turned to the crowd of police and SWAT – pointing inside.

"Everyone! Get in there NOW!"

Espio nodded, rushing up the stairs as he led the crowd of officers inside the courthouse.

They trudged through the smoke, holding their arms across their mouths as they pushed inside through the haze.

"Sonic! Silver!" Tails called.

"Blaze! Guys, are you okay?!" Sally exclaimed, Amy shining a flashlight.

Sonic coughed, hoisting himself up as Silver crawled towards Blaze.

He shook her a few times, coughing wildly from the smoke.

"Blaze! Blaze, are you okay! Blaze!"

Amy rushed over, putting a finger on her neck.

"There's a pulse, she's alright! Just banged up – we have to get her down for examination!" Amy called.

Mighty and Whisper went to inspect the scene of the explosion, as Tangle, Amy and Antoine hoisted Blaze into their arms.

She began to cough lightly, eyes hazing. "Silv?"

"Hey Blaze! Love, it's okay! They're gonna get you checked on, alright? I'm right here, I'm not going anywhere."

She nodded, smiling as she grabbed his hand.

"Alright, we need to bring her to ze paramedic vanz," Antoine commented, leading them through the building.

Tails grabbed Sonic's arm as they limped, Silver following with a hacking cough.

As they exited the building, Sonic looked up at the helicopter's patrolling overhead.

He stopped, earning a look of confusion from Tails.

"Sonic? Sonic, are you okay?"

Sonic nodded, biting his lip as he held back tears.

"I failed Tails. We – we failed… Again."

Tails sighed, looking at the ground.

"But we won't give up. We won't rest, right?"

Sonic sighed, moving his eyes up as the police escorted everyone away from the building.

He always said never to give up – and even if he felt like giving up right now?

He wouldn't.

There was no way in hell that he would.