Act II: DESCENT

Chapter XIII: Faces In Disguise

C.C.P.D. Main Precinct, Thursday 9:34 PM

Sonic and Tails were alone in their office, not a word shared amongst each other.

The mania inside the precinct had finally settled down, with not a soul knowing that Knuckles was truly still alive.

In a few minutes, the pair would leave to scope out a possible mob drug shipment, hopefully it would give them some answers on Eclipse's whereabouts.

As the bell rang through the office, the pair nodded to each other – hopping from their seats and heading out of the backdoor, finding their car in the garage.

Sonic gave a nod across the way to Sally, as Antoine and Bunnie hopped in a separate car.

Fiona and Scourge took another patrol car, Amy and Julie-su taking the van.

Cosmo hopped on a police motorcycle, revving it on as she began peeling out.

There were no words to be shared amongst them – it was a painfully quiet night.

Sonic pulled out, flicking his lights on as he followed the convoy of police cars, keeping in an orderly line.

The line took them all the way to the steel mill, parking the cars in an uneven line as the force began to hop out – flicking their flashlights on.

"Alright, Sally, D'Coolette's – take the back side. Julie-su, Cosmo and Fiona with me through the front – Sonic, Tails, and Scourge around the left," Amy commanded.

"Roger – let's do it!" Bunnie exclaimed.

Sonic pressed a quick kiss to Amy's cheek, before leading his team around the left side of the mill.

Scourge whistled under his breath, flashing his light around the abandoned complex.

"Yo – it really was yesterday when we busted Cosmo and Mimic out here," Scourge spoke up, earning a dry laugh from Sonic.

"Sure was."

Climbing up the stairs, they pressed open the door, shining their flashlights down to the large, abandoned mill.

The machines sat untouched, dust specks flickering through the air.

"Anyone here?!" Tails exclaimed, shining his light – yet no response.

"I don't get it, there was supposed to be a mob drop here tonight…" Sonic said, rubbing his chin absentmindedly.

"Think we missed it?" Scourge asked, earning a sigh from Sonic.

"No – maybe we just got some bad intel."

"Sally? With bad intel? Not like her…" Tails said, shining his light towards the left.

Down below, Amy walked in with Julie-su, Fiona, and Cosmo, shining their lights below.

"Nothin' down here!" Julie-su exclaimed, as Sonic whistled from up top.

"Nothing up here either!"

Amy sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. "I don't understand. There was supposed to be a big drop here tonight!"

"Nothing but a dusty old mill. Bringin' back any memories, Cosmo?" Fiona asked sarcastically, earning an eyeroll from Cosmo.

"You weren't even there for that! Guess I'll never live it down though."

"What!? The time where you almost caught a body?! Nah, never living that down!" Scourge exclaimed from the top, earning a snicker from Fiona.

Cosmo groaned once more.

Sonic began hobbling down the stairs, shining his lights in the corners of the large room.

"Nothing. There's nothing!"

Amy sighed, holding her forehead. "Well, guess we should leave then. Maybe we'll get better intel next time."

"You're goddamn right!"

The voice caused them to turn, as three darts of electricity were fired into Amy, Cosmo and Julie-su's chest, earning yelps from them as they collapsed to the ground.

"Shit!" Scourge cried, raising his gun as he stood eye to eye with Surge and Kit.

"This ain't for you to be poking around! Gonna need you pigs in blue to leave!" Surge exclaimed, as Kit chuckled.

"We don't want to make this hurt," Kit added on.

"The hell are you guys?!" Fiona asked, her hand tightening on her gun.

"I'm Surge – and this is Kit. We work for Starline, and he wanted me to personally inform you all to stay out of his shit! Capiche?"

"Ah – lemme guess? Ol' Starline trying his hand at some vigilantes? Guess we should arrest you and maybe Eclipse will stop his madness, huh?" Sonic asked, resting an elbow on a machine.

Surge snorted. "Nahhh, come on! You know Eclipse wants Shadow and them!"

Amy hobbled up, pointing her gun at them. "Shut the hell up."

Amy began firing off her gun, causing the pair to dart behind machines, the rest of the group following as they began pointing their guns.

Tails walked past a machine, as a cloud of liquid sprayed in his face – the fox coughing as the toxic gasses soared through his nostrils.

"Gotcha!" Kit cried, leaping up as he sprayed Scourge and Fiona – the couple writing under the smell.

"Fuck was that?!" Scourge cried.

Sonic hopped on top of a machine, aiming his gun as Surge threw three darts of electricity at him, the hedgehog dodging them as he fired a shot at Surge – barely missing.

"Nice aim, shithog!"

Sonic chuckled, "You're funny! You sure you wanna work for a prick like Starline?"

"The pay's too good!" Surge exclaimed, planting a roundhouse kick to Cosmo, who was flanking her left side.

"Cosmo!" Tails cried, until a rope was tied around his ankles, dragging him across the ground.

"Not so fast!" Kit cried.

Amy growled, tackling Kit as she sliced the rope with her blade, pointing a gun at Kit's head. "Stay down, buttercup."

Kit hissed, Amy responding by pressing the gun harder into his skull.

"Don't worry, Kitty! Surgie's gotcha!" Surge exclaimed, blocking a right hook from Julie-su, pushing her electric glove into Julie-su's gut, stunning the Echidna.

"You sure have a lotta tricks!" Sonic exclaimed, watching as Surge rushed towards him, whipping a backhand across his face.

As Sonic stumbled back, he lifted his leg – the tenrec tripping over it, faceplanting into the floor.

Sonic hurried to grab her, until she fired a dart right into Sonic's chest – shocking him as the hedgehog yelped.

"Dumbass!" Surge yelled, hoisting herself up as she fired a dart towards Amy, though it hit Sally as she dove in front of Amy.

"Sally?!" Amy cried, earning a sharp chuckle from Surge.

"Whatta bummer!-"

Surge was silenced by a baton to the face, flopping to the ground as Bunnie stood over her – a harsh glare in her eyes.

"She's down!"

Sonic gasped for air, hoisting up as he grabbed Surge by the wrists, hoisting her up.

Outside the Steel Mill

"Look man, I don't know shit about Eclipse!"

Sonic was unphased, as the tenrec shouted at him from the chair her and Kit were tied in.

"Surely you know something. Spit it out, Surge!" Amy exclaimed.

"Look! All I know is Eclipse cut some deal with them! He said if he was able to kill Shadow and the rest of the vigilantes, he'd get some big stack of money!"

"It's none of your business anyways," Kit said, staring at the dirt ground.

"No, no. It is absolutely our business, buddy!" Julie-su said.

"What kind of deal are we talking here? How much was he promised?" Sally asked.

"I dunno man – maybe half? Around there? I don't fuckin' know!" Surge said, fighting against the restraints.

"Do you know where he is right now?" Antoine asked, his hand resting on his belt.

"No. None of us do," Kit said.

"And was there supposed to be some mob shipment down here tonight?" Cosmo spoke up, eyeing the pair.

"Yeah, but you missed it! We were sent here to retrieve it. Funny though, you're supposed to know where Starline is anyways, right?!" Surge asked, glaring at them.

"If you retrieved it, where is it?" Sonic asked.

Surge sighed, shaking her head as she used her head to gesture to the back silos. "We stashed it in the back red silo. You'll see it – the door is still open. Had to break for it once your dumbasses showed up!"

"Such a mouth on you! Guess we better check it out then!" Bunnie exclaimed, starting her path towards the silo.

Sonic and the group followed closely behind, heading towards the silo that had a door ajar.

"That one," Scourge stated, as Amy and Tails shined their flashlights towards it.

Sally held her hand up, stepping forward as she squinted, peeking around inside.

"It's…empty."

Cosmo poked her head in, her ear catching a faint beeping.

"Do you guys hear that?"

The group listened closer, and Sonic's heart dropped as the beeping grew louder.

"Shit! Shit, everyone get back!"

With a cry, the group fell back as the silo exploded, flames riding up the tower.

Soon, the rest of the steel mill's silos exploded, bombs going off across the steel mill.

"Shit, go, go, go!" Amy yelled, leading the group back to the cars.

Sonic turned to his left, seeing the chair that held Surge and Kit now being empty.

They had gotten away.

"Wait! Look in the sky!" Fiona exclaimed, pointing as flurries of playing cards were raining from the silos, soaring slowly towards the ground.

Eclipse.

Sonic swore he could hear the darkling's unhinged laughter.

"No time! Just get in the cars and get the hell out of here!" Julie-su exclaimed, hopping into the driver's seat of the van.

As Sonic and Tails peeled their car away from the site, Tails watched in the rear-view mirror as the entire steel mill began collapsing, explosions rocking the ground as the old, abandoned factory collapsed to the ground.

Sonic felt his heart beating out of his chest, his tires screeching as he stepped on the gas, revving the car quicker as the explosions minimized in the distance.

"Christ! Good Gaia – what the hell just happened?!" Tails exclaimed.

"Eclipse happened," Sonic spat, pressing on his radio to call the fire department to the scene.

"Was he trying to kill us? Warn us?"

"I don't know buddy – but he just destroyed an entire factory," Sonic said, keeping his eyes laser-focused on the road.

Tails shifted in his seat, his head in his hands as Sonic continued driving faster down the nighttime streets.

Unknown Location, Friday 12:04 PM

Shadow eyed one of his knives, turning it as he set it down on the table.

As he looked up, Jet, Storm and Wave were shutting the garages – putting as much of their belongings inside as they could.

Razor was working with Bark on the computers, deleting mass files that were on their programs.

Rouge opened the furnaces, turning back at Shadow. "Burn logs too?"

"Everything that can trace back to Sonic, Tails, Sonia, and all of them. Burn everything."

Rouge sighed as she shut the furnace door.

Silver and Blaze eyed their gadgets, soft somber smiles on their faces as they inspected the gadgets.

Shadow saw their expressions, sighing. "What would you two have me do? Have us do? People are dying."

"Endure, Shadow. We'd have you endure," Silver said, smiling at the black hedgehog.

"He's right, yanno! They'll hate you for it, but isn't that what the vigilante life is all about?" Rouge said, slithering to Blaze's side.

"We can be the outcasts. The ones who make the choices no one else could," Blaze said, eyeing the ground sadly.

"But – I guess we found out today what we can't do – which is endure this," Silver said, setting his gauntlets on the table.

Shadow shook his head, "We were all on board with this. What changed?"

"Giving in. That's what changed," Blaze whispered, staring off into the distance.

"We shouldn't give in, but I do know people can't keep dyin' when we can do something about it," Rouge said.

"Will this really make Eclipse stop?" Silver asked, eyes full of doubt.

"I don't know, but it's worth it to me to try. We can't have any more blood on our hands," Shadow said softly, shaking his head lightly.

"I've always held hope for this city. It may need us soon. What happens if it does and we're in a cell?" Blaze asked.

"I feel like we've got some pretty good connections over at the police department," Rouge said smarmily, fluttering her eyelashes.

"Worse may come to worse, but this is for the best," Shadow said, as he began walking towards the exit.

The trio followed him, and soon – they were followed by the Rogues, Bark and Razor.

As they walked, the lights in the warehouse shut off one by one.

Until the warehouse was dark and empty.

Central City District Court Building, Friday 1:15 PM

The room was crowded with press, as they all patiently awaited Khan's conference speech.

News crew were filming – ready to broadcast as the entire city was watching.

This was easily the biggest press conference in the city in the last three years.

Behind him sat the court judges, and across from the crowd was the crime force, all eagerly – albeit nervously, awaiting Khan's words.

Sonic held Amy's hand tight, resting against the wall.

Khan stepped up, taking his place at the podium.

Sonic's eyes flickered over to the group of cops, his gaze meeting that of Tails, Scourge's, and Cosmo's.

"Good afternoon, everyone," Khan began, standing proudly in front of the large building that looked out at the city streets.

"I've called this press conference for two reasons. Firstly, to ensure the citizens of Central City that everything that can be done over the Eclipse killings is being done."

The crowd began chattering loudly, sarcastic remarks launching throughout the room.

Sally sighed, stealing a look at the D'Coolette's.

Sonic kept his eyes trained on Khan.

"And secondly, because the vigilantes have offered to turn themselves in."

The room quieted down now, Khan cracking his neck.

"But first – let's consider this situation. Should we give into this terrorist's demands? Do we really think that he's gonna-"

"You'd rather protect outlaw vigilantes then the lives of the citizens?!" One reporter asked, earning agreeing chatter from the crowd.

"They are outlaws, yes. But that's not why we're demanding they turn themselves in – we're doing it because we're scared. We're scared of what happened three years ago happening again. We've been happy to let them clean up our streets until now – including that horrific election night three years prior."

"Things are worse than ever!" One man shouted, earning more agreeing clamor from the audience.

Sonic bit his lip, his eye flickering towards Tails who shrugged.

Khan stared for a moment, biting the inside of his cheek. "Yes, they are…"

He stopped again, his eyes moving across the room. His brow was furrowed, as his gaze remained hard and unwavering.

"But…the night is darkest just before dawn breaks, and I promise that the dawn will be here soon. I promise you."

Khan shifted, his gaze stiff. "One day, the vigilantes will have to answer for the laws he's broken, but to us. Not to this madman."

"No more dead cops!" A policeman shouted, earning an applause from the audience.

"They should turn themselves in!"

Antoine shared a look of fear with Bunnie.

"Give us the vigilantes!"

"Where are they?!"

Khan stared at the ground, his mind running with thoughts, plans, options.

He bit down on his lip, so hard it nearly drew blood.

He shook his head slightly, before a lightbulb went on – a cog spinning in his mind.

"So be it. Take the vigilante into custody."

The audience was confused, looking back and forth at each other.

"There are no vigilantes. Shadow and his gang have gone off the grid. I have taken Shadow's place. Take me into custody."

Khan held his hands out, earning gasps from the audience.

Sonic and Amy shared a shocked look, the hedgehog shaking his head.

"What is he doing?!" Amy whispered.

"I – I don't know?"

Three cops placed handcuffs around Khan's wrists, nodding to them as they began leading him from the building.

The crowd whispered fervently, shocked voices pervading as the police watched Khan be escorted from the premises.

"Are they seriously buying this? Is Eclipse going to buy this?!" Amy asked again, as Sonic rubbed her back.

"I – I don't know. I hope so."

But Sonic wasn't sure, only allowing his head to shake lightly as Khan was placed in the back of a patrol car.

Unknown Location, Friday 1:26 PM

Shadow watched in confusion as Khan turned himself in.

The vigilantes were dumbfounded – they had no semblance of an idea as to why Khan had sold himself as the sole vigilante of this city.

What statement was he making?

Rouge scoffed, stealing a look at Silver and Blaze as she left the room.

Heading out the main door of the building they were in – a black car pulled up, stopping as Sonia stepped out.

"Sonia?"

Sonia shook her head, her eyes peering into Rouge's.

"Why is Shadow doing this? Why are you all letting Ken take the fall for this?"

Rouge sighed, shaking his head. "Sonia, we had no idea he was going to do that. Seriously, we spent the last two hours clearing everything we had out. We completely intended to turn ourselves in."

Sonia scoffed a chuckle, staring at the floor as she crossed her arms.

"But…maybe both think this whole 'vigilante' garbage stands for something more than a terrorist. Maybe…they're making a sacrifice, even though everyone might hate them for it."

She shook her head, tapping her foot.

"Maybe Kenny is elevating it above what a 'hero' is."

"You're right," Sonia started, "Because letting Ken take the fall for this isn't heroic at all!"

Rouge nodded, clicking her tongue as she stared off at the distance.

Sonia sighed, fishing in her purse. "You know Shadow better than anyone else, right?"

Rouge smirked, "I do."

"Will you give this to him when the time is right?"

Sonia handed Rouge an envelope addressed to Shadow, the bat eyeing it.

"How will I know when the time is right?"

"Well…it's not sealed."

Rouge chuckled, inspecting the note as she slipped it into her back pocket.

"You got it, Ms. Hedgehog."

Sonia smiled, wrapping Rouge into a hug. "Bye, old friend."

Rouge sighed, shooing Sonia back to her car.

"See you when I see you."