No matter what part of Toontown you were in, there was always some volume of noise. Chaotic, beautiful, yet harmonic noise. Amongst all the honking cars, wandering pedestrians, and screaming drivers because some numbnut decided to get into a car crash and make everyone late for their jobs, there was always a sort of rhythm to it. An unspoken song that ran down the streets, rounded the street lamps, and barged its way into as many windows as possible. All in all, the noise was considered part of a normal Toontown day.
What WASN'T normal to be heard was enraged screeches coming not from Toontown itself, but from a different location entirely.
At SEGA of America's headquarters, employees and staff cowered in their offices. Any out in the open quickly scampered down the halls to get away from the horrific noise as fast as they could. Behind one particular door, one colored light gray with a plaque reading "Meeting Room," anyone and everyone, no matter what floor they were on, could hear the commotion. There were roars, shrieks, and screeches of nothing but pure rage and profanity that would make even the denizens of Hell do a double-take. Employees nearby winced and shrunk back at the sheer volume and ferocity of what was being said. Only a handful of words could be made out, as it sounded as though there was more than one voice in there screaming, all a mixture of males and females overlapping and talking over each other. One jittering intern, at the sound of a chair being thrown against a wall, jumped out of his skin and dropped the small pie of papers and coffee he was holding. He quickly picked up what he could and scrambled away, discarding the coffee completely.
Outside the meeting room sat Orbot and Metal Sonic. The Eggman lackey flinched every time he heard something break, while the metallic hedgehog just stood with their arms crossed. Though he didn't showcase a lot of emotion, Metal Sonic still managed to look mildly annoyed. Especially when Orbot huddled close to him. A few times the robot glanced at the door, looking what some would describe as surprised.
A little ways away came two of their past co-workers, NiGHTS and their sibling Reala. The latter kept an eyebrow raised while the other held a look of surprise as they headed closer towards the two badniks. Once they reached the door, they both jumped when a female voice screeched a stream of profanity, followed by something large and wooden collapsing.
"Cheez-its!" NiGHTS exclaimed.
"It's 'Jesus' you idiot," Reala corrected, rubbing their head.
Another stream of profanity and screeching caused Reala to look up. He spotted the red orbular robot and floated towards them.
"O-Oh! Mr. Reala!" Orbot exclaimed, turning to the red nightmaren, "Mr. NiGHTS. a pleasure seeing you again."
"Cut the formalities, tiny robot, and tell us just what the hell is going on in there?" Reala growled, "I can hear this commotion all the way down on the first floor!"
The group turned to the door when they heard the terrified shriek of someone followed by the enraged screams of others and something electrical being crushed. Orbot nervously rubbed his hands together and turned to his two old co-workers sheepishly.
"Ah, th-that. Well, you see…" he winced again when someone on the other side screeched.
"It's...Erm… a private meeting."
"Private meeting about what?" NiGHTS asked curiously.
Orbot was about to answer them when they all heard-
"FUCK! AND! YOU!"
Orbot yelped and jumped into Metal Sonic's arms while NiGHTS hid behind a surprised Reala. They then heard heavy items being thrown through glass. This was followed by the more distant sound of items, something the size of a table, crashing to the ground below. They could hear the honking of cars and the terrified screams of pedestrians. A few others nearby froze in place, staring at the door with wide eyes. Anything they might've been holding or doing was immediately forgotten.
The commotion had finally quieted down to nothing but silence, and everyone wanted to see what would happen next. The gray door was sent flying off its hinges, landing right into the wall on the other side of the room. Once it made contact with the wall, the door became nothing more than a pile of painted wood. The four and many employees whipped their heads towards the now opened meeting room. Out of it walked a fuming Sonic the hedgehog, Tails, Amy Rose, Knuckles, Rouge, Silver, Blaze, Eggman, and finally Shadow. The black hedgehog was gripping onto a black handled ax, but once he stepped out of the office, he threw it across the room in the direction of the door. The ax spun and spun, but once it reached the wall, only the top point of the blade stuck into it.
"W-w-where's the-"
"With any luck, buried six feet under rubble and concrete," Sonic snarled dangerously, briskly walking past the confused and frightened circular robot.
The blue hedgehog's emerald green eyes were a blaze with fury, while his fists remained tightly clenched to the point where they were shaking. His quills remained stiff as he moved while his ears were slightly bent back.
The rest of his friends were no better off. Blaze's purple tail lashed and whipped the air, while her ears flicked irritably. Her arms remained crossed, claws threatening to poke through the fabric. Beside her, Amy looked ready to murder someone, quills so stiff they didn't even move when she walked. She gripped her piko piko hammer tightly, a low growl emitting from beneath her throat. Tails was just behind her, and his namesakes and fur were fluffed out to twice their size. His soft, sky blue eyes seemed to burn with surprising levels of hatred that unnerved people he walked by.
Knuckles looked ready to punch someone, but from the tiny droplets of crimson his fists, he already had. His amethyst eyes were practically on fire while his arms shook subtly. Beside him, Rouge looked even more furious, ears folded back and arms crossed. Silver stayed on the other side of Blaze. A cyan glow could just barely be seen around his hands. He looked just as furious as his co-workers, much to the surprise of many around them.
Shadow, by far, looked the most furious. His ebony fur was surrounded with a red glow, and his quills were stiffer than the other hedgehogs.' Chaos energy crackled at the tips of his gloves as he walked. His crimson glare was so intense, some feared if he looked at something long enough, it would burst into flames.
The group of animals stormed out of the area, heading straight for the elevators. Anyone who saw them coming immediately dashed out of the way, giving them as much room as possible.
Eggman was the last to remain by the room. The round man ran a hand over his smooth, bald head before testing the movement of his hands.
"B-boss…?" Orbot stammered.
Eggman glanced at his lackey briefly before letting out a snarl. Without a word, he stormed down the hall, not looking back to see if his robots were following. Reluctantly, both badniks caught up to their creator silently, not even glancing at the bewildered stares of many employees.
"When we get back I'll be doing personal maintenance on ALL of my egg mechs," the doctor began gruffly, "so you have the rest of the day off, and probably a good portion of tomorrow too. If you go out, just make sure I don't find out and be back by morning. And prepare my morning meal and dinner before you go. Metal, it's your own death wish if you wanna challenge Sonic at a time like this. Whatever you choose to do, do it out of my sight."
And with that the main money-makers of SEGA left the building, but what they left behind was a tense and confused atmosphere. Along with two very confused Nightmarens.