Chapter 9: Things Aren't What They Seem
March 6th, 2314 – 10:30 PM – Nosir Jail House, Rotisiv, Tneicna
"Well, you kids, I think we're done with you," a kangaroo dressed in a soldier uniform said. "You can leave now."
At the opposite side of the table he was sitting at were Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Carrie. They were sitting inside an interrogation room at the jail, and had been there for the last three hours just answering question after question about what had happened tonight.
"Ah...finally..." Carrie said with a sigh of relief.
Sonic had to agree with her. He absolutely hated having to stay in one place for too long. He had to keep moving around no matter what, and being stuck in one place for just a few minutes could drive him crazy. Three hours though... It had taken everything Sonic had to not scream and run right out of there. Tails and Knuckles seemed quite relieved at getting to leave the jail as well.
"Those British boys in the other room confessed a while ago to trying to kill this lovely wolf here," the kangaroo soldier said, looking towards Carrie. "You wouldn't believe how eager they are to tell us every crime they've been committing over the past couple days in Tneicna. The list they had for me is huge... I felt like a priest in a confessional booth in there. They've murdered several people, they've robbed many stores for supplies, they're carrying around lots of firearms without proper licenses, and the list just goes on and on..."
Sonic saw Knuckles smirk. Sonic couldn't help but grin a little too.
The kangaroo noticed their grins and said, "I've never seen anything like this in all the time I've been on the job. Two little kids took down two heavily armed men like it was nothing. And they're so afraid of you that they're telling us everything, even stuff they would have gotten away with otherwise. Because of Sonic and Knuckles here, we've solved quite a few other crimes we had no suspects for. Every soldier in Tneicna gives you their thanks."
"You're welcome," Sonic said.
"Can you answer me a few more questions though?" Carrie asked.
"Sure, ask," the kangaroo said.
"Did they tell you why they're trying to kill me, and who they're working for?"
"All we could get out of them is that their boss paid them to kill you, but they weren't told why you needed to die."
"Oh, I see... Well, I'm afraid that's nothing I don't already know."
"As for their boss's identity, they said his name was Blackie Sten."
"Really?" Carrie said, a smile spreading across her face. "Thanks for telling me that."
The kangaroo paused for a moment, and then he let out a big yawn. He stretched his arms out as he did it.
"Anyway, I think you four should go onto bed. It's starting to get late. I'm about to leave myself, cause my shift is about over. Come on, I'll lead you to the door."
The kangaroo took them out of the interrogation room, led them down some halls, and up into the front lobby. After the four of them were outside the door, the kangaroo said "Goodnight, all of you. Get some rest."
And with that, the door of the jail was slammed closed. There was the sound of a deadbolt dropping into place. Carrie couldn't wait to start talking as soon as they were alone.
"This is great!" Carrie said. "I finally know the name of the person who wants to kill me! Blackie Sten! I don't have any idea who that is, but at least it's a start to finding out why I've been marked for death for so long."
"Yeah, it sure is, Carrie!" Sonic said.
"It's amazing how just knowing that name makes this one of the best nights of my life! I might be able to put a stop to the assassins for good now!"
"Ahem..." Sonic heard someone say. He turned to look to see that it was Knuckles who said that.
"Speaking about those assassins, I'm sorry that I let them trick me into fighting you. I'm also sorry about just attacking blindly like that, without listening to what you had to say first. I hope you can forgive me."
"I can forgive you Knuckles," Carrie said. "Because of you, those assassins are behind bars, I finally know who wants to kill me, and I'm safe again! I am the one who should be saying thanks to you!"
"Well, you're welcome," Knuckles said with a grin.
"Hey Knuckles, what are you going to do now?" Sonic said, suddenly interrupting.
"Well, I was going to stay in Rotisiv for the night. Tomorrow morning though, I'm getting out of here."
"Want to spend the night with us tonight in the park?" Sonic asked.
"Yeah," Knuckles said. "I don't want to leave you tonight. You're the first person who's been able to match me in a fight in a long time, Sonic. Because you were able to do that, I am very interested in you. I need to talk to you more, find out how you got to be so strong. Maybe one day in the future we can have a rematch, without getting interrupted like tonight."
"Heh, you really want to fight me, don't you?"
"Yeah, but I'd also like to make up for me being so rash tonight."
"Really?"
"Yes. I think you'll all rather like what I'm going to give you..."
Six hours later...
Wallace and John were lying on planks of wood that served as their beds in their jail cell. John seemed to be sleeping okay, which was a surprise, but Wallace wouldn't have been able to sleep even if he was on the most comfortable bed in the world right now. They heard the heavy iron door closing at the end of the hall, followed by the footsteps of at least several guards. The guards finally emerged in view of the metal bars in front of their cell. They all stopped in front of the cell door.
It's the middle of the night. Why did these guards come to our cell?
"All right, you two," one of them said. "You're very dangerous criminals, judging from that big record you've built up in Tneicna recently. So, the higher ups have said that you need to be moved to a more secure location. Your transport is waiting right outside. Let's go."
One guard unlocked the jail cell, while more guards stepped in to put handcuffs around their arms and legs. Once they had been securely locked up, they started walking out of the jail. Wallace and John didn't argue or even talk, and simply cooperated with them.
A few moments later, they were riding in the cage on the back of a large motorized cart. Most native Tneicnan vehicles had to be either pulled by a team of Freedomians, or they had to run on a primitive steam engine. The cart was equipped with the latter. Two guards from the troop that had escorted them out of the jail were sitting up front, one driving the cart and the other riding shotgun. After about an hour or so, the cart arrived at what looked like an abandoned warehouse in the middle of the woods. Parts of the roof were caving in, and holes were in the rough stonewalls of the building.
"This doesn't look like much of a prison..." Wallace said to the driver. "Are you sure you took us to the right place?"
"Oh, don't worry, it's definitely the right place," the soldier sitting next to the driver said, turning to face him. He got a smug grin on his face.
They stopped next to the building. As they stopped, several people appeared from the building. They were dressed in black suits like Wallace and John, and they were armed with submachine guns. Trailing behind them was a somewhat shorter lion dressed in a dark blue suit. He had a walking stick with a golden handle. The other suits moved aside so he could walk to the front.
That's Dualian! This is a surprise, because he rarely leaves his cushy mansion back up in Cictra. This must really be important to him if he left his home.
The two guards let Wallace and John out of the cage, and removed their handcuffs. Dualian stepped up to them, an angry scowl on his face. Nothing good ever happened once he had that look on his face. He turned to the two guards and their steam-driven cart.
"You two may go," he said in his thick British accent. He pulled two envelopes out of a pocket inside his jacket, and held them out to the guards. "Here's the rest of your payment."
"Thank you sir," one of them said, taking the envelopes. "A pleasure doing business with you."
They got in the cart and drove off, leaving Wallace and John alone with the men in the suits.
"I went to a lot of trouble bribing officials to get you out," Dualian said, turning back to Wallace and John. "So, you had better have some worthwhile information for me."
"We do, we do, don't worry," Wallace said as coolly as he could. Inside his head though, he was frantic. Dualian would kill them in an instant if he got the urge to do it. "Carrie Strafer's trail is still hot."
"Really?" Dualian said back, a doubtful tone in his voice. "Where is she now?"
"Well, she should be in Baca Park right now!" John quickly said. "That's where her tent is set up! It's early in the morning, so she should still be asleep!"
"Thank you, my boys," Dualian said. "If we find her, you've made my trip out here worth it. If you're wrong though, you're dead. Roger!"
Roger, a black panther, stepped forward and said, "Yes sir?"
"Take a car and some men to Baca Park in the city," Dualian said to him. "If you find Miss Strafer, kill her and report it to me on the radio. Bring me the body as evidence. You'll never have to work again if you can complete this task for me."
"Right away," Roger said. He turned to the other men in suits. "You heard him boys, let's go!"
Roger and three other suits ran around behind the building. A minute later, they could hear the rumble of a car engine starting. A black SUV drove around from behind the warehouse. It looked just like the one that Wallace and John had before they got locked up. The car zoomed down the road back to Rotisiv.
Wallace, John, Dualian, and everyone else who stayed behind at the warehouse waited in silence for Roger's report for the next hour or so. There was a thick tension in the air, and it was especially prevalent around Wallace. In fact, the tension around Wallace was so thick you could probably cut it with a knife. He had good reason to be tense, because the report that came out of that radio would have a very big effect on the rest of his life. The same went for John as well.
Their boss had a really low tolerance for failure, especially when it came to hunting Carrie Strafer. Sure he offered more money than anyone could imagine for killing her, but there were dire consequences if you took him up on the offer and failed. And so far, everyone who had tried to kill Carrie hadn't been able to do it. Everyone who failed was not heard from again after that. However, it had sounded like an easy job at the time when Wallace and John had taken it. After all, the only thing they had to do was kill a ditzy wolf girl who hadn't even left her teens yet. That hedgehog and echidna had really complicated things though, and that had led to their failure.
When Wallace and John had confessed all those crimes at the jail, it wasn't entirely because they were so terrified of those kids. It was also because of their boss. They had just hoped that admitting to all those crimes would be enough to get them locked up in the sturdiest prison ever created. Instead, they had been put up in a crappy little stone building was guarded by nothing but several soldiers armed with swords, spears, and shields. That protected them from their organization about as well as a wall made of glass would protect them from thrown bricks.
The reason their organization was able to locate them so quickly was because of a drastic measure the boss took with those who chased Carrie. When Wallace and John had begun the operation, they had been implanted with tracking devices. This allowed their boss to monitor their progress. When he had noticed that their coordinates matched that of a Tneicnan jail cell, he had come running as quickly as possible to get them out. It wasn't for their sakes though. Their boss had only gotten them out of prison quickly to cover his own arse. He didn't want too much information about his gang being given away in interrogations.
The radio in Dualian's hand started spitting out static. Everyone leaned forward towards the radio, straining to hear the message.
"Dualian! Dualian!" they heard Roger's voice say.
"Go ahead Roger," Dualian said, his voice rising in tone from excitement. "We're listening..."
"That Strafer bird isn't here!" he said.
Wallace could practically feel the color leaving his face. A look of shock crossed Dualian's face as well, but it was quickly replaced with boiling rage. His eyes were starting to redden.
"What?!" Dualian screamed.
"There's nobody in the park except for us! We don't even see a tent anywhere! Wallace and John were wrong!"
Dualian looked up from the radio, and gave Wallace and John the coldest stare either of them had ever seen. Wallace felt like he was staring into the face of Death himself, only he was in the guise of his boss.
"Tell me, exactly how did you find out that Carrie had her tent in the park?" he said.
"We tracked her cell phone signal to Rotisiv," Wallace said. "Then we spotted her tent in the park when we got here. We've seen it before."
"What stopped you from killing her then?" Dualian asked.
"She had a friend with her," John said. "A blue hedgehog named Sonic Hedgehog. A fox named Miles Prower was with them too. Sonic defeated both of us before, like we said in our last report, so we tricked an echidna called Knuckles into fighting Sonic. That plan didn't work though. Knuckles found out about our plan, and so he teamed up with Sonic and defeated us again. We got turned into the cops after that."
"Wait, Sonic Hedgehog and Miles Prower?" Dualian asked, the coldness leaving his face. "The sons of Swift Hedgehog and Kyle Prower? The ones that were mentioned as missing on the news when Kyle was killed?"
"Yes, that's right," said Wallace. He was wondering why his boss didn't seem as angry as before.
Dualian's face warmed into a smile, and he said, "Fascinating...well, thank you for that information."
"You're welcome..." John said, his voice sounding a little more relaxed than before.
Wallace felt himself relaxing too. His boss seemed to be cheering up, so maybe that meant he'd let them live.
"However, I must still impart the penalty for failure," Dualian said, pulling a large, golden magnum pistol out of his coat and pointing it at Wallace and John.
Dualian didn't even wait for Wallace or John to respond in any way before he fired. He blasted John in the head with his first shot, sending him toppling to the ground with a bloody hole in his head. Wallace started to turn to face his falling friend. Before he could turn his head to look down at the body, Dualian fired a second shot. The bullet carved into Wallace's head so quickly he didn't even have time to register the pain. Blackness simply overtook Wallace's vision after the boom of the gunshot, and that was all.
---
As Wallace's body crumpled to the ground, Dualian calmly placed the golden gun back in its holster underneath his suit jacket.
These two may have failed me, but at least they have left me a trail to follow. I'll remember to try to get in touch somehow with Sonic Hedgehog and Miles Prower. Not now though, I need to get back to my hometown and deal with Blackie Sten. He'll kill our whole business with the way he handles things up there. One thing still bothers me though. Wallace and John were both so sure of Carrie being in the park.
If she's not there, then where is she? Where did she go?