Chapter 2: Gathering of Friends

September 1st, 2316 – 4:30 PM – Nedlo, Tneicna

Sonic and Tails would have used the Tornado biplane to reach the tournament, but unfortunately it had been blown up by Robotnik during the last battle with Metal Sonic. So, in the months since then, Tails had constructed a replacement plane he called the Tornado 2, painted blue and yellow instead of red and silver. All in all, the new plane was a much smoother and faster ride than the old one, but Sonic felt rather sad over losing the old Tornado. It was one of the last mementos he had of his late father Swift. There wasn't much of anything left of his dad now.

Regardless, they were now using the Tornado 2 to reach the festival, with Sonic riding on the wing and Tails flying, as usual. The long flight really grated on Sonic's nerves, since he had to keep moving, and he couldn't do that on this plane. At long last though, Nedlo emerged into view.

"All right!" Sonic cheered. "We're finally here!"

"The capital city of Tneicna," Tails said, smiling. "And the place where they always hold the Grakoran Tournament."

Sonic sighed.

"Too bad it looks like everyone else on the planet had the same idea as we did for a vacation. Look down below."

Literally tens of thousands of tents stood in the fields and forests surrounding the city, all of them easy to spot due to their bright colors contrasting with the dark greens of the foliage. The entire area around Nedlo looked like a virtual tent city from here.

"Well this is a big event Sonic," Tails said. "I mean, they only hold the Grakoran Tournament once every ten years, and it's a huge celebration for the entire planet. So of course tons of people would be here. I've read about it in books and stuff."

"Pssh...whatever," Sonic muttered, shrugging. "Still doesn't stop it from being annoying."

"It's still amazing to look at though, isn't it? The real thing is nothing next to pictures in books."

"Yeah it is Tails..." Sonic said, gazing out across the fields of tents and the huge city beyond. "You know, my parents brought me to this when I was five, but I was too little to remember a lot of what happened. This is pretty much a new experience for me."

"Well...since we're up in the air right now, think you could try to look for a good camping spot?"

"Heh heh, no need Tails," Sonic laughed. "Carrie's offered to let us stay with her while we're here."

"Carrie?" Tails asked, his voice laden with happiness. "Really? I can't wait to see her!"

"Yeah...it's been months."

Two years ago, Sonic and Tails had befriended a white wolf named Carrie Strafer. However, at the time there had been two gunmen trying to kill her. With the help of Knuckles, who they'd just met at the time, they managed to capture the two of them at Rotisiv, Nedlo, before they could carry out their contract. Afterwards, the police had taken care of them, but the two gunmen mysteriously vanished from the jail that night, never to be heard from again. It sometimes worried Sonic to think that they might be hunting for Carrie again, but since nobody had heard a peep from them in two years he didn't worry about them anymore.

Anyway, right now Carrie lived and worked at the Brenbar Inn, which was in Nedlo. She worked as a maid who cleaned the guests' rooms, and sometimes Sonic and Tails dropped by to see her.

"Thank goodness Carrie works at that hotel," Sonic said with a grin. "It's a lot better than sleeping outside the city, and not to mention we won't have to travel as far to reach the stadium."

"I know," Tails answered, grinning too.

A few minutes later, the Tornado 2 landed at a makeshift dirt airstrip outside the city, which looked like it had been set up only recently. While the landing had been rough on the packed-down dirt, it was nothing compared to trying to navigate through the madhouse that was the temporary airfield. A lot of people had come this year in their own personal planes, and this place hadn't been designed to hold all of them.

Sonic watched as Tails nervously chewed his lip every time the Tornado 2 came close to hitting another aircraft, while they taxied through the airfield. Finally though, Tails managed to find a parking spot in an overcrowded hangar. The hangar too was also temporary, because it was nothing more than a large tent that looked like it had been hastily assembled only a little while ago.

"I'm glad that's over," Tails declared, killing the plane's engine. "This has got to be the worst airport ever."

"Eh, you can't blame them," Sonic replied. "They only just set it up for this tournament. You know how Tneicnans don't like humans and human machines."

"Yeah…"

Normally, the people of Tneicna shunned human technology as much as possible, since they had feared the humans ever since they arrived on the planet more than a hundred years ago. Around the time the Grakoran Tournament is about to start though, people from all over the world (including technology-rich areas) come to Nedlo. So the Tneicnans temporarily put aside their fears of technology to accommodate people from the other modern nations. One of the things they did this time was set up this rickety airport, according to what Sonic had heard about this festival. After getting their bags out of the Tornado 2's cargo hold, they paid for their parking spot to a nearby attendant. Next, they walked out of the airfield and into the city a short walk away.

If the airport had been a madhouse though, the city was a full-blown riot. The streets were packed to the gills with people, and it was hard to move around with their luggage. Some of the pedestrians were running around with PDAs and cell phones, while others had things like elegant staffs and seals. Furthermore, cars were now sharing their place on the stone streets with old wooden carts. It was rather strange seeing the mix of old and new in the city, especially since the last time they'd been here there was no modern technology at all.

"Hey...look!" Sonic said, raising a finger to point. "There's Carrie's place dead ahead."

A short distance away was the Brenbar Inn. While the hotel was hundreds of years old, it still looked very bright and vibrant. A rosy red color spread out across the exterior walls, and colorful flowers stuck out of pots in the windows. The familiar "Brenbar Inn" sign over the front door squeaked and rattled, as it swayed in the wind.

Sonic smiled, and then turned back to Tails.

"Ready?" He asked.

"Sure, let's go!" Tails answered.

They walked in through the front door and into the lobby, hauling their bags behind them. The same rosy red color on the outside covered the walls on the inside as well. Off to the side stood a large stone fountain, with water gurgling from the top of it into the bottom. A white wolf dressed in a blue robe clipped branches that were too long, off of the plants that were set up next to the fountain.

Once the wolf was done, she put the clippers back in the pocket of an apron she had on over the robe. She admired her work for a moment, before turning around and spotting Sonic and Tails. A huge grin spread across her large muzzle.

"Sonic! Tails!" she called out, running over to them. "It's me, Carrie!"

She towered over both of them by about a foot, taking into account both her age and her species. Sonic didn't mind though, because he just hugged her by the middle. While they were great friends, the hedgehog wasn't exactly her boyfriend or anything. Carrie was more like a big sister figure for the two of them, in the way that Sonic was a big brother figure to Tails.

"It's great to see you again!" Sonic said, backing up so he could look up at her face.

"Likewise," Carrie said with a smile. "You're here to stay for the tournament, aren't you?"

"That's right," Tails said with a grin.

"Well, I'd like to go too..." Carrie's smile faded into a frown. "But I'm afraid I can't go with you. I don't have enough money to even afford the cheapest ticket."

Sonic smiled as he pulled out the extra ticket they'd gotten from the president.

"Don't worry about it," Sonic said, holding the ticket out to Carrie. "This is a premium pass for all events. The President gave us three tickets to this tournament!"

"Wow!" Carrie yelled, gasping in surprise. Speaking very quickly, she asked, "Can I really have it?"

"Sure!" Sonic said, handing it over to her.

"This'll be great!" she said ecstatically, as she took the ticket. "I get to see you again, and I get to go to the tournament too! It couldn't get any better! Anyway, what's say I help you get settled into my room?"

"Sure, that would be great," Sonic answered.

The three of them walked across the lobby, and Carrie opened a wooden door at the back. After walking up the stairs, they were standing in the third-floor corridor. Carrie stepped over to Room 320 at the end of the hallway, and unlocked it with a key. After she stepped in, Sonic and Tails followed up behind her.

The room wasn't especially big or elegant, considering it was more or less just like a standard single bed hotel room. But, considering that Carrie was rather poor, it was quite good for what money she had. Sonic remembered that the owner of the hotel, Mr. Olandra, had given it to her as a reward for saving his life years ago from bandits.

Carrie had done what she could to freshen up this room though. Framing the window looking out on the street below were two elegantly designed curtains, which were covered in stripes of many different colors. Tapestries hung from the walls, displaying various scenes of ancient Tneicna. One of them showed an old queen lemur entertaining others in her court, while another showed a scene of a grand stone mansion. Carrie also had a rose plant in the pot on her windowsill.

"Wow, this place is a lot prettier since we were here last," Tails remarked, as he put down his bag.

"Yeah...how'd you afford those tapestries?" Sonic asked, putting down his own luggage. He stepped over to examine the one featuring the queen and her court.

"Oh, Mr. Olandra gave them to me as a present," Carrie answered. "I like them a lot. They make this place look really cool, don't you think?"

"You're right," Tails said.

"Anyway," Carrie said, motioning towards the bed. "You two can sleep in my bed while you're here. I'll take the couch over there."

Underneath the windowsill was the couch Carrie was talking about. While it didn't look exactly uncomfortable to rest on, Sonic didn't think he'd want to sleep on it for several nights in a row. Sonic looked up at Carrie.

"You sure?" Sonic asked. "You don't have to if you don't wanna..."

"No really...it's fine," Carrie said with a smile. "You're my guests. You deserve the best I've got."

Sonic shrugged. "All right then."

As Sonic and Tails opened up their bags on the bed, Carrie took a seat on the nearby couch.

"So what's been going on with you two lately?" Carrie asked. "Robotnik do anything bad recently?"

"Apart from Metal Sonic and some little attacks, no," Sonic replied. "It's been real quiet and boring."

"Oh well... Better to be bored than have the planet being in trouble though, huh?"

Sonic's expression changed slightly, as he mentioned Metal. A small frown replaced his smile. However, he decided now wasn't the time to dwell on it.

The smile came back quickly, and Sonic replied, "Yeah, I'm glad Robotnik hasn't tried anything."

Carrie then froze, her eyes widened a bit in shock. Sonic wondered for a moment if it was because he'd frowned in front of her. However, her next comment shot that theory down.

"Speaking of trouble, I think we've got some close by right now. I can sense it."

"You can?" Sonic asked.

This wasn't unusual for Carrie. She had something of a sixth sense for danger, and could sense people plotting trouble nearby. This was how she'd saved Mr. Olandra's life before, in fact. She'd sensed the bandits who were about to attack him and warned him about it. It was definitely a weird power, although Sonic had long since gotten used to it.

"Yes," Carrie said. She turned around to look out the window.

Sonic zipped over to the window to see what Carrie was looking at. However, he couldn't see or hear anything unusual from here. Carts rattled past on the stony street below, and distant echoes of music and voices being carried on the wind reached their ears. As far as he could tell, no shady people lurked about outside.

"There was someone on the roof across the street from us," Carrie said. She pointed at the building across the way, which was an apartment building. "They're gone now, whoever they were."

Sonic looked out the window towards the other roof, but he didn't see anybody.

"Whoever was there, he's gone now," he said. "Is it more of those gunmen like the ones that were after you two years ago? The ones from that Blackie Sten guy?"

"I really hope not," Carrie replied. "But I wouldn't get too worried about it. Cities are full of criminals, you know."

"I'll go down and check it out anyway," Sonic said, looking back at Carrie. "You never know what could be going on out there."

"Okay, but be careful Sonic," the wolf said.

Sonic nodded, and zipped down the stairs in just several seconds. As he flew across the lobby, he extended a hand to reach for the doorknob. However, the door opened before he could reach it. A familiar red echidna, wearing a brown cowboy hat and a backpack, stood in the doorway. Sonic immediately knew who it was, and slowed to a halt, being careful not to leave skid marks on the floor.

"Knuckles!" he shouted.

"Whoa!" Knuckles said, stepping back a bit. Sonic had nearly run straight into him as he was stopping. The echidna smirked a bit. "Nice welcome, Sonic."

"Heh heh, sorry," Sonic said, smiling as he rubbed a hand across the back of his head. Suddenly he was hit with a thought. "Were you on the roof of the building across the street a minute ago?"

"Err, no..." Knuckles said. "And is that a way to say hello to your friend?"

"Sorry it's just that-" Sonic started.

"I came to this hotel for a reason," Knuckles interrupted. "So I could bunk with Carrie for the tournament. And we just have this chance encounter and this is how you treat me?"

"Knuckles, listen to me," Sonic interjected, moving past him towards the door. "Can we talk about this later? I'm doing something kind of important right now."

"What? What is it?" Knuckles asked, folding his arms.

"Err...Sonic," Carrie spoke up. She was walking across the lobby with Tails behind her. "I said you didn't have to worry about it."

"Could someone tell me what's going on right now?" Knuckles asked, a hint of frustration in his voice.

"Someone was on the roof across the street," Carrie said. "I sensed him, and he was wanting to cause trouble. It might be more men from that Blackie Sten guy we heard about two years ago, but it might not be them either. Cities are already full of plenty of criminals."

"Oh?" Knuckles asked. He knew about Carrie's sixth sense as well. He then smiled a bit. "Don't worry about it Carrie. If Blackie Sten's men are back, they'll get these in the face!"

Knuckles held up his fists and smiled. Sonic smiled a bit too, remembering what it had been like to first see him in that street fighting tournament two years ago. He'd pretty much been able to easily defeat pretty much all of his opponents with his lightning-quick punches. His fists had moved so quickly during the fights they'd looked like nothing but white blurs.

"Heh, good to know I've got my two bodyguards back together again," Carrie said with a grin. "If it's those gun men again, I know you'll be able to handle them no sweat."

"You should make that three," Tails said, speaking up.

"Oops, sorry Tails," she apologized, turning to face the fox. "I forgot you've gotten tougher lately too."

"He sure has," Sonic said, smiling as he put a hand on Tails' shoulder. "He was a great help in the fight against Metal Sonic, and not to mention at Robotnik's old base in Zeraw two years ago."

"Anyway Knuckles," Carrie said, turning to face him. "You're here for the tournament I'm guessing. Are you going to stay in my room with us?"

"Yeah," Knuckles replied. "I've got my sleeping bag, and I won't mind sleeping in it on the floor, if it comes to that. I've been roughing it for years as a treasure hunter."

"You get a lot of money from treasure hunting lately?" Tails asked.

"Yup..." Knuckles said back. "But I didn't need to pay money for my ticket. President Rudot sent me a premium one as a reward. How could I say no to that, even with the money I'm making? After all, they only hold the Grakoran Tournament once every ten years. I don't wanna have to wait till I'm twenty-six to see it the next time."

"Really?" Sonic said. "We've all got premiums from President Rudot too. Maybe we can all sit together!"

"Awesome!" Tails shouted.

Carrie checked her watch.

"Hey... It's almost 5:30 now," she said. "After Knuckles drops off his stuff, what do you say we all go out to eat to celebrate this meeting? Then tonight we can all go to the opening ceremonies for the tournament."

"Sounds great to me!" Sonic replied.

"Me too!" Knuckles added.

"Me three!" Tails said, chiming in as well.

"Let's get going then!" Carrie said, leading the way to the stairs.

A few blocks away from the hotel…

"Excellent..." a certain individual whispered, as he walked down the street. He wore a leather trench coat over his body. It was warm out, but he had to wear it to keep his equipment concealed. He tipped his hat a little lower, to guard his eyes against the intense sunlight.

The information had been correct. Sonic and his friends were at the tournament as expected, and he had been tailing them ever since they'd landed at the airport. After they'd gone into the hotel, he'd taken up a position on the rooftop across the street. Now he knew what room they were staying in, thanks to his binoculars. He also now knew what their plans for the evening were, thanks to a directional microphone.

Everything had almost fallen to shit though when that wolf, Carrie, had nearly spotted him when she'd looked out the window, but fortunately he managed to slip off before being seen.

Now that I know what Sonic and his friends are planning, it'll make my job of capturing them a whole lot easier. Their days are numbered, and when they're up I'll be twenty million demens richer.

A devilish grin crossed his face as he returned to his own lodgings. He had to make plans for how to take advantage of this new development...