Chapter 4: Foes Appear

September 1st, 2316 – 7:30 PM – Nedlo, Tneicna

Tails knew something was wrong when that hover bike had entered the stadium. Everyone in the stadium, even the performers, stopped what they were doing when the machine had appeared. This was definitely not some type of stunt to impress the crowd. Because Tails already steeled himself to the possibility of trouble, he leaped into action even as Nack had started pulling that gun off of his back. Tails was already flying in the air as the weasel pulled his gun around to aim.

Unfortunately, he wasn't too late to stop him from firing. Tails turned to see what damage the grenade had done, and then he gave a sigh as he realized it was just some kind of gas. He sniffed it for a moment, and felt himself getting sleepy. It wasn't anything but a nonlethal knockout gas.

He saw that Sonic and Knuckles had gotten out in time, and they were standing on the roof of the box where the gas wouldn't affect them. Carrie hadn't gotten out in time, as Tails saw her limp form on the floor next to their seats, but she'd probably be okay since it was a nonlethal gas. The problem right now was taking care of this Nack character before he caused any real damage.

Tails turned his eyes back to Nack, and the weasel distinctively looked frightened. It looked like he'd been planning to knock all four of them out with the gas, but he'd underestimated their speed. It also looked like he didn't have a backup plan; otherwise he'd probably be putting it into motion right now. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles thus had the advantage.

Reaching for his belt, Nack pulled out the revolver from his holster and fired at Tails. The weasel was much slower than the fox though, and Tails easily dodged to the side to avoid the bullet. Before he could fire another shot, Knuckles leaped onto Nack's hover bike and grabbed his gun arm. The echidna quickly pointed the gun up away from the crowd, so it wouldn't go off and hurt anyone.

"Argh!" Nack screamed as he tried to fight the echidna off. He fired a few shots while he struggled to break Knuckle's grip. "Let go of me!"

Ignoring his cry, Knuckles punched Nack in the stomach. The weasel's eyes practically popped out of his head in response, as Nack loosened his grip on the revolver. It slipped out of his hand and fell to the ground below. Now Nack was completely unarmed. Roaring in frustration, the weasel tried to punch back at Knuckles. Knuckles easily blocked his punch with his other hand, and gave Nack a head butt. Nack stumbled backwards from the impact, and fell against the controls for the hover bike.

"Just give up, you stupid moron," Knuckles said. "There's no way you can win this fight. If I'm giving you this much trouble by myself, then you've got no chance at all of winning when Sonic and Tails join in."

Staggering up, using the control console as leverage, Nack swayed to a stand. Flustered, he straightened his cowboy hat and growled at Knuckles.

"I'll kill myself before I give up," Nack snarled.

He snatched for one of the handles of his bike and twisted it. The bike suddenly got a burst of speed and zoomed away from its position near the gassed private box. Knuckles wasn't ready for the sudden movement and fell off, although he managed to keep himself from falling into the crowd by using his dreadlocks to float.

"I'll be back!" Nack shouted as he flew around the stadium. "And next time I'll have an even better plan!"

Tails smirked. It wasn't like getting a better plan would be difficult, with how it looked like his first plan had failed on every level. Soldiers started to flood into the stadium to escort people out and secure the area. Meanwhile, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles gathered back in their private box. The gas had dissipated, although Carrie was still out cold. Tails put an ear against her chest, and then looked up.

"She still has a heartbeat," Tails said. "That stuff Nack used before must have just been sleeping gas."

"Sleeping gas?" Knuckles asked. "Why that?"

"He wanted to capture us alive maybe?" Sonic suggested. "He said something about us being his prey."

"He's hunting us?" Tails asked.

"Wait a minute," Knuckles interrupted. "He just said 'My prey'. He didn't say who his prey was. For all we know this is another one of Blackie Sten's hired guns trying to capture Carrie again."

"Hold on," Tails interjected. "The Blackie Sten guys always wanted Carrie dead. Why would they suddenly want her alive?"

"There's a bigger reward for her alive maybe?" Knuckles suggested.

"In any case," Sonic spoke up, leaning down over Carrie. "Let's get her out of here."

Carrie's build set her as the tallest and heaviest in their group, due to her species. However, it was quite easy to carry her when they all worked together. The hard part was getting through the crowd of people flushing out of the stadium. They had to be very careful not to hit the wolf on anything to hurt her. After a minute or so of walking, a pig dressed in a soldier's uniform approached them.

"You three," he asked. "Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles I presume? Are you all right? Who was that guy who just attacked you?"

"We're fine," Sonic said. "He said his name was Nack, and he's going to try again for us."

"I see then. I'm Captain Relis, commander of the regiment of soldiers in this city, so I'll put up a security detail around your lodgings, in case he makes good on his threat. Now, where are you staying for the tournament?"

"The Brenbar Inn," Sonic said.

"I'll get right on securing that place then," the pig said, placing a hand upon the hilt of his sword. "By the way, don't worry about that weasel guy. We'll make extra sure to keep an eye out for him."

"I'd be careful while you're after him," Sonic warned. "He seems to like a grand entrance, and who knows what he'll try next time?"

"Yes, I know, heh heh," the pig chuckled. "But making a grand entrance tonight is going to cost him later. There were lots of witnesses in the stadium, and some people even took his picture. He should be easy to track down now, and if he gets anywhere near your hotel we should see him."

"Very good," Knuckles said. "Let's get Carrie home right this minute then."

"You mean that wolf the three of you are carrying?" the pig said. "Is she gonna be okay? I saw she was standing right in the middle of that gas the weasel used."

"It was only sleeping gas," Tails explained. "She'll wake up soon and she'll be fine."

"That's a relief," the pig said, wiping sweat from his brow. "I was worried it was poisonous. Anyway, go ahead. Your guard detail will set up around there shortly."

"Thank you," Sonic said.

About forty minutes later, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Carrie finally got back to the hotel. Carrie had been quite heavy to carry through all those streets, not to mention they'd gotten some funny looks, but they'd finally made it back to the Brenbar again. Up the stairs they went, exhausted from having to carry her up to the third floor. Finally, Sonic pulled Carrie's keys out of her pocket and unlocked her room. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles then carefully laid Carrie down on the bed. She appeared to be breathing normally and everything, and just seemed to be in a natural deep sleep. While Tails wiped sweat off his brow, Sonic drew the sheets over her.

"What a day..." Knuckles said with a sigh. "I'm on frickin' holiday here. I don't wanna deal with stuff like this..."

"Tell me about it," Sonic said, wiping sweat from his own brow and staring down at the wolf's prone form.

"It's not like we've got a lot to do lazing around on the beach back home," Tails said. "It's been like that for months. No missions from the President at all."

"I guess you're right Tails," Sonic replied.

Knuckles staggered over to where he'd laid out his sleeping bag, and slipped inside it. As he did, he said, "Dunno about you, but I'm feeling real tired tonight even though it's early. Between the traveling to get here, running around town, and now carrying Carrie back here, I'm exhausted. If you don't mind, I'm going to bed."

"That's okay Knuckles, I'm tired too," Sonic said, going over to the couch and drawing a blanket over himself. As he grabbed a pillow and set it down against the armrest, he looked at Tails. "Where are you going to sleep?"

"I guess I can share the bed with Carrie," Tails said. "There's enough room in it for two people."

"All right then big guy," Sonic replied. "Just don't wake Carrie, all right?"

Tails smiled. "I won't. Good night Sonic."

"'Night Tails," Sonic said as he closed his eyes, and curled up into a tight ball.

Meanwhile, Tails slipped into bed next to Carrie, and pulled the sheets over his body. However, he realized he was still cold, and moved a little closer to Carrie. The wolf's body heat helped him warm up, and now he felt ready to sleep.

As Tails closed his eyes, he whispered, "Good night Carrie."

Later that night…

As the day came to a close, the sky filled up with clouds, making for an overcast sky. By 10 pm, it was almost pitch black outside the city. The special aircraft light on Nack's bike easily cut through the darkness though. He landed near a barn at an abandoned farm far outside the city, and dismounted. Nack then ignited several lanterns inside the barn so that he could see what he was doing. The place looked like it was about to fall apart, but it made for a nice isolated place to maintain a temporary hideout. As he pushed his bike into the barn, he grumbled to himself. When he hid the bike behind a stack of hay, the grumbling had escalated into yelling.

"Damn you, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles!" the weasel yelled. "You stole away my twenty million demens!"

Then he cursed the trio with every swear word he could think of, and then went back through his list of words again to make sure he didn't forget any. Every single one he screamed at the top of his lungs. When he was done, he was breathing heavily, and leaning upon his knees. His eyes fell upon a wooden barrel lying down in the middle of the floor. Nack roared in rage, while he kicked the container as hard as he could. However, the only thing Nack succeeded in doing was severely injuring his toe. As he limped around on one foot, he went through his list of swear words again.

Finally though, the weasel finished swearing, and spurred himself to prepare for another strike tomorrow. Nack walked over to where he'd left two metal boxes on top of a crate, and opened them up. The one on the left contained several backup revolvers. The other one contained loose bullets, and a bandolier to carry them with.

Not wanting to be caught outgunned like he had been today, Nack strapped two revolvers to his belt this time, and followed up by slipping the rounds into the bandolier. When he was done with that, he slipped the garment over his back, so that it crossed diagonally over his chest.

"I'm ready this time," Nack said, as he snagged the revolvers out of his belt and twirled them around in his fingers.

"No you're not, you moron," a voice called out. It was coming from the front door of the barn.

Nack jerked up his six shooters and pointed them at the open door. Because there was an overcast sky tonight, all he saw outside was blackness. Not a single star was visible.

"Who're you?" Nack shouted. "Show yourself!"

He got no response. The only thing Nack could hear was the wind whistling past outside the barn. He slowly tiptoed over towards the door to look outside. When the weasel got there, he scanned the area outside from his vantage point, but he couldn't see much of anything. It was too dark outside. Nack started to feel a little nervous. His hands grasped the revolvers a little more firmly, his finger moving closer to the trigger.

He heard faint footsteps going through the back of the barn, and whirled around, pulling his guns up. Nack didn't see anybody. There was nothing inside the barn but the boxes full of his equipment. Although...he did see that the way he'd stacked his boxes had left a small space between them and the wall in the back corner. It was large enough for somebody to hide in... He quickly dashed across the floor, jerking his revolvers up as he rounded the corner. Nobody was there.

Nack started to turn around, and then realized there was a sharp sword pointed at his throat. Gasping, he backed up and crashed into the stack of boxes. After he regained his composure, he noticed that he was looking at a purple vixen with a white muzzle. Long hair, colored a slightly darker shade of purple than her body fur, flowed from her head. Most of it was tied up in a ponytail, although some of it flopped down over her face. However, under her bangs Nack could clearly see emerald-green eyes, which looked almost as piercing as the sword she had pointed at his throat.

"This is the proof that you aren't ready," she said, moving her sword a hair closer to his neck. "If I were Sonic, Tails, or Knuckles, this fight would already be over."

"Good thing you're not them then," Nack breathed out, trying to lean back away from the blade. "Could you please put away that sword?"

"Certainly," she said, slipping her sword back into its holster.

Relaxing, Nack tilted his head down so he could get a better look at her. She was dressed in a red tunic with no sleeves, and a small red skirt with open sides, probably to allow more leg movement. Underneath this she wore what looked like a black body suit with shortened sleeves and legs, so that the ends of her legs and arms were visible. However...with how tight that suit was, he noticed she did have one fine body...

Nack let off a wolf whistle at her stunning looks, which the fox responded to by slapping him in the face. Nack screamed in pain as he spun away, clutching to his face with one hand.

"I didn't come here to sleep with you, sleazy pervert!" she shouted. "I came here to get help."

Nack turned back to face her with a surprised look on his face, the hand mark on his face turning a more visible red.

"Help?" Nack muttered. "Looks more to me like you're trying to kill me. What kind of help do you want anyway?"

"I'm after the twenty million demen bounty on Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles, just like you are," she said. "But I don't think either of us can do it alone. If we get in a straight up fight with them, we'd lose easily. They're just too powerful, and it's no wonder they've kept Robotnik on the ropes for so long with their strength this high. But..."

She paused.

"But what?" Nack asked.

"While those three are very strong, none of them are especially bright."

"What about Tails though?" Nack said. "You should see some of the crazy things he's built."

"Being a genius with math and science doesn't mean you'll beat everyone in the smarts department," she stated firmly. "Otherwise, scientists would rule the world. But they don't, do they?"

"You have a point," Nack said.

"Anyway, a much better plan for capturing them would be to defeat them through deception, rather than open combat. Many times in history and in warfare, inferior forces have defeated much more powerful forces through trickery and deception. We can do the same thing here."

Nack scratched his chin.

"I'm liking what I hear so far. Is there a catch though?"

"I want half of the reward. You get the hedgehog for the ten million on him. I get the fox and the echidna for the ten million on them. Does that sound good to you?"

Nack thought it over for a moment.

She's right about Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. Knuckles beat me tonight, and he wasn't getting any help from his friends. I could use an extra brain to help come up with a way to outwit them... On the other hand, I really don't want to split up the reward money.

An idea suddenly hit him, and he grinned inwardly.

Let's just have the best of both worlds. I'll cooperate with Psycho Purple Ninja Vixen here until we nab the bounties, and then I'll kill her myself. Then the reward will be all mine.

"Sounds like a good deal to me," he said, as he extended his hand. "Let's shake on it."

The vixen eyed him curiously.

"What do you mean?" she asked. "Shake on it?"

Nack blinked, not sure if she were kidding or not.

"Are you serious?"

"Yes. I'm not familiar with that phrase."

He rolled his eyes. For being such a stealthy little girl, she sure didn't seem too bright. Sighing, he began to explain.

"All right...just extend your hand like I do, and grab my hand. Then we shake each other's hands. That's meant to represent us sealing the deal."

She nodded, looking a little embarrassed.

"Sorry... It's just that where I come from, we don't use that sort of gesture. Anyway, I'll do it."

She smiled and took his hand firmly. The vixen had a rather strong grip for her looks. Nack hoped that when he planned to kill her he didn't find himself with that grip stuck around his neck. Regardless, he crossed his fingers behind his back with his other hand.

"Good then," she replied, as she stepped back after the handshake. "By the way, we haven't exchanged names yet. My name is Canma Neuyan."

"Nack the Weasel, at your service..." the weasel gave an exaggerated theatrical gesture, as he bowed while sweeping his cowboy hat against his chest. "...In more ways than one, I hope, heh heh."

A fist slammed down on top of Nack's head, and he fell down. He then got a second jolt of pain as his chin smacked on the ground below. He cried out in pain, as he held both ends of his head in an effort to soothe the pain.

"I said I'm not here for your pleasure," Canma said, as she walked away. "Now let's get to sleep. We've got work to do in the morning."

Grumbling, Nack dusted off his cowboy hat and slipped it back across his head. He'd probably shoot her right now, if only she weren't helping him get those bounties. He would be most happy to kill her though, once they finally did capture their quarry. But until then, he'd be a good boy and cooperate...