Chapter 10: A Change of Plans

September 2nd, 2316 – 9:20 PM – Tneicnan Wilderness

Half finally made it back to his truck. The scene was more or less just as he'd left it before, with a few differences. The back passenger doors of his SUV were hanging wide open, and so was the door of the cage in the back seat. Sonic was nowhere to be seen. Redrum wasn't anywhere either...

"Redrum!" Half yelled. "Where are ya?"

He cupped his hands over his mouth and shouted again.

"Redruuuuuuuuuum!"

There was no reply.

Half dashed around to the other side of his truck, and saw something he wished he hadn't. Redrum's mechanical legs lay on the ground, next to the rear right wheel of the car. The assault rifle Half gave him earlier lay in the dirt next to the legs, as well as a whole mess of spent cartridges. Half dashed around to the back of the truck and spotted Redrum's torso. The robot dog lay still as death, with his usually red eyes as black as coals.

"Oh no..." Half whispered, as he got down on his knees next to Redrum's chest.

Judging from the characteristics of how he was split in twain, he'd been cut in half by a sharp blade in just one cut. Redrum must have gone down fighting, going by all the casings lying around. There were so many of them they twinkled like stars wherever the moonlight touched them.

Redrum could probably be repaired, although Half knew nothing about robotics. Sure, he was a fair car mechanic when the situation called for it, but robot stuff definitely wasn't his bag. Half wondered where he could get his friend fixed though. People would ask questions if they saw him asking for repairs on a roboticized Freedomian, especially one who was a convicted felon in a past life...

Redrum's eyes flickered to life, as the red glow returned. The fox snapped his own eyes to the robot to see what was happening.

There was a small humming sound, and then Redrum's neck and arms started moving. Static started spitting out of the speaker in the dog's mouth, although it was clearing up the more he talked.

"D-d-d-d…zzzzck! Don't worr---zzzzck!--about me. I---zzzck!---started up an alternate power supply in my---zzzck---chest."

Half gave a little sigh of relief, as he put his hand under Redrum's head and reared the torso into an upright position on the ground.

"Good," Nail said. "Don't scare me like that. What happened?"

Redrum spoke again, and this time the static in his voice was totally gone.

"I was guarding the truck like you told me to, when I saw this purple blur flashing through the trees around me. I tried to shoot it, whatever it was, but it was moving too fast. Next thing I know, this purple bitch of a fox cuts me in half with her sword and I lose power. I guess she was with Nack, right?"

"Yeah..." Half said. "I saw her on his hover bike just now. He just attacked us as a diversion, so she could steal away Sonic. Anyway, I'm glad you're all right."

"Heh heh, don't worry," he said with a grin. "I'm a machine. I can always be repaired if I get damaged."

"Yeah...you're right," Half said back with his own smile. "But with your past, it's going to be a risky business taking you somewhere to fix you up."

Redrum gave a little shrug with his arms, as Half moved to sit down Indian-style facing him.

"So...since Sonic's gone now, can I start calling you by your actual name again? I'm sick of using your code name."

Half chuckled and gave a nod. "Go right ahead."

"Ah...that's a relief." Redrum sighed. "Now I can call you Augustine Strafer again, or that nickname "Nail" that you prefer."

"Yeah..." Nail said slowly. However, he quickly switched to a more serious tone. "Anyway, since they've run off with Sonic, what do you say we go after Tails and Knuckles now? They're probably still in Nedlo, and we haven't gotten too far away from there yet. Plus, we'd still get ten million demens out of it."

Redrum nodded.

"Sounds like a plan, although it's gonna be risky business going back there."

"Yeah...no joke. They're probably gonna be looking for us this time. Anyway, while we're there, I think I'm gonna try to go see Carrie."

Redrum reared back, although since his face was hard metal and inflexible, he wasn't capable of showing a facial expression of shock to go along with the body language.

"What?" Redrum shouted. He grabbed Nail's shoulders and pulled the fox forward so they were face to face. "Are you crazy? We've got ten million demens to make! I don't wanna waste time going to see your stupid sister! Why do you care about her so much anyway?"

"First of all, she's not stupid," Nail said, pushing back from Redrum. He straightened out the wrinkles on his T-shirt from where Redrum had grabbed him. "Second of all, I haven't seen her in over a decade. Do you really think I can just pass up this opportunity?"

"Sure I do!" Redrum shouted. "We've got ten goddamn million demens on the line here! I think seeing her can wait a little longer!"

"I promise I won't take long," Nail said. "Come on...just gimme thirty minutes tops to go talk to her. Then we can get back to the mission."

"What happened to your policy of being so damn secretive all of a sudden? You wouldn't tell Sonic anything about the mission or yourself, but now you wanna go talk to Carrie and let her know all about you instead?"

"Well..." Nail started. "She is my sister you know, so she'd already know my name and everything. I wouldn't tell her about the mission though."

"Nail...are you crazy?" Redrum retorted. "You don't just go to your sister, who you haven't seen in eleven years, say 'Hey, it's me, your long-lost brother,' and then leave again after thirty minutes. I know you're gonna wanna hang around longer than that. Why do you care so much about seeing her anyway? Why can't it just wait a little longer?"

"It just can't, all right? I want to see her tonight."

"But I wanna get that reward money, and I wanna get it now!" Redrum shouted.

"I'm going to go see my sister, and you aren't going to change my mind. Besides, it's not like I'm abandoning the mission. I promise you I'm gonna be looking out for Tails and Knuckles once I'm done with Carrie."

"But the security around her hotel... You saw how beefed up it was when you were there. They've probably upgraded it again now that you and Nack have broken in there once before."

"So? We've still got that soldier's uniform, don't we? I can slip in there using that."

"Nail, wake up! This is insane!"

Nail let out a sigh.

"You're still not getting it Redrum. I've got these..." he said, as he patted his legs. "...and you don't. Because of that, I'm the only one who's capable of pulling off this mission, and there's nothing you can do to stop me from doing what I want to do, once I'm out in the city."

Redrum seemed to contemplate his options for a moment, as he seemed to realize that Nail was right. The fox was holding all of the cards, and the roboticized dog didn't have anything he could use to negotiate. After a few moments, he gave up trying to think of something he could say.

"Fine," he sighed. "Go ahead and see Carrie if you want, since I can't stop you anyway. But don't blame me if you wanting to see her ends up getting you thrown into jail."

Nail smiled broadly.

"Good... Thanks a lot Redrum," he said, as he picked up the dog's torso. "Let me help you into the car."

"Oh don't thank me," Redrum said, as Nail opened the front passenger door and placed Redrum on the seat. "I just know this won't end well."

Once Redrum was secured in place, he buckled his seatbelt. Meanwhile Nail ran to the other side and jumped in the driver's seat. With a twist of the ignition key, the truck roared to life. Nail spun the truck around back the way they'd come, towards Nedlo.

"Do you really care about her that much?" Redrum said, as he watched the trees go by.

"Yes I do," Nail said, turning to look at him. "I've got the scars to prove it."

"Scars? What do you mean?"

"I'll show you."

Nail stopped the car, and engaged the parking break. Facing Redrum, he pulled off his shirt and bulletproof vest. Nail moved aside the gray fur on his upper chest with his hands, and two six-inch scars forming a cross mark became visible on the bare skin below. They looked very old.

"I got these fourteen years ago, when I was protecting Carrie from a drunk with a knife."

"Whoa...really? Damn! I thought they were just some scars you got from some battle you'd been in. How'd it happen anyway?"

"It was ages ago…" Nail said, putting the shirt and vest back on. He slipped the car back into gear and applied the accelerator, sending it back down the road again. "I was seven, and Carrie was five..."

Fourteen years earlier...

A light snow floated down out of the morning sky, as Augustine and Carrie walked down the street on the way to the bus stop. They trudged slowly through the snow on the ground, as their short legs made it difficult for them to walk through it. The city street was lined with building after building, most of them in a dilapidated condition. Graffiti, boarded up doors, boarded up windows, and trash surrounded the two of them. The snow helped to cover up some of the grunge of the area with its brilliant whiteness, but it was a losing battle.

Since their father couldn't afford a better home with the partly salary he earned from working at the airport, they had to deal with living in this neighborhood. Aug didn't especially mind though. He'd lived in this area of Gerrant, Cictra his entire life, and gotten used to the scenery. That didn't mean he wasn't cautious though. Augustine and Carrie stayed close to one another, just in case someone tried to jump them.

Finally, they arrived at the stop for their school bus. Since they were early, nobody else was there yet.

Aug frowned a bit, because he looked forward to talking to his friend Artie here every morning. It gave him something to look forward to, even with a day's worth of schoolwork about to be dumped in his lap. Most kids were frightened by Artie, since he was a polar bear and thus much larger than all of them. However, because the bear enjoyed wrestling, Artie had one day come up at lunch to ask Augustine about his father. His dad, a wolf named Gail Strafer, was formerly known as the street fighter Raging Gray. At first, Artie had only asked about Aug's father Gail, but over time a friendship formed between the two of them.

"How early are we, Aug?" Carrie asked, breaking Augustine out if his thoughts.

He turned to look at his sister. Despite their age difference, Carrie had already caught up with Nail in her height, due to her species. Wolves grew to be larger than foxes. Nail didn't like that at all, because he felt he should be the biggest due to being the firstborn. He really wished he'd inherited his father's species instead of his mother's.

"Hmm..." Aug said. "I'm not sure, but I think we're about fifteen minutes early."

"Oh great!" Carrie said, shifting her feet to get warmth back into them. "That means we gotta stand around out here in the snow and freeze!"

Aug smiled a bit. To tell the truth, this temperature felt about right for him.

"Well...you were the one who wanted to get out here early," he said to the younger wolf. "You're so afraid that we're going to be late if we wait in the house."

"But I don't wanna get in trouble!"

"Then you get to be cold instead. I can't believe it still bugs you, when you've lived in this city on this mountain your whole life and hardly ever left it."

"And you'll never get to leave it again alive..." a thick, slurred voice said behind them.

Widening his eyes in surprise, Aug turned around to see who said that. A brown cat dressed in rags was standing behind them, brandishing a knife in one hand and an open can of beer in the other. He towered over both of them, since he was twice their height. Instinctively, Carrie moved to stand behind her brother, as Aug confronted the drunk.

"What do you want?" Aug asked.

"Give me all your money!" he shouted, stepping closer to point the knife at Aug's head.

Despite the tenseness coursing through his body, Aug felt a little chuckle rise up inside him. The only money they had was for their school lunch, which meant it was chump change. Aug decided it would be worth giving up a day's lunch to avoid any trouble with this stupid drunk.

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out four one-demen bills and handed them to the cat. The feline waited a moment to see if Aug would give him any more money, and then he growled as he brought the knife closer to the fox's head.

"That's all you've got?" he screamed.

"Well...yeah," Aug said, starting to feel a bit afraid since his plan didn't work. "We're just kids. We don't have anything else."

That only seemed to enrage the drunken man even further. With a shout, he slashed his knife across Aug's chest. Aug cried out as the knife cut all the way through his clothes, his fur, and down to the skin underneath. He looked down, and blood was already beginning to seep out and soak his clothes. Before he had time to do anything else, the drunken cat pushed him aside. Aug fell to the ground, but fortunately the white powdery snow helped to soften the fall a bit.

"Now it's your turn girl!" the drunk shouted, advancing on Carrie. "This is what you get for wasting my time!"

Carrie screamed, and ran past Aug down the street. However, since the cat was an adult and had much longer legs, he easily caught up with her. The feline's hand wrapped around the hood of her coat, and he yanked her backwards. She struggled to get away, but the feline just had too much strength since he was so much older. The drunk pulled out his knife and prepared to slice her just as he'd done to Aug.

"Stop!" Aug shouted, climbing to his feet as he held an arm to cover his wound.

"You want some more, pup?" the cat said, turning to face him.

He pushed Carrie face first into a telephone pole. The wolf's head smacked into the pole dead on, and then she screamed as she fell down to the ground. Meanwhile, the cat reached Aug just as he finished standing up. He slashed the knife across the fox's chest a second time, which got Aug another deep cut.

Aug screamed, clutching to the new wound. He fell down to his knees, holding tight to himself to try to soothe the pain. Blood dripped from his cuts and soaked the snow red.

"That should do you," the cat said. "Now back to wolf girl."

Aug looked up from his position on the ground just in time to see the cat pick up Carrie by her coat's collar. Aug wanted to do something to help, but those two knife wounds were really starting to get to him. He was losing blood fast and feeling weak. A feeling of sleepiness began to overtake his body, as his eyes started to close. There was the sound of shouting, then a car screeching to a halt. After that, he passed out.

Back to the present...

"What happened next?" Redrum asked, as he leaned in closer.

"Well...that's when I went unconscious, so I didn't see the rest of what happened," Nail answered. "My dad told me though that he was driving by right as I went unconscious. He jumped out of his car, kicked the shit out of that drunkard, and saved my sister. Lucky thing he used to be a street fighter, eh?"

"Yep."

"If he hadn't been around at the time, we'd probably be dead right now. Anyway, what would you do if you were in my position, finding out your long-lost sister is still alive?"

"But I don't have a sister. I was an only child."

"Well...hypothetically speaking...if you had a younger sister, and you got separated from her for several years, would you turn down the opportunity to see her again after so long?"

"Hell yeah," Redrum said, laughing. "I don't miss any of my family at all. They never did anything but hold me back. When I was a kid, they always made me return everything I stole, and apologize to all the smaller kids I beat up. I kind of wish I listened to them once I got thrown in prison when I moved up to murder, but I still would gladly give up seeing them again, even if I wasn't getting ten million demens out of it."

"Not me," Nail said. "I miss mine. Mom...Dad...little sister Carrie...littler sister Ayecaye... I didn't even know for sure if any of them were still living until Sonic brought up Carrie."

"You think any of the others are still alive?"

"I know Mom and Dad are dead. I saw them get killed right in front of me. But knowing that Carrie's still around... It's given me new hope for Ayecaye."

"Oh goodie..." Redrum said, laughing. "You wanting to go look for her too now?"

"Sure," Nail said, grinning.

"Just pick a better time to get reunited with her, okay?"

"Heh, will do."

The truck continued to roar down the road, heading back towards Nedlo.