Chapter 14: Outta Town

September 3rd, 2316 – 12:20 AM – Nedlo, Tneicna

Tails had to admit that while they'd finally captured the person who kidnapped Sonic, he somehow didn't feel satisfied by it. The conversation they'd had with Carrie just now left a feeling of doubt in his mind. Even though Carrie's telepathy abilities hadn't failed them yet, this time he felt himself questioning whether or not she'd made the right judgment on him.

Knuckles seemed to be feeling the polar opposite of Tails. He was as giddy as could be with the outcome of their talk, and he just wouldn't stop smiling. There didn't seem to be a doubt in the echidna's mind that they'd done the right thing in there.

In front of them, the soldiers escorted Nail down the stairs, while Tails and Knuckles trailed behind. As they reached the lobby though, the phone in the phone room rang. A soldier went into the room to answer it. Tails didn't pay it much mind, but a few seconds later the soldier came back out.

"Tails! Knuckles!" he called out. "It's for you!"

Tails stopped walking to look at the soldier, and then he glanced back at Knuckles. The echidna gave a little shrug. Tails headed into the little dark room with Knuckles behind him, and placed the phone up against his ear.

"Um...hello?" he said, his voice sounding rather flat.

"Why hello there little Tails!" Nack's voice said cheerfully on the other end. "How are you this fine evening? Or would it be morning since it's past midnight? Oh well, it doesn't really matter."

"What do you want Nack?" Tails shouted back. "I know you didn't just call us to say hello!"

"Well jeez! All I wanted to do was have a little fun with you!" Nack said, in a mock angry voice. "Oh well, I suppose I can't expect something like that out of you, since you're just a stupid little boy. I'll get straight to the point since you're obviously in no mood for small talk! I have Sonic with me right now. Say hello to your friends for them if you don't mind, hedgehog!"

There was the sound of the phone being passed to somebody else.

"Tails!" Sonic gasped out.

"Sonic! Are you okay?" Tails said, holding the phone tighter to his ear.

"I'm fine. They haven't done any---"

Suddenly the phone was taken away from Sonic, and there was the sound of someone punching him in the face. Tails heard his friend grunting on the other end.

"That's enough talking, I think," a female voice said, taking over for Nack. This was Canma, Tails figured. "It's just enough let you know we do have Sonic, and that we do mean business. Now listen up carefully fox boy! I'm only going to say this once! You and Knuckles will come to the Whisper Valley in the Drail Mountains in Cictra and surrender yourselves to us. Come alone and be there by noon today.

"If you aren't on time, we cut off one of your friend's fingers for every hour you are late. If you still aren't there, we'll move up to cutting his arm off, piece by piece. Then after that we'll go to his legs. We may have to deliver Sonic alive to get our bounty, but he doesn't have to be delivered unharmed. You have been warned."

There was a click, and then the bleat of the dial tone in Tails' ear. His eyes bulged out, and in silent shock he put the phone down on the receiver. Tails walked back into the lobby, and Knuckles followed him out.

"Well? What did Nack say?" Knuckles asked, putting one hand on Tails' shoulder.

"He and Canma said that if we don't show up in the Whisper Valley in the Drail Mountains by noon today, and if we don't come alone, they're gonna start cutting up Sonic," Tails whimpered. "They said it doesn't matter if they torture him, because he doesn't have to be delivered unharmed as long as he's still alive."

"Damn! What cowards!" Knuckles shouted, clenching his fists. "They're using him as bait to draw us out, so they can capture us too!"

"What can we do though?" Tails said. "It sounds like they're not willing to negotiate what they've laid out."

"We have no real choice then Tails," Knuckles said. "We'll just have to go up there and kind of pull something out of our asses."

Tails nodded. With fury in his eyes, he watched as the soldiers took Nail out through the front door, but he hardly noticed. He was too busy seething with rage at Nack and Canma, who were resorting to such low tactics to get their money.

Knuckles suddenly put a hand on Tails' shoulder. "Tails, we'll just have to think it through on the way up there. It'll take most of the time they gave us just to fly up to the mountains."

Knuckles was right. Nedlo was on the far south end of Tneicna, and the Drail mountains were up on the far north in Cictra. It would take quite a while to fly up there, and they had to get a move-on.

"You're right Knuckles..." Tails said. "Let's get moving."

The two of them started walking to the door. Captain Relis stopped them though.

"Are you sure you have to go without any help?" he asked. "I'd gladly come with you if I could be of some assistance."

"No, I'm sorry but you can't come," Tails said. "They said we had to be by ourselves."

"I understand," Relis answered. "What should I tell Carrie though when she wakes up? You'll be long gone by the time the sun rises."

"Just tell her we'll be fine," Knuckles said. "I don't want her to get all worried. She's had enough to deal with lately with her brother showing up here."

"All right then," Relis said. "The best of luck to both of you."

He gave a little salute. All of the soldiers nearby saluted as well. With a small smile, Tails returned the salute and Knuckles did the same.

"Thank you," Tails said, before looking back at Knuckles. "Let's get to the Tornado 2, Knuckles. We gotta save Sonic!"

"Right behind you!"

The two zoomed out of the hotel lobby in a flash, leaving the lobby so fast they caused the giant potted ferns flanking the front door to wave in the wind.

Elsewhere in Nedlo…

"Heh heh," a turtle guard chuckled, as he opened up a rusty iron door. "Welcome to your new home, my friend."

Nail glared at the grinning guard for a moment. He had been stripped of his soldier uniform in addition to his equipment. All that he had now was the clothing that had been on underneath the suit, which was his blue t-shirt and his green cargoes. Another guard standing behind him shoved him into the small cell. He hit the stone tiled floor hard, and grunted from the sudden impact. Behind him the guards laughed some more, before slamming the door closed. Nail spit out a little blood from his mouth, as he turning around to look at the door. The turtle guard gazed back at him through an eye slot.

"You best get comfy," he said. "By the time you get out of here, you're going to be at least sixty years older, minimum. Have fun in there! Heh heh heh!"

The eye slot slid closed, and then he heard the guards walking away. It was at this moment that Nail decided to examine his living quarters. It was a little hard to see though, because a small lantern hanging from the ceiling provided the only light. The walls were all made of rough stone blocks. A narrow wooden plank hung from the wall by two chains, and this was apparently supposed to be his bed.

Also, a small barred window was set into one wall. Standing on his tippy toes, Nail could see out through the window. On the other side, he saw that his window was positioned at the top end of a T-shaped street intersection. Across the road were a few more shops, but he couldn't see much else from here due to all the lights being out. Despite his situation, a smile crept across his face.

He reached inside of his pocket for a moment, and then took his hand out out. After that, he flopped down onto the wooden bed and thought over the recent events he'd been through.

Damn...my sister is good. I let my mind wander to thinking of escaping for just a moment, and wham, she picked right up on it. I always wondered if she had some kind of psychic power to tell when I was about to cause trouble when we were little kids. I know it for sure now, and unfortunately for me she's gotten really good with it.

I do feel bad about hurting her though... Apparently she thought we'd be having a happy little reunion when we saw each other again. Instead though...she finds out I'm trying to kidnap one of Planet Freedom's lone saviors for money, Sonic of the Sonic Unit. If she's still emotional like when she was little, who knows how long it'll take her to get over this? I must have crushed her heart when she found out I'm still a criminal to this very day.

The small smile on Nail's face faded away. Then, a moment later, his eyes furrowed and his gaze hardened. He stared at the lantern hanging from the ceiling, as the shadows from it danced across the cell walls.

On the other hand...what a nice sister she was, he thought sarcastically.Look athow she treated me over seeing me for the first time in eleven years. She just threw me in jail over thinking some little thoughts. And to think that I was seriously considering helping them rescue Sonic while they had me in there...

Well, that's all over now. I was gonna do it for her and for Sonic saving me earlier, right up until she said I was lying. Screw her if this is what she does for me. It's back to my old agenda again. Augustine can go take a hike too, if that's who she wants back. I don't even think of that as my name anymore anyway.

The grin returned to Nail's face. He folded up his arms underneath his head, and closed his eyes. For the next half hour or so, he rested there, not moving an inch.

A little after one o' clock, his ears flicked towards the barred window in his cell. Nail's eyes shot open, and he vaulted off of the bed. Once again, he stood up on his tippy toes to look out the window. Only this time, instead of the street being deserted, a bright light was approaching him from the other end of the road. As the light got closer, it was joined by the sound of a motor.

Finally, his truck emerged into view as it turned next to the wall. The driver's side window rolled down, and Redrum poked his head out from inside.

"Heh...need a hand Nail?" Redrum laughed.

"Yes," Nail whispered, while rolling his eyes. "Keep it down though. We don't want the guards to hear you."

"All right," Redrum said, lowering his voice. "But how are we gonna get you out of there?"

"Back up the truck into the wall," Nail said, as he stuck his arms out through the bars and waved at the wall beneath the window. "Don't do it too hard though, cause this cell's pretty small. Just make a big enough hole for me to get out quickly."

"Are you sure?" Redrum asked, sounding worried. "Every soldier in the building will hear the crash, not to mention I might accidentally kill you."

"There's no time to come up with any other plans," Nail said. "The guards'll be on us soon one way or another I bet. Now hurry up and do it. And get ready to slip into the passenger's seat as soon as you've smashed the wall in."

"Will do," Redrum said. "But get ready!"

Redrum turned the truck around, and drove back up the street. Once he was about a third of the way up the road, the reverse lights came on and the truck shot backwards across the cobblestone. Meanwhile, Nail jumped away from the window, and flattened himself against the wall with his bed. He closed his eyes and covered his ears in anticipation of the crash.

With the sound of a deafening explosion, the truck smashed through the wall and sent bricks flying everywhere. A few of them slammed into Nail, but he grit his teeth and held in the pain. Opening his eyes, he saw one corner of his SUV sticking in through the wall. However, it quickly pulled back out, opening up a hole in the wall. Nail tried to fit himself through it...but it was too small.

A loud gong sounded in the building, which was answered by shouts and screams. No doubt the guards were coming to investigate. Nail nervously chewed his lip. He put his mouth next to the gap in the wall and shouted as loud as he could.

"Redrum! It's too small! Hit the wall again!"

The truck drove back up the road again, before Redrum threw it into reverse and backed it up. Nail jumped back, ducking behind his bed. Another rain of bricks flew into the room, but as Nail opened his eyes he saw the hole was now about the size of a manhole opening. He should be able to fit through that easily.

However, the cell door burst open behind him. Nail whirled around to see two guards standing there, all of them with their swords drawn. They took one look at the back end of the truck poking through the wall, and then back at Nail. Both of them looked totally bewildered, but the first one in the room, the turtle who'd spoken to him before, quickly regained his composure.

"Escaping, eh?" he said. "I don't think so!"

He tried to take a slice at Nail, with surprising speed for a turtle. However, Nail was still far faster than him, due to his species. He whirled around to the side, as the turtle struck a wall instead of him. Nail took the opportunity to pick up a large dislodged brick from the floor, so he wouldn't be completely unarmed.

The second guard, this one a black panther, tried to impale him on his own blade. Nail swung up the brick in front of him, and he caught the sword on it. The guard and Nail pushed against each other for a bit, with Nail using the brick to keep the sword away from his body, while the panther pushed harder on his sword. Finally though, the fox brought up one leg and kicked him in the groin. The panther dropped his sword and brought his hands to his crotch as he howled in pain. Nail took the opportunity to slam the brick down on his head. The block broke into pieces as it came into contact with the helmet, as the panther flopped down to the floor unconscious.

Unfortunately, by this time, the turtle guard was coming back for a second swing. Again though, his species proved to be his undoing. He made a slow overhead swing, which Nail sidestepped. The sword made sparks as it struck the stone floor. Not wanting to give the turtle another chance to attack, Nail kicked him in the back, sending him tumbling to the floor. While he wasn't unconscious, he'd been flipped over onto his back, and was thus rendered immobile since he was a turtle.

"Argh! I'll get you!" he screamed. "I'll get you!"

However, there wasn't much he could do except for wave his arms and legs around frantically as he tried to stand up. Nail chuckled a little at the sight.

"Sixty years, you said?" he said, chuckling. "It hasn't even been sixty minutes!"

Not wasting any more time, Nail clambered through the hole in the wall and out onto the street. Within a few seconds, he was already at the driver's side door, and opening it up. At the same time, Redrum was already shuffling into the passenger's seat. Nail could now hear shouts from the roof of the jail above them, and arrows started to whiz by the truck. Loud thunks sounded as they bounced off of the roof. However, the vulpine slammed the car door closed and hit the gas.

"Heh heh, you owe me big time Nail," Redrum said.

"I know...I know..." Nail sighed.

Suddenly, a question sprang to mind.

"You know," Nail whispered again. "I forgot, before I set off the tracker bug sewed into my pocket...you don't have any legs. How'd you drive up here without your legs to work the pedals?"

Redrum reached down, and showed him a long stick.

"Found this near the truck," he said. "Wasn't that good a substitute, but it was the best I could do. Anyway, I'm guessing the capture mission went sour since you got caught?"

"Yep."

"Just like I thought it would."

"It's not all bad Redrum. At least I got to see my sister, and I know where Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles are gonna be in eleven hours or so."

Redrum was about to say something regarding Nail's sister, but he seemed to quickly push it aside as he heard that Nail knew where the bounties would be.

"Where are those three gonna be then?"

"Whisper Valley in Cictra. I overheard them talking that Nack's using Sonic as a hostage to lure them there."

Redrum's eyes expanded a bit.

"The hell? But how are we gonna get there in time? We'd have to travel across the entire country and up into Cictra to get there! Not to mention this truck's way too slow! We'll never make it there in time!"

"Don't worry. There's bound to be plenty of aircraft lying around at that airport they set up outside the city. We just steal the fastest plane we can find, and fly on up there."

"Sounds like a plan."

"It's the only plan we've got right now."

The truck drove off into the night, disappearing into the streets quickly.