Chapter 2 - Summons

A grey fox wearing sunglasses and a black T-shirt was in his home in a cave in the forest, while playing a game of Counterstrike on his computer. He still continued to play even though it was nearly two in the morning. Nearby, racks of all sorts of guns lined the walls, and there were also well-stocked ammunition rooms downstairs to go with the weapons. He wasn't thinking about any of that at the moment, because he was busy owning everybody in the server he was playing on. Even though he stood alone on the Terrorist team against several Counter Terrorists, he still won almost every round, and had a 20 to 1 kill/death ratio.

"This is getting too easy..." he said aloud. "Maybe next time I should use the worst pistol only to make it easier on them. Nah...I'll use the knife only...heh heh."

Suddenly, the game disappeared off the screen, only to be replaced by a live camera view of a very small guy with a pointy nose and huge eyes.

Wonder who this nerd is. Maybe he wants me to join his clan or something. Yeah right... I always have and always will play alone.

"Are you the famous hitman, Nail?"

"That'd be me. This better be good if you're gonna disrupt my Counterstrike clan match."

"Very sorry sir. I have a job for you. If you take it, my master will pay you very handsomely."

"Well then...what's the job?"

"I'm not supposed to discuss it here sir. Come to us and we will tell you."

"Where are you then? And who is your 'master'?"

"We are in the Robotropolis central command building right now. And my master is Dr. Robotnik."

"Hmm...I've heard of that guy... He's trying to take over Mobius by turning everybody into robots, right?"

"Correct sir."

"Well...like my clients say, I don't care who I'm working for or what I'm doing as long as you've got the money," Nail said as he grinned. "I'll go right now."

"Thank you very much sir. Robotnik will be most pleased."

Not near as pleased as I'll be once I get that money... Nail thought as he turned off the computer and prepared to leave.

Early that morning, around six o' clock, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles walked out of Knothole and down a trail with heavy backpacks on their shoulders. Tails happily ran up and down the trail, pausing occasionally to skip rocks on nearby ponds or to look at the flora. Knuckles and Sonic, however, slowly strolled side by side down the path as they chatted with each other. After awhile, Knuckles got bored of talking, and pulled out his CD player to listen to some music.

A few minutes later, Sonic said, "Knuckles, turn off that rap music for a second."

Knuckles took off his headphones and asked Sonic "What is it?"

"Ever since Tails got worried last night, I've been sorta feeling the same way as him," said Sonic. "I do have a feeling that something bad's going to happen soon. I couldn't sleep that well. Do you feel the same way?"

"No, I don't. I feel on top of the world right now. Maybe you're still shell-shocked like he was from that battle yesterday."

"I don't think so Knuckles. We've had worse fights before, but I still can't shake off this bad feeling for some reason."

"You need to relax. Look at Tails, he seems to have shaken off his bad feelings," said Knuckles as Tails skipped another rock across a nearby pond.

Sonic sighed, and said "Well okay...I'll try to relax. Let's just keep our guard up while we're out here though, okay?"

Knuckles said "Sure...yeah..." as he slipped his headphones on again and turned up the volume on the CD player.

The three continued through the forest, as the sun climbed higher into the sky.

Near the outskirts of Robotropolis, a dune buggy sped through the forest. It had camo paint, a powerful motor, and there was also a large machine gun mounted on the roof. Nail sat at the wheel inside the vehicle.

Man...this drive is longer than I thought it would be. Shoulda gone onto bed rather than stay up again playing CS. I was an idiot to say "I'll go right now". I'm really tired. The things I do when I hear the words 'reward', 'money', and 'pay'... Maybe that's another addiction I need to fix.

He sighed as he exited the forest and drove into the wasteland formerly known as Mobotropolis. Some swatbots got in the way of his vehicle when he approached, but they moved out of the way a moment later. Apparently Robotnik told his security forces that he'd be coming. He drove the remainder of the way to the command building without any further incident. After parking his car outside, he was escorted to Robotnik's office inside by a pair of intimidating-looking robot guards. After he entered the room, he saw Robotnik seated behind a large desk. He motioned towards a chair near the desk while grinning.

"Sit down, please."

"Thank you."

Oh my gosh! He's gotta be twice as big as what they show in the papers! Nail thought. And that smile...man does he look evil with that on. Still though, I must maintain my reputation of working for anyone and everyone for the right price...

Nail took a seat, and asked "Okay...so what's the job?"

"Your job is to assassinate Sonic the Hedgehog. He's been a constant thorn in my side almost ever since I started all of this."

He waved around the room and at the city outside the window.

"Sonic the Hedgehog? I've heard of him, he's a he--"

Nail stopped in mid-sentence, afraid he might have very well gotten himself killed for what he was about to say. He pretended to cough to give an excuse for pausing.

Robotnik grinned at him and said "Yes?"

"He's a heinous criminal, that's what I heard,"

"Very good," said Robotnik in a satisfied voice, though Nail expected he was laughing inside because he knew exactly what Nail would have said if he had been anyone else.

"So..." Robotnik continued, "Will you take the job?"

"Well, I'll do it. I always do whatever I'm told by my clients, so long as I'm paid well," Nail forced a grin, but he felt terrible inside for agreeing to kill the legendary Sonic the hedgehog for money.

"Splendid, splendid. So, how much money are you asking for?"

It was now Nail's time to grin for real. His whole demeanor changed instantly at the sound of the word 'money'. He named a figure.

"Well...that's a steep bill, isn't it?"

"The best don't come cheap my friend," said Nail in a gruff voice. "Oh yeah, and I want it all paid in advance."

"That's fine my friend. Your paycheck is no concern at all to me. However...I would be willing to pay you three times as much as that if you would agree to pick it up after you kill Sonic."

Nail felt his mouth practically drop to the floor. He knew Robotnik had lots of money to waste, but not that much.

Oh man...I could buy...like...a big mansion...with servants...with that much money... Well...even if it means killing Sonic, how could anyone refuse that much?

"It...sounds like...a good deal to me," said Nail as he struggled to regain his composure. "I'll do it, I agree to the payment terms."

"Excellent! Now, let me tell you some more specifics about where to find Sonic. He's usually out in the Great Forest, where I'm assuming his hideout, Knothole, is. That forest is quite dense, so I made this for you to help you find him."

He handed Nail what looked like a laptop computer.

"This is a thermal imager. It picks up heat from life forms. They are displayed on the map on the screen as orange. You'll need this to spot Sonic in all of that ugly green foliage."

"Yeah yeah, I know what it is, I've worked with one of these before."

"Good, then that means I don't need to explain it any more. Well...that's everything I guess."

"Right...I'll go now. Consider Sonic's death done. None of my targets have gotten away from me yet, and none ever will. You better be ready to pay up once I get back, because otherwise..."

Nail quickly pulled a pistol out from behind his back and pointed it at Robotnik's head.

"...you're going to get what I think you really deserve."

Nail quickly left the office with the thermal imager in one hand and the pistol in the other before Robotnik could do anything else.