John Victor Foxfire: Indeed our wolverine boy needs to get his memories back. Ceawlin also needs to reconcile the fact that Johan was still susceptible to damage, despite his appeared invincibility. Alister is a little shy, nothing like his grandfather, but He's still a sweet child once he gets comfortable with you.
MerendinoEmilano: I'll admit, some of the chapter have been shorter than I'd like, but longer chapters are coming.
/*-*/
Sonic's day was going great. There was an argument currently going on within Freedom HQ, or what was about to be Nagus's personal play ground.
"We can't simply let him come in here, and take this place as if we were criminals." Elias shouted.
"What choice do we have?" Sally asked, angrily, "Tails, has your mom said anything?"
Tails slumped down, "She's doing what she can."
Sonic sighed, "That's a no." He didn't like the look Tails gave him.
Sally sighed, "I'm thinking up a solution, just give me time."
"We Are out of time Sally." Elias complained, "We can't wait any longer."
The Door burst open, and the red fox walked in, "Lord Sonic!"
Sonic blinked, "Frederick, what's wrong buddy? You look a little-"
Frederick was panting, "It's Nagus, He's about to call a vote to strip landless nobles of right to vote. We have to hurry!"
Sonic blinked, "Oh, is that all?"
Sally turned to Sonic, looking horrified, "Sonic, this is serious-"
"It doesn't affect my life that much." Sonic muttered, shrugging, "It just means less meeting and more time for me to do what I want to do."
Frederick blinked, "But It is one step away from him stripping you of your noble title."
"And?" Sonic asked, "I got nothing from my title as a knight except headaches and cool party. Let him take it."
Frederick was panting, his nostrils flared. Was he angry? Frederick growled, "Who do you think voices the people at the Assembly? Not the nobles who make more money from a tax raise or the king who also prosper. Those landless nobles are the voice of the people, and if the people don't have a voice, then the kingdom crumples!"
Sonic took a step back. Frederick was very serious. Sally intervened on Sonic's side, "We'd love to help, but we have our own problems. Nagus has disbanded the Freedom Fighters. We aren't backed by the kingdom anymore. We are about to lose Knothole."
Frederick looked horrified, "What? Why? We've had a lot of success with the Freedom fighters around?"
Sally nodded, "Nagus believes I am attempting to "Undermine his authority"."
Frederick thought for a moment, "I will take care of the Freedom Fighters' needs. Sonic, I need your help to keep your noble title intact."
Sonic nodded, "Alright. It shouldn't be too hard."
"This has its own challenges. Lord Sonic, there are a number of Landed Nobles who would have their influence in the assembly increased by the lack of competing votes." Frederick exclaimed, "If we don't make a strong push, this could fail horribly."
Sonic nodded, placing his hands on his hips. Tails walked up to Sonic, "Hey… We'll take care of things here." Tails still sounded angry. But with a hand on Sonic's shoulder, there wasn't a lot Sonic could doubt.
Sonic smiled, and nodded, "Frederick, thanks… for everything."
"I do what I can." Frederick smiled, bowing his head with gratitude, "Though, would now be a good time to Invoke Right of Council?"
Sally shook her head, "No, not yet… if it fails, this will only create problems for us. Give us time." Sally moved to her terminal, and began to dial in something.
Sonic ran off with Frederick, and arrived at the estate. The house had foundations laid already, and frames were constructed with the idea of the mansion. Sonic couldn't help but smile. It looked like it was coming along nicely.
Frederick pulled papers out of the shed, "We need to plan out our speech, something to present the issues in a way that the nobles will respect and understand."
Sonic nodded, "Alright, what, should I say?"
Frederick frowned, and thus began the process of writing a speech. A process that was surprisingly time consuming and rather annoying. But they got it together.
Sonic found himself eager to get to the Assembly. The air was somewhat chilly, and Sonic found the suspense of getting the speech over with to be more painful than the actual thought of rejection.
Still, as he walked down the descending auditorium, he was excited. Maybe this would be good for him. Sonic felt the weight of the world as the nobles took their seats.
The Herald called out, "We now call on the Assembly of Nobles, where a grievance had can be made." The Herald ran his tongue over his mouth. Nagus seemed visibly uncomfortable. Judging by the expressions on the council, he seemed to have "missed" a lot of the unlanded nobles.
Frederick had acted quick enough, however, and it seemed like there were a lot of unhappy faces.
Sonic stood up, "I'd like to place a grievance on Nagus's stupid face."
The Herald blinked a couple times and a murmur of disproval rose. Right, he was a noble, and supposed to act like a noble.
Sonic growled, "Nagus is attempting to disband the Freedom Fighters under the grounds of "Not listening to him" or something like that." Sonic didn't plan for this, but he had an opportunity. Frederick looked at Sonic, mildly shocked and annoyed.
The nobles murmured among each other, before the Ram rose, "Sir Sonic, while we understand that this is indeed a foolish move, We are powerless to stop it."
Nagus's face had contorted to anger and fear, to curiosity, and back to a smug, punchable look.
Sonic blinked, both angered and somewhat nervous about what he was implying, "What? Why Not?"
"The Area known as Knothole lies in the sphere of Mobotroplis. It does not fall under contested or noble lands. What Mobotropolis does with its territory is beyond our control. " The Ram expressed, visibly uncomfortable by the situation.
Nagus chuckled, "Yes, now sit down Hed-"
Frederick stood up, "The Territory of Knothole does indeed fall under Mobotropolis's control. The Freedom Fighters, however, fall under the Kingdom's rule. Thus anything that affects the Freedom Fighters affects the Kingdom as a whole."
The nobles began to murmur amongst- no. Sonic saw children here. These were kids. Nobles were grooming their sons and daughters. Sonic couldn't help but smile, trying not seem so menacing. A little wolf was staring at him, wide eyed- His father… Sonic recognized him. A wolf he had saved from Eggman's raids.
The Ram rose, looking at his peers and earning nods of approval, "Sir Nagus-"
"That's King Nagu-" Nagus foamed through his mouth. The Guy was so quick to get angry.
"Sir NAGUS!" the Ram Clarified, clearly outraged, "You have attempted to undermine the right of the nobles to vote on critical affairs of state." The Ram's snarl was serious.
Nagus looked even more outraged, "And WHAT OF IT. I RULE THE KINGDOM, ME! NOT YOU!"
"You are not absolute in your authority." The Ram Clarified, seeming outraged, "You are luck that Eggman exists, for if not, I would not be so afraid of deposing you. Alas, if this should happen again, we will find a king who will respect our rights!"
NAgus's face turned red with anger.
Sudden, the door burst open, and the treacherous skunk came in, "Master Nagus!"
"What?"
"The City of Roja has risen in rebellion." Geoffrey shouted, bowing down submissively.
The noble council seemed to quiet down. Sonic felt a little smug, after all, he'd predicted this would happen.
Nagus's face became veiny, and red, "What? Where are my taxes?"
"The Tax Collector has barricaded himself in the erected town hall." Geoffrey exclaimed, "He and his guards are besieged."
Rosemary's voice came over the area, "The Nobles must act to deal with this rebellion immediately."
"The Nobles have no obligation of such." The Wolf Lord Lupin shouted angrily, causing his son to shrink down.
"That Land was contested."
"-No shame or respect."
"A tyrant in all affairs."
The noble discussion came like a whirlwind of smaller factions.
Sonic leaned over to Frederick, "What's going on?"
"Nagus had no right to tax that land. It was contested territory between several noble lines. It wasn't so much the crown's land, but rather, the crown was holding onto it until an agreement could be reached." Frederick explained, "Nagus never had any right to interfere with the region."
Sonic nodded slowly. Politics was annoying. Sonic suddenly felt is smugness vanish. Yes he was right, but this was Nagus they were dealing with. Was Nagus known for being wise, slow to act, careful, and understanding? No… Not at all.
Sonic being right was the worst case scenario for everyone.
He stood up, "I'm going to go deal with it!"
The room went silent.
A Lion stood up, "Lord Sonic, you have no obligation to clean up this miserable slime's mess."
"What did you call-" Nagus started, but Sonic interrupted.
"Yes, but a lot of people are going to get hurt we don't do something. I'll try to get everyone to calm down and maybe see reason. I might just make It worse… but I'm going to try." Sonic exclaimed. Frederick seemed to eye Sonic with a strange look as he burst out of the room.
Sonic ran as fast as he could, and bolted to the city, the green and brown of the forests and trees mixing into a blur, until he was greeted by yellow.
There were several sparks of yellow dotting the city, but what was more concerning was the buildings. Bright yellow from fire.
Sonic quickly ran down into the city, and saw the mob that had amassed around the town hall that was engulfed in flames.
Sonic quickly ran through the crowd and looked around, being overwhelmed by screams and shouts. He needed a breather, but there was no time. He found a spot that wasn't on fire, and high enough to get everyone's attention. It was on a couple barrels.
Sonic ran up and shouted, "EVERYONE LISTEN!" No luck. They were all shouting. Torches were flying out of the crowd and onto buildings. The city was out of control.
Sonic desperately looked around for something to grab everyone's attention. He looked across the streets and… the watch tower. It wasn't exactly in good shape, but it had to have a bell… right?
Sonic bolted through the crowd and jumped on the rope. The Sound reverberated through his very soul, echoing across the city.
Silence followed.
Sonic let go of the rope and saw the crowd was focused on him, "You have to stop. This is madness, can't you see what you've done to this place?"
A hippo emerged, "Look at we've done? What has he done? Take our lives as taxes? You're working for the king, come to put us down?"
Sonic shook his head, desperately, "No, but the king will come here if things don't straighten out. He'll bring an army, and no one will be the winner."
Several groups of the angry mob seemed to back down, looking around and realizing that the fire was spreading.
"Oh, gosh, Help us!" Some cried, grabbing barrels and running to wells. Sonic gave a slight sigh of relief, before rushing towards the rivers, grabbing water, and rushing back to dump it on building. It was a long, exhausting distance, but he could do it.
As he put out fires, he pulled out people. A little girl and her mom. An old man. Gosh, they were heavy, but they would live! A couple here, a few there, until he got to the town hall. He was getting tired.
Sonic ran through, and slammed his fist on the door, "Hey, listen up. The people are going to let you go, but you need to leave now! Leave the taxes"
"Like hell I will." The Taxman shouted, "I Have a duty from the king himself. He demands the taxes of twenty years that have been avoided by these lands!"
Sonic shouted, "They will kill you! These people are ready to throw down with everyone. You will be burned alive, and Everyone will lose something! Nagus had no right to tax these lands anyway!"
"I won't-" A crash was heard. Sonic
"We will be out shortly." A deeper voice growled. Some movement reverberated through the door, and it opened to reveal the Hetorians, carrying a limp Tax Collector.
Sonic explained, "Listen, Leave half of the taxes here…It'll keep the people from getting antsy."
"I ain't dyin for this guy." The Hetorian carrying the Taxman muttered, and several bags of Mobiums were laid down.
Sonic watched the crowd part as the guards and the Taxman left to return home. Sonic wished he could do the same, but unfortunately, there were still building on fire.
Sonic ran through the town, rushing with water from the rivers to put out the flame. Finally he ran home.
He walked into the doorway of the underground base. Right, he wanted to go to his room, and sleep.
Sonic trudged, waving to Sally, who was surprised-
He wasn't home. He was in knothole. Knothole, which was going to be repossessed tomorrow. Screw it, he was sleeping in his room… if only his legs would work.
Sally caught him as the ground almost kissed his face.
"Hey…What happened." She whispered softly in his ear.
Sonic muttered, "Just put out some fires."
"That explains the smell… Sonic… are you ok?" Sally asked, with concern.
"Just tired… going to bed." Sonic muttered.
"Sonic…our beds have been packed up…" Sally reminded him.
Right… they were packed because they couldn't stay here.
Sally smiled, "I'll set up our sleeping bags."
And that was it. Sonic laid down in the Command Center, with Sally curled up next to him in her sleeping bag. Sleep over took him, like warmth and happiness…
/*-*/
Johan pulled his cell door down, carrying the folded metal tray with him. Late at night, when his enemies were too busy sleeping instead of preparing, he was doing just that.
He tossed the tray into the second cell, which was empty. Johan peeked over his shoulder, and saw the red fox was still asleep. Good.
This was well worth the pain he had received from first contact with the wires.
He wouldn't have his face stuffed In his food without consequences. The Guard was on duty, and from what Johan understood, he would be for the rest of his life….
Johan closed the cell door, before returning to his cell. He pulled the red pipe to the black one, and caused the door to rise and close the cell. Then he red pipe back to it's torn copper cords, and tied them together, leaving the yellow wire cut.
He slept, as warriors needed to. He did not dream, for dreams were distractions.
Johan awoke early, and waited.
The Guard arrived late.
He approached the cell, and gave the fox her food.
Pears and oats, mashed.
Johan waited. The guard arrived at his cell.
"Looky here… got you some nice meaty stew." The Guard mocked.
Johan didn't respond.
The guard opened the cell door.
Johan cautiously walked over to his food, and felt his face pressed into the mash.
"Look at you. Some monster huh? Some terrifying demon. Bah… I hate baby sitting you. Just some stupid animal I have to spend my days watching." The guard muttered begrudgingly.
Johan snarled.
The guard removed his foot, and walked back to the controls, and pressed the button. The cell door didn't close. The guard looked curiously, and pressed the button again. Then again. His panic gave Johan all of the information he needed. The plan was a go.
Johan trudged up to the guard, and stood on his hind legs. The Guard finally noticed him, and mutter, "Oh… Crap."
Interesting last words.
/*-*/
HE'S LOOSE!