Act I: AWARE
Chapter X: Dawn Chorus
Unknown Location, Sunday 5:20 PM
If Robotnik needed a sign to get his plans moving – this was it.
As he and his crew hopped from the back of the van and into the warehouse, Robotnik was seeing red. He hadn't been back into Central City since the detectives had named him a suspect, and before he could even think to go back, he needed some affairs in order first.
Bean and Nack had been sent to the club to retrieve anything that was necessary – including the plans for the factory he was stealing from Shadow. That would be important when meeting with their biggest mover of product.
As Robotnik sauntered inside the large warehouse with Infinite and Metal, he took watch of the number of products being moved from A to B. Robotnik's grin was wide and malicious, watching as all of this would soon be under his command.
He could practically taste the profit.
As Eggman looked up, he saw the man in charge of the operation stepping out, his purple coat and black leather pants making him appear almost like a Willy Wonka-esque kingpin. Robotnik supposed that was mostly true.
"Greetings, Starline!"
The white platypus looked over the railing, a large smirk on his beak. "Ah, Ivo! Man of the hour! Elated to see you well!"
As Starline made his way to the warehouse-floor, Infinite began taking note of what packages were being moved. Metal also took scan, watching to make sure no one was breaking any of Starline's rules.
"How are we doing in here, Starline?"
The platypus clasped his hands together, a sharp inhale through his nose. "The batches have been cooked and completed; and we have begun our preparations for shipment! I imagine you are able to taste the money you will be making now, hm?"
Robotnik chortled, crossing his arms over his chest. "Oh, yes! Much more than that petulant hedgehog and his crew would ever dream of making."
Infinite scoffed, rolling his eyes as he went back to checkups.
Starline murmured some incoherencies, before pulling Robotnik off to the side.
"I do not want to intrude, of course. However, the recent news of the detective's and their suspicions has indeed caused me some concern. I suppose now that we are in business together, it would be wise to set some precautions, in the event you may be – well, unavailable."
Robotnik scowled, turning over his shoulder before speaking. "Whatever they think they have, is nothing. I am not involved in that echidna's death, nor have I ever been involved in anything related. Either I am being framed, or this is some large conspiracy to put me in prison. Of course, they would not consider Shadow a suspect for this – since they all used to be friends. However, I would put a large sum that one of Shadow's goons did it."
Starline nodded, watching the packages of 'Pool Cleaner' being loaded into some trucks. "As long as you are safe, I am not concerned. I believe you are innocent. But! Let us put all those concerns behind us, the batch is indeed ready for initial shipment. Now, where are you wanting us to ship to, Ivo?"
Robotnik smiled, his hands folded together. "Ah, yes! We need to bring this behind the factory on St. Croix Street! That is where-"
Eggman was silenced by the ringing of his burner phone – noticing the number was Nack's.
Answering, he slid the phone to his ear. "Yes, Nack? What do you need?"
"Aye, boss. Are you preppin' those batches of – ahem, contraband?"
Eggman grumbled. "Yes, Nack. Is there a concern?"
There was a pause.
"The plans are gone, boss. The blueprints for inside the factory are gone."
Eggman felt the heat rising in his face. "You mean to tell me that black hedgehog – "
"No, boss. The cops."
Eggman stopped in his words. The police? How would they have gotten their hands on it.
Oh, nevermind.
They had raided his building a little over a day ago, and he would guarantee they were the ones who took it.
"And, that ain't all. On our drive back, we passed St. Croix, and the police are littered all around the ol' factory. It's off limits. You gotta tell those guys to cancel shipment. We ain't gonna be allowed one step near that place. It has us all over it."
Bean was audible in the background. "Especially since the two of us are fugitives at the moment!"
"Aye, we are indeed."
Robotnik was panicking. Hanging up, his eyes met Starline's.
"The police have acquired our files on the factory in their raid on our building."
"Pardon? The police raided your club? What shall we do with this shipment, then? If this batch is sitting idly for too long, it'll lose value."
Robotnik pondered. He had some bases of operation, but what was a spot that was reasonably non-suspicious?
Aha.
"I know a place. 808 Ocacia Street. You're going to need to ship by van, not by semi however. Multiple trips, over the course of a week or 2 to avoid attention."
Starline nodded, darting off to rearrange the shipping process.
Robotnik could practically feel the smoke billowing from his ears.
Another roadblock, sure. But – not nearly enough to stop him.
St. Croix Street, Abandoned Factory, Sunday 5:30 PM
Sonic was a tad dumbfounded.
The factory was massive, and almost completely empty.
So, Robotnik really was planning on using this for somethin', huh?
How did the fat man ever think no one would catch onto him?
He imagined someone would open some sort of manufacturing company, which would front for something more – well, illegal.
Seems like something skeezy enough.
Tails and Sonic took notes, as Knuckles and Amy walked throughout behind them.
Sally had Nicole up on her watch, scanning for any data – Antoine and Bunnie outside on watch with some other officers.
Sonic rested his finger on his chin, squinting his eyes. "So – wonder what big front this was supposed to be?"
Tails chuckled, swiping off some dust on old machines. "Beats me. It hasn't been touched. Would Robotnik be someone to start a manufacturing plant?"
Sonic shrugged. "Either him, or he'd pay someone else to do it while he used it for more criminal purposes."
Knuckles grumbled. "In any case, the plant is still un-purchased, meaning that Robotnik hasn't even made any moves in starting whatever this thing is."
Sonic opened a door, leading to a back office. He began to surf through some file cabinets.
Empty, empty, empty-
Oh, what might this be?
A stray, dusty folder sat in the bottom cabinet, Sonic removing it carefully.
Opening it, Sonic was staring at a whole bunch of building permits.
"Well, whoever did buy the place got permits to start construction."
Knuckles tilted his head, as Tails and Amy looked for themselves.
"That – doesn't make any sense. If we saw that the factory was unpurchased, who has permits to start building anything? For all we know, this factory is still foreclosed by the bank."
Sally lifted her watch to her mouth. "Nicole, can you search Internet data on the abandoned factory on St. Croix Street. Previous owners and – perhaps current owners?"
"On it, Sally."
Tails sighed, surfing through the papers. "Is there any other spot in here we haven't checked? I mean – this place IS huge."
Sonic clicked his tounge, tapping his foot as he scanned the empty plant. "There should be a waste room. Sometimes there are some safes or office spaces down in there."
"Thank you, Nicole. Well – this is odd, but… the current owner is under an anonymous name."
Sonic scoffed. "Anonymous? Couldn't we just use our police-tech and unmask them?"
Amy nodded. "We could, but before we do that – let's go and check that waste room, see if we missed anything."
Mafia: Unknown Location, Sunday 6:40 PM
Shadow had heard about the incident at Tikal's funeral.
He knew plenty of criminals – high-ranking ones, too. But – he couldn't place a finger on who would do THAT.
The lengths that individual is going to keep their secrets was quite disturbing to Shadow. Attacking a wake, holding a District Attorney hostage – it was all starting to reek of some anti-elite, down with the 1% bullshit.
Rouge, Wave and Storm had left to do some hit-work, so Shadow was left to his devices with Jet and Bark.
His phone rang, as his shot his gaze down to it. Picking it up, he flicked his voice modifier on.
"How can I help you?"
"Shadow – it's me."
"Ah, Honey. Pleasure to be speaking with you. What is it now?"
This cat was always so damn paranoid.
"There – there were, uh – there were S.W.A.T. agents, at my place of business today. I – I don't know how this started. But – someone, or – I dunno, someone must have tipped them off."
"You need to calm down, Honey."
"That list of names, that you had. I – could it, could it be one of them? The ten that I marked in our last meeting, those ten could sink me – I – could sink us."
Shadow sighed. Honey was a fashion designer, who partnered her company with Charical, a high-end shipping company. She was an executive – but of course, a shipping company for chemicals means moving product from point A to B.
Luckily, this large company was moving massive amounts of product for Shadow.
But – Honey had a massive reputation to uphold in the city. One foul swoop, and she was going to run her mouth. She was paranoid, high-strung and always panicking.
Honey was a loose cannon.
"Honey. We spoke about those guys in our last meeting. Those are MY guys, and they're solid. If I did not trust them, they would be dealt with. Now – perhaps, you need to look in your OWN company. Your snake could be there."
Shadow locked eyes with Bark, who grumbled. Honey's breathing only got shakier on the line.
Jet had walked in, a box in hand as him and Bark exchanged looks of confusion.
Shadow nodded to him, listening to the cat's ramblings.
"If – if any of this get's out, I'm done. Everything I worked for – DONE."
Then don't become a mover for crime lords, Honey.
"You are unsure that they will even find anything. If there is nothing FOR them to find, you are okay. Let them do their job – and if you have done everything I've said, you will be fine. Be cooperative. Use your company attorney if you need."
"I – alright. Okay."
"I have to go, Honey. I will call you later."
Hanging up the phone, Shadow raised an eyebrow at Jet.
"What's in the box?"
Jet swallowed, as Bark stood up to take it.
Opening it, Bark poured the contents onto Shadow's desk.
Shadow scooted back, glaring at the Bear. "Bark – remember what I said about doing that? If there was something lethal in there, you could have hurt someone."
Bark crossed his arms, nodding. Shadow sighed, looking at the note in front of him.
"YOU AND I NEED TO HAVE A CONVERSATION."
Shadow squinted, sorting through the rest of the contents of the box.
Some scrambled codes, a fake rose, and –
Shadow felt his heart stop for a moment.
Tikal's emerald necklace.
St. Croix Street, Abandoned Factory, Sunday 5:30 PM
Sonic was staring at the contents in front of him in the waste room.
Every permit, every contract, all of it.
And all under the same name.
"Why would this be under Maria Robotnik's name?"
Tails rested his hand on his chin, as the others scanned the papers.
Sonic sighed. "Was this some joint effort between Shadow and Robotnik?
Amy tilted her head, writing notes down in her pad. "That is a plausible theory, both have connections to Maria. Maybe this was some sorta collaboration in her memory?"
Knuckles scoffed. "Knowing Maria, she would not be pleased to have some large criminal operation being run in her memory."
Sonic tapped his fingers on the table. "But – what we're still forgetting is that Maria is dead. So – someone is assuming her identity. Either Robotnik or Shadow paid them to do it, or at least, paid someone to put down that name."
Sally was typing on her laptop, trying to run further data-breaches. Knuckles began to make some phone calls, while Sonic, Tails and Amy continued to try and put the pieces together.
"Maybe there's another person we aren't looking at. I wouldn't know who it is – but maybe we should broaden away from it being Shadow or Robotnik. Maybe someone else is involved."
Tails was right. Sonic and them had focused on the possibility of it being one of these two criminals. But – why DID it have to be one of them? Sure, Robotnik still made much more sense than Shadow, but even then?
Who else is involved?
Sonic's phone rang, quickly fishing it from his pocket and answering – noticing it was Scourge.
"Heya, Scourge! How you doin'?"
"Hey, man. So – I dunno if we talked about that tailor place anymore, but – I posted up nearby, and well – there are a couple white vans loading stuff inside from where I'm posted."
Sonic's eyes widened, as Tails and Amy looked at him quizzically.
"What are they unloading?"
"Well – it looks like barrels of stuff. You guys might wanna get down here. You may be able to bust your guy."
With a nod, and a quick explanation, Sonic and crew made their way out of the factory – and to their vehicles.
808 Ocacia Street, Sunday 6:03 PM
The squad cars rounded the corner, as they parked in a small circular formation in front of the store, with a few cars blocking off the alleyway.
The police began rushing down the alley, guns drawn. As Knuckles rounded the corner, the vans had been emptied out. With a nod, he kicked open the back door.
"Police! Drop any weapons and show your hands!"
The Mobians inside quickly scrambled, breaking out the front door.
Sonic was quick on his feet, hopping over display tables and out of the store.
"Stop right there!"
As Sonic gave chase, the big group was going to be too much for them to capture all at once. Sonic wasn't quite sure if they were going to be able to manage.
But – on a dime, a cyan hue surrounded all of them, and down landed Silver.
"Where you boys off too, today?"
As Knuckles, Tails, Amy, Sally, and the D'Coollette's made their arrivals, their eyes collectively widened as Silver had apprehended them.
Landing behind them was Blaze, sparks of fire omitting from her wrists.
"I do believe this nice gentleman asked you to stop."
The fear in their eyes were palpable, but the joy in Sonic's was too.
The heroes were back.
Scourge had managed to catch up to them, Antoine tossing him a pair of handcuffs. His wide eyes staring at the handcuffs had Sally giggling.
"You gonna have to use zese, Scourge." Antoine said, patting him on the shoulder.
"Ain't no way…" Scourge mumbled.
As Silver closed his grip, their bodies constricted, before releasing to the ground. The officers began arresting the members of the gang on the ground, as Knuckles, Amy and they made their way to Silver and Blaze.
Knuckles was overjoyed.
"I – I can't believe you both are here! It's been so long!"
Silver took Blaze's hand, smiles on their muzzles. "Ah – well, a certain conversation with a blue hedgehog may have nudged us in the right direction."
The officers looked to Sonic, as he was whistling off to the sky.
Amy chuckled, wrapping Blaze in a hug. "I missed you, Blazie."
"I missed you as well, Amy. Dearly."
Knuckles spoke some commands in his radio, as he looked to his squad.
"Well – why don't we see if we can finally find out who this base belongs too."