Act III: INFERNUS
Chapter II: The Killing Moon
2 DAYS, 13 HOURS, AND 35 MINUTES UNTIL DETONATION
Zero turned off the television, turning his gaze towards the large window in the Chemical Lounge.
Starline had been gone for two months – and no one had heard anything from him since.
In that time, Nazo and Robotnik returned – attempting to take control of what mob was left.
Though no pieces could be put back together.
"Do you see this shit, man?! In 2 days, we're all fuckin' dead!" Bean shouted, flopping himself down onto the couch.
Nazo clasped his hands together, gazing out of the window as he pursed his lips. "I should have anticipated Starline would not be able to leave behind a viable operation."
"That's because he's not a mob boss!" Robotnik shouted, slamming his hands on the pool table – earning a shudder from Honey.
"He is nothing but a scientist! A drug cook and a mover – nothing more, nothing less! Power got to his head – and that's why you all allowed a crazy lizard to take over the city and manipulate you! I trained you all better than that!"
"Well – you were in prison, weren't you, Ivo?" Zero snapped, "What would you have us do? Break you out?"
"Like I did for those two dumbasses over there!" Robotnik shouted, pointing towards Nack and Bean, "Yes – maybe I would've expected some fire under your asses!"
"We did have a viable operation," Zero began, "Would you like to blame us – or the maniac who took our men and turned them into mercenaries?"
"I ain't even understand why they flipped so damn fast," Nack started, "They were only ever in it for the money."
Nazo sighed, standing up from his seat. "It is shocking what some very smart, carefully chosen words from a manipulative psychopath can do. They have languished under the law after Ken Khan locked them up – it is obvious that they would wish to strike back at the same law that muzzled them."
"Eclipse gave them an opportunity," Robotnik began, "An opportunity to take their power back. That freak doesn't care about class, money, or power! He only wants to watch shit burn to the ground."
"Maybe he's right, then…" Zero whispered, earning glares from the group. "We have also suffered at the hands of the law – so why should we stay inside and attempt to fish for an operation that will not resume? Even if the bomb is defused and this all ends – we are dead meat. Why shouldn't we help the cause of the lizard?"
"You want to join that maniac?" Bean asked, as Zero shrugged.
"Would you rather wait for death sitting on your ass – or go out swinging at the men who brought you nothing but grievances?"
There was silence for a moment, the group pondering Zero's words. Was it worth it? Maybe they could lead the charge for their men. If they joined the cause, would that save the mob? The same mob crippled in the years past?
Suddenly, the elevator door opened – as two hurrying feet scurried through.
"Who is there?" Nazo asked, as his eyes laid upon Surge and Kit – carrying a body.
"We – we found him…" Kit started, as he dropped the body to the ground.
"Holy shit…" Nack muttered.
It was Starline. Upon inspecting the body, there weren't any gunshots or stab wounds – but wounds from what appeared to be a car accident.
"We ain't sure how long he's been dead…or how it even happened," Surge said, shaking her head at the corpse.
Robotnik scoffed, rubbing his face as he walked towards the window.
Nazo fished around in the jacket pockets, before pulling out a dice block.
He inspected it closely, his eyes scanning over the block before his mind dawned in realization.
"Khan."
"What? Whaddya mean Khan? You sayin' he killed Starline?" Bean asked.
"I wasn't positive on the information I had received from some of the mercenaries on the ground – but from what they told me, after Sonia's demise – Ken Khan began looking for members of Starline's mob – anyone who may have had involvement in her death."
"Wait – so that means…" Kit started, before Zero cut him off.
"Where did you find the body?"
"It was…in the dumpster behind the Lounge," Surge said, as Zero began rubbing his face.
"It's a warning. Khan is telling us that we are certain to be next."
"Then we need to leave, man…" Nack said, before Nazo shook his head.
"Even if we wanted too – there is nowhere for us to go. There are more of us than there are of him, so it is imperative that we do not split up. I imagine his thirst for revenge is not yet quenched. Once the police are freed from the tunnels…"
"If," Honey corrected.
"If – they are freed from the tunnels, I am sure that Khan will resume his killing spree. It would be smart to change locations and continue moving. For now, do not worry…"
Nazo turned to the window, exhaling.
"He will not be able to find us if we do as we must."
2 DAYS, 9 HOURS, AND 26 MINUTES UNTIL DETONATION
"Where the hell are they?" Knuckles muttered, as they gathered around a printout of the city's map.
"Yeah…not like we have a lot of time here," Espio muttered.
"Well, how long do we have?" Tangle asked.
"Bomb goes off in two days, leaves us with a little over 24 hours to do something," Sally said.
"So – what do we do?" Antoine asked, as Knuckles sighed.
"We need to mark the truck – and get a GPS on it."
"That way we can figure out how to bring it down," Vector finished, before the door swung open.
The heads snapped over, as Amy and Julie-su rushed in, followed by the other cops that were posted with the Enterprises employees.
"Where's the Special Forces?" Bunnie asked, as the pair lowered their heads.
"So that's it, huh?" Mighty scoffed.
"What happened?" Charmy piped in.
"Mephiles was there. Hung them on the bridge," Julie-su stated.
"And Sonic? Tails?" Scourge asked.
"Once they escaped, we lost track of them. I have no idea – they're not responding to radios. They're offline," Amy said, sadness in her eyes.
Knuckles cursed, before throwing his jacket on.
"Comish – where are you going?" Fiona asked, as Knuckles gruffly sighed.
"We have two days. Two. We're running out of time – I'm gonna find people who want to fight."
"Boss – you know you can't be out on the streets," Cosmo spoke up, but Knuckles only shook his head.
"Well – we can't leave him…" Whisper stated.
"Then we better follow him. 'Till the end of the planet if we have too," Sally finished, as the group began charging from the room.
2 DAYS, 6 HOURS, AND 8 MINUTES UNTIL DETONATION
"You little punk!"
The voice of an angry mercenary shouted as the pair dragged a yelling child in their grasp. Rushing up the stairs underneath an overpass, they pushed the kid against the railing.
"What'd you steal from us? Huh?!" The other mercenary shouted, as they began rummaging through the kid's jacket.
"Nothing! Nothing!"
"Really?"
"I didn't take anything!"
Shoving the jacket off, an apple rolled onto the ground. The mercenary swiped it, holding it up.
"You think you can steal from us? You little bastard – you're dead!"
Suddenly, from behind, a boot lodged itself into the man's neck, causing him to yelp as he fell to his knees.
"What did I tell you boys about comin' in our neighborhood without askin'?" Rouge exclaimed, taking the mercenary down.
From the railing, Razor hopped over – wrapping a cord around the other man's neck as he bashed his face into the railing – rendering him unconscious.
"Woah…" The kid muttered, before Razor kicked the man onto the other mercenary, piling them onto the concrete.
Rouge swiped the apple, tossing it to the kid. "Don't steal from someone you can't outrun, kiddo."
The kid caught the apple, nodding a thank you as he rushed down the stairs.
Rouge and Razor watched the kid run off, smiling slightly as a voice called from across the underpass.
"Pretty generous for a former thief!"
The pair turned, seeing the cyan and orange lights glimmering through the dark as Silver and Blaze approached.
From behind Rouge and Razor, three motorcycles sped towards them – containing the Rogues, Bark…
And Shadow.
Kicking the bike engines off, the vigilantes all gathered – sharing a collective sigh as the cold winter radiated off their fur.
"Here I thought they had killed you two!" Wave exclaimed, as Blaze scoffed.
"Not yet they haven't."
Shadow approached, wrapping the two into a hug as he sighed. "I am glad you two are alive."
"I'm glad you are too, man," Silver whispered in reply, before they pulled away.
"Where have you two been?" Bark asked.
"Hiding. Like you all," Blaze replied, before Jet chuckled.
"Ohhh – you really think we've been hiding! We've been layin' low, yeah – but we couldn't help beating up some mercenaries along the way."
"Wouldn't that have compromised yourselves?" Silver asked, as Storm shrugged.
"Cooping up in a warehouse wasn't our scene, man."
"They've been relatively quiet. Not found out," Razor said, nodding at the couple.
"We heard Sonic and Tails were captured. Where are they being held?" Silver asked, as Rouge shrugged.
"Didn't hear that – but knowing them they probably got themselves captured. Think they can do eeeeverything themselves…"
"Tails is the only way to stopping that bomb," Shadow said, "We must find them as soon as possible."
Rouge clicked her tongue, tapping her foot lightly. "Wave and I are gonna need some time-"
"We don't have much time, Rouge," Blaze interrupted.
"Look," Wave started, "The city's on lockdown. We can't find much unless we infiltrate. Like Rouge said – we're gonna need some time. Find them, bring Tails to the bomb once we get back in touch with Knuckles and them – stop it from going off and capture Eclipse and Mephiles."
"Nothing is as it seems with Eclipse," Bark started, "He will have something else up his sleeve."
"We will find him before the bomb goes off. We promise that," Rouge said, as the group fell silent.
Shadow nodded, before flickering his gaze to Bark. "You said you burned the forest down to capture that thief in your village, right?"
Bark nodded solemnly.
"Then we burn the forest down. Match him on his level."
"What's the intel on those hostages Eclipse took from the hospital? Did they ever get found?" Silver asked, as Razor shook his head.
"No. I am presuming they're dead."
"I don't think so," Jet started, "Eclipse ain't the kinda dude to just randomly off some hostages. You guys are right, Eclipse has something else up his sleeve."
Shadow sighed, crossing his arms as he looked onto the icy ocean. Turning his gaze, he saw two ferries approaching the city – squinting closely.
"Ferries?"
The group turned their heads, stepping towards the railing as they looked out on the pair of ferries inching closer to the island.
"There is no way in hell that those mercenaries are letting two ferries into this city," Storm muttered.
"You're right. That is bad news," Silver spoke up, grabbing onto Blaze's hand.
"Before we make any moves – we find Sonic and Tails. Then – we confirm what the origin of those ferries are. Once we find the detectives, we can reveal ourselves to the city. We have stockpiled enough tech from the Enterprises – that bomb is not going off under any circumstances."
Rouge looked to Wave, as the pair nodded towards each other.
"Give us 12 hours – and you'll know where they are," Wave said, as the group nodded.
Once the pair took their leave, Shadow turned to Silver and Blaze.
"Are you two ready?"
Silver smirked, sharing an amusing glace with Blaze as he squeezed her hand, turning his gaze back to Shadow.
"We are."