FIVE MINUTES AGO
"Hey, do they got any shinies? I want a shiny! Shinies for everyone!"
"Will ya pipe down, mate?!" Nack shoved a duck's green feathery head back into the bushes as it tried to get a peep at the complete and total strangers entering Ebony's hut. That was troublesome enough. They hadn't counted on anyone showing up out of the blue and muddying things up. Not that they couldn't handle it, but as far as he was concerned, dealing with one group of misfits was already nearly above his pay grade.
"But Bean wants shinies!" The duck known as Bean got down on his knees, practically begging Nack to let him have a shiny. "Shines are the only thing Bean lives for. Well, that and bombs. And shiny bombs And really shiny bombs. PRETTY PLEASE GIVE BEAN A SHINY!"
Bean felt a sharp pain to the back of his head as something struck him from behind like a small rock firing from a sling. For the briefest of moments, his childish attitude vanished and was replaced with nothing but sheer malice. "Okay, who the hell threw that?! It was one of you bastards, wasn't it? Wasn't it?! You tell me who it was or else I'm gonna rip out your entrails and piss on your—"
Another small object struck him again, only this time Bean could make out who threw it. She was a gray weasel wearing a cowboy hat and a pair of booties, same as Nack. The only other things she had on her aside from a couple of pistols, some boots, and some other doohickies was a small vest and a pair of short cackies, but that was about it. And as Bean could now see, she wasn't slinging just anything at him. Instead, it was shiny speckled pebbles from a pouch strapped around her waist. Just what Bean liked best.
"Down boy!" she said. She got ready to throw another pebble, convinced that she was going to have to do quite a bit to keep him in line.
Not that she had to worry. Beat got down on his knees like a beggar, his eyes wide like a little kid's as he started scooping up the pebbles like a toddler. "Ooo! Shiny! Bean loves shinies! Shinies make the world go round! Nicki got any more shinies!?"
"Sorry, Bean. You want more shinies, you're just gonna have to do the mission like everyone else."
"Okey-dokey!" Bean closed his eyes and started humming to himself as though he were lost in his own little word, though not before briefly talking with another of their entourage. "Come on, Bark! Let's sing! You can sing, can't ya?"
Bark was a rather large polar bear, dressed in a red beanie and a long green scarf. He was tall and wide like a block of ice and had a personality to match. And like a block of ice, he didn't speak. At all. Nack wasn't sure if he couldn't or wouldn't, but either way, it made communicating with him harder than need be. Bark looked at Bean as though he had said the stupidest thing in his life before the latter got the message.
"Oh! Can't sing, huh? Well, that's okay! You just let Bean know what you wanna do! Bean's easy!" He then went back to playing with his toys and shinies, almost like it was all a game.
Nack slid his furry gray hand over his face, almost not sure if he was going to make it. "Sis, tell me somethin'. When did it come to this?"
"Come to what?" said Nicki.
"When we're havin' to work with a bunch of weirdos and freaks just to make ends meet, that's what!"
"Hey, when you can do anything these boys can, let me know. If nothin' else, they're hella useful."
"You think someone who can't even tie his own shoelaces together is useful?!" Nack pointed behind him. Sitting with his feet in front of him was a yellow cat in a black cowboy hat and long brown coat. His right arm was made of metal, as were his legs. Not that it stopped him from wearing a pair of jeans and some shoes to go with them. At the moment, he was dead set on putting the right piece through the right loop, desperate to get his shoes tied before things got hectic. All he had to do was slip it through. Just get it through the hole. Just a little bit more and—
And he missed. Again. Because of course he did. "Tarnation!" He took off one of his shoes and nearly hurled it out of the bush before Bark seized his hand with one big red mitt. If not for him, their cover would have been blown before they could even say 'FUBAR.'
"Oh. Sorry about that. Guess I wasn't thinkin'!"
Nack placed his head in his hands and groaned as if cradling an oncoming headache.
"Well," said Nicki, "he's a cyborg! I mean, apparently, this new group of Freedom Fighters or whatever already has one! Maybe even two, sorta! Gotta fight fire with fire!"
"He doesn't even need shoes! His feet are made of metal! They're practically already shoes! Why is he even trying to put on shoes?!"
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe they just turn him on?" Sitting at the far end of the bushes was the last member of their little band, though Nack wasn't even sure if she was really a member. She'd only joined up recently, and Nack didn't know if she'd be staying for long. Not that she didn't have her talents.
She was sprawled out on the grass like a pin-up cover, her tight black leather only serving to accentuate her assets. She was foxy as could be, and not just because of her species. Every move of hers seemed designed to be as outrageous or provocative as possible, almost as though it were a game to her. "I mean, I know if I had myself a cute little toy or fashion piece, I'd want to get as much out of it as I could. Only makes sense, doesn't it?"
"Not really, no."
"Hey," said Nicki, "don't mind him, luv! He's just havin' an early mid-life crisis is all."
"I am not havin' an early mid-life crisis! You're the one with the mid-life crisis!"
"You keep tellin' yourself that."
Desperate for anything to even temporarily alleviate him of the gang of morons and weirdos he had assembled, he took another look outside the bush. As far as he could tell, everyone had gone inside. Which would potentially make them easy pickings. "Finally! Alright, everyone stays in the bush 'till I give them the signal! 'Cept for Nicki."
Bean's hand shot up into the air like a toddler wanting to go potty. "Ooh! Ooh! I got an idea! I got an idea!"
"Oh, Gaea, please don't tell me it's about the exploding whoopee cushions."
"If we get loads and loads of bombs and stuff in them a million jazillion whoopie cushions and force feed them to everyone ever born ever until their bellies explode—"
Fiona quickly placed a finger to Bean's lips, though she still didn't seem to care too much either way. "Hush, darling. You don't want to give our fearless leader an ulcer, would you?"
"Wouldn't be the first time," Nack grumbled. "Anyway, with any luck, these are just a bunch of everyday schmoes. And if they aren't, that's what you lot's for."
"Just let me know when I can shoot somebody!" said Fleabyte. "That's my favorite part of the job!"
Nack grumbled again, this time muttering a variety of colorful expletives and metaphors before closing his eyes and taking a deep, long breath. "Again. You lot. Sit. Wait. Signal. Understand me?" He lept out of the bushes and ran over to the nearest window, eager to begin the assault. He just hoped that despite everything potentially being stacked against them that things would proceed without a hitch.
This was going to blow up in their collective faces, wasn't it?
NOW
Sonic wasn't even the teeniest bit scared when some two-bit weasel mercenary started waving a pistol in his face. Not unless he was the fastest shot alive. No, he was more angry than scared. Angry that some jackass had tried to hurt him, Sally, and everyone else and then had the gall to act like he was the biggest thing since sliced bread. If anyone hadn't made it out of there alive, Sonic would've shoved that pistol right up his ass.
As is, everyone was safe. If only just starting to get themselves together. Sonic was still looking down the barrel of Nack's gun, not that he really cared. "Does it now? Gotta say, I'm a bit flattered. Not everyone makes a bullet for yours truly."
"Don't get cocky, mate. This thing's one of the best pistols 'round these parts, and I'm even better. You don't do what I say and one of us ain't gonna be around much longer."
"You don't say."
"Mate, I don't think you're taking this as seriously as you—-"
One second and flash of blue later and both of Nack's guns were ripped straight from his hands. Sonic held one of them aloft as he stood in the same exact place he had been, looking through the barrels as though giving it a proper examination. "Honestly, I'm not the biggest expert on guns, but this doesn't look top of the line here."
Nack was flabbergasted, barely able to get a word out before just barely managing to compose himself. "I, what, how did you do that?!"
"Hey, I'm the fastest thing alive. If ya didn't know, that's your problem."
"Oh, he didn't know alright. But I do." A bright yellow light flashed from the bushes, engulfing Sonic in a prison of hard light before he could move a muscle and completely restraining his movements. Another weasel stepped forward. She looked almost exactly like Nack, only if he was a girl. Which judging by the way she carried herself was something she reveled in.
"Whew!" Nack wiped a few beads of sweat from his forehead as he breathed a sigh of relief. "What took ya so long, sis?!"
"Hey, this is some top-notch equipment here. Getting this all together is harder than it looks."
By now, everyone else had managed to more or less recover, much to their dismay. After all, seeing Sonic literally stopped in his tracks wasn't exactly a happy occasion.
"Big bro?!" Tails raced over to Sonic, placing his hands on the prison before pounding it to try and break through. "Don't worry, big bro! I'll get you out of there! Just hold on a minute!"
Meanwhile, Sally soon noticed the same thing as Tails before rushing over there almost as fast as he did. "Sonic?! Are you okay?!"
"Oh, he's fine," said Nicki. "But he won't be if you don't do exactly what we say. Should've done this in the first place."
"What did you do to him?!"
"Looks like she put him in some sort of hard light stasis beam," said Tails. "Maybe if I can reverse engineer my laser pistol—"
"Or you can just do what me and sis want and wait for us to let him go," said Nack. "Or maybe we should do it to the rest of you bleeders."
"If I may be so bold," said Ebony, "what exactly do you want from us in the first place?"
"Good question. See, we're workin' for someone pretty high up on the totem pole, and you've got somethin' he wants."
"You mean Eggman?" said Tiara.
"Not at liberty to say," said Nicki. "Though Eggman ain't the only fish in the sea. Now, our boss has it on pretty good authority that you've got somethin' pretty darn powerful. Some green orb or whatever."
Ebony's eyes widened ever so slightly. "Does he now?"
Nack adjusted the brim of his hat, making sure it shadowed his eyes just enough without actually covering them. "Hey, it ain't for us to question why. He wants it, we get it. Now, you gonna hand it over, or are we gonna have to get nasty?"
"You're still assuming I actually have it. For all you know, your boss may be a crackpot with delusions of grandeur who doesn't actually know what he's talking about."
"Maybe," said Nicki, "but he's a crackpot that's loaded." She reached for her other side, pulling a laser pistol and aiming it at Sonic's forehead. "Now, are you gonna cough it up? Or are we gonna have to go beyond nasty? Not that I mind."
Ebony's eyes darted back and forth between Sonic and her house as though her eyes were racing. As far as anyone could tell, she couldn't just let someone die on her watch, but she also didn't seem to want Nack and Nicki taking so much as a step inside her house. She tried to think, tried to make her decision. Until at last, she made her choice.
Not that she needed to. Just as she was about to tell the weasels what she wanted to do, Sonic began to get somewhat blurry. And in a manner of seconds, he was blurrier still. The same was true of his hard light prison. It started to shake and rumble, at times becoming almost transparent. Until the hard light finally broke into pieces like a giant stone somehow imploding on itself.
Before anyone could so much as gasp, Sonic grabbed both of Nicki's weapons ("Hey!") and threw them over the cliff, leaving them to the mercy of the river below. "There! Try doing that again, will ya?!"
Tails was overjoyed to see his 'big bro' safe ("Big bro!"), but Sally was ecstatic. "Sonic! Are you alright?"
"Course I am. Just vibrated myself as fast as I could till whatever was surrounding me couldn't hold me. Works every time." He turned towards the weasels. "As for you two, that's strike two out of three. You really want to try for that last one?"
Nack was shaking in his boots for the briefest of moments before gathering his wits. "Actually, now that you mention it…" He blew his fingers together, letting out a shrill whistle that sent nearly every insect flying and made everyone in the area painfully aware of it.
A group of figures burst from the bushes from behind. Sonic just managed to notice someone striking him from the rear before he stepped out of the way of a sharp, piercing blast of energy, barely managing to avoid being turned into hedgehog fricassee.
"Tarnation!" A cat with mangy yellow fur stood before him, dressed like a cowboy from the West. Smoke drifted from an outstretched metallic palm as if it wasn't obvious who fired the blast. His arm and both of his legs were made of metal, much like Bunnie. Though Sonic wasn't sure if this one's transformation was accidental.
"Nifty setup you've got there," said Sonic. "I know someone who's got one just like it."
"Ya don't say." Fleabyte fired another blast, but Sonic dodged it just as quickly.
"Seriously? You're gonna have to come up with somethin' better than that! Doesn't matter how strong you are if you can't hit me, can ya?"
"Rootin' tootin' Gaea forsaken varmint!" Fleabyte growled as two jet thrusters emerged beneath his feet sending him forward like a missile. He aimed straight at Sonic, his speed almost dizzying. But not dizzying enough. Sonic managed to zip out of the way just in time, and Fleabyte found himself flying right into another block of land. A much bigger block of land. At eye level. "Oh, Gaea." And splat went the cat. Sonic just hoped everyone was having an even easier time of it than he was.
"Boom boom boom, you're dead! Boom shakalakah!"
Tails and Sticks were busy dealing with a green duck with a red bandana around his neck who might as well have escaped from a lunatic asylum. Bean was bouncing around as giddy as could be, tossing bombs left and right with wild abandon. (How he was able to throw out so many bombs was another story.)
There were so many bombs being thrown at such great frequency that it was all Tails and Sticks could do to dodge them, with Tails bobbing and weaving and Sticks leaping to and fro on the ground below. "Run!" said Bean. "Run or you'll be well done! Or maybe just blown into tiny bits. Sometimes I lose track. Hey, anyone up for a game of parchesi?!"
Tails was trying to blast him with his laser rifle, but in between attempting to aim while also dodging each of the blasts, that was easier said than done. "This! Is! Insane!"
"You're telling me!" Sticks was faring much the same as Tails if only on the ground, though only having a boomerang arguably made things that much more difficult by default. "Fact he's gotta be a servant of the great Boom Boom Kaboom aside, with us stuck on one little piece of land and bombs going every which way, there ain't much room to maneuver! Nevermind everything else going on! Just goes to show you don't don't underestimate Kaboom!"
"Forget about Kaboom! If we don't do something, we're toast!"
Meanwhile, Bean was starting to get restless. "Come on, guys! You're no fun! I wanna blow you all to little itty bitty pieces! Least till I get my shinies! Shinies are life. All hail the shinies!"
And that's when it hit him. "Hey," said Tails, "you like shinies?" He waved his gun in the sunlight. It wasn't shiny on its own, but underneath the afternoon sun, the sheen of his metal rifle might just have been enough to do the job.
For the moment it seemed to work. Bean was entranced. Any bombs he had conjured up that had yet to explode somehow disappeared, and he was utterly fixated on nothing else but the gun.
"Well, go get it!" Tails threw his gun down into the ravine, hoping Bean would chase after it like a complete and utter loony. Which he did.
"MAH SHINY!" Bean chased after the gun, diving off the cliff and into the ravine below in an attempt to save it.
Tails sighed in relief. "That takes care of him. Still feel kind of bad though. I'm not sure if he's gonna make it."
Sticks scoffed. "You kidding?! Tails, I might be overly cautious, but I ain't stupid. He's a duck. And what can ducks do?"
Tails looked down. Sure enough, Bean was floating to the ground like a leaf on the wind, his feathers carrying him down as he embraced the gun like a mother hugging her long lost child. "There, there! You're all safe now! Daddy's got you." However, rather than do the smart thing and fly back up, he instead floated down to a small patch of land at the bottom of the block and landed with all the grace of an anvil. He cradled the gun like a newborn babe, rocking it while singing it a soothing lullaby. "Rockabye gunny, on the sand top. When the wind blows, the sand top will rock…"
Tails was more disturbed than anything. Not just at Bean, but that Sticks had a strangely wistful smile on your face. "Oh, don't mind me. Just looks kinda fun!"
"I'll take your word for it. Anyway, we've still got to help big bro and the others."
"Assuming they need help," said Sticks. "We already took care of Happy easy! How hard could taking on everyone else be?"
"Persistent, aren't you?"
Ebony had summoned up a wall of water from the rivers around her. It protected her and Tiara, keeping them safe from the blasts of fire that were being sent their way from Fiona. She had been conjuring up a cadre of little fire whisps with just two little words ("Fox Fire!"), all shaped like miniature foxes and all eager to burn Ebony and anyone with her to a cinder. The wall of water was managing to douse them for now, but there was no telling how long Ebony could keep it up.
"Oh, you got that right," said Fiona. "When there's something I want, I never stop until I get it. Rule number one in my line of work."
"And just what is your line of work exactly?"
Fiona held up her fingernails as if to revel in their radiant beauty. "Oh, you know. Thieving, infiltrating, doing things no-one else wants to do. I don't like to brag, but I'm pretty good at it. Still not as good as my boss though."
Ebony was doing her best to keep the wall up, though magic wasn't some infinite resource that grew on trees. It had its limits. She needed to go on the offensive. Or else she was through.
"I see. And is your boss able to conjure up fire out of thin air without so much as blinking?"
"Of course not. I'm no mage. This is just something I was born with."
And that was the chink in the armor she needed. "I see. In that case, you won't see this coming then."
Fiona wasn't sure just what Ebony meant until it was too late. Another stream of water rocketed out of the ravine, only this time it was aimed towards Fiona like a blast from a hose. It came down from above and blasted her to the ground, dousing her fire and keeping her from being able to focus on anything but trying not to drown to death. All that was left was the finishing touch.
"Tiara!" said Ebony. "Conjure up a sleep spell, won't you? Before our friend tries anything foolish."
"Right!" Tiara hopped closer to Fiona before waving her fingers, whispering a short incantation before a sparkling grey powder sprinkled over her. Fiona tried to fight it, rolling around and trying to get up and even attempting to unleash more blasts of foxfire. But with that blast of water keeping her down, there wasn't much she could do.
Fiona's eyes started to droop as her muscles loosened up, her resistance beginning to weaken. Ebony started to slowly lessen the pressure of the water jet, lowering it bit by bit as Fiona slowly but surely fell into a deep slumber. Her eyes closed one final time, though not before uttering a single, solitary name. "Rouge…" And that was that.
Ebony nearly slumped her to knees, her furry forehead bristling with sweat. Though she still had one last thing to do. One wave of her arm was all it took to surround Fiona with a cage of solid green emerald. With any luck, that would prevent her from escaping. Assuming she had enough strength left to try.
"Right," she said. "With that out of the way, I suppose we had better—"
Suddenly Big came flying past to her, skidding on the ground before stopping just at the edge of the cliff. And Bark was right on his tail.
"Gaea!" said Tiara. "Talk about a slugfest!"
"That's one way of putting it." She turned to Big. "Do you need any assistance?"
Before Big could so much as grunt, Bark made his move. He leaped toward Big, intending on ending it with one mighty blow right in the throat. But Big had other plans. Timing it just right, he lifted up his legs precisely at the moment Bark got close, kicking upward with both feet and flipping him clear over a cliff. Bark didn't so much as scream as he plummeted into the river like a stone.
"Thanks, but I think I've got it covered." He massaged his jaw, spitting out a tooth into his other hand before holding it for all to see. "Hope Knothole's got a good dentist."
"Then I suppose that takes care of that. Now let's see here…" Ebony closed her eyes and concentrated, sensing if anyone else needed help. "The fox and the badger seem to have things in hand. Whereas the hedgehog made short work of his opponent. So that just leaves…"
"Sal."
"If you mean the princess, you'd be correct. We'll have to hope nothing's happened to her before we can reach her. Because if it has? Then there goes the kingdom."
"That just leaves us, don't it, luv?"
Sally was facing down the barrel of a gun. Nack was aiming his spare laser pistol hidden under his hat straight at her, and Nicki was ready to do the same with her own if anything went wrong. Suffice to say, things were not looking too good for at the moment. She was doing her best not to appear the slightest bit nervous or scared, though her pounding heart made that a tall order.
"I guess not. I don't suppose there's anything I could say to get you two to back off?"
"Not likely, luv. 'Less you could make us a better offer?"
'A better offer'? Now there was an idea. After a moment the gears started turning in Sally's head, working through various different plans and stratagems until she had decided on one simple maneuver that could not fail. The bribe.
"Actually, I think I could."
"That so?"
"What would you say if I told you I was the one and only Princess of the Acorn Kingdom?"
"I'd say that's a load of rubbish. Do you seriously expect me to believe that you're some Princess walkin' around as you please?"
"Actually, she might be at that." Nicki's eyes narrowed as if remembering something from long ago. "I've seen newspaper clippings of her from a few years back. Something about the Acorn Kingdom festival. And aside from bein' a few years older, she's practically the spitting image."
"You mean she is who she says she is?"
"Might be. Not sure what she'd be doing all the way up here, but she looks the part. And if she is, she could net us some nice moolah."
"Exactly," said Sally. "The Acorn Kingdom may not be the biggest country in the world, but it's still got quite the bank account. And with Da— I mean, the king MIA, I'm basically in charge. Whatever you're being offered, I can double it."
"Hold on there, mate. Far as we've heard, this Eggman's still got hold of the capital. How do we know you'll be able to pay us?"
"Because we put all of our funds in an online account last year. That's why." Of course, this was a baldfaced lie, but they didn't need to know that.
Nack fiddled with his hat, carefully gauging her offer. "You do realize if it turns out you've been lyin' to us, your ass is grass?"
"Completely."
"Hey," said Nicki, "I say we believe her. Sides, if she is lyin', we can always come back and pick up the orb later. And maybe have us some regicide while we're at it."
"Eh, whatever. I'm easy." Nack put away his gun and blew his fingers together. "Come on, everybody! Deal's off! We got ourselves a better offer! Let's scarper, shall we?"
Nick waited for a response from anyone. Anyone at all. But no-one came. "What's keeping 'em? Couldn't have already bought it, could they?"
"Not quite, but not for lack of trying." Suddenly Sonic rushed in, tearing away any additional weapons Nack and Nicki might have had and making sure they couldn't harm a fly. The others came over in short order, surrounding the pair of weasels and leaving them nowhere to run. "Though if I were to guess, I'd say everyone's mincemeat. You okay, Sal?"
"I'm fine, Sonic. But thanks." She turned back to the weasels. "In any case, I think it's safe to say our deal's off. You understand."
Nack was fuming. Smoke practically came out of his ears as his face became reddened in rage, his fists clenching as he no doubt formed a strong desire to kill somebody. "You two-timing son of a—"
"Now, now," said Nicki. "No need to go callin' anyone names. Sides, that ain't gonna help none. Best thing we can do is pack up and call it a day."
"It really is," said Sally. "Unless you want to spend only who knows how long in a cell?"
"She has a point," said Tails.
"Pretty much," said Sonic.
"Indeed," said Ebony. "Because it would either be that or being turned into toads. Which, under the proper circumstances, I am quite capable of."
Nack looked as though he were about to burst a gasket until he finally managed to reign himself in. "Fine. We're leavin'. But don't think we won't be back. Because we're gonna get that orb."
"So you say. Now will you kindly gather the others and make yourselves scarce? Or will I have to turn you all into pets?"
Nack and Nicki quickly looked at one another and gulped before doing as asked. "Fine," said Nack. "Though you might have to give us a minute. Or two. Maybe three. Cause far as I can tell, you've scattered everyone to the four winds."
"Oh," said Sally. "Well, I suppose that's fair. But if you try anything—"
"If we try anything we're toast. Pretty easy to understand. Now, if we can be allowed to get the other Hooligans together and be on our way…"
"Of course." With Sally's blessing, Nack and Nicki were able to rescue the other Hooligans and would be on their way shortly after. For the most part. Strangely enough, Fiona was nowhere to be found. As far as they could tell, she'd managed to regain consciousness after Ebony and Tiara took care of her and took off. Apparently Tiara had somewhat bungled the sleep spell, something Ebony would no doubt be giving her flak about for years to come.
"Well then," said Ebony. "At the very least, we've managed to route those bunglers. I suspect they'll be back. But we should be ready for them. Although we still haven't figured out who they're working for."
"Maybe, but I think I've got somethin' that might help." Sonic rolled open his fist, revealing a crumpled piece of paper sitting on his palm. "Took it when I stole their guns. It was wedged right next to the guy's holsters. Figured I might as well take it. Wouldn't hurt anything, would it?"
"Sonic, you're a marvel." Sally gave Sonic a short hug and a quick peck on the cheek before going back to the paper. Her face blushed as she realized the full ramifications of what she had done, but that didn't matter. She had work to do. She began to unfold it, though not without noticing that Sonic was acting somewhat odd. He was standing completely still, his hand holding his cheek at the same spot Sally pecked it. Almost as though he couldn't believe that just happened.
"Sonic?"
"Uh, I'm fine, Sal. Just wasn't expecting that. If you know what I mean."
"To be honest, I wasn't expecting it either. It just sort of happened."
"Well, maybe it's just me, but I wouldn't mind that happenin' again."
And now Sally was the one standing still. It didn't take her long to realize the implications. "Oh. Well, in that case, I don't think I'd mind either."
The two of them stared at one another for a moment until Sally suddenly blurted something out. "Uh, hey, when we get back, do you maybe want to get something to eat? If you're still hungry?"
"Uh, sure. Maybe some chilidogs?"
"Maybe. Or, I don't know, maybe we could have dinner?"
"Sure! Dinner! Great! I think."
"Good! Real good."
"Uh, guys?" said Tails. "Are you two okay?"
Big pulled Tails aside and put a finger to his mouth, gently encouraging him not to interrupt.
"Uh, so," said Sally. "That paper?"
"Oh yeah!" Sonic unfolded the piece of paper in a flash as everyone began gathering around to read it. "Let's see here. It says, 'Ransack Ebony's shack. Grab green orb. Report to MM.' 'MM'? The heck's that supposed to mean?"
"Whatever it is," said Tails, "I don't think it's referring to Eggman."
"That's what I'm thinking too," said Sally. "One of them did say there's other fish in the sea."
Sonic pinched his brow, almost as though this wasn't something he wanted to deal with. "So now we've got to deal with both Eggman and whoever's trying to take Ebony's orb. Because of course we do."
"Uh, Ebony," said Tails, "if you don't mind telling me, why would anyone want to steal your orb? For that matter, who would?"
"Well," said Ebony, "it is a rather potent artifact. I mostly use it for telling the future or seeing into far off lands or dimensions, but it could also be used as a power source so long as whoever's using it knows what they're doing. Though as a power source for what, I'm not entirely sure. Nor am I sure who would want it. Although…"
"Ebony," said Sally, "if you have any clue who it is, you have to tell us. Please."
"Very well. When I was but a child still living with my old master, a strange Mobian came to our doorstep. He looked somewhat like an elephant, but he was considerably hairier and somewhat larger as well. He was dressed in a tailored white suit and was polite to a fault. It was clear that he wanted the orb, but my master wouldn't let just anyone have it. He denied the orb to him and kept it safe until I inherited it when I was old enough. And I've done the same to anyone else who wants to see it."
"Out of curiosity, what was his name?"
"I was just getting to that. It's been some time since I've had to remember him, but I remember it well enough. Including his name: Mammoth Mogul.
Mammoth Mogul was sitting in a velvet chair in the middle of a rather luxurious penthouse. He was surrounded with nearly everything he could want. Classic literature, exquisite paintings, finely sculpted statues, gems and jewelry, fine wine and finer women. In particular, a buxom bunny in fishnets held a glass of wine on a gold plate next to his chair, all while Mammoth waved his fingers as he listened in ecstasy to Neightothen's the Fifth.
His evening of pleasure was soon to be interrupted. A loud ring rang from his pockets like an alarm bell. He did his best to ignore it, trying in vain to block it out and get sucked into the glorious music, but as the rings continued, it was increasingly apparent that he didn't have much choice. He pressed a button on the right arm of his chair, the music coming to a halt as he did so. He turned to the bunny. "I'm so sorry, Francesca, but I believe something has come up. Be a good girl and wait in the hall until I'm done, will you?"
"Of course, Master Mogul." Francesca bowed before strutting out the door, her hips sashaying and swaying for maximum oomph. All of which Mammoth Mogul barely cared for. It was a beautiful distraction if nothing else. But that was all it was.
He seized his cellphone from his pocket and held it to his ear, wanting more than anything to get it over with. "Why hello there, . I didn't expect to hear from you so soon. I do trust you've obtained what I requested?"
No-one but Mogul could hear the Mobian on the other line, but from the way his brow was starting to furrow, it might have been a good idea not to get on his bad side.
"Are you telling me that you failed to get the orb? …I see. Princess Acorn, you say? And her little friends? In other words, are you telling me that you were beaten by children? No, I don't care if the cat is old enough to be Fiona's father. The facts are that most of them are children and yet you still lost! As well as failed to get the orb. In any case, you may keep the advance. That isn't going to dent my pocketbook by any means. But don't expect anything else. Not until you get the orb. Do you understand me? Good. Then we have nothing to worry about. Call me when you get the orb. And not a moment before."
Mammoth waited a moment before crushing his phone like tinfoil. He supposed he'd have to buy a new phone sooner or later. On top of that, he began to wonder if hiring these 'Hooligans' was such a good idea. He didn't want to use his own men if possible. He preferred to use whatever resources he had in whatever ways he could to get ahead. And employing your own troops in dangerous situations that could likely kill them was a recipe for disaster. Still, taking any rash actions wouldn't be doing anyone any favors.
So instead, he chose to wait. To wait until just the right moment to take whatever he wanted. And perhaps he would finally get what he truly desired. He laid back in his chair and called Francesca back in, pressing the button for a second time as he did. He might have had to do some talking later, but for now? For now, it could wait. If nothing else, he certainly had the time.
