"Saima-" he groaned, having to go after his partner for the sake of the operation. Espio was significantly faster, having gone behind as she pushed out the door. It was evident they were both speedier than the stork, who Espio noticed to be several yards behind. This better lead him to Victor. If they both left the country without any sign of Vivian's father, any leads for his disappearance would run dry.
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Saima kept walking, paying no attention to the stork. She wanted to run away and never look back at this point. Knowing where Jon was filled her with so much hope, but Trevor was her ball and chain. She mustered up some tears. God, if this didn't work she was going to look like a complete fool. "That fucking two-faced son of a bitch!" The expletives just seemed to roll off the tongue so smoothly. She paced the dark alleyway while not making eye contact with the taller one. "He's a liar. He's saying he doesn't know." The tears ran down her cheeks.
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He matched his quiet footsteps to hers as an extra security measure. They could hear the calls of the white bird behind them, but the real objective was ahead wherever Saima aimed for. He could see a thick wall of trees coming up, so he stepped even closer behind her. Where is this place? Espio never considered to venture this far before.
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Saima followed a very small trail through the thick trees. Every so often she would stop and look around for the visual markers that were set in place. If Jon was here in the shelter she needed to find a way to get Trevor off her back. Although if they did find Jon, she was sure that the two of them could handle the stork just fine.
As she carefully made her way down a small bank covered in rocks she felt a strange feeling. She turned and looked around, her ears twitching. She felt like she was being watched, but in the Mafia that wasn't an uncommon feeling. Saima pushed on ahead and reached a tree with a triangle carved into the side.
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He groaned. Shit. Where is she going? It seemed like a place she knew about. He had to find her; there was no excuse for him to come back without a partner. He could easily say she bailed like Jon, but what if she came bought and they thought he was lying? He was responsible.
He reached the forest entrance and started trekking. Damn, this was going to be hard. Trevor wondered what that bitch did to set that guy off.
Espio froze for a second, his heartbeat accelerating. This was normal. Those he followed would tend to get a sense of paranoia. All he needed to do was stay still and move out of the way when necessary.
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Saima followed the signals and finally came to the hidden bunker on the other side of a hill. If you didn't know it was here it would be one hell of a thing to find on your own. She ran to the entrance and pulled the stiff door open and closed it behind her quickly. She was safely inside. "Jon?" She called out tentatively.
The rooms were dark and hard to navigate through, she found a small oil lamp and turned it on. There was a strange mix of emotions swirling inside her, excitement and anxiety. "Jon?" She called out again.
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She could hear drowsy groans from one of the rooms as though someone had woken up. Espio opened the door slowly and pulled it back in with ease. The trees obscured the light, preventing it from penetrating the windows. He followed her cries for Jon carefully.
The forest seemed endless. After a while, Trevor reached a lake and the continuation of the forest on the other side. Seriously?
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Saima's ears perked and her body tensed up. Was he in trouble? She hurried down the corridor and peeked into each room. There was a bit of natural light in the rooms, but not enough to make out figures. "Jon, are you okay?" She pushed one door open and heard the heavy breathing. She walked in fast towards the sound and saw a silhouette of a body curled up on the floor. Her heart jumped as she crouched down to bring the light source to his face.
Not Jon.
She squinted and pushed the fringe up on his face. Fuck, it was Victor. "Fucking Liam." She whispered. "Hey-" She pulled him up by the collar of his jacket so that he was sitting upright. "Who brought you here?"
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Espio's eyes lit up. Was this the casino man they were looking for? Green, older looking bat, Saima didn't scream "Jon!" so it seemed to check out.
He was wavering in and out of consciousness. He groggily adjusted his small glasses, one of his eyes remaining closed while the other squinted in the light. "Jon...he's gone. Don't hurt me, please..."
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Saima cursed again. What the fuck was she going to do? She sighed harshly. "Where the hell did he go?" She readjusted her clenched fist on his collar. "Did he say anything? Anything at all." Her tone was stern.
Silver landed on the soft grass. He let out a shaky breath, how was he going to do this? He figured it would be safer to drop it from the ceiling, but he would disk damaging the device. Silver approached the red door and thought about knocking on it. Maybe he could send the device in fast to throw the doorman off. How would he get it back? He could shatter the glass from above and retrieve it when it was done. It would seem strange, but if it worked they wouldn't have any idea of what it was.
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"N-no." He said weakly. "If he did, I was definitely passed out. He said the Mafia wanted him and me, but they weren't going to get either of us anytime soon." He blinked slowly. "You're not going to take me to them, are you? Please, don't. I need to see my daughter...I have a casino to run."
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"If I hand you over now they will want to cut a deal with you, if I don't- you'll be punished and I'll most likely be killed." It would be in her best interest to hand him over. It should make Canstella back off and get rid of Trevor, hopefully. "You'll see her soon enough." She pulled him up to his feet roughly. "Just accept the shit they give you and move on." Saima used his collar to guide the older bat out of the shelter.
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Oh shit. Espio needed to bring Victor back to the agency. Not only was the bonus on the line, but more importantly, he needed to be safe with his daughter. He couldn't allow another person to be taken in and threatened. This was his chance to stop it.
"P-please, don't. They'll think I was hiding-it was Jon who brought me here." He tried removing her grasp from his collar. "I refuse to go-"
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"I don't give a shit if you refuse to go!" She snapped, her voice reverberated on the concrete walls. "They know Jon took you. It doesn't fucking matter anymore." She felt him resist against her hold and she grabbed him again with one hand, extending her claws. The other was still carefully holding the lamp. She usually wouldn't provoke a helpless civilian but she felt an aggressive streak run through her. She was pissed that Liam lied, and that her tiny sliver of hope had vanished before her eyes.
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He needed to wait for the perfect moment. If she made an attempt to injure him, it was time. He watched as he claws extended, and he came closer. "Miss, this is completely unnecessary," he tried to reason.
Wait. Espio dashed into one of the rooms inside and knocked over multiple items. He broke a window, shattered a lamp, and pushed down a massive drawer, causing an immense thud. Rather unprofessional, but it'd work for now. "W-what was that?" Espio left the room, waiting by the door he left slightly open.
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Saima's ears lowered from all of the loud echoing sounds. Fuck this, she couldn't stay here. She tightened her hold on his jacket again and set the oil lamp down quickly to her side. She pushed him out of the shelter as if the shadows would grab her by the ankles and drag her back in. Now that she had two fists on Victor it made it easier to control his movements.
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Well, that backfired on him. Espio whipped toward the front as soon as he figured she wasn't going to come. He leapt over the lamp as he followed the hurrying pair and he prepared a smoke bomb. What kind of ninja would he be without one?
On top of his invisibility, it would be near impossible to identify him. When he was close enough, he threw the bomb a few feet ahead for them to run into. He pulled back Victor aggressively as they coughed. The bat only made a sound of confusion.
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Saima was blinded by a thick smoke and she lost her grip on Victor. What the fuck was happening?! She couldn't see so she called out for help between her coughing. "T-Trevor!" She kept walking forward and her foot caught on a tree root. Saima fell to her knees and her palms hit the sharp rocks. "Shit!"
Victor huffed and felt a strong grip on his arm pulling him away from the white cat. Whoever this was either good or possibly worse, but he was optimistic.
Silver knocked on the door and hid behind it. After a few moments he watched a large wildebeest come out. He grabbed him with telekinesis along with the device. The large wildebeest panicked and yelled out to his associates and Canstella. "Get out of here!"
Silver struggled to keep the wildebeest in his control and he pushed down the button quickly. He could hear people moving inside trying to get out and he pushed the wildebeest and device back into the room. He shut the door as fast as he could before he could hear the beeping sound. He used all he had to secure the possible exits around the building. He flew up to the top to look down through the glass skylight. It was craziness, one of the men looked up and made eye contact with Silver. "Shit." It was Silas' partner, the one at the restaurant.
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Espio picked up Victor as best as he could and followed the path after stepping out of the smoke. Victor yelped at the sight of no one carrying him. "W-who are you?"
"You mustn't worry about that-I'm going to bring you to safety."
Victor relaxed slightly at hearing the statement, but there was no absolute way he could trust him. "Are you, part of that detective agency?"
"Yes." He kept his voice low at all times.
He calmed down considerably. "Thank you."
Jekyll saw the ivory hedgehog through the glass ceiling and instinctively threw a solid object in an attempt to hit him, shattering the glass. He and a few others shielded themselves from the falling shards. Trudor and the other wildebeest both slammed into the door to knock it down, only to fail.
Canstella could hear the beeping from the device. He abruptly rose from his seat. "It's here. That's th-" the machine ceased its beeping. He sat back down and the room calmed down. "You." He snapped a finger at one of his men then pointed at the floor. "Clean this mess before we get shards through the base." He looked at the broken ceiling revealing the darkening sky. He groaned and ate another donut.
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Once the smoke lifted Saima finally rose to her feet again. Her ankle was sore and her hands were bleeding. She looked around the area and noticed Victor had seemed to have vanished. Who would want Victor? It couldn't have been Jon and it sure as hell wasn't Trevor. Wherever the hell he was, she rolled her eyes. Victor mentioned he had a daughter, perhaps there was another group involved. She couldn't be sure, though. "Fuck!" She limped over to the shelter. Without jon or Victor she was dead, but she wondered if Liam did this on purpose so Jon could leave the country. She slid down the wall and brought her knees up to her chest. She wanted to disappear and hope the stork wouldn't find her, she teared up again.
Silver heard the room get quiet again, he peeked down to see that the device was close to the door. He eyed the two wildebeests that gathered the shattered glass from the floor. He lowered himself from the roof and calmly went to the door, he cracked it open and retrieved the device with his ESP. Once it was safely in his hands he started to fly back to town. It was a success, Silver smiled. He hoped Espio was having the same luck.
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Trevor sighed. Either he went in a circle and turned back to town, or he went so far he ended up in another one. He took his chance and started exploring this series of unfamiliar buildings.
"So, you were with me the whole time, following Jon when he brought me?"
"If I were, I would've brought you the moment he left. I came with that girl, but I'll explain when we reach the agency."
"Where is Trevor?"
"Who?"
Canstella looked around the room. Everyone seemed to be here. "Don't play games, Ellis, I'd know if I had a worker named Trevor. I believe you mean Trudor." He titled his large snout towards the sweeping wildebeest.
"Oh, right. Sorry, Boss."
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Saima was lost in thought. What was her next move? She could leave the country herself if she wanted, but she didn't want to leave Jon behind. The sky was growing a dark purple and she needed to hurry back to Cooper's. She moved her ankle and winced. She couldn't let Trevor find her like this, he would blame the entire thing on her. She slowly pushed up against the wall.
Silas watched the clock in his silent apartment. Jekyll should have sent word about the meeting already, he sighed heavily. He stared at the phone and grabbed it quickly. He posed his fingers over the buttons and stopped. "Call me, dammit." He slammed the phone back onto the receiver.
Silver stumbled through the door with the device. "It's done." He smiled through his heavy breathing. "Is Espio back yet?"
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Tails' ears perked up. Before he could even open his mouth, Charmy cheered. "Silveeeeeer!" The bee raced up to him from Vector's desk. "Vector thought you'd be a goner." He looked at him with a wide grin.
"What! You're the one who thought that, you little liar." He scoffed. "Espio ain't here yet. You're looking happy, though. How did it go?"
"Did the device work?"
Espio dreaded it would be a long way to the agency. He wasn't exactly the strongest of the trio. It still impressed him how Charmy was capable of carrying his combined weight with Vector during team missions. However, there was no point in complaining now. He had to get back as soon as possible. His mind worked the path backwards, and in a matter of minutes, he was able to step out of the forest.
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Silver took a seat in the chair from before and visibly relaxed into the soft cushion. "I carefully tossed the device into the room, and they knew exactly what it was." He made eye contact with Tails. "When it was done, Canstella didn't even look at it twice."
Silas looked at the clock again and knew something must have happened. He dialed the number and held the phone to his ear. He lowered his head and brought a hand to his muzzle. "Please answer." He whispered.
"Oof." Her knees hit the concrete in front of the glowing portal. Blaze rested her palms on the cold ground and took a deep breath. It worked. She could hardly believe it, but she successfully traveled between dimensions. The true question now was did her efforts pay off? She slowly looked around at her surroundings while getting to her feet. The portal collapsed onto itself with a whooshing sound and the only light she had was from the lamppost that was beside her.
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"That's great!" Tails' eyes lit up and his tails swished enthusiastically. "Thank you so much, Silver." He knew it wasn't possible to get all of them, but as long as Canstella forgot, the dismissal of his device was a sure thing. "I hope that snake doesn't make me a target again." "Yeah, well I hope Espio gets back here soon."
He felt his phone vibrate in the pocket of his pants. He checked the number just to see the name "Silas." Who? He looked to Canstella who seemed more focused on the wildebeest collecting glass. He answered sternly, "Hello?"
Espio continued his hurried walk with Victor, looking back to see if Saima was following. As far as he could see, they seemed safe.
Yep. He was definitely in another town now. How far had she gone? Was she still in the forest? Fuuuuuck. This was annoying.
Shadow was surveying the area when he spotted a burst of light accompanied by an extremely familiar sound. A figure leapt out of the portal, coercing him to investigate immediately. He remembered the lavender cat from a few years ago. "-Blaze?" What the hell was she doing here?
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Silver smiled at Tails and waved a hand. "I'm glad to help." He turned his attention to Vector. "If he doesn't come back soon, I could go looking for him." Or try too, atleast. Espio would do the same for him if it was reversed.
Silas felt a small relief in his chest. "Jekyll, where the hell have you been?" He looked at the table and calmed down. "How did the meeting with Canstella go?" He nervously tapped on the surface.
Before taking a step forward she stumbled and held on to the side of a brick building. The traveling took more out of her than she expected. Her search for Silver would have to wait until she could get her bearings. Where was she going to stay and how would she eat? The thought made her stomach rumble.
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"I hope he's okay." Tails said worriedly. "He's fine; I just know it. What's just making me wonder is why he's taking so long."
"Who the fuck is this? Listen-" He abruptly questioned, glancing at the name on his phone again. "Sill-ass, whatever the hell your name is. I don't know if this is some joke or what, but I don't need some random punkass stranger badgering me about my work. Window sill motherfu-"
"Jekyll." Canstella turned his head to him.
"Sorry, Boss." He hung up the phone.
He hovered to the feline. She seemed absolutely exhausted. "Blaze the cat," he spoke dryly and extended a hand to her. "What a surprise to find you here of all places."
Jon strolled out of Rango's Liquor store holding a bottle by its neck over the brown paper bag. He'd leave this place in two days-tonight, he was celebrating.
Espio carried Victor onward, moving what felt like miles ahead with every step closer to the agency. Not because of the weight of Victor, but from the weight of suspense and emotion in finally being through with one mission.
"Victor?" He squinted at the bat who ceased being dragged forward. He ran towards him, threatening to let the bottle fly with his erratic movement. "What the fuck-I told you to go after I left-left the country-fuck! What are you doing?" The bat was speechless; how could he even explain anything in his living state of unparalleled confusion? What he also couldn't understand was why they didn't run off as he approached.
Shit. He was so consumed by looking back for Saima, he hadn't noticed him. His heart beat at an unreasonable pace. He couldn't run.
Espio simply held onto the man and uncloaked, revealing his steady gaze at the grass-coloured hedgehog whose eyes widened as though he'd witnessed a murder. "E-Espio?'
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Silas heard the line disconnect. His eyes darted to the wall in realization. "Fucking shit!" He hung up the phone and quickly got up from his chair. He looked around the room and grabbed a jacket from the back of a chair. Whoever the fuck messed with Jekyll's memory was going to pay. He went into the bedroom and rummaged through his partner's nightstand.
Blaze looked up at the face of the figure speaking to her. Meph-No, that wasn't him. She took his hand and pulled herself up. "Shadow?" Blaze recognized those eyes. "Yeah," she huffed. "I don't know how you guys do this constantly." She pulled her hand back and dusted herself off.
Saima managed to get herself out of the forest with a desperate push through the pain. If she could backtrack to Cooper's she could make it before they closed. She grunted and started to walk down the winding path to civilization.
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"What exactly are you doing here?" He watched her dust off and appear more presentable. He knew it wasn't for anything bad, but lately the world was at peace and didn't need a dimensional hopper to help.
Espio kept a straight stare on Jon, looking away as the hedgehog protested, "No, Espio. Hah, you're not really going to turn him in to Canstella-don't-"
"I won't."
"FUCK-" He smashed the bottle onto the ground. Espio took a step back. "Don't fucking lie to me! Why? WHY?"
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"I'm here to find Silver." She looked past him and sighed. "I haven't seen him since I sealed Iblis away." She crossed her arms. "Have you seen him?" She looked into his eyes again.
Saima finally reached Cooper's and pushed the door in. She limped over to Liam's table. Ignoring the girl sitting next to him that was obviously trying to sleep with him later. "Fuck. You." She slammed a fist down and felt her eyes water. She cast the girl a glare and the cat left without question.
"He wasn't there!" She caught movement in her peripheral of the bartender coming in her direction. Saima struggled against his firm grip on her arm. "Let the fuck go!" Their play acting was so good that she was blacklisted. Great.
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"Silver?" He wasn't even aware of the other hedgehog's presence in their time. "No, I haven't. When was his arrival-and what would he need to do here? Did something bastardise the future again?"
"Ralph, let me deal with her for a sec." The bartender released her and returned to his post as the coyote abruptly grabbed her arm and dragged her to the front. "Stupid fucking bitch! Are you deaf? I said I didn't want to see your face here or else-" They went out of the front and stepped behind the bar. He let go of her, grabbing his temples. "What do you want me to say, huh? That he was going to actually wait for you at the shack?"
"You know I can't tell you-but I can promise I'm not turning you in."
Jon winced. "If you don't trust me enough to say where you're going, how could I trust you in that you're not going to turn me in?"
"Jon, if I don't leave now we'll both be in serious trouble."
Victor looked between them confusedly.
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Blaze recalled their last moments together. "After being sealed in another dimension I sought him out in our fixed future. It-took time to gather the strength to make that trip." She felt her head starting to spin. "After finding out he wasn't there I came here." She shrugged. "I'm not sure-he could be traveling for fun for all I know." She shut her eyes and regained her balance again. She figured coming to the time that Mephiles had sent them to would be her best shot.
Saima adjusted to her surroundings and leaned a shoulder against the brick. Her ankle felt like it was on fire. "Damn it, Liam." She sighed and then sniffled. "I just want to leave this hell hole." She rubbed her eyes. She felt too tired to yell at the coyote and it showed in her face. "I've fucked up my ankle because someone else was there. They took Victor and now I don't have a bargaining chip. My only chance is to leave with Jon now." The only good thing that came out of that trip was losing the stork, but everything else went to absolute shit.
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"I don't know if you'll have luck finding him here. He could be anywhere." He crossed his arms. "He may be at a hotel, but that's only if he's still here at all. Regardless, it's too late to start searching, and you seem exhausted." His eyes examined her soft breathing. "I'll help you, but where do you plan to stay?"
Liam shook his head. "Look, Saima. I can't do shit for you. As long as Jon's out it doesn't fucking matter what happens to the green man. You'd better hope he gets killed if Jon told him anything, though." He looked around the empty area and let out a heavy sigh. "Don't you dare repeat anything I'm about to tell you, you understand?" He pulled his eyes from the concrete to stare at her.
"If you don't fucking tell me what's happening, you'll be in trouble, Espio." His trembling hands pulled out a gun from his coat.
"Oh fuck-" Victor squirmed in Espio's hold.
"Jon-no-"
"I trusted you." He took a step closer, his heart pounding heavily as tears filled the rim of his eyes. "If this, is what it takes to get the truth out of you, so be it."
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Blaze gave him a weary expression. "A hotel for the moment." If Shadow was right about Silver staying at one she wondered which one it could possibly be. She made sure to come prepared financially just incase she found him.
Saima swallowed. She was desperate for anything at this point. "I understand." She cleared her throat and winced as she shifted her weight.
He walked until he reached the Jazz lounge. He pushed the door in harshly and walked to the back room. Silas ignored the protests of the staff. He grabbed the phone and dialed in the wretched raccoon's number. This lowlife piece of shit better answer, he gripped the phone tightly.
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He nodded. He wasn't sure what to say until he heard a soft stomach rumble. "Hungry, I presume?" It was rather late, but he knew somewhere they could go.
"Jon really loved you, Saima. He even admitted that he'd missed you, and it pains him to have to leave you." He placed his hands on his hips and sighed. "But you seriously fucked up. You hurt him real bad."
Samuel answered the phone. He wondered who's the sucker who needed him his time, but glancing at the familiar number gave him an idea. Grabbing that kitty's ass was trailing through his mind and he'd been in a playful mood since their chat. "Heyy, baby. Calling back so soon?" A malicious grin crept on his muzzle.
"I'll tell you, Jon, but you need to put the gun down."
"Fuck off, Espio. I've seen your smoke trick before. You're not pulling that shit on me."
Victor remembered it from a few moments ago. Even if his gun was still held up, the smoke would help obscure Jon's chance of landing a good hit, but was it really something they wanted to risk?
Vector felt like he'd been staring at the slanted ceiling for too long. The banter from the younger three without the chameleon's commentary made him let out a sigh. "Hey, Silver," he interrupted Charmy's giggle, "you should go look for Espio now. He's taking longer than I thought he would." His tone was light, but definitely concerned.
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Blaze nodded. "Yeah." She self-consciously crossed her arms across her stomach as if that would keep him from hearing her body protest of hunger.
Saima gaped and resisted the urge to lash out. She clenched her fists. "How the hell did I-" She stopped. Was this because of that raccoon or something else? "How- did I hurt him?" She calmed her voice and looked at the ground. She brought a hand to her face and sniffled again.
The snake's face twisted in disgust. He honestly didn't expect anything else, he placed a hand on his hip. "Shut the fuck up, Samuel. It's Silas." Your boss, he wanted to remind him. "How about being useful for a change and telling me where Canstella is." Cutting through the bullshit was all he cared about right now. Jekyll would most likely stay with the crocodile until he was assigned elsewhere. If he was gone once he found him he could just ask the Boss himself.
Silver turned his head over to Vector and nodded once. "I'm getting worried, too." The ivory hedgehog stood up and Charmy flew up to his eye level. "Please let me help you, Silver!" He shook his head. "Charmy-" The bee sighed. "It's not fair!"
Silver was growing impatient. "Not right now." He looked over to the clock. "Don't you have a bedtime?" He grabbed the device from the chair and looked at Tails. "I'm going to take this just in case I run across any more Mafia."
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"Come with me. There's a diner open every hour nearby." He took a few steps in its direction. "I can't say the food is high quality, but I always find myself going back to it."
"Don't ask me. You know exactly what the fuck you did to him. You're no damn saint, Saima. I don't judge you for it because I'm no saint either, but you know how hard it hit Jonnie." He pulled her chin up to look at him. "If you're going to fuck around like that, you better own it."
Eugh, gross. The snake's voice threw him off entirely. "Yeah, alright. I know where your pet's at, but you know the drill. What's your offer?" He wasn't scared of him. The raccoon had dirt on everyone except the crocodile, which baffled even him. Almost no one knew anything about Canstella beside his keen interest of donuts and literally biting heads off. Silas, however, was a different story to Samuel. He could play him like a fiddle, or, at least try.
"Fine." Espio kept his eyes on Jon's. He closed his eyes for a second.
"How did you find him?" He pointed the gun at Victor, then back at Espio's face. "Were you following me just to bring him back?"
"I-was following Saima."
Jon felt his heart drop at the mention of her name. "I-I knew she'd be looking for me." His gaze fell to the floor, but he quickly picked it up. "So she found him?"
"She was going to bring him to Canstella."
"T-that fucking cunt." He squeezed his eyes and lowered the gun for a second.
Tails nodded.
The bee zipped towards the crocodile. "Vector, I want to go!"
"No way. It might be dangerous. I don't want anything happening to you."
"We're just going to look for Espio! It'll be two seconds, we promise!"
"Charmy!" He rose his voice, "There's a reason he ain't back yet. Silver's gonna be safe with his powers. You don't have anything to protect you-Tails isn't even begging to go. Wait. For one second, wait."
Charmy started bawling.
Vector groaned. "Go, Silver. Bring him back. Alive."