Chapter Six: The Big Event
8 PM. City Council Galla
B.B and Cassia crossed the downtown streets carefully to avoid The Wulf House soldiers or The Council's guards. They looked up at the tall Holand building that hosts the Galla tonight, checking for blindspots that would be easier to enter through.
Cass opened her phone and called Manic. "So, where are we meeting?" She asked.
"17th floor of the Slipcon Building." He replied. "Y'know where that is, yeah?"
A brief, sad memory flashed through Cassia's mind upon hearing that name. It was the last place she ever saw her older sister before she vanished.
"Yeah, I know it... 17th floor, which apartment?"
"Apt. 189. Door's open so just come in."
Cass hung up and nudged B.B. "C'mon. We're going to the abandoned apartments across from the Holand building."
"Oh, the old Slipcon place. My mom used to live there before the junkies took over. Heard some pretty nasty stories about that place." B.B said. "Why does he wanna meet there?"
"Probably because nobody lives there anymore, and it's almost directly across from the Galla."
A few incoming footsteps made Cass and B.B hide behind a metal gate, until they recognized their friend Falke Wulf.
"What'd you see out there?" Cassia asked.
"Lots of heat. Every guard is armed with an automatic rifle, stun grenades and those blades your friend was hit with." Falke answered.
"So, in other words: they got plenty of ways to kill us." B.B said.
The solider sighed. "Yeah, that's a pretty accurate way of putting it, Ben."
Cassia's metallic arm lit up neon pink. "Well, I've got a pretty good answer to that, boys. Now, lets go meet Manic and his team."
Up in Apt. 189, the green hedgehog used binoculars to check out the Holand building from the balcony he stood upon. He first made the snipers covering every rooftop in the surrounding area, then he spotted armoured vehicles patrolling the streets, soldiers hanging off the sides with their rifles aimed high.
Someone then called his name from one floor above. "Hey Manic!"
He lowered the binoculars and looked up. "Tails, that you?"
"Correct, my friend!"
The two tailed fox jumped off the balcony and flew down to Manic's floor. He shook his hand and looked over to Manic's other friend inside.
"Tails, this is my good friend Thompson."
The fox shook the much taller hedgehog's hand next. "Hey, I'm gonna be your hacker for tonight."
"Sup, dude. My girlfriend wanted to come along but this is some life or death shit so I told her to stay home. She's a big fan of yours, by the way. Can I get an autograph, bro? She'll love me almost as much as you if I get her one." Thompson asked.
"Wow, I've never had anyone ask for my autograph before." Tails said. "Do you have a pen and paper?"
Manic snapped a photo of them and quickly sent it to Mickie. "There, that'll do for now. Can we get back to the business at hand?"
"Right. Let me get my gear out." Tails said while swinging his backpack off his shoulder.
He pulled out a chrome-plated laptop, and a silver cellphone. Manic and Thompson watched him plug the charger into the wall and log into his account, then Tails noticed an absence of electricity in the apartment.
"...is this an abandoned building?" Tails asked.
"Yep. Power was shut off years ago." Thompson answered.
"...then my system will only be working for a limited amount of time, guys."
Manic's eyes widened. "How limited?"
"An hour, MAYBE. Battery's at 60%, and SAGE uses up a pretty good chunk of that battery power."
"Shit balls... our window is getting smaller... we have to move within the next five minutes." Manic said, quickly dialling Cassia. "Cass, get up here, our time table just moved up."
"By how much?"
"I mean there is no time table, we gotta move in NOW."
Cassia pocketed her phone so she could take B.B and Falke's hands.
"Hang on, boys. We gotta get upstairs."
She used her Medallion's energy to give her a boost, running at super sonic speeds up the Slipcon stairwell. The trio reached the 17th floor in 10 seconds then came to an abrupt halt inside apt. 189.
Falke and B.B groaned quietly while Cassia caught her breath in the living room.
"You gotta warn us when you're gonna do that, Cass." B.B said.
"You'll get used to that feeling after the third or fourth time." She responded.
Manic stepped into the living room. "Welcome to the party, guys. Lets get introductions out of the way. I'm Manic, the big guy here is Thompson and this is our hacker, Tails."
Cassia stood up. I'm Cass, the midget crow is B.B, and that's Falke Wulf over there."
Manic did a double take. "Wulf?!"
He grasped little Falke before Cassia could explain and almost tossed him over the balcony railing, had he not been collared, himself.
"Manic, Stop! He's not one of them! He wants to help!" She screamed.
"I don't believe that for a second, Cass. This guy's a double agent and he's telling Willard everything!"
"Wulf House woulda been all over this place if that were true, now let him go!"
Falke gasped for air upon being released and fell to the floor.
"You're lucky I've got something more important to do right now, or else I'd waste you, Wulf" Manic said before turning to his crew. "Let's go."
Cassia helped Falke up and over to the couch, glaring at the green hedghog on the way by. Tails started up the SAGE program and Manic stood on the balcony.
"I'm on standby." Tails called out.
Manic grabbed the railing. "On my mark."
Willard Wulf smiled as he made his way through the "high society" crowd attending tonights Galla. He introduced himself, shook hands and socialized with various members of council. After one glass of wine, he excused himself and approached an exit with two guards on both sides. They opened the door for him and shut it as he passed by. The Wulf House leader continued along a dimly lit hallway and knocked on a door encased with bulletproof glass. Another guard let Willard in, then shut the door behind him.
"Starr, is it? That's a nice name you have." Willard greeted.
The teenager was strapped to a metal table and kept in a small laboratory with bulletproof glass all around. She tried to get loose but the restraints weren't coming off anytime soon. She also noticed various IV tubes attached to her left arm, pumping an unknown liquid into her bloodstream.
Willard sat at a control console. "Your file says you're a 14-year old dropout who almost killed your parents about two weeks ago. Is that accurate?"
Starr said nothing.
"..and that you met Manic the hedgehog last week-"
She remained silent.
"What the file doesn't say is that you don't know how to control your abilities. I'm gonna take a guess and say; you came to Manic asking him to help show you how to control them."
"Let me out of here and I'll show you what I can do-"
A scientist pressed a button and Starr screamed out in pain. Willard put the file folder down and looked through the glass.
"Tell me who's helping Manic, and where he hides in this city. I won't lie and say you can save yourself, because you can't. What I can tell you is if you cooperate, I'll pull the plug and you won't have to suffer any longer." Willard laid out.
"You're a sick fuck!"
Willard typed on a keyboard and pressed the ENTER key. He and his team wait for the system to initiate the commands, but nothing happened. Willard pressed ENTER again but still nothing. He grabbed the remote from the scientist and pressed the red button over and over.
Starr managed to smile through the pain. "Having a problem?"
Willard threw the remote away and shouted, "Open the blast doors. Do it, NOW!"
The scientists ran over to the control console and frantically typed on the keyboard. Willard glared at Starr through the glass, showing his teeth as he waited. Shouting and yelling was then heard from outside the laboratory, followed by the power being cut. No one could see in the blackout until the emergency lights flickered on. Manic and Cassia appeared behind Willard and wasted no time shooting energy blasts at him.
"Get the door, I'll handle this sack 'a shit!" Manic ordered.
Cassia aimed her Medallion at the blast door and fired a huge energy ray, but this did nothing. Willard fell to one knee so Manic grasped him by the face and blasted him with concentrated energy. The Wulf House leader took the heat for a few seconds, then he got loose and jumped into the hallway. Willard shut the doors and locked them with an airtight seal. The skin around his left eye was burned and smoking but he kept moving.
"Shoot them when they get out." Willard calmly ordered his guards. "Keep them occupied while I grab my gear."
Back in the lab, Manic tried to pry open the glass doors that Starr was trapped behind, but they wouldn't open so he called Tails for help.
"T, I got these blast doors that won't open, any suggestions?"
"Point the camera at them so I can scan it." Tails said.
Manic pointed his phone's camera at the doors and Tails typed on his latop.
"Well?"
"It's an advanced system and it can't be over ridden... last time I ran into something like that, I had to overload it's charge."
"Meaning what? You charged it's battery until it blew up? Is that right?"
Tails nodded. "Yeah. You're gonna have to blow it up that way."
Cassia observed the console, then saw the IV tubes in Starr's arm were connected to this system.
"Wait! They stuck an IV in her, there's something being injected into her bloodstream!" Cassia said. "If we over charge it, the console could kill her!.."
Manic banged his fists off the glass before meeting the teenager's eyes. "...Starr, listen: we're gonna get you out, don't worry!"
"Do it that way. Blow up the console. Whatever it does to me, I can take it." Starr assured.
Manic and Cassia traded worried looks but proceeded.
"...alright. Get ready."
Cassia tore the cover of the console's power outlet off so that she and Manic could aim their Medallions at the core. Manic counted to three and they shot their energy rays at it. The entire room heated up as the system was overloaded by this charge, and then came the small explosion. Manic and Cassia were thrown against the walls as a result and the entire floor rattled.
Manic looked up and saw Starr lying on the ground, so he baseball slid across the floor and held her head up in his hands. "Starr, you alright? Kid! Wake up!"
Starr's eyes slowly opened. "...that felt funny."
"You alright? Your eyes are glowing purple..."
"Really? I can still see perfectly fine... that's cool!"
Cassia stood up." Wanna continue this conversation in a cell? Lets get outta here!"
Out in the lounge, Tails, Falke, Thompson and B.B used their nighvision goggles to help attack the guards during the blackout. B.B quickly attached one of Tails' mobile devices to each of the guards' rifles, then watched as they burst into flames. Thompson pushed past civilians and bulldozed through the guards, knocking some through glass balcony doors. Tails and Falke disarmed any remaining hostiles on this floor and the four advanced.
Willard grabbed Mayor Tinsel and they ducked into a service elevator.
"What is going on here?" Tinsel demanded.
"Everything is moving exactly as planned." Willard answered.
"Your plan was to get these outlaws in here so you could tear this place apart?!"
"That's what I said."
"You have lost COMPLETE control of this situation, Willard!"
"You will lose your life if you speak to me like that ever again."
Tinsel stepped back from Willard, visibly shaking after hearing this comment. They hopped off the elevator five floors below and entered a vault-like room.
Tails checked his scanner as it beeped aloud. "...shit, guys! They've dispatched a War Chopper! We need to leave!"
Manic helped Starr through the hall and into the lounge. "How long do we have?"
"Two minutes, probably less than that!.."
"Okay, everyone-"
A Wulf House soldier fired a shotgun at Manic's back, dropping him to the floor instantly. Cassia provided cover fire while Tails dragged him to safety. Thompson picked up a metal desk and threw it against the door.
B.B put a cloth on Manic's wound. "That's in there pretty deep, bro."
"I'll be alright, my Medallion can heal it. Let's get to the balcony." Manic ordered.
The group ducked as the Wulf House sprayed bullets into the lounge with extended clip sub machine guns. Manic stayed at the back of the group, covering them as they sprinted onto the balcony. A big explosion knocked the metal desk out of the doorway and Lieutenant Tullen charged inside. He unsheathed a lancer made of white energy and swung wildly, yet accurately enough to slice nerve endings along Manic's arms and legs.
Tails led the team across a ledge and toward a construction crane. He used the SAGE program to move the crane closer, but more Wulf House soldiers fired at them from a rooftop across the street. A sniper lined up his scope on Tails' head and fired, luckily Cassia pulled him down just as the bullet skimmed his fur. They frantically crawled for cover when a hundred Wulf House soldiers on opposite rooftops and helicopters fired bullets at them from all directions. Spot lights shined over their location to help the shooters find their targets.
"Fuck, there's too many!" Thompson shouted.
Falke looked back and saw Manic being cut by Tully's blade, so he ran back inside. Just before he delivered the killing blow, Tully was pushed off the balcony by Falke. Manic watched the heavy set lieutenant fall to the street, then saw the rest of the Wulf House soldiers enter the lounge.
"What the hell?"
"Falke just killed Tully!"
"He's helping the Elementals escape!"
"Get him!"
Falke picked Manic up, pushed him on to the balcony and shut the doors behind him. Cassia caught a glimpse of the Wulf House beating Falke to the ground so she tried to help him but Manic stopped her.
"Come on. We can't go back."
At the same time, Starr stepped onto the ledge and fired a massive projectile towards the shooters across the street. The entire block was rocked by the force of this blast, and most of them were sent flying backwards.
"Let's get across before they start shooting again!" Tails shouted.
Starr moved first, aiming her energy at the shooters in case they wanted to open fire again. The Wulf House soldiers broke through the metal doors and chased Manic's team across the narrow ledge, and onto the crane. The team reached the edge of the crane and looked at the leader for directions.
"Tails, take Starr and fly down to the Slipcon building." Manic ordered. "The rest of you guys, we're gonna have to jump! Aim for that scafold over there!"
Starr hung onto Tails' forearm, flew off the crane and headed down toward the abandoned apartment building.
Manic saw the soldiers running at them. "Come on, jump!"
B.B got a running start and jumped as far as he could. He landed directly on the scafold twenty five feet below and quickly ducked into the building. Thompson ran and jumped off the crane, smashing through a window and landing inside. Cassia used her Medallion energy to help float down onto the scafold safely.
Manic took one step before his ankle was grabbed. "What the-fuck?! Let me go!"
Willard Wulf reached through the bars of the crane under Manic to grab him. The green hedgehog struggled to get free but Willard had a tight grip. Cassia looked out the window and saw Manic fighting off Willard on the crane, so she aimed her metallic arm at Wulf and fired an energy blast at him. He yelped and released Manic, giving him a chance escape. Manic jumped across but missed the scafold and crashed on a metal platform several floors down. He groaned in pain but waved to Cassia to keep moving.
Willard glared at his team. "Where the fuck is that chopper?! I want these assholes, dead or alive. NOW!"
"Yes, sir! Moving out!"
Willard wrapped gauze around his wounded right arm, swallowed a red capsule and growled angrily when it's effects kicked in. His veins glowed bright blue and his pupils dilated as the drug went through his nervous system. He jumped off the crane, landed on the same platform as Manic and chased him through the Slipcon building.
Tails guided everyone up onto the rooftop and they waited for Manic. The SAGE program beeped a few times so he checked it, then turned his attention to the night sky.
"What the hell is that thing?" B.B asked.
"Looks like the war chopper is here." Tails answered.
A large, armoured helicopter flew in from the west. The windshield was bulletproof, a massive cannon scanned for targets and two soliders operated gatling guns mounted on the sides. A lime green laser pointed at Cassia and the cannon fired a rocket.
"Oh shit, LETS GO!" Tails shouted.
Starr shot another massive energy blast and it imploded the rocket in mid air.
She walked to the edge of the building and said, "You guys hide, I'm gonna take this guy out!"
Down on the 19th floor, Manic climbed the staircase, trying to reach the roof as fast as possible. He heard Willard racing up the stairs behind him, about 10 floors below. The Jade Medallion healed all of Manic's wounds except the ones caused by Willards' static razor. He reached the 24th floor when Wulf caught up and tackled him into a hallway. They fought for control but Manic couldn't stop Wulf from pulling out the static razor and slice his chest. Manic kicked him away and ran through an apartment, breaking through the old walls and into another unit.
"There's no way out, freak!"
Manic looked out a window, spotted the war chopper above the building, and dozens of Wulf House vehicles surrounding the area on the streets below.
"You can't run from me this time, Manic. Put your hands behind your back and surrender."
The green hedgehog took off his leather jacket and tossed it aside. "I'm not running anymore. And I'm sure as hell not surrendering."
Willard ripped off his bulletproof vest and flipped his razor. Manic took a deep breath and approached the Wulf House leader. Willard lunged with the blade so Manic dodged, threw a counter punch but it was blocked. He followed up with a back spin kick that hit Willard in the body, then ducked as he slashed with the razor. Manic grabbed Willard's cargo pants, put his leg behind Wulf's and tripped him with a Judo-style takedown. Willard stabbed Manic twice with the razor before it was knocked out of his hand. Manic got full mount position and rained down hard punches to Willard's burnt face, causing blood and puss to spill out. Willard pushed him off and they jumped to their feet.
Willard spit out blood, so Manic grinned. "Plenty more where that came from."
Willard growled and ran at Manic with a flurry of punches. Manic dodged them and countered with far more powerful shots. Willard put his hands up to block, so Manic knee'd him in the body and elbowed his spine. Manic hip-tossed Willard across the room and he bounced off an old refrigerator. The Wulf House leader was slow to get to his feet, weakened from the beating his opponent dished out. He threw half-assed punches at Manic and he easily parried them. Willard fell to one knee, holding onto Manic's jeans for balance.
"After all the armies you killed off, it's a kid from the underground who returned the favor, Wulf."
The commander coughed up blood before he spoke. "..they're never gonna accept you, Manic. You're a freak! Nothing's gonna change if you kill me!"
Manic pulled Willard close so he could insert the static razor in his abdomen, then blast a hole through his chest with jade energy. Blood spilled on the floor like a waterfall, then Willard fell into his own pool. Manic achieved satisfaction watching the commander soak in his own fluid, then he limped out of the apartment.
Back on the rooftop, Starr blasted energy rays at the war chopper but narrowly missed her target. Tails typed on the SAGE program and pointed it at the chopper.
"Wait! That's our ride outta here!" He shouted.
Cassia looked over. "What, you can hack that thing?"
"Girl, I can hack anything."
The fox typed furiously on his phone, and suddenly the chopper's weapons shut off. Tails used SAGE like a remote control for a drone, and landed the massive chopper on the roof. Thompson opened the doors then Cassia and Starr aimed their energy at the soldiers inside.
"Run away before my friends disintegrate you into ash." B.B ordered.
The Wulf House soliders obeyed the order and hopped out. They ran inside the building and Tails jumped into the pilots' seat. Everyone else climbed in and put their seat belts on.
Cassia called Manic. "Hey, we've got a ride outta here. Hurry up!"
"You guys get going, I'm gonna find my own way."
"Manic! Let's go!"
"There's something I gotta do right now, Cass. Trust me."
Cassia hung up and looked at Tails. "He said don't wait up..."
"Always over dramatic, that guy."
Tails lifted the chopper into the sky and they head out. Another war chopper approached and fired missiles at the team's chopper.
"Jesus, is that another one?!" Tails shouted.
"Yep, comin' in hot!" Thompson answered.
"Grab the wheel, Cass. I'll disable his engine."
Before Tails could pick up the SAGE program and hack the other chopper, Starr fired a massive energy ball toward it. The resulting explosion created bright purple flames and a cloud big enough for the whole city to see.
"Now THAT's a light show, guys!"
Tails looked at everyone, not knowing what to say so he sat back in the pilots' seat and continued flying.
"Right. Light show.."
The Wulf House soldiers reached the 24th floor and found their boss laid out in his own blood. They scanned the whole floor but found no one else.
"Commander Willard is down. We've got him stabilized but he needs medical evac now! There's no sign of the suspects at this time. Let's just get him out of here."
Manic casually walked down a fire escape and stuck to the shadows. Cleaners searched the streets for him so he did his best to avoid being seen. He quickly crossed the streets and ran to a man hole cover. He lifted it up, climbed down a ladder and put the cover back on. He was heading into the sewers to see his mentor, Farrell.