Chapter 3: Angel's Deal
Knuckles grabs his gear bag and begins tying his shoes when Starr looks up at him
"Where are you going, now?" the Magenta hedgehog asks
"Probably going to get laid, again"
Starr gives him a disgusted look
"You kids behave yourselves"
Duncan, the short Red hedgehog, stands in his way
"You're wrong, you know"
The Echidna sighs "..about what, Duncan?"
"About Starr liking AJ. I'm clearly the better looking one, and most intelligent" the teen says confidently
AJ, the giant echidna, puts his drink down and glares at Duncan
"You're not better looking than me!" he calls out
"I am, too!"
"You are not!"
Knuckles grabs Duncan's shoulders, moves him out of the way and opens the door
"Have fun with these two, kid" Knuckles says to Starr "...just don't burn the house down. And be ready in the morning"
He shuts the door as he leaves and Duncan stands across from AJ.
"Starr, tell this jockstrap you'd rather wake up next to me than his sweaty face"
She looks at both, remaining silent
"A-HA! Told ya!" AJ shouts
"I didn't say I'd choose you, either, chill out!" Starr says
"Come on, girl, you know I'm the better pick in the long run! I bet he's already got like, 4 girlfriends that are just as sweaty and meat-headed as he is back home!"
AJ jumps off the couch "You don't know shit about me, shut your mouth!"
"Why dont ya come make me, rectum cancer!" Duncan shouts back
Starr gets in between her friends just as they're about to start swinging at each other, doing her best to split them up.
Mighty the armadillo's voice shouts to them through the houses' PA system, getting their attention
HEY!... shut the fuck up, in there!
The teens get quiet for a moment, then Duncan looks at a hidden camera he found hours earlier
"You suck, M!" He says, giving the middle finger to the camera lense
The Red hedgehog's ankle bracket flashes and he gets zapped, dropping him to the floor as he twitches in pain
Go to bed, you idiots! It's going to be an early start, tomorrow!
Starr looks at AJ "We'll talk about this another time"
AJ says nothing as walks to his bedroom, and the magenta hedgehog goes to hers, leaving Duncan alone on the living room floor.
"..asshole.." *ZAP* "OW!"
20 minutes later, Knuckles arrives to the front gate of Sonia's mansion. He tries to push the "talk"button on the buzzer but his Spiked Glove hits every button on the keypad.
Knuckles gets more and more annoyed when he can't hit the right button
*BEEP* "Come on!..." *BEEP* "No, stop!" *BEEP* "FUCK OFF!"
He rips the glove off his hand and presses the button with his bare finger and quickly puts the glove back on.
Sonia picks up "Yeah, I see you. Come in"
The gates open up and Knuckles walks about 8 feet into the asphalt driveway when 5 guards stop to check him for any weapons
"Come on guys, really? She invited me over!"
"It's protocol" a guard says
"Can't stand this shit..."
Two guards pat him down while two more search his bag, and the leading guard pushes a button on his phone to close the front gates.
"What's your problem, pal?" the lead guards asks
"I don't get along with security guards. Wannabe badass ones are my least favourite"
After they give him the all-clear, Knuckles mutters under his breath and walks towards the mansion.
He walks along the spiraling driveway as it inclines up a hill. He looks behind him and two guards 10 feet behind are following him.
"You don't gotta worry, I ain't gonna steal anything! Jesus.."
He reaches the front door and rings the doorbell, while glaring at his followers. All three wait, then Sonia opens the door for him and he slams it shut.
The guards look at each other
"Well, that guy's an utter pile o' shit"
"Yeah, tell me about it. Wonder why she gets hot for the biggest douchebags on the planet.."
Inside, the Pink hedgehog hands a touchscreen device to Knuckles and presses the PLAY button
He watches as Shadow jumps her front gate, distracts the guards and enters her garage. The footage cuts off as soon as he throws his vice grip at the control board.
Sonia looks at him "Do you know who that is?"
Knuckles puts the device down "Used to... His name is Shadow. Calls himself the ultimate badass, or some shit, I don't know. He hurt you?"
Sonia laughs at this "No, of course not. He was looking for something, though. Went through 8 locked, titanium steel cases but didn't steal anything"
"What would be here that is worth stealing?"
"Other than the few sports cars I own, maybe some documents from work. Blueprints, land permits, transfer papers... employee names-"
"You think he's looking for someone who works in your company?"
"I don't know what to think of him" Sonia sits on a chair "...tell me about this guy, Shadow. What do you think of him?"
Knuckles sits on a chair across the table from her "I think he's a pissed of emo kid who has mommy issues. He can shoot, sure, I saw him earlier tonight almost snipe someone on a rooftop. But why he's searching through your shit, I don't know... either way, he won't come back now and you don't have to worry about him"
"Yeah, he broke into my garage with no problems, I'm sure he'll never pop up again.."
"Why don'tcha give me a break, I'm doing the best I can. Apart from those punk kids I gotta look after, my boss is busting my balls non stop. And M. Ugh, I fuckin hate that guy.."
Sonia pulls her chair in closer "Hey. I'm sorry. I forgot the situation they put you in. Man, that Julie girl really screwed you over, huh"
Knuckles looks up "You knew about that?"
"Yeah, It's all documented in the police station archives"
"Sum'bitch.. then I guess we can skip that part"
She smiles "Skip all the way to the bedroom, I hope"
"Is this gonna be our thing? Call me over to bang?"
"I think so"
She takes his hand and leads him through the massive interior of her Mansion.
They walk up stairs and as they enter a Velvet coloured hallway, many voices in the next room are heard mingling amongst each other.
"What the hell is that?" Knuckles asks
"Oh, that's just a refugee family I'm housing for the month. They're friendly"
"They wont hear us, will they? Cause, you know, you got pretty loud, last time"
Sonia leans in to kiss him and they make their way up one more flight of stairs. The sliding doors are shut and Knuckles jumps in bed with Sonia.
The two guards from earlier look up from outside the mansion, noticing the lights go out in the master bedroom.
"Damn. Why is it always the jersey shore douchebags who get the rich ones? Shit ain't fair.." One guard says as he passes a joint
The second guard takes a long drag, coughs and passes it back "I need a better job.."
4:07 AM, DOWNTOWN POLICE STATION
Angel, the gothic hedgehog with dyed black hair, walks into the station with his hands raised, while the officers put everything down once they realize who he is.
An officer aims his pistol at him "On your knees, now! You're under arrest!"
Angel complies "Easy, boys. I mean you no harm. I just wanna talk to your staff sargent"
15 minutes go by when M enters the intorrogation room Angel is held in. He slams textbook-sized files of paper in front of the goth. He sits across from Angel and begins opening up the file
M looks at the first page "Lets see, your first offence is-"
"Can we just skip this bullshit and get to the part where you offer me a plea deal, detective?"
"Cocky little shit, ain't ya.. what information do you have that would make me even consider that?"
"The associates of Sleuth Dogg, myself, Maggie Bloodmoon-"
M slams his fist against the metal table "We already got enough to put 'em all away for life, you creepy little shit!"
"...I wasn't finished, you dick-eating cop"
"Go on, tell me before I strangle you by that skinny little neck!.."
"Would you be interested in the heads of Pillar Rocks, Westcorp and The Cathcarts?"
M takes a moment to clear his throat and respond "...what do you have on them?"
Vector and Espio rush to enter the recording room behind the two-way mirror and listen in, but miss hearing who Angel names off.
After hearing the names and information, M shuffles the papers and neatly puts them back in the file
"..and you've got substantial evidence of their involvement?"
"I wouldn't have said that if I didn't..."
"Sit tight, I'm going to speak with the higher ups-"
"A full pardon for my past crimes and diplomatic immunity, detective" Angel says
The Armadillo looks back at him "A record like yours pardoned? I don't think so"
"You sure you wanna let this opportunity slip away, Pig?"
"Dont play games with me, freak! I said it's not happening!"
"Alright, lock me away. But just remember YOU could've stopped the real bad guys in this city..."
M thinks about this for a few seconds, then Sargent Luggs enters the interrogation room
"You'll get your pardon and your immunity" He says "But I want you to testify in open court"
Angel grins, while M turns to his boss "Sir-"
"Get out. Let the professionals handle this"
The Sargent sits down across from Angel, while M leaves the room, clearly upset.
Vector and Espio join him in the back parking lot
"I'm not in the mood for this right now, boys.." M says
"We heard what happened" Vector starts off
"..I just can't believe how fast he was to cave-in to Angel's demands! We've been chasing this guy for months and the second he wants to cut a deal, Luggs is there ready to deal. Something ain't right..."
M, Vector and Espio watch as 2 SWAT trucks drive out of the underground parking garage and onto the street.
Espio hears voices in his ear piece talking fast, then he looks back at his friends
"They're sending the team to pick up Bloodmoon's crew"
"What about us?" M asks
His radio sounds out "M, get your team ready. You'll be briefed within the hour"
The armadillo looks at Vector and Espio, then all three rush back inside to meet up with the rest of the team.
7:37 AM, SONIA'S MANSION
Knuckles is woken up by his cellphone vibrating on the glass table next to the bed. He picks it up and answers
"Hello?"
"Dude, they're arresting Sonia-"
That's all he needs to hear.
Knuckles hangs up, jumps out of bed and intercepts the first officer that enters Sonia's bedroom. He growls loudly as he knocks every officer back down the Velvet hallway.
Sonia wakes up to the sound of Knuckles shouting angrily and the officers warning him to stand down
"What is going on?!" She asks
Another team repels off the mansion rooftop and smash through Sonia's windows. M leads a third team in through the rooftop staircase and they surround Sonia
M reads from a notepad "Sonia R, you are under arrest for aiding a terrorist group, conspiracy to commit murder-"
Knuckles knocks M out with a powerful left punch to the jaw, forcing 10 officers to jump on top and subdue him.
Another officer places Sonia under arrest
"You get the fuck away from her!" Knuckles shouts
Sonia looks at Knuckles as the officers take her downstairs
"I don't know whats going on!" She shouts
"I'm going to straighten this out, don't worry! This is a mistake- FUCK OFF, PRICK!"
Knuckles can only watch as Sonia is taken away, while a SWAT team holds him down.
Outside, Vector and Espio shake their heads in disapproval as Luggs orders other teams around the mansion.
After a few minutes, Knuckles is released and Luggs approaches him
"What the fuck was that?! She didn't do anything!" He says
"Jonathan, she's on a big list of associates of a terrorist faction. Angel's testimony gave us everything we needed to make the arrests" Luggs says
"What, you caught him?!"
"No, the little prick turned himself in and gave us this information, as well as some pretty good evidence. I think you should take a look at it-"
Knuckles thinks for a second, then responds "What did he give you this, for? Immunity?!"
"Well, with the amount of evidence we have, yeah, I had to give him that"
"So, a day after you bring Sonia onto the case, you arrest her? And you're gonna let Angel back out on the street? Are you fucking kidding me?!"
"You'd better remember who you're talking to, Jonathan-"
"Clearly YOU'VE forgotten all the people that died because of this guy! And you're just gonna take his word on all this other bullshit, WHY?! He's full of shit!"
Two SWAT cops hold Knuckles back while Luggs walks away
"You're out of line, Jonathan! We've taken care of one of these problems, so you'd better stay at the Safe House for the time being"
As Knuckles tries to break the grip of the officers, M walks up to him and punches him as hard as he can while his arms are held back, leaving him defenceless. After the third punch, Knuckles falls to the ground, bleeding from his nose.
"You son of a bitch!" M shouts at the downed Echidna
"Hey, break it up, you two! Stand down!" Luggs says
M looks the Sargent in the eyes furiously
"I want him arrested!" he shouts
"You don't get to give me orders, detective. As I told you earlier, let the professionals handle this" Luggs responds
"Fuck you, Luggs!"
The Sargent waits for M to calm down, then he shakes his head
"M, you're suspended. Stay away from this case and everyone involved. I'll let you know when you can come back"
The Amadillo jumps into a G.U.N Truck and speeds off of Sonia's property.
"Are you okay, Jonathan?" Luggs asks as he tries to help him up
"Get off me!"
Knuckles jumps to his feet and leaves the compound on foot.
"Just stay at the Safe House until we call you!" Luggs orders
The Sargent looks at Vector and Espio
"You two are in charge while M is away... you know Jonathan the most, talk to him. We're gonna need his help with Dogg"
Vector nods "Yes, sir"
He jumps into his Jeep and the Chameleon follows. They leave the compound and pick Knuckles up around the corner.
They ride around for an hour, just listening to music and eating at drive-thru's. Knuckles has a plan and only trusts them with it.
It's barely past 9 AM once they finally reach the Safe House.
Knuckles pulls out his key and unlocks the front door, waking up Starr, Duncan and AJ. The teenagers rush downstairs and see Knuckles, Vector and Espio.
"Hey, what's up, guys" Duncan greets
Knuckles walks past him "Get your shit on. We're leaving"
"Oh, to find Dogg?" Starr asks
"No, I mean we're leaving this shit hole for good"
Espio turns invisible and disappears, while AJ looks at Knuckles
"I don't know if you forgot, but we kinda can't leave the house without getting electrocuted, dipshit"
Knuckles swings his fist at AJ's ankle, smashing the tracking bracelet to pieces in one swipe.
"Whoa" Starr and Duncan say in unison
"You need to hurry up, bro" Vector says
Knuckles smashes the other two bracelets off and Espio reappears, holding every hidden camera and microphone in the house
"What's going on?" Starr asks
"You said you wanted to leave, well, go. Can't stop you, now" Knuckles says
"This smells like all kinds of bullshit" Duncan says
"These guys aren't who I thought they were. They're dirty. Obviously money runs their agenda" Knuckles says
"I knew it!" AJ shouts "I told you, ya can't trust cops!"
"Wait, what about M? Won't he come looking?" Duncan asks
"He's suspended, he's not coming for shit" Knuckles says
"You guys planned this, didn't you?"
"Something like that.."
Knuckles packs up his gear, finishes a bottle of Whiskey and opens up a new one.
"Either way, you're not my problem, anymore. Go on, now"
As Knuckles continues packing up, the trio look at each other, trying to make sense of this sudden change of heart
"What are you waiting for? Get going!"
"You know god damn well we won't make it across the city limits alone. We're sticking with you" Duncan says
"No, you're not. You're free, understand? Get lost! Go!"
Starr looks into Knuckles' eyes "Duncan and AJ can't admit it.. but we can't do this alone. We won't last an hour out there.. We need you"
The Echidna leans his head against the kitchen table and quietly growls to himself, then stands up straight
"Gotta be fucking kidding me... first, you shit all over me and go on about how you can't wait to leave this place, so I give you the chance to leave and never see me again - and now you can't leave my fuckin' side?!"
The trio gets quiet, but Starr keeps looking at Knuckles with a saddend expression.
"Fine, alright, OKAY! ...but you listen to EVERYTHING I tell you to do! Fuck!... come on, grab your stuff, move!"
The teenagers grab as much clothing and supplies as they can and exit through the back door.
Vector and Espio speak to Knuckles one last time before he goes rogue.
"It's gonna be hell, after this. I hope you're ready" Vector says
"I'm as ready as I can be. Thank you both for covering for me" Knuckles says
He shakes Vector and Espio's hands and The Chameleon looks at his watch
"You have 12 minutes to haul ass outta here, after that your face will be all over town, and every cop will be searching"
Knuckles nods at his friends, then he leads the trio into the forrests that surround Vace Beach.
Vector and Espio get inside the Safe House, destroy every Canera and Microphone, and punch holes in the wall to make it look like a break and enter.
Sonia wakes up lying on the red seat cushion of a moving car, going at least 80 miles per hour down a dirt road. Her head is sore, and bottom lip is slightly cut. She tastes dried blood, then she looks up to see she's in the backseat, and the same black hedgehog who broke into her garage is at the wheel.
"Shadow!" She shouts
He doesn't answer, just keeps driving
"What - what happened?"
No answer
"Hey! I'm talking to you!"
The Black hedgehog looks back but doesn't say a word, scaring the pink hedgehog
"What do you want from me?! Why am I here?! Oh my god, you're going to kill me, aren't you?! Oh god, please don't!"
"I need you-"
"You need me? What?" she interrupts
"...I need you to open a vault for me"
"Whoa, wait just a sec-"
Sonia tries to open the door but it's locked
"I need some air, Please let me out!"
"Can't stop. We're being pursued"
"What? By who?"
"Police. Angel's Flock. Sleuth Dogg"
Sonia calms down as she tries to remember what exactly happened
"Wait - you broke me out of police custody, didn't you?"
Shadow looks up at his rear voice mirror and makes eye contact with her, then turns back to the road.
"...You can't just kidnap me, asshole! Let me out!"
"The police think you're helping a terrorist group. You do know what they do to terrorist sympathizers, right?" he asks
"I'm not a terrorist sympathizer! I've never even met one in my life! I have no clue what's going on!" She begins to sob "..I run an environmental cleanup company! I haven't done anything wrong!"
Shadow looks back at her as she wipes her tears away, so he finds a big patch of trees to park the car behind and he lets her get out.
She leans against the trunk and looks around
"Where are we?"
"Bolton Pass, or somewhere near there"
"That's over 50 miles outside of Vace Beach! What are we doing out here?!" She asks
"Getting you as far away from the city as possible"
"Don't lie to me, Shadow! I can see through your bullshit as much as I can see through my boyfriends!"
The Black hedgehog scoffs "Seems like your boyfriend couldn't help you out of this - bullshit"
Sonia slaps Shadow across the face
"You don't know a thing about him or me! I looked into your profile, Shadow. Shooting innocent families? You're a psychopath!"
"And you're Angel's cover. He's making you take the fall for whoever the mole is inside of your beloved Enviromental Cleanup Company. I just saved you from the interrogators, Sonia"
Shadow walks in close and gets face-to-face with the Pink Hedgehog
"You go back to your city and they'll lock you away for the rest of your life, best case scenario. It won't be such a peaceful stay in the worst case... the only way you live through this is if you trust me. Alright?"
Sonia wipes the last of her tears away and nods at the Black Hedgehog
"Good. Lets move"