The alarm clock buzzed, and Nack woke and calmly turned to his side, pressing the switch to turn the alarm off. He briefly stretched before sitting up in his bed. He removed the covers, wearing a pair of dark blue lounge pants and a black vest to go with it.
He wandered over to the nearby closet, searching through as he picked what he would wear for today. He settled on a simple light grey suit, consisting of a deep silvery coloured blazer, slacks of a similar colour that went with it, along with a white dress shirt, a dark grey dress vest, black shoes, and a silver and red striped tie.
He folded these clothes before placing them onto his bed, smiling as he thought over the progress he and his men made the day before when it came to setting things up; they made the main office into Nack's little home, complete with a shower, a bedroom, and a small kitchen. His two men had their own rooms also, so he didn't need to worry too much.
He sighed and went to the bathroom, removing his clothes and placing them in the hamper before switching the shower on and stepping under it. After he was finished, he stepped out and checked his hair in the mirror, deciding to slick it back a bit before drying off.
He walked back out to his bedroom and grabbed his suit before going back to his closet, which had a mirror in it. He picked out a new pair of dark purpler boxers to wear before then beginning to put the suit on.
He started with the bottoms, slipping into them easily before grabbing the brown leather belt that came with them, slipping it through the loops of the slacks and buckling it at the front, smiling and looking down.
"Well, that fits just perfectly. Now for the rest," he said to himself.
He quickly reached into the closet again, not stopping until he had come across a bulletproof vest. He quickly put it on over his chest, making sure that it was zipped up before smiling to himself and continuing to get dressed.
He slipped on the white shirt, buttoning it up from the bottom to the top, leaving the collar up for his tie. He grabbed said tie and placed it around his neck before tying it up, pulling the knot that he had made up to his neck to finish.
He then slipped on the grey vest, which had a zip at the front. He pulled the zip up to do up the vest, smiling at the fact that none of the Kevlar underneath his clothing was showing through so far.
He soon reached for the blazer, and just as he was slipping it on, he heard a door open behind him. "Hello?" he asked.
"Ah, just making sure that you're awake," said the voice, being one of the humans. "Your coffee and breakfast are ready."
Nack smiled. "Thank you. I'm almost finished here."
"There's something else, sir."
"Oh?" Nack wondered aloud, putting on his cuff links. "What is it?"
"I've heard rumours that those cops from the Star Light docks are going to court today," the human said.
Nack chuckled. "Ah, yes. The old rule of not being able to run operations in other cities and their jurisdictions... the hearing shouldn't be this soon, though."
The human shrugged. "I'm just telling you what I heard."
The purple weasel nodded back, grabbing a silver trilby hat with a black stripe around it. "It is good news, nonetheless. But pointless. I've no intentions of going back to Green Hill just to deal with some greenhorns that won't have jobs any more." He put his hat on and turned around. "So? How do I look?"
"It's amazing that you stole from a store with such good taste," the human smirked.
"I'll take that as a yes," Nack said, walking over to the human. "Let's go. I'm hungry."
The human stepped out of the way, and they walked downstairs to a larger kitchen. Whilst the ones they had to themselves in their own rooms were useful, they were much smaller compared to what they had downstairs. They all sat around a wooden table, and Nack smiled at his slices of toast with raspberry jam and cup of coffee.
"Ah... just how I like it," Nack smiled. "Black."
"Makes it easy to remember," the second human smiled, sitting down with the first human.
Nack started biting into his toast, taking a good chunk out before swallowing it down. "Everything is going right on schedule, I assume?"
"Indeed it is, sir," the second human replied. "The crime bosses are on their way. Since Westopolis is a far away place, they have a lot of distance to travel, but they should be here on time."
Nack smiled. "It'll be nice to meet them again."
"How do you know that they'll trust you?" asked the first human.
"As I said to you the other night, I set them all free right here in Westopolis a long time ago. With the money that I had saved up, I gave them all more than enough to start their own lives in other cities."
"So, you haven't sold them out?" replied the second human.
"While it is something that I'm known for," said Nack, "there are those that you don't just hand over at the drop of a hat. There are a small handful that I trust to handle things in their own way when push comes to shove."
The humans both nodded, choosing to remain silent as they continued eating their breakfasts. Soon, they were all finished, and they left the front doors of the prison to get into their car, with both of the humans in the front of it.
"Do you have the cases with you?" Nack asked as he climbed into the back seat.
"They're in the trunk," replied the human in the driver's seat.
"Very well," Nack said, sitting in the back. "Let's get to it."
Meanwhile, back at Green Hill City...
Sonic looked at himself in the mirror of his dorm room, having just finished putting on his uniform. "Huh..." he said to himself. "It's not too bad, actually..."
"You like the feel of the fabric, I see," said a voice.
Sonic turned to see Espio walked in, and smiled at him. "Yeah. It actually feels pretty good. Looks good, too."
The purple chameleon nodded. "Well, I hate to break up this party of narcissism, but you've got to get some breakfast."
"Do we have time for that before going to court?"
"We picked you up some grub earlier this morning," Espio said. "Since we clock in earlier than you guys do, we went ahead and got you breakfast. Check your microwave."
As Espio left, Sonic went over to the small kitchen in his room and opened the microwave door. He saw an easy to microwave burger, complete with a cheese slice and some relish sauce, and next to the burger was a bundle of fries in a red packet.
He chuckled to himself and left the burger in the microwave, taking the relish, cheese slice, and fries out, setting it to about one minute twenty before letting the machine do its work.
"Shame that there's no coffee in my pot..." he mumbled to himself. "Oh, wait. I have a Knuckles for that."
The blue hedgehog wandered to his dorm door, opening it up with his ID card before stepping out into the hall, going over to Knuckles' door. He knocked on it carefully, and a few moments later, the red echidna opened his dorm room door, dressed in uniform and looking clean cut.
"Hey, dude," Sonic said. "Got any coffee?"
Knuckles smiled. "Yeah." He then looked past Sonic. "Tails, Shadow, if you want a drink of coffee, better get your word in now. I just have enough for everybody."
"I'll pass!" Tails called. "I've got some tea with me."
"Come in here anyway," Knuckles said as Shadow left his own dorm room, passing by the echidna and Sonic. "We can all have a quick sit down over breakfast and hot beverages as we talk about getting fired."
"Come off it, will you?" Sonic said, turning around.
"Where are you going?" Tails asked, walking out with his tea and a small packet of morning biscuits bars.
"To grab my breakfast, which apparently isn't as healthy as yours," Sonic smirked.
He quickly went and grabbed his burger from the microwave before replacing it with the fries, putting them on for the same time. As he waited, he grabbed a plate before going about setting up his burger by placing the cheese slice on the patty before grabbing a knife to cut the relish packet open, carefully squeezing it out onto the burger.
"I'm not normally a relish guy," Sonic said to himself, "but it's not the worst thing in the world. It's like all the other ingredients you'd want on a burger in a sauce like form."
Soon, the microwave beeped again, indicating that his fries were done. He sat up and got them from the microwave, placing them with his burger on the plate. He then walked out of his room and over to Knuckles' room, where he saw his friends sat around a small table, eating their food and drinking their drinks.
"So, what's everyone else got for breakfast?" asked Sonic as he sat down.
"I had a bowl of cereal before I came out here," Shadow said. "I'm all set."
"And I had some chocolate energy bars," Knuckles added. "Looks like breakfast was kind of a rushed job this morning, eh?"
"You can say that again," Tails said, sipping his tea. "Mmm... nothing like it."
Sonic smiled, taking a sip of his hot coffee, smiling even more as it passed down his throat. "Milk and two sugars?"
"That's how you like it, right?" Knuckles asked.
"Yep," Sonic nodded.
"Shame Shadow doesn't go as elaborate with his coffee," Knuckles replied. "Just milk and coffee."
"Nothing wrong with drinking it how you want to drink it," Shadow smiled. "And besides, I'm not going to take coffee criticisms from the dude who puts honey into his coffee."
"It gives it flavour," Knuckles defended. "Plus, it's cheaper to buy than sugar. What's not to like about it?"
Tails chuckled. "Anybody want a breakfast bar?"
The red echidna raised his hand. "I'll take one. Those energy bars did almost nothing for my stomach."
"It's probably because you're so used to eating meat a lot," the yellow fox replied.
Sonic turned to Knuckles. "Before you ask, no, you're not having any of my burger. You can have a fry or two, though."
Knuckles grinned and took a few fries, stuffing them into his mouth. "Thank you."
The blue hedgehog laughed and shook his head, turning to Shadow. "How about you? Was your cereal enough?"
"It will be for me," Shadow replied. "I didn't need to have sugar with it, so I'm fine."
"Yeah, you get all of your energy from your edginess," Knuckles said.
"Or from Rouge," Sonic winked. "I'm amazed that she hasn't worked you out yet."
The black and red hedgehog shook his head. "Will you guys give that a rest? There's nothing between us, okay? There never has been."
"I'm going to tell her that you said that," Sonic smirked.
"Well... not nothing," Shadow said. "It's... complicated."
"No, it isn't," said Sonic. "You're just making it complicated."
"Rouge doesn't make it any easier."
"I don't think that she can make it any easier," Tails said. "Let's face it: she likes you. And as much as you'd like to deny it, back when you two were thick as thieves, you liked her too. At least a little bit. You might even still like her today."
"Like I said," Shadow replied, "it's complicated."
The yellow fox just nodded in reply, knowing better than to prod any further before continuing drinking his tea. Soon, everyone was finished, and they all left Knuckles' room, going about closing and locking their own rooms up before heading downstairs to the ground floor.
"Ah, there you are," said Espio, stood by the front desk. "You guys ready to do this?"
"About as ready as we can be," replied Sonic.
The purple chameleon nodded. "Come on. Avery and the others are waiting outside for you."
The group nodded, walking out to the front parking lot. Instead of them all getting into one car, they each had individualised cars that they got into the backs of, the reason for this mostly being security and safety.
"So, what's with the convoy?" Sonic asked as the car he was in started up.
"It's just in case some people on the outside get any ideas," replied Lupe, who was driving. "You never know who could be watching out there."
"Yeah, I think that I see what you mean," Sonic nodded. "It's better to have us all in our own cars just in case, and not have us all be hurt in the same car should it come to that."
"Exactly," Lupe replied, before sighing. "Listen, if there's anything that I can do for you, just let me know."
"Isn't it a little bit late for that?" Sonic teased lightly.
Lupe grinned. "Good point. But just know that the force will be more than willing to help you, regardless of whatever happens in court."
The blue hedgehog nodded. "I know. And I know that you're going to vouch for us all as best as you can. But there's no point in pretending that we can stop what happened."
"You talk about what you did like it's a bad thing," the grey wolf replied. "You did what you did to save those girls and to stop Nash."
"The girls were more of a sudden swerve," Sonic pointed out. "They were just there, but of course we had to save them."
"Exactly," Lupe said. "You didn't have to save those girls, but you did it anyway. If you hadn't, who knows where they'd be?"
"I'd hate to think about where they'd be..." Sonic shuddered. "I'm supposed to be going on a date with one of them tomorrow. But I didn't ever stop to think about what might happen after this is all said and done. Fuck..."
"It won't be all bad," said Lupe. "You're all rookies, okay? Nobody could have predicted what else might have happened on that night. If you hadn't gone out there, trust me, you'd be regretting it a hell of a lot more."
Sonic sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I may as well buck up and face the music."
"That's the spirit," Lupe chuckled. "Look, everything will be fine. Just try not to worry about it too much."
The blue hedgehog nodded again and sat back in his chair, breathing out a long sigh as the rest of the journey continued. Soon, he felt the car slowing down, which indicated that everyone was close to the court.
"Almost there," Lupe said.
"Yeah, it seems slow," Sonic noted. "You know, considering that it's such a small group that's going, we're sure taking a lot of cars to the court."
Lupe chuckled before continuing the drive in silence, following the rest of the police convoy to the courthouse's front courtyard. They managed to find a parking space along with the other cars there, and soon made way for the courthouse itself.
Sonic looked up at the large house; there was a pair of brick pillars that held a small protrusion of the building up, which was marble. It had a triangular roof, and the words "Green Hill Municipal Court" were etched into the marble at the front of it, filled in with dull gold paint to make the name stand out a bit more.
The large building itself was made of brick, the hard work that went into it evident on every part of the structure. The cement that held it together was blackened somewhat, and the bricks themselves were various shades of orange, all of them bright.
"Well, let's not waste any more time," said Avery, joining with the others.
"I'm surprised that there's no press here," said Ash.
"I'm not so much," replied Simian. "We didn't really tell anybody that this was going to happen, because they don't need to know."
"You say that like it's an embarrassment," Lupe said, somewhat pointedly.
"I'm saying it because it needs to be said," the gorilla sighed. "The less people that know about this, the better."
Avery shook his head. "It's a good thing that Dingo never cared for the paparazzi all that much either."
Sonic looked around, seeing a few cars from Star Light. "It looks like they're here already."
"Then let's join them," said the bear, entering the building.
Sonic and his friends took a look around on the inside, liking the traditional look of the courthouse. They were in a corridor with red tiles on the floor, and the corridor led to a long hallway with several doors on either side, each for different courtrooms.
Sonic looked ahead and noticed a staircase which led to the upper floor, where he guessed that it was more of the same as the first floor he was on. He was snapped from his distraction as Knuckles pulled his arm.
"Dude? You there?" the red echidna asked.
The blue hedgehog shook his head a bit. "Uh... yeah. Sorry. Got distracted."
Tails then sidled up on Sonic's left side. "It does look pretty impressive, doesn't it?"
"Yeah," Sonic nodded. "You almost hate to get fired in a building as good looking as this."
He turned to see Avery at the front desk to the left of the entrance, talking with the secretary behind it. "So, which room are we in?" the commander asked.
"Room 4 on this floor," the secretary replied. "Better hurry."
"Thank you," Avery replied, turning to the others. "All right, let's get going."
The group nodded, following their commander until they'd reached the fourth room. As soon as they entered inside, they took in its look; a typical seeming courtroom, with a large array of long seats for those attending to be sat at. As they followed the path, they saw a small wooden gate blocking off the civilians from the people who were actually taking part in the case.
Past the gate were several desks with chairs attached, obviously for the opposing sides vying for their dominance over their case. At the end of the room was a high and wide podium with an expensive looking black leather chair for the judge to sit at. At the far right side of the podium stood a security guard, a large Mobian boar clad in a pair of brown slacks, a black military jacket with some awards on it, and black army boots.
Avery turned to see Dingo and several of his men sat at the left side of the room, so he went over to greet him. "Good to see that you got here so early," Avery commented, shaking the Aussie's hand.
"You too," Dingo smiled as the handshake stopped. "Remember, I won't go easy on you just because we're friends. But there's no hard feelings, okay?"
"I know," Avery nodded. "It's just business."
"You know, even though we don't have lawyers," said Sonic, "I do like the layout of the courtroom."
"Same here," Dingo replied. "Although, I do wonder why we have the civilian seats out, considering that this is a private hearing."
"What about the jury?" asked Knuckles.
"Not necessary," replied Lupe. "Anyone else on both sides of the case will be sat with their defendants."
The red echidna nodded. "Right. That honestly makes a lot of sense."
"All rise for the honourable judge Ryker," said the security guard as the judge, a male Mobian bald eagle. "All sit for the honourable judge Ryker."
With that, everyone quickly rushed to find a seat. Sonic sat at the desk on his side with Tails, Shadow, and Knuckles, whilst Avery was at the end of it. The other members of Green Hill Police Department that were there took their own seats on different desks.
The same was somewhat true for Star Light as well, as Dingo sat at the main desk with the officers that helped from the other night also being sat there at the desk with him, and several other members of Star Light Police Department took their seats.
The guard then walked over to Green Hill's side, and Avery stood up, raising his right hand and waiting as the four that sat with him did the same. "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?" the guard asked.
"We do," they said.
The boar then went over to Star Light's side, who had already stood up and did the same right hand motion as the guard spoke to them. "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"
"We do," they replied.
The guard nodded before walking over to Ryker, handing him some documents. "This is for the case of Green Hill versus Star Light."
The eagle nodded. "I'm aware of all of this. Dingo, Avery, nice to see you both again. It's been a while."
"It has," Avery smiled.
"Sadly, this isn't the time or place to catch up," the judge said, looking at his bear friend.
"I understand," Avery nodded.
Ryker turned to the four young officers at the table. "So, it's come to my understanding that, a few nights ago, you were chasing down Nack the weasel, also known as Fang. Is this correct?"
"Yes, your honour," said Sonic.
"And during that chase, they led you to Star Light City, where you didn't catch them, but you did save the girls that they were harbouring."
"Also true, your honour," the blue hedgehog said.
"And you did this knowing that you shouldn't have been running operations in jurisdictions outside of your own?"
Sonic grimaced a bit at this, but sighed and nodded. "Yes, your honour. But-"
"I know," Ryker nodded. "You were doing what you thought was right. You think I haven't heard it before?" The eagle then chuckled a bit. "The only difference is, I actually believe that you all tried your best."
"We never meant to step on anybody's toes," Sonic said. "And we saved those girls. Isn't that enough?"
"In normal circumstances, yes," the eagle nodded. "But these aren't normal circumstances. You were running an operation of your own in a place that you didn't belong in."
"With all due respect," Knuckles said, "you're a judge for Green Hill. I'm sure that you've had to fill in for people in other cities before... right?"
"A reasonable assumption," Ryker said, "and I have done so from time to time."
"Then what makes you so exempt from that rule?" the red echidna asked.
"The fact that your next few words will allow my next few actions to more easily decide your fate if you carry on," Ryker said pointedly.
Sonic stood up, looking at his red friend. "I've got this. Just chill, okay?" Knuckles grunted, but nodded, letting his friend continue. "What do you mean by not normal circumstances?" Sonic asked.
"The events surrounding it," the judge said. "First of all, you're all fresh out of the academy still. Secondly, there was the car accident that happened on your way back to Green Hill. From what I understand, you all have implants now?"
"Really?" asked one of the Star Light officers. Sonic turned and recognised him as the cat from the other night. "That's kinda cool, actually."
"Whilst I'm sure that my opponents appreciate the compliment," Dingo said, "I'm not sure that it's necessary right now, Cameron."
"Eh, can't blame a guy for trying," the cat shrugged.
"Let's try to remain focused on the task at hand here, shall we?" Ryker said. "Now, Avery. Do you have anything to say on your behalf?"
"Only that, whatever decision you make, I will respect it, as will the rest of the officers in my stead," the bear said.
The eagle chuckled. "We're not that close to a conclusion just yet, but I do admire that about you. There are some things that I need to consider."
"Such as?" Sonic ventured.
"Well, I'd like to ask Star Light a few questions," Ryker replied, turning to the opposite table. "So, does what they're saying check out?"
"It does, your honour," the caiman replied. "They chased Nack, wound up in Star Light, and me, Cameron, and Spencer helped to weed out that weasel."
"Except that he escaped," Ryker pointed out.
The caiman nodded. "True. But it wasn't for lack of trying. For rookies, these new guys have a lot of guts and determination. It's a shame that they took a small victory that night, followed by what happened next."
"I understand," said Ryker. "Thank you for your words, Walsh."
Walsh nodded again. "No problem."
The judge then turned to Spencer. "And you have the same account?"
"Yep," the wolf shrugged. "There's nothing that I can say that my fellow officers haven't said already. Green Hill's newest just got caught up in a bad spot trying to do some good. I said it myself on that night; a cop is still a cop, and we all have to help each other whenever we can."
"Whilst I admire that," Ryker spoke, "that ultimately changes nothing. But it does reaffirm my trust in what Star Light's side is saying."
"So, what does that mean for us?" Shadow asked.
"Ah, so he does speak," Ryker smirked. "Well, I'd like to tell you that everything is fine, but the fact remains that you broke a big rule by doing what you did."
"And what about Star Light?" Tails asked. "I know that they're not the ones in trouble, since it was their city, but don't they get anything?" He then quickly turned to the other table, gulping. "Sorry..."
"It's no trouble mate," Dingo replied, standing up. "What the fox is saying is right. It is true that Green Hill are more in the wrong, but my own officers did help them."
"Yeah, but it was still their op," Cameron pointed out. "We offered to take responsibility for it, but they kept it on themselves anyway."
Ryker cocked an eyebrow, turning to Avery. "Is this true?"
The bear nodded. "It is. Does that change anything for my men?"
Ryker sighed, hanging his head. "I wish that I could say it does, but..."
"I get it," Avery said, nodding. "You can cushion the blow, but you can't stop the sting, huh?"
The eagle nodded. "Pretty much." He then sat more upright. "Despite the testimonies provided by both sides, the fact is that Green Hill is responsible for breaking this rule. As a result, they are guilty, and they shall have to be punished for it."
'Oh, God...' Sonic thought to himself. 'This can't be it... we just got our jobs as cops, dammit! And I have a date tomorrow! I mean, sure, Amy knows that I might not even have a job by tomorrow, but that would just dampen the mood in the worst way. I... I don't want to lose this...'
Ryker sighed once more, and almost had a look of regret in his eyes, as if to apologise for the fact that he was just doing his job. "As of today, Sonic, Shadow, Knuckles, and Tails are all hereby stripped of their badges and titles in the Green Hill Police Department. You are to clear your desks by tomorrow morning."
"So, that's it?" Knuckles asked. "We're fired? Just like that?"
Ryker chuckled. "Oh, it's not exactly all that simple. All that I've heard since you guys started is how good you are. So, you're fired from being police officers, yes. And you also have to leave your officers. But that doesn't mean that you're completely done."
'I knew it!' Sonic's thoughts said, running rampant. 'We're done forever! No more helping people, chasing down bad guys, or looking good doing it... wait. Did he just say that we're not done?' His thoughts suddenly had a much more positive tone to them.
"Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?" asked Avery.
The eagle nodded. "You shall work as freelance agents. You will mostly work in Green Hill, and will have a base set up here, but you won't directly work for G.H.P.D. any more."
"Meaning what, exactly?" Sonic asked.
"Meaning that, whichever department or jurisdiction calls you in, you must answer said call," Ryker smiled. "Don't get me wrong, it won't be the much more important stuff. But if you are needed, then we'll let you know."
"So... what does that make us now?" Shadow asked.
"I guess that, technically, it makes you bounty hunters," said Ryker. "But bounty hunters that operate within at least some legal confines."
"So, no shooting rampages or yelling racial slurs to get what we want?" Knuckles grinned.
"If this were Westopolis, then perhaps," Ryker said, laughing. "But to my knowledge, no, you can't do that." He then raised his gavel, looking back and forth between Avery and Dingo. "Any last objections?"
The bear turned to his friend. "I don't have any problems with it. You?"
The dingo shook his head. "Absolutely no issue here, mate."
Ryker nodded. "Then by the power vested in me as judge of this court, starting on Monday, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow shall all work as freelance agents." He then hit his gavel off his block. "And just like that, this trial is now over."
"Really?" Avery asked. "That was much quicker than I thought it would be."
Ryker smiled. "Well, I have a lot of cases to work today. I figured that I'd start with the least strenuous one."
Sonic then spoke up. "Wait!"
"Yes, my boy?" the eagle asked.
"Um... if we have to clear our desks by tomorrow morning, does that mean that we get the day off?" the blue hedgehog asked.
"It does," the judge shrugged. "We still have some things to prepare for you, and they should be ready by Monday. Why?"
"Blue boy here has a date," Knuckles said, placing an arm around his friend's shoulders. "Imagine the shock that she'll feel now that her boyfriend is no longer a cop."
Sonic hung his head slightly before looking at the judge. "Permission to elbow my friend in the stomach?"
"Denied," the eagle said. "I can see the temptation, but you are still in a court of law."
The red echidna removed his arm from his friend, chuckling. "See? You can't hit me. Nee-ner nee-ner."
Sonic shook his head, turning to the judge. "Thank you for giving us all a second chance."
The judge shrugged. "Don't thank me just yet. You have to prove to me that I made the right decision. More importantly, you must prove it to your boss."
Avery nodded. "I've said it before, Ryker: I have faith in them. New as they may be, that doesn't shake my trust."
The eagle smiled. "I'm glad that you see it that way. Now, before I get interrupted again, I have a busy day ahead of me. The fact that I had to get called in as a last minute slot for this trial doesn't help matters."
"Well... I mean, it helped our matters," Tails shrugged.
The judge chuckled. "And you'd better prove that my decision matters. Take care."
Avery walked over to Ryker, as did Dingo, and they both shook his hand, thanking him. They even did the same to the security guard, purely for courteous reasons, before turning and heading out, closely followed by the men in their respective steads.
"So, what do we do for the rest of the day?" Sonic asked Avery as they left the courtroom.
"Well, you still work for me for today, so as soon as I have some work for you, I'll let you know," Avery replied.
"It kinda feels like we didn't need so many people here," said Knuckles. "I feel like the trial should have been longer than it actually was."
"As did I," Dingo threw in. "But, with all the evidence stacked against you and the judge being as smart as he is, as well as a good friend of ours, it's easy to understand why he'd want it cut short."
"That and the other cases that he's got lined up for the rest of the day," said Avery, turning to the Aussie. "It was good seeing you, my friend."
"Likewise," Dingo smiled, shaking the bear's hand. "Let's hope that the next time we meet, it's not under circumstances such as this."
"Yeah, let's hope so," Avery chuckled.
The two broke from their handshake, and headed back to their respective cars. They got inside them, with the convoys both ready to go back to their respective departments. Soon, they'd reached their destinations.
"Ah... feels kind of good to be back home," Sonic said, getting out of the car.
"The home we've barely had for half a week and are going to have to leave by tomorrow morning?" Tails asked.
"Eh, we get a new home out of it," Sonic shrugged. "And a cooler sounding job. Bounty hunting... just sounds wicked awesome!"
"Before you do that," Avery said, "I need a quick word with you."
"Do we have to head up to the meeting room for this?" Sonic asked.
"No. Just the front lobby is fine," Avery said, walking ahead.
The others followed, soon entering the Green Hill Police Department and finding themselves in the front lobby. Around them, several other officers spilled out, immediately rushing to their places of work. One of them was Vector, who was stopped on his way to the armoury by Avery's voice.
"Vector!" the commander called.
"Yes, sir?" Vector replied, Espio and Charmy stopping with him.
"As you're aware, Sonic and the others here have implants, yes?"
"It's pretty well documented," Vector replied. "Why?"
"Well, I was wondering if you'd help them out starting on Monday by helping to set up a training course for their new place," Avery said. "Since we still need to get that place ready, perhaps you'd like to join us and oversee the design of the course?"
"Is Antoine helping as well?" asked Vector. "Because he did a pretty good job with the courses at Green Hill Academy."
"It will be a group effort," Avery said. "But we'll need to make this one a lot different from that one, as well as the one we have here at the department."
"Will our normal one not do?" asked Vector.
"It would, but as advanced as our own courses are, they're not nearly ready for those with implants."
The crocodile nodded. "I remember. I damn near blasted the walls open when I first screamed and discovered it."
"Why'd you find out that way?" asked Sonic.
"I was mostly just frustrated at the fact that I had no clue what it was," Vector said. "The screams were mostly of rage... until the floors started vibrating and computer geeks and analysts were flung across the room. Luckily, none of them were killed."
"One did suffer a broken foot, though," Avery pointed out. "We're lucky that he didn't sue."
"Ah, can't do without me, huh?" Vector asked.
"Sure, let's go with that," Avery chuckled.
"Come on..." the crocodile pouted.
"Hey, just because I'm the commander doesn't mean that I can't crack a joke here and there," the bear smiled, turning to Sonic and the others. "Anyway, get back to your rooms. As soon as we have anything important, we'll tell you."
With that, Avery walked off, and Vector went over to the armoury, rejoining Espio and Charmy there. Sonic sighed and shrugged, turning with his friends to go over to the elevator, and they went up to the third floor.
"So, I figure that we've got some time to kill while we wait," Sonic said. "And lunch is soon."
"Got any ideas?" asked Tails.
"I've got some Cards Against Mobius, if you're interested," Knuckles said. "I actually got some of the new packs in the mail this morning, so that's one bright thing."
"I'm up for it," Shadow said.
"Ah, yes... I almost forgot about the king of the game," Knuckles grinned. "For a dude who doesn't talk much, you're pretty good at being offensive and disgusting when you want to be."
"Eh, only when it comes to the game," the black and red hedgehog shrugged. "I guess that you could blame it on Rouge."
"You just like blaming Rouge for stuff," Sonic smirked. "Come on. Let's have a few laughs out of this day. Lord knows that we could all use it right now."
Meanwhile, back at Westopolis...
Nack sat in the back seat of his car as the humans drove him, and the weasel looked out of his window, smirking as he took in the sights of the city that he once ruled over, and hoped to do so again.
"We're close to the centre," said the human driving.
"Good," Nack said, not looking away from the window. "Bring us around."
The human nodded, turning the corner as the other human spoke. "You've been quiet the whole way here," he said.
Nack smiled. "Are you worried?"
"I'd just like to know who and what we're dealing with," said the human. "There's got to be more to this than just pushing this stuff around Westopolis."
"I told you before," Nack said, "they're old friends. They owe me a debt."
"They must be smart enough to know that they may just owe you another one if they say yes," said the human driving.
"Only if they mess anything up," Nack said. "They'll pay back the first debt by saying yes; they won't have to worry about the second debt if they do their jobs correctly."
The humans looked at each other and shrugged, soon pulling around to the centre of Westopolis, pulling up around an old looking park. There was a rusted gate surrounding it, but the not rusted parts indicated that the gate was a vibrant red colour once. Most of what was inside the park was rusted as well, from the benches to the slide to the swing set.
"Remember, you two stay in the car until I walk over to get the cases," Nack said.
"Understood," said one of the humans.
The car pulled over, and Nack stepped out of the back of it, smiling as he saw that his three friends had arrived. He walked over to them near the centre of the park, nodding and meeting up with them.
He looked over them. First of all was a female tiger, with dark grey fur that had white stripes, and a pair of striking dark blue eyes. She wore a lovely purple dress with a split revealing one of her legs, a pair of black high-heels covering her feet. The dress was held up by a pair of straps, and she had a beauty mark on her right cheek.
"Lara," Nack smiled. "So good to see you."
"Likewise," Lara replied, walking over to shake the weasel's hand.
Nack looked over to the next friend, who was a rather tall and muscular bull with black fur and a pair of dark orange eyes, and a piercing through his septum. He wore a dark brown camouflage tank top, black baggy jeans, and light brown army boots. Despite having hooves, that didn't stop the bull from walking over and shaking Nack's hand.
"Good to see you again, Manuel," Nack said.
"Likewise, compadre," the bull replied, a slight Latino lilt to his tone of voice.
"How are the girls?"
"Eh, they're fine," Manuel replied.
Nack smiled, looking over to the third person, who was a scrawny ball python snake with dark brown scales, and a pattern of red and orange going over his body, along with blood red eyes. He wore a black t-shirt with blue jeans and black sneaker. Despite being a snake, he did have limbs, and he was reaching a slithery hand to Nack.
"Ah, Nack," the snake smiled, having a Southern tinge to his voice. "Never thought I'd see you again."
"You can't get rid of me that easily, Beau," said Nack. "I will say, for a Southern gentleman, you aren't dressed like one."
The snake shrugged. "I woke up a little bit late today."
"I can only wonder why," Nack said.
"Can you blame me?" Beau asked. "It's Westopolis. If you don't wake up with some form of a hangover at least once a day, you don't belong here."
"You know how valuable my time is," Nack replied, becoming a little more serious. "If I wanted you half-dead on arrival, I would have sent one of my men."
"It's a good thing that I'm not half-dead then," Beau said. "Anyway, what's this all about?"
"I told you over the phone," Nack replied.
"You told us that you had deals to make," Lara said. "You didn't tell is what those deals are."
Nack grinned. "Well, we may as well start with you," he said, turning to face the grey tiger. "How are things going for your business?"
"Very well, thank you," Lara replied with a grin. "Thanks to the money you let me borrow, I've been able to buy the best girls for my hotel."
"Hotel... right..." Manuel said under his breath.
"Says the glorified bouncer," replied Lara.
"Now, now," Nack said. "No infighting while we're making a deal. Otherwise, it all just goes to shit, and nobody wants that."
"Sorry," Manuel replied, turning to Lara. "Please continue, ma'am."
The tiger nodded. "As I was saying, my girls and my hotel have been doing better than ever. We've made several authority figures in Westopolis very happy people."
"To be honest," Beau said, "the higher-ups in this city aren't exactly the most reliable people. It's a good thing that your girls keep them that way."
"Only the best to bring out the worst in people," Lara smirked.
Nack chuckled. "Ah, lovely Lana... as ruthless as ever."
"How else could I be?" she winked.
The purple weasel smiled and looked over to Manuel. "How about you?"
"Aye... things could be better, homes," said the bull. "As good as my girls are doing, they're not doing as well as they could."
"What about things not in relation to your daughters?" asked Nack.
"Things were going great until a week ago," Manuel replied. "One of the new guys that I hired tried running off with a shipment of guns. He didn't get very far, but that's only because a new gang got in the way and killed the newbie, stealing the guns for themselves."
"Damn," Beau said. "If I remember correctly, you had some police grade stuff not long ago, right?"
The bull nodded. "Yeah. But I need to get a new shipment in, which I can't do since I'm low on cash, and I can't get cash without a new shipment... it's a vicious paradox."
"Just calm down, my friend," Nack said. "All will be well in due time. What about your fighting?"
Manuel grinned. "That's going a lot better. I'm not earning as much cash from it, but a lot of my guys are really raking it in."
"I can understand why," said Lara. "They, like you, have mouths to feed."
"Yeah..." the bull replied, hanging his head a bit. "It's a shame that some of my guys don't make it out."
"That's the difference between the big bouts that we watch on TV and the fighting rings of Westopolis; we do it better because there's more risk," Beau said.
Manuel chuckled a bit. "Yeah, I guess you're right."
Nack smiled and turned to Beau. "And how about you? How's the drug dealing going?"
"About as well as it could for any dealer worth his salt in Westopolis," the snake replied. "Which is to say, somewhat lucrative, but I feel like I barely make anything from it. Sort of like Manuel, only I don't give any of my associates cuts and they usually die from overdoses."
"And what have you been selling?" Nack asked.
"The usual," Beau replied. "Coke, speed, crack, weed, pills, meth... even aerosol cans if that's someone's kinda high."
"And people aren't going for that in this place?" said Lara.
"Quite the opposite, actually," the snake said. "Way too many people are going for my stuff. Over the past few days, most of my product has felt... lighter. Like, say I have four bags of coke, and none of them get taken away, but someone takes some coke from me. It's just little nips, so it's nothing serious, but if it keeps going... well, I may not have much left going for me."
Manuel sighed, turning to see Nack's car. "Who are those two?"
"Those are a couple of friends that I made in Green Hill," said Nack.
"Are those... humans?" the bull piled on, squinting to see more clearly.
"Indeed they are. Enhanced humans, and humans that I trust," Nack said. "They haven't let me down so far."
"You know, I've been meaning to ask," said Lara. "What can you do to help us out?"
"Do you even need help?" Manuel asked the tiger. "You seem to be much more well off than the rest of us."
"A girl's got to take what she can, especially in this city," Lara shrugged.
"You truly are the matriarch of Westopolis," Beau chuckled.
"Thank you. I try."
"Have things really been going that well for you?" Nack asked.
"Well... truth be told, it could be better," Lara said. "Some of my girls could use better healthcare. I want men to feel pleasure that won't make them itch the next morning."
Nack smiled, then simply turned to walk over to his car. The humans inside the car got out also, and all three went to the trunk, opening it. Each of them took a briefcase each before closing the door of the trunk and walking back to the park.
"What's in those cases?" asked Manuel.
"Money," said Nack. "One case for each of you." He went over to Lara first. "You claim that your girls are the best? Then use this money to get better girls."
"Are there any conditions?" Lara asked.
"Only that you run the south side of Westopolis," replied Nack, opening the case to show the money inside. "I want you to push as much pussy around there as you can."
The tiger smiled, extending her hand. "Sounds good to me."
Nack smiled, shaking Lara's hand before being handed the next case by one of the humans with him. He walked over to Manuel, keeping the case closed as he was hesitant on if the bull would take the deal.
"You need some more guns, right?" asked Nack. "And not just that, but police issue?"
"Military, if it's possible," Manuel shrugged.
Nack opened the case. "Is this enough for military hardware?"
"Aye... more than enough," Manuel smiled, shaking Nack's hand. "Where do you want me to run this stuff?"
"It'd be best to take this to the east side," said Nack. "Can you handle that?"
Manuel grinned. "That's pretty much my turf anyways. I can handle it, hombre."
The purple weasel grinned at another deal made before getting the third and final case, walking over to Beau and opening the case. Before he could talk, however, the snake had a few words of his own to say.
"What do you expect me to do with this?" Beau asked. "Some of my stuff is getting stolen, but it's just little sips."
"It's not what you have that's getting stolen," said Nack. "It's what you don't have."
"Do you mean what I think that you mean?" Beau replied. "Do they even have Fokus in Westopolis?"
"They have just about every other drug out here," said Lara. "It stands to reason that there could be Fokus."
"Even if I could get my hands on it," said the snake, "it'd be a limited audience. Doesn't that stuff only affect people with implants?"
"You have heard wrong," said Nack, smiling. "It just has a better effect on those with implants. It can still influence humans heavily, but the effects wear off quicker than they would on somebody with an implant."
Beau smiled. "You know, there's been rumours going around that some people have been trying to make their own implants. Not as good as the ones in the better governed cities, but good enough."
"Then your chances might just improve," Nack smiled. "So... do we have a deal?"
Beau nodded. "Deal."
Nack smiled, handing the case over to the snake, who closed it and put it beside him as he shook hands with the weasel. After the handshake broke, Nack nodded at the snake before speaking.
"You're taking over the west side," Nack replied.
Beau nodded. "Understood."
"What do you get out of this?" asked Manuel. "Are you taking the north?"
"I am indeed," said Nack. "But that's not all that I get out of it."
"You want a cut?" Lara questioned.
"Was that not obvious from the start?" Nack smiled. "I do, but it's fair on all of us: twenty five percent each."
"And do we get anything else out of it?" asked Beau.
"Protection," said Nack. "The cuts won't take place right off the bat. Monday is when the cycle will start. I want you to take the money that I've given you and use what you can to buy protection."
"Like those guys?" asked Manuel, gesturing to the two humans.
"Yes, like these guys," the purple weasel replied. "Any further questions?" After a few moments of silence, Nack smiled, reaching into his pocket to pull out a piece of paper. "This is an address for some mercenaries that live in Westopolis."
"What makes these guys so different to any other killer in these parts?" asked Beau.
"These ones know what they're doing. You think that I wouldn't free them in the prison break if I didn't know about them?" Nack smiled. "Seek them out. If you have to, use some money. You shouldn't have to, but it might help."
"Let me guess," Lara said, rolling her eyes. "They owe you a debt?"
"They still do," said Nack. "But I know that they can pay it back to me." He paused. "Any further questions?"
Manuel shrugged. "I've got nothing. It all sounds good to me."
"Same here," said Lara. "It'd be nice to have my girls looked after better."
"Maybe your girls could do some looking after for the bodyguards?" Nack suggested. "If money doesn't work, pretty might."
"Let's hope so," Lara shrugged.
Beau grinned. "I've got no problem with it either, man."
Nack smiled. "Good. I hope that you put the money to the proper use, because come Monday, I expect you to have good places to run your stuff."
"With the cash you've given us, we might just be able to pull it off," said Manuel. "Pleasure doing business with you, amigo."
"Likewise," Nack replied, nodding and turning around with a wave. "Take care. And try not to get in trouble, okay?"
"No promises," said Lara. "It is Westopolis, after all."
The purple weasel smiled, walking back to his car and getting into the back seat. Soon, the car started driving off, and Nack looked out his window to see the three Mobians that he just made deals with get back into their own vehicles before also taking off.
"Ah... it was fun to see them again," said Nack.
"Do you really have that much faith in them?" asked one of the humans.
"Of course I do," said Nack. "They know how powerful I can be. They know what I can do to them if anything goes wrong. Of course, they'd have to be directly responsible. I'm not going after one of them just because some prick working for them suddenly grew a pair."
"Let's hope that they keep up the work on their end," said the other human.
"I know they will," said Nack. "Anyway, let's hurry. It's almost time for lunch, and I'm rather hungry."
With that, the drive continued, and Nack smiled to himself as he relaxed in the back seat of the car. He couldn't wipe the grin off of his face that his plans were now set in motion, and couldn't wait for what would happen on Monday when things really started to pick up.
'All is set in motion, and there won't be any cops to stop me,' Nack thought to himself. 'And after Westopolis is under our control, we really should branch out more. So many places to take over, so much time...'
And that's another chapter! Finally! I know that this one took a bit longer, but in my defence, I did say that it'd take a bit longer. I wasn't expecting it to be this long, though. Anyway, what'd you think of it? Do you like the original characters I brought in? It would just get boring to have not given them names. I might do it for others whom I neglected to give names to. Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. I'll see you all next time for another one. Take care, and stay tuned.