Night was beginning to take over, and back at Green Hill Police Department, Rotor was working hard in his lab. Since he knew that the day wasn't going to fully end any time soon, he decided to take a quick look at the blood samples that he took earlier.
"Let's see if I can't find something about these..." he said to himself.
As he went over to the small plastic cups containing the samples, there was a knock on his door. "Can I come in?"
Rotor turned to see Ash. "Ah, good to see you. Yes, come in."
"Thanks much." The yellow mongoose smiled. "So, what are you up to?"
"I'm looking over the blood samples of Sonic and the others," Rotor said. "They had them taken while they were here earlier."
"Need any help?" Ash asked.
"Not with this," Rotor smiled. "This is my field of expertise, so this is all mine."
Ash nodded, then looking over to see a dead body, its corpse not fully covered by its sheet. Nervously, Ash walked over and went to cover the corpse back up before looking over its arm, seeing skin missing.
"What the hell happened to this guy?" asked Ash.
"If I'm correct in my assumptions," Rotor replied, not looking over, "I believe that it was the Fokus that happened to him."
"Want me to take him to the morgue?" asked Ash.
"If you wouldn't mind," said Rotor, turning to give the mongoose his keys.
"I still find it pretty creepy that the forensics lab is directly next door to a morgue," Ash spoke as he covered the dead body up.
"Well, us forensic scientists need a somewhat disturbing environment," Rotor joked. "Otherwise, everyone would want this job, and we can't have that."
Ash chuckled a bit nervously as he kept heading to the far off side of the lab. He made it to a large metal door at the end, reaching his hand back to grab the keys that he was given. He reached over and unlocked the door before opening it, pushing the gurney with the body inside the morgue.
He looked over the walls, seeing which fridges were being used and which ones weren't. The way that he could tell was a blue light attached to the door of each fridge; if that blue light was on, then the fridge that it was attached to was occupied.
He managed to find an empty freezer and used Rotor's keys once more, this time to unlock and open it up before pulling the tray out. He carefully lifted the body up onto the tray before pushing it back inside the freezer and shutting the door, his body feeling a bit chilly due to the cold air of his surroundings.
He quickly went about locking the fridge back up, and when he was all finished, he turned with the gurney still in hand. He pushed his way back out of the morgue, turning to lock it up behind him before placing the gurney back where it was.
"All done," Ash said, shuddering a bit.
"Cold?" Rotor asked, not turning around.
"No, it's just that the scent of death really gets to me," Ash said, half-joking.
"It shouldn't," Rotor said. "That's why these bodies are refrigerated. They usually don't start rotting this soon in."
"Oh?" The mongoose chuckled. "How long has that body been here, then?"
"About a week," said Rotor. "Give or take."
"It was in this lab for a whole week?" Ash asked.
"Of course it wasn't," Rotor pointed out. "It was in and out of the morgue. I run a checkup on it every now and then for any new information."
"Aren't checkups something usually reserved for doctors in hospital and stuff like that?" Ash smiled a bit. "Why are you looking that body over, anyway? Fokus?"
"You hit the nail on the head right there," Rotor said. "It won't be long before their family will want a funeral for them, but without knowing what I'm dealing with when it comes to Fokus, then I don't know if we can hand them over just yet."
"That's fair," Ash nodded.
The walrus nodded in reply, even though he still wasn't looking over, his eyes focused on his microscope. "Come on... give me something..."
"Did this happen with others when it came to their implants?" asked Ash.
"I've never really had the chance to find out," Rotor admitted. "This is the first time that I've ever looked at the blood of someone with an implant, and these someones that we're talking about have only very vague ideas of what their implants allow them to do." He sighed. "I'm at a huge disadvantage here."
"Something will pop up for you," Ash smiled. "I'm sure of it." He then stopped, thinking for a moment. "How about getting the blood of someone who already knows that their implant does?"
"There'd be no point," Rotor said. "I know that you're talking about comparing the samples, but you have to remember; everyone else here with implants had them tested out, going through multiple trials to give them the right implant for the right type of officer. Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow had theirs as a way to at first heal them after their accident. They didn't have a choice, and as a result of that, they don't know what they're capable of."
"Well, what do we know about what they might be able to do so far?" Ash asked.
"Sonic's is the most unclear at the moment," said Rotor. "Of all of them, he's the one that may need the most tests."
"What about the other three?"
"Well, Shadow's implant seems to allow him to somehow move quickly from place to place in the blink of an eye."
"Teleportation?" Ash asked. "Weren't most of those tests failed because they were too dangerous for field operatives?"
"That would be correct," said Rotor. "I know very little on how implants fully operate. Some have a specific ability tied to them already, and others develop their abilities as they grow with the user."
"That could be the case for Sonic and the others," said Ash. "They got their implants as a measure to help heal them after their accident. There's no way that the doctors knew what powers the implants were going to give those four."
"And here I thought you were just the guy that made those cool presentations in the meeting room," Rotor chuckled.
"At least you called them cool," Ash laughed. "I'm going to head off, man. You should too. It's getting late."
"I will when I'm ready," Rotor said. "See you tomorrow."
"Take care," the yellow mongoose replied, leaving through the door.
The purple walrus waved his friend off as he went back to his blood samples. He had four individual microscopes, one for each sample, and went along them as he looked, starting with Tails' sample first.
"Let's take a look here..." he said to himself. He saw the blood cells moving around as normal, but something caught his eye as one of the cells started to detach from the others, ascending to the top of the little slide of glass before coming back down with the others.
Rotor smiled in fascination before quickly jotting down onto a notepad. "Well, Tails seems like a done deal," he said to himself. "Still wouldn't hurt to test his physical skills, though."
He next went to Shadow's sample, looking down the lenses of the microscope. Like with Tails' sample, the cells were moving around normally, but then one of them flashed and appeared on the opposite side of the glass slide.
"Well, that confirms Shadow's ability is what he says it is," Rotor said, jotting on his pad again. "Let's move on."
And move on he did, going to Knuckles' sample next. In comparison to the previous two samples, he noticed immediately that one of them was growing larger than the others and bumped a few cells back, almost far enough to be knocked off the slide.
"Whoa!" he said to himself, instantly jotting down the results. "I guess that Knuckles' sample didn't need all that much studying." He chuckled a bit before breathing. "All right. Three down, one to go."
He then moved on to Sonic's sample, looking over it carefully. He at first saw little movement, and the blood was moving around completely normal. He let out a sigh of disappointment and reached for his pad again before he noticed something.
"Wait a moment..." he said. He zoomed in with the microscope and saw a small blood cell moving quickly around the slide, darting from place to place. Upon seeing it, he began smiling before chuckling in amazement. "This... this is fantastic!" he said, happily jotting down on the pad for the final time.
He turned when he heard a voice speak. "Is everything okay in here?"
Rotor turned around and smiled. "Ah, Lupe! I'm sorry if I disturbed you."
"It's not a disturbance if it's something good," Lupe chuckled. "What happened?"
"It's Sonic's blood..." he said. "It's finally showing me something. I've been looking over these samples all damn day, and barely saw anything, even from Knuckles, Shadow, and Tails' blood samples. But Sonic... I think that we might have the right thing for him."
"What would that be?" Lupe wondered.
"I think that his power might be related to speed in some way," Rotor answered. "Now, I don't know the full capabilities of that, but maybe we can find out tomorrow."
"You're going to be there for the test runs?"
"Of course I will," Rotor said with a nod. "What about you?"
"I would, but there's a good chance of a busy day tomorrow," the female wolf said sadly.
"Ah, yeah. The prison transfer," said Rotor. "I always forget that that's your main position here."
"I'm also pretty good with grenades," Lupe joked.
"Don't I know it," Rotor chuckled. "All right, all that's left to do is call Sonic up and tell him the good news."
"You do that," Lupe nodded, turning to leave. "I'll be getting some sleep in my dorm. That last meeting kicked my ass. Be thankful that you weren't there."
"Oh, I very much am," Rotor chuckled. "See you tomorrow."
"Adios," Lupe waved, leaving.
The purple walrus smiled to himself and pulled out his phone, using it to call up the freelancers' headquarters. After a few rings, the phone was picked up, accompanied soon after by a loud, cheerful exclamation.
"Yo, what's up, doc?" Knuckles said.
"Original, really," Rotor deadpanned. "Could you put Sonic on? I've got some news for him."
"Sure," Knuckles said. He called Sonic over, and soon, the blue hedgehog had the phone.
"Howdy," he said, a bit excited.
"Sorry, did I catch you at a bad time?" Rotor asked.
"Ah, no," Sonic replied. "Sorry for the outburst that you may or may not have heard. I just beat Shadow at Connect Four."
"A true test of your skills as a freelance officer," Rotor chuckled.
"What can I say? It keeps me sharp," Sonic smiled. "So, what do you need me for?"
"It's actually some good news." Rotor smiled. "I just finished analysing all of your blood samples, and at first the results were... let's be kind and say inconclusive."
"What part of this is supposed to be good news?" Sonic asked.
"This part," Rotor replied. "I think that I found out what your implant allows you to do."
"If it's not shooting ice lasers out of my eyes, then I think that you should just hang up," Sonic chuckled.
"Not even close," the purple walrus chuckled. "There's a possibility that you may have super speed."
After a brief pause, Sonic spoke. "So... I can just run really fast?"
"It's possible, yes," Rotor nodded. "We'll have to make sure in your testing tomorrow. But, judging by how things are now, this could be a good breakthrough."
"That honestly sounds awesome, doc," Sonic smiled. "Thanks for the heads up."
"Any time," Rotor smiled. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I should pack up and leave."
"Oh, before you go, could I ask a favour?"
"Sure," the walrus said.
"Could you go and find Tails and tell him that we'll pick him up tomorrow morning?" Sonic asked.
"He didn't go back with you?" Rotor replied.
"No," Sonic shook his head. "After he got the offer for lunch from Cosmo, we haven't heard from him."
"Ah, I see," Rotor said.
"So, would you mind telling him?" the blue hedgehog asked again.
"Um... why not," Rotor shrugged. "It shouldn't take me too long."
"Thank you," Sonic said. "See you tomorrow."
"See you then," Rotor replied.
The two then hung up, and Rotor got all of his stuff packed up, deciding to take it upstairs with him since he had his own dorm room. He decided to take the stairs, and went through the hallway that had Cosmo's room. He reached the right room and knocked.
"Cosmo? You in there?" he called.
Within moments, Cosmo made it to the door and opened it. "Oh, hi, Rotor!" she said. "What can I do for you?"
"I just need to tell Tails something," Rotor said. "Is he in there?"
"Yep," Cosmo nodded, turning her head. "Tails! Rotor wants to talk to you!"
Soon, the yellow fox in question slunk in next to Cosmo, smiling at Rotor. "What's up, dude?"
"Sonic said that he and the others will pick you up tomorrow morning," the purple walrus said.
"Fuck..." Tails mumbled. "I knew that I was forgetting something."
"Eh, don't worry about it," Rotor smiled. "It happens. And besides, you were spending all this time with Cosmo, so."
"Yeah, you're right," Tails smiled. "Thanks for letting me know."
"You're welcome," Rotor said. "Well, I'm off home. I'll see you two crazy kids tomorrow."
"Wait," Tails said. "What about the blood test results?" he asked.
"Well, they were mostly successful," Rotor said. "I think that yours might be flight related, but we won't know until we test it out tomorrow morning."
"Ah, okay," Tails nodded. "What about for Sonic?"
"I'll keep that a surprised for tomorrow," Rotor winked. "Until then, you two take care."
"We will! See you!" the two called as Rotor turned to walk away.
As soon as the purple walrus was downstairs, Cosmo giggled and turned around to face Tails. She instantly closed the door behind her and began kissing him, to which he smiled and kissed back, the two melting into it.
After the two broke, Cosmo spoke first. "All this time we spent talking about your day, and as soon as we begin kissing, Rotor interrupts us."
"Come on, he had some good news," Tails smiled.
"I know, but... I kind missed you," Cosmo said, hugging Tails.
"I missed you too, even though I've spent the last almost twelve hours with you," Tails chuckled.
"Well, how about you tell me the rest of that story of you in Star Light with those car thieves in the alleyway?" Cosmo asked.
"Fine by me," the yellow fox nodded.
The green plant girl smiled again as the two went to her kitchen. Since it was too late to eat, she decided to make herself and Tails some hot cocoa with tiny marshmallows. She filled up the kettle and let it boil as she and Tails spoke.
"So, then what happened after that bad guy tried to attack you?" she asked.
"I don't know exactly, but one moment I was on the ground, and the next I was high up in the sky with my tails spinning around," Tails said.
"Like when we kissed?" Cosmo asked, rubbing her foot against Tails' ankle. It was more in a playful manner if anything.
"Yep, just like when we kissed," Tails laughed a bit at the contact.
"Anything else?" Cosmo asked.
"Yeah," Tails nodded. "Shadow kind of teleported. Somehow."
"What happened, exactly?"
"Well, the bad guys started opening fire, and they were aiming at Sonic and Shadow. Sonic rolled out of the way, and Shadow began moving, but then he suddenly just kinda flashed from one place to another, completely unharmed."
"I'm just glad that none of you got hurt," Cosmo said. "Even though a bad guy died, that's still a casualty."
"Sorry," Tails said. "There was nothing that we could do. And besides, they were bad guys. They tried killing us first. In fact, if we didn't act, then they probably would have killed us."
"Don't remind me," Cosmo shuddered. Suddenly, the kettle boiled, and she stood and went over to it, continuing her talking as she prepared the drinks. "So, you said that it was all that Griffiths kid's plan, right?"
"Indeed," Tails said. "It was a good plan too, if you exclude the part about me, him, and Knuckles getting captured at the start whilst trying to stage a sneak attack."
"Did you hurt anyone?" Cosmo asked as she added the marshmallows.
"I stabbed a guy, but he survived and tried to get me back," said Tails.
"And that was the one who, when he tried getting you back, made you fly?" Cosmo asked, coming back to the table with the drinks.
"I wouldn't say that he made me fly," Tails chuckled. "He tried and failed to kill me with a sneak attack. I don't know how to explain it." He took his drink and placed it on a coaster.
"Well, try," Cosmo said, smiling.
"It was kind of like instinct," Tails said. "Like, whatever my implant wanted me to do, I did it. It kind of forced me to do it, and before I knew what was happening, I was flying."
"Maybe it was partially to do with your tails?" Cosmo suggested. "You got the implant to help repair your spine after the accident, right?"
Tails nodded. "That's correct."
"And you've had your tails since birth?"
"I have indeed."
"And they're connected to your spine?"
"They are..." Tails said, stopping as he pieced it together, grinning at Cosmo. "I see what you're getting at there." He took a sip of his cocoa. "So, you're saying that they might be connected?"
"I do," said Cosmo. "The implants don't just heal whatever part of your body they're attached to. And, as we know by now, your and your friends' implants were given to you all on a whim to help you to heal."
"Yeah, because they usually get tested," Tails said. "But there is a possibility that the implants might be tied in to how the person with it is, right?"
"That's always likely," said Cosmo. "But that does beg the question of why your implant allows you to fly?"
Tails shrugged. "I'm sure that it's nothing symbolic. As a kid, I didn't do much physical activity. I was the bookworm, as you could probably imagine." He chuckled weakly. "But I always liked planes, helicopters, birds... I was always interested in that the most. I've always been fascinated by how the wind works in that way."
Cosmo smiled. "Did you ever think about maybe becoming a pilot?"
"I did," Tails shrugged. "But I didn't focus on that in the academy. I wanted to focus more on my studies and work as a mechanic, like my parents back home."
"They raised you right, didn't they?" the plant girl spoke.
"For the most part, yeah," Tails said. "And they never stopped me from going after what I wanted. They knew that I was serious from the moment that I brought up Green Hill Police Academy."
Cosmo giggled. "I will admit, it was fun watching tapes of you as you took the tests. Your thinking face is so adorable."
"I have a thinking face?" Tails asked, then gasped. "Wait, did you see it earlier when I made the connection with what you were talking about?"
"You did," Cosmo confirmed with a not. "And it was indeed adorable."
"What did it look like?" the yellow fox asked.
"It looked kind of like your eyes were a little bit squinted as you thought, along with the fact that your left ear notched forward a bit," Cosmo smiled.
"My ear notched?" Tails inquired.
"Yeah," Cosmo nodded. "Like, it bent a bit forward."
"Did that happen just now?"
"Nope," Cosmo replied. "Well, yes, but it's happened before. Pretty much all the time, even in recordings."
"Really?"
"Yeah," Cosmo said, unable to hide a snicker. "Some of the officers and teachers holding the tests in those rooms had to stop themselves from laughing because of your notched ear."
"But I thought that it was adorable..." Tails said.
Cosmo stood and reached over. "It is," she smiled, brushing her hand over his. "You yourself are adorable."
"Thank you," Tails blushed a bit. "You're really pretty, Cosmo. And you're one of the nicest people that I've ever met."
The plant girl giggled. "Same about you."
Tails smiled back. "Well, it's getting pretty late. We should finish these drinks then go to bed."
"Sounds good to me," Cosmo nodded.
The two focused on finishing their drinks of hot cocoa, making little bits of small talk as they did. Soon, they were all done, and Cosmo went to put the mugs in the dishwasher when Tails stood up for her.
"I can do it," he said.
"It's not hard to put them in a dishwasher," Cosmo said.
"I know, but I was thinking about cleaning them by hand," Tails said.
"Huh." Cosmo was a bit taken aback. "Well, I don't see why not. I'll go and get ready for bed."
"I'll join you when I'm done," said Tails.
Cosmo nodded and quickly kissed Tails on the cheek before turning around and heading for her bedroom. Tails, meanwhile, focused on cleaning the mugs. The lights of the kitchen were his guide as he cleaned the two drink receptacles, placed them on the drainer when he was done, and dried his hands afterwards.
"I do find it odd that she has both a dishwasher and a normal washing up bowl, but you can never bee too careful," he shrugged. He looked down at the dishwasher to check it. "There's not even anything in there. Eh, cleaning the mugs by hand felt a lot better."
After his ramblings were finished, he made his way for Cosmo's bedroom. The door was shut slightly, but cracked open. Tails didn't see anything at first before opening the door, seeing Cosmo bend over as she took her socks off.
All that she was wearing was a violet coloured bra and panties combo. Tails blushed and immediately went to shut the door again before Cosmo stood straight up, her back facing Tails, and turned to her right to get some pyjamas from a drawer.
Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Tails there, and blushed a bit. "Didn't see you there..." she said softly.
"I'm sorry, Cosmo," the yellow fox said. "It was rude of me to interrupt, not to mention super creepy of me to stand there for as long as I did."
"It wasn't rude, or creepy," Cosmo said, picking out a pyjama top. She unfolded it for a moment before looking thoughtful and putting it back. "I'm thinking no pyjamas tonight."
"Really?" Tails asked, unable to look away from her silk-clad body.
"Yep," she nodded, walking over and kissing him.
He blushed and kissed back, feeling his tails start to spin before he felt her hands tug at his clothes. "What are you doing?" he asked.
"When I said no pyjamas, I mean that for both of us," she winked.
Before Tails could question it, Cosmo began pulling his shirt off. He chuckled as she went to work on his jeans next whilst he kicked his shoes and socks off to make things easier, and before long, she yanked them down.
"There," Cosmo smiled. "No pyjamas."
"So, what now?" Tails asked, a bit nervous.
Cosmo took his hand. "Simple, silly. We go to bed together."
"I noticed how you phrased that," the yellow fox smiled. "Good way of going about it."
The plant girl giggled and pulled Tails gently over to her bed. Since it was a one person job, and Tails was taller, she let him get into bed first. He lifted the quilt up as he waited for her, and in a move that surprised him, she curled up on his lap.
Tails chuckled as he pulled the quilt cover back up over both of them. "All of this bed, and you're curling up on me? Why?"
"Because I wanted to test out if you were as fluffy as you looked," Cosmo shrugged, tracing a finger over his chest. "It's also part of the reason why I wanted you to not wear your pyjamas; I wanted to just feel... well, you."
"Are there any other parts to that reason?" Tails asked.
"Well, it was only fair since you'd already seen me," she giggled.
"Fair point. I won't dispute that," Tails laughed.
"There's also... um..."
"Yes?" Tails asked gently.
"I kinda wanted to see you shirtless..." she blushed. "I wanted to see if you were as sexy as you were cute."
"And?"
"Not too bad," she smiled, kissing his chest softly, working her way up his jaw, chin, and then to his lips.
Tails purred a bit and kissed her back, wrapping his arms around her waist and sitting up with her in the bed. She stayed straddled to his lap and ground her hips against him as their kiss got hotter, with Tails now moving away from her mouth and to her neck, attacking it with soft kisses.
"Mmm... Tails..." Cosmo moaned, grabbed the back of the fox's head and pulling it back a bit.
Tails kissed her neck a bit more before pulling away and laying back down with her still on top of him, before he spoke. "Sorry. I got a bit carried away..."
"It was fine," Cosmo winked. "I didn't mind it. It's just that... well, it's late enough as it is."
"Yeah," Tails nodded. "Good point."
"And we should probably get some sleep right now," she threw in.
"We should," Tails said, nodding once again.
"I mean, we both have a lot of work tomorrow, and if we do this on what's only our second date, it might be moving too fast, and-"
Cosmo was cut off by another kiss to the lips as Tails gently pulled her down. Unlike their steamier kiss just moments ago, this one was much more gentle and tender, and Cosmo melted into it, smiling as she felt Tails' arms wrap around her once more, this time out of comfort rather than hunger.
"It's fine," he said when the kiss broke. "I never imagined that you'd be so cute when you're nervous."
"I guess that I've been taking some lessons from you," she winked.
"Good one," Tails playfully rolled his blue eyes. "We really should get some sleep now."
"Indeed we should," Cosmo said, kissing his lips in a quick peck. "Goodnight, my fluffy, handsome man."
The yellow fox blushed a bit. "Goodnight, my cute plant girl."
The two then settled down and turned off the small lamp at the side of the bed, with that being the only light source left. After they turned it off, Tails got the idea to bring his tails up and wrap them around Cosmo, creating a second layer for her which she snuggled into happily, her cute snoozes indicating her sleep.
Soon, the events of the day caught up to Tails as well, and he fell into the dream world not long after Cosmo did, subconsciously holding her closer and wrapping her up warmer as the two slept together, with smiles on their faces and warmth in their hearts.
Meanwhile, back in Westopolis...
Nack and Lara were in her office bedroom, and the purple weasel was behind the grey tigress, gripping her hips and pumping into her slowly. Their tryst has been going on for nigh on half an hour, and after several position changes and a few earth-shaking orgasms from Lara, yet another was on its way, with Nack sure to fall behind.
"Oh, god!" Lara moaned, feeling her body sag in another climax.
Nack himself let out one final grunt and chuckled. "Fuck, Lara..."
The tigress giggled. "It's been a while for you, hasn't it?" she asked as Nack pulled out, dispensing of the condom that he wore.
"Well, going around and trying to make more deals in different places can really make you miss good pussy." He kissed Lara's neck. "And you, my dear, have some really good pussy..."
"I know where to sell it, and I know how to use it," Lara shrugged, moaning a bit from the kisses on her neck and shoulder. "You know, for a man of your abilities, you're a very gentle lover."
"It's not like I don't have the money for this to not be gentle," Nack smirked. "But when sleeping with your associates, it's best to not put them off too early."
"You're a special one, Nack," Lara said. "This might just be a business fuck, but when you mean business, you really mean business. Honestly, if I didn't have any integrity, we wouldn't be done until you said so."
"But you do have integrity," Nack noted. "And plus, as fun as this was, I do have other things to attend to."
"I understand," Lara nodded. "It's getting late anyway."
"It is indeed," Nack agreed. "And if your girls are to work to their fullest potential, then they should follow your example."
"They do already," Lara chuckled as she put her underwear back on, joining Nack as they both began getting dressed. "Hopefully not too much, though. I'd rather they all be their own girl by taking little bits from me."
"Do any of them have issues with that, by the way?" Nack asked as he slipped his shirt on.
"No. Some of my old girls used to, but with these new ones there hasn't been as many problems."
"That's good to hear," Nack smiled. "I know that I've said it before, but it bares repeating; you've certainly put your money to good use."
"It's something I've always been good at," Lara shrugged. "That and sex."
"Hard to decide which you're better at," Nack chuckled. "Let's just say that you can mix them both well enough not to worry."
"Yeah, that's fair," Lara nodded.
The two stayed in silence for a few moments to focus on getting dressed back up. Soon, they did just that, and Nack turned to Lara once more, pulling her close for a hug and a kiss on the cheek before speaking.
"So sorry for this," he said.
"Don't be," Lara chuckled. "This was a business transaction. And it just so happened to work out paying dividends for both parties."
"And they say that mixing business and pleasure never works..." Nack playfully shook his head, pulling Lara in for another quick kiss.
"Who cares about they?" the grey tiger added, smiling as they broke from the kiss. "I'll see you... when?"
"In a few days," Nack replied. "I'm going to let you, Manuel, and Beau run your own sides for a little while."
"Do they know about this?" asked Lara.
"Not yet, but they did quite impress me when I met them earlier today." He paused for a moment. "Granted, Beau needed a little bit of help, but he's on the right track now."
"You've got to remember, his product was being stolen beforehand," Lara shrugged. "Maybe even after buying better pushers and dealers, he still needed more product given what was stolen?"
"That could be a good reason," Nack said. "I'll need to remember to ask him."
"So, what did you give to Beau to help him?" Lara asked.
"Fokus," Nack shrugged.
"How did you get your hands on it?"
"Well, technically, it was just the ingredients for it. I showed him once, and he picked it up," Nack said.
"He always was good at that," Lara said.
Nack nodded. "I gave him enough to push out for about a week, maybe more. If he's smart, he'll tell some of his guys to get the ingredients. Saves me having to find them for him."
"It helps if he knows where they are in the first place, right?"
"Maybe, but with the way things are in Westopolis, you can't expect too much to say the same for too long." He then bowed to Lara. "I'll see you in a few days. Take care."
"You too," Lara smiled. "If we keep going like this, then I trust that all of our future business transactions will go just as smoothly."
"Let's hope so," Nack said, tipping his hat in respect before turning to leave.
He and his henchmen made it out of the office, and had just reached the bottom of the stairs when a blond rabbit, wearing nothing but sheer black lingerie and a smile, stood and stopped Nack and his men in their tracks. Confused, the purple weasel waited for the rabbit to speak.
"So, would you like me to show you a good time?" she asked.
Nack smiled. "Maybe some other time, sweetheart."
"Well, are you up to much now?" the rabbit asked.
"I've got a lot to do, actually. Next time, I'll see if I can drop by," Nack said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I'll bet that you're worth every penny."
"You'll find out next time you're here..." the rabbit winked. "Take care."
Nack chuckled and tipped his hat to her, much like he'd done to Lara earlier, before continuing his leave with his men. They made it outside unabated this time, and Nack sighed as they began walking to the car.
"We really should try and get this thing patched up a bit," said Nack. "Not that it's damaged, but if I'm to be taken seriously around here, I need my ride to look better than... well, this."
"Come on, we literally grabbed the first one that we could find when we got here," said one of his men, shrugging.
"That doesn't mean that we can't get it fixed up," Nack said as they reached the car, getting inside. "We might be in Westopolis, but we're not in Hell itself. We can get this fixed."
"When?"
"Tomorrow," Nack said. "Tonight, I want us to get home and go to sleep."
"Any other plans for tomorrow besides the car?" asked the other henchman.
"Hmm... yes. I should talk to one of my contacts in the local police force. Well, the only contact that I know that I can trust, anyway."
"Do the rest of the force know about you?"
"They know who I am and what I've done here, but none of them are friends of mine. Even the one that I can rely on I don't consider a friend. He's a pawn in this."
"Do you think that he knows that?" asked the first henchman as he started up the car.
"I'm not sure that he cares as long as he gets paid," Nack shrugged.
The car started to take off, and one of the henchmen spoke. "Any requests for the ride back home?"
"No," Nack shook his head. "We'll be getting some sleep when we get back. No need to try and force ourselves to stay awake any longer."
"You sure do sleep a lot," said the one driving as they pulled out of their parking space, beginning the drive back home.
"I like my rest," Nack said. "It keeps my mind ready for whatever's next. And a mind like mine needs to be ready. In Westopolis, anything can happen, whether you make it happen or someone else does."
The drive continued on in relative silence until they got home. There was the occasional verbal exchange, but nothing too important. Soon, they'd made it back to the abandoned prison that Nack had decided to call his home.
"You know how I mentioned about renovating the car?" Nack asked as they left said car.
"Sir?" asked the henchmen, confused.
"We should really do the same for the prison. It's not like we don't have the money, and it could use some sprucing up." The purple weasel shrugged. "It could do with looking a lot less... well, abandoned and prison-like."
"But not today, right?" asked one lackey.
"Not today," Nack nodded.
They all then entered the prison, making their way to the upstairs offices. Nack entered his room, letting the others go to their bedrooms to get their sleep. Nack made it a quick point to have a shower before bed, but that would have to wait.
We quickly sat down at his desk and picked up his phone, dialling 911. "It's Nack. Yeah... okay. Put him on please."
After a few more moments, a voice came through on the other end of the line. "Nack! Buddy! What's up?"
"Come on, Martin, you know that we're not friends," Nack said.
"You always say that," said the cop. "I heard that you were back in town. Haven't kicked up a shit-storm already, have you?"
"Not quite, but I'm getting there," Nack sighed. "You still owe me a favour."
"Does that favour have to be repaid right now?" Martin asked. "Because it's getting late and I really need some sleep."
"Actually, it's not for a few days," the purple weasel admitted.
"Then why the fuck are you calling me up now?" Martin asked, getting exasperated.
"Just to let you know when I need the favour."
"You're lucky I like you," Martin said.
"And that I pay you good money and let you keep your job?"
"That too," the human admitted.
"You know, I've got a lot on you, Martin. We wouldn't want that getting out, now would we?"
"No, we wouldn't."
"And even if you were to change your mind, it would be too late, wouldn't it?"
Martin gulped and paused. "Yes. It would be."
"And why would it be too late?"
"Because, if I don't follow orders, I'll owe you another favour."
"And?"
"And I'll lose my job if I don't help you out."
"Good." Nack grinned. "You're still learning. Keep that in mind, Martin. Have a pleasant night."
"Night."
The two then hung up, and Nack went for a quick shower. After finishing, he chose to remain in his dark red boxers before going to sleep, turning the lamp off at the side of his bed as he smiled to himself.
"Plans keep getting set in motion... and I'm the one who keeps turning the crank," he said to himself. "The next few days will be very fun indeed. But, more importantly, it'll lead to the renovation of Westopolis itself. Murder, sex, violence, drugs, sluts, guns... everything that I love about this place will only grow ever stronger as long as me and the others stay in control. And nobody can take that away from me." He chuckled. "Westopolis belongs to those who are smart enough to know how to survive in it. And when you know how to survive, you learn how to lead. And we will all lead Westopolis to be bigger and bolder. And soon after that... everywhere, everyone, and everything else will follow."
He then kept his sick, twisted grin on his face as he slept, his one fang showing through his mouth. He thought back to his deals with Manuel, Beau, and Lara. More specifically the sealing of the deal with Lara, but not for the wrong reasons; he knew that she meant business, and that she would take her place. Beau and Manuel were both sure to do the same.
Now, it was up to Nack to help them along. He gave them the keys, and they knew how to turn them. The next step would be finding the right doors to open, and if the keys wouldn't work, then they would kick the doors down if need be.
And it finally started to look like it was time to kick some doors down.
Once again, sorry for a late chapter. I initially had trouble with what to call it, and luckily I wound up setting up my next chapter's title in the process. But yeah, sorry for being lazy again. I hope it doesn't happen again, but no promises given the infrequent posting of my last few chapters. Take care, stay tuned, and I'll see you all in the next one.