Nack woke up sleepily, looking to his left as he felt a presence cuddled up to him. He smiled to see the nude Lisa, leaning over to kiss her cheek and lips softly. Soon, she reciprocated and kissed back, moaning softly before her eyes opened. She smiled, and the kiss broke.
"Hi..." she said.
"Hi yourself," Nack smiled back.
"Thank you for last night," Lisa smiled. "Despite you having a free ride, you weren't as bad as most men seem to be."
"Just because you're a whore doesn't mean that I'm going to treat you too much like one," Nack said.
"And yet you're still going to call me a whore?" Lisa giggled.
"Just as your job title," Nack smiled back. "What would you call me?"
"Well, you're certainly not a good man," Lisa began. "Hmm... criminal boss?"
Nack chuckled. "You can call me that after today." He looked to the clock next to them. "I really should get up and get going."
"Big things happening today, huh?" Lisa asked. "Is... is it okay if I come along?"
"No," Nack said simply. "It's a pretty dangerous thing. And plus, I'm staying behind anyway."
"Then why not stay behind in bed with me?"
Nack chuckled. "I've got to get everyone set up. Also, the fake ID cards should be on their way."
"I'll still take care of you if you want?"
Nack smiled and turned to kiss Lisa, and she mounted him and ground her crotch against his. He almost did the same, but grabbed her hips and pulled her down to kiss her again, their lips moulding and the heat between them rising before the purple weasel broke away.
"I would like that, but I get the feeling that you won't be able to," he said.
Lisa sighed and nodded, rolling off of him. She put her underwear on quickly, turning to him as he sat up. "Thanks again for last night," she smiled.
Nack nodded. "It's just nice to see you smile at all." He breathed out a sigh. "How's your stepdad doing?"
"He's still alive," Lisa smiled. "Not much has changed since you last asked me that question."
The purple weasel shrugged and got out of bed himself, putting his own clothes on. "I figure that there's no harm in asking."
"There really isn't," Lisa giggled. "I appreciate it."
As she said that, the door was knocked. "Boss? You in there?"
"I'll be out in a minute," Nack said. "What's going on?"
"The others are here already," said the henchman. "They're in the kitchen, waiting on you."
"All right, I'm almost done in here," Nack replied.
"Also, Lara wanted to know if you wanted breakfast," the other henchman asked.
Nack playfully shook his head at Lisa as they were both now fully clothed. He walked over to the door and opened it, letting the blue cat through it first. She smiled in thanks, somewhat surprising the two henchmen outside before deciding to wait with them. Nack smiled and walked out to join them.
They walked to the kitchen, seeing Lara, Manuel, and Beau all waiting. The tigress was wearing a yellow button-up blouse over a black tank top, along with blue jean shorts and black heels; the bull wore a red v-neck t-shirt with black baggy jeans and his brown combat boots; and the snake wore rather dirty looking clothing, consisting of a denim jacket over a light brown hoodie, along with dark blue jeans and black sneakers.
"Lara, you look lovely," Nack smiled.
"Thank you," Lara replied, giving a respectful head nod.
"Manuel, you look combat ready," Nack grinned.
"Eh, the red will make it look like I don't bleed so badly," Manuel playfully shrugged.
"And Beau," Nack paused. "You look the same as when I first met you."
"I'm the only one who's actually appropriately dressed for their part, and I'm the one who you go after first?" Beau playfully gasped.
"Eh, you know that I'm kidding," the purple weasel said, taking a seat. "So... we all know of the plan, yes?"
"We do," Manuel nodded. "Just waiting on those ID cards, yeah?"
"I do wonder why they didn't come sooner," Nack admitted.
"Well, it takes a long time to forge something like that as it is," Beau surmised. "Add in the fact that it's a fake ID from Westopolis, and that's a lot of fingerprints to scrub off."
"Still, the fact that your own cop friend was able to get a hold of anything like that is pretty impressive," said Lara.
Nack shrugged. "Well, I like to impress. In fact, I also like being impressed. I hope that you guys can do that for me today."
"Yeah, no pressure," Manuel jabbed.
"I know that it's not easy," Nack sighed. "But you've all come this far, and for that, I'm thankful. In fact, I can't thank you enough for how you've stuck with me for so long through all of this."
"You'd better be thankful," Beau smirked. "If it weren't for us, who knows where you'd still be?"
Nack couldn't hide his own grin at that. "You do bring up a good point," he said, shaking his head. "But we're all a part of this thing, okay?"
"Even thought you won't be there?" Manuel asked.
"Yeah," Nack nodded.
"We get it," Lara said. "We're all excited. But first, let's get some breakfast before we go back over things."
"Sounds good to-" Nack started, but was cut off when his phone rang. "Hello? Oh, really? How'd you know where to... ah, right. Yeah, I'll come and pick it up. Thanks."
"Who was that?" Manuel asked.
"Martin," Nack said. "He dropped off the fake IDs at Lara's front desk."
"Looks like he pulled through after all," Beau shrugged.
"Still have doubts about him?" Manuel asked.
"Well, he's still a fucking cop, so... obviously."
"He's a cop who's sort of on Nack's payroll," said Manuel.
"That doesn't make him anything like us," Beau said. "Just because he gets paid like we do doesn't make him one of us."
"And you don't think that that's a good thing?" Nack asked. "Having someone like him around is beneficial. And plus, since he's a dirty cop, we don't have to worry about him betraying us. We all know that we'd stab each other in the back anyway, so if we expect it from a cop, then we really can't act surprised if it happens."
"When it happens..." the Southern snake mumbled.
Nack shook his head. "You may doubt him, but he is an integral part of this entire operation. If you're not happy with that, then I can't force you to be. If you want to leave, then just know that I'm giving you this chance to back out."
Beau shook his head. "No, I'll stay for the plan."
"Nobody said that you had to like it," said Lara.
Beau nodded. "I know. Then again, maybe part of that is because I'm being stuffed into the back of a car and being driven a long distance away."
"I do wonder why Martin isn't here, though," said Manuel.
"It's like he said, he can forge a police uniform," said Lara. "Chances are that he's getting things sorted."
Nack nodded. "It does stand a chance." His phone then went off, and he got a text, smiling. "It's Martin. He's waiting outside with a couple of cars and some extra cops from the Westopolis Police Department."
"Did they get my extra guns?" Manuel asked. "I managed to push a little bit more to them last night, but I dunno if it made it."
Nack shrugged and relayed the bull's message via text, getting one back in a few seconds. "He says yes, but they're not taking all of it since not a lot of cops are going."
"Hope that they got enough," Manuel said.
"Me too," Nack nodded. "You guys ready to go?"
"As ready as we'll ever be," said Lara, hooking her arm around Manuel. "Are you good to go, my sweet?"
"Of course, my lady," the bull nodded.
The two walked out arm in arm, getting into the only car there that didn't belong to the cops. Said car was painted a deep blue, and it resembled a pickup truck, only without a trailer on the back, having a proper trunk instead. Beau and Nack were close behind the bull and the tigress, with the latter of the two having the fake IDs in his hand.
Beau smiled as he saw the vehicle. "Is that one of the ones that you got in the abandoned prison garage?"
"Yep," Nack nodded. "My two men are damn good mechanics. They fixed this baby right up."
"Also, there's a costume change for you in the back," Martin smiled, walking over, wearing a Green Hill uniform already.
"Well, I don't like you, but I can't say that I don't appreciate the gesture of courtesy," Beau said, extending his hand forward.
Martin shrugged and shook it. "Eh, anything to help Nack's noble cause."
"The one that he's not helping with at all?"
"The one that I can't help with at all," Nack corrected. "Just shut up and get in the car."
"Yes, boss," Beau said, rolling his eyes. He left around to the back of the car.
Nack turned back to Martin. "You get everything else ready?"
Martin nodded. "Yep. I helped Manuel's men get set up. They've got vehicles heading to Green Hill already, waiting on their command."
"That's a good sign," Nack nodded. "You know, it is a shame that I won't get to see my plan come to fruition with my own two eyes."
"I'll make sure to record the whole thing," the dirty cop chuckled. "And besides, you're still getting the biggest part brought over to you."
"That's if those four bite the bait," Nack said, extending his hand to Martin. "Good luck."
"You too," Martin replied, shaking hands with the purple weasel.
The two broke the shake, and Martin looked down to see that the fake IDs had been given to him. He then gave another nod to Nack before heading into one of the cop cars. After they were all settled in, they waved goodbye to Nack, who waved back, a smile on his face. Said smile widened when Lara lifted her top and flashed her breasts at him, and he laughed a bit. Soon, all vehicles were out of sight, and Nack let out a happy breath before walking over to his car.
"Let's go home, boys," Nack said.
The two henchmen didn't bother to argue, and they followed the purple weasel to the car. They all hopped in, not wasting time and heading straight for the abandoned prison where they would wait patiently for whatever happened next.
Meanwhile, in Green Hill, at the same time...
Sonic's alarm woke him up early, and he turned quickly to shut it off. He let out a yawn and got up, checking his phone. He sleepily went through some text messages wishing him good luck in that day's prison transfer, but his eyes opened a bit more as he saw a message from Amy.
"Hey, handsome," it read. "Hope you have a good day today. And, if not, here's some motivation..." He clicked a photo attachment, and couldn't hide his smile as he saw the pink hedgehog wearing red underwear, stockings included. A caption followed soon after. "This is for tonight..." it said.
"Oh, I'm hoping to see you then," Sonic grinned, texting that to Amy. He then added on, "In all honesty, thanks for the vote of confidence. I hope that your day at school goes well too. See you tonight."
The blue hedgehog then got a knock at his door as he hit send, coupled with a voice. "Come on, Sonic. Time to wake up," said Knuckles on the other side.
"I'm up," Sonic replied, walking over to the door to see his red echidna friend in his uniform. "You're already ready, I see."
"Yep," Knuckles nodded. "I showered beforehand too, so it really seals in the flavour."
"At least you'll be smelling like a picnic when we take those ass-holes to the big house," Sonic chuckled, walking past Knuckles. "I'm going to head into the shower."
"Sure thing," Knuckles said. "By the way, I'm making breakfast wraps. It's good on-the-go food, since we don't really have time to sit down and eat stuff."
"Chicken, cheese, and fries?" Sonic asked.
"Yep," Knuckles nodded.
"With garlic mayo?"
"Yep again."
"Sounds good."
Knuckles smiled. "I've even got your coffee all set up."
"And now it sounds better," Sonic laughed. "All right, time for my shower. I'll see you downstairs."
Knuckles nodded, heading downstairs. As he did, Sonic went into the bathroom, seeing his freelancer uniform neatly folded on the toilet, which had its seat down. He smiled to himself and switched the water on.
Five minutes later, he was finished in the shower, drying himself off with a towel from the rack. When he was finished with that, he put the previous night's clothes and the towel into the hamper before going about his uniform.
"It's probably going to feel kinda bulky to wear these all the time..." he said to himself as he started dressing. He was soon finished, leaving through the bathroom door and heading downstairs. "I'm all done."
"Good," said Tails. "We're in the living room."
Sonic went over to said living room, seeing the others watching the news as Delia the peacock popped up. "Today, Green Hill Police Department is transferring its prisoners from its own holding cells to the main penitentiary. A lot of the good men and women on hand at Green Hill will be on hand to help, but the main story is the freelance agents."
"Good old Delia," Sonic chuckled. "Turn it up, please."
Shadow turned up the volume as Delia kept speaking. "The other night's four freelance agents that helped to stop the armoured back truck robbery are helping along with the proceedings of the transfer. Since they still operate mostly within Green Hill, we can count on our own city being safe. This is Delia the peacock with the morning news."
"That's some damn good morning news right there," Knuckles said, standing from his seat and turning the TV off. "We all ready to go?"
"Yep," Sonic nodded. "Whose car do we take?"
"Let's take both," Tails shrugged. "May as well."
"Good plan," Sonic said. "Who rides with who, though?"
"I'll stick with Knuckles," Shadow said.
"Then it looks like I'm stuck with fluffy here," Sonic smiled.
"Oh, come off it. You know that you're going to enjoy my company."
They all shared laughter at that, and opened the entrance doors, taking care to lock them as they went to their separate cars. Sonic got into the driver's seat of his, with Tails sitting shotgun. The same happened with the other two members of the group, with Knuckles driving and Shadow riding in the front passenger's seat.
"Typical," Sonic playfully sighed. "Even in my own car, I don't get the shotgun seat."
Tails chuckled at that as the car pulled out of the lot. Knuckles waited patiently for Sonic to lead the way, and when Sonic's car was far enough ahead, Knuckles pulled up close behind in his own vehicle, with Shadow speaking into the car's radio.
"So, what's the plan?" he asked.
"The immediate plan is to go over to Green Hill and wait," Sonic replied. "If not that, then we'll just join the convoy at the back of the line."
"Probably the best place for us," Tails said. "We're out of the way of everyone else, and we can also watch over the prisoners in the last transfer vehicle to see if any of them try anything."
"I'm pretty sure that we won't be able to see inside said vehicle of the doors are closed," Knuckles replied.
"Actually, the vehicles that they're using are sort of like pickup trucks, in way," Tails said. "They have a roof over them, and cops nearby can see the prisoners inside it. The worst that they can usually do is jump out."
"And if they do that, we'll just have to run them over," Sonic said.
"I don't think that killing a prisoner that we're taking to a bigger prison is a great idea..." Shadow said.
"Then we'll just hit them really hard with our cars and hope that they don't die," Sonic replied.
"That's a... better answer?" Tails questioned. "I guess?"
"We could just stun them with our pistols," Knuckles suggested. "Then again, the other cops in the convoy could do the same thing."
"True," Tails agreed. "It's likely that they'll be heavily armed, despite the fact that the criminals have nothing except for the clothes that they wore beforehand."
"Well, whatever the case, I hope that they like teal blue and green," Sonic chuckled.
The others shared in the blue hedgehog's laughter before continuing the drive. Soon, they'd arrived at Green Hill itself, just in time to see another police vehicle coming in. Sonic and Knuckles pulled their cars up to park them, killing their respective engines and leaving their vehicles as the G.H.P.D. car with them found their own parking space, with Vector, Charmy, and Espio all leaving, clad in their G.H.P.D. uniforms.
"You guys are coming too?" Sonic asked.
"Why, I'm having a great morning, thanks for asking," Vector replied, smirking. "But, to answer your question, no. We stayed up all night working on something for you."
"Is that something the boards?" asked Knuckles.
"Nothing gets past you," Vector chuckled. He walked to the back of their vehicle and pulled out four boards, all folded up and each one coloured slightly differently; one red, one blue, one black, and one yellow. "I'll let you take a wild swing to guess whose is whose."
Shadow took his, seeing the faint red lines over it. "This is pretty cool."
Knuckles looked his over as well, even seeing some hints of green and yellow on his board. "That's pretty sweet."
Sonic saw his board and chuckled, seeing a red and white stripe along one side of it. "Nice work."
Tails was the last to take his, looking over to see a mixture of yellow and some light blue tinges. "Wow... you guys outdid yourselves with these designs."
"Well, you can thank Espio for those," said Charmy.
"Yeah, I may not be the most mechanically minded," Espio added, "but damn, do I know good design."
"That you do," Tails said, folding his board up. "Let's get inside. I'm sure that Avery wants to see us beforehand."
The others nodded in agreement, all heading into the station. They waved at Cosmo and Mina before heading up to the briefing room, seeing Avery, Simian, Lupe, and Ash, but no Nicole. With the exception of Ash, they all wore an armoured version of her normal uniform, like Vector and the others had. They all sat down, and Avery nodded to them all.
"Good to see you four," Avery said to Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow. "Are you ready to go?"
"As ready as we'll ever be," Sonic replied.
Ash chuckled, turning to Vector. "You guys do what you needed to last night?"
"Yep," Espio replied.
"Good," Avery said. "And you do realise that you're part of the convoy today, right?"
"But... we stayed up... for so damn long..." Vector complained.
"And we appreciate that," Sonic smiled. "We do."
"But..." Tails added. "It's not our call whether or not you can go. If Avery says so, then you go."
"Oh, all right," the green crocodile said. "But you guys had better use those things."
"We will," Knuckles said. "How could we not? They're bad-ass!"
"That they are," Shadow said. "Speaking of bad-asses, where's Nicole?"
"She's gathering our officers up and sorting them into their assigned vehicles," replied Simian. His shoulder mic then sounded off. "Hello?"
"This is Nicole," came the voice on the other side. "Everyone's gathered up and has been assigned their vehicles. We're just waiting on the big boss."
Simian chuckled, smiling at Avery. "Well, you heard the lady."
"All right," the commander said. "Ash, are we set to go?"
"Have been since I got here," the male mongoose replied, pressing a button on his remote. The huge screen behind Avery changed, showing an image of various other G.H.P.D. officers in armoured uniform, holding a variety of weapons. "There we go. You're broadcasting live throughout the whole station."
Avery smiled and cleared his throat. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is your commissioner speaking. Today is an important day, as it always is when it comes to huge transfers like this. But part of the reason for that has to go to Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow. Even during their brief stint as Green Hill officers, they did all that they could to help. And as freelancers, they've done even more. They've captured more bad guys and brought back more contraband that I can't even imagine it. But this is not just about them, after all. This is about all of us working together to ensure that today's mission is a success. Each and everyone of you is undertaking this mission because you are skilled enough, smart enough, and equipped enough. I know that there's no point in me saying this since you never fail me, but do not let me down. This is Commissioner Avery signing off. Good luck."
"We'll need it..." Sonic muttered under his breath.
"Hell of a speech," Ash smiled as the screen turned back to normal.
"Well, it's not often that I get to give speeches about things like this," Avery said. "But a prison transfer can be a tough deal, especially when it comes to new recruits."
"Do we count as new recruits even though we're technically not officers any more?" Knuckles asked, even raising his hand.
"Well, it still counts," Avery admitted with a shrug. "I mean, you did graduate, after all. And even if you were still all on the force, it hasn't been that long."
"That's a fair point," Knuckles chuckled.
"So, we're all good to go?" Simian asked.
"You're all good to go," Avery nodded. "Unless there are any last questions?"
"I've got a quick one," said Tails.
"Shoot."
"Well, where are you and the other higher-ups coming into play?"
"Ah," Lupe chuckled. "We'll be leading the charge, as it were. But we'll be in a surveillance van to monitor anything just in case something odd pops up."
"What if you wind up fighting?" Sonic asked.
"Well, we've got our guns with us," Avery said. "And plus, Simian's got years of experience in fighting. He can help us out."
"Hey, don't oversell me," the ape smiled. "Lupe's got a good tactical mind too. She can handle herself if and when it's needed."
"And I make the presentations," Ash threw in. "That's... that's my contribution..."
"And you do a hell of a job of it," Sonic chuckled, standing up from his seat. "So... are we all ready to go?"
"I was about to ask you the same thing," Avery smiled. "The convoy should be setting up. We'd best not waste any more time."
"Then let's get to it," Sonic said.
The others stood up, leading the way past Sonic and the others. As they did this, Sonic pulled out his phone, setting it to the picture of the guns that he'd taken the night before at the docks, hiding his phone when Lupe turned around.
"Everything okay?" she asked.
"Just texting my girlfriend," Sonic said. "I forgot to tell her this morning."
"Ah, fair enough," Lupe smiled. "She's a lucky girl, whoever she is."
"Her name's Amy."
"Pretty name," Lupe giggled as they left the building proper.
The four freelancers looked over the huge convoy in question, seeing how many vehicles were lined up in a row. There were a fair few prisoner carrier vehicles in the middle, with three G.H.P.D. cars in front and behind, with the surveillance vans rounding things off. Sonic and the others got into the car at the back of the convoy.
"It sucks that we can't really take our own one," said Knuckles.
"You mean your one, right?" Sonic replied as they walked over to the vehicles.
Knuckles sighed. "Yeah..."
"My heart bleeds for you," Tails chuckled.
"Hell, even I'm missing when you'd call shotgun all the time," Shadow added.
"Do you want shotgun in our van at the front?" Tails asked.
"Nah. It's not as special that way," Shadow admitted.
"I call shotgun on ours!" Knuckles said.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me..." Sonic muttered before laughing. He walked over to Tails, high-fiving him and pulling him for a hug. "Stay safe, little bro."
"I will," Tails replied.
Sonic did the same to Shadow. "You too, okay?"
"Hey, I've got Tails to look after me," Shadow smiled. "But, yes. Stay safe, brother."
Knuckles then joined, hugging Tails first, then Shadow. "Are you two going to get along without me to break up your fights?"
"We make no promises," Shadow chuckled.
"Just remember, you're sharing a van with our boss," Sonic whispered. "Shit, he didn't hear me, did he?"
"Former boss," Avery corrected.
"Yep. He heard me."
Avery smiled. "In all honesty, this is a touching moment. But we've got work to do. So let's do that work."
"We're on it," said Sonic. "I'm assuming that Vector and the mechanics are in our van too?"
"You assume correctly," Avery nodded. "You'd best get to your van with your terrible 80's rock band quickly."
"Hey, Vector and The Mechanics were a minor hit back in the day," Vector chuckled jokingly.
The others laughed, and soon finished wishing each other well before both sides took off for their respective vans: Tails and Shadow with Avery, Lupe, and Simian; and Sonic and Knuckles with Espio, Charmy, and Vector.
As the latter group got into their van, the doors already opened for them by the cops around them, the green crocodile spoke. "So, you guys really are brothers, huh?"
"Not blood related, but yes," Knuckles replied. "We've been this way since we met in Green Hill Academy, really."
"You wouldn't believe that on the first day, though," Sonic said as they all took their seats.
"So, what connected you all to each other?" asked Espio.
"Mostly similar music taste," said Knuckles with a grin. "I caught this guy trying to sneak a peek at The Ghost Inside's last album, and when I found out that he liked a band that good, we shared in that."
"And we became friends through more than that," Sonic added. "Not just through music or through humour, but because we all wanted to become cops for the right reason."
"And what reason is that?" Charmy asked.
"Helping people," Sonic said. "Also, weird that an actual cop asked that question."
"Weirder still that said cop asked it to former cops," Charmy corrected. "But still, does the answer stay the same now that you're freelancers?"
"Of course it does," Sonic smiled as the doors closed.
Meanwhile, just outside of Green Hill, a dark blue vehicle drove towards the entrance gate to the city, the said vehicle containing a muscular bull and a feminine tigress. They drove up to the toll booth and flashed their IDs.
"Hmm..." The toll man, who was a spotted leopard, looked over the IDs before nodding and handing them back. "Seems clear enough... but could we check over your vehicle?"
"What for?" asked Manuel.
"Well, there's a big prison transfer going on today," the leopard said. "We need to check anyone coming in or out." He then got out of his booth, walking to check the vehicle's plates with a flashlight. "Hmm... Star Light... just like on the IDs..."
"Are we clear yet?" asked Lara.
"Not fully," said the leopard, shutting off his flashlight. "Could you pop open the trunk for me?"
"Sure," Manuel said, opening the trunk of the car.
The leopard used his torch, looking and seeing an exercise bag. He reached for it and opened it up, finding clothing and some other appliances inside before zipping it back up, checking the side pockets to find similar things.
"Here for a little getaway?" asked the leopard.
"Yep!" Lara said excitedly. "It's our honeymoon, and we're going throughout Mobius to visit the most beautiful places in each city!"
The leopard closes the trunk and quickly checks the backseats of the car before going to the front, leaning his arms against the door and looking over Manuel and Lara, as if to make sure of something. He then chuckled and started speaking.
"Well, this place is named Green Hill for a reason," he smiled. "There's a beautiful view of the city from the green hills that this city is based upon. I can highly recommend checking it out if you get the time."
"Sounds lovely," Manuel smiled. "Where are they?"
"Just short of the northernmost point of the city," the toll man said. "Can't miss them."
"We'll be sure to check it out," Manuel said.
"Sure thing," the leopard said. "You have a good day now!"
"You too!" said Manuel. He continued driving the car, passing the border and entering Green Hill proper as thumping from the back sounded off. "Yes, Beau?"
"Are we there yet?" the snake asked.
"We're in the city, but not anywhere near close enough to the spot."
"What about the other cops and such?"
"They're on their way," Lara replied. "Considering how good these fake IDs are, it wouldn't surprise me if they were already in the city."
"Maybe they took a different entrance here?" Beau suggested.
"Maybe so," Manuel shrugged. "All right, we're in the clear. Let's find a good alleyway for you."
Back at the convoy, Avery looked around as he saw a couple of extra G.H.P.D. vehicles pulling up, smiling. "Ah, there they are."
"There who are?" Shadow asked.
"Perfect grammar," Tails deadpanned. "But, yeah. I am also curious."
"Some extra help," said Avery. "Police from different jurisdictions can help out with convoy operations. Looks like we've got a couple of vans joining us."
Tails looked out of one of the side windows and smiled. "Hey, that's Brookes!"
Shadow looked out and chuckled. "So it is!"
"Isn't that the guy who you saved at Aqua Lake?" asked Simian.
"The very same," replied Tails, waving at the cop.
Brookes waved back, driving next up next to their car as he picked up the radio. "Hey... I remember you two. Don't you have another hedgehog friend? And an echidna too?"
"They're at the back end of the convoy," Shadow clarified, also using the radio. He then heard some more revving noises, looking forward to see a couple more vehicles. "Brought some friends, huh?"
"I hope that it's not too much," said Brookes with a shrug. "You've got an impressive haul of prisoners there."
"Well, we did bring most of them in," said Shadow. "And we're not even real cops."
Brookes laughed. "All right, I'm going to go say high to the other two."
"Take care," Tails said. As Brookes left, he turned to Shadow. "Did that seem... off to you?"
"What, you mean cops from outside of Green Hill's jurisdiction suddenly showing up to help?" Shadow replied. "Yeah. Seemed way off."
Tails got a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. "I don't like this all of a sudden..."
"Is something wrong?" asked Avery.
"We can't be sure," Tails said, going to the front. "Can I get on the horn to the dudes at the back?"
"Knock yourself out," the bear said, handing Tails the microphone.
"Sonic? Knuckles?" the yellow fox began.
"We're here," said Sonic. "What's up on your end, little bro?"
"We just bumped into Brookes," Shadow said.
"That Aqua Lake guy?" Knuckles asked.
"That same one," Tails confirmed. "And he brought some friends to help."
"That's pretty nice of him," the red echidna replied. He then looked out the window, seeing the man in question. "Oh, and there he is now! How the hell have you been, dude?"
"Just fine," Brookes replied from his radio. "Yourselves?"
"Still on a pretty damn good record," Sonic shrugged. "How are things over at Aqua Lake?"
"Pretty good," Brookes replied. "Sorry to cut this short, but I want to speak with Avery to iron out a few details."
"Sure," Sonic said. "Go right ahead."
Brookes then switched the radio setting to speak with Avery. "Is this Commander Avery?"
"This is him, yes," the bear replied. "How can I help you, good sir?"
"Well, I wanted to ask you a question," Brookes said, looking in his rear view mirror and seeing a car coming up behind.
"Shoot."
"Do you know what a Trojan horse is?"
Avery sounded confused. "Why are you asking me this?"
"Just out of curiosity. Since it could be a long drive, we need to find a way to kill the time, you know?"
"I guess so," Avery said. "Well, to answer your question, I do know. The Greeks used a large wooden horse to sneak into Troy and take it over to end a war."
"And what would be the modern day equivalent of that, do you think?"
"I supposed a computer virus of some sort?"
"Not quite..." Brookes then hanged up the radio.
Avery was once again confused, but saw a couple more cars pulling up in front of him. In one of the side mirrors, he saw the same happening to not just the rear van, but to all of the other main vehicles of the convoy. A look of dread fell over his face briefly, and it didn't go unnoticed.
"What is it, sir?" Simian asked.
"It's a trap," Avery said. "We're being pushed in on the sides."
"But they're friendlies, aren't they?" asked Lupe.
"No, they're not," Shadow said. He looked out the window and saw not just the cars starting to squeeze in, but he looked past that and saw men flooding out of the alleyways. "Fuck..."
Tails also looked out of the window, seeing the exact same. "Yeah... fuck..." He went to grab the radio quickly. "Sonic, Knuckles, come in."
"We're here," Sonic said. "We see it."
"What are we going to do?"
"You're going to stop driving," said Brookes, cutting in. "You're going to stop your convoy, and you're going to let us free those prisoners."
"And what if we decline, you son of a bitch?" Knuckles asked. A car then crashed into the side of his van, and he fell on his side.
"That was just a warning," Brookes said. "Stop. Now. Pull over, and we all get out of this one alive."
Knuckles sighed as he got back up. "What are we supposed to do?"
Sonic looked back and forth, seeing the cars and gunmen closing in, but smiling. "I think I have an idea." He walked over to the radio. "All right, we're going to stop."
"No, we're not!" Avery replied.
"Sir, with all due respect, you're not our boss," Sonic said. "I want to make a deal with Brookes, if I may."
"What do you want?" Brookes asked.
"Before I tell you, I'm going to ask that this convoy stops and that you stop as well," Sonic said. "When it does, I'm going to exit my van unarmed..." He took a deep breath, not believing what he was going to say next. "And, as a sign of good faith, I won't be the only one."
"Who else will there be?" Brookes asked.
"My echidna friend here with me," Sonic continued, sneaking his phone from his pocket, "and a fox named Tails, who is in the front van."
"And why the hell would I want just you three guys?" Brookes asked.
"Oh, you're going to get the prisoners too," the blue hedgehog said, typing a text to the fox in question. "But you'll also get us."
"Why would we want you?"
"Just think about it," Tails said from the front van. "You can take all of these prisoners back up to Westopolis with you, or you can take us along too. I mean, three cybernetic freelance cops on your side? That's got to be a bargain, right?"
"I suppose that you have a point," Brookes pondered. "But I have your word, right? You'll do exactly as I say, and no harm will come to you."
"We will," Sonic spoke.
Brookes turned to the men beside him. "Slow it down," he said. Before they could protest, he spoke up again. "And everyone else, lower your weapons!" The vehicles slowed down, and soon, the convoy did as well. Brookes nodded from where he was. "All right. I want all of the freelancers to leave their respective vehicles and walk to the prisoner bus in the middle. If anyone steps out of line, we will open fire. Understood?"
"You got it," Knuckles said. "We're stepping out right... now..."
Brookes and his men waited as they saw the rear doors of both vans open up, with Tails leaving the front one, and Sonic and Knuckles leaving the back one. They were instructed to hold their hands behind their heads as they walked to the prisoner carrier, facing the bad guys' direction.
"We're here!" Sonic called. "What's your next instruction?"
"Would you kindly let those prisoners free?" Brookes asked.
Sonic nodded. "That will mean having to move from my current position. Do I have your word that you and your men won't fire upon me or mine as I do this?"
Brookes nodded slowly. "You have my word. Go ahead."
Sonic put his hands down by his sides and went around to the driver's side of the carrier. The driver opened the door, sighing as he left it open to unlock the prisoners from their cuffs. Once all the criminals were free, they immediately made a beeline for Brookes, all being given guns and pointing them at the freelancers as they were guided into vehicles of their own.
"Whoa, what is this?" Sonic asked. "You gave me your word!"
"I gave you my word that me and my men wouldn't shoot at you," Brookes corrected. "I never said anything about the prisoners."
Sonic chuckled. "Very deceptive of you," Sonic said. "I guess that, on some level, I can appreciate that."
"Oh, really? In what way?"
"Well, there's a funny thing about deception," Sonic began. "You see, when you and a bunch of your friends show up and start to make a bunch of demands and deals, then there's bound to be a slip-up on one side or the other, right?"
"I suppose so," Brookes said.
"And considering how we helped you back in Aqua Lake, that in itself is a hell of a deception."
"You won't get answers from me about that," Brookes said.
"Oh, I don't expect any," Sonic shrugged.
Before Brookes could reply, one of the men behind him had fallen down, blood spurting from either side of his head as he dropped to the floor of the car, dead. Brookes looked panicked, but before he could grab his own gun, his own hand felt the sting of a bullet blasting through it, causing him to hold it as it bled and he stammered, his men bringing their weapons up.
Sonic chuckled and dragged Brookes out of his car, holding his knife to the human's throat. "If any single one of you even thinks about it, then he dies, got it?"
Brookes used his good hand to indicate that he wanted them to lower their weapons. "What... what do you want?"
"Oh, it's simple," Sonic said. "I want you to turn around and leave. Don't ever come back, because if you do, then I'll-"
But Sonic was silenced as he felt a sharp pain in his chest. Suddenly, he fell backwards, coughing as he let go of his knife. Brookes, stunned from it all, turned to see Knuckles and Tails smirking at their fallen friend.
"You... you two are selling him out?" Brookes asked.
"Are you kidding," Tails said. "If it weren't for him, then we wouldn't be in this mess in the first place."
"So, why was one of my men just killed?" Brookes asked.
"Makes room for us in the car, doesn't it?" Knuckles answered. "We've got a third man who took over as sniper. As you can see from his shooting there, he's got damn good aim. Fuck, I can't think of a time that I've ever seen him miss."
"And besides," Tails added, "with three men on your team, that'll make up for blue boy not being part of it." He then bent down to Sonic's corpse.
"You going to steal from a dead body?" Brookes asked.
"All he's got is a knife, which we all also have," Knuckles shrugged. "Pointless taking it with us."
"True," Brookes agreed. "And plus... well, we've got tons of weapons. Just leave him be."
Knuckles and Tails nodded, and soon, Shadow appeared as well, appearing suddenly next to them. He walked past them all and looked down at Sonic, kicking his body several times before kicking him across the face, breathing heavily.
"You the sniper?" Brookes asked.
"Yep," Shadow replied.
"Any reason why you killed one of my men and then shot at me too?"
"To get your attention," Shadow said. "I bet that none of your other guys could have made that shot. Not even your own sniper."
"Is my sniper still alive?"
"Yeah, I didn't touch him," said Shadow.
Brookes shook his head. "You sold out your own leader so quickly... I don't know whether to feel proud or disgusted."
"We could say the same about what happened at Aqua Lake," Tails replied. "In fact, if it's at all possible, we'd very much like to meet the man who set that up."
"Well... we got what we came for, so we should head back to Westopolis," Brookes noted. "But I need to make sure of something first."
He then quickly pulled out his pistol and fired several times at Sonic's body. He then aimed up for Sonic's head, but Tails grabbed Brookes' hand and shook his head, causing the Aqua Lake cop to look up at the two-tailed fox.
"I'm pretty sure he's dead, dude," Tails said.
"Really? Because I don't see any blood," said Brookes.
"Well, what do you expect? You're shooting through his body armour," Knuckles said. "With enough shots in a focused place, like you just did, it'll hammer against it hard. You probably killed him by cutting off his air supply."
"Not to mention my sniper bullet cutting through his armour anyway," said Shadow. "Since the armour is black, the blood is harder to see."
Brookes shrugged. "Whatever. I don't have time for this. We need to go."
"What about the rest of the cops?" asked Tails.
"I'll leave that up to you," Brookes answered.
"Hmm... let them live," Shadow said. "We'll leave these guys to their grieving over their blue hero."
"I like the way that you think," Brookes smiled. "All right, let's get out of here!" He called up the radio. "You guys good? Anybody come past that way?"
"Nope, we're all good," Beau said on his side. "Nobody passed by. This route must be super secure, which makes sense since it's a prison transfer."
"All right, fair enough," Brookes nodded. "We'll start leaving soon."
"Why soon?" Tails asked.
Brookes simple snapped his fingers, and a few moments after that, several of his men started firing at the vehicles of the convoy. Machine guns, pistols, and shotguns sounded off all around the former freelancers and bounced off the G.H.P.D. vans, cars, and prison carrier, some bullets ricocheting off as others made huge dents in the vehicles.
After a good twenty seconds of this, Brookes held out his hand. "That's enough!" The firing stopped, and the Aqua Lake officer chuckled, looking at Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow. "I hope this is okay. I mean, you don't need them any more, right?"
"True," Tails said. "And plus, you did make that deal with Sonic, who is now dead. The way that I see it, that means that the deal fell through, so it doesn't mean anything any more."
"Then we're off!" Brookes smiled, taking to his radio. "Everyone not in a vehicle, you either get in one now or you get left behind. Let's get moving, people!"
On his command, the other criminals immediately made their way to any free vehicles that they could find, provided that they were part of the bad guys' crew as taking the police vehicles would raise more questions, not to mention the fact that said vehicles were already damaged.
After everyone was packed in, Brookes chuckled a bit as he started driving off with the other cars. He saw Knuckles, Tails, and Shadow all raising their middle fingers to the city as they left it, making their way to somewhere new.
Meanwhile, back at the road that the convoy was on, Avery walked carefully from behind the van where he was hidden, making sure that the coast was clear before heading over to Sonic's body, kneeling down.
"Sonic!" he called, shaking him. "Come on, please be okay!" He knelt his head down to Sonic's chest, pressing an ear against it but not hearing anything. He hurried to take Sonic's shirt off and was a bit surprised. "Armour? What... what the hell is going on?!" He shook his head and undid the armour before kneeling down again to press his lips to Sonic's, breathing some air into him and pressing several times on his chest.
The blue hedgehog's eyes shot wide open as he took in a deep breath, gasping several times.
So, here it is! Finally! The second to last chapter! I hope that it was worth the wait. The next chapter is probably going to be the longest of the story, as it will be the finale. I hope that you enjoyed this one, even though it took me so long. Sorry about that. Anyway, take care, and stay tuned for the next one. I'll see you all then.