Sonic the Hedgehog

Forced AU

Rating: R

Pairings: Undecided

A jackal and a fox sat in a room across each other. The jackal was black and white, and had a large white puff of mane grew down from the centre of his head. The fox was reddish-brown, with a lighter shade of blonde on his muzzle, with a small, mohawk-like feature the same shade as his muzzle on his head.

"I need you to kill him." a smooth male voice said, while presenting the photographs of the target.

A male wolf, with dark grey fur, with several small scars on his body. From what the photograph captured, the wolf wore a brown ten-gallon hat, a camo-themed neckerchief, black fingerless gloves, and brown boots. He had a cigarette in his mouth.

"Woah," the jackal acted mock surprise as he leaned back in the black seat, his fur almost blending into the chair. He lit up a cigarette and started to smoke. "The guy's got a mean look, capt'n. A mercenary, for sure. What's in it for me if I do complete the job?"

"I guess they don't call you Double Sighted; Ultimate Mercenary for nothin'." The reddish-brown fox commented as a smirk appeared on the vulpine's face, referring to the jackal's heterochromatic eyes. "If you do complete this, Finnigan…"

A furrow of the brow was triggered by the sound of his name. Seeing the response, the fox snorted as the smirk grew wider.

"You would become the owner of eight hundred beautiful mobiums."

"Why do you want his head?" the jackal inquired as he sat forward.

Although the offer of 80 thousand rings was already begging him to accept, he needed to know what he was getting himself into. In the harsh, hostile environment of mercenary work, you can never be too careful. Since the moment he took on mercenary work, bounties began to be placed on his head, and people started having him on hit lists.

Finnigan stared into the fox's deep marine eyes, as the vulpine leaned back in his seat. The fox began to speak.

"This mercenary has picked up jobs that have crossed me more times that I would prefer." he began as he lighted a cigarette. "My goods are always getting damaged or stolen, and I did a little background check on this guy…"

The vulpine blew out smoke, slowly. "He's the guy you've been lookin' for."

The jackal felt himself hold his breath. He looked at the fox that sat across him with a stern demeanour. Then, he put out his cigarette on the ashtray.

"Are you sure about this, Vulpes?" Finnigan growled under his breath.

"I have no reason to lie to you, Finn." the fox stated, staring back at the jackal. "I knew about this grudge you held against this particular wolf since the day you told me about it. It made you hate wolves, didn't it?"

Yes it did. It did made him hate wolves. He hated wolves and thought they were untrustworthy, ruthless creatures. Finnigan never saw a wolf he trusted, or respected.

He had no idea was it his personal bias, or truth.

"I understand that as a mercenary, you're supposed to separate work from relationship." the fox added. "However, this is your chance for getting revenge."

He looked back up, straight at the reddish-brown face of his employer.

"Tell me his name." he demanded.

"Kanyx the Wolf." he replied, without falter.

"Kanyx the Wolf…" Finnigan muttered silently as he stared at the photograph. "I will enjoy killing you…"

"Kanyx is a lone mercenary. You won't have to worry about any allies coming to his aid."

That was what the fox had said.

It was night. Finnigan arrived at the location where he knew his target would be; a specific saloon in the many towns that this vast desert had to offer. The saloon had quite a number of patrons inside, and it was said that this location would be used by his target to discuss mercenary business.

The jackal took another breath out of his cigarette as he looked to the few cars parked in the tiny parking lot next to the establishment.

'Well, not today.' thought Finnigan, putting out his cigarette on the brick walls of the saloon as he walked right through the main entrance, which drew some attention to himself. People who recognised him averted their eyes from him.

Noticing the various behaviours, the jackal softly chuckled to himself as he made his way to the counter.

"I'm looking for Kanyx the Wolf, you know him?" he whispered softly to the barman.

His response was received, when the barman subtly pointed to the side. With a quick glance, he confirmed his target, sitting at a table - smoking - while his mouth moved, talking to the black cat sat across him.

Nodding his thanks to the barman, he made his way towards his target.

It didn't matter if his target saw him; he was going to die today. Tonight is the night Kanyx the Wolf dies, in the hands of Finnigan the Jackal.

"Kanyx the Wolf." he called out as he stood behind his target. And obviously, it had caught the attention of the dark grey wolf.

He turned around and looked at Finnigan straight in the eye.

"Who're you?" asked Kanyx, as he removed the cigarette from his mouth with his right hand, the stick held between the thumb and pointer finger. From the dim lights of the saloon, the jackal could make out the colours of his eyes; it was honey yellow.

He remembered that exact shade of yellow.

"It doesn't matter," Finnigan stated, "someone is looking for you, follow me."

The wolf gave a skeptical look, as he turned back to glance at the cat sat across him. Then, he turned back to face the black jackal once more.

"Who's asking?" the wolf growled.

"The Ultimate Mercenary." he replied.

"What?" Kanyx chuckled. "What kind of a name is that?"

Assessing the situation, Finnigan concluded that the lupine would not get lured outside so easily. He decided on another tactic. The jackal slowly leaned near, close to one of the wolf's ear on his head, and began to whisper.

"Listen, wolf." he began, his voice low. "Someone in this room wants your head right now, and you better get the hell out of here."

'It wasn't a complete lie.' Finnigan mentally added to himself. When he was done getting the message across, he stepped back, and saw the wolf stare straight into his eyes; searching for deceit.

Years as a mercenary trained him to not be intimidated.

"My apologies," Kanyx said to the feline as he calmly stood up, "I have urgent business to attend to immediately."

The cat nodded, "Consider my offer; if I don't hear from you in three days, I'll take it as a rejection." he replied, to which the wolf replied with a nod of his own.

"Let's go." Finnigan said, as he led Kanyx out of the saloon. "Follow closely."

"So, who're you, anyway?" Kanyx asked as they made their way down an obscure alleyway, away from the main streets of the town.

And suddenly, he found his face being pressed into a wall, a hand behind his head and his arms held in a firm lock.

"What the…!?" exclaimed Kanyx, as he tried to break free from the hold by struggling.

"I am the Ultimate Mercenary." Finnigan replied simply, as he kept the wolf firmly in place; against the brick wall.

Hearing this, the dark grey wolf chuckled darkly, "Heh, getting rid of competition, eh?" came the retort.

"You obviously don't understand the situation you're in, lupine." growled Finnigan.

The wolf scoffed, "Looks like you weren't lying when you said someone in that saloon wanted my head, however…"

"You're the one who doesn't know exactly who they're messin' with!" Kanyx roared, as he suddenly moved his footwork, driving his right foot into one of Finnigan's ankles violently, effectively breaking his balance and giving him the opportunity to break free from the jackal's clutches.

Finnigan cried out at the unexpected move - bearing the pain in his right ankle - as he swiftly drew out his red scimitar. His enemy also drew out a revolver and cocked it.

As expected, it wouldn't be an easy task to take down the wolf; not to mention a mercenary with more experience than he does.

But in terms of skill and instinct? The time has come to battle it out.

BANG!

Finnigan dived to the side as he dodged the bullet too fast for his eyes to catch in the dark night. He was in a clear disadvantage; with no protection other than wood from boxes laid around and brick walls of buildings, the gun wielded by the wolf was the biggest threat to him.

Also, wood isn't exactly a bulletproof material.

Making a quick decision, he decided that his weapon of choice was practically useless in this situation. Thinking on his feet, he sprinted to the closest portable object he could throw - a glass bottle - as another loud bang broke the silence of the night.

The loud gunfire would surely catch the attention of some townsfolk, for sure.

Grabbing the bottle on the box, he threw it in the general direction of Kanyx, hoping that at least the shatters of the glass would get the wolf in some way.

BANG!

A sharp pain on his left arm. The bullet had grazed against his fur and cut open a small wound. It wouldn't bother him too much. Gritting his teeth, he left the scene, deciding on another plan of action.

"Don't run, you coward!" taunted the wolf, as Finnigan made his way around the building, attempting to find a way to sneak up on his target.

And as expected, the wolf had ran after him, wanting to end the jackal's life.

Like he did to his parents.

Finnigan hid around a corner of a building and began to count in his head. A swift movement caught his eyes and he slammed his right fist with all his strength at where he estimated his pursuer's face would be.

CRACK!

A loud cry was heard; Finnigan had broken the other mercenary's snout. Knowing the result of his actions caused him to smirk wickedly.

Taking advantage of the surprise, the jackal delivered a series of quick punches, not giving the wolf any opportunities to stand back up; kicking away the wolf's revolver to a great distance away in the process. However, despite his efforts, Kanyx continued to thrash; his tolerance of pain way higher than the average being thanks to his years of being a mercenary.

Suddenly, his eyes caught onto a very familiar object that the lupine was now holding in his right hand.

A sharp, twisting pain shot through the right side of his face as he felt his skin being sliced open by his very own blade.

"FUCK!" Finnigan cursed out loud as he held onto his bleeding face with his right hand, flinching back from Kanyx. Blinking a few times, he tried to open up his eyes. By some miracle, his vision went unscathed.

"It's not gonna be easy to take me down, jackal!" declared the wolf, growling, as he stood up from the ground.

The damage done by Finnigan was obvious; the wolf's face was heavily bruised, and some punches the jackal delivered was so harsh that it managed to cut flesh.

He needed to find that gun before the other could.

Dashing quickly, he gritted his teeth as he beared with the stinging of his wound, and his eyes caught onto the shine caused by the reflection of light on steel.

There it was!

With audible footsteps that are close behind him, he didn't have much time before he gets brutally stabbed by his own scimitar. The jackal dived right for the gun.

BANG!

The footsteps stopped.

The sound of a body hitting dirt ground reached the jackal's ears, and metal also rang as the blade once held in the wolf's grip was let loose. A closer inspection of the other mercenary's body revealed that the bullet had shot right through the wolf's head - right between the eyes.

He done it. He felt relief rush through his whole body, and the tension in his muscles disappear into nothing.

But Finnigan still felt inner turmoil. Was it because he lived through the fight and emerged victorious? Was it because of the promised monetary reward of eight hundred mobiums?

Was it because he had finally avenged his parent's death?

He sighed. He had no idea.

Picking up his blade and holstering the revolver, he decided to make haste to leave the scene before anyone came to investigate. But before that, he sliced off a finger of his target's corpse and wrapped it around what used to be the dark grey wolf's neckerchief. He kept it for later.

With a shaky hand from exhaustion, he touched the open wound on the right side of his face. 'It would surely form a scar', he thought as he muttered a silent curse.

Even after death, Kanyx the Wolf still managed to leave his mark in the jackal's life.

Still, it was time to bury the body.

"I am not weak…" muttered Finnigan as he began to move the body somewhere far away from the town.

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