Now, this chapter is where things start to get serious. It's the fourth to last chapter. Enjoy. The climax is here.
Disclaimer: I don't own any Sonic characters but Galeon.
Central City…
It's 7:00 o'clock in the morning. Most people are just waking up. The sun has just begun to rise. It is a peaceful morning without a dark cloud in the sky. The only thing visible was the flow of traffic of many employees on their way to work. The streets of Central City are quiet as usual but not for long.
Wave drove the getaway vehicle, a large, white SUV. It was the one with the three rows of seats. Jet sat in the front with Wave, Knuckles and Rouge occupied the second row, and Storm and Galeon were at the back. Galeon and Storm were preparing the arms and tools for use. Knuckles and Rouge made sure that the duffle bags they were going to use were strong enough to hold the money. Jet was at the front just talking to Wave. Jet and Galeon wore Bluetooth headsets, which was the way they would stay in contact with each other. They were all wearing blue robbery jumpsuits, which were similar to the orange jumpsuits that convicts wear. How fitting!
Wave parked the SUV across the street from the bank. There were only a few cars out that really weren't paying attention to them. Still, they took shelter in an alley. Wave went to park the SUV in a park where she could watch the bank and react with swiftness. Knuckles, Rouge, Storm, Jet, and Galeon were all still in the alley.
"Okay, Galeon. You know what to do," said Knuckles.
"Right!" Galeon replied. Galeon crossed the street alone. Then, he went behind the bank, where he pulled out a grappling hook. He threw the hook up to the roof and pulled himself up. Once on the roof, he swiftly looked around for the power box that controlled the flow of power to the entire system. He found it conveniently located on the north side of the bank. He opened the box and used some wire cutters to cut the wires in the order that Wave had told him to. The computers, alarms, and security cameras all went offline. Once he was done, he waved at the others, which signaled that it was time to move.
They all ran across the street. Each one was wearing a clear mask that made the face unidentifiable and wielding a small weapon. Knuckles had a SMG, Rouge had two .45 pistols, Storm had a shotgun, and Jet carried a chrome revolver. They opened the door and ran inside. Rouge pulled out a can of mace and sprayed a security guard in the eyes. The security guard screamed as tears ran from his eyes. Knuckles delivered a devastating blow to the guard's head, which knocked him out cold. Another security guard heard the scream and ran over to where the scream came from. He rounded the corner that led to the exit and collided with Knuckles' SMG. Knuckles slapped the second guard upside his head with the SMG. The resulting impact knocked the guard out. After both guards were down for the count, Jet and Storm tied them up and placed them in a corner.
After they were taken care of, Knuckles led the crew into the main corridor of the bank. He let off a few warning shots in the air, which were accompanied by screams and panic.
"Alright, nobody move! Everybody get down on the floor! This is a bank robbery!" yelled Knuckles.
The people frightfully obliged. They shakily got onto the floor and put both hands on their heads. Storm came over and began to watch the people.
Rouge jumped onto one of the countertops and pointed her pistols at a clerk. The clerk began to cry.
"Please. I have a family," she said.
"Well, shut the hell up and give us the money so that you have no problems," scolded Rouge.
All the clerks opened their respective drawers and got onto the floor. Rouge jumped behind the counter and started collecting the money. Knuckles went over to where the money cart was located. He pulled the door off the cart and looked inside at a glorious sight. Inside the cart was over 300 thousand dollars in unmarked bills. Knuckles opened up a duffle bag and started cramming as much money as he could into the bag.
"Everybody, stay down," said Storm. Unbeknownst to Storm, there was a cop among the hostages. He slowly reached into his holster and armed himself with his pistol. Storm was still overlooking the cop laying there. Then, Storm turned to look at Jet, who was over by the vault trying to crack it. The cop raised the gun at Storm. Then, he heard a click. He looked out the corner of his eye and saw Rouge holding him at gunpoint. The clicking noise was Rouge cocking her gun. The cop cursed to himself and laid the gun on the marble floor. He was caught. Rouge picked it up and walked over to Storm.
"Are you watching these people or what? You were almost a dead duck," said Rouge, showing him the confiscated weapon.
"Gee, thanks for saving my bacon, batgirl," said Storm.
Rouge scoffed. It was actually kind of irritating to be called batgirl. Knuckles was the only one that had ever been to get away with calling her that. "Just watch your back."
Jet picked up a guy in a blue suit that was crouched behind the manager's desk. Obviously, he was the manager.
"Give us the key code for the vault," demanded Jet.
"Okay, but there's a time lock on that safe," said the manager.
"Hell, I can get us past the time lock. All we need is your key code," said Jet.
"Hey, Jet, I don't know how, but several federal vehicles are pulling up outside the bank. The logo says G.U.N. They know that we're here. Take what you need and let's go now," said Galeon over the headset.
"Damn, we've been compromised," said Jet. He pointed the revolver at the manager. "Give us the code now!"
"Damn the code," said Knuckles. He walked over to the vault and grabbed the handle. He began to pull and pull until he actually tore the metal vault off the wall with his bare hands.
"That works too," said Jet. He got on his headset again. "Galeon, get to Wave. Tell her that she's going to have to find a new place to pick us up."
"I'm on my way," Galeon replied. He used his knowledge of stealth to get down from the roof and sneak around to Wave without being seen. Wave opened the door to let him in.
"I saw the federal vehicles pull up. Now, what do I do?" asked Wave.
Galeon shrugged. "You'll have to think of something. We're not leaving them here."
Back at the bank, Jet, Knuckles, and Rouge were collecting some dividends. This vault was the jackpot. There was money on money on money on money on money on top of more money. After about two minutes of collecting, they knew that they had enough. Jet still continued collecting loot for personal gain.
"Yes. Now, I can get my daughter back," said Knuckles.
"Freeze!"
Knuckles and Rouge turned around and saw four G.U.N. agents standing behind them with weapons aimed right at them. Knuckles and Rouge both turned around and pointed their weapons right back at them.
"Knuckles, Rouge, this doesn't have to be this way," said a male agent, probably an officer.
"Yes, it does," said Knuckles, snatching off his mask.
"Knuckles, I don't know why you started robbing banks, but I can help you. All you have to do is drop the gun and surrender," said the agent.
"If I surrender, my plight will turn into a tragedy," said Knuckles.
"G.U.N. will take care of you, Knuckles. All you need to do is drop your weapons," said the officer.
"Not a chance," said Knuckles.
The agent looked at Knuckles, who just stared at him with the same content expression that he had on his face since he saw the agents behind him. Then, he turned to Rouge.
"Rouge?" he asked.
Rouge didn't say a word or move. She merely stayed aiming at her former co-workers.
"Very well. G.U.N. agents, you have my order to apprehend wanted suspects, Knuckles the Echidna and Rouge the Bat. Suspects are armed and dangerous. Be careful. They appear to have friends," said the G.U.N. officer.
Knuckles, Rouge, Storm, and Jet all prepared for a showdown with G.U.N. Suddenly, a car burst through the building. It was coming directly into the spot where they were about to have the showdown. All the G.U.N. agents scattered, trying not to get splattered. The quartet of bank robbers also moved back. Then, they all got a look at the vehicle. It was a white SUV, and Wave was driving it.
"Need a lift?" she asked with a wink and a thumb's up. Galeon was sitting in the back.
All of a sudden, gunshots could be heard. G.U.N. had taken an offensive. They all took cover behind the truck as bullets flew across the air. The SUV was taking a beating.
"Hurry up!" yelled Wave.
Knuckles peeped his head around the front side of the SUV and returned fire. All four of them took cover. Rouge and Jet were quickly loading up their duffle bags into the SUV. Then, they both hopped in.
"Come on, Knuckles and Storm!" yelled Rouge.
One guy leaned around the corner with a police carbine rifle. Before he could fire, Storm let off a shot. The shell hit the guy in the leg, taking the whole leg off. The man grunted in pain as his leg flew across the room.
"Storm, that's enough. Let's go," said Jet.
"Right away, Boss," said Storm. He hopped into the back with Galeon.
Knuckles was the last one to get in. Once he touched the seat, Wave threw the car in reverse and started moving. She headed back out through the entrance she had made. She was met by G.U.N. agents that were trying to turn the SUV into cheese. Wave drove in reverse through the G.U.N. barricade and continued backing down the sidewalk. Knuckles leaned out the window and returned fire with his SMG. He got lucky as one of his bullets hit a G.U.N. vehicle's gas tank, which caused an explosion. G.U.N. was temporarily immobilized. Wave did a 180 degree spin to turn forward into the street and oncoming traffic. After she faced front, she put the SUV in drive. More G.U.N. vehicles and even some Central City squad cars continued to pursue them. Jet and Rouge leaned out their respective windows and shot back at them while Storm used the back window. Galeon didn't have a gun; so he wasn't able to help. He simply kept his head down. Meanwhile, Wave was trying her best to shake them off. She swerved through traffic like it was her job, but there were many cars behind them and they were quickly closing in. Wave looked up ahead and saw spikes in the road. She was trapped. She couldn't turn back, and there were no alley ways around here. Wave did her only option at the moment. She drove up onto the sidewalk.
POP!!
That was the sound heard as the spikes collided with their back left tire. Wave, refusing to quit continued to drive on three wheels.
"This is not going to work. We have to escape them all at once," said Rouge.
"Any ideas?" asked Galeon.
"We have our extreme gear back here; so all we need is a place where cars can't be used, but extreme gear can," said Jet.
"I think I know a place," said Wave. She drove on three wheels for another two blocks.
"I'm out of ammo," said Knuckles
"That was my last shell," said Storm.
"Well, don't fret. We're here," said Wave. "Everyone buckle up. This could get tricky." Wave did another 180 degree turn and backed her way onto the sidewalk. People got out of the way as Wave ran through an outside diner. She even managed to hit a hotdog cart. Luckily, the vendor jumped out of the way. She saw the subway station up ahead and aimed for it. She backed the SUV down the stairs to the subway until it got stuck.
"Everyone, get out through the back window," said Wave.
Everyone obliged and grabbed their things. Within thirty seconds, they were all out.
"What kind of plan is this? We're stuck down here," said Storm.
"But they can't get in either because the SUV is blocking the entrance," said Galeon.
"I have to admit that that was a nice move, bird lady," said Rouge.
"Thanks, batgirl," said Wave.
Then, the Babylon Rogues all pulled out their extreme gear and took off down the subway path.
"See you around," said Jet.
"The later, the better," added Wave.
Knuckles and Rouge took off the other way, being wary of the third rail. They carried a total of three heavy duffle bags, one held all the money they had acquired before they came to Central City. Jet took the other one as their cut. Knuckles carried two, and Rouge carried the other one.
A subway seemed to be coming. They decided to use it to hitch a ride out of the tunnels and away from G.U.N. Knuckles climbed to the ceiling, and Rouge flew up there. When the subway was under them, they jumped on top of it, where they remained. They both sat on the edge of the subway train. It sped through Central City with the quickness. After about three stops, they decided to jump off. When they surfaced, they were on the outskirts of Central City, miles away from where they faced G.U.N.
"So what now?" asked Rouge.
"Now, we call Magic," said Knuckles.
Word had gotten back to the commander that Knuckles and Rouge had escaped.
"Damn it," said the commander. "How could they get away? They had help? You had a small army!! Tell all agents to spread out and cover all exits from the city. They don't leave this city."
Shadow was standing in the room with his eyes closed as the commander walked by him.
"We've got them this time, Shadow. I'm counting on you to bring them in," said the commander.
"I'll do the right thing," said Shadow.
What an action packed chapter right? Well, that's that chapter. Only three more now. Please R & R as the conclusion to the story is made. What will happen? Only I know the answer to that. No spoilers. That'll ruin the story.
ICY KNUCKLES