TheShamanMaster presents...
Tail's Predicament
Story & Script by TheShamanMaster
Sonic & Friends © SEGA & Sonic Team
Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic...And thanks to everyone who reviewed! Please keep it going! Here's Chapter 3.
Chapter 3: Shadow The Joker?
Arriving outside the agency, Sonic got out and immediatly heard some noise coming from inside the building.
"What are those guys upto in there?"
"Shall I wait here for you, Master Sonic?" Jeffrey asked.
Sonic shook his head. "Nope. That'll be all for now, but I might need a ride later."
"Certainly, sir." He pulled out a card with a number on it and handed it over to Sonic. "Call me when you need picking up. I'll be there momentarily. Good day, Master Sonic." Jeffrey got back in and drove off. Sonic looked on at The Chaotix Detective Agency and knocked on the front door.
"Hello, anyone there?" He called out. He knocked again, and then realised the door had been left slightly ajar.
Talk about being ace detectives. They can't even remember to lock the bloody door! He thought as he entered in, and closed it behind him.
"Hello? Anyone?" Sonic called out again.
"Nope, no one here but us mooses!" A deep, gruffily voice replied to him.
"Eh? This is some sort of a joke. Or somehow Vector's turned into a moose?"
"On the contrary. Vector's busy..."
Sonic looked around to see where the voice was coming from. He looked dead ahead down the corridor and noticed a small wallspeaker and intercom on the wall. He thought for a second and remembered where he had heard the voice before.
"Mighty? Is that you?" He questioned as he walked over to the intercom.
"No, it's Humphrey Bogart." The voice responded sarcastically. "Of course it's me! It's Sonic right?"
"The one and only. Wondering if ya could help me, I need to see Vector and the others. It's kinda important."
"Sorry." Mighty said. "I've been told that no one can see Vector. It's top secret."
"Surely you can tell me." Sonic said "What happened old pal? I ain't seen you for years. Surely, you could let an old friend in, for old times sake."
"Nope, I've been given strict instructions."
"Please. If ya help me, I'll make it up to ya, I promise. I'll chuck in fifty bucks in as well." He pleaded.
The armadillo tapped on the desk, before letting out a hefty sigh. "Fine, hedgehog. I'll let ya through. But don't blame me if Vector yells at ya! You didn't hear it from me. The things I do to earn a living..." He pressed a button to open the sercurity door Sonic was standing in front of and it opened. "Upstairs, last door on your right. It's where all the noise was coming from."
"Okay, cheers." Sonic walked upstairs to the first floor, and finally found the source of the noise. Opening the door, he found the Chaotix team playing instruments.
"What in the name of Chao is going on here!?" The hedgehog's jaw dropped at the loud, powerful instruments. Charmy Bee was on bass guitar, Vector on drums and Espio doing lead guitar.
"Oi, guys." Sonic shouted. They ignored him. He tapped his foot on the ground, and slammed the case he was carrying down. "OI! IDIOTS! CUT THAT RACKET OUT!" All three stopped playing to look up at their guest looking annoyed.
"Hey, it's Sonic!" Charmy exclaimed.
"Yeah, and what are you doing here?" Espio demanded
"Oh, don't tell me..." Vector picked up a small phone and Mighty answered at the other end. "Mighty! What did I tell you!? We were to have no interruptions and that NO ONE was meant to be allowed in today!"
"S-s-s-sorry." Mighty stuttered. "He said I'd get fifty bucks out of it. And he said it was important."
"Man, you're such a sucker." Vector placed the handset down, and glared up at Sonic with daggers.
"What!?" The hedgehog retorted. "He's gonna get the fifty...seriously..."
Espio began speaking. "So, what are you doing here? We're off duty today preparing to rock the world, and we can't do it with these interruptions!"
"Yeah!" Charmy squealed. "We're gonna be rockstars!
"Chill, chill." Sonic gestured. "I just wondering if you'd ever seen this guitar. I think it belongs to someone-"
"What are we, the lost and found department?" Vector cut him off.
"As I was saying. You guys are good at finding things aren't you? Take a look at it." He took it out of it's case, and placed it on the desk. The group began looking at it.
"Wow, that's neato!" said the hyperactive bee in amazement.
"Yeah." Espio scanned it over. "Quite a high quality design. Glossed finish. The strings are tuned greatly." He strummed a few chords on it. "It sounds like whoever made this knew what they were doing. No markings, signatures. No nothing. How did you find this?" He questioned with raised eyebrows.
"Someone left it in a hotel room, and it's seemed to have brought me good luck." Sonic responded and told the three about the experience he had earlier in the morning.
"Really? Then it might be the thing we need. Tell me, are you good at singing?" Vector asked.
Sonic wasn't sure where he was going with this. "Well, I've done a few Singstar sessions and I'm pretty good at that."
The Chaotix looked at one another and nodded before saying together: "You're hired!"
"For what?"
"To join our group!" Charmy cried with glee.
"You can't be serious!?" Sonic was confused at this point.
"On the contrary, we are dead serious." Espio added,
"But what about the guitar? What about everything that's happened?"
"Today must be your luc-ky-day-then!" Charmy said in a childish rhyme.
In Station Square, Amy and Tails had arrived and walked over to Twinkle Park. Today it was a special day. Any cute couples got in free, and if you experienced any sort of bad luck or experience, you'd be compensated in damages equal to what happened to you.
"What kind of a special deal is that?" Tails said out loud.
"Simple." replied the sercurity guard outside the entrance. "Since it's Friday the 13th, we decide to compensate our customers if things go wrong."
"Who believes in that nonsense?" The fox snorted
"Believe me." The guard chuckled. "You'd be very surprised at what kind of people actually become victims of that."
Tails scoffed and mumbled before walking with Amy. Amy was happy as she could ever be. "Tails?"
"Something wrong Ames?"
"No, nothing." She gripped his arm tightly. "I'm just glad you're here. Let's go go-karting first! It's something I've wanted to do for ages!" Tails nodded and smiled as they headed for the go-kart track. It was a new attraction at Twinkle Park, and had proven quite popular recently. It was a long track filled with fast, tight corners with long paths that seemed to twist and turn every three seconds. Both of them acquired the the appropiate gear; helmets, gloves etc to begin racing. As the light changed colours, Tails felt an adrenaline rush through his whole body, feeling prepared for anything. As the amber light turned green, Tails slammed the gas pedal as he began racing down the track. Keeping in mind he was in for a few laps, his concentration increased. Looking out the corner of his eye, Amy was carrying a steady position, leading in 2nd place. Tails, smirking to himself, decided to give her a challenge. On the last lap, he was catching up to Amy and the two were now neck and neck. On the final corner, Tails gripped the wheel with all his might as he drifted off the side. Not knowing there was an obstacle on the track, a sharp object took out his rear wheel as he crashed into the side, and fell out the side. The race came to a complete stop as several track members came to the wreckage and helped Tails up.
"Oh god...Ouch...my aching head...oooh..." Tails said dizzy as he struggled to his feet. A paramedic helped him up and addressed one of the racing officials.
"Let's get you sorted. Official, I want a complete run down of this place. Find out what caused this." The paramedic, named John carried Tails over to the benches where he looked him over. Amy, who had seen the whole thing, rushed over to his side.
"Tails, are you alive!? Please say you are!" She cried out.
"...urrrghhhh...ouch..." Was his only reply.
"Miss, Tails is going to be alright." said John as he bandaged Tails' head. "He's gotten a nasty graze across his head, but other then that he's fine." He gave him a glass of water with a tablet dissolved in it. "Here, drink this, you'll be better in no time."
"What is it?" The fox wondered looking at it.
"Just a little something. Go on."
"Beggers can't be choosers I suppose." Tails quickly gulped the stuff down. It tasted disgusting. "Yuck! Talk about bad luck..."
"Don't worry." John said packing his kit away. "Just don't do anything rough, and you'll be fine. Oh, and I'll speak with the manager. Remember, you're compensated on anything that happens to you. I think that's around 500 or so in damages done to you...See you later." John headed off in the other direction.
Amy gave Tails a hug to make him feel better. "What a break huh? I mean for this to happen..."
"Someone probably didn't clean the track right or fix the kart. I told you I don't believe in superstitious..." But the way things are going. He thought. I'm starting to think I'm having a rough day after all...
Around the back of the amusement park, the same shadowy figure had appeared with a bunch of thugs with odd-looking masks.
"Right. I want a complete lockdown. Seal off all the exits, and let the fireworks begin! Hahahahahahahaha!"
"Yes sir!" The thugs split up in different directions armed with C4 charges. "It's time this city got itself a makeover...a permanent one!" He growled. He disguised himself with a long black trenchcoat with the collar upturned and wide-brimmed hat. He walked along through the back door of the place, and blended in with the crowd.
Amy and Tails went along to the shooting range, thinking it would help them forget what had happened. A dog with a thick Australian accent was manning the stalls.
"G'day mates! Wanna try ya luck at the guns? It's a dollar a game! There's a winner everytime guranteed, or ya money back! You there, you look like a feisty one! How about it?"
"Who me?" Tails pointed at himself.
"Yeah, mate! How about it?" He noticed Amy standing next to him. "And since ya got a fine looking lady with ya, the first round's on me!" Both looked at one another with perplexed expressions before taking up a gun each. Tails picked up his rifle and aimed carefully. Shutting on eye, his sight was dead set on the target. He fired a round, and it missed the target completly.
"How the-?" Tails was surprised. "I'll give it another shot..." He reloaded his second pellet into the gun, and took aim. Firing again, this time the pellet hit behind the target.
"Oooh. Bad luck there, mate. You wanna give it a last shot?" The dog sniggered. "You might wanna telescope for this one!" Tails grumbled and took his last shot. Pulling the trigger, the final shot backfire and hit him in the stomach. He collasped to the ground in agony.
"Oh, lord! Could this get any worse?" He cried out. However Amy had managed to get each shot dead on. The dog fell back and burst into a roar of laughter.
"My, you are having some trouble ain't ya? Hahahahahahahahahahahaha! Good on ya!" The pink hedgehog picked up Tails, and rubbed him where it hurt.
"Tails, are you alright?"
"Yeah, I guess." He grumbled as he watched the dog continue to laugh.
"Oi, tree-face! When you stop laughing at my boyfriend, I'd like to teach you some manners." Amy said sternly.
"Oh yeah, whatcha gonna do girly?"
"This." She smirked reaching into her pocket. The dog wondered what she was going to do. In a flash, he slammed on the head with none other then Amy's Piko Piko Hammer. He fell to the ground seeing stars.
"Piko Piko Hammer." Amy chuckled. "Never leave home without it."
The dog stopped, rubbing his aching head and saw she being was completely serious. "Alright, mates. Since ya did alright, have this on me. It's a pair of tickets to the fanciest restaurant in town. The Zewkeller." He handed over an envelope to Amy. "Normally, I don't give out stuff like this, but since it is Friday the 13th, you could use some good luck...because you certainly ain't going very far with luck today!" He bursted out laughing yet again as the couple walked off not before being slammed on the head again. This was just not Tails' day at all. A few minutes of walking, and the two discovered the Tunnel of Love.
"I'm guessing you'll want to go in?" Tails asked softly.
"You bet. Besides, it''ll be relaxing. Then we can go eat." Amy answered sweetly. The two got in a swan-shaped boat, and started going down the small river.
Back at the Chaotix Agency, Sonic and the others were finally (after much arguement) decided who was going to do what in their band.
"If I sing and play guitar, what's Charmy going to do?" Sonic asked for the what seemed like the tenth time.
"Yeah, maybe Charmy can do turntable, keyboard or percussion..." Espio suggested,
"Do we look like Slipknot to you? There the only band that I know who use that stuff..." Vector came back.
"But still." Sonic continued. "We could experiment."
"With what?" The crocodile said. "We have to get out by late this afternoon! We're one of the acts for the Station Square 'Battle of the Bands' contest! The prize is 10000 and I'm not losing this chance to be rich!" Just then Mighty came through the door.
"Didn't you think of asking me?" Mighty said folding his arms in disgust. "I can play as well you know."
"Play what?" Charmy asked.
"I know how to use a turntable and a electronic soundboard. So, you got that problem sorted."
Espio sighed, wondering how long this was going to take. "Okay, how about this? Charmy can be rhythm guitar, while Sonic and I do lead and bass. That way in between riffs and solos, Mighty here can impress us all with his scratching..."
Vector looked at his partner in a jealous manner. "Better than my plan. Boys, let's get to work...Oh, what are we gonna be called?"
"The Chaotix?"
"No, too boring! We need something with some 'oomph' in it."
"How about 'Psychaotix'?" Charmy added.
"You just added 'Psy-' to it!" Sonic shouted
"Still." Espio smiled. "It rolls off the tongue nicely."
Vector, hearing this, slumped on the chair. "How did I get stuck working with you guys? Fine, we'll do it... after we have some coffee. It's almost eleven o'clock and I haven't had my caffeine intake today."
Sonic and Mighty exchanged looks. "Trust me, you don't wanna know."
The disguised stranger reached the centre of the park, which was the picnic area next to the entrance of several rides. He stood upon the tables, and pulled out a walkie.
"Boys, is everything set?" He spoke into it.
"Yes, boss!"
"Good, and here we go!" Removing his disguise, he pocketed the talkie and pulled out a remote detonator. Pressing the first button, an explosion began along the steel girders inside the building. There were cries and screams of anguish as the crowds of people ran in multiple directions hoping to get out. The henchment burst in from all directions firing off shotgun rounds.
"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen! We are today's entertainment! Now let the festivities begin!" Pressing a second button, another explosion went off in multiple rooms. The steel girders started to collapse as one area of the park came to the ground entirely. The sercurity staff began calling the police. Gathering up whatever men they could, the team along with paramedics started escorting people out the building as fast as they could. Moments later the SWAT team bursted in, and surrounded the stranger.
"Station Square SWAT! Freeze and drop your weapons! We will not hesitate to kill you!"
He began laughing. It began as a wheezey high-pitched laugh, then developed into a growling, dark, demonic laughter. "Ah yes. Kill me? I'm afraid you're out luck! I cannot be touched, I cannot even die! I have danced with the devil in the pale moonlight! My soul is now his to keep! I am that which cannot be killed by mortal power alone!" He jumped up, pulled out a deck of playing cards, and began chucking them at each SWAT member. Striking each one in the shins, blood leaked out of their wounds as they fell to the ground in agony. "Bwahahahahahaha! It's time to show not just this city, but the whole world what the Joker can do!"
Caught up in the middle of all this were Tails and Amy in the Tunnel of Love. They were halfway through the tunnel, when the ground below them began to shake. The shaking continued and Amy got scared.
"Was that an earthquake?" She asked.
"Seemed so." Tails replied. An explosion sound went off and the force of the shaking increased. The force almost tipped over the small rowing boat they were in, but they began paddling out to the other end of the tunnel. They jumped out the boat, and looked around to see the devastation around them. Parts of the area where completly ramsacked, and they could see what looked like thugs wearing balaclavas and clown masks waving machine guns around, keeping hostages together in crowds.
"Who could've done this?" Tails asked himself.
"Who you say?" Came a dark voice. "That would be me.."
Tails and Amy spun around to see standing on a wall was a tall figure. He was a hedgehog with black and crimson fur with a white tuff of fur and red irises. However, he was wearing a custom-made purple suit, with a waistcoat and tie. His face was covered in white makeup with black coated around his eyes like a panda. His smile is what freaked them out the most. He had red lips but scars stood out on either side of his mouth, making his smile more demented. Tails was stunned at who it was he recognised.
"Shadow? No! It can't be!"
"Shadow?" The figure laughed evily. " 'Shadow' no longer exists my friend. You can call me, The Joker! And BELIEVE ME! I'M A LOT HAPPIER! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!"
To be continued...
Whew! Long chapter here! I put in a lot here. Mighty the Armadillo isn't the only making a return, Scrooge the Hedgehog and Fiona the Fox will be making a short appearance in a few chapters. Anyway, please, please review! I'm begging you! There's cookies in it for you if you do! Plus chillidogs if Sonic is wanting to give up some.. Yes, and I'm really sorry poor Tails got wacked around, but that's bad luck for you! And if you didn't get the references:
Ladies and Gentleman and Here we go are from The Dark Knight.
Believe me, I'm a lot happier and dance with the devil in the pale moonlight are from The Batman (1989)
Another Disclaimer: The Joker is not mine and is property of the Batman film series and Warner Bros. and DC Comics! Please don't sue me!
Next time, Tails faces off against the Joker, but what has really happened to Shadow? Where do Sonic and the Chaotix do now? Knuckles finally makes his debut, but is he friend or foe? All this and next time in Chapter 4: Tails vs. The Joker