Well, I'm back, and after two weeks, I'm ripe with twists. However, I have some bad news. I have no idea how often I'll be updating now that school will be starting up again. And then there's the sequel! Oh, boy!

Renegade

Chapter 10: Revelation

"So this is your big plan?" I asked skeptically. We were back at the police station on Thursday afternoon. Johnson was again in the room with us. "This is what you were all excited about?" I held up a pair of sunglasses Miles had just handed me. They looked amazingly…ordinary.

"Well, that's part of it. My plan is to go into the Calizar and stake it out tomorrow, get a sense of the layout. Then on Sa-"

"Hold on. We're just going to walk into a club?" Miles nodded. "That's a front for a sex slave operation?" He nodded again. "Do you have any idea what we're going to see in there?" I yelled incredulously.

"Nothing. That's what those are for."

"Sunglasses?"

"Oh, yeah. I spent many precious hours making sunglasses. You got me" he said sarcastically. "Why don't you put them on? And if everyone would please be silent, you'll see how they work."

I slipped on the sunglasses. It was weird. For the first few seconds, I saw a dark green background with silhouettes of Miles and Johnson in a slightly brighter green, but then the image faded away. A few seconds of awkward silence passed. "Okay, so what am I sup-whoa!" The image came back, slightly brighter than before, and it shot up in brightness a second after my exclamation. I understood what I was seeing now. "Hello." The image came back. "HELLO." The image brightened. "HELLO! MY NAME IS INIGO MONTOYA! YOU KILLED MY FATHER! PREPARE TO DIE!" The image approached yellow during my rant.

"What the hell are you yelling for?" asked Johnson, clearly annoyed.

"They're echolocation glasses. The louder the sound, the more prominent the image" Miles answered him. Then he turned to me. "And unless you want to burn an image into your eyes, I suggest you don't yell." I took off the glasses and handed them back to Miles. "Anyway, John and I will go in wearing these and scout the area tomorrow. Then on Saturday, we can bring the hammer down."

"'The hammer'?" asked Johnson.

"I was thinking we could use a police raid as a diversion as I go in and pick up Cassie."

"Well, Miles, I wish it were that easy. However, we need to have a search warrant to go in there, and we can't get one without probable cause."

Miles looked at him menacingly. "Are you really trying to tell me that you wouldn't be able to get a warrant to search a known front for a sex slave op?"

Johnson stared right back, not intimidated by the under-five-foot fox in front of him. "That is exactly what I'm saying."

"Well, then, you can just count me out. We're done." He walked out of the station as we watched him, dumbfounded.

Johnson broke the silence. "Wait. What just happened?"

I sighed. "I'll go get him." I jogged out after Miles, calling his name.

He turned around, stopping in the crowded sidewalk. "What?" I could hear the rage in his voice.

"So this is how it's going to be? You're just going to abandon Cassie, just like that?"

"Hell no. But I'm not going to work with Johnson, that's for sure."

"Why not?" I asked. I could see something had really ticked Miles off.

"Do you really expect me to believe that he can't get a warrant into the Calizar? I don't think so! He wants me dead, John! And he's been working with Snell this entire time!"

I smiled. "Miles, I think you're overreacting."

"Oh, really? Then why is Johnson on the phone with him right now!" he yelled.

"Wait, what? What is he saying?"

"I don't know! I've got someone distracting me!" Miles was breathing hard. He was about to flip his lid. "Whatever. We'll just scout the area tomorrow and figure out a plan after that."

As he finished, my phone started ringing. It was an unknown number. I picked up. Before I could say anything, a gravelly voice spoke. "My old friend John Coleman. How have you been these past five years?"

I was speechless. I knew this voice. I knew it like I knew the cemetery my family dragged me to every year. "Siphon?" Miles had been listening intently to my conversation. Now he looked confused.

"I'm glad to see you remember me, John. However, I dropped the alias after you got too close." He laughed. "You thought the trail went cold. You blamed yourself for your failure. You even tried to take your own life. That gave me immense pleasure, by the way. I thoroughly enjoyed it. And do you know why? Because you were literally steps away from finding me. Would you like to know my real name, Coleman? It just so happens to be Richard. Richard Snell." I froze. It couldn't be. It wasn't fair! How could I be so stupid! I did the only thing that I could to ease the pain. I cursed. It didn't help. "Oh, John. What I wouldn't give to see your face right now. Unfortunately, your friend would make that rather difficult. Which reminds me of my initial reason for calling. Miles, I know you can hear me, and boy do I have some news for you! I just thought I'd let you know that I'm staying at the Station Square Maximum Security Penitentiary. Frankly, it makes no difference seeing as I have every cop and official that matters paid off. You'd be surprised the kind of profit my business turns. Anyway, I've been given full control of the prison facilities thanks to Paul Johnson. He just told me that you were going to try to save Cassie on your own. That's why I'm having her moved here. Well, actually, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to break Johnson, either. We agreed that no one would lay a hand on her, and she would be returned safely to him once you were dead, though I'm almost sure my men have already broken that promise. I guess I'll just have to break it some more. Of course, had you died on that first day, I may have been able to make good on that promise. I think I'll leave you with that thought. And John, your sister says hello." With that, Snell went into a fit of laughing as he hung up the phone.

Ah, the old twistaroo. What does Snell, or Siphon, have to do with John and his sister? Wait, John has a sister? Anyway, we'll adress that next time, as well as Tails' role as a "hero". Can he really pull off a rescue from a prison loaded with thugs, crooked cops, and...well, that detail can wait. Until next time, whenever it may be, God bless us, every one!