Tails looked up from his plate of Chicken Parmesan, served with a glass of red wine, out the barn's window. Fields and fields of marajuana were being mowed by a squadron of robots. They would be collected and turned into the barn, where a separate machine would roll them into cigars. The quality was higher than Cuba.
Officially speaking, this farm had burnt down several weeks ago. All robots destroyed, all plant life eliminated, and anything of value totally gone. Atleast, that's what the media reported and what all the official government documents said. Behind the scenes, Tail's and his gang had negotiated with corrupt government officials and "journalists". Everyone bought the baloney, and they were amazed when a small group of high schoolers tried to buy the presumed useless land. Seeking to recuperate as much as possible as soon as possible, no one asked any questions. Just as Tails Planned.
Beneath the barn, in a trap-door that a tracker was parked over when not in use, the gang had built a massive underground lab. There, Tails had created a new strand of Pot using GMOs and biochemical engineering. It was an affront against nature, but that didn't bother Tails anymore. He only felt pride at his creation, which he named Foxweed. It was more addictive than any other strand ever found by human or hedgehog kind, and that was saying a lot. It also grew like, well, a weed. Using this strand, they were making a killing. They had financial and dope independence, and had stopped buying from Scourage.
As he swished his wine around, he thought about the future. It was golden. They were in the black and their profits showed no signs of slowing. Tails was sure they were headed straight to the top. We're set. Tails thought. Nothing can stop us now. We'll have it all.
That's why he was so shocked when his wine glass exploded.
Shards of glass went everywhere. The shrapnel pelted Tail's face and his food. A small cut formed over his left eye, which bled so much he was basically half blind. A hand grabbed his shoulder and whipped him across the room. Through his foggy vision, Tails was able to identify his assailant. Scourge.
"Wha-wha-" Tails began to mumble feebly, only to be prevented by a swift kick in the jaw. He whimpered.
Armed guards tossed the rest of the gang into the room. Wilhelm, Dwight and Anthony were all bound by zip ties. Fiona had her hands free. All of them looked equally beat up. Seeing Fiona like that put a little fire in Tail's heart, but his lips remained sealed tighter than fort Knocks.
Scourage's face was a mask of rage. One of his fists was balled up around a rusty knuckle duster, the other held a Winchester Model 97 Shotgun.
"When you and your pathetic group stopped buying from me," Scourge angrily shouted, "I figured you'd come to your senses after a few days. I figured you be smart."
Scourge slammed the stock of his shotgun onto Tail's chest.
"Then, some of my direct clients stopped buying too. So I did a little investigation." Scourage said. "I didn't even need to crack anyone's bones to find out about this."
Scourge gestured around with his arms. Then he smirked. "I did anyways though."
Scourge began to pace around the room, taking in every inch. Tails could vaguely hear the creak of the wooden boards as he took the steps. He was in another world, one full of pain. Through his red-shaded vision, Vlad spied Scorage stopping by the window, pausing at the expensive coffee maker they had bought.
"Well well well, what do we have here?" Scourge snickered. "A Baun Multiserve? That must have cost a pretty penny. I couldn't afford one until two years after I started my outfit."
Scourge began to make himself a cup of joe. He took out a flask to add something to it. Tails assumed it was alcohol. It wasn't.
"Of course, now I use a Rancilio Silvia. It makes better espresso." Scourge made his way back to the place on the floor where Tails was lying like a bag of trash. "You've really made something for yourself here. It's impressive, Vladimir. We might even do business, if you set this up anywhere else."
Scourge poured the glass of coffee all over Tails. He screamed as his flesh was burnt. He rolled, trying to get to safety. When Scourage pushed his boot onto his throat, he realized there was none.
"NO ONE, Deals in my territory without my explicit say-so." Scourge said, and pressed down harder. Tails grasped for air. "The last person who tried bought a whole ass limo with all the dope they moved. We crucified him too it as a lesson. That's what greed gets ya."
"Scourgie, please-" Fiona cried, before she was cut off by her boyfriend flinging the now empty coffee mug at her.
"SHUT UP WRENCH!" he shouted. Fiona began to cry. Tails wanted to comfort her, but he couldn't even find the strength to get up on his own two feet.
"Now, I'm not ordinarily a forgiving man." Scourge began. "Nine times outta ten I'd have already dissolved you in acid and watered you fields with it."
He then pointed behind his back in a thumbs-up like motion toward Fiona.
"However, my girlfriend's a part of your little gaggle, so I thought I'd be generous, and I'd give ya deal." Scourge swaggered. "You work for me now. I'm taking 85% of this plantation's profits starting Yesterday. I expect this money delivered to me every week on Tuesday night."
That's my money goddamnit! Tails fumed. He built this place from the ground up, and this man wanted to take it all from him. Internally, he was raging.
"What if we don't take your deal?" Tails managed to spit out. He heard one of his gang members gasp audibly, but he didn't know which. Nor did he really care.
"Don't take the deal?" Scourge wheezed. He began to laugh furiously. He vigorously slapped his knees like he was watching Dennis Miller tell jokes. It was like this was the funniest thing he had heard in his entire life. Finally, he calmed down. Scourge pulled out his Chicom Type 54 Pistol. "Then I put a bullet in your fucking head."
Tails realized there was no walking out of this one, no room for negotiation. Scourge had him beat. For now.
"Fine." Tails muttered. "Take it. Just go."
"I'm glad you came to your senses." Scourge gave a toothy grin. Even with his limited eyesight, Tails could see that three of his teeth were golden.
"Let's Roll out!" Scourge shouted. His goons began to shuffle out of the room. Scourge bent down to Tails and began to whisper in his ear.
"Remember: Tuesday." Scourge taunted. "Eighty-Five Percent. Cash."
He gave Tails one last kick in the side, and then left the room. As soon as the green mobster slammed the door behind. Fiona rushed over and began to apply First Aid to him.
"We…we should have expected this." Tails muttered between breathes. Each time his lungs filled with air, a pine shot through his spine. But a fury filled his heart. A rage at his current state, at his foolishness, at their lack of preparedness. But most of all, he was raging toward Scourage.
"Are you o…okay?" Tails forced out as he staired at Fiona's cyan blue eyes, one of which was swollen. She chuckled a little.
"Me?" She giggled. "I'm fine… mostly. I'm not the one with burns all over my body."
Once she was done fixing Tails up, Fiona went over to grab some scissors and unbind the other criminals. While she was doing that, Tails poured everyone a glass of wine.
"After this whole ordeal," Tails said, "we all deserve a pint or two."
The group sat down and began to discuss the situation. Tails went to get a trash bag from the other room to dispose of the sadly ruined Chicken Parmesan. When he came back, a shouting match was already in motion.
"If it wasn't for your PSYCHO BOYFRIEND," Anthony yelled at the top of his lungs, "WE WOULDN"T BE IN THIS FUCKING MESS!"
"FUCK YOU!" Fiona shouted back. Dwight was crying like a baby with a long soiled diaper, and Wilhelm had a thousand yard stair like a Vietnam veteran. Anthony pull-volted over the table and began to tackle Fiona. Vladimir had to intervene to break them up.
"What the Hell is wrong with you?" Tails shouted in the Tiger's face. "All of you! We need to remain united! I thought y'all were hardened criminals?"
"We ain't ever been licked like that before." Dwight said as the sobs subsided.
"Yeah, normally most of the guys we beat up are total wimps." explained Anthony. "Uh, no offense."
Tails rolled his eyes. This wasn't the time to feel insulted.
"There's a reason we've never messed with anyone like them before." Wilhelm suppetered like a Gatling Gun firing bullets. "This is just Great, GREAT! We got our asses kicked, and now we're going to be losing 85%!"
Tails looked him dead in the eyes. "We're not paying 85%."
The room fell dead silent. Fiona was the one who broke it.
"Are you FUCKING CRAZY?" Her eyes were balls of concern. "If we don't pay up, we're all dead!"
"We will pay up." Tails explained. "Just not the full 85%."
Looks of confusion were exchanged around the dinner table. All 3 pairs of eyes were dead set on tails, like Lee Harvey Oswald's scope on JFK. Vladimir gulped.
"There is no way in Hell Scourge has a clear idea of how much we make." Tails explained. "At best, he knows how much he's lost because of us. He won't have an accountant or anyone be looking over our finances, so 85% is whatever we tell him. To be safe, we'll give him roughly 70%."
Fiona's face was a painting of worry. It was in a gallery too, because the feeling was shared amongst the group.
"It's a sound plan." Anthony spoke first. "But do you really wanna fuck with Scourge? Do you really wanna take that chance?"
"Besides," said Dwight, "Scourge is gonna catch on eventually. He's not smart, but he ain't stupid either."
"Scourge won't have time to catch on." Vladimir said. "We do this for 1 week, maybe 2. No more than 3. This must remain a temporary affair."
"Tah." growled Anthony. "Scourage isn't just gonna let you leave. He made that crystal clear today. If you walk out on him, you're never walking again."
"He won't have the chance." Tails said. "Scourge is a mad dog. He needs to be put down before he lashes out again."
"What, are you saying we hire a hitman or something?" asked Wilhelm.
"No." Tails replied solemnly. "They could just take the money and run straight to Scourge and spill the beans. We need to do this ourselves."
Murmurs of both fear and approval were sprinkled throughout the group. Tails looked to Fiona.
"What's your take on this?" he asked. "Since you two are, well… together.'
Fiona paused for a moment. Tails could tell that their whole relationship was flashing before her eyes. Finally, she spoke.
"Kill the bastard."
Tails grinned.
Arthur's note:
Yeah about working on this during the summer…. Sorry. I'm going to try to come back to this story, but no promises. We both know I'm unreliable on those.
End of Arthur's note.