((I dearly wanted this updated, and since so very many people have been kind enough to review and fave my stories and me, I'm doing what I've so long tarried.))

Sonic: W00t! I like this fic.

Shadow: soo happy for you. ::sips energy drink::

Sn: hey, where'd you get that?? I want one!!

Sh: like you need it.

Knux: ::takes the drink from Shady:: I need it more than either of you. Tarsa keeps me up all night. ::guzzles::

Sh: someone's losing their stamina, methinks… ::ducks flying fist::

A: children, please. You'lll all get your own individual cans of Rockstar in your flavors of choice should I finish this chappy and two others in my other fics. Now, hop to it!

Tails: aye aye, cap'n!

()()()( No ownies the Sonicshtuff. I do own ::deep breath:: KarpaTarsaMoraeLilNikkiKaiPoeAkaTheFairchildFamilyTheBossTheDeitiesandItchaelandanyoneelseiforgot.)()()()

Chapter 19- The Tragedy

The surviving members of the Unholy Trinity and Espio were back on the road again. Espio had marked, with half an eye, the progression of Rouge's drama with the ferret kit, and had left well enough alone without being recognized. The last thing he needed in the midst of all this was to get tangled up in her problems again. Let the runt get what was coming to her; Rouge was usually in the right set of mind about that sort of thing anyway. That's what he told himself in order to forget the whole ordeal. He had watched with mild amusement and a tinge of pity as Rouge carried the poor kit from the diner by the scruff of her neck, holding the bulging backpack in her other tightly clenched fist.

He didn't mention to his two traveling companions his relationship to the bat- didn't want to distract. Right now, they had a basic outline of their current enemy, and were on careful watch. The boss liked his "employees" to travel in style, so thusly they expected a rather expensive vehicle to be pursuing them, should they happen to see one following too close for comfort. They had pooled all their available weaponry in the back seat, marking ammo needed for each gun.

"So… we just keep going?" Poe asked as she drove her shift, watching the yellow lines standing out in the pool of light from the headlights.

"No." Kai folded her arms, looking out the passenger window as she sat shotgun. "He'll keep chasing us. We've got to bring it to him."

Espio started from his busy chore of carefully cleaning a handgun. "What??"

"You 'eard me."

Poe frowned at the road, beak ajar with disbelief. "Girl, you're trippin'."

"On the contrary, I think we have better odds against him in the open than being cornered in a month… or a week… when we've run out of options and he has us like snakes in a bloody barrel."

"And you're so sure about that?" Espio leaned forward, poking his head between the seats and giving her a skeptical look. She ignored him, determined gaze set on the yellow lines. He looked to Poe, finding her deep in thought.

"Poe?"

"Hate to admit it, but she's right. We need to make some different plans. And I need to call in a favor."

-0-

Things weren't going swimmingly for Nack the weasel. He was short a niece, and therefore wasting precious thieving time looking for her. He had just shut off his phone, not wanting to hear from his sister again like that morning. He had exhausted his resources in both the lost children's foundation and the less savory people he happened to know in the slavery business. Hey, these things happen, especially to runaway kids. That little brat was lucky he had friends in low places. She was now "off limits" to any collector that happened to find her, thanks to good ol' uncle Nack.

He munched on a burger he managed to snatch from an unsuspecting teenager, sipping on a coffee he nabbed from some middle-aged woman leaving a Starbucks. Hey, this was a relatively big city, and cops had better things to do than look into stolen lunch items.

He just hoped the strange woman he'd met the night before had better things to do as well.

--0--

What an idiot.

I'd been tailing him for a full day now, with no luck in finding his connection with the Trinity. He was wary, no doubt, since we last met, and was probably trying to lose me in a goose chase. I questioned those… monstres he had spoken with, and found nothing. So, I did what anyone with half a conscience would do; I put a bullet in each of their skulls. Maybe it was more for personal satisfaction, but what would you do if you met a monsieur who knowingly and happily sold young children for godless purposes? And you happened to have a gun?

I thought so.

The stupide weasel apparently had a taste for free things. It disgusted me. And that "sandwich" he was eating had already had bites out of it from its original consumer. If I didn't find something soon, he'd be going down as well.

… even if he was petit attrayant…

-0-

The biggest insult to any self-respecting thief is to be robbed. Robbed by a simple-minded, freeloading little KID at that.

She had the good sense to stay quiet on the ride back home. I suppose she knew her welcome was up, at this point.

"You're going to come clean, now, Nikki. Is that even your real name?"

She nodded sullenly. I continued, not taking my eyes from the road.

"You're going to tell me who put you up to this. I know you're not acting alone, you can't have been. And if you don't tell me, I'm turning you in to child services."

She huffed. "I can break out of an orphanage in five minutes. Why not turn me in to the authorities? Send me off to Juvvie?"

Damn that kid. She was smarter than I would have liked.

"You know damn well why. Stop being a smartass." I thought frantically. I didn't want to have to lock her up. Too much work- feeding her and limiting bathroom breaks… and suppose someone came looking for her? I did not want to have to deal with more random people showing up at my "stronghold."

…

Then it hit me. It amazed me how I could have missed the connection this whole time. I grinned.

"Fine. You won't tell me, so I'll take a wild guess. It was Nack, wasn't it?"

She sat up a fraction straighter, but continued to glare out the windshield with her arms tightly crossed.

"You know, I almost shot him when you two broke in. I should have put a bullet in his skull. If I'd known you were in cahoots with him, I would have shot you too. You must have missed the big red signs posted around my property: 'TRESPASSERS WILL BE SHOT, SURVIVORS WILL BE SHOT AGAIN'."

She bit her lip and her brows furrowed slightly.

We came to a stop light, I slowed to a stop and looked at her.

"So… I suppose you're in a bit of a pickle, my friend. What do you intend to do about it?"

She fidgeted with her sleeve, licking her lips and glancing shiftily out the passenger window. I should have known right there what was about to happen.

"… I believe I'll take my leave." She said quickly, then in two swift movements, she unlocked the door and slipped out into the drizzling night. I swore loudly and almost got out myself, but the light had changed. Besides, she left her backpack. Who cares what happens to the little bitch now? Let her run back to Nack. Fat chance he'd get up enough gall to show his ugly face anywhere near my place again. I drove off, letting the wind close the passenger door, and patted the heavy bulge of the pink backpack lovingly.

-0-

It is dark in the land of the dead. The river Styx lulls its passenger to soft slumber, and one can hear the gentle lap of the nepenthe against the velvety black planks of the ferry.

There is no sky. There is only black ceiling dipping jagged stone spears. Everything is bitterly cold.

Cold but comforting. The kind nepenthe warms the chest, then the stomach as it slides down the throat.

And so she drinks. She drinks of the river Styx, and she has paid the ferryman, and so she slumbers against the hull… waiting to reach the other side.

-0-

She was so beautiful.

He thought this over and over, holding the long and beautiful knife, and leaning over her fretfully still form. The velvety black hands caressed her lovingly. She was already at peace. She could go softly. No harm done. He wanted to see her beautiful golden fur festooned with red running ribbons of her precious blood…

It was for the best.

And he wanted to obey Maria.

It was, after all, Maria holding her now. Maria had wings. Maria was so very beautiful. Maria loved him. Loved him more than this pitiful creature had ever loved him while she was alive. Oh… she's not dead yet. He was thinking ahead of himself. He slid the knife over her chest, then dipped it down her blouse. He sliced away the pink fabric, revealing those perfect breasts he had kissed and adored in another life. He kissed them again, reverently, and thought a silent prayer for her, positioning the knife at her sternum. This time, he would not falter to carry out his orders. This time, he would obtain what was his.

(((I have more, but I have to stop here, lest I get ahead of my own plot again. I may have ruined it, as well, by giving away the true climax too soon. Shame on Aeyvi, shame shame. Anyway, very pleased with this chappy. Review))