Chapter 41: Warnings
Location: Prime Minister's Residence
Fifteen minutes later…
Sitting in front of the vanity, Sally ran a brush through her dark auburn hair before finally turning in. It was much later than originally intended, with the Princess needing to preform some last-minute adjustments to her speech. She had been informed by the Prime Minister that Humanity First had reconsidered their previous position and would now be present at the National Assembly.
"Damn it," she cursed, having dropped her hairbrush.
Leaning over to retrieve it, she placed it onto the table and rose to her feet, intending to turn in. Heading over to the balcony, she prepared to draw the curtains when she saw Tarro standing outside. He wasn't alone, as the monkey-tailed youngster immediately dragged Geoffrey into view. He had been thoroughly tied up with a length of rope, and judging by the look on the benefactor's face he wasn't pleased about it.
"Oh, for crying out loud."
Opening the sliding glass door, the Skunk was promptly and unceremoniously shoved inside by the boy. Geoffrey was sent stumbling forward where he collided with the bed, clearly putting on an act.
"Keep your spy off my island," he muttered.
She looked down at the Secret Service Agent who had managed to get into a seated position on the floor. Looking back onto the balcony, the Princess discovered that Tarro had teleported away.
"Care to explain yourself?" she asked, sliding the door closed.
"Mind lending me a hand, Luv?" he requested, struggling to free himself.
"Answer my question, Agent St. John."
Geoffrey immediately ceased his struggling, knowing full well the type of trouble he had gotten himself in. Her overly formal addressing of him was a pretty good indication, and he turned his full attention to the Princess herself.
"I thought it prudent to investigate our mysterious benefactor for myself, given how you've kept me out of the loop."
"You weren't around, never mind the fact that I made it abundantly clear my intentions to update you on what I had learned."
Geoffrey was abruptly silenced by this, yet he continued to stare at the Princess with a defiant gaze. Eventually the Secret Agent spoke, interrupting several moments of uncomfortable silence.
"Well…? What was his reasoning behind helping us?" he demanded.
Having turned around, Sally now stared out the balcony doors at the streets beyond the gates of the mansion. They were mostly deserted at that hour, with the occasional vehicle passing by the gate.
"He's trying to push things to their natural conclusion."
"Pray tell, what would that conclusion be?" Geoffrey inquired.
"The defeat of Robotnik," Sally answered, "By getting the Terran Republic involved, he's trying to facilitate the downfall of the Eggman Empire."
The Skunk immediately fell silent, suddenly understanding the monkey-tailed boy's motivation. Possessing technology on par with Eggman, the United Federation had entered a stalemate with the Empire. Knowing Robotnik, he was probably concocting some convoluted scheme that very second, meant to overcome the United Federation.
"Alright," Geoffrey conceded, "But one other thing has me concerned."
"And what would that be?" she asked, glaring daggers at him.
"The Power Gem. He stole it from the Royal Vault."
"I'm well aware. Metal Sonic…, er Shard, stated as much to be true."
"That's property of the Kingdom of Acorn," he reminded.
"Technically the Power Gem belonged to Eggman, all you and the Secret Service did was recover it from Mount Mobius."
Geoffrey immediately glared at the Princess, not wanting to be reminded of his defunct team. Out of his six-man squad, two had been reprogrammed to assassinate the Royal Family, one had been roboticized, and the last had chosen to return to Tralius to rejoin the Downunda Freedom Fighters.
"You planning to arrest him? Because I'll remind you that we have no treaties currently with the Terran Republic."
She felt a twinge of guilt about wanting to see Geoffrey attempt to do so, knowing that it wouldn't go well.
"Someone like that has the potential to be extremely dangerous," warned the Government Agent.
"You're going to have to be more specific," Sally stated, not knowing if he was referring to Tarro or Shard.
"The boy! He was able to get into the Royal Vault undetected."
Sally refrained from reminding Geoffrey of Tarro's ability to teleport, although she was curious how he managed to get inside. She loathed to admit that he was correct, Tarro could probably assassinate someone in their sleep.
"It's already later then I intended, can we continue this tomorrow?"
"Care to untie me, Luv?" Geoffrey asked.
Rolling her eyes, the Princess approached the Skunk and activated her Ring-Blades, shearing through the ropes.
"Get out," she ordered, watching the Spy rise to his feet.
"As you wish, Your Highness."
She made sure that he exited her room, going so far as to personally escort the Secret Service Agent to the door. Stepping out into the hallway, Geoffrey immediately headed off in the direction of his room. Intending on finally getting to bed, Sally suddenly discovered Sonic standing in the doorway of the room he shared with Tails.
"When'd he get back?" he asked.
"He was brought back after being caught spying on our friend."
"Based on how you described him, I'd say he was lucky to get out alive."
She didn't dispute the Hedgehog's statement, especially considering how little she knew what he was capable of.
"Where are you headed off to?" she inquired.
"For a run," he replied, "All I was doing was tossing and turning."
"Just try a stay out of trouble."
"C'mon Sal, I haven't caused any problems with the cops since getting here."
With a roll of her eyes, Sally watched the blue Hedgehog take off down the hallway before turned around and heading back inside her room.