Chapter Five: A Bad Night Gets Worse

ONE HOUR LATER

Angel was escorted into Maggie Bloodmoon's giant oakwood office by three guards. He casually struts over to a chair sitting in the center of the room, taking his time to look every thug and bodyguard in the eyes, and smile their way.

He sat down and pulled out a cigarette. "Cool if I smoke in here?"

Maggie simply nodded so he lit it up.

"So, about tonight-"

Maggie jumped from her seat. "You got 20 of my men killed out there, you son of a bitch!"

The crimson hedgehog took a long drag before answering. "They shouldn't have been there when the bomb went off. I did tell you I planted a bomb there, right?"

The Destructix leader didn't answer, her men were now itching to open fire.

"Furthermore, I do recall you saying you had hundreds of soldiers at your disposal, correct? Is that a fair point?"

"My men don't give their lives for crazy goth fucks like you!"

"Mags, chill out; this is business."

"No, you just made an empty promise and did not deliver on that!"

A knock at the door got everyone's attention so a bodyguard opened it slightly.

Someone whispered into his ear and he turned to Maggie. "It's a Tresspassers' foot soldier."

Angel turned around. "Ah, that would be him. AJ, our guest of honour."

Maggie waved at her guard and he let Angel's men in. They dragged AJ through the door, still handcuffed and beaten. He dropped to both knees and looked up at Bloodmoon.

She checked him out. "This kid is your Enerjak?"

"Fuck you, I'm no psycho!" AJ barked.

A guard punched the teenager in the face twice and knocked him to the floor.

Angel blew smoke in his face. "No one gave a shit about you before today, young man. When it came out that YOU were chosen to be Enerjak, then how many folks wanted to be your friend?...you are now our property."

AJ sprung up and lunged at Angel but his men quickly subdued the young echidna.

"Argh... why are you doing this? Why me?"

Angel leaned in close. "Because of who you are."

"I'm nobody! I'm not special! Just leave me alone, you sick, demented fuck!"

The crimson hedgehog motioned for his men to take him away. The office doors were pushed open and Angel's half-sister Serena walked toward him.

"You killed her!" Serena shouted.

"Julie remembered Knuckles and went rogue. She needed to be silenced." Angel replied.

"Bullshit, you've always hated her and you had her killed!"

Bloodmoon and her gang watched the siblings argue in front of them, not knowing of what to do.

"Sister, look: Julie did her job, she located Abbott-Jak, but she defied our command and went against us. For that her punishment was death, served quickly and painlessly. I now have the young man and our plan can continue." Angel explained.

Serena took a look at AJ, stuck in the arms of Angel's men.

"This is him? I knew he was a teenager, but I was under the impression he was- big." she said.

"He'll get bigger and stronger once we take him back." Angel responded. "He will not resemble the skinny mess he is now, I assure you."

"...pack him up, let's move."

As Angel and Serena walked toward the door, Maggie stood up to stop them.

"I HELPED YOU GET THE KID, YOU OWE ME!"

Serena looks at the shorter, blonde hedgehog and snapped her fingers. Red sniper lasers flashed on and were aimed at Bloodmoon and her guards. The Destructix didn't move a muscle as Serena scoffed at them, then finally exited the office.

Angel looked back in once more. "I'll be back to square-up with you in one hour, Miss Bloodmoon."

Mighty the Armadillo moved through the streets as vigilantly as possible, sticking close to back alleys and open areas. He scanned for exit routes if anyone with a badge spotted him. He'd walked ten neighbourhoods, so far no cops had been seen. But that didn't mean they weren't looking.

He reached the south west side of Metropolis when he heard chatter amongst an oncoming group. He quickly ran for the alleyway shadows in between two buildings, and waited for this group to pass.

Amy Rose walked beside Espio and said, "I hope we're going the right way."

"I don't know this part of town all that well, but Vector's GPS signal is pointing right around here."

M jumped out of the shadows. "Hey, Espio! Amy!"

The Chameleon launched a lightning-fast combo into Mighty's nose, dropping him to ground instantly.

"Whoa, my bad," Espio apologized. "You know, you really shouldn't sneak up on me, M."

The Armadillo grasped his bleeding nose. "Yep, gonna remember that for next time."

Amy helped him up. "What're you doing out here? Trying to get us arrested again?"

"Hey, that was an honest mistake last time! ..no, I was called out here by my superior officers to arrest some street thug. Things turned sour, I escaped an execution and found out my superiors are corrupt."

Amy and Espio looked at each other for a moment. "Weren't you demoted to working the beat?"

M sighed. "After my fuck-up with HAZARD, the board sent me to schools working as a crossing guard, if that makes you feel better."

Amy smiled. "That does. But seriously, there's something big happening. Something bad."

"What is it?"

Espio cut in. "How do we know we can trust you?"

M put his hands up defensively. "My superiors tried to murder me, Espio! I've got to assume they've called in an ABP and have every cop in the city looking for me. I'm excommunicated from the force. I want to know why they did this, just as much as you do."

"So the cops are in on this too? Shit."

"Yes! I have nowhere to go now, so let me in on this!"

Espio looked around, a few passersby were pointing towards the trio.

"We gotta disappear, NOW."

The Chameleon grabbed Amy and Mighty by the arms and used his invisibility cloaking to get them out of sight. Within five minutes, police cruisers had blocked off the area and begin their search. Espio maneuvered the trio out of the streets and quickly into a forest woodland. Amy texted Julie and they wait.

The pink echidna and Vector arrived soon after and hid out in the forest while the cops shined lights everywhere, but found nothing. An hour passed before the cruisers left the area and headed back to the precinct.

"What's going on here?" Mighty asked.

"We went to a meeting at the Wharf and it turned out to be an ambush. A bomb went off and we had to split up. Vector answered.

"We? Whose we?"

"Me, Espio, Amy, Knuckles, Julie-"

"Wait, Knuckles? God damnit, how'd I know he was involved in all this?! That smug, red asshole!"

Julie faced him. "What's your deal with him? He saved our lives!"

"Lady, you don't know the half of it. Knuckles used to be one of those bastards out there! I knew him when he was a shit head thug! And he's used every chance to mess with me, and the police!" M yelled.

"Yeah, like you're so noble. You tried to have us arrested, and you were gonna let the real bad guys get away!" Amy shouted back.

Vector turned to Julie. "Don't listen to this wannabe detective. He's been proven to be unreliable in areas such as loyalty and friendship."

M growled. "I don't need this shit!.."

"So go back out there and get busted. Or better yet - get your ass shot!"

The Armadillo stopped in his tracks.

"Enough. We're accomplishing nothing like this. M, if you wanna leave, fine. This situation is out of control and I intend on stopping it." Espio said.

Vector calmed down as well and stood beside him. "He's right. Let's get back to work, here."

M rejoined the group. "..so what do you know about this shit show?"

"Some guy named Angel called Knuckles & Julie to a meeting. That Destructix assassin Sleuth Dogg met them instead. His old gang shows up to kill us all and a bomb takes out the Wharf."

"And Knuckles? Where is he?"

"We don't know. He called to make sure we were okay, then he disconnected. His phone is dead and so far we've heard nothing." Vector said.

"Well, shit... was he alone?"

"No, I saw him with Dogg, they were running away towards the east." Espio replied.

"So, assuming he's still alive; if we find Knuckles and Dogg, we might be able to squeeze something out of our assassin."

"Great. Now how do we find him?" Amy asked.

"With some good old fashioned detective work."

Mighty led the way and the rest of the gang followed close behind.

The massive hitman Dogg helped Knuckles up a steep cliff side and onto a dirt pathway. They stuck to the shadows to avoid any guards and make as little noise as possible.

Dogg signalled Knuckles to stop and both looked through the trees and bushes. A large gang clubhouse was illuminated by outside security lights, spot lights and red motion detectors all along the edges of a concrete fence. The leaders partied inside while armed scouts guarded every entrance to the huge compound vigilantly.

"Do you want 9 o'clock, or 3?" Dogg asked.

Knuckles grunted. "…3!"

They split up and ran to a vantage point. The Hitman threw a rock at a nearby tree, getting the attention of one guard with a machine gun. He kept his weapon steady as he inched closer to the shadows.

"What is it?" A guard asked.

The thug shined a flash light. "I got nothing over here."

Dogg ripped the gun away and shot the smaller gangster in the chest once, then moved in.

"Shit, someone's out here!"

The next two guards were shot down and silenced. The assassin's training helped him get passed the scouts, and through the front gate, eliminating anyone who popped out. Dogg ran up, kicked open the front doors and slid across the tile floor as machine gun fire rang out. He shot once more then tossed the gun away and ripped a table leg off to use as his next weapon.

More guards started screaming in pain as Knuckles tore through them with punishing blows to their vital areas. Liver shots, neck strikes and groin kicks knocked the gangsters down long enough for the echidna to take their guns away. He then proceeded to knock them out with vicious punches to the face.

Dogg came out of hiding and took a few guns from the dead gangsters. "There'll be more gunslingers upstairs with grenades and shit. I say we split the Clubhouse in half and work our way up."

"If I reach the top first, tell me what Bloodmoon looks like so I don't let her escape." Knuckles said as he walked upstairs.

"She's a little blondie with pink contact lenses. Probably carrying a 9mm, you can't miss her. But don't kill her!"

Knuckles looked back. "I ain't the killer here."

Dogg cracked a smile briefly, then ran towards another staircase in the back of the clubhouse. He heard dozens of footsteps coming down so he climbed on a countertop and aimed his gun. The guards were cut down as they raced downstairs, blood spurting out like exploding water balloons. Dogg made sure they were down before climbing to the next floor. He picked up a clip and reloaded his automatic weapon as fast as he could. He heard loud dance music blaring throughout this floor, then he saw the people who were enjoying a party. He put his pistol down and made his way through the room.

He saw college girls hiding so he called out to them. "Out, girls. Now, move. It's only gonna get uglier."

He surveyed the room left and right, then from the corner of his eye, saw one of the girls aim a gun at his head.

"Die, you piece of shit!" She shouted.

Dogg ducks down but took a shot to the shoulder. The girl continued to fire at him so he was forced to silence her as well. She hit the carpeted floor and he kicked the gun out of her hand.

"Anyone who doesn't wanna die, get the fuck outta here NOW!"

All the girls and a few thugs ran downstairs and out the front door. Dogg ripped the bullet out of his right shoulder, pulled out a torch lighter and held his knife over the flame. Once the metal was red hot, he pressed the blade to his wound and cauterized it. He groaned lightly as the heat sealed his flesh closed. Dogg took a minute to rest, then stood back up and headed towards the stairs.