Chapter Six: Cutting The Loose End Free

Incoming footsteps on the floor above made Dogg raise his gun cautiously, eager to blow a hole in the next gun-toting, wannabe badass gangster. The Hitman kept his back to the wall and gripped the railing as he ascended the marble staircase, ready to hop over the retaining wall to avoid gunfire. He got three quarters up the stairs when 30 armed thugs converged at the top.

He moved back down the steps but more thugs blocked his exit and forced him to stop.

Angel joined the stand off. "Oh shit, my man Sleuth Dogg! How are you doing on this fine evening? I hope we didn't spoil your little raid."

Dogg looked around at all the gun-toting, wannabe badass gangsters he was ready to shoot and accepted that he was completely fucked.

"Drop the gun. You can't shoot us all before we waste you."

Dogg glared at Angel. "I can get you."

Angel's half sister Serena pulled out her gun and shot Dogg in the legs, dropping him to both knees. A large henchman kicked his gun out of reach and put his weapon to Dogg's head.

Angel intervened. "No, wait! Let me ask him a question..."

Dogg grasped his wounds while Angel walked down the staircase until he was 3 steps above the Hitman.

"You didn't come here by yourself, did you?"

"No, your mom's waiting in the car outside. She said She'd blow me if I killed you."

Angel laughed along, then shot him in the chest three times. Dogg groaned in pain, but he didn't go down.

"What the- who else is with you?!"

"What, are ya deaf? I said your mother is waiting to suck my-"

Angel fired 5 more rounds into Dogg but he shook them off and grinned as the blood flowed from his mouth.

"The fuck's 'a matter with this guy, why won't he die?!"

A loud PA system crackled as it turned on. "They say Sleuth Dogg can't be killed."

Angel and his men looked around for a moment. "Bloodmoon, is that you?"

"My security system caught Mr. Dogg and his new friend Knuckles breaking in, about a minute after you left my office, Angie." Bloodmoon responded.

"So, the Echidna lived... Can you keep both of them here, Maggie?"

"Gonna show me what your Enerjak can do, huh. Sure, I'll keep 'em alive til you get back."

"Great. C'mon, boys. You're about to see a show on The Island."

Meanwhile, Knuckles climbed the last set of stairs and reached Bloodmoon's office. A thug threw a sloppy punch so Knuckles ducked under, pivoted and connected with a painful body-kick and dropped the guard with a right hand to the temple.

Another guard ran up and punched wildly at the Echidna, missing every shot as Knuckles dodged and moved his head out of the way. During the flurry, Knuckles caught his opponent with an uppercut punch and stunned the thug, giving him a chance to throw his combination. He ended the 10 hit combo with a front kick that knocked the guard backwards and through Bloodmoon's office doors.

Knuckles stepped over the downed thug and entered, but Bloodmoon wasn't here.

In her place were two larger guards, both brandishing razor sharp chairsaws. Knuckles turned around and was met by Maggie's entourage.

She appeared behind them and faced off with Knuckles. "I never thought you'd call a truce with Dogg, Echidna. You must really be desperate, Jonathan."

"What'd you call me?"

"Oh, don't pretend like you forget about being a criminal. I know who you are. You used to work for-"

"I never worked for no one!" Knuckles interrupted. "I did some favors for some assholes, but I was never a criminal."

Maggie smiled and shook her head. "You keep telling yourself that, Johnny."

Knuckles clinched his fists. "Look, I'm not here for you. It's Angel. I know he's working with you. Tell me where he is and I'll be on my way."

"Can't do that, big boy. But I can tell you he's coming back here in an hour, if you'd like to stick around."

"No thanks."

Knuckles went for the exit but the guards raised their guns at him.

"I'm afraid you can't leave. Me and Angel have a deal to maintain. But don't worry, your buddy Dogg is still with us." Maggie signalled to her guards. "Boys, can you please bring that big sack of shit up here."

The office doors were pushed open and Dogg was dragged in. He had a massive blackened eye, red swelling around his jaw and blood dripping from his mouth. Bloodmoon's men put a pretty good beating on the Hitman during the trip upstairs.

"Tie 'em to some chairs and keep them quiet until Angel returns." Maggie ordered.

"What, you think that scrawny emo fuck face can kill me? Ha!" Knuckles shouted.

"Angel can't kill a fly. But he's bringing something that could kill everyone in Metropolis."

"….AJ!"

The local residents in small villages and huts on Angel Island's east coast hid in their homes and watched Serena, Angel and AJ jump off a helicopter. The teenage Echidna was handcuffed and covered in dried blood. Angel lit a cigarette and walked beside his half sister through the yellow, dead grasslands. Their guards dragged AJ by the arms and stayed close behind the two hedgehogs.

The group reached a massive, decaying concrete Temple on the edge of a waterfall. Everyone entered and they were greeted by Elders of the Temple.

"Yeah, yeah, move along, nobody cares." Angel dismissed.

Serena nudged him. "Will you show some respect? We're on their land!"

"We're just using them for one thing, relax, sister." Angel replied. "Where are the doctors?"

Two very old, hunchbacked Echidnas appeared. "We are ready for the subject."

AJ tried to fight out of the guards' grasp. "Let go of me! I'm going to be your freak!"

Angel waved a finger and his biggest guard punched AJ in the body, dropping him to the floor. He coughed and two more guards dragged him into the dark room.

The Elderly Echidnas opened another door. "Please, sit. The process may take some time."

Angel pushed past the elder. "But not too much time, right Doctor?"

"No, of course not, sir."

"Good. C'mon, Serena. Let's see if they have WIFI in here."

Inside the dark room, AJ was placed on a slab of concrete and restraints were placed on his limbs. He fought with the guards but was too weak to do any real damage. He closed his eyes and waited for the nightmare to begin.

The elderly doctors look through a dusty, black book, a ritual book from the old days. They found what they were looking for and got the appropriate equipment ready.

Back in the sitting area, Angel played with his cellphone while Serena looked at all the paintings on the walls. She admired one piece from the old days, a warrior Echidna holding a war hammer.

AJ's screams of pain echoed through the temple as the transformation began. Angel chuckled quietly and continued playing the game on his phone.

Suddenly more screams were heard from the dark room.

Angel stood up and looked at his guards. "Go check it out!"

The large guard grabbed his gun and led his team in. Everyone stayed silent for a minute, then the leader called out.

"Boss! It's clear. He's alone."

Angel walked inside first and saw AJ standing in the center of the room. The two doctors were slain and the 1 of Angel's men was wounded. The rest of the guards had their guns trained on the Echidna.

Serena looks at AJ, noticing he'd grown a foot taller and 50 pounds of muscle have been added to him. His dreadlocks also grew out, almost touching the floor.

She stood face to face with the teenager and scans his face.

"Speak." She ordered.

An unknown language was the beast's response.

"English?"

The massive echidna shook his head. The bass in his voice was felt by everyone around him.

Angel sighed. "Great, he can't speak english. What language is that, anyway?"

Serena waved to Angel to shut up then looks back at the Echidna. "Tell me your name."

ENERJAK

"See, he understands english, brother. So He'll follow my orders."

Angel scoffed. "Fine. Look, badass: Let's go outside and talk, I can already smell the death in this room."

Enerjak walked to the closest wall and smashed a hole through the concrete, then knocked it down with a kick.

"That way works, too."

Everyone joined the giant echidna outside, guards still had their guns drawn on him while they walked. Serena looked over the waterfall and breathed in the fresh air. Enerjak looked at the ground waiting for orders.

Angel laughed. "That's great, this plan actually worked! We've got him!"

"Course it worked, it was my plan. You wanna tell me what you were doing, meeting with that little Blonde bitch? What did you say to her?" Serena demanded.

"Whoa, chill out, sister. It had to do with the plan. If I didn't deal with her, this wouldn't have happened."

"If you wouldn't have made a deal with her, Julie-Su would be right her with us!"

Angel saw the guards staring intently at him. "Serena, lets not do this here, alright? This can wait."

"No, I want answers now! I always knew you had your own agenda, but why would you go against me, Angel?

The crimson hedgehog growled quietly, then produced a chaos emerald.

"Where did you get that from?!"

Angel gave it to Enerjak and stood back before he barked an order.

KILL!

In a split second, Serena was blasted with an energy ray that cut through her body like a knife. Her guards raised their weapons but Enerjak reached them first and snapped their necks with one hand each. He then threw their bodies at Serena and the three of them fall off the waterfall, never to be seen again.

Enerjak grasped the last guard but Angel stopped him. "You, hey kid! Wanna work for me? You get to live longer and the pay is much better."

"Y-Yes, I DO!" The frightened guard pleaded.

"Great. Let 'em go, Jak. He's one of the smart ones."

The beast released the guard and stood next to Angel, towering over the crimson hedgehog.

"We're leaving this shit hole swamp and going back to my friend Maggie's. I got a promise to deal with."

The trio walked away from the Temple and jumped back in their helicopter. Enerjak's eyes glowed a sinister grey tone as he scanned the land while taking flight.


Mighty the Armadillo drove a green SUV he stole from a parking lot. Amy sat in the passenger seat while Julie-Su and Vector sat in the seats behind them, and Espio sat in the very back. They reached Bloodmoon's gang compound and he killed the engine.

"You sure this is the place?" Julie asked.

"Bloodmoon's hangout, yes. Whether or not Knuckles is here, well... it's worth a look." M answered.

Vector turned to the back seat. "You're up."

The Chameleon activated his invisibility cloaking and hopped out the back window.

Julie looked at Vector. "Doesn't he ever get tired of going in first?"

"Nah, he loves it. It's his thing. He was brought up in a Ninjutsu household so this is the closest to being back there for him." Vector answered. "He gets mad if someone else goes first."

"Really? I haven't heard him speak more than 2 sentences this whole night."

"Another Ninjutsu thing, or so he says. Personally, I think he doesn't like to talk much, he lets me do all of that."

"Hmm."

Vector's cellphone rang so he answered. "Yeah, whatcha got?"

"I make 10 armed guards on the second floor, 25 or so on the third."

"And Knuckles? You see him?"

"Negative. But the office is locked down, that'll probably be our jackpot."

"Great. We're coming in."

"Roger."

Vector hung up and opened his door, while Amy and Mighty followed. Julie looked confused so she grabbed the crocodiles' arm to ask a question.

"What's going on? We're just going in?"

"Yeah. Espio's taking out the fire power and we get cleanup duty." Vector said.

"It'll be alright, Julie. I trust these guys with my life." Amy reassured.

"What about you, cop?"

"Me? Shit, I wouldn't trust these dipshits with my pet Chao!... but I don't have much of a choice in this situation, lady, so uh... Do what you want."

"Wow, that doesn't make me feel any better about this."

"Come on. Your boyfriend might be in there gettin' his ass beat." M said.

"...we're separated, douchebag..."

The group made their way in and gun shots rang out from the floors above. Espio easily rushed through the gang's attacks and knocked their guns away while launching his own painful counter attacks. Every thug was taken down within 18 seconds.

"Upstairs is clear." Espio confirmed.

Vector smirked. "Great work pal. coming up, now."

Inside the office, Maggie Bloodmoon watched her security cameras vigilantly as the Chameleon smashed through her guards.

"His friends are here for him!" A guard shouted.

"No shit, genius. Calm down and get the Chopper up in the air. It's time to leave." Maggie ordered. "We're taking them to The Site."

Knuckles fought to get loose from the restraints but the guards had made it impossible to escape.

On the roof, a pilot turned on the engine of a silver helicopter and checked all the gauges. Once he made sure everything was in order, he radioed into Bloodmoon's office and told them the Chopper was ready to lift off.

Bloodmoon stood up. "Alright boys, lets go!"

The office doors were kicked open but no one enters. While Bloodmoon's guards shoot at the door, Espio crawled around the floor, still cloaked by his invisibility. The guards were knocked down, guns were taken away and Knuckles was pulled into the hallway.

Maggie put a gun to Dogg's head and used him as a shield. "Back away, now!"

Espio cut the restraints off Knuckles' hands and legs, while Bloodmoon and Dogg used a hidden staircase that led to the rooftop. They entered the chopper and it lifted off before Knuckles had a chance to get to them.

"Shit!" Knuckles shouted.

Julie, Amy, Espio and Vector got to the rooftop with him and watched the Chopper fly off.

"I'm going after him."

Julie grabbed his arm. "What? Why?"

"I'm saving his life. He deserves that much."

Knuckles turned to Vector. "Is that Green hunk of shit in the parking lot yours?"

"Yep" Vector said as he threw the keys over.

The Echidna walked back inside and through the office but Mighty tried to keep him from leaving.

"Knux, cops are on their way, I need you to stay here and give your statement-"

Knuckles pushed M aside. "Fuck outta my way."

"Your welcome for finding this place and saving your life, asshole!"

"You never gave a shit about me, this is about catching Bloodmoon and saving your career with the police. The evidence is in her file cabinet, by the way."

Julie, Amy and Espio caught up to their friend and hopped inside the green SUV. Knuckles started up the engine and peeled out of the compound.

"Espio, can you find that chopper?"

"Just a sec- I've got it... heading south on Baleline Road."

The SUV ran a red light and flew down the freeway.

Sleuth Dogg sat in his seat, hands and feet bound together. He glared at Maggie Bloodmooon angrily.

"Ugh, somebody please bag his head." She said.

A guard punched Dogg in the face and put a white bag over his head. The Hitman fought with the guard so Maggie pistol whipped him and grabbed a roll of duct tape.

"Yeah, lets see how tough you are when we land, Dogg!"

Maggie handed the tape to her body guard and he began taping the bag to Dogg's face.

The chopper landed in a massive crater site, surrounded by sand dunes and dry desert. The stars in the night sky illuminated the area, while the full moon shined on Maggie's face. They waited five minutes before Angel's crew arrived to The Site.

The crimson hedgehog climbed out of an old model pickup truck and his entourage flanked him. Dogg wasn't able to see anything as the guards dragged him out of the helicopter and deeper into the crater.

Angel shook hands with Maggie and they leaned against his truck to watch the show. Dogg was thrown face-first into the sand and the two gangs laughed as he tried to get up, but the restraints on his arms and legs made that impossible.

Knuckles drove the SUV around trying to find where the crater site was but can't find it. "Espio, you sure this is the way?"

"The satellite image is showing this route."

Knuckles pulled over and took the tablet, then zoomed in on the location.

Enerjak got out of Angel's truck and walked down the sand dune toward Dogg.

"Shit, they turned AJ into Enerjak!"

Julie looked over. "What?!"

"Is that Dogg?" Amy asked.

Knuckles said nothing and watched the image.

Dogg began to crawl away but he wouldn't get far. Enerjak slid the rest of the way down the sand dune and pulled out his chaos emerald.

"Don't do it, kid... Come on, drop the Gem, AJ!" Knuckles shouted. "Fuck, where is this place, I can't find it!"

Down in the crater, Enerjak looked at Dogg. He turned to Angel, who stood at the top of the sand dune. He gave a thumbs down signal to the teenage Echidna and smiled.

Dogg knew what was coming next so he tried his best to get away but he was too weak to move, and his arms were bound behind his back. He groaned loudly, both in pain and fear for his life.

Enerjak pointed the chaos emerald at Dogg's head and fired an energy bolt at him. The energy burned into Dogg's temple and the groaning stops. He slumped over dead in the sand.

Julie and Amy turned away from the tablet screen, while Knuckles kept his eyes glued to the image of Dogg's dead body.

Espio looks behind him and saw M leading a group of police cruisers to them.

"Knux, local PD are here, so whatever you're gonna do, it's gotta wait."

Julie lightly grasped Knuckles' shoulder. "What are you going to do?"

"...me and you gotta end this shit."