Chapter 84; A lead on nemesis
A new day started in Johto. A Johto now free from team rocket once and for all.
The new day found the members of the Sonic heroes once again split in the own individual daily lives. And the days were passing both incredibly fast and incredibly slowly.
The Johto league was only 3 weeks away once again. And with every day that passed the three friends' anticipation grew more and more. Everyone would have an incredibly long time to practice. That was bound to kick the tournament up a notch.
The three heroes of course didn't miss a single opportunity to train together when they got the chance. With the beasts assisting in the training, Sonic and Knuckles' teams were becoming increasingly more powerful, Meganium even becoming tanky enough to take a sacred fire from Entei head-on and still stand afterwards.
Tails had of course questioned if all that training would cause the silver conference to be a repeat of the Kanto tournament all over again but Sonic was sure it was going to be a lot different this time around.
Their journey throughout Johto had led them to meeting so many trainers like Ash, Gary, Harrison, Silver and many more. All of those could be future opponents for them and each had its own unique reason for the three heroes to train extra hard.
Despite all their training however, along with the soft relationships Sonic and Tails were in, with Tails wanting to go serious about his, they also made sure to meet up for fun activities. So far their favorite one was just racing through Johto on the legendary beasts, enjoying the sensation of freedom as well at the wind in their face and afterwards finding a distant corner in the region, preferably with a great view, to just be the three of them and their pokemon.
During one of those moments, Knuckles took the opportunity to finally narrate his adventures in the past to Sonic and Tails, explaining the weird paradox of having caused so much yet not changing a single thing, including how Sonic had seen Celebi in Ilex forest during their first encounter with the iron mask marauder and had led him to saving Knuckles and Tails from the marauder.
"It actually makes a lot of sense" Tails had explained "I never thought that was a possibility with how time works but in essence everything that happened had always happened".
Furthermore, the three heroes were discussing the possibility that Jet and Wave could come to Johto early and just hang out with them until the league. The two homebound friends were ecstatic at the prospect.
That was the life. But like all good things it had to come to an end.
And all started with Sonic receiving a call from Tails while on a date with Jasmine.
"Hey pal".
"Ecutreak. Now. Absolutely can't wait".
"Wha…? What is this about?"
"… Giovanni".
Sonic gasped.
"They found him?" he almost whispered from the shock.
"Kind of. Can't really explain. You need to come NOW!"
Sonic nodded.
"Alright. On my way".
He then turned to his date.
"I'm really sorry but I got to bail. Apparently Looker is calling us to Ecutreak".
"What for?"
"I think… a lead on Giovanni".
"The exiled boss of team rocket?!"
"Yes".
Jasmine of course understood the implications of the situation.
A rematch could be in order.
"Alright. But let me know immediately what has been uncovered. I know things are different but…"
"Don't worry" Sonic gave her a kiss to calm her "I got my friends this time and they got my back. I'll be back before you know it".
And with that, he called out Entei, quickly riding it.
"Ecutreak city Entei. And hurry. The others are waiting for us".
Entei let out a small roar and dashed off towards the capital of Johto.
The ride was filled with silence. Usually Sonic would talk to Entei to further bond with it but this time he couldn't.
The thought of meeting Giovanni again gave him the creeps. That monster had haunted him ever since their first meeting in Celadon.
And then there was something else. The prospect of a rematch with his nemesis presented an opportunity to capture him.
"I can't let him escape if we find him. Not again".
But question was, at what length was the hero of Kanto willing to go to make sure the boss of team rocket wouldn't escape?
Occupied by his thoughts, Sonic didn't realize they had arrived at the Ecutreak police station. Tails and Raikou were waiting outside, a bunch of kids admiring the legend of thunder who allowed them to pet.
"Finally. Come on in. Knuckles is inside with detective Morrison".
"What did you find?" Sonic asked his friends as he got off Entei and recalled it.
"Not me" Tails answered as he recalled Raikou to the kids' disappointment and walked into the station, not giving another explanation.
Sonic followed him in.
As they walked through the corridors, they were greeted by many of the officers working there.
"Most of them feel indebted to us for our actions at the battle of Goldenrod city" Tails quickly whispered with a small grin.
Sonic also grinned for a second. It did feel nice to finally not be pursued.
They arrived at the case room provided to Looker and Morrison when they first set up in Ecutreak to continue their investigation on team Rocket in Johto. Inside was Knuckles having a conversation with detective Morrison.
"Hey guys".
Sonic and Tails greeted him before shaking hands with Morrison.
"How have you kids been?"
"We're doing great detective. And it's all thanks to you" Sonic replied.
"We haven't had a chance yet to properly apologize for what you went through for us to escape. We're so sorry" Tails remembered, feeling a pinch of guilt because they forgot to address it when Morrison was released.
"Don't be. It was the least I could do. You saved Johto. Had it not been for you the terror would have returned".
Sonic however knew what Morrison was willing to sacrifice. Just one sorry wasn't enough. Not in the least.
But before anyone could mention it, Looker walked in, greeting the three heroes while exchanging a nod with Sonic.
"Why did you call us here detective?" Knuckles asked him.
Looker set a folder he was holding on the desk and turned to face them.
"Normally this is breach of protocol. But as we have learned recently, sometimes protocol can and should be breached. And with your recent capture of the iron mask marauder, you helped us immeasurably in our investigation".
"So I was right? Those dark balls were important?" Sonic asked, remembering the amount of restraint he had to apply to himself in the moment.
"Not only important. Vital" Morrison answered for Looker "in fact they were connected to the shadow gas canister used against you".
"Say what?!" all three teenagers shouted at once.
"Precisely" Looker confirmed "and to be even more precise, the dark ball was a tool meant to use the shadow gas effectively and elegantly if I may add".
"A tool?" Tails tilted his head intrigued.
"Yes. But I think that to better understand it, Morrison should go over what he found during the few days you three were off the grid following the supposed carnage at Mahogany town".
"You found something?" Sonic looked at the detective.
"Yes. Apart from my dive into Looker's past, I investigated the origins of the canister. I found out it was created in a factory owned by the Devon corporation, which is based in the Hoenn region. The manager of the factory had no idea of the illegal activities happening, as rocket members had infiltrated the workforce under the pretense of filling in for other coworkers. No one questioned it".
"Did you find out what that gas was?" Sonic tried to get to the point.
"It wasn't easy. To do so, I had to blend in with the rest of the rockets. And they are very, very, VERY distrustful".
"How did you do it so quickly?" Knuckles asked in surprise, understanding how short the time window was between the events of those days.
"Improvised. Thankfully they were in disarray after your raid in Mahogany so they didn't question my story for very long. And therefore I was able to get access to this".
And with those words he unveiled a report from one of the drawers, handing it to Tails who quickly read it and his eyes widened.
"What monsters".
"What does it say?" Knuckles looked over Tails' shoulder.
"It explains how the shadow gas works. Once inhaled by a pokemon, it introduces an enzyme that drastically increases its aggressiveness, to a point of insanity. A big side effect from this is also that as the pokemon succumbs to this rabies form of insanity, its pain receptors are completely cut off from its nervous system".
"Wait you mean they don't feel any pain?!" Knuckles perked up taken aback.
"Exactly. Until the effects of the gas wear off at least".
Sonic's pupils, while his jaw hang open, danced in his eyes as he remembered his fight with rhydon.
"So basically, the rhydon that almost killed me was taking damage normally but didn't feel it?"
"Correct" Looker verified "and for that very reason the more you hit it, the angrier it got and the harder it fought back, creating the illusion of invincibility".
"The gas induced insanity however does increase their power. And that is verified by the testimony of the guy you caught" Morrison revealed more.
"The marauder talked?" Tails looked surprised.
"Yes. He saw that with Giovanni and the rest of team rocket out of the picture his only chance for a reduced sentence was to cooperate. He revealed the dark ball was the mechanism of a pokeball mixed with a gas container that turned the pokemon into what you dubbed as the shadow pokemon as you explained what your Raikou turned into for a while during your fight with him".
Tails nodded. He didn't really want to remember the pain Raikou was obviously in or what it did to Tails in that state.
"So we figured out team rocket created a gas that drives pokemon insane and insanely powerful. And then a ball that essentially functions like the masterball. But how would they do that at their state?" Tails tried to make sense of this discovery.
Sonic was quicker to connect the dots. His facial expression said it all.
"It's because of Giovanni isn't it?"
"Yes. After the recent fall of team rocket at your hands, Morrison led a raid on that factory. We discovered the manager that said he knew nothing was a decoy. The real one…"
"Dead…" Knuckles grimly said.
"Yes. We found out this was Giovanni's contingency plan. He was planning to mass produce the dark ball and pursue something called… project two".
Sonic gasped. And that was more than enough of a reason for Looker to raise his eyebrow in question.
"What have you hidden from the world?"
Sonic knew there was no point in lying but he didn't have to tell them everything.
"The ultimate pokemon. Mewtwo. A bioengineered pokemon created from the genes of a mythical mew, a being of near-omnipotence".
"A being he survived an encounter with" Tails added.
"And where is this Mewtwo now?" Looker inquired.
"I can't say defective. I made a promise. All I can tell you is Mewtwo is no threat to anyone unless threatened. And I know a thing or two about this".
Looker sized the hedgehog up before nodding.
"In any case, it appears Giovanni is obsessed with this thing. We found several old school communication messages urgently demanding the completion of the dark ball".
"Makes sense" Sonic paced around the room, a creep up his spine just by the thought of Giovanni "he is a narcissistic power hungry psychopath. He won't stop going after Mewtwo. But without something as powerful as the masterball or the dark ball he can't have it. And this time his minions can't even be of use to him from afar".
"Does that mean we win this round?" Tails asked the two detectives.
"Yes. But there is still one match to be played in this round. We are close to pinpointing Giovanni's location" Morrison revealed.
"WHAAAT?!" the Sonic heroes shouted at once.
"Yes. That's why we called you three here. We want to ask you to join us in his arrest after we track him down. And if he retaliates with his pokemon" Looker's eyes met Sonic's "I believe it's only fair that the hero of Kanto should be there to settle that score".
A flare of determination ignited in Sonic's eyes.
"I'll be there".
"Me too" Tails added.
"Me three" Knuckles jumped up from his seat.
"Then it's settled. I will talk to the director to get the politics of the protocol breach out of the way. When the time comes I will call you" Looker assured the three trainers.
"We'll be ready" Sonic answered for the entire team.
After the conversation ended, detective Morrison escorted out the three friends.
"Talk about wrapping up loose ends huh?" he commented.
"Tell me about it. I only wish I had not let him escape the first time" Sonic solemnly said.
Seeing the concerned look of his friends he quickly added.
"Though if I had we would have never come to Johto. And we would have never met our friends and our pokemon here".
The three trainers smiled.
"Wise words. I can tell you have worked with yourself a lot" Morrison complimented the hedgehog.
"Had to detective".
"By the way, do you kids have any plans for the afternoon?"
"Not really. Why do you ask though?" Tails asked perplexed.
"That's good news. For me at least. My wife has basically been demanding I invite you three for dinner. She insists it's the least she can do to thank you for everything you've done for the region and for our family".
"Dinner? I… I don't know what to say" Sonic replied more perplexed than Tails. Did Morrison's wife even know her husband almost faced life in prison because of them?
"Just say yes".
Sonic looked at his two friends who seemed positive to the idea.
"Alright detective. We'll take you up on that".
"Great. Follow me then".
"Wait now? Will you wife be ready for the dinner?"
"Well… she kinda texted me to bring you three along before our meeting".
The three friends burst out laughing and Morrison with them. His wife Carrie was not really giving them a choice with this dinner.
"That's legendary" Tails said in between laughter.
The four continued joking while exchanging stories with Morrison until they arrived at his house.
Entering they were greeted with the energetic voice of Morrison's preteen son Nolan, who was accompanied by his ivysaur.
"Daddy! They're here?!"
"Now, now Nolan. It's not polite to say they" Morrison berated him without losing his smile.
"It's alright detective" Sonic said from behind him.
In then walked Carrie, Morrison's pregnant wife. Barely at the second month of course.
As the couple greeted and kissed, Carrie greeted her visitors and thanked them profusely for all their acts of bravery to save her and her family's homeland from team Rocket.
Following the pleasantries, the Morrison family and team Sonic began having dinner. Immediately Nolan began asking the three trainers about their adventures throughout Johto and if it was true they had tamed the legendary beasts. Although Carrie tried to berate her son that it was impolite to be so indiscreet, team Sonic was more than happy to answer.
The dinner was delicious and the Morrison family were very pleasant people to be around. After the meal, Morrison offered to wash the dishes so that Carrie and Nolan could get to know the Sonic heroes better as he had already had plenty of interactions with them.
"So what are your plans for the future?" Carrie asked the three friends.
"Honestly we haven't thought very far ahead Mrs Morrison" Tails replied "we are trying to live in the moment".
"Besides, the Johto league is nearing. Sonic and I are set to compete" Knuckles added.
"You are going to be in the Johto league?!" Nolan exclaimed excitedly while cuddling with Entei, which Sonic had let out of its pokeball at the preteen's request.
Nolan's ivysaur was also interacting with Entei as if they were already great friends, causing the ferocious fire type legendary to realize it actually enjoyed social interactions.
Entei also wondered just how much Raikou would tease it about becoming a little less wild.
"Yes we are. And I am once again aiming to win" Sonic confidently said.
"You'll have to get through me and Suicune first" Knuckles jabbed his friend with the tone of a friendly rival.
"Then be ready for us you Knucklehead" Sonic playfully jabbed him back.
"I am going to embark on my own journey soon too Mr Sonic. I am going to grow strong with ivysaur just like you and become strong enough to battle you one day".
"Train hard and I have no doubt you will give me a good challenge kid" Sonic encouraged Nolan.
The evening went by smoothly and eventually, it was time for team Sonic to leave. Just as they were about to leave, Sonic remembered he still had the keys to Morrison's family's cottage from the time the three teens and the detective had joined forces.
He told Knuckles and Tails to go on ahead and knocked on their door again. The detective opened it.
"I forgot to give you these back. Sorry" Sonic apologized handing him the keys.
"It's ok. Being forgetful is natural" the detective assured him.
"Daddy you coming?" Nolan's voice came from inside.
Morrison chuckled.
"He wants to watch your matches in the Kanto tournament again".
"The Kanto league?" Sonic asked surprised.
"Yes. We were there you see. I recorded the battles with my camera. My son was cheering you on the entire time. The way you battled that day. The power your pokemon displayed and the courage with which you defended your opinion against that kid in the middle of the tournament…"
"His name is Ash. And yeah he can be a bit stubborn".
"As I was saying, the courage you displayed that day, was one of the main reasons I decided to help you. You are a great trainer and a great individual. And you got amazing friends. That didn't seem to me like someone chasing glory or vengeance".
Sonic nodded with a smile.
"I got the best friends detective. And thanks for the compliments".
"Daddy he is about to send out Moltres!"
"Coming Nolan".
Sonic chuckled too.
"You have a great family too detective. You're a lucky man".
"I'm the luckiest man. Anyways I got to go back in".
"And I got to leave. See you tomorrow" Sonic offered a handshake.
Morrison shook it.
"Tomorrow we make the world a better place once again. Together".
The two nodded and split.
The night rolled without any issues as Sonic called Jasmine to tell her all that happened and to push their next date forward to the afternoon so that he would have time to return.
The next day when the three trainers arrived at the police station they found a huge operation in its organization stage.
Making their way slowly and as carefully as they could through the many officers running around performing tasks and getting everything ready for the operation to begin, they found Looker and Morrison giving instructions. They were wearing swat bulletproof uniforms.
"What's happening here?" Sonic and crew approached them.
"Getting ready for anything. Giovanni almost ended you in Viridian. We gotta go prepared" Morrison explained.
"Alright. What do we do?"
"Go to the garages. Morrison and I will accompany you in a jeep" Looker quickly said throwing Sonic the keys.
Team Sonic shrugged after exchanging a glance and headed for the garages.
As they were traversing the corridors and passing by the other officers who were still buzzing with activity, they assumed Looker and Morrison had let everyone in on the fact team Sonic would be joining them in this.
Arriving at the garages, Sonic unlocked the jeep via the keys button in order to find it. The three heroes then stood by the van with Tails flying and sitting on the hood.
"So that's it" he said, his voice reeking anxiety.
"Yeah. It's time".
"Is this what it felt like? Before silph co? This impossible feeling of heading into the Arbok's nest?" Knuckles asked as he watched Sonic pace back and down trying to calm himself.
"The circumstances were a lot different. Mike and I were kicking ass up until going against Giovanni" Sonic explained before taking a deep breath.
"You ok?" Tails asked him concerned.
"This has got to work. I let him escape in Kanto once and team rocket rallied trying to call him back. I can't let him get away again".
"You won't" Knuckles assured him "we're with you this time. He won't be able to take all three of us".
"And certainly not without Mewtwo in his control" Tails reminded his blue friend.
Sonic smiled faintly but was still very anxious.
"Wait I just remembered! His rhydon! It's no longer with him!"
"Of course! It stabbed Raichu in Mahogany" Tails remembered, almost mad at himself for forgetting something so crucial.
"We need to tell detective Morrison ASAP" Knuckles said.
At that moment detective Morrison joined them.
"Are we ready to serve some justice today?"
Sonic was encouraged by his optimism.
"Yes we are".
"Let's do this" Tails hopped off the hood.
"What was it also that you wanted to tell me something?"
"When we're on the road" Sonic cut him off.
A few moments later a huge police caravan raced out of Ecutreak city, or to be more accurate, a small army heading to arrest the real villain in this story.
"So where is he?" Sonic asked as he, Tails and Knuckles wore bulletproof suits of their own, as demanded by Looker.
"Ironically, close to the lake I met you three" Morrison said "there is a small natural uncharted cave there. My homeland never seems to run out of new things to discover I guess".
"A cave? Why would he hide in a cave like a savage?" Tails asked more so rhetorically. Someone with Giovanni's connections wouldn't possibly need to leave in a cave.
"How did you even find that location?" Sonic questioned the detectives.
"During investigation in the factory the shadow gas was being processed at, we discovered numerous phone calls from a strange number. The phone calls were recorded which I can only assume is the case because the decoy manager was suspecting possible betrayal from his boss. In any case we traced the number to one of those phone booths that are set up in the paths trainers usually take to get from one city to the next for the gym challenge. Only thing is, that specific booth was in the middle of nowhere. No civilization around it within at least a five mile radius. So we went from there and discovered the cave's existence but didn't charge in. Not without getting prepared".
"We set up two of our own there to monitor the cave from afar, to see if we could arrest him early. But there has been no activity. He must probably be hiding deeper. Maybe even built some sort of bunker in there, with rations that could last him months" Looked continued.
"And with all his connections he could very well have not even remotely began feeding off of those rations to survive" Tails assumed that Giovanni had sealed himself inside until the fuss of team rocket's attempted takeover ended.
"He could very well have fled though" Knuckles brought up this possibility.
"He is bound to have left something incriminating and/or a lead to himself behind" Morrison said, still optimistic.
Silence filled the inside of the jeep for a few moments.
"So what do we do when we get there? Me and my friends I mean?"
"You lead the charge with us. You have proven beyond doubt you can handle it".
Sonic nodded.
"I believe there was something you were planning to share?" Morrison reminded the heroes.
"Right! The rhydon from Mahogany. The one that… you know".
"What about it?"
"It belongs to Giovanni. Don't ask me how I know I just do".
Looker looked like he was considering it for a moment.
"You got something old friend?" Morrison asked him.
"Sonic might be onto something. We have never really connected any set of fingerprints to Giovanni. But the prints on the pokeball match a set of prints found in silph co that fateful day. And it's neither Sonic's nor Mike's".
Morrison was profoundly dumbfounded.
"How did rhydon end up with team rocket?"
"Giovanni must have accidentally left it behind when I survived my battle with Mewtwo. One of his cronies probably took it with them and took care of it for him".
Looker nodded.
"That gives a whole new aspect to the investigation. But hopefully it will be over soon".
And sure enough soon afterwards they were there; a small opening on the mountainside on north of the valley.
"Alright everyone!" Looker called out to the other officers "you know the drill. Spread out and look for other possible openings the unsub could escape from. Sonic heroes, detective Morrison and I will take the main entrance. Five officers with me. Let's go!"
The cave was dark and cold. Zubats jumped them every five steps but at this point Sonic merely waved them away. Tails then suggested Sonic's hitmontop lead the way as it had intimidate and wouldn't attract too much attention unlike the beasts.
Their path was soon met with something very suspicious; a metal door.
"This must be it" Looker said in anticipation "call in the technical squad to break it open".
A faint sound from behind the door was heard. Like a beep.
"No time. Everyone get back" Sonic said as he got to his knees and began spinning like a ball.
"What the…!" Looker stepped back in shock as Morrison's jaw hung open.
Blue jolts of lightning crackled on Sonic's ball form for a second before he launched bringing down the door with a loud metal thud.
"Alright Giovanni! Show yourself!" Tails and Knuckles heard as they charged into the room following their friend who was holding Raichu and Entei's pokeballs in his hands.
Tails holding Raikou's ball and Knuckles holding Suicune's ball entered the room. Finding noone.
Exchanging a quick glance with Sonic, the latter shouted over his shoulder.
"Clear!"
Morrison, Looker and the 5 officers accompanying them cautiously entered.
"He must have anticipated our arrival after we raided his factory" Looker monologued.
"And left in a hurry" Morrison completed the thought.
Sonic looked around, unable to not be impressed. Giovanni had actually managed to survive in there. The place was like a mini home. Everything. Rations for months as predicted, a TV, a radio, everything.
"Alright let's look around" Looker commanded "there's got to be something that will lead us to him in here".
They all began searching the place top to bottom. Morrison took a small study a corner.
As he looked through the drawers he noticed something that sparked his curiosity.
On the desk was what seemed like a small box at first. But upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a laptop.
And a note was on the laptop. The note read 'for Sonic the hedgehog only'.
"Hey Looker there is something here for Sonic" Morrison said without looking away.
Unbeknownst to him a camera was recording his moves, scanning his face.
The scan didn't match with Sonic's face.
Morrison pulled the laptop screen up to open it.
A loud BANG echoed throughout the room and the cave, causing everyone to grab the sides of their head in pain due to the loud noise.
Sonic, his vision blurry, saw red at his feet. But it wasn't his red shoes.
It was blood and entrails.
And then a thud.
"MORRISON!" Looker's scream echoed in his ears.
All three members of team Sonic gasped at the scream.
They all looked at the same time to see Looker standing before the now headless body of detective Jake Morrison.
Looker's face was a mask of horror and shock.
"WE NEED A MEDIC!" he screamed instinctively, even though he knew it deep down.
Time stopped.
"Wha… how did..." Sonic's mind barely made a thought as he looked up to see a shotgun attached to a metal rod protruding from above pointing at where detective Morrison stood only a moments ago.
Tails and Knuckles were equally as shocked.
"He… wanted to… kill you" Tails stuttered only to be proven wrong the next moment.
The laptop screen turned on and a video started playing.
On the screen was the man himself, Giovanni, sitting like a boss, his trusted Persian by his side, and with the same malicious grin that haunted Sonic's nightmares etched upon his face.
"Congratulations. If this video is playing, then you are an illiterate moron who didn't get the most obvious message in history. Hopefully for me, you are a friend of Sonic the hedgehog, preferably one of his two annoying teammates, and even more preferably, the flying fox. Whatever the case is, congratulations once again. You earned yourself a one-way ticket to a headless afterlife. That is all".
"You monster!" Sonic rushed the computer only for the message to end.
In silence once again, team Sonic took the reality in, their entire beings numb, everything seeming distant and like it was happening to someone else.
And as if this wasn't enough, a small beep was heard from the laptop as the camera registered Sonic's presence and played the real message.
"Hello, Sonic the hedgehog. Long time no see".
"Where are you, you bastard?!" Sonic grabbed the sides of the monitor, not realizing it was a recording.
"If you are watching this version of my message, then someone found my hideout with you and met their doom in the process. Once again, you needed someone to die to even get remotely close to me. Oh how history repeats itself".
Sonic, harnessing his bond with Raichu for a moment, cracked the sides of the monitor, causing the image to be slightly distorted.
"Unfortunately all of history repeated lately. Once again, team Rocket fell to you and your friends. Once again, you never seize to impress me, and proved once more why you're the only one worthy of my respect".
Silence filled the room as everyone waited for the message to continue, save for their heavy breathing.
"But as I stated before we parted ways, you're not only worth of my respect. You are worthy of my hatred, my wrath and my rage. You once again destroyed the aspirations of team rocket. And subsequently my aspirations for world domination. And I do not take kindly to such an offense".
Tails and Knuckles were now worried at seeing their friend so ready to burst.
"This time you and your friends prevailed again. But team rocket cannot ever truly fall. For as long as I live, team rocket will always come back. Be it in a week, a month, a year or even in 20 years. Team rocket will return one day. And on that day…" Giovanni grinned, his look promising utter destruction and endless suffering for his nemesis "on that day, you will pay for everything you stole from me. On that day you will watch your home burn and everyone you love with it. On that day, I will rain down every agony, every violation imaginable upon your loved ones and have you watch every single second of it. Savor your life until that day hedgehog… because all that awaits at the end, is my vengeance. See you around".
And with that, the message ended and smoke came out of the laptop as its circuits were fried to cover up Giovanni's tracks.
Sonic went ballistic, grabbing the laptop and smashing it into a tiny million bits before kneeling and burying his face in his palms.
Tails and Knuckles hearts broke as they saw their friend's body shake as he sobbed.
They slowly approached him and after testing the waters hugged him. Knuckles was hit with deja vu.
Sonic and Tails had hugged him when he was suffering. Now he was hugging the suffering Sonic with Tails.
The three trainers didn't really process the hours that followed. About 4 hours passed until the police concluded their investigations. Detective Morrison's body was sent to the coroner and Looker, knowing Sonic still hadn't processed it allowed the three friends to ride along.
He had after all the hardest task now. Informing Carrie.
The next thing Looker knew was him barging into the coroner's lab looking for team Sonic.
"Carrie's in the hospital! Doctors said she may have had a miscarriage!"
Sonic left too fast for them to see even though he wasn't using his sonic speed.
His entire being was consumed by one thought.
"Not the baby too!"
He reached the hospital long before Tails, Knuckles and Looker could follow.
He stopped at the front desk.
"Carrie Morrison?!"
"You a relative?"
"No but please tell me it's important!"
"Sorry I can't…"
But she couldn't even complete the phrase before Sonic just took off.
"Hey stop that kid!"
But Sonic was just faster, even harnessing some of his speed. Before anyone could even lay eyes on him, he had already found the room.
The doctor was just exiting.
"Doctor how is Mrs Morrison?!"
The doctor was surprised, but assuming Sonic was allowed in, he answered.
"Mighty Ho-oh must have had a hand in this. The baby is ok and so it the mother".
Sonic exhaled in relief, dropping to his knees once again.
"You… uh… the father?"
"What? No. Of course not. It's just… can I please go in to see her?"
"Sorry but no. She needs to rest".
"Let him in" Carrie's weak voice reached them.
Against his better judgment, the doctor relented.
Sonic's numbness at this point was the only reason he didn't collapse.
Carrie was on the bed, rubbing her belly, eyes red from the tears. Nolan was by her side, also in tears, but a bit more collected as he was just allowed in to see his mother too and was grateful both she and his unborn sibling were ok.
A few moments went by with noone saying anything.
Carrie opened her mouth a couple of times before managing to ask a question.
"D-d-did he suffer?"
Sonic's voice was sore and cracked.
"No. It all happened so fast. He… he probably didn't even realize…"
Carrie began sobbing again.
"Mrs Morrison I…"
"Don't!" she said, surprisingly steadily "don't apologize. You weren't the one who killed Jake".
"There… there was a recorded message. For me. He tried to see it first… if I had seen it first…"
Tails and Knuckles joined him in that very moment, followed almost immediately by Looker.
"You out of your mind?!" Tails shook his friend "you could upset her!"
"I…" Sonic tried to apologize again but didn't know what to apologize for anymore. It was all too much.
Knuckles in that moment was making sure Carrie and Nolan were ok, as he didn't know Sonic's sudden arrival hadn't bewildered them.
After Carrie assured him she was ok, Knuckles asked Nolan if he was ok. The kid was fighting off his tears.
"I am ok Mr Knuckles. I will be ok".
Knuckles was worried at this response. The kid was blocking his emotions as he once did.
"I have some understanding of what you're experiencing right now Nolan. And I'm sorry you're going through it".
"You lost your dad too?"
"And my mom. And my grandma".
Nolan's pupils widened for a second.
"Then… it's going… to be ok. Mom is ok. So I will be ok. I will get stronger with ivysaur to protect her and make my dad proud"
Knuckles knelt to meet Nolan's eye level.
"Your dad is proud of you kid. I know he is. And I believe you will get stronger with your partner. But… don't force yourself to be ok. It's toxic. You're a sentient being. So… you have the right to not be strong and ok right now".
Nolan buried himself in Knuckles' embrace, allowing himself to heed Knuckles' advice.
Team Sonic spent the rest of the day at the hospital making sure Morrison's family was going to be ok, before Carrie insisting they go. They needn't stay there all day. They were going to be ok.
"We will visit. I promise" Tails promised profusely, allowing Carrie to smile faintly.
But just as they were walking out of the door.
"Wait" Carrie stopped them "could I get a moment with Sonic?"
Despite everyone's perplexity, they all agreed and Nolan escorted Tails and Knuckles outside.
The three waited outside patiently before being joined momentarily by Looker who came to visit before heading to inform the director of the fiasco.
Looker was hoping to speak to Sonic specifically but as he was still in the room with Carrie asked Tails to pass him a message.
"Whatever our history is, if you need any help, you have my number. I will help. As would Morrison".
Tails agreed and Looker left.
Two minutes later Sonic walked out. And the look on his face terrified Tails to his core.
"You ok?"
Sonic didn't reply, walking towards the exit.
Tails and Knuckles followed him and tried to get him to talk but Sonic wouldn't reply.
Leaving the hospital, Sonic went to a secluded location, followed still by his friends and called out Entei, riding it.
"Where are you going?!" Tails asked him urgently.
"… Giovanni left most likely yesterday. That means he may still be somewhere in Johto. I will find him".
"You mean we will find him" Knuckles corrected him".
"No Knuckles. I. I need to do this alone".
"Sonic this isn't your fault. You don't have to go through this alone" Tails tried to reason with him.
"I know. It's that monster's fault. And I will find him. Don't try to follow me. I'll be in touch" Sonic said before patting Entei on the side, taking off for the Johtonian wilderness, leaving his friends behind.