Changes Are No Good
By: Chibi
Chapter 4: “Shoot You Down”
*
In a posh (if mildly tacky and very purple) apartment
near the south Central city limits, a concerned mother fussed over her
children. “You’re both all right? Really? You’re not hiding anything from me, are you?”
Rouge asked.
Rich held up his hands and made small pushing
motions. “Really, mom, we’re OK.”
Elly nodded.
“Right, nothing hurt,” she agreed.
She muttered under her breath, “Just my pride as the next Guardian.”
“What—“ Rouge started. A knock at the door cut her off. No sooner did she open it did a red echidna
brush past her and for her daughter.
“Daddy!” Elly exclaimed, hugging
Knuckles.
Knuckles hugged back.
“Are you all right? Not that I
don’t trust you or your mother’s abilities, but…”
The girl giggled.
“Of course I am. Barely anything
happened here!”
Rich rolled his eyes.
“‘Barely anything,’ my fuzzy red ass,” he muttered. “Did you happen to forget we were surrounded,
sis?”
The echidna girl turned to glare at him. “But we stopped them, right?”
Rich stretched out his wings and glared right back. “‘We’? Ha! I
stopped them, little miss guardian!”
Elly recoiled. “With my shard of the Master
Emerald!” she shot back. “And for your
information, the invocation doesn’t go ‘C’mon, baby, light my fire!’”
“It’s been seven years,” the boy bat said with a shrug,
“I can’t be expected to remember everything.
And it still worked, right?”
Knuckles rubbed the top of his head. “All right, let me get this straight. You got a reaction out of an emerald shard
that wouldn’t re-fuse to the Master Emerald?
Without the right words? And the reaction was powerful enough to take
down your attackers?”
Rich looked away.
“Well, er, yeah. And now Elly’s having a crisis, even though
I’ve said a million times I want nothing to do with guarding a giant green rock
for all eternity.”
Elly opened her mouth to protest calling the emerald a
“giant green rock”, but Rouge held up a hand and spoke first. “What I want to know is what was
powering those things that the Master Emerald—regardless of size—was able to
stop in its tracks.”
The echidna girl clapped her hands together. “I think I can show you!” She ran to a purple duffle bag in the corner
and pulled out a faintly glowing glass tube filled with something green. She showed it to the others and asked, “Could
this be it?”
The white bat went over and took the tube from her
daughter. “A chaos
drive…”
“A what?” Elly asked.
“A kind of power source, kind of like a Chaos Emerald,
but on a much smaller scale,” Rouge explained.
And still commonly used in GUN
machinery, she left unsaid. No doubt where the materials
for the robots are coming from now. She glanced over her
shoulder and saw that Knuckles looked like he had been slapped with a wet
mackerel. So he suspects something too…
“May I hold onto this, Elly dear?
I know someone who would be very interested about this.”
Elly shrugged.
“Sure. I don’t have any use for
it.”
The white bat hugged the girl. “Thanks, sweetie.” She gasped at the clock on the table. “Oh dear, I have to get going! Will you two be all right without me?”
Knuckles scoffed.
“Of course they will—“
“Thank you—“ Rich began.
“—because I’ll be here with them until you come back,”
the red echidna finished.
“—for nothing!” Rich also
finished. “We’re not
children! We can take care of
ourselves!” he complained.
Knuckles crossed his arms. “You’re my children, and it still
could be dangerous around here.”
“We were fine before!” the red bat protested,
moving up into his father’s face. “And since
you care so much about my safety, where were you earlier? And where were you when those Black
Arms wannabes were blowing up Grand Metropolis?!”
Knuckles bowed his head and looked away. “I’m… I’m sorry.
If I had any idea anything had been going on back then, I would’ve…”
Rouge pulled the younger back away from the elder. “Boys, boys!” she chided. “
“So, um…” Knuckles said, eyes darting around the room, “Do you still like ‘Hungry, Hungry Hippos’?”
* * *
Later, in the skies above Central City, a strange little
group met in a bird-themed airship. The
room itself was nice enough; the wood-paneled walls and a hardwood floor gave
the room a warm, if vaguely pirate-y look. There was a desk and chair in the room near
the windows, and folding chairs had been set out for the rest of the party. The
only fault with the place was it was clearly made for smaller species, not
humans. Ivo shot an evil look at Gordon,
who snickered at the doctor for hitting his head against the doorway for the
third time since they had boarded.
A
small woman, most likely a furry, stood close to the folding chair the
ex-commander. She looked like she had
stepped out of a noir movie, with her obviously fake red wig, long coat, hat,
and dark glasses. “I was unaware Carmen Sandiego had been invited today, Gordon,” the doctor said.
The
woman giggled. “This is my contact in
GUN. She insisted on sitting in,” Gordon
explained. “She, er,
wishes to remain anonymous.”
“I
see,” Ivo replied, “So what do you wish to be called, miss? I suppose Deep Throat would be cliché.”
“Whatsername,”
the woman said, keeping her voice low. “The missing link on the brink of destruction.”
The
doctor leaned against an empty chair. “Whatsername. Of course. Do you
have another contact named the ‘Jesus of Suburbia’, Gordon?” It was then he noticed a second unfamiliar
guest, this one a human male, roughly in his late 50’s and wearing a robe over
pajamas. Ivo squinted at him for a
moment. “Secretary of State Emyr, I
presume?”
“Sorry,
Eggbaby,” Rouge said, seated on the desk. “I couldn’t keep him out of it, not after…”
“Not
after a robot crashed through my bedroom at four in the morning,” Jason
finished, “I think I have a right to know what’s going on.” He paused.
“I’m sorry for my appearance, but I haven’t been able to get into my apartment
yet to change.”
“Perfectly understandable, Mr. Emyr, on both counts. It’s been
quite a day,” Ivo replied.
Jet
strode into the room, pulling off his goggles.
“I’m not late for the party, am I?” he asked, seating himself behind the
desk.
“We
were just meeting the new members of the cabal, pretty bird,” Rouge told him.
Jason
raised a hand. “Just what is the
point of this group in the first place?
And why has this terrorist targeted me?”
“Not
just you, Jay,” the ex-commander said, “He came after me as well. The bastard wrecked my home good, too. If I wasn’t visiting Ivo at the time…”
The
doctor stood up straight. “Our ultimate
goal is to stop this so-called ‘St. Jimmy’ from completing his mission,” he
explained.
“Which
is…?” Jason asked.
“Vengeance
on GUN, past and present,” Ivo replied.
The
Secretary of State leapt from his chair.
“And you’re keeping this from GUN?!
They need this information!”
Ivo
stood firm. “We have to keep what we
know silent. We have reason to believe
it’s an inside job.”
Jason
looked as if he had been struck. “An
inside job…? No, that couldn’t be!”
The
bat got down from the desk, produced a glass tube, and held it up. “Does this look familiar, Mr. Emyr?”
Jason
tilted his head at it and blinked. “A chaos drive?
Where’d you get that?”
“My daughter
got it out of one of the robots from today’s attack. One of Jimmy’s robots,” she
answered. “Convinced now?”
The
politician staggered back into his seat.
“One of our own’s trying to take out GUN… Unbelievable…”
The
doctor spoke up again. “I also have
reason to believe today’s attack was a failed bid for the Chaos Emeralds in my
possession.”
“Not
so failed,” Jason corrected. “
Whatsername
nearly hit the floor. Gordon swore. “He’s right, Ivo. He’s absolutely fucking right. Now what do we do?”
Ivo
shrugged. “Lie. Emeralds? What emeralds?”
“That
wouldn’t stop him. Not for long,”
Whatsername said. “And you could be arrested
for refusing to cooperate. I believe the
lyric that accompanied today’s attack was a warning to you. ‘I really hate to say it, but I told you so/ So shut your mouth before I shoot you down, old boy,’” she
quoted.
“It’d
stop him for longer than you’d think,” the doctor countered. “I’m still useful as a scapegoat if things
don’t work as he planned. It’s no more
than an idle threat.”
Gordon
shot him a look, crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat. “You never did tell me the full story
behind that.”
The
doctor tried ignoring him, hoping for a distraction. When none came, he sighed and pushed up his
glasses. “Very well. The truth. Years ago, after you had retired, Gordon, and
before the public finally accepted that I had changed, I received an
offer. Design a robot or two for GUN
use. Naturally, it was kept quiet. After all, why would they want to be
associated with a megalomaniacal madman?
I don’t know why I did it, looking back.
A vain attempt to keep them breathing down my neck, I suppose. But I gave them the ‘Blue Beetles’, the exact
same robots that have been used in the attacks.”
Whatsername’s
hand made swift contact with her face.
“And you named the models ‘Dan’, ‘Ted’, and ‘Jamie’, right?”
Ivo
brightened somewhat. “Oho! Yes, I did indeed. I like the company you keep, Gordon.”
“And
that’s why it has to be an inside job…” Jason murmured.
The
doctor nodded. “I’m afraid there’s no
other logical conclusion.”
The
politician glanced around the room. “A
couple things still bother me. Miles
Prower isn’t here. Knuckles
isn’t here. And you haven’t even
gone to Cmdr. Sonic yet with this, have you?”
“No,
we haven’t gone to him,” the doctor confirmed.
Jason
paled and balled his fists tight.
“Then… How far up the ranks is
St. Jimmy?”
No
one said a word for a long time. It took
Ivo to finally break the silence. “He
hasn’t been quite right for some time now, Mr. Emyr. The circumstances may be different, but I
know all too well the path he’s going down.
Everything I’ve done thus far to avert him from it has failed. But,” he said, “I am not one to give up so
easily. Not on him.”
The
politician remained frozen in his seat.
“So you’re telling me the Commander of GUN is the same person who’s been
tearing up cities?! Impossible, this is
all impossible!”
“If
it’s impossible, then why would he go after you, Jay? Why would he go after me?” Gordon countered. “The terrorist’s been going after soldiers who
were active in his younger days, and guess who was in
charge then, ‘Commander-in-Chief’.”
“If
you have another solution, I’d love to hear it, Mr. Emyr,” Ivo said without
sarcasm, “I’m not fond of the idea either.”
Jason
shakily rose from his seat. “I… I need something to drink…” he said hoarsely.
“Go
left when you go out the door, and it’s the door on the right at the end of the
hall,” Jet said, “and don’t forget to watch your head, Stretch.”
The
politician toddled his way to the door. “Jay!”
Gordon exclaimed. He started to get up,
but suddenly hissed and gripped the chair tightly.
The
doctor sighed and went to him. “Your
knee again, Gordon? And of course, you
forgot your cane again.”
“Shut
up and help me up,” Gordon grumbled.
Rouge
watched the pair leave the room, Gordon leaning on Ivo for support. “I swear, there’s something going on there, or at least there was,” she told Jet.
The
hawk made a face. “You worry me
sometimes, Bats.”
“I
always thought that Cmdr. Ansem had feelings for Mr. Emyr myself,”
Whatsername interjected, heading for the desk.
Jet’s
head met the desk. “Am I the only sane
one in the room? Yes? OK then.”
The
bat waggled her fingers at him. “We are slashers! Resistance
is futile!”
Jet
sat up and threw his hands up in mock horror.
“Oh no!
The gay will get me! Run
away! Run away!” he said with a laugh.
The
soft clack of a card hitting the desk interrupted their fun. “This is for you,” Whatsername said.
The
hawk picked up the card. It was a GUN ID
card with a picture of a brown-haired human.
“‘Patterson Horrocks’? What am I supposed to do this?”
“Whatever
you see fit. He loses his card about
once a month, so no one would bat an eye at it being missing or taken,” the
mysterious woman said. She pulled her
hat down lower. “We need more
information. No problem for a thief
descended from the legendary Babylonians, yes?
Especially with a former spy and someone on the inside
on your side.”
Jet
frowned. “If you’re on the inside, how
come you can’t do it? Not that I can’t,
of course.”
“My
loyalty is to GUN, Mr. Hawk. I—outside
of this—abide by the rules strictly, and the Commander is more observant than most
give him credit for. We can’t afford my
position being given away,” Whatsername told him.
“But
I’m expendable,” Jet said.
The
GUN member shrugged. “Pretty
much.”
“At
least you’re honest about it,” he replied.
The hawk’s eyes narrowed. “How do
I even know I can trust you?”
The
mysterious female raised her head, causing her glasses to flash. “Do you have much choice in the matter? Use it or don’t; just hurry. The Commander will no doubt go after the
emeralds soon.” With that, she turned
and left.
The
bat sat herself back on the desk. “Creepy.
But I hate to say it, but she has a point. The clock’s running down,
pretty bird.”
The
bird let out a soft “Hn.” “So it is, Bats. So it is.”
* * *
Whatsername
closed the door behind her and pressed her back against the wall so her
trembling knees wouldn’t just give on her.
She took off the hat and fanned herself with it. I don’t
know how much more of this I can take… she thought. All I
can do for now is leave it in the hands of a handful of old men, a thief, and a
spy, and watch the Commander. Her
glasses slipped down at the thought. … oh, yeah, we’re
doomed.
* * *
A little before 4AM that night…
The
office was clean, and the lock easy to break; a surprise on both accounts,
given who it belonged to. He
sighed. It wasn’t like he wasn’t
planning on doing this anyway, he thought, but he hated his hand being forced.
The
hawk had sifted through the filing cabinet, looked through the computer, and
had started on the desk drawers. So far,
all he had found was a list of retired GUN personnel, suggestive scanned
pictures of the commander’s echidna friend, and a small, barely touched bottle
of vodka. Great, a list of targets that he’s already hit, and proof he’s banging
the echidna. If I don’t find anything
useful soon, I’m takin’ the booze and leavin’, he thought.
He
sat in the desk’s chair and looked around the room. OK, if
I was Sonic, where would I hide my plans…? he thought
as he leaned on a rather ordinary notebook.
Inspiration hit like the hand he brought to his forehead. “Of course! It’s so obvious, it’s either brilliant or
really, really dumb!”
He
opened the notebook and flipped to the last page with writing. Inside, it said, “This game is starting to
drag on. I couldn’t get Shadow’s
emerald, and HE’S keeping more of them from me. He’s the only one who would possibly know
what’s running through my mind, and he’s the only one crazy enough to try to
‘save my soul’. He’s not gonna succeed, tho’. What he’s
trying to save died long ago, and I’ll now have the means to make my next
move. I will take GUN down and make the
world safe again, even if I go down with it!
As soon as I have the emeralds, I’ll…”
“You’ll
WHAT?!” Jet exclaimed as he read the rest.
“That’s insanity!”
A soft click. “I never claimed to be sane,” a
voice smoothly replied. Jet quickly shut
the book and looked at the doorway. The
commander was there, gun raised at the hawk.
“I’m lucky I came in early to finish some work, or I might not have
discovered you here,” Sonic said.
“I
guess this is where you ask me what I’m doing here and call security,” the hawk
said, voice slightly betraying his nervousness.
“No,”
said the commander. “No, it’s not.”
* * *
Saffron,
followed by a pair of human soldiers, was on the scene within a minute. “Sir! I heard a shot and…” The commander raised a hand. “Sir?”
Sonic
lowered his weapon and continued to look in the office coldly. “An intruder. He’s been… neutralized.” He turned and took a few steps away. “See to it this is kept quiet. News that HQ was broken into this soon after
an attack on Central itself would make us look even worse.”
Saffron
fought a shiver at his uncharacteristic coldness and saluted. “Y-yes, sir. We’ll get right on it, sir.”
The
hedgehog’s gun hand began to shake. He
grabbed his lower arm with the other hand and said, “Good. Now I… I need to be alone…”
“But,
sir, shouldn’t we—“ the lieutenant began, but it was
too late. The commander had already
broken into a run away from the scene.
Saffron pushed up her glasses.
“All right, Lumley, contact the MP and Dr. Whitfield. Sawalha, stay here
and be prepared to back me up in case this intruder wasn’t alone. I’m going to check things out in the office.”
The
soldiers saluted. “Yes,
ma’am!”
The
hare drew her weapon, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. This was going to be another long day.
*
End Chapter 4
Chibi’s notes:
Anyone surprised?
Poor Jason (who, by the way, is the President in game canon and was
named by the ever-fabulous Typical) sure was.
XD
St. Jimmy’s calling card is part of the lyrics from the
song “St. Jimmy”. How he got the name’s not terribly important and therefore likely wouldn’t
pop up elsewhere, so here is it.
I could not for the life of me resist the Blue Beetles
gag. Sorry.