FicWad

“Organized crime?!” Sonic and Sonia shouted.
“What were you thinking?” Sonia asked.
“The money was great.” Manic replied. “It’s not like our family could afford college and I didn’t want to join the military like you two.”
Sonic rolled his eyes. “Because joining organized crime where they do things like burn your house down where your family could’ve been killed is so much better.”
Manic sighed. “I got out before I married Jade.” He said. “The rules of the guild is that, if you do a job for the kingpin (who’s in charge of the entire thing), your debts are canceled and you’re free to leave.”
“Debts?” Sonia asked.
“Jobs for someone in the guild.” Manic replied. “I owed Ivo Robotnik (who was the grandson of Gerald the kingpin) a job, but my debt was supposed to be cancelled when I left the guild.”
Sonic and Sonia nodded.
“Anyway, they found out that Shadow, my friend in the guild, became an informant for GUN when he left the guild.” Manic said. “Because no one wants to cross Shadow and because I was his only friend in the guild, Gerald and Ivo called up my debt. I refused and you can guess what happened next.”
“Shadow… that name sounds familiar.” Sonia said.
“Do you know Rouge?” Manic asked. “She works for GUN and was married to Shadow.”
Sonia smiled. “Yes, she’s my mentor.”
Manic winced. “She’s dead.”
Sonia and Sonic’s jaws dropped.
“Dead?” Sonia asked.
Manic nodded. “Y’see, Shadow had gotten out of the guild and I asked for his help.” He replied. “I felt he had the right to know he had a death warrant and I wasn’t about to try to kill a master assassin.”
“They… I don’t know what’s more disturbing.” Sonic said. “The fact my brother was nearly forced into being a hitman, that he was in organized crime, or that he’s friends with a killer.”
“Well, he killed some pretty vile Mobians and people.” Manic replied. “Pedophiles, traffickers, rapists; those types.”
Sonic sighed. “I wish I didn’t know any of this about you.”
“I’m sorry, bro.” Manic said.
“I hate to ask, but, anyway?” Sonia asked.
“So we’ve been out all day yesterday trying to deal with this.” Manic replied. “Rouge got killed when we went to confront Gerald. Poor Shadow lost his adoptive sister and his wife on the same day and had to see it happen.”
Sonia slowly nodded. “So you need my help.”
“I told Shadow I’d talk to you, then he’d meet up with us after the funerals.” Manic said.
Sonia pulled out her phone. “Rouge was a great friend,” She said. “I have to go to her funeral.”
“What do I do?” Sonic asked.
“Keep a low profile and let my family stay with you until we sort this out.” Manic replied.
“At least I got an easier job.” Sonic muttered.
*
Sonia and Manic approached Shadow as he was leaving the cemetery.
“We were here for the whole funeral.” Manic said.
“I think Rouge would’ve liked it.” Sonia said. “I was her protégé in GUN.”
Shadow nodded. “Thanks for coming.” He replied. “We may as well discuss things now. Meet me at my house.”
*
Shadow handed Manic and Sonia their cups of coffee, then sat down across from them. “Gerald wasn’t at Maria’s funeral.”
“He didn’t have the decency to go to his own granddaughter’s funeral?” Manic asked.
Shadow shook his head. “I expected as much.” He replied. “He’s probably in Hamarapi by now.”
Manic sipped his coffee. “So is that where we have to go now?”
“Yeah, but there’s a problem.” Shadow said.
Manic groaned. “Should’ve known. What is it?”
“There’s a bounty on both of us.” Shadow replied. “We’ll have every member of the guild looking for us.”
“Of course.” Manic muttered.
“Maybe we should call GUN in for this.” Sonia said.
“Because Gerald has someone in GUN paid off.” Shadow replied. “I’m not as concerned about any of the guild members.”
Sonia’s jaw dropped. “It’s just the three of us against an army.”
“I'm a one hedgehog army.” Shadow said.
Sonia scoffed. “You’re more arrogant than Sonic is.”
“Sonic can’t back anything he says up.” Shadow replied. “Sure, I’ve heard of him. He’s fast, but not as fast as me. He’s definitely not more powerful than me.”
Sonia rolled her eyes.
“It’s a very guarded secret that Gerald has several degrees in science.” Shadow said. “He had some dealings with the military, maybe that’s why he has GUN in his pocket. Anyway, he was contacted to do some experiments for a super soldier program.”
“That’s unethical.” Sonia replied. “That wouldn’t be allowed.”
“That’s why it was kept quiet.” Shadow said. “Anyway, they didn’t allow unwilling human test subjects and no human would agree to it. Mobians are fair game, especially ones who were too young to know what was happening.”
“You were the test subject.” Manic replied.
“That was why he took me in.” Shadow replied. “So he did the experiments and trained me as soon as I was three years old.”
Sonia and Manic winced.
“GUN ended the project when I was eight.” Shadow said. “They seemed to think I had a problem with authority and didn’t want a weapon that could potentially turn against them.”
Manic nodded. “I can see that.”
“So we have nothing to worry about.” Shadow replied. “The only ones who knew about the experiments were the GUN commanders, Gerald, and me. Not even Rouge or Maria knew about it. I wasn’t even going to tell you two about it.”
Sonia shook her head. “I still don’t see how you can take on an army.”
Manic rubbed the back of his head. “I… I don’t know. Maybe.” He said. “I saw him kill a guy with a chopstick once. A wooden chopstick.”
Sonia raised an eyebrow. “Were you high on something?”
Manic glared at Sonia. “I don’t use drugs, sis.”
Shadow got up. “Our flight leaves in five hours.” He said. “Start packing.”