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“I can’t believe it. Of all the stinkin’ cells to be stuffed in, I get to share one with you,” Nack snarled.
Nic smirked and flicked the wide brim of her hat. She crossed her legs, leaning her back into the cool, iron wall of their holding cell. If she had her blaster, then she would have replied with three warning shots through his hat to remind him of who was in charge.
“Well, don’t blame me for your incompetence. You never had a credible thought in your head,” she sneered, and Nack’s lip curled, his nostrils flaring.
“I don’t wanna hear it from the likes of you,” he spat, swinging his arm out and leaping off the opposite cot. He glanced at the thick, metallic bars, the shadows of the G.U.N soldiers looming across the tiled floor outside of their cell. One of them turned her head, focusing on Nack and resting her hand on her holster, the implication as clear as day to Nic.
Nack clicked his tongue and sat down. He shoved aside the blanket, letting it fall to the floor. Stray bugs crawled over it the moment it touched the ground. The only source of illumination was a flickering, swaying lightbulb, casting shadows across the siblings.
Nic focused on his hands. He kept them visible on his knees and rubbed his wrist. That way, she could trust he didn’t have a concealed weapon. Knowing her brother, he tended to keep his hands close to his rayguns, so for him to show them willingly assuaged her concern of being assassinated.
She hadn’t seen Nack since the Xorda invasion. After the apparent death of Sonic, she had returned to bounty hunting and lost all contact with him. She had brought in enemies of her clients and used her increasing wealth to provide necessary upgrades to her ship, the Bounty-One.
But all good things needed to come to an end. Rouge had defeated Nic during a heist and taken her into G.U.N custody for questioning. The bat said her arrest was due to her past affiliation with Dr. Robotnik, which Nic vehemently denied, claiming she had mistaken her for her brother.
Now, she was facing off with the very same brother who might have been pinning his crimes on her. He had a rap sheet spanning the entirety of the Kingdom of Acorn. While she had dabbled in villainy, the crimes he committed would have caused her to end up imprisoned for the rest of her life.
“So, what are you in for?” she asked, tapping her foot.
He waved dismissively. “Eh, you already know the basics. Attempted murder and attempted regicide are the big ones.”
She whistled. “I heard about your attack on Mina Mongoose’s concert, but which royal did you go after?”
“That whiny princess I tried ransoming off with some guys a while ago. Remember those weasels? Karl and the rest of ‘em.” He scoffed. “If only she didn’t knee me there, then I would’ve been able to retire early.”
Throwing her head back, Nic cackled. The enmity shared between her brother and Sally always made her laugh. Sally outwitted and outsmarted Nack during every single encounter regardless of the tricks he employed, which Nic appreciated. So long as Nack faced some prime mortification, Sally was golden in her book.
“What’s so funny?” he barked, lowering his voice when he caught eyes with the G.U.N. soldier.
“Listening to your failures always hysterical,” she said, shaking her head. “You’re so stupid that you keep repeating your same mistakes. It’s almost spectacular how many holes are already in your brain.”
“I’ll give you a few holes in your brain, you-!”
The soldier smashed her hand against the bars, rattling them. The wolf-weasels ceased their argument, the quiet disconcerting. The other soldier drummed his fingers on his holster, making a deliberate show of it when he walked in front of their cell.
They lapsed into silence. Muted chatter hummed throughout the holding area. Footsteps squeaked on the floor, followed by the sounds of sliding doors and idle grunts and insults tossed at the passing soldiers. Nic fanned herself with her hat, breathing out a sigh and glancing at Nack, who focused on the thin, gray, shapeless blanket on the floor, his face a perfect mask of complacency.
“What happened to that crew anyway? I haven’t heard from them too long,” Nic wondered.
“Oh, them? I left those goons a present in their dinner after I bailed out of jail,” he replied, itching behind his ear.
She made a noise of agreement. She decided to leave the subject at bay and stared at the lightbulb. Stray flies gathered around it, bouncing into it again and again.
“Are we done playing twenty questions?” Nack asked, hunching forward and resting his arms on his knees. He fiddled with his glove, rolling it to his palm to reveal a wristwatch. “Or can I finally get some shut-eye? It’s almost midnight, and I had these mooks chasing me all day.”
Her mouth quirked into a grin. She rose to her feet, languidly rolling her shoulders. The G.U.N soldier shot her a glance before returning to her conversation with her partner, and Nic wished she could have swiped the gun right out of her hand.
Dragging out the conversation was useless. Nack was on to her. The way he pressured her to speak invoked the childhood rivalry that followed them up to this moment. They focused on each other, neither of them making any sudden movements, lulling the guards into a sense of security.
“You know I never dealt with Robotnik,” she said, “but for some reason, G.U.N thinks I’ve done some dirty dealing with him.” She crossed her arms. “Quite a lot of dirty dealing, too, and all of them add up to you, not me.”
He rolled his eyes. “Oh, c’mon, you came to me with that assassination gig from those echidnas in Albion. As if you’re above working for the doc.” He hissed out a laugh. “Maybe you took an anonymous job off some sketchy bulletin board in the bar and didn’t realize it was him.”
“Don’t change the subject, and don’t try to make me out to be a two-bit crook sinking so low to work for Eggman. You got me into this mess, so you better get me out of it.”
Nack’s grin fell. He stared at her with wide, unblinking eyes. He raised his hand and opened his mouth, but he made no gesture and refused to speak. Her brother reminded Nic of a fool on the witness stand trapped in a lie, and the urge to strangle him rose in Nic’s twitching hands.
But then he chuckled. Nack threw his head back and snickered, his shoulders quaking. Heat darkened her cheeks as his laughter turned sharp enough for the soldiers to shout at him to stop, but he continued, and Nic demanded to know what he found amusing.
“You think I got you into this mess? Don’t blame me, sister!” he jeered, his tone shrill. “Like I said, you came to me with that job to kill Knuckles! You kept the heirs to the Goldenhive Colony hostage! That was all on you.” Nack pressed his back to the wall, still laughing. “And you who cares if I blame you for some of what I did? You’re still a wanted crook for all the reasons above!”
Nic clenched her fists, hunching her shoulders as the soldiers bellowed at Nack again for silence. She slowly shook her head, her blood boiling as Nack’s laughter reached a fever pitch. She shoved her hat back onto her head, the light too much for her stinging eyes, and she wanted nothing more than her blaster to silence him for good, just like what he did to his former gang members.
“And so what if I allegedly did that? You better get the facts straight! You worked with that geezer, not me, and you’re going to tell these military bozos the truth!” she commanded, bashing her fist into the wall behind her.
Nack clamped his lips shut, smirking. He shook his head and tapped his watch, Nic arching an eyebrow in return. He lifted his chin at the bars, and Nic peered at them, finding the soldiers with their guns trained on them.
But as they ordered them to return to their cots, an explosion rang out next to Nack. The wall blew inwards, barraging Nic with debris that thrust her onto the bed. Nic’s ears ached, ringing at such an intensity that she couldn’t hear herself scream. She screwed her eyes shut, feeling dust, rocks, and metallic particles barraging her bed, and she managed to duck underneath it, the screams of soldiers and prisoners alike filling her head.
“Yoohoo! Hey, hey! Boss-Man-Chief-Big-Kahuna, we got your ride! Make sure you tip your concierges well!”
The shout came out like a whisper. Nic peeked out, blinking sweat away from her eyes. Smoke filled her nostrils, poisoning her insides, and she covered her mouth, muffling her cough. As her ears rang, she squinted at the two hovering outside of the cell, the night sky and crescent moon mocking her.
Bean and Bark sat in the Marvelous Queen. In the sidecar, Bean spun an unlit bomb on his pinky finger. Bark sat in the driver’s seat but quickly shuffled into the farthest sidecar when Nack sprung off his tail and landed in his spot. Nack fixed his hat, his eyes gleaming with merciless delight as Nic gawked, the expression of absolute defeat crossing her face.
“Aw, what’s the matter, Nic? Didn’t expect this, huh?” he sneered, accepting the blaster Bark handed to him. He kissed the tip and placed it in his belt. “Good work, boys. Not a scratch anywhere. I think I’m gonna like this partnership.”
“Oh! It’s Nic! Hi, Nic! Fiona sends her regards!” Bean shouted, waving so quickly his hand was a white blur. He paused, tapping the underside of his beak. “At least, I think she does. Last time I heard from her, she was macking on Sonic and being heroic for free.”
Nic breathed out their names. She struggled to move, the cell bars parting. In her disoriented state, she couldn’t resist as a soldier snatched her tail and pinned her to the wall, her head throbbing upon impact.
Nack barked something at her that she couldn’t hear. She was glad, however, that the ringing in her ears overpowered what he said. Humiliation swept through her, and she gnashed down on her teeth so hard that her fang might have snapped in half.
He played her like a fiddle and threw her away when she lost all use to him. He took everything from her, their parents’ wealth, their ancestor’s mansion, and her dignity. And he did it with cunning that she hadn’t anticipated from someone as foolish as her brother, but she supposed the outcome should have been obvious.
He killed his accomplices. Why wouldn’t he eliminate his sister by pinning his crimes on her? She was competition, and he wanted to be number one, top of the charts, king of everything.
When she managed to pry her eyelids apart, Nack, Bean, and Bark were gone. She dropped her head, her hat falling off and covering her snout. At least the G.U.N soldiers wouldn’t see the tears stinging her eyes as they examined the destroyed cell, and she spiraled into self-loathing, her desire to see Nack pay encompassing her rational thoughts until one day, she no longer existed.