Sonic Waves (Espio 2)- Stem
Life in New Centro was always vibrant even in the hours awaiting sunrise there was a haze covered sky line like orange embers colliding with the fading night. I had become a permanent resident of "Frame Hotel". It was north of the central market place of the city. Near the river that ran through the city Frame Hotel was a more peaceful place than most. I'd grown to have rapport with the staff and management of the hotel and even knew a hand full of other guests. But I stayed away from a select few. They were dishonorable and uncouth .
Bean a duck with a knack for causing explosions , Bark the mute polar bear brute , and Fang the weasel their leader and sniper. I knew why they were in the city. They did business with the criminals that I made it my goal to alleviate the city of. Or perhaps I should say they tried to. They made their services known to anyone who would listen but no one in the right mind would hire them. Perhaps if they were actually in business with any organization I was going after I would have made more of an effort to deal with them.
It was the fist day of my new trials , I would take my first steps to heal the city that I meant to call my new home. I started the day as I always did. At 6am I awoke, by 6:30am I left my room and by 6:33am I would enter the lobby on my way out of the hotel. That morning Bean, Bark, and Fang or BBF were in the lobby sleeping. I believe they were late on payments for their room and attempting to protest their dismissals by staying in the lobby. I didn't have time to deal with them , I used my camouflage abilities to walk by without anyone seeing me. Before I could reach the revolving doors Bean sprung to life and grabbed me by my tail.
Bean- are we playing hide and seek
I came out of camouflage as the strange bird seemed to sense me without his sight.
Espio- no
I pulled away and continued to the door as quickly as possible. Once outside of the building I took to the rooftops. I moved swiftly and unseen to those under my aired footsteps. But I couldn't shake the feeling that I was not alone. I stopped my pace to check my surroundings. There was nothing, no one was there until i turned back to continue on my path. He was sitting there on a power box of the roof juggling an unlit bomb.
Bean- ninja guy moves very fast
I ignored the bird and stepped around him continuing on my way. To my displeasure he followed. He didn't possess my natural agility so he used the air discharge of multiple bombs to propel himself from roof top to roof top. His blunt method made my skillful covert method useless. I stopped once again.
Espio- why do you follow me
Bean- why does long tongue speak with so much base, why does Mr. ninja guy have such an unhappy face
He summoned yet another bomb and I quickly knocked it from his hands with a throwing knife.
Bean- hey
Espio- return to your friends , its not safe to follow me
It wasn't safe to follow me , but it was also very hard to conduct myself while being shadowed by a lunatic with the innate ability to summon explosives.
Bean- they won't mind that I'm gone
Espio- yes well... I do
I quickly ran and disappeared going from roof to street and into the crowd. I made it a meer 3 blocks before I realized Bean was infront of me. I pulled him into an alley way .
Espio- what will it take for you to leave
Bean- tell me what Mr. ninja is up to
Espio- important business
Bean- what kind of important business
Espio- the kind that is meant to be dealt with alone
Bean- but why
Espio- because people could get hurt
Bean- awwww Mr. ninja man doesn't want me to get hurt
I face palmed myself.
Bean- maybe you should hire us
Espio- what
Bean- long tooth has been saying we need business , no one else will hire us , maybe we can help you with your dangerous business
Espio- you want me to hire you and your clan of ... rental mercenaries
Bean- yea
Espio- no thank you
Bean - well what if I tag along and show you how useful we can be
Espio- Bean , you poor tormented bird those explosions must really be getting to you , I am an elite member of the Iron kingdom
Bean- you mean you were an elite member
Espio- how do you ... what would you even ... none the less I am a ninja warrior how would I ever work with outlaws who committe crimes for pay
Bean- for 300 an hour
Espio- what
Bean- wait no i think it was 3 thousand, or was it 3 dollars
Espio- I am not hiring you or your team... and how are you following me
Bean- by walking behind you
Such a strange duck. I appeared I was stuck with him for the day , or until his attention moved elsewhere. The purpose of the day was recon so as long as he stayed relatively silent I thought perhaps I could continue.
He couldn't not stay silent. I took the long way to my destination on the streets to avoid Bean's explosive means of movement giving me away but in doing so I gave him ample time to fill the walk with incoherent nonsense.
Bean- how many of those blades do you have , where do you pull them from , is it a black hole in your gloves, that's where I get my bombs , I get other things to, do you ever get pineapples , I get a lot of fruit
Espio- Bean .... can you please try to...
Bean- to what , hold my breath , count to a million, stand on one hand ,
Espio- be quiet
Bean- why
Espio- because I need you to
Bean- Why
Espio- because of my mission
Bean - why
Espio- because I'm trying to gather information and I cant do that if you continue to...
Bean- information on what
It was hopeless, eventually I tuned him out.
We arrived at the destination. City hall , first on my list of criminal doings to expunge from the city walls was Mayor Wolf Bain. People often forget that this particular wolf worked for Eggman on his own accord while majority of the city was forced to or even worse brainwashed or robotized. When the citizens were freed he claimed to be under Eggman's control but I like many other in the war know first hand just how little it took to make some join Eggman's regime, and Wolf Bain was definitely one of them. He always had a circus feel to his attire from his top hat to his ring leader suit and black boots. Its no surprise that he runs the city like a circus, how does the saying go? "You dress for the job you want".
I needed to understand how he conducted business if I meant to put an end to it. With my camouflage abilities I would be able to stand in the room while he did business without anyone ever knowing I was there. But with Bean the situation was complicated. Before entering the building I attempted to reason with the dynamite duck one last time.
Espio- Bean I need for you to stand here and do not move
Bean- but where are you going Mr. ninja
Espio- I have to go inside
Bean- but Ill miss everything if I stay out here
Espio- well ... I need you to stand guard
Bean- you mean like a job
Espio- yes , exactly, its your job to stand here and do not move
Bean- Long tooth will be so happy
Espio- yes long tooth and punch guy will be very happy but you have to do the job , and the job is ...
Bean- to stand here and not move
Espio- yes , perfect
Finally I seemed to have made progress so I proceeded to enter the building before the duck had any further questions.
Unfortunately I neglected to add how long I needed him to stand guard .