Chapter Text
Surge gave a low whistle as she looked out at the still smoldering wreckage of the Restoration airship in the distance. Her Gear’s engine rumbled to a stop as she parked. The green tenrec knew Clutch was some kind of messed up, but she hadn’t expected him to respond to losing by just dropping the airship like that. She honestly could barely believe she’d helped stop it from hitting the city.
“What d’ya think the odds are that we got lucky and the Blue Blur got himself killed in that crash, Drippy?” She asked her fennec fox companion as he pulled up next to her to park his own gear, half-joking.
“Slim to none.” He replied, with a sigh. “I already think I saw movement coming out of the crash zone.”
Surge gave Kit a soft nudge before offering him a fist bump. “Eh, can’t win ‘em all. Besides, your plan worked great. We’re free as…” Surge trailed off as Kit accepted her fist bump. She’d caught movement in the corner of her eye, and turned to see a now familiar duo approaching. A wolf and a lemur. “Crap.”
She was sick of running, and fighting would just lead to the same cycle repeating over and over… “Kit, follow my lead.”
Surge stepped off her gear and turned to face the two as they approached.
“Stretch. Squinty.” She greeted Tangle and Whisper with her colorful nicknames for them. ”With how you two reacted to his unmasking, I thought you’d be headed right after Mimic right now.”
“We were going too,” the lemur replied, being the more talkative of the duo as per usual. “But then we spotted some people looking like they were up to no good fleeing the scene.”
“Eh, you’re just sore still from the little shock I gave you earlier, I get it.” Surge responded casually folding her arms behind her head. “Question is, whatcha gonna do about it?”
Surge’s answer was a soft click as Whisper drew her whispon. The tenrec wished she could see past that mask and get an idea of the wolf’s emotions. She was impossible to read with it on. …Huh, that was probably part of the point, come to think of it.
“Easy Squinty, no need for that. I’ve got no intention of fighting with you.” Surge could practically feel Kit’s eyes boring into her even without him in her direct vision. At least the lemur looked equally confused. That was amusing.
“Why?” The wolf asked simply, her quiet voice almost missed even in the quiet.
“Simple. I’m sick of running in circles and getting nowhere. I give up.”
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Surge sighed as she laid on her bunk, staring up at the ceiling. This jail was almost insulting how little it seemed to be taking her and Kit seriously. Sure they came willingly, but they had to know Surge could open that door at any time, lock or no lock. She wasn’t sure when, but eventually this would get boring and then she’d-
“Tenrec. You’ve got a visitor.”
Surge jumped to her feet, looking at the gruff guard that was walking over to unlock the cell. Kit got up too and the guard immediately stopped.
“Just the tenrec. You have to stay here.”
Surge turned to Kit and gave him a pat on the head before heading to the cell door.
“Don’t worry Drippy, I ain’t gonna leave without you. See you in a few minutes.”
After letting Surge out, the guard led Surge down a hall to a room that was split in half by a large glass divider. On the far side of the divider was a familiar masked wolf.
“Well hey there Squinty, fancy seeing you here.” Surge said, walking over and hopping into a seat across from the wolf. “It’s hardly been a week and you already miss me?.”
“...No.” The wolf said, simply. “There have been… complications.”
“Ooo… Let me guess, the octopus slipped out of your grasp ‘cause you stopped to arrest us.” Surge smirked at putting that together, the silence from Whisper was more than enough confirmation. “Well, that’s neat, but I don’t see how that-”
“You are in danger here.” Surge stopped talking when the wolf interrupted. “And… there’s more, but I can’t get into it here.”
The wolf reached up and slipped her mask off, opening her eyes slightly. Surge wasn’t sure if she’d seen the wolf’s eyes open before.They were a similar blue to her own. Maybe they’d popped open in the fight they had when they first met, but she couldn’t remember clearly. Her attention back then had been split between too many things too quickly.
“Read this.”
Whisper slipped a piece of paper through a small slot in the glass divider. Surge opened it. It looked like some kind of official paperwork, or part of some at least. She scanned over it uninterested at first… until she noticed her own and Kit’s names. Then she started reading more carefully. The paper was… requesting their release? This couldn’t be right.
“What is this, Squinty? Did you come here to mock me with a fantasy?” Surge growled, shoving the paper back through the slot.
“No. The offer is genuine.” Whisper replied, still quietly. “Again, can’t get into the why here. Too many eyes.”
Surge suddenly got why Whisper was being so dodgy. Mimic got away. Surge had seen Mimic turn back and forth between his disguise as Duo…
“He might be here?” She asked, lowering her voice to match Whisper’s own. Whisper closed her eyes and nodded. “Can’t risk him learning anything he can use. Got it. So what’s in it for you if Kit and I get out? There’s no way you trust us enough to let us walk free.”
“That’s… somewhat true. The Diamond Cutters would like to recruit you both to fill a vacancy.”