Finally the first pic of mine for 2020. Unlike in episode 19 there is no elevator scene for this chapter. That will come in later as it makes more sense to do it then. Also I’m still confused and uncertain about the rest who I know online. Only a few I trust fully on the art sights who seem to get my passion wholly and get me. Some are those I can’t trust anymore and don’t fully understand me. Although I know some of the good things that will happen for 2020 I’ve got a bad feeling about other things. Also the one who is saying Meika belongs with that asshole lupine, would they please stop? It’s not funny at all. Knock that shit off. They aren’t ever getting back together. It’s the person who hates me the most. And it turns out someone is opening commissions again. If my Meika or anyone else I love is in them, I'll be making art to counter the horror of them.

X

Racing World

To Answers

“Ashley? What’s going on here?” Tag asked her again.

Meika noticed that Nicholas was looking at the feline with anger. No, the look in his eyes was more than that. It was of hatred for catching the feline like this like she had betrayed them. “Isn’t it obvious?!” Meelo stated. “She’s-“

“Whoa, whoa,” Sonny said, cutting of the male chameleon. “I’m sure there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation why she’s here.”

Those from Aispir City who knew what was going on with the enemy had the same look as the husky. The only ones who didn’t have that look were Jacob, Sig, Florence, and her guy. They were all just as shocked as Meika and Tag. “Oh, yes,” Meelo snapped. “I’m sure there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation why she placed a tracking device on me, disabled my security, hacked my systems, and broke into my room!”

“Meelo, let her explain,” Tag told him sternly.

“Ashley?” Meika asked her again.

The feline’s face fell. “Think very carefully about what you say next,” Nicholas growled. “This could get really ugly depending on your answer.”

Ashley didn’t say anything. Until she let out snort. But the sound was one that made everyone else very uneasy. The kind someone evil would let out. “I’m sorry…” the feline stated. “I didn’t expect Meelo to be this good.” She looked up, the look in Ashley’s eyes and smile more disturbing as it was one of showing true evil colors. “I never thought in the end I would be caught like this.”

Nicholas saw her right paw move. “GRAB HER!” he roared.

It was too late, the female pulled out a smoke bomb and threw it on the ground. It exploded, filling the room with smoke. Everyone but the feline began to cough as they couldn’t do anything. They heard her moving and some tried to get Ashley, but she was too quick. “Stupid idiots,” the feline said coldly.

The evil female did knock some of those to the ground. “WHY?!” Meika asked through her coughing. “We were friends! Doesn’t that mean anything to you?!”

The door to Meelo’s room opened and Ashley began to step out. “We never were,” Ashley replied in the same tone as before. “I was just using you and everyone else to get close enough to strike. My job here is finished.” She let out a small evil laugh

“ASHLEY!” Nicholas was able to yell despite the coughing. The smoke was beginning to clear now that the door to the room was open.

“I’ll be sure to tell my bosses to have the others keep an eye on you guys. My boyfriend certainly will. I’m sorry that it had to come to this.” The feline then ran for it.

“Hey!” Meelo shouted with most of the smoke now gone. “Come back! Don’t think you can just-!”

“It’s too late, she’s gone,” Victor stated angrily and checked outside. There was no sign of the feline.

Everyone was alright despite the smoke which was gone now. “What was she doing, anyway?” Miles asked the chameleon. “Anything valuable in there?”

“Oh nothing of real importance,” Meelo replied sarcastically. “Just a few of my prototype inventions, access to all my private data and, oh yeah- King’s black box!”

Those who didn’t know what was going on were even more confused. But out of the ones that did know what was going on, only Nicholas knew about the significance of this item having been told by Riq thanks to Tamira letting him know about that thing. His eyes went wide with shock. “WHAT?!” Tag and his group of friends all asked.

Meelo rushed inside and found it was still there. While it was true Ashley could have taken it, she hadn’t as those hadn’t been the orders. Tag and his friends followed him and saw it was still there. “What’s it doing here?!” the tiger stated. “You told me you had it stashed away in a safe place!”

“This IS the safest place I can think of!” Meelo exclaimed.

“Well that seems to have worked out beautifully,” Miles shot back.

While everyone in that room was talking, Nicholas and the rest who were in the other room weren’t doing any better. The husky was growling, pacing back and forth. “Nicholas?” Miss Ballard asked, her boyfriend looking to him with concern.

“What?!” he snapped back.

“Look, we’re just in as much shock as you,” Kira stated. “Ashley-“

“Don’t. Even. SAY HER NAME!” Nicholas roared and pounded his fist into one of the walls here in anger and frustration.

“CALM DOWN NOW!” Victor snapped at the husky coming over and punching the husky straight across the face. Everyone was shocked by the avian’s actions. “You’re not the only one who feels this way! So stop acting like this! Now!” The husky rubbed where he had gotten hit but that had done the trick.

For Tag and the others, the tiger and Miles decided they were going to talk to King about this. “Wonderful,” Meelo replied sarcastically again. “You guys do that. Meanwhile… I’ll check if anything’s been tampered with. Or worse.” The guy sat down at his computer and began to type on the keyboard. “Tamira’s not going to be happy about this.”

Meika left the secret room after Tag and Miles. She saw the others here were beginning to leave with Jessica to check her systems as that female stated it. The others would do their own thing. The vixen turned to Nicholas but one look showed he was in no mood to talk. The female who loved him hoped that the male with glasses would go back to his normal self. Of course after something like this, the vixen doubted it would be easy to do so. “I’m going to make a call,” he grunted and left.

Nicholas got to his room and used a similar device to scramble the call like what Meika and Tag had. It was to Riq. “It’s me,” he stated after the tiger picked up. “I’ve got bad news.” The husky then went on to explain what had happened. “Nobody suspected it was Ashley who was working for the enemy. It’s obvious now we need help.” There was then a moment where Tag’s father said some things. “You really think so? It’s that time to tell the rest everything?” There was a pause. “I think so to. I think it’s time we meet him. But how?” Riq explained that.

“That cleaver lion Mr. Mane,” Nicholas stated with a smile. “It’s a good story and will work. We’ll be able to meet up for sure that way. Right, I should go.” Nicholas hung up.

Meanwhile Tamira was walking down one of the hallways. She turned a corner and saw Vyxx sitting right in front of her. The feline came to a stop. “Off for another play date with the lizard, Tammy?” the hyena asked. “Or… is it a slumber party this time?”

Tamira’s mind was racing at Vyxx’s words. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the pantheress replied sternly and began to take some more steps down the hall.

Vyxx let out a laugh. “Aw, no need to play coy with me, girl!” she stated in a playful manner. “I know you’ve been sneaking off to his room every now and then.”

Tamira stopped when hearing that and turned to face the hyena. The two exchanged eye contact, the hyena bearing trickery, the feline a glare. “What I do is none of your business,” Tamira stated firmly. “Keep it that way. If you know what is good for you.”

Vyxen stood up, tsking. “Pumpkin, unless you can back up all that big talk, don’t make threats you can’t keep,” the second female replied, done playing games. “So watch what you say. If you know what’s good for you.” Tamira glared back, not backing down. “Better not keep Meelo waiting.” Vyxx’s tone went back to normal. “I’m sure you’ve got a whole romantic evening to get to.” The hyena began to walk away. “Unless you two are plaining another break-in, that is.”

Tamira heard that and she flinched in surprise and shock, her mouth slightly open. Nobody should have known about that from last racing season when stealing the black box. “Who knows what you crazy kids are up to these days? Ta-ta!” Vyxx disappeared around the corner Tamira had originally gone around.

The pantheress began to move, pulling out her phone and contacting Tag’s father. “Riq, it’s me,” she stated. “We’ve got a problem. A big one.”

Meanwhile Tag and Mile were riding one of the elevators to get to the floor King had his office at. The tiger was going over his theories as to why Ashley had acted that way but they were all ridiculous. The Ark by this point was up in the air as the storm clouds seen outside the window of the office of the hippopotamus could be seen and not the ground. He was typing on the keyboard of his computer. Torres then informed him that Tag and Miles were here to see him. “I’ll see to them,” he told the rabbit.

He rose up as she left. The door to the office opened up and in walked the tiger and owl. “Well this is an unusual hour for a social call!” King said. “If I had known that-“

“We didn’t come here to chat, King,” Miles cut him off sternly.

“We’re here to talk about Ashley,” Tag stated.

“What about Ashley? Is she sour for being taken out of the race?”

“Enough with the games, King!” Miles said. “You know what we’re talking about.”

The hippopotamus let out a sigh. “I knew it was only a matter of time before you discovered her side activates. Her luck was bound to run out sooner or later. I just thought she was better covering up her tracks.”

“You two-faced snake!” Tag exclaimed, slamming both of his palms on the desk. “You promised you wouldn’t play dirty!”

“Watch your tone, boy,” King stated sternly.

“What have you got on her, King?! Why is she working for you?!”

“Working for me?!” the hippopotamus exclaimed, standing up from his chair. “I have nothing to do with her orders! You think I’m thrilled that my bosses place more trust in her than in me?!”

That sentence made Miles’s and Tag’s eyes go wide with shock. “…you’re bosses?” the tiger asked.

King then realized he had let his tongue slip by the look on his face. “I have nothing to do with Ashley,” the male said, his face going back to normal. “You want answers? Go ask her yourself.” He then looked to Miles. “Keep your boy on a leash.”

“Come on, Tag,” the owl told the tiger. “Let’s go.” The said male gave King the hand gesture he was watching him closely.

“We got it all wrong,” Tag then said to Miles once they were out of the office. “Ashley isn’t working for King. She’s working for his bosses.”

“After we stole the black box… King did mention he answers to people.”

“The Ringmasters,” Tag stated.

“I think it’s time to call Riq,” Miles said.

“I think you’re right.” The tiger then sighed. “Of all people… why Ashley?”

The feline herself in the meantime had made it off the Ark but not before taking care of a few things. She was flying through the air on a small private plane and in contact with Pike. “Sorry love, but I was caught,” she told him. “I did plant the device near Meelo’s system. Vyxx was right, the black box was there.”

“No matter,” came the lupine’s reply. “You did your job well gorgeous.”

“So now can you tell me what it does?” Pike told her gleefully and the feline got an evil grin. “Yes… that will be quiet the thing when it goes off. I’ll be heading back to High Command and do what I can from there. They won’t be able to find me. I took care of my car and computer before jumping off the ship.”

Her words proved true. All data on her system had been deleted when Nicholas and the others form Asipir checked on her room. There were no special glasses as well. Her car’s entire system had been fried beyond repair. “Damn… she covered her tracks well,” the husky growled when seeing these things. “We have no way of finding her.”

The news reporters also noticed the feline’s disappearance as well. King and Mr. Mane told the press the feline had left due to personal reasons and that was all they could say. Meanwhile Sonny was watching this on the T.V. in Meelo’s room. The bear asked the chameleon if he had seen all that stuff. “I’ve been too busy turning that room upside down to be concerned with trivial T.V. news,” the chameleon stated, coming out of the room where the black box was.

“Hey, I did offer to help you out!”

“One: you wouldn’t know what to look for. Two: you wouldn’t know how to look for it. And three: you’d only get in my way.”

“Alright, alright,” Sonny stated. “I get it.” He turned back to the T.V. and saw Ashley’s picture on the screen. “We’ve spent the last couple of days trying to find her. It’s like she just vanished.”

“That’s a shame. I would’ve liked to know why she planted THIS in my room.” The chameleon placed Xeno’s device on the table he had sat down at.

“This is all you found?” The bear picked it up to get a closer look. “What is it?”

“A simple system scrambler. Can’t imagine why it’s so big though. I could’ve built a better one in my sleep.”

Just then Sonny’s phone went off and the guy answered it after handing the thing back to Meelo. The guy replied to whoever it was on the other end of the line before hanging up. “That was Tag,” the bear said. “He wants to meet as his garage. Something important.”

Everyone else got that message and met the tiger there. Tag explained to them that he had gotten a message from Mr. Mane to meet up and that it was important. Tamira confirmed this to and that was good enough for them to trust that this was real. What they didn’t realize what that this had been arranged by the lion. The Ark was landing in Aispir City for a few days so he could deal with some business and not have to travel like last time. It was a good story and a good way to make sure it would work for finally letting those on the side of good know the true enemy they were fighting against. It was the same for those in the police force. Only the number of investigators working on it had dwindled down to only a few due to the fear of what High Command and the Ringmasters could do to make sure anyone that stood in their way was eliminated. Besides Mane, there was Hart and two others. And they were asking Tag, his friends, and those who didn’t know what was going on to meet the lion and his wife later that night outside the Ark. They all gathered although Meika was wondering why the rest including Nicholas wasn’t here. She did remember the conversation she had with him before leaving. “I can’t say why I’m not going with you,” the husky had said. “But I promise in just a little bit you’ll learn why.”

“Okay,” the vixen replied and the two had a loving hug. Now in the present the ones gathered here saw Mr. Mane, his wife, and the investigators. “I’m glad you made it,” the male lion said Everyone was in their regular clothes.

“So… why gather us?” Jacob asked.

“The time has come for you to hear everything that we know,” Mr. Mane stated. “From us and others. And that is to why things have happened as they have with this whole tournament so far with some of the racers. And now that it’s come to this, we’re going to need your guy’s help to fight against this.”

“Us?” Meika asked. “What can we do?”

“You’re in a different position than us and as such can see and hear things that we can’t. It’s funny… But I think he was waiting for something like this to happen all along.”

“Wait, who?” Sonny asked.

“It’s the one helping us lead the investigation into the corruption that is the racing tournament,” Hart answered. “You have more friends and others who will help you fight than you were aware of. We’re going to meet up with him tomorrow morning which is why we had you come here outside the Ark to tell you. And we need all the help we can get.”

“Aren’t there more?” Tamira asked.

“It’s far more complicated than that,” Mr. Mane stated. “Before this investigation began, there were a number of others who distrusted the one leading it. And once we got started, we had detectives resigning left and right.”

“So in other words, he was weeding out the ones who weren’t totally committed,” the snapping turtle said. “Now that we know who are, the time has come for us to really make a move.”

“So what do you say?” Mr. Mane asked. “Will you help us?”

“I’m in,” Meika replied. “Nicholas did tell me I would learn why he’s not here. And after what Ashley did I have to know why she did what she did.”

“Count me in,” Sonny said. The rest agreed. They were then given an address for a hotel in Aispir City and the time to meet in the wee hours of the morning. It would certainly work as they were able to come up with different excuses for leaving the Ark that were very believable. That’s why everyone rose up before the time and left the Ark. But Meelo had the black box with him and Xeno’s device. The former had been requested and seeing as how Tamira trusted these people, the guy agreed. He had been suspicious but in the end said he would bring it.

In the hotel room he was staying at, Zero was looking out one of the windows here at the still dark city. He was going to be switching hotels every few days just to be safe. “Ringmasters and High Command,” the male thought in his head. “It seems our moves is getting us closer in equal steps. It’s only a matter of time before I or the others collide with one of your members. So be it. I’m ready to show my face. I’ll make my first public appearance as Zero. If any of you or your agents were to find out about this secret meeting, I’m sure you feel compelled to move in. That’s what I’m counting on.”

The ones coming here met up in different groups at different times but timed it so they were all there just 30 minutes apart. They went up to the floor where the room was. Mr. Mane knocked on the door. “It’s unlocked,” came the voice of Zero, not distorted after hearing him turn the lock. “Please, let yourselves in.” The time had come for answers at last.

X

Ugh. I have to say when it comes to the elevator scene that's going to be a bit hard to see it when the time comes. Also seeing what happened to my Meika in the episode wasn't easier as well. And for the one saying Meika belongs with that asshole lupine, get it in your head it's Ashley's who's with him canon wise. Not my Meika.

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