RPG Sonic the Hedgehog: Long Lost... [M-LSV]

[Kei]

[color=darkblue][size=1]The hour was late and most of Station Square?s more honest citizens had gone home for the night, leaving the night life to have free reign over the city. There was one, however, that remained in his office past hours.

Shadow sat in his luxurious office, staring hard at his father, the chief scientist on his latest project. The look in his eyes was one of impatience as the old man continued to go on explaining the consequences if it were allowed to continue.

?The possibilities of what can happen are cataclysmic! The entire world as we know it would be completely and utterly destroyed! There is no way that you can do this, son!?

Shadow?s eyes narrowed as he leaned forward in his chair.

?I know exactly what can happen. That?s what I want to happen.?

?...But why? Why would you want Mobius destroyed? What purpose would it serve??

?My purpose.?

Jules could only look in shock as realization dawned on him of what his son wanted to accomplish. Taking a firm stance, he walked over to the desk and slammed the research he?d brought with him on the table.

?I will not let you do this!?

?You say that as if you?ll be around to stop me.?

Jules only had an instant to allow a puzzled look come across his face before he felt a sharp pain in his back. Phasing back into visible form, Espio stood behind the good doctor, still holding the dagger he?d just used to kill him.

?Get rid of him.?

Espio nodded quickly and disappeared once more with Jules? corpse in tow. Keita, who?d remained quiet during the entire interaction walked over to the desk and leaned slightly on the edge facing Shadow.

?He might have been useful in the end,? she said, leaning towards him. ?There?s still a lot you don?t know about how to actually do it.?

?I know enough. And I have access to all the files he has stored on my mainframes. And beside that, he would have only gotten in the way in the end. I have no time nor patience for meddlers.?

?Hm. Well, at least we agree on that point. So what now??

?Now...We go home for the evening. But tomorrow, you?ll be paying my dear little brother a visit.?

?So soon? But I thought you wer??

?Not for that. Just to see ?how he?s doing.??

Keita narrowed her eyes slightly as she caught on to Shadow?s implication. She chuckled slightly and pushed off the desk, walking toward the door.

?You can be a heartless bastard sometimes, you know that? I?ll go get the car pulled around.?

As she closed the door behind her, Shadow turned around to face his fantastic view of the Station Square skyline. As he looked on at the bright lights and faint stars, he could only say one thing.

?Oh, my dear Keita. You have no idea...?[/size][/color]

[Talon]

[color=royalblue][i]Sonic the Hedgehog was not in the best of moods. No, he decided as a rather intense shot of pain filtered through his body from the still-unhealed cracked ribs he was currently favoring. Leave it to Knuckles to crack his ribs in a fight, Sonic thought sardonically. He'd had to be extra careful in the fight, though the injury did lever the odds of the betting against him. Sonic grinned at that, he'd bet all the rings he'd had on that fight, and it had payed off well.

Sonic was five thousand rings richer, which meant Bernadette finally got the treatment she needed. Sonic sighed as he geared his bike into the parking lot of the apartments he and his mother lived in. One more fight like that, and Sonic would be able to get himself and his mother that house he'd been looking into. Sonic smiled, his mood heavily improved even as he pulled out his paycheck envelope.

And dropped it in shock. Today was just his day. An extra hundred rings was contained in his check. He'd have to talk to his boss, a man affectionately called Uncle Chuck by his patrons and employees, about it in the morning. Briefly, Sonic wondered what his coworkers Antoine D'Coolette and Bunnie Rabbot were up to together, but shook that thought out of his head. If his day today was being great, his day tomorrow would be Hell.

He needed to get Bernie to the Medical Center fast. Sonic sighed.

Why couldn't he just get some time to work on his bike or his guitar without worrying about anything? Just as Sonic turned the corner to his apartment, the key jangling down in his hand, a pink-and-red blur impacted his bruised chest.[/i]

[b]Amy:[/b] SONIC!!!! WherewereyouIwassoworriedaboutyouwhenIdidn'tseeyouatworkafterhoursand-

[i]Sonic shoved the talkative blur back a moment, cutting it off and catching the breath knocked out of him by his would-be girlfriend. Sonic frowned and shook his head.[/i]

[b]Sonic:[/b]Amy, watch it! You know my ribs can't hold up like that!

[i]The pink hedgehog sniffled briefly before she saw the extra rings in Sonic's pocket. Spying the questioning look in Sonic's eyes, she nodded and ran off, suddenly chipper again. Sonic sighed in exasperation and opened his apartment door to the sight of a completely bare living room. Sonic sighed and pushed his way back to his mother's room, pushing his dog Muttsky out of the way when he reached her door. He knocked the door and opened it, finding his mother awake and watching her small T.V.[/i]

[b]Sonic:[/b] Hey, Mom, I got some extra cash working overtime today.

[i]Bernadette smiled. She dearly loved her son, and she was happy to know he wouldn't have to spend all of his paycheck on her yet again. She merely nodded.[/i]

[b]Sonic:[/b] We gotta get you to the treatment center, Mom. Come on, it's just one more ride, then we can get back on our feet.

[i]Bernadette's smile faded somewhat. If Sonic had enough for the treatment and hospital stay, then that meant "overtime" was another fight.[/i]

[b]Bernie:[/b] Sonic Theodore Hedgehog, I would be very put out if one day you bite more than you can chew in one of your fights these days!

[i]Sonic merely hung his head as he helped his mother out of bed and down the hall, to where Amy was waiting.

Sonic and Amy, together, settled Sonic's mother in the passenger seat of Ami's Overland two-seater. Sonic returned to the apartment, put some kibbles out for Muttsky, and locked up before heading for his bike.

Sonic briefly wondered why today was so good to him. He shrugged and revved the enging, following Ami to the Station Square Medical Center. His mother would finally get better.[/i][/color]

[Sakura]

[COLOR=Navy]Tails walked along the familiar dull grey sidewalks. He stopped infront of a large, bent gate. He looked forwards and saw the rundown place he used to call home. Though now a days, he didn't exactly have a set home, the only real place he called home now was at his bestfriend's house, Sonic. Just a few minutes ago, Tails had called Sonic on his cell phone and he had told him that he was going to go home first, then to the Medical Center with his mom. Tails told him that he'd meet them there in a while, telling Sonic he was visiting 'The Orphanage', and here he was. Tails sighed, remembering the time he escaped, those two years ago, which felt like forever. He would visit the place now and again, just to talk to some old friends and encourage younger kids that had been left there, that everything would be fine. People often didn't know that Tails had a soft side, that he actually had emotions, despite his cold, outer shell. The reason he encouraged the younger kids was because he knew how it felt to be dumped at such a young age, even though it wasn't his parents' fault for dying, with no one to confide in or to comfort them.

Tails shifted his full backpack and vaulted the gate, as usual and walked up the long, pot-holed road that led up to the daunting, grey, stone building with his gloved hands buried deep into his navy blue cargos. A cold wind blew past, ruffling the fringe that stuck out of the back-to-front baseball cap. He approached the door and gripped the cold metal handle, pushing down and forwards to open the door. It was warmer inside, though it was still made of the same grey stone of the exterior. He walked through the halls, memories flloding his mind as they always did whenever he visited. Tails' footsteps echoed as he walked, he passed the front office, flashing a small smile to the people inside as he walked past. He turned a few corners as he headed toward the Recreation Room, one of the only rooms in the building that had carpet. He swung the door open and smiled as the occupants beamed and looked up from whatever they were doing. The keeper in-charge looked up from the book she was reading to a few of the children, smiling softly.

"It's good to see you again, Miles." she said, standing, and placing the book on the chair she had stood from.

Tails winced, hating his given name, but he continued to plaster the smile on his face, remembering how well she had taken care of him when he had lived there.

"It's good to see you again too, Martha." he replied, embracing her lightly as she hugged him.

"The children have been waiting for you eagerly, Miles. Will you be all right on your own?" she asked.

"I'll be fine, don't worry. Go take a rest, I'll call someone in before I leave." Tails said, leading her to the door.

"Thankyou, We'll catch up again, another time."

"Sure." Tails said, smiling warmly. She hugged him again before leaving, Tails closing the door behind her.

"So guys, what do you wanna do today?" he asked, grinning.

They shouted what they wanted, jumping up and down frantically. Tails laughed and sat down with them, taking off his backpack, setting it on the ground, and letting them calm down and agreeing about what they would do.

The time he spent at the orphanage was a few hours, the first couple were together as a group, playing and having fun. The last hour or so was spent, one-on-one with some of the children that were having problems. Tails answered their questions and helped them in any way he could. Finally it was time to go, he checked the time on his watch. He said farewell again and left the room, after getting the children to promise to behave, or at least until the keeper got back. They agreed and he left.

Tails walked back through the hallways, stopping at the front office to get another keeper to look after the children. He stayed for a few minutes, talking to the receptionists, asking about some of his friends that weren't there, they told him that they had either been released, or adopted. Tails said he was happy for them and left, saying he had to go.

Tails walked out the front door and back down the battered road, to the old gate, jumping over it again and making his way to the Medical Center. He felt a wet drop fall onto his nose and blinked up at the sky, it was a gloomy grey and the clouds were dark with rain. Tails pulled his hood up over his head and continued on, hoping that it wouldn't rain too heavily before he got to the Medical Center.

Luckily he reached it without getting too wet, but he was damp from some light rain. He looked at the car park and saw Sonic's blue motorcycle and Amy's Overland. Then suddenly the rain got heavier and he ran to the cover of the Medical Center. He pushed his hood back, and entered the door. Tails had a quick word with the receptionist before heading towards the room where Bernadette was said to be in.[/COLOR]

[Raiyuu]

[COLOR=DarkSlateBlue][SIZE=1]Jack Fox put down the scissors and relaxed in his office chair for a few moments, staring at the slick, organic black sheet the rain and winter darkness were making of his window. It wasn't even coming down in streams or rivers anymore, but a solid sheet of rain. It was as if he had situated his office behind a waterfall.

Jack tore his attention away from the mesmerizing cascade and back to the article he'd just finished clipping from the [I]Station Square Gazette[/I].

[I]...HedgeTech's enigmatic CEO, Shadow T. Hedgehog, was earlier quoted as saying that the city would [B]"just have to wait and see"[/B] exactly what the company's latest project entails. Speculation has been growing amongst business analysts as to the nature of this project, which Mr. Hedgehog described as [B]"very large"[/B] and potentially [B]"most profitable in the long run"[/B]...[/I]

[B]"He's up to something..."[/B] muttered Jack aloud. [B][I]Maybe I'm not the most impartial guy in the world when it comes to HedgeTech,[/I][/B] he thought, [B][I]but with this much secrecy surrounding such a large project, it has to be something sinister.[/I][/B]

Jack got up to turn off the ceiling fan. It was getting too late in the year to need it much anyway. As he yanked the cord, the intercom buzzed. Jack pressed the red 'answer' button.

[B]"Yes, Ms. Rabbit?"[/B]

[B]"There's a call for you, Mr. Fox,"[/B] crackled the voice of Gloria Rabbit, Jack's secretary. [B]"I'm afraid the gentleman flatly refuses to give a name. Shall I cut him off?"[/B]

Jack sighed. Ms. Rabbit had never seemed to grasp the concept of an 'anonymous tip-off', or the importance such a thing held in his business. But then, she was the best he could afford.

[B]"No, thank you,"[/B] he replied politely, [B]"put him through, please."[/B]

There was clicking on the intercom, and then Jack's desk phone started ringing. He was ready for it, and grabbed the receiver after half a ring.

[B]"Fox, investigator for hire."[/B]

[B]"I have information regarding certain developments at HedgeTech."[/B] The voice was smothered in static. [B]"Meet me in the old Blue Midnight bar in half an hour."[/B]

[B]"No,"[/B] refused Jack quickly, before the voice could hang up. [B]"Nowhere abandoned, I've had too many bad experiences. Make it somewhere public. Then we can both trust each other not to do anything stupid."[/B]

The voice considered this for a few seconds. [B]"Fine,"[/B] it replied eventually, [B]"I think ... Station Square Medical Centre. The moans of the walking wounded should cover our little conversation. Half an hour,"[/B] the voice reiterated, and hung up before Jack could argue again.

Jack put the phone down and grabbed his cream trenchcoat and fedora from the hatstand, pulling them on over his suit while stabbing at the intercom again.

[B]"I'm going out, Ms. Rabbit. Could you take any messages? Thanks. Clock off a bit early if you like."[/B][/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Talon]

[color=royalblue][i]Sonic held his head in hands in the seat next to his mother's bed, thanking the gods above for her imminent recovery. He looked at the sleeping form of Bernadette Hedgehog and nodded curtly. She wouldn't need him there for a while, and he needed to talk to Uncle Chuck about the extra rings in his check. Sonic nodded at Tails and Amy, walking out to his bike in the parking lot. Sonic grinned.

He dearly loved the Pheonix Hummingbird Tails and Amy had gotten him for his birthday five years ago. It was evident in the care he showed it as he revved it and rolled out of the Station Square Medical Center's parking lot, screaming off for the Pizza Palace.[/i]

[b][center][u]Three Hours Later[/u][/b][/center]

[i]Sonic was drowning his sorrows in a nice-sized vodka. He wondered how he instinctively sensed that his life couldn't continue on the good vein it had for the length of the day. Seriously, Sonic thought as he sipped his drink sourly, he must have been some kinda of serious fuck up in a past life if his karma was this bad. Sonic wished briefly, achingly for his once-beloved Sally's embrace, but that had been shot to Hell barely an hour before. Briefly Sonic wondered how she'd met Elias, but shook off that train of thought.[/i]

[b][center]Flashback[/b][/center]

[b]Sally:[/b] I'm sorry, Sonic, but I've found someone else. Someone DEPENDABLE.

[i]Sonic stared at his now-ex-girlfriend incredulously, his frame trembling from the sobs he was holding back and the tears he refused to let free.[/i]

[b]Sonic:[/b] Well, then, Sally Acorn, we'll see how happy you are when he fucks you and leaves with your money. We'll see how happy you are when you can't get love from people like him. Goodbye, rich girl. I'm sorry I couldn't show you that you don't get everything handed to you.

[i]With that, Sonic spun on his heel and exited the home of his once-beloved chipmunk, grabbing his bike and heading for the Sentinel III bar, just off the Radical Highway backroads. There, he proceeded to drown his sorrows in bottle of vodka.[/i]

[center][b]End Flashback[/center][/b]

[i]The vodka bottle's hold on the blue hedgehog's attention was broken as a familiar figure entered the bar, his sharp knuckles grazing the wood of the bar as he ordered another round for Sonic and one for himself.[/i]

[b]Knuckles:[/b] Damn, man, you look like death warmed over. Ya mind tellin' me what's been happenin'?

[i]Sonic stared incredulously at his acquaintance before draining his bottle and nodding.[/i]

[b]Sonic:[/b] Yeah, it wouldn't hurt. Let's see....I got my paycheck today.

[i]Knuckles cocked an eyebrow. Surely he wasn't pissed at that. And he KNEW the results from Sonic's last fight, so that wasn't it, either.[/i]

[b]Sonic:[/b] It had a little extra in it, too. About a hundred rings too much.

[i]Again, the eyebrow.[/i]

[b]Knuckles:[/b] Aannnnd...?

[i]Sonic ordered another, plopping some rings down right onto the bar.[/i]

[b]Sonic:[/b] It was severance pay, Knux.

[i]Knuckles nodded, getting the picture. But from the look on Sonic's face, he wasn't quite done.[/i]

[b]Sonic:[/b] The place where we were livin', the apartment.....too rundown. Not fit for habitation. The damned government evicted us all. Just got the letter when I went to check the mail after I got fired. Muttsky's with Mom and the gang at the hospital.

[i]Knuckles nodded, waiting for the hedgehog to continue. It seemed he had one more thing to address.[/i]

[b]Sonic:[/b] ....Sally left me. Said I wasn't dependable enough, that she'd found a new guy. I swear, I wanted to smack the smirk off Elias' face the whole time I stood there.

[i]Knuckles nodded sagely and clouted Sonic on the shoulder.[/i]

[b]Knuckles:[/b] I know just the thing, bro. You need a good spar to keep your mind off shit.

[i]Sonic had not the time nor inclination to reject Knuckles' "request".[/color][/i]

[JJ]

[color=DarkRed][size=1][font=franklingothicmedium]Midnight was bored. His current class was English Lit., and he hated it. The teacher just stood there and blabbed on and on about some stupid dead guy. Who cared about some dead guy's real meaning? If he meant for the story to be a suicide note, he would have wrote as such.

Currently, Midnight was sitting in class doodling a design to a new ride at the park. It would be a roller coaster that stayed upside down most of the ride. Although the commission had already vetoed the idea, Midnight still worked on it on the side. He loved designing new rides and attractions because he had the freedom to do whatever he liked. One ride could be a giant ice cream cone that someone landed down, or a giant lollipop that spun you. He had millions of these ideas written down in his journal, which he was currently doodling in.

The bell rung and Midnight shot up. Tonight was the testing of the new roller coaster and Midnight was going to be the test dummy. He left the building and made a run for his bike. He then peddled to his dorm room and changed. His roommate wasn't there, but Midnight didn't worry. Tori was never around and could only be found through her pager.

Midnight then ran back to his bike and began to peddle through town. It was a gorgeous night and Midnight loved to look up and see the dark expansion that was the sky. Tonight, though Midnight saw a single star that seemed to want to outshine the city lights. Midnight silently cheered the star on and hoped that he could be like that star. Never giving up and giving 110%. Midnight chuckled to himself and began to pick up his peddling in hopes that he would make it in time.

About fifteen minutes after his first spotting of the star, Midnight made it to the park. Out of breathe and rushed, Midnight locked up his bike and made a run for the staff entrance. He made just in time and checked in, breathing a sigh of relief. As he walked through the door and into the park he marveled at all the lights and color. The boss made it clear that his expectations were that the park was kept as happy and friendly as possible. Midnight still hadn't figured out the boss, but he really liked the guy anyway. He slowly walked towards to the back where there were high black walls surrounding what Midnight thought the brainchild of the park.

It was a roller costar/water ride. The ride started out as a roller coaster, but the ride wasn't electric run. It was run by pulleys and such. The log climbed two hills and then at the top flew down into a pool of water. He hadn't ridden it but a couple of his coworkers really like the ride. Midnight strode up to the only door and stuck his ID badge in. The door opened and Midnight got full view of the ride.

There were so many lights. From both hills emitted many multi-colored lights that combined into a pretty blue. The water glittered with a red hue, and the main platform was lit up with a bright white light.

Midnight climbed the stairs and wove through the lines that would house the many paying patrons. He smiled at the thought of the yelling and crying kids. He loved to imagine the faces of all the paying patrons. As he climbed up the final staircase, he was met with a sight so gruesome, he couldn't look away. There on the track was both logs pulled apart with all the pieces laying on the platform. Midnight could only stammer as Billy, the team leader walked out of the operations booth.

?Wwwwwhat hhappened?? he got out slowly.

?They canned the project. Someone was fooling around and ripped the track off of hill two, they say that this project has cost them enough, so they?re scrapping it.? He replied as a tear fell off his cheek. This project had been totally Billy?s idea, and he was hoping it would get him promoted.

?Aw, Billy I?m so..? Midnight said, but Billy cut him off.

?Don?t say it. I don?t want your pity. I want your brain to start working and think up a new idea.? He said walking slowly towards the exit. All Midnight could do was stand there with his jaw hanging away from his face.[/color][/size][/font]

[Raiyuu]

[COLOR=DarkSlateBlue][SIZE=1][LEFT]Before leaving the office, Jack pulled open the bottom drawer of his desk and stared warily at his silver Cougar Magnum, as if expecting it to jump into his pocket. He was never happy about packing heat, but in this city, it was sometimes a necessary evil.

[B][I]HedgeTech is involved,[/I][/B] Jack reminded himself.

That made up his mind. He packed the gun, plus a box of spare ammunition, into an inside pocket of his trenchcoat, where the folds of the big garment would hide it from casual observers. Closing the drawer, and with a final look out of the window, he swept out of the office.[/LEFT]

[CENTER]TWENTY MINUTES LATER[/CENTER]

[LEFT]A blue Phoenix Hummingbird roared past Jack as he crossed the Medical Centre car park, pocketing the keys to his saloon as he did so. The bike's slipstream caught his coat and it streamed out sideways, nearly revealing the Magnum inside. Jack hugged the coat tighter and jogged up the steps to the Centre's main entrance.

Not knowing who he was waiting for, he'd obviously have to assume the mystery caller knew him by sight. Sometimes they didn't. Some people were just that stupid. With a few minutes to spare, Jack crossed the waiting area to the small refreshment kiosk in the wall, shaking raindrops off his hat as he went.

There was an attractive pink and red hedgehog in the queue in front of him, picking up a mineral water. Jack nodded to her as she left, and eyed her as she walked away.

[B][I]Who am I kidding,[/I][/B] he thought morosely, [B][I]I'd freeze up before I ever asked her name.[/I][/B]

With a can of some sort of downmarket cola in his hand, Jack found an empty seat in the waiting area and sat. He popped the ringpull and took a swig. It was nasty stuff.

[B]"Don't turn around."[/B]

Jack tensed and pricked up his ears. The voice came from the seat back-to-back with his.

[B]"The information you want is in a package under my seat. Count two hundred after I leave before picking it up. I wouldn't want you seeing my face."[/B]

[B][I]This one knows what he's doing,[/I][/B] thought Jack. [B][I]I'll have to be careful.[/I][/B]

[B]"Start counting."[/B]

Jack counted twelve before sneaking a glance around. These types usually stopped watching him after ten; he'd found twelve to be the best time to turn, while the target was still likely to be in sight but was no longer keeping an eye on him. He cast his eyes around, seeing doctors, nurses, wounded people, parents with sick children ... and the door to a corridor, rapidly closing. Before it latched shut, Jack caught a fleeting glimpse of high heels, a black leather jacket ... and [I]bat wings[/I]?

A girl. She must have been putting on a voice, then. She'd have an escape route all planned out, so there was no point giving chase. Filing the image away, Jack checked under the seat. Sure enough, there was a roughly cubic package wrapped in brown paper and parcel tape, with his name printed on top with a black marker. He picked it up and started walking.[/LEFT][/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Solo Tremaine]

[COLOR=#503F86]Sonic was drunk off his arse, but that didn't matter. Physical exercise would usually get him back to his old self. Knuckles used it as a form of therapy- both with inanimate and live targets of his aggression. He pulled on his custom-made boxing gloves, flexing his fingers underneath the black studded leather and feeling the tension in his uscles shoot up his arm. He'd been working out... and was pleased.

Sonic, on the other hand, looked as if he'd been working down. Although hardly a fat slob, he wasn't in a healthy state of body or mind; despite Knuckles' general indifference towards the hedgehog it did fill him with a mild concern for his well-being. Were he not so tightly bound to his kickboxing appearances and various 'part-time' jobs, he'd be inclined to offer Sonic a room.

But then, more than five minutes with anyone was usually too much for the Echidna.

"You ready?" Knuckles was already striding around the arena, eager to get moving.

Sonic wavered slightly, pulling the safety helmet down over his face and half-heartedly tieing it up underneath his chin.

"Just a second." Sonic winced, remembering the large bruise on his chest.

Knuckles let out a derisive grunt. "Gee, you want me to fetch the nurse? She can wipe the drool off your face while she's at it."

"Fuck off, Knuckles! I could take you in my sleep."

Knuckles grinned slyly. "That's the stuff. Come on, then!"

A large punchbag hung in the middle of the arena- Knuckles had been practicing with it before setting out to find Sonic, but left it there for entertainment purposes. It was always useful to have an obstacle to chuck people into.

They circled each other for a few tense seconds, each one marking the movements of the other prefectly.

Knuckles knew who'd win, though. Although it was only a practice fight, he didn't pull any punches. After all, it wasn't as if real opponents waited for you to get your head off the ground before kicking you in the face, was it?

"Are you gonna hit me or not?" Knuckles taunted, half-laughing.

He was answered by a swift jab in the face- the red-skinned Echidna had cockily opted without the safety headgear, and was taken unaware of the force at which the half-drunk hedgehog was able to hit. He reeled back slightly and drew back his fist, throwing it forwards for it to be met by a block from Sonic's left arm. Although it was blocked, the force still sent a shockwave of pain travelling down Sonic's arm. He gritted his teeth, forcing his mouth into a wry smile, before returning the favour, hitting Knuckles in the stomach.

"I thought you were good at this!" Sonic snorted.

Knuckles drew back, giving Sonic an obscene gesture before charging into him, knocking the both of them to the floor.

"Just going easy on my bitch, hedgehog."[/COLOR]

[Kei]

[color=darkblue][size=1]Keita lay with her head on top of Shadow's steadily breathing chest. Taking note of the pattern, she made absolutely sure he was fully asleep before lifting herself off him and getting out of bed.

She stutter-stepped slightly as she made her way to get a robe to cover her naked form. As she put on the silver garment, she smiled slightly. Shadow may seem calm and collected when he was in the office, but get him in a bed and he was biggest sex fiend for miles. Not that Keita was complaining. It was damn lucky that she'd found someone that could keep up with her. At least that was one of the better things that came out of the relationship.

Keita slipped silently from the fairly lavish room and made her way to the study down the hall, again going about it fairly silently. She smiled again as she shut the door behind her.

"I guess it's true when they say old habits die hard."

Making her way over to the computer at the far end of the room, Keita quickly logged onto the HedgeTech database. She'd been doing this ever since Shadow had first been getting rather irritated around his father's presence, and when Shadow got irritated, that often times meant that that person wouldn't be around for much longer. She'd been hacking her way into the project files to learn more about what was actually going to happen in the long run, as Shadow had never really gone into great detail about what was going to happen once the project was launched. You could say she was given the CliffNotes version.

However, one thing that made things difficult was that Jules' files were highly classifed and Keita couldn't access them normally, hence where the hacking came into play. But HedgeTech's security system made it that hackers were easily detected and taken care of swiftly, so she didn't have the largest time frame to work with. Luckily, from her past as a theif, she had more than enough practice to get some things right.

She'd only read a few of the files and what she read she had already gathered from the info Shadow had given her. She was hoping to come across something more interesting tonight.

It turns out she did, but not in the way she was hoping.

Looking at the last access dates of the files, Keita saw that they had been accessed earlier that day from an unknown IP address outside the company. Immediately, she delved into the properties to discover exactly what she didn't want to.

The files had been downloaded.

Only one thing came to Keita's mind at that moment.

"Fuck."

She sighed heavily, knowing that this is the worst possible thing that could happen right now. Somebody out there had copies of the project plans, and she had no idea who the hell it could be or how they could have gotten through security from [i]outside[/i] the company. She moaned audibly and leaned back in her chair, trying to calm herself.

"Shit, if Shadow finds out about this...God, I don't even want to think about that. Who in hell could have possibly..."

A single thought came to her mind as she began to seriously think about things. Returning the chair to its proper position, she scowled down at her own hands as she thought.

"It couldn't be..."

Keita grunted in frustration and turned off the computer, stalking off back towards the bedroom.

"I'll have to find out tomorrow, before my little visit to Sonic." she whispered as she neared the door again.

She slipped back into the room as silently as she'd left and after closing the door, she turned to find the bed empty. Glancing around, she was taken by surprise as Shadow's arms wrapped around her from behind in a tight lock.

"Where were you? I was...worried about you."

The tone is Shadow's voice meant one thing. By "worried" he meant "suspicious about what the hell you were doing."

"I had to get something to drink. Is that a crime?"

"Hn."

Shadow released his grip, allowing Keita to take a proper breath before turning to scowl at him slightly.

"Was that really necessary?" she asked as she made her way back towards the bed. "Just asking the question would have sufficed."

"But I get to have a little fun that way." he responded, coming up behind her and trailing his hand up and down the arm she'd just taken out of the robe.

"Odd, I wouldn't describe it the same way." Keita said in a flat and clearly sarcastic tone. As a response, Shadow spun her around and pushed her down onto the bed, pressing heavily on her arms to prevent her from fighting back.

"Let's not forget who's in charge here. For your own health."

Keita scowled at him and scoffed, turning her head to the side. Shadow's face broke into a grin as he softly kissed her on the cheek.

"Now don't be like that. I was only joking..."

"Joking. Right." Keita responded, giving him a sideways glance. "And get off me, you're heavy."

"I want to have a bit more fun tonight," he said beginning to move lower with his kisses. As he did, Keita could feel her anger quickly being replaced with lust, despite her every attempt for it not to happen.

[i]"Dammit, he always does this,"[/i] she thought. [i]"And I always fall for it... Yeah, old habits definately die hard..."[/i][/size][/color]

[Jokopoko]

[COLOR=TEAL][SIZE=1]Espio had disposed of the corpse in one of the many sewer systems of the city, the police would surely find it but the way it had been left it would seem like a suicide or an accident but even if it was traced to Shadow there was on way they could touch him, not with his influence on the city as well as the kind of protection he had. Lately Espio had been getting more and more of Shadows 'dirty' jobs instead of taking care of his own interests which was frankly starting to get on his nerves.

But he had the sence not to say anything because he knew Shadow could replace him in an instant. He stopped on the corner of the sidewalk and got his barings, he hadn't been paying much attention to where he'd been going lately.

[B]Espio:[/B] [Aside] "Hmmm, I could go to the club I guess.....Rouge might be there and I need to talk to here anyway". Pulling the coat tightly around his shoulders Espio headed on his way.

Looking around as he went he could see that much of the cities 'night-life' was coming out of the nooks and crannies as the sun began to set. People of all sort but with one thing in common appearing out of nowhere just looking for a good time even if it was at the expence of others. Quickening his pace Espio wondered whether now would be a good time to 'disappear'.

[B]Espio:[/B] "Fuck it, this town is going to hell away. I'm just waiting for the spoils"[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Talon]

[color=royalblue][b]Sonic:[/b] Yer bitch, eh? Take this, motherfucker!

[i]Sonic brought his knees up into Knuckles' stomach, then kicked the echidna off his chest, back flipping into a kneeling position, ignoring the pain in his chest and the pain in his head. Sonic stood, shakily, preparing himself for an all-out assault on the echidna.[/i]

[b]Sonic:[/b] Yer dead, Knux. Take THIIIIIIII-urk.....

[i]Sonic, mid-dash, fell to his knees, coughing blood. The combination of alcohol and his busted ribs knocked him out before he even hit the floor, blood dripping from his mouth as his head hit the tile.....[/i]

[center][b]Undeterminate Amount of Time Later[/center][/b]

[i]Sonic blinked his eyes open, the white ceiling above him blearing into focus a little at a time. Bit by bit, he became aware of a strange feeling of something lodged in his mouth. A study of his immediate surroundings garnered him the sight of an oxygen tank with a tube leading to his mouth. Next was the bandages, tight enough to stay on, but loose enough not to aggravate his condition, hanging on his chest. Finally, he noticed his mother, his MOTHER, asleep in the chair next to his bed. Sonic groaned, unable to do more. His mother stirred and awakened.[/i]

[b]Bernie:[/b] So, you're awake, Sonic.

[i]Sonic hung his head at the tone in his mother's voice. He knew what was coming next.[/i]

[b]Bernie:[/b] Now, Sonic, I know you're an adult and that you should make your own choices on how you make money, but FIGHTING?! And with three cracked ribs, PLUS a broken one, to boot?! Sonic, if you were getting hurt, I would GLADLY have gone to the home and let you live by yourself, though now that's impossible, seeing as how we've been evicted! Honestly, Sonic Theodore Hedgehog, you've really gotten yourself in it this time. You're lucky that nice echidna paid your bill when he brought you! And what did I tell you about that Sally girl? I just knew she'd be bad news....now, that Amy girl, she's got a nice head on her shoulders, why don't you date her? I'm sure she'd enjoy it. And I always thought that job at the Pizza Palaca would come to naught, what with that despisable D'Coolette boy working there...honestly, Sonic, why don't you ever listen to your poor dear mother?

[i]Sonic sighed in exasperation. No way in the name of Mobius would he be able to get out of this one. That is, until he heard the snickering behind the door. Looking out, he caught a glimpse of Tails and Amy holding in their laughter. Oh, yes...Sonic would get his revenge....just as soon as he got checked out. Sonic sighed.

Why the hell did he have the worst luck in the world? Seriously, he must have really fucked up in a past life or something....[/color][/i]

[Solo Tremaine]

[color=#503f86]"I thought for a moment that you were settling another vendetta. What happened?"

Knuckles' grim expression bored into the executive's mind, giving him the distinct impression that the Echidna wasn't up for talking much.

"He's a guy I train with from time to time. He over-exerted himself on a fucked rib and collapsed. Not my fault."

The executive leant forwards over his desk, revealing half his face in the dim office light. "Whether it was your fault or not, I don't want emergency services coming here unless there's a damn good reason. Some low-life hedgehog you dragged in is not an emergency. You're lucky the cops didn't come down here. if they had-"

Knucles could feel the heat rising inside him. [i]Just shut up and leave. Shut up, say nothing, and leave.[/i]

"But they didn't, [i]sir.[/i]" Knuckles spat out the last word as if it were some foul-tasting drink Sonic had concocted. "It was an accident, and it won't happen again."

The executive sat back in his chair, his expressionless face hidden by a veil of darkness. Knucles could tell that even the slightest hint of insubordination could land him in trouble. Right now, though, he really didn't care. "One more 'accident' and you're out, Echidna. I have many more star players waiting to take centre stage. You've been warned."

Knucles stormed out of the room, slamming the door so hard the hinges burst through the wood, sending splinters flying everywhere. He marched down the stairs and onto the street, stopping inside only to pick up his jacket.

* * *

"Hey, looking for a good time?"

Knuckles snorted in disgust. "With you, I don't think there'd ever be a good time."

The hooker swore Knuckles into the distance- he smiled to himself all the while, amused that so small a statement could arouse so much emotion. Admittedly he was looking for a good time, but didn't know where to find it. He would say that he didn't care, but that wasn't actually true. He just wouldn't admit it to anyone.

The railing by the river running behind Station Square provided a decent rest for him- he leant on its metal frame and stared into the mrky water, half-listening to the drunk, drug-fuelled or sex-orientated conversations going on behind him. The outlet pipe of the sewer plopped something large, bulky and probably very smelly into the river; the mass slowly bobbed downstream towards the canal routes. Knuckles watched it for a few seconds, then turned back to look at the ripples in front of him.

He hadn't had a job through from the agency in months. Maybe his agent had been busted. Everyone around here was crooked- it was only a matter of time before someone even more crooked took over and wiped them out. At least he was clean... for the moment. He'd not touched steroids in ages, and he'd stopped dealing them long before that. But the money was running thin. Even the bus fare home was too expensive now. This way he got to savour the 'sights' of the city for a hour every morning and evening before turning up to train.

"Shit, I need money bad," he groaned, remembering the gaping hole in his hovel's roof. Another mile and a half and he'd be able to see it, stuck on the very edge of the city's small, out-of-the-way ghetto that the council kept locked away from the tourists. He hadn't bothered with its upkeep, since as far as he was concerned, it was where he spent the least of his time.

"Maybe I can steal a piece of iron from a skip somewhere..."[/color]

[Sakura]

[COLOR=Navy]After Bernadette finished her lecture to Sonic, Tails and Amy walked through the door. They helped Bernadette leave the room, saying that she should get something to eat, because she'd waited by Sonic's side for a long time.

They walked over to the bed and Amy took the un-occupied chair next to the bed. Tails stood next to the bed on the other side.

"Hey Man, you okay, 'n' all? You came in here pretty beat up, y'know." Tails said, leaning against the wall behind him.

"Yeah Sonic, you shouldn't do things like that, we were all really worried about you. Especially Bernadette." Amy added, leaning forward in her chair. "I hope you listen to what you mother said." she finished.

"Gimme a break, Amy! I just got a lecture, I don't need another one." Sonic sighed. "Besides, I need the money, it's one of the ways that I can get enough to support us. And I don't want to send Mom to a Home."

"We understand, if you guys need anything, I'll try to help, you guys are like my family. I could steal stuff if ya needed, just ask." Tails said.

"And I'll try to help in whatever way possible." Amy continued.

"Thanks guys, really appreciate it." Sonic smiled.

Sonic tried to sit himself up before wincing and falling back onto the bed, he was really badly injured. As soon as he fell, Tails and Amy rushed in.

"You shouldn't try to get up, you were in real bad condition." Tails told him, helping him down.

"I don't think I'll try that again for a while..." Sonic groaned, wrapping an arm around his abdomen.

"See what you get after all that fighting? You're a giant bruise. It might not have hurt much when you first got it, but now it's all together and you've got several cracked or broken ribs!" Amy flustered.

Sonic and Tails shared a glance, both rolling their eyes as Amy continued to scold Sonic.[/COLOR]

[Raiyuu]

[COLOR=DarkSlateBlue][SIZE=1]Jack sat at his desk and gazed vacantly at the empty whisky bottle. He knew somewhere in his mind that drinking it had been a bad idea, just as he'd known that before he took the first swig. But then, drinking his memory away into alcohol-sozzled oblivion had seemed like the sensible thing to do after reading through the contents of the bat-girl's package.

Another small, insistent part of the fox's addled brain kept telling him he needed to find somebody. Somebody mentioned in the files pilfered from HedgeTech's most secure computer system, god knew how.

[B][I]Sonic Theodore Hedgehog. He's the key to all this. I don't understand everything I read ... but if I've read it right, Shadow T. Hedgehog's master plan collapses into a smoking ruin without him.[/I][/B]

The nagging bit of Jack's brain knew he had to find this ... Sonic ... as soon as possible, assuming he hadn't already fallen into HedgeTech's hands. He had to do everything in his power to keep the hedgehog safe.

[B][I]Or ... UNsafe? Without him ... master plan ... smoking ruin ...[/I][/B]

Jack didn't even feel his head hit the desk.

[CENTER]SOME TIME LATER[/CENTER]

Jack awoke to someone pounding his head with a jackhammer. Except it wasn't that, it was his laptop beeping. He kept the compact PC on a constant search routine, sifting the Internet - including various police channels he didn't technically have access to - for anything that could interest him. Right now it was alerting him to a high-priority item. A headline filled the screen.

[CENTER][I]HedgeTech Scientist Found Drowned[/I][/CENTER]

Jack read on. Then, trying hard to ignore his hangover, he seized his coat and hat and left for the wharf where the body of Jules Hedgehog had been discovered.[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[JJ]

[color=DarkBlue][size=1]Midnight allowed his jaw to meet his face again. The initial shock was still there. "Holy shit." he whispered to himself as he walked out of the ride via the exit. He walked around the park in sort of a daze. So many thoughts flew around in his brain, that couldn't even see straight. More than once he had run into a trashcan.

He finally found the staff workroom twenty minutes later. The TV was blarring, but Midnight could care less. Sitting in the corner nearest the bathroom was Billy. He was slumped over the table, with a bottle next to him. Midnight wasn't close enough to tell, but it seemed like the bottle was still half full. He walked over to the bottle and looked at it. Upon closer inspection, Midnight found it to be Vodka. He then realized why the bottle was still half full.

He set the bottle back down and grabbed the glass that lie on the floor beside the table. He opened the bottle and poured himself a shot. As he quickly threw it back, the boss came in.

"MIDNIGHT! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" he yelled seeming half out of his mind.

Midnight looked down at the bottle then at his boss. "Just cleaning *hiccup* up poor *hiccup* Billy's mess sir" he said already drunk.

"Midnight, you know damn well that drinking is forbidden while your on duty. What if there was an emergency and there were people trapped at the top of the Wheel of Lights? Huh? What would you tell them? Oh sorry I was to busy being a stupid drunk fuckhole to worry about your life. IS THAT WHAT YOU WOULD FUCKING TELL THEM?" he yelled, shaking in anger.

Abruptly, the boss grabbed the bottle and hurtled it at the wall. Midnight knew that the boss still had a guilty concious about what had happened three years ago.

[I]Back then he was still a worker of the park. One night his friends had brought a bottle of vodka and they had seen who could take the most shots. The boss had won and as he staggered out of the bathroom, there was an emergency with one of the roller coasters. The track had given out and about twenty people hung from the track with no way to leave thier cars. As the boss staggered out of the exit, the cars all fell killing everyone.[/I]

No one knew that the boss had even checked in that day, so he wasn't blamed, but it was one of the few things he regretted most.

"Midnight, look. I feel like your my son, so I think I owe it to you to stop you before you start. I'm docking this week's pay from 500 rings to 250. Hopefully that will make you think before you act." he said as he closed the door behind him.

Midnight just stared at the wall, not knowing what to say or do. Slowly he got up, lumbering towards the exit. He felt fine, the hiccups just being a side effect of his first drink. He walked towards the exit and punched his card for the night. As he mounted his bike, he looked up and saw that his star had died. He slowly let a breath of air escpae as he peddled towards his dorm room.[/color][/size]

[Solo Tremaine]

[COLOR=#503F86]Knuckles lay in his bed with his hands behind his head, trying to determine what the time wasd. Some wanker had broken in and stolen his alarm clock, of all things. Why fucking bother? They didn't find his stash of money, luckily, but he had lots of other things that could net a it more than a stupid clock. That was just inconvenient.

He hauled himself upright, glancing quickly over at the piece of corrugated iron lying over the hole in the ceiling. It was shoddy, but would save him having to worry for the next couple of months at least.

Sliding open the muddy bue curtain that separated his bedroom from the rest of his house, a dank grey lounge-cum-kitchen with weights and banches lining the walls (Knuckles half-expected his weights to drag down the walls at any moment), he lumbered towards the fridge and peered inside.

"Fuck."

He slammed the door, irritated that he'd forgotten to even stock up on high-sugar drinks to keep him fuelled during the day. His pocket change was getting low, as was the tolerance of his stomach for lack of food. Normally he could get away with threatening someone or convincing one of the reception girls to buy him a sandwich, but there was only so far he could push his luck.

At that moment, three Station Square policemen burst through the door armed with truncheons, each bearing an expression as vicious as the last. Still sluggish from lack of sleep, Knuckles didn't have enough time to comprehend what was going on. After a few swift thumps from the blunt weapons, he fell to his knees, whereupon a bulkier figure strode in, wearing a 'Seargent' badge on his sickeningly proud chest.

"Ah, Mr. Echidna. A pleasure, as always."

"Fucking hell!" Knuckles hissed. "I should have known you'd be here sooner or later. Your god-awful aftershave gavce you away."

"Now now, Knuckles, you're well aware of our history," the Seargent sneered. "I can assure you that this is completely unrelated."

Knuckles raised an eyebrow.

"As you may already know, a certain Hedgetech scientist was found drowned in the river early this morning by the warkers on the wharf. We have several witnesses who reported a person of your description lurking around the river at the sort of time his body may have been dumped. Almost needless to say, I jumped at the chance for us to renew our communications."

"I didn't touch the guy, fuckhead! I'm clean!"

One of the policemen cracked Knuckles around the back of the head. He wobbled forwards, dazed by the impact of the blow.

"Perhaps. but I'm taking you in for questioning anyway. It'll be so much fun to catch up on old times, won't it?" The Seargent gave a disgusting, twisted smile as Knuckles glared at him defiantly from the floor, aching to rip the eyes from his fat, oliaginous face. The policemen grabbed the echidna as roughly as they could and hurled him into their nearby patrol car, before jumping in themselves and careening off towards the station.[/COLOR]

[Kei]

[color=darkblue][size=1]It was around ten the next morning that Keita set off on her mission to find Sonic. She rode down the streets on her sleek custom Kawasaki racer, heading towards the last place Sonic was said to live.

Upon arriving at the run down shamble, she scoffed behind her helmet.

"A pit. Why am I not surprised."

She cut the engine and took off her helmet, shaking out her hair slightly and hanging it on one of her handlebars. She got off and walked over to the front door of the main office, finding a pink slip on the door.

"This building has been condemned by the Health and Safety Commission of Station Square..." Keita read as she ripped the paper from the door. She just as quickly crumpled the paper in an angry fist and tossed it off to the side, growling audibly. "[i]SHIT!![/i] Things just can't fucking seem to go right lately!"

She went on in a slight tantrum for a minute before halfway managing to calm down and think a bit.

"Well, if he's not here, then I'll just go to his job. Shouldn't pose any problems."

Pulling a slip of paper from the back pocket of her tight jeans, she scanned over the address and replaced it.

"Hm... 'Pizza Palace'. Sounds like some cheesy kids center. With my luck, that'll be exactly what it is. But the bright side is that my little detour is on the way there..."

Hopping back on her bike and putting of her helmet, she revved out of the parking lot and down the street, heading to her next little pit stop...

[center]***[/center]

Shadow was in his late father's lab, scanning over the files that he'd left stored in his database. He'd been up ever since Keita has left looking over them and had still not found what he wanted.

"Maybe she was right when she said I should have kept him around a bit longer..."

Typing at a considerable pace, Shadow ran search after search trying to find the crucial files he needed right now, only to turn up nothing time and again.

"Dammit, Dad. You're a pain in the ass even after you're dead..."

After going for another half hour looking through the files, he gave up in frustration, storming from the room looking like Hell's posterboy. His foul mood rose with every step he took from the lab, murderous thoughts crossing his mind.

"Keita had better get what I want today, otherwise that's her ass." Shadow slowed his pace and thought about what he'd said for a minute. "But I am talking about Keita, so I shouldn't have anything to worry about."

[center]***[/center]

Keita pulled into an oil-stained driveway in the slums of Station Square, cutting the engine. After getting off her bike, she walked up and knocked none too gently on the front door of the run down house. After waiting a minute with no answer, she pounded again even louder.

"Dammit, I know you're there. Open this damn door!"

At this, shuffling and things falling over could be heard from inside. After hearing a few locks click, the door opened slightly, an eye peering cautiously out.

"...W-Who...is it?" the owner of the eye asked, obviously groggy from just having gotten up. Keita could detect the hint of alcohol in the air and knew that he must have been drinking.

"Ryoushi, it's me. Open the door."

"...Who's 'me'?"

"Keita, you idiot! Open the fucking door!"

Drawing back at the sound of the angry echidna's voice, Ryoushi did as he was bidden, letting Keita into the house. Closing it behind him, the orange feline scratched his head slowly and yawned.

"What time is it...?" he asked as he made his way past the annoyed woman toward the couch.

"It's 10:42, by my watch. Where is he?"

"Where's who?"

"My brother, dammit! Where's Lothar?"

"Hex...? Ah...He never came home last night. Went to some joint with some bat chick...didn't get her name...Had a nice rack, though."

Keita seethed audibly and did her best to maintain her composure.

"Then where's Virus?"

"Upstairs still asleep..."

With those words, Keita rolled her eyes and picked her way over the mounds of empty beer cans and porn tapes strewn about the living room and made her way to the stairwell. Dodging bits of dirty laundry and even more beer cans, she made her way up to the second floor and down the narrow hall to what could only be assumed was Virus' room.

Opening the door without knocking, Keita casually walked in to find Virus indeed asleep. Nudging him roughly, she managed to get his eyes open before she alked over to the window.

"Wha....?" was all he was able to get out before Keita opened the flaps and let the sunilght filter directly into his eyes. This, as you can imagine was quite painful for someone who was still quite drunk and quite drowsy, as was proven by his high pitched scream.

"God dammit! Close that fucking blind!"

"Shut the hell up! You better tell me everything I want to know, or being blind is going to be the least of your problems."

"What the hell are you talking about, you crazy bitch?!" the brown rat replied squinting through his hand so he could barely see.

"I want to know if you've been doing one of your little 'jobs' on HedgeTech's database."

"What? I haven't had a job like that in months, plus HedgeTech's base is too damn hard to crack..."

Keita scowled and walked over to Virus, pushing him down on the bed and holding him in place with her knee. She reached to the waist of her jeans and pulled out the small automatic she had there, cocking it and aiming it right between his eyes.

"This little baby has someone else's name written on it, but if you're fucking with me, I'll be glad to change it."

"I'm being serious! I haven't had a hacking job in months! Plus, I could barely get past the first firewall on HedgeTech's files if I had a week! I didn't do anything!"

Her scowl deepening, Keita uncocked the gun and put it away again, letting Virus up. As she turned to go, she looked over her shoulder at him with a glance that could freeze Hell.

"If I find out that you lied to me, I will blow your fuckin' brains out so fast, it'll make your head spin. Remember that."

Storming out of the house past a still-groggy Ryoushi, Keita made her way back out to her bike and revved off even more livid than she wa when she had arrived.

"Oh, yeah. I'm in the perfect mood to do some 'convincing'..." she said as she rode off to Pizza Palace.[/size][/color]

[JJ]

[color=DarkBlue][size=1][font=franklingothicmedium]Midnight groggily awoke to the sound of an alarm. He had peddled back to the dorm room and passed out on his bed. He hadn't even taken off his uniform. He slowly undressed and walked into the bathroom where he tunred on the shower and hopped in.

Afterwords, he got out of the shower and dressed. When he opened the door, he noticed that Tori's bed hadn't been slept on. He tried to remember if he saw her last night, but his memory was groggy. He quickly grabbed his school stuff and headed for his bike. When he got to the rack, he noticed a note on his bike.

[I]Midnight,
I'm on cloud 9! It's so airy and bright. I can't help but feel hopeless without him!
Tori[/I]

The note in it self said it all. Tori's current boyfriend was beating her and she wanted Midnight to intervene. By that she meant for him to beat him shitless. Midnight sighed. It seemed like she would never learn.

He grabbed his bike and started out for the school, he didn't want to be late to English Lit. When Midnight arrived he noticed that there was no one out front of the school. As he walked in he saw that there was a small sign in the window of the big front door.

[I]Follow the arrows if you want what you came for[/I]

Midnight was puzzled by the message. As he walked through the door to the main floor and saw a big red arrow pointing towards his English Lit room. He picked up his pace and continued to follow the arrows. As he got closer to the room, he noticed the arrows were still wet. That meant that whoever drew them still mgiht be here.

He walked into the room and immediatly noticed that all the lights were out. As he felt along the wall for the lightswitch, he felt something grab him. The lights were flipped on and he was know face-to-face with the captain of the football team, aka Tori's boyfriend.

"Hey! If it isn't Tori's bitch. Whatcha gonna do to me? Kick with your huge fucking feet?" he said sneering.

"No, actually I'm going to knock you off your feet and block your windpipe." Midnight said calmly.

"Yeah, Fucking Rig.." he started to say as he fell forward.

Midnight brought his foot around and kicked him the other way, sending him sprawling into the wall. As he slumped over, Midnight came around and set the heel of his shoe on the guy's neck. "You leave Tori the fuck alone, or I will kill you." Midnight said pullng his foot off the guy's neck. As he stuck his hand out to help him up, he saw the knife protruding from the guy's back.

Midnight took a step back, then quickly left the room and headed for the exit.[/color][/size][/font]

[Raiyuu]

[COLOR=DarkSlateBlue][SIZE=1]The wharf was abandoned and rickety, and the air stank because the place was so close to the sewer system's effluent pipes. Jules Hedgehog's body was long gone to the police station for examination, but on the way there Jack had phoned a cop buddy of his who owed him a favour. They stood on the jetty, and he talked while Jack drank tomato juice to try and kill his hangover.

[B]"I'm only telling you this because I owe you, Fox. You don't pass this info on to any third parties, hear me?"[/B] The small grey fox leaned closer, looking around as if someone could be hiding in the stinking water. [B]"Jules Hedgehog did not drown. Or ... I guess he might have done, but I think the knife wound to his back contributed a lot more to his death than the water did. Someone offed him and dumped the body in the sewer."[/B]

[B]"Suspects?"[/B]

[B]"No dice, Fox."[/B]

Jack handed the fox a few bills, which he hastily pocketed.

[B]"Pink echidna, professional brawler, goes by the name of Knuckles. But you won't get near him, Fox. Interrogating him's gonna be Sarge's pet project for a while. He's got a score to settle with the guy. I hear they go way back."[/B]

There was a pause.

[B]"I'm not giving you any more, Fox. The DCI'll have my ass."[/B]

The fox started to walk quickly away. Jack drained his tomato juice and called after him.

[B]"Thanks, East. That makes us about square."[/B]

[CENTER]LATER[/CENTER]

[B][I]Okay,[/I][/B] Jack thought as he drove too fast down Main Street, [B][I]now I have two leads. I'm sure Shadow's father turning up knifed just as his latest big plan starts up isn't a coincidence, and if I've put two and two together right, he's even more of a bastard than I thought he was. I'm also pretty sure this Knuckles guy didn't have anything to do with it, but it'll be worth paying him a visit.[/I][/B]

[B][I]But he isn't a priority right now. I need to find the other one. Sonic.[/I][/B]

For a moment Jack was uncomfortably aware of the weight of the Magnum in his trenchcoat. He swerved down Fifth towards his office.

[CENTER]LATER[/CENTER]

[B]"Crap!"[/B] exclaimed Jack aloud. [B]"I was right there!"[/B]

He'd searched the hedgehog's credentials through both the city hall and police databases and turned up with zip. He'd thought he was on to something when he came up with an address, but the search had discarded it a second later when it found city hall's 'condemned' verdict in their housing files.

[B][I]I may not be much of a hacker myself, but these 'intelligent' search programs Eastwood's rat buddy wrote for me are the real thing. It's not what you know, it's who you know.[/I][/B]

In despair, and on a wild hunch, he'd searched the hospitals too. And of all the places the guy could have been, it had to be Station Square Medical, where Jack had been scant hours ago, picking up the bat-girl's package.

[B][I]Great,[/I][/B] he thought, [B][I]while I'm there I can ask around, see if anyone remembers her.[/I][/B]

LATER

The same pretty pink hedgehog he'd seen last time at the kiosk left the side room where the hospital records said Sonic was. [B][I]The coincidences just keep building up,[/I][/B] Jack thought, shaking his head incredulously.

Sure now that the room was empty save the injured hedgehog himself, Jack strolled nonchalantly in through the still-open door. The guy in the bed looked like shit, swathed in bandages and covered in bruises. That almost made it easier. It was like someone else had done half the job.

Sonic Theodore Hedgehog's eyes flickered open groggily just as Jack laid the Magnum's barrel between them. His eyelids seemed to roll back into his head and he went cross-eyed trying to focus on the cold grey gun.

[B]"Sorry, friend,"[/B] said Jack softly, recognising the emptiness of his words even as he said them. [B]"I guess it's not much consolation to you, but ... this is necessary. To save us all."[/B][/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Talon]

[color=royalblue][i]Sonic woke up again, this time to the sound of someone's heavy breathing. Opening his eyes, slowly so as to avoid being dazzled by the light, he was dazzled instead by the glistening barrel of a magnum pointed right between his eyes.[/i]

[b]Jack:[/b] Sorry, friend. I guess it's not much consolation to you ... but this is necessary. To save us all.

[i]Sonic's almost fearful gaze turned to something more incredulous as he regarder the fox before him. Imposing to any convalescent, Sonic saw the slight shiver in the fox's grip. Sonic nodded minutely, knowing what was running through Jack's mind.[/i]

[b]Sonic:[/b] I don't know what I did or who I pissed off, but you ain't gonna pull that trigger.

[i]Jack's gaze flickered briefly, before his arm became ramrod straight, the gun aimed right for Sonic's brain. Sonic gulped. Perhaps he'd said the wrong thing.[/i]

[b]Jack:[/b] You don't know what you're saying, Sonic. I have to kill you, otherwise...

[i]Here he shrugged before retraining the gun on Sonic's chest, using a pillow to muffle the sound. Sonic's gaze tracked up to the fox's face and found only cold determination.

It all happened in slow motion. Just as Jack pulled the trigger, Sonic jerked violently to the side and brought up his knee to hit the gun. At the same time, a feminine hand batted Jack's head to the side violently, causing his bullet's trajectory to point at, instead of Sonic's heart, his right shoulder. Sonic's cry was muffled by the partner to the hand that knocked the fox out. Sonic looked up to see the cold eyes of his brother's secretary, and wondered if he should be thanking his stars, though the pain in his shoulder was really irking him.

Then he saw the gun in the hand that knocked Jack out.[/i]

[b]Sonic:[/b] [i]*What god did I piss off? Seriously, somebody up there must really fuckin' hate me....*[/i][/color]

[Kei]

[color=darkblue][size=1]Keita glanced at Sonic for a only a moment before turning her attention back on the orange fox that lay knocked out on the floor. After a wary nudge of the foot from her, she retrained her gun on him and backed away, getting closer to Sonic. As he began to try and shift to get away from her, she began talking in a voice low enough for him to hear, but none of the orderlies or nurses that had begun coming near the room at the sound of the gunshot could.

"Listen, hedgehog. It's been a pain in the ass to find you, so I suggest you keep your mouth shut until all this has calmed down, or I won't hesitate to kill anyone who comes in here, including your mother and your friends."

Sonic scowled slightly and did as he was told, lying down again, trying hard not to say anything or do anything that might set the trigger happy echidna off.

"What happened here?! And why do you have a gun in a [i]hospital[/i]?!" one of the doctors asked before bending to check on the fox that lay crumpled on the floor.

Keita, being the ever resourceful one she was, came up with a believeable response easily.

"My name is Keita Echidna. I work for HedgeTech. I was sent her by this patient's brother to check on him after my employer had heard that he'd been seriously injured. When I arrived, I found that man trying to shoot him, so I drew my own gun, as I have with me for the bodyguard part of my job. A scuffle ensued and I was forced to knock him out. Seems like a rather dangerous sort, really."

The doctor looked Keita hard in the face before turning back to the unconscious fox.

"Hm... From what I see here, your story sounds plausible, but I'm calling the police anyway."

As he got up to leave, Keita seethed slightly, not wanting to have to deal with cops at the moment. Several other people she didn't want to have to deal with also came into the room, being Amy, Tails and Bernadette.

"Oh my God! What happened?!" Amy screamed as she saw the man on the floor.

"Someone came in and tried to kill him." Keita replied flatly. "I stopped him."

"What?! Sonic, are you okay?" Amy said pushing past Keita and running to his bedside. Keita's face darkened as she made her way closer to the door.

[i]"Shit!"[/i] she thought. [i]"That moron fucked everything up! What the hell am I going to do now..."[/i]

Almost as a response, Keita looked up to find the noon news on television. The top headline was currently being talked about.

[i]Early this morning, the body of a 48-year-old mae hedgehog, later identified as Jules Hedgehog of Station Square, was found dead at Station Square Wharf. Drowning was at first thought to have been the cause of death, but new evidence is now pointing towards foul play. Police have one suspect, an echidna who's name is not being released, in custody.[/i]

Keita's eyes narrowed at the broadcast, and she silently cursed at Espio for being careless. She then thought about what the reporter had said and made a quick conclusion.

"The cops had been looking for that idiot brother of mine for a while now. It's probably him they nabbed. Better go get him out before he starts blabbing things he shouldn't. I honestly don't want to have to kill him like I did Julie-Su..."

She slipped out of the room and through the halls of the hospital, making sure to keep a low key in front of the cops that had made their way in. She did manage to get a suspicious glance from a silver Arctic fox as she passed by, but she thought nothing of it.

She peeled out of the hospital parking lot and glanced behind her as she began making her way to the police station.

"You got a reprieve, Sonic. You won't be so lucky next time..."[/size][/color]

[Raiyuu]

[SIZE=1][COLOR=DarkRed]A shadowed figure approached Jack's office. It had a can of gasoline in one hand and a box of matches in its pocket. It picked the lock and started up the stairs, swinging the can jovially as it went.[/COLOR][COLOR=DarkSlateBlue]
[CENTER]~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~[/CENTER]

Jack woke up with someone clamping a vice slowly tighter and tighter around his brain.

[B]"Great,"[/B] he moaned aloud, [B]"I get rid of my hangover so you guys just [I]had[/I] to give me a replacement headache."[/B]

He was addressing the large and obviously two-way mirror his chair faced. His hands were cuffed together and the chain fed through the chair back, and the chair was bolted to the floor. So was the table in front of him. The chair on the other side wasn't.

[B]"I'm awake,"[/B] Jack said evenly to the mirror, [B]"you can come in now."[/B]

After a few seconds the door opened and the duty Sergeant came in, followed closely by Harry Eastwood, the silver Arctic fox Jack had met earlier on the wharf. The Sergeant closed the door and stood at attention next to it. Eastwood put his coffee down on the table and took a seat opposite Jack. For a while he just sat there staring at his old friend, as if he'd never met him before. He scrutinised Jack's eyes, trying to work out what was different in there. Eventually he spoke.

[B]"You were never a life-taker, Fox. What changed?"[/B]

[B]"Extreme circumstances."[/B]

[B]"What, did he shave your tail in your sleep? Crease your fucking hat? Sleep with your woman? Don't give me the vague treatment, Fox. It might wash when we know you're protecting a client, but not now. I know you're not a hitman. So just tell me. Why do you want Sonic Theodore Hedgehog dead?"[/B]

[B]"Is he safe?"[/B]

Eastwood started, his coffee cup pausing just before a sip. He put it down again. [B]"[I]Safe?[/I] Last thing you do before that HedgeTech girl pistol-whips you into unconsciousness is shoot the poor bastard, and now you wanna know if he's [I]safe?[/I] Make your mind up, Fox."[/B]

[B]"It's important. Where is he now ... wait, [I]what[/I] HedgeTech girl?"[/B]

[B]"The CEO sent his secretary in person to knock your lights out for trying to off his brother."[/B] Eastwood paused. [B]"Oh, come on, Fox, don't tell me this is all about HedgeTech again. Look, I know you don't like their business ethics, and it's all very well exposing their corrupt payschemes to the world's media, but I thought you'd have stopped short of killing their families."[/B]

[B]"He's Shadow's [I]brother?[/I]"[/B] He didn't remember reading that in the files. Either it was unimportant or he'd just overlooked it while floundering in all the technobabble. Another thought hit Jack then, one that made his vision narrow and his blood freeze. [B]"HedgeTech know where he is?"[/B]

[B]"Sure. Shadow's visiting him in hospital right now."[/B]

[B]"No!"[/B] Jack burst out hysterically. [B]"You've got to get him to a safehouse or something! Keep him safe!"[/B]

[B]"Safe from what? His would-be assassin is all chained up here with me, Fox. And now I've answered all your burning questions, I think [I]you[/I] owe [I]me[/I] some answers. If you didn't know the guy was Shadow's brother, why'd you try to kill him?"[/B]

[B]"It's too complicated to explain here."[/B] Jack took a deep breath. [B]"There's a box of files. In my office. If you send someone to get them, they'll explain everything."[/B]

Eastwood gave him a funny look. [B]"Your secretary burned down your office an hour ago, Fox,"[/B] he said evenly. [B]"We've got her in custody. We're questioning her now, under the assumption that she was in on it, and that you told her to burn your place to destroy any evidence of your plans."[/B]

[B]"[I]No![/I]"[/B] yelled Jack for the second time in as many minutes. [B]"She didn't know anything! She's been framed!"[/B]

[B][I]Those files were the only evidence I had to prove HedgeTech guilty! Why the hell didn't I just take them to the police straight off, instead of pursuing my stupid selfish vendetta? Now I have no leverage, I'm an attempted murderer and HedgeTech have Sonic in their grasp. I'd have lived with life imprisonment for murder if I'd only stopped them, but nothing I've done has mattered![/I][/B]

Eastwood got up, draining the last of his coffee. He walked towards the door. [B]"Before today, I wouldn't have even considered doing this to you,"[/B] he said, nodding the Sergeant towards Jack and closing the door behind him. There was contempt in his eyes.

Sarge ground his right fist into his left palm with an expression on his face that suggested he felt like all his Christmases had come at once. The first blow to Jack's stomach winded him, and then the blows just kept on coming.[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[JJ]

[color=DarkBlue][size=1]Midnight had no clue what to do. One minute the guy was a cokcy ass, the next he was dead. Midnight figured that someone hadplaced the knife and set him up. Until proven otherwise, Midngiht was innocent, but if things didn't go the way he planned, he end up in jail for the rest of his life.

Midnight ran back to his dorm room, and tried to get to the phone. His friend Tori was on the phone and she was very teary. "oh my god. Midnight, did you... kill em?" Tori asked her voice dropping.

"Nope. Not me. But without your help I won't be around much longer." Midnight said reaching for the phone. Tori reluctantly hung up and handed the phone to Midnight. He grabbed it and dialed a number that he had once seen on a ad board.

"[i]The number you are trying to reach has been disconnected. Please hang up and try again."[/i]

"Damnit, Tori do you have a phone book?" Midnight asked looking in Tori's direction. Tori had left, leaving the door open. Midnight lept up and ran out the door, grabbing only his backpack and some food.

Midnight ran out of the building and towards the park. If the authorities were looking for him, they wouldn't find him becuase the park had a small copartment for him to fit in. He slid in and stopped breathing hard. He slowly unzipped his bag and pulled out a cell phone. He dialed a different number he had seen. A gruff voice answered: "If you called this number, you know what to do."

"Look, I need information on the murder of Thomas Brightman. Call me back at 890-6757." Midnight said trying to conceal his voice. He then hung up and layed his head down. The only thing he could do now is wait.[/color][/size]

[Kei]

[color=darkblue][size=1]Shadow made his way down the sterile halls with a grim expression on his face. The glances he got from the nurses and doctors as the local celebrity passed by didn't seem to phase him as he continued on to his younger brother's room. He was too focused on his thoughts.

"This is sooner than I would have liked for us to meet after all these years, but I assume it can't be helped..."

After Keita had called him and told him of her intial failure, Shadow took it upon himself to take care of it, as sulking about his office had gotten rather boring and he didn't have any scheduled meetings that day, which was quite a rare occurence.

As he turned down the hallway to Sonic's room, he saw his mother sitting outside, looking rather haphazard and shaking slightly, still crying from the earlier events. Although it was his own choice to go with his father after the divorce and it had been some years since he'd seen her, he still held a slgiht bit of sentiment in his heart for her. As he came closer, Bernadette looked up and gasped, throughly surprised to see her elder son standing before her.

"Thamien..." she breathed.

Shadow winced slightly at the sound of his middle name, but said nothing. He knew that she always prefered his middle name over his first and there was no way to get around it.

"It's been a while."

"Yes, it has. How have you been, Thamien?"

"Well off. My company is doing well."

"Don't I know. I see you on the news almost every other day. You turned into such a good man, even after going with your father..."

Shadow closed his eyes and scoffed. If she only knew...

"I suppose. But it sounds like my baby brother has gotten into quite the little mess."

The slight look of happiness Bernadette had on her face slowly vanished as she thought of the attempt on her son's life that happened not to hours before.

"I don't know what Sonic's been getting himself into besides those fights," Bernadette began, "but I can't believe it would be something so serious that someone would want to kill him for it..."

"So, my little brother's a street fighter now, huh? Interesting."

"It's not interesting! It's dangerous! It almost got him killed! If that would have happened, I don't know... I don't know what I'd..."

Bernadette broke down completely, sobbing uncontrollably. Shadow glanced down at his mother sitting there before him crying her eyes out, and couldn't help but feel sorry for her, despite all the years he spent trying to quell such emotions from ever showing up again. Hesitantly, he put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay, Mom. He's not dead. He was always a fighter, so don't worry about him."

Bernadette's sobs died down slightly, but she still held her head in her hands.

"I'm going in to see him. There's some...things we should catch up on while we have the chance..."

With that, Shadow left his mother's side and entered the room.

Sonic lie on the hospital bed sleeping soundly, fresh bandages covering the bullet wound on his shoulder. He looked like a complete wreck, and probably felt like it, too. Shadow slipped beside him with barely a sound and stood over him. He smiled slightly.

"It has been a long time, little brother. Look at you now, getting yourself into fights and almost getting killed. You've always been like this, even when you were little. You could never sit still and were always mouthing off. You could never shut up. And here you are, 15 years later and you haven't changed. Why am I not surprised."

Sonic stirred slightly, but didn't awaken. Shadow scoffed slightly and reached into his pocket.

"Yeah, you always could sleep through anything..."

He pulled out a small syringe and uncapped it, pushing the air out of it.

"Let's hope this time isn't any different."

Shadow stuck the needle in Sonic's arm, causing Sonic to wince slightly, and yet still not awaken. Drawing a small amount of blood, Shadow took the needle out, recapped, and replaced it back in his pocket.

"Well, I should be running now, baby bro. I do have a company to run. But we'll see each other again real soon. Promise."

Shadow strolled out of the room as stoically as he went in, passing his mother on the way out. He bid he goodbye with a curt nod and proceeded on his way back to his office, quite pleased he had what he needed...[/color][/size]

[Talon]

[color=royalblue][i]Sonic grimaced as he awakened yet again, this time to the sight of his mother in front of him, walking down the corridor. Sonic, confused, looked around and found himself in a wheelchair, his arm in a sling. Sonic blanched as he remembered the fox's attack, then sighed. He looked up just as Tails revved the Hummingbird and realized he was outside. He looked up into the eyes of Amy Rose, the person pushing the wheelchair.[/i]

[b]Sonic:[/b] A...Amy?! What's goin' on?!

[i]Amy smiled as she and Bernadette lifted Sonic up and pushed the wheelchair into the back of Amy's Overland and helped the blue hedgehog into the back seat. Sonic, indignant, buckled his own seatbelt, thank you very much.[/i]

[b]Amy:[/b] Your mom signed the hospital release form. You've been out just long enough for the doctor's to remove the bullet. You're going to be fine now.

[i]Sonic grunted an affirmative as he settled back, praying to whatever gods he hadn't managed to anger for Tails not to fuck up the Hummingbird as Amy backed out of the parking lot and headed for her house, where Sonic and Bernadette would be living until Sonic found a new place.[/i][/color]