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

[Solo Tremaine]

[COLOR=#503F86]"Name?"

The dim walls of the prison cell echoed the monotone voice of the officer in charge of the dictaphone, who glared at Knuckles with the sort of look one might give a piece of excrement stuck to the sole of one's shoe.

"Name?" he repeated, this time more forcefully.

There was a brief pause, then a more slimy, sinister voice hissed through the microphone. "Come on now, are't you pleased to see us? We can keep you here for as long as I live. How long [i]you[/i] lie, however, will depend on your co-operation." The Seargent let a twisted grin spread across his muscular jaws to squeeze as much insolence into the statement as he could. He enjoyed watching his play things squirm, and Knuckles was an especially exquisite sample.

The echidna, however, was determined not to give him a show.

"Knuckles Echidna," he said clearly, his stoic face not even hinting at any sign of emotion. He was doing well so far.

"Age?"

"Twenty-three."

The Sergeant turned off the dictaphone and rubbed his hands together. "Well, that's the pleasantries over and done with. Now it's my turn."

Knuckles gave him a wary eye as the bulky figure strode towards him, moving around him in a slow, ominous circle.

"Where exactly were you last night, my [i]dear[/i] friend?"

The Echidna shuddered at the thought of ever being this disgusting idiot's friend, but tried to keep his composure anyway. "I was at my fight club, then I walked home. Where you found me in my house was where I spent the entire night."

"Oh, really?" A sardonic grin appeared across the Sergeant's face. "You happened to go via the river, didn't you? We have quite a few reliable sources who reported you being there at the time. What were you doing there?"

"I was walking home." Knuckles spat, gritting his teeth.

"Tell me, Mr Echidna... do you know a Mr Hedgehog?"

"Only one. Sonic."

"The same one who you put in hospital only yesterday? It doesn't seem like you're very friendly with them."

"It was an accident and I didn't fucking murder anyone!" Knuckles tried to jump out of his seat, but the handcuffs bit into his wrists and forced him back down onto the hard wooden chair.

"We'll be the judge of that, [i]Knuckles.[/i] Remember who's pulling the strings here. Unless you co-operate with me I'll have you thrown in jail quicker than you can pull your finger out of your worthless ass."

"You don't have anything on me, bastard. No matter what you try I'll get out, just like I did last time."

The Sergeant's lips tightened in anger. Quick as a flash he drew his fist back and plunged it into the side of Knuckles' face, sending him and the chair crashing to the floor. The echidna hit the ground hard- his face and lips were bleeding, missing skin that had been ripped off by the concrete floor.

"We have eyewitness accounts that testify to [i]you[/i] being around the river at the time and you lugging something heavy around with you later in the evening. And believe me, I have connections in very high places. It doesn't take much... [i]persuasion[/i] to get an accurate testimony against you." The Sergeant licked his teeth and cracked his knuckles as loudly as he could. Behind him the police officer gave a grim smile.

Knuckles spat out a mouthful of blood, shaking with rage. "This is about a job, isn't it? What do you want?"[/COLOR]

[Raiyuu]

[SIZE=1][COLOR=DarkSlateBlue]As two cops hauled his bruised and bloodied body through the corridors, Jack could hear the Sergeant yelling at some other unfortunate in another interview room. Over the pounding in his head he could just make out the words:

[B]"It doesn't ... persuasion ... accurate testimony ..."[/B]

[B]"This ... a job, isn't it? What do you want?"[/B]

[B][I]Bastard,[/I][/B] thought Jack, [B][I]he's an insult to the SSPD. I hope he breaks his fist on whoever that is in there.[/I][/B]

They chucked Jack in a cell, where he just lay. There was no point trying to shift position, he'd been beaten all over and every bit of him hurt as much as every other bit. The stone floor was kind of soothing on his bloody nose and mouth.

[B][I]I have to get out of here. I don't care that it's against the law any more. I'm already going down for attempted murder, I may as well at least try to escape and find Sonic again. That way when the world ends I can at least say [/I] "I told you so" [I]and watch the expression on Sarge's great ugly mush.[/I][/B]

As Jack was sitting up and starting to look round for possible escape routes, he heard the sound of a powerful motorbike pulling up outside. Then the door; some talking at the desk, the duty officer and some other voice he didn't recognise; then footsteps, coming closer; the shriek of metal that was the cell door coming unlocked.

There was an orange fox silhouetted in the doorway. The duty officer's voice said, [B]"Visitor for you, Fox,"[/B] and then his footsteps receded. The guy in the doorway looked a bit younger than Jack, with a backwards baseball cap, and a really full, bushy tail. Wait...

[B]"Don't stare."[/B]

Jack looked up from the fox's twin tails to his face. He looked angry. Worse, it looked like [I]righteous[/I] anger.

[B]"My name's Tails. You tried to kill a good friend of mine. They've just taken the bullet out. I took a detour on the way home. Wanted to talk to you."[/B]

[B]"Are you gonna beat the shit out of me too?"[/B] Jack asked wearily. [B]"Cos I don't think there's much left."[/B]

[B]"Well, it all depends."[/B] [B][I]I'll have to play this one carefully,[/I][/B] Jack thought. [B][I]He looks like he really will kick my ass if he doesn't like what he hears, and I'm not sure how much more ass-kicking I can take today.[/I][/B]

[B]"I just want to know [I]why[/I]. You don't even know him. What's he ever done to you?"[/B]

[B][I]Honesty is the best policy.[/I][/B]

[B]"It's not what he's done. It's what he might ... be used for. Listen. Shadow T. Hedgehog is up to something. Something huge, and I [I]mean[/I] huge, and it won't work without your friend Sonic. I thought the best way to stop HedgeTech was to ... take him out of the picture."[/B]

Tails looked like he was absorbing and processing this information. He stayed impassive for a few seconds, then walked up and kicked Jack hard in the stomach. Jack folded up like he was spring-loaded.

[B]"That's for trying to take the easy way out,"[/B] he said. [B]"Even if you're telling the truth about Shadow, killing Sonic was [I]not[/I] the solution."[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE]

[Kei]

[color=darkblue][size=1]Keita pulled into the parking lot of the Station Square Police Department. her bike smoothly running over the cracks in the old asphalt, zigzagging through the faded lines painted on them and finally cutting the engine in a spot she deemed was safe enough to where it wouldn't be dinged by anyone. Getting off and taking off her helmet in one fluid motion, she strode tp the front door with a slight scowl on her face. Coming here was not one of her favorite pastimes. Too many bad memories as a kid.

As she opened the door, she looked around to find the place relatively busy, officers at their desks taking calls about harrassment and other petty things. In other words, stuff no one really gave a shit about except the people it was happening to.

She walked over to the front desk and stopped in front of a throughly bored looking female dalmation officer, who was idly flipping through the pages of a catalog. Keita rapped her knuckles sharply on the desk to get her attention, earning a glance upwards as her only acknowledgement.

"Welcome to the Station Square PD. What seems to be the problem?" she droned on in a voice to match her look of boredom.

Keita scowled slightly at the woman, but said nothing, clearing her throat.

"My name's Keita Echidna. I'm here to see someone you all recently put into custody. Another echidna."

The woman sighed and looked straight at Keita, her eyes half-lidden, as if she were going to fall aslep any moment.

"The only echidna we've brought in here recently was the one that's being questioned in regards to the murder of the HedgeTech scientist."

"I know that. That's the one I want to see."

"You can't. He's being interrogated right now."

"I don't care. I'm with HedgeTech and I'm under orders to speak with him as soon as possible."

The dalmation sighed again, resting her head on her hands, continuing to look Keita in the eyes.

"You'll have to wait until the sergeant is done with him."

"Fine. Just call him and tell him that Mr. Hedgehog's personal assistant is waiting to see this prisoner."

The dalmation's ears pricked up slightly upon hearing this, breaking her out of her sleep-laden trance. Keita knew that HedgeTech provided the police department with a hefty amount of weapons and funding as part of the city's contract with them, and she smiled slightly as she knew that playing the assistant card would get her where she wanted faster than normal.

"Thanks," she said turning toward the rows of old, beat-up waiting chairs and having a seat.

[i]"Let's just hope that idiot doesn't say anything he shouldn't,"[/i] she thought.[/size][/color]

[JJ]

[color=DarkBlue][size=1]Midnight jolted up from his cramped space, rewarding himslef to a good solid hit on the head.

"That really hurt" he muttered to himslef as he tried to move to the exit. He cleared the rubbish he set in front the night before, and he now was greeted with sunshine and a cloudless day. He yawned and stretched. "Better head for the library and check to see." he thoughted as he grabbed his stuff.

He made a straight course for the library hoping not to run into Tori. When he arrived he sat down at the computer and hit the Internet link. He typed in the Station Square Times' web address and waited for it to load. When the page had finsihed the main story shocked Midnight.

[I]"HedgeTech scientist killed, suspect in custody."[/I] Midnight could care less, and went on to search the rest of the paper. After about a five minute search he struck gold.

[I]Local college student Thomas Brightman slayed in classroom, no suspects have been released.[/I]

"So that means they don't know who did it yet." Midnight thought as he logged off. "I can live my life normally until I figure this out." He threw his hands up in the air and did a small victory dance as he walked out of the library.[/size][/color]

[Solo Tremaine]

[COLOR=#503F86]"I'm glad you're finally starting to see things my way." The Sargeant grinned, his oily sardonic voice filling Knuckles' head with feelings of rage. The Sargeant clicked his fingers and the second police officer roughly grabbed the beaten echidna, sitting his chair upright opposite the towering frame of his captor.

"A businss associate of mine-"

Knuckles snorted. "One of your drug sponsors, you mean."

Unusually for the Sargeant, he curbed his violent intintc and simply sat calmly in his chair, although his eyes spoke stories of brutal violence if knuckles were to step out of line again. "A [i]business associate[/i] of mine is making an important delivery tomorrow night. Now, since it would be inconvenient for me to take it personally, I need someone to act as an intermediary. I can assure you that if you do exactly as you're told, you will remain safe."

"What the hell's so dangerous that even you can't pick it up? I thought you were supposed to be untouchable." Knuckles scoffed, leaning back in his chair.

The Sargeant leant closer in. "I'm warning you, Knuckles..."

Knuckles glared directly into tha bear's eyes, defiant. "Threaten me all you like, you can't scare me. Sitting here I've nothing left to lose, so I don't care what the fuck you decide to do with me. But you'll lose yourself an opportunity to finish a job, and that could cost you far more than it would me. So it would be in your best interests to spill."

The Sargeant slammed his fist on the table. "HedgeTech are taking in a delivery of some hazardous substance to fuel their substation. Since my relations to HedgeTech are extremely close, if one of my 'partners' wants something it's mine to take, in return for various discrepancies not going to press. But lately HedgeTech security's stepped up its activity, meaning I've had no access to anything. My partners are getting very upset. And believe me, when my partners get upset, [i]everyone[/i] knows about it. I will not have my position ripped out form underneath me, and if you don't follow through with this I will kill you and every bone of your pathetic friends."

"So the driver's going to HedgeTech?"

"No. The HedgeTech lorries are unmarked. I've paid a considerable amount of money to the driver of the truck to stop underneath the freeway going directly to the centre of Sation Square. There you'll pick up the truck and drive it to a discreet location where you'll be met by a representative of my partner, wo'll take the goods off you. Then you'll be free to go as you please."

"Until you want another job from me, no doubt..."

The Sargeant ripped the handcuffs from Knuckles' arms."My, we do learn quickly."

"I'll phone your cess-pit fight house tomorrow afternoon at 2:00pm sharp. If you're not there, it's your neck. Clear?"

"Fucking crystal." Knuckles muttered, cracking his neck to one side. He was roughly handed a towel to clean the blood from his face ith- he tossed it back and strode out of the holding cells.

"And by the way-" The Sargeant called after him. "Mr. Shadow T Hedgehog's personal assistant is waiting to speak to you outside. Say anything and I'll kill you with my bare hands."

Knuckles shook his head. It seemed like anything he did would result in him being killed in one way or another. As he punched open the door to the reception area he glanced over to see a pert female echidna sitting uncomfortably on the rotten station chairs.

[i]"What the fuck does she want with me?"[/i] he thought to himself...[/COLOR]

[Kei]

[color=darkblue][size=1]Keita was starting to get annoyed. Just how long would Schaefer take? She knew he usually worked the people he questioned over more than a few times, but still...

Finally, she heard a buzz at the front desk and the officer coughed to get her attention.

"The Sarge is done with him. He's standing over there if you still want to talk to him," she said pointing.

Keita turned to see, not her brother Lothar, but another echidna, a red one, staring coldly at her as if she were nothing but a piece of trash in the street.

[i]"What the..."[/i] Keita thought as she got up. [i]"That's not Lothar... Probably one of Schaefer's losers he picked up off the street to do his dirty work for him. You'd think that idiot would get a clue. We have spies everywhere. It was only a matter of time before we found out what he was doing. Still, this is a good opprotunity to learn the finer points of his little 'operation,' so when we finally do string his ass up, along with all our little 'converts', we'll have a nice, solid case backing us up..."[/i]

Keita walked over to the disgruntled echidna, who only acknowledged her with a blink and barely that.

"I suppose you would be pissed off, Schafer beating the shit out of you and all."

The echidna's scowl deepened as he bawled his hands into fists, gritting his teeth.

"Well, seeing as how I was handcuffed to a fucking chair, I didn't really have a choice but to sit and take it, did I?" he growled.

"No, I suppose you wouldn't. The name's Keita, by the way."

"I don't care what your name is. What the hell do you want with me?"

"Well, Mister...hm...I didn't catch your name."

"Didn't give it. Now, get to the point or I'm leaving."

Keita smiled at his impatience, knowing it'd be a challenge to manipulate him into telling her what she wanted.

"Okay. But we can't really discuss it here. Let's go someplace with a little less..." Keita trailed off as she glanced about, "authority around."

He scoffed as he pushed by her, making his way toward the exit.

"I've got better things to do."

"I'll make it worth your while."

He stopped, turning to look over his shoulder slightly. Keita was writing something down quickly and finished, tearing it from the pad and holding it up. It was a check.

The echidna walked over and snatched it from her grasp, glancing at the figure she'd written.

"Ten thousand now, and another ten after you've heard me out. Regardless whether you help me or not. All I need to know is whose name to put on the little line at the top."

He sat and comptemplated this for a moment and handed the check back to her, pointing to the line.

"'Cash' for now. I'll think about giving you my name after I've heard what it is you've got to say."

Keita smiled.

[i]"So he's not as dumb as he looks. This should be interesting..."[/i]

"All right," she said, doing as she was asked and and handing the check back to him, "so now for our little chatting place. Since I'm buying your time, you pick."

"My place."

"Fine. I take it you don't have a way of getting there, though."

The red echidna narrowed his eyes at her, causing Keita to put up her hands in surrender.

"Okay, okay, dumb question. We'll take my bike, then. Just give me directions on the way."[/color][/size]

[Talon]

[color=royalblue][i]Sonic walked into the living room of Amy's home some time later, stretching his good arm and sorting out the mail the pink hedgehog seemed to have accumulated. A sardonic grin on his face, his shifted through the letters under the gaze of her cousin, Rob o' the Hedge, a curious fellow who followed some old code of honor and an even older code of speech.[/i]

[b]Sonic:[/b] Bill....bill....chain letter....bill....jury duty....postcard from Ash and Mina...ad catalog....letter for me from HedgeTech......postcard from Tika-.....

[i]Sonic twitched briefly as he dropped the armful of mail to the floor.[/i]

[b]Sonic:[/b] Letter....for me....from Shadow's company?

[i]Sonic opened the letter, nearly dropping it in surprise as he read the lines written in bold ink on the sheet within the envelope.

[center][b][u]It has been brought to our attention that your living conditions have been slashed by government standards. It is therefore our duty and our pleasure to extend to the brother of our esteemed chairman (Shadow T. Hedgehog), one Sonic T. Hedgehog, a helping hand. As per the chairman's prerequisites, you shall find a lovely house in the Emerald Coast district of Station Square, number 512 on Grounder Avenue. Normally, the houses in this district are reserved for HedgeTech Incorporated's employees, but a special allocation has been alotted to you due to your relation to our chairman. We hope you enjoy your stay in your new home, Mr. Hedgehog.

Sincerely,
Lien-Da, Secretary

P.S. I hear you're single now, Sonic. Perhaps you wouldn't mind a date sometime?[/center][/b][/u]

Sonic stared at the print before clenching his eyes shut and balling his fist around the letter. Without a second thought, he stormed upstairs, grabbing a coat and running out to the car. He nodded at Rob as he gunned the engine, pulling out of the driveway and heading, as fast as he could, for the dark, ominous shape of the HedgeTech Inc. building in the business district...

[b][/i][center]30 Minutes Later[/b][i][/center]

It was an angry blue hedgehog who stormed into the lobby of the HedgeTech building, stalking purposefully, yet gracefully, across the expansive floor, ignoring the state of his clothes and bandages as he headed across the lobby, only to be stopped by the desk clerk and security guard, Mighty.[/i]

[b]Mighty:[/b] Sorry, Sonic, you're not expecte-whoa!

[i]Sonic barrelled past the armadillo, pushing him aside with his one good arm as he hit the elevator's call button. As he stepped inside, he answered Mighty with a single, cryptic sentence.[/i]

[b]Sonic:[/b] Trust me, I'm expected...

[i]The elevator opened to the top floor and Sonic strode out, only to be stopped by one red echidna in his path.[/i]

[b]Lien-Da:[/b] Whoa there, Sonic. Chill, take a deep breath an-HOLY DOWNUNDA!! What the hell happened to your arm?!?! They weren't exaggerating on the news, were they? Damn...you really got shot and...Sonic? Where'd ya go....DAMNIT!! I'll get him for sure when he comes back out....

[i]Meanwhile, an irate hedgehog was striding across the floor, seemingly calm, to his brother's desk. Shadow, smiling meaningfully, stood up and stepped around the desk, heading for Sonic with open arms.

And then went flying backwards again, a red bruise forming on his cheek already from the impact of Sonic's fist .[/i][/color]

[JJ]

[color=DarkBlue][size=1]Midnight had walked no farther than the front steps of the Library, before he was confronted by Tori.

"What the Hell happened Midnight. Don't shit me with lies, I want to know the God Damn truth." she said, a look of pure disgust on her face.

"Ok fine, but not here. Too many people." Midnight said leading Tori towards the dorms.

"Midnight you really fucked the dog on this one." Tori said allowing herself to be lead back to their room.

When they got to their room, Midnight sat down on his bed and Tori in the chair. "OK, look here's how the asshole died. I was walking to class, and it seemed like the whole fucking school was deserted. I saw a sign with a red arrow pointing to the hall that my class was on, so I followed it and the others like it, straight to the class.

There, he was waiting for me. He tried to imitate me, and I knocked him over. I let off his windpipe, and he rolled over, showing me the knife sticking out of his back. I backed off, then made a run for the door, and from there you know what know the rest." Midnight said, taking a slow breath.

"What the fuck? Midnight, there no fucking way.." Tori started as she suddenly burst into tears. Midnight got up off the bed and pulled Tori close to him. "Oh Midnight." she sobbed as he sat on the arm of the chair. I didn't mean for him to die!" she wailed. "I only wanted you to show him who was who!"

Midnight just sat there holding Tori in his arms. He slowly rocked her back and forth. She slowly calmed down. As Midnight started to nod off, she gave him a little nibble on his lip. His head shot up and he looked at Tori. Her head moved towards Midnight's and his head moved towards her's. Their lips touched other's, as an unknown passion flew from them. Midnight suddenly grabbed Tori in his arms and he kissed her harder. She kissed harder, too and they suddenly fell backwards onto Midnight's bed. Clothes were strewn everywhere and Midnight stopped only for a second to close the door. After that, the lights went out.[/size][/color]

[Raiyuu]

[COLOR=DarkSlateBlue][SIZE=1]Jack forced himself upright, ignoring the shooting pain in all his limbs. [B][I]I've got to get out of here,[/I][/B] he decided. [B][I]I'm sick of waiting here, not knowing what's going to happen ... what was I doing just waiting anyway? Did I think that someone was gonna try and rescue me? Fat chance.[/I][/B]

Jack flattened himself against the wall next to the heavy metal door and banged on it as hard as he could.

[B]"Guard! Get in here! I think I'm bleeding out!"[/B]

[B][I]Man, if this works I swear I'm gonna dedicate my life to giving the cops proper training.[/I][/B]

The view slot in the door slammed to one side and a pair of beady eyes peered through. With Jack nowhere in sight, the guard began to cautiously open the door. A large foot appeared through the crack.

[B][I]Oh, crap,[/I][/B] realised Jack, [B][I]it's Sarge! I'm never gonna be able to knock HIM out![/I][/B]

The bear was fully in the cell now. Without much hope of success, Jack clasped his hands together into a double fist and brought them down hard at the base of Sarge's neck.

For one hopeful second Jack watched as the huge Sergeant wavered, seemingly about to buckle and crash to the ground. Then suddenly his eyes refocused, his eyebrows descended into a frown and he swung a meaty fist straight at Jack's face. The fox went down hard, blood streaming from his nose and mouth.

[B]"Stupid bastard!"[/B] yelled Sarge, livid that he'd let his captive land a blow on him. He swung a foot at the prostrate figure on the floor.

With a sense of dread Jack felt something inside him snap. It made an audible cracking sound and suddenly he couldn't breathe, and his chest felt on fire. The Sergeant had obviously heard it too - his face went pale nad he went running out of the room. Jack faded in and out of consciousness, gasping for breath. He heard running footsteps, and Harry Eastwood's voice saying, "[B]You idiot. You [I]idiot![/I] Call the Medical Centre. Now!"[/B][/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Kei]

[color=darkblue][size=1]Shadow managed to catch himself before he hit the desk, eyeing Sonic with a sideways glance before righting himself properly and rubbing his cheek slightly.

"A warm greeting as always I see, baby brother."

"Shut the hell up! What the fuck do you think you're doing?!"

Sighing and leaning against the edge on the desk, Shadow gave him a totally innocent smile and shrugged.

"It may surprise you to find out that I haven't developed telekinesis since we saw each other last, Sonic. What are you talking about?"

"You know damn well what I'm talking about! This!"

Sonic reached into his pocket and threw the crumpled paper down to Shadow's feet as hard as he could. Shadow, still not having any sort of visible reaction to his brother's outburst, merely reached down and picked it up, straightening it out to read that it was the notification letter he'd had Lien-Da send out not too long ago.

"Oh. This."

"Yeah. That."

The scowl had never once left Sonic's face and now he stood looking every bit ready to strangle his older brother on a whim. Shadow smiled once more and set the wrinkled paper on his desk.

"I merely gave you and Mom a place to live. What's wrong with that?"

"What's wrong with it is is that I don't need any damn charity. Especially from you."

Moving around and sitting down behind his desk, Shadow sighed and folded his hands.

"I beg to differ, little brother. You've lost your job, been evicted from already substandard accommodations from condemnation, and you're seriously injured. And Mom can't work because she's still too weak, though she did look a lot better when I saw her."

"That because I got her the help she needed. And that was from my other job."

"Yes, the job that got you those broken ribs. Let's not forget about that. The one that's going to worry Mom into an early grave."

Sonic winced slightly at his brother's point, but said nothing.

"Listen, Sonic. All I'm trying to do is give Mom a better chance than what she's had, as of late. You, too. You've both had it really rough, and you don't deserve it. All I'm trying to do is help out a little, that's all. Is it so wrong that I want to help my mother and little brother?"

"It wouldn't be if this weren't the first time you ever did it in your life."

Shadow finally let his annoyed mood show in the form of a slight wince. Quickly recovering and sighing briefly, the black hedgehog shrugged.

"Look. You're old enough to make your own decisions. We both know that. You can take my offer or leave it. I only ask one thing."

"Oh, and what would that be?" Sonic replied with the most sarcasm he could muster.

"Think about Mom."

Sonic stood shocked for a moment, simply staring into his brother's nonexpressive eyes. In a way, he knew Shadow was right; taking what he had offered would be the best for Bernadette. But this was Shadow he was talking about. Ever since the divorce, Shadow had changed. He seemed to become more cold and calculating the more time he spent alone with thier father, and by the time they had seen each other five years after the split, he was a completely different person. A person that Sonic knew he couldn't trust.

But now, he was in a vulnerable situation. Sure, he could stay with Amy for a while until they got back on their feet, since she didn't mind, but it just didn't feel right. Maybe this was for the best after all...

"It's all up to you, Sonic," Shadow said, breaking the tense silence. "You can move in whenever you want, if you choose to. Just send a shout if you do."

At that, Sonic closed his eyes and turned to go, remaining silent and seemingly in deep thought.

"Sonic."

He stopped.

"Just think about Mom."

Sonic continued on out the door, letting it close quietly behind him.

"I am," he muttered when he was out of earshot.

As Shadow watched Sonic leave through the door, he couldn't help but get a feeling that Sonic may be onto him. Looking down intently at his hands, he scowled at his own paranoia.

"I'm being foolish. There's no way he could know... Hm. Yeah, I'm sure of it... But that reminds me. I have research to do."[/size][/color]

[Talon]

[color=royalblue][i]Sonic stared at the wall blankly for a moment after Shadow's door closed abruptly behind him. What should he do, he wondered, as he felt somebody taking his hand. He lowered his gaze to his arm and followed the red hand in his own blue one with it, reaching a garnet forearm attached to a similarly colored shoulder, eventually reaching the more pale face of Lien-Da.[/i]

[b]Lien-Da:[/b] Come on, Sonic. I'll show you the house and you can make your mind up then. It's too late for you to be out without company in this city, anyway, and too dangerous for you to drive with your arm in a sling. Besides, my shift's over. Shadow's assisstant can handle anything else that comes up.

[i]Sonic considered and briefly nodded, earning himself a lightning-fast trip to the bottom of the building. How girls managed to drag guys at light speed without their knowing it was beyond him. Sonic shook his head when he found himself in the passenger seat of Amy's Overland yet again. He sighed, glaring at the building, knowing full well that Shadow had made Sonic's mind up for him by dragging Bernadette into the conversation. Sonic sighed and finally began to notice where they were going, and what Lien-Da's free hand was doing to his upper thigh. Though it did feel nice, Sonic was just a little awkward about it.[/i]

[b]Sonic:[/b] Um...Lien-Da, please...I just got ditched by Sal-whoa....what was THAT?

[i]Lien-Da smirked and released Sonic's personals as she pulled into the driveway of a beautiful house with an expansive yard and beach territory. Sonic's breath caught for two reasons. First, the house itself was simply to die for. Second, the nearest neighbor was about a mile away down Grounder Ave., so Sonic was free to play his guitar as loudly as he wished.

That Lien-Da's top had found its way to the floor as she kissed him passionately had nothing to do with it.[/i]

[b]Sonic:[/b] Erk...I never done anythin' like this, Lien-Da. And watch the arm...

[i]Lien-Da only smiled, closed the door, and took Sonic to get to know the living room furnitutre and the upper bedroom very well.

Sonic was going to stay, indeed.[/i][/color]

[Raiyuu]

[COLOR=DarkSlateBlue][SIZE=1]A tiny red light pulsed in the blackness. It pulsed quickly ... slowed down ... it was matching pace with Jack's heartbeat. The red light turned white, expanded, like a switched-off TV screen, but in reverse and slow-motion. A rhythmic beeping replaced the pulsing light. The whiteness was a ceiling ... polystyrene tiles in a steel grid ...

Station Square Medical Centre. [I]Again.[/I]

Jack tried to move, but his chest seemed about to snap clean in half and his lungs felt like he was breathing molten lead. He sagged back onto the crisp hospital linen, touching his chest; it was swathed entirely in bandages. There was a tube in his wrist, and an oxygen mask strapped to his face.

[B]"You're going nowhere for a few days," [/B] said a voice, coming from just outside his field of vision. [B]"Three of your ribs snapped clean in half, a couple more were splintered, and you had more bone in your lungs than most people have in their skulls. I assume you'll be bringing charges? Police brutality?"[/B]

With an effort, Jack turned his head. A concerned-looking nurse was sat by his beside, monitoring the beeping heart-rate monitor.

[B]"There isn't much point," [/B] he replied, [B]"because the world's going to end soon."[/B]

She looked startled. [B]"What?"[/B]

[B]"The world," [/B] Jack reiterated grimly, [B]"is going to end. Very soon. I have to get out of here. I have to get my gun back and get to HedgeTech's headquarters building. Do you understand?"[/B]

[B]"You're delirious." [/B] The nurse started checking the screen more closely, as if there was an 'insanity' readout on there.

[B]"No," [/B] Jack replied, [B]"I'm deadly serious." [/B] He was past caring how ridiculous he sounded, past caring how many people thought he was crazy or how much trouble he caused. None of it mattered. The fate of the world was bigger than him alone.

[B]"Look," [/B] he continued, [B]"I know it's dangerous for me to move. I also know it's far [I]more[/I] dangerous for me not to. So unless you get me a wheelchair or something, some way for me to get mobile, I'm gonna start pulling out these tubes one by one, starting with this big, important-looking one right here -" [/B] he grabbed the one going into his wrist [B]"- so I don't have to be around when the big apocalyptic fireworks start happening. [I]Comprende?[/I]"[/B]

[CENTER]~~~~[/CENTER]

[I][B]I guess I don't look that threatening,[/B][/I] Jack considered as he rolled in through HedgeTech's main entrance. The wheelchair was electric, and had the tree for his drip integrated so he didn't need a nurse walking alongside to make him look even more pathetic. It felt like it took about a week to reach the receptionist's desk; she just ignored him and filed her nails, not even looking up at the whirring of the chair's motor. Every second it took felt like time he couldn't afford to waste.

[B]"I want to see Shadow," [/B] he said firmly, once he was close enough. Too close to the imposing front desk and he'd be obscured from her view, sat down as he was.

[B]"Everyone wants to see Shadow," [/B] she replied, sounding bored and still not looking up. [B]"Do you have an appointment?"[/B]

[B]"No."[/B]

[B]"You'll have to make one. He's a very busy man[/B]."

[B]"Will this do instead?" [/B] asked Jack gruffly, raising the Magnum he'd managed to retrieve from the police. God only knew how; for some reason they were more worried about his threat to kill himself than they were about letting an attempted murderer have his weapon back. He strongly suspected Harry Eastwood had had something to do with it.

[B]"I am a very impatient man."[/B]

Finally the girl looked up, and her eyes gained about an inch in diameter as she found herself the second person that day to look into the big revolver's cold grey barrel. Without taking her eyes off the gun, she pointed slowly towards the lift doors at the back of the foyer, though not, Jack suspected, before hitting some sort of alarm.

Jack trundled towards the doors, which opened as he approached. The lift automatically began ascending to the penthouse floor, presumably controlled from the reception desk. As he rose to confront HedgeTech's lord and master, and the orchestrator of events that threatened the very planet itself, Jack realised he had no idea what he was doing. No idea what he was going to do when he finally came face to face with Shadow Thamien Hedgehog. No idea how he intended to save the world. No idea whether he would come out of it alive.

[I][B]But then,[/B][/I] he thought with a wry grin, [I][B]what else is new?[/B][/I][/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Solo Tremaine]

[COLOR=#503F86]Knuckles slid onto the ground from the back of Keita's bike. His lower back hurtui considerably, even though it was one of the nicest bikes he'd evereen in these parts.

"I guess even Shadow T Hedgehog's personal assisstant can't get a bike with two seats when she needs it," he spat, carefully rubbing his sacroiliac. He wasn't entirely convinced that she was who put herself out to be.

He was met with a disdainful snort. "You weren't who I was expecting to see."

Upon setting eyes upon his house, she immediately wished she'd been more forceful about where they held their discussion. "This also wasn't what I was expecting to see."

"What do you want, a fucking mansion?" he scowled, remembering that he didn't even have a front door any more. Ushering her in, he pulled the piece of rotten wood that used to be his only barrier from his front room to the pavement and propped it against the opening. He sat on his bed, clipping open a can of drink from the floor next to him. He produced another from underneath his bed and offered it to her. The blank expression on her face indicated a distinct 'No', so Knuckles returned it.

"So, how long have you been Schafer's whore?"

Keita twitched slightly, almost in disbelief at what she heard.

"What?" she said eventually.

Knuckles took a swig of his drinkand planted it firmly on the floor, scattering drops of the liquid over the mud-encrusted carpet.

"That's what you're here for, right? To make sure I follow up with his end of the deal. There's no way anyone from HedgeTech would be interested in seeing me at the same moment he does- I don't buy it for a second!" he yelled.

Keita said nothing, but simply stared at him with a look of unimpressed bewilderment.

"You can tell that fat fuck that I'll follow his orders as he wants and then you can screw him for all I care. I'm not going to be fucking tricked again!"

The red-skinned echidna stared at Keita, his eyes filled with contemptuous hate. After a tense silence broken only by his rasped breaths, he started at her tiny laugh.

"And here I was thinking you actually had a brain," she scoffed. He made to move towards her, but her authoritative gaze stopped him in his tracks.

"Sit down! I don't think you realise the position that you're in," she growled, idly flicking the check for ten thousand into his view. He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth.

"Fine!" he roared. "What do you want?"

Keita sat down again, her outward composure eerily calm. Knuckles was almost snorting in disgust with each breath, barely able to contain his contempt for what she was out to say.

"Ragerdss of what you may think, I [i]do[/i] work for Shadow. And don't flatter yourself by thinking I was coming for you. You just happen to have landed yourself in something far bigger than you comprehend."

"[i]I[/i] landed myself in it? You-"

"Hear me out!" she said, barely raising her voice but filling it with a malice dangerous enough to silence him. "I know what Schafer asked of you for tomorrow night, and I want to know the exact details he gave you."

"The deatails he gave me were to rendez-vous with a HedgeTech truck tomorrow night- I don't know where or when or even where to take the fucking thing- he's calling the fight club tomorrow afternoon at two and if I'm not there he'll have my fucking ass! Got it? Is that fucking clear now?"

Keita gave him a wry smile. "That's good. Now, I want to ask you something else."

Knuckles was shaking with rage, his murderous gaze fixed to her.

"How much has he offered you?"

"My freedom." Knuckles hissed.

A look of revulsion spread over Keita's face. "You really think he'll follow up on that?"

Knuckles said nothing, but felt his insides constricting with apprehension.

"I can offer you more than just your freedom. I'm sure we could find a posiiton for you somewhere in HedgeTech. With a big publicity event coming up soon, Shadow's sure to need a strong bodyguard. And it's a permanent opening..."

She wandered over to the door, casting his cheque for ten thousand credits on the floor. "That was the advance." She scribbled out another and kept the chequebook in front of her, looking pointedly to him.

"What was your name?"

"Knuckles."[/COLOR]

[Raiyuu]

[COLOR=DarkSlateBlue][SIZE=1]The lift doors pinged open, revealing Shadow's office. There was what looked like about a mile of intricately patterned carpet between Jack and the heavy wooden desk at the opposite end. Shadow was sat there, silhouetted against the plate-glass window wall by the setting sun.

He just sat there. Took no notice.

Jack pushed the joystick on his armrest and started trundling forward. The motor whirr was the loudest thing he'd ever heard, and he was going to have to endure it for about a year before he'd reach that desk. The pack of saline hanging on his drip tree was half empty. It jiggled as he trundled, the fitting squeaking.

[B][I]You don't look stupid,[/I][/B] he tried to convince himself, [I][B]you look sinister. Slow, sinister approach.[/B][/I]

Shadow continued to ignore him. Which was why he stopped several metres from the desk; a stupid idea, he realised as soon as he released the stick, because now he was going to have to speak up with broken ribs and a recently punctured lung. [I][B]But start moving again and I'll lose my sinister atmosphere.[/B][/I]

[B]"Shadow T. Hedge-"[/B]

[B]"Do you have an appointment?" [/B] The black hedgehog didn't even look up from the printouts he was reading.

[B]"I had to persuade your receptionist."[/B] Jack waved the Magnum at Shadow. [B]"But then, you know that. There are cameras everywhere, and they all pipe straight back here."[/B]

[B]"Correct." [/B] Shadow shuffled the papers into a neat pile - Jack caught a glimpse of mathematical formulae, and some letters; DNA? - and placed them delicately into a drawer. He steepled his fingers, rested his chin on them, and finally met Jack's gaze. [B]"So if you knew that, what exactly made you think you could get away with this nonsense?"[/B]

[B]"Who says I want to get away?" [/B] Jack grinned like a maniac. [B]"I'm a man with nothing to lose."[/B]

[B]"I see. So this confrontation is the final gambit of a desperate man. You plan to kill me?"[/B]

[B]"Haven't really thought it through. I'd like to know your motives. Cop instinct, see?"[/B] Jack tapped his head with the muzzle of the Magnum. [B]"Always have to ask why. What is never enough."[/B]

Shadow stared for a few seconds, a frown forming on his face. [B]"Do I know you?" [/B] he asked, looking puzzled.

[B]"Oh, yeah. I'm your arch-nemesis."[/B] Jack's grin grew wider. [B]"We've never met face-to-face before, but I've been that constant pain you've been feeling in your ass ever since you screwed over my family."[/B]

[B]"Ah yes, Jack Fox the conscientious private eye. Who'd have thought it. An itch maybe, but you've never come close to causing me real pain, Mr Fox. Jack. Can I call you Jack? Your petty little nit-picking may seem like victory to the eco-warriors and anti-capitalism groups, but on the grand scale you've never cost my company a cent, shamus. And while we're on the subject, I fired your parents legitimately. The were leaking corporate secrets, the charges wern't trumped-up. I thought you might want to know ... with your hatred of big business you might find their industrial espionage ... I don't know, heroic in some way."[/B]

Through gritted teeth Jack said, [B]"Are you gonna tell me why you want this world destroyed or not?"[/B] He tried to keep the shock out of his voice. [I][B]After all these years, HedgeTech weren't dishonest in the first place? What has my whole crusade been for?[/B][/I]

Shadow leaned back and grinned, showing perfect white teeth. There was no happiness in that smile. It was pure malice.

[B]"I'm not a Bond villain, Jack. You think I'm going to tell you everything then leave you in some ridiculously circuitous trap? No. In the state you're in, I could probably just wait for you to die on my carpet, but I'm a busy man."[/B] He leaned down to his desk. [B]"Security? My office, please. I have an unwanted guest."[/B]

[I][B]As if they didn't already know that.[/B][/I]

[B]"Well then," [/B] said Jack,[B] "looks like I'm all out of options." [/B] He raised the Magnum, pointed it at Shadow, and with Tails's words echoing round his head, his finger tightened on the trigger.

[I][B]Trying to kill him was not the answer...[/B][/I][/SIZE][/COLOR]