"Good evening Sonic City. We interrupt your scheduled broadcast of the newest episode of Dirty Football Tournament to bring you this important announcement.

"As of nine o'clock this evening, Butch Killem, charged with mass manslaughter and several other murderous charges, escaped custody from the Eastern District Police Force. While he is known for beheading, mutilating corpses and other horrendous crimes, the Police Force urges that Mr. Killem has been doing very well in his rehabilitation classes and does not pose an immediate threat. However, it is advised that all citizens in the Eastern District and its vicinities maintain a curfew of ten o'clock in the evening and to dispose of any and all sharp objects in your possession. Police believe that if Killem has nothing to murder anyone with, then he is less likely to do so.

"Now before we return to our scheduled program, a quick recap: Jeremy is dating Stacey behind his bff Dustin's back, Miranda the heroin junkie is pregnant, there's a murderer running loose in the city, and Tom is in with the local gang. Good night, Sonic City."

"Shadow."

"Nooooo..."

"'ey... Shadow...get up."

"$&%* your mother."

"Shadow, wake up. We've been locked in here. Get up."

The hedgehog slumped over the bar counter groggily raised an obscene gesture, only to be promptly shoved out of the barstool by two pairs of hands onto the hard floor.

"Wha the *&$# you &#$%!" the slurring hedgehog spat as he flailed about the floor.

The android and hedgehog standing over the drunken black hedgehog wore stern faces towards him. Neo Metal Sonic glared at him and said, "We've been locked in the bar."

"Wha? Whas going on, why'sit so dark?"

"The barkeep locked up while we drank ourselves out cold," Haku Fukui, the shapely gray hedgehog who tapped her foot impatiently explained. "That reminds me, I'd better check on Lennie to make sure she didn't drown in the bathroom." And she was off.

"How many shots did you take?" the Badnik demanded.

The Ultimate Lifeform's eyelids blinked out of sync, as if he was a dazed toad or something. He rubbed his face and yawned.

"I'm guessing a lot of whiskey."

"Hmm? Where's...Lennie?"

A loud retching sound leaked from the closed ladies' room. Still oblivious Shadow cleaned out his ear with his finger. Metal made a sighing noise with his voice box.

"You breathers with your drunken shenanigans..." he grumbled.

"You drunkened the date," Shadow retorted, pointing at the pointy black nose with a squiggly grin across his muzzle.

"Noted. All right," the Metal Sonic said, standing back up, and dragging the black hedgehog to his feet. "You need to lay down a little more... let's set you down in the booth over there, okay?"

Once Shadow was snoozing in a booth Haku came back supporting a black haired hedgehog to another booth. The teenager wobbled and groaned as her friend guided her towards the other booth. "Just lay down over here, all right, Lennie?"

The girl's stomach churned audibly as she ragdolled onto the cracked cushions of the booth. Metal walked over to scan the sensitive digestive system of Selene Phoenicia. As his CPU made hums and clicks, the Oriental hedgehog turned toward the android. "She okay? She never seems to stomach a drink."

"She's fine. There's not much alcohol in her system, but her body deals with it much slower than you and Shadow's."

"Advanced liver technology," she dubbed it, raising her hands as if expecting applause.

"Well, let's let them rest for now. We can figure this out when they wake up."

Something from the back fell over, making Haku flinch. "What was that?"

"Probably something in the back room."

"What back room? Like the storage area?"

"Sure."

"You know what they say about this place?" Metal's computer beeped. "They say that a crazed maniac stuffed about five people into the fridge and chained it up so they couldn't get out."

"Five people at the same time?" Metal asked. "Or five people periodically?"

"Same time, in a fridge about the size of that table."

"Still alive?"

"Well, they squirmed and struggled and suffocated in there, denting it up and hurting themselves in the process. Before the old place shut down, the police found the fridge and the culprit, but not the bodies."

"They didn't find the bodies? How did they know about the crime?"

"The fridge and a confession. But he didn't say where he put the bodies. They searched everywhere, but there was nothing to be found...

"But they did neglect to search one place," Haku whispered, leaning towards Metal with an eerie stare.

"...this building?"

"This building," she hissed, eyes wide. Metal did not reply, even his computer stayed silent.

"Maybe you should have saved that story for Shadow and Selene when they wake from their stupor."

"I should've," she grumbled, then added, "But I am saving the foundation of devil worshippers for them."

After Shadow jolted up and toppled over a table as he crashed onto the floor, both hedgehogs were awake and able to comprehend their predicament.

"What? Can we get out?" Shadow moaned from under the table that had fallen on him after knocking it over.

"Not safely and legally, no."

"We're stuck here?" Selene asked, her groggy tone tinged with fear.

"Until whenever the barkeep opens up shop, I guess."

"What are the hours?"

Metal looked over to the painted white letters in the window. Monday thru Thursday, eleven am to one am. Friday thru Saturday, ten am to three. Closed Sundays.

"Aw -" Metal cursed. "The bar won't be open until Monday morning. He's not coming back until then."

Shadow jumped up, hitting his head on the table and slumping to the floor, and Haku's small ears perked up while Selene let out a tiny gasp as her head popped up from the booth.

"You mean- we can't get out until..." she faded away into short choppy breaths and she clutched at her neck. Her older friend vaulted over the bar counter and got to her side, calming the hedgehog down.

"It's gonna be okay-" Metal tried to assure them, thinking fast - "Look- there's probably some food in the kitchen- chips, at least. And plenty of water- Oh! Hold on-" The blue android ran over to the telephone at the bar and started dialling. Shadow began to slink out from under the table.

"What's up? Who you gonna call?"

"The barkeep. Maybe he's still up." The phone rang three times.

"Hello... you've reached Mr. O'Madillo... Owner of the Rogue Armadillo Bar n Grill... Look, if this is about that 'ole "fridge-murderer" urban legend you should just hang up..."

"It was his voicemail," Metal huffed as he hung up. "Crap."

"Maybe he'll come by tomorrow- he locked us in here, so maybe he'll come back for us."

"Let's hope."

"Hey! Call the fire department or something, Metal. Maybe they can get us out safely."

"Okay, nine... one-"

The phone line went dead in Metal's hand suddenly. "Uh-oh." The lights Haku had turned on flickered and died as well. Metal turned his lighting system on. "Oh, crap."

"Blackout?" Haku called out in the darkness.

"Nobody move," Shadow warned. "Metal? What was that?"

"The building's pretty old," he diagnosed. "Probably a problem with the breaker- I'll get on it."

"Meta-ru! Let me come with you," Haku called out, her footsteps shuffling along the floor, her voice hissing a curse as something bumped into her foot.

"What for?" he asked as they opened the kitchen door. "It's not like there's a crazy murderer running loose."

"Well..." she said, trailing off... "What if there's a jumper cable in the back room?"

Metal paused for a moment, then said, "Okay let's go."

The back alleys of the Eastern district were foggy and dark. The cold air ruffled Killem's fur. He needed something to warm him up... and there was nothing more stimulating than spilling blood to pump his own. But it was so quiet, not a soul in sight.

The sound of something powering up a few blocks down caught his attention. Power? Someone was up and about. With a grin, the Mobian turned in that direction, hoping that whoever just flipped a switch had an empty stomach, and a healthy, beating heart. He started to giggle thinking about it like a school girl.