D&S Chapter 1: Slowdown to Showdown

"You sure you'll be able to get home safe, hun?" Rouge asked as she set down the tray of shots glasses she had picked up from table 8.

The hedgehog she had been speaking to scoffed and turned away from her.

"I thought I told you not to call me that." He replied sharply. She rolled her eyes and began placing the shot glasses in the sink behind the bar. If it hadn't been such a slow night at Club Rouge, she might have walked away. But there were only a few customers tonight and she needed some entertainment.

"I'm working kid; I call everyone 'hun'"

"Well I'm neither." He said as he took another shot.

"That's your last one." She replied as she snatched the empty glass from his hand.

"Is that really how you treat a good friend, Rouge?" He said with a smirk.

"Which friend are you referring to?" She retorted with a smug grin plastered on her face.

"Whatever." He responded, rolling his eyes before heading for the club exit.

"You never answered my question." She stated, looking around at the five or six patrons in the bar.

"I'll be fine." He said with a wave, and she was happy to hear no trace of sarcasm or annoyance in his voice.

She turned back to the glasses she had to wash and heard the door open and close as she turned on the faucet.

"Crazy kid, these streets aren't as safe as they used to be." She muttered to herself.

"Hey sexy, can we get a table close to you?" She heard a deep voice drawling in front of her.

"Excuse-" She looked up to respond to the man who had spoken to her when she realized it was more than one man walking in.

"You heard me. I need a nice big table for the fellas and a couple rounds of shots." The man continued. He was a large, pale, and hairy man in a police uniform. His 'group' looked about the same.

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes and instead put on her best fake smile. Human police were the worst customers. They always came in slightly intoxicated and overly perverted. They were ignorant, started fights with other male customers, and stared at some of the younger women in the bar. To make it worse, most of them had wives and kids too.

"Sure, I'll be right over. Let me just-"She turned back to the glasses she now had to prepare in a rush when something cut her off. It was a large, hairy hand that had found its way around her neck. She looked up in shock. The same man who had been speaking to her was now nose-to-nose with her, one hand positioning him on the bar and other around her neck.

"Listen girly, take your sub-human self over to those bottles and pour us our damn drinks." He muttered angrily, his breath reeking of alcohol and other things Rouge really didn't want to smell.

She placed a hand on his to try and pull away but the man had an iron grip.

"Let me go, buddy or I'll have to call…" But she was at a loss, and her heart sunk further when she saw the laughter in the man's eyes.

"Who were you going to call again? Please, I'd love to hear it." He said with a smirk. She growled in disgust and tried again to pull away, pushing her foot against the bar for leverage.

"Not going to work girly, now you've got me irritated." The man suddenly muttered, the muscles around his eyes suddenly tightened. Rouge looked behind him to see his group looking everywhere but at the two of them.

Her eyes widened.

"Wait, sir…please." She hated to plead, but she was running out of options.

That was until a black blur flew past her eyes.

The man was thrown across the room before he could realize who had shown up. He crashed into a Marilyn Monroe poster and hit the floor in a slow slump. The other police officers suddenly looked alert and angry.

"S-shadow! What are you doing?" Rouge asked in surprise, grasping at the space where a hand had just been around her neck.

"Didn't know the business was so bad you had to let these kinds of scum in." The black hedgehog said as he glared at the fallen officer.

"Shadow you have to leave, they're police officers!" Rouge hissed, watching as the other officers turned to Shadow and began advancing on the hedgehog menacingly.

"Who do you think you're calling scum you sub-human reject?" One of the officers with a long black moustache said, pulling out his baton as he spoke.

"For you to hit me with that, you'll have to catch me." Shadow scoffed, crossing his arms.

Rouge didn't like where this was going, but the shock from her recent encounter left her silent.

"This place is a bit small for a brawl; I'll meet you fools outside if you can catch me." Shadow taunted, winking before disappearing out of the club, the men slowly in tow.

Rouge shivered, worry currently taking over her emotions. But what was she to do? She didn't know anyone in the city that would help her and she couldn't call the police. She turned back to the dishes to avoid the sympathetic looks she was getting from the other patrons.

/

It was a boring night for Sonic. The blue hedgehog was watching television with his roommate Tails. The yellow fox was currently yawning and rubbing his eyes and Sonic was trying to ignore the urge to rub his own.

"What's wrong Sonic, you look irritated?" Tails asked with a raised eyebrow, ignoring the cartoon they were watching.

"I'm fine Tails, just bored. I'm surprised they haven't called me in tonight. Friday nights are usually crazy in this city." He replied, scratching at the blue uniform he had a habit of wearing, even on off nights.

"It is odd, now that you mention it. But as an officer you rarely get nights off so I'm not complaining." Tails admitted, changing the channel to a news broadcast. The channel changed in a flash of blue and the two roommates watched various broadcasters talk about the weather and the current elections.

"…And now turning to our main news reporter, Amy Rose!" The off-screen announcer declared. The camera whizzed to a pink hedgehog sitting cross legged on a white couch with a clipboard in her hand.

"Hello mobians! Hope you're having a great night! Here's a recap of our ongoing stories…" She continued on, referencing images and videos that popped up on the screen beside her.

"Can we turn it back?" Sonic groaned.

"She is so in love with you it's not even funny." Tails teased, punching Sonic lightly in the shoulder.

"Yeah, and she's not even my type."

"Well what is your type, Sonic? I don't think I've ever heard you explain your ideal girl." Tails asked, raising an eyebrow at his blue hedgehog friend.

Sonic grimaced and turned away from the fox's unflinching stare. It was innocent enough, but he didn't feel like sharing his deepest secrets on a relaxing Friday night.

"I'm not even sure, buddy. I'm so busy these days." It wasn't really a lie.

"So why don't you go out with Amy, she seems nice enough. A bit crazy I'll admit, but it would probably get your mind off work." Tails said with a smile.

"I already told you she's not my-" Sonic started before hearing a large thump at the door.

The hedgehog and fox turned to each other and didn't move. They didn't have friends that would drop by this late and their studio apartment wasn't in the greatest sector of town.

"S-sonic…"

"I got it, don't worry." Sonic said as he got up. His gun wasn't with him, so his baton would have to do.

He grabbed the black shiny stick from the umbrella stand and tiptoed to the wooden door. He closed one eye as he looked through the peephole in the door.

No one was there.

"What the hell?" The blue hedgehog whispered. He could hear Tails shift deeper into the couch.

"Who's there?" The fox hissed.

"No one's there, actually." Sonic responded, shrugging as he turned back to walk to their living room.

He jumped almost half a foot when the same noise came from the door again. Staring at his roommate's wide eyes, he could tell the fox was holding back a scream.

"I got this, don't worry." He whispered reassuringly, turning back to the door.

This time he planned to open it.

He grasped the silver doorknob and twisted it slowly. He opened the door a slit, not even enough for the chain lock to stop him or any introducer to fully opening the door.

And at first he didn't see anything; it was a Friday night after all. But after his eyes adjusted he saw the red and black hedgehog passed out on the floor, covered in blood and cuts.

Sonic had wished for an interesting night, but he hadn't expected this.

/

Surprise! I've been working on a lot of new stories and this is one of them! Still finishing up Interns, expect the finale next month. Hope my new and returning supporters enjoy this one! I promise it is going to be crazy.

-GeminiMercedes-

A/N UPDATE: I have decided to try and get this story back on track! If you haven't already read the Author's Note after chapter five, I'll just reiterate what it said here. I wrote the outline for it and an ending that I think will be satisfying for you guys. The only couple at this point is SonicXShadow which, if you've read this story before, is in its beginning stages. More couples will be added as the story goes on. I will also be adding chapter titles and updates to the earlier chapters before we get to all new chapters/content. I made this story in a soap opera fashion where you fade in and out between character arcs. It'll make more sense as it goes! I really hope you guys continue to R&R, I had so many plans for this story so I hope I can see it through with you guys by my side!

-GEMINIMERCEDES-