AUTHOR'S NOTE: Not by best chapter. Sorry. Hoping to be able to upload at least every weekend.


"Is he okay?" Sonic asked worriedly when the doctor walked up to him.

"Calm down, he's fine," said the wolf doctor. "He's stable. And it's a miracle he is. There was only one thing that kept him alive. You know what that was?"

"What?" asked Sonic.

"Pure luck," said the doctor. "That's it. Luck. The bullet went straight through him without hitting any bones, organs, or major blood vessels. A couple millimeters up, down, left, or right and he might not have made it."

"Can I talk to him?" asked Sonic.

"Not right now," said the doctor. "He hasn't woken up yet. He should regain consciousness sometime later tonight."

"Okay, then," sighed Sonic. "I gotta go talk to the police about this. See if they figured out who shot him and why. I don't know anyone who wants Tails dead."

"Okay, good luck with that," said the doctor.

"'Kay, thanks," said Sonic. Then Amy came running up to Sonic holding a couple papers in her hand. She gave one to him.

"Take a look at this," said Amy. There were three pictures on it. The first one was in the lower left quarter of the paper. It was a picture that looked like it had been from a security camera, judging by the angle of the picture, of him, Tails, and Amy sitting at the cafe. It showed Sonic standing up, Amy holding his wrist, and Tails messing with his watch. Sonic realized that it was from a few moments before Tails was shot. Then Sonic winced when he saw the picture next to it. The picture next to it was almost the same picture, but it was blown up and it depicted everyone at the table with a shocked face as Tails shoulder exploded with blood. There was a bright green dotted line drawn into the picture pointing from the side of the photo to the exact place where the bullet entered Tails's shoulder. Then Sonic looked at the third picture that dominated the entire top half of the paper. It was exactly the same as the first picture, but the same green dotted line from the second picture was in it.

"Okay," said Sonic slowly. "I know I'm looking at pictures from a security camera. That's about it."

"What do you think the green line is?" asked Amy.

"I don't know," said Sonic.

"It's the trajectory of the bullet," said Amy.

"How does that help us?" asked Sonic in a confused voice.

"Okay, I had a brilliant idea when the cops showed me the security footage," said Amy.

"Why'd they show you the security footage?" asked Sonic.

"I wanted to see if I could find Tails's shooter," said Amy with a smile.

"And you didn't trust the cops to do that?" said Sonic as he looked back at the paper.

"I was trying to help," said Amy defensively. "Anyway, it's a good thing I did, because I gave them more to go on."

"How?" asked Sonic.

"Well, that's what the picture's about," said Amy. "I asked the cops if they could freeze the footage on the exact time that the bullet made impact in Tails's shoulder." She pointed to the picture in the bottom right of the paper.

"Then I asked if they could trace the trajectory of the bullet," continued Amy as she pointed to the green dotted line in each of the pictures. "I remembered how Tails was bending down to pick up his watch when the shot was fired. So I asked them to take a still photo of Tails when he wasn't bending down, 'cause I was assuming that the sniper was trying to target something else when he fired, but Tails bent over and messed his shot up. Then I asked them to take the trajectory and put in this photo of Tails before he bent down."

"So that shows the area that the sniper was actually targeting," said Sonic. "Which is where exactly? The picture shows around the center of his chest, but do you have an exact target?" Amy held up a diagram of a normal fourteen-year-old fox. There was a small red circle around the center of the chest and there was a small blue dot in the center of the circle.

"The red circle is the approximate area of the impact in case we weren't very accurate in tracing the trajectory," said Amy. "The blue dot is where the bullet would have hit if we were accurate with the trajectory. Anyway you take it, the bullet goes right through Tails's heart. Whoever did this is a professional, he's good, and he was definitely aiming for Tails."

"Okay, now tell me how that helps us," said Sonic.

"The cops were positing some scenarios that you were the target and the sniper bungled the shot and hit Tails by accident," said Amy. "I proved them wrong and now they're not looking down that wrong direction. Plus, knowing he's a pro, and a good pro at that, narrows down the suspect list."

"Okay, good job, Amy," said Sonic with a smile.

"Thanks," said Amy. "So how's Tails doing?"

"Fine," sighed Sonic. "They said it was a miracle he survived. The doctor said the bullet hit him in the perfect spot. It missed all the bones, organs, and major blood vessels. He survived on pure luck. They said if it had been a couple millimeters up, right, left, or down, he probably wouldn't have made it."

"Wow," said Amy. "That's a little scary. Well, at least he's fine now." She pulled Sonic over to a seat by the wall and sat him down next to her.

"No," Sonic said as he stood back up.

"Aww, c'mon Sonic," said Amy. "Sit down next to me."

"No," said Sonic. He started walking towards the exit of the building.

"Where are you going?" asked Amy as she stood back up.

"To find the bastard who tried to kill my best friend," Sonic replied angrily without turning around.


"Why?" a voice shouted from the entrance behind Dr. Robotnik. He turned around to face the voice.

"Why what?" asked Robotnik as he came face to face with the sniper he hired.

"Why did you hire me to kill a fox child?" asked the sniper angrily.

"Why do you care?" asked Robotnik.

"I make it a point to avoid killing children when I can avoid it," said the sniper. "I really don't like doing it. Now I wanna know why I just ended the short life of a teenage fox. You owe me at least that much, along with the money we agreed on." Robotnik threw a bag down to him. It landed at his feet with a dull thud.

"There's your money," said Robotnik with a smile. "As for the fox, I wanted revenge."

"On the fox?" asked the sniper.

"No, on the hedgehog," said Robotnik. "That hedgehog has been foiling and thwarting and thrashing me for far too long. I want him taken out of the equation, but first, I want him to experience the pain he's caused me over the years. I'm gonna torture him before I finish him off. I'm gonna enjoy every bit of it too. That fox was like his brother. Can you think the pain that he's experiencing right now as he's attempting to recover from watching him die?"

"Well, you call me when you want to kill him," said the sniper. "But if I ever see your mug again apart from that..." the sniper pulled a gun out of the holster on his belt and pointed it at Robotnik's head. "I'll put a bullet in your forehead and enjoy the sight of the light leaving your eyes. Then I'll put another one in after that and leave you to rot, you sick bastard."

"Normally, I'd let you leave with the money," said Robotnik. "But right before you entered, I read an interesting news report about a tiny, two-tailed fox that's currently 'in stable condition' in the hospital."

"That's impossible," said the sniper. "I hit him in a very vital area, even if he did move."

"Move?" asked Robotnik.

"He moved at the last second, but I still hit him in a very fatal area. He should have died in a few minutes. Maybe a half-hour, if he was lucky." Or unlucky, the sniper thought to himself.

"Nope," said Robotnik, now frowning. "The report described him as 'lucky to be alive' and it said 'the bullet missed all the vital areas by mere millimeters'."

"Well, that's just dumb luck," said the sniper with a smile. He still had the gun trained on Robotnik.

"Yes," said Robotnik, still with a frown on his face. "Your dumb luck. You still owe me a dead fox. I wanted a grief-stricken hedgehog in a very fragile psychological state. Now I have a hedgehog who's hell-bent on revenge and is in the perfect mood to pull out all the stops. He'll come here whether he knows I did it or not. I need that fox dead. And you're gonna finish that job."

"No I'm not," said the sniper. "You just made me shoot an innocent child, that is not a safe place to stand if you happen to value your own life. Now you have two choices. You can let me walk out of here and make the hit on the hedgehog when you want, or you can try to keep me here and I'll kill you where you stand. I might survive, I might not, but I can assure you that I don't care. I would gladly die to take you down, you fat rat."

"No," said Robotnik casually with a sigh. He pulled a gun out of nowhere and shot it at the sniper. A dart embedded itself in the sniper's shoulder he looked at it, enraged, and got ready to shoot Robotnik.

"Ah, ah, ah!" yelled Robotnik as he pressed a button on his watch. "Blood pressure monitor in the watch is communicating constantly with the nanobots I just injected you with. I die, the robots rip your circulation system to shreds and you die a very painful death with me. You go finish the job, and we're good and you walk away unharmed and not in danger with a big bag of money. You get to choose."

"How do you know I won't come back and kill you?" asked the sniper. "How do I know you won't kill me after I'm done?"

"Well, frankly I trust you," said Robotnik sarcastically. "And I know you don't want to see me ever again, so you'll leave me alone. And I'm a man of my word and I don't want you dead unless I absolutely have to have you dead. I'll deactivate the bots when you're done with the job. Now it's my turn to ask you a question. You didn't want to kill that fox, but you still did it, even though you had just as great a shot on the hedgehog, and he's the reason you took the assassination job in the first place. Why did you still shoot the fox? Why didn't you just shoot the hedgehog?"

"Because I knew you wouldn't pay me if I killed the hedgehog instead and I need the money," said the sniper. "And I thought it was some sort of plan you had, I didn't know you were just being an asinine sadist. If I had, I would have just put a bullet in your head and walked away with the money."

"Well now, you can't," said Robotnik with a smile. Then his expression changed to a very serious one. "Now go kill the fox. And do it with something more subtle than a bullet to the head."


"Did you find out who shot Tails?" asked Amy as Sonic walked back into the hospital.

"Not a single clue," said Sonic angrily. "Whoever this is, he's good at disappearing. I don't even know if it's a guy, for that matter. All we have is the bullet and the rifle, and the cops couldn't tell us anything with them." He sat down, put his head in his hands, and sighed. Then he slid his hands halfway down his face and stared into space ahead of him, not looking at anything in particular.

"It's okay," said Amy as she sat down next to him. She put her arm around him reassuringly, to which Sonic, surprisingly, did not protest. "We'll find them somehow. Eventually."

"I don't get it," said Sonic in a perplexed voice. "Who would wanna kill Tails?"

"I don't know," said Amy. "I don't know."

"What if they're trying to get to me?" asked Sonic "What if Tails is only being targeted because he's important to me? I'd give my life for him and now someone might be trying to take his because they want to hurt me."

"It's a possibility, but he's safe now," said Amy. "He's safe. No one's gonna hurt him here."

"I don't know that," said Sonic with a worried voice. Amy could see the worry in his eyes. "I'm gonna talk to the cops and see if they can post guards at Tails's door. Who's to say that the assassin's not gonna come and try to finish the job?" Amy moved closer and hugged him. Then she let go of him when she saw the doctor walking toward them.

"How's Tails doing?" Sonic asked anxiously.

"He's waking up now," said the doctor. "Do you wanna come and see-" The doctor was cut off by the loud zooming sound of Sonic running at top speed down the hallway. Amy got up and ran after him.

Sonic screeched to a stop outside Tails's room. He walked in and saw the small fox kit lying in the bed, breathing softly and steadily, still sleeping. Amy walked in and stood next to Sonic. The doctor followed shortly.

"I thought you said he was awake, doc," said Sonic disappointedly.

"Sorry, I meant that we're about to wake him up," said the doctor. "I thought you'd wanna be here for it."

"Cool," said Sonic. The doctor patted Tails's shoulder gently. Tails stirred a little, but didn't wake up.

"Tails," said the doctor quietly. "Tails, wake up. You have some visitors here for you." Tails stirred again and groaned for a second. Then he slowly opened his eyes.

"Wha...?" Tails's voice trailed off as he squinted and put his arm up to block the excess light meeting his eyes, only to freeze suddenly, cringe, and scream. He snapped his arm back down. He had tried to use his injured shoulder, which didn't prove too pleasantly for him.

"Where am I?" asked Tails, still squinting hard. He slowly opened his eyes again as they adjusted to the light. He tried to block the light with his other arm. He saw Sonic, Amy, and the doctor standing over him.

"You're in the hospital Tails," said Sonic with a half-hearted smile. The memories immediately flooded Tails's head. The gunshot, the blood, the watch, Sonic and Amy.

"Someone tried to kill me," Tails said quietly.

"Yeah," said Sonic. "You're fine, though. You're gonna be fine."

"Who was it?" asked Tails.

"We don't know," said Amy sadly. "We think it may have been a professional, though. He was good. He was aiming directly at your heart. If you hadn't bent down to pick up your watch..."

"He got away?" asked Tails.

"He was really good at disappearing," said Sonic. "We don't have anything on him. We don't even know the actual gender or if they were Mobian or Human. The shot went off, police were there in thirty seconds, and he was gone."

"Why did he try to kill me?" asked Tails.

"We have no idea," said Amy. "We don't know why anyone would want to kill you."

"Okay," said Tails. "So, how bad's the damage?"

"Not bad," said the doctor. "You'll be in a sling for a few weeks and you might experience some aches and pains when you move your arm and shoulder sometimes. It'll gradually get better over time."

"Great," said Tails sarcastically.

"You'll be fine, buddy," said Sonic with a smile.

"Okay," said the doctor. "Tails still needs some rest for tonight. And he probably wants some food. You two need to leave for now." Amy nodded and gave Tails a hug and walked out. Sonic did the same and followed her out. Sonic walked down the hallway and stopped to talk to the officers investigating the assassination.

"Hey, do you think you could post some guards on Tails?" asked Sonic. "I'm not convinced that whoever tried to kill him won't come back and finish the job when he finds out that Tails survived."

"Sure," said the officer. "I'll put a couple agents on the room. Don't worry."

"Okay, thanks," said Sonic, feeling slightly relieved. But he wasn't totally at ease. He still felt something poking him in his mind. A fear for Tails. A fear that he still wasn't safe if they posted a small army on his room. Sonic found Amy and sat down next to her.

"Amy, I need a favor," said Sonic.

"Sure, I'll take you to dinner," said Amy with a smile.

"Not that kinda favor," said Sonic, somewhat annoyed. "I need you to stay with Tails tonight. At least until I get back."

"Where are you going?" asked Amy.

"To go get better protection," said Sonic. "I'm gonna go find Knuckles."

"You don't trust the cops to do that?" asked Amy in an eerily similar way to how Sonic had asked her just a few hours ago.

"Not in the least," said Sonic quietly. "I want you to get a list of nurses that will be looking after Tails and I want you to stay in his room. Anyone that isn't the doctor or the nurses on the list I want you to hammer first and question later."

"Sounds like a good plan," said Amy thoughtfully. "Except I don't know how to get a list of nurses who are taking care of Tails."

"Make something up," said Sonic. "Tell them you need it for the investigation. That might do it."

"When will you be back?" asked Amy.

"In a couple hours," said Sonic.

"Okay," said Amy.

"What time is it?" asked Sonic.

"Nine-thirty, why?" asked Amy.

"Just wondering," said Sonic as he turned around and ran out the door.


The sniper walked in the hospital. He looked at the clock. Midnight. He walked to the reception and asked them where he could find the fox that had been shot earlier that day. The receptionist gave him the room number and floor, unaware that she was giving it to the shooter himself. He thanked her and walked to the elevator. He pushed the button and looked himself over in the reflective elevator doors.

He was wearing the attire of a doctor. He had on a set of blue-green scrubs and a white lab coat. His hair was slicked back like always. He had an ID badge pinned to the coat that looked like a doctor's ID, except it had his picture on it and it was under a fake name.

The elevator opened and he walked in. It was absolutely empty. He pressed the button for the floor that his victim was on. The sound of the elevator rising seemed deafening in the empty silence that surrounded him. He waited for about a minute before the doors opened onto his destination floor. He walked out and down the hall to the fox's room. He saw the guards posted outside the door. He knew they wouldn't pose a problem. That's why he had a disguise on.

"Who are you?" asked the guard on the right, holding his arm in front of the door.

"I'm Dr. Jason Smith," said the sniper as he held up his ID badge. "I specialize in ballistic wounds, much like the kind that the patient in this room has suffered. I was called here by the hospital chairman. The hospital wants to make sure that the city-hero in there gets the best treatment." The guard looked at the ID badge, then up at the sniper, then the ID again.

"Very well," sighed the guard. He handed the badge back and the sniper smiled at him as he walked into the room. He saw the light golden-orange fur of the fox. He looked around and saw a red echidna fast asleep in a chair next to the pink hedgehog he had seen at the cafe, who was also asleep. He turned toward the window of the room and saw the blue hedgehog sleeping in a chair placed under the window. He looked at the fox in the bed. He was tucked under the blankets, sleeping soundly. The sniper felt a twinge of guilt as he looked at the innocent victim who would suffer a heart attack in his sleep, possibly unaware that anything happened until he opened his eyes in the afterlife. But the sniper knew there was also a possibility that the painful heart attack would wake him up for the last few seconds or minutes that remained of his life.

Guilt, the sniper thought to himself with a quiet, bewildered chuckle. I certainly haven't felt that in a while. The sniper took some plastic gloves out of a box by the bed and reached into his pocket for the fatal drugs that were meant for the fox. He took out the syringe and filled it with twenty-five cc's of the solution.


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