All sorts off worries flooded into Shadow's mind. Mainly, the thought occurred to him that Project 666 may decide to leave at any time. He needed to know where she was so he could complete his mission. He also worried over if anyone else was in danger of falling through the floor. A tear in the wallpaper caught his eye for some reason. Wondering if maybe it concealed a hidden door, he advanced toward it.

Indeed, there was something there. He opened the panel. It seemed to be a the storage for the mansion's circuit breakers. But below them there were some glowing crystals. Shadow looked at them, momentarily ignoring the 40-50 breakers above.

They're not radioactive. Go on and pick them up.

Assuming they were safe, Shadow did so, and wondered what on earth they were doing there.

Switch the 32nd breaker on.

What? Why? Shadow began to feel suspicious.

Trust me… this once…

Shadow looked at the neon pink label on the breaker. 'Defuse'. What was that supposed to mean? He wondered if it would out the power of the entire mansion, not that the mansion really seemed to be using much electricity. Still, he felt the others would be very unhappy if he did make the power go out.

I don't know. Shadow answered. He felt a sudden wave of rage surge out from the Voice. Utter fury. Shadow flinched, seldom aware of the Voice's emotions at all. Feeling something so strong from him was rare. In fact, he wasn't sure he could remember the last time he'd felt anything strong from him. Shadow questioned why the Voice would want so badly for that breaker to be switched on. Between him and the lingering thought of 666 leaving while he was wasting time in a hidden laboratory, he wasn't sure what to do. It wasn't that he felt sorry his answer to the Voice. It wasn't that he was fearful of the Voice's wrath; the Voice could do nothing to him. But somehow he felt maybe he should listen to him this time. How big of a deal would a power outage be? There had been candles everywhere. Dinner was over. They'd all be going home soon afterward. He looked at the breakers for another moment to see if, for some reason, any of them would activate a way out…

Suddenly, sharp agony stabbed through his back. He tried to turn to see who was there or what had stabbed him, but all he saw was a bit of hanging metal before his vision blurred horribly. He held his head, tearing away from whoever or whatever it was, falling against the wall. With blurry vision, he couldn't really make anything out. Something gave him the impression of a machine. He quickly looked toward the circuit breakers. The colors of the labels still stood out clearly.

Only one was bright pink. Maybe a power-out would kill the machine. He quickly flicked the switch up before being stabbed again. Instantly, lost consciousness.

"Everybody! Everybody, look!" Vector and Espio came running into the room. Everyone had already gone and done as their cards demanded of them. Rouge had been starting to wonder where Shadow was. At Vector's calling, she and the others all looked up. Horror shone in her eyes, as well as those of all the others.

In Vector's arms was an unconscious Shadow the Hedgehog. He was bleeding. Rouge dashed to his side.

"Shads!" Sonic gasped.

Marine quickly covered Cream's eyes before she could see. "Blimey!" She exclaimed. "What happened to the bloke?"

"What? Wh-what's going on?" Cream asked.

"Is he alright?" Blaze asked.

Charmy buzzed over as Rouge examined the wound. Others gathered around to see if he was alright. "Wow, Shadow sure took the victim thing seriously, right? He's the victim, right? He makes a good victim even though he's super strong and super fast! I bet Sonic couldn't be that good of a victim, right Sonic? You're too super fast, and you'd kill the murderer first with a powpowpow!" Charmy spoke at hyper speed, twirling and jabbing his fists in the air.

Sonic ignored Charmy, waiting to see what Rouge would say. Rouge heaved a sigh of relief after a moment of checking his pulse and whatnot. "He's alive. It's not even that serious of a wound, even though it is deep. It seems to be healing up already."

"Confirmed. Shadow's life signs are stable." Omega droned.

Everyone sighed as well. Marine uncovered Cream's eyes. "Phew!"

"It looks so painful." Cream spoke softly.

"Don't worry Cream, Shadow will be fine. He pulled through at the hospital that one time, remember?" Tails smiled.

Cream nodded, smiling back. "Right!"

Shade looked on with her small eyes. "Does he need medical attention? I could get some things for him."

"No, thank you Shade." Rouge snatched a few cloth napkins from the table. "These will do fine. He heals up fast… He should be better by this evening."

"He's lucky…" Silver remarked.

"But it's night now." Big's ears flattened as he hugged Froggy.

"I mean evening at home."

Big looked dumbfounded as Rouge tied up Shadow's wound. Once she finished, Vector carried him to a cushioned window seat and gently laid him there. Rouge followed with Espio alongside. "Where did you boys find him?"

"We found him on the floor in one of the halls upstairs. No signs of struggle or anything, though we did find a trapdoor." Espio answered.

"That's right! The Chaotix detective agency investigated the whole thing!" Vector boasted a bit.

"I didn't!" Charmy protested loudly as Is and Liz walked through the door. "I had to go investigate the kitchen! It was so boring in there, but there were a bunch of knives. And lots of pans! And Is and Liz were in there and they gave me a cookie! It was a great cookie, and they said it was almost dessert time and they have so many good desserts to give us and mmmmmmmm the cookie was so good! Chocolate chip is my favorite! And it was even made with flower!"

"We didn't give you the cookie, you snatched it." Liz twitched.

Espio continued more solemnly. "…We carefully opened the trap door. Our guess is that it would lead down to a cellar, but we didn't go down because of Shadow's injury and we didn't want to leave him untreated long. Not to mention, it was a steep chute leading down, and not steps. If we went down, it's uncertain what we would have needed to do to get back up. Other than the trap door, though, there was nothing suspicious."

"Except for this!" Vector showed Rouge a small glowing crystal. It was fragmented. Rouge frowned. She glanced over to the others who all were simply watching in concern and confusion. Looking back to the crocodile and chameleon, the white bat dropped her arms limply at her sides. "But I investigated the cellar! It was on my card. It was dark in there, but I looked hard and I didn't see anything strange in the ceiling like a chute…"

The two detectives looked at each other. "Then your guess is as good as ours." The chameleon sighed.

"I could go down the chute and investigate." Silver offered. "If someone hurt Shadow, their act of injustice mustn't go unpunished!

"Wait, what's going on?" Is asked, coming forward. "Someone got hurt…?"

"Someone hurt Shadow." Knuckles grumbled. He didn't like this…

"Really? For real?" Liz asked. She received nods.

"But I didn't let anyone through the door! I mean, no one extra. It was just all of us! All of…" Is looked around, then stopped.

"Someone's missing."

Everyone glanced around. Amy put a hand to her mouth in thought of who all had been there. Sonic scratched his head, finding it unbelievable that anyone from their group would have hurt Shadow.

Indeed, though, someone was missing. Either that someone was hurt like Shadow, or they had been the one to hurt Shadow. Espio and Rouge both realized at once who the missing soul was. They looked at each other.

"Sarah."

…

"Isabel! What exits does this place have?" Rouge's head snapped in the blonde cat's direction.

"Just the front door…" Isabel cringed.

"Espio, you use your camouflage to glance around outside, then guard the front door! Sonic, Blaze, help me find Sarah!" Rouge ordered. The lavender feline and blue hedgehog nodded, understanding the seriousness of the situation.

"I'll go with Vector to the trap door to check that out!" Silver volunteered.

"And I'll take you!" Vector agreed.

"I'll watch over Shadow." Amy said.

"I'll go outside with Espio." Knuckles stepped to Espio's side.

Rouge began to run out the doors. "Sonic, you take downstairs. Blaze, second floor! I'll check the high places!"

"Wait for me!" Tails cried, following after Rouge.

Espio turned invisible, dashing to the front door to guard it. He glanced outside, but left the searching work to Knuckles. Sonic sped down the halls. Blaze charged up the stairs with Silver and Vector. She passed the trapdoor, leaving Vector and Silver in the corridor. Silver pulled the lever to open the door back up, floating down the chute with levitation. Rouge and Tails flew up. Tails searched the rafters. Rouge went to the attic. Big and Omega went to the lobby. The large cat called as Omega scanned the premises with utmost care.

"Sarah!"

"Sarah?!"

"Sarah, where are you?"

"Sarah!"

Moments later, Shadow awoke quite suddenly. He bolted upright. "Where is she?" He asked breathlessly.

"Relax, Shadow." Shade said calmly, trying to comfort him.

Amy looked up at him in puzzlement, her Piko Piko hammer out and ready for use. "What? Who?"

"666."

"Who's that?"

"Sarah. Where's Sarah?" Shadow asked urgently, getting to his feet.

Amy tried to coax him back into sitting, but he shook his head. "Everyone's looking for her. She never came back." The orange echidna nodded in agreement with the pink hedgehog.

Shadow growled. "That psychotic…!" He began to skate away.

"Hey, wait!" Amy called after him. She looked between him, Marine, Charmy, and Cream. Liz and Is were cleaning up the table in preparation for dessert in case anyone was still in the mood after this. Shade shrugged as she made eye contact, feeling like she couldn't be of much use at the moment. The rose hedgehog huffed and went after Shadow, deciding the kids would definitely be alright with the two older felines and the warrior echidna there.

The black and red hedgehog saw his blue counterpart zipping from one room to another. Downstairs was almost entirely covered. He bolted up the stairs. Blaze was there, looking through all the rooms to the left. He turned right, flying down a hall of mirrors. The ghostly image of a stranger flashed. Shadow slammed to a halt, but saw no one in the mirror. No one but himself and Amy Rose as she ran up to him. "What happened?!" She asked.

"I don't know…" Shadow shook his head quickly, disregarding the strange experience he'd just had. "But I have to find her!" He began running again. It was then that he thought to ask the Voice. What happened?

But the Voice gave no answer. Something didn't feel right to Shadow. There was a sense of emptiness and paranoia that wasn't there before. He brushed it off, assuming he was simply too concerned with finding 666, Sarah, either before she was hurt, or she hurt someone else, or she simply disappeared before he could take her into custody.

The Voice was probably just still sour from earlier… He darted in and out of rooms, checking every corner. Amy looked for secret passages.

43 bedrooms, 26 bathrooms, one kitchen, one dining hall, one ballroom, one basement, one cellar, one laboratory, and one attic later, there was no sign of Sarah. Everyone gathered back in the lobby area.

"Did anyone find anything?" Shadow nearly snapped.

"Nope!" Sonic shook his head.

"Nothing upstairs." Blaze said. Knuckles merely shook his head in response, as did Tails.

"Scanners indicate Sarah is not on the premises." Omega stated. Shadow clenched a fist.

"There was some blood on the wall where the chute lead to, and some sort of machine coming down from the ceiling." Silver reported.

"That's what attacked me." Shadow answered. "Someone must've been operating it… Somehow…" Silver looked thoughtful but had no answer.

Rouge swooped down before any reply could be given. "I've got some bad news. There was a trapdoor in the attic that lead down some steps. They went all the way down to the first floor and there was a backdoor there."

"Definitely not good." Shadow scoffed. "She probably took that exit. She can't be here." He shook his head.

"What if maybe she saw Shadow hurt and got scared, so she bailed?" Amy asked.

"She's not that cowardly. Rouge," Shadow paused, then pulled Rouge aside, whispering. "I should have told you the instant 666 left, but the very first mission that GUN sent us last night was to retrieve her."

"It was?" Rouge could now see a problem. "But why?"

"Not now. She's gone. She could be miles away now. We need to decide if we want to try to track her now or start over from scratch. I already had a feeling that trying to capture her would put our other missions in jeopardy. It could take weeks before we catch her, and our other missions require our immediate attention. But… she's dangerous. Like me. If she wants to be dangerous, we'll be putting others in danger either way we go."

Rouge tried to think. "Our missions weren't supposed to begin until night. Is there a way to track her down and reach her before the day is done?"

"Only with luck." Shadow answered. Rouge shook her head.

"Alright, then. The other missions come first."

Shadow gave a nod, but felt reluctant. He moved back over to the group. "Clearly, Sarah's gone. We'll have to find her later."

"Why not now? I'd help." Sonic frowned. Silver, Shade, and Blaze all nodded in agreement, but Shadow shook his head.

"Anyone interested in dessert…?" Liz asked.

"Me! Mememememememememe!" Charmy buzzed right over again. Is offered him some cake off the service cart. The little bee dug right in. Espio sighed.

Tails went up to the cart too. "Might as well. There's no sense in turning this into a funeral. If we can't look now…" He took a few cookies.

"This is something Rouge and I have to do alone. I hope you all understand." Shadow looked solemn. He was still worried. All the others nodded, showing their understanding, and one by one, most of them decided upon having desert after all."

"Is the game over?" Cream asked Is.

"Um… anyone still want to play?" The blond looked around.

She received a unanimous and flat, "No."

"Well, everyone turn in your cards then." Liz sighed. She and Is began collecting cards. Is read through them.

"…Um, who was the victim?"

No one uttered a word.

"Who was the murderer…? Did I get every card?"

There was utter silence. They all looked around at each other. Rouge and Shadow found themselves questioning… A murder mystery game where both the key cards were missing. The host was invited to the party. There were odd trap doors. Shadow had been attacked by a machine. Sarah was missing…

None of it made sense, but this mystery would have to remain unsolved, for now. There was other important work to be done. Still, the questions lingered in the backs of their minds. One in particular.

Was someone toying with them?

A/N: Oooh, another cliffhanger! What's going on? Next chapter to be posted… SOON! Stay tuned!