"You will regard me with the respect that I deserve."

Was there something with these recent clients that made Shadow pissed off?

First the batwoman, and now this fool. Standing in front of him was a man that screamed 'mob boss'. He was of old age since the cane gave him away. His business suit was striped and white in color. The shoes were a coffee brown with steel tips to it. The man himself had narrow eyes and a balding spot on his head.

It was a day after the diamond mission and Shadow moved on from dealing with some annoying client. Now this man not only barged into his private abode without knocking, but demanded his service without asking and returning nothing.

Add the nasty smell of cigars and Shadow was pissed.

"Well?"

"You are obviously a new client. Therefore I should warn you. There is a limit on how much I tolerate. Missions, I can do. Demands…" He narrowed his pools of red at the man "I don't do."

After that was said, both human and hedgehog stared at each other in a battle of wills for what seemed like an eternity. Then suddenly, the man laughed. It sounded rough and aged like the throat that produced it was running on its last legs.

"You have some backbone after all. I wanted to make sure your reputation preceded you."

Shadow didn't let up on his glare. Test or not, the man still pissed him off. He gave a silent gesture to get on with it.

"Fine. You're a smart being so you can figure out what kind of business I conduct. The families that live in this city have an annual meeting this year. But this year isn't your average get together. Recently, my boys have managed to secure an heirloom that's passed down to the leaders from generation to generation. Unfortunately," the man's voice sounded a bit disgusted now. "one of my careless men couldn't cover it up properly and now the other families now know of its existence."

Now the man bowed his head a bit in deep thought. Shadow never came into contact with the mafia before. Saw them a couple of times here and there between missions, but never directly associated with them. If he did, then he would only do missions to benefit one source. As a mercenary, he was a jack of all trades for all types of people. Never a specific one.

The man looked at Shadow again but he saw that his posture gave away some weariness. "That heirloom represents what we stand for as the best family in Westopolis. I cannot bear to lose it. Your mission involves two things. Since I was unfortunate enough to have my restaurant picked as the meeting place, I want you to protect the heirloom and me. I will have no doubt that my heirloom will be a target there. My life is something I can care less about at my age but the heirloom must stay where it belongs. I will pay you a large sum from my accounts and have our family's eternal gratitude."

Shadow took back some of the animosity he held towards him. He still felt a bit wary, but some grudging respect was given. To put your life on the line to make sure an item stayed in your clutches…that was dedication. That's more that Shadow can say for his past clients. Most of them were greedy and didn't care for collateral damage. But he kept to himself. Let them destroy themselves with the consequences of hiring him to achieve their goals.

Shadow walked past the man and turned around once to give an answer. "I may not like you much, but you humored me. Let's go."

Shadow stared at the meeting place. It was a classy sort of place. The name 'Endless' looked like it bared a lot of elements. The lines glowed in a dull purple light and the windows looked a bit dusty but still polished enough for people to use it as a makeshift mirror. The door had golden handlebars that required you to pull and the glass on it had a somewhat better quality that the other ones.

All in all, it looked like a decent place. Forgettable, but decent. For now, his eyes scanned all the discreet cars that pulled up on the diner's curve. He noted the men in suits and the directions they walked. Shadow did this until his client walked up to him, his cane making noise on the pavement. "The meeting will begin in 10 minutes. Use this time to study all of the chokepoints in the diner and familiarize yourself with the heirloom. When you are done, come to the meeting. I will need your direct protection."

Shadow nodded and entered the restaurant. The first thing he noted was the smell of the chefs cooking their food in the kitchen and the faint smell of cigars. Odd mix of smells but it wasn't surprising because of the people that ventured here. The chairs and tables were red and brown in color and were in rows of two in the front and another two rows in the back. He noted another door between the last seat of the second row and the first seat of the row near the windows. It said 'Emergency Exit' but for this situation it counted as an easy getaway.

Shadow continued in the inner workings as his boots made noise on the tile floor. He stopped briefly in front of two big doors that had a Chinese dragon design on it. He figured that the meeting was going to be conducted there. He then noted that the kitchen was a few meters from it and the supply closet across from it.

Having ingrained the layout in his memory, Shadow went inside the main meeting room. In the center was a wide table draped in a white cloth and littered with plates and forks wrapped in napkins. In the middle of the table was a bouquet of flowers in a vase half filled with water.

It was surrounded by the red that adorned the walls and floor. And on the opposite side of his position, in a see-through case, was the heirloom. It was a Chinese dragon statue made out of sparkling crystal and gold in the minor areas. Shadow walked up to it and stared. The body looked like it was flying through the sky and twisting its narrow body through clouds. Whoever made it had good detail. Especially since Shadow could see his reflection staring back at him. Were he the type, he would've commented on how badass he looked.

He suppressed that urge however. He wasn't an idiot.

"I see you've taken a liking to it."

Shadow saw his client walking up to him in the reflection of the heirloom. He stood next to him and looked at the heirloom with unmasked pride.

"This heirloom was lost for a long time. My father told me that his father made off with it and sold it just to get on easy street early. I never understood at first why he did it but eventually the answer came to me. And I never did forgive my grandfather for it." He sighed and stared at Shadow. "But with how the world can be sometimes, I wouldn't blame him. It's weird, having a sense of honor when you're involved in the mafia scene. But I managed to live to the age of 64 so I can't complain." His cane made noise as he turned around and walked to the entrance to greet the other families. "Get ready. The meeting will start in a few."

Shadow stared at the heirloom one more time before standing near a corner where he'd be able to see the whole meeting take place. The mission started now.

"This is supposed to be your bodyguard?"

Great. More people pissing him off. Maybe Shadow should just kill this one and be done with it? No…unless he showed the intent to steal the heirloom, he had to back off.

That didn't mean the arrogant mob boss could escape from his death glare however.

"You would do well not to underestimate him. His reputation would make you think twice about it."

The man stared at Shadow again with curiosity. He was a middle aged man with graying hair and wrinkled face. Dress in a striped blue get up with brown shoes, this man exuded confidence and greed. It didn't help that his green eyes showed the greed in more form that his body language.

"And who is he?"

"Crimson Streak."

Suddenly, everyone who was talking in the dining area stopped their conversations and stared at Shadow. His posture turned defensive as he was eyed like prey among predators.

"So this is the infamous Crimson Streak? I've always wondered where you hid in this city." Shadow stared at the green eyed man again. "I had a ton of…assignments that I would've loved for you to have done."

He automatically didn't like this guy. Granted, there were a lot of clients before who probably acted like this guy but he didn't spend much time with them. But this particular man…Shadow decided to keep his eye on him.

"Enough. If you care to leave my bodyguard alone, let us begin this meeting."

The man stared at Shadow again before taking his seat along with others who did the same. "Yes. Let us begin."

For the next hour, the mob bosses conversed on the business dealt with in their territory in Westopolis. From the amount of drugs smuggled in, to the gang control, etc. Shadow made sure to keep his eye on ever one, especially the green eyed one. There were even times during the meeting were the man would stare at Shadow for a brief moment before focusing on the meeting. He definitely didn't trust him.

Shadow stared at the heirloom for a second before he laid his eyes on the table again. The chefs came in through the double doors as they served the men their fine cuisine for the evening.

The man from before then chose that time to excuse himself from the table and walked in the direction of the bathroom. Shadow stared at his client, who gave him a silent signal to follow the man.

Giving a small nod, Shadow walked after him. After closing the doors, he went to the bathroom and noticed that no one was in it. Suspicions raised, he stepped out and quickly checked out very chokepoint in the restaurant in the span of 30 seconds. When he bore no result, Shadow stepped outside and quickly scanned the street. The usual crowd of people went along in their own world and cars drove past without a care.

That's when the unexpected happened. Due to his sharp hearing, Shadow heard a 'click' before he teleported across the street.

If he didn't do that, he would've been a part of the explosion that went off in the restaurant.

Shit! They were already making their move!

Shadow quickly cleared the rubble from the entrance, ignoring the frightened people, and went to the meeting room. The inner restaurant turned from decent looking to desolate. The windows were now pieces of glass scattered on the street and furniture was painted with shrapnel.

Running to the main hall, Shadow opened the door and saw a gruesome sight.

Several bodies were scattered across the room with glass and silverware sticking out of them with caused blood to pour freely. The table look completely destroyed and the food that wasn't digested joined the blood on the walls in an ugly paint attempt.

Hearing a groan from where the heirloom was, Shadow quickly made his way over his client, who had his right hand on his chest and face scrounged in pain.

"C-Crimson…that you?" Shadow gave a nod to confirm. "T-thank goodness y-you…didn't get…caught…" The man was wheezing hard as the sound of ambulances drew closer. "L-listen carefully. I'm not long for t-this world. So I beg of you. Retrieve the heirloom at all costs. Do not let it fall into unworthy hands…please…" Shadow gave another nod. "T-thank you…protect the soaring dragon with your life."

The man then lolled his head to the side and remained silent. Shadow stared at his client. It was truly a shame. Looking back, the man didn't deserve animosity in the first place. He truly was one of the better clients. So Shadow bowed his head in silence for a few moments.

Then he opened his blood red eyes and dashed out of the restaurant before the officials saw him. He couldn't fail this mission.

I actually have an idea for this story. But to implement it will be a bit...out there. Especially for Sonic the Hedgehog standards. Future concerns, though. Thanks for the support...little support is better than none.

Criticism is gold..