Ho!  Ho!  Ho!  Merry—

Shadow:  You're a little late for that, Candy.

*veins popping from forehead* FOR THE LAST TIME, DO NOT CALL ME THAT!!!! *clears throat*  Anyways, yeah, I know this is a little late, but I gotta admit, this story's been a bear to write.  But, it's almost over.  Just one more chapter.

On an unrelated note, why is it that everyone but me has Sonic Heroes?!  Stupid Microsoft!  EB won't get it until the 28th, coincidently the day after I turn 22.

Shadow:  Old fart.

Oh, shaddup!  Anyways, guess who's now in the U.S. Army?

Shadow:  Oh great.  The army actually let in a geezer who's using a walker?!  Oh, this country's sunk.

… I didn't ask for your input, smartass.  Anyways, I ship for Basic Training in the middle of April, so I am gonna be hauling butt writing stuff.  Well, now to stop blowing hot air and get down to business.

Shadow:  Great, Gramps even has rambling down pat!

Shaddup!!

As usual, I'd like to thank everyone who put their two cents in, as well as the soundtrack to Command & Conquer:  Generals. *salutes*

            Washington D.C.  U.S.A.  April 3, 2003.  1230 hours.

      As Sonic landed cleanly on the rock-covered roof some forty feet below, he could tell that his assailant landed behind him very close to him simultaneously.  Only going on the basis of self-preservation, he spun around and for the first time, brought his 9mm to bear, only for his opponent to synchronize his identical greeting.  One glance at his new foe confirmed his suspicions.

      As for Shadow, this was the last way he wanted to see his rival.  With some disappointment, he noticed that there was a look of mild surprise on Sonic's face.  As close as they were standing, their guns were less than a foot away from the other's face.  And the way they were standing in relation to the sun, he could faintly make out the chambered round in the barrel, and he theorized that it'd be the same vice versa.

      A quick glance at the helicopter overhead told Sonic that he'd better not do anything rash; he counted at least three Kalashnikov rifles trained at his person, and even he wasn't fast enough to outdistance those.  There was a period of awkward silence between them, only corrupted by Rouge and Knuckles' beckoning on his radio and the relentless beating of the Ka-60 Kasatka's rotors, which made the 15ºF wind chill feel even worse, especially to Sonic since unlike Shadow, he didn't have a concealing helmet on.  The cerulean hedgehog snorted.  "Why am I not surprised you're here, Shadow?"  He asked rhetorically, stressing his counterpart's name.

      Shadow made a slow movement to his helmet, hitting a small switch right below the chin protector, turning off the voice filter.  "Believe me, Sonic.  This is the last time and place I wanted to see you.  Hell, if I wanted to, I'd abort this mission right now."

      "So why don't you?"  Sonic demanded, his gun never wavering.  "Why not just let the proper authorities take care of this and—"

      Shadow laughed, amused.  "Oh, you're one to talk!  I may have been in a freezer for decades, but I read up on all of your exploits.  Tell me, when was the last time you went through the 'proper channels', huh?!"  He had abandoned drawing his gun at Sonic and was instead walking around aimlessly on the pebble-clad roof.  "Dating all the way back to your first encounter with Dr. Robotnik, you and your friends and allies acted by yourselves!  Hell, I'm willing to say that if you weren't intercepted by those CIA agents back in January, you would've acted unilaterally to try to resolve the situation!"

      Sonic too, had withdrawn his gun, and was now following Shadow on the rooftop.  "Heh, I'll admit to that."  Sonic conceded.  "However," he continued.  "There is a threshold that I wouldn't cross, and interfering in the affairs of a superpower is something I wouldn't touch!"

      "And that is why we exist!"  Shadow countered, turning to face Sonic.  "There is a threshold that nobody would dare cross.  However, for the POTCW, said threshold is much farther than anybody else's."

      "That recklessness is gonna be your downfall!"  Sonic spat.  After a while, he added.  "Listen, you're in way over your head here."

      Shadow looked up at his idling Kasatka.  Surely, Nack's vehicle has opened a huge lead on them.  "Listen, Sonic.  I don't have time for this.  I don't want to fight you, but I must complete my mission."  He leveled his gun back at Sonic.  "And if I must go through you to do so, then so be it!"

      Sonic acted likewise.  "The same applies to you, Shadow."

      For another minute, they both stood there, each gun in the other's face.  Despite his words, Shadow just couldn't find it in him to simply pull the trigger, not with himself and his rival at point blank range.  "It seems we are at an impasse," he commented.  Then, something in his peripheral vision alarmed him.  To his left, he could see Tails and Amy flying closer to his position, ducking in and out of cover to avoid detection.  This just may play to his advantage.  "And I'm surprised you brought Amy here, knowing full well how volatile this situation is."

      That caught Sonic off guard.  "What the hell?"  He turned around 180º, and he swore violently.  For some odd reason, he wasn't too surprised to see Tails and Amy go against his wishes.  "You two are gonna get me killed one of these days."  The rustle of steel on fabric made him turn back around… and right into the barrel of an entirely different gun drawn by Shadow.  Sonic realized he'd just fallen right into Shadow's plan.  "You bastard."

      "Sorry Sonic.  This time, I have to hit you."  With that, Shadow pulled the trigger, and with a loud bang, Sonic grunted, his lifeless body folding back onto the pebble-covered rooftop.

            "What is the meaning of this?!"  A Russian accented soldier demanded as he saw the scene unfold.  "The commander says we cannot kill him, but he does it anyway?!"

      Wolf watched with a measure of disbelief.  Surely, Shadow wouldn't kill Sonic, of all people, at point blank range!  But, after looking closer at the scene, he understood.  "He didn't kill him."  He simply stated.

      That got the entire cabin in a buzz.  "Captain, with all due respect, have you gone blind?"  An American accented soldier asked.  "Everyone here heard that gun discharge, even over this helo's propellers!"

      "He shot Sonic in the head, right?"  Wolf asked.  When everyone nodded in agreement, he continued.  "Now, do you see blood on him, or anywhere?"  When realization dawned on the rest of the crew, he continued.  "Yep, rubber bullets.  And one of those to the head at point-blank range will knock someone out—what the hell?!"

      "HAAAAAA!!!!"

      "What the—" Shadow barely had enough time to dodge before an oversized hammer drove him into the roof.  After he got clear of the immediate danger, he sized up his new assailant… and was surprised to see Amy, Piko Piko Hammer at the ready.  Now why was he feeling a little bit of fear right now?  Maybe because he hadn't seen her in action yet, and as an X-factor, didn't know just how dangerous she could be.  Or maybe it was the murderous look on her face, and the fact that for all she knew, Sonic was dead by his hands.  "Stand down.  This isn't what it seems—" He gasped, and so did Amy.  After he finished his confrontation with Sonic, he forgot to turn his voice filter back on.  And from the shocked and awed look on her face, Shadow could tell that his voice was still very familiar to her.

      "Sh-Shadow?"  Amy said weakly, tears starting to form in the corners of her eyes.  She was torn between elation that Shadow was indeed alive, and pure rage that Sonic was apparently dead by his hands.  Eventually, the latter won over.  "I-I thought you had changed after ARK."  One glance down at Sonic's seemingly lifeless body forced the first tears to fall down her cheeks.  "But then you turn around and kill the one I hold most dear… and the one who you once helped save the world…" Now the tears were falling freely.  "How could you…" Her voice was barely audile in the constant beating of the Kasatka's rotor blades.

       "Oh, boy."  Shadow muttered to himself.  He had to calm her down; otherwise this could get real ugly, real fast.  "Listen," He said to Amy.  "This isn't what it seems—"

      In her rage, reason didn't stand a chance.  "Save your lies!  You expect me to believe you after what I just saw?!"  Gripping her hammer even tighter.  "You are beyond redemption!"  She hissed, stressing every word.  "For Sonikku's sake, I will beat you!"

      Despite the gravity of the situation, Shadow just couldn't take her seriously.  "You've gotta be kidding me!"

      "We'll see about that!"  With a war cry, Amy rushed towards Shadow, who lazily jumped back avoided her first horizontal strike.  Her follow-up vertical strike missed when Shadow strafed to the side.  Still with a berserker rage induced head of steam going, she pressed on her attack.

      As many times Amy has missed him, Shadow was having a degree of difficulty staying out of her swinging arch.  Amy was surprising quick in melee combat, and due to the slippery bed of pebbles on the rooftop, he had to significantly degrade his foot speed, lest he wanted to lose his footing.  He jumped back to avoid another horizontal swing, when he lost his footing on the landing, and cursing his misfortune, slipped backwards onto his back, with Amy closing fast on him.

      "The commander's in serious danger!  We have to take the shot!"  A Georgian accented soldier argued.

      "Hold your fire!"  Wolf barked out.  "Like he said, anyone who kills any of Sonic's group will answer to him!"  And that probably meant a summary execution, he thought.

      "Then, what are we going to do, sir… sir?"  Too late.  By the time the soldier turned around, Wolf had already jumped out of the cabin to join the fray.

      Shadow had one last chance to get her to stand down before she smeared his internal organs all over the rooftop.  It wasn't so much the fact that he was likely going to die that worried him.  It was the fact that she was going to do something she'd highly regret once Sonic woke up.  "Listen to me!"  He pleaded desperately.  "This isn't what it seems!  If you—"

      "I don't wanna hear it!"  Amy spat.  How can you lie about shooting someone in the head?  "Your blatant lies won't work!"  As she raised her hammer, a heavy, solid weight rammed into her left side, sending her flying off balance and rolling on her side a few feet on the pebbles of the rooftop.

      "Whew!"  Wolf sighed in relief.  "That was too close."  He turned to Shadow.  "Are you hurt, sir?"

      Shadow chuckled.  "Just my pride.  And you can dispense with the formalities, Wolf.  She knows who I am."  That caught his friend off guard.  Looking over Wolf's shoulder, he could see Amy picking up her hammer.  "I doubt that textbook shoulder charge will take the fight out of her, and she won't listen to reason.  It would be wise to defend yourself, and don't underestimate her abilities.  Remember, she is not to be harmed."

      Wolf turned around to face his opponent.  He smiled at Shadow from over his shoulder.  "Just shut up and stay behind me… sir."  He set his sights back on Amy, and unsheathed his katana-style high frequency blade from the sheath on his back, twirling it a few times for show.  Oh yeah, she had plenty of fight left in her.  Disarming her would be a tall order.  "Listen, Miss Rose.  I don't want to hurt you.  You have one last chance to stand down."

      Amy sized up her new timber wolf adversary.  Just the fact that he was a wolf, with his natural strength made him a formidable opponent.  And the way he handled his weapon suggested he was a very competent swordsman.  "One who defends a murderer is just as bad as the murderer!  Get outta my way, or I'll go through you, too!"

      Heh, Shadow was right, Wolf thought.  She has lost it.  He reversed the cutting edge of his weapon, taking away its direct killing power, and got into a battle ready stance.  He thought he could stay defensive and drain the fight out of her by attrition.  "Sorry.  I can't do that.  I guess I'll have to make you see the truth.  If this is what you must do, come at me!"  And so, she did, closing into melee range surprisingly quick.  Her first strikes were parried with some difficulty; as light as her hammer seemed with the way she wielded it and her stature, it still carried with it the momentum of a sledgehammer.  If he wasn't careful, her blocked vertical strikes could bring the cutting edge of his H.F. katana down on himself.  He strafed away from a vertical strike, and sensing a quick resolution, he turned on an electrical current inside the blade, electrifying it, then brought the non cutting edge to bear for a horizontal strike.  The current wasn't anywhere powerful enough to kill a live being, but able to stun.  In an automatic defense, Amy brought her hammer back up, successfully blocking the attack, the rubber grip on her hammer effectively killing the electrical current.  Wolf cursed.  She wasn't half bad in a duel.  This could be a long duel, which wasn't good since he didn't forget about Nack.

      "Not bad."  Amy commented, between gasps of air.

      "You're a lot tougher than I expected."  Wolf replied as he switched off the useless stun current.  From first glance, it seemed that fatigue was starting to set in on her.  Maybe, just maybe, he could get through to her.  "But, this is a fight you simply cannot win!"

      "I can win… and for Sonikku's sake, I will!"  With that, Amy went back on the offensive, bringing her hammer back for another vertical strike.

      "You telegraphed that one!"  Wolf commented as he spun out of the way.

      Little did he know, that was exactly what Amy wanted him to do.  The vertical strike was actually a feint, and instead of bringing her hammer down all the way, Amy swung horizontally in a wide arch into an unsuspecting Wolf, who could do nothing but swear viciously as her hammer slammed into his side, sending him flying some five yards before hitting the pebble-covered rooftop.  Going for the endgame, Amy leapt in the air, cocking her hammer behind her back.

      Lucky for Wolf, that blow wasn't as hard as it could've been.  Still, being fooled by that textbook feint Amy just pulled injured his pride.  He wasn't that dazed… at least he was aware enough to see Amy coming down on him with her hammer.  "No more games!"  He declared and he rolled away just as Amy brought down her hammer to where he once was laying.  In one smooth motion, he finished rolling, got into a crouched position, and swung low with the non-cutting edge of his H.F. katana, figuratively cutting her legs out from under her.  Before she could even recover, Wolf was standing over her, the tip of his blade holding steady mere inches from her neck.  Now that it seemed that Amy finally got the picture and conceded defeat, he breathed a sigh of relief.  "Okay, let's try this again.  If you 'd let Shadow finish the first time, you would've saved us all a lot of trouble, and me a lot of pain.  Sonic.  Is.  Not.  Dead."  He explained, stressing the last four words in hoping that she comprehended.

      Amy gasped.  "What?!"  Still, she didn't let her guard down.

      "Look," Wolf gestured over his shoulder to where Sonic still lay.  "Shadow shot him in the head, right?  Well, do you see any blood?"

      Amy felt guilty now.  How did she not see that?  She couldn't even form the words to explain how sorry she was for accusing someone who she knew was good in his heart, of reverting back to evil.  Finally, Wolf let her up, and Amy put her hammer away.  "Shadow… I… I…"

      "It's okay."  The black hedgehog answered.  "I'm just fortunate nobody else got hurt."

      She nodded.  "So am I."  She looked the wolf she'd just recently been dueling with.  "I'm sorry I attacked you."

      "Don't worry about it."  Wolf answered, and with a few flashy twirls of his H.F. katana, returned it to its sheath strapped on his back.

      Shadow glanced over at Sonic's knocked out form.  "I shot him with a concussion round.  He may have a big headache when he wakes up and a welt on his forehead for a couple of weeks, but he'll be up and about in a few hours."

      "But why'd you have to shoot him?"  Amy asked.\

      "Heh, I'll tell you why."  Wolf began.  "Because both of them are too proud to back down to each other."

      "AMY!!!!!"  A familiar voice screamed over the sound of the Kasatka's rotors.

      "Hmm, here comes the cavalry, at last."  Wolf commented upon seeing Tails, Knuckles, and Rouge finally reach the rooftop.  "You're late, guys!  Sonic's already out cold and you left Miss Rose here to die for about three minutes!"

      Knuckles' eyes went wide at Sonic's still form.  "What the hell!  Sonic's down!"

      "Don't worry."  Shadow began.  "He isn't permanently injured—dammit!"  Forgot to turn on that voice filter again.

      "Shadow?!"  Rouge, Knuckles, and Tails gasped in unison.

      "Oh, what the hell…" Shadow said and flipped up the visor on his helmet.  "I have some explaining to do, so hold your questions.  Yes, I'm alive.  And that's to remain between us."

      "But, we have to tell Sonic!"  Tails argued.

      "Don't waste your energy.  We met in January."

      Realization hit Amy, and she gasped.  "So you're the one who helped Sonikku beat Metal!"  When Shadow nodded, her voice became apologetic.  "Wow… I feel even sorrier for lashing out on you."

      "Do not blame yourself, Amy."  Shadow said, the tone of his voice implying that he was smirking behind the helmet he was wearing.  "As the Ultimate Life Form, it would've been on me if you actually did do me in."  He laughed a little at that.  "Not only that, but it was I who clued Sonic in on that G.U.N. shipment onboard the Rakshasa."  As the rest of the group soaked in this new information with gasps and looks of disbelief, he waited a moment before continuing.  "I thought that if he reported it to your superiors, then we'd let the pieces fall as it may.  I never imagined that we'd be trying to accomplish the same mission, but for different entities."

      "What's going on?!  Rouge!  Sonic!  Somebody respond!  Over!"  Scott Dowell's voice blared on everyone's radio except for Shadow's and Wolf's.

      "Dammit… now what?"  Wolf asked.  Looking toward the east, he could see another helicopter retreat towards the eastern horizon.  "There's no mistaking that Nack and his G.U.N. friends have already gotten into their chopper."

      "Hmm…"  Shadow turned on another voice filter in his helmet.  This one gave him a Russian accented, cyborgish voice.  "I would like a word with your superiors.  Someone hand me their radio."  When the group gave each other looks of uncertainty, Shadow reiterated.  "Hurry!  This just may be our best chance to capture Nack, and we may be the only ones who can still accomplish that!  We've no time for deliberations!"

      Rouge reluctantly plucked her radio out of its holster.  "I don't know what you're planning, but here."  She tossed it lazily over to Shadow, who immediately switched it on.

      "We need to talk."  Shadow said simply.

      The new, strange voice definitely caught Scott off guard.  "What the—what happened to my team?"

      "That is not important right now.  What is important is that I'd like to offer a deal."

      "Identify yourself!"  Scott demanded.

      Shadow hesitated for a brief moment.  "My name, per se, is not important.  However, I am the commander of the team of PoTCW on this mission.  I'd like to propose a deal."

      "Tell me what happened to my team, Phantom!"

      Shadow sighed.  It seemed this wouldn't get any further if he didn't divulge that information.  "Your team is alive and well.  However, Sonic has been temporarily incapacitated.  Do not worry; he'll be up and about in a few hours time.  Now back to the matter at hand.  Nack and his G.U.N. squad have already reached a waiting helicopter, and are already airborne.  At this point, it is safe to say that only my people have a chance to catch him.  There also seems to be two jet fighters inbound on intercept course.  I already know their target is the gunship that breached Washington's restricted airspace.  Therefore, I propose that you call off those jet fighters.  In exchange, we will bring Nack to you as soon as we are finished with our interrogations."

       Scott scoffed on the other end.  "You expect me to negotiate with a group that breached D.C. airspace, shot down two Blackhawk choppers, killing all the crew on one, not to mention causing utter chaos?!  You must take me—hold on" the ringing of a phone put him on alert, it being the hotline from Langley.  This must be important.  He picked up the phone.  "This is Dowell."

       On the other side, the Director of the CIA, Thomas Wade, responded.  "Dowell, this may seem insane, but I say that we go along with it.  Now before you go ballistic over there, let me explain.  Military officials inside the Pentagon have reported that the situation in the Persian Gulf is deteriorating.  President Dugan has decided to proceed with the military buildup, and I got a feeling an ultimatum is.  Despite the situation with G.U.N., if we all of a sudden pull our troops out, this may make Washington look pretty silly.  Meanwhile, we have an organization that's willing to keep G.U.N. and Robotnik busy, hopefully until our business in the Gulf is resolved, whenever that may be."

      "We'll be looking pretty stupid anyway when all of G.U.N.'s units defect to Robotnik!"

      "I know, Scott.  I don't think that can be avoided."  Wade said ruefully.  What we can do is limit the amount of face Washington will lose.  Either way, this situation will make us look bad."

      The bloodhound groaned.  "… I don't like this."

      "Neither do I, but this situation is already out of control.  We've already lost one operative today, and we don't want any more casualties.  This business has to be resolved quickly!"

      "Did you forget that they destroyed two U.S. Customs Blackhawk choppers!"

      "Of course, we will demand compensation from PoTCW leadership immediately."

      "But what if the Phantoms renege on this deal?  What if they don't turn Nack over to us?"

      A long silence hung over Wade's end before he answered with a sigh.  "We'll have to cross that bridge when we get there.  Accept their proposal, and that's an order!  The F-15s sortied to intercept the Kasatka have already aborted their mission."

      "Yes, sir!"  With that, Scott heard Wade hang up on his end, and he took a long drag on his almost burned out cigarette.  "I don't like this one bit."  He switched back to his radio.  "About how long do you expect to interrogate Nack?"  Dowell asked.  "You do realize that he is an enemy of the State, right?"

      "As long as it takes."  Shadow answered, still in his synthesized voice.  "I cannot make any promises on when he'll outlive his usefulness with us.  Nevertheless, we will turn him over to you to answer for any and all offenses against the State."

      Dowell didn't like this at all.  No promise of a timetable.  He finished off his cigarette before speaking.  "If it were up to me, I wouldn't allow it.  But, it isn't.  My superiors have allowed you carte blanche to complete your mission.  But, I warn you:  do not fail."

      "A wise decision, Operative."  With that, Shadow switched off the radio, and lobbed it back to Rouge.  "It seems I've established an agreement with your superiors, Rouge.  I wish this reunion would've come under better circumstances, but we must depart."

      "Shadow," Rouge began.  "I don't wanna doubt you or anything, but your Kasatka's here, and the G.U.N. chopper is way… we can't even see it anymore!"  She exclaimed as she gestured to where the chopper would have been in the eastern sky.  "You don't have a chance of catching that thing!"

      "Oh, no?"  If his helmet were off, everyone would have seen the smuggest of smirks on Shadow's face as he reached into his field gear and produced the gray Chaos Emerald, nonchalantly flipping it in the air a bit with one hand.

      "A Chaos Emerald!"  Amy, Tails, Knuckles, and Rouge exclaimed in unison.

      "Where'd you find that?!"  Knuckles demanded.

      "One of my patrols came across it near the Russo-Chinese border some 24 hours after the ARK incident."  Wolf answered.  "Not too far away, we also found Shadow barely hanging on to life.  After three weeks in the infirmary, he was back to full health.  Small miracle now that I think about it."

      "We don't have time to reminisce, Wolf."  Shadow chastised.  He signaled for his Kasatka to touch down, and when it did, he and Wolf prepared to get on board.  Before Shadow got inside the cabin, he gave one final word to his former comrades over the beating of the helicopter's rotors.  "Remember, my existence is to remain classified!  I have a feeling we'll meet again, so I'll be watching you."  With that, he and Wolf boarded the chopper, and the gunship ascended some fifty feet off the rooftop.  Afterwards, the first blue sparks and bolts of the Chaos Control field spawned, and the entire Kasatka was soon after engulfed in the spherical field.  Moments later, the field disappeared, along with its contents.

      A long, awkward followed between the four still standing on the rooftop.  Finally, Rouge switched on her radio.  "Well, now what, Boss?  I guess we're to stand down?"

      "Seems that way."  Dowell answered on the other side.  "Everyone hold their position.  We have a medical chopper to pick up Sonic.  After he's cleared to leave the hospital, we're to report back to HQ for debriefing… this is not gonna be good."

      "Copy that, Boss."

            Near the coast of Chesapeake Bay, Maryland.  1250 hours.

       "And to your left is beautiful Chesapeake Bay."  The pilot of the G.U.N. UH-1 Huey helicopter jokingly announced as the chopper made the transition from land to sea.  Finally, it seemed that the mission was over.  Nobody was pursuing them, since their pursuers seemed to have a disagreement over who would be capturing them, and Nack only seemed too happy.  Now, there was a matter about his money…

      "The job's done, now when do I get paid?"  Nack asked.

      "You're just as anxious as anybody to get their hands on a cool $30 million, aren't you?"  Raymond Miller laughed.  "You'll be paid as soon as we rendezvous with the submarine Beowulf π.  That's where you'll be getting off.  There'll be another recovery craft for—"

      "New contact on radar!"  The Huey's copilot announced.  "Oh, you gotta be kidding me!"

      "What?!  What?!"  Panic once again set in for Nack.  Once he saw the new contact through the cockpit, his pupils dilated.  The very same Ka-60 Kasatka that pursued them over D.C. was now in full view in front of them.  "You're shittin' me, right?  But, but, how—"

      "Were you in a coma during the ARK incident?"  Raymond muttered grimly.  "I think this is what the guys in the lab called Chaos Control… but the only ones that have been known to use it are Sonic and…" he trailed off and realization hit him.  "So, he's still alive after all."

      "Comrade Commander, we have our target at 12 o'clock."  Gorevoy announced.  "Shall we hail them?"

      Shadow nodded.  "Yes.  Tell them to surrender—"

      "RPG incoming!"  The systems officer warned.

      "Nack!  What the hell!"  Miller exclaimed.

      "I didn't come this far to $30 million just to be denied!"  Nack spat as he grabbed the lone RPG launcher in the gunship.  "Now stand aside!"  After he shrugged off the coyote, he opened one of the Huey's doors, took aim at the Kasatka, and fired for effect.

      "There's no time to evade!"  Gorevoy shouted.

      "Here we go again."  Shadow mumbled as he again fished out his Chaos Emerald.  "Chaos Control!"  Once again, the Kasatka was enveloped by the Chaos Control field, only to disappear just before the RPG passed through its former position, and reappear mere yards away.  "That was too close."  Now, he had to think about the safety of himself and his men.  "Send that gunship to the bottom of the bay!"

      Wolf's eyes went wide in surprise.  "Sir!  Did you forget that our package is on that chopper?!"

      Shadow smirked inside his helmet.  "If Nack has the sense of self-preservation that I think he does, he'll jump.  Someone grab a Stinger missile launcher and bring that gunship down!"

      "Already on it."  A Ukrainian accented soldier responded, lifting the launcher on his soldier and opening the cabin door.

      "Now what, genius?"  Miller berated.  "That was our only RPG!"

      Desperate to try anything, Nack reached for his AR-15.  "Then gimme my—OH, SHIT!!  RPG!!!!"  Sure enough, the Stinger missile was bearing down on them, its white-hot rocket exhaust glowing like the Sun.  At this range, there was no chance of evading it.  Acting in the interest of self-preservation, Nack decided to take his chances in the icy cold waters of Chesapeake Bay and jumped, just mere moments ahead of the Stinger missile hitting the Huey chopper, and the spectacular explosion afterwards.

      "Sir, the package did bail."  Gorevoy noted Shadow.

      A big sigh of relief resounded throughout the cabin.  Mission accomplished.  "Excellent.  Swoop down and reel in our catch… he just may be the key to Robotnik's R&D secrets."

      Nack resurfaced from the chilling waters of Chesapeake Bay, some mere seconds before the burning, twisted wreckage of the Huey he was flying in hit the water near him.  Above, he could see the Kasatka swooping down to bring him in, the lower it descended, the more the water around him rippled, and the colder the air seemed to get.  He could offer no resistance, just the meek raising of his hands in surrender as the soldiers onboard the gunship kept their AK-74s trained on him.  And as they pulled him onboard and secured him, Wolf gave him the words that will set the tone for the next few months of his life.  "Welcome to Hell… comrade."

Aaaaannnnnnnd cut!  Okay, folks!  That's a wrap!  Now—

Tails:  Canderous!  Our bill just came!

Huh? *Reads through it, then body goes numb* Wh-what!?  $50 million dollars?!

Tails:  Yep.  That includes renting Homestead and that F-16, that Kasatka, that destroyed Huey, travel arrangements, and all the pyros we used.

Oh, boy… Tails grab the crew and send them to downtown Cincinnati to panhandle.  I'm gonna need some help paying for this sucker.

Alright!  Final chapter is coming up real soon.  Don't worry, I got another story in the works right now… yeesh, I still can't believe it took me almost a year to finish this… oh, well.  Anyways, just leave your comments and such in the form of a review, and I'll be most appreciative.  Peace!