"Shadow?" Maurice echoed softly, looking around the congested intersection to see if there was anyone else the woman was talking about. Regrettably, he was the only one standing in the center, his body frozen as he stared down the long barrel of the Red Tail's gun. "My name's not Shadow. It's Maurice."

His innocent expression failed to win Faye over, however. She continued to use the electronic copy of the bounty picture on the cockpit monitor as reference, comparing Shadow and Sonic's features. "I have to admit, you were able to disguise yourself from the IGPF, but changing appearances is a common thing amongst bounties."

Red eyes compared to jade. Jet-black, red-streaked hair compared to spiky blue. Faye dealt with many bounty heads that masqueraded as entirely different people. They would even go so far as to make sex changes, much to her disgust. In the end, everything would add up and they could never change their DNA. Strands of hair, skin flakes, everything that contained DNA led to the truth. They may have not gotten so far with Shadow in this case, but their facial features were identical.

But truth was that she did make a mistake. It was merely a coincidence, and Maurice continued to plea innocent. "I didn't change my appearance!" he hollered. "I'm me! You've got the wrong guy!"

Still, she didn't buy it. The cocking of her ship's gun arms proved it. "R-r-right. Let's get this over with."

"All right." Maurice bowed his head as he growled under his breath. "If you won't listen to me, then there's one thing for me to do."

Faye furrowed an eyebrow, the long pause in their pointless conversation irritating her more. Through the larger, primary cockpit monitor in front of her, she saw Sonic shaking. Maybe the futility of resisting sunk into that thick skull of his. She began to breathe a sigh of relief. Bringing Shadow in head would have only earned her half, and she was splitting half of the bounty with that man Sethlans in the first place, not to mention her other greedy companions.

"Run away!"

Or maybe not.

"Tcch, you just don't give up, huh?" she scoffed, reviving her engines with several revs.

Maurice got a running start before hopping on his malfunctioning hoverboard. He jumped over several cars blocking his escaping route, grabbing as much hang-time as he could manage before landing on open asphalt. If he could get into contact with Blitz and find out about more shortcuts, the race wasn't all los--

"You're pretty dense, kid!" It was Faye Valentine yet again denying his getaway as she came in from the sky. "You think you can outrun my ship?" she hissed over the loudspeaker.

Sonic groaned. 'Man, what can I do? There's no way I can take this thing on. I'm only human.'

And humans didn't stand a chance in hell against fighter ships without proper artillery right?

"Your board, the Sonic Boom, taps into your special ability…"

Blitz's earlier explanation of his hoverboard resonated in the back of his mind. He looked down, watching his busted board's gears catch fire as they whirred as fast as they could. 'But it's messed up right now.' He continued to mull. 'So, that eliminates that option.'

He heard the ship's guns lock and load and he was staring down its barrel once again.

He swallowed the large lump lodged in his throat and chuckled nervously. "Darn. This definitely isn't good."

"Tcch, troublesome humans."

Behind him! Faye glanced over Sonic's shoulders but it was too late! A tornado of barbed chains slithered their way around the Red Tail's gun arms. The spiked serpents made their point as their sharp ends lodged themselves inside the barrels.

With a dark scowl on his countenance, the charmer approached them, just in time no less as far as Sonic was concerned. "Let's make this quick, huh?"

"Lieutenant Marquest, we've got a situation at the intersection of Millicent and Grace Street, Sector Victor Uniform Three."

The seventeen-year old LT pressed his finger against the headset and spoke quietly whilst standing near the rails of the racetrack. "Code?"

"Code Alpha Delta Bravo Zulu, sir," replied the soldier over the radio.

Marquest snorted and dismissed the man's code. "Bah, handle it. We don't have time for--"

"Sir, one of the culprits has been identified as Target Sierra."

Target Sierra. That was…

"What?" he shouted, grabbing nearby spectators attention. "Are you absolutely certain its Target Sierra?"

"Everything matches up, sir. Orders?"

"Stand-by." He depressed the button on the headset and looked to her. "Ace?"

She was silent one, her eyes of orange speaking volumes to Marquest. Outranking him by one year, she preferred standing behind him in the chain of command in the IGPF. Marquest was more outspoken anyway while her actions took place of her words. She gave him only a nod and made a beeline for the exit with a group of Black Berets in her shadows.

Marquest waited until she was out of sight before opening the line up again. "Delta Team, stand-by until Lieutenant Aniston arrives. I repeat: Don't make a move until the LT arrives. Understood?"

"Copy, sir. Delta Team, over and out."

He cut the transmission and raised his head back towards the screen in the center of the racetrack displaying all of the action. He didn't notice the current situation on any of the split-screens, which was a good thing. The public didn't need to know about their operations. It'd only cause unnecessary commotion, and Marquest was sure General Renoa had more than a handful of 'crap' to deal with on his desk back at headquarters.

"Wow, you've got some leadership skills there, kid."

The squad of Black Berets standing behind the LT whipped around and directed him to the young man sitting on top of the rails over the back entrance to the concession area. Marquest crossed his arms over his armor-plated chest and gave him a sour look. "How long have you been sitting up there?"

The blonde-haired male hunched his shoulders. "Long enough to know my girl is getting your man…if you catch my drift?"

Marquest grunted. "Bounty hunters?" he guessed before shaking his head. "You guys are nothing but hounds, but hounds on a fool's errand! You can't beat him. He's far too dangerous. The IGPF never condoned this bounty in the first place!"

"But the Space Forces did," the man in white countered, a playful tone in his voice as he jumped down and approached Marquest. "They are the ones in charge of the judicial affairs here on Earth 2. Even you should know that, kiddo. Don't ya do your homework?"

"Shut up!" Marquest shot back. This man's attitude struck his nerves like crazy. "See if I care if your girlfriend is killed once Shadow gets to her."

"Your girlfriend won't do any better the way I see it. Not even Talon and Ghost stood a chance."

He knew about Captain Sinacide and First Lieutenant McCloud? Not to mention he called Ace his girlfriend. Marquest scowled at the snickers amongst the Black Berets, willing away the flush of red in his cheeks. "That's classified information you're speaking freely about. One more word and I'll place you under arrest!"

"C'mon then, kid." A mocking clap of his hands and he broke the final straw in Marion Marquest, but the grin on his face showed he didn't give a damn. "Make my day. Just a few more minutes until everything is set."

"Sir!" a Black Beret intervened with a hand on the rather petite LT's shoulder.

Marquest slapped his hand away and smirked. "Don't worry, I got this."

He tossed his black coat aside and handed his beret off to one of his subordinates. "I'll humiliate this worthless bounty hunter in front of this audience without breaking a sweat."

"Heh." The man's grin grew as Marquest stepped forward.

"You have no idea who you're dealing with." He pointed to himself, his domineering voice turning the crowd's attention to the confrontation. "Second Lieutenant Marion Marquest of the IGPF's Special Forces unit, codename: Raid!"

And the arrogant man in glasses loosened the buttons on his trench coat as he motioned for Raid with a finger. "Name's Sethlans King," he said.

His wink added the final dose of venom. "But just call me Daddy."

Marion could bear it no longer! He rushed into the heat of combat, taking a mighty leap into the air and descending upon his foe with a mighty fist of steel. "Cocky son of a bitch!"

"Whoo! I'm burning up!"

But for Sethlans, it was all apart of the plan.

IGPF's Raid Challenges the Swaggering Sethlans!