Alright! Comments on reviews!

StarlightSparks: *wink back* You are probably right… then again, I don't know what you think so I can't say. (; I'm glad you liked the last chapter. Hope you enjoy this one.

Autumn: Yay! Knuckles! I do enjoy Knuckles. Halo and I enjoyed Thanksgiving and wish you a Happy Holidays!

MeowthKitty: Oh it will be interesting… Just not the way you think.

ultimateCCC: I have to semi-agree with that. Depends on what it is and the reason I'm not supposed to touch it.

gwencarson125: I'm glad you liked it. Knuckles has some funny moments, doesn't he?

This is my birthday present to you! Or to myself. Whatever. We're headed back in Manic's direction, so without further ado, let's get started!

Matthew's PO-

*SHATTERING*

Era and Halo back away from the now broken computer screen and stare at the perpetrator. Rouge glares.

"Oh, no. Step away, ladies, I'm in charge this time around."

"Was that really necessary? You could have just asked us to step away but then you had to go and smash the computer! Why I oughta-"

"Don't even think about it."

"…Rouge, you're up. (HALO DO SOMETHING.)"

"Hey, I'm just as scared of her as you are. Besides, this looks like it'll be interesting. Go, Rouge!"

"Of course you think that… take it away, Miss Secret Agent."

Rouge's POV:

I was not amused.

There were so many other ways I could be spending my afternoon. Like finding a better hiding spot for the new addition to my collection. Blue was getting suspicious.

But at the moment, Blue was not going to question me. Awfully hard to accuse one of grand jewel theft when one is unconscious. Lucky for me, I suppose; not so much for Blue.

Tails was shaking his currently unconscious brother and growing increasingly worried, "Sonic! Sonic, can you hear me?"

"Miles, let go of him!" Shadow tried to pull the fox away so Amy could get a better look at him, but found it rather difficult. I'll admit it would be a bit of a challenge to yank a two-tailed kid off a limp body, especially when said tails are doing everything in their power to make your life miserable. It would've been adorable if the situation hadn't been so dire.

"Shadow, not now!" shouted Tails, whipping his twin appendages in Shadow's face. "Sonic! SONIC!"

Amy finally pried the boy away and checked for injuries, "He's fine. Just exhausted."

Of course he's exhausted- we just had to shatter a giant diamond (I know my jewels. That glass was encrusted with diamond and no one will convince me otherwise), one of the hardest substances in the world all to save grumpy old Red.

Speaking of the echidna… I wandered over to where he was standing, his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. His gaze was locked on the now obliterated machine that almost claimed his life. He was cute when he's mad.

"Pondering the meaning of life?" I asked, sidling up next to him. He didn't even look at me. Hmmph.

"Hello? Red? Mister Guardian Angel? Anyone home?"

That got his attention. "What, Rouge?" he said sharply. "What do you want?"

"Just checking to see if you're alright. An experience like that is enough to shut a person down."

Knuckles rolled his eyes, "What is it you really want, Rouge?"

"What? I can't check on an old friend?"

He looked at me suspiciously, "Are we friends?"

I shrugged, "Are we not?

"I don't know. You try and steal from me all the time."

"Take it as a compliment," I put my hands on my hips and tilted my head, "I'm testing your security."

"Uh…" Knuckles blinked, "You've failed. Every time."

I pushed down my annoyance and forced a smile, "Hey, I'm testing. Not actually trying."

"Keep telling yourself that, Bat."

We exchanged a mutual smile, then sat in silence for a moment. I examined my long, gloved fingernails with limited interest.

"So about that Star Gem-"

Knuckles threw his arms in the air, "I knew it!"

"Aw, red, don't be like that-"

"I'm done! That's it!" He marched away from the wreckage. I frowned and flew after him.

"Oh Red, calm down. I just want to see it!"

"No."

"Please?"

"No!"

"Just for a second?"

"NO!"

"Why not?"

"You might steal it! Or break it!"

"I'm offended, Knuckles. Besides, you've broken the Master Emerald so many times that I've lost track."

"I was protecting it!"

Knuckles by now had stopped and was glaring at me with a look that would frighten most people. I'm not most people.

"Call it what you will, at least I don't break my gems."

"Do you care about anything other than your precious gems?"

"Uh, yes."

"Like what?"

I fluttered to the ground and began to count on my fingers, "Well, let's see, Shadow, Omega-"

"Outside of Team Dark."

That was harder. "You-"

"I don't count."

"Why not, Red?" I smirked. "Embarrassed?"

"No," Knuckles crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes, "Because I'm related to gems. As is the rest of Team Sonic and your team. I know you don't like the General-"

Well, that was certainly true.

"-and I don't know anything about your family, nor do I want to."

Let's just bring up that taboo subject, shall we? I hid my frustration with one of my winning smiles, "So maybe I'm a look-after-myself kind of girl. What's your point?"

Knuckles pointed at me, "Because one day, no matter how many times you've helped the world in your own twisted little way, you're going to be alone in the end. No one will care if you're in prison or on the run from the law. If you don't care about anyone, then no one will care about you." Then he turned away without another word and marched after Amy and Tails who were carrying a limp Blue.

I stood in the same spot, stunned and unable to move.

Not sure how long I stayed there, but eventually, I shook myself out of the mood. What did he know, anyway? I didn't care about people, nor did I mind them not caring about me. People were the necessary evils of the world. Who could blame me for using them to my full advantage?

Instinctively, I turned to find Shadow and complain about Knuckles' bad attitude. "Ugh, can you believe-" My voice died off. Where did big, bad, and brooding go? Apparently, he had left with the others. Thanks, partner.

And on top of everything else it was starting to rain. I shivered and began my flight home.

My keys jingled as I unlocked the door and entered my darkened penthouse. Home sweet home. My trench coat, which would have been useful about thirty minutes ago, hung on the coat hanger. went into my room to find something dry to wear. Skin-tight wet leather is not a pleasant feeling on your skin, FYI.

After changing into a soft cable-knit sweater, I warmed up some hot chocolate and crashed on the couch. Nothing good was on TV- sitcoms bore me to death and the UFC fights wouldn't be on till late- so I popped in a random movie Amy once lent me and only gave it half my attention.

It actually was kind of lonely. Everyone has a secretive side to them, but believe it or not, I enjoyed being around people, and sitting alone watching a movie on a weekend was not my idea of fun.

I was bored. And when I'm bored, I go out and do things.

I switched off the TV and headed into the guest room. In the year since I've owned this place, no one has ever occupied it. The bed and furniture are still there, but mostly because I don't have any other use for them. The room was originally intended for someone like Shadow or Red to use if they ever needed a place to spend the night, but Shady crashes…somewhere and Red prefers to hang around with Tails and Blue. Shame.

Whatever. I've created other uses for this space.

I unlocked the doors to the walk-in closet, opening to a small chest of drawers with an enormous map pinned over it. I pulled open the left middle drawer of the dresser, fishing out a small silver pen. Flipping out the hidden light on the side of the pen, I flicked it on and shined it on the map.

Invisible ink pens may seem childish or cliché to simple minds, but I've found them to be quite useful. Take this map for instance: Under UV light, you'll see my marks in Station Square. Helzberg, Zale Corp, Stephanie & Co… the list goes on. I've hit every one at least twice now, along with a few museums and art exhibits here and there. Day in the life of me.

I drew a small 'X' next to the Stephanie building and smiled, remembering that job from the week before. Matthews may be weird and immature and positively aggravating, but I had to admit he was good at what he did. Made sure I could get to my jewel, anyway.

Speaking of which…

On the left wall next to the guest bed was a watercolor painting of a dark pink camellia in an ornate bronze frame. I liked the painting, but personally, I preferred what was behind it.

In the curves of the frame were a few choice knobs disguised in the workmanship. I pressed two at the bottom and one to the left, and the painting swung open to reveal a heavily locked steel safe. One can never be too careful with one's valuables.

I dialed in the code, unlocking the heavy door. On a short pedestal was my brand new sapphire. A jolt of exhilarating electricity shot down my spine; I shivered. What a delicious feeling.

Which was quickly spoiled by a far less satisfying feeling.

This gem wasn't acquired purely by my own efforts. I remember how furious I was when I found out Stephanie's was raising the bar on security, and knowing exactly how much trouble I'd be in with GUN if I raised any alarms- not to mention breaking my streak of three years since I'd been caught with my hand in the cookie jar- I made the admittedly wiser choice of enlisting help. Help that wouldn't rat me out or attempt to guilt-trip me (it really is cute when they try that sweet little tactic. So quaint how they're under the impression that I actually value other people's "moral codes". Silly, to say the least).

You might say the local gangs were terrified of little ol' me- but that's such a nasty word. I wasn't feared. I was simply respected, and for good reason. The boys knew that it wouldn't be a wise decision in the long-term to squeal on me- I had made quite sure of that. But petty crime bored me, and besides, those adorable little mafia wannabes just couldn't hack it in the real criminal underworld. They were too hung up on short-term satisfactions, like cashing in on the local heroin addicts. Not enough brains or ambition among them to really make it big. But at least they were predictable; Manipulating those little sweethearts was child's play.

Of course, there's always the exception to the rule. When Matthews tried to rob me that first time, it was so satisfying to send him running. Life's simple joys, after all. But then he had to go and break the mold by seeking me out and attempting to rob me again. I still can't figure out his logic (and I'm using that in the loosest sense of the word, believe me).

But he intrigued me. I'll give him that much.

So lying my way into an interview with him was worth going through the other nitwits in his gang. True, he acted like a complete buffoon, and had the gall to ask me out, but he was just so different. I mean, he was shooting grape soda out of his nose when I walked into his headquarters, and he smells like a sewer. What a weirdo. And to top it all off, he doesn't even steal things worth stealing! Why on Mobius would he take the time to rob everyone and their dog, but doesn't even try to swipe the bare necessities (such as jewels, for example)?

Well, if there is a silver lining, it's that I'll never have to see that irritating little punk again. He was annoying and childish and odd, and didn't even have the dignity to bother hiding his blatantly obvious crush. It was pathetic, really.

I placed the gemstone back on its pedestal, relocked the safe, and shut the picture frame. That was the end of that.

… So why couldn't I take my mind off him?

I groaned aloud. It was just like Matthews to linger with me when I wished he would go away. Our little "escapade" should've been the end of our business dealings; I had no more use for him. He helped me get my gem and we didn't get caught. There shouldn't have been any reason why I was feeling…

That's it.

I couldn't remember the last time I had felt… ugh… guilty. But that was the only reasonable explanation. I felt guilty because I hadn't paid him for working with me. So the answer to my problem was simple: find Matthews and give him his share. The sooner, the better.

I pulled on my trench coat and grabbed an umbrella. Good riddance, Matthews Hedgehog.

I stood in front of the shabby Lucky Strike pawn shop, my umbrella shielding me from the pouring rain. At four in the afternoon, the sky was so darkened by clouds it felt like at least six. I pushed open the door and the familiar tinkling of a welcome bell greeted me… but no cashier. The whole store was empty. Hmm. Odd.

As I paused to comb through the jewelry section, my ears picked up the faint sounds of a quarrel near the back. I crept up quietly to the door of the backroom, pressing my ear against the door.

"...any leads, Curt! We have no clue where he could be!"

"That don't mean we shouldn't at least try to find him! Come on, guys, back me up here!"

My curiosity was piqued. I listened closer.

"He disappeared, Curtis! Whaddaya want us to do, huh? What?"

"Oh, well, I dunno, maybe look for him?"

"Dude, we got no idea where to look!"

"Here's an idea- how about we find out where to look!"

Enough of this. I knocked loudly on the door and crossed my arms. The arguing stopped for a moment right before the door swung open, answered by a tall auburn fox wearing a backwards baseball cap and an infuriated expression. His growl melted off his face when he saw me, morphing into one of shock and horror.

"Y-you!" he sputtered.

I smirked. It was hilarious how frightening I was to these boys.

"What… what are you doing here?" he said shakily.

"Just come to pay a visit to my good friend Maniac," I said coolly, leaning against the doorway.

The fox stiffened. "Um… you want to… what?"

"I'll say it again, slowly. I… have… come… to… see… Maniac." Without waiting for an invitation, I pushed past him and into the back room.

It was just as tacky as I remembered it from my interviews. A beat up old television set sat in the corner with an old, nasty couch in front of it, an equally disgusting armchair off to the side. They looked, what, twelve years old? You'd think they could spring for something with a bit more taste.

The room was packed, at least four or five guys crowded on the couch. They all wore the same expression of shock and mild horror that I loved so very, very much.

A large insect-like man whom I remembered to be called Ferrell stepped forward, clearing his throat. He looked me in the eye, and unlike his subordinates, he actually seemed to stay collected in my presence. How refreshing.

"Madam, with all due respect, you did not inform us of your arrival," he said, his heavy urban accent calm but firm.

"What, can't I just drop in for a visit?" I said, smirking.

"On any other day, I personally wouldn't have any problem, but at the moment we have a situation on our hands and unless this is urgent, it would be better if you could make your exit."

Oh, no. I was paying back Matthews, whether this guy likes it or not. "I understand completely, Mr. Ferrell, but this really is urgent. I insist that I see Maniac immediately."

I had never seen a man pale so quickly. You could hear a pin drop.

"...What?" I asked. Sheesh, what was with these bozos?

"Um…" said a blonde coyote, scratching the back of his head sheepishly and trailing off, staring at the ground. The auburn fox I had met at the door crossed his arms and glared at nothing in particular, but I noticed a strange sort of hurt in his eyes. Odd.

"Okay, does anybody wanna tell me what's going on here?" I said, turning to Ferrell, the smirk wiped clean off my face. Nobody answered. In the corner of my eye I noticed the same blonde coyote inching away ever so subtly towards the back window, left slightly ajar.

"You try and sneak out, boy, and I will hunt you down and make the last moments of your life more miserable than your tiny brain could possibly imagine," I snarled. The coyote stopped dead in his tracks.

"Nobody is leaving until somebody tells me what exactly is going on." I said firmly, glowering fiercely. I looked around at the squirming inhabitants of the living room.

And I noticed something.

"Wait a minute…" I said, narrowing my eyes. "Where is Maniac?"

Silence.

I groaned. "Fine then… eeny, meeny, miny… you." I said, jabbing my finger accusingly at the auburn fox. "Where is he?"

"That's the problem, we don't know!" he burst out. "He's… just… gone!"

"Whaddaya mean, 'gone'?"

"He's gone! Poof! Disappeared into thin air! We don't know where in Mobius he is, or how to find him!" he shouted, pacing back and forth. "We don't even know if he's alive! For all the leads we have, he could be at the bottom of the river with his head bashed in!" He was frantic. I could hardly understand him through his rapid accent and slurred sentences

"So… he just… left?" I asked. "He ran away?"

"No!" shouted the fox. "That's just it! Matthews wouldn't do that! He left his backpack, which he just wouldn't do under any circumstances-"

"Woah, woah, woah, stop." I said. "Start over! What in the world are you going on about?"

He took a few deep breaths and sat down at an empty spot on the couch. "Okay… so we was on a job, 'kay? Just a little burglary, nothin' to it-"

"Curtis!" hissed the lynx on his right.

"What? This chick might be the only hope we got of ever finding him, Gabe-"

"She works for the feds! You spill the beans now and we're dead men walking-"

"Curtis," said Ferrell, cutting off Gabe. "Continue." Gabe shot him a look of bewilderment and was rewarded with a stern glance from Ferrell. He fell silent, but I could hear him muttering mutinously under his breath.

Curtis took another deep breath before picking up where he was interrupted. "So we was at the mark, 'kay? Matthews went in first to check if the coast was clear for the rest of us. He was supposed to just make a quick check and then let us in. We waited for a long time, but… he never came out. Eventually, we just went in ourselves. Matthews wasn't there… but… in one of the rooms we found this," He held up a ratty gray knapsack that, while sturdy, looked at least four or five years old. I recognized it as the one Matthews had brought on our Stephanie's mission.

"Was the room disturbed at all?" I asked.

Curtis shook his head. "The room we found this in didn't look like it had been touched."

"Dude, he probably just got scared and flaked out." said Gabe, crossing his arms.

"Gabe, you and I both know that Matthews isn't like that. Besides, even if he did run out on us for whatever reason, he definitely wouldn't leave his backpack. Literally everything he owns is either at my place or in here."

"Doesn't Maniac have an apartment or something?" I interjected. Gabe and the blonde coyote snorted, trying to hide their laughter, but everyone else just stared at me.

"Dude, Maniac's homeless. Like, really homeless." said a rabbit with a half-torn ear. "He sleeps in the sewers half the time and at Curtis's place and the shop for the other half."

"Aw, that's not true," said the coyote. "He crashes in the clink every other week, 'member?" This earned a knowing chuckle from just about everyone.

Well, that explains why he always smells like a sewer. I had to suppress a giggle myself; the thought of Matthews living in the drains was was just so hilariously fitting. But I pulled myself together.

"What do you suppose happened to him if you're sure he didn't run away of his own accord?" I asked Curtis.

"Well…" Curtis looked up to Farrell for approval; he nodded solemnly. "We… well, I… think he's been kidnapped."

I perked up. Now I was interested. "By who?"

"We don't know-"

"Is there anything you do know?" I said irritably.

"... But we have some suspicions," finished Curtis.

"Do tell."

"Well… the thing is, Maniac's a great buddy and all, but… he's got a tendency to tick off all the wrong people. I swear to Chaos, that kid's like a trouble magnet. Gets jumped twice as much as the rest of us, and arrested even more." said Curtis. "Anyone mighta tried to nab him to give him what's coming to him, but we don't know who. And if we start goin' around accusing' people of kidnapping him, we'll have a whole other world of problems on our hands."

"Has he annoyed anyone recently?"

"Probably."

"Anyone important?"

"Um…" he said uncomfortably. "Well… see, it's like this… um… We kinda, er… We kinda thought it might, um, be… mmmfffo." He mumbled the last bit, speaking so softly that I couldn't understand him.

"Come again, hon?" I asked.

"We thought it was... um… mmsfljjdf…"

"Cat got your tongue? Spit it out already!"

"FORALITTLEWHILEWETHOUGHTITWASYOUWHOKIDNAPPEDMANIACBUTYOU'REHERELOOKINGFORHIMSOITCAN'TBEYOUSORRYSORRYSORRY."

He spoke so quickly that I almost missed it, but luckily I didn't. "You thought I had taken him?" I asked incredulously.

Curtis was cringing under the weight of mine and everyone else's dirty looks, but he nodded jerkily.

"Why on earth would I kidnap that punk? He's annoying, stubborn, idiotic, and not worth my time." I continued to glare at Curtis who was now sweating slightly.

He pulled at his collar, nervously. "Well, you aren't the only girl who's a threat to Maniac."

"What do you mean by that?" I raised an eyebrow and asked suspiciously. How many girls did he tick off?

Wait. Forget I asked.

"Well…like three months ago, a pink hedgehog showed up at our old hangout in Westopolis asking for Maniac. Our operative there just barely got around to bringing it to our attention last night. By that time, we had no time to warn him."

"What did she want with him?"

"Apparently, he owes her money. A lot of it. We call her Dodger."

What was it with these gangsters and the nicknames? "Why?"

"... According to him, and his mercenary guards, she dodged bullets. Didn't even graze her. She just dodged and stole their guns, and… tried to kill them." Curtis and his fellow Strikers looked pretty scared at the thought.

I just shook my head. Dodge bullets? Who were these boys kidding? Unless this gal was related to one of the two speedy hedgehogs I knew, they were exaggerating.

"Would it have been likely that Dodger could have kidnapped him?" I asked.

Curtis shook his head. "Nobody knew about the heist 'cept the guys in our gang and this one guy who helped us out, Keith."

Now we were getting somewhere. "Tell me about him."

"Uh… he's not technically a Striker, just a buddy of Rick's who's been in the business a long time. He set up the job for us and-"

I held up my hand to stop him. "Have you known him very long?"

"Uh… not really."

"Do you know if he came be trusted completely?"

"Well, like I said, we haven't known him very lo-"

"Do you know where he is at the moment?"

"Um… no."

"Then what makes you think he couldn't have been involved in the kidnapping?"

Curtis opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He closed it, then opened it again. Shampoo, rinse, repeat.

"Oh, crap." he said, slapping his forehead.

"'Oh crap', indeed." I said, crossing my arms and smirking. "Now that we have at least one plausible suspect, I need to know everything you've got on him and anyone related to him. Spill."

"Er… the thing is, everything we know about him is coming from Rick, who… I don't think is here, actually. Has anybody seen Rick hanging around anywhere?" Everyone shook their heads.

"Ain't seen him since the job," said the blonde coyote.

"Me neither." said Gabe.

"Well, it don't matter much anyway." said Curtis. "But Rick's got all the info on him, so we can't tell you much. Sorry."

I rolled my eyes. "Well, ain't you the helpful one. If you can't tell me anything about this goon, give me something- anything- else! Who else hates Maniac enough to try nabbing him? I'm sure there are others."

"You want chronological or alphabetical order?"

"Doesn't matter."

"Well, let's see, who has Maniac ticked off… there's his old girlfriends, Nic the Weasel, Nack the Weasel, just about the entire police station, all the people he's ever conned or robbed or both, The Meerkats-"

"The who?"

"Rival gang. Demon spawn, all of 'em." said Curtis.

That sounded promising. "I assume all your information on them does not rely solely on one person this time?"

"You kidding? Everyone here's got a beef with those…" From that followed a long string of disturbingly creative curse words and outrageously offensive insults, all affirmed by the group's knowing chuckles.

"They're that bad?" I asked.

"Nope. Worse."

I thought for a moment then asked one more question, "Do they have the capability to pluck Maniac out of thin air and disappear without a trace?"

Curtis didn't even hesitate, "Oh, yeah."

Looks like we found our kidnappers. "Then it's settled. Where's their hideout?"

"We don't know."

"Oh, for the love of-" I just barely stopped myself from saying something extremely unladylike. "Is there anything you do know? It's like you're completely clueless, for pity's sake!"

Curtis put his hands up a little defensively, "Hey, we've tried findin' their hideout plenty of times, but they're sneaky. Even sneakier then us."

You put a sign that says 'Strike' in Striker territory. Are these idiots serious?

"But you know where their territory is."

"Most of it, yeah. We just don't know exactly where they have their headquarters 'cuz they move around a lot, so Maniac could literally be anywhere. By the time we figure out where they're keeping him, they'll probably have moved again. Or killed him. Whatever comes first."

With that happy thought out in the open, I decided this was all I was going to get out of these numbskulls. "Well boys, you can have fun speculating. Now if you'll excuse, I have work to do. Which way is Meerkat territory?"

"Woah, woah, woah, back up-" said Curtis. "You're… you're going after them?"

"Well, of course. I owe Maniac a favor, anyway." I said. "Besides, those adorable little mobster wannabes don't stand a chance. Buh-bye!"

I exited and shut the door and was about to leave, but my curiosity at their reactions was too great to ignore. I pressed my ear against the door; at first there was only silence.

"So… should we like, go after her, or just wait to see it on the news?"

"News."

I smiled. These boys never failed to amuse me.

That was AWESOME!

"You say awesome, I say interesting."

Rouge crosses arms and glares, "Sorry, Oceanera. I'm coming back next time Maniac is up."

"... We'll see you then. Halo, what did we just sign up for?"

And yes. The horrible hints and foreshadowing is so funny it is painful. Leave a review please!